Hunter's Academy (Veller) (60 page)

“Says here I’m to report to Luth.” He said, shaking his head.

“There’s another one we’ll have to look up.” Daniel replied. “Go ahead Carter, we’re two for two.”

Carter unrolled his scroll.

“I’m going to Glovgon.” He said with an anticlimactic note.

“That’s a Lumber town in the south west part of Blackmore.” Murphy said. “I have, or had a cousin who moved down that way. Don’t know if he’s still there, or even if he’s still alive.”

“Want to trade?” Carter asked.

“If I was go
ing to trade, I’d trade with Alex.” Murphy replied.

“I ain’t trading with
nobody; I’m going to Baxter’s Bay.” Alex grinned as he hugged the paper close to his chest.

One place was as good as another when you don’t know where the other place is she thought as she looked over the map that was included with the destination papers. They had given her three weeks to report to the Guild House in Coopervill, now all she had to do was find Coopervill. She sat in her old seat at the back of the dinning hall as the noises of the festival filled the air. The Guild had spared no expense on the graduation ceremony. They hired the same bad magician the same armature juggler and the same band as they had during the winter’s feasts. They must receive a discount on package deals.

The food was laid out on a long table along the
south wall where anyone could grab whatever they wanted. There was some singing, some dancing and Alex upstaged the magician with his illusions, but right now the maiden in white was playing one of her haunting melodies and the people stood and listened and Kile watched it all from the back of the room.

She
was starting to feel more and more isolated from the people around her, even from her friends. Was that because of her edge she wondered as she watched Vesper pull apart the salad she no longer had an interested in. She was more at home with the horses and the dogs, and of course the yarrow, than she was with other people.

Mrs. Leary must have noticed her sitting alone and started to walk over, with Daniel right behind her. Kile grabbed Vesper from the table as the yarrow squeaked a protest at being shoved into a bag
. She dumped the rest of the salad in with him to quiet him down.

“Why don’t you join in with the festivities dear?” Mrs. Leary asked as she approached.

“I’m fine thank you ma’am.” Kile replied. “The day’s been a bit much for me.”

“Oh, I understand dear.” The older woman said with a lopsided smile. “It was because of that rude man during the ceremony wasn’t it? He upset you, didn’t he?” Mrs. Leary said as she scanned the room.

Mrs. Leary has been knocking back the cider a bit.

“I don’t think Kile wants to talk about it mother.” Daniel said, coming to Kile’s rescue.

“Well, someone ought to give that young man a good talking to, there was no reason to be rude like that.”

“Mrs. Leary, may I speak with Daniel alone for a moment?” Kile asked as she got up from the table.

“Of course dear, you don’t need my permission.” Mrs. Leary replied, and then whispered rather loudly in Daniel’s ears. “You better hold on to this one dear.”

Daniel’s face was red when he followed Kile
outside.

“I’m leaving.”
She told him.

“What, because of what my mother said.
She’s not used to these types of festivities; she had a tendency to… drink a few.”

“No, your mother is sweet, it’s just that… I don’t know. I just don’t fit in here, I guess I never did. All these people, all this noise…”

“I know.” Daniel said with the same lopsided smile that his mother had, but for some reason, his was sadder. “You’ve changed… a lot.”

“Lets’ not go there.”
She warned him.

“I don’t mean physically, I mean mentally, spiritually. I’ve noticed that you’re more comfortable in the stables th
an in the dinning hall that you sneak out with Oblum’s dogs rather than hang out with us. You’re a lot more in tune with the natural world than what you may think; just remember which world you come from.”

“Will you… give my goodbyes to the others? I don’t really want to drag this out.”

“Of course, they’ll understand, well… maybe not Alex.”

“Alex will get over
it; he’s going to Baxter’s Bay, besides… we’ll see each other before long. I’m sure I’ll be delivering messages to Littenbeck in no time, and if not I just have to write them myself so that I can deliver them.”

“Well, when you do, address them to the guild hospital in care of Certified Level Five Hunter Daniel Leary.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself Probationary Level five. You haven’t received your certificate yet.”

“One month, that all I have to wait, one month.”

-We go? Want to say goodbye.-

Kile opened the
courier pouch and Vesper climbed out on her hand. She lifted him up before Daniel, who looked at her with the ‘what am I suppose to do’ face.

“He wants to say goodbye.” She told him.

“I never said goodbye to a yarrow before.” Daniel said as he stroked the rodent’s head. “Goodbye Vesper, keep an eye on Kile for me, will you.”

Vesper squeaked his assurance even if Daniel didn’t understand, Kile did. She lowered her hand beside the bag and Vesper jumped in.

“I have a feeling I’ll be hearing about you quite a bit.” Daniel grinned. “There aren’t many hunters like you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” She said, and she gave her friend a
hug then turned and headed toward the stables, not looking back.

In some ways she was glad she was leaving, it some ways it was easy, but there would be things she would miss, Daniel
being one of them. She knew she told him that she would write, that she would keep in touch, but how many times had she heard that same thing. That was the problem once you parted. You always want to keep in touch but it never happens. You always say you’ll write but you never do. She wondered if this would be the last time she ever saw him.

She entered the stables and found Rick packing his saddle bags.

“Party over so soon?” He asked.

“It is for me.” She replied. “How far are you going?”

“South a ways, little town of Norton, I have some messages I have to deliver there, don’t suppose you’ve heard of it.”

