Hunter's Bounty (Veller)

by Spoor, Garry

  “I think I know what you mean.” Daniel replied with a slight grin. “She was the same way at the academy. She had a certain flare for annoying authority.”

  “I guess something’s never change.” Leon replied.

  “What can you tell me of Rothershire?” Erin asked.

  “Nothing much I’m afraid. Rothershire was kind of an outcast in Riverport. From what I knew he only came into town to get drunk and start fights, I never really knew much more about him, I only heard about his death from Keith Wints who helped Garth prepare the grave. The thing is, she did uncover information, but she wouldn’t tell me what it was, she lied to me. She told me that Rothershire spoke of a place by the name of Grover’s den.”

  “Grover’s den?” Daniel exclaimed, “You don’t think this has something to do with that do you? You don’t think she’s heading back there.”

  “No, that’s just it.” Leon said turning to Daniel. “That was what she told me, but that wasn’t the truth. I spoke with Keith the next day and he told me what Garth message really was, that Rothershire spoke of a man by the name of Saybela and a place called Windfoil. I don’t know why she lied.”

  “Windfoil.” Erin said as a worried look crossed her face.

  “You’ve heard of it?” Daniel asked.

  “Windfoil was the name of the seat where King Jusen I. reigned and some of the old timers still refer to the Waltair Castle as Windfoil, but I don’t see how that’s going to help.”

  “Well, she did leave a message for you.”

  “A message? For me?”

  This was a little unusual. She never had a bounty that left messages or clues behind deliberately.

  “She told me to tell you that the four names in the book are connected, and that if she wanted to clear her name she had to get a head of it. She also said that there was a Hunter involved by the name of Garret B.”

  There was only one hunter by the name of Garret with the last initial of B that Erin could think of, but what would he have to do with all this? Was this another trick to try to throw them off her trail, like lying about Grover’s Den, but if so, then for what purpose? She was leaving clues to help them, but then steering them off in another direction.

  “She wouldn’t.” Daniel exclaimed with a look of horror.

  “She wouldn’t what?” Erin asked, although she didn’t really want to know the answer. The one thing she had learned from chasing Kile was that the girl was unpredictable.

  “She said in order to clear her name she had to get ahead of it. You don’t think she would actually go to Waltair Castle and confront the High King himself.”

  “I don’t think even Kile is that crazy.” Erin said but a look from Leon and she wasn’t so sure. “You’re not telling us everything… are you?” She asked him.

  “That’s all I know.” Leon replied with a dismissive hand gesture that clearly stated he no longer wanted to discuss the matter. He turned and continued back to the house, but Erin wasn’t going to give up that easily. There was something more that Leon wasn’t telling them, something that he was reluctant to tell them. As she followed Leon, she saw for the first time, the young girl standing on the porch with a child in her arms. She had been listening to the exchange, and Erin couldn’t help notice the look of apprehension the girl wore.

  “What happened here the night Kile left?” Erin asked, grabbing Leon’s arm.

  “It was nothing.” He said, easily breaking the hold as he pulled back.

  “It wasn’t nothing.” The young girl said from the front step.

  “That’s enough Jenny.”

  “No Leon, they have to know.”

  “There is nothing more to say.” He said, silencing his wife, but then he was never able to silence her for long.

  “She went crazy, she was like a wild animal, and she tried to harm our child.”

  “Jenny!” Leon shouted and the young girl jumped.

  “I don’t believe it.” Daniel exclaimed. “I’ve known Kile, and she wouldn’t harm anyone.”

  “Well, you didn’t see her that night.” Jenny shot back, gripping the child closer to her chest as if just talking about the incident put her baby at risk.

  “Jenny, why don’t you go back inside?” Leon said, although it sounded like a request, it was much more than that. Jenny entered the farmhouse, letting the door swing shut behind her.

  “What did happen?” Erin asked again.

  “You have to forgive Jenny, she was upset.”

