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Demons of the Hunter (Book 2 in War of the Magi)

Demons of the Hunter (Book 2 in War of the Magi)

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Nothing will stop Eric from avenging his family--not even his death.

For six long years, Eric has done everything he could to learn his mother’s and sister’s killer. He slaughtered hundreds of dragons. He suffered gruesome injuries, shattered dreams, and a broken heart.

Finally, after his last victory, he has his answer. Ragnor.

The magi warn Eric that the task of defeating the second legendary dragon pales in comparison to conquering the first legendary dragon, Indica. The Dragon Hunter Guild’s master, Artemia, cautions him that a mind controlled by rage will only weaken his skills. His mentor, Abe, worries that Eric’s bloodlust blinds him to some dark truths.

But Ragnor consumes Eric’s mind.

He will not let anything stop him. He would watch everything burn to the ground in the name of vengeance. He knows he will get his chance.

But in doing so, he may very well sacrifice everything—including his friends, his world, and himself.

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Two women laughed at a distance, just close enough for Eric to run to, but far enough that he had to shout. The two, both with long hair, one at a height just below him and the other about a foot shorter, seemed to keep moving away each time Eric ran to them. No matter how fast the young dragon hunter ran and no matter how long he ran, the two women never came closer.

“Mom!”

His mother turned. How long had it been? Years? Over half a decade? Not quite a decade, but the actual time elapsed didn’t matter as much as the perceived time.

“Mom.”

His mother smiled, with her radiating blue eyes, long brown hair, and soft skin that Eric used to hug so tightly his mother teased him about breaking bones. Eric’s eyes watered. He laughed in a futile attempt to shake away the tears forming.

“Rey!”

The young girl giggled and waved. This time, a tear fell from Eric’s right eye, and he did not try to wipe it away. How delighted he was to see her cheerful smile and giggle. How emotionally heartbreaking it was to know that the boy she had grown up with was no longer present, replaced by a man who acted more like a father figure than a teasing big brother. How tragic that the brother she knew had also “died.”

And how awful it was to know that he could never pretend to be the young boy again.

How are they here?

How could this be?

“Rey, Rey, how are you?”

“Good!” Rey said with a giggle, as if she had some underlying secret she craved sharing.

Eric, remembering how the two of them would banter, crossed his arms and gave her an askance gaze. Rey burst out laughing, then hid her mouth and her cheeks with her hand. She could not hide those sweet, innocent green eyes, though, eyes which told Eric his little sister was up to no good.

But then his attention turned back to his mother, who bore the compassionate smile only a parent could.

“Mom,” he said. He cleared his throat, hoping that his voice might become more pronounced and steeled, but instead, it just sounded weaker. “You should see what I’ve become.”

“I have, and I do,” his mother said.

His mother and sister finally came closer. Eric ran to close the gap, but the closing remained gradual. Once more, he could not do anything to hasten their reunion.

“My dear Eric, my sweet boy, I am more proud of you than you realize. You managed to defeat Indica.”

How… how does she know?

“I… I did,” Eric said, not sure how to respond. “And now… now I’m going to go… for…”

Could he really say it? Wasn’t his statement falsified because Mom and Rey were standing right by him?

How could he claim to fight for vengeance if vengeance had nothing to stand upon?

But as much as logic defied his next words, his emotions could not. They had controlled him for the last six years and had strengthened their grip on his mind for the last few weeks. No matter what he saw, no matter who lived, Eric had to see his next target with a certain title.

“The killer.”

But it wasn’t Eric who had spoken. It was his mother, who wore a sympathetic smile.

He didn’t waste another moment as he fell forward into her soft, warm arms. Oh, how Eric had missed that. How he had missed the feeling of just falling into someone he loved instead of coldly removing himself from those he did not. How he had wished to feel his mother’s soft hand with the just-sharp-enough-fingernails, gently scratching the top of his forehead as he rested.

Six years that felt like six lifetimes had passed. It was made worse because every day, every night spent in Mathos was marked by a visit to what he had thought was her final resting spot. Nothing had granted him the solace of seeing his mother or Rey. Nothing short of a miracle could do that.

But a miracle has come.

