Fleetfoot baulked at one of the rivulets and pawed the ground. Sarlice slapped him on the rump as she passed. He followed Duria through the river and around an outcrop of rocks. The mist closed in around me like a veil of ice. On the other side of the outcrop, a strong wind gusted up out of the ravine and the mist billowed like white flames. At the thinnest point, I caught a glimpse of the river’s end—the top of the waterfall was white, churning violently.
Ciera landed roughly on the tip of the outcrop and folded his wings. His feathers were beaded with dew, his fur clumped with moisture but he didn’t mind at all. Skyearls were descended from water chimera; Ciera and Thita were both literally in their element among the mist and the water. My Sleffion-kin took a deep breath. I could not hear all his words aloud so he spoke them through the waves as well.
‘In the name of Krii, I command all these mists to blow away from the waterfalls. Reveal to us the splendour of the Cascade City.’
A supernatural wind came from on high, blowing the water spray back down into the ravine. For several minutes, Sarlice and I had a clear view of the land. The plateau looked like it had been stabbed with a giant cookie-cutter. An immense sinkhole had formed in the lowest part of the land, carved out by dozens of rivers. Water tumbled over every edge, reminding me of an enormous water drain like the ones I’d seen in Telby City.
The ravine was at least a mile wide. The waterfalls on the other side were so far away I could barely make them out. The mist hung just below the rocky lip, waiting to be released. Wind billowed all around us, lifting Sarlice’s ponytail. Rekala and Kestric stood with their ears back and eyes half closed, their whiskers beaded with dew.
‘Unbelievable,’ Sarlice murmured.
Somewhere near the middle of the ravine was a large promontory with a flat shelf on one side. It had fared better than the lands around it—where they had been worn down by flash floods over the centuries, the promontory stood a few hundred metres taller, rising from the centre of the canyon like a tower. Nestled against the side of a rocky cliff face on the shelf was Centan.
The city sprawled in a semi-organised fashion across the shelf. There were no walls, only tall silvery towers and yellow buildings that might have been carved out of the very rock. The stonework glistened like wet gold.
‘There are no gates,’ Ciera told me.
With his mind, he directed my gaze toward the centre of the city. His degree of control frightened me but I swallowed hard and concentrated. In the middle of all the gold and silver was a white palace with spires that touched the clouds.
‘Up there,’ Ciera said, ‘is the Sky Kingdom Raer.’
His pride washed over me, mixed with a satisfaction in Krii’s blessing that I had never felt before. I witnessed the beauty of Raer in my Sleffion-kin’s mind; fields of green under a dazzling sun; white streets that shone and near-blinded travellers when the overhanging shrouds drifted to and fro. Buildings made of crystal, marble and jade. A city in the sky!
Suddenly I didn’t care about going to Centan and speaking to the king on Jaria’s behalf. All I wanted was to see Raer with my own eyes and to feel the enchanted stone beneath my feet.
‘Ah, there you are,’ Ciera said.
I turned in the saddle. A young woman was standing directly behind me. She said something indiscernible and held out her hand. I shook it, looking to Ciera for guidance.
‘I sent for her to pick up your horses.’
‘You must be Talon,’ she said, looking pleased with herself. ‘My name is Lari. I’m glad Emperor Ciera chose me to collect your horses and not one of the other serfs.’
Ciera reached out his wing and let her scratch under the feathers.
‘Lari will take the horses south to Hree, a small military village on the flats.’
Sarlice and I dismounted and unstrapped only our personal packs.
‘Leave the saddles on if you like,’ Lari said. ‘You won’t need them in Centan.’
‘Our thanks,’ Sarlice said.
Lari accepted the reins of both horses and led them slowly away.
Thita jumped from Sarlice’s shoulder and glided down into the ravine. He reappeared a minute later flying in an arc from the direction of the city. With a broad shroud spreading out behind him, he bridged the gap between Centan and our position.
I hefted my pack over my shoulder. My clothing was soaked through.
‘Is the mist all through the city?’ I asked Ciera.
He answered, ‘Nay. There is a barrier around the city, somewhat like the protective barrier around all of Tanza, except this one holds out the mist and shrouds only. If ever we were to leave this place, we would simply deactivate the barrier, allowing the clouds from the waterfalls to cover the city. Our enemies abhor water and they would never live in a place blanketed by it.’
