Star Light

The inn was built to handle the rain, like all other buildings in the area -- in the world. Steep, sloped roofs, diverting gutters, and a raised floor over a huge grill that led underground, to let the rain gather together in a giant reservoir under the village. The heavy, everlasting clouds hung over the roof and poured rain all day, just like the last day, last month, and last year. It had been raining for longer than anyone could remember.
    Tien stood outside the door of the inn, rattling the handle. Either it was stuck, or it was locked. He stood back from the door and got a deluge of water on his head. He shook his hood free and shook his head to get rid of the water, and checked the window of the inn. He saw light, and shadows of people moving back and forth. He banged on the door again, huddling close to the wall.
    A moment passed, and a small opening in the door slid open. Small eyes peered out. They spotted Tien, a wet and weary traveler.
    "You want in?" The eyes asked.
    "Yes," Tien said. "Do you have any room?"
    The eyes disappeared, and Tien heard bolts and metal being banged together or apart. The door squeaked open loudly, and a beefy arm appeared out the crack. "Your weapons."
    "What?"
    "If you're coming in here, you're giving up your weapons. Rule. You aren't getting in with weapons still on you."
    "What if I can't?" Tien asked.
    "You want to try and sleep out in the rain tonight? You're likely to drown. This is the best inn in fifty leagues all around, and that's cause we have rules. Now . . . weapons."
    Tien hesitated for a bit, than dragged out the sword that was under his oiled cloak. He handed it over, but the door still didn't open. The hand beckoned for more. "No smart traveler hands over his only weapon that easily."
    "What if we get attacked during the night?" Tien asked. "How are we supposed to protect ourselves?"
    "Me, and my guards. They're highly-paid and well-trained. How about it?"
    "All right, all right, give me a minute," Tien said. He drew the knife from his boot, both daggers from behind his back, the poison bombs from a hidden pocket, and a red ball from a compartment in his sleeve. "Be very gentle with that ball," Tien warned the hand.
    All of the weapons were taken in and deposited somewhere. Finally the door opened fully. On the other side was a large man that possessed the small eyes. Behind him was a man wearing armor and holding a sword.
    "I don't fully believe that you've given me all of your weapons yet, but I bet you'd have a hard time running out. You have that look on you," he said, glaring at Tien. He jabbed his thumb at the man behind him. "This is Remy. If you cause any trouble, it's going to be him that throws your unconscious body into the rain and mud. And I tell you what." The big man leaned in. "He loves doing it."
    Tien looked at Remy, who was smiling. The smile had a few holes in it.
    "Fine. I have a few friends coming later. You have enough space for three more?"
    "We'll have to squeeze you in a little bit. There are only two rooms left," the doorman said. "What kind of people?"
    "My brother, my wife, and our daughter," Tien said. "No kind of trouble makers."
    "All right then. It's fifty iron a person. You get a meal tonight and a meal tomorrow."
    "Fifty iron?" Tien said. "This place had better be worth it!"
    "It is," the innkeeper said. "And if you don't think so, you're welcome to leave." He pointed out the door, where dark rain created deep puddles.
    "My daughter's only eight years. Surely she doesn't cost fifty iron for a night."
    The innkeeper thought about it. "Thirty-five for her, then." He stuck out his hand. "Agree?"
    "Agree," Tien said, shaking the hand. The doorman led Tien into the main area of the inn. It was a big room, with quadrants around a central serving area. Men sat at the bar, drinking and talking; families sat at the tables, eating and enjoying the heat that was funneled out of grates from a furnace in the basement. "Quite a big place."
    "It is." The doorman pointed. "That there's the owner, Umen." Tien followed the finger and found a stringy man with a large black moustache. "Pay him. When are your others coming?"
    "They're waiting at the edge of town for me to gather them," Tien said. His eyes roved the big room. "I needed to make sure the place was safe, first."
    "I told you, this is the safest place in leagues."
    Tien didn't respond. Instead, he took in as many details as he could. His eyes, black stones set in cloudy white pools, absorbed everything and forgot nothing.
    People were placed in categories. Not dangerous, possibly dangerous, and dangerous. There were dangerous people in the inn, certainly, but nobody that was outright dangerous to them. Just before Roland walked back to the door, Tien stopped him. "Where's the Newsman?"
    "That's him in the corner there with the stand," Roland said, motioning into the corner on Tien's right. An old man sat behind a podium with a pile of books and papers. As Tien watched, the old man licked a finger and turned a page. "He's going to make a report in ten minutes or so, but you can ask him about information any time." Roland walked back to the door, leaving Tien standing in the middle of the entrance way.
    He found a seat at one of the few empty tables, and called a serving girl over. He ordered a beer and looked around. Nobody took much notice of him, except perhaps the guards that circled the big room. They wouldn't linger on him, though, but instead move on to the next person.
    Tien sat silently until the old man rose from his chair and approached the podium. The big room got quieter, but not by much. The Newsman waited until the talking had died down.
    "The eighth-hour report, of this the twenty-eighth day of the final month. The new year approaches. The Council of One Hundred has predicted a year of plenty." A few people chuckled. The Council of One Hundred could predict a dozen things for the coming year and have none of them come true. "The rain continues, as it has, with no end in sight." This was par for the course. The rain had been falling since before Tien was born – before even the Newsman. "The Council reports that some Day-lighters have been spotted in the surrounding area, and warns everybody to not give them the time of day, nor the warmth of hearth, nor the taste of bread." Tien frowned. That was troubling. Then again, he suspected every area had the same warning.
    The old man went on. "The Sky Watchers say cold is coming, and that we should prepare." This was taken more seriously than the Council's prediction. The Sky Watchers were frequently right. "Ahem . . . some local things . . . " The Newsman read something, adjusting his thick spectacles. "The young boy Fern's dog has gone missing. It is black with brown spots, and not dangerous, though quite likely it is hungry now. It has been missing for three days. If you see it, please tell Fern, his parents, or myself."
    Tien zoned out as the Newsman read messages about the area. From a boy's missing dog, all the way down to Mrs. So-and-So has recovered from her bout of illness, the Newsman read. Finally, he finished, and sat behind the podium with his books and papers. The big room's volume started rising again, and quickly it was back to how it had been when Tien had entered.
