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Chosen

Chapter Two

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Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by Chirmaya Nashaar

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Tayna could not say for how long they battered the fortress, only kept at bay by the resident Alliance, tucked away within the walls of the keep. They told her over and over again how they were the strongest and bravest in the land, fighting for the very noblest cause, until Tayna could take no more and curled up on her narrow bed, paws clamped over her ears. They left her alone then, the many mouths, but not without telling her, one last time, that The True Alliance was there to save her. She should be thankful to them for rescuing her from the clutches of a corrupt church. They were doing good in the world - she should remember that and be grateful for it. But that was only what she was told. If she was honest with herself, they could have told her anything at that time and she would have had no choice but to believe it.

They moved her to a dormitory style bedroom after a total of six meals had been brought to her. Although she had counted the meals, there was no distinction between them that could have allowed her to tell the time of day. Not that it mattered all that much. Tayna found it hard to care, mind still reeling from the knowledge that she had been one of the godlike ones. She had committed so many cruelties. Or at least that was what she had been told. Her memories were not to be trusted. Or were they?

She pressed her fingers into her temples. Could she be sure of even herself anymore?

Her best friend - or not any longer - stood guard at the door, eyes watchful and reserved. She kept her paw close to her blade, fingers occasionally twitching as if they itched to wrap themselves around the hilt.

From the time Tayna had entered the otherwise empty dormitory with rickety, wooden-framed beds, Reline had not once left her post. She didn't know how many hours had passed with no way to see whether it was dark or light outside, but the wolf had a tired sway to her stance. She constantly drooped to one side and jerked herself upright again as if trying to keep herself upright.

"I have been assigned as your guard. My post shall not be left unattended."

Reline's muzzle held a distinct look of displeasure and Tayna stepped back. Her ears dropped to her skull as she shook her head, thinking about extending a paw to her old friend but not finding the heart to reach out. What was the point? Reline no longer cared for her. The wolf had made that, at least, perfectly clear.

"I thought Wenton was supposed to be guarding me?" Tayna pointed to the door. "Isn't he on the other side of the door?"

Reline flinched.

"That does not mean I will shirk my duty."

Tayna sighed.

"So, you're just going to stay up all night then? How do you think that's going to work for you? You're dead on your paws. Look at you."

Pressing her lips together, Reline met her with stony silence. Tayna rolled her eyes.

"Have it your way. I'm going to sleep. Do the same if you decide to...or not. Doesn't seem that you're going to listen to me either way. What do I care about you now? What do I care if you're dead tired?"

The word tumbled off her tongue over one another and she knew she was rambling like an imbecile. A small part of her, tucked deep inside, still hoped that Reline would have a change of heart. She hadn't been around the wolf at the Alliance for very long, after all. Maybe she would learn that Tayna was not as bad as she thought. She had no memory of these supposed heinous acts she'd committed. She felt the same as ever. Could it be so despicable? Wasn't she being used against her will?

Tayna shook her head against the onslaught of thoughts. Those would have to be kept for another day. Even though she didn't know if it was day or night still.

Throwing herself back on the random bed she'd chosen, she drew a better-kept blanket up to her chest and reached over to blow out the flame in the small lantern she had been permitted. It did not light up much of the room but it did her well enough, illuminating a flickering circle. The last thing she saw before the dormitory was plunged into blackness was Reline's scowling muzzle, half-illuminated by a dying flame.

The wax fizzled.

*

"Get up."

Tayna blinked herself awake, wishing, not for the first time, that she was in her own bed, as uncomfortable as she remembered it to be. She stretched and yawned, looking up at the wolf standing over her with crossed arms. There were lines below her bloodshot eyes, visible through the thinner, grey fur on her muzzle, which only betrayed their depth. Tayna's lips twitched the tiniest fraction, a surge of sympathy that she shouldn't have felt pulling at her heart. The wolf looked like she hadn't slept in weeks.

And she shouldn't have cared.

"Is it morning?"

Hiding her discomfort, Tayna sat up and rubbed her muzzle, her hair a roughened up mess from tossing and turning all night. A spot between her shoulder blades ached as if she'd been sleeping on a lump during the course of the entire dark. She poked the straw mattress dubiously, the tip of her tail twitching back and forth. Maybe she had.

