head. 'By the Seal Broken!' she cursed. Pandorym had greater control over the crystal than she supposed. She cried out and dived to one side, but was too slow. A slashing ribbon of darkness grazed her shoulder. Pain blazed through her arm and neck. The wizard retained her hold on the keystone, despite the pain. She concentrated through the ache, determined to prevail. A pulse of clean violet light discharged from the keystone, traced an erratic, dancing path through the air, and buried itself in the severed head. Pandorym's influence prevented her from gaining control over the crystal of the Celestial Nadir, as was her right as holder of the keystone. But she could burn out the crystal implanted in the woman's head. The head screeched and again shot straight upward. The mane of dark tendrils surrounding it wavered and flailed about. The head's trajectory wobbled and dipped, then steadied itself.
Ususi lanced her will into the keystone and hurled yet another bolt at the head. The blazing energy arc struck true. The limbs of darkness entwining the head winked out. Her attacker fell out of the air and bounced on the path, coming to rest at Ususi's feet. In an unnerving death spasm, the eyes in the head tracked around, then locked Ususi in their gaze. The mouth worked, and the voice spoke again, diminishing as it uttered its last, 'Your hidden city burns. All those dear to you feed the flame…' 'What?' screamed the wizard. Pandorym's presence fled. All that remained was the severed head of a woman unknown to Ususi. She kicked it. 'Tell me what you mean!' In her mind's eye, she saw her blind twin, Qari, quailing before the heat of purple flames she couldn't see. Iahn's hand restrained her from booting the head off the path. He said, 'We must go. We've reached the Celestial Nadir.
Take us to Deep Imaskar, so we may save our city.' 'Indeed. But who's that with the pickaxe? What's he doing?' A tall, white-haired man who had been brandishing a pickaxe when Iahn and Ususi burst through the portal was now lying on his stomach, his head and arms hanging off the path, straining to reach something Ususi couldn't see. The man hauled himself backward, and the wizard gasped. A younger man slid upward from where he must have been dangling below the path. She gasped because the newcomer's left arm was pure Celestial Nadir crystal.
'Iahn!' she warned. She raised the keystone again. She could burn the arm out, too, before Pandorym jumped into another vessel. The vengeance taker was already in motion, moving with a speed no mortal limb could match. The older man turned, saw the charging vengeance taker, and scrambled for his pickaxe, yelling something Ususi couldn't decipher. Ususi gazed at the young man with the crystal arm through the lens of the keystone, looking for any clues. The wizard yelled,
'Iahn! Stop!' She sensed no evidence that the young man's crystal arm had ever been influenced the way the animated head had been. In fact, the prosthetic arm was intangibly linked to the Celestial Nadir in a fashion similar to what she enjoyed through the keystone. But his linkage was more… organic. She saw the possibility that the young man might be able to draw strength from the Celestial Nadir, like the plangents could. 'I said stop, Iahn!' Scowling, the vengeance taker slid to a halt before the two strangers, dragonfly blade in hand. He didn't sink the blade into either of the men's heads, so Ususi considered her command a success. The younger man yelled, 'Are you more servitors of the crystal?' He squinted guardedly at Ususi's keystone and pumped his fist, as if readying himself for some great effort. 'No,' Iahn responded. 'No?' 'We are not agents of evil,' confirmed Ususi, walking near to them, though she didn't put down the keystone. 'We are here to oppose that which has awakened here. I must ask-who are you? Why are you trespassing in the Celestial Nadir?'
'Trespassing?' asked the older man. 'This site is under the control of Datharathi Minerals. We've established a mine claim here, no matter the outre landscape. Up until a moment ago, Madam, we were running for our lives.' He paused. 'I'm Zel. Zel Datharathi. Thank you for dealing with our pursuer.' 'You are welcome. But as to your claim-it is invalid. This location isn't open to mineral exploration. This entire realm'- Ususi gestured around at the mote-littered darkness-'is a relic of the ancient Imaskari. As such, it is the property of Imaskar's inheritors. Besides, it's terribly dangerous.' 'Yes, we've come to understand that,' said the young man, 'to our sorrow.' 'Did you get your prosthesis at the Body Shop?' asked Ususi, pointing to the crystal arm. 'No. It predates the Body Shop by four or five years.
Don't worry-I'm free of the taint these plangents seem to carry.'
Ususi nodded. It fit. Only the crystal worked specifically by Shaddon, or touched by Pandorym prior to implantation, seemed to carry the taint. While both her keystone and the young man's arm showed dark filaments in the core, the discoloration appeared to be only an indicator of Pandorym's awakening in the Celestial Nadir, not a sign of influence from that malign entity. 'And who are you?' Ususi asked.
