by Drew Wagar
The darkness again!
‘Oh no,’ she said. Her heart thumped in her chest. ‘Flares are coming.’
Even as she watched the blotches were changing shape, growing and writhing before her eyes.
She saw the senators from the stretch before had gathered at the entrance to their residence. Coran was already talking to them, with Meru alongside him. As she came closer she heard Coran talking to Janaid.
‘What must be done?’ Janaid said. His face was pale.
‘You must heed the warnings,’ Zoella said. Coran, Janaid and Meru turned to look at her. ‘You must get people under cover and secure as much stuff as you can.’
‘The whole city? That’s impossible …’
‘Zoella is right,’ Coran said. ‘She was caught in one of these flares on the mainland. Tell us.’
Zoella looked Janaid in the eye. ‘There is a blast of fierce heat which can set fires burning all over the place. Anything that can burn will burn. Then there is a blue light which stings the skin without heat. It gives you a painful rash if you are caught in it. I saw my land ablaze, thousands were killed because they were caught in the open.’
‘You mean, the whole island could be hit?’ Janaid asked.
Zoella nodded.
‘I saw it too,’ Meru said. Zoella noticed he stood away from her, not making eye contact. ‘She’s right, fire consumes anything in the open.’
Janaid now looked shocked. ‘How long do we have?’
Zoella looked up at Lacaille. The writhing darkness was growing on its face.
‘Chimes,’ she said. ‘A stretch if we’re fortunate.’
Janaid blinked.
‘You must act now!’ Coran said. ‘The citizens, ships in the harbour, stockpile water and food in safe places …’
Janaid nodded. ‘Yes, yes … will you help me? Such a crisis …’
‘Of course!’ Coran said. ‘Set us free and we’ll help, that’s why we’re here. It’s why we came back.’
Janaid looked at them. ‘Then you’re freed. I’ll clear the legalities with the senate later. We must save the city!’
CHAPTER SEVEN
Daine, Capital of Drayden
Round 2307, Third pass
Kiri had woken long before the first chimes of the stretch. She took her kai with her, the thick metal weapon reassuring in her grip, and made her way down to the dormitories beyond the temple. Already she had gathered together a small pack of clothes, food and water, intent on keeping her promise. Nerina would be expecting her after breakfast, she would have to hurry.
The dormitories were quiet as she suspected, but two guards were on duty. Both women looked up as she approached.
‘Priestess Kiri.’
She nodded in acknowledgement.
‘I have need of a servant this morning to assist me with errands,’ Kiri replied primly. ‘One of those Scallian captives will do.’
‘I will retrieve one for you, priestess.’ one guard said.
‘I will choose myself,’ Kiri replied. ‘My needs are specific.’
The guards exchanged a knowing look. Whilst Rihanna had an appetite for men, Kiri knew many of the other priestesses preferred the company of women. The docile and compliant behaviour of mindless young women who’d had their gifts torn away appealed to many of the priestesses. Kiri couldn’t help but repress a shudder.
The guards didn’t stop her though, seeing nothing untoward in her request. Kiri made her way within, stretching out her senses in an attempt to find the Scallian girl she had spared the previous stretch.
Gemma? Gemma!
It didn’t take long. The girl’s fear was palpable. Kiri could sense the despair and the homesickness and then the faint pang of surprise and hope that radiated out from somewhere nearby at her insistent call.
Kiri found the room and opened the door. The room inside was bare other than two simple wooden beds. Upon one Gemma was sitting upright, her thin face pale, her dark eyes wide. She was dressed in the same simple linen frock as before.
‘Quickly now,’ Kiri whispered. ‘Walk before me. Do not make eye contact, do not speak. Just plod along as if that is all you can do.’
Kiri could see the girl was trembling, but she got to her feet and did as she was told.
To the left …
They made their way back along the corridor and the exit where the guards remained standing.
Say nothing!
‘This one will do,’ Kiri announced. ‘I will be keeping her for some time. Drudgery and cleaning for the most part.’
