Zared took her shoulders and held her gently for a minute. “Leagh. Go with Herme. Take that wonderful mare of yours and ride like the wind.”
“I’ll not leave -”
“Yes, you will! Leagh, I will join you. I promise. I’m not ready to die yet, not out here on this open plain like a dog.” He grinned wanly. “Trust me.”
She leaned her forehead into his chest briefly, feeling his heartbeat.
“Yes, I trust you,” she said, smiling through her tears. “And this time I’ll do as you say.”
“Good girl. Herme?”
“As you order, sire. But you follow us, damn it. You hear?”
Zared laughed. “As you order, Earl of Avonsdale! Now, get those men mounted. Inform them… inform them that once they’re safe within the Silent Woman Woods, I’ll tell them what’s going on.”
Herme saluted. “Aye, sire.”
Zared looked about, nodded at the other commanders, kissed Leagh briefly, then turned to his horse.
“What’s he up to?” Caelum muttered as Zared rode straight for him, his horse at a flat-out gallop. Behind him his men had mounted up and were moving out.
Caelum checked the skies. Most of the Strike Force were aloft, their myriad black specks circling far above.
A month ago he would have been able to pick out the buttons on their uniforms.
He squinted, then waved at who he hoped was Dare Wing.
The speck circled lower.
Zared reined in his horse. “Caelum! I must speak to you.”
“What do you here? Your place is at the head of your men.”
“I have heard disturbing news about what it is we meet at the Star Gate, Caelum.”
“His title is StarSon,” Askam corrected.
Zared flicked Askam a scathing glance, wishing for the first time that the blast at Kastaleon had done a better job.
“Nephew StarSon,” he said dryly, “I am concerned about the situation at the Star Gate.”
“Your task is not to be concerned, Zared,” Caelum said. “You vowed that you would accept my orders. Zared… please… Axis needs us there.”
I did not quite get around to that vow, thought Zared, for the conversation was deflected. But now was not the time to quibble over such delicacies. “I have heard news that makes me question the decision, whether yours or Axis’, to ride pell-mell for the Star Gate, Caelum.”
Caelum raised his eyebrows. He hoped DareWing would land swiftly.
As if in answer to his thought, a shadow swept over them and DareWing FullHeart alighted to stand by Caelum’s horse. “StarSon, what is it?”
Caelum inclined his head at Zared. “Zared has heard disturbing news, it seems.”
Several other of Caelum’s commanders had drifted closer. One of them shaded his hand, looked into the distance, and cried, “StarSon! Zared’s force is wheeling to the south!”
“Stars in Heaven!” Caelum shouted. “What other treacheries do you have for me, Zared? Dare Wing, set the Strike Force -”
“Wait!” Zared yelled. “DareWing, commanders, listen to what I have to say to you!”
“Then say it fasti” Dare Wing growled, his wings tensed for flight, “before I set my birdmen’s arrows to your men’s backs.”
Zared locked eyes with Caelum. “All the damned Enchanters in this realm, all the Star Gods as well, have all but lost their powers. DareWing, there is no Icarü enchantment to protect us at the Star Gate! The Demons will break through with the ease of a babe clutching at a fistful of jelly! If we ride to the Star Gate we will all die! They,” he flung a hand in Caelum’s direction, “will not be able to save us!”
“You lie!” Askam shouted. “Seditious words to mask your own cowardice! DareWing, set your Strike Force to-”
“Demons?” muttered one of Caelum’s junior commanders.
“Then prove you still have your powers, StarSon Caelum SunSoar. Prove to me and to all your men here that you still have your powers!” Zared yelled.
DareWing turned slightly and looked Caelum full in the face.
“I am only trying to protect my men, Caelum,” Zared continued more moderately. “I am a commander who will flee if it means that the majority of my command will survive to fight the next day. I do not make rash judgments and mistakes.”
Caelum recoiled, but said nothing.
“Enough!” DareWing snapped as Askam reached for his sword. “StarSon, does Zared speak truth?”
Still Caelum said nothing, staring at Zared.
