Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series, page 3
They found that the gijan had washed their clothes and polished boots and belts during the night. Thus the company looked smarter than for many days when a Keeper bowed from the door the next morning. This Keeper was male, in his late middle age and wore a friendly smile. A genuine smile, Tika noted with some relief. He wore a grey robe, similar to that worn by yesterday’s Keeper. Most of the great open area was still in shadow although the upper parts of the domes shone in the morning light.
‘I will show you the Domes before your meeting with Kertiss.’
‘Kertiss?’ Gan asked.
The Keeper merely nodded and moved towards the Dragons.
‘Such very beautiful beings,’ he said, tilting his head to gaze up at Brin’s face.
‘Indeed they are,’ Tika replied. ‘And they will also be interested to see inside your Domes.’
‘But of course. Please, follow me.’
The nine members of Tika’s party walked close to each other, the Dragons behind them. The Keeper led them round an endlessly curving wall to a space between two of the Domes. It was wide enough perhaps for Brin to stretch his wings but then it opened again to a wider space with the third and largest Dome directly ahead. The Keeper turned left into a vaulting arch deeply shadowed. Gan, his blue cloak loosely clasped at his throat, moved closer to Tika as they walked into darkness.
Twenty paces and light washed out to meet them. None could hide their astonishment. The Dome’s walls were immensely thick, making the entrance virtually a tunnel which led them into glowing brilliance. The Keeper smiled at their expressions.
‘This is the Dome of Assembly,’ he told them.
They stared at the tiers of stone seats ringing the Dome. Ten levels and they barely reached halfway up the wall. Stone ribs stretched up to merge with another ribbed stone circle and above that was the sky. What had appeared a milky opaque substance from Dragon back Tika realised was quite transparent viewed from below. The Keeper walked forward and the company took note of the floor he walked on. Except for its far greater size, it was identical to the circles they had seen in Sapphrea, Gaharn and Vagrantia.
Stones of dazzling colours within the black marble circle depicted the spiral pattern that led in to a square slab of a dark green glassy stone at the very centre. They also noticed that the Keeper stayed without the black edge of the circle.
‘We have five Grand Assemblies each year when all our people can attend and speak. It is also used for smaller Assemblies when groups of scholars gather here to debate.’
‘Wonder what they need to debate?’ Sket muttered behind Tika.
‘It is a magnificent building,’ Ren commented. ‘Is it very ancient?’
The Keeper smiled. ‘Very ancient,’ he agreed. ‘Now we will visit the second Dome, the Dome of Knowledge.’
He trotted past them leading the way back through the arched tunnel. They crossed the space enclosed by the three buildings and entered a similar archway. The stillness and silence of the first Dome was not present here. Again stone tiers rose around the walls but these held galleries above and variously sized cubicle rooms below. People moved along the galleries, which closer observation showed to be lined with numberless books. Ren and Maressa stared, and Tika exchanged a glance with Olam. She could guess how their hands itched to get hold of even a few of these repositories of knowledge and information.
Tables and stools filled the middle of this Dome, many of them occupied by both males and females, some reading, some writing, a few with their heads together in muted discussion. Looking up, the sky was clearly visible through the strange material which covered the top of the Dome. A woman wearing trousers and shirt came towards the visitors.
‘This is Hezwa,’ the Keeper introduced her. ‘She is one of the Keepers of Lore. These are the outlanders guesting here.’
Gan’s great height was drawing interested stares from various levels of the galleries. He inclined his head when neither Ren, Tika nor Maressa chose to speak.
‘You have the most amazing collection of books here – far more than I have seen, even in the Asataria of Gaharn.’
Hezwa laughed. ‘The cataloguing involved gives me nightmares sometimes. But I must confess I am never bored or lost for occupation.’ She spoke in the Common Tongue with no trace of an accent.
Except for her darker skin, she would pass as Sapphrean, Tika reflected. How could she have learnt the Common Tongue with such fluency if there was truly no interaction between these hidden reclusive Qwah people and the Sapphreans beyond the desert?
