Sinner (38 page)

S
tarDrifter led her up the small rise towards the Temple of the Stars, and Faraday realised as soon as she saw it that something was indeed badly wrong.

The Temple was constructed entirely of a great beacon of cobalt light that speared into the sky. Within the light, stars danced and swayed.

But today a dark stain also danced and swayed within the light. It had cut a great swathe through the beacon, consuming ribbons of stars and, in two instances, entire galaxies.

“What is it?” StarDrifter whispered. “What? I can feel it reflected in my own soul, and it mutes the sound of the Star Dance. Faraday, I have not thought to worry you, but over past weeks I have felt something wrong with my own powers, and all the other Enchanters on the island have felt much the same. I had wondered if it was WolfStar, perhaps, playing his tricks, but now I realise it has been caused by this…this
cancer
that eats its way through the stars. See how the beacon flickers! What is it?”

Faraday chewed her lip. Had Drago somehow done this? No, she thought not…not with what Noah had
told her about him. But Drago was surely, surely caught up in it.

“What is wrong,” StarDrifter cried, “to have caused this?”

“What is wrong, StarDrifter?” Axis’ angry voice said behind them. “Demons come to destroy the Star Dance and ravage this world, that is what is wrong. And Drago leads them.”

Faraday and StarDrifter turned around. Axis and Azhure stood a few paces away. Both their faces were hard, their eyes angry.

Axis shifted his gaze from his father to stare at Faraday. The last time he’d seen her in the flesh had been in Gorgrael’s chamber, watching him rip her to shreds in a futile attempt to stop Axis from destroying him.

And here she stood again, serene, lovelier than he remembered, and standing too familiarly close to his father. Axis had thought himself immune to jealousy, had thought himself over his love for Faraday, but now he found himself seething with some undefinable anger. Faraday…and his
father
?

“Faraday?” Azhure asked. “What are you doing back in human form?”

“I’m free,” Faraday said.

“How?”

“Azhure, what does it matter ‘how’?”

“Ah!” StarDrifter said impatiently. “Axis, explain
this!
” And his hand swept towards the blight in the beacon.

Speaking in short, terse sentences, Axis told Faraday and StarDrifter what the Star Gods had learned from WolfStar. Demons. TimeKeepers. Come for Qeteb. Their approach blocking out the Star Dance. A future bleaker than the worst black ice.

StarDrifter stood appalled, his mind racing to
comprehend what Axis was telling him. A future without the Star Dance? Without enchantments?

Faraday, on the other hand, nodded quietly to herself. It explained a great deal to her about Drago.

Azhure saw her reaction, and her mouth thinned. “You saw Drago,” she said. “In the Star Gate chamber.”

Faraday sighed. “Yes.”

“Do you know what he has
done?
”

Faraday blinked at the anger in Azhure’s voice. “No. Tell us, what has Drago done?”

“He has murdered RiverStar –” Axis said.

“I have heard he was so accused,” Faraday said quietly.

“–
and
Orr and he is now well on the way to destroying all I have built, all
we
fought for –”

“
And
died for,” Faraday observed.

“Drago is intent on the utter destruction of Tencendor!” Axis shouted. “See that blight? It is Drago’s doing!”

“No,” Faraday said quietly. “I cannot believe that.”

Axis battled with his fury. “How is it that
you
stand there, Faraday, with your face so serene, and condone all that he has done!”

Faraday raised an eyebrow. “I? Condone?”

“You have protected him,” Azhure said, her tone flat. “You told WolfStar that he had fled back through one of the passageways that connects the Star Gate with the outer world. Yet we
know
he went through the Star Gate. Why did you lie to protect him?”

Faraday stood silent, thinking of how she could answer. So many people misunderstood Drago. His parents. Caelum. WolfStar. Faraday could not blame them, for as yet they did not understand what she did. Yet she had no right to reveal Noah’s confidences, to explain that Drago was not quite the enemy most thought.

She almost smiled. Sometimes it paid to lie down with the enemy.

“I thought,” she eventually answered, her voice very even, “that Drago deserved to be protected by someone, just as Zenith deserves to be protected and loved.”

Azhure blinked. “Zenith?”

Axis ignored the sudden change in topic. “
Drago
,” he hissed through clenched teeth, “currently leads a group of murderous Demons to the Star Gate so he can gain Tencendor for his own!”

“Only Caelum can face them,” Azhure added. “Yet he needs the Rainbow Sceptre – and Drago has handed it to the Demons!”

“Then you have a troublesome puzzle to solve,” Faraday said lightly. “But how can StarDrifter and I help? We have our own problems here.”

“Damn you!” Axis cried, and looked at his father. “StarDrifter? Every Enchanter’s powers are fading, as are ours! This
is
going to become your problem, whether you like it or not.”

“Faraday,” StarDrifter said softly. “Perhaps it would be best to tell Axis what you can.”

She shrugged, and looked at Axis. “What do you want to know, Axis?”

He suppressed a movement of irritation. “Tell us what else you know about Drago,” he said. “What did he say? What did he do? What is his purpose?”

