The Soldiers of Halla (30 page)

I felt the tree shake, as if something had jumped onto a branch above me. Something big. I heard the sound of claws skittering across the bark, gouging into the tree as it made its way along. That was it. I couldn't take it anymore. I was out of there. I pictured Solara in my head and was about to take a step when…

“Pendragon?” came a voice from above.

I stopped and looked up. Standing on a thick branch not five feet from my head was a huge black cat. A panther. A klee. Kasha.

“What are you doing in this tree?” she asked in such a surprised voice that I actually felt kind of foolish standing there.

“Avoiding a tang. Did you know tangs can be tamed?” I asked.

“Not until I came back to Eelong. A lot has changed since we left.”

Kasha wore the same dark tunic that she always wore. She was a forager. When I knew her, she and her team would scour the jungle floor for food. Her job was to protect the others from tangs. From what I'd just seen, that wasn't so important anymore.

“How long have you been back?” I asked. She could have landed back there fifteen minutes ago, or fifteen years. Time was becoming increasingly irrelevant.

“Only a day, but I've seen a lot.”

I stared at her, waiting for what I hoped would be good news. She knew exactly what I was thinking and added soberly, “I haven't found the exiles.”

“It's okay,” I said. “I have. At least I know where they are.”

Kasha's eyes widened. “That's wonderful! Have you come to bring me back to Solara?”

“Uh, no. They're here, Kasha. They're in Black Water.”

Kasha stared at me, stunned. Yes, she was a klee, but I could tell that she was stunned.

“But…how?” she asked.

“Can we get out of this tree first?”

“Yes, yes of course.”

The two of us climbed down. Kasha was much more agile than I was, naturally. I felt a lot more safe with Kasha there.

“Where are we?” I asked. “I mean, where on Eelong?”

“Not far from Leeandra. I was headed there when I
heard the tang attack. I didn't expect to see you here.”

“I guess that's why I landed where I did,” I said. “To find you.”

“Probably, and also because I believe it's important that you see Leeandra.”

“Why? Has it changed?” I asked.

Kasha nodded. “You must see it for yourself.”

“But we need to get to Black Water,” I argued.

“Agreed. But you need to understand the new Eelong. If the exiles are in Black Water, what has happened to Leeandra will affect them.”

I was convinced. We would head back to the klee city in the trees. As Kasha led me through the jungle, I filled her in on all that had happened, right up to Nevva's death and her dying words.

Kasha shook her head in dismay. “Black Water. I had no idea.”

“What am I gonna see in Leeandra?” I asked. I wanted to be a
little
prepared at least.

“It's a dangerous place for gars. Far more than when you were here.”

Oh. Swell.

“More dangerous than being treated like a slave and being put on the menu?” I asked.

“Yes. Gars no longer live in Leeandra” was her answer. “They were banished.”

“But…no,” I argued. “There was a whole new cooperation going on between the two races. Gunny and Spader were part of it.”

“That was long ago,” Kasha answered. “Whatever truce was established was later torn apart.”

I couldn't imagine what had happened that could turn
things so far the other way. Before I could ask, I had my answer. We were indeed very close to Leeandra. Kasha and I stepped to the edge of the dense jungle to see the giant, wooden wall that protected the city in the trees. It had been erected to keep the tangs away from the klees. That hadn't changed, but there was one distinct difference. I could see up to the top edge of the city wall, high above. Every ten feet or so was a long pole, from which flew a flag. A red flag with a star on it. The Ravinian star.

“The Ravinians control Eelong,” Kasha said.

“I should have guessed,” I said softly.

“It's been difficult for me,” Kasha continued. “They no longer know who I am, so I'm not trusted. In the short time I've been back, I haven't learned much, but there are rumors. Something is about to happen, and I fear it won't go well for the gars.”

“We have to find out what it is,” I said. “On Eelong the exiles are all gars.”

“That's why we must go inside. The answers will be there.”

