Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series (58 page)

The Grand Harbour
Master gestured to one of the several armsmen standing by the door
into the palace and the men moved forward, gently but firmly
ushering many mages from the garden. The wind gusted and bent the
heavy headed roses, even in this sheltered spot, but it also
brought the taint of corruption from beyond the palace walls. The
Wendlan Mages came forward to greet Tika and her friends and then
they sat together on one side of the large paved space, the
Blossoms standing rigidly behind them.

‘We can offer tea to
drink, or wine, but we have little food I’m afraid,’ Chevra
apologised. ‘We had good stocks in the warehouses but they were
among the first buildings to fall.’

‘We saw the extent of
the damage,’ Tika replied. ‘So many of your people must have died
surely?’

Chevra sighed. ‘At the
last census there were thought to be around two million citizens.
Far more than half of those have perished.’

Tika blanched. She had
seen the crowded streets herself, but she had never imagined two
million people would live in one place. Were there two million
people in the whole of Sapphrea she wondered? She pulled her
attention back to listen to Chevra.

‘My sea commander,
Bavvis, has taken every ship capable of transporting men to the
north, to rendezvous with the Emperor’s ships.’

Administrator Fenelon
raised her hand and spoke at Chevra’s nod. ‘The sea bed shook as
the land did. There have been reports of flames and hot rock
spouting from the waters. No ships were lost though, but there was
damage to some.’

Chevra nodded again,
this time to one of the Wendlan Mages. The Mage inclined his
head.

‘I am Tashi, Mage of
House Chrysoprase.’ He spoke in heavily accented common tongue.
‘Word from the northernmost of our Mages – those who move with the
first warriors, says that the invaders are faltering. Fewer numbers
came from the desert until two days ago when desert men were seen
retreating rather than advancing into Malesh.’

‘That is good news
surely?’ suggested Gan.

Tashi looked dubious.
‘We – our colleagues now at the edge of the desert – have made mind
contact with people called the Vintavoy.’

Gan frowned but Tika
wondered. ‘Are these people in the City of the Domes?’

‘They are but they say
they are people native to the Valley, not the Qwah of the desert
tribes.’

‘The Keepers, or at
least some of them.’ Tika was sure she was right.

All the companions had
been aware that at times the various Keepers they’d met had been in
mental communication with others – others who presumably made the
decisions.

‘Our Mages have spoken
with one called Hezwa, a female. She says one named Orla has gone
northwards with a band of warriors.’

‘Orla?’ Ren asked in
surprise. ‘She is one of the Survivors.’

Tashi spread his hands.
‘Hezwa tells us she is gone. She and other Vintavoyan colleagues
smashed their way into – wherever this Orla dwelt. They found no
trace of one called Kertiss.’

‘They broke in to the
Survivors quarters?’ Ren was enthralled. ‘How did they do
it?’

Another Wendlan in
dark, rich brown shirt and trousers gave a seated bow. ‘Nirian of
House Carnelian,’ he introduced himself. ‘The Vintavoy woman said
the doors were forced, every strange box – she used the word
“machine” – was smashed with heavy bars of metal.’

‘And the other Survivor
Kertiss – was not found?’

Nirian shook his head.
He spoke the common tongue far more haltingly than Tashi but with
less accent. ‘Hezwa says alarms sounded – shrieks and whistles and
bells. But when the boxes were broken the noises stopped. The only
thing of any strangeness she said was a strong smell of mentha. I
do not know its name in your tongue.’

Nirian looked
helplessly at his colleagues. Tashi snapped his fingers. ‘You call
it mint,’ he said triumphantly.

Tika and Ren could only
gape at him. Gan missed their reaction and asked only if there was
any clue as to where Orla might be going. The Wendlans
conferred.

‘We only know that she
and her warriors ride directly north,’ Tashi eventually
replied.

Navan began to rummage
in his pack. He pulled out a tight roll of parchments and knelt on
the stones, flattening out one of his maps. There were exclamations
of astonishment by both Maleshans and Wendlans at the detail of the
map. Navan grinned.

