Orlind (42 page)

Puzzled, Llandry
did as he directed, trying to see the group of people with her
draykon senses instead of her physical eyesight. She saw
immediately what he meant. The woman may look human, but beneath
her ordinary exterior lay a draykon soul.
This
was
Eterna.

‘
I
just had the strangest thought,’ Llandry said to Pensould. ‘Did you
choose a male human form because you have to? Being male yourself,
I mean? Or could you be a female if you chose?’

Pensould blinked
at her. ‘I have given it no thought, because I see no reason to be
other than male. But yes, I suppose I could manufacture a female
anatomy for myself. Just as you could fabricate a male one, if you
chose. But it would be a mere semblance. Giving myself female
organs would not change anything about my essential nature. I would
remain a male in every other respect.’

Staring at his
calm face, Llandry wished she hadn’t asked. ‘Um. Right, thank
you.’

‘
Weird,’ muttered Ori. Llandry had to agree. It was irrational,
perhaps, given how much shape-changing the three of them had lately
engaged in, but such gender-bending activities struck her as a
considerable step further in the direction of
very strange
indeed.

‘
Let’s
not do that,’ she suggested.

‘
Seconded,’ said Ori.

‘
As
you wish, Minchu,’ said Pensould. ‘Shall we talk to the
lady?’

Eterna’s human
shape resembled a woman in her early forties. She had tanned skin,
keen green eyes and tawny hair. Her gaze flicked over Llandry as
she approached, then surveyed Ori and Pensould in turn. She looked
the longest at Pense, her eyes narrowing.

From a distance,
Llandry had assumed that the woman had her hands clasped behind her
back. Now she saw that her hands were bound. Eterna bore this with
a proud indifference that Llan couldn’t help but admire.

So, the
mythical human-draykoni,
Eterna said in the silent way. This,
Llandry realised, was the reason they had been summoned; Eterna had
not had time to learn any of the human speech, as convincing as her
human guise might be. But in that case, why had she shape-shifted
at all?

We last met
under less friendly circumstances, I think.
The woman’s stare
was cold, and no wonder. Llandry couldn’t forget the way she and
Ori had forced Eterna into the range of the flyers’ guns, thus
causing her death. Under that icy stare, she had to suppress a
sudden urge to apologise for it. Ridiculous! She hadn’t wanted to
do it any more than Eterna had wanted to suffer that fate - but
Llandry
had not been responsible for starting this
war.

Are there more
of you?
Eterna enquired.

One more,
Llandry told her.
She is recovering from
injuries.

Eterna’s only
response to that was a cool look.
And you, Wing-friend?
she
said, shifting her attention to Pensould.
Why should you ally
yourself to this abomination?

It is no
abomination for our kind and theirs to be on good terms,
Pensould said calmly.

Good
terms? I would say inter-breeding goes some way beyond the
acceptable.

Pensould gave a
shrug.
Such intolerance must lead to the total destruction of
one race or the other. History
-
and recent
experience
-
suggests that our kind shall be the
losers.

Eterna said
nothing for some time. Finally, and to Llandry’s surprise, she
said,
You may be right, Wing-brother. But will we be permitted
space to exist, I wonder?

Oh, but of
course!
Llandry interrupted eagerly.
The Realms of Iskyr and
Ayrien must be given over entirely to
-

Llandry,
Pensould chided.
That is a matter for your governments to
resolve.

Yes, of
course,
she said, crestfallen.
Oh, but, surely they cannot
be so awful as to refuse!

Eterna’s eyes
sparkled with amusement as she looked down at Llandry.
You would
champion the rights of your enemy, would you?

That ignited
Llandry’s temper.
Don’t think for a second that I excuse what
you have done to my home! There can be no forgiveness for
that.

Eterna inclined
her head, her amusement gone.

But I too
believe that Pensould is right,
Llandry added.
We have to
find a way to co-exist peacefully, or there will only be more of
... of all this.
She swept out one arm, her gesture
encompassing all the charred and burned and broken buildings and
plant life that she could see.

And
anyway,
she muttered,
it would be the right thing to
do.

Eterna laughed
outright at that.
Endearing, if naive,
she said to Pensould.
And you, silent man? Do you agree with your little
Wing-sister?
She was looking at Ori, who so far had listened
well but said nothing.

I second
everything she’s said,
Ori replied firmly.
And I think our
governments are great noggins if they refuse to accommodate the
needs of the draykoni.

Noggins,
Eterna mused.
Not a word I have heard before.

I made it
up,
Ori admitted.

Iver had so far
watched this exchange in silence, but now he cleared his throat. ‘I
need you to assist with certain negotiations, beginning with the
question of Eterna’s missing colleague. Now, please. I want this
situation resolved.’

‘
Yes,
sir,’ Llandry said with a shy smile. Turning back to Eterna, she
said,
You’ve been informed that you have a comrade
missing?

I
have. I am wearing this shape in hopes that I will be taken to see
the remains of my fallen comrades for myself. I may then ascertain
whether or not you were telling the truth when you claimed not to
have destroyed any of my friends. And if that proves in your
favour, I will also be able to establish whether we are indeed a
body short.

Llandry relayed
most of this to Iver, eyeing him with a touch of nervousness.
Eterna’s request seemed reasonable to her, but would he
comply?

‘
That’s why she humaned herself up? Clever,’ remarked Iver’s
second.

‘
Yes,
but remember that she can shift back to her natural shape at any
time,’ Iver replied. ‘It may not be clever so much as
cunning.’

