Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series (57 page)

When Farn rose into the
air, he spiralled higher and turned to look westwards. From this
height, near the horizon, they could see the black hole scarring
the grey landscape. Farn roared out a trumpeting cry and Tika
blinked away yet more tears as they paid their last respects to
Seela.

Chapter
Thirty-Two

Flying over an eerily
empty and twisted land, there was little conversation during the
morning. When they stopped at midday, near a stream, Tika wandered
restlessly. Gan called that tea was made and she joined the
others.

‘We go to Harbour
City,’ she said, accepting a bowl from Ren.

‘We go north,’ Rainbow
contradicted.

Absolute silence
brooded over the group. Tika smiled at Rainbow, her eyes chips of
green ice.

‘I said we travel to
Harbour City,’ she repeated quietly. She shrugged. ‘Where you
choose to go is your decision of course.’

Rainbow’s head tilted
to one side, his face impassive. ‘The gijan children follow you,’
he said. ‘Therefore I go where you go.’

Tika glanced over at
the gijan perched on Brin’s back. They sat perfectly still,
obsidian eyes fixed on her. She smiled at Rainbow again and got to
her feet. Subdued talk began behind her. She walked round Brin, his
huge body blocking her from the sight of the others. The gijan
swivelled on Brin’s back and slid down to stand facing
her.

Tika studied them: Leaf
was the same height as she was now and the male, Willow, was a
couple of fingers taller. Tika sighed and held her hands out to
Leaf. Leaf took them, her head tilting side to side in query. Tika
swung their linked hands then released them, moving closer to put
her palms against Leaf’s face. She stared straight into Leaf’s
eyes.

‘Your life is your
own,’ she said softly and kissed Leaf’s brow and lips.

She repeated her
actions with Piper and lastly with Willow and smiled at the three.
Their feathers rustled as they extended their wings, enclosing her
in a cloud of dusky pink, pale green and brilliant yellow. She
thought it was Leaf’s hand that rested on her pendant but it was
Piper who spoke.

‘You saved our lives.
You brought forth our wings and we gave you our lives.’

‘You have given our
lives back to us,’ added Willow. ‘You have not given them to an
Elder as you should.’

Before Tika could voice
her concern, Piper trilled a laugh.

‘If you relinquish our
lives, we are glad to have them for ourselves,’ Leaf whispered.
‘The Elders frighten us. We don’t know why.’

Now Tika was worried
and as she pushed herself a little free of the enfolding wings, she
saw Brin’s long beautiful face lowering to stare down with equal
concern in his prismed eyes.

‘We have found that no
one can enter our minds, not even them, if we block our thoughts,’
explained Willow. ‘We think it is a strength gijan learnt in the
City of the Domes.’

‘If you truly return
our lives to our own keeping, we would like to find somewhere to
grow, to know ourselves,’ Piper murmured.

Nolli. The name was in
Tika’s mind even as Brin sent the same name to her.

‘North,’ she said. ‘To
Gaharn and Lady Emla and Nolli, a Wise One. They will love you and
help you learn of yourselves.’

A fleeting memory of
Iska touched Tika and she knew she was right to tell these children
to go to the Golden Lady. The gijan wings closed round her again
and they whispered in their own tongue words she did not
understand. But she did understand the love that poured over her
from their minds. They loosened their hold, Piper leaning close
once more to touch the pendant Tika wore.

‘We gave you our lives.
Call us, and we will come if ever you have need.’

Tika caught each
triangular face in her hands and kissed the gijan one more time
before breaking away from them, her thoughts in turmoil. She knew
she’d be unable to hide her disturbed feelings from the others,
Rainbow in particular, so she summoned Farn and was in the air with
him before anyone had time to realise what she was
about.

There was consternation
from the Elder but Ren merely shrugged. ‘Tika grieves for
Seela.’

Jakri caught his eye
and nodded. ‘Grief takes its own time,’ he agreed. ‘And Mistress
Tika’s grief is mixed with guilt.’

Rainbow regarded the
Wendlan Mage. ‘Why would the Lady want to go to Harbour City?’ he
asked.

