Company Wars 01 – Downbelow Station

Dreamer a moment to embrace her. “Good, good,” the Oldest said tenderly.

“Lily,” the Dreamer said, and the Oldest turned, knelt by the bed to tend her,

stroked her grayed head. Marvelous eyes turned on them, alive in a face white

and still, her body shrouded in white, everything white, but the hisa named Lily

and the blackness which expanded all about them, dusted with stars. Sun had

vanished. There was only themselves.

“Lily,” the Dreamer said again, “who are they?”

At her the Dreamer looked, at her, and Lily beckoned. Satin knelt down, and

Bluetooth beside her, gazed with reverence into the warmth of the Dreamer’s

eyes, the Dreamer of the Upabove, the mate of great Sun, who danced upon her

walls. “Love you,” Satin whispered. “Love you, Sun-she-friend.”

“Love you,” the Dreamer whispered in her turn. “How is it outside? Is there

danger?”

“We make safe,” Old One said firmly. “All, all the hisa make safe this place.

Men-with-guns stay away.”

“They’re dead.” The wonderful eyes filmed with tears, and sought toward Lily.

“Jon’s doing. Angelo—Damon—Emilio, maybe—but not me, not yet. Lily, don’t leave

me.”

Lily so, so carefully put her arm about the Dreamer, laid her graying cheek

against the Dreamer’s graying hair. “No,” Lily said. “Love you, no time leave,

no, no, no. Dream they leave, men-with-guns. Downers all stand you place. Dream

to great Sun. We you hands and feet, we many, we strong, we quick.”

The walls had changed. They looked now upon violence, upon men fighting men, and

all of them shrank closer together in dread. It passed, and only the Dreamer

remained tranquil.

“Lily. The Upabove is in danger of dying. It will need the hisa, when the

fighting is done, need you, you understand? Be strong. Hold this place. Stay

with me.”

“We fight, fight mans come here.”

“Live. They daren’t kill you, you understand. Men need the hisa. They don’t

won’t come in here.” The bright eyes grew dark with passion and gentle again.

Sun was back, his awesome face filling all the wall, silencing angers. He

reflected in the Dreamer’s eyes, touched the whiteness with his color.

“Ah,” Satin breathed, and swayed from side to side. Others did, one with her,

making a soft moan of awe.

“She is Satin,” Old One said to the Dreamer. “Bluetooth her friend. Friend of

Bennett-man, see he die.”

“From Downbelow,” the Dreamer said. “Emilio sent you to the Upabove.”

“Konstantin-man you friend? Love he, all, all Downers. Bennett-man he friend.”

“Yes. He was.”

“She say,” Old One said, and in the language of hisa… “Storyteller,

Sky-sees-her, make the story for the Dreamer, make bright her eyes and warm her

dreams; sing it into the Dream.”

Heat rose to her face and her throat grew taut for fear, for a great one she was

not, only a maker of little songs, and to tell a tale in human words… in the

presence of the Dreamer, and of great Sun, with all the stars about, to become

part of the Dream…

“Do it,” Bluetooth urged her. His faith warmed her heart.

“I Sky-see-she,” she began, “come from Downbelow, tell you Bennett-man, tell you

Konstantin, sing you hisa things. Dream hisa things, Sun-she-friend, like

Bennett make dream. Make he live, make he walk with hisa, ah! Love you, love he.

Sun smile look at he. Long, long time we dream hisa dreams. Bennett make we see

human dream, show we true things, tell we Sun he hold all Upabove, hold all

Downbelow in he arms, and Upabove she make wide she arms to Sun, tell we ships

come and go, big, big, come and go, bring mans from the faraway dark. Make wide

we eyes, make wide we dream, make we dream same as humans, Sun-she-friend. This

thing Bennett give we; and he give he life. He tell we good things in Upabove,

make warm we eyes with want for these good things. We come. We see. So wide, so

big dark, we see Sun smile in the dark, make the dream for Downbelow, the blue

sky. Bennett make we see, make we come, make we new dreams.

“Ah! I Satin, I tell you time humans come. Before humans, no time, only dream.

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