Jal rushed along the steeply winding passage to the Guardian’s chambers. The weight of Lady Iska’s tall body hindered him not at all – he was appalled at how light she seemed. As he rounded the last turn, the fighter he had sent ahead came back towards him.
‘He awaits you Sir.’ The man muttered, jerking his head over his shoulder at Rhaki’s open door.
‘Go back to the others. Tell them to prepare for the ones who followed us.’
Then Jal was on the threshold of Rhaki’s study. The Guardian’s expression changed from one of satisfaction to one of concern, and he came quickly to Jal.
‘Master, I administered the herbs exactly as you said, but I fear for her.’
Rhaki leaned close, sniffed Iska’s skin, then laid the back of his hand against her brow. He scowled. ‘Bark! Bark!’ Still staring at Iska’s face, he pulled Jal along the passageway. ‘In here,’ he ordered, throwing open another door. He pulled back the covers from a great bed and took Iska from Jal’s arms. Rhaki laid her down tenderly as Bark appeared. ‘You must rouse her Bark,’ Rhaki said peremptorily. ‘I would question her as soon as she wakens.’
‘Master.’ Bark bowed and moved silently to the bedside. ‘I will need certain herbs, water, heated stones.’
Before his hoarse whisper had ceased, Rhaki waved a hand dismissively. ‘I will send servants. Jal, to my study.’ Rhaki ordered servants to be sent to do Bark’s bidding as he strode back to his study, and as Jal closed the door behind them, the Guardian leaned on the mantel shelf, smiling.
‘You have done excellently, Jal. Let us just pray that the Lady lives and awakes.’ He bent his head slightly as though praying in truth, but the deep-set dark eyes remained fixed on Jal. Jal ducked his head briefly while silently sending a desperately genuine plea that the stars allow Iska to wake.
‘All went as simply as I had said they would?’ Rhaki asked.
‘Yes Master. The Lady was with four Guards who offered no resistance – we put their bodies a short way from the path. The snow covered all traces within minutes. The fighter I placed to keep watch behind us, caught us up last night. He reports a force of Guards following fast and he thinks there is at least one of the People with them.’ Before Rhaki could comment on this vagueness, Jal hurried on. ‘He did not wait to be sure of the number of Guards or People – I had told him only to report if any did indeed follow, Master.’
‘Hmmm.’
‘I ordered men to prepare to welcome those followers, Master.’
Rhaki strode to the window and stared out as Jal forced himself to remain still. Rhaki spun round, making Jal flinch despite himself.
‘Prepare a dozen Cansharsi also.’
‘Yes Master.’
‘Well – go then! See to it. I will check the Lady’s recovery and then I will come to the lowest barracks where you will assemble the men. And the Cansharsi.’
Jal bowed himself out of the study, took a breath to steady his nerves – something he seemed to need to do increasingly, he noted, and hastened to obey his orders.
Rhaki stood gazing at the fire flames, rubbing his hands together with a dry, whispering sound. Emla dared order her precious Guards to his stronghold, did she? The fact that he had arranged the abduction of not only a Senior, but a close friend of Emla’s, was no reason in Rhaki’s view for invading his Realm. He swung his heavy wool cloak from its hook to his shoulders and went back along to the chamber where Iska lay.
Three servants were busy following Bark’s instructions. A fire was already blazing in the wide hearth and several glow lamps illuminated the bed. A kettle had been swung over the fire and one servant was holding a pan containing hot embers, moving it along the length of Iska’s body at Bark’s direction. Rhaki stood for a moment, noting no change in Iska’s colour. He tugged at his lower lip.
‘I will return shortly Bark. Do all you can to rouse her. I WILL speak with her.’
‘Master, rousing her too quickly from the state she is now in, could cost her life.’
‘Do it.’
Rhaki’s cloak swirled like a dark cloud as he swept from the room. As he approached the lowest section of the stronghold, Rhaki held his cloak close about him for warmth. The clamour of voices stilled instantly as the Guardian appeared, replaced by only the creak of leather tunics as men held to attention in their ranks. As he came to a halt before them, a vigorous stench rolled through the cavern.