    After a few minutes of waiting, he rose from the table and threaded his way through the crowd to the Newsman. The old man had his own guard, but he let Tien pass.
    "Excuse me," Tien said. "I'd like to know more about the Day-lighters that are supposed to be in the area." The Newsman looked up at him. "My family -- my wife, my daughter, my brother -- they're going to be joining me here soon. Do you think the Day-lighters are close?"
    "Eh, well, let me see . . . " The Newsman paged through a few loose pieces of paper, trying to find the right one. Finally he picked it out, adjusted his glasses, and squinted down at the message. "Er . . . says it's a bunch of them . . . a bigger group, ten or more. Looks like they were east of here heading north. I doubt they're close. You should be safe."
    Tien let out a held breath. "Thank you."
    "Of course." The Newsman smiled up at him. "You're very welcome."
    Tien made his way back to his empty table and half-full beer, which he drained. After that he went to the center island in the room and paid his fee to the inn's owner, Umen. He handed over the one hundred and eighty-five iron, which Umen accepted without argument. Tien walked back toward the door.
    "I'm going to get my family," he told Roland. "May I take my weapons?"
    "Yeah, just a minute," Roland responded. He bent and, after producing a key, unlocked a large cabinet. He pulled out a box that was labeled 'Tien.' He handed the weapons to Tien, who was watched closely by Remy as he stowed them. "You'll have to hand them back over when you come back."
    "Right," Tien said, and then he opened the door and walked into the cold rain.

It took him twenty minutes to get to the edge of town. The torrential rain made it harder, but Tien had been walking in the rain for all his life. It was something that didn't bother him any more, even when he thought about it.
    From the edge of town it was fifteen more minutes until he got to his three traveling companions, huddled together under an old lean-to.
    "I wish I may, I wish I might," Tien said first. "It's safe. The Newsman said that the Day-lighters were east and heading north, in a big group."
    "The inn?" The woman asked. "Is it safe?"
    "Fairly. They make us give up our weapons, but there are a good number of guards hired by the owner."
    "What if we don't want to give our weapons up?" Tien's brother, Ren, asked.
    "Then we don't get in. The doorman made sure I understood that. I've already paid for all of us. But," Tien looked at his brother. "The doorman seemed to understand that it would be impossible to rid us of every weapon. Just don't overdo it. Give up the obvious ones." Tien's brother nodded.
    "How's the food?" The young girl asked. Her bright blonde hair was dripping and clumped. Tien smiled and knelt down.
    "I didn't have any, I just stayed long enough to hear the Newsman. It smelled good, though. We'll be able to have some when we get there. Ready to go?"
    It took them another forty minutes to get back to the inn. Tien knocked on the door and Roland let them in after taking 'all' of their weapons. Ren very grumpily handed over the weapons that Roland demanded. They sat at an empty table and were served plates of black beans and wet beef, with glasses of beer for the adults and water for the girl. She looked at it with disgust.
    "Drink up," Tien said. "Has to get inside you sometimes."
    "He's right, honey," Onli said. She pointed at Tien. "Your father knows how to get big and strong."
    "I have to be out in the water all day, and then you get to drink beer. It looks a lot better than drinking water." The girl pouted.
    "Teegan," Onli said, leaning in. "Drink your water."
    The girl sneered, but sipped at the water.
    The four of them ate in silence, trying not to attract attention. Teegan was able to force herself to finish half of the glass, but refused to drink beyond that, stating that the water was 'yucky.' Tien finished eating first, and spent the rest of the meal scanning the crowd, but he could only look in one direction at a time.
    "Someone's coming," Ren said, as he ate.
    A short, colorfully dressed man appeared between Tien and Onli, holding a guitar. "Greetings, travelers! I am Momono, a humble singer and tale-teller." He bowed, using one hand to keep his damp hat on his head. "I saw your table of sad faces and decided I must stop by for a visit, if only to give you a bit of fun!" His speech, and big smile, was met by two scowling adults. Teegan was playing with her fork, and Ren was still eating. Momono looked around the table and spotted Teegan. "Dear child!" He said. Teegan's head jerked up, and Momono's mouth dropped open. "Such bright hair!"
    He looked at Ren, Tien, and Onli. "Is this girl your daughter?"
    "Ours," Onli said. She locked the singer with her gaze. She put Tien's hand in her own. "She is our daughter."
    "But you both have such dark hair!" Momono said, all too loudly. A few people noticed them, and were looking. "How did she get such lovely golden tresses?"
    Onli let a moment of silence pass. "I'll tell you about my mother," she said.
    The tables around them fell silent. Momono didn't say anything. Onli shifted and looked around her. "My mother had long hair like the early sun. She never saw the sun, but old women would tell her she had been blessed -- like a drop of fire had landed on her as a child."
    Her voice was was low and sweet, and cut under the talking around them. The circle of silent listeners grew. She put her hands under her chin. "My father was like my husband, with hair the color of the coal he mined." She smiled and shot a glance at Tien. "I'll let you interpret that as you wish. My father saw my mother in a big city and, like many men, young and old, was brainwashed by her bright hair. Unlike other men, though, she saw him looking. Here was a man who did not look away, and that  attracted her. They told me this many years later," Onli said, taking a small sip of her beer. She put it down slowly. Nearly the entire inn was quiet now.
    "They began to court, and were married." She spread her hand on her chest. "I was produced, via normal means." Listeners chuckled. "I take my dark hair from my father, but . . . " She looked at Teegan, who was trying to sit low in her chair. "My own daughter decided to ignore her parents, and took after her grandmother." Onli slipped a few fingers into the fan of Teegan's hair. "It's a bit darker than my mother's, I'm afraid. But it's quite something, isn't it?"
    The crowd took a moment to realize she had stopped talking and asked them a question. "Yes ma'am," Momono said. He held his cap in his hands. "It's lovely."
    Tien rose. "That's enough for tonight. It's time we get to bed. We have a lot of travel in front of us. Come, Teegan," Tien said, holding out his hand. The girl gripped it and the two of them, followed by Ren and Onli, went up the stairs to their room. They split, with the women in one and the men in the other.
