I accepted the blue sash for myself and carefully wrapped it around my body and over one shoulder. The sash for Ciera was as wide as a bed sheet, twice as long and very heavy. I marvelled at the amount of work that would have gone into its weaving. On one side of it was a gold-painted leather strap and the other was stitched with links of gold. Gems dangled from the links in such a way that they would become like a chest adornment on Ciera. With a grateful nod to its bearer, I hefted the material and threw it over my Sleffion-kin’s lowered neck. I fastened it using the inbuilt hooks and eyelets and patted Ciera’s thick, furred neck.
Ciera howled my name in a triumphant roar. Without a word to me he hoisted me off the ground with one clawed hand, set me on his back and launched into the sky. I scrabbled for a handhold, gasping for air. My stomach lurched and my heart drummed as I struggled to find a secure position on my knees. It was nothing like riding a horse—because of the keltoar’s size, straddling his back was impossible. Desperate for purchase I grabbed Ciera’s fur with both hands.
‘You’ve got it,’ Ciera reassured me, sensing my near-panic.
We ascended slowly as Ciera’s wings beat hard against the winds rising from the canyon. It seemed impossibly difficult—there had to be some kind of magic involved in keeping so large a creature in the air.
We rose slowly but steadily until we reached a dizzying height. I shuffled forward so I could grab the gold strap, wishing there was something holding me on. Ciera laid his wings flat and plummeted down towards the canyon. My insides gave a sickening, yet delicious, lurch. The hair on my arms stood up. At the last possible moment Ciera curved in an arc and used his momentum to carry him upwards. Sensing my fear turn to thrills he gave a whoop of delight. The crowd cheered. Devlan and Gieri and their Sleffionkin, Rinshock and Annaseld, flew up to join us.
Ciera swooped down and up again. It was a magnificent feeling, bringing back the faintest memories of being swung around someone’s head as a child, smiling and laughing.
‘I don’t know what’s taking Thita so long,’ Ciera said.
The orange skyearl shot suddenly into the air and a trail of cloud followed him. He flew up and around in many loops until the sky was knotted with shrouds. Sarlice put her foot on the first solid substance inside the shroud and climbed. Thita had made a kind of white stair inside his shroud.
Rinshock, Annaseld and Ciera danced through the air, weaving around Thita’s loops and coming dangerously close to Sarlice’s head.
Once she had climbed to the top, Sarlice ran the length of Thita’s shroud and peered excitedly over the edges when they came into view. Thita played tag with her until she could run no more. Ciera gave a great laugh of affection.
‘Sarlice will never ride the back of her Sleffion-kin, but Thita is skilled with the shrouding.’
Without warning, Sarlice dived off the edge of the shroud into the vast expanse of sky beneath her. Dread stabbed me so hard that it made Ciera flip around. His wings made a slapping sound as the wind buffeted us. Thita zipped beneath Sarlice’s falling body. A layer of shrouding appeared beneath her. It seemed to be falling at nearly the same speed. It slowed her fall and eventually stopped it altogether. She got to her feet with an expression of elation.
Rinshock and Annaseld formed a figure-of-eight in the sky and picked up speed until their forms became blurred. In the distance behind them I saw a dark, winged shape.
Feeling no nausea at the sight of the bird, I told Ciera, ‘I have conquered my fear.’
He turned to look at the bird and a sense of alarm flowed through the waves. Was that my fear coming back or something else? Ciera roared and spread his wings. He struck out at an angle away from the bird, but he found a current of wind up high that sent us in a straight line towards it. The landscape below me looked like a platter of food, salted with small towns and peppered with dark rainforests. Ciera roared again. This time the sense of alarm came directly from him.
That was no bird.
It was a Zeika trespasser.
The dragon wheeled when it spotted us and flew back the way it had come. Ciera chased the dragon until his wings were aching. He soared on and on. No matter what I said, he would not stop and rest.
He had called for help through the waves, but so far no other skyearls had been able to keep up with us. The distance between us and the dragon was gradually decreasing.
‘We’re gaining on him,’ he said. ‘The Zeika’s concentration must be wearing thin.’
His words were shot through with pain from his straining wings. A tendon contracted in his wing.
Panic!
