The Star Shepherd

by Dan Haring

  A thrill ran through Kyro’s bones, and he and Andra exchanged a knowing smile. This was the first time Kyro was being treated like a real Star Shepherd, instead of a boy who was in the way. His father may not ever know it, but Kyro would try to make him proud.

  “We need to set up the catapults strategically around Drenn. Pelag, one of the Elders’ heirs, has determined that the star that bears his heart and keeps him alive hangs somewhere overhead. He will try to cut them all down to ensure he can leave this world. We have to save as many stars as possible as quickly as we can.”

  “And it wouldn’t hurt if we can shoot some of those rogue Flyers out of the sky before they can do much damage either,” Andra added.

  Rishi nodded. “Excellent. Do you have a map of the area?”

  Kyro motioned to his workstation. “Here.” Rishi examined it, hemmed and hawed and scratched his chin, then straightened up, satisfied.

  “Do we know how many more Shepherds are on their way?”

  Kyro shook his head. “Not yet. All of them, we hope.”

  “They’d better. If they don’t, they may not be Star Shepherds anymore once this is over.” Rishi’s eyes flashed, and Kyro decided he liked this man very much. “I’ll take my catapult to the edge of the forest on the east to get good coverage here.” He picked up a few pebbles from the ground and placed them on the map. “The next few who arrive should go to these marks to cover the whole village. The rest can fill in the spaces in between as needed.”

  Rishi eyed Kyro’s worktable. “Are there more of those casings? They are finely made.”

  “There will be. The man who crafts them is bringing more back soon. But we should all set up our areas with boulders”—Kyro pointed to the pile of rocks accumulating in the yard—“and star casings to be prepared when the battle begins.”

  “Understood. Good luck, Kyro.” And with that, Rishi rolled his catapult—a wooden version that was much lighter than the one Tirin had crafted—toward the eastern side of the forest.

  The rest of the afternoon went on in much the same fashion. Star Shepherds arrived, Kyro and Andra directed them where to go, and all set about their tasks with grim determination. For if they failed, the world would be overrun with darkness. All because of the desire of one ancient man.

  Not long before dusk, the last of the Flyers and Star Shepherds arrived. A flurry of activity filled the woods and fields surrounding Kyro’s watchtower as everyone finalized their preparations. Captain Salban and Doman returned on their last trip of ferrying star casings.

  “Well, Kyro, Andra,” Salban said with her hands on her hips, “it looks like you’ve got yourself quite a fine army.” She shook her head as one of the giants lumbered by. “I can’t believe you two actually found the giants. To think, they’re alive after all this time! It’s extraordinary.”

  Doman marveled at the giants too. “That is some of the finest craftsmanship I’ve ever seen. Though they could use a good oiling and polishing.”

  Salban mused, “I wonder if one of them might want to work on my ship. They’d sure come in handy.”

  Kyro and Andra laughed, the tension hanging over them breaking momentarily.

  “You can always ask. But wait until after we’ve saved the stars, if you please,” Kyro said.

  The captain chuckled. “Don’t worry. I won’t be poaching your best soldiers just yet.” She tapped Doman on the shoulder. “Let’s make sure every catapult has enough boulders to launch.”

  They set off, and Kyro watched them go. He couldn’t help wondering what his father would make of all this if he were himself. As it was, Tirin had spent most of the day inside sleeping, and only an hour or so ago had wandered out of the watchtower and settled in to stare into space and rock back and forth underneath a tree. Though Kyro had tried to talk to him again, his father gave no indication that he was remotely aware of the flurry of activity unfolding before him. A hollow ache filled Kyro. He’d begun this journey for his father, but it had become so much more. Still, it felt wrong and cruel to have him so close and so far at the same time.

  “Kyro!” Andra cried as Cypher began to growl.

  The sun had set, and the skies revealed they were no longer alone. The sleek forms of Sear’s Flyers soared above them, headed straight for the stars over their heads.

