Hunter's Beginning (Veller) (32 page)

“You’re an early riser too
aye?” He asked

“Grew up on a farm.” She replied

“Yeah, me too, a little ways out of Nortonville”

“I know
where that is.” She exclaimed. It was the first place she had ever heard anyone mention that she did know where it was. “I’m from Riverport myself.”

“I have a cousin in Riverport.” Robert replied. “You don’t know Dale
Shoeman do you?”

“Dale, he has a nephew by the name of Charles Nehls, he’s a friend of my brother, Leon Veller.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s him. Charles is my second cousin… something, something, something or other. Actually I think I met your brother once, kind of a short kid with curly reddish brown hair.”

“My brother’s taller
than you are.”

“Well, it was about… six years ago.” Robert replied
with a lopsided grin. “So, what do you think about our little boot camp?”

“It’s a bit more
than I had anticipated, but I’m hanging in there.”

“You better. There’s a pool going as to how long you’ll last.”

Kile knew that there were some people taking bets, she didn’t know it had gotten as far as an organized pool.

“What are my odds?” She asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

“To be totally honest, not very good, I had you down for at least a year, but if you’re from Riverport, I’ll have to raise my expectation of you.”

“Anybody
say I’ll actually graduate?” She asked.

“Well…”

His long delay answered her question for him, and the arrival of a few more cadets saved him from actually having to tell her himself.

From that point on the field had filled up rather quickly and nobody knew, or cared, who had been the first one out, what they really cared about was having to stand
outside in the six inches of snow. The roll was called but the calisthenics were postponed as the senior cadet who ran the morning ritual waited for Sir Oblum.

The man emerged from his office wrapped in a thick black woolen cloak like a large grizzly bear. This time the dogs followed him as he cut a swatch through the snow and came to stand before the cadets. He waited there, holding them in his gaze for a few moments. Mainly he wanted to the make the
m squirm. He pulled out a scroll from the pouch on his belt, and began to read.

“Joshua T. Smithy, Tommy R. Kline, Henry R. Anderson.”

Each name was read off slow and deliberate as he paused between them to let the reality of the situation sink in. He then rolled the scroll up, and slipped it back into the pouch on his belt. It was all done very ceremoniously. As with everything Oblum did, he did with an air of importance and a certain kind of flare.

Kile only recognized one name on the list. That was Tommy R. Kline. She didn’t really know him personally. He was one of the boys that had been in her group when Tree took them on a tour of the compound, a day that now seemed so long ago.

“It would appear that three of your companions could not take the cold, and opted to take the walk of shame instead. They did not have what it takes to be a Hunter. A Hunter must be able to brave the elements. A Hunter must be able to withstand the cold winter winds. If you do not feel that you can do this, then there is no place for you here.”

Sir Oblum paused, his hands clasped behind his back, as if waiting for someone to take him up on his offer. He looked over the cadets, and when nobody moved he smiled, or it could have been a
sneer, it was difficult to tell. He turned to the senior cadet that stood waiting paternity beside him.

“You will have them stand at attention for the next
two hours… or until one of them yields.”

“Sir?” The senior cadet turned to Oblum, as confused as the rest of them. This did not appear to be a standard training practice.

“Is there a problem cadet?”

“No sir, of course not sir.”

Oblum turned to face them one more time, even when he wasn’t looking at her directly, she could still feel his gaze on her. He gave one final harrumph, then turned and walked back into the warmth of his office with nothing more to say, the dogs following close behind.

“You heard the commander. We are all going to stand out here for
the next two hours.” The senior cadet announced as he took his position in front of them. He didn’t mention the fact that they could avoid all this if just one of them was willing to take the walk of shame. Was it that he couldn’t bring himself to say it, or wouldn’t?

Her boots were not as
watertight as she was led to believe, and the thin cloak didn’t really keep out the cold winds as effectively as it should have, but Kile stood at attention and waited with the rest of the cadets. She had mixed feelings about the situation, she didn’t want to stand in the cold for the full two hours, but on the other hand she really didn’t want to see anyone quit, well, with the possible exception of Eric but that wasn’t likely to happen. She couldn’t help but notice, of course it could have been her imagination or just the lingering paranoia, that more and more eyes were slowly turning in her direction. It would make sense in a cruel sort of way. If she quits, it was like killing two birds with one stone.

As the time dragged on, there were silent murmurs of
dissension within the ranks. The few that she could hear were the typical complaints directed at Oblum, the ones that she didn’t want to hear were directed at her.

“Just quit already.” The boy standing beside her said in a harsh whisper through chattering teeth. Kile wasn’t sure if he had been there from the beginning or had somehow maneuvered his way through the ranks to give her this small piece of advice, either way she did her best to ignore
him.

“
You're being stupid… you’re never going to… to graduate… just quit… now… so we don’t… have to suffer.”

It was surprising how warm one gets when they really get ticked off as Kile turned to the boy beside her.

“If you’re suffering so much…” She said in a calm voice that showed no effect from the cold. “Maybe you’re the one that should quit. You obviously don’t have what it takes.”

Her remark drew a lot of attention and a bit of laughter from the ranks around her, but this time it wasn’t directed at her as it was at the chattering young man.

“You just got burned.”

“Feel warm now Johnny”

“Better watch your step Johnny… I hear the walk of shame is a bit icy.”

