time to understand what it was doing, what it all meant. In truth, we didn't even have a computer to process the information."
One of the pale disciples, the youngest girl started grinning, hugging her knees and bobbing her head from side to side with her eyes closed. She was humming along with the chaotic packets, weaving back and forth and occasionally twitching her head back. Her finger rose like the conductors I had seen guiding the band of minstrels that followed the Cardinals of our city. Soon the sound was moving her whole body, causing it to sway from side to side in an ecstatic dance I don't think even Ebon understood.
"Her brain," Ebon said picking up a feather pen from the desk and handing it to her, "This little one can understand it. We found her several years back, nursing at the breast of a mad woman whose hair was falling out."
She traced the air with a pale hand, her mind occupied elsewhere. Erratically she was writing transient invisible words and only occasionally crossing them out to be speedily replaced by others.
"That poor girl," Freezy said sympathetically, "She inherited her mother's madness."
"My doctor says no," Ebon said, "The well the mother had been drinking from was contaminated with quicksilver and blight. Of course she likely only noticed it at all because it glowed in the dark. We don't know where the woman came from or why she was alone. She died a year later in our care. I don't have to tell you the brutal future the girl faced alone, so we kept her. Learned what she had to offer. Named her Delphina after the constellation."
"She knows what we're after?" I said incredulously, pointing at the girl on the floor. When Ebon nodded proudly, I asked, "What is it?"
"Took a long time," Ebon said, "The others helped. The boy Sculptor back engineered the language of the space based computer. We didn't have our own device to send messages back, so Vela crafted perfect instruments to emulate its digital tones. He's the one that called you in."
"The others?" I asked.
"Rhea and Alvus are not fulfilling their purpose yet," Ebon said grinning and motioning with his head at the eldest man and woman, "We'll learn what they have to offer us when their time comes. But that time will come."
The two looked to each other, their hands entwining between their faces and a knowing smile shared by both.
"I reckon they're gonna have a baby," Freezy said from the corner of her mouth, hissing sideways through cautious teeth.
"I get it," I said darting a look back at her.
"And that brings us to me. I have no particular talent aside from picking up the strays I find and guiding them. You two look a little lost yourselves. I couldn't help but notice your leg, Adon. Do my eyes deceive me or is that a metal melthorse's leg you've got?"
I looked down at the hoof scuffing the floor with round dry tracks and nodded,
"My old one broke."
Ebon slowly staggered back to his chair, collapsing into it finally and chuckling to himself.
"Fair enough," he said, his laughter drying up, becoming desiccated and quiet. He nodded, narrowing his eyes again at my leg as if it was a distant memory from his own life, "We all make sacrifices, Adon. We all have things we've left behind. You're going to need help if you're going to reach that star in time."
"Pa always was a storyteller," Freezy said, "I guess he spilled everything."
"Way I see it," I said, my own eyes narrowing across the room at the old man, "You and I don't have any reason to trust each other. You've built up this army to go find the shooting star for yourself. You've got more men than I do, and you've got some way of talking to it directly. Why give up all that and help me?"
Ebon nodded slowly, eyes on the couple with fingers still entwined. He breathed heavily, eyes returning to me,
"This isn't an army. It's not a traveling band of warriors intent on taking. You of all men must surely know the
One of the pale disciples, the youngest girl started grinning, hugging her knees and bobbing her head from side to side with her eyes closed. She was humming along with the chaotic packets, weaving back and forth and occasionally twitching her head back. Her finger rose like the conductors I had seen guiding the band of minstrels that followed the Cardinals of our city. Soon the sound was moving her whole body, causing it to sway from side to side in an ecstatic dance I don't think even Ebon understood.
"Her brain," Ebon said picking up a feather pen from the desk and handing it to her, "This little one can understand it. We found her several years back, nursing at the breast of a mad woman whose hair was falling out."
She traced the air with a pale hand, her mind occupied elsewhere. Erratically she was writing transient invisible words and only occasionally crossing them out to be speedily replaced by others.
"That poor girl," Freezy said sympathetically, "She inherited her mother's madness."
"My doctor says no," Ebon said, "The well the mother had been drinking from was contaminated with quicksilver and blight. Of course she likely only noticed it at all because it glowed in the dark. We don't know where the woman came from or why she was alone. She died a year later in our care. I don't have to tell you the brutal future the girl faced alone, so we kept her. Learned what she had to offer. Named her Delphina after the constellation."
"She knows what we're after?" I said incredulously, pointing at the girl on the floor. When Ebon nodded proudly, I asked, "What is it?"
"Took a long time," Ebon said, "The others helped. The boy Sculptor back engineered the language of the space based computer. We didn't have our own device to send messages back, so Vela crafted perfect instruments to emulate its digital tones. He's the one that called you in."
"The others?" I asked.
"Rhea and Alvus are not fulfilling their purpose yet," Ebon said grinning and motioning with his head at the eldest man and woman, "We'll learn what they have to offer us when their time comes. But that time will come."
The two looked to each other, their hands entwining between their faces and a knowing smile shared by both.
"I reckon they're gonna have a baby," Freezy said from the corner of her mouth, hissing sideways through cautious teeth.
"I get it," I said darting a look back at her.
"And that brings us to me. I have no particular talent aside from picking up the strays I find and guiding them. You two look a little lost yourselves. I couldn't help but notice your leg, Adon. Do my eyes deceive me or is that a metal melthorse's leg you've got?"
I looked down at the hoof scuffing the floor with round dry tracks and nodded,
"My old one broke."
Ebon slowly staggered back to his chair, collapsing into it finally and chuckling to himself.
"Fair enough," he said, his laughter drying up, becoming desiccated and quiet. He nodded, narrowing his eyes again at my leg as if it was a distant memory from his own life, "We all make sacrifices, Adon. We all have things we've left behind. You're going to need help if you're going to reach that star in time."
"Pa always was a storyteller," Freezy said, "I guess he spilled everything."
"Way I see it," I said, my own eyes narrowing across the room at the old man, "You and I don't have any reason to trust each other. You've built up this army to go find the shooting star for yourself. You've got more men than I do, and you've got some way of talking to it directly. Why give up all that and help me?"
Ebon nodded slowly, eyes on the couple with fingers still entwined. He breathed heavily, eyes returning to me,
"This isn't an army. It's not a traveling band of warriors intent on taking. You of all men must surely know the
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