by Spoor, Garry
“I’m…. I’m Sorry.” She said as she hastily turned to the door. “You’re probably hungry… I’ll… I’ll go find you something to eat.”
She quickly closed the door behind her, leaving Kile alone in the room once again.
-Kile mad?-
Vesper asked as he sat on the edge of the tub.
“No… yes… I don’t know.” She replied.
-Alisa sad. She worried.-
“I know.” She sighed. “I shouldn’t have shouted. It’s just… I was so stupid.”
-Kile not stupid.-
“Yes I was. I was stupid to get caught. It was so obvious, I wasn’t paying attention, I wasn’t using my edge the way I should have been. I got careless, and that’s something I can’t afford to do. I survived this time. Who’s to say what will happen the next time… and worst of all, I lost you.”
-Vesper not lost… Vesper here.-
“Yeah, I know.” She smiled. “You’re here now but I didn’t know what happed to you. I was worried about you.”
-Alisa take care of me. Alisa nice.-
“Yes, yes she is.”
-Alisa take care of me, Alisa worry about you.-
“Yeah, okay, rub it in a little more, it’s not like I feel bad enough.” She said as she pulled herself out of the tub and began to dry off.
She sorted through the clothes Alisa had dropped on the bed, even when the woman was younger, she was still bigger than Kile, and had a rather bold fashion sense. The best she could find, or at least what she was willing to wear, was a pale green blouse with a little too much lace, a darker green vest with matching scarf and a pair of well warn leather breeches. Alisa also provided her with a pair of knee high leather riding boots, which Kile was reluctant to put on at the moment since her feet were still sore.
“Come on Vesper. Let’s go see what Alisa found in the kitchen.” She said as she held out her hand for the yarrow to climb on. He ran up her arm and sat on her shoulder.
-Alisa worry about you.-
“Yes Vesper. I will apologize.”
She took the stairs down to the kitchen where Alisa had set some food on the table. There was an assortment of fruits, breads and vegetable as well as an apple pie, which really didn’t surprise her. She was grateful that Alisa remembered she was a vegetarian. Of course Kile never knew what a vegetarian was until Rick had told her last year, she had just stopped eating meat when she learned that she could communicate with animals. It was just too hard for her to eat something that she could have spoken with.
“Well, you look more presentable.” Alisa said upon seeing her enter the kitchen.
“I guess it’s better than the rags.” Kile replied as she pulled at the lace on the sleeve of the blouse. “Did you always dress like this?”
“Always.”
“I feel sorry for you.”
“Hey, I like dressing like this.”
“No one dresses like this if they didn’t have to.”
“I’ll have you know, that was one of my favorite blouses.”
Kile held up her hands which were concealed by the soft green sleeves of the blouse. “Man you had some long arms.” She said as she shook them to get her hands free.
“Please, just because you're short doesn’t mean everyone is.” Alisa replied. “Now sit down and eat, or you won’t get any pie.”
“Yes mother.” Kile replied, taking a seat at the opposite side of the table.
“Look… Kile… I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“No, you had every right to. With what you just told me I was starting to doubt myself. I shouldn’t have snapped at you the way I did.”
“So, what are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know. Originally I had planned to speak with Kane, but now I’m not so sure.”
“Why not?”
“To tell you the truth, I’m not sure who I can trust.”
“You can trust me, and you can stay here as long as you need.”
“Thanks Alisa, you don’t know how much that means to me.”
-And me.-
“Oh yeah, and Vesper.” She added.
“Well, Vesper is welcome anytime.”
“I should probably talk to Grim first.” Kile said as she took a bite of the bread, and then slowly looked up at Alisa who was staring at her. “I mean… I should probably… check… on Grim first.”
“Well, Grim’s fine, although he does seem a bit depressed.” Alisa replied. “So, who is this Emara girl?”
“Emara? She’s a mystic from the Tower. She was the one who helped me escape. She should be at the tower by now. That should at least clear some of this up.”
“Well, what about the rest of it? What about this man in Littenbeck?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know anybody in Littenbeck, well, besides Daniel.”
“And who’s Daniel?”
“Just somebody I went to the Academy with. Last I know he was working at the hospital in Littenbeck.”
“Well, if he worked at the hospital, he should know who this guy is.” Alisa replied “I mean, if he died and all, maybe he was taken to the hospital first.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“What’s not a bad idea?”
“Going to Littenbeck.” Kile replied. “If I go, maybe I can find out who this guy was and why they think I killed him. I can also talk to Emara. She’ll be able to tell them exactly where I was when all this happened.”
“Are you crazy? You can’t go to Littenbeck. Isn’t that where the Hunter’s Guild is located?”
“Yeah, well, there is that.” Kile replied. “But it just seems like the best place to start.”
“Oh sure, every hunter in the country is looking for you and you’re going to walk in the front door and ask for directions.”
“Okay, I get your point. Maybe there’s another way around it, but I can’t really think about it right now I’m just too tired.”
“You can use the spare room. It’s the door at the end of the hall.”
