“Rees,” said Tallbar. “Can you read the inscriptions on the nameplates?”
Rees looked closely at the nameplates on each of the compartments. Nothing. He may as well have been looking at the stars.
“I cannot, Tallbar.” He sat back down in his chair. “I don’t know what happened before, but the script now remains a mystery to me also.”
Mei’An asked him. “Rees, do you remember what the words meant, that you read from the book a moment ago?”
“Yes,” replied Rees. “The Book of Kings, wherein the Path of the Dragon is set forth for all to follow.”
“So, you spoke the language Rees, but you understood the words still in your own language. You are bound into the web a lot closer than you, or any of us thought. I wish the talent was with you now, that you might read those name plates. I think it is very important. I think the contents of this chest are important.” Mei’An mused in a barely audible voice. Her finger tips gently tapping her lips in a now familiar gesture.
“Luan. Be on guard. Check the halls and adjoining rooms. Quickly please. Return here and be attendant to this chest.” Before Mei’An had drawn breath Luan was moving. With deadly grace he circled the small room once, his eyes glittering like black diamonds and focused on the very dust particles floating in the air. He traversed the hallways, and entered and circled every room. No more than moments in each. Startled yells, and a few embarrassed screams followed him but he never paused for a moment. Mei’An waited, and before the last yell had died away, he was back beside her. His sword in hand, and cradled across his broad chest. His dark cloak hung still and straight from his shoulders.
“The floor is clear my lady.” He said formally.
Rees thought it very likely that it was. He could hear people clattering down the stairs and calling to the innkeeper about bandits wielding swords in the night. Tallbar sighed. His two huge assistants stood by the door still. Tallbar flicked his fingers to them in dismissal. They would go and ease the fears of the fleeing guests. Plying them with food and drink in the common room until all would laugh at their fearful flight.
“What was all that about?” Rees offered. “There is no sign of danger.”
Mei’An clicked her tongue. What would it take to impress on this fellow, this village boy, that the world for him was changing. For them all indeed. A new age was dawning, and it would bring with it a battle with the Dark Lord that had been foretold for thousands of years in story, song and prophesy alike.
“Because Cinnabar is real Rees.” She said patiently. “Because your friend can travel. Because it seems he is the Dragon, the Malachite King returned. Because you did read the script on the book in its own tongue. Because there is very real danger Rees, that the Dark Lord will try to take what is not his.” She pointed to the chest. “Place your hand on the book,” she said to Rees. “And read the inscriptions.” Her tone of voice was just short of being a direct command. Rees looked at her. He was a village boy after all, and this was a Wind Reader. His mother had put him to bed with stories of the exploits of Wind Readers and their Companions. The eternal battle they fought, seemingly alone against the forces of darkness in the world.
With a slight shrug, he felt a little like a boy who has just been lectured by an elder, he placed his hand palm down on the still open leather bound book. The room swam before his eyes again. It was almost sick making. The power stored in the pages of this ancient text flowed into him. He blinked and focused on the name tags.
“The Keeper of the Blue Tower.” He read, and spoke aloud in his own language. He was pointing to the statue of the woman. He picked up the smooth red and green sphere. “The Key to the Moon Gate.” He read. The sphere seemed to know him. A strange sensation of familiarity with it. This was crazy. He almost dropped it in shock, but managed to put it back in its velvet lining . Rees picked up the intricately carved disc. “The Gateway.” Was all he said. He looked at Mei’An. “The Gateway?” He said questioningly. They all looked about as the low hum again filled the room. There to one side the air was starting to glitter like the air on a frozen night in the light of bright lanterns. The crystalline particles swirled and shifted, slowly forming a doorway just like the one Antonin had used.
“Quickly, put the disc down.” Mei’An cried. Rees obeyed without question, his spell bound gaze broken. He almost threw the disc back into its place in the chest. The faint outline of the forming doorway drifted away in the eddying air currents.
Luan was trying to look everywhere at once, sword in hand, in case the doorway was Cinnabar trying to enter the room again. Rees let out a breath with a rush of air. He didn’t realize he had forgotten to breathe.
