Firedancer 3: the Lesson
Pyrrhi awoke with a start as sunlight quickly flooded the room. His paw shifted up to rest over his chest, the familiar thud of his heart seeming to travel up to his sensitive ears.
"It's Midday." Rana's voice called from near the previously draped window.
Rolling over, the fox winced as he felt the scratches on his back brush the rough cloth of his mat. He noted that they did not seem to sting as fresh today at least. He sat up and stretched the night from his neck and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
All around him slaves were in various stages of waking up, some sitting and yawning on their mats, others already up and pulling on clothing. Many, like Aja, were still desperately trying to cling to the fleeing ignorance of sleep. Pyrrhi never dared risk doing so himself, knowing he would risk the ire of Rana, or worse, the Mistress.
Pyrrhi took in the surrounding activity of the worker's house as he allowed his mind to wake up. The fox had heard other slaves comment on the similarities between it and a barn for livestock, though he had never seen such a thing in person. The building was one of four on the compound that made up the Silk Caress. It was twice as long as it was wide with a single curtained doorway at either end. The building itself was one large room, the floor covered in scattered mats much like Pyrrhi's. Many of the mats users (as none of the slaves could claim to be 'owners' of their mat) had been improved with ruined or worn pillows or blankets that were no longer presentable enough to furnish the lounge in the main house, and could no longer fetch a decent price at market.
Pyrrhi shrugged off one such blanket made of threadbare wool. Before he had built up the nerve to take this blanket from the trash pit in the far back corner of the property, the fox had spent long miserable nights shivering as he attempted to curl himself into a ball beneath his unwrapped sarong.
The fox reached for the silk garment which was hanging from a small line of twine strung from the stone wall above his mat. A gentle tug caused the long strip to slither into his lap, where he noticed his morning stiffness had also extended to the maleness between his legs. Discomfort in his bladder also reminding him of his need to relieve himself.
Rising, he began donning his sarong around his waist, unashamed of the many female eyes in the room. Of the thirty-seven prostitutes at the Silken Caress, only five were male. As pleasure slaves, they were forbidden from having cubs with other slaves without the permission of the Mistress, as that was time away from work for the female. Although Pyrrhi had never desired any of the other foxes like that, they had long been warned of the consequences of unplanned pregnancies due to relationships between workers. The Mistress had made it very clear when a male tiger had gotten a female pregnant. The memory of the shredded flesh on the tigers back still returned to the fox sometimes when he struggled to sleep. The female had lost the child.
"Pyrrhi, wake Aja up, or I will." Rana barked threateningly across the room.
"Yes, Madam." Pyrrhi yipped, shocked from his morning fog.
He nudged the sleeping cheetah next to him. "Aja! Get up!"
The cat moaned and rolled over, ignoring the fox. Pyrrhi's paw slid down to the worn pillow beneath the cat's head, yanking it out from beneath him.
"Hey!" he yelped indignantly as the fox followed up by hitting him with the pillow.
"I don't want to get in trouble again because you refused to get up." Pyrrhi growled.
"Fine." The cheetah hissed, sitting up to join the others in the morning rituals.
Pyrrhi saw Vasha across the room, just finishing settling her dark silk wrap about her chest before heading toward the doorway on the end farthest away from the male's corner. His eyes darted to the center of the room, where Rana was finishing up lighting the unremarkable hookah on the small table there, the only bit of furniture in the entire building. He looked back to the doorway, just as the lioness' tail slipped out through the curtain.
Aja was still yawning as the fox rose from his mat, toe-claws clicking on the stone floor as he weaved his way through mats and other workers.
"Pyrrhi." The cat's voice was sharp, causing his ears to rotate back to consider him.
"Vasha's been pushing me to talk to you about that." He nodded to the hookah.
The fox pinned his ears down, a frown spreading across his muzzle. "I told her I cut back. I don't even do it around her anymore." His paw found its way back to his chest.
"I know. Just wanted to let you know."
Pyrrhi sighed, guilt flooding him as he continued to the table, paw closing around the wand at the end of the hose.
