Hunter's Academy (Veller) (67 page)

Most of the
vir that were posted were wanted for the theft of various sums of money or properties from different people, and extra rewards were offered for the return of objects that had been stolen. These bounties were posted by the citizens of Coopervill as well as the surrounding town. Unlike the ones on the first bulletin board, these ones were not as trivial. There was one posted by Virgil Temms, the blacksmith, another by Oliver Wollory, even one by Gus Prain, the proprietor of the Bird and Bay.

Prain
, Gus Prain, why did that name seem so familiar. She didn’t have long to think about it.

“Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself?” Kane said as he leaned over the sill of the reception window.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re a probationary level five hunter, stick to class E assignments.
You’re not ready for that board yet.”

“So you do have an assignment for me?”
She asked excitedly.

“
Probies.” Kane mumbled as he turned to yet another bulletin board that was hanging behind him.

If all Guild houses were run like this one, then the bulletin board manufactures must do exceedingly well dealing with the Hunter Guild she thought as the old man ran his fingers over the posts until he found what he was looking for. Pulling the sheet from the board he silently walked out of the room and left
her standing there. She was starting to think that he forgot about her and had gone back to doing whatever it was that he was doing back there before she came in. After a few minutes he returned with a leather satchel stuffed with papers and dropped it on the sill. He pulled out yet another sheet of paper from the desk and filled in a few lines before scribbling his name along the bottom.

“You’re delivering this to Tobery.” He said, sliding the satchel across the sill toward her.

“Delivery?”

“Probationary level five hunters do class E assignments.”

“Yes sir.” She replied, a little less enthusiastic. She really didn’t expect to be given a great assignment on her first mission, but looking over the open bounty board may have gone to her head. The most important thing now was to keep that head down, not rock the boat so much. Tree had explained that the Guild would not be very appreciative of a probationary hunter that went out looking for trouble, and Master Adams had alluded to the fact that the Council would be keeping a watchful eye on her personally. She didn’t want to delay her certificate any longer than she had to, or worse, fail her probationary year altogether.

“You are to deliver this to the Guild House in Tobery. Give it to the House Master, make sure he signs for it, if he doesn’t sign for it, you don’t get paid.”

“Yes sir.” She replied as she took the paper and stuffed it into her courier bag.

“Oh yeah, and this came for you yesterday.”

Kane pulled a letter from a small cubby hole on the back wall and handed it to Kile.  She recognized her brother’s handwriting, as sloppy as it was.

“How did
this get here?” She asked.

“Guild takes care of th
eir own.” He replied.

“Yeah, but I’ve only just gotten here.” She said staring down at her brother’s chicken scratch handwriting.
It wasn’t addressed to her at Coopervill, it was addressed to her at the academy, which meant the Guild forwarded it to Coopervill to have it waiting for her, or whoever delivered it was really fast. She looked up to see Kane staring at her impatiently.

“Is that all sir?”

“What more do you want on your first assignment?” He replied. “Now get, I have work that needs to be done.”

She
stuffed the letter into her courier bag and slung the satchel over her shoulder before heading back out into the street. A delivery was the standard first assignment for any hunter, and she figured the sooner she got it over with the closer she would be to getting certified, and paid. The only thing now was to find out where Tobery was. She could consult the Guild map, but she wasn’t holding out any hope for that.

As she headed back toward the
Inn, she noticed the Tanner was open. She pulled at the sleeves of the old leather jacket.

“
I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask.” She said as she pushed open the door.

The place had the distinct smell of leather, but then what did she expect from the tannery. Like the Guild house it was dark inside, the windows provided little light, especially when the shutters were closed.

“May I help you?” A thin man asked from behind the counter. He was wearing a leather apron, big surprise there, and a loose fitting tan shirt that had the sleeves strapped down by leather bracers. He wasn’t old, but he wasn’t young either, probably in his forties. His hair was black with streaks of gray and his eyes were just starting to show the signs of age.

“I was wondering if it was possible to alter a jacket.” She asked.

“Oh yes, it does need a bit of taking in.” He said as he came around from behind the counter and started to pick at the jacket she was wearing. “It's very soft leather, very worn, it shouldn’t be that difficult to do, but wouldn’t you be more interested in a newer one.”

“It’s a gift, from a friend.”
She replied.

“I see.” The
tanner said as he walked around her, still tugging at the edges of the jacket. He stopped when he saw the badge sown on the sleeve.

“Your friend was a Hunter?”
He asked.

Why
the disbelief in his voice? Didn’t she look like the type of person that would have a Hunter for a friend?

“That’s right.”
She replied.

“Do you want that removed, it would avoid confusion.”

“No thank you.” She said with a smile. “I’m a hunter as well.”

“You’re a hunter?” The
tanner asked. Again, there was that disbelief.

“Yes sir, I just started today.”

“Did you now?” He said with a little skepticism. He finished looking at the jacket, walked back behind the counter and scribbled some things in a little notebook. “It will take about a week, at best. You’ll have to leave the jacket with me of course, and come in for some measurements when you’re ready.” He told her.

“At the moment I’m on an assignment.”
She replied. “Maybe when I get back, and I have a little extra coin on me.”

“When you’re ready, I’ll be here.” The man said with a smile.

She had a feeling that he was probably going to inquire at the Guild house on whether or not she was actually a hunter before he would even accept the job, but that was okay, he could have his doubts, all she needed was the jacket altered, and maybe a pair of those new leather boots over in the corner, and a set of those bracers the man was wearing would be nice. She deiced to get out of the tanners before she spent the money she didn’t have yet. As she stepped out into the street she was nearly run over by an overweight man in a dirty white shirt and brown pants.

