Farn awoke to a soft humming sound. He opened his eyes and discovered a small fur-covered beast with sharp pointed ears, crouched inches from his nose. Its eyes were tight shut and its body shook with the buzzing noise it seemed to be producing. Farn stared at this orange coloured creature in fascination. What was it, he wondered? He had never seen its like.
‘I am of the Kephi,’ a voice murmured in his mind.
Farn’s prismed eyes glowed with interest. ‘Do you live here Kephi? Why have I not seen you these two days?’
The eyes of the Kephi opened slowly, revealing eyes as blue as Farn’s own. ‘Kephi is the name of my tribe, my own name is Khosa, Farn of the Dragon Kin. I am Queen of the Kephi on the Lady’s estate. We watched your arrival and thought it prudent to see what habits you might have before introducing ourselves.’ Khosa’s mouth opened, long whiskers bristling forward as she yawned. ‘You seem harmless, so I came to greet you.’
Now she moved, her hindquarters sticking up high, a long tail rising above and her front half stretching low towards Farn. Ashta had woken and was gazing at this small thing with considerable interest. Farn said politely, ‘Perhaps we will see you again later Khosa. Ashta and I go to hunt our breakfast now.’
‘I wondered,’ Khosa sat neatly upright before the Dragons, her tail wrapped over her front feet. ‘We Kephi are great hunters. We eat only meat, like you. I thought I might join your hunt.’
‘But do you fly?’ Farn asked. ‘We travel beyond the Lady’s grounds.’
‘I know.’ Khosa fixed an unblinking stare on Farn’s whirring eyes. ‘You could carry me.’
After some thought Ashta said, a little doubtfully, ‘You could ride on us I suppose, but you are so small, could you stay safely on our backs? We could carry you in our mouths perhaps, or our hands?’
The superior stare transferred to Ashta. ‘I think not in your mouth, nor in your hands. I can hold on, like thus.’ Khosa’s front paw lifted and needle-like claws appeared from the dainty pad.
‘Hmm. I think Farn is best suited to carry you,’ said Ashta hastily.
Before Farn could think of anything to say, Khosa sprang lightly up between his wings. Ashta was already rising upwards. Farn also rose, slowly and very carefully, hoping fervently that the claws Khosa had displayed were not as dreadfully sharp as they had looked.
Mim and Tika found themselves breakfasting alone. They had expected to spend the morning with the Golden Lady, but Shan informed them she would see them later in the day. ‘She has a great deal of business to attend to you know. There are often visitors from Gaharn asking her advice on all manner of things. And her other work too.’ Shan helped herself to a handful of berries as she spoke. ‘Well, to speak truly, I do not understand what she calls her “work”, but it keeps her very busy, often till late at night. She is a lovely lady to work for though. I consider myself most fortunate that she chose me for her maid. And don’t you think she is the most beautiful of ladies?’ Shan never seemed to expect an answer when she was in full spate. ‘I expect she will send me to fetch you when she is free of duties later, so don’t you go hiding anywhere, like yesterday. I must go and ready my Lady’s heavier robes – it was quite chilly this morning didn’t you think? Oh,’ she popped her head back round the door. ‘She said you should go to Lord Gan when you have eaten. It almost went out of my head!’ And she was gone, her laughter floating behind her.
Mim and Tika looked at each other. ‘Why must we go to him?’ Mim asked. ‘Do you think he will punish us for yesterday’s mishap?’
‘Well I will not let him punish you,’ said Tika. ‘It was Farn who knocked that thing off the roof – Ashta had nothing to do with it.’
Reluctantly, they left the House and were halfway to the stable yard when Gan came out of a side door in front of them. ‘There you are,’ he said briskly. ‘We will start teaching you some of the fighters’ craft. You both have been given weapons, now you must learn to use them. Where are the Dragons?’
After a pause, Tika replied. ‘They were hunting, but they are talking to – I’m not sure who, or what. They say they will be occupied for a while, unless we have need of them. I have told them we do not.’ She felt it was still a trifle soon to bring Farn into Gan’s vicinity.
‘Right. Come in here then.’ He led the way back through the door he’d emerged from and they found themselves in a large barn like building. Strange figures swung on poles in one corner and racks of assorted weaponry lined one whole wall. ‘We will not need your real weapons, you will begin with these wooden ones. Less chance of serious injury.’ Gan strode to the rack and chose two swords as Tika pondered on his use of the word “serious” in conjunction with “injury”.
