Mei'An expected to find herself on her feet in the hall, with the tones of the chime fading slowly. Other Wind Readers would soon appear.
What she didn't expect was what happened next. Instead of a soft muted chiming, a boom that nearly split her head sounded. The noise was so loud, the tone so deep that it seemed the very breath had been driven from her body. She found herself on her hands and knees on the floor of the Great Hall, head hanging down, trying to breathe. She realized she had stars before her eyes. Gasping with shock, Mei'An was just about to try rising to her feet when the huge bell sounded again. It hit her like a hammer blow on her back. She was flattened to the stone floor, spread eagle on her stomach, with her cheeks pressed to the cold stone floor. The very stones were vibrating with the low frequency of the sound. A fleeting thought came to her. What would be happening to her in the real world. What happened here was just as real in the waking world. Luan would be in a panic. He would not hear the bell. Only see her contortions, see her stress. He would not be able to rouse her. "I must return, I must get out of this dream." She muttered.
Mei'An felt too weak to stand. She tried to step out of the dream, but just as she was about to the bell tolled again. This time so loud she thought her bones were breaking. It wasn't in her ears so much, as in every fibre of her body. She thought she was being crushed, and howled wildly in pain. It only ceased as the sound rolled away into the distance. She lay on the floor, almost unconscious, panting like a dog in hot weather.
Through the pain filling her mind, Mei'An realized she could see through the doorways of the hall. There was a garden out there, with bright flowers and a fountain. She could hear the singing of birds.
She squeezed her eyes shut as the bell tolled again. This time it was almost at its normal pitch. Mei'An sighed with relief, and struggled to try and sit up. It was too much.
Yes, she could see through one of the smaller doorways. She realized with a start that she could also see through the large entrance doors. There were fortress walls, and towers out there. A vaguely familiar young girl almost Antonin's age, perhaps younger stood in the doorway, her clothes flickering through different changes. At one stage the girl was quite naked.
Finally, in a dress of pure yellow, the girl crossed the hall and went through the door into the garden. She hadn't seen Mei'An, prostrate on the floor in the shadows of the huge supporting columns.
Slowly she regained her strength. She sat up, taking deep breaths to steady herself. She could not step out of the dream now. She had to find out what was happening. She pushed herself to her feet and dusted off her blue silk gown. She felt ragged, but at least in the dream she was able to brush away all trace of her previous distress.
With some frustration she realized that she could no longer see through either the main door, nor the garden gateway. The girls was nowhere to be seen. She might have been the Inn Keepers daughter from Xu Gui, but it seemed unlikely. It was a mystery that needed solving. None but Wind Readers had ever been in the hall, and to Mei'An's knowledge no one had ever seen past the doorways. There was after all something other than the hall, and Mei'An was determined to find out what.
The hall began to fill with people. Wind Readers were arriving from all over the world. They had all suffered distress as a result of the bell's chimes. Mei'An most of all though. She thought she must have precipitated the tolling. It had been she who had stepped into the hall first. Now she was not so sure. There had been that young girl, young woman really perhaps about seventeen years old Mei'An thought, who had entered through the main hall doors.
Mei'An was considering all this when she noticed a circle widening around one of the women in the hall. She had cried out slightly and was now looking intently around her, as though trying to see someone. Someone others could not see. The huge bell tolled again. Not so loudly this time, but all talk stopped. With a start Mei'An realized she was looking at the young woman who had come in by the main doors. Mei'An had also heard her softly utter Antonin's name in the moment before the bell tolled. She seemed to be talking to someone beside Sarweio, the Wind Reader who had caused some of the others to move away from her. Mei'An knew her of course. Knew that she lived in far off Hua Guo. Suddenly the woman went as straight as a flagpole. Someone other than that young girl was talking to her. Try as she might, Mei'An could not discern what or who it was. To her utter amazement, Antonin appeared just in front of Sarweio. He looked just as startled as Mei'An felt, but it was because something was being said to him, through Sarweio. Mei'An sighed. So Antonin was in Hua Guo, and apparently safe. The girl winked out of sight. Mei'An knew the signs. The girl had stepped out of her dream and back into her body.
