Lodestone Book One: The Sea of Storms (27 page)

“I say that nothing has changed.
We have a task to complete, on which the very future of the Kelanni
depends. Are you with me?” Shann was grateful that his eye fell on
her first. She nodded firmly, followed by Alondo and finally after
a long pause, Keris gave her assent. “Then it is decided. We
continue.”

“Where are we headed?” Alondo
asked.

Lyall turned to Keris. “The map
you acquired–how far does it extend?”

“All the way to the
sea.”

Lyall nodded. “Good. The Great
Barrier of Storms lies across the Aronak Sea. I believe we should
make for the port city of Sakara.”

“That’s a long way if we take the
usual road,” Keris observed.

“I’m aware of that.”

“There may be a short cut,” Keris
suggested.

“You mean the Fire Pits of
Kharthrun? Is that wise?”

“What are ‘the Fire Pits’?” Shann
cut in.

Lyall tried and failed to look
non-committal. “They are…nothing to worry about for
now.”

~

Slowly, the
Eastern Plains came to life, rising to meet the cold light of dawn.
Two cloaked figures stood near the base of the tower, looking down
at a crumpled heap on the ground. It was unmoving.
Nikome
.

A soldier in crimson surcoat over
leather armour strode over and stood before them. He glanced down
at the body before Saccath commanded his attention. “Report,
Commander.”

“The tower is clear, my Lord. No
sign of the fugitives.”

“What of the device that they
were reported to be using?” Saccath demanded.

“Destroyed. The upper floors have
been gutted by fire–the soldiers claim they were ordered by Lord
Nikome to set petards to prevent the fugitive’s escape.”

“Then where are the fugitives
now?”

“They…proved to be too strong for
the men, my Lord. There were Keltar among them. The men also spoke
of another man with a weapon, the likes of which they had never
seen. They claim they could not stand before it.”

“Fetch the men here. I will
question them myself.”

The Commander grasped the hilt of
his weapon and gave a short bow. “At once, my Lord.” He turned on
his heel and swept away.

Saccath’s face
contorted. “
Fools!
”

The figure in the hood turned
towards him, one eyebrow raised.

“They
ran
,” Saccath spat,
“left Nikome to face the rebels alone.”

“Nikome disobeyed orders,” the
hood pointed out.

Saccath was determined to defend
the young man, even in death. “He was trying to stop the rebels
from escaping.”

“Escaping where? They had trapped
themselves at the top of a tower. Where were they going to go?” The
face in the hood shook its head. “No. I know you liked the boy, but
the evidence is clear. He was told to maintain distance and not
engage the enemy. Yet he decided to go in on his own with four
soldiers.”

Saccath felt
anger and frustration welling up within him “What were the
rebels
doing
here?”

“We may never know,” the hood’s
voice sounded distant. “I suspect that somehow, they discovered a
rumour about an artefact at the tower and thought that they might
use it to aid their cause. Thanks to Nikome, any indication of the
true nature of that artefact was destroyed with the
tower.”

The hooded form sighed. “Well at
least we have the satisfaction of knowing that whatever they were
after was lost to them.”

Saccath was
still staring at the body. “We
cannot
allow this outrage to go
unpunished. We have been snapping at these rebels’ heels like
gundir when we could have chased them down and eliminated them long
ago. Now they have murdered a Keltar. They
must
pay.” He faced the other
squarely. “If you will not go after them, then give me the
responsibility.”

“No. The orders stand. The
Prophet has his reasons. We will move against them, but only when I
say and not before. Is that understood?”

Saccath bowed; his face a dark
mask. “As you wish, Excellency.”

“You
are
right about one
thing,” the hood mused. “The soldiers on the spot deserted their
Keltar. We cannot allow that. An example must be
set.”

The Commander returned, bowing
once more before the two cloaked figures. “I have the soldiers from
the tower here. Do you wish to question them in
private?”

The dark outline beneath the
black hood thought for a moment. “No. Assemble the rest of the men,
Commander.”

“Right away,
Excellency.”

As the soldiers gathered, the
four escapees from the tower were brought. They stood before the
two Keltar, eyes filled with fear.

The hooded shape turned towards
them, its face obscured. “What did you see at the
tower?”

The four appeared to have
deferred to one of their number, who served as spokesman, a tall
man with short dark hair and craggy features. He blinked and his
eyes moved rapidly as he spoke. “We saw a great globe rise into the
air above the roof of the tower, surrounded by blue lightning. The
rebels were inside. We were ordered to bring it down with
petards.”

“And when you brought it down,
what then?”

“They came from the sphere and
attacked us, Keltar. They used a weapon…I do not know what it was,
but we could not stand before it.”

“And so you
retreated.”

“Yes, Excellency.”

“Abandoning your
Keltar.”

“I…we had no choice. We fought
against it, but the weapon drove us back.”

“So you wish that you could have
stayed to defend your master?”

“Of course.”

The voice from
the shadowed cowl rose in volume so that all could hear. “Then you
will have your wish.
Captain, take these
four men into custody
.” After a brief
struggle, the four stood bound. “
Take them
to the roof of the tower. Let them join their
Keltar
.”

A short while later the soldier
band rode off into the distance, leaving behind the blackened tower
and five broken forms at its base, abandoned like discarded
marionettes.

~

Shann spun
rapidly in the air, and brought down her darkwood staff with all
her strength. She sliced through empty air. As she began to descend
towards the ground, she cast about wildly. A breath on her cheek
and a staff constricting her throat.
How
did she get behind me?
They touched down
together and
Keris released the
girl.

