Chapter 1 - Hunted
WARNING - This story contains scenes with extremely harsh language, extreme gory violence, drug use, detailed abuse, detailed sex scenes and sexual abuse. Read on if you dare... and ENJOY!
Local villager David Loomis had never felt this level of immense fear before... not once in his entire life.
And unfortunately, he had seen some pretty disturbing things in the past. Many of those things he wished he could simply forget.
His most current concern was that those in pursuit of him right now may eventually catch up with him. And to put it quite simply, he could not let that happen!
To ensure it didn't, the villager continued sprinting at full speed, as fast as his legs would carry him throughout the tall and looming trees of the darkened forest which now surrounded him.
The trees with their somewhat sinister appearance were practically never-ending in number.
To David, there appeared to be no end in sight as he sprinted along the moss-covered ground.
However, the trees were the very least of his worries right now.
His heart pounded loudly over and over, thudding within his ears as the muscles of his entire body began to ache painfully from their unusual and extensive usage.
Right now, this man was running for his very life!
As he continued on ahead, David found himself terrified by the possibility that he may in fact be found by the small army of masked men who were currently hot on his heels.
He knew that no matter what, they couldn’t find him…
Not with the vital information that he had locked away within his mind. It was far too dangerous!
Ducking his head and skilfully weaving in and out of the solid tree trunks surrounding them, David continued onwards as fast as his two legs would carry him, padding down against the growth of moss mixed with dying leaves littering the forest floor.
If he could make it to the nearby river, he might be able to mask his scent and perhaps lose them once and for all!
He may still stand a chance of escaping.
The river he had in mind wasn’t too far from his current location, perhaps less than a hundred feet down the hill at most.
But if he were to reach the river before they had sighted him, David would need to hurry!
By the sound of it, those chasing him weren’t too far behind and quickly gaining ground with each passing second.
Grunting through the terrible pain he was experiencing, David pushed himself hard to keep up his quickened pace, as he began sliding himself down the leaf-covered hill, headed in the river’s direction just as he had planned to.
He had to be close to it by now!
Suddenly, the unmistakable sound of running water filled his throbbing ears and he felt a sudden sense of relief wash over him.
A smile formed upon his face as he inhaled the familiar scent of the nearby river water, fresh and clean.
He might just make it after all…
‘Zip!’
The sound of an arrow slicing through the cool night air at the speed of light could be heard so suddenly, that at first David hadn’t felt as it pierced through his right shoulder blade.
It lodged itself deep within his muscle and gave him a sharp shove off to the side from the forceful impact.
“Argh!”
David cried out in pain, grasping at the protruding shaft of the arrow as his gaze darted from his newly acquired wound to somewhere off in the distance, in the direction of where it had come from.
He searched in silence for any signs of movement in the treeline, the sound of his thudding heartbeat the only thing he could hear at that intense moment.
Then he saw it.
David noticed one of the masked men standing there in silence and submerged by shadow.
He held his bow in his left gloved hand and was currently reaching in behind his head for a second arrow to fire!
Scrunching up his face as he allowed his anger and adrenalin to flood throughout his system, David let out an animalistic growl before he shouted out loudly enough for his chasers to hear his taunting words.
“I'm afraid it’ll take more than that, you sadistic fucks!”
The next instance he had darted off, once again running at full speed and headed in the same direction as he had been earlier.
Toward the nearby river.
Meanwhile lining up his second shot, the masked man took careful aim before he then let loose his second arrow, zipping through the air at tremendous speed and headed in David's direction.
‘Zip!’
But this one luckily skimmed against the edge of a tree trunk just as David had passed by it.
Barely missing its intended target, but missing all the same.
The masked man then moved into a sprint after David, as several others dressed exactly like him did the same from where they were now approaching through the thickened darkness of the surrounding forest.
There were around two dozen of them.
And they were quickly closing in.
Skidding down the final length of the hill, David could finally see the river with his own eyes and couldn’t help but smile at his good fortune.
A fortune that unfortunately would not last much longer.
From out of nowhere, a darkly dressed figure came hurtling towards him, slamming into David’s side and crash tackling him to the mossy floor below them with a meaty ‘thud’.
As the two landed together, hard on the ground, grunting in a moment of frustration, they each attempted to wrestle one another in order to overpower their opponent. By climbing up on top of the other and pinning them down.
Rustling through the bed of leaves beneath them, the masked man slammed his gloved fist down into the side of David’s face, hard enough to cause blood to spurt out across the nearby moss-covered rocks.
But David had no intention of giving in.
He had no choice…
He needed to fight back with everything he had!
Now fuelled entirely by adrenalin, David faced the masked man and returned a hardened blow of his own, using his clenched fist and slamming down hard into his enemy’s mask.
The impact of the punch to the face had caused the masked attacker to stumble backwards, landing on his arms and knees.
‘Zip!’
Another arrow came hurtling through the air in David's direction, slicing right by David’s left arm and hitting a nearby tree!
Just missing him yet again.
But David hadn’t even seemed to notice that it had happened.
He was far too busy wrestling with that same masked man. The one who had tackled him to the ground earlier on.
And right now, David was working on getting in as many hits as he could to incapacitate his opponent as rage finally surged throughout his entire body.
These crazed bastards… they had no right to hunt him down like this. And David would lay into this masked fool to further prove his point.
“He’s over here!”
