Finn touched a finger to Mena’s cheek and the girl turned back to her with another smile.

  ‘Babach is on his way here from your land. He is an Observer, like Soosha. He brings one of your people – Elyssa.’

  Mena shook her head. ‘I do not know that name.’

  ‘They come with Dragons.’

  Mena gasped, colour draining from her face, her eyes enormous. She spun away, staring out into the chasm of air beyond the viewing ledge. Finn exchanged concerned glances with the two Kooshak and Soosha.

  ‘Mena, is there something wrong with that?’

  The child’s shoulders slumped and she turned back to Finn, head bowed and face hidden.

  ‘I hurt a Dragon,’ she whispered. ‘I think I killed her.’

  ‘What?’ Finn struggled to free herself of her enfolding quilts. ‘A child such as you could kill a Dragon? I do not believe it!’

  ‘Unless she used power,’ murmured Soosha.

  Mena raised her chin. ‘I do not remember it all, not clearly, but I made Kadi bring me here to the Menedula. At least, I think I did.’

  ‘Tell it all child,’ Finn commanded. ‘We will get to the bottom of this but I tell you now, I do not believe you could kill a Dragon.’

  Mena began to speak, slowly and softly at first, telling how something within her had gained ascendancy over her very thoughts. She faltered when she spoke of her brother Bannor and his “accidental” death. She told of her admiration for someone named Tika, of a young silver blue Dragon who was somehow linked to this Tika. Her listeners asked no questions, did not press her when she fell silent. But when she spoke of dominating the Dragon Kadi’s mind and forcing her to fly to the limits of her endurance, tears streamed down her face. Without speaking, Volk reached for her, lifting her to his lap until she had calmed enough to continue her story.

  She was unaware that all in the room had drawn close, all listening to Mena’s incredible tale. She reached the part where Cho Petak released her from whatever power had held her in thrall, and took a shuddering breath.

  ‘Enough for now little one.’ Volk glared at Finn Rah, daring her to contradict him. ‘Parched you must be, and still hungry I’ll swear.’

  Mena managed a watery smile and Volk’s beanpole son-in-law Povar lifted trays of buns and tiny tarts onto the serving counter. People moved then, released from the spell of the child’s voice, and students handed round the tea and food, talking quietly again. Silence fell once more after this brief period of chatter and Mena began to talk again.

  Now she spoke of finding the neglected garden, and how the plants gave her solace. She had believed she was doomed to stay prisoned there forever until she’d found Tyen hiding in the little hut where tools were kept. Mena’s voice was growing husky when she stopped in mid sentence, her body stiff within Volk’s arm. She slid from his knees and took a step towards the exposed viewing ledge.

  Arryol’s apprentice appeared, carrying the boy Tyen who stared wide eyed at the people in the common room. He wriggled and the student lowered him carefully to the floor. He hopped towards Mena and caught her hand, his arm going round her waist. Their two small figures stood like statues as a melodious call came from outside and above.

  A great shadow swept across the opening, a flurry of wings and a massive shape landed on the ledge. Huge wings furled back to lie close to the body and the Dragon paced forward. Gold scales glittered and sparkled, while another huge beast was landing behind. A short sturdy figure slid from the first Dragon’s back and most in the common room recognised Observer Babach. He spotted Finn Rah and held his hands out towards her.

  ‘Finn,’ he cried. ‘Finn Rah! I would introduce Kija of the Broken Mountain Treasury.’

  The gold Dragon’s faceted eyes whirred and flashed, her voice ringing in their minds.

  ‘I cannot greet you formally, your caves are too low, but greet you I do, and may the stars guide your paths.’

  She moved to a side wall and lowered herself to recline gracefully there allowing her companion to pace forward. A slim girl with hair as gold as Kija’s scales and bright blue silvered eyes slid from the second Dragon and joined Babach.

  The second Dragon was blue as a midnight sky, her eyes flashing sapphires. And Finn gasped, seeing the oval pendant that shone high under her jaw. A great stillness filled the room, the blue Dragon lowering herself nearly flat to her belly, her eyes unwaveringly on Mena.

  Offering, Observers, students and ordinary folk saw great tears rolling down the long beautiful face. She stretched her neck until her brow touched Mena’s.