“As the Demons approach,” Zared said quietly, “their darkness clouds the Star Gate, blocking off the sound of the Star Dance. DareWing, you know what that means. Without the Star Dance…”
DareWing looked more intently at Caelum. There had been more to the crisis at the Star Gate than he’d been told. He’d felt it with every instinct he’d gained as a member of the Strike Force for over sixty years. He’d battled Skraelings, Gryphon and humans, and he’d learned enough to trust his instincts. “StarSon?”
Caelum suddenly slumped in his saddle. “He speaks truth, DareWing.”
A muttering rose behind him, but Caelum paid it no attention. “Zared, where did you hear this?”
“From the Lady Faraday and from the Princess Zenith. Zenith confirmed the almost absolute loss of her powers.”
“Faraday!” DareWing exclaimed. He had met her on many occasions when she had been Queen of Achar, and her role in the replanting of the forests, as her willingness to die for Axis, gave her almost godlike status in Dare Wing’s eyes, and in those of so many other Icarü.
“My father asked us to ride for the Star Gate,” Caelum said slowly, but without any conviction. Faraday had returned? And Zenith?
“Axis was distraught, and had not thought it through,” Zared said. “He was acting on battle instinct alone. Caelum, DareWing, there is nothing we can do at Star Gate save witness our own deaths.”
“Damn you!” Askam cried, fumbling with his sword. Curse his one-handed embarrassment! “Does no-one have the courage to ride to the Star Gate’s aid?”
Zared wheeled his horse out of the way. “There is nothing stopping you, Askam.”
Askam looked at Zared, looked at the now almost deserted expanse of plain before them, then looked at Caelum. “Can’t you save us?”
“No, Askam,” Caelum said slowly, looking at Zared rather than Askam. “No, I cannot, and mayhap the Star Gods cannot either. Zared speaks wisely. My friend, I should have listened to you last night. DareWing, set the Strike Force after Zared’s men -”
Zared straightened in alarm.
“- to escort them to shelter.” Caelum rose in his stirrups and waved to his commanders. “Turn your men for the Silent Woman Woods. Now! Then ride… ride!”
His commanders were shouting orders as soon as the word “Silent” had left Caelum’s lips.
Leap to the Edge A hand seized his arm, and hauled him to his feet. Drago cried out, but did not resist. It was time. His only sadness was that he lost his dream of a gentle pasture somewhere in Tencendor where a shallow stream ran over smooth-backed rocks and pebbles, reflecting a carefree sun and the faint shadow of the afternoon moon.
Fully awake now, Drago almost let his terror claim him. Terrified, not only for himself, but for what his bitter treachery was bringing to Tencendor.
He wondered if there was anything he could do to save Tencendor.
Trust us.
But he was given no time to trust. The Questors dragged him into the centre of their pillared chamber. Outside the sky was awash in silver-streaked emerald.
Gods! How close were they to the Star Gate?
“Not close enough,” said StarLaughter, and cuddled her child close. One of its arms flopped out of the wrap, and Raspu reached over and absent-mindedly tucked the flaccid limb back into safety.
“Now,” Sheol said conversationally, “has come the time to use you all up, Drago SunSoar.”
“You promised me that you’d see my blood order reversed!” Drago no longer believed in their promises, but he was desperate to buy himself some time.
“Did we?” asked Mot, one eyebrow raised, his mouth slack and moist with anticipation. “,’ cannot remember it.”
“Nor we,” echoed the other Questors in well-rehearsed chorus. “Never.”
“Never,” whispered StarLaughter. She tossed her head, and sneered. “I confess myself unsad over the matter. For a SunSoar, you were a lacklustre lover.”
She frowned, and put a finger to her pursed lips. “Well now, doesn’t that make me think. Perhaps you are not a SunSoar after all!”
She pealed with laughter. “Use him! I am anxious to get home!”
And the Questors reached out.
It was agony. They made no attempt to spare him. Pain ravaged through his body, destroying vessels and tissue, burning and roping out of control.
He was dying, he knew it. And somehow, he was glad of it. He would not have to face what he had betrayed. His father’s anger. His brother’s terror. A land ravaged by disease and hunger and despair.
And more, if these Demons managed to put Qeteb back together again.