“I think we know what that one does.” He chuckled self consciously.
“The red orb seemed to recognise me in some way. I don’t know how else to put it. But it did. I could feel it. I could sense that it felt it.” He reached into the chest and lifted out the statuette, cradling it in his hands.” He blushed to the roots of his hair.
“It feels…,” he whispered. “So alive. It looks...” He was silent, looking at the statue. The figure was carved in exquisite detail. Even the eyelids were there. Eyes that looked directly at him with a knowing look. Not the blind eyes of a statue. There was real detail there. The smooth skin and perfectly formed figure of the woman seemed to settle into his palms. She was in perfect proportion, and her breasts rose and fell as she breathed. He had never seen a grown woman unclothed before in his life, but ... With a yell of dismay he dropped the figure back in the box and jumped back so far he crashed into the wall. Mei’An looked at him in alarm, as everybody was.
●Chapter 17
“Rees, what is it. What did you see?” Demanded Mei’An. She thought she knew. She could see his colour. She had been reading his emotions. She thought she was seeing the reactions of a village boy. Mei’An was not ready for his next words.
“Mei’An, the Keeper was alive. She, breathed, I held her. I felt her heart beating. I saw her breasts rise and fall with her breathing. She looked directly at me. She seemed to know me. I’m sorry Mei’An. Perhaps this is all too much for me. I’m now having visions.”
He looked at the statue, now laying slightly askew in the box. It was once again just a statue. It’s blind eyes staring sightlessly straight ahead. Rees began to reach in to straighten the figure so it lay correctly in its place. He stopped just short and withdrew his hand. “Mei’An, you should straighten it.” The note of pleading in his voice was enough. Mei’An lay the statue back in its correct place. No other sensation than the silky smooth texture of the carving.
Rees was quite obviously shaken. That the boy was deeply connected to the objects in the chest was not in doubt. ‘However.’ thought Mei’An, ‘He needs his mind taken off this business for a while.’
“It goes too quickly.” She said aloud.
“Master Tallbar. Seal the chest back in your room. We will rest and eat in the common room. I think we all need to take our ease, and collect our thoughts.”
The innkeeper pulled a cord by the door, and presently the two assistants came into the room. The chest was taken back to the innkeepers room at the very top of the building, and the small group went down to the common room.
“Should I guard the room where the chest is stored?” Luan offered.
Before Mei’An could answer, the innkeeper said.
“No need for that, Master Companion. I would have mentioned earlier had I remembered. From time to time over the years, many ages before mine even, we have returned to the room where the chest is kept, to find small piles of ash on the floor just by it. I believe this is how the chest deals with those who do not follow the path of the light. It has its own protection.”
Mei’An blinked. One arched eyebrow in the innkeepers direction spoke volumes. He had been testing all present still. Had any, including herself, been Dark Companions they would now be piles of ash on the rug. Luan looked even more stone faced than usual if that was possible. He di
d not like to think that he had been put to the test.
Some time had been spent investigating the chest. It was noon by the city tower. The time keepers cries echoing throughout the city. The great bell was rung, and the huge dome that housed it seemed to pulse in the noonday heat. It’s sonorous booms rolling across the city, and the plains beyond like thunder from a distant summer storm. There was no storm though, and it didn’t look like there would be. Spring had passed without bringing the life giving rains. The land slowly baked under a sun that seared the land dry. No crops had taken, and farmers had stopped trying. Those left on the land scratched a miserable existence. They grew what they could and kept it for themselves. A steady stream of wagons, some with huge water barrels, some with many small ones filled the road to the Song River. The river ran out of the far away Dragon Spine Mountains, but even now was only a small trickle down the centre of a wide sandy bed. Far away below the horizon the smoking plume rising from Sara Sara reminded all that their present woes were almost certainly caused by activities beyond their control.
