Perilous Shadows: Book 6 Circles of Light (24 page)

Reluctantly Farn folded
his wing against his back. Tika laid her left hand on his shoulder
as she came alongside him, then touched his cheek.

‘I will never let
people risk their lives while I hide behind you, my
dearest.’

Farn sent a pulse of
love and apology, and Tika returned her attention to the flaming
trees. At her shoulder, Sket grunted.

‘They should have
charged straight at us. But look, they’re just – milling about down
there. What’s happening?’

Rhaki hurried towards
them. ‘They were being controlled,’ he shouted. ‘But the link’s
broken.’

‘Tika, tell Kija to
blast the whole lot,’ Sket ordered urgently. He raised his voice.
‘Everyone pull back further towards the cabin, there’s no need to
engage them.’

Tika stayed next to
Farn as he shuffled slowly backwards. They all watched as Kija and
Storm came into sight, fire raging along the strung out line of
monstrous beasts. The two Dragons swung away, climbing higher
again, as the massive figure of Brin followed their route, spitting
white flames into the building inferno.

The company could feel
the heat now as the wet fir trees dried and exploded when the fires
leaped among them, creeping up the slope towards the cabin. Sket
and Fedran were both watching the encroaching flames but Volk
staggered out of the cabin behind them at that moment. His
shoulders were hunched, suggesting his chest was causing him pain.
Sket gave him a quick glance before turning back to the
fire.

‘It won’t reach us,’
Volk growled. ‘The trees are too wet to burn for long. As long as
the Dragons don’t cast their fire any closer.’

‘Are you sure it won’t
spread further out?’ Shea pushed up next to Volk, Khosa’s head
poking out from her travelling sack under Shea’s chin.

Volk gave the girl an
odd look but shook his head.

‘It will die out
quickly enough.’

The three Dragons were
flying back and forth above the diminishing screams and bellows.
The body of the creature Geffal had killed still lay, out of the
touch of the fire. Brin landed quite near the body and paced around
it, his jaws slightly open just in case the creature wasn’t
entirely dead. The fire edging towards the cabin began to falter as
Volk had foretold and the company cautiously moved down,
approaching Brin and the dead beast.

Essa came up, holding a
burning branch high, the better to see the thing, Onion doing the
same on the opposite side. But even as they gathered around, the
body seemed to quiver and lose its shape. Tika heard a gasp in the
darkness somewhere behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw
Konya’s white face, staring at the body. Tika snapped her gaze back
to the corpse and took an involuntary step back.

The thick skin had
split along one side, and a black jelly oozed from the
split.

‘What is it Konya? Is
this what you saw in Kelshan?’

Konya’s hand was over
her mouth but she nodded.

‘Fire,’ said Tika.
‘Brin, burn every bit of this.’

She stumbled as she
tried to move away. Rhaki caught her arm, dragging her with him.
Brin rose into the air, blasting fire again and again. The company
watched until the heap of ash was reduced to nothing but
smoke.

‘I want that patch of
ground checked as soon as there’s enough daylight,’ Tika told them.
‘The slightest drop of that black stuff has to be
destroyed.’

‘Why?’ Rhaki
asked.

‘It filled the body of
a dead mage in Kelshan and Konya, among others, strongly suspected
that black jelly contaminated others who came into contact with
it.’

‘So whatever was there,
has followed us, you, here,’ Shivan sounded thoughtful.

Sket organised guards
to watch through the night, taking the first watch himself with
Darrick and Kazmat. Essa and Dog set about brewing tea, which they
had not yet been known to ruin. Tika mind spoke the
Dragons.

‘I thank you my dears.
Rest now. I know you will be weary so rest while we watch through
this night.’

Rhaki handed her a bowl
of tea and sat in front of the fire. ‘What did Shivan mean,
something’s followed you?’ he asked her.

Tika sighed. ‘Those –
things – appeared in Kelshan City. Wherever I was in the Citadel,
they seemed drawn to that place.’ Tika flicked a glance at Shivan.
‘Lord Cyrek of the Dark Realm pointed out that fact to me. Then in
Karmazen, there was a similar situation.’