Reline's lips pressed more tightly together, if that was at all possible.

"It's as good as morning. Get up."

Tayna coughed and rubbed the back of her neck, working out the kinks as the wolf tapped her toe, a quick rat-tat-tat of impatience to backdrop her waking.

"All right, all right, have some patience. Sheesh. What crawled into your bonnet and died?"

The words spilled from her lips from the life she should have left behind before she could call them back. Clapping a paw over her muzzle, her eyes widened and she fought down a giggle. Had she really said that? Again? Reline had made her promise not to make the quip after she'd muttered it one too many times. The same thing over and over again got old quick, she'd said - have some variety, Tayna!

She shot Reline a look, expecting to be playfully told off, and her heart sank when she saw that the wolf's expression was as stony as ever.

"I see no humour in that. I will wait for you outside. There is water and cloth at the far end of the dormitory for you to refresh yourself. I am sure you shall find what you need."

She jerked her head in the general direction of supplies with which Tayna could use to freshen up.

"What about a change of clothes?"

Reline laughed and left the room, shaking her head. Tayna supposed it was a little too much to ask for, but she could only live in hope. Hers were starting to smell and she wrinkled her nose as she washed her muzzle with a drowned, grey rag, wiping the remnants of sleep from her eyes.

Joining Reline at the door, she chanced a smile and a small wave at Wenton. The ox snorted and stared straight ahead down a long, narrow corridor that rose sharply on an incline. Muscle bulged through his jerkin and the vixen looked away. If it came to a tussle, she didn't stand a hope against the ox. She'd have to be clever if she wanted to escape. For what life did she have with the Alliance and a friend who did not even want to remember she existed?

As if done with Tayna, Reline strode down the corridor without a second thought, leaving the vixen to catch up after some encouragement from Wenton. One look from the bull was enough to set the vixen in motion, letting him take up the rear of their motley procession.

Sighing, Tayna trotted up to Reline's hind paws, ears slipping back as her muzzle twisted into a scowl. She didn't even want to be near the wolf and dragged her hind paws, one eye on the bull behind; she wouldn't have wanted to get too close to his horns. As Tayna got closer, the wolf walked more quickly as if wanting to keep some distance between her and the fox. Tayna's lips turned down and she plodded along behind with a sullen, heavy tread.

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she had not eaten since...well, not since she had been held in that tiny room. Not since she'd been moved to the dormitory. She nipped her lip and tried not to think of food. Surely the others were hungry too? They had to be.

"Where are we going?" She demanded crassly, paws swinging at her sides.

Reline didn't look back as she replied.

"Well, if we must look after you, we're not going to miss our training sessions." Reline looked at the fox like she had lost her mind. "You are not that important to us, fox."

Tayna winced.

"You know my name."

"That doesn't mean I have to use it."

Tayna looked pleadingly to the ox as her stomach growled.

"Aren't we even going to stop to break our fast? Food? There were meals brought in my other room."

Reline huffed and tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear from where it had curled into her eye.

"Training fasted is better preparation for battle."

Tayna took that as confirmation that she would not be getting breakfast anytime soon.

"Move along there." Wenton grunted, prodding her in the small of her back with a surprisingly gentle paw. "Don't lag behind."

"Or what?" She snapped, hunger pulling her to the limits of what patience she had.

Went shrugged, rolling his massive shoulders.

"I could bind and gag you and leave you back in the dormitory. Or on the edge of the training grounds for everyone to have a good laugh at. Either way matters little to me if it gets you to shut that mouth of yours."

Tayna scoffed and rolled her eyes, her old rebellious attitude flaring to the surface. There seemed to be hardly any reason to obey and her tongue moved before her mind caught up with her words.

"Would you dare?"

He curled his paw around her shoulder, chilling her to the bone. Her breath quickened, chest rising and falling rapidly as her heart raced quicker than a runaway horse. Wenton put his muzzle close to her ear, hot, putrid breath ruffling her fur.

"Would you like to find out?"

There wasn't much a lone vixen could say to that that was not already obvious.

Grumbling, Tayna shrugged him off with as much bravado as she could manage, quickening her stride to walk practically on top of Reline's heels.

Watching training... Now, what would that entail? Ruffians hitting each other with swords? Jorro had never been particularly good at sword fighting so she had precious little experience to go on. It didn't sound enthralling. Yet it had to be better than the ox's dull threats.

