Quest (30 page)

All day long the womenfolk of families accused of having even the remotest connection with the Sisterhood were dragged from their homes and hiding places and driven to the shrines in carts for the Great Sacrifice. Jeering onlookers pelted them with refuse, stones and even broken shards of glass, howling with glee when they drew blood. At the shrines, the victims were dragged inside and men queued up to make sacrifice to the Serpent. To spice the entertainment, the women were also publicly lashed or tortured.

The first death in a shrine occurred around mid-morning. An older woman of known frailty cheated her captors by dying under the whip. This incident seemed only to inflame the worshippers and spur them on to further savageries.

Within Temple Tenebrak order still prevailed, and there was a quiet bustle of last-minute preparations. Katia and Davred helped to tend the last of the refugees, under the direction of Lara. It wasn’t possible to heal everyone - no Sister would have had the inner forces necessary to heal so many at once - therefore the wounded could only have their outer hurts tended and be offered refreshments or clean clothing before being helped on their way. Most were numb with shock or sunk in grief.

It was a problem now to know where to send them. In desperation, Herra had them guided to the old crèche, where there was enough equipment hidden to help them found another settlement deep in the wildwoods far to the west.

Lara's assistant, Diazann, went with them, which further weakened the ranks of those able to care for refugees.

The last group of Sisters who had chosen to live outside left through the subterranean passages at mid-morning.

They were led blindfold through the passages by two older Sisters who were to return to the temple, and the blindfolds were not removed until they were a long way from the tunnel entrances, so that they would not be able to reveal where the secret passageways were located. The wards set by the builders of these tunnels were still as strong as ever and, even if the passageways were found, intruders would soon run into a wal of stasis before they got anywhere near the temple itself.

Herra, who was in charge of these operations, was showing signs of severe exhaustion by now, but refused to rest.

Everyone was worried about her. She had given too much of herself in the last year, disregarding her age and forcing others to do the same. Indeed, without her to drive them, morale could not have been kept up or the necessary preparations made so smoothly.

Until almost the last moment, Katia continued to direct the few novices who had chosen to remain inside. The girls became more and more subdued as the sense of being under siege increased. Katia and Davred worked with their usual quiet competence, directing the girls to gather the equipment necessary for their own escape. As Key Figures, they couldn’t take shelter in stasis. Not even Herra was quite sure what Katia and Davred's future role in the Quest was going to be, but it was presumed that, through them, an end to Discord would somehow be brought about. Or so the prophecy said.

Siri-Soo had been sent out to a foster-mother in a new settlement several weeks previously, and although the parting had grieved Katia, she knew it was the best hope her daughter had of surviving. Many Sisters were unable to raise their
QUEST Shannah Jay 110

own children and it was a great sadness to them. Fortunately, Katia and Davred had been kept extremely busy since Siri-Soo left, which helped ease the pangs of separation a little.

Al through that dreadful day the stasis cube stood ready in the Chamber of the God, a matt black cube so small it hardly seemed possible for such a device to save the whole temple and
still
everyone within a wide radius. Davred would activate it as they left. The Sisters on duty eyed it with awe and refrained from touching it.

By early afternoon enough momentum had been generated in the city outside for the mob to be turned on Temple Tenebrak itself. Katia, taking a much-needed rest, joined Davred in one of the lookouts hidden in the carvings of the outer walls. She shivered at the sight of the hate-filled faces below them.

'Why?'

Davred put his arm around her. 'Benner's been working towards this for a long time. He sees the Sisterhood as a threat to his power. It's very easy to generate hatred among the ignorant.'

'That's not quite what I meant. Why would anyone want to behave like this?'

'Who knows why anyone would wish to follow such a path?'

She stared down. 'I wonder where the women are, Davred. Are they waiting eagerly at home for the violence to destroy us, or shivering behind locked doors. And what about the women of the poorfolk? They're probably cowering in cellars.'

