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

Em and Tobias stand their ground, waiting for the inevitable fight. At close range, Em could probably do some damage with the few remaining stones she has. And Tobias’s bow still has the blades at either end. But as Tobias takes a step toward me, he limps.

I’ve injured him.

Maybe Em, too.

What was I thinking? I could have killed them!

I look up at Kainda, hoping to see a glimmer of change. I saved her and then spared her life. Even expressed feelings for her! She meets my eyes with a cold blooded stare. A killer to the core.

Tobias was right. I shouldn’t have let her live. What good is mercy if it leads to evil?

Maybe if I delay things, the father and daughter team will stand a chance. They have trained to fight as a pair. If they can regroup… “How did you find me?”

“Tracking you took some time, I’ll admit,” Ninnis said. “You covered your tracks well. But finding you here, in your little arena. Well, that was easy.” He smiles in a way that says his next words will cause us pain.

I see Kainda’s muscles flex. She knows what he’s about to say and that it will spur a response. I realize what he’s going to say a moment before he speaks and I nearly throw up.

“It didn’t take much,” Ninnis says. “With a little…coaxing, the boy was happy to tell me where you were. But don’t worry, I left him with Pyke and Preeg.” The glint in his eyes says that this is, in fact, something to be very worried about.

“Monster!” Tobias shouts, charging forward despite his wounds.

Em follows his lead, heading for Kainda. She’s half her size, but faster and can attack from a distance. Still, in her current condition and without her knives, I do not expect her to survive the encounter.

And there is nothing I can do!

I try to stand, but my legs are numb.

I reach out to the continent, willing the wind to help, but the effort brings blackness to my vision. At the brink of unconsciousness, I give up.

I am helpless.

All I can do is watch.

Tobias lets his last two arrows fly. Ninnis dodges one, but the other strikes his leg. Had they been actual arrows, Ninnis would have been incapacitated. Instead, he’s just angry. With a roar, Ninnis leaps into the arena.

Kainda follows, raising her hammer above her head and leaping for Em.

The raw ferocity on display by Ninnis and Kainda increases my sense of hopelessness. They are in top form, hunters about to make a kill. Em and Tobias aren’t just wounded, they’re emotionally compromised. Like me. Distracted by the potential fate of poor little Luca.

Em lets a barrage of rocks fly at Kainda, but the Amazonian-like woman simply raises her large stone mallet in front of her face, blocking any strikes that might knock her unconscious, and takes the body blows without flinching. Em dives under her, as Kainda lands, striking the snow where Em stood a moment before. I actually feel the ground shake beneath me from the impact.

Em rolls to her feet, and stands, now weaponless. “Why are you doing this? We were friends once!”

“Hunters do not have friends,” Kainda says, before beginning a series of attacks that puts Em on the defensive.

Tobias and Ninnis meet at the center of the arena, but Tobias gets the upper hand right away. His razor edged bow gives him a reach that Ninnis cannot penetrate. But it quickly becomes apparent that Ninnis is simply playing with the man, dodging each strike easily while his opponent wears himself out. My father called the fighting style the rope-a-dope, a boxing technique used by Muhammad Ali when he would assume a defensive position against the rope and let his opponent pummel him until exhausted and making mistakes. That’s when Ali would strike and bring a quick closure to the match.

That’s what I see happening here, but there is no way to warn Tobias.

With a deep breath, I put my hands beneath me and push. My arms shake, but I manage to reach a kneeling position. The effort has set my head spinning, but it’s progress. I take another breath and prepare to stand.

And that’s when it happens.

Kainda’s long leg penetrates Em’s defenses and catches her in the stomach. Em crumples in pain with a shout.

The sound of his daughter’s pained voice pulls Tobias’s attention away from Ninnis for just a moment. But it’s all the old man needs.

Ninnis steps inside Tobias’s swing and catches his arm. Two quick elbows later, Tobias stumbles back, his face covered in blood from his nose and forehead.

“Father!” Em yells, leaping back to her feet. She tries to run to his aid, but Kainda catches her jacket and throws her against the hard, icy wall of the arena. The wind is knocked out of her again.

I want to shout at Em and Tobias, and tell them to stop thinking about the other. This is what you warned me about! Stop it! Stop caring! Start fighting! But my efforts to stand keep me silent. With a grunt, I find my feet.

But my efforts are far too little and much too late.

Tobias swings at Ninnis despite being blinded by a curtain of red oozing from his forehead. Ninnis snatches the bladed bow, and pulls Tobias in, kicking him hard in the chest. Tobias loses his grip on his weapon and falls back.