He tried to close them and shut the light out, but warforged eyes didn't function the same way that other creatures' did, and he had no choice but to allow the light in.
'Mfixzumedl… hear me?'
Solus swiveled his head in the direction of the voice and found himself looking at the blurry outline of a face. Male from the voice, and human, he guessed, though his vision was still too fuzzy to tell for certain.
'Yes, but I can't see you clearly.'
'Your vision should be fine in a few moments,' the man said, and then added, 'I think.'
Solus didn't find that particularly reassuring, but he saw no reason to make mention of it. Either his eyes would work efficiently or they wouldn't. 'Where am I? Who are you?'
Another voice answered, this one also male but higher-pitched, as if it belonged to a child. 'You're lying atop a table in the common room of the Sea Scorpions' barracks. We brought you here after your head exploded.'
The voice came from his left, so Solus turned his head in that direction. This man was shorter than the other, and though the psi-forged's vision was no clearer than it had been a moment ago, he thought he recognized this man, not from his blurry features, but rather from his aura. A name came to the forefront of Solus's mind, and he spoke it aloud.
'Hinto.'
The small blurry face broke into a grin. 'That's right! How are you feeling?'
'I…' Solus didn't possess the facial muscles to frown, but if he had, he would've done so now. 'The voices… I don't hear them.'
The owner of the first voice spoke. 'Voices?'
'When I was born, I absorbed the minds of my makers. Their voices have been with me ever since, sometimes as soft murmurs in the background of my thoughts, sometimes as deafening shouts. They are still present… I can feel their memories, but I no longer hear them speak.'
'While I was repairing you, I detected an odd imbalance in your energy matrices. I suppose it was caused by these voices of yours. At any rate, I realigned your matrices, so they shouldn't give you any more problems.'
'You mean just like his eyes?' Hinto said.
'I never claimed to be an expert on warforged! I was working primarily on instinct and intuition. To be honest, I'm surprised he's functional at all.'
Hinto reached out and patted Solus's hand. 'Don't mind Tresslar. He gets grouchy sometimes.' The small man lowered his voice. 'It's because he's old.'
'Not so old that I didn't hear that!' Tresslar snapped.
Solus decided to try sitting up. His body moved sluggishly, as if reluctant to cooperate, but he managed the simple maneuver then turned to Tresslar.
'I appreciate your efforts. Thank you.'
Solus couldn't see the expression on the man's face, but he could sense his irritation subsiding. 'You're welcome. I can have another look at your eyes, if you like.'
'That's not necessary.' While his psionic abilities couldn't replace vision, in some ways they allowed him to 'see' the world with more clarity and accuracy than mere eyes could ever provide. 'You say my head exploded?' Solus reached up and touched his forehead. He found the area smooth and unbroken.
'It was the people you were with,' Hinto said. 'You turned to look at them right before the green crystal on your forehead blew up. I think they did something to make it happen.'
'There were three men,' Tresslar said, 'a human, a kalashtar, and an orc. I believe the kalashtar controlled you through the green crystal and then detonated it when you broke free of his influence. Don't you remember?'
Solus concentrated. He could sense the memories of his four makers waiting for him to draw upon them if he chose, but his own memories-those that he had made since stepping forth from the creation forge-were hazy and jumbled.
'I recall bits and pieces… scraps of memory that make little sense.'
'It's possible your memories became scattered, for lack of a better word, when I realigned your energy matrices,' Tresslar said. 'They may return in time, but then again, they may be lost forever. I don't know.'
'Well, if your memories are gone, you'll just have to make new ones, won't you?' Hinto said.
Solus felt waves of cheer and good will emanating from the small man. His was a simple soul, but all the stronger for it. Solus didn't possess the physiognomy to smile, but he reflected the feeling of good will as he replied.
'I suppose so.'
Ghaji and Asenka were sparring in the barracks' central courtyard while Yvka cheered them on. Diran had yet to return from his trip to release Makala from the obsidian sarcophagus, and Ghaji was trying not to worry about his friend. The sun had set over an hour ago, and the stars glittered in the night sky like chips of ice. A series of glass globes set atop metal poles lit the courtyard, but while the minor fire elementals trapped inside the globes provided heat as well as light, Ghaji and Asenka's breath still misted the air as they fought. The illumination was more for Asenka's benefit than Ghaji's, and it was actually something of a detriment to him, given his night vision. Ghaji's preferred weapon was an axe, but he was proficient with any number of weapons. He wielded a longsword now to match Asenka. Ghaji was impressed by how well the woman handled herself, but then she had to be good to command a baron's warrior fleet, he supposed, even in a backwater city like Perhata.
Asenka closed and brought her sword around in a sweeping arc toward Ghaji's left. He blocked the blow easily and wondered if he'd been mistaken in his earlier assessment of her, but then Asenka, moving faster than Ghaji thought possible for a human, spun in the opposite direction and slammed her sword blade into his right side. His breastplate took the worst of the strike, but the impact still knocked the breath out of him.
Yvka laughed and clapped her hands. 'That's another point for Asenka! It's now two to five. Be careful, lover-she's catching up!'
Ghaji had no breath to spare for a witty reply, which was fortunate since he also didn't have time to think of one. Asenka pressed her attack, coming at him with a series of rapid strikes that took all his concentration to deflect. He knew he could use his strength to overpower her if he wished, but at the outset they'd agreed that this would be a match of skill against skill. Five years ago, Ghaji would've won, but now… Half-orcs tended to have shorter life-spans than humans, though it varied from one individual to another. Ghaji was still in his thirties, but even so, he wondered if he was starting to get old.
Ghaji was spared from losing another point to Asenka when the barracks' door opened and Tresslar, Hinto, and the warforged stepped into the courtyard. The halfling held the construct's hand-or more accurately, one of his thick fingers-and it appeared the little pirate was leading him. Ghaji caught Tresslar's eye, and the artificer nodded to indicate all was well. Ghaji didn't allow himself to relax fully though-not after all the trouble the warforged had given them on the dock.
Cautiously, Ghaji, Asenka, and Yvka approached the construct. Yvka had been holding Ghaji's elemental axe for him, and now she gave him the axe in exchange for the longsword. Yvka appeared petite and delicate, but she was an elf and thus stronger than she looked-as Ghaji could attest from some of their more… enthusiastic encounters. She would be able to wield the sword without difficulty should the need arise.
The two groups met in the middle of the courtyard.
'It looks as if you've worked another miracle, Tresslar,' Yvka said. 'Congratulations.' She openly admired Solus, and Ghaji knew she was calculating the construct's worth to her masters in the Shadow Network.
'Nothing that any other exceptionally brilliant master artificer couldn't do,' Tresslar said.
Ghaji couldn't tell whether the old man was joking or not. 'Whatever you did, I hope it purged our new friend of his homicidal tendencies.'
'You have no need to fear me,' Solus said in the eerie hollow voice that all warforged possessed.
'Of course not,' Asenka said. 'Why should we fear a being that's capable of hurling us all about like rag dolls simply by thinking about it?'
'Don't give him any ideas,' Ghaji muttered.
'Solus is our friend now,' Hinto said. 'He's going to help us find Cathmore and the others.'
'He's going to try,' Tresslar amended. 'The explosion that halted his attack also damaged his memories.'
'I shall do my best to aid you,' Solus said. 'I have looked into Hinto's mind, and I have seen what Cathmore
