“Who built the circle of stone?” Axis whispered to his father as they drew closer. It was massive, each stone ten paces in height and three in width, with similar sized stones laid across their tops to form a series of archways.
“No-one knows,” said StarDrifter. “Some say the Star Gods built the circle during a night ringed with fire, some say that the circle was constructed by a long-forgotten race of giants. Now, go ahead with Raum. I will wait for you here.”
As they stepped through an archway Axis was struck by the feeling of sanctity within the circle – that this was a holy place no-one could doubt. A group of Banes waited by the Tree, and Axis felt both their nervousness and hostility.
The Sentinels, Ogden and Veremund, waited to one side of the Avar. Somehow, no-one ever rejected the Sentinels.
Raum motioned Axis to a halt and stepped forward to greet the gathered Avar.
A small woman, of dark and delicate form with a garland of flowers and leaves about her forehead and wearing a long loose robe of light rose wool, stepped forward and kissed Raum on both cheeks.
“Bane Raum,” she said. “It has been so long. We have missed you greatly. Be well and welcomed back among us. And do not leave us again so quickly.”
“Bane Barsarbe,” Raum replied, “I am well and am heartened to find you well yourself.” He smiled, stepped back and gestured to Axis.
“You know whom I bring,” he said clearly. “Axis SunSoar. StarMan and son of StarDrifter SunSoar and Princess Rivkah of Achar. Welcome him.”
Barsarbe hesitated, then stepped forward and kissed Axis on both cheeks. “Be well and welcomed among us, Axis SunSoar, StarMan,” she said. “We are pleased that you have torn yourself from the lies that bound you and have found both your parents and your heritage.”
“Thank you, Bane Barsarbe,” Axis replied. “I hope that I will be able to fulfil both your people’s and the Prophecy’s expectations of me.”
There was an awkward silence until one of the Clan Leaders stepped forward. He was a tall man, as dark and swarthy as Raum, but much more heavily muscled. “Brode, of the SilentWalk Clan,” he said, his stare hostile. “We understand your wish is that the people of the Horn, Wing and Plough unite to drive Gorgrael from these lands?”
“It is the only way,” Axis said. “It is the way the Prophecy describes. It is my task to build the bridge of understanding that will bind the three races as one.”
Again, silence from the Avar. Above them the Earth Tree sang her Song, strong and joyous, unperturbed by the tense meeting underneath her branches.
“It is strange,” another Avar finally said, a Bane by the look of her, “that the Prophecy should ask us to follow one who once wielded the axe.”
Axis kept his voice even. “But I stand before you now as the StarMan, not as the BattleAxe.”
“A warrior.” This from a Bane almost as forbidding as Brode.
“Yes,” Axis said. “Can you think of one better trained to face Gorgrael? The StarMan needs to be a warrior.”
“Violence,” said Barsarbe. “All warriors breed violence.”
Axis remembered that Barsarbe had been particularly cool towards Azhure, even after her efforts had saved countless Avar at Yuletide. “Gorgrael will not come at you with words,” Axis snapped, his tone harsh. “Already he has murdered your people. Would you spend the rest of your lives fleeing, or hiding under the pretty leaves of the Earth Tree?”
Barsarbe’s eyes flashed furiously and she opened her mouth to speak, but Axis had not finished. “I promised the Icarii I would lead them back into Tencendor. I promise you the same. Do you want to replant your trees across the barren plains of Skarabost? Would you like to walk in shade all the way to the Mother? Or would you prefer to seek comfort in the legends and memories of the past, and condemn future generations of the Avar to skulking at night in order to reach the Mother? Do you want to regain your heritage, or have you lost your heart for such an adventure?”
Axis had not meant to be so forthright or so challenging, but he found the Avar’s studied aversion to violence intensely irritating. How did they think they were going to rid themselves of the threat of Gorgrael? Throw flowers? Shout “Peace!”?
“We wait for Tree Friend,” Raum said gently. “We have always believed that Tree Friend will lead us back into our homelands rather than the StarMan. It is Faraday who must lead us to you.”
Axis forced himself to relax. Anger would get him nowhere.
“It is our understanding,” Barsarbe said, “that you intend to war against the Acharites before you turn against Gorgrael.”
“There are those among the Acharites, principally Duke Borneheld and the Seneschal itself, who will oppose any moves to unite the three races against Gorgrael. I must … persuade … them, by any means I find necessary, that such an attitude is foolish. If that means war, as I believe, then so be it.”
Barsarbe glanced at Raum, then turned and looked at the Avar. “We will not help you in your war against Borneheld,” she said, turning back to Axis.
“Damn it!” Axis snapped, “Faraday Tree Friend is with Borneheld. Don’t you want to free her?”
“Why didn’t you bring her out of Gorkenfort?” Brode shouted, stepping forward aggressively. “Why is she not here with you now?”
“We had to battle our way out of Gorkenfort,” Axis said, fighting to keep his voice steady. “I judged her chances to be better if she remained with Borneheld. And there was no way I could seize her from Borneheld without risking her life.”
“The fact remains,” Barsarbe said, tilting her chin to look Axis in the eye, “that we will wait for her. Tree Friend will lead us home, not the StarMan. If she says we will unite with the Icarii and the Acharites, then we will do it. But only then.”
Anger made a muscle in Axis’ cheek flicker. The Avar had decided this well before he’d stepped inside the circle of stone.
“Axis,” Raum stepped up and addressed him directly. “You must understand the Avar. We are a reclusive people. We understand the Prophecy and we understand the threat of Gorgrael. We understand who you are and what your role is. But we are a people deeply scarred by the violence meted out to us during the Wars of the Axe. We are a people decimated by loss. We are not numerous, and we are not warlike. How could we fight for you? We have no Strike Force like our friends the Icarii. We have no weapons. So we wait for Tree Friend, and when she comes, then we will follow her. Faraday is a woman of gentleness and she is a woman bonded to the Mother. You are a warrior and you follow the way of the Stars. We mean you no disrespect nor do we mean to anger you, but we prefer to wait for Faraday.”
“I understand, my friend,” Axis said, placing a hand on Raum’s shoulder. He turned to the assembled Avar. “I apologise if my words have caused you hurt. Sometimes I am too impatient. I understand your reluctance to act and I will accept your decision to wait for Tree Friend – Faraday. It will make my desire to reach her even deeper.”
The entire assemblage of Avar visibly relaxed. None had been too sure how he would react to their decision. They knew that the Prophecy walked among them, but they would wait for the one who had been promised them. Faraday.
“Then we welcome you to Beltide, Axis SunSoar, StarMan,” Barsarbe smiled. “Beltide is the most joyous time of the year for us, a night when we put to one side all that troubles us, when we celebrate love and life and birth and renewal. Share with