Katts and Dawgs In the Name of Truth by Roberto Sanhueza	Table of Contents Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 appear in this issue.
part 4 of 4

“But what could these tablets be doing in an abandoned old well?”

None of the apprentices can give a sensible answer to that.

They have left the old ruins, and now it is full night. They have stopped to talk in a nearby forest while the hoofers graze. All they can agree on, however, is that these tablets seem identical to the ones they have seen in Kannis castle.

“I can’t make any sense of this,” says Phydo. “I propose we abandon our mission and go right back to Kannis. This discovery is much more important than any letter to any Abbot!”

Surprisingly enough to Phydo, his words are enthusiastically backed by Bernie. “That’s right, mates, let’s start back with the first light of dawn and take this amazing artifact to the ones who can decipher it!”

Mutt and Wick don’t seem so convinced; they are quite aware of what happens to disobedient apprentices. “Couldn’t we just go on to Riverfork Abbey and finish our errand? After all... if these tablets have been down that hole for Man knows how long, they can well wait another couple of days to get to Kannis.”

“And it would be much healthier for our hides too,” mutters Mutt.

Phydo seems hesitant now. Their words seem sensible.

Again it’s Bernie who breaks the awkward silence that follows Mutt’s words. “But let us not do anything rash, mates. Let’s sleep on this. It’s been a long and tiring journey and we’ll think clearer when the light returns. Let’s camp right here.”

Again Phydo is surprised by Bernie’s sensibleness, it doesn’t seem like his usual rash and light-hearted self. He has to agree, though, that Bernie has a point.

The four apprentices make their outdoors sleeping arrangements beneath the trees, and soon tiredness and excitement take their toll. Wick’s snoring could be heard all the way back in Kannis.

But for Phydo sleep does not come so easy. He is deeply disturbed by his discovery and the words of his childhood mentor, scholar Rover Quicknose, come to his mind:

“That question has been asked many, many times, Phydo, and no absolute answer can be given.”

“What do you mean absolute?”

“By absolute I mean there is no proven answer, only what the Order of Man’s True Legacy tells us is the orthodox answer.”

“Meaning that is not necessarily true?”

But Rover always evaded a straight answer. He wouldn’t speak openly against orthodoxy or against the Order. And now Phydo wonders...

If — just to make a wild assumption — these new tablets were as much a genuine Man-made artifact as they seemed to be, then the ones at Kannis castle would not be the only ones... and that would prove orthodoxy wrong.

A dizzying thought.

Hours go by and now even Wick has stopped snoring, but Phydo is still awake.

So he is able to hear the faint ruffle of the leaves on the floor as somebody walks away from the clearing.

An ill feeling crosses Phydo’s chest and he gets up and looks for the bag where they put the tablets before going to sleep.

Gone!

Still silent, he follows the sound he heard, in the general direction of the hoofers.

But, as he approaches, he feels a cold blade against his throat and an even colder voice whispering in his ear.

“Be quiet and still, Phydo. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Bernie! What are you doing?”

Bernie manages to produce a derisive laughter, even when whispering.

“What do you think? I’m getting me an Abbey, that’s what I’m doing. My uncle Max will put these tablets to much better use than the High Priest would. I had hoped to find them, myself, but you were the lucky one. Not that it will matter much in the end.”

“You knew about them!”

Bernie’s laughter becomes even colder.

“Of course I knew! You’re so naïve, Phydo. Tablets like these have turned up many times in recent years, and in many different places. Fluff Fourfangs has always managed to make them disappear so far. Well, not this time.”

“But Bernie! Don’t you care to find out what they are? Where they come from? Don’t you care about truth?”

“Truth! I don’t give Man’s piss for truth! They may come all the way from the fixed star for all I care, but they are going to make me powerful. Now stand back or be stabbed. Your choice!”

A deep sense of helplessness and woe overcomes Phydo. He can’t bring himself to fight his friend, but Bernie doesn’t seem in the least as troubled.

All Phydo can discern in the deep of the night is a muffled sound as Bernie disappears in the dark.

When the sound of a galloping hoofer is lost in the distance, a despairing Phydo returns to the camp.

He is surprised to find his mates awake and alert.

“Is he gone yet?” Asks Wick as he lights a torch.

“You heard us?”

“Every word, the treacherous vermin!”

“Then let’s go after him! We can still stop him!”

To the torch’s trembling light, Phydo can see the conspiratorial glance between his friends.

“There’s no real need to go after him, you know.” Says Mutt, a smug smile on his face. “ I never trusted the rascal, and I changed the bags after we all went to bed.”

“So now...”

“Bernie’s running through the woods with a bag full of rocks. Serves the scoundrel well!”

“He dared not burn a light close to the camp and you, Phydo, interrupted him before he could check. So you see, there’s no need to blindly storm off after him.”

“Besides”, adds Wick thoughtfully, “ Hoofers have very poor night vision, and he’s risking his neck galloping through the woods in this darkness. We’d be just as stupid to follow him.”

Phydo feels a wave of immense relief going through him when he holds the tablets once more in his hands.

“Bernie’s actions settle the matter anyway, fellows. I think we should head for Kannis with the first light of dawn. The High Priest ought to be warned about Brother Maximattis’ plot, whether successful or not.”

“Aye! I think you’re right Phydo. These tablets are too hot an item for us mere apprentices to handle. Let’s only hope Fourfangs shows some gratitude.”

Phydo says no more. As they get their mounts ready and wait in the waning dark for the first light of the new day to find its way from the never distant mountains, he isn’t thinking about Order’s politics, or even about his personal safety.

It is answers he cares about, hopefully truthful ones.

When the world is turning to a lighter shade of gray; three apprentices to the Order of Man’s True Legacy start a ride, which will in time shake their way of life and that of all the Sentient Peoples.

Phydo doesn’t know it yet. He has no way to know it, but all his question are about to be answered.

Beyond his wildest dreams.

For now, he rides. Towards his destiny.

* * *

Bernavold is lost.

He started regretting his actions the moment his hoofer tripped in the dark and broke one of its legs. He regretted them even more when he had enough light to realize he had been tricked.

He isn’t interested any more in reaching Kannis ahead of his mates. He doesn’t even dream of Abbeys and riches.

All he wants to do is find his way out of the ravines he has gotten himself into and go back to the high road. But the sun is starting to show over the edge of the ravine, and he can’t seem to find a way out.

A cold sweat falls from his furry mane as he walks the dusty groves, and fear, slowly but firmly, is creeping in.

He is so busy cursing his bad luck and treacherous former friends that he doesn’t hear the growl coming from behind him.

But he does feel the claws.

* * *

Back in the woods, not far from the place where the three apprentices started their ride back home, a young Katt stretches in his resting place in a treetop, as Katts have done since the beginning of time. And he talks to his flying steed.

In spite of the Headmousse’s ingratitude, he feels fine and keeps the little Mousse girl’s flower close to him.

Destiny waits for him, too.

Copyright © 2007 by Roberto Sanhueza