Hunter's Academy (Veller)

by Spoor, Garry

  “Unless you are absolutely positive, do not tell anyone what you think, and even then I would second guess myself.”

  “Fine, let him have the stuff, what do I care.” She replied. “Maybe I’ll follow Grim’s suggestion instead.”

  “What did he suggest?” Daniel asked nervously.

  “Wouldn’t you like to know?” She replied.

  She stretched out on Grim’s back and stared up at the clouds. As much as she said she didn’t care, the problem was, she did care. There was no reason she could think of that Eric would steal from the academy. She had no real proof that he stole the artifacts, she never really saw him steal the artifacts. Even when she saw him stealing them, she didn’t see him stealing them. He had only tried to jimmy the case, but never had a chance to actually steal them. Could she say for certain that if she hadn’t been there that he would have succeeded, and if he did steal them, why not take them all at the same time, why risk going back for the rest when he already got away with it once? The more she thought about it, the more it didn’t make sense. Maybe she was wrong, maybe he didn’t have anything to do with the missing artifacts, maybe it was someone else entirely, an outsider perhaps… no, he stole them.

  “Hey, wish me luck.” Daniel said as he urged Miliea forward.

  Kile sat up and watched as Daniel maneuvered his mare to the starting line where Master Pike stood waiting with a timing stick. She had never seen a timing stick before but she could figure out how it worked easily enough. It was a simple hourglass suspended in a metal hoop at the end of a four foot wooden staff. Master Pike waited until the sands completely ran through, and then motioned for Daniel to ride as he turned the hourglass over in its hoop.

  As the sands began to fall, Daniel rode Miliea to the first gate. It was a series of jumps. Each fence being slightly taller or slightly shorter than the next, there didn’t appear to be any pattern, just a bunch of wooden fences lined up across the long run. Daniel didn’t hesitate as he took Miliea over each jump one after the other. To Kile, his form and speed were perfect, but she really didn’t have much to compare it to. After the last jumps, Daniel turned Miliea around a flag at the end of the course and did a straight run thundering past the other cadets at a full gallop. When he finally crossed the finish line, Master Pike scribbled in his book, tapped the hour glass and waited until the sands ran out. He nodded to Daniel and mumbled something to him that she couldn’t hear.

  “So, how did I do?” He asked as he got closer. Miliea was still a bit nervous around the larger mountain pony and didn’t want to get too close as she shied away, or it could have been Kile the horse was nervous around, what with the whole Maligar incident.

  “Beautifully.” Kile replied.

  -Foolishly.-

  Grim added. Fortunately nobody heard that but her.

  Master Pike called the next name on his list, one that she wasn’t familiar with, although she knew the horse’s name, Tandara, his Vir name was Thunder, and Kile thought it a bit odd that she could recall all the name of all the horses but none of the cadets. This time she was more interested in the run, if she wanted to know how well Daniel really did, she had to see how the other cadets fared, and it would give her an idea of what she was supposed to do. She watched as Tandara and his unknown rider ran the course as effortlessly as Daniel had. There didn’t appear to be any trick to it, just getting the horse over the gates and remembering to hold on.

  “Cadet Alex Bartlow.” Master Pike called out as he tapped the hourglass to get the last of the sand to fall.

  Alex moved Illusion up to the line. The smaller cadets looked nervous sitting upon the back of his mount, and he had every right to be. He was not a very good horseman, and he would be the first to admit it. Master Pike flipped the hourglass and motioned for them to go, but Illusion didn’t feel like it. The horse began to trot sideways and Kile knew Illusion was just showing off again. She would have to have another talk with him about his misbehaving.

  Master Pike rolled his eyes and gave the horse a good swat on the hind quarters, Illusion jumped forward as rider and horse headed for the first gate, unfortunately only the horse made it over. Alex had let go in mid jump, rolled off the back of illusion, bounced off the fence and landed face first in the mud. The line of Cadets gasped at first, and then broke into laughter.