    Ren shut the door behind him. "That was close," he said quietly. Tien nodded as he took off his cloak and hung it to dry. "It's a shame this town only has one inn. That was the most crowded room I've ever seen."
    "Thank God for Onli," Tien said. "That story has explained us away more times than I can count. It's no mystery why she's so good at telling it. She's got the whole thing memorized, down to the dramatic pauses."
    "Even I was drawn into it, and I've heard it before," Ren said.
    "Check the hallway," Tien ordered. Ren pressed his ear against the door and nodded to Tien. Tien knocked twice on the wall between their room and Onli's.
    Two knocks returned, and then he knocked thrice. Three more knocks came back. He nodded at Ren.
    They laid out on the two cold beds. For a while the only sound were their cloaks draining onto the floor.
    "Are you sure this place is safe?" Ren whispered. "There were a lot of people down there. Any one of them could have been-"
    "I know," Tien said, even quieter than Ren. "We didn't have any other choice. It was this or spend another night out in the cold and wet, or beat the odds and have someone welcome us in for the night. I don't think we need to worry, though. Even if some people were spies, there were too many people for them to look at."
    "Onli's story attracted everyone except for the Newsman. If somebody was trying to find us, they would have seen us," Ren responded. He held up a hand in the low light before Tien responded. A voice went by the door, muttering to someone. The voice disappeared, but Ren kept his hand up.
    When he lowered it, Tien responded. "We've done this before. It was nothing more than a good story. Onli and Teegan know how to play their parts."
    "I'll be glad when we leave here, anyway. While I was eating, I thought I heard something that I didn't like," Ren said.
    "What sort of thing?"
    Ren didn't respond immediately. "I'm not sure, but it had a tone that made it seem secretive."
    "It could have been anything," Tien said.
    "You aren't the listener," Ren said. "You're the seer. If I hear something and don't like it, you should be worried."
    "I'm worried. I'm always worried. We'll leave early in the morning. Now get some sleep."

"Wake up. Tien, wake up."
    Ren shook Tien until his eyes came open. "We're in trouble."
    Tien immediately pulled himself out of bed and took a waking breath. "What do you hear?"
    "Far too many boots, and far too heavy, for a place like this at this hour. They've come. Somebody must have tipped them off to our presence."
    "Get your weapons ready," Tien said. He banged on the wall three times and ran to his pack. From it he pulled a small harmonica. Hurrying, he banged on the wall three more times. Three tired bangs responded to his. "How's the rain? Can we get out through the window?"
    Ren ran and opened the shutter and stuck his head into the rain. He came back dripping. "Wall's too steep; nothing to hold on to. You and I and Onli might be able to make it-"
    "But it's not an option for Teegan," Tien finished. Four pounds came from the other room "How many?"
    Ren cocked his head. "Too many." Tien pounded twice on the wall. Two pounds came back.
    "Let's go," Tien said. Ren nodded. He had small object in his hand. Ren listened for a moment, and opened the door.
    There was a great commotion in the main area, down the stairs. Tien heard a jumble of voices but couldn't pick them out. He moved to Onli's room and knocked twice. Onli and Teegan exited, ready to travel.
    "How many?" Onli asked. Ren answered the same as before while Tien checked the hallway behind them.
    "It looks like this way leads somewhere else. It might just be more rooms, but it could be a back door. After me; Ren, you're in the back." Ren nodded, and Tien started down the dark hallway. He felt his way until his eyes adjusted to the dark.
    The made their way silently, listening to the heavy footsteps come up the stairs. They kept moving as the assailants stopped at their rooms and bashed the doors open. Teegan hurried along behind Tien, mouth set and eyes trained on his back.
    Tien stopped them, focusing ahead. He perceived some inhuman shift in the hallway's light, and turned to the door on his left. He pushed it open quickly and the other three rushed in. He pointed at the stunned occupants of the double bed; Ren and Onli jumped on them. Tien closed the door slowly without a sound. Teegan knelt next to him.
    Tien listened. His hearing didn't match Ren's, but it was still good. He heard the heavy boots in the hallway from the direction they were heading. They stopped, and he started to hear angry voices, all along the vein of "they got away?!" He smiled.
    The man under Onli, who's mouth was blocked by her hand, grunted and tried to talk through. Onli brought a menacing finger to her lips, and then recognized the person. "Momono!" She whispered. Momono nodded, and lifted his hands over his head to show he was unarmed. Onli looked at Tien, who nodded after a quick thought.
    "You're the woman that told the story!" He said, too loudly. Onli slapped his mouth closed.
    "And you're a singer who needs to keep his mouth shut," she said. Momono nodded. She took her hand away and looked at the other person lying on the bed. "Who's your friend?"
    "A bed-warmer," Momono said. The woman tried to say something indignant through Ren's hand. Onli ignored her.
    "Both of you, stay quiet," she said. She looked over at Tien, who had his ear pressed against the door.
    Tien looked back. "They're going to start checking the rooms from the outside in to make sure we don't escape. It sounds like most of them have gone to the exit in the back."
    "Then we head for the front entrance as quickly as we can," Ren said. He got off of the woman that had shared Momono's bed. "Get ready to run," he said to Teegan. "You know what to do if one of us falls." Teegan nodded again, and looked worried. Onli jumped off the bed and went to the other side of the door, ready to move.
    Ren listened, waiting for the perfect time. "Now," he said, and Tien opened the door. Onli, Teegan, and Ren ran. Tien was moments behind them when Momono stopped him.
    "Wait." Tien stopped and looked behind him. He was a dark shape in the doorway. "You four, you're Day-lighters, aren't you?" The singer asked.
    Tien stood in the threshold. His strong vision presented him an image of Momono kneeling on the bed, looking with a hungry expression. Tien watched him for a moment, then ran after the other three.

He met up with Ren, Onli, and Teegan at the top of the stairs that led down to the main area. The Council's soldiers were inspecting every hidden cranny of the large room. Tien could hear the soldiers in the hallway behind them rousting sleeping visitors, looking for them. "Not a lot of time."
    "Tien and I go hard and try to make an opening," Ren said. "Onli, you and Teegan go when you see one." Onli nodded. Ren stood and, gripping one end, pulled it the device he held. A long metal tube appeared. "Maybe we'll get lucky, and we can get to our weapons."
