Free Hunter's Academy (Veller) by Garry Spoor Page B

much.
    “Vesper, could you move the bar.”
    -Bar too big, take many yarrow to move it. Can get many yarrow-
    She could picture that, a sea of yarrow coming over the horizons, storming the dorm s. That wouldn’t go unnoticed.
    “What about the bar on the window, could you move that.”
    -Don’t know, didn’t see.-
    Vesper replied as he shot under the chest of drawers and through a small hole in the wall. She waited for a while, and then tried the door again but whatever it was that he barred it with was solid enough. The door wouldn’t budge even a fraction of an inch. A sound at the shutters caught her attention.
    “Vesper?” She called as she got close to the window.
    It was the sound of something fanatically gnawing on the other side. She gave the shutter a gently push and this time it moved, enough that she could actually see out of. She peeked through the small opening and saw vesper sitting on the ledge.
    -Metal-
    The yarrow told her and the word carried with it a vision of a long knife wedged between the two handles of the window shutters. He had been chewing the wood around the outer edge of the window, loosening the end of the long knife.
    “Very good Vesper.” She told the yarrow.
    He started in on the wood again, but this was taking longer than she had. She could only hope that he had done enough.
    “Get clear Vesper.” She called thought the crack, and then picking up the chair and using it as a ram she shoved it at the window with all her might. There was a satisfying crack, or it was until she realized it was from the chair and not the window.
    “Perfect.” She said as she dropped the pieces of the chair on the floor. “Now what?”
    She pried off one of the chair legs and worked it in between the shutters. Grabbing the other end with both hands and bracing her feet against the wall she pulled as hard as she could. The shutter flew open and she flew backwards across the room, colliding with the far wall.
    -Kile okay?-
    Vesper asked from the now open window.
    “I am now.” She grinned as she got up. “Thanks Vesper, I might actually make it to class on time.”
    -Hunar here.-
    “Hunar, what’s Hunar doing here?” She asked as she got up off the floor and leaned out the window. Sure enough the large black Shinar mastiff was sitting under the window staring up at her from the ground. There was a rope around her neck and she was tied to the one of the trees.
    “Hunar, what are you doing here?” She asked the dog.
    - I think I’m supposed to keep you from getting out.-
    Hunar replied, and those words carried a tone of embarrassment. She had somehow been tricked like Kile , and Hunar was not very happy about it.
    Kile dislodged the long knife from the other window and pushed open the shutters.
    “Watch out, I’m coming down.” She warned the dog as she dropped from the window, landing softly on the grass below. “Who did this to you?”
    -Tricked me, led me here, tied me up.-
    “Who tied you up? Who led you here?” Kile asked as she tried to untie the knot. She should have brought the long knife down with her. It was strange that Eric would leave a long knife to bar the window when any old piece of metal would work, but if Eric used the knife there had to be a reason for it. Was he expecting her to use it on Hunar in order to escape? That seemed a little drastic, even for Eric.
    - Don’t tell Gorum-
    Kile had to smile at that one; Gorum was always lecturing Hunar on her being too rash and headstrong. If he found out that she was so easily tricked, she would never hear the end of it.
    “Don’t worry, this will be our secret.”
    With that reassurance, Hunar’s disposition changed. She was no longer embarrassed, now she was only fuming.
    -Boys will pay.-
    The dog growled, and Kile received a very vivid image of what Hunar was planning to do to the boys, one that sent a chill down her spine.
    “Hunar you can’t.”
    -Why?-
    “Because, you don’t respond to a practical joke by