Law of Kanya
Episode 1: The Family Secret
By Josh Buckby

Chapter 1

A great shadow swept into the room, wrapping around Nuran like a cape and clawing at the edges of the floorboards. The young dog was begrudgingly shoved out of the way of three big, stout figures forcing their way inside. Kelly gulped. They looked like werewolves too, very similar to Benita, except that they had brown fur instead of grey.
The wolves were all big, muscular males, and Kelly felt like a child in comparison. One wore a decorated chest plate and red paint across the fur under his eyes. The other was barely clothed, save for baggy brown pants and a long draping headband with a red feather in the cap.
What they were carrying made Kelly gulp aloud: An assortment of decorated stone spears, daggers, bows and quivers and battle axes shared amongst them. For some reason, these things scared Kelly a lot more then if the wolves had been armed with machine guns. Spears and arrows just looked so primitive and daunting.
The clear leader of the trio was a sight to behold. He was rugged and grizzly, with mattered and messy clumps of fur, wrapped in tanned and tattered hides that formed little more then a loincloth. His pale colour and eyes made Kelly wonder just how old he was, but age didn’t stop him being intimidating to his core. What she could see of his eyes beneath his ridged brows were like ice, and his black, shiny claws were as long and sharp as kitchen knives.
Worn like a crown on top of his head was a massive plumed headdress, made from giant brown feathers. It looked exactly like the Indian ones Kelly saw in museums and history books. It boosted his size and effectively made her feel even smaller, and if any of these animals looked like a genuine werewolf, it was definitively this one.
Either that, or a really hairy member of the village people.
“Now I’m in for it…” Nuran muttered shamefully.
Benita wasn’t as intimidated as he and Kelly were, baring her teeth to the intruders. “What did I say about imposing on my patients?”
“This is far too important for that, Doctor.”
The big werewolf in the headdress looked straight at Kelly after uttering his first words, not a single muscle or inch of fur on his body shifting. He stared, as if into her very soul, for a good long time. Kelly felt a chill run up her spine as she looked back into his big, misty eyes.
“Kelly, go into the back room until I say!” Benita demanded.
She would have protested any other time, but there was something about that big wolf that left Kelly too timid to speak up. One slow step at a time, she crept back to the doorway. Nuran tried to discretely slip away with her, but was tugged back by the big werewolf before he got a chance.
“Don’t even think about it.” he was growled at.
Kelly imagined that if she could see the skin under his fur, he’d be blushing. She lugged herself into the other room and just out of sight, throwing her back against the wall.
“You have no patience, do you?” Benita began, lashing out at the other werewolves without a moments hesitation. Kelly admired her courage, given her chosen foe.
“I had to see for myself.” she presumably heard the big one answer. His voice was unruly, harsh and gravely. He sounded like no stranger to a cigar. “This could be very bad for all of us.”
“Wait,” Nuran stammered. “Does that mean she really is one of them?”
“Last time I saw them was in my prime, a long time ago. But yes, I’m certain. She is indeed.”
Kelly heard Benita grumble loudly. “Oh wonderful, Makara! Go on! Spread the word! That’s the best thing to do! It’s not like there aren’t enough people fighting already for a piece of the action! Hey, I’ve got an idea! Let’s go tell Malik! That’s bright! Let him bash down my door to get to her!”
“He may already be COMING!” the big wolf roared ferociously, to a reply of striking, dead silence, and he let it sink in before going on. “Don’t you get that? Nuran said he saw smoke in the forests! He could be bearing down on us as we speak!”
The outburst was over as quickly as it started and the big wolf, who was clearly named Makara, composed himself. “For what little its worth, I’m happy to see her. But do you have any idea how much she could threaten us just by being here?”
“Precisely why we shouldn’t be confirming this to the whole world yet! We need her to lay low.”
Kelly felt her blood run cold. They sounded serious, Makara nigh on terrified for a guy his size. So who on earth could Malik be?
“And if he knows about her?” Makara grunted. “If she’s what he’s after?”
“I don’t think he does.” Benita replied, with a great deal of confidence. “She mentioned a robot, but I think we’re lucky… I don’t think he knows she exists yet!”
“The mere mention of one sounds like more then enough reason to have doubt.” Makara snarled, and gritted his teeth so loudly, Kelly could hear it from across the room. “So where did she come from then? Is she perhaps a straggler from years ago?”
“She’s been acting a little strange and disoriented.” Benita answered. “She’s in no condition to be asked about those things yet.”
