The NightWalker's Son

Chapter 4

The dining hall it seemed to Malthyal was a death trap waiting to happen. It was filled with both kids only a few years older than himself and adults of all ages and they were all staring at him like they wanted to hurt him very badly. What Malthyal didn't know then was they were just all simply jealous. Not only was he the youngest person to ever be accepted into their ranks he was also the child of the NightWalker. Malthyal quickly got his food (which was just a big plate of slop that he never really understood what it was) and sat down.

It didn't take long for three kids to come over to him and the one in the middle who seemed to obviously be the leader spoke up "So your the NightWalker's son?" He asked "not much to look at" his buddies snickered.

"Nice to meet you" Malthyal said trying to be polite like Jonas always taught him.

"Yeah whatever" the boy said "I'm Butch just remember that" he signaled to his goons and the trio walked away.

"Don't let them bother you" said a girl's voice behind Malthyal that made him jump.

He looked behind him and saw the most beautiful sight he thought he would ever see. She had flaming red hair and she was in a pure black cloak with eyes bluer than the ocean.

"Oh uh I'll remember that" Malthyal said not knowing what else to say "I'm Malthyal by the way."

"Nice to meet you Malthyal my name is Amber" said the redheaded girl. "Listen, I got to go continue training but I ill see you around."

"Okay see you around" Malthyal said as Amber got up and walked away.

The rest of breakfast Malthyal only thought of Amber.

After breakfast Lucia got Malthyal and took him to a small room with nothing but two doors and Master standing there.

"Are you ready to begin your training?" She asked.

"Yes I am" Malthyal said now more determined then ever.

Master nodded to Lucia and Lucia said to Malthyal "then this is where I leave you, in good hands I might add" then she kissed Malthyal on the forehead and without another word she left through the door they had entered.

"Let us begin." Master said with enthusiasm.

She opened the door opposite and the two entered. Malthyal was surprised because this door led into a big room with many booths that seemed to teach different skills like one seemed to teach how to pick locks and another showed how to sneak but what really caught Malthyal's eye was a tall climbing wall in the corner of the room. Without thinking Malthyal ran over to it and stared with wonder because this wall looked exactly like the side of any house that he would find in the city.

"Very interesting" Master said "that is exactly where your father went when he first stepped into this room."

"Was he any good?" Malthyal asked with wonder.

"Oh no not for many years" Master said chuckling "In fact for a long time he couldn't get two feet off of the ground without falling."

"Can you teach me?" Malthyal asked.

"Yes I can" Master replied "I obviously can't show you" she said gesturing towards her cane "but I can teach you."

"Okay then let's do this" Malthyal said with determination approaching the wall.

"Alright what you want to do first is get a good hold on the wall and without thinking just follow the best path you can as fast as you can to get to the top." Master said remembering all those years ago when she said the same thing to Jonas.

Without responding Malthyal just did it. He kept his sights on what was immediately in front of him from handhold to handhold until to the surprise of both himself and Master he climbed onto a small ledge that was the top of the wall.

"How was that?" He yelled down.

"I think we have ourselves a NightWalker in the making!" Master yelled back.

After climbing down Malthyal tried picking locks but he broke every pick, he tried sneaking through the obstacle course but he was seen by the searchers every time he couldn't even use the emergency knives used for wounding pursues correctly.

After trying these things all day Master finally said "That's enough" and Malthyal was sent to first eat then go to bed.

This is the routine Malthyal went through for the next seven years.

Then one day when Malthyal was fifteen Lucia came to his door and told him that Master wanted to see him in the circle room. So Malthyal followed Lucia and when they got there Master said something that started a day that he would never forget.

"It is time for your first job."