Huntress

by S. J. Sanders

  Thankfully, the night had been silent and had not been interrupted with any sounds of violence. A few dogs could be heard barking at one point earlier in the evening, but it stopped soon after. That, at least, assured him that Tah had not been discovered. His brother was likely scampering back now, smug from whatever foolishness he’d gotten into while in the village.

  The brush to his left rustled, and Gund leered as he saw Tah poke his head through. He was scenting the air, no doubt searching for his triad, his fur bristling as he crept forward. Gund held back a laugh at the way the male cleverly moved to circle the camp to make it appear as if he’d come from another direction deeper in the forest. Tah settled at a northerly angle and Gund rolled his eyes.

  Enough foolishness.

  “Tah,” he growled down.

  His brother froze and glanced around until he finally thought to look up. Tah’s ears flattened almost immediately on the defensive.

  “Gund, what are you doing lurking in a tree like a raven?”

  Leaning forward in the branches, Gund stared down at the male he’d grown up with and knew better than any other Ragoru. In fact, he should have expected that Tah would take this opportunity to satisfy the gnawing curiosity that had plagued him since they first approached the Citadel. It had rankled the silver male to be confined to the shadows and rooftops when he yearned to explore and experience the unfamiliar world of the humans. Aside from his short temper, his curious nature had caused problems more than once, and so Gund had kept a strict eye on his brother. He had relaxed his guard now that they were far from the temptations of the Citadel, believing that Tah would find little to persuade him into defying his lead.

  He had been wrong.

  “It is a good vantage point to see everything in this proximity. Those who may come and go,” he elaborated with a pointed look.

  “You saw me then,” Tah grumbled.

  “I did.” Gund dropped from the tree, his much larger body landing in front of Tah. “So, my question is: what would possess you to disregard my instruction and go into the human village?”

  “I was not caught,” Tah said.

  “What could you have possibly found to do in the village all night? This would have been a less serious issue if perhaps you hopped the gate and came directly back out a few minutes later. You were there hours! Did you want to get caught?” Gund demanded, the growl in his voice becoming more prominent as he advanced on his brother.

  “I was not in the open. There were minimal risks,” Tah objected. Though he didn’t back down, he dropped his head very slightly in submission. Even so, rebellion burned within his eyes.

  Gund bared his teeth, demonstrating the fact that he took full note of his brother’s unrepentant attitude. That was not unusual for the male, and Gund was often lenient, but in cases where it could threaten the safety of their triad, he couldn’t let it pass. Tah stiffened as he drew closer, and yet, as Gund approached, he noticed something else. His nostrils flared and he inhaled, scenting his brother. A low snarl rose in his throat, vibrating with menace.

  “What have you done?” he demanded.

  Tah shrank away from him. “I have done nothing.”

  Snapping his teeth, Gund darted forward, his claws digging into his brother’s mane to hold him in place as he drew in a deeper breath. “You smell of the huntress. You wear Heidi’s scent all over you and yet you tell me that you did nothing!”

  “Nothing,” Tah affirmed with a snap of his fangs for emphasis. “I entertained myself some within the village and then tracked the female to where she was staying. We ate and slept. Nothing more.” He bared his teeth in a dark grin. “I could have taken more if I wanted, brother. It was a temptation to forget all the rules and enjoy something for myself. I merely got a taste of Heidi, and I wanted more. Does that displease you, Gund, knowing that I got a taste before you, as lead, were able to?”

  Fury flooded through Gund, fast on the heels of the surprise he felt at Tah’s words. With a snarl, he threw the smaller silver male away from him.

  “Is that what you truly believe? That I am angry for such foolishness? When it is time to select a mate we agree upon, such a thing will not matter to me. What does matter is that we keep to our ways. You do not just get to chase your pleasure as you see fit, Tah.”

  “And why not?” Tah said as he pushed up from the ground. “We sit here and mire ourselves in ways that have kept us barely scraping by, that forbid us to take even the slightest of comforts. They are what tell us to stay away from the humans, and you see for yourself that we can mate with humans!”

