Jason rose and drew within a few paces of their makeshift stage, hoping to get a closer look at a Starlighter in action.
Koren stepped back from Uriel and, twisting her hips, made her dress and cape swirl around her. Then, she lifted her hands and began speaking in an orator’s tone, as if addressing the surrounding trees as her audience.
“I am a Starlighter,” she began, “and I will now tell you a tale from long ago.”
five
The moon broke through the clouds and cast a glow over Koren’s body. Her eyes sparkled, and her hair shone. As she glanced at Jason, she smiled, her face radiant and dazzling. Distant flashes of lightning from the opposite horizon created a backdrop of sporadic illumination, further enhancing her glorious appearance.
“Uriel Blackstone risked his life to return to Starlight. Motivated by the Creator’s love, this heroic gentleman hoped to break the shackles of slavery and convince the Lost Ones to follow him to their home planet.”
As if unaffected by the breeze, Koren’s words echoed in the forest. She swayed as she spoke, her face displaying every emotion. She lifted her dress and allowed her legs to move freely through the leaves. Her feet stepped in perfect time with her cadence.
“Being of sound mind and guided by wisdom, Uriel first approached a leader among the slaves, one of the first children born to those who came from Major Four, a woman considered an elder among the human population though her years numbered only thirty.”
A human form appeared, a woman sitting on the ground. Life-sized and semitransparent, she looked like a ghost.
Uriel dropped to one knee in front of her and spoke with passion. “You must believe me, Brucilla. I can take you to a place of freedom and safety. You will never feel a whip on your back again, nor will your children. Every drop of sweat will benefit your family instead of selfish dragons. You will labor for the cause of love rather than fear of blood.”
Brucilla’s lips moved, and Koren, now swaying behind her, gave the woman voice. “My mother sang of this land, but it was just a bedtime story, a tale of impossible dreams to help me and other children sleep at night. No one can fly from one planet to another. We might as well believe in brooms that sweep by themselves and chisels that dig for pheterone without the miners’ hammers and the muscles that drive them.”
“Come with me,” Uriel said, his hands held out in entreaty. “I will show you the doorway to paradise. If you see it for yourself and spread the news, others will follow. Surely your children and your husband will—”
“No!” Koren ceased her swaying, and her tone spiked with anger as she continued speaking for Brucilla. “You know I have no husband. To the dragons I am a breeding machine who must produce a child every year, regardless of whom they choose as a father. They care nothing about dignity or the precepts of the Code. They are cruel tyrants, and if I am caught chasing after myths with you, they will be sure to multiply the welts on my back.”
Koren stepped up and crouched next to Brucilla. “I will go with him, Mother.”
Brucilla looked at her, alarm in her eyes. “Cassabrie?” she said, Koren again speaking for her. “How long have you been listening?”
“Long enough to see this man’s heart. Perhaps what he says is merely a tale, but he believes in it, and that is enough for me. I want to learn the truth that drives him to risk his life. If there is one thing Father taught me before he died, it’s that no man is quick to lie when his falsehood will draw blood from his veins.”
“For a sane man, yes, but what if he is a madman? You are fifteen, too young to defend yourself. He might take you to the wilderness and —”
“He is no madman. His passion rings true, and his eyes reflect what he has actually seen rather than the tortured dreams of a wild imagination.”
“But what of Zena? If you come out of hiding, she might find you, and your life will be forfeit. Your reason for solitude is noble. You still need time to make your decision about the star.”
“For the sake of every slave on this planet, I am willing to take the risk.” Koren straightened her body and extended her hand. “Uriel Blackstone, lead me to this doorway to paradise. When I return with news of the other world, our people will believe.”
Brucilla raised two fingers. “If you do not return her safely within two hours, I will assume that you are the scoundrel that I suspect you are, and I will send six men with picks and drills to find you. When they are finished with you, there will not be a piece of your body larger than one of these fingers.”
Uriel bowed. “Let it be as you say.”
