Hunted

by Matt Mememaro

  “Tell me where Abner Toldar is!”

  The man’s voice was barely audible. “Who?”

  Lois slapped him across the face, her hand sounding as loud as the cannon outside. “A Hunter, a high-profile prisoner who would have been sent to the most isolated work unit! He would have come from Alilletia in the past two weeks!”

  “Cant... breathe.”

  “What?”

  “He needs air, Lois,” Memphis said.

  “Of course,” Lois said. She relaxed her grip. “Tell me where he is.”

  “I have a record here still of every prisoner to come in from Alilletia in the last two weeks. If you would let me go get it, I will able to be of assistance.”

  Lois drew her sword and poked it into his stomach. “Turn around slowly and show me, don’t try anything stupid.”

  “I’m an old man, I’m no threat to you,” he said. “But please follow me.”

  He walked down the furthest aisle on the left and pulled a leather-bound book from the middle shelf. The old man opened it and began turning through the pages. “Toldar, wasn’t it? Malvrok?”

  “Malvrok Toldar was shipped in here two weeks ago?” Lois asked. She snatched the book from the old man. “Eight years ago? But he died!”

  “I assure you my records are most up to date. If there is no date of death on that page, the prisoner is either still alive or has died in the past week!”

  “There’s no date of death,” Lois said. “And where’s Abner?”

  “It looks like they’re in the same work area. Section F-7 is where you’ll find them. If you go down into the tunnels, I’m afraid you’ll get very likely lost. I have a map if you would find that of use.”

  “Give it to me,” Lois said.

  “It’s on the table,” the old man said.

  “Brilliant, thank you, we’ll be on our way.” Lois rammed her sword into his gut, leaving the old man gasping for air.

  She snatched the table and walked outside, Memphis right behind her. They turned left and saw guards running. Zarazenih continued to tear through their ranks, his claws and entire head covered in fresh blood. He turned his head to the side responding to Lois’ whistle and paused tearing the head off a guard he’d had in his mouth. He began to transform back to his human form.

  “They taste like shit,” he said. The wolf put a finger into his mouth and picked out a piece of a helmet. “Metal doesn’t go down easily. What did you find?”

  “We’ve got a map and a location of where Abner is. It seems your uncle is also still alive,” Lois said.

  “Malvrok? But he’s been dead for years,” Zarazenih said.

  “We’ll find out,” Lois said. “Our source told us he’d be with Abner. We need to get down into the tunnels.”

  “It’ll be next to impossible to get out, do we get the rest of the group to come and search with us?” Zarazenih asked.

  “No, Gunthos and Tori don’t have the sight, we both do and I’m sure your wolf side has better vision than the normal human’s,” Lois said. “We need to get in and out as quickly as possible.”

  “I don’t think that the other group are in any trouble,” Memphis said. He pointed to the ramparts.

  Gunthos had now moved a second cannon into position beside the first and continued to fire both, screaming like a mad man. Maxton dueled with guards on the staircases and Tori rained death from above with her crossbow, ducking behind cover as the Lock’s archers fired back.

  Prisoners in their hundreds ran free, charging lines of guards with their pickaxes and shovels in hand. Fires burned from buildings that Gunthos had destroyed, torches once in their wall sockets now catching on floorboards or curtains.

  “We need to hurry,” Lois said. “Gunthos was kind enough to open our entrance to getting my fiancé back.”

  The two Hunters and the wolf moved towards the gaping hole that opened out of the side of a mountain. The smells of salt and shit greeted them wafting into their nostrils. Gunthos waved at them from the wall and moved one cannon to cover the entrance. Lois drew a vial of blood from her pocket, stabbed herself in the arm, pouring the blood into the wound and watched as her world turned red before her. The darkness in the hole became light as the group made their way inside.

  28

  The Doctor

  Abner couldn’t get Malvrok’s screams out of his head. The memories he had buried years ago, from the first time he’d picked up a sword through to the sight of the burning fortress inside the Tyrian Forest were all coming back to him. He hadn’t thought about it since his days with the Black Shards, and now each memory was as fresh as if it had only happened yesterday.

