Excerpt: Pride of the Hunt

Sara stretched and reached for the ceiling, trying to work the kinks out of her neck and back. She had been sitting for hours, poring over one of her beloved texts, nose to book, the only way she found it possible to read. The spectacles that should have been on her face were lying by the book. They gave her headaches, and they didn’t really help her much, anyway, but her instructors insisted she have them. They were mostly just fashion accessories at this point.

“Still moldering away in this library?” Larath said,patting her on the shoulder and flopping noisily into the chair. The librarian glared as he scraped chair against floor and knocked three of her books onto the floor.

“Larath, you need to be more careful!” she admonished, stooping to gather up the books.

“Sorry, sis, I’m just not good with this stuff.” He thumbed through one of the tomes, sniffing and setting it down with a shake of his head. “Give me the sawdust in the salle over the musty dusty in here anyday.”

She shook her head. “You’re lucky you have me around, you know, otherwise you'd be a complete ignoramous. How did you even manage to pass your classes?”

Larath grinned at her. “Easy.You helped me.”

She rolled her eyes. “I shouldn’t have. Maybe you would have learned something other than how to swing a sword. Speaking of which, aren’t you supposed to be practicing for your final practicum?”

He shook his head. “I was supposed to, but instructor Elias managed to sprain his ankle, so the session was cancelled. I’ve got the rest of the day off!” he stretched and leaned back in his chair. He pinwheeled his arms wildly as the chair overbalanced and nearly toppled over, dumping him into the floor. He seized the table and steadied himself.

Sara shook her head again. “You’re hopeless. Get out of here before you tear the place down, or get me kicked out of here. I’ve got to finish this.”

“Nuh uh. I’m here to make sure you eat, young lady. A little bird told me yiou’ve been here *all* day, and haven’t stopped once for anything to eat. If you fall over from starvation, you’ll never have the energy to finish your exams. Or stay up to study for them.”

She sighed. “But I just have a few more pages--”

He grabbed her arm closed the book, and pulled her up to her feet. “No way. You're coming with me, now, while lunch is still hot, so you don’t end up with a bowl of stewed leftovers.”

Sara grabbed her cloak and slung it over her shoulders. She murmured a few arcane syllables, twisted her fingers, and pulled the hood of the cloak over her head. “Alright, alright, I’m going.” She let him guide her through the tables, thankful that this time, at least, she wouldn’t end up with another bruised thigh when some thoughtless ass forgot to push his chair under the table.

“Sara! Sara!” someone called. She looked back to see the librarian’s indistinct shape, glowing, waving something high in the air. “Wait!” The librarian caught up to her, and the glow faded to see the blurry human form. She blinked to try and clear her vision, but the spell had malfunctioned somehow, and the blur remained.

I need to work on that. Still not handling the far to near transition well, Sara thought to herself.

“Sara, dear, you forgot your spectacles,” the librarian said, shoving the metal framed lenses into Sara’s hand. Sara smiled, swallowing the retort, and crammed the spectacles onto her face. The librarian smiled, and bowed, then scurried off to her desk.

“I thought those didn’t help?” Larath said as they walked out of the library.

“They don’t. No one seems to believe me when I tell them that, though, so they keep insisting I wear them. They give me a headache, but if I don’t wear them, the headache I get from the constant nagging to put them on is worse. So I close my eyes, or just grin and bear it.”

“That is so cool. I wish I could see with my eyes closed,” he commented, holding open a door for her.

“I wish I could see more with them open.”

Larath grunted, but didn’t respond.