Starrlings 1: House of Fire

chapter 42

A R I

Before the station stood a gathering of kinnlings - mostly lions with uniformed Garde on their back - but there were two other kinnlings, and Ari recognised them. The black wolf belonging to Tom, and the silver dragon belonging to the infamous Water Dancer.

As they approached, Ari saw Tom, standing next to the Water Dancer as if they were friends, not sworn enemies.

"Ari!" Tom yelled out when he spotted them. "Thank the stars. I was worried I'd missed you somehow. I wanted to make sure you got safely back to the school."

Tom was still wearing his charging uniform, in the proud Lombardian colours. Usually, Tom cast a pretty imposing stance, but next to the Water Dancer he practically looked like a boy. The man stood another head and shoulders taller than Tom, and his shoulders were twice as broad as Tom.

"This is Pythos Savvas," Tom said.

Bell let out a delighted little scream. "You're the Water Dancer!" she said. Ari had never heard her sister let out such a girlish scream.

To his credit, the man took Bell's obvious excitement in his stride. "And you must be Isabella Domez, and Ariane Domez. My friend Tom asked me to help bring you back to school."

"We weren't sure about the trains," Tom admitted to Ari. "I remember the Black Lunsday attacks in the Fire War. I thought it was safer if you rode."

"You were waiting for us?" Ari asked.

"Naturally," Tom said. "I'm the reason you're here. It's my responsibility to get you home safely."

Ari couldn't help but admire Tomas Wilder's goodness. But she was still confused.

"I thought you and Pythos Savvas were sworn enemies?" Ari said, looking up at the Water Dancer.

"On the pitch, maybe," Tom said with a grin. "Now, how do you feel about being on the back of a wolf?"

Ari would have felt much better in the comfort of a train carriage, but her sister was almost in tears from excitement at the prospect of riding on the back of the Water Dancer's dragon. So Ari accepted the ride. With Ari on the back of Tom's wolf, and Bell riding the dragon, the four of them set off into the sky.

"We haven't heard much, but it seems like there was an attack on a government building," Tom said, as they swept over the city. "But the Garde lions are keeping the sky clear above One Pierce Square, so we can't see what's happened."

They followed the railway line, out of the city and past the industrial outskirts of New Hamilton, to the point where farms replaced factories, and green rolling hills replaced farms. Finally Ari recognised the dam in the mountains and the school nestled into the valley below.

The dragon and the wolf landed on the sweeping front lawn of the school. Ari found her legs were shaky when she dismounted. She couldn't remember the last time she'd ridden a kinnling - maybe as a child? But it had been exhilarating and terrifying.

Bell was beaming when she dismounted from the back of the Water Dancer's dragon.

"You kids stay safe, now," Pythos Savvas told them. "I'd best get back to the city."

He waved goodbye and the dragon used its powerful hind legs to launch once again to the sky.

Bell spun and looked at Ari. "The Water Dancer! Pythos Savvas! That was so cool, Ari!"

Ari grinned at her sister. "Glad you had fun."

The trio, plus Kobuk the wolf, walked through the school to the House of Water, to drop Bell safely to the front door, before Ari and Tom continued on to the kinnhouses outside the House of Winter.

"Did you hear anything more about the attack?" Tom asked her.

"We sheltered in the subway for a while until the Garde told us it was safe to move on," Ari said, deciding not to mention that the Garde had actually treated them like homeless ords. "We heard nothing."

Tom's expression suggested he was worried, but he didn't say anything until they reached their house. Inside, they found Katja and Sanna sitting at the long dining table in the grand hall.

Katja stood as soon as she saw the pair of them. "Thank goodness you two are okay! I've just heard from Raphael..." she ran to meet them, hugging Tom and then hugging Ari just as firmly, much to Ari's shock. Sanna stood behind Katja, like a shadow to the princess.

"Raph said they've already caught the culprits," Katja said. "It was a trio of Vastien men. They set explosions... they were planning to attack the Cathedral."

"Vastiens?" Tom asked.

Ari felt something of herself slip away. "Vastiens?" she repeated. She couldn't imagine Vastiens - the loving, carefree people of the islands - setting off bombs. Vastiens didn't set bombs. The Kaio army set bombs. Vastiens were peaceful.

"It seems they'd been planning for weeks," Katja said. "It's lucky they were caught."

"Did anyone die?"

Sanna spoke up. "They're still searching for survivors. But so far they've pulled twenty bodies from the rubble."

Ari felt her heart sinking. Twenty people, dead.