'I'm Warian Datharathi. This is my Uncle Zeltaebar. The opening into this terrible dimension is my grandfather's fault.' 'Is Shaddon your grandfather?' Ususi asked. Warian nodded. 'Did you meet him? He's been … subverted by some malignant creature he found in this dark realm. He sold his soul for the sake of gold long ago, but his aspirations for complete power finally consumed him in this enterprise. I've… I've never been close to him, not since I was too young to know better.' Zel said, 'Actually, no one in our family was particularly close to him. Except for poor Sevaera.' He pointed at the head at Ususi's feet. 'Her trust in Shaddon led her down a terrible path.' His voice caught as he spoke, and he wiped at one eye.
Warian gave a small shake of his head as if attempting to push away an unpleasant thought, then looked back at Ususi. 'Who are you? I've traveled the Shining South widely over the last few years, and neither of you are from around there, that's obvious.' 'We have a connection to the Imaskari who built this space,' responded Ususi. 'Whatever your grandfather awoke here, it is a vengeful force that now moves against a refugee population of Imaskar that secreted itself away long ago.
Unless we can stop it, that population will be eradicated.' Warian's eyes grew wide. 'How's that possible? The Imaskari are long dead. No offense,' he finished, looking slightly sheepish. 'We've maintained the secret of our survival for protection,' said Ususi, and gestured at herself and Iahn. 'Our forebears made many enemies, and we, the children of that great empire, have renounced the imperial dreams that proved only a path to destruction.' Iahn had fixed her with an unflinching glare. The wizard knew why. She'd revealed the existence of surviving Imaskari. But this young man wore a crystal graft embedded in his flesh that wasn't susceptible to Pandorym's manipulation. He could help them, and Deep Imaskar, too. 'Now that Pandorym has attacked us, our existence is no longer a secret.
Thankfully, my arrival here in the Celestial Nadir means I can take direct action against the threat.' 'Pandorym?' wondered Zel. 'The evil woken by your grandfather is called Pandorym. It is a powerful entity, kept safe and sealed away by the ancient Imaskari for good reason. And …' A far more unpleasant revelation had to be made, and she didn't want to do it. But speed was important, and she felt obligated to tell them before she could ask Warian for aid. Her stomach fluttered as she prepared herself. 'I, um…' Ususi stammered, her voice nearly breaking, 'what is your relation to Eined Datharathi?' 'She's my sister,' said Warian. 'Why? Have you seen her?' Ususi cast down her eyes. She said, 'I knew her briefly.' Warian looked past Ususi, to the nexus of the three paths. His hand went to his mouth as he stared, and recognition of what he saw penetrated his soul. He made no sound, but his quivering shoulders communicated a terrible grief.
Iahn helped Warian and Zeltaebar Datharathi prepare Eined for burial. The boy, Warian, wept quietly as he worked. Zel's eyes were bright with restrained tears and his fingers shook. Neither quailed from what had to be done. The vengeance taker respected them for that stability of character. They'd obviously both been close to the girl, in their own ways. For his part, Iahn was impressed with the strength of personality that had propelled Eined as far as she'd gone, even without martial skill or magical aid. Without her, he and the fugitive wizard would still be casting about for a way to regain Deep Imaskar.
That was their destination, and they needed to move quickly. Ususi had glared at him when he demanded she take them straight to Deep Imaskar.
Apparently he'd failed, once again, to observe protocol. He sighed. He recognized that she knew more about Pandorym and what to do about it than he, a strong-arm vengeance taker. She was a wizard, Imaskar-trained. She said they needed Warian's help, and therefore, his good will. So they aided the young man in paying final respects to his sister. Ususi magically produced rolls of fine white linen for funerary wrapping, along with fragrant oils and a tome titled The Writ of Adama the wizard somehow managed to draw from the sunlit world into the lightless artificial void. Ususi's Celestial Nadir expertise, plus her knowledge of spells and sorceries, made her a potent force. Potent enough to deal with Pandorym? The vengeance taker shrugged. Time would tell. Before long, Eined was fully wrapped and prepared according to the Vaelanites' wishes. Ususi lit a brilliant magical light over the three paths. They stood around the tiny form that lay at the nexus's center, their heads bowed. Many moments passed. Warian bent down on one knee. 'Good-bye, Sis,' he breathed. 'I'm… I'll miss you…' He couldn't finish. In one hand he clutched Eined's blue sash. Zel stepped forward and laid his hands on Warian's shoulders. He said nothing. Ususi