I
n order for us to get inside the walls of Leeandra, I had to die. Sort of.

“Gars are no longer allowed inside the city walls,” Kasha explained. “At least, not by their own choice.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

Kasha didn't answer. She was nervous. That wasn't like her. At least, it wasn't like the confident Kasha I knew. The two of us crouched in the jungle, just before the clearing that surrounded Leeandra. I'd guess there was a stretch of about fifty yards from where the jungle ended until the big wall that protected the tree city of Leeandra.

“Forgive me, Pendragon,” she said. “I've seen things since my return that have been quite disturbing. I'm having trouble understanding it all.”

“Tell me,” I said.

“When I returned, I arrived inside the walls of Leeandra. But the village had changed so drastically, it took me a while to realize it. The structure of the city had been altered dramatically. I tried to find Boon, but had no luck. I even tried to contact him through my Traveler ring. After all, he
was my acolyte. But the ring no longer functions.”

“I hadn't even thought about the rings,” I said. “They probably went dead when the flumes exploded.”

“That's my guess. I asked anyone who would listen if they knew him, but got nowhere. Finally, I found someone who said that Boon had gone on an expedition to one of the outlying farms. That's why I was on the outside. To look for Boon.”

“Did you find him?”

“No. The farms are no longer where they used to be. I came back, for fear of getting lost. That's when I stumbled on the tang attack, and you.”

I nodded. “What else did you find in the city?”

“I roamed about, trying to get my bearings. It was nearly impossible. That's when I realized that I had been sent to a time that was further in the future than when I had lived here. It was the only explanation as to why the city could have changed so.”

“You said something is about to happen to the gars. That must be why we are here now.”

“I believe it is.”

“So? What is it?” I asked.

Kasha fell silent. Something was obviously bothering her.

“You discovered something, didn't you?” I asked.

“I saw something. Something I never thought would happen, yet it has. I walked to the part of the city that the foragers used as their base, hoping to find someone I might know. It is still there. Mostly as I remembered it. The foragers still function. They still leave the city to gather food. But…”

She couldn't continue. Whatever she'd seen had really disturbed her. I didn't push her, because I knew she'd
eventually open up. Though she was a klee, I could read her expressions as clearly as if she were human. Her dark fur glistened, as if she were sweating. Kasha was definitely off balance.

“There was a group of foragers inside the barracks. They were eating and talking, and laughing about how their jobs would soon be so much easier. They said there would be no more lurking through the jungle. No more worrying about tangs. No more guarding those who harvested fruits and vegetables at the farms. It was a celebration of sorts. It was all about how their lives would soon change because they would no longer have to forage in the jungle.”

“So then, what are they going to do for food?” I asked.

“They didn't say,” Kasha said. “They didn't have to. I saw.” She swallowed. Hard. The memory was a tough one. “One of the foragers was chewing on a bone. He finished and threw it onto a pile that had been building near the door.”

I felt as if I knew where this was headed, but I still had to hear.

“What was he eating, Kasha?”

“It was a leg bone. A gar leg bone. All of the bones were gar bones. It's happened, Pendragon. Gars have become food. They're on the verge of repealing Edict Forty-six. It's going to be legal to eat intelligent creatures! The foragers' jobs will no longer be about finding food in the jungle. I believe they now will be in charge of gathering the gars for…for…” Kasha had to work hard to hold back her emotions. “It's a step away from cannibalism.”

I looked toward the high walls of Leeandra, with its flapping Ravinian flags. Knowing the truth, the fantastic village in the trees took on a whole new feeling for me. It
was no longer a wondrous village of talking cats. It was a slaughterhouse.

“Kinda makes me not want to go inside,” I said.

“I do not believe the issue has been decided yet,” Kasha said. “They spoke as if it were something that was about to happen, but had not yet occurred.”

“But they were eating gars!” I shot back.

“Foragers always lived above the law,” Kasha explained. “They feel the rules of the common klee do not apply to them. There is arrogance among the foragers. I know. I was one of them. One of the worst.”