Gan handed one sword to Tika. It was weighted similarly to the real sword she now owned, but the blade was merely a blunt ended pole with no edges to it. She looked up from the weapon to see Mim, his eyes huge in his pale face, and both hands firmly behind his back. Gan was holding the practice sword towards Mim, expecting him to take it as had Tika.
Finally, Mim said, ‘This one’s people do not use these things. We harm no one.’
Gan continued to stare at Mim, his face impassive. Then he said quietly, ‘And where did that get your village, Mim?’
Tika gasped, and Mim’s face paled even further.
Mim turned from Gan to look earnestly at Tika. ‘You understand, advise this person if you will, to help him know the rightness.’
Tika was dismayed. How could she help Mim make a decision like this? Thinking hard as she spoke, she said slowly: ‘My ways are different Mim. You have been scolded, but I have been beaten. You lived in peace, in a loving family. I was a slave pet. I will fight any who ever try to harm me again. Thus I will learn from this Gan as best I can.
‘We have some sort of task ahead of us. Farn and I both believe there will be difficulties and dangers. We have already agreed we will accept any task the Lady Emla sets us. You must choose your own path Mim, the one that is meant for you. It is not a matter of rightness or wrongness.’
For a few moments it was as if the three of them were in an isolated bubble. Absolute quiet, where before they had heard voices from the stables and screams from bad tempered fengars. Tika felt a strangeness in her mind and realised it was Gan. He was about to try to force Mim’s decision. Tika hurled a mental barrier against him without even thinking what she was doing.
Gan rocked back on his heels and turned his eyes to her. Surprise grew in his expression as he discovered he was confined. Somehow, Tika had encircled his mind, there was no tiny space through which he could even summon another Senior to his aid. ‘Do not touch Mim,’ Tika said coldly in Gan’s head, as she continued to look steadily at Mim.
A pale green head appeared round the door, followed by the rest of Ashta’s already large body. Mim went straight to her, his arms going round her neck. Gan felt a tingle, and realised Tika had undone whatever it was she had done to his mind. He opened his mouth but this small female forestalled him. ‘Why do you not tell me what these things are that swing in the air?’ And he found himself walking across the barn with her.
Gan explained that anyone should, (he slanted his gaze at her as he emphasised “should”), be able to hit a stationary target. Hitting a target which moved unpredictably was considerably more difficult. He was demonstrating the correct grip she should have on the sword hilt when Mim said, ‘This one will learn to use the short knife he has been given, but he will not use a sword.’
Gan turned. Mim had crossed the barn and was close by Tika and Gan. Ashta had sat down by the doorway, her eyes flickering as she watched them. Gan nodded. ‘I am glad Mim. If you are going into places unknown, I would prefer you to go knowing some tricks to defend yourself at least. Would you consider learning to use a staff?’ He lifted a pole, slightly longer than Mim’s height, and grasped it, a hand at each end. He made a few moves, indicating how a sword blow could be deflected with this simple pole.
‘Yes,’ Mim agreed. ‘This person would le
arn the staff.’
Gan opened a smaller side door and yelled beyond, ‘Sket! Motass!’ Two human males hurried into the barn immediately. ‘I want you to show us, very slowly, a few moves of defence with the staff. You Sket, use a sword, Motass, take the staff.’
Tika and Mim watched, as the two men seemed to dance gently round each other. It looked simple enough. As though Gan had read their thoughts, which Tika knew he had not, he ordered: ‘Normal practise speed!’ The gentle dance turned into a blur of spinning men and weapons. Mim and Tika had a strong suspicion this was going to be far from simple.
Emla was with the Seniors in her study, a room at the highest point of the House. They had agreed that the alterations in Mim’s body had implications, which they were unable, at this moment, to fathom. The news that Tika shared their blood had more obvious overtones. The Lord of Return, as Tika had explained, had captured her mother, in a raid. All Tika knew further was that she had come “from the north”, that she had been “damaged”, and that Tika resembled her physically. But all the humans that the Seniors had knowledge of in these lands conformed to the fair haired, blue or brown eyed type.
Kemti proposed, hesitantly, that Rhaki had bred with a human female and the resulting child had, amazingly, survived. ‘Because of the predominance of markers indicating Tika is one of our race, over the human markers,’ he said, ‘it would seem clear that Tika can not be first generation cross breed.’