An iron gate clanged against rock and Jal appeared ahead of twelve Cansharsi. The fighting men glanced at the Cansharsi then quickly away, several paling noticeably. The Cansharsi were all walking upright on their triple taloned hind feet, making them half as tall again as the human fighters. An acrid smell preceded them, a musty, stale urine and rotting compost perfume which caused men’s eyes to water and throats to clench.
The Cansharsi were in a state of excitement, saliva drooling from the tusked jaws, but they controlled their urge to fall upon the men before them. The Guardian’s tall figure stood unmoving as the Cansharsi clattered up to him, his eyes glittering in the light of the pitch torches clustered in wall brackets. Rhaki took one of these torches and held it high as the Cansharsi neared. Lips curled back and a few squealed irritably but were hushed again with snarls from their fellows. Cansharsi still disliked fire, Rhaki noted.
‘There are trespassers daring to advance to this Realm.’ The men remained silent, the Cansharsi fidgeted, eyes rolling and taloned hooves clicking on the stone floor. ‘You Cansharsi have more speed, but you will hold back, move only at the speed of these men. Only when Officer Jal orders you, will you go ahead.’ Rhaki forced each Cansharsi to meet his eyes. ‘You will obey Officer Jal as you would obey me.’ He kept his gaze on them a moment longer then turned back to the fighters. ‘You of course will obey Officer Jal, but if there are any of the People among these trespassers, I would have them brought to me alive. There will be silver for all of you, but there will also be gold for you for living prisoners.’ Rhaki thrust the torch he held into the hand of the nearest fighter and stalked from the barracks.
As Rhaki had left the chamber where Iska lay, her eyes had opened. She looked straight at Bark, her mind fully aware in spite of the fearful lassitude of her body. Bark returned her stare steadily, letting her see into his mind, holding no shielding whatsoever against her. In moments, she knew where she was, how she had been brought there and also what dreadful damage Bark had suffered.
A servant slid into the chamber. ‘The Master comes, sir,’ he called softly.
Bark’s hand tightened on Iska’s but she closed her eyes and looked quite unconscious again. Seconds later Rhaki stood beside the bed. ‘Surely you could have woken her by now Bark?’
‘Master, the Lady has not responded to any of the inhalants I have used so far.’ Bark kept his head down, apparently occupied with crumbling dark leaves into a dish held by another servant. ‘I have sent for other herbs, Master – it may take a while to obtain them.’
‘I want her awake quickly Bark. Today, not tomorrow. I must know what Gaharn is plotting.’
‘Plotting, Master?’
‘Yes Bark, plotting. Clearly they seek to redress the Balance since that fool Emla lost one of her Weights. They have always feared my great strength but now they realise they will soon be utterly powerless against me.’ His voice had risen as he spoke but Bark did not look at him. Rather, he bent closer over Iska’s still figure.
Rhaki watched as Bark sprinkled the crumbled herbs into a jug of boiling water and reached to lift Iska’s head that she might breathe the rising fumes. Rhaki scowled, his brows making a black line above his eyes. Iska gave no indication of any change, and he turned away angrily.
‘Use anything you can think of Bark. Just get her conscious for a few minutes. I will be in my study.’
The door thudded behind him and the servant holding the warming pan nearly dropped it as Iska’s eyes opened again.
‘Speak not with your mind Bark – he may be alert for any mind speech.’ Iska’s voice was a mere
sigh.
Bark nodded. ‘But I fear he will attempt to enter your thoughts forcibly if I do not wake you.’ He bent closer. ‘Guards followed Rhaki’s fighters. Seniors are with them but he is ready for them.”
Iska closed her eyes for a moment, fighting the narcotics in her body. ‘You must not let him know how much strength you have regained yet Bark. Call him in here in a little while, saying you think I am waking. As I open my eyes, I will send a call as strongly as I can to the south.’
‘There are others within these mountains who say they will help.’ Bark whispered. ‘Rhaki will immediately sense your call. He is unstable – he could kill you.’
