CHAPTER 11 ~ PROBLEMS

THREE WEEKS LATER

“Maglynar! Get out of there or I am going to shoot you!” I yelled at the animal, completely frustrated.

He was growing at an astronomical rate, but the thing was still a pup. And that meant he was into everything, absolutely everything. Currently, it was a shallow muddy pond. The griffin was completely covered in mud and thoroughly enjoying himself.

“I’m warning you, Maglynar, get out of there!” I commanded again.

The griffin paused in his frolicking for exactly one second, before rolling over in the other direction. I threw up my arms disgusted and started walking, with any luck the animal would stay behind. Not that the tactic had worked before.

I had a good few minutes of peace before Maglynar flew over head of me, raining down drops of mud.

“Argh! You stupid animal!” I called up, but he was ignoring me.

Suddenly, he turned and dove into the woods. Immediately, I drew my dagger and crept forward. He played a lot, but his warnings were undisputed. He had been correct every time he had heard someone near by. His encounter with humans was the difference between Travon and I and the army murdering his parents. When he had first come out of the cave, the little warrior had gone mad with the smell of blood and his parents. It had taken us forever to get him away from the area and calmed down. Apparently, the experience meant he hated all humans, but Travon and I, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, it did make it interesting when he got it into his mind to attack. The first week of my search had been lost on training him to detect and hide from humans, instead of detecting and attacking.

Now, I crept to his side and place a hand on his head.

“Where?” I asked softly.

He arched his neck to the right of us. I nodded and commanded ‘stay’ before heading in that direction. A hundred paces or so later, I discovered two men hunched over a fire.

“Hello,” I called and entered their circle.

They looked up quickly.

“Hello, stranger. Can we help you?”

“I seem to have gotten mixed up. I need to get to the closest village, could you point out the direction?” I asked calmly.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” The second asked.

I shook my head, “Nope. Why do you ask?”

The two glanced at each other. “Slavers travel in these parts. Strangers get pulled more than anyone else. You should be careful,” the first spoke.

“It’s better not to travel by yourself,” the second added.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I answered causally.

“You want to sit for a minute? The nearest village is in that direction, but it’s about a two days walk,” the first offered.

“Sounds good. Thanks.” I said, sitting down.

“Where are you from?” The second questioned.

“Over the mountains. You?” I asked.

“Vedrick. It’s about four days from here. Small village,” the first answered.

Their tag team answers and questions were starting to grate on my nerves.

“Why’d you leave?” I asked.

“Not enough food. We’ve been out hunting trying to collect more, but we haven’t had much luck.”

Strange. I hadn’t had any trouble. They hadn’t collected any by the looks of their mounts. They weren’t being honest, but calling them on it wouldn’t get me any information. And I didn’t need people getting suspicious of my intentions this deep into Aerliya territory.

“I just came from off that way. There seemed to be enough for my purposes. Maybe you should try it,” I suggested helpfully.

“Thanks,” the first nodded.

“You mentioned slavers in the area. Why does your government allow it?”

“They don’t. Well, not on purpose anyway. We are having a hard time stopping them,” the second admitted.

I frowned, feigning concern. “That can’t be safe. No one should be able to own another human. Freedom is one of our most important gifts.”

The two nodded. “We agree. That’s why we warned you. They don’t get everyone they try to take. We do have the Hunter.”

“The who?” I asked curiously. Finally, I was getting somewhere!

“The Hunter. He is a servant of our king. A real hero. He helps to free slaves taken from our own land and he spies on the Elangsia,” the second offered the information.

“Wow, quite a job,” I murmured.

The two nodded, but neither said anything.

“Does he need help by any chance?” I asked, causally.

“Why?” The first asked suspiciously.

I shrugged. “Like I said, I’m not from around here. But I do know what it’s like to be a slave. Anyone opposed to that is a friend of mine. Maybe I’ll stick around and help this Hunter guy out.”

The second nodded, “He can always use help.”

“Can you tell me where to find him?” I asked next, wanting to hold my breath.

“No,” the first spoke quickly. “But you can usually get wind of his activates if you visit the tavern at Haverts. It’s the village we told you about earlier.”

