Dark Lightning (3 page)

 It took them a while to see the cave entrance among the profusion of plant life dipping down into the water.

‘You’ve got sharp eyes,’ Laek said, but he had the feeling Tighe had known of the whereabouts of this cave. 

Above the pool, and hidden behind a slab of moss covered stone they found an opening. They gained entrance by a series of hand and footholds, and it led into a fairly large cave, high and full of fissures where the smoke from a fire would be dissipated. Water trickled down a tree root and dripped into a pool the size of a large puddle at the rear. Over time it had worn a shallow basin in the rock. The drip would provide them with fresh water and the pool outside would serve as a place to bathe. It reminded Laek of the High Place, but considerably reduced in size.

It would be a snug, weatherproof little nest with everything at hand, including fish in the pool below, cress on the bank and fruit in the surrounding vegetation, Laek thought. On further exploration they found a small entrance at the back, deceptive to the naked eye because it resembled what it was – a tumble of rocks. 

‘You’re a genius, Tighe. How did you know about this place?’

Tighe spread his hands and shrugged.

Laek didn’t push it but dropped his pack to the floor. From habit he took charge. ‘Right, let’s organize ourselves before it grows dark. Iago, you can collect firewood and build a fireplace. Jon, see if you can catch some fish for dinner. I’ll collect fruit and nuts, and set the camp up.’

Tighe pointed to himself.

‘You seem to have a good sense of direction, Tighe. Have a look around, and draw a map of the area. All of you bring back anything that looks as though it might be useful. Be careful. Try not to give our position away.’

It wasn’t long before they had a fire laid. A ledge along the wall served as a shelf. Soon the fish were cooking over a makeshift spit. They ate before readying themselves for the night, and while it was still light, pulled the mattresses from their packs and inflated them.

‘We should set watches,’ Laek said. ‘We’ll toss for them, then rotate every night.’

They damped down the fire, so the dancing tongues of red and the orange glow they gave off, wouldn’t give their position away. Laek had drawn the second watch, after Jon, who woke him up with a poke to the ribs. The night was as soft as velvet, the stars bright and glowing. Wrapped in his cloak Laek sat in the cave entrance. It was peaceful sitting there with just his thoughts for companionship. His fingers went to the talisman Jynx had placed around his neck as the moon climbed up from behind the trees and its light rippled across the small pool.

The dark water reflected back the glow.

He sensed that Jynx had carved the talisman herself, for she wore a similar one. She would have taken the greenish blue jade from the High Place, since it couldn’t be found elsewhere. His fingers traced the outline of a peregrine falcon. He smiled as he remembered the laughter in her eyes. He’d miss her friendship. Something tugged at the reaches of his memory – something his mother had told him when he was barely out of his cradle.

‘When you reach an age of mature reasoning you’ll discover the followers of the Falcon, thus.’ She’d shown him the secret mark, visible only to another true-blood and revealed by pressure of a thumb on the hand – a small glow of luminous blue light under the skin, like moonlight. ‘The day will come when you will meet others such as yourself,’ she’d said. ‘You must trust your instincts.’

How had he remembered that from childhood?

You must trust to your instincts.

The moonlight grew more luminous and mist writhed from the water. When it cleared he saw Jynx reflected in it. Seated at her window with a small bowl, her hair hung loose and rippled to her waist with a faint incandescence. It was the first time Laek had seen it unbraided and its lustrous beauty stunned him.

When Jynx flicked her fingernail at the edge of the dish it gave a soft chime. The water below him shivered and was covered in ripples.

‘You need water in the dish to scry,’ he whispered.

As if she’d heard him Jynx smiled and reached out for an ewer. With the water came colors. When they cleared her eyes were so rounded in surprise that Laek chuckled. A merry smile sped across her face.

‘Laek, I was just thinking about you; what sort of magic is this? Is that really you or am I imagining things?’

He laughed. ‘If you’re imagining things then so am I. Where did you get the dish?’

‘I found it on the bottom of the lake at the High Place, beneath the rock. I nearly ran out of air and drowned when I swam down to get it. Wulf rescued me.’

‘You’re not supposed to go there, Jynx.’

