Liberator

  Everyone froze in place, staring at him. A woman holding the bowl thrust it toward him. “Take it. Tell us what to do.”

  “No!” someone else called. “Who made him our leader?”

  “Don’t be a fool!” yet another shouted. “Just let him decide.”

  Several others murmured, “Yes,” and a wave of nodding heads passed across the desperate sea.

  “Your son is dying,” Taushin called. “Shall I bring him now?”

  “Wait.” Edison cast his gaze from man to woman to child, sick and tormented souls who had been told what to do all their lives, and now at the cusp of a cure to a disease worse than any whip, they had no capacity to break their invisible chains long enough to save their own lives.

  “The sickest children first,” Edison said. “Bring those under ten years of age who are unconscious, then those who cannot walk. We’ll start from there.”

  While the people shifted to allow adults with incapacitated children to come forward, the woman who had been distributing the medicine caught Edison’s sleeve and pulled him close. “My name’s Isabelle,” she whispered.

  “Edison. Edison Masters.”

  “Well, Edison, there isn’t enough to go around. Wallace told me we have to make more. He knows how, but he needs more ingredients.”

  Edison looked toward Frederick. He would probably have to wait for the next batch. Swallowing hard, he turned back to Isabelle. “What ingredients?”

  “I’m not sure. He said something about having enough black powder, but he needs a finger, which I didn’t understand at all, and some energy from Exodus. He said a girl named Elyssa knows how to get it.”

  “Elyssa?” Edison shook his head. “I don’t think she’s coming back anytime soon.”

  “Then what should we do?”

  “I’m not sure. Everything’s falling apart. We came to rescue you, but if the white dragons win, they’ll kill you before the disease does. If the other dragons win, my small number of soldiers won’t stand much of a chance against them. We have more coming, but I don’t think they can get here in time.”

  “You need your son. We all do. One more fighter on our side can’t hurt.” Isabelle’s whisper dropped further. “Wallace left a little bit of medicine in Arxad’s cave. I will get it for your son.”

  “It’s too dangerous,” Edison said. “I should go.”

  “Nonsense. I’m already dying. Besides, the dragons will ignore me. And you’re in charge of distributing the medicine. This lot is sure to fight over it again if you leave.”

  “I guess I trapped myself into this job.” He heaved a sigh. “When you get to the cave, tell Captain Reed to send every man he can spare.”

  “Will he trust my word?” Isabelle asked.

  “Tell him if I had an insignia on my thumb, I would give it to him in blood. That should do it.”

  Isabelle shook her head. “You Darksphere folk are a strange lot.”

  Edison smiled. “Don’t worry. The captain will understand.”

  Taushin spoke up again. “With your soldiers present, I will have to keep Frederick with me. He is my insurance.”

  Edison gritted his teeth. “I understand.”

  As the battle screams continued above, Edison surveyed the portico area. A man stood at the front of a line with a girl in his arms. As limp as a rag doll, she appeared to be four or five years old. The man pulled up her tattered shirt, revealing stomach and chest ulcers.

  Edison copied Isabelle’s application procedure, dipping his finger into the bowl and spreading the ointment on the girl’s skin, starting with as little as he dared. Her skin was hot to the touch, the sores sticky.

  “What’s her name?”

  “Reesa.” The man’s voice was weak, deadened.

  “And yours?”

  “Dorman.”

  Still rubbing in the ointment, Edison gave him a smile. “I’m Edison Masters.”

  Dorman nodded. “One of the soldiers from Darksphere. I know.”

  “Not all has gone well,” Edison said, “but there is still hope.”

  “Hope? Really?” Dorman sighed. “Are you a father?”

  “Three boys.” Edison gestured with his head toward Frederick. “My eldest lies there cold and stiff. He might not make it.”

  “Then you understand better than I do. Reesa is a breeder child, but I love her all the same. I stole her from the cattle camp and hid her for months. When the disease struck, I had to bring her out. I heard people talking about a cure.”

  After a final rub at the edge of a sore, Edison pulled Reesa’s shirt down. “I have no idea if it’ll work, but I’m going to hang on to hope, maybe enough hope for both of us.”