Dromi was squatting
next to Konya, his back against the wall. ‘Forgive my ignorance,
but your tone implies doubts about this Lord Cyrek. What can you
tell me about him?’

Shivan groaned,
stretching his long legs straight out on the floor. ‘I can only
tell you that Corman has had Cyrek, and his sister, Seola, watched
since we left Karmazen.’ He frowned into his tea. ‘Seola has –
travelled – through many lands over very many years, gathering
information. She is skilled at changing her appearance,
particularly the colour of her eyes, and fitting in among all sorts
of people.’

‘She’s a good spy, you
mean,’ Volk rumbled.

Shivan opened his mouth
to object, then closed it. He nodded. ‘As far as I know of such
things, the information she and others like her collected, was
never gathered with any ulterior purpose. My people preferred to
remain hidden in our Realm, we have no dreams of invasions and
conquests of others.’

‘But your man – the one
you report to -’

‘Corman,’ Shivan
supplied.

Dromi nodded. ‘Corman
has worries about these two. You say the woman travels the world.
What of the man?’

Shivan thought for a
few moments then glanced at Essa and over to Tika.

‘He was a brilliant
student I understand. Long ago of course, but constantly held up as
an example to all students ever since. But now I think about it,
I’m not really sure what he does. He has never taught classes in
the Academy as far as I know, or taken an apprentice. His family
estates produce grain and wine, but I can’t imagine him actually
working at any sort of farming.’

He frowned. ‘He is
often missing from the Palace, now I think of it. My father never
mentions him. Perhaps he travels, like his sister.’

‘He was poking around
them mines, last year, when we had to clear the tunnels,’ Dog
offered into the silence following Shivan’s words. ‘You saw him,
didn’t you Sergeant?’

Essa nodded slowly. ‘He
asked a lot of questions. But I was only there a couple of days,
with the Shield Master.’

Dog leered at her and
Essa scowled.

‘But you see a
connection, don’t you Dromi?’ Tika asked.

‘I think I do,’ he
agreed. ‘Not knowing the man, but still I felt a resonance when
Shivan spoke his name.’

‘And you,’ Tika turned
to Rhaki. ‘You said those things were being controlled, and then
the link was broken.’

‘That is what I sensed.
But by the time I realised, and then tried to track the thread, it
was gone.’

‘Any idea of the
direction?’

Rhaki grimaced. ‘South.
The Menedula I’d guess, wouldn’t you?’

There were half mocking
groans from most of the company.

‘Where else?’ someone
muttered.

‘Tomorrow we pay the
Menedula a visit,’ Tika decided. ‘I was going to far seek, but I
suspect Ren may have known I was doing so last time. Let him think
he’s frightened us off for a while.’

No one slept much
although they all made a pretence of doing so. By first light they
were packed and ready to go. Although Konya had told Tika that
Volk’s chest was somewhat torn, she thought it best to let it heal
unaided. Tika expected Volk to leave them and take his horses back
to Blue Mirror, but he was adamant he would continue with them.
Eventually Tika gave up the argument. Sket looked exhausted and had
to endure a scolding when Tika discovered that he had stayed on
watch all night, although he’d rotated the other guards who’d
shared that duty.

To his great annoyance,
he was made to ride one of Volk’s horses rather than walk with
Tika, the league south to Syet. Volk rode abreast, to stop Sket
falling off when he slept, which he did almost at once. They halted
just before the forest ended and stared out over the unkempt
parkland which was all that was left of a no doubt once beautiful
expanse of scattered shrubs, lawns and small trees chosen for their
blossom.

‘Odd they should have
so few windows to look out over this garden,’ Konya
remarked.

Volk grunted. ‘Only a
pretence. Makes a good clear killing ground right round that place,
doesn’t it.’

Kija was a distant
speck far above them. ‘I sense only one life thread within,’ she
told those on the ground. ‘It has traces of Ren’s mind signature,
but only a faint trace. I don’t recognise the rest. And none of it
is strong.’

