Perilous Shadows: Book 6 Circles of Light (31 page)

Konya sat silent for a
while.

‘And what were Anlif’s
views on the Broken Realm,’ Tika prompted gently.

‘He was convinced it
was here. Not Between anymore, actually part of this
world.’

Tika closed her mouth.
‘Did he speak of a Shadow Realm?’

Konya sighed. ‘Anlif
spoke of it – he called it that, too. Anlif was a healer, but he
was also a mathematician.’ Konya threw up her hands. ‘Numbers! He
could reduce anything to numbers, from childhood coughs to broken
bones. And he was the only one who ever understood what he was
talking about. He spent all his spare time on trying to work out
where it was. The Shadow Realm I mean. As best I remember it was an
island, a large one. But that’s about all. He knew about the Night
Lands – your Sapphrea. He worked out all the numbers so he
said.’

Konya gave Tika an
apologetic look. ‘I have no idea how.’

‘You’re sure it was the
Shadow Realm he thought he’d found?’

‘Oh yes. There were
stories about the Dark Realm – told to frighten the children. Anlif
said there had to be a Light Realm and therefore a Shadow one. He
said it was obvious but – um – I never quite grasped his
theories.’

‘But in spite of what
some of the Dark Ones told me, you at least don’t seem to equate
Dark with evil, Light with good.’

‘The old temples which
the Imperatrix ordered closed and, in many cases, destroyed, were
places where people asked the gods of fire, water, earth, fertility
and so on, to assist them in their everyday lives.’

‘From the little I know
of Sedka’s devotion to the Light here in Drogoya, those who
transgressed his rules were considered the most serious of wrong
doers, and punished accordingly. I don’t think that happens in the
Dark Realm, but I’ll ask Essa or Shivan.’

They sat in silence
again for a time, both deep in thought.

‘And you have no idea
where this island might be?’

Konya sighed again.
‘Sorry. Not a clue.’

Essa bellowed from
below them that the company were about to starve unless they helped
themselves to Konya’s cooking. Konya scrambled to her
feet.

‘They’re worse than
children,’ she grumbled to Tika, hurrying down the ridge. ‘They
don’t understand the meaning of fair shares.’

‘Well,’ Tika mind spoke
Khosa. ‘That was interesting, but hardly helpful.’

‘Star Flower had lots
of maps,’ Khosa replied thoughtfully. ‘I’m sure they showed all of
this world.’

‘Navan was the only one
of us who could make sense of the bloody things.’

‘I wonder if he kept
them?’

‘Well of course he
would have done,’ Tika retorted. ‘They fascinated him.’

Khosa and Tika stared
at each other. If she could persuade Shivan to open a gateway to
Sapphrea, would Navan have those maps? Tika felt Khosa’s laugh
ripple through her mind.

‘Sket would never let
you go alone. And if he goes, everyone else will demand to
go.’

Tika scowled. ‘It feels
we’ve reached a solid wall here Khosa. Perhaps we should try from a
new place. But I fear us bringing danger on Gaharn, if the Crazed
One is truly trying to track me alone.’

Khosa yawned, showing
her needle sharp teeth briefly. ‘A few days will do no harm I
think. It might be nice to visit Lady Emla.’

Tika stared
suspiciously at the cat curled against her arm, but Khosa’s eyes
were shut tight.

‘You can carry me down
to the camp if you like.’

Tika was sorely tempted
to dump the cat without ceremony on the bare rock, but chose to
resist that temptation.

They ate earlier than
usual, while the sun was still above the horizon, and then occupied
themselves with routine chores and drills. Tika held her breath
when Sket approached Dromi and, politely, suggested he worked
through a couple of exercises with him. Dromi offered no objection.
He rose and moved to the open area the guards used to practice.
People moved aside and stopped what they were doing, to watch Sket
put the Old Blood through his paces.

The guards had marked
out a circle in which they fought, and, by Sket’s rule no blood
must be drawn. He wanted them fast in all reactions, including
being able to hold back on a difficult blow. Dromi drew his sword.
All of the company Tika realised, carried blood metal weapons – she
had given Dromi the sword she’d taken from Corim.

