He was larger than the largest tiger, save the Tiger King himself, but he was also faster, despite his size. He was stronger, his claws and fangs bigger and sharper than any of the other feline predators. The Dark Hunters had never met a foe like him.
In this Hunt, he was the predator; the Dark Ones, his prey.
The Hunters had made their kills as well, no doubt. Sin could sense the reduction in animal spirit numbers. The other clans he only had fleeting awareness, but if he counted the death growls or moans of other animals, he estimated that already half of this forest’s Beasts had been killed.
His own pride he could sense distinctly. He knew the general location of each member. He’d lost two thus far, a young lion and a leopard.
But the others were successfully leading Hunters away from the center of the forest, toward the steep hills and mountains where their steeds became a disadvantage, and where the Beasts could more easily ambush them. The younger, weaker Beasts had managed to escape beyond the perimeter of the Hunt, while the more seasoned warriors kept the Hunters at bay.
The Hunt would end by nightfall. It was both because of tradition and because animal spirits had the advantage at night. Even though Dark Ones’ senses became even sharper after sundown, they didn’t know the terrain as well as the Beasts who lived here.
Less than an hour to go. His pride would survive this and live to fight another day.
A shadow flew over him from out of nowhere, making him stumble. A six-inch gash cut deeply into his side. He grunted at the pain but otherwise ignored it, crouching low to the ground, ears flattened back.
There was no sign of his attacker anywhere. It must be one of those shadow assassins the bitch Queen recruited from a faraway land.
Sin had never fought one of them before, but he’d heard of them. Queen Gaia often used them as closers in critical battles against opposing forces. They swallowed their enemies like a nebulous plague, or so the legends went. They were Dark warriors who could turn to shadow.
A shift in the breeze alerted him of the Hunter’s presence, and he leapt into action a split second before a blade slashed through the bed of leaves he’d been lying upon. As it was, he almost lost the tip of his tail as he bounded at full speed toward a clearing covered by tall, golden grass.
There were less shadows there. And he would have the advantage given his coloring.
But the shadow hunter stayed close on his heels, moving faster than any Dark One he’d encountered before. In fact, his enemy was right on his tail, melded into his own shadow as he streaked across the grassy field.
He abruptly turned and flipped in the air, chasing and swiping at his shadow. But every time he bit down or clawed, he touched nothing but thin air.
Another thin slash opened up on his chest, coating his fur with fresh blood. He growled in frustration and bounded back up, running full speed across the clearing, then veering sharply, doubling back.
The shadow stayed with him, slashing as he moved. By now, he’d grown more used to his assailant’s patterns of attack. He could better anticipate their blows, and he dodged and weaved, crouched and turned to avoid them.
Finally, he feinted left, before turning in a side somersault toward the right. As he flipped in the air, he swiped one front paw through the shadow beneath his body, just as a flare of pain bloomed across his abdomen.
A muffled groan and splatter of blood upon the tall grass told him that his claws had met their mark. He pounced upon his own shadow and tore at the grass with his massive jaws. More gurgles and aborted screams ensued. Blood gushed and sprayed in every direction, painting the field a dark, rusty red.
Sin sustained a couple more wounds in the process, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He tore at the shadowed grass with claws and fangs until the Dark Hunter finally took physical form, his body shredded, his face obliterated. As he breathed his last, his body dissolved into ash.
Sin swiped a paw through the gray specks, churning them into the air to be carried away by the evening breeze.
So that was a mighty shadow warrior that Sin had turned literally into dust. He wanted to roar with triumph, his adrenaline running high—
But was stopped by a distant scream.
His ears perked up, but it was not an external sound. No, he heard it in his mind. Through the link he shared with his Mate.
Anya.
No.
His heart stuttered a beat before kicking into a frantic gallop.
The Dark Ones had found her.
~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~* ~ *~ * ~
“Well, well, well, what do we have here.”
The four remaining personal guards of the Queen dragged the hugely pregnant woman before her by her long, golden hair, rough, calloused hands digging into her shoulders and arms.