Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series

Survivors

(Circles Of Light -
Book Four)

E.M.
Sinclair

Copyright 2006 by E.M.
Sinclair

Smashwords
Edition

In Memory Of

F.K.
1880-1970

M.H.I.
1920-2006

For John and Ben, with
love always

Cover Painting - ‘Fenj’
by Bethan Town-Jones

Cover Design by David
Dempsey

Chapter
One

The three Desert men
were polite, generous with their supplies, but reticent about the
exact location of the City they spoke of with such reverence. Wary
of the fact that the three plainly used mind speech, Tika and Gan
wandered away from the fire to the sea’s edge.

‘Unless we try to make
our way back to Mist, I do not see we have any alternative to going
with them,’ said Gan.

‘Their koninas look
well fed, especially compared to our poor beasts, but will there be
fresh meat for the Dragons? I don’t think we have a choice Gan.
Khosa seems to know more about these men than I can account for.
Perhaps she knows more about everything.’ Tika frowned. ‘I wish
someone would explain – just once in a while – exactly what we’re
supposed to be doing.’

Gan chuckled. ‘Being
Captain of the Lady Emla’s Guards was a bit like this,’ he
admitted.

They turned back
towards the fire, the twilight closing around them.

‘We’ll hear soon enough
if anyone strongly disagrees about our travelling to this City. I
don’t look forward to all that sand though.’ Tika sat between Ren
and Maressa. ‘Well, do we leave tomorrow then Kirat? And can you
promise me there will be meat for our friends?’

Farn’s head snaked over
Tika’s shoulder, sapphire eyes whirring with enthusiasm. She curled
her arm round his neck, giving him a brief hug. She hid a smile
when she saw Storm copying Farn’s action on a rather startled
Navan. To Navan’s credit, he cautiously rubbed Storm’s neck in
return.

The apparent spokesman
of the three Desert men, nodded vigorously. ‘Our people keep goats,
which we freely offer to feed the Dragon folk. We would ask that
they accept our gifts. If they hunted for themselves among our
small flocks, much panic would ensue and the goats would scatter
and be lost.’

The massive purple
Seela replied graciously. ‘That would be perfectly suitable. Thank
you Kirat.’ Her eyes dared the two young Dragons to argue the
point.

‘You said it will take
eight days to reach your City,’ Olam queried. ‘It must surely be a
longer journey from the plains of Sapphrea into your
Desert?’

It was Hadjay who
replied. ‘Indeed Sir Olam. Maybe three times as long that way.’ He
gave a satisfied grin. ‘The grasslander people have no idea how to
find water in our land and there is plenty of water – if you know
how to seek it.’

Olam’s face revealed a
certain scepticism. ‘I’ve heard tales of nomads following strayed
animals, or pursuing the giant hunting Kephis when they’ve stolen
too many from the flocks. But those who venture in among the Biting
Sands never return.’

His words were met with
laughter, white teeth gleaming in Hadjay’s dark face. ‘We keep
watch all around our land Sir Olam. And generally we kill
intruders.’

The company digested
that remark in silence.

‘Then why do you appear
to welcome us?’ It was Maressa who asked the obvious
question.

‘We have been told who
you are. The Survivors ask us to guide you to them.’

All three Desert men
bowed their heads. ‘It is our great honour.’

‘We leave before
sunrise,’ Kirat announced, and unrolled the blanket he’d been
sitting on. ‘It takes eight days to the Valley, but they are eight
long, hard days.’

Ren lay back on his
blankets, staring up at the millions of stars flung across the sky.
He heard Gan murmur quietly to Olam, and then Pallin and Riff
talking about the strangers’ koninas.

‘Same as our beasts but
much finer.’ Pallin was saying. ‘Bred for that lightness of bone
looks like. And probably for the white colour. Like to talk to
someone who has the breeding of them if we get to this dratted
City.’

Ren fell asleep before
he heard Riff’s reply and knew nothing more until someone shook him
in the dark before dawn.

They drank tea standing
ready to mount and ride. Sirak handed out cloths to put over their
heads, as all three Desert men already wore. Tika was surprised
that Khosa had made no comment since they’d encountered these men
and now climbed into her carry sack without demur.

Personally, since the
Silver One had spoken to her, Tika had felt a calm acceptance.
Gremara had told her she must trust. Tika argued that trusting
people was a risky thing in her experience. Gremara asked if her
companions had so far betrayed her and Tika fell silent. Although
the Silver One had spoken to each companion separately, no
discussion or revelation of what they’d been told, had
occurred.

A few days after
leaving Mist’s Flight of Sea Dragons, Tika found she could accept
whatever lay ahead. Seeing her beloved soul bond’s increasing
confidence, his delight in his wild games with Storm, she decided
whatever did lie ahead was worth these days of careless joy for
Farn.

Kirat set a steady
pace, trotting the koninas where the ground allowed. He had given
Pallin grain for the companions’ mounts, welcome after many days of
short rations. They made a good distance before the sun came up and
then discovered the Desert was much hotter than had been the lands
they’d traversed from Far to the coast. Ren tried to explain that
they were a lot further south, which would mean an increase in
heat, but abandoned his attempt to educate them in basic natural
science. Only Maressa understood his words and she was too hot to
try to simplify Ren’s explanation.