‘Whatever happens Bark, you must play no part in this. You have another task to do in this battle – for battle it is now.’
‘Stars help you then Iska.’
‘And you also, Silent Thinker.
Baras had led the following party at a rapid but steady pace. The tunnels were wide enough for three fengars abreast, but neither fengars nor men had ridden in such enclosed spaces before. Some of the fengars had resisted and caused some delay before they were brought under enough control to force them into the darkness. The Merigs had led them to the entrance to the tunnels and had agreed to lead more Guards from Gaharn’s main barracks.
Emla and Kemti had both exchanged their usual robes for trousers and shirts beneath heavy cloaks. Kemti rode at the head of the troop with Baras, who had insisted the Golden Lady rode, Shan at her side, within the main body of the Guards. She had argued that she would ride with Kemti, but Kemti had supported Baras’s argument that she must accept the protection of the Guards rather than ride in the lead.
They had no means of judging time other than their own weariness and that of their mounts, but after what they guessed as four days riding, they had halted once more. Baras had equipped each Guard with several torches, not knowing how long they would be under the mountain or if the tunnels would have any form of illumination within them, left perhaps by Rhaki’s fighters. He set men to watch a short distance ahead each time they halted, to warn of any attack, as others fed the fengars and shared rations among themselves.
‘They will know we follow, Lady.’ Baras squatted beside Emla and Kemti. ‘They must have been led by an experienced man – they will expect us to follow. No attempt was made to disguise their direction once they had the Lady Iska.’
‘So you expect a welcoming party fairly soon, Baras?’
‘It is what I would do, Lord.’ Baras agreed. ‘But what bothers me is, who will welcome us? So far there has been no hint of Shardi. Men we can deal with, but in this confined space, with Guards who have not faced Shardi before, I fear we could suffer heavy losses.’
‘What about the fengars?’ Emla asked. ‘There is height enough for them to rear and do battle, but would they cause more trouble to ourselves in this – as you say – confined space?’
‘That is what has been occupying my mind Lady.’ Baras paused for a moment. ‘I think at the first sign of trouble ahead, all should dismount and let the fengars go forward riderless. Then we should light the torches as swiftly as may be to see just what we face.’
Kemti nodded and Baras left them to speak with his Guardsmen.
‘You and I are not enough against Rhaki, are we Emla?’
She sighed wearily. ‘I do not know. Unhappily, I suspect not. But how did all this start Kemti? Just the one Weight of Balance lost and suddenly chaos threatens.’
‘I think perhaps we had become complacent. We thought we knew most things about this world – at least the things of any importance, and so let our lives drift on along their untroubled paths. Our scholars have lost themselves in matters of the mind rather than seeing the outer world in its colourful confusion.’ Kemti stretched his aching back. ‘Even we are not free of this guilt – look how amazed you were at finding intelligence had been deliberately concealed from you – I mean the Merigs, the Kephi – and the great Dragons.’
‘We have been complacent indeed, and how much have we ignored or chosen not to notice in these last Cycles? I have felt events pressing on us since Jerak – disappeared. And now we face Rhaki, unprepared as we so foolishly are.’
‘Sir! Sir!’ Several voices called suddenly in alarm.
Kemti pulled Emla to her feet as Baras moved in front of her, his sword bared. They looked where Guards pointed. A section of the tunnel wall seemed to shimmer, then, with a slow soft grumble, it slid apart into two halves.
‘Dear one!’ Emla laughed aloud as a long silver blue face peered through the opening. Sapphire eyes whirred in delight as Farn advanced to the Lady and Kemti. Tika slipped through at his side, then Jeela and Dessi and two of the Snow Dragons. After touching brows with Farn and Jeela, and hugging Tika, Emla looked in amazement at the other three newcomers.
Tika touched the face of one Dragon saying: ‘This is Uma, and this,’ she touched the second, ‘is Ulla. And this is Dessi. She is Kran –’
‘Delver’ interposed Dessi, smiling up at Emla.
