Drogoya: Book 3 Circles of Light series (49 page)

‘Chakar!’

She turned towards the
others and saw Dessi holding a mug towards her.

‘There have been no
more cases of madness in Arak,’ the Delver told her. ‘Three
children with silvered eyes, the two who died five days ago, but no
other cases!’

Chakar wrinkled her
nose. ‘Early days Dessi. Too soon to let your hopes rise too
far.’

Dessi looked a little
disappointed by Chakar’s reaction but then smiled. ‘That was a
terrible thing you had to help Mim with, but stars! Look at the
result!’

All in the room turned
to look at the slender boy lying between two great sweeping fans of
gold feathers. The feathers suddenly seemed to ripple and Rofu
emerged from beneath the left wing by Mim’s leg. Imshish began to
chuckle but then, as Rofu jumped to the floor, the feathers rippled
again and Mim’s feet twitched.

Chakar hurried back to
his side and then stopped, startled. Song filled the chamber,
apparently emanating from the very rock from which it was carved,
and at the same time there came an almost overpowering scent of
mint.

Chapter
Thirty

Gremara flew northwest,
passing to the south of the city of Gaharn. She flew high and fast,
knowing time was crucial. As she approached the Spine Mountains,
she became aware of an essence located deep within the rock. She
hesitated, flying lower in a wide circle until she verified the
essence as the being known as Rashpil. Twice more she circled,
weighing her choices before lifting higher in the air and speeding
on to the west.

Even the Silver One’s
physical strength was not endless and as the fourth dawn of her
journey flung a pink arm across the sky behind her, she knew she
would have to rest. Opening her mind, she searched ahead and found
a great Dragon prepared to welcome her. The sun was nearing its
apogee when Gremara slowed to spiral down in the heart of the Sun
Mountains. A massive purple Dragon waited, larger even than black
Fenj, rearing erect as Gremara drifted down to the rock.

‘Seela, Eldest of the
Sun Mountain Treasury, gives welcome to the Silver One.’

Gremara lay wearily a
few paces from the huge Dragon. Seela lowered herself and paced
closer, her lavender eyes sparkling.

‘I sense that you have
urgent need to travel on, dear one, but I also sense you need food
and rest.’

Gremara sighed. ‘Indeed
Eldest. I would count it a boon could I sleep here until
dark.’

Seela settled herself
comfortably alongside the narrow silver body. ‘Sleep then, and I
shall bring fresh meat when the first stars show above
us.’

A sliver of moon hung
in the pale green sky of dusk when Seela woke Gremara. A freshly
killed lumen lay within reach and Gremara fed gratefully but
sparingly. While she ate, she told Seela of some of the events in
Gaharn and in the circles far to the east to which Seela listened
closely.

‘What of the Dragon
Lord in the north?’ she asked finally.

Gremara shivered, her
silver scales shimmering in the fading light. ‘A great trial is
upon him and I cannot help him, nor even be close by to lend what
comfort I might.’

A wave of sorrow
mingled with apprehension flooded into Seela’s mind but she was at
a loss to know how to respond.

‘I would join you on
your journey, if I could be of any aid to you,’ she offered at
last.

Gremara was about to
refuse when she paused and studied the great Dragon more
closely.

‘Truly?’ she
asked.

Seela’s eyes whirred
indignantly. ‘I do not make such an offer lightly, nor do I offer
falsely. I am the Eldest of this Treasury.’

Gremara bowed her head.
‘I am unused to company – so very many cycles alone – I meant no
insult Seela. But the journey is long still and as you guessed, it
is of great urgency.’

Seela drew up her neck
and stared proudly down her long snout. ‘You may fly faster than I,
but I can endure as long as you might wish or have need of my
presence.’

Again Gremara lowered
her head. ‘I would welcome your companionship then Seela, and I
accept your offer. My name is Gremara and so you must call
me.’

