Jack Templar and the Monster Hunter Academy: The Templar Chronicles: Book 2 (21 page)

"I don't...I guess you..." Eva stammered.

"This is not a time for games, child," Aquinas said sternly. "Does he have feelings for you?"

"Yes. Yes, he does," Eva said.

"Good," Aquinas said. "That will be helpful in pulling him back from the darkness. Come sit here and take his hand. The rest of you leave us. I'll send word if anything changes. You have my promise."

I watched as Eva took a seat next to the stretcher and cupped Daniel's hand in her own. Will tugged on my shoulder.

"C'mon, Jack," he said. "Let's give them some space."

I nodded, and, with one last look at Eva, followed Will and T-Rex down the stairs.

As we descended, my legs turned weak and began to shake. Will noticed and grabbed hold of my arm to support me. After the constant adrenaline rush of facing down death at every turn, it was as if my body finally recognized it was safe and decided to give in to the fatigue. The rest of the hunters were gathered below the tree in the courtyard and they looked at me curiously. I knew they wanted answers to their questions. That they wanted to hear what had happened outside the Academy gates. But now was not the time.

“Just get me to the dorms, Will,” I whispered.

“You got it. Come on, T-Rex. Clear a way,” Will said.

T-Rex walked in front of us, asking the hunters to step aside. They parted easily, creating a long path for us through the crowd. Will continued to hold me up as we walked and I was thankful he was there. Without him, I was sure I would have fallen to the ground. I expected the hunters to bark out questions as we passed, but they didn’t. They were as quiet as if we were in church. I mostly kept my eyes to the ground, trying to focus on keeping my balance, but when I glanced up I was taken by the looks on the faces around me. Rather than the suspicious stares I’d been given since I’d arrived at the Academy, the other hunters looked at me with a mix of curiosity and respect. Admiration, even. Some of them even reached out and patted me softly on the shoulder as I passed.

I nodded, thankful they weren’t asking questions. I made my way into the dorms, intending to take a shower to scrub the shrieker blood off of me. But the second I saw my bed, I knew a shower would have to wait. I fell into my bunk, not even bothering to kick off my muddy boots, and curled up in a ball. Will and T-Rex were saying something but it sounded distant… hazy, like they were deep underwater. I closed my eyes and felt the world begin to melt away. As sleep washed over me, I saw the black, hulking form of Tiberon pacing back and forth impatiently on a snow-covered field. He turned in my direction as if he had seen me, his eyes piercing into mine.

Tiberon then lowered his head to the ground and ran straight at me. Faster and faster he came, until he was right on top of me. At the last second, he jumped and seemed to dissolve as he passed through me. It was the last thing I remembered before dropping off into a deep, black, dreamless sleep.

I had no sense of how much time had passed when I opened my eyes. I was under the bedcovers and my clothes had been replaced with sweatpants and a t-shirt. Sunlight filled the room and the rest of the bunk beds in the dorm were still made and empty. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and waited for my head to clear. I stretched my arms, surprised to find that I wasn’t that sore. The bruises on my legs were gone too, even if smudges of the shrieker blood still remained. Shrieker blood. The attack. The wolves.

Daniel.

I stood up and ran to the door.

Outside, lessons were in progress in the snow-covered courtyard. A brilliant winter’s sun reflected off the snow, nearly blinding me. A young hunter doing a disciplinary lap around the Academy walls approached me. He smiled wide when he saw me.

“You’re awake,” he buzzed. “Everyone will be so excited.”

“Daniel. How’s Daniel?” I asked. “Did he…”

“Are you going to tell us what happened?” the young hunter asked excitedly. “Some people thought the wolves got the two of you. I smelled the stench on you, though. That’s not wolf’s blood, I told them. That’s something else.”

I grabbed the young hunter by the arm and pulled him to me. “What’s your name?” I asked.

“Kyle,” he said, the smile disappearing from his face. “M…my…name’s Kyle.”

“OK, Kyle,” I said patiently. “I really want to know how Daniel is doing. Do you know anything?”

“Daniel? He’s fine. I mean, not fine like walking around and stuff yet, but he’s going to make it,” Kyle said.

