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

That’s when a terrible pain clutches my body. I curl in upon myself as something burrows through me. My stomach sours and feels heavy. After three hard contractions, I pitch forward and heave. I feel a thickness rising in my throat. I heave again and feel it stick. I cannot breathe! With the last of my strength and breath, I heave one last time. When the thing comes loose and spills from my mouth, I scream and then suck in a loud breath.


I feel the room’s attention turn back to me. And then to the object lying in front of me.

It’s a thick, dark, purple blob, like a large, bloody loogie.

The body of Nephil.





36



I stare at the viscous blob that sat undigested in my stomach for so many years. It’s a horrible, sinister thing. And though it is immobile, the body of Nephil is alive with hatred. I can feel it, even now, reaching out for me.

That’s when I realize what has happened here. The spirit of Nephil hovers above me. But it has not tried to possess me again. Because it can’t! Not without a part of its body in the host. I am free! The elation that Tobias felt upon hearing the news of Ull’s demise must have felt something like this.

But that’s not all. The potential to strike a devastating blow against the Nephilim sits before me, wiggling like Jell-O. If I destroy the body of Nephil, his spirit will not be able to join with a body—mine or anyone else’s—and if he does not do that soon, he will cease to exist.

Fighting exhaustion, I yank Whipsnap from my belt, spin the weapon above my head, and prepare to crush the glob of ancient blood beneath the mace. I begin my downward swing. Whipsnap’s shaft bends from the motion and when it springs forward will add its own energy to the blow.

I vaguely register a screaming voice. “No!”

An arm appears between Whipsnap’s mace and the glob of blood. The weapon strikes hard and a loud crack sounds out as the bones within the arm snap. A scream of pain follows and I reel away from it.

Ninnis stands before me, his left forearm bent at a sick angle. The body of Nephil remains on the floor, unharmed. The black swirling cloud above roils with frantic energy. It needs a host. It needs me. But that’s not going to happen. Not again.

I step toward Ninnis, ready to fight him with the last strength that I have.

Strike unfurls in his right hand, glinting in the fire light.

But when he shouts his battle cry and swings the sword, he is not aiming at me.

A second hunter has attacked! Is this a friend? One of the hunters that helped Tobias escape with Em and Luca?

The man meets a quick end at the tip of Strike. The sword pierces the attacker’s heart and emerges from his back. Before I can fully grasp the turn of events, Ninnis yanks the sword from the first hunter’s chest, ducks a thrown spear and swings Strike in a wide arc. Two more hunters, a man and a woman, lose their legs. The scene is horrid. Unlike anything I’ve seen before. People killing people without a second thought. Without hesitation.

And for what?

I no longer believe the attackers are on my side. Their lack of strategy and cunning is closer to frenzy than sacrifice. They’re not thinking. They’re—

A wet slurp interrupts my thoughts. Another hunter has fallen.

Shouting voices thunder around me as the army breaks into chaos. The warriors sound angry. The hunters, desperate. The others are drowned out by the sounds of battle. I look around. Hunters charge toward the circle, but they’re hacking at each other as they run. It’s every man for himself. And not one of them is looking at me.

Then I remember the envy in the other hunters’ eyes on the day I consumed the flesh of Nephil. Each one of them craved it for themselves. And now, seeing it again coupled with the presence of Nephil himself, the hunters are slaughtering each other for the chance to be the new vessel.

Through the crowd of running, falling, and dying hunters I see Luca gripped in the arms of Kainda. His limbs hang limp. Dead or unconscious, there is no way to know. But she has not left the boy to claim the body of Nephil, which I believe she could do. If anyone could defeat Ninnis, it would be her. Is it her sense of duty that has rooted her in place? Or something else? After all, Preeg and Pyke have not left their posts either, but they stare as the scene like hungry lions. It’s likely that the only thing keeping them in place is the knowledge that they wouldn’t make it past Kainda and even if they did, they could never stand against Ninnis, who is now surrounded by the bodies of his fellow hunters.

Preeg suddenly grasps her throat and falls. The sudden motion turns Pyke around, but he’s too slow. Em is there! She throws a knife that catches him in the chest. He falls to the ground.

Kainda spins around, facing Em, who has two blades at the ready.

The situation is precarious. Em could throw the knives accurately, but Kainda is fast and might position Luca’s body in the way. Kainda could also use Luca as bait, drawing Em in close enough to strike her down with the giant hammer.

But neither move.