Lodestone Book One: The Sea of Storms (32 page)

“The graylesh need water and
feed,” Alondo reminded him.

“I know, thank
you.” Lyall dismounted, Shann and Keris following his lead. He
surveyed the empty village once again. Raising a hand to his mouth,
he called out. “
Hello, is anyone there? We
would like to trade. Hello?
” Nothing
stirred. The doors of the various crofts remained stubbornly
closed. “So how far is the next village?” Lyall
enquired.

“Too far.” Keris’ face was dark.
Shann snorted in disgust.

“Perhaps if we
wait for long enough and appear non-threatening, they will come out
eventually?” Lyall speculated. As he was speaking, Keris started
forward. She was striding towards the nearest dwelling, the ends of
her flying cloak fluttering in the light breeze.
“
What are you doing?
” Lyall shouted at her back.

Keris did not
look back. Her tone was menacing. “
Getting
you your supplies
.”

Shann’s eyes
went wide and her mouth dropped open as she watched Keris pause
before the entrance, lift her right boot and kick the door
viciously.
What the
?

“Keris–Keris,
stop… Keris
.” Lyall called out, but the
tall dark-haired woman was not listening. She seemed to be in a
private trance, as if she were taking out days of agony and
frustration on the doorway. Her face contorted as she lifted her
boot once more–
crack
. Splinters of wood flew from the impact of her boot
heel–c
rack
. Shann
could hear the groaning of tortured cross
members–
crack
.
The door finally gave way, flying open on its hinges and banging
against the opposite wall. Keris marched inside.

Moments later she reappeared at
the entrance. She had two elderly villagers, a man and a woman, by
the scruffs of their necks. Keris half dragged them to the open
centre of the hamlet and pitched them forward, so that they fell
headlong to the hard-packed ground. “Please, Lady–please spare us,”
Shann heard the old man whimper.

Keris ignored
him, turning instead to address the shut up stone dwellings.
“
Get out here–now.
” As Shann watched, doors opened slowly, and dejected
villagers approached their caravan, heads bowed. Frightened
children could be seen hiding behind the legs of their
parents.
Probably scarred for life, thanks
to Keris
.

Lyall stepped in front of Keris,
both hands raised. “We mean you no harm. We are not Keltar, despite
our appearance. We wish to trade with you. However, if you wish us
to leave, we will leave peacefully and not return. And …we will be
happy to pay for a new door.” Keris looked at him sharply, but said
nothing. Shann knelt beside the elderly couple. “It’s all right,”
she soothed, helping them to their feet. Their expressions were
confused, but they accepted her assistance gratefully.

A man with long, straight black
hair and a weathered face stepped forward. He wore a simple brown
tunic and black breeches. His tail twitched in agitation and his
eyes narrowed. “You say you are not Keltar. Yet this one bears the
cloak and carries the staff.” His eyes flicked over Keris. “How can
this be?”

Lyall raised his voice to address
the assembled crowd. “She was Keltar, but no longer. We do not
serve the Prophet. We are…working against his
interests.”

“Last turn of the season Keltar
came to this village with their soldiers.” The weathered-faced man
declared. “They acted much as your Keltar there. Then they took all
that we had and put five of our men folk to death. Their widows and
orphans are here before you.”

Shann caught the eye of one
little boy, no more than six turns old. She smiled at him. He
turned away and buried his head in his mother’s skirts.

“I’m deeply sorry for your loss,”
Lyall spoke up.

The dark haired man continued,
“You said that if we asked, you would leave and not
return.”

“Yes,” Lyall affirmed.

“Then we would ask that you leave
and not return.” From the wagon behind her, she heard Alondo curse
under his breath.

Lyall gave a slight bow, then
turned on his heel, leading his graylesh back the way they had
come.

“What is
that?
” It was a woman’s voice from the
crowd. With their eyes fixed on the exchange between the two men,
no-one had noticed the Chandara hop down from the back of the wagon
and scamper over. The creature stood erect on its rear hind legs,
its head cocked to one side. “I Am Boxx.”

Some in the
gathering started to back away. A young girl screamed. Keris
interposed herself between Boxx and the milling crowd, staff at the
ready. “
Wait
.”
The hubbub subsided before a commanding voice. A small older man
stepped forward. He was well dressed by village standards, with a
faded green jacket and matching cap. Shann was vaguely reminded of
an older version of Alondo.

The older man’s
face was filled with wonder. “
You are
Chandara
.”

“You Are Kelanni,” Boxx
responded. The man in the green jacket laughed infectiously. Shann
could sense the assembly relaxing. Keris returned her staff to the
sleeve at the back of her tunic.

“It
certainly
is
Chandara.” The older man’s gaze was fixed on the little
creature. “But it is a very long way from its forest. It is
travelling with you?”

“Yes,” Lyall
confirmed.

“Incredible. Tell me,” the older
man addressed Boxx directly, “these you are travelling with, are
they servants of the Prophet?”

Boxx replied in its thin high
tone. “They Do Not Serve The Prophet. They Seek To Destroy His
Device. For All Kelanni.”

“These people are not servants of
the Prophet,” the older man declared.

The man with
the long dark hair scowled. “You would take the word of
this…
this thing?”

“Forgive us,” the man in the
green jacket addressed Lyall. “Grief and loss can cause people to
give way to fear and suspicion.” He made eye contact with the dark
haired man. “Whatever you may think of them, Mevan, Chandara do not
lie. Nor do they serve the Prophet.” He turned back to Lyall. “I am
Ernan, Headman of Pinnar. Our village is humble, but you are
welcome here for as long as you wish.”

