Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series (8 page)

‘I could – persuade –
Kirat to guide you,’ Grek offered carefully.

The company avoided
each other’s eyes, none liking to contemplate quite how Grek might
achieve such a thing.

‘Thank you Grek. We
will consider your idea.’ Tika stroked her hand along the great
scar winding down Farn’s neck. ‘Perhaps you should locate Kirat –
he may have left the City by now?’

‘I will seek him at
once,’ Grek agreed.

In the silence
following Grek’s presumed departure, the company gazed across the
open space to where the Domes rose. They sat comfortably abutting
each other and looked as though they had done so for ever. Tika
leaned against Navan, her head tilted back to squint up at the very
top of the Domes, dazzling still against the brightness of mid
afternoon.

‘I had no bad feelings
in any of those Domes,’ she murmured aloud. ‘I felt a great sadness
and an endless waiting – no, patience – in Singer’s Dome.’ She
shivered and walked back into the sitting room. ‘I’ve been trying
to work out how Singer could have got inside one. The Domes have
been here since long before he came, of that I am sure.’

‘Perhaps they put
wheels beneath him and pulled him in do you think?’ Navan wandered
round the room as he thought. ‘Olam said that while we were in
Kertiss’s rooms last night, Singer showed them his wings. They slid
out from his sides Olam said, quite large and curved. Then they
disappeared again and none of them could find a crack or mark to
show where they had been. Maybe he has wheels himself which he can
hide, like his wings?’

‘Olam returns,’ Seela
mind spoke them.

The three men wore
broad grins when they arrived. ‘Lots of koninas,’ Pallin announced.
‘Only a few paces from the entrance. Stables full of gear and feed
grain. No one watching the gates.’

‘Easy to tell which
ones are ours: the others are all so pale coloured,’ Riff
added.

‘And do you remember
the route in, through all those different circles, each with their
own gateways?’ Gan asked pointedly. ‘It isn’t going to be easy,
getting out of here if Kertiss orders the Qwah to make sure we stay
put.’

Olam’s grin faded
rather. He sighed. ‘I feel a bit better knowing where the koninas
are anyway,’ he said. He brightened. ‘Surely the Qwah wouldn’t
argue with us if the Dragons flew close above us?’

Tika grunted. ‘Did you
notice how totally unafraid the Qwah have been when they meet the
Dragons?’ she asked. ‘And I most definitely would never ask the
Dragons to attack or hurt anyone who has made no move against
me.’

Farn’s head poked into
the open window. ‘One of those Keepers approaches,’ he
warned.

Moments later, a Keeper
bowed in greeting. This one was a younger male than
yesterday’s.

‘Kertiss will see you
now,’ he said politely and stood aside, obviously waiting for them
to leap to their feet.

Tika stretched slowly.
‘We can spare him a short time Keeper, but only a short time. We
must resume our journey.’

She watched as the
Keeper’s eyes unfocused: obviously he communicated with someone.
And make what you like of that Kertiss dear, Tika thought as she
strolled after the Keeper.

Chapter
Five

They strolled slowly
across the centre of the Dome and stood idly waiting. After a time,
the floor hissed open to one side and Kertiss walked into view. His
face was creased into what they knew was his normal expression: a
frown verging on a scowl.

‘You have been shown
how to access entry,’ he said, halting at the top of the
ramp.

Tika raised an eyebrow
at his tone then smiled. ‘I was made faint last night by the
closeness below. I do not like being in enclosed places. We will
stay here a while if you wish to speak with us.’

The Dragons had already
reclined and now Tika sat cross legged against Farn’s chest. ‘We
have appreciated your hospitality Kertiss, but we leave
tomorrow.’

‘Nonsense.’ Kertiss
took two strides forward. ‘You will stay here until I permit you to
leave.’

‘Really? We are
summoned by Namolos and so we go to him without delay.’ She was
watching Kertiss closely. She was aware that the men except for Ren
were tense, ready to act on any aggressive move from
Kertiss.