"First again, Pyrrhi?" Rana commented, raising a brow.
"I-I've got to get ready for my weekly with Master Akis." He stuttered; his ears still pinned low. The fox rarely looked the hyena in the eye anyways but was extra careful to avoid her gaze. She said nothing further, however, turning to head for the doorway.
The familiar scent of the burning flower extract deepened the guilt as he raised the mouthpiece to his muzzle. The burn of smoke filled his chest, and he let it flee him with a long exhale. He closed his eyes, enjoying the headrush it brought. The sting of his scratches seemed to drift away, and his paw, still hovering above his heart, noted the steady increase in time between thuds. He took another small drag before replacing the hose on the table.
Why should he care if Vasha was scared? Sure, she was concerned with how much he smoked, had even begun cutting back herself after what had happened with Giana. The otter, who Pyrrhi had only spoken with a couple times, had broken into the lounge's storeroom and snuck off with one of the backup hookah's and a pouch full of the poppy extract. Everyone believed she had run away until her body was found a day later behind the bathhouse, a long burnt out hookah sitting beside her.
Pyrrhi never sat around the hookah with the others at the end of the night and just passed the hose. Maybe once or twice with Aja, but that was all. And besides, he wouldn't dare break into the storeroom and steal from the Mistress.
His ears stood tall now as he made his way out back to relieve his bladder before joining the growing line at the bathhouse. While he used scented powders to freshen up between patrons, he rarely took water baths at night, as it took forever for his fur to dry and sleeping with wet fur meant a long cold night. Unfortunately, that also meant he usually had to wait for a bath, as there was only one bathhouse chamber the workers were permitted to use when not providing service to a client, and it was the smallest of them all, only accommodating five or six at a time.
Mr. Andrik would be arriving soon to escort Pyrrhi to his father's study for his weekly appointment, causing him to impatiently glance around the workers in front of him. He found it difficult to keep his tail from wagging, the combined effects of the drug and his approaching appointment outweighing the dread he felt over his meeting with the Mistress after.
Some wealthier patrons preferred their favorite prostitutes performed their services in the comfort of their own homes, many even being scheduled out regularly if the patron had really enjoyed their company. Sometimes these patrons could have difficult tastes or expectations for the workers, and while Pyrrhi had bad experiences in the past, he still enjoyed the opportunity to walk the streets of Aarus, even if under escort, to see the many strange and exotic peoples and goods passing through. It was an opportunity to see a sliver of what lay beyond the red stone courtyard of the Caress.
A spotted paw tapped the distracted fox on the shoulder, causing him to startle. He turned to see Aja eyeing him with an amused look on his muzzle. His keen nose also noticed the familiar scent of poppy smoke on the cat.
"Can't keep your tail still. Must really love that old wolf's cock!" Aja chuckled, though it sounded more like a teasing purr.
Pyrrhi growled in response. "Just jealous he prefers other canines." He replied, though it was mostly playful.
Master Akis was an old scholar from the university, a red and tan-furred wolf that claimed to date back to the days of the Pack Wars, though he would always laugh afterwards. Pyrrhi hadn't understood the joke until he had explained that the pack wars happened so long ago, that the first building in Aarus hadn't even been carved yet. He was the smartest creature Pyrrhi had ever met, and was happy to have been keeping these regular meetings for nearly three years now.
Pyrrhi was nervous at first. The Mistress had ended an ongoing contract with his previous regular because of "property damages". Pyrrhi could still sometimes feel the ache in his shoulder, and certainly remembered the pain in his tail from that hyena.
But Master Akis had been different. As far as Pyrrhi could tell, he was just a lonely old man who wished for company. He had never asked the fox to perform any services, never even asked him to disrobe. He always just wanted to talk with the fox about all sorts of things. History, Astronomy, Philosophy, and even sometimes about the arcane mysteries that Pyrrhi had only ever heard whispered about in hushed voices by other slaves. Yet Master Akis spoke with such a confident fascination when they approached such topics, the fox's tail would wag along with the old wolf's.
