The Ghosts of Blood and Innocence (45 page)

Tava-edzen kissed Darq on the mouth. ‘My blood beats for you, Darq. We are of one heart. May the radiance behind the sun light your path.’

‘Is that Uigenna talk?’ Darq asked. ‘Those sound like ritual phrases or something.’

Tava-edzen nodded. ‘Those are a couple of the things we used to say to one another when we felt a little civilised.’

Darq pulled Tava-edzen closer to him. ‘I think I’ll love you always,’ he said. ‘It would be good if we could have a future together, of some kind. Otherwise it will be painful.’

‘Whatever happens, I’m here for you,’ Tava-edzen said. ‘Perhaps we should hope the
sedim
win the conflict. It’ll make it more convenient for you to travel to me.’

‘If things turn out right, I don’t think we’ll need
sedim
,’ Darq said. ‘You’re adamant, though? You’ll remain here, whatever happens?’

Again, Tava-edzen nodded, and his expression was somewhat sorrowful. ‘I think so, yes. The prospect of other leaders tires me. They’d irritate me into a state of violence, I’m sure. Manticker would never bow to anyhar, and there’s too much of him left in me.’

Darq expected that the journey to the Krim Sri would take a long time, at least a day, but the entrance to their hidden kingdom was actually fairly close to the Weavers’ home. Along the way, Slinque said to Darq: ‘At first, we thought it was a wonderful coincidence that we settled in this place, so close to the Krim Sri. Now, we wonder whether fate took a hand, or the Krim Sri influenced us in some subtle way.’

‘If they’re anything like Zu,’ Darq said, ‘then I expect they had some influence!’

The Weavers led the way to a cliff face that was covered in hanging ivy. Darq assumed the ivy would be lifted aside and a doorway would be revealed, but the Weavers didn’t attempt any such thing.

Slinque and Stelph went to the rock and put their hands flat upon it.

‘This is going to feel strange,’ Shayd said to Darq and Tava-edzen, ‘but you must trust us. Part of the wall before you is an illusion. If you intend to pass through it, you will.’

‘How did you find this place?’ Tava-edzen asked. ‘It looks just like rock to me, and not even my inner sight can detect a doorway.’

‘Very occasionally, a Sri will come to the surface,’ Shayd said. ‘They hide themselves well, but when the portal has just been used it becomes more visible for a short while. You’d sense it yourself then, Tava.’ Shayd indicated his brothers. ‘We came across it by accident and investigated it. We were surprised by a Sri named Hannael, who was returning to her home. Or rather we surprised each other!’

‘Was she hostile?’ Tava-edzen asked.

Shayd shook his head. ‘No, not at all. She could see what we were and was fascinated by us, as we were with her. Her people had fled here long before Wraeththu had taken a hold, so we were the first hara she’d met. Generally, Sri who come to the surface avoid both hara and humans. But anyway, Hannael and we became friends. For some time, we met with her to talk, and after a while she began to visit us at the round house. Eventually, her leaders discovered she had befriended us, and we were asked to visit Helek Sah, the city in the mountain. It was then we were taught how to use the doorway.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Tava-edzen said, his voice puzzled. ‘Didn’t you trust me with this secret?’

Shayd bowed to the phylarch. ‘Forgive us, Tava. We had to vow we would keep silent.’

‘Did they put a binding on your tongue?’ Darq asked sarcastically.

Shayd smiled thinly. ‘No. There was no need.’ He turned away and looked at his brothers, who had taken their hands from the rock. ‘The doorway is primed,’ Shayd said and gestured towards the cliff. ‘Are you ready?’

Darq and Tava-edzen exchanged a glance, then the phylarch took hold of one of Darq’s hands. ‘We
intend
to pass,’ he said to Shayd. ‘That’s all?’

Shayd nodded.

Darq squeezed Tava-edzen’s fingers. They approached the cliff face where together, they took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Darq imagined that once they had crossed the threshold, they would find themselves in a cavern or passageway on the other side of the rock. This was not the case. On the one occasion he opened his eyes, he nearly panicked. They were passing through what appeared to be solid stone. There was pressure against his skin, and an unpleasant squeezing sensation in his head.
Keep your eyes closed,
Slinque advised behind him. The experience seemed endless, as it lasted for a couple of uncomfortable minutes. Eventually, the rock expelled them and Darq and Tava-edzen staggered forward. They had emerged into a narrow passageway, with a very low ceiling. Tava-edzen was obliged to stoop, since he was taller than the others. Darq watched as the Weavers emerged from the rock. It looked as if the stone was actually made of some kind of fluid. Was this magic or extremely advanced science? Ultimately, perhaps it was both.

