Quarry of the Horned God (Otherkind Kink: Horned Gods Book 2) Read online

  Quarry of the Horned God

  Stella Inox

  Copyright © 2014

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved.

  Except as provided by the Copyright Act 1994, no part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or stored in a retrieval system in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise without the prior consent of the copyright owner.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

  Author's note: All characters depicted in this work of fiction are 18 years of age or older.

  ~

  This story is a continuation of Otherkind Kink - Horned Gods #1: Hunted by Herne published by Stella Inox. It may also be read as a stand-alone story.

  In emerald tufts, flowers purple, blue, and white;

  Like sapphire, pearl, and rich embroidery

  Buckled below fair knighthood’s bending knee:

  Fairies use flowers for their charactery.

  Away! disperse! But, till ’tis one o’clock,

  Our dance of custom round about the oak

  Of Herne the hunter, let us not forget.

  — William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor

  ~

  Chapter One

  Ryannon waited patiently in the library. She could clearly hear the raised voices of her fellow guardians, even through the thick muffling walls. The dispute was loud enough to disturb her quiet contemplations and she frowned, troubled at the acrimony.

  Her Father, one of the oldest of their half breed kind was fighting to save her, or so he thought. He didn’t yet understand that she’d volunteered to be the next sent through the gate.

  Allan’s sad cargo had merely reinforced her determination that she try to stop the slaughter. Allan had called her father in a frantic attempt to gain assistance when a thief had slipped through the portal before time. She and the other guardians had rushed over but all had been too late to prevent the double tragedy.

  Carin, the unlikely thief had been sacrificed by Herne to gain entrance to the mortal world. He would have a period of time that started at dusk and ended at dawn on Samhain. That day, October 31st was fewer than 6 weeks away. They were running out of time.

  The havoc the wild hunt could wreck in a single night would be devastating to humanity who didn’t even realise that the Fae folk were still a threat. Nearly the entire world believed that the Fae were a myth, rumor and legend with no basis in fact.

  If they didn’t set the situation right before Samhain, the world would learn differently to everyone’s detriment.

  It had been thousands of years since such a lapse had happened. The druids had originally tried to carry the weight of the compact. But there were too few humans born to that power and they were hunted almost to extinction on the orders of Rome, breaking what power they had. When the half breeds gathered and pooled their power, they understood that they should be the binding that held the Sidhe back. They had been diligent and careful with all aspects of the covenant.

  But the Half Breed Guardians had grown complacent the last few centuries, believing that no one comprehended or cared for their secrets. They had once again underestimated what most considered a lesser species.

  They took their time with the two accomplices and used what they learned to wipe all knowledge of the gate and what happened from the collective minds of everyone who might even have an inkling of important information.

  Then they settled down to examine what had happened.

  Carin had believed that vault contained the various offerings they made to the sidhe to keep them at bay. All she’d known is that various precious metals and gems went into the building, and never came back out. Carin, the unfortunate and now very dead thief had also somehow found out about the vault they’d installed a couple of years ago. The guardians watched as technology changed and had utilised it to give them an added advantage. Carin had learned of the vault and treasure had put two and two together deciding that they were hiding immense wealth and had broken in.

  She had been caught by the enchantment on Herne’s torc when she touched it and had been pulled through the portal to the other side as a sanctified offering. She hadn’t believed and hadn’t understood the rules of engagement when she’d crossed over. She’d all unknowingly, agreed to be enslaved by Herne after he’d seduced her. It gave him his first chance to strike back at those who locked a serious threat away from their human playground.

  The moment that Ryannon had understood the implications, she’d known that the time had come for her to cross over.

  Since she was little she’d dreamed of the other world and of a green eyed man and knew instinctively that her time had come.

  It also felt right that she be the one to do this.

  She hadn’t bargained on a reluctant father who fought tooth and nail to keep his sole child safe, regardless of the fact that she was the youngest and most powerful among them. Ryannon had the greatest chance of succeeding.

  The Halflings had fled millennia ago when the Fae proved that most had little care for what happened to them. Although they bore similar traits and powers, if less effectively, the Sidhe Fae sought to hunt them for sport too when the humans ran out. Children were rare in the other world but less rare to those with human blood. A number of those who fathered or mothered the half breeds sought to protect them and wars begin to rage over the fate of the mixed blood children.

  Cernunnos, Allan’s father had been a massively powerful figure at the time. He had been the lord of the hunt since time immemorial.

  Most believed that he would side with the pureblood Sidhe at the next hunt but instead of taking his place of power, he had sacrificed a measure of himself to see the his son and the other Halflings to safety, tearing open the veil from within to create the first stable portal.

  The self-same portal that the guardians protected even now.

