Shadow Hunters

by Anna Hub

  I tried to run a hand through my hair but it had become so tangled it was impossible. “How long do we have?”

  “I think a day at most.”

  I tried tracking Brayden's footsteps but they disappeared just as quickly as he had. I checked the river and the trees where he liked to practise with his shadow, but there was no clue as to where he might be.

  My body turned cold with fear. We didn't have time for this and it was too dark to go much further on my own. I paced, struggling to ignore the image of the villagers planning some kind of slaughter mission. My palms turned clammy and dizziness took over until I sat down and lowered my head to my knees. Eventually I had no choice but to return to the camp on my own and admit that my hunter was missing.

  Tara sat on the ground, scraping a long stick with a rock. She barely lifted her head as she worked. "Where's Brayden?"

  "I'm not sure."

  "We need to get out of here as soon as we can. We can't risk leaving long enough for the villagers to come after us."

  "I know that, but he's not in his usual places, and we can't leave without him."

  Matt perched in a tree nearby. "The villagers won't travel without torches and from here, I can see a break in the trees above the path they would follow. We'll have warning."

  Tara continued scraping while parts of her hair fell into her face and stuck to her sweat. "We're going to have to head south west and hope for the best."

  "What about the unstable climate?" I said pointedly.

  “We'll have to take our chances."

  Matt shook his head from the tree, warning me to leave it alone. But I still wondered what she was trying to hide.

  "I'm making you a bow." Tara stood and measured the stick against me.

  I frowned. I wouldn't have a clue what to do with one. “I don’t know how to use a bow.”

  “That’s how we all start out.” She used a knife to shorten the stick to match my height. "This could come in handy against animal attacks. If we head south west, there will be little threat from hunters. Most of them are city dwelling so they always pass in the Valley.”

  “City dwelling?”

  “There are more people in the city, so it makes sense more people would come from there, right?”

  “Wouldn’t that mean the Valley is the most common place to pass for everyone, not just those who become hunters?”

  “Yes. The Valley is the city centre in the Origin.”

  “So that’s where all the shadows are?”

  She eyed me. "Like I said, we don't have the resources to go after them. Especially not now."

  Tara continued working on my bow while I watched. She moved frantically and I guessed the activity was really just a means for her to channel frustration.

  Matt jumped from the tree and motioned for me to join him. "I usually leave her alone when she's like this."

  "I heard that." Tara lifted her head.

  Matt winked at me. "We should go through some survival tactics while we have the opportunity. You never know when it might come in handy."

  We passed the time easily as Matt told me what he knew of animals in the Shadowlands and I compared my experiences from the Valley. He talked about animal hunting strategies and the types of food that could be eaten in the wild. He was impressed by the research I'd done in the Origin, but he was able to relate that directly back to this world, which was worth far more than the survival notes I had about the Origin.

  I thought about Brayden often, but as the night wore on, there was still no sign of his return.

  Matt noticed me looking over my shoulder frequently. "Why don't you try and get some rest? Tara and I will alternate guard duty, and we'll wake you if he comes back."

  I scratched my neck. There wasn't much chance of Brayden joining us in this camp, but there also wasn't much chance of finding him out there in the dark. He could be anywhere. I had no doubt that he was safe, but still longed to be beside him, my head resting against his shoulder as I listened to the sound of him breathing.

  I sighed and lay down, hoping that the morning brought a better day.

  Chapter Six

  Tara and Matt were awake long before sunrise. At first their voices sent me into a panic, thinking the villagers must be on their way but they seemed calm enough.

  "Is everything okay?" I asked.

  "We're just talking about our game plan. We really need to get out of here today. If we wait any longer, we're tempting fate."

  "I'll look for Brayden again once I've had a drink."

  Tara followed me to the river. Both of us taking the opportunity to wash ourselves.

  "At least the sky looks clearer today," Tara said.

  I smoothed wild hair away from my face and lifted my head. Brayden stood on the other side of the river, watching us with grey eyes.

  "Ah, Selena?" Tara spoke softly. She stood up. "Shall I meet you back at the shelter?"

  I nodded, unable to find the words to reply.

  When she left, his eyes darkened a little. I could do nothing but stare back as he made his way down the bank and waded through the river. As he stepped into the sunlight, his shadow appeared. He scooped it up with one foot.

  “Come with me,” his voice was flat and empty of emotion.

  He took my hand and led me further upstream. A deep ring of deep punctures circled his shoulder blade. Where had he been all this time?

  He moved with such determination, at least half an hour up the river before he stopped suddenly. "I can't be around your friends."

  I was left dumbfounded.

  "Even when they have no intention to harm us, the Instinct is still cautious. I can't make sense of anything when I'm close to them."

  I wasn't sure what to say. "Okay, but they were exiled from their village. They're on the run too now."

  "I can't go anywhere with them."

  I shifted my weight. "Maybe it will get easier, but we—"

  “Selena, I'm more like a hunter than you realise,” his voice lowered to a whisper.

  I shook my head and stepped closer, putting my arms around his waist. But he didn't take me in his embrace like he usually would. Instead, he stared at my arms, wrapped around him, as though he had no feelings at all.

