by Taki Drake
The roar of many voices raised in surprise and triumph was only a faint background for the pounding of Dascha’s heart and the panting of her breath. The chill of the water had dragged part of her energy out and she laid there just for a few moments absorbing the heat. She knew she had a go on, but reaction and exhaustion were settling deeper into her bones.
After a few moments, Dascha dragged her body up to a standing position. She had more obstacles to overcome. One more and she would be done. Focus, dammit!
The first tree looked huge. Dascha felt very small staring up at the giant tree that she had to climb to start the next obstacle. From where she was positioned it looked insurmountable, even though she knew it was not. Telling yourself that she could just take it one step at a time Dascha began to climb as rapidly as she could manage. Freely using her claws, the small cat scaled up to the first tree branch walking across the length of the branch to the end that swayed in the breeze, Dascha stared across the gap to the branch that she wanted to land on.
Sticking that landing would be really important. She had seen what happened when the otter missed his landing spot and he had been pummeled by the fall, but still had to climb up again. She didn’t think she could get past that type of injury and she wasn’t sure that she had any more energy to climb up.
Taking a deep breath and without any more thought to slow her down, Dascha leapt from the end of the branch, focusing intently on where she wanted to land. Feeling as if she was throwing her mind to where her body needed to go Dascha was surprised to realize that she’d actually landed in the right place. Pushing forward while she still had the energy, Dascha moved as quickly as possible from one jump to the other.
The second of the leaps over the gaps between trees was shakier. Her energy was running out and her muscle control was eroding. The combination of the exertion, the pummeling, and the chill were taking its toll on the small feline body. Dascha needed to finish and do it soon or she might not complete this at all.
One more step.
It was the last one that she would have to do and the one that she put the least thought into solving. She looked down the tight rope, thinking that it certainly looked longer than it had from the spectator perspective. How could she solve this one without damaging herself too much?
Pieces of the solution started to percolate in her mind. She remembered the otter with his bucket and Trey with his little leaf boat. Was there something that she could use to change the effort necessary to ensure way down the rope? Wait! That might be the solution!
Dascha looked around and saw a branch that had partially broken off the tree. It was hanging just by a small portion of the bark and was obviously dead. The small cat went over to inspect it and took the end in her mouth and twisted until it snapped free. She could practically hear the spectators wondering what on earth she was doing.
She had a plan. Carrying the branch over to the rope with her mouth, Dascha positioned the sides of the forked branch over the rope, sinking her claws deeply into each side of the branch. She took a deep breath and shoved off the tree, hanging by the broken branch as it slid down the rope.
Wheee! This feels like flying! Like when Glenfrey carried me. Dascha thought as the speeding of the branch over the rope increased. A second later, the feline familiar realized that she forgot one thing. How are you supposed to stop this? It was too late to change the plan and the rapidly moving cat and her trusty branch hit the end of the rope. The force of impact broke the branch and Dascha was thrown forward with considerable force.
It could have been fatal, it should have been damaging. Instead, Dascha landed exactly in the middle of the final circle on her feet.
The crowd went wild!
Chapter 16 – Wisdom to Say No
Dascha was still a little bit shaky after the first trial. The food break and small rest had helped. Of even more benefit was the fact that Trey was back, healed and had returned to his usual bubbly self.
Dascha caught more than one other familiar staring at her with a questioning look on their face. While her friends had rehashed every moment of both Trey’s and her runs, the questions were not really thick from the other familiars. Only the otter from the first heat had come over to personally deliver his congratulations and to complement her on an intelligent solution for the final obstacle.
Dascha and Trey had both extended their appreciation for being able to see the otter’s run. Trey told him outright that without seeing what he had successfully done that Trey didn’t think he could’ve made the run. The otter left gratified and pleased, promising to look them up after the trials were over.
Of the 50 familiars that had signed up initially for the first trial, only six had passed. It made the two upcoming trials even more intimidating. Trey had opted out of the next one, but Kevin had signed up to participate in the wisdom trial in addition to Dascha.
There was a break for all participants and spectators to get something to eat and relax. Dascha was too tired to eat. Kevin and Jack bullied her into drinking enough water that she didn’t feel dehydrated, but food was just beyond her. She thought she could relax after she had survived the first trial. But she been wrong.
If anything, she was getting more tense than she had been at the start of the first one. Knowing how horrendous it had been, she couldn’t imagine what they were going to throw at her next.
None of her friends teased or harassed her about signing up for all three of the trials. They respected her right to make her own decisions, even if they were bad. It didn’t make her feel any better overall, but their faith in her gave her a faint ray of hope. It also made her worry about disappointing them.
The small black cat was huddled down beating herself up mentally when she felt a gentle purr against her back. She raised her head expecting to see Kevin. Instead, it was TT, providing wordless comfort to the best of her ability. Putting her head down once again, Dascha was able to drift off for a brief nap, comforted by TT’s presence and warmed by the companionship.
<<<>>>
The crowd was much subdued for the second trial. The scope and breadth of physical injury that had been received in the adaptability trial were sobering to the new gathering participants. Many of them had experienced a rough awakening over the last few days as to what being a familiar involved. The sanitized romance of the whole bonding concept had been replaced by a better understanding of the very real dangers and strong commitments that effective familiar bonds demanded.
Dascha knew that her perspective had changed radically in those few days. She looked back at her expectations before the gathering and realized how shallow they were and how naïve she had been. Wanting to be a good partner to her witch was a worthwhile goal. Understanding what that meant would take her whole life.
The three-toned chime that announced the start of the trial sounded, resonating through the air. Dascha had to swallow carefully past the lump that had just appeared in her throat. Her heart rate was up, and her limbs were already shaking. What would this trial bring?
