by Spoor, Garry
Miliea staggered as Grim and Kile got closer. The mare sidestepped and tried to bolt. It was all that Daniel could do to keep his horse under control.
“Kile.” He yelled as she raced past him.
She didn’t hear him, she didn’t hear anything. She didn’t even realize what was happening, what she was doing. The black tendrils of the Maligar had entwined them without her knowing about it, without her even trying. She had been so angry with Grim that she would have done anything for him to listen to her, and that’s exactly what she did. Grim wasn’t obeying her because he wanted to; Grim was obeying her because he had no choice. As the darkness began to engulf them, her identity began to merge with his.
She was no longer riding him across the countryside, she was him, she was charging across the tundra, climbed the steep cliffs of the northern lands as she ran with the herd racing the cold north winds. There were so many of them, but so few. Once they had dominated the frozen highlands by the thousands, now there were but a few hundred left. The vir had seen to that. They were out in number today, and the herd was being pushed toward the open ravine. Dozens of them went over the edge, some chose to jump rather than be forced into servitude; others were just swept up in the stampede as they fell upon the rocks below, all in a vain attempt to avoid capture. She wasn’t as lucky as the ropes found their way around her neck. They would try to tame her, they would strip her of her dignity, she would become another beast of burden for the vir, but they would never break him.
Kile’s identity snapped back into her head with such force that she had no idea what was happening. One moment she was running on the tundra toward the ravine, now she was running through the forest toward the lake. Grim had somehow managed to break the Maligar’s control. Before she could grasp what was going on, Grim slammed his feet into the ground, ducked his head and launched her over his shoulders. She flew a good twenty feet before hitting the water.
-NOBODY CONROLS ME-
The voice exploded in her head and it carried with it such vivid images of horses lying broken at the base of a ravine along with the pain and the torture that was inflicted upon him by the vir that Kile nearly lost what little breakfast she had.
“Geez Kile, are you alright?” Daniel called as rode up to the lake's edge. He jumped down from his horse and waded into the water trying to help her out.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She lied as she pushed his hand aside. She didn’t want anybody’s help at the moment, she didn’t want anybody to touch her. She didn’t want anybody to feel sorry for her. “Please, just… just go… just... leave me alone I’ll be fine.” She said as she reached the shore and fell to her knees on the river’s bank. Grim’s words still echoing in her head with such hatred, so much pain.
“Kile you’re not fine.”
“Probably not, but it's nothing you can fix, just… go find the others, I’ve got to find Grim.”
“Grim? Who’s Grim?”
“My horse.”
“What? You can’t go after him. That horse tried to kill you. He threw you in the lake.”
“That was my fault.” She said as she got to her feet. “Look, just go catch up with the others if you still can. I have to make sure Grim’s okay.”
“It’s not like he waited around to see if you were okay.”
She climbed up the bank of the lake to where Miliea was standing, the horse shied away from her.
“I’m so sorry.” She told her without getting any closer. “I didn’t mean for that to happen. I didn’t mean for any of it to happen.”
-He went back to the stone buildings-
“Thank you, and… I am sorry.” She said as started to walk back down the road, back toward the academy. It wouldn’t be too difficult to find, what with the towers of the city of Azintar rising high above the tree line.
The walk was very humbling, not that she had to be any more humiliated than she already was. She was soaking wet, covered in mud and realized she only had one more uniform until the next laundry day, not to mention the fact that the last one was, at this moment, stinking up her cell. That was going to be a pleasant thing to return to she thought, but that really wasn’t what bothered her at the moment.
She had used the Maligar, she swore she would never use it and she did. Could she even say it was by accident, or did she do it deliberately? She wanted to control Grim. She wanted to prove to Eric, to Master Pike, even to Daniel that she could overcome anything that they threw in her way.
Up ahead, on the road, she could see the dark shape of Grim walking slowly back to the academy. It didn’t appear that he wanted to go back there any more than she did, but neither one of them had much of a choice, neither one of them had anyplace else to go. In many ways they were very much alike, so far from home, neither one really fitting in, just trying to survive. She picked up her pace to walk along side of him.
“Would it help to say I’m sorry?” She asked.
Grim said nothing as he plodded along on a steady course. At least now she knew she could communicate with him.
“Look, I didn’t mean to do that, I just… I can’t control it. I really don’t know how it works. I’ve only done it once before and I don’t ever want to do it again. Can you at least believe that?”
They passed the training field with the paddock, but Grim wasn’t stopping there, he was probably going to the stables.
“Look I know what you went through, okay, maybe I don’t really understand what happen, but I saw it. I saw the ravine, I saw what they did to you, what the vir did to you, what they did to your herd. What I did to you was inexcusable. All I’m asking for is another chance. Just give me another chance and I promise I’ll never do that again.”
She only stopped talking when she realized that she had just passed through the Western gates. Several of the guards as well as the entire third year class were watching this young girl who was soaking wet and covered in mud pleading with her horse as she followed it to the stables. If they didn’t think she was strange before, there was no doubt in their minds now, but right now the only opinion that mattered was Grim’s.
