by H. M. Clarke
But as those thoughts floated to the top of Peana’s conscience, his sense of honor and loyalty pushed them back down. They need to find Captain Vosloo. That is his number one priority. Taking one, last look at the Hatar, Peana then settled back more comfortably on his bed and continued reading his book.
CHAPTER FOUR
‘Hauga, can you hear me?’ Dearen called to her brother again over the mind link but was met by only silence.
“Are you feeling well? You look like you’re in pain.”
Tayme’s voice broke her concentration and Dearen opened her eyes to see the Flyer sitting across from her with a worried look marring his handsome face. It was this new awareness that made her realize that she was frowning.
She smiled at him. “No. I’m fine. I was just trying to talk to Hauga, but I don’t think he can hear me through all of this stone around us.”
“Really? I wonder why? We can hear the Hatar perfectly well and they are housed in the thermal caves and from my understanding, there is a mass of solid rock between us and them.”
“Maybe the Krytal Crystals help them somehow. Being linked with a pair of crystals may make talking easier with their partner. Or maybe the way they ‘talk’ is slightly different from the way Dymarki ‘talk’. It doesn’t matter how they do it at the moment because it still doesn’t help me talk to Hauga. I’ll have to go and see what is taking him so long in the common room.”
“What’s so important?” Tayme asked. “I didn’t think that I’d become as boring as Holm that you’d have to run away from me to shut me up.”
“I need him to map out for me the quickest way to get to the Muster grounds, though since we will not have Lieutenant Peana and his men and horses with us, the four of us might fly there with the Hatar. It the Dymarki are willing.”
“An Ice Tiger on a Hatar…The sight of that would be enough to scare the shit out of the Arranians!”
“Kral!”
“Awww, come on Kal-Dearen. That was funny.”
“Well, yes, I suppose it is,” she said with a laugh as she pictured Raga clinging to Trar’s back as she banked sharply to the left.
“Either way, I’m itching to be doing something. I can’t stand all this sitting around and waiting, so I’m going to go and find out what is taking him so long.”
“Okay. I’ll write some reports for Harada. I’ll leave them with the Lieutenant to be delivered back to Darkon.”
They gave each other a nod and both rose from the table, Tayme to get his writing implements and Dearen to head for the door.
Once outside, Dearen leaned back against the closed door and sighed. That room was beginning to feel too enclosed for her tastes. Ever since getting the news of the Pydarki support, she now saw a smoother path going forward. A much better prospect than this morning when she thought the Dymarki would have to go it alone. The thought of leading the Dymarki into a losing battle had been gnawing at the back of her mind, and only now did she allow herself to acknowledge that they had a better chance of succeeding.
Huffing out a soothing breath, Dearen pushed herself away from the door and headed down the corridor in the direction of the common room. She had only gone a short way when she heard a noise behind her.
Dearen stopped and slowly turned, afraid that Asnar might take the opportunity of her being alone to try and get into her good books again. Instead, she saw a strange Pydarki.
He was very tall and his white hair was intricately braided and tinkled quietly with the small bells and charms that were woven into the braids. His skin was pale and wrinkled with age and the man’s suede pants and tunic was the whitest she had ever seen on any Pydarki she had so far met. Since it was not dirty, he obviously did not do manual labor which meant that this man was either important or was too old to work, and since Pydarki do not see age as a limitation to work, that only left the first option.
“You are Dearen, the Dymarki Cearc?”
The man phrased it like a question, but to her ears, it did not sound like one. It sounded more a command. It put her on edge.
“Yes I am,” she replied stiffly, unsure of what to make of this man. There was something about him that was familiar, but she could not quite put her finger on it.
“Please, come with me.” The man immediately turned and started back down the corridor without looking back. He was expecting her to trot after him no doubt.
“What is this about? Are you a member of the Council?”
“I was. The Elders want to meet you before you leave.”
