{"id":3840,"date":"2026-01-03T23:52:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T23:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/runelords-06-worldbinder-farland-david\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T23:52:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T23:52:32","slug":"runelords-06-worldbinder-farland-david","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/runelords-06-worldbinder-farland-david\/","title":{"rendered":"Runelords 06 – Worldbinder – Farland, David"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Book Preview<\/h3>\n
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WORLDBINDER<\/span><\/p>\n

Tor Books by David Farland<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

PROLOGUE<\/span><\/p>\n

Though your heart may burn with righteous desires, your noblest hopes will become fuel to fire<\/span> despair among mankind. <\/span><\/p>\n

That which you seek to build will crumble to ash. <\/span><\/p>\n

War shall follow you all of your days, and though the world may applaud<\/span> your slaughter, you will come to know that each of your victories is mine.<\/span> And thus I seal you, till the end of time\u2026. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Asgaroth\u2019s curse upon Fallion<\/span><\/p>\n

\t The tree riveted Shadoath as she stalked into Castle Coorm. It was no more than a sapling, perhaps eight feet tall, with a dozen branches spreading wide in a perfect umbrella. But the sight of it smote her at even a hundred yards, urging her heart to melt. Every winding branch was perfect. Every crook of every twig seemed to have been preconceived by an artistic genius before being executed. The leaves were darkest green above, a mellow honey beneath, and looked something like an oak. The bark was the rich golden color of ripe wheat, warm and soothing, inviting to the eye. <\/p>\n

\t Shadoath had seen such a tree once before, countless ages ago, on another world. No, she thought. It can\u2019t be. <\/p>\n

\t But she knew that it was. It wasn\u2019t just how the tree looked. It was how it made her feel. Her eyes wanted to drink it in from the distance. Her arms wanted to embrace it. Her head and shoulders yearned to shelter beneath it. Her lungs ached to breathe the perfumed air that exuded from its leaves. Her eyes longed to lie beneath it and stare up, and dimly she recalled the ancient days, when those leaves emitted a soft golden light during the nights, and those who took pleasure beneath it would peer up through layers of foliage and try to make out the light of distant stars. The sight of its limbs made her yearn for perfection, to be better than she had ever been, to do more than she had ever done, to change<\/span> for the better. <\/p>\n

\t The tree was dangerous, she knew. Left alive, it would grow and develop, rising up like a mountain, insinuating its branches for miles in every direction. It would silently tug at the minds of men, urge them to become its servants. Left alone, it would do even more. It would silently nurture the souls of men, urging them to become virtuous and perfect. <\/p>\n

\t Every instinct in her shouted, Kill it now! Burn it down! <\/p>\n

\t Only the shock of seeing it stayed her hand. <\/p>\n

\t There were mighty changes going on in Rofehavan. The children born in the past generation were more like Bright Ones from the netherworld than children of the past. <\/p>\n

\t And now the One True Tree had risen again. <\/p>\n

\t She wanted to be sure. She studied the knotty roots coming up from the grass. The tree had been planted in the green at Castle Coorm, in the center of a roundabout. A small rock wall, perhaps four feet tall, surrounded the tree. A fountain rose at the back, water splashing down gray stones from the mouth of a gargoyle. At one time there had been a pleasant rock garden here, rife with flowering vines. A few of them still remained, trumpet flowers of red. <\/p>\n

\t But Shadoath could not look for long. The tree drew her eye, the golden bark rising from the grass, where the small roots were already beginning to splay wide, questing for purchase; the bole of the tree twisting as if in torment; the branches rising up to embrace heaven. Shadoath stood peering at it, and all weariness seemed to leave her, all of her aches and worries. It was as if she laid aside every care, and an upwelling of hope rose inside her, strange longings. The tree is my master, and I am its servant, her body told her. <\/p>\n

\t But a voice whispered inside her, the voice of the tree. \u201cYou are my<\/span> master; how may I<\/span> serve you?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t An image of their true relationship formed in her mind. Neither was whole without the other, the tree told her. Neither of us should live alone. <\/p>\n

Damn, <\/span> she realized, the young tree has already gained consciousness. Left alone, it would become wise and venerable and forbidding. <\/p>\n

