01 Taxilas Children

TAXILA'S CHILDREN
situation which had never arisen before. The memory of the altercation caused him unrest, it
was not something to concern the puny human in whose form he was active.
Steve felt battered, stiff and sore, when he woke to find one of the shafts of light from the
long windows crossing his face. He squinted into it and had to muster his wits to remember
how he had got there. He sat up on the hard floor and rubbed his eyes. He remembered falling
asleep on the trestle - and then there had been a dream - a dream where he had met Danyk
amongst the stars. There had been an incredible journey and he had stood before something
he couldn't define. There had been voices also but he couldn't remember what had been said.
The Bole was standing in the doorway to the living quarters.
"Status."
"Integrity."
"What happened?"
"There has been a discharge of intense electromagnetic activity."
"How did I get here?"
"You walked."
CHAPTER 24
Danyk left the Thanehold long before it was light and was already at the treeline, as the
Lynxe star started to rise. He paused briefly to look back as the honey stone caught the first
light, it was always beautiful to see. He was in a sombre mood, not sure how long it would be
before he returned. The dream, from which he had so abruptly wakened a few hours earlier,
had been like a directive. He had laid awake in the darkness of his room for a few moments,
before rising and getting his travelling bundle together. There could be no delay, so therefore,
there had been no farewells. He had selected one of the least prized of his personal herd of
Vix, knowing that it would not have to carry him far.
He pulled the animal's nose around and entered the forest, heading in the direction of the
ancient city. He thought back on the return of the three Adepts and Rho Arpor's men who had
been sent after Steve Holt. Those who had remained at the Thanehold had lived though what
they had experienced in the pursuit of and the confrontation with the alien. The clear link in
the Psi channel had been suddenly distorted and shattered and then there had been the ravings
of idiocy. They could only guess what had happened until it was confirmed when the
accompanying men had led the three drooling Adepts back to their master.
Rho Arpor had covered his dismay well, but it had been there. Danyk had caught the
sudden onrush of consternation - it was more, it had been fear. Then, the High Thane had
blocked his mind and the remaining Adepts had closed in around him in an impervious shield.
The mental tension in the Thanehold had intensified. Lyot's self imposed mind block had
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