Hunter's Academy (Veller) (20 page)

“Yeah
… sorry about that.”

“You couldn’t have known.”
She said, waving it off.

“What else do you remember about that night?”

“Well. I remember you cooking up some kind of stew, and I remember the peppermint imps.” She said with a grin. “From that point… It gets a little confusing.”

“Do you remember the wolves?”

“Wolves?” Kile repeated, not really looking at Erin, but looking past her trying to recall the events of that night nearly six years ago. Yes, she had remembered the wolves… sort of. “They came down from the hills.” She said more to herself than to the hunter. “I think there were five of them. I remember they circled us, and you drew your sword. The largest one attacked and you struck it… then another one came at you… and… I don’t know… you chased them off somehow… you saved my life.” She said, although that was the part that never really fit together. It was like a story with a few pages torn out, from the wolves attacking to them running off. What did happen in between?

From that point on it did get a little clearer.
Erin had brought her home in the morning, had the argument with her father and was asked to leave. She never did get a chance to say goodbye.

“That’s what I thought you believed.”
Erin replied nodding her head. “I read your essay, the one where you explain why you wanted to be a hunter, the one you wrote during the entry examination. The problem was, that’s not what really happened.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I didn’t save your life that night Kile.”

“Then who did?”

“No one, you saved mine.”

Now she was confused as she looked at
Erin, trying to understand, trying to bring the details of that night to the surface. Most of it was lost, but she never knew why, until now.

“When the wolves attacked, I knew we were in trouble.”
Erin said a she looked out over the horizon again. “I realized that I had made a mistake. I knew I should have brought you home that afternoon, by then it was too late. I was hoping I could drive them off, kill one maybe two and the rest would scatter, but that’s not what happened. I struck at the first one as you remembered, got it pretty good, I never saw the second one attack me from behind, that should have been the end of it, the end of me, but you told it to stop… and it did, they all did. I’m not sure what happen that night, but those wolves listened to you, they just stood there waiting for you to tell them what to do. I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. When you told them to run away, when you told them to go home, I think that’s what they did. All I know is that they did run away. When they were gone, you… collapsed. I put you to bed and sat up the rest of the night trying to figure out what had just happened. I knew then and there that there was something different about you, that you would make a great hunter, but I was hesitant to put your name forward. I knew what I had gone through and I didn’t want you to go through the same thing.”

The Maligar, somehow Kile must have used the Maligar even back then without even understanding how, she had
merged with the wolves which would explain the dreams she had and why she couldn’t remember what happened.

Erin
was watching Kile when the missing pieces of that night fell into place.” You know what happened that night now… don’t you?” She asked her. “You understand it now.”

“Yes, I think I do… but it’s…”

Erin held up her hand. “That's alright, I don’t need to know.” She said.  “I imagine it has something to do with your edge, am I correct.”

“It’s a part of it… yes.”

“Fair enough.” Erin replied “As long as one of us understands what happened that night, I can live with that.”

No one knows a hunter's edge but the hunter and the mystic that teaches him, or in this case, her.
It was a long standing agreement in the Hunter’s code, and Erin wasn’t willing to breach that code.

“If you didn’t want me to go through this… then why did you sponsor me?” Kile asked.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t really know. Call it destiny if you want. For some strange reason, I believe I was supposed to be there that night, and I was supposed to find you, it only made sense that I was the one to put your name forward. I didn’t know if you would actually take the entry exam, but I knew what I had to do. I placed your name on that list the moment I got back to the guild hall. Imagine my surprise when I was informed your name was already listed.”

“What you do mean.”

“I mean, your name was already on the list. Somebody had beaten me to it.”

“Who?”

“I never did find out.” Erin replied. “Mystics can be rather closed mouthed about such things, but ask them a question related to their studies or about the arts or nature and you can’t shut them up. But at least that should tell you one thing; someone else thought you could become a hunter, someone else believed in you, and it would appear that they weren’t the only one.”

Erin reached into her tunic and pulled out something wrapped in a dingy white cloth and handed it to Kile.

