Hunter's War (Legend of the Wild Hunter Book 4)

by Garry Spoor

Daniel paced the floor, scratching his chin. Kile wasn’t sure if he did it absent-mindedly, or because it made him look more scholarly.

  “Sandson, you still have some of that liquid kindling left?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I always travel with a few vials. I’ve never been able to start a fire without one,” he replied.

  “I’m going to need one. I’m also going to need one of the canteens.”

  “You can have mine.” Kile said, unfastening it from her belt. “It’s only half filled.”

  Daniel took the canteen from her and shook it. “That’s perfect.” He said, setting it aside. He started rummaging through his medical bag again, but this time he pulled out a small wooden box, and a thin metal tube. From the box he removed six, dark green leaves. Kile had never seen them before, but she had never studied plants. The closest she ever came was when Morgan wanted to see if she could talk to them. Fortunately, she couldn’t.

  Daniel sat on the floor with the canteen open in his lap. He held the dark colored leaves in both hands tightly and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, Kile could see blue light seeping out from between his fingers, followed by a thick amber liquid. The drops fell into the open container. When he extracted as much fluid as he could, he discarded the dried leaves. Pulling the stopper off the thin metal tube, he poured a clear liquid into the canteen and then swirled it around.

  Sandson handed him one of the vials of liquid kindling.

  “Come on.” Daniel said, getting to his feet.

  Kile and Sandson exchanged a confused look before following Daniel out into the hall. He was never one to take the lead, and they had no idea what he was planning. They found him sitting against the wall with the canteen in one hand, and the liquid kindling in the other. He was looking around the corner, through the railing.

  “They’re a little farther away than I thought,” he said, moving away from the landing. “I’m not sure if I can reach them from here. How good is your aim?” he asked.

  “Don’t look at me, you’ve seen me in the list.” Kile said, backing away.

  “What about you, Sandson?”

  “I used to be a fairly good sand pitcher back home,” he bragged.

  “Then you got the job.”

  “What do I have to do?”

  “Get the stopper ready. I’m going to pour the liquid kindling into the canteen. You have to put the stopper in and throw it at the valrik as quickly as possible. Don’t hesitate. If you wait too long, we’re all in trouble.”

  Sandson looked a little concerned, but picked up the stopper and nodded. He held his breath as Daniel emptied the liquid kindling into the canteen. A thick, noxious purple smoke began pouring out.

  “Quick, get rid of it!” Daniel shouted, turning his head away from the smoke and thrusting the canteen into the soldier’s hand.

  Sandson quickly plugged the mouth of the canteen, ran to the edge of the railing and threw it directly into the midst of the valrik. The canteen bounced three times across the floor and came to rest against a wooden crate. The valrik looked first at the canteen, then at one another, and then at Sandson.

  “That didn’t work,” he said, ducking behind the wall, but by now it was too late. The valrik knew where they were.

  Kile reached for her Lann, but hesitated when she heard a loud pop, followed by a thud, and then a second one, and finally a third. She peeked around the corner and saw three valrik lying motionless on the ground as a thick purple smoke hung in the air.

  Sandson looked over her shoulder. “Well, that was unexpected.”

  “I wouldn’t go down there just yet,” Daniel said from behind them. “Let it air out for a few moments.”

  “Are they… dead?” Kile asked.

  “No, just sleeping,” he replied.

  “How did you do that?”

  “Oh, just something I picked up from studying with the alchemist in Littenbeck before the war,” he replied. “It’s supposed to be an anesthetic, but it’s a little too potent at the moment. First time we used it, we put the entire room to sleep. They should be out for a couple of hours.”

  The smoke dissipated quite quickly, but they gave it a few moments until they were sure it would be safe enough to approach. When they descended the stairs, there was still a sweet smell in the air.

  Daniel picked up the canteen and poured out the contents. “Those leaves were hard to come by,” he said. “You can only get them in Balaa.”

  Sandson slapped him on the shoulder. “They served a worthy cause,” he said.

  Kile examined the box. It was secured by an old rusted padlock. Whatever’s in here isn’t coming out any time soon.

  “Maybe one of the valrik has the keys,” Daniel suggested.

  “I doubt it,” Sandson replied. “Would you trust the keys to a secret weapon to a valrik?”

  “Good point.”

  “So, how are we getting into this?” Kile asked.

  “Step aside. Hunters aren’t the only ones with skills.” Sandson said as he approached the box. He produced a pair of thin wires from the cuff of his shirt and began working on the lock. Within moments, it popped open.

  Kile eyed him suspiciously “How come I think you’ve done this before?” she asked.

  “I wasn’t always a soldier,” he said, flipping the lid of the box open and looking inside. “Okay, I wasn’t expecting that.”

  “What is it?” Kile asked.

  “It looks like a large rock.” Sandson said, pulling out what looked like a large rock. It was roundish in shape, about three feet in diameter. It looked no different from any other rock, although it did have a slight shine to it, almost as if it glittered.

  Daniel gave the rock a quick inspection “Why would they be guarding this?” he asked.

  “I don’t know, but we can’t lug this around with us. We should destroy it,” Sandson replied. He lifted the rock over his head and had intended on slamming it into the ground, but Kile stopped him.

