Jack Templar and the Monster Hunter Academy: The Templar Chronicles: Book 2 (11 page)

The instructors called out for her again. Eva flashed me a smile and took off, jogging after them.

I glanced over to the oak tree and saw a small light flickering inside. I imagined Aquinas sitting there reading through her dusty old books, filled with the information I needed. Nighttime couldn’t come fast enough. I was ready to find out the answers to my questions, even if I had to break into Aquinas’s library to do it.

Chapter Six

H
ours later, when I rolled out of bed, the rest of the dorm was filled with the sounds of fifty sleeping boys. Snores, grunts, heavy breathing and even a few whimpers from nightmares about the monsters they were training to hunt. It created a perfect cover for the sounds of my creaking mattress as I carefully got out of bed.

Will was fast asleep on the bunk above me. I second-guessed whether I should wake him or not, but I decided it was better to do this alone. He was right that the Academy was going to be great for him. I didn’t want to mess up his chance to finally belong somewhere, even if I never would.

I peered out the door, looking for sentries. The grounds were empty but I saw shadows pacing along the tops of the main wall. But these hunters were all looking out into the forest. If there was going to be a threat to the Academy, it was going to come from that direction, not from inside. Satisfied that I was in the clear, I set off on a sprint toward the tree, keeping to the shadows as much as possible.

I reached the base of the tree without any trouble and stood with my back against the massive trunk. I glanced around nervously, certain someone would sound an alarm any second. But no alarm came. I was safe. So far, anyway.

The stairs were open and unguarded but I decided they were too exposed. Anyone on the wall who happened to turn around while I was climbing them was sure to see me.

Instead, I worked my way around to the backside of the tree, searching for another way up. The first level of branches were twenty feet off the ground. If I could just reach those, I’d be able to easily climb to any part of the structure.

Finally, I spotted what I was looking for. A series of gnarled knots that formed a path up the trunk. I grabbed onto the first knot and pulled myself up. I worked hand over hand, trying not to grunt from the effort, scrambling with my toes to find a foothold. I was halfway up when I heard someone cough nearby.

I froze. My fingers dug into a good handhold, but my feet dangled beneath me. The sound had come from just round the bend in the tree. Close enough that I wondered if they had already heard my climbing and were coming to get me. I clung to the side of the tree about fifteen feet off the ground, not daring to move.

Two hunters walked around the tree, talking in low voices to one another. I recognized Darter as one of them, but didn’t know the other’s name. He was tall, scrawny and wore his hair long, down to his shoulders. He had a beaked nose that gave him a vulture-like appearance. They walked right beneath me and stopped.

It took all my self-control not to move. I hung there with all of my weight supported by my fingers. I was wondering just how long I could hold on when I overheard the conversation going on below me.

“I don’t know, Midge. Maybe he is the One,” Darter said. 

“D’ya believe ‘im today? Devil-werewolf? Bah!” the vulture-looking hunter called Midge replied. 

“They say it’s true. Said he faced down Ren Lucre, too.”

“Faced down? What d’ya mean faced down?”

“In battle, you idiot. They say he won.”

“An’ who says that? Templar?” Midge spat.

“No, Eva said so to Daniel. I’ve never known Eva to make something like that up.” 

“If Templar beat ‘im, then why’s Aquinas gettin’ us ready for Ren Lucre’s war, then? Don’t make no sense, does it?”

“I guess not. Still, if he is the One…”

“Ha! The One? Scrawny kid like that? Not inna million years. Better chance I’m the One than ‘im.”

“I had him in drills today,” Darter said. “He’s stronger than he looks. Real strong.”

At that moment I didn’t feel that strong as my muscles were starting to ache from clinging to the tree. I tried to shift my weight a little from one hand to the other but I wasn’t sure how much longer I could last. The hunters below continued to talk, oblivious that I was directly over their heads.

“How about the wolf? How about that? I was there at the gate. There was like…a connection between the two of them,” Darter said.

“Tiberon? Only connection with humans that one makes is with ‘is teeth to our throats. You’re startin’ to worry me, you know that? Daniel says we’re not to make it easy on the kid. You got that, right?”

