The last daylight was fading rapidly. Khosa’s fur suddenly stood on end, making her seem twice her usual size. Tika caught Mim’s arm, pulling herself to her feet. ‘The Shardi are near,’ she said aloud. Khosa deflated herself and prudently retired, with Lorak, behind the Healers under the overhanging cliff.
‘Remember,’ said Gan quickly. ‘You two must remain out of range of the Shardi. You must not be trapped or, stars forfend, killed. You have a task to accomplish beyond here, no matter what happens. I need your word that you will not involve yourselves in this fighting.’
Ashta, Farn and Jeela were all beneath the cliff with Mim and Tika. Ashta and Jeela were both nervous while Farn, who had swiftly recovered as Tika was revived, showed definite signs of excitement. Gan glared at him. ‘Your word as well, Farn. You must remain here.’ Suddenly inspired, he added craftily: ‘You are needed to protect these four.’ Farn stretched his neck high, eyes flashing blue ice.
‘Of course. I will guard them marvellously well Gan.’
‘Hmm. See that you do.’ And Gan left them to join a still shaky Soran at the front of the Guards.
Shardisi screams began beyond the rock wall, answered by furious shrieks from the fengars within. Mim clutched his ears and even Farn was shaken by the sudden fearsome uproar.
As Trem had hoped, three Shardi appeared where gaps had been left in the wall, but unfortunately others also appeared over the top. A blast of fire hit three Shardi on the wall top. Their shaggy hair-covered bodies bursting into flame, they fell back, shrieking. Brin had been standing at the left side of the camp and now Mim and Tika saw that Kija was standing parallel to him. As they looked, Kija spat fire at another Shardi rising on the wall.
Despite apparently killing nearly half the Shardi numbers last night, there seemed the same number, if not more, this night. Also, something of greater intelligence than the Shardisi possessed must be guiding their attack in some way: after a couple of blasts of fire from Kija and Brin, the Shardi stormed through the gaps faster, hurling themselves into the groups of Guardsmen. Obviously, the Dragons could not project their fire then, for fear of injuring the Guards.
Mim nudged Tika, and pointed to Fenj. The massive Dragon was lifting, up and over the rock wall. Fire poured from his long jaws followed by screams of pain from the Shardi gathered outside. The few Shardi inside tried to escape, ignoring the swords slashing at them in their panic to get away. Fenj moved out of sight, Brin and Kija lifting to follow him. Gan ordered the Guards to remain at the ready. Baras, six men and two scouts slipped quickly through the left-hand gap in the rocks and followed the Dragons. The mounted Guards were still outside, their fengars shrieking as they raced after the fleeing Shardi.
Gan said to Soran: ‘They could be being lured into a trap.’
‘I do not think so Sir. The Shardi have not shown intelligence enough for me to believe they could think ahead to that degree.’
‘Soran, those Shardi knew enough to get among the Guards once the Dragons began to use fire. They are being directed by a higher mind somehow, I think.’
As he spoke, the adult Dragons reappeared, landing within the camp. Smoke trailed from their jaws as Fenj reported: ‘They continue to flee, Gan. They head for the deeper mountains northwards. There were many on their way here, but as those fleeing came up with them, they all turned and fled.’
Brin’s eyes were flashing gold and red with exhilaration. Kija said: ‘You will calm yourself please Brin, before you speak with Farn. We had to hurt those creatures to protect our friends here, but it is not a practice we should encourage in the young. Or enjoy,’ she added crossly.
Fenj rumbled in agreement and Brin made an obvious effort to calm himself. Gan and Soran exchanged glances, then Gan said: ‘Keep men posted to watch, but I suspect there will be no further attack tonight. Let the men eat and rest, Soran, but then bring your officers to join us.’
As they collected around one of the campfires, Jeela spoke to all of them. ‘Tika follows the Shardi.’
Gan said quickly, ‘Is she safe? Surely it is too soon for her to do such a thing.’
‘Farn is with her, sharing strength, and she is not attempting to communicate with them.’ Jeela shivered at the thought.
Farn was reclining beside Ashta, Tika leaning against him. Both were relaxed, eyes closed as though sleeping peacefully.
‘You are sure they are safe, Jeela?’ Gan repeated.
‘We are sure,’ Kija replied. ‘They are within our mind range, and we can force them back should the need arise.’
They settled themselves by the fire and listened as Soran recounted the events of the previous night. He gave rough estimates of the numbers of the dead, the seriously injured and the walking wounded. Just as he finished his account, Tika and Farn stirred. Gan looked enquiringly as Tika.