“Hey, what’s up?” She cried as she stumbled out of his way.

“Oh… sorry kid… didn’t… see you… there.” The man said between heavy breaths. He didn’t look like the kind of man that usually ran from place to place; in fact he didn’t look like the kind of man that moved from place to place, and the nerve of him calling her a kid, why she was seventeen… well, almost seventeen.

“What’s the rush?” She asked, biting her tongue.

“A Hunter… has returned… they say he bagged the Ogre of Black River Falls.” The man replied as he wobbled his way past her.

The Ogre of Black River, she had just read about him on the Guild House bulletin board, well, she hadn’t really paid that much attention to it, it looked as if it had been stuck there for a few years, or
possibly even decades. She was more interested in the vir bounties. Could it be Steele she wondered, he did say he was on assignment maybe that was the assignment he was on; if it was him, he was really good at what he did. He only left yesterday afternoon.

It wasn’t difficult to see
where the activities was taking place; it was in the center of town around the raised stone dais just outside the Bird and Bay Inn. The crowd was starting to gather and Kile could now get a good idea of just how many people actually lived in Coopervill. The whole center of town was packed as people were shoving and pushing each other to steal a glimpse of the Hunter that brought in the Ogre of Black River. She had to see this with her own eyes, call it professional curiosity.

The closer she got, the more chaotic it got, as kids and adult alike were screaming and shouting. It was difficult to actually hear what they were shouting since, they weren’t all shouting the same thing at once, but some of it was just encouraging the hunter to show off his trophy.

Being small did have some advantages as she squeezed her way through the spectators to get a better look. Breaking through the wall of people she could finally see the Stone dais, and the man that stood upon it, and the thing that he held high in one hand. It was a severed head, but not a man’s head, it looked nothing like a man, it was the ugliest thing she had ever seen and she assumed it was the head of an Ogre. He held it up to the cheers of the crowd.

It was the first time she had ever seen an Ogre, or at least the head of an ogre, and it sent a shiver down her spine. It was not so much the sight of a man holding up a severed head, it was the fact that it was an Ogre’s head.
Didn't Master Adams tell her that the Orseen were blood kin to the Ogres, and was it not also suggested that she may be of Orseen blood. Was she, in some strange way, related to that? If it was true, then she could almost forgive Master’ Boraro’s prejudice.

She pulled her eyes away from the Ogre and looked toward the Hunter. He stood over six feet tall with broad shoulder, massive arms and the whitest hair
she had ever seen. He was a lot like the portraits that once hung in the great hall, standing there with the head of an Ogre in his raised left hand and large sword gripped in his right, striking a pose as his hair blew in the wind. She had often thought those portraits were exaggerated, but seeing this man now, she wasn’t so sure. There was something strange about him, this hunter, and Kile couldn’t put her finger on it. It wasn’t his stature, or his flowing white hair, it was something about his eyes, his steel gray eyes. He wasn’t looking at the crowd; he seemed to be looking past it, focusing on something that only he could see.

She turned to an elderly woman who was staring in awe at this god like being, or that’s what she thought, by the expression on the old woman’s face.

“Please ma’am, could you tell me who that is?” She asked, getting the woman's attention.

The woman appeared to be dazed and it took her a moment to actually acknowledge that the
Kile was even standing there.

“That child… that is Marcus Taylor, the greatest hunter in all of Aru.” The old woman said.

“He brought in the Troll of Blackmore a few years back.” Someone added from behind her.

“They say he’s going after the Minotaur of Calder falls next.” A dark haired man commented.

“Now that takes courage.”

“Or stupidity.” Kile remarked.

One lesson she had never managed to learn at the Academy was when to keep her mouth shut, especially when making a comment about someone while surrounded by his adoring fans. Several people within earshot slowly turned to look at her.

“Wow, is it really that late.” She said as she looked at the angry faces. “I’m sorry, I have to go.” And with that she quickly ducked out through the masses of people, pushing her way back, against the motion of the multitude until she was back out into the street. More people were heading toward the raised stone dais. They were coming from all over Coopervill to see the
great Hunter Marcus Taylor. She ducked under one of the awnings as men, women, and children continued to arrive. Where were they all coming from, and what was the great appeal of this Hunter?

Would she be up there some day she wondered? Would the people of Coopervill come from all over to see her standing upon the stone dais, praising her as she held up her trophy? Somehow the idea of standing up there, holding a severed head didn’t really appear to her. It wasn’t what Hunters do, or at least that was what she had thought, but at the moment she was only a level five hunter, Marcus Taylor had to be at least a level two,
possibly a level one, maybe she had it wrong.

It was no good trying to get back to the Inn, not with all these people standing around the entrance and not when she managed to tick off a few of them. She looked up at the sign of the awning she was standing under.
It was a simple wooden sign that read ‘Wollory’s Goods’. This was the place that Kane told her to purchase her supplies. She had no place else to go as she pushed open the door.

There as defiantly a lack of lightning in Coopervill as this store was just as dark and as gloomy as every other place. There was also that dampness mixed with the smell of wet leather and just a touch of that musty odor that one find in an unused attic. The walls were lined with shelves of supplies, everything the aspirating adventure needed and
then some. Its selection rivaled that of the quartermaster’s back at the academy, but that could be due to the fact that this place has so many varieties of each item. How many different lanterns were there and what about tinder kits? There was an entire section dedicated to tinder kits.