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

Not ten minutes later, a mountain citadel came into view. It was unlike anything Ninnis had ever seen before, in his time before Antarctica, as a hunter in the underworld or during his time in Tartarus. It occurred to him then, that far more than a year had passed. Nervousness swelled as he feared he was too late. “How many years has it been?” he asked, as they rode through the city gates, and were greeted with friendly waves from an assortment of people. “Since the war?”


The man looked back and said to himself, though Ninnis heard him clearly, “Man, I hope my memory doesn’t go some day.”

“Please,” Ninnis said. “How long?”

“Twenty years,” the man said.

Twenty years. Thank God.

The man tied the dinosaur to a post where several others were drinking from a fountain. “This way,” he said, leading Ninnis past a graveyard. Ninnis glanced at the stones. Some names meant nothing to him: Brigadier General Kent Holloway, Lieutenant Elias Baker, First Lieutenant Victor Cruz, Zok, Vesuvius. But others plucked at his heart, threatening to return a burden he had managed to leave behind in Tartarus. He read their names, one by one: Xin. Tobias. Cerberus. Hades. Zuh. Adoni. Men, women, and Nephilim who fought for what was right, against him, and sacrificed everything.

Ninnis looked up at the tower above. Its smooth surface, lacking any ornate décor, reflected the late day sun, glowing orange. The tower was surrounded by walls lined with trees, staircases and walkways. A flag blowing in the wind caught his attention. White, with an image of Antarctica, a single gold star at its core. He remembered seeing it on the battlefield, a symbol of mankind’s unity. Everywhere he looked, he saw people, living their lives in safety.

The sacrifices of the men, women and creatures lain to rest in this graveyard were not made in vain, Ninnis thought.

He paused by the last two sets of gravestones. He only knew one of them, but he knew who the others were and what they meant to Solomon. Dr. Merrill Clark and Aimee Clark, beloved parents who fought for us all. And then, Mark Vincent and Beth Vincent, beloved parents returned to the King. Wiping tears from his eyes, Ninnis noticed the dates and found all of them to be more recent than not. It wouldn’t make up for the years he’d stolen from the boy, but it was something.

“Can you handle a few stairs?” the man asked.

Ninnis nearly laughed. He’d already climbed out of the depths of the underworld. A few stairs wouldn’t hurt. But there were more than a few. He had to stop twice to rest.

“Need some help?” the man asked, sounding genuinely concerned and less sarcastic.

Ninnis sighed. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

They climbed the rest of the stairs together. “Where are we going?” Ninnis asked when they reached the top flight of stairs. Before them stood a pair of large wooden doors, arched at the top. Over the top of the arch was a capstone engraved with the words, None Shall Remove.

“To see the King,” the man answered.

“You can just walk in and have an audience with the King?” Ninnis asked. It didn’t sound logical or safe.

The man smiled. “No. I just happen to be his constable.”

“But...” Ninnis said, “I’m just an old man you plucked from the side of the road.”

The constable stopped with a hand on one of the doors. “Actually, he sent me to get you.”

“Sent you? Who?”

“The King, of course.”

The man shoved the door open and Ninnis froze. There before him was the last thing he expected to see. It was a banquet. An enormous bounty. But it was the people...hundreds of them, standing, staring at him.

The constable smiled and waved him inside.

Ninnis took an unsure footstep. Then another, lost in the sea of faces, until he stopped on one he knew. Solomon. The boy stood just ten feet away. But he looked so young, as though little time had passed. “S—Solomon?”

“No,” the boy chuckled. “I’m Luca. Sol is up there.”

Ninnis followed the young man’s finger to the center of the room, where a strong man with long blond hair, broad shoulders and a full beard stood smiling. Beside him was a woman whose strength radiated like the sun. Beside them sat several children, a veritable brood of them. As his eyes scanned to the side, he saw other faces he knew, aged, but living. These were Solomon’s friends, the ones who helped him save the human race.

Solomon cleared his voice and nodded to the constable, “Thank you, Justin.”

Solomon turned to Ninnis and smiled. “Welcome home, father,” he motioned to the children beside him. “Grandfather.”

Ninnis stared at the children, his grandchildren.

The emotion of it all weakened his weary legs. He feared he might fall, but a strong grasp held him up. He turned to find the blazing eyes of his daughter, Kainda, the Queen, who had left her spot by the King. She held him up like he weighed nothing at all. “I have you, father, and I will not let you go.”