The Farseekers

'I came looking for you when I could not find the others,' Darga sent. 'I learnt from a dog that you had been seen leaving the city. I followed your scent here. Then I saw the child-funaga's mind making you see things. I scented her out and frightened her to break hergrip on yourmind. She does not know how to speak to mymind, so she can not make me afraid.'

  I stared at the filthy urchin. She snarled, pressing herself deeper into the corner.

  'She is near wild,' Darga sent.

  I looked at the girl. 'Well,' I said aloud in a gentle voice, 'if you are wild, then I will have to tame you.' I backed away, telling Darga to follow. The girl watched us withdraw suspiciously, then ran forward and slithered down a hole in the floor, swift as a snake.

  I reached out, but could find no trace of her mind.

  Returning to the others there was a joyous reunion between Jik and Darga. The others were astonished and relieved that the demon we had seen was no more than a vision. Pavo was all for returning to the library, but I decided we had better find Reuvan and Brydda.

  'It's been a long night. Plenty of time to go through the books. We'll have to stay until I can tame our wild girl.'

  We found Reuvan unconscious, having run into a jutting piece of stone in the darkness. Brydda was fascinated to hear about the girl's ability to create fear visions. Though still wary, he had agreed to come into the city. But hearing about my encounter with the girl, he was sceptical about my being able to tame her quickly enough.

  'If she really is wild, you won't have enough time,' Brydda said. 'You might as well give up.'

  I shook my head wearily. 'I can't. I have to win her trust.'

  'Why?' Brydda asked. 'What does it matter?'

  I looked at him. 'Don't you understand? I have to make contact because she is the one I came to find. She's one of us, and I have a feeling she needs us as much as we need her.'

  19

  We called her Dragon, after the picture I had seen in the library.

  After two days sorting, Pavo had nearly completed his collection.

  Brydda had refused to go underground despite the lack of ghosts. 'Soon enough for going under the ground when I am dead,' he said. He spent the days watching patrols of soldierguards combing the plains, and making sure there was no interest shown in the ruined city. It was an irony in a way, that Dragon had kept the library safe, guarding it with her powers.

  Each night I had set food out on a mound hoping to make her understand I meant no harm. We had set up a comfortable camp inside the roofless shell of a building with a clear view of Aborium. But though the food had been gone each morning, we did not catch sight of her. Sometimes I sensed her watching us, but could not reach her. After a few initial attempts to instill her particular brand of fear into one or another of us, and being fended off by me, she had given up trying to frighten us away.

  The third night fell, and I was silent and preoccupied with thoughts of the ragged urchin girl. Kella was trying to force Pavo to set his notes aside and eat. Finally losing her temper, she shouted at him.

  'You'll be dead before you have the chance to get your precious books out of their hole in the ground, if you don't eat!'

  She broke off, looking horrified at herself. Pavo burst out laughing. 'Kella, what would I do without you? All right.'

  We all laughed at the martyred expression he gave the flushed healer. 'I wonder what sort of powers could create those visions and the fear?' Pavo said.

  I frowned. 'Coercing and . . . maybe empathy, though they are an unusual combination.'

  Kella gave me a quick look. 'It's more than coercing. Domick can't make things appear in the air.'

  I shook my head. 'I'm not so sure they did appear. Remember when I told you the second face she made looked like that lizard creature I saw on the edge of the map where it said "Here be dragons"? The more I think of it the more sure I am that it was exactly the same face. And the first face was nothing more than a distorted human face. I think she read those things out of my mind, and somehow projected them into all our minds, just the way Angina does with Miky.'

  Brydda yawned. 'I saw no patrols today. I think they have moved the search to Port Oran or Morganna. I don't think they'll bother with Murmroth or Rangorn. As soon as you've finished with the books, we can leave.'

  Pavo nodded absently. 'I feel as if I could never be finished, but I'll have as much as we can carry safely by tomorrow.'

  No one looked at me, but I knew they were thinking of Dragon.

  Time was running out, yet I seemed no closer to reaching the girl than when I had begun. I went out to the mound, set down a pot of stew, and sat down to wait, determined to make some sort of contact. Hours passed and I was beginning to drift off to sleep, when I heard a faint sound.

