Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series (2 page)

Round the final curve
of the path and they saw water gushing from beneath overhanging
rocks which were festooned with feathery green plants. Kirat turned
in his saddle and smiled. He gestured at the water, out at the
cultivated land, and at the group of men, women and children coming
towards them.

‘Welcome to the lands
of the Qwah.’

Tika’s company were
greeted with apparently warm enthusiasm and the Dragons accepted
with an astonishing equanimity. Several children darted forward as
the Dragons reclined and they showed no fear of the two enormous
adults, hands outstretched to touch and stroke. They chattered in
the liquid trilling language Kirat had first used, but Seela
informed Tika at once that these children mind spoke too. All of
them.

The hot dirty
travellers were urged into one of the buildings and offered pottery
mugs of a cold fruity drink which soothed parched lips and dry
throats wonderfully. The men were taken in one direction by Kirat
and his brothers and two elderly women invited Maressa and Tika,
with beckoning hands, to an adjoining windowless room which they
discovered, to their delight, to be a bathing room.

‘I could stay here
forever,’ Maressa announced sinking blissfully into the warm water.
She groaned with pleasure when one of the Qwah women began
massaging her body with strong hands.

They found themselves
scrubbed and rinsed and were then pulled from the water to be
pummelled and towelled before being covered in a light fragrant oil
which the Qwah women kneaded into their skins. In the short time
they’d been bathing, Maressa and Tika discovered their clothes had
been brushed and shaken free of sand. Dressed again, they were led
into another room which had windows and doors opening into the
central courtyard. The open space was sharply divided between
blackest shade and blazing sunlight.

The men were sitting on
brightly patterned carpets in the shaded area, dishes and platters
heaped with colourful foods before them. Ren smiled at the two
girls.

‘What a relief to be
clean again.’

‘And cool for a few
minutes,’ Maressa agreed with feeling.

Qwah men and women
joined the company, kneeling on the overlapping rugs while children
hovered on the edges. Tika started to rise in sudden consternation:
Farn and Storm swooped over the roofs to land within the courtyard.
Farn hurried towards her, Storm at his heels. Before Tika could
apologise or explain, an elderly Qwah raised his hand. He spoke
haltingly in the common tongue.

‘Do not reprimand the
young one Lady. We understand his need to be with you. Please,
continue your meal.’

Tika stared at the man
then subsided onto the carpet again. Farn reclined behind her, his
long beautiful face resting on her head. Just what did these people
know? A very great deal it would seem, Tika thought, her eyes
unexpectedly meeting Khosa’s blue stare.

‘They brought some
goats for us,’ Farn told Tika confidentially then his eyes whirred
faster as the Qwah people chuckled.

Storm crept closer to
lean against Navan. The food was plentiful: vegetables, goat and
fowl meat, cheese and several fruits unknown to the company. Tika
ate, letting talk wash over her. Both Gan and Ren asked many
questions about the ways of this small community and were answered,
apparently freely by both men and women. Women were clearly
regarded as equals here, Tika noted, quite unlike the customs of
Sapphrea.

Kirat got to his feet.
‘We can stay no longer,’ he said. ‘We have many leagues to go
before we can rest tonight.’

Gan rose to his great
height and saluted the Qwah elders, right hand to his left
shoulder. ‘We thank you for your hospitality. Should you ever
travel to Gaharn be assured your kindness will not be
forgotten.’

The oldest man of the
community laughed. ‘Unlikely that is tall one, but your mannerly
words are appreciated.’

The sky was a deepening
blue in contrast to the searing bone white of midday as the company
followed Kirat along the edge of neat fields. He took them to the
further end of the cultivated land and then the trail rose again,
winding back and forth until they reached a narrow pass. Olam
glanced back and smiled to himself, seeing the green land was
completely hidden once again.

‘Never find that place
in a million cycles,’ Pallin grunted, riding up beside Olam when
the trail widened.

