Vagrants: Book 2 Circles of Light series (56 page)

But Mena capered along
the balcony, her red eyes blazing with glee and peal after peal of
her laughter rang out through the night air.

Lashek puffed his way
up the endless stairs to Thryssa’s apartments, bursting in the door
without even a perfunctory knock. Thryssa and Kwanzi looked up from
their breakfast when the earth mage dropped gasping into the
nearest chair. Kwanzi reached for Thryssa’s hand.

‘Oh stars, what now?’
he thought helplessly even as he sent a tendril of healing strength
to Lashek’s heaving chest.

‘Gremara,’ Lashek
managed to croak, waving wildly at the window.

Thryssa turned
abruptly, staring across the great expanse of Parima to the black
walls curving in the distance, all that separated them from Talvo
Circle. Kwanzi held out a mug of tea to Lashek who gulped
gratefully.

‘Have you never
considered having your apartments at ground level, as I do?’ he
asked, his breathing returning to normal. ‘Listen. Gremara is
talking. To one of my silver eyed ones and to one from Kedara
Circle.’

‘Talking?’ Thryssa
raised her brows.

Lashek nodded
vigorously. ‘Pachela came to me yesterday and asked that Shema and
myself guard her whilst she accepted mind speech with Gremara. We
did so, after some discussion – as you may imagine.’

He accepted a refill of
tea from Kwanzi and eyed the remnants of their breakfast. Thryssa
pushed plates towards him and he continued through a mouthful of
pastry.

‘We were witnesses to
the conversation that followed and we realised at once that Gremara
had linked with Daro of Kedara.’ Lashek brushed crumbs from his
chin to his chest. ‘She is sane, Thryssa. Full of sorrow for the
harm she has done, aware of the Dragon Lord’s presence in the
North, and somehow of much, much more.’

Another cinnamon roll
disappeared while Kwanzi and Thryssa waited impatiently.

‘There are three
Dragons she spoke of to Pachela and Daro – she spoke directly to
them although she knew we were also listening. One Dragon she spoke
of with great affection. She awaits that one with as much longing
as she waited for her Lord. Another she spoke of with concern. It
is hurt, injured. She sent an image of that Dragon lying amid snowy
mountains in the North. The third is on its way to her with the
intention of killing her, and anything else it chooses
to.’

Thryssa listened.
Lashek was not given to exaggeration or untruth. He believed
Gremara was sane, was warning them, and, Thryssa realised, the
silver Dragon was asking them for help. Clearly she intended to
face the Dragon who meant harm to them all: therefore she could not
seek the wounded one, and she wanted that wounded one
found.

‘She wants us to search
for the lost one?’ Thryssa asked finally.

Lashek nodded. ‘Look.’
He sent an image into both their minds, of a Great Dragon crumpled
against an outcrop of bare grey rock. The Dragon lay encircled by
snow covered peaks. A light dusting of snow also covered its
tail.

‘Would the Northerners
be able to find that place?’ Thryssa sounded doubtful.

Kwanzi answered
positively. ‘Yes they would. That picture showed the peaks all
around. People who live there would surely recognise the different
shapes the mountains make.’

‘Exactly what we
thought.’ Lashek considered the very last roll in front of him and
with a reluctant sigh popped it into his mouth. ‘Pachela asked to
remain in Segra, but Daro told Orsim that he had to come with
us.’

‘Come with us,’ Thryssa
repeated cautiously.

‘Of course,’ Lashek
beamed. ‘We have to go to the Stronghold. It is too far to send a
mind image so we have to go ourselves.’

‘Who had you planned to
send?’

‘Myself and Daro, and I
thought you should accompany us too.’

‘But - .’ Kwanzi began,
but Thryssa interrupted him.

‘Yes. I agree. And we
must go at once. That Dragon cannot survive much longer. Kwanzi,
fetch our cloaks and packs.’

Thryssa looked more
alive than she had for days Kwanzi noted carefully before he left
the room to prepare their packs.

‘Gremara herself will
leave for the North within this day. She had much she wished to
tell Pachela first, but she expects to leave before noon. She
thinks it may take her four days to fly the distance.’