When he grasped Koren’s hand, Brucilla disappeared. As they strode in a circle in the forest clearing, Jason took another step closer. The scene before him warped, and his mind swam within the mesmerizing tale. Koren’s appearance altered. Although she still had red hair and green eyes, she seemed to be a different person. Had she become Cassabrie?
The forest melted away, replaced by a lush meadow springing with colorful flowers, easily visible in the moonlight. As Uriel and Cassabrie waded through knee-high grass, flower petals swirled around them. Cassabrie waved her arms as if choreographing their dance. Soon, the Zodiac came into view, its spires towering high above the other buildings.
Jason leaned closer. When he saw it earlier, the landscape leading up to the dragon village wasn’t this green and fertile. It was desertlike with stony ground, scrubby trees, and cacti mixed with dry, wiry grass. How could Koren have made such a mistake in her tale?
After she and Uriel sneaked into the Zodiac’s front doors, they entered a corridor illuminated by a series of lanterns sitting atop iron rods protruding from the walls. A mural decorated each wall, one depicting Magnar flying between two planets with several humans on his back, and the other showing a black dragon sitting atop a hill with a host of other dragons bowing toward him.
Uriel and Cassabrie walked hand in hand on the stone floor, their backs bent as they labored to silence their footsteps. When they stopped at a second set of double doors, Cassabrie whispered, “What do we do now?”
“You tell me. Your gifts allowed us access to the Zodiac. Since we couldn’t go through the portal at the mine, I am now at a loss.”
“I sense the same energy here that was blocking the portal, but what do we do if we find the cause?”
“Destroy it if we can,” Uriel said. “Or perhaps we will see how to neutralize it. Time will tell.”
Uriel pushed one of the doors open and peered inside. Then, signaling for Cassabrie to follow, he proceeded into a circular chamber with a domed ceiling. At the center of the room a brilliantly shining sphere sat atop a crystalline column. Moonlight poured through a hole in the dome above, striking the sphere and sending radiance throughout the sanctum and back through the ceiling and into the sky.
Uriel rubbed a finger across his wrist. “The sensation is pleasant, like a soft pillow with massaging tentacles.”
“That sphere is blocking the portal,” Cassabrie said. “I’m sure of it.”
Uriel picked up a fire poker at the wall and gripped it tightly. “I fear the ramifications of destroying it, but I don’t know what else to do.”
“We could wait.” Cassabrie pointed at the ceiling. “If moonlight is providing the sphere’s power, maybe the energy will subside when Trisarian begins to set, and the portal will be released.”
“That will be too late. You heard what your mother said. We have only an hour remaining.”
“Let’s look for another option.” Holding out an arm to block the light, Cassabrie tiptoed toward the sphere. Uriel followed, his head angled to the side to keep from looking directly into the radiance.
When they arrived, she set a hand a few inches from the surface. Like iron filings swirling toward a magnet, the glow swarmed under her palm. Cassabrie stood transfixed, now staring directly into the light. The radiance streamed into her fingers and filled her body. Her red tresses flared out. Beams shot from her eyes and pinpoints of light sprang from her pores. Y
et, Cassabrie stood unmoved.
“Cassabrie!” Uriel hissed. “Get away!”
“I can’t,” she said in a bare whisper. “My feet … They won’t move.”
Uriel grabbed her around the waist and lunged backwards. They rolled on the floor, Cassabrie still emitting a brilliant aura. When Uriel helped her to her feet, the radiance surrounded her in a glowing ball as if she had been swallowed by a transparent moon.
“What did you do?” Uriel asked.
“I don’t know.” Cassabrie looked at her shining hands. “I feel so strange, like something hot is throbbing inside me.”
Uriel stared at the sphere. “It appears that you took whatever power that thing had and ingested it.”
“Then will the portal stay blocked even when Trisarian sets?”
A dragon appeared in the room, his wings beating as he hurried toward them. “What are you doing here?” he roared.
Cassabrie gasped. “Arxad!”
Uriel raised the fire poker, but Arxad whipped his tail around and slapped it out of his hand. “Fools!” Arxad bellowed. “What have you done to the Reflections Crystal?”
