Hunter's Ending (Legend of the Wild Hunter Book 5)

by Garry Spoor

  “What do you mean? What are you going to do with the Heart?”

  “We’re not going to do anything with it. When your king tries to use it, it will destroy your world, as it did ours.”

  “But why?”

  “We were once a great and proud people, but we have fallen from that grace because of your kind. You stole our homes and drove us from our lands. We once ruled all of Dal’val, and now we are nothing.”

  “You can’t be serious. You would endanger all those people for something that happened before any of them were even born? That’s madness.”

  “Maybe it is,” he said, “but it wasn’t our idea.”

  “What do you mean? Whose idea was it?”

  Darfin grinned. “It was…”

  He never finished his sentence. A Valgar bit off his head.

  Kile stumbled backward, tripping over her own feet. The sudden appearance of a Valgar, inches from her face, was a bit too close for comfort. She scrambled across the ground to where she’d dropped her Lann, only to find another Valgar, standing over them. She looked up into its eyes and saw the darkness of the void—that and several rows of sharp teeth. If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn it was grinning at her.

  The Valgar slowly moved toward her as she crawled backward. This was usually the time Grim would show up to save her skin, but there was little chance of that happening. The mountain pony was an ocean away. She was on her own.

  The second Valgar tried to circle her, but she kept turning to keep both of them in sight. They weren’t making it easy, but at least they weren’t in a hurry. It was almost as if they wanted to play with her for a little while longer. Once again, she found herself with her back to the ocean. Looking around for something to fight with, she spotted Darfin’s Lann. It was not too far from his body or what was left of it. All she had to do was reach it before she wound up in the same condition as the Alva.

  They must have sensed she was about to try something stupid. Both Valgar stopped moving. Kile quickly shifted her weight to her good leg. If she was going to move, she would have to move fast. Now it was only a matter of waiting to see which one of them would strike first. For a while, it didn’t look as if either Valgar was going to attack until one started trembling. She could see the muscles in its back legs tense up right before it jumped. Kile dove under the Valgar as it sprang forward. The second one spun around, catching her left leg and sending her rolling across the ground. She collided with Darfin. Scrambling over the dead Alva’s body, she found his long knife and pulled it from its sheath. When the Valgar lunged, she drove the blade up under its jaw. As it lurched, it pulled the long knife from her hands, leaving her unarmed once again. Quickly searching the ground, she grabbed a rock before turning to face the second beast, but it was already pinned to the ground. Master Boraro stood over the dead body.

  She never thought she’d be glad to see him.

  “What happened here, girl?” he bellowed, ripping his blade free from the Valgar’s head. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem too pleased to see her.

  Kile struggled to get to her feet. The pain in her left leg now matched the one in her right. It was difficult to even stand, let alone walk. She slowly shuffled over to where she had thrown her courier’s bag.

  “It was Darfin,” she said, moving past Boraro, who was examining the dead Alva. “He tried to stop me from reaching the camp, to warn you about the Valgar and the Heart of Nilak.”

  “What about it?”

  “It’s a setup. If the king tries to use the Heart, he will release the Maligar and turn the kingdom into a wasteland. The Alva blame us for the loss of their home and now they want us to feel the same loss. I don’t know who’s behind it. Darfin… lost his head before he could tell me.”

  “Never trusted that elf.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t think he trusted us either.”

  “It’s a shame, really.”

  “What is?”

  “He didn’t kill you first.”

  A sharp pain pierced her back. Looking down, she saw the tip of Boraro’s sword protruding from her chest. The world grew dim, and the shadows closed in on her until everything went black.

  14

  It hurt too much to move. Every muscle in her body ached. She didn’t even want to open her eyes. About the only thing she could do was groan, although it came out higher pitched than she expected.

  “Welcome back. We were starting to worry.”

  The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, but she didn’t have the strength to lift her head and look around.

  “You mean I’m not dead?” she asked.

