Koren spread out her hands. “But I haven’t done any of those things. They took me by force when I was trying to help someone else.”
“Only to provide a greater service,” Taushin said. “Your path was leading to destruction for yourself and your fellow slaves. Since I love you, I could not allow that.”
Koren clenched her arms tightly in front of her as she continued to address the white dragon. “What if the helping hand is a deceiver? A liar? A fraud? I can’t submit to chains when I have seen the cruelty of their keepers. Whips on the backs of children speak louder than the words of a dragon who purrs under the hand of a sadistic sorceress.”
Taushin snorted. “Are we quite finished arguing between two mental phantasms?”
Koren kept her body aimed toward the white dragon but looked at Taushin out of the corner of her eye. She nodded. If that question came from the real Taushin, maybe he would be able to see her response even if he couldn’t hear her words.
“Good,” Taushin continued. “Then listen carefully. If you do not return to me willingly, then I will force you to return by threatening your friends. In order to achieve the greater good, Zena will send the next assault directly at them. If you surrender, she will allow them to go to the Northlands without harm.”
“They wouldn’t go without me,” Koren said. “Jason is a warrior and a gentleman. He would follow me back to the dragon village and try to set me free.”
“You have far too much confidence in this stranger from another world. You might be quite surprised at the choices he makes.”
Letting her scowl dig deeper, Koren extended a pointing finger. “Don’t you dare hurt Jason!”
A crooked smile bent his scaly face. “Come back to me, and you will have nothing to fear.”
“I don’t believe a word you say. Zena can’t be that powerful.” She looked at the white dragon. “And you’re more powerful than Taushin, right?”
The white dragon shimmered, fading as he spoke. “I am unable to teach that which you do not already know. Perhaps it would be wise to search for answers from the source. Yet here is truth you have learned from the Code: Whatever is done because of sacrificial love will never be lost, and a lamb who walks among wolves for the sake of other lambs will never be forsaken, even if she dies.” With that, the white dragon disappeared.
“Koren!”
She stiffened. The voice was Uriel’s. “Yes?” she called back, rotating toward him. “I’m here.”
“You have very little time to decide,” Taushin said as he vanished.
Uriel’s voice returned, coming from a dark thicket. “It has been more than ten minutes, so I decided to check on you. May I approach?”
“Certainly.” Koren scanned the ground. She half expected to find dragon prints, but none showed up in the muddy grass. “I appreciate your concern, but all is well.”
Uriel pushed between two evergreen branches and appeared in the clearing. He propped his sword on his shoulder and extended a curled arm. “Would you like an escort?”
Smiling, Koren slid her arm around his. “I would be glad of one. Thank you.”
As they walked back, Uriel cleared his throat. “May I ask a personal question, Miss?”
She looked up at him. His eyes focused straight ahead. “Yes, you may.”
“I noticed that you and Jason were traveling as a pair without a chaperone. Are you married? Betrothed?”
Koren laughed gently. “Neither. We were kind of thrown together. I guess you could say we rescued each other from the dragons, and we’re traveling as a couple out of necessity rather than by choice. We have no … romantic attachment.”
“I see.” When they reached the clearing, Uriel stopped and looked at Jason, still sleeping against a tree at the opposite side. “He is a valiant young man, Miss. If I may be so bold, you would do well to consider him as more than a necessary companion. I have lived many years, and I have never seen someone his age exhibit so much courage, willpower, and sacrifice to save the life of another. He will make someone a wonderful husband, to be sure.”
Koren’s cheeks grew hot. “I … uh … I don’t know what to say. That’s a very personal issue.”
“True, Miss. But I had to say it. All my years have taught me an important maxim. If you have something important to say, never waste a moment to get it said. Another opportunity may never arise.”
Koren gazed at him again. His eyes, sad and gray, now focused directly on her. “That is a wise maxim.”