  ‘Child you are safe.’ Her voice rang with joy in their minds, but Mena cried aloud, her hands outstretched to the Dragon.

  ‘Oh Kadi, can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?’

  Cho Petak summoned Rhaki to his presence. It would have been a simple matter for him to locate Rhaki’s mind and transfer his own essence to that point. Cho preferred to summon Rhaki here to gauge his reaction to finding the Sacrifice unbodied. Cho positioned himself beside the long bookcases and waited. He sensed Rhaki approaching. He realised he’d forgotten that when unbodied himself, he could “see” an outline of another unbodied being. The air shivered by the door and Cho saw a tall blurred figure take shape within the room. His face was clear enough for Cho to see the shock as Rhaki looked at the unpleasant corpse sprawled in the chair. Rhaki’s gaze passed over Cho on his first sweep of the room: he discovered him after a second, slower, search.

  Cho filed the fact that, newly unbodied as he was, his essence must be thinner, less defined, than one unbodied so much longer. Cho moved to a spot closer to the table and saw Rhaki’s long arrogant face shiver, briefly changing to the broader, intellectual features of D’Lah. He wished suddenly that Grek was present. He could trust Grek, devoted boy that he’d always been. If he was here, he would support Cho’s attempt to separate D’Lah and Rhaki.

  ‘I did not know you were to shed your body,’ Rhaki remarked.

  ‘It had become a troublesome nuisance. I shall replace it sometime but there is no urgency to the matter.’

  Rhaki drifted to the window. ‘I will be honest with you Cho Petak. I am growing more bored by the day. I understood a life of some excitement and interest awaited me here, and the truth is very different. I will return to my own lands – I can be of great effect there.’

  Cho’s thoughts raced. He came to a decision.

  ‘Do you realise my dear, that you have hosted one of my – friends – since your birth?’ he asked calmly.

  Air currents swirled and Rhaki’s faint shape distorted and reformed.

  ‘You lie! I would know if there was any attempt to infiltrate my mind!’

  ‘He joined with you in your mother’s belly.’ Cho gathered his resources to focus on Rhaki. He was sure Rhaki could not overcome him but he could prove difficult enough to deplete large amounts of his energy. Now was the best time to strike, to force the two apart, while Rhaki was confused and searching his own mind patterns.

  A flare of dark light, like a pointed finger, shot from Cho towards Rhaki. Shrieks of pain rebounded from the shielding Cho kept around himself. Ah, but it was difficult to differentiate between the two minds! They had been together far too long, as Grek had warned him. Rhaki’s mind writhed and struggled, aware for the first time of the alien mind entwined with his own, and desperate to free himself of it.

  D’Lah’s mind screamed in terror: he wanted only to cling to the long familiar existence that he knew within Rhaki. Cho relaxed, knowing Rhaki would do the work of separation for him. He watched carefully though, on guard for any whiplash attack on himself. Colours flashed in the energised air as two minds fought, Cho concerned suddenly at D’Lah’s apparent weakness. He had underestimated Rhaki’s strength and power.

  The colours flashed faster until air particles splintered apart with a deafening roar. Cho flinched, forming the heaviest shielding he could devise. He waited before cautiously probing outwards to where Rhaki and D’Lah had fought. D’Lah remained. Cho quickly assessed his state and found him much damaged, much reduced, whimpering with shock. Cho sent comfort pulsing softly to the wreck of his old associate and once again regretted the absence of Grek. It would take time to calm D’Lah and only then would he know how much could be restored and how much was irretrievably lost. He cast briefly for Rhaki’s mind signature but could find no trace. Rhaki had fled.

  When Rhaki felt the alien mind’s hold weakening, he had loosed all his power, forcing free and hurtling up through the lava rock of the Menedula and into the higher atmosphere. Parts of his mind hurt, stung as though bleeding. He was disorientated, confused and yes, afraid. He hurried to the east, instinctively wanting to put distance between himself and Cho Petak.

  Weaving through the air, Rhaki realised he was too weakened to travel as far as he’d like. He saw snowfields to the north and descended, sliding through the snow and on through the rock. He rested, he knew not how long, but eventually he was restored enough to test his mind for the effects of that – thing. Had he a body, he would have shuddered and retched: the idea of another creature inside his mind was utterly abhorrent.

