Perilous Shadows: Book 6 Circles of Light (7 page)

Khosa tiptoed through
the dew wet grass and jumped onto Farn’s back, crooning softly.
Tika sat by the fire with a groan. Extra wood was hurriedly piled
on and flames began to leap again.

‘Finn Rah tricked Kadi
somehow.’ Tika stared into the flames as she spoke. ‘Kija said that
although unable to move, Kadi was fully aware. Then some of the men
just – cut her head off.’ Tears rolled unnoticed down Tika’s
cheeks. ‘Kadi called Kija and managed to tell her quite a bit of
what she’d learned of their plans.’

There was silence but
for the crackle and sputter of the fire.

‘Babach also sent his
mind to Kija. He tried to stop them. One of the men chopping at
Kadi’s head simply stuck his sword into Babach.’ Tika sipped her
tea. ‘That woman, Finn Rah, stood with Mena watching. And laughing.
By then we all saw, through Kadi’s fading mind.’

She looked up as a
growl rumbled through the air. A great bear towered over Essa, his
eyes glowing in the firelight. Tika managed a faint smile before
she continued.

‘We arrived when it was
almost finished. Kadi’s soul had fled. Brin sent fire towards the
people. He destroyed some of the men – I don’t know how many. But
the rest ran inside the Menedula. Storm attacked the doors but
there was no place large enough for the Dragons to get inside. Farn
and I went back to Kadi. Kija asked me to help Babach.’

She shrugged. ‘He’d
lost blood enough to cause him to faint. He is very old and I only
recently healed him in the Stronghold. Kija took him – I don’t know
where. Brin used fire on Kadi’s body. I saw no point in remaining
there, so we came back here.’

‘Lord Shivan?’ Volk the
bear asked, his voice only slightly different from Volk the
man.

‘He opened a Dark
gateway to the Realm. Ren was taught how to make gateways.’ Her
tone was bitter. ‘He was trusted. He could cause havoc anywhere he
chooses in this world. Corman must be warned. Hopefully, he will
then alert Gaharn.’

Storm’s silvery grey
face lowered towards the company.

‘We will destroy those
people. One day, we will.’

Tika rose and caught
his long face between her hands, pressing her brow to his. She
remembered his fierceness in the desert, his anger at
Kertiss.

‘One day it shall be as
you say, dear one.’

His prismed eyes calmed
and after a moment he withdrew, to settle back with
Farn.

Corim had been heating
the usual stew, left from the previous evening when no one had much
appetite. He passed Tika a large dish and a spoon and, seeing her
begin to eat, everyone else realised how hungry they were. Volk had
resumed his man shape and was tending the horses as daylight
rapidly increased. Tika spoke quietly to Sket.

‘No one seemed
surprised when Volk changed.’

‘He changed last night,
when I told them what you sent back to my mind, about
Kadi.’

‘He told me Finn Rah is
“Old Blood” – that’s what he calls people like him. This Sedka of
theirs ordered the extermination of such people. Volk said Finn can
change into many different shapes, but only told others it was
through her mage talents. Really it was just her blood line
enabling her to do so. She hunted down any like Volk and had them
killed.’

Sket regarded her.
‘Volk changed when I said that Kadi’s head - . Well, that’s when he
changed and he was truly angry.’

‘Perhaps that is the
preferred method of execution here.’ Tika spoke with
distaste.

‘Kadi,’ Sket
began.

Tika leaned closer.
‘Kija severed her life thread before the men got to her air tubes.
She did not suffocate.’

Sket’s eyes held pain.
He understood what that would have cost Kija.

‘Do you know why she
took Babach?’

Tika frowned. ‘She
talked with him quite a lot in the Stronghold. She liked him. He
did try to help Kadi.’

‘What do we do now?
Suppose Finn Rah changes into a dog, or a bird, could she catch up
with us and cause us any trouble?’

‘I’ll ask Volk. I think
he can tell somehow – that’s why he was so interested in Shivan.
We’ll wait here; Shivan did not expect to be away long.’

‘Bloody gateways,’
muttered Sket.

