There had been some movement of people around them during this brief exchange. In a dangerous place like this city it paid to be sensitive to brewing trouble. For moments the air around the Trader had been as charged as a late summer storm.
When he relaxed, the hum of conversation started again. The rattle of plates, conversation and shuffling feet again filled the room. Had anyone heard? Antonin looked about him. No one was taking any further notice now that the tension was passed.
“Tell me where this Trader is if you would?” asked the Trader facing Antonin.
Antonin thought a moment then replied “Trader, if you would protect your Guild and help your own kind, you might consider aiding us in our quest. Not unlike yours, but more recent I think. I give you his location in trust that only your Guild knows about it. Only those who have already suffered at his hands know this location. Apart from us of course. And a Wind Reader.”
The Trader well knew that only followers of the Dark Lord could be the ones referred to as having suffered. He had also seen a Wind Reader this very morn. In this inn.
“The Wind Reader is with you?” asked the Trader.
Before Antonin could reply Mei’An stepped up to the table.
"She is, and I am.” said Mei’An.
“You will find what you seek in the village of Xu Gui, perhaps four or five days by wagon south of here, and some way to the east of the Great North Road.” Said Antonin. “Do we have your help?” he added.
“You have my help, and of the Guild if the Wind Reader will help me and pass the news to the Guild House.”
The Trader scraped back his chair as he stood.
“I will be back here before the next moon shows. If you are here still and need my help, then have it you will.”
As he turned to leave Mei’An reached up and laid her palm along the man’s rough cheek. Looking deep into his startled eyes she said “The message is passed on Trader. Worry not. May you always find water.” The Trader nodded his head in understanding. The Wind Reader had passed her message to the Master of the Guild House. He would hear it as a voice in his head, know it as a truth. It would be accompanied by the sound of a chime proclaiming that a Wind Reader had spoken. He knew also that now the lives of all Traders would change. The ancient prophecies were coming to pass and great upheaval was upon them.
The trader turned back on his heel.
“Boy,” he said to Antonin. “What is your quest, so important and so recent?”
“The Keystone of Sara Sara is taken. We must retrieve it.” Was all Antonin needed to say.
The Trader looked from one to another for a moment, then turned again and left. Others nearby had heard this exchange though. Like a grass fire the news could be heard spreading across the room. The news would be across the entire city by nightfall. This city could well be at the centre of the storm when it came. There would be many people trying to leave as soon as they could. Certainly everyone suddenly wanted to be as far from the small band of travellers as they could get. There were a few startled wide eyed looks at the Maidens as men realized they had been dancing only the previous night with sworn foes of the Dark Lord. The general exodus started. Soon only the small group were left in the common room. Along with a number of confused serving maids.
The innkeeper came up to Mei’An.
“I don't know what was really said my old friend, but it was certainly effective.”
He stood there, wiping his hands from habit on his broad white apron.
“Do not worry Tallbar. I will compensate you well, and the wagoners will return. Your ale and fine food are too good.”
“I am not worried,” said the innkeeper. “You and your friends are always welcome here. Many times have you shown kindness to me and my family. I repay as best I can with what I have.”
Tallbar the innkeeper moved off, shooing the serving girls before him. There was much cleaning up to be done. The group from Xu Gui had the common room to themselves.
Foremost in everyone’s mind was the sudden reappearance of Mei’An. As if reading their minds, she held up her hands.
“All in good time. First, you must tell me all that has happened here while I was busy.”
Mei’An led the way to a large table almost in the centre of the room. Far enough away from wall and doors to make quiet conversation private.
Everyone settled into chairs and Antonin recounted the events of the previous night. The Mare Altan were surprised, and a little angry that Antonin had not told them about the encounter with the Morgoth warrior. Had they known they would all have spent the night prowling the halls of the inn on guard.
Mei’An was worried by the news that the Tharsians had the Keystone. Not the Morgoth, nor the helpers of the Dark Lord. Even the Dark Lord must worry over this news. He had created the Tharsians but then lost control of them. Mei’An could not guess what the Morgoth Warrior had meant by his parting words. Perhaps there were plots for power in the camps of the evil ones.
“The Morgoth you faced is called Cinnabar. You are all lucky to be alive. He is the undisputed leader of the Morgoth Elite. Only he carries the sword you describe. It can only be a sign of his haste to retake the Keystone that he didn't take the moment to kill you all.…. As he could have done.” added Mei’An as both Gaul and Rees began to protest.
“If that is not bad enough, it sounds like he has learnt to Travel. The gateway you saw him make. He steps through time itself, and can go where ever he wants at will.”
Catharina said "Should we await the return of the Trader, or begin immediately after the Keystone?”
Mei’An tapped her lips with a finger. A recognisable trait she had that showed she was deep in thought.
“We dare not wait about here,” said Mei’An. “The Trader may well never return. We have no idea of events in your village. We have no idea of what fate awaits the Trader or his guild. We can only go forward on our quest. We must hope that we can reach the Keystone before the others, and wrest it from the Tharsians. Whoever holds that Keystone has the Dark Lord in their hands.”