“What in all that’s natural happened to you two?” Luke exclaimed when he saw them.
Grim ignored Luke as he walked passed the stable hand and picked one of the stalls that had fresh feed.
“It’s my fault.” She said. “I didn’t mean to do it.”
“Do it? Do what? And what are you doing with that beast outside the stables, he’s wasn’t suppose to be removed.” Luke demanded.
“I was riding him.”
“Riding him, what nonsense is that? That’s not a riding horse, that’s a mountain pony. You don’t ride them, they're not exactly the friendliest of horses.”
“Master Pike said that was the only horse available.”
“That's ridiculous.” Luke snapped, and she could tell that he was angry, but fortunately not at her. “The cadets’ mounts are ordered over the winter. There were ninety cadets then, there are only about forty now, that means you have at least fifty to choose from, not… not that one.”
“But Master Pike said…”
“It would appear that Master Pike was… mistaken. I will have a word with him about it. As for you young lady, you should change into something a bit dryer. I will take you up to the northern field myself and you can choose another horse.”
“But what about Grim?” She asked.
“Grim… who’s Grim.”
“That’s Grim.” She said pointing the shaggy black horse.
“Yes it is.” Luke mumbled to himself, and then turned to Kile. “You’ve named him already.”
“Well… yeah… no… sort of.”
Luke sighed and shook his head.
“I’m afraid… Grim was a mistake. He was accidentally shipped here with the rest of the horses, he should have been sent up to the Northern province, which is where he will be going as soon as possible.”
That wasn’t right Kile thought, she knew what they would do to him up
there, what they had already done to him. She couldn’t let him go back, not back there.
“Can’t I have him?” She asked.
“What? A cadet is only allowed one horse.”
“I know… I chose him.”
Luke looked from Kile to the mountain pony, and then back to Kile.
I’m afraid that would be a mistake. As I’ve said, they don’t make very good mounts.”
“Why not, is there something in the guild law that says what kind of horse a hunter must ride?”
“Well… no, but mountain ponies are not the most sociable of horses, they are a headstrong stubborn breed.”
“Has anybody ever tried?” She asked.
Luke had to think about that one for a moment, then reluctantly shook his head.
“Then it is possible for a mountain pony to be a hunter’s mount.” She reasoned.
“Well… yeah it is possible... in theory.”
“Then I want to keep him, I owe him at least that much.”
“Maybe, but it would appear that he does not wish to be your mount. If I’m not mistaken, your next class with Master Pike is in one week. If he is willing to carry you by then… then you may select him as your mount, otherwise you will be required to choose another horse and… Grim… will be sent to the Northern Province.” Luke replied as he walked away.
Kile stood outside the stables. She had one week, one week to prove to Luke that she could ride Grim. No, she thought for a moment, that wasn’t the deal. He said Grim had to be willing to let her ride him. That wasn’t going to be easy with his natural dislike for the vir. She would have to cross that river when she came to it, at the moment there was another thing she had to attend to first.
Kile headed up the hill toward the great hall and Morgan’s tower. She had thought about going back to her cell to get cleaned up first but this was more important, maybe not so much for her appearance, but for her own piece of mind. She didn’t want the same mistake to happen again, she couldn’t allow it. She knocked three times on the mystic’s door, and then entered.
“Sir?” She called out from the foyer, but there was no answer. She was a little hesitant to enter, not wishing to track in the mud. Maybe she should have gone back to her cell first to clean up, but then the thought of having to deal with the stench of that uniform that had lingered in her room all day, turned her against that idea. By now the smell had probably gotten into everything, she may be sleeping in the stables with Grim tonight.
She quietly entered and peeked around the corner to see Morgan pouring over a few rather large and weighty volumes. He moved from one to another, turning pages and jotting things down on papers that he had scattered about. It would have been an ordinary sight had it not been for the fact that the table that he was sitting at, and the chair that he was sitting on, weren’t there. She was always under the impression that Mystics did that sort of thing in the presence of the average person to show off, now it would appear that it come quite naturally to them. He seemed to be busy and she didn’t want to disturb him so she started to retreat. Kaza, on the other hand, was not so discrete. Upon seeing her, the crow flew down from his perch and landed on the mystic’s head. Morgan didn’t even try to shoo him away, he just looked up from his books.
“Good afternoon Miss Veller.” He said in an exasperated voice, without even turning around.
“Sorry sir, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” She said from the door. “I’ll leave.”
“Nonsense, just get this bird off my head.”
The two made such a comical pair it was a shame they couldn’t communicate with one another. They were very much alike, they just didn’t know it.
“Kaza, please.”
The Crow obeyed as it launched itself off the mystics head and flew back up to his perch.
“Thank-you.” Morgan replied as he straightened his hair and turned around. “Now what I can do for… what in all the spheres happen to you?”
