Emla had remained in Gaharn for three days. The Discipline Seniors had agreed that all their individual studies must be suspended indefinitely while they searched their archives for any clues for dealing with these troublous events. In the Buildings of Learning, the great Asataria, Seniors still paced with dignity through the halls and corridors, but there was underlying sense of urgency about them now.
Emla felt helpless; all her books, the ancient library of many previous Golden Ladies, were two leagues away in her House. Finally she visited the study of Discipline Senior Kera, her friend from childhood days.
‘Kera, I cannot stay here any longer. I must go to my House and study the books there. I am also concerned for the wounded ones I left there. Stars, Kera, some of the injuries were beyond the worst nightmares.’
Kera put her finger on the line she had been studying when Emla burst in. ‘I think it is quite reasonable for you to leave. You have no study here to work in, and the main libraries are, I am told, knee deep in Juniors and Students!’ She smiled. ‘I must say, it is good to know we are still the friends we were so long ago. I did not realise until I saw you in the Chamber of Gathering how much I have missed you.’
‘You always buried yourself in work more than we did, especially when you decided you would become the youngest Discipline Senior ever raised!’
‘But I did it,’ retorted Kera. ‘I will inform the others if you want to leave immediately though.’
Emla moved to Kera’s side and, stooping, put her arms around her shoulders. ‘I pray there is a solution to these troubles Kera. I feel I am rightly judged as appallingly careless to have allowed a Weight of Balance to be removed from my care.’
‘Put that thought from your mind Emla,’ said Kera firmly. ‘None of us believe that, I swear it. So go on with you, and take the others with you. They can work as well at your House as they can here. I know Iska is fretting to get back to nursing those Guards at least!’
Emla kissed her friend and strode to the door as Kera remarked mildly: ‘And now I have lost my place.’ Her head was already bent again over the faded script she was working on and she didn’t hear Emla’s farewell.
Emla was glad that Yash and Kemti were quick to agree to return with her and Iska. They both had small chambers within the Asataria where they usually worked and she had thought they might prefer to remain here. But in a short while, the four were walking rapidly away from the Buildings of Learning, Guards trotting behind and before them. The snow lay thickly piled beside the cleared pathways and was still falling, but in lazy flakes rather than the blinding blizzard that had begun days before.
As they began the final climb from the Upper Pass, a tattered looking black Merig flew heavily alongside. Emla halted, looking at it a little doubtfully.
There was a laugh in their minds. ‘Can’t tell us apart, can you? Well, I am the one who spoke to you before.’ He landed on the path in front of them.
‘You have more news?’ Emla asked.
‘Well, not exactly. A friend told me that the company that you sent forth has entered the mountains.’
‘Entered the mountains? Which mountains? Why?’
The Merig rattled his feathers. ‘The High Land Mountains. Just beyond the river that you call Skar. To escape the snow storm I expect.’
‘Do you mean they have taken shelter in caves or something?’ asked Yash.
The Merig chuckled throatily. ‘No cave would long protect a company of their size from the storms that have raged there of late.’ He walked stiffly closer to the People and blinked slowly. ‘Delvers took them in. They sent Snow Dragons to guide them.’ His tone indicated amazement and awe, and he stepped back a little to study their reaction the better. He gave a loud harsh croak of amusement and rose into the air. ‘You do not know, do you? I will be in your grounds for a while, if you wish to speak with me.’
They watched him beat slowly ahead of them as they resumed their climb.
‘Delvers?’ asked Kemti.
‘Snow Dragons?’ queried Iska.
Emla shook her head, snow scattering from her hood. ‘I have no idea. I have never heard of either. I do hope those children are safe.’
They had reached the entrance to Emla’s Estate and Guards saluted her as she passed through. Shan held the main door wide as the four People hurried up the steps.
‘Oh Lady, I have been worried,’ Shan began as she shut the great door. She helped Emla off with her cloak as Bara helped Iska. ‘The snow seems to have eased a little but it feels colder than ever I’ve known it.’
Two male servitors brought hot tea as Shan pulled Emla’s boots from the Lady’s feet. ‘You are freezing Lady! A bath would be best to warm you up.’
‘That sounds an excellent idea,’ agreed Kemti. ‘Why do we not all bathe, thaw ourselves, and meet in your study after?’
Yash nodded, chaffing his long thin fingers against each other to restore some feeling in them while Iska was already halfway up the stairs.
