The Draykon Series (1-3)

Orlind: Chapter Fourteen

If Llandry had been harbouring hopes that Siggy concealed a vast intelligence somewhere in that tiny head of his, she was disappointed. Being in Sigwide's head was like floating in a vast bank of clouds. Fluffy, pleasant and decidedly lacking in substance.

Not that she minded. As long as he had food and Llandry, he was probably the happiest creature in Waeverleyne.

I need your help, Siggy, she told him, once she was comfortable in this new perspective.

Sigwide responded with a wordless question.

There are some more ortings out there. I need you to bring them to me.

Her developing draykon senses revealed a few more of Sigwide's species, one or two close to the city and others further out. She had placed herself on the edge of Waeverleyne, at the base of a tall glissenwol tree. Halfway up it hung the remains of a house, abandoned and partially destroyed, but it was enough. If she got into trouble, her wings would carry her up there and out of harm's way.

Here? Siggy questioned.

Right here. I'll be waiting. Llandry demonstrated this by sitting down in the moss and crossing her legs.

Sigwide toddled off. She watched as his soft, grey-furred form wiggled slowly out of sight.

Siggy? Be careful. Dangerous animals about.

He didn't answer that, but she sensed a touch of scorn from her easy-going Siggy. He may not be the brightest soul, but his survival instincts worked just fine.

It wasn't long before he'd rounded up the pair of ortings that had been heading towards the city. He came back, trailing them both behind them. The newcomers were quivering with tension, their noses twitching frantically as they tested the air for threats. Touching their minds, she sensed turmoil. They had probably only come through the gates within the last few hours, and had spent that period of time wandering the Glinnery forest in a haze of confusion and panic.

Good, Siggy, she said, rewarding him with a dried nara fruit. And the rest, in a minute.

Sigwide finished the fruit quickly and set off again, leaving his two new friends with her. They crouched at her feet, trembling, minds blank with fear. They were a mating pair, she soon realised.

Beginning with the female, she began the process of gently merging their two minds. She expected some resistance, but instead encountered, if anything, relief, as though the terrified little creature was grateful to have responsibility taken from her for a time. It didn't take long to calm her.

This time she didn't release the female first before she began her work with the second. As an experiment, she tried the mind-merge on both at the same time. It was hard. She was three personalities at once, her vision and awareness split three ways. The conflicting perspectives made her nauseous and she quickly closed her eyes.

That helped. Her vision reduced to the twin perspectives of the two ortings sitting side-by-side before her. She could see herself, though not clearly; the ortings focused mostly on her feet and legs and couldn't see much further up. Her feet looked enormous.

One of her questions was answered, then. She could merge her mind with more than one creature at once, but it wasn't a successful approach. Any more than two would render her incapable as she struggled to cope. She would have to limit herself to working directly with a few animals and trust them to carry her message further.

The two ortings climbed warily into her lap, already much calmer. Their affliction was odd; it felt to her like somebody had taken a spoon to their thoughts and stirred them up into a hopeless mess. Come to think of it, Iskyr felt the same, the currents of its natural energies mixed into a violent whirlpool. But the remedy was simple, at least for these small, simple creatures. She straightened out their awareness the way she might neaten a drawer full of trinkets. When she was finished, both were restored to the serenity Sigwide enjoyed.