She pulled off the water tight cap and pulled out five sheets of travel sized maps that she laid out on the table. These were more detailed and more complete than the one the Guild provided that it had to be a joke.

The five maps were all done on the same quality of thick paper, in the same level of detail and probably took the cartographer an entire lifetime to complete. The first map was of the Kingdom of Aru and marked out the borders along the eastern Kingdom of Baala and the western wastelands. The remaining four maps were highly detailed section of Aru, divided into quarters. The map she wanted was of the northwestern section which was easy to identify. It showed everything from the city of Azintar and the Hunter’s academy to Grover’s Den on the western board, a very chilling reminder of just how close she was, but not only that, it also had Coopervill marked out as well as the surrounding cities of Noxton and Shrop. Down south a ways and slightly west was the town of Tobery.

She looked over the rest of the maps, and although she knew where the City of Littenbeck was, she also found Glovgon where Carter was assigned, the port town of Luth, where Murphy had gone and even Baxter’s Bay, and much to her surprised, she even found the town of Riverport. She was starting to wonder if it even existed, no one seemed to have heard about it. It was just another reminder of how far away she was from the place she grew up.

-Tobery?-

Vesper asked as he walked across the map, looking at a small island in the black water seas.

“Actually we are right here.” She said, pointing out Coopervill. “And we have to go here.” She said as she drew a line with her finger to the small circle that marked Tobery.

-Not far.-

“No, about three inches I’d estimate.” She replied. “It should take us about two days to get there, two days to get back, a simple assignment for our first one.”

Simple enough, but a little boring to be telling Mr. Wollory, of course she could always spice it up with a few bandits and maybe a renegade Ogre, but she was never very good at telling tales, that was Alex’s area, and it would kind of be like putting a hex on the whole trip.

“I’ll see if I can’t get our breakfast to go and we can be out of here before noon.” She told the yarrow who was still exploring the maps.

 

Getting breakfast to go was easier than she thought as Beth provided her with what she had referred to as the traveler’s breakfast. It was a simple combination of fruit, bread and cheese tied up in a white cloth for the road. It was enough to get her all the way to Tobery and back again, that was assuming that she was reading the map correctly. She collected what supplies she thought she would need, and what she could identify, then stored the rest in the trunk at the foot of the bed, making sure it was locked before leaving her room, which she also locked behind her. Now the only thing she needed to do was get Grim and she could be on her way. It was her first assignment as a hunter and she was eager to get started.

She walked the distance to the Apple Blossom Livery, crossing through the yard and was heading up toward the small farm house when Alisa spotted her from the stable doors.

“Oh no, no, no.”

Kile heard the young woman called out as she approached. She was dressed in a pair of heavy cotton breeches with knee high boots and a powder blue chainse with white lace. It was a far cry from the flowing dress that Alisa had been wearing the first time Kile had met her, but then she couldn’t really work the stables in a dress, not that what she was wearing was all that practical either.

“You don’t really go out looking like that, do you?” Alisa asked as she started to circle her.

“What… what’s wrong with the way I look?”

“Oh Kile please, you look as if you just fell out of a hamper, and not even your hamper. It’s all wrong, all wrong.” Alisa commented, still circling. She felt like a yarrow being stalked by a cat.

“But it’s comfortable.” She said, trying to defend her outfit.

“You look like a vagabond.”

Do you ever wonder why hunters look like vagabonds?

It was the question that Guild Master Latherby had asked her that evening in the burnt out ruins of the Great Hall.

“You keep dressing like that and you will never land yourself a man.” Alisa said as she finally stopped circling and stood in front of her with her hands on her hips, shaking her head.

“Oh, well, in that case.” She replied, “I’ll keep wearing it.”

“You’ll end up like an old spinster.”

“Yeah, well that suits me just fine, and besides, I haven’t been paid yet, so it’s not like I have a full wardrobe to choose from.”

“I can lend you one of my outfits.” Alisa offered.

Somehow the idea of riding through the wild wearing lace and frills was not something she had in mind. Of course there were some advantages; the enemy would fall over laughing.

“I’ll stick to what I have on thank-you.”

“When you get back, I’m taking you shopping.” Alisa threatened and then motioned to Carl who was working in the field. “Carl, get Grim ready, Kile’s heading out this morning.”

“Yes Miss Reaba.” Carl replied. There was reluctance in his voice as he looked toward the stables. He took a deep breath before heading in. Kile only hoped it wasn’t because of Grim, but she already knew it was.

“Come on inside while Carl gets your horse, it may take a while.” Alisa said with a hint of a malicious smile as she led Kile up to the house. She knew exactly what poor Carl was in for.

“So, going after your first bounty already.”

“Hardly a bounty.” Kile replied. “Just a delivery.”

“A delivery, that’s not very exciting.”

“Well, I am only a Probation level five. I have a long way to go before I’ll be assigned any bounties.” She said as she followed Alisa into the kitchen.

The young woman directed her to the same chair she had yesterday, and then put a pot of tea on the fire. She was taking out the cups when Kile remembered the form that Kane had given her.

She quickly pulled it out of the courier bag and handed it to Alisa. “I’m supposed to give this to you.” She told her.

“What’s this?”

“Paperwork from the Guild.” 

“Oh yes, this will make things much easier on the books. Wait right there.” Alisa said as she took the paper and left the room.

Kile sat waiting for Alisa to return, as she kept glancing out the window in the hopes of seeing Grim ready to go, but she knew it would take the stable hands a few minutes to get everything in order, and that was only if Grim cooperated. She pulled out her brother’s letter and opened it. She read it through once and was in the processes of reading it again when Alisa returned.

“Kile, what’s wrong? You look miserable, I hope it wasn’t something I said earlier. I can get a little carried away sometimes.”

“What? Oh no it’s wasn’t you. It’s just this.” She replied, holding up the letter. “It’s from my brother, I got this morning.”

“Is everything alright? Is there a problem?” Alisa asked as she took the seat opposite Kile. What surprised her was that this young woman, whom she had only known for a day, seemed genuinely concerned.

“It's nothing.” She replied.

“It doesn’t’ look like it’s nothing, but if you don’t want to talk about it, I understand.”

Great, now she was making her feel guilty for leaving her out of her personal life.

“It’s just everything back in Riverport.”

“Is it serious?”

“I don’t know.” Kile said shaking her head as she reread sections of the letter.

“You don’t know if it’s serious?”

“It’s my brother. The entire farm could be burning down around his ears and he would just comment on how warm the weather is.”

“How warm is it?”

“Very.” She replied. “This is the first letter I’ve received from my brother since my father’s passing. By the sounds of it, the farm isn’t doing very well, well… that’s not exactly true. I don’t think it was doing very well even when he was alive, not that he would ever tell me about it.”

“He probably didn’t want to worry you.”

“Yeah, something like that.” She replied. “My father had these… ideas about how to expand the farm but… they never really worked out. In a way I guess I’m responsible for that, he died about two years ago, and my mother’s hasn’t been herself since then. She wasn’t in the best of health most days but, by the sounds of it, it’s getting worse. My brother works the farm alone now.” She said as she handed the letter to Alisa. The young woman was hesitant to accept it but eventually did. She read over it slowly as Kile continued.

“The farm doesn’t seem to be doing as well as they had hoped. It appears that the crops weren’t as abundant as he had expected and the market prices have dropped, and now my mother is talking about taking on odd jobs to keep herself busy, so it’s worse than he’s telling me. It looks as if they’re in for a bad winter, which mean the money lenders will be coming to visit and I’m half way across the country and can’t do anything to help them.”

“What could you do if you were there?” Alisa asked.

“I don’t know.” Kile replied as she leaned back in her chair. “I just feel it’s my fault that the farm is failing. If I had done as my father wanted me to do in the first place, then maybe they wouldn’t be as bad off as they are now.”

Alisa handed the letter back to Kile, who absently stuffed it back into the courier bag, much to the protest of Vesper. If Alisa had heard the yarrow cursing, she said nothing about it; she just got up and started to pour the tea.

“My father was a good man.” The young woman said. “He was a hard working man, put his sweat and blood into the stables to keep it afloat, but he… just wasn’t a businessman. He had idea, ideas that ended up costing us more money than what they brought in and one that nearly lost us everything we owned, but we held on. When he died I took over, and it wasn’t until then that I realized that, for all the good things he did, he wasn’t always right. I took the stables in a completely different direction and look at it now.”

“I’m not sure I’m following you.”

“Two things.” Alisa said, handing Kile a cup of tea. “The First thing is that, problems do have a way of working themselves out, you have to have faith. I don’t think your brother or your mother wants you to go home, if that’s what you’re thinking and I don’t think it’s as bad as you’re making it out to be, at least it doesn’t sound as bad in his words. He doesn’t sound worried, maybe he is, maybe he isn’t. I don’t know your brother so I can’t really say. I can say that the fact that he doesn’t tell you everything means he doesn’t want you to worry, and I’m sure he doesn’t want you to feel responsible for the problems back home.”

“And the second thing?”

“Father’s aren’t always right. How do you know for certain that if you did everything your father wanted you to do, that the farm would be better off than it is now?”

“Well… I don’t, not really.”

“That’s just it.” Alisa replied. “My grandfather told my father before he passed that he had no regrets, my father never understood what he meant. My father always told me if you never have regrets, then you’ve never had to make a decision in your life, which means you never really lived.”

“My father told me a few things too, but nothing that applies here.”

“We all have choices that we have to make, and we all wonder about the path in life that we didn’t take. I’m assuming that the choice you made was to become a Hunter, am I correct.”

“You can say that.”

“And your father wasn’t very supportive.”

“You can definitely say that.”

“What would happen if you had chosen not to become a hunter, where would your life be right now?”

“I don’t know, but I can hazard a guess.”

“A lot of that has to do with your frame of mind. If you're happy about the life you're living, then the choices you made are always the right ones, and the paths you didn’t choose were the dark and scary ones, but when you're going through some hard times, when you have your doubts, then those same paths, the ones that you didn’t choose, they always appear to be sunnier. It’s like my father said, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”

“Your father had a lot of things to say didn’t he?” Kile replied.

Alisa smiled. “Oh, you don’t know the half of it.” She said. “But it looks as if Carl has finally gotten Grim ready, so I won’t bore you with my father’s words of wisdoms, at least not right now.”

She led Kile to the kitchen door and down into the yard.

“You are coming back here aren’t you?” Alisa asked.

It wasn’t so much a question as it was a demand.

“Yes ma’am, otherwise I don’t get paid.” Kile replied.

She stopped and reached into her pocket, pulling out a set of two keys tied with a leather strap.

“I was wondering if you could hold onto these for me until I return.” She said, handing them to Alisa. “I don’t really know anyone in town, and if I lose them out in the wild, I can’t get back into my room, and I’m a little reluctant to let the proprietor of the Bird and Bay hold onto them.”

“What, you mean old Gus?”

“He doesn’t seem to like me very well.”

“It’s not you personally, it’s your Guild. It’s the Hunter.”

“The Hunters? Why should he dislike the Hunters?”

“Don’t you know? It’s because his son was one.”

“Prain, I don’t remember any Prain.” Kile replied, but she did. It took her a while to remember but she did know of a hunter by the name of Peter Prain, it was the name just above Tree’s on the list they posted on the board. Fourteen names were on that list, Tree’s was number three. Peter Prain was number two. If Rick was right, then it shouldn’t be the Hunter Guild that Gus was mad at, but Lord Rimes, who withdrew support from the western outposts and let fourteen hunters die, and who knows how many men, women and children.

“We don’t know what happen.” Alisa was saying. “Gus received news of his son’s death about two years ago, but the details were rather vague.”

“I can imagine.’ Kile replied.

The guild was a nonpolitical organization, which simply meant they didn’t get involved with province disputes, even if they paid the cost, they would never openly accuse Lord Rimes, not the king's cousin, not if the sons of Terrabin had anything to say about it.

Carl led Grim across the yard toward them, and it looked as if the Mountain Pony was behaving himself. He looked to be in pretty good spirits, which wasn’t always a good sign.

“Ready to go Grim?” She asked, patting the Mountain Pony’s side.

-Not really, but if I must.-

“A short, uneventful trip to Tobery and back.”

-We shall see.-

“Thanks for everything Alisa. I’ll see you when I get back.” Kile said as she pulled herself up onto Grim’s back.

“His stall will be waiting for him.” Alisa replied with a wave goodbye as Kile rode out of town on her first assignment.

 

 

 

***~~~***

 

 

 

25

 

The morning sun was forcing its way into Kile’s eyes as she tried to block it out, she wanted nothing more than to close the curtains and get a few more minutes of sleep, the only problem was that there were no curtains to close, actually there were no windows either. A foul smell was the last straw that forced her to open her eyes and found herself staring up the nostrils of a very large, very agitated, mountain pony.

“Wow Grim you have bad breath, what do they feed you at those stables?” She grumbled as she rolled over, pulling her blanket over her head.

Grim was not in the mood. He grabbed the blanket with his teeth and in one fluid motion, spun the girl out of bed and half way down the hill. Vesper managed to jump clear and protested verbally as Kile sat, staring up at the horse, pulling grass out of her hair.

“What was that for?”

-Get up.-

Grim demanded.

“What is the matter with you Grim? In case you haven’t noticed we’re not in a big rush to get to Tobery, we can take our time.” She told the horse as she got to her feet and snatched the blanket from the ground.

They had traveled all day yesterday, stopping only once to eat the meal that Beth had put together for her. By the time they reached the river Kile was too tired to go on, even if Grim wasn’t. If she wasn’t afraid of falling off the back of the horse, she would have let him continue, although, with her luck, she would have probably woken up in the middle of town sitting on a mountain pony with half the population gathered around her.

-Something’s wrong-

Grim said.

It was the first time since she had the misfortune of knowing him that he appeared nervous. It wasn’t in the words that he used, but the feeling that he placed with them. Grim was scared.

