Bear Coast

by Sven Grams

  - CHAPTER FIVE -

  Only a simple test

  (The Tale of Trex and Sara)

  Trex sat on top of a low stone wall. He was leaning backwards with one leg up and the other dangling loosely to the side. The young Anthro lion was watching his blond, curly haired friend Brekiz as he fiddled with a few small satchels, emptying different coloured powder into one of his upturned hands.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing?” said Trex, one eyebrow raised.

  “You worry too much,” replied Brekiz. He carefully mixed two of the three different heaps of powder lumped on the large leathery pads on the palm of his hand.

  “No,” stated Trex, “I just have a lot more respect for Shaman potions then you do.”

  “Oh, I have respect,” said Brekiz absentmindedly, concentrating on what he was doing, “it’s the patients that’s the problem.”

  Brekiz smiled devilishly.

  Trex huffed in amusement.

  The two Anthro lion boys were seated on a short stone wall overlooking a ramp which led down to a small exercise yard. The yard was pretty much the only free space in the cramped and built-up inner city school of RefugeCross. The school was surrounded on all sides by large buildings.

  Looking downhill, you could just get a glimpse of the fields on the other side of the river Thitchel over the rooftops of the lower inner city.

  The large watchtowers of the inner palace complex loomed in the background.

  The school was a basic stone and mortar construction. A twisted old tree had managed to grow against the wall of the exercise yard, its flat branches providing a bit of shade and green in the built up surroundings. A few large ceramic pots overflowed with colourful flowers on the pathway that led from the stone arch entrance of the compound to the multi story schoolhouse which the two youngsters were sitting in front of.

  As classes were over for the day, the two had the school compound practically to themselves.

  “Now watch, and be amazed,” said Brekiz, getting up and taking a few steps to make room.

  Trex sat up properly so as to pay attention, and to be able to jumped away if need be.

  Brekiz sprinkled a little more powder onto the mixed heap. The pile of dust began to smoulder and the curly haired youth flicked his wrist. No sooner had he done so then there was a brilliant flash of light.

  Trex lowered his raised hand from his eyes to see a small blue ball of fire.

  Brekiz was concentrating to keep it stable just above his upturned hand. His brow wrinkled with the mental effort of maintaining control of the volatile reaction. Brekiz thrust his hand upwards, sending the ball high into the air. There was a short but very loud “Bang!” then a shower of sparks spread out in a wide ark, a very pretty sight.

  There was a sudden commotion nearby and the two Anthros turned to see a startled Liezon. The small creature had obviously been sleeping on a windowsill nearby, unseen from the two. The creature hissed in irritation. A red wave of colour flowed over the surface of its skin for a moment before it scurried away.

  Brekiz laughed.

  “No appreciation,” he complained in good humour.

  “Seriously though,” said Trex as his friend sat back down nearby, “that’s pretty impressive.”

  “Thanks,” said Brekiz with a smile.

  An inquisitive adult lion poked his head around the entrance of the school compound, giving the two boys a scolding look before moving on.

  “You should feel privileged,” said Brekiz, ignoring the scold of the passing adult, “normally I would only show that to impress the girls.”

  “So it’s blown up on you before then?” replied Trex, knowing his friend.

  “Still needs a bit of practice,” admitted the blond Anthro lion.

  “I’m surprised you’re allowed to carry that stuff around,” said Trex, referring to the pouches of powder Brekiz had tied to his belt.

  “Technically I don’t,” said Brekiz, giving his friend a knowing stare.

  “Ohhh kaay.”

  “But you never know when it might come in handy.”

  The sound of the living city surrounded the two, muffled slightly by the high stone walls.

  “Not planning to blow the examiner up I hope,” said Trex suddenly.

  “I doubt that will be necessary,” said Brekiz with a smile.

  There was a loud sound from the school hall nearby. The two turned their heads to listen to the sound of large heavy iron objects being moved together. The scraping sound was filtering through the open windows up near the high roof of the hall.

