The Exiles (3 page)

‘That's impressive,' said Fera slyly, ‘considering that the Satlisons are in town visiting relatives today.'

Sara cringed, her large triangular ears falling to the side. She'd been caught out.

‘You're not going to tell, are you?' Sara pleaded, ‘it was only a few melons.'

Fera ignored her younger sister. With an arrogant air she swept over to the overripe melon, sitting beside it. Fera's movements were very elegant, and by all accounts she was a very pretty wolf, the problem was, Fera knew this.

Trex watched as Fera took the dangerous overripe melon into her hands. He took another large bite of his own melon, chewing slowly.

‘I don't think I have a choice but to tell.' Fera's voice was laced with sarcasm.

‘You're so mean!' protested Sara.

‘It's for your own good' said Fera. She folded her arms in front of her like a school teacher, the melon still in one hand. ‘You have to take responsibility for your actions.'

Sara crossed her arms and turned away. Her ears were flat against her head in anger. She tried to hold her tongue. Her long tail flicked back and forth. Arguing would only lead to more trouble.

‘But considering you have already stolen the melons… there's no harm in me eating one of them, now is there?' Fera gave the two a cunning smile. She knew they could do nothing to stop her.

Trex's mouth was full, he tried to warn Fera about the dangerous melon in her hands. Instead he caught a ‘death look' from Sara.

The lion simply swallowed, he then very carefully began to place the melon he was eating on the ground.

Fera tried to figure out what the young lion had said. Ignoring him, she then leant over to crack the melon open on a nearby branch.

‘
Bang
!'

Fera blinked, her face covered in red gooey pulp. A large section of melon dripped from her normally neat, slick black hair.

‘Run!' shouted Sara, springing up.

Trex and Sara scampered away in the direction of the woods nearby.

Trex could see Fera giving chace, though she normally looked quite delicate, Fera was far from it.

The two cubs did not have a chance to outrun the adolescent wolf.

‘Quickly, we have to climb!' shouted Trex as they passed a tall tree.

‘I can't climb!' exclaimed Sara.

‘I'll help, just go!' shouted Trex.

The two youngsters scurried up the thin trunk, Trex pushing the reluctant wolf cub up.

When Fera got there she could only look up in annoyance.

‘Get down here you little brats!' she shouted, wiping her face to remove more of the red mush from her fur.

‘You deserved it!' shouted Sara. The wolf cub was clinging to the trunk with all fours.

Fera was angry, and the two cubs in the tree could feel it as well as see it.

Sara was really scared. She hadn't seen her sister this angry since Fera had reached physical maturity.

Fera snarled, her ears were flat and her large eyes had turned to narrow slits. She grabbed the tree trunk and a lower branch and began to shake them. The tree flexed as Fera pulled it back and forth with a strength seemingly beyond her.

Sara screamed as she was flung from side to side. Trex also held on for dear life, his arms and legs wrapped around the thin trunk and his eyes clamped shut.

Fera suddenly sprang up, much higher than Sara had ever seen her jump before, to grab a higher branch – the tree whipped back viciously.

Sara lost her grip and was flung from the trunk.

‘Aaaaaah!' she screamed.

Around one of her outstretched arms a hand closed itself. Luckily, Trex had caught onto her wrist and was just managing to hold on to the bending trunk

‘Don't let go!' screeched Sara, her one arm flailing wildly.

Trex clenched his teeth. The top of the tree was bending dangerously and he was loosing his grip.

‘Let her go you idiot,' came Fera's voice from below. She was ready to catch her younger sister. It was still quite a drop, and Sara looked uncertainly into Trex's eyes.

‘Uuuugh,' Sara voiced.

The top of the trunk finally snapped. Sara fell backwards as the two fell free. Trex was able to grab a larger branch on the way down, but Sara was wrenched from his hands. Sara screamed before she fell into the strong arms of her waiting sister.

‘Got you!' said Fera triumphantly.

