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Prologue

Thryoddess of the hunt

In ages long past

Lucia the Maiden cracked open her eyes and found herself atop an altar, staring up at a furious goddess Soin the Radiant, had found Skathi&039;s teht Lucia here

Froht deliriously as her fever raged Pain roiled inside her broken body Her fractured liony

"You deliver this into my sacred place," Skathi the Huntress of the Great North said to Regin, "and desecrateValkyrie"

Regin - all of twelve years old, with Lucia&039;s blood covering her glowing skin - said, "What can you do? Torture my sister? Murder her? She has already survived the first and is about to succumb to the second without your aid"

"I could in pursed her lips, looking as if she were sizing up Skathi&039;s shins for a good kicking

Lucia struggled for consciousness, labored to speak "Don&039;t hurt her, please my fault,boohts of Godsbellow Mountain, shaken continually by thunder

Skathi asked Regin, "Why bring her here?"

"Because you&039;re both neighbor and nemesis to the one who did this"

Had interest flickered in the goddess&039;s eyes? "The Broken Bloody One?"

"Aye"

Canting her head at Regin in an appraising way, Skathi said, "You&039;re not even old enough to be a true inificant, you dare much, Valkyrie"

"For Lucia, I dare this and in answered proudly "Best be forewarned"

"Regin!" Lucia gasped The girl had lost her mind

"What?" She stomped her foot "What&039;d I say?"

Instead of suards, the legendary Skathians They were renowned archers, all feoddess "Take the glowing one down the mountain Make sure she does not reed toward her, Lucia cried, "Nay, Regin leave in around the waist, forcing her out as she flailed and shrieked, biting them

Lucia heard one of theone

Skathi regarded Lucia&039;s battered face impassively "You worry for her? When she has been spared? You, however, will not last the hour"

"I know," Lucia whispered "Unless you help aze as she pleaded - a oddess Meeting her fathoht on the sorrow and fear of all her prey over the ages It sank over Lucia like a bitter frost "Please" When Lucia held up her crimson-stained hand in supplication, the wound across her torso she&039;d been holding welled with blood, flowing over her sides A fountain of sticky war her battered body, but it quickly cooled on the chill stone

Each drop lost left her shuddering harder, even more desperate The pain of her injuries maddened her

"You oddess said in answer "And reaped what you sohen you disobeyed those you were born to obey Why should I help you?"

Because I&039;ve only lived sixteen years, Lucia thought, but she knew that wouldn&039;t sway Skathi, a ti who could scarcely comprehend death - or youth

"Because I&039;ll do whatever you ask ofworse; the altar beneath her was so cold "P-pay any price"

"If I saved you, I would i like you would bear my mark of favor and be tied to the bow forever," Skathi said, strolling to an opening overlooking her uarded by miles of deadly woods that sed unwary travelers Lucia barely reed her across portals and dales for days

"Lucia, I&039; you to Skathi!"

"She will not help"

"She will! The Skathians fight him every five hundred years"

Thunder boooddess "Where my followers have sacrificed to becoifted withskills An unequaled archer, better than them all Why do you think you&039;re worthy of that? When they have trained so hard? When they are pure of heart - and body?"

The Skathians lived by an ascetic code - and despised men I understand why now

"They are not tainted as you are," Skathi continued "As you willingly offered yourself up to be"

Dim memories arose of her last nine days as prisoner of Crom Cruach - the Broken Bloody One, a el Had that animal bitten her? She refused to look down at her body, but she suspected he&039;d gnawed at her skin once she&039;d blacked out And that she&039;d fought him before she&039;d mindlessly jumped from his lair - chunks of scaly flesh were still embedded beneath her claws

Lucia ruthlessly stamped out those visions of her captivity She would never let herself reht

What happened in the dark Blood streahs

"I didn&039;t know I never knew" Regret washed over her "I&039;ll s-sacrifice anything, Skathi"

"Gifts froods always come with a price Are you ready to pay mine?"

Lucia nodded weakly "I can become p-pure hearted And I&039;ll shun ain

"Virgin fro moment, Skathi said, "You escaped the Broken Bloody One this ti you leap - yet Cruach will come for you in the next Accession if he escapes his jail"

Yes, but by that time I&039;ll be truly immortal I&039;ll run farther, faster

"He shall ht hiht hiain

"Every five hundred years, he would become your bane and you his jailer"

"Let oddess? But Lucia was desperate

Skathi&039;s face took on a thoughtful mien "Yes, I have decided to heal you andas you reet, you shall experience the pain you are about to suffer You shall always reht you this low and never repeat this fall frorace That will make you a Skathian"

Dizziness overwhelmed Lucia She was so confused "About to suffer?" This torment could not be worse?

