Hunted

by Matt Mememaro

  It was part of why they were so successful when they came to the mainland. The Islanders would be able to survive in even the most rugged conditions. It was said they wrestled bears and killed them with their bare hands as a rite of passage. Gunthos had neither confirmed nor denied the fact. He was certainly big enough.

  Gareth looked up from his plate turning around frowning. “Mandel should be back.”

  “The wolf will take his time, little Hunter. They are patient creatures, much like you should be,” Gunthos said.

  “Mandel knows how long I give him to hunt,” Gareth said.

  “Mandel is a wolf. He does not understand the basis of time,” Gunthos said, beginning to get frustrated with his young companion.

  “I miss him,” Gareth said.

  A low howl rolled across the hills making the Hunters jump to their feet. Each of them but Gareth reached for their crossbows.

  “It’s them,” Lois said.

  “It sounds like Mandel,” Gareth said.

  “Trust me, lad, it’s not,” Gunthos said.

  “If it’s not Mandel, it has to be…”

  “It’s them, the ones we hunt. They’re here,” Abner said.

  7

  The White Ghosts

  The group of Hunters stood with their backs to the small campfire, watching for any sign of the unforgettable white fur of the wolves. Abner would never forget the first time the dark red eyes had met his, all those years ago. He feared them.

  Gareth eyed his surroundings. “Where are they?”

  “Far away for now,” Abner said. “Your wolf. Where is he?”

  “I wouldn’t have a clue,” Gareth said. “Mandel could be anywhere.”

  “I’m not fucking finding him,” Lois said looking out into the snow-covered wasteland.

  Without the sun, it was dangerous enough to navigate in this part of the world. Normal wolves and bears posed enough of a threat. While the Hunters night vision would help them, the predators of the wilds would be in control. With the increased risk of running into their most desired prey, Abner didn’t like their chances of finding Mandel alive.

  “It’s stupid to go out alone. You won’t find your wolf,” Gunthos said, lowering his crossbow, satisfied none of the other wolves were nearby.

  “What do you call them?” Gareth asked.

  “The wolves we’re hunting? White Ghosts. For the colour of their fur and they appear out of nowhere like ghosts. One day we can kill one and then not see or hear any for months on end. This is the first night in months we have heard them,” Abner said. “We have to make a kill tonight. We’re going out.”

  “As much as I didn’t want to,” Gunthos said. “You’re right Ab. We need the kill and take it back to the Huntrey. I’m ready to ride.”

  “As am I,” Lois said. She walked over to Mirabel. The horse neighed at her master’s touch.

  “I need to find Mandel, that’s reason enough for me,” Gareth said mounting his own beast. “What’s the plan, Toldar?”

  “You’ll be on your own, dangerous I know, but you need to find your wolf and we need to hunt. We should be loud enough that they’ll come for us giving you the time you need to find Mandel,” Abner said.

  “Thank you,” Gareth said.

  Abner looked to the sky, assessing it. “If you’re not back here by first light, we ride without you. No exceptions.”

  “Don’t fuck up this time,” Lois said.

  Abner pointed in the direction of the peaks in the north, heading back close to Etia. “That’s where Mandel went?”

  Gareth nodded. “He appeared to be going in that direction.”

  Two sudden growls ripped through the mountain air, sending chills up the Hunter’s spines. There was a howl from another wolf, closer than the last.

  “There’s more than one,” Lois said. “We could very well die tonight.”

  “Waiting for them to come to us, or taking the fight to them,” Gunthos said. “Those are your choices and I know which one I’m taking.”

  “It’s settled, let’s ride,” Abner said.

  As the Hunters travelled to the north through the mountains, Abner couldn’t help but feel nervous. The last time they had attempted to kill the White Ghosts in the darkness had ended badly. The ten Hunters of their party had quickly been reduced to five with two gravely injured. Freezing winds rose around the small party of Hunters as they pushed deeper into the mountain ranges.

