I do not own Dungeons and Dragons or any of the characters.

Failed Cure

Lia shrieked in pleasure as Jasper speared into her rapidly, her voice muffled between Mia's thighs. As Mia cried out, grinding against Lia's face, Elena's fingers blurred across Lia's clit, Sara grinding her own clit against Elena's. Within a few more seconds, Lia broke, bucking and shaking beneath Jasper and Mia. Her convulsing tunnel dragged Jasper over the edge with her, his member erupting and flooding Lia as Lia's fingers clenched and plunged desperately into Mia. Within a handful of seconds, Mia crested as well, bucking and spasming above Lia, her juices spraying out of her and drenching Lia's face just as Elena and Sara came together.

"I love you," Lia smiled. "All of you."

"We love you, too," Jasper smiled as he slipped out of her, kissing her and enjoying Mias taste for a few moments before pulling back, allowing Mia to kiss her in thanks for her efforts before. "So, the others are probably awake by now. We should get cleaned up and go."

"Agreed," Elena nodded. "But what are we going to do about your magic?"

"We're going to a Githyanki Creche to try to get the tadpole removed," Mia said. "Hopefully, that'll be the end of it. If not, we'll think of something."

"Alright," Sara nodded. "Now, let's go bathe."

They all nodded, heading into the bathroom together, all intending to only clean up, only to wind up starting another round of fun, all of them having lost count of how many rounds it was.

Jasper shrank back from the corner, narrowing his eyes. After Jasper and the others had finally managed to get cleaned up without having sex again, they'd headed back to the Emerald Grove. Dammon had been able to create an upgrade to fix Karlach's engine, at least partially, but she was still too hot to touch. On the way to the Creche, they'd stumbled across a snow-white dog, Scratch, who was waiting for his owner to wake up, though the owner was definitely dead. Jasper had offered to have him come with them, but Scratch had refused. So, Jasper told him to follow their scent if he decided to come along. Scratch had accepted, and caught up with them just before they found a bridge where a group of Githyanki were in the process of slaughtering a group of humans and Tiefling wearing matching red armor. They belonged to the Flaming Fist.

On the way to the bridge, they'd passed a burning inn that the Goblins had raided before they wiped them out. They'd rescued a handful of Flaming Fists and a higher up from Baldur's Gate, but had learned that Wyll's father, Duke Ravengard of Baldur's Gate, was kidnapped by the Absolute Cultists. At the bridge, they found the last of the Flaming Fist mercenaries trying to rescue Ravengard just in time to watch them die. They had gone down to meet the Githyanki and let Lae'zel do the talking, only for the Githyanki on the dragon, Voss, to order their executions at the hands of the four Githyanki around them. The Githyanki were violent and strong, just like Lae'zel, but they had no way to overcome the difference in numbers. On one of them, there was a very large metal disk on a chain that Lae'zel called a Githyanki Slate, from which she learned the exact location of the Creche, the Monastery they were now standing outside of, watching the Githyanki walk back inside.

Lae'zel led them into the monastery through a broken window, only for them to stumble onto a room of drunken, passed out kobolds. The fight was very brief. In fact, it lasted only long enough for Durge to send a Fire Bolt into the wine covering the floor, and the resulting fire and explosion killed them all, Durge protecting them all with a Shield Spell. Then, they continued into the monastery. They searched it for a way deeper, only to wind up at a chamber bearing four statues, each of them with a small altar before them. One bore a longsword, which glowed a pale blue, and a pair of blue crystals shone in the front of the altar. Jasper looked around at the priests, then to the others.

"It looks like we have to collect their weapons," Lia supplied. "I'm not sure what they are, though."

"I do," Wyll said. "Relatively, at least. This window has descriptions of the four men." He gestured at the large, stained-glass window on the floor. "We need a longsword, a mace, a waraxe, and a warhammer."

Lia pulled Dror Ragzlin's hammer from her bag, and Wyll directed her to the statue he thought needed it. As soon as she set it down, it began to glow, the blue crystals blazing to life to either side of the altar. Lia gasped.

"That's holy magic!" she gasped. "The altar is enchanting it!"

"Good," Shadowheart said, offering her mace.

Wyll directed her to the statue he suspected needed it, and her mace also began to glow.

"Now we just need a waraxe," Wyll said.

"I've got one," Mia said, reaching into her Bag of Holding. "I always keep spare weapons for if I need a complete disguise."

"Typical of a Changeling," Astarion muttered, then chuckled raising his hands and speaking hastily. "No offense meant, of course."