“That’s for me to decide…”
Makara disregarded Benita’s comment with ease, but Kelly peeped out again to see the female wolf stand her ground, blocking him as he tried to march in on her. “No, it isn’t!” she snapped. “Doctor’s orders stand, even for you!”
“You’re going to undermined me? Your chieftain?”
“You can’t order me about when a life is in my care, Makara! Do I make myself clear?”
The two wolves were practically nose to nose as they argued. It had gotten so heated, Nuran had sulked off to the corner, far out of the way. Looking over Benita’s shoulder, Makara shot one more intimidating glance in Kelly’s direction, leaving her ducking back behind cover fast as she could.
“Anyone lesser would have been thrown out of this city for that kind of insolence, Benita!” he threatened her. “There are too many DKI’s being spotted around here, and I don’t like this turn of events! If you refuse to let me see her, then I’m just assuming the worst. I’ll prepare to abandon Borsa. Androth!”
“One of his accompanying bodyguards stepped forward. “Give the order for evacuation, and assist however you can.”
“As you command, Chieftain.” the other wolf bowed, and was gone in a flash.
“And just where do you intend to take us?” Benita cried. “We have a home here, safe and worlds away from that madman and you… Are you finally so desperate you’ll appeal to Sanctuary?”
“There are other places still untouched by his corruption!” he spat. “Places easier to fight back from. I might take us to Harbon grove if it comes down to it!”
“You wouldn’t!” Kelly heard Nuran gasp loudly.
“I may, and you’d do well not to question my decisions! For now, I must see to the defence of this fort. You will have her sociable in the next hour, Benita, or you will have her packed up and ready to leave with the rest of us. Is that clear enough?!”
As Kelly peeked out again, Makara received no answer. Only a stern and judging glare. Furious, he stomped away with his guard, and the young Nuran reluctantly in tow. Kelly caught a glimpse of him giving her a confused shrug as he was thrust out the door by Benita. She couldn’t slam it fast enough.
Benita heaved a sigh of relief and slid to the floor, her back against the door. It took a lot for Kelly to summon the courage to wander back out. She didn’t say a word, at first. She wasn’t sure she knew where to even start this time.
“He’s a real piece of work, isn’t he?” Benita half heatedly laughed upon seeing her. “I wouldn’t let this worry you too much. He likes to rile people up over little things. Oh, but as I was saying…”
She put a great deal of emphasis on those words as she stood up and placed a paw on Kelly’s shoulder. “If you want to go round bragging you’re a human, I wouldn’t do it to him! I’m afraid Makara is incapable of taking a joke…”
Kelly wasn’t having any of it, and brushed Benita’s hand away furiously. “You think I’m daft? The way you were speaking I…Who are you all? Am I in league with a bunch of criminals?!”
Kelly rather prospered in the idea. After hearing all that, she was more fearful then ever and was looking in desperation for a blame target, however flimsy. Benita, on the other hand, just shook her head.
“Kelly, you’re asking me to buy an awful lot, and I just can’t. You must have some idea what’s going on here?”
“I don’t!” Kelly shouted in anger. “Start treating me likes an adult, or maybe I’ll go looking for this Malik guy! I’m sure he’ll happily give me a few answers when I explain the situation!”
The look Benita gave her was, while she had to admit nowhere near as bad as Makara, fiercely intimidating. It sent a shudder up her spine, twice as bad now that she had a tail. She feared she’d finally said too much.
“I am going to pretend I never heard that.” Benita muttered through clenched fangs. “There’s believing your own story, but I refuse to play along if that’s the tone you’re going to use!”
“Well I never asked for your pity!” Kelly shouted, regaining her courage. “You haven’t got a clue what I’ve been through and you’re not even trying!”
Kelly got an odd reaction from that. Benita seemed to turn rather gloomy, and hung her head. “No.” she sighed. “No, you’re right. I don’t, and I’m sorry. But Kelly, as you can clearly see, now is not the time for trivial little things.”
“Nothing about this is trivial to me.” Kelly whimpered. “Believe whatever you want about me, fine! I just want to find my family and go home, that’s all! You promised, so please don’t go back on me! I’ll get on my knees and beg if I have to!”
“That won’t be necessary. I will. We will, but we need to lay low for a while first. You have to trust us.”
She wanted to go on screaming, but Kelly quickly surrendered. Benita’s warning seemed sincere after all, but it was more the image of Makara’s inch-long claws in the back of her mind.
“Fine, I won’t say peep for now. But it’s only because I don’t want to end up a Shish kebab!”

*

Things never ever seemed to turn out well for him, but this was too much to take. Nuran thought this to himself and pouted as he caught up to the chieftain. He was fuming on the inside, bottling up at least a few years of resentment as Makara and his lieutenant droned and babbled on about the evacuation, orders he’d already memorized five times over.