  “Keep going cadet.” Pike yelled as Alex got to his feet.

  Kile noticed that the Horse Master never asked if he was okay, or if he needed help, that would have been a sign of humanity and Master Pike was above that.

  Alex wasn’t going to let the mud stop him. He grabbed Illusion’s reins, remounted and preceded to the next jump. She had to give the boy credit, she wasn’t sure what she would have done if that had happened to her, but Alex was Alex and he took everything in stride. Whether it was luck, or sheer determination, he managed to hang on through the next seven jumps, rounded the flag, and crossed the Finish line with a big grin on his mud covered face.

  Master Pike just shook his head as he jotted something down in the book.

  -This is foolish, what purpose does it serve?-

  Grim asked.

  “It’s to show that the cadets can handle their horses.” Kile whispered in the pony’s ear, making sure no one was watching her.

  -It’s obvious that you vir have no control, nor respect for the horses, not that the horses have much respect for themselves. To debase themselves in such… frivolous activities.-

  This was not what she wanted to hear. Her name was coming up on that list eventually and if Grim wasn’t going to cooperate, there was little she could do to persuade him.

  “You are going to jump.” She told him.

  -Mountain Ponies don’t jump.-

  That was something else she didn’t want to hear.

  “Keith Larks.” Master Pike called out.

  Now that was a name she had heard before, the only other Hunter to pass the survival exercise beside her and Carter. She watched as the tall blond haired boy rode up to the starting line and recognized him as the cadet that she had berated about his ill treatment toward Lionora. The mare looked a lot better now and was more accepting of her rider than she had been in the past. It was nice to see that he was treating her better. They ran through the course perfectly as Lionora cleared each jump with room to spare.

  “That’s how you do it.’ She whispered to Grim.

  -Mountain ponies don’t jump.-

  Grim replied.

  Kile watched as the other cadets ran the course; most of them making it look easy. Carter and Dirk made it through effortlessly, but that really didn’t surprise her. The two had formed some kind of bond and moved in perfect unison, she would have to say that they did better the Keith and Lionora, but then she was probably biased.

  When Eric and Midnight were called, the black stallion was a bit more temperamental than the other horses. He didn’t like Eric, he had made that clear during his conversations with her, and she couldn’t blame him. Although Midnight was usually docile, today was an exception. She watched in anticipation as they charged the first gate, but only Eric made it over as Midnight stopped just short of jumping and launched a rather startled greasy haired boy through the air. Eric came down hard in the mud on the opposite side, and lay there for several moments before pulling himself up. The cadets again broke out in laughter and Alex was among the loudest.

  Eric was far from amused as he stood there, staring at the cadets and the laughter suddenly stopped. Kile was sure she could see the mud baking on him as he started to, quite literally, heat up. Midnight, finding himself without a rider, decided to walk back to the stables. Master Pike was beside himself; she couldn’t help but wonder how the Horse Master would mark this down in his little book. Technically Eric failed since he never crossed the finish line, but if Master Pike was as weary of Eric’s family as everyone else appeared to be, what would that mark be?

  Eric brushed off the dry flaking mud and went to retrieve his mount. No sooner had he l
eft the field then the laughter started again. Were all these people so frightened of him and his family? It didn’t seem possible that one name could generate so much fear.

  “Kile.”

  She turned to see Daniel pointed towards Master Pike who was looking in her direction, actually, he wasn’t just looking, he was glaring at her.

  “Cadet Veller.” He shouted, and she realized it was finally her turn.

  “Don’t make me look like a fool.” She whispered to Grim and the pony started forward.

  As she got up to the starting line, Master Pike actually took two steps back, away from Grim. He waited until the sand had completely run through and then turned the hourglass over.

  “Go.” He yelled, but Grim didn’t move.

