“Yes, the threat is real enough.”
Shra nodded, but did not speak further. It was the only reason Isfrael had consented to come. He might not have moved to aid Caelum, but Isfrael would not deny the plea of the Star Gods.
Isfrael turned slightly so he could see Shra. More than any other woman, even more than his mother or Azhure, she was the one who had shaped his childhood. She might not now exert such an influence over him, but Isfrael loved and respected her very much.
“Whatever happens, Shra,” he said, his voice unusually soft, “I will keep the trees safe.”
She smiled. “I know, Sacred One.” She paused, then changed the subject. “Have you heard where your mother is?”
They were unsure of Faraday’s whereabouts. The Sceptre had hidden both her and Drago so skilfully that neither Isfrael nor Shra, nor any one of the Avar, knew that she had travelled south to be retransformed at the Star Gate itself.
Isfrael’s expression darkened. “No, and I do not -” He was interrupted by a golden and silvered Icarü Enchanter alighting before them, his white wings almost luminescent in the moonlight.
“StarDrifter SunSoar!” Shra bowed, the heels of her hands to her forehead, but Isfrael just stared hostilely.
“Your mother is well, Isfrael,” StarDrifter said, greeting both of them with the same gesture Shra had used. “And was, the last time I saw her, on the Island of Mist and Memory.”
Isfrael’s entire body jerked. “She left the forest?” “She had other paths to explore,” StarDrifter said, regarding Isfrael carefully. In the ten or fourteen years since he’d last seen him the Avar had clearly won dominance. Not even the hint of a feather. There was now little or no SunSoar left in the Mage-King. “Perhaps once we are done about the Star Gate I can explain further. But rest easy for now – she is well, and loved.”
Isfrael shrugged, pretending some indifference. “She had the choice to leave, and she took it.”
“Isfrael, Bane Shra,” StarDrifter said, “I – nay – all of us currently here are glad of your arrival.” He glanced behind Shra. “Have you brought Banes with you?”
“Thirty-seven,” she said. “Almost all our Banes. I hope your project will not put them in danger, StarDrifter.”
“The Star Gods’ project, not mine,” StarDrifter said. “And there will be danger if these Demons manage to break through the wards and into Tencendor.”
Isfrael’s eyes gleamed. “It is said that your power fades, StarDrifter. Is that so? Are all Icarü Enchanters fading into insignificance?”
StarDrifter winced – Isfrael almost seemed delighted at the thought. “Yes, it is true. As the Demons gather close to the Star Gate their darkness shields us from the Star Dance. If we cannot push them back…”
“And my father? And Azhure? And the other Star Gods?” Isfrael said. “Do they fade as well?”
“Not as badly as the Enchanters,” StarDrifter said. “Not yet.”
“Not yet. Well, so they desire my – our – help?”
“Yes, Isfrael,” StarDrifter said quietly. “Tencendor needs your help.”
There was movement and the sound of voices among the fires surrounding the Ancient Barrows, and StarDrifter stood back and waved with his hand. “Sacred One, we need your presence.”
Isfrael looked, shrugged, and walked forward, Shra at his side and the other Banes following in a silent, dark group.
The twenty-six Barrows spread in a huge arc from west to east. When Axis reclaimed Tencendor, Enchanters had erected a graceful bronze obelisk in the centre of the arc. It still stood there, spearing into the night sky, a bright blue flame in the shallow pan at its apex.
But now there were hundreds of smaller bronze tripods set up, forming a perfect circle that enclosed the Barrows. Enchanters stood by each waist-high tripod, their eyes closed, hands folded over breasts, wings tucked neatly behind them, deep in concentration, reaching for every note of the Star Dance they could still hear.
The outer ward, StarDrifter whispered in IsfraeFs and the Banes’ minds, and they nodded, watching closely as they moved through to the inner circle.
There stood several more Enchanters, slightly to the side of a man and a woman who exuded power.
Isfrael bared his teeth in the semblance of a smile. “Adamon and Xanon,” he said, and inclined his head slightly at the two Star Gods.
