Liberator

  An age of peace beside our king.

  When Tamminy finished, the stardrop in Koren’s hand sizzled and began turning dark. “Zena recognized her opportunity and consulted with Magnar. When they agreed on a plan to keep him in power, she executed it flawlessly.”

  Zena crossed her arms and pointed. “Bring the old bard to me. The song must be altered. I will tell him what to say.”

  When Tamminy approached, his eyes glazed and his legs wobbly, Koren handed the blackened stardrop to Zena. Holding it in her bony hands, she shoved it down Tamminy’s throat, then backed away.

  “You must alter the black egg prophecy,” Zena said, “and you will sing it constantly until everyone thinks the new words were in the original.”

  Tamminy bobbed his head, his eyes still blank. “I will do as you say.” The old dragon lifted his head and began crooning the altered song.

  An egg of ebon, black as coal,

  Will bring about the dragons’ goal.

  The dragon rising from its shell

  Will overcome a deadly knell.

  Though weak and crippled at the start,

  Its strength begins within its heart.

  Above all others it will soar,

  And dragonkind will all adore.

  Its virtue, might, and crown will rest

  Upon a head of nobleness.

  Then humans far and wide will flee

  In fear of coming jubilee.

  For paradise begins that day;

  All labors cease and turn to play.

  And slaves become like needless mites,

  Unfit to stay within our sight.

  So drown the vermin, cook their meat

  And scatter bones upon the street.

  When every human life is spent

  The age of vermin truly ends.

  In honor of this treasured hour,

  We celebrate this dragon’s power.

  The dawn of paradise will bring

  An age of peace beside our king.

  When the last note faded, Tamminy faded with it, leaving Koren and Zena alone on the circle of cobblestones. Koren reverted to her stalking pose and added a sneer. “After Mallerin laid the black egg, Zena set about her villainy, using Cassabrie’s finger to infuse poison into an embryonic dragon’s heart and bring about her desired ends. To her, it seemed a fitting way to gain revenge against her hated rival.”

  The image of Zena sat with her arms and legs wrapped around the black egg. As she stroked the shell with a severed finger, she crooned. “The human slaves are vermin to be crushed and swept away. When you raise Exodus from its resting place, instead of sealing it, you should unleash its disease and rid the world of the human pestilence. Since Cassabrie is dead, only I remain immune to it, and we will never have to worry about anyone, either human or dragon. I will keep the dragons in line with my Starlighter gifts, and we will send one infected human to Darksphere to make sure everyone there dies as well. When we achieve these goals, even Magnar will fall to our influence. All you need is a Starlighter who will love you, and you will be king forever.”

  Koren waved the images away and turned toward Taushin. She let the sneer dwindle and altered to a sorrowful tone. “The prophesied prince emerged handicapped, as expected, yet no one thought blindness would be his fate. He needed eyes, a Starlighter’s eyes, but he found Zena’s to be inferior. He sought another Starlighter and tried to force her to love him, choosing chains as his means of influence.”

  Koren lifted her arms. Her loose tunic’s sleeves slid down to her elbows, revealing the abrasions on her wrists. “Taushin did not understand that chains could never make someone love him, and now he stands at the crossroads of the most important decision any dragon has made in all the history of Starlight. What will he do now that he has witnessed the treachery of the one who claimed to love him? Will he understand that she forced him to wear chains of his own when she injected his heart with hatred? Will he pursue the dark path she set before him, or will he instead accept this Starlighter’s reproof and travel a path illuminated by wisdom?”

  Taking in a deep breath, Koren took a step closer to Taushin. As if looking through his own eyes instead of his mother’s, he aimed his eyebeams directly at her chest.

  “It is as if I can see into your heart, Koren.” With a step of his own, Taushin closed the gap to a few paces. “I misjudged you. I thought you were like all the others, both dragons and humans, seeking her own good, pretending to serve others in order to gain something for herself. But it is not chains that keep a heart like yours close; it is the opportunity to serve others, and that is the substance of real love.”