  Master Pike rolled his eyes and even dared to take a step closer, but she didn’t think he would be brave enough to swat the mountain pony on the hind quarters, not if he valued his feet.

  “Some time today Cadet Veller.” He said again with as much bravado as he could, eyeing the hairy black pony cautiously.

  She tried to urge Grim forward, but the pony wouldn’t move. At least she was giving the cadets along the line something else to laugh about.

  Desperate times call for desperate measures, which meant there was only one thing she could do… bribe him.

  “I’ll give you a piece of apple pie, if you run this course.” She whispered in Grim’s ear.

  -Two-

  He replied.

  Great, now she was haggling with her horse.

  “Fine… two pieces.” She said, giving in.

  -Then hold on.-

  Grim lunged forward, breaking into a full gallop as his platter size hoofs slammed into the mud. He never slowed as he reached the first fence and Kile braced herself for the jump, but it never came. Grim barreled through the wooden fence without stopping, sending out splinters of wood in all directions.

  “Grim, what are you…”

  But before she could even finish that thought, he was through the second gate and she had to duck her head to avoided being struck by the debris.

  He took out each gate without stopping, one after the other. By now the Cadets on the line were having a wonderful time as they laughed at Grim’s run, but the Mountain pony wasn’t finished, far from it. He took out the last gate, then took the final turn around the flag wide as he headed for the finish line, coming dangerously close to the other horses who reared up to avoid being struck by the mad pony. The cadets did all they could to keep their horses under control, some were not as fortunate as they found themselves looking up from the mud.

  Grim came into the finish sideways, as his backside slammed into Master Pike, launching the man ten feet through the air, he hit the ground in a most undignified manner.

  The Horse Master was furious as he picked himself up off the ground.

  “That beast should be destroyed; he is a danger and a menace.” Pike shouted as he walked up to Kile waving his finger. Grim took offense to this description as he turned and snapped at the man. Master Pike barely managed to get out of range of the horse’s teeth.

  “That’s it, this horse hates me, I want him gone, do you hear me, gone.” He shouted.

  “I’m sorry Master Pike. I don’t know what’s gotten into him.” Kile replied, but she knew exactly what had gotten into Grim, he didn’t like to be made a fool of, and he knew who was responsible.

  “I don’t care, you and that… that… beast failed.” Pike shouted from a safe distance.

  “Why is that?”

  “What, are you blind?” The horse master asked as he turned around, and then suddenly stopped. “Oh… sorry sir.”

  “No you’re not.” Lathery replied. “But that's alright, I’ve come to expect it I suppose.”

  He was leaning up against the paddock fence, his cloak wrapped around him. He was standing right where Kile had been waiting to take her run and she was positive he wasn’t there when she started. How was it that this man always kept popping up at just the right time she wondered?

  “Sir, no disrespect, but clearly, even you can see she didn’t run the course, she didn’t make a single jump.” Pike explained.

  “And your complaint is?” Latherby asked.

  Master Pike just stood there shaking; he was on the verge of exploding and probably would have if it had been anyone but the Guild Master. Latherby just calmly shook his head as he approached. It was that calmness that annoyed Master Pike the most.

  “If I’m not mistaken the requirement for the test was to run the course within the allotted time.” Lathery replied as he tapped the last grains of sand down from the hourglass. “Clearly she succeeded in that.’

  “She didn’t make a single jump.”

  “Well of course not, I would have thought as a Horse Master, you of all people would know that Mountain Ponies don’t jump.”

  “Of course they can jump, I’ve seen it jump.”

  “I did not say they couldn’t jump, I said they don’t jump. It’s really a matter of choice.” Latherby said as he reached down and picked up Master Pike’s book. He slowly flipped through the pages.

  “Choice, since when are the horses making the decisions.” Pike replied, but by the tone of his voice he was getting more irate by the minute. “If the rider is being controlled by the horse, who is the master?”

  “Between a Hunter and his… or her… mount, there is no master. The Hunter’s greatest ally and companion is their horse.”

