Storm Breaking

An'desha for that, although he was quite aware that she was not going to change her mind about her choice of a bearer. Somewhat to his surprise, Karal separated himself from the group for a moment and approached him.

'I'm not quite sure what to say, except that I know it isn't going to be easy or very entertaining to have Need literally on your back while we work our way through all this,' Karal said quietly. 'I've had teachers like her. They were very good, but not easy to live with, and you have my sympathy, for what it's worth.'

'Thank you, Karal,' he replied with some surprise. The last thing he had expected was sympathy or understanding from the Karsite!

'Just trying to—oh, I don't know.' Karal smiled crookedly. 'Believe it or not, I like and admire you, Firesong. We irritate each other sometimes, but who doesn't? And I never properly thanked you for what you did for me.'

Firesong found himself blushing hotly, something he hadn't done since boyhood. 'Oh, please,' he replied, for once at a loss for words. 'Don't thank me, we all—'

Karal shook his head. 'I know very well what all of you did, and I won't mention this again since it obviously makes you uncomfortable. I just want you to know that it's appreciated and you are appreciated. And—well, I think I've said enough.'

Considering that Firesong didn't think he'd be able to flush any hotter, Karal was probably right. When the Karsite rejoined the group talking to Need, it was a decided relief.

:Ahem.:

This time the mind-voice was Tarrn's, and Firesong was very glad to hear it.

'Can I help you, sir?' he asked, looking down at the kyree, who was in turn looking up at him with amused golden eyes. The white hairs of his muzzle contrasted strangely with the youth in those eyes.

:Since virtually everyone else is involved with speaking to our metallic friend, why don't we go have a look at those notes Silverfox says you are so concerned with? If this device is what I believe it to be, then the translation will be a simple one, and we may have some answers within a quarter-day.:

'Really?' Firesong's eyebrows rose.

:Mind you, this is likely to be the only case where the translation will be so easy,: Tarrn cautioned, :And that is only because I am familiar with similar devices used by our gryphons. I think this is probably an improvement on those devices, allowing visions as well as thoughts and—: He stopped, and shook his head until his ears flapped. :—and we really ought to just see for ourselves before I make too big a liar of myself. Shall we?:

Firesong got the notes and spread the pages out on the floor in one corner of the main chamber. He and the kyree bent over them in intense concentration, with Lyam taking notes beside them, and before very long, Tarrn was able to determine that the device was nothing more than an improvement on something he called a 'teleson.'

At that point, Silverfox joined them again, and by the time supper came and went, they had worked out not only the way to activate the devices, but also how to make more.

Provided, of course, that there were sufficient parts to do so. There were some esoteric components that needed to be prepared beforehand, and Firesong wasn't certain whether or not there had been any of those components among the parts in bins on the workbench. Both Tarrn and Silverfox were of the opinion that, although the Kaled'a'in could probably make more of these components eventually, it would take a great deal of trial-and- error to do so, given the vagaries of the way the language had changed over the centuries.

'Well, let's confine ourselves to activating the two we have,' Firesong said at last, sitting back on his heels and stretching muscles that had cramped in his shoulders and back. 'If they work, then we can see if we can make a third and get it to work. With communication open back to Haven, that will give us more than we'd hoped for; open it to Sunhame, and we're doubly advantaged. We can worry about being able to build more of these devices from scratch later, when we have the leisure.'

'That seems a good plan to me,' Silverfox concurred, rotating his head and neck to stretch out cramps of his own. 'Let me go and get one of the devices and bring it up here, and that way we can actually test it over a little distance.' He looked around. 'We'll need someone with Mindspeech up here. That would be Tarrn, I suppose.'

:That seems reasonable,: the kyree said agreeably. :We will also need a mage—Sejanes, perhaps—to activate it.:

'And I'll go down to the workshop and activate and man the other device down there,' Firesong said, getting to his feet. He and Silverfox descended the stairs down into the workshop; Silverfox took one of the two devices from the bench and carried it carefully up the staircase again.

The instructions for activation had been quite unambiguous and equally simple, phrased in language that not even the passage of time had altered. Even a child, had he both true-magic and Mindspeech, would have been able to follow the instructions. It was obvious from the notes now that the reason these devices had not been put into use by Urtho was that anyone could 'eavesdrop' on conversations held with their aid. That rather negated their