  “No, but it was close. Had you not been on the isle of Shenataesi, you would have surely passed beyond my aid. It is only due to the close proximity to Fthak’thun, and you being of Orceen blood, that I could bring you here so you could heal.”

  “Okay, I must be losing it, because none of that made any sense.”

  When Kile finally opened her eyes, she was staring up into the boughs of a large tree. The leaves, although scarce, were green, which was a great contrast to the ones she had seen lately. The tree might not be dead, but it wasn’t healthy either.

  “Where am I?” she asked.

  “Fthak’thun.”

  “How long have I been… out?”

  “That’s a little harder to explain. Time moves differently between the realms. Sometimes it moves faster, sometimes slower, and sometimes it doesn’t even move in the same direction.”

  “Okay, now I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Rest for now. When you are ready, all will be made clear.”

  “I can’t rest. I have to get back to the ship. I have to warn the others. They don’t understand—they don’t know what the Heart of Nilak is.”

  “And do you?”

  She had to think about that one for a moment. What did she truly know about the Heart? The walls of the temple told her a story, but was it history or simply a fantasy? Sometimes it was difficult to tell. Everybody had their own version of what happened in the wastelands. If the walls were right, what happened was worse than she thought.

  “I think… I think the Heart is… or was… an Orceen,” she said, finally giving voice to her lingering suspicions. Now that she said it, it sounded even more bizarre.

  “His name was Nilak.”

  “Well, that would make sense,” she said. “I mean, it is the Heart of Nilak that would make the artifact—what? His actual heart?”

  Now that was a squeamish thought.

  “No, not quite, but near enough.”

  “But it’s still dangerous. I have to warn Master Heaney. He doesn’t understand.”

  “I’m afraid it’s too late.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  “The ship, it has already sailed.”

  “Gone?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “They left me here? Alone?”

  “Not alone. One remained behind, and he has been worried about you. He can show you more, but you should rest now.”

  “Who?”

  -Kile awake?-

  “Vesper?”

  She tried sitting up, but that didn’t work out too well as she rolled over and found herself staring at a large yarrow. His head looked enormous, nearly the same size as Grim’s. How had he gotten so big?

  “What’s going on here?” she asked nervously.

  Vesper simply cocked his head to one side. -Kile look different.- In his words, he showed her what he saw.

  “I’m a rabbit… again?”

  “Yes, I thought it was a rather odd choice, myself. But who was I to say.”

  She looked over to the tree, where the person she had been speaking to was sitting among the roots. It hadn’t dawned on her the voice was female until now. Since there were no other women on the ship, she should have noticed that little detail sooner. Kile chalked the lapse up to the fact she had been… killed.

  “T
hat bastard killed me,” she shouted or actually squeaked.

  “I see you have no intention of resting,” the speaker said, getting to her feet.

  She was a young woman, slender in build and only slightly taller than Kile, had Kile not been a rabbit. She had long golden-brown hair and the sharp angular features of an Alva. Kile recognized her instantly.

  “You’re Risa Ta’re,” she exclaimed when the woman came closer.

  There was a haunting smile on her face—the same smile she wore in the portrait that once resided in the Great Hall back at the Academy.

  “I was… once,” Risa said, looking away. “But that was a long time ago.”

  “I’m sorry. How… how did you… I’m not even sure how to ask?”

  The young woman laughed and for a brief moment, everything seemed brighter. There was a melody to the sound, a carefree feeling of safety.

  “How did I die and end up here?” she replied.

  “Yeah, I guess that’s kind of what I wanted to know.”

  Risa sat down on the grass next to Kile and stared out across the landscape.

  “There’s not much to say,” she said wistfully. “I came to Shenataesi long ago, with a group of friends. Some of us were seeking fame, others fortune, still others were there simply for the adventure. Me, I only wanted to see the world. We learned about Shenataesi from an old sailor who accidentally ended up on its shores. Unfortunately, I never made the connection. Had I, I would have talked him out of coming here, but in the end, I doubt if even I could have been that persuasive. It wasn’t until we arrived and I read the writing on the temple walls, I finally understood the mistake we made. By then, it was too late. We were set on by the Valgar. That’s all I can remember. When I woke up, I was here, in Fthak’thun.”