  Slowly, patiently, methodically Rhaki tested his mind. He sealed off sections that hurt, the places where the thing had dug too deeply. Above him, days and nights passed unnoticed while Rhaki healed what he could. Finally he felt nearly whole again and began to consider his position. During the healing he’d worked on himself, he had uncovered many memories that had apparently slipped from his conscious mind. Or been concealed by that creature.

  He remembered experiments of a foulness that sickened him, faces filled with terror, and names. One name hurt him immensely – Bark. Bark had truly been his friend, and now he remembered how he had ruined him. Knowing as he now did, that most if not all of these actions had been implemented by the other creature within him, gave him no comfort. Had his great pride in his abilities been encouraged by that thing as well?

  Rhaki’s torment began all over again. Who was he? How much was he still Rhaki of the Asatarian People, and how much tainted by Cho Petak’s machinations? Iska! Her memory suddenly confronted him and he groaned aloud, the rock vibrating with his agony.

  He had no idea what Cho’s plans were for this world but judging by the rapid ruination of Drogoya lands, Rhaki had little hope that his own lands would long be spared Cho’s attention. If he was to return to Gaharn, would anyone trust him, listen to his warnings? Surely not. And yet they should be warned – they must be warned. Rhaki shivered in the interstices of the rock, summoning the courage to travel back to Gaharn. A faint sound seemed to filter down to him, or was it from the very rocks themselves? It sounded like a distant singing.

  Another of Cho’s missing lieutenants was in the far west of Sapphrea on the other side of the world from Cho. He was bored. He found the humans very slow witted and unambitious. They had no great pleasure in inflicting pain on others, no idea of the exquisite delight that could be found in the delicacy of torture.

  M’Raz was amused that the human he now possessed still struggled against him. Admittedly, he was proving stronger than M’Raz had expected, but then, it was so delightfully simple to play on his prejudices and beliefs. Lord Hargon of Return hated and feared any hint of abnormal mental abilities. Such abilities had nearly destroyed these lands once, and must never be allowed to regain so much as a toehold in society again.

  The fact that the catastrophe Hargon dwelt on happened millennia past was irrelevant: it must never be repeated. M’Raz merely prodded those thoughts in Hargon’s little brain and the man was ready to destroy anything in sight. It had been amusing at first but was becoming deeply boring now. M’Raz had felt Cho’s summoning and buried himself within Hargon’s mind.

  Cho Petak was crazy. M’Raz had concluded as much centuries before and planned to extricate himself from involvement in Cho’s conspiracies. But he’d left it just too late: he’d found himself wrenched from his body, trapped in the Void, and hurled into space. He had been furious. He’d witnessed Cho’s freeing of D’Lah and Grek and fumed further for more centuries. When Cho’s call came at last, he had made sure that his loyalty and adoration were shining beacons to Cho’s searching mind and thus secured his release.

  He had no intention of going anywhere near Cho Petak ever again, but the summoning he’d heard bothered him. Had Cho grown so powerful he could span a world? M’Raz looked out of Lord Hargon’s eyes, ignoring the way the closest armsmen flinched and averted their faces. He saw endless, barren land, undulating in all directions. He had no real understanding of why this man wanted to travel in such an inhospitable region. The animals they rode were suffering – already several had collapsed and been slaughtered where they fell. At least their blood provided liquid and their flesh, food.

  No, M’Raz was uncomfortable. Twice he’d felt Cho’s summoning and once, he was sure, he had sensed either Grek or Cho himself actually within the immediate vicinity. He did not want to confront either of them trapped in this human. On the instant, he pulled free from Lord Hargon’s body and without a pause, headed south east.

  Men pulled their koninas out of the way as Hargon fell from his saddle. Trib cautiously bent to peer at his Lord. Hargon groaned, his eyes fluttering open. Trib stepped back, then stared again. Lord Hargon’s eyes were blue, as they had not been since the retreat from Far. Trib glanced quickly at the armsmen nearest him and saw they too were staring at their Lord’s eyes. Warily Trib knelt, lifting Hargon’s shoulders from the ground. He hesitated, then unclipped the water flask from his belt and let a few drops trickle onto Hargon’s lips.

