Koren lifted Exodus higher. Maybe if she stayed aloft until the right time, the people wouldn’t be so annoyed when she began speaking. After ascending to at least five hundred feet, she looked down over the region the dragons called home. From this elevation, the area seemed small, like a ragged oval hemmed in by an incomplete wall and a range of forested mountains. Compared to the vast lands outside the barriers, the dragons’ abode was no more than a …
Koren tapped her chin. An egg? Yes, that was it. It was a shelled-in habitat populated by creatures who knew little about the world beyond their boundaries. With the exception of the older dragons, they had no idea that other civilizations flourished, not only in their own world, but also on other planets. Their ignorance had led them to believe that their existence was the only one possible. Truly, humans and dragons alike were slaves, bound by their limited understanding, and since ignorance often breeds arrogance, they stubbornly insisted that those who delivered contrary ideas must be evil or else insane.
Koren sighed. Ignorance mixed with arrogance made such a foul stew, and those who brewed the concoction seemed unable to detect its rancid odor.
After a few minutes, Hyborn emerged from the Basilica and flew down to the street, apparently unaware that Koren watched from high above. As hundreds of slaves gathered, another dragon flew from the Basilica roof, a black dragon with a passenger dressed in white who carried a staff in her hands.
Koren guided Exodus downward. Taushin’s appearance meant trouble. She might not get another chance to speak to all the people at once, so she couldn’t let him spoil it.
Taushin landed next to Hyborn, and Zena slid off his back, still carrying the staff. A rope dangled from the staff’s end and coiled over Zena’s shoulder. As Koren descended, the people began lifting their hands to block her light. Some cringed. A few of the babies cried, while younger children hid behind their parents.
“Go back where you came from!” Yeager shouted. “We don’t want you here!”
Koren allowed Exodus to hover about thirty feet above the Basilica’s gate. She spread out her cloak and called, “Please give me an opportunity to speak. Surely you are kind and merciful enough to allow a girl such as I to plead for a moment of your time. You have the courage to bear with words. They cannot bring you harm.”
Yeager pointed at her. “Your words can bring harm. You have the power to hypnotize, so stay quiet, or one of the dragons will slap you away again.”
She avoided eye contact with him. “Listen, my friends. The dragons have imprisoned you for your entire lives. You know nothing beyond the barriers that surround you. There really is a Northlands and a true king of the dragons. I have been to his castle and have seen the wonders. From within that castle I resurrected Exodus, the star in which I now abide. Surely you must wonder where it came from.”
“It came from the depths of evil,” Yeager said. “It is scorching my skin, and I can already feel your words making me dizzy.”
Taushin swished his tail back and forth, a sign of dragon amusement. “Let her speak,” he said. “I am immune to her, so I will stay alert. I find her rhetoric entertaining.”
Koren again kept her gaze on the people. “I am not here to entertain. I am here to tell you about another life. Like a river that has been blocked by a dam, you long for freedom to seek the valleys you were designed to refresh, but as you build up pressure to overcome the barrier, the dam builders bleed you. They kill those who oppose their rule. They torture children to bring you into submission. They instill fear in your hearts, telling you that beasts in the wilderness will tear your bodies to pieces. And although you have never beheld one of these beasts or witnessed such a slaughter, you embrace fear. You hold tightly to the security of things you have witnessed with your eyes. You see, the dragons know if you could travel beyond the wall and experience the beautiful valleys, you would realize this land of stunted trees, cacti, and arid plains is not where you belong. It is a land of deadness, a quarantined desolation. You would realize that lush foliage, unlike the legendary wilderness, does not hide wild beasts that wait to devour you.”
Yeager shook his head as if throwing off a daze. “You cannot prove what you say.”
“Oh, but I can.” Koren spun her cloak and called out with a loud voice, “Fruit trees once lined this very street. Thick green grass lay across the ground upon which you stand. Flowers covered both the plain and the mesas where you now drill for pheterone, but who among you is old enough to remember those days?”