Sighing, he let his shoulders slump. “I learned the lesson the hard way. I never said a proper good-bye to my first wife before she died, my second wife before I was sent to prison, or my son when I traveled to this planet on my current journey. If only I could have simply said, ‘I love you’ when I last gazed at them, I would have saved myself decades of mental torment while I languished in the white dragon’s clutches.”
Koren imagined Uriel sitting in a cage with manacles around his ankles, shackled to the iron bars surrounding him. Why would the white dragon be so cruel? Of course, Uriel’s accommodations might not have been as terrible as she imagined, but any imprisonment had to mean that the dragon couldn’t be trusted. It seemed that both dragon kings worked in the same way, keeping humans captive to get what they wanted.
“Thank you for telling me what’s on your mind,” she said. “You’re right about Jason. He will make a wonderful husband. But I wonder if the Creator has something else in mind for me, perhaps something not so pleasant.”
“Is that so?” he asked, his brow lifting. “Would you like to tell me about it?”
Koren folded her hands at her waist. “I’m pretty sure I have to work it out for myself.” Tilting her head up, she looked again into his eyes. “All I ask is that you trust the decisions I make.”
“Are you planning to do something besides accompany us to the Northlands?”
“I’m not sure yet.” She reached out and took his withered hand in hers. “From what I have heard about your story, you know what it’s like to be certain of something that everyone else believes to be insane.”
He patted her hand. “Yes, my dear. Being alone in one’s opinion, especially when that opinion is crucial to the survival of many, is the worst sort of captivity. Being certain that you are right and everyone else is wrong is a lonely island, indeed. Yet to venture off that island is a step that a man of noble character cannot take. His integrity will not allow him to sacrifice truth in order to gain acceptance from his fellow man.”
Koren rubbed his knuckles with her thumb. “I see that your years on that island have given you eloquence.”
“I had little else to do but formulate maxims.” He lifted her hand and kissed it gently. “I am glad to be able to pass a few along to someone as receptive as yourself.”
“You are very kind.” Smiling, Koren backed away, turned, and joined Jason at the tree. After sitting close, she leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. Then, taking his hand in hers, she whispered, “You are a good man, Jason Masters, and you will make a fine husband, the best of husbands.” As tears welled in her eyes, she bit her lip and silently added: For someone else.
seven
Jason blinked open his eyes. Uriel stood nearby with the sword drawn, looking into the forest, wary but apparently unalarmed. No rain fell. A breeze swirled about, cool but not uncomfortable.
Turning his head, Jason peeked at Koren as she slept with her head against his shoulder, a slight buzz in her respiration. She jerked, likely from a dream, but slept on.
Closing his eyes again, Jason settled his head comfortably against the tree trunk. As he drifted toward sleep, another vision materialized in his mind: Uriel standing with a girl in a dark blue cloak—the other Starlighter, the girl from Koren’s tale.
This Starlighter held a crystalline peg in her palm, much like those Jason had seen at the portal. It glowed, creating a halo that enveloped her entire hand and continued swelling until it encompassed both Uriel and hersel
f in a spherical aura. While they watched, mesmerized, a woman dressed in black approached from behind, a long dagger in her grip and murder in her eyes.
Jason took in a breath to shout a warning, but no sound came out. Zena drew closer, ever closer. The dagger’s blade gleamed in the light. She raised it higher, ready to strike.
“Watch out!”
Jason opened his eyes and looked around. Zena was gone, but Uriel was still there, staring at him in the light of early dawn.
“What is it?” Uriel asked. “Did you hear something?”
Jason shook his head. “Sorry. It was just a dream.”
“What was it about?” Koren asked, still leaning on his shoulder, her eyes trained on the forest.
“Zena was about to stab Uriel and Cassabrie.”
Koren pulled away and looked at him. “Were you there, too?”
“Yes, but in the vision I couldn’t do anything to stop her. I think my hands may have been tied.”
“We should go.” Koren climbed to her feet and reached for Jason, her face now tense.