    "Maybe we'll get lucky, and we can get out of here," Tien responded. He bent down. "Now!"
    He and Ren jumped down the steps, making a great noise. In the big room were a half dozen soldiers, plus four guards from the inn, which included Remy, and the doorman. He stood with his fists on his hips, directing the soldiers. They all turned when the two men appeared.
    The first soldier Ren hit was too slow, and he got a shaft of metal in the eye. Another appeared, knocking over a table and swinging his sword at Ren. It was blocked, and the soldier got a kick in the stomach for his trouble. Tien was stopped on his way to the weapon locker by Remy, and the big guard leered, raising his sword high.
    Tien snapped his harmonica forward and a spring shot a blade out of the side, which shortly met Remy's lung. The man fell with a crash and a shout, and Tien smashed open the locker with their weapons. He pulled his sword out, and blocked an attack.
    "Thought there was something odd about you!" The doorman shouted. "All I had to do was call some soldiers, and they picked you out of the pile with your red ball trick!" He swung, but it was slow and clumsy. Tien blocked it easily and let him keep talking. Behind the doorman, Ren was beating a soldier to death with his metal stick. "A simple item to signal potential allies!" He swung again.
    Tien pushed the sword aside and used his hilt to knock Roland's temple. He expected an easy end to the fight, but the doorman jumped backwards. "You Day-lighters! Not many of you left, are there!" Roland's face turned into a greedy smile. "And when I kill you, I'll be a rich man! Know my name, scum! I am Roland!"
    "It's worthless to try and explain myself, isn't it?" Tien asked. "To tell you that we're trying to save this world?"
    "Shut up!" Roland shouted. A soldier was running to help him. Tien wondered where Onli and Teegan were. "I know your lies! The Council knows what you really want to do!"
    There was a smash behind Roland, and he looked. Tien took the chance. He punched the doorman in the face and darted past him, finding Ren surrounded by soldiers too clumsy to catch him. He kicked the first one forward, threw Ren his sheathed sword, and engaged the next soldier. He knocked it back with a strong blow to his metal chest piece, and looked at Ren. "Onli?" Ren only shrugged.
    One of the inn's guards stepped in front of Tien and attacked. Tien side-stepped and stomped down on the guard's wrist. He heard a wet snap and the guard dropped his sword, screaming. A soldier wrapped his arms around Tien from behind, and another approached from in front. Tien kicked but missed. There was a commotion from the stairs.
    Tien looked and saw another ten guards storming down toward them from the hallway. He didn't see Onli or Teegan, and the soldier's sharp swords were clean.
    Tien dropped his sword and muscled his way out of the soldier's grip, dropping to the floor and grabbing one of the soldier's ankles. The soldier toppled down and Tien snatched his sword. Ren cut down a guard next to him. More than a dozen soldiers approached them, all armed. Ren and Tien backed away, keeping their swords up and ready. "Don't kill them!" They heard. Tien spotted Roland behind the soldiers and guards. "They need to be alive for the reward!" He seemed to think. "Actually, I want a go at that one!" He pointed at Tien. "He-"
    His words were cut off with a loud brrang. The soldiers looked behind them and found Momono standing with a busted guitar over Roland's supine body.
    "Er," Momono said. "Don't mind me."
    "Get 'im," one soldier said to another. That soldier turned and advanced on the singer.
    Before he could reach him, a tiny dart caught him in the neck. He yelped and slapped his hand over it, which led him to being available for a punishing blow from Onli, who leapt down the stairs and upended him onto his head. She kept moving, taking the next soldier with a hit to the small of his back. That soldier fell into another, and suddenly there was a hole for Tien and Ren. They took advantage of it, pressing through and keeping their swords up.
    "Teegan?" Tien asked Onli when they reached her. The soldiers were reforming their ranks.
    "Later," she said.
    Now it was three against fifteen or more, but they had a free path to the door for the moment. Tien made for it first, followed by Onli. One guard tried to get in her way, but she bowled him over. Tien scooped up as many of their weapons as they could and kicked the door.
    It didn't open, and he teetered back, off balance. Ren pushed him back up, and kicked at the door. This time it swung open into the wet morning. The three ran out, dashing through deep puddles of mud and filth. The soldiers tried to chase after them, but were too burdened by their armor to keep up. The three ran through the dark streets of the town until they were out of breath. They buckled and hid their numerous weapons as they gulped down air and rain.
    "Where's Teegan?" Tien asked.
    "She and Momono escaped out the back while the soldiers where busy with us," Onli said. "I told them we'd try to meet them by the north side of town in a half hour. We'd better get going if we want to make it."
    They moved on. The town was waking up, mostly because of the din the soldiers and guards were making, searching for them. They had to hide as groups went by, but it was still dark enough to do so easily. Soon they got to the north edge of the town, and Tien spotted Teegan and the singer hiding under a house, hidden from everyone but him.
    Teegan ran to them, and they embraced her. The rain was clumping her hair, and even her thick cloak was soaked through due to lying in water almost a half an hour. Momono came to them slower, and as soon as he got close enough, Tien grabbed him.
    "Who are you?" He shouted as his hands wrapped around Momono's thin arms. "What do you want?" He shook the singer. Rainwater fell from hollows in his clothes. "Why did you help us?"
    "Tien," Onli said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "It's all right. He made sure that Teegan could escape. Without him, you'd probably be dead."
    Tien looked over Momono. The singer tried to smile.
    Tien dropped him, and he crumpled to the ground in a pile of wet clothes. "Let's go," Tien said. "We don't have a lot of time before it gets light enough. The soldiers are going to be all over here in an hour." He turned around and started to walk away from the town.
    "Wait!" Momono said, scrambling to his feet. "I want to come with you!"
    "And why would you want to do that?" Ren asked. "Do you really want to help us, or is it for something else? What is it -- personal gain?" Ren moved in a bit closer. "Are you an agent for the Council, just to gain our trust and turn us over later?"
    "No! No! N-none of that!" Momono said, waving his hands frantically. "Really!"
    "Then tell us why!"
