Drogoya: Book 3 Circles of Light series (15 page)

Chakar hugged the old
man tightly, then sprang away, remembering his burns.

‘Forgive me for
marching straight past you, old friend. I was not expecting to see
you vertical yet and I had a private message to give to Dessi. How
are you feeling? I must say you look greatly improved to when I
left.’ She peered more closely, the dark green eyes surrounded by
silver examining him minutely. ‘Sit here with me.’ She dropped her
voice to a whisper. ‘Have you discovered Lorak’s
restorative?’

Babach chuckled. ‘I
have indeed. He could make a fortune in Drogoya with it.’ His face
clouded. ‘Probably not right now though.’

Daro and Nesh came from
the upper levels to greet Chakar and conversation became general.
Mim sat next to Babach but ate very little the Observer
noted.

‘Are you not hungry,
Dragon Lord?’ he asked quietly.

Mim tilted his head and
looked at Babach. Equally softly he replied: ‘I prefer less cooked
food now, since my body began to change. Only Dessi knows, within
the Stronghold, how sick I feel eating these cooked
dishes.’

The turquoise eyes with
the odd vertical pupils surrounded now with gold scaling, stared at
Babach almost in challenge. Babach placed his unbound hand on Mim’s
scaled forearm.

‘It must be difficult,
for you and for your friends, to understand and deal with what is
happening to you Dragon Lord. If there is anything at all that I
may help with?’

Mim continued to stare
at Babach for a while longer, then smiled his sweet
smile.

‘To begin with, you
must only call me Mim.’ He raised a mug of water and drank it down.
He frowned. ‘Have you heard singing since you have been here?’ he
asked.

Babach frowned in turn
and studied the various dishes scattered along the
table.

‘I have heard no
singing Mim. But can you smell mint?’

Mim sniffed. Ashta, at
his shoulder, sniffed. Chakar paused in her conversation and gave
them a concerned stare. Kera coughed.

‘Is there a problem?’
she asked brightly.

‘Hmm? Oh no, no.
Nothing at all. We erm were deciding what spices might be in this
delicious pastry.’ Babach gazed innocently along the table, and the
babble of talk resumed.

Chakar slid along the
bench towards Babach. ‘You never could lie to me and get away with
it old man. What are you up to?’

Mim grinned but Babach
merely looked hurt. ‘I am still convalescent Chakar dear. It is
most unfair of you to bully me.’

Chakar snorted in
disgust and moved back down the bench.

‘Are you weary Babach?’
Mim asked. When Babach shook his head he added: ‘Come to my chamber
– my new and temporary chamber – when the meal is finished, and we
will speak without interruption.’ His strange eyes rested briefly
on Chakar.

‘Voron will not let me
out of his sight,’ Babach warned.

‘Nonsense. He is about
to be occupied with Daro and Nesh.’

Mim moved down the
table, bending to murmur to Nesh then crossing to speak with the
great Dragons, Kija and Kadi, who reclined near Fenj.

Sava was on Lorak’s
shoulder, where the gardener sat with Bikram and some of the Guards
when a shriek at the gate heralded Baryet’s arrival. Sava hooted
dolefully and burrowed under Lorak’s jacket as the giant Plavat
stilted into the hall. Baryet stayed on his feet, staring at the
hall’s occupants, head tilting one way then the other. He
eventually spotted Chakar and stalked a few steps towards
her.

‘There are three eggs
now, my Chakar.’ The pride in his mind tone was quite
unbearable.

Heads bent low over
plates along the tables while Chakar got slowly to her
feet.

‘I am sure that is
quite remarkable Baryet. Do give Syecha our warmest
congratulations.’

Baryet’s neck feathers
lifted into a crest, his chest puffed out.

‘There will be more,’
he confided, causing an outburst of muffled choking amongst his
audience. He stilted back to the gate, ignored Lula’s spitting and
returned to his wife’s nesting chamber.

