“Poor, sweet Drago,” she murmured. “Come home. Come back to Faraday.”
It did not occur to her to pick him up and rush him from the chamber before both were forever crushed in the grave it was rapidly becoming.
Eventually she looked up and realised the danger. The chamber was collapsing into itself – already the Star Gate was half full of rubble.
Faraday’s eyes filled with tears. So much beauty to be destroyed! She remembered when Jack and Yr had brought her, a naive and foolish young girl, to this chamber. She had been deeply moved by the beauty and lure of the universe beyond the Star Gate, and deeply moved that something this beautiful, this magical existed beneath the dusty plains of Achar.
Now it was being destroyed. Within a few minutes at most, the beauty and power would be gone forever.
Faraday’s hand stilled.
Within a few minutes all would be destroyed – but she still had those few minutes.
And this chamber and the Star Gate was magical. Not as much as it had once been, for now the music of the Star Dance had been stilled, but there was still power here.
She turned slightly back into the chamber, one hand on the skin and bones, one hand outstretched towards the Star Gate.
And she concentrated, concentrated on pulling all the power left in the chamber into her, combining it with what she herself was, and then channelling it into the skin and bones.
Then she felt something. She looked at the sack, gasped, and shuffled back a pace.
It was filling out.
It filled, then lengthened, widened, then filled some more. Again it stretched, and now the buds of arms and legs became visible. They filled and lengthened, and then Faraday saw the head.
It was Drago’s head. His face firmed and fleshed out. It was Drago’s face, although somehow different.
Indefinably different.
His transformation completed itself, and Drago crouched there, blinking in confusion, his hands patting distractedly at his nakedness.
Faraday put her hand on Drago’s shoulder and shook him as hard as she could.
“Drago!” she said sharply. “Drago! Pay attention! It is time we were gone from this place.”
He groaned, shuddered, and made as if to stand up. But his muscles were still weak, and he had to try three times before he managed.
Meanwhile rocks fell about them in an increasing crescendo of destruction. Faraday glanced at the dome above them – there were now dark gaps between the five sections. When it came down, as it surely would, the entire chamber would be lost.
“Drago! Come on!”
“Faraday?” He reached out with a hand, and she grabbed it, hauling him to his feet.
“Yes. Now, come! We will die if we stay here!”
“Faraday? Faraday, there is something I must get.”
“Drago!”
He paused, ignoring Faraday’s attempts to pull him away, then he hurriedly pulled his hand from hers and bent back to the rubble.
“Drago! We’ve got to get out of here!”
“Wait,” he mumbled, feeling with hands that were cut and abraded by the loose rocks about him. “Wait.”
He grasped the end of something and pulled it free. “Ah!”
Faraday stared at it. It was a rosewood staff, very plain, curved into a shepherd’s crook at its tip.
Drago hefted it in one hand, and with the other grabbed Faraday’s. “Run!”
They escaped just as the Star Gate chamber finally collapsed. The five sections of the dome fell inward, landing within the Star Gate itself.
They filled it completely, jutting out in jagged spires.
An instant after the dome collapsed, the walls fell inward, covering what remained of the statues and the low circular wall.
The Star Gate and the chamber that had housed it for countless millennia was no more.
On the Island of Mist and Memory the sickly cobalt beacon that speared skyward from the Temple of Stars flickered, flickered again, then abruptly died.
The temple and Star Gate were dead, the Star Gods were made mortal, Enchanters were as ordinary birdmen. Icarii magic was no more.
The Dance had ended.
The Demons crouched atop one of the destroyed Barrows, StarLaughter at their side. Above them wheeled the Hawkchilds. Suddenly they veered to the north, vanishing in the haze of dust from the destruction amid the Barrows.
“They hunt,” Raspu said, then looked at Sheol. “Now it is time for you to feed, my dear.”
Epilogue: The Wasteland
It was mid-afternoon in Tencendor, and despair ruled. In Carlon a boy carting fruit to the market let his load drop from his back and watched expressionlessly as it rolled down the gutter.
