Chapter 4 - Miles

"I swear everytime we need to get transport without making a scene they always send me," I mutter under my breath approaching the stables.

"Mornin!" an old centaur says while leaning on the gate, "what can I do for you at this hour?"

I smile at him, "I need 3 horses and a cart capable of travelling across the mountain pass."

"Oh you a goin with that caravan as well then I take it," the centaur says, "I mean it's not cheap but I assume you'll want to buy rather than rent 'em."

"Buying the gear and horses straight out is probably best," I agreed, "so how much we talking?"

"I like your style, tell you what after we get you set up I'll add in three blocks of hay for the horses for free."

"Why thank-you, but if you don't mind I'm kinda in a rush before the caravan leaves without my group," I reply a bit irritated at how long this is taking.

The centaur walks over to the stables, "I'll do you in for a hundy gold coins, or if you can prove you're not a spy, eight tens o' gold!"

I sigh quietly, everyone is so paranoid these days about Blood Hunters. I know there's quite a few corrupt agents out there but this is getting ridiculous. If we don't tread carefully...well the letters in the Hunter social network are buzzing with hints of widespread open rebellion.

"Yeah sure, hold on!" with a flick of my left hand the ID console appears:

Name: Miles

Age: 19

Sex: Male

Class: Fighter

Adventure Level: 7

Archetype: Close Combat

A second later the centaur takes a look at the console, "Well I'll be, so few fighters ever specialize in close quarter combat with the rise of those lead throwers. Just for you seven tens o' gold"

I hold out a hand, "Deal!"

After we shake, the centaur helps tack the horses and put the hay in the cart. A few moments later I lead the horses with the cart over to the loading area where I can see Rem, Rin and another elf with them.

I pause for a second. It couldn't be, for some reason she looks familiar. I rub my eyes, armour check, black hair check, silver eyes not confirmed, shadow tattoo also not confirmed.

"Damn, I wonder what her name is," I whisper. The horse next to me nudges my face, "In a moment Heathcliff just gotta wait for the coast to be clear."

About 15 minutes later we bring up the tail of the caravan as we finally depart the lovely city. Being sure nobody could eavesdrop over the sound of rumbling hooves I finally asked the question I really wanted to know.

"So who's the elvish lady?"

Rin looks at me, Rem is too busy driving, and replies, "Her name is Sora and the leader of this caravan heading all the way north as we suspected from yesterday."

"Sora...the name sounds familiar," I muse, "it's been several years though since I last contacted anybody who knew of me before becoming a Hunter."

"Well that's good, I have a feeling she suspect's us or at least Rem."

An idea pops into my brain, "look maybe I can talk with her, play a little espionage and we can figure out what we're dealing with."

Rin smiles a bit, "sounds like a plan, Rem and I will stay with the cart while you play nice."

With that we just relax and keep an eye out for anything coming up from the rear.