  Gund growled as he circled Tah, giving the male every opportunity to back down. Normally such matters were resolved quickly within their triad, but for once the other male wasn’t yielding to his authority and displaying proper submission.

  The silver male bared his fangs in a show of defiance and Gund lunged forward, his claws tearing into the pelt of his brother. Not deep enough to scar, but enough to hurt as their bodies collided. They twisted together in an agile dance of power, slashing out as they snarled. Although Gund was usually the one to advance, Tah did not yield even an inch of ground. While the lead was bigger, the other was more agile. For every attack that Gund attempted, Tah seemed to find a way out of it.

  It needed to end. He didn’t want to hurt his brother.

  Gund lurched forward, within Tah’s reach. As expected, his brother didn’t hold back. His arms and torso were savaged by tooth and claw as he moved into position. The sting of bites was a small price to take advantage of his proximity. He gripped the other male firmly, twisting him against him until he was directly behind Tah. Gund then threw his lower arms around Tah’s torso, pressing hard against his diaphragm, while his upper arms came around the smaller male’s throat, cutting off his air to the best of his ability despite the rigid spinal plates that provided a barrier to his grip.

  Within his arms, Tah growled, his body jerking from left to right in an attempt to throw him as they scrabbled, each trying to get the upper hand. Locked together, Gund yanked back and threw his weight to the side. It was just enough to send them falling into a heap on the ground.

  They landed hard, twisting together on the dirt. Tah reached behind him in a final bid for freedom, clawing in his attempt to get Gund off of his back. The lead growled in response and tightened his grip until Tah’s hands finally slipped away. He hung limp in Gund’s arms, breaths coming in shallow pants against his brother’s arms.

  “If that is how you feel, then why did you not engage with the huntress?” Gund hissed out from between clenched teeth as he dropped his brother into the dirt.

  The male lay there wheezing as he attempted to catch his breath, blood streaking his fur from minor wounds that had already stopped bleeding. Tah blinked in puzzlement at the question and he huffed, smiling as he shook his head.

  “I am not sure if it is because I am an idiot or if somehow during this whole mess, I have grown fond of the little female,” Tah muttered in a tone rich with disbelief. “I did not wish to disrespect her that way as to try to lure her in for my pleasure… for what would have been both of our pleasure.”

  “It would have been nice if you asked me what I wanted,” Heidi commented dryly.

  Gund’s head snapped around to see the huntress frowning at them from where she stood, leaning casually against a tree. Her arms were folded over her chest and one ankle crossed over the other as she watched them with a wrinkled brow. They stepped apart, each proudly drawing themselves to their full height, which had the unpleasant consequence of giving her a good look at the evidence of their battle.

  Not that he had any problem with her seeing. This was how a Ragoru triad was. This was the tradition of their species. The lead kept control of his triad for their benefit. A triad that was not cohesive was one that wouldn’t survive.

  “Do you think you have caused enough needless damage to each other?”

  Gund growled. Of course she would see it that way.

&n
bsp; “I am responsible for my triad,” he bit out, irritated that he felt as if he must explain to her. “Our safety depends on following rules. What Tah did was reckless. The fact that he refused to show any remorse for his actions or to submit to his wrongdoing is what provoked the situation. It is not needless… It serves a purpose.”

  Heidi scowled as she opened her mouth to argue.

  “He is right,” Tah intervened, attracting Heidi’s attention. “Ragoru are stubborn and rather hard-headed at times. Our triad families are designed as checks on all of us. It not only keeps the adults safe but also prepares us for when we mate and have rogs. Our den cannot be safe if everyone within it is not working together.”

  The huntress’s lips tightened before quirking in humor. “Very well. Obviously, neither of you is harmed. If you feel that beating each other serves a purpose, I will not try to stop you.”

