Vagrants: Book 2 Circles of Light series

by E. M. Sinclair

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Work continued steadily, bringing life and hope to the northern Stronghold where Rhaki had encouraged darkness and dread. And the winter at last seemed to be loosening its grip and withdrawing to the Ice Realms even further to the north. There had been another night when Gremara raged against those able to shield the Stronghold in Mim’s stead, to allow him some desperately needed rest. But although a watch was still kept in readiness for a new surge of madness, Gremara appeared to have resigned herself to Mim's orders.

  Fenj was just returning with the Snow Dragon Talli from their hunting flight as Mim, Bikram and Lorak sat hunched at the long table. Lula danced around Fenj’s huge feet, shrieking with delight as he avoided stepping on her. The three at the table glanced up briefly from the map they were studying.

  ‘Thank the stars the old fella has that wicked little Kephi to amuse him,’ Lorak muttered. ‘I was afeared we’d lost him after that first night I was.’

  Mim’s scaled hand rested lightly on the old gardener’s for a moment. Although Lorak and Fenj were not true soul bonds, Mim was all too aware of how very closely tied they had become. As they watched, Fenj reclined in his usual place and Lula bounded up to nestle between the Dragon’s arm and his wide chest.

  Mim looked back at the sketched plan on the table before them.

  ‘We will have a few things growing in the first cavern very soon Mim. Work is getting on with the next one, but there is a bad feeling in there.’ Bikram shivered.

  Mim tapped his hardened and curved nails on the paper. ‘That was the holding area for Rhaki’s beasts. A lot of nastiness lingers there.’

  ‘I reckon as how we should blast a hole through to the outside afore we do any other work to it,’ said Lorak.

  ‘I think you are right Lorak,’ Mim agreed. ‘I’m sure it was Cansharsi held there rather than Linvaks. Jal!’

  He raised a hand as Jal and his brother Motass descended the ramp from the upper levels. They crossed the wide hall to the table where Mim sat. Mim noted that Jal was moving more easily, becoming accustomed to the shift in balance he’d had to learn since the loss of his right arm. Also that he looked younger – more like Motass’s brother again than his father.

  ‘Jal, do you recall which of Rhaki’s beasts were held in this chamber?’

  An almost-talon pointed to a space on the plan. Jal peered at the paper and scowled.

  ‘Cansharsi in there Sir, Linvaks were held in the caverns the other side.’ He nodded to the northern end of the hall.

  ‘Rhaki sent out groups of both Linvaks and Cansharsi into the plains, did he not?’ Mim asked.

  ‘Yes Sir.’

  ‘What do you think of the likelihood of there still being any surviving?’

  Jal thought for a few minutes. ‘The Linvaks are less vicious Sir. They panic easily and then they are unpredictable and dangerous but they do not usually kill everything in sight. The Cansharsi,’ Jal met Mim’s strange eyes. ‘Rhaki bred them for more intelligence but they are plain killers. Their perhaps better brains merely allow them to be craftier but they kill for the sake of killing. Linvaks prefer meat but will often eat vegetables. Cansharsi eat only meat – any meat.

  ‘I would think Linvaks may have tried to find somewhere to hide, to form a very basic community, keeping themselves away from human farms or settlements. Cansharsi would just keep moving, in no particular direction, killing anything in their way.’

  ‘Breeding?’ Mim asked.

  Jal shook his head. ‘Rhaki had given up his ‘experiments’ with the Linvaks and a few of them had produced their own young, so I guess they will produce naturally. He was still ‘working on’ the Cansharsi – I know of no natural births among them Sir.’

  Mim’s eyes were hard. ‘Linvaks murdered my village,’ he said softly.

  Jal swallowed. ‘Yes Sir. Rhaki has released Linvaks for several cycles past. I would think the ones that attacked your village had found their way south to the forests and swamp lands and decided to live in that area permanently.’

  ‘Is there any means of making contact with such creatures?’ Mim asked sceptically. ‘I’d guess they would kill anyone who tried to approach quite honestly. My people had heard tales of such beasts and we had smelled traces of them through our woodlands. But Nagums would pose no threat to them.’ His tone had turned icy by the time he finished speaking.

