Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series, page 34
‘I must get back to the College, young man, but I hope to return before twilight if I may?’
‘Of course,’ Ren agreed. ‘We will be here until a decision is made regarding what course of action we must take.’
Zerran nodded, his heart twisting again: the decision has been made, he thought with deep anguish.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Zerran came back to the temple as he’d said he would with about thirty mages. For the first time that Taza could remember, the temple gates were closed and barred, guarded by a detachment of Harbour City armsmen. Zerran had told his chosen mages what the young woman planned to do: he had also warned Chevra.
They joined the companions to eat a meal in the lower common room and Ren asked after the scholar Hariko. Zerran frowned.
‘He has not been seen since you were last in the city.’
He checked around his mages but all shook their heads �� they knew nothing more of him.
Taza again offered the companions the use of the upper apartments which Tika quickly accepted. Tired from their journey over so many leagues of sea, everyone seemed ready for sleep. The gijan refused to stay in the apartment though, insisting on joining the Dragons in the garden. Maressa and Tika watched from the window.
‘Seela is very unsettled.’ Maressa sounded worried.
The purple Dragon had refused to let the gijan on her back but they persisted until, amazingly, she swung upon them with a snarl. Much confused and chastened, Willow and Leaf retreated to Brin while Piper nestled along Storm’s back.
‘I expect she is tired,’ Tika replied. ‘Don’t forget she’s nearly as old as Fenj.’
Maressa fought against a yawn then moved to the door. ‘I’m for bed – are you coming?’
‘In a moment.’
The room seemed empty now; just Tika by the window and Sket, as always, cleaning his weapons. Khosa and Akomi had retired with Gan and the heaviness of sleep weighed the air in the apartment. Tika stretched.
‘I’ll sleep with Farn,’ she began but Sket was already on his feet waiting to go with her. She met his eyes and he smiled sadly. Oh stars, he knew! Tika swallowed and went swiftly down the stairs.
She paused by the arched doorway into the main part of the temple. Zerran’s mages murmured together, passing papers and books between them. They grew silent when they saw the small figure in the door. Zerran stayed where he was, cross-legged on a heap of pillows, but he lifted a hand towards her.
‘Gods and goddesses save you,’ he said softly.
But she had gone. She curled against Farn’s chest listening to the steady thump of his heart. She wept bitterly, her hand on the egg pendant at her breast. Should she leave the pendant with Farn? Would it help him if - ? No, she finally decided, it must stay with her.
In the darkest part of the night, Brin sent a thought trickling into her mind.
‘They sleep deeply dearest one, if you insist on this plan.’
Tika stood up, staring at Farn’s beautiful face resting back between his wings. In the starlight the scar down his neck showed dark between the glimmer of his scales. She turned away, already aching at the idea of leaving him, and moved to embrace Brin. Wordlessly he sent love and concern pouring into her mind and she stepped across to Seela. As she pulled herself onto Seela’s back, Sket climbed silently behind her.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered aloud.
His wiry arm held her firmly round the waist. He said nothing, just sat like a rock, as Seela lifted into the night sky, circling once before flying north west towards Vorna’s estates and a meeting with one of the Bound Ones.
All three were deep in their own thoughts for half the flight. It was Seela who spoke first.
‘There must be no room for regrets, small one. I know it is easier for me to say that and to believe it: I have had a long life and you are still new to the world. But regret will stifle you my dear, and make you falter when you should move without hesitation.’
‘I know, but it is so hard.’
Seela felt Tika’s mind struggling to push thoughts of Farn back behind a thick wall.
‘Don’t do that,’ she chided gently. ‘Your love for him should be your shield, your support, not hidden away and denied.’
Tika considered Seela’s suggestion while the leagues vanished beneath the Dragon’s huge wings.
‘You’re right,’ she agreed at last. ‘Together we are strong, so even the thought of him encourages me a little more.’
Sket, listening in his own mind to the conversation, tightened his arm round Tika’s waist.
‘You shouldn’t have come Sket.’ She spoke aloud, the wind of their flight blowing her words back to him.
