“She’s not a slave,” Madam Orley said. “She’s free to go anywhere.”
A man piped up near the front. “No, she said she swears she’ll be back, and she can lie to us whenever she chooses. I heard her.”
Madam Orley shoved the man’s shoulder. “Nonsense. Why would she admit to lying? A deceiver wouldn’t do that. And I have known Koren for a long time. She is not a liar.”
His face turning red, the man growled. “I know what I heard.”
“No!” Koren shouted. “I said I am free to go wherever I choose, because I can fly.”
“Now she is speaking gibberish,” the man said. “She has gone mad.”
Yeager nodded. “Even if she said she’s free, the poor girl is addled. She’s trapped inside that prison of light. She must be roasting in there.”
“Addled?” Madam Orley pointed at the Zodiac. “You saw the story. We all did. Koren is a Starlighter, and you know the prophecy.”
“Quiet!” Yeager barked. “You are not to speak of that prophecy. You know the punishment. You heard what happened to Cassabrie.”
“Coward!” Madam set her hands on her hips, wagging her head as she spoke in singsong.
Starlighter, Starlighter, set us all free.
Break all our shackles, declare jubilee.
Light from above will reflect in each heart,
Burn away chaff, and true freedom impart.
Yeager pointed at his chest. “That freedom is in our hearts. We are humans, born to be slaves, and we will be slaves until we die. As long as we’re free within, that’s all that really matters.”
She raised a stiff finger. “I used to believe that nonsense. I used to think I could be satisfied as a slave in Arxad’s home. But I came to my senses. He is as cruel a tyrant as Magnar. No one in chains is really free.”
As the argument between Yeager and Madam Orley continued, it seemed to spread throughout the crowd, creating pockets of verbal combat here and there. Obviously, the people had recovered from their daze. Even the dragons appeared to be more focused than before.
Koren gazed as them, a tear trickling down her cheek. These were her people, her friends. They were so blind! So deaf! Why wouldn’t they listen?
Yeager pointed at Koren. “Well, I know a deceiver when I see one. She conjured that story she showed us. It never happened. Humans cannot enslave dragons. They are too powerful. It’s impossible.”
“Look!” the other man shouted. “She is no longer there. The star is empty. Maybe she was a phantasm, an evil spirit.”
Madam Orley looked up at Exodus. “Ridiculous. I see her plain as day.”
“Stop!” One of the dragons pushed the humans apart with his wings, shaking his head as if casting off a net. “I have heard too much talk of rebellion. Go back to your homes until Taushin gives us leave to emerge. I will deal with this Starlighter.”
Koren leaned forward. It was Hyborn, one of the oldest dragons, the village’s head financier and a slave master who had a reputation for cruelty.
With loud grumbles passing among the humans, the crowd dispersed. Dragons flew in low circles as if shepherding the masses, though some bobbed up and down in flight as they recovered their senses. Tibalt joined the stream of humans. He glanced at Koren, but only for a moment. His job was to blend in as a normal slave, taking Koren’s place as one of Fellina’s house servants. From there, he could go about freely and infiltrate, get a feel for what the others were thinking. Of course, his age might raise a few questions, but his story that he had been locked in the Basilica ever since before the days of Cassabrie could work. At least it might get the slaves to open up to him as they filled him in on the news.
Madam Orley backed away slowly, looking up at Koren. She spoke with her hands, using the signs Koren and Petra had invented to communicate silently.
“I believe you,” her fingers spelled out. “I will try to help you.” Then she turned and hurried down the path toward Arxad’s cave.
When all had departed, Hyborn extended his neck, bringing his head within ten feet of Exodus. “Is it true? Is Taushin seeing through your eyes in order to root out opposition?”
Koren met Hyborn’s gaze. It would be easy to say yes, easy to fool him into thinking she was still on Taushin’s side. With her speaking gifts, he would be quick to believe and quick to leave her alone.
She tightened her hands into fists. Those were the old days and the old ways. She couldn’t use her gifts to hypnotize a dragon and then leave him deceived. Dangerous or not, she had to tell the truth.