“What’s wrong?” She asked as she quickly looked around, she couldn’t see anything that would have frightened the pony, but then Grim was not easily frightened.

The only time she had ever known Grim to be scared was before she ever met him. It was on the afternoon she lost her identity to him through the Maligar, and she relived the day he was captured, the day his herd was driven off the edge of the cliff by the mountain folk, but then he had a reason to be scared, or a reason that he could see.

She fell into her edge and let it consume her as she stretched her consciousness through the wild. Something was wrong, she hadn’t noticed it before, because there wasn’t anything there to notice, and that was the problem, there wasn’t anything there. No birds, no animals, no voices in the woods, the whole world had gone quiet.

“Vesper… vesper wake up.”

The yarrow curled up and had gone back to sleep, after being so rudely awakened, it was the only other thing he enjoyed doing besides eating.

-What?-

He asked in a groggy tone.

“Get up, we’re going.” She told him.

She pulled the Lann from her backpack and strapped them on, she still wasn’t comfortable wearing them in public, but she felt safer knowing she could get at them easily. Erin’s jacket was too baggy and would only get in her way. She rolled it up with the blanket and stuffed them both into her pack before tying it onto Grim. She stuffed the satchel with the mail into her leather courier bag along with Vesper and quickly mounted up.

“Which way?” She asked the horse.

-You’re driving, you tell me.-

Grim replied, clearly as eager to get moving as she was.

Kile pulled the leather tube out of the pack and retrieved the map of the northwest quarter.  They had left the main road to follow the river, it was her choice and now she was starting to wonder if it was such a smart choice. It had nothing to do with time and everything to do with the scenery.

“We should probably get back to the road.” She said as she studied the map. “We’ll follow the road three or four miles until we can cross the river.”

Grim didn’t wait for the command, he was already moving when she returned the map to the tube.

What would quite an entire forest she wondered. It had to be something large, something territorial, A bear maybe, but then a bear wouldn’t scare the birds right out of the trees, and a bear she would have felt in the forest, she was feeling nothing.

The only thing she could think of were the open scripts posted on the bulletin board back at the Guild house. They had reported something lurking in the woods outside of Shrop, of course Shrop was easily a three days ride west of her position. There was the dowger that was raiding farms, but a dowger wouldn’t scare off all the wildlife in the forest. The Ogre might, but he wasn’t terrorizing anyone lately, not with his head being paraded around the streets of Coopervill.

As soon as they hit the road, Grim began to pick up speed, his patter size hoofs thundering in Kile’s ears. Mountain Ponies don’t run when they don’t have to or don’t want to, either way the conclusion was the same, they were running. The problem was they didn’t know what they were running from, or worse, running towards.

She was suddenly hit with a cry for help, a feeling that stuck her so deeply that she knew someone was in trouble. She didn’t hear it, so it wasn’t a Vir, which only made it harder to figure out which way it was coming from.

“Grim hold up.” She called out to the pony.

-Like hell.-

The pony responded.

“I’m serous Grim, hold up, someone’s in trouble.”

Contrary to Grim’s selfish nature, he did slow down long enough for Kile to figure out in which direction the cry came from.

“The open field, over beside the tree line, head over there.” She told the horse.

Grim responded, although he made it clear he was not happy as they crossed out into the open, leaving the road behind. That’s when Kile saw her, a horse standing alone on the edge of the forest. Grim started to slow down before she even told him to. He was thinking the same thing she was, that this could be a trap. What was it that Rick had said, that he felt that someone might be hunting hunters. It was a little egotistical to think that anyone would go through this much trouble to come after her, but then she did manage to make a few enemies at the academy.

The horse was a dappled gray mare and looked as nervous as Kile felt, and seemed to be caught on that fine line of wanting to run, but being forced to stay.

“You think it’s a trap?” She asked Grim.

-I can’t see anyone, and why use a horse as bait?-

He made a good point, why would someone use a horse as bait, unless they knew who, or what they were trying to catch.

-Blood.-

Vesper said as he popped his head out of the bag and sniffed the air.

“Where?” Kile asked.

-Water, Blood in the water.-

The images that Vesper’s words carried were just that, blood in the water, and didn’t give her any more information than she already had.

“Come on Grim, I think someone may be injured.” She said, spurring the horse forward.

The dapple gray mare was wild eyed and scared beyond reasoning, but she looked to be uninjured. Burdened with a saddle and saddle bags, she obliviously belonged to someone.

-Hurt, Master’s Hurt.-

She cried out over and over again, and the images the mare’s words carried were as confused and as disoriented as she was.

Kile slid off Grim’s back. She tied the courier bag with the mail still in it to the rest of her supplies on the back of the mountain pony. If she had to move, she didn’t want that getting in the way. Vesper wasn’t going to be left behind as the yarrow climbed onto her shoulders. The yarrow may not be very good in a fight, but he had a calming effect on Kile, and she welcomed his closeness. She motioned for Grim to stay put as she carefully crossed the few yards to the dapple gray mare.

-Hurt, Master’s Hurt.-

“Please calm down, let me help you.” She said.

She held her hands out, away from her body as her brother had shown her when approaching spooked horses. She didn’t know if it really worked, and one of these days she would have to ask a spooked horse if it made them feel safer.

As she got closer she could see that the reins of the mare had looped around the branches of a fallen tree. The horse was pulling at it, trying to get free, but the more she pulled, the more the branches of the dead tree scratched at her legs.

“You have to calm down.” She said as she reached for the reins, but the horse was nowhere near calming down, and even went as far as to snap on Kile.

-Hurt, Master’s Hurt.-

She knew she could easily command the horse to stop, although she still didn’t have as much control of that aspect of her edge as she would have liked, and the mare might not appreciate the intrusion into her psyche.

“Please, I want to help you.” Kile said as she held her hands out to the mare. There must be something in the gesture, since the horse began to calm down long enough for her to pull the reins free. She didn’t let go of them for fear that the mare would run, and she didn’t want to chase the horse all around the forest when someone may be in need of help.

-Hurt, my master is hurt.-

“Calm down, who is your master? Where is he?”

-Hurt… Master… Hurt.-

Kile gripped the reins tighter and moved closer to the mare, reaching out she gently stroked the horse’s nose.

“It’s alright, you’re safe.” She said in a calm voice. “What’s your name?”

-Rose-

Rose. That was an odd name for a dapple gray. She was expecting something along the lines of rain or cloud or even rain cloud.

“Okay Rose, where is your master?”

-Master Hurt, Master fall, Rose left Master.-

There was a tinge of guilt in the mare’s words at leaving her master behind. Whoever her master was, they must have a really deep bond to instill such emotion. Kile sometimes thought that Grim would leave her at the drop of the hat, or an apple pie.

“Take me to your master Rose.” Kile said as she gripped the reins and pulled herself up into the saddle. “Take me to your master.”

Rose quickly spun and headed back into the forest at a full gallop. Kile had a firm grip on her reins. It was a lot easier than riding Grim bareback. She could hear the Mountain Pony closing in behind her and felt Vesper securing his grip on her shoulder. The mare had come far, but at least she knew her way back.  They came up, over the ridge and then down the hill as trees flew past Kile. She let Rose go where she had to and as fast as she needed to, until the mare came to a shallow stream, it was here that she slowed down. Kile had a feeling they had found their water.

As they walked the edge of the stream, she saw something white beside the water’s edge. It was obscured by the tall grass and it wasn’t moving, and it looked very much like a rabbit, and that was what she thought it was, but as she got closer she realized her mistake. It wasn’t the fur of a rabbit, but the hair of a man, and not any man, but the white haired hunter Marcus Taylor. He was laying face down on the side of the stream, and he wasn’t moving.

-Master hurt.-

Who would have thought that the self proclaimed greatest hunter in all of Aru would have had a horse by the name of Rose?

Kile dismounted and quickly ran to his side, she was a bit surprised, but grateful to find he was still alive. His face was covered in blood from a nasty wound on his head, he was probably trying to reach the stream, but what he had planned after that, she couldn’t tell.

“Grim, over here.” She called to the mountain pony.

Grim cautiously approached, his nervous eyes scanning the forest. The trees made it hard to see any further than a couple of yards, so there was no telling what was out there, what had done this to the man who had defeated the Troll of Blackmore. It was clear that whatever Marcus’s edge was, it didn’t serve him very well against… well, whatever it was that saw fit to rearrange his face. She had remembered seeing those strange steely blue eyes of his when he was boasting on the raised stone dais outside the Bird and Bay, waving the Ogre head around, and had wondered if that had something to do with his edge. Was it in some way connected? She hadn’t seen any other hunter changed by their edge, but she had seen a few change with their edge.

She retrieved the healer’s bag from her supplies and dumped out the contents on the grass beside his body. There were a lot of herbs and ointments in the bag, but she didn’t know what any of them were used for, and the last thing she wanted was to use the wrong ones. When in doubt, stick to the basics she thought as she soaked a rag in the river and wiped the blood from his face.

It was pretty bad, but then he was out cold so it couldn’t be good. She had to get him out of here she had to get him to someone that could do more for him than she could. It was a shame Daniel wasn’t here, this was right up his ally. Maybe she should have paid more attention in those first aid classes.

“I don’t think anything’s broken.” She said as she felt down each of his legs, although she wasn’t really sure what she was feeling for. She kind of figured that if it was bad, it would be noticeable. She picked up one of the rolls of bandages and began to unfurl it.

-We should go.-

Grim said.

“I can’t just leave him here. If I can get him up on your back then you could carry him.”

-Cow.-

Vesper said, gripping Kile’s shoulder even tighter, causing her to wince. They would have to come up with a better way for him to get her attention.

“Cow, what do you mean Cow?” She asked, the only cows she had seen was the herd back in Coopervill, and she didn’t think they could help her all the way out here.

-Cow.-

Vesper repeated, only this time louder and with more urgency.

The images that Vesper was giving her weren’t helping very much, all she could see were cows in a field.

A loud, drawn out cry carried through the forest and Kile had a feeling that things just got a whole lot worse. She had heard cows before, and that was not a cow. She watched as the tops of the trees slowly bent, as something pushed them aside, and whatever it was, it was getting closer.

-We should go… now.-

Grim repeated.

“I can’t leave him here.” She argued. She drew the Lann from their sheath and stood over Marcus. He might be an egotistical braggart, but he was still a hunter, and hunters look out for one another.

The cry got louder. The trees began to bend more and the ground began to tremble. What she feared emerged from the forest.

“That’s not a cow Vesper, that a bull.”

It stood over ten feet tall, a massive brute of muscle and fury. Half man, half beast, an open script that no hunter in their right mind would attempt, the Minotaur of Calder Falls.

It turned its head to where Kile was crouched over the fallen body of Marcus, but it didn’t seem to notice her at first. It slowly lifted its nose to the sky and sniffed at the air.  This situation was not covered in the code book she said to herself as she tightened her grip on the Lann. The beast suddenly let out a horrible howling cry, and Kile felt the blood run cold in her veins. It was a cry filled with pain, anger and insanity. There were no words, nothing she could see, only feel.

-Kile talk to cow?-

Vesper asked.

“I don’t think he’s in the talking mood.” She replied as she slowly got to her feet. Taking the Minotaur on here was not a very wise choice, actually, fighting the Minotaur anywhere, was not a very wise choice. Even if she was able to keep out of his reach, they could easily trample over Marcus, or worse. It was possible that the Minotaur was here because of Marcus, and she knew she would have a hard time trying to stop him if he wanted to finish what he started.

It stepped out, into the stream, no more the fifty yards from her, but she had a feeling that it could easily close that distance before she could do anything to help the fallen hunter, which meant the only option she had was to run, but not away from the Minotaur. She would have to run toward the Minotaur, she would have to lead it away.

She cut the straps that held her supplies in the back of the pony before slowly sliding the Lann back into their sheaths.

“Grim, get ready.”

She said as she backed toward the horse.

-It’s about time.-

Grim replied. His eyes never leaving the bull headed beast.

“We’re going to ride right past it.”

-We’re going to what?-

“I have to lead it away from Marcus. When I say now, run at it.”

-I hope you know what your doing child.-

The Minotaur turned it noise to the air again, and sniffed at the wind. Its eyesight must not be all that good she thought, otherwise it would have attacked by now, maybe she could use that to her advantage, but before she could figure out how, it let out another wordless cry that was filled with insanity as it lowered its head and began to charge.

“Now Grim.” She shouted as she grabbed a handful of his mane and pulled herself onto his back, kicking off her supplies to lighten Grim’s load. “Rose, stay back.” She shouted to the dapple gray that was standing over her fallen master.

Grim launched himself toward the Minotaur and she drew one of the Lann. The mountain pony took a hard left, barely missing the beast’s outstretched arm. She seized the opportunity and the momentum as she lashed out at the Minotaur, cutting into his side, but it did little to slow it down and really only angered it more. The Minotaur turned and gave chase.

“It worked.” She shouted.

-Yes, I can see that, now what?-

Grim asked as he tried to put as much distance as he could between him and the Minotaur while avoiding the tree, but mountain ponies were not built for speed and the beast was closing in fast. It cried out as it lunged forward, taking out several trees but just missed Grim as the Mountain Pony took another hard left.

“Wow, I didn’t realize they were that fast.” She said in amazement.

-Great, now you tell me.-

Grim shouted and then cursed as he was forced to take a hard right, his back feet sliding in the loose dirt.

The Minotaur’s cries echoed in her head, he was an abomination. Half of him existed in the mortal world, half of him existed in the natural world and Kile could hear both halves screaming at her, and neither one of them were very rational. There were no words to his voice, no images, only a primal feeling of hatred and an uncontrolled rage

The Beast didn’t stay down for long and was soon closing the gap between them. One large hand reached for the pony, forcing Grim to make yet another suddenly change, this time he barely managed to avoid being struck as he nearly lost his footing on the loose forest floor, going down on his hind quarters. Kile held on with one hand and managed to score another hit on the outstretched arm of the Minotaur with the Lann as Grim regained his speed.

