Vagrants: Book 2 Circles of Light series

by E. M. Sinclair

  ‘No.’ Kija was adamant. ‘His mind is stronger than before although it is – different. He could destroy you with a thought, very simply.’

  ‘Then what can we do?’ Tika asked in exasperation.

  ‘Perhaps you should enter the town Lady Tika,’ Navan offered hesitantly. ‘You would be closer to Rhaki’s tower and you might even find the cave you spoke of before.’

  Sket called from the door of the way station and, leaving the Dragons reclining on the verge of the trail, everyone went inside to investigate Sket’s breakfast-making skills.

  ‘I do not like the thought of my Tika within this town – she should remain close to me.’

  ‘Hush now,’ Kija admonished her son. ‘We could reach her so quickly should the need arise – the distance is very small in truth and you can watch through Tika’s eyes should you wish.’

  Farn fidgeted his wings, not convinced that even a league or two between him and his soul bond could be anything but a bad idea.

  ‘If you are strong enough, young Farn, you and I could go towards the coast. I have only travelled there once before. Your mother and Kadi would never let harm come to Tika whilst we were gone.’

  Farn was clearly tempted by this suggestion but he hesitated to reply.

  ‘I will first see that my Tika is safe in this town. When I know exactly where she will be, perhaps I could come with you.’ His sapphire eyes began to sparkle as the thought of flying to new places with the wonderful Brin took hold of him.

  At that moment Tika emerged from the way station and Farn surged to his feet to join her.

  ‘It may be a good thing to occupy Farn for a day or so Brin, but don’t you dare let him fly out over the ocean. If he tired too far from land - ’

  ‘As if I would!’ Brin was indignant. ‘I am not as stupid as you persist in thinking me.’ Smoke drifted from his nostrils and Kadi moved between the two, brusquely changing the subject.

  ‘I wonder what Mim could have discovered that he would send such an urgent warning?’

  Kadi’s tact was met by glares from both the other Dragons and neither offered her a reply.

  Gan had learnt from Navan that there was an old fortified building two leagues to the west of their present position. It had been abandoned years since, when the remaining Gangers had retreated ever further north and Hargon had built defences beyond this old structure. Navan thought it would be a possible place for the Dragons to wait for Tika and her escort. Still within the forest that covered these slopes yet close enough to Return for the Dragons to reach Tika in moments if the need arose.

  ‘Very well Navan, we will go to this place and then make our way into Return.’ Tika glanced sideways at the Armschief. ‘You realise that I hardly know my way in the town?’

  Navan nodded uncomfortably.

  ‘But why my Tika? Were you not hatched in this place?’

  ‘Yes Farn I was, but I was restricted to Lord Hargon’s compound. Very occasionally I accompanied the senior women to the merchants but never was I permitted out alone to wander around. Most females aren’t,’ she finished. ‘It isn’t only slave females who are confined to one house.’

  Farn digested this, his confusion apparent. ‘I do not understand,’ he finally announced.

  Khosa stretched herself in a patch of sunlight in front of Farn’s feet. ‘There is a great deal you do not understand hatchling.’

  Before Farn could retaliate, Mena emerged from the way station, chattering to Nomis. Navan noted the child held herself straighter this morning and as she jumped off the porch step, she met his gaze squarely, something she would never have done even yesterday. He hid his surprise when she stopped directly in front of him and spoke to him uninvited.

  ‘Lady Tika says the Golden Lady of Gaharn lets girls train at arms. I will do so also. Would you teach me Navan? Captain Gan and Nomis have already shown me some stretching exercises to strengthen my muscles.’

  Navan cleared his throat. ‘I think you need your father’s permission rather than mine, but if he agrees, then yes, I would teach you armsdrill at least.’

  ‘No,’ Mena insisted. ‘Not just armsdrill. Proper sword work.’

  ‘We will if he won’t.’ Tika laughed at the discomfort on Navan’s face, but then Drak came from the stables, leading a string of koninas left for their use by Hargon’s men. Tika regarded them dubiously.

  ‘I think I will go with Farn,’ she said.

