Hunters of Sian - Book 2. The Užaren Canyon

Ghosts of the Past

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Chapter Three

Ghosts of the Past

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By the end of the first week, Nell was finally starting to get back into the rhythm of training. He had another few days before he would get the chance to rest. The apprentices were given every tenth day off from classes to catch up on homework and 'relax'. Nell was looking forward to it already. The workload this year seemed to have increased tenfold. In a way, it had to do with the addition of their new classes, but it was more that their instructors just expected so much now from them. From their first year, Nell knew that they wouldn't be told where they would be stationed or what they would be hunting until much later into the year. So for now, they were just learning the 'basics.'

The third years, with the exception of Derek, were all fairly irritable and painful to be around. What was worse, they seemed to have formed a ganglike bond with Denzel and his two lackeys, Arlen and Nigel. It wasn't too surprising. The three boys were the biggest of the second years and all of noble blood, made obvious by their platinum blonde hair. Nell didn't let it bother him much. He had had very few friends growing up in his tiny village. Now he had more than he could have imagined. He and Jeremy sat in the stables after class to work on their linguistic assignment. This was only made slightly harder by the distracting sound of tearing flesh and crunching bone from their two dracks eating noisily in their stalls.

The banquet hall was open at all hours. With classes over for the day, they could wait longer to go to dinner. Todd, one of the stable managers and an old friend of Nell's, brought the boys some juice and bread rolls to keep them going.

'You didn't have to Todd,' Nell said as he gratefully accepted the pitcher.

Todd grinned. 'Nah, you two are better behaved than most of the apprentices. Consider it a thanks for feeding your grumpy beast so myself and Amy don't have to,' he laughed. Jeremy grinned and took a huge bite out of the first bread roll.

Nell frowned. 'You mean Denzel and the others don't feed their own dracks?' he asked in amazement.

Todd snorted. 'Not likely. They parade around this place like little princes. Most humans won't have anything to do with their animals unless their masters force them to. That girl, Sumaya spends time with her pretty drackina but she never says much. Derek does his bit but doesn't stay longer than it takes to hurl meat at his mount. Pretty sure the beast has taken a few chunks out of him in the past.'

'What about Marshall?' Nell asked with some concern.

'The scrawny noble with the iron-grey animal? No, I think he's scared of his animal. Doesn't come near the stables outside lessons,' Todd replied with a shake of his head.

Nell winced. 'He should. The dracks will never get used to us if we don't spend any time with them.'

Todd shrugged. 'True. They probably know that too. Deep down. Anyway, I'll let you get back to your work.'

'Fank-uo!' Jeremy said thickly through a hefty mouthful of bread. Nell laughed. They managed to finish their translation in under an hour (with much help from Jeremy). Nell padded into the banquet hall. The bread and juice had been good, but he was deeply invested in something more interesting for dinner. The hall was loud as usual but most of the younger apprentices had finished dinner and gone to bed or off to the library to study. Nell found Sallos standing in a group of other demons. Nell raised a hand to wave before pausing.

He couldn't remember a time he had ever seen Sallos look so grave. His master's expression was deep set and concentrated, listening to a tall demoness as she spoke. The sight of it made Nell's stomach twist uncomfortably, an instinct in him telling him something was out of balance in his world. Sensing the eyes of his apprentice, Sallos briefly looked his way. Nell tried to show his concern in his face. The demon blinked and gave the tiniest of head tilts towards the huge food tables. Go eat.