Drogoya: Book 3 Circles of Light series, page 23
‘And why else the sudden burst of sensation we have all just experienced?’ Soosha studied the four faces before him. ‘Oh yes. This is indeed a special child and we must wrack our brains to find some way to help her reach the sanctuary which is the Oblaka.’
Chapter Twenty
‘Do you know more than you have told me?’ Mim asked Dessi casually. ‘I mean, do the Delvers in general or the Wise One in particular, know more of the eggs than they have admitted?’
Elyssa had been working with Dessi, explaining some of the Vagrantian ways of working with the different elements for the last days, but she was spending today with the two Observers. Mim had taken the opportunity to climb up to Dessi’s chambers, high in the Stronghold. Dessi turned on her stool to look at him. He was changing even more, she realised. His shoulders were much wider, but still tapered down to a narrow waist. He no longer hid the fact that he ate with the Dragons when they hunted and he made no more pretence of eating the food cooked in the Stronghold kitchens. Except for the pastries, Dessi remembered: he still had a great fondness for those.
‘No.’ Her dark copper curls shone as a finger of sunlight poked through the narrow window beside her table. ‘I have tried to guess but I would not tell anyone, even you Mim, what my guesses are. I am just as likely to be utterly wrong as anywhere near the truth.’
Mim noticed that her left hand rested upon her pendant. He had also noticed that she alone wore her pendant openly now, not beneath her shirt as did all the others. Himself included of course.
‘Sit down. I will make some tea – or would you prefer water?’
Mim waited until Ashta had squeezed herself fully into the room, closed the door and settled beside the pale green Dragon.
‘Tea is fine.’
He watched the Delver girl busy with tea pot and mugs.
‘Does Elyssa say why she has chosen to stay here?’
Dessi grinned at him. ‘She does not know herself. Only that she felt impelled to remain here.’
There was a burst of deafening screeches and Mim winced while Ashta’s eyes whirred rapidly in distress. The tea was made and poured before the noise abated.
‘How can you endure that din Dessi dear?’ Ashta murmured, her tone deeply concerned.
Dessi laughed. ‘It is only that bad a few times each day. When Syecha returns from finding food and orders Baryet off of her eggs. I gather there are eight now,’ she added.
Mim groaned. ‘It would be most unwise to mention that fact beyond this room – Chakar would be thrown out of the Stronghold!’
‘Is this all connected with Myata of whom Babach and Chakar speak, Mim?’
The Dragon Lord shrugged. ‘Part of it. But the part that most closely involves me, is linked to Gremara. Of that I am sure.’
‘I do miss Jeela.’ Dessi said softly. ‘I know there must be some special destiny for her, but I miss her a great deal.’
Ashta’s eyes flashed the palest green with honey speckles. ‘I miss her too.’
Mim reached his arm around Ashta’s neck and hugged her, his face against hers.
‘Have you any regrets Mim? So far from your Nagum forests, here in this cold stone place?’
Mim studied his scaled hands and flexed the taloned fingers.
‘At first I longed only to be back there, but then I accepted that I could never return. My village was destroyed completely, my family, everyone, slaughtered by Rhaki’s Linvaks.’
He met Dessi’s sympathetic eyes.
‘I have Ashta, and the Dragon Kin. I am called Dragon Lord. I like to spend time with Lorak, and working among the plants in the new growing areas here. This life is far better than lying dead in my village.’
‘Will you tell me if Gremara explains about the eggs that have been so long safeguarded by my people?’ Dessi asked.
Mim got to his feet. ‘I promise I will Dessi. Although I am sure you will know before I do.’
When he and Ashta had left her, Dessi moved from her stool to crouch by the fire. She lifted the pendant on its gold chain for the hundredth time, and turned it, studying first the turquoise backing and then the honey coloured front. Light throbbed faintly but rhythmically from the tiny speck within, but Dessi could make no contact with any mind. She longed to discover the secrets she knew were sealed within each of these beautiful objects. She also understood that they would reveal themselves in their own good time.