  I held on anyway, afraid to let go too soon in case it revealed how uncomfortable I felt.

  He took my arms away, almost as though he was giving them back to me. "I walked away from the camp last night because I couldn't even form a thought with them nearby. The Instinct seems to have a boundary, and this distance ... this distance between them and me is what it takes for me to feel myself again." He ran a hand through his hair. "I spent the night testing the limits, and it's almost like a force field around them. One step inside their radius and I lose myself. One step out and I'm not a hunter anymore."

  It was the first time he'd ever referred to himself as a hunter.

  I took his hand. "And what about me?"

  "Somehow you make the Instinct seem further away than when I'm alone. But I have to tell you the truth. I don't think it's something I can control better with time."

  It gave me more of an idea of what happened to the other hunters in the Valley. It might not be that their eyes were always grey but if a person was close enough to see their eyes, then the Instinct would be active. The possession was charged by strangers and to a hunter who transferred alone—everyone was a stranger.

  It was impossible to push away the thought: if I hadn't passed with Brayden would he have been exactly like them? Was I was included in his survival ability because he knew me before it existed? I liked to think not but there was no way to be certain.

  "I can't go anywhere with them, Selena," he whispered.

  I swallowed, battling to keep a strong face. "Maybe we could—"

  "No maybe. I can't." He turned away, clutching the back of his neck before he faced me once more. "I planned to insist on you staying with them, but ... I can't pretend that's truly want I want." He leaned against a nearby tr
ee, his dark eyes looking at me so desperately. "I want you. I want you to come with me and stay by my side, and not because you'll help me stay human, but because ... I love your company. I love your humour despite this crazy place we found ourselves in, and your determination, and even your fears. All of it. But I won't take any of it unless you know the truth."

  My heart raced. That was more than he'd ever revealed before and despite the circumstances it was hard to keep the smile from my lips. I stepped closer but he backed away.

  "I mean it. If you have a better shot at this life without me, then I want you to take it."

  I shook my head. "I want you."

  He held his hand out to keep me away. "Think about it, Selena. Think about what it truly means."

  "I already have." I held his hand aside and stepped closer. "I spent days in the village, not knowing if I'd ever see you again. I couldn't bear it."

  He stared down at me as I pressed myself up against him. "Fearing my death isn't the same thing as running away with me."

  I smiled, willing him to kiss me. "No. But it was enough to make me realise how I felt about you."

  And the truth was, I'd never felt the same about any man before. I'd fallen hopelessly in love before and I'd also fallen in lust. But this was different. There was an inexplicable connection and a deep trust. I'd struggled so much to surrender to my feelings because I knew his loss would hurt me more than any other. But it was worth the risk.

  His hands moved hesitantly to my waist and I leaned into him, smiling at his uncertainty.

  "I want to kiss you so badly," he said. "But I also want to make sure this is a choice you're making on your own."

  I ran my hand across his chest and stood on tiptoes. I still couldn't reach his mouth and he was holding back. "I am," I insisted.

  He smoothed hair away from my face. "You can change your mind anytime. Wherever we are, I'll bring you back here if you ask me to."

  "Sounds like a deal."

  He finally kissed me, gripping me tight as his lips parted mine. He sighed into me. "I want you."

  I ran my hands over his abdomen, grinning as he shivered under my touch and pulled at me more desperately. My tongue moved against his, the sounds of the forest fading away as my breath deepened.

  He lifted me from the ground and turned around, pinning me against the tree. His mouth traced my neck and jaw, leading back to my lips. I lost all sense of my surroundings until he froze and his mouth fell away from mine.

  "What is it?" I whispered with his hair caught in my hands.

  Grey splintered at his eyes and a scream sounded in the distance.

  "Was that my name?" I asked.

  His hands slipped from my thighs and he stepped back. I landed on clumsy feet as the wind blew the scream closer.

  "Seleeeena?" It was Tara.

  My pulse raced. Why did she sound so shrill?

  I gripped Brayden's hand tight, panic rising as the grey flooded his eyes and his face turned to stone. Tara cried out once more and I ran toward the sound, afraid of what we might find.

  We followed the curve of the river, only a few minutes away from our old shelter when we found them.

  Tara and Matt stood in the clearing near the river, weapons raised as they faced the east.

  Tara turned at the sound of our approach. “Selena, they’re coming now! We have to go.”

  I glanced at Brayden. We didn't have time to tell the sentries we needed to be alone. It would have to wait.

  Matt threw a bag over his shoulder. "Let's get out of here."

  We turned back the way I'd come with Brayden and ran upstream to stay in the clearing. Once we moved between the trees our shadows would slow us down with the flashing sunlight.

  Tara took the lead and Matt was only a couple of steps behind. Why was Brayden at the back when I knew he could run faster? I turned back. He was missing. “Brayden?”

  Tara and Matt must have heard the panic in my voice. “Where is he?” Matt growled.

  I ran back, calling his name frantically. He stood beside the river, his shadow curled in his hands like a weapon.

