Hunter's Academy (Veller)

by Spoor, Garry

  He looked at the rest of the group, then at her and she could see the shame on his face now as he slowly got to his feet and followed her. Kile moved ahead well out of range of the others. She still couldn’t pick up the scent.

  “So, what did he promise you?” She asked Murphy without turning around. Kill two birds with one stone she thought, actually that was a horrible expression since she knew a few birds.

  “What do you mean?” Murphy replied.

  “I was just wondering how Eric convinced you to help him sabotage your own group. I figured he must have offered you something in return.”

  “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  This time she did turn around. The man was nearly two feet taller than she was, but he cringed when she looked at him.

  “Look, let’s not lie to each other. I know full well that Eric stole our supplies, I also know that you helped, what I don’t know is if this was all planned or whether he was just seizing an opportunity to knock us or anyone out of the exam. I’m hoping it’s the latter, because if it’s the former, then you knew about it all along.”

  Murphy’s face dropped as he looked from side to side, whether he was looking for a place to run or for someone to help him, he found neither, but the look did tell Kile one thing, this was all planned from the start.

  “Why don’t you tell me about it?” She said as she took a seat on a large flat rock.

  “I didn’t want to, it's just that… well… my father works for Lord Rimes, at his estate. I’ve known Eric ever since we were kids, we grew up together. It’s not every day that the son of a servant is befriended by the son of a Lord, not that it was a very good friendship, but still, I had opportunities and experiences that I wouldn’t have had otherwise, but it still comes down to the fact that he is the son of Lord Rimes. I have to do what he says.” Murphy said and then just shook his head as he sat down across from her.

  “He always talked about becoming a hunter, especially when Master Boraro visited the estate. He convinced me to become a Hunter too, said we could explore the world together. At first I wasn’t very interested, but the more he talked about it, the more I liked the idea, not so much to team up with him, but to finally be on my own, to finally get away from him. When I heard he failed the entry examination I was actually happy. When he took it again and failed, I was beyond happy. The third time his father made sure he passed.”

  “He paid the guild to pass his own son.” Kile said. It was more of a statement than a question. How else would Eric ever become a hunter?

  “Don’t you see? He also paid the guild to let me pass. That way Eric would have what he wanted all along.”

  “You don’t know that for certain.”

  “Might as well. Eric gets what he wants, whatever he wants and doesn’t care about anyone else. That’s the way it’s always been, that's the way his father makes it. If he wanted a new horse, his father would buy it for him. If he wanted a servant removed, his father would do it, no questions asked. At first I thought it was great, here was someone with power, but I soon found out if he got in trouble, I took the punishment. That was the only reason he had me around, I became his whipping boy; that was my purpose in life. I thought if I could become a hunter that would all be over.”

  “What did your father do before he started working at the estate?”

  “He was a tailor, had his own shop in the poorer part of town, but he never made much out of it. My mother became ill when I was still very young. He couldn’t afford the healers so he could do nothing but sit with her until she died. He decided that he didn’t want his son growing up in poverty so he took a job on the estate grounds. When Lord Rimes learned that my father had a son that was only two years younger this his, he moved my father up to a position within the estate.”

  “And your father took it, because he knew it would give you the opportunities and the experiences that you wouldn’t otherwise have had.”

  “Something like that.”

  “Murphy, I don’t know your father, but I do know, from what you just told me, that he loved you enough to take a job working for Lord Rimes to give you a chance. The question is how are you going to use that chance?”

  Murphy looked up at her, and she could tell that the big man was having a crisis of conscience. On one hand he wanted to honor his father, on the other he didn’t want to anger Eric.

  “Don’t throw it away.” She told him.

  “Heads up.” Some cried out, which instantly caused both of them to duck.

  Daniel came running through the woods pointing toward the western sky.

  “No.” He said. “Look.”

  Kile looked up to where he was pointing and could see plumes of black smoke rising from the trees. Where there was a smoke, there was fire, and where there was fire, there was probably Eric.

  “That still some distance away.” She said.

  “But it’s a destination.” Daniel replied.

  “Okay, let’s go.” She said and then slapped him. “It's look up, not heads up.”

  They made good time since they were no longer relying on Kile’s tracking skills, they didn’t have a map to keep referring to and they were traveling very light, but it was still a good distance to run and it was creeping into the evening hours when reached their destination. What they found was utter chaos.

  What was once an old farmhouse was now a large bonfire. The entire structure was engulfed in flames, spewing out a tower of black smoke with a defending roar. The heat was so intense that no one could get within thirty feet of the structure.

  “Who wants to bet that our first item was in there?” Alex said.

  Sure enough, on the other side of the clearing another group stood, staring at the inferno that was marked on their map as a farm house.

  “What happen?” Carter asked as he approached the other group.

  “Don’t know, we just got here ourselves.” They replied.

  “No chance of a water mystic putting that out is there?” Kile asked with little hope, Daniel just shook his head.