“Nothing!” Cassabrie said as she backed away. “I didn’t even touch it!”
The sphere brightened a shade as if absorbing some of the moon’s glow.
Arxad glanced at it before continuing. “You speak the truth, but something has greatly weakened the sphere, and you are wearing its radiant coat.”
Cassabrie rubbed a hand down the front of her tunic as if trying to slough off the light. “I don’t know what happened. It’s as if I absorbed it. I didn’t intend to; it just happened.”
Again the sphere flickered brighter.
“Zena has touched the sphere many times, and nothing like this has ever happened. What is different about you?”
A woman materialized. Slender and dressed in black, she walked to Arxad’s side. “You already know what is different about her, yet you fear to speak the truth. I have told you about Cassabrie. She is very dangerous.”
Arxad stared at Zena for a moment before looking again at Cassabrie. “Are you saying that she has weakened the crystal? Has your meddling in our affairs wrought this result?”
“How little you know.” Zena glared at Arxad. “We should speak no more about this in front of these two. Let them be locked away until we consult with Magnar.”
Like a splash in water, the scene rippled, and when the surface smoothed, only Zena and Arxad remained.
“It is because of my arts that Starlight has survived this long,” Zena said. “I have searched for this Starlighter for weeks. Since she already knows how to use the cloak, she is too powerful to contain for long. For now, it seems that her encounter with the sphere has overwhelmed her. Otherwise she would have used her tricks already.”
“Tricks?”
Zena waved her arms. “Conjuring phantoms, scaring her captors, making them flee from realistic but merely gaseous opponents. I do not fear her ruses, but many dragons do.”
“If this Starlighter is so powerful, then is she the fulfillment of the Exodus prophecy?”
“Can there be any doubt?” Zena ran her fingers along her black sleeve. “Now we must persuade her to refrain from her foolish notions and work with us to resurrect Exodus.”
“And if we are unsuccessful?”
Zena stalked toward the wall and returned with a dagger in her grip. “Then we will terminate her, so that she doesn’t continue to drain our world’s power.”
Arxad glared at her for a moment before offering a nod of surrender. “If that is the only option remaining.”
“What other options do you think we have?”
“We can try to buy some time. Remember, since we have a Starlighter, the black egg will not be long in coming.”
Zena looked at him for a moment before lowering the dagger. “What do you suggest?”
“The sphere absorbs energy. Perhaps if we tie her to it, it will be restored.”
“Perhaps.” Zena touched the sphere but quickly snatched her hand back. “The light stings.”
Arxad set a wing near the globe. “I feel it as well.”
Dragon and human stared at each other, anxiety obvious in their scowls. Finally, Arxad shuffled away from the sphere, his ears twitching wildly. “It has lost its life-giving power!”
Her body trembling, Zena stepped slowly backwards. “But … but how?”
Now side by side, the two stopped at the edge of the sphere’s aura. “I can draw only one conclusion,” Arxad said. “Cassabrie absorbed it.”
Swallowing hard, Zena looked up at the ceiling. “Our region will be devastated. Even our climate might change.”
Arxad’s scowl returned, more menacing than before. “Magnar never should have listened to you. Stealing energy from the star was bad enough, but infusing the crystal was worse. You have traded blessings from the Creator for personal control and brought a curse upon us.”
Zena clenched a fist and shouted. “Superstitions! Nothing but superstitions! You explain everything with spiritual rhetoric, while I speak with rationality.”
“Is that so?” Curling his neck, Arxad drew his head back. “Then feel free to provide your rational solution.”
As she paced slowly in front of the crystal, Zena pursed her lips. “The stinging sensation proves that the sphere no longer possesses life-giving energy, so the Starlighter will be unable to harm it. We should employ your suggestion and tie her to the crystal.”
“It now carries a painful shock,” Arxad said. “She will suffer during the process.”
“True enough. In fact, as the sphere drains her energy, she could die. Yet, we should all be willing to permit such a sacrifice in order to gain the survival of our planet. When the black egg arrives, the Creator will send us another Starlighter.”