  Hargon stared at Trib then at the surrounding armsmen. He struggled to his feet, leaning on both Trib and his konina. He looked over the konina’s back and gave an audible gasp. He looked at his men again.

  ‘Where are we? What are we doing in these lands?’

  ‘Erm, you led us here Sir Lord,’ Trib replied carefully. ‘Do you not remember? After we fired Andla, you led us here.’

  Hargon stared at Trib in horrified disbelief. ‘Fired Andla?’ he repeated.

  ‘Yes Sir Lord.’ Trib felt it prudent to keep to the briefest of comments.

  ‘Dear stars, what has happened? Have I been ill, fevered?’ Hargon’s expression was of utter bewilderment. ‘No. Tell me later. First, where exactly are we?’

  ‘Fifteen days into the Bitter Lands, Sir Lord. You, erm, said we would reach the great sea before nightfall.’

  ‘I did?’ Hargon looked at each of the twenty seven armsmen gathered round him and shook his head. He hauled himself back into his saddle. ‘Lead on then Trib, and where is Captain Navan?’

  ‘Erm, you were leading us Sir Lord. None of us has any idea where we are. And you ordered Captain Navan executed’

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Nine days had passed since the Dragon Lord had been seen. Ashta slept for the first four of those days and then was roused by Snow Dragons and Delver healers led by Berri, acting Wise One in Nolli’s absence. Kera and Nesh watched closely but Ashta seemed calm and untroubled. She flew from the great gateway to hunt and, apparently, just for fun as well. She encountered Baryet on one of her returns and the hissing and squawking that ensued worried everyone. None of the Dragons appeared much interested in the two Plavats and this sudden spat of animosity was cause for concern.

  Kera wrote a note which she gave Motass on one of his excursions for food. She had to wait nearly a full day for a reply and then she was only told that Chakar was “occupied” with Mim and not able to say when she would be “unoccupied”. Kera swore in a fashion that shocked Voron but made Nesh grin and comment that perhaps the Discipline Senior was spending too much time in proximity to the Guards.

  During this time they had learned with great sadness of Ryla’s death in Gaharn. Kera and Nesh, the only Asatarians at the Stronghold, spent an evening remembering the ancient Lady and wishing her well on her journey Beyond. During the time of Mim’s seclusion, it became apparent that the affliction had come no further into the Domain than the settlement of Arak, despite their fears.

  Scrolls came through the circle from Vagrantia once more, causing great excitement mixed with sorrow when they heard not only of the destruction of the strange entity but also Gremara’s appalling end. From the description of Lorak’s unmoving state, it seemed he too had passed Beyond, but neither Jeela nor Fenj would allow anyone near him or Gremara.

  On the tenth morning since Mim had been seen, Kera sat after breakfast with Bikram, the Delver gardener, and Nesh. Kera had read a letter just received from Emla in Gaharn, giving her suggestions regarding Mim’s disappearance from general view and Gremara’s death.

  ‘If the two events are linked, surely we should be concerned for Mim – his mental state at least?’

  Nesh was reading Emla’s letter again as Kera spoke. ‘I think Lady Emla has made a likely connection, but I cannot see a reason or what any outcome might be.’ He shook his head. ‘If Chakar won’t tell us, we’ll just have to wait.’

  ‘Surely she would tell us if there was something badly wrong?’

  Nesh passed the letter back across the table. ‘I have tried to mind speak Dessi,’ he smiled at Kera. ‘I’m sure you’ve tried too.’

  Kera grunted. ‘The whole area around that section of the upper level is shielded.’ She grinned reluctantly back at Nesh. ‘Yes, I’ve tried – several times – all to no avail.’

  Nesh shrugged. ‘So we wait.’ He got to his feet. ‘I must check the herb beds in the first level while I remember Kera, but I’ll be back by midday.’

  Kera glanced at Bikram as Nesh’s tall figure vanished through the tunnel opening. The owl Sava poked his head out from under Bikram’s jacket, clicked his beak and hooted dolefully. Bikram stroked the feathers along Sava’s wing. ‘I don’t believe old Lorak would have died Lady Kera. He’d so many plans for the gardens here, and for things he and that great Fenj were going to do. He’d be most put out if he’d died Lady.’

 

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