  ‘It is no more difficult than sitting on the Dragons.’ Mena said helpfully.

  ‘Hmm. Soon enough to try when we get to this other building.’

  ‘I think Drak, Nomis and Riff should go with Navan,’ Gan remarked. ‘They can each ride one konina and lead another. It would be much easier.’

  ‘Picture this place in your head Navan,’ Kija ordered, and Navan obediently thought of the old building with its cleared area beyond. ‘We will see you there then.’

  ‘It will not take us long to ride there,’ said Navan as he swung onto his mount.

  ‘You will ride with me.’ Kija’s mind tone softened as she spoke to Mena. They were already in the air while Gan climbed onto Brin and Kemti onto Kadi.

  When Farn flew alongside Kadi, Kemti called to Tika: ‘Try to see if you can feel your way through the earth Tika. It might help us find that cave later and you can practice as we fly.’

  It was indeed only a short distant for the Dragons to travel and very soon after leaving the way station they were circling above the ruined building.

  ‘At least some of the roof is still on,’ Kemti grumbled, peering over Kadi’s shoulder.

  ‘A Merig follows,’ Brin called as Kija settled on the ground.

  Tika blinked, quite unaware of the short trip, concentrating as she had been on feeling her way beneath the earth. Khosa’s eyes slitted, her head poking out of her carrying sack while she watched the Merig drift down to perch on a crumbling section of wall. Tika patted the Kephi’s head, hard enough to make Khosa spit.

  ‘Don’t you dare even consider hunting Merigs – we would hear no news from anywhere should you offend them.’

  Already they heard the sounds of approaching hoofbeats and shortly Navan appeared between the trees below the building. When they’d climbed the path to the Dragons, Navan set Tarin to arrange a stabling area for the koninas while Drak and Riff looked for a reasonably whole room for them to shelter in.

  ‘I suggest we wait until tomorrow to move down to Return,’ said Navan, glancing at the sky. ‘It would be near dusk before we got there if we left now, and I think it better if we arrive in good daylight.’

  Only Kadi remained of the Dragons, the other three having gone to hunt for their food. The Merig shuffled along the wall and croaked harshly to gain everyone’s attention. But it was at Mena that his gaze was directed.

  ‘I bring news rather than messages,’ he announced. ‘The Lord of Return’s son, Bannor, fell from his konina earlier this day. His neck was broken.’

  Navan paled and looked towards Mena. Her blue eyes seemed enormous but her bruised face held no expression at all. Mena turned to Kadi and Tika was suddenly aghast as she felt a ripple of satisfaction pass between the two.

  ‘The death rites will take place tomorrow, so perhaps we should wait a day.’ Mena’s voice was clear and steady.

  Gan touched Navan’s arm. ‘Do you wish to go to Return now – will your Lord have need of you?’

  Navan drew in his breath. ‘No. I will remain here but Mena is right. We should wait another day.’

  Gan nodded and they went about the task of making a temporary home for themselves amongst the ruins.

  Much later, when a supper of stewed hoppers, herbs and fresh greens had filled them all to capacity they sat around the fire outside with the four Dragons. The sky was packed with the icy chips of stars tonight, the rain clouds now vanished to the south. Mena fell asleep and Nomis carried her carefully into the room they had cleared of debris. The silence continued until Nomis returned and sat beside Tarin.<
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  Tika broke the silence. ‘Kadi, what happened?’

  Navan looked up sharply, first at Tika then at the midnight blue Dragon.

  Kadi answered Tika with a question for Navan. ‘Who had the raising of that child?’

  Navan stared at his hands. ‘An old slave woman. Nurse slaves have no names.’

  ‘Try again.’

  ‘Her name was Mayla.’ Navan’s voice was low. ‘She was my great grandmother.’

  ‘Yes.’ Kadi’s eyes sparkled in the firelight. ‘And very strong in the power.’

  ‘She just had a few odd ways, that was all.’ Navan sounded panicked.