  He was the solitary male who might have challenged Herne’s cruelty when he rose as the new Horned God but the effort of evacuating those at risk, left him weakened and diminished and unable to challenge for a power rightfully his.

  She was the only one who truly stood a chance of bringing the great hunter to bay.

  Ryannon was the unlikely mix of two half breeds. Somehow the blood had combined to create a child who was the best of both parents.

  She’d trained for just this situation all her life and believed in protecting humanity at all costs. If allowed to run unchecked, the darker side of the hunt would rend and destroy until nothing remained but a burned smoking ruin. They’d break humanity back to the dark ages.

  So she’d volunteered and hadn’t that put the cat among the pigeons.

  Allan had given her a despairing and accepting look; knowing that there was no one else. She’d also have to go before Samhain and so would face Herne without the some of the rules created to protect the offering from dying to quickly. But if they waited till Samhain, he’d have free access as soon as they opened the door.

  Ryannon, against the wishes of her father had come up with desperate plan. Allan agreed that it was likely her lone chance to survive what was coming.

  She stood before the emergency meeting and stated her intentions in a clear firm voice, merely to be shouted down in anger.

  Fear had taken over and in the end; she’d left the shouting folk to find a measure of peace. Ryannon knew that she was the right choice. It was merely a matter of time before they came to that conclusion too.

  So she waited.

  ~

  It
took them longer then she thought.

  It was past midnight when they finally assembled and sent someone to first find, and then fetch her. She followed the worried man till she reached the small boardroom and walked in to despairing but accepting visages.

  Her father was white faced, his jaw clenched and her beautiful mother wept, face buried in her hands and shoulders heaving.

  They’d looked at it from all angles and knew she was right. Sending anyone else at this point was suicide. Now was the time to define and perfect a plan that would give her a chance win.

  ~

  Allan was proud of his protégé. She’d walked into this with a clear understanding. He hoped and prayed that she had enough talent and will to come back from this alive and unbroken and above all victorious.

  Chapter Two

  Ryannon waited patiently in the earthen chamber. She had to arrive in daylight for the compact to stand and then, last the night to win the challenge so it made sense to arrive as close to sunset as she could reasonably manage.

  The armor she wore had been crafted by clever sidhe hands. She’d donned the best weapons they could find in the short time left to them. They had barely weeks until Samhain.

  It was a massive gamble.

  The plan was pretty simple. At its heart, she had to stay alive and uncaptured by the hunter so that she could ask for the usual favor. The boon that she would ask would be that Herne stay on his side of the veil with his minions come Samhain. He wasn’t going to be happy but it was the best that they could come up with. She would negotiate for his absence on earth and from her life and hopefully return to the human alive world since sacrificial offering weren’t routinely returned unharmed.

  She had a trick or two up her sleeve as well. She was more powerful than many on the other side knew and they hoped for assistance from one or two of the parents that remained in other world.

  She paced some more, trying to settle her drumming heartbeat. She’d be facing a brutal fight to survive in a few short minutes. They were sending in their white queen to face down the black king on a board that not had played on in centuries. She sighed. Calling herself a white queen was arrogance. She was closer to a pawn but in great chess matches, sometimes pawns won the game.

  They really had just hopes and dreams.

  The circling torc between the split boughs caught her eye but she resisted the enchantment that urged her to walk over and pick it up, knowing it wasn’t time yet.

  Her father refused to attend. He didn’t want his last sight of his sole child to be her leaving for the other world as a sacrifice.

  “Its 4.45” came Daniels toneless voice. His disproval of her choice was apparent but at least he was doing what he could to help rather than hindering her.

  She took a deep breath and inclined her head so that he’d know she heard him. She rose to her feet. Allan bounded into the room in a fluster.

  “It’s time” he parroted unnecessarily. He came forward, anxious hands twisting and fisting in front him. She took his hand holding so that he’d be still for minute.

  “It’ll be fine” Ryannon whispered. “Even if it’s not, I made this choice. I cross the portal willingly.”

  “Child, you have been a joy to me in my twilight years and if I could take your place I would.”

  They both understood that there wasn’t another who could exchange places and hope to win.

  “I know. It’s time now. We haven’t calculated this so carefully only to forget and have me sent after dark. If I am to do this, it has to count.

  She’d dropped his hand giving him one final smile. He would remain on this side to strengthen the protections against the Fae. There was a chance they’d be testing that the vault worked if she failed.

  She twisted her neck and settled her armor sensibly before striding up to grasp the torc. As soon as she touched the heavy chunk of gold, the enchantment kicked in, and her body was forced to hold its weight before attaching it to her neck and twisting the clap closed.

  She shut her eyes against the flaring lightning as the portal opened and let the gate take her away.

  ~

  Chapter Three

  Herne lifted his head as he felt the gate energies echo through the landscape.