'Those of the Serpent keep their own women safely locked away. Such seclusion has been known occasionally on other planets colonised in the early days. There was even one planet where the men were kept locked away, because for some reason fewer boy children survived. It's never lasted, though. Once people have access to education and learn to control their own lives, they usually begin to live more freely.'

'We would call it learning to achieve a better balance,' said Katia quietly.

'As for the women of the poorfolk, I pray they’ve found safe refuge somewhere.'

They watched the faces surge to and fro, then Katia said softly, 'I hope our Sisters out there have also found safe hiding places. May our Brother look down upon them.'

'May he protect us all,' echoed Davred. 'And if I am indeed his Manifestation, may he guide me along the next steps of my path, so that I may help our people to find peace.'

'
If
! Surely you don't still doubt that, my Davred?'

'I doubt only my own adequacy. How can I not? I'm still so ignorant of your ways, still a novice in so many of the Disciplines.'

'I have no doubts about your destiny, my Davred. I can sense the God within you.' She caressed his face briefly, and he kissed her hand as it touched his lips. But the noise from below beat upwards and prevented any further demonstration of affection. Katia shivered and gazed anxiously down at the screaming twisted faces. 'Will the gates hold?'

'For long enough, I think. I'd love to analyse that metal. It looks like bronze, but it's not. It's something far stronger.

When I activate the stasis cube, some of those howling maniacs will be trapped in its field. That should provide a salutary lesson for the rest.'

'Will they still be visible, then?'

'Oh, yes, completely visible. You can't see the stasis at al , but you can feel it if you try to enter a stasis zone.

Remember how the birds bounced off the stasis protection around my lifeship? The sight of those trapped will terrify the ones left outside. They deserve to be terrified, too.'

'Don't be glad of that, my Davred. They also have their lives to live. We have no right to take their freedom away from them.'

'Yet they try to take ours!'

QUEST Shannah Jay 111

'They know no better. They've strayed from the Path of Wisdom.'

They turned by unspoken agreement and made their way back down to the main courtyard, pausing briefly to look at the main gates from ground level. The gates were twice Davred's height, made of the hard wood of the jarulan tree, and they were clad on the outside with burnished bronze-like metal. The secret of this metal had been given to the Sisterhood by L-Sher-Nsh, the Fourth Manifestation of the God, during another Age of Discord. But the metal hadn’t been put to the test until today, because Temple Tenebrak itself had never been attacked.

The metal was proving its worth now, however. Although stones had been flung at the gates all day long, the shining surface was unmarked. It was the walls around the entrance which had suffered, as stones ricocheted off them. Every bit of damage to the priceless carvings had been cheered loudly and was fol owed by further volleys of stones and other projectiles.

As the afternoon passed, fresh contingents of wild-eyed men from the surrounding villages, joined the besiegers, egging them on to more mischief. The mob surged backwards and forwards, dashing itself in futile fury against the massive grey walls, and shrieking threats and defiance at the Sisters inside. The howling rose in volume and pitch, a constant chorus of dementia. The ululations grated on the nerves of those still left in the temple. From time to time a Sister would pause to run through a minor Discipline of Relaxation before returning stoical y to her duties. Even Herra was obliged to stop at regular intervals to discharge her tension.

The howling was punctuated by the screams of an occasional victim, some of whom were dragged up to the temple and tortured at its gates. At one stage Lara abruptly left the child she was tending, to run up to the top of one of the lookout towers. She stood in the shadows as the mob below her started tearing a woman to pieces, rather than just beating her and dragging her off to a shrine. With tears coursing down her cheeks, Lara made a complicated series of gestures. The screams cut off abruptly, and as the victim's torn body relaxed into the welcome arms of death, Lara staggered backwards, shaking.

'Are you all right?' asked Davred, who had followed her quietly. He put his arm round her shoulders.

She took a few deep breaths and gave him a wan smile. 'I shall be. That poor woman's mind was beyond repair and the one directing her torture was vile beyond belief. I couldn’t let such terrible anguish continue. But it's very hard to kill someone, even as an act of mercy.'

