Rise Of The Hunters - Chapter 77

Xun shook hands with Alex, when he showed up. All the bad blood between them was washed away in light of the problems before them.

“My dad told me a couple days before you left, that each of the leaders were gifted with a secret that would keep the compound running smoothly. But he decided that it was pointless because the women council members were going nuts. I never thought that his words would ring true until Mary and Lisa took control by killing Jerome and putting my dad in the hospital.”

“I’m glad that you’ve chosen not to join her,” Xun said. “Do you know what happened to Willow, Rick and Hayden?”

“They went on a training run around the valley, like they’ve done many times since you left, and never returned. We thought they caught wind of Mary and Lisa’s plans and had left.”

Xun shook his head. His friends would never leave this compound like that.

“What were you planning?” asked Gerald, taking advantage of the ŀȧpse in conversation to jump in.

“Mary has been amassing most of the women in the barracks by the front gates. The guards that are loyal to her have been split between keeping the women in the barracks and keeping everyone else in their rooms. I don’t think she’s keeping but maybe ten guards with her at any one time.

“I was thinking we needed to break the women out of the barracks, because that bothers me a lot. I don’t know why she feels a need to keep them locked up, but it can’t be for a good reason.”

“I agree. It’s never a good sign when the supposed leader starts locking people up.” Gerald shook his head.

“I’m not having any luck convincing the people to join me, because they’re afraid for the women. So, if we can get the women free, the rest of the people should join us.”

“Makes sense,” said Xun. “What’s your plan?”

“I don’t want to kill people, but we may not have a choice. The guards are scheduled to change shift about midnight tonight, so I was thinking we try and attack then.”

“Wait,” said Xun’s father.

Everyone looked at him. He was looking at the floor, but his hands were clenched tight at his sides.

“If you let me take them out, I can guarantee that no one will be killed.”

“Wait, you mean all of them?” asked Alex, incredulously.

“We’re talking about a lot of people, probably armed with crossbows and swords.” Xun wanted to make sure his father understood what was at stake here.

He smiled and looked at Xun. “I was trained to fight people at a young age. It was one of the reason’s your mother fell in love with me. I was the top of my class. No one was better. The vampires only caught me because of a technicality. Trust me, these guys won’t see me coming.”

Gerald looked at him for a moment, before his eyes widened in shock. “You mean… you’re him???”

Craig looked back and forth between them, just as confused as Xun.

Byrd looked at his father for a moment then gave a low whistle. “Word had it that you disappeared. We all thought that meant you had died, fighting the werewolves. It never occurred to any of us, I don’t think, that you ran off with her.”

“My sister would have disappeared with you. That sounds just like her.”

“What are you talking about? I feel like I think I know, but I would appreciate being enlightened,” complained Craig, still confused.

“I was known as the Templar. I was always the first to go out to fight the werewolf hordes that flowed out of the south.”

Craig fell back away from him with a wild look in his eyes as if he had just seen a ghost.

“Craig grew up hearing of your exploits. He loved to hear about you,” confided Gerald with a chuckle.

Xun looked at his dad. He was the one who had worshiped the man first, but while amusing, another thing was bothering him. What would happen with his wolf if he let him take out the men? Would not killing them cause him to lose control of his wolf? Was this just a way for his dad to test himself?

“People might die regardless of what we do. I think we can let him try. If he starts having any issues, we can rush in and help.”

Everyone looked at Xun, getting dragged back into the seriousness of the situation. Alex nodded in agreement, even though he didn’t know that his father had the wolf inside him.

—

The moon was high in the sky as they all took their positions around the compound. With Alex’ information, they knew where the guards would be at any time, and they were ready to act if something happened.

The guards were starting to move, as the time for the shift change arrived. They turned down the road, but stopped in confusion, when Xun’s dad stepped out and walked to the middle of the road.

“Who are you, and why have you broken curfew?” called one of the guards.

“You don’t know me, but if you drop your weapons, and surrender, I will not harm you.” His voice was soft but carried well enough on the wind, that even Xun and his companions heard him clearly.

“Who does this guy think he is? Get him,” said the guard in charge.

Two moved to grab him, and he sidestepped their arms, kicking their legs out from under them. They hit the ground hard, cursing and rolling away from him to get up.

He stood there waiting for them to get up and try to attack him again, before he stepped forward, punching them both in the gut at the same time. They slumped to the ground, the air knocked out of them, gasping for air.

The head guard motioned towards him, and four moved forward, choosing to rush him all at once. He dodged the first fist, kicking the legs out from under the second, sidestepping the third and grabbing his arm, he swung him around to take the hit from the last guard. The first had recovered, and went to hit him in the back of the head, but he was suddenly not there.

He appeared in the middle of the street again, looking down at the ground. They jumped back, definitely creeped out, and then he attacked. His movements were hard to follow, but each one he hit, fell to the ground, and stayed there.

Stepping calmly into the middle of the road, he faced the head guard, who had four other guards behind him, none of which looked very confident at that point.

The head guard swallowed fearfully, “Who are you?”

“The Templar Wolf.”