Journey and Jeopardy (Dragon Wulf 1), Page 3

  A number of people in the crowd brought out bottles of alcoholic beverages and others arrived with glasses. The first cork popped out of the bottle with bang and everyone jumped.

  “To Tavin and Whufflya,” toasted the first bottle opener and everyone began to cheer, everyone that is, except for Tavin who was so involved with the life-changing event of vadeln-pairing. He was noticing little except for his Lind and a wistful Mikey who stood watching.

  “I will go and sleep the night in Maru the Lai’s daga,” Whufflya informed Tavin when the excitement began to die down and people began to seek their homes. Night-chill came down with an immediacy that made slow seem fast here on Tak. “It is not far.”

  Tavin was torn. He didn’t want to be apart from Whufflya, even for a moment but he wanted to spend time, his last night, with his Aunt Elizabeth, Charles and Mikey.

  Whufflya wrinkled her face into an understanding grin.

  : Distance cannot separate us my vadeln. We are only a mind-link apart and remember, Stronghold is not far away - we can come to visit - this night is not a farewell but is the start of a new beginning :

  With a respectful bow in Elizabeth Karovitz’s direction and with what could only be called a wink in Mikey’s, Whufflya left her life-mate to spend his last night with his family. The crowd of onlookers opened a path and she padded out on to the street, turned and began to make her light-footed way towards the daga of Maru the Lai.

  Once he had got himself under control Tavin spent a very emotional evening with the people who meant the most to him. Tomorrow he would begin his new life. Other relations came round to visit and to wish him luck.

  Robain Hallam arrived once the crowds had dispersed, bringing with him his wife Pauline and Tavin’s young cousins Paul, Elizabeth and Marie. Aunt Jill appeared with her new husband Daniel Ross. The former had obviously come straight from work - she was still wearing greasy coveralls, the same as Tavin wore whilst he did his own work on the project.

  Other friends appeared as well - every one full of amazement - for the most part - that it was Tavin and not Mikey who a Lind had chosen as her life-partner.

  Mikey remained subdued during the celebrations. He was pleased for his cousin but he couldn’t stop the spurts of jealousy that kept threatening to overwhelm him.

  Mikey’s dream had become Tavin’s actuality. For anyone who knew Mikey well, his reaction was perfectly natural. However, no one except one person noticed that he wasn’t his usual excitable, exuberant self and that person was Tavin.

  “It will be you one day,” he whispered into Mikey’s ear. “I’m sure of it … and so is Whufflya.”

  Mikey’s face perked up.

  Tavin’s face took on that expression that those who spent a lot of time with the vadeln-paired would have recognised as he communicated telepathically with Whufflya. She had, of course, been aware of what he was thinking and saying. This early in their bonding neither had learned how to hide their most private thoughts from each other and she had come up with an idea to make Mikey a bit happier.

  She shared it with Tavin and his face broke into a smile.

  He bent down over Mikey’s ear again.

  “Whufflya wonders if when your school holidays begin you might like to …” he paused, in a big-brotherly, teasing way and Mikey poked at him with little-brotherly, eleven-year-old impatience.

  “What might I like to?” he whispered fiercely.

  “Why …” Tavin paused for dramatic effect. “She just sort of wondered if you would like to come to Stronghold for a visit, that’s all.”

  “Really?” breathed Mikey, not believing his luck. “Where would I stay? Will I be staying with you in your quarters? Immediately school stops? Will Mother agree?”

  “As soon as it can be arranged,” promised Tavin. “Leave Aunt Elizabeth to me and as to where you’ll be staying, hold on and I’ll ask Whufflya.”

  His eyes took on the faraway look again, then refocused on Mikey’s now beaming face.

  “Whufflya has siblings,” he told Mikey. “One of them is vadeln-paired with a family at Stronghold.”

  The word ‘siblings’ was new to Mikey who was not over-fond of reading (hence Tavin’s amazement at the quality of the notes he had made for Teacher Hardbottom’s assignment) and whose vocabulary was thus apt to be deficient in certain areas. He looked blank.

