Hunter Shan- Rising Storm Read online

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  HUNTER SHAN: RISING STORM

  Copyright © 2019 by JT Harris.

  All rights reserved.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Published by Jemm Publishing

  www.jtharriswriter.com

  ISBN 978-1-989204-21-4

  ISBN 978-1-989204-23-8 (ebook)

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Book cover design and interior formatting by Molly Phipps at We Got You Covered Book Design

  To my readers,

  thank you for following me on my journey thus far.

  Much love to you all.

  I sat staring at the woman sitting on the ground before me. Avalbane. Her hair was as white as a fluffy cloud, and her skin was as black as coal. She was naked, but didn’t show concern for the freezing weather. Despite the fact that it was spring, there was little change in the amount of snow on the ground. The celestial beast’s towering arm reaching out of the spirit rift caused the snow to melt away in a jagged circle. Slade had sealed the rift closed and the celestial beast vanished leaving behind the woman. There was a feeling of static lingering in the air and a strong scent of after rain. The ground around me and the woman, turned to mud.

  I cursed under my breath, fumbling to undo my jacket. The woman touched my knee, and I jerked away from her.

  “Don’t concern yourself over my well being.” She sat straight.

  “But…” Blushing, I couldn’t form more words. She would surely freeze if I didn’t help her. She needed to be covered.

  She ran her hands over her body, and clothing suddenly appeared on her. A long, white dress with gold leaf trim flowed down her body. She was just like Neelam, a shapeshifting constant. My emotions swam through me. Neelam was Slade Wyndam’s shapeshifting raven and was probably with him most of the time. Scanning the sky around me, I didn’t see that wretched bird anywhere.

  Slade lay behind me on the ground, unconscious. Thank the gods. Luella was still passed out, too. I wanted to go to her. To touch her. To hold her. To make sure she was okay but I didn’t. I couldn’t. It was my fault she was in that condition. If it wasn’t for me being here the Redtails wouldn’t have attacked the academy. She wouldn’t have joined me in the fight and Slade wouldn’t have drained most of her energy.

  Avalbane had just been in the spirit world talking to me and now sat in front of me. She could transform. Neelam must have done something like that, too. Was he from the spirit world like Avalbane? Did he have the same connection like that with Slade? Did I still have the same connection with Avalbane?

  “Are you a raven?” I was curious and apprehensive, as birds made me nervous due to a bad experience I’d had as a child with a flock.

  “No. Did you want me to be?” she said.

  “Not particularly.”

  “I am a wolf. I am a child of our Goddess Dimness. I am a warrior. She is with you, and I will serve her, and thus serve you. We are bound.”

  “I can’t have you bound to me.” I shook my head in frustration.

  She blinked. “We are one.”

  “No. You can’t… My grandfather is the Cempa. I can’t. I appreciate you helping me. I really do, but I will be locked away or…” I didn’t want to think about what else could be done to me. “All for going against my House rules. Please, you really can’t be with me.”

  “The Goddess doesn’t follow your rules. She is death and life. She is beyond your comprehension. Your words cannot and will not deter her. You and I are bound, my young one.”

  “I understand what you are telling me.” I tapped my fingers against my chest. “But you don’t know what you’re doing to me.”

  “I have sworn to protect Dimness, and I will follow her orders,” she said.

  “What are her orders?”

  “You and I are to head north.”

  “Where north?”

  “North.”

  “I get that. Where?” I dug my fingers into the grass and mud. “North is not a destination. It’s a direction.”

  “I don’t need a destination. I am listening, and the energy points north. That is enough for me.” She looked at me unblinking in her frankness.

  “I can’t.” I swallowed a fit of anger as I saw four men on horseback heading toward me. The red wrap-tunics with the brown leather cape hanging off their left shoulder told me they were Heoruwulf warriors. They slid off their horses and approached. Avalbane moved closer to me.

  “Are you the young prince?” asked a warrior.

  “Yes.” I climbed to my feet.

  “Highness.” They bowed.

  “We’ve been sent to retrieve you,” the leader said.

  “Slade is over there with the Heardnebbians.” I pointed to Payton kneeling beside Luella, as she cradled her head in her lap. It was as if my heart was ripped from my chest, yet I was numb. I was a prince. She was a commoner. There was great divide between our classes and with the Heoruwulf warriors nearby I needed to behave.

  The two Heardnebbians were being thorough as they bound Slade. Grandmaster Bailey Holden had his arms crossed over his chest; his face was pale and his lips blue. Death had taken hold. A couple of Heoruwulf warriors went over to him.

  “I need to make sure my friends are going to be taken care of. Will you make sure of that?” I asked.

