Fire and Fantasy: A Limited Edition Collection of Urban and Epic Fantasy

by CK Dawn

  When she was done, Kantees ran to where Gally was working, only to find that he had already succeeded. Both he and Looesa had smug looks. She laughed, then jumped as the tekrak creaked. She spun around. The roots were coming out of the ground. They had been barely in time with the ropes.

  But now was the real test.

  She hurried back to Sheesha in case he needed calming, but he was merely watching the movement of the plant with half an eye. Quite disinterested. She supposed this might be because it wasn’t edible.

  But, as the roots came up, the great green ball of leaves creaked again and lifted. Gally and Yenteel had been assigned ropes at the far end, near the fire tube but not in line with it. Kantees did not have a rope but she thought she might be able to push from this side if needed. She wanted to be able to see everything and guide them. Or calm the ziri if that was needed.

  She worried about what might happen if one of them panicked and decided the rope was a trap. This was a tremendously dangerous thing they were doing. The ziri could hurt themselves, or hurt someone else. Men could understand—the zirichasa simply trusted. And it was her they put their faith in.

  She saw light under the tekrak. The biggest roots had drawn up, with soil and plants dripping from them like water. The ropes and net stretched. Soon there was enough space for the children to go under it, though they were standing off to the side and watching with no excitement. They had seen this before.

  “Gally! Yenteel! Start to walk towards the carriage!” They obeyed easily enough but the ziri were not looking happy. The ropes pulling across their bellies was not something they were used to.

  “Sheesha,” she said in a sharp tone. “Come on.” And she started to walk towards the body of the tekrak in slow, small steps—it wasn’t a great distance but she wanted Sheesha to get the idea they were going somewhere. The big ziri grunted and she saw the rope over her head slacken as he moved after her.

  “Shingul! Looesa! Move!”

  They looked at her. They looked at Sheesha, who grunted again. They hesitated.

  “Looesa, go to Gally!” And she pointed. Thankfully ziri were brighter than zatesa, who were good for guarding and being pets but would have just looked at her pointing finger. Looesa knew who Gally was and turned his head. “Gally, tell him to come. Yenteel, call to Shingul, ask her to come to you.”

  They did as she said and the ziri walked. Luckily, again unlike zatesa, they were big and preferred to move slowly—at least on the ground. So they didn’t rush.

  Kantees breathed a sigh of relief. If it worked now, it could work in the evening. She imagined the horror on Daybian’s face if he’d seen this. Using the racing zirichasa as beasts of burden! She smiled to herself.

  They got the tekrak in position and the patterner, in his chair at the front of the carriage, muttered to himself and chanted. The roots came alive once more and wound themselves around the ironwork.

  The loose ropes were tied off on stakes already driven into the ground. Otherwise, the carriage would lift. Then Kantees and Gally released the ziri. Sheesha proceeded to investigate the plant and its roots as if it had now become something of interest. He even poked his head inside the carriage and sniffed the patterner.

  “Gally and Yenteel, you ride in the basket with the children. I will fly with the ziri.”

  “You shouldn’t ride the ziri, you’re just a slave.”

  Kantees turned and stared at Jelamie. Those were the first words he had spoken. She wanted to be angry with him, but it would not be fair. He was still a child, and he had been sorely used by these men.

  Instead she went down on one knee although it hurt her shoulder to do so. Yenteel had only had time to do a simple pattern that mended the worst.

  “You would be right, Jelamie, if I were still a slave, but I am not. On the night of the raid I freed myself so that I was able to ring the warning bell and bring out the armsmen to fight the raiders.”

  He looked confused. The idea that slaves might free themselves did not fit with his understanding. But he was too young see a flaw in the argument. He just felt it was inherently wrong. But for Kantees herself it was a revelation. She had said the words simply to placate him, but the truth of them struck her: She had freed herself because freedom was something you claimed as your right. It could not be given because that validated slavery itself.

  “And if I had not freed myself I could not have come on the ziri to rescue you.”

  “You came for me?”

  “Of course. What other reason could I have?”

  And that, at least, was the complete truth. She decided not to mention that Daybian had also been on the journey. Explaining that his brother was captured and possibly dead would not do the boy any good at all. No, she would not burden him further, and she would tolerate anything unpleasant he said.

  “Come on, it’s time to go,” she said and held out her hand. He hesitated for a moment, then raised his pale fingers to her dark ones. Then he threw himself into her arms, weeping.

  Pain shot through her shoulder but she bit down on her lip to keep from crying out. Instead she enfolded him and held him. Her own eyes filled with tears.

  First they would take the girls back to their village. That would take a day. Then they would fly the monstrous beast close to Jakalain and she would take Jelamie to his parents, though she would not linger. They would soon have her in irons and destined for the noose if she gave them half a chance—freedom might be claimed but it was easily lost if one was not careful. She would have Yenteel write a letter that Jelamie could deliver explaining the situation.

  And then?

  Then she would make the patterner tell her what she needed to know and find Daybian.

  And after that, Kantees of the Ziri? asked the voice in her head.

  “We’ll see,” she said out loud. “We will see.”

