Shadow Hunters

by Anna Hub

“What was that like?”

  “I don’t know. It seemed like it should have been hard to get my bearings. I’d be completely aware and then suddenly I would be in a different place—”

  “But you always knew where you were,” I finished.

  “Just instinct, I guess.”

  “Of course.” I chuckled.

  Eventually he stopped me. “You know, I’d be perfectly happy for you to come with me but if you do, you won’t make it to the village before nightfall.”

  I longed for the time when we could be alone again. All the restlessness I’d felt when it was just the two of us was what I missed the most now. I was so incredibly overloaded and exhausted. I couldn’t wait to lie uselessly by the river again.

  “You were the one who insisted you needed to go back to the village.”

  “I know.” I moaned. “But I’m stalling because even though I know I have to go, I don’t really want to.”

  “No one said you have to.” He pulled me closer and ran a hand over the shadow on my back.

  “Brayden, I made the deal, I have to go.”

  "Or you could just come with me."

  I smiled as my hands rested against his shoulders. That sounded like a much better idea. I closed my eyes, imagining lying in our old forest shelter alone with him. There had been moments in the Valley where I didn't know if we'd ever be right back where we were. And in truth, we never would be. The past week had changed us and everything would be different now. I knew him better. His strength had been evident for a long time but I found his weakness more endearing. It didn’t matter that he could physically fight his way out of anything the Valley could throw at him, he needed me in there with him or he wouldn’t have made it back out. And that felt right.

  He scooped my chin up until my lips reached his. His hand smoothed over my shadow sending ripples through me and I hung my arms around his neck. He let his pack slip from his shoulder and picked me up, his lips parting mine, his kiss deepening.

  I gripped his shoulders tight, the nerves in my stomach settling into the good kind.

  "Come with me," he whispered.

  I buried my head into his neck. "I wish I could."

  He kissed me again as though it might help to persuade me. I pulled away and breathed deeply. I shook my head and let my weight hang heavy until he set me down again.

  “I miss you,” I sighed.

  “I’ll be waiting for you at home.” He held my hips tight.

  “I like the sound of that.” I let my hands move from his shoulders down to his hands.

  “Go on then.”

  I stepped back. The sooner I went, the sooner it would be over.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tara moved easily with Ethel's herbs to dull the pain. Her ankle was still strapped with her shadow and she used Matt’s support to limp her way to the front of the mountains.

  It wasn't the first time I'd walked this path in anticipation but that didn't make it any easier. The sentries would have seen us coming but they were yet to show their faces.

  The majority of the villagers may not approve of our mission but Tara was sure that without Brayden, we were at no risk of harm.

  Matt called out a warning as we reached the mountain passage and one of the sentries stepped forward. He looked familiar but I didn’t know his name. He clasped Matt’s hand before he threw his arms around Tara.

  “Good to see you, Damien.” She smiled.

  “So the Valley?”

  “I wouldn’t recommend it as a holiday destination.” Tara grinned.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I rolled my ankle. It'll be fine once it’s rested.”

  Damien nodded and wiped dark hair from his face as he glanced back at the other sentries forming a line behind him. “Alana has set the instructions. No one is allowed to talk to you. I can’t ask you about anything you saw in there, I just have to take you straight to the cave.”

  I examined the faces of those behind him but they didn't have the same warmth Damien held.

  Matt frowned. “That's pretty offensive considering all the years we’ve served. We would never do anything to risk the safety of the villagers.”

  Tara took Matt’s arm. “This is Alana we’re talking about. Of course she’s reacting this way.”

  Robert came forward and looked straight at Damien as though the rest of us weren’t here. “You were told not to talk with them.”

  “You’re just going to act like you don’t know us, Robert?” Tara asked.

  “You brought it upon yourselves.”

  She rolled her eyes. “We did it because we believed in him and we were right to take that chance.”

  “I’m just doing what I’ve been ordered to do.” Robert crossed his arms.

  Tara raised her eyebrows at Damien but he only shrugged.

  "Let's go." Robert motioned to Rachel and the children. "They can’t come with us."

  “They’re children, we can’t leave them out here,” I spoke up as Rachel glared at me. She hated me but she still saw it as my responsibility to deliver her to safety.

  “No one’s allowed in the village unless they are fully transferred.”

  “If they go anywhere, it will be back to the Origin. They’re not going to turn into hunters in the next twenty four hours,” Tara reasoned.

  Rachel’s eyes widened but I shook my head in an effort to calm her. “They're children. They'll never be hunters.”

  “You’ve only been here a few months, you don’t know anything about it,” Robert snapped.

  “I think Selena knows more about hunters than anyone else in this world,” Matt jumped in.

  Damien sighed. “I'll stay here and watch them. You know you can trust me. Alana insists they're not to be allowed in the village.”

  So far all the orders seemed to have come from Alana. There'd been no mention of the other elders. I checked to see if Matt or Tara were going to protest. But they'd told me before that passing shadows wouldn't be allowed in the village. I had no choice but to go along with it. Ellie and Ashley would oblige any orders but Rachel wouldn't be so easy. As soon as I turned to face her, she shook her head.

