The Talon Saga, Book 6: Champion of the Hunt

Former demon Talon escaped the Dungeon of the Forgotten and rescued the young girl who had been imprisoned with him.  Yet he is not out of danger, for the King of Sorathale has put a price on his head.

King Andestor has called a Royal Hunt, with Talon as the quarry.  Five men will pit their skills against his, tracking him across Sorathale and setting deadly traps in hopes of claiming his head and the prize of becoming Andestor's heir.

Most men would flee with such overwhelming odds facing them.  But Talon is a demon, and refuses to play by the rules of men.  He has a quest to fulfill, and though the mightiest warriors in the land stand between him and the king, he will do what it takes to complete it.  He must confront his nemesis, and that confrontation will forge his destiny.

Book 6 of 8.

Read, enjoy, and please comment!

(posted from the Item Information Page)

Hey Buddy,
I have to go back to the beginning and start there. Good to see you working. Drop me a line some time and I'll tell you about hell.
Comments are hard to get here. Make sure you check out Potential.
bistander

(posted from the Item Information Page)

Nice ending wonder if Talon will survive. 😉 Wonder if Elindra meet Summer when she was in Faewood.

wtf...didnt see that one coming...

(posted from Chapter 10: Slumber)

baengi wrote:

wtf...didnt see that one coming...

(posted from Chapter 10: Slumber)

I'm glad I caught you off guard.  I dropped a few hints along the way, but I tried to make them subtle enough as to not be obvious.

This concludes the second act of the saga, and in the last two books Talon's role changes once again.

Well… I do hope this slumber isn’t an eternal one. This is certainly one way to end the arc, although it’s not quite what I expected. I mentioned previously I expected Talon to become of great importance among the histories of the land, and becoming a king certainly does it. Those quotes at the beginning, specifically who they were by, definitely were a good tip.
Of the five hunters, I feel like it would be interesting to read a bit more about each of them, especially what happens to two swords over there after he leaves the kingdom. Overall, each of the hunters was interesting in their own way, I really liked the Whisperer, I can imagine exactly what he would look like just by your description.
The battle at the end almost gave me what I sought, with seeing Talon being forced to break his one rule, about never harming a woman. At least this time he doesn’t come out scot-free, he gets a sword in the belly for his morality.
Although, now he I supposed it isn’t just Talon, but KING Talon. Thereya probably won’t be the happiest about that development…
When I first heard about the rules of this hunt, I came up with a solution that would have satisfied all parties. Talon (somehow) contacts Thereya and tells her about the current situation. Since she is able to leave the shadow world, she comes to the kingdom, fashions a fake head of Talon and presents it to the king, and is crowned the champion of the hunt. While Andestor may not be the happiest by such a development, he would be forced to honor it, and Thereya would have what she desired. Talon and his harem could go live in the Faewood or any of the other kingdoms.
We saw the rise (Talon and the fountain of power) of Talon the Demon, the fall of Talon the Man(the dungeon of the forgotten), and the rise again, as Talon the King. In these last two (it almost pains me to know I am nearing the conclusion of this work) books, I wonder, will Talon rise to some new occasion, or will he be the tragic hero king?
We were also briefly treated to a passage regarding what happened to Leyli’s “virtue” (I personally hate using that because it assumes that a woman’s morality should in any way be tied to her sex life.) though I really hope that isn’t all we ever hear about her past. I still wonder where on earth she came from, and who she is. I won’t truly give up my Leyli is Summer Red theory until after Leyli and Summer (Blue) come face to face. Though I still feel a little wounded every time you mention Leyli’s golden blonde hair, almost as if your story continues to mock me, albeit in a friendly way.
As for the second act overall, it compares well with the first, if not better. The only reason I wouldn’t say this was absolutely better than the previous is because of my incredible fondness of the third book on the Faewood. I enjoyed how dark this act could be and how it surprised me, as your works tend to be overall optimistic.
This story always keeps me guessing, and I absolutely love it. I cannot wait to read the rest, and anything else that you post.

(posted from the Item Information Page)

If I remember right it's book 6 when you learn Leyli's past.

Pureleaf wrote:

Well… I do hope this slumber isn’t an eternal one. This is certainly one way to end the arc, although it’s not quite what I expected. I mentioned previously I expected Talon to become of great importance among the histories of the land, and becoming a king certainly does it. Those quotes at the beginning, specifically who they were by, definitely were a good tip.
Of the five hunters, I feel like it would be interesting to read a bit more about each of them, especially what happens to two swords over there after he leaves the kingdom. Overall, each of the hunters was interesting in their own way, I really liked the Whisperer, I can imagine exactly what he would look like just by your description.
The battle at the end almost gave me what I sought, with seeing Talon being forced to break his one rule, about never harming a woman. At least this time he doesn’t come out scot-free, he gets a sword in the belly for his morality.
Although, now he I supposed it isn’t just Talon, but KING Talon. Thereya probably won’t be the happiest about that development…
When I first heard about the rules of this hunt, I came up with a solution that would have satisfied all parties. Talon (somehow) contacts Thereya and tells her about the current situation. Since she is able to leave the shadow world, she comes to the kingdom, fashions a fake head of Talon and presents it to the king, and is crowned the champion of the hunt. While Andestor may not be the happiest by such a development, he would be forced to honor it, and Thereya would have what she desired. Talon and his harem could go live in the Faewood or any of the other kingdoms.
We saw the rise (Talon and the fountain of power) of Talon the Demon, the fall of Talon the Man(the dungeon of the forgotten), and the rise again, as Talon the King. In these last two (it almost pains me to know I am nearing the conclusion of this work) books, I wonder, will Talon rise to some new occasion, or will he be the tragic hero king?
We were also briefly treated to a passage regarding what happened to Leyli’s “virtue�  (I personally hate using that because it assumes that a woman’s morality should in any way be tied to her sex life.) though I really hope that isn’t all we ever hear about her past. I still wonder where on earth she came from, and who she is. I won’t truly give up my Leyli is Summer Red theory until after Leyli and Summer (Blue) come face to face. Though I still feel a little wounded every time you mention Leyli’s golden blonde hair, almost as if your story continues to mock me, albeit in a friendly way.
As for the second act overall, it compares well with the first, if not better. The only reason I wouldn’t say this was absolutely better than the previous is because of my incredible fondness of the third book on the Faewood. I enjoyed how dark this act could be and how it surprised me, as your works tend to be overall optimistic.
This story always keeps me guessing, and I absolutely love it. I cannot wait to read the rest, and anything else that you post.

(posted from the Item Information Page)

That's a fascinating idea you had about Thereya winning the Hunt.  It would have made for a great plot twist!  You'll see though that Talon as a twist of his own at the end of Book 7.

I won't say anything yet about Talon's reign as king, except that it will be an interesting one.  A demon on the throne?  How is that going to play out, and how will the people of the kingdom feel about that?

By the way, I used the term "virtue" only because it's an old-fashioned term and somewhat archaic in that context.  It fits well in a fantasy story.  The closest I come in this story to tying a woman's morality to her virginity is Krylda's apparent fall from grace in the previous book, which turned out to be not so much a fall as the first step on a new path.  But I don't believe anyone's true virtue or morality can be taken by force.