\t There was a rustling sound behind her, one of the guards on the castle wall. Across the courtyard, Warlord Hale was stumping down from the tower, lugging his great weight along as fast as he could. She had almost forgotten that he existed, even though he was the one who had sent the urgent message asking what to do about the damned tree. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSo,\u201d a girl asked, \u201cdo you like my tree?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Shadoath shook her head, let her vision clear, and suddenly spotted the young woman there beneath the tree, squatting cross-legged upon a rock. Shadoath had been so captivated that she hadn\u2019t seen the girl, even though she sat in plain sight, as quiet and motionless as a mushroom. She was some indeterminate age between twelve and sixteen, Shadoath imagined, with hair so pale yellow it was almost white, and eyes as pale as sea foam. Her skin had the greenish cast of one who was wizardborn, and she wore a robe that looked not to have been woven, but to simply have grown around her as roots that interlocked. It was the pale green of new leaves. She bore a staff of golden wood, hewn from the tree itself. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI love your tree,\u201d Shadoath said. <\/p>\n

\t The girl smiled broadly, stood, and raised a hand, beckoning Shadoath to come forward, to rest beneath its limbs. <\/p>\n

\t Shadoath could hear Warlord Hale pounding down the wooden stairs, his huge bulk an assault upon them. He was nearly to the door of his keep. <\/p>\n

\t Now that her mind had cleared, Shadoath realized why<\/span> the young wizardess had chosen to plant the tree here in the courtyard of Castle Coorm. It was to honor the last Earth King, Gaborn Val Orden, of course. This had been his residence before he wandered off into the wilderness to die. So the wizardess had brought the tree here in his honor. She wanted to restore him to the people\u2019s memory even as she and her damned tree created a new world order. <\/p>\n

\t Shadoath reached the rock wall, and the young woman stretched down to give her a hand. That\u2019s when Shadoath struck, as quick as the thought touched her. <\/p>\n

\t Shadoath had taken the body of a warrior this time, a pale assassin from Inkarra, with skin whiter than bone, hair the color of spun silver, and pale blue tattoos that covered her arms and legs. Shadoath\u2019s speed was blinding, and her curved dagger bit into the wizardess\u2019s armpit with great force. Shadoath grabbed the proffered hand, for Earth Wardens, as this young wizardess surely was, had great skill at both hiding and healing. Shadoath held on while the young wizardess tried to leap back and buck, like a young deer. She saw the girl\u2019s pleading eyes as warm blood pumped over Shadoath\u2019s hand. Shadoath twisted the blade, and she saw strange visions. Suddenly she seemed to be standing in deep rushes at the edge of a pond while a huge grouse thundered up from the ground. Obviously the vision was meant to startle her, get her to loosen her grip, but Shadoath held on. Suddenly she seemed to be holding a great bear whose vicious fangs were mere inches from her throat. Shadoath drew out her blade, plunged it beneath the young wizardess\u2019s sternum, and let it quest for her heart. <\/p>\n

\t The bear disappeared, and for a moment she saw the wizardess\u2019s true face, her pupils constricted to pinpricks, and she saw an image of the One True Tree as it might be someday, with tens of thousands of people living beneath it, giving it water and food, giving it life, even as it sheltered them from the elements and from the eyes of all enemies. <\/p>\n

\t And then the young wizardess was dead, nothing but a piece of bloody meat gurgling and jerking at Shadoath\u2019s feet. <\/p>\n

\t Shadoath pulled her away from the tree, for she knew that the tree itself had healing powers, and might even be able to raise the newly dead if her body remained beneath its boughs for long. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhy?\u201d the tree begged. <\/p>\n

\t Shadoath merely smiled secretively as she dragged the bloody girl far across the green. The bloated form of Warlord Hale appeared at the door of the keep, his head towering above those of his guards: he trundled across the cobbled pavement to meet Shadoath. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cKilled \u2019er, I see?\u201d he said. \u201cGlad you were up to it. I tried it myself a dozen times, but couldn\u2019t seem to get near her, even though she never went more than a dozen yards from that tree. What do ya want me to do with the damned tree now, chop \u2019er down, burn it?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Shadoath considered as Warlord Hale babbled on inanely. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIt\u2019s one of those<\/span> trees, ain\u2019t it? I told the boys it was, a World Tree, just like the old tales. Didn\u2019t know what to do with it. Didn\u2019t want to just let it stand\u2014bad for morale. That\u2019s why I sent for you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Hale obviously yearned for approval, so Shadoath said, \u201cYou did well, sending for me.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSo, do I chop it down?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The human spirit would revolt at such a task. It might even break. She doubted that many of Hale\u2019s men could do it. But Hale was far enough gone in the ways of evil that he could hardly be called human anymore. <\/p>\n

