by Linda McNabb
“I think it was that cobble,” Maata said, pointing to a red cobble that Zaine was half lying on. It depicted yet another rune, exactly the same. “It must be a way to go back up again.”
Zaine struggled to his feet and walked back to where the last step had been. He reached out and felt for where the steps had been and his eyebrows rose in surprise when his hand struck something solid. He worked his hand along it and then up to the next step. It was wide enough for three people to walk abreast.
“They’re still there and they’re much bigger than they looked,” Zaine muttered with a little annoyance at how scared he had been coming down. “You could run down these and not fall.”
“Maybe we should rest for a few minutes before we go on,” Maata suggested as Zaine came back and collapsed on the ground.
“Sounds good to me,” Zaine agreed. He didn’t care if the storm dragons came roaring over the cliff right that very minute. He doubted he could stand, let alone walk.
Maata just nodded and drew her knees up to rest her head on. Zaine lay down on his back and stared up at the sky. Small white clouds scudded slowly across the pale blue winter sky, and the position of the sun told him it was already mid-morning. After a few minutes, his heart beat slowed to its normal rate and he sat up, knowing they didn’t really have the luxury of time to just sit around.
“Let’s hope that’s the last little test that Guyan has for us,” Maata said as she got up and brushed dirt from her cloak, then undid the clasp and removed the cloak. “Have you noticed that it’s a lot warmer down here?”
“It’s sheltered by the cliff,” Zaine said, pointing back up towards the Summer Castle. He also took off his cloak and hung it over one arm, then took Maata’s as well.
He doubted that they had seen the last of the tests, but he didn’t see any point in voicing his doubts. They walked on down the path, not once glancing back at the chasm they had just crossed.
CHAPTER SIX - GUYAN
The path led them down further into the valley, and half an hour later Zaine glanced back up at how far they had come. The top of the cliff was obscured by the white mist from the waterfall, and even that was a long way up. They had lost sight of the valley floor due to the high rocks that the path wound around, but he knew they must be almost at the bottom.
“It can’t be far now.” Maata paused to rest on a rock. “I could do with a drink.”
Zaine leaned on a rock also, and nodded his agreement with both of her comments. He was tired and just the mention of a drink made his mouth feel even drier than it had before. As they rested, a sound reached his ears that gave him a renewed energy.
“I hear a stream,” Zaine said, turning around and trying to place which direction the sound was coming from. “I must be a run-off from the waterfall.”
Maata got up and they carried on down the path, both keeping an eye out for the stream. Zaine wasn’t happy when they seemed to be heading away from the noise of the stream, and he sighed heavily when the path led them into a blind canyon. The only exit was the way they had just come in. The walls were so high and sheer that it would be almost impossible to climb them.
“We must have missed something on the way down,” Maata said with a sigh that matched Zaine’s.
“I don’t think so,” Zaine replied. “We were very careful.”
“Then it’s another test.” The flatness in Maata’s voice revealed that she, too, had been expecting as much, even though she had said otherwise. “This Guyan really doesn’t want just anyone to wander into the valley.”
Zaine was too tired to reply. He began searching the walls of the canyon for any sign of a rune that would show them the way out. After a search that seemed to take forever, Zaine walked into the middle of the canyon and sat down and massaged his temples as he tried to remain calm. “There are a dozen red cobbles here and there, but not one has a rune this time.”
The sweet tinkling of the stream could be heard again as it echoed temptingly around the canyon, frustrating the travellers stuck inside it. Zaine ignored the sound for as long as he could, and then finally got up and tried to work out exactly where it was coming from.
“We can’t sit here all day,” Zaine muttered. He walked over to where he thought the water was coming from and picked a red cobble. He put one finger on it and firmly drew the design that had been on the previous cobbles.
“The wall is shifting,” Maata almost shouted as she grinned at Zaine. “What did you do?”
“I drew the rune,” Zaine replied, looking unsettled as the wall of the canyon continued to twist to create a narrow passage.
“I guess that test was to see if you would try to copy the runes you had seen?” Maata guessed. “Whatever it was, you seem to have passed it.”
They hurried through the narrow passage and it was clear they had finally reached the floor of the valley. Long grass swayed in a warm, gentle breeze, and a stream was only a dozen paces in front of them. They rushed over to it and drank deeply of the cold, clear water.
It was only after Zaine had slaked his thirst that a new noise reached his ears. Someone was singing. It was a girl’s voice. Zaine looked up to see why Maata was singing, but she was also looking around for the source of the noise.
They both stepped back from the stream as they finally saw who it was.
***
Zaine had never been one to stare or to judge others by the difference in their skin. Growing up with the Taitem family had shown him that skin colour had little to do with what people were really like. Pretor had been kind and gentle, but Tilly was hard and uncaring. Even so, he couldn’t help staring at the person before him with a little uncertainty and caution.
The girl just ahead of them was washing clothes at the edge of the stream and had not noticed them yet. Her hair was very straight, long, and golden-blonde, and the side view of her face showed she was in her early teens. Her skin made both Zaine and Maata stop and stare. She was fair-skinned, but unusual dark markings covered most of her exposed skin.