Thryssa called for
Pajar and briefly outlined her plans.

‘You are in charge here
Pajar. I know,’ she held up a hand as he began to protest. ‘I am
not being fair to give you all this responsibility, but you can
rely on Shema of Segra and Orsim of Kedara to advise and help you
on any matter.’

Kwanzi reappeared with
two cloaks and two packs and a very young man with soft brown hair
and silver eyes.

‘This is Daro of
Kedara.’

Daro ducked his head
shyly at the High Speaker who clasped his hand warmly.

‘You agree willingly to
travel the circle?’ she asked him.

He smiled. ‘Gremara
said I must, and I truly would like to go with you.’

‘Come then. Quickly
now.’

Lashek picked up his
pack, dropped by the door when he arrived and marched after Thryssa
to the Chamber of Harmony. Pajar stood outside the circle as the
High Speaker began to walk the pattern and murmur the
words.

Jal happened to be
checking the Guards on duty outside the room which held the circle
in the Stronghold when the now familiar quiver shook the air. He
opened the door, expecting to see yet another scroll case and
instead found four people. A grey haired man stepped forward and
bowed.

‘This is Thryssa, High
Speaker of Vagrantia, and Lashek, Speaker of Segra.’ His voice was
gentle and by the way his eyes flickered quickly over him, Jal
guessed he was a healer.

Jal clenched his left
hand across his chest. ‘Please, I will take you to the Guardian,
Lady, Sirs.’

Imshish, sitting with
Lorak and Bikram with trays of seedlings between them, was the
first to see the new arrivals. He jumped to his feet in delight but
he realised almost immediately that something of great import must
have occurred to lure the High Speaker herself from Vagrantia. He
nodded at Jal’s questioning look and, as Jal sent runners searching
for Mim and Kera, he asked what had indeed brought Thryssa
here.

Before she could reply,
a screech from outside the gateway heralded the return of the
Plavats. The Vagrantians stared helplessly as the two birds stilted
inside the hall and settled, with much waggling of heads and
rumps.

‘They brought the two
Drogoyans,’ Imshish began to explain but Fenj also arrived at that
moment.

His eyes whirred and he
raised himself to tower over all in the hall as he gave formal
greeting to the Lady of Vagrantia. Thryssa managed to find her
voice in time to respond as graciously as she could to Fenj’s
dignified address. Kera and Nesh strode into the hall from the
Delvers’ archway, two silver eyed people trotting to keep pace. The
Vagrantians were touched by the genuine warmth of the welcome they
received from all and tried to ignore the Plavats for
now.

Lashek glanced around
the hall. ‘We have urgent news from Gremara. Is the Dragon Lord
close by? We must inform him at once.’

Mim and Ashta had been
flying over the barren lands west of the Stronghold but Fenj had
already sent them a mind summons. By the time Yoral, the
chamberlain of the Stronghold had brought refreshments, Ashta’s
melodious call sounded from without. The Vagrantians watched as a
pale green Dragon paced into the hall. A slender boy slid from her
back and stood at her chest as she reared erect in
greeting.

Thryssa saw the golden
scales, the steady gaze from the oddly shaped turquoise eyes, the
slightly large pointed ears, and felt immediate confidence in this
young Dragon Lord. He smiled suddenly, a peculiarly sweet smile,
and sat gracefully on the bench at Thryssa’s side.

‘You bring news of
Gremara?’ he asked, his voice light and musical.

The green Dragon
settled behind him, her head over his shoulder. The Vagrantians
noted the faceted prisms of her eyes whirring with muted greens and
golds.

Lashek began repeating
what he had told Thryssa. ‘Do you have people here who know the
mountains well? Perhaps who travel them often?’

Kera shook her head
doubtfully, but Dessi spoke up.

‘We have some among us
who like to be outside. They sometimes spend a whole season gone
from the Domain. I will summon any who are near.’

‘Show us the injured
one,’ Fenj’s mind voice was worried.

Lashek complied and
then flinched as Ashta and Fenj keened aloud. Mim had half risen as
the picture filled his mind.

