Shadow Hunters

by Anna Hub

  I turned back to Brayden. "Can you sit up?"

  He didn't answer.

  I shook his shoulder. "Brayden?"

  He jerked to the side as though I'd woken him again.

  "Hold onto my hand." I pulled him up right.

  His head bobbed to the side as he reached out for the closest tree to steady himself. I wanted so badly to lay him back down and let him rest, but it wasn't safe.

  "We have to get out of here."

  He frowned as though he couldn't make sense of my words and once again, I worried that his brain might have been damaged in some way.

  "The cats won't let us leave."

  He groaned.

  "Do you think you're going to be able to walk?"

  He breathed slowly, reaching for the water bag. He took a drink and as the minutes passed slowly, his eyes became more focused. "I just need a bit longer to clear my head."

  I nodded and walked over to Matt. "He's not ready."

  "We can't afford to wait much longer. It's going to take time to get out of here and we're out of supplies."

  "I said, he's not ready."

  Matt's jaw tightened but he didn't argue. Instead, he walked back to join the others at the camp while I waited with Brayden.

  At least half an hour passed before Brayden stood up. "The day's getting later," he said.

  I looked to the sky and nodded.

  "We should go."

  "Are you fit enough to get us past the cats?"

  "If they threaten us, it will force my Instinct back."

  “I won’t let you go back to the Valley pit.”

  “I’ll probably be better off if the Instinct comes back. I won’t be able to feel any of this.”

  “Are you sure you have enough strength left for the Instinct to override it?”

  He shrugged. “You probably know more about my Instinct than I do. Judging by how I feel now, I don’t think the Instinct ever gives up. As long as I’m alive it will just keep taking.”

  I still wasn’t sure how much he had left to give, eventually he was going to have to feel the pain of what he was doing to his body. For now, he was talking and standing, hopefully that was enough.

  We made our way back to the camp where the others were ready to leave. Rachel stood beside Matt, her expression permanently tortured after the experience with the hunters. She would probably never forgive me for making her go through that.

  “Where are the cats?” Brayden tried to straighten.

  “Last I saw, there were two beyond the rocks but when we tried to leave before, five lined up in front of us,” Tara said.

  Brayden turned to me and I quickly spoke up, "I didn’t go with them. And they only left in an attempt to get the children out of here."

  "It wasn't personal." Matt shrugged as though it wasn't a big deal.

  Brayden shook his head. He obviously didn't have the energy to debate it. He started walking and everyone turned to me for instruction.

  "What are we going to do?” I called out.

  He didn’t look back. “I’m too fried to think of a plan. Let’s just wing it.”

  Matt rubbed at the back of his neck. I imagined he liked to be organised before attempting an escape like this, but he didn’t have a choice. We needed Brayden and Matt was in no position to make demands.

  Tara used Matt for support while Rachel and Nick followed at the back with Ellie and Ashley. There was no sign of the cats for the first ten minutes but I guessed they must have been close when Brayden’s posture straightened and his pace increased.

  “The cats are here,” I warned the others and stuffed plugs into my ears.

  A scream pierced the air as a whip cat jumped in front of us.

  Brayden took a quick, confident step forward and the cat retaliated by throwing its whip out to meet him. He caught the tail before it reached full length and more cats rushed through the trees. They hissed in unison as the biggest tried to escape Brayden's hold on it. The cat jumped from side to side, trashing its tail but Brayden had a tight grip. The other cats lashed their whips at him but he stepped into the sunlight and stretched his shadow out as a shield.

  The cats screamed wildly, one of them launching into the air, its claws extended before Brayden kicked it in the chest. The beast fell on its side and whimpered with the impact.

  The largest cat still fought to free its tail. It dove forward and hooked its teeth in Brayden's shadow, using the grip to topple him. It growled in a low warning and the others moved quickly as though obeying an instruction. The other four cats rushed in with jaws rather than tails and Brayden had no choice but to release their leader. As soon as he surrendered his grip, the five cats backed off to a safe distance.

  I stared in wonder. The sight confirming my suspicion that the cats recognised him. Despite their strength, they knew they didn't have the power to beat him. They wanted him in their Valley but their numbers were too low to risk fighting with him.

  One by one, they sunk into the forest, remaining close but allowing us to pass without protest.

  Brayden's Instinct remained active, proving the cats were never far away. Their intention had to be somewhat malicious in order to keep him grey, but as he'd suggested, it actually helped him rather than hindered.

  It wasn't long before we reached the river and the first of the berry trees. The fruit provided a needed burst of energy and the water gave us a chance to wash away the dirt from my battle with the hunters.

  I leaned down to fill my water bag and caught sight of a water snake. Or perhaps an eel. I'd never seen anything like it in the rivers before, perhaps that's why Brayden had been so cautious when we'd collected water. A small fish rushed beside it and a barb burst from beneath its fin and punctured the fish right through the middle.

  I gasped.

  “What’s wrong?” Matt asked.

  “Nothing.” The eel engulfed the fish before I turned away. "Just don't go in the water."

