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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The Husken Games had ended months ago, and in quite an unexpected and spectacular fashion at that, leaving the elites infuriated and the heirs to their estates leaving the games thirsty for a bloodier sort of contest.

Maddix didn’t care about that one bit.

He was a tracker. A hunter. And he was damn good at his job. But this was turning out to be far more of a challenge than even he would have expected.

I never should have taken their capture for granted, he chided himself on more than one occasion as he forced himself to quietly endure the seemingly endless suggestions and directives of Chancellor Vinchi’s offspring no matter how badly he wanted to smack the superior smirks right off their privileged faces.

The chancellor’s children, Flagro and Galla, had joined the hunt after the games at their father’s behest, but unlike so many familial duties they’d been obligated to in the past, this time they were glad for the chance to mete out some justice, the pair of them equally hungry for violence.

The Husken Games had rules, but they were over.

This was to be a much more violent game.

And, to his great frustration, Maddix was forced to be their guide.

It was utterly ridiculous, putting a pair of spoiled, egotistical, and rather inept elites in charge of someone of his caliber.

But he had a duty, and he was bound to uphold it, no matter how distasteful it might be.

That part he could deal with, grudgingly.

But they were interjecting constantly, screwing up his plans with off-course diversions that were clearly the wrong track.

He tried to dissuade them, of course. To steer them back onto the actual path that might lead them to their quarry, but Flagro and Galla couldn’t imagine an underling knowing more than they did, never mind the fact he’d been tracking damn near longer than either of them had been alive.

At least I’m not the only one suffering this sort of nightmare, he consoled himself as he sipped his drink, decompressing in a rough and dirty tavern at the end of yet another long day tolerating the twins as they made a mess of his hunt.

The other hunter-trackers were equally burdened, all five of the elite families directing their heirs to join the hunt now that the games were over.

It had turned the whole thing into an epic clusterfuck, but one that at least did not put Maddix at a greater disadvantage than the others.

And he was learning the subtle ways in which he could steer the Vinchi children, essentially tricking them into thinking the ideas he planted in their minds were their own.

It still slowed their hunt immeasurably, but at least they were gradually pursuing what seemed to be the correct path, though their delays had greatly muddied the trail and left him forced to rely on every last one of his skills to find even a trace of a path, though he hid that fact from the others.

They all had the same job, but he was not about to give the competition any help.

All of the trackers were frustrated. Their quarry was not leaving normal signs, not following the typical and expected patterns of fleeing prey.

This woman, this human woman, appeared to have avoided using technology of any sort for months, somehow, leaving no digital footprints, no traces of her presence, making it almost impossible for the hunters to find so much as a single hint of her route.

Maddix had studied not only her file, but that of the other human who had been part of the games. A formidable, and quite surprising woman, that one, and it appeared her friend was just as resourceful.

But that wasn’t it. It couldn’t be.

Humans, he’d discovered, were from a distant world, one not even part of the Dotharian Conglomerate.

And their technology was primitive compared to most worlds.

But more than that, humans did not have space-faring capabilities, and that meant this Maria person was achieving all of this despite zero foreknowledge of this world and its pitfalls and hazards.

Definitely, he mused. She may have had help in escaping the city, but she is undoubtedly still not alone.

Someone is helping her, and with great success.

They are staying off-grid entirely, and that means whoever is with her is an outdoorsman.

A skilled one at that. And one who can survive without tech as part of his kit. Not many possess those talents.

He grinned. Despite the numerous frustrations of the situation, as well as the constant pressure applied by the twins, he was still enjoying this in a way.

It had been a very long time since he’d faced prey that actually forced him to work.

To really work. His talents had made tracking an almost auto-pilot endeavor, but this?

This was actually a challenge, and that, despite his being forced to hunt as part of his duty, was nevertheless a welcome change.

The other trackers were frustrated by that particular wrinkle, accustomed to relying on their techno gizmos and doodads to do their work for them.

They were good, no doubt, but only when playing by their rules.

And this person was most definitely not doing that.

Maddix, on the other hand, started his career this way, and returning to the basics was, after a brief adjustment and flexing of that muscle memory, almost as natural as breathing once he got into it.

After the first month he realized this was no ordinary prey.

By the second, given the escapee’s seeming knowledge about this world’s terrain and the region’s lesser-known paths, he was certain they could only have come from one of a few places in this entire part of the continent.

And of them, only one village fit the profile.

A place where technology was avoided entirely, and this sort of skill was common among their kind.

The Oraku, they were called, and they knew how to survive off the land like no others he could think of.

Coincidentally, the Nimenni prince who presented himself at the games shortly after the human’s disappearance just so happened to have a history with the Oraku. In fact, he and his human mate were now living among them. Only a fool could miss the obvious.

