Diviner

by Bryan Davis

  Spreading out her cloak again, Koren called, “Jason! Elyssa! All who hail from Darksphere. Stand under me.”

  “No!” Taushin’s ears rotated furiously. “You shall speak no more. You are too powerful for these good people and dragons to endure.”

  While Jason and the others from Darksphere gathered under Koren, Arxad lifted a wing toward Exodus. “Do you fear her influence? She speaks words, mere words. Allow us to decide whether to believe her or not.”

  “I appreciate your support, Arxad,” Koren said as she spread out her cloak again, “but Taushin cannot silence me. No matter what happens, I must show these people what they cannot understand. Their slavery has blinded them, and they are deceived by those who are also blind. If I do not try everything possible to open their eyes, I would be a wicked sorceress indeed.”

  “She is a sorceress,” Yeager said. “How else could a ghost be walking among us? She will hypnotize us again, and the dragons will retaliate against our children.” He laid his hands over his ears. “If you want your little ones to live to see another day, don’t listen to her.”

  Many others covered their ears, while some mothers covered the eyes of their children, especially those of the children who seemed to be trying to get a better look at Deference.

  “I have an alternative idea.” Taushin waved a wing. “Hyborn, select a child—a young female—and bring her to me. No man will rise up against us as long as we hold her.”

  With a quick snap of his neck, Hyborn snatched a female toddler with his teeth. He carried her to Taushin, holding her by her tunic’s collar. The girl wailed and kicked, but Hyborn’s grip stayed firm. A woman screamed, “My daughter!” and tried to follow, but the crowd held her back.

  Hyborn set the girl down on her stomach in front of Taushin and laid his tail over her struggling body. “This one should be suitable,” Hyborn said.

  Arxad growled. “This is barbaric! Threats are no way to control behavior. All you will do is prejudice their thoughts against us and prove Koren’s charge of cruelty.”

  “There will be no cruelty if the humans continue to submit to my authority.” Taushin nodded toward Koren. “Say what you must, Starlighter. The people are aware of the consequences if they heed your words.”

  Boiling inside, Koren spun her cloak around her legs. “Hear me, you who live in chains, you who believe that there is no life but slavery. You think you were born to serve dragons and that there is no escape from your labors, no avoiding their whips. I will show you otherwise. I will show you freedom. I will show you rest.” She lowered her hands to the floor of Exodus and, clutching air, slowly raised her fists, as if pulling a heavy load from below. Then she clapped her hands and spread them out wide, shouting, “Behold!”

  The village transformed again. A brown-grass meadow stretched between the crowd and the Zodiac, and a shallow brook trickled over a bed of pebbles. Five children and an old man danced at the edge, splashing each other while laughing merrily. Three adults, two men and a woman, sat to the right, one man with a long grass blade in his mouth. Smiles abounded. The sound of singing overwhelmed the babbling of the brook. In front of the adults, a variety of breads and fruits covered a checkered cloth of black and white.

  One woman from the crowd padded slowly toward the children, pointing. “That’s Natalla! I’m sure of it!”

  “And Tam,” another woman said. “The man with the grass in his mouth is Cowl, and Mark is sitting next to him.”

  “And the man in the water is …” The first woman walked through the grass to the edge of the brook. Then, turning back, she shouted, “It’s Micah! We thought they were dead!”

  Koren cried out again. “You are seeing the world we have called Darksphere. The people standing under me are the warriors who rescued Micah, Cowl, Mark, and the girls. Now, instead of cringing under whips and sweating through their toilsome labors, these former captives play in a cool stream. You can see for yourselves that there are no new stripes on their legs. Their eyes are clear. Their faces are full. They exude joy. Slavery is now a memory, a dark nightmare from which they have awoken. This is the life that every child should live. Free. Unshackled. Unburdened. Free to laugh, free to dance, free to sing. Their chains are broken. Light has chased away darkness. Love has conquered hate. Freedom has triumphed over slavery.”

  Nearly every man, woman, and child watched the display, entranced, their shuffling feet drifting slowly toward the joyous gathering. Yeager, his ears still covered, glanced that way. His expression twisted into an angry frown, but he stayed quiet.

