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Chapter 10: The Calm After the Storm
Huling Na-update:
2021-11-07 22:36:18Archibald stopped at an empty cabin in the woods. He was spent from continuously running, in his beast form, all night. He looked around and surmised that no living person was nearby. He swung open the cabin door, and a barren room welcomed them. There was a cot on one side, and a table and a chair on the other side. Other than those, there were no furniture in sight.
He let Selene down. Her eyes were still puffy but her gaze still had the sharpness he was familiar with for a while now. He transformed back to his human form. His head wound already healed completely.
“We’ll stay here until morning,” he announced. “Take a rest on the cot there while I keep watch.” He closed the door and made his way to the table. He dragged a finger on it, and felt the thick dust of disuse. He looked at the cot and it looked as abandoned as everything in the room. He looked for something to brush off the dust on the bed, but there were no personal items anyw
Kaugnay na kabanata
Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 11: What Comes in the Morning
Selene woke up to the smell of smoke and the faint twittering of birds. The early morning showered the interior of the cabin with soothing rays. She rubbed her eyes as she walked outside where the smoke was coming from. Archibald was at a makeshift firepit, roasting rabbits, skewered on thin tree branches. “Good morning,” he beamed a smile towards her as greeted her whilst rotating the rabbit sticks above the fire. “You’re right on time. These will be done in a minute.” She was taken aback for a while, unsure of what to do after what happened last night. For one, Archibald has proven himself to be genuinely concerned about her wellbeing, on top of everything else. But he also showed her how he can disregard her will if it meant she would be safe from whatever danger he perceived. She decided to smile at him and wished him a good morning as well. “I will just wash myself first. I feel grimy right now.” She raised her skirt to accentuate how dirty she w
Huling Na-update : 2021-11-12Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 12: Heroes Never Die
It was a long time since he went out of the Peaks and down to the humans. He remembered the past when they were at war. He was still quite young then; about the same age as his grandson. He liked the thrill of fighting against the lesser creatures but it was tiresome. It was a good exercise for the body, but such a waste of resources and time. He reminisced the times when they were moving from place to place, led by a very ambitious alpha. Radolf was a known for being outspoken about his desires to create his own pack of werewolves. So, one day, he just gathered people who wanted to join him on his endeavor. As young as he was, the promised adventure was irresistible. So, he followed him along with a small number of other youths. Radolf was a great warrior and not much of an adventurer. He figured it would be easier to travel in one direction, kill everyone in their way, pillage their homes, and continue marching forward. They did this for quite a long time. He can’t
Huling Na-update : 2021-11-13Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 13: Fated Pursuit
Perseus called for Elise and the old woman to the inn’s dining area. He sat in front of them on the table. He then told them about his grandfather’s decision to recompense the town’s loss with gold and protection. He personally thought it was the right thing to do; a good leader must take responsibility to his people’s actions. And it came from Lucian, who always liked diplomatic actions more than anything. He must have been waiting for some time for something like this to happen so he could play. “Who is your leader now?” he asked the two of them after informing them of the upcoming events. He never liked playing diplomat, nor did he relish on the idea of doing talks with the other races. He was more familiar with intimidation and confrontation. He was more of an action man, unlike Lucian. “I don’t know,” the old woman replied. “We never really talked about what we should do in these kinds of situations. Usually, the next of kin will act as the new mayor if the old
Huling Na-update : 2021-11-14Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 14: City of Hope
They reached the outskirts of Ulminster in the middle of the afternoon. After a quick rest back in the cabin, they continued their journey south. Archibald would have liked for Selene to take a longer rest, but he can’t shake the feeling that they should hurry to the city. Selene was still weak so he insisted he carry her on his back on their way, expecting her to decline his offer. To his surprise, she did not oppose the idea, and happily obliged him. So, they continued on their travels, with Selene on his back, and a makeshift basket, filled with some fruits and cooked meat, on one hand. Upon reaching the gates, the guards above the watchtower shouted at them. “Do you have any business with the city?” He put down Selene on the ground and shouted back, “We are looking for shelter!” The guard eyed them below. He became quite worried that their appearance will deter the guards from letting them in. He was wearing a shabby curtain he pilfered from the c
Huling Na-update : 2021-11-15Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 15: City of Blood
“Akeldamo,” his follower kneeled before him. “I offer thee this offering of living flesh and blood as sacrifice.” He stood and led a confused young man towards him. “Please accept my offer and bless me with your knowledge.” Massimo waved the man away. “Come here,” he beckoned his follower. He walked towards him, eyes on the ground. Then he kneeled in front of him, closed his eyes and opened his mouth wide. “I accept your gift. In return, receive this bounty.” Massimo pricked his forefinger with his sharp nail and let a drop of his blood fall into his follower’s agape mouth. The follower slowly closed his mouth, savoring his blood. “Be gone and return to your duties,” he ordered him. “As you wish, Akeldamo,” he vowed, before quickly walking out of his way. “As for you,” he pointed at the befuddled man, wearing dirty rags as a covering. “Come closer.” The man slowly walked towards him. His eyes were darting on and about, trying to make sense of his surroundings
