Dark Lightning (16 page)

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They went through a door in the hall, and into a courtyard paved with exotic looking tiles. The air shimmered and shifted, and as Jynx watched Sybilla’s imagination at work she clung to her mentor.

Wulf’s hair bristled and he growled deep in his throat, but it was not a growl of warning ... but as though he’d been there before. Jynx placed a hand on his neck, all the while experiencing the breathless excitement quivering through her, as though something momentous was about to happen. ‘Hush, my Wulf.’

Ahead of them a set of steps wound down into a cavern.

‘You lead and I’ll follow,’ Sybilla said, and they started down, Wulf going on ahead.

When they reached the bottom Sybilla seated herself on a stone bench and began to meditate. Jynx could still feel the pull of her, as if threads were woven between them, keeping her joined.

Jynx wouldn’t dare to interrupt Sybilla’s meditation but the threads were irksome. When she tried to break free of them they just grew tighter. Sybilla was letting her know she wasn’t going to be allowed to run free. She didn’t know quite what to do, but she remembered that this was a chimera world, and it would be what her imagination made it. Sybilla was allowing her to discover it for herself.

 Eventually, Jynx wandered over to the fountain in the middle of a temple and trailed her hand through the water ... something she was familiar with. The thought that Sybilla might be an observer to her deepest desires was slightly uncomfortable.

When the water cleared she saw Laek. He was seated under a tree with Jon and Iago. They were sharpening their weapons. Beyond, Lady Azarine stood, with Esbel. They seemed to be camped in the forest.

‘Laek,’ she called softly, but he didn’t turn. The fountain wasn’t a thought conductor then. Laek needed water, as well, for them to converse, she realized. She had however, learned that she could snatch a moment of vision of her loved ones.

The man she’d spoken to at the pool on Soran was standing with Danea. He had an elegant stance to him. He was handsome in a lean, predatory sort of way. She suspected he might be a hesp, and wondered if she’d be able to make contact with him.

‘Tighe,’ she whispered, and he turned, his eyes silvery and sharp like those of her wolf.

Wulf must have sensed something for he gave a quiet growl, until she placed her hand over his snout and whispered, ‘No, Wulf. See how complete a being he is in himself.’

Wulf licked her hand.

Tighe gave a faintly crooked smile, though he didn’t acknowledge her. ‘Ask Laek to come for me at the tower in Karshal,’ she whispered.

His smile fading, Tighe shrugged and turned back to Danea. The chimera had limitations, she realized, and therefore it was dangerous place for the uninitiated. Hence, Sybilla’s tight hold on her. This was a learning process and her mentor was telling her to beware. She needed to take control of her thoughts, not let them run riot.

She gazed into the water and thought of her brother Emrys, wondering how his tracking of them was progressing. At first she couldn’t see anything, and then a figure in a black cloak came into her vision. Emrys stood in an alleyway, almost indistinguishable in the shadows. A second man came into view. He stopped a bare heartbeat away. Emrys spun and chopped him across the throat. He fell.

The man emerged from the shadows into the light and Jynx held her breath when he seemed to look straight into her eyes. ‘Emrys, don’t do it,’ ... she whispered, her heart cracking at the thought that he could bring himself to kill herself and Remy.

When her brother moved on she exhaled. He’d tracked them to Karshal. But as long as she stayed here with the followers, and as long as the chimera tower didn’t topple, then she’d be safe.

Wulf had gone into a clearing up ahead, and there was the sound of water. She hurried forward and found herself in the High Place.

A smiled touched her lips. Slipping from her tunic and breeches she swam to the flat rock, flopped on to her stomach and gazed down into the water. Though the water was clear she couldn’t see the bottom, which disappeared into the gloom.

As she watched, a figure of a woman appeared, swimming up out of the murky depths, twisting and turning gracefully and leaving a trail of luminosity behind her.

‘Tiana,’ Jynx whispered.

The woman came up through the water fast. ‘Jynx, did you dream me up, very few do these days.’

‘I don’t know. This is my first time in the chimera.’

‘Are you alone?’

‘No ... I have Sybilla with me.’

A smile spread across Tiana’s face. ‘Sybilla was my mentor once, only her body was old and when it wore out I buried her in a cave in the desert. Then she renewed, and she fell in love with Kavan’s most trusted trooper and wed him. Sybilla is an ancient, and her spirit will never die.’

