by Spoor, Garry
Kile closed her eyes and took a deep breath, the dusty room, the damp floor, the smell of jasmine and a hint of lavender. There it was, the smell of lavender and leather, faint, but getting stronger. She reached out with her edge, stretching as far as she could, searching the rooms, the halls, the floors until she found minds that would listen to her; mice in the pantry, a cat in the kitchen, a dog in his master’s office, pigeons on the window sill, even the horses in the street. She opened her eyes.
“So that’s it.” She said, taking a deep breath. “He no longer needs me alive.”
“Why should he. As I’ve said, you’ve outlived your usefulness.”
“So he’s given up trying to frame me?”
“It served its purpose for what it was worth. He delayed the hunter’s long enough, shifted the power struggled, and kept the west blind, all while seeking justice, or at least his version of justice.”
“At least he could think outside the box, can’t say the same about you.”
“What’s that suppose to mean?” Scare asked as she turned to face Kile.
“I’m just saying you’re not very… original.”
“I’ll have you know that I am one of the greatest assassins the guild has ever known and will ever know. You should consider yourself honored to have been dispatched by me.”
“Please, I haven’t seen anything too impressed me so far. I mean, I’ve seen the aftermaths of... what?... five targets, and I didn’t see anything different, they were all done the same way right down to the burning of the houses to cover your tracks, and even then you weren’t very efficient at it. Where’s the originality, where’s the flare.”
“Originality? Flare?” She shouted as she moved towards Kile.
“Look at me. You have the opportunity to kill me for a second time, and the best you can come up with is poison… again. You’re not very imaginative for an assassin.”
“Maybe I’ll have to show you how imaginative I can be.” Scarlet said as she produced a thin bladed silver knife. Scarlet took a step towards her and that was when a small grey mouse slipped through the crack under the door and ran across the floor, passing between Scarlet’s legs and coming to a stop beside Kile.
She wasn’t sure if Scarlet was surprised by the mouse’s behavior, or she was just scared of mice, but she stared at the mouse, and the mouse stared back. It wasn’t long before another one entered the room. This one came in through a small crack in the wall behind the bookshelf and was joined by a large brown rat. The mouse came up to Kile the rat approached Scarlet who slowly backed away.
“This place is infested.” She replied as she stepped back from the rodents. “Maybe I should just leave you to the rats.
“That is one possibility.” Kile replied. “At least it’s… kind of… original.”
“I’ve seen it done before.”
Kile looked past Scarlet to see Erin standing in the center of the room, her sword drawn and pointing in the assassin’s direction. It was about time she had gotten here, although Kile couldn’t tell how the lady hunter had entered the room without making a sound. She was, however, surrounded by a few mice of her own so there was no mystery on how she had found her way.
“It would seem that I underestimated you.” Scarlet remarked as she turned to face Erin. “I thought I would have more time.”
“Did you really think that we wouldn’t have Kile under surveillance?”
“I had hoped that bringing her down here would have made for a longer search, but no bother. Now I have the opportunity to deal with both of the female hunters.”
Before Erin could respond, Scarlet struck first, or at least tried to as Erin quickly sidestepped the attack. Their weapons clashed and Erin spun in lower to counter, but her blade sliced through the air as it passed right through the body of the assassin, leaving Erin vulnerable. She jumped backward, barely avoiding Scarlet’s blade and collided with the table, sending the chairs toppling over. Scarlet tried to capitalize on her opponent’s miss-step but Erin easily knocked the blade aside and counter, only to cut through the air once again.
“You wanted originality.” Scarlet laughed. Her voice whispering through the air as her body reformed behind the hunter.
“Watch out.” Kile screamed.
Erin had just enough time to get her sword up as Scarlet’s blade came in low. She turned to face the new attack and Scarlet’s body dissolved once gain, being carried on some unseen breeze.
“The problem with hunters is that they never truly learn to use their edge.”
Scarlet’s voice was like a harsh wind as it cut through the air, and Erin had no way of telling which direction she would attack from next.
She came in behind her again and this time Erin wasn’t able to get completely out of its way as Scarlet's blade cuts a clean line on her left thigh. Erin staggered back and tried to counter but there was no one to counter against as Scarlet body dissolved back into the air once again.
“I can keep this up all day, can you lady hunter.” Scarlet taunted.
There was nothing Kile could do as she watched the exchange. Her edge was all but useless in this battle as the mice were no match against an assassin that just wasn’t all there. Her only chance to help Erin was to distract Scarlet long enough to give Erin the upper hand. If they could capture the assassin, it would go a long way in proving her innocence.
She pulled herself to her feet, or to her foot, as she balanced herself on one of the chairs that had recently fallen in her directions. She fell into her edge and let her feral senses take over. It was all a matter of timing, and when the timing was right she pushed the chair with all her might and watched it slide across the floor.
