Hunter's Beginning (Veller) Page 15

  The man’s face was stern, if not severe. He had a scar that ran from his chin, up the right side of his face, over his eye and ended somewhere in the center of his forehead. His right eye was left dead, a milky white orb that stared out at nothing only adding to his grim expression.

  “Line up three deep” Someone from behind them yelled.

  She didn’t bother to try and find out who it was. She, like the rest of the boys, scrambled to form a line, unfortunately she found herself in the front row.

  The large balding man looked over the group and just shook his head as he waited until the lines were formed and the spectators fell silent. This must be what they were waiting for Kile realized, the floor show was about to begin.

  “I am Sir Oblum.” He said in a strong loud voice that had years of practice. He clasped his hand behind his back as he looked at each one of them with his one good eye, as if trying to burn an image of each cadet into his mind. Kile was sure that his gaze lingered on her just a few second longer than the others, but that could have just been the paranoia.

  “I am not only a Certified level one Hunter, but I have received the order of the sword as well as the order of the crown and made a royal knight of the realm, and now it is my duty to make sure that you do not bring disgrace to this institution. You are here because you have passed the entry examinations and therefore must possess the qualities to become a Hunter, but by looking at you now, I find that hard to believe.”

  He paused for a moment and seemed to enjoy watching the young boys squirm under his scrutiny.

  “Do not fool yourself into thinking that you are already Hunters. You may have passed the entry examination, but that does not make you a Hunter, it only bestows upon you the privilege of attending this Academy, but that privilege can easily be revoked. Survive here, prove yourself to me, graduate from these halls and then, and only then may you take the title of Hunter.

  “Look around you, there are only two ways out of this compound, the western gate and the eastern gate. The western gate is known as Venator, the way of the hunter as it leads out into the wild where the Hunter is in his element. The eastern gate is known as Pudora, as it is the gate of shame and leads back into the city of Azintar, where you will be forced to live out your life with the masses, the civilians, never to know the honor of being a Hunter. If you feel you can’t hack it, if you feel that we have placed too much pressure on you, if the burdens of becoming a Hunter are too great, then that is the path you should choose. We will not try to stop you, you will not be prevented from walking out of here at any time you wish, but know this. If you choose the path of shame, if you choose to live among the common civilians, you will never be a Hunter, you will never be allowed back into this Academy.

  “It is here that you will learn what it means to be a Hunter. We will teach you how to think, how to feel, how to survive. You will not only learn how to act, but how to react to any give situation that you should find yourself in. You will learn to use the tools of the Hunter, not just his sword and his shield, his bow and his staff but his mind and his will and his determination, then, and only then will you be allowed to the gates of Venator, the gate of Honor, the Hunter’s gate, out into the wild.”

  Oblum stepped forward, his hands still clasped behind his back as he slowly walked toward the new recruits. He started at the far end away from Kile which she was grateful for, but he slowly moved up the line one recruit at a time. A few he had selective words to share, none of which were very comforting, although Kile couldn’t really hear what was being said, her heart was beating too fast and too loud. If he didn’t reach her soon, if she didn’t get this over with, she would probably pass out.

  The closer he got, the bigger he got until his shadow engulfed her. He towered over her and looked down on her, and Kile suddenly felt a lot smaller than she knew she was. She could make out every line etched deep in the man's face, every scar that crossed his brow, and the dead stare of the one milky white eye. This man must have been intimidating in his youth, because he was downright frightening now. He made a loud snort that caused her to jump and that seemed to amuse him.

  “Do not expect any special treatment… around here.” He said slowly, and she was amazed at the fact that he hardly moved his lips and never moved his jaw yet his words were very clear in more ways than one. He turned away from her and moved on to the next boy whom Kile only just realized was Daniel.

  Daniel stood at attention, his eyes wide, staring up at Sir Oblum, and Kile wondered if that was the same frightened look that she had on her face just a second ago. Oblum stared back at Daniel for a moment, probably trying to think of something to say, but when nothing came to mind, he just gave the young boy that loud dismissive snort and moved on to the next boy in line. Kile wasn’t concerned about who the next boy was, or what Oblum had to say to him, what drew her attention now was the fact that his two Shinar Mastiff had sat down directly in front of her and were staring at her without moving. They were not as menacing as they had appeared earlier, but rather confused, as if they didn’t know what to make of the girl. Of course this only managed to draw more attention to Kile, especially from the spectators on the fence that surrounded them. It started as a hushed whisper that began to grow until they were all talking and pointed at the two dogs and the girl, something that made her even more uncomfortable. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if they were laughing at the situation, but there appeared to be a general concern. Oblum suddenly turned his gaze to the crowds on the fence and for a moment they fell silent, and that was when he realize that his dogs were no longer at his side.

  “Hunar, Gorum.” He shouted, but the two Mastiffs paid him no mind as they continued to stare at Kile. The whispers among the cadets began to grow again, and this time there was a bit of snickering and laughter to go along with it, which on one hand did lighten the situation, if it wasn’t for the fact that she was the center of it, she might have thought it was funny too. Oblum stepped back from the line and silenced the spectators with another cold stare from his dead eye.