Kera listened to the
laughter ringing through the hall and wondered how long it had been
since such a sound had been heard here. She leaned across the table
to Chakar, pitching her voice to cut through the noise.

‘How many eggs do
Plavats lay at one time?’

Chakar looked
uncomfortable while the sound that emerged from Babach was
unmistakably a giggle. Chakar scowled at him.

‘I believe it is
usually five eggs, but in favourable circumstances, I understand
there may be twice that number.’

The laughter vanished
as people tried to imagine five, or, stars forfend, ten, young
Plavats strutting about the Stronghold.

‘They will surely
remove themselves,’ Mim suggested. ‘Find a nice cosy cliff to live
on.’

Chakar sank back onto
her seat. ‘Baryet and Syecha both think that except for its absence
of sea, this is a very pleasant place. They think they may well
stay here.’

Chakar flinched at the
wave of outraged disbelief that swept towards her from the
Stronghold’s residents.

Mim’s personal Guard,
Motass, escorted Observer Babach to the Dragon Lord’s chambers
later that evening. He walked deliberately slowly as he realised
the old man was far from recovered. Babach conceded his exhaustion
on arriving in Mim’s rooms, sinking into an armchair beside a small
fire and closing his eyes for a few moments. Motass murmured to
Mim, then disappeared. He returned in short order and passed a
small flask to Mim. The Dragon Lord pushed a goblet into Babach’s
unbandaged hand and obediently Babach raised it to his lips. His
eyes opened and he smiled, sipping the drink appreciatively. They
sat in silence for a while, Ashta dozing against the wall beside
Mim.

‘You recognised the egg
that Kadi now wears as being the one Chakar brought from Drogoya,
of course,’ Mim finally commented.

Babach nodded. ‘The
young man named Imshish told me that Chakar felt impelled to put it
beneath the Dragon’s head. And the Dragon roused soon afterwards.’
He looked enquiringly at Mim.

‘Kija suggested it in
fact, but Gremara confirmed it. It was Gremara who told me to go to
the place where several of these eggs are hidden and to find
another that would be specifically Chakar’s. Again, Gremara
instructed me to fetch one for you when your healing took
place.’

‘I still find it hard
to believe I have been made whole. I saw my injuries when first I
received them. I knew I could not survive them. Yet that tiny child
healed me.’

Mim smiled. ‘Dessi has
a great power, but it was also the other Delver healers who
assisted her, not to mention the Dragons lending their endurance,
which all helped in your healing Babach.’

The faded blue in the
silver eyes regarded Mim shrewdly. ‘And something within this egg,
you believe? And who is this Gremara of whom you speak? I have not
met the lady I think?’

Mim laughed softly.
‘Link your mind with mine and I will show you Gremara.’

Babach felt a total
trust in all the people he had met within the Stronghold, and for
this strange boy in particular. Now he leaned his head back against
his chair. ‘My mind is open, and yours to command.’

Mim locked his gaze
with the Observer. ‘This is Gremara.’

Despite himself, Babach
gasped. The mind that met theirs was a brilliant dazzle of light.
Mim briefly showed him Gremara’s physical form and tears welled in
Babach’s eyes as the sinuous silver Dragon spiralled above an
ancient volcanic crater. Then the dazzle filled his mind
again.

‘I am glad you are
mending Babach. You have much to do in restoring the Balance of
this world. Your task will be closely allied to my Lord’s, so it is
well you are with him in his Stronghold.’

Babach’s right hand,
resting on the egg pendant at his chest, tingled and grew warm. The
brightness in his mind flared then dimmed again.

‘The time is not yet
when that will be of greater significance than you can guess. For
now, let your body heal fully, and spend some of your days with
Kadi.’

The brilliance winked
out and Babach stared at Mim.

‘But who is she?’ he
asked.

Mim sighed and began
yet another explanation.

Motass, guarding Mim’s
door, eventually informed them that Voron and Daro were insisting
that Babach be put back to bed, forcibly if necessary. Mim guiltily
leapt to his feet.