‘We have friends
there.’ Sket’s tone was flat. ‘People who were kind to us. The City
has taken terrible damage so Maressa tells us.’

‘Kind?’ Rainbow was
puzzled.

Sket snorted and
Maressa answered the Elder in his stead. ‘Kindness is important to
us,’ she explained. ‘Life to humans would be unbearable if no one
offered kindness.’

Farn landed again and
Tika came to claim another bowl of tea. Khosa left Gan for Tika’s
lap but made no comment. They were soon ready to travel on, Khosa
and Akomi changing places for some reason unclear to Tika or Ren.
Instead of continuing north north east, they angled south east,
seeing villages and towns crushed below them, some smouldering
still, others lifeless heaps of rubble.

They agreed to spend
the night some five leagues outside the perimeter of Harbour City:
they had all fallen silent at the endless stretch of devastation
which was all that remained of the closely packed and thriving
City. Maressa would mind speak Sheoma and ask where they should
land in the morning. Tika felt Akomi move in his carry sack against
her chest.

‘We’ll be stopping
soon,’ she soothed him.

‘I’m used to this now,’
he retorted. ‘In fact I quite like it. Do you know how old Khosa
is?’

Tika blinked. The
question took her by surprise. She stared along Farn’s neck while
she thought.

‘No,’ she replied at
last. ‘But she has children and grandchildren.’

The odd sound in her
mind was, she realised, Akomi chuckling.

‘She doesn’t,’ he said
with some glee. ‘And she is far older than I am.’

‘Did you hear that?’
she asked Farn.

‘Yes. And nothing would
surprise me at all about that Kephi.’

Gan and Brin chose a
field to settle in for the night, half of it raised a man length
above the other half in a great step of raw earth. Gan, Sket and
Navan went scavenging for food while the Dragons hunted for meat.
Ren had pointed out that the food supply was probably a major
problem within Harbour City. Remembering the kindness and
generosity of the priests of the temple of the Elder Races, they
had no wish to impose their appetites on people sorely pressed for
food.

Everyone settled for
sleep, Tika alone staying by the fire. She looked up at the sky but
the dust layer, although thinner, still obscured the stars. She
moved to her blankets against Farn’s chest and saw three pairs of
gijan eyes staring at her from Brin’s back.

‘May the stars guide
your paths and guard your hearts.’

The message pulsed from
her in a heartbeat and she settled to sleep. When they woke at
first light, the young gijan were gone and Rainbow’s anger was
terrifying to behold.

‘You must tell me where
you have sent them.’ He towered over Tika, his voice ringing almost
painfully in Tika’s ears.

Sket was beside her,
his sword half drawn from its scabbard. He glared up at Rainbow,
half again as tall as himself.

‘You will speak with
respect if you address my Lady,’ he snapped.

For a moment Gan
thought Rainbow would attack Sket and he eased the throwing knife
strapped to his forearm down to the palm of his hand, ready for
action. Tika seemed quite relaxed. Her brows quirked in amusement
at Rainbow’s temper.

‘Elder Rainbow,’ her
tone was brisk. ‘I gave the children back their lives, to live as
they choose. Where they are is their concern: I have no idea of
their plans.’

She was lying – Gan
knew it, but he prayed Rainbow was really as ignorant of reading
human expressions as he appeared to be. Rainbow clenched his
taloned hands but kept them at his sides.

‘If you did not want
their lives, they should have been given to me.’

Tika’s eyes blazed with
a fury to match the Elder’s.

‘No one owns another.’
Her words hissed low. ‘You, me, no one has the right to possess any
life other than their own. The children are free to go where they
wish and I pray the stars bless them and keep them
safe.’

The companions murmured
agreement behind her and Storm suddenly pushed between Tika and
Rainbow. His eyes flashed and his lips drew back in a snarl, his
fangs bared a handspan from the Elder’s face.

‘You offend this
Flight.’ Storm’s voice pealed in their minds. ‘You will leave
before we are forced to punish your offence.’

