The Dragons of Sara Sara (38 page)

The plan was to ride to the coast and take ship for Hua Guo. No one thought it possible to go overland. The deep forest redoubt of the Tharsians was simply out of the question. It was going to be a long journey, months perhaps. It had to be done. What would happen when the warriors of the Star Field Plain arrived was anyone's guess. Luan thought it best if they were used to clean out the Morgoth warriors and any Tharsians they found. That the Inn of the Blind Man was important in the scheme of things was in little doubt. Lord Bornale would take charge there. A runner had been sent to rouse him. He knew what was needed immediately. The party set off for Doran Head many weeks travel to the south, even by the Great North Road.

Nothing stirred in the grey early dawn except the riders, and a lone raven perched high up on the spire of the barn. It's glinting eyes fixed on the riders below. In single file, the riders moved out through the gate and through the quiet streets. The guards on the city gate took little notice. They were there to watch for people coming in, not going out.

The black ribbon of road stretched away into the mists of the early morning. None knew how long this strange road had been there. It was from an age long forgotten. Some said the age when the vast subterranean caverns had been built. Some said even older. None knew for sure though. Everyone used the Great Road. It was like a lifeline drawn across the world. Rees had often thought of following it on past the Great Sandy Blight, just to see where it led. Now they were headed in the opposite direction to the city port of Doran Head. Both Rees and Elsa were looking forward to that. Neither had seen any place larger than Ha Hu and it was said you could not ride through Doran Head in less than a day.

The city wall fell further behind the group, who kept up a steady spine jarring trot in order to be well clear of the city by sun up. The first golden rays were already glimmering on the horizon. Once well away from the city, Mei'An slowed the horses to a walk. The group began to bunch up and the road started to climb toward the foothills of the Dragon Spine Mountains. If the warriors from the Star Field Plain were travelling toward them it was doubtful they would be seen. Except in the high pass. There was no other way from the plains up to the high plateau where Ha Hu stood. Mei'An wanted to be well south of the pass before they stopped for a rest. By her calculations that should be a little after noon The first oasis on the other side of the pass, and just off the road would be ideal. They would rest in the hottest part of the day there, then set off again and ride through the night. Mei'An meant them to be in Doran Head in under a month if it meant sleeping in the saddle. Eating too for that matter. The horses would need resting of course, and fresh mounts would be purchased along the way. The road became much steeper and they began the climb up to the pass. The road wound back and forth, following the mountain ridges upward. Finally, with the sun now high in the sky the pass itself came into view. Like a huge axe wound in the mountains, its sheer sides reaching up to the very heavens. The pass was still in deep shadow at road level. There was no doubt that it was man made, but not even Mei'An could guess at what sort of power it must have taken to remove such massive amounts of stone.

Nothing stirred. Not much lived at these heights. The air was thin, and sweat ran from every pore of both horse and rider as they pushed up the last steep slope to the summit. Luan was first onto the almost level point right at the crest. He drew reign and waited for the others. He set the example by taking a long drink from his goat hide water skin. He dismounted and poured a measure into a bag for his horse to drink, then watered his pack animal as well.

The others caught up, Rees bringing up the rear and they all took a moment to rest and water the horses. The place was eerie though. It had a strange feeling of waiting about it. An almost un-worldliness to the air. Rees thought it must be because up here they were so far above the common problems of everyday life. Almost a bird's eye view of the world. If a little limited by the confines of the pass walls. The city of Ha Hu could be still seen. Just a hazy collection of shapes away out on the plain. In the other direction only the narrow cleft of the pass was visible, the sky a hazy blue-grey.

They stood high up in the Dragon Spine Mountains now. Hopefully the descent would be easier on man and beast alike.

Without a word, Luan swung into his high cantle saddle and took up the lead rope of his pack animal. He turned into the pass and began to draw away before the others had even mounted. Luan eased his sword in its sheath an few times.