It was also because of Master Akis that the fox had learned to read the odd angular script of Miltos. It had taken Master Akis nearly four meetings before he managed to talk the fox into it, pleading that he enjoyed the distraction that a new pupil could bring. Pyrrhi had been worried that the Mistress would punish him if she learned of the lessons, and Master Akis agreed it was likely for the best they be kept secret.
Once he had grown confident enough in Pyrrhi's basic grasp of reading, he began to have him read various old scrolls and tomes aloud, verbally correcting him and explaining difficult words or phrasing. Pyrrhi found he enjoyed many of the writings on history or mythology, and such readings would often spiral off into long conversations with the wolf. Of far away lands where the air grew cold enough that ice would fall from the skies, or the lands so wet that trees grew taller than buildings and water would cling to your fur. Of the religion of the Western folk, which claimed only one god existed, and he placed all species in their own unique paradise upon death if they had lived a virtuous life. Of the Pack Wars before Aarus, when Miltos was just a land of warring predator clans.
"Don't all you dogs prefer each other?" he shot back.
Pyrrhi smiled deviously, brushing his fluffly tail across his friend's groin. "Some think foxes have a bit of feline in them, and this fox has never minded having a bit of feline in him."
"Hey, save it for your client." Aja grinned, swatting his tail away.
Pyrrhi had managed a bath and had even began to dry somewhat by the time Mr. Andrik arrived to collect him. Because the fox was traveling through the city today, he had exchanged his silk sarong for one of a simple tan linen and the only jewelry he wore was a plain bronze ring in his ear and his gilded collar around his neck.
The fox had just rounded the edge of the main house when he spotted the red-furred wolf near the gated entrance of the courtyard.
"Ready?" the wolf asked when Pyrrhi approached, amber eyes barely considering the fox. He lowered his ears in response, eyes dropping to the wolf's feet.
"Yes, Sir." The fox nodded. While Pyrrhi was nervous in the presence of most free folk, he was particularly cautious about allowing his gaze to linger for long on Mr. Andrik. He was a striking wolf, strong and broad-shouldered, with keen eyes and a sharp muzzle. His ears always seemed to rotate about, filtering through the noise around him as if alert for any signs of threat. Today he wore a black cotton vest over his bare chest, which was laced up the center, with baggy gray linen trousers and a dull-red cotton sash which held a short sword to his waist. It was not like the curved single-edged scimitars Pyrrhi knew most of the city's upper class wore, but like the straight, double-edged style of the western folk.
Without saying another word, the wolf turned toward the gate, passing the guard, a bored looking leopard, a piece of paper. Pyrrhi knew it was the contract authorization signed by the mistress which allowed certain individuals to leave with certain slaves, a sort of rental agreement. Master Akis had even allowed Pyrrhi to read this very document once he had become proficient enough. It was odd seeing his name written out, complete with a detailed description, alongside a weekly fee. He had learned that Master Akis paid three gold every week for these appointments, though the fox didn't quite know if that was a lot, as he had never even owned a single bronze coin.
The guard barely even looked at the paper before passing it back to the wolf. He unlatched the iron gate and tugged it open for the two canids to pass before grabbing a leather lead from a hook on the wall beside him.
The wolf was already stepping through the gate before the guard had turned back.
"Uh, Sir?" Pyrrhi hesitated before stepping out, causing the wolf to pause.
"What? Oh, right." The wolf muttered, taking the lead from the guard quickly, and fastening it to the small metal ring in the fox's collar.
With that, Pyrrhi followed behind the wolf, careful to stay close enough that the lead between them would sag. The Caress was the closest brothel to the city center, only about four blocks from the forum, a large square which held Aarus seat of government, the treasury vault, and the university. This meant that nearly four blocks of markets and vendors lie between Pyrrhi and the university apartments.
Most of the merchants were peddling directly from wagons and carts, though some had constructed temporary tents and booths. Some of the wealthier merchants, mostly those involved with the trade of people, alcohol, or opium, had permanent stone structures. Those that were not slave pits, auction houses, or storehouses, were taverns and inns.
