Enchanter (3 page)

He was mildly disturbed, for he had meant to shower her with soft spring roses.

"A lucky guess, Azhure. You sometimes remind me of the Moonwildflower.

Hidden in darkness, desperate not to be found or touched."

Suddenly awkward, Azhure gently cradled a flower in her hands. The cascade drifted to a halt and she spoke, changing the subject. "EvenSong wants me to join her at training this afternoon. She says I show aptitude."

EvenSong had been impressed by Azhure's extraordinary fighting ability so clearly demonstrated during the battle in the Earth Tree Grove at Yuletide. While the Icarii Strike Force had faltered helplessly, unsure of how to combat the Skraeling wraiths, Azhure had discovered the Skraelings' vulnerability - their eyes

— and almost single-handedly rallied the Icarii and Avar to fight back. During the battle she had also saved StarDrifter from certain death.

EvenSong admired Azhure for her cool head and bravery, and for some weeks she and her Wing-Leader, SpikeFeather TrueSong, had been pressing Azhure to join weapons training with the Strike Force.

Axis could see Azhure's doubts and knew the reasons for them. Had he not reviled her for the death of her father and the assault on Belial as she escaped into the Avarinheim with Raum and Shra? Had not the Avar rejected her, suspicious of her violence, even though she had saved so many of their lives?

"Azhure," he said gently. "You did what you had to. Now do what you want with your life. Would you like to go with EvenSong this afternoon?"

Azhure hesitated, then nodded. "I have seen the Strike Force practise at archery. They look so smooth, so graceful. I would like to try that. SpikeFeather has offered to demonstrate for me and," her mouth quirked, "teach me the proper use of the arrow." Again she hesitated, then forged on. "I am sick of feeling helpless, directionless. I feel as though I have spent my life in a deep, dark well. Now, after so long buried in Smyrton, I am starting to make my way towards the surface - but the surface is still so very far away. Each day away from Smyrton, each new experience, brings me a little
closer, wakes me up a little more from the torpor of my previous life. You are right. I must seek my own path."

She laughed now, her good humour returning. "I am glad I'm not an Icarii Enchanter like you, destined for heroic deeds. That would be a heavy burden."

Axis turned away, his face expressionless. "I am no hero."

Azhure lowered her eyes to the flower she still held. If Axis had his moments of denial, then she did not blame him. Not a day passed that Axis did not grieve for those who had already died for him. He despised the thought that yet more would die. And it haunted him that his sister blamed him for FreeFall's death.

"You must bear with EvenSong. She has not yet reconciled herself to FreeFall's death. Her grief needs an outlet."

Axis knew his sister resented him for many other reasons besides his inability to prevent FreeFall's death. She had not begun to come to terms with having an older brother, and one who had inherited their father's powers in full.

Where once StarDrifter had lavished attention on EvenSong, now she found herself virtually ignored by her father as he spent almost every waking moment with his son. EvenSoiig found her father's obsession with Axis difficult to accept.

It was fortunate, Axis mused, that Azhure was here to offer EvenSong companionship. He too appreciated the friendship and understanding she gave him as he fought to adjust to his new life and his new powers. Rivkah spent a good deal of time talking to her as well. If not for Azhure, StarDrifter's entire household might well have self-destructed by now.

"The SunSoars are difficult people to live with," he said, resting his chin in his hand.

"The Icarii people as a whole are," replied Azhure, her eyes distant. "They are very good at passions and very bad at friendships."

Axis studied her closely. This woman from Smyrton displayed more insight than many who had spent years in

scholarly or diplomatic training. Where had she got it from? Not from her father, surely; Hagen had demonstrated as much insight as a sack of barley. Her mother? From what Axis knew of Nors women, they thought mainly of the pleasures of the flesh and very little else. And surely the woeful society of her village had contributed little to the inner depths she increasingly revealed.

Azhure shifted under his gaze — those pale-blue eyes seemed to reach to the core of her soul. Unthinking, she said the first thing that sprang to mind.

"Do you worry about her, Axis? Do you wonder if she is all right?" she asked, and then wished desperately she could snatch her words back.

Axis tensed at her side and Azhure could sense his withdrawal. He rarely spoke of Faraday and yet Azhure knew she was always in his thoughts.