It was no use. He would never rise above the rank of fruit-carter. He saw himself as an old man, his back bent and bowed by seventy years worth of oranges and apples, his old age a helpless mess of pips and bruised, rotting fruit skins.
He threw himself under the wheels of a driverless wagon careering round the corner of the winding street.
A Goodwife of western Tarantaise was outside hanging her washing when despair swept the land. She paused, and silent, hopeless tears slid down her cheeks.
At her feet a toddling girl sobbed.
The Goodwife looked down. What life was her daughter destined for? Marriage to a man who abused her at night and cursed her by day? A life spent wringing wet washing amid the never-ending rain?
What kind of life was that?
Sniffing loudly, swallowing her tears, the Goodwife reached down to her daughter, lifted her skyward, and twisted the washing line about her neck.
She left her hanging there with the washing, choking amid the sad, wet, flapping sheets.
Then the Goodwife went inside to see to her infant son.
The Icarii birdman was drifting the thermals high above the plains of Skarabost when he suddenly realised his life was pointless.
There had been no use in recreating Tencendor. The StarMan had wasted his time and the Icarii nation’s energy in battling Gorgrael.
The StarMan hadn’t killed every Skraeling, had he?
No, some had escaped. Some had fled north again, doubtless there to breed and whisper revenge.
No doubt Skraelings were even now massing in the northern tundra to nibble and whisper their way south again.
The birdman had been present at the massacre of Earth Tree Grove, and his mouth was filled with the memory-taste of blood smeared over feather and flesh chewed to mincemeat in seconds.
It had been pointless. They would all suffer the same fate again.
He wailed, flipped over on his back, and watched the sun diminish in size as he plummeted to the ground.
He died impaled on a rake left outside by a careless harvester.
Cattle went mad in their fields. Sheep screamed. Pigs grunted and stampeded.
However, some stilled, as if listening. Then the cattle began to raven, and the pigs to plot.
For hours rubble continued to collapse inward from the destruction that had been the Barrows. There was a steady drip, drip, drip of rock and earth onto the pile of masonry that had filled the portal created so long ago by the flaming craft of the Demon’s Enemy.
Nothing more could pass through to harry Tencendor.
Nothing could escape.
There was no music.
Nothing save the slow settling of the rubble and the cold, silent, broken, half-buried wings of the marble statues.
The Avar withdrew deep into their forests and prayed to their horned gods and to the Mother that she might have the strength to repel the invaders. The Acharites huddled inside tightly shuttered homes, apartments and palaces and wondered when it would be safe to scurry outside again.
In the Silent Woman Woods some twenty-four thousand men looked to the east and saw nothing but darkness and rubble. They turned to look at each other, and saw nothing but darkness and rubble reflected back by their companions’ eyes.
&nbs
p; “Courage,” said Zared, and bent down to Caelum, sitting head in hands at his feet. “Courage.”
Under one of the trees of Minstrelsea, Axis gathered Azhure in his arms and held her as tight as he could. Everything had been so bright. Gorgrael had died, his family had grown laughing and frolicking in Sigholt. Now it was all dead. Tencendor lay under the rule of the TimeKeeper Demons. Gorgrael had been a child’s creation next to them. The Dance had gone, the Star Gate was no more. There would never be any magic or Song or music again.
No matter what they did, no matter how potent Caelum proved against the Demons, the music and the Dance were gone.
Azhure took a tremulous breath and raised her head. “What now, beloved?”
He smiled bitterly. “Now? Now we relearn our limitations. We learn all we can about these Demons. We help Caelum.”
He paused. “Now we start all over again.”
But in his mind, a mind Azhure could no longer share, Axis thought, when I finally meet Drago I will tear his life apart with my bare hands for what he has done to this land.
Under the first trees of Minstrelsea, Faraday pulled her cloak tight about her and looked at the man crouched in the half-light by her side.
“Can you feel the despair sweeping Tencendor?” she asked.
He looked up. “I am responsible for it.”
Faraday remained silent.
