Demons of the Hunter Read online

  Contents

  TITLE PAGE

  DEDICATION

  MAP

  CHAPTER 1: ERIC

  CHAPTER 2: ZELDA

  CHAPTER 3: ERIC

  CHAPTER 4: TYUS

  CHAPTER 5: KARA

  CHAPTER 6: ZELDA

  CHAPTER 7: TYUS

  CHAPTER 8: KARA

  CHAPTER 9: ZELDA

  CHAPTER 10: ERIC

  CHAPTER 11: ZELDA

  CHAPTER 12: ERIC

  CHAPTER 13: ZELDA

  CHAPTER 14: TYUS

  CHAPTER 15: ZELDA

  CHAPTER 16: ERIC

  CHAPTER 17: TYUS

  CHAPTER 18: ZELDA

  CHAPTER 19: ERIC

  EPILOGUE, PART 1

  EPILOGUE, PART 2

  MORE FANTASY

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  COPYRIGHT

  TITLE PAGE

  Demons of the Hunter

  By

  Stephen Allan

  DEDICATION

  To Jessica, Yvonne, and Emily, for reminding me why I love to write.

  MAP

  CHAPTER 1: ERIC

  They’re alive.

  Two women laughed at a distance, just close enough for Eric to run to, but far enough that he had to shout. The two, both with long hair, one at a height just below him and the other about a foot shorter, seemed to keep moving away each time Eric ran to them. No matter how fast the young dragon hunter ran and no matter how long he ran, the two women he saw never came closer.

  “Mom!”

  His mother turned. How long had it been? Years? Over half a decade? Not quite a decade, but the actual time elapsed didn’t matter nearly as much as the perceived time which had transpired. He had gone from a wild, bratty boy to a stoic, cold man in just the six years since he last saw her. Those six years would have taken a normal human six decades to get through.

  “Mom.”

  His mother smiled, with her radiating blue eyes, long brown hair, and soft skin that Eric used to hug so tightly his mother teased him about breaking bones. Eric’s eyes watered. He laughed in a futile attempt to shake away the tears forming. Boys—no, men, he was a man, he had to remind himself—didn’t cry in front of their mothers. Boys didn’t act younger in front of mom.

  They most certainly didn’t do it in front of their younger sisters.

  “Rey!”

  The young girl giggled and waved. This time a tear did fall from Eric’s right eye, and he made no effort to wipe it away. How delighted he was to see her cheerful smile and giggle. How emotionally heartbreaking it was to know that the boy she had grown up with was no longer present, replaced by a man who acted more like a father figure than a teasing big brother. How tragic that the brother she knew had also “died.”

  And how awful it was to know that he could never even pretend to be the young boy again. Not after witnessing so much death. Not after destroying Indica. The big brother had disappeared, replaced by the father figure he nor Rey had ever had.

  Not after…

  How are they here?

  How could this be?

  How could his mother and sister, Rey, still be standing? Was it a miracle of defeating the first legendary dragon? Was it a gift of the heavens or some god Eric didn’t know about?

  Did it matter? While such questions might make for an interesting story, they did not affect the present. He had his mother and sister back.

  “Rey, Rey, how are you?”

  “Good!” Rey said with a giggle, as if she had some underlying secret she craved sharing.

  Eric, remembering how the two of them would banter, crossed his arms and gave her a mock askance gaze. Rey burst out laughing, then hid her mouth and her cheeks with her hand. She could not hide those sweet, innocent green eyes, though, eyes which told Eric his little sister was up to no good. Silly girl. Thinking you can surprise me.

  But then his attention turned back to his mother, who bore the compassionate smile only a parent could.

  “Mom,” he said. He cleared his throat, hoping that his voice might become more pronounced and steeled, but instead it just sounded weaker. “You should see what I’ve become.”

  He meant to talk to her in a positive light about the maturity he’d gained, the successes he’d had. But as soon as he finished, he realized that whatever he’d become, it’d only happened because of that terrible day six years ago.

