by Spoor, Garry
“You’ve been a thorn in my side since day one.” He said as he stepped closer.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot.” She replied swallowing hard. “So, what’s so important that you would risk being thrown out of the academy for stealing?”
“What do I care about this academy?” He asked. “It’s nowhere near as good as they made it out to be, not if they let people like you in.”
“You must care something about it; you tried three times to get in.” She replied.
She looked to the main entrance, it was a good distance away and the closed door would hinder her escape. The only other option was deeper into the great hall where she would be able to get out through the back entrance. She could make a run for it but her success would depend a lot on Eric’s edge. He could manipulate fire, but could he throw it. If he could hurl balls of fire, which looked very likely, she was toast.
“I should have ended this a long time ago.” Eric smiled as he pulled back his arm.
“Who’s down there?”
Saved by a voice from above.
Eric quickly doused his flame and Kile took advantage of the sudden darkness to make for the exit that lay deeper in the great hall. She hadn’t gotten far as Eric grabbed her by the arm. She quickly spun around but couldn’t break his grip.
“Is someone down there?” Master Adams called out, his voice was getting closer.
Eric looked at Kile then at the staircase above them; she could tell he was trying to decide what to do next. His grip on her arm tightened as he pulled her closer.
“Neither one of us was here.” He said in a harsh whisper and then suddenly released her. He didn’t wait around to see what she would do next, he ran toward the corridor that lead deeper into the Great Hall, disappearing into the darkness.
Kile was left standing alone in the middle of the gallery. It wouldn’t do for her to be caught here after dark, there were some that were still looking for an excuse to kick her out, and something like this was all they would need. She heard Master Adam’s footsteps on the stairs just above her. She couldn’t make it to the door without him seeing her, her only choice was to follow Eric and hope that she didn’t run into him again. Taking the corridor deeper into the Great Hall, she follows it through to the back doors and back out into the compound.
She had to tell someone what she had seen, tell someone what Eric tried to do, but he never succeeded in doing it, so what proof did she have. It would be her word against his, and let’s face it; her word didn’t go as far as his. A farmer’s daughter couldn’t very well accuse the son of a Lord of stealing, but he, on the other hand, could accuse her. Neither one of us was here he told her, maybe that was what he had in mind, maybe Master Boraro was right all along, a hunter should have some social standing in order to be effective.
It was the first full day back to the routine of the academy life since the crossbow incident over a month ago and Kile was starting to look back fondly on those long boring summer days. She was up before the sun and was even out on the field before Master West, who was recovering nicely, rang the morning bell. Now, as a second year cadet, she took her new place in the lineup and waited for the crowd to gather. A new group of third year cadets ran the morning procedures, but having gone through them for two years, they had no problems with their new responsibilities. It wouldn’t be long before the third years all chose their chores for the coming term and then the second years would be required to pick from what was left. Kile had no idea what she wanted to do, and given the number of third year cadets left, she would have a fair amount of chores to choose from. Their numbers seem to be dwindling by the day, and that was evident by the list of names that Sir Oblum read out that morning. It was a staggering number, somewhere around thirty or forty cadets had failed to show up after the summer.
She stood through the names, listening to them one by one and was even able to put a face to a few of them. One name that surprised her was that of Robert Little, the red haired boy that knew her brother and had bet on her to last only a year. The way he spoke she didn’t think he was the type to drop out that easily, but then she would never really know the reasoning behind his decision.
After the names were read Oblum went on about the requirements of a hunter and how hunter’s never quit and something about abandoning one's post, but Kile wasn’t really interested, for today was a special day in a hunter’s training. Today was the day that the hunter received their mounts. She could hardly believe they were actually going to give her a horse. She had never owned anything like that before. Tree had explained to them that once they reached their second year, they would be taught how to ride, but a year seemed so far away back then, and now the news was that the horsemanship training was being moved up and would be starting today.
There were no calisthenics on the account that Oblum had taken so long relaying the messages of the day and read off each name and judging its overall reaction from the cadets. The group was dismissed to the dinning hall for breakfast which returned to the standard fare of eggs, sausage, toast, potatoes, juice and anything else the kitchen couldn’t get rid of the night before. Kile still couldn’t bring herself to eat the sausage and the eggs weren’t looking very appetizing either, having spoken to a few birds had turned her off what was once her favorite part of breakfast, so she just settled for a plate of fried potatoes and a glass of juice.
“What’s your rush?” Kile asked as she watched Alex put away three sausages and down a glass of juice before she even sat down at the table.
“I don’t want to be late for class.” He said between mouthfuls. “Last person there gets the nag.”
“I doubt if that will happen.” Daniel said. “I’m sure the horses that the academy uses are top of the line. I can’t see Luke caring for anything less.”
“Or Boraro accepting it.” Kile added. “It would be a disgrace to the academy.” She added in her best Weapon Master’s voice.
“I don’t think you have to worry about Master Boraro, he doesn’t teach horsemanship.”
