Disclaimer: I don't own anything you'll recognize

A/N Thanks to all who reviewed and to my beta; Sabrina

Chapter Four

"The Sarth'ahnra is a test for your abilities. You'll be divided into teams, four teams of five people, three boys and two girls. One of the teams will have four boys. Then you'll have to survive without any help for two months. In this time, you'll live in the forest. You'll only be given clothes, a spear and a knife, some food and your horse. Each team will be given a sort of totem. During these two months, you'll have to try to steal the totem of the other teams. To do so, you are allowed to use any means you can think of, as long as it can't seriously harm anyone. Once this survival test is over, you'll be full warriors of the tribe," Odyeus explained.

He turned to Demera. She stepped forwards.

"After several meetings with your teachers, we have chosen the teams. When you hear your name, step forward. Once all the members of a team are called, we'll give you your equipment and your totem. First, the wolf's team: Xeis, Uraios, Cernos, Ilin and Wald."

The five youths approached her, were given spears, knives, clothes and their totem. They walked to one side of the place.

Demera continued

"The Bears team: Ferth, Swen, Selvy, Norns, Britany and Qverdar. The Foxes team: Mealin, Andra, Emer, Perna, Brox. Finally, last but not least, the Lynxes team: Yrs, Raia, Thers, Harry and Veradis."

The composition of the teams didn't surprise anyone. They put into the same group people who usually hanged out together.

People were talking excitedly, looking at the Yonhors, betting on which team would win. To win, they needed to gather all the totems.

Odyeus cleared his throat. All the noises died immediately.

"Well, I believe it's time for you to leave. All I have to say is Good Luck."

The Yonhors nodded. Then they reached their horses, climbed onto them and headed into the forest. Harry, Thers, Yrs, Raia and Veradis had only ridden for a few minutes when Harry, who was leading the way, stopped.

"What's the problem Harry?" asked Veradis who was carrying the totem.

"Where are we going to stay?" asked Harry. "I mean, we need a camp."

The others seemed to think for a while. They knew the forest better than Harry.

"What do you have in mind?" Yrs asked him.

Harry bit his lower lip.

"Well, it must be near water, a place easy to defend, and hard to reach, close to the forest. Maybe on a hill."

"Hmmm, quite difficult... Hey!" exclaimed Raia.

"Yes?" chorused the others.

"Old Dragon," she answered, smiling.

Yrs, Thers and Veradis smiled, too.

"Good idea!"

"Great, Raia!"

Only Harry seemed confused.

"Sorry to interrupt, but what is Old Dragon?"

"You don't know?" said Raia. "Apparently no. Well, Old Dragon is an old volcano, deep in the forest. There is a lake in the crater and a few caves, along with springs for fresh water."

Harry's face lightened immediately.

"Perfect! Is it far away?"

Raia thought for a few minutes.

"Well with our horses, one hour, maybe less."

"Alright then, let's go!" said Thers enthusiastically.

They started to ride towards the volcano.

The ride was uneventful. They finally spotted Old Dragon. Its sides were covered by the forest. They headed towards the crater. Once they reached it, Harry gasped. The place was amazing. The biggest part of the crater was occupied by a lake. The turquoise water was shining thanks to the sun. On the left, there was a little beach. All around stood huge trees. On the opposed side, they saw a spring.

"It's amazing, Raia," Harry said in a whisper.

"Isn't it?" replied Raia, smiling. "There is an hole in the bottom of the lake, through which the water exits the crater, it forms a little stream."

There was a moment of silence, then Yrs, looked at them.

"Well, what about taking a look at the caves?"

The others agreed and they went down into the crater. The descent was a bit difficult, but they all were good riders. Once they arrived near the lake, they climbed off their horses, took off the bridles, and started to explore the caves, knowing their mounts wouldn't try to escape, they had been well trained. They walked past the beach. Harry, along with his friends, were studying the rock faces. Suddenly, Veradis and Thers spotted something.

"Look!" they said together.

They looked at each other, surprised, then laughed.

"What?" asked Harry, not seeing what they were pointing at.

"Just above the spring, a bit on the right, there is an entrance," said Thers.

Yrs, Raia an Harry closely looked at the spot they were indicating.

"You're right!" exclaimed Yrs.

"Of course" said Veradis and Thers, proudly.

"Alright, all we have to do, is to climb to this entrance and explore it." said Harry.

"Lets go!" was Raia's answer.