-Will you stop doing that. You’re just pissing him off.-

Grim shouted.

“Well, what do you want me to do?”

-Just hold on.-

Grim changed directions again, this time he was heading for higher ground. He may not be fast on flat land, but no horse could match his speed going up the side of a hill, unfortunately the Minotaur was not a horse. Grim took the incline straight on, his hoofs digging in the hard ground, his powerful back legs propelling him forward. Kile held on tightly as Grim scaled the side of the hill, but it was no use, the Minotaur was still closing ground.

Grabbing at Grim’s back legs it pulled them out from under the mountain pony. Grim went down, rider, yarrow, Minotaur and all.

Kile wasn’t sure what actually happened, she suddenly found herself in mid air. She knew she had a horse under her a minute ago, but now she was just falling. She hit the side of the hill a few times before she was stopped by a tree, then staggered to her feet as Vesper quickly jumped up onto her back and climbed up onto her shoulder. That was going to hurt in the morning she thought as she wiped the blood from her nose.

-Kile alright?-

“Yeah, I think so.” She said as she grabbed the Lann that rested no more than two feet away from her. She was just lucky she didn’t slice herself up on it when she came rolling down the hill.

“Grim.” She shouted, but she couldn’t hear the ornery mountain pony, she couldn’t even feel him.

The insane cry of the Minotaur told her where to go as she half ran, half slid down the rest of the hill.

Grim had fallen further than she had, he wasn’t fortunate enough to be stopped by a tree, in fact it looked as if he and the Minotaur took out a few on their way down, clearing a wide swatch in the hillside, leading all the way down to the forest floor.

“Grim.” She called out again, and only stopped when she saw the large black hairy mass lying across the fallen trees, he was not moving. She started toward her fallen friend, but the Minotaur was moving too. He was a little shaken, but he was far from out of this and he was going for the mountain pony.

“Get away from my horse.” Kile shouted with as much force as she could and ran at the Minotaur, tightening her grip on both Lann. Surprisingly the Minotaur suddenly stopped, and she was hit was a strong feeling of confusion, blood lust and that uncontrollable rage. She slid between the Minotaur legs, mostly because she fell down the hill, and not by design, but she did manage to lash out with both Lann as she passed and only stopping when she hit another tree. If she had somehow managed to use the Maligar on the Minotaur for that brief moment of time, it ended when her face met the bark.

-Kile get up.-

Vesper yelled frantically, digging his claws into her shoulder. The images the yarrow fed her with his words were those of the Minotaur regaining his senses and heading in her direction now armed with a large stick.

Kile scrambled to her feet, a little dazed from kissing the tree as she grabbed the Lann and turned to face the Minotaur, but the stick that she had seen in Vesper’s vision was in fact a tree. He swung it, branches and all, and Kile barely managed to get out of the way as it whipped over her head.

It was one thing to fight an opponent with a sword, that was only four feet at best, this thing was using a tree trunk and he had a reach over twelve feet, there was no way she was able to get through that.

She had to make him drop it, and to do that she had to give his hands something else to do. She dodged another swing of the tree and led the beast back up towards the hillside. She was forced to sheath her own weapons and use her hands for climbing, kicking down any loose stone or rock to slow down the Minotaur that was quickly gaining ground. She was no where near as fast as Grim had been, and the Minotaur had caught up with the mountain pony, she wasn’t sure what luck she would have in keeping ahead of him.

The good news was that the first part of her plan had worked, she managed to get the Minotaur to release the tree, the bad news was that he threw it at her.

It struck the rocky hillside just above her, creating a small landslide that was carrying her toward him. She grabbed hold of one of the shrubs as the rocks and dirt bounced over her. Fortunately the Minotaur wasn’t having a much luck maintaining his own balance and was losing ground rapidly as the dirt slid away from under his hoofs.

She seized her opportunity as she scrambled up to the flat top of the hill, but the Minotaur hadn’t given up yet, and was closer than she would have liked.

“Persistent, isn’t he?” She said as she stood atop the hill, watching him climb up. She grabbed the largest rock she could find, or the largest she could lift, and tossed it down at him. It bounced off his thick skull, but did nothing to slow him down.

-What now?-

Vesper asked as he tightened his grip on her shoulder.

She backed away from the edge. Hiding was always an option, if there had been a place to hide. The hill top ended rather abruptly in a forty foot drop to the river below.

-Jump.-

Vesper suggested.

She looked down at the water.

It was not an idea to be dismissed lightly, although she knew the river wasn’t very deep, in fact it couldn’t be more than five or six feet at the most. To jump into that would mean certain death. She drew her Lann and stood with her back to the edge of the cliff.

“You better get out of here Vesper.” She told the yarrow

-Vesper stay.-

The courage of the small yarrow was a comfort, and Kile adjusted her grip on the Lann, her only chance was to hit it as it reached the top, before it could defend itself. It wasn’t exactly sporting, but she really didn’t have any other choice if she wanted to live.

As soon as the head of the Minotaur rose over the lip of the Hill, she attacked.

She managed to get in a few good slices a crossed it's nose and around the head, but wasn’t able to land that kill shot before the Minotaur swatted her back. She hit the ground and quickly rolled to her feet and threw herself forward again, but for all the strikes she was landing, for all the small cuts that she was inflicting, it just wasn’t doing any good, and if anything, the Minotaur only became more enraged.

As it reached the top of the hill, it let out a cry that Kile would have sworn shook the very sky itself. What could drive something to such madness, such hatred, to such insanity? She moved back to a defensive position, it was now only twenty feet away from her when it leveled its head. She stared into its eyes, and all she was madness. She tasted her own blood on her lips as she adjusted her grip on the Lann again. She took a deep breath and waited, but she didn’t have long to wait as the Minotaur charged forward closing the distance between them fast, when something large, black and hairy flew from the trees line and struck the Minotaur hard in the side. The Impact was so great that it lifted the beast off the ground and threw him ten feet through the air, unfortunately for him the ground ended seven from where he was standing, and the Minotaur fell to the river below.

-Stupid Cow-

Grim said as he looked down upon the body of the Minotaur laying in the flowing water forty feet below them.

“About time you got here.”

-I was busy.-

“Well, I had everything under control.” She said with a sigh of relief as she slipped the Lann back into their sheaths.

-Oh yeah, it looked like it.-

“I did, I was just about to do something… sort of like that.”

-Keep telling yourself that Vir.-

Grim snorted.

“You think he’s dead?”

-If not he’s got a hell of a headache.-

“We should probably check to make sure.” Kile said as she moved away from the edge of the cliff. “I’m glad to see you’re okay.”

-Of course I am, you think a cow could take out a horse?-

“I wasn’t worried for a moment.”

-So, how does it feel to be the Hunter that defeated the Minotaur-?

“I didn’t defeat the Minotaur, you did.”

-Somehow I don’t think your vir organization will recognize that.-

Grim said as he started back down the hill without her, Vesper made the leap from Kile’s shoulder to Grim’s back and took his place up between the ears of the mountain pony. He knew the safest way down the hill she said to herself as she followed.

“Well, I can’t claim to have defeated him. Can you image what the Guild would do? I’ll be labeled as irresponsible, rash, reckless…”

-Foolish, careless, immature, out of control…-

“Yes, you can stop now.”

-… hasty, head strong, juvenile, rash…-

“I said you could stop now, and besides I already said rash.”

-Just making a point.-

For a mountain pony he had a lot of points to make.

“They’ve been looking for a way to get rid of me, this would be it.”

They reached the bottom of the hill and Grim waited long enough for Kile to get on before heading to the river. They walked the stream until they found the body of the Minotaur lying motionless in the water. She drew one of the Lann and slowly approached, stopping within ten feet before picking up a small rock and tossing it at him. The rock bounced off the Minotaur’s chest and splashed into the water, but the beast didn’t move.

-Oh please.-

Grim said as he pushed past Kile and walked up to the fallen beast. With one rather large platter sized hoof, he kicked it in the head.

“Grim.” Kile shouted.

-What? It’s not like he could feel it.-

“I’m not so sure about that.” She said as she held her hand over its nose. “He’s still alive.”

-Then finish it.-

“What?”

-Finish him off. It should be easier for you now.-

“I can’t do that, he’s out cold.”

-That’s what makes it easier.-

“It’s not… fair.”

-Fair? This is not a game vir. That thing tried to kill you.-

“I know.” She said as she looked down at the fallen Minotaur. Half an hour ago it was trying to kill her, half an hour ago she would have easily killed it, well, maybe not easily, but she wouldn’t have had any regrets if she had managed to kill it. Now, as it lay there helpless, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She slid the Lann back in its sheath.

“There’s a Callor outpost not far from here, I saw it on the map. If we ride all night we could reach it by morning. Maybe they’ll have a way to hold him.”

-Don’t fool yourself Vir. If this is the Minotaur of Caller falls, they won’t hold him, they’ll execute him.-

“Maybe they will.” She said as she started down the river.

-You're just getting them to do what you can’t.-

“I won’t go down that road Grim.”

 

She returned to Marcus first. The white haired hunter was still out cold and showed no signs that he had ever been anything else. She managed to get him away from the water’s edge, pulling him up onto the bank and tried to make him as comfortable as she could. She tended his wounds to the best of her ability, which wasn’t all that great and wrapped him in her blanket to keep him warm. Grabbing what supplies she needed she rode back to the Minotaur, this part of the plan was going to be a little more difficult. The idea was simple; the execution of it was a nightmare. She was hoping that the Minotaur would have recovered by now and limped off somewhere to tend its wound, unfortunately he was still where she left him.

Using some of the fallen trees from the forest, and there was quite a few of them now, Kile fashioned a drag behind stretcher with the help of a reluctant mountain pony. Grim said nothing as she tied the wood together with rope and double checked the knots to make sure they were strong enough. The stretcher was simple enough to construct, sort of like building a raft that was never meant to float. A few well placed ropes created a harness for Grim as he dragged it to the site of the fallen Minotaur.

She knew Grim’s position on the situation, if it was up to him, he would have killed the Minotaur without so much as a second thought, but she couldn’t do it. It was the same as when she had taken the entry examination for the Academy, when they had placed all the cadets in that room to fight the gulrik and the valrik that didn’t really exist, and neither did the room. It was all in her head, playing out for the benefit of some psychiatric test. She couldn’t kill the fallen valrik back then, she couldn’t kill the fallen Minotaur now, and she still had no idea if she even passed that part of the test.

The other option was to leave him where he fell. Without any help he would probably die and maybe that would have been for the best, but there was also the chance that he would have lived, and then what, go on terrorizing the countryside, more insane and enraged than ever. Neither one of those scenarios sat well with Kile. To leave him to die was the same as killing him herself, only not as quick and the death would be a slow lingering one, and should he live, every death that followed would be blood on her hands. If she couldn’t kill him outright, she had to take him to a place that had the facilities to keep him from harming anyone ever again.

They set the stretcher down at the Minotaur’s feet.

“How are we going to get him on this thing?” She asked.

-Tie a rope around his neck and I pull it.-

“You’re not being very nice, but you do have a point.” She replied as she tied the rope around the Minotaur’s feet and the other end around Grim. She was definitely going to have to pick up another coil of this rope from Mr. Wollory, having cut this length up into so many smaller pieces, it wasn’t going to do her much good anymore.

Grim pulled the Minotaur with ease as the beast’s body was dragged onto the sled. She tied the beast down the best she could with what rope she had left, but it was just to keep him from sliding off, if the worst should happen, if he did come to, there was no way the ropes would hold him, but it was a chance she had to take. Hooking it back up on to Grim’s make shift harness was a little difficult until the mountain pony reluctantly agreed to cooperate. He lay down between the rails as Kile fastened the ropes to the harness, and Grim slowly got to his feet, lifting one end of the sled with him. Had it been any other horse besides Grim, she was sure her plan would have failed. It was no wonder that the Guild had once considered having every Hunter assigned a mountain pony.

-Yo, Vir, stop daydreaming and get moving, this cow stinks-

And it was no wonder that the Guild had quickly dropped that idea.

 

Grim dragged the Minotaur down the stream back to the campsite, where an unconscious Marcus Taylor still lay quietly wrapped in Kile’s blanket. He was looking a little better, at least his coloring had returned. At this moment Kile wanted nothing more than to set up a proper camp, with a proper campfire and sleep until dawn, but she was worried about the Hunter and as soon as she could get him to the outpost, the sooner she could be rid of the both of them, then they could sort it all out and she would be well on her way to Tobery.

Getting the big man onto Rose’s back was a little awkward and a little undignified, especially for the Hunter. She had to convince Rose to lie down beside her master. That was once Grim had dragged the Minotaur a few yards away. The Horse was still skittish around the smell of the bovine, and Kile really could blame her. Once the gray mare was in place, it was a matter of leverage, of which Kile knew nothing about. She grabbed the arms of the Hunter and physically dragged him over the saddle, and then ran around the other side and pushed him into place. It would have been much easier if he was coherent enough to help, but then if he was that coherent, she wouldn’t be in this predicament. Once he was balanced on the back of his horse, she aided her to her feet, and then searched through Marcus’s supplies for something to tie him down with.

He had some strange stuff among his supplies, most of it she couldn’t identify and some of it she did want to know about. A couple of silk scarfs were enough to tie him down so he didn’t fall off during the trip. Once all the cargo was in place, both the living and the supplies, she was ready to get on her way.

The night was already closing in as she pulled out her map of the northwest quarter, there was just enough light to read by as she unrolled it and located her position the best she could. They left the road some time back, so getting to the road would be their first destination, from there they would have to travel east, toward the Callor province, a place that she was not eager to visit. The Outpost was called Moran, but there was little else about it. It was simply marked by a small square and a triangle that was probably supposed to represent a flag. It was well in the Callor province, and therefore should be a Callor province outpost. Most outpost housed soldiers and their families as well as military installations, hopefully that would include a hospital for Marcus and a cell or cage for her insane friend.

