The Untamed

Chapter 9: A Mixed Welcome

   “There are a few things you need to know about Endnark before we make landfall,” said Kane three days into the voyage. “For one thing, no one is allowed on the island without their permission. If they don’t allow you on the island, you’ll be automatically transported back to where you originally came from.”

   Both Clyde and Anya stared, exhausted from the voyage.

   “I’m not worried ’bout you, kid,” he nodded at Clyde. “As for you, Anya, we may have a bit trouble convincing them in letting you stay. But at this point, you’re too important to just let go.”

   The two of them nodded. Clyde was ready to burst. He did not take the money which meant his chances of running away now were miserably slim. And it was an island. Where would he run to now? Clyde didn’t like the idea of being trained to do something he never imagined he could do. It made him groan every time he thought about it.

   “Who’s ‘they’?” Clyde asked casually, trying to take his mind off of what troubles now awaited him. “You keep talking about ‘them’ but you’ve never told us who they are.”

   To his surprise, Kane’s face twisted into a sick smile. “They are the biggest cowards of Endnark. They are the King’s advisors.”

   “King?” Anya piped up suddenly.

   “Don’t sound too excited,” Kane grunted in reply. “The advisors are the ones that act like they’re the kings and queens of this island. There are five of them. Endnark runs on a very strict political structure.”

   Clyde folded his arms and rolled his eyes. All of a sudden, politics were getting involved. Worse yet, it was a fairytale now with kings and queens and knights. Anya on the other hand practically fell in love with the idea.

   “Just be ready once we get there,” Kane continued. “Keep in mind that everyone on this island is studying to become Tamers – not like the people back at your place. Each person has been through some difficult training in his or her life here, so be careful how you talk to them.”

   “So how exactly am I going to get this training done?” Clyde wondered aloud.

   He couldn’t help but to think that kids from all over the globe were, at this very moment, being recruited into becoming a Tamer.

   “First, you will attend a school where you will learn as much as you can about the Kin. Learn about what types there are, what they do, where they live, and so on. Twice a year, there’s a special exam that’s offered and it’s up to the student to decide when he wants to take it.”

   Clyde closed his eyes and leaned against the railing. “Sounds easy enough…”

   “So he says,” Kane mocked gently. “I guess you already forgot that I told you that the exam is brutal. Literally.”

   Clyde still didn’t flinch. What was the worst a test could be? Multiple choice? True or false? Fill in the blank? Write an essay? Clyde had been through some ugly tests; he highly doubted that anything was harder than a math exam.

   “Once the student finally passes the exam,” Kane continued, eyeing Clyde sternly, “a professional trainer is appointed to be the student’s teacher until the student can fully operate independently. From there, it usually takes years for the student to finally master everything.

   “The reason why we insist on kids taming a Kin as quickly as possible is because the Kin multiply very rapidly. Tamed Kin do have offspring, but just because the parents are tamed, it doesn’t mean that their children are. So in an attempt to keep the young Kin tamed before they get too strong, we use our students to tame them. Those are much, much easier to deal with.