  “It’s time,” Kyro shouted. The nearest Shepherd heard him and took up the cry too. It spread like wildfire across field and forest and village. Boulders wheeled through the night air. Flyers began to drop like stones, but several managed to slice down some of the stars. Shepherds raced to rescue them, sending them right back where they belonged. To Kyro’s surprise, Captain Salban was right among them, working a catapult like she’d been doing it all her life.

  Kyro sent his boulders at the Flyers, carefully keeping watch for any stars falling near them. Soon, more Flyers had been felled than flew, and against his better judgment, hope began to bloom in Kyro’s heart. Maybe this would work after all. Maybe they stood a real chance.

  Cypher yapped, circling the catapult, as a star fell near them. Andra rushed to grab it. Together they placed it in its new case and speedily launched it back into the sky. Then a new sound rang out on the battlefield, leaving Kyro chilled. The sound of metal clanging in a steady rhythm. Like hundreds of giants marching upon Drenn. Before he could warn the others, the first of the ground-bound giants loyal to Sear and Pelag broke through the edge of the woods. The stardust didn’t hold them back like it had the vissla. They trod over it like useless dirt.

  Within minutes, Orers and Crafters swarmed the nearest catapult and began ripping it apart as though it were a child’s toy.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “Protect your catapults!” Kyro and Andra screamed, but it was already too late for the ones on the edge of the forest. The Star Shepherds who manned them fought valiantly against the wave of giants, but were grossly outnumbered. Jector’s group ceased loading the catapults with boulders and launched themselves at this new wave of attack.

  Captain Salban appeared in front of Kyro and Andra. “We’re outnumbered. We’ll never win if we don’t get more reinforcements. I have an idea.” She put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Whatever you do, don’t get caught and keep those stars headed skyward.”

  “Thank you,” Kyro said as the captain headed off with a curt nod.

  Kyro’s stomach turned as he watched giant meet giant in battle. A thousand years ago, they all would have been on the same side, fighting back the dark creatures like the vissla to hang the stars and weave the starlight net. Now, one man’s insane plan had divided them. Jector’s giants were no match for the larger Orers and Crafters, but they slowed their progress, and that was something. Kyro feared it wouldn’t be enough.

  The wooden catapults suffered the most, while others like Kyro’s were sturdier. Sear’s ground army soon learned the difference and targeted the vulnerable catapults, tossing Star Shepherds out of their way like rag dolls. In the sky above, the Flyers loyal to Sear began to slice down the stars with renewed determination.

  And all around them stars fell and fell and fell, setting the sky aglow.

  Kyro and Andra did their best to retrieve as many as possible. But it was so little in the face of so much destruction. Kyro gritted his teeth. How could this be happening? There had to be some way to stop the rogue giants before the damage was irreversible. If only Tirin was himself, Kyro was sure his father would have some ideas. But the vissla had done something to him.

  The spark of an idea began to form in Kyro’s mind…

  Andra grabbed his arm. “Look!” She pointed at the path to the village and Kyro gaped. He had expected the villagers to run far away or hide in their cellars until the battle was over, but he’d never expected this.

  The villagers swarmed the path, breaking through the trees and attacking the rogue giants with all sorts of utensils, from pitchforks
to fire pokers to brooms and even a kettle. At the lead were Captain Salban, Doman, and most surprising of all, Bodin.

  “It’s about time he stopped sulking about everything and did something,” Andra said.

  “The captain is very convincing,” Kyro said, though he was stunned she’d managed to convince the villagers to help. He never would have been able to do that on his own.

  “Let’s get the rest of these stars, Starboy,” Andra said, a smile returning to her face.

  Bolstered by the reinforcements, Kyro and Andra completed their work even faster than before. But the stars still rained down, many in their brand-new casings. The catapults that remained, surrounded by an odd mix of giants and villagers, shot down as many rogue Flyers as they could. The giants made horrible crunching sounds as they crashed to the ground. As Kyro and Andra raced to save the stars, they now had to be careful to dodge falling giants too.

