Perilous Shadows: Book 6 Circles of Light (66 page)

‘No,’ Rhaki
interrupted. ‘Only to Tika. She must replace her physical energy
before she can reach for power again. Share most of what food you
find among your people.’

After a short pause,
Konrik turned back to Darallax’s house. ‘We know of the tremendous
loss of energy when an adept calls power. If Lady Tika is to face
this Dark Lord she must be restored quickly. I will send you what I
can.’

They pushed food into
Tika every time she opened her eyes throughout that day and night,
and her wasted body plumped out a little more with each
feeding.

Soon after dawn, a
breeze riffled among the company and Ferag appeared close to Onion.
Everyone else flinched, but Onion beamed at her. Ferag beamed back,
stroking the injured side of his face with long cold fingers. Tika
had just fallen asleep again and Ferag bent over her, her long dark
red hair draping onto Tika’s chest.

‘Poor little sweetie,’
Ferag murmured. ‘I didn’t know what she was up to until all the
Realms shook to their very roots.’

Roots? Essa thought. An
odd word to use.

‘Anyway,’ Ferag
continued. ‘Now that’s out of the way we can concentrate on this
stupid boy Cyrek. We can’t find him at the moment
though.’

The company held their
collective breath when Onion patted Ferag’s arm.

‘Perhaps he’s not such
a stupid boy, my lady. Killed a lot of people here
yesterday.’

Ferag stared around,
only now noticing the destruction. ‘Oh my. The poor darlings.’ She
frowned. ‘But where have they gone? There hasn’t been a sudden rush
to my Realm, I assure you.’ Her fine lacy skirts began to move, as
did her hair. ‘I’ll go and have a word with Darallax and see what
he’s done with them. He was always an odd child.’

She disappeared, and
reappeared almost at once. ‘Do give the poppet my love when she
wakes, won’t you?’ She waggled her fingers at Onion and was gone
again.

Essa watched Onion
carefully for a while before she moved round the group to sit next
to him.

‘What’s happened to you
Onion?’ She spoke quietly enough that the others didn’t
hear.

He gazed up at her with
his one eye and shrugged. ‘Pain’s gone. The colours still keep
flashing but they talk now.’

‘Oh. The colours talk
to you?’ she asked carefully.

Onion nodded and Essa
was tempted to thump information out of him. ‘And what do they talk
about?’

Onion thought for a
while. ‘All sorts of things. They told me to show them Lady Tika’s
hands.’

‘Do they chatter away
all the time?’

‘Oh no.’

Well that’s a relief,
Essa thought, until Onion went on.

‘Mostly they sing.
Lovely tunes too.’

Essa decided she’d
heard enough. ‘Well that’s really nice for you Onion but – um – I
ought to go and fetch more water now I think.’

Tika woke at midday.
She felt deeply weary mentally, tired to her very bones, but
physically nearly her usual self. Brin and Storm landed as Tika was
complaining bitterly at finding herself nearly naked under her
blankets. Again. Brin interrupted her tirade to announce that only
one other town upriver, not quite as large as this one, had been
devastated by earthquake. No damage anywhere else. People had
rushed from nearby villages to help dig out both survivors (very
few,) and dead bodies (very many.)

‘Could we not risk a
gateway?’ Shivan pleaded. ‘I’ve already tried to find the spirals
in the garden in there, but most of the house fell into the
courtyard. We have to get a message to Corman.’

‘No.’ Tika was adamant.
‘No gateways.’

As Shivan prepared to
argue, she held up her hand, the hazy sun glinting on the blood
metal ring given her by Garrol.

‘We always knew, or I
did anyway, that we would probably have to deal with all of this on
our own. Although Cyrek must now believe we are entirely cut off
from any help, he may find a few surprises waiting for
him.’

Her companions looked
blank: only Essa had heard the conversation Tika’d had with
Simert.

‘I have to hope that
Cyrek waits just a little longer before he moves against us. I must
be stronger. Now, I have instructions for some of you but the rest
must go and help Darallax’s people. I would speak with you first,
Shea, and Khosa.’

