Pilgrim by Sara Douglas

patterns,‖ Caelum said, and smiled, a glorious expression of hope and joy. ―We are saved!‖

And yet…yet there was something about Caelum‘s eyes. A faint brittleness, so hidden

that it was all but invisible to any but those who had occasion to look for it. And seeing it,

Faraday looked at Drago, who had now stepped to one side of Caelum.

He saw her gaze, and very slightly inclined his head.

He knows, she thought. Caelum knows. And accepts.

She turned her face aside, lest others see the sorrow there, and question her.

The mood in the chamber had now sharply divided. Axis and Azhure, as their Star God

companions and the scholars, were jubilant, but StarDrifter, WingRidge and SpikeFeather, and

Drago and Caelum, were far more reserved. Their faces smiled, and their voices spoke glad

words, but their eyes were guarded and hid a knowledge that the others, ignorant, could not yet

share.

How indescribably sad, Faraday thought. How Fate brings to its knees those who thought

themselves invulnerable. Within this shadowed, damp antechamber, buried so deep in the earth,

Drago and myself, StarDrifter, WingRidge and SpikeFeather, know the truth of the matter. As

did Caelum, for in his eyes Faraday saw the clarity of knowledge and the certainty, and tragedy,

of fate.

Yet none of the others realised and knowledge had to remain hidden from them. Faraday

knew that the salvation of the land, and its peoples, depended on an ultimately murderous and

foul deception.

Again.

Faraday buried her face in the hair of the child she held. May Axis and Azhure forgive

me and all those who work to keep the knowledge from them.

―StarDrifter?‖ Axis asked. ―Will you join us above in the examination of this book, and a

celebration at the news you brought?‖

StarDrifter hesitated, his eyes carefully averted from Caelum. Gods, how could Caelum

do this? How could Caelum stand there and smile so? Has he finally found the courage and the

nobility to do what he must?

―No,‖ StarDrifter said eventually. ―Zenith, FreeFall and Zared will need help in

evacuating Tencendor. I, perhaps with Drago and Faraday,‖ again his eyes locked with Drago‘s,

―will return to Fernbrake Lake.‖

―Drago,‖ Axis muttered. Let him go? Alive!

―Drago will bother me no more,‖ Caelum said, and turned slightly to his brother.

―Farewell, Drago.‖

He held out his hand.

Drago gripped it, and nodded, but was unable to speak. After a brief pause he disengaged

his hand and helped Faraday and the girl to their feet.

―StarDrifter?‖ Drago said.

―This way.‖ StarDrifter nodded back down the corridor. ―We will travel via the

waterways.‖ He shifted his eyes slightly. ―Goodbye, Caelum. May the Stars always shine a path

for your footsteps.‖

He embraced his grandson briefly, then turned away.

Axis frowned. That sounded almost like a final benediction. What was StarDrifter

thinking of?

Then Faraday paused before Caelum. She, like Drago, was incapable of words, for all she

saw was the baby boy that Azhure and Axis loved so much. She leaned forward, hugged him,

and kissed his cheek.

The girl reached out a hand, and briefly touched Caelum‘s. When he glanced down at her

fingers, he saw she held a blood-filled poppy in her hand and when he raised his eyes to her face

he saw the blood reflected in the tears in her eyes.

No-one else noticed the exchange. WingRidge saluted Caelum, and nodded, and

SpikeFeather bowed.

And then they were gone. Drago, Faraday and the girl followed StarDrifter down the

corridor, WingRidge and SpikeFeather behind them.

Save for Caelum, those left behind pondered the solemnity and formality, even the

finality, of those goodbyes. And, in so wondering, left no room to ask themselves why

StarDrifter, WingRidge and SpikeFeather should travel all this way for that one brief message.

There was a scuffle, and suddenly the Alaunt sprang to their paws and dashed down the

corridor. Amid their feet was a brief flash of sapphire.

―What was that?‖ cried Xanon, but no-one answered her as Azhure leapt forward.

―No!‖ she cried. ―Sicarius! Come back!‖

Axis caught her and held her back. ―Let them go,‖ he said. ―Azhure, they have changed

beyond our understanding. Either they know their own destiny, or they have gone mad. Either

way it is best to let them go.‖

Azhure pulled briefly against his hands, then relaxed in grief-stricken acceptance. They

might be mad, but they had accompanied her for decades, and they were a living reminder of

who, and what, she had once been.

