Hunter's War (Legend of the Wild Hunter Book 4)

by Garry Spoor

  “I’d kneel, but I’m kind of lying down at the moment,” She remarked.

  The tall man, with the sinister black mustache, scowled. The King laughed.

  “I see you’re no worse for wear.” He said, stepping past the guards. He looked at the pile of clothes at the foot of her bed. “Going somewhere?” he asked.

  “No, my friends were just taking my uniform out for a cleaning. I have to look good for my next assassination party.”

  Roland looked over to where Daniel and Alex were kneeling.

  “Oh, I see.” He said, walking over to them. “Please, rise.”

  “Roland, these are my best friends, this is Daniel Leary, and the one over there is Alex Bartlow, but you’ve already met him.”

  “Oh yes, the bard, wonderful performance young man,” the King said, addressing Alex. “I do hope you’ll be available for one of my galas. I’ve told a few people about you, they are eager to hear your stories.”

  “Yes, your majesty,” Alex replied. He could hardly hide his excitement.

  “And you’re the healer.” Roland said, turning to Daniel. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you too.”

  “Thank you, your majesty.” Daniel replied.

  “I guess I don’t really have to tell you who this guy is,” Kile said, pointing to Roland.

  Daniel shot her a look, silently telling her to shut up. Roland just laughed.

  “Do not berate your friend.” He told Daniel. “I admire her frankness; it’s refreshing.”

  “And bordering on insubordination,” the man with the mustache remarked from the doorway.

  “Please, Jerald.” The King said, silencing the man without even turning around. “Maybe if I had more insubordinate people like her around me, I wouldn’t be in the mess I’m in.”

  “Of course, sire.” Jerald replied meekly.

  “Now, if you’ll take the guards and step outside, I would like to speak with Miss Veller alone.”

  “Do you think that’s wise, sire?” Jerald asked.

  “I’m only armed with a yarrow.” Kile said, holding Vesper up for Jerald to see.

  “I think I’ll be safe.” Roland added.

  “As you wish, sire,” Jerald replied. He turned and ushered the two guards outside and closed the door behind him. Kile knew he wouldn’t go very far, he probably had his ear pressed against the keyhole at this very moment, listening for the first sound of trouble.

  Roland sighed. “He means well,” he added.

  Daniel, mustering up his courage, stepped forward. “So, what’s going to happen to Kile?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure I know what you mean,” Roland replied.

  “She tried to assassinate one of the Alva,” he said. Turning to look at Kile, then added. “Didn’t she?”

  “That would depend on how you look at it,” Roland replied. “She didn’t actually try to kill anyone.”

  “I didn’t?” Kile asked, sitting up in bed. That’s not the way it looked from her point of view. But, who was she to argue?

  “No, you didn’t, at least, we don’t think you did.”

  “I don’t understand. Did she or didn’t she?”

  “By all appearances, she did try to attack… something, which nobody saw, but it wasn’t the Alva. Whatever it was, it was behind the Alva.”

  “Behind the Alva?” Kile repeated. Now that she thought about it, she didn’t actually see the Alva when she got closer, not after she fell into her Edge. All she saw was the strange shadowy creature walking toward the King. She just assumed it was the Alva. Could it have been following the ambassadors all that time? And, if it was, why? There was one other scenario, one which seemed more likely. There wasn’t anything there to begin with. It was all in her mind.

  “It looked as if you flung yourself at… nothing.” Roland continued. “It was Lady Silvia, who incapacitated you. I don’t believe she intended to do it as harshly as she did. Actually, I’m not really sure what she did. If I didn’t know any better, I would say she was a mystic. You were acting…” Roland paused, he seemed at a loss for words.

  “Insane.” Kile replied. “Or how about nuts, crazy, loopy, off my rocker, pick one, I have thousands.”

