by Sven Grams
Trex noticed that Carrion and the other halflings had very similar features to his cousin Zea. It appeared that halflings born from mixed parents always took on similar physical traits.
Carrion himself had dark grey fur with a hint of orange leached into it. His scruffy long hair was a light copper color with tinges of gold and was tied back into a very messy ponytail.
“So there is a fleet waiting for us just off the coast where our village used to be?” Carrion said suddenly, poking at the fire with a stick.
“Yes,” answered Sara, not able to tear her eyes off the female bear, she had never seen one before.
“Were you not informed about the coming of the fleet?” asked Trex, a little surprised at the perplexed faces upon their arrival.
“We were told that help ‘might’ come,” said Carrion, his tone dark, “but we didn’t know what, or when, or if at all…”
Trex couldn’t help but feel that Carrion was a little bit bitter about the current circumstances.
“I was lead to believe that someone from your group contacted and old friends in RefugeCross, who was this Anthro?” asked the young lion tracker.
Carrion’s face fell, the young halfling did not answer. Instead, he stared into the fire.
“Please excuse my husband if he appears a little cold…” said the lioness to Carrion’s side calmly, “I’m afraid that the Anthro you speak of… our former leader and Carrion’s mother Xerissa, was killed only a few days ago.”
She placed a reassuring hand on her husband’s lap, which he took up gratefully.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” replied Trex, frowning.
“It’s ok…” said the lioness kindly with a hint of sadness.
“My name is Loetta by the way,” she added, having not been formerly introduced.
“I’m Trex,” replied the young lion.
“Sara Kelgorn,” stated the young wolf, seeing the lioness’s eyes turning towards her.
“I don’t have to say what a relief it is to meet you,” said Loetta kindly.
“And me you,” said Trex, his eyes shifting for a second to a young halfling he could see nearby.
“I am not sure if my husband introduced himself, but his name is Carrion,” continued Loetta kindly, “and this here is his adopted sister Pettana.”
“Hello” said the Anthro bear Pettana calmly, looking at the two with kind curiosity.
“Hello,” repeated Trex.
Sara simply nodded, staying quiet. Now that the initial commotion had calmed down Sara noticed that the clothes of the settlers was mostly made of leather and animal skins, they were well tailored, but definitely a different fashion to the normal textile clothes that Anthro lions and wolves wore.
“So what happened?” asked Trex after a moments silence, his curiosity getting the better of him, “why are the bears attacking you know… after all this time?”
“How much do you know about the settlement?” asked Carrion, his eyes not leaving the fire.
“Other then it has halflings, not a lot,” admitted Trex.
Carrion stared into the fire some more, obviously composing his words.
“My mother Xerissa was a very powerful an influential wolf merchant commodore in her day,” Carrion started, his eyes remembering back to another time, a happier place, “she specialised in trading with ‘natives’. She could speak eight different languages and had trading partners from the Bear Clans on the far west coast, as well as in RefugeCross. She even travelled all the way to the port of I’xtarro and the spice islands in the far east.”
Trex and Sara both listened with interest. Xerissa had obviously been a very talented diplomat as well as a skilled sea captain to cover the full breadth of the continent.
“She naturally grew very rich,” continued Carrion, “But all her money, all her influence didn’t help her when she finally fell in love… or when she had me.”
Again the bitterness was more present in the voice.
Trex naturally felt empathy for the halfling due to his cousin.
Sara, however, remained emotionless.
“After a while it became apparent that it would be impossible to raise me in her home town of Port Disstol,” continued the adult halfling.
“Being well known for her openness and compassion, it was not surprising that she was approached in the many ports she visited by other social outcasts… After a few years futilely fighting the system and her own family, she finally decided to get all the Anthros who were rejected by their society to a new home. It was at this stage that a kind bear elder of a trusted trading tribe generously offered her this land…”
There was a pause in the story.
“How long ago was that?” Sara asked, wanting to get the timeline right in her head.
“That was ten years ago,” answered Loetta.
Sara calculated in her head that Carrion was at least twenty years old, that meant he had survived as a halfling for ten years in wolf society… probably remaining on ship with his mother, but still… no wonder he seemed so tense and bitter.
“And what happened to change the situation?” asked Trex.
“Chief Thoson,” said Carrion darkly.
“Who is that?” asked Sara.
“The new leader of the bear clans.”
“The leader of the bear clans?” questioned Sara, “I thought they always had different clans or tribes.”
“He is uniting them… one by one,” said Pettana. It was the first time that she had really spoken and both Trex and Sara immediately noticed that she didn’t have any more of an accent then the other settlers.
“Uniting them?” questioned Trex, “is that even possible?”
“Apparently yes,” said the brown haired lioness Loetta.
“He’s ruthless,” stated Carrion, “he sweeps all before him, you either join him, or you are massacred. No tribe can stand up to him, or run from him, he is unstoppable.”
