Page 17

His eyes flashed ever more dangerously. ‘So it was purely by chance you happened to have your Long Night fur cloak with you when you woke this morning? Oh, and every item of clothing you own on your body? Don’t mess me around, Sereh. You planned to follow me. Tell me why.’

She wanted to lie, desperately. But his anger forced the truth through her unwilling mouth.

‘When I heard you say you were going hunting, I followed to see if I could escape this way. I need to leave here. I must find Erann. Emma lied to me. She said there was no way out, but there must be, otherwise how else could you hunt? I must find Erann.’ Her heated words ended on a desperate plea. He turned away, taking his time to view his surroundings from the tunnel.

Would he help her? Would he tell Emma of her plans? Feeling as though the decision had been taken from her, again, she glared at his back. Momentarily, she considered making a run for it but didn’t. Where would she go? She wasn’t where she hoped to be. She couldn’t scramble down the side of the mountain, even if she could access its craggy slopes from here. She’d fall to her death. But would Jon help her? She needed someone to aid her. Emma had failed. So had Skaldi. She would find Erann. His survival depended on it. She knew it.

Finally, Jon turned to her. The heat of his anger had faded from his troubled grey eyes. His next words were uttered in a calm, resigned voice.

‘Sereh, Emma didn’t lie to you. There’s no way to leave this mountain. When I hunt, it’s not for wild animals on the plains and summer meadows. Come with me. I’ll show you. I’ll tell Emma I invited you to join me, just as Finn showed you the warren. Don’t tell her your true intentions. It’ll infuriate her no end. You can’t leave without the aid of the Speaker. I thought you knew that. Now, follow me.’

Sereh’s brow furrowed in consternation, and she opened her mouth to argue with him.

‘What rubbish, Jon. I’ve seen Emma away from the mountain. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here now,’ she shouted, all of her frustration echoing through the words.

‘It’s nothing we’ve not thought about in our time,’ he was quick to stop her from saying more. ‘But it’s impossible. We can’t leave until the Speaker allows it. We need the Speaker to take us from this mighty peak.’ Jon turned and pointed upwards. Sereh followed where his hand pointed. Once more, she appreciated the mountain’s size. Even as high as she was, the summit towered far above her head, black-peaked and partially covered in snow-rich clouds.

‘None of the rest of the Speaker’s kind knows of our existence. We must keep it that way. When you followed me across the bridge, you took too great a risk. The dragons were going to their feeding grounds. They always do so at this time of the day. If I’d not caught you, you’d have fallen and burned to death in the blood of the mountain. Sereh,’ and here his tone was pleading, ‘you’re new here. Please take care. Our existence is clandestine. If the dragons had seen you, they’d have killed you. If you’d fallen from the bridge, you’d have died. You need to take more care of yourself. They’re not all like Skaldi. None of them are like Skaldi.’

His words though kindly meant sparked her anger.

‘I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask to be marooned here. All I want is to find Erann. I don’t want to listen to Emma harping on at me about what I can or can’t do with Skaldi. He’s bonded to Erann. I don’t know what your relationship with him is, but he and Erann share, or I should say, shared something different to what I see going on in the caves. Skaldi wouldn’t mind if I sought him out. It would be difficult to communicate as I can’t hear him like Erann can but somehow we’d muddle through. I need to see him, and as Emma won’t let me, the next best thing to do is to leave. Jon, you have to help me. Don’t you see that?’

She thought her angry words might spark an equally hot retort. She didn’t anticipate the pity in his eyes. Rage coiled within her. She needed to find Erann. She would convince Jon. She had more arguments yet. She stamped closer to him.

‘Don’t, Sereh. There’s no point. Even if I wanted to help you, I couldn’t. There’s no way of escaping. Neither can I ensure you get to visit with the Speaker. He doesn’t speak to me, or to any of the others in the cave. It was only a short while ago he first spoke to Emma and that was because he needed her help. The Speakers of old didn’t speak to any of us. We’re here against our will. We’re part of something you’re not. You don’t fit in.’

‘I know I don’t fit in,’ Sereh retorted. ‘I’m trying to leave here. I need to leave here, don’t you see?’

‘You do need to leave, you’re right about that, but the Speaker’s brought you here for your safety, Sereh. He means to protect you. I don’t know why. Gods, I wish I did know why.’

‘But I don’t need his protection.’

‘You do, Sereh, you really do. I know you love this Erann and through your link to Erann, and the Speaker’s link to Erann, the Speaker’s decided to shelter you. More than that I don’t know, and neither, I think, does Emma. You must be patient and see what happens.’

‘I can’t be patient. This Erann, as you call him, is the man I love. And he’s gone. Disappeared. He was standing right in front of me, and then he was gone. I need to find him. He’s in danger. I know it.’

‘You need to be patient, Sereh. Biding your time is something we’re all used to doing within run-ketill. Honestly, Sereh, I can’t help you escape this place. If I could escape, I wouldn’t be here. I’d have left almost as soon as I arrived. Now, come with me, and we’ll try to make this attempted flight of yours look innocent.’ His tone was more kindly now. It almost made her believe him, even though so much of what he said was contrary to her brief acquaintance with the dragon.

‘I don’t want to go back.’

‘Then you’ll never find Erann. Not here. And you’ll never make it to the ground either. Think about that.’ And he stamped on his way, leaving her fuming.

She opened her mouth to shout a response. To tell him he didn’t understand. To tell him he could never understand, but perhaps he did.

How long had he been here? How long would he live here for?

‘Fine,’ she grumbled. It looked pleasant enough, of what she could see, but she didn’t want to stay here. Not alone. Not forever. Reluctantly, she followed as Jon walked across the exposed plateau to her left, seemingly towards the edge of the mountain, as though he’d step clear of it and tumble to the distant ground level, despite what he’d said about being unable to leave.

Here, the wind whipped at her cloak, cooling her very quickly. After the heat of the caverns, she’d been pleased to walk into the breeze, but now she was grateful for her cloak.

She furrowed her brow. Ahead, Jon walked straight into another passageway. It seemed as though there were tunnels and passageways throughout the entire mountain. Who’d made them? Why had they made them? She couldn’t imagine they’d all formed naturally.

She followed him, still replaying what he’d said to her, and what she wanted to say back to him.

Inside the passageway was another series of steps. She groaned, conscious enough to notice the steep decline. Jon chuckled sympathetically from ahead, the sound, not too unpleasant, coming back to her. His anger had evaporated. She wondered at her labelling of him as a sullen man. His kindness towards her melted some of her resentment at his initial reception and his attempts at persuasion revealed he was prepared to try to make the best of their tangled actions.

‘Don’t worry, Sereh. This series of steps is much shorter and nowhere near as hot. Once you reach the bottom, you’ll see where we keep our herd of animals. I’ll show you what I mean by hunting.’