Chapter 1
The hour of light had not yet come. Darkness still lay over the land. It grew stronger by day and more wicked by night. It cast itself as a shadow upon the Earth and spread far and wide like the heavens across the sky. Though our hearts yearned for peace, it did not come, for as one Journey ended, another began.Raiden ran until he reached a partly open meadow in the forest. He stopped as the fall chills mixed with a winter breeze and combed through his brown, wavy hair. It had been days since he’d last seen Alec. A tricky one, as all the Aleejon members knew. Would he be alone next time? It was always hard to tell with him. One simply had to accept all possibilities — especially the crazy ones.When Alec wasn’t with the Aleejon, he wasn’t the same. He became a completely different person, the kind he kept hidden from his former fellow members until the time suited him. But this didn’t worry Raiden. He was ready for anything Alec might throw at him.Something else, however, was growing in his mind, worsening by the day. He was starting to feel something — something he hadn’t felt in a long time. He was beginning to remember his old life before joining the Aleejon. But what had triggered his memory? How could it be?The way he explained it, it all started when he met me. I had asked him questions about the Head One’s ways — questions he had never thought to challenge. After that, a strange nagging feeling had followed him ever since.He remembered he once had a wife, and a niece who lived with him. She had been a young child then — about eight years old when he vanished from their lives. But he couldn’t remember their names. He saw blurry visions of his childhood and of his father. Faint memories, nothing more, yet enough to unsettle him.The truth was this: Raiden’s time was almost up, and the Head One had not been careful enough to notice. The Pahin’s power only lasted a certain amount of time on each Aleejon member — aside from Alec, who kept outsmarting the Head One and using the Pahins to regain his memory time and time again, until the Head One finally gave up. This was how Jaycus was able to tell me the story of Alec back when he was called the Hunter — because Alec had told him, and no one had informed the Head One that he still remembered that part of his past.But for Raiden, it had been nearly sixty years since he last saw his family. And though folks here aged, they tended to keep a youthful appearance for a while. Even after sixty years, Raiden didn’t look a day over thirty‑five.He stumbled and nearly tripped over a log as he searched for his target. Suddenly he fell to the earth on his knees, palms pressed flat against the ground. His head began to ache as he recalled the sound of his family’s voices — all of them coming to mind at once. His head felt physically congested, as if he were coming down with a cold.He was traveling on foot now. He had left Night Rider a little ways back, since he was drawing near Pahin territory — territory belonging to a different set of Pahins than those in Black Hill.In the midst of all the voices he heard, Alec’s rose above the rest, ringing louder than anyone’s as the final words he spoke before Raiden last saw him came back to him:“My time with the Aleejon may be over, but the days of the Hunter shall rise again. Our fight against Ethan and Seth was only the beginning of things that shall surely come to pass. I assure you, there will be another battle. But this time it will be different. It will be a battle for the evil throne.”Raiden had wondered time and time again what that meant.Soon after, he grew tired of the congested feeling — tired of hearing all the voices at once.“Stop it,” he cried aloud, as if hoping a single command would end it. “Stop it!”Alec’s voice was so clear it made Raiden believe he was standing right behind him. He drew his sword and turned, only to find no one there. He sheathed the blade again.“Am I going crazy?” he asked himself.
“Probably,” answered a voice. “But we figured it would happen eventually.”He glanced up. At first he saw no one. Then two familiar Pahins appeared out of thin air.“Irds. Clicks. What are you doing here?” Raiden asked.He pushed himself to his feet and continued walking as they approached.
“Visiting relatives,” Irds answered.“Relatives? What relatives of yours would want you to visit them?” Raiden asked. He meant it as an insult, and the Pahins immediately bristled. He enjoyed a brief moment of peace while talking with the bony little creatures, but soon the congested feeling returned — stronger this time. It clouded his thoughts until he had to brace himself against a tree.
“Are you all right?” Clicks asked.Raiden didn’t answer.