Despite Harry's worries, it was quite easy to reach the cave's entrance. He was also imagining a way to allow their horse to enter it, too. This thought was pushed to the back of his mind as they explored the cave. They discovered that there wasn't only one cave, but three, connected to each other by a tunnel. The first one was the biggest. They spotted another entrance which lead out of the volcano, on the west side. The second, was smaller, as well as the third. In the last one, a big surprise awaited them. Half of the cave was occupied by a natural pool. They discovered that it was formed by a thermal spring which was passing through this cave, then leaving it through a hole in one of the walls and ending in the lake.

For a moment the five friends were speechless. The silence was broken by Thers.

"We're definitively lucky."

"It's the understatement of the year," replied Yrs.

The other three only nodded. They also noticed that this cave also had another exit which ended on the north side. They came back to the first cave and realised it was nearly midday. They ate the food they had been given, but kept some for the night.

"Alright, we need to organise ourselves." Harry finally said.

Thers, Yrs, Veradis and Raia, looked at him, carefully listening to him.

"You're right," agreed Veradis. "I think we should build a path to bring the horses into the first cave. We could make a kind of paddock on the left side."

"Good idea. How do you think we could make this path. We can't dig the stone." Thers.

"I think I can do that" said Raia, smiling. "I can enter the stone and use its structure to transform it. It's easy once you know how to do it."

"Alright, Raia will take care of that. Then we need to find stones and carve them to make spears, some wood for the fire and the torches. Who wants to do that?" After a few minutes, Veradis and Yrs agreed to do it. "Well, Thers, we should go hunting. We'll need pelts and leather along with meat. Alright?"

The other boy nodded.

"Well let's go!" finished Harry. They parted. Harry and Thers went to find their horses. They mounted them and went into the forest. Four hours later, they came back. They had been lucky and had caught an old stag, a few rabbits and several pheasants. They immediately skinned the rabbits and the stag, plucked the pheasant, hanged most of them to conserve them. Then, they turned to take care of the skins. Harry had decided to use the stag's skin to make a map. It would be useful later. The rabbit's ones were kept. Thers suggested that, saying, they'd be able to use them to make blankets. While they had been hunting and taking care of their catches, Raia had nearly finished the path. The stone seemed to have melt, forming a path, not very broad but enough to allow a horse to walk on it. Yrs and Veradis had brought a lot of wood and put it in the first cave along with the bridles they had transported there. They had also found a flint which they had started to carve. Once Raia finished the path, they gathered.

"Well," started Thers "That's what I call team work."

"Yes, now that we have started to prepare our basea bit, I think we should set up defences." Harry said.

"You're right once more, first, I think we should hide the entries, in particular, the ones of the caves." Yrs replied.

"Indeed. I've also spotted a tunnel near the beach which leads to the forest, it will have to be protected." Raia added.

"Exactly," nodded Harry "as well as the edge of the crater".

"That's a really large area. How are we going to do it?" Thers seemed puzzled.

"That's the problem. Let's sum up, we need to protect a huge area, even when we're not here." Yrs said, "Well, it's not going to be easy" said Veradis thoughtfully.

Harry suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Hey!"

"What?" said Raia.

"You have a link with stone, don't you?"

Raia shrugged.

"Yes"

"What can you really do?"

"Well, I can transform it, change its form. Sometimes, I talk with them."

"Talk?!!" Harry was stunned.

"I don't really speak with them. It's more like an exchange of pictures, stones have seen a lot of things, it's really interesting to communicate with them."

"Right... Do you think you can convince them to help us?"

Raia seemed to think for a few seconds.

"I don't know." She answered. "I'll ask them."

"Thank you." Harry turned towards the others.

"Do any of you have any special abilities?"

Yrs, Thers and Veradis glanced at each other. Yrs broke the silence.

"Veradis has strong links with animals. She's able to talk to them. I'm able to contact plants, but it's like with the stones, I can't have a real discussion." Harry looked at him, amazed.

"Are these abilities common?"

"Quite, most of the members of the tribe have a bit of power, but only a few are Chawiz." Raia explained.

"Chawiz?" asked Harry while he was searching in his memory the meaning of this word. At the moment he found it, Yrs answered his question.

"A Chawiz is someone who can do magic. Odyeus and Demera are Chawiz. There are four Yonhors who are part of this group as well: Brox, Swen, Xeis, and Thers."

Harry looked at his friends with surprise, then smiled.

"Perfect. Raia, Yrs, could you go talk to the stones and plants. I'd like them to….." he explained to them what he had in mind.

Yrs and Raia looked at him with respect once he was finished.

"Great! Come Raia!" Exclaimed Yrs. They quickly left.

"Well, what are we going to do?" asked Thers.

Harry smiled.