The fox always found it difficult to contain his tail and his eyes. One merchant, a weasel, was peddling strange glass objects of various sizes and shapes from booth, speaking a language Pyrrhi was not familiar with. Another, this one a soot-covered bear with black fur, was shouting in the western tongue, claiming that "you'll find no finer armorer in all Miltos."
Pyrrhi paused in front of a large caged cart which held one of the feral lions, an unintelligent relative to the lion-folk, and stood to watch the beast long enough that the lead tugged at his collar, reminding him to keep moving. Only once did he accidentally make eye contact with one of the free folk, and he bit his lower lip painfully, eyes and ears dropping.
Because the forum in Aarus was built into the walls of the canyons themselves, the streets here were narrow and tightly winding, barely wide enough for a single cart to pass at some places. Pyrrhi looked up to the high red canyon walls above, towering overhead like the walls of the courtyard at the Caress, only much higher and made of unworked stone. It was hard for the fox to imagine the worlds beyond the city, the ones he'd read about in Master Akis' books.
Unlike the fox, who's sensitive ears would quickly grow overwhelmed by the overload of stimulus, Mr. Andrik kept his ears up and swiveling about. Pyrrhi had also noticed (and not because he was watching the wolf's tail held low on his backside) that he kept a paw resting on the hilt of his sword. The wolf always seemed so alert, to the point that Pyrrhi had often wondered if he expected a fight behind every market stall.
They approached the forum now, which rested in a large side wash that branched off the main canyon. Peering down the main canyon, Pyrrhi could make out the Amphitheater of Aarus, where games, plays, and battle reconstructions were often held during festivals or events. The fox had never been inside, but still marveled at the size of the structure. It was the largest building in all Aarus, and easily the largest he'd ever seen.
The fox's eyes lingered on the massive amphitheater only for a moment as Mr. Andrik led him down the side wash toward the forum. Here the canyon floor was wide enough to permit large gatherings, despite the massive grey statue of a hyena dressed in a leather harness and holding a scimitar aloft. Master Akis had told him that she had been one of the founding Matron's of Aarus in the city's infancy. Although located in the center of the forum, she stood with her back to the Treasury Vault, as if protecting the wealth of Aarus from would be thieves. The vault was carved directly into the wall of the canyon itself, it's face a series of decorative columns capped with matching red stone hyenas. Pyrrhi felt it strange that the large statue did not face out toward the markets. It felt more appropriate somehow, though the fox didn't know why he felt that way.
Just opposite the vault in the forum sat the Packhall, the house of government in Aarus. It was mostly carved out of the canyon itself, though also had a constructed hall and series of suites built from the same red stone.
On the opposite end of the forum from the markets sat the university, which was tucked back into the rear of the side wash of the canyon that ended in the Tower, a series of tiered halls built out of the canyon wall, raising from the canyon bottom up to the rim itself, with various constructed halls and buildings spread out around it, and many more apartments and studies carved into the canyon walls above. Pyrrhi always loved looking up to the balconies he could see from the canyon floor as they passed through the massive stone archway that marked the entrance to campus. Master Akis had such a balcony himself, and the fox enjoyed looking out over the campus below, a sense of importance overcoming him in these moments.
Writing on the archway declared Vyater elethyra alyth. Master Akis had told him once that it was a "dead" language only scholars now used, and it translated as "Seeking is the journey to truth," or something like that. Pyrrhi had no idea what that meant, though he didn't want to admit it to Master Akis.
Pyrrhi followed his escort through the large archway, which opened on a courtyard with a central fountain that sent water cascading down into a large pool. Mr. Andrik led him around the fountain to the right, making for a familiar paved path which passed between two buildings, one a stable with small paddock containing a couple feral donkeys, the other, a small inn. The path lead to a doorway carved directly into the base of the canyon wall, which Pyrrhi knew led into the common areas and corridors of the university apartments.
Minutes later, they found themselves in a torch-lit corridor outside of the wooden door of Master Akis' study. Mr. Andrik knocked before opening the door without waiting for a response.