‘The Merigs told us of Delvers within these mountains. I am glad to be able to greet you Dessi.’
Tika interrupted these formalities. ‘The larger Dragons have gone outside, Mim and Ashta with them. A Snow Dragon guides them to an upper part of the Guardian’s stronghold where they believe they can force their way inside. Nolli will unseal a tunnel soon and Soran and the Guards will enter that way. We will come with you through this side of the mountains. We decided you would need some help from Dragons.’
Emla’s expression conveyed some misgivings. ‘You will use fire, within these tunnels?’
‘Of course!’ Farn’s cheerful reply resounded in everyone’s thoughts.
Emla’s eyes met Tika’s. Tika grinned at her. ‘As Farn says. . .’
‘Hmm. Well, let’s discuss it with Baras, shall we?’
‘There is nothing to discuss Lady,’ said Farn. ‘We will stand ahead of you. Our fire will not harm any of you then, only whatever comes in front!’
As the new arrivals moved further into the passage, Dessi turned to the opening in the wall. As she stared, so the two sections slid gratingly together, not the faintest scratch indicating where the opening had been. Dessi had just rejoined Jeela when a Guard shot round the curve of the tunnel ahead.
‘Something comes Sir! Stars know what it is, but the smell is worse than any midden!’
Before he had finished speaking, they were all assailed by the pungency wafting down the tunnel.
‘Farn, Jeela, to that side. Uma, Ulla – this side. Stay as close to the wall as you can!’ Tika drew her sword and stood at Farn’s shoulder. Jeela stood between her brother and the rock, the Snow Dragons taking similar positions against the opposite wall.
Some Guards were bringing the fengars forward as others lit more torches. Tika noticed, with some concern that even the normally evil tempered fengars were dismayed by the thickening stench rolling towards them and were almost quiet. She saw that Kemti had pushed Emla and Shan behind the Snow Dragons, but she also saw that Emla had her cloak thrown back and a naked sword in her hand while Shan stood firmly beside her Lady, a wicked looking curved knife at the ready.
Tika drew a shallow breath, wanting to retch as the foetid stink filled her lungs. Then she concentrated on finding Kija’s mind beyond the rock. Swiftly she warned of what was happening, and instantly felt Kija’s strength and love pour back to her. ‘Stars guide you, small one, and my son.’ She felt warmth from the other Dragons, and from Mim, as a clattering of hooves began to sound from beyond the curve ahead.
Dessi had squeezed in beneath Jeela’s chest and she murmured aloud: ‘It is the Guardian’s monsters, but they have no true Power, except the power to terrify by their appearance.’
Tika glanced at her, about to reply, but Farn was stretching up, his eyes glittering blue ice. ‘Fear not, I will die before you are harmed.’
Tika and Dessi both looked at the magnificent silver blue Dragon who, as Tika knew only too w
ell, was still really only a baby. Tika’s eyes filled with tears, which she dashed furiously away on her sleeve as she returned her gaze ahead.
Now a screaming sounded above the rattling of hooves, an inhuman screaming, but they gradually realised mangled human words were mixed among the screams. ‘Kill’ was the clearest word and every hair on Tika’s body stood on end. She made herself relax her over tense grip on her sword and let her left hand rest on Farn’s smooth scales.
Baras stood just in front of her, his sword raised as he watched the tunnel. For a brief second, the clattering faltered, as though whatever approached had decided on some caution before rounding a corner beyond which light showed clearly. Then the screams rose to a crescendo and the first Cansharsi crashed into view. Baras’s arm dropped, Guards released the fengars who joined their battle shrieks to the Cansharsi screams as they charged to meet them.
While there was still space between the two groups, Farn and Ulla both loosed jets of flame and the first two Cansharsi’s battle screams turned to howls of agony as their bodies were seared with fire which burnt deep as knives. Then others were pushing past the writhing bodies and storming on to crash into the advancing fengars, and battle was joined.
Chapter Thirty
Soul Bonds: Book 1 Circles of Light series Page 29