Tika laughed and got to
her feet.

‘Can you identify your
people Volk, like that hawk?’ Tika said without preamble when she
reached Volk.

He nodded.

‘Are there many in this
region? You said they live as solitaries.’

Volk shot a quick
glance at her. ‘Quite a few in these parts. Family groups,’ he
agreed.

‘Can you contact them?
Warn them Finn Rah might try and spy this area – as a bird
perhaps?’

Volk straightened and
released the horse’s hoof he’d been examining. ‘We’d like her
dead,’ he said flatly. Then he nodded again. ‘I can send word. Any
who are ready to take a risk, I’ll ask them to meet us about two –
three days travel from here. There’s a lake, set between several
hills. I’ll suggest we meet there.’

Tika longed to know
just how Volk might communicate with people so widely scattered;
she was sure he did not command mind speech. But she let it lie for
now. She understood the wariness ingrained in people constantly in
fear for their lives would not be quickly overcome.

Sket ordered guards to
watch the trail from the south, just in case Finn Rah decided to
send her men after them. The three Dragons rested. They had used a
lot of energy flying the distance to the Menedula at such speed,
using their fire, and then flying back. They slept until early
afternoon when Brin took the two younger Dragons to find meat. Tika
had expected Shivan back that day but it was the next morning, when
the sun was well risen, that the Dark Lord shimmered into view in
his Dragon form. He returned to human shape and walked over to the
company still gathered by the fire.

‘Corman was most
grateful for the information,’ he said at once. ‘He said he had not
been entirely sure of Ren so the instructions for making gateways
had a few – restrictions among them.’

Tika gave a sigh of
relief. The idea of Ren taking a group of armed men through a
gateway to Gaharn, the Stronghold, Kelshan or the Realm had been
preying on her mind to a considerable extent. Now Shivan began to
smile. He handed her a scroll of thick creamy parchment, sealed and
tied with a black ribbon.

‘The First Daughter has
awoken,’ he said simply. ‘She sends her love – to you all.’ He
turned towards the company, giving Tika some privacy.

‘Have you anything to
drink other than that dreadful tea, Sket?’

Tika heard the ensuing
exchange of insults from a distance as she stared at the roll in
her hands. Lerran was awake! She found a sunny spot, a little apart
from the others, slid the ribbon from the scroll and broke the
black seal embossed with a Dragon at rest. Carefully she unrolled
it, smoothing it against her knee. Black writing, in an exquisite
script, flowed across the parchment. Looking down at the bottom,
she saw a signature in a very different hand, the letters formed as
if with a great effort by a trembling hand: “Lerran”.

People glanced across
at Tika but continued to saddle and pack the horses and break camp,
leaving her in peace while she read and reread the message from
Lerran. Khosa was the one who finally approached her, butting her
head gently against Tika’s arm.

‘They are ready to
leave, Tika. If we are to meet Volk’s people, we must make some
haste.’

Farn also paced towards
her. ‘Is the news good, my Tika?’ he asked, his mind tone full of
affection. ‘The poor lady is better?’

Tika carefully rolled
the parchment again and tied the ribbon around it. She lifted Khosa
to her cheek.

‘She says she longs to
see you both. She thanks you Khosa, for your sons. She is glad of
their company and of Akomi’s.’

Khosa was quite unable
to hide the delight and pride in her mind voice. ‘Well I should
hope they take notice of her properly.’

They travelled faster
than previously, Volk leading them along tracks and paths
indiscernible to any other eyes. Next day, they began climbing
steeper ground although Volk kept the pace up. At the evening camp,
he spoke across the fire to Tika.

‘Many more have
gathered than I dared hope, Lady Tika. Word has spread among my
people even quicker than usual. We will reach Blue Mirror by the
middle of the day tomorrow.’

From Tika, Volk looked
around the company. ‘No one of us remembers the last time we
trusted Others.’

‘Your trust will never
be broken by any here,’ Tika told him quickly.

He nodded. ‘Kija has
taken Babach to Blue Mirror.’

