Then silence and darkness.
I woke filled with a terrible yearning, as if I should be somewhere I was not, and could not go swift enough to satisfy the oneiric demand still lingering, a resonance in the conduits of my blood. I shivered and felt Rwyan wake within the compass of my arms. She made a small, almost tearful sound and clutched me. I stroked her hair, murmuring, thinking she’d suffered a nightmare.
Against my chest she said, “I dreamed,” and repeated back exactly what I’d dreamed, identical in every specific.
I frowned and told her I’d had the same, and then, suspicious, I looked around our camp.
The fire was burned down to embers, but the night was bright with moon and starlight. Ayl and Glyn slept on. I saw Tezdal sitting up, and on his swarthy face such an expression as gave me answer to my question even before I voiced it. Still, I whispered my inquiry, and he nodded, wide-eyed, peering about as if he anticipated the momentary appearance of those great eyes.
“What does it mean?” he asked.
Rwyan said, “It was like a call. As if something would draw us to it.”
“Or to them,” I said.
“What them?” asked Tezdal.
I said, “The dragons.” I could think of nothing else.
“Can they live still?” Rwyan asked.
I said, “I don’t know.”
“And do they,” she said, “how could they know of us?” I said again, “I don’t know. But is it not very strange that we all three had the same dream?”
She said, “Yes.”
I thought her frightened and held her tighter, stroking her hair. I found as much comfort there as she: this new aspect of the dream disturbed me in ways I could not properly define.
When dawn came, I ventured to ask Ayl and Glyn if they had been troubled with dreams, but they only shook their heads and told me no, and I left it. I was not sure why, only that I felt this was a thing private to we three and best not revealed to the Changed.
Most nights afterward the dream came back, though not on those we found shelter in farm or village. It was as though it were a thing of the wild places, and surely in it there was a wildness, a sense of absolute freedom. I felt less and less troubled, though I perceived in that silent observation an element of danger, as if I stood under judgment. I felt in equal measure that did I fail, I should suffer, and that I should not fail. But I could not say how I might fail or know why I was judged; nor what might be the outcome, whichever way the scales tipped.
All this I discussed with Rwyan and Tezdal, whenever we found occasion, and they shared my feelings.
Then, when the rising land we crossed became the foot-hills of the mountains, the dreams came less and less frequently. I felt an odd sense of loss, for the yearning I’d known from the first remained still and shaped a vacuum in my soul, as if some great prize almost within my grasp were snatched away.
I have said before that Ur-Dharbek was a land of surprises: its capital did not disappoint.
We crested the mountains through a pass loomed all around with great peaks, the sky no longer the pristine blue of the lowlands but a steely color, as much gray as blue. Dull cloud streamed overhead, and there was a constant wind, often fierce so that it sang amongst the stones. For a full day, from dawn to dusk, we traversed the pass, and then pure wonder was revealed.
We had made our camp within the shadows of the gorge, finding its egress a little after sunrise. The road descended here, down into a verdant bowl cupped within the encircling peaks like a jewel held in stony hands. Great stands of deodar spread dark green before us, the colors softening on the lower slopes to the shades and hues of autumnal woodland, high green pastures. Far off toward the notional center of the bowl (that cirque defied eye’s sure measurement), I thought I detected a hint of blue, as if a lake lay faint in the distance.
The road ran true through the woods, and as we descended I noticed first that the wind dropped away, and then that the temperature rose. Not to summer’s heat but to the clean freshness of autumn, so that we shed our cloaks, and later our jerkins, to ride shirt-sleeved. Above us, the sky was no longer gray but again blue, as if the ringing hills denied inclemency entry. All this I described to Rwyan.
She said, “Yet we climbed for what? Five days? It should not be so warm, save …”
She paused, head turning as if she’d test the air. Tezdal said, “This place reminds me of your island.”
And Rwyan nodded and said, “Aye. There’s likely magic abroad here,”
I looked about with different eyes. I thought that if magic did indeed shape this place, then did the Changed command it, they were powerful sorcerers. And yet I’d seen no evidence of magic elsewhere, no mages in the settlements, no hint of talent amongst the folk we’d encountered. Perhaps it was some natural gift, and none of Changed making; perhaps these hills were rich with crystals. Perhaps what sorcerers the Changed had all dwelled here. Questions buzzed like troublesome flies, and I could find no answers; only ever-increasing curiosity.
Down we went, the road falling gently for two days, the woodland thinning as we came to level ground. We passed meadows where placid cows and black-faced sheep grazed; fields of corn; orchards; solitary farms and tiny hamlets where we were given shelter and hearty country food. We crossed rivers bridged with wood and stone, and the trees scattered into the hursts of gentle, lowland climes-hickory and walnut, oak and birch and ash. It was a bucolic landscape; and entirely unnatural. I was certain that we drew near to Trebizar, and companion to my wonderment there grew a sense of unease. We approached Ayl’s goal, and there should be taken decisions that must surely affect all our lives. I began to brood on what fate awaited us.
