by Tim Waggoner
Without waiting for Lirra’s command, the tentacle whip lashed out and grabbed a fleeing man by the arm and yanked him to her. The man was middle-aged, lean, with sun-weathered skin that spoke of a lifetime working outdoors. His simple homespun tunic further marked him as a farmer, probably come into town to buy supplies or sell some of his farm’s products. The man was obviously terrified, so much so that he didn’t seem to be aware that he’d been snagged and reeled in by a symbiont. As a battlefield commander, Lirra had dealt with frightened men and women on more than one occasion, and she used a strong, harsh tone to cut through the man’s fear.
“What’s wrong?” she snapped.
The wild look in the farmer’s eyes persisted, and she commanded the symbiont to give him a shake as she barked her question again. This time the man’s gaze cleared and his eyes focused on Lirra.
“Something awful has entered the town … they look human, but they’re not, they’re …” He shook his head. “I don’t know what they are, but they’re killing everyone they see, and nothing seems to stop them! Not swords, not magic … You have to let me go before they get here!”
The man struggled to pull free, and Lirra ordered the whip to release him.
During the few moments Lirra had questioned the farmer, the fleeing crowd had diminished, and there were only a handful of people running down the street. Lirra turned to Ranja to ask what she made of the sudden panic when a line of men, women, and children, more than a dozen in all, came into view. Before them stood a smattering of garrison soldiers-several of whom Lirra recognized as those that had been taunting the dwarves in the Wyvern’s Claw. The soldiers fought a retreating battle as they attempted to halt their enemies’ advance, but their efforts were to no avail. They hacked and slashed with their swords, but every wound they inflicted on their enemies refused to bleed and healed within seconds. A number of different races were represented in the advancing line-human, dwarven, halfing, half-elf-but they all shared a similar appearance. Their eyes were completely white, almost glowing, in fact, and the flesh of their faces was scarred and distorted, as if they’d all been through a fire some time before.
Lirra felt a strange recognition upon seeing their misshapen visages. They were aberrations of some sort, tainted by the corrupting influence of Xoriat. The tingling at the base of her skull and the nausea in her gut intensified, and she knew that the sensations were caused by the presence of these bizarre new aberrations.
As Lirra and Ranja watched, the white-eyed men and women made fast work of the soldiers, ripping off limbs and snapping necks without taking so much as a lasting cut from any of their blades. When the soldiers were dead, the white-eyes tossed them aside as if they were nothing more than broken toys that were no longer fit to play with, and the distorted creatures continued marching down the street toward Lirra and Ranja.
Lirra felt a clawed hand grasp her elbow.
“I don’t know about you,” Ranja said in a bestial voice, “but I’d rather not be standing in the middle of the street when those things get here. Let’s go!”
But Lirra resisted the shifter’s urging. She felt a compulsion to stand her ground and fight the oncoming creatures, even though she and Ranja were seriously outnumbered. At a guess there were a dozen of them, and given the way they rapidly healed their wounds, Lirra knew there was nothing either she or her shifter companion could do to stop them. Nevertheless, the feeling that she had to stay here and fight was so strong it was as if her feet were magically affixed to the ground. An instant later, she understood why.
Following close behind the advancing white-eyes, Elidyr saw her and waved cheerfully.
“There you are, my dear! My new friends and I have been looking all over town for you!”
Ranja leaned her mouth close to Lirra’s ear. “Remember the deal we made that I’d help you find your uncle? Well, there he is.”
“Yes,” Lirra said, tightening her grip on her sword. “Yes, he is.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Still no word?” Ksana asked.
Vaddon sat upon one of the logs arranged around their campfire, a mug of hot nestleberry tea in his hand. He looked up as the cleric approached and sat down next to him. A metal teapot sat at the edge of the fire, resting in a bed of coals, and Vaddon offered his old friend some, but she declined.
“I’ve already had two cups this morning,” she said. “More than that, and I get jittery.”
Vaddon smiled. “Given your usually placid nature, you being jittery is like another person being half asleep.”
Ksana smiled back. “How many campaigns have we been on together, Vaddon? How many times have we sat around campfires like this, waiting for news-for orders or intelligence-that would tell us it was finally time to act?”