Kile excused herself from the table without her pie. Even though she was hungry she was too tired to eat. She hoped things would look better in the morning.
***~~~***
8
A small paw tapping on her nose finally woke her up. It was not the best way to be woken up in the morning, but it was far better than what she had gotten used to in the dungeon. In fact she thought she was still in the cell until she was able to move her arms to remove the yarrow from her chest.
“This better be good Vesper.” She grumbled.
-Alisa in trouble… Hunters.-
“Hunters? Here?”
Kile threw off her sheets and quickly slipped from the bed. How did they know she was here? How did they find her so fast? Well, they were Hunters after all, and that was what Hunters do.
She should have had more time, a day or two at the most before they came back to the farm searching for her, or at least that was what she thought as she made her way down the hall to Alisa bedroom. The room was empty, but she hadn’t expected to find her friend still in bed. She moved to the window and pulled back the curtain enough for her to see the front yard below. Sure enough Alisa was standing in front of the farm house, speaking with two men.
One of the men she recognized instantly as Certified level three Hunter James Ril’em Steele who was posted to the same Guild house she was. As for the Hunter standing next to him, she had never seen the man before but she didn’t like the way he smelled. He wore a long dark cloak, the hood covering his head, making it nearly impossible to actually see what he looked like from the upstairs window. He was standing in front of Alisa, a step ahead of Steele which meant that this was the Hunter in charge of the investigation, Steele was only there as a courtesy, to represent the Guild House of the town of Coopervill.
Alisa had said that Steele brought two Hunters to visit the last time, and it didn’t take her long to find the second man. He was standing in the shadows of the stables, concealed in a lo
ng dark green cloak, similar to the one his partner wore, and holding what was unmistakably a crossbow, cocked and loaded. This was the standard two man apprehension formation she had learned about it in Master Adams tactics and logistics class back at the academy, but she never thought it would be aimed at her. If she managed to overpower the first Hunter at the door, an unlikely scenario, the second hunter was well within his rights to shoot her. They had not come to ask questions this time, they had come to arrest someone, and she was sure she knew who that someone was.
She started to move away from the window when something else caught her eye, something she could easily identify, it was one of her Lann. The same Lann that Guild Master Lathery gave her the year she graduated from the academy and it was being held by Steele. She had assumed that they had been taken from her by the uhyre when she was captured, but if that was the case, how did the Hunters have it in their possession. There was only one way to find out, and that was to ask them.
Returning to her room she quickly got dressed, putting the light green frilly blouse on the she had chosen last night as well as the darker green vest and matching scarf. The boots were about a size too big for her, but at least her feet weren’t as sore as they were last night. Vesper climbed onto her shoulders as she headed for the stairs. She had thought about setting the yarrow down, but she had a feeling that things were going to get bad fast and she might not have a chance to come back for him.
She entered the kitchen and grabbed the only weapon she could find, somebody’s walking stick that was leaning up against the door. It wasn’t very lethal, but she had no intention of killing anyone, especially not another hunter. She opened the kitchen door and stepped out onto the porch, standing in the shadow of the awning.
“That is not how we do things Kevin.”
That was Steele’s voice, she knew that voice anywhere. He tried to hit on her the first time he saw her in the Guild House.
“She is harboring a criminal.” The Hunter, now known as Kevin, replied.
“We don’t know that.”
“I know that, and if she does not step aside, I will have no other choice but to take action.”
“Then you better take action because I have no intention of moving, I am not letting some over opinionated popinjay set one foot in my house.” Alisa shouted.
“I don’t think you realize who you are addressing ma’am.”
“I know exactly who I’m addressing. Some egotistical blowhard who, for some reason thinks that just because he has a piece of paper signed by some man I don’t give a damn about can circumvent my rights. I am a citizen of the province of Denal, and of the Kingdom of Aru, and unless that little piece of paper that you’re so fond of waving around has either his Lordship’s name on it or that of the King, I don’t acknowledge it or you, so you can please leave.”
“Not without the fugitive.” The Hunter shouted as he took a step forward.
It was probably more for intimidation purposes rather than an actually confrontational act. Most people were usually unsettled by the appearance of a Hunter on their doorstep, but Alisa wasn’t backing down as she stood her ground, her arms folded across her chest.
“It would appear that you leave me with no other choice.” The Hunter said calmly as his hand casually dropped to his sword. This was another intimidation tactic, even the way he kept his voice level, never raising it, never showing anger. This Hunter was doing everything by the book, word for word.
“I can’t let you do that.” Steele said as he took a step forward, placing himself between the Hunter and Alisa.
“What do you think you’re doing Steele?”
“I am a Hunter assigned to the Guild House of Coopervill and therefore the citizens of this town are under my protection.”
“You better think very carefully about what you do next.”
“I have.” Steele replied, and his hands fell to the pummel of his own sword.
The man with the crossbow stepped from the shadows of the barn.
“I can have you shot.” Kevin said in that same calm voice.