They didn't seem to care much about Tayna learning her way around the keep and its network of underground tunnels as they made no move to blindfold her or confuse their path. It was a rats nest anyway, a complete and utter maze, so there was no way she would find her way about without noting anything down. And where was she to find parchment? The vixen scowled. Getting out of there was looking to be a greater and greater impossibility with every passing moment.

Eventually, not meeting a single soul along the way, the strange trio stepped into bright sunlight from the underground passage, exiting into one small part of the keep that was above ground. She supposed it was mostly underground for its own protection, and the vixen's nose twitched at the brush of fresh, crisp air caressing her fur.

Tayna blinked up at a blue sky scattered with fluffy clouds and stretched out her arms to either side of her body. Sunshine had never felt so good on her fur! She turned in a slow circle, soaking it in, as Wenton eyed her, no movement passing unchecked.

The training grounds were encircled by wooden palisades, rising to sharp points where the natural bark had been stripped away. It was split into two, one half with a dip in the middle that Tayna thought would allow trainees to practice fighting from different levels and vantage points, and the other with a flat, perfectly smooth earthen surface. It seemed that the majority of the Alliance took themselves to the training grounds on a morning, explaining why the interior of the keep was so deserted, as there were too many present for the eye to count, moving swiftly between exercises and drills.

Whereas some chose to train solely with weapons, pairing and grouping up to engage in mock skirmishes, others devoted time to strength and endurance training. One strange pine marten with striking cream streaks across his muzzle, carried a large rock back and forth across the training pit, sweat pouring from his brow and soaking his fur. His arms shook with the strength it took to lug the heavy rock back and forth, placing it down and picking it up again at each end of the pit.

His steps faltered as he stumbled up the slope and he cursed loudly, drawing the attention of a bobcat doing push-ups with his nose nearly touching the ground. Tayna shook her head. If any of them ever had to do farm work, they wouldn't have bothered forcing their bodies through silly, pointless exercises. Better to put their bodies to good use instead.

As nice as the outdoors were, however, her stomach still growled obnoxiously and the wily vixen thought quickly, testing an avenue for filling her empty belly. Anything was worth a shot.

"Should I really be out here?" Tayna tapped her muzzle sceptically. "What if the Church is observing the training grounds?"

Reline snorted, pacing back and forth as she hunted down the weapons she wanted to practice with that morning. The sun was low enough in the sky for it to be morning, or at least Tayna thought. She wasn't even sure where she was still.

"From where? The clouds?"

Tayna scratched her head, warding off a sudden itch.

"Maybe other godlike ones can fly? How would you know what they can do?"

Reline didn't grace that with an answer and slotted a shield neatly onto her left arm. She hefted the spear in her right, levelling it as if to drive it through an imaginary target. The tip of the spear glinted in the sunlight. She inhaled deeply, fingers curling and uncurling from a fist as her eyes jumped from weapon to weapon. Should she run? She was out of place as it was on the training grounds, tail tucked in close to her rump as if she had suddenly been propped up on display. The vixen winced. She hadn't even stopped to change her clothing, finding her loose trousers and top adequate with the straps of her jerkin fastened securely between her breasts and down her front. They didn't impede her motion at all and she moved fluidly, lunging and retreating as she fought imaginary foes. Tayna was surprised to find herself considering what would or wouldn't be suitable attire for fighting in and shook her head, shoving the thought from her mind.

"What happened with the attack then?" Tayna boldly asked, despite Reline's indifference towards her. "No one's showed up to cart me off yet."

"We forced them back, of course. There was never any question of them launching more than a cursory attack on the keep, not with a mere hunting party. Even so, we could hold out here for many moons. There was never any true danger."

She paused, step faltering as the spearhead tipped to the ground. She rotated her shoulder, arm circling back with a soft groan.

"No true danger for us, keeping them back from the battlements until they retreated. They thought you'd run out into their arms, thankful to be 'saved'. They said some very strange things, all along those lines." Reline shook her head, a troubled look in her eyes. "You could be more grateful. We saved you."

Tayna flipped her paw, fingers darting through the air.

"I've heard that already. I'll believe it when I'm no longer a prisoner here."

