Amaya's Storm (Book One)

I kept breaking down traps, only stopping to call Daniel and eat. Soon enough it was time to set up camp. I slept for a couple of hours before waking up to continue taking down traps. I went through the same routine as the day before, breaking down traps, calling Daniel, and eating. That was how I spent my first three and a half days on assignment.

I finally caught up to the hunters around midday on the fourth day. I pulled up my face mask and hood and stashed my bag. I stayed back, observing them. I could see all four of them setting up a new trap. “Have you two checked the other traps that were set the other day?” One of them asked.

“Yeah. They weren’t there. It looked like they had been taken down by something.”

“Interesting,” was all the original speaker said.

I continued observing them until they broke into pairs. The original speaker, or as I named him Shithead One, and Shithead Two walked in the direction I came from, and Shitheads Three and Four moved a little farther away from me, to set up another trap.

I didn’t hear them come up behind me until it’s too late, “So you’re the one who’s been taking down all of our traps,” Shithead One said. I drew my swords, “It’s four against one. How do you feel about those odds, filth?”

Under my mask I smirked, but Niamh growled at being called filth; although it wasn’t the first time and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. I stayed silent, which caused a creepy smile to form on Shithead Two’s lips. “I can’t wait to make you scream.”

This time I couldn’t stop the growl that came out, and despite the flash of fear in their eyes, they laughed. One of the two behind me fired what sounds like maybe a tranquilizer gun, and I turned, hitting the dart away with one of my swords before it could hit me. “Oh ho boys! This one’s got reflexes.”

Instead of waiting for their next attack, I went for the hunter with the tranq gun. Once I made my move, they began their attack, using their numbers to their advantage. I fended them off well enough, killing the hunter with the tranq gun, but my victory was short lived. As I attacked Shithead Two and Four, I left myself open for Shithead One to attack, and he capitalized on that advantage, shooting me full of a mixture of snapdragon oil and wolfsbane. I tried to fight it but eventually I succumbed to the oil, falling to the ground. I woke up in a haze on the floor of a van; my arm burning. “Give it another shot. Just oil this time. I don’t want it to wake up until we get to the facility.” When the oil entered my veins it felt like my insides were burning. I barely kept myself from screaming before I passed out again.

When I woke up again, the first thing I heard was Daniel’s voice ringing faintly in my head, “Amaya where are you?”

I finally opened my eyes and glanced around, “I don’t know. I don’t recognize it. My head is killing me and I’m in iron chains. They knocked me out with snapdragon oil,” I let my sense of smell go out around me. I picked up some dragon scents but they were faint. The main overwhelming scent I was picking up is human. Then it all came back to me, “Daniel I’ve been captured by hunters, but they don’t know who I am or they would’ve used more snapdragon oil.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way. We’re working on tracking you. Jax is still on leave so he’s here helping. He’s brought another good tracker from one of the packs in the area. We’ll find you, just hang in there.”

“I will and you promise you can stay in control.”

“I will. Once we find the humans I can’t promise you then but for now I will.”

The hunters came back into the room. They had me chained to the ceiling with my arms above me but my legs were free. I pretended to still be knocked out from the oil. “How much longer until it wakes up?” I recognized the voice as Shithead Two.

“About two or three hours,” Shithead One said.

I let my sense of smell go out again and picked up three different scents in the room with me. I tried to call on Niamh but she was still weak from the oil, luckily Daniel forced me to train as hard without Niamh as he did with her. I kept track of their movement, listening to them walk and trying to scent them around the room. One stopped in front of me, “That’s a shame. I want it awake when I torture it.”

I called on Niamh, “How long until the oil isn’t affecting you?”

She groaned, “I don’t know, I’m so weak.”

“Do you think I could break the chain off of whatever it’s attached to without you?”

“No. Without me and with those iron chains you don’t have your strength or your powers. I would wait to make your move.”

I listened to Niamh and didn’t attack the hunter that’s right in front of me. I knew I would get another chance. I just hoped it was before they began whatever they had planned.

“Come on, we’ve got other traps to set. She’ll be ready in a few hours,” the third voice said, Shithead Four.

“Daniel?”

“Yeah Amaya?” His voice came through the mindlink.

“They’re setting more traps. I still don’t know where I am though. They don’t know I’m awake. I’m supposed to be out for a few more hours, so they went to set traps.”

“How many are there?”

“Three, I killed the fourth one. Niamh is too weak to help me escape. They have me chained to the ceiling but my legs are free. I have a plan but I won’t be able to execute unless I get Niamh’s help.”

“Okay just give it time. We’re still working on our end to find you. Hopefully you’ll get Niamh back in a couple of hours and they’ll come back in a few.”

“Yeah because things always go my way.”

“Just don’t let them know who you are.”

“I won’t,” I said, cutting off the link.

With the hunters gone, I looked around the room, checking for cameras, finding none. I started pulling on the chain, testing its strength and the strength of the attachment point, a hook. The chain cut and burned into my skin, but nothing budged.

Time passed slowly but all too quickly at the same time until Niamh came forward in my head, “It’s time, but we’ve got to act quickly.”

I tried to pull again with a grunt, nothing budged. I heard footsteps coming our way, so I pulled with all of mine and Niamh’s strength and was able to pull the chain and hook down from their attachment point to the building just as the hunters walked into the room.

“What the fuck, man?!” Shithead Two shouted.

“I don’t know man! It should’ve been out for another hour and even then when it woke up it shouldn’t have been able to do that.”

Now that the iron chain wasn’t holding my weight it was easier to break, so I broke it in half with just a pull; freeing me from the hook. I rotated my sore arms, “How’s it going boys?”

Their eyes narrowed, “Better now the world’s about to have one less piece of filth in it.”

I smiled, “Try three.” I moved toward them, and using the chain that was still attached to my wrist I hit Shithead Two in the side of the face. That was the only hit I got in though because just as I was going to keep on with my attack I was hit with something in the neck.