by Tim Waggoner
“But the longer we wait—” Ksana said.
“The harder it will be to separate us,” Lirra said. “I know.” While the initial bonding between symbiont and host occurred rapidly, true fusion took time. The more time passed, the more intertwined Lirra and the tentacle whip became, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. Eventually, it would be almost impossible to separate them without both suffering severe, perhaps even fatal, trauma. “But I don’t want to be separated.”
“How can you say that?” Vaddon asked in disbelief. “Don’t you want to be free of the creature?”
“I’m being practical,” Lirra said. “The whole point of the symbiont project was to create a new kind of warrior, one who could control an aberration and make use of it as a weapon. I am that warrior, Father.”
“We thought Rhedyn was such a warrior,” Vaddon said, “but in the end he couldn’t resist the corrupting influence of his symbiont and betrayed us all.”
Lirra felt a hand of ice clench around her heart at the mention of Rhedyn’s name, but she pressed on. “Just because he lost his battle against corruption doesn’t mean I will lose mine. Besides, you need me, Father. Who among us is better equipped to face Elidyr than I am? He has to be stopped, and you both know it. The longer we talk, the more time he’ll have to repair the Overmantle and reopen the portal to Xoriat. We need to mount up and ride after him!”
“In your position, I’d probably feel the same way,” Vaddon admitted grudgingly. “But if you cannot fully control your symbiont, then you’re a potential danger to your allies as well as your enemies. Not to mention a danger to yourself. Surely you can see that.”
“Of course I do, Father. I also remember something the battlemasters at Rekkenmark taught us: ‘Courage is risk.’ Yes, there’s a chance I will lose control of my symbiont and become a danger to those around me. There’s also a chance that I’ll be able to use the abilities granted to me by my symbiont to help stop Uncle from unleashing a terrible evil upon our world. I have to try, Father. It’s my duty both as a soldier and as Elidyr’s niece. I don’t know if it’s possible to restore him to sanity, but I do know this: The man he was before the daelkyr touched him would be horrified by what he’s become, and he’d want us to do everything in our power to stop him. I intend to do that, Father, with or without your help.” She smiled gently. “But it would be a whole lot easier with you.”
Vaddon gave Lirra a long appraising look before turning and exchanging glances with Ksana. Then he turned back at Lirra and sighed.
“I never could win an argument with you, even when you were a child.”
Ksana spoke then. “You realize that if we go in search of Elidyr, enough time will pass that there’s a good chance you will become irrevocably bound to your symbiont.”
“I do. The risk is worth it to me. When I became a soldier, I took an oath to defend Karrnath and its people with my life. ‘We water the ground with our blood and our tears—for Karrnath.’ Mother and Hallam took that oath, and they sacrificed their lives to uphold it. How can I shame their memories by turning away from using a weapon that fate has placed in my hands?” She glanced down at her symbiont. “Literally, in my case.”
“Your mother and brother only lost their lives,” Vaddon said. “You might end up sacrificing your mind and your soul.”
Lirra shrugged. “It is a soldier’s lot in life to do that which is required of us. You taught me that, Father.”
“So I did.” Vaddon sighed once more. “Very well. You can accompany us in search of Elidyr, but you must remain in my company, or that of another member of the Outguard, at all times. Is this clear?”
“Are you going to give me a curfew as well?” Lirra asked.
Vaddon scowled, though there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. “No joking. Do you agree to the terms or not?”
“I agree.” The restriction chafed a bit, but she understood the reason for it. Then a thought occurred to her. “You won’t be able to watch over me all the time, Father, so you might as well assign a baby-sitter to me. How about Osten? He’s a good man, and he understands what its like to host a symbiont. He’ll be less nervous around me than someone else.” And he would be more sympathetic to her as well, something she might be able to use to her advantage later, if need be.
Vaddon thought about it for a moment. “All right. So … how do we go about finding Elidyr?”
“I don’t know what you decided to do about Ranja,” Lirra said, “but she’s sensitive to the presence of symbionts and their hosts. That’s why I hired her to help me track down Elidyr. She might still be willing to do the job for us.”
