by Garry Spoor
“Hunters,” Erin said.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. You’ve been at this as long as I have, and you’ll start to recognize other Hunters on sight.”
“But what are they doing here?”
“That’s a good question,” Erin said, dismounting. “My guess is, they’re probably hunting.”
“Hunting? Hunting who?”
“Don’t know, but we shouldn’t take any chances. Where did you say Alex was performing?”
“The Purple Puffin. It’s somewhere on the east side of town.”
“I know the place.” All the while she was talking, she was calmly stroking Elemia’s nose. If Erin was worried about the Hunters, she wasn’t showing it. “Wait here,” she said, turning away.
“Why? Where are you going?”
“Wait here, and… keep an eye on our friends. Don’t let them know you’re watching them.”
Kile dismounted and moved to a location where she could carefully watch the three men without being seen. Erin strolled across the street and disappeared into a large two-story building. The Hunters didn’t seem to take any notice of her. It either meant they didn’t recognize her, or she wasn’t the one they were looking for. Kile sank farther into the shadows.
“I don’t like this, Grim. Why are they here? Who are they looking for?”
-How should I know?-
“There’s no way they could have known we were coming here.”
-I think you’re getting a little paranoid. They could be here for any number of reasons.-
“Yeah, name one.”
-Hunter’s convention?-
“You’re not helping.”
-Hey, what do you want? It’s not like the Guild confides in me.-
After what seemed like an eternity, and yet was only a few minutes, Erin returned, holding what looked like a bundle of orange cloth under her arm. She remained calm and never once looked toward the three men while she crossed the street. Kile was amazed. Had it been her, she would have had to look and probably would have looked guilty doing it.
“What did they do?” Erin asked when she got closer.
“Nothing. They didn’t even notice you.”
“Well, that’s a good sign.” She tossed Kile one of the orange bundles. “Here, put this on.”
Kile unrolled the cloth to discover it was a hooded robe, not unlike the ones the mystics wore, only they never wore orange.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked.
“Well, it’s the only color they had, but hey, this is Baxter’s Bay. Pretty much anything goes. As long as we hide our faces, we shouldn’t have any problems.”
“I hope you’re right,” Kile mumbled as she slipped into the robes. She made sure Vesper was comfortable on her shoulder before pulling the hood down over her eyes.
“We’ll leave the horses here, for now,” Erin said, pulling her own hood down and stepping out into the street.
Kile led the horses farther back into the alley.
“Grim, Elemia, please stay here. We’ll be back for you as soon as we can,” she said before catching up to Erin.
They were simply two orange mystics enjoying a night on the town.
Kile followed the Lady Hunter through the back alleys and side roads, much the same way she followed Emara when she led her through the city. Baxter’s Bay was a hodgepodge of streets and buildings. There was no discernable plan to its layout. Streets ended, crossed, and turned on themselves. It was easy to get lost, but Erin seemed to know where she was going. Before long, places started to look familiar. Kile recognized The Purple Puffin, which still looked like an old warehouse and could have easily been mistaken as one if it wasn’t for the line of people outside the door.
“You think he’s here tonight?” Erin asked.
“Oh yeah, he’s here,” Kile said.
Getting through the front door was easy. Seeing the stage, not so much. The place was packed—standing room only. From the size of the crowd, Alex was putting on a good show tonight, and nobody wanted to miss it.
“Miss Doyle?” somebody shouted.
They turned and saw a stout man with shaggy blond hair and a bushy mustache making his way toward them. Erin moved to intercept, but Kile stopped her.
“Mr. Lewis, it’s nice to see you again,” she greeted the man when he got closer. “I’m surprised you remember me.”
“Well, to tell you the truth, Miss Doyle, we don’t get too many mystics these days, and there’s that rat of yours. You don’t see too many people with one of those on their shoulder.” The stout man laughed. He strained his neck to look over Kile’s head. “Is Miss Lon with you today?”
“No, but we’re hoping to meet her soon. I need to speak with Master Bartlow.”
“Well, as you can see, he’s in the middle of a performance, but if you want to wait at Miss Lon’s table, I’m sure he’ll see you afterward.”
“That would be wonderful, thank you.”
Mr. Lewis turned and parted the crowd, like a large ship cutting through water. Kile and Erin followed in his wake. When they came out the other side, he led them to the same small round table Kile had shared with Emara the first time she visited the Puffin. There was even a bowl of breadsticks sitting in the center of it, although they probably weren’t the same ones.
“I’ll let Master Bartlow know he has visitors as soon as he’s finished. I believe he’s on the last act now,” the man said with a big smile only half hidden by his mustache. “Can I get you anything while you wait? A cup of tea, if I remember correctly.”
“Oh, yes, that would be wonderful,” Kile said. It had been ages since she’d had a cup of tea.
“And what about you, Miss?” Lewis said, turning to Erin.
“An ale would be fine.”
“As you wish, I’ll be back shortly.”
Erin waited until Mr. Lewis was out of earshot before turning to Kile. “Who is Miss Doyle?”