I took a heavy breath and felt a weight lift from my shoulders. Daniel was alive. Good. Now my thoughts turned to what I needed to do next. I patted Kyle on the back. “That’s great news. Thanks.” I turned and walked back into the dorms. I felt Kyle’s curious eyes on me so I looked over my shoulder and said, “Shriekers. It was shrieker blood, not wolf. You can tell your friends you were right.”

Kyle grinned. “Thanks, Jack. Hope you feel better.”

I smiled and walked back inside. I did feel better, but I also knew I had a big decision ahead of me and a conversation I didn’t think was going to go very well.

I made my way to the showers and turned two of the heads to the hottest setting. A hot shower had never felt so good. I used a heavy brush and scrubbed at the shrieker blood until my skin felt raw. Then I washed my hair three times trying to get the stench out. Finally, I just stood there, letting the torrents of water pound on my muscles.

“Jack? Are you in there?”

I almost slipped and fell onto the floor. It was Eva.

“Yeah,” I called. “Don’t come in here.” I searched the room. The towels were way on the other side.

“Are you all right?” Eva called, closer now.

“I’m fine. I said don’t come in here. You heard me, right?”

“What?” she called out. “You need a hand?”

I saw movement near the doorway. “No!” I shouted, just as Eva turned the corner. “I’m naked!”

Just in time, Eva whirled around, keeping her back to me. “Whoa, why didn’t you say so?” Eva asked.

I ran across the room to the shelf of towels and wrapped one around my waist. “What did you expect I’d be doing in the shower?” I asked.

“Are you decent?”

“Yeah, I guess,” I said.

She turned around and studied me. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine. I heard Daniel’s better.”

“His fever broke. He’s eating food now so the danger has passed. The poison has worked its way out. He should be back to full strength in a day or two.”

“That quick?” I asked. “That’s fantastic. I thought he was in real trouble.”

“He was. You saved his life by getting him back here the way you did,” Eva said.

“It was nothing,” I said, a little embarrassed by the attention.

“It was the kind of nothing that took a lot out of you. Do you realize you slept for over twenty-four hours?” Eva asked.

“Really?”

My body must have needed it. And I could feel the difference. Ever since my Change the night before my fourteenth birthday, my body had been freakishly stronger. Now it seemed like it repaired itself faster, too. I stretched my neck to look at my back in one of the mirrors on the wall. The deep scratches from scraping against the trees in our escape from the shriekers were just faint red lines. It was exciting, but it scared me a little at the same time. My body wasn’t done changing…and I wasn’t entirely sure what it was changing into.

“Hello?” Eva said. “Anyone there? You just went a million miles away.”

“Sorry, just a lot to process. There’s something I need to tell you but I think I should tell Aquinas at the same time. Will you come with me?”

Eva could see I was serious. She nodded. “Of course. Can I make a suggestion, though?”

“Sure.”

“Maybe put some pants on first,” she said, nodding to the towel around my waist.

Minutes later, fully dressed, Eva and I walked across the training field toward the Templar Tree. The hunter trainees glanced over at us as we passed despite the instructors shouting at them to maintain their focus on the exercise they were doing. I spotted Will on the opposite side of the field, locked in a mock knife fight with one of the older boys. I headed in that direction, Eva keeping up beside me.

As we walked up, Will executed a brilliant move, sliding on the snowy ground through the legs of his sparring partner, jumping up and jamming the blunt wooden practice knife between the older boy’s shoulder blades.

The other boys cheered for him. Will beamed and waved off the applause, but I could tell he loved it. He saw me and the smile disappeared, replaced with a concerned look. He patted his sparring partner on the back and walked over to us.

“Look who’s risen from the dead,” he said. “I thought you were going to sleep until Christmas.”

“Nice move,” I said.

“A little showy for my taste,” Eva muttered.

“Got the job done,” Will said.

“Can you come with us? I have to tell Aquinas something and I’d like you to hear it too,” I said.

Will glanced over to the instructor hovering nearby who nodded his head. “Sounds exciting,” Will said. “Let’s go.”

The three of us walked back through the training field. Eva turned toward the tree but I stopped her. “Not yet. We’re still missing one.”

We found T-Rex in the kitchen scrubbing pots. He looked up and rushed to me, giving me a huge, wet, soapy hug.

