Reign of the Hunt by Anna T. Marynczak (buy e reader .TXT) 📖

bits and pieces of wood and metal from now non-existing lift. Weirdly enough she felt no pain, she looked up to see how far down she fell. It was at least 30 foot drop. Lack of pain was intriguing and worrying at the same time. She knew all her emotions were intact since her fear level was reaching the skies right now. All the lift pieces were scattered around the tiny room she found herself in, she slowly started to lift herself up and walk towards the other side of the room. Something metal stood in her way, without the lights she could only guess it was a large cage. As Ajda moved around the object that was blocking the way she heard a faint growl. ‘Please, please, please, be an empty cage...’

 

In the dead silence that accompanied the room even a small shuffle was magnified, and every time she moved a growl would come as a repartee. She heard no rustling or any kind of movement apart from her own which indicated that the beasts were not here, yet the growls were so close. She heard them so clear she was worried that from being in the darkness she started to hallucinate. While trying to find her way around the cages one of her arms fell into one of them, she felt something. It was smooth in texture, hard and felt as if it had a big hole in it. Ajda picked it up and that’s when she realised what she was holding. It was a huge skull. Dog’s skull. It then clicked in her mind why the nasty beast that bit her lead her here. It was told to do so. ‘So that’s how it all works, figures.' Death used everything deceased as his materials, champions or slaves. Black dogs were one among many. So was Ajda, she had yet to figure out which one she was. She then realised that her vision came back, well, was only good in her left eye. She put the skull away, and when she did, the room around her went dark again.  

-What is happening? - The question hang in the absolute silence. When she picked up the skull again she noticed that she could see again. - That's impossible…

'Dwell deeper into the forge and you shall find out.' - Voice was calm yet the tone was clear; it was an order and not a suggestion.

At the very end of the room, to the right of a dark opening there was a table covered in many manuscripts. They were all written in the same runes that the inscription on her medallion, only thing she could understand were the diagrams. It looked like an ordinary bow at the first glance, yet the material used made her feel uneasy. While lifting the skull one thing went through her mind, how many of those innocent creatures wonders into the cave simply to be never seen again. As she lifted the papers she could hear murmurs, none of which she could understand. They were coming from the dark opening, calling and directing her to follow.

 

As she got deeper down the stairs the murmur was getting louder and clearer. The blue glow has started to appear again and what she was facing was a forge. Blue fire was hissing and snapping. By getting closer to the fire she realised it was not emanating heat, the place was freezing.

- Welcome to my forge. – Death said peering from behind the cages.

-Your forge? – Ajda asked curiously. – I wouldn’t expect Death to be into any kind of crafts.

Dark figure has glided over to where she was standing and stared straight into her eyes.

- You’re right, nobody would expect Death to create. – Death slowly picked up few bones that were laying around and tossed them into the fire. – I am supposed to be the villain, take away the precious gift of life, but life is not a gift. Not for everyone.

- My life was a gift, up until the point I was… kidnapped. Then married off against my will, and getting informed about the Davalar sending off ritual would definitely changed my mind about poisoning my dreadful husband. – Ajda looked at the wild fire dancing in the forge. – Do you choose the fate of mortals?

Death hanged his head down and continued to fiddle with the bone that he was holding.

- No. – Death answered shortly. – Your actions create your fate, I just adapt to it.

- I always thought Death chose the time for someone to go. – Ajda said looking at the hooded figure. – But I guess there is much more to it than a person can possibly understand.

- Precisely. I am hated amongst the living because they do not understand. Once they are dead it doesn’t matter to them anymore. – You could almost sense the bitterness in Deaths voice. – However, I’m getting side-tracked. There is an important reason as to why you’re still somewhat alive.

- I still have many questions! – She exclaimed letting Death know she was not ready to move on.

-Which I’m about to answer… - Death sounded not so much angry as irritated. – You’re now my champion, Gytha Godfrey.

- Is the change of name necessary? – Ajda didn’t necessarily take liking to the name Gytha, it sounded like a matron’s name.

- Ajda needs to stay dead. Gytha will be your name from now on. – These words hung in the air for a second then death continued. – Your sole purpose is to defeat the Gods. All the imposters. After all, I am the only one that keeps my promise. Also, my previous champion.

- I held a weapon in my hands once! How possibly could I fight the Gods?! – Fear truly came through in her voice, it trembled.