Kera returned through the circle to report that all was peaceful once more in Gaharn. Discipline Seniors had been positioned in houses around the City and they watched for any sign of the creature High Speaker Thryssa had identified as a being from the Void. Chakar had told Kera of Babach’s theories and she was aware of the Discipline Senior’s scepticism. Chakar warned Babach that Kera had little belief in his ideas of Myata’s intervention in the affairs of this world, but the old man merely smiled.
‘Many will not believe,’ he said. ‘Myata taught that it was irrelevant whether people believed her lessons or not. What will happen, will still happen. It is of no importance my dear Chakar.’
Somehow, word had spread that the Plavats now had nine eggs, and Chakar was blamed for bringing the birds here in the first place. The majority of the Guards liked the tiny Observer, but they felt she should have sent the Plavats back where they came from as soon as they had delivered her here. She quite understood, and even shared their feelings, but it was Mim who eventually ordered the Guards to stop their increasingly surly attitude towards Observer Chakar.
Sava ignored Chakar for the most part. The owl seemed to feel that she had betrayed him, leaving him behind and adventuring off with the hideous Plavats. So Sava was usually to be found on, or near, old Lorak, and his hooting became less doleful.
Elyssa spent longer each day with the midnight blue Dragon Kadi and with Observer Babach. The golden Dragon Kija also spent time with Elyssa, sharing her memories of Farn’s hatching and of his bonding with Tika. Kija was aware that Elyssa had heard much of these things from Tika and Farn themselves, but Kija viewed these happenings slightly differently. Tika had spoken of the terror she had experienced when Farn was wounded near to death, but Kija let Elyssa see also the wonder of the healing that was performed on her son.
This day, Elyssa sat with Kija in the great hall. Lorak had dragged both the Observers off to inspect his new gardens yet again and the other Dragons were flying in the at last slightly warmer air above the Stronghold.
‘How much longer do you wait, child?’ Kija asked.
‘Until Kadi is strong enough.’ Elyssa replied unguardedly. Then she looked up at the golden Dragon and smiled. ‘Neatly done, dear Kija!’
Kija’s laugh seemed to tickle Elyssa’s mind. ‘I am old child. I will hatch no more children, but I am not an old fool. It has become clear to me that you and Kadi, with the old man, plan to go to Drogoya.’
Elyssa sighed. ‘I do not think we dare say that we “plan” anything Kija. The thought was in each of our minds and it grows more insistent each day. But Kadi must be as strong as may be for such a journey.’
Kija rattled her wings. ‘Where did Kadi take the child Mena? Even now she does not speak of it to us. She says only that something affected her mind and that she flew as if crazed.’
Kija felt a shield tighten around the girl’s mind, then it melted away and bright blue eyes set in silver stared up at her.
‘She took the child to Drogoya of course – as you have already guessed. Now, we must retrieve the child, bring her back here for a time.’
Smoke wisped from Kija’s nose and her prismed eyes darkened.
‘Mena is the child of Hargon, a so called Lord in the western lands. He bred my daughter Tika as a slave.’ Anger pulsed from her. ‘Is his daughter worth the lives of my dearest friend and clan sister Kadi, as well as you and Babach?’
Elyssa held the Dragon’s gaze steadily. ‘Yes,’ she replied.
Gold flared in Kija’s stare. Elyssa got to her feet. She reached both hands to Kija’s face and leaned her head against the Dragon’s brow.
‘Kadi must return the pendant to the child.’ Her words were a bare whisper even in the mind speech.
Kija jerked her head out of Elyssa’s hands, confusion spilling through her thoughts. Elyssa sat down again, watching Kija closely as the Dragon fitted pieces of the puzzle into place. Finally Kija swung her long face down to the girl who quietly sat at her side.
‘Do you believe it to be so, or do you know it to be so?’
Elyssa’s smile was radiant. ‘I know it.’
Silence fell between them once more until Kija spoke again.
‘Where is she truly from, this child Mena?’
Elyssa’s head tilted to one side. ‘Two places I think, and this I do not know for sure. But I think she is from here, and also, from Beyond.’