He cast his eyes slowly across the wasteland beyond the trees. “Who am I?”
“You know that.”
“Yes.” He sighed. “I am the Enemy.”
Glossary
ACHAR: the realm that once stretched over most of the continent, bounded by the Andeis, Tyrre and Widowmaker Seas, the Avarinheim and the Icescarp Alps. Now integrated into Tencendor.
ACHARITES: one-time citizens of Achar, now referred to only as humans. Caelum has banned the use of the term “Acharite”.
ADAMON: one of the nine Star Gods of the Icarii, Adamon is the eldest and the God of the Firmament.
AFTERLIFE: all three races, the humans (Acharites), the Icarii and the Avar, believe in the existence of an AfterLife, although exactly what they believe depends on their particular culture.
ALAUNT: the legendary pack of hounds that once belonged to WolfStar SunSoar and ran to the hunt with Azhure. They are all of the Lesser immortals.
ALDENI: a small province in western Achar, devoted to small crop cultivation. It is administered by Duke Theod under the overlordship of Prince Askam.
ANDAKILSA, RIVER: the extreme northern river of Ichtar, dividing Ichtar from Ravensbund. Under normal circumstances, it remains free of ice all year round and flows into the Andeis Sea.
ANDEIS SEA: the often unpredictable sea that washes the western coast of Achar.
ARCEN: the major city of Arcness. It is a free trading city.
ARCNESS: large eastern province in Achar, specialising in pigs.
ARTOR THE PLOUGHMAN: the now disbanded Brotherhood of the Seneschal taught that Artor was the one true god. Under His sway, the Acharites initiated the ancient Wars of the Axe and drove the Icarii and Avar from the land. Artor was killed by Azhure and her hounds.
ASKAM, Prince of the West: son of Belial and Cazna. Askam is a close friend of StarSon Caelum.
ASZRAD, FEBLONE: silk merchant of Carlon, bastard son of a Corolean soldier.
AVAR, The: ancient race of Tencendor who live in the forests of the Avarinheim and Minstrelsea. The Avar are sometimes referred to as the People of the Horn. Their Mage-King is Isfrael.
AVARINHEIM, The: the northern forest home of the Avar people.
AVENUE, The: the processional way of the Temple Complex on the Island of Mist and Memory.
AVONSDALE: province in western Achar. It produces legumes, fruit and flowers. It is administered by Earl Herme under the overlordship of Prince Askam.
AXE-WIELDERS, The: once the elite crusading and military wing of the Seneschal. Once led by Axis as their BattleAxe, the Axe-Wielders are now completely disbanded.
AXIS: son of the Princess Rivkah of Achar and the Icarii Enchanter StarDrifter SunSoar. Once BattleAxe of the Axe-Wielders, he assumed the mantle of the StarMan of the Prophecy of the Destroyer. After reforging Tencendor Axis formed his own house, the House of the Stars. He now drifts as the Star God of Song.
AZHURE: daughter of WolfStar SunSoar and Niah of Nor. She is married to Axis and is now Goddess of Moon. During the time of Prophecy, Azhure used the Alaunt to hunt and kill the Plough God Artor, and summoned the power of the trees to destroy Gorgrael’s army.
AZLE, RIVER: a major river that divides the provinces of Ichtar and Aldeni. It flows into the Andeis Sea.
BANES: the religious leaders of the Avar people. They wield magic, although it is usually of the minor variety.
BARROWS, The Ancient: the burial places of the ancient Enchanter-Talons of the Icarii people. Located in southern Arcness, the Barrows guard the entrance to the Star Gate.
BATTLEAXE, The: once the leader of the Axe-Wielders. The post of BattleAxe was last held by Axis. See “Axe-Wielders”.
BARZULA: a Questor.
BEDWYR FORT: a fort that sits on the lower reaches of the River Nordra and guards the entrance to Grail Lake from Nordmuth.
BELIAL: lieutenant and second-in-command in Axis’ army during the fight against Gorgrael. Belial is the father of Askam and Leagh. Now dead.