“But you never ate gars.”

“No. It was something my father instilled in me. I suppose at one time it would have been acceptable, but since we discovered that the gars were intelligent, it could no longer be justified. How is it possible that after such great strides were made, the klee took such a giant step backward?”

I pointed up to the flapping Ravinian flags.

“Ravinia” was my answer. “Fueled by Saint Dane's vision. Power to the powerful at the expense of the weak. That's pretty much what he's spread throughout Halla. It doesn't surprise me at all.”

“I'm devastated,” Kasha said, her head down.

“Don't be,” I said quickly. “We're not done yet. We're here to protect the exiles, and given all that you told me, I think I know what the Ravinian klees have in mind for them.”

The thought was sickening.

“That's why we need to get inside Leeandra,” Kasha offered. “We need to learn when the edict will be repealed. That will tell us how much time we have before the exiles are in danger.”

I looked at the tall wall again. I didn't want to go in there. I
really
didn't want to go in there. But Kasha was right. We needed to know when Edict Forty-six would fall. Once that happened, it would be open season on all gars.

And exiles.

“There's no way I can get through those gates the way I did last time,” I said. “Not if gars are banned from Leeandra.”

Kasha gave me an uneasy look. “Some gars are allowed inside.”

“Which ones?”

“Dead ones.”

I stared at the cat for a good long time, trying to figure out what the heck she meant by that. I soon found out. A few minutes later I found myself lying on the bottom of a four-wheeled forager wheelbarrow. Kasha was pushing. A dirty tarp was over me. The plan was simple. As far as anybody would know, she was wheeling in a dead gar to be eaten by her fellow foragers. Yeah, how sick is that? I lay there, trying my best to act dead. I had taken off my Ravinian shirt and dirtied up my pants, so that it wouldn't be obvious I was wearing the uniform of a Ravinian guard. I didn't think that would go over too well if I were discovered by a klee Ravinian guard. They might think that I had stolen it from one of their guards and, well, I figured their revenge might be messy. I kept the boots, though. Kasha pointed out that klee boots were very different from what gars wore, so nobody would suspect that I had gotten them from a Ravinian guard. So that's how I was wheeled toward Leeandra—naked from the waist up and covered in mud to make me look like lunch.

I looked out through a fold in the tarp that gave me a
narrow view ahead. Kasha quickly pushed me along the base of the wall until we came upon one of the huge gates that led into the village of Leeandra. Guarding the entrance were two large, scary-looking klees wearing red Ravinian guard uniforms. They each had spears strapped to their backs. As scary as it was entering Leeandra the last time I had been there, it didn't compare to this. I was food. Simple as that. I hoped that the klees inside were civilized enough that they wouldn't all pounce on me and start chowing. To say it was an uneasy feeling is a pretty big understatement.

“What is in there?” one guard asked Kasha gruffly.

“None of your concern,” Kasha answered just as sharply. She tried to move forward, but the guard stopped her.

“Stop,” he commanded. “It is our duty to inspect all items entering the city.”

“I'm a forager,” Kasha said impatiently. “I'm not governed by the same pedestrian laws as the other klees.”

From under the tarp I got a good view of the guard. He was a red-furred cat, with sharp, green eyes. Bad kitty. He stared at Kasha, as if deciding whether or not to make an issue out of it.

“You foragers are all alike,” he snarled. “You think you are above the law. Those days are past. Everyone is beholden to Ravinia. And Ravinian law says that we are empowered to inspect anything and everything that passes through these gates. If you would like to take this up with the circle, I would be more than happy to detain you until the next meeting.”

It was a standoff. Who was going to blink? An instant later I felt the tarp being pulled off me. I went into dead mode, whatever that is. I definitely held my breath. I had the fleeting thought that it was a good move to have dumped
my Ravinian uniform. There was a long moment of silence. It killed me not to be able to open my eyes to see what the guards were doing.