“Too many times to count,” he said. There was a hint of warmth beneath his gruff tone. Ksana might not have been related to the Brochanns by blood, but she was as much a member of the family as if she had been. The bonds forged in battle among Karrnathi soldiers were as strong as any formed by familial relationship, and often stronger. Ksana had stood by Vaddon’s side, as a fellow soldier, advisor, and friend, for more years than he liked to think about. But there was no one he’d rather have by his side during trying times, with the exception of Lirra, and given that his daughter had become possessed by an aberration and had taken leave of her senses, the cleric’s presence was, as always, a great comfort to him.
The Outguard had set up camp on the outskirts of Geirrid, less than a mile from the city. Vaddon wanted to be near the town garrison in case he needed to call upon reinforcements, but he didn’t want to stay at the town’s barracks in order to avoid any of the other soldiers learning about the symbiont project and what had happened to Lirra and Elidyr. A dozen tents were pitched in a circle around the campfire, and about the same number of horses was tethered to stakes not far from camp. Sinnoch remained in his tent-indeed, the dolgaunt hadn’t left it since they’d made camp yesterday, and Vaddon had set Bergerron’s two warforged to stand guard. A half-dozen other soldiers, including Rhedyn and Osten, busied themselves with maintaining their weapons, caring for the horses, or running practice drills to keep in shape.
The rest of Vaddon’s people were out riding across the countryside in search of Elidyr and Lirra, all of them in possession of communication amulets containing psionic crystals. The amulets allowed the wearers to send and receive brief telepathic messages to each other, though the crystals only contained enough power for two or three exchanges before they burned out. Vaddon wore one of the amulets around his neck, and his crystal was larger than the others, allowing it to retain a charge longer. Elidyr had originally created the devices for the Outguard’s use, and the irony that his brother’s handiwork would now be used to track him down wasn’t lost on Vaddon. His own amulet had already seen a significant amount of use that morning.
“I’ve received some reports,” Vaddon said. Each time someone had contacted him, he’d felt a surge of hope that there would be news about Lirra, but he’d been disappointed every time. “None of our people have sighted either Lirra or Elidyr, but they have run across a number of abandoned farms-all of them in a more or less direct line between the lodge and Geirrid.”
“Do you think either Lirra or Elidyr had anything to do with it?”
“There’s no evidence to suggest that, but you know as well as I that coincidences are never to be trusted in a campaign. I’ve ordered a couple of our soldiers to ride to Geirrid and see what, if anything, they can learn there.”
“Do you think Lirra or Elidyr would head for the town?”
Vaddon shrugged. “Who’s to say what either of them will do now? My brother is clearly insane, and Lirra …” He paused and sighed deeply. “She may retain more of her sanity than Elidyr, but her fusion with the symbiont affected her mind as well, and every moment she remains bonded to the foul thing corrupts her further. It’s only a matter of time before she loses her mind as well.”
“I wou
ldn’t be so certain of that,” Ksana said softly. “Lirra is strong in body, mind, and spirit. If anyone is able to resist the corrupting influence of a symbiont, it will be her.”
Vaddon dearly wanted to believe that Ksana was right, that his daughter would be able to maintain her sense of self and not be overwhelmed by her symbiont. But it was precisely because he so badly wanted to believe it that he couldn’t allow himself to do so. Lirra was his daughter, and it was tearing him up inside that she had become corrupted in body and mind because the symbiont project had failed-a project he was in command of. But if he was to have a chance of freeing his daughter from the parasite that afflicted her, he had to control his emotions and do what had to be done, just as he’d had to on a hundred previous campaigns, on a hundred different battlefields. But this time he would do it for Lirra.
As if sensing his mood, Ksana turned the conversation in a different direction. She nodded toward the two warforged guarding Sinnoch’s tent. “So what do you think of our new recruits?”
Vaddon snorted. “You know how I feel about warforged. I will say this: They were useful for flagging down the lightning rail. I ordered them both to stand in the middle of the tracks and wave their arms until the engine stopped.”
Ksana grinned. “And I bet you wouldn’t have been disappointed if they’d been run down.”
