Scribbles and Drabbles

Hunter Thrall 2

A/N: Updated: 2017

The ride back to the netherworld was not one Luke remembered well. The Hunter, his Master, rode like it was on a hunt as opposed to returning from one. A horrible thought flashed through Luke's mind as that thought occurred to him. The Hunter had been on a hunt, for Luke. Unlike mindless beasts, it wasn't to kill him though. It was to enslave him.

The hunt was not over with just his capture. The hunt would be over when the Hunter had reaffirmed his ownership over luke. Luke's mouth ran dry, and his palms began to sweat at the idea. There was no turning back now, the Hunter was never going to let him go. He was just going to have to endure what the fae had planned. He had done it once, he could do it again.

Swallowing, Luke pressed closer to the Hunter, trying to stop himself from sobbing like the child, he no longer was. Twenty years had passed since he had become the Hunter's plaything, and he had learned nothing in that time.

The Hunter pulled to a stop somewhere Luke was not expecting. The hotel where his friend was celebrating her marriage. The Hunter climbed down off his horse and helped Luke down after, Luke burning with the desire to ask why they were there. Fear still filling him, but this time at the idea that he hadn't sealed the deal strong enough to protect young David and that the Hunter was going to claim them both.

"Calm yourself, thrall," the Hunter scolded gently, running a hand down Luke's arm as he nudged him forward. "You booked your own room correct?" he asked with the same air of regalness that he conducted everything with.

"Yes..." Luke nodded, trailing off as he realised he didn't know how to refer to the Hunter by. The Hunter had never given his true name to Luke as he had always called him 'Master'. But here, in the human world, that was dangerous if someone overheard. Even if most no longer believed in magic, questions would be asked and with his no-doubt fated disappearance scheduled, that would not be good to have someone hear him use that word.

"While we are here, you may call me Eoghan," the Hunter sniffed. "Thanks to your running away, I've had to create a more solid alias for when dealing with humans. I am not the only one of the forest folk to do so but I do find it distasteful to be called by a first name."

"Manner and culture have changed," Luke murmured with a glimmer of a smile on his lips despite himself. Maybe he was too scared now and going insane but the look on the Hunter's face with his words had been amusing. An old god bemoaning the present-day customs.

"Quite unfavourably," the Hunter grumbled. "Still my powers remain strong. Let's go to your room Luke," Eoghan said calmly, gesturing for Luke to lead the way. Feeling slightly like he was paving the way for his own demise Luke forced himself forward. Arms linked gently, Luke lead the way through the hotel towards his room still unsure as to why they were there and scared to be seen.

The hotel was a modern one with minimalistic tastes, white marble floors and the occasional piece of artwork on the wall. Luke had come far since he had tumbled out of the forest and back into the human cities.

He hadn't gone 'home' of course. Not back to the people who had sold him to the fae lord like he was cattle. Luke was from a rural village which was full of suspicion and old knowledge, despite the modern age. While Luke had never believed the tales, his parents had and had promptly given Luke to the Hunter, the moment an old one had asked of it. Still, Luke had been old enough to already have his high school diploma, he hadn't been completely helpless in the modern world.