Llandry’s heart
sank. She hated these on-going conflicts, the stalemates that arose
when nobody could trust each other...

Eterna, they are afraid you will shift back to your draykon
shape and... well, I don’t know. Escape, I suppose, and free the
others.

Eterna’s eyes
flashed.
You may tell them that their military prowess has been
more than amply demonstrated and I have no wish to see another such
defeat inflicted upon my kind.

Llandry repeated
that. Iver looked steadily at Eterna for some time, his expression
unreadable. ‘Very well,’ he said at last. ‘In the interests of
resolving this impasse, we’ll do it. But if she breaks faith with
us, we
will
start burning bodies.’

Wincing, Llandry
conveyed that to Eterna. The draykon-woman’s hard green eyes turned
a shade colder, but she agreed.

‘
Then
we go,’ Iver said. When Llandry made to follow, he stopped her.
‘This is a sight I think you would rather not see, Miss Sanfaer,
and there’s no need for you to accompany us. All three of you
should wait here.’

Llandry
recognised that this wasn’t a command; she had a choice. But it
didn’t take her long to make that decision. If she could be spared
the sad sight of nearly thirty draykons destroyed through their own
desire for revenge, she would take that offer.

‘
I’ll
stay too,’ Ori said, looking pale. The situation was an odd one;
though the draykoni had made themselves unequivocally the enemy,
they were also Llandry and Ori’s own kind. They could gain no
satisfaction from the sight of their fallen foes.

Llandry was
grateful when Pensould gripped her hand and smiled down at her. ‘We
will wait here,’ he said, ‘and perhaps rest a little.’

‘
Do
you think she will do as she promised?’ Llandry mused, watching as
Eterna was led away.

‘
Yes,’
Pensould said firmly.

‘
I
think so, too,’ Ori said. ‘No idea why I think that,
though.’

The matter wasn’t
nearly so certain to Llandry’s more nervous disposition. She could
only hope they were right.

Eterna returned,
and while she was obviously in a towering rage, she was nonetheless
still human.

Tell me you
have not hidden him from me!
She glared at each of them in
turn, seeking a target for her anger.

We have
not,
Llandry said simply.

And I
must take your word on it, must I?

What have we
to gain by lying, Wing-sister?
Pensould, perhaps sensing
Llandry’s own rising irritation, took charge of the
conversation.

You
seek to sow discord between draykoni and our allies!

Allies. Llandry
wondered about that word. Did she mean
Krays?

The Lokants
are not your allies, Eterna,
said Pensould gravely.

No?
she
flared.
Then why did they so freely offer us
assistance?

Their leader
will have asked something in return,
Pensould prompted.
What
was it?

Nothing. He offered his aid freely.

Pensould’s brows
shot up at that, and for an instant he was rendered speechless.
Llandry was shocked, too. They had assumed from the beginning that
Krays must be getting something important out of his alliance with
the draykoni, or why had he involved himself?

But he
had
gained something, she remembered. He had gained access to a
shape-shifting draykon. The only difference was that he had taken
it, instead of waiting to be given their help. It was a perfect
arrangement for the man who trusted nobody. And further, he’d had
the chance to test his constructs in real combat. In fighting the
mechs, the defenders had shown him exactly where the weaknesses
were. The next generation of machines would be that much more
difficult to defeat.

Llan’s heart sank
further when she realised it was probably Pensould, by his own
example, who had inadvertently informed Krays that any draykoni
could take human form, and therefore that any draykoni could serve
the purpose he had in mind. That was a bitter
realisation.

How could a
canny leader such as you fall for so simple a ploy?
Pensould
was asking.
Nothing is ever free!

It is a matter
of the grave injustice suffered by our kind!
Eterna snapped
back.
I do not find it so hard to believe that others may
sympathise with our plight!

Krays?
Sympathising?
Llandry couldn’t help it. She laughed out
loud, earning an odd look from Iver and a furious one from
Eterna.

Sorry,
Llandry muttered.
You cannot imagine how absurd...
She
stopped as Eterna shot her a still more poisonous look.
Let me
tell you about Krays,
she said instead.
She was halfway through the long and unpleasant story of her
dealings with Krays when Eva and Tren arrived.

‘
Llandry,’ Eva said with a warm smile. ‘It’s taken us some time
to learn where you were. You’re an elusive young woman. But I’m so
pleased to see you well.’ Her gaze lingered on Pensould and Ori.
‘All of you. I bring greetings from Avane, who I can assure you is
recovering apace.’

‘
Thank
you,’ Llandry said with relief. ‘It’s also good to see you in good
health. And Tren!’ she added, smiling at Eva’s handsome companion.
‘Are you all better?’ He looked healthy, too much so given the
ordeal he’d suffered. But once again, the time-gap between her
world and the Library was confusing her. Tren had had time to
recover.

‘
Most
of the way there, I think,’ he said with a smile.

Who are these
people?
Eterna demanded. Commander Iver said much the same
thing aloud, a moment later.

Friends and
allies,
Llandry told her, while Ori introduced the two of them
to the Commander.

Why
do their heads bulge in that peculiar manner?

Llandry,
confused, cast a startled glance at Eva.
Oh! They are wearing
headgear. The light here hurts their eyes.

Ah! Ayrien
folk.
Eterna nodded.
You had better finish your
tale.

But Eva claimed
Llandry’s attention. ‘We have come seeking assistance,’ she said,
drawing Llandry to one side. ‘Will your business for the Commander
take much longer?’

‘
I
have no idea,’ Llandry replied. ‘It depends how long it takes us to
wear down Eterna’s distrust, I suppose.’