Looking to the outcropping for the judges, Dascha was surprised to see Whett, the owl. She raised her wings and fluttered them to get everyone’s attention before her confident mental voice brought them all to attention.
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<< Please remember that there is always an element of danger in any of these challenges. As you saw yesterday, the challenges are designed to mimic situations that you might encounter in your life as a familiar. Every day there is a possibility of death or injury. To avoid making you understand that would be doing you a disservice.
<
Dascha looked over at Kevin and caught him staring back at her. She was amazed to see that he didn’t appear to look nervous when she could feel her heart hammering in her chest and the trembling in her limbs. Only the twitching of his tail telegraphed the tension that he was under.
His battle scars were very visible. The older cat was obviously an experienced fighter. The lesson on wisdom that the owl had given them showed how experience and failure could lead to wiser choices. The younger cat was partially comforted by the idea that someone with broader experience would be with her. Whett had not told them that they couldn’t talk to each other, nor that assistance was forbidden. Dascha wondered how wisdom could be tested in a group but was willing accept the challenge and see where it led.
Neither of Dascha or Kevin had any intention of avoiding this trial and made their way down to the starting area immediately. There was a noticeably smaller group taking on the challenge for wisdom. Where the adaptability challenge initially had had over 50 entries, only 17 familiars were nervously waiting by the blocked starting arch when the five minutes were up.
A clarion tone rang out, indicating the start of the trial. Although no one was standing close to it, the opening under the archway cleared, the blocking door dissipating into thin air. For a few seconds, the group was motionless, waiting to see if something else would happen. When nothing else occurred, the group closest to the door started to walk through.
The door was only wide enough to allow single file entry. Dascha was about halfway back in the line and was watching to see what would happen as everyone passed through the entrance. As each person stepped through, she saw a small flash of deep green mage light hit somewhere on the torso of the entering candidate.
There didn’t seem to be any immediate effect of whatever spell was being cast on the familiars. The indrawn breath as a few of them walked through the entry was not really an indication of a spell effect. Their normal nervousness and uncertainty would have evoked the same responses even without magic.
As Dascha took her turn through the entrance, she felt a slight tingle. Other than that small indicator she didn’t feel any different. Kevin was directly behind her, and she stopped a few feet away from the doorway and moved to the side to wait for him. As he came through, Dascha saw the same colored light hit him. He appeared to be oblivious to the casting of the spell since he walked smoothly through the arch without breaking his stride or affecting his body language.
He took two more steps toward her and then stopped as Dascha bent forward, reacting to what felt like a punch in the gut. There was no real blow, but she was reminded strongly that she had not eaten before she had come here and the intensity of her hunger was immediate and overwhelming.
Kevin stepped closer to her. He wrapped his tail protectively over her back, and asked, <
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Forcing her hunger into the back of her mind, Dascha straightened up and turned in the direction that the rest of the candidates had gone. Their brief interlude had been enough to position them in the back of the entire group. The two friends would have to hurry a little bit to catch up and not be left out of whatever this test was.
<<<>>>
Dascha and Kevin hurried down a short corridor that made an abrupt turn to the right. Another few steps and an abrupt turn to the left let them see the rest of the candidates milling around in a large room. Dascha could see a clearly-marked exit on the far side of the room.
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Kevin did not respond immediately which was unusual for him. Dascha turned to look at the older cat and realized that he was staring beyond her toward the middle of the room, and not even glanced at the exit. Instead, Kevin’s eyes were locked on the table of food that was on the right side of the room. He was so mesmerized by the food display that he didn’t appear to even have heard her comment.
Dascha glanced quickly around the room to see two other tables equally burdened with a range of food. The three tables had very different types of items. While some of them displayed food that would primarily appeal to a carnivore, the other tables were directed at those familiars that routinely ate either vegetarian or mixed diets.
The more that Dascha looked at the tables, the more her gut ached with emptiness. Her mouth flooded with saliva and she could feel droplets that threatened to slip out of her mouth and run down her chin. Telling her stomach sternly to wait until later, the small cat looked up just in time to see Kevin march determinedly over to the table displaying freshly caught fish.
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The smells from the table were overwhelming. The cucumber-like odor of fresh fish with overtones of brine, the rich, creamy smell of milk. Between the ache in her gut and the smells and appearance of the food, Dascha was finding it difficult to think at all. Focus! I need to focus!
Kevin had slipped away and was over by the salmon. Reaching over the table, he was helping himself to large sections of the fish, carrying it a short distance away. Crouching over his food, he hissed at anyone who approached him. Dascha got a good look at his face as he guarded his food. The lack of rational thought displayed by his eyes was frightening.
Dascha realized something was wrong, very wrong. Kevin was paying no attention to her, so she called loud enough to be heard by everyone in the room, <
Almost no one responded to her.
<
Dascha looked up. A glance around the area showed that there were only a few familiars that had not started to eat freely from the tables. One was a small, spindly-looking rust-colored bird. He was perched on a corner of one of the tables, huddled down with his head turned away from the bounty of edibles. A small fish was clutched in his little tiny talons, but he was not eating it.
There was nothing that Dascha could do about Kevin at that moment. He was far larger than she was and a wily fighter on top of that. Instead, she darted over to the tiny bird and asked, <
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A third voice intruded, saying, <
Dascha said, <>
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Realizing how important this was to the lizard, Dascha glanced frantically around her surroundings for something that would help. Her eyes were drawn to a pile of small napkins that had been placed on the table. Stretching up, she reached out with her paws and hooked a napkin edge. She pulled the fabric toward her until it fell to the ground at her feet. Sniffing the fabric cautiously, the black familiar could not determine any scent or smell of poison, nor did she feel any need to eat the piece of fabric. Hopefully, this at least would be safe.