    Ren had his hand on the hilt of his sword. Teegan was standing next to Onli, whose hands didn't stray far from the girl. Tien was scanning the area, looking through the rain. Momono took a breath.
    "I heard the Newsman, just like you did," he said to Tien. "Before you went and got the others. He said that the Day-lighters were in a big group and heading north, that they weren't in the city." Momono paused. "Why were you there? Where are the rest of your group?"
    "Interesting questions," Tien said. "Ones that we don't want to answer. You'd better come up with a good reason for wanting to know, and quick."
    Momono swallowed, and brushed rain out of his eyes. "Day-lighters. Enemies of the council and humans. Men and woman-" he looked at Teegan "-and children who want to open the clouds in the sky and burn the Earth with the hot sun. Hunted by the Council's soldiers, and guards, and farmers. Welcome nowhere. Friends of no one. Enemies of everyone." Momono started to get on better ground. "It's a hard dose to swallow. The Council wants us to believe that you would kill us all. But I know; you can't possibly."
    Momono nodded. "You aren't crazed. I can see that. You're no fanatics or wild people with disease-addled brains. You." He pointed at Tien. "You made sure the inn was safe before getting the others, and all of you played your parts in the inn when I so foolishly picked you out of the crowd. Even you, little one, I know was acting." He looked at Onli. "You aren't married to this man. She isn't your daughter. I would have called you out in the inn, but your story was too good. It was better than I could come up with. You have a gift of words."
    Onli nodded.
    "But there was no doubt about your identities when you so rudely intruded in my room just a little while ago. So. You're Day-lighters. Not crazed cultists. The Council wants you dead and gone." Momono pushed his chest out. "I want to know why."
    The Day-lighters waited. "Is that all?" Ren asked. Momono shrugged. Ren, Tien, and Onli exchanged glances.
    "Stay there and don't move," Tien said. The four of them huddled together and started whispering.
    Momono really didn't move, brought about by one part determination, one part desire for knowledge, and one part fear. He stood shivering, warming himself with his hands. He tried to figure out which way the conversation was swinging. Finally they broke apart. Tien approached him.
    "You can come with us," he said, glancing back at Onli. "With a few conditions. These are not negotiable. One: you get no weapons."
    "Don't have any," Momono said. "The reason I broke my guitar over that man's head is that was the only thing I could use."
    "Fine. The second condition is, if you disappear during the night, or when we aren't looking, or anything, we'll assume you've run off to the Council's soldiers and told them where we're traveling. If that happens, and if we happen to see you again, we'll kill you."
    The words were said with ultimate emphasis. No part could be misunderstood, or pity the fool. "Okay," Momono said, trying not to display how quickly his heart was pounding.
    "Third, and final, condition. This is to make sure that you are absolutely sure that you want to understand us. In exchange for being told what we know, and what we wish to do, you will, on the surface only, lead the Day-lighters."
    Momono didn't respond. He didn't fully understand.
    "This means that, if you are captured, or several of us are, you will be the one who is pegged as the ring leader of our little group. In addition, you will always go with one of us on scouting missions, such as when I went to the inn to make sure it was safe. You will hold no real power. Do you follow?"
    "Yes, I think I do." Maximum danger.
    "Do you accept?" Tien asked. A curtain of rain hid him from Momono's view for an instant, and the singer's heart lurched. The rain lessened, and the stern man's face appeared again.
    "I accept," Momono said. "I'm ready."
    "Then follow."

The rain didn't stop -- it never did -- as the clouds gained a dim, glowing light, but it did let up a little bit. The Day-lighters and Momono traveled north, crossing a wide river. They emerged just barely wetter than they entered it, and took some time to shake loose the water. It was never worth taking too long, as the rain always gave it right back. While they walked, Onli took the time to explain.
    "Everyone knows the stories," she said when Momono asked. "While now it's rain everyday, or snow if it's cold enough, it wasn't like that before. Before there were days when the rain stopped, the clouds pulled apart like a curtain, showing us the greater sky. The sun was not a hidden, deformed creature that fought to warm us, but the most powerful thing humanity could imagine. It was a fire in the sky; the only respite was night. There were sometimes weeks when not a cloud blocked it."
    She paused to haul herself over a rotten log. "It happened too long ago for anyone to remember, but the clouds came, and the rain came, and that was anything that could be seen in the sky for hundreds of years. Humanity was greater, once. It controlled the beasts, the elements." She looked up as she walked; rain fell in her eyes. "Even the sky. But no longer."
    Momono listened to her solemn voice, held captive. He knew about the sky, and the sun, and humanity's past greatness. Everyone did.
    "We forgot the sun's warm love, and began to think that the cold rain was the only sky that had ever been. Imagine: to raise your eyes to the sky and be blinded, not by hard rain but undying warmth." Onli smiled. "It was a dream everyone had, until the first generation all died. Soon those that had lived under the sun were all gone. In my tale, in the inn, I said that old women told my mother about the sun, but even they would have been too young.
    "I feel I'm rambling. One thing was remembered -- that the sun was there, still waiting behind the clouds. More, some believed that it could be found again. Many people started to resent the sun for leaving, or being the cause of the rain. They started to hate, and fear it." Onli looked at Momono. "Do you understand so far?"
    "Yes," Momono said.
    "Our group -- we were called the Day-breakers when we started -- appeared and tried to get people to join us. To bring the sun back." She shook her head. "We were attacked. 'Bringing the sun back will burn us,' they said. 'We will dry up and die!' What silliness."
    "I know that. The Council thinks you're going to use the sun to burn them up and gain power for yourself," Momono said.
    "The sun couldn't do such a thing any more than a drizzle could drown a man," Onli said. "And gain power?" She looked around. "The four of us?" Throwing her head back, she laughed. "We're no rulers. We just want the sun. We want to clear the clouds and warm tired bones for the first time in ten generations."
    "But how?"
    "That was a question not even half answered until several years ago. The people who started our group, before you or I were even born, guessed that something could be done with the machines that humans had long abandoned when the sun disappeared. The rain had made them difficult to use. You've heard of electricity?" Momono nodded. "The machines wouldn't work without them. Few things could generate their own electricity, and the things that could needed power from something else, and knowledge that nobody possessed. The earliest Day-lighters were lost, and didn't know what to do." Onli fell silent.