  Dorman finally smiled, though it was a weak effort. “You’re a good man, Edison Masters. I will go to your son and watch over him while you finish here. I don’t trust those dragons.”

  “Thank you.”

  As soon as Dorman walked away, a woman stepped up, her face haggard and ulcerated. She carried a little boy about the same age as Reesa. She said nothing, but her pleading eyes made words unnecessary.

  Edison dipped his finger in the medicine. As he looked down the line of worried faces, it seemed that his heart might tear apart. This duty had to be done, and if it took a warrior to deliver a healing salve, then so be it.

  Nineteen

  Koren focused on the Starlighter in the wall mural. Deference’s phantom fingers reappeared and swept the key from the crevice. The moment it hit Koren’s palm, the catch holding the floor in place clanked, and the panels swung open. She fell, nearly dropping the key. As she sailed on the rope, she turned toward the door and set her feet in front. They struck the wall below the door, keeping her from slamming into it. She pushed away once before settling again.

  “Hang on.” Randall hoisted her up and wrapped his arms around her, strong yet shaking. “You made it! Great swing!”

  “It’s about time I did something right.” Koren raised her hood and stalked toward Jason.

  “What do you mean?” Randall’s stomping boots thudded behind her. “You’re amazing!”

  She spun back to him. “I’m a … a pariah.”

  “A pariah?” Randall squinted with one eye. “What do you mean?”

  “I glow like a moon, but I’m the weakest reflection around. No matter how hard I try, I never do anything right. I’ll always be an outcast, the least of the heavenly lights.”

  “That’s not true. You’re —”

  “There’s no time to argue about it.” Koren knelt in front of Jason and shoved the key into the manacle’s lock. “How are you feeling?”

  “A lot better.” As soon as the first manacle clicked, he shook it loose and rubbed the back of his head. “No permanent damage.”

  She threw off the other manacle and helped him rise. Jason stretched his back and neck. “So now that I’m free, how are you going to convince Taushin you’re still on his side? He won’t believe that I got loose myself.”

  Deference glided in, her aura making a sparkling trail. “Lock Koren in the chains. Hide the key and tell me where you put it.”

  “That won’t work.” Koren picked up a manacle and showed them the mechanism. “Taushin knows I can put these on myself. And when he asks me if I let Jason go, the crystal will tell him if I’m lying.”

  Deference swung a radiant fist. “Then hit her on the head with the chains. A big purple knot on her forehead will keep Taushin from asking.”

  “Deference!” Jason said. “We couldn’t do that!”

  She crossed her arms tightly. “If you love Koren and the other slaves, you could.”

  Jason and Randall looked at each other for a moment, then shook their heads at the same time. “We’ll just take Koren with us,” Jason said. “We’ll find Elyssa and figure this out together.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Randall took Koren’s hand. “We’ll work on the medicine together.”

  Koren jerked loose and shuffled away. “Let me think a minute.” She
stopped at the interior threshold and looked at the exit doorway at the end of the long corridor. The miner stood at the opening, carrying Reesa. Her head and arms hung limply, as if someone had poured her liquid body over his arms. Was she dead already? If not, someone had to get the medicine to her as soon as possible.

  Yet, what about Cassabrie? Where was she? Another someone had to stay and ask for more Exodus energy. Maybe Cassabrie had a solution that would provide genetic material as well. Not only that, someone had to foil Taushin’s evil plans against her. He said she would come. How did he know?

  A sharp pang knifed through Koren’s stomach. She dug a fist into her abdomen and took deep breaths. Did she have enough strength to learn Cassabrie’s location? When she told Taushin she was too weak to search very far, it wasn’t a lie. She just wasn’t sure, but if the Reflections Crystal hadn’t been covered by her cloak, Taushin might have noticed her uncertainty in the crystal’s dimming.

  She fanned out her cloak and gave it a spin. “Starlight, tell me where your star resides. Focus on the recent past—as recent as possible.”

  A brilliant sphere of light appeared in the corridor, floating slowly toward the dome room. Cassabrie stood inside, her face brighter than ever before and her eyes focused on the threshold. Only a step or two in front of Koren’s feet, a white flower sprouted and grew knee high. Bearing four velvety petals with thin red veins, it swayed in an undetectable breeze.

