Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series (33 page)

‘My name is Sefri.
Please accept the hospitality of Green Shade.’

‘We would prefer to
stay out here,’ Willow announced.

‘By all means. You have
only to call and someone will come to bring you to us or to fetch
food or drink for you.’

Sefri hesitated then
instead of leading her visitors towards the door through which
she’d appeared, she walked to where the flowers seemed even more
profuse. The vines climbed thick wooden poles set wide apart, but
tendrils draped the edge of the roof and hung down like a living
curtain. The husky voice rang out again and Tika realised it hadn’t
been Sefri who’d called to them before.

‘Sefri! They have
spoken with Singer! We thought him lost! Sefri, they come from the
darling boy!’

Sefri turned a look of
astonishment on Tika then hurried to hold back some of the
greenery. She looped the ends gently over a curved hook set in a
post and moved to repeat her action on the other side. Storm moaned
softly as the Ship was revealed.

They all saw at once
that this Ship was hurt far worse than Singer might be. Its colour
was dulled; dark grey mottled with almost black patches where
Singer had glowed a soft grey blue.

‘This little creature
told me she’s spoken with Singer.’ The voice was full of
delight.

Tika swallowed hard and
bowed again. ‘Star Singer spoke of you Star Flower and so did
Namolos.’

There was a gasp from
both the Ship and her Captain.

‘Namolos did not know
if you still survived,’ Tika continued. ‘And Kertiss believes you
are no more.’

The Ship hissed but
before she could say anything, Sefri laid her hands and her
forehead against Star Flower’s side.

‘Do not upset yourself
dearest. Stay calm and listen to what our visitors have to
tell.’

Sefri moved away again.
‘Sit with my precious Flower and I will have food prepared and
brought to you.’

She looked doubtfully
at the Dragons and Brin assured her that they would find their own
food.

‘Are there any farms
close by – my Kindred would not take food from farms,’ Tika added
hastily.

Sefri gave her first
smile. ‘No one lives within leagues of Green Shade. I have a few
goats and hens but there are wild cattle on the hills
beyond.’

Sefri looked back at
her ship: the Dragons and Maressa had settled themselves in a
semicircle and the almost hoarse voice of Star Flower was asking
questions. The gijan were investigating the garden, calling to each
other from different trees.

‘Come.’ Sefri slipped
her arm through Tika’s. ‘Let me show you the house while I ask for
food and rooms to be readied for you.’

Green silvered eyes
regarded Sefri steadily. ‘Sket goes everywhere with me if Farn
doesn’t,’ she said.

Sefri nodded. ‘I think
Farn is special to you, as Star Flower is to me.’

‘As Mazan was to
Singer,’ Sket added.

Sefri’s eyes widened.
‘You have truly met him!’ She drew Tika from the section of
building which sheltered her Ship.

Sket and Tika saw the
rooms opened one into the next, right through to a large kitchen.
An elderly woman sat in a rocking chair beside a large
stove.

‘We have guests Ammi –
three hungry people.’

The woman smiled. ‘I’ll
have something to fill them shortly Captain.’ She hauled herself
out of the chair, giving Sket a sharp look. ‘A bowl of tea might
not be unwelcome I’d guess.’

Seeing Sket’s
expression Sefri laughed. ‘Let’s sit out of Ammi’s way for a while
then.’

From where Tika sat she
could see through the length of the house to the bulk of the Ship
and the Dragons reclining close by. Sket sat down beside
her.

‘What do you think
Lady?’ he whispered.

Tika raised a brow. ‘I
don’t know yet.’

She smiled as Sefri
joined them, three bowls in one hand and a large steaming jug in
the other. Sefri poured the tea for them, glancing at
Tika.

‘I think you understand
why my house is built so?’

Tika met Sefri’s grey
eyes: grey she noted, but a warm grey, quite unlike the pale grey
of Kertiss and his sister.

‘Star Flower is fearful
if you are out of sight?’

When Sefri nodded Tika
relaxed a little more. ‘Farn is my soul bond. He suffered a great
hurt.’