  “We could always wait until it burns itself out.” Alex remarked.

  “That should be about some time tomorrow afternoon.”

  Carter came back, shaking his head.

  “According to them, the place was burning when they got here. I managed to get a look at their map. This is where we’re supposed to be, this is where one of the three items was located.”

  “You don’t think this is a test by the guild… do you?” Daniel asked.

  “No.” Carter remarked. “I think Eric beet us here.”

  “Sure, if you can’t move the chest and you can’t destroy the chest, you have to make it so the others can’t reach the chest.” Kile replied.

  “So, what now?” Carter asked as they stared at the wall of flame. After a long pause, it was Murphy that answered.

  “I can get it.”

  “What… what are you crazy, nobody can get close enough to that fire, let alone inside?” Carter remarked.

  “I can get it, I know I can, just give me a chance.”

  “How?” Alex asked.

  “I have… a way.” He replied.

  His edge, whatever it was, had to have something to do with fire Kile thought.

  “How long?” She asked. “How long can you last in there?”

  “You’re not serious?” Carter asked. She wasn’t sure if his skepticism was because she was planning on sending someone into a burning building, or simply because it was Murphy.

  “Unless you have a better idea.” She replied.

  Carter threw his hands up in surrender and took a step back.

  “How long can you last in there?” She asked Murphy again.

  “I don’t know. I’ll admit I haven’t really tried this before, I would say about twenty minutes, thirty tops.”

  “That doesn’t give him much time to go searching around.” Daniel pointed out.

  “No, so we have to get some more informat
ion on the layout of the farm house.”

  “From who, It’s not like Eric’s going to tell us where the chest were, and it doesn’t look as if anyone’s lived in there for quite some time.”

  “Leave that to me.” Kile said. “You and Alex talk to the other groups, see if they're on board.”

  “What?”

  “Look, there in the same boat we are. If Murphy can find our chest in there, then he should be able to find theirs. Right Murphy?”

  “Uh… yeah… right.” Murphy said, but the hesitation made her a little suspicious, she hoped she was making the right choice as she headed back into the woods.

  Setting Vesper down in the grass she walked the perimeter of the clearing searching the undergrowth. It didn’t take them as long as she thought to find what she was looking for.

  -Here, over here.-

  Vesper called to her, and she followed the yarrow to old rotting log.

  -In here.-

  He said, and as she crouched down to take a look, Vesper took his place on her shoulder. Inside the log were about six or seven large rats huddled in the corner. One of the rats came forward, a rather mangy looking black one, and she could understand why Vesper took offense at being called a rat.

  “Are you guys alright?” She asked.

  -Fine… Safe… Home gone.-

  He said and she watched as Eric set fire to each of the rooms with a simple touch of his hand. He was definitely getting more powerful with his edge.

  “I’m sorry about what happened to your home.”

  -Safe… Most.-

  That was a vision she did not want to see, but it came to her anyway as the rat showed her the fire spreading so rapidly that not all of his kin had escaped.

  “I know I have no reason to ask this, but can you help me?”

  -What?-

  The rats didn’t appear to hold any grudges against the vir or even Eric for that matter, They didn’t’ appear to be as affected by the death of so many of their own as she would have thought, but what Gorum had told her, so long ago, seemed to make sense now. It was simply the cycle of nature. Life, death and life, it couldn’t be stopped therefore it had to be accepted. They sought no sympathy, the sought no revenge, they just carried on.

  “People put boxes in your home?”

  -Yes… sun… boxes.-

  In those words she saw the boxes, seven of them line out on a table, somewhere in the kitchen areas. They were smaller than what she had figured and were made of gold that reflected the morning sun. She could see why the rats had called them sun boxes. Eric had opened one and retrieved what looked like a small blue sphere. He tried to open the others but couldn’t, he tried to take the boxes but couldn’t, he tried to burn them, but couldn’t. Determined son of a lord wasn’t he, she thought.

  “Please, tell me where those sun boxes are... or were”

  The mangy looking black rat didn’t so much as speak this time, but took her through the pathways of the house, down through the walls and out into the kitchen. This was his path from his home to those boxes, and although she knew they would never get Murphy to fit between the walls, it was enough information.

  “Thank you.” She said as she got to her feet. She felt bad for not having anything to give the rats for their help, but they didn’t appear to want anything. They gave the information because they had the information, why couldn’t the vir learn from the natural world.

  She ran back to the clearing where Daniel met her half way.

  “The other groups think that this is some kind of scam.” He told her as he walked along side her.

  “Are you kidding?” She asked. Were they really that suspicious that they couldn’t trust anyone?

  “Okay. I’ll try to talk to them.” She said as she walked over to Murphy. He was already trying to calm himself down for whatever edge he was planning to use, and it didn’t help with Carter standing behind him with his hand upon his sword.

