Starbright: The Complete Series

by Hilary Thompson

  I want to topple Keirna’s tyranny and restore Asphodel to what it once was.

  Gazing up at the too-high ledge, I vow that one day I will have these things.

  THREE

  Our ancestors chose this cave for us. They created a future from a world that was ending. I have continued that legacy by maintaining the success of our environment, but now it is time for my generation to expand.

  Saloman believes Astrea and Lexan will return to us one day, and I plan to be ready to fight their presumed leadership.

  Abandoning your people is shameful and selfish. I would never do such a thing, and Astrea should not expect to return to open arms. I will lead our people to the surface of this world, and create a new city where we can flourish.

  Not everything needs to depend on prophecy.

  First Leader Keirna’s Private Log

  The very next day, there are only a dozen of us who are invited to see the outside world for the first time. Each of the Leaders, Head Minister Saloman, and four brawny, top-level protectors.

  Everyone else will remain in the darkness of the cave until their appointed time to rise. Which is fine with me – if they don’t know what the difference is, they will be easier for me to control.

  Simply reaching the doors is an adventure – I’ve never been so deep inside the Leadership Complex. A dark hallway ends in a bolted steel door, which opens to a steel-lined bunker full of shiny silver cabinets.

  “Guns,” Perce whispers in excitement. Keirna glares at him, but nods, admitting the weapons exist. We line up before the immense door.

  Ignoring any harsh looks from the other Leaders, I claim the spot directly behind Keirna. As the door is unlocked and wrested open, the air begins to shift. A green, growing scent permeates the room.

  I watch the grins on the faces around me. Old, flabby men and serious women who are suddenly excitable young explorers.

  Their hyper-stretched smiles click into place in my mental tabulation of Keirna’s complicated plan. And I see it, with a finality that makes my stomach drop into nothingness. Keirna’s plan will unite us in the excitement of moving our community forward. She has taken Astrea’s desertion – what could have been a panic-inducing event – and created the mirage of a utopia.

  Following Keirna, I step onto a concrete walkway. Beneath us runs the same river that feeds all of Asphodel. And before us, growing clearer with each step, is the massive gate that either kept everyone out, or everyone in, during the Great Sickness. The bars are entwined with vines, making it difficult to see any of the world beyond. But as the protectors tear at the plants, more and more sunshine filters into the cave, until we are shutting our eyes against its intensity.

  In the cave, everything smells of dust and cold, and the smells we create when we live. Outside, each breath brings a different sensation. Sweet and dank and clean and pungent all mix together – life. Living.

  After several minutes my eyes can slit open enough to see where we stand. The protectors work together to unlock and shove open the heavy gate, then use wide knives to slash away the vines and rip up the small shrubs in our path. Soon I can see remnants of stairs, leading up and up in a shallow slope. There are massive trees along the edges and more vines tangled around what used to be the stair railings. A crumbled pile of mossy rock blocks our path about halfway up.

  And strangest of all is the road.

  There isn’t much left, but the black smoothness of man-made material is evident in chunks and patches along the flat ridge above us. More than one hundred years ago, this land was sliced open to make this road, connecting the cave entrance with whatever else is out there.

  I’ve spent years learning about our ancestors and the civil wars and Sickness and how we were saved in the underground bunker that became Asphodel.

  But seeing how nature has reclaimed nearly everything makes me realize – we were truly lucky to be locked in that cave. We were the lucky ones. We survived. Thrived, even.

  And then I see the sun. The trees are nearly blocking its ascent, but the orange ball of fire seems to rise as I watch, inching above us on its ancient path.

  Every one of us has fallen silent as we survey the new world around us.

  The protectors begin clearing the pile of rocks, but then one of them shouts in surprise, chucking a rounded rock away from himself. I step forward to see the problem, and I make the same realization.

  These are not piles of rock. They are piles of bones.

  Keirna turns and glares at each of us in turn. “Do not balk at such a reminder of our history. The journals of First Leader Lakessa are familiar to each of you – in the early days of Asphodel, there were many attacks on our city. Many sick people tried to infect our safe house. Our ancestors did what was necessary to protect the people. We will continue to do the same.”

  She gestures to the protectors to continue clearing the bones. Nobody whispers even a word of dissent: we know she’s right.

  With a huffing sort of difficulty, our group hikes to the top of the flat ridge. Many of the Leaders, as well as Saloman, are unused to true physical exertion. Their bodies are lean but their muscles aren’t as toned as mine and those of the protectors. I find myself following those men closely as we survey the land before us.

  The ridge spreads into a rolling sort of meadow – basically flat and more open than the woods surrounding the cave opening.

  “It isn’t large enough for a full settlement,” Keirna says, coming up behind me.

  “True,” I respond, “but it should serve for our original buildings. Once more people are living topside, we can clear additional trees.”

  She nods, surveying the other Leaders.

  Perce is discussing something animatedly with the protectors. Seren is bent at the waist, admiring a clump of bright orange lilies – perhaps a distant cousin to the Asphodel lilies.

  Alva has strayed to a nearby tree – a young sapling. He reaches for the vine at its base.