‘May I ask how all these people reach this place?’ Gan asked. ‘We have seen no one cross the grounds around these Domes.’
Both the Keeper and Hezwa laughed aloud.
‘Here! See for yourselves!’ Hezwa went beneath the protruding galleries which Tika saw for the first time formed a wide passage sloping downwards.
‘Tunnels lead to the Ring Complex. Students live in houses beyond the Ring while Scholars, Teachers and Visitors live in the part of the building you are using.’ Hezwa explained.
‘Why do you have so much empty space around the Domes?’
The smiles faded from the faces of the Keeper and Hezwa.
‘It is deemed necessary.’ The Keeper replied, his voice expressionless. His eyes brightened. ‘It is time. Kertiss awaits you.’ The Keeper’s smile was back in place as they turned to leave. Several students had left the galleries and tables to crowd round the Dragons, talking rapidly in the liquid Desert speech.
‘Back to your studies!’ Hezwa clapped her hands. She spoke again, presumably repeating her order in the Qwah language, and the students reluctantly drifted back to their places round the Dome.
‘If you have time, you are welcome to visit the Dome of Knowledge again. I will be glad to show you some of our books.’
‘I can think of nothing I’d like better,’ Ren acknowledged fervently. ‘If we stay long enough, I at least would take up your generous offer.’
Tika reached back and caught Ren’s sleeve, smiling at Hezwa. ‘If we have time, nothing will keep him from your books.’
She tugged the Offering to catch up with the others.
As they approached the largest Dome, they saw there was an arched entrance in this one also, but it seemed far lower. Drawing closer, they saw there was a ramp sloping sharply down, and revealing that the arch in fact was larger than in the previous two Domes. They halted at the edge of the ramp, feeling the first touch of the sun on their backs as it rose over the encircling buildings.
‘What is this Dome called Keeper?’ asked Maressa.
‘This is the Dome of the Singer.’ The Keeper’s voice was low and filled with reverence.
The company glanced at each other then Tika shrugged. With her left hand she reached up to touch Farn’s neck and then took the first steps down to that gaping darkness. The sound of their boots seemed over loud in the tunnel until light bloomed before them again. They followed the Keeper until he stopped several paces within the chamber. Maressa gasped, but she was not the only one.
At regularly spaced intervals around the edge of the curving wall stood statues. Seela moved first, pacing towards the nearest figure. She stared hard at it and the others joined her in silence. It was a statue of a man. It stood on a stone plinth, its bare feet level with Tika’s waist. Then it soared up, taller even than Gan. The most exquisitely beautiful face stared straight into Seela’s. The company stepped back, trying to see the figure more clearly.
It glowed a dull gold in the strange light of the Dome and tiny scales were engraved on all the exposed areas of skin. It wore a real robe of white cloth, belted with a scarf of blue. The robe was sleeveless and slit backed, the figure’s wings furled closed at his back.
Farn edged closer to Tika and from the corner of her eye she saw that Storm was pressed to Navan’s shoulder too. Silently and slowly they moved round one side of the vast Dome, staring at statue after statue: all winged, all scaled, all robed. There seemed to be equal numbers of males and females – but as they neared the opposite side of the Dome from the archway, the company halted and could only gape.
The female statue had her head lowered but her hands half raised – all the previous figures held their hands clasped before them or relaxed at their sides. And this female’s wings were half extended, rising above her head and fanning out around her body. Tika drew a deep breath and looked away from the overwhelming statue to the other half of the Dome. More statues lined the walls right back to the archway through which the company had entered. Sket stood beside her, clearly uncomfortable.
Apart from those motionless figures the Dome was a huge empty space. She looked back to speak to the Keeper and realised he was no longer with them. She opened her mouth, and snapped it shut as a soft hiss echoed around them. Hands went to swords and Dragon eyes began to whirr. An immense section in the centre of the floor slid away somehow and the hissing changed to a low hum. Something rose from the hole. Confused minds assumed it to be another form of statuary or artefact as it continued to rise until, with a soft click, the floor was in place again and on it stood -?