His body twitched sideways and down, falling, twisting. He tucked in his other wing and duck-dived. I couldn’t see the ground for the clouds, but I could imagine what it would be like to fall from this height. If it was the magic of Krii that kept Ciera aloft ordinarily, why then could his body fail him at a time like this?
Ciera struggled with the cramped limb. My breath whooshed out of me and I clenched my fists tightly around the gold strap. Ciera shook himself and finally opened his wings.
‘Krii is not one to spoon-feed us through life,’ he said. ‘He allows Zei to bring challenges, but only those we are already equipped to face. And face it we must, learning always to call on Him.’
Ciera’s dive turned into a graceful curve that swept us upwards again. The dragon was a speck in the middle-distance. The great cliffs of Tanza were visible through gaps in the clouds. The sheer wall of rock was topped by a veil of purple that shimmered against the teal sky. I hadn’t realised how close we were to the boundary, or rather, how fast Ciera could fly. The dragon shot over the border with alarming speed and disappeared into the distance. Ciera blew out a great wisp of cloud and landed on it to rest.
‘I’m sorry to take you away from the Bonding Ceremony,’ he said, ‘but I needed to be sure that dragon was only a scout.’
‘How can you be sure now?’ I asked.
‘If there was a Zeika camp inside the borders of Tanza, that dragon would have headed straight for it. The Zeika on its back will need to land very soon or he risks losing his concentration.’
‘That sounds similar to when a Rada morphs,’ I observed.
Ciera regarded me thoughtfully. ‘Yes. But when a dragon rider loses his concentration, the conjured dragon vanishes and he falls to his death.’
‘Can’t they simply conjure the dragon and send it off flying and look through its eyes while they stay safely on the ground?’
Ciera nodded his enormous head. ‘Yes, far-conjurers can. But they are fewer and most cannot do it from any great distance.’
‘I thought the borders of Tanza were protected by Krii,’ I said after a while. If not then what was the barrier shield for?
‘They are, or the Zeikas would be pouring in here by the dozen. As it stands, they usually take some time to create a strong enough spirit circle to break the barrier. For one scout to get through, it probably took the blood of many animals or even a human being.’
‘But why would you use a barrier that could be broken by human death?’ I asked.
He shook his head. ‘It is not so simple. Zei’s powers in this world were greatly reduced when Krii gave his life and the great seal was broken. But the power of love, shown mightily in one person’s sacrifice for another, is a property of this world that cannot be changed. It is what allows us to go to Shamayim after we die. But Zei is notorious for copying Krii’s magic with dark tricks of his own. Death—especially sacrificial death—can be used against the powers of Krii’s holy magic.’
‘What do you mean by “sacrificial death”?’
‘Our spies tell us that the Zeikas take entire families to the wall. There, they threaten the adults with the deaths of their children or younger siblings. Consequently, there are many that offer themselves in place of a loved one. This kind of death is a “sacrificial death” like Krii’s, which holds far more power than if the Zeikas massacred the entire family. With only five or six sacrificial deaths, the Zeikas can breach the shield long enough to get a whole group of tyraks through.’
I recoiled from him, with a look of outrage. ‘How can you allow it? Turn off the barrier shield altogether.’
‘Do you think our military so powerful?’ He shook his massive head. ‘The shield is all that stands between us and annihilation. If it were ever to come down, the Zeikas would attack us constantly until the entire realm was in ruin.’
‘What are you doing about it then?’
‘Tanza’s army, the Defenders, employs many scouts to interrupt the Zeika raiding parties. There are reports every few days of such encounters. We do everything in our power to disallow it, but every now and then a few scouts or a group of Zeikas get through. Sometimes the Zeikas launch a campaign against us and entire armies get in. If it weren’t for that shield, we would not be here today.’
‘Some people would say it is Krii that allows it,’ I said carefully, ‘because he could stop it.’
‘Certainly,’ Ciera replied. ‘And one day he will put an end to all death and suffering. For the time being, though, we have the opportunity to grow and influence others to come to know Krii.He is in contact with us in our everyday lives, even now, but he will not interfere directly with Zei until the end times.’
I felt something deep inside me confirming Ciera’s words—I knew them to be true. I accepted the way things were in the world and a tranquil feeling followed that realisation.