“Oh, she’s willing,” Ksana said. “She made that very clear when we spoke to her.”
“And for a hefty price,” Vaddon added sourly. “A price that no doubt went up when she learned I was a general working for Lord Bergerron. Good thing the man has deep pockets.”
Lirra smiled inwardly. Trust Ranja to find a way to turn the situation to her advantage.
“I’ve had time to think since you … invited me to accompany you to the garrison barracks,” Lirra said. “Last night, I had no idea where Elidyr might go or what he might do. But now that he’s reunited with Sinnoch and they have the Overmantle, I can think of only one place they would go. Do you remember how Elidyr first encountered Sinnoch?”
“Elidyr found the dolgaunt in a subterranean cave,” Vaddon said. “In the Nightwood.”
Lirra nodded. “I think that’s where they’ll go. They both know the place, it’s hidden, and it can be easily defended. Elidyr may be mad, but he’s not stupid. He’ll recognize the strategic value of Sinnoch’s cave.”
“Makes sense,” Vaddon said.
“The Nightwood is awfully big,” Ksana pointed out. “We could search for years and never come close to finding the dolgaunt’s cave.”
“That’s where Ranja comes in,” Lirra said. “And me. I’m able to sense the presence of aberrations—assuming I’m close enough. Between the two of us, we should be able to lead the Outguard right to Sinnoch’s hideaway.”
“The question is, can you do so in time?” Vaddon said. “If Elidyr activates the Overmantle before we can reach him …”
“I don’t know how badly the device was damaged, Father, but it will take Elidyr, Sinnoch, and Rhedyn some time to reach the cave, and then Elidyr will have to repair the Overmantle. I know he carries some of his artificer’s tools with him, but not all. The lack of proper equipment should slow him down some. I’d say we have a good chance of getting to the cave before he can reopen the portal to Xoriat—provided we get moving soon.”
“Very well.” Vaddon smiled. “I never did much like sitting around and talking when there’s work to be done.” He stood and sheathed his sword. “I’ll go inform the others. We’ll leave within a half hour. Lirra, remain here with Ksana until I can find Osten and inform him of his new duty as your … liason.”
Vaddon left the office without waiting for a reply from either woman.
“This is hard for him,” the cleric said when they were alone. “He wants nothing more than to see you free of the symbiont.”
“I know,” Lirra said softly. “And if I could see any other course of action, I’d take it. But Elidyr must be stopped, regardless of the cost to me personally … or the cost to my father. Besides, isn’t there a saying that the gods don’t give us burdens heavier than we can bear?”
Ksana smiled. “Unfortunately, I’ve lived too long and seen too many good men and women fall in battle—or later collapse beneath the mental and emotional aftereffects—to believe it any longer.” She came from around the desk and took Lirra’s hand, both of them, in hers. “I pray to the goddess that you don’t join the ranks of the lost, my dear.”
Lirra squeezed Ksana’s hands. “Me too,” she whispered.
“Just like old times.”
Elidyr didn’t look up from his work as he responded to the dolgaunt’s comment.
“Even bett
er, my friend.”
The artificer sat crosslegged on the rough stone surface of the cave floor, the pieces of the Overmantle spread out before him illuminated by a stolen everbright lantern.
Rhedyn stood off to the side, the shadowy aspect granted him by his symbiont causing him to be nearly invisible in the cave’s gloom. “This is where you lived?” the young warrior said to Sinnoch. “It seems awfully … stark.”
That was one word for it, Elidyr thought with amusement. Save for the three of them, the cave was completely empty, just as it had been all those years ago when Elidyr had first come here as a young scholar in search of aberrations to study, not knowing at the time that some decades hence, he’d become one himself. Life certainly took some strange turns, he thought.
Sinnoch laughed. “What can I say? I enjoy being alone with my thoughts.”
The moment they’d entered the cave, Sinnoch had doffed the oversized robe he’d worn to conceal his body from mortal eyes and stood naked, shoulder tentacles undulating lazily in the dank air, the cilia that covered his body flowing like blades of discolored grass.
Rhedyn edged closer to Elidyr. “You haven’t touched any of the pieces since you laid them out,” he said. “Do you think you can fix it?”