“Really.” Kile said, suddenly her day looked a lot brighter.
“Yeah, it’s Master Pike you have to worry about.”
Suddenly her day looked a lot darker, surprising how that can happen with just a few simple words. She had never had to deal with Master Pike directly, but he was the one that locked away the crossbows after the incident so no one could inspect them. It may have just been an oversight on his part or there could have been some kind of malicious intent, either way, he was either ignorant or mean spirited, not exactly the best of choices.
“What do you guys know of Quaineess Nyn?” She asked as she started in on her own breakfast. She didn’t tell them what happened that night in the Great hall, she didn’t see the gain. It seemed pointless to trouble them with something that didn’t concern them and what with Alex’s big mouth, she didn’t want the information getting out. There was no telling what Eric would try if he thought that Kile was starting rumors about him.
“He slew some type of Dragon… didn’t he?” Carter replied.
“If you believe half the stories they tell you.” Daniel said.
“Stories do have to come from somewhere.” Alex added as he finished his breakfast and was away from the table before anyone could respond.
This was not exactly the group to be asking. Carter was too interested in the physical aspects of the academy. If it had nothing to do with perfecting his skills then he just wasn’t interested in it. Daniel was too practical; sometimes he was too grounded in reality. She was sure he still doubted that she could speak with animals even after what he had seen, and as for Alex, well Alex was Alex. If he could find a story in it then he was interested, although the story that he heard and the story that he told were often unrecognizable from one another.
“Why do you ask? Why the sudden interest in Quaineess Nyn?” Daniel asked.
“No real interested, it just kind of came up.” Kile replied as she finished off her own breakfast and got up f
rom the table.
There had to be a reason for Eric’s interest in the artifacts of the long dead Hunter, but why and which artifacts. There didn’t appear to be anything of true value there. The ring maybe, but Eric was the son of Lord Byron Rimes of the Callor Province, one of the wealthier provinces in Aru. The value of the ring was nothing compared to what he already owned or could own if he desired it. The long knife was just that, a long knife. It was nothing of great value or great worth, nothing to get branded a thief and tossed out of the academy for. That left only the dragon scales, if they were dragon scale, but why, and for what reason. Could you sell dragon scales? Did it all come down to wealth after all? She figured scales from a dragon would be worth something to someone somewhere.
“Kile watch out.”
She turned, but not in time as a young first year cadet loaded down with a breakfast tray collided with her. Juice, potatoes, and some mysterious gray slop went everywhere and she managed to get the worst of it. The sound of laughter throughout the dinning hall and the guilty expression on the young cadet’s face lead her to believe that this wasn’t just a chance meeting. He looked nervously over his right shoulder and Kile followed his gaze to a rather smug looking Eric sitting on the side of the table. He gave her a smile and a nod before leaving with Murphy and Richard.
“You alright?” Daniel asked as he ran up to her.
She was picking scrambled eggs out of her hair. “Yeah… I’m alright.”
“What, you couldn’t see her?” Carter yelled at the young boy, who, although was younger, was still taller than Kile.
“I’m… I’m sorry.” He stammered.
“It’s not entirely his fault.” She replied as she pushed past the growing crowd of spectators. It was always entertaining to see someone made a fool of and even more entertaining when it was her or at least that was how it appeared to her. When she got outside she wiped the gray slop from the front of her tunic. She wasn’t sure what it was but it smelled bad and she didn’t remember seeing it on the menu.
“That was uncalled for. He saw you; he didn’t even try to stop.” An irate Daniel said as he stepped out of the dining hall behind her.
“Yeah, well, there’s nothing you can do about it now.” She replied.
“But he did it on purpose.”
“I think it was more out of fear than anything personal.”
“What do you mean; you think someone forced him to do it?”
“What does it matter now?” She said as she started walking back to the dorms.
If a kid could be so easily persuaded or scared into doing something that he didn’t want to do in the first place, there was no chance he would survive a year at the academy. She was sure it was just a matter of days before she heard his name mentioned in the morning lists, even though she didn’t know his name.
“Where are you going?” Daniel asked as he came up behind her.
“To get changed.” She said as if the answer was obvious.
“Class is starting in a couple of minutes.”
She stopped and turned to face him.
“I am not going to class looking… and smelling like this.” She said.
“Sorry… I’ll wait for you.”
There was a general look of split loyalties in Daniel’s eyes. One side of him wanted to be the good friend that stayed and waited until she was ready to go, the other side of him wanted to get to class early to pick out his horse.
“Go.” She said, letting him off the hook. “As Alex said, you don’t want to be late, last one there gets the nag.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, go, I’ll be fine. I shouldn’t be that long.”
“Well… if you insist. I’ll try to reserve one for you too.” Daniel shouted as he ran off.
“Yeah, you do that.” She mumbled a reply.
She walked into her cell and shed the foul smelling tunic as quickly as possible, dropping it on the floor in the corner of her room. She would have to wash that a few times before she ever thought of putting it back on.