She
slowly took the small wrapped item from Erin’s hands. There was a scent to it that was both familiar and frighten, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what was inside. She carefully pulled back the wrappings of the cloth to reveal a small golden pendant in the shape of a tree, the one that Garrett Treeman wore the first time she saw him in the field, the one that his friends had purchased for him because they called him Tree, the one that had become his good luck charm, the one that he had never taken off. She looked down at the cloth that she held in her hand. It was the remnants of a larger piece that had been torn away, and it was stained with dark black spots.

“It was delivered by a hunter named Rick. He was supposed to give it to you personally, but thought it would be better this way.”

“Me… why me?” Kile asked, still staring at the stained cloth. She knew what those stains were, she knew who those stains belonged to.

“Because that was Garrett’s dying wish, for you to have it. He believed in you Kile, why don’t you believe in yourself?”
Erin took the pendant from Kile and pinned it onto the girl’s tunic. Kile clutched the stain cloth in her hand.

“I guess I’m ready to go back now.” She said, “To face
whatever punishment they feel is just.”

“Punishment… for what?”
Erin asked.

“For what? For striking a fellow cadet, for stealing a horse, for leaving the grounds without permission, I’m sure there are
probably few others violations they could think of.”

“That? I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Everyone’s on edge at the moment. Master Adams would never report the incident and from what I heard Eric deserved what he got. As for stealing a horse, he’s technically yours as long as you remain with the guild.”

“I did leave the academy without permission.” Kile confessed.

“Hey, you’re out here riding with me, and I am a certified level one hunter after all, I think that’s permission enough, but you’re probably right, we should
be getting back to the academy.” Erin said as she grabbed her horse’s reins.

“What’s her name?” Kile asked.

“Elemia.” Erin replied as she quickly and gracefully mounted.

“How did you come up with that name?” She asked. It sounded a lot like the
alverian names the horses use.

“Oh,
that's another long story, I’ll have to tell you some time.” Erin said as she pulled her horse around and waited for Kile to mount.

Kile grabbed hold of Grim’s mane, she knew this wasn’t going to be nearly as graceful, but before she could even mount, Grim lowered himself to the ground.

“Thanks.” She whispered in the mountain pony’s ear as she swung her leg over his back and held one as he stood up. It was priceless to see the look on Erin’s face.

“So, you really ride that… thing.”
Erin said, shaking her head.

“What? Grim?” Kile asked,
stroking the horse’s side.

“I’ve seen mountain ponies before
, even had a run in with one up north, but I’ve never seen anyone crazy enough to ride one.”

“Then you haven’t seen anything yet.” Kile said as she spurred Grim into motion. The pony charged forward and took the
hillside in a dead run.

“So, what do you think?” She asked Grim as she walked him to his stall. “Do you think I’m making a mistake coming back here? I suppose you would have just kept running.”

-I think the female was right. I think you do belong here.-

“Really, a straight answer from you, will wonders never cease.”

-You asked, I told.-

“Well, what about you? You okay here?”

-For two more years?-

Grim sniffed at his morning feed that he had hardly touched.

-I suppose I can tolerate… another two years… providing.-

“Providing, providing what?”

-You bring me another pie-

“I’ll see what I can do.” She laughed and shook her head. How could a horse get so hooked on apple pie was beyond her. “They're not easy to get here at the academy… but… once we’re out there, on our own, things should be different.” She told him and for the first time she actually believed it.

She touched the
pendant on her tunic as she headed out to the back of the stables. If she was going to keep her promise to Tree, then she would have to practice harder, and every chance she got. She walked around the outside of the building and stopped when she heard the boys arguing.

“Not by me you weren’t”

“Look, I don’t want any trouble.”

“Looks like you found some… buddy.”

“I only wanted to get some practice in I was told…”

“Practice, I’ll give you practice.”

“I invited him.” Kile said as she came around the side of the building. She recognized Murphy’s voice and realized that she may have forgotten to tell the others that she invited him to practice with them. That was a few months ago and she figured that he had no intention of taking her up on her offer.  It was as much a surprise to her that he was here as it was for the others.

“Kile girl.” Alex shouted, turning around.

