StarMan (82 page)

Then he turned the handle, opened the door, and entered the chamber to meet his brother.

The door swung softly shut behind him.

Gorgrael stood ten or twelve paces away, perhaps standing before a fire, for Axis had a dim impression of some light glowing and leaping behind him.

He was as disgusting as Axis remembered from the cloud in the skies above the Ancient Barrows, and his presence was as evil and as putrid as Axis remembered from the nightmares his brother had tormented him with most of his life.

Gorgrael's face was twisted into a snarl, his lips pulled back from his canine teeth, his tongue lolling over his chin. Behind him, his wings were outstretched, their talons glinting.

Strangely, the overriding emotion that Axis felt seep towards him was envy.

Axis did not understand how he looked from Gorgrael's perspective - how confident, how golden, how princely. He was everything that Gorgrael had ever desired to be, and now he stood before the Destroyer, his faded blue eyes calm, his body relaxed and assured.

Axis did not realise how Gorgrael felt because all Axis could see from behind the mask of his concentration was Faraday.

Faraday - held fast by Gorgrael's clawed hands, one sunk deep into the flesh of her throat, the other clasped tight about her belly.

Faraday - her once-beautiful gown hanging from her in tatters, her flesh marked and bruised.

Faraday - her face towards him, her eyes at first dull with pain and fear and then - to Axis' horror -

brightening with hope and pleading and love.

Axis breathed deep, keeping his face calm, maintaining his concentration.

"I greet you wellj brother," Gorgrael hissed.

Axis inclined his head, and took a step towards Gorgrael -no further, because he saw Gorgrael's claws dig deeper at even that one step. "And I you, Gorgrael."

"Finally," Gorgrael said, and his body wriggled a bit. "Finally we meet here, you and I. As the Prophecy said we would."

Axis ignored him, his eyes travelling curiously about the chamber, although he saw nothing. "Is
be
not here to help you?"

"He?" Gorgrael tilted his head to one side. "He?"

"Your friend," Axis said. "WolfStar."

Gorgrael shuffled in his confusion, and he wondered what sort of trick this was. "WolfStar?"

"The man who taught you, Gorgrael."

"The Dark Man?"

Suitable, thought Axis, very suitable indeed. "The man who taught me also."

"No!" Gorgrael hissed, and Faraday moaned involuntarily as his claws tightened. "No/"

"Yes, indeed, brother. I walked ready trained into this Prophecy, and it was not my...our...
father
who trained me."

Gorgrael thought of all the times the Dark Man had gone, disappeared, sometimes for many months.

Had he spent that time training Axis? He thought of all the times the Dark Man had appeared, knowing exactly what Axis was thinking, what he was doing. Had he known because he had just left Axis, perhaps after an amusing dinner and light-hearted chat?

And
WolfStar?

"The most powerful of the Enchanter-Talons," Axis said. "I think he had this planned from the beginning, don't you? When, do you think, did he conceive this Prophecy for his own amusement? When did he begin to put the pieces in place? We are only pawns for his enjoyment, Gorgrael, nothing else. The Prophecy is nothing but idiot gabble for no reason other than babble and confusion."

Gorgrael screeched, and Faraday screamed with him, but Axis let none of this penetrate his concentration.

"The puppets mouth their words, make their moves, all to his direction. Doubtless the old grey wolf watches now, from some safe distance, and claps and chortles."

Axis took another step forwards, and this time Gorgrael was so wrapped in thoughts of the Dark Man's treachery and manipulation that he did not notice.

"Who do you think he wants to win, Gorgrael? You...or me? What does the script say, do you think?

Who has he backed?"

Another step, and Axis' hand firmed about the Rainbow Sceptre.

"I do not care," he continued, "because / intend to win -against you
and
against WolfStar, your Dark Man."

Gorgrael's head whipped up and he realised how close Axis had crept.

He hissed, low and sibilant.

Faraday screamed.

Axis' concentration wavered, and for an instant a look of agony swept across his face.

Gorgrael hissed again, this time in triumph.

Axis battled with his emotions, fought with all his being, and rebuilt the wall of concentration about him.

