Welcome back, gang. As I promised there would be many returning characters. Starting early on we will begin with a minor character from The Savage Heart.
Evabon's Best Friend
That night, the group camped out on the riverbank. There was still some distance for them but it was faster to travel by canoe than on foot. As they all sat around a fire, talking. The adults talked at least, young Balor on the other hand was standing at the river trying to catch the creatures that swam in the water. Barefoot, with the only half below the waist dressed Gard noticed scars on the young evabon's back.
"What are those scars on your back, lad?" Gard looked at the scars. How he had not noticed them before was beyond Gard. It only made Gard wonder who or what could do such a thing to a mere child?
"Our village has a very strict shaman." Balor turned to face the elder evabon. A frightened look was on his face. "He takes a whip to any child that does not follow his teachings."
"His teachings?" Lynx-O spit into the fire. "I know evabon and I'm not proud of how I came to know them and I know that shamans don't have individual teachings!"
"This one does!" Balor stepped towards the fire. "He's cruel! He controls shadows and fire and he summons monsters!" That comment. It caused Gard to think. His grandfather's grandfather had been a shaman. Shamans were kind, working with the earth, the air, the fire and the water. Shamans did not control things, they had no control over shadows and they did not summon monsters. There was something wrong about this person Balor described. "He is very old. His name is Kleos. Do you know him Gard?"
"Kleos was a common name when I was young." Gard scratched his chin. Kleos had been a common name. Why was this Kleos so particular besides for be very un-shaman-like?
"He had me whipped for protecting a tolac with pups!" Balor placed a hand on his own back, remembering the pain. "Tolacs are out guards, scouts, pets, partners, mounts… how could Kleos hate them?"
"How can someone hate the first friend?" Gard thought about the question. He then thought about a specific tolac, one that he had known: Calaban. What had happened to him? Gard then heard something. A howl in the distance!
"I've never heard anything like that." Hattazno listened intently to the howl. "Or maybe I have, I don't care."
"It is a tolac!" Balor walked towards the direction that the howl had come from. "How's that for irony?" Gard had been thinking the same thing. It would have been even more ironic if the tolac turned out to be Calaban.
"Well, I have a feeling things might get more ironic." Gard got up and walked closer towards Balor. And sure enough he saw a familiar sight. He saw Calaban, his companion during his long exile. "Didn't I tell you, my tolac: Calaban!" Calaban walked up to Gard and for the first time, he saw a big Calaban was. Eleven feet in length!
Calaban barked at Gard, happily. He then proceeded to sniff Balor. The young evabon backed away a bit, nervous around this strange tolac. "He won't hurt me… will he?" Balor watched as Calaban walked over to Lynx-O and began to sniff the old blind cat.
"He's fine." Gard pushed Balor into Calaban's direction. As Balor nervously walked over to the tolac, Gard wondered if the Wiley's had been nervous when they met him. As Balor walked closer towards Calaban, he thought about what Kleos would do if he were to find out about this. Finally, it was Calaban that walked up to the young evabon and licked Balor's right hand. A smile appeared on his face and Balor patted Calaban on the head. A tolac truly was an evabon's best friend.