“Sounds great. Thanks.” I slapped my leg and stood, suddenly restless. “If it’s two days away I’d better get started. Thanks for you help. Don’t forget to head back that way for some meat.” I pointed behind me.

“Will do,” the first said skeptically.

“Nice to meet you,” the second added.

I nodded my head and disappeared back into the woods. It was time to collect Maglynar. We had a destination to hit.

***

Five taverns later, I was not so excited about hitting the next destination. Talk at tavern’s was cheap, and while some talk flowed more easily than others, news about the Hunter seemed to be a closely guarded secret. Even his actions against Elangsia were not spoken off. Almost all the information available was that he was the well respected hero. It was more than a little tiring.

Maglynar howled behind me. I sighed and turned to look at my constant companion.

“Now what?”

He screeched indignantly.

“You can’t come and that’s all I’m saying.” I turned to keep going, but the immediately following crash made me turn back quickly.

Maglynar sat on top of a very broken tree. I crossed my arms and looked at him in annoyance.

“You had better hope no one heard that, or I’m going to kill you myself.”

Maglynar cocked his head at me and let out a defiant screech.

“No. I’m going to the next town alone. You cause to much commotion. Now be still, or you will regret it.” I ordered, out of patience.

Maglynar cocked his head at me, but didn’t reply. I took it as acceptance. He had spotted the town early just up ahead. I didn’t need him frightening off everyone before I could get the information I sought.

I trudged out of the woods and into town quickly. The tavern was at the center was in most tons. People crowded the streets talking, laughing, and getting in my way. I ignored the little kids begging and entered the crowd tavern. Quickly, I made my way to the bar, sat, and ordered some ale. Within minutes, the lukewarm drink was in front of me and I was focused on the conversations all around. It was a bigger town and the ale flowed freely, which might mean looser tongues. That was something I desperately needed right now.

If anyone ever says that men do not wage their tongues as much as women that person is a fool. The conversations reaching me were pitiful. Everything was discussed, who’s wife was cheating and what the guy would do when he caught her, who had the best crops, what the first born son was up too, who had mastered a new weapon, and more. None of it was interesting to me however, which was a disappointment.

“’Scuse me, mister,” a young voice called from my right hip.

I glanced down to see a small blond headed boy standing there. “What?”

“Are you the Hunter?” He asked, brown eyes wide.

“The Hunter?” I looked at him again in surprise. “Don’t you know him?”

The boy shook his head. “Nope, mister. But he brought my best friend, Jerkome back. I gotta thank him.”

“Did he?” That was interesting. “When was this?”

“Earlier.”

Helpful kid, I thought sarcastically. “Where is Jerkome now?”

“His mom took him home. He wasn’t suppose to leave,” Jerkome said seriously.

“Gartune! Get back here right now!” A low timbered voice ordered.

Gartune’s head ducked quickly as he scurried to the bartender’s side. I watched the scene with interest.

“I don’t you not to bother customers. The Hunter ain’t comin’ through ‘ere!” The bartender grabbed the boy and shook him as he spoke.

“But he did! And Traket said he was here now!” Gartune insisted on protesting.

The bartender shook him harder. “Shhhh! He ain’t! I don’t know what possessed Traket to talk to a scrawny kid like you. But that man ought to keep his trap shut!”

Gartune’s eyes were wide by now, but he was quickly nodding his head as if the bartender spoke ultimate truth. The kid didn’t believe a word of it, but he wasn’t going to let the old man know that. Smart kid. I had to find this Traket. Within seconds the bartender had sent the kid away and minutes later I followed.

Causally, I made my way to the back of the tavern. Outside, the sun had finally started to drop, but there was still plenty of light. I glanced around the backyard and headed for the barn. Inside, it didn’t take long to find the kid snuggled on a pile of hay in one of the corners.

“Hey, kid,” I greeted causally.

He looked up startled. “Hi, mister.”

“That was rough,” I commented. “You’re a strong kid.”

The boy nodded.

“Who is Traket?”

“He’s my friend.”

That was helpful. “How come?”

“He tells me stuff. I’m no little kid to him. Even if he’s really old.”