It happened so fast that none of them understood it, until it was all over. The ethereal form of Scarlet maneuvered her way behind Erin once again and the chair slid into the space of her body as she took form. Erin spun around to defend herself, but there was nothing to defend against.
“NO!” Kile cried.
Erin slowly backed away. Kile fell to her knees. Scarlet stood motionless in the center of the room.
“I didn’t… that wasn’t…”
“Kile, it’s all right, you had no choice.”
“She was my last chance.” Kile said shaking her head.
“Don’t be so sure, even if we had been able to take her in, I doubt if she would have helped you, or if the council would have even listened to a member of the assassin’s guild. Now let’s see about getting you out of there.”
“How? I’m kind of attached to the wall and she was the only one that could get me out and I just…”
“You did what you had to do, and for that I’m grateful.” Erin said as she knelt down beside Kile and ran her hand over the wall where the young girl’s leg was still attached. “It’s not one of my specialties, but I do know the skill.”
Erin got up, took a deep breath and cleared her mind. She stood in front of Kile and took hold of her hands. “Just relax” she told her as she fell into her edge
The feeling wasn’t as disturbing as when Scarlet had done it. With Erin in control it was more like floating, but all her parts floating in different directions, and then she felt herself being pulled back together until she was solid once more and was able to set both feet on the ground.
“Ow!”
“What? Are you alright?”
“Yeah… it’s just my foot fell asleep.”
Erin picked up her sword as Kile hobbled over to where Scarlet stood.
“That is just… wrong… so… wrong.” She said as she walked around the assassin.
Scarlet had completely solidified around the chair and was stuck standing up, her arms hanging limply at her side, her head lolled back.
“You… can’t… do anything for her… can you?” She asked.
“I’m afraid not.” Erin said as she came up beside her. “It’s not quite like a leg stuck in the wall. It’s a little more complicated.”
“So much for my chan
ces of proving my innocence.”
“Come on, we should get you seen to.”
“Oh, that’s right. I was poisoned again wasn’t I?”
***
“Are you sure she used a poison, because I can’t detect any in your body.” Daniel said as he stepped away from the cot.
“She said she did, and I thought I felt it, but… I don’t know.”
“Well, either way you appear healthy enough.” He replied as he placed his things back into his bag.
“Great, I’ll be healthy for my execution.”
“Don’t say that. Master Adams says there is little chance of that happening.”
“No, he just says I’ll probably spend the rest of my life in Blackmoore, and since I’m healthy, it should be a long life.” She said as she slumped back in the cot, then she saw the look on Daniel’s face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to depress you as well.”
“How can I not be depressed, I mean, I kind of feel responsible.”
“I don’t know why you feel responsible, you didn’t do anything.”
“That’s just it, I should have helped you. I should have gone with you to the Tally house. I should have helped you solve this problem, instead…”
“Look, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. If anything you would have ended up in the cell next door.”
“Maybe.” Daniel replied. “We still have two days to find a way to get you out of this and Erin is still searching for Emara. If we can find her, that will go a long way in proving your innocence. So, don’t give up hope yet.”
“Yeah, of course.” She replied as she forced a smile, but in the back of her mind she wasn’t holding out much hope in the search for the illusive mystic. Emara was supposed to return to the tower soon after their parting, which was some time ago. With Emara’s sense of direction there was no telling where she could have transported to, that was assuming she even left the wastelands. She could have even been recaptured. There was just no way to know.
“I’ll let Vesper know you’re alright.” Daniel said as she reached for the cell door. “I wanted to bring him but…”
“It’s alright. I understand.” She said waving him off. Ever since the escape that wasn’t an escape sent the animals into chaotic frenzy, they had banned all pets from the building until further notice.
Daniel knocked twice on the door and waited until the guard let him out.
“I’ll try to come and see you tomorrow.” He said as the guard closed and barred the door again.
Kile just nodded, but she knew they wouldn’t let him in to see her again. They weren’t letting anyone in to see her until the trial, or hearing, or whatever it was that they insisted on calling it. An inquisition was probably closer to the truth she thought as she laid back down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.
***
She was flying, soaring across the sky with the wind in her hair and the sun on her face. The mountains loomed in the distance and the forest passed below her, she was free. She could smell the salt of the sea and hear the cry of the gulls as she passed over the cities and the town flying ever northward toward the pillars of black smoke that rose in the distance. As she got closer she crossed into the province of Denal where the smoke was the thickest and the smell of decay lingered in the air.
The small town Coopervill far below her, nestled among the trees, was not the quiet little town she had been confined during her probationary year, the town she grudgingly called home. It was a town in ruin, burn to the ground, black smoke filled the air and the smell of ash and death assaulted her sense. It had been completely destroyed, every building, every house, The bird and bay, the old blacksmith’s shop, the guild house, even the Apple Blossom Livery was burnt to the ground,. The Western lands were all ablaze, but she didn’t care, as she flew past them over the wastelands where the uhyre were now on the move, pouring over the border as if the dam had broken. Nothing could stop them as they marched their way to Windfoil, and still she didn’t care as she continued to fly west, over the vast desert, chasing the setting sun as it descended among the lush green lands that called out to her, she could even smell it, the scent of a forest after a heavy rain.
