Doreen practiced with Tapper to get in fighting trim. He had learned some more tricks

  thanks to Woody coming around and talking to him with some barks. Tapper had

  things to say with the way he waved his hands around and chittered.

  Woody chuffed a little at the comments. Why shouldn’t he be able to enter a fighting

  tournament? He was good enough to climb to the top tier.

  He watched the academy as he wandered the grounds. Doreen avoided him almost all

  the time now. Other totems saw him as rivals. He padded over to join Jessica and Jaw.

  They were doing some kind of routine on the obstacle course.

  “It’s you,” said Jessica. “How do you feel about getting Doreen in trouble with your

  friend?”

  Woody barked in a negative tone. Errant would never blame someone else when the

  real culprit was in front of him. He would be unhappy that his familiar had decided

  to fight lesser creatures. That was for others.

  “How do you feel about cheating people out of their totems?,” said Jessica. “Doreen

  could still lose with you in the mix.”

  Woody howled a little.

  “The students are coming here to be tested to see if they are fit to be in society with

  their totems,” said Jessica. “The minimum number is what you need to graduate.

  Doreen could still lose Tapper depending on her finish. I could lose Jaw. The

  academy doesn’t want to send out weaklings in the world.”

  Woody turned his wooden face directly on her. His eyes glowed a sky blue. She

  thought they were wood. Should they be glowing like that? He broke contact.

  “If you win,” said Jessica. “What do you think is going to happen? No one will think

  highly of you.”

  Woody almost shrugged. He wasn’t at the school to make friends. He was there to see

  if he wanted to stay around and show these kids some real things. They thought their

  elemental animal partners were better than they were. It was time to show them where

  they sat in the world with their limited outlook.

  Errant liked to travel. He liked to involve himself in things that could turn bad at any

  moment. He liked to use magic as a last resort.

  Woody used magic to do things he wanted to do. He had grown to not like traveling

  as much. He had seen too many things that could happen if you didn’t stay in one

  place and protect that spot.

  This academy could be a good place for him to settle. He could see roaming the

  forests around the place, checking on the students in the next few years, even

  teaching.

  He would definitely talk to the rulers about erasing student totems. That would have

  to end. Some people weren’t cut out to do things for an army. They shouldn’t have

  to be.

  People like Doreen just wanted to take their animals and use them to help people, or

  maybe have a companion that was more trustworthy than most people. Erasing them

  because they weren’t good combat models was stupid.

  There was more to life than fighting.

  He snorted at that. Most of his animated life had been involved with fighting one

  thing or another. He was the familiar to the Queen’s Knight. He helped solve

  problems that no one else could solve.

  If he could use this tournament to set up his retirement, things would have gone as

  planned. He doubted things would go that smooth. There was always someone trying

  to get in his way so he couldn’t laze around under a tree.

  “Do you think you can beat all the other totems that are going to be taking part?,” said

  Jessica.

  Woody looked at her. He looked at Jaw. He looked at her again. Just because he

  didn’t have hands, didn’t mean he couldn’t hold cards.

  “I am going to take that as a yes,” said Jessica. “Doreen is still hurt by this. You might

  want to write something to let her know what you are thinking.”

  He barked in agreement. An explanation for Doreen and Tapper was something he

  had to do. He didn’t want her to think she could stop him. He wanted her to do her

  best and get Tapper into a finish where he wouldn’t be erased.

  And then he wanted to make it impossible for the school board to do anything to the

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  ones who didn’t make the top ranks.

  He wagged his tail as he headed for the library to get paper and pen to write out what

  he wanted to say. Eventually he would learn to talk. Just because Errant understood

  his barks, he had put it off so he wouldn’t have to deal with others.

  Did wanting to talk mean any more than that? The implications were too

  philosophical for him. He was a simple creature with a lot of years of biting things in

  the dark. Being able to communicate hadn’t seemed that important before he decided

  he wanted to settle down.

  He hoped he wasn’t turning into one of the crazy humans that had to be stopped

  because they had decided to do something to wreck the planet instead of letting things

  alone. Maybe wanting to talk was a sign of dementia. Did wooden dogs get dementia?

  Woody stood on his back legs and pushed the library door open. He walked in,

  looking around. His ears swivelled to take in the ambient sounds around him. Plenty

  of students were trying to do their studies in place. He needed some paper and a pen.

  He found a student trying to add numbers with a look on his face. He recognized the

  young man. He put on his best grin and climbed into the chair next to the student. The

  boy’s fire bird called out from its perch above. It remembered the wooden dog all too

  well.

