'The truth is within you.' The words eased into his mind. 'Only you can find the mental peace you seek and the enlightenment you crave. You wander physically while your mind is restless, jumping from experience to experience and event to event. You will find what you seek, Bradan the Wanderer, but what you seek may not be what you think you seek.'
There was a light around the Siddhars, soft yet bright, an aura of peace and acceptance that Bradan had met only once before, that day at Callanish.
'What do I seek?' Bradan asked.
'You seek that which you need most.' The answer was cryptic, as all these answers seemed to be.
'Where will I find it?'
'Where it already is.' The answer was frustrating.
'When will I find it?'
'When you are ready to accept it.'
'How can I help Melcorka?' That was a question Bradan knew he should have asked first.
'By following your guide.'
'Who is my guide?' Bradan asked, as the black-and-white mass appeared before him, although not quite as shapeless as before.
'You know the answer.'
The peace remained as Machaendranathar knelt beside Melcorka.
Bradan looked around. They were still on the slopes of the holy mountain, with the sun beating on them and a circle of white cloud shifting around the forests. Machaendranathar's voice sounded again. 'Now I can see to this unfortunate young lady.'
'Can you cure her?' Bradan's repressed anxiety surfaced with a rush. 'Can you remove the curse?'
'Allow me to speak to Melcorka,' Machaendranathar said. 'She and I have much to discuss.' He placed his hand on Melcorka's forehead, chanting softly.
'You have a troubled mind, Melcorka.'
Melcorka looked up at him with that simple smile that cut Bradan so deeply.
Bradan stepped closer. 'She was cursed.'
'I remember,' Machaendranathar said. He signalled to the seven other Siddhars who gathered around. 'A witch or a demon cursed this young woman, yet she still had sufficient goodness and strength to climb up and rescue me.'
The Siddhars spoke without words, their wisdom encircling Machaendranathar and Melcorka. Although he knew his words were not needed, Bradan broke in. For weeks, he had tried to control his anxiety about Melcorka. Now that the immediate danger was past, he allowed his fear to surface. He felt himself tremble as he spoke.
'Melcorka is like that. She will risk her life a hundred times to help people who need her. If you ever had the opportunity to see her when she is well…'
'I would like that opportunity,' Machaendranathar said. 'Sadly, I may never get it, and nor might anybody else.'
'Why is that?' Bradan asked.
'You know that we have a Siddhar missing, so the world is out of balance,' Machaendranathar said.
'Chaturi informed me of that.' Bradan put a hand on Melcorka.
'Unless all nine Siddhars are together on this sacred mountain,' Machaendranathar continued, 'the world will continue out of balance, allowing the demons to enter. Already one rakshasa, the creature you knew as Dhraji, has entered this world. There may be others.' The Siddhar sighed. 'You know what Dhraji is like, with her taste for blood and death.'
'I know what she is like,' Bradan said.
'There are hundreds, maybe thousands more, waiting for the imbalance to increase. Unless all nine Siddhars are back on the mountain, praying and meditating, the balance will never return, and the rakshasas will infest and invade this world. There will be endless wars and suffering. Blood and pain will rule supreme.'
'How can we get all nine of you back together?' Bradan saw the shimmering black-and-white mass slide toward him. He knew it was carrying a message. He knew it was striving to tell him something. He wished he knew what it was. He watched as the mist slid around Melcorka and merged with her.
'We have one Siddhar missing,' Machaendranathar said. 'Matsyendranath, the Lord of the Fishes.'
'Matsyendranath is not missing,' Melcorka said, with a smile. 'He's on an island.'
Bradan sat up with a jerk. 'Mel, you don't know that for sure.'
'Yes, I do,' Melcorka said. 'Matsyendranath is the man who made me put my sword down a pool so I would come back to him.'
'Open your mind to me,' Machaendranathar said. 'I want to see your history.'
'You won't,' Melcorka said. 'You can't see my history. The kanaima blocked it.'
'Mel,' Bradan said and stopped. This young-minded Melcorka would not know about the kanaima. The original Melcorka, his Swordswoman, was missing. So who could supply this information? It came from Melcorka's mouth, so the only source could be that black-and-white mist that had entered her.
