Chapter One

Eleven Years Later

Rainn

     Rainn woke up in a cold sweat from the nightmare again, just like every night for the last eleven years. He could still hear his mother's voice and see the look on her face after her death. There are still days when he can't seem to scrub his hands enough to feel clean. He hoped that he would make his parents proud. He'd trained harder than anyone in the fortress and protected Liam as much as he could.

      He got out of bed and headed to get washed up and to get some food in him before training started for the day. There were already men on the fields when he got down there. You could hear the swords clashing and arrows whizzing through the air. He knew that today's training was going to be brutal because the elders on the council were here to choose the next round of hunters and everyone wanted those spots.

      Every ten years the council elders hold the trials and only the best of the best are chosen. This was what Rainn had been working so hard for and he couldn't let this opportunity pass by. He had to be chosen this time. He started stretching out his muscles to get ready because he knew that sparring would be part of the testing that gets done today. They would also be tested using different kinds of weapons.

     The head of the council let out a shrill whistle to get everyone's attention. "Today there are ten of you that will be going through the trials to have the honor of becoming a hunter," he said. "However, only four out of the ten will be selected." Everyone's names were called, and we stepped into the ring. Rainn looked around but didn't see Liam anywhere.

      Apparently, he was still mad that he wasn't eligible this year, but he had really hoped that he would at least show up for him. All he could do was continue to hope that his brother would show up at some point during the trials. The first part of the testing was hand-to-hand combat. They paired everyone off and the winners of each match would fight each other until there was one left. This didn't bother Rainn in the least, as he had fought with all these men before and knew that he could take them. His first fight was an easy one. Oscar was the son of the head of the council. He didn’t like to fight, and Rainn didn’t even think that Oscar really wanted to be there. He knew that he needed to finish this fight fast but with the least amount of damage possible to Oscar. When Oscar charged him, he stepped to the right and landed a punch to his temple.

     Oscar went down and didn’t get back up. The fights continued until there was only two men left. He looked up and saw that his opponent was Decker. Decker was a beast of a man at six foot five and two hundred and fifty pounds and he did not look like he was having a good day. They squared up in the ring and the fight began.

     Decker ran for Rainn, immediately throwing punches, trying to end the fight as soon as possible. Rainn was ready for him and blocked everything that was thrown at him, which only proved to make Decker angrier. Rainn dodged a right hook and answered with one of his own and Decker staggered back. Rainn took this opportunity to capitalize and landed a round house kick right to his temple. Decker hit the ground hard and didn't immediately get back up, so Rainn was declared the winner of the hand to hand.

     Rainn walked toward Ard’al who was there to congratulate him when from out of nowhere Liam ran past him. When Rainn turned around, he saw Liam raining punches down on Decker. “He got up and was coming at you from behind”, Ard’al said. Rainn went over and attempted to get Liam off Decker. “He’s had enough little brother; I don’t think he’ll be getting up again for a while.” A couple other men came out to drag Decker off to be seen by the doctors. “I didn’t think you were going to show up.” “I wouldn’t miss for the world Rainn.”

     The trials continued with weapons and Rainn came out on top of every challenge thrown at him. The council was very surprised and happy to have a warrior such as him wanting to become a hunter. At the end of the trials, the four new hunters were finally announced, and Rainn was happy that he was one of them. The mentors came out and headed over to each of the four new members of the Vindicta. Ard'al, of course, was Rainn's mentor and he couldn't have been prouder of the man that Rainn had become, even if he was worried about the next part.

      "There's something I need to show you", he said. Rainn followed him without question. “You have now passed the elders testing and are at the peak of your power, so it's time.” Rainn wasn't exactly sure what was going on but, after years of being with Ard'al, he trusted him enough to not question anything the man said. "You need to understand what it means to be a hunter".

     In the blink of an eye, Ard'al had a green aura around him and there were vines growing up from the floor around him. "If you decide that this is the path you want to take, you need to know everything about it. There is a ritual to give you the powers that we all possess, but any other powers you gain are different for everyone." "We can die, but it is very difficult and most of our enemies do not have the patience or brains to figure out how to do it", he continued. "Our greatest strength and weakness are the same thing". Rainn looked at him confused. “We all have a destined mate out there somewhere. She will go through the transition in a different way than you after you mark her and you become one. She will fight alongside you".

