Before Diran could react, Makala transformed into a bat and flew directly into the tentacled monster Nathifa had become, disappearing into its shadowy substance.
Solus's mind was lost in a raging storm of psionic chaos-a riotous cacophony of blinding images and deafening sounds. Thanks to the memories of his kalashtar creators that he had absorbed long ago, he understood what was happening. When Solus had first descended to the dock, he had sensed that Nathifa was summoning and controlling the weresharks through a psionic link with Haaken, who in turn was linked to the stone body of the priest Nerthatch. Solus, drawing on his creators' knowledge, knew that if he could disrupt that psionic chain Nathifa had established, he could stop her enchantment. But what he hadn't paused to consider-and what was the cause of his current predicament-was that while there was at times a certain overlap in the disciplines of psionics and magic, their power came from very different energy sources. The power Nathifa used to fuel her spell was corrupted by the foulness of her undead form, and the substance of Nerthatch's stone body was suffused with the evil energies of the dark power that had cursed him. Thus, when Solus had attempted to establish his mind-link to Nathifa using the statue and Haaken as conduits, he'd opened himself up to the dark energies surging through all three. Now he could not break the link, and evil filled his mind, threatening to plunge him into madness, and though he was fighting as hard as he could, he feared it was a losing battle.
He thought of Diran and Ghaji, of Tresslar and Yvka, but most of all, he thought of Hinto. He and the halfling had formed a special bond, right from the beginning, and while Solus felt sorrow at the thought of failing his friends, he regretted letting Hinto down most of all. The psiforged hoped his friends would find a way to defeat Nathifa and stop the weresharks attacking Regalport without him.
But just as Solus was about to surrender to the whirlpool of insanity that threatened to pull him under, he felt the pressure in his mind ease. The storm of madness that swirled around him lessened, and though it did not abate entirely, it diminished to the point where Solus was no longer in danger of being lost to its fury. He didn't know precisely how it happened, but he sensed that Nathifa's link to Haaken, and therefore to the statue of Nerthatch, had been broken. He was about to sever his own link to the statue since he could no longer use it to strike against the lich, but now that his mind was free to focus more clearly, he sensed that all the weresharks Nathifa had summoned remained linked to the statue.
And that meant they were all linked to him.
If Solus had possessed the physiognomy for it, he would have smiled. To the weresharks still at sea, he sent a single command: Stay away! But he had something a bit more special in mind for those lycanthropes rampaging through the streets of Regalport.
Solus concentrated on sending a very specific image into their minds.
It had been a glorious night of slaughter so far for the weresharks, and the fun showed no signs of abating. True, there had been some minor resistance. The city watch was putting up a fight (though not much of one), and the Sea Dragons had given a much better account of themselves-and continued to do so in isolated spots throughout Regalport. Operatives from House Thuranni were striking silently and swiftly from the shadows, though not doing much permanent damage, and of course there were various swordfighters, artificers, wizards, and more who had taken to the streets in order to protect their city. But what of it? The defenders' efforts only added to the weresharks' amusement, and every person the lycanthropes wounded but did not slay became infected with their curse, adding to their numbers, if not this night, then on the morrow. There was nothing anyone could do to stop the weresharks' rampage. There were simply too many of them, and they had struck swiftly and without warning. Regalport had already fallen. Its citizens just hadn't realized it yet.
But then something strange happened. The cobblestone streets shimmered and became coated with smooth metal. The buildings changed as well, stone and wood now overlaid with bluish-white until everything in Regalport gleamed with reflected moonlight. Throughout the city, the weresharks reacted in horror as they realized they were entirely surrounded by silver. Their feet burned from the silver cobblestones they stood upon, and the moonlight reflecting off the silver buildings seared their eyes. The weresharks panicked and ran blindly, following their instincts back toward the sea, and those few who were not slain by Regalport's defenders-none of whom saw the illusion that so terrified the weresharks-actually made it.