‘That was probably one of the weirdest and most discomforting things I have ever done,’ Tava-edzen said. He laughed. ‘And as you know, my Weavers, my colorful history includes a number of weird and discomforting events.’

‘How did the Krim Sri create that boundary?’ Darq asked. He had to keep opening and closing his mouth because his jaw felt oddly stiff.

‘It’s the work of many minds,’ Stelph said.  ‘Come. They’re waiting for us.’

The Weavers led the way along the path, which gradually descended, and grew narrower as they progressed. The ceiling also became lower and the air was almost unbreathable.

‘This is vile,’ Darq said.

Slinque looked back. He was bent nearly double; his hair touched the floor. ‘The Sri have made the journey as unpleasant as possible,’ he said. ‘It’s part of their security system.’

‘I can’t breathe!’ Darq said. ‘How much longer will this take?’

‘Not far,’ Slinque said. ‘You’ll be fine. Try to breathe deeply and evenly.’

Just when Darq thought he’d pass out from lack of oxygen, the passageway disgorged them into a cavern. Darq took a great gulp of air in relief. The scene before him was lit, somewhat inadequately, by a single enormous torch that rested upon a tall black metal stand. As far as Darq could see, the cave before him was full of water, with only a narrow beach. Silvery grey damp sand shifted beneath his feet. The beach extended only a few feet; beyond it black water stretched out into a void. Darq could not see the other shore, if there was one. The air in that place was humid. His breath steamed, yet he did not feel cold.

‘Now what?’ Darq asked.

‘Do we have to swim?’ Tava-edzen enquired with some distaste.

‘No, Tava,’ Slinque said. ‘Be patient.’

The Weavers stood in a line upon the narrow shore and put their fingers into their mouths. They blew a series of piercing whistles of different notes.

Presently a dark shape came gliding across the dark waters. It was a long narrow boat. At prow and stern were carvings of what looked like a cross between eagle, horse and fish. Darq saw that the pilot was a tall thin figure robed in black. He stood at the stern, using a single large oar to propel the boat forward. Eventually, the boat came to rest near the water’s edge.

‘Come,’ Slinque said. ‘You’ll have to get your feet wet.’

Darq followed the others into the water. It was not as cold as he expected, and its consistency seemed thicker than water should be. Slinque murmured a few words in a strange tongue to the pilot, who neither moved nor spoke. Darq had the uncomfortable feeling that whatever lay hidden beneath the hooded cloak would be some kind of monster.

Once they’d all embarked, the pilot turned the boat and it slid smoothly and silently into the darkness. Darq was aware of immense space around him, even though he couldn’t see it. He sat on a narrow bench with Tava-edzen at his side. A single lantern at the prow cast a small pool of radiance over the water.

On the far shore, a corridor of torches on tall metal stands lined a sandy path leading to a rock face. The flames of the torches were blue. At the end of the path, covering an arched entrance in the rock, was a wall of roaring red flames. Darq studied this with some trepidation as he disembarked from the boat. ‘Don’t tell me,’ he said to Slinque. ‘We have to
intend
to walk through that as well.’

‘Don’t be absurd,’ said Slinque. ‘You’d burn to death in an instant. Here, we wait. From this point on, we must be escorted.’

Darq was uncomfortably aware of the silent pilot, who still remained motionless in the boat behind them. Other than the initial words Slinque had spoken, the Weavers had made no attempt to communicate with the pilot and now they ignored him.

Darquiel linked an arm through one of Tava-edzen’s elbows. For a brief stultifying moment, he became painfully aware of how vulnerable they all were. If the Krim Sri had any sinister motive in getting Darq to their hidden city, he had complied with them willingly and perhaps too hastily.

Tava-edzen drew Darq away from the Weavers a little, to speak in private. ‘You’re tense,’ he murmured. ‘Be at rest.’

‘We were too quick to come here,’ Darq said. ‘I should have told the Sri their leaders would have to come to the round house.’

‘I don’t sense anything dangerous,’ Tava-edzen said. ‘Really, I think we’ll be fine.’