Edina noticed this, and although she was not relaxed to the point of casualness, she automatically checked her bow and quiver and hefted her short spear a few times. It would not do to be caught unawares in a place like this. Rees and Mei'An checked their loads, and pack animals and followed on. Rees again in the rear. Hi last glance back the way they had come showed him a lone black raven perched high up on the crags. A long way out of bow shot. Was it the same raven that had watched their departure from Ha Hu? Rees thought it likely. It had to be following them. There was no carrion, no wildlife at all this high in the mountains.

As if to assure him that this was indeed one of the watchers of the Dark Lord, a low rumble could be felt in the rock beneath their feet. The Wheel of Sara Sara had moved another notch toward the freedom of the Dark Lord. Rees pushed his horse to catch up with the others. Mei'An just starting to disappear down the slope at the far end of the pass. The raven dropped from its perch and wheeled its way high over head to become lost from view in the high peaks.

Rees soon cleared the cutting itself. He was glad of it. A more forbidding place he had never seen. He was now back out in the full glare of the late morning sun. It was a long way down to the oasis, and it would be late afternoon at least before they reached it. The air seemed clearer on this side of the Dragon Spine for some reason. The brown carpet of the plains stretched out to the horizon below them. The mountains curved away in a large crescent on both sides. Away to the right as they began their descent the high peak of Sara Sara could be seen. It stood a long way behind the Dragon Spine mountains, yet its vast bulk was so huge that even at this distance its smoke belching peak towered over the ranges in front of it.

Within that mountain it was said, turned the prison of the Lord of Darkness. A huge stone like a giant millers wheel. The prison was but a cavern cut into the stone of the wheel. The prison placed on the outer rim of the wheel disappeared from view as the wheel turned slowly on the axis that drove all the way to the centre of the world. It took an age upon age, and even longer for the carved prison cell to appear again at the opening. The wheel had been built by the Creator. The Lord of the Light, to hold fast his enemy, the Lord of Darkness. Everyone knew the stories of those vast battles that had raged across the land so far back in time. They had turned now to myth and legend. Only the smoking tower of Sara Sara still there to remind the world of what had happened. Only the forces of good and evil still carrying on the battle. Everyone who believed the stories knew that one day the wheel would again bring the Dark Lord around to the opening. He would then step free on the world again.

At the last minute of the great battle fought by the Malachite King before his death, a key stone had been placed through the axle of the Wheel of Sara Sara. The wheel had tightened onto the key and with a groan that had shaken the world it finally came to a stop. The Dark Lord could not escape now.

That had been the case. Now they knew that the Morgoth, the followers of the Dark One had somehow been able to remove the key stone and carry it off. The Morgoth however had been overpowered by the sheer force and brutality of the Tharsian, and the key stone was now in their possession and doubtless hidden in the vastness of the deep forests.

Rees heeled his mount gently, and started after the others down the winding road to the plains below. There was no sign of the thousands of warriors having passed this way yet. Rees thought there should have been some sign. Even a dust cloud from so many feet. Perhaps they were not coming after all.

The day wore on, and still they had not cleared the foot hills. The party was strung out in single file, the horses walking at a steady mile consuming pace.

Slowly the ground flattened out, and the last ridges and low hills were behind them. The endless plain stretched out before them, only the black ribbon of roadway like an arrow directly south giving any sense of direction. The stark and forbidding massif of the mountains now way behind the riders. The sun was well down. It would be night fall soon and they still had a long way to go to get to the oasis. Rees didn't think they would make it. He hurried forward to Mei'An's side.

"Perhaps we should make camp here while we have light, and press on in the morning?" Mei'An glanced at Rees in a non committal way. "Perhaps." Was all she said. Rees stayed alongside for a few minutes and was just about to fall back, thinking he would get nothing else for answer, when Mei'An said.

"Yes, I will take your advice Rees. I should listen to your advice more often I think, in the light of recent developments." She trotted ahead and placed a hand on Luan's arm and spoke quietly to him. He glanced at Rees, then pulled his mount around and off to the side of the road. Rees just sat his horse, with his mouth hanging open.

