Drogoya: Book 3 Circles of Light series, page 3
‘She may remain there for now in those circumstances, but it would have been more polite if you had asked permission first.’
Baryet stuck his head under his wing in an offended manner. Kera put both hands over her face, trying to keep from laughing aloud. Chakar joined them at the table, glancing anxiously at Mim.
‘I do apologise. I am not sure that we could actually get Syecha out now that she has apparently made up her mind to nest there.’
Mim shook his head. ‘It is not really that important,’ he said. ‘Especially if she is – with egg.’
Dessi snorted and that sent everyone into gales of laughter.
‘I do believe he has more conceit and far less humour even than Brin,’ Kija’s voice commented in their minds. The golden Dragon reclined near the table and was regarding the pile of dishevelled feathers with disbelief.
Kera sobered. ‘Chakar, will Baryet leave Syecha to fly to Drogoya again? Clearly, Syecha will not travel so far in her present state.’
Dessi giggled helplessly.
‘You have been preoccupied with poor Kadi,’ Kera continued. ‘Thus you may not be aware that something occurred?’
Chakar was listening closely, conscious that the amusement had vanished from the faces around her. Quickly Kera outlined the supposed death of Rhaki in Serim’s body in the Asatarian circle, and of the distress it caused Daro here.
‘Emla reports the same distraction in Elyssa and Tika. Ren was also discomfited and it was he who suggested the appalling idea that Rhaki’s spirit is in Drogoya. If that is so, Rhaki allied with your Cho Petak is not something we dare ignore.’
Chakar tugged at her long white braid, Rofu batting at the feathery end of it.
‘It would be possible for a strong Dragon to fly to Drogoya. The longest space between islands was a full day and a night. The islands are small but large enough for a Dragon to land on and rest.’ Chakar was thinking aloud. ‘I will ask Baryet to fly, order him if necessary. I am still his “parent” and thus have the right to insist if I must. I think it better that the Dragons do not attempt the journey until we are more sure of what may be happening there. If you would find me paper and pen, I will write at once to Babach.’
Kera dug in her ever present satchel and produced paper, pen, a small jar of ink and sealing wax.
‘I will write what I think best, then you must tell me of anything other that you wish me to pass on.’
The chamberlain Yoral appeared with several servants loaded with trays to set the supper ready and Guards began to emerge from their labours in the lower levels.
‘Perhaps we had best not mention Syecha’s condition to Lorak, Lady Kera,’ Jal said thoughtfully. ‘He constantly grumbles that none of the hens sent from Gaharn have begun laying yet.’
Mim chuckled. ‘Can you see Lorak trying to steal eggs from Syecha?’
‘Unfortunately, yes,’ said Kera grimly. ‘You are right Jal – not a word to Lorak.’
‘How long do the eggs take to hatch?’ asked Kija.
Chakar glanced up. ‘About a season.’
‘Stars preserve us,’ Kera groaned.
It took Chakar some considerable time to persuade Baryet of the necessity of another flight to Drogoya and back but outrageous flattery finally convinced him. The scroll tube was strapped beneath his wing and he departed the Stronghold.
‘I felt quite ill, hearing all that,’ Kwanzi teased Chakar gently.
She smiled. ‘I know. But I would rather persuade him than resort to ordering him really. He is a little unbalanced due to the fact that I brought him up, and I am not a Plavat.’
Kwanzi patted her back and plied her with spice tea.
Next day, Thryssa and Kwanzi went through the circle to Gaharn. From there, they planned to go directly back to Vagrantia. A warm friendship had grown between the Vagrantians and the tiny Drogoyan Observer. Thryssa and Kwanzi had watched how hard Chakar had toiled over the injured Dragon Kadi, which earned her their respect and admiration. Thryssa urged the Observer to visit Vagrantia soon and assured her she would be a most welcome guest.
Thryssa had also taken the time to explain the exact working of the circle’s pattern and the words of the chant – something only previously divulged to Emla. Chakar was touched by this evidence of Thryssa’s trust and promised she would visit Vagrantia in due course. She voiced some surprise that Ren had gone through the circle with Lashek, given his aversion to any form of travel other than his own two feet or horseback.