    Momono waited for a few minutes. They were walking through a field. After not too long, his curiosity got the better of him. "So what did they do?"
    "They looked," Tien said. Momono was surprised to hear him. "They looked for knowledge that someone knew, or had hidden. They found a little bit, and taught themselves, but it wasn't enough. Even then, they didn't know if there was a machine that could do what they wanted."
    Onli was nodding. "They looked for machines, information, and people. People to help them join the cause and bring the sun back. As their influence spread, so did the number of people who feared them. They began to be persecuted. They had to travel in smaller numbers."
    "We're just one of several groups," Ren interjected.
    "It's been difficult for us," Onli said. "We're hated because we want to bring humanity back into the light; because we want to get back to what we had before."
    "I have so many questions," Momono said.
    "We'll talk more later," Onli said. "Right now let's concentrate on walking. The rain's getting worse."

They traveled for a long time. Momono was exhausted by the time they stopped for the night. He was used to moving around, but usually it was from one town to the next, to spend a few nights singing and telling stories for coin and food. When they stopped his feet were sore, his back ached, and he was freezing.
    Tien and Ren set up a blanket between a few trees to keep the rain off of them. They built a small, smokey, sputtering fire out of wet wood that didn't last long. From their expressions, Momono guessed this was far too normal. They had a little cold food, and they were gracious enough to share some of it with him. He wolfed it down; the rest of them nibbled.
    The rain had fluctuated from pouring to misting over the day, right now it was dropping thick, heavy drops that ran down the suspended blanket and turned into mud.
    Everyone was tired, and decided to sleep. The three adults picked numbers to keep the first watch. Tien lost.
    Ren, Onli, and Teegan feel asleep rather quickly, but Momono wasn't used to the cold. He found himself awake and being stared down by Tien, who sat against a tree.
    "Your fingers," Tien said. He was wrapped in his damp cloak. The rain came down around them and made it hard to hear. "They have calluses."
    "From playing the guitar," Momono said. "You must press down to make the right sound." He fell silent under Tien's hard scrutiny. He shifted uncomfortably on the hard, cold, wet ground.
    "Do you know what I'm called?" Tien asked. Momono looked at him. "I'm the seer. My eyes," he said as he pointed. "They're stronger than normal people's. I see very well." He leaned forward. The minor glow from the fire's embers gave him shadows. "I see there's something about you that you aren't telling us, and I want you to know something."
    Momono waited for him to continue. The only sound was the constant rain.
    "You said you have to press down hard to make the right sound with a guitar. If I think what you aren't telling us is dangerous, I will press down on you until you make the right sound. And I know how to press."
    "I understand," Momono said. Tien leaned back against his tree. "You don't want any trouble to come to you or your friends. I might not be a seer, but I notice things. You were ready to beat me when I came up to your table in the inn and pointed out the girl's hair. You gave most of your weapons away, but I know you had some hidden."
    Tien did nothing.
    "You're a seer . . . Onli is a speaker, that much is obvious. Ren? Teegan?" Momono asked. "Or perhaps I'm prying."
    Tien had a small smile. "Ren is a listener. Teegan is also a speaker, at least we think she might be. We'll know more as the years pass."
    "Why is Teegan with you?" Momono asked. Tien looked at him suddenly, with the straight, unwavering vision of a person galvanized by someone else's words. "She's more than just a member?"
    Tien didn't answer. He stood. In an instant he stood beside Momono, who scrambled to get out of the way. Tien's hand clamped down around the singer's wrist, and the next thing Momono knew, a dagger's point pressed into the skin on his wrist.
    "You're asking a lot of questions for a singer," Tien hissed. Momono saw the anger in his eyes. "You remember our rules?"
    "Yes. If I leave, you kill me. I don't plan on leaving anytime soon." The two men stared at each other for a moment. Momono felt the dagger's point dig slightly deeper with each breath. Tien held the weapon still, ready to plunge it deep.
    Then he stood. He loomed over Momono and slipped the dagger away. Without a word he went back to his tree and settled down. He looked at Momono for a minute. "Teegan isn't normal." Momono didn't say anything. "We rescued her from a Council facility. They were trying to discover the source of her power."
    "Do I get to know the power?" Momono asked.
    Tien nodded. He looked at the small lump on the ground where Teegan was. "She can generate heat." He looked at Momono. "Not like you or I generate heat. It's much more, almost like she has a furnace hidden inside her. We heard about her from a drunk man who used to be a guard where she was kept. He'd been fired for drinking." Tien smiled. "We were able to get him drunk and angry enough for him to spill his guts."
    Momono picked up on the subtle double-meaning of the words. "What were they doing to her? In the facility?"
    Tien shrugged. "We don't know for certain. She doesn't have a good memory of it for one. Two, after we got her out, the Council decided to disband the facility, and everybody who'd worked there up and vanished. You can guess what probably happened to them," Tien said. Momono nodded. "We do know a few things. They examined her body. There are scars-" Tien traced lines across his torso, head, and limbs "-all over her. They tried to find the source of the heat. When we got her out she had bandages on half of her body." He dropped his hands. "We've guessed at some of the other things they did to her, but we don't know. If she knows she isn't telling us."
    "And you think that she could have a solution." Momono pointed at the sky. "You know, for the sun."
    Tien shrugged. "That was one reason. A lot of us have started to dislike a good number of the Council's practices, just because of the way they've treated us. You have to admit that what they did was cruel." Momono nodded. "If she turns out to have an ability we can use, than so much the better."
    The two of them fell silent. Momono was even starting to get tired. He fell asleep shortly after. Tien stayed awake. He kept his strong eyes moving through the darkness, looking for anything -- man or beast -- that would try to sneak up on them. Every once in a while he would snatch a glance at Momono, Ren, Onli, or Teegan.

It took them another day to reach a town. The rain was a heavy mist that obscured their vision and weighed down their clothes. The clouds were relatively light.
    Walking in a forest, they came across a well-worn path that had gutters along the side. A few people were on the path with them, and they all seemed to be heading in the same direction.
    At the end of the path they found a partial clearing with a few buildings. As Momono, Teegan, Onli, and Ren looked around, Tien looked up. The others followed his eyes.