  “About what?”

  Leon said nothing for a while as if putting his thoughts together and feeling out his story before he told it. It was clear that he cared for his sister, so much so that he was unwilling to say anything that would have put Kile in a negative light.

  “Ki only stayed with us for one night.” Leon started. “When Keith arrived, she must have thought it was someone coming for her. She kind of… lost it.”

  “Lost it, what do you mean lost it?” Daniel asked. Erin placed her hand on his shoulder to calm him down. It would not do to antagonize Leon at this moment. She needed to know everything, and she had a feeling that this might have been what Morgan had warned her about.

  “She kind of went… wild. When I tried to stop him from going outside, that’s when she turned on me, there was just this… this look and her eyes…”

  “What about her eyes?” Daniel asked Leon, but it wasn’t Leon that answered.

  “They turned golden, like those of a cat.” Erin said.

  “That right… how did…”

  “It doesn’t matter. Did she threaten you in any way? Did she threaten your child?”

  “No, no, nothing like that. She just ran out of the house. I thought she was going to attack Keith but… nothing happened. She never came back that night, not that Jenny would have allowed her in anyway. I’m guessing she spent the night in the barn. The next morning I found her in the high fields. That's when she told me she was leaving… among other things.”

  “What other things?” Erin asked.

  “It wasn’t all that important.” Leon replied.

  “Anything you can tell us will help.”

  “Well, it was kind of strange. She told me to set apart a quart of an acre for the rabbits and they’d stop eating my crops. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.”

  “I do.” Daniel replied. “And I’d do exactly what she said.”

  Daniel gave Leon a nodding goodbye and headed off toward his horse, Erin quickly caught up. Only when they were far enough away from Leon did Daniel say anything.

  “I don’t believe she had any intention of harming that child, it’s just not in her nature.”

  “I’m not sure what her nature is.” Erin replied. “But I agree. I think that part of the story was from a frightened mother protecting her child.”

  “Or someone trying to make more trouble for Kile. It doesn’t look like she was wanted here any more than she’s wanted anywhere else.”

  “You may be right.” Erin said, looking over her shoulder at the farm house. Leon had just gone inside, probably to console his wife.

  “How did you know about her eyes, and what does it mean?” Daniel asked.

  She turned to face him.

  “A woman back in Coopervill described them the same way, when Kile got angry after being questioned. I noticed that you weren’t all that surprised to hear about it. Is it part of her edge?”

  “I never saw it back at the academy, and believe me, she had plenty of opportunities to be angry, but when she came to see me at the hospital, when Grey came into the ward, that’s when I saw it. It was only for a moment and I thought it was a figment of my imagination, but now… I’m not so sure.”

  “Figment or not, this is not something we need to tell Grey.” Erin replied.

  “Agreed.”

  “What do you make of the rabbits then, was that significant.”

  Daniel laughed.

  “No, that’s just Kile being Kile. If I know her, she probably had
a nice long chat with the boss rabbit and worked out some kind of deal. If Leon knows what’s good for him, he’ll honor his side of it.”

  Folkstaff came walking across the yard, followed by a not so happy Grey, but then Erin couldn’t remember a time when he was happy.

  “You learn anything?” Erin called out to them as she pulled herself up onto Elemia.

  “About all I can say for sure is that she was here, but then we already knew that. I’d place her departure about three or four days ago. Beyond that, there isn’t much to be said. What about you, did her brother have anything to say.”

  “Plenty, I’ll tell you on the way.”

  “On the way to where?” Folkstaff asked as he mounted up.

  “Windfoil.”

  ***~~~***

  17

  Waltair Castle wasn’t that difficult to find. Even on the worst of maps it was clearly marked, even those handed out by the Guild had its location plainly noted. It was once the seat of power, a centralizing point of the political structure of the Kingdom. It was where the High Kings held court in days gone by. It was so ingrained into the Aruian culture that every child knew where to find it. As it was, Kile got lost.