Thryssa laughed. ‘He was not exactly sanguine about it,’ she admitted. ‘He eventually decided it would be slightly preferable to flying on your birds or on a Dragon.’
The great hall seemed empty once Thryssa and Kwanzi had gone to Gaharn, but Dessi kept Chakar company. Dessi told her much of the Delvers’ history, and Chakar began to teach Dessi of the Order of Myata. Mim listened to many of these sessions and both he and Dessi became increasingly drawn to Myata’s surprisingly simple teachings of love and respect for the land, and the magic therein.
Reports came daily from Arak of Kadi’s slow improvement, but Chakar felt she should stay at the Stronghold until Baryet returned. He would be impossibly irritated if she was not patiently awaiting his reappearance. A ten day passed, and nearly a second when a Snow Dragon warned of Baryet’s imminent arrival.
Kija had just returned from visiting Kadi and was describing in detail to Chakar how each and every injury seemed to be mending. Her eyes began to whirr in consternation as the great bird stilted into the hall.
‘I do not know what is wrong with him my Chakar! It is through no fault of mine!’ Baryet sounded afraid, sending a chill of terror through Chakar which Kija picked up at once.
Chakar, Mim and Dessi were already hurrying to Baryet as he sank down onto the floor, his head twisting anxiously. They saw a shape among the thick plumage on the bird’s back and reached up to help the rider free.
‘Voron!’ Chakar exclaimed.
‘Help him Chakar. He is burnt so badly. I could think only to bring him here when Baryet arrived.’ Voron helped to ease Babach’s heavily wrapped body into the arms of Motass and other Guards who had been taking their ease in the hall.
Delver healers came running, already summoned by Kija. Voron staggered and Jal held him until Mim came to support Voron as well.
Voron’s voice was hoarse. ‘He was conscious until two days ago. Baryet flew magnificently Chakar, I thought he would never tire, but he said he must get Babach to you. I do not even know if Babach still lives.’
Voron would have fallen if not for Mim, and Jal called other Guards to carry the Drogoyan to pillows by the fireside. The healers and Chakar were unwrapping the bundle that was apparently Observer Babach. There was a screech and Sava fluttered free, clicking his beak in agitation. Finally the hood of a second cloak was pulled from Babach’s face. Even the healers gasped involuntarily. The face revealed was a mass of weeping blisters, no eyelashes, no brows or beard remained.
Slower now, the healers uncovered his body and found his back untouched but his front was a mass of raw flesh.
Chapter Three
Cho Petak had long awaited the arrival of Rhaki and Mena. He was aware, where they were not, that two creatures of the Void had insinuated themselves within not just the bodies but the minds and spirits of the two. The creature which inhabited Mena had waited through generations of her ancestors and was extremely annoyed on finding Cho’s plans were coming to fruition when he was in a very young female body in this male dominated world.
At least that creature had learnt to adapt, whereas the one who had entered Rhaki had become complacent over the near thousand years of Rhaki’s bodily existence . The one within Rhaki had been terrified when Rhaki became unbodied: it was a reminder of the countless ages the creature had spent trapped Beyond in blinding light.
Cho Petak now opened the way for the other creatures who clamoured for release from their long confinement. This had always been the most dangerous part of his plan: if he had miscalculated and there was even one creature who held back a little and considered his actions in this world, as had Cho, then he might face a serious challenge.
Cho Petak sealed himself within his secret room, where not even Rhaki, unbodied, could enter without permission, and released his kindred. Outside the Menedula, in the town of Syet, buildings burned on in the morning light, the heat distorting the air above them. Screams rang out as the students Cho had modified continued to hunt and rend any inhabitants they found. The red eyed killers would die soon themselves, their bodies consumed because of their raised metabolisms.
