Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series (32 page)

‘He told us he was
damaged. Perhaps he is now unable to judge Namolos
accurately.’

‘No Tika,’ said Brin.
‘He spoke of Namolos as he knew him long ago, when my father was
but an egg. He said he has had little contact with Namolos or any
other since then. He spoke truly but whether Namolos could have
changed is another matter.’

‘He feels right,’ Khosa
murmured. ‘As Bark felt right.’

Tika stared into the
Kephi’s eyes considering her words. She had felt Bark was a good
soul but – he had been fearfully damaged for many years when she
had briefly known him. Could Namolos be a damaged mind? Brin had
followed her thought.

‘From all we were told,
Bark was known for his gentleness Tika. Although he was so injured,
it had not changed his gentleness.’

She nodded slowly and
the matter was dropped as Storm, Farn and Sket returned
triumphantly with fish.

Night drew on, few
stars visible through the layers of racing cloud and Seela lifted
into the air, flying to meet the oncoming gijan. Maressa, Sket and
Tika stayed near the heated stones, the three Dragons curving
behind them to break the force of the cold gusting wind.

‘She has them,’ Brin
announced at last. ‘They are nearly exhausted.’

Sket began to mix some
of his herbs in their dwindling supply of fresh water and put the
small pot to heat. It seemed an age before Seela landed again, the
three gijan shivering on her back. Maressa and Tika wrapped them in
warmed but faintly damp blankets while Sket held a bowl for each to
take a drink. They lay on the ground, tight to Seela’s side and
were asleep at once.

‘Are they all right?’
Sket asked, tucking a blanket closer round Willow’s
feet.

‘It was too far for
them to fly, especially against a crosswind.’ Seela’s head lowered
to examine each sleeping gijan in turn. ‘They are also upset by the
loss of the ship.’ Her tone grew thoughtful. ‘What one sees, all
see. Piper saw a man lose his arm yet Leaf and Willow have the same
picture in their minds although they did not see it with their own
eyes. No,’ she refuted Tika’s comment before it was made. ‘Piper
did not pass the image on, they SAW it somehow.’

‘Their minds are that
closely linked?’ Maressa was doubtful.

‘They are litter
mates,’ said Seela.

‘But Farn hatched with
a brother and three sisters at the same time.’ Tika
objected.

‘These three grew
together in their birth mother’s belly. They came forth within
heartbeats of each other. Their minds are closer linked than I had
guessed.’

‘Like Tika and me?’
asked Farn.

‘I suspect very nearly
so,’ Seela agreed.

They tried to get what
sleep they could through their second night on the islet and Tika
woke to find Maressa gazing skywards.

‘That storm’s not
coming back?’ Tika scrambled to her knees in alarm.

‘No. But I cannot reach
Culinth. Ren and Olam are asleep – it is only about halfway through
the night where they are and they are too weary for me to disturb
them. But why is Culinth not responding?’

‘Maybe she is too busy
watching the weather,’ Tika suggested.

Maressa shook her head.
‘They are just outside the limit of the storm system – it rotated
back towards the reef. The ships are quite far south
now.’

‘What will we do?’ Farn
asked with interest.

Tika shrugged. ‘Are
there islands we could rest on to the south?’

Maressa shook her
head.

‘I suppose we should go
on to Wendla then. As long as we can reach Ren’s mind we can let
them know what we’re doing.’

‘I have felt the mind
scanning this area already this morning,’ said Brin.

‘I can shield you from
that until you find somewhere safe to land on Wendla.’

Tika looked at Khosa
who stared fixedly at a point between Storm and Farn.

‘Grek?’ she
enquired.

‘Were you expecting
someone else?’ The unbodied entity sounded quite arch.

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’
Khosa snapped.

‘A small jest Khosa
dear,’ replied Grek. ‘I will stay with you until you are settled on
Wendla – I think I could probably locate this other Ship of the
stars – Star Flower. It might be sensible to be close to her – if
she is still sane.’