  “I wonder were they managed to find an old battle cage?” thought Brekiz out loud.

  “Battle cage,” scoffed Trex, “sounds so barbaric.”

  “He he he,” chuckled Brekiz, “I think its more for the ‘atmosphere’, so as to scare young lions who think they are ready for citizenship.”

  Trex was obviously not amused.

  “What a waste of time,” Trex said, annoyed, “everyone else just has to finish their written exams, and we have to wait around for this circus, just because some Councillor thinks it’s a good idea.”

  Brekiz looked unconcerned.

  “I should be the one annoyed here,” the blond lion offered, “I doubt Councillor Gerak would have bothered to organise this just for me. But as he was doing it to annoy your uncle, he thought he’d may as well get one back against the Head Councillors grandson.”

  Brekiz was well aware of Councillor Gerak. His grandmother often complained about him to his grandfather over dinner.

  “Possibly,” said Trex, calming down, knowing that it was probably correct.

  “Oh well, its not like we can’t take care of ourselves,” said Brekiz confidently, putting his arms behind his head and stretching.

  “You’re just lucky that he doesn’t know anything about what you did with those exiles,” added Brekiz, lowering his voice appropriately. “Who knows what measures he would take if he knew you saved a wolf Sage.”

  Trex pulled up his two legs and leaned onto his knees.

  “You’d think it was a crime to help a wolf or something.”

  “I wouldn’t make a habit of it,” said Brekiz, his tone suddenly unduly cold.

  “Your family excluded of course,” he added quickly.

  Trex didn’t even flinch, they both knew that Brekiz had a very low opinion of wolves, even if he made an effort to hide it for the sake of Trex. The young brown haired lion knew that this was a consequence of all the Wolf Kingdom raids back in Brekiz’s home province when Brekiz was younger, so Trex was not unduly bitter. After some initial tension on the matter, the two boys had quickly come to an unspoken agreement of sorts. Their difference of opinion was definitely not a good enough reason to end their valuable friendship, for either of them.

  The door to the hall nearby suddenly opened. An older lion male poked his head out. Looking left and right he finally focused on the two boys.

  “Brekiz Huzzel?” he asked, his voice indicating that he was slightly irritated for some reason.

  “Yes Sir,” replied the blond youth, getting up.

  “You’re up first,” the older male said, disappearing behind the door a second later, leaving it open.

  The two lions blinked for a second.

  “Well…” said Trex, “best of luck then.”

  Brekiz eagerly grabbed up his staff, smiling confidently.

  “I’ll make sure to leave enough of him for you to take your turn,” Brekiz said arrogantly, before running down the ramp to the open door below.

  A few blocks away from where the two lion boys were, another Anthro lion was undertaking a gruelling test, though his was one of self restraint, and a test of his patience.

  Karthen was putting in a lot of effort to keep his cool, calm façade. Though despite his efforts, his teeth ground momentarily in frustration under his forced half smile.

  “They won’t stop staring,” said Zea shyly, sticking closely to the legs of her mother and fa
ther as they walked through the crowded streets of RefugeCross.

  All around them, the normal bustle and constant noise seemed to stop for the three visitors as they went past. Anthro wolves and lions alike all stopping and stared as Zea went by.

  “They don’t see farmers from Bridgehead that often,” offered Zea’s mother Sharlee calmly as way of explanation, her reassuring tone and emotional projection were helping to sooth her daughter.

  Karthen was witnessing his wife’s emotional power at full force, she was radiating calm and peace. Anyone in the immediate area was put in mind of a warm spring evening, of the smell of fresh flowers. The effort was enough to ensure that the Anthros around them stayed only politely curious.

  “We shouldn’t have dressed you so well,” offered Karthen kindly, “it’s probably not helping.”

  Zea looked down at her nice dress. She was really proud of it, and the thought that this was the reason for the attention swelled her with instant pride.