  * * *

  ~ End of Book 1 ~

  * * *

  “OUTLAW DRAGON” Preview

  The white light of the moon Lostimal shone across the undulating plains and, where it threw a shadow, the dim red glow of Colimar filled in. It was still warm from the summer’s day but the temperature had dropped enough for it to be comfortable.

  Kantees did not push Sheesha to fly faster. They had not camped too far from the castle of Jakalain. It had seemed strange going back there. The familiarity on the one hand, the changes she had gone through on the other. And the fact that they would most likely have strung her up as an escaped slave given a chance.

  However, in returning Jelamie to his parents, Kantees was careful not to give them that chance. She had not promised his parents, the Lord and Lady Jakalain, that she would return their son. As far as they were concerned she had simply ridden off on their valuable property taking two other slaves with her.

  Gally and Yenteel were back at the camp, along with the two other zirichasa, Looesa and Shingul. They were older and had been retired from the racing, but her Sheesha was still growing into his speed and skill.

  He flapped his gorgeous feathered wings from time to time, but mostly just glided. The wind ran through Kantees’ black hair which she now kept plaited for convenience.

  She had given Jelamie the letter Yenteel had written—Kantees could neither write nor read—and the boy had promised he would deliver it. He was certainly more subdued than he had been before he had stowed away in the great basket of the flying tekrak plant. He had been spoilt by his mother and that was how he had come to disappear, hiding, and not kidnapped as everyone thought.

  The raiders had not killed him but kept him as a pet—if one taunted and tortured one’s pet as they had him. He had witnessed murders and the abuse of other children brought on board.

  She had flown to the top of the Ziri Tower and landed him there. She had slipped off Sheesha’s back and knelt to give him a hug which he accepted willingly. The sound of the armsmen coming drove her back into the sky. She wondered if the boy would ever recover from his experiences, she hoped so, as lon
g as he did not forget and go back to being the old, unpleasant, Jelamie.

  Their camp came into sight. The huge dark bulk of the tekrak highlighted on one side by the single fire of the runaway slaves—and the patterner, Tenical, who controlled the beast. They had rescued him from the raiders as well—but he was one of the group who had been in the original raid. He was not a friend but he helped them from the duty he felt for his life.

  Sheesha went into his usual spiral descent to land. There was no need to guide him. As long as he knew the way he would simply do what was needed. And when the other ziri flew with him they would follow his lead. Now he flew down to wards the fire. There was no welcoming call from the other ziri, unlike during the day. Perhaps they were just asleep, or at night it might attract foes from out of the night.

  Kantees dismounted and thanked Sheesha for letting her ride—neither she nor the others used any kind of saddle or even reins so it really was up to the zirichasa whether they allowed people to ride them. But Sheesha seemed to enjoy it, and the others did not object.

  “Any problems?” asked Yenteel, he sounded barely awake.

  “None.”

  He went silent and turned over. Kantees sat down by the fire and stared into it embers. Riding on Sheesha, even in this mild weather, was not the warmest activity and she needed better clothing. She still wore what she had escaped in—rough trousers and a top that was long enough to be a smock. It was not that she wanted expensive clothes, she had no money for that, just a linen undershirt would be nice to keep the roughness from her skin.

  Or clothes like Daybian wore.

  She hesitated as she remembered his face in the cave. The serious Daybian. The man who had saluted her. Not the boy with the clever comment who thought the entire world revolved around him. And she remembered his words when his ziri had been killed and fell on him. When he told her to save herself and the others.

  The embers in the fire crackled. Sparks flew up.

  She took a deep breath, she needed to sleep and to have a clear head in the morning. There were decisions that needed to be made. She settled down in the cool air without even a blanket like the one when she had been a slave back at Jakalain.

  There was a mist lying on the plain when she woke. She was damp through and even colder. Gally and Ulina were trying to relight the fire. Kantees looked around but could only see the shadowy bulk of the tekrak. This had happened before on a day when it rained heavily. The plant refused to fly. That suited her since she wanted to talk to Tenical.

  If she could find him.

  The ziri were huddled together against the weather as well. Neither the patterner nor Yenteel were in sight. She set off around the body of the tekrak. Ulina called it Big Green which was descriptive but hardly a familiar name. But how could you become friendly with a plant?

  Then she heard Yenteel. From his tone he seemed to be trying to persuade Tenical of something. She paused to eavesdrop, but could not make out the words.

  “Yenteel!” she called into the mist.

  “Here, Kantees.”

  She could already see their shapes and, as she walked up to them, they resolved into more detail. It seemed odd to her that Yenteel, with his face black as a moonless night, could be talking to a Taymalin the way he had been. Tenical’s face was the pale shade of all those who enslaved her people.

  “How does the tekrak even know that it should not fly today?” she said.

  Tenical shrugged. “Some days it does not. Perhaps because there is no sun, perhaps because its gases are not pure enough to lift it? Perhaps because it has not got enough to burn in its fire tube.”

  “Have you thought about what I said?”

  “I told you, Kantees, I do not know what the Dunor is.”