  ‘No Navan.’ Kadi spoke quietly in their minds. ‘She was strong, as is Mena. And this Mayla has shielded her mind, as I suspect she shielded Tika’s. I removed that shielding,’ she finished defiantly.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Ren Salar and Babach had Travelled on the air currents to view the string of islands off the coast of Drogoya. For over six hours, their bodies lay in Babach’s chambers while their minds sped westwards. Ren was far more exhausted by the event than was Babach, and it was the old Observer who had roused first and brewed a herbal tea to assist Ren’s recovery. They had not discussed what they had found, Babach ordering Ren to his own rooms to sleep again.

  The following day Ren visited Finn Rah with his sheaf of reports and notes, and the Offering sat silently working her way through them.

  ‘You are correct.’ Finn pushed the papers away from her and leaned back in her chair. Sunshine through the window behind her made an aureole of the wisps of iron grey hair escaping from her coronet of braids. She gave a gusty sigh. ‘Make some tea, there’s a good boy, while I think.’

  By the time Ren placed a bowl of tea before her, Finn’s face wore a deep scowl.

  ‘Ren, these figures you have extracted are correct as far as they go, but they give no true starting point and, in themselves, no hint of why these calculations were made.’ She sipped at her tea. ‘I agree that the directional estimates indicate quite clearly that their destination was indeed the Night Lands.’

  ‘But we Drogoyans have never attempted contact with that land – have we?’

  Finn went to the hearth and poured more tea into her bowl. When she had reseated herself she studied Ren’s worried expression.

  ‘It is plain that there have always been certain of us who believe we should contact the Night Lands; whether openly or secretly is another matter.’ She nodded. ‘Yes, I am one who believes we should know what is happening to the lands on the other side of this world. Those who think as I do, have a great fear that the land there may be neglected and with no Order such as ours to watch over it, its magic could distort, turn against itself, become powerfully destructive.’

  ‘Are there many who hold this view?’ Ren asked, never having heard a whisper of such things himself.

  ‘We are few in number, and never has one with such opinions reached the position of Sacrifice. So - ’ she shrugged. ‘The Order still refuses to allow the building of such ships as could hazard long voyages. We can only Travel perhaps half the distance with our minds alone. These figures,’ she tapped the pile of papers, ‘plot a course to the Night Lands – but for what means of travel?’

  ‘Is this of significance in the matter of the madness that has infested so many beyond Krasato, do you think?’

  ‘I’m afraid I do Ren, but how to understand it, interpret it, let alone make use of it, is still hidden from us.’ Finn Rah fell silent, lost in thought, so Ren gathered his papers and quietly left her room.

  He found himself unable to settle to any work, slamming a book shut when he realised that he had read the same page four times and still did not know what he had read. He felt the need to be outside, to actually stand on the earth that he had sworn to give his life for.

  Stairways wound in complicated patterns throughout the twenty levels of the Menedula. Each floor was marked with a different sigil of power to identify which level you were on. It had taken Ren far longer than most other students to master each sigil and which level it designated. He winced, remembering the countless times he arrived late for classes and meetings. Reprimands merely made things worse, but one day, it all suddenly fell into place. Now, Ren thought he probably knew more details of the whole structure of the Menedula than anybody else.

  He finally emerged at one of the lesser entrances and the late afternoon sunshine still held warmth as he lifted his face to the sky. He breathed deeply, seeing the crowds of visitors thronging the huge series of black steps leading from the ornately carved main doorway down towards the town below.

  Syat had begun as a cluster of huts for the workmen who first began digging into the great terraces of the Menedula. It grew to become a village and was now a large town. Smoke from hundreds of chimneys was beginning to rise almost vertically in the windless air. People were preparing evening meals and they also still needed warmth through the nights of early spring.

  Ren stepped from the black pebbled path onto the new grass and felt the earth pulsing under his feet. His affinity with the earth meant that with the barest concentration, he was aware of the life stirring beneath him: the rootlets striving downwards, the worms twisting and tunnelling, the larvae of insects beginning to rouse.

  He glanced to his right, towards one of his favourite places: a garden where the ordinary people were very rarely admitted. Indeed no one below the rank of senior Aspirant could enter freely. Some of the rarest plants and herbs in all of Drogoya were grown in that garden and Ren loved to just sit among them, absorbing their beauty.