  A bird chirped in a nearby tree, Abner flinched his finger nearly loosening a bolt at the harmless creature. Hairs on the back of his neck began to rise and not because of the cold. They were being followed. He spun again to find a wolf in the sights of his crossbow. It wasn’t one of the White Ghosts.

  This wolf was smaller, bleeding from several wounds across its face, an eye ripped from its socket. Mandel limped into view, one of his back legs dangling at an awkward angle.

  “Gareth, we’ve found your wolf,” Abner said. A lump rose in his throat.

  The look on Gareth’s face turned when he saw his companion broken and battered. The fire that once burned in Mandel’s eyes was now extinguished. As the beast drew closer it was clear that the wolf was dead on his feet. Massive claws had been raked across his side that now left his flank in a bloodied red mass, the cold air clotting the wounds.

  Gareth dismounted and sprinted to his wolf that collapsed in a heap of snow sending up puffs of white spray around him.

  “Help me!” Gareth said. Tears streamed down his face.

  Abner and Gunthos turned outwards, their crossbows ready while Lois went to assist Gareth. She kneeled beside him taking one look at the wolf, shaking her head. Mandel’s uneven breathing was a troubling sign.

  “He’s not going to make it,” Lois said.

  “He’s been through worse,” Gareth said. “He can make it.”

  Another ear-splitting howl tore through the cooling air. “Hurry it up!” Abner said. “They’re going to find us.”

  “I can’t leave him here!”

  “You’re going to have to. It’s either the wolf dies here and alone, or we all get our bones ground into the snow here. Your fucking choice, boy!” Gunthos said.

  Gareth looked up at the Islander in disgust. “You’ve never had a companion as close to this dying by your side. We’re not leaving him!”

  “I lost a brother to these Ghosts, don’t you tell me what I don’t know.”

  Another howl echoed around the hills, closer this time. The White Ghosts were on the hunt.

  “Lois, we’re going,” Abner said. “I’m not having them find us here.”

  “Ab,” Lois said. “We owe him.”

  “We owe him nothing,” Gunthos said. “He’s been nothing but a burden ever since we saved him in that inn. You coming with me, Ab?”

  “We don’t have the numbers to take on multiple ghosts,” he said.

  “I’m sorry,” Lois said. She’d made her decision. “I have to go.”

  She mounted Mirabel without another word and the three Hunters fled from the howls of the White Ghosts, leaving Gareth alone in the snow. Sorrow turned to anger as the Hunters became nothing more than shadows in the distance.

  “I will not bury you here and I will not rest until I have avenged you,” Gareth said into the dying wolf’s ear. “I’m sorry.” A flash of silver was all that passed between wolf and master one last time before Mandel groaned, now released from the pain he was in.

  Gareth began to lift the body of his best friend towards the back of his horse before hearing a growl behind him. He turned to see the yellow eyes of a much larger wolf staring into his own. This particular wolf didn’t have snow white fur like the other Hunters had described. Instead it was slightly gray. Dried blood covered its entire face.

  The Hunter froze, his fingertips inches from the hilt of his sword. The White Ghost stalked around him, the beast’s giant frame preventing it from lowering itself too far.

  “You don’t walk like Mandel, are you really a wolf? Or
are you something else?”

  The Ghost moved its eyes to Mandel and back to Gareth before it put one paw forward, sinking gently into the snow. Without hesitation, Gareth ripped his sword from its scabbard, holding it out in front of him. Before the giant wolf it looked like nothing more than a toothpick. The beast all but ignored Gareth and now had its sights set on Mandel, slinking over to the dead animal before securing its kill in its massive jaws.

  Gareth backed away, not willing to get in the way of the larger creature. Under its chin, Gareth could see blood, a mark no doubt left by Mandel. He rushed forward in a mad frenzy, taking advantage of the preoccupied monster. Even with the fresh corpse of Mandel in its mouth the Ghost was nimble. A second later it was snapping at Gareth as he ran past.

  “Gareth, what the fuck are you doing! Run!”