Everyone had heard of the return of the Lord of the Dragon Armies by now, even though only a day had passed. The news had travelled to every household and camp in the countryside. Most people expected no change. Most just went about their daily business. Trying to stay alive in increasingly harsh conditions had dulled the edge of the curiosity of most. Others however gathered in groups and spoke of taking up arms and joining the Dragon Lords army. Still others packed up their belongings and headed for the Great North Road. They would find this road and follow it south. Maybe they would make it to the city by the sea in far away Xiao Altai. There was no doubt though in anyone’s mind that the battle spoken of in the legends was coming.
No one knew that Antonin, the Dragon Lord was no longer in the city. The companions of the young man last seen in the Inn of the Blind Man were still there. They could be seen even now in the common room. At least some of them could anyway. None but Mei’An knew who had first declared the Dragon Lord returned. There had been much talk about the strange events at the inn. The city watch was staying well away. They would deal with drunken fights and cut purses, thieves and mayhem. They wanted no part of the events that they heard of taking place in the Inn of the Blind Man. Especially with a Wind Reader and her guard companion involved.
Mei’An entered the common room first. Luan followed at her shoulder and Rees close behind. Tallbar bringing up the rear. The few men in the room at this time of day sat in small groups, or alone. All voices muted in the stifling heat. The deep shadow of the common room was not enough to dispel the heat, even though the glare of the pitiless sun did not penetrate. Wide canvas sheets, like the flat sails of ships hung on beams from the ceiling of the common room. The lower edge had a pole sewn into its length, and one end attached to a thin rope that went over the back wall, and down. There boys or girls, hired by the innkeeper, would pull on the ropes and set the sail swinging back and forth to stir up the air. The cooling effect was minimal, but it was better than nothing. The inn would start to fill soon as men came in out of the scorching heat of early afternoon. It was simply too hot to work out in the open. Men could be heard grumbling about it even now in the common room.
All eyes turned to Mei’An as she entered. She was a very striking woman, beautiful by any man's standards. The long dress she wore flowed about her as she walked. Her eyes were bright and intelligent, and rested for a moment on each man there. Perhaps a momentary thought passed on how desirable she was. It was quickly dispelled as each remembered who she was. There were no second thoughts at all when Luan was glimpsed close behind her. Within moments, the party may as well have not existed in the room for all the attention they now received. They took seats at a table toward the rear of the room, and there were none others close by. Mei’An had paused for a split second, but none had noticed. She didn’t blame Rees. He was very inexperienced in the ways of the world. He was still very much a village boy.
“Master Tallbar. I think some cool wine and sweetmeats might be welcome.” Mei’An asked. The innkeeper had remained standing. Wiping his shiny balding head with a large kerchief, he smiled from ear to ear. This he understood and could deal with. A clap of his hands had serving girls running in all directions. Quickly a white cloth with blue edging was placed on the table. A tall lamp placed in the middle. It was quite dark in this corner of the old inn, but even so Mei’An restrained the innkeeper when he went to light the lamp.
Basins of water that had been drawn from the cistern beneath the inn were placed on the table. Tall glass jugs of wine were placed in the basins. The wine was the best that the innkeeper had. Not strong at all, a true table wine that even small children were able to drink when dining with their elders. It had been brought in by wagon many years before. Obtained in the sea port far away. the stone jars had rounded bottoms, so they had to be stored on their sides. The wine had been made in far off lands it was said. Tallbar had purchased fourteen large jars, and transported it home in wagons filled with straw. The horses had travelled at no more than a walk for the entire journey, said to have taken almost half a year. It was now kept in the deepest cellar, where a constant temperature was able to be had.
Cooled in the glass jugs, in the chilly water of the deep cistern, beads of condensation tumbled down the glass. The lamplight flickered through the red wine onto the white cloth creating shifting ruby patterns on the tabletop.
Tallbar smiled with satisfaction. Truly, a setting fit for a lady. Moments later the serving girls came from m the kitchen with trays containing plates of cheeses, biscuits, olives and fruits. These were set around the table within easy reach of all. Mei’An settled in her chair and watched while Tallbar poured the wine into pretty, carved bell shaped crystal goblets. Tallbar was a master of his trade, and all had taken but minutes to organise. Mei’An sipped the wine, and nodded her approval.