Mei'An had miscalculated it seemed. She had thought they would reach the oasis on the Star Field Plain in time to wait out the noonday heat. In fact they had ridden slowly on under the burning sky, until late into the afternoon. The oasis was still not in sight across the shimmering plain.

Luan had been pushing ahead all the way, but Rees and Edina had been slowing the party down by hanging back. Mei'An was torn between saying something to speed them up, or slowing Luan down to a walk to allow Rees and Edina to come along with them.

Rees was normally quiet. He found himself with less to say to Edina than normal. He could not understand it really. Edina was a good friend. They had known each other since childhood, and were comfortable with long familiarity. Rees had been surprised when he found himself looking at Edina as though he had just seen her for the first time. Up in the high pass, she had stopped a little ahead him. Her grey mare shivering its skin as horses do to disturb the flies. She had the goat skin water bag held up, her head back, the smooth skin of her neck stretched taught. Her plaited hair tail hung straight down, and the posture necessary to hold up the water bag forced her breasts to strain against the soft hide of her jacket. Rees had blinked in surprise. It had suddenly dawned on him that Edina was a beautiful young woman. He looked away in confusion, twisting in his saddle to check that the crate holding the figurine and treasures was still secure.

Edina smiled to herself. 'Men.' She thought. 'As blind as bats.' She hung the water bag on the saddle horn and kneed her horse into a canter. It had taken a moment for Rees to collect his wits and start after her. Confusion creasing his brow.

The sun was now a molten ball on the horizon. It seemed to be melting the very earth, forming a huge liquid pool that spread out along the line of the plain.

There was no shelter. No trees of any kind. Even the tallest shrub was only ankle high and the plain stretched away without a dip or rise in its entire surface.

It was because of the strange affinity between Rees and the statue of the Keeper of the Blue Tower that had decided Mei'An on her course of action. Rees was without doubt strongly linked to Antonin. The forces that that had been set in motion revolved strongest around Antonin. They were also swirling around his companions Rees and Gaul, though to a slightly lesser degree. Mei'An had noted though that things just seemed to happen around Rees. Even he was not truly conscious of it. It might be best to let events take their course, and be prepared for the unexpected.

So at Rees's suggestion, they would make camp where they were. Way out on the Star Field Plain, with only the night sky covering them. Mei'An could not understand why they had not reached the oasis. She had been sure that it had been less than a day's ride from the high mountain pass. She couldn't believe they had missed it. It was a mystery she would like to solve.

Everyone was dismounted now. The horses tied to a rope picket that Rees had quickly set up. Unsaddled, the riding horses fed on grains and watered. The pack animals unloaded and fed and watered. There was plenty of short grass and vegetation for the animals to nibble at. Edina soon had a small fire of twigs and grass going. Striking her flint into the pile, her eyes had been on Rees, squatting across the cleared circle from her. The quick sparks from the flint stone had reflected in her clear eyes like shooting stars in the night sky. Rees had cleared his throat in embarrassment, sure that he had been staring. Mei'An spread a ground sheet by the small flickering fire. Luan was standing like a statue, off to one side. He was staring off into the gathering gloom, slowly turning a full circle so that eventually he had scanned the surrounds from horizon to horizon. His granite like features were silhouetted against the last light of the sky. All planes and angles, his features appeared to have been hewn from stone by a mason with no time to attend to fine details. The most prominent feature was his nose. A prominent hook nose beneath bushy eye brows proclaimed him a native of Arafella, far to the west.

His eyes were deep set pools of black, and his long dark hair was straight and hung to his shoulders. All together he had the appearance even down to his fingerless leather gloves, that he was not a man you would trifle with. He swung his fur collared cape about himself and slipped away into the gloom, soon disappearing from sight.

Rees noted his going, but kept his thoughts to himself. He was born on the Star Field Plain, and was alive to every little sense of the place. There was nothing out there. The almost inaudible chirping of crickets, the faint rustling of lizards, the very whisper of the wind in the short grasses assured him all was well. If Luan wanted to spend the night looking for trouble then he was welcome to it.