She looked toward the eastern sky that was now darker than it should be and she could actually smell the rain on the wind, but that was to be expected, the perfect ending to the perfect day. With both of her patients strapped down she knew she had to get moving if she wanted to get to Moran before daylight tomorrow. The last thing she needed was for either one of them to wake up.

Every muscle in her body ached; one would think she had been over exerting herself as she walked along side Grim.

-Get on.-

“You can’t expect to carry me and drag that thing all the way to the outpost, I’ll walk.” Kile said defiantly. It was bad enough that she was forcing the horse to drag a Minotaur across the countryside against his will, she already felt guilty about that, but to ride him at the same time would be adding insult to injury.

-You walk, and we won’t get there until next week.-

The Mountain pony commented.

There was some truth to that she realized.

“I’m fine.” She replied.

-You’re not fine. You’ve been leaning on me for the last twenty feet, and since we’ve only gone twenty feet, I can’t really see you making it all the way.-

“Is that concern or pity?”

-Does it really matter, just get on.-

She climbed up onto the back of the mountain pony, the only thing she could remember after that was the rain as it gently started to fall.

 

 

 

***~~~***

 

 

 

26

 

The cold night gave way to the gray morning as a heavy fog and a steady rain settled upon western Aru. The outpost of Moran stood upon the boarder between the Callor and the Denal provinces, a place that had seen little in the way of activates as of late, since Denal didn’t have the military might to pose much of a threat to Callor, and even with the threats of war coming over the western border of Aru, the outpost was still only half awake as a stranger approached in the dim light of dawn.

“Halt, whose there? Name yourself and state your intentions.” The young guard shouted as he lowered his pike toward the road. He was wet, he was tired and he was miserable, but such was life as a regular soldier in the Callor military.

“What are you going on about Logan?” A second guard asked as he stepped out of the watch tower. He kept under the arch of the gate to avoid the rain. It was bad enough that he had pulled the night watch, but to be burdened with a rookie that had an overactive imagination was just too much, and now the weather had turned against him.

“I heard something Raf.” Logan replied as he strained to look further into the mist.

Raf looked at the young man and slowly shook his head. Amateur, he thought, they should never have let this one out of basic training. He then turned to the two wire-haired hounds that were trying to keep dry under the arch with him.

“Don’t you think if there was anything out there, the dogs would have alerted you?”

Logan slowly lowered his pike and turned to the two hounds that were watching him with curiosity.

“Well, I thought I heard something.” He said with little conviction.

“On a morning like this?” Raf replied looking up at the darkening sky “I seriously doubt it. You would have to be insane…”

The older solider stopped in mid sentence as a young redheaded girl wearing a large floppy hat emerged silently from the mist. Logan dropped his pike back into the standard defensive position.

“Halt, who goes there? State your name and intentions.” He shouted again.

“Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time.” The young girl replied, holding her hands up before her. “I have a wounded man here as well as… how about we just deal with the wounded man first.” She said as she took a step forward.

“Halt… who goes there?”

“Didn’t we already go through this?” She asked. “I have a wounded man, the least you could do is send for a healer.”

“Logan, go fetch the captain.” Raf commanded as he grabbed his pike from inside the watch tower and lowered it toward the young girl. “I don’t know what you are child, but stay right there.”

“What I am is running late. Can we get this moving a bit?”

“When the captain gets here.”

“Fine.” She said, and sat down in the middle of the road “I’ll wait.”

Fortunately they didn’t have to wait for long, it took only five minutes before Captain Bartholomew Jax arrived at the western gate, he must have been rousted out of his bed, since he was fastening the belt around his tabard, over what was clearly not his uniform. He was a tall older man with black hair that had only just started graying at the temples.

“What is going on here sergeant?” He demanded with a note of urgency, but when he assessed the situation, that urgency quickly changed to one of confusion.

“We have an intruder sir.” Raf replied.

“And intruder?” Captain Jax asked as he came up along side Raf and placed his hand on the pike, forcing him to lower it to the ground. “I don’t really see an intruder, what I see is one of my guards holding a young girl at arm’s length.”

“But sir, she came out of the mist without so much as a sound, and not even the dogs reacted to her.” Raf stated, he was clearly unnerved by the events, and then turned to his Captain and whispered. “Sir, she may be a Wili.”

“What did you just call me?” The young girl asked, jumping to her feet. “My name is Kile, Kile… well, just… Kile for now.”

“Well just Kile. Why are you here scaring my guards, and in such a state?” Captain Jax asked. It was clear that he didn’t feel she was much of a threat.

“For starters I have a wounded man that needs some attention.” She replied.

“Is this true solider?” The Captain turned to ask Logan, who looked a little embarrassed.

“Um… well sir, she did mention something like that, but I though it was a wili trick.”

“Yeah, a wili bad one.” Kile replied. “Look, it's late, I’m tired, wet and hungry, I still have a delivery in Tobery to make, and all I want is to get this man some help.”

“What man? Show me this man.”

Captain Jax stepped forward, but was quickly stopped by Raf who was still not convinced that Kile wasn’t what she seemed to be.

“Sir, you can go out there, if she is a… a wili, you’re in mortal danger.”

“Oh for crying out loud.” She said, throwing her hands up in the air and turning to the rain. “Rose, will you come here.”

The silent sound of horse’s hoofs upon the wet road could be heard through the falling rain as a dappled gray mare stepped from the mist. A man, of considerable size, was strapped to her back. Captain Jax pushed Raf’s hand aside as he dashed out into the rain.

“Marcus? Marcus? Are you alright?” He asked, lifting the Hunter’s head. “Raf, get the healer now.”

“You know him?” Kile asked. She hadn’t expected this.

“Marcus Taylor is one of the greatest Hunters the Guild ever had, he defeated the Troll of Blackmore a few years back and the last I heard he was heading out for the Minotaur of Calder falls, that was about three days ago.”

“Yeah, about that.” Kile said. “I have that as well, if you can take it off my hands, I’d really appreciate it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The Minotaur, if you have some place you could put him, I would greatly appreciate it.”

Captain Jax stared at Kile just as Raf came back with Logan, two other guards and three healers. Kile hoped that they all didn’t come just to see the wili, what ever that was. An older man, wearing a long coat and a large pointed black hat to keep out the rain, pushed past the guards and approached the unconscious Hunter. He made a quick examination in silence and eventually nodded to Captain Jax.

“He’s alive, but not in very good shape. How long has he been out?” The old man asked.

“I found him yesterday morning, as for how long he was there, I doubt if it was much longer than that.”

Otherwise the Minotaur would have gotten him she thought.

“Ja! Tim! Get this man inside, clean him up and put him in bed three, I’ll be up to check on him.” The old man ordered. Two younger men, wrapped in lite gray long cloaks dashed out into the rain. It didn’t take them long before they cut him free and carried him back to the Outpost. Where were they when she was trying to get him on the horse in the first place?  A soldier led the horse in another direction.

“Now, what about you child?” The old man asked as he pulled Kile’s hat off and started to examine the small cuts on her face.

“I’m fine sir.” She replied pulling back.

“Well, we’ll see about that.” The healer said. “You’ll rest here today, and we’ll see how well you are by tomorrow.”

“You can’t sir.” Raf said from the safety of the gate.

“I can’t. Why can’t I?” The old man asked, clearly confused as he looked between the frightened guard and the Captain.

“I’m afraid Raf has got the notion that this girl is actually a wili.”

“Nonsense.” The old man replied, but the way he looked at Kile, she was sure that he had his doubts. “It is clearly past the break of dawn, surely you know the rules solider.”

“Well, yes sir.” Raf replied. “But the rain sir, the storm.”

“Yes sir, I’m a wili, and I wili got to get out of here.” Kile shouted. “As soon as you take this… thing off my hands.” She said as she turned back to the rain. “Grim!”

“You see, sir. She has called for her kelpie, the Grim. She is a wili.” Raf shouted as he lifted his pike. “She has come to take us all.”

“What is he on about?” She asked Captain Jax who was now pinching the bridge of his nose, and shaking his head. Her father use to do that when he was upset or had a headache, or after Kile tried to help him on the farm.

The sound of something heavy was approaching through the rain, dragging something even heavier behind it. As it came into view the guards raised their pikes and stepped back, even Captain Jax was not taking any chances as he retreated a few steps. If they were reacting that way about her horse, what would they think about what he was dragging behind him?

“It’s a horse, a mountain pony.” She shouted at the men as they backed away.

-Kelpie!-

Grim replied, obviously annoyed at the term. She would have to ask him to explain, once they got out of here and back on the road.

“Captain, you better come see this.”

The voice came from behind her and Kile realized that the guards had maneuvered to surround her, even if they were keeping their distance. Captain Jax kept an eye on Kile as he moved around the mountain pony.

“Raf. Get a squad down here immediately, and have them bring the chains.” The Captain shouted as he came back around the horse. “Open the lower prison gates. Get me a cart… the big one.”

The front gate was suddenly thrown into a fury of activity as torches were lit and soldiers were shouting to one another. Kile could only pick up a few words, but most of it was about the wili that brought in the Minotaur of Calder falls.

“Come child, we have much to discuss.” Captain Jax said as he placed a hand upon her shoulder and directed her to the watch tower. She looked around to see the other pikemen standing ready, and she had a feeling that it wasn’t a suggestion but a command.

The Captain led her through a door out of the rain, into a small round room were the only furnishing was a couple of chairs and a table. Torches mounted on both walls provided the light and the warmth, if nothing else, at least it was dry. Two guards and the two wire-haired hounds followed them in as the door was closed. This was not going to be a simple discussion.

She took off her hat and shook it out before placing it on the table beside her. She was going to be here for a while.

“So, exactly who are you and where did you come from?” Captain Jax asked as he took the chair opposite her.

“I’m a wili, remember.” She replied.

If it ever got out that she was responsible for brining in the Minotaur, the Guild would expel her for rash behavior. As Tree had warned them, the Guild invested a lot of money into the training of Hunters, the last thing they need is a risk taker, it didn’t matter that she never intended to bring in the open script.

“I no more believe that you’re a wili as I believe your horse out there is a kelpie, all I want is the truth.”

“Look the truth is, I found them both in the field about a days ride from here, I don’t know what happen. They probably butted heads and knocked each other out.”

“I know Marcus, he’s good, and he’s not the kind of man that goes down easily, not unless there is more to this story than what you’re telling me.”

“Wait, you think I did something to the Hunter?”

“I have no doubt that he defeated the Minotaur, what I want to know is what did you do to him.”

Kile jumped to her feet. “Me. Why do you think I did anything to him?” She shouted, the two guards at the door reached for their swords, she slowly sat back down. These people were not her enemies, and she had no intention of fighting them, not to mention the fact that there were three of them and only one of her.

“Look, you can lie to me all you want, I’ll keep you here until Marcus wakes up, then he’ll tell me what happen, and I assure you that my decision from that point will be based upon your cooperation here, or, you can just tell me what happen and things may go easier on you.”

“I don’t believe this.” She said leaning back in her chair and staring up at the ceiling. “You go out of your way to do something good and this is the reward you get.”

“Then tell me what good you did?”

The door opened and a young soldier stepped in, he was wet and out of breath. It might have been Logan, but Kile couldn’t tell under the helmet, all the guards looked the same.

“Sir, the Minotaur has been bound and is now being carted off to the prison gates.”

“Did he wake?”

“No sir, he’s still out cold, mores the better.”

“Good, keep me informed.”

“Yes sir.” The guard replied as his eyes slowly looked over to where Kile was sitting and watching him closely. If he dared call her a wili, she was going to hit him.

“You’re dismissed soldier.” Captain Jax commanded.

“Well sir, it’s the kelpie sir.”

“Soldier, it is not a kelpie, it is a mountain pony.”

“Yes sir, well… anyway sir, what are we suppose to do with it.”

“Take it to the stables, see that it’s fed.”

“That's just it sir, he won’t go.” The solider replied a little nervously.

“He won’t go?” Captain Jax repeated. “Solider, it’s a horse, you do not debate with it. You take it to the stables.”

“Well sir, that’s just it sir. We tried, but he’s already broken Sergeant Truff’s leg and kicked private Yolan across the road, nobody wants to get anywhere near him after that.”

“Is your private Yolan okay?” Kile asked.

“Well, yes ma’am, he was wearing his breastplate, but that kelpie… I mean pony, put a good sized dent in it.”

“I’ll just have to have a talk to him.” She said as she pushed herself away from the table and got up.

“Sit down.” Captain Jax ordered, and then turned to the young soldier. “Put a watch around the horse for now, if he won’t move, leave him there.”

“Yes sir.” The young solider replied as he exited the room.

Captain Jax turned to Kile, folding his arms across his chest as he leaned back in his chair. “You still mean no harm?” He asked her. “It would seem your horse has other ideas. Shall we start from the beginning Kile? That is your real name isn’t it… Kile?”

She turned to the two wire-haired hounds that were watching her very carefully, but not the way guards dogs were supposed to. They appeared to be more fascinated with the girl rather the actually guarding her.

“I don’t suppose you two could help?” She asked them.

-We’re not supposed to.-

One of them said.

So far, out of all the creatures Kile had spoken with, dogs were by far the easiest. It was probably because they were so close to the Vir, in that they are always by their side, that they picked up so much of the speech. It was a shame they couldn’t communicate with just any vir, they so wanted to, but it was as Kaza had said, vir just don’t listen to the natural world.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone. I just want to get out of here.”

-What do you want us to do?-

“Creating a diversion would be helpful.”

The two guards that stood on the door looked at one another with uncertainty. It was clear that they thought the wili was talking to them. Captain Jax looked between the guards and Kile, and clearly thought the same thing.

