There. Just a little bit back down. Ah, there it was.

Killian looked at the place where once the Pinnacle had been: a beacon to the faithful of the Tingaran Empire and a source of pilgrims bringing wealth to the Assembly of Templars.

Where the light had been, there was now nothing, but Killian already knew that. What drew his attention was the mound of rubble on Stonewater's summit. Something had happened here, and it had nothing to do with the destruction that had followed in Killian's wake. What if Evrin Evenstar had his own mission to complete, and it had something to do with the Pinnacle, the most famous relic in a place known for its mysteries?

Killian absently handed the seeing device back to the shopkeeper and walked out of the shop, his gaze captive to the mountain's peak, unaware of the shopkeeper's words following him out. How could he find out more? Who would have answers?

Killian thought again about how he had first found out he was different. The templars had taken him, just another orphan and thief, and given him the strange liquid. They had been amazed at his body's lack of response, although at the time Killian hadn't known it was death or addiction they were expecting.

There was one templar in particular, leading them, a man who was knowledgeable about the relics and their powers. A templar who valued knowledge above all else, with a fanaticism Killian could only now appreciate.

Zavros.

Killian decided he needed to pay Templar Zavros a visit.

~

ZAVROS stood silently regarding the destruction of the refinery, deep in the bowels of Stonewater, at the foot of the great shaft that ran the height of the mountain.

The explosion had blown outwards, opening a seam into the open air through which the intruder had probably escaped. Saryah met her end here; they had found her broken body in the rubble. Zavros had thought nothing in this world could kill Saryah.

Like Melovar Aspen, High Templar Saryah took too much of the elixir, but it affected her differently. It took both of their humanity, but where Melovar became senseless to pain, whether his own or another's, Saryah responded more physically.

At any rate, she was dead now, and Zavros would never be able to study her further.

Zavros wondered about himself. Some of the prisoners had called him inhuman; that, and names much worse. Zavros wasn't inhuman; it was simply that he knew the truth: nothing was more important than knowledge.