  I took her shoulders until she looked into my eyes. “Remember what I told you about your shadow? We'll come back for you before the night is over.”

  Damien wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. His smile was warm enough to convince anyone. “I’ll take care of you.”

  She threw me one more blazing look before Damien led her into the safety of the rocks with the others.

  “Let’s go.” Robert continued through the mountain pass.

  --*--

  It was nearly dark by the time we passed the first wooden carving. I expected to feel less alien with Matt and Tara by my side but when the faces turned to stare, I felt like they'd disappeared and I was walking that path alone once again. Robert continued through the centre of the village, past the scattered logs where trials were held and to the steps of the mountain cave.

  “Wait here.” He raced up the stairs and behind the grass curtain that blocked the cave entrance.

  Tara took the opportunity to turn back to the village. She waved but the man turned his back. She sighed. “This is ridiculous.”

  “People are nervous, that’s all,” Matt responded.

  Robert appeared at the top of the steps and motioned for us to join him.

  Matt hoisted Tara onto his back so she didn’t need to climb the stairs with her bad ankle and I followed them to the top. Robert held the grass aside, but once we were inside the cave, he didn't come with us.

  Alex waited in the first chamber. This time, she didn't meet my gaze as she led us through to meet with the elders. We turned at the fork in the path and as we entered the second chamber, we found the three elders sitting around the table with three empty chairs.

  Wesley and Elizabeth were barely more than strangers to me, but Alana’s face was burnt into my memory. Dark hair hung long and flat making her skin look parti
cularly pale. I didn’t want to be caught staring at her for too long but there seemed to be stress lines in her face that weren't there before. She studied me as I sat down, my jaw muscles twitching involuntarily as her dark eyes narrowed.

  “The deal you made was unauthorised. We won’t be honouring it.” She glared at me.

  Blood raced through my veins, caused by fear or anger, I wasn't entirely sure.

  “It was reckless to return to the Valley—with or without a hunter’s aid—we would never have endorsed that kind of mission," Elizabeth spoke gently. "Still, we're thankful you survived it.”

  The truth was, the deal had only been made to stop the rebel group advancing on Brayden but it developed a purpose of its own.

  “We didn’t want to make the deal but the group that came after us, were coming for blood. It surprised me that kind of mission was endorsed,” Tara said.

  “It wasn’t, I can assure you,” Elizabeth replied.

  I tilted my head slightly to see Alana's reaction. I wanted to take note of her expression, posture, spoken responses and anything else that might help me figure out why she had such an effect on me. I had a physical reaction to her presence. I hadn’t noticed the first time I was here, but now it was familiar, and she looked at me as though she knew I was onto her.

  Wesley drew his hands together. “You’ve been here long enough to know a deal like that couldn’t be made without a vote from the villagers, Tara.”

  “So a rebel group can attack fellow shadows without taking a vote first, but they’re not authorised to make a deal?” Tara crossed her arms.

  The elders straightened, remaining silent for a moment before Wesley continued, “Of course we would have stopped them if we’d known what they were doing.”

  I didn’t believe them and judging by the look on Tara’s face, she didn’t either.

  Matt took a more calculated approach. “In the end, it doesn’t really matter whether a deal was made or not. The results of our mission are too astounding to be ignored.”

  “What are the results?” Wesley seemed impatient and wondered if they were just going to find a reason to reject our request.

  Matt didn’t let it put him off. “In the last two weeks, we've discovered more about the Valley of the Hunters than anyone else has been able to learn in the last hundred years. We rescued four humans but lost one to the Origin when we left the Valley. The other three are in Damien’s care at the mountain pass.”

  “No one can be brought into the village unless they are completely transferred. You won't have permission to showcase them to the villagers,” Alana said plainly.

  “Maybe not, but Tara and I have spent sixteen years in this village between us, surely our record of service proves our words can be believed without the villagers needing to see the newcomers. Or if need be, Robert can testify.”

  Alana sighed. “Well, for some reason, you've shown more loyalty to this woman and her hunter, than you’ve shown to us. Since their arrival you've turned against a decision that was made according to our rules and took matters into your own hands. Ever since you made that choice, you erased any debt the village may have owed you.”

  “The choice to free him wasn't made alone.”

  “That's another matter entirely.” Wesley quickly shut down that response.

  What was he so desperate to keep private?

  “The people who helped you rescue him, did it with the intention that he leave our home and never return. His attack on Joseph proved it was the wrong decision,” Wesley added.

  I couldn’t help feeling defensive. They were twisting things to suit themselves. “Brayden didn’t attack those men, he was only defending himself.”

  Matt held an arm out as if to prevent any retaliation, keeping his tone even as he spoke, “Brayden is different from the rest of us. We’re not trying to deny that. And we agree it's necessary to keep him separated from the village, but there are also reasons to form some kind of alliance with him.”

  “Unfortunately it’s not possible. He’s already proven to be too great a risk.”

  “You haven’t even heard our reason yet,” Matt said calmly.