A fierce wind swept through the hall, as Sarweio made her way to the podium at the end of the hall. She would speak to the assembled Wind Readers. Young and old alike, all were gathered here. When someone took the stand, on the podium, deference was given her and all attention was given to the speaker. Mei'An was a little taken aback. It had been she who had first summoned the gathering after all. Events had taken over it seemed. However, it had been fruitful. Mei'An now knew where Antonin was. She only need a few moments with Sarweio to find out exactly where he was.
The reaction to Sarweio's words, repeated exactly as they had been given to her, was stunned silence. Even Mei'An could not believe her ears. They were in The Blue Tower. Their power derived from The Keeper of The Blue Tower. The Keeper was a woman. Perhaps an immortal. Mei'An's eyes went wide with dawning knowledge. The small figurine in the box that the inn keeper had. Rees had said that it had called - spoken to him as, The Keeper. It was the link. She must return immediately. With that little statue in Antonin's hands, he would be linked to The Blue Tower, and he would have access to untold power. All the strength he would need in the coming battle.
Mei'An pushed her way through the throng, ignoring mutters, and surprised looks.
"Sarweio, Sarweio." She called. The Wind Reader looked toward her.
"Sarweio, quickly, what is the village that you are in right now? Which Inn? Where is the boy? You must keep him there until I arrive. I leave now."
Sarweio told her all she knew, and with that, Mei'An stepped out of her dream leaving the others none the wiser. She found herself on the floor of the inn, staring up into Luan's worried face. Her dress was dusty, and her hair was in disarray. She knew she looked a fright. "A gentleman would not leave a lady resting on the floor of a common room." She said quietly. Luan blinked, his face like a granite block. He helped Mei'An to her feet and escorted her from the room, her hand resting lightly on his forearm. She only stumbled once. Rees shook his head in wonderment. The woman had been prostrate with pain, wailing and trashing about on the floor. Now she walked from the room as calmly as from a royal ball. No thought of apology for having frightened everyone out of their wits. Elsa kept her own council. Her thoughts hidden behind an expressionless face. Wind Readers were held in great respect, almost reverence, and what they did was beyond knowledge or understanding. Especially by a warrior maiden. Elsa turned to Rees. "A strange day, and not over yet I fear."
"Yes, mark me. We will be on the road before the sun rises on another day."
Antonin still sat in the chair in the common room of the inn far across the world from where he had started out. Sarweio had been taken back to her room by M'belie. Led on stumbling feet. Her last words had been a message from Mei'An. "You must not leave this village, nor this inn. You must await her arrival, as long as it takes. If the battle begins, it must be fought here. Your life, and the lives of all you hold dear depends on you staying in this spot."
Sarweio had reached the door, and turning had added in a whisper, "She comes with The Keeper of The Blue Tower." Antonin could not believe the events of the last hour or so. Desare, little Desare from his home village, caught up in this chain of events. She said she loved him. He was in unknown territory here. He was not sure of his feelings. She had made him promise to stay put until she arrived. No - until she cou
ld meet him in his dream. He had no idea what she meant. Two people had now asked him to stay where he was. He had promised one, and so would keep his promise. If the last battle started here, then so be it. He suspected it would not though. Not yet.
The Tharsians still held the Key to the prison wheel of Sara Sara. Cinnabar and the Morgoth hordes still pursued them, and Antonin pursued both. The Dark One was not yet free. How far the wheel yet had to turn he did not know. He hoped it was an age. A thought began to form. Based here in Hua Guo, he was on the far side of the Forest of Gloom, the redoubt of the Tharsians. Perhaps he could organise forays into their lair from this side, and maybe, just maybe, secure the Keystone.
