Vagrants: Book 2 Circles of Light series (31 page)

‘It’s so obvious now,’
Emla murmured to herself. ‘Look,’ she caught Shan’s arm, pulling
her to the centre of the circle. ‘Half close your eyes, as though
you were squinting in the sun. Can you see now? Oh it’s so clear!
If you are coming with me Shan, follow exactly where I walk in the
pattern.’

Emla put one foot on a
thin line of jet. Shan gulped, and followed her mistress onto the
circle.

Chapter
Twenty-One

Work continued
steadily, bringing life and hope to the northern Stronghold where
Rhaki had encouraged darkness and dread. And the winter at last
seemed to be loosening its grip and withdrawing to the Ice Realms
even further to the north. There had been another night when
Gremara raged against those able to shield the Stronghold in Mim’s
stead, to allow him some desperately needed rest. But although a
watch was still kept in readiness for a new surge of madness,
Gremara appeared to have resigned herself to Mim's
orders.

Fenj was just returning
with the Snow Dragon Talli from their hunting flight as Mim, Bikram
and Lorak sat hunched at the long table. Lula danced around Fenj’s
huge feet, shrieking with delight as he avoided stepping on her.
The three at the table glanced up briefly from the map they were
studying.

‘Thank the stars the
old fella has that wicked little Kephi to amuse him,’ Lorak
muttered. ‘I was afeared we’d lost him after that first night I
was.’

Mim’s scaled hand
rested lightly on the old gardener’s for a moment. Although Lorak
and Fenj were not true soul bonds, Mim was all too aware of how
very closely tied they had become. As they watched, Fenj reclined
in his usual place and Lula bounded up to nestle between the
Dragon’s arm and his wide chest.

Mim looked back at the
sketched plan on the table before them.

‘We will have a few
things growing in the first cavern very soon Mim. Work is getting
on with the next one, but there is a bad feeling in there.’ Bikram
shivered.

Mim tapped his hardened
and curved nails on the paper. ‘That was the holding area for
Rhaki’s beasts. A lot of nastiness lingers there.’

‘I reckon as how we
should blast a hole through to the outside afore we do any other
work to it,’ said Lorak.

‘I think you are right
Lorak,’ Mim agreed. ‘I’m sure it was Cansharsi held there rather
than Linvaks. Jal!’

He raised a hand as Jal
and his brother Motass descended the ramp from the upper levels.
They crossed the wide hall to the table where Mim sat. Mim noted
that Jal was moving more easily, becoming accustomed to the shift
in balance he’d had to learn since the loss of his right arm. Also
that he looked younger – more like Motass’s brother again than his
father.

‘Jal, do you recall
which of Rhaki’s beasts were held in this chamber?’

An almost-talon pointed
to a space on the plan. Jal peered at the paper and
scowled.

‘Cansharsi in there
Sir, Linvaks were held in the caverns the other side.’ He nodded to
the northern end of the hall.

‘Rhaki sent out groups
of both Linvaks and Cansharsi into the plains, did he not?’ Mim
asked.

‘Yes Sir.’

‘What do you think of
the likelihood of there still being any surviving?’

Jal thought for a few
minutes. ‘The Linvaks are less vicious Sir. They panic easily and
then they are unpredictable and dangerous but they do not usually
kill everything in sight. The Cansharsi,’ Jal met Mim’s strange
eyes. ‘Rhaki bred them for more intelligence but they are plain
killers. Their perhaps better brains merely allow them to be
craftier but they kill for the sake of killing. Linvaks prefer meat
but will often eat vegetables. Cansharsi eat only meat – any
meat.

‘I would think Linvaks
may have tried to find somewhere to hide, to form a very basic
community, keeping themselves away from human farms or settlements.
Cansharsi would just keep moving, in no particular direction,
killing anything in their way.’

‘Breeding?’ Mim
asked.

Jal shook his head.
‘Rhaki had given up his ‘experiments’ with the Linvaks and a few of
them had produced their own young, so I guess they will produce
naturally. He was still ‘working on’ the Cansharsi – I know of no
natural births among them Sir.’

