Perilous Shadows: Book 6 Circles of Light (68 page)

Onion chuckled. ‘She’ll
get well there,’ he agreed.

‘Do the lights tell you
that, Onion?’ asked Essa.

Onion nodded, still
chuckling.

Sket looked at Tika,
deeply asleep against Farn’s chest. Then he looked at the ruins
around them. He knew Tika would insist on helping, on healing
whoever asked her, and she had spent too much of herself over this
year.

‘Right everyone, look
sharp. I’ll take Lady Tika on Farn and Kija, would you please carry
Konya?’

‘Of course I will, and
any others who get sick in your plain old gateways.’ Kija’s eyes
sparkled at Sket and he realised that the Dragons, like everyone
else, needed a good long rest.

Khosa, who had been in
Shea’s arms, wiggled to be put down, and stalked stiff legged and
fluffy tailed to sniff at Garrol’s pack. He laughed and loosened
one of its many pockets. A brown furry face peeked worriedly out
and Khosa promptly set about washing it. Sket grinned: Resh, one of
Khosa’s sons, had clearly adopted Garrol. Resh withdrew again and
Khosa allowed herself to be tucked into her carry sack. Shea hooked
the strap round her neck.

‘Does Hag know where
we’ll be?’ she whispered.

Khosa yawned. ‘She’s
already there.’

Tika rarely dreamt, or
if she did, she never remembered anything of them, but she was
dreaming now. She was in First Daughter Lerran’s bed chamber and
only Lerran and the Palace Master Corman were present. The Palace
Master was sitting on the bed supporting Lerran’s long fragile body
in his arms. His face was a mask of grief. But Lerran looked
beautiful, her face smooth, serene, a smile tilting her lips
up.

‘It must be as I ask
Corman.’ Lerran’s words were the barest sound.

Corman shook his head.
‘My time is truly ended. I have failed again.’

A long transparent hand
struggled up to touch his face. ‘You have never failed us, dearest
friend. But it must be your decision, your choice. I beg you
though, stay a little longer. Shivan will have great need of you,
of your wisdom and your experience. He is the Grandson of Mother
Dark. I name him my only heir, but there will be many to gainsay
him. Help him Corman. You will know when he is ready to rule
alone.’

‘Is this why you
accepted Garrol’s departure? You knew this would
happen?’

In Tika’s dream, Lerran
seemed almost too weary to continue drawing breath to
speak.

‘We knew. She is the
child we waited for, Corman, the one we hoped for.’

‘What
child?’

‘Elza’s many times
great grandchild.’

‘Are you sure Elza
lived to bear a child?’

‘Oh yes. We knew. You
found Kofi’s body and Ferag told us he had passed through her
Realm. But Elza never did. She survived. Somewhere. And so her line
has returned. Perhaps not to rule here as she should, but she
lives. Corman, what joy that has given us, to know that. Even
though we are not to spend time with her, watching her, loving her,
we know that she lives.’

Tika saw Corman looking
down into Lerran’s great gold eyes as her head leaned against his
shoulder. Then Corman glanced up across the bed, and he closed his
own eyes. Tika saw who stood there: an incredibly beautiful woman
with long dark red hair, wearing a dress that seemed made of
cobwebs of the same colour. Lerran smiled again, a hand creeping
over the bed covers towards Ferag.

Ferag’s return smile
was full of love and compassion but before their hands met, both
women looked to Corman.

‘I will serve Shivan
until I deem him able to rule entirely alone,’ he
whispered.

Lerran’s smile was
radiant and she turned once more to Ferag. But her gaze snagged on
something else. The First Daughter’s eyes widened and her hand
stretched towards Tika.

‘Oh my darling
child.’

On Farn’s back, Sket
held Tika close. He counted eleven heartbeats and they emerged into
a sparkling blue sky, breathing air that was clean and sharp with
the scent of mountains. They were higher than he’d expected them to
be but the height offered Sket a spectacular view of the meandering
valley which now apparently belonged to the Lady in his
arms.

It was as though it had
been scooped out with a giant spoon. Sharply peaked and pleated
mountains towered on every side but their snowy shoulders gave way
to dark rock, then to pine forests, then to the pale green of new
leaf on trees whose leaves were shed each year. Sket saw the
glitter of small streams and, as Farn turned, a small lake
appeared, its waters as green as Lady Tika’s eyes. Kija gave a
great bugling cry and Brin repeated it. Sket watched a flock of
geese rise in alarm from the lake.

As Farn dropped lower,
Sket spotted what looked like deer vanishing among the trees. Lush
grass spread along the valley floor speckled with bright flowers –
yellow, white, pink, red and blue. Kija called again and turned to
the northern wall of the valley. The land rose higher, towards the
rocky feet of the mountain, and there Kija landed. Konya slid from
between Kija’s wings, staring this way and that. She walked across
to join Sket.

‘It’s beautiful, so
beautiful,’ she whispered.