  “Hunar, Gorum.” The headmaster shouted, slapping the side of this leg, but the dogs didn’t even turn to look, and Kile realized that they were, for some reason, waiting for her to say something.

  “Look guys, I don’t want to get into any more trouble you better go.” She whispered to the dogs and no sooner had she said the words then the two Mastiffs returned to Oblum’s side. The large man was not amused as he walked back down the line to once again stand in front of Kile.

  “Do you think this is funny?” He asked her.

  “No sir.” She replied in a meek voice that was just above a squeak.

  “I’m gonna keep my eye on you missy. One more trick like that…”

  He didn’t finish the thought, he didn’t have to. Kile knew what he wanted to say, it was all too clear. He wanted her out of there, no sooner than yesterday. He never completed the inspection of the new recruits either; he just turned away from Kile, glared at the spectators, as if daring one of them to speak out. Nobody said anything as they slowly moved away from the gate. Oblum took a few steps; turned to make sure his dogs were still following him, and gave one last look at Kile before leaving the field. There was complete silence in the courtyard, nobody moved, nobody spoke until they were absolutely sure that Oblum was gone, and the show was over, only then did the cadets return to the barracks.

  A few of the older boys stayed around as one hopped the fenced and moved to the center of the ring. He was a tall, muscular young man with short brown hair that was bushed backs. He wore the livery of a third year cadet with his brown woolen pants, knee high leather boots and dark green tunic. There was a small silver pin of a tree fastened to his breast that he idly brushed. He had a light mirthful smile as he approached the new cadets.

  “Well, that was definitely interesting, wasn’t it?” He laughed. “My name is Treeman, Gerald Treeman, but most people around here just call me Tree. I have to congratulate you. That was the
shortest orientation speech that Oblum has ever given.” He said as he came to stand before the new cadets, his hands clasped behind his back, much like Oblum did. “Your belongings have already been taken to your rooms which have already been assigned. Some of the senior members of the academy will now show you the way. Early tomorrow morning you will be given a guided tour of the grounds. I guess the only thing left to say is… welcome to the Hunter’s Academy.”

  It really hadn’t dawned on Kile until she heard those words that she was no longer a wannabe cadet, but a real cadet. There were no more tests, no more trials, no more questions, and no more doubts. Somehow, in some way, in spite of her father’s lack of faith, she actually made it.

  “I’m gonna be a Hunter” She said to herself and for the first time, the words sounded real, although they were a bit louder than they should have been for someone talking to themselves. She felt the blow from behind but could do nothing to stop herself from being thrown forward and hitting the ground rather hard. She rolled over in the dirt to see the greasy haired boy, which she now knew to be Eric Rimes, standing over her with a smug look on his face as he grinned to the two boys that stood either side of him. Doesn’t this guy ever do anything by himself she wondered as she looked up at him.

  “You’ll never be a Hunter, why don’t you just take the walk of shame now and spare us all the humiliation of having you in our class.”

  “What's wrong Eric, afraid I’ll show you up.” Kile replied as she tried to get to her feet, but Eric pushed her back down again. She couldn’t help but notice, as she sat there in the dirt, that none of the other boys had come rushing to her aid. In fact most of them were just standing around either looking the other way, or laughing. So this was what it was going to be like for the next three years, her against them. What made this any different than anytime else she thought?

  “Well.” She grinned as she sat on the ground in front of him. “If nothing else, at least it only took me one time to get through the entry examination.”

  That remark was a lot better than the first one she had to admit, that is if you could gauge an insult’s level from gasps of the crowd around her. She could also tell that it annoyed Eric even more than he already was. His face began to turn red. If she was going to get knocked down, it might as well be for a better reason than just being who she was.

  It was no surprise that Eric came at her again, but growing up with an older brother and his friends, one learns a trick or two, and this time Kile was ready as she grabbed his arm and locked his elbow just before she went down, and although she probably didn’t do it right, his knee did clip her upside the head, she did managed to pull him off balance and lay him out on his back in the dirt alongside her. She heard him go down with a loud thud and an ooh from the crowd meant it must have looked pretty good. Kile was the faster getting to her feet, and she was ready for the next move, unfortunately with her brother Leon, it would have ended there with both of them laughing on the ground, she knew Eric wouldn’t be so easy and she really didn’t have a next move.

  “You better stay down while you still have some dignity left.” Tree said as he put one large boot on Eric’s chest and pushed him back down. “First thing you’re gonna learn here boy is that Hunters look out for one another, if you can’t do that, maybe it’s you who should take the walk of shame.”

  Eric pushed the larger boy’s foot off his chest and scrambled to his feet. He may have been about the same age as Tree, but he was nowhere near as big.

  “You just made a mistake. Do you know who I am? Do you know who my father is?” Eric shouted.

  “As a matter of fact… I do, but the second thing you're gonna learn here is it doesn’t matter who or what you are, once you pass through those gates, you're just like everyone else. We’re all the same here. Rich, poor, beggar, prince or… princess, it doesn’t matter, we’re all the same. You remember that.”