The stormstalk draped around Elidyr’s shoulders turned its milky eye toward Rhedyn, and Elidyr could feel the symbiont’s irritation. It wanted nothing more than to unleash a bolt of lightning at the man, if for no other reason than to shut him up. Elidyr sympathized with his friend, but he told it to have patience.
We can always kill the fool later. Right now we have need of him.
The stormstalk relaxed, though Elidyr could sense it was only partially mollified. In some ways, having three symbionts was like having three children that needed to be placated and disciplined from time to time. But the power they granted made them worth the effort.
“I’ve been studying the remains of the Overmantle, getting a feel for what damage was done to the device and what I’ll need to do to fix it. As I don’t have proper replacement parts—let alone the right tools to do the job—I’m going to have to improvise. But improvisation is an artificer’s stock in trade. I should be able to make do.” He glanced up at Rhedyn. “That is, if I’m left alone to do my work.”
It had taken them the better part of two days to travel from Geirrid to Sinnoch’s hidden cave in the Nightwood. The horses had been near death by the time they’d reached their destination. Sinnoch had taken great delight in putting the beasts out of their misery in spectacularly gruesome fashion, though Rheydn had seemed a bit put off by the dolgaunt’s actions—especially when he began jamming bloody chunks of horse meat and organs into his overlarge mouth. Elidyr wasn’t entirely certain of the lad’s dedication to their cause. His mental outlook seemed distressingly mundane, as if he hadn’t allowed his symbiont to fully open his mind to the boundless possibilities of chaos yet. Hopefully, that would change in the days to come. If not … well, Sinnoch might get a chance to indulge himself with Rhedyn just as he had the horses.
During the trip from Geirrid, Elidyr had taken out the Overmantle a couple times and examined it, and the truth was, he was less than encouraged by its current state. Sinnoch had managed to gather all the main components of the device, and he’d had the foresight to bring along a set of Elidyr’s tools from his workshop at the lodge. But despite all his months assisting in the construction of the Overmantle, Sinnoch was no artificer, and he’d only brought the most basic of tools with him. In order to effect the kind of repairs the Overmantle required, Elidyr was going to have to redesign certain aspects of the Overmantle. And that would take time. At least most of the psi-crystals were intact and charged. They were highly expensive and difficult to come by, and without them, he’d have little chance of repairing the device. As it was, the task would take all his skill and knowledge to complete.
Too bad he couldn’t reshape metal and crystal the same way he could rework flesh. Repairing the Overmantle would be a simple matter then. Ah well. Things would be different in the world to come. Once chaos ruled the land, anything would be possible. The landscape would change at the merest thought, and every desire would become an instant reality. But until that glorious day, he’d just have to work with what he had.
Glorious? Are you mad?
Strange. The thought wasn’t his, and yet the voice was clear.
Chaos isn’t freedom. It’s slavery. The daelkyr use their abilities to enforce their whims upon others by reshaping reality as they wish it to be. People have a divine right to self-determination—a right the daelkyr would deny them. That’s the glorious future you’re trying to create, Elidyr. A future where the daelkyr rule and reality is nothing more than their toy.
Elidyr frowned. He wasn’t certain where this voice was coming from—it didn’t belong to any of his symbionts—but it was familiar. As familiar as the sound of his own voice, in fact.
When reality responds to everyone’s desires, then everyone shall be truly free, he thought back at the voice. That is the great gift the daelkyr offer. Now be silent and let me think!
Elidyr waited for the voice to say more, but it didn’t, and he smiled in satisfaction. He returned his attention to the remains of the Overmantle and mulled over various redesigns in his mind.
Rhedyn, however, didn’t stay silent for long.
“They’ll be coming for us, you know. Vaddon and the rest of the Outguard. Lirra too. Whether separately or together, they won’t stop until they’ve found us. Lirra especially will never give up.”
“You almost sound as if you fear her,” Sinnoch taunted.
“I respect her,” Rhedyn said, perhaps a bit too quickly. “There’s a difference. She’s a dangerous opponent in her own right, but now that she has a symbiont and has experienced the power of the Overmantle, she’s even more dangerous. It’s a shame she wouldn’t join us.”