Sara blinked a few times, still in shock.

‘Get down here Trex!' yelled Fera. The older wolf placed her sister onto the ground and held her by the scruff of the neck.

Sara squirmed in her sister's grip while Trex slowly climbed down.

With ears flat against his head, Trex reluctantly walked towards the older wolf.

Fera knelt down to snatch up the two. In one fluid motion she pinned their arms against their bodies as she carried them off, one under each arm.

Sara's and Trex's legs dangled free. They could only watch Fera's thick silky black tail swish back and forth as they were carried off.

Trex could see that Sara was angry. He could also see that bits of melon were all over Fera's back and in her hair.

Sara glanced at Trex. Seeing the smiling lion cub, she couldn't help but giggle herself. Her sister's expression had been priceless, totally worth the punishment they both knew was coming.

Trex and Sara suddenly began to laugh together.

‘You two are impossible!' Fera said in irritation.

Five years had past since that day with Fera and the exploding melon. The importance of the many events that had been set in motion so long ago were yet to be realized by all, but that would change soon enough…

Trex, for one, was enjoying the warm breeze of a lovely summer's night. The lion male had just entered adolescence and was still coming to grips with the many changes he had gone through in the last year or so.

He stood alone on a grass covered hill next to a track that travelled through the deserted open farmland around him. The sounds of chirping insects from the scattered bushes and lonely trees helped him to concentrate on what he was doing.

Breathing purposefully, the lion youth went through his balance routine in the moonlight. He shifted his weight fluidly, swinging his arms and legs slowly in the way he had done many times before.

Trex had grown a lot in five years; he was only about a head shorter than his uncle now, though still a bit skinnier.

He finished his lengthy routine with a calm and deep breath. Relaxing a bit, he lay down in the meadow to look up at the stars.

The Anthro lion male still only wore short pants with a belt. To this belt was clipped a noticeable large, gold-lined, black stone-pendant. He also wore an orange sash around his right shoulder which attached to the large pendant on his belt. The unusual orange fabric somehow gave the impression it was much larger then its crumpled form would indicate.

In the distance, Trex could make out the lights of his destination. The city of RefugeCross was just visible over the next hill, torches and fires twinkling in the distance to provide a soft orange glow to the ornate towering structures and the central palace complex.

Lying next to Trex was the tattered book that he had been reading before it had become too dark. Trex absentmindedly flicked through the pages until he got to the cover. The title: ‘Undiscovered country', was just visible in the moonlight. It was an adventure story about lions, wolves, war and discovery. It was the third time Trex had read it. The young male loved adventure stories. There had been little else to do on his uncle's farm over the last few years except to work, read and train.

Thinking about the wolves in the book, Trex's thoughts drifted towards memories of Sara. That day the melon had exploded in Fera's face was the last time he had seen Sara or any of her family, despite how close by they lived. He wondered what had become of her. These thoughts fell away and he placed the old book into a saddle bag, Trex had bigger concerns.

Life was always easier in his adventure stories, the heroes didn't have to worry about school, or training, or what to do with their lives; it all just sort of happened
to
them and it was clear what had to be done, Trex envied that, but his immediate world was much less clear.

Trex let out a sigh. He then put his index fingers to his mouth: a sharp whistle pierced the still darkness. In the distance a larger shadow moved.

Thinking of Sara again and the adventures they used to have, Trex suddenly felt restless; perhaps it was time for another one of his early morning “outings”.

‘No harm… no foul,' Trex said to himself quietly, an uncommonly mischievous grin appearing below his triangular nose.

Very early the next morning, high up in a cloudless, dark sky, a solitary bird circled slowly over the sleeping city of RefugeCross. This bird looked quite similar to a hawk here on our world, but this pale yellow creature had a two and a half meter wing span which was currently stretching wide to catch the breeze. It had been flying all night with a document strapped to one of its powerful talons.

