Orlind (8 page)

They weren’t fast
enough. The drauks were vivid in her mind, closing rapidly on them.
She couldn’t help picturing those wicked claws, and the agonising
mess they would make as they ripped through her flesh...

Something hit her
hard, and she tensed herself for the pain. But then she was
airborne, the ground dropping dizzily away from her as she shot
into the sky. A draykon’s roar shook the wind, and Eva’s panicked
mind belatedly understood.

Llandry had come
looking for them, in her draykon form. A set of enormous claws
clutched her, firmly but not painfully, and beside her Tren was
similarly imprisoned in the talons of Llandry’s other front foot.
Eva looked up to see an expanse of shimmering ghost-grey scales
blocking the sky, and a glimpse of enormous webbed wings bearing
them away. Llandry’s head turned on her long, swan-like neck and
she glanced briefly down, perhaps to check on the security of her
two human passengers. Eva smiled in relief. The girl had excellent
timing.

Llandry bore them
back to Rheas’s house. The distance that had taken them half an
hour to walk was covered in minutes, and soon they were back in the
green-and-gold valley with the little stone house nestled
comfortably among the grasses. Eva frowned a little, noticing the
rapid change from mushrooms and boulders back to the valley. Was
Rheas controlling the environment around his house? She wondered
how he managed to maintain so consistent an effect. Then again, if
he was a near ancestor of Llan’s he must have strong draykon
heritage himself, and that would make him a powerful sorcerer or
summoner too. Perhaps he had learned some new tricks during his
long sojourn up here.

As Llandry
carefully set them back on the ground, Eva listened for the raging
panics that had so assailed her before. Nothing. She heard nothing
at all, sensed no animals anywhere nearby other than Rikbeek, who
still clung frantically to the fabric of her skirt.

That was most
interesting. There was no logical reason why the animals would
avoid this place. It had to be something to do with Rheas. What was
he doing to keep his home inviolate? And what else might he be able
to do? She made a note to have a talk with Mr Rheas Irfan, and
soon.

Llandry had
transformed herself back into her human shape, and now she came
running up to them.

‘
I’m
so sorry,’ she panted. ‘Mamma’s awake, you see, and I lost track of
time. I’m so sorry. Are you both all right?’

Somewhat
impulsively, Eva hugged her. The poor girl looked so stricken with
guilt that her eyes were filling with tears, but that was unfair.
She had, in all likelihood, saved both their lives.

‘
All
is well,’ Eva said soothingly. ‘You were in perfect
time.’

‘
Amazingly good time,’ Tren said cheerfully. ‘And thank you,
for I am convinced I wouldn’t make good drauk food. You saved those
poor creatures an awful meal.’

Eva laughed, and
noticed with approval that Llandry was smiling a little
too.

‘
Now
then,’ Eva said to her, letting her go. ‘What’s this about your
Mamma?’

Chapter Six

Walking back into
her grandfather’s house with Eva by her side, Llandry ran straight
into a stranger.

‘
Hello,’ said the boy in surprise, his eyes wandering from
Llandry to Eva to Tren, and back to Llandry again. He was around
her own age, she judged, with a mop of unruly blond hair and a
friendly smile. He looked at her a bit more closely, and his eyes
widened, the smile disappearing. ‘Are you Llandry
Sanfaer?’

Llandry nodded,
uncomfortable. What was this strange young man doing in her
grandfather’s house? She would never have expected to see his
jealously-guarded domain so busy.

Eva held out her
hand. ‘I’m guessing,’ she said in her low, cultured voice. ‘I think
you must be Mr Orillin Vanse, is that correct?’

Shaking her hand,
the boy looked properly at Eva for the first time, and his
expression quickly turned awed. Llandry sighed inwardly. Nobody
ever
looked at her that way.

‘
I’m
Orillin,’ he managed to say. ‘“Mr” is taking it a bit far,
though!’

Eva smiled at
him. ‘I know someone who will be very glad to see you. I’m
Eva.’

