Slowly, slowly, she turned her head towards the voice. A man was emerging from the very stone itself, and the skirr of his face and shoulders were pale and fine and his eyes glowed with complete serenity.
“Who are you?” she whispered, knowing that his hand on her arm was her only hold on life. “My name is Adamon.”
Her head reeled crazily. No…no…she could not have heard right.
“Come into the Sepulchre of the Moon,” the God of the Firmament said, and Azhure felt him draw her through the rock as if it were but inconsequential vapour.
She held her breath, but there was no need, for in the next instant Adamon was helping her to her feet and she saw that they stood in a chamber lit by such a subtle radiance she could not see its source.
The walls were hidden in luminous ivory mist . . . was this a dream? Or death?
Am I back in my bed, so weak from loss of blood that I have dreamed this entire night? Or have I slipped out of life into the AfterLife? This was not how she had imagined it to be.
“None of those, dear Azhure,” Adamon said. “You have come to visit the Sepulchre of the Moon. See? She sleeps.”
It was the dark of the Moon, Azhure remembered, as she looked to see where Adamon pointed. There was a couch to one side of the chamber, and on it lay the form of a sleeping woman, her back to them.
She lay cushioned by thousands of tiny Moonwildflowers. “She is a representation only, Azhure, of the real Moon who yet lingers in the dark shadows of the firmament, and of the Goddess of the Moon, who yet strides on two feet.”
“Enough, Adamon,” a musical voice laughed. “For you will confuse poor Azhure, and her questions will choke her!”
Azhure turned to the new voice, too quickly, for dizziness threatened to overwhelm her. When her vision cleared she saw an impossibly beautiful woman standing before her, clothed in a gossamer gown so fine it clung to her every curve.
She held out her hand. “I am Xanon, sweetheart.” “I must be dead!” Azhure whispered. Adamon and Xanon were the two most mighty Star Gods, the God and Goddess of the Firmament, yet she could not doubt that these who stood before her were who they claimed.
“Not dead,” Adamon said, knowing her confusion. “Not dead, but come home.”
Other figures walked from the mist, all as beautiful, all as powerful as Adamon and Xanon. One by one they came to Azhure, took her face in their hands, and kissed her on the mouth.
Narcis, God of the Sun.
Flulia, Goddess of Water.
Pors, God of Air.
Zest, Goddess of Earth.
Silton, God of Fire.
With each touch, Azhure felt life and energy flow back into her. And with each kiss Azhure felt her joy in life renewed. As Silton stepped back, she laughed, revelling in the feeling of health and strength that suffused her.
Now Xanon stepped forward and greeted and kissed her and Azhure felt something deep within her respond to her kiss, to her touch. Xanon smiled secretively, knowingly, but she said nothing, and made room for her husband.
“Welcome home, Azhure,” Adamon said very softly, and Azhure turned to him. He took her face and cupped it between his hands. Through his skin Azhure could feel the potency of his power, but she was not afraid. Then he bent to kiss her, more deeply than any of the other six had, and Azhure inhaled his sweet breath, and sighed when he drew back.
She felt whole again, and when she looked down, she saw that her stained and sodden gown had vanished and that she wore a gauzy gown like those of Xanon, Flulia and Zest.
“You are only seven,” she said quietly, looking about her. “Yet there are Nine Priestesses of the Stars to match the nine gods. Where are your companions?”
Adamon’s face saddened. “We are not complete, Azhure. We are only seven. We wait for the Goddess of the Moon and the God of Song to join us. Then we will be Nine.”
Azhure frowned slightly at his words, trying to remember what she had heard StarDrifter and MorningStar tell Axis about the Star Gods on those afternoons she had attended his training sessions in Talon Spike. There were nine gods, but StarDrifter had
said that while the Goddess of the Moon and the God of Song were of the Nine, their names had yet to be revealed. Her frown deepened. In their worship, the Icarii constantly called and prayed to the seven who stood here… but never to Moon or Song.
The Goddess of the Firmament held out her hand. “Azhure. Come, sit with us.” She led Azhure to a circle of low couches.
“We asked WolfStar to bring you to us,” Adamon began as soon as all had seated themselves, “because we have need to speak with you.”
Azhure hardly dared ask, but their smiles invited questions. “Is he one of you?” The God of Song, perhaps?
“He is of the lesser variety,” Pors answered, his voice as light as the element he commanded. “And of them there are many. But there are only nine of us.”
“Your hounds are of the lesser, too,” Zest said, and laughed at the expression on Azhure’s face. “As is Orr and his hidden companions of the Under World.”
“As myself,” a sharp voice said, and Azhure looked up at the tall and thin woman who stepped into the light. She had a cadaverous face and jet black hair that swayed to her hips. Azhure could not decide if she was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, or the ugliest crone to walk the face of the world.
“The GateKeeper,” the woman said by way of introduction, and sat down on a small stool behind the row of couches, folding her hands awkwardly, as if to keep them still.
“Should you not be on duty, GateKeeper?” Adamon asked.
“It will be a good night, for the dark of the Moon,” the GateKeeper said, “and none will die. What will happen here tonight is important. And I would witness.”
“As you wish.” Adamon turned his gaze back to Azhure. “Azhure, events of great moment move throughout the land. This struggle goes far deeper than you realise. It is not only a struggle between Axis and his brother, Gorgrael, but between gods. Artor now walks the land -”
Azhure shivered, remembering the dreadful deeds committed in his name.
” – and seeks to prevent us from doing the same.”
“I thought all gods lived in sky kingdoms …” Azhure’s voice trailed off. Frankly, she had not thought overmuch about where any of the gods lived.
“We seven have been trapped for over a thousand years, Azhure, trapped in cold and dark spaces, unable to respond to the prayers of the Icarii.” Adamon replied. “Of course, we were not complete then – not a full Circle – and so could hardly fight back. But when the Icarii moved south, when they recovered the sacred sites and freed the land from Artor’s grasp our prison bars were loosened. And when -” Adamon broke off as his wife grew more excited.
“And when StarDrifter relit the Temple of the Stars we were freed completely!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands like a small child.
Adamon smiled lovingly at her. “Yes, when he relit the Temple of the Stars, we were finally freed from our prison. Of course, soon we will be Nine. That helped, too.”
“Although we are free now,” Silton leaned forward, his eyes afire with emotion, “Artor seeks to prison us again, and to kill the Mother, whom he has never before succeeded in touching. He seeks ultimate control.”
“Faraday!” Azhure breathed.
“Yes, Faraday is in danger, and soon you will have to move to help her . . . but not yet.” Adamon paused. “You must help Axis first. He cannot succeed without you, nor without Faraday.”
Azhure bent her head. “Axis almost died, and even now he lies crippled.”
“He could not die,” the GateKeeper said in her sharp voice. “Because he does not have to go through my Gate. He begged,” she said shortly, “and he wept, but I would not let him pass.”
“You have done well,” Xanon said, her eyes huge with relief. “We should all have been lost had he passed through.”
The GateKeeper shrugged. “I only did what he asked.” When the gods frowned in puzzlement, she explained further. “‘Forever’ he said, when he married the Enchantress, and so ‘forever’ it is.”
Azhure lifted her head, refusing to understand the implications of what she’d heard. “No.” She twisted the ring on her hand.
“Azhure,” Xanon shifted closer to her on the couch so she could wrap her arm about the woman. “You must accept who you are. And your task will be to make Axis accept who he is.”