Hunter's Academy (Veller) (6 page)

“Kile, this is Vanessa, one of my colleagues at the tower and the scholar for the new first years, Vanessa, this is the young cadets I was telling you about.”

“The one that supposedly speaks with animals.” Vanessa finished for him.

First off, Kile didn’t like the fact that Morgan was telling anyone what she was able to do, she was under the impression that the Hunter’s edge was a secret known only by the hunter and the scholar that taught her, and secondly she didn’t really appreciated the condescending tone in the woman’s voice. The one that supposedly speaks with animals, it was a not so subtle way of accusing her of lying.

-It is true
though, isn’t it?-

Ki
le looked at the small white bird that was sitting upon the woman’s shoulder, and the bird was looking at her. It was a soft spoken almost melodic voice, much more gentle than Kaza’s and it carried with it a feeling of calm. She should have known the bird was able to speak more fluently than most of the wilder breeds since she, like Kaza, hung around mystics for so long.

“It’s true.” Kile replied.

“It's not that I’m doubting your claim or anything child, it’s just that I have been searching for a means of communicating with animals for the last twenty years, and so far, those that claimed they could… couldn’t.” Vanessa said, mostly directing her explanation toward Morgan.

-But you can, I can tell. I’ve tried to speak with vir before, but none
has ever understood me, you are different.-

“What do you mean, different? How?”

-Different than most vir. I have always understood that communication with the natural world was possible, but only by the Alva, I have never heard of a vir being able to speak with us, but you possess a different light than most.-

“A different light?”

-All living things give off light, to those that can see it. The vir’s light tends to be dark; they are closed off from the natural world. Whether this is a choice of their own or not, I do not know, but your light is different, yours is brighter.-

Kile suddenly realized that everyone else in the room had stopped talking and instead were watching and listening to her, it was not something she was very comfortable with. She never liked being the center of attention.
She caught the look on Vanessa’s face and wasn’t sure if it was skepticism or intrigue.

“So, are you communicating with my bird right now?” Vanessa asked. “I mean, most of the people I’ve tested that claimed they
could communicate with the natural world had to work themselves into a trance first. You appear to be carrying on a simple conversation.”

“I assure you Vanessa, she is different.” Morgan replied.

“So you claim, but there is still the matter of proof.”

-Don’t mind her, she’s been studying the natural
world for many years now, and has yet to find someone like you. She has grown a little cynical.-

The small white bird told Kile.

-Just tell her Vinaldie-

“I have documented her achievements, what
more proof are you looking for?” Morgan asked.

“No
offense Morgan, but your studies have never been in the natural world. You wouldn’t understand. Tricks can be played on even the brightest of minds.” Vanessa replied. “But there are ways to disprove such claims.”

“
Vinaldie?”

Vanessa suddenly turned and looked at Kile. “What did you just say?”

“Vinaldie. It’s something you’ve told Seki, that she’s been trying to tell others. The idea, I guess, being that if someone could truly speak with your bird, they would know the word.”

“How did you know that?” Vanessa asked.

“Seki told me. She also said that you’ve tested over two dozen people and she has not been able to communicate with any of them on any level, not so much as a stray thought.”

To punctuate this, Seki took off from Vanessa’s shoulder, circled the room twice
before landed on Kile’s shoulders, the one not occupied by Kaza, who seemed a bit put out to be sharing a vir with another bird. Kile was starting to feel like a tree, with a bird on each shoulder and a yarrow in her pocket.

“Then it is true.” Vanessa said turning completely around in her chair so that she now faced Kile. “You can really speak with Seki.”

“Not only that.” Morgan replied with a burst of pride. “She can even perform the Maligar.”

“No, no I can’t.” Kile said, shaking her head, she would never do that again.

“Can you or can’t you?” Vanessa asked her.

“Sorry… I can’t.”

“We had a bit of a problem during one of the experiments I’m afraid.” Morgan explained. “She was a little upset. I was hoping once she got over it, she would…”

“No.” Kile replied. “I won’t.”

“Fair enough.” Morgan said, throwing up his hands in defeat, but Kile knew the debate was far from over. He would try to persuade her again.

Vanessa looked between the two of them. “What exactly happened?” She asked.

“I’d rather not talk about it.” Kile replied.

Morgan was about to say something more but one look from Vanessa and he quickly changed his mind. He looked from Vanessa to Kile and
finally noticed Daniel standing quietly in the doorway.

“Cadet Leary.” He called out “What brings you here?”

“Sorry sir, I hope I’m not interrupting, I was hoping I could talk to you about… something.” Daniel replied.

Kile had forgotten all about Daniel and felt bad ignoring him, but she hadn’t expected to be dragged into this conversation.

“No need to apologize.” Morgan said a he crossed the room and gently directed Daniel out. “We can discuss it outside.”

“Tact was never one of his strong points.” Vanessa smiled. “Please Kile, sit.”

Kile took the overstuffed wing backed chair that had been recently vacated by Morgan. She made sure to shift the pouch that she wore, so as not to sit on Vesper. Kaza was obviously not comfortable with sitting and quickly flew up to his perch on the high shelf. She was sure he only chose that location so that he could look down on everyone else.

“I won’t ask you about the Maligar, I can guess what might have happened, but I would like to know more about what you can do.” Vanessa said as she poured out a second cup of rosemary tea and handed it to Kile
who gracefully accepted it.

“I’m not sure what I can tell you.” Kile replied.

