nervously excited StarDrifter to sit down while he and Azhure tended his wounds. Raum and
Azhure carefully cleaned his lacerations with some water they had carried down with them,
wiped the clean wounds with an astringent lotion that even made StarDrifter forget who he was
and what he waited for, restitched two of the wounds that needed it, making the Enchanter curse,
and finally dusted all of StarDrifter‘s injuries with the herbs and healing powders Barsarbe had
given Azhure.
―There,‖ Azhure smiled at StarDrifter‘s wan face. ―Presentable.‖
―Thank you very much,‖ StarDrifter managed to say, the sting of the restitching and the
astringent fading.
―StarDrifter!‖ SpikeFeather‘s tense voice called. ―Something comes!‖
Raum helped StarDrifter to his feet and they moved to the water‘s edge. Deep inside one
of the tunnels carrying the waterway into the cavern they could see a light bobbing.
―The Ferryman,‖ StarDrifter whispered. ―Finally, after thousands of years, we are to meet
our lost brethren again.‖
Azhure felt a little apprehensive, and as she gazed at StarDrifter‘s exhilarated face she
hoped the Charonites would feel as excited about the reunion as the Icarii Enchanter obviously
did. She looked back to the tunnel entrance.
A large flat-bottomed boat slowly emerged into the cavern, approaching the huddled
group without any obvious means of propulsion, a deeply hooded figure seated at the stern with
his hands folded in his lap. As the boat reached them it stopped.
―Who summons the Ferryman?‖ a gruff voice asked from beneath the hood of the
ruby-red cloak. ―Who rings the bell?‖
StarDrifter stepped forward and bowed to the figure, trying unsuccessfully to see beneath
the hood as he did so. ―I, StarDrifter SunSoar, Icarii Enchanter, summon you, Ferryman. May the
Sentinels one day return safe to their home.‖
The figure sat totally unmoved by the Enchanter‘s words. StarDrifter grew uneasy as the
Charonite remained silent. He fought to keep from fidgeting, and instead stood tall, his spread
wings drooping to the floor behind him in the traditional Icarii gesture of goodwill. Perhaps the
Charonites had forgotten such polite gestures, StarDrifter mused, wondering if he should say
anything more.
Finally the Ferryman spoke. ―The Sentinels have forsaken their home forever, Enchanter.
Have you not understood the Prophecy?‖
By the Stars! StarDrifter thought bleakly, I was simply trying to be polite! ―The Sentinels
walk abroad now that the Prophecy has awoken,‖ he said, wondering if the Charonites yet knew
that the Prophecy itself walked. ―Who knows how the Prophecy will turn. Perhaps the Sentinels
will return to their home, in one form or another.‖
―You have a smooth tongue, Enchanter. Perhaps too smooth if it got you Gorgrael.‖
StarDrifter‘s face hardened. The Charonites knew too much. ―Then you also know what
else it got me.‖
The Ferryman stood up, slowly unfolding what turned out to be an extremely tall frame,
and bowed to GoldFeather as she stood slightly behind StarDrifter. ―Greetings, Rivkah. I hope
the Enchanter‘s arrogance will have been tempered by your humanity in your son.‖
GoldFeather smiled and inclined her head. ―Greetings, Ferryman. I am ashamed that until
this day I did not know what mysteries lay beneath my feet. I will strive to learn more so that my
ignorance may not embarrass me again.‖
The Ferryman was pleased by her smile and her gracefulness. The Charonites had always
been niggled by Icarii arrogance. He lifted pale age-spotted hands and drew the material of the
cloak back from his head and down over his shoulders. The Ferryman‘s bald skull and
cadaverous face bespoke great age, yet the resemblance to the Icarii shone through in the tilt of
the eyes, the high cheekbones and the narrow nose. His eyes, however, belied his otherwise
ancient appearance. They shone as lustrous and bright as those of a child, innocuous pools of
violet in his desiccated face.
―You speak well, Rivkah,‖ the Ferryman said, ―for a member of those people who have
forgotten the joy of the mysteries.‖ Then, surprising all who watched, he turned and bowed
deeply to Azhure, his hands covering his heart. ―You are welcomed, Sacred Daughter and
Mother of Nations,‖ he said in tones of deep reverence. ―Find peace.‖ For long moments he
stayed bowed in obeisance to Azhure. StarDrifter turned and gazed at her in amazement.