‘Meantime,’ I said, ‘he uses people and Astor-kin to achieve good works on Chryne.’
‘We who understand this and accept the call are privileged,’ Ciera agreed.
I thought on this for a long time as we waited for him to recover from the flight. After a while, Ciera went on speaking.
‘We fight the Zeikas off every few years, but over time they have gradually grown stronger. In many of our cities, the last battle nearly spelled their doom. The Zeikas killed thousands. You will find many ruins around Tanza—despite the protective barrier. Our people have realised they are safer in well-fortified towns.’
I fidgeted and looked at my feet. The ground was like spongy, white clay. It was wet from the mist of the shrouding. The fog rose up to my knees, leaving the legs of my pants damp.
We watched the day-star set over the western horizon and I tried to imagine what it would be like to watch it from the tops of the Kiayr Range. Would the day-star look the same over the other side of the world?
When he had rested, Ciera allowed me to climb up his shoulder and perch on his back. He spread his wings and took a flying leap off the shroud. The shroud dissipated, the harder substance billowing into vapours and drifting away. Gaining flight was much easier from this height. Ciera simply flapped his wings in the air currents and let them carry him towards Lantaid. When I looked back, the shroud was gone.
Chapter Five—Past and Future
A
long with Devlan and Gieri, Sarlice and I were expected to spend some time learning about Tanzan history and culture. The morning of our thirteenth day of learning was a struggle for both of us. Two weeks had passed and we didn’t seem to be any nearer to moving on to Centan to speak with the king.
Although Jaria was already beyond aid, the Rada of Lyth and other parts of the world still had a chance. Sarlice kept quiet about it most of the time but I knew she still had a burning desire to find allies for her father. I was already convinced by recent developments that this fight could end up involving far more people than just the Rada. Ciera was aware of my thoughts and reassured me he was working as fast as he could to tie up loose ends, finish off projects and speed things along for us. He was eager to get to Centan and join the human leaders of Tanza in working out what to do about the current Zeika threat.
Sarlice and I were in the guest room at the Hall of Hallows, each brushing the fur of our Rada-kin. Rekala and Kestric basked in the attention, making it plain they had not enjoyed becoming second-fiddle to our new Sleffion-kin.
‘I have Fyschs and Tiaro to contend with, as well,’ Rekala complained, snuffling against my hand, then licking it with her rasping tongue.
‘I’m sorry, Rekala,’ I sighed, ‘but nobody will ever replace you. How could they?’
She rubbed the side of her head against my leg, nearly pushing me over.
‘What is Ciera up to today?’ Sarlice asked me.
‘He is training a team of skyearls to take over what he’s been doing here for the past six months. He knows we need to get through the training quickly and move on to Centan.’
She nodded. ‘There is still hope for Lyth. Kestric tells me that the Lythian Rada have not yet seen Zeikas moving in the south.’
‘That’s odd,’ I said after a moment’s thought. ‘Reltland is so far south you would think the Zeikas would be more interested in conquering the southern lands. They’ve already taken Nooneagle. Why not overtake Jesath, Lyth, Siffre, Duuryn and Irin? That would give them ample resources for whatever they’re trying to accomplish.’
‘They desire Telby,’ Sarlice said firmly. ‘The lands of the south are cut off from the north by the Barh Desert. To get from Reltland to Telby City involves a trek of several months around the Barh Desert, almost to the borders of Duuryn. From Tanza it would be a matter of weeks.’
‘And why do they want Telby,’ I pondered, ‘aside from its size?’
She stopped brushing Kestric and stared me straight in the eye. ‘It is the ideal location for the building of an empire. With the mobility of the dragons at their disposal, the Zeikas will have every mine and farm in Telby under their control. They’d be in an ideal position to take and keep every nation from Naioteio to Siffre. Where King Flale’s predecessors failed, they will succeed. They will fatten the ranks of their armies and dominate the people of the world until all realms are under the rule of Telby. They will expand the influence of Zei to all nations and do everything in their power to wipe out the people of Krii completely.’
I stared at her, horrified by the simplicity with which she outlined our doom. She let her stern expression drop and resumed grooming the firetiger.