Diviner (24 page)

“I cannot answer for Arxad. We can only guess at his reasons based on what we saw and heard.”

During the ensuing silence, Madam composed herself. Then, her voice transformed into a spite-filled growl. “Arxad is a dragon, so he does what is best for himself and other dragons. When I next see him, he will answer for taking my daughter from me.” She then raised a clenched fist. “We must rise up and fight. Maybe together we can break our bonds and escape to the Northlands.”

“That is my hope,” Koren said, “but it will require a united effort. Many of us will suffer, and some will die in the process.”

“Then so be it. With you here to provide the truth about the dragons’ cruelty, maybe people will listen. Maybe they will be willing to risk danger in order to find freedom.”

“Enough of this talk!” A dragon flew at Koren and slapped Exodus with a wing as he passed. Exodus zoomed up, spinning wildly toward the Zodiac. Koren spun with it. Her cloak spread out, and light shot from her body, sending streams of energy through the outer membrane and all across the village.

Exodus struck one of the spires and bounced back, slowing its spin. Koren set her feet and halted the rotation. Then, gliding back over the street, she surveyed the brightening scene. Yeager now stood next to Madam Orley, wrenching her arms behind her back and tying them together with a rope. Hyborn flew to a landing and trotted up to them, his hot stare aimed at Koren. “So this is your plan!” Hyborn shouted. “You hope to incite a rebellion by twisting history to suit your purposes.”

Koren inhaled deeply. It would be best to stay calm and just speak the truth. “I am not twisting history. I am showing exactly what occurred.”

“When you show selected events out of context, you
are
twisting history. Yesterday in the presence of dragons, you displayed the overwhelming cruelty of humans, buying our favor with your hypnotizing rhetoric. Yet today you tried to ensnare this woman by telling of a singular act of cruelty by one dragon, and you hoped to ignite passions through emotional appeal.” Extending his neck, Hyborn angled his head upward and looked at her nearly eye to eye. His voice lowered to a growling whisper. “Your power is great, Starlighter, and you have proven how dangerous you are.”

Koren pulled her cloak closer to her body, trying to hide her trembling legs. Steeling herself, she kept her voice steady. “Is one act really out of context? That one act was committed by the dragon king who guides and represents you all, and it was not singular. Magnar has repeated his ravenous cruelty many times. What I have shown is enough to condemn the authority of those who enslave my people.”

“It is true that Magnar has committed acts of cruelty,” Hyborn said, “but that does not give you the right to stand in judgment of all dragons.”

Squinting at her light, Yeager tightened Madam’s binding knot with a hard jerk. “I knew you were a prideful princess when I sold you to Arxad, but now your lofty perch has swelled you into a high-and-mighty queen. You can’t even walk or talk with us. How dare you try to get us to rise up against our masters! It is a hopeless dream and a foolish one.”

Hyborn lowered his head and looked at Madam Orley. “In order to ensure that no humans heed this Starlighter’s words, let us make an example of this woman. I will take her to the Basilica gate where she will be tied and left without food or water until she dies.”

Koren balled her fists. “By whose authority? You can’t take Arxad’s housekeeper!”

“I spoke to Taushin about this matter earlier this morning. Since I am less susceptible to your charms than most, he gave me authority to quell any uprising through any means that I desire.” Hyborn turned to Yeager. “Spread the news. The lockdown is over. Before going to their normal duties, everyone must pass by the Basilica and express their contempt for this rebel. Those who disobey will suffer the same fate.”

“But I haven’t done anything wrong,” Madam Orley said as she twisted her hands and wrists at her back. “Is it a crime to want to be free from bondage?”

Hyborn slapped Madam with a wing, cutting her cheek. Blood poured from the wound and dripped to her shoulder. She cried out but quickly bit her lip.

“You will be silent,” Hyborn shouted. “It
is
a crime to conspire with this Starlighter to incite rebellion.”

“Leave her alone!” Koren drove Exodus downward, but Hyborn slapped the star again. As Koren flew upward in a wild spin, she dropped to hands and knees and looked through the sphere’s floor. Below, Hyborn grabbed Madam Orley by the hair and dragged her toward the Basilica. “Go down!” Koren pounded the floor. “I have to help Madam!”

Exodus gradually leveled out, its spin easing. Then, as slow as a setting moon, it descended. “Faster!” she shouted, blinking away dizziness. “Why aren’t you listening to me?”

Hyborn threw Madam toward the Basilica, slamming her head against the gate. Yeager wrapped the rope around her midsection and fastened her to the iron bars. “Now go,” Hyborn said to Yeager. “Bring your fellow slaves. No one is exempt.”