Then I saw the city, distant at first but growing ever more distinct as Ayl lifted the horses to a swifter pace.
It was lacustrine, built along the shores of the lake that lay like a blue jewel at the center of this amazing cirque. It was not large, either in spread or height. Set beside Durbrecht, it should have been dwarfed; indeed, it seemed no greater than many of the holds I’d known in Kellambek. No structure stood taller than two stories, and only a few were built of stone at their lower levels, the upper all timbered, with balconies and colonnaded walks. I had not expected walls, and there were none; neither any towers nor other fortifications. Piers thrust out into the lake, and I saw boats moored there, more out on the water, white sails bellied in the breeze.
Ayl turned, speaking over his shoulder: “We come to Trebizar.”
I set an arm about Rwyan, speaking low of what lay before us.
And then I gasped, my fingers digging hard against her flesh, as I saw what lay beyond the city.
I could scarce credit the evidence my eyes gave me. I closed them, thinking it should be gone when next I looked. It was not: they hung low on the shore past Trebizar, still as basking sharks. I stared, the configuration of those bloodred cylinders familiar, the sigils painted down their sides pulsing faintly in the sun, more on the black baskets beneath. I saw the mooring lines, and the disturbance of the air where elementals shifted in their occult traces like restive horses. My mouth was abruptly dry. I licked my lips; swallowed against the lump that seemed to clog my throat.
“What is it?” Rwyan asked.
Hoarse, I said, “Skyboats.”
“What?” Amazement and fear to match my own echoed in her voice. “How can that be?”
I said, “I know not. Only that they are there-skyboats.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Tezdal staring at the craft. He seemed only curious: there was no sign of recognition on his face.
Then the buildings blocked our view, the skyboats lost. It was as though I hallucinated. I knew I had not. I stared around, thinking to see Kho’rabi come storming at us. I saw only a wide avenue flanked by low buildings, pavements of smooth flagstones either side of the road. Folk moved there-Changed going about their business as if this were an ordinary town, the day normal; as if there were no Sky Lords’ craft moored beside that perfect lake. I saw all this with a strange tremendous clarity, as if pure shock heightened senses already trained to record all I saw. The buildings were, decorated, doors and balconies and shutters all cut with simple patterns, sunbursts and crescent moons, scatterings of stars. Pillars were carved, twined round with vines in bas-relief, clusters of acorns, and ears of wheat. The folk we passed were dressed not much differently to us, the males in breeks and shirts and jerkins, the females in plain gowns or masculine attire softened with scarves and ribbons, little displays of white lace. None wore weapons other than plain belt knives; a few carried staffs, as if they were herdsmen come in to trade. There were children, babes and older, playing in the streets or watching us go by. We passed horsemen and some carts. I realized I felt none of that awful unnerving dread that came with the presence of the Sky Lords.
What dread I felt was created by sight of the airboats alone. By what their presence here likely meant.
I started as the wagon halted.
We stood in a large square, the avenue continuing north, others entering from east and west. I could see the lake shining blue between the buildings to the east. I could not see the skyboats.
Our guardians sprang down. Glyn looked to the horses; Ayl came to the rear of the wagon. Our cage was not locked, and when he beckoned us out, I let Tezdal go first, handing Rwyan down to him before I followed.
“Come.”
Ayl indicated that we enter the closest building. It was of stone about its base, wood above. Wide double doors hung open beneath a veranda, glassed windows to either side. I could see no space that was not covered with decorative carving, and from the veranda’s roof hung numerous baskets filled with plants that trailed creepers, all covered with little flowers of blue and red and white. I smelled ale and food cooking, and as we went through the doors I saw this was an inn. I stared: I had expected a prison. Sight of the Kho’rabi vessels had dislodged all notions of companionship, of discovery and adventure. Curiosity was replaced with unease. I took Rwyan’s elbow to guide her across the floor.
It was not yet noon, and there were not many patrons at the tables. Those present favored us with curious glances but said nothing to us or to our warders. (Warders? I was no longer sure what was our relationship with Ayl and Glyn.)
We found a table to the side, a little way apart, and Ayl went to where the landlord stood scrubbing tankards. I watched as they spoke, but I could not hear what was said. I examined the room, which was like any taproom, save perhaps cleaner than many in Dharbek. Rwyan held my hand in a tight grip.
Ayl joined us and said, “The Raethe sits now, likely until dusk or past. So do we eat?”