‘Indeed not,’ Olam
agreed. ‘Very clever.’

They travelled until
Gan estimated a third of the night had passed, the four Dragons
staying close just above the konina riders. What had seemed like
yet more tilted slabs of rock, dully grey in the starlight,
resolved into a long low shelter where Kirat called a halt. All the
companions were tired, choosing to wrap themselves in their
blankets and sleep with no thought of food.

Tika released Khosa
from her carry sack and pulled a blanket round her shoulders. She
yawned hugely and turned towards Farn. By the time she had settled
herself against his shoulder, Khosa was back, pressing close under
Tika’s chin.

‘This is
wrong.’

The Kephi’s mind voice
was soft as her fur. Tika was instantly alert, realising Khosa was
keeping her communication tightly controlled so that she alone
would hear her.

‘These are not the ones
we should have met.’

‘It’s a bit late to
tell me that now,’ Tika’s mind whispered back. ‘What must we do?
Are these men and their City dangerous for us?’

Khosa was silent for a
while. ‘They are taking us to a Survivor, but not the one we should
be meeting.’

‘I don’t understand –
how many Survivors are there for stars’ sake? And are they enemies
to each other then?’

Again there was a pause
before Khosa replied. ‘Enemies, no, but they have very different
ideas as to how they may achieve their aims, and their aims are not
quite the same either.’

‘And how many Survivors
did you say there are?’ Tika prompted.

Khosa’s eyes glittered
in the starlight. ‘I didn’t. But there are three in this City. I
will warn the others that they must beware. All of these Qwah
people seem able to mind speak – your thoughts must be guarded. And
I will tell Grek to remain silent from now on.’ The orange Kephi
arched her back and whisked her tail across Tika’s face before
leaping lightly down and padding towards the building.

‘I heard,’ Farn
murmured.

To Tika’s relief he
sounded perfectly calm. Since their brief meeting with Gremara,
Farn had been noticeably steadier in his mind.

‘I will let nothing
harm you Tika. Now we should sleep to be ready for whatever
tomorrow might bring.’

Tika grinned in the
darkness, rubbing her head against Farn’s scaled shoulder. ‘As you
command, dear one.’

Farn rattled his wings
but said no more.

Again they rose in the
dark and Kirat spoke to them while they sipped the hot tea Hadjay
had prepared.

‘We will not stop on
the trail today,’ he warned. ‘I hope we make good speed early, but
we will continue until we reach the Valley of the City. Then you
will be able to rest and recover.’

Tika caught Navan’s eye
and he nodded slightly: so Khosa must have warned them all during
their brief rest.

The Dragons flew higher
at first, wary of using mind speech close to the Desert men
below.

‘I suspected something
was amiss before we reached that green place,’ Seela told her
riders Gan and Sket while Maressa agreed from Brin’s back. Khosa
poked her head from her carry sack and stared down at the koninas
far below.

‘All I can tell you is
to be very cautious when we reach the City, but you must be firm
Tika.’ The Kephi twisted to look up into the girl’s face. ‘You must
insist we travel on and will not be delayed in this
City.’

‘But where do I say we
travel to?’

‘Say that you are
summoned by Namolos,’ Khosa’s words breathed through Tika’s mind
and then she wriggled back into her sack.

Light began to gleam
along the skyline ahead of them and still the land rose in range
after range of bare, grey-brown rock. By the time the sun was
nearing its zenith, Storm flew close under Brin and Farn under
Seela, the great adult Dragons offering what shade they could to
the young ones. Ahead, the mountains seemed blurred, and slowly
Tika realised clouds of dust swirled from the desert floor, grains
of sand twisting at unbelievable heights.

‘We cannot fly through
that.’ Seela’s mind tone betrayed not only her nervousness of the
great dust storm in front of them, but a growing concern for Farn
and Storm, both of whom were clearly struggling against their
exhaustion.

