01 Taxilas Children

TAXILA'S CHILDREN
He screamed in sheer terror, but his scream was lost somewhere deep in the spiral which
stretched behind him. He faced a growing light. A light so blinding that his eyes streamed
with protesting tears. He was propelled on and then his feet touched something solid and then
he fell, and as he did, he heard a voice:
"Welcome, Lord. We have waited long for you!"
CHAPTER 2
Danyk son of Lyot, the heir to the Thane of The Seven Lands - to give him his full title -
awoke from a troubled sleep. He stared out into the pre-dawn sky, clear and star-sharp in the
mountain air, and wondered what his strange dream signified. It was unusual for him to have
disturbed sleep. He smiled slightly in the darkness, Zayez, the All Wise, High Master of the
Adepts, would read deep and mystical meanings into his nightmares - but that would be if he
got to hear about them and that Danyk son of Lyot, was determined to avoid.
He rose from his couch and draped the bed cover around him against the cool air. He
walked out through the open entrance to the common balcony which ran completely around
the Thanehold. He moved quietly, not wishing to disturb other members of his family
sleeping in adjacent rooms. He stared up at the stars, hard and sharp in the clean air.
His dream had been about stars but they had not been as these. The dream stars had ebbed
and flowed about him and he had moved through them, never touching them but freely
suspended. From the distance, from out of the field of stars, another man had approached and
had stood in front of him. A smiling fellow with dark-blue eyes. In his dream state, he had not
been surprised that his newly arrived companion had not been one of the Men of Lynxe, he
was a better than usual specimen of the Scarn.
Danyk had no prejudices about the Scarn, they were a sub race and subservient to the Men
of Lynxe, because that was how it had always been from the beginning. The Sagas of the All
Wise were quite clear on that point. The Men of Lynxe were dominant by virtue of their
genetic superiority and intelligence. The Scarn were shambling, mute creatures who could
barely be trained for the most menial of tasks.
The blue eyed one of his dream had not been like that. This one had been alert and
intelligent - but that was a contradiction in terms The Scarn lacked the genetic ability to be
alert and intelligent. Danyk reflected that he would regard any blue-eyed Scarn with grave
distrust, that is, if ever he was destined to meet one - and that possibility he doubted. He
returned to his room and dressed, further sleep was impossible that night.
Danyk had more to occupy his thoughts than vagrant dreams. Nevertheless, he took the
elementary precaution of imposing a mind-block, so that the subject was repressed from his
consciousness. The Lynxe Gift was at one and the same time, a great asset but it had obvious
drawbacks if privacy and secrecy were required.
The Men of Lynxe had always known how to commune in thought. It had resulted in a
tendency to be taciturn, unless it was within the family group, where a medley of mind
messages could be confusing. The mind-block he applied, would ensure privacy but as
always, it had to be exercised diligently to ensure maximum effect. Some who were
especially adept, could break through a mind-block if it was inexpertly applied.
The Adepts of the All Wise could always penetrate a mind-block and some of their number
seemed to take a delight in trying to do so. Danyk considered that an abuse of their great
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