“It is good of you to answer our plea,” Xanon replied gravely, “when your concerns lie so deep in the forests.”
“Here, or at the Star Gate itself?” Isfrael asked without preamble.
“At the Star Gate,” Adamon said, and Isfrael noticed the dark circles under his eyes. “The chamber itself will form the strongest ward.”
“And how do we descend?” Shra asked. “I have heard that there are many tunnels, but all take hours to negotiate.”
“Ah,” said a voice to one side. “But I have lent my assistance.”
And WolfStar stepped into the light.
Isfrael literally snarled. “What do you here, you lurking rabid wolf?”
To one side StarDrifter smiled.
WolfStar raised an eyebrow. “I help here, TreeSon.” It was not quite what WolfStar had in mind to call Isfrael, but even WolfStar thought it prudent not to call the Mage-King a twig-encrusted joint of venison. He shot a glare at StarDrifter.
“Peace!” Adamon snapped. “Isfrael, WolfStar has opened one of the Barrows -”
“Mine,” WolfStar said.
“- and cleared the stairwell so that we may travel quickly and easily down it. An hour of steps, that is all.”
“Then let’s commence,” Isfrael said, “before I lose patience and break for the trees.”
And he shouldered past both Enchanters and gods and stalked towards the open Barrow.
Axis stared into the Star Gate. The stain had not only spread, but thickened during the past few days. How much longer? He did not know. These days he lived with a constant tight knot of fear in his belly. He had not lived with such fear for a very long time, not since he was a youth first riding with the Axe-Wielders, and even then he’d not felt anything this intense.
About him were ranged Azhure, the five other Star Gods, and several score Enchanters – the most powerful of the Icarü nation. The chamber was already crowded, but as he heard steps from one of the entrance tunnels and raised his head, Axis realised it would be tightly packed with bodies once the Avar Banes had squeezed themselves in.
Well, that would not matter if between them they managed to construct a warding strong enough to keep these damn Demons – and his renegade son – beyond the portal.
Isfrael stepped into the chamber. Like StarDrifter, Axis had not seen him in many years and he could hardly believe the degree to which Isfrael had absorbed the power of the trees. In manner and appearance he reminded Axis vividly of the power that drifted about the Sacred Groves and the Horned Ones who inhabited them.
Isfrael caught sight of his father. He stared, unsure of how to react. Finally he stepped forward, looked into the Star Gate, then raised his eyes back to his father and simply nodded.
“Will you help us, Sacred One?” Axis said. “Daily our power fades, as does that of the Icarü Enchanters. We need your help.”
Isfrael tilted his head, pretending to think. “Do the trees need to fear what comes through that Gate, StarMan?”
“Do you know what threatens through that Gate, Mage-King?” Silton, God of the Sun, stepped forward. “Do you want despair and pestilence riding the trees as they will ride the plains? Terror and Famine lurking in the shadows of the glades as they will in the homes of Icarü and human? Do -”
“Enough!” Isfrael snapped. “I will help, otherwise I would not be here. StarMan,” he turned back to his father, “when this ward is worked, must I and my Banes stay to maintain it?”
Axis shook his head. “Not all, three or four, perhaps. Once built, the ward will take only a fraction of the builders to keep it in place.”
“And when the Demons start to bulge through?” Shra asked very quietly. “What then?”
“Then we stand here in force, Isfrael,” Xanon said. “All of us.”
Isfrael shook his head. “No. Not I. Not Shra.”
“But -” Axis began.
“Not I, nor Shra, nor the greater number of the Banes!” Isfrael snapped, turning on his father. “We will help build this ward for you, and we will keep several Banes here to maintain it, but if those Demons bulge through then I am keeping the majority of the Avar safe within the forests. You may think that you have the means to prevent this tragedy which stains the night sky, but I have my doubts! And, doubting, I prefer to keep me and mine under the protection of the forests!”
“Then we may well fail!” Axis shouted, unable to believe that Faraday’s son would let him down this badly. “If we need to push the Questors back, prevent them from bulging through, then we need every magic worker within this land here to aid!”