The Exiles (8 page)

‘Should be finished this year,' Trex said anyway, not without a hint of pride.

Felx smiled, genuinely happy for the young lion.

‘Two years before the average. Impressive,' praised Captain Felx.

Unlike the school system of the wolves, which had mandatory schooling up to a certain age, the lion education system was built on standard courses and exams mostly independent of timeframes, allowing for students to finish their schooling earlier or later, depending on abilities. For most lion students this meant graduation at about the same time as their wolf counterparts. However, about a third of the students would have a different schooling timeframe. Later graduating students receiving extra assistance to allow them to reach what the lion education board deemed an acceptable level for social entry, or citizenship, as the lions called it. While the ones that finished earlier were able to start careers or continue onto further studies.

‘It seems you have been using your time well,' Felx said with a smile. He placed Trex's staff carefully on the large table, rolling it towards him.

Trex caught hold of the weapon, checking the staff's surface for damage. The pain in his head had now mostly subsided.

‘Have you thought more about a military career?' Felx asked casually.

Trex looked up from his staff, wondering if he should continue to humour his guardian.

Though all lion citizens were automatically reservists, you could only become an officer if you joined the military.

‘I saw from the markings in the dirt that you must have put up quite a good fight,' said Felx, leaning to one side. He turned to look out towards the northern mountains.

‘It normally takes a lion four years of training before he can match a young female wolf after maturity.'

‘I lost in the end though,' said Trex solemnly.

‘Due to a second fighter,' offered Felx as conciliation.

‘I was losing anyway,' replied Trex honestly. He was quite happy to remain honest and open, anything else was normally too complicated for the youth's personality.

‘I'm probably lucky the second wolf knocked me out actually, I think she was about to tear me apart.'

Trex expression flashed disappointment, not with the fight itself but with how he had reacted at its end. He knew that wolves could tangibly intimidate, but the fear he had suddenly felt at the fight's end had totally destroyed his concentration. It was disappointing for his training to have failed so markedly the first time it was tested.

Felx looked sternly at the quiet youth in front of him.

‘I wouldn't worry about it,' said Captain Felx, somehow knowing exactly what Trex was thinking, ‘the first time I faced a wolf in combat, I almost ran away. If it wasn't for my comrades I would have been quite sore, or even worse.'

Trex looked up slowly with renewed interest. Captain Felx did not often talk about his military career.

‘And don't forget I was a lot older then you are now, and I was fighting a male,' said Felx. He chuckled slightly, recalling his first real fight.

‘You get used to it,' he continued, ‘some things you don't learn until just after you need them.'

Trex smiled at that, the old military saying together with his guardian's kind words being enough to bring him back from self-doubt.

‘You do know it was Sara you were fighting?' Felx stated out of the blue.

Trex stopped turning his staff absent-mindedly in his hands. This was still something he was too confused about himself to want to discuss, but he realized that Captain Felx knew it in any case.

‘I recognized her family's markings, yes,' Trex said carefully, referring to the family tattoo on her right upper arm.

‘I haven't seen her in years,' he admitted.

‘Well that was one heck of a reunion,' said Felx. This attempt at light humour only received a wall of silence for its efforts.

‘Fera was the one that knocked you out,' Captain Felx added, getting back to the facts.

‘Fera?!' exclaimed Trex. Now that was unexpected, even if only because she appeared to be helping her sister for once.

‘Has Sharlee had any contact with Sara's parents at all lately?' asked Captain Felx, referring to Trex's aunt Sharlee, and her former close relationship with Sara's family.

‘Not as far as I know,' said Trex, feeling sorry for his Aunt.

‘Not since just after Zea was born… she hasn't talked about them much.'

Captain Felx frowned solemnly; genuinely sorry to hear the family problems had persisted.

Trex's mind came to a sudden connection, and he couldn't help but to suddenly blurt out, ‘Sara's not the thief is she?'

