Stardeep

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Stardeep, Throat

Delphe saw the Knights fighting invaders on the Causeways edge, if fight was the right word; mostly, the doughty Knights fell beneath swords, fists, and the flashing magic of the mysterious attackers. The clarity of Cynosure's scrying was erratic, but she clearly identified at least three foes: a sword wielder, a martial artist, and a spellcaster. She also spied the shadow of a humanoid lurking about the periphery, throwing knives. The Knights seemed outmatched-where was the full company? And why did they fight with the Causeway wide open at their backs? Was Telarian even now readying to send forth another unit or two? Perhaps, but if the Knights she saw now fell in the next few moments, the invaders would penetrate Stardeep's open front gate.

She gasped, understanding the invaders must have timed their attack to coincide with the Traitor's escape attempt she'd just quelled.

"Cynosure, close the Causeway Gate!"

"Yes, Delphe," responded the construct, in a voice as steady and calm as if she'd asked Cynosure to confirm the dining menu for tomorrow.

Mist swirled up from Chabala Mere, pulling the land-bridge into a nether realm of nonexistence. The scrying relayed by Cynosure onto a mirrored wall panel of the Throat jittered, scrambled, and vanished.

"Causeway Gate is closed, Delphe."

The Keeper drew in a long breath, then darted an anxious glance into the Well, at the boundary layer. She no longer trusted its integrity. A terrifying thought.

The construct noted her glance and said, "Delphe, please allow me to apologize for my earlier lapse. Because of the attack on Stardeep's gate, I committed the bulk of my attention there. I recognize that this behavior violates protocol, and I am frankly at a loss to explain myself."

"Do you … do you suspect a breakdown of some sort?" Delphe swallowed, knowing the answer to the question was a definitive "yes," whether or not the sentient idol would admit it.

Cynosure responded, "Delphe, I am forced to confess- something is indeed interfering with my decision-making. I am unable to determine what. I recommend you take me out of the command and control loop. Doing so will eradicate the possibility that my next lapse will imperil the Well. I can use the time to trace the source of the difficulty, and if possible, remedy it."

The construct wasn't wrong, though she could hardly believe she would follow its recommendation. .

Delphe's voice quavered as she responded, "I agree. I hereby command you to extricate yourself from Stardeep. Disengage all higher order functions, both in the Inner Bastion and the Outer. Please leave those functions available for Telarian and I to use manually."

"Yes, Delphe. I am retreating into my original form. I wonder what it will feel like to be singular again. ."

Silence stretched. The Keeper looked up at the sculpted stone on the ceiling, knowing it was empty. Cynosure was disengaged. Had that ever happened before in Stardeep's history? Not that she could recall.

She poured her attention into the Well and anxiously studied the patterns of sigil and flame. Had the Traitor exhausted himself? A dimensional veil separated Stardeep from the invaders Cynosure had shown her. She was not planning on permitting the Causeway to be opened again anytime soon.

The most pressing question was whether the idol's leave of absence in monitoring the Well was more risky than allowing it to remain active. Cynosure had eventually perceived the escape attempt, and provided the impetus necessary to reenergize the boundary horizon. But if the construct were functioning properly, would the Traitor have been able to launch his probe in the first place? It chilled her to think the latter might be a possibility. The heart of Stardeep's defenses may have become corrupted.

Where was Telarian? Cynosure couldn't help-perhaps could only hinder her. She and the other Keeper had to confer immediately.

She mentally extended her senses, searching for the magical ley lines that threaded Stardeep. When asked, Cynosure quickly and easily manipulated those functions on her behalf. In some ways, those functions were one and the same as Cynosure. . better not to worry about that right now.

Delphe closed her eyes and began to search the stronghold.

Telarian grabbed the sweat-slicked guardroom lever and pulled. The mechanism yielded slowly, with a drawn-out screech resembling a banshee's scream. The gate tunnel's iron-reinforced floor ratcheted into place, sealing the Knights-their corpses, at least-in their final resting places.

The Keeper rushed into the tunnel to gaze across the Causeway. He estimated the Knights who remained outside were unlikely to succeed. It was time for him to directly intervene. His grip tightened on Nis's pommel. He stepped..

The landbridge faded into pale mists.

Several blinking Knights appeared in the gateway tunnel, turned around and nauseated from their sudden recall. What-

The Causeway had closed!

"Cynosure! Open the Causeway! Immediately!"

No answer. He sheathed Nis to wipe his brow. The instant he lost contact with the hilt of his darkling sword, Telarian's composure collapsed.

With a voice now breaking with sudden fear, he called again, "Cynosure? Answer me! Cynosure, open the Gate!"

Telarian looked left, right, up, down as his mind whirled with confusion. His eyes finally settled on the two niches in the gate tunnel, one on either side. Each was filled with a hulking stone shape. Either or both could serve as a temporary nexus for Stardeep's construct sentience, even physically animating to defend the entrance. At the very least, speaking if spoken to.

The diviner ran to stand between the two shapes. Both stared vacantly down at him. Cynosure was resident in neither.

A crackle of light and the sudden scent of ozone pulled his gaze around. Striding from a rough discontinuity was Delphe.

"Telarian!" she yelled, her eyes wild, her face flushed as she approached him. Did she know what had just occurred? Were all his secrets laid bare to his fellow Keeper? A guilty conscience grabbed him roughly, draining blood from his face and putting a shake in his hands. To salvage his scheme, and thereby save future generations unborn, must he now cut down Delphe, too, in cold blood?

As he reached for Nis, Delphe said, "Cynosure is corrupted, and the Traitor stirs! Thank the Twelve Stars I've found you-we must prepare our strategy!"

Telarian's wavering hand dropped away from his weapon's hilt.

