The Hunter Version 1

From there, their interaction became much more frequent and Max could not keep away. The last prisoner he had decided to keep around had been a woman by the name of Birdie West, but she had quickly betrayed him, so he had done away with her. Ben would be the first one Max had taken an interest in in over a year. And Max found himself uneasily more and more interested in Ben. He had vowed never to love, but at this point, as he searched around for Ben's companion, he was pretty damn sure it was something close to it. Claire had reminded him he had to be careful. Another betrayal like the one from Birdie would likely be the end of Max. Just the fact that Ben was being considered for release made Max so angry and scared he could not think straight. If anything happened to Ben at that point...Max was not sure what he would do.
No matter where he looked or how much he called, Max could not hunt down Toby. He was starting to think Claire or something else had gotten to the boy when he heard a reply to one of his calls, far to the east. Which he thought odd. The trail he had been following that he was sure was Toby's did not wander that way. He called again and the reply returned to him once more, closer. Frowning, Max pulled himself up into a tree before calling again to make sure who ever was responding to him was on track.
Not too long after, a boy stumbled under Max's tree. Max's eyes narrowed as he recognized him as one of the four who had attacked and kidnapped Ben. It was the shorter one- Salvin Elva- who had been training in the Olympics for gymnastics and had gone insane at one practice and killed everyone on his team. He was a dangerous enemy; Max had gone after him four times since Salvin had gotten to his island and each time the boy had weaseled away. Max could not quite keep up with the speed of the boy's kicks, but Max was far stronger. Knowing he should take this boy out before anything else happened, Max got prepared to fight.

Toby, meanwhile, had made it to Max's mountain. He hovered at the base of it, just where the ground began to rise steeply upward. His heart was beating out of his chest and his thoughts kept going back to Ben, alone and likely dead or injured. Toby had not really understood the dangers of the Guard until he had seen the woman. Ben had told him, briefly, what Max said, but Toby had just shrugged it off. He certainly had not wanted to deal with the Guard, since he and Ben were both weak and not strong at all, thus he had run. He should have known better and believed Max.
“Max!!” Toby yowled, his voice echoing about, despite the trees around him.
There were no replies, no movement to indicate Max might be there, listening. Toby tried a few more times before he could not stand it anymore and turned around to go back. He had left a trail of broken branches to allow him to find his way back, as he had seen Ben once do, and followed it carefully. His legs ached, but his worry for Ben spurred him on, back South, until he came across a sight he had been dreading since Max introduced himself to them.
Max was standing over the body of a freshly killed boy. Toby thought he recognized him, but he was not certain. It seemed Max had made quick work of him, twisting and breaking his neck. The body was still twitching, but the life was gone from his eyes. Toby held back the bile that rose from his stomach and stepped forward.
“Max! Ben's in danger!” He shouted, startling Max.
“God, Toby, I've been looking all over for you!” Max snapped in annoyance, recovering.
“We don't have time, Max! One of the Guards has Ben, we have to save him!” Toby yowled, rushing over and carefully stepping over the dead body.
“It's okay, I took care of it already.” Max assured Toby with a sigh, stepping closer.
“Then where is he?” Toby demanded, his temper short, though knowing Max could and would kill made Toby careful with his tone.
“He couldn't keep up, so I left him behind. He should be safe, but we should get back now that you are here.” Max replied, and quickly began to move away.