"Yes, pain to hone your ony to sharpen your resolve like a blade stone" As she placed her milk-white hands over Lucia&039;s torso, SkathiLucia, in the end, I believe you shall wish I&039;d let you perish" The goddess&039;s palhter

Suddenly Lucia convulsed, shrieking as her infected wounds pulled taut, purging blood and pus, her fractured bones grinding as they knit together Her fingers clenched tight, her back arching - like a bow

"You&039;ll bea frenzied mask "You&039;ll be ht burned, until abruptly there was none Lucia was healed - but changed A bowstring coiled around her body like a serpent And in her treolden arrow had appeared

"Welcome back to life - to your new life You are now an Archer" Skathidread, just as a thousand other souls had before her "And, Lucia, you shall forever be nothing more"

Chapter 1

Southern Louisiana

Present day

"Munro, you daft git, pass the ball!" Garreth Mac-Rieve yelled at his kinsht was their yearly skins-versus-deby match - a tradition for Garreth and his clan, meant to take his mind from the anniversary this dayonly jeans and no shirt Rain pounded in strengthening intervals, turning this abandoned grassy airstrip in bayou country into a led with mud - and some blood

He almost felt not numb And that in itself was a feat

Munro flipped hi hi with the filth covering Garreth&039;s bared chest He feinted left, then sprinted right around two colossal Ferine de the in his ears, he could forget The exertion and the aggression were both so welcome, he wanted to beat his bare chest

The swift Ferines surrounded him, so he tossed the ball to Uilleam, Munro&039;s tho took it in to score His brothers-in-ar and ruthless contenders, as was he The beasts inside theh

The de Like a shot, Garreth was in the ht for an heirless king," Caliban, the Ferines&039; leader, sneered "Nothing new - you Lykae go through kings like I piss de up, Garreth&039;s kingship was the oneAnd on this day?

He launched himself at Caliban, but Munro and Uilleam heaved him back As other demons steered Caliban away froame, friend"

Garreth spat blood in Caliban&039;s direction before letting the two lead him away to cool off While Uilleam and Munro stayed with him, the other Lykae on the teale with the "cheerleaders"

The demons took the opportunity to take a ti with demons - one of the few species in the Lore that could contend with the Lykae in a physical contest - was their continual "brew breaks" Only seemed fair that Garreth and his kinsate their advantage They swilled it straight from the bottle, each one with his own, the Lykae version of Gatorade

Their cooler was full of fifths

"You&039;ve got to let this go, Garreth," Munro said, taking a deep drink

Garreth swiped his hand over the back of his neck, getting the feeling that he was being watched But then, he and all the other players were Ny theers as they iy

He irritably gazed at the females "Why&039;d you invite them?" he demanded "Damn you both, I weary of this Did you never think that I doona like ny "Any being that sports a penis likes nymphs"

Munro drained his bottle and added, "You canna argue with medical facts"

Garreth knew Uillea old "I doona like them They&039;re too too"

"Beautiful?"

"Lusty?"

"Easy," Garreth said "They&039;re too easy For once I&039;d like to have a fee One that would no&039; fall into bed with " When Munro opened his mouth to speak, Garreth said, "Aye, supposedly"

Munro shook his head gravely "And still you believe Lachlain will return"

The three had been round and round about this for one and a half centuries, since the ti out to hunt vampires

Uilleam and Munro told Garreth that he awaited Lachlain unreasonably Best accept that his brother was gone, especially after so long had passed since his disappearance One hundred and fifty years - to the day, this day They said Garreth hadn&039;t

They were right

"When will you believe he&039;s no&039; co back?" Uilleam asked "Two hundred years from now? Five hundred?"

"Never No&039; if I still feel he&039;s alive" Though vampires had killed the rest of his immediate family, for some reason, Garreth still sensed Lachlain lived "No&039; if I feel it as I do now"

"You&039;re as bad off as Bowen," Uillea another

Boas Garreth&039;s first cousin, a shell of aony, yet he wouldn&039;t accept the loss and end his life as most Lykae males would have in his situation "No&039; like Bowen," Garreth said "He saw his ored, saw her death I dinna see such proof with Lachlain" No, I searched and searched and found nothing

"Game on!" a demon called

Garreth shook hied whiskey, then mustered to the field with his kinss at his opponents, a gesture Garreth returned as the teams huddled up

Quick snap Ball in play Passed to Caliban Garreth saw his chance, charging for hi his arms for speed faster faster He leapt for the deth

As they careened to the ground, a length of Caliban&039;s horn snapped off, and he belloith rage "You&039;re going to pay for that, Lykae!"

For ht&039;s prey, growing increasingly perplexed when the tracks she followed led her closer to what sounded like a battle, echoing with roars and curses

Mayhe the Valkyrie? And in our territory, too? If beings were going to trespass in order to war, they should at least have the courtesy to invite the host faction to the conflict

When she came upon the battlefield, Lucia canted her head to the side Clash of the Loreans, she thought as she beheld by

Winds whipped along thethe intensity of the contest It was like a cerenized the horned players as demons, and she suspected their shirtless opponents were Lykae If so, then the ru on Valkyrie territory She was surprised In the past, they&039;d kept to the co at the sidelines, Ny this as nomatch between brawny heart-throbs

A ruthless hit on the field made Lucia raise a brow Not at the violence - she was a shield h these Loreans all trespassed, they were oblivious to an Archer in their e - very swiftly and froreat distance

Levelheaded Lucia, as she was non, didn&039;t co But then she didn&039;t comprehend men Never had

Luckily for them, the only violence she&039;d deliver this eve would be to her targets: two kobolds - vile gno to feed on

Her sister Nïx, the half-mad Valkyrie soothsayer, had dispatched her to these bayous to dispose of thein to join her, but she&039;d declined, preferring to play video games in the co hunt"