“I am no longer under Taushin’s control.” She extended her arms, baring her wrists. “My chains are gone. I have been set free. I will do all in my power to liberate my people.” She softened her voice to a whisper. “And you, Hyborn, can help us. Can’t you see how cruel slavery is? Didn’t you see what Hiram and Bodner did to that poor dragon? Didn’t that display turn your stomach? Doesn’t it make you want to pledge to do everything within your power to end this madness?”
Hyborn spoke in an even tone. “Yes, I saw what those humans did to that poor dragon. Yes, it turned my stomach.” He then switched to a deep growl. “But I pledge only to pay humans back for every demeaning insult, for every jab from that wicked spear, and for every shock from that cursed collar. For you see, I was that dragon.”
“You …” Koren gulped. “You were Hiram’s dragon?”
“He called me Lowbred, but when Magnar set me free, I changed my name to Hyborn. And I was the dragon Hiram flew when he attacked the star. For that deed I am truly ashamed, but since I wore a dragon slave’s collar, I had no choice.”
“No choice? Really?”
“Other than death?” He shook his head. “I had to obey.”
“Death is a better end than obeying evil.” Koren straightened and folded her hands at her waist. “So what will you do, Hyborn? Are you loyal to Taushin or to Starlight?”
“Taushin is Starlight. You are the ultimate evidence. He said he would resurrect the star and restore pheterone, and the closer I draw to you, the more I can sense it. Perhaps breathing pheterone-endowed air is why I am not coming under your spell at this moment. Exodus is the source of our new life, and Taushin is the reason. He has brought Starlight back from the dead.”
Koren spread out her arms. “Perhaps the Creator used Taushin as a catalyst, but the end result must be liberation for the humans. You no longer need slaves to mine for the gas. Isn’t that so?”
“We no longer need them, true, and the prophecy said they would die. I will leave the timing of that execution to Taushin.”
“What of Magnar?” Koren asked. “If he set you free in the first place, shouldn’t you consult him?”
Hyborn’s ears bent back. “First, he is not here to consult. Second, when you were wearing Zena’s vestments, you showed us that he departed to places unknown. Some of us think he has gone to raise an army and will return to retake his throne. If he conquers Taushin, what will become of you? You are the symbol of Taushin’s success. Considering how Magnar has treated Starlighters in the past, I cannot believe he will allow you or Exodus to remain. Then, our source of pheterone will again be the mesa mines, and humans will stay in captivity. I am certain you do not want that.”
“Of course not, but most dragons have no intention of setting their slaves free. They want to slaughter them.” Koren leaned closer and stared at him, hoping to draw him into her net. “Even now I can see this evil plan brewing in your mind. Your lust for revenge has lasted through all these years, and the newly enriched atmosphere has heightened your desire. Pheterone is not merely an energizer for you; it is an intoxicant, a lubricant for the violence in your mind. You have murder in your heart, and I can help you purge it.”
Hyborn’s voice sharpened. “It is not murder to terminate one’s own property. It is my right. So say we all.”
“All? What about Arxad? Would he agree with you? Even with his history of aiding humans, does anyone really question his loyalty to the dragon
race?”
Hyborn backed away a step. “This is true. We all know Arxad has accompanied Magnar out of loyalty, probably to try to keep Magnar from a rash decision. If Arxad were to return and offer his counsel, I would listen.”
Koren exhaled. Finally! An opening! “If I could show you proof that Arxad wants you to heed my words and distrust Taushin, would that be enough to change your mind?”
Hyborn’s eyes shifted toward the Zodiac. “Perhaps. At least it would be enough for me to investigate further.”
“Then let me see what I can find for you.” Koren lifted her arms, spreading out her cloak. “Starlight, tell me—”
“Not now,” Hyborn said. “I must check on my slaves. Return here tomorrow at dawn, and I will listen. In the meantime, I suggest that you stay well hidden. I think many of the slaves fear the punishment that will result if anyone heeds your words. You represent an unknown danger.”
