Soul Bonds Book 1 Circles of Light series (37 page)
Read Soul Bonds Book 1 Circles of Light series Online
Authors: E.M. Sinclair
Tags: #fantasy, #adventure, #dragon
‘I have been trying to remember all I’ve ever heard of the People and their accursed power. I want to know if using the power weakens them, and if so, how much. You’ve seen him do tricks here before, setting things aflame across a room, making things disappear, and it bothers him not at all. But he says he is going to cut stone blocks – that surely needs a lot of this power.’
‘Perhaps that’s why he insists he is alone? To conceal any weakness from us?’
‘Hmm. Send three of the best scouts to spy on the quarry.’
‘Three Sir?’
‘Yes, three. They will spread well apart, so if he sees one, at least one of the others will perhaps go unnoticed. I don’t believe he will think any would dare spy on him though.’
‘At once Sir.’
Navan left the Lord’s workroom and Hargon poured himself a goblet of water. For the first time since he was a young lad facing his first fight against Gangers he felt afraid. Then, he had feared his sword arm would tire too soon, despite the endless training sessions. Or that his stomach would turn at gruesome sights.
Now he knew he was afraid, but he did not know precisely what frightened him. Just the presence of this tall thin man, and the look in his eyes at certain moments. What havoc could this one man wreak? And how could he, Hargon, protect not only himself, but his town and his people against him? He groaned quietly and rolled the goblet across his aching forehead.
Rhaki rode at a leisurely pace along the track from Return. He looked about him, at men and women working in some of the fields, and keeping a casual watch that he was not being followed. Not that he entertained the idea of Hargon having him watched for a moment. Likeable fellow in his simple way – but simple was the most accurate word there.
Soon he dismounted, looping the reins around a boulder. Rhaki strolled towards the tangled mass of redberry bushes covering the slope ahead of him. A last look back towards Return and he was slipping through the bushes into the first cave. Before long, he was sitting before the wooden chest on which rested his scrying bowl.
‘I would see my stronghold,’ he demanded, laying his hands to the sides of the bowl.
As the dizzying black swirl cleared, Rhaki saw the entrance to his stronghold. The blackened timbers of what was left of the great gateway edged the empty space until that space was filled with a massive crimson Dragon. Rhaki gasped. A Great Dragon? How had Emla coerced such a one to her service? He loosed hold of the bowl then replaced his hands.
‘Show me Emla.’
The bowl cleared again to reveal a cave of some kind and Emla kneeling between two biers of stone. On one lay Iska and on the other, Bark. Two small dark haired females stood beyond Emla, one each side of a figure seated in a chair. Rhaki peered at this figure. Another female, of great age, but who was she? He released his concentration and the bowl darkened to its usual black opacity.
Well, they all seemed occupied enough not to be bothering him at the moment. He would investigate more when he was safe in his stone tower, but now, that was his main concern.
Back outside, Rhaki rode another league through the hills to the quarry. He sat on the ground, staring at the rock face. He estimated the height of the blocks he needed for the base of his tower. Finally, he took a deep breath and relaxed his body as he began to focus his mind.
White fire flickered up the face of the rock to a height of four man lengths. Then the fire wove sideways. Several more times the white fire sliced at the rock, then Rhaki slumped where he sat. He was drenched in sweat and trembling from the effort, but he forced himself to go and see how successful he had been. The line he’d cut was smooth and straight, the stone feeling slightly warm under his hand. He moved back and sat down again.
This time, he visualised himself deep within the rock, the white fire flaming through the darkness of the concealed stone. He shuddered as he finished and wiped his sleeve across his wet forehead. One more effort. He looked up at the sun and was not surprised to see by its position that more than half the day had passed. Once more, he focused. Eight great blocks of raw stone, smooth as if worked by master craftsmen, floated free of the rock face and settled in a line before him.
All unaware of eyes watching him, Rhaki lay where he was and slid helplessly into exhausted sleep.
Far across the Wilderness, towards the rising sun, silver chimes rang faintly in a room of pale marble. The chimes shivered and the woman who watched them pulled a shawl closer round her shoulders. As the chimes faded to silence, she turned towards the tall windows. Despite the cold, she stepped through onto a balcony and stared out.
First she looked down at the city spread below, different coloured lights glittering in the frosty air. Faint cries drifted up from the festive all-night market in the centre of the city. The woman’s gaze moved on, up to the distant mountains encircling her lands. And on further, to the great velvet bowl of the winter sky, a deep blue black, studded with stars.
Never in her lifetime had she heard the chimes of discord. Until now. She shivered suddenly and turned back into the room. The chimes hung motionless, a mere ornament. She went through the marble reception hall to a smaller, cosier room, with a fire blazing in the hearth. The woman reached for a small handbell and rang it. When a manservant appeared, she asked him in a softly musical voice, to summon her council. He went to obey as she sat by the fire.
The chimes of discord had rung, which warned that the circles of power in the distant western lands had once again been used. After all this time. But by whom? She had studied the books in her years of training, books telling what steps must be taken to restore accord. Now the time was upon her it would seem, when those steps must be taken.
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Now read ‘Vagrants’, the second book in the ‘Circles Of Light’ series.
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Circles Of Light series available at smashwords.com
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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’.
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