"Astarion, shut up," Jasper said flatly as Mia set the axe on the altar.

Instantly, a small alcove off to the side opened, revealing a note and a small metal crest. Jasper claimed the crest and read the note before frowning. It mentioned something called the Blood of Lathander, but said it was elsewhere, and he got the feeling the crest was the key to its protection. Once he had taken the crest, they all reclaimed their weapons, Lia taking the longsword and holding it in her right hand, her left bearing the warhammer.

"Sounds like the Blood of Lathander is below us somewhere," Jasper mused. "It sounds powerful. Or valuable."

"Either way, better we have it than we let it molder away in this ruin," Astarion said. "I say, since we're here anyway, we should find it."

They all agreed, but their search revealed no clear way down below the monastery. Finally, they gave up, heading instead into the Creche at the back of the monastery. Almost as soon as they entered, the Githyanki turned on them, weapons drawn.

"Istik, state your purpose!" a reddish-brown-skinned, female Githyanki ordered. "Quickly!"

"Stand down, gish," Lae'zel ordered. "Is it not Vlaakith's command to welcome her faithful?"

"I expected no visitors, faithful or otherwise," the woman said suspiciously. "Why have you come?"

"We seek the zaith'isk," Lae'zel answered. "Show me the way."

"You are infected?" the woman bristled, her posture tensing. "A ghaik thrall is something to be eradicated, not reasoned with."

"The faithful may be purified," Lae'zel snapped authoritatively. "That is Vlaakith's protocol!"

The woman made a sound similar to clicking her tongue, though more harsh. "Fine. Let the ghustil carry out your fate."

Jasper's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. That didn't sound like a cure.

"Report to the infirmary at once," the woman continued. "And step carefully. Creche Y'llek watches you."

They continued into the Creche, and Mia flashed Jasper a meaningful look, letting him know she's caught the implications of the Gith woman's wording as well. Lae'zel lead them through the Creche, but she clearly didn't know where they were going. First, they found the armory, and were immediately commanded to leave. Next was a chamber flooded with water where Lae'zel explained the Githyanki eggs would be before hatching, though there was only one, currently. There was a training room, where they arrived just in time for Jasper to stop the instructor from having one of his trainees kill another for being too weak, convincing the instructor that being publicly shamed by being beaten so easily was a better punishment than being killed, and that being killed would be a mercy at that point. Finally, they reached the infirmary, where a Githyanki scientist armed with a beautiful, silver shortsword was studying a live tadpole floating in a sphere of magic, dictating notes to herself.

"Do you have a question, or are you just going to stand there gawking?" she asked after about a minute of them standing in silence.

"We didn't want to interrupt your work," Jasper explained politely.

The woman turned to them. She had pale yellow skin, the usual spots, brown tattoos of two vertical lines below her lips and in a "V" like design on her forehead with a diamond inside its axis, and a sort of monocle strapped to her face over her left eye. She wore blue and brown robes, and looked surprisingly attractive for a Githyanki, though her dismissive attitude negated that.

"I am a Child of Gith, not discarded rat-flesh," Lae'zel snapped. "Am I not due your respect?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not," the woman shrugged. "Let the istik with you speak, and I'll decide what respect you are owed."

Lae'zel fumed, but Jasper nodded.

"We were infected by Mind Flayer Tadpoles several days ago, but no symptoms have manifested," Jasper explained, using a partial truth. "Lae'zel told us you would have a way to remove the tadpoles."

"You are infected but showing no signs of cerebral impairment?" the woman asked. "Fascinating. Either your tadpole is special, or you are. We must find out which." She nodded to herself. "Go to the zaith'isk. I will ensure you are cured."

"What does it do?" Jasper asked, eyeing the object she'd gestured to.

The device was as much organic material as it was metal. The muscle-like organic material was purple and looked vaguely insectoid, reminding Jasper of a spider. The metal resembled pincers and claws and spikes on the ends of the legs. Jasper's Tadpole stirred in recognition of the organic material, Jasper able to sense through it that the flesh was Illithid, which raised many, many warning bells.

"It will relieve you of the specimen lodged in your cerebral cortex," the scientist answered Jasper simply. "What else? It will be worth it. I assure you." She began to walk toward the unsettling machine. "Even Githyanki rarely experience the zaith'isk. You are very lucky, istik."

"The zaith'isk," Lae'zel breathed as she stared at the ghastly contraption. "Vlaakith's purity, distilled. My duty. My right."

