Hunters of Sian - Book 2. The Užaren Canyon

The Solar Festival

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Chapter Seventeen

The Solar Festival

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'Hey! Hey, are you up yet?' Jeremy's excited yelling made Sallos raise an eyebrow from where he sat at the scrubbed wooden table. Nell laughed as he shoved his feet into his boots. It was officially their first day off. Arabella and Cadric had kept the apprentices training right up until a day before the Solar Festival. The excitement around the whole stronghold was palpable. So much that despite finally getting a day off, Nell hadn't slept in. Neither, apparently, had Jeremy.

'Nell? Come on, man! I want to get to town.'

'You and everyone else. Hold your dracks, we're coming!' Nell called back. Sallos took one last dignified sip of his tea before rising to join Nell. Nell flung the door open. Jeremy did at least have the decency to flush with embarrassment at the sight of the tall ebony demon.

'Uh, good morning Master Sallos.'

Nell smirked. 'Smooth. Very smooth.'

'Bite me.' Jeremy's excited mood was infectious. Nell was soon laughing and shoving as they made their way into the overcrowded banquet hall. The hall was filled to bursting. Demons and humans from all over had returned to the stronghold for the festival. The crossover from the previous hunting season to the new meant unfamiliar faces. Nell couldn't help but notice that he got a lot of looks. Apprentices back from their summer hunts stared at his tattoo. Nell had never been one for boasting but he couldn't help but hold his head up just a little bit higher. He was the only apprentice to obtain a black star in his first year.

They had a light breakfast accompanied by large mugs of coffee. Nell was excited to head into town and use the coin Sallos had given him to visit as many stalls as possible. He needed to refill a couple of his paints from his paint kit. He also needed a handful of new quills. Sallos was a good master. He didn't care what Nell spent his coin on so long as it didn't inhibit him for the hunt to come. He wouldn't approve if Nell bought alcohol, but anything else would be fair purchase.

'Where do you want to go first?' Jeremy asked. He nearly had to shout to be heard over the loud bustle in the hall. They were squashed at the apprentice table, Sumaya smooshed against Jeremy's side and Nell perched precariously at the end of the table.

'We could go to the sweet shop?'

'Mmm, we definitely need to go, but maybe we should leave that a bit later or the sweets might melt,' Nell mused.

'We'll come too!' Marshall said excitedly.

'Are you going to spend all your coin in the sweet shop? Again?' Jeremy teased.

'Again? This sounds like a story,' Derek called from further down the table.

'I wasn't that bad!' Marshall whined.

'You threw up and decided to keep eating chocolate. Twice,' Sumaya said in her calm, unbothered way. Marshall's face flushed but grinned guiltily.

'Right. We ready to go?' Jeremy had hardly touched his toast.

'Finish your breakfast. Don't waste food,' Sumaya said, giving the other a hard look. Jeremy grumbled but did as he was told. After breakfast, they practically ran to the stables. Thorn and River were just as eager to leave. The stables had been filled to capacity. Every single stall was occupied. The noise was tremendous. Nell saw Amy race by, balancing six feed buckets. She didn't stop to say hello. Nell saddled Thorn and led him out. The dracks were finally starting to get used to the apprentices riding them without supervision.