Warrior (33 page)

“Oh. I see.” A surge of remorse flooded her mind. Arxad’s plan was to use Cassabrie to battle the wicked Koren, if she should turn to evil. “So why are you showing me now?”

“To give you the opportunity to stop Taushin’s plans before they begin. Since one of the stardrops is missing, we have to hope that removing another will not seriously imperil Cassabrie. I want you to reach in and secure one for yourself. Yet, take heed. This theory has never been tested. Swallowing one of these would surely kill a normal human, but since it energizes Cassabrie, we believe the theory is sound.”

Koren looked into her mind’s eye. The image of herself tied to the Reflections Crystal appeared. Magnar wanted her dead to keep Taushin from using her. That part now made sense. And Arxad was willing to let him kill her, probably because he understood the danger and couldn’t do anything to stop him. Maybe if she had died, Arxad would have rescued her spirit in the same way he had saved Cassabrie’s.

“I think I understand, but there are a lot of holes in your explanation.”

“To be sure,” Tamminy said, “and I know not how to fill them. So you must choose based on what you know, but if you decide to take a stardrop, do so now. Our time is running short.”

Koren touched the disc’s surface. It seemed rigid at first, but as she pressed harder, her fingers passed through. She reached farther and pinched one of the stardrops. It sizzled, throwing off tiny white sparks. Warm to the touch, she rolled it between her thumb and finger. Heat penetrated her skin, and a glow spread up her finger toward her hand. It felt good, like a luxurious bath.

She pulled the stardrop out, rose to her feet, and set it on her palm. The glow spilled over her hand and spread to her wrist, coating it with a blissful warmth.

As she backed away from Cassabrie, the glow continued slowly up her arm. The heat infused her muscles with energy. This stardrop would make her powerful indeed.

A flying dragon burst through the entry wall, crashed into Cassabrie’s body, then bounced back as if thrown by the dead Starlighter’s radiance. It quickly righted itself and, stretching out its wings, took on a battle stance, its head swaying as it scanned the room.

Tamminy’s ears flattened. “Shrillet,” he growled through his teeth. “You are not welcome here.”

“I require no welcome,” Shrillet said. “I do only Taushin’s bidding. Everyone must come with me immediately.”

Koren eyed the dragon. Its high-pitched voice and silvery color identified it as one of the barrier wall guardians—powerful and keen of eyesight—a female, to be precise.

“But first …” Shrillet held out a metal box in her claw, extending it toward Koren. “Put the stardrop in this. Taushin says it must be protected.”

“You dare not,” Tamminy said. “If he possesses it, all is lost. This she-dragon cannot hold it herself, so you have the advantage.”

Shrillet took a step toward Koren. “If you disobey, I will kill you.”

“Return it to the floor panel!” Tamminy shouted. “Hurry! You are too valuable to kill.”

Koren leaped for Cassabrie, but Shrillet swung a wing and slapped Koren’s face, knocking her backwards. The stardrop slung away and rolled on the floor in front of Petra. It sizzled wildly as if casting off layers of radiance.

Petra staggered to it, picked it up, and juggled it between her hands, her face blazing with alarm.

Shrillet stalked toward her, fire spewing. “Put it in the box!” she roared.

Petra thrust the stardrop into her mouth and swallowed, staring at the she-dragon defiantly. Her face contorting, Petra’s jaw shot open. From the back of her throat, she let out a rasping scream.

“No!” Koren yelled.

Tamminy burst forward, knocked Shrillet to the side, and wrapped Petra in a wing, covering her mouth. “Stay back!” Streaks of fire shot from his nostrils and splashed against the she-dragon’s face.

Shrillet shook her head hard, then glared at him, unfazed. “You are too old, Tamminy. You cannot defeat me.”

Petra’s head lolled to her shoulder. She collapsed over his wing, and her mouth dropped open, spilling drizzles of sparks to the floor.

Tamminy drew her close to his body. Breathing heavily, he matched Shrillet’s glare. “Perhaps I cannot defeat you, but I can do this.” He lifted a back claw and grasped Petra’s cloak. Then, dragging her, he squeezed through the hole Shrillet had made and disappeared.

Shrillet screamed, “You cannot escape!”

