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

“A distraction.”


“Yes.” He points at the bones around us and I understand what he wants me to do. The effort will leave me taxed and my escape, and my survival, will be completely dependent on Xin, who nearly succeeded in killing me only hours ago.

The bones around us shake violently. The creature is coming. I close my eyes, focus on the air in the giant cavern and put my life in Xin’s hands. There is a howl outside, but it is not from Behemoth. It is my wind, swirling around. I can feel the giant form of Behemoth standing in the way of my wind, slowing it down, and I have to push harder to build speed. With a shout, I pull the wind in, and then up.

My hair flies up as the strongest gust of wind I’ve ever generated slides beneath the bone mountain and lifts it high into the air.

A confused roar deafens me and shakes the walls of the cavern. I open my eyes. The bone shelter is gone and Xin is running toward me. He scoops me up with little effort and throws me over his shoulder. The wind is knocked from my lungs repeatedly as Xin runs, and I am too weak to stiffen my stomach muscles or even adjust myself. But I do manage to look up.

The bone mountain has shot a hundred feet in the air and has bloomed out like a mushroom cloud. But it’s not nearly high enough to block Behemoth’s vision. The monster stands one hundred and fifty feet tall. Its black bulbous eyes are the size of swimming pools. Its body is similar to the smaller egg-monsters—essentially egg shaped, mostly jaw and teeth, but the red clumps of hair growing from random spots on the creature’s body are long—and moving. Like tentacles, they whip out and snatch bones from the air, snapping them in two.

The giant head is tilted to the side, like a dog thinking, as it watches the flying bones finish their arc through the air and begin falling back down. That’s when it sees us. Something within the black eye nearest us shifts and I know we’ve been spotted.

Behemoth lets out a roar that shatters the cloud of bones before it and sends the shards flying away. One of them catches Xin in the shoulder and I hear him grunt, but he does not slow. Which is good, because Behemoth takes a step in our direction and cuts the distance between us in half. Rope-like strands of red hair shoot out in pursuit.

I try to shout a warning, but I don’t have enough air in my lungs to even whisper. In fact, my vision is starting to fade.

The jolts of Xin’s footfalls slow and I feel we’re moving downward, or perhaps he’s crouching. I can’t tell. But the deceleration allows the living hairs to gain and one of them launches toward my face. A surge of panic rips through me and a gust of wind strikes the hair to the side.

My life is saved for the moment. But the effort has taxed me beyond my limits. A fuzzy haze fills my vision and consciousness fades as a faint scent tickles my nose. The other hunters are near. Xin has betrayed me.





10



When I wake, I find myself tightly bound, unable to move. But I don’t panic. I remember Ninnis’s lesson. Reach out with your senses before revealing you are awake. Some predators in the underworld will wait for prey to open its eyes before attacking. They’re either just mean or waiting for confirmation that their meal’s heart still beats. Either way, it’s often possible to smell and hear enemies before revealing you are awake.

I test the air, drawing in a slow breath through my nose. The most notable smell is Xin’s blood. It covers my body, and his, but the scent smells fresh. Like he’s bleeding now. Lingering behind the strong smell of Xin’s blood is the distinct odor of three hunters. Two men and one woman. I sniff again. It’s not Kainda. She’s either still stuck on my perch or on her way back to Asgard for a Nephilim blood bath, which will quickly heal her wounds.

Loud laughter cuts through the air. The woman. “I told you not to go after him by yourself,” she says, her tone mocking. “A thing like you is no match for Ull.”

“And you followed him into Behemoth’s den?” This is a man speaking. He sounds young. “I have always said you have half a brain, Xin. A hunter must think before he acts.”

“I know,” Xin says, his voice quiet and lacking confidence.

A loud slap of flesh on flesh makes me wince, but there is no reaction to my movement.

“Do not speak to me until I ask!” the man shouts. “You’re lucky I don’t throw you back to Behemoth for letting Ull escape.”

“Next time, track him, and leave a trail,” says the woman.

“Next time,” a second man groans. “Will we never be free of him?”