Rings of Gold

Hunting grounds

Karaz arrived at the plateau just as the sun began to heat up the air. Midden was halfway between midday and evening, which gave him several hours of time with the pack. Being the alpha of the pack, Karaz made sure to always be one of the first to arrive to make it so that they came to him rather than the other way around. This day, there was three others of the pack there before him. One of the anubites males, who looked like he had not had anything to eat, and he had bruises that was clearly visible on his face. The second one was the blue lizardess named Tishii, whom he liked. She was calm and collected and could both wrestle and run like a male, yet she was kinder and happier than most of the pack. She seemed anxious this morning and acknowledged that Karaz arrived by bowing softly. He would have to keep a close eye on her in the future… he was unsure of what her mother did, but he could definitively see that she had potential to become something, although he was not sure exactly what she would become.

The third arrival was the lioness from yesterday. For a moment, Karaz could not remember her name but after a moment he recalled it as Shara. He followed her with his eyes, and he noticed that she looked exhausted, as if she had not slept well. For a brief moment he wondered where she slept, but those thoughts faded when she noticed him, and her eyes narrowed slightly before she nodded to him rather than bow. It was clear that she was still somewhat of a challenge, and he would have to thread carefully to make sure that she was kept in line. He noticed that her scent was the same as yesterday, which meant that she had not bathed. Considering the state of her clothes it was not at all impossible that she was homeless. At least one other pack member was homeless, so it was not unheard of. But for a lioness? Then again, if there was any other lioness in town of her stature, he would have been aware of her family, or at least his father would have been.

Quite some time had passed and Karaz was deep in thought as one of the young anubites arrived. He was about average in height and size for his age, but he was known for his sharp nose and eyesight. As he approached, Karaz recalled that his name was Kerdys. It was a strange name for anubites, as it meant “small tree”, but Karaz always respected names and could only count a handful of times that he had made fun of someone’s name for being wildly out of place or strange. Karaz had been named by his father just moments after his birth and he had been told that his name meant “Noble blood” both in the anubian language and in the old Sphinx language from which the anubian language had sprung.

Kerdys bowed to Karaz before heading up “Morning alpha” he said, using his rank rather than his name to make sure Karaz knew his loyalty. “I hope this day will be as lucky as the last one”. Karaz nodded and smiled before saying “I too hope it will be as lucky… but…” he stopped himself before going on and he looked over the group that had gathered. More of the pack was showing up and the news that he would be going away early today could wait. He didn’t want the group to start whispering amongst themselves just yet. He looked back at the anubites and grinned “We will speak more of that later, for it seems that the pack is coming together…”. Karaz stood and looked at the group as more members were slowly drifting in. He noticed that Tishii was standing at the edge of the platform, searching for her friend Xelia. As the group had yet to coalesce into the pack, he headed over to her to see if she knew were the other lizardess was.

Tishii had been expecting Xelia to arrive early this morning as she had claimed that her mother had business outside of town today. Exactly what kind of business had not been clear, but she had apparently decided to meet with a lizard caravan outside of the city rather than inside it. It had to be some sort of diplomatic dealing as Xelia’s mother worked as a diplomat and was tasked with making sure that relations were good with the northern regions of the anubites empire. The eastlands, homeland of her people, had always traded with the northern region as an impassable mountain range prevented anyone from entering from the east. One had to either go south, along the treacherous marshlands of the coast, or along the eastern mountain range to the north where it curved and opened to the great northern passage. It was impossible to pass through the passage without being spotted by the enormous anubites fortification that marked the end of the anubian empire, so it was a safe haven for merchants who had nothing against paying toll.

