A Tale of Red Riding: Rise of the Alpha Huntress (The Alpha Huntress Series Book 1) (11 page)

Chapter 12

It took Red the better part of an hour to get away from the grand ballroom. After Ice had made such a big to-do over her, the other party guests just had to meet her. But to Red, they all seemed more interested in making themselves known to her than in knowing her. Most of their questions had to do with how she came to know Ice. Others were curious about any business ventures she might be involved in with the Seether Clan.

Just about the time she couldn’t take anymore, Prince intervened and led her away on what he referred to as
“urgent business.”
She just wanted to leave Ice’s palace in her memories, but Dote was having so much fun serving the cake, it would have been a crime to pull her away.

For the following hour, Red wandered the halls surrounding the ballroom. Most rooms she ventured into held collections of art from various parts of the world. One room was dedicated entirely to weapons, spanning from primitive spears and clubs to medieval swords and crossbows, all the way up to guns.

Through all of it, Red couldn’t shake the warning of danger from the mysterious rider. It seemed ridiculous to believe he had spoken to her from across the crowd, but considering the events of the last two days, it was best to keep an open mind to all possibilities. As far as she could tell there wasn’t a hint of danger lurking anywhere, but she remained cautious nonetheless.

When Red came upon a door marked
PRIVATE
, she had to resist her mischievous instinct to venture inside. As she turned to walk away, she heard what sounded like a little girl calling out in distress. A quick search of the area didn’t reveal anybody who might be in need of help. As far as she could tell, the only place the cries could be coming from was inside the room.

To be certain that there was really something wrong before calling for help and causing a commotion, she pressed an ear against the wooden door marked
PRIVATE
. A girl’s cries for help could be heard quite clearly. Had the plea not sounded so deathly urgent, Red would have gone with her original plan of going for help.

The door snapped shut behind Red as she ventured inside. She did a quick search of the wall, but was unable to find a light switch. It was hard to make out the details of the room under the dim lighting. From what she could gather, it was a hall used for fancy banquets, though all the chairs and tables were stacked up in the corner.

“Is anybody in here?” Red spoke just louder than a whisper.

The girl’s whimpering cries continued from nearby. Taking a few steps further into the dark room, Red caught a glimpse of a teen girl cowering on her knees. She had long blue-hair, an oversized nose ring, and was as scrawny as a skeleton. What was really odd was that she was wearing a baggy tuxedo that looked like it came from a long-forgotten era.

“Hey there. Are you okay?” Red asked.

“Please help. They’re going to kill me,” the blue-haired girl screeched.

Red took a couple of cautious steps closer. “Who’s going to kill you?”

The blue-haired girl pointed past Red. “They are.”

Red sensed something dangerous coming her way, though as far as she could see, there wasn’t anybody else in the room. With lightning quick reflexes, she reached up and caught the blunt end of a wooden staff swung at her by an invisible attacker. Even with the extreme force behind the strike, she was able to stop it without a bit of effort.

The invisible attacker tried to pull the staff away, but Red’s grip was ironclad. She gave the staff a hard pull, yanking the six-foot-long wooden weapon out of the attacker’s hands.

“You’ll have to show yourself if you want it back,” Red said.

Moving on pure instinct, she swung the staff wide. It was just in time to block a strike from another invisible attacker. The clack of the two weapons colliding told Red it was from a staff of equal size.

A rapid series of unseen strikes came at Red from every side. From what she could figure, there were four invisible attackers in total. She was overcome with an unexpected thrill as she effortlessly fought off their relentless attempts to hit her.

How am I doing this?
Red wondered.

It all changed in an instant when a strike got through and smacked Red in the chest. The intense pain consumed Red with a rather dangerous surge of aggression. She unleashed a vicious counterstrike that knocked one of the invisible attackers to the ground with a groan. Judging from the pitch, Red gathered that her attacker was a girl. She was pretty sure that all four of them were.

“Hey, ladies. Why don’t we all call a truce before things get out of control here?” Red said.

