Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series (19 page)

‘I could not wait for
messages from Zeminth. Tell me at once of his -’ The newcomer
froze, his eyes locked with Ren’s. He looked carefully around at
the other faces until he saw Leaf.

‘Gijan?’ he whispered,
moving slowly towards her.

Sket put down his tea
bowl and stood close to Leaf, his hand on his sword
hilt.

‘Fear not armsman.
Never would I harm such a one.’

Gan rose to tower over
the man. ‘I am Gan Jal-Sarl, Captain of the Golden Lady Emla’s
Guards of Gaharn,’ he said formally.

The man blinked. ‘I
have no idea who the Golden Lady might be Captain, or where Gaharn
is in this world. I am Hariko Vos Nornay, scholar of Harbour City.’
He suddenly smiled, holding his hand out to Gan. ‘Not so impressive
as your title I fear.’

Gan took the proffered
hand in a firm clasp, returning the smile.

‘We were told by
Zeminth to seek you out if possible. He thought you could perhaps
aid us.’

Gan resumed his seat
and Khosa leapt onto his knee. ‘He is strong in the power,’ she
remarked.

Hariko blinked again.
He glimpsed Taza’s expression and looked quickly at
Zada.

‘Did you hear that?’ he
asked them.

They nodded. Hariko
turned his gaze to Khosa. ‘I confess I never thought to test
species other than human. But to see a gijan!’

Hariko walked closer to
stand looking down at Leaf. She stared back then unexpectedly gave
a trill of laughter and said something in the liquid language she
used with her siblings.

‘I give you gijan
greeting Hariko the scholar,’ she said. ‘I am called
Leaf.’

He sat down still
staring at her. ‘Did Zeminth see you?’ he asked.

She laughed again and
leaned forward, tapping his knee with a taloned finger.

‘Zeminth saw me. And my
brother and my sister.’ She tilted her head first to one side, then
to the other. ‘And he saw the Dragons.’

Gan wasn’t sure Leaf
was wise to admit so much so quickly to a stranger but even he
couldn’t help his amusement at Hariko’s expression. Hariko studied
the gijan in silence for some time.

‘You will be safe here,
at least for a while. You must surely know how I long to speak with
you all.’ He chewed his lower lip. ‘Your cat spoke in my
mind.’

‘My name is Khosa.’ She
glared at Hariko.

He inclined his head.
‘Khosa,’ he repeated. ‘I sense all of you have that ability, and
more. There may be only a very few of the ordinary people within
the City with this gift, but it is common inside the precincts of
the Higher Academy. I have my doubts as to what might happen should
certain of the Mage Councillors hear of you.’

‘Nothing will harm my
friends.’

Hariko froze, his mind
filled with a vision of a silver blue Dragon reclining beside a
smaller grey Dragon. Leaning against the blue Dragon was a girl,
not much bigger than the gijan. A tangled mop of black curly hair
blew round her face and she stared into Hariko’s mind with eyes
like chips of emerald ice surrounded by silver.

‘I am Tika, soul bond
and sister to Farn.’ The blue Dragon’s head lowered to rest on the
girl’s shoulder. ‘Nothing will harm my friends,’ she
repeated.

And the picture
vanished from Hariko’s mind. He was visibly shaken. Ren, sitting
next to him, patted Hariko’s arm. ‘A crimson Dragon named Brin sent
you that picture from his mind. He is about three times Farn’s
size. Seela is perhaps a touch bigger,’ he told him
helpfully.

Maressa stretched out
her legs in front of her and wriggled her toes. ‘We need to find a
man – Namolos is his name. We know only that he lives on an island
west of here. Zeminth thought that you may be able to assist us in
reaching him. It is a matter of some urgency.’

Hariko absently
accepted a bowl of tea from Pallin. ‘There are many tales of a man
called Namolos. We have never investigated them, thinking them
myths. I would guess most scholars and Mage Councillors discount
such tales. A man surely cannot live as long as Namolos is said to
have survived, unless his son – or great grandson – bears his name.
Same name, different man? He is said to live twenty days sail due
west but many ships have crossed that region and reported no land
there.’