I nodded, barely understanding. If all these barriers were put in place by our distant ancestors, we had indeed lost a great deal of their art and intelligence since.
Sarlice, Kestric, Rekala and I set off over Thita’s bridge and I tried not to think about the thrashing foam miles beneath us. Sarlice and I shared a nervous grin, and I sensed that her anticipation was focused on what we would encounter in Centan.
I set my eyes upon our goal and concentrated on the exquisitely formed arches and pillars between the closest buildings. A wide set of marble stairs led further into the city. On either side of the stairs were rows of pillars with sleeping skyearl statues at their peaks.
Above the huge city was a cluster of permanent clouds, which broke in small patches every so often to allow warm beams of sunlight through. Dozens of multi-coloured shapes whirled in different directions over the city. Ciera stepped down off the shroud and gave me a nod. Like walking into a gust of wind, we passed through the invisible barrier. Mists I had barely noticed melted away. The city of Centan came more sharply into view.
We were high up on a special recreational platform off to one side of the main boulevard. Down below was a wide causeway with hundreds of people, skyearls and animals walking to and fro. A broad permanent-looking shroud-bridge led across the falls some distance away, joining up with the wide street.
Cartloads of supplies were being ferried across from the mainland by teams of horses, elephants or the occasional skyearl. These were unloaded in what had to be the main market district. The people interacted with the usual purposeful business attitudes but never was a smile far away.
A young couple descended the marble staircase in front of us hand in hand. They were a picture of prosperity. Both had white skin with an olive tan and rosy cheeks. The man was dressed in a long-sleeved, blue shirt and a gold vest covered with tiny tassels. His smart yellow trousers hung loosely at his ankles. The woman wore a pale blue gown that covered her swollen, pregnant belly with a festoon of intricate ruching and dangling gems. Her perfectly-formed features, and the circlet of royalty on her head, reminded me of Lira.
I said a quick prayer to Krii that my would-be-lover was well, especially if she was carrying my child. Despite what Lira had done to me, I didn’t wish the wrath of the Zeikas to fall upon her. Having drugged me and stolen seed soon after Sarlice and I left Jaria, Lira had later joined up with the Zeikas. I had realised her true identy, Princess Denliyan of Telby; who, for reasons unknown to me, wanted a child with my special bloodlines. Now that I knew I was an Astor I could understand why she and the Zeikas had known I was important. I suppose I am important.
Now I was to meet another princess.
The woman tipped her head respectfully to Ciera. Shouting, to be heard over the falls, she said, ‘Congratulations, friend. Your time of waiting is over.’
Ciera chuckled softly and replied, ‘Thank you, Princess. It’s good to see both of you. Prince Tyba, Princess Clayr, please allow me to introduce Talon of Jaria and Sarlice of Lyth.’
Clayr touched her right shoulder with her left hand and bowed her head to us.
Tyba’s smile was broad and his expression open. Instead of using the traditional Tanzan greeting, he grabbed both Sarlice’s and my hands and shook them vigorously at the same time.
‘This is what you do, isn’t it?’
‘Tyba,’ said Clayr with a laugh. ‘Don’t get over-excited.’
‘Oh, but I am,’ he replied, patting me on the back. ‘It is an honour to meet you!’
Princess Clayr glanced behind us at Rekala and Kestric.
‘What magnificent animals,’ she said. ‘You must feel safe with them by your side.’
‘Yes, we do,’ Sarlice said in a loud, appreciative tone.
‘It’s wonderful to have you with us,’ Clayr replied. I saw a glimmer of her husband’s enthusiasm in her eyes and I decided I liked them both already.
Tyba and Clayr led us deeper into the city where it became a little easier to talk. I was awed by the sculpted magnificence of the buildings. Many of them reached great heights, brushing the lower formations of the city shroud, Raer, with their rooves. Ciera explained to me that most of these buildings had been engineered and created by skyearls of his type.
‘Only Keltoars had the height and strength to structure something so immense,’ Ciera sent.
Many of the individual stones of the walls and towers were larger than I was.
Once he was sure we were comfortable in Tyba and Clayr’s presence, Ciera told me he needed to attend to his duties.
‘There is a Gathering of Minds later, which I must help prepare for,’ he said aloud. ‘Since this is your first time in Centan, Talon, you are excused from this responsibility. Go ahead and get settled. I will see you at the meeting.’