  She had a general idea of where it was supposed to be, just north of Azintar, which in itself was North of Littenbeck. The last time it took her two days by coach road to get from Riverport to the city of Littenbeck. From there it was another day to get to the academy which was located just outside the walls of Azintar. She had to believe that it couldn’t take any longer than a day to get from Azintar to Waltair Castle. If her math was correct then the entire trip should have taken just four days, and that was if she went the round about way via Littenbeck, which she wasn’t going to attempt. It would not do for her to get too close to that City any time soon.

  It was on the fifth day that she gave in to Grim’s complaints of traveling in circles that she asked for directions. The birds of the Northern Province were more than willing to help as they showed her the surrounding area, and that was when she noticed she had been traveling in the wrong direction. She should have been moving more westerly but instead had passed Windfoil and was now forced to backtrack.

  She had hoped that her trail across the countryside as oppose to using the open roads would have saved her a day or two, as it was, it cost her time. She had no idea how much of a head start she had over Erin and the rest of the hunters, but it would appear that she lost most of it.

  It was on the evening of the sixth day out of Riverport that Windfoil, otherwise known as Waltair Castle, came into view. The place was enormous when compared to anyplace else she had seen in her travels, and far older than she would have expected. According to the history books, Windfoil was the first structure built by the vir when they came to this land from where ever it was that they came from. The history books were never quite clear on that point. It stood upon higher ground than the rest of the land, and she was surprised she hadn’t seen it sooner as it loom over the trees and the tall towers seemed to rival the very mountains for domination over the skies.

  An outer and an inner ring of walls sounded the main keep; each ring nearly thirty foot high with watch towers placed every forty feet. The main gates were composed of Iron and wood six inches thick and twenty feet high with killing holes along the sides and more vir then any town could claim walking the battlements. For nearly thirteen centuries no force had ever breached the walls, no enemy had ever set foot within the keep. Windfoil was virtually invulnerable.

  -Now what?-

  Grim asked as they stood upon the bluff starring out across the chasm at the walls of the stronghold.

  “We just have to break in.” She replied.

  -Oh, is that all. A vir child and a small rodent are going to break into the most fortified structure in all the kingdom.-

  “How hard can it be, I broke out of one fortress, it should be easier to break into another. For starters, nobody is expecting for me, and besides you forgot to mention my trusty steed.”

  -I didn’t forget, If you think I’m gonna help you break in there, you’re not a smart as I gave you credit for.-

  “Fine, you stay here, Vesper and I will get in, speak to this Mr. Saybela and get out before you can say…”

  -Treason-

  “It’s not treason to visit the King.”

  -It is if you’re not invited.-

  “Besides, the King shouldn’t even be here. He holds court in Azintar, Windfoil is just his… summer get-away.”

  She slipped off the back of Grim. Why did the castle seem so much larger now that she was standing on the ground?

  “Well, it’s not like I could take you through the halls of the Windfoil anyway. You better stay here, I’ll see if I can find a way in.”

  -Seriously, you really think you’re going to find a way inside.-

  “I won’t know until I try, and beside, think of it this way. If Saybela is one of the people that Ravenshadow wants dead, he couldn’t have sent his assassin into Windfoil without it going unnoticed.”

  There was some logic to that she thought as she made her way down the east wall of the chasm, but what that logic was and why it should matter at that moment was beyond her. As she slid down to the bottom she crossed over a small stream and began to the climb up the other side. When she reached the top rim the walls of Windfoil seamed to have grown twice their height and she started to think that this was not one of her better ideas.

  Going through the front gate was out of the question. She couldn’t knock on the doors and ask for entry, they’d have her clapped in irons before she could set one foot into Windfoil. Climbing the walls was feasible, but not very practical. It would take far too long and she could hardly do it without being seen, besides, there was also the soldiers on the wall to deal with. Even if she did, by some miracle, manage to climb the first wall unseen, there was still the second one she would have to get over before she could reach the inner keep. The worse part was that the entire distance from where she was now, to where she wanted to get to, couldn't be more than two hundred, maybe three hundred yards. If it wasn’t for the walls, it would be an easy trip.