  “What is it?”

  “I don’t know, I just… there something… different about it. I can’t explain it, but I know we can’t destroy it,” she replied.

  Sandson looked over the rock one more time. “Fine, we’ll take it with us,” he said. “But I don’t like this. It was too easy. It feels like a setup”

  “Well, let’s not wait around and find out.” Kile replied as she moved further back into the storage area. There had to be another way out besides the roof. It’s not like they could slide up a zip line. The front door was out of the question. Even if they could get by the two guards, posted outside, they would be in clear view of the camp. That wouldn’t go unnoticed. A back door, a window, even a gaping hole, would be helpful.

  Daniel spotted it first. “There,” he said, pointing to another set of wooden doors. The doors looked out of place on the old building, since every other wooden object had long fallen into disrepair. The doors weren’t even hung right as they sat crooked in their frames. By all appearances, this had to be a recent addition. More than likely, they were installed for security reasons. This was evident by the thick crossbar which should have held the door against anyone trying to gain access into the old building. Although, a few good shoves and the whole thing would have fallen in.

  Sandson set the rock down and, with Daniel’s help, went to work on the crossbar.

  “Stop.” Kile called out. “They’re waiting for us.”

  “Who are?” he asked.

  She didn’t answer him at first. She just stood there with her eyes closed. When she opened them, Sandson cringed.

  “Man, that freaks me out,” he said, releasing the crossbar and stepping away from the door.

  Kile slowly turned around, as if she was looking straight through the stone walls. “We’re surrounded,” she finally said.

  “Are you sure? How do you know?” Sandson asked.

  “Rowd,” she replied.

  The old fox was out hunting with his skulk and spotted the activity within the stone city. Normall
y they would have avoided it and the valrik, but as he had given the vir directions into the city, he went to investigate. Kile was seeing everything the old fox was seeing as he was seeing it.

  “We go to the roof.” Daniel shouted.

  “And then where?” Sandson asked. “We’d be trapped. Even if we were able to get back to the tower, it’s no better than here.”

  “But at least we’d have the high ground. We can defend the stairs.” Daniel argued.

  “Spoken like a true amateur.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means you’re not a soldier, you don’t understand.”

  “Then what should we do?”

  “It’s simple.” Sandson replied, looking around the room and at the numerous crates which were stacked up around them. “We stay down here. Hide in these crates. When we see an opening, we go for it.”

  “You mean run away?” Daniel asked.

  “You have a better idea? And don’t suggest the high ground.”

  “What about the others?”

  “What about them, if they’re smart, they’re long gone.”

  “You think they abandoned us?”

  “You can’t exactly mount a rescue mission if you get caught along with the people you’re supposed to be rescuing.”

  “Will you two keep it down,” Kile shouted, shaking her head. “I can’t hear Rowd.”

  “What’s he saying?” Daniel asked.

  “I don’t know.” She replied. “There’s too much noise. I’m only getting bits and pieces.” Taking a deep breath, she reached out further with her consciousness. She was trying to connect with the small sand fox, but found something much larger. It was like nothing she had ever encountered before. The moment their minds linked, she knew she was in trouble. Her skull vibrated with a loud humming, which drove out all other thoughts. The sound was excruciating and she fell to her knees, clutching her ears.

  “Kile, what’s wrong?”

  “Something… something’s trying to… I can’t understand you,” she shouted.

  Daniel quickly ran to her side.

  “Kile, what's wrong? What’s happening?” he kept asking her, but she wasn’t paying any attention to him. She kept her eyes closed and her hands over her ears, rocking back and forth. When she did finally look up, Sandson grabbed Daniel and pulled him away from her.

  “Whoa, that’s new,” he shouted.

  Her eyes weren’t her eyes anymore. Nor were they the wild yellow eyes of the cat they had grown so accustomed to. Instead, they were green, like two shinning emerald orbs. She was looking straight at them, but she wasn’t seeing them.

  Daniel pulled away from Sandson. Reaching out to her, he placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered her name. She looked directly at him, and when she did, her eyes reverted back to their natural state.

  “Kile, are you….”

  “Get down,” She shouted, pulling Daniel to the floor.

  Sandson jumped on top of them, shielding them as the door behind him exploded in a shower of flaming embers. Slowly, he lifted his head. “What was that?” he asked.

  “That was Eric.” Kile replied.

  “We have to get out of here.” Daniel said, getting to his feet. But there was no place to run to. The rear of the building was now engulfed in flames and the fire, fueled by the walls of crates, was starting to spread. He grabbed Kile and pulled her back to the stairs.

  “The rock,” she shouted, trying to break Daniel’s grip

  “Forget about it.”

  “We can’t. I promised him I wouldn’t.”

  “Promised who?” Sandson asked.

  “I don’t know,” she answered.

  “That makes perfect sense,” he said, but he still turned around and risked running back into the flames to grab the strange rock. Even as the fire was burning the stone walls around him, the rock was still cold to the touch. Looking out over the flames, he could barely make out the valrik as they danced around outside the walls. The fire would keep them at bay for a while, but it wasn’t the valrik he was concerned with, it was the tall, dark man who was, even now, walking toward him. He watched as the stranger stepped into the fire without flinching. Sandson quickly retreated back to the stairs. He had only reached the first step when he heard Kile call out to him. Turning, he found her and Daniel, standing among the crates in the middle of the floor.

