Perilous Shadows: Book 6 Circles of Light (26 page)

‘It looks sad now,
don’t you think?’ she said. ‘Like people left it years ago and it’s
just forgotten and useless.’

Rhaki studied the
Menedula. Shea was right, he decided. The building had seemed dully
threatening only days ago but he suspected it had looked very
different when it was first constructed. He could imagine that
black stone glittering and flashing, sparkling in sunshine. He
wondered when it had lost that brilliant sheen and resolved to ask
Dromi at the first opportunity. Shivan was staring back at the
Menedula too.

‘It’s sad,’ Shea went
on. ‘I think Farn’s suggestion was right.’

Shivan looked down at
her. ‘What did he suggest?’

‘That it was knocked
down.’

Shivan returned his
gaze to the building. Slowly he nodded. ‘I think he’s right too.
But it would be a tough job, dismantling a place like
that.’

They began to follow
the rest of the company as Volk caught up with them. One horse was
loaded with various packs; the healer Konya rode the second. Rhaki
glanced up at Volk with a smile, resting a hand on the neck of
Volk’s mount.

‘This one is very
different from the other horses Volk.’

Volk grunted. ‘Daisy
and me been friends for years.’

Shivan coughed. Rhaki
stumbled. ‘Daisy?’

Volk glared down at
them both then pushed aside a handful of mane. A small white mark
was visible on the animal’s neck and Rhaki stood on tiptoes to peer
at it. Thin straight lines radiated in a circle with a tiny white
dot in the dark centre. Rhaki had to admit that on close inspection
the mark did indeed resemble a small daisy. But stepping back, he
regarded the solid muscular animal and wondered if such a delicate
name was so suitable.

‘She’s of a breed that
lives only in the north east now. Very few have been allowed south
– they’d be in great demand for heavy work.’ Volk gestured at the
rundown fields they were now passing through. His small eyes stared
down at Rhaki. ‘They are not just beasts of burden.’

Rhaki nodded but said
no more, not aloud.

‘Is this beast Old
Blood?’ he mind spoke Shivan.

‘I don’t think so. But
it definitely isn’t just an ordinary horse.’

Daisy’s head swung to
the side and a large dark eye studied the two men before she
snorted and turned back to the path.

The weather stayed dry
although the sky was overcast with light pewter clouds, until mid
afternoon when the sun forced the clouds apart. The company had
passed through several small villages, all empty, all forlorn. Now
they crested a long ridge and looked down over the empty fields
directly ahead.

‘We go along this
ridge,’ Dromi informed them. ‘Another league or so and we reach
Merriton.’

The four Dragons landed
in a flurry of wings and settled along the ridge top.

‘There is nothing,’
Brin told them. ‘Very few beasts even. Hoppers and sheep.’ He
sounded slightly depressed, not having Farn’s fondness for hoppers
and none of the Dragons much liked eating sheep.

‘But there are rivers
not far, and fish,’ Storm added helpfully.

‘I presume you’re
trying to tell us that you found no sign of whatever the creature
was that took Mena?’ Tika put in.

Brin’s eyes whirred a
rather darker pink. ‘That’s what I said.’

The Dragons remained
when the company moved on, enjoying the brief burst of sunshine. It
was not long before the ridge they followed came to an abrupt end
and they looked down onto a collection of buildings, enough to be
worthy of the name town rather than village. Many of the houses
were tumbled and Dromi pointed some out.

‘When the mine closed,
the town virtually died. Most people worked for the mining
companies or supplied those workers.’ He gave a half shrug. ‘Used
to be several thousand living here. A fraction of that would have
stayed.’

Volk came up leading
Daisy and the spare horse. ‘Winters can be bad here and the soil
isn’t too good. Last time I came through, maybe six years ago, I’d
be surprised if there were more than a couple of hundred still
living here.’

Geffal had been staring
down at the town and now turned to Tika with a frown.

‘A lot of those
buildings to the north look as if they’ve fallen
recently.’