  “You fear for your children.” Koren paused, wincing. The pain in her side was getting worse, and a deep gnawing in her gut seemed to grow, as if a rodent inside her stomach was trying to chew its way out. But she couldn’t stop. Not now. “You fear that dragons will maim or kill them. It is true. They will. But is a moment of suffering worse than a lifetime of toil, decades of struggle, year upon year of lost joy? Will you sacrifice in order to provide the gift of freedom to future generations?”

  A little boy broke away from the crowd and joined the circle of phantoms. He splashed with Micah and the others, his smile wider than any Koren had seen on a slave child. Several more children streamed toward them. Some looked back at the dragons, but when they saw their masters staring blankly, they turned and hurried to the dance.

  Koren pressed a fist against her stomach, easing the pain enough to allow her to continue. “Taushin is a liar. He will never allow you to join these liberated souls. If you will only choose to believe my words, I will keep the dragons under my control. The few who can resist my power will not be able to stand against you.”

  “It’s all true,” Elyssa shouted. “I have been to that field myself.”

  “I took Micah and the others to that creek,” Randall added. “I watched this celebration with my own eyes.”

  “I believe you!” one woman called.

  An old man waved a gnarled hand. “It has to be true!”

  While several more shouted their agreement, Exodus shifted lower. As its light made a halo around the Darksphere visitors, they moved out of the way.

  Taushin shouted, “Koren cannot hold dragons under her spell forever. She will become weary, and when they break free, I will order them to kill every human who joins with her, as well as every child among you. There will be no exceptions.”

  A man with gray-speckled hair emerged from the crowd and looked up at Koren. “Will you really be able to keep the dragons under your spell?”

  Koren studied the man’s face. Although more wrinkled and scarred than the last time she saw him, he looked like Madam’s brother, Samuel, one of the elder men. If he could be convinced, many would follow. “I will not lie to you, Samuel. My endurance is untested, and my strength could fail. Since I am merely a messenger, I think you will have to trust in the Creator rather than in me. The Creator is the one who calls you to freedom, and even if it requires the same agony your dear sister is suffering, we still must be willing to answer the call.”

  Looking down, Samuel shook his head. “Your words, the images of freed slaves, and your control over the dragons are temporary. They will soon fly away with the breeze. I think most of us need a better guarantee than that.”

  Koren moved her hand to her side and pressed against the wound. “Oh, Samuel, dear Samuel. Some might die. Some might suffer grave wounds. Even children might perish. Freedom cannot come without sacrifice. Joy for the many cannot come without the suffering of the few. I guarantee only that whatever suffering our people go through, the freedom the survivors find will be worth it.”

  “Survivors?” Yeager repeated loudly enough for everyone to hear. “So you don’t guarantee anything.”

  A new round of murmurs buzzed through the crowd, and expressions altered from smiles to frowns.

  “If you turn against her,” Taushin said, “all expressions of rebellion will be forgiven, and you will be free to go to your labors without punishment. And I will keep my promise to
grant your freedom as soon as possible, but that cannot come without this rebellious girl’s agreement to submit to me.”

  Jason pointed a finger at Taushin. “What do you know about freedom? You coerce with threats, sinking so low that you hold a little girl hostage. Humans are consumed by dragons, both in body and in spirit, and you grind the leftovers into pulp to put out as bait for beasts. You are so vile you call it a Promotion to be served as a dragon’s dinner. You don’t have a shred of decency, and no one here should believe a word you say.”

  “You speak the venom of adders,” Taushin yelled. “The promoted slaves went to the Northlands. Arxad himself will tell you that.”

  Arxad lowered his head. “I have nothing to say.”

  Fuming once again, Koren lifted her arms. “I didn’t want to show this orgy of carnage, but I must. I call upon Starlight to give these people a view of Magnar’s banquet table. Parents, hide your children’s eyes. This is a sight they must not see.”

  The meadow disappeared. The brook evaporated. The Starlight slave children ceased their dance, looking back at the crowd with perplexed expressions. Several adults waved their arms, urging them to return.