‘The thief?' countered Captain Felx, raising an eyebrow, ‘now I know news gets around fast in this town…'

Trex recoiled slightly, knowing he had just made a mistake.

‘What exactly are you doing out here anyway?' asked Felx, turning to face the youngster. The Captains voice had quickly developed an edge

‘Um, I was just buying personal stuff, you know… just for me,' offered Trex lamely, rubbing the back of his neck.

He was trying to think of the most basic lie in the hope it wouldn't get him caught out.

‘And how is it you ended up out here?' pressed Captain Felx, his voice becoming flat.

‘Well…' started Trex.

His mind was in overdrive.

‘I was just in the outer city, waiting for the markets to open and was sort of travelling via the rooftops. I saw a figure jump down from the inner city walls,' he said, gaining in confidence now that he had returned to the truth… well mostly.

‘And I thought I would just see what was going on,' he finished, smiling at having come up with a convincing story on the fly.

The smile quickly disappeared under the stern gaze of the Captain. Trex had once before been caught trespassing in the inner city, and let off with a stern warning.

‘Indeed,' said the Captain, obviously not too happy with the young lion's story. Slowly, Captain Felx returned his gaze to the horizon.

‘Sara is not the thief,' he said more steadily.

‘She just chose a very bad time to take an unofficial tour of the inner city.'

Trex thought about Sara for a second, remembering back to when they were just cubs, playing on her family's farm when his family came to visit, hide and seek, mock battles with sticks or ganging up to play a trick on her older sister. It seemed like such a long time ago.

‘She could be in a lot of trouble,' said Felx, interrupting Trex's train of thought.

‘You know yourself that there are elements in the council that would love to make an example of a wolf. Particularly at the moment,' said Felx solemnly, the issue was obviously a sore point for the veteran soldier.

RefugeCross had a complex history. Originally founded almost four hundred years ago by the lions, it had been captured by the wolves in the first lion-wolf war just over a century ago. Only to be retaken by the lions in the second lion-wolf war seventy five years later. Due to these different occupations there was a complex mix of wolves and lions that now lived there. Two long wars had resulted in simmering resentment and hostility between the two races. This was not an easy place to keep the peace.

Captain Felx looked back towards his young companion.

‘Do you want to take this any further?'

‘No, no way,' said Trex instantly.

‘And Fera?' asked Captain Felx.

Trex thought back to some of the pranks Sara and he had played on the older girl. He probably deserved that smack on the back of the head from things he had done in the past.

‘No, I don't want either of them to get into trouble,' Trex said solemnly.

‘Good,' said Felx getting up, ‘then we are agreed that you couldn't identify the wolves that assaulted you.'

‘Yes,' confirmed Trex, leaning back.

‘Wonderful,' said Felx, whistling to indicate to Hearm to come back to his master.

‘That means I only need to do a quick informal visit to the Kelgorn household. And this will all be taken care of,' said Felx, referring to Sara's family name Kelgorn.

Trex cringed at the thought, remembering Sara's mother. He couldn't help but think that Sara may have been better off in lion custody.

Jumping up on his horse, Captain Felx turned the impatient steed in a tight circle to again face Trex.

‘Be careful Trex, this is not a good time to annoy the council,' Felx advised.

‘Pass my greeting onto the family,' he added finally, before ridding off towards the main gate.

Trex watched the city commander go.

Silence returned, only interrupted by the occasional rush of wind playing with some nearby wind chimes in the increasingly hot day. Trex suddenly wondered where everyone was; surely someone else would have noticed the noise and have come to investigate.

Looking left, he saw two lions loading up a cart a little way off, neither seemed to be taking any notice of him. They had probably just arrived back from the nearby fields not too long ago. Looking out towards the river, Trex could make out a lot of activity in the fields.

Harvest
, he thought to himself.

Most Anthros would have left before the crack of dawn to start work in the fields, no wonder there wasn't anyone around.