“Oh.” She said as she looked down at her clothes and the fact that she was creating a small puddle on his floor. “I got a little wet during class.” She said holding up her arms.
“Wet? Child you positively soaked.” Morgan said, and then uttered a few soft words. She could feel the water start to evaporate from her clothes, even from the floor around her feet. Within a matter of seconds she was completely dry, and her clothes looked a lot cleaner than when she had put them on this morning.
“Wow, thanks.” She said as she felt the sleeves of her tunic.
“I’m sure laundry service was not what you came for.” Morgan said, then stopped, grabbed his notebook and began flipping through the pages. “We don’t have an appointment today… do we?”
“No sir.”
He seemed a bit relieved as he set the notebook aside and snapped his fingers. The volumes he had been reading closed and returned to their places on the shelves. She was not sure if the chair and the table, that weren’t there in the first place, simple, ceased to exist, or folded themselves away somewhere in the room.
“Then why are you here?” He asked, pulling his yellow robes around him.
“It’s about the… Maligar.”
Morgan nodded knowingly and directed her toward one of the overstuffed wing backed chairs. As she crossed the room, she couldn’t help but wave her hand through the empty space where the table and chair that weren’t… were.
“Would you like some tea?”
“No thank you.” She said as she took her seat.
“So, you used the Maligar today, without meaning to… didn’t you?”
She stared at the old mystic who smiled at her as he stirred his cup. “How did you know?” She asked.
“Child, I have been teaching students the mystic arts for more years than you’ve been alive… probably more years than your parents have been alive for that matter. I knew it would happen… eventually.”
“How, why?”
“Well, simply put. It is power and power that is not controlled is uncontrollable. I didn’t want you to lean the Maligar merely because it was an intriguing ability, which it is, I wanted you to learn how to use it so you could control it.” He said as he took his seat opposite her.
“Do you know why the Mystics agreed to help the Hunter’s Guild with their testing and teachings?” He asked as he took a sip of his tea.
“Well… no, not really.”
“It was because the Mystic Council learned that cadets were being trained by regular Hunters on the use of their edges, Hunters that hardly had a grasp of their own edge were teaching cadets how to use theirs, it was a recipe for disaster. Accidents were bound to… and did happen.
“You will always have the ability, it is within you, whether you choose to use it or not, but if you can not control it, if you try to ignore it. There is no telling when, where and how it will manifest itself. That was what happened, wasn’t it?”
“Yes sir.” She replied. “I’m not really sure how it happened. One moment I was trying to get him to listen… and the next… I was just getting so angry that he was ignoring me that, it just happened.”
“Why don’t you explain it, from the start?” Morgan said as he leaned back in his chair.
Kile went into the full explanation, even further than she had originally planned. She didn’t want to tell him about the feelings that she had both during and especially after she broke contact, but she felt at this point everything needed to be said. It took the better part of an hour, and Morgan said nothing as he listened to every word. It felt good to get it off her chest, to talk to someone that might actually understand what she was going through. Only when she was finished did Morgan scratches his beard and nod.
“It is what I feared.” He finally said.
It wasn’t the best way he could have started the explanation.
“From what you have told me the Maligar is not as simple as I had originally thought, it is not just a means of controlling animals, but a merger of sorts, this is very interesting and it
reinforces what I have come to believe.”
“Such as?” She asked.
“It is a merging of wills, or… sprit, if you like. You join with that of the animal, and become a part of it. When the connection is broken, it may not always be as clean as you would like, but rather a shared one. You come away with something and I would assume vice versa.”
“What do you mean...? I took something from Grim.”
“I’m not talking about taking something as in a physical object, more like absorbing a part of him… his… essences… his soul… his spirit, in this case his emotions, take your pick.”
“It seems a little… creepy.”
“Well, I don’t know about creepy, but depending upon the will of the animal being controlled, it can have interesting side effects.”
“Side effects!”
“Nothing lasting… at least I don’t think it would be lasting, it’s rather difficult to say when talking about the soul or spirit. In order to really understand that aspect of the Maligar, we would have to consult a necromancer.”
“A necromancers… I don’t think I really want to know that much about it, I just don’t want it to happen again.”
“Yes, I think that’s probably for the best. Necromancers can be rather dodgy individuals to deal with.”
“Then you knew something like this could happen?”
“In theory… yes. Whenever you merge two things together, you seldom have a clean break, and then it relies upon the two things you are merging, which is the more dominant.”
“You mean I could have lost my will to Grim.”
“In a sense you did, just not permanently. Do you know why I selected a rabbit for our first test? It wasn’t because it was the only animal available; it was because it was safe.”
“Not for him.”
“No… for you. Blame me if you will, and I will take half that blame, but I was thinking more of my student than of the test subject. I was unsure of how strong your will was. If I brought in a more dominant creature, a predator perhaps, maybe a dog, something more aggressive, what would have happened if your will was not as strong as his? I could not take that chance.”