“If, by the time Hunt arrives, you do not have sufficient slots filled in your team roster, members will be randomly added for you. This may result in other fragmented groups joining yours, or the dissolution of your current party so that it may join other, larger, ones.”

- Hunter Handbook (2nd Edition)

“We haven’t made any allies,” I groaned into my food. Across from me, Lysandra absently dissected her bread with her fork. Defeat was written across her face as much as it was across mine.

“Weeks, damn it. I thought I was good at politicking. This wild lot has me second-guessing everything now,” Lysandra replied tiredly.

“Don’t worry, we still have time.” I tried to infuse my voice with more hope than I felt, but we both knew it was as empty as the three final slots in our team. We both knew the code. There was little chance we’d remain together unless a miracle happened. “I’m going to ask Elio today during our training, I promise.”

“You’d better,” my friend said more bitterly than I expected.

“I—it’s harder than I thought, okay. I’ve seen seven teams call for his alliance. Seven. And those were doing the Coldor’s-cursed night, Lizzy. Who knows how many more have been offered when I’m not around? Every commoner and their mothers want him on their team.” I sighed. Defeat was already a sure thing in my mind when it came to that young maelstrom of a fighter. Still, I would try.

“Right. Let’s get this over with,” Lizzy muttered through a slab of sourdough stuffed into her face. The sight would’ve made me laugh if butterflies weren’t already awakening in the pit of my stomach right then. “I wonder if those Cloaks will actually let us track today, or if Greenwood will just let them walk over us like last time.” I rose to my feet, plopping a purplish fruit Lysandra told me was an elven delicacy called a plum into my mouth.

“Doubt it.”

As suspected, Greenwood’s Tracking and Trapping class was a nightmare of tension and bickering as the Cloaks got their one chance to lord over us Orions that they were better at something than us. Their gray cloaks billowed and swooshed around their slight forms. Where the average build of an Orion was large and bulky, theirs was compact and as agile as Thunderstags in a mountainous stampede.

Greenwood droned on and on about the importance of tracking and, to no one’s shock, trapping beasts appropriately. We were long past the three simple traps she’d started us on, and a small part of me looked back fondly on those comparatively simple days. For one, the lessons were simple, if barbaric. For another, it was slightly before Greenwood discovered the orange ribbon braided into my hair. Ever since, she went out of her way to berate and belittle me and the Order of Artemis in general.

I wasn’t even that close with the Order and yet her barbed remarks about their archaic traditions and hypocritical values had me ready to cut her with my Shardclaw fangs. The only consolation I got was that Eliza, the Artemesian who’d recruited me, had made the effort to prepare me for my first hunt.

I had been in my room, reading up on aura signatures and how to potentially alter them or the indexes where they were annotated when a knock sounded from not my door but the window. What little attention the old tome had was lost as a grinning Eliza peeked out from behind the thick plating of my window. I rushed over and helped the young and muscular woman in, a light sweat formed across her scarred brow.

“Nice place,” she said dryly.

“Thank you. Took me ages to pick it out, but this was the one for me.” I pointed two thumbs at my chest and immediately regretted it. Eliza stared blankly at me for a moment, then laughed jovially at my discomfort.

“Mind if I sit?” She asked suddenly.

“Uh, yeah. Sure!” I rushed over to grab my chair for her, but when she turned, she was already resting against the edge of my bed. “Or that,” I offered in defeat. She absently picked at a fingernail with a bone knife I didn’t see her unsheath. She took me in, noting the orange ribbon in my pulled-back platinum hair.

“Suits you,” she said before her tone grew more serious. “The Hunt approaches. Your first, though arguably that was your first true hunt.” She pointed at my left wrist where the azure bracelet hung loosely. “You ready for it?”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“To be honest, no. My one good friend got poached by another team, and the other good fighter I know is—”

“I’ll stop you right there,” Eliza butted in. “Who goes with you doesn’t really matter. Sure, it’s nice to have people around you that you can trust, but do you know how the hunt actually works? Why they don’t let you solo it like so many wish was allowed?”

A little irritated, I leaned back against my chair and crossed my arms. Slowly, I shook my head. Eliza took me in stride and continued on.

“That’s what I thought. I didn’t figure it out until I was three days into my first one.” She leaned forward then, her eyes ablaze with intent. “They want you to kill each other.”

She waited, letting her claim sink in. My brow furrowed not in panic but in confusion.

“Why?”

