‘How dare you speak so to our guest?’ she hissed. ‘You are dismissed from this Gather and I demand that your Seniority be re examined and reduced.’
Fayet paled, his fists clenched at his sides. ‘Do as you will, but you surely cannot live much longer old woman. Then we shall see who rules here.’
He stormed from the hall, followed by his shadow, Senior Harak.
A grey haired woman rose to her feet as the door slammed behind the pair.
‘Councillor Jilla, the Gather offers you our deepest apologies for the disgraceful conduct of two of our members.’ She glanced quickly round the hall. ‘Know that the rest of us welcome you most truly, and we look forward to exchanging knowledge and ideas with you and your people.’
Ryla sighed in relief as a chorus of agreement rose through the hall.
‘Thank you for those words Doochay,’ she said. ‘Please, all of you, let this Gather continue with no formality now.’
The grey haired Senior whom Ryla had named Doochay, came forward. She took Ryla’s outstretched hand and grinned at her.
‘I thought there were several – erm – gaps, in your account to us,’ she said with a look of wide eyed innocence. ‘You made no mention of the two bodies discovered on the circle in the Asataria for instance.’ Doochay hooked a stool closer and perched upon it. ‘Perhaps you would like to tell me the rest now,’ she suggested.
Nolli and Jilla both laughed at Ryla’s chagrined expression.
‘We felt,’ Ryla began.
‘You felt,’ Nolli corrected, and earned herself a glare.
‘We felt that the exact identity of those two would not be generally helpful just at the moment.’
‘And they were?’ Doochay persisted.
‘The man was a Delver, Serim, an Elder of the Domain of Asat who followed Rhaki into Sapphrea.’ Ryla sighed, knowing Doochay too well to believe that would be sufficient explanation. ‘Rhaki was occupying Serim’s body.’ She nodded at Doochay’s intake of breath. ‘Where Rhaki’s spirit might be now, we have no idea. The child was the young son of Lord Hargon of Return. The boy had become Rhaki’s tool. Clearly something went badly wrong and neither survived the journey through the circles. I heard that the bodies were – unpleasantly damaged?’
Doochay snorted. ‘They were an obscene mess Ryla.’
‘Rhaki still exists,’ Ryla said softly. ‘His mind signature, distorted though it is, is still in this world.’
‘We had word from Lady Emla,’ said Jilla. ‘They forced their way into Rhaki’s tower and discovered his rotting body.’
Their conversation had to become more general as other members of the Gather came up to introduce themselves to the representative of Vagrantia.
Many were also fascinated to meet the Great Dragon Hani at close quarters, and were even more delighted when the five young ones came into the hall. Heads turned as the notes of a stringed instrument began to float across from Hani’s corner. Hani’s eyes glowed, whirring soft green with gold sparkles as her head swayed to the music. She had long secluded herself from other Dragons so that she might listen to the songs of the world, and here was a male two legs, making music right in front of her. Her joy resonated through the hall, her shyness forgotten as the music poured over her.
A Guard entered, carrying a scroll case and saluted Captain Soran. Soran took the case and brought it to Ryla. She looked first at the seal.
‘From Emla,’ she said.
Several Seniors waited with interest while Ryla unlatched the straps and slid out the rolls from within the tube. She read quickly through the first sheet, passing it to Jilla when she had finished, and immediately began on the next.
‘All is well?’ Nolli asked in concern.
Jilla nodded. ‘Emla says that Tika and Elyssa seemed to recognise each other. That Farn has also taken to Elyssa and regards her as his own. Farn is soul bonded I think you called it, is he not, to Tika?’
Jilla handed the page on to Nolli while Doochay answered the air mage’s question.
‘We had never known of such a thing until those two – Tika, and Mim the Nagum boy, became linked so completely with Farn and Hani’s daughter Ashta. I met Tika several times when she helped our Healers in the city after the silver Dragon’s mind caused such havoc among us. Why does Emla comment on Tika’s attachment to – Elyssa was it?’
Jilla considered possible answers then opted for the truth.