Remembering that he actually had classes to attend to in RefugeCross, Trex got up and collected his staff. Looking back into the compound for a second, he saw the mess Sara had made when she had fallen onto the crates. Someone would be back from the city watch to talk to the owners most likely, there was little he could do now, and he was late for class.

RefugeCross shone brightly atop its small rocky perch in the distance, illuminated by the mid morning sun. The occupied lion city was often regarded to be one of the most beautiful settlements in the known world. This was not, however, something that was currently noticed by the two wolf riders as they made their way east along the river Thitchel at speed.

The mighty river Thitchel flowed between RefugeCross and the northern mountains. It was the lifeblood of the lower planes and the lion occupied city itself.

Moving across lush irrigated fields on the south side of the river, the two wolf riders raced towards the only crossing-point of the Thitchel in the lower planes.

With most wolves and lions working hard in the nearby fields to bring in the harvest, no one payed any notice to the two as they passed.

The two wolf riders had made good time and were already approaching the large bridge that lead back to the Wolf Kingdoms lands, and their home.

Both sides of the impressive stone arch bridge had majestic fortifications to restrict access, the southern side having a tall watchtower built in a cylindrical minaret style like those back at RefugeCross. Surrounding these fortifications, at either end of the bridge, a small village had build up.

The girls took their horses between the few buildings.

This part of the lion controlled territory had an even mix of lions and occupied wolves. Enough time had passed since the lion occupation of the lower plains that tensions had simmered down somewhat between the two races. Around them, life continued as it had always done. After all, it was harvest time.

Absent-mindedly, Sara looked up at the tall thin tower which now dominated the skyline. She could make out a lion signaller at the top of the tower, just below the bulbous terracotta top. The lion was using a small mirror arrangement to communicate back to RefugeCross with flashes of light reflected from the powerful rays of the midmorning sun.

Sara's horse, Misha, stopped suddenly. Sara could see the stone arched entryway to the bridge on the other side of a small dusty town square. There seemed to be a lot of activity at the gate, and more armed lions then usual.

Sara's sister had stopped to talk to a young wolf male. He was sitting with friends outside an otherwise deserted street-side café that overlooked the small square.

The river village of BridgeHead had a pleasant mix of wolf and lion architecture, it was similar in appearance to a sleepy little southern French village here on Earth.

‘What's going on at the bridge?' Fera asked, after greeting the young male and his companions sitting at the cafe.

‘Something's going on back in RefugeCross,' replied the young male, ‘looks like someone's been up to some serious mischief. They're searching everyone, and unless you have ID, or gramp's Zerrak knows you, you're not getting over that bridge.' The male wolf was referring to the old lion guard at BridgeHead.

‘They've detained two wolves already,' continued the male wolf. He turned casually in his seat to lean against its back with one arm. His voice and posture showed his enthusiasm for the whole thing, it was unusual for there to be any excitement in the little village at all. Even something that might appear to be directed against wolves was a welcome distraction.

There had been few incidence of racial targeting since the lion occupation. Captain Felx had made sure of that. The locals were more likely to look on with amusement at any new activity by the lion soldiers, all knowing through years of experience that it would normally work itself out in time.

‘You should have been here earlier,' said a young lion male sitting at the same table, ‘there was a scuffle when a stranger couldn't produce any papers. She knocked out a guard!' he added with a chuckle.

‘It took three guards to subdue her,' added the wolf male with a smile, ‘It was quite a show.'

Sara sat on her horse and watched the activity around her. With her mind now more in the present, she finally registered exactly whom it was her sister was talking to. The small table was frequented by two wolf males, one lion male and a lioness, all of about Fera's age.

Unlike the lion males, who were normally bare chested other then the thin orange sash worn by lion citizens, the two wolf males wore garments resembling t-shirts. Shirts and tops of varying designs were traditionally worn by wolf males as a sign of modesty and respect.

Sara had to do a double-take of her sister, who was actually smiling and joking for once. There was a lot, it seemed, she didn't know about her older sibling.

