Read Online Survivors: Book 4 Circles of Light series by E.M. Sinclair - Free Book Online Page B

ramp beneath the arched entrance. He blinked. Storm was walking
backwards, keeping his snarling face towards Kertiss, and his tail
lashed from side to side. Far beyond Storm and behind Kertiss’s
impotent figure the female statue seemed to shimmer. Gan blinked
again and turned back to the ramp. The Keeper was not waiting
outside and they weren’t sure if that boded well or ill, but when
they reached their rooms they found Kirat squatting by the
door.
    He rose as they
approached and bowed. ‘You leave tomorrow,’ he said. ‘My brothers
and I will guide you again.’
    Unsure whether Kirat
was here by Kertiss’s order or by Grek’s “persuasion”, Tika managed
only a weak smile.
    ‘How many horses will
you need Lady? And at what hour shall I have them
ready?’
    ‘The animals we came
on,’ Gan began but Kirat shook his head.
    ‘They were weak before
we came across the desert from the great sea,’ he said firmly. ‘We
will supply horses and nurse your animals back to full health
here.’
    Pallin’s eyes gleamed
at the prospect of getting his hands on one of the desert horses he
admired so much despite Olam’s glare.
    ‘Then we will need at
least six horses plus three pack animals,’ Gan told the
Qwah.
    Kirat bowed again. ‘I
shall be here for you well before dawn Lord.’
    They watched the desert
man vanish into the gathering twilight under the colonnade and went
inside their rooms. The three gijan stood in a row by the kitchen
door, three packs by their cloth shoed feet, dark eyes fixed on
Tika. Khosa stalked across to sit in front of them.
    ‘They will come with us
to Namolos,’ she announced.
    ‘One perhaps, but all
three?’ Gan protested.
    Khosa gave him her most
imperious stare. ‘They are litter mates. They stay
together.’
    The gijan moved their
packs against the wall and gestured towards the kitchen.
    ‘It only seems a moment
ago that we ate,’ Maressa groaned. ‘But perhaps we’d better eat
what we can before we go into that awful desert again.’
    They tried to sleep
before full dark had fallen but only Pallin and Riff slept with
their usual soundness. Most of the others only dozed, their minds
preoccupied with the events of the last two days and with the
prospects to come. Tika gave up trying to sleep when she heard
movement outside. She peered into the colonnade and saw two Qwah
leaving the bodies of goats near the Dragons.
    ‘Kirat?’ she
asked.
    One of the men moved
closer to the door. ‘Lady. I will bring the horses for you to load
your packs in a short while if that suits?’
    ‘Yes of course. I’ll
rouse everyone.’ She hesitated. ‘Three gijan will be coming with
us. Is there a problem with that?’
    The light from the one
lamp still burning in the sitting room shone onto Kirat’s face,
which Tika watched closely. His eyebrows lifted slightly and he
spread his hands palm up.
    ‘As you wish Lady.
Gijan are rarely seen outside City dwellings, but if you say gijan
travel with you, then so be it.’
    When Kirat returned,
his brothers were leading horses, their pale hides gleaming in the
dark. Kirat carried a large bundle of white cloth which he dropped
onto a chair. He lifted one piece of cloth and the companions saw
it was in fact a hooded cloak. He handed one to Maressa who stood
nearest, and picked up another.
    ‘The light colour keeps
away some of the heat,’ he explained distributing cloaks to all the
party.
    Kirat even had three
tiny cloaks for the gijan, really meant for Qwah children Tika
guessed.
    ‘The first day will not
be too bad,’ Kirat told them. ‘But the three following will be
worse than any you experienced on our journey from the great sea.
Then we will travel mostly at night and rest longer during the
days.’
    ‘How many days through
the desert?’ Olam asked.
    Kirat shrugged. ‘This
route has been travelled in ten days, but it can take twice that
time if we meet dust storms.’
    Sket elected to ride
one of the desert horses to start with rather than