“I understand.” Koren guided Exodus slowly higher. “I will return at dawn.”
Hyborn bowed his head and shuffled back. “Until then, Starlighter.”
Koren turned Exodus and glided swiftly toward the north, struggling to suppress the heartbreak welling in her soul. Her good news, her messages of freedom, had failed to penetrate. Like seeds on arid ground, they scattered with the wind.
A tear tracked down her cheek. What had happened? Hope lost. Freedom rejected. Fear chosen over courage. Instead of hundreds of slaves rallying together to rise up against their oppressors, most simply shrugged and turned aside. They were satisfied with their station, content with their chains. Slaves all their lives, they couldn’t believe any human ever lived in freedom. How could anyone set them free from bondage to an idea? And with Hyborn being so resilient, how could she persuade the dragons to set the slaves free? Since he was one of the most revered dragons, all the others would listen to him, no matter how well she convinced them during their hypnotic trances.
“Creator!” she called as she drove Exodus forward. “I need wisdom!”
Koren arrived at the river and followed its northward course to the barrier wall. Now high in the air, her light illuminated the flat landscape to the north, far beyond the wall. Untold quantities of water flowed into the dragons’ barricade of stones and mortar, but on the other side, no water emerged, not a drop. Where could it have gone? Underground?
She flew past the wall and over a flat grassy area. This time the wall’s guardians didn’t bother questioning her. They just looked up with slack-jawed stares as she glided by.
Soon she reached the end of the plain, marked by a stair-stepped slope. Water poured out from holes in the slope, forming streams that joined together after several hundred feet. Once merged, the river flowed on, northward, ever northward until it reached the waterfall she and Jason had seen not long ago.
Koren stopped over the restored river and looked back. At the wall, the water struck a barrier, an apparently impassable obstacle. Yet here it flowed on, unhindered by stone-burdened rafts, liberated to invigorate the meadow with its life-giving refreshment.
“It found a new path,” Koren whispered. “It went underground and split up.”
She let a smile emerge. A river cannot be stopped. The water has to go somewhere. It either piles up and overcomes, or it seeks another route. There are no other options. A river never gives up.
Koren lifted to her toes and spun in place, letting her cloak fan out. She laughed out loud, her smile so wide, her cheeks ached. “Thank you, dear Creator!” she shouted. “You have answered my prayer.”
Finally, she stopped, her smile unabated as she tried to catch her breath. Now the answer was clear. Her fellow humans believed themselves to be without hope, born to live in slavery until they died. How could someone be set free from such an idea?
She clenched her fist. With another idea!
eleven
Elyssa slid down Fellina’s side and dropped to the castle foyer’s wooden floor. She clutched the pouch that held Jason’s stardrop and shivered hard. Although the air was warmer inside the castle, the flight through the Northlands’ frigid air had chilled her to the core.
She staggered toward the entryway, where Fellina had deposited Jason and his father, then dropped to her knees between their shivering bodies. “They’re so co-cold!” she shouted. “Does the k-king have b-blankets?”
Flapping her wings, Fellina completed a running turn and stopped near Elyssa. “I will summon the king.”
“Please hurry.” Elyssa threw herself over Jason’s curled body and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. “I can’t keep them b-both warm.”
“You will keep no one warm. Your lips are blue, and you are shaking more violently than they are.” Fellina stretched out her wings again. “Move aside. I will take them to the beds. I had to put you down here, because I cannot land in the healing chamber. After I take them, I must return to the Southlands to look for Arxad. Deference will lead you to Jason.”
Elyssa scooted away on her knees. “Jason mentioned Deference. Where is she?”
“She will introduce herself soon.” Fellina lifted into the air, circled the foyer once, and snatched Jason and his father with her rear claws. The two bodies dangling, she flew into a long, wide corridor and faded in the dimness.
Elyssa hugged herself, rubbing her upper arms as she rose. “Deference? Are you here?”