‘Are we to assume then that Rhaki has done this deliberately, that he knows of this child? Could there be more of them?’ The Seniors were aghast at Emla’s cool suggestion.
‘I have the sense Rhaki does not know, or if he has a suspicion that he may have impregnated a human female successfully, he would be amused. Forgive me Emla, he is your brother, I know,’ Iska shook her head, ‘but he always pursued the Power so blindly. I saw him when he was but a student remember, and several of his teachers noted this tendency in him. He saw a goal and charged headlong, never pausing to consider the meanings of any particular stages on the way to that goal.’
‘You mean,’ queried Yash, ‘he may have used a human female for his amusement and ignored what any chance offspring might become should it survive?’
‘Yes.’ said Iska. ‘And I suspect Tika may have strength beyond ours. The She Dragon Krea said she saw abilities in Tika’s mind such as she had never seen, and that they would learn from each other. Alas, Krea went beyond too soon, and learnt no more.’
‘I found the humans I studied to have latent Powers, but they had convinced themselves completely that all or any uses of the Power were evil magics,’ said Emla. ‘It would be interesting to learn what event of such obvious magnitude frightened them from ever using the Power.’
‘Yes,’ said Kemti, ‘but not now Emla. Can we concentrate on this particular human in this particular time please?’
‘I think we will have to tell Tika some of our findings at least. Perhaps, with our help, she may find she has more knowledge than we on this whole matter, still buried within her.’
‘It is possible Iska,’ Yash nodded. ‘Will you explain to her Emla, or should we all be present? And what of Mim?’
‘I will speak with them both, after their midday meal. Mim I believe, is closer to her than anyone has ever been, except for Farn.’ Emla fell silent. ‘Should the Dragons be present also?’ she asked.
‘Yes.’ Yash and Iska nodded their agreement with Kemti. ‘All together will be best I feel. But I would ask that we three, and Gan, are allowed to be close by, and are able to hear all that passes. If there is anger from any, we should be at hand to assist you Lady.’
Emla looked surprised, the thought of any danger from her four guests clearly had not occurred to her. ‘Very well.’ Before she could say more, there was a knock at the door and Gan entered at her call. Kemti explained quickly what had been decided as the other Seniors began to leave.
‘But wait,’ Gan said urgently. ‘Tika is using the Power, whether she is aware of what she is doing fully or not.’ He related the events in the armoury and how he had been held completely helpless.
‘That confirms it,’ said Iska. ‘We must tell her all we know now. She must be given guidance on how to use her Power, but she must know how to control it also.’
Emla did not attend the midday meal. She remained in her study, a maid bringing her tea and fruit there. The Lady needed some time to prepare herself for this difficult meeting. Difficult inasmuch as she feared to hurt any of these four. They were so young! Her mind repeated those four words yet again. The human and the Nagum – of similar age – a scant fifteen Cold Seasons!
She tried to recall how she had been at that age, but it was far too long ago. The Dragons had not yet completed one full cycle of Seasons. By the stars, they would be in danger from their very youth and their lack of experience of this world. Emla stood by the window, breathing deeply, and forcing herself to a calmness she was very far from feeling.
Both sides of the great double doors of the entrance hall had been opened so that Farn and Ashta could come inside. They reclined at the foot of the broad staircase, allowing maids to come in and out without being in their way. The maids were round eyed with excitement at being so near to the beautiful creatures. Tika and Mim were standing by the fireplace as the Lady descended the stairs. Emla paused beside the Dragons, their heads all at the same level. She stroked their faces gently, then walked towards Tika and Mim.
Emla moved a stool so that she could sit facing the Dragons, and then suggested that Mim and Tika made themselves comfortable near her.
‘There are things to say, dear ones. And they are hard things. I will say them to you straightly, and then you may question me. I swear by the stars that I will answer all I can as truly as I know.’
Tika and Mim waited, tension plain in both of them.
‘Tika, I would speak of you first. We know now that you are of our race more than you are human.’ Tika stared, her face white with shock. ‘I can tell you in more detail later if you wish, but for now I will say only that your mother, or maybe her mother, or maybe even further back, brought forth a child fathered by one of my race. Remember Krea spoke of abilities in your mind? We have also glimpsed such in your brief time here. We need to test you, ascertain your strengths and teach you how to live with them. I tell you truly child, we may not understand all your Powers, but unless you learn how to control them, you could do great harm both to others and to yourself.’
