The Last Hunter: Collected Edition (Antarktos Saga #1-5)

Em is not as fast and takes the rock hard on her chest. It knocks the air from her lungs and knocks her over. This leaves Tobias for the moment. He’s back on his feet, nocking another arrow, but I don’t give him the chance to use it.

There are seven arrows lying on the ground. And thirteen stones. But all at once, they return to the air, hovering around me. And I direct them, one by one, toward Tobias. A grin spreads on my face as I watch him duck, dodge and weave to no avail. Not every shot finds its target but enough do. How does it feel? I think.

Tobias stumbles when a stone strikes the side of his leg, but he does not fall. The rules of the fight were simple. The first side to be knocked down wins. Em fell, but to end this fight, I need to also make Tobias fall. Unfortunately, he’s fast and tough. But I don’t stop. I reach out to the stones and arrows I’d already thrown and keep the barrage going. Sooner or later he’ll—

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Em is back up! I had assumed she would stay down, but I have to knock both of them down to win. As long as one of them is still in the fight, they’re both in the fight. I pull Whipsnap free from my belt for the first time in this fight, but Em is already inside my strike zone. She catches my weapon with both hands, leaps into the air and places her feet against my chest. She’s using my own ninja move against me! I think, as I’m pulled down and kicked up into the air.

A gust of wind slows my descent and allows me to land on my feet, but Em has stripped me of my weapon, and the fight is beginning to wear on me. I’ve come a long way with Tobias’s guidance, but the two of them are still more than a match for me. As was Xin. But why? I beat Ninnis in the past. Kainda, too. Countless creatures and cresties. And I killed the giant Ull. What’s different?

Ull, I think. My Ull. I’ve lost that savage energy. But he is dangerous. He would kill Tobias and Em. He would—

A stone strikes my shoulder.

Distraction is your enemy.

A second stone finds my knees, stabbing pain up into my gut and knocking me onto my knees.

Forget everything.

Focus on the fight.

Not on yourself.

Not on who you’re fighting.

An arrow grazes my forehead, knocking me back.

My back arches toward the snow. My head hovers just inches from the ground. The only thing keeping me up is the fact that my legs, which are positioned beneath me, don’t bend that far.

In that moment, with defeat just inches away, I realize something. Tobias was wrong about one thing. I think about the photo in my pouch. I picture Mira’s face. My smile next to hers. I relive the moment. My parents talking in the front seat. The music playing on the radio. The smell of our car and aftertaste of Aimee’s chocolate chip cookies in my mouth. The memory gives me hope, and in hope, I find strength.

With a shout, I pull myself back up and thrust my hands out. The katabatic winds rush past me, pulsing at one hundred fifty miles per hour. It lasts just a moment, but that’s all it takes to knock Em and Tobias to the ice and sending them rolling to the other side of the make shift arena.

My head sags. I can barely move. But I’ve won. And I didn’t pass out, which is a bonus.

Clap, clap, clap.

Applause?

It’s not coming from Em or Tobias. They’re still on the ground, and looking for the source of the noise, too.

“Well, well, well,” says a voice that fills me with dread. “That certainly explains a lot.”

It takes a massive effort, but I manage to turn my head up. I see him at the lip of the pit, looking down at me with a rotted smile. Ninnis.

He found me.

Oh no…

He found us.





24



Under normal circumstances this situation wouldn’t be that bad. Tobias and Em are both highly skilled hunters. Their skills combined with my abilities would be more than enough firepower to take care of Ninnis. But I’ve just used the last of my energy to defeat Tobias and Em, and through that effort have pummeled their bodies as well. They’ll no doubt recover faster than I will, but Tobias’s arrows are dulled and Em’s knives are rocks. Still, if we can recover, maybe there is hope.

“Nothing to say little Ull?” a new voice says, removing any shred of hope.

Kainda steps up next to Ninnis, gripping her hammer. She appears healthy and strong, no doubt healed of her wounds by Nephilim blood.

As expected, Tobias and Em regain their feet and shake off my last attack. Were it a real fight, they would still have won. I’m all but defenseless right now.

Without a word, Tobias nocks an arrow, takes aim and lets it fly.

Neither Kainda nor Ninnis flinch. The arrow strikes Ninnis’s shoulder. He twitches from the impact, but the arrow bounces to the ground. It will leave a bruise. Nothing more.

Ninnis looks at his shoulder with a smile. “You’re going too easy on the boy. He excels when the danger is real.” He looks at me. “Isn’t that right, Solomon?” He speaks my name with venom.