***
Having nothing more to say, Kelden headed back to his room to get what few things he owned. He considered how refreshing it would be to talk with Theodus again, for the Dar fiend was his best friend.
When Kelden reached Stargazer Hall, he met up with his link. Theodus stood facing Kelden with a puzzled expression. The oozing lava substance that covered him glowed brighter than normal and his bat ears twitched with uncertainty. His yellow eyes looked dazed.
"Kelden? What are you doing awake at this time? And more importantly, what am I doing here? A moment ago I found myself standing on the stairs, as if I had just awakened from sleepwalking. I was headed to your room to ask you what's going on."
"Your memory is gone?" Kelden said. He glanced around. Only one other person was in Stargazer Hall--just a tower sweep, busy cleaning the halls and making sure any sorcery effects were refreshed. Somehow the ethereal light of the stars, comets, and planets made Theodus look sinister, with the dark bits of stony flesh amidst his lava coating causing him to appear as if he were lined with hellish pits or cracks. Kelden pondered the possibility that inside himself was a creature that shared kinship with Theodus and was probably every bit as ugly--if not more so.
"Yes, my memory," Theodus said. "It appears to be failing me. The last thing I recall is going to the holding cells for sleep last night."
"Then you don't remember what happened in the Sky Chamber?" Kelden said. "You don't remember the cleansing?"
"Sky Chamber?" Theodus shook his head. "I do remember a cleansing, which wasn't too long ago--about a month, I think. But I haven't been to the Sky Chamber in ages, Kelden. What's going on?"
Kelden turned away, staring at the glittering length of the hall and trying to make sense of things. Why would the high council have Theodus' memory erased, unless they were trying to dispose of some important piece of knowledge? It might not have even been a cleansing he was taken to after all. It might have been for the sole purpose of destroying the Dar fiend's most recent memories. Perhaps Theodus had become aware of something that someone on the high council didn't want him to know about.
"Come on," said Kelden. "When we get to my room, I'll tell you everything I know. You better prepare yourself, though. It's quite a story."