“Where have you been?” Daniel asked, getting to his feet. He was the only one not involved in the argument, but that shouldn’t have surprised her. He was probably the most non-confrontational person she had ever met.

“I had to clear my head.” She said, “Sorry I ran off like that.”

“Did you really invite… him?” Carter asked, pointing one of the practice swords at Murphy who was standing a respectable distance away. Carter had gained quite a reputation in the List, and was turning out to be the guy to beat with a sword.

“Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guy.” She apologized,
and then turned to Murphy. “I really didn’t think you would come, but you’re more than welcome.”

“I’ve had a change of opinion lately.” Murphy replied. “I thought about what you said and… it made a lot of sense.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

She looked at Carter who reluctantly lowered his
blade.

“What
? What did you tell him, what made sense.” Alex kept asking.

“Never you mind.” Carter said, slapping him
upside the head.

“So… it’s okay if I join?” Murphy asked.

“I guess if Kile says it's okay, then… its okay.” Carter replied as he handed the big man one of the blank swords. “You offence or defense?”

“I need to work on my defense.” He replied.

“Good, that gives him someone else to beat on for a change.” Daniel added from the side line.

Carter and Murphy took
their position in the make shift circle, although it had to be dug out of the snow first. It wasn’t long before the familiar sound of swords clashing rang in the cold winter air. Alex opted for a ringside seat as Kile took her place on the barrels beside the stable wall where it was only marginally warmer.

“So, where did you really go?” Daniel asked her.

“Riding.” She answered.

“There were some that said you took the walk of shame.”

“Hardly.” She replied. “I was just out riding with Erin Silvia.”

“You rode with Silvia?” Alex’s head shot around at the name of the hunter. Kile had to smile. Would she ever become that famous she wondered as Alex quickly took a seat beside her. Erin Silvia was slowly becoming the stuff of legends, and Alex was always eager for a new story to add to his repertoire. “What was she like? Is she nice? She looks really scary, but I bet she’s not though. What did you guys talk about?” His questions came as fast as his mouth would allow, and like him, had no sense of order or direction.

“There’s nothing really to say.” Kile replied, trying to shut him up. “We just had to straighten out a few things, that’s all, now watch the fight, maybe you’ll learn something.”

“Me? You’re the one that needs to learn how to fight.” He grumbled as he turned around, sat in the snow and pouted.

Fortunately Alex’s grudges were rather fleeting, and never lasted too long, about as long as the fight between Murphy and Carter, which came to a predictable end. Carter had gotten the big man to yield as Murphy stuck his sword into the ground.

“You’re pretty good.” Carter told him. It was the first time they had
ever heard him out of breath.

“Not nearly as good as you.” Murphy returned the compliment.

Kile just rolled her eyes, was this going to be some kind of male bonding?

“You just have to keep your sword up higher and follow through with you parry, and when you go in for you
r attack you should really reserve a little. You don’t want to throw your entire body into it, that when you get off balance and leave yourself wide open.”

Murphy rubbed his backside where the mark of Carter’s sword was still visible. “That I will remember.” He said.

She knew that maneuver all too well as she had been on the receiving end of it during most of their bouts.

“So, who’s next?” Carter asked.

“Kile.” Daniel and Alex both yelled together.

“Thanks guys.”
She said through clenched teeth as she got to her feet. She wasn’t really ready for this, not at the moment as she walked over to the circle and Murphy handed her the practice sword.

“Good luck.” He grinned.

“What? You too?”

Carter took his place in the circle. “Come on Kile, we all know you can use as much practice as you can get.” He said as he marked the ground with his sword.

“What? I can fight… I just have a little problem controlling the sword, that's all.”

“The sword is kind of necessary.”

She grabbed the practice blade with both hands, as it was the only way she could really wield it, and stood in a defensive stance. Carter launched his first attack as he came in on both sides of her, swinging first for the left side and then for the right, forcing her to shift her entire body back and forth to block each shot. Each strike rang off the sword and vibrated through her arms. He left himself wide open on several occasions, more so than when he was fighting Murphy. She wasn’t sure if it was his change in style when he fought her, or he was just providing her with opportunities, of course he could be trying to goad her into overextending her attack, she wouldn’t put that past him either. Carter was on the mind set that you did anything you had to if it achieved a victory.