    Far above them, wrapped around giant trees, were buildings. They looked attached to or even built into the sides of the trees, and were connected by long, strong rope bridges. The bridges went up and down and out farther than most of them could see. The five of them stared in wonder.
    "I don't understand," Teegan said. "Wouldn't the wood be too damp to hold something like that?"
    "I'm not sure," Onli said. She turned to Tien. "What do you see?"
    "Some soldiers," Tien said, scanning the bridges and walkways. "They don't seem to be looking for anything in particular." He studied on of the soldiers. "Than again, we got caught last time and they weren't looking for anything at all. We all need to be very careful," he whispered. "Teegan, keep your hood up. Momono, don't do any-" He stopped and studied the singer. "Actually, why don't you come with me."

The inn's stained wood door creaked open, and instead of a large, cheery, full crowd like the last inn, this one was rather dank and empty. Momono and Tien entered, and Tien took in the details of the inn quickly. It was a place for rougher characters, but it was smaller, and Tien guessed they would be safer here.
    They entered the city and walked along the bridges, astounded at their strength. Even on thin passages they didn't sway or creak. Momono stopped to ask a citizen about it, and the citizen explained with some pride that the anchors went deep into the monstrous trees, which also supplied the wood to make the buildings and walkways.
    Tien nudged Momono, and the singer wandered to the counter at the inn. "How much for five people to stay the night?" He asked, trying to put on an air of confidence. He leaned against the counter and began to study his nails, as if looking at the innkeeper would have been too much trouble.
    "A hundred iron, drinks extra," the innkeeper responded. He was like many innkeepers: large, hairy, and greasy. Momono half suspected they came with the building.
    "What about food?" Momono asked.
    "Not included, but it's good and cheap. It'll fill you up, put some meat on your bones. What'll it be?"
    Momono looked in the innkeeper's eyes and said exactly what Tien had told him. "One our number is young, just a girl. She won't take up much space. I'll give you ninety-five."
    "Still a hundred." The innkeeper poured a drink. "But lemme get a look at her and I won't charge as much for her meal, if what you say's true."
    Momono hesitated, still leaning against the counter. Would he make a potentially dangerous decision without asking Tien? Or would he ask Tien, possibly exposing the fact that Momono was just pretending to lead the group?
    He settled on a third option. Without a word, he pushed off from the counter and motioned to Tien to follow him. Together they left the inn.
    "I asked him about a refund, and he said he'd charge us less for Teegan's meal if he saw her," he said as they walked high above the ground.
    "You were right to tell me. I think it will be fine. Most of that people were either there for a cheap drink or to make sure nobody noticed them. It should be safe, but we'll have to take precautions."
    "Like?"
    "You'll see."
    They made their way down to earth, and found where Ren and Onli had stashed themselves. Tien explained the stipulation. "Keep your hair tied back," he said to Teegan. "Keep your hood up. If he does see something, hopefully he'll just think it's a trick of the light. Teegan nodded as she tied a knot around her hair and put it down the back of her cloak.
    They went back to the inn. Ren, Onli, and Teegan all walked the same as Momono and Tien had at first, afraid of losing their balance and plummeting down a hundred feet for a messy end. Momono told them what they had found out, about the trees and the pathways. Teegan continued to step carefully, even after being told.
    They got back to the inn and found that it fuller. Tien nodded Momono on, and he approached the counter with Teegan.
    "Here she is. Like I said, not even ten years," the singer said. The innkeeper looked up.
    "I'm gonna be nine next month!" Teegan said, a little upset.
    A wide, surprising, grin spread on the innkeeper's face. "Of course you are!" He beamed down. "I'll make a note for the waitress to charge a bit less for the lass," he said to Momono. "What's your name?"
    "Momono."
    The innkeeper paused and frowned. Momono's stomach squeezed. "Why does that name sound familiar?" The innkeeper said, scrawling on a little square of paper. "I know I've heard it before . . . "
    "I-I'm a singer!" Momono said, startled. "I'm somewhat well-known in the south! Perhaps you've heard someone talk about my stunning rendition of 'The Girl of Gerry-Main!'"
    "Maybe that's what it was!" The innkeeper said. He pointed his pencil at Momono. "A singer? Why don't you give the boys here a good song? I bet you could make a fair bit of iron! The gents love a rousing song!" He swung his arm at the current patrons. Momono saw more lifted glasses than eyes.
    "I . . . can't. I lost my guitar. I don't like singing without it."
    "Oh? How'd you lose it?"
    Momono blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "A bear ate it!"
    He and the innkeeper looked at each other for a moment. "I think he was as surprised as I was," Momono said. "It was dark, and . . . I guess the beast was hungry."
    "Ah . . . well . . . all right then," the innkeeper said. "I've got the note all written down. Why don't you bunch take a seat and we'll get your food out to you."
    Momono and Teegan left the counter and went back to the other three.
    "How'd it go?" Tien asked.
    "Fine, mostly," Momono said. He noticed Ren was smiling. "I panicked."
    "Clearly," Ren said. They found a table and took their seats. Nobody in the building gave them even a glance. Teegan kept her hair hidden nonetheless.
    They sat quietly for a few minutes in the flickering light, listening to the rain outside. Eventually a limping waitress appeared. She set down a platter of bowls. Stew, full of chunks of potatoes and carrots and bits of beef, filled them up. In front of Teegan she set a special plate. On it was white rice, soggy tomatoes, and-
    "I don't believe it," Ren said. "Chicken." He looked up at the waitress. "We can't afford this."
    The waitress shrugged. "Fenny's got a soft place for younglings. He had a daughter that died of rain-sick, I think. He got his hands on some of this for a cheap price, and he wants her to have it, free of charge. For the rest of you it's forty iron all."
    Momono handed over the money. "Tell Fenny thank you, from all of us."
    "I surely will," the waitress said, and limped off.
    "You enjoy that," Ren said. "You know how rare chicken is around here."
    Teegan nodded. Despite herself, she wore a smile. They all began eating.
    The food was as described. It was cheap, simple food to fill your belly and warm you up and little more. Teegan described the chicken to Momono, who had never tasted it. She said it was 'weird, but weird in a good way.' Momono nodded thoughtfully, as if the description actually meant anything.