  Darkness encroached upon him once again when the jailor past him and Abner was left alone holding the pickaxe in his hands. The irons wrapped around his wrists and legs kept him weighed down and he could only move at a slower pace. But he needed to get to Malvrok.

  He tested the weight and the restriction the chains gave him by moving the pickaxe over his head. With a sword the movements would be easier, but this was all he had. The only way the pickaxe would be effective was with a slashing motion.

  “Jailor, I need assistance!”

  The torch the jailor carried blinded him to anything in the darkness and he stepped forward moving closer to Abner. The Hunter crowed and waited until he was just outside arm’s reach. He swung the pickaxe with all the force he could muster, bring it crashing down through the jailor’s head. His head exploded from the pressure, the torch dropping to the dirt, being snuffed immediately. Abner pushed blood through his veins to his eyes switching on his Vampire sight once again.

  Other jailors had heard the disturbance and they looked around to see the torch hit the ground. Abner allowed himself a smirk. With no light and even still in his chains picking off each guard would be child’s play. He turned around again and bought the pick down on the chains that kept him restricted, tied to the iron ball and he clawed his leg restraints off, ripping them in two. Now he was left with the two chains strapped around his wrists.

  “What’s going on here?” one of the jailors called out into the darkness. The only thing he could see were Abner’s red glowing eyes.

  Abner lashed out, the chains wrapping around the jailor bringing him closer. He let out a cry of confusion and shock before Abner leapt into the air, his knee connecting with the jailor’s chin. He fell backwards and didn’t get up. More torches came down the steep towards him at a rapid pace.

  Each man saw a glint of steel in the fire before the chain wrapped around their throats, pulling them to the Hunter. He flung one man off the side of the path, his screams falling with him until he hit the ground meters below. The other ended up with a rock in the place of his head, his skull beaten into the mound beside a prisoner as he dug.

  Abner grabbed the pickaxe again and walked between prisoners striking them free of their chains. Most of them looked as unkempt as Malvrok and looked as if they had been here just as long. Those that had been crouching or sitting stood and stared into the darkness.

  “What are you waiting for!” Abner asked. “Take your picks and see yourselves to safety! Fight for your lives!”

  As one the prisoners began to move, surging up the hill like a wave, charging headfirst towards the pickpockets of light that represented the jailors. One by one Abner watched as they were snuffed out, and the clanging of iron on iron meant more prisoners were being freed. He rounded on where Malvrok had been only moments ago, his scent still fresh. Abner left his pickaxe behind and followed the trail up the slope.

  Chains dangling by his side, Abner descended into the chaos, striking out at any jailors or any prisoners that came near. Malvrok’s scent was lit up for him and he continued to dive deeper into the tunnels. He left the prisoners here alone, leaving them to their own devices, only pausing to break the necks of the jailor’s as he snuck up behind them.

  The tunnel narrowed and Abner found himself inside a room covered in blood from the floor to the ceiling. A body
lay strewn on a slab, disemboweled by the hatchet that hung overhead. He heard screams from another room and he raced around the corner to find Malvrok strung up, his limbs left to dangle in the air.

  One masked jailor had a dagger dug into his gut and a small black object in the other. Abner raced forward, swinging the chains around his body before flinging them forward. One chain cracked into his spine, whilst the other wrapped around his neck, taking his legs out from underneath him. The man sprung to his feet, reversed the knife grip in his hand and stared Abner down.

  “Are you the Doctor?” Abner asked.

  The jailor cocked his head to the side, assessing Abner. He took a step back and lifted one of the braziers off the wall. “I am, what concern is that to you, prisoner? You’re next.”

  “Usually when someone takes the time to go out of their way and hurt someone I care about, I’ll take my time to find a way to make them suffer,” Abner said.

