Duskbound

The four of them stood in a street on the east side of the city, part of a district tucked away in a corner and so small Velik hadn’t even realized it existed. He’d thought Gold Town’s property was expensive—and it was—but it was nothing compared to where they were now.

There were only twenty or so homes in the entire district, and it wasn’t that the houses were nicer or even bigger. It was the sheer acreage of the property. Space inside the walls sold for a premium price, but whoever’d built up this district hadn’t cared. Each estate had a twelve-foot-tall fence topped with another three feet of curved and barbed metal spikes. Bladed wire was woven between the spikes—possibly steel, but probably something much stronger.

According to Jerva, the estates held five acres or more, each and every one of them. Out in the countryside, that was nothing special. Here, securely wrapped in the city’s wall and right next to the beating heart of trade and commerce that was Cravel’s market district, having so much land sequestered for personal use was an exorbitant luxury.

And it was one that Phun had funded through his many, many exploits as a gold-ranked monster hunter, one that many believed was next in line to ascend to platinum status. His estate was less than half a mile away, but they’d stopped short of reaching it for a very simple reason. They’d hit a snag in their plans.

“He was supposed to be alone,” Jerva hissed quietly. Even from this distance, they had some concern of being overheard by a hunter with a reputation for catching everything around him. The background noise of the city would help disguise their activities, but none of them wanted to take chances.

“We knew it was a risk,” Torwin said. “That’s why there’s three—four, really—of us.”

“Who’s his visitor?” Gwin asked.

The old [Ranger] shook his head. “Someone familiar. I couldn’t quite make out the voice.”

Torwin had been their forward scout, traveling on silent steps a thousand feet ahead of the rest of the group. They’d halted on his command and waited for him to make his way back to where they were standing a minute earlier. None of the others had heard anything at all, but no one doubted Torwin’s claims.

My senses are just as good as his, though, Velik thought. Maybe better.

He closed his eyes and listened, letting [Apex Hunter] fill his mind with all the sounds of people living their lives. There were coughs and grunts, the scraping of tools and cookware, wood creaking against old nails, soft sighs and murmured words, and the breeze dancing through the many trees around him. All of those came to him and were discarded, along with a thousand other noises that didn’t matter.

Then he heard a voice he recognized, one so quiet that he wasn’t sure what it was saying. Whatever it was didn’t matter much. Velik knew the tone and cadence. “Pevril,” he said.

The others halted their quiet argument and looked at him. “You sure?” Torwin asked.

“I am,” Velik said.

“He’d be easy prey on his own,” Jerva mused. “Gold-ranked before he retired, but a weak gold. And it’s been fifteen years. He’s got to be rusty by now.”

“But supporting Phun is a different story,” Gwin countered.

“Exactly,” Torwin finished unhappily.

“We might have to call it off,” Jerva said.

“We can’t. Every target needs to be taken tonight.”

“Then we need more hunters,” Gwin said.

“Why?” Velik asked. “If the three of you were enough to beat Phun, then do that. I’ll deal with Pevril.”

Jerva snorted. “Fresh meat thinks he’s—”

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Torwin cut him off. “Are you sure?”

“I would like nothing better,” Velik said, a grin spreading across his lips. “I owe that son of a bitch some payback. Whether he’s actually corrupted or not, I’m going to enjoy kicking his ass.”

* * *

None of them labored under the delusion that the night’s shadows hid them. Certainly, it did nothing to hinder their eyes, and it was to be expected that their targets would pierce that veil just as easily. Speed was their only ally, so it was with perfect synchronization that they leaped the wall.

Phun’s estate reminded Velik a lot of back home. It was the same kind of trees, the same smell, and even some of the same animals. It lacked the monsters that had infested the frontier for most of Velik’s life, but that was an improvement.

They’d made their plans before proceeding onto Phun’s estate. The trio who’d originally been assigned the job would attack the monster pretending to be the prestigious gold hunter. Velik would separate Pevril from the battle and keep him occupied.