  Wesley nodded. “Very well, go ahead.”

  “He can teach us how to protect ourselves from hunters. Whenever one gets inside the village, they're impossible to kill. They wipe out so many of our population in a single assault. If he shows us how to kill them, it will save lives in the long run.”

  “You make it sound as though he's willing to run tutorials.” Alana's eyes widened as she shook her head. “We all know hunters aren’t like that.”

  “I would ask him to teach Tara and me separately. We'll be the ones to pass that knowledge onto the sentries,” Matt replied.

  “No,” Alana blurted out. “It’s not possible. We can’t risk it. He’s too dangerous.”

  Tara leaned forward. “This is a democracy, right?”

  Alana stared back, her lips tightening. “We won’t sit here and watch you destroy everything we’ve worked for in this village.”

  “You’re worried they might agree to it?”

  "Of course not.”

  Elizabeth hadn’t said anything. She looked down at the table as though she wasn't sure which side to take.

  Wesley rubbed his face. He glanced around the group, his eyes settling on each of us before he reached Tara. I could feel the power of her Manipulation burning through her eyes. Wesley shifted as though attempting to resist then he cleared his throat. “The matter will be taken to trial.”

  Alana's hands shook as soon as he spoke and I knew then, she would stop at nothing to get what she wanted.

  Matt nodded but he seemed to understand there was still a risk the elders could find a way to turn this back on us. “Just so you know, if you try and collect votes to end Brayden's life again, you won’t find anyone capable of doing it.”

  Tara cleared her throat. “He’s not like other hunters. His Enhancement is stronger but it’s his human understanding that makes him impossible to beat.”

  The elders considered the offer in silence. Elizabeth looked worried but Alana’s face was set in a stony mask. As though she'd paralysed it and couldn’t show expression when she needed to.

  “You can go now." Elizabeth stood to lead us out. "The trial will be held in the morning to give you time to prepare your speech.”

  Wesley and Alana remained in the chamber as Elizabeth walked through the narrow hallway.

  “You know I respect you, Elizabeth, but we were exiled for our involvement in Brayden’s escape, why weren’t you?” Tara whispered.

  “Because Wesley and Alana agreed to keep it secret. If the villagers knew, I would be stood down. You should keep it quiet too, if you hope to have anyone working in your favour.” Elizabeth rushed her words before we reached the chamber where Alex waited.

  I was shocked. No one had mentioned the fact that she was involved in our escape. Why would she do something like that? It didn’t make sense. Why would Alana and Wesley keep that secret? She'd gone against their wishes. Surely they would have wanted her title taken away. Something was wrong with this place.

  Alex lifted her head to look at Elizabeth as we reached the front chamber. But she still kept her eyes away from the rest of us.

  “Take them to their old hut," Elizabeth instructed. "There'll be a trial in the morning.” She turned away without saying goodbye

  It was already dark outside and the village was lit by torches. We reached the bottom of the stairs and Tara told Alex we didn’t need a guide to find their old home.

  “It's not so you can find your way. It's so everyone else knows you've spoken with the elders.” She hurried ahead so Tara couldn't say anymore to her.

  “I'll give the speech at trial,” Tara muttered as we walked. “And we need to spend the night talking to people. Telling them of the good things Brayden has done. There are a lot of details we won’t be able to share during the proceedings, but they could really help to tip the balance in ou
r favour.”

  “They’ll let you do that?”

  “They can’t stop me.” She grinned.

  “Then just tell me what to do.”

  “I don’t think you can be of much help, Selena. The people here don’t know you and I doubt they would let you get close enough to speak to them, let alone convince them of your partner’s innocence.”

  I was disappointed but I knew she was right. It was going to be another long night as I lay in waiting but at least this time, I knew Brayden was safe.

  Chapter Twenty One

  The night passed slowly as I lay in the silence of the hut. I felt bad for telling Rachel I’d be back by nightfall. I shouldn't have promised something that was so out of my control. She already hated me because of what happened with Nick and from this point on, I felt sure she would use anything she could against me.

  There was a lot of work to do. Not just with Rachel and the children, but with the whole concept of shadow rescue. I was going to need all the resources I could gather but I was determined to find a way to make it work. I only hoped Tara and Matt knew the villagers well enough to win this trial.

  The air felt too still in the hut. I tried fanning myself but eventually gave up and moved closer to the entrance to catch the breeze. Torches glowed around each shelter and people gathered around fires to eat. Their voices grew louder as they shared their stories and I ached to be amongst friends again. Even if we won this trial, I wasn’t going to find a place in the village, which was fine. After the meeting with the elders, I was beginning to wonder about their dark secrets and how deep they ran. But I did want to feel secure. At least I’d seen enough of Tara and Matt to know their true character. Even if things didn’t work out with the alliance, I could still call them friends.

  “Is Selena in here?”

  I jumped at the sound of my name while a guard told my visitor that no one was allowed through.

  "She has some injuries from the Valley. I need to check on them.”

  I finally recognised Ethel's voice and relaxed a little.