"Stand aside!" Lae'zel ordered Jasper. "My time has come!"

"No," Jasper said, staring at it for a moment, then looking to Lae'zel and focusing. "I'm going first." He projected his thoughts into her mind. "That flesh is Illithid, and my tadpole wants me to use it. Something's not right. Let me go first to ensure it is safe. The others need your strength more than mine. If it's not safe, it's better to lose me. If it's safe, you can be next."

Lae'zel glared at him. "I will not allow it! This is my right!"

Jasper narrowed his eyes. "You'd have never gotten here without me. You'd have been killed in that cage. You'd have never escaped Avernus or the Nautiloid. You'd have never reached this monastery without me. I will be going first." Again he projected his thoughts. "Please, Lae'zel. Something is wrong here. Let me do this. Trust me."

Lae'zel growled. "You walk the boundary between confident and arrogant. A beguiling turn of events. Go. I will follow." Her voice spoke in Jasper's mind. "I will trust you."

Jasper nodded, and walked toward the device. He felt himself growing tense from its resemblance to a spider, but he forced those thoughts away, forcing himself to calm down.

"Do not fear," the Gith scientist assured him. "My experience in operating this machine is unparalleled. There is nothing on any plane stronger than a zaith'isk for curing unwanted afflictions."

Jasper took a steadying breath, then climbed up against the upright metal bed attached to the zaith'isk, facing the others. Jasper's four lovers looked worried. Terrified. Karlach looked worried, but also hopeful. Astarion looked conflicted. Lae'zel looked impatient. The rest looked curious. Then, the machine began to stir. As soon as it began to move, a spike of anxiety and fear shot through Jasper, only for him to feel both Mia and Lia's minds connect to his, waves of reassurance and comfort washing through him from them, calming him. He smiled gratefully at them, and closed his eyes as the bed began to move, laying back as the head of the zaith'isk descended toward him.

"You must focus on the parasite at all times," the woman instructed Jasper. "The zaith'isk will do the rest."

Then, there was a clicking sound above Jasper just before he felt psionic energy and waves of magic flood into his head. The tadpole squirmed, trying to hide from the zaith'isk's power. Agony seared through Jasper's mind, his body convulsing, then clenching, his hands gripping the bed of the zaith'isk in a deathgrip. He focused, locking his awareness to the parasite. Something was wrong. He could sense a hunger from the machine. It wanted the tadpole, but it felt like there was more to it. Like the tadpole wouldn't be enough.

"That's it," the scientist's voice barely managed to reach him. "Ignore the pain. Think of the tadpole. Think of it purged!"

"This torment," Lae'zel spoke up urgingly. "You...You must persist. You must be cleansed!"

Jasper felt the parasite burrow deeper, latching onto his brain. He felt it beginning to grow stronger by feeding off of him in an attempt to withstand the zaith'isk's power. He grit his teeth, focusing harder. Guiding the zaith'isk's power.

"That's it!" the scientist urged him. "You're almost there. The zaith'isk never fails."

And then, the tadpole shrieked inside his head, Mia and Lia both grunting and clutching at their heads, Jasper able to sense their tadpoles both evolving the same way, strengthening their connection, but at the same time, bringing what Jasper was feeling from the zaith'isk into stark clarity. It would consume the tadpole, and it would consume anything tainted by the tadpole's presence. It would consume Jasper. Jasper instantly directed this feeling, this revelation to Lae'zel recoiled, staring at the zaith'isk in horror. Jasper felt the tadpole's power searching, desperately seeking a source of power. It pleaded with Jasper to work with it just this once. And Jasper did. He focused his magic, feeding magic power into the tadpole. The world around him blurred, but the usual dark, magical flames didn't appear. And the tadpole consumed the offering greedily. Its power multiplied, an excess of it flowing across the connection between himself, Mia, and Lia. Jasper sensed their tadpoles' power swelling to match Jasper's own. And then, all at once, all three unleashed their power on the zaith'isk using Jasper as a conduit. Jasper choked out a scream as the raw powers colliding and battling each other began to tear him asunder. His mind and body began to drift apart. He was being undone.

And then, a voice spoke. The woman from Jasper's dream. The Drow who had stopped his transformation.

"Enough!"

There was a pulse of raw power, and the zaith'isk erupted into a fiery explosion. Jasper crashed to the ground, bouncing and rolling to the others where Lia and Mia caught him, Sara and Elena kneeling beside them instantly, all four of them immediately beginning to ensure he was unharmed.