Dromi was an unlikely
looking swordsman. His body was too plump, his legs and arms too
spindly. Tika knew that no power was used, but Dromi moved so fast,
so – strangely, forcing Sket’s back foot out of the circle in
heartbeats. Dromi raised his sword in salute and stepped back to
the opposite side of the circle.

‘Excellent,’ Sket
commented, genuine appreciation in his voice. ‘If you would take on
Fedran, I would like to observe your moves.’

‘As you wish
Captain.’

Sket sent Fedran into
the ring, then Kazmat, and finally Essa sauntered forward, armed
only with her long knife. Dromi had no problems defeating the first
two, but Essa held him to a draw. Tika strongly suspected that Essa
had held back, to give Sket a better chance to observe Dromi’s
method of fighting. She also believed Essa could have flattened
Dromi in a very short time, because Essa, like all Dark guards Tika
had seen in action, fought to win, and never mind the
niceties.

Neither Essa nor Dromi
seemed particularly out of breath when Sket called a halt, but
Essa’s light blue eyes were ice, although her lips curved in a
smile. It was too dark for much more weapons drill to be done in
safety and the men gathered around the fire. Shea and Geffal were
fussing over Volk’s horses when Volk loomed into the firelight. He
merely nodded acknowledgement to the greetings and went to his
horses. Tika waited until Shea and Geffal abandoned Volk and then
she wandered over to him.

He peered down at her
when she reached him.

‘He came. He got upset
about the girl.’

‘Did he say
why?’

‘He said it was all too
sad, and that he wished he could do something about it, but he
can’t.’

Volk’s horse blew
gently in Tika’s face, startling her.

‘Now, now Daisy, behave
yourself. Daisy just wanted to meet you.’

Tika sent a light
mental probe to the horse and was astonished at the intricacy of
the animal’s mind. But then she was gently but very firmly pushed
away as a large brown eye contemplated her. Tika took a deep breath
and put a cautious hand on Daisy’s nose.

‘I’m – um – pleased to
meet you Daisy.’

Feeling rather like a
child who has very nearly overstepped the mark of good behaviour,
she turned her attention to Volk.

‘We are going to travel
a gateway Volk, if Shivan agrees, to my land of Sapphrea. Horses,’
she glanced at the solid mass of Daisy and quickly away. ‘Horses do
not travel well I understand. Gateways cause them much distress. We
would greatly appreciate your continuing presence with us, but if
you prefer to stay – it’s entirely your choice.’

Volk scratched
vigorously under Daisy’s chin. ‘She won’t be any bother wherever we
go, but those two,’ he nodded at the other two horses who were
dozing behind Daisy. ‘They’ll find their way back to the others on
their own.’

‘They will? I mean, of
course they will, if you say so. Then you’ll come with
us?’

Volk nodded. Firelight
reflected for a moment in Daisy’s dark eye and Tika retreated,
somewhat confused.

Farn and Storm tried to
inveigle various people to play the riddle game, but without a
great deal of success until Shea took pity on them and agreed to
play four rounds. Although the others refused to play, they
listened to Shea trying to solve the nonsense the two young Dragons
thought was the epitome of both intelligence and humour. Under
cover of the increasing laughter, Tika leaned towards Sket and
Rhaki.

‘What was Dromi’s
fighting really like?’

Sket grunted. ‘I don’t
think he could have taken Essa, at least not easily. The rest of us
were simple prey to one of his ability. He is very, very
good.’

Rhaki agreed. ‘Each of
his moves had a formality I thought, almost like a ritual dance
rather than a weapons drill. Do you have doubts about
him?’

‘He asked to join us,’
Tika began.

‘He said he’d been told
to join us,’ Dog corrected from the darkness behind
Tika.

‘I need to be sure
everyone in my company will be totally committed to each other’s
survival. I am not convinced he is. I feel his Brotherhood of
Keepers is still the most important thing in his world.’

‘So we’re careful with
him for a while,’ Sket suggested.

One of Volk’s horses
stamped a foot and whickered beyond the firelight.