“I thank you, Ernan. I am Lyall.
This is Shann and our former Keltar is called Keris. The fine
fellow driving our wagon is Alondo.” Alondo doffed his cap and
grinned. “I appreciate you may have little to spare, but I would
like to discuss securing the provisions we need to continue our
journey. We are prepared to compensate you fully.”

Ernan nodded thoughtfully. “We do
not have an inn here in Pinnar, but I have a comfortable home. If
you and your party would consent to stay with me, I will see what
we can do to assist you. I would also enjoy a conversation with
your Chandara.”

Shann chuckled. “You’re the first
person I know who’s ever said that.”

The crowd began
to disperse, murmuring to one another as they did so. The party
followed Ernan as he led them in the direction of his house. Lyall
hung back and buttonholed Keris, addressing her in low tones. Shann
pricked up her ears to listen in. “What you did back there–well
done.” Keris looked at him strangely.
“But
if you ever do anything like that again, you will no longer be a
part of this group.”

~

Ernan’s home
was comfortable indeed. The hearth was not lit this deep into
summer, but the atmosphere was warm and homely, with delightful
smells wafting from the kitchen. Shann realised that this was the
first time since the farmhouse near Lind that she had actually
stayed in a house. The hut at the compound didn’t really count.
Memories of the compound made her wonder how Roanol and the others
were doing.
I haven’t forgotten
you
.

The main living
space was set with an assortment of stools. Alondo sat opposite
her, making adjustments to his curious instrument. He had offered
to play for them later that evening. He looked up and smiled at her
every so often. Boxx lay with its head on the wooden floor. Keris
sat on her own three stools over. Her hands lay in her lap and she
seemed unnaturally subdued after her earlier violent
outburst.
What is going on in your
head?

Lyall was engaged in discussions
with Ernan. The negotiations seemed protracted, but Ernan’s wife
and only daughter kept them supplied with cool drinks. The daughter
kept stealing glances at Alondo; he seemed to have that effect on
women. Maybe it was something to do with being a
musician.

At length,
Lyall emerged with Ernan. He was smiling, which she interpreted as
good news. “I think I have secured most of what we need. Replacing
the door wasn’t cheap.” He meant it as a joke, but Keris’ face was
as impassive as ever. It was almost as if… she were in
mourning.
But for what? For whom?

Ernan flopped onto a stool across
from Shann and Alondo and gave a genial smile. “Hungry?”

“Yes, please,” Shann replied a
little too eagerly, evoking a ripple of laughter from the others.
Her eyes fell to the floor.

“Good–that’s good,” Ernan spread
his hands. “Evening meal will be ready soon. Our fare is simple,
but good enough to satisfy our young friend here, I think.” He
winked at Shann and she perked up. Then his mood seemed to shift.
His wide mouth straightened, his blue eyes narrowed, and his
forehead took on a slight frown. “Lyall tells me you are bound for
Sakara and that you intend to travel through the Fire
Pits?”

“That is correct,” Keris answered
from her place across the room.

The older man leaned forward and
put his hand to his mouth but said nothing.

“Anything you can tell us about
them might be helpful,” Lyall prompted.

There was a pause. Then Ernan
spoke, his eyes unfocussed as if he were speaking to himself rather
than to a room full of people. “Nobody travels through the pits and
with good reason. There are too many ways to die. The fumes can
choke and the ground is unstable in places. The there are pools of
boiling mud and scalding water. And then there is the
Serpent.”

Alondo looked up. “You mean the
Kharthrun Serpent? I thought that was a story told to frighten
young children.”

“Oh, the Serpent is real,” Ernan’
eyes focussed on the musician, who let his instrument slip to the
floor. “Although it isn’t just a single creature, of course; there
must be a number of them.”

“Have you ever seen one?” Shann
asked.

“No. But Mevan, the man you spoke
to before, has; as a young man, he ventured into the Pits with
three others, one of whom was his brother. The Serpent attacked
them. He was the only one to survive.”

There was a shocked silence.
Finally, Lyall spoke up. “Did he say anything about the
beast?”

Ernan shook his head. “Only that
it stalks his nightmares to this day…I do not mean to interfere. We
have a saying here in the Distrada: ‘A mylar determines its flight
and a man his path.’ However, I would be less than a host if I did
not acquaint you with the dangers that lie ahead of
you.”

A silence descended once again.
It was Alondo who verbalised their thoughts. “Maybe we should
reconsider taking the route through this place?”

“Nonsense,”
Keris countered. “If we take the road north, east and then south we
will lose at least ten days. We have lost too much time already
owing to our failure at the tower. The journey across Kharthrun
will only take a few days. Then it will only be a short distance to
the coast and the port of Sakara. There is nothing that lies within
Kharthrun that we cannot deal with. Do not let yourself be swayed
by these…
fables
.

Shann shot a glance at Ernan, but
he merely shrugged slightly. Once again it was Lyall who stepped in
to smooth over any ruffled feathers. “I thank you for your counsel,
Master Ernan. However, the urgency of our mission demands that we
take the swifter route, even if it is at some risk to
ourselves.”

Ernan exhaled, whether through
resignation or disappointment, Shann could not tell. “Then I will
do what I can to aid you. You will have whatever supplies we can
muster and I will arrange for an escort to conduct you safely to
the rim. I cannot ask them to descend into Kharthrun itself–I’m
sure you understand.”

Lyall gave a short bow. “Your
offer is most generous, Ernan. We would like to get underway as
soon as possible tomorrow.”

A tinkling sound came from the
direction of the kitchen. Ernan stood up. “Well, I believe evening
meal is about ready, after which I will make the arrangements for
your departure tomorrow. At least I have this evening to talk to
your Chandara friend.