  The young halfling quickly moved in front of her parents, smiling kindly at the staring masses.

  “Hi,” said Zea happily to an older wolf female.

  The older wolf recoiled a bit in shock, simply starring further.

  Though the more skilled Anthro lions and wolves in the crowd could easily detect Sharlee’s projection, it never occurred to most Anthros to ever block positive projections, even if they were capable of doing so. Sharlee’s difficult childhood had allowed her to become highly skilled with the full array of projections, beyond just the typical hostility, much like her sister Sallice.

  Karthen eyed the crowd, checking for any overly hostile reactions. The older lion spotted a figure on a nearby roof for a spilt second. The figure was in Lion Empire guard or soldier uniform.

  Karthen smiled. It looked like they were not alone if push came to shove.

  “Wait,” said Karthen, stopping the family as they walked past a side road.

  “I think Trex’s exam is up there,” he said, “lets go by to see if we can’t wish him luck.”

  “Ok,” said Zea happily running ahead down the side road.

  “And there are less Anthros down there,” Karthen said out of the side of his mouth to his wife.

  Sharlee nodded approvingly.

  Zea ran down the less frequented used side road and around a corner, and straight into a group of Anthro cubs running in the other direction.

  “Ouch,” said Zea, ending up on her tail.

  She had collided with the young leader of the group who had also fallen back onto the ground. The lion youth had let go of a ball he had been holding, which rolled next to the halfling.

  “It’s her!” said one of the other Anthro lion cubs.

  The six youngsters were all of about Zea’s age, a mix of female and male Anthro lion cubs.

  The leader of the group, a young male with longish scruffy blond hair, quickly got up. The group seemed to take a collective step backwards. All of their ears were lowered or limp, there was a large degree of uncertainty.

  Zea rubbed her head for a second before quickly getting back up. Picking up the ball, she took a step towards the leader.

  “Here you go,” she said with a smile.

  The leader hesitate, but then took the ball.

  “Uhh, thanks,” the cub said hesitantly.

  “You’re a halfling?” stated, and asked, a female lion cub to the side.

  “A halfling?” questioned Zea, unfamiliar of the expression.

  “One of your parents is a lion, the other is a wolf,” said an older boy in the back, he was a little older then the others, and his expression was much more critical.

  “Oh,” said Zea, thinking for a second. “Yep!” she chirped happily a second latter, her unusual tail wagging a bit behind her.

  “Wow, that’s cool,” said another girl, pointing to Zea’s unusual tail. It was not bushy like a wolf’s, but also not smooth like a lions.

  “He he,” smiles Zea.

  “It’s not cool,” said the older boy, crossing his arms.

  Zea didn’t really notice the hostility from the one lion cub, mostly noticing the other inquisitive youngsters in front of her.

  Sharlee however did notice, coming around the corner with her husband a second later. The older female wolf instantly summed up the group, reading their young free flowing emotions.

  The hostile young lion instantly wilted away, completely subdued and intimidated, though not knowing why.

  Sharlee smiled sweetly at the group, her eye catching that of the hostile boy for only the briefest of instants.

  “Come on dear,” said Karthen, prompting his daughter forward.

  The group moved to the side.

  “See ya,” said Zea happily before walking on with her parents.

  The young group watched the halfling walk by.

  “Wow,” said one of the girls, “my brother is never going to believe this.”

  Behind the group the one hostile boy was still shacking, totally overwhelmed.

  Trex noticed that there appeared to be a sudden drop in the normal noise level of the city nearby. Oddly enough, the quite then seemed to move… closer?

  Zea, Sharlee and Karthen appeared around the corner of the arched entrance to the school compound.

  “Trex!” said Zea happily, quickly running over to her cousin.

  “Hey,” greeted Trex, giving his smaller cousin a half hug.

  The two adults walked up to them.