Davred helped her down the steps and handed her over to one of the other Sisters with instructions that she rest for a while.

Cheral came to stand beside him. 'Lara can't take much more of this. None of us can.'

Davred looked through her as if she did not exist, and when he spoke, it was to himself. '
One day, the God will help me
put an end to this mass insanity, and if I must give my life to help do that, then I shall, and gladly.
' His eyes were as dark as ice within a cave and his face was set in grim lines that added decades to his age.

Cheral watched him carefully, but he spoke no more, and gradually his face relaxed into its normal gentle expression.

'I think, Lord Davred,' she said after a while, 'that you have just spoken a prophecy.'

'I've made a solemn promise, Cheral, and I shall keep it. The world on which I grew up and learned so much useless knowledge didn’t teach me about Evil like that which surrounds us, nor did it give me a true purpose in life. But now that I've found my path, I shall follow it to the end.'

Afterwards Cheral slipped down to the Archive Cellars to scribble his words in the daybook.

A little later Herra mounted the steps below the statue and clapped her hands to gain their attention. The noise echoed forlornly in the near-empty hall. 'It will soon be time,' she announced, 'so I shall speak my farewells. I think I shall not see most of you again.' One of the novices sobbed aloud, and this day no one chided her for her lack of self-control.

The gong was beaten and all who dared leave their posts did so. In a very quiet voice, but one which carried clearly, Herra bade them say farewell to each other. Then she turned to Davred. 'Bring out the device, Lord Davred. We shall set it at the feet of the God, so that he may guard our sleep.'

QUEST Shannah Jay 112

'
Our
sleep?'

'I've decided to stay here.'

He drew her to one side. 'Herra, you can't stay! We need your help outside, in the Quest!'

'My powers are failing again, Lord Davred - failing daily. I daren’t try for another Renewal so soon after the last.

And I can sense no guidance from the God as to what I should do. Always, before, I have
known
my path, or at least known how to wait in confidence for our Brother's guidance.'

It was the first time he’d seen her so near to despair. 'Elder Sister . . . ' he began.

She shook her head stubbornly. 'I shall be but a hindrance to you all. I’ll help most by staying here.'

Davred stood motionless, letting the God speak within him, as she had taught him, then he shook his head. 'No! In that you're wrong, Herra. I'm sure of it.'

'The future lies with you and Katia, Lord. I shal keep to my decision and stay here.'

'I won't let you.'

She was stung out of her misery. 'You
dare not
try to stop me! And you cannot.'

'I can certainly try. You know that I have a Gift for some of the Compulsions, Herra.'

'You haven't the power to compel
me
!' She glared at him. 'And I forbid you even to try! I am still Elder Sister of this temple.'

Katia stepped forward to join them. 'Davred will not be alone in the attempt.'

Herra's eyes began to sparkle with anger. 'You too?'

'I too. Herra, my respect - yes, and my love - for you is in no way diminished, but I walk the same path as Davred in this. We need you with us.'

'You have no Gift for Compulsion, Katia. You can't even
still
a child. I say again, that unless you are sure of the God's will, I shall not come with you.'

Before it could be put to a test, there was a scream from the direction of the Chamber of the God. 'Help! Elder Sister! Cheral! Someone's killed Neralin!'

Davred was the first to reach the chamber and he stopped in shock at the sight of the body on the floor. Neralin was one of the youngest and most beautiful of the Sisters. Now her face was purple, her open eyes staring in horror, her head twisted at an unnatural angle. He could see at a glance that she was beyond help. A quick look round the chamber revealed that the stasis cube was missing.

Herra pushed past him to kneel by Neralin and close her eyes with gentle fingertips. She began to murmur the words of the Passage Between Lives, but Davred interrupted. 'Leave that for someone else, Herra. The stasis cube has gone!'

He felt a surge of power, and in a voice which held as much authority as that of the Elder Sister, he began to give orders. '
We must retrieve the cube, at whatever cost
. Katia, you'l have to stay here and help defend the temple. You must keep the mob from getting inside, even if it means hurting people.'