The Exiles (9 page)

This had all been too much for the young Sara, who couldn't understand what was going on. Unfortunately, this was at the same time that things at home where not going so well. Sara's mother and father always seemed to be stressed and irritated as they struggled to make ends meet, there were constant arguments and little time for the worried little girl. It had gotten so bad that Sara had turned in desperation to her strict grandfather during one of his visits.

Sara would normally never have trusted herself to ask her stiff grandfather anything, being actually quite scared of the elegant older wolf. Despite this, Sara would never forget the glint in the elderly wolf's eyes, and kind smile that had suddenly spread across his face, when she had asked him one day when they were alone, to explain what wolf honour and respect was all about.

Since that day, her grandfather had suddenly made a lot more time for Sara. He had not only explained a lot of things to they naive youngster, but had also helped her with her troubles at school. He had taught her how to gain respect and authority, how to be confident and have pride in herself.

Sara had taken her grandfathers advice, manipulating and fighting her way through her school until she was no longer teased, but feared and respected by all.

Her relationship with her grandfather had continued to develop to the point where she listened to, and respected, her grandfather more then her own parents. And why not, her grandfather was after all known throughout the Wolf Kingdom as Mr Thorntreck, an honorific title worthy of the respect he commanded.

It was no surprise then that the young Sara had jumped at the chance to help her grandfather when he had asked for it a few months back. Sara had snuck out at night and skipped school to go into the Lion Empire held territory. She had taken notes and made maps of things her grandfather had instructed her to do. Sara had never been happier, doing something that was obviously important for her influential elder.

Now out of BridgeHead and heading north on the open road, Fera lead her horse closer to her sister again.

‘So why were you in RefugeCross?' Fera asked in a forced casual manner.

Thinking for a second, Sara decided to take a more aggressive stance.

‘I'm old enough to travel where I like,' Sara said.

With no response, it was obvious that her sister expected more.

‘I just wanted to have a look around, that's all. I can look after myself.'

‘You wanted to have a look around,' said the older sister, her tone oozing with disbelief, ‘at three o'clock in the morning?'

Sara had to admit to herself that there was simply no way to come out of this convincingly.

‘How did you know were I was anyway?' Sara asked, in a last attempt to avoid the question.

‘If you must know, I was visiting the watchtower. Atonn had the graveyard shift last night.'

Sara didn't know much about the life of her sister anymore, but she did know that Fera had been sweet on a young wolf officer called Atonn for some time now. He was often stationed on the border watchtower near Sara's family's farm. Sara always thought that the striking grey male wolf was out of her sister's league, though that didn't stop her sister from trying.

‘He thought he saw someone ridding Misha in the direction of RefugeCross. I went back to check at home and decided to follow you,' said Fera, referring to Sara's young horse Misha.

Sara looked down at her lightly coloured horse, stroking its mane for a second. Though she was a lovely animal, Misha's light coloured fur did make her somewhat easy to recognise.

‘And you didn't tell mum or dad?' asked Sara, her thoughts refocussing on her sister.

‘No… I just left.'

‘Why?

‘I honestly don't know,' said Fera, her tone not giving anything away.

The two were approaching the lower hills. The landscape was slowly become more wooded as the number of farms decreased. They were approaching the border zone.

‘Mum's been worrying a lot about you,' said Fera, ‘she knows that something's up, but isn't sure what.'

‘You talk to mum now?' asked Sara sarcastically.

Since about four years ago her sister and mother appeared to do nothing but argue, with her poor father being stuck in the middle. It was also one of the reasons Sara and her sister had drifted apart.

‘If you talked to mum anymore yourself you would know that,' said Fera with a hint of disappointment. Fera knew within herself that she could not be too hard on her sister for something she herself had done to her parents. That was probably the reason why Fera had gone looking for her younger sister, instead of telling on her.

Sara let out a disgruntled, ‘humph.'

Sara felt that her parents had become intolerable lately, in particularly her mother. She felt restricted and constantly criticised. Arguments seeming to come from nowhere half of the time, it was not as easy as it had been a few years ago. This was despite the family farm now making a good profit and the economic strain lifting from her parent's shoulders.

‘I know why you went to RefugeCross,' said her sister suddenly.

