The Red Rider (The Red Rider Saga Book 1) Read online

  COME ALONG FOR THE RIDE.

  PRAISE FOR The Red Rider Saga

  (from previous editions)

  “I got sucked in from the beginning. … I was up all night reading, imagining and feeling for this poor girl … heartbreak and twists and adventure all rolled into one. … This is a book to let a young woman read to teach about inner strength and what one young girl can do against so many odds. That one action can accomplish so much. This book gets my absolute seal of approval. I could even picture this story on the big screen!

  Angi Burns ~Rabid Readers Book Blog

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  “Get ready to see the classic tale reimagined as you’ve never seen it before. … transforming a children’s fairy tale into a supernatural action thriller with a Zorro-style vigilante.”

  A.K. Preston, author of The Gevaudan Project

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  “A thrilling paranormal Red Riding Hood. … a well-written retelling with a twist and a much stronger Red. … would recommend it to anyone who likes paranormal thrillers or reimagined fairy tales.

  C.S. Wachter, author of The Sorcerer’s Bane

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  “Action filled novel. Journey of a teenage girl. A story of love, courage, friendship and more. The author has got it all in this book.”

  Jay Deb, author of The Assassin

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  “[Randall]’s unauthorized sequel to Little Red Riding Hood blends great characters with a compelling storyline and places it in the middle of a legendary premise`… a well-told story about seeking justice rather than revenge and finding a way to properly overcome evil. What I liked best about this tale was that this little girl was a flawed character—and she seemed to have all rights to believe the way she believed and think the way she thinks—but [Randall] is careful not to glorify the fact she wants revenge. In fact, the story is about Red learning through her quest to destroy the wolves that revenge will, in fact, destroy herself. It’s a big concept and [Randall] does it well.”

  Josh Olds, Life is Story

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  “There are stories with great writing styles. Those that have amazing plots. Those that sustain your attention with every word. Ones that exceed your expectations of great lines, with a satisfying ending. Mr. [Randall] accomplished all of these aspects. I can only hope that the right person will come across The Red Rider and turn it into a movie that is sure to be a box-office hit.”

  Kym McNabney, Story Contributor, Childhood Regained: Stories of Hope for Asian Child Workers by Jodie Renner and Steve Hooley

  WHAT READERS ARE SAYING

  (from previous editions)

  “Full of thrilling discoveries and heart-pounding adventure! Helena “Red” is as complex, driven, and bold as Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games). You will be cheering for her from the start!”

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  “This book was fantastic!!!!!!! Once I started reading I couldn't put it down. A fantastic twist on the original Red Riding Hood. Helena is my hero.”

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  “Fantastic, suspenseful retelling of Red Riding Hood. A story of wolves and black magic. How the beautiful, innocent child Helena, becomes the physically scarred, determined, skillful hunter of wolves. How the stuff of nightmares becomes reality for a whole community, and a young woman's strength and overwhelming desire to completely destroy the terror that haunts her dreams and waking moments. Powerful imagery, wonderful storytelling. I thoroughly recommend it.”

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  “Definitely not what I expected. There were plenty of twists and turns packed into this book. A good read for any fairytale/fantasy lover.”

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  “While the story takes place in France a long time ago, it has a contemporary feel to it, and the story moves quickly. You find yourself rooting for the main character. I'll certainly buy the next [D.A. Randall] novel if it's as good as this one.”

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  “The Red Rider is a well written book full of adventure, mystery, twists and turns with a fair amount of moral teachings included. This is a book that would be excellent for young teens and adults alike.”

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  “If you enjoyed Little Red Riding Hood as a child, you will love this book. It has mystery, adventure, and suspense. Once you start to read it you won't be able to stop until you finish it. This is the first time I have read anything by this author but he has found a fan of his writings. He is an amazing storyteller.”

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  “Imagine Little Red Riding Hood being scarred by her traumatic encounter with the big bad wolf, and imagine that the big bad wolf ‘isn't a wolf.’ Then let her grow into an angry teenager, give her a red cape, a reloading crossbow and a grappling hook, and gallop with her on her one-supergirl-war against a coven of big bad wolves. The Red Rider is a teen action-fantasy hero and that is how the novel reads. No spoilers here: The suspense with author [D.A. Randall] is just how dark this fantasy will turn, as he takes the white-washed premise of the Brothers Grimm and gets much, much grimmer. A great fit with the grown-up fairy-tale versions of recent years that has emerged in print and film. I recommend it with pleasure.

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  THE RED RIDER

  by

  D.A. Randall

  Copyright © 2020 by Randall Allen Dunn

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  D.A. Randall is the fantasy and paranormal thriller pen name of author Randall Allen Dunn.