  Exodus stopped and floated a few inches over the flower. Cassabrie lowered herself to all fours and studied it, her brow deeply creased. She pushed her hand against the inner wall and grasped the flower, as if forming a glove with the star’s membrane. Exodus lifted, uprooting the flower, but no dirt came with it, only sparkling green roots.

  Cassabrie straightened and pulled the entire plant through the star’s skin. Tilting her head, she touched a petal. She jerked her finger back, flinching. Then she touched a second and a third without reacting. When she touched the fourth, she smiled, plucked it from the flower, and put it into her mouth. As she chewed, her eyes glowed brighter and brighter, until light streamed from them like Taushin’s eyebeams, only completely white with sparkling dots swimming within that looked like the whisperers from the star chamber.

  She dropped the remainder of the flower and rose to her feet. When the plant touched the star’s floor, it burst into flames, but the fire quickly died away, leaving sizzling ashes.

  Exodus drifted onward. It entered the dome room and passed right through Koren. The river appeared next to it, and the broken barrier wall and the long pile of rubble took shape near the Reflections Crystal’s pedestal. The moment Cassabrie and the star floated overtop the pile, the image vanished.

  Koren walked toward the pedestal, her legs heavy. “She’s coming this way.”

  “Are you sure?” Jason asked. “She might be planning to join our army in the wilderness.”

  Randall shook his head. “She’s coming here. That’s why I opened the dome. Xenith told me the crystal would attract her, and I thought we could use her help.”

  Jason looked up. “Can you close the dome again?”

  “I think so.” Randall slid a slender metal rod from his pocket. “I have a key to the mechanism.”

  Koren grabbed the key. “We need her to come. She’s the only one who knows how to cure the disease. The medicine we have alleviates the symptoms only temporarily.” She pointed at the doorway, her words coming faster and faster as the vision became clear in her mind. “You saw her eat the flower petal. She’s fulfilling the prophecy! A liberator comes on high with mercy streaming from her eyes. The slaves must take her blood and bone and plant within this mercy sown. Alaph was the mercy portion of the Bloodless, and the plant grew from his blood, so somehow Cassabrie has to activate the medicine made from her blood and bone. Our medicine doesn’t work completely because she hasn’t done that yet. But Taushin has some kind of plot that I think will hurt Cassabrie, so someone has to stay here and make sure he can’t follow through. We need to make sure Cassabrie does it her way, not Taushin’s.”

  Taking a breath, Koren lifted her brow and forced a weak smile. “Understand?”

  Jason shoved a hand into his pocket and looked at Randall. “Did you understand?”

  “Only the part about eating the flower. I saw that. How the Bloodless can have blood threw me.”

  “They have blood! It’s just that—” Koren stamped her foot. “I’ll just have to do it myself.” She stormed to the column, sat heavily, and fastened the manacles around her wrists. When they clicked in place, she scanned the room for a wisp of light. “Deference? Are you here?”

  “I’m coming.” The glowing phantom glided from behind one of the columns and stood in front of Koren. “What do you want me to do?”

  Koren lifted one of her chains. “Hit me on the forehead—a good, strong whack.”

  “No!” Jason shouted. “Wait!”

  Before either he or Randall could stop her, Deference grabbed the chain and whipped it at Koren.

  Sharp pain ripped across Koren’s forehead and down her spine. Dark spots invaded her vision, worse than the time she fell from a tree after collecting eggs from a nest.

  As the spots diminished, Koren rubbed the wound. A knot had already formed, and warm liquid trickled over her fingers. “That really was a strong whack.”

  “Sorry,” Deference said, “but it’s the only way to convince Taushin.”

  Randall shook his head, staggering for a moment before righting himself. “He’ll never believe Jason would hit you that hard. He’ll just ask you, and the crystal will give you away.”

  “Maybe he won’t ask,” Koren said. “Maybe I’m far enough from the crystal that it won’t detect a lie.”

  Jason pointed at the crystal. “But just a minute ago you were worried about it giving you away. Now you’re ignoring the risk.”

