He carried a thin cane of polished ebony, its silver pommel shaped like a dragon’s claw. The fingers of the claw wrapped around a large orb of black stone — jet, perhaps, or obsidian. The vamp’s own fingers caressed the stone as he approached, and Kate could feel the dark power emanating from it, guiding the death-spell.
…
She could not recall who she was. The answer seemed more complicated than it should have been, and the pain drove her beyond rational thought. Images burned in her mind, but she could not name them. Voices called to her, screamed at her, purred softly in her ear, but she did not understand them. There was only the pain, and the darkness, and the Thing in the darkness that fed on her pain. It did not understand names or images or voices, either. It knew only pain, and darkness, and a terrible, terrible hunger that would never end. For it to end, there would have to be time — and the Thing in the darkness did not know time, either.
…
“You … have … no idea what you have there … do you?” she asked weakly.
Fisher regarded the cane for a moment. “A fair statement, perhaps,” he allowed. “But I know where it comes from, and I know what it can do.” His lips parted in another nightmare grin. “And I know that it is always hungry. In that, I feel we have a special kinship.”—Things Unseen
The Voidstone is a powerful magical artifact. Where it came from, who made it, why it was created — these things cannot be known with any certainty. Four things can be known:
- It is strongly connected to the forces of darkness, destruction and madness.
- In the hands of a spellcaster, it is a powerful tool for focusing death-aspected mana.
- It is aware.
- It is always, always hungry.
The Voidstone and Elemacil are diametrically opposed to one another. When Janus Starson used Elemacil against Fisher and the Voidstone, he defeated them handily; it is unclear, however, if this is because Elemacil is actually stronger than the Voidstone, or if their relative power depends on the skill and experience of the wielder. In the hands of a more capable death mage, the Voidstone could prove to be far more of a threat.
It has not been established how the Syndicate came into possession of the Voidstone. Evidently Fisher has not been entrusted with it for long, since he is only moderately competent in using it and he did not have it yet at the time of Alive. It is likely that Malcolm entrusted the weapon to Fisher when he elevated him to the role of Malcolm's top enforcer in Metamor City.
Author's Note
None of the characters know this, but the Voidstone is connected to the Underworld and draws on that realm as the source of its power. Like everything touched by the Underworld, it slowly corrupts anyone who possesses it, turning them into servants of its dark, nihilistic intentions. The Voidstone hates all things that belong to the Creation, including its wielder, but it allows itself to be used because it means a chance to destroy, to tear down, to corrupt, and to consume.