‘Has anyone noticed
anything about Volk’s horse?’ Tika asked.

‘Apart from its name?’
Rhaki laughed. ‘She isn’t Old Blood. Shivan and I wondered about
her the other day.’

‘No,’ Tika agreed
thoughtfully. ‘She’s not Old Blood. But she’s definitely more than
just any old horse.’

Shivan arrived soon
after sunrise, gliding down to land on the ridge above the mine
entrance. When he shivered into man shape, he scrambled down the
slope to the camp. He looked rested, Tika noted and indeed his
first words explained that fact.

‘I fell asleep while I
was waiting for a meal and old Corman left me to sleep. I’m sorry,
I could have been back yesterday but I slept half the night then
all the next day.’

Tika smiled at him.
‘You needed the rest, obviously. Did you warn Corman?’

Shivan nodded. ‘They’ve
managed to lose track of both Cyrek and Seola, but they’ve sent
warnings to Jemin and to your Lady Emla.’

Shivan was brought up
to date with what the company had discovered in the small replica
of the Menedula building in Merriton. Tika showed him mental
pictures of the coldly arranged bones in the hall and of the
murdered boy Tyen. Lastly, she showed him Mena, sitting dwarfed in
the wooden armchair. He listened as the whispery voice spoke those
three brief sentences.

‘There is something
important there,’ he said quietly.

Tika nodded. ‘Khosa
gave me an idea about it,’ she replied. ‘But I want to know if you
can take us to Sapphrea?’

Shivan’s face lit up
with delight at the prospect of another new land. ‘I can take you
easily. Kija can take the Dragons.’

‘She can?’ Tika was
outraged that she hadn’t been told that Kija apparently knew how to
open gateways.

‘Keep a picture in your
mind of where you wish us to arrive,’ Shivan told Tika as the
company collected their packs and extinguished the fire.

Catching sight of
Rhaki’s suddenly apprehensive expression when the companions drew
close around Shivan, Tika chose to visualise the further reaches of
Lady Emla’s south gardens. She hadn’t even considered what Emla’s
reaction might be to the reappearance of her brother, albeit in a
different body and much changed in character. Clearly Rhaki was
considering that reaction all too well.

Shivan murmured a
phrase and the bleak rocky land of eastern Drogoya vanished and
they were plunged into total darkness. They popped back into a
bright sunlit day, afternoon by the position of the sun. Sket and
Konya groaned and sank to the ground but Tika was intrigued to see
neither Volk nor Dromi were adversely affected by this form of
travel. Nor were Rhaki or Daisy, although Tika thought there was a
hint of irritation in the horse’s dark eyes. After a definite glare
in Tika’s direction, Daisy lowered her head to graze on the grass
at her feet.

Farn sent an urgent
query to Tika to assure himself she was safe and then he reported
that Lady Emla was positively thrilled to see him, and she was on
her way to meet Tika and her companions. With a silent curse at
Farn’s helpfulness, Tika went to Sket and Konya, using a tiny
amount of power to soothe their whirling heads and calm their
churning stomachs. Sket climbed to his feet, a bit pale but
functioning.

‘Lady Emla is the ruler
of this land,’ he announced. ‘You’ll look smart when you meet her.
Now form up.’

Shivan, Tika and Rhaki
led the way north. Trees, just greening, obscured any sight of the
great House but the grounds were already showing how lush they
would soon be.

‘Are you all right
about this, Rhaki?’ Tika asked anxiously. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t stop
to think how hard this might be for you.’

Rhaki managed a smile.
‘However she, or the Seniors, react, I will offer no objection or
resistance.’

He stopped suddenly and
caught her hand. ‘I must say, before we meet them, I am glad I have
had this much of a chance, to meet you and your friends. Very
glad.’

He released her hand
and they walked on. They glimpsed figures through the trees and
Tika looked over her shoulder. Her company looked smart, marching
behind Sket in their dark blue uniforms with the silver Dragon
insignia. She saw Konya and Dromi walking with Volk but was
astonished to see a smug Khosa perched atop Daisy.