  Gund grimaced. Now they were providing entertainment. Perfect. He glanced over at Tah and saw a twig bearing a cluster of young leaves on it stuck in his mane. Reaching forward, he plucked the foliage from his brother’s fur. Tah glanced down at the stick and nodded in thanks, his ears twitching. Gund grunted and dropped the twig back upon the forest floor.

  The huntress laughed, her eyes gleaming as they both glared at her reproachfully. “Now that your tender moment is out of the way… Are you interested in hearing what I discovered?”

  “I am,” Orth cut in as he shoved through the underbrush. “Sorry for my delay. I went to follow along our back trail and make sure no one was following from the Citadel and got sidetracked by these.” Orth held up two fat long-eared hoppers, his smile dying as he glanced from Tah to Gund. “Did I miss something?”

  “No,” Tah grumbled.

  “They were just measuring dicks,” Heidi said with a cutting grin.

  Orth looked at her in confusion and then eyed their sheaths until Gund growled. “That is not what we were doing. We were addressing a matter of reckless disobedience.”

  “Oh,” Orth murmured as he stepped over to Heidi’s side. He paused, his head turning as he sniffed the Earth. He gave her a baffled look. “Why do you smell like Tah?”

  “One of the issues we were discussing,” Gund bit out.

  Heidi snorted with amusement. “Tah decided to drop in on me and acted as my snuggle buddy for the night.”

  Tah choked in mortification. “That is not what I was doing!”

  She lifted a skeptical eyebrow. “Are you sure? You were quite cuddly last night. I practically had to pry myself out of your grip when I woke up.”

  The male glowered so intensely that it drew a reluctant chuckle out of Gund.

  “Now, as I was saying,” Heidi purred. “As Tah already knows, the Master has only roughly a four-day start on us. He was seen about town gathering supplies. Most of it was normal goods such as you would expect. Provisions, water, and fuel. Yet one of the loaders, a nice young man with a propensity for talking, saw large crates filled with chains manufactured in the eastern province.” At their confused looks she rushed to fill them in. “The eastern province makes them in their manufacturing buildings in Tranquility Citadel. They have direct access to some of the best iron ores, and much of their trade comes from metal goods. He said that there were a dozen large crates filled with these. That is an abnormally large amount of chains. He claimed that it was three or four times the amount of chain he’s ever seen come through among merchants and traders.”

  “Do you think the key you found may have anything to do with this?” Tah broke in, obviously possessing more information than the rest of them.

  Heidi pinched her lips together thoughtfully. “It is hard to say right now, but I wouldn’t rule it out.” She met Gund’s eyes as she explained. “Before Tah decided to surprise me last night, I found a key and a scrap of paper with the Master’s writing in the room he inhabited while in the village. Although I cannot determine the purpose of either, it seems that they were forgotten in his haste to leave.”

  Orth frowned. “Chains seem a strange thing for a huntsman to carry. Weapons, certainly, but I have never heard of the Order needing chains. Nor did I see anyone moving a significant amount of chain at all during the time we watched over their dwelling.”

  “Exactly,” Heidi rejoined. “Not many chains were kept around the Great Hall of which you speak—only a few were kept in case they were needed for something. None of this can be coincidental.”

  She took a deep breath, her eyes landing on them solemnly. “There is one other thing. I am not sure if it is related or not, but there is a rumor of women missing from the village. The people seem uncertain if they went to visit distant relatives or whether some harm befell them. But all agree that no one has heard from these females in days.”

  Gund growled low as he paced. “Missing females, chains, and an evil city. I do not like it. We cannot delay. Did you determine the lay of the track proceeding from the village?”

  Heidi nodded. “You are not going to like it. They veer sharply south. The good news is that we won’t have to go far out of our way to meet up with the tracks once we circle the city, but we will have to be careful because they disappear into the Black Hills.” She hesitated, her fingertips playing over the hilt of her blade until she grasped it firmly as if for security. “The hills are modest. It is not like going through the mountains… but it is not a safe place.”

  “Nothing a hardened triad of Ragoru cannot handle,” Orth said confidently. Gund didn’t miss that even his tone fell flat at the end.