  Jal sighed. ‘Perhaps, with the mind power, you could somehow persuade them to keep to themselves? I do not know Sir, whether that would work. Linvaks showed terror whenever I was sure Rhaki used mind power on them. The Cansharsi accepted it with no sign of disturbance. I felt, once or twice, the dominant Cansharsi tried to push their own minds over Rhaki’s.’ Jal shrugged and winced. ‘None of such communications did I hear in my mind of course – I am just assuming.’

  ‘And in the face of no other information, we will go with your assumption Jal.’ Mim nodded as the healer Nesh joined their group at the table. ‘I do not know which I should do first – find these rogue Cansharsi or deal with the Silver One.’

  Bikram and Lorak exchanged glances.

  ‘Well, we can’t help much with either of those things.’ Lorak pushed himself to his feet. ‘We’ll get back to the caverns below – the sooner we can grow fresh food ourselves, the better.’

  He and Bikram crossed the great hall to speak briefly with Fenj, then headed for the lower levels.

  Mim fixed his gaze on Nesh.

  ‘I will reveal more of what I have learned from the Silver One, but you must also share the secrets the People of Gaharn keep from the rest of us.’

  Nesh looked startled.

  ‘Secrets?’ he repeated. ‘I’m not sure I know any secrets Mim – truly.’

  He saw Kera and Dessi coming down the curved ramp with some relief.

  Mim repeated his statement to Kera then leaned his scaled forearms on the table.

  ‘Your secrets for mine Lady.’

  Kera seemed as taken aback as had Nesh.

  ‘I will answer whatever you ask of me if I can Mim. I am not aware that I have deliberately concealed anything from you.’

  ‘He means about the others,’ Dessi said helpfully.

  Nesh and Kera wore identically blank expressions.

  Dessi gave Mim a quick look then continued.

  ‘There are others living close by the Silver One. I felt their minds touch mine when I tried to manipulate the weather systems.’

  Kera’s eyebrows shot up her forehead. ‘Others? More Silver Ones? Dear stars!’

  ‘No, no,’ Dessi soothed. ‘Like us. The minds that touched me held no malice at all, but the focus when I traced it back is very near – hers.’

  Kera and Nesh turned to Mim. He shrugged.

  ‘I am aware of them but I have to keep such a tight control of contact with the Silver One that I have learned nothing of them. She would sense my mind if I tried contacting anyone else so near to her. Do you know of these people Lady?’

  Kera was shaking her head but it was Jal who spoke.

  ‘I know only stories of fear of the Wilderness, that it is a land blighted and desolate. But if Lord Mim says he feels other minds there, I wonder.’ He frowned. ‘Ages past, so the stories say, even before the People built Gaharn, there was a dreadful catastrophe in the Sapphrean lands.

  ‘The stories tell of a city, near to the Bitter Sea, built by magic and occupied by the wielders of that magic. Anyway, there were explosions and the very earth shook and trembled and huge numbers of people were left dead – not just within the city but for many leagues into the Sapphrean lands – right to the Ancient Mountains.’

  Jal flushed as he realised the others were transfixed by his words.

  ‘The lords of the outlying areas outlawed the use of any magics from that time and executed any known to be of a family that used magic. Some escaped and were said to have wandered towards the Spine Mountains – outcasts and vagrants. No towns or villages would let any of them settle nearby. Perh
aps some of those outcasts wandered all the way on through the Wilderness and found somewhere to settle again?’

  Jal sat back, embarrassed at being the centre of such avid attention.

  Kera chewed her lower lip. ‘I have never heard that story Jal. We were told only that we came to this world and built Gaharn. We were not to enter the Wilderness for many cycles.’ She looked questioningly at Nesh who nodded in agreement.

  ‘There is an ocean beyond the Wilderness, but we have been forbidden to explore east of these mountains. To speak truly, I have not even thought of those lands since I heard of them in my first classes.’

  ‘If the Wilderness lands were poisoned, how could these outcasts Jal speaks of, survive a journey across them?’ Dessi asked.

  ‘Jal said those events happened before the People came here. Perhaps they found safe refuge across the Wilderness before it became the Wilderness?’ Nesh suggested.

