The fifteen exhausted wolves all made a quarter turn and shouted and shouted to Vahn and the others.
“Thank you, comrades, for joining us.”
As soon as Master Sepp had gone, the two men by his side, ‘Kristiyan’ and another human, chased the recruits off to the cave as if they’d suddenly gone mad. A wooden door swung open and Vahn, with the others, entered into a dugout cavern inside the snow-covered hill.
“You’ve got four minutes to find a place!”
The other human introduced himself as ‘Hair Petch-Key,’ and explained what Master Sepp expected of them in terms of order, cleanliness and discipline. Petch-Key also advised them to sleep, which was strange because it was still early.
Vahn settled into a pallet on the floor and prepared to sleep.
“It seems that life here won’t be a joke,” said Noa.
“I don’t know if this was a good idea,” Vahn said as he closed his eyes.
The sun’s pink light barely touched the treetops when the wooden door flew open as if the Raiders themselves were bursting in. A shrill whistle pierced the cavern air and Kristiyan barked at all of them.
“Thirty seconds to the troughs! Then everybody in front of the trenches!”
Vahn had no idea what a ‘trench’ was. Forty five seconds later he found out, because soon they all stood in front of that long but narrow line through the ground. Master Sepp arrived shortly, and today he was carrying a whip under his arm.
“Stillgestanden!” Barked Kristiyan.
“At ease,” Master Sepp calmly ordered.
“Feldwebel Kristiyan, you will simply accompany us today. In honor of our new recruits, I myself will drill them.”
Master Sepp shifted his weight and stared at the snowy ground, then jerked back up again.
“Attention!”
In a split second the ten recruits were standing straight.
“Very good,” he said in a honeyed voice. He walked toward them. “Gentlemen, I have the impression that you came to this tribe a little hastily. Without much reflection. Not one of you seems adequate to the job we have to do. I hope that I am wrong, and that I will not have to take you to the punishment hut to teach you the error of your decision.”
Vahn and the other recruits stood there with empty heads and full attention.
“The task which you have, sooner or later will require more of you than what you supposed. Simply knowing how to fight is no longer enough. You will also require a great deal of courage and perseverance. I must warn you that everything here is hard, nothing is forgiven, and therefore everyone must have quick reflexes. To destroy these Raiders we need men, and not pitiful specimens like you.”
“Down on the ground, and full length!”
Without hesitation they were all stretched out in the snow. Then Master Sepp stood forward and walked across the wolven ground, continuing his speech as his boots trampled the paralyzed recruits. His heels calmly crushed down on a back, a hip, a head or a hand—but no one moved.
“Today,” he said, “I will take you for a little outing, so I can judge your abilities for myself.”
Master Sepp turned and addressed the group to which Vahn did not belong.
“Today, gentlemen, it will be your privilege to assume the role of the wounded. In twos! Pick up the wounded.”
Vahn was paired with another young fellow whose name he learned was Kasha. The poor wolf looked to have a black and blue eye. Vahn hoped Kasha’s mark wasn’t from this training, though he suspected that it was.
“Hello.”
“Hi,” the beaten wolf said in a low voice.
Kasha and Vahn made a seat of their hands for a wolf who must have weighed 100 Gils. Master Sepp led them to a low hill which seemed at least ten Paces away. Vahn’s arms felt as though they could break under the weight of their new friend. Still, he and Kasha marched up the hill, and when they reached the top, they had to climb back down, stumbling on the steep slope. Whenever someone let go, Master Sepp would separate the trio and assign an even heavier load of one wounded person on one back. Vahn sensed it would soon be his turn.
The pain and pressure became so great that Vahn lost his grip altogether, and Kasha was hanging on alone. Vahn shook his bloodless paw and gave a sigh. The shadow of Master Sepp loomed over him, and Vahn was ordered to lift a man heavier than himself onto his shoulders. But the shift in position was a relief, and he was able to keep going. The torture went on for an hour. Vahn, and surely most others, were at the point of losing consciousness.
“Since you all seem to be tired, I’ll now assign you to a lying-down exercise, which may revive you. Over there, picture a nest of Raiders behind that hill.”
Master Sepp gestured about a kilometer away.
“Also,” he chuckled, “imagine you have the best reasons for taking that hill, but if you walk there on your paws, the Raiders will lay you flat. Therefore! You will make yourselves flat on the ground and proceed on your bellies. I will be on the hill. And I will fire on anyone who I see. Understand?”
The wolves gaped at him. Master Sepp was already walking away from them, hoisting a crossbow upon his shoulder. The wolves kept their eyes glued to him and wondered if they heard him right. This really was insanity.
Kristiyan blew a whistle and ordered the men onto the ground and forward. Kasha was struggling along on the left. At about four fifths of the distance, Master Sepp’s silhouette appeared from the hill and he began launching arrows at once. The wolves hesitated for a moment, wondering what was happening. But Kristiyan’s whistle still prodded them forward. Master Sepp must have decided not to hurt his recruits, otherwise he would have hit a good few of them. Arrows swooshed over the wolves until they reached their objective.
For those who wanted to join the Lightning Rune Tribe, these days were a time of martyrdom. Most of the time, Vahn thought he was useless, impossibly inferior, and that he could never make a decent warrior. Despite the desperation, Vahn and the others tried to do better and better. But Master Sepp had has own ideas about “better,” ideas which could lead to the brink of death.
Heim ins Reich
Sarah flicked her ears. Boots were crunching in the snow again. But this time it was too late. She had evaded the angry humans for awhile, but now it was too late to escape. Slowly opening one eye, she gazed up at a human standing before her, staring at her, just outside the evergreen she was sleeping under. Her eyes widened to the sight. It was one of the angry humans. She recognized the clothes.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she squeaked out, hugging the tree she grew up under. “I don’t mean harm and I want to live.”
The human said nothing.
“Please……” She couldn’t help but tremble, with thoughts of all those angry humans that came to her glade.
Sarah curled her spotted tail around her naked body.
“I’m, sorry…” The human breathed finally out. Then he dropped his gear and crumpled over into her tree and its dry shelter.
“Aieee!” Sarah leaped up to make room. Snow fell off the fir branches and onto both of them. Up close, the human didn’t look so scary. Actually, he looked a little sad and lonesome. And his outer uniform had tatters in it.
She leaned forward and sniffed at the human’s gear, picking up an old can that he dropped.
“Hey d-do you got any food?”
He didn’t respond.
“Hey,” she reached forward and poked him with her paw but he didn’t budge. It looked like the human was out cold.
“Hey… hey are you awake now?”
Hans blinked and looked up into the bright blue eyes of the spotted feline looking down right at him. Her silky white hair nearly touched his face.
“Wh… where am I?”