Dragons and Destiny (39 page)

* * * * *

Robain, Elliot,
Niaill, Danal and Tala

The party-goers
were in high spirits. Although the ambassador’s soiree had been a
small one by court standards, he was noted for the excellence of
both food and wine.

Elliot’s alias
had held. If any of the guests had guessed that Kellen Walter
Merriman was not who he claimed, they had held their tongues.

Anyway,
Philip reasoned,
we will be leaving for Port Lutterell in the
next few days so it doesn’t matter.

Waiting in the
withdrawing room, Tala and Robain heard the carriage draw up.

“Here we go,”
said Robain as he headed for the door to invite them in for a
nightcap.

“Don’t mind if
I do,” said a jovial Philip when Robain asked and Derek agreed he
would come in for one. Both men seemed surprised to see Tala.

The inebriated
James and Elliot decided that bed was the best place.

“All of you,”
commanded Robain and both boys took notice. “I’ve got kala, might
sober you up a bit.
Now
,” added Robain in a voice that
brooked no argument and had cowed many a Garda.

The two turned
and squeezed past Robain into the room.

They were also
surprised to see Tala.

Robain closed
the door and locked it.

“What’s up?”
queried Philip, unsteadily pouring the kala into the cups.

“I’ve got news
for you all,” answered Robain, standing in front of the open fire,
hands clasped behind his back. “Take a seat gentlemen, this may
take a while.”

Elliot jumped
to an erroneous conclusion, “what’s happened? Is it my Father? The
King?”

“The news is
not from Murdoch.”

“The Larg
then?” pressed Elliot.

“No, now listen
very carefully.”

Within the
bell, all four southerners were shocked, amazed and very sober.

Robain and
Philip sent the younger members to bed with orders to get a good
night’s sleep if they could.

They then spent
another bell discussing the situation and its ramifications. By the
time they had reached their decision, it was very late indeed.

At first light
they were up, breakfasted and waiting for Niaill, Danal and Master
Annert.

It had been
decided that the Guildhouse was far too busy a place for the
serious matter they were about to discuss.

“The print-outs
and the books of Tara that Niaill brought are locked away in the
cupboard in my salon,” Annert told them.

“We’ll get back
to that later,” Danal informed them, “let me just say for now that
Master Annert intends to gather together the best technical minds
he can find. They will work out how we can make the power-core of
the
Electra
into a weapon we can use to destroy the Dglai
when they come.”

“Inalei and two
other Lind came east with Taraya and me,” added Niaill. “The two
will keep everyone informed about what Master Annert finds
out.”

“Us?” queried
Elliot.

“You go to Port
Lutterell as arranged,” said Niaill after a glance at Danal, who
nodded. “You need to get home quickly and one of the Argyllian
naval vessels will take you to Murdoch.”

“You’ll be
travelling alindback,” grinned Danal, trying to cheer the young
prince up a little.

Elliot’s face
brightened.

“Really?”

“It’s the
fastest way to get anywhere. Any objections?”

“None
whatsoever.”

“When you get
home,” Philip added his bit, “to Duchesne by choice, it will be
your job to convince your Father and the Dukes about the truth of
this matter and to help them in any way you can.”

“Me?” asked a
confused Elliot, “but you’ll be with me surely?”

Philip shook
his head, “I’m afraid not Elliot, I have another task ahead of me.
So does Derek.”

“But, but,
you’re saying that James and I, on our own have to persuade first
the Duke of Duchesne then the others? I can’t do it.”

“You are the
Prince-Heir, it’s time to prove your mettle and it won’t just be
you and James.”

“I will be with
you,” said Robain. “Philip will write letters to both the Duke and
to the Lord Marshall explaining the situation.”

“They’ll still
not believe,” fretted Elliot.