  Snapping wide awake, I sensed her trying to drive me off. Frustrated and baffled, she paced outside the light like a hungry wild cat. Her mind was strong but untrained, and under all the dirt and savagery, I suspected she was little more than a child. This last thought prompted me to act.

  'Hello?' I called softly. The wind hissed in scorn but there was no answer. I took up the pot of stew and held it out.

  Still no answer, but instinct told me she was watching. I sighed, feeling suddenly defeated.

  Then I heard a movement and she was there, the half-moon shedding a wan light on her grubby face. I was careful not to make any sudden movements as she crept forward, never taking her eyes from me. She reached out abruptly and snatched the pot from my hands, turned and ran into the night.

  I sighed heavily and went back to the camp fire. Reuvan had sought to comfort me earlier, saying he thought sheer curiosity would make Dragon follow us when we left. That and our food offerings. I was not so certain, but we had no more time to spare.

  That night, we left the city after concealing the entrance to the library under rubble. If Dragon did follow, the city would have lost its guardian. Brydda had wanted to burn the remaining books to keep them from falling into the hands of the Herder Faction. We compromised by setting a fire trap that would destroy the library if it were disturbed.

  There was no sign of Dragon as we left, but I sensed her eyes watching us from some dark corner of her lonely city.

  I sent out a broadspan beckoning call, but there was no response.

  We had chosen to leave at night to avoid being spotted by the men in the watchtowers, and to ensure we reached tree cover before daylight. We meant to travel along the same trail we had used coming to Aborium.

  'Stopping here so long and then going to Rangorn is the least likely thing for me to have done, and therefore the safest,' Brydda said. The soldierguards will think I have developed magic powers along with my other infamous talents.'

  Pavo, Jik, Kella and I travelled in the cart with the books, and the others rode. Brydda had become adept at communicating with the animals and spent more time conversing to them than with his human companions. Pavo slept, the energy of the last days having deserted him as soon as we left the city. He lay back against his precious books looking grey and exhausted.

  We were all tired, but had decided to go as far as we could before night fell.

  Huge Mayflies plagued us and the heat of the day made me long for the cool of the mountains. I consoled myself by thinking it was good for my feet which had begun to heal again.

  I felt weary when we stopped at dusk the next day. The others talked and sparred while setting up the camp and nightmeal, but I could not help thinking of Dragon and wondering if she would go on as she had before our departure. I had given up hope of her following us and wondered if Maryon's prediction meant that all aims of the expedition had to be achieved to avoid whatever disaster she foresaw. If so, then everything we had done was for nothing, because I had failed to bring Dragon back.

  Remembering how she had cowered back against the wall, I was filled with pity and self-reproach for having failed to reach her. Depressed, I went to bathe in a stream not far from camp. Brydda did not like the idea of me going alone and mad
e me have Darga along.

  The air had a misty mauve tone, and, in the west, streaks of dusky sunset ran across the horizon.

  Darga's mind broke abruptly into my thoughts. 'She follows.'

  My heart leaped, understanding instantly whom he meant. 'Where?'

  'Behind the trees,' Darga sent.

  I forced myself to walk naturally until I got to the stream. Darga sniffed the water and pronounced it clean. Stretching himself out on the bank, he pretended to sleep. I stripped off my clothes and slid into the icy water with a gasp of delight. Rubbing sand against my grubby skin, I revelled in the coolness, but only half of me was enjoying the bath. The other half was searching for the slightest evidence of Dragon's presence. I was forced to concede that without Darga I would not have known she was there.

  I took up a handful of sand and rubbed it against my scalp until the tangled mass of my hair felt clean, then I clucked under to wash out the sand. Floating beneath the surface and holding my breath, I opened my eyes and looked up.

  To my astonishment, Dragon was leaning over the stream, staring with gape-mouthed terror into the water. Gasping and spluttering I bobbed to the surface. She sprang back and gently I fended off her visions and the waves of fright she was generating. I reached for her mind but again was unable to penetrate her shield.

  'It's all right,' I said softly, realizing she thought I had been drowning. 'I'm Elspeth,' I said slowly, extending a dripping hand.