  “I have, and I do,” his mother said.

  His mother and sister came closer. Eric ran to close the gap, but the closing remained gradual. Once more, he could not do anything to hasten their reunion. He had to wait, but at least he’d finally feel her warm embrace once more.

  “My dear Eric, my sweet boy, I am more proud of you than you realize. You managed to defeat Indica.”

  How… how does she know?

  “I… I did,” Eric said, not sure how to respond. “Thanks.”

  His mother smiled as she got close enough to hug him. Eric nodded his head a couple of times and pursed his lips, trying to shake the emotions out, but he was beginning to rapidly accept that he could not shake those emotions no matter how hard he tried. In fact, the closer he got to Mom and Rey, the more he wanted to indulge into those emotions.

  “And now… now I’m going to go… for…”

  Could he really say it? Wasn’t his statement falsified by the very fact that Mom and Rey were standing right by him? How could he claim to fight for vengeance if vengeance had nothing to stand upon?

  But as much as logic defied his next words, his emotions could not. It had controlled him for the last six years and had intensified its grip on his mind for the last few weeks. No matter what he saw, no matter who lived, Eric had to see his next target with a certain title.

  “The killer.”

  But it wasn’t Eric who had spoken. It was his mother, who wore a sympathetic smile.

  Eric nodded and met his mother’s gaze. There was something inviting about his mother’s eyes that he had not yet noticed. Such a gaze would only exist between two people within hugging distance, and Eric recognized it as soon as he saw it. The gap had closed enough. He didn’t have to futilely chase after Rey and Mom.

  He didn’t waste another moment as he fell forward.

  Her soft, warm arms. Oh, how Eric had missed that. How he had missed the feeling of just falling into someone he loved instead of coldly removing himself from those he did not. How he had missed feeling the chin of his mother gently lean against his head. How he had wished to feel his mother’s soft hand with the just-sharp-enough-fingernails, gently scratching the top of his forehead as he rested.

  Six years that felt like six lifetimes had passed. It was made worse by the fact that every day, every night spent in Mathos was marked by a visit to what he had thought was her final resting spot. Nothing had granted him the solace of seeing his mother or Rey. Nothing short of a miracle could do that.

  But a miracle has come.

  Rey came up and Eric lifted his right arm and brought her into the circle. He had missed having his little sister curl up beside him, him playing the role of father that she had never had—nor one that he could remember—for brief periods of time. Unlike before, when the role of an adult weighed on him in ways he did not try to show even to men older than him, being the father figure to Rey gave him great joy. So did teasing her and playing jokes, but he also had his moments of unbelievable tenderness toward her.

  But this hug was different than the ones he had had with her before. She never quite came up to his height, but he couldn’t remember her being this short.

  It was yet another reminder that the passage of time spared no one and no memory. Yesterday’s hope became today’s pleasantry which became tomorrow’s wistful nostalgia. It wa
sn’t like this was awkward in the way that seeing Kara would be awkward, but it was awkward all the same. How could Rey remain the same innocent age while Eric had to grow up? Why did Eric have to become so cold, so distant that just making basic friendships proved nearly impossible? Why was it that the only people Eric had anything more than acquaintance with were two formerly dead family members and maybe Abe, his mentor in the Dragon Hunter’s Guild?

  Why was it so hard to connect to women? Even Kara had more or less forced herself onto him. Good luck getting him to start anything. My soul’s never known peace. But now…

  They’ve found peace. Surely, no? Maybe Ragnor wasn’t the killer. Maybe it was Indica.

  “Mom, Rey,” he said, now fully sobbing. “I won’t let you go again. I can’t let you go again. We’re going back to Mathos and I’m going to make sure nothing ever happens to you two again.”

  Neither of them seemed keen on leaving either. His left arm held his mother in place, and his right arm held Rey near him. He would suffer the slices of a thousand swords before he so much as flinched his arms.

  But then his mother spoke words that cut deeper than the sharpest, most refined of blades ever could.