It took all he had, and then some.

Slowly, lest his movements propel Gorgrael into action, his free hand slipped the cloth from the head of the Rainbow Sceptre.

Rainbow light swirled about the chamber, and Gorgrael screamed and wept.

He let everything loose then, everything that he could against his golden brother. Dark power, so malevolent that it hissed in its own right, writhed about the chamber soaking up the rainbow light.

Chaotic music, the music of the Dance of Death, screeched and curled through the air, and both dark power and music coalesced about the form of Axis, masking him in a shadow thick with malice and evil.

Axis could feel it, feel it power towards him, feel all the horror and destruction of the universe thunder about him, seeking him, wanting him, and he closed his eyes and concentrated, concentrated so hard that all thought of Faraday and even of Gorgrael vanished from his mind, and he concentrated on the Star Dance.

He let its beauty and grace flood him, listening for the ...

Beat...reaching for its ...

Beat . . .and slowing his own heart so that it...

Beat...in time with the . . .

Beat...of the Star Dance. And in the ...

Beat...of the Star Dance Axis could hear the ...

Beat...of Azhure's heart, and Caelum's heart, and of all those who loved him. And he took courage and he took heart and he opened his eyes and hefted the Rainbow Sceptre in his hands and let the entire power of the Star Dance flood through him and through the Rainbow Sceptre until he could feel it throb with the ...

Beat...of the Star Dance and the . . .

Beat...of his own heart.

Axis stepped forward and raised the Sceptre above his head.

Gorgrael screamed with such pure fury and primeval fear that the ice walls of his fortress cracked.

With all the energy and potency he could garner he flung the power of the Dance of Death at Axis.

It surrounded the StarMan, clashing with the music of the Star Dance, seeking and invading and penetrating, until the frenetic coupling of the Dances throbbed through the chamber and through the entire Ice Fortress until it thundered across the tundra beyond.

And through the cracked and demented beat of the Dance of Death, throbbed the crazed heartbeat of Gorgrael - itself enough to induce despair in any who heard it.

For a heart...

Beat. . .the dark shadow surrounding Axis seemed inviolate, seemed as though it was indeed smothering him, as though it was indeed killing through despair, but then a ruby beam pierced the cloud, then a golden one, and another, and then sapphire and emerald broke through, and ...

Beat . . .the full rainbow power of the Sceptre flooded through the shadow and about the chamber, fed with the laughter of age-old Sentinels, and gradually, very, very gradually, the Rainbow Light and the laughter absorbed the power of the Dark Music, absorbed the power of the Dance of Death, and the cloud about Axis dissipated into useless fingers that trailed about the chamber until they, too, faded before the relentless . . .

Beat...of the Star Dance.

And through it stared Axis, his concentration unwavering, his eyes blue and fierce on Gorgrael, and he took one more step forward.

Gorgrael acted. He did the only thing he could. He did the only thing likely to break Axis'

concentration...the only thing
prophesied
to destroy Axis' concentration.

As Axis took one more step forward, as the cloud and power of the Dark Music faded into impotence, Gorgrael tore Faraday's belly apart.

Something inside Axis tore with it, something railed and coiled and screamed, but he did not let his concentration fail him, not now, not when he was so close.

He could not, would not, help her.

As the pain ripped her mind apart, as the last shreds of her sanity disappeared, and with the last breath she was to be allowed, Faraday screamed into the chamber ...

Mother!

And Gorgrael screamed with Faraday, his voice triumphant, and tore out her throat.

And through it all, as Faraday's torn body sprayed blood about the chamber and his concentration threatened to shatter about him, Axis thought he saw a woman gather Faraday into her arms, gather her close and kiss her mouth with her lips, and that was the only thing that enabled him to keep the shield of his concentration unviolated, but he screamed nevertheless ...

. . . and somewhere far, far away Azhure lowered her face to her hands and screamed with him as Faraday died in her place and the baby that slithered onto the bed between Rivkah's legs opened his mouth and screamed.

Gorgrael wasn't sure what was happening. Axis had screamed, but the power of the Rainbow Sceptre had not faltered, and the rainbow beams continued to sweep about the chamber, chasing down every last filament of darkness that remained.