Arxad growled. “You would try to manipulate the Creator? Does your foolishness have no bounds? There must be another way.”
“Then name the alternative, Arxad. Otherwise, I will suggest to Magnar that we proceed as soon as possible. First, however, since there are other green-eyed redheads, I suggest that you test Cassabrie to see if you can learn how to identify her distinctive attributes.”
“Are you saying you want to locate other Starlighters so you can kill them as well?”
Zena halted. “I am willing to sacrifice this Starlighter for the sake of our land, but we must be ready to capture and control the next one. When the black egg appears, her cooperation will be crucial. You know this as well as I do.”
After glaring at Zena for a long moment, Arxad lowered his head. “I will do as you ask.”
“After your tests,” Zena said, “have her put on the Starlighter’s vestment. She must be at full power when the absorption takes place. And let there be a public procession so that every slave will believe that Cassabrie caused any climate change that comes about.”
Jason mopped sweat from his brow. This story was so real, his heart thumped. Again the air seemed to ripple, and when it cleared, Cassabrie stood with her back to the crystal, chains wrapped around her body. The domed ceiling had opened, and sunlight beat down upon her. The sphere captured Solarus’s rays and reflected them into her body.
Now dressed in a white gown and a blue cloak, sweat poured down her cheeks and dampened her clothes. The cloak’s hood covered her head, allowing only wisps of her flaming red hair to peek out, and her eyes sparkled with green luminescence, a bright mimicry of the pair of embroidered green eyes on the front of her cloak.
Dozens of people filed past, some looking on with disdain. A few displayed sadder frowns, while Brucilla couldn’t look at Cassabrie at all. She wept bitterly as she staggered by.
Uriel sat within a few steps of the sphere, also bound in chains. Whenever Cassabrie groaned, he winced, as if sharing her pain. Soon the last human witness disappeared, and two dragons stood in front of Cassabrie: Arxad and Magnar.
Sweat no longer seeped from her pores. Her hood had fallen to her shoul
ders, exposing her face fully to Solarus. With her head leaning back against the radiant sphere, stringy hair stuck to her cheeks, and cracks covered her bleeding lips. She licked her bottom lip with a swollen tongue but made no sound.
“If the heat kills her too soon,” Magnar said, “the crystal will not absorb enough energy.”
Arxad laid a foreclaw on the chains. “She is suffering greatly. Either kill her now or let her go. Mercy demands one or the other.”
“Mercy?” Magnar swiped Arxad’s claw away. “If we lack the energy to keep our region fertile, then dragons will die, and they are of more value than this runt of a human.”
After shooting a glance at Uriel, Arxad thrust his face close to Magnar’s. “You are the one who decided to rely on the crystal rather than natural cycles, and now we are all paying the price.”
“Those natural cycles brought about our loss of pheterone,” Magnar replied, his cadence stilted, as if he were reading from a script. “If not for that, we would never have returned to Darksphere and enslaved humans.”
“There was nothing natural about it. Fear destroyed our pheterone source, and only faith in the prophecy will restore it. You trusted in your own devices. You have forsaken faith in the Creator.”
Magnar swung around and smacked Arxad in the face with his spiked tail. Arxad winced but stood his ground, blinking away blood that oozed from a cut on his brow.
Pointing a claw at Arxad, Magnar bellowed, “You are fortunate that you uttered these insults with condemned prisoners as your only witnesses. Your evil words will die with them. If not for your ability to warn the miners of coming quakes and flooding rivers, I would have dismissed you long ago.”
“I prefer dismissal. I made my vow in ignorance, and I wish to be released from it.”
Magnar set his snout near Arxad’s and stared at him, eye to eye. “The only release from your vow is death, and you know why I cannot allow that.”
Backing away, Arxad lowered his head. “Yes … I know.”
“Now adjust the sphere and your retractable dome, or whatever it is you do, so that it kills the Starlighter more slowly. I want every bit of energy you can strip from her body before she dies.”