Drogoya: Book 3 Circles of Light series (58 page)

Finn Rah’s face paled.
‘An Observer took it to the Night Lands – the lands I believe you
came from. Oh child, she has it. Is it important?’

Mena gave a smile which
was all too plainly forced. ‘I don’t expect it was. Never mind.
I’ll come back when I’ve seen that Tyen is comfortable.’

Soosha found his knees
were suddenly unreliable and had to sit down heavily on Finn’s
bed.

‘The pendant Soosha.
Clearly the child meant Myata’s pendant. Chakar took it with her
and she is not returning with Babach. Just how important can it
be?’

Soosha stared at his
hands. ‘Of great importance I fear. Perhaps Babach or his companion
could travel back and fetch it do you think?’

Offering and Observer
sank into a gloomy silence until the kettle’s hissing stirred
Soosha to make some tea.

‘Lyeto has made no
mention of any students contacting Babach since that first time –
four days ago – five?’ Finn sounded fretful.

Soosha carried a mug of
tea to the bed. ‘It is just over three days Finn – the same day
Volk found the children. Calm down or your temperature will go up
again.’ He patted Finn’s hand. ‘I know you have never been renowned
for your patience, but do try Finn dear.’

Finn glared and
struggled to push herself higher in her bed. Soosha put the tea on
the bedside cupboard and easily lifted Finn to the position she
wanted. He held her steady while he plumped up the pillows behind
her.

‘What’s wrong with the
boy?’ Finn asked, leaning back with a sigh.

‘Mena said Tyen’s leg
is hurt. Sarryen was healing him.’

‘Where is Melena? Or
Lyeto?’ Finn’s eyes blazed with frustration. ‘Oh surely I could be
taken to the common room for a while – I feel so isolated here
Soosha.’

Soosha studied the
Offering, with his eyes and with his power of deeper sensing, then
smiled.

‘I see no reason why
not. The viewing ledge has been enlarged and the dust has gone.’ He
folded back Finn’s top covers.

‘Wait! I need a shirt
at least, you old fool!’ Finn laughed, pointing to the cupboard
behind the door.

‘Oh. Yes. Of
course.’

Finn wore only a
sleeveless shift in bed and Soosha considered the folded shirts and
trousers on a shelf in some confusion.

‘Soosha, just grab the
first one – it is only to keep me warm.’

They met Melena in the
passage, Soosha carrying Finn cocooned in bright quilts.

‘I was on my way to
you, but Arryol asked for my help,’ she apologised.

‘No matter. Is the boy
all right?’

‘His knee was badly
dislocated but Arryol realigned it. Tyen will have to rest a few
days but will recover quickly we’re sure.’

They had reached the
common room and a gust of chill air whisked across from the
expanded viewing ledge. Soosha hunched protectively over Finn Rah
and hurried to take her to a sheltered spot beside the hearth. Volk
waved a large mug of beer in their direction.

‘Old Volk found them,’
he said smugly.

Several students were
gathered here and they gave Finn shy smiles and nods. Then Sarryen
appeared with Arryol who regarded Finn impassively.

‘I can’t stay hidden
away when so much seems to be happening.’ Finn defended herself
before Arryol could comment.

His mouth twitched in a
smile. ‘Who said you had to?’ he retorted. ‘It will do you good
perhaps, but - ’

‘There is always a
but,’ Finn groaned, eyeing him with suspicion.

‘But – you must rest
when you need to and no heroic denials when you do get
tired.’

Before Finn could
argue, Mena arrived, leaning against Finn’s knee as though she’d
known her since birth. The child tilted her head.

‘Tyen’s fixed,’ she
said, then smiled at Volk. ‘That lady makes the most wonderful
bread.’

Volk glanced at Teal
where she sat talking with two students. ‘She does that, and with
those poor hands too.’

Mena frowned. ‘What’s
wrong with her hands? I haven’t seen them.’

‘They were burned when
she was a small child,’ Arryol explained. ‘That’s when she lost her
sight. I can do nothing for her eyes and only have pain easing
salves for her hands. She should have had healing too long
ago.’