The Gathering of Minds sounded like an exciting event to participate in. Ciera had explained to me that Anzaii were instrumental in facilitating the joining of hundreds of minds from across Tanza, using the Ancient Sapphire Tree at Centan to enhance their telepathic abilities. I couldn’t help wondering if my new rank as Astor would be important to Ciera’s role at the Gathering of Minds. His dismissal puzzled me, as I wanted to be involved in whatever he was involved in.
‘One step at a time,’ Ciera said. ‘We’ve been running Gatherings for hundreds of years and I think we can manage one more without your assistance.’
‘I only want to know what it’s all about,’ I sulked.
‘It’ll be nice for you to be an observer at this one,’ Ciera reassured me. ‘All too soon, you will have more than enough responsibilities as an Astor. Enjoy this while you can, Sleffion.’
‘Very well.’
I slapped him on the lower leg in farewell, but he hardly felt it. Ciera’s body bunched like a spring and he leapt upwards into the air with astonishing power. I watched him rise over the buildings and catch a draft of wind in his shiny blue wings, which buffeted him sideways.
For a moment, I sensed the connection between him and the shroud. It reminded me of a spider on a web, feeling every tremor of wind, knowing the touch of even the tiniest fly.
‘Doesn’t the water eat away your island?’ Sarlice asked.
Tyba answered animatedly. ‘The outer precincts were rebuilt once or twice in decades past. Now we don’t have any problems.’ He jabbed his finger downwards. ‘Solid rock.’
We passed through a series of wooden arches. Long bone-coloured ‘vines’ snaked between them, creating a cluster of skyearl shapes. At the end of the arch-avenue was an open square. Clayr described the functions of the largest buildings. There were armament factories, blacksmiths, stone mason yards, jewellers, tanners, fine clothiers, scribe works and food distribution warehouses. These buildings and scores of others made up the Construction District.
Tyba pointed to the scribe works, boasting, ‘This facility employs over forty scribes to search out, study and make copies of the Holy Scrolls and other ancient texts.’
I nodded politely, feeling a sudden wash of fatigue. It would be nice to just find a bed and sleep. Tomorrow I would speak with the king and finally be able to discuss the situation with Jaria.
A loud, squeal echoed around us and at least ten shapes lifted off the tops of the buildings, soaring into the sky. The shapes of the flying skyearls reminded me of the hawk which had nearly killed me as a child. A grin spread slowly across my face as it was reinforced to me that my irrational fear of flying things was gone.
Sarlice also smiled, but her expression was one of wonder. Centan truly was magnificent.
Tyba and Clayr lead us away through the town, pointing out a brewery, a herbal warehouse and a few other places of interest. They took us past a row of shops on a riverfront and into the heart of the city. We could see the palace on a hill above the city centre.
It was a salmon and blue coloured structure, rising from the ground like a tree of the great oak variety. Its outer walls were built for decoration, not protection. It loomed there on its hill, dwarfing the multi-storeyed buildings we’d passed earlier. I had no doubts that Ciera could walk about in that palace as easily as I had walked in Telby Palace.
Tyba and Clayr guided us to a comfortable little tavern called Dawvor.
‘Go inside when you are ready,’ Tyba said. ‘There’s no charge for your stay!’
Clayr added, ‘The tavern master, Minac, may ask you to help out in the mess occasionally.’
‘Our thanks,’ Sarlice replied. ‘Through all that’s been going on, we have not had much of a chance to replenish our coin purse.’
‘“Our” coin purse?’ Clayr repeated, doubt creeping into her voice. ‘You say that as if you are used to sharing. We weren’t sure, but we presumed you weren’t a couple… from what the Sleffion-kin said.’
Frowning and with slight colour in her cheeks, Sarlice was about to answer.
‘We have been through a lot together,’ I jumped in. ‘And, travelling for so long, it becomes easier to pool resources.’
‘Of course,’ Tyba replied, glancing at his wife, who found something very interesting to stare at elsewhere.
‘I was appointed Talon’s guide when we left Jaria,’ Sarlice explained hastily. Her tone became wistful as she said, ‘So much has happened since then. Now, I don’t think he truly needs a guide any more.’
I met her eyes, trying to say so much, but not able. Perhaps she didn’t think of me as childish after all.