"Were going with Veradis to find help"

They went into the forest. They hadn't been walking for more than fifteen minutes when they heard noises to their right. They turned in that direction and found themselves in front of a pack of wolves. Veradis bowed, quickly followed by Harry and Thers. Then she seemed to discuss with the wolf that apparently was the leader. During her talk, Harry started to notice a weird feeling in his head. It was disturbing, it was a sort of low buzz. Harry shook his head, trying to get rid of this sensation, all to no avail. At this moment, the wolf looked at him closely. Green eyes met the gold ones of the wolf. The wolf's gaze rested on him for a long time. Suddenly recognition seemed to pass in its eyes. The wolf turned back to Veradis. A few seconds later, she bowed, smiling. The wolf also bowed to the three of them, then turned and left.

"Good. He has accepted to help us and will warn the other packs." Veradis said.

"Great, Vera!" exclaimed Thers. Harry smiled but remained silent. The wolf's behaviour was bothering him.

They resumed their walk. They spent the whole afternoon in the forest. They managed to convince the birds to help them, too. The eagles and the hawks had been hard to convince but they had finally agreed. Then they had reached an agreement with the rabbits and the deer. They had accepted to help if the humans wouldn't kill them. Veradis had explained them that they needed to eat. The deer had replied that there were a lot of fish in the lake for them to eat. Finally the discussion ended: Veradis promised them that their group wouldn't hunt them so they would help them. The deers and the rabbits accepted. They also said that old animals would accept to be killed as long as it was quick and painless, something the three friends promised. Squirrels were really happy to spy for them. They were really curious, and loved to do new things. Bears were also easy to convince. Foxes agreed to remain neutral.

The three youths came back to their base, satisfied with their afternoon. When they arrived at the tunnel to enter the crater, they found huge lianas with long thorns blocking the entrance. They also noticed some Morphieas, a plant with soporific stings and a Whomping willow. They approached them cautiously, but to their surprise, they let them pass. Then they were stopped by a wall. Harry put his hand on it. Immediately, the wall melted and a hole appeared in it, letting them enter.

"Whoa! They had done a really good job!" said Thers, amazed.

"Indeed" nodded Harry.

They arrived at the beach. Raia and Yrs were laying on the sand, resting. Harry winked at his friends. He approached the lake, after having taken a huge leaf. Understanding what he wanted to do, they imitated him.

They filled them with water and neared the two sleeping people. Then they dropped it on them. They jumped, yelling. Harry, Veradis and Thers were laughing their heads off. Understanding what had happened, Raia and Yrs looked at their friends furiously but soon they laughed, too.

"Well thanks for waking us, but be careful, revenge is sweet." Raia said in a threatening tone.

"I know, but thank you for the warning." Harry replied, mockingly bowing at his friend.

"You're welcome."

"Right, shut up you two." Veradis said. "We have much more important things to do."

"Listen to the voice of reason!" exclaimed Harry, raising his hands, to mock his friend but also to protect himself.

Veradis punched him lightly.

"No need to be violent!" he said "But you're right. We need to prepare our strategy. But, before that, we must eat"

"Boys and their stomach," muttered Raia.

Yrs heard her.

"If you don't want to eat, we are not going to force you." The boy replied.

"Yrs, you're really getting on my nerves, so stop it!" was her only answer.

He rolled his eyes.

"Temper, temper..."

"Yrs..."

"Alright, I'll shut up."

"You'd better do."

They continued to argue all the way back to the cave. When they arrived, the score was two to one for Raia. As they didn't seem ready to stop, Thers decided to interrupt it.

"Sorry to interrupt, but you know you're acting like an old couple." He knew this comment would catch their attention.

It didn't fail.

"THERS!" they yelled together.

"Great, now that we have your attention, we are going to be able to start planning the capture of the other totems." He replied.

They looked at him murderously, but he didn't look scared at all.

Harry decided it was a good moment to break in, before it became more violent.

"First, I think we should spend a week or two observing the others, finding their habits, studying their bases, their strategy."

"You're right. We can also make a map of the whole area to spot the different bases and smaller maps of each camp." Veradis added.

"Good idea," replied Thers. "With which one are we going to start?"

"What about the Wolves?" proposed Raia.

The four others looked at her.

"Any reasons?" asked Yrs.

"Well, the Bears, even if they are six, are the weaker team. So they will be target number one on the Foxes' list. They'll attack the weaker ones first, then take care of the others or wait for them to take care of each other and attack the winner when they are tired." The young girl explained.

"Good point. So Wolves first, then Foxes?" said Thers

Harry nodded.

"Yes, they're our most dangerous opponents."

They continued to plan their next weeks. Then, Harry noticed that the sun was setting. They brought the horses into the cave, and went to sleep. The next day would be a long day.