Shann felt annoyed at her
adversary and frustrated with herself. Training with Lyall had been
joyous and instructive. Training with this woman felt like a cross
between drudgery and ritual humiliation. It was as if the Keltar
enjoyed showing up her failings.

“Don’t take your eye off your
opponent,” Keris warned. “Follow and anticipate his actions. He
won’t be intimidated by your trying to pull off a fancy
move.”

“I was
not
...,” she protested as Keris turned on
her heel and walked away.

“We’re done for today,” Keris
called from behind her back. Shann followed, scowling.

It had been Lyall’s idea for her
to begin training with Keris. “You can learn a lot from her,” he
had urged, “and it might help you to get to know each other a
little better.” Shann knew that that was code for ‘getting on
better.’ The tension between the two of them had become
increasingly obvious since the tower. This was Lyall’s way of
trying to smooth things over. If they were going to be a team, they
would have to learn to work together. Of course, Lyall did not know
what she knew. She had thought again about revealing the woman’s
secret communication to him. However, it would still be only be her
word against the Keltar’s. She had to have enough proof to convince
him. However, the woman had obviously been careful since the night
on the plains, when Shann had seen her speaking into her Ring, away
from the camp. Shann had done her best to keep watch, but she had
been unable to catch the woman out again.

The way back to camp led through
a narrow cut in the hillside. It had been two days since they had
left the plains and entered the line of hills that bordered its
eastern edge. They were labelled on the map Keris carried as Gilah.
The vegetation here was sparse, as was the animal life. A small
creature with large round eyes and a long prehensile tail had
approached their camp, sniffing with curiosity, but when Shann
approached to try and make friends with it, it scooted off. She had
kept her eye out for it since but hadn’t seen it again.

She, Lyall and Keris had taken
turns scouting for signs of pursuit. It was a surprise to her that
Keris considered her competent enough to take a turn, but when
Lyall had suggested that Shann be included, the woman had not
objected. Maybe she was hoping that Shann would fall into the hands
of the enemy and she would be rid of the girl. One thing was
certain; if the woman were to learn that her treachery had been
observed, then Shann would find herself lying with a Keltar’s
diamond blade in her back.

Shann followed Keris into the
camp. The wagon had been parked just off the hillside track. The
woman headed for the graylesh and her saddle pack. Shann spied
Alondo seated next to the wagon, his back leaning against a wheel.
She walked over, and he gave a broad smile as soon as he saw her.
“Hello there, Shann.” He gestured for her to sit down beside him
and she gratefully accepted. “Training going well?”

She made a face
at him. “She
hates
me. She does everything she can to make me look
inferior.”

Alondo laughed. “I doubt that.
Our resident Keltar is a little…stern. But she does have a lot of
skill and experience. Lyall is right; you can learn a lot from her.
In spite of her demeanour, I’m sure she means well.”

Shann would have loved nothing
better than to have confided in Alondo right there and then; to
tell him everything about the woman’s secret communications with
Chalimar. But she could not do it; she could not place him in that
kind of danger. It was one thing to risk her own life in exposing
the woman’s duplicity, but if anything were to happen to him, she
would never forgive herself.

She decided to gloss over the
matter. “Maybe you’re right. Hey, I don’t have to like her to learn
from her, right?” Alondo looked at her sceptically, but said
nothing. Shann changed the subject. “Alondo?”

“Yes?”

“Do you miss Hedda?”

Alondo smiled painfully and
looked down at his boots. “Every day. Only don’t tell her I told
you so.” He reached inside his russet coloured jerkin and pulled
something out, holding it in his hand. It sparkled green in the
late afternoon sunlight, an emerald set in a silver chain. “This is
hers. I keep it with me always.”

Shann’s face lit up. “It’s
beautiful.”

Alondo shrugged. “Well, the stone
is common enough, but it reminds me of home.” He tucked the gem
away again.

“Do you think we will return home
one day?”

“Of course. Don’t
you?”

“Well it’s just
that I’m no longer sure I
have
a home. Poltann is dead and Gallar–well I don’t
know. If anything has happened to her, then I’m
alone.”

Alondo put an arm around the
girl’s shoulders. “You are not alone, Shann.” They sat silently for
a moment, Shann enjoying the unaccustomed feeling of security. Then
he spoke up again. “What about your real mother and
father?”

“They were taken by the Prophet’s
soldiers. I was very young at the time.” Shann’s eyebrows knotted
together. “I don’t even remember my parent’s faces
clearly.”

“Well, when all of this is over I
will help you find them.”

“Really? You mean it?”

“Of course,” Alondo assured her.
“And in the meantime, you and Gallar can come live with me and
Hedda. That is, if you don’t mind putting up with Hedda’s nagging
and my late night playing sessions.”

Shann leaned back against
Alondo’s shoulder, feeling happier than she could remember.
Eventually Alondo stretched and got to his feet. “Well how about
helping me get a fire going?”

He held out a hand and pulled her
up. She set off with him to gather wood. As they started towards a
copse on their right, there was a disturbance behind them. They
both turned to look back at the camp. A tall figure was standing in
a dark robe, topped by a mass of fair hair. Lyall had returned.
Shann ran back to meet him, slowing only as she saw the troubled
look on his face. Alondo came up behind her. Keris walked over from
the direction of the graylesh. Boxx hopped down from the back of
the wagon, scuttled over the rough soil and raised itself up on its
hind legs, head cocked to one side.