‘That scar running down
his neck?’ Sefri interrupted.

‘Yes. He was barely
hatched – less than half a year old. It frightened him badly and
his mind was – fragile – for a time. We,’ she indicated Sket, ‘give
him herbs if he gets upset or agitated.’

‘We did,’ Sket
corrected. ‘But Gremara helped him somehow and we’ve not needed the
herbs since then.’

Both Sket and Tika
stared when Sefri’s tea bowl was set down by an unsteady
hand.

‘Gremara?’ she
asked.

‘Gremara was the silver
Dragon of Talvo Circle in Vagrantia,’ Tika began.

‘No,’ Sefri whispered.
‘Gremara was Namolos’s daughter.’

Now it was Tika and
Sket’s turn to stare in surprise. Sefri picked up her bowl, cupping
it in both hands.

‘We have much we must
talk of my dears. You must understand at once though that Star
Flower can be of little or no help to you and I cannot leave her
anymore. I used to be able to travel away but I can no longer risk
that. We have shut down as many functions as possible, diverting
all energy to her brain.’ Sefri’s lips trembled and her eyes were
luminous with tears.

‘If you know of Singer
and his Captain, Mazan, you will know of the link between Flower
and me. What you call soul bond with Farn is much the same I would
guess already.’ Sefri’s voice was the lowest breath. ‘Flower is
dying. I cannot leave her – not now, not for any
reason.’

They called Maressa and
the gijan and sat in the kitchen, lamp lit now that night had
fallen, and Ammi served them a most welcome supper. For once, Tika
accepted the offer of a bed, knowing Farn was directly below her
window, still talking to the poor hurt Ship with the other Dragons.
Piper slept on Storm’s back, Willow and Leaf on Seela and Khosa was
curled by Brin’s chest. Tika hugged Farn goodnight, trying not to
imagine how Sefri must feel facing the loss of Star
Flower.

Maressa already slept
in the room they were to share. Sket took pillows and blankets,
laid his naked sword close to hand and settled across the outer
threshold. He sniffed. Tika sniffed.

‘Sket?’

‘Yes Lady?’

‘It’s come back – that
smell.’

‘Mint,’ said Sket in
annoyance.

Chapter
Nineteen

Tika woke to find Khosa
sprawled on her chest. The Kephi’s whiskers bristled forward as she
matched Tika’s yawn.

‘The female, Ammi, uses
mind speech,’ Khosa told her. ‘There are two or three families
close by who work for Sefri. Or rather, they choose to live near
her and the Ship.’

Turquoise eyes stared
unblinking into Tika’s. ‘They were here when the Ship crashed – at
least, their ancestors were.’

‘What a busy creature
you are.’ Tika scratched behind Khosa’s ears causing the Kephi to
croon with delight.

‘They use power
differently again from those in Malesh – more like we do. Ammi says
the Captain was strong once she’d recovered from the crash; her son
less so. But since Star Flower began to decline, so too has Sefri’s
use of power.’

‘What of Sefri’s son?’
Maressa asked from the bed across the room.

‘He took one of Ammi’s
many times great grandmothers to wife. When she had birthed some
children he went with some of the men to explore Wendla. None of
them returned.’

‘Killed?’ Tika
asked.

‘Ammi says it is
believed the party was lost in an accident of some
kind.’

Khosa slid down from
Tika’s bed and gave her whiskers a brisk wash. ‘Sket’s gone for
some tea.’ She sniffed. ‘I don’t know how you can drink so much of
the stuff.’

By the time Maressa and
Tika joined Sket, the sun was well risen. Tika went on outside to
greet the Dragons and the gijan. She knew at once that Seela was
disturbed; also that the purple Dragon was not ready to discuss her
concern with anyone. Brin and Storm had just left to seek the
cattle Sefri had spoken of last night. Tika draped an arm round
Farn’s neck and wandered along the edge of the garden. She knew
Sefri was inside the Ship but only silence came from that
direction.