Tika looked at him in
surprise.

‘He is a dream walker,’
said Volk, as if that explained everything.

The three Dragons held
back, flying only just above the trees, and staying with the horse
riders so that they would all arrive together. The trees thinned as
Volk took them over the crest of yet another hill and they saw
below a large oval lake. Its waters were the most brilliant blue,
slightly darker than Farn’s sapphire scales. Descending the hill,
they saw a long low building about halfway round the western side
of the lake. Dark fir trees spread behind the building but other
trees along the shore were beginning to show the pale misty green
of new leaves.

There were no people in
sight, only Kija’s huge body reclined between the building and the
lake. Farn, Storm and Brin now flew ahead of the horses, landing
close to Kija, their riders slipping to the ground and closing up
around Tika. They waited patiently. Kija gave them only greetings,
no information about Babach’s condition or the people they were to
meet.

The horses trotted down
the hill, Volk in the lead, Shivan slightly behind him. The riders
dismounted and suddenly children ran from the side of the single
storey building, taking the reins and ducking their heads to
acknowledge Volk. Tika released Khosa from her travelling sack,
keeping an eye on the main central doors. She probed lightly for
the feel of life forces and hid her surprise at the numbers she
felt within that building. Far more than she’d anticipated. The
children led the horses away and her company formed up behind her.
Volk took a couple of steps towards the doors.

‘Is this all the
welcome you give to friends of Volk?’ The lake rang with his roar
and the doors flew open.

Tika walked over to
stand at Volk’s side, inwardly cursing her lack of height, yet
again. She watched the people emerge. Men and women, young and old,
all wary but none holding weapons. A slender woman came to the
front of the crowd and nodded in Volk’s direction although her eyes
were fixed on Tika’s.

‘Hesla, this is Lady
Tika. She is from a distant land, as all her companions are. She is
not Kooshak. Have you heard what happened but three days
past?’

The young woman Hesla
nodded. ‘The gold one told us.’ She shivered in such a way that
Tika knew with certainty that Hesla was the hawk who had spied on
them days ago.

‘We have Babach
within,’ she addressed Tika. ‘He has long been a friend to our
people and although he is still weak, he says you have healed him
twice now. He trusts you. Volk also seems convinced of your
sincerity.’

Tika inclined her head.
‘I am glad Babach is mending. Perhaps we might see him?’

Before she’d finished
speaking, Shivan joined her and all eyes turned to the young Dark
Lord. His eyes blazed bright, as golden as Kija’s
scales.

‘I travel with Lady
Tika and her friends,’ he said. ‘I have implicit faith in
her.’

He stepped away and his
body shimmered into Dragon form. The crowd gasped and Tika watched
as some of the people, older ones, she noted, fell to their knees,
their expressions awed. Shivan extended his translucent wings to
their full span and turned his head towards them. Then he closed
his wings against his body and remained in that form for only a few
heartbeats and before changing back to human shape in a gust of
burnt cinnamon scented air.

Tika let her senses
drift over the crowd. She felt acceptance in varying degrees from
all except the woman, Hesla. Hesla had no mind powers as Tika
understood such things, but in a way, she was shielded. She had a
defensive barrier around her mind, suggesting it would take more
than Shivan’s transformation to convince Hesla that this company
was trustworthy. Even the woman’s posture was defensive: her
shoulders stiffly squared, arms folded tight across her chest and
hands clenched into fists.

Shivan rejoined Tika
and the company moved slightly to let him through their double
line. The sun glinted on the silver Dragon insignia on their
uniforms and Tika saw the quick glances exchanged among the
people.

‘May we see Babach?’
she repeated her request.

‘Of course.’ A much
older woman spoke and beckoned Tika to the doors.

Tika felt Hesla had
lost some authority somehow – clearly she had been resistant to
meeting Volk’s “friends” and had swayed some of these people to her
way of thinking. Shivan had cancelled out that advantage and now
this older woman was reinforcing the idea that Volk was right in
offering them welcome rather than Hesla’s distrust. Several of her
guards remained outside while Tika entered the building.