by Mark Robson
It was hard to know what to believe. Jack had never believed in God, yet there had been times in the air when he had prayed . . . just in case. He had even muttered a ‘thank you’ on occasion, after particularly close encounters with death. The dragons and their riders had acted like guardian angels on three separate occasions, arriving in the nick of time to save his life. Coincidence? It seemed highly improbable. They claimed they had no control over when they arrived, and that they were not deliberately opening their gateways near to him. If they were not doing it, who was?
He felt a strange connection with Elian and a prickle ran up and down his back as he accepted this fact. Was there such a thing as predestination? Had some higher force already mapped out his life? This scary thought made him want to know more.
‘Elian,’ he said aloud. ‘Tell me more about this quest you’re on. I want to know as much as you can tell me.’
Chapter Eleven
Harkesis
It had taken three-and-a-half days of hard flying, but when the city of Harkesis finally came into view the sight of it took Kira’s breath away.
‘Gods alive!’ she thought, directing her exclamation through the bond to her dragon. ‘It’s huge!’
‘I imagine the High Lord of Harkesis will be pleased by your reaction, Kira,’ Fang said, his voice sounding amused.
Kira laughed aloud. ‘And why would the High Lord care what I think?’ she asked.
‘The people of Harkesis are very proud of their city, and none more so than the High Lord,’ Fang replied, his tone turning serious. ‘ You are a dragonrider. The dragonrider community wield a lot of influence across Areth. Your opinion is more sought after than you might imagine. Do not be surprised if you are invited to attend the High Lord’s court while we are in Harkesis. It is a courtesy often extended to riders.’
‘But I don’t know the first thing about how to behave in a nobleman’s presence,’ she said, horrified by the thought of being expected to mix with the aristocracy.
‘You will do fine, Kira,’ Fang told her. ‘If an invitation is extended, I will guide you through the experience. The courtesies required are not too difficult here.’
The bright white of the city buildings sprawling across the two coastal hills was reminiscent of the snowy mountains the girls had left behind. They stood out amongst the lush green of the countryside and against the bright blue backdrop of the eastern end of the Capsian Sea. Numerous buildings of all shapes and sizes covered the hillsides and flooded the valley between, but rather than being set in ordered rows, there was a chaotic look to the city’s construction. The only consistent element was the colour – every building was as white as purest porcelain.
‘Can you see the large building on the summit of the hill to the left?’ Fang asked.
‘Yes.’
‘That’s the library.’
Even though they were still leagues from reaching the edge of the city, Kira could appreciate the scale of the Grand Library building. It was an enormous structure: rectangular, but with a roof that sported five huge domes and high minarets at each corner that reached into the sky with needle-sharp points. There was no other building in the city that came close to matching it for size, or elaborate architecture.
‘I assumed that was the High Lord’s palace,’ she admitted. ‘I’m amazed that a library is the largest building. There are only two books in our tribe and both belong to the medicine man. One is a book of herb lore and the other is a collection of stories from the tribe’s history.’
The thought of the storybook instantly brought memories flashing back through her mind. Only a very few people were taught to read in her tribe. It was not a skill that had much application to everyday life in the savannah. Every rainy season the Chief’s wife would borrow the book of stories from the medicine man and read them to the younger children.
Kira remembered those days with a special fondness. The stories were colourful and exciting, and the Chief’s wife read them with passion. The debates afterwards on the morals of the tales were always lively and Kira had enjoyed vivid dreams for many days afterwards.
‘Learning is of primary importance to the people of Harkesis,’ Fang told her. ‘The Grand Library has given the city a reputation for being the seat of learning in Areth. People travel here from all over the world to find answers to their questions. Even the lowest street urchins pride themselves on the combined knowledge of those within the city.’
‘Any sign of night dragons?’ she asked.
There was a pause as he searched ahead with his mind.
‘No. None,’ he said.
‘Good.’
They flew on, angling towards the Grand Library and slowly descending until they were level with the hilltop on which it stood. As they swept in over the city, a closer view of the buildings dispelled the earlier image of purity. All of the houses had been whitewashed, but even from a hundred spans up, Kira could see the ramshackle construction of the tiny box-like hovels and the filth on the streets. Once they were over the city proper, Kira could smell it as well. The stench created by inadequate sanitation mushroomed up in a great bubble.
‘How can they live amongst that?’ Kira asked, horrified. She covered her mouth with her sleeve, gagging at the ripe aroma. Nolita, who was flying alongside her on Firestorm, was also filled with disgust.
‘They become hardened to it,’ Fang explained, sounding matter-of-fact. ‘Smell something for long enough and eventually you will stop noticing it. At the moment the weather is stable and the pressure is rising. This makes the air descend, trapping the smell of the streets and allowing it to intensify. The people who live here are grateful for days when the air is less stable, or when there is a stiff breeze blowing.’
‘But what makes so many people want to live here in the first place?’ she asked. ‘How do they find food? Surely the countryside has been stripped of game with so many people to feed.’
