"Can he write?" Tapel asked.
Amelia sighed. "I've tried, but his fingers shake too much. He can grip my hand, but he can't hold the chalk."
The Alturan's face contorted as he tried to speak. Amelia made soothing motions, but he kept trying, his forehead creasing into lines and the breath popping from his mouth in little gasps.
"You can do it," Tapel said. "I know you can!"
"Shhh, Tapel," Amelia said. "Leave the poor man be."
"Your name, what's your name?" Tapel went over and knelt beside the bed, his ear close to the Alturan's lips.
"Tapel, stop it!"
"He's speaking!"
"He can't speak!"
Tapel moved his head closer to the Alturan's mouth.
"Rogan," the Alturan whispered. "My… name… is Rogan." He gulped and spoke again. "Rogan… Jarvish."
Tapel looked at his mother, and wondered if she knew who Rogan Jarvish was.
3
PRIMATE Melovar Aspen's home was in ruins. While far from his homeland, fighting those who would do anything to prevent peace, his home had been attacked in a cowardly, cruel manner.
His mouth set in a thin line, the Primate kept his face impassive as Moragon made the report. He hardly needed his second-in-command to summarise what had been lost, he could see for himself, but he let the man continue; somehow reducing the damage to words had a soothing effect, implying there was something he could do about it.
"You saw the blast area at the foot of the mountain," Moragon said in his deep voice. "That was the largest of the explosions, where he destroyed the refinery."
They were walking through the corridors inside Stonewater. Primate Melovar looked at Moragon to gauge his reaction; did this attack affect the melding as much as it did himself? No, Moragon was a Tingaran; he wouldn't feel the same violation that the Primate himself felt.
Moragon betrayed no emotion. Tall and commanding, the man who had once been the Emperor's executioner had proven himself to be a capable leader, but more importantly, he shared the Primate's vision of a world united under a single rule.
After the death of the Emperor, Primate Melovar Aspen had made Moragon the High Lord of Raj Tingara, and by agreement, in the event of his death, Moragon would lead the army that carried the banner of the black sun, and the unified nation the fragmented Tingaran Empire would become. Moragon's avengers and legionnaires were utterly loyal to him — he was a melding himself, with a right-arm of grafted metal, the first to ever become High Lord of Tingara — and, like the Primate, Moragon had the taint.
Primate Melovar could feel it now, the hunger, never far from his mind. It took less than an hour now before the pain was so great he could stand it no longer. At the end of this tour he would give himself surcease — a sip of black elixir from a golden goblet — but for now, the pain kept him sharp.
With no more essence to come out of Stonewater, the Primate knew he would soon run out of the elixir. For the first time, he felt a sensation he hadn't felt at any of the battles: not at Ralanast, and not even at the Bridge of Sutanesta.
For the first time, the Primate felt fear.
Ahead the stone was blackened and the roof of the cavern had partly caved-in.
"This was the harvesting plant," Moragon said. He pointed to the swathes of dried blood on the floor. "The templars tell me they left these here in case you wished to investigate further, but the bodies have been removed. When the explosion came, it caught a dozen templars."
"And no one caught sight of him?" the Primate asked again.
"He was wearing some kind of cloak, and couldn't be seen. The Alturan bladesingers do this, they call it shadow. But this sounds to me to be a degree of lore beyond even the Alturans."
"Alturans," Primate Melovar spat. "It still may have been them."
"Do you wish to see the remains of the extraction system?" Moragon asked.
"Is it in the same state as this?"
"Worse. There must have been a series of explosions. Each part of the extraction system detonated with greater force, causing a major cave-in."
"Saryah was here," the Primate said.
"She was," Moragon looked at him, "and I have no doubt they fought. Yet the intruder was the victor."
Melovar Aspen shook his head. "I thought she was unbeatable. Did you know she killed several bladesingers, as well as the Alturan High Enchantress? Not a mark on her."
"What about Templar Zavros? Have you spoken with him?"
"Not yet," the Primate said. "I wanted to see this for myself before hearing his account. Clever as he is, he sometimes misses the bigger picture."
"I'll take you to the extraction system then." Moragon turned when he noticed the Primate had stopped in his tracks. "What is it?"
The Primate put his fingers to his temples. "I will see the extraction system, or what's left of it, later. Take me instead to the Pinnacle."