The Prophet of Panamindorah, Book One Fauns and Filinians by Abigail Hilton Read Free Book Online

the
wall. “Do you call all wolflings Raiders or only this group?”
    “You really don’t know anything, do you? And
now I come to listen, your speech is strange. You don’t have any
idea how far you came to get here?”
    Corry shook his head. “Sham and Danzel were
talking about someone called Laylan. Who is he, and who was that
faun in the purple cape, Chance? Why are you at war with the cats?”
Corry glanced at the long scars running up Syrill’s arm and under
his sleeve. “Did a cat do that to you?”
    “Yes—flipped me off my deer. I was lucky;
Blix came after me. He’s a brave mount. That was the day I won my
command. We were cut off, the army routed, most of the senior
officers dead. I rallied the survivors. Afterward, Meuril put me in
charge.
    “As for the cats, they conquered
Canisaria—that was wolfling country—and pushed the wolves and
wolflings into our territory—the Endless Wood. We bounty wolflings
because they kill deer and occasionally fauns, but they really
don’t have any other place to go.” Syrill grimaced. “We should have
helped the wolflings when they were fighting for their lives.
Meuril thought the cats would stop in Canisaria, but they didn’t,
and now we have to fight them. Most wolflings only hide and try to
survive. Organized, troublesome packs crop up occasionally, but
most of them are hunted down and destroyed within a year.”
    “But not the Raiders?”
    “No. Three years ago rumors crept into
Laven-lay about a new outlaw pack. Their leader was a female named
Fenrah Ausla. Fauns attached little importance to the name, even
though Ausla is a royal Canid line. However, when the Raiders began
exacting a heavy cowry count from our merchants, fauns took notice.
Meuril tripled the bounty on Raiders. Fenrah, however, proved
cunning. There were eight Raiders three years ago. There are eight
today.”
    “So who are Chance and Laylan?”
    “I’m coming to that. You know, of course,
that the cliff fauns think Danda-lay impregnable?”
    “What’s Danda-lay?”
    Syrill frowned. “It is amazing that you
retain the ability to dress yourself.”
    Before Corry could formulate a retort, Syrill
continued, “Cliff faun capitol. Political and financial seat of
middle Panamindorah.”
    “Is Chance from Danda-lay?”
    “Yes, he’s a cliff faun prince, King
Shadock’s youngest. Like all of them, he has a certain arrogance
about that city. You can imagine their outcry when the Raiders
dared attack it.”
    “Ah. So then Laven-lay’s problem became
Danda-lay’s, too?”
    “You would have thought the queen had been
ravished for all their clamor. The raid came during a celebration:
the spring festival of Lupricasia. At that particular festival
Shadock was honoring Chance for a feat of bravery in battle. (Cliff
fauns have helped us in the cat wars.) Chance’s ceremony was
interrupted and a statue in his honor insultingly defaced.” Syrill
grinned wickedly.
    Corry could tell that Syrill wanted him to
ask a question, so he asked it. “Defaced how?”
    “The royal artisans had him depicted upon a
stag. The Raiders gelded the statue, took the antlers, made a doe
of it. Chance was livid.”
    Corry smiled. “You don’t sound very
sorry.”
    Syrill shrugged. “No one was killed. The
Raiders were only making a show. Chance, however, took it as a
personal insult. He’s spent the last two years hunting Fenrah’s
pack.”
    “Who is Sham?” asked Corry. “I thought he was
the leader. I never even saw Fenrah.”
    “Sham is Fenrah’s second, her cousin. He’s
also their chief healer. Talis is his apprentice. Chance has posted
handsome rewards in addition to Meuril’s bounty for the capture of
any Raider. Consequently, numerous hunters pursue them.”
    “And one of those hunters is Laylan?”
    Syrill nodded. “Laylan is a bounty hunter who
appeared in this area about five years ago. His mount is a cheetah
named Shyshax.”
    “But I thought you were at war with