Chapter 75 — The First Sounder

Chapter 75: Chapter 75 — The First Sounder

Chapter 75 — The First Sounder

Aldous found the armored warthogs five days after moving into the small plane.

He returned to the Knight castle near sunset with mud to his knees and a broken branch tied across his pack. Christopher was inspecting the southern field when the beastmaster approached.

"I found a sounder beyond the orchard, my lord," Aldous said. "Five adults and five young. They feed near the stream at dawn."

"All magical beasts?"

"The adults carry Essence. The young probably do as well, but I did not approach closely enough to be certain."

Christopher noted the empty animal shelters. The old castle records and stone reliefs showed that the Dragon Knights had kept magical beasts for meat and mounts, and a breeding herd would be worth more than killing one animal whenever they needed food.

"Can we capture them?"

Aldous placed the broken branch on the ground. One side had been crushed flat.

"That was beneath the largest male’s hoof after he smelled me. We can capture the females and young if the Knights help. The male may not survive."

Godfrey heard the report that evening and asked Aldous about the ground, the stream, the size of the adults, and the distance from the castle.

"There is a narrow lane between two slopes," Aldous said. "Old stone walls remain on both sides. We can repair the lower gaps and build gates at the end."

Walter studied the rough map scratched onto the table. "Drive them through the lane and close both gates."

"If they enter," Aldous said. "A frightened sounder may turn together. Five adults charging one gate will break timber."

"Then we divide them," Godfrey replied.

Christopher listened while they planned. The first gate would remain open and covered with branches, workers would place split fruit along the lane, and nets would fall behind the first animals. Broad wooden boards would guide the young into a smaller pen, while the strongest adults would be handled by the Knights.

Thunder watched from the doorway. She understood enough through Christopher’s thoughts to know they were discussing prey.

Hunt.

Capture, Christopher corrected.

She sent him the image of a dead warthog.

We need the females and young alive.

Thunder considered that wasteful.

"Let her take the large male if it charges," Christopher said.

Godfrey eyed Thunder. "Will she wait until it charges?"

"She says she can."

Thunder sent him another image of the entire herd dead at her feet.

They spent two days preparing the lane. Workers repaired the side walls with loose stone and drove thick posts around the inner pen. Owen built two gates from old stable timber and reinforced them with iron bands taken from broken doors. Aldous tested every hinge and rejected the first rope release because it caught beneath tension.

Owen directed the carpenters, Aldous placed the gates and nets, Godfrey tested the walls, and Christopher approved the workers and supplies they requested.

The first practice failed.

A worker pulled the rear-gate rope while Owen pushed a loaded handcart through the lane. The gate dropped halfway, twisted against one post, and stopped. If a warthog had been beneath it, the animal would have escaped.

Owen removed the hinge pin and widened its socket. Aldous moved the rope guide higher so it could not drag against the wall. They tested it again with the handcart moving faster.

This time the gate struck the ground behind it.

The smaller pen caused another problem. The boards were wide enough to turn the young animals, but the workers holding them stood too close together, so that if one person fell, the rest would trip over him.

Walter spread them along the lane. "You are guiding the young. Do not wrestle them. Keep the boards between your legs and their heads."

One worker studied the marks in the practice board. "Did Aldous make those?"

"A young one did," Aldous answered. "It was playing."

The workers gave the boards more room after that.

Thunder attended every test. She sat on the wall with her tail hanging over the edge and offered Christopher repeated images of herself chasing the entire herd into the pen.

"You would chase them through the wall," Christopher said.

Thunder considered the repaired stone and agreed that the wall should be stronger.

Godfrey joined Christopher beside the lane. "Keep her out of sight until the herd turns. They may smell her, but seeing a dragon will send them in every direction."

"She understands."

Thunder sent Christopher a clear denial.

"She will understand by morning."

Godfrey left that problem to him.

Christopher spent the evening beside Thunder near the dead elder dragon. He explained the plan through words and images until she stopped replacing the gates with fire and dead warthogs. She disliked surrendering the females and young, but the idea of owning a herd interested her.

Ours, she decided.

"Yes. That means you cannot eat them."

Thunder stayed beside him, her gaze fixed on the females and young.

Aldous watched the sounder both mornings. The animals followed the same path toward the stream. The young fought over fallen fruit beneath the orchard. The largest male remained behind the females and tested the air before entering open ground.

On the third morning, everyone took position before sunrise.

Christopher lay behind a fallen tree with Thunder beside him. Godfrey waited down the slope. Walter and Ivo held the sides of the lane with the five Green soldiers and ten workers. Aldous crouched near the inner gate.