  “Real love?” Koren looked at the two blue dots on her tunic. Taushin was making an emotional appeal, a desperate grab for sympathy. He knew, no matter how much power she could muster, she couldn’t battle dragons of any shade without risking harm to innocent humans. Yet, with everyone locked in a state of hypnosis, was it possible to awaken the dragons one at a time to try to dispose of them? Maybe. But Taushin had to be the first victim. If he couldn’t be defeated, fighting the others would be a lost cause.

  Taushin’s eyebeams shifted to Mallerin. “Is there a problem, Koren? Your hesitation is unsettling. Are you angry? Upset?”

  “Do I appear to be upset?” Koren asked.

  “My mother is not looking directly at you, so I see you only peripherally.”

  “I’m not upset, just contemplating.” Koren concentrated on Taushin. Was it possible to generate the power she employed while trapped with Elyssa in the Basilica? Her own eyebeams blinded Zena, but it was a temporary burst. At that time, the disease had not progressed very far, but maybe the medicine brought some of her power back.

  Focusing on her vision, she funneled energy from every part of her body. Weak beams emanated from her eyes and landed on Taushin’s face, but they seemed to have no effect. Either he was immune, or the disease had taken too much of a toll.

  After letting the beams die away, she glanced at the Benefile, then at Randall. Like everyone else, they stared in hypnotic trances. No one could help her now, not even her own Starlighter power. This battle of wit and wills was between her and Taushin alone.

  “I have worn the crown of Exodus,” she said, “and I have seen tales of treachery from age to age, including the deceitful way you persuaded me to raise Exodus. Don’t think I will roll over and believe what slides off your forked tongue just because it is now coated with my own principles. I am no fool.”

  Taushin displayed a toothy smile. “On that we will agree. When I first met you, you were simplistic and naïve. You have grown in wisdom at a startling rate.” He spread out a wing. “Yet, does your faith in me matter? Look around you. Your fellow humans are dying, some crumbling in the crushing hand of disease, and some lying without breath under shrouds of ice. Whether my words are true or counterfeit, you will have to find a way to secure their healing before even thinking about leading them to freedom.”

  She glared at him. “You have a scheme, another devious plot. Tell me what it is.”

  “Do I?” Taushin chuckled. “Koren, the simplest plans are the honest ones. I admit plotting to spread the disease. I believed what Zena taught me in the past. Yet what matters now is only the present moment and the potential future. If you will become my eyes, your Starlighter influence will have the same effect Zena’s had on me. If you acquiesce, I will tell you the secret to curing the disease.”

  “Always trying to make a deal, aren’t you?” Koren touched her tunic pocket, feeling the outline of the box holding Cassabrie’s finger and the crucible. “I already have the secret—Cassabrie’s genetics combined with energy from Exodus. Uriel and I made an ointment that seems to be working on me. I just need to make more.”

  “A solution that will last for hours, perhaps days, but the disease will return. You probably already feel it waking from slumber.”

  Koren set a hand on her stomach. How could he know? “I was thinking I could swallow the cure in a stardrop
instead of applying it to my skin.”

  “More groping in the darkness. Where will you get enough energy material? Even if Cassabrie brought Exodus to you and allowed you to scrape its membrane until you have all you need, what of her genetics? Will she provide body parts while you conduct experiments that might or might not create a cure? She rejected her role as Starlighter before. It would be foolish to think that she will change her mind, especially when you ask her to sever another finger, or a hand, or a foot. She is overjoyed to be back in her body. She will not soon give it over to be butchered.”

  Koren half closed an eye and gave him a hard stare. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

  “Become my eyes. You already know how persuasive I can be to a Starlighter. I will tell you how Cassabrie can be convinced to heal everyone. Already the wheels are in motion to draw her here. When she comes, she will try to overpower you with her Starlighter gifts, but I will show you how to gain complete control over her.”

  “And why would I want that? She’s my friend.”

  “Friend or foe, you need her body and Exodus’s energy to heal the sick. If something drastic is not done soon, they will all perish. I cannot give you power over Cassabrie unless I can see through your eyes.”