Gremara was surprised
and pleased to find the great Dragon, once settled into a steady
rhythm of flight, was in fact only a little slower than she was.
While their wings powered them steadily through the night, Gremara
told of the travellers from the hidden land they called Drogoya.
She told of Kadi’s wounding and of Kija leaving the Stronghold with
Kadi to attempt the journey to that land of Drogoya. They rested at
midday and drank from the icy waters of a lake high in the Ancient
Mountains, and then Gremara told of the creatures from the Void
released onto this world. Seela’s eyes flashed indigo and violet as
she absorbed Gremara’s story.

They lifted into the
sky once more and now Gremara slowed their pace. She showed Seela
the mind signature of he whom she sought and the two Dragons flew
on, half a league apart, scanning constantly for any trace of this
creature. Three more days they flew westward, Gremara peripherally
aware of pain rising from far below her. They were flying now over
northern Sapphrea and the air was smeared and smudged with trails
of smoke. Gremara insisted they fly high, well beyond the range of
human eyes, but they still discerned no sign of the mind she
sought.

It was the sixth day
since Seela had joined Gremara and far ahead they saw the
glittering line of the great sea flashing in the light of the
setting sun. They spiralled down to a small pool whose water was
brackish but drinkable. Settling for a brief rest, both Dragons
felt it at the same moment. Before Seela could think a single
thought, Gremara’s mind blazed.

Seela flinched but
tried to observe exactly what the Silver One was doing even as she
lent strength to her. The very air sizzled although there was
nothing burning. There was a parched, iron tasting smell and then a
spherical shape was traced with snapping sparks of white light. The
sphere seemed an empty outline as it jerked wildly between the two
Dragons before coming to a halt in front of Gremara.

‘You know me Grek Sen
Karas. There is no escape. Why are you here?’ Gremara’s mind tone
was hard and cold and Seela rattled her wings nervously.

‘Doing the same as
before, dear one.’ The voice sounded resigned but also
amused.

‘Explain.’

There was silence for a
few moments.

‘Cho Petak is finally,
indubitably insane,’ said the voice Gremara had named
Grek.

Gremara snorted. ‘He
has ever been so,’ she retorted.

‘Not so,’ Grek
disagreed mildly. ‘When first he taught me and others of like mind,
he was rational and convincingly sane.’

‘He spoke always of his
superiority, of destroying all lesser beings or twisting them to be
his slaves.’ Gremara’s tone was flat. ‘I see from your mind what he
has done to the other land – a far worse destruction than he
attempted here.’

There was another long
pause then Grek gave a gusty sigh. ‘I know. That is why I am here.
I don’t think Cho realises yet that I am not just trying to trace
three others from the Void.’

‘Rashpil is hidden
inside the mountains far to the east. Zloy is causing havoc further
east still. M’Raz is in this area. Why are you here in truth?’
There was an edge to Gremara’s tone harsh enough to cause Seela to
shift her weight uneasily.

‘I betrayed him before.
I must do so again. And this time he must be destroyed.’

Grek ended with a
strangled gasp and Seela saw that Gremara had laid Grek’s mind
completely open.

‘Gremara, this time he
must die, and I too if it is deemed necessary. I could not endure
again punishment such as before.’

The sphere vanished and
Seela blinked. She realised Gremara had released the creature
called Grek but he was still present. She changed the focus of her
prismed eyes to a slightly different spectrum and saw his vague
shape apparently sitting on the ground beside Gremara.

‘The child you
inhabited?’ Gremara asked.

‘She is in the other
land. Why should she interest you?’ There was a hint of curiosity
in his tone.

‘No matter. Grek, the
one you seek is far, far to the south. There are others, one in
particular, who must go there also. Will you help them reach that
place?’

‘You would trust me,
after I aided Cho’s release again?’

‘Grek,’ Gremara’s
mildness sent shivers along Seela’s great back. ‘Understand that I
have the power to unmake you. Or worse, far worse. And others will
be given that information. Others in the group of people you will
assist in reaching the Sanctuary.’

