Dragon Spirit: Cry of Revenge (Huntress High Book 1) Read online

  Dragon Spirit

  HUNTRESS HIGH 1

  CRY OF REVENGE

  CORY REYNOLDS

  DRAGON SPIRIT

  Copyright © 2019By Cory Reynolds

  All Right Reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner what so ever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, 2019

  ASIN B07LDNFR7L

  www.EpicYA.com

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  CHAPTER ONE

  16 years before revenge became a dragon’s greatest ambition…

  MORRIGAN WAS CLOSE. She was going to catch him this time. She had been on this moonlit chase for several hours now, but really it had been for years. This was the only demon that she had never been able to catch, but tonight was her night.

  She had to be careful. She had lost him in the past because of her tendency to capture when she should just go for the kill, but this time it would be different. With her dragon, Loric, waiting at the end of the gully there was no way he could escape. The demon would reach Loric very soon.

  I'm ready.

  Loric's reassurance through their mental connection made her even more confident. She took several more long strides and could see the demon racing away from her down the dark forest gully She just had to keep him running until it was too late. This demon's main strength was his pride, but this time it would be his undoing. She would at least give him a chance to stop before he ran right into a dragon.

  "I don't think you can get away this time!" she said with heavy breaths. She was close enough to hear the demon breathing hard as well, but he continued to maintain his appearance as a man. A very handsome man. It took willpower for demons to change their appearance into something less monstrous, but this was one of the strongest that she had ever seen. Or at least one with the most willpower. "You should stop now!"

  "I can't!" he said. And why would he? He had escaped her so many times in the past. His violation sheet was endless. Illegal transportation of monsters. Improper entry across dimensional boundaries. Collusion with witches. He was even known to have formed the faction of demons that had broken into the University several years ago. Of course, that was before she had been there. It never would have happened if she had been there.

  Maybe he didn't understand you with your thick accent.

  Haha, Smokestack.

  Loric always tried to give her grief for her accent. One glance told anyone that she was of Asian descent, but she had been left on the doorstep of Benandanti University in Kentucky by her mother at the age of three, and she had never known her father. She didn't even know herself where her ancestors were from, but you didn't have to talk to her for long before you knew that she had been raised in the south. It never failed to surprise her how often her Asian beauty combined with her southern drawl got snickers. Even while she was wearing battle fatigues. Drawing her silver-laced samurai sword always seemed to stop the laughs.

  "You really should stop!"

  "You first!" She had never been this close before. Nothing could make her stop.

  How far are you?

  Less than a quarter mile.

  There's a small hole at the end of this gully. He must be trying to reach it.

  She was always thankful that Loric was much faster than she was. Demons passed to the human world through these small dimensional rifts, and demons had a strange way of fitting through holes that they shouldn't be able to fit through. Even though she was in the prime of her life, she had never worked so hard to capture a demon. She was feeling her inexperience catch up to her. It didn't matter, there wasn't much further to go.

  Whatever you do, Loric, don't kill him right away.

  You know I like to play with my food first.

  Funny, so do I.

  Loric had to be hungry, but she trusted him to exercise self-control.

  "Last chance!" He couldn't say that she hadn't tried to warn him. The demon didn't respond, and a moment later she understood why when she turned the bend in the gully and saw something that she had only seen before in her dreams. Between her and Loric stood the demon that had never been caught.

  CHAPTER TWO

  YOUNG HUNTRESS, you impress me! And I thought that you were just another college brat like the others. Obviously I was wrong." Morrigan didn't care what this demon said, he was as good as hers. She drew her sword.

  Should I fire him up?

  No, let's talk first.

  You know he's slippery. Don't let him get away.

  That's your job.

  She couldn't let herself get worked up. She wouldn't hear the end of it if she had nothing to show the others after this chase. The demon looked over his shoulder at Loric, and then back at Morrigan.

  "Shall we introduce ourselves?" the demon asked.

  "How about we skip it and you tell me why you're always running."

  "Come now, we can be civilized. Isn't there a standard procedure for these kinds of things?”

  "Standard procedure is for me to kill you. You're on the eradication list."

  "Isn't that barbaric?"

  "Not compared to what you've done."

  "And yet, here we are, talking."

  "Yes, unless you don't answer my question."

  "Which question was that?"

  Don't let him mess with you.

  "Why were you running?"

  "This time? Or the last five times that I got away from you?”

  That's it. He's barbecue.

  No, wait.

  "My dragon is about five seconds from finding out what skin color you're hiding when he torches you."

  "He won't."

  "And why do you say that?"