“Master Tallbar,” she said. “This is truly fit for royalty. Your staff are very efficient and knowledgeable to prepare such wine so well, and offer only that which compliments it by way of foodstuffs. I compliment you Master Tallbar on your fine management.”
The innkeeper beamed with pride. He had never received such compliments in his life. He knew everyone in the common room had heard Mei’An speak. Everyone in the room knew her to be a Wind Reader. Wind Readers did not sew compliments about like grain. It would do his trade no harm at all. Perhaps even the local lords and their leaders might hear of it. Perhaps not. Tallbar was not so sure that he wanted the local nobles in his inn. In his experience they were generally a bad lot. Little above peasants themselves. Occasionally the younger ones came in gambling at dice or cards. Such events always ended in fights and wrecked furniture. The young lords would talk loudly, insult the serving girls, taunt the song men and cheat at cards. They thought it a good night if they went home in the mornings with bruises and broken limbs from fighting with wagon drivers, farmers and craftsmen. So far Tallbar had avoided deaths on his property. Others had not been so fortunate.
Rees was visibly relaxing now. Even Luan seemed less tense. Although, Rees noted, he still looked like a Sand Viper ready to strike. Mei’An glanced at Rees.
“Rees my young friend, your companions are safe. I know you miss them. Those who returned to your village will be with us again soon. Antonin, Catharina and Elsa are safe I am sure. I would have felt otherwise. You must not let the events in the room upstairs upset you. Somehow you are as much tied to these events as is Antonin. The blood of the ancient lines is very strong in your village.”
Rees sipped his wine. He had relaxed he knew. Just the simple business of eating and drinking had steadied him. He knew himself to be a steady person usually, but that statue coming alive had really unnerved him.
“Mei’An, I thank you for your words.” He said quietly. Taking another sip of wine he added, “I do not understand what happened with that statue. The other items perhaps, linked as they are to Antonin. The statue came alive in my hands I tel
l you. I could feel her , it, her... it breathed. The skin was warm. The heart beat pulsed against my fingers. The ..her ..chest, ummm, rose and fell.” Rees was blushing again. Mei’An never blinked. Her eyes deep and unwavering looked at Rees.
“I looked at her face,” he continued. “Her eyes were on mine, a smile on her lips. I heard her gasp as I flung her ..it ..back into the chest.” Rees scrubbed his big hands through his long hair. “Mei’An, I did not imagine it. The Keeper of the Blue tower is either that statue, or is linked to it. Somehow she knew me, or felt whatever that is that you say I have that ties me to Antonin.”
Mei’An sat in thought. Her fingers tapping against her slightly pursed lips. Rees was very strong in the power that bound him to Antonin and to their mutual history. Perhaps nearly as much as Antonin. She would have to watch him closely. And what of the one who had returned to the village? Gaul. It would be interesting to see what effects the chest’s treasures had on him. Well, she would see.
“It is as I have said Rees. The pattern of this age is being stretched. It comes together around you, Antonin and Gaul like a knot in a cotton blanket. Like that same sheet stretched out and a weight placed in the middle. Everything placed on the sheet is now revolving around you. Sooner or later it will meet you in the centre of the sheet. Let us hope you are strong enough together to survive the meeting. As for the statue, I think it is the focus for the real Keeper. The object you held is carved from the tusks of an animal from lands even beyond Hua Guo. I do not know of any other like it. It is very rare. It does have a normal life like feel.” Mei’An raised her hand as Rees sat forward in protest. “And I know you felt more than that. I believe as I said, that it is a focus. A lens. The real Keeper of the Blue Tower is undoubtedly still in her tower.” Mei’An hesitated and took a sip of her wine. “You will have to take up the statue again, and find out where she actually is. Antonin needs to find her if he is to survive. She hold the key to his power and his ability.” Rees blinked. Hold the statue again! He was not keen on that idea. Well, time enough for that later.
The Dragons of Sara Sara Page 29
