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.The remaining Keeper, unfortunately, had then fled Stardeep with the Blade Cerulean in hand, robbing the Keepers of the Cerulean Sign of a potent weapon.She watched as Telarian moved around the darkened vault, slowly refurbishing its furnace, reconditioning its forge, and relighting its magical flame.He spent months studying the masterwork tools.He spent an equal amount of time staring into the carved alcove at the chamber's rear where a crystal vessel was stored.Where the half-soul writhed in anticipation.Until then, Delphe had never considered the fate of Nangulis's soul-residue not used in the creation of Angul—she'd assumed it had simply.dissipated.It had been stored in Stardeep all this time.Waiting, half-alive but alone.Wrathful, but impotent.Until Telarian found the armory.How had her fellow Keeper even known where to look? His divinatory talent, most likely—a talent, she now hypothesized, that perhaps left him too open to manipulation.She watched Telarian decant the inky, deceitful spirit into a cast of molten steel.She asked Cynosure to compress time.Days of Telarian's activity flew by in moments.Finally, she saw the diviner grasp the hilt and hold the darkling blade high.But who grasped whom? When his naked hands touched the blade, Telarian's features seemed to warp and flow, becoming an iron mask calculating the ruin of all fleshy things, all emotion, and all light.Telarian announced in a voice shorn of empathy, "Your name.is Nis.""Stop!" Delphe yelled.The mirrors went dark.Her hands trembled.She had wondered where the diviner acquired his new blade.When she'd asked, he had shrugged, as if it were unimportant, a mere affectation.Now she wished she didn't know the truth."Delphe, he used that blade to strike down Brathtar," volunteered Cynosure."Strike down?""Knight Commander Brathtar is dead, slain by Telarian with the blade Nis.His body lies in a refuse pit of the underdungeon, along with those of the Knights who witnessed his death.""The Sign preserve us," she breathed."He has betrayed us.Betrayed Stardeep.betrayed me!"She nearly shrieked the last as a sudden blaze of anger briefly scorched mounting fear and dread.Her mouth was dry and a haze seemed to hang in the air.She wiped at her eyes.All the years they had worked together, shoulder to shoulder, seeing to Stardeep's needs, keeping safe their promise to the future—how many of those years had she blithely, unknowingly lived Telarian's lie?The images showed a man seemingly in the grip of some sort of possession.But even that couldn't be true.During her recent conversation with Telarian, his wit, reason, and personality were undeniably that of the man she'd always known.No alien entity spoke through Telarian's shape.No, the man was responsible for his own actions.Damn him.How had he been corrupted?"Where is Telarian now?" she demanded, her voice rough."I have been querying all nodes, but I cannot locate him.""He's left Stardeep?""Possibly," replied the idol."Though I note all my perception pools in the Knights' barracks are blacked out.He could be there."Delphe stood, her face flushed with sudden decision."We must confront him—neutralize him.By his own deeds he has shown himself to be Stardeep's enemy.Who knows what he'll do next, or what damage he's already done? At least now we know why the Traitor has been so active.Cynosure, activate a defender statue near the Knights' barracks, and transfer me there.""I've already activated five," Cynosure said."But Delphe, you are exhausted.I have tracked your activities, and I know how little rest you've taken.Do you think it wise to confront Nis's wielder now?"Delphe swept her hand in a dismissive gesture."We have to catch him before he suspects we know of his betrayal.If we wait, we may miss our best chance to move against him.""Very well, Delphe," said Cynosure as the world blinked.She then stood in the wide, high Parade Hall outside the Knights' barracks, where the Empyrean Legion often drilled and perfected its techniques.The many doors of the stables fronted the Parade Hall to the west, and to the south a high archway opened onto the main corridors of the Outer Bastion.To the east was another high archway, opening onto a steep, little-used ramp that led to Stardeep's underdungeon.Flickering magical flames cast warm light down from the ceiling-mounted braziers, striking glints and gleams off the five humanoid constructs that shared the otherwise empty chamber.Each had thick metal plates bolted over a stone-sculpted body, reinforcing the granite strength with the protection only a magical forge could offer.Eight or nine feet tall, each defender's hands were curled into stone-and-iron fists as large as Delphe's entire body.Empowered soulsword or not, Telarian was about to meet the justice his perfidy had earned."Still no contact from within," uttered the lead construct.Cynosure equally inhabited all five mobile idols, while at the same time inhabiting all the rest of Stardeep.His power was vast
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