Wild Hunter, Wild Husband

I swallowed hard when my eyes fell on the man on the far left. I recognized him immediately, even if I couldn't see his face. But the Hunter drawings, stature, and posture gave him away.

"Then let's see who we have here," I heard from next to me and my companion took a step forward.

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I took a startled breath when I recognized the presumed face as soon as the sack was pulled from his head. Nikk stared at me in shock, no less. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and above the other a wound on his eyebrow had burst and his cheek was covered with blood that had now dried.

The man who had led me to the dungeon also took the sacks off the other prisoners' heads, but I didn't know any of the hunters personally except Nikk.

"What do you say, girl?" Asked my companion. "Do you know the guys here?"

I hesitated. "I'm not sure. Maybe I met them at headquarters once, but I couldn't swear, ”I kept a low profile, unable to say why I did it. It was probably still that stubborn hope in me that held on to an explanation that did not portray the Hunter as the bad guys. And that's why I didn't want to reveal them.

"Too bad," said the guy, and covered his heads again. “We were hoping you could tell us something about her. We can't get anything out of their mouths. ”He motioned for me to follow him out of the room. "I'll take you to Lex now," he said. "He'd like to discuss something with you."

I nodded and resisted the urge to turn back to the Hunters. Seeing Nikk like this without his typical grin on his face, with all the wounds and injuries, felt strange. Not correct. I felt great pity for him, even though I told myself at the same time that I shouldn't. Perhaps he had also been involved in cleaning up the settlements at the time. His fate was none of my business. And yet my heart became very heavy when I thought that maybe soon he would be no longer alive.

When we got to Lex, the guard immediately left us alone. At Lex's request, I took a seat and told myself to stay calm, even though I wanted to ask him if One was out there somewhere since he hadn't been captured. Seriously injured ... or worse.

"So, can you tell me something about the men who are down there?" Lex finally asked me and looked at me carefully.

Would he know if I lied to him? I didn't want to risk instilling his suspicions, so I nodded. "I've often seen one of them at Headquarters, I don't know the other two."

"What's the name of the one you recognized?"

“Nikk. We spoke to each other a few times. ”I quickly pushed back the guilty conscience I felt at the mention of the name.

"Which is it?" Lex asked.

“The dark-haired one with the dragon mark on the left side of his neck. He… was always nice to me, ”I added, hoping that this might soften his fate a little. I didn't know what Lex and his men were up to with the prisoners, but I doubted they'd just let them go again.

Lex eyed me in silence for a moment, then nodded. “This must be hard for you, Riley. And it doesn't get any easier. ”He rose from his chair and stepped around the desk. "We got another one of them."

My entire body tensed and I had to force myself to remain seated.

“He was badly injured in the process and we had to treat him to keep him from dying. I think you know who we're talking about. "

"Oh, God ..." My throat tightened. “Why… did you let him live? I thought your goal was to ... get rid of the leader. ”Speaking the words felt like cutting myself in the skin. It hurt terribly.

"We still need him," Lex replied gravely. "He has information that will be of use to us."

"And which he will never give up willingly," I added in a whisper and closed my eyes as tears came to me. I felt not a tiny bit of hatred for the man who had my former settlement on his conscience, only great sadness, since he was only alive because information was wanted out of him. By force, because I couldn't imagine One would just reveal this.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and winced. “I'm sorry you're going through this, Riley. But there is no other way. Taleon One is the leader of the Hunter. And if we want to win the fight against injustice, we have to be merciless. "

I was about to say something, but kept my mouth shut tight, knowing that as soon as I opened it, I would sob out. So I got up, nodded to Lex again and walked past him without a word from his realm. I just made it into my father's tent before collapsing on the bed crying.

When my father found me later, I was completely exhausted. He seemed to know what had happened because he didn't even ask, but took me in his arms and held me until I couldn't cry a single tear.

"You're going to hurt him," I just mumbled. "And someday, when they get what they want, they'll kill him."

My father said nothing about that either, from which I inferred that I was right. Everything hurt me, and for a moment I even wanted to die too. A world without Taleon One seemed completely pointless to me. Even more pointless than the crimes he'd committed.

"I'll bring you something to calm you down," said my father at last, carefully releasing me from his arms. 

I didn't refuse, I was even glad to be able to escape the pain that had gripped every fiber of my body for a while. I didn't want to feel anything, no longer think ... nothing more. 

Shortly afterwards he returned and handed me something to drink and a pill, which I gulped down greedily. "It will pass," he muttered after covering me, and stroked my head. "At some point everything will be fine."

I didn't believe it, but nodded, turned my back on him, and waited for the pill to take effect.

I walked silently along the narrow paths to the gate through which one could get to the training area. There, of course, I was stopped by the armed men.

"You're way too early," one of them said when I said I wanted to practice shooting. "Wait until Alyona is here."