  The Islander rode forward firing a multitude of bolts as he came, the White Ghost turning to protect its head from the onslaught. Abner rode into fray, his sword swinging as Nagor stormed past the wolfs head. The blade made contact forcing a howl of pain from the wolf’s throat. Lois let loose a savage roar, one that rivaled Gunthos in ferocity as she leapt onto the Ghost’s back.

  Her broadsword swung through the air, the blade singing in the cold wind as it arched down into the head of the White Ghost. With a twist of the massive blade, the wolf slumped down, dead. Lois looked up with a vicious smile. “Got it!”

  “Right grab it’s ears or paw and let’s get out of here,” Abner said. He looked satisfied with their work.

  “Why did you come back?” Gareth asked as he slid his sword back into its sheath.

  “Thought we’d use you as bait. It worked out pretty well,” Gunthos said. “We’ve hunted these things for the last eight years so we know a thing or two about them. Your wolf presented the perfect opportunity.”

  “You used me as bait?” Gareth asked

  “Get on your horse and let’s move,” Gunthos said. “Lois you nearly done with the bounty?”

  “Just about. This bastard is tougher than the last one we had to cut up,” Lois said. “Surprised my sword got through its skull.”

  “Hurry it up, I don’t want to be caught by two of them,” Abner said. He glanced around the mountains. The sun was setting at a rapid pace now leaving an orange glow on the snow. “Gunthos did you manage to spot any caves on our way here?”

  “Nothing substantial. The horses are going to have to run into the early hours of the night if we’re to put any distance between us and the Ghosts. If we can get out of these hills the better it’ll be for us.”

  Two more howls rose in the wind causing the Hunters to ready their weapons. Human screams followed the beastly cries seconds later. Gareth began to look sick, his skin flushing whiter than the snow he stood on.

  “We need to help them.”

  “Fuck off, if we help them we’ll die all the same,” Gunthos said. “We were lucky enough to trap this one with you.”

  “They’re already dead,” Abner said.

  “They don’t sound dead to me,” Gareth said.

  Abner turned onto the young Hunter he had taken under his wing with a savage frown. “You haven’t been a Hunter long, have you?”

  “A year, longer than some,” Gareth said.

  “You need to learn there are some things in life you can’t fix. This is one of them. We got our kill, we can go home now. The Ghosts should only be engaged on terms that benefit us, not them!”

  “What about those people? They’re my people! I can’t let them die!”

  At last the humans fell silent and the Ghosts sent out one final call to the rest of their pack. Abner turned to the Islander.

  “What do you hear, Gunthos?”

  “The Ghosts, feeding, Ab. There’s no people down there anymore.”

  Abner turned back to face Gareth. “And you?”

  “Nothing,” he said.

  “Right, I’m ready to go,” Lois said. She rose from beside the Ghost, barely passing its shoulder. “Hopefully that should cover our escape. They’ll know we did it and they’ll follow us.”

  “When that one appeared, there was something wrong with it,” Gareth said. A raised eyebrow from Abner made him continue. “It seemed more intelligent than other animals, almost human, somehow.”

  “They’re on par with the Vampires. The only two creatures on Taagras we can’t hunt with normal human weapons. Do you have any idea how much that frustrates me as a Seeker?” Lois said.

  “Mandel was my Seeker and they took him from me,” Gareth said. “I won’t rest until they’re all dead.”

  Abner smiled underneath his hat. “Good, stay with us and we’ll see more of them dead. Let’s go.”

  8

  Mistrust

  The Tyrain Huntrey was a welcome sight after being away for so long. In the month they had been gone nothing in the landscape had changed. Sentries still patrolled the wall that lined the base of the mountain, their covered heads visible above the battlements far high above. As they saw the Hunters below them riding slowly towards the gate, they began to raise it, the steel clunking and churning behind the wall.

  “What you’re not going to let me in?” Gareth asked. He nearly collected the wall that was invisible to him.

  “Gunner, care to do the honors?” Lois asked. “I let the last one in.”

  Gunthos turned his horse back towards the young Hunter that was waiting for them. “I suppose so, milady,” he said.

