Darkvision - Bruce R. Cordell [40]
"No, nothing that extreme," said Sevaera. "I mean, I'm stronger, and a hair faster, but…"
Warian's aunt paused as if a new thought intruded. In a more excited tone of voice, she asked, "Faster, too? Come, tell me more, Nephew!"
Warian cocked his head. She never used to call him "nephew." She didn't like the implication of age in that familial term.
"That's all there is to tell. I was faster and stronger."
"Any side effects?"
Warian shrugged.
"Well, well, well," muttered Xaemar. "Can it be your prototype arm has discovered something of the elan that resonates in our own plangent suite of prostheses? Shaddon said that…"
Again, the pause. The hairs on Warian's nape prickled when he realized everyone in the room paused as if to ponder the same thing-everyone but him and Zel. He shot Zel a puzzled look. Uncle Zeltaebar looked a little worried.
Breaking out of his thoughts, Xaemar continued speaking as if there had been no pause. "All experimental crystal implants were to be destroyed and replaced with crystal from the newest veins, as Shaddon instructed. He said crystal mined from the older veins was compromised and prone to malfunction. It could be your arm is teetering on the edge of complete malfunction."
Xaemar delivered this dismal news in a manner that seemed… greedy. In fact, everyone but Zel looked at him with a simultaneous gleam of hunger suddenly illuminating their features.
Warian shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "So you think the arm is simply giving out, and it's-what? Sputtering on the last dregs of its magical charge?"
"It could be, could be," purred Xaemar, in a very un-Xaemarlike fashion. "There's only one thing to do- you'll have to let your Grandfather Shaddon take a look. It simply wouldn't do for a Datharathi to lose the use of his prosthesis, even if that Datharathi had fled from his responsibility to the family. It would reflect poorly on the plangent enterprise."
Warian sighed. "Plus, I'd sure hate to lose the use of my arm."
"Be that as it may, I'm sure Shaddon would love to examine his original crystal prosthesis after all this time. I have no doubt about it."
"Makes sense. I'd like to see my famous grandfather again," said Warian. If anyone could diagnose the strange new abilities of his artificial limb, it was Shaddon, the man who'd attached it. "Where is he?"
Aunt Sevaera broke in. "Oh, he's out at the site. Right in the middle of some delicate work just now, and he can't even make time for our family meetings. You'll have to travel to the site to see him directly."
"Oh, come on!" protested Warian. He hated "the site"- the peculiar mine where one of the family's many mining tunnels had opened into a bizarre region, the region where Datharathi crystal was mined. Now that he was back in Vaelan, he didn't relish the idea of leaving so soon.
Especially with his sister missing. The more he thought about it, the more concerned he became for Eined's welfare. She was a tough one, certainly, and could probably handle a lot more than Warian himself. Still…
"Come, come, don't be like that," said Xaemar. As he spoke, a discomforting tic caused his left eye to flutter spastically.
Warian had never seen Xaemar suffer from such a thing. Warian pretended not to notice-was it a sign of age, or a side effect of the plangent procedure?
Xaemar continued. "Your Grandfather Shaddon isn't far from Vaelan. You can take a sky skiff. It'll be a trip of no time at all."
"All right. Maybe in a few days, after I've had time to see what I've missed in Vaelan in the last five years. And I want to help locate Eined!"
His family stared at him, quiet and considering. Then Aunt Sevaera said, "If you want our help on this, Nephew, you'll abide by the schedules we set."
Warian frowned, then asked, purely for informational purposes, "When's the next skyship leaving?"
"Tonight!" Xaemar rubbed his hands together. Disquietingly, so did Sevaera, Barden, and Corlaen. What the…?
"However, before we make preparations for Warian's