While Yeager ran toward the grottoes, Koren drew closer. She rose to her feet and whipped her cloak around. “Hyborn! Hear my words. You will regret this brutality.”

“Is that so?” Hyborn laughed. “What will you do to me? Hurt my ears with your endless squeaking?”

She halted the lower part of Exodus just above Hyborn’s eye level. “I call to witness every slave to whom you have been cruel!”

An old man hobbled toward Hyborn, bent at the waist as he leaned on a walking stick. A small girl followed, wearing short trousers. Red welts striped her exposed legs. At least twenty men, women, and children joined the procession. Each one bore a bruise, walked with a limp, or displayed whip marks.

As Hyborn watched them approach, his neck swayed from side to side. He blinked several times as if trying to ward off sleep. When the people drew near, they formed two lines that looped around him. As soon as the circle was complete, Koren called out. “You speak of singular events, yet each one of these slaves has borne witness to your cruelty multiple times. Shall I ask them to describe your crimes against them?”

Hyborn closed his eyes and wagged his head hard. “I will not stand here to be ridiculed by your phantasms!” He blew a stream of fire at the bent man, engulfing him in flames, then pivoted slowly in an arc, blasting the witnesses until they all disappeared. An errant burst of fire swept across Madam’s legs. She cried out, shaking so violently the gate’s bars vibrated.

Another old man ran toward the dragon. “Allow me to stand guard,” he shouted. “I’ll watch this cowardly rebel.”

Koren clenched a fist.
Tibalt!

“Who are you?” Hyborn asked. “I do not recognize you.”

Tibalt bowed. “My name is Tibalt. I saw how you scorched those demons the Starlighter conjured.” He swung a fist. “Whoo-hee! That’ll teach that sorceress to mess with our masters!”

Madam Orley cried out. “Tibalt! Help me! I need water for my legs!”

“Do you know this woman?” Hyborn asked.

Tibalt squinted at Madam. “Met her last night. Been suspicious of her ever since. She said some crazy things about thinking we should be free. Imagine that! What would we do if dragons set us free? Why, we would probably starve and come back on our knees begging for our chains.”

Koren cringed.
Careful, Tibalt. Don’t pour it on too thick.

Hyborn gave Tibalt a skeptical stare. “Do not think you can gain my favor with your fawning rhetoric. I have seen many deceivers in my time.”

“And I have spent too many years in prison to want to go there again,” Tibalt said, bowing.

“Magnar never told me about a human prisoner. Why did he detain you for so long?”

Tibalt pointed at himself. “Because I am the son of Uriel Blackstone, one of the original slaves. Magnar didn’t want me spreading stories about how humans arrived here, but he also wanted to preserve me for, as he put it, a ‘genetic resource.’ Apparently, Magnar wasn’t worried about me anymore, so he gave orders for my release.”

“Yes,” Hyborn said, still staring. “I see the resemblance.”

Tibalt offered another quick bow. “Then you must know that I speak only the truth. The last thing I want to do is go back to that prison.”

“Then stay here and guard her while I report to Taushin, but do not give her any water.” Hyborn spread out his wings and spat a ball of fire near Tibalt’s feet. “If you fail me, you will be the next fool I scorch. I can always capture her again.”

Tibalt leaped back from the flames. “Don’t worry. I’ll watch that rebel like a guardian dragon.”

Hyborn lifted into the air, swept past Exodus without a glance at Koren, and descended through an opening in the Basilica roof.

Tibalt looked all around before tiptoeing to Madam Orley. “Now try to stay quiet. I’ll have you out of here before you can say, ‘Magnar’s a monkey.’”

As he worked to untie the knot, Madam Orley stared at Koren, her deeply etched face giving away her pain.

Tibalt muttered, “They must have knots here we don’t have back home.”

“You!” Yeager called, running toward them at a gallop. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Tibalt thrust his hands behind his back. “I was checking to see if her knots are secure.”

Yeager slowed to a halt in front of Madam Orley. “Of course they’re tight. I tied them myself.”

“They are tight, indeed. Tight as a school marm’s hair.”

“School marm?” Yeager gave him a quizzical look. “What’s a school marm?”

Koren pressed her fingers against her lips.
Careful, Tibalt.

“It’s a saying we had back when I was a young’un, way before your time.”

“Madam Orley told me about you.” Yeager checked the knots. Apparently satisfied, he turned back to Tibalt. “How many years have you seen, old man?”

