The Exiles (25 page)

Sara was still in shock, panting heavily as she glared at the exiles on the other side of the river bank. Moving forwards, she stepped in front of the young lion just in case one of the exiles was foolish enough to throw a dagger or something at them.

‘You're damn lucky I'm still not over there!' Sara yelled back across the river threateningly. Her mind was still overconfidently filled with rage.

Trex was unable to retrieve his arrow, but was pulling in the long strand of rope that had been attached to it.

Sliding her sword back into its sheath with such force that it was quite audible, Sara gave an insulting hand gesture to her enemies, taunting them.

On the other side, the exiles stood in silence. A mixture of anger and uncertainty keeping their determined expressions fixed on the two youngsters, now out of reach.

‘Let's get back to camp,' growled Philton. He turned sharply to walk away from the roofs edge.

Slowly, his companions followed their leader in silence. The brown wolf, Tomn, lingered behind, making brief eye contact with Trex. The expression that the lion saw was enough to make him shiver.

Sara was grinning triumphantly. She was not allowing her aggression to leave her system, instead, basking in her victory. About to yell another insult after her retreating foes, she was stopped when Trex's hand landed on her shoulder.

‘We had better get going,' he said seriously.

‘Oh come on!' exclaimed the wolf in disapproval. ‘We just got away… and how!' she said, switching instantly to joy. ‘You don't want to rub it in?
Not even a little?
'

‘We're not away from them yet,' reasoned Trex calmly. ‘We wont be able to travel far tonight.'

Sara quickly deflated, the logic of the situation coming back into focus.

‘Spoil sport,' she said bitterly, her shoulders slumping.

Sara followed the lion as he started to explore the ruins.

Trex could feel the emotions of the excited wolf calming down. He had been able to effectively ignore them the whole time, something he was secretly quite happy with. But now he was fully aware of them, and was waiting for her to calm down enough to answer his questions.

The two were travelling through a large room. The roof had caved in a long time ago, letting in the limited light of the overcast night. Trex turned so suddenly that the following wolf almost ran into him.

‘What the heck is going on?' he asked abruptly, curiosity getting the better of him. He was unable to hide a hint of frustration in his voice.

Sara was caught off guard and took a step back.

‘What do you mean?' she replied honestly, a little confused.

‘Well, this,' said Trex, waving his arms in the air, indicating the current situation they found themselves in. ‘The male wolves? Why did they chase me? What did they want with me anyway? And what are you doing here!?' Trex walked around in a circle as he listed his questions, not even looking at the wolf he was addressing. ‘Why did you save me? You obviously have something to do with all this.' Trex finished by walking back up toward Sara, subconsciously moving within her personal space to apply some un-said pressure.

Sara was on the back foot, she wasn't prepared for this.

‘It's complicated,' she said gruffly, a little annoyed at being challenged.

‘We have all night,' replied Trex, tapping his foot impatiently.

‘Shouldn't we be moving on?'

Trex looked around, trying to come up with a compelling reason not to go.

‘We can walk and talk,' he said finally.

Once again the two headed off. The ruins on the west side of the river were extensive, but were quickly swallowed by the surrounding forest. This section of the old city was perched on a narrow ledge between the two cliffs, one of which went up, the other down. If they were honest with themselves neither of the two youngsters knew exactly how they could get down from here.

‘What are
you
doing up here?' asked Sara suddenly, trying to avoid her own answer to the same question.

Trex stood still for a second. Sara was obviously hesitant to tell the truth; perhaps if he was honest it would encourage her.

‘I'm up here looking for wispdews actually,' Trex said. Feeling that he should offer as much information as he could he continued. ‘I slipped past the lion towers at the border with the Wilderness two days ago. I didn't want anyone to know that I was coming up here alone.' Trex paused in his explanation as he climbed over a large fallen column. ‘I just wanted to get away from it all. Sort of see something different.'

The vegetation was starting to get thicker as they progressed further away from the central ruins.

‘Why wispdews?' Sara asked, a picture forming in her mind.

‘The only live ones in RefugeCross were stolen during that wolf break in and apparently they are needed for an antidote or something.' Trex took out his small utility axe to chop away at some denser shrubs. ‘It was just an excuse to go up here really,' he admitted.

Trex suddenly stopped what he was doing. What he had just said was the truth, but it was the first time he had admitted it to himself. To admit this to a stranger, which Sara now effectively was despite their past, was something else. Refocusing his thoughts on the now, he turned to the young wolf. Her features were illuminated for a second by a brief glimpse of the full moon. Trex didn't really recognize the young female at all, she had always been so headstrong, but he couldn't remember her being so difficult or aggressive, she had gotten a real chip on her shoulder from somewhere.

‘And you?' he asked curiously.

Sara examined the young lion's face. To her, he was now also pretty much a stranger, and a lion at that. Normally she would have already come up with many reasons not to open up to him, or possibly not even talk to him at all. But somehow out here, after what had just happened to them, her normal doubts simply didn't materialize. Perhaps she was too tired. Sara suddenly felt an urge to open up. Normally she would have been able to suppress this urge under her fierce façade and prejudices, but all the stress had worn her down… and it was Trex after all. Images of Trex as a young lion-cub filtered through her mind, in many of them he was smiling, just like she used to do a lot of the time.

Thoughts returning to the present, Sara could see a tired smile on the lion's face, just as it was back then when they were cubs… What could she lose in opening up to him anyway? There was a good chance she would be dead soon anyway.

