Part 4
Late on a night near the end of Talia’s seventh month of pregnancy, while she was deeply asleep, her unborn children were bored and restless. For the first time, they projected their psionic awareness outside Talia’s body, and went exploring for something interesting. The boy sent his mind questing toward the settlement, lightly sampling the sleeping thoughts he encountered, but drawn to the stronger minds on the far side of the flats. One was too basic to be interesting, and two were so bright they were frightening, so they were avoided. But one was just right, and the unborn boy was drawn to that mind, to which he felt an affinity. But he found the mind was hidden behind strong barriers, so he began feeling around, trying to get past to the shining mind that so fascinated him.
His sister had been following along as he did this, her thoughts always deeply entwined with those of her brother. But then a bright spark of thought seemed to capture her attention, and her awareness went out to find it, behind the house, behind their backyard valley, deep in the mountains near the center of the island.
She found what she was seeking, but the mind detected her, resisted her, hurt her. She reacted instinctively, and made the mind stop hurting her. Then, with her tiny heart pounding with the excitement, she broke past the mind’s barriers to see what it was like inside.
Her brother observed this and copied what she’d done, and a moment later he was through the barriers around the mind he was considering.
Talia, Mark, and Alilia were blasted awake by Povon’s psionic shriek. “MIND YOUR CHILDREN!” she angrily demanded. “They just broke Kragorram’s psionic shields, and they weren’t gentle about it! He has the god of all headaches, and we cannot bar them from his mind without destroying them! Which I almost did, before I realized who was doing it!”
“By the source!” Talia gasped as she checked her children. “He has Kragorram, and she has… A Sylvan! Out in the mountains somewhere! Missing gods, she’s almost killed him! If he isn’t helped quickly, he’ll spend the rest of his days as a babbling idiot, if he survives at all!
“Mark, help with Reggie, and Alilia help me with Helemia!”
about it. Mark would have thought Reggie would have fled from Kragorram’s anguish, frustration, and pain, not to mention Povon’s seething hostility, but the baby was uncowed. He was too ignorant of the meaning of others’ emotions and too fascinated by Kragorram to be intimidated. Finally, Mark realized that his methods weren’t working, and let some anger show through
power to contain the two young and inquisitive minds still forming inside Talia. Then Talia carefully cast Sleep on her children; which didn’t take much. Though still excited
was already psionicly examining the Sylvan even as she woke Yazadril and Nemia by suddenly jumping out of bed naked and running out of the room. They quickly
“Where the hell did that Sylvan
“It’s in the Reading I just took of Helemia, which included what she took
the bed beside them
looked to Talia
A Sylvan god brought
must be the Sylvan God of Hiding, for him to have hidden them from the other
taking a very serious tone indeed. “Rather, he is the Sylvan God of Stealth. The difference being that his choice of stealth rather than hiding as his mandate indicates that he is as skilled at avoiding notice
gathered followers, and established his religion among them, all without any of the other gods even noticing his existence. This is the first time anyone has become aware that there was a Sylvan God of Stealth without his permission. And still, I only know this because it was known by the injured Sylvan, whose mind and Helemia’s I have Read. Though I am now a god myself, and my awareness and psionic skills are as good as any other’s, I cannot find a single one of the thousands of Sylvan who are on Hiliani beyond the one that Hilsith is treating, or the slightest trace of their God of Stealth who hides them. Or
Mark growled. “Are you really saying that the Dragon God of Dreaming can’t match the psionic sensitivity of an unborn
his eyes for three long seconds