"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.
My research shows that thousands of years without maintenance weakened the once strong boundaries of the Celestial Nadir. Contiguous planes bled together, and pseudo-reality gave the realm a permanence, and unpredictability, never intended." "Can you identify our attacker? Is it an entity from the Celestial Nadir with which you are familiar?"
"Not at present, but I need to learn more. To be honest, for all my research, the Celestial Nadir is a project of many lifetimes. All I can currently say with any certainty is that whoever or whatever our foe is, it seems capable of using the fabric of the Celestial Nadir against us. This crystal"- Ususi pointed to her satchel-"is a manifestation of the Celestial Nadir's existence. It seems to have been somehow… corrupted." With these words spoken, she decided the time was right. The travel coach was clean enough. She would see what she could see with the clues at hand. Ususi retrieved the three pendants and placed them on the ground. From the coach, she fetched a yellowish vial from a cupboard where several more glass containers were neatly snugged into a wooden rack. Many of the little vials had been smashed by the intruders, but enough remained for her to seek answers. She seated herself next to the pendants. Iahn didn't move from his position. She removed the cap from the vial and drank down the citrus-flavored elixir. Ususi didn't believe in brewing foul-tasting potions. Her lips tingled, her eyes sparked, and her mind quickened. The sky above became a portent of the day and night to come. Odors wafting on the air revealed landforms for many miles in every direction-the scent of a thousand things normally too subtle for human notice. The menhirs on the distant bluff were revealed as the warning markers they'd been constructed to be, meant to scare away intruders, not draw them. The wheels of her travel coach were a history of every rock, every sand pit, and every cool river crossing they had endured since each had been fitted to the axle. Connections between herself and the vengeance taker she had not previously realized suddenly crystallized, and she feared him less-and more.