Sara didn't reply.

‘Grandpa asked you to go for some reason?'

‘What makes you think that?' countered Sara, but without much conviction.

‘Oh, come on,' said Fera, becoming angry, ‘you spend so much time with him now a days.'

‘I'm planning to join the military after school. He's helping to train me.'

‘That old fool is doing more then training you. He is filling your head with rubbish,' Fera said angrily. Her ears were beginning to flatten out, as she became more aggressive.

‘He is not a fool!' Sara shouted back heatedly.

‘At least he has some pride in his traditions, unlike some wolves I could mention,' Sara added.

‘Pride in his tradition!? He sent you on some stupid mission into the city, where is his pride in his family?' yelled Fera.

Sara hesitated, instantly switching to the defensive.

‘I was just looking around. There is nothing wrong with that.'

‘Guards don't chase you out of the city for nothing,' countered Fera, ‘Captain Felx knew you were trespassing in the inner city. You're lucky it was him that caught you, otherwise you would have been in real trouble.'

Again Sara didn't reply, there was no use denying the obvious. Sara's tail was flicking viciously, an obvious sign of defiance.

‘I can't believe he sent you in there!' exclaimed Fera, more annoyed with her grandfather then with her sister.

Fera had had a large falling out with her Grandfather some years ago, and it was not going to heal anytime soon.

‘He didn't ask me to go in there,' stated Sara, her voice rising again.

‘You didn't come up with the stupid idea on your own!' accused Fera.

Sara attempted to stare her sister down, but then broke under the intense glare of the older wolf. Sara could feel the hostility flowing from Fera like an impossibly hot wind, it was melting Sara's resolve in its wake. The power to intimidation was something that wolves didn't only use on lions. Sara's pointy ears drooped slightly.

‘He didn't exactly say that I should enter the inner city,' mumbled Sara.

‘Well of course he wouldn't, he's not that stupid,' replied Fera. She was herself calming down now that her sister had submitted

‘It's not like I would have gotten into that much trouble, I'm still technically a minor.'

‘And he told you that, did he?'

‘He may have mentioned it at some stage,' said Sara, before continuing more hastily.

‘It would have been fine if it wasn't for that stupid robbery. It's not like I caused the alarm to be raised.'

Sara had lost all of the confidence in her voice. Instead, her comments came almost as a whine.

‘Just your luck ha?' said Fera sarcastically.

‘Well you're very lucky to have gotten away with it, as far as I am concerned.'

‘You're not going to tell mum and dad, are you?' asked Sara after a while, her expression almost pleading. All thoughts of pride or arrogance had long been forgotten.

‘Me!' exclaimed Fera. ‘Heck No! I don't want to be there when this gets out, me and mum are just starting to get along again.'

Riding along, Fera looked across at her younger sister. Sara looked as dejected as she should, given the circumstances. The older sister suddenly felt sorry for the younger wolf.

‘You can tell them when you're ready,' Fera said, a small amount of tenderness returning to her disapproving voice. ‘But remember, you have less then a week before Captain Felx comes by.'

Sara looked back up, nodding in thanks before returning her gaze to the road ahead, once again lost in her own thoughts.

It was slightly over two hours after leaving the river crossing that the two sisters arrived at the lion's frontier outpost. Having only a few lion guards, it was effectively only a lookout point, and a place for all wolves entering from the Wolf Kingdom to deposit weaponry before entering into Lion Empire territory.

Opposite this lion tower, on the next ridge to the north, stood the wolf frontier outpost. Separating them was a pleasant forested valley. At the base of the valley to the east a series of lagoons and billabongs shone in the bright sun, close to the river Thitchel's mighty rapids. These rapids cut their way through the river canyon that marked the border to the desert regions. Sara's and Fera's home was just over the next ridge, close to the wolf frontier outpost.

Collecting their weaponry without any hassle, the two wolves remounted their animals.

Sara had been able to focus her mind again while the two wolves were going through the motions at the border. Though she knew that her future contained a lot of trouble, Sara could at least work to minimise that trouble now.

‘I will head back along the river past the lagoons,' said Sara suddenly. The confidence in her voice was returning, the first time it had done so fully all morning.