‘Ryla explained, partially anyway, the affliction that beset Vagrantia. We had fifty three cases. Forty one died, their eyes red scaled and their minds destroyed. Twelve survived, silver scaling on their eyes and their minds intact. Elyssa was the first case and her eyes are now silvered. Word reached here a few days ago that Tika’s eyes had also changed to silver.’
Ryla glanced up from the page she was studying. ‘Healers in Vagrantia and both Nolli and myself here, examined Elyssa’s mind. There is an enhancement in certain areas, but none of us could discover quite why or what the alteration might mean.'
‘Did Elyssa meet any others in Vagrantia whose eyes were silver?’ Nolli queried.
Jilla thought, then shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. You think there may be some way they link to each other?’
Nolli shrugged. ‘The reports from Gaharn suggest there is a possible link with beings far more distant than any on this land.’ She was rewarded with another glare from Ryla. ‘No Ryla, your People must know of all these things now. What can you and I do, stuck here in our chairs?’
The Seniors around them settled on pillows and waited, giving Ryla no choice but to tell them of the recent visitor to the Stronghold.
‘But why did we not know of this other land?’ asked Senior Payema, staring round the group. ‘Surely it would have at least been noted when our predecessors first came here?’
Ryla scowled. ‘There seems rather a lot that they decided we should remain in ignorance of. Emla first pointed that out to me when all these events began to happen. I have had Khalim searching the Archives but he has come up with nothing at all.’
Another Senior spoke up. ‘Do you think it likely that Observers may visit the Stronghold?’
‘It was made very clear in their messages.’ Nolli rummaged through a pile of scrolls heaped by her chair. ‘They are deeply concerned at the sudden appearance of this red eyed madness in their land. Aah.’ She handed a scroll to Doochay. ‘That is a copy of their messages. It is also clear that the writers of that message have suspicions about an important figure in their government. I think they will do their utmost to send at least one of these Observers here, if they possibly can.’
‘And you suspect that Rhaki may have a connection with this other monster in – what is their land called?’ Doochay pulled her lip between finger and thumb.
‘Drogoya,’ the Senior at present reading Babach’s message told her.
‘Emla believes so,’ Ryla agreed.
‘When one of the councillors of Parima was afflicted with the reddening of the eyes, the Healers could make no sense of her thoughts or her attempts at speech,’ Jilla said quietly. ‘At the very end, she said “Grey. Grey One.” Emla became distraught and told us that was the name given to Rhaki.’
‘Did Rhaki truly have so much power in him?’ someone asked doubtfully. ‘To contact a mind so distant? We cannot mind speak even as far as the Stronghold.’
Ryla sighed. ‘Rhaki discovered many things, both from ancient records and, I now suspect, from the land itself. The Observer Babach refers several times to the “magic of the land”. I would not think Drogoya alone holds the magic of this world, so - .’
‘We have long held that there is magic in our land,’ Nolli said. ‘Our legends tell of old gods teaching us to live within the mountains. We are taught that it was they who called us Kraneechay – the Keepers – when first they gave us the eggs to guard.’
‘Eggs?’ asked Payema.
‘Like the ones that both Tika and Mim wore,’ Nolli explained.
‘Why di
d your people have to guard those things?’
Nolli gave her wide pink grin. ‘If we were told, we have long forgotten the reason.’ She rested a gnarled hand on Resh’s back, where he lay snoring on her lap. ‘We were told to guard them until the coming of a Dragon Lord. I have shown Mim the place they were hidden and where they remain.’
Soran came quickly into the hall and saluted Ryla. ‘Lady Ryla there is some kind of trouble in the City. Senior Fayet has ordered the City Guard to arms and he forbids any entry to or exit from the Asataria buildings. Is this by your command Lady?’
Muttered oaths and exclamations followed Soran’s question, until Ryla raised her hand for quiet.
‘The City Guards are under your orders as are the Lady’s Guards here, Captain Soran. Do whatever you must to secure the Seniors Fayet and Harak, and any other fools who have joined with them in this ridiculous action.’
She looked questioningly around the Seniors present and was answered with nods of agreement. Soran left the hall at a trot as Seniors climbed to their feet to hurry back to the City themselves.
‘Oh stars!’ Doochay halted the exodus. ‘The circle within the Asataria. Those idiots wouldn’t try to use it themselves, would they?’