Elsa and Catharina watched Antonin. They watched everything in the room, but mostly they watched Antonin. He was smiling and muttering under his breath. The recent events had been the doing of a Wind Reader. None of their business. No danger to Antonin, although he had certainly been surprised at the appearance of the girl Desare and that strange almost naked woman she had been with. Both girls had seen her clearly, although Antonin claimed to have seen only Desare.
"Well," said Antonin aloud. "This is a fine pickle. Here we are. The combined armies of all the Mare Altan, and Asha Altan descend on Ha Hu seeking the battle. Mei'An is on her way here if I understand correctly. Desare is to meet me in my dreams. We have no idea where the armies of the Dark One are. Desare says she loves me," Catharina gave a derisive snort, raising Antonin's eyebrows. "…and I am the Dragon Lord returned --- and have no idea what to do next."
This was not how it was supposed to be. Of that he was sure. In every story he had read, the hero always took charge. Everything went according to plan. The hero won the day, and the heart of the girl of his dreams. Not two girls. One girl. Which girl? Antonin shook his head. It was too confusing. He wished Gaul were here. He would know what to do. Gaul was back in the home village though. Half a world away.
Catharina was thinking along the same lines. She knew Desare, although not well. How had she become involved? Was she a Wind Reader? It was girls born with the talent. Catharina knew that. If a Wind Reader declared her love for Antonin, what hope did she, a lowly warrior maiden have? Catharina was proud of her status as a Warrior Maiden. She had been Antonin's friend all his life, and if they were not meant for each other, well, no one had said so. When it came time to put aside the spear and the bow, she knew she would go to Antonin, not to some as yet unknown Asha Altan warrior as was usual. She also knew that she could not compete with someone who might be a Wind Reader. The girl Desare was also quite beautiful, with her yellow dresses and long hair.
"Men." Muttered Catharina, looking directly at Antonin. She made a great fuss of clattering out of the common room and into the hall. Moments later there was the slamming of a door in the upstairs hall that shook the windows.
Antonin looked questioningly at Elsa, who only raised her eyebrows and smiled that secretive smile that was guaranteed to drive him to distraction one day. Antonin stomped out of the common room. Moments later the crash of his door slamming told where he would spend the night. Elsa picked up her wine glass.
The common room was filling again, the musician had arrived. There was dancing to be done.
The next morning, before even the sun began to lighten the horizon a small party was leaving the inn in far away Ha Hu by the rear gate. The soft clop clop of the horses hooves on the cobble stone of the stable yard sounded muffled. The steam blowing in great clouds from the horses nostrils told of a deep chill that frosted the air. The clink and clank of riding gear and softly spoken words as riders quietened the animals told of a party intent on leaving with as little fuss as possible. Mei'An, Luan, Rees and Edina were mounted and each had a smaller pack horse in tow. No one had had much sleep as preparations had pushed on through the night by Mei'An. The figurine of the Keeper of The Blue Tower was wrapped in soft leather and packed, along with the other objects. It was strapped on behind Rees's saddle.
The plan was to ride to the coast and take ship for Hua Guo. No one thought it possible to go overland. The deep forest redoubt of the Tharsians was simply out of the question. It was going to be a long journey, months perhaps. It had to be done. What would happen when the warriors of the Star Field Plain arrived was anyone's guess. Luan thought it best if they were used to clean out the Morgoth warriors and any Tharsians they found. That the Inn of the Blind Man was important in the scheme of things was in little doubt. Lord Bornale would take charge there. A runner had been sent to rouse him. He knew what was needed immediately. The party set off for Doran Head many weeks travel to the south, even by the Great North Road.
Nothing stirred in the grey early dawn except the riders, and a lone raven perched high up on the spire of the barn. It's glinting eyes fixed on the riders below. In single file, the riders moved out through the gate and through the quiet streets. The guards on the city gate took little notice. They were there to watch for people coming in, not going out.
