A Storm of Chaos (The Hunter Legacy #1)

Chapter Eleven

They made it to Devenese just as the sky began to burn orange, like a fierce warning to those below that night was about to descend. Noah had ridden with Kaya in his saddle, tucked against his chest with his arm around her to keep her secure, but without worsening her injury. Her skin had grown increasingly warm as they travelled, a sign that a fever was kicking in from whatever poison coated the arrowhead, and Noah had spurred his horse faster.

Only Felix had travelled with him at such a fast pace, while Addius took the stolen horse back to Yularen. The dark expression on Addius' face, with his arithtar dangerously close to his nose, told Noah that he was in for a stern talking to when Addius returned home.

Devenese was a town nestled in a sea of oak trees, as if the forest itself could serve as protection. It was only a small portion of the expansive Fenrenay Forest that occupied the House of Wind's southern lands, and which had hosted a terrible and fierce ambush led by the House of Wind's Descendant decades ago during the Anarchy Wars, when the Anarchist armies had marched on the House of Wind. Despite that, Fenrenay Forest had recovered without any remnants of the devastation it had experienced.

Rumour was that the forest itself had buried the bodies from the war, the roots of the trees dragging them deep underground.

The town itself flew by as Noah sped through, the locals smartly keeping to the edges of the roads when the sound of pounding hooves neared them. They recognised Noah despite his nondescript clothing, but it was to Kaya that their eyes went as Noah passed them. Then the town was gone, narrowing to a short road that cut through the forest and led to Devenese Manor that sat separate from the rest of the town.

The manor lay hidden behind a flagstone wall, but wrought iron gates flung open at Noah's approach, startling the two swordsmen on guard, and Devenese Manor loomed before Noah with its three stories of polished wooden walls, reinforced by grey brick, its tall windows, and peaked roofs of dark tiles accentuated by gold detailing along its edges. The manor was in stark contrast to the greens, golds and oranges of the surrounding forest touched by the Fall season, and yet it was still nothing compared to the castle in Rendala.

The grand doors of the manor opened, and two young housemaids appeared with the same startled expressions as the swordsmen at the gate.

'Call for the healer!' Noah ordered, wheeling his horse toward the garden path which cut down the side of the manor, Felix a pace behind him.

But it was Felix who dismounted first, dropping to the ground before his horse had come to a complete stop, and then he went to Noah's side to take Kaya from the saddle while Noah dismounted as well. The manor wrapped around an interior courtyard with a well-cared for pond at its centre, before opening to an expansive garden that met the wall at the back of the estate. In the corner, nestled between the garden and the wall, was a small dwelling separate to the manor which was where Noah and Felix marched toward.

Noah pushed open the door, entering a light-filled room where a futon with fresh sheets beckoned for Kaya. Felix placed her down without needing to be told, and Noah kneeled beside her a moment later.

'Kaya?'

Her eyes fluttered, but her injury was dragging her consciousness too deep. He had been trying to wake her, and then keep her awake, as they travelled but it had been impossible.

'What has happened?'

Noah turned, finding the manor's resident healer, Juris, standing on the threshold of his den in the customary pale blue robes with silver trim, grey peppering his brown hair. He was quite clearly displeased that Noah and Felix had let themselves in without waiting for him, but that slid from his face when he caught sight of Kaya.