  Exhaustion began to settle in Kyro’s limbs from all the running, but he didn’t dare to stop. Just as he sent the latest star soaring back onto the night’s canvas, he noticed his father was no longer sitting beneath the tree. Kyro whirled around, frantically taking in the forest and field that had been transformed into a battleground.

  There was his father wandering between huge giants and catapults. And directly into the path of a falling giant. Kyro’s stomach dropped into his shoes.

  “No!” he cried, startling Andra. Kyro ran headlong toward his father, careening into him moments before the giant smashed into the ground, sending dirt and grass shooting upward. The giant moaned behind them, but his father merely seemed dazed. “The stars…” he murmured.

  With shaking limbs, Kyro led his father hurriedly back to the tree where he had been before, a small flicker of hope kindling in his heart.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  It was a long shot, but Kyro had to try something. Even something as desperate as this. He pulled his last vial of stardust from his pack just as Andra appeared at his elbow, eyeing Tirin with concern. “Is he all right?” she asked. Kyro shook his head.

  “Hard to tell. He seems a bit dazed, but he did say something about the stars. Though who knows if that’s because of the battle or just his old obsession.”

  “Don’t worry. We can keep an eye on him and the stars if we need to.”

  “I have an idea.” Kyro held up the stardust. “It kept the vissla away before. If my father is like this because of the vissla, maybe this will help him too.”

  Andra gave the vial a thoughtful look. “It’s worth a try.” She glanced over her shoulder. “But hurry. We need to get back out there quickly.”

  Kyro sprinkled some of the dust over his father’s head, hoping for the glint of recognition to appear in his eyes. Instead, Tirin’s eyes closed, and he slumped back against the tree. It startled Kyro at first, but his father still breathed and appeared otherwise fine. Disappointment filled him. This was not the reaction he’d been hoping for.

  “Come on, Starboy,” Andra said. “Let him rest. Maybe it just needs a little time to work.”

  They hurried back into the fray. Flyers dodged and weaved through the boulders rocketing toward them, and the stars still plummeted to the earth. The ground troops and villagers continued to struggle, metal arms clashing against metal swords, wooden staves, and all sorts of mundane items they’d taken up as weapons. There was so much confusion that it became hard to decide who was winning. The best that Kyro and Andra could do from where they stood was dash after the two nearest stars.

  Kyro scooped up his star without slowing and returned to the catapult first, deftly slicing the burlap and settling the star into its new casing. A process he and his father had once done reverently was now completed with urgency. As he sent the star back into the sky, he didn’t bother to wait to see if it caught. Andra had arrived with hers, and as she sent it back, Kyro waited for another star to fall nearby.

  But instead he saw something else. Jector and Sear, clashing fiercely not far away. Sear was huge compared to Jector—which was saying a lot—but Kyro and Andra didn’t even stop to think. They each grabbed as many rocks as they could carry and ran toward them.

  The sound of the giants’ fight was like terrible bells warning of bad news. Before Kyro and Andra could get within throwing distance, Sear stabbed Jector in the torso, sending their friend toppling to the ground. Sear raised his weapon—a rusted sword that looked like it had been made out of discarded parts—over his head, ready to finish off the giant who had risked so much to help them.

  Fear spurred Kyro onward, and Andra was right behind.

  “Leave him alone,” Andra yelled as she hurled a rock and caught Sear on the temple.

  Sear roared at them. Kyro threw his rocks too, but the giant, despite his size, was too quick for him. Kyro only grazed Sear’s arm. Andra, however, had true aim. Her second rock smashed Sear right in the eye, rendering it useless.

  Sear howled, the sound reverberating across the field and rattling Kyro’s teeth. Then the giant finally turned his attention to the pair, leaving Jector groaning and forgotten on the ground.

  “Foolish children,” Sear growled, stomping closer. “You stand no chance of winning.”

  Kyro pelted the giant’s chest with the rest of his rocks, one after the other, but he barely seemed to notice. Andra caught him again on the chin, but Sear shook that off too.

