Shieldwolf Dawning (13 page)

"I'm not boring," he said sharply.

"I know." She pinched his arm and giggled. "It got your attention, didn't it?"

"Stop being a pain."

"But Shieldwolf Longmane's gone. I want to do something fun. There's so much to see. I want to look around."

Cassian turned to face her. "That's great. And what do we do when he comes back early and sees we're, umm, not here?"

"He won't notice we're missing."

"Seriously? Think about it. There are only three gaians in our unit — you, me, and the shoveller over there." He gestured at the blond boy in the front row, biting his nails. "Trust me, Shieldwolf Longmane will notice."

Samarra pointed at the main tower. "He's probably in Merganser's office right at the top. That's where all the secret talks happen. He won't be coming back early. I can feel it in my bones."

"No you can't."

"Yes I can."

"You're so full of it."

"No I'm not!" she argued with indignation. "If we see him coming out, we'll just have to get back here faster than he does. Not a big deal. What's the worst thing that could happen?"

"We could get sent to the hotbox, for one."

"No we wouldn't. And even if we do get caught, we're the new kids. The Elders will be more lenient on us than on any of the other swains. They
expec
t us to explore our new home. Hey, Merganser even told me we had to 'familiarize' ourselves with the area. When you really think about it, we're doing what they already know we're going to do. It's fate."

"What?" Cassian looked stunned at her logic. "You're unbelievable," he said, shaking his head vigorously. "And I'm not going with you. I'm staying right here and doing what Shieldwolf Longmane tells me to do. Look at what happened the last time I let you talk me into doing something."

"But you have to come with me. I don't want to sit here thinking about a symbol for an hour. I did that kind of thinking during the phase. I don't want to get stuck in my head like that again. I'll make up something if he asks me about it later. I'll say I have a sunny face, or … or I'll say I have a—"

"Hot head?"

"Not funny. Not funny at all." Samarra jumped up and crossed her legs in exaggerated discomfort. "Plus, I have to pee."

Cassian pushed her out of his way with his staff. "This is a dumb idea."

"C'mon." She tugged on his sleeve. "I don't want to go by myself. I'm bad with directions. Really bad. You know that." She put on her special sad face, the one her brother couldn't resist. "I'll get lost."

Cassian stood up against his better judgment. "I'm only going so that you'll stop annoying me."

"I knew you would," She clapped and did a little jig.

"Why do I always let you drag me into these things?"

"Because you know it will be fun."

Cassian shook his head in disbelief. "Really?"

****

Samarra and her brother snuck around the courtyard, making sure they were always in view of the main tower. Shieldwolves patrolled the area, but paid no attention to the pair. Some were in the stables grooming their flying horses, some were weeding the flowerbeds, and others tended to a magnificent tree. The four wolf statues guarding the tree came to life at Samarra's approach.

"Hmm…" Samarra stepped back cautiously. "What's so special about that tree?" Thick and aged roots overlapped each other like an irregular lattice. Dappled green leaves glinted in the sunlight filtering into the biodome.

"That's the Anchor of Imeron," Cassian told her.

"I know that, but why is it guarded by four wolves?"

"It's blooming again after eleven years." He leaned on his staff and admired the tree.

"Oh, yeah? How do you know that?"

"I overheard one of the swains talking about it."

"Not Croak's granddaughter, I hope. That greenie's a know-it-all."

"No, not her. I don't know who it was. Be nice."

Samarra chuckled at his gentle scolding and headed for the grove next. She crept to a weeping willow and hid behind the thick trunk as she watched a small battlegroup of armoured Shieldwolves march out of the barracks in pairs and into the sacred grove. They each carried a glowing staff and formed a circle inside the portal of phasing. Samarra stepped out from behind the tree and moved to a better lookout spot. "Come on," she urged. "I want to see what they're doing."

"You're a busybody." He checked his holowatch — Merganser had given him one, too. "You're going to get caught."

"Check this out." Samarra pointed at the Shieldwolves who were tracing symbols in the air. The group leader smashed a tiny diamond sphere on the ground. In a flash, the battlegroup disappeared.

"Awesome!" Cassian said with fake enthusiasm. "Now we can go back to the training field." He moved to leave.

Samarra would have followed him had she not become distracted by a shiny object on the ground in the portal of phasing. "Hang on a minute." She ran over to inspect and couldn't believe her luck when she saw a diamond sphere in the grass. Samarra raced back to her brother and held up the glowing object. "Look what I found. How do I turn it on?"

Cassian shrugged. "No idea. You should put it back where you found it. It doesn't belong to you."

Samarra pocketed the diamond. "No way. I think I'll hang onto it for a while. I want to know how it works."

"Why do you always need to pull things apart? You can never put them back together again."

Samarra shrugged. "It's fun."

Cassian shook his head as he followed her to the main tower. When he spoke, his voice was soft. "Sammy," he said. "Why did you really bring me here?"

"Why?" Samarra kept walking. "Don't you like being here more than being with the Sairfangs?"

"It's not that bad, but…"

"Yes?"

"We're in an army. Don't you think that's weird?

"It's the tradition here."

"But we're kids." Cassian insisted. "Kids shouldn't be in armies."

"We're not just kids. Besides, they look after us."

"Do you ever regret coming here? I do. I had a good life with the Sairfangs."

"Maybe you did, but that doesn't take away from the fact that they stole us away from our home when we were born," Samarra reminded him. "We belong here, not on Gaia. Merganser was going to take you anyway."

"You could have stopped it. You didn't have to take me from the estate."

"I made a choice. Gaia was dying. This is a better place."

"Sometimes you make me want to pull out my hair. Don't you get it? We're being trained to go to war!" He was noticeably agitated. "Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Samarra huffed her way to a sculpture of an archeop. The archeop carried a staff in her left wing claws. Samarra bent down to read the plaque:
Aletheia Hibou-Ra.