“Runes,” Zaine muttered. “She’s covered in runes.”
At the sound of Zaine’s voice the girl looked up, not seeming surprised in the slightest to see two strangers standing a few feet from her. Only her face was unmarked by the mass of runes which covered her body.
“I have been watching your passage down here,” she said calmly as she dumped the wet clothes in a basket and wiped her wet hands on her leaf-brown skirt. She wore a pretty, green sleeveless top and would have blended into the scenery if it wasn’t for her rune-marked skin. “Nobody has come this way in hundreds of years.”
“We’re looking for Guyan,” Zaine said, unsure what else he was supposed to say.
“I am Guyan,” she replied with a quiet smile.
“I thought we were looking for an old man,” Maata said, clearly as surprised as Zaine.
“I can never grow old here,” Guyan said in a voice that held a hint of sorrow and wistfulness.
“Aldren said you would not be happy to see us,” Zaine said cautiously. He couldn’t help staring at the runes on her skin and mentally identifying them. He had never seen many of them before.
“I was very angry when I last saw Aldren,” Guyan explained with a small, sad smile. “I have had a long time to think about things since then.”
“We have brought something for you,” Maata said as she took the small pack off her back. Guyan looked surprised and interested as she stepped closer to look at the pack. Zaine held his breath as Maata withdrew the mangled crown from the pack and held it out to Guyan. “I’m afraid it got damaged.”
The expression on the young girl’s face was unreadable. She stared at the golden crown but did not attempt to reach out for it. After a dozen heartbeats she turned without comment and went back to the edge of the stream. She picked up the basket of wet clothes and turned back to them with a sad expression. “I do not want it.”
Slowly she began to walk towards a copse of trees and left them standing there, u
nsure if they were supposed to follow or even if they were allowed to.
“We need your help,” Zaine called out, and the girl stopped and turned back.
“Come to my home and we will talk,” she said without raising her voice. “Although I doubt I can be of any help.”
Maata put the crown back into the pack, and then she and Zaine hurried after Guyan and caught up with her as she reached the trees. Zaine looked around, wondering where her home was, as there were no buildings for as far as he could see, and he hadn’t seen any on the way down either. She turned into the trees and skimmed along the edge of the small forest. They rounded the trunk of a large tree and Zaine blinked as they came upon a large set of wooden stairs that curved around the bark.
“You live in a tree?” He craned his neck up high, but could only just make out what might be a structure high above them.
“I like the view,” Guyan said as she climbed the stairs two at a time. They followed, but could not keep up with her swift and agile pace. If she was hundreds of years old, it certainly didn’t show in her step. Zaine was breathless by the time they finally reached Guyan’s home. He had been imagining a simple tree house perched in the tree, but there was nothing simple about this tree house. It was as elaborately built as a fine castle, but on a smaller scale. He glanced down and briefly wondered how a single tree could support something this large.
Zaine looked out among the branches and saw a swinging wooden path leading from tree to tree. Every tree for as far as he could see supported a dwelling, although none were as fancy as the one he stood in front of. It was a whole village of houses, yet Zaine got the feeling that all of them were empty.
“No wonder we couldn’t see it from up on the cliff,” Maata said in a quiet voice, as she too noticed the village of tree houses.
“Who do you think used to live here?” Zaine whispered to Maata. Guyan was opening the doors to her home, and he didn’t think it was something he could ask the unusual girl just yet.
Maata merely shrugged and they turned back to the miniature castle. Even though it was made entirely from wood, and was much smaller, it made Willow Castle seem like a woodcutter’s shed in comparison. The front entrance boasted doors of such intricate carving that Zaine could have examined them for days without becoming bored. It depicted a scene of such depth that it drew the eye and held it.
“It shows the memories of my life,” Guyan said quietly as she paused just inside the entrance to wait for them. “It makes me feel more like my family are with me.”
“You live here alone?” Zaine asked, dragging his attention away from the doors, feeling like a peeping tom now that he knew it was a culmination of this mysterious girl’s life.
“Sort of,” she replied a little evasively. “Weavers lived in the trees with me, but they are all gone now.”
She led them into an entrance hall with more carvings on the ceiling, and on into a larger room which was clearly where she lived. Large, overstuffed cushions were scattered across the floor, as were colourful rugs, and bookshelves lined several of the walls. A dozen books lay on the floor next to a large window that looked out across the valley. Zaine could see a hallway that led off to more rooms, but Guyan did not attempt to show them around any further. Instead, she carried her wicker basket of clothes out to a large balcony and began to hang the wet garments over some rope strung across to a tree limb.
“Aldren and the other weavers of this world built this home for me,” Guyan said conversationally as she wrung water out of a shirt.
Zaine laid their cloaks over the end of a table and knelt to examine the polished wooden floor. He saw faint markings of runes running along the joins of every piece of wood that made up the miniature castle. He knew that such a feat would have taken an extremely long time to do, and he wondered why someone would take on such a task. Surely a simple house would have been enough for comfort?
