by Garry Spoor
“You all right?”
The sound of Tullner’s voice brought her crashing back to reality, and that's exactly what it felt like: crashing. To be so high in the air one moment and back on the ground the next disoriented her. Shaking her head to dislodge the last of the visions, she looked over at him.
“I asked if you were all right,” he repeated
“I’m fine,” she replied.
“Well, it’s just… you looked a little spaced out there,” he said.
“I was… just thinking.”
“Sarge says we’re making pretty good time and we should reach the outer edge of the Denal province by nightfall. He wants to keep moving so we’ll be eating on the go. I have some extra hard-tack in my pack, if you want some.”
“No thank you, I’m fine in that department,” she replied. “Tell me, is this the way you guys usually travel?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, for starters, with all this gear. If you traveled lighter, you could make better time.”
“This is light,” Tullner replied.
Kile looked at the large pack he wore on his back, as well as the supplies strapped to his mount. “You call that light?” she asked.
“We’re only carrying what we need. Normally, if we were going into battle, we would have a couple of supply wagons,” Tullner said with a grin. He looked at the rider in front of him, then at Kile. “Well, I guess it’s not as light as you travel,” he added.
“I suppose not,” she replied.
“May I ask you a question? Why is that rat sitting on your horse’s head?”
-Not rat.-
Vesper shouted, turning to stare at the young soldier. Kile laugh.
“It’s not a rat,” she said. “It’s a yarrow. His name is Vesper and he’s been with me for nearly six years now.”
“Why do you keep a pet… yarrow?”
“Well, he’s not actually a pet. He’s more like a friend. We kind of adopted each other.”
-Kile family.-
Vesper added, before turning around.
There was a moment of silence before Tullner spoke again.
“Are all Hunters… like you?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean… I’ve heard some strange things about Hunters. Some of the guys in the squad say Hunters are more like mystics than real people.”
“Real people? What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.
“You know… mystics are…”
“Are what?”
“They’re just… I don’t know. They’re not like us, they’re different.” Tullner stammered.
“So, because they’re different, that means they’re not real?” Kile asked, eyeing the soldier. “One of my friends is a mystic and she is quite real.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it,” he stammered. “It’s just that, I’ve never met a mystic, or a Hunter for that matter. I grew up on a farm on the outskirts of the Fennel province. It was a small town by the name of Sprigtree and nothing ever happens there.”
“I know what you mean,” Kile replied. “I grew up on a farm in Riverport on the northern edge of the Shia province and nothing ever happened there, either.”
“Really, but… you’re a Hunter.” Tullner replied.
“But even Hunters have to come from someplace.”
“I suppose so,” he laughed. “I guess I never really thought about it. The way some people talk, it’s like Hunters just sprang up out of the wild.”
“I assure you, we didn’t,” she replied. “I was a farmer’s daughter before I joined the Hunter’s Guild. I took the entry examination and then studied at the Academy for three years. I served my probationary period in Coopervill before I became certified.”
“Why did you want to become a Hunter?” Tullner asked.
Kile laughed. How many times had she heard that question?
“That’s a long story,” She said. “The short version is I met a Hunter when I was younger, and I just thought it was the right path for me.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Some of it… I guess I do. It wasn’t really what I thought it would be. A friend of mine once told me, if you have no regrets, then you’ve never really lived. What about you, do you regret joining the military?”
“That wasn’t exactly my choice,” he said.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I didn’t know anything about the war, until I was conscripted. Four months ago I was working with my father in the fields when Lord Coroona’s men came to visit. One man from every household. That was the law. My father was too old and my brother, Thomas, was too young.”
“I’m sorry,” Kile replied. She never thought Tullner was much of a soldier, he didn’t look the part, but she never suspected it wasn’t by choice.
“Oh, it’s not so bad,” he said. “My pay goes home to support my family, and should anything happen to me, they’ll be well compensated.”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t your choice.”
“It’s not like I’m the only one. How do you think most of the men in the squad ended up here?”
Kile looked down the line of young soldiers who rode before her. How many of them wanted to be here? How many of them were given a choice? How many of them would actually be coming back from this mission?
They rode through the afternoon and into the evening, stopping only briefly to water the horses, and for the men to stretch their legs. Kile got used to long rides from her time on the run, and Grim, being a mountain pony, could go without rest or water for quite some time, although the call of nature was another matter.
As they continued, she consulted with the birds as much as possible, but with Tullner constantly falling back to the end of the column to check up on her, it wasn’t easy. He made it clear, during their conversations, the men in the squad thought Hunters were an oddity best avoided. So, it was to her advantage not to give them any more reasons to fear her. Because that’s what it was-- fear. She couldn’t really blame them. Growing up in a small town, she saw firsthand the fear of anyone who was different. When Erin Silva came to Riverport, Kile saw that fear in the eyes of the people of her town. She even saw the fear in the eyes of her father when he looked at the Hunter. It was because Erin was different, and when Kile’s journey brought her back home, she saw the same look of fear in the eyes of her brother, because now she was different.