  “Come on, we have to get out of here,” he said when he reached them. “I say we go for the front door. We stand a better chance with the valrik out there.”

  “We can’t, we have to stay right here.” Kile replied.

  “What are you saying?”

  “We have to stay here, this is where they’re coming.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “All I know it, we have to be right here.”

  Sandson looked at Daniel. It was clear the young healer was just as confused and as concerned as he was.

  “Look, Commander, I don’t know what’s going on, but I just saw someone walk through fire, and he’s heading this way. I don’t really want to be around when he gets here.”

  “Too late.”

  Sandson turned to see the tall dark man standing behind him. He was wearing a long black coat over dark brigand leather. His hair was greasy and matted to his head and he was sporting a wild looking beard, which gave him an insane look, but what really caught the soldier’s eye were the man’s hands, they were engulfed in flame.

  “You’re looking… well… terrible.” Kile said, stepping forward.

  “If he didn’t want you alive, I would fry you right now,” Eric replied.

  “I kind of figured that, I just haven’t figured out why. Why me?” she asked.

  “What does it matter, he just does.”

  Kile laughed. “You don’t know, do you? He still hasn’t told you his plan.”

  “He’s told me what I needed to know.”

  “You’re nothing to him but a stooge. He’s using you, Eric, and you can’t see that?”

  “That’s what you think. When this is over, I’ll get what I want.”

  “And what’s that?” she asked. “What is it that makes all this worth it? Land? Power? Wealth? If he gets his way, none of it will matter. Don’t you see? He has no desire to seize control from his brother. He just wants the world to burn. All you’re going to get are ashes.”

  Eric held up his flaming hands. “Maybe that’s what I want,” he grinned.

  “No, you want more than that.” Kile replied. “But it doesn’t matter anymore. Your father failed. Callor is now controlled by Lord Bollen.”

  Eric snorted. “Minor setback.” He said. “The plan still moves forward.”

  “How do you know, you don’t even know what the plan is.”

  “You’re stalling.”

  “Of course I’m stalling.”

  “You think your friends are coming to save you? Well, I’m afraid they’re not.”

  “What have you done with them?” Daniel shouted, stepping forward.

  “Why should I tell you?” Eric replied. “I’m just going to kill you anyway.”

  Sandson reached for his sword, but Kile grabbed his arm. Eric grinned and took a step forward but stopped when he heard the loud crack. It was the sound of wood breaking. They looked around for the source of the noise, but could see nothing. The fire had now consumed the back of the building, but the sound wasn’t coming from there, it was coming from under their feet.

  Eric jumped back just as the floor beneath them gave way.

  For one brief moment, Kile was flying again, until she hit the ground, and then she remembered… nothing.

  ***~~~***

  25

  Kile tried to move, but felt someone holding her down.

  “Take it easy,” she heard Daniel say.

  “What happened?” she asked, finally opening her eyes. She was staring up at, what looked like, the underside of a thatched roof. “Where are we?”

&n
bsp; “No idea.” Sandson replied from the other side of the room. “Last thing I remember was the ground giving way beneath us.

  “Yeah. We took a bit of a fall.” Daniel added. “A couple of cuts and bruises, but nothing more serious than a broken leg.”

  “Who broke their leg?” she asked.

  “Actually, you did.”

  “I did.”

  “Well, you were standing at the very edge of the hole when it formed, so you kind of toppled over backwards. It was an awkward catch, but don’t worry, fixing breaks is easy,” Daniel told her as he got to his feet. “Just, don’t jump around on it too much.”

  Kile sat up in bed and looked around the room. “Who caught me?” she asked

  It was a dingy looking place. The floor was solid rock, no intricate interlocking stone here. In fact, two of the walls were also solid rock while the other two were wooden framed. The door was no more than an animal skin fastened across the threshold. The furniture, what little there was, consisted of a short legged table and four raised platforms covered in straw which served as beds.

  “I think it was a brunrik,” Sandson replied.

  “Brunrik? Are you sure? Have we been captured?”

  “I don’t think so,” Daniel said, taking a seat on one of the raised beds. “If we were captured, or at least if we were captured by this Ravenshadow, I think we would have known about by now.”

  “Not to mention that fire mystic looked just as confused as we were when the floor opened up,” Sandson added. “I’m sure he had nothing to do with it.”

  Daniel agreed. “Eric had no idea what was going on. This was not part of his plan.”

  “Then whose plan was it?” Kile asked.

  “I thought it was yours,” Sandson replied.

  “Mine, why mine?”

  “You were the one who told us to stand where we were standing. You said someone was coming to rescue us. You just never told us it would be a brunrik.”

  “That’s because I didn’t know.”

  “What do you remember?” Daniel asked.

  “Not much I’m afraid, just bits and pieces,” she said, running her hands through her hair. “All I remember is this voice telling me to stand there and wait. I figured we had nothing to lose.”