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Chapter 6 – Gathering at Riocht
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Dawn of the Hunters Chapter 7 – Blood from a Stone
RHETT Dinner was… pleasant. Strangely pleasant. The conversation was kept light, mostly all of us catching up on things we had missed. I sat back in my chair after demolishing the hearty spread that was laid before us feeling full and satisfied. It was the first decent meal I had had in a long time. Either everyone was saving talks for the meeting, or no one wanted to bring up the elephant in the room. I personally was highly curious to know what Morgan's visions had been and what she and Mathias had planned. It didn’t escape my attention that Alpha Travis was not present, nor had his name even been mentioned. It was oddly strange for him to not be a part of this… whatever this was. He had been friends with Lamia, Kellen, and Mike for years. Far longer than anyone else sitting at this table. With the exception of the parents of course. The only other person who was remotely close to Travis was Hunji who had remained silent and stoic as usual. His eyes never leaving his little witc
Dawn of the Hunters Chapter 8 – The return of Ashe
RHETT We wait for Morgan to provide us with an answer. Her pause is long and torturous. She looks between Marcus and Mathias then over at the old Beta who nods and Morgan sighs, “The gatekeeper. We haven’t figured out who the gatekeeper is though.” “Why do you look so fearful?” Finn scowls at his sister. “She’s not afraid,” Hunji grumbles. “She doesn’t like the role this gatekeeper plays in opening the veil between realms, is all.” Tristan steps up to the center table and grabs five worn scrolls. Abner helps him unroll them and they lay them out on the table for all to see. Except they are face down and the way they lay, you see a scripture on the back of the scrolls, barely visible. But it’s there. ‘Only in death can the gatekeeper walk between realms and open the way.’ There is a faint drawing of a tree and the words ‘the blood of the heart from he who walks between shall open the way.’ “What the fuck does this mean?” Tobias asks, slightly moving the pages. As he does, the writ
Dawn of the Hunters Chapter 9 – The Gatekeeper
RHETT After Mathias had left the meeting everyone else mulled around for a few minutes. They went over the books and documents looking for a clue as to where said dagger might be or even the tree but no reference to either was found. After several hours of coming up with nothing and going over what Morgan had said, we disbanded. We all began filing out of the auditorium. It was late in the evening and the moon's glow peeked through the wide windows of the palace. I was crossing the courtyard to my room, noticing the warmth of the moon, and basked in it for a moment. Closing my eyes and remembering simple times. Even though Orion had tried to claim Riocht and had set the Crawlers upon us it seemed like much simpler times. Orion was strong and powerful, but he could be killed. Unlike Aodh. Mathias and Finn had faced him and failed. Maybe Lamia and Kellen were better off not being here. Maybe wherever they were was a better life. Maybe they had built themselves a new beginning. I dou
Dawn of the Hunters Chapter 10 – A Hunters Quest
RHETT It’s not like me to be nervous. Yet timidly I take one step forward, then another. Until I am standing beside the bed the demigoddess lay upon. Ashe lifts her hand and reaches out for me. Compelled by an unknown force and feeling I take her hand. Warmth washes through me and a sense of clarity. My inner demons and fearful thoughts fade to nothing as I stand holding the hand of the closest thing, I have known to be a goddess. It was surreal, to say the least. Intimidating but with a profound emotion of feeling important. “The tree of life is where you will find the dagger of death.” She coughs and wheezes, trying to catch her breath. The last time I saw the demigoddess she was all-powerful looking, driving Aodh from the battlefield. Now she looked like a frail being whose life force was depleted. I felt pity for her. We thought she had abandoned us. Ran away without helping when she had been the one to create this mass mess in the first place. Or at least she had a hand in i
Dawn of the Hunters Chapter 11 – Night Callers
RHETT The late evening had drawn into the late night. Most were in bed except those who patrolled the border and palace of Riocht. I sat sipping whisky I had just poured from the decanter in one of the many parlors. Pondering Ashe’s words and wondering if she knew who the gatekeeper was. She had to. She was an oracle according to her own declaration. She didn’t mention Travis’ name or allude to her knowing who it was but… “Don’t look so glum bud,” Tobias says walking in and immediately pouring himself a drink. Tobias takes a seat across from me, propping his feet up on the table, and leaning back in a casual way. He sips his drink letting out a satisfied sigh, licking the remaining liquid from his lips. “It's just a trip to the mountains. Nyctimus will give you the location of the tree. Retrieve the dagger, figure out who the gatekeeper is, and we're golden.” That was easy for him to say. Little did he know it wasn’t the quest Ashe was sending me on that had me bothered. It was k
Dawn of the Hunters Chapter 12 – Raven
RHETT I woke in a daze, my body feeling like it had gone several rounds with Mathias. The sun poured into the room as the big orange ball peeked up over the horizon of the trees. Freely and demanding through the white curtains. It wasn’t the sun that had me waking from a heavy sleep, but the sound of a bird squawking. A noise that should have been comforting and familiar, but it wasn’t. Birds had left the sky. Either flown off or had suffered the same demise as the rest of the wilds and fallen prey to the monsters. The squawk comes again. This time, with resistance from my body, I climbed from bed and made my way to the window drawing open the thin fabric that blocked my view. There, on a ledge, sitting opposite my window perched the biggest raven I had ever seen. I stared at it confused. My forehead creased as its bright yellow eye blinked at me. I hadn’t seen a bird in months, years. Yet there sat the enigma of a raven. Its black feathers glistened under the early morning sun's
Dawn of the Hunters Chapter 13 – Secrets and Lies
RHETT Marcus leans over a map, pointing to where the Northern Lycans village can be found. It’s close to Mount Xenia. At least that’s what it looks like on the map when in truth we were looking at a four-day hike through the mountains. And that was in wolf form. I don’t have a wolf form. “They are old school up there Rhett,” Marcus explains, eyeing Finn Mason and I. “What do you mean by old school?” Mason crinkles his nose obviously not liking the sound of that. “They live off the grid more than most. More than they did here at Riocht. At least they had a form of electricity here.” Mathias gives a rare chuckle. Marcus eyes Mathias, still hunched over the map, “Not just that, they live by different rules.” Straightening himself he offers a grim look to me. “Nyctimus is old, very old. Lycans live much longer than any other species of shifter including werecats.” His eyes roam to Mason then to Finn and back to me. “think… dark ages.” “But they haven’t always lived like that have th
Dawn of the Hunters Chapter 14 – The Journey
RHETT They all stood outside as we loaded up the convoy of vehicles. We would be traveling back to the Kodiak Kingdom and staying at the Clan Mansion overnight. From there, Xander would fly us out to Mount Xenia via Birdie. Dropping us at the closest point to the village. Mathias told us that once we were dropped Xander would point the way and there should be a century or guard that would greet us. They would either let us into the village or direct us immediately to the Lycan Clans' whereabouts. That was if Nyctimus was willing to see us. We were warned that he may turn us away. Refuse to entertain us and hear us out. What we were meant to do if that happened, I had no idea. We all said our goodbyes and we were wished good luck. The last person I said farewell to was Tala. She stood there with eyes rimmed dark from lack of sleep and worry. Little Connor in her arms. “Stay strong,” I told her as I wrapped my arms around her and the little prince. Squeezing them both a little tight
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