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“Did you not say that Aaren d’Cannith despised what the house was doing with his creations?”

“Yes … yes, I did,” Lei said, “but Aaren hated the idea of war. I can’t imagine him building the army we saw at the ridge. Besides, he was excoriated.”

“So were you … and your parents.”

Lei’s eyes grew wide. “You’re right. My parents. I never understood why Merrix would move against them, but what does Merrix know about them? Do you think … do you think they might still be alive?”

“I do not know, Lei. All I know is that Harmattan was doing the bidding of another. Perhaps if we follow his path, we can learn the identity of this hidden master.”

Lei nodded, and she crossed the clearing and retrieved her staff. “What do we know about Harmattan’s plans?”

“He was searching for this.” Pierce produced the silver sphere, and it glittered in the sunlight. “He called it a prisoner. He said it would ‘unlock the gates of Karul’tash.’”

“Karul’tash?” Lei frowned. “Karul’tash. The Monolith of Karul’tash. That’s where we were going. That’s where Lakashtai said we could find what we needed to help Daine.”

“Then if we only had Daine, I would call this a sign of destiny.”

“Let me see that,” Lei said. “It seems familiar, but I just can’t place it. A sphere … Xen’drik …” She took the orb from Pierce’s hands and almost dropped it in surprise.

It recognized her.

The instant she touched the orb, she felt a wave of thought pass over her—a sense of identity, almost like looking at a human face. It was distant, faint, but she knew that there was a consciousness within the sphere … and that it was aware of her. The sense of recognition was not strong. It wasn’t the feeling she’d get from seeing a friend, but rather one of seeing a man in a familiar uniform, of knowing that’s a member of the Sharn Watch.

“Hello?” she said cautiously.

“Greetings?” Pierce replied.

Lei shook her head and pointed at the orb. “I was … did you feel anything when you were holding it?”

Pierce shook his head.

Lei turned her attention back to the orb. She could sense that it was aware of her, but there was something … in the way. It was like looking at a lantern covered by a blanket. Reaching into her backpack, she produced a pearl; she’d found these stones to be an effective focus for divinatory energies. Touching the pearl to the silver sphere, she reached out with her mind, studying the orb.

It was beautiful.

Seen through the lens of magic, it was an intricate web of golden threads, burning with pulses of light. “It’s an … information matrix,” she said, wonderingly. “I think it’s alive—not quite alive as you, but self-aware. Conscious. Just imagine—this must have seen the civilization of the giants!”

“How can we communicate with it?” Pierce said.

“That’s the strangest part. I think … it looks like it’s designed to interface with a warforged, to attach to your essence node, but it must be tens of thousands of years old.”

“So it seems that Cannith didn’t create the warforged after all.”

“I’m not sure I’d go that far,” Lei said. “It may be that Cannith explorers adapted a few design elements from Xen’drik golems, and the essence node was one of them.”

“There is only one way to be certain. Attach it to me.”

“We have no idea what it might do to you!”

“Harmattan said it was the key.”

“He also said it was a prisoner!” Lei exclaimed. “It could be a demon, a monster—who knows what?”

“Study it further. Do you think there’s a danger of it seizing control of my body?”

Lei closed her eyes, reaching out through the pearl. “I … I don’t think so, but it’s difficult to say. The design is like nothing I’ve seen before.”

“Attach it to me. If it can lead us to this Karul’tash, perhaps we can find Daine and the others. Lakashtai said nothing about a key, so she may not know it is necessary. It could be our only chance to find them.”

Lei grimaced, but eventually nodded. She examined his torso, and Pierce released the metal disk he had attached earlier.

“What’s