The café the four were sitting at was not the typical lion establishment. Cafés were an old lion tradition, with their long established love of drinks resembling something similar to coffee, chocolate and tea. This one seemed to have a lot of products catering for wolves, however.

Over the last few years Sara had picked up many of the beliefs of her grandfather. He did not have a high opinion of lions, or wolves that associated with them willingly.

Sara started to worry about the kind of Anthros Fera was hanging out with. These male wolfs were obviously not of honourable standing, particularly if they were willing to be seen socialising with a lioness in public.

Leaning forward, Sara attempted to see either of the male wolf's family tattoos; these were located just above their right ankle for male wolves.

‘And who might this be?' asked the quieter of the two male wolves, referring to Sara. He was a handsome dark furred youth.

Fera turned around to look at her younger sister.

Sara quickly averted her eyes from attempting to see either male wolf's ankle tattoo, looking as innocent as possible.

‘This is my sister, Sara,' said Fera, without much enthusiasm, ‘she's part of the reason for all the trouble.'

Sara flashed her sister an angry glare. Even if it had been meant as a joke, this was not something to be said in front of strangers, particularly lions.

‘Cool,' said the chirpy looking lioness, ‘looks like it runs in the family.'

This generated a chuckle from the others at the table.

‘So what did you get up too?' asked the lion male towards Sara with a smile.

‘None of your business,' replied Sara sharply.

This generated a hushed ‘oooohhh,' from somewhere, and some suppressed sniggering.

Becoming irritated with the group, Sara indicated for her horse Misha to start moving forward. Passing her sister, Sara gave a quick snide side-glance back at the two wolf males.

‘Don't you two have work to do?' she talked-down to them, ignoring the lions completely.

With an arrogant air about her, Sara moved on across the town square, choosing to ignore the commotion she could hear behind her.

After riding across the square to the bridge gate, Sara got off of her horse. Suddenly she felt drained of the confidence she had had only moments before. She nervously reached inside the small pouch that was sown into her skirt. Fumbling for a moment, she was finally able to retrieve a small leather sheath that represented legal identification in either wolf or lion territory. Sara couldn't help but worry that Captain Felx had changed his mind, and she would be arrested once she showed her identification.

Ahead of Sara, a large cart was being searched thoroughly by lion soldiers.

Sara suddenly wondered how Trex was doing. He had been totally unexpected, not only for turning out to be Trex, but also for his fighting abilities. Trying to remain on the technical aspects of the fight, Sara's mind nevertheless became more troubled.

Thanks to her grandfather, Sara's negative view of lions should have allowed her not to care about the stupid lion boy's condition. But still… it had been Trex. Long dormant memories of the lion cub only brought a series of happy images into her mind. These thoughts did not agree with what her grandfather had taught her about lions over the last few years. Shaking her head, Sara tried to remove the conflicting thoughts…

Having dismounted her horse, Fera had made her way up behind Sara.

‘You don't have anything in there I have to be worried about?' asked Fera, indicating to the riding satchels on Sara's horse.

‘No,' replied Sara. ‘Do you?' she countered cheekily. Though Sara spoke aggressively, she was still obviously filled with doubt, her ears were sagging slightly and her tail was limp.

Fera picked up on the mixed emotions and smiled.

‘No, not this time. Anyway I know Zerrak,' Fera replied, looking forward towards the old guardsman.

‘How often do you come here?'

‘Oh, quite often,' said Fera, ‘what do you think I do on my days off?'

‘I don't know. Go to Torstberg to study?'

Fera chuckled, but if she was honest with herself she knew little about her younger sister either, something she reminded herself she actually sometimes regretted.

‘No. My studies are mostly complete there, I come here a lot to do a bit of work and learn new things.'

Sara considered this for a minute, since her sister had studied mechanics it actually made sense for her to come to a place frequented by lions. Lions were well known for intricate machinery and clocks.

‘And those Anthros back there?' continued Sara

‘I met them when I started to come here. They're all from the same class. There's a whole bunch of them.'

‘Really,' said Sara out aloud, her mind running away with her.

