Slink
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About this ebook
Urzites – telepathic animals of many species found originally only on the southern island of Urz.
Receptives - humans who are able to hear the Urzites. Only about one person in eighty or ninety is a Receptive. Most Receptives can only hear the animal who has chosen to be their partner, although there have been recorded instances of very rare people, SuperReceptives, who can hear more than one Urzite.
The Warden Corps – a government-sanctioned force within which the Receptive-Urzite pairs function. The Wardens and their Urzite partners are mostly used as espionage agents and scouts in the ongoing war with the neighbouring nation of Zeranda, although some are also involved in search and rescue and also in recruitment and the finding of new Receptives.
The next Urzite stepped forward. And the next. And the next. I tell you, it doesn’t sound all that hard, just standing there repeating that spell, but it was exhausting work. Urzite followed Urzite followed Urzite, small ones, big ones, young ones, old ones; cats, dogs, horses, donkeys, birds, rats, lizards, monkeys.
I stopped noticing them after a while. They just became a blur. I do remember that I did Umbis, though, and Sanpo, who was quite absurdly grateful, and, of all Urzites, Madame Uritta’s Chym. I couldn’t help but wonder what she’d think of all this.
By the time lunchtime was over I was so exhausted I was about ready to fall off my wall and it was getting really difficult to get the words of the spell in the right places. However, I must have taught at least fifty Urzites to read, possibly twice that many. The crowd in the courtyard had thinned to just the last few hopefuls and quite a number who’d stayed as spectators, and as I looked about I saw all the remaining candidates step up to one of the other spell-casters.
Amazingly, everyone who had turned up had been processed. I was quite proud of us, really. That was a very good day’s work. I hopped down from my wall and made my weary way over to where Naya stood talking to Garina and Annana. Stumpy and Syana were already there, and as I approached, Hoo swept in and took up her usual place on Stumpy’s head.
At first, I couldn’t see Mewla, but then Naya moved and I spotted her in her accustomed place in her arms. It seemed we were all here. Oh, hang on, where was Thimni? Even as I looked around, there was a clatter of hooves on cobbles and Thimni came bounding up, looking disgustingly energetic. How could she possibly gallop like that when I felt about as limp as a wrung-out rag?
“That was fun, wasn’t it?” she said as she skidded to a halt next to me. “It’s going to change things around here now that every Urzite can read. I intend to recommend that the first thing they all read is the Articles of Incorporation. I read them last night, and they’re quite an eye-opener. There’ll be no excuse for denying Urzites their rights now.”
I rolled my eyes at Syana, who grinned. Trust Thimni to make this an intellectual exercise. I swear, that goat is the most intelligent person I know, and that includes all the humans.
In ‘Naya’, Naya related how she became a Warden. Now, join Slink the fox; a bit of a rascal, somewhat greedy, rather highly-strung, and locked in an ongoing battle with Mewla the cat, as he takes up the tale and tells the next part of the story in his own words, as the team begin their training and settle into life as Assigned Urzites.
Ashley Abbiss
Hello there. I’m Ashley Abbiss. I live and write in beautiful New Zealand, where I live with one large dog, who looks nothing like Friend from my Daughters of Destiny books. She is, however, almost as intelligent and definitely as opinionated, and if she can’t quite speak in the way Friend does to Niari, that doesn’t really hold her back much!I write fantasy, mostly of the epic variety. Let me say right up front that if you’re looking for a quick read, you’re in the wrong place. But if you like a substantial, satisfying story that you can really get your teeth into, stick with me. I may have something you’ll enjoy. There’s no graphic sex in my books. If that’s what you want, you’ll have to look elsewhere. There is violence, and there is swearing, though mostly of the ‘s/he swore’ variety, nothing overly graphic or offensive. I also write about strong, independent female characters, so if your taste runs to something more macho, or something more frilly and helpless, this may not be the place for you. I’ve always loved wandering in different worlds, be they fantasy or science fiction, although lately I tend to prefer fantasy. The only proviso is that they have to be believable worlds, worlds that feel real, that have depth and scope – and they must, absolutely must be fun to visit. I read for escape and entertainment, and I don’t really want to escape from this world into one even grimmer. Trouble, tension, and danger I can deal with, what sort of story would there be without them? Where would Pern be without Thread, Frodo without Sauron, Harry Potter without Voldemort? But there has to be hope, and there has to be a light touch. Happy ever after does have a lot going for it, even if initially it’s only a very small light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. My personal favourites include Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series, and the fantasies of David Eddings, and lately, they’ve been joined by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and a few others. Of those, David Eddings was probably my greatest inspiration.I began to wonder if I could create my own world, one just as believable and multi-layered as theirs. Could I create a world with its own history, geography, social structure, deities, and all the rest? One that hung together? That a reader could believe in? It became a challenge, one I really wanted to see if I could meet. So I dusted off my writing skills, learned a few more, cranked up the imagination, and got busy. I’d always been good at creative writing, but though I’d made a few attempts to write after I left school, none of them came to anything. That was until I started writing fantasy. Suddenly, I knew I’d come home. I quickly discovered that I’m not the sort of writer who can plan a book (or a world!) before I start. I just can’t do it. But I can create characters, and suddenly the characters took on a reality of their own and took over the stories, often to the extent that they actually surprised me. And the stories worked. Their world worked. Sometimes I had to go back and fix the odd contradiction, but mostly it worked and was very natural and organic. Even though my first attempts were pitiful, I knew I’d found where I belong. I persevered, I learned, I wrote. I discovered that the characters are key for me. Once I get them right, they tell their own story. I was away. There were dark days during which my stories became my refuge, my characters my friends. And I kept writing. There were happy times when I didn’t need a refuge, but my characters were still my friends, and they drew me inexorably back. I kept writing. And now, I hope my characters may become your friends too, my worlds ones where you also like to walk; perhaps even your refuge from dark days. Come join me in a world where magic is real and the gods are near, where beasts talk and men and women achieve things they never dreamed they could. But most of all, come and have fun! Happy reading.Ash.
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