by Julia Gray
When will the islands next be at their closest point to the coast here?
That's difficult to say, Shahan replied. The council's working on the details of the new course. It won't be for some time, though. The Dark Moon's still accelerating and—
Well, when they get there, I'm going home, Terrel declared.
You'd be a fugitive in your own land.
I don't care. I've sworn to get back.
It may not be possible, Terrel.
Really? Why should I believe anything you say? All you 've done is lie to me.
Not lied, Shahan said. There were some things we thought it wisest to withold from you.
So now what have you decided not to tell me?
The Code is ambiguous, Muzeni replied. It will probably remain so until all the prophecies have played themselves out. Anything we could tell you now would just be speculation.
You're hiding behind words, Terrel claimed. You've always known more than you
're willing to admit. You used me, and you used my friends too. They 'd never have let me be sent into exile if they'd known.
Maybe not, Shahan conceded, but Elam and Alyssa knew what was at stake, just as you did.
But that's over now. The islands are safe!
For now.
What do you mean? I kept my bargain. I kept it!
Muzeni and Shahan glanced at each other, and Terrel was about to accuse them of keeping something from him again, when he was distracted by the sound of another human voice.
'There you are, Terrel. Farazin told me I'd find you out here somewhere.'
It was Kerin. He strode into the clearing, carrying a small hunting bow.
Terrel saw him look at the dove, and reacted in horror.
'Don't shoot!' he cried aloud, while at the same time silently urging Alyssa to leave.
The bird flew off and, to Terrel's relief, Kerin made no move to take one of his arrows from the quiver slung over his shoulder.
'Not much meat on that,' the hunter remarked, as he watched the dove's flight.
'But you can't get sentimental about all animals, you know. We have to eat.'
'I know.' Terrel's moment of panic was over. The bird was just a bird once more. Alyssa had gone, and - as a result - the ghosts had vanished too. Kerin had given no sign of having known they were there, but it still made it easier for Terrel to concentrate - in as much as he could concentrate on anything after all the recent revelations.
'Are you all right?' Kerin asked. 'You look a bit upset.'
Chapter Fifteen
'Those sleepers are strange, aren't they?' Kerin said, mistaking the reason for his companion's preoccupation.
'Yes, they are,' Terrel replied.
They were walking slowly back towards the village.
'And now it seems we've got another one.'
Terrel did not bother to contradict him, even though he was reasonably sure that Talker's condition was not the same as the group in the cave. In spite of everything else that was on his mind, he had just remembered that Alyssa's coma was somehow connected to the elemental in the mines at Betancuria. Was it possible that the creature's influence could have stretched this far? And then something else occurred to him. Could the elemental have been responsible for the phenomenal growth of the black mountain? Terrel rejected this idea almost as soon as he thought of it. The mountain had appeared more than a decade ago, and the elemental had not been noticed in Betancuria until last year. Not only that, but the distances
involved must be too great even for a creature of such extraordinary powers.
'Don't you think so?' Kerin asked.
'What?' Terrel realized that he hadn't heard what the villager had said. 'I'm sorry, I was miles away. What were you saying?'
'I was just wondering if you believed in ghosts.'
Terrel tried to hide his nervous confusion by laughing, even as he wondered whether Kerin had seen something in the glade after all.
'It's just that some of the kids in the village won't go near that place,' the prospector explained. 'They think it's haunted.'
'Really?'
'Amazing the imagination they have at that age, isn't it?'
'Yes, it is.'
'It's a shame we have to grow out of it, eh?'
An hour or so before dawn, when the rest of her family was still asleep, Ysatel was roused by a rustling sound coming from the second room. She got up carefully, and went over to the connecting doorway. There was just enough light filtering in from the Amber Moon - which at two-thirds full was the brightest of the moons that night - for her to see that Terrel was sitting up in bed, and appeared to be fully alert. The soft illumination made his eyes shine like jewels.
'Are you all right?' she whispered.
He nodded, but did not look at her, and seemed to be preoccupied with something. He closed his eyes, and a moment later Ysatel had the feeling that the boy wanted
to be left alone so that he could dream. She smiled, understanding, and went back to her husband.
You can open your eyes now, Elam told him, sounding amused. Or are you going to pretend to dream all the time we're here?
Terrel ignored him.
She's very obliging, isn't she'? Elam remarked. All you have to do is think it, and she does what she's told.
Don' tyou ever mock her! Terrel snapped, glaring at his friend.
All right, all right. There's no need to set my tongue on fire.
Are dreams so important here? Shahan asked.
Yes. The sharaken - which I think might be Macul's equivalent of the seers -
are called dream-traders. I don't understand it all, but people here regard them as a source of magic and power.
The ghosts - all three of them this time - had arrived shortly after Alyssa, in the guise of a mouse, had burrowed her way to Terrel's bedside. In the near darkness their shapes were much brighter and clearer, but Ysatel obviously hadn't seen anything. Their spectral light did not even cast any shadows.