    The sat at the table and talked for a few minutes, enjoying the warmth and dryness. The inn never got much busier, and most people were just there for drink, as Tien had guessed. After a little while they went up to their room.

It was a single room inside the circle of the tree. There were no beds, but large mounds of hay covered with sheets. It looked like there was enough space for eight or more people. There was a covered torch that Tien lit once they got inside, and it was plenty warm and dry. They all picked a mound and bedded down, shaping their pile to be more comfortable. Teegan fell silent quickly, but the adults stayed awake a little longer.
    "What are we heading for?" Momono asked. "Is there some conclave that will keep you safe?"
    "No, there's nothing like that," Onli said. "There are a few places that have more permanent settlements, but they're well-hidden. We only know of one of them, and it's a great distance from here."
    "Right now it's get away from the people chasing us," Tien said. "Whether that takes us a week or ten years, it doesn't matter. After that, we meet up with some others of our group and let them know about Teegan. After that, who knows."
    "Back at the inn where we met," Momono began, "the Newsman said that the Day-lighters were in a big group. Was he wrong? Did you break up?"
    The other three were quiet. Tien and Ren exchanged glances.
    "Neither," Onli said. "He was going partly off of old information. We were a much bigger group, before we got Teegan."
    "I told Momono about the facility the first night out," Tien interjected. Onli nodded.
    "There were thirteen of us." She smiled. "Bad luck. Only the three of us got out alive, plus Teegan. Our group was unanimous in our desire to free her from the facility, but it was at a great cost. We just hope that the other Day-lighters understand why we did it."
    "They'll understand," Ren said. "They have to. It's already done. They aren't going to kick us out or anything. Besides that, when they see what Teegan can do, they'll know we did the right thing."
    "That's right," Tien said. "Now I think we'd all better get some sleep. Hopefully we'll be able to get through the night."

Momono snapped awake. It was still dark out. The room was warm and drowsy; it had a glow. He didn't know what time it was, but everyone else was still asleep.
    His heart was hammering, stunning him out of the morning slur and into action. He got off his pile of hay and looked around. The torch had burned out while they slept. He got up. He felt sick and hot. Something was wrong. Was there another person in the room? No, it was just the five of them. He didn't hear anything. There was no stamp of iron boots or cries to seal the exits. Ren had an arm over his eyes and was snoring. Tien slept leaning against the wall with his hay under him. Onli was under her sheet. Teegan-
    The glow was coming from Teegan. The torch had burned out. The room was warm. He felt hot.
    He ran to her and touched her shoulder. Blistering agony scalded him and he shouted, falling backward. Ren jumped awake and Onli rolled over. Momono pointed his hand -- smoke rose from the fingertips -- at Teegan, and Onli checked her.
    "She's burning up," she said.
    "Does she make light, too?" Momono asked, clutching his hand.
    "No, she -- uh oh."
    "Get her off of it!" Ren shouted, wrapping his arms around the girl. He yelled and threw her onto a different pile, revealing a bed of burnt straw and smoldering floor. "It's-" The dead fire on the smoldering straw came to life, spreading heat quickly. The floor caught on fire, and the flames reached to the wall before anyone could react.
    "Momono, get Tien up. Ren, see if you can put this out. I'll make sure Teegan is okay," Onli ordered. Momono got up and went to Tien. He shook the man's shoulder.
    "Tien! Tien! He's not waking up!" He yelled.
    "Try harder!" Ren shouted back.
    "Tien, wake up!" Momono shouted, seizing his arm and rattling it. Tien opened his eyes. "We have some problems!"
    "What? Is it-" He saw the issue. "Teegan?"
    "She did it but we aren't sure how," Onli said. "It's dry straw and she's plenty hot. She isn't waking up. I think she's been poisoned."
    She looked over at the flames. Ren was trying to crush them with his foot, but they never stopped. "I can't do anything to them!" He said. "We need water!"
    Momono looked around. There was nothing to hold water in. Instead he pulled open the window, scooped up an armful of hay, stuck it outside, and brought it back in when it was drenched, which was moments. He threw it on the fire. There was an explosion of steam that made him step backward.
    The fire pushed on, unhindered. The wet hay wasn't catching fire, but the water did nothing to stop the flames. It spread up the wall and across the floor. The fire's heat and light grew, and the draft from the window fueled it.
    "We need to get out," Tien said. "Gather your things!" the four of them collected their items quickly. Ren held Teegan's cloak out the window and then wrapped her in it. He hoisted her in his arms and followed the others out of the room.
    "Fire! Fire!" Onli bellowed. Her powerful voice split the early morning. "Everyone out! Fire!"
    The mostly-empty inn woke up, and a few bleary-eyed patrons stumbled out. "Awake, awake!" Onli cried. "There's a fire!"
    They got to the main room and ran into the innkeeper. "Fire?" He said, still mostly asleep.
    "In our room," Onli said frantically. "We don't know what happened. It was right near Teegan. She isn't waking up." She looked ready to cry.
    "Get outside and get her some fresh air," the innkeeper said. "And call the watch!" Tien stiffened as he said it.
    They ran outside while the innkeeper made sure everyone else was out. Tien instructed Momono to grab a guard and point him at the inn. Flames could already be seen spreading through the building and the tree that housed it. Even when the rain that always fell touched it, it didn't shrink back. It seemed to even grow stronger, soon filling the sky with eerie orange glow under the clouds. The tree village woke up and witnessed the first fire in years.
    The four of them watched the fire expand and engulf the entire tree. People were cleared free of it and the passages to it were cut to keep the fire from spreading.
    It only took ten minutes for the fire to eat the tree alive and send it crashing over, all untold hundreds of feet of it. It smashed through another bridge and off the side of a different tree, destroying a building that sat there. It boomed to the forest's floor with a shattering sound. Ren held his ears and turned away when it did.
    Teegan never woke up. Her skin burned hot even with the cold rain. Ren burned himself carrying her. Tien told them they needed to run.
    Soon the rudely-awoken village was behind them. The rain sizzled on Teegan's bare face.

To be continued in "Star Bright."