  “Yeah… that’s the part I don’t understand,” Kile said as she began to get a better sense of her surroundings. It wasn’t the island, but there were similarities. For starters, everything was dead, everything but the great tree she now found herself under.

  “Where exactly are we? Where is Fat-ton?” she asked.

  “No, not Fat-ton, Fthak’thun. It is the realm of the Orceen.”

  “I still…”

  “Yes, I know. It’s difficult to understand. You have been here before, although only briefly. You see, when an Orceen reaches a certain level of consciousness, their minds, and sometimes even their bodies, can transcend from what you consider the mortal realm to here, Fthak’thun.”

  “A world beyond a world.”

  “Yes, I suppose that is one way to describe it.”

  “That must be the world tree then.”

  “That was one of the names the Orceen gave it.”

  “But why is it…”

  “Dying? You know the answer to that already.”

  “The Maligar. But what is the Maligar?”

  “Haven’t you figured it out?”

  Everything was slowly coming together. The pieces were finally fitting into place. The Maligar, the Heart, Nilak, Fthak’thun, the Alva, it was all starting to make sense. She simply had to arrange them in the right order.

  “The Alva tortured the Orceen, Nilak, creating the Maligar, which eventually destroyed Kalistar, turning it into the wastelands.”

  “Very good,” Risa said. “And it is that same Maligar that has corrupted and poisoned Fthak’thun, creating what you see here.”

  “But why? Why would the Alva want to destroy Fat-ton or even Kalistar?”

  “Oh, but they didn’t. You see, after the Mudd Wars, when the Alva and the vir drove the Ogre underground, the Alva started to view the vir quite differently. They were afraid of them. The vir proved stronger than the Alva and more ambitious. It wasn’t long before they tamed the lands and built towns and cities. The Alva feared the vir would soon turn their attention to Kalistar, so they decided to drive them from their world and reclaim all of Dal’val for themselves. They saw the Orceen as a means of doing this. As you know, the Orceen have a strong connection with the natural world. Their ability to communicate with the animals was only the beginning. They could call to them for aid, see through their eyes, and hear with their ears. It gave them a great advantage. The Alva wanted that advantage, but they didn’t have the discipline to learn it, so they tried to take it.

  “Nilak was a great teacher, even among the Orceen, and he saw the hatred and the desire of the Alva, so he refused to teach them the secrets. For this, they imprisoned him and used their arts in an attempt to extract the knowledge from him, but in the end, they failed. In drawing it out, they corrupted it. It was more than even Nilak could take. They say it drove him mad. Once released, the Alva had no control over it, and it swept across Kalistar, destroying everything in its path. It turned nature against itself until all that was left is what you called the wastelands. It would have gone on forever if it wasn’t for the Orceen. Many of them sacrificed themselves to contain Nilak’s madness into what is now his heart.

  “They brought him here, to Shenataesi because the veil between the island and Fthak’thun was thin. It was here, the Orceen came to commune with Fthak’thun. They believed that in bringing the Heart here, the closeness would heal Nilak, calming his madness, and bring him back to the Orceen.”

  “But it didn’t,” Kile said. “Instead, his madness corrupted Fat-ton, creating another wasteland.”

  “I’m afraid you are correct. His madness poisoned Fthak’thun, to such a degree that not even the Orceen could return. Hunted by the Alva and the vir, separated from their world, they sought to escape in the only way they knew how by becoming that which only they understood.”

  “Wait a moment. Are you suggesting the Orceen actually did turn themselves into animals?”

  “It is likely, although only the wisest of the Orceen held the knowledge. Here in Fthak’thun, they could take the form of any animal they connected with, but within the mortal realm, it is not so easy. The change is permanent. There is no coming back from it, at least, not that I know of.”

