Forge of the Mindslayers

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Any luck?"

Diran turned to see Ghaji striding across the rocky ground toward him. The half-orc was clad in a thick fur cloak, his axe tucked beneath his belt. The clouds in the gray sky had a darkish undercast, and though it was not yet winter, Diran thought there was a good chance it might snow soon.

The priest was annoyed to see his friend approaching, but he tried to keep his tone neutral as he replied. "What do you mean?"

Ghaji stopped when he reached Diran and took a quick look at their surroundings to check the area for threats-an action Diran knew from their long association was second nature to the half-orc. Evidently Ghaji saw nothing to concern him in the desolate, rocky hills, for he turned his attention back to Diran.

"This is the third day you've come out here alone-without telling anyone, I might add. You're searching for Makala, aren't you?"

There was no point in denying it: Ghaji knew him too well. There were a couple of rocks nearby large enough to sit on. Diran took one, Ghaji the other.

Now that they'd sat, Diran found himself still reluctant to talk about Makala. "Have you heard anything from Yvka?"

Ghaji's eyes narrowed, as if he were well aware that his friend was stalling. "She stopped by the King Prawn this morning to, uh, get some rest."

Diran grinned.

"Anyway, she told me her 'friends' have taken possession of Mount Luster-and they've taken custody of Galharath. No doubt they're going over the psi-forge facility inch by inch to glean all the information they can. I get the impression that Yvka's risen in status in the Shadow Network thanks to her association with us. First she was able to deliver Grimwall to them and now Mount Luster."

"I don't like the idea of the Shadow Network possessing the capability to create psi-forged," Diran said. "Imagine the destruction an army of constructs like Solus could cause."

"Warforged aren't mindless machines, you know," Ghaji pointed out. "Creating them is one thing. Controlling them is another. Besides, according to Solus, the psi-forge's energy matrix-whatever that is-was damaged when he attacked Galharath. There's no guarantee that the Shadow Network's artificers can repair it."

"True, but if the Shadow Network can restore Galharath's mind, they might be able to get the kalashtar to cooperate with them."

Solus's attack had done more than damage the internal workings of the psi-forge. It had reduced Galharath to a drooling idiot. Diran had attempted to heal him several times but without success. Whatever injury had been done to the kalashtar's mind was beyond Diran's power to repair. Galharath had been taken to Perhata and locked up in the baron's prison, where he'd remained for the last few days… until the Shadow Network had taken him. Diran wondered how the Network had managed to get Baron Mahir's cooperation, and he wondered what Asenka thought about having to give up the prisoner. He suspected she was less than thrilled.

"If you couldn't heal him, I doubt very much the Shadow Network can," Ghaji said.

"How's Solus doing?" Diran asked.

He'd spent so little time in Perhata these last few days-mostly just to sleep and restore his supplies-and he hadn't seen much of the psi-forged.

"His vision is still blurry, despite Tresslar's attempts to fix it, but Solus doesn't seem to mind. He's happy enough with Hinto to guide him. You ask me, they make an odd pair."

Diran smiled. "People have said the same about the two of us, you know."

Ghaji snorted but otherwise didn't reply.

Diran was pleased that Hinto had formed a bond with the psi-forged. They complemented each other well: Hinto helped Solus maintain mental stability, while the psi-forged helped the halfling emotionally. Diran had a feeling theirs was a partnership that would last, but only time would tell.

"How fares Tresslar?" Diran asked.

Ghaji shrugged. "He's still mad as a nest of hornets over the loss of his dragonwand, though he tries to downplay it. You know he'd rather die than admit how much he's come to rely on the thing. He says he's working on a way to locate the dragonwand, but it might be mere bluster. Still, he has been spending a lot of time in the artificer's workshop Baron Mahir has granted him use of, so who knows?"

"How are you feeling, my friend?" Diran asked. "By defeating Chagai, you've had the opportunity to lay an unpleasant part of your past to rest."

"You'd think so, wouldn't you, but the truth is that I don't feel much of anything. Killing Chagai didn't bring back any of the people we killed during the time we served together, and I'd put our association behind me the day I left him lying wounded on a field in the Eldeen Reaches. The world's a better place with him gone, though, that's for certain."

"As one of the Purified, I must remind you that all life is sacred," Diran said, then he smiled. "However, in this case, I can't help but agree with you."

"What of you?" Ghaji said. "Cathmore was a large part of your past."