Taking a deep breath, she looked Trex squarely in the eyes.

‘You promise you won't tell anyone,' she said seriously.

Trex took a seat on a nearby large tree root.

‘As long as you do the same.'

‘Deal,' agreed Sara.

The wolf moved over to a large rock, sitting down. It only took a few minutes for her to fill Trex in about her grandfather and the exiles. Sara found herself even opening up further to him, expressing how she had felt during much of the ordeal. It was odd to her, but she found it easy to express her feelings to Trex, despite not having seen him for such a long time. His kind, calm expression was disarming, and he didn't interrupt when listening.

Sometimes shared experiences, particularly traumatic ones, create a bond between individuals. As they say, actions speak louder then words.

‘Then I followed them and waited till night,' Sara stated. ‘And well… you know the rest.' Leaning back, Sara stretched her arms and back a bit after the long talk. She waited for a reaction from her childhood friend.

‘It makes sense now, what the exiles were talking about,' said Trex finally.

‘What did they say?'

‘They were talking about using me to help trick Sage Filfia into leaving her home.'

Sara thought about this for a moment.

‘Why would a lion cause Filfia to leave her home?'

Trex calmly looked at Sara, unsure if he wanted to share any more information with the wolf. From the story she had just told, she was obviously not a particular friend of the lion race. But then she had told him of potentially sensitive information regarding her grandfather.

‘I'm not sure how, but I think there really is a connection between your Sage and our Shaman' said Trex, recalling back to professor Katan's comments about having a contact up in the mountains.

Sara had not said anything about this suspicion, simply telling Trex the facts of what had happened, not
why
she thought they had happened.

Sara sat still, her face twisted into deep contemplation at the confirmation of what she already suspected. This was the only way that the exile's break-in at RefugeCross made sense. It had nothing to do with the lions, or, as it turned out, gathering proof that Filfia was a spy for them, it had always been about Filfia herself.

Sara's mind raced as she made new connections between the thoughts in her mind. So what was Filfia doing with the lions? She should have no contact with them, particularly not a secret one. If the Mintury Society wanted her killed, her connection with the lions was obviously not in the Wolf Kingdom's interest. If so, then why did her grandfather suddenly want to protect the Sage? Surely he knew or suspected her connection with the lions. The whole thing just didn't make sense.

Trex watched her as her mind raced. Looking around, he realized that the night was somehow getting even darker.

The vegetation was thicker here and it was dangerous to move around so close to the cliff, it was probably best that they stayed where they were for the night. Removing the rope from around his shoulders, Trex meditated to attach its length back into his shortened cloak. A small part of Trex's mind couldn't help but randomly worry again about Flint, wondering how the horse was spending the night.

Finished with the transformation, Trex searched around for a place to stay the night. Nearby, the remains of a roof provided shelter from the occasional rain that was falling. In a corner, leaf litter had collected, luckily it seemed quite dry.

‘We should get some rest,' Trex said. He probed the leaf litter for hard objects and any wild animals that may have had the same idea as him. Sara shook herself clear of her thoughts, but was still distant.

‘Sure,' she said.

Getting up automatically, she walked over to Trex. Lying down on the opposite corner of the dried leaf litter, she made herself as comfortable as possible. She turned her back to the young lion.

Trex, who was now sitting, transformed his bow back into a staff. Taking it apart he placed it away.

‘Thanks for saving me,' he said eventually.

‘Sure thing,' replied Sara, off hand. She was becoming frustrated with her confusing thoughts. ‘You should be able to slip past and head home tomorrow morning.' Her final words carried a slight amount of resentment.

‘I'm coming with you,' Trex said plainly, his mind having been made up since he had heard Sara's side of the story.

‘Why? This isn't your problem,' Sara said after a while. Her thoughts were currently very negative towards Filfia, and very sceptical regarding lions in general. ‘Or are you suddenly feeling patriotic?' she added accusingly; hinting that the wolf Sage Filfia was some type of lion spy, worth saving by Trex in the interest of the Lion Empire.

Trex stared at the back of the wolf for a second, unsure of the aim of such a comment.

‘You should know that I only have a little loyalty to the empire.'

‘And why is that?' asked Sara, her distracted thoughts quickly realizing the stupidity of her question, but it was too late, Trex answered.

‘Sharlee and Zea of course,' he replied, referring to his uncle's wolf wife and half-ling cousin.

‘Sorry,' said Sara, feeling a little dumb. ‘Why then?' she asked a second time, this time more kindly.

Trex thought about her question for a moment. Since he had first suspected the connection between Sage Filfia, Head Councillor Tasch and her husband Katan, he had tried to figure out what their connection was. Brekiz's grandparent Tasch and Katan were well known for their pro-wolf activities and anti-war sentiment. Trex couldn't imagine that there would be any type of hostile intent from the two old lions, which meant that Sage Filfia must also have the same beliefs as her lion friends, namely to keep the peace.

Trex didn't know much about politics, but one thing was crystal clear to him, the peace was critical for his uncle and aunt to be able to live on as they had done so far. Anything to help that peace continue was definitely worth fighting for.

Trex suddenly smiled to himself in the dark, his uncle's words of: ‘You will have to fight soon enough', suddenly making a lot more sense.

‘I suppose it's because I respect Tasch and Katan,' Trex said. ‘They're our Shaman. If Sage Filfia is a friend of theirs, then I would want to help her, regardless of who she is.'

Sara kept her back to the lion male, staring at the wall. Trex had rolled onto his back, looking at the dark ceiling above.