Vaddon smiled back. “I’ll admit the thought had occurred to me. Unfortunately, the driver stopped in time.” He glanced over at the warforged. Longstrider stood still as a statue-which, Vaddon supposed, came naturally to his kind-but Shatterfist kept talking to his companion, moving about as he did so, almost fidgeting, in fact.
“Bergerron sent them both to keep an eye on us, but they’ve been ordered to assist us as necessary, and I don’t doubt they will.” Vaddon paused. “I can tolerate the tall one,” he said grudgingly. “He’s quiet, does his job, and doesn’t get in the way. As for the short one …” He shook his head. “He talks too much. I’ve begun to wonder if Bergerron didn’t send that one with me as a form of punishment for bungling the symbiont project.”
Ksana chuckled. “I’ve talked with Shatterfist a couple of times. He’s different then most warforged, but that’s his charm.”
Vaddon turned to face the cleric. “You talked to him? Whatever for?”
“To get to know him, of course. I’ve spoken with Longstrider as well.”
“Why would you want to do that?” Vaddon asked, honestly puzzled. “They’re just constructs. They aren’t alive. There’s no more sense in getting to know them than there is getting to know a horseshoe. They’re tools designed to fulfill a purpose, nothing more.”
“We’ve had this discussion before, Vaddon. You know how I feel. Just because the warforged were created through magical engineering doesn’t make them any less alive than you or I. The gods have many ways of working their miracles.” She smiled. “Or to put it in a way you might better appreciate, there’s more than one way to skin a wolf.”
Vaddon couldn’t help but return the cleric’s smile. “Perhaps so.” But he didn’t truly believe it, and he knew his words didn’t fool his friend. He took another sip of tea before going on. “I’m beginning to question the wisdom of keeping Sinnoch with us.”
“The dolgaunt hasn’t caused any trouble, has he?”
“No,” Vaddon admitted. “He hasn’t left his tent since we made camp. Rhedyn checks on him from time to time, but the dolgaunt never seems to need anything. I’m not sure if the damned thing even eats or drinks.”
“Sits in his tent, make no demands … Sounds like a troublemaker to me.”
“I simply don’t trust him. He’s like a coiled snake, lying motionless, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. I can’t help thinking he had something to do with the Overmantle’s malfunction.”
“He denied any involvement when Lirra questioned him,” Ksana pointed out.
An image flashed through Vaddon’s mind: Lirra standing over the dolgaunt, fury twisting her features while her tentacle wrip wrapped around the aberration’s throat and squeezed. He felt a pang of sorrow at the memory.
“She forced him to answer,” he said. “The dolgaunt might well have said what he thought Lirra wanted to hear in order to save his life.” He thought for a moment. “Then again, who knows why his kind do what they do? They don’t think like you and me, Ksana. You know that. It’s impossible to guess their motives.” He glanced again at Sinnoch’s tent. “I’m not even sure they have motives, not as we would recognize them.”
“Elidyr trusted him,” Ksana said, though she sounded less certain than she had before.
Vaddon nodded. “And look where it got him.”
“If you don’t trust him, why do you allow him to keep the Overmantle?”
“He claims that he’ll be able to repair and adapt it so that it can be used to separate the symbionts from Lirra and Elidyr.”
Ksana looked doubtful. “And you believe him?”
Vaddon shrugged. “Not really. He might have assisted Elidyr, but the dolgaunt’s no artificer. And like I said before, there’s no way to guess what his true motivations are. But if there’s even a chance that Lirra and Elidyr can be freed from the aberrations that have claimed them …”
“And what if Sinnoch is repairing the Overmantle for his own reasons?” Ksana asked. “What if he wants to reopen the portal to Xoriat and free the daelkyr that touched Elidyr?”
“The thought had occurred to me,” Vaddon admitted. “But I’m willing to take that risk if it means saving my daughter and my brother. I intend to keep close watch on the dolgaunt to make sure he doesn’t betray us.” He smiled. “That’s the real reason Rhedyn keeps checking on him for me.”
As if on cue, they saw Rhedyn approach Sinnoch’s tent. The warrior paused and turned to look at Vaddon questioningly, and the general waved him on, giving him permission to talk to the dolgaunt again. Rhedyn nodded and then-after exchanging a few words with Shatterfist and Longstrider-he walked past the warforged guards and slipped into the dolgaunt’s tent.