‘I know, but The High place seems to call me. I believe I was given this dish for a reason, since it’s put us back in touch. Something dark tried to stop me from reaching it, though, but I was protected by ... ’

Her image began to break up. Laek lost concentration and didn’t hear the rest of her sentence.

 ‘Promise me you’ll be careful,’ he said swiftly.

Her voice became a whisper. ‘I promise, Laek. I must go, now, someone ... behind you ... ’

When a hand fell on Laek’s shoulder, he jumped.

‘It’s time for my watch,’ Tighe said against his ear.

Laek took hold of the hand the hesp held out to pull him up with. There was a small amount of pressure from his thumb. Laek did the same.

‘Well chosen, true-blood,’ Tighe whispered, and smiled.

‘How much did you see?’

‘Moonlight on water can play tricks on the eyes.’

‘Aye, and you’re being evasive. I’ve never seen you before today, but it feels as though I’ve always known you. Who are you?’

‘I’m a son of Saire.’

‘I didn’t know the seer had a son.’

‘There is a lot you don’t know. Until a minitix ago you were unaware of some of your special powers, too.’

Laek thought about the statement, absorbed it and accepted it. ‘Some of them?’

‘Others will be revealed to you. I’ll help you through your uncertainty.’

Gazing at him, Laek saw for the length of a heartbeat an ancient face filled with wisdom. ‘Are you ...
Him?
’ And he couldn’t quite utter the name.

The smile Tighe gave him was secretive. ‘I’m different things to different people. Go to bed now, Laek. Sleep soundly, you need to renew yourself for the morrow.’

How quickly the man had changed from stranger to mentor. ‘Did my father send you to watch over me?’

Tighe’s eyes hooded as he contemplated him. ‘Lord Cynan is a soldier and a conqueror. He has none of the ancient arts and no true-blood in him. Thus he cannot understand or believe in what he cannot see. There are those who would use the knowledge of what you are to usurp him.’

‘What am I, except the son of my parents?’

‘The awareness of your being is written in your genes and will reveal itself in time. Azarine has guarded you well.’

Laek felt some alarm then. ‘What of my lady mother?’

‘She realized her destiny on the day she met Lord Cynan. She protected herself in the only way she knew how.’   

‘And Jynx?’

The blandness dropped from Tighe’s eyes and for a moment they blazed silver in the moonlight. ‘What of her?’

‘Jynx is special to me. She’s my friend and I trust her.’

‘Jynx is no fool and she already has a protector.’

It must be Remy, Laek thought, but he couldn’t imagine the softhearted lad, who enjoyed music and scholarly pursuits being able to protect his sister. Jynx was the fearless one of the pair.

There was the wolf, of course. Tighe must have been referring to him. Jynx should have been the boy, he thought, smiling to himself as he snuggled into the softness of his mattress.

Hal’s restless gaze wandered across the plain towards the mountains, feeling the mysterious pull of them.

Orish was seated cross-legged outside the tent they called home. The old man lifted his head when the wind changed direction. He was wrinkled like a turtle, and his eyes revealed the grey shadows that had stolen most of his sight. Yet his hands held a tool securely and his nimble fingers still worked, carving intricate pieces of jewelry and talismans from jade or from the tusks of the wild boar, which were hunted for food. The talismans were sold in the market place, and represented the various gods of the past, though nobody seemed to celebrate the deities much since Cynan’s rise to power.

‘Winter is in the wind, Hal.’

 Hal gazed at the old man. ‘Aye, I can smell it, Grandfather.’

‘The time will come when you must take me home to the mountains. But first we shall go to Arles, and then to Karshal.’

Hal felt a stab of unease. ‘We’ve travelled the world inside the inner rift since I can remember, and have explored it in every direction, bar two. I know its ways and byways like the back of my hand. Never before have you sought to take us to Arles or Karshal. Why now, when we’ve always avoided it?’

‘You’ll understand when we get there. You have much to learn about these cities, and about whom you can trust. We’ll spend a season in each city, and your eyes shall be opened. Then you’ll take me home to the mountains. There, you will learn certain arts, such as hand-to-hand combat. And you will embrace the skill of deep meditation. Then we shall part. Be patient, grandson.’

Although not blood kin, Hal felt close to the old man. ‘I’m not eager for us to part. I’ll miss you.’

‘Only for a while.’