Ren and Chakar were welcomed into the Stronghold and quickly felt at ease with the strange beings amongst whom they found themselves: the tiny Delvers who came scarcely to Ren’s waist, the Great Dragons, Fenj, Ashta and Jeela, the Snow Dragons, the Kephis, and the immensely tall thin People of Gaharn. The Guards were the only ones “normal” by Ren’s standard, being of similar height to most people he had known in Drogoya.
Food was brought to them at once and although Chakar fell on her meal in relief, Ren was too busy staring around him to give the food his full attention. Kera, Nesh and Mim restrained their avid curiosity until the two Drogoyans had eaten and Ren at least could drag his eyes from the Dragons. Finally Kera could wait no longer.
‘Tell us at once, please. Do you know who is the catalyst of this affliction in your land and now apparently in ours?’
Chakar reluctantly refused another honeyed pastry and sat back.
‘We are fairly certain it is the Sacrifice, Cho Petak, leader of the Order of Sedka, and thus in reality the most powerful man in Drogoya.’
‘The second question must be obvious,’ said Mim in his lightly fluting voice. ‘Can you defeat him?’
Chakar studied Mim openly, noting the golden scales, the fingernails close to being talons, and lastly, the pendant he always wore. She unfastened the top of her shirt and withdrew a chain of obsidian links. Mim’s eyes narrowed and Ashta pressed close to him as they saw what Chakar held.
‘I am not sure that those who follow Myata can defeat him alone. I think there is a great significance in the fact that this object has begun to awaken and I believe that yours has done so too. One in Drogoya, one here. I refuse to let myself think that is just a useless coincidence.’
Mim held his pendant towards Chakar’s and no enhancement of vision was needed. All who watched saw the light flare brighter inside both oval shapes and beat faster. Mim’s strange eyes met Dessi’s. The Delver girl moved to stand between Mim and the Observer, staring at the two pendants. She looked up at Chakar.
‘Are you sure this is the only one in your land?’
Chakar frowned, then her face lit up.
‘You mean you have another here? This is not the only one?’
Mim chuckled. ‘My dearest friend Tika wears one. She is now on the west coast of this land. And her eyes have become silver.’ He slipped his pendant back beneath his jerkin. ‘We should show you to your rooms, I am sure you are tired from your long travelling.’
Both Chakar and Kera opened their mouths to object to this suggestion, then closed them, realising that it was a command rather than a suggestion. Nesh got to his feet and was about to conduct the visitors to the upper levels when Fenj rumbled quietly from his usual corner.
‘I feel our guests might enjoy a small restorative, to help them rest this night, and to bid them true welcome among us.’
Lorak produced a leather flask from under a grimy coat and offered it to Ren with the gap toothed grimace that was his smile. Ren was so bemused at where he found himself, what he’d already seen and heard, that he took the flask absently and gulped a mouthful of its contents. He gasped and Lorak judiciously removed the flask from Ren’s nerveless fingers. Tears streamed down Ren’s purpling face as he attempted to breathe again. Chakar glanced quickly around the hall, seeing stifled grins. Her eyes narrowed and she plucked the flask from Lorak’s hand. She sniffed at the contents, an eyebrow rising.
‘I recognise some of the contents I think,’ she said thoughtfully, and took a careful sip. She blinked, a smile curving her lips. Nodding she took a longer swallow.
‘Admirable,’ she murmured, handing the flask back to Lorak. ‘I make something very similar – purely for medicinal purposes of course. We must compare recipes, for that is truly admirable.’
‘Splendid fellow,’ Fenj said affectionately.
Nesh assisted Ren to his feet and helped the still breathless Offering from the hall, Chakar following them. Kera turned at once to Mim.
‘Why did you say nothing of the cave in the Domain where so many of these eggs are stored?’
Mim regarded her calmly. ‘I will take them there tomorrow, but tonight I need to consider many things.’ He glanced towards the gateway where Baryet and Syecha slept, heads deep beneath their wings. Past them lay Jeela, facing out towards the night sky. The ivory Dragon’s head turned momentarily to Mim, then she looked back at the sky.
‘What worries you Mim?’ Kera asked quietly.