Then Ren’s voice rang
clearly in their heads. ‘Come lower now – Kirat says we are near
his lands but we change direction among the canyons
ahead.’

Seela accordingly lost
height leading them down until they were only a couple of man
lengths above the konina riders. The Dragons and their riders found
their view almost completely curtailed flying between sheer rock
faces barely wide enough for their beating wings. Kirat led them in
a sharp change of direction and they were at last afforded respite
from the sun which blazed from the white sky. They wound through
great cracks in the towering mountains until Tika was on the point
of calling to Kirat for a halt, regardless of his earlier
command.

Even as she opened her
mouth to shout, the two sides of the canyon widened and fell away.
Kirat himself raised his hand in a signal to halt. Farn and Storm
both stumbled as they landed, their wings still half extended,
their long necks drooping to the ground. Navan and Olam came
running with water skins even as Tika slid from Farn’s back. Gan
hurried from Seela to lift Maressa from where she slumped across
Brin’s shoulder. There was a flurry of activity, Ren working with
Tika to send healing strength to the young Dragons and Gan easing
Maressa to the dusty ground.

It did not take over
long to revive Maressa although her face and hands were scarlet
from wind and sun burn. Tika slathered one of Lorak’s salves
thickly over the sore skin. Handfuls of fruit and hunks of bread
were shared, Kirat allowing they could delay briefly. Gradually the
company wandered to the widening end of the canyon and all found
themselves staring in amazed disbelief.

A great valley spread
into the distance leagues below where they stood. The arid rock
they’d become so accustomed to vanished beneath increasing
greenery. Tiny clusters of buildings scattered along the walls and
floors of the valley drew their eyes on. Thin silver threads
indicated water courses which fed into a large oval lake shimmering
like mercury. Distant as it was the size of the City beyond the
lake astonished Tika’s company. The multitude of buildings were
dominated by three domed structures: large even from this far away,
how huge they must be up close!

Unmistakeable pride
rang in Kirat’s voice as he gestured at the valley encircled and
guarded by towering peaks. ‘The City of the Dome awaits
you.’

Chapter
Two

They reached the valley
floor in late afternoon. They had met children tending goats on the
upper slopes and all the members of the company noticed the same
fearless acceptance of their appearance that they’d received in
their first encounter with a Qwah community. The company rested
that night among a small cluster of buildings which Kirat told them
was the village of Shamsi. They were again offered baths and
Maressa’s burnt face and hands were soothed with a paste of leaves
and herbs which, she reported, took all the stinging pain from her
skin.

Khosa remained hidden;
Tika had no idea where the Kephi might be as the company settled to
sleep after their meal. Kirat had told them they would rest the
next night in another village, Dumlay, and would reach the City the
following midday. After the scorching heat of the last eight days
the gentler temperature within the enclosed Valley was a mercy and
they all revived enough to notice their surroundings more
closely.

Irrigation channels
crisscrossed the fields around them and they saw many small
brightly coloured birds flashing through fruit bushes and orchards
of low trees. Insects droned and whined, goats bleated as they were
moved from pasture to pasture and tall white birds stood motionless
in some of the water channels. Towards evening Pallin held back his
konina, his attention caught by a fenced area which held a dozen or
more of the lighter Desert koninas.

Hadjay turned in his
saddle to see what delayed the Sapphreans and laughed. He pointed
ahead to a collection of buildings.

‘There will still be
light enough for you to come and look at the horses when you’ve
eaten.’

‘Horses?’ Ren asked
casually.

‘That is the Qwah name
for them,’ Hadjay nodded.

Now why would the
Desert people, hidden even from the other people of this same land,
call these animals by the same name as Drogoyans used, Ren
wondered. He wrestled with the thought briefly then set it aside,
as with so many other things of late, to consider at another time.
Pallin and Riff went off with Kirat and several villagers to
inspect the horses while the rest of the company gathered close to
the Dragons who reclined, digesting another offering of
goat.