Hunter's Academy (Veller)

by Spoor, Garry

  “Kile, I’m sorry.” Daniel said, dropping his weapon as he moved to her side. “Are you alright? I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “I’m fine.” She said, slapping his hand aside. The last thing she needed at this moment was to be made aware of how bad she actually was.

  What made matters worse wasn’t the fact that he wasn’t even trying to win and she was, but that Master Boraro had to pick that moment to be standing right behind her.

  “Pathetic.” The weapons master grumbled.

  “I’m not pathetic.” She shot back as she grabbed her pole arm and got to her feet.

  “You can’t even handle one of the simplest weapons in the armory, what would you call it other than pathetic. You’re useless, you’re a disgrace to the academy, your father would be ashamed of you.”

  Whether he made that statement because he knew about her father or not didn’t matter.

  “I… am… not… useless.” She said in a calm voice that even surprised her.

  “Then prove it.” Master Boraro replied as he grabbed one of the pole arms from a cadet that was standing nearby.

  When was she going to learn to keep her mouth shut? She silently scolded herself as she tightened her grip on her own weapon. This should be quick and quite painful, she thought, and wondered how long her stay in the halls was going to be this time.

  He stood across from her in a defensive posture, a cocky grin on his face, there was no way he would lose this match, they both knew that, the only outcome she could hope for was one where she would be able to walk away from the list.

  She threw herself into her attack, going low, of course he was nearly twice her height and close to three times her weight so most of her attacks were going to be low. He easily deflected it, but never followed up as the cocky grin on his face only grew. She went in again and again he knocked her aside, on her third try he drove the weighted ball of his pole arm into her stomach, and she went to her knees gasping for air.

  “Useless.” He muttered again.

  She got back to her feet, reestablishing her grip on the weapon and went at him again, but the ground was uncommonly slick and her attack was weak at best. The Weapon’s Master knocked her aside with little effort. By now she was making a fool of herself if she could gauge by the loudness of the laughter from the crowd that had gathered to watch the beating. She tried again and this time his block lead to a counter attack as he swung the hammer side of the pole around. She tried to block it by digging the end of her pole into the mud for better leverage, but the force of his blow was greater than the strength of the weapon as nearly two feet of her pole snapped under the impact of the Boraro’s swing. The hammer of his weapon caught her in the side, knocking her sliding sideways across the ground.

  She was gasping for air as the intense pain in her ribs was hindering her breathing. Boraro wasn’t finished and came down with the hammer side again. Fortunately she was able to roll to one side to avoid the blow. The hammer impacted the ground, throwing up dirt and she knew that he meant to hurt her if not kill her.

  “I think this is over.” Master West called out.

  “Not by a long shot.” Boraro yelled as he spun the pole and swung with the opposite end of the staff, Kile rolled with the blow, catching most of it on her lower back.

  “Master Boraro, I think that is enough.” She heard Master West yell, it was the first time he had ever raised his voice, aside from the day she shot him in the ass with a crossbow bolt.

  She rolled to a crouching position as he came at her again, now she was sure he had no intention of stopping. The blow was a two handed over the head strike, a killing blow. She held what was left of her pole up to bock, but her weapon shattered under the impact, although she was able to divert most of the energy from its initial target, she took a good shot to the side of the head and the world began to spin out of control.

  “You are a stupid, useless child.” Her father said through clenched teeth as he stood over her.

  “I… am… not… useless.” She shouted back as she grabbed the two longest length of her weapon and slowly staggered to her feet.

  “Kile, stay down.” Someone yelled from behind her.

  It was probably Daniel, but she didn’t dare turn to see. She now held a piece of the broken pole arm in each hand. Each piece was nearly three feet in length and felt surprisingly comfortable, like the Lann.

  “You just don’t know when to give up.” Boraro laughed

  He moved into an attack stance, but she wasn’t watching him, she was watching his feet. His movements were very predictable, why it took a blow to the head to point this out to her, she wasn’t sure, but he came in hard and fast, and she easily spun into the attack, through his circle of defense, rolling along his outstretched pole and bring both pieces of her weapon around to make contact with his side. It may have been a weak shot for two sticks but had they been the Lann, it would have been killing blow. She followed through with her roll, ending up behind him, scoring yet another non fatal hit.

  “You little…”

  He swung again, but she knew it was coming as she ducked under his wild attack and again she broke through his circle of defense. She caught him on the backswing. Using the knee of his planted foot as her personal spring board she launched herself up with a spin and brought one of the wooden sticks down across the bridge of his nose. There was a sickening, yet satisfying crack. She hit the ground beside him, kicking his legs out from under him as he stumbled backward, falling like cut tree. She was on top of him before she even knew it, the splintered edge of her weapons poised against his throat.

  “KILE!”

  The name, her name, snapped her back to reality. She stopped, turning to look at the awestruck faces of the cadets as they stood in a large circle around them, staring at her. She looked down at Master Boraro, and the hatred she had always seen in his eyes toward her was now tinged with fear.