Kija moaned softly and rocked from side. ‘If she is who you say, why must she be brought here? Why is she but a child, untrained, when this world has need of a powerful, experienced being, to ensure its survival?’
‘Perhaps even the old gods of Valsheba can miscalculate?’ Elyssa suggested. ‘The child is at least born, and she will grow to her power very swiftly I suspect. Babach and I think that she is not strong enough yet to resist Cho Petak with all his newly arrived creatures. She must therefore come here.’
‘Has this Cho Petak not discovered what she might be? He would surely destroy her so easily should he find her now and suspect her potential?’
Elyssa bit her lip. ‘From what Kadi has been able to recall, she left the child close to the building which Babach calls the Menedula. It is where Cho Petak dwells. Therefore she may be with him at this moment.’
Kija was aghast. ‘The child is under his control even now?’
‘Babach thinks that she will find her way to the House of Oblaka,’ Elyssa began but Kija did not let her finish.
‘This Oblaka is the place the old man says was burnt, the place where he was so grievously hurt!’
‘Kija, listen to me. You have heard both the Observers tell of hidden caves below the House of Oblaka. That is where the child will try to go, and once there, she will be safe, for a time at least.’
Smoke wisped again and Kija’s eyes blazed with fury.
‘I understood from the old man and the woman Chakar that it takes six days or more for them to ride some sort of animal from the building where dwells Petak to the coast. Will the child find animals to ride do you think? She will surely have to walk. How long then would it take a child, travelling unknown ways, and with dangers all around, to get to this safety you speak of with such frightening complacency?’
A scribe scratched at the door of the High Speaker’s study and poked his head into the room.
‘Forgive the interruption High Speaker, but the mage Pachela begs a few moments of your time – she says it is most important.’
Thryssa nodded and Pajar started to get to his feet.
‘No, stay please Pajar,’ Thryssa murmured as Pachela came into the study.
The girl bowed to both Thryssa and the first councillor and then sat on the very edge of the chair offered to her.
‘Gremara spoke with me High Speaker. She says she will have to leave Talvo, at least for a while. She has instructed Jeela in many things but by no means all the silver one’s successor should rightly know.’
Pachela looked from face to face. ‘Gremara said that Prilla is no longer Prilla, and one of the three Firans within the Corvida is likewise altered. She said what appears to be Prilla, plans to move against Parima within days and if shielding is to work, it will take every mage here working in concert to make it so.'
Thryssa had grown pale listening to Pachela repeat Gremara’s warning.
‘The three Firans,’ she said slowly looking to her first councillor.
‘Destroy them at once.’ Pajar did not hesitate.
Pachela stared at him, gulped but nodded her head. ‘Gremara said Speaker Lashek and Speaker Orsim are on their way here now?’
Pajar nodded.
‘She said that they are in danger while – while the three Firans live.’
Without further comment, Pajar left the room. Thryssa looked at the closed door in silence then folded her hands together on the table.
‘Dear stars, what is happening to us? I do not recall a death sentence being enacted in all the cycles since Vagrantia was found.’
‘Gremara said it was necessary,’ Pachela whispered, her silvered eyes fixed on Thryssa.
The High Speaker forced a tiny smile. ‘I am sure she knows more than she has told us. But where is she going? Only once before has she left Talvo, and that only recently to reach Jeela and Kadi.’
Pachela shook her head but before she could speak, the Corvida rocked. Thryssa’s hands clenched on the table, her mind flashing to find Pajar’s mental signature. He was close to the apartments the Firans had been moved to, but he did not respond to her thought. Kwanzi burst into the study.
‘What now?’ he asked tersely.
Again, the Corvida building moved, a rippling sensation making the walls shudder. The window to Thryssa’s left fell inwards, glass ringing on the stone floor.
‘The three Firans,’ Thryssa told him equally tersely as she hurried past him.
Kwanzi glanced at the girl already on her feet to follow the High Speaker.
‘Pajar went to destroy the Firans in their chambers.’
‘Destroy?’ Kwanzi echoed in horror.
