Page 2 of The Hunter's Mate

A snort and a scuffle is the only warning I get.

The hog launches itself out of the reeds, my gun going off in that same moment. My bullet tears through it, but my aim is off and it keeps coming. Not only that, but it isn’t alone, and it’s angry. Two others come right after it, one of them sporting a bloody red gash along its side.

I fling myself out of the way, landing in a puddle. The rain is coming down harder, making it hard to see and even harder to keep a grip on my rifle. I roll over and line up a shot, then I fire.

I take out one of the hogs, but the other two are still on their feet—and they aren’t interested in running away. Whatever attacked them before they came at me must have really pissed them off. One of them lowers its tusks and runs at me, and my finger slips when I try to pull the trigger.

It gets me in the thigh, searing pain emanating from where the creature hit me. I let out a scream and grab my thigh, and it seems that’s finally what scares the hogs off. They run in the opposite direction, clearly fleeing from something.

I wish that thing was me…but it’s not.

I hear it a second later—the telltale stirring of water, then footsteps in the mud. Whatever it is, it sounds like it’s dragging something with it, but I can’t see it through the reeds yet. I try to get to my feet to escape, but the wound in my leg is bleeding enough that I can’t run.

It’s hopeless.

Whatever has been hunting me has finally seen its opportunity.

2

Nyrik

I have been watching her since she arrived.

The Order of the Hunt tasked my squadron with tracking down remaining survivors who may have fled into the swamp, our skills and biology uniquely suited to traveling across this terrain. I followed this human female out of a small town on the Louisiana coast, remaining underwater while she traveled. She has been hunting ever since, shoring up her defenses around a little hut in the woods.

I should have caught her a long time ago. It would be easy; I am a predator, and she is prey. But I enjoyed watching her stalk around the swamp, skilled in her own right. I imagine that, had I come looking for her earlier, she would have put up quite the fight.

Now that she is wounded, she will have no way to escape.

I emerge slowly from the reeds, my claws out and my kinetic shield up in case she decides to attack. The human’s brown eyes go wide, her pale skin splattered with mud, her blonde hair slicked to her skull.

“Who…what are you?” she asks, her words translating slowly in my earpiece.

I do not respond; she would not be able to understand me anyway. I just keep moving forward slowly, my tail sweeping across the mud without regard for hiding any trace.

She knows I’m here now.

There’s no use hiding.

3

Fawn

This ain’t no gator.

I watch in horror as the swamp monster emerges from the reeds, its golden eyes shining in the grey light of the storm. I scramble backward, my wound throbbing as I move, and the thing keeps getting closer.

“Stay back!” I scream, aiming my weapon. I’m about to fire, but it raises its scaly arms in the universal sign of surrender.

It’s sentient.

My stomach churns as I take in the creature’s appearance, knowing I have to defend myself and reeling at the prospect of killing something sentient. I’ve never shot a person. I don’t…I don’t think I can…

“Stop coming toward me!” I say. “I’ll kill you.”

It stops.

It can understand me.