A shimmer of light appeared. Shaped like a teenaged girl, the light spread out a radiant skirt and curtsied. “I am Deference. Follow me. Quickly.” The girl turned and ran into the corridor, an aura enveloping her and lighting the way.
Elyssa bolted after her. Her stiff legs felt like tree trunks, but after several steps, her knees loosened, and the chills eased. Soon she caught up with Deference and ran at her side. “Is it far?”
“Not far.” Deference slowed and lowered her head. “Get down!”
Elyssa ducked. Coming from the opposite direction, a dragon flew by, passed a foot overhead, and zoomed toward the foyer. Fellina was obviously in a hurry.
Deference continued forward, her arms and legs appearing again as they moved. After a few seconds, she stopped at an open archway that led into another room.
Inside, the floor consisted of a network of tree roots, tangled and knotted. About ten steps within, a dragon sat on his haunches. It appeared to be gray or ivory, but in the dim light, it was impossible to tell for certain. His eyes, blue and shimmering, seemed foreboding, yet somehow inviting at the same time.
“Come in,” the dragon said in a low tone.
Elyssa looked at Deference. She nodded, her radiance dimming once again. “He won’t hurt you.”
“Are you coming?”
“Soon.” Deference set a hand on Elyssa’s arm. The touch tickled. “Go on.”
Elyssa stepped into the room on tiptoes, avoiding a hole just inside the doorway. The roots bent with her weight, crackling slightly, but they didn’t break. With every step, the floor popped and bounced until she halted about a wing’s length from the dragon. As her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she glanced around, not only to get a look at the room but also to avoid the dragon’s piercing stare. A row of beds took shape on each side, but no one lay in the beds closest to her.
“What do you seek?” the dragon said.
Elyssa cleared her throat, hoping a new chill wouldn’t shake her words. “A dragon named Fellina brought my friend Jason and his father in here.” She opened the pouch and withdrew a glowing sac of skin. Using her fingernails, she ripped the sac open, plucked out the stardrop, and laid it on her palm, dropping the ruptured sac behind her. “We heard this might heal them somehow.”
The dragon extended his neck and peered at the glowing white sphere. “Only one stardrop? There are two patients. When Fellina delivered them here, I put them in adjacent beds at the far end of this room. They are both badly injured, and I am sure they are bleeding internally. They will soon die without the aid of healing light. And now Exodus has risen, so we have no source f
or a second stardrop.”
A new tremor shook her extended arm, and her voice quaked with it. “Can we split it in half?”
“Of course, but half will not heal either patient. With stardrops, it must be all or nothing.”
Elyssa drew the stardrop closer. “Then I have to choose?”
“Yes, you must make a choice.”
“But how? I can’t decide whose life is more valuable. Only the Creator can do that.”
“No life is more valuable than another, but that is not the choice you must make.” The dragon took a step closer and set a wing tip on her shoulder. “Elyssa, it is time for you to take yet another step of courage.”
Elyssa steeled herself. Not only did his touch send a tingling buzz across her skin, his words sounded like funeral gongs. And how did he know her name? Had Fellina told him?
“You have likely noticed that the stardrop once caused a dizzying effect,” the dragon said. “Do you feel it now?”
Elyssa blinked at the stardrop. Although it had bothered her early in the journey, the effect had diminished, something she had attributed to the cold air. “No. I don’t feel it now.”
“And you will not as long as you are here.” As the dragon took another step closer, his features clarified.
Thin red lines, like tiny blood vessels, drew a matrix across the pristine white background—scales that seemed flatter than those of other dragons. With the narrowest of gaps between them, they looked as much like human skin as they did dragon’s. “There is only one hope for saving both humans. If you possess the proper gift, you will be able to ingest the stardrop and gain the power to distribute its healing energy.”
She looked at the stardrop again. “What happens if I don’t possess the proper gift?”
“Then you will die an excruciatingly painful death.”
“How can that be? How could something deadly to one person be beneficial to another?”
“I did not say it would be beneficial to you, even if you do possess the gift. In fact, its power will likely cause you great pain in some ways, and that pain will continue the rest of your life.”