BELTIDE: see “Festivals”.
BERIN, Baron: a minor nobleman of Romsdale.
BETHIAM, Princess: wife to Prince Askam of the West.
BOGLE MARSH: a large and inhospitable marsh in eastern Arcness. Strange creatures are said to live in the Marsh.
BOOK OF FIELD AND FURROW: the religious text of the now disbanded Seneschal.
BORNEHELD: One-time Duke of Ichtar and King of Achar. Son of the Princess Rivkah and her husband, Duke Searlas, half-brother to Axis, and husband of Faraday of Skarabost. After murdering his uncle, Priam, Borneheld assumed the throne of Achar. Now dead.
BRACKEN RANGES, The: the former name of the Minaret Peaks.
BRACKEN, RIVER: the river that rises in the Minaret Peaks and which, dividing the provinces of Skarabost and Arcness, flows into the Widowmaker Sea.
BRIDGE, The: the bridge that guards the entrance into Sigholt is deeply magical. She will throw out a challenge to any she does not know, but can sometimes be tricked.
BRIGHTFEATHER: wife to RavenCrest SunSoar, former Talon of the Icarii. Now dead.
BROTHER-LEADER: the supreme leader of the Brotherhood of the Seneschal. The last Brother-Leader of the Seneschal was Jayme.
CAELUM STARSON: eldest son of Axis and Azhure, born at Yuletide. Caelum is an ancient word meaning “Stars in Heaven”. Caelum now rules Tencendor.
CARLON: main city of Tencendor and one-time residence of the kings of Achar. Situated on Grail Lake.
CAULDRON LAKE: the lake at the centre of the Silent Woman Woods.
CAZNA: wife to Belial, mother of Askam and Leagh. Now dead.
CHAMBER OF THE MOONS: chief audience and sometime banquet chamber of the ancient royal palace in Carlon. It was the site where Axis battled Borneheld to the death.
CHARONITES: a little-known race of Tencendor who inhabit the UnderWorld.
CIRCLE OF STARS, The: see “Enchantress’ Ring”.
CLANS: the Avar tend to segregate into Clan groups, roughly equivalent to family groups.
CLOUDBURST SUNSOAR: younger brother and assassin of WolfStar SunSoar.
COHORT: see “Military Terms”.
COROLEAS: the great empire to the south of Tencendor. Relations between the two countries are usually cordial.
CREST: Icarii military unit composed of fourteen Wings.
CREST-LEADER: commander of an Icarii Crest.
DANCE OF DEATH, The: dark star music that is the counterpoint to the Star Dance. It is the music made when stars miss their step and crash into each other, or swell up into red giants and implode. Only WolfStar and Azhure can wield this music.
DAR
EWING FULLHEART: senior Crest-Leader and Strike Leader of the Icarii Strike Force.
DISTANCES:
League: roughly seven kilometres, or four and a half miles.
Pace: roughly one metre or one yard.
Handspan: roughly twenty centimetres or eight inches.
DOME OF THE MOON: a sacred dome dedicated to the Moon on Temple Mount of the Island of Mist and Memory. Only the First Priestess has access to the Dome, and it was in this Dome that Niah and WolfStar conceived Azhure.
DRAGONSTAR SUNSOAR: (Also known as Drago.) Second son of Axis and Azhure. Twin brother to RiverStar. DragonStar is also the name of the son StarLaughter SunSoar was carrying when she was thrown through the Star Gate by her husband, WolfStar.
DRIFTSTAR SUNSOAR: grandmother to StarDrifter, mother of MorningStar. An Enchanter and a SunSoar in her own right and wife to the SunSoar Talon. She died three hundred years before the events of this book.
EARTH TREE: a sacred tree to both the Icarii and the Avar.
EARTH TREE GROVE: the grove holding the Earth Tree in the northern Avarinheim where it borders the Icescarp Alps. It the most important of the Avarinheim groves and is where the Avar (sometimes in concert with the Icarii) hold their gatherings and religious rites.