After a bit, Ksana said, “You may well be playing a dangerous game, Vaddon Brochann.”
He smiled sadly at her. “What else is new? When you get a spare moment, say a prayer to Dol Arrah for us, will you? We may need all the help we can get.”
“I haven’t stopped praying to the goddess since this whole mess began,” the cleric said. She reached out and took Vaddon’s mug from his hand. “I changed my mind about the tea,” she said, and finished off what was left and refilled it.
The two of them sat in companionable silence for a time after that, alone with their thoughts, until Vaddon felt the amulet he wore grow warm against his chest.
He must’ve reacted visibly, for Ksana said, “What is it?”
“Someone is trying to contact me.” He felt a surge of excitement. Perhaps this was it-news of Lirra at last. Vaddon touched his fingers to the amulet, closed his eyes, and opened his mind.
“Come to visit the dolgaunt again, I see,” Shatterfist said. “That’s … what? The dozenth time this morning?”
“Only the second,” Longstrider said. “Don’t exaggerate.”
“Twelve does have a two in it,” Shatterfist pointed out. “So from a certain point of view, I was correct.”
“Only from your skewed prespective,” Longstrider said. “I’m certain you took one too many blows to the head during the Battle of Atraex.”
“Lord Bergerron had those dents repaired months ago,” Shatterfist said. “I’m confident there was no lasting damage … certainly none that would impair my ability to think.” The warforged turned to Rhedyn. “What do you think? About my thinking, I mean. I seem rational enough, don’t I?”
Rhedyn wasn’t sure how to answer. “I’m not really an expert on such matters. I’m a soldier, not a philosopher.” Without waiting for a response, he ducked into the tent.
Inside Sinnoch’s tent, Rhedyn found the dolgaunt in the same position he had the last time he’d paid a
visit-sitting cross-legged on the ground, the remains of the Overmantle spread out before him, along with a number of Elidyr’s artificing tools. A bedroll lay untouched to one side, and a small everbright lantern provided the dolgaunt illumination to work by. Alone in his tent, Sinnoch had removed his robe-it lay next to the bedroll-and sat naked, the numerous small tendrils that covered his body swaying like blades of grass in a soundless breeze. Anyone else might’ve found the sight of the unclothed dolgaunt disturbing, if not outright sickening, but Rhedyn could see the strength and strange beauty in the creature’s form.
A small blue crystal rod encased in wire mesh lay on the ground next to Sinnoch. One of the dolgaunt’s back tentacles stretched down and the tip brushed across the crystal. In response, it glowed briefly, and the air within the tent suddenly felt flat and dead.
Sinnoch spoke without looking up from his work. “Ah, it’s my watchdog, come sniffing around again. I’m sorry I don’t have a treat for you, doggie.”
Rhedyn bristled at the dolgaunt’s words, but the dolgaunt went on before he could respond.
“You may speak freely,” Sinnoch said. “The device I just activated was another of Elidyr’s little toys. It will prevent the sound of our voices from traveling outside the tent, so no one can overhear us.”
“How goes the work?” Rhedyn asked.
“I’ve managed to make some headway in the repairs,” Sinnoch said, “but only some. After assisting Elidyr all these months, I could probably construct a new Overmantle if we had the right materials-which we don’t-but without his knowledge or experience, I highly doubt I’ll be able to repair this one.”
“So we need to get him back,” Rhedyn said.
“Of course we do.” The tentacles sprouting from Sinnoch’s back reached over his shoulders, picked up a pair of artificer’s tools, and began tinkering with the Overmantle. “But not to worry. We’ll be reunited with our friend one way or another. Either Vaddon will capture him-which is extremely doubtful, given how powerful Elidyr has become-or he’ll grow tired of playing with his newfound abilities and seek us out.” Sinnoch turned to look at Rhedyn with his empty eye sockets and grinned, his shoulder tentacles continuing to work on the Overmantle. “He was touched by Ysgithyrwyn, you see. Not only did that touch change him, Ysgithyrwyn implanted the desire in him to complete my lord’s release from Xoriat. Elidyr will have no choice but to reclaim the Overmantle, repair it, and once again attempt to open the portal between this world and the Realm of Madness. We have but to wait.”