"As if we are simply going to let you go. Maybe you don't have your powers anymore, but you are still an asset to us. You are very likely going to be useful. We need more useful people."

The wolf forced the butt of the spear into the ground and pivoted around it to face Tayna, lifting her body from the ground as easily as she would swing a pup around by its paws.

Tayna remembered when she'd once done that with a visitor's kitten, a blue-eyed mottled youngster with black, brown and white splashed across its furry coat - a noble, of course, and friends with the Barreth family. When Casitha, Reline's mother had caught her, the wolf had had the hiding of her life. Tayna warranted that there had been a red paw print on her rump for a month afterwards. The memory made her smile. It couldn't have been that long ago. Yet it had been years. She frowned. Her memory was not to be trusted.

Reline coughed into her paw and glanced around.

"Speaking of which, you may have noticed that no one particularly cares that you're here."

Reline gestured, sweeping her arm wide to take in the whole of the training grounds. Tayna nodded and shrugged half-heartedly. She didn't see much of a problem with that.

"If they knew who you were, there'd be uproar. For all the things you've done, they'd want your head. On a silver platter, preferably."

Reline smiled cruelly as Tayna took a step back, paw unwittingly going to her throat. She quite liked her head exactly where it was - attached to her neck.

"Luckily, foxes aren't exactly uncommon in these parts. And Chosen go around in this weird ceremonial dress most of the time. Without that, you're pretty hard to identify. You'll get by quietly as long as you don't willingly identify yourself. You don't want to be doing that here."

The wolf sighed and jabbed a finger pointedly in her direction. Wenton, standing to the side, turned his eyes up to the heavens.

"With that said, keep your damn gob shut about Chosen and the like, all right?"

Reline blew hair out of her face, already returning her attention to training.

"Don't draw attention to yourself, if you possibly can now. You're only out here so we can train. Nothing more than that and don't you forget it."

The wolf left her, devoting herself entirely to her practice session. She joined up with a small pack of wolves and ran drills, swapping spear for sword when she apparently grew bored of the tool. Either would do the job nicely in battle and she had to be proficient with either if she was to stay alive.

After some time, Wenton shifted his weight more frequently, huffing loudly as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders.

"Were you meant to take turns watching me?" Tayna asked, ears perked.

The ox did not answer verbally but gave a long, rolling sigh. Tayna chuckled. He suddenly seemed a little more relatable and less scary, although she still wouldn't like to find herself on the wrong side of the ox.

"You go ahead - practice." She inclined her head gently towards the practice ground. "I'll be here, you can keep an eye on me. I wouldn't want to keep someone stationary when they want to be getting on and doing something. Seems rather pointless, don't you think?"

Wenton's gaze slid to a deadly looking broadsword with a chunky pommel. The temptation was there. Tayna ached for a moment of solitude but the gentle encouragement seemed to be the best she could manage with the sure-footed ox. Just one moment without being stared at, watched as if she was going to leap up cackling, smite everyone in range and cry out that it was her plan all along. That was all she wanted. Just one moment.

Tayna shivered. Yet her fleeing wasn't a completely outlandish thing for them to suspect. It was what she'd been considering on the walk out to the training grounds anyway. She ploughed on regardless, casting Wenton an earnest look and clasping her paws.

"I wouldn't know what to do with any of this stuff anyway," Tayna added, pursing her lips at the wooden and metal practice swords, spears, daggers and everything else an intrepid warrior may require. "I'll stand here and watch. Though I better get some food in me soon or else my stomach is going to tear a hole through my skin and fur to get at some grub."

He grunted and rolled his shoulders. Was there any harm? Tayna willed him to read her thoughts, imprint the notion into his skull so that he left her be, if only for a little while. Her heart fluttered anxiously against her ribcage.

"I will be watching," he conceded at last, although there was a decidedly dubious look in his eye. "Make no mistake about that."

Tayna rolled her eyes.

"I shan't, don't worry. Haven't had anyone's eyes off me since you dragged me in here."

Wenton snorted.

"Didn't we say you should be grateful about that?"

"Maybe you should show me why exactly I should be grateful then."

The words were out before Tayna could stop them - she was making a habit of that morning. Averting her eyes, she coughed into her paw, silently shaking as she held down her giggles. She could almost see the heat rising from the ox's muzzle as his temper flared, simmering up from always burning embers.