“My men will not respond to you.” He told her.

“Yeah, well I wasn’t talking to them anyway.” She replied when it looked as if the dogs weren’t going to help. She couldn’t blame them, and she wouldn’t have asked them if she thought they would get into a lot of trouble.

“Look I really have to get out of here.”

“I know. A delivery to Tobery. What is it that you deliver?”

“Oh, what ever needs delivering, mail, food, Minotaur, fallen hunters, we do it all.” She replied.

“You can’t really expect to just drop the Minotaur of Calder falls on my doorstep and disappear, can you?”

“Well, that was my intention.” She replied, and then leaned over to speak to the dogs again. “How about if I help you, give you something that you can use as a diversion, that way you won’t get into trouble.”

-Like what?-

Captain Jax looked at Kile, then at the dogs. He was starting to catch on. The guards weren’t as bright. That’s probably why he was the captain and the guards were still just privates.

Kile opened the flap to the courier bag.

“Ready?”

-Ready-

Vesper replied and suddenly leapt up onto the table. At the sight of the yarrow the captain jumped back, knocking his chair over onto the floor. Who would have thought that a man of that size was scared of mice? The two wire-haired hounds took the bait and as one jumped up on the table in a bogus attempt to grab the yarrow, the other shot between the Captain’s legs, knocking the man to the floor. The guards instinctively went to help their captain as Kile made a run for the door. One of the guards tried to block her escape but Vesper charged between his legs, followed by one of the guard dogs. The soldier went flying, knocking over the other solider and landing on top of Captain Jax who was struggling to get to his feet. The room was already too small for three men to try to get up at the same time and with the two guard dogs charging between them, it was nearly impossible. Kile pulled the door open and stepped back out into the rain catching the attention of the two guards that stood just outside the door.

“I’m a wili, remember.” She shouted.

The guards paused, unsure of what to do next. Being a wili had some advantages, now all she had to do is figure out what a wili was.

She heard the shouting of even more guards, or it might have been close to screaming as they ran in all directions when Grim charged through the mist toward her. Vesper made his escape out the small window and Kile scooped the yarrow up before grabbing Grim’s mane as he passed.

The solider quickly jumped aside. No one was willing to stand in her way. It was surprising what a little superstition and a rainy morning could accomplish as she escaped the Moran outpost.

When she was sure that no one was following her, and she doubted the captain could get any volunteers, she slowed Grim down to a nice slow easy pace.

“That was wili close.” She said.

-You use that joke one more time and I’m taking you back there.-

“What’s wrong, is my trusted kelpie in a bad mood.” She laughed.

-I am not a kelpie.-

“Wow, you wili don’t like being called a kelpie, do you?”

-That is, we’re going back.-

“Okay, I’ll stop, I’ll stop… wili I will.”

-So, did you tell them you were the one that defeated the Minotaur?-

“No.”

-Figures.-

“They wouldn’t have believed me anyway. Besides, they were more concerned about who laid out the Great Marcus Taylor than who defeated the Minotaur. Captain Jax already has his little scenario all figured out. The great Hunter Marcus Taylor defeats the Minotaur in single combat, probably hand to hand, and then I come along and conk him on the head or something like that.”

-And for what reason would you have done that?-

“I don’t know, maybe I was… wili mad at him.”

 

They traveled for most of the day and stopped in the early afternoon when she spotted a safe place to spend the night. It was a small outcrop of rock that provided shelter from the rain, large enough that even Grim could fit under. It was also back in the Denal province, and she figured that even Captain Jax wouldn’t dare pursue her across the board, especially when he had no proof that she had done anything wrong. She set up camp and tried to dry out some of her clothing over an open fire. They ate a simple meal from what supplies they had left and then got some sleep before heading out early the next morning.

The rain didn’t let up, but at least the world around them was alive. She hadn’t realized how much she felt abandoned when the Minotaur was running loose, when there was no birds in the trees, or creatures on the ground. She may not have been able to see them, or hear them, but she felt their presence and that was enough for her to feel connected.

The first sign of civilization was a farmhouse that sat on a large field of corn. It took her thoughts to Riverport, all the way back to the Veller farm. What kind of harvest would her brother have this year? Would they manage to make enough to see them through another season? As much as she hated the place, it was also hard not being there, not being able to help.

The single farmhouse turned into more farm houses that eventually lead to shops and stores and found herself in the middle of what she hoped was the town of Tobery. It was a large sprawling town, much like Coopervill, and was difficult to gauge the overall size. These types of farm towns could actually stretch their borders for miles, which usually led to disputes on which farms belonged to which towns. The farmers didn’t care so much as they had a place to sell their crops, and some of them found themselves moving from town to town without ever leaving their homes as the town border lines were constantly being redrawn. Disputes of this nature were usually handled in the Province’s High Court, it only got tricky when it stopped being a farm and became a disagreement over the ownership of an iron mine or water rights, something that provided serious revenue to the township. Now, to take it one step further, and make it even worse, if that second town that was claiming ownership over the mines or the water rights was in a different province all together, there was bound to be violence.

Wars erupted between provinces on a daily basis, the Province lines were also constantly shifting, but it wasn’t as painless. Disputes of this nature could be taken before the Royal High Court of Aru, but seldom were. It was just too much of a hassle and was easier to settle it on the battle field. Conflicts between provinces could linger on for years and nobody seemed to care. The crown received their coin no matter which province held the land, and as long as the area was considered hostile, the Hunters were paid extra to transport goods and civilians from one point to the other.

The politics of Aru were shaky at best, each province pushing against their neighbors, neither one giving any ground, and through it all, the Hunter remained completely neutral.

The town of Tobery of the Denal province was no more than a day's ride from the outpost of Moran in the Callor province, and by tomorrow, it was possible that, Tobery could also be in the Callor province, there was just no way of telling. Kile would hate to see that happen, although as a Hunter she was supposed to remain natural, she disliked the Callor province, or to be more accurate, the ruler of the Callor province, Lord Rimes.

The streets of Tobery weren’t as busy as Coopervill, but then the weather was probably keeping the people inside. Only those that had no choice were stuck in the rain, and they tried to keep that to a bare minimum as they ran through the streets darting from one building to another.

She rode down the center of the street, and wasn’t sure if it was the old feelings of paranoia returning, but she felt every window was watching her. In their defense, she was probably quite a sight, a young redheaded girl riding on the back of a very large, very wet mountain pony. She couldn’t imagine that the people of Tobery saw such things every day.

She was about to ask someone for direction, if she could have found someone or slowed someone down long enough to ask, but the sight of the green banner flapping in the wind outside a small building on the edge of town gave her the information she needed. From the outside, the Hunter’s Guild House, looked very much like the one back in Coopervill, with its banner and symbol by the door. It even had the hand carved sign over the entrance that marked it as “Local Guild House Chapter 73”

She dismounted, grabbed the leather satchel that held the mail and headed for the door. If the exterior held a resemblance to the one in Coopervill, then the interior was identical, right down to the over papered bulletin boards. She knew that the Guild lacked any originality, but this was taking things too far. The room had the same atmosphere, the same smell, the same dim lighting, she half expected to see Kane on the other side of the reception window requesting his mail in that monotone voice he spoke with, but instead she found a much younger, thinner man. He looked up when she entered and gave her a friendly smile.

“Can I help you?” He asked.

“Mail.” She said as she shook herself off beside the door. There was no need in getting the floor wet; it didn’t look as if it had seen a mop in a few decades.

“You wish to send something?”

“No sir, delivering something.”

She set the leather bag on the counter. The young man looked at it, then at her.

“You must be Kile Veller.” He said with a big grin.

Wow, news travels fast, was Captain Jax already looking for her?

“How did you…?”

“Know who you were? There’s been only one female to graduate the Hunter’s Academy in the last twenty years, I have to assume you’re her.” He said with a grin. “The name is Justin, Justin Poros.”

“Kile, Kile Veller.” She said as she shook the young man’s hand. “But then you already knew that.”

“So, you have something for me to sign don’t you.”

“Oh, yes sir.” She replied as she pulled out a rather crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. “I’m afraid it got a little wrinkled.”

“It’s to be expected.” He smiled as he straightened it out on the counter and signed his name along the bottom. “So, how was your first assignment? It was your first assignment wasn’t it?”

“Yes sir. It wasn’t exactly what I had expected.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” He grinned. “I felt the same way during my first assignment. I was ready to go when I got out of the academy, arrived in Tobery and the first assignment I get is a message to deliver, not even a descent stack of letters, but a single message. You’re eager to find excitement, and all you get is another boring trip.” He said shaking his head as he pulled the leather satchel closer and began to sort through the contents.

“Yeah, it was something like that.” She replied.

“I guess you’re eager to get back to Coopervill then, get started on your next assignment.”

“You might say that.”

“Yeah, sure you are, but don’t worry. A few more of these routine deliveries and you’ll be moving up in the ranks in no time, then that’s where the real excitement begins.” He laughed. “Actually, if you are heading back, maybe you can take a few things to Noxton, it would only be a day out of the way. My regular Hunter isn’t back from his last trip yet.”

“Can I do that sir?” She asked. She wasn’t exactly sure how this whole assigned Guild House thing worked, another thing they forgot to explain at the academy. “I’m assigned to Coopervill.”

“Oh sure, it’s known as a reverse script.” Justin explained as he pulled out another form from under the window. “You see, I sign these orders, and then you make the delivery to Noxton. Since Noxton doesn’t have a Guild house, you’ll have to drop it off at the Meeting Hall, have the secretary there sign for it, and then cash the script at Coopervill. It’s on your way and it means a few extra coins in your purse.”

“Well then, I guess so.”

“Excellent, let me get it together, it shouldn’t take more than a tic.” The man said as he disappeared into the back room.

How long was a tic she wondered as she looked around the Guild House? She had already seen the place, or that was what it felt like as her eyes caught the open script board hanging on the far wall. The same familiar Vir faces stared back at her, but this time it was the non-Vir scripts she took an interest in, and one in particular, the one outlining the details of the Minotaur of Calder Falls. She had to admit, the picture on the sheet didn’t really do the beast justice. It looked more like a thin man wearing a cow’s head, it was clear that whoever wrote up the script had never seen the Minotaur. The description was rather vague. Height unknown, weight unknown, temperament, possible hostile, yeah, there was an understatement. The only thing that was probably accurate was the casualties listed along the bottom of the sheet, the names of all the hunters who had tried and failed to bring in the Minotaur. It was no wonder that so many Hunter’s died in the attempt with such inaccuracies. For an organization that prided themselves on the retrieval of information for others, it was a shame they never did any information gathering for themselves.

“Open scripts huh?” Justin said from behind the window. “Already looking for that next adventure.”

“Not quite sir.” She replied.

“Here, while you over there, you mind hanging this one up as well. It’s been sitting on my desk for the last two days, I keep forgetting to post it.” He said as he held out a sheet of paper.

“Yeah, no problem.” She replied as she took it from him. A new script to be posted to the board, that was something interesting, she thought, but what she read sent a shiver down her spine. It was an open script for one Eric Douglas Rimes.

“Eric Rimes.” She exclaimed rather loudly.

“Yeah, can you image?” Justin replied from somewhere behind the window. “They say he’s the son of Lord Rimes of the Callor Province, he even tried to become a hunter. I wonder what he did to upset the Guild so much to place that kind of a bounty on him.”

The information they listed under the heading ‘wanted for’ simple read ‘Crimes against the Guild.’ It too was rather vague, although most of the trivial information on his description, his temperament, even his known associates appeared to be accurate, but there was one minor error.

“This is wrong.” She said, returning the script to the window.

“Hey, the guild thinks he’s guilty, who am I to say otherwise.”

“No, not that. This.” She said, pointing to the section under known abilities. It clearly reads that he was influenced by the sphere of water.

“What? He was trying to become a hunter, and he did get as far as the academy so he had to have some type of Hunter’s Edge, you should know that.”

“Well yeah, I know that, but he wasn’t influenced by water, he was influenced by fire.”

Justin took the script from Kile and reread it.

“Are you sure?” He asked.

“Positive.”

“Well, I don’t know. They clearly have him down as being influenced by water and they should know better than us. Maybe this just isn’t who you think it is.” He said as he handed the script back to her. “Just hang it up if you will.”

She waited until he had disappeared into the back room again before reaching across the desk to retrieve a pen. She crossed out water and filled in fire. She couldn’t do it to all the scripts posted to all the houses, but at least she could correct this one, and possibly the one back at Coopervill. It surprised her that something of this magnitude went unnoticed, if it had even gone unnoticed. She pinned the script to the board, and now Eric’s face was among the other Vir staring out into the room.

“Here’s the mail, sorry it took so long.” Justin replied, dropping a much smaller parcel on the counter. “It’s not much but we don’t get much for Noxton, and if we leave it until we do, well, then some of these letters could wind up a year to two old before they reach their destination. I don’t know why the Guild keeps sending them to us, they should send the up to you guys in Coopervill, but I’m sure the Guild knows what it's doing.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Kile replied with little conviction.

“You still probationary right?”

“Yes sir.”

Justin pulled another form from under the counter and scribbled his name along the bottom.

“If you present this to the Dancing Squirrel Inn, just down the road, they’ll give you a free meal… Well, I say a free meal, but really the Guild picks up the tab. Once you’re certified you’ll have to provide for yourself, but by then you should have the coin. I can offer you one of the beds upstairs if you wish to spend the night, again, free of charge. The Guild looks after its own.”

“No, that's alright, I’ll probably just head out tonight.”

“Suit yourself.” Justine replied. “Suppose I’ll be seeing you around more, what with you taking over the mail routes for Coopervill. It’s about time they got themselves a new hunter.”

She slipped the small bundle of scrolls into her courier bag and headed back out into the rain. With so many forms and so much misinformation, it was no wonder the Hunter’s Guild was looking to change.