“I remember,” Tibalt said. “Oh, what a beautiful sight!”
Koren gave him a brief smile. “But I will show you something even greater. Here is what the land looks like beyond the barrier wall.” She thrust out her arms. The cobblestones vanished, leaving behind a carpet of dense grass. Flowers sprang up around the onlookers’ feet, a dazzling medley of blues, reds, yellows, and purples. The Zodiac and the Basilica disappeared, leaving only the gate to which Madam Orley was tied. A tree erupted from the ground next to Taushin. In just a few seconds, it grew to seventy feet high, and its foliage cast a cooling shade over the people.
“In slavery you toil with backbreaking labors, and you sweat under a brutal sun. In a land of freedom, even during the hottest days, you could rest in shade like this and enjoy the fruits of your own labors instead of delivering them to the very taskmasters who scar your backs in exchange for the scrapings of the bones the dragons cared not to chew.”
Koren took a breath. Hyborn and the rest of the dragons now seemed hypnotized. The humans, with the exception of Zena, had lowered their shielding hands and stared wide-eyed. Even Madam Orley seemed pain free as she watched with wonder.
While Taushin’s blue eyebeams drilled into Zena’s eyes, she stood straight and looked directly at Koren. “What will you do now, Starlighter?” Taushin asked.
“Everyone is under your influence. They await your command.”
Koren nodded toward the north. “Open the barrier wall. I will take them to the Northlands.”
“To the ice-covered desert? Will they grow food there?” Taushin laughed. “I think not. Unless you can conjure edible plants that can endure freezing temperatures.”
“Then we will make a settlement in the valley in between. The land is fertile, and the climate is temperate.”
Taushin extended a wing toward the crowd. “These people are incapable of planning a stable community. They are accustomed to being told what to do. And you are no different. You cannot teach that which you do not know.”
Koren imagined herding the people into the colorful meadows. The scene sparkled with beauty, but what would happen when they had to learn to work the land without a leader to guide them and without whips to motivate their labors?
“As you can see,” Taushin continued, “your fellow humans know nothing but slavery. They listen to you now, because you have put them in bonds. As surely as I shackled you with manacles and chains, you have shackled their minds with your hypnotic power. They will now follow you because of your power over them, not because they loved you beforehand, but rather because you forced them to love you. And this is exactly what I taught you.
“If you had stayed with me, you would have eventually learned to love me, but when I released you, you rebelled. The same will happen with these people. You will have to keep them under your spell for a long time before they follow you without compulsion. If you release them now, they will surely disavow any acquiescence to your authority. In fact, they are likely to denounce you and become aggressive toward you. Otherwise, in the unlikely event that you are able to maintain control, you will prove yourself to be the slave master that I am, a loving and benevolent leader who will do what is best for those who remain in bondage.”
Koren scanned the sea of faces. Many stared with mouths agape, apparently unaware of their surroundings. Only the babies seemed immune as they squirmed in the arms that held them. If she could lead them to the fertile valley and keep them under her control, she could eventually
get them to work together to make a new community. But at what cost? They would still be slaves, and she would be their chain holder.
Brinella’s words came to mind. A Starlighter must never leave her listeners in that state. If they come out of a trance on their own, they are susceptible to any influence that enters their minds. The Starlighter must command her visions to flee so her hearers can return to normal and decide whether or not to accept the wisdom she has provided. Otherwise, they are nothing more than …
“Slaves,” Koren whispered. Although it would be better for them to have a truly benevolent mistress than a cruel dragon master, it would still be slavery. Without real freedom, every action would be in response to the rattle of a chain. Real love required real freedom.
“You cannot leave them standing here,” Taushin said. “Do what you must. I said I would release the slaves, and I will allow them to depart, but I will also do what I must to maintain my kingdom. Zena is an inferior surrogate. I need you for my eyes. I will make whatever sacrifice I deem necessary to bring you back into my embrace.”
