The Exiles

by Sven Grams

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.

  - CHAPTER FIVE -

  Sister to sister

  (The tale of Sara)

  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 h
ad 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.

  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.