“Drago has ever kept his purpose to himself, it seems,” Faraday replied. “He did not share his innermost secrets with me, Axis. In fact, he hardly said a word.”

Axis turned away, furious with Faraday that she had lied yet again, furious that she had allied herself with his cursed son. Was this just another revenge to pay him back for his betrayal of her? Was she prepared to watch Tencendor torn apart to gain her feminine satisfaction?

“Axis,” StarDrifter said, “what can we do? About the Demons, about the loss of power, about…” and he gestured towards the beacon.

“Ah.” Axis’ face lost all its anger. “StarDrifter, at the moment no-one truly knows. But know that the Star Gods will do our best. If you can help, then I will contact you.”

StarDrifter nodded, understanding Axis’ frustration – the frustration of every Star God and Enchanter in this land – and there was silence between the four for a while. Then the Enchanter lifted his head and looked back at his son and Azhure.

“Axis, Azhure,” he said. “There are other matters that we must discuss. Do you not want to ask after Zenith?”

“Zenith?” Azhure said, frowning at the change of topic. “I do not even know where she is.”

Faraday stared at her. Were Axis and Azhure so lost in their antipathy for Drago that they had ignored their youngest child’s problems?

“Zenith is here,” she said. “In a manner. Azhure…did you know that she carried within her the seed of Niah’s soul?”

Azhure had the grace to look uncomfortable. “I suspected, Faraday, but I did not tell her.”

“Why not?” StarDrifter cried out in frustration.

“Because I did not know when, if ever, Niah would claim ascendancy, StarDrifter. There was no point in speaking until then.”

“Well, it has happened,” Faraday said softly. “Zenith has been consumed by Niah’s spirit. Azhure, don’t you care for your daughter?”

“You know nothing!” Azhure snapped, angered. “Zenith was
always
Niah. If anything, I am glad she has attained her true identity.”

StarDrifter, already tight and anxious over the news Axis had revealed, lost his temper. He couldn’t believe the
indifference Axis and Azhure showed to Zenith’s pain and struggle. “Zenith was ever her own woman,” he said. “What exists in that body now is so different to Zenith that I cannot imagine you can claim that Zenith was always Niah. Zenith is lost! Your
daughter
is
lost!
How can you stand there and say you are
glad?
”

“StarDrifter, you cannot understand, or you would share my gladness,” Azhure said. “Niah was promised rebirth – you read the letter yourself.”

“But not at the expense of my granddaughter!” StarDrifter shouted.

“I sincerely hope you are not making Niah’s welcome a difficult one, StarDrifter.” Her voice was very stiff.

Faraday put a warning hand on StarDrifter’s arm. “We are doing everything in our power to ensure she receives the appropriate hospitality,” she said.

Azhure looked at them carefully. “Do not meddle in what you do not understand,” she said very slowly. “I
forbid
it.”

There was commanding power and stinging rebuke in that last phrase, and StarDrifter knew that if it had not been for Faraday’s hand on his arm he would not have been able to resist it. As it was, he was incapable of speech, and was glad when Faraday answered.

“We will only ever do what is best for Tencendor,” she said. “Believe that.”

There was uncomfortable silence between the four of them, then Axis finally spoke.

“StarDrifter, I will call on you once we know how best to resist the Demons. Faraday, I wish you well.”

And then they were both gone, and Faraday and StarDrifter were left alone before the blighted beacon.

“Faraday,” StarDrifter said, “was it true what they said about Drago?”

“No,” Faraday said softly. “Drago is as lost as Zenith
is.” She paused. “Zenith is not the only SunSoar child in need of some assistance.”

She turned and took StarDrifter’s hand. “Will you trust me? More importantly, will you trust the faith I have in Drago?”

StarDrifter thought about that a very long time. “Yes,” he said finally. “If you ask it.”

D
rago lay under the gently swaying tree, so consumed by agony he could barely draw breath. He had stumbled blindly out here after the leap, not sure what kind of world he was walking into, and had fallen only when he’d walked straight into the coarse-barked tree.

He was aware that somewhere a sun shone, and that warmth bathed his right leg where it extended from the shadow of the tree. He was aware there was a gentle breeze, for the branches of the tree rustled and swayed above him. This world also had a rather pleasant scent about it. But everything else was lost in the sea of pain.

Sheol had patted him once they were done, pleased, and said that only one more leap remained.

And then they would be at the Star Gate.

One more leap, and then one to get
through
the Star Gate.

But Drago was certain that he would not survive another leap, and he was not even sure if he would manage to survive the effects of this one.

In the distance he heard soft laughter, and an excited voice. One of the Questors, and then StarLaughter’s
husky tones. Kind souls that they were, the Questors would give him time to rest. Recuperate. Enjoy the sun.

Drago would have laughed had he the strength. He knew they would drain him into a useless, dead hulk. They would consume his power, and then they would consume his life.

Quite. Do you know what you aid, Drago
?

