Drogoya: Book 3 Circles of Light series (25 page)

She glanced sharply at
him but could find no sign of sarcasm or amusement. Tika sighed.
‘You do not like heights, or the sea. What else makes you
ill?’

‘Certain foods in
Drogoya,’ he shrugged. ‘I truly cannot help it Lady
Tika.’

Tika glimpsed Sket’s
grin and reluctantly smiled herself. She headed back through the
narrow gap and climbed up to the cave Gan had picked out. She put
her pack some way back from the entrance then stood on the ledge,
looking up to where Cloud reclined watching them.

‘Sea Mother, some of
our party do not enjoy being above the ground too far. Where will
we meet your Elders?’

Cloud’s eyes whirred
and Tika knew there was discussion between her and several other
Dragons. But before Cloud could give a reply, a Dragon came from
the shadows of another cave. This one was much larger than Cloud,
of a dark slate grey, and Tika knew beyond doubt that it was the
most important of the Elders by the sheer power it radiated. The
watching Dragons became alert, their wings shivering in
anticipation of the Elder’s flight.

A body slimmer than
Brin’s but nearly as large, slid smoothly into the air above the
cove and drifted over Tika’s head to settle on the beach beyond the
promontory. Farn and Brin were already raised in greeting to the
sea Dragon who responded in like fashion. Ren, Sket and Olam came
through the gap and joined the others facing the new
Dragon.

With screams and high
calls, the rest of the sea Dragons landed around the Elder. One of
them was also clearly an Elder.

‘My name is Salt,
Eldest of this Flight,’ a low musical voice said in their minds.
‘You are welcome guests within our caves.’

The dark grey male
lowered himself to the dry sand and reclined opposite Tika. She
bowed then sat cross legged, the others following suit.

‘Is it polite to call
you Sea Father, or Elder Salt?’ she asked.

Salt rumbled with
amusement, the sound reminding Tika with a sudden pang of old
Fenj.

‘We have no Sea
Fathers, only Sea Mothers. Call me Salt, as I am known to
all.’

‘This is Ice, second
Eldest of this Flight, and my sister.’

Salt’s head dipped
towards the much paler grey Dragon beside him. ‘You have come in
search of ancient places, I believe you told Cloud?’

‘Yes,’ Tika took a deep
breath. ‘Long ages past, a great catastrophe overtook these lands.
The people who caused it, lived in cities hereabouts. We seek for
any signs of those long lost places.’

‘Your words are
difficult to follow,’ Salt remarked. ‘We do not know
cities.’

Tika formed a picture
of Gaharn in her mind and there was much murmuring among the
Dragons.

‘Do these things grow
from the land?’ Ice asked curiously.

‘No, people build them,
from stone or wood.’ Tika picked up a handful of pebbles and
stacked them one on top of another.

Dragons watched
intently. ‘Are there no caves for them?’

Tika was not sure who
had asked the question but realised she was in serious danger of
being side-tracked.

‘There are many people
but few caves,’ Ren intervened smoothly. ‘We will tell you all you
wish to know of cities – later.’

Eyes whirred and
flashed and Tika shot a grateful smile at the Offering.

‘Do you have no
memories of such a place as we have just shown you?’ Ren
continued.

Salt considered the
question. ‘We know of the catastrophe of which you speak. Our
Flights lived further to both north and south long ago: we had no
dealings with the two legged ones.’ His eyes flashed like an angry
sea. ‘Even so, many of us died. There were great waves, greater
than ever seen before or since. And the earth moved as easily as if
it too was water. The sea poured over the land from whence you have
come, and all the trees were gone. Fires burned, even from the
water itself, and left the land as you see it now.’

‘And you have no idea
where the cities might have stood?’ Ren pressed.

There was a silence
before Ice replied. ‘One such place may have stood here. When the
great winds blow, the sands move. We see rocks that are not as
these rocks.’

She envisioned large,
tumbled blocks of dressed stone. ‘Mostly, they are in the sands
beyond our caves.’

