By the third lifetime, they made the Aberrant live through the Karmic Weighing Ghost Array, Radeon felt himself bottoming out.
His breath came shallow. Each pull on the creature's mind pulled on his too.
Behind him, three hundred Tiyanak infants sat within the circle. Small bodies. Too quiet. Their eyes were open, but not truly seeing.
They acted inside the array, channeling their consciousness into it. Each infant played a part in a carefully crafted deception.
Calyx stood at the core. Not simply as a helper. Not simply as a hand on the ritual.
He was the core of it, the anchor that made the whole thing hold.
The lines of the array ran through his like veins.
Radeon watched him and felt the old fact again. He had been born a ghost. Not made, not raised, not dragged back.
The difference mattered here. Memories flowed through Radeon with a clarity that hurt.