He nodded. The rise on
which they stood was high enough to give them a view over a large
area. It was green, and quiet, and utterly peaceful. The air
shimmered below them and the rest of their company appeared, but
almost instantly Shivan moved away from them, his expression one of
anguish. The smell of burnt cinnamon gusted over them and Shivan
was rising into the sky in his Dragon shape. They watched him climb
higher, then he was gone.

Sket laid Tika down on
grass in which was mixed some sort of pleasantly scented herb. He
rose to see the company walking up to join him but his gaze was
fixed on Garrol. Garrol’s face was set but his bright blue eyes
held pain. The company was oddly silent; Sket had expected comments
about where they found themselves, but there were none.

‘Where’d he go sir?’
Dog asked.

Garrol sighed. ‘I fear
that Lord Shivan can no longer be a participating member of this
company. The First Daughter Lerran,’ His voice trembled and he
paused, cleared his throat and began again. ‘The First Daughter
Lerran has returned to Mother Dark. She named Shivan Grandson of
the Dark as her heir.’

Now the companions
murmured among themselves, but Sket observed how Garrol’s gaze
lingered on Tika’s sleeping form. Essa kept an eye on Onion. She
had no idea if he was crazy or if he had been somehow gifted by
those lights he claimed to see. And hear.

Garrol had freed Resh
from his pack, and Khosa had led her son off to explore through the
knee high grass. After a very short while, Resh came scampering
back and clawed his way up the nearest leg, which happened to be
Navan’s. Navan dropped the kettle he had just filled with water and
tried to free himself from the tiny claws. Tika woke to the sound
of laughter as her company, her friends, her family, watched
Navan’s struggles with a very small timid cat. She sat up slowly
and saw the white capped mountains in the distance
opposite.

Essa was first to
realise Tika had woken and she opened her mouth to alert everyone
else. Then she saw the tears welling and spilling down the pale
cheeks. In three strides Essa had reached her, plucked her off the
ground and swung away, down the small hill, while Tika sobbed and
sobbed. The others had begun to follow but both Rhaki and Onion
called them to a halt.

‘It’s the beginning of
the rest,’ Onion announced cheerfully. ‘Do you think we could find
rabbits for supper?’

Essa reached the lower
tree line, out of sight of the small rise, and sat down, her back
against the smooth trunk of a tree. Once again she held Tika on her
lap, patting her back gently, while more grief poured out. How much
sorrow can one person bear, she wondered, resting her chin on
Tika’s head. Finally the sobs slowed to hiccoughs and Tika pulled
away a little.

‘Sorry. I always seem
to be drowning you with my tears.’ She tried to make light of
it.

Essa’s huge hand wiped
the water from Tika’s cheek.

‘Lerran is dead,’ she
said softly. ‘She named Shivan heir. But you know that, don’t
you?’

Tears welled again but
they didn’t fall. ‘I saw her. In a dream. Ferag came for
her.’

Wings rustled and Hag
landed by Essa’s feet. Tika lurched towards the great Raven and
hugged her. Hag gave an astonished but rather pleased
squawk.

‘Are you sure you
aren’t hurt Hag? You seemed to lose so many feathers. And didn’t
you want to stay with Darallax?’

Hag cocked her head.
‘I’ll stay with you.’ She hopped from one foot to the other. ‘I
like you.’

Essa smiled as Tika
laughed. ‘I like you too, although you are a bit tatty
now.’

The Raven drew herself
up, standing taller than Tika who was on her knees.

‘Feathers will grow
again. Cyrek will not.’ Her eyes glittered. ‘A gateway opened. One
of your Dragons playing around, I think.’ She gave her cackling
laugh. ‘Go and see. You have your first two visitors to – what are
you calling this place?’

Tika looked at Essa in
confusion.

‘The First Daughter has
given you this whole valley, as your own land.’

‘Really?’ Tika looked
out at the wide valley, then to the left and the right. ‘It is
mine? Truly?’ She turned in a slow circle. ‘Iska would have loved
this place.’

‘Iska?’

‘My first teacher, in
Gaharn.’

Essa nodded.

‘Go and greet your
visitors,’ Hag insisted.

Tika got up and began
to trot in the direction Essa pointed. She stopped and looked
back.

‘If this is really my
land, it shall be called Iskallia,’ she said softly, then hurried
on.

Essa climbed to her
feet.

‘Seola still lives, and
she was the brains behind Cyrek,’ Hag told her quietly. ‘But let’s
not tell Tika that just yet.’

Essa sighed. ‘Let’s
not,’ she agreed.

The Raven flew overhead
as Essa caught up with Tika, who was staring at the two new
arrivals. Tika grinned up at Essa.

‘Look! It’s Volk, and
that weird horse!’

###

Circles Of Light series
available at smashwords.com

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/dragonhame

Circles Of Light
series

1 Soul Bonds

2 Vagrants

3 Drogoya

4 Survivors

5 Dark Realm

6 Perilous
Shadows

Coming Soon - ‘Tilliat’
- 1000 years after the events in ‘Circles Of Light’.

Also Available by E.M.
Sinclair - ‘Cold Revenge’ a Regency mystery romance.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/146114

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