Yvka laughed and snuggled against his back. "At least it's cozy."
"That's the only good thing about it," Ghaji grumbled.
They traveled in a group of four stone-steppers. Diran and Asenka rode the lead bird, then came Hinto and Solus, then Tresslar who rode alone, and Ghaji and Yvka brought up the rear on their mount. All of them were dressed warmly against the cold night air-all save Solus, of course. Warforged needed no protection against temperature extremes. The stone-steppers' saddles were designed to carry two riders per bird, and the stone-steppers were both large enough and strong enough to carry a pair of riders with ease. Ghaji would've preferred to ride in a group formation rather than single file for better security, but Asenka had said that the birds wouldn't travel any other way. As the kidney-jarring journey wore on, Ghaji had to admit that single file worked best while navigating the uneven, craggy ground and squeezing through narrow mountain passes.
"I hope Solus knows where he's going," Ghaji said. "I'm not convinced Tresslar put the pieces of the warforged's head back together in the right order."
"Solus has done well enough so far," Yvka said.
The warforged had been calling out directions to Diran ever since they'd left Perhata, and though the construct occasionally seemed unsure which way to go, most of the time he spoke with confidence.
"Do you really think Solus can track the kalashtar's 'psychic trail,' whatever that means?"
"I'm no expert," Yvka said, "but I've seen psionic crystals before, and Solus is covered with them. They alone make him a very valuable piece of property." As if realizing she'd misspoken, the elf woman hurried to add, "I mean the crystals themselves are worth quite a bit. There would be no purpose to building a warforged with such crystals if he couldn't use them."
"I suppose," Ghaji said, "but possessing a tool is not the same as being skilled in its use."
Yvka didn't reply, and Ghaji didn't know if that meant she agreed or disagreed with him or simply didn't have anything to add. They continued to ride in silence, and Ghaji found himself remembering a conversation he and Diran had had while the Sea Scorpions' groom was getting the stone-steppers saddled.
"Do you trust this warforged?" Ghaji had asked. "He did almost kill you."
"Yes," Diran replied. "Solus managed to fight off the kalashtar's control and restrain himself. He showed mercy."
"Maybe, but what if Cathmore planned for Solus to fail? Maybe the old bastard knew Solus wouldn't kill you, and he only intended for the attack to lure you into coming after him." Ghaji thought of his encounter with Chagai, and how the orc mercenary had avoided engaging him in fight to the finish. "Lure the two of us. We could be riding into a trap."
Diran smiled. "What else is new?"
The seven companions rode on, the only sounds the scrabbling of clawed avian feet on rock, the creaking of leather saddles, and the strangely soothing trill the giant birds made as they traveled.
The stone-steppers' group song, along with the heat given off by their mount's feathered body, had almost lulled Ghaji to sleep when Solus called out, "There!"
Ghaji's eyes flew open, and he looked to see the psi-forged pointing toward a small mountain that rose like a black shadow against the night sky.
Asenka called out a command in a language Ghaji didn't recognize, and the stone-stepper she and Diran rode came to a halt. Though she gave no other command, the rest of the birds also stopped.
"It's called Mount Luster," Solus said, his normally emotionless voice tinged with excitement. "That's where I was created, and that's where we shall find Cathmore and the others." The psi-forged paused, and when he spoke again, his tone was almost apologetic. "At least… I think so."
Diran looked to the others. "Well? Do we give it a try?"
"Let's go," Ghaji said. "The sooner we get there, the sooner I can get off this damned bony-backed chicken."
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Galharath stood within the mouth of the psi-forge, his back to the table where Solus had been born, his hands grasping a pair of crystalline rings that hung in the air over his head. To the uninitiated, it would've appeared as if the kalashtar was simply holding the rings, but in truth they were bound to the invisible psionic energies surging through the forge, and if Galharath let go of them, the rings would continue to hold their position, as if held aloft by magic, but the power the rings allowed Galharath to tap into was far greater than any mere thaumaturgy; it was the full, unfettered strength of his own mind, made all the stronger by its connection to the psi-forge. The forge was powered by vast geothermal energies surging beneath Mount Luster, and now Galharath could draw upon that power too.
The sensations were beyond anything the kalashtar had ever experienced before. He felt intimately connected to all of creation while at the same time feeling as if he didn't exist. He knew pleasure beyond conception along with agony so intense there were no words for it. He was All, he was Nothing, he was Everything.
This must be what it feels like to be a god, he thought.
With the merest fraction of his awareness, he detected the presence of living beings approaching Mount Luster. The aura of one of these beings far outshone the others, like a blazing bonfire burning in the blackest of nights, and Galharath knew it was Solus.
"They're here," the kalashtar said, his voice a dreamy singsong, as if he were halfway between sleep and wakefulness.
Cathmore stood outside the psi-forge's entrance, Chagai at his side. The old man rubbed his claw hands together with undisguised glee upon hearing Galharath's news.
"Excellent! Is everything in readiness?"
Galharath was barely aware at first of the old man's question.
Cathmore repeated Galharath's name more sharply, and the psionic artificer reluctantly allowed himself to recall the old man's existence.
"The psi-forge has been fully reconfigured into its defense mode. The inner walls of the facility have been shielded so that the psionic energies cannot be detected from outside. Solus will not be able to warn the others until it's too late. You may take up your positions now. I'll do the rest."
Chagai growled. "Who are you to be giving us orders, kalashtar?"
Galharath turned to look at Chagai. Through the orc's eyes, Galharath could see that his own eyes blazed with white light. He was pleased to see that the effect was quite intimidating.
Chagai stomped off to the corner of the chamber that had been assigned to him. Cathmore, however, lingered a moment.
"Be wary, Galharath," the elderly assassin said. "For most of my life, I have shared my body with my dark spirit. I know how difficult it can be to keep from becoming subsumed by power and losing one's individual identity. Make certain that it is you who controls the forge's energy, not the other way around."
With that, the old man hobbled off in the opposite direction from Chagai. Normally, Galharath would've been irritated by Cathmore's suggestion that he wasn't strong or skilled enough to maintain contol of the psi-forge, but the kalashtar was beyond such petty emotions now. Such things were a limitation of the flesh, and here, within the forge, he was pure intellect. All there was to do now was to enjoy this blissful state and wait for Diran Bastiaan and his companions to arrive, and once they had been dealt with, perhaps Galharath would take care of Cathmore and Chagai as well.
Galharath smiled, his teeth glowing from the psionic energy that surged like molten liquid through his body.
The power roiling within the psi-forge cast flickering light throughout the cavernous chamber deep within the heart of Mount Luster. Despite the fitful illumination, none of the three present-not Cathmore, Chagai, or even Galharath-noticed a pool of thick shadow against one wall… shadow the light could not touch.