He glanced side to side, looking desperately for his sister among the many huts and homes that littered their little encampment. The settlement was already a buzz with others of his kind, gathering up their belongings and holding their families close by.
The sooner he could do the same, the better. This might be the last time he saw it all, and he wanted his sister within arms reach if things suddenly took a turn for the worse. Knowing what he’d seen earlier with his own eyes, that seemed most likely.
“You can’t do this!” he suddenly blurted out. “No way I’m gonna stand for it!”
The chieftain and his companion stopped dead in their tracks. The bodyguard turned and shot him a terrifying glare. “You will speak to the chieftain with a little more respect then that.” he warned Nuran hastily. “If you even have the right of speaking at all!”
“You can’t, though!” Nuran further pressed Makara, clenching his fists. “I understand the risks we have to take, but we cannot go to Harbon Grove!”
“Aw, is the little Madraki still sour over having to tag with us savages?” the wolf snickered, a distasteful tone in his voice growing as he approached the young boy, far scrawnier then him.
“I thought you wanted to be like us, kid? Of course, I thought you’d be happy to go home, too!”
“Shut up…” Nuran muttered, flexing his claws. “…Right now.”
“You better learn to…” he raised a clawed hand, as if about to strike. Nuran ducked pre-emptively.
“Kadra!” Makara called out without turning, forcing an unsteady hesitation on the other wolf. Growling, the beast relented. Nuran eased up, and sighed.
“Little runt thinks because he’s seen a bit of conflict, he can throw his weight around, and you’re gonna let him?” the wolf grumbled at Makara distastefully. “We’re fighting for our survival here and our options are dwindling! We’re can’t march into the wastelands just cause the pup here gets a little queasy and nostalgic about one stinking forest!”
“So that leaves what for me and Suri, then?” Nuran muttered.
“I think the answers obvious, isn’t it, Madraki?” the wolf smiled. “Buck up, or get out!”
“That is more then enough!” Makara growled, turning on the spot. “I will be fine with what I need to attend to, Kadra. Why don’t you find Androth and assist with the evacuation plans?”
“Naturally, I’d rather stay with you sir.” the other wolf replied, pumping out his chest.
“I figured as much.” Makara ordered. Given who he was conversing with, it was surprising how much softer and calmer he was then before. “Help with the fortifications, then. If that behemoth is coming, the wall may not hold. Do I have to make it an order?”
“No, sir. It already is one after all, isn’t it?”
“Go.” Makara smirked. “Harsh times are coming for all of us.”
His servant bowed in admiration, shot a glance of anything but to Nuran, and vanished into the thick of the village. Nuran would be lying to himself if he didn’t admit he was relieved. That loyal wolf had a nasty streak that bloomed the more he was pushed, and Makara was often the only thing capable of holding him back.
“Nuran, I know how you feel, but we might have to put our petty grievances aside this time.” Makara pouted at his young follower. “Harbon grove can offer genuine protection with few costs, and it is a better staging ground.”
He’d feared this was going to be a sugar coated version of the same speech. Nuran looked down at his bandaged arms and legs and shuddered visibly. “I can’t go back there, master.” he said with certainty. “Not even if it was an order from you.”
“Would you prefer Sanctuary?” Makara suggested with a shrug. “You know it’s impossible for us to live there.”
“Impossible for you, you mean?”
“Oh really? You could abandon every convenience we’ve given you?”
Even as a last resort, Sanctuary was the last place Nuran could see Makara’s people appealing to. On the other hand, Sanctuary had been a trailing thought in Nuran’s mind for a long time. The truth was: he and his sister could very easily make lives for themselves there. It was just going to take a lot of adjusting to such a strict environment as that place.
If his choices came to that or Harbon grove, he knew where he was going.
“The strength of this camp as a rebel base relies on one thing, Nuran.” Makara went on. “It’s remoteness. If Malik intends to march into this valley, we have lost that advantage… So just how sure are you of what you saw?”
Nuran shuddered. “Since I’ve seen it before, I know that amount of smoke couldn’t come from anything else, master. I don’t know if he’s pillaging, or merely practicing in preparation for us, but that… thing, that beast… It’s coming, Master.”
Never a more harrowing thought. Makara took in the surroundings of the village. They were flourished on all sides by lush forest, overlooked by rocky peaks and plateaus. They wished they could say they had the advantage, but their enemy had been readied to thrive in this environment as well.
To the west, beyond those peaks: their former home, which had been out of their reach for nearly a decade now. The evacuation would take them close, but it would be perilous if they had to make their escape a trek through those lands.