  Mim’s hardened nails tapped against the tabletop.

  ‘I do not understand this talk of the Wilderness. Nolli said something once to Lady Emla, but I paid little notice. Is it that the People made the Wilderness then? And why do you call yourselves “the People” – are we not all people?’

  ‘It is rarely spoken of beyond the basic tale as I said.’ Nesh spread his hands palms up.

  ‘It must be in the archives in Gaharn,’ Kera concluded. ‘I’m sure Ryla would know much more.’ She laid her long fingered hand lightly on Mim’s scaled arm. ‘I do believe we came here with an overweening arrogance. We tested only humans for signs of the power – yet many creatures are able to use it, as only Emla discovered. We found the circles in Gaharn first and later here in this Stronghold, and assumed in our arrogance that it was our responsibility to care for them and the Weights of Balance.’ She shook her head ruefully. ‘It is only in this last half cycle that such questions have occurred to me at least. We are the People of Asataria so perhaps we should have called ourselves Asatarians.’

  Kera felt Mim’s mind touch hers and calmed the automatic spurt of indignation that he should need to check whether she told him the truth. He turned his arm over and caught her fingers gently.

  ‘I have to check everything now Kera. The Silver One’s knowledge is so jumbled, I dare take nothing for granted. Those who live close by the Silver One know her, they have tried to reach her.’ He closed his eyes briefly. ‘She has killed many of those who approach her. But I will have to do so myself before much longer. And,’ he looked at each in turn. ‘I believe the people living out there beyond the Wilderness have more hope of success against Rhaki’s power than has Tika.’

  Kwanzi checked on Elyssa and found her still sleeping deeply. He discerned no sign of fever and her breathing was even. He left a pot of tea by the bed and a note propped against the mug telling her she was to stay where she was and rest until he returned. He was now sitting with Thryssa, making sure that she ate what he considered a suitable breakfast. Thryssa was arguing that she could eat not a single crumb more when a maid slipped into the room.

  ‘Sorry to disturb my lady, but Speaker Lashek has just arrived and asks to see you.’

  Thryssa met Kwanzi’s eyes in a moment of shared surprise before she stood up.

  ‘Of course I’ll see him at once. Bring him to my study if you please.’

  Thryssa had just sat behind her worktable when Kwanzi ushered Lashek into the room. The earth mage beamed at her.

  ‘Sorry to visit so early my dear. I walked through the night – most invigorating.’

  ‘Have you eaten?’ Kwanzi asked.

  Lashek’s beam broadened further. ‘I have not,’ he said looking hopeful.

  ‘I will fetch food for you then.’

  ‘It must be a matter of some urgency that brought you through the night and makes you even forego breakfast Lashek?’ Thryssa smiled as Lashek settled in a chair opposite her.

  ‘Well now,’ Lashek lifted the satchel he carried and placed it on his lap. ‘We found some scraps of records, not in the best of condition nor in any sort of order. Aah thank you Kwanzi, most kind! This will help keep me from fading away!’

  Kwanzi placed a tray loaded with hot meat pastries, cheese, fruit and bread on the table before the Speaker of Segra. He glanced briefly at Lashek’s bulging waistline and grinned.

  ‘I will bring some tea then leave you to your talk.’

  Thryssa observed the amazingly rapid disappearance of the food and sipped patiently at her mug of spice tea. When Lashek sat back with a sigh of satisfaction, she asked:

  ‘To what do these scraps of information refer then Lashek?’

  Lashek unlatched his satchel. ‘Several things, none to do with that object that we were actually looking for though. Look, I have copied them – the originals are nearly too fragile to be touched at all.’

  He passed a sheaf of parchments across the desk. Thryssa frowned as she studied the topmost parchment.

  ‘A map?’ she queried. ‘This is how the original looks?’

  ‘Yes, a map with writing all over it and then more writing at a later date.’

  Lashek waved his hand and took another bread roll. ‘I have put my attempts at decipherment on the next pages.’

  Thryssa continued to frown over the first page. ‘It would seem to be a map of these lands but the writing is so strange – is it really our own language?’

  ‘It is indeed. I have several similar examples, dealing with botany, so I had worked out the lettering before. Years ago,’ he added. ‘In my youthful training days. It is a mixture of pictograms and letters. I believe it must be from the earliest times when writing was in its very infancy.’

