Chapter One

Chapter One

Silence follows me as I deftly move through the forest. I can taste the faint scent of smoke on my tongue as I move towards the source. My hand is placed on the dagger on my thigh. As I walk closer there is a sharp rotting smell that nearly pulls vomit from me. I start breathing through my mouth as I steel myself. That is not a good smell. It’s putrid and smells of darkness. My heart is beating cautiously while the faint feeling of nerves touches my feet; begging me to run.

I nearly vomit once I find the source of the smell. A body of a young woman is laying on the ground. Her blonde waves are turning crimson from a cut on her head. Someone has built a small fire that is currently dying to cover the smell. Her lifeless skin is nearly translucent, showing something is missing. The bite mark on her neck is the evidence and the exit. Something drained the blood from her. Her nails are broken, and covered in blood and mud, proving there was a fight she can no longer continue. Her short white dress is ripped with no evidence of blood, and her arms are bruised. There are no signs of this being a sexual attack, though I suspect that is how she was lured here.

Her eyes are spread wide open, showing her horror. Her red painted lips show no signs of even being touched. I study the ground and see no signs of a struggle. The ground next to her is disturbed, and it appears the killer was sitting next to her. There is a picnic basket next to her, so this was likely a romantic outing. That’s not what she told her father. The smell appears to be coming from her neck. The black venom around the bite marks on her neck are filled with bacteria, breaking down the carcass quicker. Interestingly, the fang marks are more prominent than the teeth. There is something odd about the bite, but I must address the victim’s still beating heart.

I pull out my turquoise blade, made from sea metal and coated in blessed scales of the Aquanian Goddess. “I’m sorry Jenelle.” I say as I stab her heart. A phantom scream echoes through the woods, making me leap to my feet, taking the blade with me. Her killer isn’t far. There is a strong presence settling in around me, making it hard to breathe.

“Senja?” A voice calls, making me jump. I laugh at myself, annoyed that I let myself get startled.

I whistle loudly. “Over here!” I say as I look over my shoulder, swearing I felt someone watching me. I silently shudder as I brush off my paranoia.

A few moments later I see a man with a patchy beard and dirt covered skin emerge from the woods. His name is Lon, and he’s the village leader. His yellow eyes widen as he looks at Jenelle’s body, while his skin drastically pales. “You found her?” He asks, his voice cracking.

I nod. “The smell of the smoke is what brought me here. It was used to cover her scent and the venom.” I look away as he falls to his knees.

“What…what happened to my niece?” He begs, his voice finally broken.

I look over and stop his hand from touching her wound by grabbing his wrist. “Don’t touch it Lon.”

“Is…is it what I think it is?” He demands, anger starting to break through him.

“It was a feral. She hasn’t been dead for long; her heart was still beating.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “She was drained, so there was no chance of reviving her.”

“Ferals…ferals don’t completely drain their victims.” Lon states, turning his head to me for answers.

I nod as I kneel next to him. “This one I believe did, but it’s odd.” I say as I point to the fang marks. “The fangs are longer than a feral, and it doesn’t seem to…match.” I struggled to find the right word for it. The bite aligns perfectly, and the shape is an exact match for the fangs. “It’s hard to explain.” I say.

“What do you mean?” Lon demands.

“It’s just a feeling.” I say as I give him a gentle smile. “I’m sorry about Jenelle, Lon. I know she was supposed to inherit your role.”

He shakes his head. “I appreciate your words Senja, but they do not help. How do I tell my brother?”

“Just tell him that she was killed by a feral. That’s the kindest thing you can do for him.”

“A feral,” Lon spits. “How did she get involved with a feral?” He growls. “I have patrols out every minute. How did one get close to here?”

“That I don’t know.” I tell him. “Does Ferrick know why Jenelle was out here?”

He shakes his head. “Anastia only told us. No one knows she was being courted by someone. Hopefully, she doesn’t know that Jenelle’s bae was feral.”

“Judging by her outfit, and the picnic, I’m glad he killed her before anything could happen.” I agree and suppress another shudder. A feral child would feed off the mother until she was nothing but a skeletal shell. Ferals are parasites and will drain their victim of blood and magic. It’s why Jenelle’s heart was still beating. The link from the feral’s bite was still siphoning her of her powers.

“Thank the Lycan Gods for that.” Lon agrees. He turns to me. “Thank you for finding her Senja. You’re welcome on our lands anytime. Your fee has been paid and should be in your Bank.”

I nod. “Thanks Lon. Do you want help carrying her to the village?”

He shakes his head. “No. I’ll bury her here with the rest of the pack. I already linked them.”

“You might want to hide that basket then.” I warn as I stand. Carefully, I pull on my hood as I walk into the woods, ready to get started on my next distress call.

After walking in the woods for twenty minutes, hundreds of wolves run past me, heeding their Alpha’s call. This is the strongest wolf pack in Diestra. The fact that the feral took down a future alpha is impressive, and disturbing to say the least.

A few weeks later, I am with Kia as we are hunting down yet another missing girl. This is the fifth one, and they are all related to feral attacks. None of them are as near as far gone as Jenelle, and I was able to revive three. One I was forced to kill. I’m hoping this one can follow the other three. Each of the girls remember absolutely nothing. In fact, their memories are gone from the last three days. Three days after each attack.

I have a sense of my killer, so that is why I brought Kia with me. This is day three, the girl going missing on the second day instead of the third. If I follow his patterns of the previous girls, there is a light chance she’s alive, but likely very very dead. If she’s that far dead, I can’t save her, or stop the feral from growing stronger, but I can stop the next girl’s death. There is a pattern, and I have found his path. The fact that he’s escalating is worrisome.

Right as predicted, I see the corpse of a young girl. She’s been dead for twelve hours. I can tell by the flies on her open wounds. After dropping a locating stone, I urge Kia into a faster run. Kia is able to nimbly race through the darkening woods without having to stop for the night. Her deep black paws silently paw through the dirt as she graciously weaves through the still forest. Kia is a balham. A midnight dark cat that is about the size of a horse, her back coming to just below my shoulder. These creatures rarely allow riders. It takes decades of bonding for them to allow this. They thrive in the forests surrounding the ocean and are shown to the children in my city. If one chooses you, you are immediately placed into the ranks of a soldier. If you bond with one, you are placed as high as a member of the royal family…Usually.

“Yole.” I urge Kia, keeping my voice low. It’s getting to be dark, which means ferals activity will increase. I have to beat him. I have too. Right now, if my calculations are correct, he’s picking his victim. His type is strong lines, with lively personality. They’re easy to approach, and confident. He likely has his victim picked out already. They’re not hard to miss and not exactly hard to access during festivals. Right now, it’s a month long celebration honoring the Lycan Gods. It explains why he’s in this territory.

There are five territories that make up Diestra. Vampires reside primarily in the Viliesia territory. Lycan’s and there lesser breed-which are werewolves-make up Lusole. Aquanians-the aquatic creatures of the world-tend to live in Linru. Valkyrie and their fellow winged creatures live in Valrose. The final territory are the shapeshifters in Mori. Ferals are creatures who are of unknown origin that love to drink blood and are able to steal their victims magic.

Since ferals drink blood, it is believed that they are related to vampires. However, vampires do not kill their pray with their bite, like ferals. You’re able to reverse the bite from a feral, but it’s extremely difficult. Once you’re dead, however, you need to stab the victim in the heart in order to break the link and to stop their magic from being drained. It’s painful to the feral, but merciful to the victim. Also, if the feral’s victim is a vampire, they do turn feral.