Have you calmed down since this afternoon? Muzeni asked. The long-dead heretic seemed genuinely concerned, and the patronizing tone he often employed was noticeable by its absence.
I'm not sure, Terrel replied grudgingly.
Well, have you forgiven us, at least? Shahan enquired.
I don't know if I'll ever do that.
Oh, come now, Muzeni began.
He's twisting your beards, Elam told them. Then, seeing their baffled expressions, he added, He's getting his own back. Teasing you.
Don't bet on it, Terrel said. What they did was close to unforgivable. If you didn 't have such a big mouth, I might never have known.
Me? Elam spluttered. A big - How can you say that?
You 'd have worked it out for yourself sooner or later, Alyssa said.
Probably later, Elam added, knowing how slowly your brain works.
The old men had been following this exchange with some puzzlement, but when they noticed that Terrel and Elam were both grinning now, they began to look more hopeful. No one could tell what the mouse was thinking, but then that was often the case with Alyssa anyway.
I'm still going back to Vadanis the first chance I get, Terrel said, becoming serious again. Nothing you can say is going to change that.
You must do what you think is best, Shahan said.
But?
No one ventured a response.
You said before that it might not be possible, Terrel pointed out. Don't you think you owe it to me to explain that?
Your role in what happens won't be completed until the next four-moon conjunction, Muzeni told him. Until then, there's no telling—
And when will that be? Terrel interrupted.
The latest estimate is forty-six years from now, Shahan replied.
Forty-six years! Are you insane? I'll be an old man by then.
But if the Dark Moon keeps changing orbit, the seer added, it could be earlier.
Oh, that's all right then, Terrel muttered sarcastically.
> It's already fifteen years ahead of schedule.
I don't care. This is all meaningless. I've done my part. I kept my side of the bargain with the elemental, the islands aren't going to collide with the mainland — and that's enough. I'm going home. I don't care if I'm a prince.
Alyssa's right, I'm still myself. That's all that matters.
It's because of who you are that you've come this far, Muzeni said. Titles don't mean anything on their own.
We can agree on that, at least, Terrel replied. Jax is welcome to be the Guardian. Let him be the hero from now on.
You think he can? Shahan asked.
His pointed question silenced Terrel for a time, but did not alter his resolve.
Rather him than me, he said defiantly.
Let's forget about the future for a while, shall we? Elam suggested. And concentrate on the present. Why are we here now?
Terrel pulled a face, but realized that the argument was going nowhere, and decided he should make the most of his time with the ghosts.
This is a strange place, Elam added. So I suppose it's not surprising you fitted in so easily.
They're good people, Terrel replied. Most of them, anyway. They 've treated me very well.
They obviously recognized your regal importance.
Very funny. Terrel still met with a blank wall of disbelief whenever he thought about his blood family. Intellectually, he had accepted it as the truth; emotionally, the idea seemed utterly absurd.
It's because they knew he was a healer, Alyssa claimed.
How could they know that when I didn 't even realize it myself? Terrel asked.
I'm still not sure it's really true.
But it works, doesn't it?
Yes, but I don't understand how.
Tell us about it, Shahan suggested.
As Terrel did his best to describe the workings of his mysterious talent, he wondered how Alyssa already seemed to know all about it. There had been no time to discuss his recent exploits in Fenduca, but nothing he'd said appeared to come as any surprise to her. The others were duly impressed by what he'd achieved, and in listing his various accomplishments he began to feel the stirrings of pride.
You've always been like that with animals, Alyssa said when he'd finished.
This is just an extension of that.
Terrel glanced down at the mouse and wondered if, when she borrowed the various creatures' bodies, Alyssa retained enough of their instincts and awareness to recognize his ability.
I think that's the only reason I was able to survive in Betancuria, she went on.
That came as a surprise to Terrel. He had not been aware of helping her while they'd been in the mining district. Although the stonechat had slept next to his skin often enough, the protection he'd offered had simply been physical.
If any healing had taken place, it had been completely unconscious.
You say that what you do is instinctive? Muzeni asked.
In the sense that I do anything, yes.
I suspect, therefore, the heretic said, in the slightly pompous tone he often adopted when expounding one of his theories, that these instincts became ingrained before you were born. If you 're right, and you suffered your injuries at the hands of your twin brother, it's possible that in defending yourself from something even worse, you may have developed means of protecting the core of your wellbeing and of blunting the effects of pain. And now you
've found a way of passing on this knowledge to others.
The phrase 'something even worse' triggered a memory of something the enchanter had said to Terrel -Perhaps I should have crushed your skull instead of just an arm and a leg - and he shuddered at the thought of what might have been.
That hypothesis may bear some examination, Shahan said thoughtfully, but it doesn't explain the time delay with human patients, compared to the instantaneous response of the animals.
Elam glanced at Terrel and rolled his eyes, but it was Alyssa who cut short the erudite debate that might have followed.
Human beings have to convince themselves and their own bodies, she remarked.
Animals just know - and do it.
As you are in a unique position to know, my dear, Muzeni commented.
