Pilgrim by Sara Douglas

letting out—but he also knew the dance would work. It had to. It was fated to.

Wasn‘t he the StarSon? He suppressed a grim smile.

Caelum commenced the dance, and, apart from keeping the image of the circling

Hawkchild at the forefront of his mind, he lost himself entirely in its rhythms.

As he moved further and further into the dance, Caelum felt himself begin to seethe with

hate and violence, radiate it. He felt power infuse him—not quite in the same manner as it had when he‘d sung Songs, but just as powerful—and he let the rage and hate ripple forth.

Standing in the alcove leading to the stairwell, Axis gasped, and started in shock.

Caelum‘s face had twisted into a mask of malevolence, and his fingers were twitching

violently—not a requirement of the dance.

―Caelum?‖ he said, and tensed as if to take a step forward.

Caelum roared, and Axis flinched in deep shock. The sound had been frightful, and he

found it difficult to believe that it had come from Caelum—he had literally felt the waves of hate rippling off his son.

What was happening?

―Caelum!‖ he yelled, and prepared to stop his son… what was this dance transforming

him into?

Just as Axis made up his mind to dash Caelum to the ground and out of the dance, there

was a terrible scream from overhead. Axis jerked his neck up, cricking his neck painfully.

A black shape plummeted from the sky—the Hawkchild—but as it fell closer, Axis could

see that it had been twisted and mangled as if by a brutal, angry hand.

Axis looked back to Caelum. He was moving so fast he was almost a blur, his arms and

legs and head all jerking violently to the demands of the hate-filled dance.

―Caelum!‖ Axis screamed…and then the Hawkchild hit the platform about two paces

from Caelum.

It broke apart on impact, splattering blood and flesh about the entire mountain top. Both

Axis and Caelum were covered in it.

Caelum faltered to a halt, staring down at the remains of the Hawkchild with eyes

clouded with rancour. He roared again—a frightful sound—and threw himself upon the ground,

tearing into the bits lying about with his fingernails and teeth.

―Caelum!‖ Axis screamed yet once more, and threw himself atop his son, dragging

Caelum‘s head back until he heard his neck creak. ―Caelum, damn you! Wake out of this rage!‖

For an instant Axis thought he‘d lost his son completely, then Caelum‘s body relaxed and

the hate faded from his face.

―Let me go,‖ he wheezed.

Axis hesitated, then decided that he‘d heard enough reason in Caelum‘s voice to risk

freeing him. He stood up, slipping a little in the blood and flesh that surrounded them, and let

Caelum‘s head go.

Caelum rose to his hands and knees, then retched so violently Axis had to kneel down

and support him.

―Stars, Caelum,‖ he whispered when his son had finally done. ―What happened?‖

Caelum slowly sat up and wiped his mouth. ―I have never felt like that before. It must

have been a dance of pure hatred, and in performing it, I felt every nuance of that hatred and rage. Gods, father! It almost tore me apart. If I‘d had to continue any longer…‖

He looked about him. ―Well, at least we know it works.‖

Sheol tipped her head back and screamed and roared and yowled. Every one of the other

Demons did the same, and their demon-horses screeched and bucked.

Grey miasmic haze issued forth from their mouths, enveloping the company in a mist of

corruption.

StarLaughter, fighting to gain some semblance of control over her own mount as well

that of her son‘s, looked on in a combination of bewilderment and panic that the Demons should

have suddenly reacted like this.

―What‘s wrong?‖ she yelled as soon as both Demons and horse had regained something

resembling composure.

―The StarSon!‖ Mot hissed, and the other demons howled at the word. ― The StarSon! ‖

―What about him?‖ StarLaughter cried. What had gone wrong now?

―He has eaten one of our Hawkchilds!‖

―But…but…I thought his power had gone!‖

―Well, he has found some more!‖ Sheol screamed so violently that spittle sprayed over

the entire company. ―And it tastes of the Enemy.‖

―The Enemy?‖ StarLaughter said. ―But—‖

Mot snarled, twisting his entire face like melting clay with the movement. ―But he will

not trick Qeteb with the likes of that! Not again! No!‖

Suddenly all the Demons were screaming in laughter rather than rage.