Mixed race classes where common in the lion occupied territory, Sara had little exposure to this, coming from the Wolf Kingdom side. In fact, Sara's few direct interactions with lions had been with Trex and his Uncle when she was young, other then that, she had only ever seen lions as they passed her family's farm on their way to Torstberg, or from a distance in Torstberg itself. This had been partially the reason why Sara had been able to believe much of what her grandfather said about lions, simply putting the few good memories she had of Trex into the, exception, category.

‘The question is, what where you doing in RefugeCross?' asked Fera.

Sara snapped out of her train of thought, fidgeting a bit.

‘Well-'

‘Fera. Going home already?' asked a gruff voice behind Sara.

Turning, Sara saw that it was the old lion guard called Zerrak. He was flanked on either side by lion soldiers.

Sara let out the breath she had been holding in after her sister's question, happy for the sudden distraction.

Zerrak was a bit shorter then most lions and his slightly longer grey hair and beard framed a kind friendly face. Sara had not seen him on the way through earlier that morning.

‘Just a quick visit today, Sergeant,' replied Fera with a smile.

Zerrak nodded in friendly acknowledgment.

‘I'm afraid I'm going to have to search your horse today Fera,' Zerrak said with an apologetic gesture.

‘Orders from the top.'

‘That's ok,' replied Fera with a calm smile. She led her horse slightly away from Sara's to make it easier to search the two animals.

Automatically, the guards moved forward.

‘And who might you be?' asked Zerrak kindly towards Sara.

‘Sara Kelgorn, Sir,' replied Sara, automatically respectful to the older officer. Despite her newer unfavourable attitude towards lions in general, Sara's upbringing by her parents had made her naturally respectful to adults and the elderly. Currently this courtesy was regardless of race, particularly if Sara did not have time to think about it.

‘Kelgorn, ha,' commented the old lion.

Stroking his beard thoughtfully, Zerrak looked from one of the girl's family tattoo to the other. Having lived his whole life with wolves, he was good at recognising them.

‘So your Fera's young sister then?' he said with a smile.

‘Yep,' replied Fera for her sister.

‘Not much of a resemblance really,' she added, indicating her fur colour with her hand.

‘Oh, I don't know,' the old guard replied shrewdly, ‘you both have the same pretty face.'

Sara blushed despite herself, unused to compliments in general, but definitely not from lions. This also mildly irritated her a second later.

‘All clear, Sir,' said an adult female guard casually.

Zerrak nodded at the two soldiers. The moved off into the shade of the guardhouse as no one else was waiting behind the two wolf girls.

Sara wanted to get going and presented her leather identification card to the lion Sargent.

‘No need for that. You girls can go through if you like,' Zerrak said casually.

Sara returned her identification back to her pocket, mounting up as Fera exchanged last pleasantries with the Sergeant.

Though the river Thitchel travelled east to west in the lower plains, it made a ninety degree turn and came from the north just after BridgeHead, from its source up in the mountains in the high glaciers.

Crossing the old stone bridge, Sara looked back towards RefugeCross, gleaming in the distant heat haze. She had only been there a few times, all within the last few months.

Sara remembered back to how nervous she had been travelling alone for the first time. It had been so exhilarating to cross the bridge into this different world. Even for someone with a horse or camel, the trip to RefugeCross was not something wolves did often from the Wolf Kingdoms held territory, if at all.

Sara's life had definitely taken a big turn in the last few months, and all this had been thanks to her grandfather.

Riding on in silence, Sara contemplated her relationship with her grandfather. It had all began a few years ago… Sara had constantly been teased and taunted by her classmates about her aunt's relationship with a lion and their half-breed daughter. The wolf gossip circles had worked overtime and the young Sara was constantly reminded about how her mother's sister was bringing disrespect to her family name, dishonour to all wolves. Even her two best friends, the two young wolves from Sara's neighbours, the Satlisons, had been forced to keep a little distance at school after often being targeted themselves.