  “Brothers and sisters who live at Stronghold or close by,” Tavin explained. “She says you can stay with them because you can’t stay with me and Whufflya in the cadet barracks. Not only is there no room for visitors but it is against the rules.” It was coming home to Tavin that he was not Artificer Tavin with hopes of becoming a doctor one day but Cadet Tavin, soon to be in training.

  “What are Whufflya’s brothers and sisters called?” pressed Mikey, jumping up and down with excitement. “Are they vadeln-paired? Are they all in the Vada? Will I be able to watch you training? Are her brothers and sisters blue-striped like her?”

  The questions came rattling out of Mikey’s mouth in a torrent.

  “Stop. Stop!” exclaimed Tavin, putting his hands over his ears and wishing he had waited until morning to tell Mikey. “Too many questions!” He was conscious of Whufflya laughing as she lay on her divan in Maru’s daga.

  : Tell Mikey to ask me myself when I arrive in the morning : she advised.

  : I don’t think that will work :

  : Then say that if he doesn’t stop I will withdraw my invitation :

  : That should work :

  It did. Mikey shut up immediately. He really wanted to visit Stronghold.

  He couldn’t help himself from asking just one more question though.

  “When tomorrow?”

  “As soon as Whufflya gets here,” promised Tavin, hoping she would forgive him for the whirlwind that would indubitably descend on her.

  He ‘felt’ her amusement.

  : Tell him I will be there at first light :

  : That early? Are you sure? :

  : Tomorrow will be a very long day : she informed him : we have to answer Mikey’s questions, your aunt’s questions and then travel to Stronghold to get you settled in :

  : Oh :

  : You know - cubicle, uniform, equipment, chore rota, books, lesson timetable - in fact everything. It all needs to be completed by tomorrow evening :

  Tavin hadn’t known.

  : Cadet Training begins the morning after tomorrow for the first year vadeln-pairs : she explained patiently : your first class will be arms-practice with the Weaponsmaster. It is always so :

  Tavin gulped. It wasn’t beginning to sink in … it had.

  “What’s the matter?” asked a now cheerful Mikey.

  “I’ve got my first class about how to use a weapon the day after tomorrow,” he answered. “I can’t remember much about what weapons-work is all about … last weapons class I attended was when I was a little boy, younger than you.”

  A yearning look was all the reply Tavin got. How so very much did Mikey wish he could take part in the class in his cousin’s stead.

  “I think I’ll say goodnight now,” said Tavin, suddenly feeling as if he would collapse if he didn’t get some sleep.

  * * * * *

  Tavin was overwhelmed by his first sight of Stronghold.

  He realised at once that the town was very different than Township. The rounded shapes of the buildings were the same but that was where the similarities ended. It was busier and much noisier. It took Tavin a moment or two to realise why. It was the colours. The citizens of Stronghold had painted their houses and workplaces in an infinite variety of colours and the brightness and joyfulness had somehow affected the people.

  Township was quiet and sedate except for the area where the taverns were. There was a place for everything and everyone and everything was in its, his or her place. There were nurseries for the young children and schools for the older ones. Clothes washing was done in designated areas and the business end of the town, where the industry and work
shops were located, had been built discretely, hidden behind an oblong hill to the north and behind some tall trees.

  Township’s population largely originated from two areas on their birth planet. Some had been brought up on its southern continent, in the Kingdom of Murdoch. The majority came from towns in a country known as Argyll. Humans ruled Argyll and Murdoch. In most of the towns back home; those in authority smiled upon seemly behaviour.

  The people of Stronghold had a very different history. The majority of them came from Vadath, a country jointly-ruled by the Lind and their human counterparts together with these people who chose to live amongst the Lind. The Vada had originated there. The town, also called Vada, had been a cheery, bustling place.

  The citizens of Township went about their daily business with decorum; it was a well-behaved, quiet, polite society where loud music was banned after a certain bell.

  In fact, Township was more than a little boring.