     Rainn looked confused, "but how would I know which female is mine?" "You will know her scent, believe me son. She will draw you like no other creature on earth and if you touch her chest above her heart a mark will show up on her and you that is unique to you.” His aura disappeared and so did the vines. He pulled down the front of his shirt to show a green rose that looked like a tattoo right where his heart is.

     "You need to understand, however, that once she is marked there will be no separating from each other for either of you. Your lives will be like one". Rainn pondered everything that he was being told, wondering where Ard'als mate was since he's marked, but doesn't feel that now was the time to ask. He glanced back at the man that had become like a father to him and nodded his head. He laid down on the huge stone tablet that was in the center of the biggest room inside the fortress and Ard'al said, "Oh yes, one last thing, Rainn, you have to die first" and before he could react to those words, a very ornate dagger was plunged through his chest.

     When Rainn woke up, he was in a bedroom, but it wasn’t the one that he knew from the fortress. He got up and went to get himself cleaned up. After he put his clothes on, he figured that he better find out where he was and see if he could find Ard’al. He walked down the hall completely in his own thoughts when he bumped into someone. When he looked up, he saw a beautiful woman with long black hair and the most haunting blue eyes he had ever seen.

     “You must be new here”, she said. “Yeah, I’ve been looking for Ard’al.” “One second”, she replied. Her eyes turned completely white and so did her skin. He almost reached out and touched her because it almost looked like her skin was tree bark. In a second his hand was snatched away by a tall and pale man with red eyes.

     “If you want to keep your hands, I suggest you not touch her.” “Sorry, what are you guys?” “Oh, right you were a human before your transition. I’m a vampire, my name is Mercer, this beautiful woman is my mate Elodie. She just so happens to be a Jinn. Don’t worry Ard’al will explain everything to you when you start your training.”

     Someone behind me cleared their throat and I turned around, “Thank you for letting me know he was awake Elodie. I’ll see you two later.” “Remember new guy, leave your hands off the girls unless you know for sure she’s not bonded. That’s the best way to die around here.” Ard’al laughed, “I may have forgotten to warn you about that part. We are extremely protective of our mates. I hope you didn’t actually touch Elodie because you have more to worry about from her than her mate.”

      Ard'al started his hunter training immediately. They worked every day to help him harness his new powers and learn everything he needed to know about all the different supernatural species. Rainn couldn’t believe how many different ones there are. “Was it a werewolf that killed my parents?” “Yes, he was a rogue Alpha that went mad after he was beaten for his pack position. Normally the losing Alpha is killed so I don’t know what happened, but he killed eight before your parents. Rainn there are good and bad in every species. It is our job to remove the bad.”

     They got back to training he was amazed at what he could do now. The biggest discovery was that he could conjure and manipulate electricity. It came to him from the sky and surrounded him. Ard'al took him inside the armory one day, “Jamison where are you son?” “One second, I’m almost finished here”, someone called from the back.

     A big burly man came out to where they were standing, “Well, well what can I do for you Ard’al?” “I’m here to pick it up if it’s ready.” “Just got it done. Calliope was here earlier to do what you asked of her.” Rainn looked at Ard’al, “Who is Calliope?” “A very powerful witch. I’m sure you’ll meet her and her mate Ezra soon enough.

     Jamison brought out a scabbard and Ard’al pulled a beautifully made broad sword. The wooden handle was etched and the blade was engraved with symbols he didn’t understand. “The sword is spelled and blessed”, Ard’al said. Rainn took the blade from his hand and couldn’t believe how well balanced it was. “You start training using that tomorrow”, Ard’al called as he headed out the door.

     A blur flew past him and almost knocked him over. He looked back and Jamison now had a red head in his arms and his eyes had turned golden. “Ophelia my dear what is wrong?” “We need to take a trip; the ocean is calling me.” Jamison looked up at Ard’al, “I guess we’ll be seeing you in a week or so”, he said as he carried her out.

     Ard’al just laughed and shook his head, “Ophelia is a Siren my dear boy, she needs the ocean.” Rainn was still stunned how many different people lived in the castle. Just then a guard came running down the hall, “Ard’al the council is asking for you. They have a mission.” “Well Rainn I guess you are going to get to go on your very first mission.” Rainn was worried but he knew that he had to do this. Protecting the innocent from the world’s evil was what he had wanted to do his entire life and he had finally been given the tools to be able to do just that.