Tika exchanged a glance
with Maressa and rolled her eyes. ‘Do you know who it is who
searches this area so busily and so regularly?’ she
asked.

‘I sensed it a short
while ago and I traced it back to a specific region. It will not be
hard to find exactly who it is.’ Grek sounded smug.

‘There is a place a
little larger than this, slightly north,’ Maressa said. ‘I think it
will be close enough to decide where we should make for on the
island of Wendla.’

‘Should we wait for the
ships to reach us?’ asked Sket.

Tika watched the gijan
beginning to stir under their blankets, chewing her lip.

‘Let’s see what Maressa
and Grek can discover of Wendla first. We can’t wait here for the
others – we’ll need fresh water by tomorrow, so staying on a small
lump of rock like this isn’t an option.’

Seela carried the tired
gijan through the rest of the day. Grek stayed with the Dragons,
alert for the seeking mind from Wendla. The rain water Sket had
tried to collect was tainted and brackish and did little to quench
their thirst. The islet Maressa and Brin led them to was higher,
more rock than sand, with weathered cones rising up several man
lengths. Piper found places among the higher rocks where rain had
collected and found it far fresher than the little they had
left.

Brin told them, after
flying high ahead for some leagues, that Wendla had been visible.
He wondered if it really was an island. It appeared much as the
coast of Malesh had done – an endless line of cliffs rising from
the sea. The setting sun at last broke through the clouds, sending
light dazzling across the water. Grek informed them that the
questing mind had passed over them yet again.

‘I suggest you continue
to shield,’ he said. ‘I will do a little investigating in
Wendla.’

The gijan had revived
but were subdued by thoughts of the ships now far behind them. They
ate the fish Storm caught for them then lay against Seela, quickly
falling asleep. Seela peered down at her strange brood.

‘Their bodies are tired
still but their minds are busy.’

‘I asked last night why
it is that they only communicate with you. Leaf let me into her
thoughts only briefly in the City of the Domes.’ Tika stifled a
yawn.

Seela turned from her
inspection of the gijan. ‘They ask me things. Sometimes things you
say or do confuses them – they do not understand. It is mostly a
matter of them asking me questions rather than learning anything of
them.’ Her eyes whirred in the twilight. ‘I have opened my mind to
them as an example of my trust but they keep their minds tightly
closed to me.’

Grek announced his
return just after dawn. ‘Namolos’s information is out of date,’ he
said. ‘The Captain of the Ship, Star Flower, has done what I did in
Sapphrea.’

Only Khosa knew
precisely what he meant and she sat up straight, a piece of fish
forgotten under a paw. She waited until Grek deigned to
continue.

‘Sefri joined her mind
with a member of her son’s bloodline several generations past, with
their knowledge and consent.’

The unbodied entity
became pensive. ‘My consciousness travelled within the bloodline;
Sefri seems able to transfer from one adult to another of the next
generation.’

‘Did you do the same
thing?’ Maressa asked in a faint voice.

‘No. I joined with a
child in its mother’s belly when I first came here. I transferred
my mind through succeeding members of that one family. I had to
live through countless infancies until that particular host began
to fail and I began again with a new foetus. They were unaware of
my presence’

Tika clenched her hands
on her knees. She spoke very calmly.

‘Which family did you
choose Grek? Who was your last host?’

The sky lightened while
the four Dragons and three humans waited for Grek’s
answer.

‘The family was of the
old Valsheban people, which then became Hargon’s line. I was within
his mother and then -. Then I was part of his daughter.’

Tika gasped. ‘What did
you do to her Grek? Where is Mena now?’

‘She is alive and in
Ren’s land.’ More than that Grek refused to say.

Khosa crossed the patch
of sand to butt her head on Tika’s arm. ‘Mena is well. Namolos told
me.’ Khosa dug a claw into Tika’s leg, forcing her to look directly
at the Kephi. ‘Namolos said her eyes are like yours.’