Mim shook his head. ‘Yet another thing I do not understand Lady Writing Stick. I was angry when Fenj first mentioned it but he is right I think. Jeela and the Silver One - ’ he shook his head again.
Kera looked alarmed. ‘Are they linked? Has the Silver One touched Jeela?’
Ashta rattled her wings and wound her neck over Mim’s shoulder. He pressed his face briefly against the pale green Dragon.
‘I think not in the way you mean, but I cannot be absolutely sure.’ He turned and started for the upper levels, leaving Kera with yet something else to worry over.
Next morning, Berri, acting Wise One of the Delvers in Nolli’s absence, appeared in the great hall with an escort of Elders. Introductions were brief then Mim and Kera went with the Delvers to guide Chakar and Ren into the Domain of Asat. The Drogoyans were greatly impressed with the Delvers’ ingenuity in adapting to life deep inside the mountains, with the settlement of Akan, nearest to the Stronghold, and with the fields of crops. Ren was enraptured at sight of the hot pools and was only dragged away from them with the greatest reluctance and the promise that he could soak in them on the way back. Finally, Mim and Berri led the way down an ever narrowing passage until they came to an apparently dead end.
The Dragon Lord and the Delver fell silent and a surge of power bloomed in the enclosed space. The rock wall slid aside and Mim lifted the lantern he had brought. Chakar and Ren moved up beside Mim. A mosaic circle covered all the floor of the small room in front of them, inlaid with gold, crystal and jet. And in niches all around the walls, sat hundreds of the egg shapes.
Kera had never seen this cave before and she was as speechless as the Drogoyans. Light from Mim’s lantern was reflected back from the patterned floor and from the eggs above. But the light gradually seemed to intensify, until Mim extinguished his lantern and they could see the pulsing of light from within the eggs. Chakar suddenly winced and pulled her pendant out of her shirt, holding it away from her body by its chain.
They all became aware of a sound just out of audibility which swelled, then faded to silence again. Mim stepped back and Chakar, Ren and Kera squeezed past him down the narrow passage. Mim and Berri resealed the door before joining the others. Still in silence, they retraced their steps to the settlement of Akan where the Elder, Monna, gave them hot tea and a
belated midday meal.
‘Have they all only just awoken?’ Chakar asked eventually.
‘I have not looked at them,’ Mim admitted. He touched the pendant he wore. ‘I do not feel heat from it, which you obviously do, so I was slower to realise there was any change in them.’
Chakar sipped at her spice tea. ‘Have you any idea yet what they are?’
Mim moved uneasily in his chair. ‘Let us discuss that more fully once we are back in the Stronghold,’ he said.
Chakar nodded. ‘Clearly, you have your suspicions, as I now have myself.’
It took some time to persuade Ren to leave the hot pools but he was finally forced out, dressed and ready for the considerable walk to the Stronghold. Dessi walked at his side.
‘Did you truly prefer the pools to seeing the cave which my people have guarded for generations?’ she asked with a grin on her face.
Ren smiled down at the tiny Delver. ‘You must think I am quite stupid,’ he said. ‘But no. I was shocked and amazed at the sight of all those eggs. I have thought of nothing else since I saw them. A hot bath has become a scarce luxury of late though.’ He joined in Dessi’s laughter, walking under the archway between the Domain and the great hall of the Stronghold.
Jal hurried to meet them as they emerged from the Domain, a scroll case held against his chest.
‘This came a short time ago Sir. The seals are Vagrantian.’
Kera took the case from him, unlatched it and tipped out a single sheet of paper. Before she could read it, Fenj came hurrying through the outer gateway, his eyes whirring slate gray in distress.
‘What is it?’ Mim called at once, crossing to the black Dragon’s side.
‘Jeela,’ Fenj’s mindvoice was greatly agitated. ‘Jeela is gone!’
‘Gone?’ Mim repeated helplessly. ‘Gone where?’
Nesh had taken the paper from Kera’s hand as she listened to the exchange between Mim and Fenj.
‘Oh stars!’ he muttered, and stepped forward, waving the paper. ‘The Speaker of Vagrantia writes to warn us – the Silver One has left her Circle.’
Vagrants: Book 2 Circles of Light series Page 38