Blessedly, however, rather than putting her back in whatever place they had decided for her, he made a non-committal noise and snatched up the broadsword he had evidently been lusting after, hefting its weight in his palm. Tayna doubted that she'd be able to lift it if it was ever to land in her paws. She'd certainly have to find another way out of the keep if any hope of escape was to remain on the cards. The vixen stifled a groan. Did everything have to be difficult? She missed her life on the estate desperately, a growing, yawning ache in the pit of her stomach that grew the longer she was separated from it.

Keeping her in his sights, Wenton waved a big, meaty paw at a hoofed fellow as bulky as he was. A bay horse with muddied, white feather around his bare fetlocks snorted and eagerly partnered up with the ox, matching him in bulk. He stood a good head and shoulders taller than the ox and Tayna winced at how much food he must require just to sustain such height and muscle mass. He would have been a nightmare to feed on the farm, she could be sure of that.

Grateful for peace, Tayna drifted into thoughtlessness, simply enjoying the warmth of sun on her fur. She didn't know how long she'd be able to stay out so she'd better make the most of it.

"You're new here."

A scrappy-looking lynx with a chunk out of his tufted, black ear looked Tayna up and down. He cast a wary glance at Wenton as he swung a blunt sword at a practice dummy made out of burlap sacks, while his training partner stood careful watch. There must not have been anything to concern him, as the lynx edged closer, shifting the weight of the crudely made sword in his left paw as he took in her measure with his sweeping gaze. Tayna swallowed but held her ground. The edge of the blade glinted. It certainly had not been dulled for practice.

"I am. What of it?"

He threw a dagger at her feet, sharpened to a singing blade and yet pitifully small in comparison to what he wielded. She almost laughed.

"And what do you expect me to do with this?"

She prodded it with her toe. It had a wooden handle that would no doubt sear her paw with splinters. Crude design too. The lynx scowled.

"You going to just stand around? Fight me. I need someone to practice with."

Tayna took a step back. Taking a deep breath that she was sure the lynx catalogued, just like any other trained fighter, she shook her head slowly, making the motion slow and deliberate. Where was Wenton when she actually needed him? She clearly saw Reline watching her from the other side of the arena. The wolf returned to her practice, leaping out of the way of a feint and dodging the genuine attack from a black-furred wolf comrade with a fierce smile plastered across his muzzle. She had more immediate matters in mind. Tayna's resolve hardened.

"Hardly!" Tayna made a rude gesture. "Go find someone else to bother. I wouldn't know what to do with that."

The lynx hopped from paw to paw, energy bubbling up and spilling over the edge. Tayna baulked. What was with this cat? Why was it so hard for him to be still and calm? Had he taken leave of his senses too?

"You want another weapon? Or you scared?" The lynx bared his teeth and hissed, ears back. "We don't take those who won't work for their keep here."

He jerked his head angrily at the dagger lying in the dirt.

"Fight me."

"No."

He settled himself back on his hind paws, legs bent like the coil of a spring.

"Be like that then, fox cub," he snarled, lip curling back from his teeth. "If you won't step up, I'll take you out. We don't look after mouths that don't work for themselves here."

He launched himself at her, paws leaving the ground as he gave a feral yowl. Tayna screamed and scrabbled for the dagger, finding it in her paws a moment after she'd thought about grabbing it. But she didn't have time to think about how that had happened or be thankful for her quick reaction. The lynx was upon her, swinging the sword as if he intended to cleave her head clean off her neck. Tayna shrieked, certain that it was all over, mind racing. There was nothing she could do - the crazy lynx was going to end her before it had even all begun!

And then something she could not explain took over the vixen. Shifting her stance so that her weight was spread evenly, she leaned to the side, letting the lynx's crazed slash fall wide of her neck. The blade slid harmlessly by and a small smile twitched at her lips. He scowled, expression darkening as he shot past, and she lunged for the dagger, scooping it up. It was a familiar, lightweight in her paw and she wrapped her fingers confidently around the handle, stepping back to give herself space. Brushing her thumb over the blade, she drew a sliver of blood, smile widening.

Some part of her had missed this. She licked her lips. Yet from when? When had she held a dagger?