Sket snorted in irritation. ‘And what should I do?’ he retorted. ‘My place is with you, no matter what we face.’
Seela’s laugh rang in their minds.
‘Of course he should be here, silly child. You could have no one better beside you now.’
Sket’s mouth opened in astonishment at Seela’s compliment but he didn’t reply for she was slowing the beat of her wings, flying lower with each stroke. The sky behind them was less dark as the sun began to reach up to the eastern horizon. Ahead, the sky was still littered with paling stars but there was a blemish, a rising dome of grey nothingness towards which they flew. Seela landed perhaps four hundred paces from the ball of cloud, Tika and Sket sliding from her back. Sket shivered. The air seemed to ripple and twist, like it had in the heat of the desert.
As the pre dawn light strengthened, they saw buildings within the distorted air. Seela lowered her head towards Tika and Sket but before she could say anything the ground on which they stood shuddered and heaved. The purple Dragon extended her wings, hooking their talons into the protesting earth while Tika and Sket were thrown flat. The ground stilled again and Sket helped Tika back to her feet.
‘Was that the creature?’ he asked.
Tika nodded. ‘She is so close to freedom.
She threw her arms round Seela’s neck, hugging as much as she could reach.
‘You are sure of this?’ she asked.
Seela nuzzled against Tika’s head. ‘I will go now and you will know when to make the attempt on this foulness. Succeed for me, small one, and for us all.’
Tika forced herself to release the purple Dragon and lifted her chin.
‘May the stars guide your path and guard your heart Seela of Sun Mountain. And know that I love you.’
Seela’s eyes whirred, violet and lavender facets shot with gold and then she lifted from the ground. She climbed rapidly until she was higher than the dome of twisted air. Tika tore her gaze from the great Dragon and concentrated on the buildings flickering within the murk. She found the smaller building, set slightly apart from the large house in the centre. That was where the twisted power emanated. She began to run towards that place, Sket at her side. Tika stared only at the building but as they neared the intangible wall of fog, Sket glanced up.
Seela hovered directly above the spot on which Tika concentrated. Seela’s scream of rage and pride rocked Sket back on his heels for a moment but Tika neither paused nor looked up. The ground underfoot began to buckle again and Tika grabbed Sket’s arm, trying to keep her footing on the shifting earth. Sket caught a last glimpse of the newly risen sun firing Seela’s scales to a blaze of purple light when she closed her wings, diving into the cloud, fire spewing from her open jaws.
Then Sket was inside the fog, pulled in Tika’s wake. The ground writhed beneath them and sound battered Sket nearly senseless: inhuman sounds from somewhere below him and shrieking bellows from a great Dragon. He tried to breathe but the air tasted poisonous and there didn’t seem to be enough to fill his lungs anyway. Tika pulled his arm and he peered at her, disorientated. She sat down cross-legged, one hand pulling her pendant free of her shirt, the other drawing her sword and laying it across her knees.
Sket, gasping, fell beside her, sweat streaming down his face as the ground heaved yet again. He dug the fingers of one hand into the soil, the other hooking into Tika’s belt. He blinked, trying to see what it was that Tika focused on as he felt her back stiffen against his hand. Seela was on top of the smaller building, her wings thrashing the disrupted air, fire still pouring directly down. A rumble began far underground and, as Sket stared, the main building slid sideways, disintegrating as it fell.
A wind sprang up from nowhere, gusting from all directions, hot and foetid. Sket covered his nose and mouth with a hand, glancing at Tika. She remained rigid, her eyes open but unseeing. He shuffled closer to her, trying to protect her as things began to fly through the air – branches, fence posts, a whirlwind of straw, roof tiles – all hurtling madly around them. Crouched over Tika, he felt power thrumming through her whole body. Her right hand clenched on her sword hilt and light flashed along its blade. Sket’s ears rang with the continuous noise and he hunched lower. He gasped in terror when he saw Tika’s left hand clasped around the egg pendant.