How much did he have to tear Faraday apart before Axis' concentration faltered?

Gorgrael lifted a clawed hand to shred her some more -perhaps all that was needed was one final swipe. But Faraday was no longer there. GorgraePs eyes blinked in surprise. One moment her body hung limp in his arms, the next she was gone, and all he was left with was the feel and smell and taste of her blood to remind him of her warmth. And now he shrieked, for Axis strode forth, vibrating with power, and the expression on his face was not one Gorgrael had ever wanted to be faced with.

Axis' concentration had not failed.

Realisation hit Gorgrael.

He had shredded the wrong woman.

The Dark Man
had
lied to him. It had been the raven-* haired wench who had been the key, the true Lover...and Gorgrael had got it wrong.

He had lost, and he knew it.

He dropped to his knees and extended his hands in appeal, his great silver eyes huge with horror, and he gibbered and slobbered and pleaded.

"Axis, I am your
brother*.
I am StarDrifter's
son*.
Have mercy! I have never had the love and warmth that you enjoyed. I have been trapped, trapped by Prophecy and the Prophet's machinations as much as you. I am your
brother*.
I am your
brother*.
I am your —"

Axis lifted the Sceptre above his head, wild light still pulsing from the jewels of its head, and drove its rod deep into Gorgrael's chest like a stave, leaning down with his full weight as Gorgrael fell onto his back, his wings and limbs writhing helplessly, and Axis let the power and beauty of the Star Dance flood into his brother's body and soul.

The wood of the Earth Tree pierced Gorgrael's heart and burst it asunder. Something black and loathsome shuddered through his body, then rippled through the entire Ice Fortress.

And then, with a final convulsion, Gorgrael lay still.

Axis felt such life and vitality flood through him that he staggered, and he would have fallen but for the fact that he still leaned on the Sceptre buried in Gorgrael's chest.

But anguish and loss flooded him too, and Axis bent down over the Sceptre, over his brother's body, and sobbed.

"Faraday!"

Arne staggered to his feet, bleeding from ears and nose, his entire body still shaking from the power and the horror that had flooded out from between the cracks in the panels of the wooden door. He stood, trying to collect himself, trying to believe that he
was
still alive.

And then he heard the wall beside him start to splinter.

Before his horrified eyes a hairline crack ran down its length, then it shifted and grew until it was wide enough for him to fit his forefinger into.

And then another crack formed, then another, and soon the entire wall was
breeding
cracks, and they writhed and grew as if they had a life all their own.

"Axis!" Arne swore. They were standing in the heart of a gigantic, shifting, cracking mountain of ice!

"Axis!"

He wrenched open the door, almost tearing his shoulder muscles in his desperate effort, and stared into the chamber.

Against the far wall stood a fireplace, and before it Axis knelt hunched over something dark and loathsome, leaning on...a stake?

Arne ran across the room and seized his lord by his shoulders. "Axis!
Get up!"

Axis raised his head slowly. "Arne?"

"Get up!"Arne screamed again, trying to pull Axis away, trying to haul him upright. Was the man wounded? There was blood spattered across the front of his tunic.

"Get up!"

Axis blinked and shook his head. His hands were still wrapped about the head of the Sceptre, and light still shone between his fingers. Below the head, the rod ran straight until it disappeared into Gorgrael's body - which, Axis was nauseated to see, was falling apart. Already flesh was dropping from rib bones, and rib bones themselves were bending and caving inwards.

"Come," Arne said, gently now, "it is over."

Axis sighed. "Yes, it is over." He rose to one foot, every movement an effort, and as he stood he wrenched the Rainbow Sceptre from Gorgrael's chest cavity. With that, the body fell apart completely and, as it disintegrated, so Axis felt the floor tremble beneath his feet.

Arne flung Axis' cloak about the man's shoulders and dragged him towards the doorway.

"Faraday is dead," Axis said.

"Then live for her sake!" Arne cried. "If you die here, the Destroyer
has
won. Come. Axis!
Come!"

Axis finally moved. He took one step, then another then stumbled for the door, Arne behind him.