  She cringed away, but I was not sure if she feared my touch or the water.

  'She fears water,' Darga sent. Dragon looked at him uneasily, though he had not stirred. I gathered up my towel and dried slowly.

  I looked up to find her looking at my naked limbs with a hint of bafflement. I stood very still as she reached out one blackened finger and touched my pale belly. Her finger left a dirty smear and she stared at it, frowning.

  Very slowly, I reached out a wet finger and touched her bare stomach. An anonymous rag twisted around her body exposed most of her skin, but rag and skin were indistinguishable, merged together in uniform grey. She suffered my touch then looked amazed at the clean mark my finger had made. She gazed from the dirty mark on my stomach to the white mark on her own flesh, as if our skins had rubbed off on one another.

  'Elspeth,' I said, pointing to myself. I bent down to put my clothes on. My trews were worn to shreds, but Kella had given me an old skirt and underskirt to put on.

  I thought Dragon looked wistful as I pulled the skirt on and, impulsively, I held out the blue underskirt. Eyes shining she reached out, then froze, mistrust clouding her expression. I did not move and, finally, she reached out and grasped it, folding it into her arms and stroking it as if it were an animal. I went on dressing, pulling on Kella's darned stockings, my shoes and a cloak.

  'Esspess?' she said suddenly, in a rusty whisper.

  I gaped, for I had begun to be certain she was mute. I had even thought this might be why she had been abandoned.

  I pointed to myself. 'Elspeth,' I said distinctly. 'Elspeth.'

  Then I pointed to her.

  'Elspess,' she said obligingly. I grinned, wondering if my name were the only word she would say. I pointed to myself again. 'Els-peth.' I pointed to her. 'Dragon . . . Dra-gon.' Later when she could talk, she could choose a more suitable name.

  She frowned. 'Drang-om.'

  I nodded. She pointed to me. 'Elspess.' She pointed to herself. 'Drangon.'

  'Close enough,' I said. 'Food?' I asked, rising slowly. Alarm flared in her eyes. I mimicked eating, and hunger replaced the fright.

  Summoning Darga and warning him to move slowly, we made our way back to the camp. Whenever Dragon stopped, I would mimic eating. I sent a probe to Jik, telling him to warn the others not to do anything to frighten her.

  Approaching the light of the fire glimmering through the trees, Dragon hesitated. I had to coax her the last few steps with exaggerated mimicry of how delicious the food would be. When we were close enough to smell Kella's stew, she sniffed at the savoury odour like a hungry animal. The others were sitting very still around the fire, fascinated, for this was the first time they had seen her. To my surprise, she barely looked at them. Her eyes darted about hungrily. Kella had set a pot beside the large pot, and I took this up and held it out to Dragon.

  The firelight showed her as an emaciated scarecrow with a mop of filthy hair, clutching the blue underskirt to her chest.

  Reaching out to take the pot, she squatted unceremoniously and plunged her filthy fingers into the pot, scooping the stew to her mouth with ravenous dexterity.

  Kella grimaced and wondered aloud softly, whether Dragon had not already poisoned herself with dirt. I was filled with compassion rather than revolted. I had never imagined that the Talent I had come so far to find would be a half-wild savage who could barely speak. I had imagined a calm discussion ending in an offer of a home.

  No one spoke while she ate, with much lip smacking and slurping, and when she was finished she licked out the pot, sighed gustily and sat back on her haunches.

  'Well,' Kella said faintly. Dragon's lambent eyes turned to her.

  'Meet Dragon, our newest recruit,' I said with a broad smile.

  For the rest of the night Dragon sat close by my feet, listening to us talk as if to exotic music. She had the disconcerting habit of staring fixedly at first one then another of us, as if she were trying to memorize our faces. She would not allow any of the others to come near her but eventually fell asleep against my knees.

  The next morning we left early hoping to make Rangorn by nightfall. We had expected to be able to move more quickly now that Dragon had joined us, but she refused completely to ride in the cart or on horseback, and loped alongside us, seemingly tireless.

  Brydda grew more silent as the day wore on, and seemed increasingly preoccupied. Finally I asked him if anything were wrong.