The oval glowed a deep amber, so brilliant it shone through her skin to reveal the darker lines of her bones. Should he leave her? Should he pull her hand free? He couldn’t think, for the noise increased now to a rapid drumming which rose through the earth into his very body. He looked frantically towards the smaller building and felt Tika convulse within the shelter of his arm. A line of blackness streaked up from the burning building, impaling Seela and rising through her body up towards the sky. The Dragon screamed, a cry of mingled pain and triumph, and then her body exploded into a thousand glittering fragments.
Pain roared through Sket. A tiny part of his mind still functioned clearly enough for him to realise he was experiencing some of Tika’s agony because he held her so tightly against himself. He stared down at her. Her face was a rictus of torment, her eyes still open, staring at something awful beyond imagining. Her knuckles were white where she gripped her sword but the blade itself slipped from her left knee, its tip sinking into the ground. Sket turned his eyes away when brilliant light flared and danced along the metal and Tika’s body arched backwards in agony.
Sket’s head was spinning, he could scarcely breathe and dawn seemed to have changed its mind: darkness increased about them. The ground contorted more viciously than ever and Sket, Tika clutched in his arms, was tossed about as easily as the chaff flew at winnowing. He was aware of things hitting his back, his head, then of sliding downwards, endlessly down. Finally a roar grew loud enough to burst his eardrums and the entire world seemed to explode about him.
In Harbour City the first earthquake struck at dawn. Brin had to rouse Storm and Farn from the deep sleep he’d induced in them and perhaps fortunately, both young Dragons were at first sluggish and slow to awareness. The gijan woke together, instantly alert. Brin flinched at the sharp stab of fury they sent to his mind. Willow and Piper streaked skywards before Brin could recover and were swiftly gone from sight. Leaf stood in front of him, dark eyes blazing at him.
‘Our lives are hers,’ she hissed aloud as the companions hurried from the temple.
Gan realised at once that Tika was not here. When he saw that Seela was missing as well he was filled with the chill of foreboding. Maressa was nearest Farn as the ground trembled again. Farn’s head turned, checking around the garden.
‘Where is my Tika?’ he called. ‘Does she still sleep inside?’ His eyes began to whirr faster and he rattled his wings in increasing agitation. ‘I cannot feel her mind! Where is my Tika?’
The paving under their feet buckled and stone flags snapped in half. Zerran emerged from the temple, supporting himself against the wall. He began to speak but the three Dragons suddenly bellowed in grief and outrage. Brin and Farn reared erect, the death song of the great Dragons pouring from them. Storm also rose erect but he did not know the songs of the great Dragons so stood in silent sympathy. Huge tears rolled down all three faces and Maressa slumped against Gan. Ren swayed towards Jakri whose mind had also received Seela’s call as she died. Gan met Zerran’s eyes over Maressa’s head. Zerran could only nod and manage a tremulous smile before he turned back into the temple.
When the Dragons lowered themselves they found the humans had grabbed their packs and were ready to go. Farn was more distressed than Gan had seen him since the creatures of the Void had attacked them on the Sapphrean coast. He looked in vain for Sket before he guessed Sket had gone with Tika. The realisation gave him a crumb of comfort to hold on to as he joined Jakri and Maressa on Brin’s back. Ren, with Khosa in her sack, climbed cautiously on a trembling Farn while Navan took Akomi with him on Storm.
Leaf shot skyward and Ren clutched wildly at the edge of Farn’s wing as he followed. It was plain that Farn was oblivious to all except his desperate need to locate his soul bond. Even high above the city, the low rumbling roar reached them. The riders looked down and saw the buildings moving, swaying, collapsing in dust shrouded heaps. Gan watched as the perimeter wall of the city slumped inwards. He was guiltily grateful that he could not hear the cries of people no doubt crushed in the devastation. Lifting his gaze ahead, he was surprised to see the gijan Leaf some way in front, her wings beating in powerful strokes.
Nearing midday, they were all in a state of shock. The earth still shook and split open; great fissures opening beneath them as though the ground had grown jaws with which to swallow trees, livestock, people, and closing them again with a jarring snap. Leaf slowed and began to descend and the riders saw Willow and Piper below on a seemingly steady piece of pastureland. The Dragons landed, even Brin breathing hard from the speed of their flight. Farn stumbled, almost tipping Ren over his shoulder, and Maressa ran towards Tika’s soul bond.