Tishii knew that Xelia one day would have to take up apprenticeship in the temple, to master the art of the Sejd. It was clear that she had more talent for that than Tishii had, who was not interested in the mystical and shadowy art of the Sejd. To her, it was ancient mysticism that she found difficult to understand or master. Whatever fate had in store for her, she was sure that it was not to be a part of the temple. When Karaz came up to her, she did not notice him at first and he had to speak before she noticed him. “Do you know if Xelia will join us today?”. The blue lizardess looked at him and shook her head “No, I was under the impression that she would, but I’m not entirely sure”. Karaz nodded. “We’ll give her a little more time before we start today”. He chuckled and enjoyed the expression of gratitude that she displayed. She bowed softly and said “Thank you… I must say I was impressed by your manner yesterday”. As Tishii spoke, she made a very soft and subtle gesture towards Shara, who had begun to speak with some of the new arrivals. Karaz kept his face still, or at least he imagined he did, as he responded with “An Alpha’s manner should always be impressive, but your words are noted and received with pride”. He turned to the rest of the pack and said “Gather up. It seems some are tardy today and they will be reprimanded for it when they arrive”.

As the group gathered in front of Karaz, he noted that Shara too had followed his command. It felt good that she at least would not challenge him so soon after yesterday, but he still needed to keep an eye on her. “Despite being your alpha, I will need to leave early today” He began and noted that the ears of the pack perked and listened closely. “My father and I will be entertaining the anubites governor and… some other important guests”. He let his words sink in before continuing with “Hence we will hunt outside of the city walls today”. A soft murmur went through the crowd. Everyone knew that scraplings were the only prey to be found inside the city walls. Outside the city walls there was other things that could be hunted… but with other things came danger as there was beasts that could roam close to the city walls. Tishii was the only one to speak up as the rest of the pack processed the news and the order. “I do not mean to challenge your orders and if you want us to hunt outside the walls I will gladly follow, but should we not wait to be at full strength? A larger pack is a stronger pack” she made a motion to the rest of the crowed and purposefully included Shara. Tishii was hoping that yesterday’s provocations and challenges were due to her feeling left out and not fully a part of the pack yet. She waited for Karaz answer and she hoped that she had not angered him with her suggestion. The balance of power was fragile in the pack and an Alpha could hardly afford to let a perceived slight pass without action. “They are tardy” he repeated “and we will not wait for them. Whatever glory awaits us on the other side of the walls are ours alone. If they manage to catch up, they can join us, but we will not wait”. He did not say it was because of having to head home around midden, but the words hanged in the air as he begun to walk towards the western gate. The rest of the pack followed quickly and even Shara kept pace with them, although he noted that she was looking as exhausted as when he came to the plateau.

Some pack members joined them as they passed through the city and approached the city walls. Normally it was forbidden for kids to either enter or leave the city, but the pack was an exception as everyone knew that joining a pack was a part of growing up. As they came up to the city walls, the anubian guards looked at them with intrigue and no one attempted to stop them or even talk to them. They had to wait as a small caravan passed through the gates just as they were about to leave, and the big draft beasts made it impossible to pass without risking being crushed against the side of the city wall. Shakthep was not a big city compared to the southern metropolises in the anubian empire, but it still boasted a rather impressive city wall that stood at least 5 meters tall. Falling from the wall could be fatal, as more than one pack-member had learned over the years. Several towers lined the city wall and once the caravan had passed, the pack moved through the gates and off the road into the dry hills that surrounded the city. Moving away from the wall, the usual method was to keep at least within bow range, as that made sure that they always could see the wall and that if they came upon something to big to handle, they could retreat and let the soldiers fire arrows at anything that hunted them. This day however, Karaz had his aim for a challenge, and he used one of the small paths into the foothills to put some distance between them and the walls. If anyone was to follow them, they would have to track them into the foothills, something that would be dangerous for a lone traveler.

Soon enough the group had moved to just barely having the city in their sight and Karaz stopped. He made sure to not get to close to any of the large patches of tall grass that could be seen from their position. He was all too aware of the danger that the tall grass to the north posed. He would make sure to keep them out of it as even a cursory passing through the grass could result in snake bites or being attacked by the long-clawed Rashirs that stalked there. “There, this should do it. I want you all to fan out a bit and see if you can catch any interesting scents”. The pack did as he asked them to, and he noticed that Tishii kept to the center of the group as they moved. Shara took point, unafraid of whatever they could face, and she moved gracefully over the terrain, as if she were used to the harsh terrain. She really did get Karaz to think of her as a hunter, but when she started to approach one of the patches of grass, he called out “Not there, we are not equipped to deal with the things that can be found in the tall grass”. Shara stopped and looked at him with confusion, but she shrugged after a few moments and returned to the pack.

