Hunter's Rise by J.N. Chaney & Matthew A. Goodwin

Author:J.N. Chaney & Matthew A. Goodwin [Chaney, J.N. & Goodwin, Matthew A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Variant Publications
Published: 2024-03-17T00:00:00+00:00

20

It was tough going, and the fact that I had been recently shot came roaring back as we ran through the thick mud toward some unknown destination. Having a head start was good, but it didn’t count for much, and we had no idea how far it was to our destination and what we would find when we got there.

My lungs burned and my side ached, but I kept pushing, knowing Ned’s life was on the line. If we could get to Edwin before the marshals, we might still stand a chance of getting our friend back soon. That was, if Edwin was even still alive.

Those thoughts were pushed from my mind as I saw the faint glow of light in the distance. At first, it was little more than a pinprick of orange in my vision, but it grew, and soon we were rushing out from the cover of the forest and back into the pummeling rain. The path opened up into the center of a small town of wooden buildings with thatched roofs. They were lined up in a circle around a central statue of what appeared to be a man. But the stonework carving had been so worn away by wind and rain that it was little more than a several-meter-tall nub. There were just enough torches around the town to see but not nearly enough to see well.

It was like being transported back to another time.

Most of the buildings were small with a single door at the front and either a garden or animal pen at their side. In the few small fenced off areas, rotund green creatures with four hooved legs and eyes in their back cowered in wet straw beds under small wooden awnings.

“Guess the predators on this planet are mostly flighted,” I noted, gesturing toward the creatures who were undoubtedly being raised for the slaughter.

Lara said nothing to my comment but pointed toward a large building on the far side of the circular town. We rushed across, past the statue and toward the large, wood double doors that were green with algae in places and black with rot in others.

After throwing open the door, we stepped out of the rain and into a warm room brightly lit with dancing flames. Torches, candles, and a large fireplace in the back cast orange light on the faces of haggard looking men and women who all turned to look at us.

Most, after appraising us for a moment, returned to looking at the nearly empty plates of food set before them. All were sitting at four long tables that stretched from the far side of the room to where we stood at the front and were lined with well-worn wooden benches.

The one person who continued to look at us was an older man with a long white beard that hung down over black robes. He shuffled toward us, his left hand worrying a circle of rope that he clutched and the other either tucked into his robes or altogether absent.

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