Vagrants: Book 2 Circles of Light series

by E. M. Sinclair

  The three women studied the oval device Maressa had sketched. They could make nothing of it.

  ‘Have you scryed this place before Maressa?’ Thryssa asked.

  Maressa studied her hands while she considered the question. Finally she looked squarely at Thryssa, her usual enigmatic expression quite gone.

  ‘I have scryed that place, yes, but not recently. A man ruled there who had some strong talents and also great weaknesses in his abilities. I discovered him long ago and became fascinated with watching him. Then I found he experimented with living creatures, wanting to change them into monstrosities. The last time, what I saw sickened me and his mind was increasingly threaded with madness. I think he is no longer in that place. There is a difference – I cannot explain more clearly.’

  She reached for the mug of tea she’d put on the table. ‘You must do with me as you will Thryssa. I have transgressed our laws and I understand if I must stand trial before the assembly. I swear to you though that I have only observed. I have not been discovered by any I have so watched, nor have I interfered in any way with their lives or thoughts.’

  She drained her mug and sat back, only her pallor indicating a nervousness in her while she waited for Thryssa to reply. The silence extended and Alya quietly fetched the jug of tea from the hearth and poured some for everyone.

  ‘I cannot make decisions out of hand on what you’ve been doing Maressa. I fear many have been transgressing the laws, but I don’t recall any admitting doing so, or being accused of doing so.’ Thryssa gave a tired smile. ‘When those laws were decreed, all were in favour of them. No punishments were named because no one dreamed they would be needed.’

  Elyssa started to speak, blushed and buried her face in her mug.

  ‘Speak out Elyssa,’ Thryssa said.

  ‘Well. It’s just that I’ve been going through reports – as you know.’ The High Speaker’s presence and attention flustered Elyssa. ‘I’ve just read a report by Keejal. He was from Segra and he went several times to speak with Gremara.’

  ‘And obviously survived,’ Maressa interjected, her brows raised questioningly.

  Elyssa nodded. ‘He found that Gremara hates to be asked questions directly. He made various statements to her, as if he knew of what he spoke. Most times she answered quite calmly, discussing what he’d said and explaining many details. He says she responded to flattery and he approached her humbly and with respect, and she did him no hurt.’

  ‘But many others have tried to speak with her,’ Alya objected. ‘And were fortunate indeed to get away with only serious burns if she didn’t kill them outright.’

  Elyssa jumped up and began to rummage through a heap of parchments and leather folders on a smaller side table. She grabbed one of the folders triumphantly as the rest of the heap slithered across the table to the floor. Extracting a thick wedge of papers, she flicked through them rapidly.

  ‘Here it is! He wrote this less than six hundred cycles ago. He says Gremara waits for a Dragon Lord – could that be who you saw Maressa? The Dragon Lord will come to her, she must wait for him here and when he comes -. Well, she didn’t seem to tell Keejal what would happen then.’

  Elyssa trailed off, passing the papers to Thryssa.

  ‘Why would he not tell all of us the safest way to approach Gremara?’ Alya asked.

  ‘He has,’ Elyssa said. ‘In these writings at least. He says she is very lonely and would welcome the right visitors occasionally. He also says, some have gone to her saying they would be her apprentices. Gremara mistook them for possible Dragon Lords and when she realised they were not what she thought, she killed them in her despair. Keejal wrote that he planned to arrange visits by selected groups of Vagrantians, because he was sure it would check her madness.’

  Elyssa fetched another parchment. ‘The report just stopped and I wondered why. Keejal was clearly a meticulous observer and recorder. In this census of Segra’s births and deaths, it is written that Keejal died in an accident – there was a rock slip and he and two others were killed.’

  She passed the parchment over to Thryssa. Alya asked:

  ‘Is this why the Chimes of Discord rang?’

  ‘No.’ Thryssa and Maressa answered together. Thryssa continued.

  ‘This is connected, in a way I cannot see, but the Chimes rang because the Circles were used.’

  ‘In Kedara,’ Jilla said slowly. ‘There are those who see the future. I am not sure if any can do so today, but some wrote down what they saw and when they died their papers were brought to our library.’

