Hunter's Beginning (Veller) (17 page)

“You got room in there for one more?” Daniel asked.

“Sure, climb aboard.” Kile replied pushing the door open. “Won’t Alex miss you?”

“You’d be surprised, Alex can take care of himself.” He said as he pulled the door closed. “What were you doing anyway
? You looked like you were lost in thought.”

“Thinking… of home.”

“Do you miss it?”

That was an interesting question Kile thought. The obvious answer would have been yes, it should have been yes but it wasn’t. She really didn’t miss her home and she felt bad because she didn’t miss her home.

“Do you miss yours?” She asked, not wanting to answer the question.

“Sure I do.” Daniel replied.

She envied him, he didn’t even hesitate.

“What’s it like?”

“What, Procton… I guess it's not much different than any other town. It’s probably not much different than Riverport.”

“What about your family. Do you miss your family?”

“Well… yeah.” Daniel replied as if the answer was obvious. “Don’t you miss yours?”

“You have any brothers or sister
s?” She asked, again not wishing to answer the question.

“No, I’m the only one. There’s just my father, my mother and me.”

“What’s your father like?”

“My father… He’s a good man I guess, I mean I never really thought about it, he’s my father so I guess I would think that way. He works the mines, like most of the people of Procton. There are times he would come home so covered in coal dust, it was hard to tell where he began and his clothes ended.” Daniel laughed.

“What did he think when you told him you wanted to become a Hunter?”

“It was kind of his idea… well that not exactly true, it was more like Quigley’s idea.”

“Quigley?”

“Quigley is the town healer. When my parents found out that I had the gift of healing they asked Quigley to teach me, but there was only so much the old man could do. His way of healing and my way of healing are a bit different. He suggested going to the
mystics to inquire about further training, but when that went nowhere my father suggested the Hunter’s Academy. He knew that mystics trained Hunters. I don’t think he thought I would actually pass the exam, but at least I would be known to the mystics.”

“He doesn’t think you’ll pass the exam?”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, he will be thrilled if I passed the exam, but it was just a way of getting noticed, not an actual career choice.”

“Did he… help you get into the
exam?”

“I was sponsored by Quigley if that’s what you
mean; I guess he knows people on the board or something.”

“No… I mean… did he support you, help you get to the examination.”

“Well… we all came out together, my mother, my father and me, along with Alex and his father as well as Carter and his family. When my mother saw the oni door she was ready to take me and Alex back home, but my father talked her out of it, not that she really would have, but it did unnerve her.”

“So your whole family was here to see you off.”

“Well yeah, it's kind of a big thing, taking the Hunter’s exam and all, I mean, your parents came with your right.”

“Yeah… yeah something like that.” She replied as she looked out the window.

“Why the sudden interest in my father?” Daniel asked.

“No reason, just
… trying to make conversation, if you don’t want to talk about your family that's fine with me. What do you know about Azintar?” She asked, trying to change the subject.

“
Azintar, large city as far as I know. I’ve never been there myself but it is where the Hunter’s Academy is.”

“Really?”

“Well yeah, these carriages belong to the Hunter’s guild, you can tell by the crest on the door.”

“We’re going to the academy?”

“I think so.” Daniel said “Maybe we’ve already passed the examination and we’re full fledged cadets, we just don’t know it.”

“I seriously doubt it.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“What’s that suppose to mean.” Kile replied, taking the defensive.

“You are the one that blew up the testing area just to pass an exam, kind of extreme, don’t you think.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” She replied shaking her head and looking out the window
. Why wasn’t the carriage moving, at least she could pretend she was looking at something.

“Oh come on, I know it was you.”

“What makes you think so?”

“Don’t worry” Daniel said, as if reading her mind. “I just reasoned it out, that’s all.”

“How?”

“So it was you.”

“I didn’t say that, I just asked how you could have figured something like that out… if it was true I mean.”

“Wasn’t that difficult really. I figured that if one of the other boys had done it, they would be thumping
their chests and bragging about it, but you, you would be the opposite. You don’t want to bring any more attention to yourself than you already have, and frankly I don’t blame you. So you would remain quiet about it and tell everyone that you never even got to the end of the testing area, which… I know you did.”

“How?” She asked again, he was a lot smarter
than she had first given him credit for.

“Because when I told you and Alex what Carter had done to try and get out of the room, you asked me why he didn’t just open the box...”

“That doesn’t mean anything, it was just common sense.”

“No, it wasn’t. Only someone that knew
, or at least reasoned, that it was the box that caused the doors to close and not just somebody in the room would have suggested taking the contents out of the box. Only somebody who had been there, with the box, could have figured that out.”

“No… You said Carter tried to make a run for it…”

“With the box, he didn’t think the box was what triggered the door. He thought he triggered the door. I mean, Carter’s good an all when it comes to a fight and he is fast, but logic was never one of his strong points, but you figured it out, you had to be in the last room, with the doors open, with the box in your hand and you had to make the final decision of the test. Leave the box, open the box or try to get it through, and I have a feeling you chose a fourth option, one that nobody thought of, one that had… shall we say… consequences.” Daniel said as he shook the carriage to demonstrate what he meant.

“Stop that.” She hissed as
she looked out the window to see if the driver was taking any notice.

“So, what did you do… did you use your arts?”

