Vagrants: Book 2 Circles of Light series (34 page)

Ren glanced over his
shoulder as his door opened. He blinked as a white robed figure
entered, closed the door softly and bowed. Observer Babach folded
his hood back from his face and smiled at Ren, the blue of his
pupils seeming even more faded against the silver of his eyes. He
lifted a large, leather-bound volume onto Ren’s work table.‘All day
I have been searching for this one,’ he said, putting a thin
age-spotted hand flat on the book. ‘May I stay and look through it
with you?’

‘Of course, of
course!’

Ren cleared a stack of
papers off a chair for the old man and sat next to him as he eased
open what Ren could now see was an extremely ancient book indeed.
Ren wondered, not for the first time, just how old Babach might be,
and why the Observer appeared to have taken such an interest in
him.

The Observers were
retired Offerings, who mostly lived within the Menedula and either
followed their own interests or taught certain courses of study to
advanced students. Babach had been an Observer ever since Ren had
first entered the Menedula nearly thirty years before as a six year
old, and light only knew how long it had been before that since
Babach had retired as Offering.

Babach nudged him and
Ren looked up guiltily. Babach smiled sweetly and indicated the
page before them. The pages were incredibly thin Ren saw, almost
transparent, but whether due to age or the material they were made
of he didn’t know.

‘A map,’ said Ren,
stating the obvious.

Babach nodded. ‘You
understand of course that the maps of Drogoya are wonderfully
accurate?’

‘Because they are made
and checked constantly by the air masters,’ Ren agreed. ‘This map
is very old?’ he queried.

‘But still very
accurate. I was interested in finding it, for see – it shows more
than do the later maps.’

Babach’s finger hovered
above the page where he wished Ren to concentrate.

Ren frowned then
rummaged through a pile of books beside his chair. He opened the
one he wanted and found a recent map, laying the book in front of
the old volume. He pulled at his straggly beard as he compared the
two.

‘There are less than
half the islands shown on the western side of our land in this more
recent map,’ he said finally. ‘But we know that many small isles
surface and vanish due to the volcanic activity in that
area.’

Babach patted Ren’s
arm. ‘We could Travel to check together at dawn if you wanted to,’
he suggested. He got up as he spoke and pottered over to Ren’s
fireplace. He swung out the simmering kettle and poured the water
into the teapot while Ren considered the suggestion.

Obviously Babach did
not believe so many islands had disappeared. Ren watched the old
man stir berry leaves into the pot and tried to imagine why the
maps would be falsified, and by whom – which is what Babach was
implying. Ren Salar believed totally in the rightness of the Order
of Sedka – the ceaseless nurturing of the land and its magic. The
people who lived in this land were of far lesser importance except
as their activities impinged on the land itself. He had no
conception of recording false information on any subject but Babach
clearly felt something was very wrong.

Yet Ren gained no clues
from Babach’s face which wore its usual expression of faintly
amused serenity. He accepted a bowl of tea from the old
man.

‘The coast is several
hundred leagues from here, how much further are these
islands?’

Babach shrugged. ‘A
little less again, maybe a little more. Have no worries Ren, I can
support you should you find the distance overlong. I am strongest
with air and water,’ he chuckled. ‘ We are an invincible pair, with
your talents for fire and earth. Come to my rooms before dawn
then.’

‘But I have to see Finn
Rah,’ Ren suddenly remembered.

Babach wrinkled his
nose. ‘I will speak to her and tell her I have need of your
assistance. And I have the seniority remember - there will be no
difficulty.’

Ren finished his tea
and met Babach’s eyes. ‘Then yes, I will join you before
dawn.’

‘And then we will see
what we will see,’ Babach concluded softly.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

Mim had been very
concerned that his warning to Tika should reach her in time to
prevent her from confronting Rhaki. It was nearly ten days before
the news reached the Stronghold that Tika had been given Mim’s
message on her way down to the town of Return. No one was entirely
sure why Mim was so adamant that Tika delay her meeting with Rhaki.
Fenj had told Kera that he had no notion of what might have so
perturbed Mim.