Shea couldn’t hide her
surprise but she obediently came round the fire to stand in front
of Tika. Tika patted the grass and Shea sat cross legged, Khosa
draped round her shoulders.

‘You didn’t meet Lord
Dabray did you?’

Shea shook her head,
her hand rising to her shirt front.

‘But you have one of
his scales?’

‘The First Daughter
brought four. Favrian and Peshan each had one, and me and
Gossamer.’

Tika lowered her voice.
‘Somehow, Dabray senses them. I think they are a way for him to
keep track of where we are.’

Shea’s hazel eyes held
far too much knowledge for a girl of her years. ‘He rescued you in
Kelshan. So he is probably loads more powerful than Cyrek or any of
the others?’

Tika nodded. ‘I’m
guessing, but yes, I think he is still strong enough to protect the
First Daughter.’

Khosa spoke in their
minds. ‘Cyrek will not hesitate to kill Lerran. She is still too
weak to defend herself.’

Shea’s eyes widened.
‘But Dabray would never allow harm to come to her, so he’s wagered
on you.’

Tika grinned. ‘I
wouldn’t have put it quite like that Shea. You’re getting some bad
habits lately. Perhaps you should go home and learn the ways of a
lady of Kelshan?’

Shea used a word she’d
learned from Fedran, which made Tika rock with laughter. Then she
sobered and leaned closer.

‘When trouble starts,
as it will, hold fast to Dabray’s scale and think his name. Will
you do that for me?’

Shea pressed her hand
against her shirt, feeling the hard outline of the opalescent scale
hidden underneath.

‘I swear, on my
father’s name, Cawlin of the Weasel Clan.’

Tika understood the
solemnity of Shea’s vow and reached to grip the girl’s
hand.

‘Shea, whatever comes,
I need you to be strong. If Cyrek wins, do all you can to protect
this company.’

Shea paled slightly but
continued to grip Tika’s hand. ‘Always,’ she whispered.

‘Don’t speak of this
now. Perhaps you could help Konya get a meal ready?’

Shea’s fingers withdrew
reluctantly from Tika’s, but as she stood up, Khosa slid down her
arm, clearly intending to stay.

‘Are you well Khosa?’
Tika used mind speech.

‘I am well now. I have
news.’

Tika waited. The small
orange cat sat upright before her, her tail neatly curled over her
front paws.

‘When I was nearly
lost, when Darallax tried to release me from this form, I heard
Namolos. It was his death voice. Cho Petak survived; my father did
not.’

Khosa’s voice betrayed
no emotion, her turquoise eyes staring steadily up into Tika’s
face. Tika offered no sympathy, no comment, simply
waited.

‘I believe my mother
will not go on without him, and Star Dancer will be in great
distress. These are of no importance Tika. What you have to do,
is.’

Tika stretched her hand
to stroke lightly over Khosa’s head and shoulders.

‘If we defeat Cyrek,
then we will find them Khosa. Perhaps your father’s Ship would
welcome seeing you again.'

Khosa made no reply,
simply picking her dainty way to find a suitable lap.

‘Shivan,’ Tika
called.

He came and sat with
her, obviously worried. Tika studied him. She had been warned he
could be difficult but she had found few faults in him other than
occasional over enthusiasm. She knew he had a very individual mind,
and a deep interest in matters which his own people found bizarre.
She sighed.

‘I will not allow you
to attempt a gateway Shivan but what I ask of you could well be
more perilous.’

Shivan sat very still,
all his attention on her.

‘Cyrek will attack us
here. I’m almost sure of it. His arrogance will demand he makes a
great show of destroying me and my company. He will attack in
Dragon form, to give even more of a display to those who witness.
I’m not sure if he will try to target Darallax – he will want
witnesses of standing.’

Tika hesitated. ‘I do
not know the true strength of his power. I had my suspicions of him
from the first, and I made no attempt to test his mind. He would
have been aware of it at once. But when I fell into the Dark in
Kelshan, before you joined us, Cyrek tried to probe my
mind.’