  “Well, I’m afraid you didn’t appear to be in your right mind,” The King replied, diplomatically. “Lady Silvia, kind of…” Roland didn’t actually say what Erin did, he just motioned with his hands. Kile had seen it before.

  “She wind pushed me across the room into a wall?” she shouted.

  “I’m afraid so.” The King replied.

  “Oh man, I wish I could have seen that.” Alex exclaimed.

  Kile shot him a look.

  “I mean… no, I didn’t mean I wanted… It’s… I’ll shut up now.”

  “What happened after that?” Kile asked, although she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

  “That’s when the guards moved in.”

  “To arrest me,” she concluded.

  “They didn’t actually arrest you,” Roland replied.

  “It wouldn’t have done much good, she was unconscious at the time.” Alex added.

  Kile shot him another look.

  “Well, no. You see, Colonel Barshed explained you had just returned from a rather harrowing ordeal. He said you were suffering from…”

  “A classic case of battle fatigue,” Daniel finished for him.

  Roland nodded.

  “Battle fatigue?” Kile asked, looking between the two of them.

  “It’s not uncommon.” Daniel explained. “A lot of soldiers, especially those who have been under siege, or in the front lines for a long period of time, often find, returning to a normal setting, well, unsettling. You can’t deny it, Kile, it does fit. I mean, from what little you’ve told me, you’ve been hounded by the Uhyre for the last month or so. You can’t operate at those levels for that length of time and expect no side effects.”

  Could it be that simple, she wondered? Was that all it was? The shadowy figures, the darkness on the battlefield, the memories of the Valgar, was it all just inside her head after all. In many ways, it was a relief, to know what she thought she saw, wasn’t what she really saw.

  “So, what happens now?” she asked.

  “You will remain here, for the time being, until you’re feeling better,” the King said with a grin. “At least now I know where you are.”

  Kile saw Daniel and Alex exchange a look. She was going to hear about that little comment for some time to come, and if Alex had his way, so will half of Forthbar.

  “You know, Kile, I think…”

  Roland never finished what he was about to say. He was interrupted by someone screaming in the hallway.

  “Stay here,” he told her, moving toward the door. Before he could reach it, one of the guards entered the room. “What’s happening?” Roland asked him.

  “Don’t rightly know, sire,” the guard replied, his hand on his weapon. “One of the chamber maids came screaming up the stairs. She’s on about some hairy beast lurking in the halls. Miles went to investigate.”

  “It can’t be.” Kile said, shaking her head. She closed her eyes and fell into her Edge, reaching out into the hall and beyond. It didn’t take long before she found him. Opening her eyes, she looked at Roland. “Sir, you have to stop the guard,” She told him.

  “I don’t understand,” he replied.

  “He won’t harm anyone, if no one gets in his way.”

  “You know what this thing is?”

  “I’m afraid I do,” she replied.

  “And you know what it wants?” he asked.

  “He’s coming here, to see me.”

  Roland stared at her for a while. It was obvious he was trying to decide whether or not to put his faith in her. It was a lot to ask for. He turned back to the guard. “Go, get to Miles. Tell him not to interfere.”

  “Sire?”

  “You heard me, now go,” Roland said, pointing to the door.

  The guard quickly left the room. The King re
mained standing between her and the door. Was he actually trying to protect her? It was kind of sweet, in an unnecessary way.

  Daniel moved to stand beside the King. “Kile, what’s going on?” he asked.

  “Really, you have to ask, knowing who else is in the city with me,” she replied.

  The door opened again, and both guards came through, this time, followed by Jerald, the man with the sinister looking mustache. Jerald moved to the back of the room, while the guards positioned themselves on either side of the door, preparing for whatever was going to come through.

  “It’s not really necessary,” she tried to tell them, but they weren’t listening to her. All they heard was the loud clopping of platter sized hoofs on the stone floor outside the door.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Daniel said when something hit the door and shook the frame.

  “You may want to open that, before he breaks it down,” Kile informed them.