“C’mon,” I said. “There’s something you need to be a part of.”

As we walked out of the kitchen I heard T-Rex whisper to Will. “Any idea what this is all about?”

“No idea. Better than washing dishes though, right?” Will said.

One final time, the four of us strode across the training field. Now, even the instructors stopped what they were doing to watch us make our way through the snow. All activity stopped on the yard as we neared the tree.

None of us spoke. Even without telling them what I was about to do, my friends could sense something serious was about to happen. I felt stronger with them next to me. I just didn’t know how they were going to react when I told them I had decided to embark on the most dangerous journey possible.

And that I would be doing it on my own.

We sat in the deep cushioned couches in the far corner, away from where Daniel was still recovering. I described to Aqunias in detail everything that had happened in the woods. How the challenge from Daniel had come about, the attack by the shriekers, the appearance of the wolves and how we had hidden in the cave. I didn’t recount the story that Daniel had told me about the day Ren Lucre killed his family. I was sure Aquinas already knew and it was Daniel’s story to tell the others if he chose.

It was when I came to the part of the story about Tiberon that Aquinas rose from her chair and paced the room as I spoke. I shared the visions of the past that Tiberon had shown me and how he had become the creature he was today. I told them everything, except the terms of the pact I had made with him.

“He said that he told my father the location of the five Jerusalem Stones,” I said.

“Impossible, he would have told me,” Aquinas said.

“He was sworn to secrecy,” I explained. “And when he went for the Stones, he was captured.”

“And you trust Tiberon?” Eva chimed in, with one eye trained on Aquinas. “You said so yourself—he betrayed the Order. He’s a traitor.”

“My father trusted him. That’s good enough for me. Besides, he saved us from the shriekers. If he wanted to kill me, he could have just done it while we were out there,” I said.

“Maybe it was just payback,” T-Rex said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Yeah, T-Rex might be onto something,” Will said. “You saved his bacon that first night, right? That whole thing with the arrow. So he owed you one.”

“A blood debt,” Eva said.

“Yeah, a blood debt,” Will agreed. “He paid you back out in the woods and now you’re even. What’s to say he’s not just trying to get you out there one more time so he can bite your head off?”

“Ewww…” T-Rex groaned. “I just pictured Jack’s head getting bitten off. Can we use a different figure of speech?”

“I don’t think it’s a figure of speech. The wolf is big enough to take Jack’s head clear off in one bite. You’re lucky you survived,” Eva marveled.

The three of them turned to me and waited. I glanced up at Aquinas who seemed deep in thought.

“You weren’t there,” I said. “I was able to communicate with him. Like I was inside his mind. I think I would have felt it if he meant to hurt me.”

Aquinas tapped the floor with her walking staff. The rest of us fell silent. “As you know, I recently traveled from the Academy,” Aquinas said. “Although I perhaps could have stopped all this from happening if I stayed, the trip was not without merit. Certain allies of the Black Guard were able to share with me that Ren Lucre’s preparations have reached new heights. They speak of a goblin army being raised and Creach infiltrators worming their way into the halls of power of the great nations.”

“All the more reason we need not only the Jerusalem Stones, but the Templar Ring as well,” I said.

Aquinas shook her head. “It’s too early. You’re not yet ready.”

“There is no time!” I exclaimed, raising my voice. “I have to do this. I wanted your understanding but I’m not here to ask your permission.”   

“Enough!” Aquinas bellowed, her eyes flashing anger. “You gave me your oath that you would stay at the Academy until you became a full hunter. I expect you to honor that pledge, young Templar.” She walked up to me and stared me in the eye. “Or will you prove yourself not worthy of that name and go back on your word?”

“I think he intends to keep his pledge to you, Master Aquinas,” Eva whispered. “Jack, I know what you’re thinking. You can’t.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “But I have no choice.” I turned and strode toward the stairs. Aquinas seemed to realize too late what I had planned.

“Wait, Jack,” Aquinas called out. “Have patience.”

“Sorry,” I called over my shoulder. “Turns out that patience doesn’t run in the family.”

I ran down the staircase, ignoring Eva, Will and T-Rex’s calls behind me. The training field fell quiet at the spectacle of the three of them chasing me down the stairs and across the field.