  Maressa agreed. ‘I do not think any do so now. We could ask,’ she suggested. ‘I have admitted to scrying. I know many others do also, although we do not speak of what we see, to each other or anyone else. Until now. I know some of them, only by sensing their minds in the air when I too am travelling the winds.’

  Alya opened the door at a light tap, and Kwanzi came in. He held a message tube in his hand, which had the mark of Kedara on its side.

  ‘A bird brought this a few minutes ago Jilla.’

  He handed the tube to her. She broke the wax seals with her thumbnail and eased out the tightly rolled flimsy paper. Carefully, she unrolled it and spread it on the table before her. She caught her breath, scanned the rest of the message, and looked up at the watching faces.

  ‘It is from my father Orsim. He says Dashka came to him in great agitation. He admitted to far sensing the strangers beyond the Wilderness, who made their city at the south end of the High Land Mountains. When Gremara cried out, many of them were hurt. Some are dead. Dashka says never before has a silver Dragon sent such a call. But the strangers are hurt. And if they are, who else has Gremara harmed?’

  Thryssa read the message paper and sighed.

  ‘I have this feeling of being forced in a direction not of my own choosing. Is this the time we must be forced to relinquish our safe isolation? Must we go into the world again to try to help the strangers and no doubt some of the humans who still carry our blood? Surely those with any power in them will have felt Gremara’s force this time and they will be suffering.’

  Kwanzi slid his arm round her waist and she leaned against him gratefully for a brief moment. Then she straightened.

  ‘Summon the full councils, Kwanzi. The time for procrastination is over.’

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mim felt a wild mind screaming towards him. He drew more power than he had ever attempted before to hurl shields as extensively as he could over the stronghold and the northern parts of the Domain of Asat. He was in Dessi’s chamber with Ashta and Rofu, watching as the Delver girl slept. The mind that sought his was not Rhaki’s, but there was the same hint of madness threading through it. There was also a strength beyond any Mim had felt before. Rofu whimpered while Ashta’s eyes whirred in terror.

  ‘Stay here with Dessi,’ Mim told Ashta, rushing from the chamber.

  He went straight to the quarters that had been Rhaki’s, flicking the wardings aside with scarcely a thought. He hurried on to the Chamber of Balance and found the weights shivering in their impossible suspension. They were in the same position as before – he thought – but without doubt, something had shaken them where they hung.

  Slowly Mim made his way back to Dessi’s chamber, resetting the wards only at the outermost door of the set of rooms. The scaled tips of his ears stung as though a loud noise had offended them, although there had been no audible sound. He found Dessi sitting on the side of her bed, Rofu clinging to the front of her bed gown. Ashta had calmed, her prismed eyes their usual gold-flecked green.

  Dessi stared hard at Mim as he dropped into the chair by the bed, but said nothing.

  ‘Did you feel it?’ Mim asked her.

  ‘Not really. A slight disturbance only, but I was asleep. What happened Mim?’

  Mim sighed. ‘The silver one, Gremara, she found me. I only had a glimpse of her. She is beautiful Dessi, but she is nearly mad.’

  ‘Does this mean you’ll have to go to he
r? And where is she, anyway?’

  Before Mim could answer, Jal came into the room.

  ‘No one seems to know what happened Mim, but many Delvers have died in Asat. Fenj and Malesh said they felt pain briefly, but Malesh and the healer Nesh have gone to see what help they can give. Fenj asked me to see if you two were unhurt.’

  Jal stared at Mim as Dessi had done but Mim didn’t notice as he asked Jal to stay with Dessi for a while. Ashta followed Mim to the place they’d named ‘the Broken Chamber’ and the pale green Dragon flew them quickly to the entrance hall of the stronghold.

  ‘It was Gremara was it not Mim?’ Fenj asked as soon as Mim appeared.

  ‘Yes it was.’ He felt Fenj’s mixture of anticipation and apprehension. He touched the old black face gently. ‘I know much more now, but not enough. I will tell you all of it later, but I must first see if I may be of help in Asat.’