Huling Na-update : 2021-11-16Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 16: The Queen's Divide
Selene was escorted into a dingy room by Charlotte. It looked and smelled… dirty. The bed was a mess, the covers were strewn all over the place. The window was sealed by planks of wood, leaving the interior dark and musky. “Do you have another—” The door suddenly shut behind her as she was talking. Then she heard locks clicking outside. She turned the knob and pushed on the door but it did not budge. “Let me out!” she shouted at the woman on the other side. She thumped on the door, kicked on it, smacked it with her hands. “Let me out!” she repeated but she did not receive any response. She then heard heavy footsteps walking away from the door. She became from frantic and desperate. “If you don’t open this door, my friend will hurt you once he came back,” she threatened her. “You don’t know what you’re up against.” She heard a hearty laugh coming from the outside. “Sure, sure,” the husky voice of the woman said. “As if he’ll come back.” The footsteps continued
Huling Na-update : 2021-11-17Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 17: The Alpha's Plaything
“What do you want with me?” Selene asked Perseus as he carried her on his shoulder. They have been jogging through the woods as the night slowly reared its darkness. She had no idea where he was taking him or what his plans were. “Why did you come back?” “I am after what’s mine,” he said. “You’re now my toy, remember?” Selene clearly remembered. It never really lost her mind. She must commit to her words. It’s only the right thing to do. “I do,” she said. “And if I ever saw that zeta again, I will let him know what happens with those who dares snatch my property from me.” “Are you going to kill him?” she asked. She knew what he was capable of, and it made her anxious. Something within her felt that Archibald will do everything to find her. Somehow, he will find them and she will be saved no matter the cause. At least, that’s what she felt; and it scared her to think about what will happen then. “No,” Perseus said with an amused tone on his voi
Huling Na-update : 2021-11-18Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 18: The Blood God
“Werewolves are really fascinating creatures,” Archibald heard as he slowly woke up from a dreamless sleep. He groaned as he tried to sit up, but the strange heaviness of his body pulled him back down. “You must be feeling so tired,” said the familiar voice. “If you were not a werewolf, you should have been dead the moment you tried to cast a spell, but you are no ordinary man, though.” Archibald rubbed his palm over his eye. His head hurts like needles were being pushed it. He winced as he slowly boosted himself into a sitting position. “What happened?” he muttered. “Well, it seems you tried using the grimoire without prior knowledge and training. One of my followers found you, lying unconscious in a pool of your own blood, in front of Lovers’ Maw.” Massimo reared his head close to his and stared suspiciously into his eyes. “Care to tell me what happened in there?” “A werewolf attack…” he started. “Your safehouse was attacked by one of the werewolves from my
Huling Na-update : 2021-11-19
Pinakabagong kabanata
Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 27: A Safe Haven
What does it mean to be a community? Lucian can’t help to be disappointed at the people before him. Did fear corrupt them so far as to kill their own? The same people they lived with for years. Did they forget what a family mean? A friend? A neighbor? “Cowards,” he called out to the crowd. “You’re all cowards. Killing the innocent and the unarmed just to make yourself feel a false sense of safety. What you’re doing here just proves to me you are all a bunch of spineless, witless humans. It’s a wonder how you survived all these years.” The crowd stepped away from him in fear, raising their weapons at him. They trembled, they jittered, and they cried in his every step as he walked towards them. “Go away,” an old man shakily shouted. Then a pebble flew at him, hitting him on the head. It bounced lazily down his face and back to the ground. He picked the small stone up and held it in between his fingers. “Stones, huh. Is that how you’ll scare me away? Is this how
Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 26: Friends and Enemies
“Good morning,” Massimo greeted as he peaked his head through the tent. Lucian nodded at him in acknowledgement. “How are their wounds?” he asked about his injured comrades lying unconscious on the cots. “They’re not healing properly,” he replied. “If this continues, they may die before sun down. Their injuries are more severe than we initially thought.” He was baffled, as was his companions, about the state they were in. It’s unusual for their kind to have troubles healing wounds, more so when they have ample time to recoup. “Let me see,” Massimo offered as he approached his wounded men. His companions eyed him with distrust as he walked, but he did not seem to mind. They flinched when Massimo reached out a hand on one of the injured and pulled on his blanket to reveal the entirety of the injury. He nodded to himself and looked back at Lucian. “Allow me to fix this,” he said before mumbling incomprehensible words and hovering his hand over the wounds. Gray colored s
Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 25: The Red Moon
Farkas was reluctant to let him leave by himself but he relented after he realized he won’t be dissuaded. He intended to go south, alone. Nobody can force to do otherwise. Something about the unnatural color change of the moon was tugging at his memory. He once saw the moon turn red in his past. But it was a centuries ago. Back when he was still adapting to his alpha status. There was this young man who confronted his pack as they pass by a small human town. The man wore pristine clothing, not unlike the kind of clothes nobles were wearing at that time. “What brings you here… dogs?” He had his arms crossed around his chest and was looking at them with disdain. Lucian was about to explain that they were just passing by, but one of his pack members decided upon himself to turn beast and growl at the stranger. He placed a hand on his arm to calm his comrade. It was full moon, so it was tricky to complete control his pack. Stumbling upon the town may have
Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 24: Death News
Following the young alpha in secret was no easy task for Genn. He had been a scout for a long time, and this by far was the hardest thing he ever did, next to keeping his wife in check. There were many times when he thought they were found out as they lurk kilometers away from him. He was sure they will inevitably die if he ever did. Lucian’s orders might spare them, but he was not betting on it. They saw how he silently infiltrated the high walls of the human city, before coming back out with the Edevane woman. They scampered away to avoid detection, before they followed him to the isolated cabin by the river. They then watched as he tied the poor woman on the roof. “What do you suppose he will do to her?” he asked Evan beside him. “I dunno. Maybe he’ll burn her down. Or…” he looked at the full moon. “Ravage her.” Genn nodded. “Maybe he will toy with her first before killing her,” he agreed. “That sounds about right.” The full moon was tingling his s
Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 23: Fated Reunion
The realization slowly crept into Perseus that his life had been tampered with and his freedom was cut short by the meddling of some witch. He stared angrily at Archibald, furious at the situation he was in, but unable to do anything about it. “Now that I can actually make you to listen to me,” Archibald started. Perseus felt a pang of shame at his words. “I want you to hear what Massimo told me about Selene.” “What about the woman?” “Do you remember the story of how our kind came to existence?” “A great warrior was blessed by the moon after accomplishing a set of challenges. So what?” “Well, if Massimo was saying the truth, it would mean everything we know about our history was a lie. Our powers are not from the moon, it came from the earth. The first werewolves were druids who chose to integrate the bestial features of wolves into their life. We have a lot of things in the past we don’t know, and one of them is the existence of the royal blo
Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 22: A New Beginning
Archibald woke up a little light headed. He held on his head when he sat on the side of his bed as his vision spun. He somehow felt weaker than when he slept. He sat motionless for a while, gathering himself, before slowly standing up. He looked around and figured he must be in a medical ward of some kind. A curtain was acting like a wall covering the bed from general view. He parted the cloth and was immediately caught off-guard by the sight of Perseus sitting on a bed beside his. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “You tell me,” he replied. “I just woke up in here. Last time I remembered, I was out in the woods, fighting some flying freak.” He raised his arms in front of him and stared curiously on them. He looked confused and equally exhausted as him. “Where is Selene?” he asked Perseus with a piercing glare. “I don’t know where she is right now,” he started. “But last time I know, the flying freak stole her from the cabin and hid her som
Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 21: Fated Rebirth
The body was still warm and rigor mortis has not set in yet, so the joints were still malleable. The arm muscles, just above the elbow, were indeed torn to shreds. About 15 centimeters of bone was exposed in both arms, with the torn ligaments and flesh hanging loosely on the sides. The cause seemed to be an implosion of the inner muscles by intense external pressure. It would be fatal for a human, but it seemed this did not kill the werewolf. The death was caused by a clean incision in his jugular. The entire physique of the man is incredible by human standards. His overall muscle form was absolutely incredible. Hans admired the formation of the taut muscles in his calves, his legs, chest, back and shoulders. This man must be always busy toning his body by exercising and seducing ladies. Too bad that he came upon Master Massimo. No matter his power standing within his werewolf community, he would always be no match against the master. Nobody ever had a chance to win
Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 20: The Winner Gets the Prize
Selene did not move an inch from where Massimo left her. She was unsure if he was telling the truth when he said he knows Archibald, but she was also deathly afraid of the creatures lurking within the dark of the forest. She saw enough monsters tonight to last her a lifetime. If she had only known Perseus intended to make her bait, she highly thinks she may have not stood up for Elise’s life. Being tied and leered on by monsters – most of which she never knew existed – was an experience worse than anything in imaginable. She was fuming with anger with him for endangering her life for his entertainment. It was unfair. She agreed to be a plaything, but he did not say anything about this. She was starting to miss Archibald. She missed the feeling of warmth whenever he was near. She sure hoped Massimo was true to his words, and that she will see him again. But she was not entirely sure of what Massimo is. She saw him nimbly fly even without wings. She read stories of wit
Hunting Season (A Royal Hunt Trilogy) Chapter 19: Death in the Air
Perseus was infuriated by the stranger’s meddling of his plans. He snarled at the flying intruder as he slaughtered his supposed prey. He intended to be the one butchering all these lesser creatures he lured in using the woman – who was a surprisingly effective bait for creatures of the night. “What are you?” he asked the stranger. He did not saw what happened, because of the sudden change of the moon’s color, but he was sure he transformed into some kind of winged creature. I am the night, a voice echoed in his head. “Come at me,” he taunted. “Or are you scared?” He heard a resonating laughter all around him as the stranger flew around the area. Stay there while I clear the battlefield of these animals, he heard the voice again. I like saving the best for last. Perseus was getting more and more impatient. He was rudely interrupted in his sport, and now this intruder wants him to stay put while he steals his prey awa
