Warrior (30 page)

When she found a clearing that was relatively well-covered by the trees above, she sat and motioned for everyone to gather as close as possible. Sometimes scanning the sky for dragons and sometimes gazing into the eyes of the children, she waited. A sense of calm prevailed. The children seemed more awed than anxious. The closest two girls, both about five years old, petted Elyssa’s long sleeves while trying to catch her attention with their big brown eyes.

After another minute, Wallace, once again shirtless, bustled into the clearing, his shirt bulging in his hands. He let his stare pass from child to child, his one eye looking like an oracle of doom. “Only the quiet ones will be able to eat,” he said in a dread tone as he passed around what looked like stale hunks of bread.

As each child grabbed a two-fisted helping, the bread flew to his or her mouth. Soon a chorus of eager chewing filled the air.

“So,” Wallace said as he handed a smaller morsel to Elyssa, “I assume you have a plan.” He added a smile. “You’re the queen of skipping steps, right? So you’ve probably already led them to safety in your mind by now.”

“Maybe.” She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them close. Wallace hadn’t emphasized the word, but
queen
stood out all the same. Yet, since it wasn’t directed at her forsaken pride, it didn’t hurt this time. To this point she had been the queen of plans, the solver of puzzles. Sure, a dozen ways to parade these children through the forest without being seen had crossed her mind, but each one had ended in a dark fog. With no knowledge of the land or how the children might react to the circumstances, how could she have an idea how to proceed?

Allowing a smile to emerge, she gazed at Wallace’s sincere face. It would be better to let the warrior lead the way. “I think you should do the planning.”

Wallace drew his head back. “Again?”

“It worked out last time.” Elyssa took a bite of her bread. Yes, it was stale, but it tasted like a royal feast.

“Well …” Wallace looked back toward the food bin, then deeper into the forest. Splaying his hands, he showed them to Elyssa. “I’ll take ten at a time along with a load of food. That should be a small enough group to keep from being seen. Two will be older boys, two others will be a pair of the youngest children. While you wait here, we’ll go as fast as we can into the wilderness. I’ll carry the smallest all the way, and the older boys will help the others if they get tired. When we find a safe place, I’ll come back for another ten and more food.”

“Wallace,” Elyssa said, grasping his forearm, “that’s a great plan.”

“Thank you. Do you see any holes in it?”

“Only if one of us gets caught, but who can predict that?”

As a shadow passed over, they both looked up at the sky. A trio of dragons flew in a triangular pattern, apparently heading toward the village.

Wallace lowered his voice further. “They might be bringing the search closer to home.”

“If we take too long, can you find your way to the wilderness in the dark?” she asked.

“Probably. The elders say the forest in that area is more dangerous at night, but we can manage.”

“If the children don’t get frightened.”

Wallace looked at the huddled group as they continued to gnaw at their bread, apparently oblivious to their wretched states. He let out a long sigh. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that.”

She followed his line of sight and found one of the older boys. Turned to the side, his profile cut a sharp portrait of pain. A burn scar covered most of his head, leaving only tufts of hair near the top; reddish stripes lined his frame from bony shoulder to hip; and a scar dug a gouge out of his cheek. From fire, to whip, to claw, this boy had suffered every blow a dragon could deliver. How could he now be frightened of an escape from his cruel captors, no matter how dark the night?

Elyssa slid her hand into Wallace’s and pulled it close. “I’m not worried. We’ll get them there, one way or another.”

“So now that I’ve seen this star,” Jason said, “what am I supposed to do?”

Cassabrie replied in a more somber tone than usual.
Discern. Understand. What you learn here could well be the difference between success and failure, between life and death.

He scratched his wrist. The itch was spreading. “But what is there to learn? These pictures are too fast, and the whispers fly by before I can figure out what they’re saying.”

That mystery remains for you to unravel. If you fail, then you will be safe here until it is time to send you home to your world, but you will not play a role in the emancipation of your people.

He laid a hand over his eyes. “Okay, okay, let me think.” As darkness flooded his vision, thoughts roared through his mind, every bit as quickly as the images flashed on the heart of the star. The planet—Starlight, a world of tyranny and woe. Storytellers—Starlighters, able to replay the tales of the past, whether seen or unseen. This pulsing sphere—Exodus, sending out streams of whispered thoughts in radiant energy that filled Cassabrie with power.

This place, deep in the heart of the planet, housed the source of power—the star that gave light to the storyteller, the whispers that became tales, the energy that poured out in passion, as if the planet itself cried for its tragic story to be heard.

Jason opened his eyes. “It’s weeping,” he whispered. “It’s calling for someone to …” He closed his eyes again and listened to the whispers. Now breathy words filtered in, each one striped with sorrow.

“Will this toil never end?”

“Freedom is a hopeless dream.”

“The disease is incurable.”

“Our chains will never be broken.”

As hundreds of grief-stricken cries swirled in his mind, heat spread across Jason’s skin. A tear dampened his cheek. Clenching a fist, he reopened his eyes and stared straight at the star. “Exodus is calling for someone to destroy it.”

Jason!
Cassabrie’s voice spiked.
Are you sure?

A flood of words, some unbidden, spilled from mind to lips. “It is pure anguish. It was born of sorrows, and its purpose is to weep for an end to the grief and suffering that its own downfall has caused. It absorbs every tale this planet creates and sends them out again for Starlighters to hear and retell, but the Starlighters’ songs have not reached ears that were able to respond.” He took a deep breath before adding. “Until now.”

Cassabrie gasped.
I don’t know what to say. I thought the king brought you here for another reason.

