by Garry Spoor
“Since you’re supposed to be dead, you’ll forgive me if I doubt you.”
“I’ll pay you back… somehow,” Kile said, pulling on one of the boots. It wasn’t the best fit. Erin’s feet were slightly bigger, but it was better than nothing, not that nothing was all that bad. “By the way, why is it better if everyone thinks I’m dead?”
“The Hunters aren’t the Hunters anymore, Kile. The Guild’s pretty much gone now. The Sons have taken over, and they are no longer hiding it. If what you say about Garret is true, and they find out you’re still alive, they’ll be looking for you.”
“What about you?”
“Me? You don’t actually think I’d join with the likes of them, do you?”
“Well, since you’ve helped me and haven’t tried to kill me yet, I’m going to go out on a limb and say no.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Thank you again, Erin, for everything. Come on, Vesper, let’s go get Grim.”
“Hold on there.” Erin stopped Kile before she reached the door. “What would you say to a traveling companion?”
“Are you serious?”
“At the moment, I’m the worst kind of Hunter—one without a mission. There’s nothing here for me.”
“But I thought you were setting up the southern defenses.”
Erin laughed. “A defense is only good if there is something to defend against. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of the enemy. They’re not out there. I haven’t even received reports from headquarters in over three months. I have a feeling I’ve been squirreled away so I don’t cause trouble for the Sons.”
“If that’s true, and you leave, won’t the Guild come looking for you?”
“Probably. But it’s better than sitting here waiting for them to come. As a matter of fact, I’ve been meaning to visit the Guild headquarters for some time now, you know, to hand in my resignation.”
“You’re leaving the Guild?”
“Don’t look so surprised. It’s as I said. The Guild isn’t the Guild anymore. Besides, I’m sure I can land some work as a mercenary, or hook up with one of the caravans, that’s if they reopen the Balaa trade routes.”
“They closed the trade routes?”
Kile’s first thoughts were of the Undacks: the merchant family that snuck her into Azintar when she was a fugitive. The Undacks’ whole life was spent on those trade routes.
“Oh, yeah, there hasn’t been anything moving in or out of Balaa for the last few months.”
“Why?”
“Beats me. Hunters don’t concern themselves with politics. I only heard it from a member of the merchant’s Guild the other day.”
To think, a couple of months ago, Kile was desperate to get out of the Tower, to get back to the real world. She was starting to realize the real world wasn’t what it was cracked up to be.
17
“You wait here. I’ll get Grim,” Erin told her.
They were standing in the road, on the edge of town, where it wasn’t so crowded. Fewer people meant fewer chances of Kile being recognized. Erin was nothing if not excessively cautious. They had dined in their room and left the Seagull’s Rest that afternoon, hoping to be on the road before nightfall. Their plan was to leave Salthaven under the shadow of darkness. There was no reason to stay in the port city any longer than they had to.
“Maybe I should…”
“No. It is better you’re not seen picking him up. That way, they can’t make a direct connection if they come snooping around.”
Erin didn’t have to tell her who they were. Kile already knew. The Sons of Terrabin thought she was dead. Why wouldn’t they? By now, Master Boraro had made his report to the Guild Council. As long as the Sons believed him, they wouldn’t be looking for her. But how long would it last? She didn’t exactly hide her identity when she returned to Salthaven. If it wasn’t for Erin, she would have confronted Captain Dotol, and there’s no telling whose side he was on if he was on anyone’s side. A hidden Hunter, with an Edge influenced by the sphere of air, could be halfway to Littenbeck with the news of her return. They could be searching for her right now.
Kile started looking at the faces of the people in the street. Any one of them could be a Hunter.
“Don’t get spooked on me now,” Erin warned her. “If it happens, it happens, we’ll deal with it, but if you start seeing Hunters behind every tree…”
“I know, I know. It’s just, I’ve been on the run before and it’s not fun,” Kile said.
“Yeah, I know. I was the one chasing you, and if I remember correctly, you always left yourself a way out.”
Kile laughed. “To be honest. Most of that was sheer luck.”
“Yeah, well, you handled yourself like a seasoned Hunter, and that was when you were fresh out of the Academy. You’ve got some years under your belt now, so I expect better.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Erin had only taken a few steps away from her before she turned around. There was a look of doubt on her face—or was it fear?
“Grim,” she said slowly. “Is there anything I should know about him?”
“What do you mean? You already know what he looks like.”
“Yes, I know,” Erin said. “It’s only that… well… animals around you act differently, and I’ve heard stories, horrible stories, about Grim. Is he going to come quietly?”
The words Grim and quiet never seemed to work in the same sentence. Grim once kicked a stable hand through a barn door to see how far he would fly. If he didn’t want to go with Erin, there was nothing she could do to the make him.
“Here, take Vesper with you,” Kile said, handing her the yarrow. “If Grim sees Vesper, he’ll know I’m around. He’ll cooperate.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course,” she lied. “Grim can be very reasonable.”