The voice of one of the masked pursuers called out amidst the trees as he and several of his companions began to emerge from the shadows surrounding the edge of the river.
Down where David and his opponent were still amassed in a savage wrestle of punches.
“Over here! By the river.”
Upon hearing this, David glanced up just in time to see that he was quickly being surrounded by the pursuing enemy. One by one they each emerged from the treeline, moving in on him.
His heart immediately sank with dread as he swallowed a lump in his throat.
There was no escaping now. They had him cornered and surrounded!
He tried contemplating any immediate form of escape, anything that he may be able to try right now given such desperate measures. But there was nothing.
It seemed that his options of escape had finally been exhausted. He wasn't going anywhere. Not this time.
Feeling a sense of doom and despair, David quickly stood up from the bloodied man now laying helplessly beneath him and groaning in pain.
Carefully backing away from the approaching mercenaries, David watched as they intimidatingly continued to close the gap between them in a matter of mere seconds.
They weren't wasting any time!
Feeling a sudden surge of adrenalin flooding throughout his entire body, he viciously snarled back at them.
“Stay the fuck back!”
Like a wounded animal, David shouted out aggressively at them. His hand reached down to unsheathe a small dagger he had from his belt.
The only sort of weapon that he ever carried on his persons anymore. And only ever when he was out and about.
After all, the world was a dangerous place. You never could be too careful.
“I mean it. All of you, get the hell away from me!”
By now, around twenty or more of the masked figures had arrived in the small clearing beside the river, slowly forming a semi-circle around their intended target as the villager continued to back away from them in obvious fear.
His boots splashed into the shallow waters of the crystal-clear river as he unknowingly stepped into it while cautiously backing up.
Feeling himself being boxed in David tried another tactic.
He held out the dagger in front of himself, brandishing it as a form of defensive and protection against his attackers.
But it didn’t seem to intimidate them whatsoever.
There was only one other option for him to choose. He would have to try negotiating with them and hope for the best.
Perhaps they may grant him mercy and allow him to leave here with his life.
Doubtful... but one could hope.
“Look, I don’t know what he’s told you, but I don’t know anything of importance.” David insisted aloud.
“You’re all just wasting your time… I don’t know anyth-”
“-Oh, I find that hard to believe!”
A deep and sinisterly smooth voice suddenly spoke from somewhere deep in the treeline.
Then suddenly, another masked figure slowly emerged from the blackened shadow of the treeline. But unlike the others emerged before him, this figure's mask was different.
It appeared to be made of pure silver and had an expressionless face upon it.
“You see, we’ve been searching for you for quite some time now… isn't that right, Druin.”
With an expression of disbelief after hearing what he had just been called out as, a Druin, David looked up at the silver masked man as he fully revealed himself, stepping out into the small clearing to join the others.
This masked man now appeared to be in complete control of the situation at hand.
And David knew who it was hidden behind the mask right away. He had no doubt about it.
“Kulnarik.”
David’s tone had suddenly shifted to one of complete and immense fear now as he stood eyeing the hooded figure wearing the silver expressionless mask.
“No, you’re mistaken… I’m not a-”
“-Druin?”
Kulnarik cut in over him with a hidden smirk.
“Otherwise known as a mercenary soldier sworn in secrecy to safe guard the sole heir to the Vanariyan throne. A glorified bodyguard, if you will… one who is apparently not as good at his job as he might like to think he is…”
He paused for a moment, his grin now from ear to ear as he gave a deep chuckle before going on to further taunt his adversary.
“Oh, I know exactly who you are... David Loomis."
David's eyes shot wide open as Kulnarik continued.
"I should… I’ve been hunting your kind for the past two decades. Congratulations. You may very well be the last of your rebellious rabble at this point in time. With all the others having passed already at my hand.”
Now the masked villain’s tone came across as menacing, as if he were enjoying goading his adversary in such a vulnerable state.
David, who had now been seized by the masked soldiers who had been surrounding him up until now.
They each stood either side of him, holding their prisoner in place, while David chose to stand tall and proud, having realised that his true identity had been revealed.
A once thought secret identity at that.
Like the others in his once elite group, David had been sent with the sole purpose of protecting the remaining heir to the Vanariyan throne until he or she had come of age to reclaim the throne.
But it seemed that their secret identity might have been leaked by someone.
Someone they thought they could trust.
One by one the Druin members had each been hunted down by this same masked man and his army of merciless masked soldiers.
Each meeting their untimely end at his hand.
That is, after being thoroughly questioned about what they knew regarding the identity of the missing heir.
Tortured is more like it.
And unfortunately, David was the last remaining Druin now.
That also made him the last person left alive with the information that Kulnarik wanted… the precise location of where the heir to the throne was at that very moment.
With little to no chance of escaping his current situation, at least with his life intact, David merely glared back at the lead adversary with a defiant expression on his face.
His entire body was now tensed up with obvious aggravation at the entire situation he now found himself caught in.
Even as the two masked soldiers each held onto his upper arms, restraining him from making a run for it a second time.
And more importantly, David kept his mouth shut.
“Hmm... nothing to say I see...”
Kulnarik pressed, tilting his hooded head off to the side as if to further add to his obvious point of complete control over the one-sided situation.
“No matter… I will have you talking soon enough, human.” he taunted sinisterly.
“I have ways of making people talk. In fact, by the time I'm done with you, you'll be begging me for the sweet release of death...”