“I am,” Kile said proudly. “Or at least that’s who he thinks I am. Miss Emily Doyle. It’s a name Alex came up with for one of his stories. When we first…”
Kile stopped in midsentence as the reality of the story Alex was performing on stage finally hit her. This was not the siege of Moran, nor did it have a curvaceous version of her bouncing around the battlefield only to be saved by the king. There was no laughter from the audience, no oohs and aahs. They were respectfully quiet as Alex recounted the tale. Kile was witnessing her own mortality. It was the story of her death. Alex took no liberties in her appearance this time. The illusion looked exactly like her and it was unnerving.
The play wasn’t accurate, far from it, but she could forgive him this time. Alex was only retelling the version Master Boraro made up, although she was sure Alex put more of a heroic spin on it. She had just lost her battle with the Valgar and was being taken back to the boats. It was a somber moment, and there was more than one sniffle in the audience.
When Alex finally let the illusions fade, Kile was struck with a sense of loss. In a way, it made her life seem so futile, to be snuffed out by a bunch of Valgar.
“Well, that sucked,” she thought, only to realize she said the words out loud and quickly cupped her hands over her mouth. Alex looked up and his eye widened. He suddenly jumped to his feet, sending his small chair toppling over. The audience responded with confusion.
“Ah… that’s all for today. Thank you for coming,” he said, leaping off the stage. He was almost to their table before he suddenly stopped and turned to the audience. “Tips are always appreciated.”
The people applauded as they rose from their seats and made a line past an old jar sitting on a stool. They showed their appreciation by filling it with coins.
Alex waved for Erin and Kile to follow him before he disappeared through an open door located off to the side of the stage. It was a small room, not much larger than their dorms back at the Academy. There was a single wooden table covered with papers, more of Alex’s story ideas, ba
sed on the handwriting. A bookshelf sat against one wall and was home to a random set of curiosity as well as a few books on mythology and legends.
Once they were in, Alex closed and locked the door behind them and spun Kile around to stare at her face.
“Is that really you?” he asked.
“Yes, it’s me.”
Alex quickly released her. “Why are you alive?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“I mean, I’m… I’m glad you’re a… why are you alive? Do you know what this means? I have to rewrite the ending to my story.”
“Oh, sorry to be such an inconvenience. Maybe I should go back to the island and drop dead.”
“No… no… it’s too late now anyway.”
“Isn’t it wonderful to have such caring friends?” Kile asked Erin, who was trying, unsuccessfully, not to laugh.
Alex threw his arms around her. “I’m sorry Ki, I am. I glad you’re alive,” he cried. “It’s just, it was such a wonderful story. Did you see them out there? Not a dry eye in the house. How am I going to top that?”
“Look, Alex, if you help me, I’ll tell you what happened, including how I got off the island… without a boat.”
Alex’s face lit up. “You will?” He wiped the tears from his eyes. “So, what happened? How did you do it? How did you get back?”
“Yeah, how did you get back?” Erin asked.
“This is not the time,” Kile said. “Alex, do you know what those Hunters in town are here for.”
“Hunters? They’re not real Hunters, well, at least not Hunters like us… or you and Miss Silvia, I mean. I’m no longer a Hunter, but you already knew that.”
Erin smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Once a Hunter, always a Hunter.”
Alex beamed with pride. “Well,” he said with a big grin, “they’ve been scratching around here for a few days now, asking all sorts of questions. I haven’t told them anything.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Actually, a lot of them were about you two.”
“Us?”
“Well, not together. I mean, like the questions about Miss Silvia were more like, where is she, where does she go, and when was the last time she was in Baxter’s Bay? But with you, Kile, it’s more about what you could do. They knew you could speak to animals, but they want to know what else you could do. Like could you control them or make them do things.”
Erin started pacing the floor. “Well, that’s good news,” she said, although not convincingly.
“How is that good news?” Kile asked.
“They’re not asking where you are, which means they still think you’re dead, so they’re not looking for you yet. It also means nobody saw us leave Salthaven, so, their presence here is simply a coincidence.”
“Wonderful, but it doesn’t help us. Why do they want to know about me?”
“They also wanted to know about your brother,” Alex added.
“Leon? Why do they want to know about Leon?”
“That would make sense,” Erin said. “They might think the Orceen blood runs in the family. Has your brother ever shown signs of communicating with animals?”
“Not in the least. You don’t think my brother’s in trouble, do you?”
“I wouldn’t think so. I only met your brother once, and I didn’t sense he had any of your gifts, but I’m no mystic.”
“Wonderful. It’s not like my sister-in-law doesn’t hate me already. Now she’s going to have Hunters appearing on her doorstep, questioning them about things they don’t even know.”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” Erin said. “They’re not going to try anything with a civilian. There’s no gain in it. Right now, the Terrabin Hunters are trying to prove themselves. If they start going after simple farmers, they won’t gain much support. As long as your brother shows no signs of the gifts you have, they may watch him, but they’ll leave him alone.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Before Erin could answer, there was a knock on the door. She instinctively reached for her sword, but Alex motioned for them to move back and stay quiet. The air around them shimmered and it was almost like standing under a waterfall, yet there was no water. Kile could smell the illusion taking form.
