Free Hunter's Bounty (Veller) by Garry Spoor

the matter?” Emara asked.
    “We can’t get out this way.” Kile told her, although she wasn’t sure of any other way to get out. Dungeons were not well known for having back doors and another flash of fire from the way they came only heightened the urgency of finding one.
    Her only choice now was to give Emara a head start, and hope that the young mystic could find her own way out of the stronghold before getting recaptured. If this Ravenshadow wanted her so badly, then it was another reason for Kile to keep her from him.
    She balanced the sword in her hand. It was still a clumsy weapon, not like her Lann, of course those were long gone, as with everything else she owned.
    “When the fighting starts, I want you to get out, no matter what. Don’t wait for me.” She told Emara as she tightened the grip on her sword and reached for the door handle. It was the job of all Hunters to protect the civilians on any mission, and even if this wasn’t a true mission, she was still a Hunter.
    She pulled open the door, but Emara slammed it shut. If the valrik on the other side didn’t know something was wrong, they knew it now.
    “Emara, what are you doing?”
    “There might be another way.” The young mystic told her. “Another skill… oh if I can only remember how it goes.”
    A flash of fire down the end of the hall, followed by the sound of splintered wood being tossed about proved that the du ngeon door wasn’t really all that study.
    “Guards.”
    Eric’s voice barked up the hallways as his fiery form began to move in their direction.
    The door behind her flew open as one of the valrik poked its head out. It turned and looked directly at Kile with its yellow eyes piercing the darkness, it’s strange disfigured face with its oversized drooping nose and skin the color of wet stone. She gripped her sword and was about to strike it, when it suddenly looked the other way.
    “Where are they? Did you find them?” Eric shouted as he came within inches of the two girls. She could feel the heat emanating from Eric’s hands, even the valrik took a step or two back.
    The guard replied with some gibberish that she still couldn’t understand, but it appeared that Eric had.
    “What do you mean they didn’t come this way, what other way is there?” He shouted as he struck the guard with his flaming right hand, knocking him back into the room amongst a shower of cinders. “You useless sack of flesh, find them, they couldn’t have gotten far.”
    The uhyre fled the room as Eric entered. He kicked over a few chairs, knocked a pot of… probably Shrool, off the table and shattered a few pieces of crockery before heading out through one of the doors on the far side of the room. When the door closed, Kile was able to breathe again.
    “What just happened?” She asked as she stepped into the now empty room. “He was just a foot from us and he didn’t see us.”
    “It worked, Ha… take that Master Tallo, and he said I would never be able to master that one.” Emara said with a grin.
    “What happened? What did you do?”
    “Limited invisibility, its part of the air sphere. Something to do with bending vision around you. I never really understood how it worked but it’s really fun to do.”
    Invisibility, she should have guessed. She had a friend back at the Academy that was able to turn himself invisible, so to speak. It was his Hunter’s edge, but it was a rather taxing endeavor and he couldn’t maintain it for long . It didn’t look as if Emara suffered any ill effects. To her it was as simple as blowing out a candle. That was the difference between Mystics and Hunters, it was all in the way they use their skills.
    “How long can you keep that up?” Kile asked.
    “How long do you need me to?”
    “Until we can get out of here.”
    The problem with the limited invisibility skill was just that, it was limited. It was like holding up a bed sheet and hiding behind it. As long as the sheet was between the mystic and