She paused, seeing the
gijan swooping towards her, and lifted her egg pendant outside her
shirt. Tika frowned: it was very warm against her skin – not quite
hot but too warm for comfort. Then she was smothered with feathers
as the gijan enfolded her in their wings. Willow and Piper darted
away, their green and yellow under feathers flashing when they
dipped among the trees. Leaf held her hand, strolling on beside
Farn.

‘Can’t you help
her?’

Tika stopped in her
tracks, looking down into Leaf’s dark eyes. The gijan’s head
tilted, one side then the other.

‘I had wondered that
too, my Tika.’ Farn sat back on his haunches, one wing half curved
round both her and Leaf. His faceted eyes whirred pearl and
sapphire as he regarded her solemnly.

Tika drew a deep
breath. ‘You don’t know what you suggest. I have helped both of you
but don’t you realise Star Flower is not Dragon or gijan – or even
human as far as I know? I wouldn’t begin to know what to
do.’

Leaf cuddled close to
her. ‘You would know, once you began. And Flower is very near her
end. Sefri will not survive alone.’

Again Tika imagined far
too clearly how she would feel should Farn die. Stars forbid – she
would not recover, she knew.

‘Maressa cannot help
me,’ she tried to argue, already aware she was weakening. ‘Ren
knows more of healing than she does.’

Leaf’s tiny three
fingered hands reached towards Tika’s pendant but did not touch
it.

‘We will all help you.
This Ship and Sefri are needed.’

Tika looked sharply at
Leaf but gained no insight into what the gijan might
mean.

‘You would help Mim, or
Ashta, wouldn’t you?’ Farn whispered in her mind.

She glared at him.
‘Well of course I would, but Star Flower – what am I to try to
mend? I can do nothing for the outer shell, and I don’t even know
where her brain is or if I could reach it.’

Leaf hopped on one high
arched foot. ‘You could talk to Sefri and then you’d know better
what to do.’

Tika tried to glare at
the gijan too but succumbed to the dark eyes and sudden smile. The
three turned back towards the house, Tika thinking
furiously.

‘Grek’s gone to find
that troublesome spy.’ Leaf swung their linked hands.

Even as Tika remembered
Grek admitting to being within the child Mena’s body and mind, Leaf
tightened her hand.

‘Grek didn’t hurt her,’
she said. ‘He is trustworthy.’

Tika didn’t reply. Why
were the gijan still so secretive? They seemed to know many things
which could well prove useful for Tika and her companions to know,
but they gave only occasional hints. They slowed, nearing the
reclining Seela.

‘I will speak with both
Sefri and Star Flower and then the three of us will decide if
anything can be done.’

She hugged Farn briefly
and stepped close to Seela, leaning against her great
neck.

‘Will you give your
strength again if I ask, dear friend?’

Seela’s long face
lowered to stare at Tika. ‘You have no need to ask such a question
small one.’

Brin returned with
Storm and after a brief argument, Storm took Farn off to show him
where the cattle were to be found.

Maressa and Sket spent
the morning in the kitchen with Ammi. The woman showed them a
cupboard, well stocked with countless herbs, potions and roots. She
freely offered replacements for Sket’s much diminished supplies and
explained the uses of many herbs, unfamiliar to both him and
Maressa. Near midday, she brewed yet another pot of tea.

‘Will the Halfling need
food before she works?’ she asked.

Sket stared at the
woman.

‘Halfling?’ asked
Maressa.

Ammi smiled. ‘It is
long indeed since Halflings were seen by humans but it was foretold
that they would emerge from their hidden strongholds when the Time
of Change began.’ She shrugged. ‘Everyone knows they look much like
humans but for their eyes.’

Sket thought back over
the woman’s words. ‘What did you mean – before she
works?’

Ammi looked surprised.
‘She is here to heal Star Flower isn’t she?’

Maressa and Sket were
on their feet before Ammi had finished speaking, rushing to the far
end of the building. Tika had stepped up into the Ship without
allowing her apprehension to get the better of her.