Even though hearing Daniel’s name gave me a surge of adrenaline, my arms still felt like they were on fire. My fingers were cramped up and I didn’t know how much longer I could last. But if I let go, I would literally fall on top of the two hunters beneath me.

I carefully slid my toe back and forth across the tree, looking for anything I could use to prop up some of my weight and relieve my burning muscles. I found something and pushed down on it.

For a split second, it felt great. Then, suddenly, the piece of bark my foot was on broke off. My body dropped and my muscles screamed as I caught myself by digging my fingers back into the knots over my head.

My legs swung wildly as I tried to get back in control. Once I did, I peeked over my shoulder at the two hunters. The piece of bark must have miraculously landed behind them unnoticed because they were still locked in a low conversation.

“D’ya hear Daniel’s plan for ‘im? First time Master ‘quinas goes on one ‘uv ‘er trips, he’s got a somethin’ real good going for ‘im.”

“What’s he going to do? Is it really good?” Darter asked.

“I’m not tellin’ you.”

“Come on, Midge. That’s not fair.”

“See, Darter? That’s your problem, ain’t it? Thinkin’ things gotta be fair.”

The vulture-looking hunter called Midge walked away and I imagined the smug look on his face as Darter continued to beg him for information. I breathed a sigh of relief as they walked away, their voices disappearing into the night.

I didn’t have time to wonder about the plans Daniel had for me at the end of the week. I wasn’t sure if I would even be around by then anyway.

I scraped my feet against the tree and finally found a solid foothold. I grabbed the next highest knot in the tree and quickly made it to the lowest branches. Flexing my sore hands, I waited until some of the feeling came back. As I looked up, I pondered just how massive the tree’s branches were, each one the size of a tree themselves. Looking around, I spotted a high balcony another thirty feet up and climbed toward it.

When I got there, I saw that the balcony had an open section in the railing that would let a person walk out of the structure and straight onto the tree on a wide branch. Or, as in my case, made it easy to sneak into the tree house.

I cautiously climbed onto the balcony and peered around the corner into the room.

I recognized the area. It was the space just behind where we had met Aquinas the night before. The walls were covered with bookshelves filled not only with old books, but stacks of loose papers, maps, binders and various knickknacks being used as paperweights.

I walked in slowly, testing the floor with each step to see if it would creak under my weight. But the structure was as solid as the tree itself and the floor didn’t make a sound.

I approached the first row of books and scanned the length of them, not sure what I was looking for. The books were so old that their titles had worn completely off their spines. But one book drew my attention—it was set back a little deeper into the shelf than the books around it, as if it were hiding from me. I pushed aside the books on either side of it and saw that it was a tall, leather-bound tome with straps wrapped around it to keep it closed. That, combined with the fact that it was somewhat hidden from view, made me think it was as good a place as any to look for secrets. Besides, in some inexplicable way, the book seemed to be calling to me.

Not a voice. Not even a sound, really. It was a feeling that this was the book I should open. Giving myself over to instinct, I pulled the book off the shelf.

A thick coat of dust covered it and a cloud puffed into the air as I laid it on a table to examine. The straps were an intricate design of looping material, passing over and under like in a weavers loom. I found the end and set to work unraveling it. My hands moved quickly, as if I had unwrapped the book a hundred times before. If I had stopped to think, I might have realized something was off about the whole thing. But something had a hold on me and I was completely focused on getting that book open.

Finally, I got to the end of the binding and removed the last of the straps. I carefully opened the book, angling it to the moonlight streaming in from the door. It looked like some sort of ancient text, handwritten in a flowing style, perhaps in Latin. I turned the page and nearly dropped the book when I saw the picture printed within.

Ren Lucre!

Exactly as I had seen him only weeks before, glaring at me from the page.

I looked more closely, unable to take my eyes off of him. My hands trembled and in my mind I decided to close the book. But my body wouldn’t respond.

My trembling hands pulled the book closer to my face.

I couldn’t stop myself.

Then Ren Lucre’s cold, dead eyes changed.

Right on the page, they started to glow.