  Here all was noise and happy confusion with everything and everyone mixed in together. Tavin saw washing poles with washing pegged out in untidy lines hanging over the streets! The sounds and sights didn’t appear to be affecting Whufflya. She threaded her way through the chaos as if the cheerful chaos didn’t exist.

  Tavin could hear music, guitars mostly, coming from somewhere. Children were playing, screaming and shouting as they chased each other in endless games of hide ‘n seek and fetch ‘n catch. One ball barely missed Tavin’s head as he and Whufflya rode by.

  And their clothes … everyone appeared to be wearing the same style of clothing, whether they were man, woman or child. There was not a skirt or a dress to be seen. Obviously the difference between male and female was not so important here. Gender differentiation remained in Township especially amongst those who originated from their home planet’s southerly kingdom.

  Tavin decided that he liked it. He got the impression that although life could be hard here, it was enjoyed to the full. Since he had been old enough to strong words into sentences Mikey had taunted Tavin and his scholarly big brother with the fact that all work and no play made them dull people although it could be argued that Mikey’s idea of dullness might be considered dangerously exciting by the majority.

  A wry grin later and Tavin decided that Mikey had been right. He told himself to relax and loosen up.

  Whufflya agreed in a burst of telepathic approbation.

  : We’re almost there : she informed him : Thalia and Josei are waiting at the gate :

  : The Thalia? : queried Tavin. His cousin Jill had recently married one Daniel Ross who had once been in love with a Thalia of the Vada.

  He continued to be amazed at how easy it was and how natural it felt to communicate with Whufflya telepathically.

  : There is only one Thalia : Whufflya replied : She asked the Ryzcka in charge of the cadets if she could be the one to show you around and get you settled in. Josei is of the same rtath as I. It will be good to see him again :

  : I thought Senior Cadets showed the new ones the ropes : ‘said’ Tavin : Least that’s what I read in the books about the Vada in Township’s library :

  : Usually, but you are rather older than most of the first years. She thought you would find it easier with someone closer to your own age. Any of the more senior cadets, the third and fourth years, are out on a field exercise with the Assistant Weaponsmaster. The juniors are in the cookhouse helping the cooks. Thalia and Josei volunteered and I accepted on our behalf :

  : Is this the gate? : asked the relieved Tavin, pleased that a youngster not much older than Mikey wouldn’t be showing him around.

  : The very one : she answered as she trotted under the canopy, swishing her tail in greeting to the vadeln-pairs whose turn it was to guard it. Although there was little to guard against here on Tak old habits had, in the Vada, a tendency to die hard.

  Thalia and blue-striped Josei were waiting for them inside.

  “Welcome to the Vada Tavin and Whufflya,” she called out and gave a half bow.

  Belatedly, Tavin dismounted and returned the gesture, realising with another shock that even manners were different here. The shaking of hands to greet another was considered impolite at Stronghold because the Lind could not reciprocate.

  Josei and Whufflya exchanged their own greetings.

  “Come on,” invited a smiling Thalia. “First let me introduce you to your quarters. We should just have time before the bell chimes for evening meal if we hurry. You look like you could do with some freshening up.”

  : Go : ordered Whufflya : I am going with Josei to the kill fields. I am rather hungry. Don’t worry. I’ll find you later :

  With Whufflya ordering him to go like this, Tavin didn’t have any choice. He meekly followed Thalia, reflecting ruefully that his previous life was gone forever. He didn’t regret his decision to become vadeln-paired though. He rather thought he never would.

  * * * * *

  “A person is never lonely once they have vadeln-paired with a Lind.”

  Weaponsmaster Alkin looked at the faces of the youngsters in turn. Tavin felt as if his eyes were boring deep into his soul and that the Weaponsmaster knew exactly what he was thinking. There were eighteen new cadets, ten girls and eight boys. The teenage faces (and Tavin’s) were eager and expectant on this their first morning as fully fledged Vada Cadets.

  Very smart they looked in their maroon tunics and kepis with white trimming. On their left sleeve each wore the single, white stripe that informed everyone that they were now starting their first year of the four years of the training required before they and their Lind would graduate as serving vadeln-pairs. On the left chest of their tunics sat the badge of the Vada, the Lind’s head - also in white.