Kera had gone to talk
to Fenj after the midday meal, when the great hall had emptied of
its crowd of just fed men. She noted his black scales had regained
some of their lustre and he seemed much brighter in mood again. The
young Kephi Lula was perched comfortably on Fenj’s head, her paws
tucked neatly beneath her chest.

‘Yes,’ thought Kera.
‘Tiny you may be compared to this Great Dragon, yet you have surely
returned him to life when he could so easily have slipped
away.’

Lula twitched her black
ears and blinked. ‘But of course,’ she replied saucily to Kera’s
mind.

Fenj’s prismed eyes
whirred as Kera folded her long legs beneath her and sat on one of
the many pillows scattered around the hearth. Very cautiously he
lowered his head toward the Senior, clearly concerned lest his
minute passenger be dislodged.

‘Lady Kera, is all
well?’ he asked.

‘As far as I know, but
I seem to know less as each day passes.’ Kera grinned and laid her
hand lightly along Fenj’s face. ‘Everything is happening and
changing so fast. We People in Gaharn have sat smugly complacent
for too long and now we find ourselves unaccustomed to sudden
alterations.’

Fenj rumbled but made
no reply.

‘I thought perhaps you
could tell me more of the other minds near where the Silver One
dwells.’

Fenj’s eyes whirred
more rapidly but Kera continued inexorably. ‘I have seen you and
the Snow Dragons huddled here when you know that Mim is in contact
with the Silver One.’

‘We do not huddle. I at
least am far to large to huddle.’ Fenj sounded unusually huffy but
Kera was not to be diverted.

‘You know exactly what
I mean Fenj, so I insist you tell me what you’re up to.’

Fenj swung his head
away from Kera, forgetting Lula’s presence. There was an alarmed
screech and the Kephi slid over the Dragon’s shoulder to the curve
of his forearm. Instantly he was contrite, crooning nonsense to
this small creature that had wormed her way into his affections.
Kera waited until peace was restored to Lula’s satisfaction, caught
Fenj’s eye and held his gaze determinedly.

‘I have not been sure,’
Fenj said at last. ‘It is only very recently that we have had
communication with your species.’

‘And you are far from
convinced that we are terribly intelligent,’ Kera finished for him.
‘Be that as it may Fenj, if it has any bearing on the safety of
Tika and her companions, I insist that you tell me what you have
discovered.’

‘They are human. They
live in old volcanoes. I think there are five such, in one of which
lives the Silver One. I believe they are the remnants of a tribe
that left the far western lands ages past – where Tika came from.’
He gave Kera a mind picture of five interlocking craters,
surrounded by empty plains, as if seen from high above.

Kera frowned. ‘I did
not think you could observe like this – from such a distance? I
know speech from mind to mind can be done over considerable
distances by those greatly skilled but - ?’

Fenj peered down at
Lula, now fast asleep on her back, her tail draped carelessly over
his talons.

Kera waited patiently
until Fenj had to accept that she was not giving up.

‘Well. I have a better
recognition of the way human minds seem to work so the Snow Dragons
you saw huddled’ he gave her a rather icy glare, ‘were adding their
strength to send my thought so far. I contacted a female mind which
was high in the air currents. Her name was Maressa and she was
rather surprised.’

‘I imagine she was,’
said Kera dryly. ‘Did she tell you anything about the Silver
One?’

‘She was most
disorganised in her thoughts. I felt it best to withdraw after
telling her that I would try to reach her again in the next day or
two.’

‘Did you tell her you
are a Dragon?’

‘Well of course I did –
I projected an image of myself into her mind.’

‘No wonder the poor
woman’s mind was disordered. She is probably still wondering if she
is sane or not.’

Fenj snorted but there
was more amusement in the sound than annoyance.