But it seemed the others had been focusing on where their prey had fled to, not the circumstances of where she’d escaped from .

Fools. It’s obvious if you just pay attention.

Always look backward as well as forward.

I will visit the Oraku. And while I’m at it, I should track any flights that may have landed anywhere near their village over the past few months, just in case.

No one has thought to look for flight records because no one flies there.

But perhaps, just perhaps, I’ll get lucky.

It’s a lot of ground to cover entirely on foot, even for an Oraku.

Maddix nodded to himself, smiling on the inside. He had a plan, and it was the best one given the circumstance.

I’ll need to be non-threatening. Casual. To appear like just another passerby. And I’ll have to arrive on foot. It’ll be a long trek, but they’ll know if I land in the region.

He sighed. By himself it would be no problem. But he was saddled with two spoiled elite know-it-alls, and their brashness, not to mention their direct connection to Chancellor Vinchi, would undoubtedly put the Oraku on guard. Maddix groaned at the thought of what came next. What he had to do.

I have to at least try.

He rose from his seat and left the tavern, tipping the barkeep well as he did. It paid to be on good terms with those who were often privy to information spilled without the speaker paying attention to the service staff. A mistake a great many made on a regular basis.

The walk to the swank establishment where Flagro and Galla Vinchi were dining was long enough for him to properly compose himself for the undoubtedly unpleasant conversation he was about to have. But then, every interaction with them pretty much fit that bill.

The ma?tre d’ stopped him at the door, looking him up and down with a polite smile but clearly noting his commoner attire.

“I’m sorry, sir. I would love to seat you, but we do have a dress code. Perhaps you might enjoy the little cafe down the?—”

“I’m with the Vinchis,” he said, silencing them in an instant.

“Oh, of course. Please, right this way.”

He followed, finding the twins enjoying a meal that likely cost more than he made in a month.

Of course, nearly all of his earnings were then docked for room, and board, and the like, essentially keeping him in debt and in service no matter how hard he worked.

But he’d grown accustomed to the situation.

He didn’t like it, but he’d make the most of what fate had dealt him.

“Maddix, what are you doing here?” Flagro asked, looking up from his meal .

“He must be slumming it tonight,” his sister added with a giggle.

The hunter forced a laugh, as he did far too often around these two idiots. He sized up the two, their seating arrangement, the cutlery on the table, and decided he could kill them both in under six seconds, and they wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing about it.

The thought amused him, but it was a mere mental exercise to remain sharp. Their demise was not to be.

“I was just coming to mention a slight change in tactics.”

“It’s about time,” Flagro exclaimed. “You’ve really been slacking, Maddix, and it’s making us look bad.”

No, you are making you look bad, he thought, keeping his mouth in check.

“Of course, you are right. But to that end, I am going to make up for it.”

“Oh? What do you plan to do?”

“I’m going to try something different.”

“Different, how?” Galla asked.

“To fly fairly distant from the next place I intend to search, where I will then land and leave my ship parked with an auto-recall protocol set while I pursue on foot. To hunt by traveling as the human travels.”

Flagro’s eyes lit up as he mulled over the idea. “A great idea! I look forward to this adventure! Galla, we’re going camping!”

Maddix swallowed hard. “Oh, but this is a very difficult trek. It will be long, and it will be quite uncomfortable. Living out in the woods, covering great distances without creature comforts. You wouldn’t enjoy it. It’s best if I go alone.”

Flagro glared at him, menacing in the way only one with seeming endless wealth and privilege could look. He was physically weaker, but his father owned this tracker, and they both knew it .

“We are more than capable, Maddix. And Father expects nothing less of us.”

“You are great athletes, naturally. I just thought that, given the nature of?—”

The elite slammed his hands on the table, drawing the briefest of glances from the other patrons before they quickly turned their attention back to their meals.

“You dare talk back to me?”

“No, of course not.”

“Good. Then do what is required of you. Track. Hunt. Do not think.”

Fool doesn’t realize thinking is the biggest part of the job .

Flagro took his silence as a sign of chastised obedience. “We leave in the morning.”

Maddix bit his tongue. He had planned on flying out at night, late and under cover of darkness when fewer eyes would be on them. The more subtle and stealthy he could make this the better. He didn’t expect anyone to note his departure, but he had learned long ago to never take anything for granted.

“As you wish,” he said, then bowed slightly and turned for the exit.

They’re going to screw it up, he grumbled to himself. They’ll make the whole damn thing harder than it needs to be. But it doesn’t matter. Even if it takes longer because of them, I will succeed. There is no other option.