  Maybe breaking out of a keep was easier than breaking in she thought, but even then she had help from Emara. If the mystic was here she could transport them directly into the keep, which was assuming they didn’t end up stuck in the loo or reappear half way across the country. Carter could have gotten in. With his edge of invisibility he could have walked through the front gates without anyone detecting him. Steele’s edge was speed. The hunter could have been in and out before anyone would notice. Even Marcus, with his edge of persuasion could have gotten in, although with Marcus he would probably just get himself invited. Why couldn’t she have been blessed with an edge that was a little more useful for a situation like this?

  -Kile, visitor.-

  Vesper said from her shoulder. She grabbed for the Lann strapped to her back, not that she had any intention of harming a guard, but she would defend herself if she had to. She quickly scanned the fields between her and the wall, but saw no one.

  “Who did you see?” She asked as she sniffed at the air, but it wasn’t a vir she smelled. She moved further upstream until she found her little visitor. A red tailed fox sat on an old stump watching her with bemusement.

  “Evening.” She said as she slipped the Lann back into its sheath.

  -Strange.-

  The fox replied and she wasn’t sure if the fox was referring to the fact that he hadn’t seen her around before, or to the way she was acting.

  -You wish other side of flat mountain?-

  The words the fox spoke brought visions of a flat mountain rising high out of the surrounding grass and it took her a moment to realize what he was saying.

  “Yes, the wall, you know how to get to the other side of the wall.”

  -I have been, take you if you wish.-

  He replied and without another word it leapt from the stump and started back down the chasm. Kile had
to run to keep up as the fox was moving quickly through the undergrowth with ease, running the length of the small stream. Only when it reached a rocky outcrop on the side of the hill did it stop and wait. At first she couldn’t see a reason for their destination and thought she had misinterpreted the fox’s visions after all, but before she could ask, the fox slipped between two of the stones and was gone. Kile got down on her hands and knees to pry one of the stones away, there, behind the rocks, was a small natural cave. It was not much taller than the fox, and not much wider than herself.

  Somewhere deep inside was the source of the small stream. She climbed up the chasm wall and looked across the open field. If the small cave ran true, it led directly to the walls of Windfoil.

  “Well, what do you think Vesper? You think it’s worth a try?”

  -Find food.-

  The yarrow replied as it leapt off of her shoulder and followed the fox through the small opening.

  “What do I have to loose.” She said as she got down on her hands and knees. “I hope you two know where you’re going.”

  -Other side of flat mountain-

  The fox called back.

  Getting down flat on her stomach he had to pull herself through the narrow opening, sliding along the shallow, ice cold stream. The opening was far too small to be called a cave, although she didn’t know what else to call it besides a tunnel or possible a rabbit hole. Whatever it was, it was fairly straight, which was a blessing in itself since she wasn’t sure if she could even make a turn in so constricted an area. It also raised a rather valid if not scary question. If this tunnel ended or got any tighter, how was she supposed to get herself out?

  The journey was slow going since she wasn’t able to use her legs very well and was forced to pull herself along with just her arms, sliding through the mud and over some rather sharp stones. The darkness was absolute. Even with her sharpened eyesight, assuming that it had kicked in, she wasn’t able to see anything. She had to rely on other feelings, other senses that she didn’t understand. Mostly she had to rely on Vesper who she could sense was just a few feet ahead of her. When the darkness began to close in and she was starting to have second thoughts the walls suddenly opened up. It wasn’t a large opening, but it was large enough that she could actually crawl on her hands and knees which made traveling a little faster if not more uncomfortable. Kneeling on the sharp rocks wasn’t any better than being dragged a crossed them.