“Why do you think?” She answered, and it took me nearly ten full heartbeats before I realized it wasn’t rhetorical.

“Oh, um…” And I did think about it. I really did want to impress this woman, even if she was a bit obtuse. I was grateful she was the sort content in silence. I mulled over her question, not willing to give her the straight answer she expected.

“The first hunter law,” I said finally. Eliza grinned at me then, and I could’ve sworn pride danced across her eyes.

“Go on,” she prodded.

“The first hunter law states that the person who landed the final blow gets first dibs on the monster’s magic. This can be passed on to either the Hunter Association or another member of the group the killer is in, but that almost never happens. Why give up power when you can have it for yourself?” I replaced all four legs of my chair on the ground and leaned forward to match Eliza’s intensity. “But the first hunter law is ridiculous. It only applies to large bands of hunters, is my guess. Five people, no more or no less, and you can take down a hellspawn if you wish. But the second that monster’s claimed and the hunter leaves the Wilds to get it enchanted, you’re down to four, ruining your chances of getting something more dangerous. There’s a huge advantage to getting the first kill in the Hunt.”

My mind spun at the implications of what Eliza was hinting at.

“Which means…” She said, forcing me to speak it out loud.

“It means killing off your party members might be the only way to secure the best monster kill.”

“Exactly,” Eliza agreed darkly. Her smirk turned sour as she took me in. “And so I wouldn’t worry too much about getting on a team with people you like. It makes what comes next harder, in my experience.” She rose to her feet. “I’ll be sure to snag some of the best gear we have in stock before you go, Fang.” Her use of my unofficial nickname sent goosebumps up my arms. I stood up and walked to the window, pulling it open for her. She gave me a childish laugh that had me blushing all over again.

“Mind if I use your door? You know what they say: down is easy. Up is hard.” She giggled again to herself, but whatever joke she made went right over my head.

The revelation Eliza left me with slammed into my mind again as I observed Lizzy talk with Gavriel’s brother, Cassian. I hadn’t spoken a word to the young man, who now had a missing left eye after his failed attempt at rescuing his brother. I knew I had tried to save Gav in the exam, but failing made any attempts I wanted to make at talking with the surviving sibling impossible. Guilt lingered between us, even if neither spoke of it. A numb part of me wondered if the poor sop even remembered me.

I twiddled the orange ribbon I wore between my fingers, grateful for the smooth texture against my thumb and middle finger. Lizzy nodded softly, and they both looked in my direction. I pretended to be doing literally anything else, but doubted I managed to pull it off. After a few more seconds of studying the ceiling of the pitted room we were in, Lizzy rejoined me.

“Any luck?”

Nothing.

“Lizzy?”

“Did you really try to feed his brother to a monster during the entrance exam?” She asked suddenly. The question caught me so off guard that I spluttered for several long seconds as I collected myself. I glared daggers at the back of Cassian’s head.

That’s how you want to play this? Seriously?!

“No,” I ground out, not trusting myself to say more. I turned to Lizzy and saw that she needed more from me before we could drop this. “I fed Azuris to it.”

My friend mouthed a dramatic ‘Oh’ before she adjusted the thin spectacles she wore on her nose.

“I—I tried to save Gavriel, his brother. I failed. Got this and the eternal hatred of the nobles for my trouble.” I gestured down at my right wrist and grinned sardonically. “Don’t worry. He would’ve been fodder. There’s gotta be someone else we can ask.”

“Elio,” Lysandra answered simply. She watched ahead of us as Greenwood demonstrated how to deploy a razorwire trap without getting stuck in the center of it.

“Fine,” I nearly shouted. The frustration I felt toward myself barbed the word nearly as sharp as the trap in front of us. I stood up sharply and began to march toward my martial friend. A few students muttered at my bold movement during class, while others groaned to get me to stop obstructing their view of the pit.

“Elio,” I declared, cornering the dimple-cheeked boy. He was mid-laugh at something one of the students nearby said, but he rounded on me with a wide grin that held no malice. I cleared my throat, unwilling to back down now in front of a small crowd. “Join my team.” The words rang out and those who’d wanted Elio in parties of their own leaned in to hear his response. For his part, his answer was coated with chagrin.

“I would’ve, my fellow pugilist, but you waited too long. I have accepted the position in another’s team.” He rubbed his neck and smiled sadly at me. Fury and despair swept through the chasms of my heart.

“Who?” I asked before the shame and disappointment caught up with me.

“Azuris.”