  "Because I've foreseen it." That was one that she had heard before. Only a few rare demons had been known to predict the future with accuracy. Her people, the Benandanti, had even captured a foreseeing demon centuries ago and forced it to give revelations. None of the predictions had been useful, but they had all come true. Now there was a demon right in front of her, claiming to have foreseen their encounter today.

  He could be messing with you.

  Sure he could, but it would explain why he had always been able to escape from her.

  If he had known that I would be standing here, then why did he let himself get caught?

  "I'm sure that you're wondering how you can trust me, and the truth is that you can't. But you will."

  I don't like him.

  "That's all well and good, but I'm sure you'll burn just as well as all the other demons." "I'm not your enemy. In fact, we should be working together."

  Now I really don't like him. Let's toast this turkey and get out of here.

  "Why would we work together? You're from the demon world, not ours."

  "This isn't your world anymore, or at least, it won't be in the near future."

  "Why? Have you foreseen the world leaders signing it over to you?"

  "It's only a guess, but I'm assuming that you don't know about the alliance between the demons and the witches."

  "That's a good one. Can't you come up with anything better than that?"

  "It's not a joke."

  You should listen to what he has to say.

  If Loric thought he was worth listening to, then they would have to hear the demon out. Even if it did sound like th
e biggest fish story that she had ever heard.

  "The witches and the demons have been enemies for centuries."

  "Yes, but there's only one thing that the demons hate more than the witches." "Oh yeah, what's that?"

  "You."

  He's right.

  There wasn't a demon out there that didn't loathe her kind, the Benandanti. For as long as history had been recorded, her people had been born and raised for one purpose: to fight against the evil forces in the world. The witches were one of those evil forces, but they were the only one that wasn't from the demon world. That made the witches and demons natural competitors. Never had she heard of them forming an alliance of any kind.

  "Just because the demons dislike us, doesn't mean that they would form an alliance with the witches."

  "You're right. They wouldn't unless the witches made us an offer that we couldn't refuse. "

  "And what would that be?"

  "They're offering to deliver you to us."

  Okay, now can I burn him?

  "But that could never happen. The witches have never had the slightest chance of being a match for us."

  "Yes, but they've never worked with my kind before. At least, not in a very long time." Morrigan wasn't sure what to do. She waited for Loric to offer some advice, but she could tell that he was just as dumbstruck. If what he was saying were true, it would be a very dangerous situation for the Benandanti.

  "Even after telling me all this, why would I let you go? Why wouldn't we just kill you now?" "I'm not your enemy. I said that we should be working together, and I meant it. I'm not in favor of losing our demon forces to the witches of this world. Even if they can deliver you to us, it would only bring about a war that would cause many casualties on all sides. I value my people too much." Morrigan had never thought of demons as creatures that cared about each other. She had seen them kill several of her friends, and countless others with cold accuracy. To her, they were just monsters, but she supposed that monsters could have families as well.

  Everyone needs family.

  "Maybe that's true, but I don't see you as the commanding type. I know that any demon of importance doesn't get close to touching our world."

  "You're right. That's not the reason why you will let me go. The truth is that I know more about your future. This wasn't just a chance encounter. You'll need me to ensure an important part in your victory in the coming battle."

  "What part is that?"

  "Your daughter's part." Those words hit her like a falling tree. She didn't have a daughter, and she wasn't even married. To avoid controversy, and to prevent him from becoming a target, she and her boyfriend, Matt, had kept their relationship a secret for over a year now. They had talked about the possibility of marriage, but not until they graduated from college. Having a child was the last thing on her mind.

  "I don't have a daughter."

  "No, but you will. And she will play a key part in the war."

  "That's it, let's end this."

  "I can show you."

  Morrigan, be careful.

  "What can you show me?"

  "Your future daughter."

  “How?”

  "A simple touch, that's all it takes." She knew that she shouldn't trust him, but by this point, she wanted to.

  It's true that if he can foresee the future, then he can show it to you through skin contact.

  How do you know?

  That's how it was done in the past.

  It was helpful having a spirit animal that was much older than you.

  "I promise that I won't do anything to you. Your dragon will see to that."

  Just extend your arm and touch fingertips. If he moves a muscle, I will take his head off.

  With her sword in one hand, Morrigan took a step back but pointed a finger on her free hand toward the demon. The demon kept a serious look while he stepped closer and did the same.

  Their fingertips touched, and a multitude of feelings poured into Morrigan. For a moment she felt like her knees would buckle, but she caught herself as the intensity subsided. For a second it was only feelings, but then like a fog was lifting, she began to visualize a war. Witches were everywhere. In the air, on the ground, and they were commanding an army of demons. But they were not the only demons. There was another army of demons that were fighting alongside the Benandanti.