Maressa raised a brow.
‘Have any of you who are gifted with power searched with your
minds?’

Hariko frowned. ‘None
that I’ve ever heard of have done so.’

Maressa disappeared.
Hariko sat back in alarm, tea splashing over his sleeve. Maressa
reappeared and smiled.

‘Shielding is a simple
matter of rearranging air.’

Ren demurred. ‘Your
speciality is air my dear. I agree that shielding is not too
difficult or complicated but it is immensely tiring to maintain
over an extended period of time. If Namolos is shielding an entire
island, what strength must that imply?’

Hariko’s hands were
still unsteady. ‘You believe Namolos exists? That the stories
relate to just one man? Some of the earliest date from more than a
thousand years past.’

‘Namolos exists,’ Gan
said quietly. ‘He is called Survivor, and seemingly, survive is
what he has done.’ He glanced at Ren. ‘There is another member of
our company who is the only one of us able to reach Namolos at this
distance and he has told us of the island where Namolos
dwells.’

‘Where is this other
one?’ Hariko asked.

‘He is an unbodied
mind.’ Gan looked a little uncomfortable. ‘We are never sure quite
where he is.’

‘At present, I am
here,’ Grek announced.

‘Unbodied mind?’ Hariko
stared round the room.

Ren’s discarded cloak
twitched slightly. ‘I am Grek.’

‘And you have seen
Namolos’s island?’ asked Hariko.

‘And spoken with
Namolos,’ Grek agreed.

Hariko was far from the
confident assured man he’d been when he strode into the common
room. He made a visible effort to gather his wits.

‘First of all, there
are rooms above where you can stay.’

Taza nodded.

‘There is access to the
roof and a way down from there should, gods forbid, you have need
to escape. I think you should live quietly here until I can arrange
a secure ship to take you westward.’ Hariko got to his feet. ‘As I
have told you, I am a scholar. I declined a position as Mage
Councillor partly because I prefer an academic life but also
because there is a cabal within the Council. Some of them have
become political, desirous of controlling the City for their own
ends. I have also heard there is trouble from the east.’

‘Trouble?’ queried
Olam.

‘The island of Wendla.
The Wendlans use magic and have always spurned contact with any
other peoples. I heard that Wendlan ships attacked four of our
trading vessels.’ He shrugged. ‘There has been much activity in the
Xantip Palace. Grand Harbour Master Chevra has been rushing in
various directions. Armsmen are gathering both within the City and
without. I will find out what I can and return here
tomorrow.’

Hariko stood before
Leaf and bowed deeply. ‘Words fail me when I long to express my
feeling at witnessing your presence here sacred Elder. My life is
yours.’

When Hariko Vos Nornay
had gone, Zada invited them to follow her to the upper rooms. They
found apartments there, spacious but with an air of neglect. The
rooms were clean and neat but felt as though a long time had passed
since they were regularly occupied. Zada smiled sadly.

‘Fewer and fewer come
to our temples now, even though we are still the only order to
offer free shelter and food. There were twelve temples of the Elder
Races but in my lifetime, five have been abandoned and the rest of
us struggle to go on.’

Maressa opened a window
and leaned out, sniffing the twilight air. ‘A garden.’ She sounded
surprised.

‘All the temples had
gardens.’ Zada joined the air mage at the window. ‘There are also
City gardens. Business men are always seeking to overturn Xantip
the Second’s decree that gardens must be maintained for all the
people to enjoy forever. Traders begrudge the waste of ground as
they term it. Xantip the Second’s edict was engraved on stone
blocks and a block is displayed in each of the gardens. No ruler
since has agreed to set Xantip’s order aside.’ Zada turned
away.

‘I will fetch food for
you. Please settle yourselves. No one can enter this section of the
upper temple without a priest’s knowledge and consent.’