‘If mum sees us coming home together she really will really know that something's wrong.' Sara added.

Misha danced back and forth under Sara, eager to be running through the forests again.

Fera replied with a weak smile, mostly because what her younger sister had just said was the truth.

‘Yeah,' Fera said.

Sara turned with her impatient horse as it rotated on the spot, fighting the reins that held it back.

‘Thanks Fera, for this morning,' Sara said, her smile showing genuine appreciation, even if she still looked mostly depressed.

‘Best of luck,' said Fera, some subconscious sympathy barely making it into the otherwise flat statement.

Fera watched as Sara turned and galloped down the grassy slopes towards the billabongs. Turning to look towards the wolf tower on the distant ridge, Fera wondered if Atonn was back on duty.

‘Always a good distraction,' Fera mumbled to herself, a wry smile appearing on her face.

With a quick sharp command the older wolf sister urged her own horse onwards down the road.

It was mid afternoon as a lone rider made his way along the rolling countryside of the lower foothills. Having crossed through BridgeHead and the lower plains, the lion youth felt better now that he would soon be home.

Trex sat cross-legged atop of his animal, a large padded seat allowing him a smooth ride on the camel's uneven back. Suzzi meandered along at her own pace, gazing with knowing dark eyes at the world as she chewed some cud thoughtfully.

There were many reasons that a lot of lions would not feel comfortable returning to Trex's home. Located immediately next to the border with the Wolf Kingdom, it was surrounded by wild forest. Few lions lived this far into the higher hills.

Isolation was undesirable for most lions, as they were a social race in comparison to their wolf cousins, out of habit as well as necessity.

Travelling downhill from the main road, Trex could make out his uncle's farm up ahead through the trees. The house and barn were situated a quarter of the way up the side of a ridge that marked the end of the Lion Empires territory. The main homestead was picturesquely surrounded by orchards, crop fields and a few livestock. The surrounding old mixed forest was just starting to change colour for the approaching autumn.

Trex's uncle and aunt had done a lot of hard work to make the farm as prosperous as it was. They had even cleared a small field all the way down to the mighty river Thitchel itself. This lower field flooded seasonally with the rising of the river in spring and allowed his uncle and aunt to plant difficult but valuable crops.

Looking towards the river he could make out his uncle and aunt nearer to its banks. He waved at them as they turned to look at the new arrival in the distance. His aunt waved back before returning to her work. Trex scanned the fields and buildings for his younger cousin, looking for any sign of the hyperactive little female cub.

Arriving at the stable, the young lion jumped off the camel. Suzzi let out a low sustained grunt, communicating effectively that she thought that it was about time. Trex smiled at the old animal, she had belonged to his father, and despite her constant complaints and stubbornness, she now gave Trex her faithful service as well.

‘Let me get that off of you,' said the young lion, patting the old camel as he undid the numerous bindings.

Soon, Trex had stowed the saddle and was walking back out of the stable to open the gate for the old camel.

Amongst the animals on the paddock were a few horses, one of which galloped towards Trex as he closed the gate. Trex refixed the latch as the young stallion came up to him, nudging him to get his full attention.

‘Hello Flint,' said Trex, patting the young horse with a small amount of hesitation.

Though Flint had been given to Trex by his aunt soon after the young horse's birth, Trex had yet to master the little spitfire. He much preferred Suzzi's calm ways to the wild energetic horse. Trex now understood why lions were not particularly fond of horses. Lions were, for the most part, calm and thoughtful, not used to having to fight to dominate another living being. It simply was not in their nature.

Flint bit playfully at Trex's cloak.

‘Hey you little monster,' said Trex, fending off the cheeky animal.

‘Go and annoy Suzzi if you're feeling lucky,' Trex suggested.

Suzzi looked around towards the two, hearing her name. The old camel then gave a very icy glance towards the young horse. Flint knew better then to bother the old camel. Neighing in defiance, the young animal raced off to find another animal to play with.

Trex made his way towards the family house nearby. Entering though the thick wooden front door, he walked towards the kitchen at the back. He had not had lunch yet today, and it was already well past midday.

Trex's home was a mixture of wolf and lion architecture. From the outside it was a two-story structure with a steep pitched roof which contained the top floor. It would have resembled an alpine house or ski lodge here on Earth. This style was typical for Anthro wolf buildings on their world.