The study came into view, much brighter than the dimly lit corridor, as one full wall opened up to the balcony overlooking the canyon. The opposite wall, the one they had entered from, was lined floor to ceiling with shelves containing books, scrolls, tomes, and various odd stattuettes, skulls, and instruments scattered about. In the center of the room was a wooden table piled high with scrolls and books. The left wall had a series of cabinets surrounding a curtained doorway which led off to Master Akis' private quarters. Along the wall to the right sat a large desk, equally cluttered and surrounded by even more bookshelves. The old master himself sat hunched over the desk, squinting at a long parchment.
Mr. Andrik cleared his throat as he closed the door harder than was necessary. The old master looked up from his scroll, a warm smile spreading across his muzzle.
"Ah, Pyrrhus, punctual as usual." He greeted, pushing himself up from the desk and reaching for his cane.
"Hello Master Akis." The fox said with a slight bow.
"Thank you, Andrik, you may remove his lead and leave us."
"I'll return in an hour, father." The younger wolf said as he reached to remove the leather from the loop of metal around Pyrrhi's neck. He slung it on a hook by the door and left without another word.
"So, tell me Pyrrhus, has fate been kind since our last meeting?" Akis asked as he hobbled to the table, barely noting his son's departure.
"Unchanged, master." Pyrrhi replied, tail wagging as he crossed the room to take his normal seat at the table.
The wolf chuckled as he shifted through a stack of books. His paw closed around one, and he seemed to weigh it for a moment, squinting at the writing along the spine.
"Of course. Forgive me, my eyes are not what they used to be, and Master Farris preferred to write in a very fine script. What does this say?" he asked the fox, holding the book out to him.
It was a thick leather-bound thing with hand tooled lettering running the length of the spine.
"On the Heroic." Pyrrhi read aloud, drawing a nod from the old wolf.
"Ah, yes, that's the one. Do you recall last week's lesson?"
Pyrrhi thought for a moment. Last week, Master Akis had him read an account of the battle of Jackal's gulch, the final skirmish of the Pack Wars. The account was told by Artaxias, the Pridelord of the allied prides describing the battle from the lion's perspective. Of how the hyena packs had retreated into the mouth of the gulch, attempting to reach a fortified wash deeper in the canyon through waist-deep floodwaters. How the lions believed that if they could scramble up a steep slope to the rim, they could outmaneuver them deeper in the canyon. How that plan had been thwarted when the midday sky darkened and the wolf packs attacked them unexpectedly from the rear, forcing them to turn and fight, or follow the hyena's directly into the gulch. The resulting battle drove the lion's directly into the shields of the hyena's, who turned in the narrow gulch to meet the lion's retreat.
"Yes, Master."
"And what, do recall, was the reason Artaxias gave for their defeat?"
Pyrrhi remembered the lions worshipped the sun god. "He thought that Anu'Ra had abandoned them."
The wolf smiled. "Ah, good. Now, keep that in mind as we read from this next account. It is not a firsthand account, mind you, but the writings of Master Farris. He was scholar who was fascinated with the heroic characters of mythology and sought to record the events of the greatest battle of his day in hopes that it would provide a reference for separating true figures from the mythic heroes. Chapter three begins with his recollection of his interview with the Packlord Adarius." He explained, adding, "you may begin." He said as he returned to his chair at the desk.
Pyrrhi flipped to the proper page before reading aloud, "The next individual I would like to discuss has certainly shown heroic characteristics, despite his unusual deviation from the traditional heroes of the past. While most heroes were drawn from the ranks of the nobility of Su'Ria, this wolf arose from the packlands of Miltos at the fringe of civilization. Far from a civilized noble, he was a savage barbarian who challenged the local lion prides of the land for dominance in the region. Of course, many have now heard of the infamous Packlord Adarius, whose actions led to the defeat of the lion Artaxias in the battle of Jackal's gulch. I had the fortune of tracking down the wolf after a long and costly process of inquiry among the hyenas. When I finally found him, he had become fates unfortunate victim. However, even despite the collar around his neck, he still somehow maintained a most imposing aura."