Farn poked his head
over Tika’s shoulder, close to Khosa’s. ‘This Namolos – he is sure
the child is well?’

‘He’s sure.’

‘Then it must be so my
Tika,’ said Farn confidently. ‘We’ll probably meet her somewhere on
these adventures. Another girl!’

Tika met Sket’s grin
and reluctantly smiled herself. She stroked Khosa’s head lightly.
‘We must believe Mena is safe then.’ She tried to convince herself
as she spoke.

Khosa did not reply;
Mena was well, but perhaps not as safe as Tika would like to hope.
Brin rattled his wings.

‘If we fly now, I would
estimate we reach the coast of this land before dark.’

Maressa nodded
agreement. ‘We can find somewhere safe while there is light to
see.’

Sket stood up. ‘We
could rest through the night and take stock tomorrow morning,’ he
said.

‘Grek?’ Tika
asked.

‘He’s gone,’ Leaf told
her. The gijan were already perched on Seela’s back, their packs
clasped before them.

As Brin predicted, they
approached Wendla as the sun sank into the sea stretching away
behind them. This coastal region was thickly wooded with small
clusters of buildings sparsely scattered through it. Brin and
Maressa shielded them from both eyes and minds as the group flew
lower. Trees filled valleys and climbed hills until, the land
rising again, they saw an open plateau ahead. They were following
Seela to land when Grek spoke, an amused note in his mind
voice.

‘So you didn’t need my
help to find Star Flower then!’

Seela stumbled, off
balanced by Grek’s words. Grek laughed outright.

‘You were shielding but
so were they.’

By then all four
Dragons stood on the grass covered ground, prismed eyes whirring as
they stared around them.

‘Release your
shielding,’ Grek suggested, and Maressa obeyed.

The air shimmered
slightly, then shivered again.

‘Their shields are gone
too,’ Grek murmured.

What had seemed a
simple plateau, empty except for grass, a few shrubs and a handful
of taller trees, looked very different. Sket was at Tika’s
shoulder, his sword loose in its scabbard. The gijan slid from
Seela’s back, trilling at the feel of the cool grass tickling their
ankles.

‘Wait children,’ Seela
ordered but Leaf unfurled her wings.

‘There is no danger
here Seela,’ she called over her shoulder.

Maressa moved beside
Tika and Sket, staring at the long low building set against grey
rock. Smoke rose lazily from one of several chimneys. Every
direction they looked plants grew – some twining up a verandah
fronting the building, others in pots large and small set all
around the plateau. Far more trees edged the area than they’d been
aware of with the shielding in place. Flowers of every colour
bloomed amid leaves of so many different greens their eyes were
dazzled after three days of grey sky and sea. They stood gaping
helplessly until Khosa’s demands to be freed from her sack roused
them. Tika stooped to let Khosa loose.

‘Visitors!’ A husky
voice called from behind the vine covered verandah.

A moment later a woman
walked into view. She was of moderate height, mid brown hair hung
over her shoulder in a braid and her face was a smooth skinned
oval. She came a few more paces towards them and bowed
low.

‘Welcome to Green
Shade. I rarely have unexpected guests.’ She spoke the Common
Tongue with no trace of an accent.

Tika moved forward,
Sket and Farn flanking her. Hand on her sword hilt she returned the
woman’s bow.

‘We did not mean to
intrude; we believed this was an empty piece of land where we might
rest.’

A small orange shape
darted through the grass, disappearing into the flower smothered
verandah. The woman turned to watch Khosa then back to the
Dragons.

‘We had no idea such
creatures were real let alone that they still live in this world,’
she said quietly.

The four Dragons reared
erect, their formal greetings ringing in the woman’s mind. She took
an involuntary step back as Brin and Seela towered over her. When
the Dragons lowered themselves, Seela introduced the gijan. Leaf,
Piper and Willow stepped forward and bowed, their wings fanning out
on the ground behind them. The woman stared, as helplessly as Tika
and her friends had stared at the transformed plateau. She gathered
herself with a visible effort.