Hex Breaker (The Fenearen Chronicles Book 1)

by Taryn Noelle Kloeden

  The Corsair stopped short. Blood leaked from his mouth as he tumbled over in front of Ash and Pike's snarling forms. Bayne and Silver sprinted past them to Roxen. The blood-soaked Beta was frozen, his hazel eyes fixed on a savaged body beside him. With a stab of shock and satisfaction, Bayne recognized Nero.

  “Rox! Are you hurt?” Silver asked. Ash and Pike prowled around them, on the lookout for the next set of attackers.

  Roxen stared at his bloodied hands. He was not injured that Bayne could see, but he seemed helpless.

  “Silver, take him to the healers.” Bayne shoved Roxen toward his mate. Ash and Pike, help her get Roxen to the healers!

  “What about Rhael?” she asked, pulling Roxen by the wrist.

  “I’ll find him. Just take care of Roxen, please.”

  This way, Alphena! Ash called as he and Pike led the way toward the valley's southern side.

  Silver grabbed Bayne's shirt, pulling him in for a swift kiss before disappearing into the haze. Fenearens almost always fought in pairs, and without Silver, Bayne felt incomplete. Alone and more scared than he had ever been in his life, Bayne took his wolf form and ran north toward the Maenoren forces. He tore through each opponent in his path, carving into the depths of the enemy lines. Had the air been clear, he would have been cut down. But the smoke veiled him from many of his enemies as they relied on sight alone. Here and there he passed allies, but these instances became fewer the more he fought. Most of his people had retreated to defend their own side of the valley and the healers who were stationed nearby. Either that, or more of them were dead than he realized.

  Again he sought Rhael’s scent. Bayne had tracked elk for leagues and rabbits beneath layers of snow. He would find Rhael, but like a hunt, he had to do more than track his prey’s scent. He had to think like him, too. Rhael loved violence. He would relish the death and barbarity of this battle, but he was also smart enough to realize that magic was his most valuable skill, not his sword. Bayne did not know much about magic, but it was not easy to contain something as unwieldy as the fires Rhael had set. He would need focus and protection.

  The cloying scent of decay burned his nostrils, but finally he caught a trace of the metallic, ironwood fragrance he knew well. Rhael.

  Then another smell, one Bayne could not at first place, broke the currents. It was a clean scent. Alive and fresh, the opposite of everything else around him. River water, and lots of it.

  He crouched, his black-furred body hidden in wreaths of smoke. He heard his heart beating, the screams of enemies and allies alike, the roar of fire, the howls of wolves, the clash of swords. But he heard water too. The rushing swelled until it roared louder than fire. A few Maenorens and Corsairs came clear out of the smoke. Oblivious to his presence, they yelled, pointing through the smoke. Bayne squinted against the grit toward the east side of the valley.

  At first he saw nothing but distant flames, but then the brightness dimmed. A drawn-out loud hiss joined the rushing furor as the fire doused over a span of several hundred tail-lengths. The steam blew away the smoke, revealing a stream of water behaving as unnaturally as Rhael’s fire had. The river poured around the valley, dousing the fire instead of flooding the field as it should have. As the smoke was forced away, an army appeared. Alvornians astride horses, dressed in gleaming steel, formed lines across the valley’s east side.

  For a heartbeat, all was still. He caught sight of Seperun and a group of his men nearby. The smoke that had shielded Bayne from enemy eyes was gone, but they did not at first attack. In that brief moment, Bayne’s gaze traveled along the wall of reinforcements and spotted an impossible sight.

  Three wolves stood at the front of the Alvornian forces. The red wolf in the middle shone like a beacon. There was no mistaking her.

  His niece was alive; she had returned to him.

  Rayna’s heart slammed wildly in her ribcage, as if it could escape. Beside her, Channon and Gar stood, hackles ablaze and teeth bared. Mina halted her warhorse behind them. They watched the smoke dissipate, revealing the horror of the battle they were about to enter. Thousands of bodies of humans, wolves, and countless other animals clogged the field. Rayna recognized spike pits and other traps. They were useless now they'd been revealed. Most of her pack, along with Maenoren Resistance, had gathered near the southern end in lines spanning the length of the valley. They fought the hordes of undead creatures, Corsairs, Kyreans, and Maenorens beating down upon them in an endless wave, but more fell every moment. If they did not act quickly, the enemy would break through and end the battle. When she and the Alvornians had passed by the Southern Densite, she had found it evacuated. The rest of her pack, those unfit or too young to fight, were out there somewhere. If the Maenorens broke through, they would be defenseless.

