Hunter's Academy (Veller)

by Spoor, Garry

  What would have happened if she had lost her will, surely not to the rabbit but possible to Grim, would she have become the horse, or maybe just think she was a horse? It was hard to image something like that could actually happen.

  “We will just have to deal with this one step at a time.” Morgan said as he got up from his seat. “But not tonight. I am glad that you brought this to my attention Kile, it was something that weighted heavily on me.”

  “That doesn’t sound too comforting.”

  “No, not this particular incident, but you, as opposed to the other cadets, has a rather unique problem.”

  “Problem sir?” She asked. Why was it always her that had the problems?

  “Edges have a tendency to… change over time. Things, that you may have found difficult to do early on, become easier, things that you found easy you may later find impossible. The way you do things now, may not be the way you do things a year from now. If there is one thing that is consistent about the mystic arts, it is that they are inconsistent.”

  “Are you saying that there may come a time when I… can’t speak with Vesper… or Kaza or any of them?”

  “No, I don’t think that would happen, but the means at which you communicate may change, and that might pose a problem. Someone who is influenced by a sphere such as water or fire can apply what he or she has learned to those new skills. They might find that their edge has changed, but the fundamental of using that skill do not. You, on the other hand, have no fundamentals to fall back on. Therefore, if any of these changes should occur, I would hope that you come to me for help.”

  When Kile finally left Morgan’s tower, she was feeling a lot better. Not only had she learned a great deal about her own edge, but she also learned that she wasn’t losing her mind any quicker than anyone else. As she headed back down the hill it was already getting dark. The activity was now centered on the dinning hall signaling the supper shift as food and drink were being carried from the kitchen to the hall by the first year cadets. She had only pulled that chore once during her entire year and she did not envy the new kids their task. It felt so long ago now, and so much had changed, although mostly it was just her. She looked back up toward the main hall, it was a shame she didn’t have the key with her, she would have liked to see those paintings again, if just for a moment.

  She started back down the hill toward the kitchen when she spied a tall, lean man with a pony tail and a funny looking mustache. Unfortunately he spotted her as well, and just when she was starting to feel better.

  “Cadet Veller.” Master Pike called out as he approached. “Am I to believe that you left training early, without my permission?”

  “I’m sorry sir.”

  “Sorry is not a good enough, cadet. That is in direct violation of code.”

  “I had to return the horse back to the stables sir. I was on my way back when I was summoned to Morgan’s.” She lied. It was always good to have a half truth in your back pocket to use in cases like this. The training in Mystic arts holds precedence over all other forms of training, a mandate set down in the code. If it was true, she wouldn’t need Master’s Pike’s permission, but then he had no way of knowing that.

  “Morgan’s?” Master Pike replied and then looked up toward the hill where she had just come from. At least that worked in her favor. “You should have at least gotten word to me.”

  “I’m sorry sir, I did try, but I didn’t really know where you would be, all you said was that you were taking the rest of the cadets across the country side. I was going to look for you, but I did not wish to keep Morgan waiting.”

  “Yes… yes I… I suppose that is acceptable.” Master Pike replied. “I was just speaking to the stable hand, Luke. He informed me that they have recently received some extra horses, so you will be able to choose another mount for the next class.”

  “Thank you sir.” Kile replied, at least she wasn’t the only one that was lying during this conversation.

  “You are dismissed.” Master Pike said as he walked off.

  Dismissed? When was she at attention?

  She ignored Pike. She wouldn’t have to put up with him for the rest of the week, not until the next class. All she had to worry about now was Boraro as they continued their weapons training tomorrow, that and the fact that there was a uniform that was still reeking in her cell, but even that could wait.

  She stopped at the kitchen and watched as the first year cadets struggled with their plates. She waited until the last one passed before she poked her head into the kitchen area.

  “Excuse me… Master Spece.”

  “Kile” The big man exclaimed as he wattle to the door. He had been gone all summer, supposedly visiting friends down south, but it looked as if he was doing more eating than visiting. The man looked a lot wider than he had the last time she had seen him and was living up to his nickname of Big Joe.

  “What can I do for you Kile?” He asked, wiping his hands upon his apron.

  “What do horses like to eat?” She asked him.

  “Horses… I don’t usually cook for horses.” The big man grinned. “My horse, he likes the carrots.”

  He has a horse, and a strong animal that must be she thought.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have some spare, would you?” She asked.

  “But of course.” He said as he turned and headed back into the kitchen. The staff easily flowed around him, never breaking their stride as they prepared the evening meals. He disappeared into the back room; a room that Kile knew all too well, and emerged with a bunch of carrots and waddled back across the kitchen floor.

  “Your horse, he will like these.” He said as he handed them to her.

  “Thank you Master Spece.”

  “Oh please… it’s Big Joe.” The man grinned.

  “Thank you again… Big Joe.” She replied as she waved goodbye. It was difficult to actually bring herself to call someone Big Joe.