‘The Ship, Star Flower
made these maps,’ he explained.

His finger descended on
the southern edge of the great swathe of desert which barricaded
Malesh from Sapphrea. The long line of the Valley of the Spiral
Star ran west to east, nearer the coast at its eastern point than
its western end. Navan moved his finger north, towards the great
plains of Sapphrea. He sat back on his heels, estimating
distances.

‘Was it eight days or
so from the coast to the Valley?’ he asked Gan. ‘Then six or seven
through the Valley. I forget. And another ten perhaps from the City
of the Domes out of the desert to Malesh.’

Chevra was on his knees
beside Navan. ‘It is closer – from the Valley to the northern edge
of the desert. This woman Orla may already be beyond it and into
the upper lands.’

Gan felt a twinge of
alarm. It was a long way indeed from the desert to Gaharn; perhaps
half that distance to Vagrantia. Vagrantia’s volcanoes were plainly
marked on the map. He studied it, weighing up Orla’s options. Did
she too have maps made when Star Singer orbited this world before
his landing? If she had, she would surely veer east of north, for
Vagrantia. He wracked his brain to remember whether there had been
any mention of Vagrantia while the company was in the City of the
Domes but he couldn’t recall.

Tika got to her feet
and paced restlessly between Farn, Storm and Brin, unaware that all
eyes followed her. She faced the gathering.

‘We must speak of many
things,’ she said finally. ‘Some of you saw the gijan who travelled
with us?’

Several heads nodded
and Tika guessed that the Wendlan Mages at least had been in the
Imperial Palace when Kasheen summoned the Heads of Houses and their
Mages. Her eyes rested sadly on Taza.

‘We said there were no
Elders left to train our three young gijan. There are. There were
two hundred and twenty two huge statues in the greatest of the
three Domes in the desert. We discovered they were Elders,
suspended in time by Valesh somehow during the final battle. When
she was destroyed so was her spell.’ She watched Taza’s face light
up. ‘They are scattered now I think, but two came to find me and
the gijan in our company.’

Tika was aware of how
closely Zerran watched her and listened to every word.

‘They were male and
female, Rainbow and Flute. They are both as tall as Gan and winged
of course. Flute told us they had rescued all the gijan kept as
menial slaves in the City and had taken them to safety. She
followed us I think for our three gijan. Those three pledged their
lives to me when their wings came – they should have pledged to an
Elder Flute said. She summoned Rainbow to be their teacher and his
first lesson was a harsh one to instil obedience.’

Tika sat down on the
stone slabs again and sighed. Brin took up the story using mind
speech.

‘Tika gave the gijan
their lives back.’ His eyes whirred, moving from face to face below
him. ‘They told her that they feared the two Elders, but they
couldn’t say why. They fled in the night to find a place of safety
for themselves. Flute had already departed we know not where, but
Rainbow was greatly angered.’

A picture of the tall
Elder filled their minds and murmured exclamations rose.

‘So what I’m saying,’
Tika resumed, ‘is that perhaps a thousand years trapped as statues
has changed the nature of the Elders.’ She held up her left hand.
‘My hand was burnt to the bone, but Rainbow healed it. I felt a
vast compassion in him but then he seemed not to understand the
word “kindness”. And Brin showed you his rage. Flute said that they
killed many humans rescuing the gijan in the City. There were no
armed men in that section when we were there so the Elders killed
teachers, healers, maybe students. They could surely have spoken to
them, asked that they give up the gijan. Flute seemed
unconcerned.’

Taza’s face had grown
white as he listened.

‘Taza?’ Tika asked
gently.

‘The Elders were slow
to join the final battle: to take life would condemn the killer to
insanity – they could not kill.’

Silence followed Taza’s
words, broken by Ren.

‘Maybe that was what
changed these Elders then,’ he suggested. ‘I felt no sense of
madness about Flute or Rainbow, not even when Rainbow grew so
angry. He maintained his control. But perhaps that has altered
them, for they are surely not as you describe Taza.’