Silence fell between
them, Kera pondering Fenj’s revelations and Fenj gazing fondly at
the now snoring Lula.

‘Fenj, could Dessi and
I link minds with you next time, do you think? We might be less
startling to this unfortunate Maressa.’

Fenj rumbled to
himself. ‘I think that would be possible,’ he agreed.

The next two days
passed slowly for Kera as she anticipated the mindlink to come. On
the first day, she explained to Dessi her conversation with Fenj
and Dessi nodded slowly.

‘I told you that I
sensed someone else when I was trying to redirect the snow winds
away from Farn. I think perhaps it may be the same mind. Clearly
this Maressa must be a powerful weather mage. I wonder if there
will be a chance to meet in person – there is so much she could
teach me if she was willing.’

‘That will have to wait
Dessi,’ said Kera firmly. ‘It would be a long journey across the
Wilderness. Although from the glimpse I had from Fenj’s picture the
land is grass grown now, we cannot tell if it is yet safe to travel
there.’

‘And we say nothing to
Mim of this plan?’

Kera paused. ‘Mim needs
all his strength to control the Silver One. Let us not distract him
now, before we know how useful our new contact might be.’ She
hugged the small Delver girl. ‘It is truly not a matter of
distrusting Mim in any way dear one, but you know yourself how
exhausted he becomes. Let us discover if we can help him for sure,
before burdening him with yet another concern.’

Dessi returned to the
high chamber she had chosen for herself and continued the mental
exercises Kera and Nesh had helped her develop.

Kera worked with Nesh
in the large lower cavern where the Cansharsi had until only
recently been penned. Jeela and Ashta had been trying to make much
smaller holes high in the outer walls, to act as extra vents.
Besides the still all too pervasive stench that remained despite
many work teams of Guards scouring the chamber over and over again,
there was also an unwholesome feel to the very air in there.
Braziers burnt strong cleansing herbs but were only making slow
inroads to the unpleasantness.

Lorak scratched his
chin when Kera asked his opinion.

‘Don’t know Lady. It’s
a big chamber, suitable to turn into a good growing area but no one
likes working in here see? Bikram and me put that there tray of
seedlings in here a while gone and they be doing fine. Maybe by the
time we’ve got good soil and plants in, the feel of the place will
change?’

‘We can only try Lorak.
How is the first area coming on?’

Lorak smiled up at the
tall Senior.

‘Seeds are already in,’
he said. ‘Three different sorts. Bikram recommended them for the
first try in the new soil, and all three are fast growers. May not
be as long as we feared afore we get some fresh greens right here
Lady!’

‘How long before you
can go back to Gaharn then Lorak?’ Kera asked
straight-faced.

‘Aah,’ Lorak’s smile
turned shifty. ‘Still a very great deal to see to you know.’ He
waved a grimy hand vaguely. ‘A great deal,’ he repeated.

‘I see. So I think Lady
Emla had best look for another Chief Gardener then, don’t
you?’

Lorak scowled down at
his boots, removed his hat and scratched his head vigorously. ‘I
could go back and just give a quick eye to the Lady’s gardens, but
I should stay here I do believe.’

‘And when Fenj returns
to the Ancient Mountains?’

Lorak met Kera’s eyes
steadily. ‘Then I’ll go with the old fella, should he allow me. Be
new plants to find there I’m sure.’

‘I’m sorry, I should
not tease you Lorak. You have served us all well and Fenj
particularly. You are free to do as you wish – you must know
that.’

‘Well, a bit long in
the tooth to start this adventuring, but I’ve enjoyed it all so
far.’

Finally the time
arrived when Mim was in a high chamber with Ashta and Jeela,
contacting Gremara. Kera and Dessi sat with Fenj and three Snow
Dragons from the Domain in the great hall. Kera caught Dessi’s
mind, binding them close for this attempt at long-range mind
travel. Then Kera slid their joined minds into the web of power the
Dragons had woven.