'Do you know of this island?' Machaendranathar asked Bradan.
'I was there when Melcorka lost her sword,' Bradan answered carefully. 'I do not know if the man who took it was a Siddhar or not.'
'Describe him,' Machaendranathar said. 'Give me as many details as you can.'
Bradan recounted their experiences on the white island as Machaendranathar listened, his eyes gentle yet piercing. 'Your friend was correct; that is Matsyendranath,' he said. 'Could you find this island again?'
Bradan shook his head. 'It moved,' he said. 'It moved when we tried to sail away.'
Machaendranathar smiled. 'The island did not move. It was never there except inside your mind. Could you find the patch of sea where you think you landed on the island?'
'Oh, yes. I took sea-marks – that is, I took note of the salient points on the nearest coastline – and if I see it again, I can sail to the same angles.'
'That will do,' Machaendranathar said. 'Take me there.'
'I no longer have a boat,' Bradan said. 'The Thiruzha took it.'
Chaturi had been listening closely to their conversation. 'We can get you a boat,' she said.
Chapter Twelve
Bradan rechecked the sea marks. They were a couple of miles off the green coast, with a distinctive double-peaked hill directly to starboard. He checked the angle between the boat and the double-peaked hill. 'Here we are,' he said. 'This is the exact spot where we found the white island.'
The sea stretched all around, unbroken to west, north and south and level as far as the coastline to the east. There was no island. A flight of birds passed so close overhead that Bradan heard the whirr of their wings and saw the glint of their eyes.
Chaturi looked disappointed. 'Are you sure, Bradan? All the sea looks the same. It might have been a different mountain that you saw. The Ghats are only a little to the north. Could it not have been one of them? Or a hill inland?'
'It was here,' Bradan said. 'That double-peaked hill is quite distinct.'
'There is no island in this patch of sea,' Banduka said. 'I know this coast. Dhraji makes us dive for pearls here.'
'Maybe it sank,' Kosala said. 'Maybe it's one of the sinking kinds of islands. Did you see a sunken island when you were underwater, Banduka?'
'No.' Banduka took the question seriously. 'No, I did not.'
'You have to call for it,' Melcorka said. 'If you call, it will come.' Raising her voice, she shouted out as the others watched her.
'Look!' Bradan pointed to a gleam of white that had appeared on the surface of the water. 'That's what we saw.'
'Is that an island?' Kosala was sceptical. 'It doesn't look like an island.'
'Steer towards it, anyway,' Chaturi ordered.
The Singhalese boat was more cumbersome than Catriona. Bradan steered as Kosala and Banduka worked the sails. The white smear got no closer.
'It's in your mind,' Machaendranathar told them. 'It's there if you wish it to be there.'
Melcorka stood up. 'I remember,' she said, as the boat slid up the white sand that only a moment before had not been there.
Bradan saw the man sitting beneath the palm trees watching them, as if it had only been a few minutes since they last saw him.
'Hallo!' Bradan shouted. 'Are you Matsyendranath? Are you the Lord of the Fishes?'
&nb
sp; The man remained still, with the palms rustling above him and the sea hushing along a beach that seemed to have no end.
'This is very familiar.' Bradan began to walk toward the sitting man, with the others following a few paces behind. The man remained static; the distance neither diminished nor increased.
'Look. There are two men now,' Melcorka said. 'Machaendranathar has got there.'
What had Machaendranathar said about the island? It's there if you wish it to be there. 'Think yourself there,' Bradan said. 'Come on, Mel, we've done this before.' Taking Melcorka's hand, he stepped onward, while trying to envisage himself standing within the copse of trees.
'You're back again.' The sitting man had not moved. He was only an arm-span away.
'We are,' Bradan agreed. 'Are you Matsyendranath?'
'I am,' the sitting man said.
'You are wanted in Sathuragiri,' Bradan said.
'I know.' Matsyendranath did not move.
'Have you always known?' Bradan asked.
'I have always known,' Matsyendranath said.
'Why do you stay here?' Bradan asked.
'A rakshasa has trapped me,' Matsyendranath said.