Like an identical bird that had arrived at RefugeCross two hours before it, this flying messenger was part of the Lion Empire's extensive postal system. But unlike the other messenger bird that had long since landed, this one was still alive.

All this was of no concern to the flying bird as it flapped its wings lazily to catch the breeze. Descending slowly, the animal scanned the landscape around it. To the north, immense mountains towered over the otherwise flat landscape; some of the snowy peaks even reaching higher up then the winged messenger was flying. Towards the east, the desert horizon was starting to glow a deep red in fiery anticipation of dawn. To the west and south, stretched a great ocean, never ending as it reached on and on towards the horizon.

Just below the rapidly descending bird, wedged between these vastly different landscapes, the ancient lion controlled city of RefugeCross was covered in a heavy morning fog. Elegantly built old towers reached over the thick mist; their cylindrical forms and bulbous onion shaped tops keeping watch over the city and its river.

Far below, within the inner city of RefugeCross, in one of the many gardens that snaked their way through the administration wing, a cloaked figure could barely be seen through the choking mist. Its hurried little steps could be heard on the polished flagstone. Walking to the top of a series of wide stairs, the lone figure met up with a group that was similarly clothed to protect against the morning chill.

‘This is completely unacceptable Captain,' said the newcomer. The words tumbled out of his mouth in a high pitch squeak, as if every word was trying to overtake the one before it in the rush to be heard. He was obviously upset. Taking off his hood, the elderly male revealed himself to be of the Anthro lion race. He's shifting eyes looked around nervously.

‘We can't have these barbarians simply walking through our city at will,' he continued.

The group of twelve stopped as the Captain turned to address the newcomer.

‘I assure you that the city is safe councillor,' the Captain replied in a steady voice, ‘it is too early to make any assumptions… or accusations.'

The Captain smiled. His sharp teeth briefly caught the dim light from within the gloom of his hood. Turning back, he led the small group on.

The lion councillor looked uncertain, his large round ears drooped slightly as he got the feeling that he had just been talked down to, but not really sure how.

‘Come on Herrol,' stated a kind voice from behind.

The uncertain councillor called Herrol turned to see the kind face of a older lioness. She smiled at him reassuringly.

‘We will discuss all this in the meeting,' the lioness said kindly, taking him gently but firmly by the arm.

‘It's just that we all know that he is too easy on those wolfs,' Herrol stammered in defence of his outburst.

Appearing out of the fog's gloom in front of the group was an impressive wooden door flanked by two bronze oil lamps. The group had arrived at the council chambers. The structure was built partially into the northern inner city walls that towered over the main city below.

Anthro lion buildings resembled a mixture of Mediterranean and Arabic building styles here on Earth.

Opening the door, the Anthro lion Captain allowed the council members to gratefully enter the large open chamber, their padded feet leaving wet paw-marks on the polished marble floor.

Some lions warmed themselves by small stone heating ovens that had been set out on the wooden oval table at one end of a large empty public gallery.

High above the assembled lion council, a shadowy figure also prepared to take,
unofficial
, part in the meeting.

As he had planned, Trex silently leapt through the shadowy maze of archways which supported the large domed roof of the council chambers. He was travelling almost ten meters above the stone floor below.

Arriving at his chosen perch, Trex positioned himself so as to have a view of the council while still remaining out of sight. The meeting was starting much earlier then he had expected.

Back at the large oval table below, the meeting got under way.

‘Firstly I would like to have a full report on the break-in last night, captain Felx,' said Councillor Herrol with renewed authority. The Councillor's long whiskers twitched impatiently on his smooth, orange-fur covered face.

Trex knew that the short councillor was fearful and generally distrusting. Councillor Herrol opposed any change beyond that which he himself knew and understood. As far as Trex was concerned, what Herrol knew, was not a lot.

‘News sure travels fast,' replied the lion Captain in a casual tone. He was trying to defuse the tense situation, ‘it was only reported a few hours ago.'

