Banain, Evalina, and Turi monitored the complex interplay of energies-both mystical and psionic, visible and invisible-that coruscated across the psi-forge's surface. A few more seconds, and the forge would be up to full power, and then…
A burst of brilliant white light poured forth from the forge's main chamber, so intense that even though they wore protective goggles, the four in attendance were forced to avert their faces lest they risk blindness. They could feel the vast energies released by the forge as it worked to imbue the construct with life. Of the four, only Karnil knew that the true process by which life was granted to constructs remained a mystery. Oh, the Fabricators Guild pretended it understood, that House Cannith were the masters of the creation forges, but in reality the ultimate nature of how an inanimate being made of stone, metal, and wood became a living, sentient being was as much a mystery to them as to anyone else. Thus Karnil watched through eyes squeezed almost shut as the blazing light of life itself poured into the cavern, his heart filled with both awe and terror at the fearsome energies unleashed.
Then like a storm whose peak fury had passed, the light began to dim. A few moments more, and it had diminished to the point where the four could once more look upon the psi-forge. The crystalline structure continued to pulse with soft light, and the air was filled with the acrid smell of released energy, like after a lightning strike. More, each of the observers experienced a nauseating sensation of vertigo, though only Turi wasn't bothered by it. The dizziness was a result of energies that had rippled through the localized psi-scape as the forge discharged its power, affecting the mental equilibrium of the observers in the process. Turi was unconcerned; he knew the effect would soon pass.
The four waited, their gazes locked on the construct lying motionless upon the crystalline table inside the forge's main chamber. Several moments passed, during which the forge ceased to glow, and the vertiginous sensation in the observers subsided, but still the construct did not move. Karnil ground his teeth together in frustration. After all this time-all the careful preparation, all the exacting work-they couldn't have failed! He started forward, intending to enter the chamber and check on the construct himself, when the creature's left hand twitched.
Karnil froze, a hesitant smile on his lips. Had he imagined it or-There! The hand moved again!
Slowly, awkwardly, the construct sat up. It looked at the four observers, tiny pinpoints of light, of life, flickering deep within its eyes.
"We've done it!" Banain shouted. "It's alive!"
But before the others could echo the telekineticist's feeling of triumph, the crystals embedded in the psi-forged's body began to glow with multicolored light. The four observers screamed in a single voice, shrieking at the top of their lungs. Even after their bodies collapsed lifeless to the cavern floor, their minds continued screaming, only now the sound emerged from the throat of the newborn creature that stumbled forth from the crystalline forge.
Though it took every ounce of will and every iota of knowledge he possessed, Galharath managed to separate his awareness from the psi-forged's mind. Before the creature could pull him in again, he reached up to one of his braids and removed a small green crystal. He flicked it at the psi-forged, and as the shard flew, Galharath took hold of it in a telekinetic grip and drove it straight into the psi-forged's forehead. The creature's anguished bellow came out of its mouth in a blend of five different voices, then the crystals affixed to its body stopped glowing and the psi-forged froze, motionless as a statue. The shard that Galharath had struck the creature with, however, continued to glow a soft but steady green.
A wave of weakness washed over the kalashtar, and he collapsed to his knees, lungs heaving, heart pounding, body slick with sweat. He'd survived but it had been a near thing… too near.
"Have you neutralized it?" Cathmore's tone was casual, as if he were asking Galharath what time it was.
The master assassin didn't offer to help Galharath up, and the psionic artificer struggled to his feet on his own.
"For now. The shard I used enabled me to redirect the creature's higher brain functions inward." He wiped sweat from his forehead with a trembling hand. "Eventually he'll be able to free himself. How long it'll take, I can't say. Not long. He's extremely powerful."
Cathmore stepped up to the motionless psi-forged, displaying no fear of the creature whatsoever, but then Galharath knew the man didn't experience fear, thanks to the dark spirit that shared his body. "I assume this construct was produced by the psi-forge."
Galharath nodded. "The first and only one. The facility's original builders succeeded in creating a psi-forged, but they failed to take one thing into account: an organic psionicist is born as an infant, with parents to shepherd its mental development. They place psychic safeguards and blocks within the infant's mind to help protect the child-and those around it-as it grows and learns to master its abilities. The psi-forged was born fully developed in terms of power, but it was as an infant in terms of control. Its psychic abilities manifested wildly in the first few moments of its life, slaying its makers, or rather, their bodies. Their minds, their souls, if you will, were absorbed by the creature and still dwell within it to this day." Galharath stared at the motionless psi-forged. "What you see before you is five separate beings trapped within a single form."
It would have been six if Galharath hadn't managed to resist the psi-forged's power. As it was, the creature had nearly claimed his mind as well.
Cathmore looked into the psi-forged's eyes. The sockets were dark now and would remain so until Galharath freed the construct from the psychic trap that ensnared it.
"Fascinating," the old man said in a voice barely above a whisper. "In a sense, this is a child, isn't it?" He smiled. "How appropriate. I've always been good with the young ones." He turned to Galharath. "Did you learn anything else about our new friend?"
"A few things. He calls himself Solus. When representatives of House Cannith came to investigate why they'd ceased to receive communications from this facility, Solus hid, cloaking himself from their perceptions, just as he did with us. They found the bodies of the others, decided the project was a failure, and closed down the facility. They departed, unaware of Solus's existence. Solus has remained within Mount Luster ever since, rarely venturing outside. I'm not certain, but I got the sense that he's been trying to learn how to control his abilities so that he won't endanger anyone else. He has obtained a modicum of mastery over the years, but he still has quite a way to go."
Cathmore reached out and placed an arthritic claw on Galharath's shoulder. The assassin's touch was cold as ice. "Excellent, Galharath. Well done." The old man turned to regard Solus once more. "Remember what I told you about Fate? It appears that Fate has granted us an opportunity to learn more about psi-forged before we begin producing our own. There is much we can learn from our new friend. Much indeed."
If he doesn't destroy us first, Galharath thought.
CHAPTER TEN
Rocking, swaying… wood creaking, wind howling, cold seeping into his bones, slowly turning them to ice. A ship-they were on a ship.
Diran struggled to open his eyes, but whatever drug the Coldhearts had used upon him and Ghaji was strong, and its hold was not easily broken. He fought to escape the black numbness that held him in its grip, but like a drowning man on the verge of going down for the third and final time, he was too weak. Despite his efforts he felt himself sink back down into nothingness.