Voice of the Gods

With The Twins’ help she had located some old parchment and made a fake fragment of a scroll. It had the same pronouncement written in two languages, one in the script the Thinkers were trying to decode and another in a slightly younger language that they understood. It didn’t give them the entire key to the unknown language, however.

Once the Thinkers knew she could read the older script they would want her to translate the artifacts they had been studying. She had wondered, at first, why The Twins needed her to translate them.

:We can only see what is in the minds we read, they had said. Since the Thinkers do not understand it, neither do we. Only when they study the shapes of the script are we able to identify them. But they rarely do that, so it is slow work. It will be much faster if you read them for us.

:Why don’t we send them a fake parchment with the complete key to the language and let them work it out for themselves? We can read the location of the Scroll of the Gods from their minds and I can go fetch it.

:If the gods are watching and learn of the Scroll’s location through the Thinkers, they may send someone to destroy it.

It was logical to assume that both Circlian and Pentadrian gods wouldn’t want any scroll containing their secrets to be found.

:You followed our instructions on making the parchment appear genuine, Surim now said. Without looking at it ourselves, we can’t tell you how convincing it is, but we trust you’ve done a good job. Still, it would be wise for you to avoid leaving it with them.

:We have other news, Tamun said. One of the Thinkers has been offered a large sum of money for the Scroll. The other Thinkers won’t want to sell it, so he knows he would have to betray them. He’s not sure he wants to.

:Which of the Thinkers is it?

:Raynora. You will like him, I think. He is good-looking and devious.

:I’m not sure which to be most disturbed by - that you think I’ll like him because he’s good- looking or because he’s devious. Do you think he’ll take the offer?

:Perhaps if the price is raised. We will watch him closely.

:Good. I’ve been too busy for much mind-skimming, and I doubt that’s going to change. For now, the Scroll and the Thinkers can wait until tomorrow, she told them. I need a good long sleep.

:Good night, they both chimed, then their minds faded from her senses.

To the left hunkered the mountains of southwestern Sennon that the Siyee had flown over the previous day. Their lower slopes folded into root-like shapes that sank into a wide, sandy strip of land caught between mountains and sea. On the other side, across the water, the dusty shadow of the southern continent could be seen. A haze obscured the land and made it impossible to tell if the distant shapes were hills or mountains.

In front was a thin strip of land linking the two continents.

The Isthmus of Grya, Auraya recalled. It looks so fragile, as if the sea ought to have washed it away centuries ago. Maybe it was wider once and the tide has slowly worn it into this narrow land bridge.

Danjin had once said, just before the war, that the Isthmus would have been an effective defensive position to hold against the Pentadrian invaders, if only the Sennons hadn’t agreed to help the enemy. Auraya wasn’t sure she agreed with him now. The lack of water or food in the Sennon desert would make holding such a position difficult. Supplies could be transported to the Isthmus, but only with great effort.

Which meant it might be a better defensive position for the Pentadrians, if they had a supply of food and water on the other side. She knew their main city, Glymma, was not far from the Isthmus, so both resources must be available in large enough quantities to keep a big city thriving.

Sreil turned toward the southern continent and the rest of the Siyee followed. They were flying high, hoping that any human that chanced to look up would dismiss them as a flight of birds. The haze of dust ahead would also hide them.

Sennon slowly retreated behind them and Auraya began to make out details of the land ahead. A road extended from the Isthmus into the haze. The darker shapes proved to be low hills in the distance. The sun glinted off water at the turns of a wide, ropey river.

Then slowly the lines and structures of a city began to appear.

The road curved to meet it, turning into a paved street wider than any Auraya had seen. On either side, smaller streets spread in an ordered grid. Houses were sturdy structures of brick with tiled roofs. They stretched in all directions, from the wharves at the sea’s edge out to where green fields began. Here and there gardens of green vegetation and pools of reflected sky caught the eye like jewels in a fantastic necklace.

It was a city as large as Jarime. Perhaps larger. It had none of the labyrinthine disorder of the Hanian capital, however. Signs of intelligent pre-planning continued to the city edge and beyond. Impressively large aqueducts carried water far out from the mountains, and canals from the river were spanned by bridges of strange and beautiful shapes.

At the center of the city, where the wide main road ended, a hill broke the urban order. On this was built a complicated series of structures: a muddle of roofs and courtyards. Auraya wondered why this place was so chaotic when the rest of the city was not.

If this is Glymma, is that the Temple of the Pentadrians?

There was no other building or set of buildings so grand. She decided it must be. Looking around the city, she wondered what it was like to live there. To her surprise she found herself thinking of Mirar. Had he visited Glymma? He could have passed through on the way to the town Jade had said he was in. A town in Mur, in the north, if Jade hadn’t lied to protect him. In fact, Mirar could be down there right now.

Her musings were interrupted by a whistle from Sreil. He changed course again, heading away from the city.

Auraya sensed the mood of the Siyee shift. They had been even more impressed by Glymma than she, most of them having never seen a landwalker city. Now that their fascination had been broken, a gloom was settling over them. If the enemy was this powerful, how could the Siyee ever hope to fight them?

She wished she could reassure them. None of the whistles of the Siyee could communicate her confidence in them and any words she spoke would be difficult to hear over the wind. And I have no idea if this place they’re going to attack is well defended, she thought. I can’t promise them that they’ll succeed. Sometimes it was better to remain silent.

The aqueducts and fields stretched a long way from the city. Weariness began to nag at the Siyee. Sreil was leading them toward the low hills, where he hoped they could find a safe place to rest for the night. The sun dropped until all was stained the color of gold.

They reached the hills as the sun touched the horizon. All were relieved to see the dry valleys and ridges were uninhabited. Sreil gave the signal to descend and circled down into a gully.

A dim light still remained as they landed, but within moments it had died and left them in impenetrable darkness. Auraya felt the Siyee standing around her, uncertain and a little frightened.

“Shall I create a light?” she suggested.

“Yes,” Sreil replied quietly. “It is worth the risk, I think. The hills around us should hide it.”

She drew magic and channelled it into a tiny spark that barely lit the faces around her. The Siyee crowded around anxiously.

“Snack?” a small voice at Auraya’s shoulder said hopefully.

Chuckles broke out all around. Auraya smiled as the Siyee relaxed a little. She reached back to scratch Mischief’s head.

“Yes, I think it’s time for a snack.”

The Siyee began to settle in for the night. Food was unpacked and Auraya’s burden as water carrier lessened. Watchers were chosen and patches of ground were swept free of stones. Although the Siyee were used