Tika followed his
pointing finger then looked to Volk. ‘When the earth shook – would
that have caused the houses to fall?’

Both Volk and Dromi
nodded.

‘And where is the
mine?’

Volk squinted across
the town. ‘A little way north.’

Tika saw the remains of
a track way splitting away from what looked like a better made
road. The track disappeared up the opposite slope.

‘Did men dig out this
break in the ridge?’ she asked.

‘No.’ Dromi nodded down
at the town. ‘See that little river? Once, it was huge, forcing its
way through the softer rocks and then making the gap wider and
wider. Then the water suddenly lessened and that little trickle is
all that’s left. Two thousand years ago it was called Merriton Gap,
or so it is written.’

‘Written
where?’

Dromi’s eyes seemed to
change from blue to hazel. ‘In texts I have studied during the
course of my training.’

Tika chose not to press
the point; hopefully there might one day be time to do so but for
now, a mine awaited them.

They made their way
down the side of the ridge, keeping to the north of the derelict
town. Tika found herself beside Volk as they picked their way
between boulders and smashed fence rails.

‘It isn’t usual for the
ground to shake here Volk?’

‘No Lady Tika. I told
you, far south of here and further east, but never up
here.’

He grabbed her arm as
her ankle turned on loose pebbles. She stood for a moment, holding
on to Volk’s arm and looking up into the sky.

‘Are Hesla and her
friends still around?’ she asked, realising she hadn’t noticed any
birds at any time since they’d left Blue Mirror.

Volk’s square white
teeth shone through his beard. ‘Oh yes. There are fifteen or more
close by.’

‘There are?’

Volk’s horse nudged her
gently in the small of her back and Tika continued down the ridge.
Volk took them along the track which Tika had seen from the other
slope. It wound round and up, into the ridge again. They came to a
large dark hole with broken boards, rocks and small bushes tossed
around its opening.

Sket was at Tika’s side
when she took a few cautious steps inside. They could hear water
dripping somewhere ahead and there was a dank metallic taste in the
air. Rhaki entered behind them and sent a light drifting inwards.
The walls were rough hewn, a greenish blue beneath oozing water.
The sides narrowed quickly and Rhaki summoned his light back. They
went outside again in silence.

Tika was surprised by
how warm the weak sun felt as she emerged. They’d only been in
there a few heartbeats, yet the chill had penetrated fast. The
Dragons appeared overhead and Kija and Farn landed while Brin and
Storm flew on. Tika walked swiftly to Farn and climbed between his
wings. He was aloft before anyone noticed. When they did, there was
some consternation but Kija mind spoke them soothingly.

‘Tika needs to think
and Farn needs to have her with him for a while. They will not go
far and they will not be long.’

Khosa sat neatly, her
tail curled round her front paws, watching the company make camp.
After a while, she moved to the mine entrance, and disappeared
within. Farn returned with Brin and Storm as the sky darkened
towards nightfall. Konya and Volk had soup simmering over the fire
and Brin dropped six rabbits beside Fedran. The guard picked them
up and examined them closely before passing them to Darrick for
skinning and cleaning.

‘They’re definitely
dead,’ he remarked generally as he handed over the last. ‘But
there’s not a mark on them. How do you kill them?’ He craned over
his shoulder at the Dragons.

‘Scares them to death I
should think,’ Dog replied, and grinned at Brin. ‘Wish I could do
that.’

Onion snorted. ‘You
come round a corner on a foggy night Dog, you’d scare anyone to
death, just by smiling at them.’

Prudently he sat some
distance from Dog, on the other side of the fire.

‘I’m not happy about
going in here,’ said Tika, when their supper was finished. ‘I am
fairly sure the creature isn’t here now.’

‘But Hesla saw it go
inside,’ Volk began.

Tika lifted a hand. ‘I
know she did, and I’m sure she or her friends have kept watch and
would have told us if they’d seen it come out again. I’m not sure
if it has come out somewhere quite close, or perhaps –
travelled.’

She met Shivan’s bright
yellow eyes. He started to chew the side of his thumb and then
hurriedly changed his mind.