  Abner and Lois tilted their heads in the direction of the sentries as they passed under the wall only to be stopped by Talia. A spark lit in her eye and her mouth curved into a wicked smile as Gunthos came into view.

  “You’re finally back took you long enough. Did you find them?”

  “We found one, and a new friend,” Abner said pointing to Gareth.

  “Alilletian?” Talia asked.

  “Of course,” Abner said. “He seemed to know what he was doing, just couldn’t get the execution right. He’s from Renor, but I’ll ask the Board if he can stay on with us.”

  Talia nodded, casting her eyes over Abner’s shoulder to look at the boy. “Alright, it’s got my vote. You best go report back to the Board, I’ve got a patrol heading out soon, but I’ll be back just after dark.”

  “How’s Alex?” Lois asked.

  “Good, he returned from his hunt last week. Should be in the tavern just before dusk. You know how he is these days.” The collected Hunters nodded. “I want you tonight, big boy,” she said. She licked her lips at Gunthos.

  “Consider me accepting your offer,” he said. “I’ll see you tonight, beautiful.”

  “Ab, don’t we have things to do or are we just going to stand around here all day?” Lois said.

  “Yeah, I don’t know about you but I’d like to get some food,” Gareth said.

  Abner rolled his eyes, flicking the reigns of Nagor forward. The horse trotted forwards, following the path that led up to the main Huntrey tower rested atop the plateau. Birds swooped low overhead, one diving too far, hitting the invisible barrier. The bird collapsed in a heap, never to rise again.

  The further the Hunters rode up the mountain side, the louder the activities of the Huntrey became. Their ears were filled with the sounds of swords being bashed together in combat drills rung around the plateau as did the sound of weapons being forged. As they rode into the stables, Abner paused to look out over the plain below. He imagined the Vampire hordes gathering below him thousands of years ago when Tal’davin had led them here and how terrified the first Hunters would have been.

  Once Nagor was attended to, the Hunters headed in the direction of the Huntrey tower, encountering many numerous faces, including several fresh ones. They raised their heads in order to look at Gareth who passed most of them with a shallow nod.

  “Why are they all looking at me?” he asked.

  “You’re new, they’ll get over it,” Abner said.

  Gunthos laughed, interrupting their conversation. “What the fuck is Jay
de doing?”

  A young novice, no older than the age of eight was hanging upside down from a large tree, an arrow clinging onto the end of a branch almost thirty feet above the ground. Her arm were spinning wildly and most other Hunters seemed to ignore her, seemingly fixated on Gareth. Lois ran over to the child, leaping into the air to snatch the child from the grasp of the tree.

  “Forget about the arrow,” Lois said.

  “But that was my favorite!” the child said.

  “We’re Hunters, we don’t have these things in our lives for long,” Lois said. “Take better care of it and yourself next time.”

  “You love her, don’t you Ab?” Gunthos asked. “When are you going to do it?”

  Abner slid his hand to the small pouch that was hooked underneath his belt, tucked safely away from the rest of the world. “Soon, just with everything that’s been going on there hasn’t been a right time.”

  “Get your shit together and do it soon. Lois speaks the truth. We never have anything for long,” Gunthos said. “And let me know beforehand so I can help you with it, you oaf.”

  “What do you mean?” Abner said. “I’ve got more grace than you with a sword or axe of any kind.”

  “You’ll turn back into that little kid, like you used to be around her. Don’t worry, I’ve got your back,” Gunthos said.

  “Glad to hear it,” Abner said.

  “Ab, we better hurry up and get to the Board. They’d be expecting us,” Lois said as she walked over with a grin on her face.

  Instead of following her instructions, Abner strode to her and embraced her with a tight grip. “I haven’t been able to do that for a long time.”

  Lois laughed. “We fucked in the tent before we fought the wolves. Hardly that long ago, Ab.”

  Gunthos groaned in the background. “Get on with it already.”

  “Get on with what?” Lois asked.

  “Don’t worry,” Abner said. “When we’ve got time I’ll have to ask you something.”