It wasn’t long before her arms started to give in to the weight of the sword and her defense was moving lower and lower. Then the inevitable happened, although it happened a lot harder th
an she would have liked. His sword passed over the top of her guard and stuck her hard in the shoulder, causing her to curse and drop her weapon altogether.

“Kile I’m sorry.” Carter said as he tossed his own sword aside and ran up to her.

“It’s nothing.” She replied, still clutching the side of her arm. It was nothing because they were using sword blanks to practice with, had it been a real sword, had it had a real edge, had she been fighting a real battle, it would have been the end of her arm.

“Let me see.” Daniel said, pushing Carter out of the way.
He rolled up the outer sleeve of the tunic and began to squeeze her upper arm. It did not make it feel any better.

“It’s alright.” She said, pulling her arm away. “I got careless, I dropped my guard.”

“I don’t think it’s broken, just bruised.” Daniel concluded.

“I could have told you that.”
She remarked as she rubbed her arm.

“You
were supposed to go easy on her.”  Daniel told Carter in a harsh whisper, unfortunately loud enough for Kile to hear.

“What do you mean go easy on me, have you been playing me?”

“It’s nothing like that Kile it’s just that…”

“Have you or have you not been letting me slide?”

“It’s not what you think.”

“So I’m really a lot worse they what I think I am, is that it?” She asked as she looked from Carter to Daniel. She ever looked at Murphy who was completely lost and just shrugged. “How bad am I… really?”

“It’s hard to say.” Carter replied.

“No it’s not. In a real battle, how long would I last?”

“Now wait a minute.” Daniel replied, holding up his hands to calm her down. “The cadets in the field don’t cut you any slack, and you do well against them.”

“No I don’t.” She said, shaking her head. “Oh for crying out loud… I suck so bad that you’ve been deliberately leaving yourself open. I was hoping that it was just a feint but you
’re really leaving yourself open.”

“Look we were only trying to help you.”

“Help me, how is this helping me. What you’re telling me is that I’m so bad with a sword that even with you throwing a match I can’t beat you. I’m going to have my head handed to me during the final evaluation. I can’t believe this, I suck so bad that I can’t win when your letting me win, how bad is that?”

“That’s… really bad.”

“You’re not helping any Alex.” Daniel shouted.

“Look… you… fight.” Kile stammered as she handed the sword to Daniel. “At least you have a chance at this.”

“Wait, what are you going to do?”

“I’ll… think of something.” She said over her shoulder as she started to walk away.

“Nice going Carter, you couldn’t make it any more obvious.” She heard Daniel say as she walked around the side of the stables.

She
pushed the stable doors open and stepped inside out of the snow and out of the light. The darkness of the stables was welcoming since it matched the darkness of her mood. Just when she thought she had a chance, just when she thought she may even make it out of the academy, she had it all taken away from her by a blunt sword. She cursed silently to herself as she fell against the wall and slid down to sit on a small pile of hay.

She really wasn’t mad at them, they were only trying to help, but that was the problem, it wasn’t helping.
She had to learn how to use a sword. The Hunter’s code was very specific on that point. If they were coasting with her, then she wasn’t improving. If they were letting her win and she wasn’t, then if anything she was moving backwards, she was getting worse.

“What you need to do is change your way of thinking.”

She spun around to see the elusive stable hand emerge from the shadows of the building. How was it that this guy was everywhere and nowhere at the same time, and why wasn’t he a hunter? He would have made a great hunter sneaking up on people like that.

“What do you mean change my way of thinking?”

“Just because you’re not skilled with one sword, doesn’t mean you are not skilled with any sword.”

“You’ve been watching?” She asked, although she already knew the answer. “I know that there are other swords, but the one’s we are using are
supposed to be the lightest allowed by the Hunter’s code. If I can’t use them, I don’t think I would have much success using a heavier one.”