The lynx snarled and spat, whipping around for a second attack. Their spat was gathering attention, but Tayna had no time to think about who was watching or not or even to be embarrassed for surely she would stumble onto her nose, trip over her own paws or something.

"Leave it," Tayna said lowly, tail as stiff as her spine. "I have no quarrel with you and want none either. I'm not going to be a good training partner for you - what experience do I have?"

Laughing, the lynx spat in the dirt.

"You dodged that one. You'll do well enough. Prove yourself, fox, or else you'll be out on your tail like Church scum!"

Tayna's jaws snapped and she twisted as the lynx flung himself bodily at her, teeth flashing as his maw gaped like a black hole. Every line of his body told her that he wanted nothing more than to close his jaws around her throat. She fought back a snort, mind moving quicker with the shot of adrenaline. Time seemed to slow around her and she brought the dagger up as the lynx came down, dodging his blade and slicing the tip of hers neatly through his unscarred year. The feline screeched.

Blood dripped to the dirt. Head wounds always did bleed overly so. Holding the dagger so that the tip pointed down, Tayna circled the lynx, matching him move for move, step for step. His eyes narrowed and he swung his sword back and forth, trying to draw her eye. But Tayna could not fall for that; the other being that had claimed, or reclaimed, her mind would not allow it. Dimly she felt that she'd been in this situation before when her life actually was on the line. One lynx, in that case, would be no problem. Doubt trembled through her heart. This was not something she had learned on the farm.

And she was done playing games.

The lynx attacked with a half-strangled cry, holding his sword over his head with two paws. His hind paws, wrapped in strips of leather for grip, raised clouds of dust and Tayna blinked it away, eyes streaming as she moved to counter. She blocked his attack and forced her weight into the block. Strength that surprised even her pulled into muscles - larger and more functional than she remembered - and the lynx stumbled back, breaking away with a curse on his lips. His jaw hung slack, drawing in harsh gulps of air. Tayna smiled and struck. He only just blocked in time, but she forced him back a few feet all the same, hind paws scudding through the dirt.

Driven to desperation, the lynx put the last shards of his energy into a wild charge, head down and sword slashing wildly. It was a brazen attempt to get past her defences and blocks and a crude one at best. Tayna smirked. She had him and the feeling made something in her heart sing.

Springing for the lynx's blade, a wild charge that put her in harm's way - if she wasn't quick enough - the vixen bared her teeth and let out a battle cry, her sights set on one thing and one thing alone. But Tayna was swift, swifter than she'd ever been before. The lynx snarled and lunged for her, but his blade seemed to swing at her in slow motion as she brought hers up to meet it, the arc setting the blade alight with dreary sunshine.

He should have known it was all over then and there. She flicked away the lynx's sword with an almost playful bat and sent it tumbling point over pommel into the dirt where it stuck, point down and useless. His eyes flashed with fear.

Crashing into him with the full weight of her body, Tayna bore him down to the ground and, in a flash of steel, her dagger was at his throat. The lynx gasped, breath cutting off in his throat as she pressed down hard enough to draw a trickle of blood. The vixen's bosom heaved, gasping for breath lost in the pursuit of winning the bout. Beneath her, the lynx froze, eyes bulging. The training yard around them was quiet, eerily so, and the hair on the back of her neck stood up.

Close, someone clapped slowly, bringing their paws together with deliberate precision.

"Very good, vixen."

The leopard flicked her tail, looking down her nose at the panting Tayna on the ground. Her loose dress, not covering nearly enough, was scuffed up with dirt. The lynx growled and twisted beneath her. She sprung off him and straightened as Sellanda advanced, resting an unwelcome paw on her shoulder. Her fingers curled around, sharp nails - filed as if to mimic the claws of a beast - and dug through her fur, biting into skin. Tayna winced.

"You may be exactly what we are looking for, Tayna," Sellanda nodded decisively. "I hope to see you at the practice yard every day from now on."

Tayna swallowed. That was not phrased as a request or idle hope. She glanced at Wenton, standing with his nostrils flared and every muscle rigid with tension. From the middle of the training pit, blade raised as if to charge into battle, Reline glowered. Tayna cursed herself. Maybe staying inside the keep was the better idea. Too bad she didn't have that option anymore.

Now, she would have to train.