Testing Grounds

By E H Timms

Going through the two week ranking assessment is a chore for Cavallan, simple but necessary. Doing it under a pseudonym is a bit more of a tangle, but he's prepared to buckle down and just get on with it.

But when he arrives, he meets an old friend and makes a new one. Suddenly it isn't as much of a chore, but it's no longer simple, either.

Now he has to dance a knife-edge between truth and deception, and the only thing waiting for him if he slips is pain...

• Language: English
• Publisher: E H Timms
• Release date: Dec 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005918392

E H Timms

E H Timms won the BBC Wildlife Young Poet of the Year award, hasn't managed to stop writing since, and now lives in South West England with a computer tethered to one elbow and far too many books.

Book preview

Testing Grounds

E H Timms

Copyright 2021 E H Timms

Electronic Edition

Cover Design by James, GoOnWrite.com 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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Table of Contents

Content Notes

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Epilogue

About the Author

Other Works by the Author

Contact the Author

Content Notes

Content notes are notes that help readers decide whether a book contains material that they need to be in a specific mindset for or avoid altogether. Sometimes they're known as trigger warnings, which are intended to help trauma survivors avoid being surprised by content that will trigger them.

This story contains:

Grief

Discussions of death and war

Chapter One

You realise we can't make any allowances for you, the older of the two judging Warriors said.

Cavallan refrained from rolling his eyes with an effort. Did I ask for any?

No, the second judge said, but you realise that the assessing Warriors may be influenced by your initial rank and the stories attached to your name?

Cavallan sighed. I know. I can't go anywhere without that coming up. But really, I just want to be tested and ranked according to their assessment.

Would you be able to wear another name for the testing? asked the second judge.

That might help. And of course, no-one will be able to tell your rank from your clothes.

Would 'Dog' do? Cavallan's mouth quirked, then twisted in something like pain. Or 'Val'? The expression smoothed out before the judges could do more than blink.

The older judge nodded slowly. Dog might just work, at that. You'd answer to it? It wouldn't be close enough to a lie to cause you...problems?

Cavallan gave a brief smile and shook his dark head. Dog's just another word for a Hound, after all, and my King's Hound title is based on a translation of my last name.

And don't forget you can only keep-

Weapons and medical necessities. I know. I've been through twice before. The boots and brace are medical. I may bring crutches too. The staff is a weapon as well as an aid. Cavallan glanced at his left leg. He ought to wear plain brown during the testing, but his boots were black, like a lot of his clothing. He'd have to get a new set made.

The second judge followed his gaze. Your testing clothes need to be brown. Are those particular boots absolutely necessary?

They stop my artificial foot from coming off. Cavallan shifted on the stool. I'll get a pair of brown boots made to match and wear those. That do you? He wished he was as calm as he sounded.

The judges looked at each other. Finally, the older one said, You have an answer to everything, Dog. We'll see you in the testing camp.

Cavallan picked up his staff, stood carefully, bowed and limped out.

The two judges watched him go. As the door closed the younger judge buried his head in his hands. What have we done? he asked.

The older judge smiled. We have accepted a young Warrior's application to be tested. The assessors are going to have an interesting time, I think. But Cavallan pretty well said that he won't volunteer anything about himself or his past.

The second judge looked up in horror. You trust him? About that? What about the stories that say-

Yes, I trust him. I've seen him at work. Besides, Cavallan's a sense-twister. He can't tell lies. To anyone. And from the tone of his voice, he's tired of being recognised. Of course, if he's ordered to talk about his past, he will. But that's the assessors' choice and problem. The older judge leaned back in his chair. "And if it's those stories about Cavallan that are worrying you, you've spent too much time in Stemska."

*

On the other side of the door, Cavallan closed his eyes and sighed silently as his ears caught the judge's words. Stemskan tales claimed he was ten feet tall with fangs and claws and a rippling snarl. A cold-blooded killer, who could summon monstrous hounds from the shadows, fit only to use as a bogeyman to scare children into good behaviour - be good or Cavallan will get you!

And the thing was... they weren't entirely false. He had killed a lot of Stemskan people, for no reason other than them being on the opposite side of the battle from him. He'd also learned to