"I don't need your help, I can manage on my own," I replied defiantly. I had to distract myself somehow so as not to go mad with worry and grief, and training seemed like the only option.

“Man, we don't have time for this. Just go back to bed and wait, girl. ”When he tried to grab my arm, something inside of me skidded and I used what Aljona had shown me. Since he probably hadn't expected it, I even managed to steal the weapon from him. But in the next instant I was incapacitated by his colleagues and landed extremely rough on the damp ground.

While I was still coughing and gasping for air, I was grabbed and taken to Lex.

"All right, you can go back to your post," he instructed the guy who led me to him after telling him what had happened. Then he turned to me. 

"I just wanted to train," I said, and grabbed my back, which was hurting a lot in places. 

“Training starts later, you were much too early. We have rules here that everyone should obey, Riley. ”Lex stepped around me and grabbed the hem of my shirt. "Let me see." 

Reluctantly, I let him go and tensed when his cold fingers hit my skin. Something inside of me stirred violently against his touch. I didn't want it and it was only with great effort that I cheated.

"You'll get an ointment for the bruises." He pushed my shirt back down and stood in front of me. “It's not easy for you right now, so I'll let you get away with your wrongdoing. But if you threaten someone from the camp with a weapon again, there will be consequences, ”he added with a stern expression.

"I didn't threaten him!" I replied. “I ... just didn't want to be touched by him. The men totally overreacted, I wouldn't have shot anyone. "

"I guess that's a matter of interpretation," Lex said, gesturing for me to follow him. “Still, you should keep my words in mind. We do not target anyone from within our own ranks with the weapon - unless they pose a threat to the welfare of others. "

"Got it," I muttered, hiding the anger that was still raging inside me. I had no right to be angry with Lex or the others, and yet I was. For a very specific reason. And I didn't want to think about this and distract myself from it because I had to function. Until I got over it and could breathe again without feeling like choking on my grief at any moment.

Lex led me to where the infirmary was, as I soon realized. Immediately I stopped and my heart raced at full speed.

"Come on," he told me at once.

"What ... am I supposed to be here?" I managed to barely hear.

"I want to give you the ointment for your bruises," he replied, and a knowing smile graced his lips. "He's not here," he added. “I would never take that risk, no matter how badly injured. Taleon One wasn't named leader just like that. I have seldom met someone who has so much power in one. He could still take out a lot of my men even if his life hung by a thread. We were lucky that he and his entourage were ambushed, otherwise we would probably never have caught them. "

I swallowed hard. "Where ... is he then?"

“Well kept. But I'd rather not tell you where, otherwise you might go out and threaten the next of my men, ”Lex said with a smile.

I didn't find any of this as amusing as he did and turned away to move on. "I'm not on one's side," I said, even when part of me was urgent to see him and help him. "I haven't forgotten what you and my father told me about him."

"And yet you cry for him," said Lex. 

“I'm getting over it, I just need a little time. And the training helps me, so I really wanted to get out. "

"I understand that. And I want to help you get over it too. Let me talk to Aljona first, then we can make an exception and schedule the training for you earlier. It is only fine with me if you channel your anger and disappointment sensibly and not arbitrarily direct them against someone. "

We came to a tent with several beds and even medical equipment. Lex went to one of the closets while I looked around and asked where they got all of this. I always thought that something like this only existed in the Empire - or in the Hunter headquarters. Probably someone smuggled it out of that very place.

Shortly afterwards, Lex handed me a small tube. “Use the ointment sparingly. It's not easy to get hold of this little magic potion. "

"And how do you do that?" I asked.

“All in time, Riley. I'll take you back to your father's tent first and then talk to Alyona. "

I nodded slowly. The incident earlier had aroused his suspicions. He would be careful not to give me any further information before he was sure I was on his side. Because I didn't do that by a long way, I noticed that myself. And right now I didn't know if I wanted to either. Could I ever fight by the side of the man who would torment and ultimately kill the one who, despite all the facts, still meant so much to me? It seemed impossible to me.

Back in my father's tent, I applied the ointment to the painful areas and waited for it to take effect. Then I got dressed again and went outside again. This time to find Logan. Maybe he could distract me a little until I could start training with Aljona.

I found him in the canteen, which was slowly starting to fill up with hungry people. When he saw me, he smiled happily and waved me over. I sat on the vacant chair next to him and thanked him when he handed me a plate of scrambled eggs. While I swallowed this without appetite, I listened to Logan's tale, which, as so often, was sparkling with almost childlike enthusiasm. But at some point my thoughts drifted away and fabricated an image that made my chest become very tight.

I saw One lying in a dark room, chained and badly injured, kept alive just enough so that he and the important information he possessed would not be lost. Would they soon begin to squeeze her out of him? And if he still did not speak ... what unspeakable actions would follow for him to do it? How far would Lex and his men go?

Feeling my stomach begin to rebel, I jumped up quickly and rushed out of the tent to throw up in the bushes outside.