‘The others are being sold at the fifth chime,’ the guard replied. ‘Auctioned off to the wealthy houses.’
‘The spoils of war,’ Kiri said, fixing a false grin on her face.
Condemned to a life of slavery for the rest of their rounds, without the will to resist. Is this truly Lacaille’s will? For certain the priestesses should rule, but should our rule not benefit everyone rather than just taking for our own needs and wants?
Kiri placed a hand on Gemma’s shoulder and marched her forwards. Once they were out of sight of the guards Kiri turned aside.
‘I’m taking you to the eyrie,’ Kiri said. ‘We will take a dach and I will fly you to the border of Scallia. There are clothes, food and drink in this pack. From there you must take your own chances. Reach Viresia if you can. Do you understand?’
Gemma nodded. Kiri could feel the sense of hope and astonishment from her.
‘You spoke true …’
Kiri nodded. ‘I keep my word.’
‘But why?’ Gemma whispered. ‘Why are you doing this?’
Kiri pondered that for a moment. It was a good question. What would Nerina do if she discovered all this? There was no time to debate it. She felt sure it was the right thing to do. She couldn’t save all of them, but she could save this one.
‘I can tell no one,’ Kiri said, with a smile. ‘One stretch I will return and you will know why. Remember my name. Kiri.’
Gemma’s face betrayed her puzzlement.
‘Come!’ Kiri said. ‘We must be quick.’
The eyrie was a large timber-framed building set away from the temple of the priestesses on the opposite edge of the plaza. Kiri led Gemma around the edge of the open spaces, moving between the buildings in order to reach it without being seen.
The entrance was an unassuming furler wood door, but as they entered Kiri heard Gemma’s gasp of surprise at the scale of the interior. She looked around her once again, remembering how she had first gazed upon it herself.
In form it was akin to a vast herg stable, with the floor covered in dried reeds from the river, which were replaced on a regular schedule. Rather than pens for hergs though, the building vaulted upwards with perches arranged in a spiralling circular fashion around a large open central space. Upon the perches sat the dachs.
Kiri felt Gemma’s terror at the sight of the big winged creatures.
They were imposing creatures. In the wild they would hunt hergs, their talons able to rend and grasp them, sweeping them into the air before the unfortunate prey would be ripped to shreds by the fierce jaws. Teeth there were aplenty and many an adversary had found their death in such a way.
Like King Ioric of Scallia … my uncle, killed by my own lost dach … Shanza.
Kiri hadn’t known. How could she?
Most of the dachs were dozing. Like all the creatures on Esurio, none of them slept in the way that people did, something Kiri had always wondered about. One spread its dark green leathery wings as it caught sight of them. Kiri gave a short whistle and it left its perch and dropped down to the ground before them, the reeds rustling around them as it landed. Gemma retreated, cowering behind Kiri as the great beast undulated its neck and brought its head close to sniff at them.
‘Don’t be afraid,’ Kiri said, reaching out to touch the dach’s head.
How I miss Shanza, but she gave her life to save me in the flares …
Kiri pulled Gemma around throwing some dach-leat
her riding gear at her.
‘Get changed, quickly.’
Gemma did as she was told. The dach lowered its neck and Kiri hoisted Gemma up.
‘Sit back at the neck joint saddle,’ she called before jumping up herself, seating herself behind Gemma. The girl leant back against her. Kiri recalled the last time she had sat like this.
With Meru before me …
The familiar sense of lust grew in her once more and she had to shove it aside.
Fly!
The dach swept its wings in the crucial first down stroke and leapt into the air. Gemma couldn’t repress a screech of horror as the dach surged upwards. Kiri felt the girl tense in front of her.
The building fell away around them, the dach making for the central opening far above. In moments they were through and out into the warm air. It was a cloudless sky, Lacaille a blazing arc of fire to the sunward.
The dach circled twice, gaining altitude all the while, before turning and heading into the shadeward.