  He took two more steps, then halted. His remaining eye, once lit with the magic fires that gave life to all the giants, went black as night. He threw his head back, raising his giant mechanical arms, and screamed.

  A familiar, horrible scream that skittered down Kyro’s spine like ice.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Shock radiated through Kyro, rooting him to the ground. Sear was possessed by a vissla! It made an awful sort of sense. No wonder he had been willing to betray his primary function, his reason for existing. It also finally explained why the giants would bother to cut down the stars instead of just stealing them off their hooks; the vissla in them couldn’t touch the stars until they were on the ground, free of the Elders’ magic. The giants’ metal bodies must have offered the vissla some measure of protection from the light of the stars too. The sliced hooks were probably just a product of them being in too great a hurry to be precise when cutting them down. Kyro shuddered as Sear’s black eye surveyed him and Andra and the familiar crackling ice began to spread across the field and under their feet.

  Without warning, Sear lunged toward Andra, shaking Kyro out of his shock. Before Sear could reach her, Kyro shoved her out of the way. He didn’t stop to consider the consequences. He simply acted.

  He’d gotten Andra into this mess. She was his only friend. He couldn’t bear to see her hurt.

  The giant didn’t have time to adjust his aim. He loomed over Kyro, his huge metal fist outstretched. It smashed into Kyro’s chest, crushing him into the ground.

  Pain, hot and bright, stole his breath. Stole his words. A shooting ache spread through his limbs, circling back over and over. Kyro couldn’t bring himself to move. Above him, all he could see were the stars. Some glimmering brightly, but so many others were falling to the earth, never to rise again. He heard Andra cry out and felt the nudge of Cypher’s cold nose against his cheek. Overwhelming grief rattled through his body.

  Then he heard something else. His father’s voice. Screaming a single word.

  “Kyro!”

  Above him, Sear raised his weapon, just as he had over Jector minutes earlier. Kyro wanted so badly to move, but he couldn’t do much more than wiggle his arm. Out of the corner of his eye, something glowed.

  A new voice cut through the haze surrounding Kyro.

  “Stop!” Pelag shouted. “This is not right. This is not what I wanted. I never intended for it to go this far.”

  Sear cackled, but let his weapon drop to his side. It wasn’t the laugh Kyro had heard from
the others. It was tainted with the cold crackling screech of the vissla that possessed the giant. Sear bent toward him and Kyro cringed, fearing he meant to finish him off. But instead, Sear plucked something from the ground near Kyro. The object that had been glowing out of the corner of his eye. When the giant lifted it up, Kyro realized it was the lantern that he had tucked into his pack. It must have fallen out when Sear punched him. Regret burst over him. He’d hoped he could find a way to use that in the battle, but now it was too late.

  Another wave of pain flooded Kyro, but he tried to focus on what was happening around him instead. The giant opened the lantern easily and tipped it over into his metal palm. The still-glowing heart of a star clinked in his hand. This one looked like a perfect, clear crystal, cut like an octagonal diamond. But something else was attached to the star. A small glass vial with something inside it, red and crystalline. Kyro’s breathing was already ragged, and now it nearly stopped. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew exactly what the something was.

  A heart of an Elder or their heirs, given to the stars long, long ago, and somehow kept alive by that lantern.

  Sear raised the heart and vial over his head, and smashed them to the ground. Light burst from the star as it shattered, blinding them all. Pelag moaned and staggered, then fell to his knees clutching his chest.

  The heart Sear had been hoarding was Pelag’s. He must have hidden it when he found it so that the vissla possessing him could have an excuse to continue destroying stars.

  Kyro’s back began to grow cold. At first, it occurred to him that it was because of his injury and that there may not be any coming back from it. But then he heard it: the crackling of ice and the slick feel of it sliding across the ground, freezing his shoulders and feet. Shrieks began to echo from all sides. The cold wormed all the way into Kyro’s bones, making him completely numb.