“So you are saying that it is
simply the weight of the sword that is your problem.”

“Well yeah
… no… I don’t know. I mean they teach you how to fight with this wooden practice weapon and once you learn all the steps and think you're pretty good at it, they tell you to do it all again, but hey, this time you have to use this two ton piece of metal, and to top it off the whole circular defense thing just doesn’t make much sense. You’re just sort of standing there, waiting for the other person to hit you so you can hit them back. It just doesn’t seem very practical, the whole thing doesn’t seem practical.”

“And you don’t think it works.”

“Oh it works, it just doesn’t work for me. I can’t do those moves with those swords.”

“Then maybe you should change both.”

“I don’t think I understand.”

“Come back here tonight, and you will.” Luke said as he backed into the shadows of the stables.

“What do you mean?” Kile asked as she followed him, but he was already gone.

Kile wasn’t sure what she was getting herself into as she fastened her cloak about her and closed the globe of fire away. She placed it on the chest of drawers, then opened the window on the cold winter night. She may have snuck out of her room during the summer nights, but this was a lot different. For starters, there were a lot more people out there that could catch her.

-Where Kile going
?-

Even though there was no
actual sound, the voice that entered her head startled her as she slammed shut the shutters and spun around. Vesper sat on the bed looking up at her with an expression that clearly thought she was crazy.

“I didn’t think you would be back so soon.” She said as she turned and opened the windows again.

-Nothing to see, too cold, everyone in big room.-

“Well, it is
supposed to be the warmest place.”

-Warmer here, when ball is floating.-

“Yeah, sorry about that. But you know the rules. We can’t let that thing float around when I’m not here.”

-Come with you?-

“You want to come with me? I don’t see why not, just behave yourself.”

G
rabbing the old pouch from the chair she fastened it around her waist and opened the flap to let Vesper climb in. Now all she had to worry about was squishing him as she climbed out the window.

She grabbed the window sill, swung both her legs out, and jumped down into the snow. She kept to the side of the building as she had done countless times and made her way to
the dark side of the compound. There were never any guards on the eastern walls since those were the walls that were shared by the main city. She quietly made her way up to the stables and slipped in through the side door which had been left open. It was too dark to go much further and she had to let her eyes grow accustomed to the lack of light.

“I was beginning to think that you weren’t going to come.”

She recognized Luke’s voice, but couldn’t pinpoint where it was coming from, as always, the stable hand seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

“How could I pass up such a cryptic invitation?” She called out, and was beginning to wonder if she had made a mistake.

A light went on in one of the prep areas as Luke hung a lit lantern from a suspended hook.

“So, what is it that you are supposed to reveal to me?” She asked as she walked into the light.

He turned to a long wrapped bundle that lay on the chair and gently picked it up. “There are many types of weapons in this world.” He explained “As there are styles of fighting. I’ve watched how you fight Kile Veller, and you’re fighting with the wrong style.”

“But that’s the way I was taught.”

Luke turned and presented the bundle to her. She was a little weary of opening things wrapped in cloth, the last one was a little hard to take, but it was clear that Luke would say no more until she did. She flipped back the cloth to reveal something in the neighborhood of either a pair of long knives, or a pair of short swords. He nodded for her to pick one up.

The weapon was about three
feet long. The blade was slightly curved and only edged on one side. There was a small indentation, extending into what could only be descried as a small metal bird’s beak just above the handle which was very old and very worn, but fit comfortably in her hand. She held out her arm with the weapon fully extended and found that it had no substantial weight to it.

She had seen something like these before, or something similar, and it took her a while to remember. The hidden gallery that Mathew Latherby had revealed to her the day Tree had taken them on a tour of the grounds. That had been a year and a half ago she figured, and suddenly she felt a little older. Within that secret gallery, under the paining of the female hunter, were two swords, similar to these in design
, although these were worn by use and age where those looked as if they were untouched by time.

“
These are known as the Lann, blades that were used by the alverian centuries ago.”

“
Risa Ta’re.” She said as the name of the Hunter from the gallery came back to her. She could almost see her sitting there among the trees, the fawn at her side.