The man answered without stopping and Dearen found herself being drawn after him. “The Elders? Weren’t they on the council?”
The man shook his head causing the little bells to tinkle softly around him. “The Elders do not sit on the Council.”
“So why do they wish to meet me? Is it because the Council ruled in my favor and they want to see me for themselves?”
“In a sense,” was all he said.
They both walked in silence, moving deeper into corridors and areas that Dearen had not seen before, and seeing things that she thought could never be made by man.
Seeing her interest, the old Pydarki introduced himself as Angrave and explained that Daegarouf was built by the Ancients many centuries ago and for some reason, they had just left it. The Pydarki, who was the Chosen of the Ancients, moved into Daegarouf to keep the city safe for their return. The city was carved into the stone face of the mountain with walls and columns carved in intricate detail and depicted plants, animals and birds. Floors had been laid out in different colored stone to form complicated artistic patterns or outdoor scenes of rolling hills or orchards. Every corridor and room was lighted as if by sunlight from strange opaque bubbles in the ceiling.
“There is a hall more impressive,” he said as Dearen asked if there were any more places that were grander than those she had seen.
“Is it on the way? We have been walking some distance and we still have not reached the Elders yet.”
“Yes, the hall is just before the Elder’s Chamber. They will not mind you to stop and see it.”
They moved from the corridor they were in and began to follow halls and corridors and staircases that lead them deeper into the heart of the mountain. Dearen kept quiet and stared silently about her. They had seen no people since entering these deeper corridors but they showed not even a speck of dust. Dearen could feel the age of these halls as the two passed through them, they had the sense of having seen thousands of lives in their time. They also towered above them to heights of at least twenty feet and their footsteps echoed hollowly along their length. It felt as if they were the last two people alive on the mountain.
The thought made Dearen shiver.
Angrave kept walking straight ahead of her, not hesitating at any corner or junction. He knew the way but even Dearen could tell that the Pydarki was uneasy, as if ready to jump at the slightest hint or sign of someone else’s presence. Perhaps the weight of the mountain above them made him unsettled. Dearen felt no such things as she could feel the refreshing drafts of fresh air being vented in from outside flowing through the Halls. These Ancients certainly knew how to build.
Dearen watched as Angrave disappeared around a corner and nearly collided with him as she followed the man around it.
“What…” Dearen whispered before Angrave cut her off with a finger to his lips. The man then pointed towards the end of the corridor.
Dearen looked in the direction the finger pointed. The hall they had just entered towered higher above them than of any previously and ended in a T-junction. But what drew her attention was the sight of two huge golden doors that occupied the end of the hall. Upon them, styled in elaborate detail was curving trees and entwining ivy that looked to cover every inch of the doors. Set in the center of each door was the image of a rearing bison enameled in black with large glinting blue gems for eyes and steam rising from their nostrils.
Dearen stifled a gasp at the sight. It was the most beautiful thing
she had ever seen.
“This is as far as I can take you.” Angrave turned to her. “I am forbidden to enter the Hall.”
Dearen was moving down the hallway before Angrave had finished speaking. She did not spare another thought for him. There was something behind that door, something that called to her. If she listened carefully Dearen could just hear it, as if it was miles away from her instead of just behind the door in front of her.
Before she realized it, Dearen was in front of the doors craning her head back to stare at the pair of huge black bison. Their blue gem-like eyes appeared to come alive. Their eyes began to whirl and seemed to shine with an inner light as if inviting her to open the doors. Then on the edge of her hearing, Dearen heard a mumble.
‘I don’t like this, I don’t trust this man or this place,’ Adhamh said but the sound of mumbling grew louder and quickly squashed him down.
The calling inside began to grow even louder; excited. The sound seemed to cascade through her mind giving her a feeling of ecstasy.
There was no handle visible so Dearen raised her hands to push the doors open.
CHAPTER FIVE
Tayme looked up from his reports at the sound of the door opening. His smile dropped slightly as Hauga was the one who came through the door and closed it behind him.