Antonin spoke quietly, almost as though thinking aloud.
"So the Tharsians have the Keystone. Cinnabar and the Morgoth want it, and there is still the other rabble of the Dark Lord to contend with. Annan Hamar holds the Seal, and he stays in Xu Gui, while we run off all over the world also in pursuit of the Keystone.”
Catharina held her hands up from the table and contemplated her fingers.
“Then we had best try to locate the trail of the Tharsians who have the Keystone. We know the Morgoth are perhaps just ahead of us, judging by the arrow found in that strange cavern. There is also their leader Cinnabar appearing here.” Catharina suddenly sat up straight. “The Morgoth must be in the city! Cinnabar may be able to Travel as you call it, but he would not be far from his warriors.” She was on her feet. “We will find them. The honour of the Mare Altan is in our hands.” Catharina looked at the other girls. All three were now on their feet. Poised, deadly, they stood almost on their toes ready for action in an instant. With little urging they would be out into the city searching for the Morgoth by themselves.
The three young men stood, chairs scraping back, hands on weapons.
“Let us quarter the city in teams of two,” said Rees. “And that way we can cover the city rapidly. It is not so large we cannot do it in a day. I would think the presence of Morgoth in a city will cause a certain amount of unrest – even in this city.”
Gaul added. “We must alert the others if they are found. Not die uselessly in battle. Have a flame arrow ready. If they are spotted, then send it aloft and it will be seen.” Heads nodded in agreement.
Luan had come in to the room some time before, and almost unheeded had taken a chair by Mei’An. He had said nothing throughout the entire time since Mei’An had returned.
“I suggest,” he began. “That all teams meet back here at the noon bell. If a team has located the Morgoth, then they stay on the trail until that time. Reportin
g back here will allow us a chance to meet the Morgoth in force. A flame arrow in the air will alert – and alarm – all in the city, and may even set it alight. From this point on we should move about quietly I think.”
Mei’An agreed and added “The two who are the focus should be together. Catharina and Antonin. If indeed there be a reason for this focus developing around them, then it may be that events will take place simply because of that. That their presence bends the forces to them.”
“Very well,” said Antonin. “Catharina and I will take the North East Quarter. I heard last night that it is called the Old Quarter. It is the original city. Very old, and is said to contain underground places that no one will enter. It sounds very familiar. Streets like a maze where all come together in a vast plaza with a long disused fountain in the centre.”
The others quickly arranged themselves into groups. Gaul and Elsa, Rees and Edina and Mei’An and Luan. It was still very early, so the search would be able to cover a lot of ground before the noon day bell was rung.
This huge bell was housed in the highest tower in the city. Because of its height and the flatness of the surrounding plain on which the city stood, it could be heard even far out in the fields. The bell had a very deep tone. Very low in pitch. It’s sound penetrated into the furthest recesses of the city. Two peals of the bell at noon by the sundial on its platform, four peals of the bell at sundown when the last rays left the tiles on the tower’s central spire. Let into the peak was an ingenious array of glass prisms that reflected the suns light down into the tower to the bell ringers platform. A small circle of bright light travelled slowly across a table on the platform. When this light winked out the sun was set. The bell was struck. Then the days labour was done. Carriers, labourers, shopkeepers and all the city workers could return to their homes, their days work done. It had been this way longer than anyone knew. The bell had hung in the tower which itself had stood on the bare plain alone long before the city had slowly been built around it. It stood right at the centre of the Old Quarter. The buildings were like no others in the rest of the city. Built of a strange smooth stone that seemed to be made from sand and small stones held together by a mortar of some kind, no such stone could be found anywhere in Da Altai. The stone of the Dragon Spine mountains was flint hard granite and could not be worked for building stone. The search for the source of the strange stone had been abandoned long ago. The rest of the city – the New City, was of wood and sandstone construction. The roads and streets were mostly cobblestone or packed sand in the smaller streets and off the main thoroughfares the maze of little streets wound their way around buildings that seemed to have been placed in the area with no thought to order. The rest of the city had been built out from this old section in the general direction of the Dragon Spine. The Great North Road brought people to the area and the city had taken shape as more and more people stayed about the original site. The impassability of the road through the Great Sandy Blight to the north had helped, and over the centuries the city had become a permanent part of the landscape again.
A week of steady riding north brought the traveller to the edges of the Great Sandy Blight. This area was true desert and shrank and grew according to the seasons. Mostly it continued to grow in area as it expanded further and further south. Some said it would eventually reach the city.
The search party left the inn in the early morning light. They made their way through the throng and gained the main city road. This road more or less continued the Great North Road through the city. Many watched their passing. The word was already spreading.
Antonin and Catharina started into their section and the others moved away to begin their searches. The road that Antonin An Catharina followed was a broad avenue that curved away off the main road and then straightened up to run almost directly east.