Drago really didn’t care at this precise moment. He wished the Sentinels would go away. He wished he had never stolen the Sceptre. He wished he had died when he threw himself into the Star Gate.

But still his hand stole to the sack at his belt. It never left him now. Even at night it lay within easy reach.

Do you know what you aid, Drago?

Drago hated the persistence of the voice. Over past days and nights he’d occasionally heard the five Sentinels nattering between themselves. Now it was the leader of the group, Jack, who spoke to him.

Drago, do you know
–

“I care not!” he whispered fiercely. “Leave me alone!”

Demons, Drago. Demons who will devour Tencendor.

Drago was silent. He didn’t want to hear it.

Imagine, you are the agent by which such destruction will be visited on Tencendor.

“Go away.”

There was a rustle behind him, and a movement, then a brief wind and shadow as the flock of Hawkchilds rushed past and then disappeared again among the trees.

You are in danger, Drago.

Drago amost laughed, but could not find the energy. “Tell me something I do not know.”

They have hurt you already.
That was the voice belonging to the older woman, Zeherah. Drago felt a soothing warmth spread through his body, partially alleviating the pain.

He gasped, and straightened a little. “Will you help me? I do not want to die.”

Why do you think we should help you?

“Because if I die, then you will fall into the hands of the Questors. So you must save me to save yourselves.”

They burst into loud merriment.
We
are
saved!
cried Zeherah.
We have no need of your assistance!

“You will if you want to get back through the Star Gate.”

We do not want to go back.
An older male voice, perhaps Ogden or Veremund.

“What? You
must
go back. You are the Rainbow –”

No, we are not. True, our physical forms once went into its making and we resided in it for long years, but we have been freed from it now. You did that for us, Drago. By jumping through the Star Gate with the Sceptre you freed us. Now we can wander the stars if we choose.

“Then why are you still here?”

Because we regard you benignly and because we want to ask you a question.

“What?”

Are you prepared to aid Tencendor and your brother Caelum?

Drago was silent long minutes before he replied. “I realised,” he finally said, “how alike StarLaughter and I are, how alike the Hawkchilds and I are. We have all been disinherited, our lives and heritages destroyed. My friends, I did not like the comparison. I do not want to be like them. Yet…yet at the same time I cannot ignore the harm Caelum has done me. I did not kill RiverStar, and yet he would not believe my denial. He
wanted
me dead, and so he found me guilty. Help Caelum? I don’t know.”

There was a silence, then Jack spoke sadly.
See how
you
have harmed Caelum, Drago SunSoar.

Drago found himself caught up in a vision – someone
else’s vision. He was staring through a child’s eyes, staring at the sky above Sigholt.

Do you know with whose eyes you see, Drago?

No, no! he cried in his mind.

Yes! Who is he, Drago?

Caelum. I see through Caelum’s eyes.

Yes. Watch and feel with Caelum, Drago, as your infant malevolence strikes home.

With Caelum, Drago found his eyes locked onto a nightmarish creature plunging out of the sky. Gorgrael! He heard a shriek of primeval terror, and realised it came from Caelum. He felt despair sweep through Caelum; despair and horror as the boy realised that Gorgrael had come because DragonStar wanted him dead.

Betrayed by his own brother, betrayed to this horrifying creature.

There was a sudden movement, and Drago felt Caelum’s nurse, Imibe, snatch him. She turned away, trying to protect Caelum with her body, but Gorgrael had capered across the roof.

“Fool!” Gorgrael hissed, and raked his talons down Imibe’s face.

Caelum did not feel those talons, but his despair darkened and ran rampant until Drago thought the boy would surely die from it.

Warm blood – Imibe’s blood – trickled down his body.

There was a flood of foul breath, and a flurry of movement, and Imibe was torn to shreds by Gorgrael’s claws.

And through all this blood and death and despair, Drago could feel one overriding emotion – triumph.
His
triumph. His infant, malevolent triumph,
surging
across the rooftop from where he was bundled in Cazna’s arms.

And Caelum felt it, too. Caelum felt it and his whole world broke apart, because brothers should not do this to
each other. All he’d ever wanted to do was love DragonStar, play with him, explore the world with him, grow into adulthood with him, and yet all DragonStar wanted to do was see him torn apart, see him
die
, and for that purpose DragonStar had allied himself with the most hated creature in Tencendor.

Now Gorgrael’s claws grasped Caelum’s body, and Caelum could no longer cope with the enormity of DragonStar’s betrayal.

He lost consciousness, and Drago thought it was over.

But no, it had just begun, for Caelum woke to more horror as he found himself trapped in Gorgrael’s Ice Fortress, trapped with Gorgrael leering over him and running cruel talons down his body. The torture went on and on, for days upon days, the pain riddling his body, the despair biting deeper.

Caelum knew it would never end, and he could not understand it, when all he’d ever offered DragonStar was love.

For your sins, for your pride and ambition and your overweening hatred, a good woman died and your brother was fatally scarred for life. Your brother has been crippled by your malevolence, and by the memory of that attack. If we let you live, are you prepared to aid Tencendor and Caelum?