“I lost count. More than ninety, I suppose. But since I just got out of prison, I don’t know the folks here.”

“Well, you’ll have a chance to meet many of us. I gave the command to one of our tongue waggers, so it won’t take long for word to get around.”

While Tibalt and Yeager talked, Koren glanced around—from the Basilica gate to the hole in its roof to the Zodiac. She had to do something. But what? Maybe it would be best to wait for the other slaves to show up, then she could try to persuade them all at once. That might be the only way to get the proverbial river past the barrier wall, to communicate the new idea and create an unstoppable wave. At the very least, maybe someone would help Madam Orley.

After a few minutes, a line of slaves streamed up the slope and onto the street. Most appeared to be more tired than usual, perhaps weary at being summoned yet again to the village. Many gave Exodus a quick glance before turning away with a grimace. Children of all ages and sizes accompanied the adults, including infants carried in mothers’ arms.

Koren lifted Exodus higher. Maybe if she stayed aloft until the right time, the people wouldn’t be so annoyed when she began speaking. After ascending to at least five hundred feet, she looked down over the region the dragons called home. From this elevation, the area seemed small, like a ragged oval hemmed in by an incomplete wall and a range of forested mountains. Compared to the vast lands outside the barriers, the dragons’ abode was no more than a …

Koren tapped her chin. An egg? Yes, that was it. It was a shelled-in habitat populated by creatures who knew little about the world beyond their boundaries. With the exception of the older dragons, they had no idea that other civilizations flourished, not only in their own world, but also on other planets. Their ignorance had led them to believe that their existence was the only one possible. Truly, humans and dragons alike were slaves, bound by their limited understanding, and since ignorance often breeds arrogance, they stubbornly insisted that those who delivered contrary ideas must be evil or else insane.

Koren sighed. Ignorance mixed with arrogance made such a foul stew, and those who brewed the concoction seemed unable to detect its rancid odor.

After a few minutes, Hyborn emerged from the Basilica and flew down to the street, apparently unaware that Koren watched from high above. As hundreds of slaves gathered, another dragon flew from the Basilica roof, a black dragon with a passenger dressed in white who carried a staff in her hands.

Koren guided Exodus downward. Taushin’s appearance meant trouble. She might not get another chance to speak to all the people at once, so she couldn’t let him spoil it.

Taushin landed next to Hyborn, and Zena slid off his back, still carrying the staff. A rope dangled from the staff’s end and coiled over Zena’s shoulder. As Koren descended, the people began lifting their hands to block her light. Some cringed. A few of the babies cried, while younger children hid behind their parents.

“Go back where you came from!” Yeager shouted. “We don’t want you here!”

Koren allowed Exodus to hover about thirty feet above the Basilica’s gate. She spread out her cloak and called, “Please give me an opportunity to speak. Surely you are kind and merciful enough to allow a girl such as I to plead for a moment of your time. You have the courage to bear with words. They cannot bring you harm.”

Yeager pointed at her.
“Your
words can bring harm. You have the power to hypnotize, so stay quiet, or one of the dragons will slap you away again.”

She avoided eye contact with him. “Listen, my friends. The dragons have imprisoned you for your entire lives. You know nothing beyond the barriers that surround you. There really is a Northlands and a true king of the dragons. I have been to his castle and have seen the wonders. From within that castle I resurrected Exodus, the star in which I now abide. Surely you must wonder where it came from.”

“It came from the depths of evil,” Yeager said. “It is scorching my skin, and I can already feel your words making me dizzy.”

Taushin swished his tail back and forth, a sign of dragon amusement. “Let her speak,” he said. “I am immune to her, so I will stay alert. I find her rhetoric entertaining.”

Koren again kept her gaze on the people. “I am not here to entertain. I am here to tell you about another life. Like a river that has been blocked by a dam, you long for freedom to seek the valleys you were designed to refresh, but as you build up pressure to overcome the barrier, the dam builders bleed you. They kill those who oppose their rule. They torture children to bring you into submission. They instill fear in your hearts, telling you that beasts in the wilderness will tear your bodies to pieces. And although you have never beheld one of these beasts or witnessed such a slaughter, you embrace fear. You hold tightly to the security of things you have witnessed with your eyes. You see, the dragons know if you could travel beyond the wall and experience the beautiful valleys, you would realize this land of stunted trees, cacti, and arid plains is not where you belong. It is a land of deadness, a quarantined desolation. You would realize that lush foliage, unlike the legendary wilderness, does not hide wild beasts that wait to devour you.”