  Before I'd even finished my sentence, Brayden stepped into the river. I called out a warning as the eel raced toward him but he reached in at precisely the right moment and flung the eel into the air. He used his blade to cut its head off then wrapped its body around his forearm like a hose.

  The group fell silent as he threw the eel to the ground and set to work on a fire, his eyes still grey as he shifted the eel into the flames and waited for it to cook.

  The eel gave us all the energy we needed to keep travelling. We walked alongside the river and I was filled with memories of the first time Brayden and I had walked this path. I had no doubt that the whip cats would fight to keep us in the forest but for now, they remained silent, shifting between the plants and observing us without protest.

  Tara had to rest frequently with her bad ankle and Matt even attempted to carry her for some of the way. I suspected he was more fatigued than he wanted anyone to know as he had to set her down again after only a short time.

  I ran a gentle finger over the fresh scab on my cheek. Now that we were away from the hunters, we needed to be more aware of the smaller dangers like eels and burning webs. I warned the others and tried to stay a good distance ahead. Brayden would detect any danger to me and if everyone else stayed behind me they would have enough warning too.

  --*--

  The warmth of the sun made me feel better and helped to keep my muscles loose. But eventually the light faded and our shadows dropped from view. We moved slightly off track to set up camp for the night. We quickly had the fire burning and our shadows resurrected.

  Nick still stared at them in wonder and I looked forward to a time when I could tell him everything about this world and discover more about his own life. For the first time since we'd fled, I looked around our group and realised that we'd saved four lives. These new shadows were at the beginning of their journey, but they wouldn't have to face it alone. I would be there to guide them through the process. I smiled. I'd changed their lives and finally, my purpose in this world seemed clear. I would miss my fathe
r and Nathan forever, but this was the beginning of my new family.

  Brayden settled himself away from the others, the grey shrinking from his eyes as exhaustion set in. He looked older as he became vulnerable again. I curled up beside him and watched the others settle in to sleep. Ellie and Ashley had found permanent comfort in Nick. They were both tucked in front of him before the fire.

  “They’re all so young.” My cheek rested on Brayden’s shoulder. “I’ve never seen them that young before.”

  He tugged at his water bag but didn’t say anything.

  “They’re all just children. I don’t understand, what’s changed?”

  He breathed a few times always making me think he was going to respond but he didn’t. I leaned back and examined his face. "You know what's changed, don't you?"

  “Everything and nothing.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There have always been children here.”

  “I've never seen them.”

  “They don’t survive as long.”

  I shivered. “When did you see children here?"

  “I spent a long time here before I met you. Even then, you would come and go but I was always here.”

  Again I thought of how many painful and disturbing things he must have witnessed and not shared with me.

  “You didn’t tell me.”

  “Some things you’re better off not knowing.” He closed his eyes.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I’d expected to be woken by the cats before sunrise but dawn was breaking and the camp was peaceful. There were enough berry trees nearby to feed us and Nick had already collected the fruit.

  My body still felt weak but knowing how close we were to escaping made it easier to rise. Brayden still looked pale and gaunt even though the worst of his illness was held back by the Instinct. There were so many times when I’d wondered why this happened to him, or if there was something he’d done to cause it. Now I could see there were both light and dark sides to his existence but he couldn’t have survived without both of them.

  As I rose, I stretched my shadow into position, curling it around my waist like a skirt before pulling it up to my chest and slinging the arms over my shoulders. Tara had already strapped her ankle tight enough to hide the swelling and her shadow was pulled around her body the way it had been when I'd first met her—one hand fanned out around her neck to hide her scars.

  "Can I touch it?" Ellie crept closer and tugged on Tara's shadow.

  It made me smile to hear her speaking more confidently and it was hard to hide my amusement at Tara's discomfort. She knew how to command a group of adults but one on one with a child, it was clear she didn't know how to handle herself.

  "Why does it feel warm?" Ellie asked.

  Tara stepped back, casting her eyes around the group as though searching for help.

  I struggled to hide my grin and she glared at me as she grabbed a stick to use as support for walking. “Are we ready to go?”

  The path we walked looked familiar and as we returned to the riverbank, I realised we'd reached the location where the cats had first challenged Brayden and I. The memory came back in full force and my legs turned shaky. We weren't too far from the cats' den and I had a bad feeling the worst was yet to come.

  --*--

  We stopped every hour or so and ate whatever we could find while Tara rested her ankle. The day disappeared quickly and once Brayden had decided upon a campsite, Matt set to work on a fire.

  “In the morning we'll fill our water bags and head west,” Brayden announced.

  We all settled into our jobs of gathering firewood and tinder from the surrounding forest while we foraged for food.

  Matt took my arm as I worked. "Why is he just standing there?"

  I turned and found Brayden staring at the ground with grey eyes.

  “Something’s wrong.” My heart thumped harder.

  Brayden rushed toward the fire suddenly and the children jumped back in fright. He kicked sand over the flames but before the fire went out, my head turned dizzy. A creeping sensation spread through my shadow and I looked down. The small lizard-like creature, with shifting camouflage, feasted on my shadow.