His dark face grew
waxen and he almost flinched back when Tika spoke Namolos’s
name.

‘Where did you hear of
him?’ He forced a laugh. ‘He is a senile old fool, his Ship lost in
the seas and his wife long vanished. You will stay here. There is
much I need to learn of you.’

Tika got back to her
feet, Farn surging up behind her. ‘Much you need to learn Kertiss?
Which part of me did you intend to use for your study?’ Her voice
rang in the great Dome, cold as cracking ice.

Kertiss stared. ‘What
did that Ship tell you?’ he snapped. ‘It is damaged I told you. Its
mind is as warped as that of Namolos.’

‘The Ship told me
nothing Kertiss,’ Tika lied calmly. ‘But Namolos asked that I go to
him. And so we go.’

She turned away, her
heart aching that she could not communicate with Singer, could not
explain the reason for their sudden disappearance.

‘I will not pretend it
has been a pleasure to meet you Kertiss, but I will admit it has
been – interesting.’

She gave the slightest
bow, hand on her sword hilt. As she moved to walk back across the
Dome, she glanced at the great female statue and nearly faltered.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears but she kept moving, seeing in
her mind’s eye the fan of feathered wings outstretched, the thin
face lifting its chin.

‘And how do you propose
to leave?’ Kertiss scoffed. ‘You will die within days if not hours,
alone in the full heat of the desert.’

Tika turned back.
‘Surely you will send a Qwah to guide us? I think Namolos would be
-.’ She paused, choosing her words with some care. ‘Namolos would
be – concerned – should he hear that you hindered our journey to
him or, stars forfend, let us die, unguided, in the
desert.’

She studied Kertiss’s
face feeling a faint shock. He looked like a spoiled child denied
his treat. She thought of Hargon’s younger son Bartos and felt a
shudder of revulsion. ‘We will leave before dawn.’

This time she kept
walking, her friends around her, the Dragons behind, ignoring
Kertiss’s incoherent words. Only Gan looked back when they reached
the ramp beneath the arched entrance. He blinked. Storm was walking
backwards, keeping his snarling face towards Kertiss, and his tail
lashed from side to side. Far beyond Storm and behind Kertiss’s
impotent figure the female statue seemed to shimmer. Gan blinked
again and turned back to the ramp. The Keeper was not waiting
outside and they weren’t sure if that boded well or ill, but when
they reached their rooms they found Kirat squatting by the
door.

He rose as they
approached and bowed. ‘You leave tomorrow,’ he said. ‘My brothers
and I will guide you again.’

Unsure whether Kirat
was here by Kertiss’s order or by Grek’s “persuasion”, Tika managed
only a weak smile.

‘How many horses will
you need Lady? And at what hour shall I have them
ready?’

‘The animals we came
on,’ Gan began but Kirat shook his head.

‘They were weak before
we came across the desert from the great sea,’ he said firmly. ‘We
will supply horses and nurse your animals back to full health
here.’

Pallin’s eyes gleamed
at the prospect of getting his hands on one of the desert horses he
admired so much despite Olam’s glare.

‘Then we will need at
least six horses plus three pack animals,’ Gan told the
Qwah.

Kirat bowed again. ‘I
shall be here for you well before dawn Lord.’

They watched the desert
man vanish into the gathering twilight under the colonnade and went
inside their rooms. The three gijan stood in a row by the kitchen
door, three packs by their cloth shoed feet, dark eyes fixed on
Tika. Khosa stalked across to sit in front of them.

‘They will come with us
to Namolos,’ she announced.

‘One perhaps, but all
three?’ Gan protested.

Khosa gave him her most
imperious stare. ‘They are litter mates. They stay
together.’

The gijan moved their
packs against the wall and gestured towards the kitchen.

‘It only seems a moment
ago that we ate,’ Maressa groaned. ‘But perhaps we’d better eat
what we can before we go into that awful desert again.’