‘They are already about eight leagues from here, and still running.’ She shuddered. ‘They are truly foul beasts.’
Farn rattled his wings. ‘They turn on each other. The wounded among them have been killed and -’ he faltered, ‘eaten by the stronger.’
Gan stared into the fire as he considered. Finally he looked round at them all. ‘I think the seriously wounded should be taken back to Gaharn where they can have the best chances of healing. The Healers here can make the fengars calm enough to pull the wagons slowly for that distance. I am truly not sure to what extent fengars will be of help to us in this mountainous region. What say you Nomis, they are under your command?’
Nomis tugged his long moustache as he thought. ‘I would suggest we could perhaps take a dozen of the most tractable beasts,’ he said finally. ‘They could carry some of our provisions, or men if need be. I agree, they are not suited to this mountain travel. Shall I go and choose out twelve to continue with us Sir?’
‘Yes Nomis, and ask a Healer to come to me here when it is convenient for him. How many Guards are still fully fit Soran?’
Soran looked at Baras as that officer had been checking the surviving men.
‘Less than one hundred fully fit Sir,’ Baras replied. ‘Forty-seven with wounds that should heal in a few days. Eighty-four seriously wounded. One hundred and two dead, including four officers.’ He looked up from the parchment he had consulted as he spoke. A voice behind him said: ‘I am sorry to tell you that Officer Kerim has just died.’ Baras glanced at the Healer. ‘He did not regain awareness – he died peacefully.’ The Healer’s hand rested briefly on Baras’s helmeted head.
Gan stood abruptly. ‘Soran, pick twenty of the Guards whom you consider best to continue this journey. The rest will return to Gaharn. Such a large band was perhaps an ill-conceived idea on my part to start with. The smaller our numbers, more chance maybe of being less noticed. Baras and Salak, you will return with them.’ Both men looked as though they would protest but Gan raised his hand. ‘You both remain unharmed. You both experienced the Shardi attacks last night and remained alive and unhurt. You will tell the Guards in barracks of what happened and work on tactics and strategies to combat any future encounters with Shardi. Trem and Drak are but slightly injured.’ He raised an eyebrow questioningly at the Healer.
The Healer nodded. ‘They will be restored in days, Lord Gan.’
‘Nomis must come, as he knows the handling of fengars.’
‘Will fengars be more help or hindrance Sir?’ asked Drak.
Soran replied: ‘They will serve as food if they have to, so yes Drak, some must come.’
Gan nodded. ‘My thought also, Soran.’
‘We will be coming, won’t we Sir?’ Gan turned, seeing Sket and Motass standing in Fenj’s shadow. ‘We really feel as we should,’ Sket added.
‘Seeing as how we be the Lady Tika and Lord Mim’s personal Guards, so to speak,’ Motass added hopefully.
‘Oh yes,’ Mim agreed. ‘This one thinks they must continue with us.’ As Tika nodded, Gan made no comment. Motass and Sket were good men, if Tika and Mim found their presence reassuring, well and good. His eye fell on Lorak sitting against Br
in’s side.
‘Lorak should return to Gaharn I think,’ he said firmly.
‘Oh no,’ Fenj and Mim spoke in unison. ‘Splendid creature!’ Gan heard Fenj murmur, and he groaned inwardly. He had a feeling Lorak was going to be a thorn in his foot for some time.
‘Gan,’ Tika said. ‘We are too far to mind speak the Lady Emla without great effort, yet she must know how things go with us. The way these Shardi attacked is different you say from previous times. Clearly the balance is sinking lower in the Guardian’s favour. Time and strength must be used to go forward therefore, not used to report back to Gaharn.’
‘Merigs,’ said Brin.
Kija repeated thoughtfully: ‘Merigs.’
‘Merigs,’ agreed Fenj.
‘Merigs?’ asked Gan helplessly.
‘Those dark feathered ones,’ Ashta explained. ‘They do not sing, they croak as though they have hurt their voices. They are messengers anyway – perhaps they would agree to take messages to two-legs, as this is a time of such trouble.’
‘Are there Merigs here?’ Gan asked.
‘I have seen several,’ Khosa announced. ‘They are not very well mannered.’
Tika laughed. She would wager that Khosa had tried hunting one of these Merigs, and had been unsuccessful. Khosa slitted her turquoise eyes at Tika and climbed onto Mim’s legs.
‘Perhaps you could ask them, Kija?’ Gan felt Kija was probably the most diplomatic choice.
‘I will seek them at sunrise.’ She settled more comfortably. ‘They sleep now.’
