Lodestone Book One: The Sea of Storms (29 page)

Lyall nodded to her as she drew
alongside. “You’re back early. Are our ‘friends’ up to something?”
he asked.

Shann ignored the question.
“Lyall, I want us to make camp.”

He checked the
position of the suns overhead. “What…
you
mean now?
”

“That’s right.”

“Why? Did the others camp
early?”

“No, not exactly.”

Lyall looked at her
uncomprehendingly. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Shann. We
have a fair amount of daylight left. If we camp now, it will give
the Prophet’s men a chance to gain on us considerably. It could be
dangerous.”

Shann’s voice was insistent.
“Please, Lyall, this is important. I want us to make camp here and
now. Then you and I will both go back and check on the soldiers. If
they are still pursuing us, then we will return and get moving
again.”

“But why–?”

“Let’s just say that I’m testing
a theory. If I’m wrong, you and Alondo can make fun of me all the
way to the Aronak Sea, if you like. But I have to do this.
Please.”

Lyall looked
into her eyes for a long moment. Then he called out behind him,
“
Alondo, pull over. We’re making
camp.
”

He turned back to face her and
she smiled. “Thank you,” she mouthed. They dismounted together and
as they both patted their animals reassuringly, Shann touched
Lyall’s arm. “One more thing,” she whispered. “Don’t say anything
to Keris.”

~

Shann was hiding in the shadow of
a boulder, peeking out from time to time for any signs of movement
along the trail. She was relieved at last to see the tall form of
Lyall bounding towards her. He reached her position and she got to
her feet.

Well?” she prompted.

Lyall urged her back along the
way they had come. “Come on, let’s go.” She followed him down the
track, jogging to match his long stride. He seemed lost in thought.
Finally, he opened up. “You were right, Shann, they are camped just
as we are, burning daylight. Would you like to tell me what’s going
on?”

She paused to
organise her thoughts. “I don’t think the Prophet’s soldiers
want
to catch up to us.
Back on the plains, they were pursuing us for days. We were
travelling as rapidly as we could, but we could only move as fast
as the wagon. Didn’t you ever wonder why we were never
overtaken?”

Lyall extended his cloak and
leaped up the hillside to his right. Shann followed suit, her boots
kicking up dust as she landed beside him. They started to cut
across country. “You’re forgetting the incident at the tower,” he
countered. “They attacked us, remember?”

Shann studied the ground as she
walked beside him. “I’m not sure about that. Maybe that was a
mistake. Or maybe they got wind of what we were trying to do,
somehow. But everything else points to the same conclusion: the
fact that they didn’t catch us on the plains, the fact that they
camp when we do–and then there is what happened earlier
today.”

Lyall stopped and turned to face
her. “What do you mean?”

“One of their Keltar surprised
me.”

“What?
”

“He just…dropped out of the sky
in front of me. I think it was an accident. At any rate, he
immediately turned tail and disappeared out of sight.”

Lyall’s face was creased with
anxiety. For a moment she thought he was going to berate her for
her carelessness. “He said nothing?”

“No.”

“Maybe he didn’t see
you?”

She faced him squarely. “Lyall,
he was standing not much farther away than you are now and he was
looking straight in my direction. There is no way he could have
missed me.”

“So, you think they are avoiding
contact? But why?”

“I don’t know exactly, but I
think it is reasonable to assume that our Keltar friend has
something to do with it, which brings me to another point. Have you
noticed that she is still wearing that Ring of hers?”

“The Speaker Ring?”

Shann nodded. “She herself said
that Speaker Rings are Linked. Hers is Linked to her master at the
keep in Chalimar. Why would she hang onto the thing if she has cut
her ties to the Prophet? You would have thought she would have
tossed it away by now.”

“It’s just a ring,
Shann.”

“I thought so, too, until I saw
her use it out on the plains.”

“You saw her use it?
Are you sure?”

“She sneaked out of the camp
during her watch period. She doesn’t know it, but I followed her. I
saw her speaking into the Ring.”

“What did she say?”

Shann shook her head. “I was too
far away to hear. But the Ring lights up a green colour when it’s
being used. She was using it to communicate with them.” Lyall
looked sceptical. “You don’t believe me,” she
challenged.

“No…no, I believe you. It’s
just…why didn’t you tell me before now?”

Shann sighed. “I was going to.
But Boxx got there ahead of me and activated that device he
carries. When I saw and heard the image of the woman from the past,
I didn’t know what to think. It seemed to corroborate her story. I
didn’t think you would believe me. I felt I had to get more
evidence of Keris’ true intentions before I could approach you.
When the Keltar suddenly appeared in front of me and then took off,
I realised there might be a way to convince you of what was going
on. How do you suppose the others knew that we had camped
prematurely? The one Keltar I saw did not follow me, I’m sure of
that. There’s only one way they could have known. She told
them.”

She could see
Lyall digesting the implications of what she was saying. “If you
are right, that would mean that we are not
fleeing
the Prophet’s men, we are
being
led
by
them. But where? I mean, what is the purpose behind it
all?”

Shann looked up into his questing
blue eyes. “Well, I know one woman who has the answer to that
question and if we work together, I believe we can get it out of
her. We will have to catch her in the act and then confront
her.”

“That sounds dangerous, Shann. If
she is exposed, then she might turn on us. You have seen what she’s
capable of. I’m not sure that the two of us together could resist
her.”

“She doesn’t scare me,” Shann
declared. “Besides, the alternative is for us to continue to be led
blindly towards whatever these Keltar have in store for us. I think
we have to know what they are planning.”