Finn touched a finger
to Mena’s cheek and the girl turned back to her with another
smile.

‘Babach is on his way
here from your land. He is an Observer, like Soosha. He brings one
of your people – Elyssa.’

Mena shook her head. ‘I
do not know that name.’

‘They come with
Dragons.’

Mena gasped, colour
draining from her face, her eyes enormous. She spun away, staring
out into the chasm of air beyond the viewing ledge. Finn exchanged
concerned glances with the two Kooshak and Soosha.

‘Mena, is there
something wrong with that?’

The child’s shoulders
slumped and she turned back to Finn, head bowed and face
hidden.

‘I hurt a Dragon,’ she
whispered. ‘I think I killed her.’

‘What?’ Finn struggled
to free herself of her enfolding quilts. ‘A child such as you could
kill a Dragon? I do not believe it!’

‘Unless she used
power,’ murmured Soosha.

Mena raised her chin.
‘I do not remember it all, not clearly, but I made Kadi bring me
here to the Menedula. At least, I think I did.’

‘Tell it all child,’
Finn commanded. ‘We will get to the bottom of this but I tell you
now, I do not believe you could kill a Dragon.’

Mena began to speak,
slowly and softly at first, telling how something within her had
gained ascendancy over her very thoughts. She faltered when she
spoke of her brother Bannor and his “accidental” death. She told of
her admiration for someone named Tika, of a young silver blue
Dragon who was somehow linked to this Tika. Her listeners asked no
questions, did not press her when she fell silent. But when she
spoke of dominating the Dragon Kadi’s mind and forcing her to fly
to the limits of her endurance, tears streamed down her face.
Without speaking, Volk reached for her, lifting her to his lap
until she had calmed enough to continue her story.

She was unaware that
all in the room had drawn close, all listening to Mena’s incredible
tale. She reached the part where Cho Petak released her from
whatever power had held her in thrall, and took a shuddering
breath.

‘Enough for now little
one.’ Volk glared at Finn Rah, daring her to contradict him.
‘Parched you must be, and still hungry I’ll swear.’

Mena managed a watery
smile and Volk’s beanpole son-in-law Povar lifted trays of buns and
tiny tarts onto the serving counter. People moved then, released
from the spell of the child’s voice, and students handed round the
tea and food, talking quietly again. Silence fell once more after
this brief period of chatter and Mena began to talk
again.

Now she spoke of
finding the neglected garden, and how the plants gave her solace.
She had believed she was doomed to stay prisoned there forever
until she’d found Tyen hiding in the little hut where tools were
kept. Mena’s voice was growing husky when she stopped in mid
sentence, her body stiff within Volk’s arm. She slid from his knees
and took a step towards the exposed viewing ledge.

Arryol’s apprentice
appeared, carrying the boy Tyen who stared wide eyed at the people
in the common room. He wriggled and the student lowered him
carefully to the floor. He hopped towards Mena and caught her hand,
his arm going round her waist. Their two small figures stood like
statues as a melodious call came from outside and above.

A great shadow swept
across the opening, a flurry of wings and a massive shape landed on
the ledge. Huge wings furled back to lie close to the body and the
Dragon paced forward. Gold scales glittered and sparkled, while
another huge beast was landing behind. A short sturdy figure slid
from the first Dragon’s back and most in the common room recognised
Observer Babach. He spotted Finn Rah and held his hands out towards
her.

‘Finn,’ he cried. ‘Finn
Rah! I would introduce Kija of the Broken Mountain
Treasury.’

The gold Dragon’s
faceted eyes whirred and flashed, her voice ringing in their
minds.

‘I cannot greet you
formally, your caves are too low, but greet you I do, and may the
stars guide your paths.’

She moved to a side
wall and lowered herself to recline gracefully there allowing her
companion to pace forward. A slim girl with hair as gold as Kija’s
scales and bright blue silvered eyes slid from the second Dragon
and joined Babach.

