PATH OF THE TIGER VOLUME I of the TOOTH, CLAW AND STEEL EPIC J.M. Hemmings THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN IN BRITISH ENGLISH Copyright © 2019 Jonathan Hemmings All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review. This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. While certain historical characters and incidents are mentioned, these are not intended to be accurate historical representations of said characters and incidents. ISBN (MOBI): 978-1-990930-27-0 Cover design by $k1NnYBw0Y Cover image: detail of The Tiger Hunt (1616) by Peter Paul Rubens (Public Domain) Published by Tree Agama Press Visit the author’s website at www.jmhemmings.com For all the victims, human and nonhuman, of the Sixth Mass Extinction TABLE OF CONTENTS PROLOGUE 1 – WILLIAM 2 – ABOUBAKAR 3 – WILLIAM 4 – CHLOE 5 – ADRIANA 6 – SIGURD 7 – SIGURD 8 – NATHAN 9 – WILLIAM 10 – WILLIAM 11 – WILLIAM 12 – OCTAVIAN 13 – LUCIUS 14 – LUCIUS 15 – MARGARET 16 – MARGARET 17 – ADRIANA 18 – ADRIANA 19 – CHLOE 20 – ZAKARIA 21 – CHLOE 22 – WILLIAM 23 – WILLIAM 24 – WILLIAM 25 – MARGARET 26 – MARGARET 27 – MR MA 28 – NATHAN 29 – MR MA 30 – WILLIAM 31 – WILLIAM 32 – WILLIAM 33 – ESCAPE PART ONE 34 – ESCAPE PART TWO 35 – WILLIAM 36 – WILLIAM 37 – VIRIDOVIX 38 – BATIATUS 39 – SPARTACUS 40 – MARGARET 41 – MARGARET 42 – MARGARET 43 – WILLIAM 44 – WILLIAM 45 – ADRIANA 46 – WILLIAM 47 – WILLIAM 48 – WILLIAM 49 – WILLIAM 50 – RANOMI 51 – NJINGA 52 – WILLIAM 53 – SIGURD 54 – LIGHTNING BIRD 55 – SIGURD 56 – COLONEL RUDD 57 – MARGARET 58 – MARGARET 59 – THE GENERAL 60 – LUCIUS 61 – SPARTACUS 62 – LUCIUS 63 – VIRIDOVIX 64 – VIRIDOVIX 65 – WILLIAM 66 – WILLIAM 67 – HROTHGAR 68 – BATTLE PART I 69 – BATTLE PART II 70 – WILLIAM 71 – WILLIAM ‘In San creation mythology, it is believed that before mankind entered the time of order, rules and society, men and animals lived as equals, as brothers and sisters, and were able to shift forms at will; human could become animal, and animal could become human. They believed that this gift was lost when humankind harnessed the gift of fire – a treacherous gift that separated them from their animal kin, who feared its destructive power. With the passage of many generations, men forgot about their animal forms, severed the bonds of kinship with their animal brethren, and started instead to walk a new path, living under constructed shelters, covering their bodies with clothes, and using tools to cultivate crops and manipulate the earth. However, it was known that a small fraction of men and women nonetheless retained the ancient, pre-civilisation blessing and were able to preserve the connection they had with their animal bodies and souls, into which they were able to change at will. Truly holy were these rare individuals, who walked the earth on lonely paths that spanned uncountable summers and winters, whose years far surpassed the short lifespans of ordinary people. They were the holiest of shamans, the demi-gods, the living links to that earliest and most sacred time of creation and now-lost unity of all life on Earth.’ An Anthropological History of the Kalahari Bushmen, 1982, Dr J.C. De Wet. 'Jacques Michel Lefevre was tried in court before the Magistrate of Carcassonne on the third day of September, the year of our Lord 1594, on the charges of werewolfery and murder while in the form of a werewolf. At the trial, Lefevre confessed to the vile crime of werewolfery, but vehemently denied any association with the Devil or any of his dark servants, including human witches and warlocks. The wretch claimed that he and his werewolf brethren were working for the good of mankind against dark forces bent on domination, subjugation and destruction. He refused absolution from the parish priest and thereby the chance of a merciful death, offered in exchange for a confession of his Devil-worship and the renunciation of his evil werewolf powers, and was then broken on the wheel and finally burned at the stake for his crimes on the 5th day of September, along with two local women convicted of the crime of witchcraft.’ Court records of Carcassonne, France, of the year 1597. ‘Equally at ease Taking form of fox or girl She is kitsune.’ Japanese haiku, 1672, author unknown. The origins of the secret society known as the Huntsmen are not particularly clear, save that they were active before the birth of Christ, and that their secret society was established in Rome, either by a cabal of wealthy citizens or senators of the Republic. Little to nothing is known of the founding members, but what has been clear from the outset is that their primary mission and purpose, throughout recorded history, has always been twofold: their first aim is to utterly exterminate our kind, we who can assume the form of both man and beast, and they will not rest until every last one of us has been purged from existence. The second goal is simple: they aim to rule as gods over all of humanity and conquer the entirety of the living world. Should they succeed in either of these endeavours, an age of darkness hitherto unknown will descend upon the earth. The Chronicles of N’Jalabenadou, Volume I, 1831, author unknown. HIGHLY CLASSIFIED; TOP SECRET CLEARANCE REQUIRED Date: April 20th, 1954 To: Director, FBI From: Agent BC Pawelczyk, stationed in Takotna, Alaska Subject: ‘Werebear’/Unidentified Hominoid Late last night at around 2:15am, Agents Gillespie, Brown and myself, in cooperation with a local tracker, managed to corner and wound a hominoid-type creature deep in the woods, around twelve miles from Takotna. The creature, which in outward appearance is indistinguishable from regular human beings, is able to somehow transmute its physical form from that of a human male into that of a Kamchatka brown bear at will. Whether or not this is some sort of elaborate optical illusion, or an actual biological process which is beyond