The fruit drew the first female from the trees.

She smelled the ground, took one piece, and continued along the lane. A second female followed. Five striped young rushed between them, squealing and fighting over the fruit.

The younger male entered next, followed by a third female.

The largest male stopped beneath the trees.

Thunder’s claws sank into the earth.

Wait, Christopher sent.

The first female crossed the inner line. Aldous pulled the release.

The rear gate fell.

The sounder exploded.

Workers dropped the first net. One female tangled beneath it while the young scattered toward the smaller pen. Aldous and two workers drove them with broad boards.

The younger male slammed the side wall. Stones shifted, but the repaired section held.

The largest male charged into the lane.

Walter stepped aside before the tusks reached him and struck the armored snout with the flat of his sword. The blow turned the animal without stopping it. It tore through one hanging net and drove toward the workers at the inner gate.

"Now!" Godfrey shouted.

Thunder launched.

She crossed the lane in a dark blur. Lightning flashed across her jaws as she struck beneath the male’s ear. The impact threw the warthog sideways. It tried to rise. Thunder pinned one shoulder and bit again.

The body stopped moving.

The younger male hit the inner gate. Timber split around the pin.

"Brace it!" Owen shouted.

Workers drove a beam beneath the bar. Ivo and three soldiers forced a net over the animal. Aldous caught its hind leg with a hooked rope, and it dragged them across the dirt until Ivo struck it behind the head with the flat of his blade.

One female broke toward the entrance. Godfrey met the charge with his shield and forced her against the wall, while Walter and two soldiers roped her forelegs.

The last female turned toward Aldous.

Christopher drew Edmund’s sword and stepped between them. He struck the animal’s shoulder from the side, driving it toward the open pen as Walter closed from the other direction.

The female took the gap.

Aldous dropped the gate.

For several breaths, the lane held only squeals, rope snapping against stone, and workers shouting warnings. Then the gates stopped shaking.

Aldous checked the trapped female first. "Ease that rope. If she cannot breathe, we caught meat instead of breeding stock."

The workers obeyed.

Christopher counted the living animals. One younger male, three females, and five young.

Thunder stood over the dead male and stared through the gate.

"Those are not yours," Christopher said.

Mine also.

"The largest is yours. The rest become our herd."

Thunder took in the younger male for a long moment, then tore into her kill.

Godfrey checked Walter’s bruised ribs. His mail had stopped the tusk. Two workers had rope burns, and one soldier had a swollen wrist. Nobody had been gored.

Moving the living animals took the rest of the day. The younger male received the strongest pen, the females stayed together in the larger enclosure, and the young remained behind a timber divider where they could hear the adults.

One female struck the gate whenever anyone crossed the yard. The younger male tested every post in order.

"They will find the weakest point before we do," Aldous said. "Four people watch in shifts tonight. Nobody enters alone."

Christopher approved the order.

He also assigned two workers to gather roots, fallen fruit, and cut grass. Aldous warned that feeding them only fruit would make them harder to control and more aggressive around the orchard. The kitchens would save vegetable scraps, but the herd needed most of its food from the fields.

Owen examined the split gate and ordered stone posts for the replacement. Timber remained useful for the inner dividers, though the outer gate needed to survive the younger male after he recovered.

"How long before they become calm?" Christopher asked.

"They may never become calm," Aldous said. "Calm is not required. They need to enter the feeding pen, tolerate handlers outside the fence, and stop breaking themselves against the walls."

"Can they be bred here?"

"If the females remain healthy. We watch them through winter and keep the younger male separate until I know which animals are related."

It was slower than Christopher wanted, but a herd could not be built by ordering it to grow.

Thunder ate until her belly rounded. She lay near the enclosure and watched the young through half-closed eyes.

"They are still not food," Christopher told her.

She sent him a patient image of the young growing larger.

Christopher frowned. "That is not what I meant."

Godfrey turned away, but Christopher saw the Silver Knight smiling.

They returned to Dragonwatch after dark. Walter remained in the small plane with Aldous and the guards. Ivo reported that the forty soldiers at the fortress had completed their wall drill. Their formation had broken twice, but all groups reached their assigned sections.

Christopher ate late and returned to the inner castle. His arms ached from striking the female warthog. He had followed the plan, stayed away from the largest male, and helped drive one animal through a gate.

It had been enough.

Beyond the hidden door, nine armored warthogs tested their enclosure. The first herd belonging to Dragonwatch had survived the day.