Kemti was the last to rejoin them later. He waved a battered book at them. ‘Tales for children! That’s where this book was filed. “The Treasure of the Snow Dragons.” It makes no mention of Delvers as such, but tells of a race of very small humans who live with these Dragons. I suppose small humans equals children to whoever stored this book.’
‘I have no recollections of hearing any such tales,’ said Yash.
‘Nor I,’ agreed Emla.
‘I think we should ask the Merig what he knows.’ Iska grinned at Emla as she added: ‘and it might be safer to see him on the veranda, in case his wife is with him.’
Emla looked out at the snow-covered gardens. ‘I see no sign of them. Perhaps we should just summon them with the mind speech, as he bespoke me.’
Before more could be said, the Merig bespoke them, almost, they suspected, as if he had been eavesdropping. ‘My wife is visiting friends nearby. I will come inside now.’
Yash opened the window where the Merig had landed, dislodging lumps of frozen snow from the sill. The Merig dropped onto the floor and walked towards the fire. He shook out his shabby feathers and hopped onto Emla’s usual stool. ‘You wished to question me?’
‘Who are the Delvers you spoke of?’ Emla asked at once.
‘A race of small humans, who long, long ago, chose to retreat inside the High Land Mountains. They listen to news of this outside world if we happen to meet any of them, but they are not really interested.’
‘But how can humans live, inside those bleak mountains? Do the Snow Dragons you named, hunt meat for them?’
The Merig managed to look definitely shifty. ‘I have entered their Domain only a few times. I must not speak of Inside.’
‘Their Domain?’ asked Emla.
‘The Domain of Asat,’ the Merig replied.
‘Are they fighters?’
The Merig put his head on one side to look at Yash. ‘Most surely not. They are led by a Wise One. The present Wise One is called Nolli and she travels with your company now although she is near ready to journey beyond.’
All four of the People looked startled at the Merig’s use of that phrase. ‘She leads them far to the north of her Domain.’ He shivered, his feathers rattling back into place. ‘I heard the words “Dragon Lord” spoken once when I was there, before the storms reached down to these lands.’
‘Dragon Lord? Could that be Mim?’ Emla’s voice rose. ‘If we only had contact with them, this not knowing is terrible! I am nearly persuaded that I must follow them myself.’
‘What of these Snow Dragons?’ Iska enquired, hoping to distract Emla’s thoughts, if only briefly.
‘They are mostly white, or very pale colours. They are small, smaller than most hatchlings of Outside Dragons. They live within the mountain but they are more accustomed to the cold and hunt for themselves and for the Delvers.’
‘Hunt where?’ Emla glared at the Merig. ‘In the Wilderness, that’s where you will tell me they hunt, won’t you? If they hunted on the Upper Plain, they would ha
ve been seen and we would know of them.’
The Merig hopped from scaly foot to scaly foot, blinking rapidly.
‘Don’t Emla, you will upset him and he will tell us nothing more.’
The Merig gazed at Iska with deep admiration. ‘A fine lady,’ he said pointedly.
Emla sighed. ‘I am sorry Merig, but I am so very concerned for all that company, but especially for the two young ones.’
‘They all seem well, from what I heard, except the two great male Dragons suffering with their feet. The Kephi was enjoying herself at least,’ he added.
‘I still can’t think why Tika wanted to take it.’ Emla sounded distracted.
‘”It” is the Queen of the Kephi here, as she keeps reminding everyone apparently.’
‘Reminding everyone?’ Emla gaped at him. ‘You mean the Kephi also use the mind speech?’
‘Naturally.’ The Merig sounded smug. ‘But a lot of us choose not to speak to your kind. I think I shall go and find food now. I will stay in your gardens for a few days though, in case you think of any more questions.’
As Kemti shut the window behind the departing Merig, Emla began to pace. ‘Why, by the stars, was I Raised to the Ladyship? All the studying I have done, and the wisdom I proudly assumed I have accrued over these Cycles avails me nothing in this time of trial! The Wilderness seemingly inhabited, Delvers, Snow Dragons, such intelligence in Merigs – and Kephis!’
‘Calm down Emla.’ Yash tented his fingers and tapped them against his chin. ‘At least we now know of these things. The question is, does the Guardian also know of them?’