  As she watched her people and their spirit animals fight, she could see that the witches were winning. Her own friends were falling and it was horrible. But then Morrigan saw a familiar sight. Loric flew to the front of the battle line, and he was being flown not by Morrigan, but by a girl.

  The girl was like a younger version of her with long, flowing black hair. Following the command of this girl, the fighting began to turn in their favor. Soon they were charging over their enemies, and scattering them. They were winning the war, and her daughter had been the catalyst for the victory.

  There was another rush of feelings, this time much less forceful, and then the demon released the bond between them. Bending over, Morrigan felt like puking up.

  Are you okay?

  "Did you see her?" asked the demon.

  “Yes.”

  "So now you know that I'm telling the truth." She stood upright.

  "I know that you showed me something that could be the truth."

  As far as I know, the demons can't pass along fake predictions.

  "Yes, and everything that you saw will only come to pass if we form our own alliance."

  "And what if we don't?”

  "I don't know, because I know that we will. I can only see what will actually happen." She considered her options. Letting him go could cause some problems in the future, and would definitely cause some fun at her expense, but killing him now could be a fatal mistake. At the very least, she would need some more time to think.

  "If I let you go now, what will be next?"

  "That I don't know, but you seem a clever girl. I'm sure that you'll figure it out. You caught me, didn't you?" Had she? Or had he allowed her to catch him?

  "Before I let you go, tell me your name."

  "You may call me Malicious. It's been a pleasure, Morrigan Hunt." A moment later, the demon had run past Loric and disappeared into the fox-sized hole in the ground. She had seen them do it before, and it always amazed her how they could squeeze into something a quarter of their size.

  "He ran right past you like you weren't even there."

  I'm probably not the first dragon that he's seen. He and I do come from the same world.

  CHAPTER THREE

  BACK AT THE BASE, Morrigan wasn't sure what she would say to Matt or anyone else who walked into her office. It wasn't the fact that she had let a high profile demon go. It was the images of the future that she didn't know how she would explain. The witches had formed a secret alliance with the demons, right under their noses. How long had that been going on? Was it happening right now? Her thoughts were overshadowed by the burning feeling of warmth that she had felt from the demon. She both liked and hated it at the same time.

  If you want burning warmth, I can give you that.

  Even though Loric was outside, they could still share their thoughts. It had been awkward at first to share her every thought with someone else, but she had become so used to it over the last five years that even these thoughts didn't embarrass her when Loric recognized them for what they were.

  When she had first touched fingertips with the demon, the avalanche of feelings that proceeded the visions of the future had been too overwhelming to accept. Now that she had taken time to process it, she was afraid that her initial thoughts were right. It was love. It was such an odd realization, feeling loved by a demon that she had never even met before. What bothered her the most was that she had felt more love from this demon then she had ever felt from her boyfriend.

  I told you that everyone needs family.

  The love that she had sensed had been so much more. Over time, her bond with Loric had allowed them to share feeli
ngs as well as thoughts, so she knew that he could feel it too. The event was churning up thoughts that she had been stuffing down ever since she was a little girl. She had never known her father and had barely known her mother. Some women at the University had raised her and had always treated her like one of their own, but she still had an empty spot inside of her. She once thought that she could fill that spot with her aspirations as a huntress, but that hadn't worked. Until she had met Matt she had thought that nothing would be able to fill it. He had seemed to be the perfect fit, but now after experiencing the feelings from this demon, Matt seemed like a square peg that she had rammed into a star-shaped hole.

  That demon could still be manipulating you somehow. They're good at that.

  Loric was right, the demon probably was manipulating her, but she didn't think that the feelings were fake.

  I said that the demon wouldn't be able to show you fake foretellings, but I don't know how it works with anything else.

  She didn't like keeping things from Matt since they were already keeping their relationship quiet. Secrets had a way of coming back to bite hard, but she would have to keep that part of the meeting with the demon quiet for now.

  Being just out of University, or the U, Morrigan had a technically low rank in the family of monster hunters. But the fact that she had become the only living huntress with a dragon as a spirit animal had raised her to a high level of respect before she had finished her first college year. For a decade or more they had predicted that she would single-handedly eliminate the need for a military altogether, and it was beginning to come true, but it would be some time before they raised her to any position of real influence. For now, she was happy to be the only soldier of her rank with her own office.

  When do I get an office?

  I’ve told you to be careful what you wish for. Matt has to sit in an office with his rat, Gregors, all day and they make up excuses to get out. They were taught that the more time you spend with your spirit animal, the more alike you became. Had Matt become more like a rat since she had met him years ago?