Rosemary swallowed hard. So many thoughts crowded her mind at once. Where to begin? Images came—the cave where she and Jake had found Zamara, her betrayal of the archaeologist, his horror at having been used to turn a madman loose on his friends, the stories of Temlaa and Vetraas and Khas and Adun, the Sundrop— oh, God, the Sundrop—the whirling radiant darkness—what anoxymoron that was—that was Ulrezaj, the sudden and unexpected pain in her chest when Jake said he was dying, the living carpet of zerg that just came on and on and on, Ethan's betrayal and resurrection as a tool of this Kerrigan who—
She opened her mouth to speak, to try to begin the linear, calm telling of the tale, when Selendis touched her mind: "Well done, Rosemary."
Well done? She hadn't even started—
"Thoughts are richer and swifter than words. And your thoughts are vibrant," Selendis replied. "You were more eloquent than I—or many others—expected."
"Well, I guess that's good," Rosemary replied.
Artanis leaned forward a little, his bright eyes on Rosemary. "A preserver is precious to us," he said. "All of us. Even the dark templar can appreciate the knowledge she houses. We are a people still reeling from what transpired four years past. A preserver in our midst now could only be a boon."
"Wait—don't you have preservers here?" Rosemary blurted.
"They were ever rare," said Urun. Rosemary turned to look at the martial leader of the Auriga. "When the zerg overran our world, much was lost. Millions of protoss died. Doubtless, among them were preservers. Some may have been killed when the Conclave was destroyed. Others are likely scattered. Do you think that every protoss in the universe is gathered here on Shakuras now, Rosemary Dahl?"
She realized she had been thinking precisely that. "So you don't know where the other preservers are?"
Artanis shook his head sadly. "Always, there was at least one with the Conclave. To have one by my side now would be invaluable."
"Zamara died fleeing Ulrezaj's assassins," Rosemary said heatedly. "That her essence is even around at all is sheer good luck and entirely due to Jake. She said she was one of the last. What if Ulrezaj got to all the others?"
She paused, and looked around the vast chamber.
"Good God, people— What if she's the last one!"
CHAPTER 14
THE HORROR THAT RIPPLED THROUGH THE crowd was most satisfactory to Rosemary. Maybe at last she'd gotten their attention.
"Do not grow insolent, human," Selendis warned.
"Listen," Rosemary said, forging forward, "I know you all don't want zerg here, or Ulrezaj, or anyone else who might cause harm to the protoss. I fought the zerg myself. I know what they are. I saw what they did to your world. But you have to find Zamara. She knows too much that can help you right now for you not to. And—I would ask you—to help Jake. It's because of him that Zamara's survived this long. He's earned your help."
Some of them were leaning toward her side, though for their own reasons. Urun—he was burning to take the fight to Aiur, just as Rosemary knew Selendis was. Artanis struck her as someone who could appreciate the power of ancient knowledge, as well as such an important link with the past. Too, he had met this Jim Raynor, and she sensed from him a liking toward her people. Tabrenus seemed almost disinterested; he represented a group of artisans and craftsmen, not politicians. Zekrath of the Shelak was utterly inscrutable to her, and there was something about the Ara and their leader that chilled her on some level she couldn't quite articulate.
As for Mohandar, he was as unreadable as Zekrath. She didn't expect aid from that quarter—it had been made clear to her that dark templar couldn't have preservers, because they chose to separate themselves from the Khala. Likely as not, this guy might even be against them as a symbol of the "bad old Aiur" they sought to disconnect themselves from. And yet he was eyeing her steadily. She faced forward to Artanis, trying not to feel her skin crawl under that unblinking gaze.
"Vartanil," Artanis said, "Your thoughts are welcome here. You stand by this human, and support her request to seek Zamara and the being who houses her. Speak now of this.. .and of the nightmare that is our old enemy Ulrezaj."
Both Vartanil and Rosemary started at that. "Whoa, wait a minute.. .you all already know about Ulrezaj?" yelped Rosemary.
"We do indeed," Artanis answered, his thoughts grimmer than any she had yet sensed from him. "Shortly after we scoured the zerg from Shakuras, we encountered him for the first time. He was not nearly as strong then. From what you have told us, he now has the unheard-of power of seven dark templar assassins."
"So Zamara told us," Vartanil replied.
"He attempted to attack Shakuras by positioning an orbital space station that emitted powerful energy waves. They disrupted our communication and drained Shakuras's energy shields. Zeratul, a friend to the Aiur protoss and the one who offered us sanctuary on Shakuras, tried to convince Ulrezaj that old hatreds were best laid aside. But by then, Ulrezaj had already merged with three other protoss and had become the most powerful dark archon the dark templar had ever known."
Rosemary snorted. "Four...you guys had it easy."
"So it seems," Artanis acknowledged. "And that is grievous knowledge. Unfortunately, at the end, he eluded us. And now we know where he has been hiding, and at least some of what he has been doing."
Rosemary became aware that her mouth was hanging open and closed it with a snap.
"This monster...our Benefactor," Vartanil said, his heart sick. "Attacking his own people, in a time of war... how could we have been so misled?"
"Do not berate yourself one moment longer," said Artanis kindly. "Ulrezaj was clever and strong enough to escape us when he was but four dark templar. That he was clever enough to create the Sundrop and dupe those who remained on Aiur when he had the brilliance and power of seven beings in him, is no surprise. Once the zerg overran our beloved Aiur, we again permitted dark archons to be created. They are devastating weapons, certainly. Their wildness and uncontrollability was the price paid for the damage they caused our foes. But ordinary dark archons do not exist for long. They do not become what this Ulrezaj has. To learn that he has grown yet more powerful is horrifying—what dark knowledge has he obtained, and from whence, that he is able to continue and not be ripped apart by the very power that made him?"
Rosemary couldn't help it; she turned to look at Mohandar, and as she did so, she knew others were as well. The ancient being who represented the dark templar in this assembly seemed completely unruffled by the scrutiny. There was still fear of the dark templar, the shadow hunters, old and stubborn, lurking in the back of many minds here.
Artanis shook his head. "No, Vartanil. Be at peace. All that truly matters is that once you understood what he was, you had the strength of will to forsake him."
Vartanil nodded slowly. "Rosemary was the first of anyone to break free of the Sundrop. She has proven herself to me, and Jacob Ramsey should be remembered in protoss history as one of the greatest allies we have ever had."
Rosemary's eyes widened a little at that.
Artanis's indecision was palpable. On the one hand, a preserver was a rare treasure. On the other hand, in the end she was one person, and her fate was tangled up with the dreadfully dangerous dark archon. Going after her could cost innocent protoss lives. Was it worth it?