Free The Trials of Caste by Joel Babbitt Page B

nasty scar on his snout and a mouth full of crooked teeth
set beneath kindly eyes.  “No, young one.”  He shook his head.  “You know we
cannot tell you that.”
    “I have a question,” Troka interjected.
    “Ask, then,” another of the elite warriors
replied.  He was a no-nonsense type, so Troka had hopes of getting
straightforward answers from him.
    “We have all asked many warriors from years past
about the various obstacles that they had to face.  In years past, the
obstacles have not been modified much, if at all.  How many of the old ones
have you modified?  And if you can’t tell us which ones are new, can you at
least tell us how many are new?” Troka asked.
    “Well, that would be two questions,” the elite
warrior remarked, clear-eyed as his companions all chuckled.  He then looked
Troka in the eye, “Let me put it like this, yearling,” he said, “We in the
Honor Guard had all the time we needed to plan the changes and then to work
them into the old obstacles.  You’ll hardly recognize them.”
    All the yearlings groaned simultaneously.
    “Why so glum?” another of the elite warriors
asked, enjoying toying with the yearlings.  “You didn’t spend this whole last
year getting detailed descriptions of each obstacle from the last several
Trials of Caste did you?”  He and most of the other elite warriors laughed
heartily as the yearlings’ faces fell, for indeed they had. 
    After a few moments the elite warrior wiped tears
from his eyes as he began to calm down.  “Don’t worry,” he said, “we did the
exact same thing when we underwent the trials.  That’s why we changed them for
you!” he exclaimed as they all burst out in a fresh round of laughter.
    None of the yearlings seemed to share the elite
warriors’ sense of mirth.
    “Any more questions?” the clear-eyed elite warrior
asked.
    “You never did answer the question about how many
new obstacles there are,” Durik pressed.
    The elite warrior looked at the others around the
table then turned back to Durik.  “With all the changes, one could say that
they’re all new.  However, there is one that my fellow elite warriors in the
Honor Guard made up special for this year.”
    “There won’t be any changes to last year’s rules
for tomorrow’s competition, will there?” Troka asked.
    Each elite warrior looked to the others and
queried their companions.  Finally, the clear-eyed elite warrior spoke again. 
“It would seem that the consensus is that either there are no changes, or at
least we here don’t know about them.”
    Several moments passed in silence.
    The elite warrior with the scar on his snout broke
the silence.  “If there are no further questions, then we’ll depart.”
    Gorgon stood up, “Again, we much appreciate you
coming to talk to us.”
    “But of course,” the elite warrior remarked, then
leaned forward, his gentle eyes burning bright.  “Now, I know you are all
nervous about the competition,” he started.  “But don’t let it rob you of any
sleep between now and then.  After all, only one of you can win it, and chances
are you already have a pretty good idea of who that probably will be,” he
observed, gesturing with his scarred snout toward Gorgon.  “The rest of you just
have to score in one of the three trials, or get at least one kill in the
scouting trial.  Do that and you’re assured warrior caste status.  That’s
assuming you complete the trials, that is.”
    A couple of the other elite warriors nodded their
heads in agreement and Billik spoke.  “Yes, and don’t get down on yourselves if
you don’t place in the first, or even the second competition.  After all, it’s
the scouting competition that counts for the most points.  If you’ve got to
measure your effort, then make sure you give everything you have left in the
scouting trial.”  Not sure his words had the desired effect, Billik continued. 
“Just don’t make a fool of yourself in the melee