The black ribbon of road stretched away into the mists of the early morning. None knew how long this strange road had been there. It was from an age long forgotten. Some said the age when the vast subterranean caverns had been built. Some said even older. None knew for sure though. Everyone used the Great Road. It was like a lifeline drawn across the world. Rees had often thought of following it on past the Great Sandy Blight, just to see where it led. Now they were headed in the opposite direction to the city port of Doran Head. Both Rees and Elsa were looking forward to that. Neither had seen any place larger than Ha Hu and it was said you could not ride through Doran Head in less than a day.
The city wall fell further behind the group, who kept up a steady spine jarring trot in order to be well clear of the city by sun up. The first golden rays were already glimmering on the horizon. Once well away from the city, Mei'An slowed the horses to a walk. The group began to bunch up and the road started to climb toward the foothills of the Dragon Spine Mountains. If the warriors from the Star Field Plain were travelling toward them it was doubtful they would be seen. Except in the high pass. There was no other way from the plains up to the high plateau where Ha Hu stood. Mei'An wanted to be well south of the pass before they stopped for a rest. By her calculations that should be a little after noon The first oasis on the other side of the pass, and just off the road would be ideal. They would rest in the hottest part of the day there, then set off again and ride through the night. Mei'An meant them to be in Doran Head in under a month if it meant sleeping in the saddle. Eating too for that matter. The horses would need resting of course, and fresh mounts would be purchased along the way. The road became much steeper and they began the climb up to the pass. The road wound back and forth, following the mountain ridges upward. Finally, with the sun now high in the sky the pass itself came into view. Like a huge axe wound in the mountains, its sheer sides reaching up to the very heavens. The pass was still in deep shadow at road level. There was no doubt that it was man made, but not even Mei'An could guess at what sort of power it must have taken to remove such massive amounts of stone.
Nothing stirred. Not much lived at these heights. The air was thin, and sweat ran from every pore of both horse and rider as they pushed up the last steep slope to the summit. Luan was first onto the almost level point right at the crest. He drew reign and waited for the others. He set the example by taking a long drink from his goat hide water skin. He dismounted and poured a measure into a bag for his horse to drink, then watered his pack animal as well.
The others caught up, Rees bringing up the rear and they all took a moment to rest and water the horses. The place was eerie though. It had a strange feeling of waiting about it. An almost un-worldliness to the air. Rees thought it must be because up here they were so far above the common problems of everyday life. Almost a bird's eye view of the world. If a little limited by the confines of the pass walls. The city of Ha Hu could be still seen. Just a hazy collection of shapes away out on the plain. In the other direction only the narrow cl
eft of the pass was visible, the sky a hazy blue-grey.
They stood high up in the Dragon Spine Mountains now. Hopefully the descent would be easier on man and beast alike.
Without a word, Luan swung into his high cantle saddle and took up the lead rope of his pack animal. He turned into the pass and began to draw away before the others had even mounted. Luan eased his sword in its sheath an few times.
Edina noticed this, and although she was not relaxed to the point of casualness, she automatically checked her bow and quiver and hefted her short spear a few times. It would not do to be caught unawares in a place like this. Rees and Mei'An checked their loads, and pack animals and followed on. Rees again in the rear. Hi last glance back the way they had come showed him a lone black raven perched high up on the crags. A long way out of bow shot. Was it the same raven that had watched their departure from Ha Hu? Rees thought it likely. It had to be following them. There was no carrion, no wildlife at all this high in the mountains.
As if to assure him that this was indeed one of the watchers of the Dark Lord, a low rumble could be felt in the rock beneath their feet. The Wheel of Sara Sara had moved another notch toward the freedom of the Dark Lord. Rees pushed his horse to catch up with the others. Mei'An just starting to disappear down the slope at the far end of the pass. The raven dropped from its perch and wheeled its way high over head to become lost from view in the high peaks.
The Dragons of Sara Sara Page 35