‘Will it inconvenience
you if we search in that area Salt?’ asked Maressa.

‘It is of no matter to
us. We hunt the sea and have little interest in the land. It
provides us only with caves in which to rest and to hatch our
children.’ Salt lowered his head to study Tika, then looked towards
Farn. ‘Cloud told of this soul bonding. I have never heard of a
hatchling bonding with another kind.’

‘No,’ Tika agreed. ‘Nor
had the great Dragons. I was bonded to Farn, and a Nagum boy bonded
with a female hatchling at near the same time.’ She held Salt’s
gaze steadily. ‘The boy, Mim, is called Dragon Lord now by order of
the silver one, Gremara.’

There was a flurry
among the sea Dragons at this statement.

‘Show us a Dragon Lord
and a silver one,’ Salt demanded.

Tika obediently
pictured Mim as she had last seen him, leaning against Ashta, the
scales shimmering gold on his face and arms. Then she gave them a
sight of Gremara, explaining that she herself had not seen the
silver Dragon. Khosa chose that moment to stalk across the sand.
She sat firmly in front of Salt for an instant then rose and wound
herself over his forearm and rubbed along his side, buzzing softly
all the while. Salt’s eyes followed the tiny orange shape in some
bemusement.

‘She has exceedingly
sharp talons,’ Farn warned nervously.

Salt swung his head to
Farn then peered back down at Khosa.

‘Show me your talons,’
he commanded.

Khosa extended her
claws onto his forearm and he studied them carefully.

‘A very dangerous
creature I suspect,’ he said solemnly.

Khosa’s buzzing
increased and she tucked herself tidily into the crook of Salt’s
arm.

‘It is nice to be
appreciated,’ she murmured.

Farn was aghast that
Salt should seem to be deceived by the treacherous Kephi but Tika
hushed him. Salt could squash poor Khosa in an instant if he so
chose and Tika did not believe for one moment that he considered
the Kephi a dangerous threat to himself or any other
Dragon.

‘If you should need any
help that we might provide, do not hesitate to ask,’ said
Salt.

Tika smiled. ‘We
enjoyed the fish the other day.’

Salt rumbled softly.
‘Then more will be provided whenever you wish.’ He settled more
comfortably, making sure not to disturb Khosa as Tika’s party all
noticed with amusement.

‘You said you would
tell us things we wish to know.’ Salt’s eyes fixed on Ren. ‘It is
now later, so we shall listen to your tales.’

Tika
grinned.

‘I think Cloud will
have told you all she heard at our first camp. What particularly
would you like to know of?’

It seemed that Dragons
never tired of stories, and were never lost for questions, or so an
exhausted Offering Ren Salar decided as the moon rose. He lifted
his hands pleadingly towards Salt.

‘We are weaklings
compared to Dragons. We need rest Elder Salt. I promise I will
speak again, but now we really must sleep.’

Maressa discreetly
nudged Tika. Tika looked casually round at the Dragons and saw
several of the younger ones, heads back between their wings, fast
asleep. Brin was still awake, but Farn was sound asleep against his
side.

With polite apologies,
the sea Dragons rose in a flock and curved round the cliff to their
caves. Belatedly, Tika realised that Khosa too had vanished.
Irritating as the Kephi could be, Tika hoped that Salt did not
decide to drop her. Brin roused Farn and they followed the sea
Dragons. Brin had found that the cave next to Olam’s had a wide
ledge, suitable for his bulk, while Farn settled at the entrance to
the one Gan had chosen.

Ren retreated with
Pallin and Sket to their cave behind the cliffs. Sket busied
himself brewing yet more tea in the kettle which simmered among the
embers of the small fire. Pallin joined him and they peered into
the darkness for the Offering.

‘Nothing mentioned
about those red eyed things,’ Pallin muttered to Sket. ‘All so busy
talking of things long past, when it’s now we should be worrying
about.’

Ren appeared and sat by
the fire, accepting the tea Sket handed him.

‘Wondered had you got
lost,’ Pallin grunted.