“Is something wrong?”

It’s just that …
Her voice washed away.

“You’re wondering what will happen to you if your energy source is destroyed.”

A bare whisper replied,
Yes.

As more whispers filtered in, new words formed on his lips. “That story has not yet been told. The future is a blank page.”

Then we don’t know what will happen to me.

Jason shook his head but said nothing.

So how will you destroy it?

“I suppose by doing what I was going to do anyway. Free the slaves. That should stop the sorrow.”

Then why did the king want you to see this?

“To let me know how much my actions might cost. Freedom for them might mean …”

Death for Koren.

He nodded. “And maybe for you.”

I’m already dead, Jason, but who can tell what will happen to my spirit? When Arxad captured my essence just before my body perished, it was by accident. The king told me what happens to a Starlighter in such a case. If not for the Reflections Crystal, my spirit would have been trapped between worlds, a wandering ghost, unable to communicate in this realm and unable to enter the Creator’s glory.

“For how long?”

Eternity, I think.
Cassabrie broke into a gentle lament.
An eternity of separation from my Creator would be worse than a thousand deaths chained to the cooking stake.

“I have never heard of such an existence. It’s not mentioned in the Code.”

No, it’s not. But you have heard of the Netherworld.

“Of course. The place where rebels against the Creator perish forever.”

Is the torment of eternal loneliness any better?

“I suppose not.” Jason looked at the heart of the star. It had twisted into a coil. “So that’s where you would go if Exodus is destroyed.”

I don’t know. As I said, this revelation is new to me. I thought the king brought you here so you could learn to be a Starlighter. He said one of the rescuers has similar gifts.

Jason nodded. “That would be Elyssa. Not me.”

Silence ensued for a moment, interrupted only by Cassabrie’s sighs.
Now that I understand the king’s purpose, perhaps it’s time for me to come out. I need to reenergize.

“That’s good. I imagine you—”

Good?
Cassabrie seemed surprised.
Wasn’t my presence a benefit?

“It’s not that. I just got confused with your voice inside my head.”

Interesting. I thought you might react differently.

Jason almost said, “Don’t be offended,” but the words stuck in his throat. That would be stupid. She was already offended.

Since we have been together for so long,
she said,
my departure from your body might hurt quite a bit.

He straightened and flexed his muscles from his shoulders down. “I’m ready.”

As if infused with the outside air, an icy chill erupted within his chest and radiated outward. The glowing patch on his skin burned. Swallowing a scream, he tensed every muscle in his body. It seemed that a dagger blade of pure ice had plunged into his breast and embedded in his heart. The itching intensified, and the skin on his palm began to peel.

A ray of light poured from underneath his shirt, rising past his face and then flowing toward the floor, where it collected and shaped itself into a human form. Consisting of pure radiance and taking on the curves of a young woman, she seemed fragile, as if a touch would shatter her visage into a thousand pieces.

The frigid sensation tempered. Jason relaxed and let his shoulders droop. He scratched away loose skin on his palm but more remained.

“I survived another infusion.” With her hands folded at her waist, Cassabrie smiled meekly. “I am glad of that.”

He set a finger over the glowing skin patch. It was warm to the touch. “You mean there was doubt?”

“Every moment I am away from the star, I lose power. I was strong when I left here, but I have expended much energy during my journey.” She spread out her arms and basked in the radiance. “Now I will gather strength until I must leave again.”

As the streams of whispered tales washed over her, the light in her frame brightened. Beginning with the top of her head, the glow dripped down, as if poured in liquid form. Her hair turned from white to red, and with every inch the radiance traveled, the light took on material reality. The skin on her forehead turned bronze, darker than most people in Mesolantrum, and her eyes shone green, twin emeralds that matched Koren’s exactly. Soon, the flow covered her entire body, creating a young woman dressed in a white gown and wrapped in a sleeveless blue cloak.

Cassabrie took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Ahhh! That feels so good!”

“You’re …” Jason took a step closer. “You’re solid.”

She offered a sad sort of smile. “Only while I’m here. If I take three steps backwards, I will become a ghost again.”

Jason gazed at her lovely face, so radiant, so filled with mystery and intrigue. Again words slipped out before he could stop them. “You’re beautiful.”

Her smile broadening, she curtsied. “Why, thank you, young man. And you’re quite a handsome warrior.”

He closed the gap between them and lifted her hand. A missing ring finger blemished its delicate shape.

“I have another one just like it,” she said, showing him her other hand. “Zena’s doing.”

As the patch on Jason’s chest throbbed, he opened his shirt. “You already know where one of them is.”

She reached out and touched it gently. “I have been a part of you all this time. You were immune to my indwelling.”

“Immune?”

“Any other host would be hypnotized by me, as would all who experience the fullness of my power.”

Jason longed to ask more about her powers, but they had been in the star chamber so long, the extane might already be affecting his body. “So now we have to go out and rescue the slaves. If Koren gets back to Major Four, maybe she’ll survive. Maybe she will —”

“Oh, Jason!” Cassabrie leaped forward and wrapped her arms around him. “Jason, I don’t want to be alone forever! Don’t let that happen to me!”

As hot tears dampened his shirt, he returned her embrace and patted her back. “You could go to Major Four with us. We’ll ask the king.”

He felt her head shake against his shoulder. “He told me I can’t survive there for more than a day. My Starlight energy would run out, and then I would be trapped between the worlds.” Her voice rose to a new lament. “Oh, Jason, don’t let me go there. I don’t want to be a lonely ghost. I want to live. I want to breathe. I want to … to …”