  A horn blared, and Pheros shouted, “Brothers and sisters! I call upon you to stand in the face of evil. I call upon you to fight, to die. We will not falter. We will not flee. We are Alvornian. We are unstoppable as the rainstorm. Alvori ancanthem!”

  The Alvornians chanted in response, raising their spears. Mina, too, joined the rallying cry as she dismounted, nocking an eagle-feathered arrow in her bowstring. She joined the archers on the high ground who would provide cover. The fighting continued in the valley below, but the Da’ Gammorn rode out in front of the other Maenorens to face them. Turning her terror into rage, Rayna threw back her head and howled. Channon and Gar joined her, and together, the three wolves led the charge to almost certain death.

  Marielana’s warning rang out in Rayna’s mind with each step. Water will run with wolf once more, but the fields will flow with blood and gore. From the chaos, one will rise, and all will serve the lord with golden eyes. The Priestess had given her two choices: serve or die.

  Rayna would never serve Rhael. She was ready to die, but was not prepared to let her nation fall. Her mission was clear: even if it cost her life, Rhael had to die. Months ago, she had promised Coer that she would kill the Overlord. Perhaps Coer was there, fighting alongside the Resistance. Perhaps he was dead. Either way, she would keep her promise.

  As they thundered into the valley, the Alvornians clashed with the mounted Da’ Gammorn. Channon, Gar, and Rayna ran beneath the undead horses, slashing their tendons as they went to knock them down. Crossbow bolts rained on them from the Maenoren arbalests. One grazed Rayna’s ear, but on she ran.

  Once past the Da’ Gammorn, hundreds of undead Maenorens converged upon them. Rayna shifted between human and wolf, avoiding her attackers’ blows, tearing into any exposed skin. Thick blood and viscera showered around them as she, Channon, and Gar killed their way through. But there were too many. They were surrounded, and no matter how hard they fought, more came. Out of instinct, she howled for help, and to her surprise, someone answered.

  Rayna! She recognized her uncle’s call. A heartbeat later she saw him. Bayne leaped into the fray, and he was not alone. Dozens of Maenoren Resistance fighters followed him. Together Bayne and one of the Resistance, a tall man with darker skin than most Maenorens, fought their way to her. The Resistance pushed back the undead warriors, and for the first time since she had entered the battle, Rayna had a moment to breathe.

  She took her human form, running to her uncle. He lifted her into the air as if she were still a child. Rayna gripped his shoulder, tears sliding down her face. Gar and Channon stood wary and guarded as they pulled apart. There was not time to say everything that needed to be said, though she wanted to tell Bayne all of it. She wanted to explain Rhael’s treachery and Coer’s heroism, the monstrous mountain bear and Drownman’s Swamp. She wanted Bayne to know about Garrison and Terayan. To tell him about Lonian, Laera, and Kellan. And she longed for him to know who she had met at the Eye of Heaven. It was not possible. So she squeezed his hand and said, “Rhael has to die.”

  He squeezed back. “I know. Seperun?” He turned to the Resistance member. Rayna remembered the name as the Maenoren Resistance leader's, a man to whom she owed her life.

  “Go
, Alpha Bayne. Rayna Myana,” he added with a smile, “it is an honor to have met you.”

  Bayne took his wolf form. Rhael’s this way. It won’t be easy to get to him.

  Sure, Channon growled as he, Gar, and Rayna followed Bayne toward the southern end of the valley, because everything so far has been.

  Rayna ignored the pit opening inside her as she took in Channon’s apparent enjoyment of the horrors around them. If they were to face Rhael, she could not think about anything other than defeating him. But first, they had to reach him. They ran across the carnage, stopping only to tear the throats out of any enemy they could not avoid. The Da’ Gammorn were occupied with the Alvornians, and the Maenoren infantry with breaking through the Fenearen lines, but the undead, Kyreans, and Corsairs still roved in bands.

  Bayne spoke between one wave of attackers and the next. I tracked Rhael’s scent earlier to the back of the Maenoren lines. He stayed away from most of the fighting to maintain that fire magic, but now it’s destroyed, he must have moved. I can’t smell him anymore.