  Thryssa turned to the next pages where Lashek had copied the strangely formed characters and written his interpretation beneath. Her sudden intake of breath made Lashek beam again.

  ‘When do you believe this was written Lashek, and by whom?’

  ‘I would guess – and it is only a guess at this point – that it was written at least fifteen hundred cycles past. I would again guess, that it is a record saved when the city was destroyed.’

  Thryssa turned back to the map then stared across at Lashek.

  ‘But to whom does this writing refer? It mentions “the others” several times, but who could they mean? How confident are you of your accuracy in deciphering this script Lashek?’

  Lashek’s eyebrows rose but he only shrugged.

  ‘I am sure I have the true meaning of the writings if not exact word by word translation,’ he said.

  ‘But these “others”. Could it mean the Silver Dragons? The strangers had not arrived in this world when you say you think this was written so it could not be them.’ Thryssa spoke her thoughts aloud as she continued to study the pages spread on the table before her.

  ‘Look.’ Lashek reached for an apple and drew a small dagger from his belt. With the tip of the blade he scored the peel in a rough copy of the map’s outline on one side of the fruit. He held it up towards Thryssa.

  ‘Our lands – Sapphrea, the Wilderness, the Southlands and the Ice Realm, yes?’ He pointed to his apple map as he spoke.

  Thryssa nodded.

  Suddenly Lashek pushed the blade straight through the centre of the map until its tip emerged at the other side of the apple. Thryssa stared at him in incomprehension.

  ‘The Balance Thryssa. All things must balance to remain in harmony. So, here is our great land set with long mountain ranges, plains, and rivers, bound in the north by the Ice Realm which no one has ever traversed, in the south by the fever-ridden swamps.’

  Thryssa nodded as Lashek paused.

  ‘To east and west are the Bitter Seas which, again, no one has ever travelled. But I had come to believe even before this document came to my notice, there is another land on the other side of our world. And that would perfectly balance this land of ours Thryssa. I am assuming that humans must live in that land and they are the ones our long ago ancestors call the Others in these writings.’

  The door
opened even as a perfunctory knock sounded on the wood. A maid bobbed nervously in Thryssa’s direction.

  ‘The master says to go quickly to the guest room my lady.’

  Thryssa jumped to her feet. ‘Oh stars! Elyssa must be ill! Come Lashek, we may need your help!’

  Lashek struggled up a curving flight of stairs, puffing in Thryssa’s wake. He regained some breath as he followed along a corridor and then in the door through which Thryssa had vanished. The room was bright with the early morning sun. Thin white curtains wafted gracefully from the open window opposite the bed. A girl sat in the bed, her fair hair tumbled around her shoulders.

  Lashek vaguely recognised her as being in training with Thryssa’s staff. The silence warned him as he moved to stand beside Kwanzi at the foot of the bed and the girl glanced from Thryssa towards himself.

  ‘But what is the matter?’ The girl asked nervously. ‘Why do you look at me so?’

  As Thryssa and Kwanzi seemed speechless, Lashek moved closer. He sat on the edge of the bed which sank alarmingly under his bulk. He smiled and took the girl’s nearest hand.

  ‘Why nothing dreadful my dear. Elyssa is your name is it not? And mine is Lashek. You know that impudent young nephew of mine perhaps? Imshish? I am sure he must have come calling on such a pretty girl as you.’

  Elyssa blushed faintly but visibly relaxed as Lashek stroked her hand and rumbled on about Imshish meeting his match in her. When she finally laughed at Lashek’s gentle teasing, he nodded.

  ‘Tell me my dear, did you dream last night?’

  Elyssa frowned. ‘Yes I did, but it was very odd.’

  ‘In what manner was it “odd” my dear? Funny, frightening, strange?’

  ‘Oh no not frightening – the opposite rather. There was just this deep, deep darkness with red flashes. They did seem in some way threatening but then they were smothered, blocked away, by the most beautiful silver threads. They were like the finest of cobwebs, or snowflakes.’

  Lashek nodded calmly again then leaned forward and kissed Elyssa’s forehead.