“Leave him,” Irds said. “If he thinks it a light thing to question others’ family members, then let’s see which one of his will come for him now.”They vanished, leaving him alone in the woods. His hand slid down the tree as he collapsed again. This time, he didn’t rise. The pressure in his head became unbearable, and he blacked out.Moments later, a third Pahin — one native to this territory — appeared from her invisible state. She was female, and unlike the others, she was not evil. Her brother materialized beside her.
“Oh my!” she cried, rushing toward Raiden’s head.“Not too close, Tagitha!” her brother warned. “We must see if this fellow is truly out. He is one of his — the Head One’s. You can tell by the red cloak. If he is alive and well, he will surely kill us. The Aleejon are merciless and heartless. He will not care that we meant him no harm. We must be careful.”He nudged Raiden’s elbow with his foot, testing for movement. Nothing. After several failed attempts to wake him, Tagitha suggested they take Raiden back to the Allegiance Tower. She was kind — but not very wise.
“No, Tagitha. That would not be wise at all,” her brother insisted. “There is a reason he is here and not at the Tower. We must not interfere with the Aleejon’s business. Let us go.”But she pressed the matter until he reluctantly agreed. Together they carried Raiden back to the Tower.It did not end in their favor.When one of the guards fetched the Head One, he emerged furious.
“This fellow was sent to do a job!” he snapped. “It is impossible for him to have completed his work so soon. He was not to return until his duty was done.” He turned to the other guard — the one who had not summoned him.“Destroy these Pahins. They have gone against my will in bringing him back. Whether they acted ignorantly or not, I do not care. And when you are finished, take care of the guard who came to get me. I am ashamed of him. I assumed he would have known better.”The guard drew his blade and murdered the Pahins and the unfortunate guard without hesitation. The Head One left during the killing but returned once it was done.“Well done,” he said. “Before they died, did they say why Raiden was found unconscious?”
“Yes, sir,” the guard replied, recounting what little the Pahins knew.“What shall I do with him, sir?”
“Discard the bodies. As for Raiden, we will keep a closer eye on him. This behavior is strange. I have never known him to blank out like this. Take him back to where the Pahins found him. If it happens again, we may have to take action.”
“Yes, sir.” The guard bowed and went to carry out the orders.But when Raiden woke, he was not where the guard had left him. Someone else had moved him. He was still in the woods, lying on a large blanket — large enough for someone else to share. His hand went instinctively to his blade.Then he smelled smoke. Cooking smoke.He sat up and stared in disbelief at the figure tending a small coal fire.
“Winslow!” he exclaimed.
“Yeah, what about me?” she replied dryly. She always had something sharp to say.
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?”
“Where am I?”
“Where do you think?”Raiden glanced around. “West Baning Woods.”“The one and only.”“How did I get here?”
“Well, you didn’t fly.”
“You helped me?” Raiden asked. “Why?”
“You looked beat down. Guess I felt sorry for you. You always were my favorite, you know.” She lifted the lid of a heavy pot warming over the coals and stirred it with a wooden spoon.
“What’s in there?” Raiden asked.
“A Winslow surprise. Want some?”It was tempting. He loved her surprises. But now that he felt better, he knew he needed to move on. He stood.“Where are you going?” she asked. He told her.“Oh yeah. I’ve heard about that Alec business.”
“Heard about it?! You’re the reason for it!” Raiden shouted.“Don’t go blaming me for that! If your little ex‑trainee hadn’t been in the right place at the right time, I wouldn’t have been involved.”
“I highly doubt that,” Raiden said. She snatched up a smaller pot of hot water and raised it as if to throw it at him, but he didn’t flinch.
“You see? That’s your problem right there! That’s why you got fired from the Aleejon Tower!” he said. “That temper of yours! You get angry over the slightest thing!”She slammed the pot down.
“Get out of here! If you’re not going to eat, don’t waste my time.”He turned to leave.“Oh — wait a second,” she said. He stopped. “I forgot to warn you. I mean, I guess I'll warn you. If you’re going after Alec, you better not do it alone. Not anymore.”
“Why not?” Raiden asked.