  “I know. I know.” Koren cupped a hand over the wound. “Just leave and find Elyssa. Get the medicine and save some people from succumbing to the disease before Taushin and Mallerin come back. I’m only one person. I’m not worth the trouble.”

  “I can’t let you do this.” Jason extended his hand. “Give me the key to your manacles, or I’ll have to take it from you.”

  Koren gave him a glare, trying her best to show anger. “Go now, or I’ll force you to go. You know I can.”

  “Then just give me the key, and I’ll let you stay. If Taushin finds it on you, he’ll know you faked my escape. Like Deference said, we can hide it, and she can bring it to you when you need it.”

  “No tricks.” Koren raised the fist that held the key. “Say it to the crystal, that you won’t try to force me to leave.”

  Jason’s fingers rolled up. “Do you think I would lie to you?”

  “I …” Koren swallowed. “No, it’s just that—”

  “It’s just that you’re forgetting who to trust.” Jason drew his hand back. “I’m not talking to the crystal. Either believe me, or don’t believe me. It’s up to you.”

  Koren clenched her fists, trying to keep them from trembling. Heat surged into her cheeks and ears. Her body shaking uncontrollably, she rose to her knees and hugged herself to stop the tremors. “Oh, Jason, I’m so confused!”

  He knelt and wrapped his arms around her. As he held her close, she slid her arms around him and wept on his shoulder, making his body shake with her sobs. “I found out my father was alive, and now he’s dead. I practically killed Alaph because I was too stubborn and stupid to trust him. And now I almost lost faith in you.” She took a quick breath. “I want to do what’s right, but like you said, I can’t figure out who to trust. I try to make sure no one else gets hurt, but then they get hurt anyway.”

  Jason patted her on the back. “You did the best you could. You always do. You can’t control everything.”

  “But I’m even messing up the things I can control. When I saw what Alaph did to his mate, I couldn’t trust him anymore, so I wouldn’t drink the mercy bl
ood.”

  “The mercy blood?”

  “Right. I should have taken it. So now I feel the burden of all of Starlight, and I can’t just shrug it off. Like I said, I have to stop Taushin from hurting Cassabrie, but even when I know he’s trying to influence me, I think I can outsmart him —”

  “Koren,” Jason whispered. “Slow down. Your mind’s running too fast. Take some deep breaths and relax a minute.”

  Nodding, she breathed deeply for several moments, then drew back and wiped her tears. “Thank you.”

  Jason swept a tear from her chin with his finger. “Do you want to tell me about Alaph and the mercy blood? Is Alaph dead?”

  Tears welled again. “Yes. And, no, I don’t really want to talk about it. I shouldn’t have mentioned the blood. There’s nothing that can be done about it anyway.”

  Though she kept her gaze on the ground, Koren could feel him watching her. After a long pause, he said, “Okay. That’s fine. I trust you.”

  Koren let the words melt into her mind, soothing, strengthening. I trust you. How could she hold back the same gift?

  Koren grasped his hand. “Thank you, Jason. I trust you, too. I know you won’t force me to leave.” She set the manacles’ key in his palm but kept the dome key. “I’m so glad you understand.”

  “Understand?” Jason laughed under his breath. “Not really, but I said I’d trust you, so that’s the way it’s going to be.”

  Koren gazed into his sincere eyes. No, he didn’t really understand. He was trying, but it was simply out of his reach. He had never been a slave. He had never felt the futility, the despair. And he wasn’t a Starlighter. He wasn’t called to carry the burdens of Starlight. He was a man of the sword, not an angel of mercy. He couldn’t fathom the absolute necessity of protecting Cassabrie at all costs. He had to do his part, and she had to do hers.

  “I think you should go,” she said, turning away. “Thank you for all the help you’re giving us.”

  “I’m not ready to go.” Jason laid his hand on her cheek and gently turned her toward him. “Listen to me, Koren. I know you want to protect everyone and be the only one who gets hurt, but Elyssa and Randall and Tibber and I didn’t come here to sit around and let any slave offer herself at an altar. When I saw you chained to the black egg, I made a vow never to allow a slave to toil in misery while I lived at ease. I’m not about to let that happen now. I’ll leave you here for a little while, but one way or another, we’re going to get out of this together.”