“As far as I can see,” Shia said, “there’s no point in letting Eliseth know you’ve discovered that she has a spy, because that will mean she’ll find out that you can spy on her. There’s only one thing we can do. We must head for Dhiammara now, as quickly as possible, and hope to catch your enemy unprepared.”
“We couldn’t make it quickly enough.” Aurian argued. “As far as I can see, she’s already prepared. We need some way to her near her without her knowing... .”
“You could always shield,” said Chiamh.
“What?” Aurian turned white. She looked frantically around, but could see nothing—yet the voice had come from somewhere close to her left ear.—Shia let out a threatening growl, rushed past Aurian—and pounced. There was a muffled shout—and suddenly Chiamh appeared, sprawled on the ground underneath the great cat, who had her forepaws on his chest. Her fangs were bared and her fierce golden eyes blazed down into his. Aurian’s hawk dived around them, uttering shrill, angry cries and swooping dangerously close to Chiamh’s eyes.—With difficulty, Aurian quieted the furious creature, though she was quite happy for Shia to stay just where she was. Once the Mage had calmed her hawk, she stood, hands on hips, glaring down at Chiamh. “Now,” she said coldly.
“Perhaps you’d like to explain why you were spying on me.”
“Aurian, be sensible,” the Windeye gasped. “If I had wanted to spy on you, would I have spoken up as I did? Had I felt the need to eavesdrop, I could have left my poor abused body safely behind, and watched you from the winds..
..”
Shia looked around at the Mage. “When you think about it, that does make sense,” she said dubiously.
Aurian nodded. “I suppose so....”
“Please—just get this bloody cat off me and let me explain. She’s breaking my ribs,” Chiamh protested in strangled tones.
“All right,” said Aurian with sudden decision. “Let him up, Shia. But Chiamh—this had better be good. I’ve got into the habit of trusting you, and I’d hate to have to stop now.”
The Windeye struggled to his feet, gingerly feeling his ribs. “Oh, it’s good all right. I think I’ve just found a way to get us into Dhiammara. I was just practicing on you—and you’ve got to admit, it worked. You never even knew I was there.” He looked at the Mage and grinned. “Trust me, Aurian—you’re simply going to love this.”
33
City of Dragons
He stood up on a high balcony that encircled one of the multiple spires of Yinze’s Temple, watching the sun set and listening to the wind shrilling through the grotesque structure to produce the eerie keening known as Incondor’s Lament. The nerve-twisting sound was music to the High Priest’s ears. The Lament belongs to me, he thought. This sound is a part of Aerillia and now it is mine—along with all the rest of the city.
The last of the low autumn sun slid behind the mountains, and the gold light dimmed from the bristling turrets, the soaring towers and the slender, twisted spires of Aerillia. Skua turned one last time to survey his domain. Now that the Magewoman had gone, he could truly call it his. The city of the Winged Folk was of little concern to her: now that she and Sunfeather had taken Dhiammara, they would be surely be content to leave this place to him.—Skua sighed happily. All his life he had been a devout and faithful servant to Yinze, and at last his god had given him his due and proper reward. He had waited years for this moment, serving patiently as a disciple to the corrupt and power-crazed Blacktalon, then dealing with the tantrums, the vacillation and the mistrust of the inexperienced child who had assumed the throne. Though from time to time he experienced a pang of guilt at betraying his queen, he always comforted himself with the thought that he was leading the lost and godless denizens of Aerillia back to the true ways of Yinze. Already he was formulating a stringent new set of laws to protect his flock from sin—for was it not better to punish their bodies in order to save their souls?
Skua shivered, as a raw and icy wind came out of the north. Odd, he thought.—The weather must be changing. Perhaps he should go inside now.... As he walked around the curve of the balcony, he noticed, in the far distance, a great black cloud that seemed to be sweeping down with uncanny speed out of the north. Well, he thought, that would certainly explain this chill—it looks as though we’re in for a rare storm. The approaching tempest, however, could do little to dampen his exhilaration. Aerillia has seen storms before, he thought. I’m sure the city can weather it.
The wind came again, fetid and dank like the exhalation from an open tomb. A shiver of unease passed through the High Priest’s frame, but he told himself firmly that he was imagining things. What could go wrong now? Yinze would never allow any harm to befall his favored servant. From the city below came the thunder of many wings as people began to panic, leaving the city in droves and heading south. Fools, Skua thought. That storm will catch them right out in the open....
The vast black cloud stretched across the sky now, growing larger by the moment. . . . Though Skua knew now that this could be no natural phenomenon, he stayed where he was, paralyzed with horror like a bird fascinated by the glittering gaze of a snake; aghast with the knowledge that Yinze had betrayed him after all, just as Skua had betrayed his queen. He was still standing there when the Nihilim covered Aerillia like a great black cloak, and began to feed.
It took Aurian and her companions two hard nights’ flying to reach the forest on the edge of the Jeweled Desert, sparing little time to hunt and forage on the way. Though Aurian was wearied, as were Linnet and the Xandim, by the grueling journey, the Mage couldn’t help but think wryly of the length of time it had taken her to cross these very mountains on foot when she was heading north, with Eliizar, Nereni, and the Others. As she flew over the forest, seeking the remains of the settlement, the fate of her poor friends made Aurian’s thoughts turn grim. Chiamh had told her what he’d overheard about Eliseth’s attack on the forest community. If Nereni and Eliizar were still alive, they would now be slaves in Aerillia—and what had happened to the Mage’s last, secret gift to them? She had used her healing skill to help her friends conceive their longed-for child at last—but what had happened to it? Had it been safely born?—Had it survived Eliseth’s treacherous onslaught? If anything had happened to them ... Aurian gritted her teeth and clenched her fingers so tightly in Chiamh’s long black mane that he whinnied in protest.
If Eliseth was using the remains of the colony as a supply post, it was certain to be guarded. The Mage’s companions settled down in hiding at the northeastern edge of the forest, well away from both the human colony of Zithra and the Skyfolk settlement of Eyrie up in the hills to the northwest.—Aurian and the Windeye left their bodies and flew in low and silent on the winds, in the darkest hour of the night, to find out just what was taking place. As the sun rose, they found the broad cleared areas in the forest, and saw buildings and cultivated fields in clusters below. Aurian muttered a curse. The whole area was swarming with Skyfolk.
“Good,” said Chiamh determinedly. Even though they were out of their bodies and using mind-speech, he still spoke in a low voice. “This will give us a chance to practice our shielding before we actually get to Dhiammara.”
“Look on the bright side, eh?” Aurian said wryly. “Well, I suppose you’re right. I don’t like leaving an enemy at my back, but what else can we do?”
“If you cut off the head, the rest of the snake will die,” Chiamh reassured the Mage. “Eliseth has the rightful Queen of the Winged Folk in captivity, remember? Once we can free Raven and remove her enemies, these Skyfolk here will change sides pretty quickly—I hope. In the meantime, we may as well take a good look while we’re here,” he added. “Just in case these warriors decide not to cooperate later on, let’s see exactly what we’re up against.”