The Testimony of the Reverend Johannon Deverre, Chief Abbot of the Johannonite Monastery
I was deep in contemplation when I heard the most blood-curdling scream one could imagine. I leaped to my feet and dashed out into the corridor of the abbey. All was silent. In the distance, I could hear the reassuring trickle from the courtyard fountain.
And indeed, that was as it should be. The Johannonite monastery was located in one of the most remote areas of Skarsia, in a mountain range of wild, rugged beauty, the sort of place deemed ideal for spiritual introspection from the time of man’s earliest aspirations back on Terra.
My fellow ascetics were either asleep or at orison. All was peaceful in the pilgrim quarters. There was no sign that anyone else had heard the terrifying noise. Well, auditory hallucinations during meditation were not unheard of. Perhaps my own mind was playing tricks on me.
I resumed my asana. Clearly, I needed to go even deeper, to suppress the subconscious psychobabble welling up from my own mind.
Help, whispered a voice.
I looked around my chamber quickly. But no, that voice did not come from outside, but rather within. A message from my soul? Or perhaps I had made contact with the True God, the Archon of the Heart, of which the Living God Ashtara was the son and manifest avatar.
Help us, the voice whispered again. The creatures of light are making us fight the horror of the void.
Indeed. And a holy battle it is. I must gird my soul to become a living laser of righteousness.
No, idiot. The bubbles are invading our minds, making us go into the crazy world to assassinate the marionettes.
Perhaps I have pushed myself too far. Perhaps I am in need of a regimen of antipsychotics.
I’m a telepath, the voice said insistently. We’re being kept prisoners in a remote location of Skarsia. I’m only free because the treeman caught me, and I looked into its disgusting mind.
Wait. This is making a sort of sense. With my subconscious mind suppressed, I’d be more receptive to telepathic phenomena. And true telepaths experience extreme mental disturbance when they come into contact with a Cu’enashti.
Creatures of light – bubbles – SongLuminants?
Do you know where you are? I ask.
Not precisely. Mountains.
Probably in this area. Not surprising, as it’s fairly remote. But how could you be fighting a Cu’enashti from here? They’re all on Dolparessa.
That woman Molly showed us how to use the crystals.
Skarsium crystals?
I jumped out of the thunderbolt position, nearly collapsing because my left foot had fallen asleep.
Where did you get Skarsium crystals?
Idiot. They’re all over the place. The power grid. The defense grid. It’s particularly easy to attack Dolparessa, as all the lines of transmission originate from there.
Ooops.
Who are you trying to attack?
The great void. The…
I can’t hear you.
…monster of many-heads…
It was of no use. My meditative state was shattered by these revelations, and his transmission was blocked out by the clamor of my own thoughts.
I realized that I had better tell someone about this. Protocol dictated that I should inform Archbishop Venesti, but he’s an idiot. I decided to report directly to the Archon.
But when I contacted Eirelantra, I got Ta’al Erich. “Deverre? Where have you been?”
“In mystical retreat, at my monastery. I have urgent news. The power grid has been compromised by a SongLuminant telepathic conspiracy.”
Surprisingly, Erich took the news in stride. “Deverre, do you have the slightest idea what’s going on?”
“That would rather defeat the idea of mystical retreat. I’ve been cut off from the outside world for three weeks now.”
“We’ve been experiencing some…difficulties with the SongLuminants,” he said carefully. “Why don’t you explain?”
I related the contents of my conversation to Ta’al Erich. When I finished, he said, “Deverre, I’m going to reveal a state secret to you, just so that you understand the urgency of the situation. You are to communicate this to no one, do you understand? The Archon has been in a coma for over a week. We believe it to be a telepathic attack, and a number of occurrences in the political sphere have led us to suspect the SongLuminants. I’ll get you up to speed later. For now, it’s essential that we find those telepaths. If we have to tear that mountain range apart stone by stone, we have to find them.”
“The Archon? He called the Archon a monster? The heretic!”
“Telepaths hate the Cu’enashti. That’s just how they are.”
“They should be banned from entering the Domha’vei.”
“After all this, we’re considering it, believe me. The Matriarch has always objected on the grounds that telepaths are made through genetic modification before birth. They can’t help what they are. Personally, I think that frostbeasts can’t help what they are, but I’d rather they were all dead. Fuck the ecologists. The ecosystem of Volparnu is kill or be killed.”
“Frostbeasts are the Archon’s creatures. Telepaths, on the other hand, are the tools of evil.”
“Believe what you want. I don’t care if you start speaking in tongues and want to kiss rattler scorpions. Just find those telepaths.”