  Magnar appeared where the meadow was before, sitting on his haunches. Agatha stood in front of him, wavering from side to side as if drugged.

  “Arxad,” Taushin said, “you must put a stop to this, or else I will tell them your role in this process.”

  Arxad’s ears flattened. “I will not stop it. If the slaves hear about my participation, they will merely learn the truth. I am guilty of many crimes, and allowing this to happen is perhaps the worst crime of all. Let them judge me as they will.”

  Magnar grabbed Agatha’s arm with a clawed hand. As he pulled her close to his open mouth, her eyes bulged, and her head bobbed like a rag doll’s.

  A woman screamed, then another. Children cried. A man covered a little girl’s eyes and shouted, “How dare you show this to us? It’s too gruesome!”

  Yeager marched toward Elyssa. “I will put a stop to it!” He snatched the rope from her and jerked out the spear. The barbed point ripped a gash in the membrane, and the spear fell with a clank onto the ground.

  Koren dropped to her knees, blood pouring from her side. Pain roared through her body. As she swayed back and forth, a gray cloud swept across her vision. It seemed that the ground drifted away, as if propelled by an unseen force.

  Arxad’s voice erupted. “Hurry! Throw the spear! We must keep Exodus from flying away!”

  “I’ve got it!” Randall called. Seconds later, the spear again plunged through, this time making a hole above the first wound.

  A new agony throttled Koren’s body. More blood flowed. Something pulled the spear back through the hole, but the barb caught the membrane, holding it in place.

  “Koren,” Elyssa shouted. “Jason’s on his way!”

  Arxad’s voice boomed. “Humans! Run for your lives! Hurry to your homes and wash yourselves thoroughly! The star is spreading a disease!”

  More screams erupted, blended with the thunder of pounding footsteps. Each sound vibrated the spear, sending new shockwaves through Koren’s body.

  Blinking, she tried to look around. White gas spewed outward from the star’s larger wound, and Exodus seemed to be pulling against the lodged spear. Randall and Tibalt stood below, holding the rope and keeping Exodus in place.

  Jason climbed the Basilica gate’s bars. Standing on top, he stretched toward Exodus, trying to grab the side opposite the wounds, but his fingers merely slipped across the smooth surface.

  Fighting through the pain, Koren twisted to look at the spear. With tension on the rope constantly pulling, the barbed point tore at the membrane, ripping her own skin mercilessly. Fire crawled along the paper label around the explosive tube. It sparked and sizzled as if fueled by something more volatile than paper. She had to push the spear out or else risk getting her insides blown to pieces.

  Clenching her teeth, Koren dropped to all fours and crawled toward the wound, but as spasms ripped through her muscles, she crumpled to a fetal position. A whispered prayer was all she could manage. “Oh, Creator … have mercy … Release me from this star.”

  Something snapped from around her head. The Starlighter’s glowing crown floated upward, fading as it rose within Exodus. Gasping for breath, she watched the ground through the transparent floor.

  Jason shouted from the top of the gate. “Elyssa! Throw me my sword!”

  Elyssa scrambled for the sword and tossed it to him. He snatched the hilt out of the air and, with a wild swipe, sliced a gash in Exodus’s wall and dropped the blade. He leaped and grabbed one side of the rip. As he hung there, a new stream of gas spewed over his hands and face. “I’m coming, Koren!” He sputtered and spat, but his determined expression never waned.

  The pain in her side shredded her senses. The consuming beast in her stomach ravaged her insides. As a smoky curtain flooded her vision, dizziness spun the star into a wild frenzy.

  The world above, below, and to every side blended into a whirlpool of colors, darkening every second, until everything turned black.

  seventeen

  As Petra slid down Xenith’s back and set her feet on the floor of the incubator room, Cassabrie looked through Petra’s eyes. The hole in the Basilica’s ceiling provided plenty of light from the sun’s early morning rays, illuminating the empty chamber.

  She spoke to Petra’s mind with a calm, even voice. “I see the passage that leads to the Zodiac. It’s blocked by a stone. Do you see it?”