  Koren averted her gaze, trying not to gag at his deceit. Still, if she didn’t play along, who would stop him from trying to hurt Cassabrie? If she really were coming, someone had to make sure he couldn’t carry out his plan against her. “What if you fail? If the people aren’t healed and sent home safely, will you release me?”

  “It is too late to save some of them,” Taushin said, “but if no more than half of those remaining make it safely to Darksphere, I will release you. If you are successful in saving more than half with your medicine, then you will stay in my service for as long as we both live.”

  Koren glanced at the Zodiac. “Will you make this covenant at the crystal?”

  “Gladly, but first you should dismiss the Benefile, or else they will interfere.”

  She looked at the motionless white dragons. “Dismiss them?”

  “Did you not see how easily you hypnotized them? They are under your control, at least for long enough to fulfill our purpose. In fact, your power has become so great, no one will come out of the trance until you directly command it. Call them by name — Beth, Dalath, and Gamal. They will listen to you.”

  “Where should I send them?”

  “You need not send them anywhere. Make them believe all the slaves are dead, and they will leave.”

  Koren gave him a skeptical stare. “Where will they go?”

  “They plan to go to the southern mountain range to bring wrath to the Southlands dragons for their crimes. You know from personal experience that they deserve it.”

  “Yes, they do.” Koren kept her stare on him. And so do you. What was he up to? There seemed to be no downside to hiding potential victims from the Benefile. Whether this was part of his deception or not, they had to be rescued.

  She waved an arm across the line of slaves. In an instant they disappeared, replaced by row after row of ice-covered bodies.

  “Beth!” Koren called in a commanding voice. “Dalath! Gamal! Your work is done here! Go and bring retribution to the cruel taskmasters who broke the backs and spilled the blood of the innocent.”

  Beth shook her head, as if awakened from sleep. Dalath and Gamal did the same. Their blue eyes scanned the portico and the surrounding stairs and cobblestones. Beth breathed out a wispy cloud of white. “They are all dead. The disease is gone.”

  Koren whipped her arm southward. “Go! Justice awaits!”

  “And what of you?” Beth brought her snout close to Koren’s face. “If you have any trace of the disease, we must kill you first.”

  Koren lifted her tunic, exposing her abdomen from her waist to her lower ribs. Her skin had stayed clear.

  Beth sniffed her stomach. Every exhale sent a cool puff across Koren’s skin that raised goose bumps all over her body. Resisting the urge to shiver, she held her ground.

  “I detect nothing. Let us go.”

  “I have no memory of freezing all these humans,” Gamal said. “I remember ten, perhaps fifteen at the most, but certainly not hundreds. Perhaps the Starlighter has crafted an illusion.”

  Dalath shuffled toward one of the bodies. “I will investigate.”

  While the other two Benefile looked on, Koren lifted a hand discreetly.

  Dalath grasped a human’s leg with her foreclaw and shook it. Koren’s fingers flicked, and ice crystals flew all around, glinting in the sunshine. When the Benefile dropped the leg, the image let out a thud and crunched the fallen crystals.

  “All is well,” Dalath said as she returned. “Perhaps the Starlighter’s influence caused us to forget our merciful acts.”

  Koren spread out her arms. “Leave now, or you will again succumb to my influence.”

  “Let us go.” Beth beat her wings and rose into the air, followed by Dalath.

  Gamal paused in front of Koren and scowled. “If I decide that you have deceived us, I will come back with wrath.”

  Koren bowed her head. “So be it.”

  His scowl unrelenting, Gamal turned and flew away.

  When the breeze of departing wings settled, Koren refocused on Taushin. Getting him to believe she was going along with his plan would be difficult. It was always hard to deceive a deceiver. “Come,” Koren said, “We will test your promises at the Reflections Crystal.”

  “I have no doubt that my vows will be verified. I would like, however, to make one request before we begin. Release my mother from the trance. She needs to warn Arxad’s family about the Benefile.”