"I'm alright," he assured them. "I'm alright."

He struggled to his feet, the four of them helping him up.

"What madness is this!?" Lae'zel demanded. "The zaith'isk nearly destroyed you! It would have destroyed me!"

"What have you done!?" the scientist was shrieking. "My life's work...gone! And yet you live, and so does your parasite!"

"Lae'zel?" Jasper asked.

"She would have killed us all," Lae'zel growled. "Drained our memories and executed us. She would have killed us all and taken our tadpoles alive to study them." She snarled angrily. "I will not be murdered. I am a Child of Gith. I will not be a ghaik! I will not be an experiment!"

She drew her sword and lunged. Before the scientist could make a sound, Lae'zel had cleaved her in two. Jasper took a steadying breath and picked up a towel from a table nearby, handing it to Lae'zel, who instantly began to clean her blade.

"We'll seal the room," Jasper decided. "We'll be gone before anyone knows the difference."

"No," Lae'zel growled. "This zaith'isk was a deviation, tampered with and altered, likely by this traitor. We must go to the Ch'r'ai and inform him of this Hshar'lak, this traitor's tampering."

Jasper hesitated, then nodded. "For the sake of making it there alive, we're still sealing this room, though."

Lae'zel nodded, and once they were out of the room, Gale cast Arcane Lock on the door, sealing it. Then they headed through the Creche again, heading deeper this time. They reached the door leading to the office of the Kith'rak in charge of the Creche, and where the Ch'r'ai, the Inquisitor, currently was. Jasper had heard of the Inquisitors before. Warriors of immense skill and power who serve directly under Vlaakith, and who do the worst of her dirty work. They were cold, cruel, and corrupt. Even other Githyanki Jasper had spoken to in the Creche, including Lae'zel, described them as "the darkness at the edge of Vlaakith's light" and were terrified of them. As Jasper opened the door, however, it was to an argument.

"Please, Ch'r'ai, I can explain!" a red-haired, female Githyanki, likely the Kith'rak, was imploring a scowling, bald Githyanki man, who was walking away, but turned back toward her as she spoke. "The latest batch of cultists knew nothing of the Astral Prism. They were just trying to find Moonrise. They all head there! My gish have drafted plans to assault the tower. They are ready to fight, Ch'r'ai. We could sift the missing artefact from the tower's ashes, if you would give us-"

"Quiet!" the Inquisitor snapped. "Find the Astral Prism, Therezzyn. My patience falters."

"Yes, Ch'r'ai," Therezzyn acknowledged, then turned to a cluster of Githyanki soldiers standing nearby, watching the argument while feigning preparing their weapons or adjusting armor. "You heard him! GO!"

The warriors stood still, unsure.

"Do as she says," the Inquisitor instructed them calmly. "She remains your Kith'rak." He turned his gaze to the back of Therezzyn's head. "For now."

He turned, walking through a doorway, and Therezyn followed, only to walk to a metal, feather-like object beside the doorway. The ends of the feather each bore a large, red crystal, and Therezzyn took one of them, a large, crystalline, magical barrier filling the doorway instantly. She returned to her desk and set the crystal on it as Jasper and the others allowed the Githyanki warriors to pass before walking into the room. Therezyn turned to them, scowling instantly.

"An istik," Therezyn spat. "In my Creche. You are one of the mercenaries sent to bring the weapon?"

"The istik is with me, honored Kith'rak," Lae'zel answered for him.

"So noted," Therezzyn accepted. "But my question goes unanswered. Do you bring the weapon?"

"Don't tell her anything," the disembodied voice of Jasper's dream visitor warned him.

Jasper frowned. "There's a Mind Flayer invasion in progress. I would have thought that of all people, the Githyanki would have made that their top priority. Their only priority."

"So would I," Therezzyn muttered, then sighed. "We know the infected flock to Moonrise Towers. I reported the gathering masses back to Tu'narath. In response, they sent us an Inquisitor. Instead of ordering an assault, we were told to join in this mad hunt for an ancient relic. Meanwhile, Illithid sickness spreads right in front of us."

"What's so important about this weapon?" Jasper asked, deciding to see what she knew of the prism as well as seeing if she could tell them anything they didn't know.

"I do not know," she shook her head. "This hunt is the Inquisitor's folly, not mine."

"What does the weapon look like?" Durge asked, seeming to be on a similar page as Jasper, or at least playing dumb.

