Christopher Golden - The Veil 01 - The Myth Hunters by The Myth Hunters
Authors: The Myth Hunters
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numb.
The winter man glanced sidelong at him. “None of us wants to die, my friend. You saved my life. I will do all I can to repay that debt, to keep you alive and return you to your home.”
His stomach gave a sickening twist. “Once upon a time I would never have wanted to leave.”
Kitsune turned only slightly, so that just the tip of her nose was visible poking from her hood as he studied her profile. “No journey is ever complete until we come back to the place we began.”
They walked in silent contemplation of the danger they shared, trudging up the long, sloping hill. There were trees on either side of the road near the top, but they were scattered and small, with thin trunks and strangely contorted limbs. The turf here was all rocks and scrub grass, and those stunted-looking trees. Oliver thought he had once seen something like them in a dream, or a nightmare. In truth, the entire hill seemed familiar to him in that half-remembered way.
“Has it always been that way? The law, I mean?” he asked. “Have they always killed Intruders?”
“Always,” the winter man said. “The only way to protect this world is to keep it hidden behind the Veil.”
Oliver nodded. So that was the end of it. This was his journey and he would have to forge ahead. He would have to learn whatever he could about the Two Kingdoms if he intended to survive. There was no choice.
“What of Professor Koenig?” Kitsune asked, turning at last to look at them, one eyebrow arched.
The winter man knitted his brows so tightly that the ice in his forehead crackled. “Surely that’s only a story. Our own sort of legend.”
“Not at all,” Kitsune purred. “I met him once, long years ago.”
“Who’s Professor Koenig?” Oliver glanced past Frost at Kitsune, but it was the winter man who answered.
“Just a man. A human historian, a folklorist, whose research led him to ask the right questions. The legend says he convinced a Borderkind to open a portal for him, so that he could explore our side of the Veil. That is, if you believe the tale. According to the story, he was the one Intruder who discovered our existence and was allowed to live.”
“But why? Why him?”
Kitsune pushed back her hood for the first time since they had encountered her, and her black silk hair gleamed in the sun. “That part of the story I do not know.”
“Well, that’s what I need to find out,” Oliver said, a rush of fresh energy filling him. “If I can find this professor, and learn why they spared him, maybe I can get them to forget about me, to leave me alone.”
“He would be very old now,” Kitsune said dubiously.
“But he could still be alive,” Oliver argued.
“Perhaps,” Frost said, nodding slowly as he walked between them. “You would still have the Hunters to fear, but that’s a problem we face together. After we’ve rested at the Sandmen’s castle, we shall continue on to Perinthia—”
“Where?”
“The capital of Euphrasia, which is one of the Two Kingdoms. In Perinthia, Kitsune and I will try to discover who has set these Hunters after the Borderkind, and we may be able to learn the whereabouts of Professor Koenig.”
The winter man narrowed his eyes and gave Oliver a meaningful look, which Kitsune could not see. “If he is not only a legend.”
“Haven’t I told you he’s real?” Kitsune asked. “How ironic that you, who so many believe a figment of the imagination, treat the existence of this mortal man just as his kin would treat you.”
Frost said nothing at first, only walked along. At length he glanced over to regard Kitsune and she arched a mischievous eyebrow.
“We shall see,” the winter man said.
But a spark of hope had been born in Oliver. If there was a chance he could be spared, no matter how small, he had no
The winter man glanced sidelong at him. “None of us wants to die, my friend. You saved my life. I will do all I can to repay that debt, to keep you alive and return you to your home.”
His stomach gave a sickening twist. “Once upon a time I would never have wanted to leave.”
Kitsune turned only slightly, so that just the tip of her nose was visible poking from her hood as he studied her profile. “No journey is ever complete until we come back to the place we began.”
They walked in silent contemplation of the danger they shared, trudging up the long, sloping hill. There were trees on either side of the road near the top, but they were scattered and small, with thin trunks and strangely contorted limbs. The turf here was all rocks and scrub grass, and those stunted-looking trees. Oliver thought he had once seen something like them in a dream, or a nightmare. In truth, the entire hill seemed familiar to him in that half-remembered way.
“Has it always been that way? The law, I mean?” he asked. “Have they always killed Intruders?”
“Always,” the winter man said. “The only way to protect this world is to keep it hidden behind the Veil.”
Oliver nodded. So that was the end of it. This was his journey and he would have to forge ahead. He would have to learn whatever he could about the Two Kingdoms if he intended to survive. There was no choice.
“What of Professor Koenig?” Kitsune asked, turning at last to look at them, one eyebrow arched.
The winter man knitted his brows so tightly that the ice in his forehead crackled. “Surely that’s only a story. Our own sort of legend.”
“Not at all,” Kitsune purred. “I met him once, long years ago.”
“Who’s Professor Koenig?” Oliver glanced past Frost at Kitsune, but it was the winter man who answered.
“Just a man. A human historian, a folklorist, whose research led him to ask the right questions. The legend says he convinced a Borderkind to open a portal for him, so that he could explore our side of the Veil. That is, if you believe the tale. According to the story, he was the one Intruder who discovered our existence and was allowed to live.”
“But why? Why him?”
Kitsune pushed back her hood for the first time since they had encountered her, and her black silk hair gleamed in the sun. “That part of the story I do not know.”
“Well, that’s what I need to find out,” Oliver said, a rush of fresh energy filling him. “If I can find this professor, and learn why they spared him, maybe I can get them to forget about me, to leave me alone.”
“He would be very old now,” Kitsune said dubiously.
“But he could still be alive,” Oliver argued.
“Perhaps,” Frost said, nodding slowly as he walked between them. “You would still have the Hunters to fear, but that’s a problem we face together. After we’ve rested at the Sandmen’s castle, we shall continue on to Perinthia—”
“Where?”
“The capital of Euphrasia, which is one of the Two Kingdoms. In Perinthia, Kitsune and I will try to discover who has set these Hunters after the Borderkind, and we may be able to learn the whereabouts of Professor Koenig.”
The winter man narrowed his eyes and gave Oliver a meaningful look, which Kitsune could not see. “If he is not only a legend.”
“Haven’t I told you he’s real?” Kitsune asked. “How ironic that you, who so many believe a figment of the imagination, treat the existence of this mortal man just as his kin would treat you.”
Frost said nothing at first, only walked along. At length he glanced over to regard Kitsune and she arched a mischievous eyebrow.
“We shall see,” the winter man said.
But a spark of hope had been born in Oliver. If there was a chance he could be spared, no matter how small, he had no
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