Lens of the Void by JJ Wolficus (read full novel txt) 📗

but stopped at what he saw. Althai lay

unmoving.

Theromos bowed his head over the still form. "You

have your victory, Commander.

It only cost you one of your crew. I wil need a new

student."

The bridge was quiet as the old dark templar strode

from the room.

* * *

Although there was no answer at Theromos's door,

Feranon entered his cabin

anyway. The space was empty of furniture.

Theromos sat in the middle of the room in a

meditative posture, his back to the commander. One

wal of Theromos's quarters looked

out at the prismatic core, the heart of the void ray.

The bright flow of energies drew

patterns across every surface of the small

stateroom. There was a stillness here that

reminded Feranon of a xel'naga temple he had once

visited. This cabin carried the same

sense of ancient peace, but in this case, it emanated

from the seated dark templar.

"Althai was brave to take the risk he did to protect our people. His sacrifice wil be

remembered."The serenity ofthe room swallowed

Feranon's words. The silence extended

so long that Feranon thought the old Nerazim

wouldn't answer, but then Theromos's

psionic voice growled forth.

"Sacrifice. Is that what you would call it?"

"Either we destroyed the zerg then or our warriors

would have paid the price later."

"I do not argue against the need to fight the zerg.

But Althai was not ready. I had

trained him only for a couple of weeks, and he had

yet to demonstrate the discipline

required to control the Void energies produced by

this ship."

"Althai thought himself ready. And he was successful long enough for us to be

victorious."

Theromos's grim laughter spread across the room

like gravel. He turned to meet

Feranon's gaze. "Do you allow every eager young

warrior who thinks he is ready to leap 6

into battle against an overwhelming foe? No. I have

been training dark templar far longer

than you have been alive, Commander. Almost as

long as there have been dark templar. If

you push them before they are ready, you end up

with dead students. As we have today. I

should be back on Shakuras, teachingNerazim,

instead of here, helping you kil them. The

only reason I do so is out of respect for the

Hierarchy and its request for my help."

"There are other void rays in the fleet. Other dark templar acting as Void lenses.

They manage. You yourself could fulfil this role for a

ship, but you refuse."

"Yes, there are many experienced dark templar,

although few with the discipline to

manipulate the great forces used by this unhealthy

creation of our scientists. As for my

reasons for refusing to handle the Void energies,

they are my own. I wil teach. It is enough.

Now leave me to my meditations."

Theromos turned away from the commander, once

again assuming a meditative

pose.

Feranon looked at the old Nerazim for a moment

and then walked from the room.

He paused in the doorway.

"Your new student is warping in as we speak. I will have her report to you when she

is settled."

When Theromos didn't respond, Feranonwent on,

his psionic voice quieter.

"Theromos, I am not your enemy, nor was I Althai's. I want only what is best for both our

peoples; I want to help save the protoss race."

Theromos's words barely disturbed the stil ness of

the room."The zerg did not kil

Althai, Commander."

Feranon had no answer to that.

* * *

"The Void is not like the Khala. It does not draw us

together and connect us in a

blanket of warm feelings. The Void certainly does not

offer itself willingly. A dark templar

stalks the Void and, through will and discipline,

forces it to give up its power."Theromos 7

waited, sitting in his restful pose, for his new

student's response. The constantly shifting

glow from the prismatic core painted light and

shadow across the room like a living thing.

Sharas obliged. "I know these words, teacher. They

were a part of our texts when we

first began to learn the ways of the Void."

"It is good to know they still teach the words as I wrote them."The old Nerazim

paused for a moment and then resumed. "You have

passed through the Shadow Walk; else

you would not be here."

Unsure whether this was a question, Sharas merely

nodded.

Theromos continued. "The void ray is one of the first ships designed by the

scientists of Aiur and Shakuras working together. It

gathers the psionic energies of the

Khala, focused through phase crystals, and

combines them with the might of the Void. They

meet in the prismatic core and then are amplified by

the flux field projectors. The energies

arc from the projectors to the main crystal, the

source of the prismatic beam. However,

while our brethren's technologies can align and

contain the Khala's powers, taming the

Void's potency requires a dark templar to focus and

funnel it into a useful form. Without a

disciplined Nerazim mind, the forces generated by

the void raywil become too wild and

cascade beyond control. You must be a lens of the

Void. You will need a greater

understanding of its nature than you have ever had

before, but if you wish to fol ow this

path, I wil lead you."

He paused, judging how wel his student had

grasped this information. "Shal we

start with a demonstration? Show me what you have

learned."

Sharas stood and bowed her head. At first Theromos

saw no change, but then he

noticed the moving shadows in the room beginning

to take on a different rhythm,

independent of the glowing reflections from the core.

These umbras coiled, connecting to

form a ring around Sharas. Cloudy tentacles flowed

up from the floor and began to wind

their way around her legs and arms, radiating from

them like filaments of mist. Sharas

brought one hand up, and the tendrils merged

around her body, mimicking her movements.

The hypnotizing dance ceased when the young

Nerazim took a step backward. The Void

swal owed her as if she had slipped into a cloak held

behind her, the dark ceasing to be a 8

mere absence of light and becoming a physical thing

that enveloped and hid the dark

templar from Theromos's eyes.

But the elderly protoss didn't use just his eyes. He

waited in his seat, only lifting his

hand at the last moment to catch Sharas attempting

to tap him on the shoulder.

"Excel ent, student. Control, subtlety, improvisation

—these are but a few of the

virtues of a wel -trained dark templar. We must work

on your discipline and your wil ."

Theromos released Sharas's hand, and she returned

to her seat in front of him.

"I did not think you would sense me."

Her teacher