A river seemed to erupt from the sky, a river of darkness mixed with scarlet pebbles, cascading down to the land. It widened from the place it seemed to spring from, spreading out like flood water. Cho Petak waited, his knuckles whitening where his hands clenched the arms of his chair. He allowed himself to relax a little, smiling with satisfaction. None of his brethren had hesitated long enough to think of usurping Cho’s position and they would not get another chance half as good as this one.
The dark river’s volume dwindled, disappeared, and Cho leaned his head back against his chair. He would allow them their freedom for a while: they would be grateful that he had not asserted his will upon them before they had sated their all but forgotten appetites. Cho reached for the jug of water he had brought in here with him and poured some into a black crystal beaker. Sipping, he let his mind play with the thought of Mena and Rhaki.
Once, they had been his closest companions. Grek, whose spirit now resided within Mena, Cho recalled as a laughing boy, only too willing to please his many friends, following Cho’s lead until he was too deeply mired to extricate himself. Cho could not remember ever hearing D’Lah laugh. Within D’Lah there had always burnt a fierce desire for power, and more power. When the Grand Master Cheok discovered what these three had already achieved and surmised their future plans, he had struck fast and without mercy.
Cho Petak had escaped his wrath only by coercing D’Lah and Grek to offer him their combined strength. Their howls of rage followed him through time and space, tormenting him ceaselessly. His first task on finding himself on this world, had been to gain the release of his two accomplices from the Void.
Cho Petak had appropriated the body of a farmer’s son in the hot lands far to the south of Drogoya. It amused him to use his own name for this body once he had worked his way north to the seat of power which was the Menedula. It took many years to calm Grek and D’Lah into coherence. Then, he encouraged them to search through the captives within the Void, choosing those who would prove useful to them once freed. Using his own magic, harnessed to the magic of this land, he had freed Grek and D’Lah who raced to the beacon of his mind.
Grek had learned much of adaptability during his sojourns in various bodies, but he was still willing to please Cho Petak. D’Lah had learned much of power, through his long tenancy within one of the strange race who had arrived on this world a thousand years after Cho Petak. But he was too used to the one mind, the one body which had been Rhaki, as evidenced by his panic when Rhaki was unbodied. Cho would need to watch them both but especially he would be careful of D’Lah.
Cho had spent these long years in preparation. He knew how to nullify a large proportion of the natural magic within this land itself. He had worked under a considerable handicap: a great deal of his energy had to stay focused first on D’Lah and Grek, and then on the position of the Void until this moment, when he could release the chosen ones. For the first time since he had arrived here, his whole mind could be turned to making this world what he chose it to be.
Cho Petak watched with his mind as the kindred, bodied again, forced human limbs into impossible contortions in wild excitement at their freedom from the Void. He smiled. Let them have their fun unchecked for now. His mind ranged further afield. He saw the Chapter House in Radoogar, from whence he had chosen Krolik to become Master of Aspirants. All was quiet there, working to his instructions on the themes he had devised before Cheok tried to destroy him.
Cho’s mind searched south and found the other Chapter Houses. Some were in uproar, some were as calm as Radoogar. Finally he reached to the north western House of Oblaka. He frowned. There had always seemed to be a faint blurring around Oblaka. Cho had put it down to the fact that Oblaka held strongly to the teachings of Myata, subtly different from those of her father, Sedka. He probed a little harder and jerked upright in his chair, his eyes widening.
There was a hard shell around the most northerly part of the complex. He analysed the composition of this shell and then sat back again, amused at his own concern. It was a particular amalgam of rock, well known to be impervious to magic. There were small deposits scattered throughout Drogoya and they had been well documented.
Once more he viewed the House of Oblaka and saw that his servants there had done well. Most of the buildings were unrecognisable, and charred bodies were strewn everywhere. Cho nodded. This part of his plan had gone very smoothly and easily: he would be tested when he attempted to draw the kindred away from their present amusements.
But for the next few days, Cho would explore Rhaki’s recollections of his land of Gaharn. He would have to allow for Rhaki’s narrow view of those who shared that land, but D’Lah would be able to enlarge on many of the matters Rhaki had disregarded. Cho next considered Mena. If he was so inclined, he could think of many interesting things he might do with the child. She was attractive in a way: the short cropped, blonde hair, the large eyes, reddened now of course.
