Page 1

Chapter

One

IN THE TEMPLE RUINS

A figure in a long gray cloak stands at the edge of the tree line, her face obscured by a mask made of bone and metal, antlered and sharp. Orange light from the fires reflect off the surface, pulling all sound with it.

Not that any birds sing near the ruins. This place reeks of emptiness and death.

She steps forward, presses a palm on the gnarled bark of the sacred tree.

After an eon, it still bleeds. Rivulets of thick, red sap ooze down the trunk, pooling in the roots like old blood refusing to dry.

No animals chatter here. No wind dares to stir the blackened banners nailed to crumbling stone.

Only the crackling flames in the iron bowls give light to the scene, and even that seems reluctant.

“The young hybrid has moved,” says the acolyte, her young voice too loud, her torch too bright. “She left the security of the town last night.”

The masked leader does not respond. Behind them, another figure emerges from the shadows. Older with a weathered face. Robed in dark green, the sleeves lined in gold thread so worn it’s barely noticeable in the firelight. “She’s hunting for answers. Just like her mother.”

The leader tilts her head. “And we know how that ended.”

“Not soon enough.” The elder straightens her back. “But this one is moving faster. The blood remembers.”

The acolyte shifts nervously. “She’s left the werewolf and her father behind.”

“Good,” the leader murmurs. “That works to our advantage. Her being alone will make the breaking cleaner, quicker. Certainly easier.”

The elder steps forward, gaze fixed on the large map stretched across a scorched altar stone. Names of villages, family lines, old blood trails are scrawled in faded ink, but one name pulses like a wound, still oozing.

Eira.

The leader draws a dagger from her belt then places the blade gently over the name. “We missed our chance with the mother. We won’t with the daughter.”

“She’s already shifted,” says the elder, almost with regret. “The line is reawakening.”

“A huntress. But she doesn’t know what that means yet.

Nobody does, given she’s the first. A female hunter is more dangerous and unpredictable than any hunter before her.

There’s been a shift with the hybrid combinations coming together, and it’s something none of us fully understand. Not her, and not us.”

The acolyte clears her throat, the noise jarring. “Doesn’t that mean she’s activated the loophole?”

Neither of the other two respond, which is her answer.

An eternity seems to pass before the elder finally speaks. “And if she tries to break the hunter’s curse?”

The leader finally turns, antlered mask gleaming with the firelight. “Then she’ll discover there are far worse things than dying.”

The elder gives a slow nod. “The solstice draws near.”

The masked one lifts the dagger, and with one clean motion, slashes the blade across Eira’s name. “Neither hunter will survive the midnight death match. Chaos and death will rule again.”