Rey came up, and Eric lifted his right arm and brought her into the circle. He had missed having his little sister curl up beside him, him playing the role of father that she had never had—nor one that he could remember—for brief periods of time.

But this hug differed from the ones he had had with her before. She never quite came up to his height, but he couldn’t remember her being this short.

It was yet another reminder that the passage of time spared no one and no memory. Yesterday’s hope became today’s pleasantry, which became tomorrow’s wistful nostalgia. How could Rey remain the same innocent age while Eric had to grow up? Why did Eric have to become so cold, so distant, that just making basic friendships proved nearly impossible? Why was it that the only people Eric had anything more than an acquaintance with were two formerly dead family members and maybe Abe, his mentor in the Dragon Hunter’s Guild?

Why was it so hard to connect to women? Even Kara had forced herself onto him. Good luck getting him to start anything. My soul’s never known peace. But now…
They’ve found peace. Surely, no? Maybe Ragnor wasn’t the killer. Maybe it was Indica.

“Mom, Rey,” he said, now fully sobbing. “I won’t let you go again. I can’t let you go again. We’re going back to Mathos and I’m going to make sure nothing ever happens to you two again.”

Neither of them seemed keen on leaving, either. His left arm held his mother in place, and his right arm held Rey near him. He would suffer the slices of a thousand swords before he so much as flinched his arms.

But then his mother spoke words that cut deeper than the sharpest, most refined of blades ever could.

“Eric, you know we cannot stay with you forever,” his mother said.

A dragon’s bellow filled the air.

It was so far removed that Eric wondered if he’d imagined it, but he looked over his mother’s shoulder to see a terrifying sight, a sight that reminded him he had not finished his work, and that no, his mother and sister did not yet know peace.

Ragnor, the legendary red dragon, one with four limbs, two massive wings, and a body large enough to crush an entire town with just a few well-placed body slams, had taken to the heavens. It stretched its wings out, as if it wanted the entire Syrast Empire to witness its glory.

Eric swallowed, but then turned back. As long as his mother and his sister did not go, he could let the world burn around them. It would provide warmth to Mom and Rey.

But his mother’s words dispelled that illusion in such a cold, shattering manner, Eric could scarcely believe that she had spoken them.

“We are not of this world anymore,” his mother said. “Our time has passed.”

But… you’re here. You’re alive.

How were they here? Their time, the one Eric had thought ended six years ago, was over! Here they were. Right here! Maybe if Eric had never touched them, he could understand. But he was feeling them right now. His mother’s familiar nails gently soothing his head. His sister’s tight squeeze. He could smell them, how they smelled like the roses in the gardens of Mathos.

This can’t be real. Mom. Rey. You can’t leave me.

How could that be…

“Eric,” his mother continued. “We must go.”

“Eric!” Rey said, a too-warm smile on her face. “I’ll miss you! I love you!”

Eric burst into tears as he held his mother tight. He could feel something pulling her away.

“No!” he screamed. “I can’t lose you again!”

“Do not fear for us, Eric,” his mother said. “Where we are in the heavens, we are at peace. We feel no pain, and we have no sorrow. We look favorably upon you, dear child. Our souls know peace.”

“We love watching you!” Rey gleefully said.

“Mom! Rey!”

But now they were out of his arms, his trembling, weak, shaking arms. He chased after them, but his mother put a hand up. Even had she not, the gap still widened between them.

“Let us go, Eric,” she said. “If you continue to chase us, you will never catch us, and it will only hurt you as you ignore what happens around you.”

“No!” Eric said defiantly. “I don’t care about anything else. I want you two back. I won’t lose you again!”

“Eric, please don’t,” Rey said, her words soft but having a chilling effect on his heart. “You can’t do anything about us.”

Her voice sounded pleading, begging, and it was the saddest thing Eric could ever remember hearing. If his little sister—dearest Rey, the one whom he protected more than himself—just said he was out of options…

“Eric, let us go. Don’t get greedy,” his mother said. “You must fight for reasons beyond us. Our souls know peace. We’ll never forget you.”

Then they didn’t just get out of reach. They faded from the world, their figures becoming less and less visible, replaced by the setting sun behind them.