Mim’s eyes were hard.
‘Linvaks murdered my village,’ he said softly.

Jal swallowed. ‘Yes
Sir. Rhaki has released Linvaks for several cycles past. I would
think the ones that attacked your village had found their way south
to the forests and swamp lands and decided to live in that area
permanently.’

‘Is there any means of
making contact with such creatures?’ Mim asked sceptically. ‘I’d
guess they would kill anyone who tried to approach quite honestly.
My people had heard tales of such beasts and we had smelled traces
of them through our woodlands. But Nagums would pose no threat to
them.’ His tone had turned icy by the time he finished
speaking.

Jal sighed. ‘Perhaps,
with the mind power, you could somehow persuade them to keep to
themselves? I do not know Sir, whether that would work. Linvaks
showed terror whenever I was sure Rhaki used mind power on them.
The Cansharsi accepted it with no sign of disturbance. I felt, once
or twice, the dominant Cansharsi tried to push their own minds over
Rhaki’s.’ Jal shrugged and winced. ‘None of such communications did
I hear in my mind of course – I am just assuming.’

‘And in the face of no
other information, we will go with your assumption Jal.’ Mim nodded
as the healer Nesh joined their group at the table. ‘I do not know
which I should do first – find these rogue Cansharsi or deal with
the Silver One.’

Bikram and Lorak
exchanged glances.

‘Well, we can’t help
much with either of those things.’ Lorak pushed himself to his
feet. ‘We’ll get back to the caverns below – the sooner we can grow
fresh food ourselves, the better.’

He and Bikram crossed
the great hall to speak briefly with Fenj, then headed for the
lower levels.

Mim fixed his gaze on
Nesh.

‘I will reveal more of
what I have learned from the Silver One, but you must also share
the secrets the People of Gaharn keep from the rest of
us.’

Nesh looked
startled.

‘Secrets?’ he repeated.
‘I’m not sure I know any secrets Mim – truly.’

He saw Kera and Dessi
coming down the curved ramp with some relief.

Mim repeated his
statement to Kera then leaned his scaled forearms on the
table.

‘Your secrets for mine
Lady.’

Kera seemed as taken
aback as had Nesh.

‘I will answer whatever
you ask of me if I can Mim. I am not aware that I have deliberately
concealed anything from you.’

‘He means about the
others,’ Dessi said helpfully.

Nesh and Kera wore
identically blank expressions.

Dessi gave Mim a quick
look then continued.

‘There are others
living close by the Silver One. I felt their minds touch mine when
I tried to manipulate the weather systems.’

Kera’s eyebrows shot up
her forehead. ‘Others? More Silver Ones? Dear stars!’

‘No, no,’ Dessi
soothed. ‘Like us. The minds that touched me held no malice at all,
but the focus when I traced it back is very near –
hers.’

Kera and Nesh turned to
Mim. He shrugged.

‘I am aware of them but
I have to keep such a tight control of contact with the Silver One
that I have learned nothing of them. She would sense my mind if I
tried contacting anyone else so near to her. Do you know of these
people Lady?’

Kera was shaking her
head but it was Jal who spoke.

‘I know only stories of
fear of the Wilderness, that it is a land blighted and desolate.
But if Lord Mim says he feels other minds there, I wonder.’ He
frowned. ‘Ages past, so the stories say, even before the People
built Gaharn, there was a dreadful catastrophe in the Sapphrean
lands.

‘The stories tell of a
city, near to the Bitter Sea, built by magic and occupied by the
wielders of that magic. Anyway, there were explosions and the very
earth shook and trembled and huge numbers of people were left dead
– not just within the city but for many leagues into the Sapphrean
lands – right to the Ancient Mountains.’

Jal flushed as he
realised the others were transfixed by his words.