Solus's perceptions shifted back to the material plane in time to see Tresslar, once again in possession of his dragonwand, lower the magical device. The psiforged's fingers were still pressed to the head of Nerthatch's stone body, but he could no longer sense any evil power within the statue. He guessed that Tresslar had used the Amahau to absorb the statue's energy, but he felt confident that he had gotten his twin messages to the weresharks through the statue's link before Nerthatch's body was completely drained of magic. Solus lowered his hands from the statue's head and turned to see what further assistance he might render his friends. That's when he saw Haaken remove his hands from the statue's shoulders, and he realized that he hadn't dealt with all the weresharks in Regalport this night. He had failed to follow the link back through the statue to Haaken's mind.
Haaken didn't recover right away, however. He swayed on his feet as he struggled to shake off the effects of serving as a conduit for Nathifa's magic. Solus had witnessed the recuperative powers of lycanthropes enough times to know that it wouldn't take long for Haaken to recover, and the psiforged didn't intend to give him the chance. Solus concentrated on using his telekinetic power to grab hold of the wereshark and fling him far out into the bay, but nothing happened. Solus looked down at his chest and saw that his psionic crystals had gone dark. He'd expended his entire storehouse of psionic energy to resist the mental maelstrom he'd been caught in and then to deal with the weresharks. It would be quite some time before his crystals were able to restore themselves, and in the meantime, he was helpless.
No, he thought as he looked down at his hands. Not entirely.
The psiforged curled his stone fingers into a fist, stepped forward, and punched Haaken on the snout as hard as he could. Unfortunately, Solus hadn't been built for strength, and all he managed to accomplish with his blow was to clear Haaken's mind. The wereshark glared at Solus and lashed out with a vicious backhand strike, and suddenly the psiforged was the one who found himself flying off the dock and plunging into the bay.
Ghaji saw Haaken knock Solus into the water. The half-orc didn't know if the psiforged could swim, but since the construct didn't need to breathe, Ghaji decided the point was moot. He took a quick look around and tried to decide on his next move.
The weird greenish mist now covered the entire bay, and tendrils were just starting to curl up over the edges of the dock. Ghaji didn't know what the stuff was, but he knew it wasn't good. Tresslar still held the dragonwand, but something had happened to it. The Amahau and the wand it was attached to had both turned pure black. Ghaji was no artificer, but he doubted the wand was going to be of much use in the immediate future. Strangest of all, Nathifa had transformed into a mass of shadow tentacles approximately ten feet tall. Nathifa-or whatever she was now-had folded over on herself, as if she were a giant fist squeezing something tight within her grip. Ghaji had no idea what it could be, until he remembered seeing a small dark object streak into Nathifa's shadowy form right after he had cut the dragonwand free. Ghaji glanced in Diran's direction and saw his friend rising to his feet, silver arrowhead held in his right hand. There was no sign of Makala.
That's when Ghaji realized what Nathifa was squeezing within her shadowy grasp.
Diran dashed to the half-orc's side. 'Makala's inside Nathifa! We have to do something before the lich destroys her!'
Ghaji wasn't sure what Diran was talking about, but it never occurred to him to question his friend.
'Let's do it,' the half-orc said.
Together the two friends started toward the tentacled beast, Ghaji gripping his flaming axe tight, Diran raising his silver arrowhead, preparing to wield the holy object against the evil sorceress.
That's when Haaken grabbed them both by the neck and slammed their heads together.
Bright light flashed behind Ghaji's eyes, the world spun, and his vision went gray. When his eyes cleared, he found himself looking up at Haaken, and he realized that he was lying on his back. The wereshark must have dropped him and Diran to the dock after knocking them together. Ghaji tried to rise, but his head felt as if it had been shattered into a million pieces, and he was too dizzy to move. He turned to look at Diran, and though his friend was consciousness, he looked to be in just as bad a shape as Ghaji. Blood ran from both Diran's ears and nostrils. Not a good sign. Ghaji turned the other direction and saw his elemental axe lying on the dock several feet