‘Why not?’

‘She’s the daughter of the grand alchemist, she trains his disciples and carries out his work.’

‘Are they the followers? My mother said I’m one.’

‘Not all the followers are disciples, and not all live with the sisters. Some have healing powers and can appear in spirit if they have a close genetic tie with someone. Some have the ability to renew themselves completely, like Sybilla. It’s not for me to know how you will develop. Will you come into the water with me? It’s cooling.’

Tiana had eyes as green as emerald and her hair streamed about her in moonlit strands. Jynx slid in beside her and the two began to swim down into the depths. Soon Jynx began to run out of breath, but as she turned to swim upwards her hand tangled in Tiana’s hair.

She began to panic, until she saw a hole in the rock near to the bottom. There was the door set in it, the one she’d seen with Remy. Tiana dragged her towards it.

Something took hold of Jynx’s feet and there was a tug of war, so she felt as though she was being torn apart. Jynx took a knife from her belt and hacked at Tiana’s hair. Freed, she was pulled rapidly upwards, until she was dragged on to the shore.

Releasing her held breath she rapidly gasped in a fresh one and began to cough. Wulf licked her face, and the world spun around her. Gradually it settled.

‘Thank you,’ she croaked. ‘Tiana was going to drown me.’

 ‘Not on purpose.’ Everything that happens here comes from your own mind.

She laughed. ‘I didn’t know you could speak, Wulf. You sound like Sybilla.’

‘It is me. You need to get some air into your lungs. Breathe in ... now breathe out ... good.’

Sybilla smiled and said, ‘Now, listen to me, Jynx. Wulf didn’t rescue you, I did, though he did come to warn me you were out of control. You were messing with some strong magic, since you know the High Place is forbidden.’

‘I didn’t go there on purpose. It just happened.’ Gazing around her she discovered they were back in the courtyard.

‘You must control your thoughts, not allow them to be controlled by your impulses. You must meditate on that before you sleep tonight.’

Gazing at her hand Jynx made a face at the raised welts around her wrist. Where tendrils of Tiana’s hair had clung, it had burned her. Sybilla placed her hands around the injury and the soreness began to ease.

‘There’s a door at the bottom of the rock,’ Jynx told her.

‘The body of the Grand Alchemist is interred there. He created this world, and has a powerful energy source invested in it. If that energy if broken or disturbed the world would begin to crumble, and eventually disintegrate into dust.’

‘There is a noise behind the door, and Tiana was taking me there, I think. She said you’re the daughter of the Grand Alchemist and you will never die, but just keep renewing your body. When you were her mentor she buried you in a cave in the desert. Is that true?’

Sybilla nodded. ‘She could have done. It was so long ago that I can’t remember. What else did you see?’

‘First I saw my brother Emrys. He is in Karshal, and was as still as the shadows he sheltered in. He was followed by a trooper and allowed the man the space of a goat’s whisker. Then as fast as a cat he chopped him down. Emrys is Cynan’s best tracker,’ she said with some pride, forgetting, for just a minitix, that she was half of Emrys prey on this occasion.

‘And then?’

‘I saw Laek, Danea and Tighe, but although I spoke to them they didn’t see me. At least ... Tighe might have. He is a strange one.’

Sybilla caressed her face. ‘Tighe is a traveler. He has many skills and is a master of disguise. He has the ability to change shape and project his familiars away from him, so his presence could be in different places at the same time.’

‘Do you know him?’

‘We have met in another life.’ Sybilla seemed reluctant to talk any more of him, for she caressed Jynx’s cheek and said, ‘Laek thinks of you often.’

‘He is my friend, Remy’s too. I couldn’t see Hal, though I tried.’

‘Scry the scene again so I can see them while they’re in your mind.’

Jynx sent ripples scurrying across the water in the fountain. A scene appeared when the water calmed. It was dusk, and the troopers were lining up, and heading across the plain towards the sea. Some had taken to the air, sitting aside landflights.’

‘Look at the flights,’ Jynx exclaimed in delight, and Sybilla smiled. ‘Sharn would have summoned them, for the trimarine cannot take them all.’

