Stardeep

Stardeep, Throat

Gage was entranced by the fiery depths of the hollow cylinder. Empty but for an explosion of flaring, frustrated prominences. He turned and sheathed a blood-stained dagger. Backstabbing the insane elf and pushing him into the hole earned him a moment's respite. He removed his borrowed Knight's helmet. Kiril, apparently roused from whatever stupor had held her, appraised him with obvious surprise.

Her expression was every bit as bewildered and confused as he'd hoped. He grinned-priceless! You couldn't steal that kind of satisfaction.

'Gage of Laothkund-how?' asked Kiril. 'I left you in the Yuirwood.'

'Aye, but I didn't turn back as you instructed. I followed.'

'Why?'

The thief grinned. 'I was angry you sent me away, angry you wouldn't listen or accept my apology. I decided I would show my sincerity by helping you whether you wanted my aid or not.'

'You followed us into Sild?yuir, and then into Stardeep's outer tunnels? That must have been difficult.'

'An understatement,' replied Gage. He recalled again the stone spider, and he shuddered.

Kiril nodded, moved closer, and put a comradely hand on his shoulder. 'Thank you. .' Her attention shifted, and lit on the guttering blade Angul. Her eyes became glassy.

'Kiril Duskmourn!' came a glad hail. Gage and the swordswoman turned. The lone remaining Keeper approached, the monk Raidon at her side holding his lambent Sign.

The Keeper said, 'I am Delphe. Thank the Cerulean Sign you listened to my plea.'

Kiril shrugged. 'Telarian's failure of patience revealed him. If he hadn't attacked me with Nis, I might have appeared in the Throat as his ally, not his enemy. He didn't know that, though, and your arguments made him doubt the strength of his own lies.'

Delphe replied, 'His lies … his subversion by the Traitor is Stardeep's most significant failure in all our order's history. And all along, he thought he was the one serving a higher purpose. An unbelievable tragedy.' She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Light from the Well blossomed orange and green, giving her skin a pallid cast.

Delphe moved closer and looked down. 'I wonder what's going on down there. . Cynosure?'

'Yes, Delphe?' The response emanated from the empty ceiling.

'The boundary layer is disturbed. How close did Telarian come to achieving his goal?'

'Too close. We must forge anew the constraints the diviner severed, else we risk the remaining bonds becoming unraveled.'

Delphe looked at her newly healed hand and muttered, 'A difficult task without my most potent tool-'

'You may borrow this, if you require its strength,' interrupted Raidon, holding out his Sign. 'It was my mother's, though now I begin to doubt she was ever a Keeper here. It may be she had it illicitly, and passed it to me without knowledge of your order.'

Delphe smiled. 'Whoever she was or is, I hold no grudge-if she hadn't possessed it to give to you, things would have concluded differently just now.'

Raidon nodded.

'In any event,' continued Delphe, 'I am not attuned to it, but I can instruct you how to wield it in the manner required to refortify the Traitor's prison. You seem adept in its use, even without wizardly training, which is impressive and unusual.'

'Thank you. I would enjoy learning more of the Sign. Perhaps through it, I can learn of my mother's fate.'

The Keeper led Raidon around the curve of the lip toward the crystal command chair. She began to speak of visualizations, sigils, and interfaces. Gage stopped paying attention. His eyes lit on another fallen form.

'Your pet is hurt,' he observed.

Kiril's head jerked around to scan the Throat. Concern tightened her eyes when she saw Xet's unmoving shape. She rushed to the dragonet's side and gently picked up the crystalline creature, now blackened and pitted.

'Xet?'

No movement.

'Gods damn you, you're not even really alive, so you can't die!'

The dragonet's tail suddenly wrapped about Kiril's cradling arm. A weak but audible bell tolled. The swordswoman looked up at Gage and let out a relieved breath.

Another bell-like tone sounded, stronger than the first.

'Where did you get the little guy?' wondered Gage, as he moved to rub the creature beneath the chin. The dragonet arched its neck upward like a cat.

'A geomancer employed me as his bodyguard for nearly a decade. When I left his service, Xet was his parting gift.'

Gage nodded and asked, 'Thormund, right? Too bad you left his employ. You wouldn't have had to go through all this. .'

He regretted his remark the moment the last word was out of his mouth. Kiril's animation faded as her eyes riveted once more on the cooling sword plunged in the stone floor.

'Angul looks more peaceful than I ever recall seeing him,' she murmured.

Cynosure's voice interrupted. 'Angul is now as he was when first forged. Being split from Nis, the two halves of Nangulis's spirit are again divided. As before, Angul requires a wielder's touch to kindle his motivation.'

Kiril said softly, 'I remember now. .'

Cynosure persisted. 'Angul's life is only a half-life. Without a living wielder, the soul-forged blade will fail, releasing the soul to its final peace. All that will remain is a dead length of sword-shaped steel.'

The swordswoman gasped, her hands tightening on Xet, who belled a small sound of displeasure. Yet she moved no closer to the grounded blade. The sword darkened further even as they watched. If Kiril didn't take Angul in hand soon, the Blade Cerulean would pass away.

Which would be a good outcome, Gage decided. Wielding a blade whose aspirations were too pure for real life had ruined the woman's life, destroyed her sense of self-worth, and driven her from the order to which she had once pledged undying loyalty. The world didn't work in black and white, and every time Angul forced Kiril down too narrow a moral path, she regretted it the very instant she sheathed the blade. It was a wonder, really, that Kiril hadn't ended her life long ago. Although such an act would have been judged unrighteous by the blade she bore. Perhaps she had not been allowed such an option. The thought chilled the thief, and he rubbed his hands together.

'I do not know. .' said Kiril.

'Leave it,' urged Gage.

'I should walk away,' agreed the swordswoman. 'I should relinquish Angul so Nangulis can discover, at long last, his final rest. With Nis beyond reach, no hope whatever remains that Nangulis can ever be returned to me-half his essence has fallen into the Well. From that separation, there can be no returning.'

Unless the Traitor is finally freed, Gage thought, but didn't say.

Cynosure's voice came. 'You have borne a burden past enduring for too many years. Let it go now. With Nis gone, the Traitor's best hope of freeing himself is also past. No one would think ill of you, least of all me, who aided you and Nangulis in forging the blade. Let it be. You deserve a life more urbane than fleeing deeds ill-done in the name of an unattainable standard of good.'

Kiril watched Angul guttering and nodded, now freely but silently crying. She turned to Gage, handing him Xet. 'Take him for a bit, won't you? I'll say my good-byes to Angul, and Nangulis, as I should have done ten years ago when the Traitor was first contained.'

The thief nodded and accepted the slight burden of the dragonet.

Kiril moved to stand before the blade, her head down. Suddenly cognizant of her mumbled words addressed to the blade, Gage moved to join Delphe and Raidon by the crystal command chair.

Raidon listened as the star elf told him how to use his mother's forget-me-not, and was astounded. It possessed abilities deeper than he had imagined. Yet as she spoke, the larger part of him was more interested in