  She avoided the dinning hall, and instead went over to the stables. There was nobody there, as she had figured, since they would all be at supper. The stables were now filled as most of the stalls had horses to occupy them. On the front of each stall was a wooden plaque that bore the name of the horse as well as the name of the owner. Each one was written by a different hand, which would indicate that cadets were responsible for painting their own plaques.

  She walked the line, reading out each name. Thunder, Lightening, Snowy, Wind, she found two with the name of Cloud, although one was Storm Cloud and one was Summer Cloud. Summer Cloud was mildly original; at least the owner was trying to think outside the box.

  “Midnight, a black horse, what a surprise.” She said as she stroked the stallion’s nose. “Poor thing, I bet you don’t want to be called Midnight.”

  -Not really-

  The horse replied in a rather depressing voice.

  It was still something she had to get used to, speaking with horses. Usually you make a comment like that you don’t expect to be answered.

  “What is your name?” She asked in order to be polite.

  -Garai-

  “Garai.” She repeated the name, and like Miliea, the horse seemed to enjoy hearing his name spoken by a vir.

  She could always tell the owner what the horse’s real name was, although she doubted if anyone would believe her, as it was she looked down at the plaque. Under the word owner was written Rimes, Eric. Oh, that figures she thought the only pure black horse in the pack and he would somehow manage to get it.

  “Now I really feel sorry for you.” She said as she let the plaque fall. “If I was you I would take the first opportunity to run away.”

  -No place to go.-

  “I suppose not.” She said as she broke off one of the carrots and gave it to him. “Good luck.” She said as she moved on down the line.

  It didn’t take her long to find Grim, he was off on his own, almost isolated. He watched her as she approached and she hoped that he wasn’t the jealous kind. Did he see her talking to G
arai?

  “Hello Grim.” She said as she held a carrot out to him. “I wanted to apologize again.”

  He turned his nose up at the offering.

  “Listen, if we work together, we can both get something out of this.” She told him, but Grim refused to speak.

  “I want to help you. You don’t want to go back up to the north province, and I need a horse. It would only be for two years. Once I graduate the academy, I’ll personally take you anywhere you want to go, anywhere at all. I’ll set you free and you can live out your life. It’s not as if you can get away. You escape and they’ll find you, and then there’s no telling what they’ll do. This way it will all be proper. What do you say…. Will you do it?” She said as she held the carrot out to him again, and again he refused it. She set it on the rail.

  “At least think about it. I’ll be back tomorrow.” Kile said as she moved off. She turned around to see him knock the carrot off the rail onto the stable floor. This was going to take a lot longer than she had thought and possibly longer than she had.

  She broke off another carrot and began eating it herself. It he didn’t want them, she wasn’t going to let them go to waste

  “Kile Girl.”

  Kile turned around, the carrot still hanging out of her mouth.

  “There you are. We wondered what happen to you.” Daniel shouted as he came down the hill towards her.

  “Yeah, Carter thought you packed it in and took the walk of shame.” Alex added, referring to the paths that lead to the eastern gate and out of the Hunter’s Academy for good.

  Carter slapped Alex upside the back of the head. “I did not.” He shouted.

  “I had an appointment with Morgan.” She replied, taking the carrot out of her mouth first.

  “Everything okay?” Daniel asked.

  “Yeah, it is now. Sorry… about before.”

  “What… what happened before?” Alex asked.

  “Knock it off chipmunk.” Carter said, slapping Alex again. “If they want to tell us all the sorted details… they will.”

  “Nothing happened.” Daniel and Kile shouted together.

  “Yeah, sounds like it.” Alex pouted, and then in true Alex fashion, changed the subject. “Did anyone here sign up for their chores? Tomorrows the last day? Don’t sign up by then and they’ll assign you one, usually latrine duty.”

  “I have.” Daniel said, and then paused. “What?” He asked as everyone stopped and stared at him.

  “Let me guess.” Carter replied scratching his chin. “Would it happen to be working for the healers?”

  “Okay, so maybe it was obvious, but I still had to sign up for it.”

  “If you didn’t sign up for that, they would have come looking for you.” Carter laughed. “What about you Kile, you choose yet?”

  “To tell you the truth, I haven’t even thought about it.” She said as she took another bite from the carrot.

  “I think I’m gonna sign up for Kitchen duty.” Alex chimed in.

  “Kitchen duty… you hated kitchen duty.” Daniel said.

  “Well yeah, but I don’t really like any of the others either, and if I don’t sign up for any of them, I’m bound to get kitchen duty away. Besides, it’s what I know.”

  “There’s logic in that.” Kile said as she pointed her carrot at him. “He’s had kitchen duty more times then any other cadet going.”

  When they reached the dorms there were people milling around the lobby and the halls, sniffing at the doors and the walls. A pungent odor was lingering in the air.

  “What is that smell?” Alex asked as he pinched his nose.

  “Nobody knows.” One of the cadets answered. “But it seems to be stronger further down the hall.”

  Kile cringed. She had a feeling she knew exactly where the smell was coming from.

  “Found it.” Somebody shouted. “It’s something in this room.” He said pointing to one of the doors.

  “What is it?” Someone else asked.

  “Don’t know, but it really strong in there, I can smell it right through the door.”