Red blocked another strike and followed up with a powerful kick to the attacker’s gut. This time she saw the silhouetted outline of a girl armed with a wooden staff soaring away.

“Just remember you made me do that,” Red said.

Another attack came at Red. She blocked with her forearm and grabbed the attacker’s staff. With a powerful yank, she pulled the weapon away, then spun the staff around and cracked the attacker across the face. The attacker’s silhouetted image flickered as she crashed to the floor.

“Anybody else want to take a shot at me?” Red’s senses were so heightened she could have heard a speck of dust hit the floor. She knew that one attacker remained, and was far more skilled than the others “I know you’re there. Come get me, if you dare.”

Red heard the final attacker’s staff whooshing toward her head. With perfect timing, she dropped down and executed a spinning sweep kick. The blow connected across the back of the invisible attacker’s legs, knocking her down.

“You done yet?” Red asked.

The final attacker sprang to her feet and charged Red with a rapid mêlée of staff strikes. Red defended with ease until the attacker executed a downward blow that snapped her staff in half.

The attacker unleashed a powerful series of strikes, forcing Red to block with her forearms. The final swing cracked Red across the ribs, sending a shockwave of pain blasting through her body.

In a flurry of rage, Red began swinging her fists so fast that they made
whooshing
sounds as they cut through the air. She caught her invisible attacker’s staff and pulled it away. With a vicious roar, she cracked it in half over her knee and bashed her enemy across the face with the blunt end.

The sound of labored gasping told Red that her attacker was down on her knees, unable to fight. Void of rational thought, Red raised the jagged end of the broken staff and let out a malevolent roar.

“Don’t do it.”
the blue-haired girl yelped out.

Red shot a raging glare at the blue-haired girl then shifted her gaze to the jagged end of her weapon. In an instant, she realized the terrible act she was about to commit. “You four had better get out, or things are going to get messy.”

Within seconds, the entrance door swung open. As the light from the hall blared in, Red saw the silhouetted outlines of four teenage girls limping and gasping as they exited the room. They were wearing short skirts and button-down tops similar in style to schoolgirl uniforms. The last attacker to exit looked back at Red and gave a hateful stare, making it clear that this was not over.

“You’d best keep walking,” Red said.

After the door slammed shut, Red dropped to her knees and took a breath of relief. Her forearms were throbbing in pain and covered in bruises. She was far more upset to find that the seam of her gown was ripped down one side.

“That was crazy insane.” The blue-haired girl stumbled to her feet and walked over to Red. “I thought you were going to off her.”

Red shook with a nervous twinge. “Huh?”

“You were a half-second from dusting her. It’s a good thing I said something, or we’d have a body to get rid of.”

Red gulped in fear when she realized this was true. “Guess I should thank you.”

“Nah, you saved my life. I stopped you from taking one. That’s what friends are for, Red.”

Red took a closer look at the girl. “Do we know each other?”

“Stop messing around.
It’s me.
Your best friend in the world.”

Red shook her head and shrugged.

The blue-haired girl grumbled. “Oh, you have got to be kidding. You. Me. Dote. The inseparable trio.”

Red realized something that didn’t make a bit of sense to her. “Are you Ash?”

“Duh. It’s about time you recognized me, Red Riding.”

“But Ash is a boy.”

“Shot to the heart.” Ash clutched his chest and gasped in a panic. “You think I’m a girl?”

A feeling of guilt hit Red like a fist in the stomach. It’s not like the mistake was entirely her fault. Ash had more girlish features than any boy she had ever seen. After a quick moment of consideration, she resolved that there was only one way that she could undo the damage.

She burst into hysterical laughter.

“Why are you laughing? Nothing about this is funny,” Ash whined.

Red stood up and walked toward the door. “You should have seen the look on your face. I had you going there.”

“Wait. I get it. You were just messing with my head.” Ash took a huge breath of relief. “I should have known. Red Riding, always the prankster.”

Red shrugged. “You know me. I just can’t help myself.”