He could tell the others didn’t have faith in his abilities, with the possible exception of Torwin. He wasn’t a real gold, not like them. He hadn’t climbed the ranks and vetted himself on a hundred missions. What he was, was an unknown variable, one neither Jerva or Gwin liked gambling their lives on.

They were halfway to the manor when a window on the third floor blew out of its frame and soared a hundred feet through the night sky before crashing into a tree. A man appeared in the opening and leaped free, laughing wildly as he landed in the grass. He stood well over six feet tall and held a wicked axe in one hand. The other was empty, but with a twist of his wrist, a javelin materialized by magic.

Still roaring with laughter, Phun threw the javelin in their direction. Jerva’s eyes widened and he uttered an, “Oh shit!” before he dove into a roll. The javelin blew past him, ruffling his hair as it went by, and slammed into a tree a few hundred feet back with an ear-splitting crack. The tree listed sharply, then pitched over to crash to the ground.

They weren’t kidding about him being strong!

“I wish I could say I was surprised to see some weak, skulking golds playing at thieves, but those who can’t survive on their own strength always resort to such tactics,” Phun bellowed, now holding his axe in both hands as he raced forward to meet the group.

Torwin fired on the run, arrows arcing so fast that he had a dozen in the air before the first struck the house behind Phun. Despite his size and the speed of the missiles, the corrupted hunter easily danced through the barrage. Even the ones that hit him did no more than stick out of the man’s skin like war decorations, ignored like they weren’t much of an inconvenience.

Velik’s job was to peel off from the group and intercept Pevril at the house. Whether he tried to fight or run, the head instructor needed to be captured. In his head, Velik understood that. But in his chest, a raging need to challenge the giant hunter burned through him. It sang in his veins, carried by his blood until it filled up every part of him, a primal need to test himself, to see who was really the better of them.

With great reluctance, Velik pushed past that urge. It was easier when he reminded himself that his revenge for the months of humiliation he’d endured as an iron waited in that manor. If he was lucky, Pevril would put up a fight. It would be more fun that way.

Velik flowed away, off to the right, and prepared to rush the house. Seeing him attempting to pass the fight by, Phun started yelling, calling him a coward and demanding he stand and fight. When Velik ignored the jibes, a new javelin appeared in the giant’s hand. It flew at Velik, who twisted mid-step to avoid it and kept running without so much as breaking stride.

His ears told him where his prey was, fleeing deeper into the house. Running, huh? We’ll see how far you get before I catch up to you. For the moment, Pevril was still on the third floor, and Phun had left an easy way in. Velik leaped, his spear slithering down his arm to take on its full form, and sailed through the broken window with both feet leading.

He hit the floor in a roll that ended with him back upright and running. Pevil already had a lead, and Velik wanted to run him down before he escaped into the city. Barely even seeing the expensive—and to Velik’s thinking, tacky—décor, he rushed through the manor house.

Outside, the crash of steel on steel echoed through the grounds. Each beat was so loud that it shook the house itself, rattling windows in their panes and tossing trinkets from their places on shelves or tables. Doors swung wide of their own accord if they weren’t securely latched, but Velik ignored them in his pursuit.

He could hear it, the beating of Pevril’s heart up ahead. It was a beacon that called for Velik to follow, no matter where his prey might try to hide. He passed through a kitchen, the fire banked in the hearth and a few cold cuts of meat laid out on a platter. A servant who’d been prepping the late-night snack gaped at Velik as he tore through the place.

Not so fast, Velik thought, hearing Pevril closer now. The heartbeat was louder, faster, panicked. He knew he was being hunted, that he couldn’t escape. The thrill of the chase sang through Velik, and with a sudden surge of energy, he burst through a side door out into the yard opposite the one the others fought in.

There, not fifty feet away, was Pevril. He was attempting to flee into a stand of trees that ringed the backside of the estate, but he hadn’t made it in time. His heart betrayed him to Velik’s ears.

[Apex Hunter has advanced to rank 7.]

It was time. Ignoring everything else, Velik closed in for the kill.