It took a few
moments for the name “Orillin” to call much to Llandry’s mind save
a vague sense of familiarity. Wracking her brains, she remembered
at last: Limbane had spoken of this boy. He was another hereditary
draykon, sought most urgently by Krays - though Limbane hadn’t told
her why, if he even knew himself. Llandry looked at him with new
interest, hope flickering in her heart. Orillin was like her: a
summoner, a winged citizen of Glinnery, a human-draykon; he was
even of a similar age. Perhaps they could help each other.
Perhaps... they could even be friends?

She’d been
staring, but Orillin didn’t seem to notice. He allowed Eva to usher
him back inside Rheas’s house, already hero-worshipping Tren and
crushing on Eva. Llandry followed in silence.

Her grandfather’s
face darkened with anger, or something like it, when he saw the
crowd of people filling up his house.

‘
That’s it,’ he snapped. ‘Enough. No more. This is my house,
not a town hall.’

Llandry watched
enviously as Eva merely turned a cool look on him. ‘Mr Irfan,’ she
said. ‘I’d like to talk with you.’

Rheas looked her
over, his attention lingering on the glasses she still wore.
‘Darklanders?’ He conspicuously failed to stand; nor did he make
even the smallest gesture of greeting or welcome.

‘
Lady
Evastany Glostrum,’ Eva said coldly. ‘Of Glour.’ She didn’t extend
her hand.

‘
And
what are you doing in my house?’ said Rheas, his tone no friendlier
than hers.

‘
Bringing your granddaughter to visit her mother,’ Eva replied.
‘After that, I imagine I’ll be taking all your visitors away again
and leaving you in peace. But you’ll help me with something
first.’

Rheas’s thick
grey eyebrows travelled upwards, his blue eyes growing colder.
‘Oh?’

‘
You’re a summoner,’ she said, taking a step closer to the
rocking-chair he sat in. ‘I feel that in you. Do you know what’s
happening out there?’

Rheas glared at
her, but consented to nod. Llandry thought back to her frantic
flight across Iskyr not long ago, terrified that some harm had
befallen Eva and Tren and that she’d be too late to help them. That
fear had been strong, but a surge of panic and confusion had
overtaken her senses, coming not from her own mind and body but
from outside of herself. She’d known immediately what it
meant.

‘
How
is it that your domain remains untouched by it?’ Eva
persevered.

Rheas’s
expression turned smug. ‘I’ve learned a few things in my time up
here.’

‘
Of
course you have. I’ll be needing to know what those “things” are.
I’ve no doubt that the Seven are swamped in panicked beasts just
now, and I know for a fact they won’t have the capacity to deal
with this much turbulence. Your tricks could save lives, Mr
Irfan.’

Rheas looked
unmoved. Llandry could have told her that it was useless to appeal
to her grandfather’s better side; he didn’t appear to have
one.

Eva gave a small
shrug and turned aside. ‘I suppose we had better make ourselves
comfortable, Tren,’ she said with a smile. ‘We may be staying for a
while.’

A faint snarl of
annoyance came from Rheas’s corner of the room, but he didn’t say
anything.

Llan slipped
silently out of the room. The conversation didn’t seem to require
her presence; she had little doubt that Eva could handle Rheas, if
anyone could. Meanwhile, she wanted her mamma. Back up the stairs
she went. Reaching Ynara’s room, she found Devary still in
attendance. Nyra and Eyas were also in the room, sitting close
together in the window seat with their backs turned to everyone
else.

‘
Ma,’
Llandry said, sitting carefully on the bed. ‘Lady Eva’s here, and
Tren.’

Ynara turned on
her a look of surprise. ‘Eva’s here? Why?’

‘
She
brought me,’ Llan replied. It occurred to her then that Ynara
wouldn’t have heard of Eva’s newfound Lokant skills, so she went on
to explain. She spoke of Limbane and the Library, though she left
Krays out of it for now. Ma needed a bit more time to recover
before she was burdened with worries again.

By the time she
was finished, all conversations across the room had ceased and she
was the centre of attention. She came to an abrupt stop, her face
heating.

Ynara nodded,
squeezing her hand. ‘I’m not too surprised. Eva was always
different.’