'There was no need to stay trapped,' Bradan said. 'Melcorka and I had a boat. We would willingly have taken you away last time we were here.'
'My body was not the problem,' Matsyendranath said. 'A rakshasa had trapped my mind.'
'Can we free your mind?'
Matsyendranath pointed to Machaendranathar. 'That man has freed me by his presence. I needed him here. That's why we sent for you.'
'Nobody sent for us,' Bradan said.
'Why do you think you are here?' There was humour in Matsyendranath's eyes. 'The nine Siddhars have to be together on the Sacred Mountain to restore the balance of the world.'
'So I have been told,' Bradan said.
'Seven are on Sathuragiri, one was locked in an iron cage, and I was trapped here. I cannot be freed without Machaendranathar's help, so I had to get him here.'
'Was there nobody else that could help?' Bradan thought of the horrors of the past few weeks. Had this Siddhar been manipulating them all the time?
'There was nobody else with your unique gifts,' Matsyendranath said. 'Nobody except Melcorka could climb to rescue Machaendranathar.'
'Melcorka is not herself,' Bradan said.
'Melcorka had you to look after her,' Matsyendranath said. 'A kanaima has cursed her, but her essential goodness is intact. I knew you would bring her to Machaendranathar and I knew she would rescue him.'
'How could you know that?' Bradan asked, just as the black-and-white miasma formed beside Melcorka. 'What is that?'
'You already know,' Matsyendranath said.
'Last time we were here, you took Melcorka's sword,' Bradan was not prepared to play word games with Matsyendranath.
'We've no time to look for swords.' Chaturi interrupted the conversation. 'We have to get all nine Siddhars back to Sathuragiri, before the rift opens wider and more rakshasas pour into our world.'
Bradan felt his stubborn streak coming to the fore. Ignoring Chaturi, he addressed Matsyendranath directly. 'When we were here last, you said that Melcorka was not fit to use her sword. You were right. She is not fit because a kanaima cursed her. I will help you get back to your famous mystical hill, but not until you help my Melcorka get her sword back.' He felt the atmosphere alter around him and stepped closer to Melcorka, ready to defend her if need be. He heard the slither of steel as Kosala unsheathed his blade.
'Melcorka is safe.' Matsyendranath had read Bradan's fears. 'There is no violence on this island. Put your sword away, Kosala. It is not needed here.'
Bradan faced the Singhalese warrior, knowing he was outmatched if it came to a fight. Kosala slipped his sword back into his scabbard, although his gaze never strayed from Bradan's face.
Matsyendranath lifted his hand, and the dark pool was back. 'How much do you want your sword back, Melcorka? How much have you learned, Bradan?'
'Melcorka's not well,' Bradan said. 'She's not going down there.' Was this a test? If so, he would not back away. Feeling no embarrassment at all, Bradan stripped off his clothes, took three deep breaths and prepared to dive into the water.
'No, Bradan!' Banduka smiled as he stepped forward. 'I'm a pearl diver. I am better in the water than you, and you saved me from the dungeon.' He dived in without another word, leaving hardly a ripple on the surface.
Bradan watched air bubbles rise to the surface of the pool.
'We don't have time to search for a sword,' Chaturi said. 'I can feel the rakshasas massing.'
'Go then,' Bradan told her. 'Go without us. Leave Melcorka and me here.'
'No.' Machaendranathar placed a hand on Chaturi's arm. 'Melcorka needs her sword.'
'There are other swords in the world,' Chaturi said. 'You, Kosala, give your sword to Melcorka, although I don't know what she will do with it in her state.'
'Melcorka needs her own sword. It is special.' Bradan held Kosala's arm and nodded to the pool. 'I hope that young lad is all right. He's been down there for a long time.'
'Get everybody else back to the boat,' Chaturi said. 'Kosala, you escort the Siddhars in case the Thiruzha come here. 'Bradan, you can do what you like. We have what we came for. I'm not wasting any more time.'
At that second, Banduka surfaced in an eruption of water. He leaned against the edge of the pool, gasping for breath as water streamed from his hair onto the sand. 'Nothing,' he said. 'I could not reach the bottom. I went down as far as I could.' Banduka took a great, heaving gasp of air. 'I've never been so deep before. There were no fish even. There was nothing, only water, a void of dark water.'
