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Title: Steps in Heaven
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: PG
Length: Short Story
Summary: Starina and Alastin can see something significant foretold in the stars but what is it and can they figure it out in time?
Warnings: None
Starina shivered as a strong breeze played across her bare skin. The water rippled around her chestnut flank as she wadded her way cautiously towards the shore. Pausing at the mossy bank she strained her ears for anything out of the ordinary and when she heard nothing she scooped her tunic up off the large boulder and slipped it over her head.
Trotting gracefully she made her way home along the footpath, which was rarely used by anyone except the centaurs and an occasional faun. A wild harpy screeched from somewhere above the trees, possibly at some helpless creature that had gotten away from her razor like claws.
A small brownie popped his head up from beneath a bush and gave a jovial wave as Starina passed. Deep in thought, the young centaur almost trod on a small fawn which gave a disgruntled snort and scampered out from under her hooves with his nose in the air in dignified displeasure. Starina hardly noticed. She couldn’t help but to think about what she had read in the stars the night before. As a colt she had disliked learning the dance of the celestial bodies; even scoffed at it.
“Mommy,” she would ask, “why does it matter how close the moons pass each other and what direction the constellations are pointing?”
“Because, my love,” her mother would gently explain as she did every time as she braided her daughter’s soft hair, “the steps taken in the heavens play a big role in the drama that takes place among the living.”
It had taken Starina years to figure out what her mother had meant, and she still wasn’t even sure if she understood fully. Her mother’s faith in the stars was only mirrored in Starina after the War.
A decade before, mortal man had declared war on the mystics, or any sentient non-human creature. The stars had been predicting it for months but when if finally happened it was still a shock for young Starina. In the first attack both her parents were killed and she was separated from her brothers, and stayed the remainder of the war huddled in a cave shared by a dozen over populated gnome families.
Good fortune had been with her most of the time since then, and she had been able to rebuild her life. Although she often consulted the stars for a telling of a reunion that never came she was none the less happy.
Starina’s thoughts wandered back to the stars once more. The larger moon had slipped completely behind the smaller moon, making a frame but it was the warrior constellations that bothered her. The two constellations were pointing away from each other for the first time ever.
Puzzling over whether the shift in the stars meant a terrible battle or the long reign of peace, she plucked a small blue flower from a tree nearby. The fragrance was beautiful. It was hard to think anything could be bad on a morning like this but something gnawed at the back of her mind. A bird was singing in the trees off to her right and beneath her feet gnomes trotted back and forth between the two burrows on either side of the path.
Staring up at the sky Starina wished she could see the stars now as she has seen them blazing in the night. If only she could look at them again, study them again, she might be able to figure out what they meant. Turning, she resumed walking, her hooves making a small thump every time they hit the ground.
*
Alastin slowly stretched his tired legs. No matter how much sleep he got, he never quite felt rested. Glancing up, he wondered if the stars still said the same thing, even though he couldn’t see them. Shifting his gaze he took in his surroundings for the first time. Arriving late the night before he didn’t get the chance to see where he was. He was in a small clearing from which two paths lead, or rather one path ran right through. Small buds on the trees proved that spring had indeed arrived at last.
His pack was propped against the same large boulder he slept beside during the night. Alastin gingerly fingered the bloody gash along his flank. He had managed to stop the bleeding shortly after nightfall but it was still sticky from the remaining blood, and it was beginning to swell into a large purple bruise.
He wondered where the nearest source of clean water was. Besides being dirty, he was dehydrated and he wanted to wash the blood off. A small pixie jumped off a nearby tree and began pulling at his tail hairs. Alastin gave his tail a mighty flick, sending the screeching pixie flying off into the bushes.
Not wanting to be the target of any more potential troublemakers, no matter how harmless, he grabbed his pack, shouldered his bow and arrow, and chose the opposite path to the one he traveled the night before. Judging by the hoof marks; the wide and solid prints and the smaller, cloven ones, Alastin concluded the path was primarily used by centaurs and fauns although he was certain he saw a set of unicorn prints at one point.
He became aware of someone watching him but could see no one. Ordinarily he would have passed it off as traveler’s paranoia, but something in the sky last night wasn’t right. He was an avid astronomer, taking after his late father, but something about the constellations made him doubt their reliability. He allowed his thoughts to rest on a conversation he had with his father before the War.