The second Dragon was
blue as a midnight sky, her eyes flashing sapphires. And Finn
gasped, seeing the oval pendant that shone high under her jaw. A
great stillness filled the room, the blue Dragon lowering herself
nearly flat to her belly, her eyes unwaveringly on Mena.

Offering, Observers,
students and ordinary folk saw great tears rolling down the long
beautiful face. She stretched her neck until her brow touched
Mena’s.

‘Child you are safe.’
Her voice rang with joy in their minds, but Mena cried aloud, her
hands outstretched to the Dragon.

‘Oh Kadi, can you ever
find it in your heart to forgive me?’

Cho Petak summoned
Rhaki to his presence. It would have been a simple matter for him
to locate Rhaki’s mind and transfer his own essence to that point.
Cho preferred to summon Rhaki here to gauge his reaction to finding
the Sacrifice unbodied. Cho positioned himself beside the long
bookcases and waited. He sensed Rhaki approaching. He realised he’d
forgotten that when unbodied himself, he could “see” an outline of
another unbodied being. The air shivered by the door and Cho saw a
tall blurred figure take shape within the room. His face was clear
enough for Cho to see the shock as Rhaki looked at the unpleasant
corpse sprawled in the chair. Rhaki’s gaze passed over Cho on his
first sweep of the room: he discovered him after a second, slower,
search.

Cho filed the fact
that, newly unbodied as he was, his essence must be thinner, less
defined, than one unbodied so much longer. Cho moved to a spot
closer to the table and saw Rhaki’s long arrogant face shiver,
briefly changing to the broader, intellectual features of D’Lah. He
wished suddenly that Grek was present. He could trust Grek, devoted
boy that he’d always been. If he was here, he would support Cho’s
attempt to separate D’Lah and Rhaki.

‘I did not know you
were to shed your body,’ Rhaki remarked.

‘It had become a
troublesome nuisance. I shall replace it sometime but there is no
urgency to the matter.’

Rhaki drifted to the
window. ‘I will be honest with you Cho Petak. I am growing more
bored by the day. I understood a life of some excitement and
interest awaited me here, and the truth is very different. I will
return to my own lands – I can be of great effect
there.’

Cho’s thoughts raced.
He came to a decision.

‘Do you realise my
dear, that you have hosted one of my – friends – since your birth?’
he asked calmly.

Air currents swirled
and Rhaki’s faint shape distorted and reformed.

‘You lie! I would know
if there was any attempt to infiltrate my mind!’

‘He joined with you in
your mother’s belly.’ Cho gathered his resources to focus on Rhaki.
He was sure Rhaki could not overcome him but he could prove
difficult enough to deplete large amounts of his energy. Now was
the best time to strike, to force the two apart, while Rhaki was
confused and searching his own mind patterns.

A flare of dark light,
like a pointed finger, shot from Cho towards Rhaki. Shrieks of pain
rebounded from the shielding Cho kept around himself. Ah, but it
was difficult to differentiate between the two minds! They had been
together far too long, as Grek had warned him. Rhaki’s mind writhed
and struggled, aware for the first time of the alien mind entwined
with his own, and desperate to free himself of it.

D’Lah’s mind screamed
in terror: he wanted only to cling to the long familiar existence
that he knew within Rhaki. Cho relaxed, knowing Rhaki would do the
work of separation for him. He watched carefully though, on guard
for any whiplash attack on himself. Colours flashed in the
energised air as two minds fought, Cho concerned suddenly at
D’Lah’s apparent weakness. He had underestimated Rhaki’s strength
and power.

The colours flashed
faster until air particles splintered apart with a deafening roar.
Cho flinched, forming the heaviest shielding he could devise. He
waited before cautiously probing outwards to where Rhaki and D’Lah
had fought. D’Lah remained. Cho quickly assessed his state and
found him much damaged, much reduced, whimpering with shock. Cho
sent comfort pulsing softly to the wreck of his old associate and
once again regretted the absence of Grek. It would take time to
calm D’Lah and only then would he know how much could be restored
and how much was irretrievably lost. He cast briefly for Rhaki’s
mind signature but could find no trace. Rhaki had fled.