Thunder Hunter: Viking Soul Book 1 (Viking Soul Series)

by Rachel Medhurst

  The pretty woman tilted her head to the side as she regarded me. A red flare in her eyes alerted me to the power that boiled inside her. Oh, how I had longed to see that evil for so many years. The thrill of it rushed through me, making every muscle in my body stiff.

  “I’m one of the oldest living Fallen Ones, I think it’s only fair we drag this out a little bit before I destroy you. I’ve been a little…bored…waiting for you.”

  Flicking her hair behind her, she dropped her shoulders. Her impression of trying to appear relaxed put me on edge. Bracing my feet, I waited. Two seconds and she rushed for me, throwing a punch towards my head. Ah, an old fashioned fist fight.

  Blocking her, I grabbed her wrist and spun so her arm bent up behind her back. Her frustrated howl made me smirk. Oh, how exciting it was to brawl with a female. Such a different way of fighting. A huff was followed by her leg kicking out backwards, the heel grazing my knee. I grunted as it gave way, propelling us to the ground.

  We were evenly matched in strength, which surprised me. It was my own fault for taking it easy on her. Assuming that she would be weak because she was female was a mistake I had already made with Chloe.

  “Give up,” I hissed into her ear as I pinned her against the hard floor.

  Letting go of her with one of my hands, I reached for my sword. I was bored of fighting already. As I was about to wrap my hand around the handle, she bucked me. Smiling to myself, I steadied her before attempting to reach my blade again.

  “Never.”

  The smile was wiped off my face when she threw her head back so far, a crunch resounded. Not only in my nose where her skull made contact, but in her neck, too.

  Releasing her, I sucked in a howl as I cupped my nose. The Fallen One rolled out from under me slowly, grasping her neck. She must have snapped a tendon. Lifting a hand, she motioned towards the witches. The problem with having a human host was the inability to withstand injury. It was the joy that all of us humans had to face. I might be immortal because of a spell Freya cast on me, but I was still predominantly human. And, injuries hurt.

  The chanting of the witches started again. A circle of fire rose up around me and my enemy, blocking us in with each other. It was my perfect opportunity. Getting to my feet, I approached the Fallen One. She got up, stretching her neck from side to side. Her recovery was quick. Too quick. The witches had healed her.

  “Ah, magic is what’s keeping your host alive for longer,” I said, almost to myself.

  The roar of the firewall drowned out the others around us. I watched the pretty woman prepare herself for another attack. Her eyebrows rose as a smile spread her plump lips.

  “Yes, my witches have found a new kind of magic that helps us keep our hosts from rotting so quickly. A good trick, isn’t it? They covered the smell, too. Much better, don’t you think? I’m starting an empire. No wait…building an empire.”

  That made sense. The longer a creature could stay in a body, the more powerful it would become. Having to jump from host to host was exhausting for them. It made it difficult for them to build a life to influence others, too.

  “Not this lifetime, my love,” I said, rushing forward.

  Her laughter echoed around the space as I bashed into an invisible wall. The fucking witches were preventing me from getting to her. Fair fight, indeed.

  “You’re scared,” I said, suddenly, facing her head on. “Freya will torture you so very badly.”

  The smile was wiped from her face as I thrust my hand through the wall, gritting my teeth through the pain as it radiated up my arm. My muscles shook as I pushed against the energy force that separated us. She stood, her mouth open as I stretched my fingers out towards her.

  As I was about to make contact, the wall broke and I fell forward, my hand wrapping round her throat. She was caught off-guard, unable to pry her fingers under my hands.

  The confidence she had in her witches’ magic had caused her problems. I lifted her from the ground, channelling all the anger for the Fallen Ones into the muscles that squashed her windpipe. It wouldn’t be enough, not on its own. If I killed the host, the Fallen One could escape to a new body.

  “Don’t,” she managed to squeak out between her lips.

  Brushing a thumb over those now paling lips, I got close to her face. The firewall dropped and a gasp went up around us. Instinct told me to act.

  My free hand went to my sword, swiping it from its scabbard. Some commotion was happening by the doorway, but I ignored it.

  “Enjoy seeing Freya again,” I whispered.

  The host’s eyes started to roll, warning me that the Fallen One was about to jump. Holding the sword in the air, I let go of her, letting her drop to the floor. Lightning zipped through the ceiling as I roared, calling on Thor’s power. The sword vibrated heavily in my hand as Thor’s lightning connected with the blade. Thrusting down, I sliced the Fallen One’s head clean off, grunting when it disconnected from the host’s body and blood spurted everywhere.

  A gasp resounded around the room as the pretty curls of the poor woman who had been possessed got soaked in bright red blood. The remaining part of her body slumped to the ground.

  My whole body shook with force. I fell to my knees as the lightning disappeared and my arms dropped, releasing the sword.

  “Everybody, leave!” I heard Jack shout. “We need to get you out of here for your own safety.”