“I think you’ll
find that the Lord Marshall will,” Danal interrupted. “He will
believe and he is a formidable man. By the time you arrive on the
shores of your country, he will know much of what has happened and
what is about to happen. Trust him if no other. Elliot, you must
raise the battle standards of all the Regiments of Murdoch, you and
the Lord Marshall; on your own if need be. Murdoch will be the
first place the Larg will strike. With the Dglai behind them they
won’t be able to resist the chance to wipe Murdoch off the map
before they head north to destroy the Lind. The Lind are already on
their way. You will leave first thing in the morning.”

He paused for a
moment to marshal his thoughts.

“The rest of us
go to Vada. You Philip and Derek, you also be going alindback so be
prepared to travel light.”

“Will do,”
answered Philip.

“Why are you
going to Vada?” asked James.

“We are going
to examine Susa Julia’s old map,” Niaill answered, “to see if we
can work out where the gridref is located. If we can well and good,
if we can’t, well we still have Peter Howard’s journal with his
notes about the journey and we shall have to work it all out from
there.”

“When do we
leave?” asked Philip.

“In the
afternoon,” said Niaill, “I still have to brief Master Annert.
Taraya and Inalei have to eat and rest before the run to Vada.
We’ve travelled both day and night to get here.”

“Then what do
you do?” asked Elliot.

“Then we go
south to find the power-core,” said Danal, “Philip, Derek, Asya and
me.”

“And me,” said
a quiet voice, “so you’d better arrange for another Lind.”

“You must stay
and help Master Annert,” said Danal, shaking his head. “He needs
you here to help him decipher the print-outs.”

She shook her
head.

“Quite
impossible,” Tala looked Danal straight in the eye, “and you know
it. What will you do with this power-core when you find it?”

“The
instructions will be sent to us via the Lind.”

“And do you
think you will understand these instructions when you get them?”
she demanded. “Do you have the technical expertise? Will you be
able to use the tools? Can you tell the difference between a
magnetic screwdriver and another? I can. You need someone with the
skills both to understand the instructions and to implement them,
to adapt them to changing circumstances if need be.” She turned to
Master Annert. “Tell him,” she implored.

The old man
nodded his head. “What she says is true though I wish I did not
have to say it. Tala here is one of the best journeymen I have ever
had the good fortune to work with. She is clever and resourceful.
She is also adaptable. She came out top in her year group and that
by a long way. I do not wish to lose her but I feel in my old bones
that she is right. You
do
need her.”

“What do you
think Niaill?” Danal asked his brother.

“She should
go,” he answered. “I wish I could too, but my duty is clear. I am
Ryzcka of the First Ryzck and I cannot let my vadeln go to war
without me. I think my part in the greater game is over and it is
up to you to carry it on. Robain, James and Elliot will go south
and help Murdoch prepare to fight for its survival. Philip, Derek,
Tala, Danal and Asya will go south where they will find the means
to save the planet from the Dglai. Master Annert will stay here and
will find the method. All the indications are that the Larg will
attack not just your kingdom Elliot, but the north as well.”

He paused and
looked at them all in turn.

“Elliot,” he
said, “one last thing. You must try to persuade the Duke of
Duchesne of our good intent. It is possible that the Susyc will
wish to meet the Larg and the Dglai in battle south of the Island
Chain, I know that she and Alyei are considering the possibility.
We must keep the Dglai away from the northern continents. They
mustn’t find out that the Lai are on the planet or all our plans
will come to naught.”

“I’ll do my
best,” promised Elliot.

“Good lad. The
war is coming my friends and there is nothing we can do to stop it.
The muster of the north begins. Susyc Julia and Alyei have already
called for the Lindars and they are beginning to run east. The
Ryzcks are moving south and east towards Settlement too. Julia is
also writing the orders commandeering all ships within the ports as
is her right in time of need. The Council of Argyll will receive
the Susyc’s command demanding the muster of the Militia the day
after tomorrow and the Garda is already on alert. Events are moving
and there is nothing anyone can do to stop them. Good luck to us
all.”

“Hear. Hear,”
cried out the irrepressible James.

