Hunter's Beginning (Veller) Read Free Page A

She just had to take one more step.
    The path was suddenly lit by the flicking light of torches lining the walls before her. The heavy feeling of the darkness had passed, and she wasn’t quite sure what had just happened, why she felt what she had felt, but it was gone now. She could feel the dread, the doubts and the fears slowly drain from her heart and soul. The torches may not have chased all the shadows away, but those that remained were real, and those she could deal with.
    It also appeared that the lights had chased away her belongings. She no longer had her pack over her shoulder or for that matter the hat on her head. She was sure she had a firm grip on it, but it was gone. Her first thought was that somehow she must have dropped it back in the tunnel where whatever was happening to her had happened. That pack had everything she ever owned it in, and although it wasn’t much, it was still valuable to her. Her only choice now would be to go back into the darkness and look for it. As she turned she was surprised to see the entrance of the door leading outside. She couldn’t have traveled more than three feet total into the tower, and yet she felt as if she had been walking for hours. She knew she didn’t drop it in the courtyard, and if she walked back through that door, back past the grinning oni, would she have the courage to return? Her only choice now was to go forward.
    Kile moved slowly down the lit corridor. If that had been part of the examination it was something far beyond what she had anticipated. She was thinking more in the lines of a written test, maybe some calisthenics to prove fitness, something in the way of the mundane. It had never occurred to her that the Hunter’s Academy would employ the aid of mystics. Now she wasn’t sure what to expect. She continued forward until she was standing in the entrance of a large room. It was difficult to gauge the size, do to the lack of lighting, but she could feel the emptiness and the grandeur of the place. High in the ceiling a glowing orb produced the only source of light, and even that was confined to a single shaft that illuminated a small circle upon the floor. As she stepped into the room she suddenly became aware that she was not alone. On the far side, against the wall, a man sat behind a large oak desk, filled with stacks of books, piles of scrolls and the odd sheet of paper. She was sure neither he nor the desk was there before she had entered, but where else would they have come from? There did not appear to be any other way into or out of the room other than the way she had come in, and surely she would have noticed a man pushing a desk past her.
    She could just make out the paleness of his hands as they hovered over an open book. The rest of him was little more th an a silhouette in the dark, wrapped in his black robes sitting against the wall. He didn’t look up as she entered but just waved for her to come closer.
    “Step forward… into the light.”
    His voice filled the room, but it wasn’t a loud booming voice, it was rather soft and calm. It didn’t sound as if it came from him but from everywhere at once. Kile did as she was told and walked slowly across the room. She hesitated for a moment before actually stepping into the circle of light, but when she did a sudden feeling of warmth came over her. It wasn’t so much from the light itself, but from within. She felt completely isolated from the coldness of her surroundings. There was a strong feeling of safety that she had never felt before. It was as if the light was burning off those last lingering doubts from the ordeal in the darkness. The man behind the desk said nothing as his finger moved slowly down the pages of the open book.
    “Your name?” He finally asked.
    “Kile Veller.” She replied in what she thought was a positive strong voice; unfortunately it came out as little more than a dry squeak. This time the man did look up, she couldn’t make out much of his face, he