That was a familiar smell Kile thought as she quickly sat up in her cot and looked toward the cell door. It was a smell she should have known all along and yet had never truly trusted her senses, until now. The traveling mystic in Riverport, the young guard that had shown her the way to the mystic’s tower four years ago, the young cadet that questioned her about traditions during Oblum’s orientation, the stable hand that taught her how to defend herself, they all had the same smell.
“Hello Master Latherby.”
A haggard faced guard poked his head through the small window of her door.
“Sorry miss?”
“I said, hello Master Latherby.” She replied without looking at him.
“I’m afraid you have me mistaken miss, I ain’t no master to no one.”
“Yes… yes you are. I don’t know how you do it sir, but I know who you are.”
“And what make you think so?”
“Your smell, your scent, you may be able to hide your appearance, or even change it, but you can’t change who you really are.” She turned and looked at the rather confused man. “Who are you really?”
“Ma’am, my name is Thompson, Jack Thompson.”
“Please sir, who are you really?”
The old haggard face began to mellow, and then began to melt as it shifted and reformed into something, or someone she did know.
“Luke.” She said with a smile.
“For all these years, nobody has ever found me out, I am impressed Miss Veller, and for the record, my real name is Moran, as in Moran Leafler.”
“Wait a moment, are you telling me you’re that Moran Leafler, the one that started the Hunter’s guild, what four hundred some odd years ago.”
“I see Master Adams was right, you do remember your history.”
“A lot of good it’s doing me now, but how is it that no one has ever found you out?”
“It’s because of my edge, like yourself Miss Veller, I am what the hunter’s refer to as a freak, or as you so eloquently stated, a miscellaneous.”
“That still doesn’t explain how you’re still around after four hundred years, unless… you’re not vir are you? You’re an alva.”
“Very good Miss Veller, I am impressed. Yes, I am one of the last, or at least one of the few that remained behind. Back then I thought I could mend the rift between the vir and the alva, but I was mistaken. As it is I was forced to change my appearances to look more like a Vir and less like an Alfa so that I was accepted among them and I created the hunters to pass on my knowledge, but it would appear that I have failed in that as well.”
“I’m sorry… I guess I wasn’t cut out to be a hunter after all.”
“No, no Kile, that’s not what I’m saying. You are one of the few vir that I have met that truly knows what it means to be a hunter. If anything, I have failed you. This travesty of justice should never have happened. I should have seen it coming. I suppose when you’ve been around as long as I have, you get rather complacent. I thought I understood Drain, I thought I could keep him and his sons of Terrabin under control. I was wrong, and now they are the ones in control.”
“What are you going to do now sir?”
“At the moment, not much, but it is not the first time I had to regain control of the Hunter’s guild, and I fear it will not be the last.”
“What about now, what about me.”
“I’m afraid my hands are tied.” He said sadly as he shook his head.
She jumped from the cot and moved to the door.
“You don’t really believe what they are saying about me?”
“No, of course not… It’s just…”
“It’s just what? What are you trying to say, that I have to be sacrificed for the greater good? That this is bigger than me and I have to do my part as a hunter, becau
se I’ve heard that before, I heard it at the Academy and I didn’t believe it then. Placing the guild above the individual, if that’s what being a hunter is all about, then you can count me out. I no longer wish to be one.”
“Kile please…”
“I will not go to Blackmore. Not for you, not for the guild, not for anyone or anything.” She said and her eyes flashed with that feral instinct that even the great Moran Leafler stepped back from the cell door. She turned her back on him.
“Kile, you have to understand.”
“No, no I don’t. Good by Master Latherby.”
He said nothing more as he moved away from the cell door. She wasn’t sure if he changed his appearance back to the old haggard guard or not, but she also didn’t care. She was becoming a pawn in a game with no sides and no rules, a game that she wasn’t even allowed to play. She lay back down on the cot and stared up at the cracks in the ceilings and wondered how things had gone so very wrong.
***~~~***
32
They came for her the next evening. Two armed guards led Master Adams to her cell door. She wished they had given her a chance to bathe before they took her away to her trial, or even a wash cloth and some water or at the very least a brush to tame her hair. She would look a right state as they led her into the chamber with her wild hair and her dirty clothes. She would look like the wild animal they claimed she was. Maybe that would work to her advantage. Let them think she was less than human, she could play it out, she would wait for her opportunity.
“Are you ready Kile?” Master Adams asked as the guard opened the door and stepped back.
Was she ready? That was a foolish question to ask. Ready for what, this farce they called justice. In many ways she was starting to think that Ravenshadow had the right idea all along. Maybe she was destined to follow in his footsteps, to escape Blackmoore and seek vengeance, no, not just vengeance but justice, to seek justice for those who put her in this position.