Stardust Rising

 
The Cave
We glide quickly through the spinning, sparkling tunnel that leads from the Seven Towers to Siksa.
An energy shield surrounds us and protects us from the wild energies of the tunnel, and whatever dangers we may find at tunnel’s end.

“Are you mad at me, Yagrin?” asks Dilasa, as she touches my mind.
She’s afraid of the anger that I showed before, and her mind touch is weak.

“No, Dilasa.”
“I’m not angry any more, but I wish that you had listened to me.”

Star Voice

 
Away
Shazira is furious.
“You’re leaving?!”

I repeat what Mayla told us, and I try to explain, but Shazira continues to yell at me.
Tzina and Dilasa come to our room, surprised by the yelling they hear when I open the privacy shield.
Shazira stops when she sees the children.

“What’s wrong?” asks Dilasa quietly.

“Visions!” answers Shazira.

“What visions?” asks Tzina.

Shazira is silent.
She doesn’t want to speak to the children while she is so angry at me.

Star Shadow

 
Star Map
Morning comes.
I walk around the starship as it rests on the sand, not far from the waves of the inland sea.
Mayla’s new design is fast, elegant, and beautiful.
The ship is eighty feet in diameter, reddish-gold, black, silver, and green.

When the city was built, no one planned to launch ships from here.
Still, there are a few open places in the city large enough for the ship: the sand, the ocean, and the flat roofs of several buildings.

Any of these would do, since we can take off from any surface, without damage … Read more

First Sting

 
Weapons
Shazira sits next to me as the ship returns to Siksa.
We’re quiet, and our spirits rest, together.

Dilasa sits on the other side of Shazira, and looks troubled.
She turns toward me, and I sense her mind touch, and her fear.

“How do we stop the Spiral, ina?”
“Don’t you need a plan?”

I have no plan, and no words to answer her yet.
I gently squeeze Dilasa’s small hand, touch it to my cheek, and look at her.

Shazira feels Dilasa’s fear, and looks at my calm eyes.
Then she takes Dilasa’s hand, and mine, … Read more

Death Cry

 
Lost Mayru
I return to Keesha’s ship, and share my memories of the Mayru, growers of stars, children of the star spirits.

“How will they help us defeat the Spiral, ina?” asks Dilasa.

“I don’t know,” I answer, frustrated, “but their destiny is tied up with ours.”

“Let’s look for a vision,” she suggests.
We enter the Dream Hunter gateway together, hunting for a vision about the Mayru.
The wanderer appears before us, seeding Sinesu with his children.
The past is clear, but their future is hidden.

“Why can’t we find their future, ina?” asks Dilasa, as we leave … Read more

Awakening

 
Cocoon
Now, you want to let the Spiral go?!” yells Dilasa.
“It has to die.”

“It’s already dead, Dilasa,” I answer quietly.
“The group mind is shattered, and the energy gone.”
“Only a few spirits remain.”

“I don’t care,” she says.
“Kill them all.”

“The remaining spirits are too weak to join together again, and they’ll never survive on their own.”

“They’re dying?”

“Yes, Dilasa.”
“They won’t last long.”