Wolf Star Rise: The Claidi Journals Book 2, Tanith Lee [desktop ebook reader .txt] 📗

just make out the boat, with the man sitting waiting.

What do the villagers know about all this? Are they in on her trick? I don’t somehow think so. To them, she was always mysterious, a scientist, magician. They must have realized the doll isn’t her – and yet, in some magical way, it is. Maybe for them, that makes sense, and they think it will for Venn. Because they’re not bad, not underhand themselves, or cunning. So maybe they don’t see it in others.

‘Tomorrow,’ Venn said, ‘we’ll get up to the plateau on the little cliff. Get you to the Star.’

‘Er, yes. Thanks.’

Should I have said, then, ‘If it can sail, the Star, please come with me. I’d like you to. You’re important to me, even if you weren’t to her. And he will want to know you too—’

But it seemed, then, Venn might have said, ‘I’m only important to you, Claidis, since I remind you of him. As for Argul and myself, we’d probably kill each other on sight.’

Actually, I brilliantly said, ‘Oh look, the moon’s coming up.’

And Venn carelessly replied, ‘Moonlight. Now there is a light.’

THE STAR

Two hours before dawn, we set out.

It – the Star – hadn’t yet reappeared above the village. (The time it took did vary, no one knows why, or seems to care.)

Venn said, ‘I want to be up there, on the plateau, ready, when it lands.’

I didn’t, really. But then, I was afraid of it.

And he was too, and that was why he wanted to confront it. Because it was too late to confront her.

The village had been very silent. No one much about.

If it was possible, I’d be robbing them of their Star. No one had said anything about that. Shrin kissed Venn on the cheek. But Burand bowed.

Flollu the snake was in his basket, (yes, he had a basket). He didn’t open an eye when I said good-bye to him.

We’d had about three hours’ sleep. Well, I had. Maybe Venn didn’t sleep at all.

I expected him to be bad-tempered and unpleasant, like before, but he wasn’t. On the rough bits of the climb he was patient and helpful. Gentle. He didn’t say much.

I’d thought it would all be a tough climb up the little cliff, but there was a paved path, some steps, also level places where you could just walk normally.

The Pearl Flamingans had been here for days though, apparently clearing away undergrowth to make it easy for us. Generally they didn’t ever go up there – it’s a sort of sacred spot. Even that morning, the very last part of our climb, Venn did have to cut a way through. The helpful villagers still hadn’t gone up beyond a certain point.

We emerged at the top, and the sky was pale, and some birds were calling. The lake spread far below, spoon-silvery. A big wave crinkled there – flamingos.

But, ‘Here it is,’ he said.

So I had to look upwards instead. The pre-dawn sky was so pale, too, from the return of the Star.

It was stealing in across the vast clearing where the village lies, and it hung by now quite low. It cast not only light but the shadow of itself, like a ghost. This slipped over the trees, the roofs, over the water … Soon it would fall on us.

I’d been looking down again.

I looked up. Was shocked.

Now it was the size of all my hand, when I held my hand up, to see. And now – already it was bigger. It was so bright – the hard light Ustareth had made must fill it up, inside.

All the chestnut-case prickles on it looked sharp as knives – but other things stuck out of it too, bright rods and curved bright sticks and things like little shiny saucers – but they must all be much larger, if you were close.

They were.

The Star was sliding home now into the sky above the plateau. It was growing ever bigger.

And the shadow covered us, very black, all the light left out beyond the shadow’s edge.

Only when the shadow shifted did I admit I’d thought we were going to be crushed and that Venn wouldn’t move in time—

The Star sank, weightless as a ball of fog. As it met the cliff-top, a slight vibration ran through the rock under our feet. That was all.

It was about – a hundred? – feet from us. Now I saw it was, after all, only about the size of a small house – smaller than the one on the island.

And then, to me the weirdest thing of all, all its light went suddenly out. The whole Star had been switched off, like one of the Rise lamps.

‘Let me go first,’ said Venn.

‘Why don’t we walk together?’

‘And why can’t you act more like a lady?’ he asked sadly.

‘I’ve said, because I’m not a lady.’

We strode boldly forward, trembling.

About ten yards away, and with no warning – a round opening happened up in the side of the Star.

Venn and I both stopped dead. And I’m afraid I squeaked.

‘Get behind me, Claidi.’

‘Why?’

‘Claidi—’

It was too late anyway. There was a kind of ramp coming out, and something was coiling down it, out of the Star.

‘Oh, it’s only a snake.’

‘Claidi, don’t be a complete—It isn’t a snake.’

‘But it’s just like a—’

Well it was. A bit.

A dull-silver, flexible, legless thing, snake-like (like Flollu). But now the head was raised, and two dawn-pale eyes regarded us. The head was human, almost.

‘Dowth ti nali?’ asked the head.

In Pearl Flamingan, that means Can I help you?

Venn said something to it.

‘What did you say?’ I hissed.

‘I asked if it was friendly.’

‘Suppose it says it isn’t?’

‘It’s a machine. If it says it isn’t we can believe it. And the opposite.’

The machine-snake spoke again, now in crystal tones, the language of the Towers; the Rise; the House.

‘Good morning, lady and gentleman. I am perfectly friendly, also indestructible. The Princess Ustareth made me. My name is Yinyay. Would you care to visit the also friendly and indestructible