Zena scowled but stayed silent.
“What do you mean by sacrifice?” Koren asked.
“Sometimes chains are not enough. There are other means of persuasion at my disposal, and, should you continue your rebellion against me, my response will be bold and shocking.” He lowered his voice to a menacing growl. “You have had your warning.”
Koren glowered at him. No matter what this dark fiend had in mind, freedom was worth any sacrifice. It would be better to be dead than locked in chains again. Her role as a Starlighter would continue whether Taushin liked it or not, and the people would have the choice to follow her themselves.
She pulled her cloak in close and shouted, “Begone, visions! Fly away, phantoms! Release these people from your grasp!”
The flower-covered meadow melted, transforming into liquid color that seeped between the cobblestones. The village buildings returned, and the Zodiac’s spires again cast their insufficient shade over the crowd.
As if awakened from slumber, the people began shaking their heads and blinking their eyes. Some even yawned, but they all once again raised hands to deflect Exodus’s light.
Yeager jabbed a finger into the air. “She hypnotized us! She put impossible visions in our heads. She wants us to rebel against our masters, and we all know what will happen if we do that.”
“They will slaughter our children,” one woman said, holding her baby close.
“And us,” a man added.
Hyborn raised his head high and broadcast his voice over the crowd. “She is a powerful sorceress, but if the people try to leave with her, she cannot stop us from killing the weak, sick, and slow of foot among you. The children will surely die.”
“You must take courage,” Koren said, lifting her hands again. “Even if some of us die, freedom is worth the price. I will do everything within my power to stop the dragons from hurting you. Since I resurrected Exodus, I am able to infuse the atmosphere with their precious pheterone. The mines can no longer produce, so they need me to stay alive and aloft, but they do not need slave labor to survive. Besides their arrogant pride, they will have no motivation for pursuing or destroying you, and when I hypnotize them, they will be rendered powerless.”
“Hyborn,” Taushin said, his voice calm. “Demonstrate to this Starlighter our willingness to maintain control of our kingdom. Burn the prisoner.”
“As you wish.” Hyborn blew a river of fire at Madam Orley. The flames covered her body, catching her clothes and hair.
“No!” Koren screamed. “You monsters! You murderers!”
Gasps erupted from the crowd, audible even over Madam’s screams. Tibalt dashed out from among them and threw his body over Madam Orley. His momentum tore the charred rope, and they fell sideways to the street. He batted the flames with his hands, then rolled her over, snuffing the blaze.
“Shall I cook the old man?” Hyborn asked.
Taushin shook his head. “This is enough of a demonstration. If the woman survives, let her scars remind everyone that rebellion has severe consequences. The children will be next.”
“Look at what you have done!” Yeager shouted, shaking his fist at Koren. “Madam Orley is a kind, gracious woman, and your rebellious words have brought about this … this carnage!”
As heat surged through her cheeks, Koren balled her fists. “I didn’t blow fire on her. Hyborn did. Can’t you see how cruel the dragons are? If we rise up as one, they won’t be able to …” Smoke from Madam’s burnt flesh streamed into view. Koren felt her mouth drop open, and her lips barely moved as she whispered, “Stop us.”
“That’s easy for you to say while up there in your protective bubble,” Yeager said. “Come down here and repeat your treasonous words. Speak them while facing a dragon’s flaming mouth like we have to. Then we’ll believe you.”
Weeping, Koren spread out her arms. “I can’t. I’m … I’m trapped … trapped inside.”
“By choice,” Taushin said. “You entered by choice. You sealed the hole by choice. I told you beforehand that you would be trapped in there, that you should raise Exodus without sealing the wound, but you chose the prideful path, desiring to be a guiding angel, a prophetess who forever stands above her fellow humans, judging their actions and correcting their behavior.”