‘They live here because they feel it brings them status.’ Fang sounded contemptuous of the idea. Kira found her own emotions mirroring those of her dragon. ‘The academics have found solutions to the problems of food and water. They have developed a clever system of intensive farming that produces far more food than the land would normally yield. What they cannot grow, they buy through traders. It is a complex system.’
‘Sounds like madness to me,’ Kira observed. ‘What if the trade routes were disrupted? The city would starve.’
‘It would not be the first time such a thing has happened,’ Fang said sadly. ‘Wealth is relative. Who is better off: a dragon with a comfortable cave and a mountain of gold, or a dragon with nowhere to shelter, but who has a ready supply of fresh meat? The correct answer will depend on the circumstances.’
Kira fell silent and surveyed the city with a mixture of wonder and disgust as the ground ahead rose towards the enormous structure perched on its peak. The courtyard in front of the Grand Library was a perfect square. The colonnade around its perimeter was topped with a string of eight small domes on each side, and was supported by delicate arches of pure white stone.
The enclosed area was large enough for the two dragons to land safely, though they had to slow to a brief hover before touching down to avoid inadvertently hurting anyone. A large number of scholars were milling in the courtyard as they approached. They scattered like frightened sheep at the sight of the dragons.
Fang landed with delicate precision in front of the great marble steps leading up to the gigantic main doors. Firestorm touched down with equal finesse alongside him. Both dragons folded their wings back and dipped down on their forelegs to allow the two girls to dismount.
Sliding down to the ground, Kira stepped smartly away from Fang and leapt up the first two enormous marble steps where she met Nolita. The blonde girl looked nervous, though it was not clear if this was due to the proximity of the dragons, or the imposing nature of the building in front of them.
‘This way, Nolita,’ Kira said in a low voice, trying to soun
d confident. ‘Let’s get this over with. I can’t say I care much for the smell around here.’
She led the way up the remaining five steps to the threshold to the open doors. Towering pillars on either side of the doorway made for a most impressive entranceway. The twin open doors into the Grand Library were at least six times a man’s height. They were carved from thick pieces of solid hardwood that had been so cleverly joined that they appeared to have been cut from a single, impossibly large tree.
Distracted by the sheer scale of the entranceway, Kira did not notice the man standing inside the doors until he spoke.
‘Hello, dragonriders. I am Kalen. Welcome to the Grand Library. What can I do for you today?’
The man was a picture of wisdom: clean-shaven, pale and wrinkled with age, but with bright blue eyes that danced with intelligence. His full crop of silver hair was trimmed neatly around his ears and neck. His pale cream scholar’s robe was clean and cinched at the waist by a belt of purple. What drew Kira’s eyes most, however, was the way that the man’s head jutted forwards from his shoulders. It took a moment for her to realise that the man’s spine was deformed. It looked almost as if his neck were broken, as his head tipped forwards at a strange angle, forcing him to look up at them through the tops of his eyes.
She stammered as she tried to respond with suitable poise.
‘Hello, Kalen. I am Kira and this is Nolita,’ she said. ‘We’re here seeking the answer to a riddle. I wonder if you can help us.’
‘A riddle!’ he said, sounding both surprised and delighted. ‘A riddle whose solution escapes the wisdom of dragons must be a riddle indeed! I shall be honoured to help you. Come inside and tell me about it. I confess, I’m most intrigued.’
‘Are you sure?’ Kira asked, uncertain. How could she be sure he was the right person to ask for help? ‘I wouldn’t want to distract you from your work.’
‘Not at all, Kira. I only take a turn in the doorway to allow me some space to think. It’s always a pleasure to help dragonriders.’
‘From what I sense of his mind, he is genuinely interested in helping us, Kira,’ Fang told her, feeling her indecision through the bond. ‘I think you can trust him. Firestorm and I are going to leave the courtyard and go down to the sea. We want to take the opportunity to bathe in the cool water. We will return for you in a couple of hours, or if we feel any night dragons approaching.’
‘That’s fine, Fang,’ she replied. ‘We’ll see you later. Hopefully we’ll have more of an idea of where we’re going by then.’
Kalen gave a hand signal, and two young men in robes tied with yellow belts came running across from the colonnade to their right. The men leapt up the marble steps, keeping a good distance from the dragons. Fang and Firestorm launched into the sky and all the scholars who had hidden under the covered walkways were quick to step out to watch the two great creatures climb away.
Kira smiled at their reaction. It was clearly not an everyday occurrence for dragons to visit. The old scholar gave a brief set of instructions to the two juniors in a quiet voice and then gestured for Kira and Nolita to follow him inside.
‘Excuse me, Kalen . . . sir,’ Nolita stammered as they crossed the threshold. ‘Is there somewhere I could wash my hands?’
‘Yes, of course!’ Kalen said, looking particularly pleased. ‘It’s wonderful to see that you observe such customs. We normally require everyone to wash their hands before entering the Grand Library. Some of the books are priceless. It would be a disaster to have them ruined with dirty finger marks. I was going to waive protocol in your case, as you’ve clearly been wearing gloves, but I would feel much more comfortable if you washed your hands before entering. Through that door over there you will find basins with clean water and plenty of soap. The water boys change the basins twice every hour. The last change was completed just moments before you arrived.’