Internally, the ground floor was almost completely open plan, as was typical for lion houses. The ground floor was split evenly into a living and kitchen area by a large central fireplace which doubled for heating and occasionally for cooking. The floor of the house was covered in slate and a few throw rugs, as was typical amongst all Anthros that could afford it. To the one side at the back of the house, underneath the patio that extended out on that side, was the bathhouse (similar to Asian bath houses on our world). This specialised room was a typical lion home feature, Anthro lions having almost ritual bathing habits and cleanliness.

The top floor of the small house consisted of two large rooms. One of these large rooms was for Trex's aunt and uncle, the other Trex had shared for the last few years with his younger cousin.

Having retrieved some cheese and bread, Trex made his way out the back door, taking the external stairs to the patio that attached to his room. Sitting in one of the cane chairs available, he leaned back into it gratefully, looking out towards the river and his uncle and aunt in the distance. He would have to eat quickly, there was surely something that needed doing around the farm before dark, and he had been away all day.

Finishing his food, Trex nevertheless continued to sit quietly. His thoughts drifted again to the question of his future, as it had been doing a lot lately.

Trex was coming up to his final exams. If he passed, it would make him a full citizen. After that he was pretty much free to do what he wanted; travel, work, further study, pretty much anything. The only problem was that he had no idea what he wanted to do.

He began to absent-mindedly play with his cloak. Looking down, he realised that he had forgotten that he had it on. Trex had only received the cloak a few months ago, along with his staff and various weapons and equipment that were standard for all lion citizens. These items were an important part of his final exam. Unclipping the pendant from his belt, he slipped off the cloak, holding it in his hands. He had not quite gotten used to wearing the strange cloth yet, there being little need to do so around the farm, though he had to admit it was very useful on occasion.

From behind, he suddenly heard a creak from a timber decking board, followed immediately by a heavy pause… of someone hoping that he had not heard them. Trex was just able to stop his large furry ears from flicking around automatically. This would have indicated that he had heard the unknown Anthro.

Leaning forward, he began to work the cloak in an exaggerated manner, as if to prove he was completely absorbed in his task. At the same time, however, Trex did actually manipulate the special fabric, causing it to thin out and increase dramatically in size, becoming more of a large sheet. Behind him, Trex could just hear some childish sniggering.

As if on queue, he was tackled from behind, four large paws clamping around his mid section.

‘Got'ya!' cried out an enthusiastic younger voice, instantly exploding into a fit of giggles.

Trex threw the cloak above his head with his partialy pinned arms, covering himself and his attacker in a large blanket of cloth as he rolled onto the floor. Amidst laughter and giggles, Trex wrestled playfully with his attacker. Emerging first from the cloth, Trex wrapped his younger adversary up in the material.

Wriggling around, the would-be attacker's head popped out of the cloth, revealing Trex's younger cousin Zea. Still giggling, the young cub was barely able to speak.

‘Unfair unfair!' she cried in between laughing.

Pinning her lightly to the ground, Trex leaned over his younger cousin.

‘Do you give up?' he asked with a smile. Two large eyes looked back up at him as she attempted to put on an innocent face.

‘Well…' she started.

Trex didn't wait for her to continue, tickling the enveloped girl viscously.

‘Stop it! Stop it!' she yelled out between laughing.

‘I give up, I give up!'

Trex took his weight off of the youngster, the girl crawling her way out of the fabric quickly, still giggling. Getting back up, she straightened out her loose, baggy clothing.

Trex picked up his cloak. The youngster looked on with large eyes as Trex returned the cloth to its normal size, the fabric seemingly buzzing and glowing slightly as its properties were changed by the young lion.

‘Wow!' said Zea, completely engrossed. She had not seen Trex do much training with his staff or cloak at home.

‘How did you do that?' she asked. Moving closer, her hand reaching out to touch the soft fabric.

Trex smiled at the younger cub as he took a seat on the timber railing, allowing his cousin to play with the fabric.

Zea was six years old, and like her mother, she had brown hair which ran just below her shoulders. In addition to a short fringe at the front, Zea also had a few strands of hair that rose awkwardly above her head.