  What had just happened?

  “Kile… Let him up.” Erin said in an unnaturally calm voice.

  It took her a few moments to understand what Erin was asking her to do. She stepped back from Master Boraro and dropped the broken weapon. Master West moved past Erin, keeping a watchful eye on Kile as he helped the Weapon’s Master to his feet.

  “Perhaps you should wait in your room.” Erin told her.

  “Yes ma’am.”

  Her first instinct was to run, to run as fast as she could back to her cell and lock the door behind her and forget that this day had ever happened, but she didn’t. She turned slowly and the sea of cadets parted before her as she walked across the now silent courtyard to the dorms.

  “Classes are dismissed for today.” Erin said as she turned to face the cadets that still appeared to be in shock. “Please make yourself available for questioning.”

  She walked passed the cadets into the headmaster’s office where Master Boraro was being treated by one of the healers, although not very willingly. His face looked a mess but it was mostly due to the broken noise, the rest he couldn’t very well blame on Kile.

  “She’s out of here, that little bitch is out of here.” Boraro shouted as he pushed the healer away.

  “And why is that?” Folkstaff asked. “Because she set you on your ass?” He laughed.

  “She struck a staff member, that is grounds for dismissal, and I want her out of here.” Boraro yelled.

  “Yes, it wouldn’t do for people to know that the Weapon’s Master of The Hunter’s Academy was bested… by a little girl.”

  “Robert, please… this is serious.” Oblum remarked. “Why don’t you question some of the other students and see if you can’t get a clear line on what actually happened.”

  “Yes sir.” Folkstaff replied.

  “It doesn’t Matter, she’s out, she’s gone.” Boraro said, pushing the healer away for the third time. By now the healer had given up and was packing his supplies. “That's what you get for letting people like… like her into the academy. Orseen blooded, ill disci
plined peasant child. She struck a staff member”

  “That’s… not exactly true.” Master West spoke up.

  “Explain Carl.” Oblum commanded.

  “Master Boraro exceeded the limit of the training, and the skill of the student. He initiated the dual and connected with the first significant blow.”

  “So you struck her first.” Oblum replied, turning to the Weapon’s Master.

  “I was defending myself.”

  “No sir, from what little I saw… it went beyond that.” West added.

  The conversation paused as the door opened and Master Adams stepped into the office; the first thing he looked at was Boraro’s face. The man had a towel over his nose trying to stem the flow of blood.

  “Folkstaff told me what happened.” Adams replied, and it was clear that he couldn’t quite believe it until now.

  “We are attempting to ascertain who the responsible party was.” Oblum stated.

  “Well sir, if I’ve gotten the story right, the injury occurred during training.”

  “That is correct.”

  “Well, according to the Hunter’s Code, there is no fault… on either side.”

  “Explain.”

  “During a training exercise, such as sparring, there is an understood risk of injury. Therefore neither party is held responsible for injury inflicted upon the other.”

  “There you go.” Oblum said, throwing up his hands. “No need to drag this out any further.”

  “Well sir.” Adams interrupted. “There is a stipulation that injuries upon a student at the hands of an instructor, could result in disciplinary action.”

  “What’s that suppose to mean?” Boraro snapped.

  “You could lose your job.” Erin replied.

  “I don’t think that actually applies here.” Oblum added. “I think it would be best if we just… let the matter go.”

  “Are you serious?” Boraro shouted. “Let it go. Look at me, that little peasant bitch broke my nose and you want to let it go. There was no way she could have defeated me that easily unless…”

  “Unless what?” Oblum asked.

  “Unless she used her edged, that's it, she used her edge against me somehow, that had to be it.”

  “If that is true.” Master Adams replied. “Then that is a case for dismissal, and possible prosecution under the Guild Laws. No hunter may use their edge against another hunter for any reason.”

  “Is it true Carl, did she use her edge?” Oblum asked Master West who now looked as confused as everyone else.

  “Um… I… I just don’t know sir. I didn’t see the whole thing.” He replied.

  “So you’re saying that she could have?”

  “I suppose… well… yes I guess that is possible.”

  “There you see.” Boraro said, pointing to West. “She used her edge, that’s why she bested me.”

  “That’s not exactly what he said.” Erin added.

  “I will send a cadet to fetch Morgan.” Master Adams replied as he headed for the door.

  “What can you tell us about the fight? What exactly did she do that makes you think that she used her edge against you?”

  “Well… I felt dizzy, and there was that one moment that I couldn’t see.”

  “Was that before or after she broke your nose?” Erin asked.

  “You’re not helping.” Oblum replied.

  “Oh come on, let’s at least have a note of realism here. He got careless, picked on the wrong student, she kicked his ass and now he’s crying foul. If it had been any other student but Kile, this wouldn’t have even gotten this far.”

  “Her movements.” Boraro exclaimed.

