Waiting was always such torment. The three stood ready for battle, terrified that the Soul Devourer on the ceiling might awaken.
As a Mind Flayer who had once lived in the Lair, Klauthsura might have thought little of it.
But for ordinary people like Renato and his companions, standing beside a Legendary Psion that fed on the brains of intelligent creatures, unable to strike first, was enough to fray their nerves.
During that agonizing wait, the Lair shook violently several times.
The tremors were so severe that Renato almost thought another earthquake had struck.
Yet every fixture in the "Library" miraculously remained stable. Even the fluid in the jars holding the brains stayed perfectly level, without so much as a ripple.
Had Tristana not lost her balance beside him and nearly fallen against him, Renato would have thought he was hallucinating.
Renato stood beside Klauthsura, glancing now and then at the brass pocket watch in his hand.
The moment the hand passed the thirty-minute mark, he reached out and shook the motionless Mind Flayer awake.
"Ah..." Klauthsura's body jerked, and psionic light gathered once more in its vacant eyes. "It's time, yes... stop the ritual... the Elder Brain..."
Its hand fumbled for a moment before finally grasping the nerve-bundle connector at its temple.
As the Mind Flayer forcibly pulled the neural needle from its temple, Klauthsura's head shook violently.
Silvery-white blood seeped from the puncture wound and trickled down its tentacles.
"Did you find a way to stop the ritual?" The female Drow immediately stepped forward, demanding anxiously, "Don't tell me you wasted all that time and found nothing!"
Renato reached out to hold back the agitated Tristana, signaling for her to calm down and give the Mind Flayer time to gather its thoughts.
"I found it." Klauthsura's voice sounded