Azhure stumbled on, trying to relieve the sudden tension. "I saw her, you know, at Yuletide. She is a woman who combines great beauty with great compassion and selflessness. It is no wonder you love her as you do."

"You saw her?" Axis frowned. "How?"

"Did StarDrifter not tell you how he and Faraday woke the Earth Tree at Yuletide as the Skraelings attacked the Earth Tree Grove?"

Axis nodded, still frowning, and Azhure hurried on. "I don't know what enchantment StarDrifter used, but Faraday appeared as if in a vision above the Earth Tree. No-one else saw her. StarDrifter and Raum were concentrating so hard on the Tree that they did not look up. I don't know if she saw me, but she looked down and smiled." Azhure gave a litde shrug. "At least, I like to think she smiled at me."

Axis relaxed a little. "She would like you, and you her. It is a pity you are both caught in the web of this Prophecy."

"If / were married to Borneheld he would not have survived his wedding night," Azhure said tightly. Over the
past few weeks she had learned much of Faraday's circumstances. "Why did she not escape with you to Talon Spike?"

"Because she honours the vows that she took when she became Borneheld's wife, Azhure. Even her love for me will not make her desert her honour." He sounded bitter. "Do I wonder about her? Do I worry if she is all right? With every breath that I draw, Azhure. I live for her."

"Axis."

They both swivelled towards the voice. StarDrifter stood on the ledge by the archway that led back into the mountain, his white wings a litde outstretched to aid his balance.

. Axis stood in one fluid motion, feeling his father's intrusion keenly.

StarDrifter held his gaze briefly, then dropped his eyes to Azhure and smiled warmly at her, his face breathtaking in its beauty. "You should not bring Azhure out here, Axis. She does not have our balance." He stepped forward and helped Azhure to her feet, clasping her hand as he led her back into the safety of the mountain.

As they stepped through the archway and down into the wide corridor, Azhure pulled her hand awkwardly from StarDrifter s grasp. "I followed Axis out there, StarDrifter. It was not his fault. And neither the height of the cliff nor the narrowness of the ledge bother me. Truly."

StarDrifter looked back at her. He wished- she would abandon the Avar tunic and leggings and wear the loose flowing robes favoured by the Icarii women; she would look superb in their jewelled colours and she had the grace to do their elegance justice.

Axis stepped down into the corridor behind them and StarDrifter glanced at his son. The tensions of their morning argument remained, and this afternoon's training session would not be easy. No doubt they would end this afternoon with angry words as well. Axis was so desperate to learn, but hated being the student.

Yet he learned so well, and so quickly. That was part of the problem, for Axis wanted to learn faster than StarDrifter was willing to teach. While StarDrifter took pride in the knowledge that the Prophecy had chosen him among all Icarii to breed this son, he also found it hard not to resent Axis' power. As EvenSong resented losing her only and most favoured child status, so StarDrifter was battling to come to terms with the fact that very soon Axis' power would surpass his own — and StarDrifter had long revelled in being the most powerful Icarii Enchanter alive.

StarDrifter looked back to Azhure with studied casualness. "Will you join us this afternoon, Azhure?" he asked. With her present, both Enchanters kept a tighter rein on their tempers. Neither MorningStar — who often helped with Axis'

training - nor Axis had so far raised any objections to Azhure s occasional presence in the training chamber.

"I thank you for the invitation, StarDrifter, but I will refuse. I promised EvenSong I would spend the afternoon with her. If you will excuse me."

She nodded at both men, then walked down the corridor, disappearing around the first corner.

"Imagine the Enchanters she would bear," StarDrifter said, so quietly that Axis could not believe he was hearing cor-recdy. "I am nothing if not a good judge of blood."

Then he turned his powerful gaze on his son. "Over the past thousand years the Icarii blood has thinned. Before the Wars of the Axe that severed our races many Icarii birdmen chose to get their sons on human women. It was said that human blood added vitality to the Icarii. You are proof enough of that."

Axis felt his anger simmering. Was StarDrifter planning another seduction?

"I love Rivkah," StarDrifter said slowly. "I demonstrated my love through marriage - even though I believed she had lost our son. In ages past Icarii birdmen simply took the
babies of human—Icarii unions and never spared a thought for the women they had bedded who had struggled to birth their children."