  “That’s preposterous, what are the purpose of these tests, what is the purpose of an entry examination if we just let anyone become a hunter. Are we not supposed to weed out the undesirable, those that can’t hack it, or are we now giving special treatment to…”

  Master Latherby suddenly turned toward Mater Pike. “To?” He asked.

  “Individuals” Pike finished.

  “So, you are opposed to giving special treatment to certain cadets, is that it?”

  “I think every cadet should be evaluated equally. If they can’t complete the course, they shouldn’t be here; it’s as simple as that.” Pike replied calmly.

  “Perhaps you are right.” Latherby said as he flipped through the pages of Pike’s book. “Oh… look here Horse Master. It would appear that you have made an error in your entry.”

  “What… what are you talking about?”

  “This cadet here.” Latherby declared, pointing to a name on one of the pages. “If I am not mistaken, this boy did not complete the course either, therefore he failed, but you have him down as passing, it must have just been a mistake; I’ll just correct this for you shall I.”

  “There’s no need for that, there was no mistakes.” Pike replied, taking the book from Latherby.

  “Didn’t you just explain to me that Cadet Veller failed the test because her mount didn’t make a single jump?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “And yet, she still mangled to cross the finish line within the time allotted, but that cadet failed to make a single jump and failed to finish the course, and yet you’ve marked him down as passing. I don’t understand. Who’s getting special treatment?”

  Master Pike clutched the book as he stared at Latherby.

  “I… may… have been hasty… about Cadet Veller’s score. Now that I think about it… She did come in under time, so… I suppose… she passes.” He said reluctantly through clenched teeth.

  “See, that wasn’t so hard now, was it.” Latherby grinned.

  “No sir.”

  “Very good… Oh, and by the way, Cadet Bartlow also passed… you had that written down incorrectly as well.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “It’s as you said Master Pike, everyone should be evaluated equally. We wouldn’t want any… special… treatment.”

  “No sir.”

  “There she is.” Carter called out, lifting his cup of water in a mock salute. “The luckiest cadet at the academy.”

  It was a far cry from him calling her a Jinx no m
ore than a year ago, but Kile didn’t like the change. She didn’t like to be thought of as lucky, especially when luck had little to do with it. She also didn’t like the idea that some of the cadets were starting to think of her as a special case now. Mathew Latherby may have gotten Master Pike to change his mind and pass her, but it did little to stem the whispers that were going on behind her back. She slammed her tray down a little too hard, which silenced some of the talk in the dining hall.

  “He was only joking Kile.” Daniel said.

  “No he wasn’t.” She replied. “He was just saying what everyone else was thinking. That I’m getting some kind of special treatment.”

  “Maybe you are.” Carter muttered.

  “Is that what you think too?”

  “Come on Kile, you did botch that course pretty badly, you didn’t make a single jump and you can hardly control that beast.” Carter remarked.

  “I don’t think it was all her fault.” Daniel replied.

  “Then whose fault was it? All I’m saying is… maybe you don’t have what it takes to be a hunter.”

  “Is that it, is that your option?” She asked.

  “Yeah, and it’s not only mine.”

  “You don’t think I know that.” She said pushing the tray aside. Somehow she had lost her appetite.

  “Why don’t you lay off Carter?”

  “Oh come on Danny, she can’t fight, she can’t ride, yeah she has a bit of book smarts but that’s not going to save her out in the wild.”

  “She was one of the only three that passed Master Folkstaff survival test.”

  “Yeah… well I don’t know.”

  “What’s that suppose to mean?” She demanded, and again she managed to silence half the dinning hall.

  “All I’m saying is that nobody knows what happed that night.”

  “So your saying that I didn’t survive the test, that I’m actually dead out there on the hillside somewhere.”

  “You could have gotten help.” Carter replied as he took a sip of his water. “All I’m saying is, nobody knows.”