He grasped her hand and allowed her to pull him up. As he rose, the folded Starlighter cape he had used as a pillow dropped to the ground. He picked it up and looked at the pair of green eyes embroidered at the left breast. Moisture on the threads sparkled against the deep blue background.
He shook out the cloak and held it at arm’s length. “So green eyes are one of the signs of a Starlighter.”
She turned to the side. As he draped the cloak over her shoulders, she nodded. “One of the signs, yes.”
He smoothed out the damp creases, noting the tone in her tight muscles. No wonder she was able to hoist him to his feet so easily. “I know another green-eyed girl who has an unusual gift.”
“Elyssa?” she asked, turning to meet his gaze.
Again, those green eyes sparkled. “How can I tell if she’s a Starlighter?”
Koren combed her fingers through her damp tresses. “Is her hair as red as mine? When I saw her, I couldn’t tell. She was soaked.”
“Not so red. More like auburn. Elyssa is what we call a Diviner, but I thought it might be the same thing.”
“Maybe her gift is similar.” Koren averted her eyes, but not before a tear glistened.
Jason leaned to get a better look at her face. “Is something wrong?”
She wiped the tear and stepped away, fanning out her cloak. “Taushin is speaking to me again.”
Uriel walked over from his post. “Does that mean Zena knows where we are?”
“Maybe,” Koren said. “Let’s just head north. I don’t feel safe here.”
Uriel extended the sword and belt to Jason. “I think you slept just under two hours. If Zena finds us, are you rested enough for another battle?”
Jason wrapped the belt around his waist. “I think so. I feel pretty good.”
“Since dawn is breaking, we will be able to see danger coming from afar, but only if we travel out in the open rather than in this forest.”
“Where a flying dragon could spot us?” Koren asked.
“Dangerous creatures can hide in these thickets, dear girl. We can scan the skies for dragons. One skill they lack is stealth.”
“We’ll stay out in the open,” Jason said. “We can follow the river and walk close enough to the forest to hide quickly in case a dragon comes.”
“Agreed. As a horribly unskilled poet once said, ‘In my eyes, it is wise to compromise.’”
Jason grimaced. “That is pretty bad. Who was the poet?”
Smiling, Uriel bowed. “At your service.”
“Well, Sir Poet,” Jason said, laughing, “can you tell me how far it is to the Northlands?”
Tilting his head upward, Uriel set a hand on his chest, as if ready to deliver a pompous speech. “By steps a many, I marched aplenty, a pair of days in one. I slept but a little; my body’s not brittle. I traveled by moon and sun.”
“Okay.” Jason stretched out the word. “What did that mean?”
Uriel held up a pair of fingers. “Two days is my guess, but I made it in one. I never stopped to rest. Whatever was in the air in my prison fueled my body well.”
“Speaking of fuel, we’ll have to find food on the way. Do you know what’s edible around here?”
“I do,” Koren said, her eyes scanning the brightening sky. “Please. Let’s get moving. Taushin is driving me crazy.”
“Okay. We’ll go.” After sliding the sword into its scabbard, Jason led the way out of the forest and back to the stream. The flow had settled to a gentle tumble over and around the riverbed’s varied collection of rocks and boulders. The slower-moving sections appeared to be no more than a foot deep.
Staying on the forest side, they marched quietly single file along the bank, Jason in front, Uriel at the rear, all three a step or two from the water and about ten steps from the trees. The grass under their feet had been flattened, and pebbles lay scattered throughout the turf, obvious signs of a recent flood. Although wet, the ground was solid enough, very little mud to catch their sodden shoes. Each squishy step raised a multitude of odors, most earthy or moldy, yet carrying a hint of freshness, as if the rushing waters had unearthed new life.
To their right, on the other side of the stream, an endless field of taller grass waved in the breeze. Sprinkled with short bushes sporting green leaves and yellow blooms, the meadow seemed inviting, much more so than the dark woods.
Keeping a hand on the sword’s hilt, Jason glanced from forest to sky to river to field. Whatever Zena had in mind, he had to be ready. Who could tell what a sorceress might be able to brew in these strange lands?