It was grey blue, three times Gan’s height and smoothly rounded at one end, tapering at the other. There was another hum and click and a circle irised open just behind the rounded end. A man stepped out and walked a few steps towards them.
He smiled. ‘I am Kertiss,’ he said softly.
A young sounding male voice chimed over his. ‘And I am Star Singer. I welcome you at last.’
Chapter Three
Tika stared at the man, straight into his pale grey eyes. She knew he was attempting to probe her mind and instinctively she slammed a shield round her thoughts. His smile widened.
‘You need have no fear of me, but will you not tell me your names?’
Without hesitation, Tika gave their names, and only their names. She made no reference to any rank, or title, or to where they came from. Brin had moved to flank Tika and Farn and the man half turned to stare up at the crimson Dragon.
‘I had no idea you were quite so large,’ he said.
A trace of smoke wisped from Brin’s nose but his mind voice was calm.
‘I should tell you Kertiss, you should not believe that we fear you. That would be a mistaken belief.’
Kertiss laughed, teeth flashing in his dark face. He replied to Brin’s comment but Tika paid no attention to his words: she watched Gan, out of Kertiss’s line of sight. Gan was jiggling at his cloak and then an orange Kephi landed between his boots. She streaked into the hole in the strange object whence Kertiss had emerged. So the Survivor Khosa said they could trust was within that thing, Tika thought.
Kertiss turned from Brin as Seela moved. In the silent Dome her great feet made the merest whisper, matched by the slither of her tail over the paved floor. She reared erect at the rounded end of the object, her eyes a blaze of lavender and violet prisms. The upper part of that rounded end of what appeared to be blue grey stone suddenly cleared to become – windows? The young male voice began to sing, no words to his song but joyful notes and melodies, filling them all with a sense of delight.
‘Enough Singer,’ snapped Kertiss, his smile changing to a frown. He raised a shoulder in a half shrug. ‘My Ship is too excitable,’ he said.
‘Ship? What is Ship?’ asked Maressa.
‘This.’ Kertiss waved at the object. ‘This is a Ship which travels the spaces between worlds.’
‘I am Star Singer. I am not YOUR ship.’ The younger voice was so cold, reminding Tika instantly of the dreadful journey through blizzards to the Stronghold. The tone changed with the next words, was warm again and joyous. ‘Why do you not go and drag Orla from her work Kertiss, so she may meet these guests? I will entertain them while you’re gone.’
Tika felt a shiver of cold underlying the words but Kertiss merely shrugged again.
‘I summoned Orla but she did not respond. No doubt she is lost in her studies as usual.’
‘She is in the protected sections – you know she can’t be reached there by summoning.’
Kertiss frowned again, a more permanent expression Tika suspected than was his smile.
‘Very well. But behave yourself Ship.’ There was a clear warning in his voice. He moved to the female statue and laid his palm flat against the stone plinth on which she stood. A smaller section of floor hissed open and the man walked rapidly down the slope thus revealed.
Then there was only the sound of their breathing as the company stared at the Ship. Khosa appeared in the doorway, her odd croon suddenly loud. Seela had lowered her massive bulk and now pressed her brow against the side of the object, her eyes closed. Khosa spoke in their minds.
‘Touch Singer and you will speak with him without Kertiss knowing.’
The company looked at each other even as another wordless song began to fill the Dome with music. Olam, first to risk the dangers of the great sea, marched forward to be the first to put his hand against the grey blue Ship. His eyes widened and his body relaxed. Ren looked at Tika, an eyebrow quirked, and she moved with the Offering to place her hand beside his on the Ship’s side.
All touching this strange thing called Ship were immediately conscious of a living presence, and realised Ship was in reality an intelligent being whose name was Star Singer, and HE was the Survivor whom they could trust. His mind embraced theirs and made them feel that they were old and beloved friends and he was oh so glad to find them again. A long loneliness darkened the edges of his embracing mind, mingled with great relief.