Ren slid from Farn’s back, immediately loosening Khosa’s carry sack while Farn collapsed to the ground. His eyes whirred more slowly but their colour was alarmingly faint. Ren caught Farn’s long face between his hands, forcing his mind into the young Dragon.
‘Farn, she may be all right. Did you feel her death? Farn!’ he shouted aloud, tightening his hands and shaking Farn’s head. ‘Answer me, light damn you! Did you feel her death as we all felt Seela’s?’
Jakri had joined them, his hand lightly against Farn’s brow. Whether he did anything or not Ren wasn’t sure, but a spark kindled briefly in a prismed eye.
‘No,’ Farn whispered. ‘I didn’t feel that, but I can feel nothing from her – nothing at all.’
‘Farn.’ Ren was determined to bully Farn out of this pit of despair into which he was sinking too quickly. ‘Farn, remember Sapphrea? When Tika collapsed after we fought those red eyed creatures? She shielded herself – even against you, while she recovered her strength.’
Ren was unaware that everyone stood watching him as he waited for Farn to respond.
‘What you say is true,’ Farn agreed at last. ‘But if she has collapsed somewhere here, then we have to find her.’ He pushed himself up a little, staring in the direction of what had been the estates of Mage Councillor Vorna.
They all followed the direction of his gaze. A line of blackened grass delineated the exact position of the outer edge of Valesh’s disruptive field. Beyond was a vista of grey, black and brown rubble. What had once been buildings were low humps of burnt stone and in the centre of this still smouldering circle was a crater. Ren was about to speak but Jakri cut in first.
‘Farn, you cannot find Mistress Tika’s mind signature, but it would appear that your friend Sket is with her. Can you perhaps find his mind?’
Ren could have kicked himself for not thinking of such an obvious plan and waited for Farn’s answer. Brin had moved closer and he too was clearly extending his senses over the large area of devastated earth before them.
‘Yes,’ Farn murmured. ‘Sket is there somewhere, within that hole.’
The gijan were already airborne, skimming low before vanishing below the level of the ground. Navan had stepped onto the ruined earth and bent to pick up a large chunk of soil. It felt warm and he tossed it across to Gan. The solid looking block crumbled when it hit Gan’s palm and he frowned. He walked onto the burnt ground a little further than Navan. The soil crunched, losing its firmness and becoming fine dust which drifted slowly up behind him. He stared across the league to the crater where the gijan had disappeared.
‘This is too dangerous to walk on,’ he said thoughtfully. He took another step forward and his foot sank calf deep. Navan grabbed for Gan’s arm as Emla’s Captain pulled himself free. He moved back, onto the undamaged land and turned to the companions. Farn slept and Jakri nodded when Gan raised a questioning brow. Yes, Farn would be a risk on this terrain if he lost control. Gan studied Storm and Brin.
‘Can you see where the gijan have got to?’ he asked. ‘Whatever you do, don’t land anywhere on the burnt land.’
Maressa was sitting down, sorting through the packs for her medical supplies and remedies. She desperately missed Sket’s presence – he was the one who was always ready in such emergencies. Now it seemed highly probable that he would be the one in need of help.
Tika had no idea where she was. She seemed to be travelling rapidly down dark tunnels but somehow she could see. Not that there was much to take note of: jagged black rock, with other tunnels at intervals. She found the tunnel she travelled widening into a large chamber, but it was as featureless as the tunnel. She was aware that it was her mind travelling here: she didn’t have an inkling of where her body was. Perhaps she was dead. The thought didn’t bother her until she remembered Farn and pain lanced through her.
‘That’s right, think of him,’ a voice told her.
She spun round but there was only the empty black cavern. But she had recognised the voice.
‘Seela? Is it you? Where are we?’
‘This is one of the places Between and I cannot stay here long. And you should not be here at all.’
‘Are you - ?’ Tika found she couldn’t finish her question.
