Hunted

by Matt Mememaro

  “I know, I know,” Abner said. “Right, now you said your name was Gareth yes?”

  “That’s me,” Gareth said. “What do you want to know?”

  “What’s your last name?” Lois asked. She pulled out a long piece of parchment that held all the names of Hunters she knew of.

  “No last name, I never knew my parents,” Gareth said.

  “You’re not on this list,” Lois said. “How long have you been with the Huntrey for?”

  “Three years last week. I trained under the Alderley family at Renor.”

  “Alright, well I’ll add you down here as Gareth Hunter,” Lois said.

  Every bastard inside the order was automatically given the name Hunter as a representation of their dedication to follow Lars Hunter’s cause. It was both title and name to those that had no family.

  “Very well,” Gareth said. “I expected nothing else. The Renori don’t care much for your names. What is our next course of action?”

  “We rest for the night, take in our surroundings. Maybe even a Vampire or two will attempt to find out what has occurred here,” Abner said. “In the morning we try and find this nest of Vampires that you’ve been looking for.”

  The darkness was lonely, but Abner constantly flicked his night vision on and off at will. He had embraced his Vampire qualities in the last eight years and everything about his heritage seemed so natural. Over the past eight years he had bitten Lois numerous times, however the bites did not seem to faze her or change her in anyway. In fact, she seemed to enjoy every bite Abner gave her accidentally.

  Abner took the first watch of the night, straight after the Hunters had eaten. He sat by the hallway down into the rooms in which his companions slept. The dire wolf, Mandel was resting at the back of the tavern, tucked away in the corner. In case of an attack, the wolf was the first thing Abner would rely upon, apart from his own skills.

  Abner sat with a throwing knife in hand, taking a break from the crossbow. The weapon was heavy and would drain his strength holding it at the ready for hours on end. It didn’t take long for the tavern door to open once again.

  A hooded man walked in, breathing deeply taking in the warmth of inside. He stood frozen for several seconds, noticing that no light was inside. Abner then saw the tiny round objects that were his eyes turn red. He was a Vampire.

  The bodies of his kin still lay strewn across the floorboards. The Vampire hadn’t seen or smelt Abner yet. He snarled, still sniffing the air. Mandel stirred, and Abner moved his arm slightly higher. Abner saw the Vampire turn slowly around the room taking in every detail, the broken rum bottles, shattered arrowheads strewn throughout the bar.

  “Come out Hunter,” it said. “I know you’re in here.”

  Mandel rose, his hackles along with him. The wolf took a step forward, catching the Vampire’s attention.

  “A wolf would not have done this,” the fiend said, bearing his teeth at Mandel.

  “He did not,” Abner spoke from the shadows. “I did.”

  “A lone Hunter could not have done this,” the Vampire said. “There is too many of my kin here.”

  “I was not alone. I was with two others, my Seeker and another companion. I could have done it alone.” Abner rose from his seat.

  “You Hunters are too naive to believe you can kill me. I am a Count! I lead the Vampires that stalk the streets of Etia at night,” the Vampire said.

  “You’ve walked into the arms of one of the few known Hunters to kill a Count. The only Counts killed within the last twenty years were destroyed by my family,” said Abner.

  “Toldar.” The Vampire hissed his name. “You will die like your father at the hands of the Vampires!”

  “My father made a mistake, being alone while on a hunt. I am greater than my father ever was as I am a half Vampire. You will not outmatch me, fiend,” Abner said.

  “If only you knew,” the Vampire growled lunging forward, launching himself off a nearby table on all fours.

  “Trust me, I know.”

  Abner roared, flicking the knife up, into the head of the flying Vampire. Mandel leapt up following the knife as it neared the Count.

  The knife struck first, taking the Count between the eyes, a perfect throw, and Mandel followed, knocking the Vampire to ground. Abner drew another knife and his sword, approaching the downed creature.

  “Mandel! Stand down!” Gareth barked appearing from his room. He had his crossbow ready to fire at a moment’s notice. The wolf pinned at his master’s command, backing away slowly from the Count.