Soon, Solarus appeared at the field’s horizon. A blinding ball of reddish orange, it forced Jason to squint. Every glance painted spots in his vision, and they seemed to take the shape of stalking beasts walking in the field stride for stride with them.
Shaking away the images, he scolded himself. Those were fear-induced. Stay focused. Battle real enemies. Don’t waste energy on imagined ones.
As a dry breeze brushed their clothes, Solarus warmed their skin. Jason scanned the sky again, more carefully this time. Not a trace of a cloud marred the blue canopy, no sign of Zena’s plot anywhere.
Koren pulled Jason’s sleeve. “Look!”
Jason halted and followed her pointing finger to the stream. The flow had stopped. No, it had reversed. The water drifted slowly northward, its movement almost imperceptible as the breeze licked the surface.
“Impossible,” Uriel said. “Gravity is not a respecter of sorcery. Not even Zena can alter it.”
Jason kept his stare locked on the gurgling flow. “You reversed the river at the portal.”
“That was science, not sorcery. I set up a lever that tilted the land, and the reversed flow would last only until the reservoir emptied. I didn’t reverse gravity.”
A snarl sounded from the field, deep and menacing.
Jason whipped out his sword. “Did you hear that?”
“I heard.” Koren spread out her arms, fanning her cape. “I’ll tell a tale that will summon a company of phantoms. A beast will not know the difference.”
“Wait,” Jason said. “Let’s see what it is.”
A wolf emerged from the grass and stalked toward them, almost twice the size of any wolf on Major Four. At least five more rose to join the first, each one with teeth bared and ears pinned back.
Jason waved an arm and shouted, “Leave or die!”
“Shall I take Koren to the woods?” Uriel asked.
“No one is taking me anywhere!” Koren lifted her arms, spreading out her cloak again. “I am a Starlighter!” she shouted. “Beasts of the field, approach ye not. I summon all Starlighters past and present to attend to me now.”
A second Koren appeared to her left, then another to her right, both exact copies of herself standing in the same pose. Many more replicas materialized; twenty, thirty, fifty. And unlike Cassabrie and the other phantoms in the forest, these seemed solid. As she
continued speaking, a chorus of Koren-like voices reverberated. “Go back to your mistress, or my sisters and I will overwhelm you.”
Jason shifted away from the real Koren and stood in front of one of the copies, pretending to guard her. If those wolves attacked, confusing them might be Koren’s only chance.
As the lead wolf stepped into the river, the northward flow accelerated. The wolf paused, but only for a moment. Along with three growling allies, it began a slow advance.
Jason swiped his sword back and forth. “If you devils are Zena’s minions, maybe you can understand my words. If you want to keep your throats intact, don’t take another step.”
The lead wolf paused again. Its ears pointed upward as if listening to something in the breeze.
“Taushin is speaking to me,” all the Korens said. “He says if I begin a southward march immediately, Zena will call off the wolves. She has fifty more getting into position.”
Uriel pointed. “I see them. Some are crossing the stream, north and south.”
Jason glanced both ways. Indeed, wolves were creeping toward the forest side of the water, perhaps a hundred paces in each direction. Yet something else lay to the south, an object floating toward them on the reversed stream. Was it the raft he had seen earlier?
“We can’t fight fifty wolves,” the Korens said. “They want me. Let me go south, and you two can get help in the Northlands.”
Jason looked at the army of Starlighters. Which one was the real Koren? Turning and facing the wolves had made him lose track. He regripped the hilt and set his feet. “Not a chance. I’ll die before I let them take you.”
“But, Jason,” the chorus said, “if you die, I will die, too. If I go, Taushin won’t kill me. He needs me.”
The lead wolf and three others splashed to the river’s midpoint and halted—snarling, panting, drooling.
“Zena awaits your decision,” the Korens said. “You have five seconds.”
The wolves on the forest side closed in from both directions. They would arrive within those five seconds easily.
“Three seconds,” the Korens announced.