Kira knew that Nolita’s request to wash had nothing to do with the books, but Kalen did not need to know that. He had pointed to an ordinary-sized side door set in the wall of the foyer. The girls went through it and found lines of bowls filled with clean water. A small block of soap rested in a dish next to each bowl.
Kira picked a bowl and gave her hands a cursory wash before drying them on a piece of soft dry cloth hanging on a wall hook just above the bowl. Nolita took considerably more time, scrubbing fiercely at the skin and cleaning thoroughly between her fingers and under her nails.
‘Is it getting any easier?’ Kira asked her as she waited. ‘Do you feel as if you’re coming to terms with being a rider yet?’
Nolita did not look up.
‘No,’ she said bluntly. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. I thought the feelings of fear would reduce, but there doesn’t seem to be any sign of that happening yet. I still find it as difficult to climb onto Fire’s back as I did in the day dragon enclave. I am coping . . . just, but I don’t think the fear will ever go away.’
‘I sort of assumed—’ Kira started.
‘Well you assumed wrong,’ Nolita interrupted. She looked up at Kira with the fire of anger in her eyes. ‘It’s not getting any easier. If anything it’s getting more difficult. At the moment I cope because I have to – because there is a purpose behind what we’re doing. But succeed or fail, this quest will be over in a few weeks and what then? You, Elian and Pell will go your own ways. I will be left with Fire – alone. Just the thought of that scares me more than anything I’ve ever known.’
‘But Fire will never hurt you,’ Kira said gently. ‘You know that, don’t you?’
‘Understanding it, and making my heart and mind believe it are very different things,’ Nolita sighed. ‘I know it doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know why I’m still so afraid, but I am. There doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it.’
Kira placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. ‘We’ll work something out, Nolita. You’ll see.’
The words were well meant, but Kira realised how hollow they must sound. Nolita was right. The quest would end soon, one way or another. At the moment she could not imagine life after searching for the dusk orb. This was her part in the quest and it required focus. Danger had dogged their steps throughout. Nolita had completed her part. It was no wonder she was starting to look ahead and worry.
The girls rejoined Kalen and he led them deep into the Grand Library building. The short hallway ended with another set of impressive doors. These were a third of the size of the outer doors, but again had clearly been crafted with great skill. Kalen opened the right-hand door and waved the girls through ahead of him.
Kira gasped with wonder as she stepped into the vast room beyond. Her mind instantly flashed back to the Chamber of the Sun Steps at the enclave of the day dragons, and how she had felt as she entered that enormous cavern. If anything, this room was even more awe-inspiring than the volcanic cave because it was the work of human hands.
The circular walls of the vast space had five levels of balcony walkways running around its circumference, with sets of steps zigzagging up through the levels. What made the room dizzying, however, was not its size, but the incredible number of books that lined its walls. Every inch of space on the huge circular walls was shelved and each shelf was full of books.
The central area of the chamber was given to more bookcases. It looked like a maze. The huge, imposing bookcases interlocked in a complex geometric pattern to make maximum use of the ground-level floor space.
‘Impressive, isn’t it?’ Kalen said in a low voice. ‘There are four more rooms like this, but they are smaller. This is the central chamber.’
‘I didn’t know there were this many books in the world,’ Nolita whispered.
Kira glanced across at her wide-eyed companion and then at Kalen. Nolita had echoed Kira’s thoughts word for word. The man smiled.
‘The problem with having such a wonderful library,’ he said in a conspiratorial whisper, ‘is that to be anyone in this city, you need to have written a book that is deemed
worthy of a place in it.’
‘So have you written a book that can be found here?’ Kira asked.
Kalen’s smile stretched wider still. ‘Yes indeed – nine volumes now, with another that is currently being read by the Council of Librarians.’
‘Nine books! That’s amazing. I couldn’t think of enough words to fill one book, let alone nine.’
‘Writing is not so different from speaking, really,’ Kalen said, trying to sound modest and not quite succeeding. ‘Everyone knows enough words to fill a book. There are some who discover new things that add to the pool of human understanding. Others write of life experiences, or stories that encapsulate lessons designed to help people live better lives. It is developing the discipline to sit and string the words together in a way that brings something fresh and beneficial to literature that takes practice.’
‘I can relate to what you’re saying,’ Kira admitted. ‘Learning to be a hunter is similar. Everyone knows the basics: you go into the wild, you kill animals and you bring them back home for the table. It sounds easy, but to be any good at it takes years of practice.’
‘An interesting analogy,’ Kalen said thoughtfully. ‘I’ve never heard anyone relate writing a book to hunting before. But now come, tell me your riddle and we’ll see if I can help you find an answer.’
Chapter Twelve
‘The Oracle Will Pay’
‘There is something about this rhyme that’s niggling at me,’ Jack muttered. He scratched at his right ear, his forehead lined with wrinkles as he narrowed his eyes and concentrated. He stared at the words of the Oracle’s poem. He had written them out on the back of his map so he would not forget them. The words made no sense.