  ‘Ren.’ The man who spoke suddenly at his shoulder was breathless from hurrying.

  Ren smiled. Aspirant Voron stood there, clearly just returned from a journey of inspection. He leaned on a blackwood staff as he caught his breath and he still wore a loaded pack on his back.

  ‘You always charge up all those steps,’ Ren laughed at him.

  Voron mopped his forehead with his sleeve. ‘Listen Ren, before I have to go and report to the Master. This madness is increasing and it is only leagues south of Krasato now.’

  Ren drew Voron further along the path to a bench. ‘Is it spreading like other diseases then? Will quarantine not block its path?’

  Voron collapsed beside Ren. ‘No. It seems only one person in a family might be affected. It always comes during the night. The victim awakens with their eyes changed, and they are completely mad.’

  ‘And none has yet recovered?’

  Voron snorted. ‘Most die within days. Some run away and their bodies are found later. Some are not found, but we don’t know if they survive or die in hidden places.’

  Ren tugged his thin brown beard as he thought. ‘Have you seen one of these poor creatures, close enough to study?’

  Voron stuck his legs out in front of him and glared at his worn boots. ‘A girl of a family with whom I lodged – much further south west, woke in the morning with her eyes quite scarlet. She was passive, but it was almost as if she was an empty husk – she was unaware of her name, her family. She could not eat. She appeared to have forgotten how to chew or swallow. She had convulsions late on the second day and died.’

  ‘It is so hard to understand without seeing such a case,’ Ren sighed. ‘Do you mean that their eyes become reddened because something causes the blood vessels to rupture?’

  ‘No.’ Voron punched his own thigh in emphasis. ‘Their eyes change – like ours do. Usually, when first they wake, there are threads, traceries of red, like my eyes are beginning to change now.’

  He looked directly at Ren who noted the silver webbing slowly encompassing Voron’s eyes, leaving only the bright hazel pupils clear.

  ‘Rarely, as with the girl I saw, they wake with their eyes completely red, no discernible pupils, just the awful redness.’

  Voron used his staff to haul himself upright. ‘I’ll see you in a day or two Ren. You remember what a stickler the Master is for “accurate and detailed” reports!�
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  At suppertime, Ren asked for only bread and fruit, not hungry but aware that he should eat. As he had expected, Observer Babach came to his rooms soon after the moon had swum into the darkening sky.

  ‘I have been busy.’ Babach announced without preamble. ‘I have made arrangements to visit the Order’s house in Oblaka. I think I have discovered a means to travel even further than those islands.’

  Ren looked alarmed. ‘Will the Observers be able – or more to the point – willing to help you Babach? You will have to tell them what you plan if you intend to leave your body for too many hours.’

  ‘Nonsense. The oldest Observer still working there is years younger than me. And she’s been working in some very dubious areas for some time now – which is the point of my going there.’

  Babach rubbed his hands together and Ren thought he had never seen the old man quite so excited.

  ‘I will leave tomorrow – a horse will take a week, given good weather, to get me there.’

  ‘Surely you will take a student at least to accompany you?’ Ren protested.

  Babach looked hurt. ‘I am still more than able to look after myself Ren Salar. And I will Travel to you with any news as I get it. I would rather you did not try to reach me – it is too far for one less strong than I in air magic.’

  Ren sat down feeling helpless in the face of Babach’s unaccustomed firmness.

  ‘What about the Sacred One? Shall I tell him of your plans?’

  ‘No you will not. I have already informed him that I have need to visit Oblaka for my researches, and that is all he needs to know.’

  Ren was shocked. ‘Surely it is wrong to keep the truth from the Sacrifice himself?’

  Babach shook his head sadly. ‘You still trust too willingly young Ren.’ He began poking around in the muddle of objects beside Ren’s fireplace, triumphantly waving two bowls in Ren’s direction.

  ‘The Sacred One is the highest in our Order Babach. What are you saying?’

  Babach sighed as he went about making tea. ‘Cho Petak is indeed mightily gifted in all four elements. And that, Ren Salar, is a temptation in itself.’