Sal crested the ridge, and stopped. Neither she, nor the man on her back could, for long moments, comprehend the shocking scene before them.
In the valley a bloodied and dishevelled Icarii woman stood laughing hysterically to one side of a mass of black feathers and flashing beaks.
It took Axis what seemed an eternity before he could comprehend the sight before him.
A head, attached only by a shred of flesh to a shoulder and one arm, lay to one side.
Zenith's head. Zenith's shoulder. Zenith's arm.
A white wing — and why did it look so much like StarDrifter's? — lying to yet another side.
And a mound of Hawkchilds fighting and feeding over scraps of reddened flesh and golden feathers.
That, some distant part of Axis' mind concluded, must be what was left of WolfStar.
StarLaughter raised her head and saw Axis sitting his mare atop the ridge.
She whispered something, and that whisper reached deep into Axis' psyche.
"I had never imagined revenge to be so tasty."
Chapter 56
StarLaughter's Awful Mistake
Deep within the cradling safety of the waterways, Azhure lifted her head. And knew.
Her hands lifted to her mouth, and she stared at the two ice women and SpikeFeather across from her.
Without knowing, but understanding, SpikeFeather stood up, lifted Katie into one of the ice women's arms, and locked Azhure in his own, rocking her back and forth as she grieved for her youngest child.
Axis sat his mare, and stared.
All that was left of Zenith was the head, a portion of neck and one shoulder, and an arm, flung wide as if in puzzlement.
Axis stared, his eyes hooked by the strange, wild tatters of flesh lining the great wound where the rest of her body had been chewed from her head and shoulder.
The flesh of her shoulder and arm was so white.
Her eyes, opened, continued to reflect in death the agony and horror she'd endured during her last breathing moments.
Axis sat his mare and stared.
Urbeth crested the ridge and came to a halt beside Axis and Sal.
She looked down at the mass of feeding Hawkchilds, twittering and whispering wetly as their beaks dipped and tore, at StarLaughter standing laughing and giggling to one side, and at the horrible remains of Zenith.
Then she lifted her head and looked at Axis, and for once in her life, Urbeth did not know what to say.
"I am going to put an end to this," Axis said in an emotionless voice.
"The Hawkchilds and StarLaughter cannot be dealt with save by power," Urbeth replied. "And your power is all gone."
"No," Axis said, once more looking at the carnage below him. "You are wrong, Urbeth. I have left the power of a father's love, and of a father's grief."
And without urging, Sal started down the slope.
StarLaughter looked away from the feeding pack of Hawkchilds, and laughed all the harder.
A man was riding down the slope of the gully towards her. An ordinary man with a pitiful sword in his hand and riding a more than ordinary brown mare who would look happier pulling a milk cart than riding into the midst of a dangerous revenging.
StarLaughter tipped back her head and let her laughter wash over the rising sun, extending her arms and hands in rapturous joy.
WolfStar was dead. WolfStar was dead!
He could harm her no more, he could humiliate her no more, and StarLaughter hoped he was currently screaming in agony within the deepest firepits of the AfterLife.
"You are dead, WolfStar," she whispered, "and I am alive, I have won!"
She turned her head and sighed irritably as the man pulled his mare to a halt some two or three paces away. Some part of her mind recognised him as the Axis StarMan she'd taunted in the tunnel under the Fortress Ranges, but in this, her moment of triumph, she cared little for who or what he was.
He was, after all, pointless.
"WolfStar made many errors in his life," Axis remarked in a wooden tone, "but the greatest of all was that he didn't tear your head from your neck before he threw you into the Star Gate."
"Get out of here," StarLaughter said. "This is none of your business."
None of my business? You murdered my daughter!
