“That's all?”
“So I'm led to believe.”
“But you don't know for certain?”
“I am not Harshini, Divine One. I do not have access to the power that you control.”
Control might be a bit optimistic, R'shiel thought irreverently, although she did not voice her uncertainty. It was better that the High Arrion thought her omnipotent. She stepped closer to the Stone.
“The staffs that Xaphista's priests use. They have crystals in them too. Are they like the Seeing Stones?”
Kalan looked thoughtful. “I don't really know. The Overlord uses them to link with the priests, so I suppose they work on the same principle. I've never seen one up close.” She smiled faintly. “As you can imagine, there is little communication between the Collective and the Overlord's minions.”
“The shaft is black,” R'shiel told her, her voice hardening in remembrance, “and made of metal. The head of the staff is gold, shaped like a five-pointed star, intersected by a lightning bolt crafted of silver. Each point of the star is set with crystal and in the centre of the star, is a larger gem of the same stone.”
“You speak as if you've seen one.”
“I've had the dubious pleasure of being on the receiving end,” she explained.
“That raises some interesting possibilities,” Kalan said thoughtfully.
“What do you mean?”
“I wonder if the crystals you describe are pieces of the missing Stones? I don't know how they could be, but it's possible, I suppose.”
“If they are, could I use them too?”
The High Arrion shrugged, but she did not dismiss the idea out of hand. “For what?”
“I don't know, exactly. I'm just curious, I guess.”
“Even if the crystals really are pieces of Seeing Stone, you couldn't really do anything with a staff unless you could get past the pain.”
“Yes, well that does present something of a problem,” she agreed, pushing away the painful memory of Xaphista and the pain his staff could inflict. She had beaten the collar though, and that had been worse than the staff. Perhaps, if she had to, she could do it again. But not easily; and certainly not by choice.
“I suppose you could get around having to touch the staff itself by using another Seeing Stone,” Kalan added thoughtfully.
“Why another Seeing Stone?”
“The Seeing Stones are channels, Divine One. They focus the power of the gods and allow it to be used in a specific manner. The size of the Stone determines its power. Legend has it that the Stone at the Citadel was three times the size of this one.”
“So, what are you saying? That even if the staffs contain pieces of Seeing Stone, they're too small to do anything with?”
“I'm saying they couldn't be used like this one. You couldn't use them to talk to the priests. They would convey nothing more than... I don't know, really... emotions, maybe... vague impressions, at best. And that's assuming you can access a Stone capable of communicating with the chips of crystal in the staffs.”
“What about this Seeing Stone? Or the one at Sanctuary?”
She shook her head. “The Stone in here is only good for contacting Sanctuary - the Harshini made sure of that before they withdrew, and you can't use the Stone in Sanctuary, because for something requiring that much power, Korandellan would have to bring Sanctuary back into real time. If they are chips from the missing Stones then the Stone that controls those jewels is probably the one on Slarn.”
R'shiel frowned. “I'm not sure I want to risk Malik's Curse just to satisfy my curiosity.” She'd seen a man with the wasting disease once, on his way from the Citadel to the colony on Slarn. It still gave her nightmares.
“The disease would be the least of your problems,” Kalan pointed out. “Just getting there would be trouble enough. You couldn't use the demons. The priests would sense you coming from the other side of the Fardohnyan Gulf.”
“Pity the Seeing Stone at the Citadel is lost,” she sighed, glancing at the lump of crystal behind her. “Do you think the Sisterhood destroyed it?”
“No human possesses the power to destroy a Seeing Stone, Divine One. It's missing, certainly, but I doubt it was destroyed.”
“Then it might be still in the Citadel? Hidden somewhere?”
The High Arrion did not seem to share her optimism. “I suppose, although where you would hide something as large as a Seeing Stone is beyond me.”
“I wonder if there are any records in the Citadel's library? The Founding Sisters documented everything. There are even reports on the number of sacks of grain they confiscated when they took over the Citadel.”
“It's worth a try, I suppose, and if it is still there, it would be a lot safer than trying to get near the one on Slarn. But the Citadel is under Karien control. How are you going to get inside? And, more importantly, what does it have to do with your quest to destroy Xaphista? Do you have the time to waste answering questions that have no relevance to the task at hand?”
“I suppose not.” She glanced up at the Stone again with a sigh. For a moment, it had seemed like such a good idea, too.
R'shiel had the librarians scouring the archives of the Collective looking for something, anything, to help her cause, but so far they had come up with nothing. Dikorian, the Collective's Chief Librarian, was not hopeful either. He knew his archives like he knew his own reflection and had never heard of anything in them that gave even a hint about how to destroy a god. Maybe, with a bit more time... she shook her head impatiently, reminding herself of why she had come here this evening. Time was something she didn't have to waste at the moment. “Right now I have to help Glenaranan and his friends. Will you see that I am not disturbed?”
Kalan nodded. “Of course.”
The High Arrion stepped down from the altar and began the long walk through the temple across the gorgeously mosaic-tiled floor. Every building R'shiel had entered in Greenharbour had floors like it, their intricate geometrical patterns sometimes so complex they made her dizzy.
She waited until Kalan was lost in the shadows before turning back to the Stone. Pushing away stray thoughts of Seeing Stones and chips of crystal, R'shiel swallowed a lump of apprehension and reached out, placing her palms upon it, then opened herself to the power. She felt her eyes darken, felt the familiar, intoxicatingly sweet energy surge through every cell in her body, and then thought of Korandellan.
Demon child.
R'shiel jumped in fright. It seemed hours since she had laid her hands on the Stone. The power filled her and she opened her eyes, which now burned black. Korandellan's image appeared in the crystal against a milky backdrop. He looked haggard.
“Korandellan!”
You should not sound so surprised, demon child. You are the one who called for me.
“I... I know... I just wasn't sure if it would work.”
You should not doubt yourself, R'shiel. You are capable of so much more than you realise.
“I'm glad you think so.”
The King smiled indulgently. How can I help you, child?
“Glenanaran, Farandelan and Joranara are unconscious. The Collective was attacked and they built a dome of light to protect it. They collapsed just before I got here and we can't wake them. They don't seem injured at all - they just won't wake up.”
His face clouded with concern. It was unwise of them to draw on so much power. The gods always exact a price for such excess.