Herrol's unimpressed face was enough to convince the Captain that his attempted humour was misplaced. Captain Felx coughed to break the sudden awkward silence. Scratching his brown, trim beard absentmindedly, the lion Captain continued with more confidence in his standard official military voice.

‘As stated before, we are still investigating. Lieutenant Millan is at the scene as we speak, she is currently following a trail on the coast.'

Up in the shadows, Trex listened on with interest.

‘Surely you have a few more details for us Captain Felx,' stated a different councillor with a smooth reptilian voice.

‘At this stage the victim would be able to say more then I, Councillor Gerak,' replied Captain Felx honestly. He maintained steady eye contact with the dark councillor called Gerak who was sitting to one end of the table.

‘And who would that be?' Gerak asked. The middle aged councillor's facial features were as sharp and crisp as his name

‘That would be Head Councillor Tasch,' replied Felx. His hand respectfully gestured towards Tasch in the head councillor's chair.

Tasch was the same older lioness who had comforted Herrol a few minutes before.

There was a collective drawing of breath from the others around the table.

Up in the rafters, Trex almost whistled in surprise, clamping his hand across his mouth just in time to stop himself.

‘Is this correct Tasch? Was anything taken?' asked another female councillor in concern.

‘It's ok Emela,' replied Tasch, ‘they don't appear to have taken anything of value.'

Trex was impressed, this was definitely better then the usual boring reports. Not only was Tasch the Head Councillor, but she and her husband were also Shaman, and very powerful ones at that.

‘So what exactly happened?' asked Councillor Emela, with continued concern.

‘Nothing that exciting I'm afraid. We were woken up by some guards this morning when they came by to check on us. We then noticed that someone had been through our things.'

‘Do you know what was taken exactly?' asked Gerak, his normally cold expression cracking slightly to show genuine concern.

Captain Felx allowed his eyes to flick across to register this rare occurrence.

‘At the moment all we have found missing are some papers, a few letters and a personal seal,' said Tasch

‘An Imperial seal!?' exclaimed Herrol, jumping to conclusion, and almost jumping out of his chair.

‘No Herrol,' stated Tasch reassuringly, ‘I said a personal seal.'

Having quieted Herrol, she turned back to the lioness that she had been speaking to.

‘Naturally we keep all official papers and such better secured.'

‘I'm surprised they were able to get in at all,' interrupted Gerak. He leant back into his padded chair. Resting his elbows on the leather armrest he brought the tips of his fingers together in front of him, his eyes moved to focus on Captain Felx.

‘I would hope the,
entire
, residence of our citie's only senior Shaman was a little better secured,' he said in a silky voice, laced with disapproval.

Captain Felx returned and held eye contact with the disapproving councillor, as if to silently answer his challenge. Doing so, Captain Felx also noticed that councillor Gerak's hand was freshly bandaged.

High above the councillors, Trex lent against a column, digesting the information. Tasch and her husband did have one of the safest residences in the whole city. Located in the main palace complex, you had to get past by two secure checkpoints to gain access, or tackle some seriously high inner city walls, two of these imposing walls faced directly onto the sea.

‘The workshop, study and our chambers have extra measures in place,' replied Tasch deadpan to Gerak's comment before Captain Felx got a chance to respond, ‘you needn't worry yourself.'

‘Considering this morning events,' Gerak said calmly, ‘obviously someone must.'

‘Captain Felx,' interrupted Herrol suddenly, ‘do we know how these wolves got in?'

The Captain's eyes narrowed as he momentarily showed his displeasure at the comment.

‘It appears that the,
individuals
, scaled the inner walls from the cliff side,' he stated, with noticeable emphasis on the word individuals.

‘They used ropes to access the main residence balcony,' he continued.

Behind him, Captain Felx's tail began to flicker a bit in irritation; it had not been a good morning.

‘And this was not noticed by your patrols,' asked Herrol, one eyebrow raised.