  With a sharp cry that sounded almost like a bark, the Doctor leapt forward, stabbing at the air with his dagger. Abner stepped out of the way, tripping the jailor with a chain. He sprawled forwards into the dirt. Abner brought the chain down where he has had been, but the Doctor was fast.

  He was back on his feet and struck forward, an overhand right almost connecting with the Hunter. Abner stepped forward, forgoing the chains and parried a follow up strike from the Doctor, his own connecting with the collarbone. The Doctor stumbled and Abner hit again, his power too much for the mortal human. The collarbone cracked under the third strike and the Doctor fell to the floor.

  “Stay down,” Abner said. He walked over to his uncle. “Malvrok, are you alright? Need to stop the bleeding.”

  “Fuck off me,” he said. “Get the fuck away!”

  “I’m trying to help you!”

  Abner heard the knife being scraped off the floor, but he turned too late. The dagger came down in his left shoulder and he swiped madly at the Doctor. The backhand caught the jailor in the side of the face and sent him sprawling. This time he wasn’t fast to recover. His head smashed into the dirt and Abner grabbed a handful of his hair sitting down on his chest.

  Abner wrenched the knife from his shoulder and thrust it into the Doctor’s stomach, moving it several inches either side of the entry point. The Doctor cried out, his arms flailing hardly phasing Abner as he went to work.

  He removed the knife from its original point and pushed it through the Doctor’s knee caps, once again moving it several inches to either side to tear and the tendons and to leave permanent damage. Abner then got up and went to remove Malvrok from his bonds.

  “Fuck off, why can’t you just leave me alone!”

  Abner pulled back his fist and made a quick sharp jab into Malvrok’s temple. His eyes immediately rolled back in his head and he was out cold. Abner cut him down from his restraints and turned back to the Doctor who had tried to crawl away.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Abner grabbed him by the foot and dragged him around to here Malvrok had hung. “I told you this is what would happen. Why are you surprised?”

  “Please spare me, I have a wife and child I have to provide for,” the Doctor said.

  “You should have thought about that before you start tying up my family members and started using them for sport,” Abner said.

  He grabbed a fresh piece of rope and tied it around the Doctor’s leg before hoisting him into the air, tying him to the suspension piece. Abner then grabbed a second and repeated the same with his other leg, leaving his arms dangling and the blood rushing to his head. The blood trickling from his wounds running up his body rather than down, adding to the discomfort. Abner knelt to pick Malvrok up and threw him over his lifeless body over his shoulder.

  “You can’t just leave me here like this!”

  Abner paused. “You’re right.” He placed Malvrok gently back down onto the floor and picked up the knife again. He examined the Doctor hanging upside down. “But what state do I leave you in?”

  Abner slashed out with the knife, and the Doctor’s mask was torn in half, falling neatly on either side of his face. He smiled weakly at the Hunter and a second later Abner’s foot connected with his face. Abner felt the blood spurt out onto his foot as it left his face, and then continued with the knife.

  He tore open the Doctor’s shirt, not being careful with the knife, ripping flesh as he cut through the fabric. With each cut the Doctor would jerk violently trying to escape the pain. Abner then worked on his legs, opening the Doctor’s pants half on him in nothing more than a few pieces of tattered rawhide. The man now bled from over a hundred small cuts, Abner’s work with the knife messy and uncaring. It looked like the work of an amateur.

  “That’s how I will leave you.”

  He turned to leave, picked Malvrok up from the floor. Abner hoisted his uncle onto his shoulder and ignored the screams and pleads of the dying man suspended in the room behind him.

  29

  Escape

  With Malvrok still on his shoulder, Abner now searched for a way out of the hole. Each way he turned led to a dead end, filled with more prisoners and more guards. Going up in the Lock’s tunnels could mean he would eventually find himself at another dead later down the path.

  Abner moved slowly through the tunnel system, avoiding the guards when he could, often stopping and ducking behind the nearest rock. Due to the slaves yet to be unchained there was a constant clanging of steel on rock or thud as the chains hit the dirt. The jailors paid no attention to him as they passed, unable to barely see their hands stretched out in front of them.