Antonin and Catharina were looking for signs of unusual activity. Sure that if there were Morgoth warriors in the area, the actions of locals would give a good indication of their presence. The city was refuge to many people from many parts of the world. No questions were asked about a person's origins and nothing volunteered. Locals and wanderers didn't mix other than in trade, and certain parts of the city were strictly out of bounds to strangers. There were no signs, but wandering into such sections would usually result in the person beating a hasty retreat when confronted with silent residents blocking the roadway, usually with hands on sword hilts. If not actually nursing drawn swords. If there were Morgoth in the city then word would quickly spread as to their whereabouts and intentions. It was unlikely they would be confronted even in the forbidden sectors of the city, but they would find it difficult to gain access to any buildings.
If there were Tharsians in the city then the whole place would be in uproar. Tharsians would not control themselves. Could not control themselves. There would be full scale battles raging in the streets. The Tharsians against everyone else.
Catharina and Antonin walked steadily along the main way. The hawkers and pedlars around them went about their business and paid the pair no more than a passing glance. Antonin could have been invisible, but Catharina drew many an admiring look from the men, even though they stepped smartly out of her way. They had been strolling along the thoroughfare for some way before Catharina felt the tug at her jacket hem. She looked down and was surprised to see a girl of perhaps five or eight years trailing along by her side. The giggling behind her led to the discovery of a dozen or more girl children of about the same age in a gaggle some ten paces back.
She stopped in her tracks. The children stopped. She walked on. The children walked on. Again she stopped and then squatted down to face the child by her side.
“Yes little one?” She asked with a smile on her face.
“Are you a warrior from the plains over the mountains?” Asked the little girl.
“Yes, that is true. I am. I am a warrior of the Mare Altan.” Replied Catharina. “Will you tell me your name my little friend?”
The girl dropped her hold on Catharina’s jacket and fled back to her companions where she could be heard repeating the information in a loud whisper.
Catharina smiled broadly and turned to walk on to where Antonin stood waiting in the shade of a high mud wall. Just as she took a step she heard the girls voice call out “My name is Nee lin miss.”
Catharina turned and found the groups of children all staring at her, and all but the little Nee lin starting to take hesitant steps backwards. Nee lin was holding a trembling lower lip in check, but she was standing her ground as Catharina walked up to her and knelt down on one knee. There was gathering interest from the traders about the immediate area. These warriors had reputations as fierce and unforgiving people, but of course none had ever confronted one, and no one knew if they truly stole away bold children or not. Catharina could see a woman who must be the mother in the mouth of a nearby alley. Too afraid to confront Catharina and regain her child, and too afraid for her child to leave. Catharina smiled her most friendly smile and lifted a light string of beads from around her neck and reached out with one hand and dropped them over the child’s head so that they now hung down the slight body almost to her knees.
“A brave little girl you are.” said Catharina. "So please take these beads as a gift from me, and remember as you grow up that one day you met Catharina of the Mare Altan and looked her in the eye. Be safe little Nee lin.”
Catharina beckoned to the mother and asked Nee lin. “Is this your mother coming?”
“Yes.” Replied Nee lin in a voice almost too quiet to hear.
Catharina stood, and as she turned to leave smiled at the mother in reassurance. Mother and daughter stood in the roadway and watched Catharina until she was lost to sight in the crowds of the streets.
“I think we should go into the areas off the main way.” said Catharina.
Antonin nodded and they turned down into the maze of alleyways. Here the streets were jammed with people, produce stalls, wheeled carts and people being carried
in sedan chairs. Canvas awnings festooned with bright bunting in all colours gave a carnival air to the scene. Watching the shadows, Antonin could see that they continued more or less in their desired direction. Many people cast suspicious looks in their direction. Antonin was well armed, and although dressed like a farmer, he was in the company of a Mare Altan warrior.
People tended to step out of their way, although many a hopeful stall holder still offered their wares. The young pair might after all just be out strolling through the markets, and a sale was a sale.
Catharina pointed out that some way ahead there seemed to be a larger gap in the buildings. This could be the central plaza of the old district. Steadily they made their way along the narrow street until there before them was the plaza. It was much larger than either had imagined, and it was plain that all the narrow streets of the quarter began at this point and radiated out like spokes in a wagon wheel.
There were not many people in the plaza itself. It was clear of stalls. Antonin and Catharina strolled out to the remains of the fountain in the centre. It had long been disused. The central figure was some long gone hero of a past age. The huge stone basin around the base of the figure was cracked and crumbling. It would never hold water again, even from a rain shower. The entire quarter showed signs of great age. The surrounding buildings were of ancient design, and although most seems occupied little work was being done on maintenance and restoration. It was a testament to the skill of the original builders that it still stood..
Catharina became aware even as she gazed at the central figure on the fountain, that it had gone very quiet around the square. She wheeled instantly, scanning the entire area in a glance. The plaza had emptied. Except for a group of heavily armed Morgoth warriors already half way across the plaza toward them. As soon as they realized they had been seen, the leader let out a roar and as one they rushed at Catharina and Antonin.
The Dragons of Sara Sara Page 18