Like two pinpricks of fire, right in the center of his eyes, growing steadily brighter, burning a hole in the page. A tendril of smoke rose up in the air.

I tried to turn away, but I couldn’t.

My hands pulled it closer and closer to me.

“Enough!” cried a voice.

Something grabbed the book from me and threw it to the ground. It burst into flames and Ren Lucre’s cackling laugh filled the air.

Then, as if the oxygen had been sucked out of the room, the fire was snuffed out, leaving behind a smoldering pile of ash.

I regained control of my body and staggered backward, holding on to the cloaking medallion around my neck as if that would somehow protect me.  Strong hands grabbed me and guided me into a leather armchair.

A lantern flickered to life and I saw Aquinas with her back to me, poking the ashes with her cane. 

I seized the chance and jumped from the chair to make a mad dash for the balcony. Before I could move one step, a sword whipped through the air and blocked my path. It was Aquinas. And she had moved impossibly fast, with all the agility of a fighter.

I glanced at the door leading into the tree structure, the only other way to escape.

“I hope you don’t try that,” Aquinas said. “I already know you have poor judgment. I’d hate to find out that you’re stupid as well.”

“What now?” I asked.

“You sit. I get tea,” she replied.

“Tea?”

“You do like tea, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” I said, “I guess. That’s it?”

“What? Did you think I was going to have you marched out of here in chains and locked up in the dungeon?”

I shrugged. “Something like that.”

“Sorry to disappoint you. But the good news is…” Aquinas turned her back on me and struck a match, tossing it into the fireplace. The logs whooshed into a high flame that threw the room into a dance of light and shadows. “Depending on how tea goes, that still might happen. Be right back.”

I swallowed hard and awkwardly stood in the center of the room, not quite sure what to do with my hands.

“Oh, and Jack,” Aquinas called from the other room. “Be a dear and don’t touch anything else in there, all right?”

I looked at the bookshelves that surrounded me and shook my head. After what just happened, there was no way I was touching anything.

I backed up slowly and settled into the armchair. With my heart still beating hard in my chest, I waited for my cup of tea.

Chapter Seven

I
sat down next to the fire, the crackle of the flames the only sound in the room. As the seconds ticked by, I found my gaze drawn to the ancient, intricately carved wood table in front of my armchair.

Each corner was carved with a grotesque face looking outward. The two nearest me seemed to be a vampire and some kind of demon—both with their mouths pulled back in a silent scream. Along the length of the table, carved into the flat panel of wood, were dozens of soldiers with swords and spears, locked in battle against dark shapes that swirled around them. I leaned in closer and saw that many of the men were not holding their weapons in their hands. Rather, the weapons stuck out from their bodies, swords pierced through chests, pikes stuck into thighs and necks. It was a gruesome scene of suffering and defeat.

I looked up when Aquinas walked back in carrying a tray with two cups and a small white teapot scuffed on the sides from ages of use.

She set the tea service down and poured out two cups of hot liquid. An intense mint flavor filled the air.

“This teapot is from El-Fishawi,” Aquinas said. “Have you heard of it?”

I shook my head as I took the hot cup from her.

“It’s a coffeehouse in old Cairo. Been around since before your war of independence in America. Right in the middle of the Khan el Khalili souk.”

“What’s a souk?” I asked, taking the cup from her.

Aquinas walked over and stoked the fire with a metal poker. “A souk is a market. Buyuk Carsi in Istanbul is the oldest, but Djemaa el-Fna in Morocco is also amazing. These places are of the ancient world. They have long been gathering places for our kind. For Regs, they can be filled with wonderful mysteries. For hunters, they are filled with information and people helpful to our cause.”

“I have enough mysteries, thank you,” I said. “Respectfully, I’d prefer to have some answers.”

“And you thought breaking into an old woman’s house was the best way to accomplish that?” Aquinas asked, sipping her tea.

“I do think the answers I seek are here,” I said.

Aquinas waved a hand at the bookcases surrounding us. “And you thought you would just break in and grab a book. Maybe one that said, ‘Answers to Jack’s Questions’?”