- You know people you can train with. – Ajda immediately thought of Doran and Valentin. She saw Dorian using his sabre sword and bow in the back of his house back in Sanluk. – This however means going back home and refraining from speaking to your loved ones if they are still alive.

Not knowing if her father and brother were still alive after the Davalar attack !!!!!!. Now that she has been given a second chance at life or simply was brought back to life, the knowledge that she won’t be able to let their family know was killing her again.

- I’m not even sure if they are still alive. – Thousands of thought began to race through her mind and a grieving feeling began to emerge. – If I could only know if they’re alive and well…

- The only thing you’re not allowed to do is to let them know you’re alive.

Death reached into the fire, it hisses and spat sparks. What was pulled out was a bow, a grotesque bow made out of… bones. The grips were made out of finely polished skulls, dog skulls. She seemed to notice a pattern.

- I was going to ask about the skull… - She didn’t finish when Death seem more energetic than ever to respond to her question.

- Ah, yes! Yngvarr! – Death passed Ajda the bow. – Yngvarr is your familiar and your mask to hide the burns. – To summon him you need a chant. ‘Arag nemeoa kadov, Yngvarr’.

- The Elder tongue. – Ajda whispered. – So, the mask is the reason I can see…

- Precisely, all the powers given by me are in this mask. The medallion will protect you from the riders of time, it hides your presence since you are the abomination of time. And they will look for you.

 

Sitting on the floor Ajda was looking at the bow, Death stood in front of the Forge, its eyes where mimicking the flickering of the fire. She pulled on the string to her surprise blue lights appeared in the eyes of the grips. It was almost like the skulls came to life, she pulled the string back as far as she could. The lights got stronger, and an arrow began to form, yet it disappeared as soon as she loosened the string.

- I guess arrows are not needed for this bow. – She sounded somewhat pleased. – That will definitely save on carrying loads of gear and arrow costs.

Ajda suddenly started to get used to the thought that she is somewhat dead, she wasn’t able to do anything about it so she decided to settle with the reality.

- Even if I learn how to fight, Gods are immortal and somewhat more powerful than I will ever be. How would I even begin to fight them? – The question lingered in her mind since Death told her what her purpose is.

- Gods are proud beings, if challenged by a mortal they are more than likely to take up their mortal form to fight you, and if you best them, they are obliged to step down. – Death said convincingly. – But, find your friend and train. Then you will most likely need a mage, someone who will be willing to ask Gods to listen. For once.

She knew a mage from Ocwick. Ajda’s father took care of her few years while she was still practicing her magic. She couldn’t remember her name but she knew that her father was the right hand of the High Orion in the White Senate, she would need to go there first, even though she knew that the sole reason for the mage to leave Ocwick was her father. After all these years that is the only place where she could think of to look for the lost mage friend.

- Two more things before you must leave. – Death reached behind the forge, the metals clanged together. – Two daggers, one cast from iron and one gold.

- Why gold? – Ajda was curious as to why go to an effort of making two daggers from different metals instead of settling for the iron.

- Gods can only be hurt with something valuable; gems and precious metals.

- That seems awfully easy. – After all, what was it to stab them and be over with it?

- If it was, they would have been gone already. – Death replied immediately. Hooded skeleton shuffled towards a long flight of stairs leading up.

- This is your way out. – Death said pointing at the stairs. – Your first task would be to train, and one more thing… - It stopped to think for a little. His glowing eyes shone brighter. – Find my previous champion.

Not being sure why Death was not able to track him down, Ajda asked.

- What is stopping you from doing it yourself? – Although the question was harmless, she felt like she was pushing the boundary of what was acceptable. Death made a sound of what almost sounded like a sigh, it was almost as if it was helpless.

- It was the only mistake I’ve ever made, I put too much trust into a mortal. See, his amulet had one more element than yours. Piece of my cape, which I used as the twine to hang the amulet on. I didn’t know that it would make him invisible to me. So he took his chance and disappeared. – You could sense that Death truly regretted his decision.

 

Ajda wasn’t going to ask any more questions, her mind was set on getting out since the more Death told her about her tasks the more terrified she became of the road ahead of her. Death knew. It could sense her fear, it stared at her, waiting. Ajda started to walk towards the dark stairs, she looked behind her shoulder, and Death was gone. She put her mask on, hanged the bow over her shoulder and started climbing the stairs. The exit was blocked from the outside by something heavy. Ajda tried to lift the wooden hatch but whatever was on top of it would not budge.

- Arag nemeoa kadov, Yngvarr! – Ajda said under her