Gremara led them on
towards the coast. Seela was aware of Grek’s presence close to them
but had no idea how he moved or how he existed. Gremara spoke in
Seela’s mind, showing her what could be done with Grek’s essence to
end his being or, as she’d said, do worse. Seela’s mind cringed at
the thought of either unmaking a sentient being or twisting its
threads into something torturously “other”. But she stored the
information carefully and flew on saying nothing in reply to the
Silver One, nor attempting speech with this Grek.

Gremara left the purple
Dragon to her own thoughts then, scanning southwards as they
spiralled down to a rock strewn beach. Seela had visited the ocean
shore in her far distant youth – young Dragons often wandered long
distances from their Treasuries during their extended childhoods.
Now she reclined along a slab of rock, tickled by occasional
splashes from the surging water. Gremara slept further up the beach
and Seela preferred not to seek the whereabouts of the Grek
creature.

Yet another dawn was
tinting the high clouds when Gremara woke to find three hoppers
laid on a boulder beside her. Seela’s eyes sparkled.

‘Lean hunting here but
not impossible.’

Gremara devoured the
hoppers then stretched her wings to their full extent. When she
spoke it was to both Seela and to the invisible Grek.

‘The ones we seek are
some distance down the coast.’ Her rainbow eyes whirred. ‘One of
them is Brin – you know him I think Seela?’

Seela pushed herself up
to a sitting position. ‘A son of Fenj! Yes, I know him!’

‘Another is Farn, also
the child he is soul bonded to.’

‘Tika!’ Seela’s delight
was apparent. ‘Whatever are they doing out here? Don’t tell me Brin
has lured them into mischief?’

‘No, there is a more
serious reason.’ Gremara paused. ‘There are several humans with
them but none know as yet that they must go south. But go south
they must, with all speed, to find those in the
Sanctuary.’

Gremara glanced to one
side where Seela presumed Grek must be, then at Seela.

‘I will tell you more
whilst we fly, but it is for you to know now, not for the child.
You offered to travel with me Seela, but I must return to the east
very soon. It is a tremendous imposition but I beg you to stay with
these travellers and help protect them on their way. Their survival
is of vital importance to this world.’

Thoughts raced through
Seela’s mind in less time than it took for her to extend her wings
towards Gremara.

‘I am proud to assist
the Silver One in any way that I may.’

Gremara leaned up to
touch her face against Seela’s. ‘One day I may be able to thank you
sufficiently dear one.’ She turned away. ‘You heard my words Grek.
These travellers must be protected, especially the female child.
You will be judged by the way you act towards her and her friends
when – IF – you reach the Sanctuary. And always remember you are
there as their protector, not their leader.’

A patch of sand
flurried briefly and Seela rattled her wings. She was going to have
to get used to Grek’s presence but it wasn’t going to be
easy.

‘I hardly dared hope a
Sanctuary remained on this world – I have heard not a whisper of it
in three generations of the family I embodied within. I will do
whatever you ask of me Gremara.’

‘Make sure that you do.
There will be no escaping my wrath at the least, should you go over
to Cho Petak again.’

With those words,
Gremara lifted into the sky, Seela close behind, and began to
follow the coast to the south.

Ren had been more quiet
even than usual for two days. He seemed to lose some of his passion
for what Farn called his “hole in the sand”. Brin and Maressa had
returned full of news and laden with supplies, and the company had
talked far into the night gathered around the fire. When all slept,
Khosa padded into the low cave in which Ren lay. Her thought
touched him awake instantly and he stared up into her turquoise
eyes a mere whisker above him.

‘Salt awaits you on the
beach.’

Pallin’s snores rumbled
from deeper in the cave and Ren pulled on his boots and followed
the Kephi. Sket sat by the fire nursing a bowl of tea and he nodded
as Ren passed him, heading for the gap in the cliff. On the sandy
shore the Eldest, Salt, reclined, Khosa weaving back and forth
round his forearm.