Pachela brushed past him. ‘It was necessary. One is not truly Firan.’
She ran along the corridor in Thryssa’s wake while Kwanzi was still gaping. Ordering the men standing watch at the end of the corridor to come at once, Kwanzi rushed after Pachela and his wife. He caught them up near to the apartment which the Firans now occupied. Thryssa had come to a halt outside the main door leading into this suite of chambers. The door glowed red, the heat from it reaching ten paces or more into the corridor. To Kwanzi’s left, he saw three bodies sprawled on the floor, two in the brown and green robes of healers. The third body’s flaming red hair identified him as first councillor Pajar.
Kwanzi hesitated only briefly. Pachela stood by Thryssa, her arm linked through the High Speaker’s. More healers and armed guards were coming from corridors to either side and Kwanzi moved to bend over Pajar. He turned the first councillor onto his back and laid his fingers to the pulse in his throat. He could see no obvious injury but Pajar’s mind was blanketed in deep unconsciousness. He stooped to check the healer lying by Pajar’s feet and found her dead. Other healers had reached him now and Kwanzi quickly told all he knew: that Pajar had come here to destroy the Firans. Two older healers remained by Kwanzi and at his nod they linked minds and tried to penetrate into the rooms behind the glowing door.
The man beside Kwanzi swayed against him with a gasp but pulled himself upright again.
‘Whatever is it?’ The woman on Kwanzi’s other side murmured aloud, her voice husky with fear.
‘A creature from the Void, or so we suspect.’ It was Pachela who answered.
She and Thryssa had crossed to join Kwanzi. The two women felt a surge of power as the three linked minds manoeuvred together against an unseen force. There came an ear splitting scream of mingled surprise, anger and pain, then the heat around the door died away. Guards moved as Thryssa walked to the door and one, at her gesture, tentatively reached for the latch. When his fingers found that the metal was cool, he lifted it and pushed it wide, slipping quickly into the room, sword drawn and three comrades at his heels.
Thryssa found herself gripping her pendant which did not feel overly warm but throbbed insistently against her palm. Three more guards followed Thryssa into the chamber, the first four already searching through the adjoining rooms. A guard called from what Thryssa remembered was a sitting room overlooking the gardens to the side of the Corvida. She went quickly through to that room, aware that Pachela was close behind her. She heard Pachela’s indrawn breath and nodded slightly. The velvet smoothness of the black walls was corrugated as though it had been heated far above any natural temperature. Thryssa’s gaze moved from the walls to the floor where two of the young Firans lay.
One of the girls, Thryssa thought it was Graza, stared up with sightless blue and silvered eyes, her face twisted in a rictus of terror. She lay half behind an armchair, as if she had tried to find a hiding place. The boy Kralo lay under the window, his face pressed against the wall, his back to the room. A guard rolled him onto his back and Thryssa’s mouth tightened when she saw a similar grimace of fear on his face. She bent, pushing up his eyelids and saw his blue silvered eyes were already dulled.
Thryssa glanced up at Pachela. ‘I made a mistake. I was sure it would be Kralo.’ The High Speaker rose. ‘Where is Mokray then, we must find her.’
Guards emerging from other rooms, shook their heads: the apartments were empty other than this room. Pachela caught Thryssa’s arm and pointed at a narrow low door at the side of the hearth. Thryssa frowned. It was merely a cupboard used to store extra cushions. She signalled a guard to open the cupboard and flinched as a body sitting sideways on the floor within, toppled out. The guard’s sword was at the girl’s throat immediately but he raised it after a moment. He turned to Thryssa, his face rather pale.
‘Dead as well, High Speaker.’
Thryssa walked round a long low table to look down at the girl. Her eyes were no longer brown set in silver: they were burnt sockets, and blood smeared her face like red tear tracks.
Kwanzi came in unsteadily, his arm half supporting both himself and the woman healer at his side. They reached Thryssa and stared down at what remained of Mokray. The woman, Lori, pointed at the girl’s hands and Thryssa swallowed hard. Mokray’s fingers were curled into claws and were bloodied to the second knuckles.