Lyall seemed to debate with
himself. After a few moments he reached a decision. “All right,
we’ll try it. But when the moment comes, I will question her. Are
we agreed?”

“Fine,” Shann
concurred.

They both resumed their journey
back to camp. By now, the yellow sun was close to setting and the
nocturnal creatures of the Gilah Hills were beginning to buzz and
stir. Shann felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her
shoulders. At last she had been able to share the troubling secret
she had kept to herself for so long. Whatever happened now, she and
Lyall would face it together. As she trotted beside him, there was
something akin to a spring in her step.

Chapter
19

High in the Hills of Gilah, next
to a bubbling rill, the camp sat bathed in Ail-Mazzoth’s soft red
light. Three sleeping forms lay, covered by blankets and coddled in
the arms of a warm summer night. In the midst of the camp, the dark
form that was Keris kept watch. All was still; even the faint
rustling and chirruping of nocturnal creation appeared to have
subsided, as if it were holding its breath in
anticipation.

The tall woman rose silently and
glided towards the tiny stream as it trickled over smooth stones.
She took a last look behind her, then turned and stepped through
the shallow water into the belly of night shadow.

At the camp,
two of the blankets were cast aside and two figures arose; one tall
and thin, the other short and slight. Lyall signalled to Shann for
them to split up; he circling around to the left, she to the right.
Shann nodded and set out in a low run for the bubbling brook. The
swirling water played about her boots as she crossed to the other
side and crept upstream. She felt an odd mix of calm and
exhilaration. Ever since Gort, when the Keltar had joined them, it
had seemed to Shann as if she were being surreptitiously
controlled; propelled in a direction she did not want to go, yet
powerless to prevent it.
No
longer
.

Lyall had warned that catching
Keris in the act of duplicity could be perilous. She might decide
she would be better off eliminating him and Shann together. Shann
had witnessed the woman in action at the tower. Lyall had also
described the scene at the guardhouse, where Keris had taken on a
Keltar and half a dozen soldiers single-handedly. Shann was not
entirely convinced that that particular event had not been staged
for their benefit somehow. It didn’t matter. The showdown had to
occur at some time or other; better it should be at a time and
place of their choosing.

They were high up in the Gilah
range now. Beyond the camp, the landscape climbed ever more steeply
to what looked like a series of ridges or peaks farther up. Shann
moved upstream a little way, lightly fingering the control at her
collar to scan for the familiar push of raw lodestone. There was a
small deposit in front of her and one off to her left. She put on a
spurt, until she felt the front one pass just under her; then
leaped and retracted the bronze layer of her flying cloak, pushing
her up into the air. As soon as her momentum slowed, she angled
herself to push against the deposit to her left and her trajectory
shifted her up and to her right. Flying in a low arc away from the
stream, she landed in a crouched position farther up the slope. She
peered up the rocky incline, but there was no sign of the woman.
Shann cursed inwardly. Perhaps Lyall was having better
luck.

Sensing no more
deposits in the immediate area, she began to climb towards the
nearest ridge, seeking a suitable vantage point. As she crested the
rise, she quickly scanned the area around her. Frustration was
starting to take hold when she suddenly caught a movement way off
to her left. A dark shape was scaling the hillside. Its movement
was deliberate, purposeful. Shann dashed along the ridge and then
swept silently down the slope at an angle calculated to bring her
up behind the moving figure. Her quarry was continuing to climb in
a straight line. Shann followed at a discreet distance, staying low
and using cover wherever possible, but the shadowy outline did not
look back. As she got closer she spotted the shock of sandy
hair.
Lyall
. Her
face adopted a rueful expression as she sprinted up the hillside
and hissed his name. Lyall turned, registering her presence with a
nod.

“Where is
she?
” Shann’s voice was
hoarse.

Lyall frowned. “I’m not sure. I
was trailing her for a while, but then I lost her
somehow.”

Shann looked
aghast. “You
lost
her?”

“I’m sorry,” Lyall’s expression
was apologetic. “She’s been trained in escape and evasion tactics;
I haven’t.”

“Do you think she saw
you?”

Lyall shook his head. “I was
careful… No, I don’t think so.”

“So which way do we go now?”
Shann demanded.

Lyall looked up at the rising
slope and the jagged peaks beyond. “I don’t know, Shann. There is
an awful lot of hillside to search. She could be
anywhere.”

“Surely you’re not going to just
give up?”

“I don’t think
we have a choice. If she returns to camp before us and we are not
there, then we are going to have a hard time explaining our
absence. She will figure that we are onto her, and that will take
away our only real advantage.” Shann stared at him, bright green
eyes flashing, but she knew he was right. She turned away, exhaling
through her teeth. He placed a conciliatory hand on her shoulder.
“There will be other times, Shann. This night’s exercise has been
valuable. We have proved that there is something suspicious going
on with our Keltar friend. If we are patient and work together,
we
will
uncover
the truth.”

Shann was no
longer listening. She was rehearsing how she would finally confront
the Keltar, how she would call her to account for her crimes and
the crimes of all her ilk.
You will pay
for what you did to my parents. You will pay.

~

In the midst of a corrie rimmed
by the silent peaks of the Gilah stood a lone figure, face hidden
by the covering of a dark hood. Its presence was dwarfed by the
scale of the ancient rocks which towered around it, yet somehow it
exuded an air of authority which seemed to dominate even the stones
themselves. Another black shape dropped through the air, alighting
two dozen paces or so in front of the first. Keris’ flying cloak
settled about her shoulders, enrobed in long black tresses. She
crossed the short stretch of ground between them, coming to a halt
in front of the other. Their respective forms cast long shadows on
the uneven stone.