Hunter's Academy (Veller) (36 page)

“You know he’s not going to like you leaving clues for the other group.”

“Why should I care what Carter likes, I can sleep at night.”

“So, you’re going to tell him?”

“Hell no.” She said as she headed for the rope, the fresh air and the sun. She heard Daniel laughing behind her.

Kile found the rope and the fresh air, but not the sun as the sky was dark with thick layers of clouds. They wouldn’t have to worry about searching for water today.

The heavens had been kind to them, until they reached the bottom of the mountain, then it opened up and began to rain. It was a light drizzle at first, but it soon turned into a downpour. If she didn’t know better she would have sworn the Mystics had something to do with this sudden change in the weather, just another obstacle for the cadets to overcome.

“We should have stayed back in the hole.” Alex complained
. His wild hair matted flat against his head by the rain. At least now she knew whose hood they cut off for the water skin. Kile removed her own cloak, much to Vespers annoyance since he had been hiding in her hood to keep dry.

“Sorry about that Vesper.” She said to the yarrow as she slipped him into
the pack that hung at her side. “You’ll be dryer in here anyway.”

-Don’t like water-

Vesper complained.

“Hold up guys.” Kile called out as she handed Alex her cloak.

“What’s this for?” He asked.

“Switch, you
’re getting drenched.” She told him.

Alex didn’t wait to be asked twice. He quickly slipped out of his cloak and exchanged it
for hers. Fortunately they took the same size in cloaks, not that the quartermaster had too many sizes to choose from. He pulled the hood over his head and thanked her.

“Don’t mention it.”
She replied. Her hat kept most of the water off her head anyway. “Where are we supposed to be going anyhow?”

Alex unrolled the illusionary map and held it out in front of him.
She wondered if it was necessary for him to unroll it each time they wanted to use it, since it wasn’t a real map and it wasn’t really rolled up. She looked over his shoulder to read it. If the map was right, they weren’t far from their final orb.

“We should be able to get there tonight.” She told the others.

“Well, that’s some good news.” Carter replied.

Alex rolled the map back up until it disappeared,
she shook her head and kept walking, he was on his way to becoming a first class mystic, always showing off.

They never stopped for lunch or supper, they didn’t have anything to eat anyway and to forage for f
ood would have taken away time which they also didn’t have. According to the map they still had quite a distance to go before they could get back to the academy. Even if they were lucky enough to find the orb by nightfall, it would take them two days to reach the Western gates, and that was assuming nothing hindered them along the way. Instead they split the half bar of hardtack that was found in the lost pack, although no one was eager to eat it, except maybe Alex who actually liked the stuff.

They pushed themselves forward as the skies grew darker, the air grew closer and the distant sound of thunder echoed through the valley. It was going to be a harsh night. By the time evening rolled on them, and it was becoming too dark to continue, Daniel spotted the campfire in the distance.

“Looks like someone beat us to the punch.” Carter said.

“That doesn’t mean anything.” Daniel replied. “Besides, maybe they’ll lend us a hand.”

“Yeah right, what’s in it for them, it's not like we have anything to offer.”

“Maybe they’ll do it out of the goodness of their hearts.” Daniel replied as he looked over at Kile and
grinned.

-Dogs-

Vesper’s voice echoed in Kile’s head, bringing with it a sense of danger.

“Hold up you guys.” She called out.

“What are we stopping for now?” Carter asked.

She
ignored him as she opened the pack that hung at her side, looking down at the yarrow who stared back up at her.

“What’s the problem Vesper? What’s wrong?” She asked him, at this point she didn’t care who was watching.

-Dogs, dogs and Vir in the forest-

“Men with dogs.” She said as she quickly
fell into her edge and scanned the forest, only then did she pick up on them. Two men, two dogs, two different locations.

“Back this
way guys, we have a problem.”

“What problem? What are you on about?” Carter asked.

“There are men in the forest with dogs, at least two of them, there could be more.” She said.

“How do you…” Carter started to ask, but Daniel cut him off.

“Where Kile?”

She paused for a moment, laying it out in her mind.

“One directly ahead of us, about fifty yards, the other a little farther away, maybe seventy, eighty yards off to the north.”

“Why would there be do
gs in the forest?” Daniel asked

“You think the last orb is guarded?” Alex asked.

“I’ll find out.” Carter said with confidence as he began to slip into his own edge.

“Wait.” Kile stopped him. “You may be able to slip past the
vir, but you won’t fool the dogs.”

“The what?”

“The… men, you may be able to slip past the men, but you won’t fool the dogs.”

“You’re underestimating my edge.” Carter replied in a boasting manner.

“You’re underestimating mine.” She replied. “How do you think I was able to defend against you when you pulled your edge on me during our first duel. No, the vir can be fooled, the dogs can’t.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

***~~~***

13

He was not from the academy, not in the sense that he was a hunter, but instead a city guard, although he was not dressed in the city livery. He wore banded armor with quilted slacks and high leather boots, an ill fitted helm concealed most of his face, probably his idea of what a brigand would wear. Even though he wasn’t dressed like a city guard, he
definitely patrolled like one. It was the way they walked, the way they held themselves, like stiff pieces of wood on wheels. It was not uncommon from the Hunter’s Guild to employ city security for the more mundane task, like waiting out in the wild for five days hoping that a bunch of cadets would come along. Anything for a few extra coins to spend in the pub.