‘Are you a priest?’
Navan asked.

‘I am, as is my
husband. One of our daughters also. Excuse me.’

Pallin had already
discovered a small kitchen with a fire ready laid. While the others
tested beds and began sorting out their packs, Sket attended to
Leaf’s feet. He wrapped cloth gently round them after he’d dabbed
Lorak’s salve over the burst blisters. Leaf inspected the
result.

‘You are kind Sket. I
don’t think I can wear boots again though.’

‘Hey, this is the way
to the roof,’ Riff called from along a passageway.

Gan, Navan and Olam
went to check the roof and to find the means of escape Hariko had
spoken of. The roof was flat for perhaps six paces round a low dome
which clearly covered the round chamber they’d entered below. A
waist high parapet edged the roof and at first the four men could
see no way down. Then Navan noticed a stone box below the parapet.
He went to it and pushed the heavy lid to one side.

‘Here we are – a
ladder!’

The others peered into
the box and saw sturdy ropes stacked with metal rungs knotted in
them. They tugged the slab back into place and leaned over the
parapet. Anyone leaving this way would descend into the temple
garden at the rear of the building. They could see two doors set in
the high walls enclosing the garden but where they might lead they
couldn’t guess. The buildings immediately adjacent were lower than
the temple but in every direction walls and roofs met their gaze.
They walked round to the front of the temple and saw the street
outside was as thronged as it had been when they’d
arrived.

The first stars
glimmered overhead and a flash of light caught their attention,
directly ahead.

‘The sea,’ said
Gan.

‘How far do you think?’
Olam squinted against the sudden glare where the westering sun
reflected off the distant line of water.

‘A league, maybe,’ Riff
grunted. ‘I reckon we’d be lost in five heartbeats down there on
our own.’ He grinned at the other three men. ‘So if we have to make
a run for it, stars send us someone who knows their way through
that tangle!’

By the time they’d
climbed down the narrow stairs from the roof to the inner passages
the smell of food reminded them how long it was since they’d broken
their fast. Zada offered them fish or meat stew, cold meats, bowls
of salad greens and platters of cheese, butter and
pickles.

‘Taza attends evening
ritual,’ Zada explained. ‘I will show you where our quarters are,
should you need us. One priest is always present in the circle
chamber and tonight it is Taza’s turn.’

‘Do your children live
here?’ enquired Maressa.

‘No, all are married
now and live away. Three sons are ship men; they have their own
homes in the eastern sector, nearer the docks. Our daughter, who is
also a priest, lives two streets away. She is a talented
embroideress which fortunately brings her good coin with which to
keep her and her children. Her husband was killed three years ago –
he was an armsman, on patrol in the north.’

Zada’s voice faded.
‘Our other daughter died.’

In the silence that
followed she offered no further comment, merely gathering the used
dishes and stacking them on a large tray. Pallin insisted on
carrying it for her so she opened the door to let him through,
turning back as she did so.

‘I will show Pallin how
to reach our quarters. I wish you a good night.’

Next morning a tired
looking Taza arrived with an armful of books.

‘These are some of the
histories of our temple,’ he explained. ‘I thought they may
interest some of you. I will sleep until midday but my wife will
stay if you wish.’

Ren and Maressa were
already reaching for the books.

‘Taza, it is an
imposition I know, but might you lend me a tin penny?’ Gan
asked.

Taza, looking a trifle
bemused, dug in a pocket and gave Gan a handful of different
coloured metal coins.

‘No, no. I need one tin
penny to repay a boy.’

Taza stared at him then
poked a finger among the coins. ‘This is a tin penny. This a
copper, worth six tin pennies.’

Gan held up a hand to
stop the instruction. ‘I only need one tin penny thank
you.’

Taza shook his head in
bewilderment and pocketed the coins Gan returned and left,
presumably to his bed. Gan turned to Zada.

‘Could you guide us to
the gate through which we entered – we passed through Dolphin
Square I think?’