As she flexed her legs to give chase, Koren dove for her tail, grabbed it, and hung on. The dragon swung her tail, slinging Koren from side to side and slamming her into a wall. On the back swing, Koren rammed into Cassabrie and bounced back to the floor, but she kept her desperate grip in place.

Koren closed her eyes, grunting at the pain. How could she possibly keep hanging on? Had the stardrop made her arm that strong? Whatever the cause, she had to keep Shrillet from chasing Tamminy. Nothing else mattered.

Shrillet looked back at Koren, her head swaying with her wobbly neck. As Cassabrie’s energy continued to flow, the dragon blinked several times and shifted her weight to keep from falling. Finally, she lifted her tail, Koren still attached, and slapped it against the floor.

Koren’s forehead smacked the stone. Pain throttled her spine. Barely able to see, she released the tail and laid her cheek down. The surface was rough and abrasive, but she couldn’t lift her head even an inch.

After teetering to each side, Shrillet toppled over and crashed next to Koren, shaking the floor.

Koren grimaced. More pain ripped through her body. Darkness flooded her vision. As consciousness fled, she whispered, “I’m sorry, Petra. I’m so sorry.”

C
assabrie pushed back from Jason and brushed away her tears. With the star’s radiance still washing over her, she seemed more alive and solid than ever. “I need to tell you another reason for your coming here. The king wants you to collect some energy from the star and take it to someone who sorely needs it.”

“Who?”

“Does it matter? You need only know that he will die unless you take it.”

Redness tinged Jason’s vision again. “Why does this white dragon want to test me? If he’s so wise, doesn’t he already know what I would do?”

“No, Jason. When unfamiliar duress is introduced, the future choices of a free man cannot be known, not even by the man himself or by those who watch over him.”

“You and your puzzles.” He looked toward the stairway. “Deference mentioned an old man who nearly drowned. Is he the one?”

Cassabrie’s tone sharpened. “I heard. She should not have told you.”

“Why not?”

“I should not reveal even that. Just be willing to help the man.”

“I’m willing. But why did the king ask
me
to do it? If the man needs help, couldn’t someone else have done it long before I got here?”

“The king knows of your immunities. You probably noticed that something in the air has affected your body.”

Jason scratched his palm, again peeling away skin. “I noticed. It’s not too bad.”

“If not for my finger in your chest, it would be much worse. This proves that you are the only one who can do this. As a spirit who can affect the physical for only the shortest of times, I cannot carry anything very far.”

“Okay, I’m convinced.” Jason turned to the star. “So how do I do it?”

“Like this.” Cassabrie formed her hand into a scoop and dipped into the outer surface of the sphere. She extended her cupped hand to Jason. At first, it appeared to be empty, but it then filled to the brim with a milky liquid that began to glow. After a few seconds, it congealed and shrank until it formed into a glittering ball the size of her thumb’s knuckle. “Hold out your hands.”

Jason formed his hands into a cup. “We call it a stardrop,” she said as she rolled the ball into his palms. She then backed away a step, her eyes wide as if watching for a miracle.

The ball of light sizzled on his skin. It stung badly, but not so much that he couldn’t hold it.

“Does it hurt?” Cassabrie asked.

He nodded. “Quite a bit. But it’s okay. Just show me where to take it.”

She pulled his hood up over his head. “Follow me. Quickly.” She glided toward the stairway, passing into the whispering streams of light.

Glancing between the stardrop and the Starlighter, Jason followed, his hood falling back with each step. Cassabrie’s body slowly melted. Redness dripped from her hair and fell to the ground like drops of blood. Blue and white streamed from her clothes and spilled into stretched-out pools along her path, shining bodies of liquid that quickly evaporated into puffs of sparkling fog. Soon, she was a spirit again, perceptible only as a wisp of moving light.

As before, the voices brushed by, now streaming from behind. With his back to them, they didn’t pause to offer their hushed words. Still, seeing them whisk past and knowing they each carried a story, he half wished they would collect and let him in on the secrets they held. Their knowledge seemed to be a vast treasure scattered into millions of pieces—the wealth of kings, raining down in copper coins.

When they reached the stairway, Cassabrie hurried up the steps. Jason paused at the bottom and let his gaze wander up the hundreds of narrow, uneven stairs climbing out of sight and into the darkness above. The stardrop grew hotter. He rolled it in his palms to keep it from scalding his skin.