  “Okay.” She said as she got Murphy’s attention. “You're going to go through the front door, keep to the left since the basement does extend into that area of the house, we don’t want you falling through the floor. Pass the stairs you’ll find the kitchen. On the kitchen table were seven boxes, although I don’t suppose the table is still there. One of the boxes should already be open or gone or whatever happens when the contents it removed. One of those boxes is ours.”

  “I got it.” Murphy nodded.

  “Okay, wait here. Alex, come with me.”

  Alex was the least intimidating member of their group, or the entire academy for that matter. If they couldn’t trust her, they had to trust him.

  “You think this is going to work.” He asked her.

  “I have no idea.” She replied.

  She walked across the opening to where the other cadets were now standing with a respectable distance between them. These cadets use to sit side by side in the dinning hall without argument, place them into groups and they become mortal enemies. Why couldn’t they be more like the rats?

  “Look, we have a plan.” She said as she got closer. “Murphy has a way of getting into the farm house, he’s going to get our item from one of the boxes, he can get yours as well.”

  “And why should we trust you?”

  “What’s that suppose to mean?” Alex said stepping forward. “Kile is the only cadet at the academy you can trust. She’s never been mean to anyone, she’s never stolen anything, she’s would never hurt anyone or get anyone in trouble.”

  “I think that's enough Alex.” She said, pulling the small boy back. Maybe he wasn’t the best choice to come along.

  “I trust her.” One kid said from the back of the group as he pushed his way forward. “Mark, give her the key.”

  “Are you serious Keith?” Mark said, as his hand gripped tighter on his pouch where he must be keeping it.

  “Yeah, I’m serious. We don’t know how to get our…whatever it is out of there. If Kile does, I’m willing to take a chance.”

  It was Keith Larks, the only other hunter to survive the first survival exercise and the boy she had forced off his horse. She was a bit surprised that he, out of all of them, would take her side.

  “What’s your plan?” He asked as he took the key from Mark and handed it to her without hesitation.

  “We have a member in our group that can withstand the fire, although we don’t know for how long. Hopefully it will be long enough that he can get to the chest, get the items, and get out.”

  “That's a long hope.” Keith replied. “But we have nothing.” He looked at the other group who were still arguing among themselves.

  “How does he know where in the house the boxes are?” One cadet asked.

  “Because Kile told him.” Alex shot back.

  “Then how does she know where the boxes are?”

  “The point is I do.” She said, now it was her turn to get annoyed. “I’m not forcing this help on you, I’m offering it. If you don’t want to take it… don’t. I don’t care.” She said as she turned and started to head back.

  “Come on Robby, what do you have to loose?” She heard Keith ask.

  “This contest.” Was his reply.

  She stopped.

  “This isn’t a contest.” She said as she turned around. “What do you think you’re going to win, a paid vacation to Baxter Bay.”

  “Well… no… but…”

  “This is an opportunity to utilize everything you’ve learned at the academy, this is a mock mission. If I’m out in the wild and another Hunter offers me their help, I’m going to jump at the chance, we can’t do this alone.”

  “She’s got you there.” Keith added.

  “Well… okay, it’s better than doing nothing I guess.”

  The two groups of cadets followed Kile as she and Alex walked back to where Murphy was still trying to relax, obviously they didn’t trust her with the keys as much as they said they did.

  “You ready Murph.” She said as she handed him the two keys an
d then pulled hers from around her neck, she dropped it into his hand without hesitating. He appeared a little nervous and she hoped that was just because he was about to go running into a burning building.

  Murphy nodded, then closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before he started to walk toward the burning structures. At first nothing happened, but as he got closer to the fire he began to turn to stone, his skin, his clothing, everything. By the time he reached the farmhouse, he was a walking statue. So, she thought, that’s your edge. Morgan had alluded to a cadet that could turn to stone, and stone doesn’t burn, well, it does, it just requires a really hot fire.

  Kile moved to the back of the group, grabbing Carter by the arm and dragging him with her.

  “What's up?” He asked.

  “I want you to use your edge, get around to the other side of the house and keep watch. If he tries to make a run for it, stop him.”

  “You don’t think he will do you?”

  “I don’t know, but I don’t want to take the chance.” She whispered. No need to raise everyone’s suspicion. She felt bad not trusting Murphy completely, but it was his idea, and she was responsible for two other keys beside her own. If this was part of Eric’s master plan and Murphy did try to make a run for it, she wanted to be ready.

  Carter moved slowly around the outer edge of the clearing and faded as he walked. Within moments Kile could no longer see him, now she just had to wait with everyone else, the rest of the situation was out of her hands.

  The big man pushed the door aside and entered the burning structures. Every minute he was in there felt like an hour to the spectators, and as the time passed the comfort level dropped, even Kile was beginning to get nervous. A section of the building finally gave way as it collapsed under its own weight, sending out a shower of sparks. Only she knew that it was not where Murphy was supposed to be, but it was also something that she hadn’t taken into consideration. He may be able to withstand the heat, but if the building fell on him, trapping him in there, could any of them get him out. She started to regret giving into his suggestion.