"It is small," Therezzyn answered. "Angular. Metal. Adorned with tir'su script. Stolen by 'True Soul' heretics."

Jasper could sense waves of anxiety from Shadowheart. It was a natural reaction, but not one that went unnoticed.

"What was that look?" Therezzyn demanded glaring at her. "You know something! Do you have it!?"

"No," Mia lied easily. "We came here to give you proof of the Mind Flayer invasion, although now that we know there's an Inquisitor here, we could show him."

"And we also need to speak to him on a more...sensitive matter," Lia added.

"What matter?" Therezzyn asked.

Jasper connected his mind to Lae'zel's, telling her to answer, but to do so without exposing that they were infected. Lae'zel sent back a feeling of acknowledgement, and stepped forward slightly.

"Honored Kith'rak, we believe there is a hshar'lak within this Creche," Lae'zel warned. "On our way to find you, we stumbled across the infirmary, where your Ghustil was tampering with the zaith'isk. We stopped her, but she had already done too much damage, and the zaith'isk was destroyed. She attempted to kill us, so we slew her."

"The Ghustil?" Therezzyn gaped. "A hshar'lak? Nonsense!"

"I believe that she herself was infected, honored Kith'rak," Lae'zel continued. "She was rambling about how beautiful the ghaik parasites she had collected were."

Therezzyn's face darkened. "Infected how?"

"It is possible that another here has been infected," Gale said. "And then passed along the infection to your Ghustil."

"We need to warn the Inquisitor," Karlach pressed.

Therezzyn's face darkened. Finally, she nodded, picking up the crystal. "I shall show you the way."

She walked over to the machine, inserting the crystal, and the barrier faded. She led them through the doorway instantly, and deeper into the ruined monastery. The path led to a flight of stairs to their left, then to a wide, very long bridge over a chasm so deep they couldn't see the bottom. They followed Therezzyn in silence, all of them ready for a fight, except for Lae'zel. Finally, Therezzyn pushed the double doors at the far end of the bridge open, revealing the Inquisitor standing tall and expectant, his hands folded behind his back. Therezzyn gestured them forward, and Jasper complied, the others following.

"Ah," the Inquisitor spoke up as they approached. "Our esteemed guests. Please, approach. We have much to discuss."

"Be ready for trouble," Jasper warned the others telepathically. "I think he knows."

"My ardents spoke of one of one of our kin that escaped a crashing ghaik slave-vessel," the Inquisitor began, his voice smooth and kind, unlike what they had seen before.

"Ch'r'ai," Lae'zel identified the bald Githyanki. "Vlaakith's justice in flesh."

"You have accomplished much, child," the Inquisitor commended her. "I am pleased to finally meet you. I heard there is so much Goblin blood on your hands that it soaks their children's nightmares." He smiled proudly, almost seeming genuine, but then the smile dropped and he became serious, though his tone remained kind and patient as he spoke to Jasper. "To business. I suspect you plucked something precious from the ghaik ship. Something that belongs to us. The weapon. Give it to me."

"We didn't come here to discuss the weapon," Jasper said. "We came to inform you that this Creche's Ghustil was a traitor and sabotaged the zaith'isk."

"Does she yet draw breath?" the Inquisitor asked.

"No," Lae'zel answered. "I slew her for her heresy."

"Then that subject doesn't concern me," the Inquisitor said dismissively. "Give me the weapon."

"What does this weapon do?" Mia asked.

"What business is that of yours?" the Inquisitor demanded. "Suffice to say, my queen wants it. But know that you will have been instrumental in stopping the Grand Design. Hand it over."

"What is the Grand Design?" Lia asked.

"The Grand Design is what all ghaik seek," the Inquisitor explained, his tone quickly growing more agitated and impatient. "The restoration of the Illithid Empire, which spanned the entirety of the multiverse. For centuries, their elder brains sought to bring back their dominion. Every plot they hatched, we stopped. But now, they are close to succeeding. Never before could they pause ceremorphosis. Never before could they let the infection spread undetected. You saw the thralls gathered on the ghaik ship. Imagine that everywhere! Wants, needs, choice! All would cease to be! Everything rendered unto the ghaik. So, the weapon. Please."

"Don't give it to him," the dream visitor warned.

Jasper hesitated for a moment, eyes darting around at the dozen Githyanki warriors standing around the room, then reached for the device.

"Doesn't that keep us from transforming?" Mia asked telepathically, the link only between the two of them and the rest of their harem.

"We're not walking out of here without it, no matter what," Jasper replied in kind.

