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

“Yes,” I say. “And he’s not as bad as everyone thinks, or rather, as he wanted everyone to think.” I tell them about my encounter with the giant, summarizing as best I can.

When I skim past his instructions about the shofar’s location, Em asks for more details. I explain Hades’s warning about mind readers and she and Kainda agree. We’ll figure out each step as we go along. Knowing the location ahead of time could be dangerous, especially if one of us is captured on the way.

I reach the end of my story, explaining how my energy waned, how Hades caught me and laid me on the floor with the others. When I mention Cerberus, neither Em nor Kainda show any recognition. Wright and Kat, however, go wide-eyed for what must be the thousandth time since they arrived on the new world of Antarktos.

“Seriously?” Kat says. “A giant three-headed hound?”

I shrug. “It wouldn’t be the strangest thing I’ve seen. But it’s something or someone none of us has seen before. So, if you happen to come across a three headed...something, maybe be sure it’s trying to kill you before shooting at it.” Then I finish my story with, “Ave atque vale. That’s what he said when he left. It’s Latin, but I’m not sure what it means.”

“Hail and farewell,” Wright says.

“You speak Latin?” Kat asks, sounding surprised.

“It’s from the Army,” he explains. “When a new commander takes over, there is a dinner where the previous commander speaks those words. It’s a sign of honor to the new leader and a goodbye. Historically, the words have been spoken to generals, sometimes kings.”

There’s that word again. King. I ignore it with a casual shrug and say, “Weird.”

All four of them turn to me like I’ve just farted.

Em shakes her head. “Hades, the most feared of all Nephilim, honors you as a new leader, perhaps a king—his king—and all you can say is, ‘weird?’”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” I say. “There isn’t time.”

No one argues the point, but I suspect this conversation will be continued at some other time.

“The shofar is deep,” I say. “Very deep. We’re going to have to move fast.”

“We’ve been moving fast,” Wright notes.

“Faster,” I say. “Time is...different in the underworld. What feels like a day could be a week. I spent two years down there and later found out that twenty years had passed on the surface.”

“Won’t we be discovered?” Kat asks. “Aren’t there hunters, and other...things looking for us?”

“If we’re fast enough, they won’t catch us by the time we reach the gates. After that, I don’t think anyone will follow us.”

“The gates?” Kainda says. “We’re not going to Tartarus?”

The fear in her voice seems out of place. Having seen the truth of Tartarus, I no longer view it as a land of eternal torture, but a place of freedom. Granted, to those unwilling to be separated from the burden of their personal darkness, it is a land of torture. But for those like Cronus, Hades and me, it is a paradise—a land of mercy, even for those born with the unfortunate circumstance of having a demon for a father.

“We’re not going through the gates,” I tell her. “We’re going past them. Deeper. I don’t know how, but we’ll figure that out when we get there. But we can’t stop. Time will not be on our side. If we linger, we might return to find the battle already lost.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Kainda says.

I turn to Kat and Wright. “Can you keep up?”

Kat just looks insulted.

Wright nods. “I survived hell week. This can’t be much worse.”

“I hope you’re right,” I say, and then head for the exit. I pause by the closed door. “Stay quiet until we’re out of Olympus.”

Wright pats me on the shoulder. “Then we’ll run like hell. Got it.”

Despite looking twenty years apart, Wright and I are the same age. I feel a kinship with him. In some ways, he reminds me of Justin. “Right,” I say, and then push the door open.

I take one step and stop. The open door has revealed two figures. One is fifteen feet tall—not quite a full-grown warrior, but close enough. He’s got long red hair bunched in messy dreadlocks. He holds a large double bladed ax in each hand, and he looks like he can use them.

The other is thin and wiry, like Xin, but green skinned and sporting tufts of wildly growing red hair. He’s dressed in rags, and seems to be covered in some kind of caked on muck. Given the odor rising off him, it could be something worse. His chosen weapon is...Whipsnap! I’m confused for a moment, but then recognize the stone mace and bone tip. He has the original Whipsnap that I created. This offends me deeply, like he’s taken an old friend of mine hostage, but I don’t linger on the weapon.

Something else has caught my eye. While I have never seen anything like these two before, they share a matching feature I know well.

Their blue eyes.

My eyes.