“Yeah, like the time you convinced me that a gnome ate my cookies, but you’d hid them in my coat pocket. It took me an hour to realize they were there the whole time.”

Red giggled. “Or how about that time I hid your extra underwear in granny’s icebox?”

Ash slumped in embarrassment. “I totally forgot about that.”

“And I remembered it.” Red smiled, pleased, as she recounted the memory.

“Those were good times, Red.”

“They were, Ash.”

Red pushed the door open a crack so she could peer out into the hallway. There wasn’t a sign of anybody out there. “So why did you always have an extra pair of underwear in your backpack?”

“Let’s just move on from that.”

“Fair enough. Now tell me about the girls that were trying to kill you.”

“Kill is a strong word. Maim. Disfigure. Humiliate beyond all recognition. That’s more like it,” Ash said.

Red stepped halfway out into the hallway for a better look. “I don’t see anybody around, but that doesn’t mean much.”

“Nope, those four vanishing babes could be anywhere, and we wouldn’t know it,” Ash said.

“And how exactly do they do the stealthy thing?”

“Some kind of spellcraft amplified by moonstones embedded into their staffs, I’m guessing. I could ask next time I see them if you really want to know,” Ash said.

Red grabbed Ash by the shirt. “Out with it, Dorkus. What’s the real story here?”

“Red, you know I hate being called by my given name. It’s embarrassing.”

“That’s right. Your full name is Dorkus Ashley. It’s all starting to come back now.”

“Of all the things to remember,” Ash mumbled.

Red pulled Ash along by the shirt as she started down the hallway. “So speak, boy. Give me all the details. Leave nothing out.”

“It’s not that complicated. The four girly-girls you just slugged it out with are Ice’s prep school pals. They work for her like a gang of personal thugs,” Ash said.

“And they were beating you up for
what
reason?”

“They always beat me up. It’s a love-hate sort of thing we’ve got going on. I think their leader Mia has a serious crush on me. Sadly, she’s too caught up in her popular girl clique to be able to admit it publicly.”

“Okay, now the real reason, Ash.”

“I crashed the party.”

“How did you pull that one off?”

“Secret entrance through the sewers.”

“Yuck. How do you even know about that?”

“When I was a kid, I snuck into this place all the time. I know where all the coolest stuff is hidden,” Ash said.

“You’ll have to show me around sometime. Now why did those girls attack me?”

“Probably because you walked in on their little game. They tried to bop you on the head, and you gave it to them like a werewolf-powered ninja.”

“I got into it with them because you said they were going to kill you,” Red shouted.

“Yeah, that was my bad.”

“Perfect, now I have to find Ice and explain to her why I beat the brains out of her pet cronies,” Red said.

As they were approaching the ballroom entrance, Ash grabbed Red’s arm and stopped her. “Have you gone totally cuckoo? Why would you even care what Ice Seether thinks?”

“I don’t know. I just feel like I should.”

Ash shrugged. “I guess if that’s the way it has to be, I won’t stop you, but if you’re going back inside there, you might want to check yourself in a mirror.”

Red looked down at the open seam on the side of her dress. “Give me your jacket.”

“Not a chance. These threads are the core of my style.”

Red glared at Ash. “I ripped my dress saving your little tail. You’re lucky I don’t make you swap outfits. And I know this dress will totally fit your scrawniness, so don’t mess with me.”

Ash grumbled as he pulled off his jacket. Red snatched it away and put it on. It was several sizes too large, causing it to hang on her quite ridiculously.

“Now go home, Ash. And no arguing with me.”

Ash was about to protest, but Red held up a hand, warning him to be silent.

“Fine, but if you get even a spot on my jacket, we are going to have some serious words, young lady.” Ash slumped a little as he began to walk away.

“Ash.”

“Yeah, Red?”

“It’s good to see you again.”

“You too. Missed you a lot.”

Red dashed over to Ash and gave him an affectionate hug. Though she hadn’t seen him since she was five years old, or sixty-six percent of their lives as Dote would say, she felt a wonderful bond with him that was unlike any she had ever known.