Over the years Hal had learned not to question his grandfather, but more and more he questioned himself. Dismantling the tent he packed it in the cart with the rest of their household utensils, leaving a place for Orish to sit when he tired of walking.

The flight between the shafts delicately stamped his forelegs. He quivered as Hal ran a hand gently over the ridges along his side. Either he’d been born without wings, or they’d been removed at birth. ‘You’re a beautiful creature, even if you’re second grade,’ Hal whispered, ‘I’ve heard there’s a museum in Arles where one of your ancestors is displayed in all his magnificence, with his wings out-stretched. You were known as landflights then. Ironic that they clipped the wings that allowed you to fly and shortened the name of your species to flight when you couldn’t. In the old days your ancestors used to carry the fighting lords and their forces on their backs, and up amongst the stars they’d go, where they would battle for supremacy. Now, wouldn’t that have been a grand existence and a wonderful sight.’

The flight tossed its head up and down and its eyes gleamed.

The old man laughed and held out the jade he’d just finished carving. ‘Stop giving Uffo ideas of grandeur.’

‘Uffo is grand.’ The animal’s glossy black flanks rippled when he touched the side ridges again. ‘I could almost swear he has wings folded away along his side.’

 Hal was subjected to a flat look. ‘Just make sure he doesn’t take off into the air when he’s still attached to the cart then, especially if I’m sitting in it at the time. Here, wear this, Hal. It will protect you.’

Hal had never seen jade of such color before. One side of it was dark blue, like the depths of the ocean; the other was dappled turquoise, resembling sunlight on the shallows. Placing the charm against his eye he saw in its depths a peregrine, and he could swear the wings were moving as it hovered over a dark pool.  He shivered as his palm closed around it. But its shape was warm and familiar against his hand and he knew the nature of it. At once he felt invincible, at one with the wind that rustled through the tall grasses of the plain.

He gazed at his grandfather, who stood with his ear cocked to that same wind. ‘Who am I, Orish?’

The old man chuckled. ‘You know who you are. It’s bred in your bones, your mind and your heart, and it’s written in your blood. Too much too soon will be bad for you, Hal. You will come to your own realization in time, know what you are and what is expected of you.’

Hal had to be content with that. He had dreams, frightening dreams in which he heard the cries of a dying woman. He felt her pain, though she tried to mask it from him. Sometimes, he smelled blood in his nostrils and was jerked awake with a pain in his side, shivering with the shock of it, and crying out a name.

There was a younger woman with blue eyes, a different pain inside her. He could feel her rage and her grief, barely contained behind a facade of calm. She contained it, fed on it, felt the need for revenge inside her, which went against her nature and her teachings. And in secret, she prayed to Bane to feed her rage.

 ‘We will know each other,’ she’d said, her voice as soft as the silken skirts of the women who danced on the fairground stage. And with a smile he remembered Arlene, who’d taught him the art of loving, and who’d allowed a young man his ease just for the delight it brought them both.

A frown knotted his forehead. The dying woman’s name was on the edge of his mind, but it wouldn’t come to his tongue in the wakefulness of day. ‘Whose name do I cry out in my sleep?’ he murmured.

‘I hear no cry.’

Always the same evasiveness, he thought. But Hal had learned a lot from Orish, the position of the stars and their relationship to the old Gods in the time before the rift was healed. He’d learned of the explosion that had torn the world asunder – one that the Grand Alchemist had accidently caused. Lord Kavan had collaborated with him to bring the rift together, to stave off complete disaster.

‘The world is still healing, Hal, yet the people still listen to the violence in their genes instead of the peace in their hearts. Lord Cynan rules by fear. Although the Karshal daughter manages to tame his excesses, he and his followers make a sport of the outlanders and anyone with watcher blood in them. He represented himself as an ambassador for peace, then slaughtered half the populace and allowed his soldiers to make sport with the women.’

‘Why did the Karshal daughter wed him?’

‘She had no choice at the time, since she was young, and not strong enough to defeat him. The alternative was death. If she’d died, the true-blood Karshal would have died with her.’

‘I have heard they have a son between them who is Karshal in his looks, but fleet of foot and as fierce as a hunting hawk, and that the power of the alchemist guides and protects him. It’s said he’ll be the best and wisest ruler yet.’