  “Highness, we’ll do what we can to ensure everyone’s safety.” He placed his hand to his chest. “Allow me to escort you to the academy. Your family is waiting.”

  I glanced at Avalbane. “I can’t have you with me.”

  She held her head high and stood, poised. “I’ll give you a few days.”

  The warrior helped me up on his horse. My body screamed with pain, and I bowed forward, clutching the saddle until the pain subsided. The warrior climbed on behind me. Avalbane eyed the warrior.

  “I shall meet you where they take you,” she said.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, but where he goes no civilian may go,” he said.

  Avalbane smiled and tipped her head, like she accepted his answer. I wasn’t so sure she’d give up that easily. Dimness never gave up. She was as stubborn as me. But Avalbane was in the mortal world now. Her voice and energy resided in me. Now that she’d separated from me, it was ha
rd to know exactly which voice belonged to whom between the two entities.

  We rode past the carnage of the battle to the academy. My energy was drained, and I faded in and out of consciousness. The warrior had his arm around my middle, so I wouldn’t slide off. Many of his men followed us as we rode together.

  Back at the academy, I saw a swarm of people gathered outside to greet the warriors returning from battle. I didn’t see my father or anyone else I recognized, except for a bunch of students and a few of the regular Masters.

  Vanya wove her way through the crowd towards us. The top of her head barely reaching the warriors’ shoulders. Wisps of her black silky hair had pulled free from her loose bun, danced against her pale skin as a cold breeze swirled around us. The Heoruwulf warrior slid off the saddle, helping me down.

  “Highness,” she said, bobbing a quick bow.

  The warrior stepped between us. “Are you the Healer?”

  “I am.” She still held an air of authority despite how weary she looked.

  He stepped aside.

  She gestured to me. “Please follow me.”

  I was taken to the large guest room the Headmaster had made up for my father and me when my identity as a prince was discovered. I was ushered to a chair near a round table. An assortment of people stood in the room with me. They were either nobles and their servants or Heoruwulf warriors—the main force guarded the outside of the room with a couple near me. I guessed I needed to be secured away from regular civilians. It was that, or the civilians were being protected from me. I was a bit surprised the nobles weren’t more cautious around me considering the amount of power I had. Perhaps the group of them didn’t fully know. After all, it was unthinkable for an unannounced prince like me to know beaulecraft.

  This many nobles made me very nervous, as it meant my grandfather was nearby. I didn’t recognize the nobles, but I knew their crests. One bore the crest of the bear, the other wore the crest of the stag, and the third had the crest of the wyvern. They weren’t here for me. Probably waiting for my grandfather or my father.

  I had hoped he’d stayed out on the battlefield or left to go back to the inner berg. Fear filled me as I thought about what he would say to me. It was my fault the Redtails had come here. At least it felt that way. I didn’t move and kept my ki low, although there wasn’t much left. The encounter with Slade and the Spirit Beast had drained me.

  “Vanya,” I said.

  “Yes, Highness?” she replied, setting out some clean bandages. Vanya poured steaming water into a basin and mixed some kind of brownish-gray paste in a wooden bowl.

  “Do you know what happened to Arne Gull?”

  “I don’t know. Let me inquire.” She turned to the nearest Heoruwulf warrior and they conversed quietly.

  The warrior knelt down by me, so he rested a bit lower than me. “Highness,” he said.

  My heart skipped a beat. Was he going to tell me that my second bodyguard was killed?

  “They will be bringing him here shortly,” he said.

  Sure enough, barely a moment later, Arne marched through the door. Everyone made way for him to come to my side.

  “Highness,” he said, kneeling in the place of the other warrior. “I apologize for not being by your side during battle. I failed you, Master. Forgive me. I accept any orders you shall give.” He bowed his head.

  The warrior stood close to Arne, as if he was expecting me to condemn him.

  “I don’t have the mind for that now… The only thing I wish is for you to continue what my father ordered you to do.”

  “Yes, Highness.” He glanced up.

  “Are you injured?” I asked.

  “No, sire. Just scratched a bit.”

  “I’m glad you’re all right.” I shifted my weight into the arm of the chair. “Is it possible to have less people in the room?” I didn’t speak to anyone in particular. Arne stood and faced the warrior.

  “His Highness needs some quiet,” said Arne.

  The warrior stared at me and I stared back. I kept my eyes fixed on him, daring him to disobey my command.

  He cleared his voice, which got the attention of the room. “I need everyone who doesn’t need his Highness’s immediate attention to leave.”