The dog was as stiff and as focused as his master that was until he picked up on the scent. His entire body tensed as the hair on the back of his neck stood up and he began to growl in a low menacing tone.

“What is it boy, what do you ya got.” The guard asked as tightened his grip on the leash. He scanned the forest but could see nothing through the dense rain. Only by the random flashes of lightning did he have any hopes of seeing anything in the darkness. He placed his hand gently upon the hilt of his sword. He knew the rules, he knew what to expect, but he wasn’t taking any chances. The dog pulled at the leash and the guard crouched down beside him.

“You got something boy, you got something?” He said,
egging on the dog as he released the clasp. Once freed the dog shot off into the high grass the guard drew his sword and followed.

He cursed as he cut his way through the thick brush, the rain soaked branches hanging lower made it even harder for him to keep up, and he only stopped when the forest suddenly went
quiet.

“
Javoon?” He called out, but there was no reply. “Javoon, where are ya boy?”

He was answered only by the distant sound of thunder.
The city guard pressed on through the high grass, stumbling out the other side, what he saw was not what he expected.

A young girl with long red hair sat face to face with the guard dog, they were staring at each other in a small clearing under a large pine tree.

“Hey… hey you there.” The guard called out, walking slowly. “You better be careful there miss, that dog’s dangerous.”

Neither the dog, nor the young girl looked up, or paid him any mind as he started to get closer, if he didn’t know better, he would have sworn they were carrying on a conversation. He took a few more steps in their direction when something or someone stopped him as he felt a hand press against his chest. He gripped his sword and was ready to defend himself, but he couldn’t see who to defend himself against.

“We don’t want to hurt you.”

The Guard spun around and nearly fell over backwards. It was the largest man he had ever seen, standing nearly seven
feet tall with his head in the trees, dressed in black armor with a helmet that was crafted into the shape of a grinning white skull. He held a battle ax that was so large, it could have cut the guard in two with one swing. How this juggernaut managed to sneak up behind him so easily defied logic.

“You may want to put your sword down.” The grinning skull said.

Although the voice sounded a bit meek considering the bulk that it was coming from, the guard decided that the few extra coins the Hunter’s Guild was offering wasn’t worth it. He dropped his sword.

“Thank you.”

A tall slim man stepped out from behind one of the trees.  His face was barely visible from under the hood of his cloak, but the guard could make out that he was rather young.

“We don’t want to see anyone get hurt.” He said as he raised one glowing blue hand and touched the guard’s forehead. It was the last thing the guard remembered of that night.

“You killed him?” Alex cried as he walked through the glowing
skulled juggernaut that slowly faded out of existence.

“Of course not.” Daniel replied. He knelt down beside the guard, placing his finger along side the man’s neck just to make sure he hadn’t. “He’s fine.”

“Did you know that was going to work?” Carter asked.

“Truthfully… no. I had never tried that before.”
He replied.

“How long is he going to be out?”

“A couple of hours at the most.”

Carter picked up the guards fallen sword and turned it over in his hand, feeling the weight and the balance. “Why do you think they would use outsiders?” He asked. “You would think that Hunter’s would have been better suited.”

“That would require hunters to use their edge against other hunters, and it is strictly prohibited in the hunter’s code.” Alex chimed in.

“I think it’s a little more th
an just that.” Daniel added.

“Who knows?”

Carter gently sets the sword beside the sleeping guard, and then turned and looked to where Kile and the dog were still sitting face to face.

“She’s really talking to that dog… isn’t she?” He asked.

“Yep.” Daniel replied.

“I mean… really talking to the dog. Like, actually carrying on a two way conversation.”

“Yep.”

“Is that… normal?”

“It depends on your definition of normal.” Daniel explained. “If you’re asking if it’s rare, then yes, it’s a very rare edge, I’m not sure of any other Hunter that can do it, past or present, but then you can’t really be sure since Hunter’s keep their edges secret.”

“So… she can talk to other animals too, like that rodent of hers.”

“Vesper? Oh yeah, she talks to Vesper. She can also talk to squirrels.”

“What does that have to do with… the squirrels… with the apples… that was her?”

“Yep.”

Carter sat down against the tree shaking his head.

“And here I am suggesting that she probably cheated during the first survival exercise.”

“Yep.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“A hunter’s edge is known only by the hunter and the mystic that teaches him, and anybody else the hunter
wants to tell. If she wanted to tell you, she would have.”

“She told you.”

“That's different. I think up until now she was a little self conscious about her edge. Now she’s finally seeing how useful it is.”

“If it can get us some information about what’s going on
in that camp, it will be very useful, we still don’t’ know how many guards are in there, or even if our last orb is there.”

“Five guards, minus the one you guys
took care of.” Kile said as she and the guard dog approached. “And yes there is a box in the tent on the east side of the camp, as to whether or not our orb is in there that waits to be seen, but it does match the description of the other boxes, oh… and this is Javoon, he’s agreed to help.”

“Why?” Carter asked as he looked between the guard dog and Kile. He was still coming to grips that she was actually talking to the animal.

“Believe it or not, because of Gorum.” Kile replied with a sigh. “When the guards were at the academy getting their instruction and picking up their boxes, the guard dogs were with Gorum and Hunar. It would appear that Gorum asked them to help us out.”