Rainbow regarded Storm
with contempt and started to raise a hand but Tika
intervened.

‘Get you gone for now
Elder Rainbow. It seems you have perhaps forgotten your manners in
your long sleep. You do not rule this world although, by your
actions now, it would appear you believe you do. Tell your Elder
brothers and sisters that your help against the Bound Ones would be
greatly welcomed despite your failure in the last battle. But your
help will not be at the cost of our own independence.’

Brin’s eyes whirred
rose and scarlet, threaded with gold. Tika realised he’d slammed a
shield between the Elder and the companions and she saw Rainbow
knew of it too. His smile was chilling. He turned without another
word and rose into the sky, flying north with powerful beats of his
wings. Gan gave a gusty sigh of relief and Farn twined his neck
with Storm’s, his eyes glowing with admiration at the sea Dragon’s
behaviour. Sket was glowering after the disappearing Elder,
muttering under his breath. Jakri arrived beside Tika with a huge
smile on his face.

‘Where have they gone
Mistress? They certainly didn’t belong with those
Elders.’

Tika grinned back at
him. ‘Just pray they can fly fast enough and undetected Jakri,’ she
told him.

The atmosphere was far
lighter as they ate cold meat for breakfast before moving into
Harbour City. They were to go to the Xantip palace Maressa had told
them after mind speaking Sheoma last night. They were quickly off
on the short flight, a rising stench filling them with dread. It
was while they were aloft that Sket, behind Tika, cleared his
throat.

‘What is it Sket?’ Tika
recognised Sket’s hint that something troubled him.

‘I guessed you were
telling those youngsters to go off. You sent them home didn’t you?’
He didn’t wait for an answer. ‘I gave that Leaf one of Seela’s
scales.’

Tika twisted to look up
into Sket’s face. ‘Why did you do that?’

‘Don’t know. Just felt
she should have it.’

Brin was circling to
land, giving no time for Tika to pursue the subject. Sheoma was
waiting for them with the Administrator Zerran, Grand Harbour
Master Chevra and many others unknown to the companions. They were
in a high walled garden, undamaged by earthquake or the fires which
had swept through parts of the City. Dersu, head of the College of
Mages who had not been present at the temple days ago, was
introduced.

Looking round the many
people gathered in the garden, Gan smiled at the sight of the
purple plumes of two Imperial Blossoms. Jakri went at once to the
group of Wendlan Mages who stood slightly apart from the Maleshans,
and was greeted with delight. The two Imperial Blossoms surveyed
the Dragons impassively although Gan’s sharp eyes saw the faint
shine of perspiration on their foreheads.

Maressa noticed,
firstly, the fragrance. Roses climbed the walls, spilled over
wooden frames and peeped shyly from dark green foliage. After the
smell of rotting bodies it was a most welcome relief. Then she saw
the priest Taza, standing well back behind the dignitaries and she
hurried to embrace him. Heads turned and Taza blushed that he might
be thought to be pushing himself forward among his
betters.

Maressa understood at
once and linking her arm firmly through his, turned her dazzling
smile upon their audience. She led him through the crowd around
Tika and Sket to greet Ren, before Sheoma pounced on
her.

‘I do hope some of them
will go away soon,’ Sheoma commented. ‘We have much to talk
of.’

Maressa’s eye was
caught by Administrator Zerran. He stood a little apart, watching
Tika closely. While Maressa stared, she saw a look of relief cross
his face and he advanced to speak to Tika. She remembered Tika
sitting in the temple garden with Zerran the evening before she
flew with Seela and Sket to confront Valesh. In the same moment, it
dawned on the air mage that Tika must have feared that, should she
survive, she might be infected by some of Valesh’s
malignancy.

She must have shared
that fear with only the Administrator Maressa now realised and he
had been studying Tika so carefully in case such an evil had come
to pass. Tika had still spoken only to Navan in detail of what
happened at Vorna’s estates, unknown as that conversation was to
Maressa. She wondered now whether they had been right to leave Tika
alone with her thoughts rather than encouraging her to speak freely
of what had happened.