Hunter's Bounty (Veller) (16 page)

“You are Erin Silvia… are you not?” Alisa asked.

“Yes I am.”

“Please, come inside where we can talk.”
She said as she started toward the farmhouse, not waiting to see if they were following.

Erin
turned to Folkstaff who just shrugged and motioned for her to go first. They followed the young woman into the house which was filled with the smell of freshly baked apple pies, which, since they covered all the flat surfaces in the kitchen, should not have come as a surprise.

“Please be seated.” Alisa said, directing them to
the chairs around the table as she put a pot of water on. “I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer you, unless you like pie.” She laughed.

“That’s quite alright.”
Erin replied.

“Speak for yourself, I’d love a slice.” Folkstaff added.

Alisa took a couple of cups from the cupboard and set them on the table. She looked Erin over again, as if still deciding what she wanted to say.

“Look.” She said as she started to cut into one of the pies. “Kile spoke a lot about you, which is why I feel I have to trust you. But you have to answer me this one question first. Do you really think she did what they’re saying she did?”

She set the slice of pie down in front of Folkstaff but was looking at Erin.

“No, I don’t think she did any of it.”
Erin said. “Unfortunately the evidence against her is damaging, and we have not heard her side of the story.”

“Do you think she’ll have a chance to tell it?” Alisa asked.

“Not if we don’t get to her first.”

The young woman nodded, as if assuring herself that she was doing the right thing before she walked into the other room, when she came back she was carrying a small cloth bag.

“Her horse arrived back here without her that was about four days after she left on her assignment. She told me she was going to be right back, that it was a simple delivery. She disappeared for a week, when she did come back she was wearing this.” Alisa said as she handed the cloth bag to Erin. “I was going to burn it, but I thought it might support her story or something.”

The moment
Erin opened the bag Folkstaff turned his head and pushed his half eaten pie away.

“Close it.” He said calmly. “I can tell you what wore that before her. It’s got the stench of
the uhyre on it.”

“Why would she be wearing something
like that?” Alisa asked.

Erin
closed the bag and quickly set it off to one side. “She wouldn’t, unless she absolutely had to.”

“Did she say anything else, anything at all about where she was for the missing week?”

“No, she was rather reluctant to say anything about what happened. Well... there was that one thing she had said. She did mention that she was shackled to a wall for a week with only a rat to talk to. She even had the scars on her wrist to prove it.”

“Do you have any idea where Kile could be heading?”

“I’m afraid not.” Alisa replied. “She didn’t want to tell me because she didn’t want me involved, but she did mention finding Emara Lon.”

“Emara Lon, why her?”

“Well, Kile said that they helped each other to escape. They split up or something, I didn’t really understand and she didn’t really explain. Who is this Emara Lon anyway?”

“Emara Lon is quite
possibly the next grand Magus of the Mystic Tower.” Folkstaff added.

“The what?”
Erin asked, this time it was her turn to be confused. She had only read the name in the report, the exact nature of the girl was left out.

“Grand Magus. The mystics believe that every generation or so there is a young man or woman that is influenced by all eight of the
mystic spheres and that he, or she, will become the next Grand Magus and lead the Mystic Tower into a new direction with a new purpose.”

“What purpose?”

“It’s different for every Grand Magus. The last one had his sights set more on internal affairs. That’s why, for the last four decades, the Mystic Tower has been keeping mostly to themselves. The one before that was looking for some sunken city in the black sea, although I believed he drowned shortly after being sworn in.”

Erin
looked at Folkstaff “How do you know all this?” She asked.

“My brother is a mystic.”
Folkstaff replied as he picked up his fork and proceeded to finish off his apple pie.

“Well, can’t she help? This Emara Lon
, can’t she prove Kile couldn’t have done what they said she did?” Alisa asked.

“Assuming we could find her.” Folkstaff added. “Mystic’s aren’t exactly forthcoming with their whereabouts. It’s a bit of a surprise that they even informed the Council of her disappearance it the first place.”

“Which means we return to Littenbeck, where we started.” Erin said as she got up from the table.

“There is one more thing.” Alisa added. “I don’t know if it means anything, it could just be my imagination.”

“What do you mean? What is it?”

“Well… Kile seems a little different, a little… I don’t know… disconnected.”

“Disconnected?”

“From
… well… people, almost as if she didn’t belong anymore.”

“Is this recently, since she came back?” Folkstaff asked.

“Well, not really. I mean I’ve noticed that she’s been spending more and more time alone, in the woods with Vesper, and she doesn’t really socialize with anyone in town, and she spent last winter’s feast in my barn with her horse. I just passed that off as being, well… Kile. But since she came back it’s been… different. More noticeable. She referred to people as vir, and she carried on a conversation with her horse just before she left, and then there was… the bath.”

“What about the bath?”

“I was pestering her about where she was and what she did and she got mad, that’s when she told me about the week she spent in shackles… but… well, maybe I just imagined it.”

“Imagined what Alisa? Anything that you can tell us will only help.”

“When she got mad she seemed almost… well… how can I explain it? We had a stray cat in the barn a couple of years back. I fed it every day and he seemed nice enough, he even let me stroke him. When winter came I started to feel sorry for him so I tried to bring it into the house… it just went wild. He started hissing and scratching and I had to let him go. I never saw it after that. That’s what she looked like when she got mad, for that split second she looked just like that wild animal, and I would almost swear her eyes turned yellow.”

