When Ususi returned to the chamber where Iahn still floated, she merely made a slashing gesture and spoke a magical phrase of negation.
The white light faded, and Iahn dropped to the floor. He gracefully spun as he fell and landed poised on his hands and feet, then stood to his full height. Iahn broke the silence. "You see I speak the truth.
They were trailing you for days. I saw their sign on your trail as I caught up to you in the wilds." Ususi nodded. In her hands were three more chunks of Celestial Nadir crystal, each crudely attached to a leather thong. She said, "There was one more pendant, but it was burnt and crumbled. This truly is Celestial Nadir crystal. Or, as it's called in these parts, 'Datharathi crystal.' " "Are you sure they're safe to touch?" "Why wouldn't they be?" Ususi wondered. "These pendants bound the creatures together and provided guidance. Or controlled them. The infernal one drew great strength from his, before it killed him. When I stripped the pendant from one of the still-breathing archers, she died as quickly as if I'd removed her heart." Ususi involuntarily flinched and thrust the pendants out to arm's length. Yet she didn't drop the crystals. Instead, she quickly stuffed them into her shoulder bag. She coughed, recovered her dignity, and said, "Perhaps they'll yield their secrets to me, then. I can probe their nature more fully when I return to my coach. After I clean up the mess those creatures made." She'd nearly cried when she'd seen what the creatures had done to her home on wheels. Iahn nodded.
"And then we return to Deep Imaskar. We should get started immediately. Even with your travel coach, it will be a journey of many tendays, maybe a month or more." Ususi swiveled her head and fixed the vengeance taker with a frown. "If things are as dire as you say, then we may not have that much time. I believe I am on the cusp of discovering a new access point into the Celestial Nadir-a local access point." "Here, in this complex?" Ususi sighed. "I'm afraid not. But I've been traveling south ever since I purchased the Datharathi crystal in Two Stars. That crystal is from Durpar, and even now we straddle that country's border. It is only a few days' travel to Vaelan, where we can inquire about the crystal. I want to know who mines it and where the mine is located. The mine is an access to the Celestial Nadir. Of this I am certain." Iahn cocked his head. "If you believe this, why waste time here in this derelict ruin, still dangerous after all these years?" "I possess a map that reveals ancient Imaskaran sites such as this one. It seemed reasonable to check out the sites that fell along my path to Durpar. Legends claim that there are twenty gates in all, and I'd like to find every one."
The vengeance taker considered. "A loss of a single day, when measured against the months I've tracked you, is reasonable. However, if your lead proves false, we must turn north and make all haste toward the subterranean entrance that will take us back to Deep Imaskar." "Of course." Well, she silently appended, it could take two or three days to locate the access point. But short of killing her (which she now knew was not the vengeance taker's goal), he would not be able to force her north until she was satisfied that no access portals survived in Durpar. Iahn started for the surface. He called over his shoulder, "Even if your fascination for our ancestors' lore blinds you to Deep Imaskar's plight, your sister's continued well-being must concern you. What threatens to breach the Great Seal threatens her equally." The wizard stood with her mouth agape. What a thing to say!
"What do you know of my sister?" Ususi yelled at Iahn's retreating back, her fists clenched. He paused, but didn't turn. "I was commanded to find you. Do you think I would leave any stone unturned in that search?" "Did you talk to her? Did you harm her?" Even as she asked, Ususi knew the answers to her questions were negative. Qari's condition prevented speech, and Ususi would have known if her sister had been harmed, just as her sister would know if harm befell Ususi.
Iahn stopped and turned. His face, if expression were possible for a vengeance taker, seemed slightly rueful. "Of course I didn't harm her.
I merely sought her out to see if she could help me find you.
Unfortunately, she wouldn't speak to me. I apologize. I didn't realize it was a sensitive topic." In a small voice, Ususi said, "She doesn't speak to anyone. Not even to me anymore." Her sister Qari, congenitally blind, had never spoken aloud. But Qari and Ususi had spoken to each other when they were children, mind to mind. As they grew older, that ability had dimmed and eventually failed. They still shared a dream at times, or at least they had while Ususi remained in Deep Imaskar, but even that had stopped since Ususi had moved beyond the Great Seal. Unless her dream of darkness was somehow connected to the darkness Iahn claimed had Deep Imaskar under siege… "How did you find her?" Ususi demanded of the vengeance taker. "The lord apprehender told me where she was." Ususi clenched her fist. Another promise broken. Qari's condition required special care and solitude.
Ususi had acquired both for her sister, paying a steep price for discretion above all else. The lord apprehender's knowledge of secrets held and disclosed in the Hidden City was deep. And apparently, not beyond betrayal.
The travel coach was not wrecked, but the disarray of its contents pained Ususi. As soon as she and Iahn returned, she and her silent uskura set about tidying the clutter. The vengeance taker avoided impatience with steely resolve, but finally murmured something about retrieving his crossbow bolts and searching the bodies for additional clues. As she cleaned up, Ususi considered the odd assortment of creatures following her. Who had sent them? How had they known about her? Iahn postulated the darkness threatening Deep Imaskar had made enough inroads to discover that he had been sent to look for her, because of her specialized knowledge concerning the Celestial Nadir.
If so, perhaps this mysterious force had decided to look for her, too, in hopes of finding her first. Through the broken coach door, Ususi observed Iahn's return. He sat down outside the coach and began to fit sturdy bolts into the underside of a custom crossbow. She studied him a moment. This man had spoken to Qari. He was an unexpected link to her past. Ususi stepped out. "Uncover anything else?" The vengeance taker shrugged and pointed to a few pouches, packs, skins for water, and other oddments typical of travelers. The wizard pressed him.
"Nothing about their identity, who might have sent them, or where they hailed from?" "You already have the pendants, Ususi. You must have some way to divine their nature." "There are some spells I might try," she allowed. "Once I get this place ship-shape." Iahn nodded. Just as Ususi was about to return to the task, he said, "Ususi, I am curious.
What exactly is the Celestial Nadir? I hardly feel I understand it.
How can I assess the wisdom of anything we do without that knowledge?"
"It is an ancient space. A half-space, where forgotten things litter the void." "Imaskari-fashioned? " "It is," replied Ususi. "It is an artificial void created thousands of years ago by our ancestors. They used it to store their secrets, their refuse, and their… mistakes."
Iahn leaned forward, waiting for her to continue. "The ancient Imaskari used their artificial demiplane to conduct their most hazardous arcane experiments. They also used it to store the fruits thereof, hidden safely behind the walls of the world." "Has one of these walls weakened? Has someone liberated one of these 'mistakes,' seeking to use it against us?" Ususi nodded slowly. The creature Iahn had faced had seemed to hint along those lines. "That's a possible scenario. Also, the lord apprehender's message seems to imply as much.