“If you say so,” Erin said, although she didn’t sound convinced. She held Vesper nervously in both hands when she headed out to retrieve the mountain pony. Kile thought it a bit odd: a Certified Level One Hunter with Erin’s experience was scared of a horse.
Waiting for Erin to return, Kile found herself reexamining the faces of the people around her. A few looked in her direction, and a group of men outside a store selling fishing supplies whispered among themselves. What were they whispering about? Was it about her? Did they recognize her? Were they Terrabin Hunters? Did one of the men just look in her direction? Her paranoia was starting to show again. It was probably a good idea to get out of sight, if only for her own peace of mind. Slipping quietly off the road, she found a secluded area behind one of the buildings.
It felt as if it was taking forever for Erin to return. Kile paced nervously as multiple scenarios raced through her head. Everything from Erin getting captured by Terrabin Hunters to the Maligar sweeping through Salthaven and turning it into a wasteland. What was in that exotic cheese Erin brought for lunch? Closing her eyes, she tried to find her center. Right when she was calming herself down, somebody screamed. Kile reached for her Lann, which, unfortunately, was somewhere on an island miles away. Looking around for something to defend herself with, she grabbed a lump of wood and cautiously peeked around the corner of the building. A large hairy black mass knocked her on her backside.
-Where the hell have you been? How dare you leave me in that rat-infested dump? Do you know what the salt air does to my mane?-
Kile looked up at a large mountain pony with a yarrow perched between his ears.
“Grim,” she exclaimed.
-Well, at least you remembered who I was. I guess that’s something.-
“Where’s Erin?”
-How the hell should I know? Let’s just go.-
“What happen? Who screamed? Where’s Erin?”
-Don’t know, don’t know, don’t care.-
“We can’t leave without Erin.”
-Sure, fine. Nice to see you again, Grim. It’s been so long, Grim. How have they been treating you, Grim?-
&nb
sp; “I am glad to see you, but right now we have to find Erin.”
-By the sounds of it, she’s right behind me on that nag of hers.-
At that moment, Erin came around the corner on her piebald mare, skidding her to a halt. The Lady Hunter looked a bit put out.
“Mount up, let’s get out of here,” she said.
“What happened? Who screamed?” Kile asked.
“Just about everyone. I don’t think sneaking out is an option anymore,” Erin said, looking over her shoulder. “We should probably leave—now.”
Kile quickly pulled herself up onto Grim’s back, and the mountain pony was off. He didn’t want to wait around any more than they did.
~~~***~~~
They traveled a few hours before nightfall. Kile was a bit worried. She was afraid to bring up the question of their departure from Salthaven since Erin didn’t seem too pleased. She knew it had something to do with Grim’s behavior, because, well, it always had something do to with Grim’s behavior.
“So.” Kile chose her words carefully. “Are we in trouble?”
Erin grinned. “Let’s just say we won’t be going back to Salthaven anytime soon.”
“Why? What happened?”
“Oh, great idea you had, me bringing that rat along,” Erin said, shaking her head. “No sooner do I get my horse out of the stables, he performs a disappearing act.”
“What do you mean?”
“What I mean is, he jumps off my shoulder and runs into the stables. Before I could run in after him, that… that beast of yours comes crashing through the wall. He takes out two stable hands, a fence, and three vending carts, not to mention scaring half the people in the street. Doesn’t he ever go around anything? I’d almost swear he was aiming for those people. Everyone starts yelling and pointing at me, saying I was responsible. I jumped onto Elemia and got out of there as fast as I could. That is the first time I’ve ever had to hightail it out of a town.”
“I am so sorry, Erin. Grim is a bit headstrong at times.”
“Don’t worry too much about it. It’s not like I was planning on going back there again in my lifetime.”
“Well, you have to admit. It was… different.”
Erin slowly look at Kile and burst out laughing. “Now I see where you get your reputation from.”
“What reputation?”
“That of the Wild Hunter.”
“Seriously, I thought that nickname would have died down by now.”
“Oh, no. Once you get a name like that, you keep it for life.”
“Yeah, but this is my second life. Don’t I get a do-over?”
“Afraid not, kid, you’re stuck with it.” Erin grinned, but the grin didn’t last too long. It was soon replaced by a look of concern. Something was troubling the Hunter.
“What’s the matter?” Kile asked although she wasn’t sure if she wanted to know.
“Heaney,” Erin said. “He has a two-week head start on us. He should have reached Azintar by now, which means we’ll be late to the party.”
“What can we do?”
“There’s not much we can do. If we stick to the roads, keep our downtime to a minimum, and trust they’re not looking for us yet, we may reach Azintar in… six days.”
“So what you’re saying is, whatever’s going to happen is going to happen before we get there.”
“If it hasn’t happened already,” Erin added.
Kile shuddered at the thought. How long did it take the Maligar to corrupt what was once Kilmore, turning it into the wastelands it was today? She never thought to ask Risa when she had the chance. Was it something that happened overnight, or was the poison slow to take hold? Was it happening at this very minute, or did they still have time?
“What if we sent a letter to Roland?” Kile asked.
Erin gave her a funny look, which probably had something to do with the fact she used the king’s true name again.
