Zogrusz’s previous experience of traveling through the dark between the stars had been very different. It was clear to him now that his journey to Rhas’s world had been like a seed drifting on the breeze, a leisurely exploration into the unknown, and far more time than he’d realized must have elapsed during his wanderings. Clinging to Anecoya’s back, he marveled at the speed of the goddess as she surged through space, the distant light of the stars blurring and elongating around them. Zogrusz also remembered the cold kiss of this vast emptiness, but that had been banished by the intense heat welling up from beneath the feathers in which he crouched. He was certain a human would have instantly exploded into crackling flame if they had clambered up onto the goddess.

Rhas however seemed to be enjoying this feeling. He had found a comfortable spot to curl up in the pocket formed where the crest of feathers below her mantle flowed into her wings, and he looked as content as a cat sleeping in the afternoon sun. After a while, he seemed to sense Zogrusz’s attention, his golden eyes sliding open to focus on the Eldritch Horror.

Zog>

His name blossomed in his mind, uttered in Rhas’s distinctive voice. Zogrusz stared at the cat in surprise, wondering if this had been his imagination.

It’s not. I’ve made a bridge between our thoughts, because sound cannot travel out here>

Zogrusz concentrated, trying to form a response. How?> he asked, the word reverberating in his skull.

Rhas winced. No need to think so loudly. And to answer your question . . . I am consciousness. A vast, interconnected web of minds. Speaking like this is far more natural for me than using my mouth>

Zogrusz glanced at the back of Anecoya’s blazing head as she plunged through the darkness. Can she hear us?>

She could if I wanted her to> Rhas responded. And in a moment I’ll bring us all together so we can discuss important matters. But first . . . I wanted to talk to you privately. About Annie>

Zogrusz couldn’t restrain his surge of dislike at the mention of the bird-goddess.

Rhas’s mental sigh slipped through his head like the wind. Your feelings are understandable. She has been less than pleasant towards you>

I’d go so far as to say antagonistic>

Yes, and for that I’m sorry. It is at least partly my own failing – I was the first being she encountered after emerging from her egg, and I’ve done my best to guide her into becoming a good goddess for my world. But I did not prepare her for those fundamental truths that she was neither unique nor responsible for all creation. When she awoke from her sleep this time to discover that another cosmic being now inhabited ‘her’ world and had gone so far as to leach away some of the devotion that sustained her . . . I admit, she reacted badly. I should have prepared her better, but I thought she would sleep for another few centuries. Perhaps you can try to look at it from her perspective? Her reality was upended and for the first time in a thousand years she felt threatened. Her continued belligerence is because she doesn’t know how to act towards you. Are you a rival? An enemy? A . . . colleague?>

Right now we are allies> Zogrusz grumbled. And we should be united in common purpose . . . unless she wants to lose everything she has ever known>

Quite right> Rhas quickly agreed. I just beg you not to judge her too harshly. I’ve known her since she was a fledgling, and she is not terrible. Impetuous, yes, perhaps a bit arrogant . . . though in truth, I believe those flaws are a rather immature attempt to deal with her insecurities. She is very young, you know. By the standards of cosmic beings she’s still a child>

Zogrusz attempted the telepathic equivalent of a shrug. I will . . . try to be understanding>

That is all I am asking> said Rhas, and Zogrusz could sense he’d pleased the world-mind. I’ve hoped for a long time that you two would eventually be able to . . . coexist>

Zogrusz snorted, causing his mouth-tendrils to flutter, but the sound was swallowed by the airless emptiness.

Let me bring her into this conversation> Rhas said, and a moment later Zogrusz felt the touch of another mind – broiling hot when compared to the world-spirit’s cool equanimity.

Annie, how are you doing?>

Rhas!> Anecoya exclaimed, her exuberant voice filling Zogrusz’s head. I feel incredible. I never knew how constrained I was on our world . . . finally I can push myself to the very limit!>

Good, good> Rhas replied. Your true home is the space between the stars. I’m glad you finally can experience it>

We are almost there, I think> Anecoya continued, her excitement so infectious Zogrusz felt his own pulse quickening. I can sense the star you pointed me towards growing closer>

And that means we should discuss what will happen when we arrive. Annie, Zog is here sharing this mind-link>

I can feel him> she replied tersely, her thoughts flavored with distaste.