“Stuff like what?” I asked.

“Like stories ‘bout all kinds of things. He tells me secrets too.”

“About the Hunter?”

Gartune lowered his head, but nodded.

Now we were getting somewhere. “What did he tell you about the Hunter?”

Gartune looked at me silently. I knelt down, so we were on eye level.

“Traket wouldn’t have told you unless he trusted you to tell the right people. I’m that person. The Hunter is my friend and I want to find him. It is important I get to him quickly. Can you help me?”

Gartune looked torn.

I tried one last tactic. “I can thank him for you. You know, about Jerkome.”

“You’d do that for me?” Gartune asked, in wonder.

I nodded. “I’ll even tell him you sent the message. He’ll be glad you thanked him. He doesn’t get that too often.”

“He doesn’t?” Gartune asked, shocked.

“No,” I shook my head seriously, “Most people don’t take the time.”

“Traket said he was staying in his hunting shack.”

Finally! “Do you know where that is?”

He nodded proudly. “It’s by the stream. Me and Jerkome walked a whole two days to get there with Traket! We did real good!”

“What way did you walk?”

“Up.”

North then. “Gartune, this is really important. Are you sure the Hunter is there? Should I check with Traket?”

“He went home. I’m sure.” Gartune made is sound like home wasn’t very close.

“Thanks, Kid. You did good.”

It wouldn’t take Maglynar long to fly over and check it out. If someone was there, I could follow. It may have come from a kid, but it was the best lead I had. I was going to use it.

***

Maglynar had spotted the Hunter immediately, my problem was I didn’t have proof it was the Hunter, since I had never seen him. It had taken me a full day to settle down Maglynar far away from the cabin, where his annoyed screeching and squawking couldn’t reach the ears of the Hunter. The idiot hadn’t wanted to stay for any reason. I had ended up letting him kill two elk and a large wolf in order to get him to stay. With food ready to eat, the griffin had finally been appeased.

I brushed a bush twig out of my face, annoyed, and shifted my position. The cabin was deep in the woods, but it a small stream did run directly behind it, just as Gartune had promised. An earlier trip around the cabin had revealed only one door in the front and a window on each wall. A tree hugged the front most corner so closely, it looked like it was part of the wall itself. It gave an extra barrier to the front door. I didn’t have a floor plan, but it looked like it was a single room. My main question was where the bed was located. If it followed normal pattern, it would be in the back left hand corner. I needed to move fast, I didn’t trust the legendary Hunter not notice someone was out here watching him.

The cabin door opened and an older man walked out into the dimming light. He glanced around and then called back into the cabin, but I couldn’t here what he said. He laughed, nodded his head, and pulled the door shut behind him. He picked up a bag that had been sitting on the small front step, slung it over his shoulder, and walked down to the stream, heading out of sight. He had to be Traket.

That left only the Hunter. He had to be the one inside. Maglynar had only seen two humans. That left only one. I watched the house for anther two hours, before I was forced to move closer because the moonlight was all I had to see by. Another half hour passed, before the light when on inside, it was late, but it had at least come on. A single shadow moved inside the room. Staying in the shadows I moved even closer. Soon, I was outside one of the windows. A person sat at the table inside eating a small meal. His face, unfortunately, was constantly in the shadow. However, his clothing looked like one who was very familiar with living in the woods. Glancing around further, I finally spotted the bed located just where I had thought. There were no surprises here.

Ducking down, I crept back into the tree line to wait. It was almost too simple. Once the Hunter went to bed I would take him out. I didn’t want to get too cocky, a legend was not someone to mess with lightly, but this was one legend that was about to end.

The thought gave me a slight pause. What would it mean f I did succeed in killing a legend? Would I finally be ready then to meet Duard? Somehow that didn’t match, maybe if I was meeting the Hunter in face to face combat, but not this way. And right now, the main object was getting out from under Ricald. Still, it was a shame to lose such an opportunity to test my skills. I was essential slaughtering Travon’s hero. He knew I was killing the Hunter, he didn’t need to know how. The light in the cabin went dark. One more hour and it would be time to move.

***