  I can. Rayna took the lead. In truth, she could not find Rhael’s scent any more than Bayne could. But she could sense him. Perhaps it was another ability related to her seer heritage and the Awakening on the mountain. Perhaps she could feel his presence calling her, sickening the air around him, because she had once been closer to him than almost any other person. She had felt his lips upon her own, his hand across her skin, and witnessed the terrible power he wielded with unfathomable cruelty. There was no one on Osterna—not Terayan, Garrison, or any other beast—who had done more to hurt her than Rhael. He may have been acting on Terayan’s orders, but Rhael had reveled in her misery. He had fed upon her spirit and tried to break it beyond repair. Hatred was too small a word for what she felt, but whatever bonded them—magic, history, or both—propelled her across the battlefield until she could see him.

  Rhael Demetrian stood at the tree line, surrounded by the dead. Bodies of wolves and humans both lay prone and gutted around him. Rayna recognized many of their faces. She saw the broken bodies of Serine, Alphena of the Eastern Densite, and her mate, Cadmen. Hawk and River, True Wolves she had known since they'd been pups, lay in pieces. Many brave souls had tried to defeat Rhael, and as far as Rayna could tell, he remained uninjured. His black armor was blood-spattered, his curls tangled, his sword caked in gore, but there was not one scratch or bruise on him that she could see.

  In the same instant she saw him, he saw her, as well. For a single moment, they were the only two people in the world. Despite the Kyreans and undead mob rushing toward her, despite her closest friends and family at her side, Rayna saw nothing but Rhael. And it seemed, as a grin spread across his face, making lines around his black and gold eyes, that he saw only her. The illusion ended as quickly as it had begun, and Rayna was once again enveloped by enemies. She slashed the jugular of the nearest Kyrean. Gar, Channon, and Bayne fought beside her. Had they seen Rhael? Had he really been there?

  The answer to that question was soon clear. A voice, amplified by magic, rang out around them. There was no mistaking the deep, hissing tone.

  “Rayna, dearest. I was hoping you would make it in time to see this. Well, actually I was hoping Terayan would kill you, but this is better, don’t you think? You and I at the end of the war between Fenear and Maenor, just as it should be.”

  Rayna screamed, tearing out the throat of an attacking Maenoren in answer. As he fell dead, Rayna took her human form, catching another glimpse of Rhael at the top of the valley. He gestured to something hidden in the shadows of the trees.

  “Negiol. Give the seer her gift before bringing her and the Alpha to me. Maim them if you must, but kill the rest.” At Rhael’s command, a Da’ Gammorn rode from the forest. Its head twitched as something else walked out behind it. Before Rayna could see what it was, a Kyrean slashed at her stomach. She jumped back to avoid the worst of the attack, though the blade's tip grazed her. She stumbled backwards, tripping over a body. Before the Kyrean could strike again, a silver-blonde wolf tackled him. Rayna’s aunt finished the man, taking her human form. Silver grabbed Rayna, pulling her to her feet. They stood back-to-back for a moment, but jumped apart when Negiol, Rhael's Da' Gammorn commander, brought its broadsword down between them.

  Rayna rolled and leaped up, snarling. Bayne, Silver, and Channon circled Negiol just outside of striking range. While they distracted it, Gar sprinted beneath Negiol’s mount. He tore into the undead stallion’s ankles, but he brought it down too quickly. Gar did not clear the beast in time and was pinned to the ground as Negiol leaped free of it. The Da’ Gammorn raised its broadsword as Gar struggled. Rayna screamed, helpless to reach him. But Silver snatched the scimitar from one of the fallen Corsairs. She ran toward Negiol, slicing the curved blade into its bicep, severing his sword arm beneath the shoulder.

  The demon did not flinch. Its other hand throttled Silver around the neck. Bayne rushed to help. Rayna found her legs and started toward them, too, but a familiar voice stopped her.

  “Rayna! Rayna! I can’t believe you’re here!” Rayna whirled. The man was tall, wiry, and thin. She knew his scruffy brown hair and freckled face. There was no question. Coer Vantergard walked toward her. He smiled, the picture of calm in the midst of terror.