“What if we sent a letter to the king?” she corrected herself.
“How would we get it to him? I don’t think hiring a Hunter is such a good idea at the moment since they’re probably looking for you. We don’t even know which ones we can trust yet.”
“I could get a bird to deliver it.”
“And would he deliver it directly to the king?”
“Yeah, as long as I can picture him accurately for the bird to identify.”
“Oh, I’m sure that shouldn’t be a problem.” Erin gave Kile that funny look again. “But it might work. If nothing else, it should buy us some time.”
-Fly,- Vesper suggested.
“Not bloody likely,” Kile answered.
“What?”
“Ah, nothing. Vesper was simply throwing some ideas out.”
“Well, if he has ideas, let’s hear them.”
“Nothing very practical at the moment.”
Kile thought about flying to deliver the letter to Roland herself, but there was the whole reverting-to-normal problem. The last time, it had happened rather suddenly, and she’d plunged into a lake from forty feet in the air. Imagine if it happened while flying over the city. Splat, no mail today. She needed more practice before trying that again. Flying was almost as dangerous as…
How desperate was she?
“Um… Erin, there might be a faster way,” she said nervously.
“What do you have in mind?”
“How far is Baxter’s Bay from here?”
“About two days’ hard ride. We could be there by tomorrow evening, but that’s going out of our way.”
“What are your feelings on… magic?”
~~~***~~~
They followed the coastal road until Erin call for a stop. Elemia was not a mountain pony and didn’t have the tolerance Grim had for long journeys. It also didn’t help Erin was starting to fall asleep. Unlike Kile, she couldn’t stretch out on the back of her horse to rest. Taking the advice of a groundhog, they stopped for a few hours in a small field that was difficult to see from the road.
There was no need for a fire. They simply rolled out their blankets and ate a meal of bread and cheese before catching a few hours of shut-eye, or at least Erin did. Kile found meditation was more restful than sleep in moments of stress. Sleep was difficult to come by when you were afraid of the dark. Kile had seen the darkness and she had seen what it could do when it was released. It was not something she could forget, even for a couple of hours. When she opened her eyes, she saw Grim standing in the field, watching the road. The mountain pony took it upon himself to stand guard over them while they slept.
Slowly rising, so as not to disturb Erin, she approached the pony.
-You’re not sleeping?- Grim asked without turning around.
“I can’t sleep,” Kile said. “I haven’t been able to for a while. Not after what I saw on the island.”
-Do you want to talk about it?-
“I wouldn’t know where to start. He was an Orceen, Grim. Like me. They drove him mad and… look what he became.”
-And you fear you’ll become what he became?-
“It’s not so much that. It’s what I feel when I’m near it.”
-And what is that?-
“Acceptance.”
It was true. The only place she felt accepted was in the darkness of the pit, and it scared her. The notion she could simply forget herself and become nothing. How many times, when she was young, did she want to do just that? It was too easy to let go of everything and become part of the darkness.
-I fear you are too stubborn for that, child.-
“How can you be so sure?”
-Because I know you. I know your mind. I have seen inside you as you have inside me. We aren’t that different, you and I-
“Sometimes I wish it were true.”
-It may be truer than you can imagine.-
Kile placed her hand on the pony’s side. “Grim, are you an Orceen?”
He laughed. -Orceen, please. You’ve been spending too much time around the vir. Your brain is
beginning to wither.-
“Come on, Grim, I know that once the Orceen were barred from Fthak’thun, they retreated to the only place they understood.”
-And you think I’m one of those… Orceen. If I were truly an Orceen, don’t you think I would have chosen something other than a mountain pony? Maybe a cat or a dog, you know, so the vir would have to wait on me hand and foot. No, I’m afraid I am what you see.-
“Well, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being a mountain pony.”
-Get some sleep, child. We will be riding hard tomorrow to reach your city.-
“Thank you, Grim, for everything.”
18
Kile and Erin continued along the coastal road until they reached the highlands that overlooked the tourist attraction known as Baxter’s Bay. It was pretty much the way Kile remembered it, even at night, but it was only a couple of months since she’d last seen it. It was amazing—everything that had happened in that short period of time all started here with a letter. How she regretted reading it. If she hadn’t, she never would have gone to the palace, and therefore, would never have been part of the company. Then again, it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference. They would have come looking for her. Darfin made that quite clear. She was included because she was the only one who could recover the Heart. There was no way they would let her miss all the fun.
“Hold up,” Erin called out.
Lost in her thoughts, Kile never noticed she and Grim had wandered into the middle of town and people were starting to notice. Erin quickly came up along aside her, steering her off to one side.
“What’s the matter?” Kile asked. She quickly surveyed her surroundings but saw nothing that should have alarmed the Hunter.
“Over there.” Erin pointed to three men. They were standing outside one of the buildings, farther up the street. Apart from an unnatural interest in the people who were walking past them, there was nothing Kile could see that set them apart from anybody else. At least nothing that looked suspicious. In fact, they seemed as out of place as everybody did in Baxter’s Bay.
“Who are they?” she asked.