―No! No! No!‖ they cried. ―Qeteb will turn it against you this time!‖

They went into convulsions of laughter, although the sound was still thin and harsh.

Then, as one, they stopped.

―We will slaughter him,‖ Sheol said.

Caelum slowly rose to his feet.

―Father, will you pledge me one thing?‖

―Surely. What is it?‖

―If I die, give the Song Book to Drago.‖

―No! I would rather cast it from the—‖

― Do this for me! ‖ Caelum screamed and gripped his father by the shoulders, shaking him.

―If you love me, then pledge me this!‖

Shaken to the very core of his being, Axis nodded jerkily. ―If you wish.‖

―Then pledge it.‖

Axis ran his tongue about his lips. ―Very well. Caelum, on everything I hold dear, I

pledge to you that should you die, I will give the Enchanted Song Book to Drago.‖

Caelum stared at him, searching for any deception in his father‘s eyes. Then he spun him

about, and flung one arm out to indicate the continent spread out below Star Finger.

―Tencendor is your witness, Axis SunSoar. Fail your pledge, and you fail this entire

land!‖

54

The Cruelty of Love

StarDrifter had not returned into Sanctuary immediately after leaving Faraday, Drago and

the girl on the silver-tracery bridge. True, he‘d begun to walk that way, but the thought of talking

to Zenith made him feel uncomfortable, and so StarDrifter found himself walking back over the

bridge and up the stairwell to the Overworld.

There he‘d re-inspected the screen of trees that Drago had erected, marvelling at the skill

of the man.

―But then, he is my grandson,‖ StarDrifter murmured, and grinned at his own

self-satisfaction.

From there he talked a while with WingRidge, and then with FreeFall and EvenSong,

who had finally made the trek from their palace in the peaks to Fernbrake below, and then

StarDrifter had found himself at a loss for something to do with the evening drifting in. He still

preferred not to talk with Zenith. Above all else, he feared what she might say to him.

Obviously, Zenith had talked with Faraday. So what had Faraday counselled her?

StarDrifter tried to think what Faraday might have said, and came up with twelve different

responses—none of them comfortable.

―I swear to all gods that have existed and who are yet to exist,‖ StarDrifter whispered,

―that if WolfStar has scarred her irreparably, then I will kill him with my bare hands.‖

Lost and unsure, and terrified that Zenith might reject him, StarDrifter finally forced her

from his mind and wandered into the night.

Without thinking about where he was going, StarDrifter found himself rambling in the

forest of Minstrelsea below the eastern ridge of Fernbrake crater. It was peaceful, the shadowed walks of the forest as calm and as beautiful as they‘d always been.

StarDrifter wandered further and further into the forest, not truly looking where he was

going, lost in his worries about Zenith, wondering how he would cope if she did reject him.

Anything, he thought over and over, I will do anything for you Zenith—just don‘t leave me,

don‘t leave me…

―StarDrifter? What are you doing here?‖

StarDrifter leapt backwards and hit a grumpian tree. He tumbled into an undignified heap

beside it.

Isfrael emerged out of what little moonlight there was and leaned down, offering him a

hand. ―StarDrifter?‖

StarDrifter accepted Isfrael‘s hand and stood up, dusting himself down. He grinned

ruefully. ―I was wandering and thinking, Isfrael. Obviously a combination of activities unsuited

to my level of skill.‖

To StarDrifter‘s utter amazement, Isfrael laughed. ―I did not think you capable of

self-mockery!‖ he finally said. ―But why here? This part of the forest is not a usual haunt of the

Icarii.‖

StarDrifter looked at his grandson suspiciously. What was he hiding? A bevy of female

Avar Banes that their Mage-King was personally inducting into a higher level of mystery?

Isfrael noted the look. ―WolfStar is being held in a glade a short distance from here,

StarDrifter. Do you want to see?‖

StarDrifter nodded, sober now, and Isfrael led him down a side path and to the edge of a

small glade.

They stopped at the edge of the glade, for its internal spaces were totally immersed in a

dome of emerald light, similar to the one that Isfrael and his Banes, together with the Star Gods

and Icarii Enchanters, had worked to guard the Star Gate against the TimeKeeper Demons.

Isfrael hoped this enchanted dome would prove stronger than the last. Seven Banes squatted on