Special note before we begin: Please ignore everything I crossed out in my post from yesterday (Nov 20th). I was misremembering what I had posted for my $1 Patreon tier and what I had originally planned for future tiers. I will be creating a $2 tier in the near future which is the tier that will have exclusive access to ALL rough draft chapters. This is what I was originally planning to do once I'd completed enough for the draft but then I decided I wanted to make certain chapters (the first five)available to everyone. Upon further thought while I will be posting the chapters ON patreon as well as everywhere else I will not be activating the early access feature for them- they will be available to read for anyone who views my page.
Now without further ado please enjoy reading chapter one of Hunters of Shadows!
Now without further ado please enjoy reading chapter one of Hunters of Shadows!
CHAPTER 1 – About Some Hills
Martha would have said it was too bright a day for a funeral except that Uncle Gregor would have loved this weather. The blonde sixteen year old stood still as a statue trying not to shiver in spite of the heavy coat she wore over her black dress and stockings. It was an unusually cloudless winter day but even with the sun shining down it was cold enough that the snow from the previous day had yet to melt. The harsh glare from the sunlight reflecting off the snow made the intricate copper and silver embellishments on the coffin gleam.
An exquisitely beautiful sight her Uncle would have said.
And then he would have gone on to explain how wonderful it was the way light could just bounce off of things like that. Like hitting a wall or the ground doesn’t bother it. It just keeps moving. Martha dug her nails into the gloved palms of her clenched fists. ‘Just painfully blinding more like,’ Martha thought as she squinted through the glare.
As the coffin, covered with red roses placed by attending family members, was lowered into the freshly dug grave Martha caught movement out of the corner of her right eye. She’d have paid it no mind had she not been standing on her lonesome- the rest of the funeral party to her left and the forest behind the graveyard on her family’s estate in the near distance on her other side. And that flash of movement had been bright red.
Unable to spot the source of the disturbance Martha turned her narrowed gaze back to consider the funeral party. No one was paying her any mind. Remembering how Uncle Gregor had always encouraged investigation when something was unknown or out of place, she figured he wouldn’t mind her leaving his funeral to do just that. Also, if her guess of it likely being some local teenagers bumbling through the woods on a dare or prank like they sometimes did she would be having words. Today was Uncle Gregors funeral for crying out loud.
Had they no shame?
No one turned to stop her as she made her way across the snowy field to the tree line. The old oaks and evergreens were rather crowded next to their fellows with thick bramble and bushes in between making navigating through a bit difficult. Nonetheless Martha was determined to give the trespassers a good telling off and so scrambled her way over logs and between gaps in the brush nevermind her dress. Martha stopped on top of a particularly large log to get her bearings. ‘Now where did they… there!’ Having spotted the same flash of red from earlier just ahead she made haste to catch up narrowly avoiding stumbling to the dirt in the process.
Soon enough she came upon a clearing in the trees with a large hill at the center. It was here she finally got a good look at her quarry. “James Isaac McGavin what in the blazes do you think you’re doing!?” Whiping around in startlement at her shrill voice the young boy halfway up the hill stumbled and started a rather awkward fall downward. Red sled and all. Martha rushed to catch her twelve year old cousin before he could slam into the trees that came right up to the base of the steep hill. She barely managed to get in his path when he slammed into her as they both toppled backwards. Thankfully there was no sliding further down the hill.
Pushing him off herself roughly she began “James- “
“I was just sledding- “
“On this hill?” she asked incredulously. Then she remembered the days events. “TODAY?!” she shrieked. James winced at her volume but stood his ground. “I just wanted to go sledding- “
“On this hill?” she asked again.
This hill. The terribly high and steep hill with brambles and tree trunks so close to the base you’re basically guaranteed to hit one and injure yourself. The same hill that both their parents and Uncle Gregor have specifically told them not to try sledding on. Because as her Uncle had also told Martha there was taking risks and then there was taking risks. And today of all days. She thought it would have been fine and dandy if he had just been exploring about the woods as Uncle Gregor would take them out to do but this. No. She was livid.
He tried to explain himself. “You know the other hills around here are much shorter- “
“Safer,” she interrupted.
“Boring,” he retorted.
Just as she was about to rip into James with what she thought of that there was a loud thud from the other side of the hill followed by an unintelligible string of words that were probably curses. Sharing a look, the cousins rushed around the hill towards the noise. The brown-haired boy reached the source first. “Holy crap!” he said
Wide eyed Martha silently agreed. Lying there on the ground over a raised tree root with a trail of blood behind him was a middle aged man. Barely audibly the man groaned. Kneeling down next to him Martha could see that most of the blood was coming from his leg. Too much blood. Quickly standing up to rip the fabric from the bottom of her skirt she turned to James urgently. “Run and get help! I’ll stop the bleeding.”
Her words brining her cousin out of his stunned silence James turned around to follow the order only to stop short. There in his path was a dark wispy shape looking rather wolf like with glowing blue eyes. And it was growling at him. Too stunned to move again he was helpless as the angry beast leapt towards him. The beast grabbed him by the arm with its jaws knocking him over before both disappeared in smoke. Martha was about to let loose a scream when a hand clamped over her mouth roughly from behind.
Reflexively she reached up to pry her attackers hands from her face even as she made to lunge forward and away. Not that such efforts amounted to much as her assailant already had a hold of Martha round her middle pinning her other arm to her side and was lifting her up none to gently. Kicking at them franticly while trying to make as much noise as she could through the hands over her face she attempted to use her free arm to jam her elbow into them. This did not phase them enough to let her go only earning a pained grunt and a tight “Grab her arm Margo!” from the man. At the mans words a second set of hands caught her free arm. “Let me see her neck,” the second person said and her head -mouth still covered- was yanked to the side. She felt a light prick at the exposed skin of her neck and soon her limbs started feeling heavier as her movement slowed. Martha struggled to keep resisting but it was getting harder to move and her eyelids refused to stay open for long. As her world started to fade she heard one of the men- she couldn’t tell which- muttering about “Well now what do we do with this…”