Two figures stepped from the shadowed overhangs of the eyrie, moving into the light as the sound of the dach’s wings faded into the distance. The first was dressed all in black, her skin pale, almost wraith-like, her hair dominated by a silver streak all tied up in an intricate tiara. The second was taller and rather more plump, dressed in a dark maroon gown. Her hair was a bright auburn red, her face drawn into a frown.
‘So,’ Nerina said, looking upwards. ‘It seems you were right, Rihanna. Kiri has her own schemes and ploys.’
‘I’m sorry to bring you …’
‘Shhh,’ Nerina said. ‘It was right of you to tell me. It is better that I know. I’m only sorry that she’s done this to you.’
‘I thought we were friends now,’ Rihanna said. ‘But all this time …’
‘Kiri thinks only of herself,’ Nerina replied. ‘A lifetime of living in the gutters has shaped her mind thus. Don’t be hard on yourself. This is not the first time a hand of friendship has been extended, only for her to cast it aside.’
‘Where has she gone?’ Rihanna asked. ‘That was the Scallian girl you gave her to tear, why should she …?’
‘She is concealing things from you, from us,’ Nerina said, her voice catching. ‘From me.’
Rihanna looked at Nerina in surprise. ‘High priestess?’
Nerina looked away, holding an arm up. ‘I’m … I’m sorry. It’s just … I’ve tried so hard with that girl. After Charis died I took her in, tried to guide her and …’ She shook her head.
Rihanna scowled. ‘And this is how she repays you … repays all of us, with lies, concealments and falsehoods!’
‘I’ve given her so much, perhaps I indulged her too far,’ Nerina said. ‘It’s my fault she’s become so wayward.’
‘No!’ Rihanna cried. ‘Kiri’s always been selfish, thinking only of herself. She uses people to get her own way. It’s her fault, not yours.’
‘I took over as her mentor,’ Nerina said. ‘The responsibility lies with me.’
Rihanna shook her head. ‘You can’t blame yourself. Kiri keeps secrets, I know one of them. She swore me not to tell …’
‘And so you shouldn’t,’ Nerina said.
‘I must. It’s important that you hear it,’ Rihanna said. ‘I know why she is so keen to get to Amar, and what her claim about the Obelisk is all about. I should have told you, but Kiri made me swear …’
‘Amar?’ Nerina asked.
‘The boy we found at Viresia, the one with the flying machine,’ Rihanna said. ‘Kiri interrogated him, forced her way into his mind. But she was careless, she …’
‘Forged a birther’s bond with him,’ Nerina said, nodding. ‘I had my suspicions. That would explain much. She’s driven by her longing for him?’
‘It’s burning her up,’ Rihanna said. ‘She can’t control it. She’ll do anything to get her way.’
Nerina thought for a long moment.
‘Will you do something for me, Rihanna?’ Nerina asked. ‘Of all the priestesses I have you’re the only one I can trust with something this important.’
‘I will do your bidding, high priestess!’ Rihanna said. ‘Of course!’
Nerina looked upwards at the blue sky visible in the opening above.
‘Follow Kiri,’ Nerina said. ‘Find out what she is doing with this Scallian girl. Be stealthy, do not be seen. Kiri must not suspect.’
Rihanna nodded. She raised an arm and gave a mental order. A dach flew to her, landing before her and bowing its neck low. Rihanna ran her hand across its head, her eyes narrowing with intent before she vaulted aboard the winged beast.
‘Go now, report back when you can,’ Nerina instructed. The dach launched itself upwards. Nerina watched until it was lost from sight.
The sad and heartbroken expression on her face dissolved, replaced by a wry grin.
‘Too easy,’ she muttered to herself. ‘It seems you are the only one who is a challenge, Kiri. You alone who have been able to keep secrets from me.’ The grin faded into a frown. ‘But I will know what they are, young one, I will know.’
The mountains on the borders of Scallia were rising up around her. The air was chill at this altitude, laced with thin clouds. Kiri could see the edge of the shadeward forests that she knew ran almost to the city of Viresia. She had flown these skies many times now.