“Perhaps she will in the end,” Elidyr said. “And if not, she will be one more casualty on the way toward creating a perfect world.”
Sinnoch grinned with his mouthful of needle-teeth. “One among many.”
Rhedyn scowled at the dolgaunt. “We need to be prepared in case they find us before the Overmantle is fixed. Together, the three of us are powerful, but I don’t know if we can stop the entire Outguard. Especially if Lirra has rejoined them, which I think likely. Vaddon is a highly experienced commander who could’ve easily become a warlord if he had any patience for political intrigue. He’s already added a pair of warforged to the Outguard’s ranks, probably thanks to my uncle. He’ll also recruit new members of the Outguard from the garrison at Geirrid to replace those who were killed. He might even convince Rol Amark to allow him to use the entire garrison. We could be facing a force of close to a hundred men and women. As I said, I fear the three of us will not be enough to stop them.”
“Assuming they reach us,” Sinnoch said. “This cave system is well hidden, and even if Vaddon and Lirra find it, locating us within its labyrinthine tunnels would be another matter entirely.” The dolgaunt paused then, head tilted to one side as if he was listening to something Elidyr and Rhedyn couldn’t hear. “But even so, your points are well taken, Rhedyn.” He turned to the warrior and grinned. “So it’s a good thing that I don’t live alone here, isn’t it?”
Elidyr felt the vibrations through the stone floor before he heard the rhythmic stomping of feet coming from somewhere deep within the cave system. He had no idea precisely how large the force was that approached, but he felt certain it was large enough to do the job. And whatever Sinnoch’s friends were, Elidyr knew he could use his flesh-molding abilities to remake them however he saw fit. Now that he thought about it, why should he have them wait until Lirra and the others arrived? It would be so much more hospitable to send Sinnoch’s friends out to greet them.
He refocused his attention on the Overmantle, and as the first of the dolgrim entered the cave, the artificer reached out and began reconnecting the broken pieces of the d
evice.
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
A day and a half after leaving Geirrid, the Outguard entered the Nightwood. It was early morning, but the cloud cover was thick that day, and the forest interior was shrouded in gloom. The Nightwood lived up to its name, Lirra thought, for it always seemed to be dark within its confines. This wasn’t her first time here. She’d led hunting parties into the forests in search of symbionts on numerous occasions. In fact, the tentacle whip had been captured here during one such hunt.
Welcome home, she thought to the symbiont. In reply, it gave her forearm a painful squeeze, as if to say, Shut up. She could sense the tentacle whip’s foul mood. It hadn’t seen any action since the battle against Elidyr’s white-eyes a couple days ago, and she’d felt its frustration building ever since. The symbiont wanted to lash out, to strike at an opponent, to plunge its barb into soft flesh and fill it with poison. It wanted to wrap its coils around a tender neck and slowly squeeze. Tighter … tighter …
Lirra shook her head to clear her mind of the images. Stop that!
A starling perched on a nearby tree branch sang a few notes, and before Lirra could react, the tentacle whip unwrapped from around her wrist and lashed out at the bird. The symbiont’s barbed tip speared the starling through the breast, and the animal was dead long before it hit the ground.
The whip retracted slowly and wrapped itself around her forearm with an insolent laziness. Lirra had to resist the urge to smack it, as if it were a dog that had just misbehaved.
“Target practice?” Ranja asked.
“Something like that,” Lirra muttered.
The two women rode in the front of the Outguard, along with Osten, who had not left her side since Vaddon had appointed him to be her official watchdog. Longstrider and Shatterfist walked behind them, the indefatigable warforged needing no mounts upon which to travel—not that any horse could carry their weight. Vaddon and Ksana came after the constructs, with the rest of the Outguard following behind. Their ranks had expanded considerably in Geirrid, thanks to Rol Amark, who had allowed Vaddon to conscript half of his garrison soldiers. Vaddon had tried to persuade the man to allow him to have the entire garrison, but Rol had refused, saying he needed to keep some soldiers in town in case Elidyr and his monsters attacked Geirrid again.