‘I remember Sharn. He helped us escape from Emrys in Arles. He hid us in the cart belonging to Hal and Orish.’ Her gaze went back to the scene. Lady Azarine was at the front of the column, with Laek. She wore the same uniform as the troopers. Although the sea was some distance away, Jynx clearly saw Cynan’s trimarine, and knew it was waiting for them.

‘What’s happening?’

 ‘They’re going back to Arles,’ Sybilla said. ‘Azarine is going to take her revenge for the wrong done to her family.’

‘She is going to kill Cynan? How can she? She’s only a woman.’

‘The rage she has held inside her heart for all these years will give her strength. Now, find this Hal of yours.’

She murmured his name, almost like a caress. ‘Hal ...’

Uffo came into view, his glossy black hide quivering. She gasped when the flight’s wings extended from his body and he circled in the air. There was a man seated astride his back – a man with dark hair, strong thighs and eyes of deep blue.

Excitement quivered through her as Uffo soared into the air and gave a trill. ‘Hal,’ she called out, even knowing he couldn’t hear her.

More flights arrived and the troopers mounted. How glorious they all looked. She grinned happily at Sybilla. ‘There’s Hal riding on Uffo’s back. He looks so splendid.’

‘That’s Falcon Darkwater, true Lord of Karshal. He will not be going since he and his troopers have Karshal to conquer.’

‘It can’t be ... it’s Hal. He’s changed, but I know him well.’ Her fingers went to the peregrine on the amulet she’d carved and the breath stilled in her throat.

Sybilla nodded. ‘Being here has encouraged you to think with the deepest level of your mind. You knew he was special right from the beginning, even before he knew himself that he was Falcon Darkwater, son of Sabarin, brother to Azarine. As well as having the ability to scry, you are a seer. You also have the skill to heal. Now you know the extent of your skills you must learn to handle them, for you have it in your to achieve everything you deserve.’

‘I have seen how riches corrupt people. I only want what I need, Sybilla.’

‘Of course you do ... I would think no less of you if you wanted more.’

‘Tell me of Falcon. I thought he perished in his mother’s womb.’

‘Esbel and Azarine tricked Servish, and they removed the infant before Yvaine died. Giving Falcon life and the will to defeat their enemies was Yvaine’s ultimate sacrifice. Falcon was raised by the ancients’ brotherhood and taken under the wing of Orish, who taught him and gave him wisdom. Now he will claim his birthright.’

‘Why didn’t he tell me?’

‘Falcon didn’t know who he was until he went through the ceremony to unlock his memory and learn the reason for his being. It almost killed him, and the lady Azarine who gave him her strength.’

A glossy black feather fluttered down from the sky and Jynx caught it. Uffo had known she was there and had sent her a gift.

She stuck it in her hair, coiling a strand around it to secure it. ‘Will Falcon forget me now he has changed?’ she asked, as the water cleared.

‘You can only wait and see, little one.’ Sybilla took her in her arms and hugged her tight. ‘Come, that’s been enough excitement for one day. We’ll go back and continue cutting up the herbs.’

Jynx groaned, but didn’t argue. She would come back to the chimera later when she was alone, to see what else she could find out. She had to learn to control her impulses, Sybilla had said. She shrugged. What better way than to practise them, then she would know what she was capable of.

Later, in the dark blue twilight of night Jynx crept from her chamber and made her way to the hall. But no matter how much she searched, she couldn’t find the door to the chimera.

Back in her chamber she sat on her meditation cushion and placed her mind to the problem. As she concentrated on the door her mind kept wandering on to other things. Gradually, she became aware of a low hum, so concentrated it was hard to distinguish where it was coming from.

She fixated on it, and she found the same note quivering inside her. Softly, she began to hum. There was a faint blue glow outside her window, and a deep bracelet of stars slowly circling. The noise grew louder. Reaching out, she closed her hand around a pulsing thread of light. It pulled her into the sky and she floated there in absolute peace and perfect contentment. She could feel the presence of Remy, but like her he had no substance. A light began to spark inside her and she began to giggle, as if she’d been synergized into energy and had become an infinitesimal part of a something bigger.

Sybilla looked up from her own meditation and smiled. The youngster had a lot of love and laughter inside her ... and good ... she was beginning to respond to the forces around her and realize she was a part of a whole.

When Jynx woke she knew what she was, and sought Sybilla out. ‘Why didn’t you tell me I’m like you?’