  Snow Dragons had sent news in mindspeech of a great affliction among the southern settlements of Asat. Many deaths were reported and Delver healers from the northern settlements, who’d been protected by Mim’s shielding, were hastening to assist in the stricken areas. Berri had been on her way to the stronghold from Asat settlement and was unharmed. Kera was with her, having spent the previous days in Asat’s library talking with the archivists and recorders.

  By the time Berri, Kera and their escorting Delvers arrived at the stronghold, the evening meal was being set on the long table. Guards already seated, rose to their feet but Kera waved them back down. She and Berri joined Mim, Lorak, Bikram and Soran at the end reserved, by unspoken agreement, for the leaders. Jal came down the slope from the upper levels, his left arm supporting Dessi. Berri went quickly to the Delver girl, bringing her to sit at the table beside her.

  Jal was moving away when Mim told him to sit with them too. As Soran and Kera nodded, Jal eased onto the bench at Soran’s side. Fenj had moved his great bulk so that he was near them, as had Ashta, Jeela and Talli.

  ‘It was the silver Dragon Fenj told us of then, Mim?’ Kera asked.

  Mim nodded. He was chewing a chunk of roasted meat and Soran made a mental note that the Nagum boy was changing in so many ways, so rapidly now. He’d rarely eaten meat before, preferring fruits and vegetables, but now he ate more meat than anyone. Soran, watching Mim swallow a mouthful, also guessed that Mim found the meat too well cooked. How long, Soran wondered, before he would eat his meat raw, like the Dragons did?

  Mim took a gulp of water from a mug and finally answered Kera’s question.

  ‘Yes Lady. It was Gremara. She knows now where I am, but she is nearly mad. She is unaware of the destruction she causes when she screams as she did today. She gave me some of her memories in that brief moment – as Hani gave Ashta and me her memories at Ashta’s hatching.’

  He took another swallow of water.

  ‘Some of it makes sense to me but some I fear is muddled. Whether I can heal her madness or at least, halt it as far as it’s gone, I can’t say. I hope that her excitement at having found me will not increase the madness.’

  ‘Do you know why these changes have happened to you Mim, or what the task of a Dragon Lord will be?’

  Mim watched Rofu, daintily accepting morsels of meat from Dessi’s fingers before replying.

  ‘Some things are now clear while others are not.’ His tone made it plain that he would say no more on the subject.

  Kera suddenly sat up straight. ‘Oh dear stars! Mim – how far would Gremara’s power reach? Will she have caused havoc in Gaharn? Further? Oh, here we calmly sit and I’ve only just spared thought for Emla and Nolli!’

  ‘And Tika and the Dragons!’ Dessi added in alarm.

  Fenj rumbled gently, cautious of disturbing Lula who slept on top of his head.

  ‘We will bespeak the Snow Dragons and ask them to relay news from Gaharn. Merigs may already have begun to bring messages to the tunnels.’

  Talli’s eyes began to flicker, the ice blue facets darkening as he concentrated.

  Jal asked hesitantly: ‘Does this silver Dragon live cross the wilderness Mim? The Master – the Guardian before – he said it was a barren land except for a small amount of vegetation at the feet of these mountains. But perhaps there is fertile land the other side, after all?’

  Mim glanced at Jal, who held his gaze steady with some difficulty. Mim appeared quite unaware of the way his eyes had changed. The turquoise irises now filled the eyes, showing no white at all. The vertical golden pupils had expanded and seemed lightly prismed. Ashta moved closer, resting her head over Mim’s shoulder. He reached his arm round her neck as he replied.

  ‘There is fertile land far across the Wilderness, and a great stretch of water leagues past that. Gremara lives in one of a group of five mountains, such as I have never seen.’

  Kera produced a piece of paper from a pocket. ‘Can you draw what you mean?’

  Mim threw his head back as he laughed, firelight flashing on the scales covering his throat.

  ‘Yes, Lady Writing Stick, I could try to draw them!’

  He sketched quickly on the paper and pushed it along the table.

  ‘Volcanoes!’ Jal exclaimed.

  Kera nodded as Mim looked blank.

  ‘No. You would not have seen them Mim in your southern woodlands. But there are ancient craters in the Spine and Moon Mountains.’

  She glanced at Jal for his nod of agreement.

  ‘And there are some active still near to the Salt Sea in the west.’