  “You look pretty,” Trex said to Zea, holding her at arms length to get a look at her dress.

  “Everyone is staring,” said Zea proudly.

  Trex looked up to his minders. The small physical gestures they both gave as a reflex indicating clearly enough what had been going on.

  “So no mud today?” Trex asked the little girl, continuing the act of blissful ignorance.

  “Not with this dress,” Zea replied defensively, seemingly taking offence at the notion.

  Trex looked up at the large watchtower nearby.

  “Almost time,” said Trex, knowing that his family could not afford to be late.

  “I know,” said Karthen, “we just wanted to wish you luck.”

  “Thanks,” said Trex.

  There was some commotion from inside of the hall, a gruff shout and then the sound of something hitting metal.

  “Make sure you don’t hurt the poor examiner too much,” said Sharlee, totally confident in Trex’s ability.

  “I won’t,” said Trex with a smile, grateful for the vote of confidence,

  “I’ll head over as soon as I’m done. Looks like councillor Gerak timed it perfectly.”

  “The last laugh will be on him,” said Karthen, “when halfway through the process the newest Lion Empire citizen suddenly shows up, and as a member of his most hated outcast family no less.”

  Zea went back over to her standing parents, completing the family picture.

  “We had better go,” said Karthen. The family members sharing brief nods before the three turned to walk away.

  “See you soon,” shouted Zea shortly before disappearing behind the corner.

  No sooner had his family left then Brekiz reappeared from the door he had gone through.

  Trex looked down and recognised the big smile on his face. In one hand Brekiz carried a small scroll. As he walked, the young lion was over emphasising his left upper arm, pointing to a distinct small armband.

  “Check it out,” he said proudly, “I’m a reservist.”

  Back in the hall from where Brekiz had just emerged from, in a small side chamber of the larger hall, the older lion male who had called in Brekiz was hunched over a small grinding bowl. Near the concentrating adult sat some herb satchels and a large mug full of water.

  The older male had only a faint trace of something resembling a beard on his orange furred face. His thin, frail features were not helped by his current worried expression.

  Just outside the partially open door of the storeroom, in the cavern
ous main hall, two older male lions were talking.

  “You ok,” asked a younger voice.

  “Yeah, it’s wearing off,” replied the other, his voice gruff and obviously older, “it’s your turn now anyway.”

  The second voice chuckled.

  “You ready with the second potion Stevtro?” asked the younger voice, “I want to get this over with.”

  “Give me a minute,” snapped the sickly looking Anthro lion called Stavro, “this is difficult work…”

  Looking around nervously, Stavro brought out a small folded envelope from his pocket, quickly shaking its contents onto the leathery palm of his hand. It looked very similar, but not quite identical, to the other herb he had just added from a large satchel nearby. The lion hesitated, seemingly still undecided about his action.

  “Just follow the recipe,” said the younger waiting adult, obviously offended by the snappy comment from before.

  “Give him time,” said the other voice calmly, “it’s not like any of us are well practice in this.”

  The hesitant herbalist seemed to make up his mind, adding a bit to his bowl and the rest to the similar looking stock. He quickly mixed them in. He crushed the herbs with a shaking hand and quickly poured the contents into the mug.

  Grabbing at his robes hastily, the stressed herbalist quickly produced a large key ring. He inspected the keys frantically until he found the one he was looking for. Tracing his finger over its surface, he arriving at a corroded weak spot, yes, it definitely looked natural.

  Apparently momentarily satisfied, the worried Anthro lion gulped audibly before placing the key ring away and grabbed the mug, it was time.

  Back down on the main street of RefugeCross where Trex’s family had just been, another Anthro was generating some curious looks from the locals. This Anthro was no halfling, however, and was attracting as much attention from the animals as she was from the surrounding Anthros.

  Sage Filfia strolled down the main street of RefugeCross, her trademark staff noticeably absent.

  To one side of the Sage walked Sara, looking around her cautiously and with concern.