  The King looked at her as if she was mad and the guards made no attempt to get any closer.

  “I’ll get it.” Alex said, stepping forward.

  No one stopped him when he pulled open the door.

  Grim forced his way into the room. How he managed to navigate the hallways and climb four flights of stairs was anyone’s guess.

  Kile sighed. “What are you doing here?” she asked him.

  -I heard you wake up-

  He said, looking around the room at the vir.

  -I thought you might need some help-

  “Thank you Grim, but I’m okay,” she told him.

  The mountain pony started toward the bed, stopping when he reached the King. He slowly turned and looked at Roland, as if he was sizing the man up.

  -So, this is the head honcho, the vir in charge?-

  Grim asked, it was clear, he was not impressed.

  “That is King Roland Waltair, behave yourself,” Kile told him.

  -I will if he does,-

  Grim retorted.

  “I’m sorry about this, sir. This is my horse, Grim.”

  “Your horse,” Roland said, taking a step back.

  Grim watched him carefully, and then snorted at the King.

  “Grim.” Kile shouted.

  “It’s ah… it’s all right.” Roland said, wiping his face. “I’ve never been this close to a mountain pony before.”

  “Nobody in their right mind has,” one of the guards mumbled.

  Grim walked past the King and approached the bed.

  -If you’re fine, we should leave.-

  “I can’t, Grim, not yet.”

  -And why is that? Surely you do not wish to stay among these… vir.-

  He said contemptuously.

  “I have to stay, Grim, there’s something wrong with me.”

  -There is nothing wrong with you, child, nothing that can’t be solved by getting the hell out of here.-

  “It’s not that easy.” She told him. “I’m having… problems.”

  -What problems?-

  “You wouldn’t understand.”

  -I wouldn’t?!-

  Grim shouted, and his voice echoed in her skull.

  -Child, I have seen inside your head. The darkness, the pit, the shadow with the long arms, it is coming, and we should not be here when it arrives.-

  “What do you mean, what are you saying?”

  -You are not the only one who has seen these things. We all have.-

  “We?”

  Grim snorted again, turning his head away from her.

  -Ignorant!-

  He shouted again.

  “Who’s ignorant?”

  -You are. I thought you were above this. But you are just like them, just another vir.-

  He said, looking at the men in the room.

  None of them moved, as if they were rooted to the floor. They stood, and watched, as she carried on a one-way conversation with her horse. If they didn’t believe she was mad already, this erased all doubt.

  “Are you saying, that what I’m seeing, what I’m feeling… is real.”

  -Of course it is, we are all feeling it. Even furball there.-

  Kile held Vesper up in her hands. “Is it true?” she asked.

  -Darkness comes-

  The yarrow replied in a soft voice, and in his words, she could see it, the Maligar, reaching out of the shadows.

  -It speaks to us, calls to us, it has been for some time. -

  Grim explained.

  “But, how come I haven’t heard it before?”

  -It is getting stronger. You are still a vir, only when you let yourself go, when you are consumed, do you hear it.-

  “I don’t want to hear it,” she said, shaking her head.

  -Neither do I, neither does he. We shouldn’t, you shouldn’t. That is why we must leave here.-

  “Are you saying it’s coming here?”

  -In time, I suppose it will.-

  “What is it?”

  -Seriously, child. Do I look like a freaking mystic? I’m a mountain pony, for crying out loud. You know as much about this as I do.-

  “I don’t know anything about it.”

  -There you go, welcome to the club, now let’s get the hell out of here.-

  “I can’t just leave.”

  -Why not?-

  “Because,” she said, looking at the people around her. “I just can’t, not now, I have to help. Or at least try. You go, go back to the mountains. Go back home. You don’t have to stay. I don’t want to drag you into this any further than I already have.”

  -Oh, you’re going to go all noble on me, aren’t you? You are making a mistake, child.-

  Grim replied.