“No!”

Eric charged. His mother and sister held hands, as if going to the other side together. But they couldn’t leave him! Six years didn’t just—

The ground shook violently. The red feet of Ragnor touched down, smashing the area where his sister and mother had been just seconds ago. Eric fell back and looked up into the dark, red eyes of Ragnor, boiling with everything that his mother and sister did not have—hate, rage, envy, and darkness.

Unlike Indica, this creature had a full hide of skin, healthy eyes, and wings without holes or tatters.

And then it did something completely unexpected.

It laughed. It laughed with such force that Eric felt the sound waves push him back.

“You think you can have them back?” it said, its voice distorted and deep, as if spoken by a demon. “You really think you can bring your little sister and dear mother back from the dead?”

Eric said nothing, choosing to unsheathe his sword. Ragnor, for the second time in his life, had taken away the two people he loved the most. Ragnor would pay. Ragnor would die. Ragnor’s soul would never know peace if Eric had a say.

“Hah! A dagger against a dragon like me. When will you learn, Eric the Dragon Hunter, your vengeance will lead you nowhere? When will you learn you can never fulfill your mission?”

“Shut up!” Eric screamed, but the words of the dragon had entered his mind.

He never tried to think about it, but whenever he did, it was unavoidable. What good was fighting for vengeance? His sister and mother were never coming back. They were dead. What he had just seen right now… that was not real. It was the mind trick of a desperate boy, pitifully begging for his mom and sister back.

And if they hadn’t passed away—if this was all one long cruel prank, designed to get Eric to hunt dragons or take on some other task—they wouldn’t look like the women Eric knew, and they wouldn’t act like the women he knew. His little sister wouldn’t be so little anymore, and his mother likely would’ve aged far more than just the six years that had passed. Their souls might live, but the “Mom” and “Rey” Eric had left behind six years ago would still have perished.

“Pathetic,” Ragnor sneered. “You think because you had the magi come to your rescue against a dragon half my size that now you’re a legendary dragon hunter? Do you see my size? My power? You have no chance.”

“I don’t care if I don’t stand a chance!” Eric yelled, insanity taking full hold of him.

If I can’t save the souls of my mom and sister, then I’ll condemn my own so I can be with them.

With a war cry and his sword held aloft, Eric pierced one of the digits on Ragnor’s front limbs.

But when he tried to take his sword out, he found it lodged in. No matter how much he yanked, no matter from what angle he pulled, he could not bring it out.

Ragnor mockingly laughed as Eric tried placing his feet on the oily skin of Ragnor for support.

“I grow tired of this. Hydor cannot stand much longer under my watch.”

Ragnor flicked Eric back with a single digit and knocked him back several feet.

Suddenly, fire surrounded him. Eric stood on wobbly knees as Ragnor came into view, the shaky vision of the smoke blurring his line of sight.

“This is what you wanted, it is not?” Ragnor said. “You sought the destruction of the world so that you could get to me. It looks as if you have accomplished your goal. Entirely too well.”

Eric looked down. The bodies of Artemia and Abe, as if hugging one another, lay in the dirt. The corpse of Tyus and the emperor lay about twenty feet to the side. There was no doubt there was no one else alive here.

“You thought I was the harbinger of death, but it is you, Eric, who has brought about the death of humanity.”

304 pages

For fans of Anne McCaffrey and JRR Tolkien comes the critically appraised epic fantasy series "War of the Magi," by Stephen Allan. This series, spanning over four centuries of legends, warfare, and falling empires and rising kingdoms, tells the stories of perseverance, triumph, adversity, love, tragedy, and legacy. Read on as a diverse cast of characters learns what it means to use their magic for good, to watch as their legacies rise and fall, and to ultimately save the world from the gods who would destroy it.

About the Author

Stephen Allan is the author of multiple fantasy books, including the epic fantasy series "War of the Magi" and the sci-fi/fantasy "Kastori Chronicles" series. Readers have called him "a master storyteller" with "a writing style [that] has an ease and fluidity to it which will satisfy any... fan." When he's not writing, he's practicing Krav Maga, chasing his two Siberian Huskies around in the backyard, or traveling somewhere.