Appalled at such evidence of Icarii insensitivity, Axis suddenly understood the depth of hate and loathing that had led the Acharites to finally drive the Icarii from Tencendor.

The Icarii had a lot to learn about compassion.

The Wolven

Azhure walked through the confusing maze of cor-f-\ ridors in the Talon Spike complex, hoping she had remembered EvenSong's instructions correctly. Over at least a thousand years the Icarii had tunnelled and excavated the mountain into myriad chambers, connecting corridors and shafts. The Icarii not only used horizontal corridors, but also vertical shafts - foot travellers needed to be wary of wells opening abruptly at their feet.

Azhure paused at one of the main connecting shafts of Talon Spike, which not only extended up to the very peak of the mountain, but also fell into its dizzying depths. She grasped the waist-high guard rail and peered down. Two Icarii, already several levels below her, slowly spiralled down through the shaft side by side. Both had gorgeously dyed emerald and blue wings, and the soft enchanted light of the shaft shimmered across their jewel-bright feathers. Azhure had to blink back tears at their loveliness. Nothing in her previous life in Smyrton had prepared her for the beauty and passion of life among the Icarii of Talon Spike.

On her arrival six weeks ago Azhure had wondered at the height and width of the corridors - but their spaciousness was explained the moment she saw several Icarii wing their graceful way along the corridor, several paces above her head. Fortunately for her, the complex also had stairs that wound about the walls of the vertical shafts. Icarii children did not develop wings until they were four or five years of age, and did not learn to fly well until they were eight or nine. And occasionally an Icarii who injured a wing might have to walk the corridors or climb the stairs. MorningStar, StarDrifter's mother, was such a one.

She had been unable to attend the Yuletide rites in the Earth Tree Grove after snapping a tendon in her left wing, and was still grumbling about the indignity of having to use the stairs.

Leaving the shaft, Azhure passed the doors to the massive Talon Spike Library. The Avar Bane Raum spent most of his days here, teaching the wingless youngsters about the Avar and their forest home. Azhure's thoughts drifted to Rivkah as she walked. Over the many years that Azhure had known Rivkah - or GoldFeather as she had been called until recently — she had never known her so at peace with herself as she had been since Axis' arrival. Rivkah might yet have her unhappinesses with StarDrifter, but the reunion with the son she had long thought dead had healed a festering wound in Rivkah's heart. She spent many hours each day guiding Azhure through the intricacies of Icarii society, teasing the young woman mercilessly when she gaped open-mouthed at some of the more permissive practices of the Icarii.

"You are already a much sought-after prize, Azhure Groundwalker, with your raven-black hair and mysterious smoke-filled eyes," Rivkah had said only this morning. "Will you survive the Beltide festivities without being cradled within some lovers wings?"

Azhure had blushed and turned away, thinking uncomfortably of the way StarDrifter had begun to watch her recently. The last thing she wanted to do was come between StarDrifter and Rivkah, who was rapidly filling the void caused by the loss of Azhure's mother so early in life. Azhure couldn't remember a time when she hadn't woken several nights a week, her cheeks wet with tears of loss; but now she
slept soundly, and the unsettling dreams that had troubled her for more than twenty years had vanished entirely.

Azhure abruptly realised that for the past five or six weeks she had been constantly happy. Never had she been accepted before, and the Icarii not only seemed to accept her for who she was, but they actually liked her.

She nodded to an Icarii passing overhead, her thoughts returning to EvenSong. Azhure had so far resisted the urge to join the Strike Force in weapons training for fear of giving in to the violent streak the Avar claimed she possessed. She shuddered, remembering how after she had seized the arrow and killed her first Skraeling, she had been consumed with the desire to kill.

Perhaps the Avar were right to regard her with some degree of apprehension.

But Azhure had made up her mind. Axis was right; she should seek her own path. If her path lay in violence, then perhaps she should simply accept that.

Accept the blood and turn it into a mark of respect, not of reproach.

She turned down a corridor to her left, then ran lightly down several levels of stairs, her grace causing the Icarii birdman who soared past her to turn his head and watch for long moments until the Groundwalker woman disappeared into a corridor far below.