The
first hour slipped into the second and when the time was finally up, Kile couldn’t even feel her toes. Fortunately the calisthenics were never inflicted, but she suspected that the senior cadet in charge of the morning ritual was as eager to get into the warmth of the dining hall as everyone else was as he quickly dismissed them.

Today Kile had Master Rooqack, who was teaching the cadets the fundamental of arithmetic and its influence on nature and the universe as a whole, which really boiled down to learning basic math. The lessons in general were rather boring, but at least Master Rooqack didn’t spend his time giving her menacing glances or making comments that girl’s couldn’t grasp the subtitles of the sciences. If anything, it was the exact opposite. Master Rooqack had often gone out of his way to praise her work or to single her out as the only student that actually understood what he was trying to explain. This, of course, didn’t help her social standing with the rest of the cadets, but a compliment was better than a slap in the face anyway, regardless of how it was given.

Kile had just finished one of the more complex problems
that Master Rooqack had given, when she realized he was standing beside her, looking over her shoulder at the work she had done and, thankfully, nodded with approval.

“It would appear you have a firm grasp of th
is concept.” He said in his low soft voice. He was a wisp of a man, tall and lean with fine blonde hair and a scraggly beard. He didn’t so much as walk, but float as he came up behind her without a sound, his long arms hanging down by his side, his long fingers resting upon her desk. He was a scarecrow without a field.

“Thank you sir.” She replied, lacking anything else to say when he didn’t leave, he just sort of stood there, hovering over her, making her more uncomfortable by the minute. So much in fact that she couldn’t even concentrate on the next problem.

“I suppose Morgan can have you now.”

“I’m sorry sir?” Kile replied, looking up, really up, at the tall
Hunter that was looming over her.

“
The mystic Morgan has requested that you see him this afternoon. I informed him that it would depend upon your advancements in your studies. As it appears that you understand the work, I see no reason to keep you from him.” Master Rooqack said as he finally stepped away from her desk, indicating that she was to go… now.

“He wanted to see me?” Kile asked as she got to her feet and grabbed her hat. “Why?”

“I wouldn’t know.” Master Rooqack replied.

She handed him the scroll that she was working on and picked up her pack, then headed for the door. There was no reason for the old mystic to need to see her so soon, unless he had figured something out about her miscellaneous
edge. The thought spurred her on a little faster and she found herself running down the stairs to get to the back field where the mystic’s dwelling stood. She still couldn’t bring herself to call those short round buildings towers, but everyone else referred to them as such. Braving the elements once again she pulled her cloak about her and ran out into the snow.

Kile reached the tower door and knocked three times, when nobody answered, she went in anyway. She wasn’t planning on standing on the doorstep freezing her tail off when the mystic was probably waiting for her inside
. She had stood in the cold long enough today as she stepped into the foyer and knocked the snow from her boots.

The warmth of the room was almost stifling, as if she had walked from winter into
the hottest months of the summer. She quickly removed her cloak and hat and hung them on the only hook she could find.

“Sir.” She called out as she closed the door behind her.

She walked down the length of the hall and looked around the corner into the main room. Nothing had changed, but then she really didn’t expect it to look any different. From her brief stay at the Mystic’s tower, she was under the impression that mystics liked bare walls and no furniture beyond the necessities, but from seeing this place, it was clear that mystics thrive in clutter. The minimalist style of the tower must have been for the benefit of the cadets, although she couldn’t understand why.

“Yes, yes what do you want?”

“Sir, it’s me, Kile Veller, you asked to see me.”

“I did?” Morgan inquired as he came around the corner, his yellow robes flowing about him as
he stopped and stared at her. It was as if he was trying to figure out who she was and why she was bothering him, and for one brief moment Kile thought that someone was playing a trick on her at the expense of the mystic, but finally he nodded. “Oh yes, of course I did.” And with that he disappeared around the corner. When it was apparent that he wasn’t coming back, Kile followed.

She rounded the corner into the main room which was a site bit cleaner
than it had been the first time she had seen it. The entire outer wall had been surrounded by shelves that were packed with the artifacts and curiosity that had been scattered about before, although the stacks of books and loose papers didn’t appear to have been moved. The crow, she was glad to see, was no longer in a cage but was perched on the shelves staring down at her with its beady little black eyes.

The center of the room was now clear and resembled a quaint sitting room. The two large overstuffed wingback chairs were situated on a round bra
ided rug, and facing what should have been a fireplace, but instead there was a globe of fire floating two feet above the floor. If he was able to sell those, he would make a fortune she thought as she felt the heat that it was giving off.

“I didn’t know I was
scheduled to see you today sir.”

He had taken a seat in one of the
wing-backed chairs, and directed Kile to take the other. They were definitely designed for someone a lot bigger than she was as she sank into the cushion, her feet barely touching the floor and she started to wonder how she was ever going to get out of it.

“You’re not scheduled to see me today.” He replied, tapping his fingers tog
ether. “I was supposed to see a Cadet Kline today, but they tell me he’s not available.”

“No sir, Tommy dropped out of the academy last night, or that’s what Sir Oblum told us this morning.”

“Did he now? Well… Oblum has never been one to lie. It’s a shame actually; not a very bright student, but he had potential. Oh well, no use wondering what might have been.” Morgan replied with a slight shrug. “I figured we should seize this opportunity to better explore your edge. Have you learned anything new about your skills?” He inquired.

“No sir.”

“Nothing different or unusual has occurred.”