Diran considered his reply for a time before speaking. "Of all the teachers I've had over the years-my father, Emon, Tusya-Cathmore is the only one I wish I'd never had, but I can't deny that I learned from him, that the man I am today was shaped at least in part by his teachings. However, I do not feel any joy that he's dead, nor do I feel any relief. No matter what we do, or who we outlive, the past remains with us-always."

"Which brings us back to Makala," Ghaji said softly.

"I suppose it does." Diran let out a long, slow sigh. "I should've killed her the moment I realized she'd been tainted by the vampire's curse."

"How could you? You love her."

"If I truly loved her, I would've done what needed to be done. Instead, I told myself that I should allow her to choose, that she was strong enough to bear the curse if she so wished." He shook his head. "I was a fool."

Before Ghaji could respond, a woman's voice cut in. "You wouldn't be the first fool for love, and I doubt very much that you'll be the last."

Diran and Ghaji looked up at the same time to see Asenka approaching. She wore a thick fur cloak with the hood down, and the sunlight-what little there was of it, at any rate-accented the highlights in her strawberry-blond hair.

The half-orc scowled. "Did you follow me all the way from Perhata?"

The commander of the Sea Scorpions smiled as she reached them. "That I did."

Ghaji's scowl deepened. "My senses must still be suffering from the after effects of Galharath tampering with our minds." He stood up and turned to Diran. "See you back at the King Prawn for dinner?"

Diran had intended to continue searching for Makala until he was too weary to continue, but he nodded and said, "I'll be there."

Ghaji put his hand on Diran's shoulder for a moment, and then, after a nod to Asenka, the half-orc warrior turned and began the trek back to Perhata. When Ghaji had gone a dozen yards or so, Asenka sat on the rock he'd vacated.

"You know he let me follow him," she said.

Diran smiled. "Yes."

"He's a good friend."

"The best I've ever had," Diran said as he gazed at the half-orc's retreating form.

They sat in silence for a time, listening to the moaning of the wind as it blew through the hills.

After a while, Asenka said, "You're not really searching for Makala out here, are you? At least, that's not all you're doing. She's more likely to be holed up in Perhata, since that's where…" Asenka trailed off, as if realizing she was about to say something she shouldn't.

"Where the greatest supply of food is located," Diran finished for her. "You're right, of course. I've been coming out here to 'reacquaint myself with solitude,' as Tusya, the priest who was my mentor in the Church, would put it. When one wishes to hear the voice of the Silver Flame most clearly, one must first calm the unquiet mind."

"Is it working?"

Diran smiled. "Not in the slightest."

Asenka laughed then immediately apologized. "Sorry, I know it's not funny."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Laughter is a sound of life, and while it might not have mystical healing powers, it's a powerful medicine in its own right." Diran broke off and stared into the distance, seeking Ghaji, but the half-orc was no longer in sight. "It's a medicine I could use more of. For a man who's dedicated himself to combating evil and preserving life, I spend far too much of my time surrounded by death."

"Aren't life and death two sides of the same coin?" Asenka said. "One can't exist without the other."

"I suppose," Diran allowed, "but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"No, it doesn't." She paused as if trying to decide how best to proceed. "You've been doing more out here than just getting to know solitude again, though. You've been hoping to lure Makala out into the open. That's why you haven't gone too far into the hills. You want to remain close to the city."

Diran turned to regard the Sea Scorpion commander, impressed anew by how perceptive she was. "Yes. Whether she's hiding here in the hills or in Perhata, I'd hoped that she'd seek me out."

The dark spirit Makala had inherited from Cathmore would bring forth the cruelest aspects of her nature, which alone would cause her to want him dead, but she'd also realize that now Diran wouldn't rest until he had freed her from her dual curse-the vampire's taint and her symbiosis with the dark spirit-and so in order to preserve her own life, she would have to end his.

"I take it that you haven't seen her," Asenka said.

Diran nodded. "And I don't understand why."

"I do. Somewhere inside her, maybe so deep that even she's not aware of it, she still loves you."

"And you know this because…?"

Asenka looked at him for a long moment before answering. "Because if I were in her position, I'd feel the same way." She stood before Diran could respond. "Well, I'll leave you and solitude alone with each other. Did you mean what you said to Ghaji, about returning to Perhata for dinner?"

"Yes."

"I'll see you then." Asenka started to go.

Before she'd taken more than a few steps, Diran said, "There's something else Tusya used to tell me."

Asenka stopped and turned back to look at him. "What's that?"

"'Solitude's all well and good at times, but it's a damn poor conversationalist.'"

Asenka grinned then returned to sit on the rock next to Diran once more, and after sitting quietly for a time, they began to talk.