  Abner approached the Vampire, wanting to end its existence with one swing from the sword he had inherited from Barros. The sword was still as keen as the first day he had received it and the runes glowed crimson, thirsty for the Count’s blood.

  “You may have support, Toldar, but you can’t kill me. That sword of yours will not break me,” the Count said.

  “This sword has killed a dozen of your rank when wielded by my hands. You will be no different. Where are your people?” Abner asked.

  “I would not give them up to you. Their work here is too valuable for that,” the Vampire said, not caring in the slightest for Abner. “If you’re going to kill me be done with it!”

  “Where are your people?” Abner asked. He rested the sword upon the Vampires neck. “Answer me and this will be as painless as possible.”

  “You Hunters are all the same. Pieces of shit!” the Vampire said

  Abner struck down with the sword, hitting nothing but the wooden floorboards. The Vampire rolled out of the way and flipped himself up, heading for one of the back windows.

  “Shoot him!”

  Crossbow bolts filled the air and flew across the tavern at the fleeing Count, yet none found their mark in its dead skin. Abner watched as each silver bolt buried itself in another useless piece of wood. The Vampire was out of sight within seconds before Abner could begin the chase.

  “Why didn’t you hit him, Gareth?” the older Hunter asked.

  “He was too fast for me, Abner,” Gareth said.

  “That’s no excuse, Gareth. You need to shoot where they’re going to be, not where they are. You know they’re faster than you are normally. You shoot ahead of them, not at them,” Abner said. “Now we’re going to have to find it in the daylight.”

  “Ab, what happened? Is everything under control?” Lois asked from her room.

  “A Count got away thanks to our young friend here,” Abner said

  “Fucking novices!” Gunthos said. “Shouldn’t be allowed out of the Huntrey. Taking on something like this is far beyond his qualifications.”

  “I invited him to join us Gunthos. The boy will learn from his mistakes. Give him time,” Abner said. “If I remember correctly, you weren’t fond of me either during my early years.”

  “You proved yourself to me,” Gunthos said. It was clear he was ready to fall back to sleep.

  “And Gareth will in time, you watch,” Abner said. “The boy has skills, they still need developing. I wasn’t a polished weapon straight off the back of my first hunt.”

  “Whatever you say Ab, I’m going back to sleep. I want to find these bastards first thing,” Gunthos said.

  “Will you be alright for watch, Gareth?” Abner asked.

  “Of course,” Gareth said. His face lit up.

  “Good, I need some alone time with my lover. Get us if it’s an emergency like the one just before,” Abner said. Gareth nodded his understanding before turning to take a seat. “Not that one, you’ve got too many blind spots. Use the one I was in. Wake Gunthos in an hour or two for the morning shift. We’ve got a hunt in the morning.”

  3

  Depths

  The streets of Etia became full just after dawn as the Alilletians believed that their sun god recognized any activity undertaken in the first and last hours of daylight as worship. It was the only god the Alilletians believed in and his name was kept very secret to anyone that was not one of them. The true time of dawn was
difficult to tell this deep in Alilletia, the snows and mountains blocked out half of the daylight.

  Like in the days past, Abner felt dwarfed by the huge men and women around him. With Lois and Gunthos by his side, he felt more secure. A lot had changed in the past eight years with Abner finally becoming a Hunter in his own right. They had chased the wolves all across Taagras, from Alilletia to Sauria. Just when it appeared they had vanished they reappeared in another part of the land.

  “I tire of these cities,” Lois said. “I want to be free like we used to be, out in the country. I don’t know why we’ve got to keep coming back to these places.”

  “We need the gold, remember? As soon as we’ve destroyed this lot in Etia we will leave,” Abner said.

  “We were tasked with hunting down the wolves and destroying them,” Gunthos said remembering the first they had encountered which had killed his brother, Havoc. “It should be our main priority.”

  “And we will complete that task, Gunthos. You know there are at least another five parties out there searching for them,” said Abner. “Both us and the Huntrey requires funding in order to survive. If we shut down this group inside Etia the profits are bound to keep us fed for another couple of months at least.”