  Blinking, I looked around me. The Dark Crawlers had already gone, probably scared off by their leader’s demise. It didn’t look good that the one person who claimed to be powerful enough to defeat me had gone down.

  Humans were in shock. Some cried, some screamed, but most were silent as they filtered out of the house. They knew the rules about the underworld. Whatever they saw was never to be repeated to those outside. The police wouldn’t even be called.

  “Trygger…”

  Wind whispered around me as a bright light engulfed the living room. My name was being called by… The light grew so bright, I squinted. A beautiful long legged female appeared in front of me. Leaning down to the body that the Fallen One had inhabited, she placed her glowing hand into its chest and tugged the evil spirit out.

  The Valkyrie. Oh, how I had missed seeing her face. The same one would come to collect every Fallen One I killed to take them back to Freya. Her beauty was something I had always looked forward to seeing. Her long golden hair was braided down her back, the curve of her bottom evident in the shimmering see-through dress she wore. A sight that no mortal man could ever handle.

  “Thank you,” she breathed, winking at me before disappearing with the struggling spirit in her grasp.

  “Are you okay?” Chloe’s voice broke through my mesmerised state.

  Falling to my side, I curled up into a ball, hugging my legs to me. Thor’s power drained out of me, leaving me cold to the bone. All the heat left in a rush, making me shiver uncontrollably.

  As I was about to close my eyes, I glanced towards the door. The witches stood with their backs against the walls, their eyes glued to a spot just beyond the room. Moving slightly, I laughed to myself when I saw Rusty sitting in the middle of the hallway, staring back at them.

  “Rusty?” I muttered.

  Chloe tried to get her arms under me, but struggled. “He gate-crashed the party when I whistled for him. Somehow he knew how to stop the witches. I’m not kidding, he literally growled to get their attention and when they turned to look at him…that was it. They were stuck.”

  I tried to help her get me up by taking a deep breath and heaving myself into a sit. “I think I may have just fallen in love with your dog.”

  “We’ll have no bestiality here, thank you. Not today, anyway. That’s saved for the incredibly depraved!” Jack approached us, light on his toes.

  Shoving his arm under mine, he dragged me to my feet with Chloe’s help. I had forgotten how much killing a Fallen One took out of me.

  “We’ve got to get out of here. I’m sure the Dark Crawlers ha
ve gone to spread the news.”

  I nodded as I took a tentative step. Yep, I could stay on my feet at least. The witches still kept their eyes focused on Rusty as we slipped past.

  “I can’t believe we’ve done it,” Chloe said, looking at Jack as we left the building.

  “Are we leaving the dog behind?” I asked, interrupting their girly chat.

  “I know, it was amazing! The way you kicked that bouncer in the balls, that was classy, girl!”

  “Thank you!” Chloe smiled at Jack, her cheeks glowing bright pink.

  “Hey!” Pushing them off, I managed to hold myself up. “Don’t get too ahead of yourselves. I think you’ll find I managed to kill the Fallen One, not you.”

  “Fucking egomaniac,” Jack muttered, linking his arm through Chloe’s.

  My protégée took out the whistle and blew it. Rusty came bounding out of the house and down the path. I followed them out the gate, a new burst of energy pulsing through me.

  “Trygger?!” someone called from the entrance to the house.

  Turning, I paused when I saw the woman with short dark hair. The one I had fucked in the bathroom at Frankie’s party. She waved as she started down the path. Shaking my head, I clicked my fingers. Rusty came closer to me, ready to help if I needed him.

  “Wait!” she called, stopping in her tracks. “I need to tell you who I am.”

  A man came out of the door behind her, his arm snaking around her shoulder. He wore ripped jeans and a T-shirt with the Halgalaz rune on it. He raised his head to me in greeting as he kept hold of the woman, preventing her from moving forward.

  Chloe and Jack were still talking together as they walked down the road, unaware that I wasn’t right behind them. An image of Martin popped into my head unbidden.

  “You’re the gallery owner’s daughter, aren’t you?” I shouted back.

  That got the others attention. Jack and Chloe spun around, staring between me and the couple. The guitarist of the band smirked at me as he pointed at the rune on his shirt.

  “Yes, I am. My father is who I said he was. He’ll be in contact soon.”

  With that, they both turned and went back into the house. Did Martin run the Hagalaz cult? And, why had he sent me to the Fallen One’s party under a guise?

  “Who the fuck was that hottie?” Jack asked when I reached him.

  I kept quiet as we made our way to the boat. If the man had wanted me to kill the host, was he on my side? Or, was there something much deeper going on that I wasn’t aware of?

  Feeling for my sword, I froze when my hand didn’t come into contact with the handle. I looked around me as the others shook their heads.

  “It’s here, silly. Do you think I would have let you leave it behind?” Chloe pulled it out from under her leather jacket.

  Snatching it from her, I jumped into the boat, putting my sword into the scabbard around my waist, where it belonged. As I started the engine, Chloe stood next to me. A hand came onto my shoulder, squeezing once before letting go.