  “What about her movements?” Oblum asked.

  “They were fast, too fast to be normal, that’s her edge.”

  “Oh come one, just because you’re old and slow doesn’t mean the cadet should be. Do we even know anything about her edge, whether she could even use it offensively?”

  “I believe that question should be directed to me.” Morgan replied from his overstuffed wingback chair that had suddenly appeared in the corner of the headmaster’s room.

  “Where the hell did you come from?” Oblum demanded. He was unaccustomed to people appearing in his office without using the front door.

  “A cadet had informed me that there was an emergency meeting that I was to attend, I must admit that I was unaware of such a meeting and thought I should pop over to check on it myself.” Morgan replied as he set his cup or rosemary tea down on the side table “I do hope this is not going to take long, I still have so much work to do.”

  “We want to know what cadet Veller’s edge is.” Boraro demanded.

  Morgan brought his fingers together as he pressed them against his bottom lip.

  “No.” He replied.

  “No, what do you mean no?”

  “No. I cannot divulge what a hunter’s edge is. It is clearly stated in your own code that the edge is known only between the hunter and the mystic that instructs him… or, in this particular case, her.”

  “She’s not a hunter.” Boraro shouted.

  “So, am I to believe that you have come to the decision to expel her from the academy?”

  “No, no one is being expelled.” Oblum replied.

  “Then I am afraid that I can not help you.”

  “Perhaps you can answer a few questions about her edge, without telling us.” Erin suggested.

  “That I could do.”

  “Can her edge be used offensively?”

  Morgan thought about it for a moment as a grin slowly crossed his face.

  “I suppose, although not very subtlety” He replied. “For this particular situation, since you feel you need to ask… I would have to say no.”

  “This is ridiculous.” Boraro replied.

  “Not that ridiculous.” Master Adams said as he stepped into the room. “I was talking with Folkstaff outside and according to the cadets, there appears to be a mixed opinion about what happened, some are saying she used her edge, some are saying she didn’t, and most admit they don’t know one way or the other.”

  “Cadet Veller’s edge is more… shall we say… for information gathering, not combat.” Morgan replied as he took a sip of his tea. “Although I would have to say, that under certain circumstances, she could use it for offense, but it would not go unnoticed.”

  “So, it wouldn’t be in… say the sphere of water.” Adams suggested.

  “Water, absolutely not.” Morgan replied.

  “Why do you ask that?” Oblum asked Adams as he shifted a look toward Boraro.

  “Folkstaff. He did a reading that indicated that arts dealing with the influence of water had been used recently within the list, although with all the cadets and activity in that area, he can not pin point the exact time or location. We haven’t had rain in the last eight or nine days, and what with the temperatures as hot as they have been, the ground is bone dry, except that small area where the incident took place is covered in mud.”

  “Interesting.” Morgan added.

  “Why would that be significant?” Oblum asked the Mystic.

  “Because, if I am not mistaken, Master Boraro, you are influenced by the sphere of water, are you not?”

  “How dare you.” Boraro shouted jumping to his feet. “You have no right to reveal my edge to others.”

  “Oh please, I am not your mystic, so there is no pack between us.” Morgan said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

  “Not to mention the fact that you made a big deal about your campaign against the black water prates.” Erin replied.

  “Indeed.” Adams added. “If I recall the story you told, you said that you walked out to the boat, under the water where you waited until nightfall to climb aboard the ship.”

  “Water breathing, water walking, It does not take a mystic to identify a hunter influenced by the sphere of water.” Morgan concluded.

  “Master Boraro… Garret, did you use your edge to affect the outcome
of the battle?” Oblum asked.

  “If he did, he didn’t do a very good job at it.” Morgan added.

  “Oh come on.” Boraro shouted as he turned and looked in each of their faces. Somehow he had lost control of the argument; this was getting away from him fast. “For what reason would I have to do that?”

  “To humiliate a cadet.” Erin added.

  “Is there some way to tell if an edge has been used and how it was used?” Adams asked the mystic.

  “The amount of mystic energy that you hunter’s use, appear as little more than background energy. It is not very discernable from what naturally occurs. Therefore, since I was not looking for it, I would not see it.”

  “But are there tests you can do, some type of spell or something.”

  “Spell? Spell? You make me sound like a side show conjurer. It’s not as if I can… wave a magic wand over the spot and have it reveal its secrets. The process is rather lengthy and drawn out.”

  “Then it is possible?”

  “Yes, yes it is possible.” Morgan admitted.

  There was a knock on the door that caused Adams to turn around, and he quickly stepped aside, Mathew Lathery entered, the man appeared to be in very good spirits.

  “I do hope I’m not interrupting anything.” He said looking at the Hunters that had gathered in the headmaster’s office.

  “Sir, we didn’t know you were at the academy today.” Oblum said as he rose from his seat.

  “I was just in the area and thought I’d see how the cadets were faring.”