At a mental instruction the dach began to descend, performing lazy banks and turns to reduce its height. Kiri spied a clearing and the dach made for it, rearing up as it landed, clawed feet outstretched. Dust billowed around them.
Kiri jumped down and gestured for Gemma to do the same.
‘I’ve come as far as I dare. You must make your own way now.’
Gemma nodded, shedding the heavy riding gear. Kiri handed her a sack of provisions.
‘Be quick, it is only a few stretches march to Viresia from here,’ Kiri said. ‘Hide in the forests and don’t let yourself be seen in the open until you are close.’
‘Thank you,’ Gemma replied. ‘For everything.’
‘Just stay alive,’ Kiri said. ‘That is the only thanks I need. Beware the priestesses. Don’t use your gift if you can. It will only bring attention to you.’
‘But what of you?’ the woman asked.
‘Do not fear for me,’ Kiri replied.
Gemma hoisted the sack. ‘Why?’ she asked. ‘Why did you save me?’
Kiri licked her lips.
‘For Scallia.’
Gemma frowned.
‘There’s no time to explain,’ Kiri said, gesturing for her to go. ‘I am of Scallia myself. Quickly! We may have been followed, run and hide.’
‘Thank you then, Kiri of Scallia! I won’t forget this.’
Kiri watched as Gemma plunged into the shadewood. The shades were thick and dense here, but with Lacaille’s light behind her she’d be able to follow her own shadow in the right direction.
Kiri of Scallia! I have done what I can. Now I must return before I am missed.
She mounted her dach and with an imperious instruction the mighty beast took back to the sky.
Another dach descended through the mountains, gliding down from where it had been perched moments before. It landed in the same clearing that Kiri had just departed, folding its wings and bowing its neck to allow its rider to dismount.
Rihanna leapt down, grabbing her kai from the harness and looking around the clearing.
She had found a rocky ledge, not far away, from where she had been able to see what Kiri was doing. She saw her land and leave the Scallian girl behind before flying away once more.
She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment, seeking communication. The answer was swift.
You have news?
Nerina’s mental voice was unmistakeable. Rihanna responded.
Kiri dropped the Scallian girl just over the border and then left. She’s flying sunwards now, I assume she’s heading back to you.
You have not been seen?
No, I stayed far off until Kiri
departed.
The girl?
Ahead in the forest somewhere.
Find her. We must understand why Kiri would go to such lengths to rescue her.
What should I do after I find out?
There was a flicker of mirth across the connection.
The girl has a small gift. Take it, enjoy it as your reward for your service. Then kill her, there must be no witnesses.
I understand.
I will wait to hear from you.
Kiri turned her dach about until they were heading sunwards once more, the dach’s wings flapping as the beast strove to gain altitude over the mountains. Before her Lacaille’s massive orb dominated the sky, serene and …
She gasped.
A black stain … another sign!
It was creeping around the edge of the great sphere of light, a cankerous mass of writhing darkness. Kiri had seen it before and knew it for what it was.
Lacaille grows angry once more, we have not completed the task appointed. I must go to Taloon, and hence to Amar. Time is running out!
At her mental command the dach pushed harder, straining at the air, its lithe body undulating as all of its muscles joined in the task of flying as fast as it could.
It was then that something tingled on the edge of her mind. It felt as if one of the priestesses were trying to probe her thoughts. She looked around, but she and the dach were alone in the sky.
How can that be?
The feeling would not go away. It was as if she was being watched. It was edged with the familiar metallic sense of power that accompanied the gift. Kiri kept looking about her, expecting something, but not sure what it was.
Then a face came to her. She recognised it straight away.
Zoella!
Her image formed in Kiri’s mind. Her soft expression, brown eyes and wavy hair. Strange feelings coursed through her; worry, concern, upset and hurt. The feelings were strong, impossible to ignore.
Why? Why is she …?
Another face, another she recognised.
Meru!
Kiri’s feelings surged in response, unbidden. There was nothing she could do about them.
