Hunted

By Taiyou Tsuki and Gracen Blackwood

Anoria believes herself to be the last surviving member of the Seven Guards made to protect the earth after it has been destroyed in the Great Fall. What will happen to her carefully laid out plans when she meets Turian, a soft-hearted healer who let a pack of Hunters survive to kill another day?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781329090415

Book preview

Hunted

Hunted

Taiyou Tsuki

And

Gracen Blackwood

Prologue

The world was once beautiful. The four kingdoms ruled by the four Kings and Queens. Peace had fallen throughout the lands, life flourished. But even peace cannot last forever.

The Northern King passed, old age catching up with him. On his dying breath, he left the Kingdom in the North to his daughter, the elder of his two children. She was a just ruler, careful and precise with her plans. Her people called her their Queen with pride.

Her brother, however, was not so happy. He felt cheated by their father’s decision. Behind his sister’s back, he rose up. It was the evening exactly ten years after their father’s death, the next morning would be the anniversary of her coronation. The Queen’s brother snuck into her room and drug a knife across her throat. After the murder of the Queen, everything crumbled. Her brother took to power. With his power, he did great things, horrific and terrible, but great.

He started with the Cleanse, killing all he deemed lowly. The Eastern Kingdom was threatened, forced to start in with the Great Cleanse. The remaining two Kingdoms rose up, bringing on a war. A war that later would be called the Great Fall. It lasted for so long, that many couldn’t exactly place the year in which it started.

Millions were killed, merely from the wars fought between each Kingdom. Every large city was toppled, including infirmaries and food stores. No one was able to access medicine or supplies.

This was the reason the Seven Guards were created.

Each of them carrying an element of the earth as their power source, they fought back against the disasters. They were created from the earth by the great oracle Talila. She was a consultant of many generations of Kings and Queens. Unfortunately, she was the only being to see reason. Recognizing that there was no stopping them, she created the Guards, hoping to put an end to this madness. They were to protect, but never do harm unless it was absolutely necessary, and on very rare occasions, it was. They were an elite force, one to be reckoned with, and their appearances alone struck fear into the hearts of men.

Sadly, not everyone was thankful for their protection. The Hunters, a specialized group of predators, had corrupted themselves. Rationality no longer existed for them. Instead, their only thoughts were to kill and destroy. They believed they were sent on the Devil’s errand, to do his work on earth.

It would be a rough battle between the Hunters and the Guards, the surviving of whom would lay dormant for over a hundred years before making their moves.

Chapter One

Anoria held her breath as she steadied her bow. The luminescent moon hung high in the air, casting brilliant white rays onto the forest floor beneath her.

Silently, she listened as her prey drew near. Gentle footsteps and the soft sound of crunching leaves echoed through the trees. Anoria’s body tensed as the healthy buck emerged from the thick vegetation, unaware that his death was mere moments away. Silently, she strung her bow. Not a muscle moved, she barely breathed, eyes unblinking.

With the aim of a pro, she let the arrow fly into the buck’s chest. The magnificent creature fell to the ground with a soft thud.

She paused for a moment, making sure a predator wasn’t around to hear the kill and steal it from her. It wasn’t easy hanging onto anything anymore.

Ever since the Great Fall, every major town or city anywhere had been destroyed, leaving little villages that relied upon them helpless. Many resorted to living a life of simplicity; hunting food when necessary. Creating their own clothing, and much more.

But there were some- those who became Hunters.

These few didn’t hunt for food or clothing. They looted, killed, and left no tracks. For hunters, killing was a game that they played sloppily. Anoria thought about the fresh kill she’d seen last week. The young buck was shoved up against the tree, blood spattered up the trunk at least ten feet. She felt terrible about it, but there was so much meat left on the bones that she swiped some, unsure of when her next meal would come around.

Jumping down from her perch in the large oak tree, Anoria began to tie the front and rear legs of the deer together. The twine she used was stained red form years of use for this purpose. Later she would gut it, away from this spot, she didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention from bears or another predator stalking nearby.

Suddenly, a rustling in the same direction from which her kill came from caught her attention, and she whipped an arrow into position. No matter what it was, this was her territory. No one was going to steal anything from her.

Milliseconds passed by and nothing stirred. Just as she was about to lower her bow, a figure stumbled through the bush. The stranger tripped over a large tree limb and landed directly at her feet, the sharp tip of an arrow only inches from his nose. Please! Don’t shoot! he shouted as he clumsily made his way to his feet. Anoria was not only angered that this pitiful man was so close to her private hideaway, but at his apparent lack of discretion.

She lowered her face down near his and hissed in his ear, Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now. His eyes grew large with fear. He raised his hands as he started to explain his predicament.

Ah! Please don’t kill me! My name is Turian! I’m f-from a village in the North Kingdom. I’m a healer, a pacifist- if you will. And you know they say its seven years bad luck to kill a healer and-Anoria groaned and rolled her eyes as he began to ramble. Shut up, she ordered. She always hated it when people mumbled. After giving herself a few moments, she allowed him to continue. My village beat and kicked me out b-because I….I….

One of Anoria’s eyebrows cocked up, even though she was surely uninterested in whatever he had to say. Barely caring she asked, What did you do Turian?

His eyes glossed over, and he began to speak very quickly. Well, it was only a few chickens and they seemed pretty desperate. I mean, who was I to know that they were going to steal every single one?

All at once, Anoria was filled with a mixture of emotions. Fear, terror, rage. She immediately dropped her weapon and grabbed her unwanted guest by the shoulders.

Who? Who stole the chickens?

Turian refused to look her in the eye until she grabbed him by the front of his tattered shirt and yanked upwards. He stood unsteadily, her strong grip holding up most of his weight. Now he was too frightened to speak, staring blankly at her, fear glazed eyes making contact with hers. Speak! She ordered.

He coughed before replying, The Hunters! The Hunters took them!

The entire world stopped. Anoria continued to hold his shirt, but greatly loosened her grip. She was barely aware when Turian commenced to get closer, repeating hello? Are you okay?

Pushing him back into the dirt, she stood up abruptly and started to pace nervously. "Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!" She roared, breaking her own rule about keeping her voice low.

Nearly blinded in his right eye by the dried blood that coated it, he used his left to watch his host pace back and forth. He could barely call her that, as about the only thing she’d done for him was threaten him.

Trying once more to get her attention, Turian stood up and took a step towards the scary woman. What’s wrong? Who are you? he questioned her, making sure not to get too close.

Finally, she stopped