She raised her hand as Tika opened her mouth. ‘No dear one, wait until I have spoken to Mim.’ She turned her great green eyes to Mim’s odd, triangular face.
‘A Nagum you were born Mim, but you are no longer wholly Nagum. We believe Ashta’s mother, in healing your hurts when you arrived in her nesting cave, transmitted Dragon life into your body. Now, you are both Nagum and Dragon, dear one. I hope you will come to see this as not a lessening thing but as an enlarging one.’
Emla looked at the two young ones before her, then at the Dragons behind them. Ashta’s eyes were glowing softly and the Lady was aware that she was speaking privately to Mim’s mind. Farn’s eyes held excited sparkles. Emla knew he had not understood how deeply the information she had just imparted had hit Tika and Mim.
‘The Seniors whom you have met here, are the very best of the many brilliant minds we have in Gaharn. They are within call now and if you wish, they will join us and help me to answer your questions?’
Receiving no answer, Emla bespoke the Seniors to come to her anyway. Quietly, the four tall slender figures came down the stairs, Iska last. The three males ranged themselves behind Emla while Iska sat on the lower stairs, a hand resting lightly on each Dragon.
The silence lasted a long time but no one stirred. It was clear that Mim and Tika were speaking with the Dragons. It was Mim who spoke first, his fluting voice soft as he said, ‘This one finds your news beyond his understanding Lady. If this one is of the Dragon Kin, will he begin to look like a Dragon?’
&nbs
p; ‘Mim, this has never happened before,’ Yash replied. ‘Or if it has, we have no knowledge of it. I do not think your body will change, but I cannot say this for sure.’
The silence fell again, and again, it was Mim who broke it. ‘This one thinks it is perhaps best. His family is gone. Now he has true family again if he and Ashta share blood as well as the soul bond.’
At last, Tika seemed to rouse herself. She stood and walked to Gan. Her head reached scarcely to half his height. Standing beside him, she looked at the Golden Lady. ‘You say I am of your race – will I suddenly grow to be as tall as all of you?’
‘It seems unlikely,’ Kemti answered her. ‘I would surmise the female who first bore a child to a male of our race, came from a line of small humans.’
‘And this male, he bred with one female, then with the daughter he got on her? That is, if I understood the Lady rightly?’
The Seniors were taken aback at just how thoroughly Tika’s mind had grasped the full facts from Emla’s brief outline. ‘It would seem to be so, Tika,’ Kemti agreed. ‘We do not know if it was done knowingly or not, or if the male is aware of the existence of offspring. We believe not, but,’ he emphasised again, ‘we do not know.’
‘You keep saying “this male”. Are you sure there is only this one who has done this, to my mother’s mother, or maybe further back?’ Tika quoted Emla’s words back to her.
‘Tika, you must be aware how long-lived are the Dragons. Our race is to the Dragons, in longevity, what they are to humans.’
‘This one male,’ Tika continued doggedly. ‘You know who he is?’
Emla bowed her head for a moment then looked up directly at Tika. ‘We believe he is Rhaki. My brother. The Grey Guardian.’
The afternoon hours passed slowly, with silences broken by a question from Tika, a reply, then silence again. Farn had gradually realised Tika was not excited but enormously confused. He projected comfort, reassurance and love to her, as did Ashta and Mim, of which she was aware and deeply grateful.
At last, Iska slipped forward onto her knees beside Tika and held her shoulders lightly. ‘Enough child,’ she murmured. ‘No more for now. Tomorrow you can ask more, but enough for today.’ She glanced at Emla who nodded and said:
‘You will do better I think, to return to the pavilion now, just the four of you. I will have food brought to you later, and if you have need of us, you only have to call with your minds.’
Iska and Emla rose, both gently pulling Tika to her feet. She looked dazed, dark marks of exhaustion round her eyes. Gan watched as she turned to the doorway, admiration for her courage filling him suddenly. She stopped, half turned to look back at Emla and said, ‘If my sort-of father is your brother, then we are truly blood kin Lady?’
‘Indeed we are,’ the Lady smiled compassionately. ‘I am your “sort-of” aunt.’
Chapter Twelve
Soul Bonds: Book 1 Circles of Light series Page 11