  D.A. Randall writes fantasy and paranormal thrillers that read like blockbuster movies!

  D.A. Randall is the fantasy and paranormal thriller pen name of author Randall Allen Dunn.

  You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. You can also read his Character Entertainment blog –

  Building Character Through Fiction – at www.RandallAllenDunn.com

  For the latest releases, you can subscribe to the

  Packing Action Newsletter Datafile at:

  https://redriderrising.ck.page/aff3f118aa

  D.A.RANDALL

  Fantasy and Paranormal Thrillers

  The Red Rider

  Red Rider Rising

  Red Rider Redemption

  Non-Fiction

  Wizards, Wardrobes & Halflings (Faith in Fiction Devotional)

  RANDALL ALLEN DUNN

  Suspense and Action Thrillers

  Den

  High Adventure: The Solomon Ring of Kilimanjaro

  2 Tales: Devil in the Details

  2 Tales: Suspicious

  2 Tales: Christmas Spirits

  Kids’ Fantasy and Action Adventure

  The Island of Myste

  Terror on the Island of Myste

  Escape from the Island of Myste

  Non-Fiction

  Making Fiction Funny! How to Create Story Humor

  The

  RED RIDER

  by

  D.A. RANDALL

  Table of Contents

  MY HUNT

  1


  2

  3

  4

  5

  MY MONSTER

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  MY FATE

  11

  12

  NOTE FROM AUTHOR D.A. RANDALL

  RED RIDER RISING – FREE OFFER!

  PREVIEW OF BOOK 2: RED RIDER RISING

  RANDALL ALLEN DUNN ACTION THRILLERS

  MY HUNT

  1.

  I gripped my crossbow as I approached the tavern, ready to fight whatever wolves I found inside. This had become my life.

  I had approached La Maison de Touraine on horseback a few minutes earlier, clomping across the cobblestone streets, my red hooded cloak wafting behind me in the chill wind. I could hear the revelry inside La Maison, beyond the two men loitering on the front stoop. I recognized them both from the first night I had entered the tavern two months ago. One of them was squat and chubby, the other one tall with a thick moustache. Both had looked surly and itching to fight.

  Their eyes now bulged at the sight of me, a dark hooded figure in trousers and boots atop a fiery red horse, as I pulled Crimson to a halt. They recognized me as well. They also remembered that, beneath the imposing hood, I was a mere sixteen-year old girl with blonde hair and a scarred face. Nevertheless, they parted for me like the Red Sea, stepping back with weak smiles. The shorter man half-bowed as if I were the Queen. “Evening, Mademoiselle,” he said, keeping his head down.

  “Evening,” I answered dully, striding past him. We weren’t friends. He seemed content not to be my enemy.

  I didn’t tie up Crimson, but left him standing at the hitching post. He would wait for me. And one fiery snort from him rattled the men enough to ensure they wouldn’t harass him.

  I pushed open the oak double doors, entering the offensive smoke and din of La Maison. A din that diminished to near silence as the revelers saw me. My boots clomped across the floorboards as I strode to the bar. Everyone gradually returned to their table conversations, though in quieter tones. Behind the counter, the tavern keeper, Gerard Touraine, busied himself polishing a mug. He barely glanced up at me. As I approached, the three men seated on stools before him slid off their seats and moved away to other tables.

  Touraine kept staring down at the mug he was cleaning as he said, “Order a drink.”

  I spread my cloak behind me and sat on the barstool. “A quart of your finest ale, Monsieur.”

  Touraine soured at my attempt at humor. “Or perhaps some water, until you’re much older,” he said. He grabbed a separate pitcher beneath the counter to fill a mug for me. “Don’t look yet, but there’s a big man in the corner who seems to be one of them. He’s been talking about the recent wolf attacks all night with his cronies there. I assume they’re part of it, too, but he must be one, don’t you think?”

  Touraine turned his back to me to scrub the rear counter. I turned slowly to survey the room, taking my time to “discover” the large man he had noticed. Before my eyes fell on him, I spied the man in question from the corner of my eye.

  Even seated, he seemed a head taller than the six men surrounding him. Despite the tavern’s subdued atmosphere, he and his friends had quickly resumed a raucous conversation. Yet his voice rang a bit louder, his smile a bit broader, and his attention remained fixed on me without apology. His back and shoulders appeared a foot wider than any other man in the room. His physique alone would make any sane person back down.

  But I wasn’t backing down anymore.

  I let my gaze settle on him as he stared back at me. I studied him another few seconds, long enough for several others to see me watching him. To think I had spotted him myself out of the crowd without Touraine’s assistance.

  The man stopped talking and grinned at me.