She gave a wry smile.
‘I have shields in place all the time Shivan. Cyrek tested me and
found very little evidence of my real strength. So that is one
advantage we have. Another is that I suspect Dabray is watching
closely, but whether he is able to help I don’t know. Next, the
shadows.’

Tika stretched her left
hand over her knee and Shivan saw Garrol’s ring and below it
nestled the dark line of shadow.

‘It isn’t too easy,
discussing things with them, but I hope they will respond when I
call them again. I will face Cyrek. And I will face him in the sky,
on Farn. I would be grateful if you would take Dragon shape and fly
with us.’

Shivan looked at her,
his bright yellow eyes blazing. He lifted his left hand and touched
the thumb to his brow, his lips, his chest and then spread his open
palm towards her as he spoke.

‘I serve with my mind,
with my breath, with my strength and with my life.’

They stared at each
other in a strange moment of stillness, and then Tika
smiled.

‘Thank you Shivan. Stay
close by, we have little time before Cyrek’s patience runs out.
Kija, Storm and Brin are hidden and are watching for his mind
signature. I want to be high before he realises he’s been seen.
Now, can you ask Rhaki to come to me?’

Shivan rose and left
her without a word. She spoke briefly to Rhaki, outlining her
intention and giving him detailed messages to pass on should her
plans fail. Rhaki was shocked to the core by her words but he
understood how hard it was for her to have to make these
explanations and didn’t argue with her.

Essa was next and Tika
found it nearly impossible to look at the Sergeant’s impassive
expression as she gave her what might well be final instructions.
At last, Tika got to her feet and hugged Farn tight.

‘They understand, my
Tika,’ he murmured in her mind. ‘It’s just that they all love you.
Not as much as I do of course, but a lot.’

She gave a shaky laugh
and looked for the last person she had to face. Sket sat beside
her, staring down at his fists, clenched in his lap. Tika felt the
pain screaming through him when he realised she was refusing to let
him fly with her. When she stopped speaking he raised his eyes and
she flinched from the agony she saw in them. Unthinkingly, she held
her arms towards him and he snatched her into the fiercest embrace
he’d ever given her. She felt his breath by her ear and heard his
words.

‘Stars guide you and
bless you, my precious little lady. And if you don’t come back in
one piece, I’ll have you on weapons drill for a whole bloody
year.’

She leaned away, wiping
her cheek with her hand, not sure if it was wet with her tears or
Sket’s, when Kija bespoke her.

‘He approaches. High
and to the east.’

Chapter
Thirty-Six

Darallax arrived at a
run with most of the councillors the company had seen at the last
meeting. Already Farn was a mere speck as he climbed fast and high.
Shivan’s much larger Dragon shape moved just below Farn.

‘Did you know of this
plan?’ Darallax demanded.

Fortunately he asked
Navan, who truly had no idea of it. Darallax and his councillors,
his consort and his daughter, could only watch, alongside Tika’s
companions.

‘What are you doing?’
Dog hissed. ‘Don’t you care Lady Tika’s gone for a
fight?’

Onion lay flat on his
back at her feet. ‘I’m watching,’ he said calmly. ‘Don’t be so
worried Dog. Have more faith in her.’

Both Sket and Essa
heard his words but they didn’t take their eyes from the
sky.

This high the air was
cold and thin but Tika scarcely noticed. She was scanning every
direction for a hint of the Dark Dragon. Then Shivan screamed and
Farn twisted, Tika clinging to the forward edge of his wings. Even
higher, Cyrek drifted, smoke wreathing his face. Tika had a glimpse
of Shivan’s back, blackened the length of his spine, before she
called shadows to hide all three of them.

Farn made a most
undignified squawk as he was suddenly blinded, until Tika told the
shadows to let them see. Then, Farn was highly amused. Tika hushed
his chatter.

‘Cyrek will sense mind
speech Farn, so stay quiet.’