‘No. It was just that
as we came from the gap to here, I could swear I smelled mint, yet
I had not noticed it grew here. Remind me to look in the morning
will you?’

Navan was first down to
Pallin’s cave next morning and found Sket and Ren prowling
abstractedly around the edge of the small pool of fresh water.
Pallin was poking in a large pan over the fire and wore his usual
scowl. He looked up as Navan reached him.

‘Fools are looking for
plants.’ He jerked his head in the direction of Sket and the
Offering.

Navan nodded and took a
bowl of the oatmeal leavened with a few dried fruits which was what
Pallin considered a suitable breakfast. Olam and Gan appeared,
trailed by Maressa and Tika deep in conversation. Both girls
declined the oatmeal but accepted the tea.

‘Not much left in the
way of supplies,’ Pallin announced.

‘I was thinking of that
last night,’ Tika replied. ‘If we work out exactly what we might
need for a few ten days – the quantities as close to exact as I am
sure you could estimate, perhaps Brin could go back to
Far?’

‘I could go with him to
mind speak Lallia or Seboth from a sensible distance,’ Maressa
volunteered.

‘And what if Hargon has
decided to besiege Far, or something equally nasty?’ asked
Gan.

They all knew he was
thinking of the creatures in the shielded sphere.

Maressa shrugged. ‘I
would recognise the signature of anything similar if I met one
again. But we were on the ground when they attacked us before, and
from what Cloud has said, they attacked the sea Dragons when they
were sleeping in their caves.’

Gan chewed his lip.
Brin and Farn descended to land close by and Gan glared at Tika.
She had obviously called them, to hear Brin’s views on this
idea.

‘How long would it take
you to fly to Far from here to replenish our supplies Brin?
Carrying Maressa as well?’

Brin’s eyes whirred
with a rosy glow. ‘Four days at the longest,’ he replied promptly.
‘And then four back.’

Gan scowled, a mirror
image of Pallin across the fire.

‘Eight days alone
Maressa. I do not think it wise.’

Maressa snorted. ‘I am
not entirely helpless Gan.’ She lifted her hand slightly and dust
swirled up by Gan’s feet, whirling into the fire which blazed in
the sudden gust of air.

Navan swallowed, but
the look he gave Maressa was more of admiration than suspicion. Gan
raised one shoulder, indicating that he still had considerable
doubts for Maressa’s safety.

‘I would allow no harm
to befall Maressa.’ Brin sounded indignant and smoke wisped from
his nostrils in annoyance.

‘I know you would not
Brin. I meant no insult. But I fear for you both, not just
Maressa.’ Gan was quick to soothe Brin’s ruffled temper.

‘I will permit no
danger near us,’ Brin repeated.

‘Of course he
wouldn’t.’ Farn was most upset that anyone should criticise his
hero.

Gan shook his head
ruefully. ‘I apologise, truly I do. If anyone could fly to Far and
back then you would surely be the fastest and safest of Dragons,
Brin.’

Tika grinned at him.
Gan was at last learning how to wheedle and flatter: a much better
strategy with either Farn or Brin, than issuing orders. Something
she had long since discovered.

Maressa produced a
scrap of paper and went into a huddle with Pallin to decide what
would be most needed. They could survive here as they were with
fresh water, fish provided by the sea Dragons and the occasional
green shoots that resembled some of the salad plants of Sapphrea.
It had taken them fifteen days to travel from Far to this coast
with the koninas, and to make the journey back they would need more
than a few fish.

Tika leaned back on her
elbows and saw Olam drawn into Maressa and Pallin’s discussions.
The young sea Dragon, Storm, appeared above the cliffs, tilted his
wings sharply and settled beside Farn.

‘I will show you where
the rocks usually come out of the sand,’ he told Tika.

She sat up. ‘We will
come shortly. Is it really close by?’ Her silver and green eyes
narrowed at Storm. ‘Cloud told us that your caves were “not far”,
and it took us three days to get here.’

She felt Storm’s
laughter. Prismed eyes stared at her outstretched legs.