“Then let me tell you something about me first.” Vanessa said as she leaned back in her chair. “I don’t know what, if anything, Morgan has told you, but I’ve spent my life studying the natural world, both the flora and the fauna, I’m one of the few mystics who are influenced by the sphere of wood.”

“He told me that no mystics were influenced by
the sphere or wood.”

“Well, there is some truth to that. You see my dominate spheres are that of earth and wind, but I have been touched by the sphere of wood and that connection to the natural
world has fueled my curiosity and my studies. About twenty years ago, I stumbled upon a manuscript written by one of the alva, and with the help of Morgan, I was able to translate it. Within those pages there was an account of a young alverian girl who could communicate with animals. I spent the next ten years trying to prove it was possible to connect with the natural world on that level, and then the next ten years I spent disproving it.”

“You saw so many fakes, you grew cynical.”

“That’s right, so when Morgan told me he had found a young cadet that could communicate with the natural world, I had mixed feelings. Part of me wanted so badly to come here to prove that you were a fake that I even agreed to instruct a class of cadets just to get into the academy.”

“And the other part?”

“The other part hoped that you were the real thing.”

“And am I?”

“I can’t very well say you’re a fake when my only means of proof is sitting on your shoulder.” Vanessa laughed. “I’ve had Seki every since she was born. Vinaldie was the name I gave her brother.”

-His cycle ended before it began.-

Seki whispered.

“I’m sorry.” Kile said.

“I’m not even sure what species of bird she is, where she comes from, what her real name is.”

“I’m afraid she doesn’t know the answers to those questions either.” Kile said.

“You’ve asked her?”

“It’s a little hard to explain, but yeah, in a way I think I did.”

“What did she say? Did she say anything?”

“It’s not so much what she says as what she feels. From what I understand, most animals don’t recognize species or breeds, they sort of go by feeling, they don’t… really have any definitive word that separates them from one another, so… although I can feel what breed she is, it’s not something that I can put into words.”

“I see, I guess that makes sense. We as scholars place those labels on them, they wouldn’t know one from another, what about where she comes from.”

“Well, that’s a little easier, but you’re not going to like it.”

“Why not?”

“Well… she comes from a room that overlooks the city, with green curtains on the windows, a single bed in the corner with a floral bed sheet, a painting of the ocean on the wall just over a small book shelf.”

Vanessa began to laugh. “My room at the tower.” She replied. “I should have figured that one. That was where she was born. Of course she wouldn’t know where she came from; she was only an egg when I received her. What about her real name, Morgan tells me you told him Kaza’s real name.”

-I’ve only known Seki.-

“Seki is her real name. You gave it to her when she hatched. You’ve been her mother and her friend since then and it’s the only name she’s known.”

As if to agree with Kile’s answers, Seki flew from Kile to Vanessa and landed on the mystics shoulder once again.

“Seki.” Vanessa replied as she scratched the bird's head. “But Kaza had another name.”

“Well yeah, Kaza was owned by another mystic before he
was given to Morgan. He was already named. Seki never had a name until you gave her one.”

“It’s as simple as that, but I would
advise against it.” Morgan told Daniel as they entered the room. It was such a cryptic statement that Kile wished she had sent Vesper with the boy when he left, just to know what he was so eager to talk to the mystic about.

“I think we should probably get going.” Kile said as she rose, with a little difficulty, from the overstuffed wing backed chair.

“Kile, I was wondering.” Vanessa said as she rose from her own chair with a little more grace. “Would it be possible for me to call on you in the future? I feel that you would be a great help with my studies. It would be so much easier for me to view the animals in their natural habitat and to learn from them rather than bring them back to my lab and study their behaviors. You could really save me a lot of time.”

“I would be honored ma’am… although I am kind of training to be a hunter.”

“Oh, I understand, it’s not like I’m gonna steal you away from the guild. Besides, I’m stuck here at the academy for the next three years anyway, so for the most part my research has been placed on hold, but when I’m finished here I may need the services of a hunter to escort me through the northwest region.”

“Well that works out.” Daniel replied. “By then you should be finished with your probation
ary year.”

“If I survive my probation
ary year.” Kile replied.

***~~~***

3

“They’re coming.” Daniel cried as he stopped at Kile’s door. She had it open in the hopes of catching a cross breeze from the window, as the stillness of the summer nights stubbornly lingered on. She looked up from the book she was trying to read, it was not the most stimulating pieces of literature but it was the only thing left on Master Adam’s shelf. She had read the last three sentences six times now and they still didn’t make any sense.

“What? Who?” She asked at random as she tried to come back to the land of the fully awake.

“The new cadets. Word from the gate is that the caravan has just turned onto the road, they should be here any time now.”

And this interested her… how?

“I should care?” She asked, but Daniel was long gone.

She
pulled herself out of the bed, grabbed her hat and headed out into the hall with very little enthusiasm but it had to be better than falling asleep over a dull book on siege tactics. Vesper had gone out for the evening, she didn’t know where and if he came back with some of the vision that he had shared with her in the past, she didn’t want to know.

The hallway was filled with activity as the cadets rushed out of th
eir dorms to witness the arrival of the new first years. Obviously this was a big thing, although she couldn’t understand why. It wasn’t like this would be the last time they see the cadets, they would be seeing them around the compound for the next two years. As she stepped out into the night air she saw the fence line starting to fill up as second and third year cadets were scrambling for a place to view the new arrivals. The torches were lit all along the road, all the way up to the fenced in area where two graduating cadets stood by an open gate, waiting to close the new boys in. She had been on the receiving end of this last year, it felt kind of empowering to be one of the spectators and not the spectacle.