“Where is Dearen?” Tayme asked before he realized that the Dymarki could not talk back to him.
The cat rolled his eyes in exasperation before quickly settling them into a frown as Tayme’s words sunk in. He shrugged his furry shoulders and then jabbed a clawed finger at Tayme before jamming that claw hard against the table top.
Tayme’s eyes widened in surprise. “I was supposed to keep her here? No one told me to do that!”
Hauga threw up his hands in indignation as if that was the most obvious thing in the world for the lowlander to know. Then the Dymarki’s hands quickly flew into a blur of gestures that Tayme could not keep track of and definitely could not understand.
Tayme held up his hands. “Hauga, stop. I don’t understand you. Talk to me through Trar, then I might have an idea about what is going on.”
‘Hauga is as testy as a cat dunked in water! What did you do to him? He’s babbling nonsense and I can’t understand him.’ To Tayme, Trar’s yawned question sounded as if she had just woken up.
“Hauga, you’re going too fast. Trar can’t understand you or your Dymarki swear words.”
The expression on Hauga’s face did not change but Trar sounded more awake and concise when she next spoke.
‘Hauga is upset that you let Dearen hare off by herself.’
“But she told me that she was going to find you Hauga,” Tayme said quickly in his own defense.
A few dramatic hand gestures with eyes pointedly looking up at the ceiling and then centering on Tayme, Hauga replied.
‘Hauga says that she obviously didn’t find him. Why didn’t she just call to him?’
“She did try and talk to you Hauga, but she couldn’t contact you. She thought you were taking too long and wanted to go and rush you.”
‘She didn’t make it to him down the hall,’ Trar said.
‘Can you or Adhamh find her and find out what’s she’s up to?’
‘Give me a moment, I’ve got to wake Adhamh.’
It wasn’t long before Tayme had Trar’s worried voice back in his head. ‘I can’t hear her and I can’t sense her anywhere in the mountain. Adhamh says she is here somewhere because he can feel her through their Krytal. He is going to try and search for her using that link.’
‘Is it just that she’s not talking to you?’
‘No, as I said, I can’t sense her anywhere. Which means she is either out of range of our mind voices, or she is behind some type of shield.’
“She hasn’t been gone long enough to be able to leave the mountain,” Tayme said aloud. Hauga’s ears pricked forward and he leaned on the table, waiting for the flyer’s next words. “Which means she is either shielded from us by stone deep in the mountain or someone is hiding her from us.”
‘Hauga said that is his thoughts exactly and that Raga is on his way back from his meeting with the council. He wants to organize a search once Raga gets back.’
“Yes. The quicker we get started the better,” Tayme nodded at the cat. He then turned to Lieutenant Peana who was still reclining on his bed reading. “Lieutenant, will you allow your men to help us in a search?”
“For your Wing Commander?” The man said closing his book on a slim index finger to mark his page.
Tayme nodded and opened his mouth to explain but was cut off with a quick gesture from Peana.
“I heard, or rather, I got the gist of the conversation.” Peana slowly swung his feet off the bed and sat up. “Yes, we’ll help. My men can use this opportunity to ask or find out if anyone here has information on Captain Vosloo’s whereabouts as well.”
“But Lieut-“
Peana’s voice cut straight across Tayme’s reply and his teeth bit down on the rest of his words as the ingrained habits of a Kalar talking to a Freeman kicked in. Peana may not always be strict with protocol but it always pays to be careful when dealing with the Entitled.
“That is the condition for my help Wing Second Kral Tayme.”
The Lieutenant’s sudden formality reinforced Tayme’s feeling, and he mutely nodded acceptance. They needed as many bodies as they could get to search a place this big.
‘Hauga wants to start organizing the search parties now. The sooner it’s done, the quicker they can start.’
“Let’s start organizing now, Hauga says that Raga is on his way back so we can factor him in.”