Zaine and Maata followed Guyan out onto the huge balcony when she remained there after hanging out her washing. She had gone to the rail and was staring at something beyond their sight.
The balcony seemed to stretch out beyond the trees, so far that Zaine was impressed at the runes that must have been used to support it. He couldn’t help but test his weight on it before stepping out to join Guyan and Maata at the rail. Both were staring out at the view silently, and he saw why when he drew alongside Maata.
Far down below on the ground was something so familiar that he felt his heart skip a beat. A circle of runes was burnt into the ground and another land could be clearly seen within its bounds.
“A Circle of Dreams,” Maata said quietly in a stilted tone. Clearly she did not like the sight of it any more than he did.
“That is where I was born,” Guyan said, and the wistful tone had returned. She was staring at the circle with the resigned look of someone who had lost hope of a long-held dream. “We call this type of rune circle a starlink. It links one land to another. What did you call it?”
“A Circle of Dreams,” Zaine replied woodenly.
Guyan looked at Zaine with a thoughtful expression, and then looked back down at her homeland. “That’s a good name for it. It is what I dream of every night.”
Spaced at intervals around the outside of the circle were six tall grey stones that could not have been there naturally. The sheer size of them made Zaine wonder for a second who had put them there, but the land beyond them drew his attention and he looked past the tall stones. The land inside this circle did not appear hostile and barren like the one back at Willow Castle, but Zaine did not doubt that it was just as dangerous.
Instead of a barren, stormy land, this one showed lush green hills with long grass that bent in an unseen wind. Tall white flowers were salted through the thin grass stems, and a glittering golden structure in the centre of the circle drew Zaine’s attention. It looked to be another circle of stones, yet something was different about them. As he focused on it, the stones seemed to come closer and grow larger.
“The starlink will show what you wish to see for a short way beyond its boundary,” Guyan explained. She had gripped the handrail of the wooden barrier as the stones came clearer. There was a golden statue, carved in the likeness of a dragon, perched on top of each of the six stones. They sat, raised on their haunches, snouts to the sky and wings outstretched.
“They gave up their true form to follow me here and protect me,” Guyan said. “They are nothing more than wisps in the air in this land.”
“Storm dragons,” Zaine said in a quiet voice that shook with the memory of his last meeting with the angry dragons.
“They are trapped within the starlink … the rune circle that Aldren created at Willow Castle,” Guyan continued with a heavy sigh. “It wasn’t meant to happen that way. I miss their company. They used to travel this land and tell me of what they saw.”
“They aren’t trapped in the Circle of Dreams any longer,” Maata told the blonde-haired girl. “And they’re not happy with us.”
“That’s what we came to ask for your help with,” Zaine added as Guyan looked stunned at their news. “They seem intent on striking down every person they come across and destroying everything in their path. We need to find a way to stop them before they destroy the entire world.”
Guyan frowned and turned her back on her homeland, then walked slowly inside her wooden castle. She picked up a small wooden crown, a replica of the one that had been destroyed in the Circle of Dreams, and turned it over in her hands as she fell deep in thought. Finally she put it back down and turned back to the two visitors.
“I cannot help.” Guyan pointed to an elaborate x marked on the palm of her hand. “My runeweaving was taken from me when I was sent to your land. If you wish to stop the storm dragons, you will have to do it yourself.”
Zaine felt a shiver run down his spine. How were they supposed to stop the incredible power of the storm dragons?
CHAPTER SEVEN - JELENA
There was an awkward silence for a long tim
e. Everyone seemed caught up in their own thoughts. Zaine was almost frozen with fear over the impending arrival of the storm dragons. They had pinned their hopes on Guyan stopping the storm, but now they were as helpless as they had been back at Willow Castle.
Zaine looked at the wooden castle and knew that it wouldn’t take long for the storm dragons to rip it apart. If only he had never freed them from the Circle of Dreams.
“How did the storm dragons get trapped in the circle back at Willow Castle?” Zaine asked. If they had been trapped once, then maybe they could be trapped again. He wanted to ask about the mark on her palm, but wasn’t sure it was his place to ask.
Guyan didn’t answer for a long time. She walked back to stare at her homeland.
“I once went up to the castle at the top of the cliff,” Guyan said in an oddly distant voice. “I was sent here and could not leave, so I thought that I might as well try to make some friends to pass the time. I had been alone for many years by this time and I was lonely.”
Neither Zaine nor Maata commented or moved, for fear of distracting Guyan from her story. Zaine wanted to know why she could not return to her own homeland, but knew he could not ask just yet. It was clear that there was far more to come. Guyan paced across the balcony and back before she continued.
“There was a king living there at the time. I thought he would welcome me. I was wrong.” Guyan ran a finger over the runes on her right arm, as if trying to smudge them or wipe them off. “He was scared of me and jealous of my crown. He took it for himself.”
There was a long silence and Zaine couldn’t help but ask, “How is that you had a crown like that anyway?”
“It was my birth right,” Guyan said with a wry smile that said she wished it hadn’t been. “The starweavers of my homeland could take everything away from me except the crown. The dragons were bonded to it at my birth. They would serve and protect only me for as long as I had the crown.”