 

 

 

***~~~***

 

 

 

27

 

It didn’t take nearly as long to get from Tobery to Noxton as it did to get from Coopervill to Tobery but that was probably due to the fact that she never left the roads, and therefore would not risk running into another Minotaur or being sidetracked to outposts in Callor, but it still took her a good three days before she rode into the town of Noxton. She had only spent a few hours in Tobery, long enough to eat at the Dancing Squirrel on the Guilds tab, not that there was much she could order. It would appear that the proprietor of the Squirrel was used to having hunters in his establishment and he even had a set bill of fare that he called the Hunter’s Meal. It was probably not a coincidence that it was the cheapest thing on the menu. A simple dish of bread, cheese, some form of pickle and a few slices of fruit, all washed down with a tankard of ale, although Kile opted for plain water. The proprietor didn’t seem all that pleased to accept the ticket that Justin had given her, but he did accept it and that was all that mattered. She mange to pocket a few slices of fruit for Vesper, and Grim who was allowed to stay at the Guild House stables until she was ready to leave, but she declined a room for herself at the House. She just wanted to be on the road again, heading for the only thing she knew as home.

The return trip was uneventful, the road that led to Noxton was right where the map said it should be, and the only thing of any real interest during the trip was meeting a groundhog that shared supper with them one night. He was a pleasant enough creature, although, like most animals that had very little contact with the Vir, his speech patterns were difficult to understand in their simplicity while the images that he shared with her were quite intriguing. He had invited her to stay in his burrow if she wished, but even she wasn’t that small, although he did show her the wild berry patch that he frequented.

She had learned that the Minotaur had not been in the area all that long, and had in fact passed through the groundhogs territory only three or four weeks past, that was if she understood the groundhogs measurement of time. If this was true, and Caldor Falls, where she assumed the creature had come from, it was called the Minotaur of Caldor Falls after all, was some distance east of where she was, then that would mean that the Minotaur was traveling west. Normally this would not have been a big deal, and she would not have given it much thought if it wasn’t for Rick’s warning about the area and about the west in general. It just stirred up that old paranoia. What if the Minotaur was heading west to join up with the uhyre?

She had absolutely nothing to base that on, and it was sheer speculation, but the same two words kept coming up… what if? What if something was recruiting such creatures for any army against the province of Denal? What if it wasn’t just the Denal province? What if it was the entire Kingdom of Aru? What if the province of Callor was in on it from the beginning?

The more she asked the questions, the more scenarios formed in her overactive imagination, the more she didn’t like the outcomes, mainly because each outcome lead to two inescapable conclusions. First, that if any of it was true, then there had to be a single force working to gather and organize the uhyre. The valrik were not known for cooperating among themselves unless there was a strong presence to keep them in line, and the second conclusion was that war was inevitable. It was not that war was new in the Kingdom of Aru. It would be new if there weren't any wars. There was war between towns, between cities and even between provinces, but a war between kingdoms was something entirely different and frightening.

These scenarios and even more, although the others were just too outlandish even to entertain, were rolling around in her head when she eventually rode into the town of Noxton. The town was not unlike Coopervill or even Tobery from what she had seen of it. It was almost as if she was riding around in circles and someone was rearranging the buildings and calling the town by a different name. Coopervill had the Bird and Bay, Tobery had the Dancing Squirrel and Noxton had an inn with the pleasant name of the Starving Fish, it even had a picture of the bones of a fish painted on the sign to get the message across. Who makes up these names anyway?

The biggest difference was the one she had expected, there was no Guild house in Noxton, so she headed for the meeting hall. It wasn’t actually a meeting hall, the concept of the meeting hall where the town’s people would gather to discuss their problems was obsolete, but the term still lingered and now it was applied to a large building filled with offices that housed the self proclaimed important people of the town. There was a Lord in name only, an under secretary, a captain of the guard, a captain of arms and about another dozen or so titles that really meant nothing to her, but they all had an office in the meeting hall, and the ironic part was that none of them were ever in their office, except the secretary who monitored the front desk.

All meeting halls, or at least those that Kile had seen so far, had one thing in common, they were the most extravagant looking buildings in town, next to the local church that is. They were not hard to find, they were usually two or three stories in height and the preferred color of the exterior appeared to be white. The windows always seemed larger than any other place, and the door was usually composed of some exotic wood that didn’t grow within the immediate area, but someone at sometime though it was essential to have the wood shipped in, since the wood that appeared to be fine for every other door in every other structure in town was, for some reason, not suited for the meeting hall. She figured it was either the ego of one man, or the pride of an entire town, either way she saw it as a waste of money.

The wooden doors of the Noxton meeting hall did not disappoint her. They were made from Iron Oak, a tree that grew in abundance, in the east, not far from Riverport. It would have made sense if the building was being used for the last line of defense, as a means of protecting the people of the town from invaders, but seeing that there were seven foot tall windows on either side of the door that could easily be breached made the concept rather ridiculous.

She pulled open the doors that were set on pivoting hinges, so despite their size, and the weight of Iron Oak in general, they opened easily enough. The interior of the meeting hall was no less grand than the exterior, with white marbled floors and wooden beams, it puts the Great Hall of the Academy to shame, that was before it was burned down.

It wasn’t difficult to figure out where to go. There was only one desk in the room and one person sitting behind it. As she walked across the white marbled floor Kile felt the emptiness weighing in on her. It was so bleak and barren in the room that it bordered on the depressing. There wasn’t a banner or a picture to be seen, just white walls and windows, a few doors leading off to a few offices but for the most part there was no form of decoration, no identity to the room, and it reminded her of the Mystic tower.

The woman behind the desk looked up as she approached. She was a dark haired old woman with a face like a crow, long and narrow, with a sharp noise that hooked down at the end and small beady eyes that were black and sunken behind a pair of thick rimmed glasses.

“Yes, can I help you?” She asked, looking over the top of those glasses. It was clear that helping anyone was the last thing she wanted to do that day.

“Probationary level five Hunter Kile Veller.” Kile announced as she placed the satchel of mail upon the desk, but it wasn’t the bag the woman was looking at, it was the yarrow on Kile’s shoulder. She had gotten so use to Vesper sitting up there that she had forgotten he was still there. This did not do much to impress the crow faced woman behind the desk as she scowled at the yarrow. What was this instant dislike towards rodents she wondered? At least the woman didn’t go screaming out of the room.

The crew faced woman turned her gaze to Kile with just about the same amount of discs. It must be guilt by association she figured. She sat there staring at Kile as if she was expecting something more.

“Your mail.” Kile finally said, pushing the bag forward.

The woman let out a heavy sigh as if the entire interaction was just too much to bear and pulled the satchel across the desk to look inside.

“It’s about time.” She remarked, dropping the bag down beside her.

“Perhaps you should consider having a chapter of the Hunter’s Guild in Noxton.” Kile suggested.

“Not likely.” The woman replied and went back to the work that she was doing before Kile had entered. It was nice to see that not only the Guild House was cursed with forms to fill out.

Kile waited for a few minutes, and when it was clear that the crow faced woman had no intention of addressing her any further, he pulled out the reverse script that Justin had given her and set it on the desk.

“Excuse me.’

“Is there something else?” The old woman snapped as she looked over the top of her thick rimmed glasses. She had that look down to an art form. How many people instantly excused them and left the hall after receiving that look?

“Sign this and I’ll be on my way.” Kile replied, handing the reverse script to the crow faced woman. The secretary took it gingerly with two fingers as if the notion of touching something that was in Kile’s possession was just too disgusting to comprehend.

“Yes.” She said slowly before setting the paper aside without even looking at it. “I can’t sign this. You’ll have to make an appointment with Lord Bunston.”

“Look, I don’t have time to make an appointment, I have other deliveries to make, other places to go.” Kile said, although it wasn’t exactly true, she didn’t have any more deliveries but she wasn’t going to wait around until some big shot with a title beside his name decided to grace her with his appearance.

“I’m sorry, but his Lordship is not in, you’ll just have to make an appointment.”

“I was told you could sign this.” Kile replied grabbing the paper and putting it back in front of the woman.

“I’m sorry, but that’s not my responsibility. The mail will have to be sorted and inspected first before we can sign for it.” The old woman said as she took the paper and placed it back on the pile.

“So, how long is that going to take?”

“It will take as long as it takes, we are very busy here.”

Kile looked around the empty room, this was the only desk and she was the only person, so unless she was including Kile in that comment, she wasn’t sure where the “We” came from.

“Can you at least give me an idea of how long it will take?”

“Mail is sorted the first of every week.”

“That’s three days from now. I can’t hang around here that long.”

“That is the way we run things here, if you are not happy with it, then I suggest you speak with Lord Bunston, but you’ll have to make an appointment.”

“Fine.” Kile said in hopeless defeat. “When can I see his Lordship?”

The crow faced woman let out another heavy sigh as she pulled a thick book toward her and began to flip through the pages.

“Lord Bunston is a very busy man, but I can mark you in on… Thursday.” She said as she scribbled something down and then set the book aside.

“That’s five days from now.” Kile exclaimed. This was getting her nowhere. She was beginning to think the Minotaur was easier to handle than this old crow. “Look, I don’t get paid until you sign that sheet and I return it to my Guild House. Where am I supposed to hold up until then?”

“That’s not my problem.” The woman replied. “You’re the Hunter, aren’t you people suppose to be able to survive anywhere, adapt to any situation?”

Plainly this woman had a beef with the Hunter’s Guild, or possibly just one Hunter in particular, but Kile really didn’t care at this point. Whatever the old crow faced woman’s problem was, she should keep it to herself, but clearly she wasn’t going to, which meant Kile just had to add to it.

“You know, you absolutely right.” She said as she turned and walked away.

The old crow faced woman watched as Kile left the meeting hall before she picked up the reverse script and dropped it on stack with the rest of the paperwork she was filling out. She paused only a moment to look through the satchel of mail when the double doors of the meeting hall flew open. She quickly looked up, almost losing her thick rimmed glasses when she saw the most ungainly, long haired, black horse heading toward her. The sound of its platter sized hoofs striking the white marble floor in the empty room was deafening as it echoed off the rafters. The horse came all the way up to the old woman, gave one loud snort that blew half the papers off her desk and then turned aside where Kile dismounted.

“What is the meaning of this?” The woman exclaimed as she quickly regained her composure.

“Oh, don’t mind us, you’re busy, we can entertain ourselves. Just keep on doing whatever it was that you were doing. You won’t even know we’re here.” Kile said as she started to untie her supplies from the back of the Pony.

“You… you can’t have this… this beast in here.”

“What… Grim? You don’t expect me to leave him outside do you?”

“You can’t be in here. None of you can be in here. This is a government building, not… not a… a stable.” The woman shouted.

“Oh sure we can. It’s not that big of deal.” Kile replied. “As you were so quick to point out, as a Hunter, I should be able to survive anywhere. This seems as good a place as any.”

“This is not what I meant, this is outrageous.”

Riding a horse from the main streets of Noxton, up the stairs of the meeting hall and through the front doors was bound to draw some attention as people began to appear at the window trying to get a look inside at what was happening, but not all the attention was from outside. The doors began to open inside the meeting hall and all the self proclaimed important people who were never in their offices, we're now emerging from those same offices trying to find out what all the commotion was about.

Maybe Master Boraro was right all along, when he said that Hunter’s should have some standing on the social ladder. Had she been the daughter of a wealthy merchant or a Lord, it was quite possible that the old crow faced woman would have showed her a little more respect, of course how would she have known that Kile wasn’t of royalty or wealthy, it wasn’t as if the old woman let it come up in conversation.

She unrolled her blanket, setting it down beside one of the windows and then broke out her small tinder box, sat on the marbled floor with her striker and went through the motions of starting a small campfire.

She had just managed to get the tinder lit when a heavy set man, as round as he was tall, with a large red nose came running, or waddling down the stairs. He was out of breath by the time he reached the desk.

“Mrs. Werth, what is going on here?” He demanded.

“I don’t know sir, this… this hunter… this horse.” The woman stammered. This was something that she never had to deal with before. Kile couldn’t understand why. The meeting hall was large enough to house several horses and had the entrance to allow it.

Seeing that he wasn’t going to get anything coherent out of the old crow faced woman, the large man turned to Kile.

“Young lady, what do you think you are doing, this is not a stables. This is the meeting hall of Noxton.”

“Oh, I’m aware of that.” She said as she started to feed the small fire. “I’m just waiting for his Lordship.”

“I am the Lord of Noxton.” The large man shouted as he threw out his chest, and there was quite a bit of him to throw out.

Kile looked up and then shook her head.

“You can’t be.” She replied and turned back to her smoldering fire.

“What?”

“You can’t be his Lordship. I was told that Lord Bunston wasn’t in, so unless your receptionist lied to an official of the Hunter’s Guild, you can’t be him.”

“I assure you young lady that I am Lord Bunston and I am most definitely in.” The large man shouted. By now the man’s face was as red as his nose, and given his general state of health, Kile figure she shouldn’t push the matter much further. The last thing she wanted was to be responsible for the death of a Lord.

“Well, if that’s the case…” She said as she got up from the floor. “… then she can’t be a very good receptionist if she doesn’t even know if the person she is receiving for is in or out.”

“I beg your pardon. I’ll have you know…”

“Take it easy Mrs. Werth.” Lord Bunston said as he waved for the old crow faced woman to sit down. “It would seem that we may have gotten off on the wrong foot.”

“No, I don’t think so.” Kile replied. “I was told to make an appointment, and it would appear that you’re booked up for the next five days, so I’ll be staying here until then, you just go about your business. You’re clearly a very busy man.”

Lord Bunston looked around the meeting hall. Now the spectators, otherwise known as the citizens of Noxton, were starting to come inside for a better look at what was going on. This was the last thing he wanted.

“I believe I can spare some time if you wish to come to my office.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary.” Kile replied as she retrieved the reverse script from the old crow faced woman’s desk and handed it to Lord Bunston. “Sign here please.”