Startled, Azhure stared at the Ferryman. She recovered quickly however, noting how the
Ferryman had responded to GoldFeather‘s gracious words. ―I stand with Rivkah in shame that I
have not previously recognised your mysteries,‖ she said with a dignity her companions had not
seen in her before. ―Find peace, Ferryman.‖ Sacred Daughter? Mother of Nations? she thought.
What did he mean?
I speak of a time both before and beyond the Prophecy, the Ferryman‘s voice whispered
in her mind as he raised himself from his bow, and Azhure only just managed to stop herself
from rocking on her feet with surprise.
The Ferryman turned to StarDrifter. ―Because of these two women who accompany you,‖
he said softly, ―the Ferryman asks no price. Where do you wish to go?‖
―Talon Spike,‖ said StarDrifter and then couldn‘t resist asking, ―what is your usual
price?‖
The Ferryman stood back and gestured for GoldFeather and Azhure to step into the boat
first. His eyes flickered to StarDrifter. ―The normal price is a life, Enchanter. The greatest
mystery of all.‖ He paused and a merciless smile lit his face. ―Who would you have picked to
pay it?‖
StarDrifter‘s face paled. Who would he have picked?
They loaded quickly, the flat-bottomed boat easily holding them all in comfort. They
sank down on thin cushions, the Ferryman seating GoldFeather and Azhure on either side of him
in the stern of the boat. Neither woman could see any means of steering or propulsion, but as the
Ferryman folded his hands serenely in his lap, the hood remaining draped over his shoulders, the
boat moved smoothly forward.
For a long time there was silence. The Ferryman‘s words regarding the price of passage
had shocked them all, as did his obvious reverence for the two women, especially Azhure. Icarii
pride was pricked. With them travelled one of their greatest Enchanters, someone towards whom
the Ferryman should have been more respectful, and yet he seemed to prefer the two
Groundwalker women. SpikeFeather‘s curiosity about Azhure increased.
They travelled through tunnels whose roofs only cleared the Ferryman‘s head by a
handspan. Both walls and roofs were of the pale stone lining the walls of the wells, and light was
given off by the emerald glow of the water. After a while Azhure shifted a little in her seat and
said quietly, ―May I speak with you, Ferryman?‖
―Assuredly,‖ he smiled, inclining his head a little. ―But if you ask me questions do not
take offence if I decline to answer some of them. There are some mysteries we will not speak
of.‖
―I understand.‖ She was silent for a few moments. ―Will you speak to me of these
waterways?‖
The Ferryman considered, then nodded his head. ―Of some aspects, yes. The waterways
are corridors between real places, physical places, but they are also corridors linking the
mysteries of time and lives past and future. Worlds that have gone and worlds that will be.
Worlds that have never been and worlds that might only be. In themselves they are both a
mystery and an answer. The waterways are always a means to an end.‖
Azhure frowned. At her feet, however, StarDrifter narrowed his eyes in thought.
―Are you the only ones who can travel them?‖ Azhure asked.
The Ferryman bit his lip. ―No,‖ he said flatly, refusing to say any more on the matter.
―How does the boat move?‖
―Of its own free will,‖ the Ferryman answered promptly. ―And because I have given it
purpose.‖
―There seem to be stars in the water, Ferryman.‖ She deliberately did not phrase it as a
question.
―The waterways mirror the paths of the Stars, Lady, and the Stars are mirrored in the
waterways.‖
StarDrifter smiled to himself. A mystery was beginning to clarify itself in his mind. He
shifted in the boat, easing his aching wings. ―And why the price of a life, Ferryman? Why such a
high price to follow the path of the Stars?‖
―You presume, Enchanter,‖ the Ferryman said testily. ―I shall not answer that.‖
StarDrifter nodded, but he did not say any more.
GoldFeather glanced at her husband, then also addressed the Ferryman. ―You know much
of the Prophecy, Ferryman, and of what has passed. Yet you live among these subterranean
waterways. Your ability to know is astounding and again I am humbled. Will you tell us
something of the Charonites and of the life you lead along the waterways?‖
―We travel the waterways, Lady,‖ he said briefly. ―We seek to understand the Mysteries
of the Universe.‖
StarDrifter nodded to himself. The Seven Great Mysteries.
The Ferryman‘s mouth twisted at the Enchanter‘s incomprehension. The Icarii always
thought they knew everything and their Enchanters were the worst of all. ―The Mysteries are