Pyrrhi paused, rereading the last line to himself silently.
"Is everything alright?" Akis asked when he didn't continue.
"Y-yes, master. Only, I had not expected an account of a slave in a book about heroes."
"Ah, yes, well, how quickly fate can turn. Something many would do well to remember. Packlord Adarius was captured by Matron Ranya in the very same battle. From High Packlord to slave gladiator, he would spend the rest of his days in chains." The wolf had an odd tone that Pyrrhi could not decipher.
Pyrrhi had known of course that soldiers captured in battle faced slavery, though he had never heard of a leader or general falling so far. Usually their important positions provided some protection from such a fate.
The old wolf gestured for the fox to continue. Pyrrhi found his place and began again, "Adarius now served the Pack Matron Rayna as a gladiator and had proven to be quite deadly in the arena. We spoke briefly about his recent championship before turning to my real mission: his recollection of the battle of Jackal's gulch. I asked him about the events leading up to the battle, how the wolves had maintained higher numbers than the other two forces. He explained that because of the sheer strength and ferocity of the lions, the packs agreed that an open fight was foolhardy. Thus, they waged a campaign of guerrilla tactics consisting of night raids and hit and run skirmishes which were mostly aimed at the victor of battles between the hyenas and the lions. This, Adarius explained, was to strike the stronger force in a moment of weakness, as they recovered from a confrontation with the other faction. This tactic, while not winning any major strategic victories, had allowed for the wolves to endure against two forces with better trained and outfitted soldiers. Adarius claimed that before the final battle, the wolves outnumbered the lions nearly three to one, and the hyena's close to two to one." Akis held up a paw to signal the fox to stop.
"Such overwhelming numbers. It's fascinating that such a force was able to persist so long into the conflict using solely guerrilla combat." He commented.
"I'm sorry, Master, but I'm not familiar with the term." Pyrrhi's ears lowered. In his mind, he imagined the ape men from the distant lands in the south west he had read about. It was hard to place them in this context. He didn't want to say anything about the gorilla-folk, though, for fear of looking stupid in front of Master Akis.
"Ah, no need to apologize, Pyrrhus. I often forget you began your education late in life. It merely refers to a type of warfare with a focus on avoiding direct battle, instead wearing down on the enemy's forces and patience. Attacking supply lines and the like. Historically, it's been done against larger forces, or against those with superior training. It is interesting that the wolves decided to use this tactic as they had. This was the first time in history that such an alliance among the packs had ever lasted this long, and among so many previously disunited groups." The wolf replied, the distant glaze coming to his eyes whenever he started down a path of thought.
"Why was it so unusual, Master?" Pyrrhi asked.
Master Akis chuckled. "While us wolves are considered a social group, we tend to have a lot of inter-pack conflict. Back in those days especially, pack sizes tended to max out around twenty wolves. Any larger, and resources grow scarce, and the pack tends to break up. An alliance between multiple packs is usually a very fragile thing. It is a wonder that Adarius held it together for as long as he did, considering the conditions. Truly a testament to how violent the war had become."
Pyrrhi considered this for a moment. He knew most species felt an instinctual kinship to others of their own kind, so it seemed odd to the fox that such conflict could occur within a species.
"You may continue, Pyrrhus." Master Akis said at length.