They walked in silence. When they got to the stairwell that led down to the waterways,

Drago halted them and squatted in front of the little girl.

―For many weeks now your cries have rung through our dreams,‖ Drago said. ―Mine and

Faraday‘s.‖

She regarded him solemnly, nibbling her bottom lip. Then she nodded.

―I had been crying a long time,‖ she said.

―We all have,‖ Drago responded. He hugged Katie and kissed her cheek, then handed her

back to Faraday and turned for the stairwell.

The stairs ended in a wide circular cavern, walled and floored in smooth grey stone. In

the centre of the cavern flowed a waterway, entering through an arch on one wall, and exiting

through an identical arch on the opposite wall. The waterway was narrow, only three paces wide,

but like most others in the Underworld it was edged in white stone.

Moored to the side of the waterway, directly across from the stairs, was a flat-bottomed

boat.

StarDrifter walked half the distance between waterway and stairs, then halted and

addressed Drago. ―Should you have given that book to—‖

―Yes,‖ Drago said sharply. ―Caelum will need it.‖

―But—‖

―He will return it,‖ Drago said, his tone more even. ―In time.‖

―And he accepted…?‖ Faraday asked. The girl clung close by her, unwilling to let her go

even for a moment.

Drago nodded.

―Then the Stars will dance in his honour evermore,‖ WingRidge said, in a tone far more

respectful than he had ever used to Caelum‘s face. Drago almost told them that Caelum had been

the one to murder RiverStar—but why should he? It changed nothing, and he had a feeling that

most in this group realised it, anyway.

―And do you finally accept?‖ WingRidge asked Drago. His face was very still, his eyes

fathomless, as he stared at Drago.

A thousand answers raced through Drago‘s mind, ten thousand words, a myriad excuses,

and yet none of them would do, would they?

―Yes,‖ he said. And this moment was, indeed, the moment when he truly did accept the

burden.

WingRidge took a deep breath, and his face tightened with emotion. Then abruptly he fell

to one knee, bowed until his forehead touched the knee of his bent leg, and splayed his wings

behind him in the traditional Icarii gesture of homage.

―StarSon DragonStar,‖ he said. ―My name is WingRidge CurlClaw, and I commend

myself and my life to your service. I am one of the six hundred, and I am their leader. Thus I

speak with their voice as my voice when I vow them and myself to your name, your word and

the vision you embrace. Our lives are yours, our souls are yours…StarSon, this entire land is

yours.‖

He slowly lowered his head until his forehead touched the ground before Drago‘s feet,

then he raised himself back into his kneeling position, his head still bowed.

―WingRidge,‖ Drago said, and placed a hand on WingRidge‘s bowed head. ―I do thank

you for your belief, and I do thank you for your patience. I gladly accept your service, and that of

your command.‖

Drago looked up at the others in the chamber. ―I do thank all of you.‖

StarDrifter took a step forward, gazing intently at his grandson. ―Has Caelum welcomed

you into the House of the Stars?‖

Drago nodded.

―Then I welcome you into my heart, StarSon, and into the House of SunSoar. Will you

accept my service?‖

Drago smiled gently. ―Oh, aye, grandfather,‖ and he leaned forward and embraced

StarDrifter.

Then SpikeFeather stepped forward, thinking how appropriate it was that Drago should

take the first vows of service in this chamber where, so many years ago, Orr had taken

SpikeFeather‘s life into service.

―I am yours, StarSon,‖ he said, and Drago nodded and embraced him as well.

―I know it, SpikeFeather.‖

Then, slowly, he looked at Faraday.

She opened her mouth, but did not know what to say. If she vowed him her service, her

life, did that mean she promised to love him? She couldn‘t do that, she couldn‘t.

Drago saw her distress, and understood her hesitation. He took one of her hands gently

between his. ―Faraday, I pledge to you my service. You have already done enough for this land.‖

Emotion threatened to overwhelm her. She stared at him through eyes swimming with

tears. If he‘d said anything else, or demanded a single promise from her, she would have felt

justified in hating him…and justified in denying him. Now she had to stand here silent and gape