Hunter's Bounty (Veller) (44 page)

“Oh come on Kile, I only have to drop us on the other side of the building. I mean… sure I missed the mark the first time but that was across two provinces, this is only one street.”

“She’s good in short jumps.” Alex replied. “She kind of helped me out with a few of my deliveries. You know, so I could get them done with faster so that we could…”

Emara looked at Alex who quickly shut up. That was the first time Kile had ever seen Alex at a loss for words.

“Okay, if you really think you can get us there, we don’t have much time.”

“Sure I can, just hang on.” Emara said, grabbing Kile’s hand.

“Kile, you can’t go, you’re still under arrest.” Master Adams protested.

“Fine, then as my court representative, you’re coming with us.” She replied as she grabbed his arm. Before he could say anything else they were pulled through that hole in reality.

***~~~***

33

Emara was true to her word. She did get them to the other side of the building faster than if they had gone the long route, but didn’t quite make it to the ground as they  dropped the last three feet into a back alley.

“I hate the mystic arts.” Kile grumbled.

“Where are we?” Alex asked.

It was a long narrow lane banked by an eight foot wall along one side and the back of a row of buildings along the other. Doors led out into the
alley, but they had all been closed, and with good reason as the pungent aroma of trash filled the air.

“It would appear that we’re in the service alley behind the Guild Hall.” Master Adams replied as slowly got to his feet and peeled off what appeared to be a discarded banana skin from his shirt.

“This is gross.” Emara shouted. “My robe is getting…”

Kile quickly clamped her hand over the mystic’s mouth.

“Quite, we’re not alone.” She whispered.

“What can you hear?” Master Adams asked.

“Not hear, smell.”

“Smell, the only thing I smell is week old garbage.” Alex complained as he held his nose.

“Uhyre.” She whispered.

“
Uhyre? In Littenbeck? Are you sure Kile?”

“Believe me sir that is one smell that I will not soon forget.”

Alex quietly sneaked a look around the corner, down the service alley off to the right.

“I don’t know about the
Uhyre.” He said as he returned. “But there are at least five guys standing around down there, all dressed in robes, and one of them is quite large.”

“How did they get into Littenbeck? How did they get past the guards?” Master Adams asked.

“Probably the same way we did.” Kile replied.

“That would mean one of them would have to be a mystic.”

“Mystic…” Emara shouted in anger and Kile had to cover her mouth again.

“If the mystics are working with the
Uhyre, this is bad.” Master Adams added.

Emara
glared at Kile and waited for her to remove her hand from her mouth.

“The mystics are not working with the
uhyre. Mystics do not get involved.” Emara protested.

“Mystics or not, we need to wait for back-up.” Master Adams replied.

“No time.” Alex said as he waved them forward. “There’s Drain now. He’s coming out of the back door.”

“Good, saves us the trouble of going in after him.” Kile replied.

“You are forgetting your lessons.”

“What
, it’s simple. We set up an ambush. He has to pass through here. It’s the only way out. We have him blocked in. We can jump them when they get into the alley.”

“Jump them, with what? In case you haven’t noticed, we are not armed.”
Master Adams pointed out.

She knew there was
something that she had overlooked. The only thing that mattered at the moment was getting Drain, she had neglected the fact that her weapons were now in the custody of the Guild Council.

“You’re hunters
. Don’t you guys have swords or anything?” Emara asked.

“I’m not a field hunter and Kile’s a convict.”
Adams replied. “Besides, no weapons are allowed in the court room. What about you Alex?”

“Sorry sir, they don’t really like anyone carrying weapons through the streets of Baxter’s Bay.”
He replied meekly

“Then it’s back to what I said earlier. Our best course of action is to retreat and observe, we can at least gather information.”
Adams replied as he started back down the alley toward the open streets of Littenbeck.

It was the most practical idea she thought as she looked toward the streets, and it was also a means of escape not only for Drain but for her. Of course they couldn’t really pin anything on her now, not with the Counc
ilman’s conduct in the courtroom, but she couldn’t take that chance. They could slip out of the alley, watch to see where Drain goes and then Master Adams can report back to the Guild while she made herself scarce. She would have to go back to Azintar first to get Grim, then there was Vesper, she couldn’t leave him behind. Somehow the whole idea of running away was just not very convenient at the moment. She turned her attention back to the alley and toward the Guild Hall.

“So much for that
idea.” Kile replied “You with me Emara?”

“Of course I am.” Emara replied as she stood beside Kile.

“What about you Alex?”

“What do you need me to do?”
The smaller hunter asked.

She thought for a moment, and then it occurred to her. It was simple.

“Give me a wall.” She said, and then fell into her edge.

***

As Andrew Drain turned the corner he stopped short, staring at a solid brick wall that now blocked his path.

“What is the meaning of this?” He asked as he looked around for another means of escape, but there
were none. With the high wall on his left and the tall buildings on his right, the only way out was the way he came in, and it wouldn’t be long before the Hunters made that way impassable as well.

Kile stood on the other side of the
new brick wall watching Drain and his men. It was like looking at them through a sheet of water as the illusionary bricks seemed to shimmer before her. It wouldn’t be able to stop Drain and his men if they tried to pass through it, but it was impressive.