  “The wolf plague is a greater threat to society,” Gunthos said. “You said it yourself, it has to be done.”

  “It will be, once we see ourselves fed and looked after. Now enough of this and let us turn our thoughts to the present. Lois, have you located any Vampires yet?” Abner asked.

  “I think there’s one up ahead. Keep going into the crowd and we will come across him,” Lois said. Her eyes were red, effects of the Vampire blood she used to help track their foes.

  “What does he look like?” Abner asked.

  “Black hair, not an Alilletian, short.” Lois took a deep breath and giggled, becoming excited at the prospect of a new kill. Over the past few years, the Vampire blood had become like a drug to her and sent her off on random highs.

  The description Lois gave was not detailed but here it would be enough. Alilletians were not known for black hair and finding their target would be easy. Gunthos would have passed for an Alilletian save for his skin color.

  “Gunthos, I want you to take him. Make sure he knows exactly what you are. We’ll cover you from the outskirts of the crowd to make sure nobody follows you,” Abner said.

  “Want us to go back to the tavern?” he asked.

  “Indeed, I want to question him and be one hundred percent sure of where the Vampires are located tonight. I have a rough idea, but we need to know for certain,” Abner said.

  “It will be done Toldar,” Gunthos said. He bowed and turned on his heel before being swallowed by the crowd of Alilletians.

  “I hope you’re watching, Gareth,” Abner said. He pulled his hat over his face more and leant back against a wall. The sun continued to creep higher, closer to eclipsing the mountains. “You might learn a thing or two.

  “I can’t see Gunthos,” Gareth said.

  “Look closer,” Lois said. “I don’t know about you but I can see him from here.”

  “You will learn,” Abner said.

  Gunthos emerged from the crowd moments later with the Vampire clasped by the left shoulder. The Hunter didn’t look very happy with the Vampire. He was nothing to look at aside from his flat nose that looked freshly broken. The Vampire looked up at Gunthos and raised a nail to his face to bite at it.

  “Hello, I am Abner Toldar. You might have heard of me?”

  The Vampire shook it’s head. “Vars Lin. No I haven’t.”

  “Vars, we have a few questions we wish to ask you. As I’m sure you are aware from my friend there, we are Hunters and we have a duty to kill any Vampire we come across. Resist and your death will be painful,” Abner said.

  “I don’t want to die,” Vars said.

  “I can tell you’re a brand-new Vampire. You’re probably unaware of your powers. Cooperate and you will not be harmed. This way,” Abner said.

  Vars grunted as Gunthos threw him into one of the chairs in the tavern. The Vampire was weak and made Abner wonder if he had drunk his first drops of blood yet. He seemed to be very in control of his human emotions. Mandel greeted the Hunters, rising from a sleep and growled when he smelled Vars. The Hunters took position around Vars, all but Abner ready with their crossbows in hand, should the Vampire decide to escape.

  “Why is there a wolf in here?” Vars asked. His eyes were wide, filled with terror.

  “He is not a wolf, Vampire,” Gareth said. “He is a dire wolf, bred for the sole purpose of hunting Vampires. In other words, he was bred for hunting you.”

  “What do you want from me?” Vars asked.

  “Information, quite simply,” Abner said. He set his foot down on the closest table. He kicked out a chair and rested one foot upon it. “Tell us what you know, and you can walk out.”

  “I don’t know what information you want from me!” Vars said.

  “Let me take this Ab,” Lois said.

  Abner shrugged. “Be my guest.”

  “Mr. Lin, have you ever had the displeasure of being cut by Fyndfire in your seemingly short, yet miserable life as the lowest of all shit in this land?” Lois asked. She stepped forward and drew one of her long knives.

  “No I wouldn’t know what that is.” Vars appeared to squirm as Lois drew closer with her knife outstretched.

  “How about I gut you like a fish right now unless you tell us where the Vampires in this city hide!” Lois said. Her voice cut like the dagger, cold and sharp.