Far to the north, the company stood gazing into the chamber on whose central mosaic were Nolli and Mim. Tika lifted her lamp and moved hesitantly forward, glancing once at Nolli to receive her nod of consent. Around the circular chamber the oval shapes glinted and shone. Tika moved closer, seeing all of them were filled with amber and contained a tiny speck of something, as did hers and Mim’s.
But some were half shelled not in gold, but in precious stones somehow – crystal, bloodstone, sapphire. Spaced around were empty hooks, clearly meant for lamps. Her lamp held high in her right hand, her left rested on the hilt of the sword she now hardly remembered she wore. The first murmurs faded into silence as Tika walked slowly round the chamber, returning to stand beside Gan. Mim placed his and Nolli’s lamps on the nearest hooks, freeing her hand to join the other on top of her stick.
‘This is what the Wise Ones promised to guard throughout time.’ Nolli’s voice was clear and strong. ‘We have been called “Delvers”, indeed we refer to ourselves so, to any others, but we are the Kraneechay – Keepers, and this is what we must keep.’
Tika had been aware of the Dragons’ growing agitation. As she looked at the great adults squeezed in behind the young ones and the Snow Dragons behind her, she saw faceted eyes flashing at increasing speed. She looked back at Nolli, Mim standing at the ancient one’s shoulder. Nolli now said, simply: ‘You have seen. Now a Dragon Lord comes and at last the Kraneechay hand over this secret to one who will use it.’
With great difficulty but with immense dignity, Nolli turned her back to the company and, bowing low to Mim would also have knelt before him had he not held her upright.
Mim, the Nagum boy, threw back the folds of his cloak, his blue eyes blazing almost like Farn’s. He pushed his shirtsleeves up, past his elbows, and thrust out his arms towards the company. Gan glanced quickly at Tika, seeing tears pour down her cheeks, but she was smiling despite the tears. A moaning came from the Dragons as they looked, with the others, at Mim.
Tiny scales rippled on Mim’s arms, down, over the backs of his three fingered hands; scales of gold, tipped with silver. Gan stared as hard as everybody else, seeing the glowers’ light catch a glitter now at Mim’s throat, now at his temples. Gan’s mind raced. Clearly the Dragon patterns that Mim’s body had accepted were proving stronger than Emla and the three Seniors had thought likely or possible. How far would this change go, and what did it imply? He disregarded the implications – that was for other minds to concern themselves with. For now, Gan had to concentrate on each step on this strange journey, not worry about steps far ahead. The thought whispered in his mind – “steps we may not reach” – but Gan quashed that thought instantly.
‘It is cramped here, for so many,’ Nolli said now. ‘Let us all withdraw to the main tunnel. We will travel no further today but we will talk. At least, I will tell all I know of the appointment of my race as the Kraneechay and maybe the Outside Dragons can tell us even more if they so choose.’
As Lanni came to help Nolli, the company filed back through the narrow space, leaving the Dragons still staring into the chamber. Nolli touched each beautiful slender face as she passed, and each bent to touch their brows to hers.
‘Look!’ said Mim.
Gan and Tika joined him in the centre of the mosaic. He had tilted his head back and was gazing up at the domed roof. A mosaic circle had somehow been set there, and in its centre a blue star pulsed.
‘But,’ Gan bit his lip but Mim and Tika had already turned their eyes to him. ‘This circle below and above, and the blue star – it is exactly so in our Great Chamber of Gathering in Gaharn.’
‘As it is in the Pavilion of the Golden Balance on the Lady’s Estate,’ said Mim.
‘Is it? I have never entered the Pavilion, only stood at the entrance.’
Tika nodded. ‘It is the same though. I wonder if it is in the Guardian’s stronghold, wherever his Balance Weights are kept?’
‘It will be.’ It was Fenj. ‘They were all made the same.’
Gan, Tika and Mim turned to the entrance where the Dragons still clustered.
‘You know how to unseal such doors, do you not Fenj?’
‘It is the same simple seal we use to hide our collections Tika,’ Fenj agreed.’Come Kija, all of you. Mim will hide this place once more.’
Silently Kija and Brin eased their great bulks around to work their way back to the main tunnel, the smaller Dragons behind them. Fenj was able to turn more easily in the emptied space. Khosa yawned delicately, having sat unnoticed at the entrance to the chamber. Fenj looked at her.
‘And you too will speak what you know, Khosa of the Kephi. Those two will need whatever help we can give if they are to hope to succeed.’