  “You did really well,” she said, looking out towards the darkness of the river.

  I followed her gaze, finally able to get my breath as the boat parted the water and we sailed towards home. “Thank you,” I murmured, without looking at her.

  She coughed and laughed at the same time. Was my sincere appreciation a joke to her?

  “See, we make a good team, don’t we?”

  Shaking my head, I disagreed. The stress of having her in my life had fair outweighed the help she had given me. However, for the first time in my whole life, having her there, along with Jack, to pick me up when I was down…that counted for something.

  “Where’s my thanks, then, arsehole?” Jack piped up, joining us by the front of the boat.

  “Up your arsehole,” I replied, shoving him when he tried to sit on my knee.

  Chloe giggled as we bickered over the controls. Jack made the boat turn sharply when I bent down to stroke Rusty. If it hadn’t been for him, I wasn’t sure if I would have killed the Fallen One so easily. That dog had some serious magic. And, I owed him my life.

  “That’s true, isn’t it?” Chloe said, bringing me back from my thoughts as I pushed Jack away from the controls, banning him from the front of the boat.

  As he moved back, he plonked down on one of the seats. “It is indeed.”

  “What is?” I asked, not ashamed to admit that I had been ignoring them.

  The factory building that was my home came into view on the riverbank ahead. My muscles relaxed as my chest vibrated. Freya would be happy that another Fallen One had been returned to her. Thor would be smiling down at me, pleased that his grandson wasn’t a failure. And, even Loki would be furious right that moment. His people had failed. Again.

  “Loki,” I blurted just as Chloe was about to speak.

  They frowned at me, a question on both their faces. I sat back in my seat, spinning it to face them as the boat moved slowly across the water.

  “The Hagalaz cult must have something against Loki if they killed his descendants. No other gods have any descendants left, but I wonder…” My sentence trailed off as I went into my thoughts.

  “Ermmm…” Chloe said, getting my attention. “About that…”

  My whole body went still at the tone of her voice. The woman knew something that I didn’t. How? I always felt like she knew a lot more than she had let on.

  Running a hand through her messy hair, she flicking it behind her shoulder. Her brown eyes blinked a few times before she looked away from me.

  “What is it? And, what were you saying earlier?” I realised that it was rude of me to interrupt what she was saying and then demand she tell me something.

  For the first time, I had to be warm towards her if I wanted the information she apparently had. I had a feeling that she had been keeping something from me, but the journal had completely gone out of my mind. Until now.

  “Well, firstly, I said that’s one down, four to go.” Chloe looked at me, her gaze intense as she stared.

  “Actually, that’s two hundred and ninety-six down, four to go,” I corrected her, smirking in her direction.

  Jack snorted, his usual humour not downtrodden considering he had been relegated to the back of the boat.

  “Alright, smart arse. The other thing…” She cleared her throat again, almost choking on what she had to say. “…You’re not going to like.”

  The boat carried us forward, almost docking into the jetty. I gave her my full attention so she knew that I was ready to hear what she had to say. If she kept me in suspense any longer, I would have to threaten her with my sword. I was a man of action and very few words. Stringing me along never worked. Ever. I always had my way. I always won. Nothing would ever get in the way of my ultimate goal. She was right. With another Fallen One gone, there were just four left to go. The end was in sight. Finally, I would die.

  “The journal that the Hagalaz cult wanted. It mentions…it says…”

  “Even I’m getting bored of waiting for you to spit it out,” Jack said.

  “…It says that Odin’s descendants still live…and they’re out to destroy the last living relatives of any of the Norse Gods.”

  Want to know what happens next? Pre-order Lightning Seeker now.

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  BOOK 2 – LIGHTNING SEEKER

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  Acknowledgements

  This book has been a freeing story to write. For so long, I’ve written about the light, highlighting stories of good people. In this story, it made a nice change to dwell in the dark minds of my characters. It was fun coming up with a new twist on a mythology that has lasted thousands of years. History is one of my favourite subjects and after a long while of debating what myth to re-write, I went for Norse & Viking. Who doesn’t love a Viking?

  My thanks go to all those that still sup
port me in my dream. One day, I will make it, one day!

  Thank you to Sara C. Roethle for the amazing support. An amazing author herself (check out her books) she’s my biggest accountability buddy. I wouldn’t have kept going at times if it wasn’t for you.

  Thank you to my cover designer Megan Crewe, I’m so in love with the covers for the Viking Soul series, seriously.

  Thank you to my editor, Charlotte Gledson. You’re always there to push me to get my books as good as they can be.

  Thank you to Sallyann Cole who is an amazing proofreader. I don’t know what I would do without you.

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2016 by Rachel Medhurst

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Published in 2016

  Warning: This book contains profanity and sexual references.

  Author

  Rachel Medhurst grew up in Surrey, England. She writes to prove that no matter where you come from, you can be anything you want to be. Your past may shape you but it doesn't define you. When Rachel isn't writing, she can be found reading and walking in nature.

  www.rachelmedhurst.com