“This is it, I sign this and you leave?”

“That's all I need.”

Lord Bunston was all too eager to put his signature across the bottom of the page and handed the reverse script back to Kile, who delighted in stalling as she looked it over.

“Seems everything is in order.” She said as she rolled the script up and slipped it into her courier bag. She stomped out the small flame and brushed most of the ashes back into the tinder box before gathering her supplies and tying them back onto Grim.

“This would be a lot easier if you’ll have your secretary sign for it in the future.” Kile said as she mounted up.

“Yes, of course, now please if you could get you and that… that beast out of here.”

“Come on Grim, it doesn’t look as if we’re wanted here either.” Kile said with a sigh as she rode the mountain pony toward the front doors. The people that had entered to witness the exchange laughed and applauded as she left. She wasn’t sure if they were laughing at her or with her, either way they held the doors open for her and she waved to them as she rode Grim down the stone steps of the meeting hall and back out onto the streets of Noxton.

-That was not the nicest thing to do.-

Grim announced.

“I didn’t see you trying to stop me.”

-I didn’t say it wasn’t fun, I said it wasn’t nice.-

The next stop would be Coopervill and her first payday.

 

When the first signs of Coopervill came into view, Kile had mixed feelings. On the one hand she welcomed a descent meal and place to sleep, as well as her first pay, but on the other hand she enjoyed the freedom that the road provided for her. No one was telling her what to do, where to go, how to do it, but then given the course of her first delivery, maybe some should have. It all came down to the outcome, as long as the Hunter succeeded, no one really cared how they did it, and she had made not one, but two deliveries.

She rode into the Apple Blossom Livery where Alisa was waiting for her at the door. The young woman was wiping her hands on her apron as she came down the steps, a sure sign that she had been baking all afternoon.

“Hail the returning hunter.” She laughed and held Grim’s nose as Kile dismounted. “So, how was your first assignment?”

“Uneventful.” Kile replied as she unfastened her supply pack from the pony. “As I said, it was just an average delivery.”

“Well, then you were in the wrong place.”

“Why, what happen?” She asked.

“The story is that Marcus Taylor captured the Minotaur of Calder Falls, single handedly, can you believe it?”

“Wow, that is… hard to believe.”

“I’ll say. He’ll go down as one of the great heroes of our time. I mean to think…”

Alisa was cut short as Grim stomped his foot and snorted.

“What’s with him?” The young woman asked, stepping back from the Mountain Pony.

“Oh nothing, I think he’s been looking forward to a piece of your apple pie. He’s just being a little impatient.” Kile replied.

-Captured the Minotaur single handedly-

Grim snorted again.

“Well, he does look hungry. It’s a good thing that I’ve got a few pies cooling in the kitchen now, but then I always seem to have a few pies cooling it the kitchen.” Alisa laughed. “I’ll have Carl take him to the stables and clean him up.”

-I can find my own way.-

Grim replied as he set off for the large barn.

“You’re going to have to tell me how you trained him so well. I have horses that won’t obey anyone.” Alisa remarked as they watched Grim slowly walk away. “You’re also going to have to tell me why you have a yarrow sitting on your shoulder.”

“Oh, this is Vesper, he’s a friend of mine.”

“A friend you say.” Alisa replied with a nod. “You realize you have spinster written all over you.”

“Yeah, and I’m in no rush to change that.” Kile said as she hoisted up her pack. “So, anything else of interest I should know about, besides the great Marcus Taylor.” She added trying to change the subject, the last thing she wanted to discuss with Alisa was her love life, or lack of one.

“Well, news is that the province of Setton has just mustered their troops to guard the western boarder Lord Eeny has petitioned the crown for more men.”

“That’s to be expected.” Kile replied, although she wasn’t sure where the province of Setton was located or even who Lord Eeny could be. She really should have paid more attention to her political studies.

“Oh yea, and there was an interesting rumor that came out of Callor, it seems that one of their outposts was attacked by a wili.”

“Really.” Kile said, trying to avoid the pun. “What exactly is a… wili.”

“A wili? Oh… It’s an old legend around these parts. My father use to tell me stories about them. Supposedly they were maidens that died before their wedding night and can't rest because of their unsatisfied passion, so on a rainy night they dance naked in the town square, or capture the hearts of men on the open road, luring them away with their beauty down into the waters where they feed on their blood.”

“How pleasant.”

“Well, an outpost of lonely men, you could see where the desire to see a wili would come from. Of course there are stories of them being these hideous demons, but I think I like the beautiful maiden version myself.”

“Yeah, me too.” Kile replied as she shouldered her pack. “I better get this paper work over to Kane at the Guild House if I want to get paid.”

“Remember, we’re going shopping tomorrow.” Alisa told her as she handed Kile back her keys. “We’ll try to find you something more suitable to wear than that.”

Kile neither agree, nor disagree to the shopping expedition, but bid Alisa goodbye and headed down the road to the Guild House. As she passed through the main hub of town, heading for the old bridge and the river road, it was clear that the conversation on everyone’s lips was Marcus Taylor and the Minotaur of Caldor falls. By the time she had gotten from the Apple Blossom to the Guild house, she must have heard six different versions of the story of the Great White Haired hunter and each one was more unbelievable than the next. He had now defeated the Minotaur with his bare hands, wrestling it to the ground and getting him into some type of choke hold until the beast either gave up or passed out. It depends on which story was being told. How was it that the tale of an event that happened no more than a week and a half ago could have gotten so out of hand so fast?

When she entered the Guild House, she wasn’t in the best of moods. It wasn’t that she wanted anyone to know that she defeated the Minotaur, or actually Grim had defeated the Minotaur, it just annoyed her on how readily people were willing to accept the stories of Marcus without any form of proof.

“Back from your first assignment I see.” Kane said in that same monotone voice when he saw here enter.

“Yes sir.” Kile replied, setting both signed documents on the window sill. “I have this…”

“Reverse script.” Kane finished for her as he picked up the second sheet. He looked it over, nodded and stuffed it into a large box under the window before returning to the back room.

Kile paced the floor of the Guild House as she waited. She looked at the open script board to see Eric’s face staring back at her. They hadn’t changed his affiliation with the water sphere yet, that was going to get some unlucky hunter toasted. Egomaniacs biting off more than they could chew, misinformation on bounties, paper work that constantly needed to be filled out, forms and scripts that had to be signed, a general distrust toward the Guild by citizens, this was not what she sighed up for.

“Here’s your pay for the deliveries.” Kane said as he dropped a small coin purse on the counter that actually jingled. She picked it up and held it in both hands. It might not have been much by most people’s standards, but it was more money than she had ever had in her life. She stuffed the coin purse in the courier bag and headed back out into the street.

Kile walked back through town to the Bird and Bay Inn, it was pleasantly quiet. The activities of the night had yet to start and if she was lucky she could have her meal and be out of the dining area before they did.

“Returned in one piece I see.” Beth commented from behind the counter. “How was your first assignment?”

“Uneventful.” She replied as she headed for the stars and up to her room.

She opened the door and dropped the pack on her bed, and felt like following it, but she wanted to get something to eat first. The room, thankfully, was in the same state as how she left it, even with the unmade bed. At least Gus meant what he said about the cleaning and locked doors, if they couldn’t get in, they didn’t clean. She placed her Lann and Long knife in the truck before locking it up again, then dumped the contents of the purse on the table and counted it out.

She was still on probation, which meant that she wasn’t responsible for paying her room, food or stable fees. She wondered how long that was going to last. It wasn’t that she wanted to stay on probation, but as long as she was, she had more money to do with as she needed, and at the moment that need was to send some of it home. As she counted out the coin she was sure she could live off of half the sum, of course that would mean cutting costs where ever she could. Master Folkstaff was rumored to have never stayed at an inn; living in the wild outside the town he was first assigned. If push came to shove, she was sure she could do the same thing, she was pretty good at surviving in the wild and that was where most of her new friends were, and if that didn’t work there was always the Guild House, although she dreaded that idea.

She slid the coin back into the purse. The only thing now was to find out how to send it to her brother all the way in Riverport. She was sure that the Guild would provide the service, she just wasn’t sure if they would charge her for it.

She brushed out her hair, shook out her clothes and headed down for an early supper.

 

Kile sat at a booth in the corner of the Bird and Bay, well out of sight of the otherwise normal patrons. She was scribbling on a piece of paper the list of things she needed to buy as well as the things she wanted to buy and figure out if she had enough money to buy anything. There were some things on the list that she could probably get through the Guild, other things she knew she couldn’t and a few things she would be too embarrassed to ask for. She just hoped that Alisa wasn’t joking when she offered to help her pick up a few things, some of this stuff she wouldn’t even know where to find in Coopervill.

The waitress came around once to set down a cup of tea before heading back to the kitchen. The Bird and Bay had twenty seven different varieties of tea on their menu, so far she had sampled four of them, and she didn’t like any of them, but she was determined to find at least one that she could say she enjoyed. She took a sip of the tea and then set it aside, make that five flavors she didn’t like. It was kind of a personal quest, Morgan had his rosemary tea and Alisa drank a kind of Apple cinnamon tea, Kile wanted a tea of her own. She didn’t like ale, or any of the strong drinks the Bird was known for, so that left just the water and the juices, but with winter on its way, it would be nice to have a warm drink now and then, the juices would wait until summer, there were forty two varieties on the menu and she would try them all.

She turned over the sheet of paper and started to scribble a few more notes on the back. She would send at least half her pay home that way, even if she couldn’t be there, she could still help her brother and mother out financially. It would have to be sent to her brother directly; she wouldn’t want her mother to worry too much, even though that’s what mother’s do. Maybe in a year, when things settled down or when she settled in, she could take some time off and return to Riverport for a visit, although she really wasn’t sure if she wanted to go back, or if she could. So many things had changed, that was another place, and another time.

The waitress came with her meal and stopped short of the table as Kile quickly removed the papers and waited for her supper, but the plate never came. The waitress was distracted as she looked toward the front of the room. From where Kile was sitting she couldn’t see what had captured the young waitress’s attention, all she knew was that her supper was hovering just above her table, slowly tipping toward hers. She reached up and grabbed it before she wound up wearing it. The sudden loss of the plate broke the waitress’s trance as she turned and looked at Kile. There was a moment of confusion on her face, as if she was trying to figure out what Kile was actually doing, sitting there.

“It is my meal… isn’t it?” Kile asked.

“Oh… yes… sorry.” The waitress apologized meekly as she slowly turned to face the front of the room again.

What was so interesting that almost had her wearing her evening supper? She tried to see over the counters and the dividing wall, but the reason she had chosen this booth was because it isolated her from the rest of the dinning room.

“Isn’t he incredible?” The waitress said her gaze still fixed to the front of the room.

“I wouldn’t know.” Kile replied.

That was the wrong thing to say as the young waitress shot her a glance that would have caused Grim to back down. She quickly turned and stormed off.

“What?” Kile shouted, but the waitress didn’t turn around as she disappeared through the kitchen door.

“Mind if I sit down?”

She turned to see a rather large, broad man with shocking white hair and steely blue-gray eyes. He looked a lot taller standing up of course the last time Kile saw him he was laying face down in the mud, actually it was more like he was slumped over his horse, either way it was difficult to judge his height. He didn’t wait for an answer as he slid into the booth. He was a big man; broad shouldered, and took up the other half of the table all by himself. The waitresses were quick to respond, really quick, Kile had been sitting at the booth for nearly half an hour before anyone came to take her order, this guy sits down and has four young waitresses fawning all over him.

The big man looked up at one of the girls, and their eyes connected, Kile could have sworn that those steely blue-gray eyes turned into a kind of golden yellow as he spoke, but it was something more than that, something that Kile could feel but she just couldn’t put her finger on.

“My usual love.” The big man said with a grin.

“Yes sir.” The waitress replied with a slight giggle as she quickly ran off to get him whatever his usual was, the other waitresses moved off a bit slower, disappointed for not having been chosen by the white haired hunter with the steely blue-gray eyes.

The big man slowly turned those eyes onto Kile, and folded his large hands upon the table.

“So, you’re the new hunter.”

“I suppose so.” She replied.

“So you know who I am?”

“I suppose so.”

“Then you’ve heard of me.” The big man said, a faint boyish smile crossed his lips, but it was his eyes that caught Kile’s attention, they slowly shifted between the steely blue-gray to a rather vivid gold. “I brought down the Minotaur of Calder falls. I fought him single handedly with my bare hands in the field, down by the by the river. You saw that didn’t you?”

The way he said it, it didn’t sound so much like a question, more like he was stating a fact.

“That’s not exactly how I saw it, but really, whatever floats your boat.” She replied as she turned back to her meal. Maybe that blow to his head did a little more damage than she thought.

“I said; I was the one that brought down the Minotaur of Calder falls in single combat. I fought him with my bare hands in the open field down by the river. You saw that… didn’t you?”

Again, a statement, not a question.

“Look, to tell you the truth, I couldn’t care less.”

Marcus looked confused and even glanced around the room as if to make sure no one was watching. He then leaned in closer.

“I said, I am the man…”

“Yes, yes, the man who fought the Minotaur of Calder falls in signal combat, something else, something else, whatever. If you want to believe that, that’s fine with me, but really I am trying to enjoy my supper here.”

“This isn’t working on you is it?” He asked.

“What… that story. Uh… no.”

“One moment please.” He said as pulled himself out of the booth and approached one of the waitresses.

She watched as he leaned in towards the pretty young girl and started to speak. She wasn’t sure what the exchange was between the two of them but she felt that same feeling that something just wasn’t normal about this man and especially those eyes. The waitress giggled and handed him a set of keys which the White haired hunter quickly slipped into his pocket.

“Man I thought I lost it.” He said as he came back to the booth and sat down across from Kile “Let me try this again.”