‘We do not have long,’ Singer’s mind murmured to them even as his voice swelled with music. ‘There may be a few brief chances for you and I to speak again before you leave, but you must reach Namolos. Tell him that things are bad here: bad and worsening. I cannot do anything against Kertiss or Orla – my programming will not permit me.
‘He must be told of the gijan Kertiss has bred here. Oh I wish Khosa could stay but she cannot. She must not. I am transferring information to her, as much as I can while we speak, but she cannot stay here too long. If she is sealed below with me, Kertiss will find her. How I -. Move back! Kertiss approaches!’
Gan scooped Khosa from the Ship’s door and had just readjusted his cloak when two heads rose from the second hole in the floor.
‘And my wings are retractable because they are only required during atmospheric flight from orbit to onworld.’ Singer spoke over the throb of his music.
‘How do you do that – sing and speak at the same time?’ Maressa followed Singer’s lead in what she hoped Kertiss and the woman with him would take as innocuous conversation.
‘It is not difficult,’ Singer began to explain before Kertiss interrupted.
‘Enough of your babbling Singer.’ He gave his false smile. ‘The Ship sustained much circuitry damage when we arrived here. This is Orla. She and I are known among the Qwah as the Survivors.’
The woman regarded them coolly, much as one would study a laboratory specimen Ren recognised with a shudder. She was taller than Tika, about Maressa’s height, and had the same pale grey eyes as had Kertiss. There was enough similarity for Tika to guess they were related, perhaps even brother and sister.
‘I suggest you return to your guest rooms now for a meal. I have certain essential things to attend to but perhaps you would come back here in the middle of the afternoon?’ Again that artificial smile. ‘You saw how I opened the access ramp – I will be alerted as soon as you touch the mechanism. At the base of that ramp, Singer will await you. We would like you to see some of the work we have been undertaking here.’
As Kertiss was looking directly at Tika as he spoke, she felt bound to be the one to reply.
‘We will come back later then. There is of course room for the Dragons to move easily beneath this floor – it would be most unfortunate to upset them?’ She smiled brightly, and just as falsely as Kertiss.
Orla looked faintly annoyed but remained silent while Kertiss nodded.
‘But of course. I hope we will become far better acquainted with each other. Seeing this Dome, these statues and indeed the Ship, is usually rather overwhelming to the few so honoured. The gijan will tell you when it is the appropriate time to revisit us.’
There seemed nothing more to say or do, so Tika simply began walking towards the archway.
‘Do come back!’ Singer called. ‘I’m sure some of you would prefer to sit with me and gossip.’
‘Silence!’
Tika stiffened as she heard the venom in Kertiss’s brusque command. She looked back over her shoulder at the Ship.
‘I know some of us would love a good gossip,’ she called as cheerfully as she could manage, and then she was into the darkness of the arched tunnel and climbing to the surface.
The Keeper was sitting in the last patch of shade when Tika and her friends emerged, blinking, into the glare of midday. He got to his feet.
‘You were longer than I had expected.’ He smiled gently. ‘Let me take you back to your rooms, you must be thirsty at least.’
‘We are indeed Keeper,’ Tika replied. She looked at him curiously. ‘Do you go in there frequently?’
His step faltered. ‘Oh no, no. I am not yet worthy to enter or serve in that place.’
‘Then who does?’ Tika decided to be blunt. ‘The place was clean, well swept. So who goes in there?’
‘Gijan probably and perhaps the most senior Keepers but it is not discussed among us. We are simply told when it will be permitted for us to enter.’ He sounded worried.
‘How very odd.’ Tika beamed at him.
They were nearing their rooms in what they now knew was called the Ring Complex and Brin spoke in their minds.
‘Is it permitted Keeper, for me to take the younger Kin for exercise? We will harm no one, but it is necessary for Dragons to fly you understand.’
Ren nudged Tika: the Keeper’s eyes had become unfocused. He blinked. ‘You are free to come and go as you will great one.’ He bowed and left them outside their rooms, vanishing in the shadowed colonnade.