  “Not that one, Alva,” I say. “Poison ivy.” I recognize it from the drawings in Mother’s books. Alva regards me with suspicion, and I shrug. “Take your chances, then. It leaves an itchy rash.”

  He considers the plant, then steps away to join Seren by the orange flowers.

  “Perhaps you should have let him touch the plant,” Keirna says in a low voice. “Then he could report back of the dangers of the outside world.”

  “Perhaps,” I acknowledge, knowing instinctively that this is one of her tests of logic. “But we don’t necessarily need to add fear just yet. Many of the people are already afraid.”

  Keirna nods. “There will be many dangers here.” She glances around us, slowly taking in the picturesque meadow. “We will parcel them out as we need to, along with reassurances that we can avoid or solve these new problems.”

  “We are caretakers of a new era,” I say softly.

  Keirna looks sharply at me, and I duck my eyes.

  “This is enough. Take the other Leaders and Saloman back inside. I’ll stay here with Perce and the protectors a little longer.”

  I nod in deferment and lead my charges down the sloping hill and through the maze of bone and rock and vine. Back into our dark, dank cave. Inside the Leadership Complex, four protectors flank the innermost door, ready to stop anyone who might get too close to the outside world.

  Nothing in here will be satisfactory now, I realize as we file into the Common Area. The walls are chilled and the floor slick in places with condensation. The air smells of dust and humans. The noises are too loud, each voice and footstep echoing from the high ceilings. I feel as though I can’t quite see clearly enough.

  Glancing around at my companions, I see similar looks of annoyance on their faces.

  “Don’t worry, friends,” I say, deciding to seize the opportunity for leadership. “Our time in the sun will come again soon. Let’s spread the good news of our future to the people of Asphodel. They worry that the earth above is barren and dead.”

  Seren eyes
me for a second, then brings her hand from beneath her jacket and shows me her spoils – three of the orange lilies.

  “Good,” I nod, and she smiles. “We will place those here in the Common Area, as a symbol. Get a container and place them directly under the mural of the Three Fates.”

  Her smile widens, and I feel again as though I’ve passed a small test, although I’m not sure how I will balance being a fair, understanding Leader with the deception required to follow Keirna.

  A pang of loss for Lexan courses unexpectedly through my chest. A skilled Libra, he knew better than anyone how to balance a diverse set of challenges and needs.

  Not like Saloman, who is content to merely watch from the side of the stage as his partner pulls strings of her own making.

  Everyone scatters to find their friends and family. Seren returns quickly and places the flowers for all to see. As people pass, she tells them of the beauty she saw topside, and I see a new religion forming before my eyes.

  Or perhaps it isn’t so new – we’ve been a people of the sun and moon and stars for generations, without being able to see what we worship.

  Now we can see our own gods. And that is a much more powerful weapon than a reluctant Starbright maiden.

  Again, I can’t help but marvel at Keirna’s cunning.

  Perhaps now that she’s out for the day, I can find Saloman, who had vanished as soon as we re-entered the cave.

  The Ministration Office is empty, as is his library. I check the classroom where he used to meet with Lexan. Still nothing. Not even his other two apprentices.

  I circle back to his office, content to wait and look through his files. The desk is spread with star charts and arcane tools for drawing the maps of our future. I snort and begin trying the handles of each drawer and cabinet in the room.

  No luck. What has this man so paranoid that everything is locked?

  I slam my palm on the desk, knocking a pile of pencils to the ground.

  “Ah…the frustration of an Aries,” a voice says from behind me. I whip around and Saloman stands there, his hands folded placidly over his stomach. My brain works dumbly to create an excuse for ransacking the old man’s office, but he just watches me with a knowing look.

  “Then again, frustration is the first step toward enlightenment,” he continues before I can open my mouth.

  “What are you hiding here?” I say, then curse myself for being so stupidly forthright.

  “Only an old man’s secrets.” His grin almost makes me think he can read my thoughts, and my annoyance grows, twisted upward by anxiety.

  Saloman eyes me for a long minute, then crosses the room. His robe brushes me as he drifts past me to sit at his desk. He releases a soft sigh and sweeps the star charts aside, revealing the whorls of grain in the wooden desk.

  His fingers trace the pattern methodically.

  “I know what you are here for, and I will give you what information I have. But first, let me warn you. My young Leader, I am not here in this world to resist Keirna. My place here is not for revolution.”

  “Revolution?” I can’t help but repeat him. I came here to wheedle tiny bits of information from Keirna’s partner; it seems he has a bigger story to tell.

  Saloman temples his fingers and looks at me over them. “My partner is tearing this community apart. She thinks she’s saving Asphodel, but she’s not.”

  “Do you mean the religion?” I remember what I had just been thinking – how Keirna is changing our beliefs, without us even realizing.

  Saloman nods. “That’s part of it, yes. It’s true we are a people of sun, and earth, and sky. But Asphodel’s place is to wait. Not to forge ahead. To be submissive to the wills of the stars. Not to force our own will onto the template of the future.”

  “You would speak against your own partner? Your own First Leader?” I challenge him.

  He only nods complacently, giving me a wry look that says he’s guessed the similar contents of my own heart.