* * * * *

The Lindar

The sun was low
on the horizon when the members of the Lindar of Rtath Hanei began
to congregate in the clearing at the centre of their domta.

The Susa of the
Lindar was called Sadei. He also commanded the front ryz, or rank.
On either side of Sadei stood the commanders of the middle and the
rear ryz.

The front ryz
was made up of the strongest and the most experienced fighters.
They were mostly male but included a few of the larger females. The
middle ryz was made up of fighters just as experienced but not as
large nor as strong with a high predominance of females. The rear
rank was made up of both sexes and was composed of the youngest
with a sprinkling of the older and those females returning to the
Lindar once their young were grown up.

At one side of
the clearing stood another Lind, pure white, who was the Elda of
Rtath Hanei. The rtath, as tradition decreed, bore his name and
would do so until the time when Hanei either died or stepped
down.

For the first
time ever, the Lindar, some thousand strong, was going to war, not
with three ranks but with four. Hanei was going to command the
fourth. Too old to fight within the three ryz, he was however more
than able to take charge of the extra one.

The entire Lind
nation was going to war, not just the Lindars.

The extra,
fourth ryz was a mix of Lind, some not old enough to join the
Lindar proper (Lind joined the Lindar when they attained the age of
fourteen summers) and some too old, those who no longer had the
speed and endurance to fight a long and ferocious battle against
the Larg.

As the fourth
ryz gathered, Hanei watched and counted. Apprehensive young Lind
were in the majority and they took their places with many an
anxious glance at Hanei. The grizzled and scarred old fighters
would join them as soon as Hanei called and would take their own
places, each between two of the youngsters, as mentors and
guides.

They would need
all the courage they could drum up during the suns ahead. The
battle or battles that were coming would be like as never seen
before.

Hanei hadn’t
met the three Lai who had arrived at the Gtrathlin’s domta but he
knew that they were there, as did every member of his pack. The
images of the Lai had been ‘sent’ out far and wide so that
everylind on the continent knew that they were not legend. If the
Dglai were anything like Haru and the others then his Lindar and
every other Lindar, every human battalion and every Ryzck faced
tough times.

He looked at
the determined young faces ranged in front of him. These youngsters
did not want to go to war, nolind did but it was part of their
psyche to defend and to protect.

Hanei felt so
proud of them in that moment he could burst. He raised his muzzle
towards the trees to his left and called for the older members of
his ryz.

Out of the
trees they came, these the grizzled veterans of Rtath Hanei. Some
were limping but not so much as to make fighting impossible, most
were white-haired, the dark red and browns of their original colour
stripes gone. He nodded to one-eyed Ranlei, once Susa of the Lindar
until a fight with a wral and the subsequent loss of his eye had
forced him to retire. Hanei was pleased that the old Lind felt able
to join them. Ranlei had also taught many of the of the rtath how
to fight. As he took his place between two of the very youngest,
Hanei saw the two relax.

They were
ready.

Around the
clearing gathered those who would remain in the rtathlians, the
very young, the very old, the pregnant females and the mothers with
young, all paying their respects to those going to the war and
‘saying’ their farewells.

One or two of
Hanei’s ryz glanced over, looking for mothers, little brothers and
little sisters. Some had their mothers with them, those who were
members of their mother’s last litter, but many did not and were
leaving the rtathlians for the first time.

Hanei realised
they were becoming restless, this forming up was taking too long.
He looked over at Sadei, willing him to give the order to start the
run east with a flick of his tail that said get on with it. Sadei
acknowledged the look.

No need for
words, Sadei raised his muzzle and howled, the howl that said off
to the war, to defend our rtathlians and all who we have sworn to
protect, with our lives if need be.

As one, Sadei’s
Lindar copied him.

Some tiny
ltsctas hid under their mother’s tummies, covering their small ears
with equally small paws.

Sadei began to
move out of the clearing, the first ryz following and Hanei
prepared to order the fourth to follow.

Like others
departing for the war, Hanei turned and looked back. Like many, he
didn’t think he would see his home again.