He leaned over the table and stared at Kile, his steely blue-gray eyes slowly shifting to the golden yellow.

“I am the incredibly handsome man that saved your life as I defeated the Minotaur in single combat down by the river with my bare hands…”

“You have got to be kidding.” Kile replied.

“Wow, this is… really awkward.” Marcus said, looking even more confused and a bit worried. “Look… Uhm… how about we start this again.”

“No, how about we don’t. Look, I don’t care if you want to take credit for the defeat of the Minotaur, you’re welcome to it, I don’t want it, and don’t worry. I don’t plan on telling anyone.”

“Wait… please… calm down.”

“Calm down? You want me to calm down. You come over here uninvited, sit down at my table and… you know. I’m not even sure what you’re trying to do. You’re either trying to pick me up or threaten me.”

“Neither, neither, you don’t understand. Look, let me start all over… please.”

“Fine.” Kile said as she pushed her meal away. “Go for it.”

The big man looked a little uncomfortable now, a bit out of his element as he ran one hand through his long white hair.

“Look, I sorry about what I tried to do just now, it was a bit… low, I’d admit it. What I should have said and what I was going to say when I came over was… thank-you for saving my ass back there. I owe you big… I just never had to… owe anyone.”

She watched his eyes, but this time they never changed color. She had a feeling it was something that he could turn on and off at will.

“You’re welcome.”

“Since you’re a hunter, I guess I should do this by the book. I am Certified level three Hunter Marcus Taylor, at your service.”

“Probationary level five Hunter Kile Veller, at yours.” She said as she took his hand, or actually watched her hand disappear into his.

“You didn’t feel any… different… before when I was talking to you… you know, when I told you that…”

“That obviously fake story?”

“Yeah, that.”

“Why? Should I have?”

“Well, actually… yes.” Marcus said as he leaned back in the seat. “I’ve never met anyone that it didn’t work on. I mean aside from animals, and now I guess I can Minotaur to that list. You know my horse still doesn’t listen to me.”

“Although I don’t know why, Rose is very fond of you. She wouldn’t have stayed by your side if she wasn’t”

“Well yeah… wait, you know my Rose.”

“We’ve met.” Kile said as she sipped her tea, it was even worse cold, which was when she realized what was going on. “Wait a minute, you were trying you use your edge on me.”

“What? I don’t know…”

“Yes you do, you were trying to use your edge on me, that’s why your eyes changed color. What is it, some kind of mind control?”

“Keep your voice down.” Marcus hissed as he looked around the room.

“That’s it, isn’t it? It’s some kind of mind control.”

“Well, not exactly, it’s more of a mind nudge, a kind of suggestion.”

“No hunter should ever use their edge on another hunter.”

“You are fresh out of the academy, aren’t you?” Marcus replied. “Look, things change when you’re out here. You have to get by the best way you can.”

“Maybe, but wouldn’t use my edge against you.” Kile replied, not that she was able to, her edge just didn’t work that way.

“Hey, come on, I said I was sorry, and I meant it. Besides, I have kind of a reputation here in town and I didn’t want you to ruin it before I had a chance to speak with you.”

“Well you spoke with me, so don’t worry, I have no intention of taking any credit or soiling your reputations, you can have the Minotaur, the fame, the coin and the credit, it’s all yours.” Kile said as she got up from the booth.

“Sit down Hunter.” Marcus said, and his eyes flickered to a golden yellow.

“You tried to do it again.”

“Sorry… force of habit… please sit down.”

She returned to her seat.

“Let it be known that I am doing this because I want to and not because you suggested it.”

“Look, what I wanted to tell you was... yes, the people of Coopervill believe I defeated the Minotaur, and I am sorry about that, and… quite frankly… I need it.”

“Need it?”

“Fame is… rather addicting. When I got out of the academy I was a nobody. Just another hunter making deliveries, and I was quite happy to be that way, but when I defeated the Troll of Blackmore, my entire world changed. I became a somebody. People were coming from all over to see the White haired hunter. I guess… I got drunk on it.”

“So that makes it alright.”

“No, it doesn’t make it right, that's what I’m trying to say. Sure the civilians think I defeated the Minotaur, that means nothing, well, almost nothing. Once the story’s out, you’re not going to change it, it’s part of the legend now, the fame was handed to me, so yes, I took it, but the Minotaur, the credit and the coin, those are yours.”

“They're not mine, I don’t want them.”

“Oh yeah right, now who’s making things up. You’re a probationary level five, how much coin do you have on you at this moment. I’m wagering ten, twenty at the most.”

“Twelve and change.”

“And you’re saying that you can’t do with the extra. The Minotaur is a class A open script, that some serious coin. I didn’t go after him for the bounty. I went after him for the fame. I got the fame, for better or for worse, you keep the rest.”

“I don’t want it.”

“It’s too late. I’ve already explained everything to Kane at Guild House. Look I may be a lot of things. I’m a cheat, a swindler. I’ve never paid for a drink or a meal since I became famous, but I would never, never take credit within the guild for something that I didn’t do.”

“You don’t understand, I didn’t defeat the Minotaur, it was a… a fluke, my horse had more to do with the Minotaur’s defeat than I did. It was just dumb luck.”

Marcus Laughed.

“Never underestimate dumb luck kid.” He said “How do you think I brought down the Troll of Blackmore.”

“From what I’ve heard you fought him with your bare hands for three days and four nights in a torrential downpour with a broken leg before you pulled off his head.”

“Yeah, that was one of the better stories.” He grinned. “But you want to know the truth of it, it was just dumb luck. You’ve already guessed my edge, why it doesn’t’ work on you I don’t know, but I’m what you call a freak.”

“We preferred the term miscellaneous.”

“So, you’re one too.” Marcus said as his eyes lit up. “Maybe that has something to do with it. Either way, I have the unique ability to, shall we say, persuade someone to do something they may or may not have wanted to do, just by making eye contact. At first I thought it was a curse, I wanted a better edge, a cooler edge, something like walking on air, or throwing balls of fire, maybe even turning invisible. Do you know that Steele can move with rapid bursts of speed? He was able to complete his deliveries before I could even saddle my hose, but the more I practiced my edge, the more advantages I saw in having it. I may not have used it to its fullest potential, mostly to get free drinks or a free meal.”

“Or a waitress’s room key.”

“You saw that?”

“Continue.”

“Yeah, well… I found I could use it better in battle. I could convince my opponent that I was going to move left, when I actually moved right, that I was behind them when I was actually in front of them. I was a natural for brining in bounties, so I figured I could make my fortune in one shot, I would go after the Troll of Blackmore. So I went looking for him in the black moor swamps, looking for this troll, and I found him. Do you know how big a troll is?”

“Mountain, hill, lowland, or forest?”

“Oh… uh… lowland.”

“The lowland troll averages fifteen to twenty feet high.’

“Where were you when I went looking for the thing? But you're right, it stood nearly twenty feet high. How can I make eye contact with something when I’m staring at its kneecaps? So I did what any self respecting hunter would do in that situation. I gripped my weapon and took a deep breath…”

“And you ran.”

“Like… the… wind. Unfortunately this thing was a little bit more tenacious than I thought. He chased me from one side of the swamp to the next. So I find this small cave and head straight for it with the Troll’s right behind me. I dive into the cave, he dives in after me, I hear this sickening crack, and then nothing. I stayed in that cave until the next morning before I would even venture out. You know what I found? One dead Troll. He dove into the cave after me and cracked his skull on the low ceiling. It killed him instantly. So there I am, standing there, a level four Hunter with the Troll of Blackmore dead at my feet. Nobody was going to believe this, how could I even explain it? What was I suppose to do?”

Marcus paused for a moment, but not nearly long enough for Kile to say anything.

“I’ll tell you what I did, I cut off its head and dragged my trophy back to get my pay, and I’m telling everyone this story about how this stupid ass Troll kills himself, and no one believes me. It seemed that this fable, this tall tale gets spread ahead of me and every place I go people are congratulating me and celebrating and I’m trying to tell them that I didn’t do anything but they got it in their heads that I killed the troll in single combat with my bare hands. They’re buying me drinks, they’re buying me meals, the women are… well, you get the picture.”

“I’m afraid I do.”

“The people don’t want the truth, they want the fiction. They want to believe that there are heroes out there that can do incredible things that stand between them and the things in the wild. Who are we to take that security away?”

There was some truth to what Marcus was saying, even if it did feel a little wrong, he was right. The civilians didn’t care how it was done; only that it was done. The less they knew about the dangers, the better they lived their lives in simple bliss.

Marcus got up from the booth and leaned on the end of the table.

“Well kiddo, I still owe you big time, you need me for anything, you just let me know and I’ll be there. Oh yeah, and you should probably go see Kane.”

“Why, what for?”

“What do you think? He has something for you.”

“Oh… then I guess I better head over there then.” Kile said as she got up from the table.

“Oh yeah, I almost forget. I have a message from Captain Jax too. He said if I ever saw the red headed wili again, that he’s sorry and that you’re more than welcome at the outpost of Moran any time, but leave the kelpie at home. I’m assuming that makes sense.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“No problem wili.” Marcus laughed as he headed over to another table and sat down among the patrons who, Kile couldn’t help noticing, were all female. She watched as people congratulated him on the capture of the Minotaur as they slapped him on the back and bought him drinks. She would never have thought there was any similarity between her and the great white haired hunter, but they both struggled with being the odd one out. Separated, because of their unique edges, and yet finally coming to value them as a way of making friends, although hers were real, she couldn’t say the same of his. In many ways he was still isolated.

She slipped out the front door of the Bird stepping into the streets of Coopervill, which were now starting to fill up with the miner coming down from the hills. A few would head straight for home to wives and families, while most would stop off for a few drinks first. Old Lester’s was now full of life and a rowdy song as Kile walked past on her way to the Guild house.

She thought that she was leaving it too late, that the old man may be in bed by now, but the light that filtered out of the shuttered windows suggested that Kane never slept. She opened the door to Local Chapter 42 and stepped into the room. Kane was at the reception window and looked up when she entered.

“I see Marcus found you.” He said in that monotone voice.

“Yes sir, he said you had something for me.” She asked nervously.

If the information about her reckless involvement in the capture of the Minotaur of Calder falls had already gotten to the Hunter’s Guild, this could be the end of her career.

“Normally, when a hunter brings in a bounty, they don’t have to be tracked down in order to be paid.” Kane said.

“I don’t understand sir.”

“According to the notice that I received from the Guild, you are responsible for the capture of the Minotaur of Calder Falls. I don’t mind telling you that I found this difficult to believe, but Marcus did verify the account and so the bounty is yours, minus the Guild’s cut of course.”

“I don’t really deserve it sir. You see, my… horse… had more to do with it than I did.”

“Then give the bounty to your house. All I know is that you have forms to fill out that must be filed and a bounty to pay off on a class A open script.”

“But sir…”

“Look child, the Guild is satisfied that you captured the Minotaur, enough that they have authorities me to pay you the bounty. Marcus is satisfied that you captured the Minotaur enough that he will not contend the paying of the bounty, and I really don’t care enough to bother, so I’m paying you the bounty.”

“So… the Guild isn’t going to… throw me out.”

“Throw you out? Why would the Guild do that?”

“Because I was reckless… careless, I didn’t think they went in for that kind of behavior.”

“Normally they don’t, but from what I have understood, it wasn’t an act of stupidity, if that is the word you’re looking for. According to the report, you not only brought in the Minotaur of Calder Falls… alive, but you saved the life of another Hunter, and that is seldom considered reckless. Now, about the Bounty.”

She had to think a moment, this was a little more than she had reckoned. She wasn’t going to have the fame attached to the Minotaur, since that went to Marcus, and he was welcome to it. She didn’t join the Hunter’s Guild to become famous. She did it to help others. She would be quite happy if nobody knew who she was, The Minotaur was now the property of the Callor province, but the credit within the Guild, and the Bounty were hers. She wasn’t sure what the credit would bring, but the bounty would go a long way to paying off the Veller farm. It won’t get Leon completely out of debt, but it will keep the money lenders at bay for some time until he could get his head above water.

“Sir, would it be possible for me to send the bounty home?”

“You wouldn’t be the first.” Kane replied. “But are you sure you want to send all of it?”

“Well, yes sir, if that’s all right sir.”

“What do I care? All you have to do is fill out the destination and recipient forms then submit them to the Guild, and they will make sure the bounty gets to where it's suppose to go, but I’m not sure you should send all of it.”

“Why not, sir? I can make do with what I have.”

“If it was me, I would sleep on it. The Bounty isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, at least wait until you read this.” Kane said as he handed her a rolled up parchment.

What did he know that she didn’t? She took the parchment from Kane. It bore the Hunter’s Seal in wax, and it hadn’t been broken, but Kane knew what it said, which meant he received something as well.

“Open it.” He told her.

She cracked the seal and unrolled the parchment. She read it then read it again, and then a third time just to make sure that she wasn’t mistaken.

“This is a…”

“Certification letter.” He finished for her. “You are now a Certified Level Five Hunter, which means the Guild no longer pays for your room, food or stable fees.”

“I’m Certified… I’m  Certified Level Five Hunter Kile Veller.” Kile shouted as she clutched the papers to her chest. “I did it, I’m certified. I’m Certified Level Five Hunter Kile Veller. Thank you sir, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, I didn’t do anything.” Kane replied.

“I’ve got to tell Vesper… I’ve got to tell Grim.” She shouted she turned for the door.

“Wait… what about the bounty.”

“The bounty? Oh, that's right?”

“Go, tell your friends, the paperwork can wait until tomorrow, but be here early. I already have assignments backing up.” Kane said as he stepped away from the reception window and mumbled to himself about rookies as he walked into the back room.

More assignments, hopefully they won’t be as routine as the last one Kile thought as she stepped out into the streets of Coopervill, but then she was a Certified Level Five Hunter now.

 

 

 

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Coming Soon:

Hunter’s Bounty