“Daddy,” Alastin asked, his pale blue eyes wide with curiosity. “Why do the warriors take so much time to read?”
His father ruffled his blond hair playfully. “I’ll tell you when the time is right, my son.”
“But the time is right now!”
Seeing the look on the young centaur’s face, the wizened centaur sighed.
“The archer goes to war but she only does when she must, but always with compassion but accuracy. The swordsman is brave but he fights with a clean sword.” His father paused here, as though finding it difficult to go one. “Their position in the sky is complicated. You will understand one day.”
One day had finally arrived several years later but at the moment it seemed just as confusing as before. Stopping to watch a honeybee hovering over a flower Alastin wished his father was there to tell him what to do. As the bee buzzed off, the centaur continued his journey in search of water.
He allowed his thoughts to wander back to before the War. He had been just old enough to understand but not quite mature enough to fight. Selfishly disregarding the specific order to stay and watch his still innocent sister, he and his brother secretly slid into the line of battle. If he had known what awaited him, he never would have gone. His brother was killed by nightfall, and after watching so many mystics fall to the mortal sword, Alastin was so ashamed of his foolishness that he ran away and hid.
Now here he was, ten years later, wandering from forest to forest with the dull ache of regret. Not paying much attention, he jumped when a gnome dashed between his forelegs. The small creature’s muddy looking eyes pleaded with him and it took him a moment to figure out what was happening.
A wild harpy swooped down and veered away from him, just out of his reach. She ground her teeth as she eyed the gnome now taking shelter under a centaur. No doubt the harpy was hoping to take it back to her mountain cave as a slave.
“Go on, shoo,” Alastin said calmly, making a motion for the harpy to fly away. Knowing she was no match for a centaur she gnashed her teeth in annoyance and rose above the trees shrieking.
The gnome, teary-eyed from fright and gratitude stammered his thanks and scampered off into the thick undergrowth. Encouraged by the increased amount of mystic activity, Alastin smiled. Ever since he had entered this particular forest he had a good feeling but after seeing a wild harpy for the first time in years, he knew the good feeling was justified.
*
A cloud covered the sun, casting a dull shadow over the trees. The wind picked up, causing even the creatures with thick fur to shiver and huddle together. The birds stopped their twittering and the gnomes stopped their gardening. Even the pixies halted their tricks. An air of foreboding washed over every living creature, causing Starina’s stomach to turn to ice. Never before had she felt this way.
Several meters away Alastin felt the same chill. He watched in alarm as the golden threads of light filtering through the trees retreated into the clouds. He knew instinctively that this sudden darkening was related to the forecast in the stars. If only he knew what it meant!
The centaurs plodded silently on, both jumping at the slightest of sounds, both with thoughts running randomly through their minds. Alastin slowed his walk feeling for his bow and arrow slung over his shoulder. He wondered briefly if the warriors in the sky were trying to tell him of unjust warfare, but ruled it out.
Starina grasped the smooth handle of her stone knife. It may not be much, but it offered her some reassurance. At least she wouldn’t be helpless. Conjuring a mental picture of the star charts into her mind’s eye she tried once again to decipher the movements of the astral dance and once again came up blank.
Her first thought was that a war was about to start, one that was bloodier and more devastating than ever before but realised that the warriors were in no position to fight. Her heart was pumping madly in her chest, and she was surprised that no one else could hear it.
Alastin clutched his bow tighter. A bend was coming up in the road that he couldn’t see around. Anything could be hiding just beyond it. Not for the first time he felt as though he was being watched. Taking a deep breath he turned the corner.
Starina closed her eyes and drew in a shaky breath. Her palm was sweaty. The bend in the path that she usually didn’t take any notice of suddenly loomed menacingly in front of her. Passing the knife nervously from hand to hand then finally clasping it tightly in her left, she turned the corner.
The two centaur’s eyes met, both pairs widening in surprise. The silence grew deafening.
“Starina?” Alastin gasped.
“Alastin?” Starina breathed.
“But I thought…”
“Aren’t you…?”
“I mean…”
“Of course, I knew…”
Silence overcame them once again. Finally they both realised what the warriors in the sky were telling them. As Alastin took Starina’s hands in a brotherly way, and as Starina wept silent tears of joy, the brother and sister knew what they should have known all along. Just as often as a terrible disaster strikes, peace and love find precedence in the heart.
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