  Alkin tried not to think about the years in the past when forty, fifty or more new cadet-pairs would have been facing him on the morning of their first weapons-practice, but eighteen was the highest the cadetship programme had accepted into its ranks since the day when the space ships carrying the Lind and those humans who had come with them had arrived on Planet Tak. There were only forty-two duos on the entire cadet roster at this present time.

  Now that they were living here - were they an army without purpose? Alkin had always tried not to think of that either, but he didn’t think so. The Lind had an innate ability to know when they might be needed - these were the times when the amount of vadeln-pairings between Lind and receptive humans increased - like now. He had also heard reports that many more Lind were searching for a life-partner. He wouldn’t be at all surprised if tomorrow or the next day his class held more than eighteen, possibly even as many as thirty.

  The cadets’ attention was fixed on the Vada’s Weaponsmaster and each and every one of them was wondering if they would ever reach the point where they would swop the white trimmed tunics for the silver trimmed one he wore.

  “To be a vadeln is a lifelong commitment,” Weaponsmaster Alkin continued. “You are life-bonded and you are also mind-bonded with your Lind. He or she is similarly bonded with you. Take care of each other. Listen to each other and respect each other - at all times. Now … ”

  He turned his head and his eyes swept over to the nineteen Lind standing to one side - the Lind of the eighteen and his own Sandya. They were watching this first class with eagerness and anticipation. Would their own vadeln become a competent warrior or not?

  “Now, they, your Lind, cannot help you here … in this class, my class. Here you are on your own although be assured your partners will be watching, listening and taking notes. In this class I will teach you, not them, how to fight … with sword, with knife and with bow and arrow. The time will come when you will practice your fighting skills mounted but not for many a long day and never if I don’t believe you are ready. So listen to what I tell you and practice diligently.”

  Some of cadets caught each other’s eye and one or two coughed nervously, Tavin included.

  The cadets in the more senior year groups had gossiped with the new cadets regar
ding the Vada’s Weaponsmaster when they had returned from their field exercise the previous evening. The eighteen were now absolutely convinced that Alkin’s reputation as an unbending, hard, unfeeling taskmaster was a true one.

  In fact, this was only partially true. Alkin was hard; he knew the skills he could teach them might save their lives one day so he had to be - but he cared about his students. It was only when his cadets graduated and started to fight with their Ryzcks that they would begin to understand.

  “Each of you pick up a practice sword from that rack over there,” Alkin commanded and the nervous cadets sped to do his bidding.

  The group of serving vadeln-pairs watching the interplay between master and students completely understood why they were nervous. They had been in precisely the same situation themselves and some of them not all that long ago either.

  The Ryzck allocated to help Alkin with the elementary sword-skill lessons was the Fifteenth Ryzck. Amongst them was Thalia Josensdochter and Josei.

  They had intended to go hunting in the forest that morning but orders were orders, especially when they came directly from Susa Malkum, the Commander of the Vada himself.

  Thus Thalia and Josei, together with seventeen other vadeln-pairs found themselves standing listening to Alkin’s opening lecture. It was bringing back many memories, some happy and some wistful.

  The practice field in which she and Josei were waiting was as different from the practice field of their cadet days as chalk and cheese. On their home planet the grass had not been green, nor had the field been ringed by forest. The mauve grass under Thalia’s feet and Josei’s paws had been thick, springy and soft when one fell. A wave of homesickness swept through Thalia and the sight was also affecting Josei.

  He sighed.

  : I miss home : he telepathed the words on a tight beam into Thalia’s mind.

  : So do I : Thalia admitted.

  : Do you think we’ll ever go back, even for a visit? :

  Thalia shook her head and raised her hand to stroke him between his eyes, Josei’s favourite spot. They both knew the answer to that one. There would be no going back, even if a space ship were headed in the direction of Planet Rybak which was most unlikely. Eight years the journey had taken. They had been here on Tak for just over two. A decade wasn’t enough to dull pangs of homesickness.