The Maelstrom Eye

pyramids were on top.

It was a scro ship, he had found. He knew he was on the right ship, the one from which he had been possessed, but he didn't know who or what had done it. It didn't matter. It took only a moment to chop the old scro on the helm into bloody meat and hack the helm into splinters. The last descent began immediately after that.

Getting back to the hatch was troublesome but necessary. Someone might come up to see what was the problem, and he wanted to stop any attempt to fix the helm. He was holding onto a hook in the wall behind the hatch when an Oriental woman came up the ladder, and he grabbed her. He wasn't sure at first if she was a friend or foe. When she turned into a python, he decided she was a foe, and he held on as she changed shape over and over in her panic to escape him. It was when she had turned into a wolf and had almost gotten away from him that the pyramid struck the ground at a speed many times faster than a hawk could dive. There was an instant of chaos and impact, then nothing at all.

*****

Teldin awoke, feeling something cool wash across his face. He blinked and looked up into a too-bright sky, the sun directly overhead as always. He shut his eyes again, half raising his hands to shield his face.

'Relax,' came a young girl's voice. It sounded familiar but he couldn't place it. 'Everything's fine.' A wet cloth began to wipe his face again, spreading its coolness across his brow.

It felt like heaven. Teldin sighed and rolled his head to one side. A wadded blue cloak supported his head. His cheek rested against something cool and metallic.

Thin fingers reached under his cheek and removed the large bronze disk and chain that lay on the ground there. After a brief look at it, Gaye tucked the medallion down the front of her blouse and into the magical bag that was carefully strapped across her chest. The bag opened into another dimension and would hold almost anything-poles, coins, extra clothing, food, even lost thingfinders. She'd give the medallion to Teldin later when he recovered. It had belonged to the gray ogre, having been tucked into his chest armor, and had come partially free when he had fallen to the ground, but picking it up had been difficult, given that she couldn't bare to look at what the two harpoons had done to the ogre's face. Her body still ached from the bombard's recoil.

The effects the medallion had on her when she first touched it had been shocking. What deep-space vista was that? What otherworldly view was she seeing? It had been tempting to keep the medallion for herself, but Gaye knew that Teldin might make better use of it wherever he was going on his search for the Spelljammer-and she knew he would be going without her. He'd make sure of it now, with all the deaths and horror he had faced.

And she would be left far behind, she who loved him.

'You never knew, did you?' she said softly as she picked up the cloth and wiped Teldin's face again. 'You never did figure it out.' Her free hand came up to stroke Teldin's cheek as he faded into sleep. Hearing the change in his breathing, Gaye slowly released the cloth and leaned over Teldin's still form. Her black hair fell across his chest and covered his face like a tent. Eyes closed, she pressed her lips to his. His mustache tickled her nose. 'You never will know,' she whispered, then bent down again and with delicate fingers, reconnected the silver clasp at Teldin's neck.

He was once again the Cloakmaster.

*****

'I'd like some answers, if you have them,' said Teldin. You may ask, said the spelljammer-sized slug. Its pulpy body shook and rippled like black jelly as it rose up to turn its head in Teldin's direction.

Teldin swallowed. He would never get used to the fal's foul appearance. After returning to heal Teldin and Gomja, the fal-or its image, Teldin wasn't sure which-had reported that the surviving elven and scro ships were leaving and probably were on their way out of the sphere. Once Gaye had given Teldin the bronze medallion, the fal then informed Teldin of the medallion's purpose-it having been mentioned in a few old epics about the Spelljammer-and had devised a set of instructions on how to use the ancient item to track the mighty ship. One Six Nine also had brought the news of Aelfred's fate, much to everyone's distress.

'Why couldn't you have done something to help Aelfred?' Teldin asked. He knew the fal would have a good answer, but he had to know. 'You have so many powers, but… why?'

I greatly regret that I was unaware of his actions, but I was maintaining a set of mental illusions in my attempt to draw away the scro fleet. I dropped the illusions only to divine his fate too late to intervene, as he apparently had completed his sabotage and was beyond my reach.

Teldin snotted softly. It was useless to beat the issue. He rubbed his eyes. It was so hard to believe both Aelfred and Sylvie were gone. 'I don't understand what you mean when you talk about psionics, for another thing,' Teldin said, dropping his hand and changing the topic. 'I have enough trouble understanding magic. You said something about mental illusions just now. Were you talking about psionics?'

You are correct. The enormous bulk of the fal gave an oily ripple in the sunlight. I am implanting in your mind my own image, to which you ire speaking. You could touch my image but would discover that I feel quite real to you, though I am not truly in your vicinity. I am able to so control your perceptions that I am, for oil purposes, real to you. I can do this only with a limited number of beings, however. I do not enjoy duplicity, except when it serves to protect my person or my allies.

You may have guessed that General Vorr, whom you fought, fell victim earlier to one of my mental decoys. I wished for the scro to depart without further bloodshed, and my plan was almost entirely successful. You were thought by the general to be dead, based on a mental illusion he and an ally of his had observed earlier. I did not intend for the general to be left behind by his cohorts, for which I offer my apologies, just as I had not meant for Aelfred to die aboard the pyramid ship that he apparently sabotaged.

'No one's plans work perfectly,' said Teldin with a bitter smile, 'least of all mine. I'm still confused, though, because the general claimed he was immune to magic. How could psionics have affected him?'

You must understand that psionics is like magic, but it is not magic. I would like to explain the subtle differences between them, but it would serve no purpose. You need know only that the two do not affect one another, so Vorr's immunity to magic helped him not against any psionic attack I cared to make against him. I created what I wished him to see and feel, and that he did.

What if I was seeing only what you wished me to see right now? thought Teldin uncomfortably. Not just your image, but everything, even this whole megafauna-being we're on. What if everything I saw and felt was unreal?

He shook himself, quickly abandoning the thought. 'I'll let it go,' he muttered. 'It's beyond me. Anyway, we should get underway and start looking for the Spelljammer before some other fleet comes looking for us. We still have to bury Sylvie with Aelfred on our way out, too, if we can find out where he… you know.' Teldin waved his hand vaguely.

I will guide you there, Teldin. I assume that you also will need funds, as well as guidance, to fulfil our bargain for you to find the Spelljammer. You will find at your feet a pouch containing several dozen small gems, which you may convert into currency at your next destination. You may wish to purchase a new ship if you must eventually part from the giff and gnomes.

Teldin moved his left foot forward without looking down. His foot tapped something soft, like a small bag. Sighing, he leaned down and retrieved the pouch. He didn't want to know how the fal had done it; it didn't matter. 'I want to leave everyone behind as soon as possible. Everyone's in too much danger with me around now. Your gems are appreciated, but if I knew where the broken sphere that you mentioned was, I'd be better able to fulfil our bargain. It could be on any world in all the crystal spheres.' Teldin hesitated. 'The sphere you were talking about, by the way. Did you mean a sphere like a planet or an asteroid, or-'

I meant a broken crystal sphere, Teldin. The black image of the fal's head lowered in his direction. The Spelljammer was born in a broken crystal sphere.

For a moment, the thought didn't fully register. As it did, he let out his breath. 'Broken? How could a crystal