  “Old man, she will kill you in your sleep,” I say, a sneer working its way across my face. Surely he isn’t so blind to the woman he has slept beside for two decades.

  “Keirna knows my true thoughts, but I do not fear her. Revolution is not a job for someone like me.”

  “No, it’s a job for me,” I say before thinking. I bite at my lips to keep any other damning thoughts inside. What is it about Saloman that makes me act like I need to confess everything?

  He nods his head again, smiling that infuriating half-smile that reminds me of Lexan. “True. Revolution, my friend, is the destiny of your family.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “I am here to prophesy, if needed. To counsel my partner. Perhaps to occasionally question her motives or her ethics. But never to interfere. Prophets and Ministers have the special duty to leave people to decide their own sin and salvation.”

  “Lexan isn’t very good at that,” I say.

  Saloman sighs. “True. But he has done better recently. Only time will tell if he will indeed allow the maiden of Justice to reach her full potential.”

  “So you refuse to help me if I form a resistance?” I say, summing up my take on our strange, mostly pointless conversation.

  “I did not necessarily say that,” Saloman says, smiling maddeningly again. “Remember, Aitan, he who desires to gain everything must first be willing to lose everything.”

  I glare at him, not sure what he means. I certainly don’t want to lose what little I have left.

  His smile never falters. “I will send you a message when I have one for you.”

  And he just turns away, picking up a thick, leather-bound book and spreading it open on the surface before him. I huff in exasperation, but he only ignores me. How did Lexan ever stand meeting with this old fool each day?

  FOUR

  Our destiny is upon us. There will be sacrifice, but there will also be rejoicing. I wonder if this is how Lakessa and Charles felt on the eve of sealing the doors? Surely the people then understood the value of their salvation. Just as I believe my people here in Asphodel will understand that before we can rise, a few chains must be broken.

  First Leader Keirna’s Private Log

  I’ve only been back in my office a few minutes when Keirna and Perce return, and we’re gathered again in her meeting room, sitting in our customary chairs.

  “We have selected a building site,” Perce begins at Keirna’s nod. “There is fresh water nearby, flat ground, and lots of trees for the buildings.”

  “Will everything be wooden?” Maril asks, wrinkling her nose. I roll my eyes at her. Here in the cave, we have mostly metal and stone, but everything was put together long before our time.

  “Yes, for now,” Perce answers, too excited to be impatient with her.

  “But wood is not proof against the rains!” Alva mutters.

  “There are instructions on weather-proofing in our books,” Keirna says in a clipped voice. “A little faith, if you will.”

  We all glance down until Perce begins to speak again.

  “Keirna will be meeting with Corbik this afternoon to go over designs for the first shelters. In the meantime, we are all to canvas the city for volunteer protectors. The meeting last night sounded favorable, but some may have reservations.”

  Keirna holds up a finger and Perce shuts his mouth. “Perce will head the recruitment in the Common Area. Aitan, I want you to take the names. You need to start acting like the full Leader you are now.” She sends me a hard look, and I bite back on the resentment that surges in my chest.

  She blinks languidly at me, and then continues. “Seren, visit the Healing Center and see if one will volunteer. Not Gloran, though she will try. The rest of you split up and begin gathering food and bags for those going topside. Take from each household if necessary. I want this first group sleeping under a roof out there within the week.”

  Keirna stands, not even waiting for questions, and we all scatter to fulfill our assignments.


  In the Common Area, Perce walks from group to group as they eat lunch, and within an hour, the two hundred spots Keirna originally requested are filled. So many people willing to leave their friends and family for a chance to see the future.

  “I’m beginning a waiting list,” I say to Perce when he wanders back to me. His eyebrows shoot up.

  “We’ll need replacements, naturally,” he agrees, smiling. I don’t return his smile. Naturally.

  I glare at the names on my paper. How many of them will be injured? How many might die?

  Then I decide I don’t really care. If they were stupid enough to join Keirna on such a mission, they’ll get whatever they deserve.

  Each of us Leaders is so industrious that Keirna’s mission is ready to begin the very next afternoon. Keirna, of course, calls a mandatory meeting in the Common Area. All of Asphodel must come to wave goodbye to the great explorers.

  “People of Asphodel, I thank you for your generosity,” she begins, smiling radiantly at the crowd before us. “You have given of your food, your possessions, and your families to make this dream an instantaneous reality. I am truly sorry that the circumstances were not as our ancestors had hoped, or even what we had believed. But you can believe in this – this very morning, Asphodel is rising from our tomb of waiting!”

  The people cheer madly, insanely. It takes a lot for me to resist laughing at them. They have no idea what is beginning.

  I don’t either, but at least I’m not excited by that fact.

  “Now, some of you may be wondering who will maintain the wellbeing of our community while we are split into these two groups – one of exploration, and one of prayer and support. I myself have volunteered to lead the team topside. I believe so strongly in the new Asphodel that I desire only its success. Therefore, I must be present at each step, and that means I will spend the majority of my time topside.” She waits a minute, as the people digest this strange information. We have never been in a situation where our First Leader was not inside the cave.