Yes, well, we should make sure we are all in agreement about our strategy. First, while you two are why I hope the Wanderer will grant us an audience, I strongly believe it is best if I do the talking> Rhas paused, as if expecting an objection, but after none were raised he continued. I must stress that we should strive to avoid conflict at all costs. The Wanderer is an old and powerful cosmic being who has survived threats we cannot imagine over countless eons. Almost certainly it wields powers we cannot comprehend. You must keep your temper in check, even if the Wanderer is rude or dismissive> Rhas did not specify to whom he was directing this statement, but Zogrusz had a strong suspicion it wasn’t him.

Very well> Anecoya muttered.

Excellent> Rhas said. And that certainly also means no . . .>

Zogrusz glanced in surprise at the world-mind as its thoughts trailed away. Something was wrong. Rhas had risen and was now perched on Anecoya’s shoulder, staring off in the direction they were flying.

Oh. We’re there>

One of the brightest points of gleaming light in the star-spattered distance suddenly began to swell. Zogrusz hadn’t realized just how fast Anecoya was moving, and he found the speed at which this point was expanding more than a little disconcerting. Then with a violent flaring of her wings that sent Zogrusz tumbling forward clutching at burning feathers the bird goddess arrested her approach. Zogrusz looked to Rhas, expecting the cat to have been thrown from Anecoya’s back, but the little creature seemed somehow to be firmly rooted despite being so small and light.

It was a binary stellar system, with a large yellow star and a much smaller bluish-white companion dancing in attendance. Zogrusz couldn’t see much in the way of planets except for a few vast gas giants girdled by rings and surrounded by moons, although some of the rocks drifting in the system’s large asteroid belt might have been approaching planetary size.

I . . . sense something> Anecoya murmured. A presence>

Go to it, Annie> Rhas instructed her, and the great bird began to move again, though this time much more sedately. She glided towards the swarm of floating rock-and-ice chunks, and after a moment Zogrusz also felt something strange. It was a tickling in his head, like spiders scuttling across the surface of his brain . . . but behind that silken touch loomed something vast and ancient and watchful.

Zogrusz’s gaze was drawn by a flash of bronze recessed among the tumbling debris. Anecoya must have seen it as well, as she angled herself in that direction, swooping around a great ball of dirty ice and passing through the glittering cloud trailing in its wake.

Is that what I think it is?> Rhas’s voice reverberated in Zogrusz’s head, edged with panic.

He was too numb to answer. Anecoya murmured something in an awed whisper he could not understand.

It was a fish the size of a moon, drifting between the asteroids like it was some leviathan haunting the ocean’s depths. The light from the twin stars made the scales around its massive blunt head glow a deep copper, though its coloration shifted to gold and then a muted bronze farther down its great length. Its fins were motionless, its vast milky eyes staring idiotically ahead, and if not for the very slow sweep of its tail back and forth, Zogrusz would have thought the creature was dead.

With some effort, Zogrusz finally managed a coherent thought. The Wanderer is a fish?>

A WORLD I VISITED IN MY YOUTH HAD AN OLD SAYING: ‘TEACH A MAN TO FISH, AND YOU’LL FEED HIM FOR A LIFETIME. GIVE A MAN A FISH, AND HE’LL SWIM BETWEEN THE STARS’>

Stunned silence descended, and Zogrusz imagined that the others were also listening in their heads to the fading echoes of this pronouncement. Something from outside had pushed its way into the mental bridges Rhas had fashioned to link their minds, a hoary presence that reminded Zogrusz of what it had been like to drift between the sleeping Old Ones and experience the intoxicating power of their dreams.

A PHOENIX, AN ELDRITCH HORROR, AND A CAT THAT IS NOT A CAT. HOW UNUSUAL. COME, YOU MUST ENTER AND TELL ME WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE>

The fish’s great jaws slowly unhinged, opening wide. A strange opalescent light was painting the inside of its mouth and making jagged teeth the size of glaciers gleam. Zogrusz couldn’t see exactly where this radiance was coming from, but he thought it was welling up from deeper within the fish.

Rhas . . .> Anecoya whispered in their minds, as if the other being would not hear her if she was quiet enough. What should I do?>

I suppose we have to go inside> Rhas said in what sounded like resignation.

I was afraid you were going to say that> muttered Anecoya, but still she banked on invisible currents, adjusting their approach so they were headed on a path directly for that gaping fanged maw.