Drogoya: Book 3 Circles of Light series (18 page)

Khosa’s turquoise eyes
met the silver and green of Tika’s, and the Kephi refrained from
her usual sarcasm.

‘I would not think so
Farn.’

Tika smiled gratefully
at the Kephi Queen, knowing she lied.

Sounds of movement came
from the shelter and Ren staggered into the open. He sank down
opposite Tika and groaned, clasping his head. Sket busied himself
pouring tea for the Offering when Maressa appeared and also
accepted a drink.

‘Shall we go and find
the others?’ Tika suggested when neither Ren nor Maressa seemed
inclined to conversation.

Colour was returning to
Ren’s white face and he looked across the fire at Tika and
Farn.

‘I assume they are on
the beach?’ he nodded towards the narrow gap in the
cliffs.

‘Yes.’ Tika hesitated.
‘I think we should all hear what you can tell us about these things
when we are together.’

Ren smiled suddenly.
‘Of course. And I think that neither of you have seen the great
sea?’

‘I have seen the
eastern sea,’ said Maressa. ‘But only when I travelled the air
currents.’

‘It is wonderful! It
sparkles, and shines, and goes on forever!’

Five pairs of eyes
regarded Farn’s enthusiasm with varying degrees of scepticism, but
then Tika laughed and got to her feet.

‘In that case, why are
we still sitting here?’ She reached for Ren’s hand, pulling him up.
Maressa was already moving round the boulders towards the gap.
Khosa hissed and spat when Farn rose suddenly, spilling her majesty
on to the ground.

‘Sorry,’ he mumbled. ‘I
forgot you were there.’

‘Are you coming Khosa?’
Tika asked in a polite attempt to distract Khosa’s fury.

‘I think not. I watched
it for a while earlier. It does not hold a great deal of interest
for me.’ She stalked beneath the awning, orange tail fluffed
vertically in offended dignity.

Farn rose into the air,
twisting and turning and generally showing off, as Tika explained
to her companions. Climbing up to the gap, they saw Brin spiralling
into the sky.

‘Go and catch Brin,’
Tika suggested. ‘You can see us all the time, after
all.’

Farn rocketed skywards,
calling out in delight as he climbed after the great crimson
Dragon. Reaching the crest of the gap they paused and stared. Water
heaved and sank as far as they could see, its edge purling onto a
wide sandy beach. They saw the rest of their party perched on rocks
some distance to their left and began walking towards them. The
sand was dry and difficult to walk through at first, then it became
damper and firmer. Maressa dawdled, picking up strange shells
embedded in the damp sand. She licked her fingers and pulled a face
at the strong taste of salt.

Gan reached down from
his perch and hauled Tika onto their rock

‘It is amazing is it
not Tika?’ he said. ‘So many different colours and never
still.’

Ren rather
ostentatiously sat down with his back to the sea. Olam waved at the
beach.

‘Why is the sand wet
for a certain width, then completely dry?’ he asked.

Ren pursed his lips.
‘The sea moves onto the land twice each day, then retreats again.
It is called the tidal effect in Drogoya.’ He looked at the
interested but uncomprehending faces and sighed.

‘Take in a deep
breath,’ he ordered.

Eight people drew in
their breaths.

‘Your shoulders rise as
you do so – yes? Now, let out the breath. Your shoulders sink
again. So it is with the water: it advances onto the land a certain
distance, then draws back.’

The waves hissed and
murmured while the group on the rocks pondered Ren’s
words.

‘So is it a huge
creature then, breathing in and out, but only twice a day?’ Pallin
ventured at last.

Ren drew a very deep
breath himself then exhaled slowly. ‘Possibly.’

‘It is rather
beautiful,’ said Maressa.

‘Not when it is
stormy,’ Ren replied shortly.

‘Do you not find it
soothing to look upon?’ Gan asked.

Chestnut brown eyes
framed in silver glared at him. ‘I do not.’

‘When will the beast
breathe in again?’