  Maybe this was a good time for Kile to take the walk of shame she thought as she slowly back out of the dorms.

  “Whose room is it?” Somebody else asked as cadets started to move down the hall.

  “Isn’t that Cadet Rimes room?” Somebody else answered.

  Kile stopped backing up. What was going on she wondered as she followed the other boys. She recognized the smell form the uniform she had left in the corner of her room, only a lot more pungent, but why would the smell be coming from Eric’s room?

  “No, I think it’s in this room.” Someone else yelled, but this one came from behind her. Kile turned around to see a bunch of cadets clustered around a second door. What was going on here? She navigated the crowded hallway back to her own cell, which had somehow passed the sniff test. What ever Eric used to lock it was now gone. She pushed it open, looked in, and quickly slammed the door shut.

  “What's the matter?” Daniel asked her.

  Kile spun around, pressing her back against the door “Matter, nothing the matter?” She said nervously.

  “I’d say you're acting strange, but lately, with you, I wouldn’t know how to gauge that.”

  “Yeah.” She laughed, not really listening to what he was saying. “I… think… I’m going to bed. Good night.” She said as she opened the door just wide enough for her to slip through then closed it quickly behind her.

  Kile turned with her back to the door, looking around the room that was completely filled with yarrow, yarrow and roses. They stood on every surface, every ledge, every shelf and across the entire floor holding in their hands and their mouths the last remnants of what must once have been a very robust rose bush. The whole room smelled of roses.

  “What is gong on here?” She asked trying to keep her voice down. No sooner had she asked the question then her head exploded with hundreds of small voices all talking at once.

  “No, no, no, no one at a time… one at a time.” She said waving her hands at them. They all fell silent, looked at one another, then all started up again.

  “Wait, wait, please… where is Vesper?” She asked, she couldn’t see him among the masses, or maybe she just couldn’t pick him out.

  Another head popped up from the bottom draw.

  -Kile?-

  He yelled as he leapt from the draw and ran across the heads of the other yarrow that filled the floor. Kile stooped down to pick him up.

  “Vesper, what’s going on here?” She asked.

  -Vesper family, family help.-

  “Help? Help how?”

  -Vesper family help-

  He said and with those words came a vision of hundreds of yarrow tearing off small pieces of her spoiled uniform, carrying them through the walls of the dorm and hiding them within, what she could only image was Eric’s bedroom. Other yarrows brought in roses, pulled off of some poor ladies' bush, somewhere in town. The roses were meant to replace the smell of the old uniform.

  “You did this for me?” She asked as she looked over the hundreds of yarrow staring back at her.

  -Kile family-

  Vesper replied, and so did every other yarrow in the room.

  “I wasn’t expecting company, or I would have picked up something more on the way in.” She said as she set the carrots on the ground, and then sat on the floor with her new family.

  ***~~~***

  5

  Kile stepped out of the healing hall, still holding her wrist. The healers had informed her that there were no broken bones, only severe bruising. It didn’t matter how they diagnosed it, it still hurt. She had been careless, she had left herself wide open and her sparing partner had seized the opportunity as anyone would have. Fortunately for her the cadet held no ill will toward her. He pulled his swing at the last moment, had he actually followed through he could have easily shattered her wrist. Had it been someone like Eric, or Rogers, she would be lucky to still have a wrist. Three days of
sword play, three trips to the halls, if anything, she was getting worse.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t know how to fight, she knew the moves; she just couldn’t perform them very well. The weapons were too heavy, too awkward in her hands. The whole concept and technique seemed foreign to her, and it didn’t help with Master Boraro standing behind her with every mistake she made, pointing it out to the entire class as an example of what not to do. Somewhere along the line the Weapon’s Master changed his tactics, now he was no longer interested in just having her quite, now he wanted to inflict as much pain and humiliation on her as possible before she did.

  “What did they say?” Daniel asked, jumping up from this seat just outside the door as she walked by.

  “Bruised, but still attached.” She said, waving her hand.

  “It was a low blow.”

  “No it wasn’t, it was a fair shot. I just couldn’t keep my guard up.”

  “Still, he knew you were having trouble, he shouldn’t have been so hard on you.”

  Kile stopped and looked at Daniel. She knew he meant well, but sometimes, some of the things he said really annoyed her.

  “Why, because I’m a girl?” She asked.

  “Well… no… it’s not that… it was just that you were having… you know… trouble. You couldn’t…”

  “I couldn’t use a sword, that's what I couldn’t do.” She finished for him.

  “That’s not what I was going to say.”

  “But that was what you were thinking. Do you think that if I was out in the wild on an assignment, that my enemy would go easy on me because I was having trouble?”

  “No, but you're not out in the wild.”

  “No, and I won’t be if I can’t defend myself.” She replied.

  It was as simple as that, before she could graduate the academy, she had to show she could defend herself by some means, of course that usually meant being able to wield a sword effectively.

  “I better get going, Luke will be wondering where I got off to.” She said. “Same time, behind the stables?”

  “I wouldn’t have thought you’d be up to it.”