  So did the boy when he looked up and saw who was sitting beside him.

  “Go away,” said Bernard. “I got in trouble because of you and your master. I don’t

  need any more before the tournament.”

  Woody snuffled around on the table top. He indicated the paper with his nose. He put

  a paw on a blank sheet. He needed to give Doreen a note for the tournament ahead.

  If she lost Tapper, she needed a way to get him back.

  And he knew enough about how the spirit summoning worked to coach her when

  things were settled.

  “I will give you a blank piece of paper and a charcoal,” said Bernard. “Will that be

  okay for you to go away?”

  Woody barked softly in assent.

  “All right,” said Bernard. “Is there anything else?”

  Woody nodded. He picked up the charcoal in his mouth and began writing as

  carefully as he could. He stopped when he was sure he had everything written

  down that he wanted to say. He inspected the letter.

  “What did you write?,” said Bernard. “Your handwriting is atrocious.”

  Woody snuffled in response.

  “Let me show you how it’s done so I can get you out of here and get back to my own

  work,” said the boy. He pulled out a fresh piece of paper. He eyeballed the shaky

  writing. He copied the letter over in a few minutes. He showed the dog the new

  writing.

  Woody nodded his head. He gave Bernard a grin.

  “Is there anything else?,” said Bernard. “I have my own things to do.”

  Woody took the letter in his mouth as gently as he could. He dropped to the floor and

  headed for the library door. He got outside thanks to a student going out ahead of

  him.

  Now he had to find Doreen and hand her the letter. Then he could get her to practice

  with Tapper to recall him.

  He found the cat girl practicing with her totem. The cat pulled up straight to watch

  the dog approach. He was a big piece of rock, but slim and looking delicate compared

  to the familiar’s wooden frame.

  “Hello, Woody,” said the cat girl. “What do you have in your mouth?”

  Woody showed her the part of the letter addressed to Doreen. She frowned.

  “You can write a note, but you can’t talk?,” said the Cat Girl. “I think you should

  have words with your master.”

  Woody chuffed around the note. Errant understood him, and he didn’t usually have

  to talk. Being here on his own was the first time he missed the skill.

  “Doreen isn’t around,” said the Cat Girl. “I haven’t seen her since lunch. She likes

  to go out to your lake and mope there.”

  Woody gave her a small bark before heading off. There was only place that could

  be considered his lake, and there was one spot on it that he liked to use. Doreen

  might be in that same spot.

  He would give her the note, then work on his vocal cords. He could do that part, but

  it would be rough. And it would surprise Errant when he returned.

  It had occurred to Woody that Errant was not coming back. The Queen’s Knight

  might have said he was coming back as a ruse to let them split up without any

  argument. He was almost always silent about why he did things, and moved across

  the world with the whims of fortune.

  It would not be unusual for him to say something, or express a plan, and then do the

  opposite.

  He would not be pleased by what Woody planned to do in the tournament. He would

  not be pleased at all.

  Woody could already hear calls of cheater in his mind.

  He left the grounds of the school and made his way to his lake where it sat amidst the

  tall trees around it. He sniffed the air, following the scent of his nominal keeper as he

  sauntered silently along.

  He found Doreen and Tapper by the lake side. The squirrel practiced in the water,

  changing his size as he worked with it.

  He settled beside Doreen and waited for her to notice him. Tapper paused in his

  workout, but kept moving from command to command without rushing him. She

  finally looked over and jumped back from his sudden appearance even though he

  had been laying beside her for minutes.

  “What do you want?,” Doreen asked. She glared down at him.

  He dropped the letter at her feet, and then stood. He turned and silently walked into

  the trees. He had a trick where he could blend into forest growth thanks to his

  construction. He let himself vanish as he looked for a spot to practice talking.

  He wanted to communicate clearly with others besides having to write them a note.

  Learning to talk would be a great way to do that. His handwriting was abhorrent at

  the best of times.

  He settled under a stand of trees and began trying to say a simple sentence. He

  worked on his voice box as he tried to make the sounds he was emitting become

  words.

  He worked on it through the night. He wanted to be ready when he had to answer

  questions after the tournament.

  He decided he wouldn’t answer any question. Errant rarely did. Why should he be

  any different in that respect.

  Woody settled in to wait the night out. In the morning, he would see what the

  Academy was going to do. Then he would execute his plan.

  He doubted the Headmaster would approve of what he was going to do.