  She sighed. She felt he was telling the truth but she had no way of knowing if he was telling the truth. He might be an accomplished liar, just as she was. “What about where the Hamalain have taken Daybian?”

  “He might still be at Kurvin Port,” said Yenteel as if he was defending the Taymalin.

  Kantees frowned. She did not need his interference.

  “They want information,” she said. “They will think he has it.”

  “The golden light,” said Tenical.

  “What?”

  “I am not blind, Kantees. That pattern you used to make the golden light that scared Ofindah’s men before you attacked.”

  She paused. “Yes. Very good. They think he knows how to make that.”

  “Does he?”

  “No.”

  “Then they will torture him to his death to gain it. Unless you think he will reveal that it is you who knows the pattern.”

  “He will not,” she said, and she was certain it was true. But they might suspect she knew anyway. Perhaps that might work in his favour.

  “Where did they take him?”

  “I have already told you I don’t know.”

  “Do you know anything, Tenical of the Hamalain? Because if you know nothing then what good are you?” She knew her anger was wasted but it was all so frustrating. “Who taught you to control the tekrak?”

  “Other patterners at the place I was sent. I was not given their names.”

  She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. “How could you not know where you were instructed if you had to fly the tekrak back to Esternes?”

  “But we did not. They opened a patterner’s path and brought it back with me.”

  “To Hamalain?”

  “No, it was another circle in the north of the island. We flew it round the east and came to Jakalain from the other direction.”

  “For the sole purpose of capturing Daybian?”

  He nodded.

  “Who told you that he was the one?”

  Tenical shrugged and shook his head. “I do not know.”

  “Again.”

  “Kantees, you saved my life and it is in repayment I help you. But I am still a Hamalain and I cannot betray my people.”

  “By helping me, Tenical of Hamalain, you have already betrayed them and if you think otherwise you are a fool.”

  He had no answer.

  “The other ley-circle?” she said.

  “It’s in the Watching Pass.”

  Kantees looked at Yenteel but he only shrugged.

  “Do the Hamalain have their patterners there all the time? And please don’t say you don’t know.”

  “They do maintain patterners there all the time. I spent time there working the patterners for the path. They dig stone that burns from the ground and it is used in the fires at Kurvin Port.”

  Kantees was distracted by the idea of a stone that burns but instead she said. “Very good. This is what we shall do. We will take the tekrak to the Watching Pass and we will tell them you are to return to the place where you were trained. If we are lucky that will be the place they took Daybian. If not we may be able to find out. And perhaps they will also know what the Dunor are”

  Both Tenical and Yenteel opened their mouths to speak but she silenced them by raising her hands. “You will take the tekrak,” she said looking at them. “With Gally, Looesa and Shingul. I have an errand to run and will take Ulina with me so that she is not under your feet.”

  “You expect us to be able to handle the tekrak with just two ziri?” said Yenteel.

  “It might be hard,” she said. “But Shingul and Looesa can hold it down with you and Gally to guide it. He’s had enough experience that he won’t make any silly mistakes.”

  I hope.

  “Gally stay with Kantees.”

  She closed her eyes. It was what she had expected but it was still somehow disappointing when he uttered the words. And he meant it with complete sincerity.

  “Gally needs to help Yenteel and Tenical.”

  He shook his head then pointed at Ulina.

  “Ulina is too young, she is coming with me.” Kantees prayed that Ulina didn’t decide to join in and complain that she was quite old enough. She had been the one to ki
ll the leader of the raiders and it did not seem to have bothered her. This in itself was worrying since the village they where they found her were very pleased to hand her over, and claimed they had no idea where she had come from.

  Ulina said nothing.

  “Kantees takes Ulina but leaves Gally?”

  Now he really was upset. She knew she could just insist but it wasn’t fair on him, and if she did that he might decide to make some mistakes in retaliation.

  “Ulina can’t look after the ziri,” she said in exasperation.

  “Gally looks after the zirichasa,” he said indignantly.

  “Exactly,” she said. “And if Gally comes with Kantees who will look after the ziri?”

  “Kantees looks after Sheesha. Gally looks after Looesa.” He trailed off as his simple logic provided its own answer. Yenteel rode on Shingul but Yenteel would be staying behind.

  Kantees said nothing as she watched him working it out.

  “Gally stay with Yenteel.”

  “Yes, I need you to look after the ziri,” she said. “Just like you always do because you are their friend.”

  He nodded. Still not happy but defeated by his own argument.

  “There’s one more thing, Gally,” she said. “Do you still have that coin we found on the Hamalain?” She wasn’t hopeful, it had probably been pocketed by one of the armsmen when they arrested Gally in Hamalain.

  He reached into his clothes and pulled out a rag. The gold glinted when he unwrapped it.

  “How?” she said.

  “Gally ate it so soldiers not have it.”

  Ah. She eyed it suspiciously, and then considered what he must have been doing every time…

  The thought was too unpleasant to contemplate.

  “I need to take it with me.”

  “It is Gally’s.”

  “Yes, I know.” But I need money. “I will bring you presents from Dakatown. Something even better than the coin.”