‘Enough is enough,’
Tika decided, and began walking directly towards the great black
building which dominated the landscape.

From this side, there
was no glimpse of the city of Syet, the Menedula seemed to float,
alone in the world. Volk remained on his solidly muscular horse,
leading the other two. Geffal had his bow ready but the others kept
their hands on their sheathed swords. They’d see anyone trying to
rush them, with plenty of time to prepare. At least for a few
heartbeats, Tika thought wryly.

But nothing challenged
their march across the grass, and nothing stirred when they came to
the series of walled gardens leading up to the rear of the
Menedula. The guards drew their weapons once they reached these
gardens and formed up around Tika. They came to the door through
which Ren had led them. Tika narrowed her eyes and concentrated on
the door. There was a scraping noise followed by a
clang.

Rhaki grinned. ‘Iron
bar?’ he asked. ‘You must explain how you do that some
time.’

Essa rolled her eyes
and gently but firmly put Tika aside. She leaned steadily against
the door, which opened a small distance then stopped, the iron bar
jammed in the way. Essa kicked the bar clear and heaved the door
back against the inner wall. Tika opened her mouth and Sket spoke
before she could.

‘We do not split up.’
He glared at Tika, daring her to countermand him.

Fedran entered behind
Essa and Tika followed. She glanced behind and saw that Dog and
Sket were practically on her heels. Instead of taking the stairs
just ahead, Essa moved on to a pair of tall double doors. Fedran
reached for the ring of black metal and turned it. Essa did the
same on the other half of the door. They pushed together hard, and
stood ready for any attack.

The stench that
billowed out sent everyone staggering backwards and Tika knew
they’d reached that awful hall she’d only seen from above. Rhaki
conjured a ball of light and tossed it into the dark of the hall.
They only had a glimpse before he snapped his fingers and the light
vanished. The glimpse was sufficient to see the bodies nearest the
door. It wasn’t possible to identify any features, the flesh
deliquescing around the skulls and already fallen from the hands by
the bodies’ sides.

Shivan moved to Tika’s
side, his arm round her shoulders. He waited. Her hands over her
nose and mouth, she could only nod. Shivan raised his left hand,
the fingers flickering in an intricate pattern. Fire shot from his
fingertips, cold fire, which consumed those first bodies in an
instant, and then the next, the beam of fire widening to encompass
the width of the hall. Gradually, as Shivan’s cold fire cremated
the pitiful remains of hundreds of people, the smell dissipated as
well. Tika glanced at Rhaki but he had a slight frown on his
face.

Shivan was pale with
effort and Tika was fairly sure the delicate scent of flowers was
not his doing. Essa’s light blue eyes were wide with surprise. Then
Tika saw Dromi standing by the edge of the door, a smile on his
face even as tears poured down his round cheeks. As though he felt
her gaze, Dromi turned a little and gave a gentle nod.

They could see only an
expanse of black glassy stone across the hall now, every corpse had
gone, and Shivan swayed against Tika. She braced herself as she
took his weight. Darrick appeared on Shivan’s other side, pulling
an arm over his own shoulder and helping Tika get the young Dark
Lord out into the open air. Tika didn’t notice, in her concern for
Shivan, that Rhaki, Essa, Kazmat and Onion did not emerge from the
Menedula with the rest.

Those four made their
way upstairs, Essa in the lead. They went along the landing, not
sparing a glance over its balustrade now. The door into Cho Petak’s
apartment was ajar and Onion removed one of his beloved poppers
from his satchel. They had made no attempt to approach stealthily
and now Onion advanced, kicking the door hard to open it fully.
Kazmat leaped to Onion’s side, his left hand stopping the door
bouncing back. Essa, closely followed by Rhaki, strode between the
two men into the room.

It was as she’d seen it
days ago, except for the papers littering every surface, including
the floor. Onion trilled a brief whistle, a system of communication
common among soldiers and engineers of the Dark Realm, and Essa
swung round. Onion indicated the wall. The door Tika had closed was
now wedged open a fraction again. Rhaki beat her to it, his sword
already back in its scabbard.