The men
were all dressed in long black robes which might have been some form of solidarity with their master Ravenshadow, or they might have just had a sale on at one of the local clothing stores. Three of them were uhyre, valrik more than likely. The black robes didn’t do so well hiding their distinctively long arms or their large bare feet not to mention their rather pungent smell that even overpowered the garbage. They were actually trying the doors but found them to be both barred and locked. The forth normal sized robed figure was vir and may be the mystic that transported them into the alley in the first place, but if that was the case, why didn’t he just transport them out.  He appeared puzzled, but was studying the wall with an educated eye. It wouldn’t take him long to realize that it was simply an illusion. The fifth and largest member of the group towered over the rest, standing nearly seven feet and was probably also of the infra race as he lumber about behind them.

“Now what?”
Adams asked.

That was a good question
Kile thought. Alex was able to hide them behind his illusionary wall and Emara was able to hide their voices but for how long and which would fail first.

“Reinforcements.”  She replied.

“It’s a little late for that.”

“Not really, they’re already here.”

He turned around slowly to see four fairly large mangy dogs enter the alley behind him. They eyed him as they passed, but didn’t seem to take much interest as they came to stand on either side Kile.

“Okay, reinforcements. We might actually have a chance.” He said and then came to stand behind Kile and the dogs. “We’ll have to deal with the mystic first.” He told her.

“He’s already taken care of.” She replied. “I’m more worried about the large thing in the back.”

Master Adams slowly removed his glasses
. Folding them up he tucked them into the top pocket of his shirt, then straightened out his jacket.

“Let me worry about him.” He told her.

Kile slowly turned and looked at him. “Are you sure sir?” She asked.

“I sure.” He replied with a grin.

“Okay, they’re in position, you can drop it now Alex.” She said.

Alex released his hold on the wall and it faded out of existence, leaving the two groups staring at one another across the alley.

“You.” Drain shouted.

“Now.” Kile replied.

Before anyone could move, three feral cats leapt from the high wall onto the black robed mystic. The man screamed as he flailed around trying to detach the animals that were determined not to let go. The dogs charged forward taking out two of the valrik soldiers as Emara dispatched the third with some spell that Kile couldn’t identify, but it sent the robed valrik through the air a good forty foot before he bounced off the wall and into the trash cans. Three Alexes appeared and started running around larger uhyre keeping him distracted as Master Adams charged in. The bookish hunter clenched his fist and with one punch lifted the large uhyre off the ground and sent him flying into the side of the building, Drain made a retreat back down the alley with Kile in pursuit.

She chased him back into the Guild house, down the service hall and saw him duck into the kitchen. She was reaching for the door when she caught the scent
of heavy air. It was like the coming of a thunderstorm. She barely managed to avoid being struck by the kitchen door as it blew off its hinges and slammed into the opposite side of the hall. Waiting a moment to catch her breath she quickly ducked into the room, diving behind the kitchen cabinets as Drain released another of his push spells with a loud pop. It blew off what little remained on the counter tops and even managed to shift a few of the cabinets this time, although it didn’t seem to be as strong as the last one. It would appear that his edge did indeed have a limit.

He was old, he was out of shape, he probably hadn’t had this much exercise in quite some time. He might be good for one more push, but then his edge would be depleted. He would be defenseless she thought, that was until she heard the unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath. Well, maybe defenseless was too strong a word.

“Come out, so we can finish this.” He called to her.

She quickly searched among the debris of the kitchen and stopped when her hands felt the bristles of a broom. She pulled it towards her and broke off the head, gripping the shaft with both hands.

“So, why did you do it?” She asked as she got to her feet. “Why side with him, why side with Ravenshadow, why frame me for the killings.”

“Why? You have to ask why… I would have thought you would have figured that out by now.” Drain said as he extended his sword towards her.

He was measuring his circle of defense she thought as she came around the corner of the island gripping the broom handle. At least the battle field he choice was free of any obstacle. His hunter’s edge had seen to that as he had quite literally pushed all the tables and chairs of the dining hall into the walls, blocking off the three sets of doors that entered the room.

“
Ravenshadow and Prince Jonland are the same.” She said as she stood across from him.

“So, you did figure it out.” He grinned.

“So why me, what did I do? Why frame me?”

“I’m afraid child
, you were just a means to an end.”

“What do you mean?”

“It wasn’t anything personal.” Drain replied with a shrug. “Well, maybe it was for that little bastard, but for the most part, you were just the right tool to shift the power within the council.”

“
That’s it… it was all political, just so you could control the council.”

“He who controls the council, controls the Hunters.”

“So.”

“You still don’t get it do you.” He said with a laugh.
“You’re just like everyone else. You don’t see the big picture. You don’t see what’s happening outside your own little world until it’s too late. Well I hate to tell you this honey, but it’s already too late. I might not have been able to bring down the hunters, but I crippled them enough.”

“Crippled them, for what?”

“Sorry, the time for talk it over, the least I can do is to get rid of you.” He said as he launched into his attack.

It was the classic first maneuver they taught at the academy, the one that Kile had come to call the two handed over the head killing blow. It was quite pathetic, that was unless it actually
made contact, in which case it was quite effective. She flipped the broom handled around, deflecting the attack with ease as she spun past him and countered with a blow to the back of the leg and drop Drain to one knee. She thought she had him until he disappeared. She had forgotten about that aspect of his edge, but then he must have also forgotten who tackled him on the stage.