“Right.” Lieutenant Peana placed his book carefully aside and rose from the bed to join the other two at the table.
CHAPTER SIX
The two huge golden doors stood silent as if absorbing all the ambient sound around them. Upon them, the curving trees and entwining ivy that covered every inch of the doors seemed to Dearen’s eyes to move and shift as if being ruffled by a summer’s breeze. The two rearing bison, enameled in black with large glinting blue gems for eyes seemed to stare down at Dearen and her raised hand as if silently questioning what she was doing. The stylized steam rising from their nostrils abruptly began to snort and their chests looked to heave with each exhalation. Their blue gem-like eyes whirled faster and shone brighter with an inner light as if now inviting her to open the doors. Then the mumbled voices that were on the edge of her hearing began to grow even louder; excited. The sound seemed to cascade through her mind giving her a feeling of belonging.
Dearen turned back to look at Angrave. The Pydarki still stood at the entrance to the hallway which in itself was wide enough for two Adhamh’s to walk unhindered side by side. He was cloaked in shadows but there was light enough from the strange lamps for her to see him eagerly gesture her forward. His movements and the shadowed intense expression on the man’s face suddenly made doubt rear its head in Dearen’s mumble crowded mind, causing her logical mind to take control.
She turned back to the door, though door seemed such a poor word to describe this thing before her. It was larger and more impressive than the main gates at Darkon and in the larger imperial cities in the Empire. For something this large and ornate to be built, there must be something of great value inside to defend. Or to contain.
The murmuring grew louder as that thought entered her mind as if it was trying to reassure her. That it was no danger to anyone. That there was nothing to fear from it.
She turned back to look again at Angrave, unsure now that she wanted to look in the hall.
“Maybe we should go and see the Elders first before I go in. If they want to see me, we shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
Angrave gestured again towards the door. “You have to go through the Hall of the Black Bison to see the elders. They are on the other side.”
“The Hall of the Black Bison…” Dearen murmured to herself as she turned back to look at the doors. The
same sounded familiar to her, but she could not remember hearing it before. “I’ve never seen a bison, much less a black one,” she said aloud, more to bide time than any real interest in the animal.
“They were once numerous with herds stretching as far as the eye can see on the plains,” Angrave said to her. “Bison were central to the survival of many peoples. They were food, clothing, shelter and they kept the plains clear of trees so that people could farm and their size deterred the large predators from the men of that time. Bison were also the primary prey of choice to the Dragons and the Hatar’le’margarten.”
“Dragons and Hatar lived together?” Dearen asked, her curiosity piqued at the mention of the Hatar’le’margarten. Also, concentrating on the sound of Angrave’s voice helped her to screen out the murmuring in her mind.
Angrave nodded and then continued his story. “Every Generation, the Bison would produce a pair with coats as black as pitch and larger than the smallest Hatar. These were sacred beasts revered by all as blessings given to them from the Earth. And through every generation they would live to old age and die on the plains, returning their sacred essence to the earth to be reborn again to the next generation.
“What happened to the bison? The herds are no longer with us, though I have heard that there are small herds of bison far to the North,” Dearen asked without looking back at the Pydarki. She was watching the eyes of the bison. As Angrave spoke, the light in them seemed to slowly grow brighter. It may be a trick of the light, but Dearen was not so sure.
“They were hunted to near extinction here on the plains. A new group of people driven from their home by overcrowding came from across the Grotto Sea to settle this land. They greedily took nature’s bounty and gave nothing back. Their towns and cities grew across the plains, taking from the bison open land that they once roamed, and the newcomers killed them indiscriminately, either storing their meat or leaving it to rot on the ground so that room could be made for more expansion. After several generations, the black bison decided to move what remained of their herds north, away from the avarice and greed of the newcomers. Then after that, the dragons disappeared and the Hatar’le’margarten had to find other prey to hunt.”