  “Listen! I don’t know anything about Vampires in Etia!” Vars said. Tears began to form in his eyes. “A man approached me no more than a day ago, when I met him I fell asleep then I woke up not long after. And then you found me!”

  “Why do we always manage to find the idiots of the pack?” Lois rolled her eyes and she mimed the Vampire’s movements. Abner smiled. “Where the fuck are they, you piece of shit!”

  Lois etched the knife closer towards Vars, pointing it at his stomach. The Vampire tried throwing her off, but with the Vampire blood inside her, Lois was too strong. A lifetime of training had seen to that. The knife pierced his belly, forcing a scream from the Vampire.

  “Alright fine, fuck! I submit!” Vars said. “They’re underneath the Citadel. You can take one of the sewers and it’ll lead you straight to them. It’s a vast tunnel network but you can find your way out of there.”

  “Not so useless after all,” Gunthos said. He chuckled, and a grin spread across his face.

  “I had my suspicions about the Citadel. Ever since I killed Graytooth something hasn’t been right about this country and the Citadel is the heart of it. We’ll destroy these Vampires and report it to the Huntrey. Maybe they can lend us some insight,” Abner said.

  “What about me? Am I free to go?” Vars asked.

  Abner snorted at the Vampire. “It is our mission in life to kill you and your kind. The only way you are now free is through death. Gareth come here.”

  “What do you want me to do Abner?” he asked.

  “Take my sword. I want you to kill Vars,” Abner said.

  “Of course,” Gareth said. Abner passed him the hilt which he grabbed.

  “You said I would not be harmed!” Vars started to scream as Gareth held the sword to his throat. The Vampire didn’t move, fearful of the Fyndfire’s touch once more upon him.

  “I lied. You’re a Vampire. No harm comes to you. You’re already dead,” said Abner. “Gareth, finish him!”

  The young Hunter took one quick look at Vars, seated helplessly in the chair. He then looked at the sword, hungry for blood. The sword flashed up above him and a moment later the sword swung down, cutting straight through Vars, severing head from torso. The Vampire didn’t have time to utter a cry and died silently.

  “A fine cut,” Gunthos said. He nodded his approval.

  “He will earn his place beside us Gunthos. This is the start,” Abner
said.

  “Aye, impressive to remove a head like that in a single blow at his age.”

  “Are you two going to stand around and talk all day? I’d rather hunt these bastards during the day. I know it’s underground but at least we have a fallback point,” Lois said.

  “Alright, let’s get moving. Find an entrance and we’ll head down it,” Abner said. “Bring your wolf, Gareth. We’ll need him.”

  Sewage drains were everywhere throughout Etia, it was only a matter of finding one they could all squeeze down. After half an hour of searching, Gunthos pulled back a steel grate that led to the underbelly of the city. As each Hunter dropped into the depths, the stench of death and decay barraged their nostrils.

  In these tunnels there was no light, buried deep underneath the streets of Etia. Each of the Hunters, save Gunthos drunk Vampire blood deeply from different vials. It allowed them to see in the dark. While Abner didn’t need the blood, it had been a long time since he had last fed and the boost was more than welcome in his system.

  “Which way? We could be lost down here for days,” Abner said.

  “They’re Vampires, Abner,” Gunthos said. “They’d want the grandest setting available. They’ll be directly underneath the center of the Citadel.”

  “To the north then?” Gareth asked.

  “Yes, from here, the Citadel is to the north east, so we go right and then try follow it north,” Lois said. “Getting out closer to the Citadel shouldn’t be a problem. They hate having shit beneath their feet.”

  “It’s all they’ve had for the past eight years, since I killed Graytooth. Alilletia has fallen so far thanks to a single act I committed.”

  “Ab, I’ve told you a hundred times. You did what you thought was right at the time. Nobody could have foreseen your actions sending an entire country into anarchy. He was the man that killed Malvrok and he wanted to kill you as well. It’s all you could have done,” Lois said.

  “Sometimes I wonder if I should have let him live,” Abner said. The sewer around him fell silent.