Hunter's Beginning (Veller)

by Spoor, Garry

  “Charles didn’t give him up.” She realized. It was a bit too much to hope for. He told just enough to take the blame from Kile, but not enough to implicate Eric.

  “The council did feel that Cadet Banes didn’t act alone, let's face it, he wasn’t exactly the sharpest knife in the draw, but when pressured he refused to give any names. The council had no choice.”

  “But if the council knew?”

  “Knew what? They gave him the option, he chose expulsion.”

  “As opposed to ratting out his so called friends.”

  “It was his choice to make.”

  “I suppose. Will the council go easy on him? I know he was a jerk and all, but still, he really didn’t mean to hurt anyone and he was only doing what Eric told him to do.”

  “He withheld evidence, an act that could have gotten you expelled, or worse, you could have been facing charges if the council saw things another way.”

  “But he confessed in the end, surely that means something.”

  “Maybe, but only because he was scared he was gong to be… eaten by a dog, although I’m not really sure where that falls into his confession. The fact of the matter is, if he was so easily persuaded to commit a crime in the first place, what kind of a Hunter would he be?”

  “Well, I guess there’s that, and I can see their point, but still… What if I spoke to the council, would it do any good?” She asked.

  Adams stopped and gave Kile a curious look.

  “You want to talk on his behalf, after what he did to you.” He asked her. Clearly this was not what he had expected.

  “If you think it will help.”

  “I don’t think it will be necessary, the council has already reached its decision and I don’t really think they’ll pursue it any further, but I’ll let them know. The fact that you would be willing to talk on his behalf, may be enough.” Master Adams replied “If that is all then, I should be going, there is still much to be done in preparation for the gathering and you still have your own preparation if you are planning to depart this evening. The caravan shall be leaving for Littenbeck after the supper hour.”

  “I’m not going sir.” She replied.

  “Don’t you wish to return home, at least for a couple of weeks?”

  “There’s really no need sir.”

  “Surely you want to see your family? Your friends?”

  She just shook her head and Master Adams looked at her with that same look of curiosity.

  “I don’t understand.” He said. “Most cadets, especially the first years, are so eager to return home, if just for a little while.”

  “I really have no reason to sir.” She replied, although it wasn’t exactly true. It wasn’t so much as having a reason as it was to the fact that she wouldn’t be welcome. Leaving home the way she did, and her father’s parting words made sure of that.

  “I see.” Master Adams finally said, and there was a tone of pity in his voice, a tone that made her cringe when she heard it. The last thing she wanted was to be pitied.

  “If you require something to occupy your time I have a few books that you may be interested in.”

  “Thank you sir.”

  “If there is nothing else, then I should be going, you will at least want to see your friends off.”

  He was just about to step out into the hall when Kile stopped him.

  “Sir, there is one thing.”

  “What would that be?” He asked.

  “Well… it just… Lately I’ve heard something but I don’t know what it means.” She said, fumbling over the words. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was she wanted to ask him, or maybe it was the fact that she didn’t want to know the answer.

  “And what is it that you’ve heard?” Master Adams asked.

  “What is an Orseen?”

  The young Hunter’s face was unreadable as he starred at Kile. After a moment he forced a smile and shook his head.

  “It’s nothing important.”

  That wasn’t good enough.

  “Sir, in the last couple of days, and on more than one occasion, I have been referred to as being Orseen, or having Orseen blood. I would like to know if I am being insulted or not.”

  His forced smile turned into a real one as he laughed.

  “I see what you mean.” He said. “Then you’ve heard Master Boraro make reference to it.”

  “It was difficult not to sir.” She replied. “He doesn’t seem to… like the Orseen very much.”

  “I will not discuss what Master Boraro likes or dislikes, but there is no shame in being Orseen or having Orseen blood.”

  “But I’m not Orseen; at least I don’t think I am. My mother was born in the Shia province in the town of Littletree and my father's family has always hailed from Riverport.”

  “That may be the case, but one would be hard pressed to trace back the blood line of a forgotten people. The Orseen were nomadic, and it was said that they came from across the wastelands ages ago but not much was known about why the came or the places that they came from.”

  “But who were they? What happened to them?”

  “Who they were is hard to say. What historians know about them is very little and not very accurate. They were a secretive race, keeping mostly to themselves, never settling down in one spot for too long, at least not until the end of the Mudd Wars.”