  “Eric, you know we cannot stay with you forever,” his mother said.

  A dragon’s bellow filled the air.

  It was so far removed that Eric wondered if he’d imagined it, but he looked over his mother’s shoulder to see a terrifying sight, a sight that reminded him that he had not finished his work, and that no, his mother and sister did not yet know peace.

  Ragnor, the legendary red dragon, one with four limbs, two massive wings, and a body large enough to crush an entire town with just a few well-placed body slams, had taken to the heavens. It stretched its wings out, as if it wanted the entire Syrast Empire to witness its glory. It tightened its claws and roared, so loud that all of Hydor, from Dabira to the resting spot of Bahamut, surely had heard the beast.

  Eric swallowed but then turned back. As long as his mother and his sister in his arms did not go, he could let the world burn around them. It would provide warmth to Mom and Rey.

  But his mother’s words dispelled that illusion in such a cold, shattering manner, Eric could scarcely believe that she had spoken them.

  “We are not of this world anymore,” his mother said. “Our time has passed.”

  But… you’re here. You’re alive.

  How were they here?!? Their time, the one Eric had thought ended six years ago, was over! Here they were. Right here! Maybe if Eric had never touched them, he could understand. But he was feeling them right now. His mother’s familiar nails, gently soothing his head. His sister’s tight squeeze. He could even smell them, how they smelled like the roses in the gardens of Mathos.

  This can’t be real. Mom. Rey. You can’t leave me.

  How could that be…

  “Eric,” his mother continued. “We must go.”

  “Eric!” Rey said, a too-warm smile on her face. “I’ll miss you! I love you!”

  Eric burst into tears as he held his mother tight. He could feel something pulling her away—something that wasn’t her feet, for she remained motionless, but she nevertheless moved back. No matter how hard he squeezed, he could not stop Rey and Mom from moving further apart.

  “No!” he screamed. “I can’t lose you again!”

  “Do not fear for us, Eric,” his mother said. “Where we are in the heavens, we are at peace. We feel no pain, and we have no sorrow. We look favorably upon you, dear child. Our souls do know peace.”

  “We love watching you!” Rey gleefully said.

  “Mom! Rey!”

  But now they were out of his arms, his trembling, weak, shaking arms that felt more like noodles than arms capable of holding a sword that decapitated dragons. He chased after them, but his mother put a hand up. Even had she not, the gap still widened between them.

  “You have to let us go, Eric,” she said. “If you continue to chase us, you will never catch us, and it will only hurt you as you ignore what happens around you.”

  “No!” Eric said defiantly. “I don’t care about anything else. I want you two back. I won’t lose you again!”

  “Eric, please don’t,” Rey said, her words soft but having a chilling effect on his heart. “You can’t do anything about us.”

  Her voice sounded pleading, begging, and it was the saddest thing Eric could ever remember hearing. If his little sister—dearest Rey, the one whom he protected more than himself—just said he was out of options…

  “Eric, let us go, don’t get greedy,” his mother said. “You must fight for reasons beyond us. Our souls know peace. We’ll never forget you.”

  Then they didn’t just get out of reach. They began to fade from the world, their figures becoming less and less visible, replaced by the setting sun behind them.

  “No!”

  Eric charged. His mother and sister held hands, as if going to the other side together. But they couldn’t leave him! Six years didn’t just—

  The ground shook violently. The red feet of Ragnor touched down, smashing the area where his sister and mother had been just seconds ago. Eric fell on his butt and looked up into the dark, red eyes of Ragnor, boiling with everything that his mother and sister did not have—hate, rage, envy, and darkness.

  Unlike Indica, this creature had a full hide of skin, healthy eyes, and wings without holes or tatters.

  And then it did something completely unexpected.

  It laughed. It laughed with such force that Eric felt the sound waves push him back.

  “You think that you can have them back?” it said, its voice distorted and deep, as if spoken by a demon. “You really think you can bring your little sister and dear mother back from the dead?”