‘I am sorry Babach. I
seem to need less sleep of late, and I forget that others do. You
especially, at the moment. We will talk again when you have had
time to consider my words.’

He helped Babach out of
the chair and accepted the reproving looks delivered to him by
Voron and Daro.

Kadi was not yet able
to hunt for herself. The Snow Dragons had brought meat to her in
the Domain and now Kija or Fenj brought her food. They preyed on
the small herds of hardy grazing beasts that managed to exist this
far north in the Wilderness. Servants were cleaning the vast
expanse of stone floor in the hall this morning, leaving Kadi and
Babach marooned by the great hearth.

‘Gremara spoke to me,
in Mim’s company, last night,’ Babach began.

Dark blue eyes whirred
softly. ‘I know. She spoke to me also.’

Babach waited when Kadi
fell silent. She shifted her weight slightly and half stretched a
wing.

‘I am to tell you alone
of what befell me and the child Mena, before I was brought down on
Asat’s mountains.’

Babach had not yet
heard anything of Sapphrea, or Lord Hargon, or his children, and
had no idea who Mena might be. But he asked no questions, simply
waiting for the great Dragon to speak.

‘We left Gaharn and
flew west to Sapphrea. Tika believed that she was to face Rhaki and
try to destroy him, remove him from this world. We met Lord Hargon
on the slopes of the Ancient Mountains. He had three children, all
of whom had talented minds.’

Babach nodded,
understanding the gist of Kadi’s words if not some of the terms she
used.

‘One boy child was
already in Rhaki’s thrall. The other had learnt hatred from his
father, Hargon. The girl Mena,’ Kadi fell silent again and Babach
said nothing.

‘I felt something
within the child. She touched me in a way I cannot describe. Her
mind had been deliberately shielded and I removed that
shielding.’

Kadi’s eyes whirred
faster as she lowered her face closer to Babach’s.

‘Briefly, there was a
feeling of rightness, of wholeness, then -’

Babach felt confusion
and distress flow from Kadi’s mind. He put his bandaged left hand
lightly against her neck, his right hand grasping the obsidian
shelled pendant at his chest.

‘Some of our party
remained in the mountains while others went to Hargon’s town.
Hargon’s elder boy died on the way, and I knew that Mena had
contrived his death. I took her with me when I went to hunt next
and I confronted her with my suspicions. Her eyes became red. It
was as if flames danced within her and I feared I would burn should
she stare too long at me.’

Kadi paused again. ‘No.
I just feared Babach. Never have I felt such terror as facing that
small female two legs. But then her eyes returned to normal and I
thought I had imagined it all, although in my heart I knew I had
not. I resolved to remain with her until I learned what was wrong
with her, as something most surely was.’

There was a discreet
throat clearing behind them and the chamberlain Yoral bowed,
offering a tray of tea and pastries. Babach thanked him and after
several more bows, Yoral left the Observer and the great Dragon
alone again.

‘That same day, the
child’s eyes changed again and power screamed from her. I could do
nothing but obey her commands. She made me fly north. We took only
the briefest rests and came north, flying on the Waste Land side of
these mountains, rather than the Wilderness side. The child allowed
one full day’s rest about five leagues south of here, and ordered
me to feed well and prepare for a much further flight.’

Kadi’s head drooped
lower still. Her voice in Babach’s mind was the merest
whisper.

‘I had never flown
beyond the coasts. Brin told tales that he had done so, but I never
had. Twice Mena allowed me to make a landing on rocks that stuck
out from the water. I think she realised that I could not go on
without some rest. At last, I flew over land again. Mena made me
fly high. It was cold and I was exhausted. I set her down – I know
not where it was. She filled my mind with power and sent me forth
again. I only remember flying until I truly thought my heart would
burst, or my wings would fail, or both.

‘After all the water
became land again, I rested upon snow and ice – how long, I do not
know. My mind did not seem to work: I felt as if I, Kadi, was shut
in a dark corner and something or someone else made my body
work.’