Sara and Trex took in this grave news. The uniting of the bear clans was the worst nightmare of either the wolves or lions at PeaksEnd. PeaksEnd and the main continent were only separated by a small stretch of very inhospitable wilderness to the bear clan territories. A small group of wandering bears on occasion was bad enough… but a whole army of them, that was something else.
“Did you not get any warning?” asked Sara, wondering how it had come to these dire circumstances.
“News doesn’t travel that fast between the different tribes,” replied Loetta, “they don’t have an organised postal service or anything, its all word of mouth from travellers.”
“By the time that most tribes heard of Chief Thoson’s ascendance, it was too late to form an alliance to stop him,” stated Carrion.
“We all underestimated him, and then it was already too late,” stated Pettana.
“Xerissa sent the message off on a passing ship almost two months ago, but in that short time Chief Thoson was able to expand his influence up to our neighbouring tribe.”
“And they turned against you?” asked Sara, her tone displeased with their supposed treachery.
“They tried not to…” said Pettana defensively, obviously having some connection to the local tribe, “they did try and warn us of the intentions of Chief Thosons warriors. But they would have been slaughtered themselves if they had resisted.”
Carrion looked over at his sister, his caring expression indicating their close bond.
“They did all they could” he confirmed kindly, “the bears that showed up three nights ago were not from that tribe.”
“We were forewarned, so we had everyone ready…” Carrion continued, his voice deteriorating rapidly.
Suddenly it was as if a sadness descended over the camp, this was obviously too fresh a memory for most of the settlers to deal with.
“They wanted to negotiate…” said Loetta, her voice also stuttering a bit.
“Xerissa went out of the gate on her own… she insisted…” continued the lioness, tears welling up in h
er eyes.
“They talked… and they… they just killed her, just like that, there was nothing we could do.”
Tears started to flow from Loetta and she was comforted by her husband. Many of the surrounding Anthros who were listening also began to cry, many of them seeing the brutal act first hand.
“Did she not notice the intent to kill?” questioned Sara, knowing well enough the obvious projection to kill must have been emitted when the attacker had decided to undertake the beastly act.
“These warriors from the other tribes were savages,” spat Carrion, “they have no value for life. They just acted on the impulse immediately. There was no premeditation, she never had a chance.”
Trex and Sara were momentarily shocked, never having heard of something like this before.
There was a moment’s quiet as the settlers composed themselves.
Pettana wiped away a tear.
“We fought off the attack that followed and then came here, hoping to get away from the warriors and possibly to make it to PeaksEnd.
“You were going to attempt to cross Trogger pass?” questioned, Sara, dumbfounded, “but winter is approaching, surely it’s suicide.”
“So is staying here,” replied Carrion curtly, his voice having a combative tone “we didn’t know when you would come, or if anyone would come at all.”
Sara seemed to be offended at the disrespectful rebuff and the two Anthros exchanged glares. More as a clash of wills then anything else.
Trex sat quietly, contemplating what he had just heard.
“It’s a good thing that we found you then,” he said calmly, “we can head straight for the coast tomorrow and all get out of here. Hopefully before we run into any of these bear warriors.”
This was enough to defuse the comments moments before.
“And who is in this rescue party exactly, who are you?” asked Carrion suddenly, not liking Sara’s attitude moments before.
“Xerissa never told you?” asked Trex, not unkindly.
“She died before she could give us any details,” replied Loetta, having now recovered, “we only know that she had asked for help.”
Trex thought about this before answering.
“The rescue force was organised and is lead by old friends of Xerissa. As far as I understand, they have much of the same values as she did. So they were able to organise the appropriate Anthros once they got the letter. We also have groups of volunteers from Torstberg and RefugeCross.”
“And they all know who we are… what we are?” asked the adult male halfling, eyebrow arched, “they have volunteered to rescue halflings and exiles?”
Trex suddenly realised why some of the families were all wolves, they were obviously exiled.
“Not exactly,” said Sara, her voice neutral once again, “both groups of volunteers think that they are here to help save members of their own race.”
“Which is sort of correct if you think about it,” said Trex, trying to make the remark sound a bit better then it did.
Carrion looked a little disappointed and somewhat angry.
“They are not going to be really happy to see us then, are they?” he stated, indicating to the settlers around him.
Both Sara and Trex remained quiet, knowing that it was fundamentally true.
“And where will you take us?” Carrion asked sarcastically, “the exiles are not allowed in Wolf Kingdom territory and they are second class citizens in the occupied lower planes… And I don’t remember lions reacting much better to halflings then wolves.”
Carrion spoke with speed and passion. His emotion projection was very potent, making both youngsters uneasy and placing them on the defensive.
Trex was the quicker to recover from the two.
“That’s not entirely true… RefugeCross does already have a halfling living there after all.”
“Really?” said an older male wolf who was listening nearby, in his lap sat a very young halfling and next to him the halfling’s lion mother.
“You haven’t heard?” asked Trex.
“Xerissa had said something about it,” confirmed Loetta, “but she didn’t want to state anything openly without being certain.”