  I screamed and tried to kick it away but its grip was unbreakable. Sharp pain spread through my shadow and all the way up my legs.

  Brayden reached out to grab it from me and his fingers cracked as though they’d hit a glass barrier. His Instinct must have known he couldn’t protect himself from this creature. Tara and Matt hurried to put out the fire and as soon as darkness fell, the pain subsided.

  "Are you okay?” Tara grabbed my shoulders.

  “I think so.” I gasped, running my hands down my legs, searching for injuries. My shadow was gone and my real skin was left untouched.

  “What happened?”

  “It was that thing again ... the one that attacked the hunter. It was feeding on my shadow.”

  “Did it hurt?"

  “Yes. But worse than that, it felt ... like it was sucking the life out of me." But that couldn't be right. Although the hunter had lost consciousness when the creature fed on her shadow, Brayden had been sure she wasn't dead.

  “What is it?” Nick's voice broke my train of thought.

  I tried to find him under the moonlight.

  “You can hold it,” Brayden replied flatly.

  "I don't want to hold it!"

  I'd never heard Nick sound so panicked. Brayden ignored him and rekindled the fire, revealing Nick's horrified expression as he stared at a bag shifted on the ground before him.

  We all stared at the bag as the creature inside thrashed to break free. I shivered at the thought of it breaking out of the drawstrings that held the bag closed.

  I stepped forward, cautious of the dizziness that still threatened to topple me. "What he means, Nick, is that the creature can't harm you because you don't have a shadow."

  Nick's posture relaxed a little but he still made no move to pick up the bag.

  I turned to Brayden. “Can’t we get rid of it?”

  “No, we should take it if we can,” Matt spoke up. “Anything that can help us understand this place better, is a valuable resource.”

  “Is it such a good idea?” I didn’t like the thought of taking anything from the Valley. It might turn out to be something we regret.

  “It needs light to have any power," Tara reasoned. "We already know how to disable it.”

  “But it ...” I glanced at Brayden, unsure if I should continue. “Even hunters are vulnerable to it.”

  Everyone looked at him and he had to work hard to push the Instinct aside and join the conversation. “It's dangerous, but it can't kill me."

  The bag had been motionless for too long. I checked the ground around me. "Is it still in there?"

  Brayden sighed when no one else moved. He picked the bag up and shoved it into Nick’s hands. “It can’t hurt you,” he confirmed.

  The boy nodded but his mouth hung open as though he wanted to protest.

  “You don’t have to carry it if you don’t want to, Nick,” I said.

  “Ah ... no, it’s okay, I’ll carry it.” He pulled the string tight around the mouth of the bag and held it away from his body.

  Brayden turned back to the fire. At first working calmly to build it up but as we watched him, his movement became more erratic. He grabbed at dried leaves and branches, throwing them into the flames and frantically repositioning them until the fire roared to life.

  My shoulders tightened. I couldn't see his face but his Instinct had obviously taken over, and as far as I knew, there was only one creature fire could protect us from. Matt quickly realised the danger we were up against and pushed the children closer to the flames,

  We all huddled together but Brayden wouldn't rest. Pressure built in my chest as I worried about the approaching attack. A fire much smaller than this had hidden us from the reptile when we'd first entered the Valley. Although there were more of us, the size of the fire didn't
justify protection from just one reptile. There had to be more.

  I took Rachel's hand, reminding myself that although she hid it well, her fear was the strongest. "We'll be fine. The most important thing is to stay really still. These reptiles can't see in the light, so stay close to the flames and don’t move.”

  “Brayden had good reason for bagging that shadow sucker after all,” Tara noted.

  If the shadow sucker had been free, we might've been under attack by both at the same time. Our defences would have contradicted each other. Now, we could only pray there were no more than the one we’d already captured.

  A whip cracked far away in the night and I found myself hoping the cats would come to our aid. While the low thud of the reptiles’ feet ground the earth, Brayden tore long strips of bark from a tree and wrapped them around a thick branch.

  "Smother the bark in tree sap," Matt said, "It's flammable."

  Brayden hacked into the tree until it bled and Matt spun the edge of the branch until it was covered with sap. When they lowered the torch into the flames, it caught light easily and Brayden used it to start a second fire nearby.

  The reptiles weren't as stealthy as the cats and there was no mistaking their arrival. The scratch of their claws grew closer as they travelled over rocks by the river and the rasp of air rushing into their nostrils carried with the evening wind.

  Brayden positioned himself between the two fires, his torch in hand. The first reptile parted the trees as it peered into the clearing. On all fours, it was the same height as Brayden. He held the torch out with an impeccably steady hand but the reptile wasn't deterred by the flames. It leaned closer and its leg shot through the plants and pounded the earth with speed that made all of us lean back. It paused again; its eyes thin diamonds of black shifting in their sockets.

  Brayden lifted the torch higher. It snarled in response and jerked its head back, standing on its hind legs to tower above him. Its long neck whipped from side to side before it growled and took another step closer. My lungs ached from holding my breath but I was too scared to exhale.