  “What are you doing? We have to go.” I grabbed hold of him but he wouldn’t budge. "Brayden?"

  Matt and Tara watched me expectantly but I couldn't shift him. Matt stepped forward and gripped Brayden's shoulders, trying to turn him away. Brayden pushed him aside and stepped forward, legs bent in preparation of the coming villagers. His ability was fight not flight. It was too late to try and reason with him.

  When the villagers reached us I knew he could beat them but I didn’t want either of us to grieve over it for the rest of our lives. I squeezed his face in my hands and tried to stretch myself so he had no choice but to see me. His eyes were cloudy and when I pleaded with him, his expression remained clean.

  Tara hoisted herself into a tree. “The villagers are getting closer.”

  “He can’t run from them. He can only see their intention to harm him.”

  “Find a way, Selena," she insisted.

  I gripped Brayden's face tighter, trying to think of a way to intercept the Instinct. If only there was another danger, something more urgent.

  “Selena?” Tara warned as she jumped from the tree. “If we don’t go now it will be too late!”

  My pulse echoed through my ears. Brayden had already told me, he couldn't feel himself when the sentries were around. He wouldn't stand a chance of finding himself with a group of angry villagers on their way. And if I couldn't stop Brayden, I had to find a way to stop the villagers.

  I had no idea what I was going to do, but there was no time to think. My shadow threatened to trip me as the trees thickened and I ran in the direction of the village. Part of me expected Brayden to charge past at any moment but within minutes the sound of villagers' voices reached out and I was standing against them alone.

  My breath shortened as a row of armed villagers broke through the trees. They paused, their eyes searching behind me until they were sure I was by myself. The memory of Ben and Joseph's attack suddenly came rushing back. Brayden wasn't the only target. The villagers were after me as well. And I'd walked myself right into their hands with no weapon to defend myself.

  “Stop there.” I straightened.

  One of them laughed and my confidence waned. I had no idea how to make this work but if I didn’t do something people were going to die.

  “I’m here to make a deal with you,” I continued; my mind struggling to catch up with an idea.

  “A deal?” A bald man at the front snickered as he pushed past me. Others followed his lead but some of the men at the back seemed less sure of their mission.

  “If you try to fight him, you'll lose,” I spoke louder, ignoring the men who'd already past me, keeping my eyes trained on those who were uncertain.

  “Selena?” Tara's voice sounded behind.

  I didn't turn back but instead focused on my goal. “He's too strong for you to beat him. Even if you're dumb enough to think that's not true, you must know some of you will be killed.” I saw hesitation in some of the faces. “Brayden’s reasoning is already gone. His Instinct knows what you've come for and there's no way I can stop him. If you keep going, people will die.”

  Someone shouted out from the back, “We won’t let our lives be ruled by fear of a hunter living so close to our home.”

  Tara stepped in front of me. "If you hold off, we’ll leave this place right now."

  The bald man turned to face us once more. He laughed. “Leave us alone and we'll run?”

  “That doesn’t sound like much of a deal,” someone added.

  Mumbles rose at the back of the crowd. Although some were willing to surrender, most of the group still held resolve. They were the men who'd come for blood and begging them to leave us alone wouldn't help.

  "That's not the deal."

  Tara spoke under her breath, "Selena? What are you doing?"

  I cleared my throat. "It's been four months since I began passing into this world
and I've seen five more victims running from the predators of this world.” I exaggerated the number but it didn’t seem like a far stretch.

  “Selena?" Tara whispered.

  A stronger idea formed. I squared my shoulders and spoke louder, “You all know what it’s like to fear this new world. How much safer would you have felt if there was someone there to protect you? I would have died in my third passing if Brayden—who you call a hunter—hadn't saved me. I wish I could do that for someone else but I don’t have the strength. He does. We'll do a job no one else can."

  Tara's eyes widened but I ignored her.

  "We can’t stop his Enhancement from existing but we can use it to our own advantage.”

  Voices rose in the crowd and although Tara still seemed uncertain but she joined my plight. "I nearly died before my transfer was complete, and in my nine years here, I've committed myself to protecting you all." She looked at each person individually as she spoke and I wondered if her Manipulation would work. "The more people who live with us, the stronger our home will be. Each person brings new skills and knowledge.”

  The bald man shook his head but I spoke up before he could say anything else, “Let me prove his skills can be an advantage.”

  “This is ridiculous,” he shouted. “Let's keep going.”

  Tara lowered her bow from her shoulder and drew an arrow into place. The bald man snarled but others took a step back. After nine years in the village, Tara must have formed friendships with these people but as she curled her bow fingers on the string they saw whose side she was taking.

  Some of the ruthless opponents wouldn’t stand down but the uncertain ones were already backing off.

  “You don’t want to fight this man,” Tara warned.

  The bald man looked around the faces of surrender. His angry eyes found mine once again. "You have to stop before it’s too late,” I said in a more desperate tone. Perhaps he would respond better to that. “I promise you we can bring new people back safely.”

  “Maybe we should try it,” someone suggested.

  The bald man crossed his arms. “How many new comers can you bring us?”