  Some of the nobles cast a snide glare at me, as if I dared to exist, and others knitted their brows with pity. I was a stranger to them. I was a name, not a person. I was a title. They knew my grandfather and father, who had earned the respect of the people: I had not. I had brought shame and chaos. If I were to redeem myself, I had to do what was asked of me. Deep down, I knew I couldn’t comply with the expectations my royal title brought, but I had to try. I needed to earn everyone’s respect. The nobles left the room but the Heoruwulf stayed.

  Vanya started to help undress me, so she could tend to my wounds. Many of my old ones had opened again, and a few new bruises appeared. It felt as though I would never be whole again.

  She pulled off the old bandages around my torso and was about to wash them when a couple of companion bodyguards walked in: Master Durward Warmund and his apprentice, Kyran. The Heoruwulf bowed, and everyone else, including Arne, fell to their knees and placed their palms to the floor. Their gazes stayed on the floor. My stomach twisted into a large knot and my throat tightened. My grandfather, the Cempa of Theotania, our champion, entered the room. His dark hair, peppered with silver strands, was pulled and tied back by a leather thong. The crest of the wolf crowned in golden ivy was embroidered on his blue brocade sash.

  I sunk to my knees. Normally, I would just bow, but I had committed a taboo in my House. A bow would not satisfy the champion. Placing my hands in front of my knees, I touched my forehead to the back of my hands.

  Silence filled the room. My blood whooshed in my head. My heart beat in my throat. In that moment, I prayed my father would come.

  A calloused hand touched my shoulder. I slowly raised my head, but kept my eyes to the floor. My grandfather’s boots were only a couple feet in front of me. I had to keep my wits, showing no emotion, just as I was taught. My brother and sisters were all taught to keep a cool head in the eyes of others, as we were the example our people would look up to and live by. We had to be perfect in public. Only when we were in the company of our family and close relations were we allowed to relax a little and show more of ourselves. My grandfather was strict in this, but it grew harder and harder for me to comply. Despite my aggravation toward appearing flawless, I felt guilty I couldn’t do it as well as my siblings.

  Master Warmund motioned for me to rise. I glanced up at him, as if in confirmation. He flicked his fingers again and my grandfather frowned. I stood. Both he and my father detested repeating commands.

  Grandfather studied my face. The stoic expression on his strong, angled features made the knot in my stomach twist, and Dimness swirled inside me. My energy barely kept me standing. I took deep, slow breaths. This was not the time for Dimness to stir. Master Warmund glowered at me, as if he’d just finished eating something distasteful. I wondered if he could feel Dimness’s energy, too. Master Warmund and Kyran stood silent beside the Cempa. Master Warmund kept a hardened expression while Kyran held an expressionless face. They were as eerily calm as my grandfather, unnerving me.

  My grandfather reached out and grabbed my chin with his thumb and finger. He turned my face and looked at my damaged ear that had been sliced off by one of the Redtail Rebels then released me.

  “Turn around,” he said.

  I obeyed. There was no malice in his tone. It was as casual as if he was asking someone to pass him an object. I dared not to say a word.

  Fear crept up my throat and I swallowed. I didn’t know what he was going to do. He could’ve ordered my death and it would happen. I heard him step closer. My body tensed. I felt his warm fingers trace down my back, flinching when he touched my reopened wounds where the whip had lashed me. He pulled away.

  “Healer,” my grandfather said.

  “Yes, my Champion.” Vanya’s voice was
soft.

  “Finish tending to the Unannounced Prince.”

  “Yes, sire,” she said.

  I stayed rooted to my spot. The sound of footsteps retreated from the room. The silence melted away, and I knew my grandfather had left. I remained where I stood, almost frozen.

  Arne was suddenly at my side, and Vanya was on the other. I wanted to be alone. Horrified was only a small piece of what I’d felt when my grandfather had entered the room.

  “Highness,” said Vanya.

  I didn’t respond.

  “I will continue to change your bandages and treat your new wounds.”

  I felt like a statue. Vanya worked around me, wiping, cleaning, dabbing. I barely felt her. She washed my back starting near my neck and moved down my body. She dabbed over the lacerations and it stung.

  She paused a moment after she took the bowl with the brownish-gray paste. “This might hurt a bit.”

  Arne moved in front of me and I held my breath. Reaching out for him, I grabbed his wrist and readied myself for the inevitable pain.

  “Come on, Esca.” I spurred my horse again, leaning forward with my chest jostling against her mane. She wove around the trees as we raced after Roan. His black, feathered body swooped and darted around the evergreens of the forest. The frigid rain pelted against my short, blonde hair and cloak, my hood bouncing between my shoulders. My broadsword was secure against my back. The bitter wind rushed around me, biting at my nose and cheeks. The soaked, earthy musk of the forest permeated the area, leaving a mournful aura looming over me.