  “We will be on our guard at every moment,” Gund stated firmly. He tugged playfully on the end of Orth’s mane to break the tension of the moment, making the male grin. “I do not doubt that if we are vigilant we will be able to make our way through the hills successfully.”

  Heidi smiled tightly but nodded and blew out her breath. “I am certain you are right.”

  “South then,” Tah said. He raised his brows at Gund. “Do you wish me to take the fore again, or remain with Heidi?”

  Gund narrowed his eyes at the male, knowing that he was just barely keeping himself from smirking. Now Gund had few options of who to put with the female, and the other males knew it. He grunted irritably. “Take the fore. We leave at once.”

  15

  The Black Hills were aptly named. The stone was dark, as were the pines that dotted it intermixed among the leafy trees. A raven burst out of the trees from their left, cawing as it passed. They jerked to a stop, watching until the bird disappeared from sight.

  They were traveling tighter together since leaving the village. Occasionally Tah would still scout out further ahead, but he didn’t remain gone for long before he circled back to rejoin them. This arrangement suited Heidi. Although she understood the wisdom of having them all interspersed at some distance from each other while traveling, she couldn’t help the deep-seated need for fortification. There was safety in numbers.

  Instincts honed while scavenging on the streets as a child taught her that. Years of training among the Order reinforced it. It was always safer to be among others. Even a solo huntsman would hide among a company of travelers for his own protection.

  Heidi’s eyes landed on the tracks. As she had feared, they disappeared directly into the hill. More of the old tech that the Master took advantage of. Nobody in all the Northern Continent had as much knowledge of the old tech as he did. Even when the villages and the poorer regions of the Citadels had to rely on archaic methods of survival, the Master had everything at his disposal.

  Frowning, she went up to the stone wall and began to walk her hand over it.

  “What are you doing?” Orth asked in a low voice at her side.

  “I am looking for the catch that will open the entrance to the tunnel,” she said.

  “What would it feel like?” Gund queried as he came up to her other side.

  “When you run your hands across it, it will feel like a dip in the surface of the rock into which you can hook your fingers and pull.”
>
  All three males nodded and spread out, covering the expanse of rock facing the track. They worked silently side-by-side. As minutes passed with no success, Tah growled in frustration but went silent at a warning grunt from Gund.

  Orth was just to her right, meticulously working his hands over a small patch of stone. He paused and his head cocked to the side as he felt the same spot again. “Heidi, I think I have it.”

  With a jerk of his hand, there was the squeal of moving mechanisms just before the rock wall popped forward, startling them. Scampering back from the rock, they watched as the wall continued to push forward and then to the side, revealing a long dark tunnel into the hillside. Heidi’s eyes scanned the interior.

  “That… is really dark,” she muttered.

  She wasn’t typically concerned with the dark, having worked under the cover of darkness many times, but being trapped somewhere so utterly pitch black, without torches or any source of natural light whatsoever, unnerved her. It was too similar to being entombed for her comfort.

  Orth grumbled in agreement at her side.

  “How well are you going to be able to see in that?” she whispered.

  Tah muscled his way in and peered into the tunnel. “We will see better than you, but even we cannot see well enough in such low light. The bit of light filtering through the tunnel from cracks and crevices in the rock will help some. We will just have to hope that the route through is not long.”

  “Fuck that. I am not going in without some light,” she said.

  Spinning around, she startled Gund as she stalked by him, her eyes searching until she found a few thick branches. That would serve to start with. She hated to sacrifice her tunic, but it couldn’t be helped. She had coin enough to replace it.

  Pulling off her leather guards and breastplate, she yanked her long black tunic up over her head. She felt the males staring at her in surprise as she exposed her belly and chest. She didn’t feel the least bit of embarrassment as she yanked it the rest of the way off. Her body was littered with wicked scars--the worst of them from when her brethren had tried to murder her--covering her belly and back in jagged marks. And if they were staring at her tits… well, she did think she had nice ones and didn’t mind in the least.