Pyrrhi's eyes scanned the page, picking up where he left off. "I then asked Adarius why he had abandoned this tactic in this final battle. The wolf's look grew distant before he explained that they had been hiding back in the open scrublands beyond the gulch, waiting for nightfall, when the air unexpectedly began to grow cooler, and the midday sky darkened. They gazed in awe upon the sun as a large dark shape passed before it, shielding the field from it's light. Adarius believed it to be a sign from Badara the huntress, the moon goddess the wolves hold sacred. Knowing that Anu'Ra had been blinded, He ordered a full attack on the lion's rear as they made for the slope near the mouth of the gulch. The packs charged ahead, working themselves into a frenzy, believing total victory was assured. Here, Adarius grew silent, a frown growing on his scarred muzzle. I had to prod to get him to continue, and he went on to describe how the lions split their forces, with a small group making it to the rim at the upward slope. This group was led by Artaxias himself. Most of the army, however, was forced to retreat into the mouth of the gulch, where they were caught between the hyena's and the wolves. A slaughter followed that would mark the end of Su'Rian influence in Miltos. Artaxias and the few soldiers who had made it to the rim could only watch and spitefully toss javelins into the melee below. Adarius recalled how bodies began to float in the waist deep water, making it difficult to move. Before they knew what happened, the wolves had met with the hyena shield wall. I asked if this was when the battle turned against him. He said that if the bloodlust hadn't taken them, they would have noticed Badara's retreat from the sky, and would have followed her lead. They still held on to hope that total victory could be achieved. If the hyena's made it to their fortifications deeper in the canyon, they could wait out the wolves until the dry season, where the packs would be forced to break up and return to their own lands. However, the battle with the doomed lions had lessened their numerical advantage, and the hyena's position within the canyon reduced it further. Still, the wolves fought on, and it would prove to be their undoing. It was here that Adarius was wounded and captured. With their number's decimated against hyena shields, and their leader captured, the wolves succumbed to exhaustion and defeat. The packs crumbled into a full retreat, and the battle was over."
Master Akis gestured for Pyrrhi to stop once again. "So, tell me Pyrrhus, why did the wolves lose, if they had such greater numbers?"
Pyrrhi considered the wolf for a moment, ears flicking back as he thought. Adarius claimed that they were stricken by a bloodlust that drove out reason and had mentioned earlier that they abandoned their successful guerilla tactics. Perhaps this was the ultimate cause, though the fox was certain this was not the answer Master Akis was looking for.
"The hyenas were better positioned?" the fox said at length.
The wolf smiled. "Ah, they were, indeed, and yet the position was hastily chosen. No soldier wants to hold a defensive line against two different enemies while standing in floodwaters. Perhaps, let me ask this. Why did the battle occur where it did, when it did?"
The fox didn't hesitate this time in his response. "The wolves attacked."
"And why did the wolves attack? Such an unusual tactic for Adarius."
"They believed their goddess sent them a sign of victory." Pyrrhi replied.
"So, they abandoned a reasonable tactic for one of haste. Sure, it may be argued that it led to lions' demise, yet it also ended the wolves' campaign. Do you remember the reason Artaxias gave for why they were defeated?"
"Anu'Ra had abandoned them." Pyrrhi thought about the moon blocking out the sun. A war between Badara and Anu'Ra, with lions and wolves used as pawns. The fox shivered slightly at the thought.
"And yet, Badara had not provided the wolves with the victory they thought was certain. So, tell me, why did the hyena's win? They claim divine right to rule, citing this battle as evidence, yet no sources cite which deity they followed until almost one hundred years later." The wolf's cloudy eyes studied Pyrrhi.
"Luck." Pyrrhi blurted out suddenly, before explaining. "The hyena's won because of luck. They couldn't have known the sky would darken, or the wolves would attack as they had. They happened to be in a narrower part of the gulch when they were caught by the retreating lions."
The old scholar's smile widened. "Ah, so the eclipse led to a critical mistake, which then established the rule of Miltos for the next three hundred years. How do we know the hyenas were not destined to rule? That the gods did not send the eclipse to ensure their victory?"
Pyrrhi lowered his ears now, a frown coming to his muzzle. "I don't know, Master."
"Oh, don't fret, kit. That was a thought question. It relies on certain assumptions about the gods and their role in the universe, which is often contradictory and inconsistent. For instance, can they affect the position of the sun and the moon in the sky? Our knowledge of mathematics and astronomy shows that the celestial bodies seem to be bound to a predetermined course through the heavens that we can now predict. Can this be changed at critical times, such as in a battle? Or is all destiny prewritten? If this is true, then are wicked doomed to be wicked? Was Artaxias and his dynasty doomed to fall? Why even have a divinely appointed bloodline if you will just write it out of destiny?"