‘The lords of the
outlying areas outlawed the use of any magics from that time and
executed any known to be of a family that used magic. Some escaped
and were said to have wandered towards the Spine Mountains –
outcasts and vagrants. No towns or villages would let any of them
settle nearby. Perhaps some of those outcasts wandered all the way
on through the Wilderness and found somewhere to settle
again?’

Jal sat back,
embarrassed at being the centre of such avid attention.

Kera chewed her lower
lip. ‘I have never heard that story Jal. We were told only that we
came to this world and built Gaharn. We were not to enter the
Wilderness for many cycles.’ She looked questioningly at Nesh who
nodded in agreement.

‘There is an ocean
beyond the Wilderness, but we have been forbidden to explore east
of these mountains. To speak truly, I have not even thought of
those lands since I heard of them in my first classes.’

‘If the Wilderness
lands were poisoned, how could these outcasts Jal speaks of,
survive a journey across them?’ Dessi asked.

‘Jal said those events
happened before the People came here. Perhaps they found safe
refuge across the Wilderness before it became the Wilderness?’ Nesh
suggested.

Mim’s hardened nails
tapped against the tabletop.

‘I do not understand
this talk of the Wilderness. Nolli said something once to Lady
Emla, but I paid little notice. Is it that the People made the
Wilderness then? And why do you call yourselves “the People” – are
we not all people?’

‘It is rarely spoken of
beyond the basic tale as I said.’ Nesh spread his hands palms
up.

‘It must be in the
archives in Gaharn,’ Kera concluded. ‘I’m sure Ryla would know much
more.’ She laid her long fingered hand lightly on Mim’s scaled arm.
‘I do believe we came here with an overweening arrogance. We tested
only humans for signs of the power – yet many creatures are able to
use it, as only Emla discovered. We found the circles in Gaharn
first and later here in this Stronghold, and assumed in our
arrogance that it was our responsibility to care for them and the
Weights of Balance.’ She shook her head ruefully. ‘It is only in
this last half cycle that such questions have occurred to me at
least. We are the People of Asataria so perhaps we should have
called ourselves Asatarians.’

Kera felt Mim’s mind
touch hers and calmed the automatic spurt of indignation that he
should need to check whether she told him the truth. He turned his
arm over and caught her fingers gently.

‘I have to check
everything now Kera. The Silver One’s knowledge is so jumbled, I
dare take nothing for granted. Those who live close by the Silver
One know her, they have tried to reach her.’ He closed his eyes
briefly. ‘She has killed many of those who approach her. But I will
have to do so myself before much longer. And,’ he looked at each in
turn. ‘I believe the people living out there beyond the Wilderness
have more hope of success against Rhaki’s power than has
Tika.’

Kwanzi checked on
Elyssa and found her still sleeping deeply. He discerned no sign of
fever and her breathing was even. He left a pot of tea by the bed
and a note propped against the mug telling her she was to stay
where she was and rest until he returned. He was now sitting with
Thryssa, making sure that she ate what he considered a suitable
breakfast. Thryssa was arguing that she could eat not a single
crumb more when a maid slipped into the room.

‘Sorry to disturb my
lady, but Speaker Lashek has just arrived and asks to see
you.’

Thryssa met Kwanzi’s
eyes in a moment of shared surprise before she stood up.

‘Of course I’ll see him
at once. Bring him to my study if you please.’

Thryssa had just sat
behind her worktable when Kwanzi ushered Lashek into the room. The
earth mage beamed at her.

‘Sorry to visit so
early my dear. I walked through the night – most
invigorating.’

‘Have you eaten?’
Kwanzi asked.

Lashek’s beam broadened
further. ‘I have not,’ he said looking hopeful.

‘I will fetch food for
you then.’

‘It must be a matter of
some urgency that brought you through the night and makes you even
forego breakfast Lashek?’ Thryssa smiled as Lashek settled in a
chair opposite her.

‘Well now,’ Lashek
lifted the satchel he carried and placed it on his lap. ‘We found
some scraps of records, not in the best of condition nor in any
sort of order. Aah thank you Kwanzi, most kind! This will help keep
me from fading away!’