***~~~***

10

Kile spent the next four days traveling north through the woods on her way to Littenbeck. She only ventured on the road at night and that was only to make sure she was going it the right direction. The traveling was slower, but she knew that if the Hunters were looking for her, they would be looking for her on the road.

She was forced to ditch a lot of the stuff that Alisa had packed for her in the table cloth. It was a nice gesture, something that she was grateful for, but most of the items were a bit impractical, as was most of the clothing. She wasn’t sure why Alisa had packed so many pots, pans, bowls and baking utensils in the bag, although she did keep one small pot, the rest had to be left behind.
She could only hope that when this was all over, and if she was still around to do so, she would be able to find the spot that she left half of Alisa kitchen so that she could return it to her. Otherwise she had a lot of items to replace.

The money was a welcomed
surprise, as was the food, especially the apple pies, even if they didn’t survive Alisa’s packing very well. They had gotten mixed in with the clothes and Grim had to eat them off of a frilly blouse and a pair of slacks, not that Kile had any intention of wearing the clothing. It was clear that Alisa had never been on the run before, since bright pastel dresses were not something that one could wear in town without going unnoticed. The rest of the food that Kile managed to sort out included a variety of fruit, along with the fruit bowl, a squashed loaf of bread and a jar of honey that, for some reason, didn’t have a lid, but it did take care of the rest of the clothing.

With her sack of supplies greatly reduced, she was making good time when she crossed the boarder into the Lunvalt province. Unfortunately, by then, she was forced to take to the roads since the province was known more for their open lands th
an they were for their forests. She would stick out like a sore thumb, riding on the back of a large black Mountain Pony across the open plains.

It had been four years since she was last in Littenbeck, and that was as a nervous fourteen year old girl, away from home for the first time, trying to take the entry examination for the Hunter’s Academy. She was lost, confused and scared out of her wits. Strange how some things never change.

She entered the city through the western gates and felt every guard’s eye upon her. Did they know who she was? Did they recognize her? Did they recognize Grim? Nobody had told her to stop, that alone was a good sign. It was possible that Littenbeck might have been the only city that wasn’t crawling with Hunters looking for her. What Hunter in their right mind would look for her here? The Hunter’s Library, the Hunter’s Hospital and of course the Hunter’s Guild were all located in Littenbeck. She had virtually walked into the dragons den. Thankfully all the dragons were out looking for her.

She stopped at the first stables she saw
. It was not the best of places. It looked as if it was one sneeze away from being a vacant lot, but she couldn’t risk riding Grim through the streets. Not too many people rode Mountain Ponies.

-You can’t be serious.-

Grim commented as he took one look at the old two story barn.

“You have to stay somewhere, and if I put you up in too fine a place, you’re likely to be noticed. Besides, I’d like to be able to return some of the money back to Alisa.”

-If you survive this.-

“Thanks, it’s not like that hasn’t crossed my mind.”

“Can I help you ma’am?” A dark haired man asked as he stepped out of the stables. She wasn’t sure if he had seen her talking to Grim or not, but he did keep a respectable distance. Then again, it could be out of fear of the Mountain Pony.

“I was wondering if I can stable my horse here.”

“Really.” He replied as he looked Grim over.

She
wasn’t sure if he was surprised because she wanted to stable the Pony with them, or surprised that she wanted to stable anything with them. The place didn’t look as if it did much business, but the more people that stay away, the less Grim would be seen.

“It would only be for a day at the most.”
She added as she dismounted.

Vesper jumped from Grim’s head onto Kile’s shoulder as she approached the dark haired man. He eyed her suspiciously, but he appeared to be more interested in her funds than her travel companions.

“It’s the same price whether it's the day or half a day.” He told her.

She dipped into her
pocket and pulled out a few coins, dropping them into the man’s outstretched hand. He checked them over once before waving at the stables. Two young boys appeared from within.

“Please be good.” She pleaded with Grim before the boys could take him away. She watched him disappear into the depths of the barn and was starting to have second thoughts. Not so much about leaving him, but about leaving him unattended, he had a way of making trouble. Regrettably she didn’t have much of a choice as she turned back to the dark haired man.

“I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find the Hunter’s Guild Hospital.”

“
Surely you can see that from here.” He said, pointing down the street.

She tried to see what he was pointing at, but had very little luck since none of the buildings actually looked like a hospital, not that she knew what a hospital should look like.

“I’m afraid I’ve never been to Littenbeck before.” She lied. He didn’t have to know about the first time.

“There.” He said, pointing again. “Look up the street, see where that Green banner is waving. That’s the Hunter’s Guild
Hall. The Hospital is right behind it.”

“So close to the Guild
Hall.”

“Of course it’s close to the Guild
Hall. It’s in the same building.”

She thanked the dark haired man as she headed down the street. She hadn’t considered the fact that the Hospital was actually part of the
Hall. She had assumed that the two places would be in different buildings, preferably on different ends of the city. It was one thing to walk into the dragon’s den. It was another to walk into the dragon’s mouth.

The city of
Littenbeck was not as she had remembered it, but she had only seen the one street, and even then she had been caught up in the crowd. If it hadn’t been for the guard that escorted her to the mystic tower, she would never have arrived at the entry examination. She turned to the south, looking over the tops of the building to where the dark, misshapen structure of the mystic tower stood against the sky. That, if nothing else, was exactly how she remembered it. Emara would have to be in there somewhere.