‘Do you mean – used a
gateway to travel?’ he asked.

Tika leaned back
against Farn. ‘I did wonder that, yes.’

Shivan frowned. ‘But if
it could use gateways, why didn’t it leave the Menedula by that
method, instead of running all the way?’

‘I didn’t say I had any
good reason for wondering this Shivan.’

‘No, no,’ Shivan
interrupted. ‘I wasn’t arguing with you, just thinking aloud. Could
it have met someone here, someone who could use
gateways?’

A name hung unspoken
between them for a moment.

‘Where could one of
these gateways take them?’ enquired Dromi, his eyes pale grey in
the firelight.

Tika gave a bitter
laugh. ‘Anywhere Dromi. Anywhere on this world.’

Dromi pondered her
answer. ‘Where would you think it most likely?’

Tika frowned but it was
Khosa’s mind voice that answered him. She stalked from the gaping
hole of the mine entrance and climbed onto Essa’s knees.

‘He has gone to the
Splintered Kingdom,’ she said, and proceeded to begin a through
washing of her feet.

‘How do you know that
Khosa? And why ever have you been inside that mine on your
own?’

Khosa paused, one back
leg extended so that she could really get to work between her
toes.

‘Don’t you remember? I
can get in all sorts of small spaces. I can also smell things
better than you, and that Splintered Kingdom has a smell. I only
recently realised that, though.’

She returned to
cleaning her feet.

‘Khosa, please.’ Tika
leaned forward. ‘Please tell us what you’ve learned. There is
rabbit here if you want.’

Khosa’s turquoise eyes
slitted. ‘Fresh or cooked?’

‘Whichever you like.
Khosa, don’t be difficult.

Khosa stared down her
tiny nose. ‘I was once the Queen of the Kephis on the Lady Emla’s
estate.’

There was an oddly
wistful note in her mind voice and Tika scrambled round the fire to
kneel by Essa. She lifted Khosa to her shoulder, stroking the soft
warm fur.

‘I know Khosa, I know.
Perhaps, one day, we can all go back.’

Khosa spoke to Tika’s
mind alone. ‘No Tika. No one can ever go back to something lost in
their lives.’

She wriggled and Tika
let her go back to Essa’s lap.

‘There is a single
tunnel which goes quite straight. It follows the line of that ridge
I would say. There are a few little holes leading off it, but there
were only some broken tools and candles in them.’

Khosa hunched down on
Essa’s knees and Essa’s huge hand began to stroke along the cat’s
back.

‘Then there was a hole
in the floor which I couldn’t get down, but there was a bigger room
just near it. That’s when I smelled the creature. Mena’s smell was
faint and not really her. And then another smell, and then the one
that is the Splintered Kingdom.’

She turned to look at
Tika. ‘It smells of mint.’

Tika gasped in shock
and Sket half rose. Shivan looked confused.

‘What does that
mean?’

‘Thank you Khosa,’ Tika
whispered, and made her way back to sit close to Farn, clearly
shocked.

‘Tika,’ Shivan
implored.

‘I, and others, smelled
mint every now and then. In Sapphrea, in Malesh, in Wendla. I
smelled it when I fell with Sket, when Seela died. The smell seemed
to guide me. Someone told me it was a sign of Myata’s
presence.’

‘Myata?’ Dromi’s voice
rose in astonishment. ‘Myata?’

Tika nodded. ‘I was
told she was the daughter of Sedka and she founded the
Oblaka.’

Dromi’s round face
registered unusual anger. ‘She was Sedka’s child. She was sent to
the Oblaka. She had too much power.’ He drew a breath. ‘She was
stark, raving mad.’

‘And who told you of
Myata?’ Volk growled.

Tika shook her head.
‘Ren I think, or Babach, or Chakar. She is an Observer, still at
the Stronghold, north of Gaharn.’ She looked from Volk to Dromi.
‘Whoever spoke of her, believed what they told me. I am sure I
would have felt any deliberate lies. Is she really not respected
here?’