“The Sergeant called a staff meeting,” Tullner said on his latest trip to the end of the column.
“A staff meeting?”
“Yeah, he wants to check the maps and set out a battle plan.”
“A battle plan? I thought this was a recon mission.”
“Oh, it is,” Tullner laughed “They just call it a battle plan. They’re not really planning any battles.”
That's a relief, she thought, since they didn’t have any real soldiers to follow through with one.
“So, what’s that have to do with me?” she asked.
“Well, you are part of the staff, aren’t you?”
“Am I?”
“Well… yeah. You are the Hunter assigned to the squad.”
Somehow, she didn’t think that actually qualified her as a member of the staff, but it wasn’t as if there was anything else on her schedule. She followed Tullner as the soldiers stopped in the clearing and started to set up camp.
Sergeant Wargner was sitting on an old stump with a map spread out in front him and his staff standing around him. Of course, his staff only consisted of Corporal Duffy and two other soldiers, who she hadn’t been introduced to yet.
“Corporal Tullner, you’re late,” Wargner said, look up from his maps. He turned and looked at Kile. “What are you doing here, Hunter?” he asked.
She was impressed by his ability to make the word, “Hunter,” sound like a curse.
“You called a staff meeting, sir,” Tullner replied. “According to regulations, Hunters are…”
> “I know what Hunters are, Corporal, I don’t need you quoting regulations.”
“Sorry, sir,” Tullner replied.
Wargner returned to his maps as if Kile’s presence there was nothing more than a mild annoyance. Duffy said nothing, but the superior look on his face said everything Kile needed to know. There was a power struggle between the two corporals, and it looked as if Tullner just lost a few points. Kile didn’t want to get involved, so she took a seat and let them continue with their meeting.
“We will head through here and up into the valley,” Wargner said, drawing a line across the map with his finger. “By then, we should get a pretty good idea of the lay of the land. If all is clear, we can enter Coopervill by way of the west road.”
“Well, that’s a mistake,” Kile mumbled to herself.
“And you have a better idea?” Wargner asked.
One of these days she must learn to mumble more quietly.
“No, sorry… continue… sir.”
“No, please, come and show us your expertise,” Wargner replied. He waved his hand across the maps, inviting her to take a look.
Getting to her feet, Kile stepped over to where the maps were laid out. They were rather vague in places, especially around the Denal province. This, of course, was the problem, since they were supposed to recon the Denal province. If only she had the maps Mr. Wollery gave her, right before her first assignment. She had no idea where those maps were now, or, for that matter, where Mr. Wollery was.
“Well, from what I can see of your course,” she said, retracing Wargner’s line with her finger. “Your problems start here, in this area. All this is lowland, and by this time of the year, with the mountain thaw, it’s pretty much flooded. You’re basically walking right into the middle of a lake. If you do find it passable, which I seriously doubt, you’ll be heading into, what the locals call, the crags. It’s a series of low valleys and high cliffs, almost like a maze, and an excellent place for an ambush. If you manage to make it through that, then coming into Coopervill from the west is just plain stupid. The cliff face is high and impassible, except for a narrow slot right down the middle, you’ll be completely vulnerable. Your best course of action is to head east and come around under the mountain pass where you’ll be completely hidden from view. From there, you can enter Shrop. From Shrop you can come at Coopervill from the north, which will bring you to the highlands. You’ll get a perfect view of Coopervill without having to set foot in it. It’s only a day longer, but it is safer.”
Backing away from the maps, Kile felt she may have overstepped her authority. Of course, referring to his plan as plain stupid, was not what she intended to say. It was what she thought, it just wasn’t what she intended to say. She looked at the men standing around her. Tullner looked impressed and appeared to agree with everything she said. Duffy looked annoyed and the two other soldiers looked almost frightened. It was possible, they believed everything she said was true, but didn’t want to contradict their sergeant. As for Wargner, he was livid.
“So,” he said in his soft gravelly voice. “You think you know better than the officers back at headquarters.”
“No, sir,” she replied calmly.
“Clearly you must, if you think this battle plan is all wrong.”
“That’s not what I said, sir.”
“Men with more experience than you have formulated this plan. It was calculated to have the highest chance of success, but of course, Hunters know better don’t they? They are infallible, aren’t they? How many men have you led into battle? How many wars have you fought? This is ridiculous,” he scoffed.
“You asked for my opinion,” she said, jumping to her feet. “What the hell am I doing here if you won’t even listen to me? I’ve been all over this area, and I know it all too well. The only thing you’re going to accomplish with that plan is sending these men to an early grave.”
