I heard those words inside my head. But I’ve never been able to read Blayze’s mind before. Not once.
Squawking from the night-birds draws my attention to where they’re clustered in the furthest recess of the cave. I’d forgotten all about them.
Holding Noelani’s staff in front of me, I use the glare of the starstone to light my way as I creep towards them. Serafine did a thorough job. Their ravaged eye-sockets are wells: deep and dark as the cave itself.
Tansy and Astrophel are at my side a moment later. Astrophel keeps his distance, but Tansy bends closer to the birds, tries to examine them. It seems her need to care, to heal, extends even to these monsters.
Another spark. Another lit taper.
And just as I knew the location of the second lost sceptre, knew too that my wish to save my mother had been granted, I know I can command the night-birds. The flock will obey me as they once obeyed Noelani.
I clear my throat. ‘Peace.’
The birds quieten immediately. I stretch a hand to the nearest bird, stroke its silky midnight feathers. It accepts my touch without protest.
‘How are you doing that?’ Astrophel whispers.
‘The sceptre.’ I only discover the truth of these words as I speak them. ‘I don’t understand how, but it’s… it’s changed me.’
The bird I’m stroking spreads its great wings.
Another spark.
‘Light can no longer hurt them,’ I say.
Tansy and Astrophel exchange a nervous look.
‘I can command them to carry us.’
These giant disfigured predators are hardly an inviting mode of transportation. However, there’s a rightness to this idea – like stars are falling into alignment as I speak it into being. I’ve the sneaking suspicion this was part of Noelani’s plan all along, a way to spare us a gruelling return journey across Estelia.
‘Ascend to the crater and await us there!’ I’ve no idea how far the night-birds can carry us, how well they tolerate heat, but carry us – at least part of the way – they will.
The flock flap their wings, whipping up the dank air, as they glide towards the passageway which will lead them to the surface.
‘You are changed,’ Astrophel says, once the birds are out of sight and earshot. I can’t tell if the tightness in his voice is from shock, fear, or awe. Perhaps, all three.
I don’t fully understand what’s happened to me, the precise nature and limits of my new powers, but Astrophel is right – something did change the moment I took possession of the Starlight Staff. It’s a subtle shift, as though my mind has expanded, or a door inside has been unlocked, granting me entry into previously unused compartments.
But there are losses too, to balance these gains: that numbness in my core, that sense of hardening, as if I’m becoming one with the mountain – a thing of ice and stone.
All magic has its price.
I think back to that night, only a few moonscycles ago, when I tried to flee Meissa. How I looked up at the Astral Mountain, intent on ridding myself of magic forever. Now I’m standing inside that self-same mountain, only instead of relinquishing my powers, I’ve amplified them. Stranger still, I’m happy about it. Orthriel’s warnings about sinking too deep into Shadow echo dimly, but remembering the moment I took ownership of the Starlight Staff – how my mind opened, how it expanded, flooded with that sudden rush of light and knowledge – I realise how stupid I’ve been to ever doubt that magic is power, that my being Branded is a blessing.
All magic may have its price, but this is one I’m more than happy to pay.
This is my destiny. This is who I’m supposed to be. More than human, better than human. Not star-damned – never star-damned. Star-sworn.
Astrophel clears his throat, reclaiming my attention. ‘You said you know where the next sceptre is?’
I nod, and turn to Tansy. ‘In Xylia.’
She flies at me the instant the word leaves my lips, embracing me so hard I can scarcely draw breath. A smile of pure joy stretches across her face. ‘Home,’ she whispers. ‘Am I truly going home?’
I smile back, but as Tansy pulls away, as she and Astrophel turn for the mouth of the tunnel and the surface, a chill breathes down my spine – a chill that has nothing to do with the temperature of the caves. I clutch the sceptre tighter in one hand and place the other on the wall to steady myself.
I’ve overpowered the night-birds, reclaimed the Starlight Staff, saved my mother’s life, and learnt the whereabouts of the next lost sceptre. I would have given anything to be in this position a few hours ago. Why, then, do I still feel so uneasy?
