Cassabrie to see if you can learn how to identify her distinctive attributes.”
“Are you saying you want to locate other Starlighters so you can kill them as well?”
Zena halted. “I am willing to sacrifice this Starlighter for the sake of our land, but we must be ready to capture and control the next one. When the black egg appears, her cooperation will be crucial. You know this as well as I do.”
After glaring at Zena for a long moment, Arxad lowered his head. “I will do as you ask.”
“After your tests,” Zena said, “have her put on the Starlighter’s vestment. She must be at full power when the absorption takes place. And let there be a public procession so that every slave will believe that Cassabrie caused any climate change that comes about.”
Jason mopped sweat from his brow. This story was so real, his heart thumped. Again the air seemed to ripple, and when it cleared, Cassabrie stood with her back to the crystal, chains wrapped around her body. The domed ceiling had opened, and sunlight beat down upon her. The sphere captured Solarus’s rays and reflected them into her body.
Now dressed in a white gown and a blue cloak, sweat poured down her cheeks and dampened her clothes. The cloak’s hood covered her head, allowing only wisps of her flaming red hair to peek out, and her eyes sparkled with green luminescence, a bright mimicry of the pair of embroidered green eyes on the front of her cloak.
Dozens of people filed past, some looking on with disdain. A few displayed sadder frowns, while Brucilla couldn’t look at Cassabrie at all. She wept bitterly as she staggered by.
Uriel sat within a few steps of the sphere, also bound in chains. Whenever Cassabrie groaned, he winced, as if sharing her pain. Soon the last human witness disappeared, and two dragons stood in front of Cassabrie: Arxad and Magnar.
Sweat no longer seeped from her pores. Her hood had fallen to her shoulders, exposing her face fully to Solarus. With her head leaning back against the radiant sphere, stringy hair stuck to her cheeks, and cracks covered her bleeding lips. She licked her bottom lip with a swollen tongue but made no sound.
“If the heat kills her too soon,” Magnar said, “the crystal will not absorb enough energy.”
Arxad laid a foreclaw on the chains. “She is suffering greatly. Either kill her now or let her go. Mercy demands one or the other.”
“Mercy?” Magnar swiped Arxad’s claw away. “If we lack the energy to keep our region fertile, then dragons will die, and they are of more value than this runt of a human.”
After shooting a glance at Uriel, Arxad thrust his face close to Magnar’s. “You are the one who decided to rely on the crystal rather than natural cycles, and now we are all paying the price.”
“Those natural cycles brought about our loss of pheterone,” Magnar replied, his cadence stilted, as if he were reading from a script. “If not for that, we would never have returned to Darksphere and enslaved humans.”
“There was nothing natural about it. Fear destroyed our pheterone source, and only faith in the prophecy will restore it. You trusted in your own devices. You have forsaken faith in the Creator.”
Magnar swung around and smacked Arxad in the face with his spiked tail. Arxad winced but stood his ground, blinking away blood that oozed from a cut on his brow.
Pointing a claw at Arxad, Magnar bellowed, “You are fortunate that you uttered these insults with condemned prisoners as your only witnesses. Your evil words will die with them. If not for your ability to warn the miners of coming quakes and flooding rivers, I would have dismissed you long ago.”
“I prefer dismissal. I made my vow in ignorance, and I wish to be released from it.”
Magnar set his snout near Arxad’s and stared at him, eye to eye. “The only release from your vow is death, and you know why I cannot allow that.”
Backing away, Arxad lowered his head. “Yes … I know.”
“Now
“Are you saying you want to locate other Starlighters so you can kill them as well?”
Zena halted. “I am willing to sacrifice this Starlighter for the sake of our land, but we must be ready to capture and control the next one. When the black egg appears, her cooperation will be crucial. You know this as well as I do.”
After glaring at Zena for a long moment, Arxad lowered his head. “I will do as you ask.”
“After your tests,” Zena said, “have her put on the Starlighter’s vestment. She must be at full power when the absorption takes place. And let there be a public procession so that every slave will believe that Cassabrie caused any climate change that comes about.”
Jason mopped sweat from his brow. This story was so real, his heart thumped. Again the air seemed to ripple, and when it cleared, Cassabrie stood with her back to the crystal, chains wrapped around her body. The domed ceiling had opened, and sunlight beat down upon her. The sphere captured Solarus’s rays and reflected them into her body.
Now dressed in a white gown and a blue cloak, sweat poured down her cheeks and dampened her clothes. The cloak’s hood covered her head, allowing only wisps of her flaming red hair to peek out, and her eyes sparkled with green luminescence, a bright mimicry of the pair of embroidered green eyes on the front of her cloak.
Dozens of people filed past, some looking on with disdain. A few displayed sadder frowns, while Brucilla couldn’t look at Cassabrie at all. She wept bitterly as she staggered by.
Uriel sat within a few steps of the sphere, also bound in chains. Whenever Cassabrie groaned, he winced, as if sharing her pain. Soon the last human witness disappeared, and two dragons stood in front of Cassabrie: Arxad and Magnar.
Sweat no longer seeped from her pores. Her hood had fallen to her shoulders, exposing her face fully to Solarus. With her head leaning back against the radiant sphere, stringy hair stuck to her cheeks, and cracks covered her bleeding lips. She licked her bottom lip with a swollen tongue but made no sound.
“If the heat kills her too soon,” Magnar said, “the crystal will not absorb enough energy.”
Arxad laid a foreclaw on the chains. “She is suffering greatly. Either kill her now or let her go. Mercy demands one or the other.”
“Mercy?” Magnar swiped Arxad’s claw away. “If we lack the energy to keep our region fertile, then dragons will die, and they are of more value than this runt of a human.”
After shooting a glance at Uriel, Arxad thrust his face close to Magnar’s. “You are the one who decided to rely on the crystal rather than natural cycles, and now we are all paying the price.”
“Those natural cycles brought about our loss of pheterone,” Magnar replied, his cadence stilted, as if he were reading from a script. “If not for that, we would never have returned to Darksphere and enslaved humans.”
“There was nothing natural about it. Fear destroyed our pheterone source, and only faith in the prophecy will restore it. You trusted in your own devices. You have forsaken faith in the Creator.”
Magnar swung around and smacked Arxad in the face with his spiked tail. Arxad winced but stood his ground, blinking away blood that oozed from a cut on his brow.
Pointing a claw at Arxad, Magnar bellowed, “You are fortunate that you uttered these insults with condemned prisoners as your only witnesses. Your evil words will die with them. If not for your ability to warn the miners of coming quakes and flooding rivers, I would have dismissed you long ago.”
“I prefer dismissal. I made my vow in ignorance, and I wish to be released from it.”
Magnar set his snout near Arxad’s and stared at him, eye to eye. “The only release from your vow is death, and you know why I cannot allow that.”
Backing away, Arxad lowered his head. “Yes … I know.”
“Now
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