about Osten? He’s a good man, and he understands what its like to host a symbiont. He’ll be less nervous around me than someone else.” And he would be more sympathetic to her as well, something she might be able to use to her advantage later, if need be.
Vaddon thought about it for a moment. “All right. So … how do we go about finding Elidyr?”
“I don’t know what you decided to do about Ranja,” Lirra said, “but she’s sensitive to the presence of symbionts and their hosts. That’s why I hired her to help me track down Elidyr. She might still be willing to do the job for us.”
“Oh, she’s willing,” Ksana said. “She made that very clear when we spoke to her.”
“And for a hefty price,” Vaddon added sourly. “A price that no doubt went up when she learned I was a general working for Lord Bergerron. Good thing the man has deep pockets.”
Lirra smiled inwardly. Trust Ranja to find a way to turn the situation to her advantage.
“I’ve had time to think since you … invited me to accompany you to the garrison barracks,” Lirra said. “Last night, I had no idea where Elidyr might go or what he might do. But now that he’s reunited with Sinnoch and they have the Overmantle, I can think of only one place they would go. Do you remember how Elidyr first encountered Sinnoch?”
“Elidyr found the dolgaunt in a subterranean cave,” Vaddon said. “In the Nightwood.”
Lirra nodded. “I think that’s where they’ll go. They both know the place, it’s hidden, and it can be easily defended. Elidyr may be mad, but he’s not stupid. He’ll recognize the strategic value of Sinnoch’s cave.”
“Makes sense,” Vaddon said.
“The Nightwood is awfully big,” Ksana pointed out. “We could search for years and never come close to finding the dolgaunt’s cave.”
“That’s where Ranja comes in,” Lirra said. “And me. I’m able to sense the presence of aberrations-assuming I’m close enough. Between the two of us, we should be able to lead the Outguard right to Sinnoch’s hideaway.”
“The question is, can you do so in time?” Vaddon said. “If Elidyr activates the Overmantle before we can reach him …”
“I don’t know how badly the device was damaged, Father, but it will take Elidyr, Sinnoch, and Rhedyn some time to reach the cave, and then Elidyr will have to repair the Overmantle. I know he carries some of his artificer’s tools with him, but not all. The lack of proper equipment should slow him down some. I’d say we have a good chance of getting to the cave before he can reopen the portal to Xoriat-provided we get moving soon.”
“Very well.” Vaddon smiled. “I never did much like sitting around and talking when there’s work to be done.” He stood and sheathed his sword. “I’ll go inform the others. We’ll leave within a half hour. Lirra, remain here with Ksana until I can find Osten and inform him of his new duty as your … liason.”
Vaddon left the office without waiting for a reply from either woman.
“This is hard for him,” the cleric said when they were alone. “He wants nothing more than to see you free of the symbiont.”
“I know,” Lirra said softly. “And if I could see any other course of action, I’d take it. But Elidyr must be stopped, regardless of the cost to me personally … or the cost to my father. Besides, isn’t there a saying that the gods don’t give us burdens heavier than we can bear?”
Ksana smiled. “Unfortunately, I’ve lived too long and seen too many good men and women fall in battle-or later collapse beneath the mental and emotional aftereffects-to believe it any longer.” She came from around the desk and took Lirra’s hand, both of them, in hers. “I pray to the goddess that you don’t join the ranks of the lost, my dear.”
Lirra squeezed Ksana’s hands. “Me too,” she whispered.
“Just like old times.”
Elidyr didn’t look up from his work as he responded to the dolgaunt’s comment.
“Even better, my friend.”
The artificer sat crosslegged on the rough stone surface of the cave floor, the pieces of the Overmantle spread out before him illuminated by a stolen everbright lantern.
Rhedyn stood off to the side, the shadowy aspect granted him by his symbiont causing him to be nearly invisible in the cave’s gloom. “This is where you lived?” the young warrior said to Sinnoch. “It seems awfully … stark.”
That was one word for it, Elidyr thought with amusement. Save for the three of them, the cave was completely empty, just as it had been all those years ago when Elidyr had first come here as a young scholar in search of aberrations to study, not knowing at the time that some decades hence, he’d become one himself. Life certainly took some strange turns, he thought.
Sinnoch laughed. “What can I say? I enjoy being alone with my thoughts.”
The moment they’d entered the cave, Sinnoch had doffed the oversized robe he’d worn to conceal his body from mortal eyes and stood naked, shoulder tentacles undulating lazily in the dank air, the cilia that covered his body flowing like blades of discolored grass.
Rhedyn edged closer to Elidyr. “You haven’t touched any of the pieces since you laid them out,” he said. “Do you think you can fix it?”
The stormstalk draped around Elidyr’s shoulders turned its milky eye toward Rhedyn, and Elidyr could feel the symbiont’s irritation. It wanted nothing more than to unleash a bolt of lightning at the man, if for no other reason than to shut him up. Elidyr sympathized with his friend, but he told it to have patience.
The stormstalk relaxed, though Elidyr could sense it was only partially mollified. In some ways, having three symbionts was like having three children that needed to be placated and disciplined from time to time. But the power they granted made them worth the effort.
“I’ve been studying the remains of the Overmantle, getting a feel for what damage was done to the device and what I’ll need to do to fix it. As I don’t have proper replacement parts-let alone the right tools to do the job-I’m going to have to improvise. But improvisation is an artificer’s stock in trade. I should be able to make do.” He glanced up at Rhedyn. “That is,
It had taken them the better part of two days to travel from Geirrid to Sinnoch’s hidden cave in the Nightwood. The horses had been near death by the time they’d reached their destination. Sinnoch had taken great delight in putting the beasts out of their misery in spectacularly gruesome fashion, though Rheydn had seemed a bit put off by the dolgaunt’s actions-especially when he began jamming bloody chunks of horse meat and organs into his overlarge mouth. Elidyr wasn’t entirely certain of the lad’s dedication to their cause. His mental outlook seemed distressingly mundane, as if he hadn’t allowed his symbiont to fully open his mind to the boundless possibilities of chaos yet. Hopefully, that would change in the days to come. If not … well, Sinnoch might get a chance to indulge himself with Rhedyn just as he had the horses.
During the trip from Geirrid, Elidyr had taken out the Overmantle a couple times and examined it, and the truth was, he was less than encouraged by its current state. Sinnoch had managed to gather all the main components of the device, and he’d had the foresight to bring along a set of Elidyr’s tools from his workshop at the lodge. But despite all his months assisting in the construction of the Overmantle, Sinnoch was no artificer, and he’d only brought the most basic of tools with him. In order to effect the kind of repairs the Overmantle required, Elidyr was going to have to redesign certain aspects of the Overmantle. And that would take time. At least most of the psi-crystals were intact and charged. They were highly expensive and difficult to come by, and without them, he’d have little chance of repairing the device. As it was, the task would take all his skill and knowledge to complete.
Too bad he couldn’t reshape metal and crystal the same way he could rework flesh. Repairing the Overmantle would be a simple matter then. Ah well. Things would be different in the world to come. Once chaos ruled the land, anything would be possible. The landscape would change at the merest thought, and every desire would become an instant reality. But until that glorious day, he’d just have to work with what he had.
Strange. The thought wasn’t his, and yet the voice was clear.
