flew
between the stars and saw wonders upon wonders. He fears for his
sanity. It is the cruellest imprisonment I can imagine for such as
him. He said other Ships very occasionally make direct contact with
him, but the last time was half a year ago.’
Khosa slitted her eyes
at him. ‘And?’
‘And he wants to see
Namolos. Or if that is as impossible as Singer seems to think, he
begs us to reach Namolos and ask him to release Singer from
Kertiss’s grip.’
‘Hmm.’ Khosa’s fur
became smoother and her tail slowed its thrashing. ‘We will wait
for Grek but you must not go into those rooms beneath the Dome
again – any of you. You will be safe enough in the Dome itself but
not below its floor.’
Sket fidgeted. ‘Khosa,
what are those statues in the Dome?’
Khosa turned her
turquoise gaze onto Tika’s self appointed personal Guard. ‘I don’t
know. Namolos might. But they reek of grief.’
They looked in some
surprise as the gijan dropped to his knees, his hands clasped
against the veil half hiding his face, eyes fixed on
Khosa.
‘Namolos,’ he
said.
The day passed quietly,
the companions grateful for a restful break in their travelling but
also somewhat on edge. They all wondered if they would be able to
leave as easily as they’d arrived.
When they sat in the
kitchen towards the end of the afternoon, Olam told them that Khosa
was still curled in a tight ball, sound asleep, inside a shirt
upstairs. Even as he spoke, Khosa jumped onto Navan’s lap, her
orange face poking over the table’s edge.
‘Grek is
here.’
Grek’s mind voice,
coming from nowhere, unsettled them all as usual, but they quickly
forgot their discomfiture listening to his report. There was no
mistaking the pain and sorrow underlying his words.
‘Singer was desperate
to talk,’ Grek began. ‘Kertiss should not have been Singer’s
captain. The one who should have been was killed in some fighting.
Kertiss and Orla climbed inside Singer and ordered him to fly.
Singer obeyed: he was nearly mindless with grief.’ Grek fell
silent.
‘I think a Ship bonds
with a captain, as you are bonded to Farn Lady Tika. That is the
impression I had at least: Singer became distraught trying to tell
me of those times.’
Tika’s eyes were
enormous in her white face. She could guess all too vividly how
Singer might have felt if he had truly been one half of a soul
bonding and lost his bonded one.
‘There was a great deal
that Singer tried to tell me,’ Grek continued. ‘It was jumbled and
although no doubt of great interest later perhaps, it was
irrelevant to us now. There was fighting in the star fields,
battles, which was all very confused in his mind but then he, with
other Ships like himself, reached this world. He thinks that six or
maybe even ten, landed on the ground. All were damaged. He doesn’t
know if any of them can ever fly to the stars again, but he says he
needs Namolos.’ Grek paused once more.
‘He called Namolos the
Father of the Ships and he also said that he has heard most often
from Namolos’s own Ship. That Ship is called Star Dancer, a female,
and she was the last to speak to him.’
‘Did Singer know
anything of those winged people in the Dome?’ Ren asked.
‘He said he likes to
sing to them. He said they appreciate it and that they were
trapped, perhaps even worse than he is.’ Grek sounded puzzled. ‘He
also said that you must take a gijan with you to Namolos and you
must go by tomorrow at the latest, or Kertiss will hold
you.’
Sket growled, his hand
reaching for his never absent sword.
‘What about the map
thing Kertiss had in that room? He could use that to see where we
go if we have to make a dash for it. And we don’t even know where
they put our koninas.’
‘We’ll see about that
now.’ Pallin got to his feet. ‘Come on Riff, let’s take a walk
around this dratted Ring Complex and wander through the arch where
we came in. We’ll find our mounts all right.’
Riff grinned but
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