“We’ll take care of Papa and we’ll live happily. Maybe there’ll be other elves th^re. Rich elves, richer than any in Equilan. And they’ll have magnificent houses and they’ll welcome us to their homes. And the nasty, savage humans can crawl back into their jungle.” She rested her head on her brother’s chest. Drying her tears, she drew her hand, once again, across her mouth. Paithan said nothing, but let his sister dream. When we reach the star, he thought. What will happen to us when we reach the star?
The mensch took Haplo’s threat about the ship falling out of the skies seriously. An uneasy peace descended on the ship—a peace differing from war only in that it was less noisy and no blood was shed. If looks and wishes had been weapons, however, hardly anyone aboard would have been left alive. Humans and elves pointedly ignored each other’s existence. Rega and Paithan kept apart, either acting wisely, out of mutual consent, or because the barriers being erected by their people were becoming too thick and too high for them to surmount. The occasional fight broke out among the more hotheaded of the youth and was halted quickly by their elders. But the promise was in the eyes, if not on the lips, that it would be only a matter of time.
“When we reach the star …”
There was no more talk of a wedding.
34
A sharp bark, warning of an intruder, brought Haplo to his feet, waking him out of a deep sleep. His body and instincts were fully awake, if his mind wasn’t. Haplo slammed the visitor against the hull, pinned him across the chest with one arm, damped his fingers on the man’s jaw.
“One twist of my wrist and I break your neck!”
A gasp of breath, the body beneath Haplo’s went rigid as a corpse. Haplo blinked the sleep from his eyes, saw who his captive was. Slowly, he released his grip. “Don’t try slipping up on me again, elf. It’s not conducive to a long and healthy life.”
“I … I didn’t mean to!” Paithan massaged his bruised jaw, darting wary glances at Haplo and the growling, bristling dog.
“Hush.” Haplo stroked the animal. “It’s all right.” The dog’s growls lessened, but it continued to keep an eye on the elf. Haplo stretched to ease the kinks in his muscles and walked over to look out the window. He paused, staring, and whistled softly.
“That’s … that’s what I came up here to ask you about The shaken elf left the hull, detoured warily around the watchful dog, and cautiously approached the window.
Outside, everything had disappeared, swallowed up in what appeared to be a blanket of thick, moist wool pressed against the glass. Beads of water rolled down the panes and glistened on the scales of the dragon, whose body hugged the ship.
“What is it?” Paithan tried hard to keep his voice calm. “What’s happened to the star?”
“It’s still there. In fact, we’re close. Very close. This is a rain cloud, that’s all.”
The elf exhaled in relief. “Rain clouds! Just like our old world!”
“Yeah,” said Haplo. “Just like your old world.” The ship descended, the clouds flew past in wispy shreds, the rain streaked across the window in long rivulets. Then the cloud cover drifted past. Dragon Star plunged into sunlight once again. Land could be seen clearly below. The runes on the hull that had been glowing, monitoring air and pressure and gravity, slowly faded out. The mensch pressed close to the portholes, their gazes fixed eagerly on the ground rolling beneath them.
The old man was nowhere to be found.
Haplo listened to the conversations being carried around him, he watched the expression on the faces of the mensch.
First—joy. The voyage was over, they had reached the star safely. Second—relief. Lush green forests, lakes, seas, similar to home. The ship sailed nearer. A tremor of confusion passed among the mensch—brows contracted, lips parted. They leaned closer, pressing their faces flat against the panes. Eyes widened.
At last—realization, understanding.
Paithan returned to the bridge. Delicate crimson stained the elf’s pale cheeks. He pointed out the window.
“What’s going on? This is our world!”
“And there,” said Haplo, “is your star.” Light welled up from out the variegated greens of moss and jungle. Brilliant, bright, white, pulsating, the light hurt the eyes—it was truly like staring into a sun. But it wasn’t a sun, it wasn’t a star. The tight slowly began to dim and fade, even as they watched. A shadow moved across its surface and they could see, at last, when the shadow had nearly covered it, the light’s source.
“A city!” Haplo murmured in astonishment, in his own language. Not only that, but there was something familiar about it!
The light winked out, the city disappeared into darkness.
“What is it?” Paithan demanded, hoarsely.
Haplo shrugged, irritated at the interruption. He needed to think, he needed to get a closer look at that city. “I’m just the pilot. Why don’t you go ask the old man.”
The elf shot the Patryn a suspicious glance. Haplo ignored him, concentrated on his flying. “I’ll look for a clear place to land.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t land. Maybe there’s tytans—” A possibility. Haplo would have to deal with that when the time came. “We’re landing,” he stated.
Paithan sighed, stared back out the window. “Our own world!” he said bitterly. Putting his hands against the glass, he leaned against the panes and gazed out at the trees and mossy landscape that seemed to be leaping up to grab him and pull him down. “How could this have happened? We’ve traveled all this time!
Maybe we veered off course? Flew in a circle?”
“You saw the star shining in the sky. We flew straight as an arrow, right to it. Go ask Zifnab what happened.”
“Yes.” The elf’s face was strained, grim, resolute. “You’re right. I’ll go ask the old man.”
Haplo saw the dragon’s body, visible outside the window, contract. A shudder passed through the ship. A fiery red eye peered for a brief instant in the window, then suddenly the body uncoiled.
The frame shook, the ship listed precariously. Haplo clung to the steering stone for support. The ship righted itself, sailed gracefully downward, a heavy weight lifted. The dragon was gone.
Staring down, watching for a landing site, Haplo thought He caught a glimpse of a massive green body punging into the jungle, he was too preoccupied with his own problems at the moment to notice where. The trees were thick and tangled; the patches of moss were few. Haplo scanned the area below, trying to see through the strange darkness that appeared to emanate from the city, as if it had cast a gigantic shadow over the land.
That was impossible, however. To create night, the suns would have had to have disappeared. And the suns were right above them, their position fixed, unchanging. Light shone on Dragon Star, glistened off the wings, beamed in the window. Directly below the ship, all was dark.
Angry accusations, a shrill protest, and a cry of pain—the old man. Haplo smiled, shrugged again. He’d found a clear spot, large enough for the ship, close to the city, but not too close.
Haplo brought Dragon Star down. Tree branches reached out for them, snapped off. Leaves whipped past the window. The ship landed belly first on the moss. The impact, from the sounds of it, knocked everyone below off their feet. The Patryn looked out into pitch darkness.
They had reached the star.
Haplo had marked the location of the city in his mind before the ship set down, determining the direction he would need to travel to reach it. Working as swiftly as possible in the darkness, not daring to risk a light, he wrapped up a bite of food and filled a skin with water. Scrip packed, Haplo gave a low whistle. The dog leapt to its feet, padded over to stand near its master. The Patryn moved stealthily to the hatchway leading off the bridge and listened. The only sounds he heard were panicked voices coming from the mensch’s quarters. No one breathing softly in the passageway, no one spying. Not that he expected it. Darkness had swallowed the ship whole, sending most of the passengers—who had never viewed such a phenomenon—from rage into terror. Right now they were venting their fear and fury by yelling at the old man. But it wouldn’t be long before the mensch came traipsing up to Haplo, demanding explanations, answers, solutions.