Pyrrhi's head began to spin as he tried to wrap his mind around the old wolf's words. The fox could manage to understand some things like sentence structure and even simple tactics like the writings on the battle, but philosophy often seemed too abstract to make any sense. The fox always felt stupid whenever Master Akis reflected on such things.
"I-I don't know, Master."
The wolf laughed at that. "Ah, I'm afraid these are questions that we wont answer today, my boy. You must forgive an old man who tends to ruminate aloud sometimes."
The fox's gaze lowered on the next paragraph on the page, reading it to himself. Despite his defeat and capture, Adarius had proven not only in the field, but also in the arena, that not only lions were capable of heroic deeds. He was just one of a group of predatory species that had managed to do the seemingly impossible, leading me to believe that the heroic was not only constrained to just those of noble divinity, but may possibly extend to those of the mightiest predatory lineage.
Pyrrhi felt eyes on him and glanced up to see Master Akis staring at him with his cloudy gaze.
"Master, what does he mean by 'the heroic'?" he asked before the wolf could speak.
"Ah, yes, well Master Farris believed that heroic deeds were only achievable by the most outstanding individuals. That it took a special type of spirit to work the world to their will."
Pyrrhi reread the last paragraph again. "When he says, 'mighty predatory lineage,' he's talking about all predators?" the fox asked.
"Being a hyena himself, I do believe that Master Farris was biased in that regard. If you delve into that book further, you find he draws the conclusion that only the top predators of each family seem capable of the heroic, though he's only viewing it through the lens of his day. He never witnessed the water buffalo Gordu hold Su'Ria bridge against the invading westerners, nor did he hear of the stag Hector from the far northern kingdom and his warband of barbarians. I think our understanding of heroic deeds have certainly evolved since his time." The old wolf explained.
Pyrrhi thought for a moment. He only really knew of the heroes that he read about with Master Akis, and only some of the local ones that patrons of the Caress had mentioned in passing. But as he thought about it, he realized that all of them seemed to be bears, wolves, hyena's, or lions.
His ears lowered. "H-has there ever been any foxes that performed such deeds?" he asked, feeling foolish even as he did.
The wolf gave a reassuring smile. "I do believe I read somewhere about a bandit from the western lands. Lead a rebellion or something of the sort. Allow me to search through some things and I'll see what I can find."
"Thank you, Master Akis, you're too kind." Pyrrhi's tail wagged a little despite his attempts to contain it.
Just then a knock on the door drew both canids attention.
"Ah, that would be Andrik returning to collect you. Has it really been an hour already?" the old wolf chuckled.
The fox closed On the Heroic, frowning. Mr. Andrik entered the chamber without invite as he'd done before and slipped the leather lead off the hook.
"Time to go." He told the fox, barely sparing a glance at his father.
"I'll see you next week, Pyrrhus. Until then, good fortune to you!" the wolf rose from his desk to ruffle the fur between his ears and pat him on the shoulder. The fox grinned, despite the anxiety of his coming meeting with the Mistress beginning to creep back into his mind.
"I look forward to our next meeting, Master."
Mr. Andrik returned the leather to the metal loop on Pyrrhi's collar and led him away from the old wolf and through the door. As they descended the stone stairs of the apartments and stepped out into the daylight of the university campus, each new footfall seemed to weigh the fox down. He tried to keep his paw away from his chest but kept finding it slip back up to track the thudding of his heartbeat. He kept his ears and his gaze low on the return journey, taking little notice of the caged beasts or various vendors and their wares this time. The closer they got to the Caress, the more his dread crept back in, swirling in his stomach and causing his tail to droop.
Once, they had to pause when the fox yipped in pain, a careless bull having stepped on his tail
By the time they had arrived at the Caress, his mood had degraded completely. He muttered a rushed thank you to Andrik as the wolf checked him back in before hurrying off to clean the dirt of the street from his paws and tail, even snapping at Aja as he changed back into the red silk sarong. He had only enough time to slurp down a small bowl of soup from the community pot and take a deep drag from the servant's hookah before he had to find Rana and await his meeting with the Mistress.