  “You might be the same, the same as them, the same as her, but I’m not, you’ll see.” Eric said as he pushed through the two boys that had come to his aid. He shot one parting look at Kile and she knew this was far from being over. Most of the other boys began to break off as well. It was clear that Tree’s little remarks weren’t only directed at Eric.

  “Kid, you have more guts than brains.” Tree said with a grin that never seemed to leave his face.

  “Thank you… I think. My name is…”

  “Kile Veller, yeah I know. We all know. It's not every day that a girl passes the entry examination, let alone destroys half the testing facilities to do it. You’ll have to tell me how you pulled that one off one of these days.”

  “How did you…”

  “What? Know who you were, and what you did. Don’t you know what Hunter’s are? You’ll learn fast that nothing is a secret around here. One of the primary duties of a Hunter is to gather information, and we have some of the best gatherers in the graduating class. What I don’t know is what you did to Hunar and Gorum. I didn’t think anyone could tame them but Old Oblum, although it didn’t win you many points with the Big Boss Man.”

  “I didn’t do anything... at least I don’t think I did.”

  Tree shook his head. “Whether you did anything or not, you sure have a knack for making enemies.”

  “Oh, that I can do, I’ve never had a problem doing that.” Kile replied.

  “You keep that attitude girl, and you’ll make a damn good Hunter.” He laughed. “I’m almost sorry I’m gonna miss your first year here.”

  “You’re graduating?”

  “That's right, the day after tomorrow we have our closing ceremony, we’re given our papers and then it’s out the Western gate.”

  “Papers?”

  “Destination and introduction papers.” Tree replied as he started to lead Kile toward the large three story structure. “A Hunter doesn’t know where he’s going to be assigned for his probationary year until he gets his papers. Supposedly the guild weights your merit and skill level and assigns you accordingly; personally I think they just pick names out of a hat. I, myself, am hoping for Baxter Bay, but I doubt it, they already have enough Hunters down there. Knowing my luck I’ll be stuck in one of the smaller outposts like Sender’s Gulch or worse.”

  The places were just names to her, destinations she had never seen, never heard of. She had no idea why one was more desirable than the other and she felt ashamed of her lack of knowledge of the world around her. These people were so much more experienced than she was, she was just a farmer’s daughter from Riverport. She wasn’t even sure if Riverport was a desirable place or not, but as far as she knew it was probably one of those smaller outposts that nobody wanted to go to. It wouldn’t do to show her ignorance too soon she thought as she looked around the compound, she had more than enough time to do that.

  “Mr. Treeman, can I ask you a question.”

  “Mr. Treeman… man that makes me feel old.” Tree said as he stopped in his tracks looked down at Kile. “Please… call me Tree, or Gerald if you must, I’ll even answer to Hey you, but don’t call me Mr. Treeman.”

  “Sorry… Tree.”

  “That’s better, so what’s on your mind. I’m here for the next two days; ask me anything you want, by now I know everything about this place.” He said waving his arms in the air as he started to walk. Kile had to run to catch up.

  “It was something that Sir Oblum said.”

  “Ah Well, nobody around her really listens too much to what the Big Boss Man has to say. He’s usually all wind and no substance. If you want my opinion its Garret Boraro the old weapons master you have to be careful of, that’s the guy that holds the most clout around here. Him or Mathew Latherby. Now, don’t let that guy fool you either, he’s not as much of an idiot as he pretends to be. Somehow that guy knows everything that’s going on at any time, and yet I’ve never seen him around. I don’t know how he does it but he wrote the book of gathering information.”

  “Well, it’s just that Sir Oblum said there were only
two ways out of the Academy.”

  “That's right, the Eastern gate and the Western gate. The eastern gate or Pudora is affectionately known as the gate of shame, the gate of disgrace or, as some people around here call it, the Loser’s walk. If you feel you can’t hack it here anymore, that’s the way you leave and believe me everybody will see you go. Since I’ve been here, I’ve seen about two dozen people walk that path, mostly first years, but they never left unnoticed. Then there’s Venator the West gate, the gate of honor also known as the Hunter’s gate for only Hunter’s use it. When you finally achieve your certification like yours truly, that’s the gate you’ll leave by. Got it?

  “Well yeah, I get that much, but what about the southern gate. What do they call that? Surely you can leave by that gate.”

  “The what?”

  “The southern gate, the one that we came through this afternoon, the one that… I guess leads back to the main road, but then again I suppose the eastern gate would too. I mean there really is three ways out of the academy.”

  “Yeah… well… it’s kind of difficult to explain. It has something to do with the original layout of the compound, the southern gate was added when they put the new road in, but the big boss man’s speech has been handed down from headmaster to headmaster, so you see, it just doesn’t have the same effect… Oh look, here’s your room.” Tree said as he stopped in front of a large wooden door and pushed it open.

  Kile hadn’t even noticed they had entered the building let alone reached her room. She quickly looked around to get her bearings; it wouldn’t do for her not to know where her own room was located.

  “These are the dorms.” Tree explained after misreading the confusion on her face. “This is where you will survive your three years, if you survive your three years.” He laughed, and then fell silent, lost in his own thoughts, his own memories. “I’m gonna miss this place.” He finally said.