  “Coer!” she called, relief flooding her despite the circumstances. She pointed at Negiol. Bayne had freed Silver, but the one-armed demon had unsheathed a second sword. “Quickly! Help us! We need…” As she spoke, her joy turned sour. She noticed the gray cast to his once amber skin. She backed away, shock and grief muddling her mind. His beautiful blue eyes, so unusual for a Maenoren, were gone. Instead, twin pits of oily, black malice stared at her.

  “No! Coer, what did he do to you?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Its pale lips parted in disgust. “He killed me. Actually, I killed myself when he caught me, but semantics.” As it came closer, she saw that unlike the other Da’ Gammorn, its blackened muscles were still taut. Its bones did not poke through papery skin, though ichor oozed from its worm-eaten body. He was the perfect soldier, Rhael’s secret weapon against her, because Rayna could still see her Coer in the ravaged husk of her friend. Rayna glanced at Silver and Bayne. They still battled Negiol, but Channon had seen Coer and was fighting his way over to her. Though only a heartbeat had passed, when she turned back to Coer's body, it was less than a tail-length from her.

  She yelped, jumping back. She knew she should take her wolf form and tear out the demon’s heart. But looking into the face of her friend, of the man that had given his life so she could escape Maenor, she was paralyzed. It was a trap, a trick, a gift as Rhael had said.

  She spoke instead. “I’m sorry, Coer, I’m so sorry. I never should have left you. I should have made you come with me.”

  “There’s no point apologizing, wolfkind. He can’t hear you. This body is ours now, and Coer Vantergard takes our place in Hell. Another soul damned because of you. Come,” it extended his waxy hand, “the Overlord wants to see you.”

  For one insane moment, some part of Rayna wanted to take the offered hand. It would be easy to pretend her friend was back, to go with him back to Rhael, to die and be reunited with all she had lost. But the right choice was rarely the easy one. She would not let the demons wearing her friend's face defeat her.

  Rayna extended her claws, slashing Coer’s arm out of the way. It stumbled back with an affected look of betrayal, but Rayna refused to fall for its lies. She snarled, keeping its attention as Channon slunk wolf-formed in the periphery of her vision. While the demon’s black eyes focused on Rayna, Channon leaped from behind. But the demons controlling Coer’s body were too fast. Without looking away from Rayna, its fist connected with Channon’s cranium, sending him sprawling to the ground, human and unconscious.

  “No!” Rayna jumped between Channon and Coer. It raised its sword, but before either of them could strike the other, two wolves barreled into the Da’ Gammorn. Rayna checked Channon’s pulse, finding
it steady before looking to see what was happening. Her heart jumped into her throat.

  Pike roared, biting the demon’s arm while Ash tried to trip it. With its free arm, it shoved Pike and kicked Ash hard in the chest. More Corsairs and Kyreans flooded in, presumably on Rhael’s orders. Rayna rolled, dragging Channon as a Kyrean attacked with an axe. She unsheathed the blade fastened at her waist. Coer’s knife. She ran the Kyrean through the gut and regained her feet.

  Several tail-lengths away, a Corsair raised his scimitar over Pike. Pike slid to the side before being engulfed in a swarming mob.

  Ash circled to Rayna. We have to kill that thing! I'll rush it, and then you get it in the heart! Without waiting for her reply, he sprinted toward the demon as fast as his long legs would take him. Legs shaking, Rayna ran after him. She would not be too weak to help him. Ash hit the Da' Gammorn hard in the chest to push it over, but Coer’s body was too strong for the spry wolf. It grabbed Ash by the ears, and the gray wolf yelped and squirmed.

  Rayna was too far to stab the creature. She looked at the knife, Coer’s knife. A gift from the real Coer, not this manipulation created by Rhael. Coer was dead, and if she did not kill this Da’ Gammorn, Ash would be too. With a guttural cry, she threw the knife.

  It hit its shoulder. The demon did not even flinch. Rayna cursed as more enemies blocked her path. Ash!

  Help! Ash howled, Rayna! Gar! Pike!

  Rayna killed and killed, tearing out throats, slashing at faces until her vision was smeared red with blood. By the time she could see Ash again, Coer held a sword to Ash’s exposed stomach. The wolf's desperate eyes met hers as she ran toward him. She was too far away, and he knew it. He closed his eyes and pinned his ears to his head as the Da’ Gammorn plunged its sword into his stomach. Rayna reached him as he fell. Red blood coated the ground and his mouth as he coughed his last breath.