  Petra lifted her hands in front of her eyes and spelled out, “Yes.”

  “You may nod for yes and shake your head for no. I will be able to detect those movements.” She nodded.

  “Do you still have the crystal and the detonator? It was a pretty rough ride.”

  Petra reached under her cloak, patted a lump under her waistband, and nodded.

  “Excellent. Now ask Xenith to stand guard here and wait for our return.”

  Petra spelled the command out quickly. Xenith nodded, her eyes exuding excitement. Earlier, as they crossed the barrier wall, one guard had flown to investigate, but with a series of brilliant, and frightening, maneuvers through the clouds, Xenith had eluded him. The journey had obviously stoked her adventurous spirit, and she took up her new post with vigor.

  “You should be able to fit through a gap,” Cassabrie said. “The obstacle was designed to keep dragons from passing through.”

  As Petra approached the passage, she said with her hands, “Dragons are strong enough to move a stone that size.”

  “Yes, if it were not anchored to the floor and wall. It seems that this was meant to be a permanent fixture.”

  After shedding her cloak, Petra lowered herself to her stomach and wriggled into a narrow opening between the base of the stone and the wall. Her shoulders wedged for a moment, but propelled by a sudden shove from the rear, she popped through.

  Now on all fours, Petra looked back through the gap. Xenith’s eyes appeared on the other side, twinkling with amusement.

  “Just follow this tunnel, Petra,” Cassabrie said. “I know it’s dark, but the aura from the stardrop you swallowed should help you see.”

  Petra stood and laid a hand on a side wall. Letting her fingers slide, she tiptoed into the dark corridor. “Fear not the darkness,” Cassabrie said. “Wallace told me about this place, and he is a noble young man. No matter how dark it gets, we can know that the ground is firm and no pitfalls await, because it has been tested by a trustworthy friend.”

  Petra’s march gained speed. She looked down at her boots, barely visible in her glow. After a few seconds, they crunched grit underneath.

  “Shhh,” Cassabrie warned. “Slow your pace and try not to make a sound. Wallace didn’t know if there would be a guard, but we have to assume so. Taushin is not one to leave this place unsecured.”

  Petra returned to walking on tiptoes. Ahead, a light came into view. Still looking through Petra’
s eyes, Cassabrie studied the path. Her many visits here in spirit form made the area a familiar one. She detected her body’s presence long ago but never found a way to get to it. Now her chance had come.

  The light grew brighter, signaling their closeness to the area where the sharp stakes lay under the Zodiac’s entry corridor. The shadow of a long neck and head darkened the light before swinging out of view again.

  “Stop,” Cassabrie said. “Stay close to the wall.”

  Now in enough light to see, Petra flashed a finger message. “I saw a dragon.”

  “Me, too. It makes sense that it would be in that chamber instead of the next one. Most dragons wouldn’t be able to stay around my body without losing their senses.”

  “What do we do now?” Petra spelled.

  “We’ll have to create a distraction. Let’s see if we can draw close enough to get a look.”

  Petra tiptoed to the end of the tunnel and peered into the chamber. A bed of stakes took up most of the floor space, and a dragon stood to the right of the bed, its face pointing toward another tunnel on the opposite end of the chamber. Two lanterns on the wall, one near each tunnel opening, emanated strong, flickering light.

  “A barrier wall guardian,” Cassabrie said. “She will not be fooled easily.”

  Petra spelled out, “She is Shrillet. I have seen her before.”

  “I think only a dragon’s voice will open the door. I will have to come out of your body for a short time so I can charm her into speaking the password for us. It will hurt again, so try not to groan.”

  Petra’s fingers flew into action. “Not necessary. There is a hole in the door.”

  “Good, but we still have to get past Shrillet.”

  “If I run, maybe I can. If she chases me, she will become dizzy.”

  “She would be affected, but maybe not quickly enough. I could come out of you and try to hypno—”

  A loud creaking noise interrupted. The chamber’s ceiling opened. Two panels swung down, revealing a flying dragon dropping through.