Sword Destiny by Robert Leader Read Free Book Online

guilt. In his desperate need to find Kananda, he had temporarily forgotten his missing princess. “Is Maryam still alive?”
    â€œThis I do not know,” Laurya said helplessly.
    â€œIs Kananda alive?”
    â€œKananda was alive twelve hours ago. I am sufficiently familiar with Commander Zela’s aura to be able to locate her within a given area. With Antar’s help, I have been able to keep track of them as they have moved across Ghedda. We saw them last in the forest above the Great Gar Desert. They were heading west toward the upper reaches of the Black Swamp River where they have a skimmer craft hidden and waiting.”
    â€œCan you take me to them?”
    â€œI can.” Laurya looked at him doubtfully. “But can you make another astral journey?”
    Kaseem smiled. “I have flown between the worlds. Now, with you beside me, I can do anything.”
    Laurya hesitated, but then took his hand. Together they ascended to hover high above the City of Singing Spires. For a moment they lingered, listening to the wind playing soft night music through the crenellations and filigree apertures of the high, needle-pointed towers. The three moons of Dooma sailed at different heights above them, white and pale-gleaming in the starlight. Laurya looked at him again with concern in her eyes, but Kaseem merely smiled and nodded. She gripped his hand more firmly, and then they soared upward and sped due north.
    Again Laurya flew high above the vast Ocean of Storms, avoiding the worst of the merciless magnetic hurricanes which always raged across its surface. When they descended again, it was over the continent of Ghedda, at the dark mouth of the Black Swamp River. Without pause, Laurya followed the course of the river north into the heart of the continent.
    They found their quarry easily enough, two tiny figures poling a crudely made log raft down from the narrow upper reaches of the river. The two were Kananda and Zela, working the poles on either side of the vine-lashed platform, while Jayna lay exhausted on the deck between them. They were making slow progress against the current, toiling silently except for the laboured gasp and grunting of their breathing. They too were almost spent and had no energy left for idle conversation.
    â€œThey have a few more hours of hard work ahead of them,” Laurya said. “But then they should have no difficulty in finding the creek where they left their landing craft. The third moon will be high enough to give them plenty of light. Here, where the river is narrow and the lagoons are shallow, the swamp creatures should not breed big enough to cause them any trouble.”
    Kaseem made no immediate answer. He was overjoyed to find his prince alive, mystified to see that Kananda’s face was now Gheddan blue, and frustrated by the fact that there was no way of communication between the physical and the spiritual dimensions. They could only watch unseen as Kananda and Zela thrust and pushed at their poles, alternatively struggling to pull them clear again from the clinging mud. Eventually he took notice of the third figure lying on the raft.
    â€œIt is not Maryam.” There had been a swift flicker of hope and then the realization was filled with sudden disappointment.
    â€œHer name is Jayna,” Laurya explained. “She was their guide. I do not know what has happened to Maryam.”
    They watched, but there was no way that they could intervene to offer any physical aid, and at last Laurya pulled at his arm. “Come, Kaseem. We must return. I must make sure that Antar knows they are on their way. He will have an aircraft waiting at the mouth of the river tomorrow night. After that, I know that the Council intends to send Zela back to Earth. We know that a Gheddan task force is on its way back to your planet. Our early warning systems detected their launch path and we are monitoring their progress. A ship has been made ready to lead a small