“For my fellow foragers,” Kasha said. “Or would you rather we chose not to bring food back for the likes of you anymore?”

For a second I feared that the guy would grab my arm and take a bite. I had all I could do to keep still.

I heard the klee growl, as if trying to maintain some kind of dignity. “You are all alike,” he snarled. “Move on!”

Kasha threw the tarp back over my head, and we started moving again. We were in. Kasha and the corpse.

“Stay still,” she half whispered. “I'll say when you can move.”

I was only too happy to play dead. The idea that we were surrounded by vicious cats, who could pounce on me and start chewing any second, was terrifying. I wondered if they were like dogs. Could they smell fear? If so, I must have smelled pretty rank. As much as I wanted to see the transformed Leeandra, I didn't take the chance to try and peek out through the folds in the tarp.

“Where are we going?” I whispered.

“Shhh,” Kasha scolded.

I shushed. A talking corpse would arouse suspicion. And after all, cats had pretty good hearing. I tried to relax and be dead. Kasha wheeled me along for several minutes. After a few bumps we stopped, and I sensed that we were rising up, which meant we were in one of the elevators that brought klees from the ground into the village buildings that were built at all different levels in the giant trees. The elevator bumped to a stop and Kasha wheeled me off. We moved along for a few minutes more, the wheels of the cart chattering over
what I figured were the wooden boards of the bridges that soared between trees. With one final bump, we stopped.

“It's safe here,” Kasha said. “We can't be seen.”

I cautiously pushed the tarp aside. Since I was on my back, I found myself staring up into the thick canopy of foliage. I saw that we were on a large platform built around a tree. This was exactly like the Leeandra I knew. When I stood up, I got a view of a Leeandra I didn't.

I walked to the railing to look out over a changed city. It was still built within impossibly massive trees, but the structures themselves were totally different. Gone were the huts that were erected on sturdy limbs. Now Leeandra was a city of buildings. They were wooden buildings, but modern looking. The wood planks were obviously milled. The designs were varied. Some were round. Others soared high into the sky, rivaling the trees they were built next to. The roped walkways that had connected the trees and buildings were replaced by solid-looking bridges.

When I was there before, very few buildings were on the ground. That was a precaution against tang attacks. Now buildings were everywhere. Hundreds were still in the trees, but many rose from the jungle floor as well. Powered vehicles passed below us on wide streets. There were wooden sidewalks, traffic lights, and even giant billboards that didn't advertise products, but instead displayed interesting works of art.

As different as it was from the Leeandra I remembered, it made total sense. This was the Eelong version of the Conclave of Ravinia on Third Earth. This was Utopia for the privileged.

Kasha said, “It is like looking into the future of my own time.”

“It
is
the future of your own time,” I corrected.

“With no gars whatsoever,” she added.

With that in mind, I looked around to try and spot one. Of course klees were everywhere. Leeandra had become a busy city. I saw them walking along the streets—some on two feet, some on all four. Elevators rose on the outside of buildings, loaded with klees. Klees were even driving the powered vehicles. Not a single gar was in sight. Though they had been treated as slaves and pets, my memory of Leeandra was that there were almost as many gars as klees. They may have been on leashes, or forced into performing the worst menial labor, but they were very much a part of Leeandra. Not anymore.

I also saw several klees, dressed in the red uniform of the Ravinian guards, stationed on street corners. Ravinia was a part of life in Leeandra now. I wondered if they were living klees, or dado klees that had been built on Third Earth.

“Do not move!” came a harsh voice from behind us.

Uh-oh. We weren't alone after all. I tensed up, ready for a fight. I looked to Kasha. She looked surprisingly relaxed. No, it was stranger than that. Kasha was smiling.

“Who are you?” the voice asked. “What are you doing in my home with that gar?”

I figured I should let Kasha handle this. After all, who would listen to a talking dinner?

“Is that any way to welcome back a tired Traveler?”

Huh? Kasha knew this guy?