The sun rose and the temperature increased rapidly as they approached midden. Much to the pack’s surprise, they had found a few scraplings trying to build a nest in a small hill. Shara, Tishii and Kerdy’s had each managed to capture a scrapling each, which had made Karaz declare the hunt truly successful. He had hoped for some slightly bigger creature to appear that they could hunt down so he could tell his father about it during the evening, hopefully entertaining both him and the imperial. Hunting stories were all the rage in a town located so close to the wilderness and he had heard his father tell many tales of the hunts during his youth and even the more recent ones. Karaz had never seen his father hunt, but he knew deep down that his father was an amazing hunter. Despite these intentions, the pack had no luck with finding a bigger creature. Karaz put down a scrapling out of sheer coincidence as he was just about to sit down on a rock when it scurried out in front of him, making the total number of caught scraplings four. The Alpha usually let others have the kill as their role was to direct the group and make sure that they co-operated, but this time he got the kill. Other than that, there was no other creature to be found that they could hunt and when it became clear that he would have to leave soon, he began to lead the group back to the town.

The group was filled with joy and talk about the hunt as they approached the walls. Four kills were unusual even for their group and Karaz felt proud over having selected the day’s activity. Even if he would not have a tale to talk about a large creature that he had led the pack to hunt down, he could still embellish and speak of how they hunted down four smaller creatures.

As they entered the city, the anubian guards mostly ignored them. Most guards were aware of just whom Karaz was, which made his life easier as they seldom stopped him. A guard had once whooped him over the side of his head when he was rather insolent, but Karaz had never seen that guard again. He suspected that his father had something to do with it, but he could not be sure. Soon enough they returned to the plaza and he stopped in the shadows of the buildings as the pack spread out in a semi-circle around him. “I have to leave early today. While I’m gone, I will let…” he looked around and tried to determine if he could put someone in charge while he was gone. A moment of thought made it clear for him that putting someone in charge was risky as it could lead to someone challenging that person while he was gone… “…you roam freely for today. I will return to you tomorrow”. He made a gesture towards the market “Turn in the prey that we caught and savor the spoils”. He handed over his prey to one of the unluckier members of the pack before grinning and making a small gesture towards the sky and speaking a blessing over the pack. Once that was done, he walked slowly away from the pack and down the stairs. As when he left his home, he did not increase his pace until he was clearly out of sight from the pack.

Once he returned home, he was promptly greeted by two female anubian servants who quickly took him into the bathing chambers, and they began to groom him for the evening. He was bathed, had his fur trimmed and claws sharpened. They even went so far as to put color on his fur to match the fine clothing that his father had selected for him. It was almost dinner time when he was finally ready and came out to meet his father, Aroun and some other servants that his father was bringing. The soldiers that his father had ordered to come with them were all waiting outside except two large and muscular anubian guards. Despite their size, they looked small compared to Arathar who was dressed in the finest of black silken clothing. A long atamba, a type of skirt, stopped just below his knees and his calves were dressed in silken wraps. He wore sandals made from black leather with golden inlays and he wore a large half cloak made from the finest black silk that Karaz had ever seen. The family crest was woven into the cloak, and he wore a small crown with jewels on his head. He was bare chested to show of his massive mane and muscular build, but Karaz could see that the massive belt his father wore made it look like was a giant rather than a mortal.

Karaz wore almost the same garb, minus the jewels and the belt. He had a smaller belt that was more suited for a child, and he was gifted a small dagger to put on his belt. His father carried his sword, a long one-handed blade that he had been gifted by Karaz grandfather long before Karaz was born. His father did not speak as Karaz approached, but rather nodded at him before turning to the door and heading outside. Much to Karaz and Aroun’s surprise, the female bunny was waiting outside in the carriage that were to take them there. As they entered, Karaz noted that the bunny was seated beside his father. He did his best to hide any emotion from his face and he promised himself that he would not let his father see that he was still angry for losing the bunny. Aroun sat beside Karaz and the young lion though he noticed some sort of hollowness in the anubites eyes before the carriage jerked forward and took them away towards the governor’s palace.