Cassabrie stopped a dozen or so steps up and looked back, fading as she spoke. “Is there a problem?”

“Deference said there were other ways to exit.”

“She spoke the truth. There are other paths.”

“Well, climbing all these stairs isn’t my idea of an easy route.”

“It is not easy, but it is necessary.” Sparks from her mouth again gave away her position. “Come. I assume the stardrop is getting hotter.”

“It is.” Jason rolled it into his right hand and used his left to open a pocket in his trousers. “I’ll just put it in—”

“No!”

Jason jumped back. Cassabrie’s outburst seemed like an explosion.

“I should have told you earlier. The stardrop will burn your clothing, and it would quickly deteriorate.”

He set the ball near the fringe of his cloak. The material immediately began smoldering. “Okay. So much for that.”

Cassabrie appeared again, scurrying up the stairs. Jason launched himself upward, careful to keep the stardrop safe. At first, the climb seemed easy, in spite of his tired legs. The sword, still at his hip, clanked now and then against the stairs, but it was too important to leave behind. Who could tell when he might need it?

After a hundred steps, his muscles burned, yet not as much as the spherical spitfire in his hand. It felt like it was drilling a hole in his palm. In fact, the peeling skin smoldered as it melted away, raising the odor of scalded flesh.

He stopped and rolled it out onto a stair. “I need to put it down for a minute until—”

“No!” Cassabrie bolted down the steps. “Pick it up! Now!”

Jason pinched the ball and set it in his palm again. It dwindled, emitting arcs of light until it disappeared.

Cassabrie let out a harsh sigh. “It can’t touch the stone or it will deteriorate.”

“Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

“Because I told you to carry it. I didn’t expect you to put it down.”

“Isn’t there anything that will hold it?”

“There is a certain kind of metal that can, but it doesn’t exist in the Northlands.”

“But it’s too hot. I can’t hold it.”

“You have to. Alaph thinks you can do this, so I—” A lightning-fast hand covered her voice sparks.

“Alaph? Is he the white dragon?”

The sparks resumed. “Please don’t tell him I told you. He has … an obsession, I suppose, with names. I don’t know any other way to explain it.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t say a word.” He looked at the spot where the stardrop left a burn mark on the stone. “So what do we do now?”

“We’ll get another and try again.”

“But it’s so far. Can’t we go one of the other ways?”

She pointed at the stairs. “This is
your
path. Do not think the path you’re on is the most difficult when you haven’t experienced the other options.”

Jason looked up the stairway. With no end in sight, judging how hard it was seemed impossible. He let out a quiet sigh. “If you say so. I’ll give it another try.”

They retreated together and, after scooping another stardrop, began ascending the stairs again. This time he never stopped, never slowed. He just concentrated on taking one step at a time while trying to ignore the awful pain. Now it would be better if the voices whispered their story segments into his ears. At least they would take his mind off the scalding little demon in his hand.

Cassabrie’s voice drifted down from above. “Would it help to concentrate on the man to whom you are delivering aid?”

“Yeah. Good idea.” Jason imagined an old man lying in bed. His face was vague, and a thin sheet covered his body, trembling as he shivered. Jason glanced at the stardrop. Maybe it would bring him warmth no other medicine could provide. Alaph probably knew how to make a potion out of it that could—

The stardrop’s heat suddenly spiked. Jason winced. As hot as burning coals, it tore into his skin.

“Ow!” He dropped the ball and rubbed his palm against the cloak.

“Jason!” Cassabrie scrambled down the stairs. “Why did you drop it?”

“Because it was hot!” he snapped.

“I know it’s hot, but now you’ll have to start over again.”

“I can’t. This is insane. No one can do it.”

“Don’t you want to help the old man?”

“Of course I do.” He showed her his hand. The whispering streams passed by, drawing streaks of light across his skin. A raw spot blistered the center of his palm. “Can’t you see it’s impossible?”

She stepped down to his level, making herself visible for a moment. A firm scowl bent her features. “Is it?”

Jason took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. “Look, Cassabrie, we’re not even halfway there and it nearly burned a hole in my hand. What do you expect me to do?”