  He smiled. It would seem that the half breeds were making their move. There was still three weeks to go before they sent the compulsory offering so he was interested to know who they’d dispatch this time.

  He wrapped himself in pure power and let it take him, speeding through the landscape to deposit him a small distance away from the gate.

  Age had just made him powerful, it made him cautious. They would be desperate to stop him and he had no intention of walking into a trap.

  He summoned his people and felt more secure as they slipped through the wood. When the clearing was securely surrounded, he advanced silently, intending to surprise their game piece.

  He paused outside the clearing and dropped his glamour. Any weapon was a good weapon and he well knew that earth based females found his form and face attractive. It often fooled them into thinking he was kind.

  He cocked his head, feeling the comforting weight of his anglers whistle through the air. He couldn’t hear anything. No panicked breathing, no cries for mercy, nothing.

  He stepped warily into the clearing, topaz eyes flashing swiftly.

  It was empty.

  He whistled and his hidden ones exploded into view.

  “Where is she?” he screamed.

  “Gone” they whispered, “Gone… fled… run away”.

  His target had run it seemed, not even having the courtesy to face the usual challenge, with associated threats and promises.

  He wasn’t certain if he should be angry or impressed. Still, if she had enough intelligence to run immediately, then the next 10 hours or so should prove interesting…

  “Show me…” he demanded.

  Images streamed past him as Herne saw through them, remembering with them as they recalled what they’d seen.

  His eyes widened. Well now. The guardians had out done themselves.

  They were bonded to give him one fertile female sacrifice per year. In return he had to give them an opportunity to escape and win a boon. The rules were pretty weak around what was offered so some years the sacrifices were less than… appetizing.

  But this one was tantalizing.

  He watched, enthralled, replaying the memories.

  She was tall and slender. She had hair so blonde that it was nearly white. Her fined boned features were refined, noble. She had dark blues eyes and surprising sooty lashes given the color of her hair. He wanted to see more.

  Her light sidhe looking armor didn’t completely hide her form. Unlikely bulky human body armor, this set conformed to her body. It moved with her, flexing over her trim muscles as she vaulted downed branches.

  She wasn’t completely human; he could tell that with a single glance.

  She hadn’t hesitated. Almost as soon as her feet had touched the ground, she’d been away. She was fleet, running less like the human deer that he was used to hunting and more like a mountain lion.

  This target wasn’t used to being prey. She was more accustomed to being the hunter and if she was running like this, it was to lead him into an ambush.

  He grinned.

  He had eyes and ears spread throughout the forest. This place was his and as fast as she was, she wouldn’t out run him. He had no intention of letting her win this challenge.

  His smile of glee dropped abruptly when she wrapped herself in glamour and vanished from the scrutiny. So she had power at her disposal as well. It appeared that it wouldn’t be as easy as he’d hoped. This would be a real hunt rather than a stroll through the trees.

  He felt his heat rising, excitement churning. Too long had he been fed on paltry dishes, meals fit for tame dogs, scraps from the table of humanity.

  But this offering? This was what he longed for. He laughed high, wild with joy and exhilaration. His
face took on a feral cast as his true nature asserted itself. To hunt, fuck, kill and sometimes to eat.

  This was what he lived for.

  He whistled.

  Ceol, his Fae steed cantered out from under the branches. Ceol was the word for music in his tongue and the equine moved just like an aria. His long mane seemed to float around him in a dark cloud and he paced, rising on his hind legs to encourage Herne to hunt and be off.

  Herne leaped onto Ceol's back and sat easily as the horse reared under him.

  He pulled the horn from his belt and lifted it to his lips. For the first time in centuries he summoned the wild hunt.

  ~

  Chapter Four

  Ryannon flew. She bounded through the woodlands, wrapped securely in glamourie; the creatures she passed could neither see nor hear her.

  Coming through the gate was enough to secure Herne's attention, now she needed to gain enough distance to plot.

  A horn sounded through the forest.

  DAMN!

  The worst possible scenario had occurred. He was calling in his minions which meant that it was likely that he would ride her down as well. He wasn’t acting as arrogant as she’d hoped.

  She increased her pace.

  Although her passage would go un-remarked, her scent would still linger. There wasn’t an enchantment created that could cover natural fragrance unless someone was willing to stay and hold a spell in place which usually defeated the purpose.

  She’d extensively studied what maps they had of the otherworld terrain. Rather than make for the hills where Herne had his abode, she plunged deeper into the forest. Although Herne ruled the woodlands, pockets of other wilder places existed and creatures who held no true loyalty to the Hunt god, who might, for a price, offer her assistance.

  She pulled every trick she could, using wind currents to muddy her scent, climbing and running from branch to branch, plunging through tiny meadows of brilliant scented flowers that were bleeding their colors in the waning light.