They’d at least turned this place into quite the home away from home, and into quite the fortress. It’s sturdy, wooden walls and archer filled watch towers had seen little conflict, however. An occasional enemy scout, or rampaging wildlife. Certainly nothing as massive as the chief prepared for now.
“We were so damned careful.” Makara grunted, scratching his forehead. “We’ve always disposed of or avoided his scouts carefully, but now he marches right on our doorstep? How could he know exactly where we were?”
“You don’t think it could be…”
“I very well do, Nuran. I think we have a spy.” His lips curled into a snarl at the prospect.
“But who?”
“I despise the idea of pointing fingers right now.” Makara spat. “Everyone here has earned my trust at least three times over, and that includes you!”
That was relieving, but it still surprised him a little. After his reluctance to leave, he thought he would be the first one fingers pointed at. “You don’t suspect me, Master?”
“I know you better then anyone by now. Of course not.”
“I… thank you, Master.” Nuran said bashfully. “I appreciate the faith in me…”
“But there is one amongst us that can’t be spoken for right now…”
“Not Kelly, chieftain?” Nuran pleaded.
“Don’t misunderstand me: Her hatred and resolve for Malik should be far greater then even yours, but there cannot be a coincidence between her arrival and his. It’s too sudden.”
“Maybe not, but I genuinely saved her life, master.” Nuran explained sincerely. “I trust her.”
“I’ll trust her for now then, but I taught you not to put your faith in a miracle, Nuran.” Makara ordered him, and folded his arms. “Let alone one as far fetched as this. Which is why you shall waylay whatever errands it is Benita has you running!”
Nuran glanced side to side, anxiously. “How did you…”
“I’ve seen you scampering from building to building lately, searching huts. You’re a fine fighter in my books, Nuran, but you’ve never been very good at masking your presence.”
Nuran attempted to hide his anxiousness, but Makara really could read him like a book sometimes. He’d been planning to rush right back to Benita’s hut after finding his sister. “Benita’s…”
“Not your master, I am!” Makara sternly finished for him. “You two will not put that young girls’ well being before our own! That is an order!”
“We’ve got an obligation to help her though, don’t we?” Nuran insisted, clenching his fists. “And all Benita had me doing…”
“I don’t care, Nuran.” he grumbled. “You won’t let it distract you from the task I have in mind for you.”
“Master?”
“How do you feel about safeguarding our secret weapon?”
Nuran looked at Makara with surprise. His eyes trailed to the walled borders surrounding the camp. “I thought we’d only go ahead with that once we’d actually left the village abandoned?”
“If we be so lucky, then yes. Should anything else happen, I believe I can trust you to know the best moment to use it.”
Makara dug into one of the many furs forming his loincloth, and produced a cylindrical object, no bigger then a coin. He held it out, very insistent on Nuran taking it. Nuran hesitated, naturally ,as one knowing the importance of what he was being offered would.
“Shouldn’t you keep it on you, Chief?”
“I’ll be the first thing they’ll be gunning for. I’d rather this not be in my hands, if it can be helped.”
“Master, I don’t know. Surely there’s someone else less conspicuous then us who could…”
Makara withdrew his hand. “I can keep it, if you think my confidence in your abilities was misplaced! A shame it would be, since I trained you myself and I thought you’d be up to this challenge!”
“That’s not why I’m…” Nuran began in a flustered manner, but he hung his head a moment after. “You’re right. I don’t know if I am up to it, sir. What if I hurt someone? I’d never live with myself…”
Makara stepped forward and very carefully placed the object into his hands. “I wouldn’t suggest this if I did not feel safe. Do not doubt yourself.”
Nuran was beyond nervous, but he gripped the little metal chamber tightly. “I won’t let you down, master.” he sighed.
“This will be a hasty evacuation, so go find your sister and be ready to move when I give the order.”
“Suri…” Nuran huffed to himself. “I haven’t seen her since we got back, actually! Dammit” Pocketing the object he been allowed to safeguard, he turned on his heel and darted away. “I’ll be ready for this, master!” he waved back. “I promise.”
This did put a slight damper in his plans, as he ran around anxiously. Why did Suri have to pick now to play hide and seek? Well, he wasn’t too worried. Makara had already barricaded the front gate, so she wasn’t going to be leaving the village in a hurry.
As for Nuran, he was more desperate to get back to Benita’s hut then ever now. If her suspicions about Malik were true, then they couldn’t waste time. They needed to make sure he never ever found out Kelly was here.
Now if only he could remember which hut the tribe had stuffed their food supplies in…