Hunted

By Ivan Skilling

My enemy murdered my people. Yet I couldn't arrest her. Why did I let her fly away when my heart aches for her?

 

Sinjin is a rogue Avialan fighter living in Rhea, a nation divided by racism. Oppressed her whole life by the ethnic majority Sapien race due to the wings on her back, she conducts raids on wing trafficking rings to free her countrymen from the clutches of Sapiens. During one of her raids, she's caught by a Sapien policeman who allows her to escape. That should have been the first and last she saw of him.

 

Aqra regrets not arresting the Avialan woman but that turns out to be a blessing in disguise. When his childhood Avialan friend is kidnapped, the police refuse to lift a finger. Only the Avialan woman he almost arrested can help him.

 

Forced to work together, Sinjin and Aqra uncover a shared past that stirs up old feelings and young love. But confronted with an unchanging society, will racial prejudices destroy them or will love triumph?

 

~  Winner of Neovel's Stronger Together contest  ~ 

 

Judges' review: The storytelling was smooth and captivating. I really cared about the characters and wanted to know more about them and know what happened next. There was nothing to hold me back from devouring the whole story.

 

Word count: 16.5k 

Estimated number of pages: 66

• Language: English
• Publisher: Three Bits Books
• Release date: Apr 16, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224301003

Ivan Skilling

Hobbyist writer who dabbles in thrillers, science fiction, romance, and comedy. Loves world-building and foosball.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Without a doubt, the best time of the day for Sinjin was the evening flight across the capital city of Rhea, away from the towering, glum buildings that crowded the sky. Those horrendous, boxy structures grew taller every year, yet their façades kept decaying faster like a hastily plastered-on patch because of urban mismanagement.

She tilted her head towards the sun, her short, wavy hair whipping across her hollow cheeks. Her dark eyes fluttered shut as she basked in the gentle caress of the wind on her skin and the warmth of the last rays on her wings.

If she had a choice, she would fly like this forever without a care in the world, but the heavy delivery bag on her back dragged her down to reality. As she banked right towards the industrial area, the bag shifted, causing one of the parcels to dig into her spine like a painful reminder of her responsibilities. She grunted in discomfort and shook it into place, her jacket riding up as she did. Of all days, today had to be the day that her racist boss saddled her with extra bulky parcels.

Swooping down, she came to a graceful halt at the border of the city. A short line of Avialans trudged through the security checkpoint, their wings prodded and poked to check for concealed contraband. As she joined the queue, it didn’t escape her notice that there were fewer Avialans today. Their numbers were dwindling faster ever since the government had decreased the quota for Avialans residing in the cities.

Those Avialans who were forced to the small towns and the countryside had reduced access to educational facilities and little opportunity for career advancement. With all those changes, it was no wonder that the divide between Avialans and the ethnic majority of Rhea, the Sapiens, had grown to the point of xenophobia.

Droves of Avialans were leaving Rhea. After all, why stay in a country that treats you as a third-class citizen in your homeland? The Avialans who did opt to stay behind either didn’t have the financial resources to leave or - like Sinjin - did so out of a patriotic and moral obligation to change their country from within.

Some said Rhea was a lost cause. Sinjin refused to believe that. Deep in thought, she fell in line behind a Sapien man. As they moved through the security post, the officer waved the Sapien man along without so much as a glance. When she took her turn, the officer fixed a disapproving glare on her. The distinct hump on her back betrayed her race before he even looked at her papers.

State your purpose for entering city limits, he snapped.

Delivery for ExpressPost.

The officer snatched the papers she held out. Empty your bag.

Sinjin complied with the request, carefully removing each parcel from the confines of her satchel and placing it on the conveyor belt.

The officer shook the parcels and threw them in one corner. Spread your wings.

Darting a worried glance at the parcels, Sinjin unfolded her wings and walked through the metal detector. As usual, her right metal wing triggered the alarm. The officer cut off the blaring noise with a hit of the button near his computer. He rounded the conveyor belt and poked indiscriminately at every part of her wings. Sinjin gritted her teeth in discomfort as his metal rod jabbed into the soft feathers and flexible bones of her left wing.

The officer moved on to her right wing. Light gleamed off the polished metal surface, a testament to the absurd amount of money she had saved up and poured into replacing her tattered and broken wing with an enhanced version.

He gave it a cursory glance. Privileged bitch.

Sinjin bit down on the inside of her cheeks to prevent a retort from slipping out of her lips.

Move along.

Sinjin stuffed the parcels into her satchel and stalked across the city border. She folded her wings down, acutely aware of the eyes on her and her hump. Pulling her hood over her head, she kept her gaze on a distant point on the sidewalk, avoiding the condescending looks of Sapiens as they walked past her.

Luckily, the post office was only a street away from the border. Several Avialans and the oddball sympathetic Sapien greeted her as she walked into the small shophouse and deposited her parcels with the station master. In five minutes, she had collected her pay and was free for the day.

Going home yet? a low, baritone voice called out to her.

Sinjin glanced over her shoulder at the middle-aged man standing on the steps leading to the post office. His salt and pepper hairline had receded even more since the last time she had seen him. Even his cheeks appeared hollowed out with the stress of living in such turbulent times. Taking care of his three children