“That’s enough,” Wargner shouted. He was on his feet now and he towered over her to such a degree, she had to take a few steps back just to look at him. “I will not entertain such insubordinate nonsense. This is the plan headquarters has given me, and this is the plan we will carry out.”
“So be it,” she replied, turning her back on him and calmly walking away.
It didn’t take Tullner long to find Kile. Although it was her mountain pony, he found first. Grim stood just outside the clearing and away from the lights of the campfires, but Tullner could feel the pony staring at him when he approached. He didn’t know why, but he was sure the beast disliked him. He felt it was in his best interest to keep his distance from the animal.
Kile’s meager camp consisted of a blanket and her pack. Where she was, he didn’t know. As he started to call out to her, he was startled by a sound which came from over his head.
High among the leaves, close to the top of the tree, there she was, balanced on a branch, framed in the light of the moon. Her hair was blown back by the wind and she was looking westward. The image was almost surreal. She must have heard him, or felt him watching her, because she looked down at him, and for one brief moment, he was afraid. Tullner wasn’t sure why he was afraid, but it was almost as if he had been spotted by something wild, something not quite real. She slipped off the high branch, landing nimbly upon the one below it, making her way down much too fast for any normal person. She touched on the ground lightly and brushed the hair out of her face. When she turned to look at him, the wild Hunter was gone.
“What’s wrong now?” she asked, reaching for her pack. “Does your sergeant have something more he wants to say?”
“What? Oh, no… no. I just wanted to see if you needed anything,” Tullner replied.
“A transfer would be nice.”
“I’m afraid there’s not much I can do about that.”
“I was joking,” she said, tying back her hair. “What? No one in your squad has a sense of humor, or is that against regulations?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Well, that’s nice to know,” she replied. “So, what’s the problem with your sergeant? Is he always so stiff-necked, or is it just me.”
“He’s only following orders.”
“Orders put down by a bunch of old men, sitting around some table in the safety of a fortress, who have probably never even heard, let alone set foot in, places like Coopervill. I thought I was being brought in, because I lived in Coopervill for over a year, that I’ve actually traveled these woods nearly every day. And now I find out it’s probably just to fill some kind of quota. Every squad going out must have their own personal Hunter to verbally abuse.”
“Look the Sarge knows what he’s doing.”
“I really hope you’re right.”
***~~~***
5
The new day brought a new problem, but it was a problem Kile just couldn’t put her finger on. There was something odd in the air, something she hadn’t smelled before. It was something she couldn’t latch onto. There was just a hint of it on the very outer edge of her senses.
- Is it still there?-
Grim asked, following behind the column of men.
They were now deep in the Denal province. Having left the main road, they were cutting through the forest, heading toward Coopervill, but it would be three days before they reached it.
“I don’t know,” she said, turning around on the pony again, so she could ride backwards. “It seems strongest behind us, as if… as if we’re being followed.”
-That’s not very comforting.-
“What do you think, Vesper? You’re usually better at this than I am.”
-Don’t know… don’t like.-
The yarrow replied from the safety of the courier’s bag. He refused to sit upon the mountain pony’s head ever since they entered the forest.
-Perhaps we should leave now.-
Grim added.
“What do you mean?”
-If this master wishes to lead his vir to their deaths, there is no need for us to follow.-<
br />
“I can’t just leave them.”
-Why not? It's not as if they care about you.-
“That’s not the point.”
-Then what is the point?-
“These vir don’t want to be here anymore than I do. I can’t just abandon them. I have to help.”
-If that is what you want, then so be, but let it be known that I have lodged my protest.-
“So noted.”
“Who are you talking to?” Tullner asked when he came back down the line.
Kile quickly spun around to face forward.
“What?”
“I heard you talking to someone,” he said, coming alongside her.
“I was just talking to Grim,” she replied, rubbing the pony’s side.
“It sounded like you were having a conversation.”
“No, just talking to the only living thing out here who will actually listen to me.”
“Sarge knows what he’s doing,” Tullner replied. It was the same mantra he kept using every time Kile questioned Wargner’s orders.
“You keep saying that, and for some reason, it still doesn’t help.”
“Look, the orders come straight from headquarters. They know what they’re doing.”
“Do they? You keep saying that too. The Sergeant knows what he’s doing, headquarters knows what they’re doing… but how do you know? They don’t have all the information. Even the Hunter’s Guild wouldn’t assume to know everything and they're in the business of collecting information. All I’m saying is, something like this shouldn’t be handled from above. It has to be handled on the ground.”
“But orders…”
“Yes, yes, I know. Orders are orders, but surely, sometimes you question the orders you’re given. You can’t just follow them blindly,” she said.