  There was sorrow in his words, along with visions of his home. She could see the vast open plains, reaching all the way to the mountains. That was where he belonged, that was where he wanted to go. He turned and moved toward the door. The men did nothing to stop him.

  “Good bye, Grim. I hope to see you again.”

  -Oh yeah, right.-

  He said, squeezing through the door.

  -Like I’m going to leave you now after everything we’ve gone through. Who will look after you? Surly not the furball, he can’t even look after himself. Think I’m just going to walk away to the mountains, now. You’re not as bright as I thought, -

  He replied. She could still hear him as he slowly made his way back down the hall.

  -Stick you up on the top floor here, going to have to walk down all those stairs again. Serve you right if I fell. I think I can take out a few guards along the way. No, sure, you stay here. I’ll go back to my cold, lonely, stall, in the run down part of this rat infested city, but then you probably already know the rats. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.-

  He continued to complain.

  “Well, take one of the stalls in the castle, I don’t think anyone would mind,” She shouted after him.

  “What just happened?” Roland asked.

  “I’m sorry, sir, my horse is a bit upset. Do you think it’s possible if he can move into one of the castle stalls, while I’m here?”

  “I’ll speak with Lord Bollen about it,” Roland replied. He seemed a bit unsure of how to approach the subject with the man. He turned to one of the guards. “Go, follow the beast, make sure he arrives safely… to… wherever he’s going.”

  The guard looked at his King.

  “Just, make sure nobody gets in his way or tries to stop him,” he explained.

  “Yes, sire, of course,” the guard said, as he followed the pony out the door.

  “Sire, I hate to interfere, but we should be going,” Jerald said from the back of the room. It was clear the man was trying to bring a sense of normalcy to the situations.

  “Yes, yes of course.” The King replied, straightening his tunic. He turned to Kile. “I would like to speak with you again, Miss Veller, if that is agreeable.”

  Kile looked around the room. “I don’t think I’m going anywhere anytime soon,” she told him.

  He gav
e her a smile and headed to the door.

  “Roland,” she called out. The King stopped. Jerald rolled his eye and sighed heavily. “Be careful,” she told him. “I don’t think the Alva can be completely trusted.”

  “I’m the King, Kile. I make it a point not to trust anyone, completely.”

  “Including me?” she asked.

  “There can be exceptions.” He grinned, reaching for the door.

  “Oh, one more thing,” she shouted after him. He stepped back into the room. “If it’s not too much trouble,” she said. “Do you think an apple pie could be delivered to my horse?”

  Roland looked a bit confused. “An apple pie?” he asked.

  “Yes, if it’s not too much trouble,” she replied.

  “No… no, I’ll see if it can be arranged,” Roland said. He shook his head and paused for a moment, considering her request, and even turned to her, as if to ask a question, but then thought better of it. Stepping into the hall, he closed the door behind him.

  The three of them stared at the door for a while, and when they were sure, he wasn’t coming back, Daniel ran to Kile’s bedside.

  “What was all that about?” he asked.

  “What part?”

  “Grim. What did he tell you?”

  It was an odd question, considering the circumstances, but Daniel delivered it without hesitation.

  “He told me, that I’m not the only one who has been seeing these things.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It means, I have to see Morgan. My visions, my… lapses, I think they're all tied together in some way.”

  “What way?”

  “I don’t know, I don’t even know if Morgan will, but I have no place else to turn to.”

  “This is going to make a great story,” Alex said from the back of the room. Kile had almost forgotten he was there.

  “No, it won’t,” She told him. “You can’t tell anyone about this.”

  “Come on Kile, this is great. This is what my fans want.”

  “Your main character slowly losing her mind? Yeah, I can see that going over really well with your audience.”

  “No, not that,” He said, waving her suggestion away. “The romance between the Wild Hunter and the King,” he added casually, as he paced the floor. “I can see it now. The King sweeps her off her feet, taking her away to his castle in the mountains.”