Bradan felt nausea rising within him. Melcorka without Defender was only another woman. Oh, she would be as brave and strong and stubborn as ever, but… There were no buts. Bradan looked down at Melcorka as she sat propped up against one of the palm trees, smiling. He suddenly did not care if she was Melcorka the Swordswoman, or plain Melcorka from the islands. He did not care if the Singhalese remained or left. I want Melcorka back, not her blasted sword.
'You tried, Banduka. Thank you. We will not forget how you tried. Now, you had better get back to the boat.'
'Are you not coming, Bradan?'
'We are staying.' Melcorka answered for them both. 'We are staying until I get my sword back.'
Melcorka spoke with such simple conviction that Bradan could not resist smiling. He sat at her side.
'Anyway,' Melcorka said, 'the rest haven't reached the boat yet. The man told me to think my sword back.'
'Which man?' Bradan asked. He rose to return to the pool, determined to dive in and try again, for Melcorka's sake.
'The man inside my head,' Melcorka explained, with infinite patience.
Bradan saw the black-and-white mass shimmer in front of him. 'What are you?'
There was no reply. The pool was shrinking even as Bradan watched it. The black-and-white mist had settled beside them, sitting an arm-span above the sand. Bradan looked into the miasma. It seemed to extend forever, as if he could step inside and lose himself in the mist, yet at the same time, he could see through to the other side. The dark pool continued to diminish, closing over Defender.
The black-and-white mist remained.
'What are you?' Bradan asked again. 'Why are you here?'
There was no reply.
Bradan saw somebody emerge from the pool – or was it something? The shape was indefinable, vague, ethereal. He shook his head as the thing gradually took shape. Defender sat on a bed of sand, as clean and pristine as if she had never been under hundreds of feet of water. The leather-and-brass scabbard was gleaming as if Melcorka had oiled it only ten minutes before.
Bradan looked at Defender for a moment as the memories flooded back. The sword was long and ancient, with the sparkle of jewels in the blade, the upturning quillons of the Highlands and the long, sharkskin-bound grip. Defender was as familiar as his own face. He remembered Me
lcorka wielding that sword against the Norse and against the terrifying Shining One. She had carried it throughout the New World and against the Kalingo. Now Melcorka smiled as if she had recovered a lost toy.
'There's my sword.' Melcorka lifted it. 'Now we can leave, Bradan. Come on, the rest are waiting for us.' She strapped it across her back as naturally as if it were part of her.
'Melcorka has learned,' Machaendranathar approved, from within Bradan's mind. 'Battles are won with the will and the mind as much as with muscle and steel.'
Despite the time they had been gone, the Singhalese had made no progress across the sand. Bradan and Melcorka joined them within half a dozen steps.
'Where have you been?' Chaturi looked puzzled. 'We've been walking for hours.'
'The island does that,' Bradan said. 'It warps and distorts time and distance. We'll be on the boat soon.'
'Here we are already,' Kosala said. 'I swear we covered that last mile in only a few steps.'
The boat lay as they had left her, hauled up above the rippling sea with her mast at an angle and the tide no different to when they had left it, half a day or five minutes before.
'Hurry!' Chaturi urged them on. 'We must get the Siddhars back to Sathuragiri before the rift widens further.'
'The Siddhars are moving as fast as they can,' Machaendranathar said. 'We know the dangers better than you do!'
The second they stepped into the boat, the seascape altered. For one moment, Bradan had a vision of a vast continent that stretched as far as he could see to the south and east, and then, without a sound, there was only the sea, blue and warm and shifting.
'Hoist the sail,' Chaturi spoke quickly. 'Get to the oars. Hurry, before the Thiruzhas are out searching.'
'I think they already are.' Banduka pointed to the north, where the sails of a small flotilla punctured the horizon.
Chapter Thirteen
'Hurry!' Bradan had never seen Chaturi more agitated. She pushed the crew into their places. 'How far is the land?'
Melcorka Of Alba Page 17