Before Kile could say a word, the carriage suddenly jerked into motion and the wheels began to creak as the cab began to sway. They were finally leaving the mystic’s tower, a place Kile hoped never to visit again, but in spite of herself, she had to take just one more look back.

“So?’

“So what?’ She asked turning to look at Daniel.

“I asked if you used your mystic arts in the last room. Sometimes arts from different influences don’t mix very well, is that what happen?”

“I already told you, I don’t have any… arts.” She said, shaking her head. Why couldn’t he understand that?

“Then what did you do?”

“I used the gem.” Kile admitted in defeat. “But don’t tell anyone.”

“What gem?”

“The gem… the stone… the large red ruby… what ever you want to call it, the one in the middle of the room filled with chests of gold and silver.” She replied a little annoyed, it was bad enough she had to confess, but surely he had to remember that room, it was hard to miss, but by the look on his face it was clear he didn’t. “The room right before the one with the door.”

“That room, there wasn’t any gem
in there… or chests of gold and silver for that matter.”

“Well there was in mine. I don’t know what you saw.”

“It was a room filled with books and scroll and on the floor there was this… sliver ring.” He said as his voice began to trail off, it was like he was trying to recall a dream.

“For some reason I remember thinking that If I took the ring, it would help me control my mystic arts… it would make me stronger,
I could help so many people and nobody would know, it was… it was just a small ring… nobody would even know if I took it.”

“Bait.”

“What?”

“It was bait.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you want to catch the right vermin, you have to use the right bait.” Kile replied, it did make sense in a strange mystic’s tower sort of way.

“I still don’t get it.”

“It was what my father would always say as he set the traps in the barn, if you want to catch the right vermin, you h
ave to use the right bait. Your bait was a ring, a way to… master you mystic arts. Mine was a ruby, it made me think it would solve all my problems, like it would actually have made any difference. I wonder what Alex was tempted with.”

“Probably elevated shoes.” Daniel laughed. “Well, at least you saw the enchantment for what it was”

“No, not really, it was more like dumb luck; I came very close to taking the bait.”

“But you didn’t, you knew it was enchanted.”

“Well… no, I didn’t know it was enchanted, not until… well… later. How would I have known?”

“You had no idea?”

“I just said I didn’t.”

“You… you really
don’t have any mystical influence.” Daniel said with a note of disbelief.

“Oh, well you finally figured that one out.” Kile replied a bit more sarcastically
than she had intended. “I’ve only told you that how many times.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense.”

“What, that I can’t make illusions or dry out mud or set fires or move objects.”

“Well
… yeah.”

“I’ll have you know, my mother never did any of those things and she got by alright.”

“That's not what I meant, it's just that… you can’t be a Hunter without a Hunter’s edge, without some form of the arts. It just doesn’t make any sense… it… it’s just not done. You should have failed out by now.”

“Well… there’s still time.”

“Yeah, but… were heading to Azintar.”

“Well take it up with the driver, not
me; I don’t know what’s going on.” Kile replied and she turned to stare out the window. She was finished with the conversation, he could continue if he wanted but he would have to do it without her.

The Carriage rolled on, late into the evening as Kile and Daniel sat across from one another in silence. Kile stared out the window, watching the world go by one tree at a time. It was not the most scenic of trips, but then she had never been on that many trips to compare it with. The only time she had ever left Riverport was to go to Littenbeck, and now she was heading to Azintar. They were moving west, catching up with the setting sun but not nearly fast enough as the skies began to grow darker. She was moving farther and farther away from home, away from Riverport, and although her thoughts did wander home briefly they did not stay there very long. She kept running over what Daniel had said about the Hunter’s Edge, and the mystic arts. It was the one part of the entry examination that was completely out of her control. It was something you either had, or you didn’t, and she didn’t, and if what Daniel said was true, then all Hunters had a touch of the arts, it was what separated them from the people they helped, from the common mercenary, and it was something they could use to their advantage. It was known as the Hunter’s Edge. Whether it was the ability to set fires with just a brush of a hand, or to heal the wounds of a fallen comrade, it was not something she could bluff. She had seen some of the boys use theirs during the fight with the valrik, the fight that never happened she had to keep reminding herself, but nevertheless the boys who could use their arts… did.

Daniel had managed to heal the injured, Eric was throwing balls of fire at the enemy, and even Alex was able to confuse a
valrik by creating illusions of himself, which Kile had to admit were very convincing. The only thing she was able to do was trip-up a valrik and get herself killed, neither one would win her many points in the evaluation category let alone in an actual battle. So, why was she still here? If the yellow Mystic hadn’t found any magic in her then why did he pass her, why would they waste their time on her? Why would they let her continue with the test when so many had been removed? They should have just failed her and sent her packing, which would have been the best thing to do, at least from her point of view. If she had no way of becoming a Hunter, then they should put her out of her misery and send her home. Of course that wasn’t really putting her out of her misery, it would just be adding to it. Could it be because she was a girl? Would they show favoritism? She could hardly believe that based upon the way the Weapons master looked at her. He didn’t want her there, that was clear for anybody to see, and he wasn’t alone. Maybe it was just out of his hands, which would make her a charity case, and that didn’t make her feel any better. If she wanted to become a Hunter, she would have to understand the Mystic Arts better.