‘I don’t know without
keeping watch for a day or two Olam.’

Olam nodded
thoughtfully.

‘I believe I may watch
this event.’

‘I know very little of
the workings of the sea,’ Ren admitted. ‘But I do know the waters
can be very strong.’

Faces turned to him
again.

‘Some writers maintain
that the waters are beneficial, health giving, and they recommend
those with certain ailments to immerse themselves in the salt
water. But one should never venture too far from the beach. You no
doubt notice that the waves surge up, then drag back? When they
move back, sometimes they can pull hard enough to tug a person with
them.’

‘And so the beast would
feed,’ Olam agreed with satisfaction. ‘I shall see.’

Pallin’s remonstrations
were to no avail. Off came Olam’s calf high boots, his trousers
were turned back above his knees and he marched to the water’s
edge, the others trailing after him. They watched as the Armschief
eyed the waves then took two firm strides forward. The incoming
wave rose a little and slapped down on Olam’s feet, flowed past and
then rippled back. He laughed aloud.

‘A little cold, and a
little ticklish, but really rather pleasant.’

Maressa was the next to
wait for a wave to flood over her feet. She squeaked at the chill
but then laughed as had Olam.

‘He is right – try for
yourselves!’

Eventually, all but
Ren, Sket and a scowling Pallin stood ankle deep in sea water. Ren
had joined them but adamantly turned his back on the
view.

‘Makes me a bit dizzy
staring at all that water swaying about,’ Sket remarked.

Ren glanced at Tika’s
personal Guard with approval.

‘It makes me feel
positively ill,’ he confided.

Farn swooped along the
water line, very low and fast, pulling up and over the group and
trumpeting with delight, while Brin lazily drifted high
overhead.

‘I’m going to start
making a meal,’ Pallin finally announced. ‘By the time you have had
enough of playing with water, it should be ready.’

He stumped back up the
beach followed more slowly by Ren and Sket. Reluctantly, the rest
of the party collected their boots and ambled back along the waves’
edge in the direction of their camp. All at once, Brin was
plummeting down, wings closed to speed his descent, his bass call
echoing across the water. Hands reached for swords and heads turned
in all directions, trying to discover what had caused Brin’s
alarm.

From the south, behind
them, seven Dragons flew. Two broke away to rise to meet Brin, and
Tika watched in horror as two others swerved towards a jutting
headland in which direction Farn had gone. Tika started after them
but Gan caught her arm.

‘Wait. This may be some
sort of formal greetings of these Dragons.’

‘But Brin never spoke
of Dragons here, I’m sure he didn’t.’ Tika tried to pull free of
Gan’s hand.

‘Look,’ Olam
called.

Brin changed direction
from head first to tail first, hovering above their heads and
trumpeting at the approaching Dragons. He had manoeuvred so fast
that the two who had flown up towards him were only now changing
direction back down again. Farn glided back from the headland, a
strange Dragon to either side. With huge relief, Tika sensed only
excited interest from her soul bond, no panic or fear.

Slowly, Brin’s enormous
body settled on the sand in front of Tika’s party and reared erect,
great wings outstretched as he called the formal greeting of the
Broken Mountain Treasury to these strangers. Farn dropped beside
him and followed suit.

The seven Dragons
landed twenty paces from Farn and Brin. Their voices rang in the
minds of all who watched, shriller and lighter toned than the
voices of the great Dragons. Tika and Ren stepped cautiously up
beside Brin. The female Dragon in the centre of the group tilted
her head down to study first Tika, then Ren.

‘I am Cloud, Sea Mother
of the Northern Flight.’

Tika bowed. ‘I am Tika,
soul bond of Farn, both of us children of Kija.’

The sea Dragons
shimmered in the morning light, their scales various shades of grey
but with glints of rainbow hues scattered all over them. Cloud was
the lightest, almost white, and Tika sensed she was aged, probably
near to Fenj’s antiquity.

‘We have not seen your
kind here before,’ Cloud commented.