‘I will do the rounds of the men. You get some rest.’ Gan smiled at his officers. ‘You have done well, but you all need rest.’ He moved away from the fire with the Healer. They heard him asking which two Healers would be best suited to travel on with him and his company.
‘Tika, this person was most afraid when you collapsed. Will it happen again do you think?’ Mim was curled against Ashta, his cloak pulled around him. Tika, lying similarly against Farn, replied slowly:
‘I do not know Mim. It was frightening. I was more in Trem’s mind than I have ever been in any others’. When he lost awareness, it was as if I too had received a blow.’ She lifted her cloak slightly to allow a persistent Khosa to creep closer to her warmth. ‘But I was awake. I knew I was lost – disconnected – I cannot describe it. I could not judge time – it seemed days may have passed, or only minutes. But then I heard voices calling.
‘I made myself move towards the voices – it was like trying to walk through deep mud. I nearly gave up, it was so hard.’ Mim lay watching her, listening closely to every word.
Farn said suddenly: The two-legs helped us.’
Tika reached a hand up to stroke his face. ‘Yes. Jerak was there. He said we had to get back – who else could do what was needed, he said.’ She met Mim’s eyes. ‘We tried once more to get to the voices calling us – and we did.’
‘This one thinks you and Farn have something very hard to do,’ Mim said slowly. ‘And Ashta and this one must help you as best we can. But it is you two who are of the greatest importance.’
Farn shivered his wings, eyes flashing briefly. ‘We will sleep,’ he ordered. Mim smiled.
‘Yes Farn. We will sleep.’
They had travelled some five or six leagues by the next noon. The sky was a dull grey with yellowish streaks of cloud and the increasing wind was icy cold. The Dragons had flown ahead, checking there were no Shardi, seeking out the easier routes and hunting for their own food. Gan had decided they must travel closer to the mountains as they afforded some protection from the weather, which was clearly deteriorating. He had flown on Fenj’s back for the first part of the day then rejoined the rest of the company on the ground.
When his teeth finally stopped chattering, he asked Mim and Tika if they had any idea how much cold the Dragons could endure. ‘This one does not know, Gan.’ Mim replied. He was shivering in spite of his new fleece lined clothes and cloak. ‘This person has never been this cold. Nagum woodlands have occasional chilly days and nights – but nothing like this.’ Gan looked at Mim with some concern, but Tika spoke directly to his mind: ‘Mim will manage all right.’ Gan looked at her but made no reply.
Lorak marched with Sket and Motass among the Guards. Judging by the occasional bursts of laughter, they were all quite happy despite the cold. Nomis had the fengars well under control at the rear of the company. The Healers walked behind Tika and Mim, and Gan dropped back to speak to them. Tika said softly: ‘Use a little of the Power Mim, enough to bar the wind from chilling you. Try, it will only need a tiny effort. Look in my mind and see.’
‘This one is still not happy with the Power Tika.’
‘Mim, if you suffer too much already – and this is still only a tiny taste of the real northern cold – you will slow us all in our journeying.’
Mim winced at the firmness in her tone, but he slid into her thoughts, watching carefully as she showed him the simple weave of threads of Power to protect him physically from the cold wind. ‘Now you do it,’ she ordered. He did so, and almost at once, there was relief from the aching of his face and ears. Tika grinned at him. ‘Not such a bad idea, was it?’
Gan ordered no halt until the dull daylight was darkening toward evening. A scout had just returned to report that the Dragons were settled a league or so ahead, but half a league higher on the mountain slope. The company could soon see Brin’s crimson body perched on a high ledge beneath which were the other five Dragons.
Tika grabbed Mim’s hand and began to run. There was an urgency in her sudden movement which worried Gan but he quashed the urge to race after the pair. There were no Shardi near, that he was sure of, so whatever was wrong he would find out soon enough.
And he did. As they arrived at the sheltered plateau where the Dragons had chosen to land, he signalled Soran to begin the routine setting up of an orderly camp. Then he turned to the Dragons. It was Jeela. Tika and Mim were pressed each side of her, Kija half curled around her small daughter. Ashta and Farn were deeply distressed, green eyes and blue whirring rapidly.
Gan called over his shoulder to the two Healers and hurried to the Dragons. Fenj said: ‘The little one is too cold Gan. She has tried to hide her suffering but she nearly fell from the sky. Farn flew beneath her and tried to take her body on his own until Brin took her. She is hurting Gan.’