"So, it is found," an authoritative, feminine voice spoke suddenly from a circular device on the floor behind the Inquisitor.

The device began to shine, and a massive image of Vlaakith appeared over it, standing nearly triple their height. She had regal, bat-like features, a tall crown formed from three long points, intricate armor, and glowing, yellow eyes. Jasper only recognized her by a painting they had found earlier that Lae'zel informed them was of Vlaakith. The Inquisitor knelt instantly, speaking in his native tongue, and Lae'zel stared at Vlaakith in awe.

"My Queen!" Lae'zel gasped, then said something in her native language as well, kneeling.

"You are permitted to look upon me," Vlaakith informed them all, Jasper instantly disliking her. "You are invited to kneel."

"The Deathless Queen has spoken," Lae'zel hissed. "You will obey!"

Jasper glanced around, then knelt, the others following suit, though Durge took a long moment to comply.

"Your choice of allies becomes you, Lae'zel," Vlaakith intoned.

"Ch'mar, zal'a Vlaakith!" Lae'zel gasped. "You know me."

"Urlon of K'liir speaks most highly," Vlaakith explained. "As did Al'chaia before him. You seek purity. I may yet grant it." Vlaakith's projection knelt so that its head was only slightly above Jasper. "Istik. You bear that which is ours. But are you friend, or are you thief?"

"We retrieved it from the Nautiloid prior to its crash," Jasper answered in a half-truth.

"I see," Vlaakith mused, standing. "You have proven your utility. But Your trustworthiness is yet to be revealed. A test, then, to see if you are as capable as you profess to be." She held out her hand, a light shining above it, forming a silhouette of the prism. "That weapon you carry, the Astral Prism, it is corrupted."

"I will cleanse it for you, my Queen!" Lae'zel vowed instantly. "Tell me how!"

"There is someone inside," Vlaakith explained. "Their mind is warped, broken. A blight. They are an agent of the Grand Design. Sent to sabotage the Astral Prism, our last defence against the return of the Illithid Empire. As long as they live, the Prism is compromised. Kill them!" She closed her fist, the silhouette of the Astral Prism vanishing. "Do this, and I will cleanse you and your allies."

Jasper's eyes narrowed slightly. They knew they were infected, knew that the zaith'isk was destroyed, and hadn't killed them yet.

"Do this, and ascend!" Vlaakith continued, smiling knowingly, intimidatingly.

"Ascension?" Lae'zel breathed. "My Queen. An honor gained, a borden borne." She looked to Jasper. "You must accept! Refuse, and you will know my fury!"

"Our visitor from our dreams is in there," Lia pointed out telepathically.

"We could verify if she's real," Mia suggested telepathically.

"But if she's the one Vlaakith means, should we really kill her?" Karlach asked.

"Can we trust her at all?" Shadowheart asked.

"Let's go ask her in person," Durge offered.

"We'll do it," Jasper accepted.

"Good," Vlaakith said, vanishing and being replaced by a projection of the Prism, the spikes on the corners of the Prism extended, most by an inch but the top and bottom spikes by two inches. "Use the planecaster's power to enter the artifact. Be wary of the creature's lying tongue. Cut it out, if you must." Vlaakith reappeared in place of the false artifact, looking to the Inquisitor. "W'wargaz. They are not to leave until it is done."

"As you say, My Queen," the Inquisitor bowed.

Lae'zel repeated the same phrase she'd spoken in her language when Vlaakith had first appeared. "We will not waste a second."

"Place the weapon in the planecaster," the Inquisitor instructed Jasper, gesturing to the device Vlaakith had appeared from. "Fulfil my Queen's most holy edict."

Jasper walked forward, gripping the Prism more tightly as it began to vibrate.

"Don't do it," the dream visitor warned.

Jasper opened his hand, the Prism shooting over to hover over the device, the spikes extending from the corners as the projection had shown. The lines, spikes, and tir'su script began to glow orange. Jasper reached out toward the Prism, and it flashed. The sides of the Prism burst off, revealing a glowing, crystal core. It looked almost molten with the light. Heat pulsed off of the core as the faces floated around it. The core shifted, the center hollowing, leaving it as a lattice, a cage with openings where the faces of the Prism should sit, and a vertical bar in the center. And then, it shone blindingly, searing heat radiating from it. Blinding, orange-white light seared through Jasper's eyelids. He held his hand up to block out the light, but after a moment, he felt reality snap, his equilibrium vanishing as he lurched into motion.

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