  “What did they have to do with the Mudd Wars?”

  “Do you remember what you learned about the Mudd Wars?” He asked as he raised one eyebrow and waited. The last thing she needed now was a pop quiz.

  She could recall the lessons that he taught them concerning the history of Aru and although the Mudd Wars played a part, they did not dwell on them. As far as she knew it was an altercation between the long deceased Ogre race and the border cities of Aru. That was when Catherine Y’lew defeated the Ogre’s champion Grydusk, winning the right to treaty with the Ogre’s chief. As far as Kile could remember, there was no mention of the Orseen race.

  “The Orseen people sided, not with the people of Aru, but with the Ogres during the war.”

  “They were traitor?” Kile asked. Now she understood why being associated with the Orseen bloodline was an insult.

  “They weren’t exactly traitors.” Master Adams replied, picking his words carefully.

  “But they sided with the Ogres during the war…”

  “Yes, but you have to understand that the Orseen were not of the people of Aru and therefore held no such allegiance to the crown.”

  “But to side with the Ogres…”

  “It is believed by many scholars that the Orseen were in fact… more…” He paused a moment, as if trying to determine whether or not to continue, then he just sighed and resigned himself to the worst. “That they were in fact kin.”

  “They were… related. The Orseen people were actually… Ogres, and Master Boraro claims that I am of the Orseen blood line.”

  “No, that's not exactly true. The Orseen race is closer to being… an offshoot of the Ogre race.”

  “So I’m only half an Ogre, Oh, no wait, the Orseen where half Ogre, so half Orseen and half Vir so that makes me what, a quarter blood Ogre.”

  “Vir?” Master Adams flinched at the use of the word. “Look Kile, nobody is saying you are anything more or less than who you are. You yourself claim that you have no Orseen blood in your family, and even if you did, that bloodline would be so thin now that there would be little if any connection with the Ogres of old.”

  “If that’s so then why does Master Boraro claim that I am Orseen?”

  “Master Boraro is…” Adams held himself in check as he took a deep breath. “Master Boraro has his own opinions, they are not always correct.”

  “But they’re not always wrong either.” She replied.

  “Look, the Orseen blood line is very thin, any one of us could have a touch of it, even me. It doesn’t’ make any difference, it doesn’t change who we are, it doesn’t make us any less.”

  Kile
paused for a moment to consider what Master Adams said, but there was still one inescapable opposition to his argument, one that made all the difference in the world. If, as he suggested, the Orseen blood line was so thin as to be non-existent…

  “Why does Master Boraro think that I’m Orseen?”

  “I don’t know.” Master Adams lied as he turned from Kile and stepped out into the hall and gave her a curt bow. “I will take my leave of you, go see your friends off, they will be waiting for you.” He said and was half way down the hall before Kile could ask him anything else, not that she really wanted to ask him anything else. What he said was enough for now.

  She entered the Lavatory and splashed some water on her face to wash away the last of the sleep. She looked at herself in the small mirror that hung over the wash bowl. What did Master Boraro see in her that made him think she had Orseen blood? What was it that made her look different than everyone else? What did the Orseen look like? She had never heard of the race before, and now she was accused of being one. Neither one of her parents had ever said anything about the Orseen, they had never even mentioned the word and Kile doubted if they even knew what it was. Master Adams knew. He didn’t come out and say so, but he believes it too, he never denied the fact, he just told her not to be ashamed. Which, in some way, meant that she should be.

  She pulled back her hair and tied it in a tail. This was just one more thing that separated her from everyone else, one more thing that she had no control over. One more thing that she didn’t even know about until somebody else had to tell her. Why was she always the last to know?

  She grabbed her hat from the back of the chair and pulled it down, shading her eyes as she stepped out into the hall. The dorms were quiet now, most of the Cadets would be in the dining hall waiting for the caravans to take them away to far off places, places that she was determined to see one day. Places like Procton and Grover’s Den were just names to her, but in order for her to see them she would have to first become a Hunter.

  She was one more step closer, one year of training out of the way. That meant she only had to survive two more years and at least a year on probation, which was assuming she actually graduated. There were still a lot of obstacles in her path. Those that she could see and change she could deal with, the others, well, they will just have to resolve themselves.

  ###

  Coming Soon:

  Hunter’s Academy