‘Kadi!’ His whisper was
heartbroken. ‘Dessi, ask the Snow Dragons to search too. I will go
now - ’

‘No Mim.’ Dessi caught
his scaled arms. ‘Wait until the hunters come – they may recognise
the place at once.’

Even as she spoke a
group of Delvers came running, both from the lower levels of the
Stronghold and from the Domain.

‘We need to know the
exact location of this Dragon,’ Dessi explained, nodding to Lashek
to form the image once more.

Kera noticed that the
Delvers who had answered Dessi’s call were both male and female.
Both had their hair cut at shoulder level and the men all wore
beards, unlike the majority of the Delvers Kera had seen. She
chided herself for “note taking” as Emla would derisively call it,
at such a time of urgency.

Finally one of the
Delver women nodded. ‘I think it is above Arak.’

Lashek looked
questioningly at Mim who scowled.

‘A day’s flight from
here.’ He glanced at Ashta. She was already sending the picture and
its possible site to the Snow Dragons further south in the Domain.
Fenj was on his way out of the door, Lorak on his back.

‘Fenj, wait!’ Kera
cried. ‘Please – will you take another rider, or even two? We must
help somehow.’

Chakar hurried to the
Plavats and urged them to their feet, talking firmly to Baryet’s
obstinate mind.

‘Two can come with us,’
she called.

Ren sighed, glancing at
Imshish. ‘It isn’t too bad, if you keep your eyes
closed.’

In moments, Kera had
grabbed a cloak and pulled Lashek towards Fenj. Daro joined Chakar
on Baryet as Imshish sat behind Ren on Syecha. Ashta accepted
Dessi, and three Snow Dragons took Kwanzi, Thryssa and Nesh. There
was no time for apprehension: the Dragons and the Plavats were
lifting into the cold air as soon as the riders were on their
backs.

Word quickly spread and
many people ran to the Domain, hurrying through the broad tunnels
in the vague hope that they might be of use if they could just
reach Arak as quickly as possible.

It was the early dusk
of the end of the cold season when the group of riders heard Fenj’s
scream of distress and knew that he had found Kadi. When Fenj
circled to land, Kera saw Delvers climbing a winding trail a league
or so below where Kadi lay. Fenj moved straight to the midnight
blue Dragon’s crumpled form, laying himself against her
side.

‘She is too cold, too
cold,’ his thought sobbed in their minds.

Mim ran across the thin
layer of snow to reach for Kadi’s face. He wept, brushing ice from
her eyelids and sending his strength into her.

‘Light help us,’ Chakar
whispered. The Observer knelt at the Great Dragon’s side, looking
helplessly at the burns and holes in her wing. Lorak gently pushed
Mim aside, tipping an inevitable flask to the inner corner of
Kadi’s mouth. Mim began to remonstrate but ceased as a huge sigh
shuddered through the massive body. Chakar took command.

‘Cloaks, blankets,
anything to help her warm up a little. I will need help with these
wounds too.’

She pulled off her pack
and began unloading small pots and bottles, needles and thread.
Lorak joined her and the two began to work. When the Delvers of
Arak reached them, they all set to building small fires in
braziers, placing them around the motionless shape in the snow.
Thryssa, Kwanzi and Lashek worked alongside Chakar and Lorak, using
supplies brought by the Delvers.

Dawn was turning the
sky pale pink when Chakar stood up, her hands pressed to her aching
back. It had been a dreadful job to turn the great body to allow
them to work on yet more injuries, but now Chakar was satisfied
that she had tended every one of them. Another line of Delvers was
making its way across the small plateau towards them, bringing more
fuel, blankets and food.

Thryssa stood looking
round at the jagged peaks above them, her hands clasped round a mug
of tea for warmth. She stared harder.

‘Look!’ she called
urgently. ‘It is Gremara I am sure! She must have flown faster than
the day itself!’

People turned to look
where Thryssa pointed and gradually the two specks resolved into
two Dragon shapes. Fenj eased himself from Kadi’s side and reared
erect beside Ashta and Mim, the Snow Dragons following suit. The
Plavats refused to remove their heads from beneath their
wings.