Yeager waved a hand over the other humans. “Who made her a judge over us? She is just another slave, and a young girl at that. At least dragon masters have more experience than we do. The only time they ever discipline us is when we disobey. This girl is no more than a petulant busybody. You all know that. Because of her red hair and green eyes, she has always been favored by the dragons, and it has swelled her head. Now she thinks she is our judge.”
Most of the people nodded. One man yelled, “Go away! You’ve caused enough heartache!” Others murmured about poor Constance Orley and how much she would have to suffer. Only one or two shouted in favor of Koren, including the stone mover who had seemed to support her the previous time they had gathered, but Yeager’s supporters quickly drowned them out.
A woman who looked a few years older than Madam Orley pushed her way to the front and looked up at Koren, wincing at the radiance. “Listen, young lady,” she said with a kind tone, “I knew your mother. Emma was a good woman, quiet and respectable, a real optimist, in spite of the fact that your father died before you were born.”
Koren’s throat caught. Died before she was born? The woman had to be mistaken. Memories of her father’s good-night blessing still echoed, the same words she had heard replayed in the tale about another Koren and Orson. What could it all mean?
“Emma loved you dearly,” the woman continued, “but if she saw what you are doing now, she would be ashamed. She believed no human has the right to judge another human. We give advice, to be sure, but we should never believe ourselves to be above everyone else. That’s just common sense.” She pointed at the ground. “If you’ll just come down here and speak your mind like one friend to another, I’ll listen, but I won’t be talked down to.”
Koren gazed at the woman’s sincere face. It wouldn’t do any good to explain Brinella’s warning about keeping her distance from those with impure hearts. It would make her sound more self-righteous than ever. Yet she couldn’t risk the closeness. Maybe an oblique explanation would work. “I can’t. The star is too hot. You wouldn’t be able to stand it. And since I can’t leave, I have to stay up here.”
“There is a solution,” Taushin said. “Zena, show her.”
Zena raised the shaft. It ended in a sharp point, and a short tube had been fastened near the barbed end.
Koren swallowed. A spear! It looked just like the one she had found near the star chamber.
“If we puncture Exodus,” Taushin continued, “it will deflate, allowing you to descend, and then you will be able to exit and speak to your fellow slaves. I am sure Madam Orley will appreciate your help in Arxad’s abode as she recovers.”
&n
bsp; Koren glanced at the spot where she had mended the wall. A thin scar still remained. “But when a spear made a wound last time, Exodus flew away to the Northlands.”
“Which is why I attached this,” Zena said, letting the coil of rope slide off her shoulder. “When the spear pierces Exodus, you can hold the shaft, and we will keep you from flying away.”
“Then,” Taushin added, “Exodus will remain grounded and still provide pheterone to our region. With no more need for human slaves, I will set them free. Dragons will even help them set up their own community. All you have to do is submit to me as before and become my eyes.”
Yeager called out, “Did you hear that? Taushin promised us freedom! And we’ll be free without a self-proclaimed angel telling us what to do.”
A wave of nods crossed the sea of sweaty brows. Many people smiled in spite of the heat. The stone mover crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head.
The young man’s face finally registered. Scott was his name, a boy from the river crew.
While conversation continued buzzing through the crowd, Koren peered down at the Basilica gate. Madam Orley lay near the bars, smoke still rising from her scorched body. Propped on his knees, Tibalt straddled her, fanning her face with his hands. “How is she, Tibalt?”
He looked up at her, his face twisting in pain. “She’s alive.” The background noise nearly drowned out his words. “She wants to get up, but I won’t let her, not in the mood she’s in. She’s ready to take on all the dragons by herself, but we can’t let her get cooked again.”
“Can you do anything to help her? Get some water, maybe?”
Tibalt nodded. “As soon as I see an opening, I’ll look for some.”
Yeager raised his hands, calming the crowd. “So let’s get on with it. Puncture the star and bring her down to our level.”
Zena lifted the spear and showed it to Koren. “Come as close as possible, my dear, so I can push it in gently. I don’t want to hurt you.”