  “So back there, back in… reality, the Orceen may still exist?”

  The idea the Orceen had not simply disappeared from the world, but were still around, hiding in plain sight, was a bit of a revelation. She could have spoken to any number of them. Was Kaza an Orceen? He seemed knowledgeable for a pet crow. Lindear had to be one. How else would she be able to send the ravens to her at the siege of Moran. What about Burgora? The old grizzly bear lived for ages in the mountains around Coopervill, far longer than any ordinary bear should have. And, of course, there was… Grim.

  “I suppose it’s possible,” Risa said. “Who knows how many Orceen may still be living among the very people who tried to exterminate them.”

  “No, that can’t be right. How can someone change themselves into an animal? It’s impossible.”

  “Says the rabbit.”

  Yeah, she did kind of overlooked that small detail.

  “Well, say I believe you and this is all real? What now?” Kile asked.

  Risa turned toward the tree and looked up into its branches. It was almost as if she was praying to it or speaking with it. The sadness returned to her face.

  “It is as you say, the tree is dying and Fthak’thun with it. I have been able to keep the corruption at bay, but I don’t know for how much longer. If Nilak is not stopped, the Maligar will sweep across Dal’val, turning nature against itself. It will tear both realms apart. Dal’val will become a great wasteland, and Fthak’thun will cease to exist.”

  “Well, that’s bad I guess, but what can I do? I’m a rabbit for crying out loud. Not only that. I’m stuck on this island with a thousand or so Valgar.”

  “When an Orceen links with an animal, they not only give a part of themselves, but they take a part with them,” Risa explained. “That part is known by the Orceen as the Hi’kruul.”

  “No,” Kile squealed, shaking her rabbit head. “Don’t give me another word. It’s bad enough I can’t keep straight the ones I already know.”
<
br />   “The Hi’kruul is the essence, the joining of one form with another. When in Fthak’thun, the Orceen can use this essence to take on any form.”

  “Fine, so I can become any animal I spoke to in the past. Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”

  “Yes,” Risa answered. “You are not limited to your vir form here.”

  “Well, that’s great, but it’s not going to help me when I get back to reality if that’s even possible. I’ll still be a vir, and I’ll still be stuck on the island.”

  “That would be true, for an ordinary Orceen.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Umingoth broke the barrier.”

  ~~~***~~~

  “I don’t understand,” Kile said, but it didn’t matter—there was nobody around to hear her. She was alone again, stranded on an island in the middle of the ocean with no means of getting home. Risa, the tree, all of Fthak’thun were gone. She was back on Shenataesi, sprawled out on the beach, staring up at the sun as it passed overhead. It was the middle of the day, probably a little past noon, based on its position. She listened to her stomach growl.

  Quickly sitting up, she pulled her shirt up to examine the fatal wound but found it was already healed. How long was she in Fthak’thun?

  Kile slowly got to her feet and did a quick survey of her surroundings. She was on a beach at the foot of a cliff she vaguely remembered being thrown off. That was after Master Boraro stabbed her when she turned her back on him. It was the second time he had done that. How could she have been so careless as to trust him? For a moment, she actually thought he was on her side. At least she didn’t have to deal with him right now. He was sailing for home. It was the Valgar she had to worry about. Fortunately, there were none in sight. Whether they were still lurking around the island or had retreated to the darkness of the pit, she neither knew nor cared as long as they weren’t where she was.

  The only other living thing she could see was Vesper. He was standing on a rock with his nose in the air. Probably trying to find food. That was something else she had to concern herself with. Finding what she needed to survive wouldn’t be easy. Shenataesi was dead. Even more so than the wastelands. No grass, no trees, no fruit. What water there was, was either salted or tainted. She couldn’t even ask the local wildlife for help because there was none. Birds avoided the island and what animals once lived here were long gone. She was alone.