of their words, and she made no attempt to understand. All Ishbel wanted was to sleep, to shut
out the world and everything happening to her, to drift away, and just not know. They had given
her drugs before they”d begun to eat, and even though her body was now becoming accustomed
to their effect, she could feel the seductive pull of them as they coursed through her blood, and
she willed herself to submit and sink deep into unconsciousness.
She was almost there, almost unknowing, then there was some manner of commotion.
Several of the Eight started to their feet, their abrupt action making Ishbel open her eyes.
She could not see very well, but it appeared to her as if the men were all staring farther
down the ravine.
Ishbel didn”t care, and closed her eyes. It might have been a bear, or a pack of wolves or
bandits, but she didn”t care. Just so long as they allowed her to drift into—
One of the men shouted, a cry of pure alarm, and Ishbel jerked her eyes open once more.
Two of the men had started down the ravine, but Zeboul, the senior of the Eight, had called them
back.
Ishbel thought she heard something above her, and tried to shift her head so she could
look up.
But, oh, it was so hard, and she was so tired.
More sound. Definitely something above her. Ishbel made a huge effort, and managed to
turn over far enough that she could look up to the sky.
There appeared to be two shapes spiraling down toward her.
Eagles! Terror swept through Ishbel. She wasn”t strong enough to fend them off, and they
would peck at her face, her eyes…
More noise about the fire, and Ishbel thought she saw a faint shadow, but she was now
staring, fixated, at the blurry but huge shapes spiraling closer and closer.
Sounds of fighting to her right, but Ishbel ignored them.
Oh, gods, gods, the shapes were Icarii!
Ishbel struggled to speak, to call out to them, to raise her hand.
To her right the sounds of fighting intensified, as also did the shadow—it seemed almost
as if her immediate vicinity was being encased in a false dusk.
The Icarii landed at her side, and one of them bent over her.
“You have no idea what a trouble you have been, you bitch,” StarWeb hissed, and then
her head exploded in a mass of bone and tissue.
A heartbeat later, the male Icarii behind StarWeb, reeling back in shock at her death, also
exploded, and Ishbel gave a great cry, only to choke on feathers and pulverized flesh.
Axis had been riding at the head of his column, heading for the opening to a ravine at the
foot of the FarReach Mountains, when he heard the faint sound of fighting.
Adrenaline rushed through him. He pulled his sword from its scabbard, booted his horse
into a gallop, and yelled at his men to do likewise.
Axis had only been some fifty paces from the entrance to the ravine when he”d urged his
horse forward, and it had taken only moments for him to round the tumble of boulders that hid
his view of the ravine.
The sight that met his eyes filled him with horror.
There were a group of men, who Axis recognized as those who had traveled north with
Ba”al”uz, fighting with four or five Icarii—the whole encased in a writhing gray cloud that Axis
instantly recognized as power. All his senses told him it was being used for a foul purpose.
Then, as he drew close, two of the Icarii, who had been standing over a bound figure
lying on the ground, exploded.
Something cracked within Axis” heart.
Two more Icarii were struggling with Ba”al”uz” men, and then they, too, exploded.
Axis screamed, driving his horse directly into the melee.
There was a fifth Icarii, struggling to rise from the ground some distance away, but for
the moment Axis ignored him. He raised his sword, and brought it down in a great arc, taking the
head of one of Ba”al”uz” men.
Within the instant his men were with him, and the remainder of Ba”al”uz” men, stunned
by the sudden attack, and losing whatever grip on power they”d had, dispersed and started to run.
Axis was overwhelmed, not only with the sudden, unexpected sight of Icarii, but with
their almost simultaneous deaths. Right now, trying to catch the remaining men was not a
priority, and he let them go. He jumped down from his horse, glanced at the woman lying some
distance away, who he supposed must be Ishbel, then at the Icarii now rising to his feet.
The birdman was staring at him in complete disbelief.
“StarMan?” he said.
Axis walked slowly toward him, then halted as he saw the Icarii tense. For all he knew,
Axis was a phantasm. Axis looked at him carefully, desperately trying to put a name to the face,
which he”d recognized from his days of leading the Strike Force.
“BroadWing,” he said. “BroadWing EvenBeat.”
BroadWing relaxed, just a fraction, and nodded. “How is it you are here?” he said.
Axis gave a slight shrug. “By a magic I do not understand. No one else has come back.
You?”
“I was stationed in Ruen when Tencendor collapsed, StarMan. There are some six
thousand of us scattered about.”
“Call me Axis, please. My title of StarMan is now useless.”
The conversation was starting to feel surreal to Axis. What was left of the bodies of four
Icarii lay about, and Ishbel, Queen of Escator, lay moaning to one side, grasping at thin air with
one weak hand.
BroadWing saw the direction of Axis” glance. “We were trying to rescue her,” he said.
“She is—”
“I know who she is. Look, BroadWing, you cannot possibly take her back to Escator by
yourself, and she looks too ill for us to linger here long enough for you to fetch aid. Furthermore,
she is in no condition to attempt a journey back through the FarReach Mountains—and no Icarii
could carry her that distance. I will take care of her. Tell Maximilian that. She will be safe. I
promise it.”
“When was any woman ever safe with you, Axis SunSoar?”
Axis gave a small smile. “She will be safe, BroadWing. Tell Maximilian not to worry.”
“He loves her, Axis. He will tear the earth apart for her. Keep your word, I pray you.
And…” He looked about, and Axis saw his face crumple in grief at the sight of his companions.
“I will farewell them, BroadWing,” Axis said.
BroadWing hesitated, clearly torn about what to do. “Axis, what was that power those
men used?”
“I fear very much it was something ancient and highly malignant,” said Axis.
“BroadWing, listen, I need to get Ishbel to a town and a physician as fast as I can. Do you want
to come with us?”
He turned about as he said this, to indicate his armed escort, and realized for the first time
how they stood, staring at BroadWing.
They”d never seen an Icarii before, and their expressions wavered between the hostile and
the curious.
“I think I will report back to Maximilian,” said BroadWing. “Axis, you will farewell my
companions?”
Axis nodded. “Tell Maximilian I will take care of her.”
BroadWing gave a small, cynical smile at that last. “He will come for her, Axis.”
“I have no doubt,” Axis said quietly.
With a final nod, BroadWing lifted off and spiraled rapidly into the sky.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Southern Reaches of the FarReach Mountains
He was no harm to us,” Axis said to his men, and they slowly relaxed, murmuring
between themselves.
“And the others?” said Insharah, who was the most senior of the men of Axis” escort.
“They were Ba”al”uz” men?”
“Yes,” said Axis. He looked around. “They will have fled by now and, frankly, I am not
happy about that power of theirs.”
“What did you mean,” asked another of the men, Madarin, “when you said they wielded
an ancient and malignant power?”
“I believe they used the power of DarkGlass Mountain,” said Axis, “but we can”t talk
about that now. The woman needs aid, fast, and we also need to build a pyre for the remains of
the Icarii—the winged people. It will not take long to build, and I can farewell them then
properly, as I promised. Madarin, can you take five of the men to build the pyre? Insharah, take a
dozen more and make sure Ba”al”uz” men are not lingering nearby, then search the belongings
they left behind for anything that might be useful.”
As the men turned to their tasks, Axis walked over to the two Icarii who had been
struggling with Ba”al”uz” men when they”d exploded. There was almost nothing of them
left—certainly nothing that Axis could recognize. He bent down by their remains, reaching out a
hand to run his fingers over the curve of a wing.