The Hunter

Drowning in Paper

The night before it had been agreed that Dekker, Sophia, and Coriliat were to meet before the gates to the inner courtyard. The boys dorm was on the other end of the outer courtyard compared to the girls and so there was no point meeting at one dorm over the other. It was a fairly cold day and Sophia and Coriliat were standing under the gate giggling when Dekker walked up. He was wearing nothing other then boots, jeans, and a sweater over a t-shirt.

"Dekker! How can you walk around in only that?" Coriliat asked, stunned by the simple clothes.

"In only what?" He looked down at himself and then at the girls. They were both wearing coats, hats, and gloves. Sophia even wore sunglasses. "Oh. I'm a wolf. Our body temperature is different." He grinned. "I am your personal heater girls!"

Sophia just rolled her eyes. "Come on, I do not want to be late for our first class."

"Yeah! Hunter 101! We are all going to be famous!" Dekker made a cartwheel, slipped, and fell flat on his ass, laughing. Coriliat giggled.

"Actually," Sophia interrupted. "We have Mythical Creatures first, followed by History, and then Language Arts." She waved a schedule in front of his nose. "Where's yours Dekker?"

The young wolf looked panicky. "There's a class schedule?" Coriliat nodded. "Shit! Where?"

Coriliat answered him. "They would've given it to you last night, along with all your books. Those things were in our rooms after the dinner."

"Oh..." Dekker frowned, then suddenly his face lit up like a lightbulb. "I remember now!" He pulled his backpack off and tossed it in the snow. As he opened it and dove in the girls could hear him mumbling about ice and snowstorms. "Here it is!" With a triumphant pose he held a crumpled piece of paper in his hands. "I have Mythical Creatures with you guys!"

The girls stood there for a moment, gawking at the impossibility of boys. Coriliat shook her head. It was obvious that the only thing going through her mind was the stupidity of men combined with dogs. Sophia on the other hand stood there, staring at him like he was some form of alien creature. Both were making him feel very uncomfortable. Dekker pulled on his backpack and bit his lip looking down.

"We uhm...we should probably get going." He scratched his head and looked down. Girls were impossible.

The three stopped dead once they were actually inside the castle hallway. It was huge and tall. The walls were made of dark bricks, with a few large paintings that did little to brighten the atmosphere. Upon closer inspection the pictures were of heroes slaying some kind of monster, the problem was that the heroes were not exactly human. The paintings weren't painted with bright colours, but darker colours. The blood had been painted in with excruciating detail, and despite the obvious victory, they certainly weren't happy looking. In short, they were creepy. Looking up they could see the two massive, and rather old, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. They were the only source of light in this hallway, but whatever kind of bulbs the headmaster was using, they certainly lit up the area, which hinted at the mastery of the dwarves.

Dekker was the first to speak up. They were surrounded by other students. All had come to a stop. "So does anyone here know where to go?" He asked into the silence and his question echoed strangely around the hall. Then, as if on cue, two large doors opened, one on the left and one on the right.

"Mythical creatures in here please! Mythical Creatures!" A musical voice shouted from the left room. Dekker, Coriliat, and Sophia all turned to the left, along with a bunch of other students. The rest of the students turned to the right when a shout echoed gym throughout the hallway. They entered into a bright classroom that could hold probably a university class of 60 students with ease. If the desks had been arranged differently. The desks were like the typical high-school desks you saw in movies of the USA and arranged in one big circle. Very quickly and quietly everyone fund a seat. There was little chatter. The room was covered in an awkward silence as no one knew what to expect. A few students sat there chatting quietly, but fell silent when they realized no one else was talking.