And the sweetest disposition, Axis thought, of all creatures in existence.

He raised his head to speak to the sparrow, but before he could mouth the words, the sparrow-man rose, smiled, and then simply faded away into the shadows.

But just as Axis thought him gone, there was the soft piping of a sparrow, and the soft, drab form of the father of the Icarii race briefly brushed against Axis' cheek before finally disappearing.

Axis lifted a hand, reaching hopelessly out, but the sparrow had gone.

Chapter 37

Settling In

They had gone, and DragonStar hoped they would survive. If even one of them failed ... He suddenly grew claustrophobic in the dank chamber, and walked for the door, whistling the Alaunt after him. Qeteb and his fellow Demons were undoubtedly occupied elsewhere and, if the StarGrace had spoken true, he need not fear the Hawkchilds. He would surely be safe enough in the fresh air — such as it was in the corrupted realm — for the time being.

Gods! He needed to feel the wind on his face!

But although DragonStar climbed unhindered to the surface to sit, as his father had once sat, on a pile of rocks overlooking the Hundred Mile Beach of the Icebear Coast and the battering ocean beyond, he did not long enjoy the peace of the pre-dawn air.

StarLaughter joined him.

"Sanctuary," she said, and leaned teasingly close to him as she sat down.

He did not give her the satisfaction of moving away.

StarLaughter forgot her teasing almost as soon as she'd begun it. Sanctuary was so dangerous!

What if ...? Momentary panic engulfed her. "WolfStar won't be safe in Sanctuary! Qeteb will surely break through!"

DragonStar repressed a sigh.

"We are destined for each other," StarLaughter said, once more calm and with a faraway expression on her face. "When he sees me again ... oh!"

"He may not be as pleased to see you as you will be to see him," DragonStar said carefully. While, on the one hand,

StarLaughter's insane idea that she and WolfStar could forgive all their differences, WolfStar falling deeply in love with her the instanc he laid eyes on her again, made DragonStar want to laugh incredulously — StarLaughter must indeed have lost her mind! — on the other hand, DragonStar did not want to antagonise StarLaughter to the point where she might turn against him.

His task had been made infinitesimally easier by the fact that he and his could ignore the Hawkchilds.

StarLaughter shrugged aside DragonStar's comment. "We've had our differences —"

DragonStar choked back a laugh.

"— but we will surely overcome them."

"It might take some, ah, time."

She shrugged again, but did not respond to DragonStar's comment. Instead, she said: "How will he manage to escape the Demons when they break through into Sanctuary?"

Now DragonStar had to fight back anger. She had no thought for the millions of peoples and creatures trapped in Sanctuary, only for WolfStar. Her love was as single-minded as her revenge had been.

"Axis —"

"Your father?"

"Yes, my father. Axis has charge of Sanctuary. I hope he will manage to find a way to save them.

Some back door that they can escape from."

"But we must help!" StarLaughter cried, sitting up straight and turning a frantic face to stare at DragonStar. "I must do something! WolfStar must get out! We must —"

"Stars damn it, StarLaughter! You've spent thousands of years plotting his death. Now that it might be imminent, I find it hard to believe that you're in a panic that his death might actually be accomplished!"

StarLaughter drew completely away from him, her face frozen.

DragonStar reached out a hand. "StarLaughter, forgive me. I have a great deal on my mind."

Slowly, reluctantly, she took his hand. "I had hoped you would support me," she said, and turned her face aside.

"StarLaughter, I honestly will do nothing to stand in your way. Indeed, I wish you the best. You and WolfStar make the perfect couple. I just find it so hard to believe that hate can turn so quickly," and so completely, he thought, "to love."

StarLaughter relaxed and smiled prettily. "Oh, DragonStar, you just do not understand love. It takes many twists and turns until it reaches its home."

And to that DragonStar had nothing to say, although he smiled wryly.

After a while, and after some more desultory conversation, StarLaughter moved off, no doubt to plan her single-handed rescue of WolfStar from Sanctuary, and DragonStar also stood up.

The view of dawn breaking far to the east had been entirely spoilt for him.

The Strike Force were waiting in the lower corridors of Star Finger, and DragonStar spent almost two hours talking quietly but intently with them. Eventually, in groups of three Wing each, the members of the Strike Force rose like silver into the air above the wasteland and sped off in four different directions.

By mid-morning Faraday sheltered in a huddle of rubble that had, she thought, once been a customs post on the road into Carlon. It had been a substantial stone building of some three or four rooms, and its destruction at the hands of some demonic band of creatures had left a goodly pile of stone for her to hide within. Indeed, part of the rubble formed its own gloomy cave, and all Faraday was surprised about was that it hadn't already been occupied by some family of maniacal hogs, or rats, or perhaps even cannibalistic hens.

Instead, it was surprisingly clean and even partly warm, as it was a haven from the wind, although the floor was rough, and no matter how Faraday shifted, she could not find a comfortable spot.

Finally, Faraday rose. It was time to look out on the Maze.

It was ... frightening. She remembered when she'd walked past this area with Zenith in the shadow-lands, but even the horror of that vision could not compete with the actuality.

The Maze enveloped what had once been Grail Lake, as well as the blackened ruins of Carlon.

But it was now sending tentacles of twisted corridors and dead-end walks out into the surrounding landscape. Mother! Were the Demons planning on turning the entire wasteland into a Maze? Or was this some demented plan of the long-dead Enemy?

Faraday's pile of rubble was on a small hillock that commanded a crossroads linking Romsdale, Avonsdale and

Carlon. The perfect site for a customs post, but also a perfect site for observing what went on within the Maze.

It writhed with activity. There were ... gods! there must be billions of creatures seething through its twisted veins! The Maze's walls sheltered a mass of life so dense that Faraday could hardly pick out individual creatures. She was up high and perhaps half a league from the Maze, but even so the mass within the Maze seemed unusually coherent.

Almost... coagulated.