Actually, I've got another idea, she went on, ignoring the interruption. I think it's nature's way of compensating Terrel for his physical afflictions.
He's lived with pain his whole life, and so he knows how to deal with suffering.
You never stopped my knees aching, Elam complained, pretending to be affronted.
I didn 't know I could.
He did help you at the observatory, though, Alyssa said. That time you fell through the roof Terrel stopped the bleeding and made your headache better. If it hadn't been for him, you might have died then and there.
The others were silent, their thoughts moving from that fateful night to the time when Elam had died, only a few days later. There had been nothing Terrel could have done about that. It was a sober reminder - like the deaths of Solan and the two miners - that no matter what powers Terrel possessed, their scope had limits.
Tell us more about this Talker, Muzeni requested.
He's still unconscious, as far as I know.
But you don't think he's another sleeper?
No. It feels different.
His spirit is trapped, not wandering, Alyssa confirmed.
Do you really think he saw the star inside me? Terrel asked. The only time I was able to see the amulet was when I was inside the elemental.
Perhaps he's found another way of seeing, Alyssa suggested, now that his eyes don't work.
It would be interesting to talk to him when he finally wakes up, Shahan commented.
If you can make any sense of what he says, Terrel remarked.
So he's got something in common with Alyssa, then? Elam said, grinning. She—
There's someone coming, Alyssa warned.
The half-light that precedes dawn was creeping into the hut and as Terrel looked up, a small figure appeared, silhouetted in the outer doorway. It hesitated there, then came on, tiptoeing over to the second room.
'Hello, Davi,' Terrel said, recognizing the child who had brought him the snake. 'What are you doing here?'
'Have you seen my mouse?' Davi asked. He was obviously very nervous.
It's all right. Alyssa's words sounded silently inside Terrel's head. I have to go now anyway. You can give the mouse back.
Terrel nodded, reached down and scooped up the small creature in his good hand. As he watched, the ring around its neck dissolved into thin air -
something that he'd seen before, but which still made him feel very strange.
He wished that Alyssa and the ghosts could have stayed, but he knew better than to argue.
'Here you are,' he said to the boy, holding the mouse gently in his outstretched hand.
'I thought she'd come to you,' Davi said, stepping forward to reclaim his pet.
He took it, stroking her fur carefully, then blinked and glanced around the room.
'Where have your friends gone?' he asked.
Chapter Sixteen
'When do you think he'll get here?'
'I'm not sure. Possibly about a short month from now,' Farazin replied. 'Not that anyone's actually sure what a short month is any more.'
Terrel nodded, appreciating the sky-watcher's problem. The fact that you could not see the Dark Moon, that it looked the same whether it was full or new, made any observations extremely difficult. The moon was totally invisible during the day, and the only way its progress could be measured at night was by watching as it moved in front of distant stars or, - on much rarer occasions -when it eclipsed the other moons or the sun. What was more, Farazin had none of the optical instruments that the seers of Vadanis had devised to aid their astronomical calculations.
'I was taught that it's impossible for the Dark Moon's orbit to change,' the old man complained. 'And yet it has. It doesn't make any sense.'
'It'
s got bigger too,' Terrel said.
Farazin looked at him, obviously wondering whether he should take this second impossibility at face value. His confusion was painful to watch, and Terrel wished he hadn't spoken.
'At least that's what the seers on the islands think,' he added, by way of explanation.
'I wouldn't know about that,' Farazin responded gruffly.
The two of them were sitting just inside the doorway of the sky-watcher's home, watching rainwater cascading off the eaves and running in small rivulets down the path outside.
'Perhaps the sharakan will be able to tell you what's happening,' Terrel suggested hopefully.
Ever since a traveller had brought the news that one of the dream-traders was visiting a nearby village, and was apparently planning to come on to Fenduca in due course, Terrel's mind had been full of questions. But no one in the village had been either willing or able to answer them.
'Perhaps,' Farazin said. 'But he's just as likely to keep any information to himself. They're a law unto themselves.'
'You don't seem very keen on the idea of his coming.'
Tm not. I prefer messages being passed on to me in the usual way. Having one of the sharaken here can mean trouble.'
'They've been to Fenduca before, then?'
'Yes, but the last one came over six years ago.'
'What did he want?'
'No one ever found out,' Farazin replied, then looked down at the chart laid out on his lap. 'Let me see. The White Moon is new, the Amber will be full tomorrow, and the Red is at one quarter and waning. And I think the Dark Moon is full now. That means . . .'He fell silent, obviously lost in thought.
Terrel didn't like to interrupt, even though there was a lot he wanted to ask about the sharakan's visit. He had the distinct impression that this was something Farazin no longer wished to discuss - which was confirmed when the sky-watcher came to the end of his mental calculations, muttered something to himself, then looked at Terrel and made a very obvious effort to change the subject.
'How's Talker today?'
'Not too bad. Do you want to come and see him?'
The miner had been unconscious for almost three days, but had then woken apparently none the worse for wear. Terrel was glad that the blind man had proved not to be another sleeper.