  I strode toward his table. His friends jerked upright in their chairs, but the man himself simply leaned on one elbow to watch me approach. I drew closer, amazed at how his size dwarfed those around him. Could he actually be nearly seven feet tall?

  I stood before the silent table in my flowing cloak. He stared at me from beneath a clump of black hair that fell across his eyes like dead leaves. A jagged scar ran down the left side of his face, like someone had tried to cut straight into his skull.

  “Enjoying yourself?” I said at last.

  “Immensely,” he said, his voice thick as granite. “And you?”

  “I will be, by night’s end,” I said.

  “Now that sounds promising.” He leaned forward, as if hoping to attract me. “Though I must say, you’re not much of a prize with that face. You look as though you were attacked by some animal, like a large wolf. Did we do that?”

  My nerves flared. I could almost feel the triple scars burning across my face. This man had no shame and no fear. His associates gasped and fidgeted in their seats, but he made no effort to hide that he was one of the men who could transform himself into an oversized wolf.

  That he belonged to the sinister wolf cult called the Lycanthru.

  “I see you’ve got your own scar,” I said evenly, masking my fear and rage.

  He ran his meaty palm down the side of his jaw, tracing the single jagged line. “Small disagreement with a man. He decided to settle it by scraping a broken glass across my face. That was shortly before I acquired real power. After that, I settled the affair with him permanently. Of course, my scar doesn’t run as deep as yours. Still, some women find it attractive.”

  “Some women are stupid,” I said.

  “Doesn’t matter,” jibed the man sitting beside him, suddenly sitting taller and flashing a vicious smile. “He’s only interested in one woman, eh, Grenault?”

  Several of the men laughed in a way I didn’t like.

  The leader – Grenault – folded his hands on the table, still smiling. “You must be the one they call ‘The Red Rider’.”

  “I must be.”

  “I like the color of your cloak. The color of blood. If anything bad happened to you, it would be difficult to sort out the cloak from the girl, shrouded in all that bloody mess.”

  I clenched my jaw. “You’ll have no trouble finding the mess,” I said. “You’ll be swimming in it.”

  “Fierce, isn’t she?” he said to the others as he kept his eyes on me. “I am Luc Grenault. Soon to become the new Prime.”

  I inhaled slowly. He was far more ambitious than most Lycanthru. Making him far more dangerous. “Does the current Prime know you plan to replace him?”

  “The Lycanthru have grown timid,” he said, his eyes blazing. “When our order becomes frightened of a little scarfaced girl, it’s time for a change in leadership.”

  “How fortunate for them that you’ve volunteered to take over. If you live long enough.”

  “No need to fret about my welfare, Mademoiselle. And the Lycanthru will be all too eager to follow me and my friends in the new order, once I deliver you to them, dead or barely alive.”

  I shrugged. “We all have goals.”

  “Yes,” he agreed. “However, we don’t all have claws and fangs.”

  “We don’t all need them,” I said, pushing my cloak away from the repeating crossbow hanging from my hip.

  The other men recoiled. They knew that each of my bolts had been tipped with silver. And that even a trace of silver would kill them – in human or wolf form – within seconds.

  Grenault didn’t flinch, but fixed his eyes on me like a hungry crocodile. “Well. Aren’t you intimidating?”

  “I can be. When properly motivated.”

  “Forgive me,” he said jovially, leaning back. “I’m being rude, aren’t I? Let me introduce you to my associates. This is Gregor Verona and Thayer Gillette. Thayer is a police deputy so ask him any questions you have about the law. Gregor is an apprentice to Doctor Renoire so he can let you know what will happen to each of your extremities if you lose too much blood.” The two black-haired men at the end of the table flashed charming smiles that
chilled my spine.

  ”The rest of us work in the coal mine, mostly, and share a house together. Robillet Neuville and Tumier Baguette …” He extended his arm toward the other end of the table, where a smooth-skinned man gave a less frightening smile, while the man beside him grinned like a child pulling the wings off a fly.

  “And finally, my closest friends, Devereaux Charlet, always spoiling for a fight …”

  The tall man on his left narrowed his eyes at me, looking ready to leap across the table and tear me apart.

  “… and Jareau La Rue. I’ve taught him everything I know, which I’m sure he’s eager to demonstrate to you. Eh, Jareau?”

  The blond man frowned at me, jutting his chin. “More than eager, Grenault.” He leaned over the table, like a panther ready to strike. “I’m hungry for it.”

  I clenched my fists to mask my fear. I had not felt this unsettled in weeks, when I first confronted the Lycanthru. As I approached this table tonight, Grenault showed no fear of me, but the others did. However, they were now following his lead. Arrogant. Defiant. Malicious. They knew I could kill them, but no longer gave in to their fear. Eating away at my main advantage.