  Time dragged on, as did the painful movements of sneaking Malvrok silently past the guards. His uncle started to grow heavy, Abner put him down to relax his shoulder and to consider a plan. Malvrok was in no state of mind to don the garb of a jailor to see himself freed, the man barely wanted to be touched when he was conscious. They would reach the outside and if it was day, and be thrown straight back into the cells.

  A yell came from up ahead, the rebellion he had started hadn’t reached this far into the tunnels yet. No prisoners could be heard shouting for their freedom, but those around Abner now looked up at the sounds. Through his Vampire sight, Abner saw jailors falling to a ranged assault, crossbow bolts catching them unawares. Further down the tunnel he could make out three Hunters coming towards him.

  “There he is!” Lois said. “Nowhere near where he was meant to be. Abner!”

  Abner waved at the group, gesturing them over. Lois fired her crossbow at the final jailor and he slumped to a heap on the ground. There was only fifty meters now between her and Abner and she ran to him. He picked her up by the waist, not caring what he was covered in, dirt, shit, and blood prevalent. among them. She kissed him with a fire, they’d been separate far too long.

  “I love you, I missed you,” she said. She kept repeating herself.

  “You finally came for me,” he said.

  “I couldn’t in Alilletia, my hands were tied,” Lois said. “Gareth had too much control and he’s been imprisoned at the Huntrey.”

  “You didn’t bring him here,” Abner said. “He betrayed us and the Huntrey. He should be left here to rot.”

  “You’re more important at moment. Holy shit! Is that Mal?” Lois asked.

  “Yeah, he’s been driven mad by this place,” Abner said.

  “I will carry him if you like brother,” Zarazenih said. Abner nodded his agreement. “I can also remember the route we took. It won’t be long until you’re home. We just need to fight our way out first.”

  Following Zarazenih’s guide the group found their way to the surface, the sunlight blinding Abner as they emerged from the tunnel. Memphis tore off a piece of his shirt and gave it for Abner to cover his eyes whilst they adjusted to the sunlight that now burned across the Lock. Gunthos, Tori and Maxton had long since ceased firing, what guards that hadn’t been caught in their massacre were hiding inside what few buildings remained.

  The Hunters had left th
eir mark in scaring the Lock, and the tunnel group now passed the mostly demolished town to well within range of the group on the wall. Abner kept his eyes on what guards remained, hidden inside the barracks with the angry prisoners storming around what remained of the town.

  “Abner do you like what we did to the place?” Gunthos asked from atop the wall. Abner looked up and gave his friend the thumbs up. “Sorry we couldn’t flatten the place for you. I ran out of cannonballs!”

  “Not a problem, Gunner, are we ready to go?” Lois asked as she reached the top of the stairs.

  “Absolutely! You said you wanted a hole in the wall, but this’ll be just as fun,” Gunthos said. He looked as happy as a child who’d just shot his first deer.

  “A zipline?” Lois asked. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

  “We needed a way out, you’ve got a way out,” Gunthos said. “Quit your bitching and get on. I’ll go first.”

  “Is it even secure?” Abner asked. “It’s a piece of rope.”

  “More than what you and your uncle have got on at the moment, Toldar,” Tori said. She looked at them both and smirked.

  “We’re in a hurry,” Abner said. He wrapped the cloth that Memphis had given him around the rope. “I’ll find something when we get to a ferry.”

  “Alright, I reckon it can take two at a time,” Gunthos said. “Maxton, you’re next.”

  The guards saw the Hunters disappearing over the edge and began to emerge from hiding, emboldened by the shrinking number left on the wall. They began to clash with the prisoners, flesh and metal colliding together.

  Zarazenih slid down one handed, clutching Malvrok with his free hand and within minutes all Hunters had left the Lock behind. Gunthos was the last over the edge and he raced to the ground to meet the rest of the Hunters. When he landed he cut the rope leaving it dangling off the Lock’s wall. The jetty was abandoned, those stationed to guard it had been killed during the fighting.