Opening the door, Alex found Mr. Lewis standing on the threshold, holding a tray of drinks.
“Master Bartlow,” the stout man greeted him in a jovial tone, all the while trying to look past him into the room. “There were two mystics waiting to see you, but they seemed to have taken their leave.”
“Not to worry, Mr. Lewis. They’ll be back shortly. If you want, you can leave their drinks with me and put them on my tab.”
“As you wish.”
When Lewis stepped into the room, he paused to have another quick look around. Seeing nobody but the young bard, he set the drinks down on the table, right in front of Erin. He looked around the room once more, before speaking with Alex. “A very moving performance tonight. You’ve outdone yourself. I don’t remember ever seeing the place so packed and so quiet.”
“It was a special piece. I probably won’t be doing it again anytime soon.”
“Shame. The customers seemed to enjoy it,” Mr. Lewis said and stepped out of the room. He turned and tried for another look, but Alex closed the door.
“That was close,” Erin said. “Do you trust him?”
“Oh sure… sort of. I mean, he’s okay and he’s never tried to cheat me or anything, but if somebody were looking for information, well, you know, he’s not much of a secret keeper.”
“Quick thinking with the illusion,” Kile remarked, sitting down at the table. She pulled her tea toward her and looked at the cup suspiciously.
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about the drinks,” Alex said, seeing her concern. “They’re safe.”
“How can you be so sure?” Erin pushed hers away.
“Lewis is a businessman. If he poisoned his drinks, it would be bad for business,” Alex said.
Kile shrugged and took a sip of her tea. It wasn’t all that great, but it wasn’t poisonous either.
“What?” she asked, seeing the look on Erin’s face. “You can’t argue with logic like that.”
Erin shook her head while Alex took a seat at the table.
“So, what was it that you need from me?” he asked.
“We need you to get in contact with Emara,” Kile said. “We need her help getting to Azintar.”
“Well, yeah, I guess I can help, but wouldn’t it be faster if you simply rode there? I can send her a letter, but it usually takes about a week or two before I hear anything back from her.”
“That’s not entirely true, is it now, Alex?”
“What do you mean? We only keep in touch through letters, nothing more,” he said and added a little too quickly, “I swear.”
Kile grinned. “I know you have a way of getting in contact with Emara and it doesn’t require you writing a letter.”
Alex crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said in his most confident voice, but his eyes gave him away.
Kile stood and walked over to the shelf where Alex was looking. There were a few odds and ends on display, nothing that seemed magical at first. A bit of cloth, a stack of papers, a seashell, a few figurines, a black book, a small silver ring, a mirror, a hairbrush, and his Hunter’s badge. Remembering the lengthy conversation she’d had with Morgan during her time at the Academy, Kile picked up the seashell. It gave off a soft yellow glow and when she sniffed it, it smelled like summer. Morgan always said it was easier to enchant something natural.
She carefully examined the seashell. “So, how do you use it, Alex?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
“Hey, Erin, you’re influenced by the sphere of air. Do you know of any Edge that can communicate over a long distance?”
Erin leaned back in her chair to think.
“
As a matter of fact, I have heard of something,” she said. “There were supposedly these two Hunters, a few years before I graduated from the Academy. They were brothers, actually, and they shared a common Edge. They called it breeze whispering. No matter how far apart they were, they could talk to each other.”
“What do you think, Alex?” Kile said, holding the seashell out to him. “You think this might be enchanted with something like that.”
Alex took the shell from her hand and gently set it on the table. “I can’t, Ki,” he said. “Emara told me to use it sparingly, that it was very powerful and very dangerous.”
“I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t important. If we don’t get to Azintar soon, something bad might happen.”
Alex tapped his fingers nervously on the table, stopped, and took a deep breath.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” he finally said.
“Well, come on.”
“Don’t rush me. This is a serious artifact. There’s no telling what might happen. It could explode.”
Kile looked at Erin for confirmation, and Erin merely shrugged. Emara might be a bit flaky at times, but there was no way she would ever entrust an explosive artifact to Alex. They waited as the young bard gathered his courage.
Gently picking up the shell, he held it up to this mouth and spoke into it. “Emara. Emara, are you there?”
“Hey sweetie, what’s up?” the shell asked. Alex’s face turned red.
“Um, Emara, I… I have Kile and Erin here with me and…”
There was a sudden flash of light and a young woman with shocking green hair, dressed in rainbow-colored robes, was sitting on the table. She jumped down and grabbed Kile, wrapping her arms around her in a tight bear hug.
“You’re alive. I knew you were. I just knew it. I knew those stories couldn’t be true, they just couldn’t.”
Kile pried the mystic off. “I’m glad to see you too, Emara.” She tried to keep the young woman at arm’s length.
“They said you died on the expedition. They said you were killed by Valgar, but I knew it couldn’t be true.”
“Who told you?”
“The Tower received news as soon as the Charlotte docked in Salthaven. Although, it was a few days later before we heard anything from Mystic Elmac. I never believed it.”