Khosa hopped over his tail and danced beneath his chest. ‘You do not need to give me such orders, mighty one. I have every intention of sharing my wisdom.’
Fenj rumbled faintly as he scraped through the passage behind her.
‘You remember how the Dragons did it, don’t you Tika?’ Mim smiled at her.
‘I think so, but you do it and I’ll watch – just to be sure another time.’ She smiled back as Gan watched.
Mim stood quite still, his eyes blank. With a soft grating crunch, the rock closed together, leaving no hint that a chamber lay concealed beyond it. As they began to make their way back to the main tunnel, Gan asked: ‘Mim? Are the scales uncomfortable?’
‘Oh no. At first they itched, but that stopped once they were through the skin.’
As they emerged into the wider tunnel, they found Guards had begun heating water over one of the small braziers they carried in the carts. The usual chatter and movement was noticeably reduced and Mim received many quick and curious glances from the men of Gaharn.
He went straight to Ashta, leaning against her pale green shoulder and speaking only to her mind. Fenj reclined against the wall beside Nolli’s chair with a sigh of relief as Lorak rubbed a salve from one of his numerous containers, on the soles of Fenj’s large black feet.
When all were settled, Nolli began. ‘So far past we do not remember how far, we lived peacefully Outside. But strangers came, bigger than we, and aggressive where we were peaceful. We spoke to all creatures with the mind speech then, including the Snow Dragons. They lived in these mountains always, even further north, to the place of Ice.’ Nolli sipped her tea, then continued.
‘These strangers killed many of us – we did not understand why. They trampled our gardens, they didn’t take over our land so why kill us? Then the Snow Dragons invited us here to share their lives, telling us there were many more of this killing race spreading across the world, and that we would die if we remained on the Plains.
‘We were always led by Wise Ones, and they told tales of Dragons from an even older age, who had ruled the whole world with great wisdom and kindliness. The tales spoke of a Dragon Lord – or a Dragon Lady – one who was neither Dragon nor human yet was both – who came in times of great turmoil. When we moved into this Realm of Asat, we found the Snow Dragons had very similar stories to tell. The Eldest of the High Land Treasury told the Wise One of that time of the chamber I have just revealed to you. It was then that we took the name Kraneechay.’
Fenj had listened with his eyes closed and his chin resting on the top of Lorak’s head. Now he stirred. ‘Our memories tell of a time we lived here too. We remember Shardi appearing, and seeking out our nesting caves, destroying hatchlings. Most of us fled further south, although a few chose to remain. We always believed that they had all perished long ago. The eggs in this chamber – we have no memories of such things.’ He pushed himself further upright. ‘But there is something. When the Golden Lady showed me what we must provide for Tika from our collection, I felt something stir.’ He shook his head. ‘I have tried to follow the thread of this memory, but have failed.’
A voice called from among the Guards. ‘Is it all to do with magic?’
‘No!’ Nolli and Tika spoke together, then Tika stood up to speak. She was so small, those sitting further back could not see her otherwise. ‘Magic is not good or bad,’ she explained. ‘It is the use of a Power which is all around us, and it is “making” rather than “magic”.’
She saw puzzled faces in front of her. ‘Like this. Only really you don’t need to do any movements, it is all inside your thoughts.’ She reached a hand out as though taking a handful of air. Using both hands, she appeared to be moulding invisible clay. But then, as they watched, they saw something between her fingers, something which seemed to uncrumple and stretch and become a single bloom of a white cup flower.
Held breath was released in a sigh as Tika held the flower towards them. Mim grinned. ‘Anyone can see you know little of plants.’ He went to where she stood and delicately touched the petals. Faint green veins webbed the whiteness. A tiny drop of moisture clung to the lip of the cup and Mim laughed. ‘Like so!’
Gan sat watching, totally amazed at this simple yet so powerful example of using the Power – an example such as he had never seen before. As the flower was passed among the men, Jeela sprang to her feet, her eyes quite still. Kija called to Tika urgently, to see what or who was mind calling the little Dragon. Tika went quickly to Jeela’s side, her mind already burrowing along the beam Jeela held.
She spoke the words aloud, that all might hear: ‘I will give what help I can, but I am weak, and time is short. Listen for me again my friends.’
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Soul Bonds: Book 1 Circles of Light series Page 26
