Rift Chronicles

Rift Chronicles Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Exam

The pathway down the hillside was winding and sandy, making them tread carefully lest they slipped. In fact, the whole beach was very sandy without any signs of pebbles or rocks. Once the group reached the bottom of the hill, they could see the other people on the beach more clearly. There were roughly two dozen people who, judging by their equipment, looked like they were there for the exam as well. A platform that looked recently constructed was also on the beach, and over it was a large banner that read "Welcome Hunters". Next to the platform were what appeared to be changing booths and port-a-johns. On the platform was a man dressed in a nice suit who kept checking his watch.

Among the crowd, Grant spied out the familiar hulking form of Bail sitting by the shoreline. He waved at Bail and called over to him. "Bail, it's good to see you. I'm glad to see you made it here as well."

When Bail stood up, he towered over everyone in the group. Larch let out an impressed whistle. Bail walked over and shook Grant's hand. When he did, his hand easily engulfed Grant's hand. Bail said, "I'm glad to see you weren't led astray."

Grant laughed somewhat sheepishly. "Ha, well, as you can see, I did have help. If it wasn't for Larch and Raff here, I may have ended up going with that crowd. And I don't see any of them here, I can see that was a good call. Um, if you don't mind me asking, how did you know so quickly not to go with them?"

"I didn't. I just thought that it defeated the purpose of looking for the exam, that's all," said Bail.

"Grant has told us about you, Bail. I'm Raff. It's nice to have a face to put to your name," said Raff.

"I'm Lucas, and this is my wife Koola," said Lucas as he shook Bail's hand.

"Good to meet you," Bail simply said.

"Hey, Bail, how come you all aren't doing the exam right now?" Larch asked, a bit puzzled why everyone was just waiting on the beach. Then he added, "Oh, I'm Larch, by the way."

"Why not ask the man on the stage? He'll give you the answers you seek. It was nice seeing you again, Grant," said Bail as he sat down in the sand and looked out toward the sea as if waiting for something.

"Okay, we'll do that, then we can catch up more," cheerfully said Grant.

"Sorry, I need to use the restroom. You guys go on without me. I'll catch up later," said Lucas as he went toward one of the port-a-johns.

Koola then took out her phone, tapped it, and said, "Sorry, I need to take this. You guys can tell me what he says later."

"Oh, okay?" said Raff, a little surprised. She continued, "If you're sure?"

Koola just nodded to confirm and was already busy listening to her phone.

The trio walked over to the platform. The platform itself was about four feet high with a couple of stairs leading up from the side facing the ocean. On the platform was a human man with slicked-back black hair. He wore a black suit with a white button-up shirt and a red tie. He had a thin black mustache and was wearing sunglasses. He was still looking down at his wristwatch and didn't even notice as the group went up on stage.

"Excuse me," said Raff.

The man didn't even seem to hear her. So Grant yelled quite a bit louder, "Excuse me!"

"Wha, huh! You scared me, kids! What do you want?" said the man, a bit jarred as he looked at the trio.

Grant smiled in satisfaction, whereas Larch just shook his head. Grant turned to Raff and said, "Okay, we have his attention; go ahead, Raff."