The Grand Harbour
Master’s cousin and closest advisor agreed. ‘I would suggest we
treat these Elders with respectful caution until we know what they
intend.’ He shrugged. ‘The histories say the gijan Elders ruled
this world together with the Dragons: that they had humans in their
councils to whom they listened. What Lady Tika has told us of the
two she has encountered together with Lord Brin’s information
suggests there is a violence and arrogance about them
now.’

Tika saw Taza’s
stricken expression and was saddened that his lifetime of service
might end with his beliefs as ruined as his City. There was
murmuring among the Wendlan Mages and Tashi spoke again.

‘The mage Dersu,’ Tashi
bowed in his direction, ‘sent five of his mages to join ours with
the front line warriors.’ He paused, looking to Dersu to
continue.

‘We sent five mages led
by Tavri, whom you met I believe?’ Dersu waited for Tika’s nod. ‘We
sent them as soon as we felt the immense power fluctuating from
Valesh. We had no idea what energies the Bound Ones might generate
– no way of recognising the signs of their particular powers when
activated.’

He glanced round,
relieved to see that his audience was following his
explanations

‘We have never known
the precise locations of any Bound One, but we concluded now we
have felt Valesh’s mind signature, we might be able to pinpoint
Qwah’s position in the desert.’

Tika and Gan both
leaned forward eagerly. ‘And have you?’ Tika asked.

‘Tavri reports a large
area with a similar mind signature diffused through it. It is far
weaker than Valesh’s but also badly fragmented.’

Tika’s hopes rose. She
knew that without Seela’s action she would never have survived her
confrontation with Valesh.

‘Tavri cannot far speak
well so he sends his news through a Wendlan Mage.’ Dersu gestured
towards Nirian.

‘The latest report told
us that the energy field is mostly gone from the desert.’ Nirian
was grave. ‘A fragment here and there. One source moves northwards.
We fear the Bound One has discovered a host in which to conceal his
essence.’

Chapter
Thirty-Three

The company were
impressed by the organisation Chevra had put in motion regarding
the recovery of his City. By one of the docks he had ordered a
burning ground be cleared. So many had died, several generations of
every family, that they had no one left to identify their bodies,
to mourn them or arrange their death rites. Chevra commanded that
priests representing every temple be brought to chant the prayers
over the shattered corpses dug out day after day from the ruins.
Anyone who could heal or nurse was encouraged to go to the
infirmaries set up around the City. Squads of armsmen toiled to
clear water systems and increase the supply of clean water for the
survivors.

Later that day the
companions went inside the palace, to the Debating Chamber where a
few dishes of dried fruits and nuts were offered to them. Ren, Gan
and Navan peered from the windows, watching the tiny figures below
working ceaselessly to move great blocks of stone from one of the
streets leading up to the palace. Maressa touched Tika’s sleeve and
when she turned, pointed at the floor. Chevra’s long heavy table
stretched from one side to the other of a mosaic circle edged in
black tiles and patterned in green, blue, white and crystal. Tika
stared.

Chevra and Zerran were
bemused to see the two women suddenly hurling furniture around. It
was the sort of thing Chevra was more accustomed to – his wife had
frequently thrown things. The Wendlan Mages moved prudently out of
the way when Ren hurried from the window to struggle with Chevra’s
massive throne. Maleshans and Wendlans looked at a breathless Tika.
She beamed, waving at the floor.

‘We have these in the
north.’

Jakri stared at the
floor. ‘There is something similar in the Imperial Palace, although
different colours I think.’

‘Does it work?’ Tika
demanded of Maressa.

The air mage closed her
eyes, her feet on the outer edge of the circle. She
grinned.

‘It does.’

‘Can we use it to warn
Lady Emla and Lady Thryssa?’ asked Gan. ‘I fear Orla is heading in
their direction and they can have no idea what’s been happening
here.’