  Koren thought for a moment before nodding. Even if Mallerin became aggressive, it would be easy to hypnotize her again. She waved a hand in front of the she-dragon’s face. “Mallerin! Awake! I release you.”

  Mallerin shook her head hard, then blinked at Koren. “Has this Starlighter worked her sorcery on me?”

  Taushin set his eyebeams on her. “Mother, it is not sorcery. Koren has allied herself with me, as I had hoped. Do you remember what I told you we would have to do if this covenant came about?”

  “Protect Arxad’s family,” Mallerin said.

  “Correct. Make sure they are safely hidden, then come back to me. I will be in the Zodiac.”

  “Were the Benefile under Koren’s influence?”

  Taushin nodded. “Why do you ask?”

  “Why did you not awaken me so that I could kill them? It would have been easy then. They would have been unable to fight back.”

  “Mother …” Taushin’s eyes flared, but his voice stayed calm. “This is a new day. I have come to realize how evil our race has been, and we should delay justice no longer. If you had killed the Benefile while they were so vulnerable, the guilt upon our heads would have been worse than ever, and we would never deserve the services of a Starlighter.”

  “I will concede that point,” Mallerin said, “but I do not wish to be a victim of Benefile wrath.”

  “Fear not. You heard the bargain I made with them. You and I will be excluded.”

  “If we can trust them,” Mallerin said with a snort.

  “Speaking of trust …” Taushin’s eyebeams pulsed. “Make haste in returning. If all does not go well, I will need your eyesight very soon.”

  “I will hurry.” Mallerin took to the air and flew toward the grottoes.

  When Taushin turned toward Koren, his eyebeams found their way into her eyes. The familiar probing sensation drilled in.

  She jerked away and stared at the ground. “Not yet! First the vows!”

  “Forgive me.” Taushin bowed his head. “In my eagerness to help you, I overstepped my bounds.”

  “Give me a minute.” Koren turned away and bent over, rubbing her burning eyes with her fists. Tears seeped over her knuckles. That was too close. This plan to pretend to go along with him was like walking through a pheterone-laced chamber with a burning
torch. With his manipulative power, at any second everything could blow up in her face. She had been careful to verify every word he spoke, but as Gamal indicated, it’s impossible to know that you’re being influenced while under someone’s influence.

  She gritted her teeth. She couldn’t let down her guard around this monster for one second. Yes, he might tell the truth in front of the crystal. Yes, freedom for the slaves was worth the price of giving up her own physical freedom. But nothing was as valuable as her soul.

  Still, the dilemma was real. If she refused to give in, most if not all her fellow slaves would be condemned to a horrible death. But if she freely received Taushin’s chains and used Cassabrie against her will, she would be condemned herself. Her black soul would be expelled to outer darkness for all eternity.

  And Taushin knew full well that keeping the dilemma in mind would reignite the inner battle and bring back the burdens.

  With her eyes closed, Koren focused on calming herself. She needed help, an ally, someone who would help her do battle with the dark dragon. As she concentrated, a vision replaced the blackness—Jason marched toward the barrier wall, his shoulders straight and his jaw tight. The look in his eyes told of something powerful guiding him, a hand of strength and purpose.

  Taking a breath, she straightened and swiped a sleeve across her eyes. As she stood with her back to Taushin, the sensation of eyebeams brushing her clothes sent a chill up her spine. No, Taushin couldn’t be trusted. And no, she couldn’t forsake her beloved brethren or Cassabrie. The original plan had to remain intact. The only way to protect them was to stay with him and pretend to acquiesce, at least as long as necessary.

  Yet, his power was still a problem. It seemed that the torch had been lit, and a pheterone mine lay ahead. With fire sure to come, it would take a miracle beyond all imagination to snuff the flames, but that miracle lay within reach. If the Creator was guiding Jason to the Zodiac, he might be the equalizer she needed, but the timing would have to be perfect.

  She turned to Taushin, her hands folded at her waist. “I’m ready. I will lead you to the Reflections Crystal, and we shall see what will be revealed.”