Pendragon - The Soldiers Of Halla Part 32

"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 a"

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 a for a" 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 pus.h.i.+ng. 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 s.h.i.+rt 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 n.o.body would suspect that I had gotten them from a Ravinian guard. So that's how I was wheeled toward Leeandraa"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 pa.s.ses 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 b.u.mps we stopped, and T 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 b.u.mped 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 b.u.mp, 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 ma.s.sive trees, but the structures themselves were totally different. Gone were the huts that were erected on st.u.r.dy 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 pa.s.sed 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 streetsa"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?

"Kasha?" the voice gasped in disbelief.

Kasha turned and faced the klee.

"h.e.l.lo, Boon," she said. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you."

The light brown klee stood there for a moment, stunned.

He then ran to Kasha and threw his paws/arms/hands/ whatever around her. The two hugged like long-lost friends, which was exactly what they were.

"Ia"I don't understand," Boon mumbled. He was in tears. "I saw you die. In that tunnel."

Kasha glanced to me. I wondered how deep an explanation she was going to offer her friend.

"Obviously, I didn't. I was able to escape and was nursed back to health."

Smart move.

"Do you remember Pendragon?"

Boon looked at me and his eyes grew even wider.

"Pendragon!" he screamed, and leaped at me.

It was kind of scary. After all, klees ate us tasty gars now. But Boon wrapped his furry arms around me and gave me just as big a hug as he'd given to Kasha.

"You shouldn't be here, Pendragon!" he exclaimed. "It's too dangerous!"

"I know, Boon, it's okay."

Boon was just as full of energy and enthusiasm as I'd remembered. He pulled back from me and held me at arm's length to size me up.

"You've grown," he declared. "You are stronger."

I shrugged. He was right.

"What about Spader and Gunny?" he asked. "I haven't heard from them since a since a"

"Since the klees kicked out the gars?" I asked.

Boon nodded. "Yes. Are they all right? Are they still in Black Water?"

"No," I said.

He relaxed. "That's a good thing." Alarms went off in my head.

"Why's that? Has something happened to Black Water?"

"No," he answered. "Not yet."

Kasha and I exchanged looks.

"Tell us what's happening," she said to Boon.

Boon took a quick look around, as if to make sure n.o.body was watching.