This was where Zea's similarity to other cubs, of any race, ended. With her mother a wolf and her father a lion, the rest of Zea's features were her own. The small girl's nose was obviously triangular, unlike any wolf, but considerably smaller then any lions. Her ears were also different, despite being almost pointy like a wolf's they were thickly furred at its edges, like a lions. Her long tail, despite having longer hair instead of shorter fur for its full length, was still considerably thinner then the bushy tail of her mother. Her fur colour was an unusual pale yellow, almost grey, something not found in either race.

To Trex, however, his little cousin was gorgeous. Having grown up with her since she was born, he cherished her dearly. It was because of this that he worried occasionally about the future, and what would happen to her and his uncle and aunt if he went away. There had only been a handful of half-breeds throughout history, and Trex couldn't remember that any of the stories ended happily for them, or their families. Momentarily saddened by the thought, his eyes refocussed on his cousin, shaking off his doubt, he brought himself back.

‘Is it magic?' asked Zea. Her attention was fixed on the orange cloak still in Trex's hands.

‘No, not really,' replied Trex.

As almost all lions could do the transformation of specific material's properties, he felt that it couldn't really be considered magic.

‘Maybe just a little magic,' he added with a knowing smile. This answer seemed to please the young girl more.

‘How does it work?' she asked, taking the cloak off of her larger cousin, stretching it experimentally.

‘It is made of a very special fabric,' explained Trex, ‘all I have to do is concentrate on what I want the material to do, and then it changes.'

‘Wow, really? Is that all?' asked the fascinated cub. Quickly clutching the cloak to her chest, she screwed up her small face in concentration, obviously trying it out for herself. Opening her eyes, she looked down at the cloak, disappointed that it had not changed.

‘It's broken,' she said apologetically.

Trex laughed for a second.

‘It's not broken,' he said kindly, ‘it takes years of practice. You have to go through many lessons before you can even change it a little,' he reassured her.

‘But you did it so quickly,' she said, not believing her older cousin.

‘Yes, and I have taken classes for many years. You know all the meditation and exercises I do?'

‘Yes,' she replied.

Trex usually did his morning exercises with his uncle every day, as was typical amongst lions. He also spent about three hours a week meditating.

‘Well I have to do all that to help me concentrate enough to change the fabric,' Trex said.

Zea looked from him to the cloth, then back again.

‘All that, just to change some cloth?' she asked, her young impatient mind staggered by the amount of patience seemingly involved.

‘Yes,' laughed Trex, ‘when you get used to it, you can use it to keep yourself warm and dry in the rain, it can also protect you from the sun, or help to keep you cool. You can even make shelter out of it.'

Zea did not appear to be particularly impressed, considering the amount of effort seemingly involved.

‘And when you get really good,' continued Trex, undaunted. ‘You can turn it into a long rope, or you can make it turn elastic like a springy rope, or become hard as rock so no one can hurt you.'

This seemed to impress the girl more. She suddenly imagined herself jumping off the roof attached to an elastic rope that stopped you getting hurt.

‘And what is this?' she asked, pointing to the large, dark violet, circular pendant set into a gold metal disk.

‘That is to help me concentrate, it also stores the energy needed to make changes more quickly.'

Zea looked at the pendant, the almost black surface looking darker than should be allowed, considering the level of light in the midday sun.

‘Do you want to see something great?' asked Trex.

Zea nodded eagerly, impressed by the pretty purple stone.

‘The stone can tell you if you are happy or sad,' he said, taking the stone from the younger girl. ‘All you have to do is put your finger on it, and when you take it away whatever colour you see is what you are feeling,' he said.

Holding the underside of the pendant, he offered it to his cousin.

She was holding her long tail in both hands, a little nervous. She was not sure she liked the idea of a stone knowing if she was happy or sad.

‘Go ahead,' he said encouragingly.

Stepping forward, she placed a finger on the stone for an instant, pulling it back hurriedly and hiding her hands behind her back. Looking at the stone, Zea could make out a yellow spot, there also appeared to be a few blue rings that made it look a bit green, quickly the colour faded until the stone was almost black again.

‘What is it saying?' she wanted to know, her tail wagging slightly behind her.