Star Father by Holmberg Charlie N

Author:Holmberg, Charlie N.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: 47North
Published: 2022-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

By nightfall, I’d pieced my shattered hopes together with the glue of my own stubbornness. Worked out my thoughts. Caressed the ring on my finger.

As far as I could see, I had only one option.

I put extra wood on the fire beside which Zyzi and Tyu slept, letting it burn bright. I needed to be able to find them when I emerged. Then, fashioning a torch, I crept back into the wood, keeping an ear out for predators. I was about half a mile in when I called for him.

“Ist. Ist. Please come to me. I must speak with you.”

He did not make me wait long. I’d called for him for less than a quarter hour before his shadow emerged between the trees, his eyes luminescent as a predator’s. Eyes that, for the briefest moment, made me think of Saiyon’s, which only bolstered my decision.

“How do I find them?” I asked, keeping my voice low, though I doubted anything but nesting songbirds and mice would overhear. “These demons?”

He walked in a three-step pattern toward me, his shuffling feet plus his staff. “You still. Wish to see. The dark ones.”

“Where can I find those who would make the fairest deals?”

Ist hummed deep in his throat. “I don’t know. If any. Trustworthy. Dark ones. Exist. But then. Again. I don’t. Know many. Of their ilk.”

“But you know where I can find them. And you know they might be able to make me immortal.”

He clicked his tongue. “Find them. Yes. All things. On the Earth. Mother. Leave an. Impression. On Her,” he said. “Her body. Is formed. By them. By us. We must. Follow the. Patterns. They leave.” He considered for a moment, rubbing his flat chin. “If any. On Her face. Can do it. I would think . . . yes.”

I closed the space between us. Hunched to his eye level. “Ist. Please. Come with me. Be my guide.”

He shook his head. My burns itched. “I only. Want. To die. In peace. Here. In my wood. Mine. Is not. The way. Of mortals.”

Hope and desperation pressed against my skin, trying to escape through my pores, making me feel at once too full and too light. “What is the point of dying alone in this dark place? I will do whatever you ask to prove myself to you. To be worthy of your help. I’m an artist, I can—”

“I care. Not. For mortal. Arts.” He shrugged.

“Then care for me,” I begged. “As he does.” I held out the hand with the Sun ring on it. “As Tyu does. Is it not more valiant to die doing a good deed than to sleep away the end of your life? Let me serve you.” I remembered his distaste for my kneeling, so I changed direction. “Or serve me. Not for long . . . just until I find them.

“I love him, Ist.” Straightening, I put a step between us. “I love him more than I love anything else. I will barter anything I possess to these creatures if it means bridging the impossibilities between us.

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