The Healers moved forward with no hesitation. Never had they been called upon to heal a Dragon, but their training sent them instantly to offer what help they could to a creature in pain. They laid their hands on the little ivory Dragon and she tried to raise her head. Her eyes were half closed, and to Gan’s horror, he saw great tears sliding down her long face. Then he realised Tika and Mim were weeping, and he turned away. He barked orders to the nearest Guards who rushed to find kindling, adding tight pressed faggots they carried in the supply packs.
Lorak pushed through the Guards, dropping various bags and sacks as he passed Gan. Gan watched as the old man unfastened his worn, patched cloak and swung it over the small Jeela, tucking it with infinite gentleness over her delicate wings. Gan bespoke Fenj, asking if Jeela would recover. ‘This time, yes Gan. She can not go further I think. But,’ he added, ‘there will be much upset and argument. She is smaller than any hatchling I have known, yet she is strong in her spirit.’
‘Is she aware that she will have to give in?’ Gan asked.
Fenj gave a mental shrug. ‘She knows, but she will ignore that knowledge. Let us wait until she is restored now.’
The fire the Guards had lit was burning well, throwing a good heat out around it. All could see the little creamy Dragon was in trouble now, and the Guards were quiet as they lit other fires for cooking their suppers, glancing frequently at the huddle around Jeela. Gan stepped closer as the Healers moved back. He laid his hand on Jeela’s foreleg, sliding it down to touch her “hand”. He was shocked at how cold the soft hide was and on touching her, he was aware of how deeply the cold had penetrated her body. Brin
called that he would hunt, and returned a while later with a volu. He put it beside Kija and the gold Dragon tore small pieces from the carcass, urging her daughter to eat.
It was fully dark when Jeela seemed recovered. Mim explained to Gan that they had been unable to use the Power to thaw the ice from Jeela’s very bones because she had weakened so much. She had to be left to warm steadily; heating her fast would have put tremendous strain on her heart and indeed, could have killed her. The Healers had already given Gan a similar diagnosis.
‘But will she go back to Gaharn Mim?’
The brilliant blue eyes with the vertical pupils again filled with tears. ‘No.’
‘But she has to, after this.’
‘No,’ repeated Mim and turned away.
Trem was beside Gan, listening, and now he said: ‘Sir, the Dragons are having a fearful argument – can you hear?’ He shook his head, still amazed that he could hear Dragon speech. He was also amazed that he had been so stupid as to believe only the People, and a few humans like himself, were “intelligent” enough to use the mind speech.
Gan concentrated on the Dragons. They all appeared at ease, reclined around the fire, all except Jeela a short distance from the heat. They seemed relaxed, quiet, but as Gan focused harder, he realised Trem was right. Kija was furious; indeed, relaxed as she still appeared, her eyes were beginning to flash sparks of reflected fire. Ashta and Farn were listening to Kija, but taking no part in the argument. Brin looked wonderfully innocent for his massive size, his head tilted back, eyes searching the sky for a few stars that had escaped the cloud cover.
‘She must return to the Lady.’ Kija was saying. ‘She will die if she again gets as cold as she has done this day.’
Jeela, still draped in Lorak’s cloak and her head over his shoulder, appeared quite unconcerned. Gan and Trem realised why as she said to her mother in perfectly reasonable tones: ‘I will travel on with you all.’
Kija snorted, a rather undignified sound. ‘And you, Brin, to encourage her. I cannot believe you could be so irresponsible at your age!’ She looked at Fenj. ‘Have you no influence over this half-wit son of yours?’
Fenj rattled his wings. ‘No,’ he replied shortly.
Farn was gazing at Brin with open admiration for the crimson Dragon. Brin lowered his gaze to Kija. ‘Tika can give her some protection and she is such a tiny hatchling - .’ Jeela flashed a glare at him – ‘I can carry her with no problem.’
‘Of course!’ Farn let slip, wilting instantly as Kija’s fury turned in her son’s direction. ‘Don’t you dare try to copy this foolish one’s ways!’ Her wrath was almost visible now, but she caught herself from saying more, instead lifting rapidly from her place and soaring into the darkness.
‘She is still very bossy,’ Brin remarked.
‘Yes,’ replied his father. ‘But will you truly be able to carry Jeela? We have a long way yet to go.’
‘I believe it is about three more days until we near the place where the other Kin found me. I think we should call to them as we approach. If we do so, they may hear us, even below the mountains as they usually seem to be.’
Fenj sighed. ‘I like this not, my son. But I pray to the stars, you remember how many lives may depend on you now.’
Chapter Twenty
Soul Bonds: Book 1 Circles of Light series Page 19