They tried to sleep
before full dark had fallen but only Pallin and Riff slept with
their usual soundness. Most of the others only dozed, their minds
preoccupied with the events of the last two days and with the
prospects to come. Tika gave up trying to sleep when she heard
movement outside. She peered into the colonnade and saw two Qwah
leaving the bodies of goats near the Dragons.

‘Kirat?’ she
asked.

One of the men moved
closer to the door. ‘Lady. I will bring the horses for you to load
your packs in a short while if that suits?’

‘Yes of course. I’ll
rouse everyone.’ She hesitated. ‘Three gijan will be coming with
us. Is there a problem with that?’

The light from the one
lamp still burning in the sitting room shone onto Kirat’s face,
which Tika watched closely. His eyebrows lifted slightly and he
spread his hands palm up.

‘As you wish Lady.
Gijan are rarely seen outside City dwellings, but if you say gijan
travel with you, then so be it.’

When Kirat returned,
his brothers were leading horses, their pale hides gleaming in the
dark. Kirat carried a large bundle of white cloth which he dropped
onto a chair. He lifted one piece of cloth and the companions saw
it was in fact a hooded cloak. He handed one to Maressa who stood
nearest, and picked up another.

‘The light colour keeps
away some of the heat,’ he explained distributing cloaks to all the
party.

Kirat even had three
tiny cloaks for the gijan, really meant for Qwah children Tika
guessed.

‘The first day will not
be too bad,’ Kirat told them. ‘But the three following will be
worse than any you experienced on our journey from the great sea.
Then we will travel mostly at night and rest longer during the
days.’

‘How many days through
the desert?’ Olam asked.

Kirat shrugged. ‘This
route has been travelled in ten days, but it can take twice that
time if we meet dust storms.’

Sket elected to ride
one of the desert horses to start with rather than travel with Gan
on Seela’s back. Maressa would go with Brin and Tika as usual with
Farn. The Dragons would fly high, marking the course of Kirat’s
group. The pack horses were loaded, the riders mounted, when Storm
crouched low. The three gijan pattered to his side and scrambled
onto the sea Dragon’s back. Ren gave Tika a bemused grin and shook
his head. Khosa, in her carry sack round Tika’s neck, settled
herself more comfortably as Farn lifted into the air.

Once above the Domes a
strong breeze buffeted their faces and Tika allowed herself to
relax a little. She stared down at the central Dome and wondered if
she would ever see Star Singer again.

‘I went back to speak
with him once more.’ Grek spoke in her mind. ‘He asked me to tell
you that he believes you will meet in the future and he sends you
all his love and his music. He holds his mind tightly against Orla
and Kertiss, although neither of them have much natural gift for
mind speech.’ Grek was silent before adding: ‘Their machines can
affect minds, as you learnt, did you not?’

Tears tracked down
Tika’s cheeks and her hand clenched on Farn’s shoulder. ‘The great
eyes in Orla’s room. She said they do dreadful things to animals in
there. She told of pipes being put into brains and of wings damaged
on purpose, things grown in those gen tanks – half one creature,
half another. I would never have believed I would find people worse
than Rhaki and yet those two are.’

Seela led them slowly
eastwards, watching those on horseback below working their way
through the still sleeping City. Tika suddenly remembered the gijan
and twisted round to find Storm a length behind. The three gijan
sat straight on his back. All Tika could see beneath the enveloping
white cloaks was the first gijan’s dark eyes shining with reflected
star light.

‘Grek?’ she asked
tentatively.

‘I am here.’

‘What of these
gijan?’

‘I cannot tell you much
more than Khosa has. They come from the salt marsh regions both
south and east of this great desert.’

‘Do you know why Storm
offered to carry them?’

‘There is an
affinity.’

‘Grek?’ But this time,
Grek did not reply.

At last Kirat led the
horses through the City’s final gate. They picked up their pace,
cantering along beside the many fields which lapped against the
City’s outermost buildings. They reached the place where a trail
led off to their right, twisting and turning as it climbed to the
high peaks. Dawn was still some time away when Kirat slowed the
riders to a more cautious speed.