"Tell me, Delphe, what has happened?" he asked, his voice hoarse. He gripped one hand with the other to hide a telltale quaver.

She began, "An entity. ."

Her eyes looked past him down the tunnel. Telarian turned and saw the bloody streak smeared from the open guardroom door, as well as the gore splash from where Brathtar and Dharvanum had gasped out their last. He'd disposed of the bodies in the deeps, but there'd been no time to scrub away the incriminating blood. The recalled Knights yet milled at the far end, still pale and confused to Telarian's eyes.

"The invaders breached the Causeway?" she gasped. "I closed the Causeway not a moment too soon!" She turned to look at him. "Why didn't you close the Causeway Gate after you sent forth the Knights to defend Stardeep?"

Telarian replied without missing a beat. "Of course I tried, but Cynosure failed to answer me. By the time I realized a manual seal was necessary, I and a reserve unit of Knights already fought to hold the tunnel. If you hadn't closed the Causeway Gate when you did, I'm not sure what would have happened." Internally, he cursed her for an interfering fool. If she hadn't closed the Causeway, even now he'd have Angul and Nis, together.

"What kind of force-"

He interrupted, "Hold!" The diviner knew where Delphe's questions led. A distraction was required lest she too closely examine the gate tunnel. If she queried the Knights now visible in the tunnel, she'd learn they hadn't been part of any tunnel defense-they'd been fighting a Keeper! If she began unraveling that knot, he'd have to spin his web of lies all the wider.

Telarian continued, "You claim Cynosure is corrupt and the Traitor's dreams are uneasy? I would hear more of that!"

Delphe nodded, her eyes again focusing on Telarian. She said, "Some sort of. . probe entity burst from the boundary layer and ascended the Well."

Telarian didn't have to act surprised. Delphe continued, "A powerful working, not a phantom. It was a qualified escape attempt."

"What shape did it take?" Telarian's voice was hoarser.

She replied, "A self-improving tissue mass. It resembled an eyeless snake, or a questing tentacle. It improved and expanded every moment it remained free of the Well. What a time for Cynosure to fail!"

Delphe raised a conciliatory hand as she noted his eyes growing huge. "Breathe easy. I quelled the escape. Cynosure woke up at the last, and between his working and my abjurations, the Traitor's sending, if that's what it was, failed to emerge into the Throat."

Telarian shook his head. "I am sorry I was not there to aid you." The Keeper of the Outer Bastion's faith in his prognostication was fast approaching zero; he hadn't foreseen such a potent emergence so soon. Still. .

"But Cynosure did acknowledge the danger and helped you, if not as quickly as you desired. Are you certain he is corrupt?"

"I'm not certain of anything. I know this, though; he has suffered too many lapses of late. Have you noticed? Too many silences during critical moments in the Well. I was forced to turn off some functions."

Telarian hissed with surprise.

She nodded, misunderstanding his response. "Yes, it was necessary, despite the danger."

"But, Delphe-"

"Telarian, listen! Add up the Traitor's sudden flurry of activity with Cynosure's glitches and the attack on the Causeway, and the result is trouble. It could imply an external force seeks the Traitor's release, and worse, has managed to infiltrate Stardeep so thoroughly that Cynosure, our first and best defense, is compromised. Then again, you already knew something of this, didn't you?"

Telarian cocked his head, guilt once again rising like gorge in his mouth.

"You knew an external force might move against us. You told me yourself you had the Knights investigate a suspicious wood elf encampment in the Yuirwood. What did they find?"

He breathed easier. She didn't know anything. "Delphe, in all truth, the Knights found no evidence the wood elves knew anything of the Traitor or about Stardeep." He spoke no untruths, he reflected. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand. Of course, to safeguard the presence of the Knights, the encampment had been eradicated.

"What of these that attacked recently? Were they wood elves?"

"Some were. I'm not sure from whence they came. Certainly not from the encampment, which disbanded not long after the Knights investigated."

Delphe nodded, considering, her eyes narrow in thought.

Telarian continued. "How do you suppose the attackers managed to corrupt Cynosure, when they've yet to enter Stardeep? Are you sure Cynosure's problems are part of this conspiracy you've outlined?"

Delphe rocked back, shook her head. "Of course I'm not sure. But the timing is too awful to be a coincidence. Isn't it?" Telarian saw she was willing to be argued away from her theory.

Relief continued to cool his feverish mind like a spring rain. He knew with certainty Cynosure was not corrupted by outsiders.

No, he himself was responsible for Cynosure's odd habits. He'd sought to gain control over the sentient idol's abilities and knowledge. It appalled him to think his efforts might have prematurely compromised Cynosure's ability to restrain the Traitor. If the Traitor emerged too early. .

It wasn't his plan to release the Traitor until all the ingredients of his scheme were in place.

Before then, his first priority must be to bring Cynosure back to full functions. For that, he required Delphe's cooperation and willing aid. Though any single Keeper could decommission the constructs consciousness, only two or more could reinstate him. Telarian's hand brushed Nis's hilt. It occurred to him that once Cynosure was restored, it would prove best to remove Delphe's unpredictable actions from the equation, lest she complicate his divinations. As Brathtar's betrayals proved, even the most powerful vision of the future could be altered by too many variables.

Telarian smiled and began to speak. It wouldn't be difficult to allay Delphe's suspicions about the construct, the timing of the Traitor's escape attempt, and the utter improbability of a conspiracy. She wanted everything to be all right, and would be amenable to being led to that conclusion.

Once Cynosure was back, he'd order the construct to throw wide the Causeway Gate. Telarian wouldn't send a force out to greet Kiril; that had been a terrible mistake, one born of ego, not reason. Nis castigated him on his foolish plan. No, he'd allow Kiril to stroll of her own volition across the dimensional veil to find her destiny. He and Nis would be waiting.