“Sorry.”
She replied.

“Don’t be, you’ll start to learn where all the cities, towns and
farmhouses are located throughout Aru.”

“How about Coopervill?”

“Coopervill? Yeah, I’ve been up there once or twice.”

“Care for some company, at least part way?”
She asked.

“Sure, why not. How long will it take you to get ready?”

“Been ready.” She replied. “I been ready before the graduation ceremony even started. I have all my stuff waiting for me in the stall beside my horse.”

“You’ve really eager to get to your new home.”
He laughed.

“Home?” She asked, she knew the word, but the meaning was foreign, did she eve
r have a home. “Yeah, I guess so.” She lied.

“Well then, let’s get you set shall we. Where’s your mount?” He asked as he headed into the direction where the fourth year horses had been stabled.”

“The stall all the way at the end.” She told him, and then realized her mistake. “RICK WAIT.”

There was a loud thump followed by a scream then a crash.

-Thirty seven-

She heard Grim laugh.

***~~~***

22

“Look, I really am sorry about that.” Kile said for what had to have been the tenth time since they left the academy.

“It’s alright.” Rick laughed. “He just caught me by surprised, that’s all. Scared the living daylights out of me.”

“Yeah, he has a knack for doing that, and he won’t do it again if he knows what’s good for him.” She replied, directing the last part of that statement at Grim.

Grim snorted his reply.

They had traveled for nearly four hours along the road, moving farther and farther away from the academy. She thought that the more distance she placed between it and her, the more homesick she would feel, but it never happened. It was the same feeling she had when she left Riverport for the entry examination in Littenbeck.
There were people she left behind, people she would miss, but the place was never home. It was just another stop on a longer journey. She had the feeling that Coopervill would be the same; all she had to do was figure out where this journey was taking her.

They had stopped only once for Rick to
“get his bearings” as he put it, but she was sure it was closer to ‘finding a tree’ and she waited with the horses while he disappeared into the woods.

He called his mare Rain Cloud which really didn’t surprise
her since she was a gray horse and most hunters were lacking in originality. Her real name was Taiala, and although she wasn’t overly impressed with her Vir name, she was beginning to accept it. Taiala and Rick had been traveling together for the last three years, ever since he graduated from the academy and the mare had grown rather fond of her owner. Kile also learned a few things from the horse, such as Rick’s full name, Richard Dropus Stewart, and that he liked to play the flute, although he wasn’t very good at it and he had a nasty habit of eating Omna. She had never heard of Omna, but according to Taiala, it had a really bad smell that was offensive to the horse, but it was the stories of the raid on Grover’s Den that interested her. It was the place where Tree had died along with thirteen other Hunters, and although Rick said he was carrying on Tree wishes by being at her graduations, she really hadn’t placed him in Grover’s Den at that time. Unfortunately the mare didn’t understand everything that had gone on during those events, and what information she was able to give her left her with more questions than answers.

They had stopped for the night in a small clearing where the road forked in two
. Rick pointed out the Hunter Marks that had been placed on the tree designating it as a safe place to camp, and while he got the wood together for a fire, Kile set about unpacking the horses. She wanted to talk to Rick about Tree’s death, but she wasn’t sure how to broach the subject, or if Rick even wanted to talk about it.

“I’m afraid this is about as far as we can travel together.” He said as
she handed him his saddle bags. He started pulling rather large quantities of food out, and she wondered if he left anything at the feast for the other guests. “I’ll be taking the south road to Norton in the morning; you’re going to have to take the north road to get to Coopervill. I’d like to take you all the way but… I have to complete my assignment first and if we divert you’ll never get to Coopervill in time.”

“No, that’s alright, I don’t mind traveling alone.” She said, although with Grim and Vesper, she wouldn’t be alone.

“It took me a lot longer to get used to that part of the job.” He laughed as he tossed her a few apples from his food stash. “I… noticed… you were only eating fruit at the feast.” He said as he glanced down at the beef that he had skewered on a stick and was reheating over the fire. “If you want some you’re more than welcome…”

“No, no, please enjoy, this is more th
an enough.”

She took the fruit and sat down on
her blanket across the fire from him and began to cut one of the apples into thin even slices, dropping them into her courier bag. Rick was watching her, and although he was a bit confused by this, he didn’t ask her about it.

“Can I ask you why you don’t eat meat?”

“It’s kind of complicated.” She replied.

“Is it like a religious thing?”

“A what?”

“A religious thing, you know, you’re not allowed to eat meat because it goes against your beliefs.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s kind of like that… in a way.”

“
That's cool, I can respect that. I was raised a Thian myself, but I seldom practice it.”

Kile
smiled and nodded, having no idea what he was talking about. Religion was just another one of those things that her father didn’t believe in, so it was never discussed in her family. Most people didn’t talk about their religion since the churches were divided between gods, goddesses and demigods and then there were all the saints and the conflicting ideas, and a simple discussion on religion often resulted in a fist fight.

She
dropped the last slice of apple into her courier bag, put the small knife away and started to eat the second one herself.

“So… you were at… Grover’s Den.” Kile said between bites.

Rick looked up from the meal he was preparing with a haunted look in his eyes. Maybe that wasn’t the best way to approach the subject, but she wasn’t getting any answers by hesitating.

“I’m sorry, if you don’t want to talk about it.” She said.