jewelled collars. It hung about his upper chest and draped over his shoulders in a blaze of diamonds, sapphires and emeralds, which, along with the jewels in his braids, caught every glint of light.
Axis thought the Skraelings would be salivating in envy.
Isaiah sighed, thinking about what he could, or wanted, to say. “All I want to say for now is that when we talk with the Skraelings, I will probably take us back to almost the beginning of time when this world was very new. I lived then, as did Lister, and we each had many adventures and made many decisions that have long, long been forgotten.
“At least, I thought they had been forgotten. When I touched you yesterday, Inardle, one of those decisions, one of my ancient secrets, reared up and told me in no uncertain tones that it still lived, and that the consequences of a rash action tens of thousands of years ago have now come back to haunt me.” He paused. “As they have haunted you, Axis, and this land. I made a grave mistake many, many aeons ago, and I had no idea . . . no idea at all .”
He managed a small smile. “Perhaps that mistake can be revealed, and maybe I can have a chance to make right for the future a wrong that is anciently old. Maybe the Skraelings can have a chance, too. And, Axis,” Isaiah’s smile grew a little broader, a little more genuine, “maybe you will understand why the Skraelings loathe water so much. Gods, that alone should have given it away to me . . . oh, well, no matter now. Are you ready?”
That little speech hadn’t enlightened either Axis or Inardle, and it had made Axis feel a great deal more uneasy. He wasn’t happy at all about walking toward a throng of millions of Skraelings, even with Isaiah at his side, and from what Isaiah was saying .
“Come, Axis,” Isaiah said. “It will be an adventure, and you like adventures.”
“I gave up admiring adventures a long time ago,” Axis muttered, but Isaiah pretended not to hear him, and together the three began the journey across the no-man’s land between the two armies.
The juit birds had preferred to make their roost elsewhere this night.
They walked in silence toward the Skraeling mass which opened up as they approached, forming an avenue toward their centre.
Axis began to feel very nervous . . . he had expected to meet with a delegation somewhere other than surrounded by several million Skraelings.
It will be all right, Axis, Isaiah said, and with that Axis had to content himself.
He glanced at Inardle. She was walking to his side, outwardly calm, but he could tell by the way she held her wings and the tight skin about her eyes that she was also very tense.
Isaiah strode without hesitation into the midst of the Skraelings, Axis and Inardle a half step behind him.
None of the Skraeling had eyes for any other than Isaiah, and Axis thought that whatever Isaiah had said to Ozll earlier had so impressed or otherwise astounded the Skraelings they could now completely ignore the fact the StarMan walked within their midst.
Under any other circumstances Axis thought they would not have hesitated to tear him to pieces.
The entire mass was utterly silent, staring at Isaiah.
The man glittered as he walked. Axis had to admire his sense of style — something Axis had never really exploited when he was StarMan. Isaiah strode forth as if he owned the very ground on which he walked, radiating majesty and serenity and confidence, and everyone either stared silently or followed meekly.
Eventually Isaiah, Axis and Inardle came to a small circular area, delineated by the standing, crammed Skraelings. In the centre of this circle stood Ozll and two other Skraelings, both as hideously malformed as Ozll.
Isaiah walked to within three paces of them, then sat cross-legged in one graceful, elegant move.
He gestured to Axis and Inardle to do likewise (who managed it smoothly if not with as much elegance as Isaiah), then spoke to the Skraelings. “You may sit, also.”
He had, in an instant, taken total command of the meeting.
“You know me as Isaiah,” he said, “and you likely all know my companion, Axis SunSoar, StarMan, and perhaps even Inardle, who as a Lealfast has been a companion to many of you. I know I address Ozll, but I wonder who else sits with you, Ozll. How may I call them?”
Ozll hesitated.
“Their mystery names, I think,” Isaiah