‘
You’re taking all this very calmly, Ma,’ Llandry
said.

‘
Well,
my Llandry. Remember the events that landed me in this bed. What do
you suppose has become of Waeverleyne while I’ve been lying here? I
have little attention to spare for any other matter.’

Llandry nodded,
her nerves fluttering. Her first objective was reviving Mamma; that
accomplished, they would both soon have to return to Glinnery, to
face whatever was occurring in their beloved home city. Would there
be anything to return to?

A sudden thought
set her cursing herself. Pensould had Aysun’s voice-box. If she
hadn’t dismissed him, they could have attempted to speak with her
father right away. Pensould had failed to get an answer from him in
some time, this was true, but she wanted to try. Aysun needed to
know that Ynara was well, and they needed to know what was
happening in Glinnery. Was her father safe, even?

‘
I’m
getting up,’ Ynara announced. She threw back the blanket and stood.
Devary hovered, supporting her elbow when she wobbled a
little.

‘
Stop
that,’ she said. ‘I’m perfectly well. I’d like a moment to dress,
please, then we will find Eva. It is high time for a plan of action
to be formulated.’

Llandry left the
room, along with Dev, Nyra and Eyas. She could guess her mother’s
purpose. Never mind the voice-box; Ynara would go straight to
Waeverleyne. Devary would go with her, of course, and probably Nyra
and Eyas would too.

And Llandry was
determined that she would not be left behind.

Squeezing ten
people into Rheas’s open-plan ground floor was no easy matter. That
it was acutely painful to Rheas was perfectly obvious. For the
first time Llandry wondered whether the old man had the same fear
of crowds as she did. Was that why he’d hidden himself up here? The
possibility that hers was, in part, a familial weakness made her
feel a little bit better.

Ynara took charge
of the impromptu meeting, at least to begin with. But she assumed
that their only goal was to defeat the draykon invasion, and Eva
was obliged to interrupt her.

‘
I am
as concerned as you about the threat to the Seven Realms; the
double threat, in fact, as they will be under siege by the animal
populace as well as the draykoni. But Krays’s activities may prove
to be a still greater problem. Tren and I must assist Limbane in
uncovering his operation, and halting it.’

Ynara glanced
briefly at Llandry. ‘Krays?’

Eva looked at
Llandry too, and she blushed. Perhaps she should have told Mamma
the whole story after all.

‘
Krays
is another Lokant,’ Eva explained. ‘A rival of Limbane’s, and a
very dangerous man.’ She related the tale in full, though Llandry
was grateful to note that she played down the danger Krays had
posed to Llandry.

‘
But
this is between Lokants,’ Ynara said when Eva had finished. ‘If
they must fight over their Libraries, let them. It is no concern of
ours.’

‘
I’m
not sure of that at all,’ Eva said. ‘Krays’s various projects
appear to involve the Seven Realms closely. He may indeed be aiming
to take back Limbane’s Library; Limbane certainly believes that.
But why does he need the draykon bone? Why has he chosen
this
world to conduct his operations? There’s much more to
this than we’ve yet learned, there has to be. And I can’t believe
that it won’t affect the Seven at all. He and his agents are
already the cause of all the turmoil we now face; they brought back
the draykoni. What more might the Seven suffer in time, as a result
of these Lokant wars?’

Ynara frowned.
‘What possible reason could this Krays have for wanting to harm the
Seven?’

‘
Possibly none at all,’ Eva said. ‘But considering the extent
of the collateral damage so far, I’d say he has no reason to care
if our world is broken either.’

Ynara nodded
slowly, obviously disappointed.

‘
I
shan’t abandon the Seven to the draykoni, Ynara,’ Eva said gently.
‘But nor can I make them my priority.’

‘
I’ll
help Glinnery,’ Llandry said. Orillin said almost the same thing at
almost the same time. He threw her a swift smile, but Eva shook her
head.

‘
We
can’t simply set the two of you loose in Glinnery,’ she said.
‘Limbane would kill me, and rightfully so. As far as we know, Krays
is still looking for you both.’