“Well, we can confirm that it’s true,” said Sara, speaking up from beside Trex.
“Are you sure?” asked Carrion, not sounding convinced, he knew first hand the deep prejudices held by both races.
“Definitely,” answered Trex, “she’s my cousin after all.”
This comment instantly generated murmurs and discussion amongst the surrounding listening settlers. Perhaps this really was a way out… not only a way to save their own lives, but also to have a chance at a real future. This had been more that the group of social outcasts had dared to hope for ever since the destruction of their homes.
Sara and Trex looked around them as the settlers spirits raised noticeably.
The only one who wasn’t more positive was the young bear Pettana, her sad face kept a steady gaze on the two trackers, something both Sara and Trex recognised.
- CHAPTER TWELVE -
World in conflict
(The tale of Trex and Sara)
The morning sun had still not shown itself over the great dividing mountains on the eastern horizon. The great celestial body seemed content to only illuminate the horizon for now.
Sara and Trex sat on a high rocky outcrop looking west across the still dark and hazy landscape. They had a panoramic view from up on their high perch. Patches of morning fog hung lazily over parts of the forest that stretched out before them. A fresh breeze played with their clothing.
Far in the distance, they could just make out some plumes of smoke rising from numerous individual campfires spread over the landscape.
“Those fires wouldn’t be from our forces,” said Trex dryly, leaning on his tucked-in knees.
“They wouldn’t want to advertise their presence,” agreed Sara, sitting nearby.
Sara swept her long fringe to the side, leaning back on one arm.
“It’s a fair bet they’re from individual bear search parties,” Sara continued.
“Looks like the hunt is on then,” stated the lion youth.
“Let’s hope we can all get out of hear before they catch us,” Sara said soberly.
Trex had to stifle a yawn. He had woken up very early and had been unable to fall asleep again despite how tired he felt.
The two turned as they heard someone climbing up the side of the rock formation they were sitting on.
The Anthro bear Pettana came into view. She looked a little nervous and greeted the two youths uncertainly.
“Hi,” she said, a skewed smile on her face.
Trex and Sara were still a little uneasy around the youth. She had been the first Anthro bear the two had seen, and they had not heard much about her the night before.
“Hi,” greeted Trex.
Sara stayed quiet, but she had to move as Trex shuffled over to make room for Pettana on the small rock the two were sharing as a seat. There wasn’t a lot of room on their little perch.
Pettana smiled, taking a seat next to Trex now that he had made room.
“Thanks.”
Trex had to concentrate on keeping his eye’s looking forward, not wanting to simply stare at the poor girl.
Sara, however, used the opportunity to sneak a side glance past Trex, getting a better look at the female bear.
While alone, the two trackers had been able to calculate that Pettana was about their age, possibly a year younger.
As Sara had expected, Pettana was physically more massive then either her or Trex. The young female bear was already a head taller then them, with very strong arms and legs. The young wolf had imagined female bears to be stockier somehow, particularly the females. Pettana, however, had a distinct female figure, it was as if she was just physically larger then wolves or lions, in every dimension.
Sara could see that Anthro bears had a similar snout to that of Anthro lions, though they had larg
e oval noses instead of triangular ones. Their ears were also round, like a lions, though smaller and with a thinner edge. Most noticeable was their short tails. Pettana seemed to only have a short stub for a tail, the fur of which matched the rest of the light brown fur that covered her body. The only longer hair she had was on her head. It was a dark grey in colour and was worn loosely, being just below shoulder length.
There was a moments silence as none of the youngsters spoke.
“So…” said Pettana, “couldn’t get any sleep?”
Trex turned to face her.
“Some, we just woke up early, so decided to take a shift on watch.”
“Ahhh,” said Pettana fidgeting a bit.
“Am I the first bear you’ve ever seen?” she asked a little hesitantly a moment later.
“Pretty much,” admitted Sara from behind Trex.
“So there aren’t any back at PeaksEnd I take it?” she asked after a short pause, her tone downtrodden.
“I’m afraid not,” replied Trex honestly. The young lion suddenly realising where the conversation was leading, Pettana had obviously hoped to stay with the settlers.
“I suppose they wouldn’t be too happy to see me then?” Pettana continued, looking forlorn out at the horizon.
Sara and Trex remained silent. Trex was quickly trying to think of a way to comfort her.
“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” he said suddenly.
Sara gazed at her tracking partner questioningly, not sure how he had gotten to this conclusion. As far as she was concerned, the situation was bad enough with the halflings and exiled families.
Pettana looked over at Trex, her expression difficult to read.
“As I said last night,” Trex started, “the friends of Xerissa all hold the same views regarding Anthros as she did… And these friends hold a lot of power and influence back at PeacksEnd.”
Trex was now getting disbelieving looks from both sides.
“As far as I am aware bears are Anthros too, so I don’t think that the situation is hopeless.”
Trex shrugged his shoulders.
Pettana was not fully convinced, but there appeared to be a slight glimmer of hope it seemed, and it was more then she had had a few moments ago.