Read Online The Feral Sentence (Book 1, Part 2) by G. C. Julien - Free Book Online Page A

people.”
    “ We’re
already at war!” Rocket said.
    “ Guys!”
    In unison,
everyone turned toward Biggie, who’d been attempting to capture our
attention. “Stop talking.” Her eyes were as round as golf balls,
and her lips were curved downward as if she’d seen a ghost.
    And in that
moment, it was as if our surroundings suddenly came into focus—as
if a veil had been lifted, revealing a gruesome reality. There were
strings of teeth dangling from tree branches all around us, some of
which were large canines, but most of which were flat and obviously
human.
    There were
fragmented pieces of skull and bone scattered across the earth
beneath our feet, around which tall wooden torches were stabbed
into the ground. The candles had melted entirely, and their
leftover wax formed crooked, drooping lips.
    There was
something eerie about this place; it was as if life itself did not
exist. For a moment, all sound from the jungle’s wildlife faded,
and the only thing I could hear was the shallow breathing of
everyone around me.
    “ What is
that?” Biggie moved toward the center, her eyes glued to the
ground.
    Beneath our
feet was a circular drawing carved in mud, part of which had been
smudged due to our footprints. It was a perfect circle with three
gashes drawn evenly across its center. But what caught my attention
was not the shape or its location, but rather, its color. It was
stained in a deep red, which almost resembled black earth.
    Trim’s
knuckles whitened around her fishing spear. “We’re on Ogre
territory.” I noticed Biggie’s face contort and her nostrils
flare.
    “ Do you
smell that?” she asked.
    I inhaled a
deep breath through my nostrils, although I suddenly wished I
hadn’t. I couldn’t understand how I’d failed to notice such a foul
stench. It was like nothing I’d ever smelled before, and the more I
breathed, the more nauseous I became. It smelled of decay,
something far worse than sour milk, and moldy cheese combined.
    A drop of red
suddenly fell from above and onto Biggie’s shoulder. She slowly
tilted her head back, and I followed her eyes.
    I wished I
hadn’t.
    What I saw was
beyond anything I’d ever imagined to find in the jungle. It was a
naked female body tied by the ankles, dangling upside down from a
massive branch overhead. Her throat had been slit straight across,
and there were symbols carved into her chest and shoulders. Her
skin was completely blanched and her face and neck swollen to the
point of being unrecognizable. But her lifeless, dandelion eyes
remained wide open.
    I knew exactly
who we were looking at—Sunny.

CHAPTER
8
     
    “ We
continue to train our people.” Murk lit the tip of a green cigar
and leaned back in her chair.
    Trim clenched
both fists and stepped forward. “Did you not hear anything I just
told you? They’ll attack us again. We need to make a move.”
    “ I did
hear you, and my decision remains,” Murk said.
    I couldn’t
understand how she was being so calm about our attack and about our
being ambushed and forced to retreat into enemy territory. I also
couldn’t understand how we’d manage to survive Ogre territory
without an encounter.
    Fisher stepped
forward and knelt on one knee. “With all due respect, Chief, if we
do nothing, we’re sitting ducks just waiting to die.”
    Murk exhaled a
cloud of white smoke, ashed her cigar onto the stone floor, then
eyed us carefully. “You all know how this works. You Hunters are
the only ones with enough experience to take on an attack against
the Northers. If we lose our Hunters, we lose our food supply, and
we destroy ourselves from the inside out.”
    “ Our
food supply is already being cut,” Trim said. “We’re already going
to destroy ourselves from the inside out if we keep being
intercepted during our hunts.”
    “ Is this
the first attack during a hunt?” Murk asked.
    Trim
nodded.
    “ Then we
can’t assume they’ll attack at every hunt. Stay away from the
Western shoreline until