  Eric said nothing, choosing to unsheathe his sword. Ragnor, for the second time in his life, had taken away the two people he loved the most. Ragnor would pay. Ragnor would die. Ragnor’s soul would never know peace if Eric had a say.

  “Hah! A dagger against a dragon like I. When will you learn, Eric the Dragon Hunter? When will you learn that your vengeance will lead you nowhere? When will you learn that what you fight for is shallow and without reward? When will you learn that you can never fulfill your mission?”

  “Shut up!” Eric screamed, but the words of the dragon had entered his mind.

  He never tried to think about it, but whenever he did, it was unavoidable. What good was fighting for vengeance? His sister and mother were never coming back. They were dead. What he had just seen right now… that was not real. It was the mind trick of a desperate boy, pitifully begging for his mom and sister back.

  And even if somehow they hadn’t actually passed away—if this was all one long cruel prank, designed to get Eric to hunt dragons or take on some other task—they wouldn’t look like the women Eric knew, and they wouldn’t act like the women he knew. His little sister wouldn’t be so little anymore, and his mother likely would’ve aged far more than just the six years that had passed. Their souls might live, but the “Mom” and “Rey” Eric had left behind six years ago would still have perished.

  “Pathetic,” Ragnor sneered. “You think because you had the magi come to your rescue against a dragon half my size that now you’re a legendary dragon hunter? Do you see my size? My power?!? Do you think you stand a chance against me, boy? I would have eaten Indica with two bites had I faced it. You have no chance.”

  “I don’t care if I don’t stand a chance!” Eric yelled, insanity taking full hold of him.

  If I can’t save the souls of my mom and sister, then I’ll condemn my own so I can be with them.

  He charged the dragon, even as it grew to such large, absurd proportions that Eric barely made up a single foot on the beast—no, not even, barely two toes. With a war cry and his sword held aloft, Eric pierced one of the digits on Ragnor’s front limbs.

  But when he tried to take his sword out, he found it lodged in. No matter how much he yanked, no matter from
what angle he pulled, he could not bring it out.

  Ragnor mockingly laughed as Eric tried placing his feet on the oily skin of Ragnor for support.

  “I grow tired of this. Hydor cannot stand much longer under my watch.”

  Ragnor flicked Eric back with a single digit and knocked him back several feet. When Eric tried to rise, he could not.

  “Foolish boy, letting me consume you so much you failed to think about your options,” the dragon growled with a laugh. “You could have gathered forces to save the world. Instead, selfishly, you sought to save what cannot be saved. And now, your rage shall lead to your death.”

  Again Eric tried to rise. But again, a force of some kind had him pinned.

  Ragnor reared its head, about to unleash a deadly fire. Eric closed his eyes. Mom. Rey. I’m sorry. I’ll see you soon.

  But suddenly, the sound of Ragnor vanished. Instead, Eric seemed to be floating in an ephemeral state. He wasn’t dead, he didn’t think, since he had spatial awareness. But he wasn’t alive, certainly not on the battlefield anymore. He just saw an indescribable darkness and heard nothing. He had become deprived of his senses.

  Then, slowly, as he opened his eyes, he awoke in a chamber in the imperial palace.

  He was alone. Thanks to his role in the slaughter of Indica, he had scored a small, private room with a far more comfortable bed than the servant’s quarters he shared with Abe and Tyus, the son of the emperor, his former rival turned friend.

  But the privacy and the solitude just reminded him of what he had lost. And what his dreams had so cruelly reminded him that he could never get back, even in the world of his dreams.

  “Ahh!”

  He screamed and swore as he chucked first a pillow and then his boots against the nearest wall.

  What a fanciful dream that was, Eric thought sarcastically. I’m so glad I got Mom and Rey taken from me again.

  But… what a frighteningly realistic dream it also was. He could still sense his mother’s touch. Her words and her voice sounded exactly like how he remembered them. And dearest Rey, his little sister, the girl who always had a giggle that could infect an entire room. Her hugs… their smell, too. His mother had that distinct rosy smell that he picked up on.