  'I don't know,' he said. 'I feel uneasy about my parents. And we're moving so slowly.' He looked down at Dragon with mingled pity and frustration.

  'Why don't you go ahead?' I suggested. 'We can't be more than a few hours away at a fast gallop.'

  Brydda bit his lip and looked thoughtful. 'I think I will. Reuvan can come with me.' Thinking of his 'knack', I wondered what he feared.

  The triumphant mood of the day occasioned by Dragon's presence evaporated with Brydda's departure. He told us to wait at the Ford until he returned to tell us the way was clear. He refused to say what he was afraid of, but his elaborate precautions only served to heighten my apprehension.

  As if to mirror my thoughts, a heavy, dark bank of cloud looming on the horizon billowed in to veil the sun near the end of the day and we reached the Ford just as a light rain began to fall.

  There was no sign of Brydda or Reuvan so we decided to make camp behind a copse of trees within sight of the Ford. It proved nearly impossible with the damp wood but finally we managed and sat around it shivering in the chilly wind. No one felt like talking. Pavo was nearly blue with cold, though Kella said this was a symptom of the rotting sickness.

  Dragon had reacted to the sight of the Suggredoon with real terror, and it had taken all my strength to reassure her. I was afraid she would run off and be lost. Her reaction to the river and to my submersion seemed to indicate something had happened to her connected with water, but I could not penetrate her mind, and she was unable to explain, only clutching at me in mute plea. In the end, I found myself patting her as I would pet Maruman.

  'At least she doesn't stink,' Jik said earnestly when we wondered what might have caused her fear of water. We laughed but oddly this was true. She smelled like rich, dark dirt after rain.

  She had not used her remarkable illusory powers since joining us. I hoped she would not tame to the extent of forgetting them altogether. I was trying to persuade her to drop her shield, when I heard the drumming of hooves in the distance.

  We all stood, the underlying fears that had gnawed at us since Brydda's departure showing clearly in our
faces.

  There was one rider, coming fast. Idris gave a shout of joy, as he recognized Brydda's horse, then he fell silent, seeing the rider was Grufyyd, whose face he did not know. Reining the horse in, Grufyyd looked pale and there were dark shadows in his eyes. After a brief greeting, he urged us to pack up quickly and come with him to the cottage.

  The serious note in his voice warned me something was badly wrong.

  'Brydda?' Idris began worriedly.

  'My son is fine,' he said, then once again urged us to make haste.

  As we forded the Suggredoon and travelled the road bypassing the village, he said, 'The soldierguards have been here. Luck kept you from coming sooner. They only left yesterday. If you had come before, they would have taken us all.'

  'They were looking for Brydda?' I said. But Grufyyd shook his head.

  'They said they were looking for Seditioners. Gypsies,' he added significantly.

  I stared. 'But how could anyone know that? The disguise was gone before we reached the Lowlands. Unless . . . unless somehow the Druid's friend on the Council tipped them off.' I chewed my lip. That means they must think we reached the Lowlands. I am certain he believed we were gypsies, so why these elaborate precautions for a few rag-tag gypsies?'

  'Perhaps they no longer believe that,' Gruffyd said. 'One of the soldierguards said the gypsy attire might be a disguise.'

  Uneasily I remembered the look of anger and frustration on Saul's face. He had not liked Gilaine revealing so much to us. Perhaps he had somehow warned the Druid, who had in turn warned his friend, both wanting us dead for different reasons. If the Druid thought we had lied about being gypsies, then he might also wonder at what I had said of Obernewtyn. Suddenly I was frightened.

  Katlyn met us at the door of the cottage with smiles and talk of a hot meal and warm beds. Despite everything it was the happiest gathering I had been to since leaving Obernewtyn, the one sad note being Pavo's obvious deterioration.

  Wrapped in a blanket and shivering from a chill no fire could abate, he was clearly in great pain. His neck and arms were covered in bruises, another symptom of tissue degeneration. The slightest bump left a livid mark on his skin. Katlyn had done her best for him, feeding him decoctions to numb the pain, but they were only temporary measures, for Pavo was dying.