The Fall of Prey

Hunting Season is a novel for fans of fantasy, fairy tales, animals turning into humans, morally gray characters, and complicated family dynamics. Leaf, our protagonist, is a young deer living with his herd. Due to unknown circumstances, Leaf's herd is different, evolved. They have their own language, mostly walk on two legs, and hunt humans as humans hunt them. Hunting is more than a sport for the deer. It is survival. It is power. It is vengeance. Now that Leaf has spikes, he must participate in the hunting season. After killing a human, he begins to doubt whether humans deserve to die. Given a timeline of a year by his father, the herd leader, to figure it out, his first decision involves making a deal with the Fey to understand humans. Little did he know, he would be turned into one. We follow Leaf through his journey as a human as he finds family outside of his herd, becomes attracted to a human boy, and tries to learn their secrets. What will he discover? Are the humans prey? Or are they predators? This novel is around 100,000 words.