He frowned. It had been more difficult to get her physical body to Drogoya than he had anticipated – those great lizards had been most unreliable. Perhaps it would be best to order Grek from the girl’s body now. She could stay here, in the Menedula, a sort of pet. It would entertain Rhaki, Cho was quite sure.
There was a core within the child, utterly resistant to any mind probe Cho had used. Grek had warned him that even he, within the child’s mind since she was a new made foetus, could not reach inside that core. Cho dismissed any worry from his mind. A female, alive only a handful of years, was no threat to him and his cohorts. Yes, he would order Grek to remove himself from Mena’s mind at once.
By the time Cho had walked from his hidden room to the main apartment, Mena came dancing in from the outer hall. Her eyes shone blood red, flame flickering in their centres.
‘Leave her Grek,’ Cho ordered quietly.
Briefly, Grek’s mind battered at Cho’s in fury – he had grown to enjoy this body and where was he to go if he left it?
‘Unbody, as has D’Lah.’ Cho repeated his order calmly.
The child’s body stiffened to an inhuman rigidity as Cho watched with an academic interest. The red of her eyes slowly faded and became a dark blue that was almost purple. Her body slackened and she stared up at Cho Petak in confusion. Frowning, she looked around the large room with its row of tall narrow windows. Then her eyes rolled up and she folded bonelessly to the floor.
A quivering of the air alongside Cho made him raise a brow.
‘Does she still live, Grek?’
‘Yes she lives,’ Grek laughed.
How well he remembered that laugh, thought Cho.
‘May I choose another body Cho?’
Cho Petak shrugged. ‘If you must. But I believe you will find the unbodied state far more useful for our purposes now.’
On the floor below the apartment where Mena lay unconscious, a tiny spider spun a thread. It swung from the top of the cupboard on which it had spent hours in terror, to the wall. Finding cracks too small for a human eye to see, it scurried to the window sill. Thank the Light no one had shut the window. A glow surrounded the spider and swelled, until it encompassed not a spider but a pigeon. The pigeon rested briefly, its head sunk low on its breast. Then it fluffed out its feathers and flew, away from the Menedula towards the north west.
Chakar had organised a careful watch of the Menedula from the Oblaka. Students devoted to the Order of Myata and gifted in air magic, took turns, day and night, waiting for they knew not what to occur. Chakar had told them only that they were to summon her whatever the hour, if anything at all out of the ordinary touched their awareness.
So it was that Lyeto alerted Babach in Chakar’s absence. Babach cursed wildly, struggling up the steep path to the main complex. He could smell the burning and knew they were too late. Lyeto turned to the old man, his silver eyes wide with horror in the moonlight.
‘We have looked to the Menedula when we should have watched here more closely.’
Babach shook his head and pointed on up the path, too short of breath to argue now. About five hundred lived and worked in the Oblaka and of those, barely one hundred escaped the inferno that night. Many of those who survived were Chakar’s particularly promising followers and they had been talking late in one of the dining halls. They had already organised themselves into groups, some trying to pull victims from the fire, while others began the first attempts at treating horrendously burnt flesh.
Dawn eventually revealed a grisly scene: the buildings reduced, resembling the stumps of rotten teeth amidst the debris of fallen masonry. A young student handed Babach a mug of tea at which he stared in astonishment.
‘Some of us with little skill for healing have tried to find some ways we can be of use.’
Grey pupils in silvered eyes looked up at Babach. The tracks of tears trailed down ash smudged cheeks.
‘You can have no idea how very useful this tea is to me at this moment,’ Babach replied, his voice hoarse from the smoke. ‘Will you start telling everyone to begin making their way to Chakar’s cottage? I fear I do not know your name child?’
‘Melena sir. But is there room for us all there – it is so tiny?’
Babach drained his mug. ‘Just tell them to make their way there. I will go on to prepare the rooms.’