The waiting took far too long for Darq’s liking, but after only a few minutes, the wall of flames ahead of him drew back like curtains, and an extremely tall, thin figure walked beneath the arch. It was what appeared to be a woman, clad in a dark robe with a high collar that rose behind her neck in a stiff fan. Her hair was confined in a strange and complicated metal headdress, a mass of spikes and waving tines. Locks of hair gushed forth from apertures in this peculiar crown. Her neck was swathed in close-fitting necklaces of dark jewels, so that no patch of skin could be seen. She carried a long black staff that was tipped with an ornament of gold; it appeared to represent a bird of prey.

‘You are privileged,’ Slinque murmured to Darq. ‘That is Tiy, the Eye Priestess of the Krim Sri. She has come to meet you personally.’

‘And has dressed herself quite dramatically for the occasion!’ Stelph added.

The priestess paused some feet away from the hara and bowed. Ornaments on her headdress tinkled. But for her height, she looked like a human woman in her forties, and yet at the same time appeared ageless. Her pale underworld skin was not lined or sagging, but there was an air almost of antiquity about her. She was not beautiful exactly, but striking. Her hair was very black. Darq guessed she must be extremely old, older than Thiede or any other har.

‘Welcome to Helek Sah, Darquiel har Aralis,’ Tiy said, then turned to Tava-edzen and inclined her head. ‘And the phylarch of the Nezreka is also most welcome. I am Tiy. I’ll escort you to the city.’

‘You know why I’m here?’ Darq asked her.

Tiy smiled. ‘To discuss
my
future, I would imagine. Follow me. You must pass through the seven gates to Helek Sah. The Gate of Fire is open now. Come quickly, before it closes.’ She turned swiftly and went back towards the curtains of flame.

Darq felt no more than gentle heat as he passed beneath the rocky archway. Beyond the gate, he found himself in a deep gorge. The rock here was bare and occasionally running with damp. The air smelled of earth. Looking up, Darq could see no ceiling, only darkness. The torches that lined the walls did not offer enough light to see too much detail.

Tiy did not speak but led the way quickly. Within minutes, they’d reached the second gate, which was a violent cataract of water across the path. ‘The Gate of Water,’ Tiy said. She raised her arms before it, and drew a few complicated symbols in the air with her staff. Finally, she uttered a tone, and the water drew back like the fire had done, as if it were merely curtains of fabric.

As Darq passed through the gate, a piercing chill went through his flesh. For a moment, it felt as if he was swimming, which was absurd, but then the gate was behind him and he stood once more upon the stony ground of the gorge.

‘It gets better,’ Slinque said to him.

‘Better?’ Darq pantomimed a double-take.

‘You’ll see,’ said Stelph. He gestured towards Tiy, who was standing impatiently some feet ahead of them. ‘Let’s go. She doesn’t like to be kept waiting.’

The third gate across the gorge was of stone, and this was covered in carved bas-reliefs of tall winged figures. ‘The Gate of Earth,’ Tiy announced. She opened it simply by knocking upon it with her staff. Beyond this gate a perilous walkway of stone arced maybe fifty feet across a deep chasm. Darq thought he heard water rushing, far below. Although the path was fairly wide, the fact that it hung over so deep a drop and didn’t possess any kind of wall or railing along it made Darq feel as if he’d plummet over the side at any minute. Weirdly, he was afraid he’d be driven to throw himself over. He’d never been bothered by heights before.

On the other side of the walkway, the party entered another chasm lit by flickering torchlight. Here, after a hundred yards or so, they came across the next gate, which was constructed entirely of dark metal. ‘The Gate of Iron,’ Tiy said. Again she employed her staff to open it. She turned to address Darq before they passed through. ‘The next two gates will no doubt intrigue you,’ she said.

Darq managed a weak laugh. ‘Believe me, the others have intrigued me immensely!’

Tiy smiled. ‘You’ve not experienced the best yet. Have you traveled the otherlanes at all, Darquiel?’

Darq shook his head. ‘No.’

Tiy smiled. ‘Then I think you’ll enjoy this.’

She led the party onwards until they reached a place where the path seemed blocked by what Darq could only describe as ‘nothingness’. He peered into endless darkness that felt more than simply absence of light.

‘This is the Gate of Trackless Void,’ Tiy said. ‘It is part in this world, part in the otherlanes. Have no fear of being lost within it. When it’s open, you simply walk through it.’

‘This is a very…
elaborate
security system,’ Tava-edzen said.

Tiy raised an eyebrow. ‘You think so? You have no idea what we have to protect ourselves against!’