Cassian would not let up. "We need to talk about this. I need you to know that I love you, but I don't like you very much right now. I'm having a really hard time forgiving you for bringing me here."

"I said I don't want to talk about it," she said stubbornly.

"When
will
you want to talk about it?"

"Not today." Samarra moved to the next sculpture. This one was of a platophibian male who also carried a staff. A large wolf stood beside him. The plaque read
Imeron Wolfrunner
. "Maybe tomorrow."

They walked without speaking until they reached the flowering terrace. Samarra sat down on the edge of the fountain and trailed her fingers through the water, lost in thought. "This place is really a whole new world." Samarra started to say more, but Cassian tackled her to the ground.

"Ouch!" she yelled when she landed on her elbow. "What are you doing?"

"Shh…" He clamped his hand over her mouth. "Someone's coming. Look." He nodded at the entrance to the tower.

Merganser rushed out of the building and headed for the armoury. She was followed by Irik, who launched himself into the air. The hatch dissolved and he exited the biodome. When the area was clear, Samarra stood up and straightened her uniform. "I wonder what's going on."

"We'll find out later," Cassian said. "Hurry up and get this over with."

"Okay, okay."

"Why didn't you go before training started?"

"I didn't have to go before."

"You always wait till the last minute." They stopped at an arched doorway.

"I bet there's a bathroom in there." Samarra peered into the large room. "Coast is clear."

The entire west wall was a series of bright and sunny windows. In opposite corners, a pair of diamond eagles perched on silver stands as if they were watching the emerald sphere that floated above a bubbling spring in the centre of the room. The enormous ball was engulfed in a wafer-thin layer of fire and encircled by a ring of seven holographic screens that were dull blue. In front of each screen was an armchair. "This must be the library." Samarra inched closer to the sphere. "Weird, huh? I wonder what that thing's supposed to be."

"May I help you?" came a slithering voice. A platophibian had surfaced from the water under the sphere.

"What do we do now, genius?" Cassian said under his breath.

"Just try not to look guilty."

Cassian rolled his eyes and sighed.

The Shieldwolf spoke into his tablet and the firewall shut down. He sunk back into the opening and emerged minutes later with an algae-covered ruby in his webbed hands. He stopped at his desk, grabbed his mug, and made his way slowly toward Samarra and Cassian. His strong lower jaw was creamy white and blended smoothly into his iridescent yellow neck. The rest of his powerful body was scaled with black and dusky brown. He looked like he could pound her into the ground like a hammer on a nail.

Samarra cleared her throat and spoke loudly enough for the Shieldwolf to hear her. "My primary trainer has given me leave to use the bathroom."

The Shieldwolf took a swig of his brew and tipped his head at a silver door. "Over there," he mumbled.

"Thank you!" Samarra ran off, relieved that he hadn't asked any questions. When she returned, Cassian and the Shieldwolf were having a conversation.

"Most of our knowledge is stored in Delphi, our information centre." The Shieldwolf patted the sphere like a proud father and guzzled the rest of his drink. He yawned and staggered back as if he were about to fall asleep on his tail any minute.

Cassian acknowledged his sister with a nod. "This is my sister, Samarra."

The Shieldwolf turned to Samarra. "Welcome. I am honoured to make your acquaintance. My name is Liasis Pythonidae." He bowed slightly and smiled. "My friends call me Python."

Samarra was taken aback at the sight of his sharp, backward-pointing teeth. She forced a smile.

"Were it any other day, I would have given you a tour of the library." Python's black-and-grey eyes darted all over them. He held up the ruby for all to see. Samarra and Cassian crowded around. The algae that covered the ruby was dotted with little black specks — tiny insects of some sort. "If I cannot safely remove these bugs from Delphi's operating system before they do more damage, Shieldwolf Proper will not have access to a centralized information service for days. Please come back another time." He bowed goodbye and went to his desk.

Cassian grabbed Samarra's hand and dragged her out the door. "Come on. We're going to the training field. We've been gone for long enough."

"I can't wait to go back to the library and test out Delphi," she said with enthusiasm.

"That figures."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Never mind."

"Hmph!" Samarra let her brother lead her part of the way back to the training field, but pulled back when she spotted a suspicious-looking tangle of vines near the wall. She broke free from Cassian's hold and raced off. "I'll only be a minute," she called out over her shoulder.

"Sammy." Cassian chased her. "We have to go."

"Just one more thing. I won't be long, I promise." Samarra dropped to her knees and pulled aside thick roots and creepers to reveal a trapdoor. "I knew there was something not-quite-right going on here. Check out my find." She brushed stray leaves and grass off the trapdoor. "Want to go in?"

"No, I don't want to go in. If we don't get back to the training field soon, we'll get into trouble. We've been gone for long enough." Cassian tried to pull her away from the trapdoor, but she wouldn't budge.

"You're a chicken." She flapped her arms and clucked.

"I'm not a chicken. We're not supposed to be exploring the area, and we're not supposed to be opening trapdoors. We're supposed to be on the training field."

"But don't you see the door's there for a reason?"

"Yeah, I know it's there for a reason, but that doesn't mean we have to open it."

"Will you come back with me tonight when there aren't so many Shieldwolves walking around?" Samarra asked hopefully. "I really, really, really want to know what's down there."

"No." Cassian clenched his fists. "You're so frustrating. I don't want to come back tonight. You're going to get caught and you're going to get in trouble. Don't expect me to listen to you complain about it when it happens." He wheeled around and stomped off.

"Ugh!" Samarra went after him. "I thought you had stopped being angry at me."

"Angry?" He avoided her gaze. "I'm furious!"

"Huh?" Samarra couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What did I do this time?"