  ‘Volcanoes?’ Mim queried.

  Kera gave him a lecture, best Discipline Senior style on the cause and effect of volcanoes. Jeela fidgeted and looked to Fenj for permission to speak.

  ‘Brin spoke of such mountains in his stories.’

  ‘I had wondered Lady,’ Jal offered. ‘If perhaps these tunnels were made by the heat inside the world. I only thought of it while I lay ill,’ he admitted. ‘Before, I thought perhaps some monsters, worse than any the Master brought into being, had caused them.’

  ‘Possibly Jal. There are of course the hot water pools the Delvers find so greatly useful.’ Kera chewed the end of her writing stick until Dessi removed it from her mouth. ‘But I know of no craters in these ranges.’

  ‘No Dragon has flown here for many generations,’ Fenj murmured. ‘So I could not say if there are. I know several in the Ancient Mountains, and the Sun Mountains. The Sun Treasury Gathers in just such a crater.’

  Kera rubbed her eyes wearily. She was tired from the hurried rush back to the stronghold and the worry of wondering how many others Gremara had hurt or killed, intentionally or not. Her gaze fell on Lorak and she smiled.

  ‘Perhaps a small taste of your restorative, before we all sleep Lorak?’ she suggested hopefully.

  Bikram and Soran both grinned as Lorak pushed himself up from the table.

  ‘I don’t know as what Lord Gan would think, but a small sip won’t do no harm.’

  The usual soft rumble followed Lorak: ‘Splendid creature!’

  A numbness prevailed over most of Gaharn. The humans who shared Gaharn with the People were stunned at the number of those, whom they’d regarded as friends, who had died. Word quickly spread that it was something to do with the power the People used. A very few humans had also collapsed in convulsions and died without regaining their senses, children among their numbers.

  Those who survived were the ones who had instinctively shielded themselves at the first touch of the wild power. Some of them had shielded others near them and thus saved their lives. There were quite a few of the students in the Asataria who survived, but their minds had been destroyed.

  Tika had gone into the city with Brin and Farn to give what healing she could, but there were so many needing help that even with Brin’s assistance she was quickly drained of strength. Farn became more and more agitated, finally roaring at Tika that she WOULD allow him to take her back to Emla’s house to rest. In fact, Brin carried her again, with Farn flying close to him and they landed by the
guest pavilion, which sheltered Kija and her other three children.

  Tika fell rather than climbed off of Brin’s broad back and staggered inside. Kija and Ikram watched Tika weave across the room towards them and as she stumbled to her knees, Kija scooped her into the heap of young Dragons. Farn was close behind, greatly upset still, and Kija crooned softly, urging him to lie here and rest too. Ikram and Farn’s silvery blue heads sank lower and Kija sang on over her children.

  It took the People very little time to collect themselves and the city and Chambers of Learning were soon functioning normally again. There were many faces missing in the classes though, and sorrow hung like an invisible miasma over them all. Nolli had needed sleep, more so than Ryla. Where Nolli had been shocked, Ryla had been infuriated. She hid her grief at the deaths of so many of her colleagues – most of whom she had trained herself, behind her anger. She was distressed over the mental crippling also, but expressed most concern for Kija’s daughter Nya.

  Kija was keeping Nya asleep much of the time, to ensure both the torn wing and her twisted spine remained as immobile as possible. Uma had stayed close to Nolli, mourning the loss of her brood sister, Ulla. Meppi had worked hard, hunting for her and for Kija whilst Brin was in Gaharn with Tika and Farn.

  It was the late afternoon of the third day after the devastating power surge that a weary Merig plodded into Emla’s hall. He shook snow from his person with much clattering of feathers, then climbed onto a stool. Only Kija, Ikram, Nya and Shar were absent as he related the news from the northern stronghold. Brin and Farn were enormously excited at learning of Gremara’s existence, even though it had been she who caused such injuries and deaths. The Merig seemed to doze as comments flew on the news he’d brought. Eventually he gave another rattling shake and told them of Rhaki’s appearance in Return and of the tower he was now raising.

  ‘Well, I expect it’s done by now. The messages take longer from the south at this time. It is egg hatching time there, you understand,’ he explained.