“You could. I am sure there are members of the council who could spin it in their favor, but that doesn’t mean what you’re doing is right.”
“You know as well as I that the apprehension of Kile Veller is our top priority, and we will do anything we have to, to bring her in. We will not have a traitor in our ranks.”
“Does this ‘we’ you refer to include the Hunter’s Guild, or just the Son’s of Terrabin?” Kile called out from the front door of the farmhouse as she slowly descended the steps, concealing the walking stick behind her back. She could see the situation was getting ugly and the last thing she wanted was for anyone to get hurt because of her.
The cloaked Hunter turned toward her, and although she couldn’t see his eyes from beneath his hood, she could see his lips as they curled into a smile. Of course he would be smiling, he had just caught the most wanted criminal in all of Aru, or at least he thought he had.
“So, I’m impressed, you decided to show yourself after all.”
“I would have been down sooner, but you arrived so early, I wasn’t dressed. Don’t you know that you have to give a girl time get ready before you come to pick her up?” She said as she walked slowly across the grounds, adjusting her grip on the walking stick. She was only going to get one chance at this.
As she got closer she fell into her edge, stretching out to touch every animal in the immediate area, but there was only one that she was looking for, and when she found him, he knew it.
“Then you’re turning yourself in?” Kevin asked as he drew his sword.
She couldn’t tell whether the idea of her surrendering made him happy or not. She was sure that this vir was looking for an excuse to get violent.
“That is one scenario, although I really hadn’t considered it.” She replied. “I mean, what chance would I have of a fair trial, assuming that I even reached Littenbeck in one piece?” She said a she stopped just a few yards in front of him.
She looked Kevin over. He was young, fit, and probably good at what he did. He would have to be either a level two or a level one to be sent out to bring back such a wanted bounty which meant he was probably very good at what he did. She had no idea what his edge was, which was the biggest obstacle, but on the other hand, he had no idea what her edge was either.
They stood for a while staring at one another, size each other up. He had to be wondering how she eluded capture for so long, that was if he actually believed what the rumors had to say about her. He wasn’t going to make the first move, he was playing it by the book, but then Kile had read that book, in fact she read most of the books that Master Adams had in his small library. There was little else for her to do back at the Academy.
Steel had pulled Alisa back and was now standing between her and them. She wasn’t sure if he would get involved, it was difficult to tell. He didn’t appear to be completely on their side, but on the other hand he was still a hunter and she was an open bounty. The man with the crossbow was slowly maneuvering himself to get a clear shot at her, since she put Kevin between them. She waited until he made the mistake of standing in front of the stable doors, but then he didn’t know any better.
It was like a crack of thunder that rang through the early morning. The crossbow wielding hunter didn’t have a chance of getting clear of the stable doors as they flew off their hinges, slamming into his back, knocking him clean off his feet. He scrambled for his crossbow but a platter sized hoof attached to a really ticked off Mountain pony quickly put an end to that as it crushed the weapon and, more than likely, a few of the man’s fingers as he screamed in pain. Kevin instinctively turned to see what had happened behind him and Kile brought the walking stick down across his wrist, forcing him to drop his sword, she quickly spun into him and brought the stick across the back of his head before he could react. He suddenly dropped to the ground, she hadn’t expected it to work that well. As she grabbed the fallen sword she noticed
the ring on his finger. She didn’t know why she noticed it, it was a Hunter’s ring, similar to the one she had, but there was something different about it. Unfortunately she couldn’t compare it to hers, since hers was taken along with the rest of her stuff, and she didn’t really have time to contemplate it.
She quickly turned to face Steele, gripping the rather large and awkward sword, but before she could find out whose side he was on, a very intense, very vivid image filled her head.
“GRIM NO!” She shouted, turning toward the Mountain Pony.
She didn’t have to see what he was about to do, she could feel it in every bone in her body as the Mountain pony stood posed with his hoof over the fallen hunter’s head.
-Why?-
He asked calmly, and that calmness sent a chill down her spine.
“Because it’s not right.”
-Who’s to say?-
She had no doubt that the Mountain pony would have thought nothing of crushing the bowman’s head, and that was what scared her.
“I say.”
He paused for a moment, his hoof still hovering over the man’s head. The Hunter was staring up at the Mountain pony with fear in his eyes.
“Please Grim, don’t do it.” She pleaded with him as she tried to keep an eye on Steele, but the Hunter was more interested in what happening with the pony than with trying to stop her.
Grim snorted and slammed his foot down, about three inches away from the bowman’s right ear. He lowered his massive head toward the man and snorted again, blowing the hood back away from his face. Kile had never seen the man before, but she had a feeling she would never see him again. The Mountain Pony eventually backed away.
-It’s not worth it, trying to get a vir’s brains out of your hoof is a nightmare.-
It was not a very nice image that he presented to Kile, and she wondered why it was so detailed. As Grim moved across the yard toward her, he got dangerously close to the unconscious Kevin.
“Don’t even think about it.” She told him.
-Just a leg, it will slow him down a bit.-