They rode until mid
morning, seeing little except the rise and fall of endless dunes,
but when Kirat called a halt, they saw a faint smudge of rising
hills ahead. The Desert men raised awnings and nodded approval when
they saw Pallin and Riff doing the same.

‘We brought extra cloth
in case you had nothing to protect yourselves through the heat of
the day. We will stay here until the sun is well on its way
down.’

The Dragons were not
bothered by the heat, not even Storm so far. Tika had been worried
that, used as he was to the proximity of the sea and diving into it
as he did, he would find this waterless place hard to cope with.
Sprawled gratefully in the small shade of the awnings, they watched
in some bewilderment while Sirak prowled slowly in front of them,
at intervals pushing a long pole into the sand. Eventually, he went
to his knees, dragging scoops of sand from around the upright pole.
Kirat joined him and Ren ventured out into the fierce heat to watch
them. He peered down into the rapidly deepening excavation, then
straightened. He rejoined the others in the shade.

‘Water,’ he said
succinctly.

‘Water? Never!’ Olam
went to investigate as well and returned grinning. ‘Stars be
blessed! How did he know where to dig? There’s quite a little pool
there.’

‘I’d guess he felt a
difference when the pole hit firmer sand.’ Ren rested his chin on
his drawn up knees. ‘Fascinating though.’

The four Dragons
watched with interest as the first leather bucket of water was
dragged from the sand. Storm crept closer, and closer, Tika
watching with amusement to see how Sirak would react when he
discovered the young Sea Dragon craning over him. She laughed aloud
when Sirak turned and came nose to nose with Storm. Storm’s eyes
whirred a slate grey colour and he ducked his head in embarrassed
apology. But Sirak smiled and bowed his own head, plainly mind
speaking the young Dragon.

They travelled on when
the worst of the heat had lessened, until a considerable time after
nightfall. Kirat clearly used stars for guidance and led them
unerringly and with no hesitation. Hadjay vanished when they halted
next midday, reappearing with six large odd looking lizards
dangling from his hand. He grinned.

‘Sand swimmers. Good
eating.’

He offered the Dragons
one each, and after some cautious sniffing, they accepted the
strange meat with enjoyment.

The third day was
blisteringly hot. The air shimmered and wavered whichever direction
they looked. The hills, which they’d thought were nearing, now
seemed to change position – one moment ahead of them, the next
nearly behind.

‘It is normal here,’
Hadjay assured them. He pointed ahead. ‘Squeeze your eyes near shut
and you see the real hills.’

The fourth day found
Storm tiring. Farn warned Tika but Seela had already noticed and
kept him beneath her outspread wing when they stopped in the heat
of the day. Her shelter revived him and so the company moved on.
Pallin pointed out to Navan and Riff that they’d die if the Desert
men left them now.

‘I couldn’t find water
like they do, and probably no trail.’

They turned in their
saddles and could not be sure which dune they had just descended.
Navan shrugged.

‘Best follow them then
and hope they like our company.’

Maressa flew with Brin,
finding the breeze helped a little against the heat which she
suffered worst of them all. Farn insisted he carry Tika at least
part of each day, then allowing her to fly with Seela while he
played with Storm. In her carry sack Khosa remained silent. Tika
presumed the Kephi slept most of each day. The nights were
surprisingly cold and Khosa disappeared for most of the time the
travellers slept.

The fifth day they
began to climb switchback hills each a little higher than the last
and where rock showed in places through the sand. Ahead, they saw
only more brown peaks rising from the sea of sand. When Kirat
called a halt that night, the Dragons were excited, rattling their
wings and occasionally calling aloud to each other. Tika smiled at
Kirat across the small fire he made each night.

‘We saw lights several
leagues on – is that your City?’

Kirat shook his head.
‘We have small communities ringing the City, but they are of only a
few farming families.’

‘Farming?’ Pallin asked
in disbelief. ‘We’ve seen only the poorest grasses, and those
rubbery things.’

‘Cacti,’ Sirak
helpfully supplied the name.

‘Yes those.’ Pallin
scowled. ‘You don’t mean you farm those?’

The Desert men laughed.
‘You have been grateful for the water the cacti can supply Pallin.
But no, we farm the same sort of crops as you I daresay. We have no
large cattle but we have goats, and fowls provide eggs.’

Next day their trail
rose sharply, now mountainous rather than hilly, over brown and
grey rock covered with a thin dusty soil. From the greater vantage
of Farn’s back, Tika saw a sudden splash of green ahead of them and
guessed they would reach this area by nightfall. But instead of
halting as usual when the heat intensified, Kirat urged them on,
over a last short narrow pass and then down towards a greenness
further below than they might have imagined.

Descending a winding
track, the mountains rose above them in sharp peaks and jagged
outlines. The Dragons stayed high overhead: Tika was unsure of
their reception by the Qwah people, despite Kirat’s assurances of
welcome. The riders with Kirat noticed the trail was becoming
better defined the lower they went. Also, to their considerable
relief, at last they were riding in some shade where the sun was
blocked by the high ridges. The path twisted between wind scoured
towers of rock and they had their first sight of a bowl like
depression, perhaps two leagues across, planted with a variety of
crops.

To their left as they
wound down to the flat, were clustered several buildings. On closer
inspection, they realised that the seven buildings were in fact
linked to each other by walls rising to roof level of the two
storied buildings leaving an open courtyard inside. They saw people
moving in there, but then the koninas snorted and tossed their
heads, scenting water.