Neither Tika nor her
friends could fathom Cloud’s tone: it held no obvious menace, yet
neither was it warm.

Brin’s deep bass
answered. ‘We seek the places where once were great cities. Many
buildings where dwelt the two legged kind.’

Cloud turned to stare
at Brin. ‘Long are such places gone from these lands. We rule these
parts now.’

Brin inclined his head.
‘So we see. We ask therefore, your permission to search for
whatever may be left of the old places.’

Cloud’s eyes whirred.
She was clearly communicating privately with her followers. ‘I must
ask if you know of the other strangers here – are they of your
Flight?’

‘Do you refer to the
red eyed ones?’ Ren asked smoothly. Seven sea Dragons fixed their
eyes on the Offering. ‘If so, then no. We were attacked ourselves
last night, and were fortunate to destroy them with no loss to our
own company.’

Prismed eyes flashed.
‘Destroyed them?’ Cloud sounded more than politely
interested.

‘You have been bothered
by these creatures?’ Ren enquired.

Again there was a pause
while the sea Dragons conferred.

‘The second Flight,
some days down the coast, were attacked.’ Cloud’s mind voice was
bleak. ‘Seventeen of my kindred died and five survive with bad
hurts.’

Tika’s breath hissed
through her teeth. ‘Seventeen dead?’ she echoed in disbelief. ‘But
why would they attack you?’

‘That we do not know.’
Cloud stared at Tika.

‘Perhaps they were
looking for us, knowing that Brin and Farn were of our company.’
Maressa spoke aloud, glancing at Ren then back to Navan and
Olam.

Gan nodded slowly.
‘They may have simply located Dragons and believed they would find
us as well.’

‘So they hunt
you?’

‘It seems so,’ Ren
replied. ‘Although we do not know why we are their particular
prey.’

Cloud raised her head
towards Brin. ‘Do you hunt in the sea?’

Brin’s consternation
was instantly hidden but Farn asked in alarm: ‘In the
sea?’

Cloud laughed. ‘I
thought not. Your bodies are shaped differently from ours. We
occasionally hunt food on the land – there are small shoals of
beasts who eat grass, further north a short flight. Sleet will show
you where, if you wish.’

A smaller, clearly
younger sea Dragon inclined his head.

‘We would certainly be
grateful,’ Brin sounded relieved. ‘We have not fed for several days
and I was beginning to wonder if any beasts did live in these
barren lands.’

The Dragon named Sleet
lifted into the air, closely followed by Brin.

‘You will be safe, my
Tika? Would you prefer that I stay?’

Tika laughed. ‘Go on
and hunt. I will be safe.’

Farn pressed his brow
to Tika’s, his sapphire eyes whirring with affection.

The brief exchange
between Tika and Farn had been closely followed by Cloud and her
companions.

‘You called him your
soul bond – is it really true?’

Tika laughed again. ‘It
is a long story but yes, it is true.’

There was a stirring
among the Dragons. ‘We are extremely fond of stories,’ Cloud began,
then startled back as laughter erupted from the group before
her.

Ren smiled. ‘I believe
everyone in the world loves stories, Cloud. Will you join us at our
camp over the cliff there, and we can exchange a few such
tales?’

‘My kindred would be
most upset to miss a tale telling.’ Cloud said thoughtfully,
although her eyes glittered with undisguised mischief.

Ren sighed. ‘Perhaps
you should summon your kindred then,’ he agreed. ‘We will go to our
camp and have some food, then we will share stories.’

‘Do you like fish?’
Cloud asked suddenly. Her laughter at their confusion chimed in
their minds.

Two sea Dragons rose
and arrowed out over the sea then flew parallel to the shore.
Tika’s party gasped as one of the Dragons closed its wings and
plunged into the water. Moments later, it emerged, water droplets
spraying from its slender body, and it flew back towards them. It
dropped a large, gasping fish onto the sand at Navan’s feet and
swung back out over the sea. Riff dealt the fish a blow and lifted
it in amazement.