-Kile smell.-
Vesper commented as his head popped out of the bottom draw.
“Yeeesss… Kile smell.” She replied as she slipped off her boots and out of her pants and dropped them in the corner as well. She would have to do something with them otherwise, by the time she got back tonight; they would stink up her entire room if not the entire dorm.
She went into the lavatory and looked at herself in the mirror. Fortunately the foul smelling gray slop didn’t get any higher then her chest, but the eggs in her hair was not exactly a fashion statement. She would love to take a bath right about now, but if she did that she wouldn’t definitely be late for class. She washed her face and brushed out her hair, tying it back with a leather strap.
It was a good thing that they issued three uniforms, otherwise she would have to put on her civilian clothes and she wasn’t sure how that would go over with Master Pike, especially on her first day with the Horse Master.
-What happen?-
“Let’s just say I had a run in with a breakfast tray.” She replied, as she sat down on the bed to pull on her boots.
-Don’t smell like breakfast.-
Vesper commented as he jumped up on the bed beside her.
-Can come?-
“Not during class.” She told him. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
-Eric?-
“Well, that’s not what I was thinking about, but yeah, I’m sure if he knew you were my friend he would try to do something to you.”
-No… Eric.-
Vesper said again as he jumped down from the bed and ran to the door.
Kile stopped pulling on her boot and waited. This time she could sense someone in the hall even over the pungent aroma of the laundry. It was the same sent that she had smelled in the stables that night, the night Eric spotted them getting a confession from Charles. She finished pulling on her boot and quickly looked around the room for a weapon. She didn’t really think he was crazy enough to do something to her in her own cell, but she had been wrong before, especially about him. His scent was getting stronger and she could now pin point it right outside her door. It hovered for a moment then something dragged across the front of her door, and the scent began to move off.
-He leaving-
“Too easy.” Kile said as she reached for the door handle and gave it yank. She wasn’t surprised that the door didn’t move and she cursed under her breath.
-What matter-
“He locked me in.” She said as the realization of Eric’s full plan unfolded before her. She had underestimated his cleverness, what with the lunch tray, knowing that she would want to change before going to class. He wanted her to be late for the first day of horse training or maybe not show up at all. She went to the window and tried the shutters, but there was no exit there. Somehow he had managed to bar those as well, probably before she ever came into the room. How long had he planned this little stunt? She was trapped in her own cell.
-Big bar across door-
Vesper told her.
“What?”
-Bar. See bar across door.-
This time his words carried the vision of what the outside of her door looked like at that moment.
“You saw it? Of course you did, you come and go with the door closed all the time.” She said, but knowing that and what the bar looked like didn’t help her much.
“Vesper, could you move the bar.”
-Bar too big, take many yarrow to move it. Can get many yarrow-
She could picture that, a sea of yarrow coming over the horizons, storming the dorms. That wouldn’t go unnoticed.
“What about the bar on the window, could you move that.”
-Don’t know, didn’t see.-
Vesper replied as he shot under the chest of drawers and through a small hole in the wall. She waited for a while, and then tried the door again but whatever it was that he barred it with was solid enough. The door wouldn’t budge even a
fraction of an inch. A sound at the shutters caught her attention.
“Vesper?” She called as she got close to the window.
It was the sound of something fanatically gnawing on the other side. She gave the shutter a gently push and this time it moved, enough that she could actually see out of. She peeked through the small opening and saw vesper sitting on the ledge.
-Metal-
The yarrow told her and the word carried with it a vision of a long knife wedged between the two handles of the window shutters. He had been chewing the wood around the outer edge of the window, loosening the end of the long knife.
“Very good Vesper.” She told the yarrow.
He started in on the wood again, but this was taking longer than she had. She could only hope that he had done enough.
“Get clear Vesper.” She called thought the crack, and then picking up the chair and using it as a ram she shoved it at the window with all her might. There was a satisfying crack, or it was until she realized it was from the chair and not the window.
“Perfect.” She said as she dropped the pieces of the chair on the floor. “Now what?”
She pried off one of the chair legs and worked it in between the shutters. Grabbing the other end with both hands and bracing her feet against the wall she pulled as hard as she could. The shutter flew open and she flew backwards across the room, colliding with the far wall.
-Kile okay?-
Vesper asked from the now open window.
“I am now.” She grinned as she got up. “Thanks Vesper, I might actually make it to class on time.”
-Hunar here.-
“Hunar, what’s Hunar doing here?” She asked as she got up off the floor and leaned out the window. Sure enough the large black Shinar mastiff was sitting under the window staring up at her from the ground. There was a rope around her neck and she was tied to the one of the trees.
“Hunar, what are you doing here?” She asked the dog.
- I think I’m supposed to keep you from getting out.-
Hunar replied, and those words carried a tone of embarrassment. She had somehow been tricked like Kile, and Hunar was not very happy about it.