\t Shadoath considered. She wanted the tree dead. But there was one thing that she wanted more\u2014Fallion Orden. For nearly a year now, since she had lost the battle at the Ends of the Earth, she had been considering ways to subvert him\u2014or barring that, to destroy him. She had been taking deep counsel with others of her kind, and they had begun to devise a trap. All that they lacked was the right bait. Could this be it? Fallion Orden craved to restore the Earth, make it whole, as it had been before the cataclysm. And the very fact that the One True Tree had been reborn was a sign that the restoration\u2014somehow, beyond Shadoath\u2019s understanding\u2014was moving forward rapidly. Fallion did not know it yet, but he would need the wisdom of a world tree in order to advance his plans. Given that, would not the spirit of this tree call to his? And would not his spirit call to the tree? <\/p>\n

\t And when the two met, would it not be a good time to thwart both of their plans? <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThere is good news in the Netherworld,\u201d Shadoath told Warlord Hale as she considered what to do. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThe Queen of the Loci has escaped. The Glories sought to bind her in a Cage of Brilliance, but their powers failed them. They are not as strong as they were in ages past, and we have managed to free her. She is gathering armies more powerful than ever before. Remain true, and your reward shall be great and endless.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cGlad to hear it,\u201d Warlord Hale said. \u201cI\u2014I am true to you, you know.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t There was malice in his eyes, she saw, and desire. He wanted to give his soul to her, let his spirit become the home of a locus. Because her kind had trained him from youth, he believed that in doing so he would gain a type of immortality, that his soul would be bound into the black soul of the locus, and carried down through time. <\/p>\n

\t He was fit for it, she knew. His soul was a black pit. There was true and monstrous evil in him, and he would be a comfortable abode for a locus. But he yearned to be possessed so badly that she could not resist the urge to deny him this reward. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSoon,\u201d she promised. \u201cYour time is coming.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t She turned to the tree, regarded it coolly. \u201cLeave it alive for now. I want Fallion Orden to see it.\u201d <\/p>\n

1<\/span><\/p>\n

THE HOMECOMING<\/span><\/p>\n

I do not know when I first began to dream of healing the Earth. There was so much pain in the<\/span> world, so much suffering and heartache. It could have been when I was among the Gwardeen.<\/span> One of our fliers, a small boy of six named Zel, was feeding a hatchling graak, and the great<\/span> reptile took the boy\u2019s arm. It was an accident, I am sure. But try as I might, we could not staunch<\/span> the flow of blood, and Zel died in my arms. I remembered thinking, In a better world, I could have<\/span> saved him. In a better world, children would not have to die this way.<\/span> It was only three years later that I began to be haunted by a dream of a wheel of fire, a vast rune,<\/span> and I began to suspect that there was a way to heal our broken world. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014from the journal of Fallion Orden<\/span><\/p>\n

\t They came creeping through the woods just before dawn, four of them, weary but resolute, like hunters on the trail of a wounded stag. They halted at the edge of the trees, silently regarding summer fields thick with oats and the brooding castle beyond. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cCastle Coorm,\u201d the leader, Fallion, whispered. \u201cAs promised.\u201d The sight of it filled him with nostalgia and soothed his frayed nerves like mulled wine. <\/p>\n

\t The pre-dawn sky still had one bright star in it, and the castle mostly lay in shadows, the limned walls looking soft blue instead of white. There were pinpricks of yellow in the tower windows, and watch-fires burned outside the city gates like blistering gems. The dancing fires, the smell of the smoke, beckoned him. But Fallion merely stood silently regarding the scene. The castle was falling into ruins, but was obviously still inhabited. <\/p>\n

\t He had seen too much devastation, too many ruined cities since his return to Mystarria. The Courts of Tide had been laid waste. Its once-fair streets were now dark lanes, blockaded by gangs that fought like wild dogs to protect their few scraps of food and clothing. The women and children there had a haunted look. They had suffered too much rape, too much plunder. <\/p>\n

\t The sight of it had left Fallion reeling. In a more perfect world, he told himself, the women would wear flowers in their hair, and children would not learn to fear strangers. Upon the death of Fallion\u2019s father, Gaborn Val Orden, assassins from a dozen lands had descended upon Mystarria, hoping to strike down Fallion and his brother. These weren\u2019t ordinary assassins. These were powerful runelords that had taken brawn, stamina, speed, and grace from their subjects, making them warriors that no commoner could hope to withstand. And though Mystarria had been a wealthy country then, with many strong runelords of its own, it could not withstand the sustained onslaughts of such men. <\/p>\n

\t Only by strengthening its forces could it hope to survive, but that required forcibles\u2014magical branding irons that could draw out an attribute from a vassal and then imbue it upon the lord. But there was a dearth of forcibles. The rare blood metal from which they were made was running out. Rumors said that the lords of Kartish, far to the west, were hoarding what little they found, intent on protecting their own realms in the dark times to come. <\/p>\n

\t Chancellor Westhaven, who had been left in charge of Mystarria, had even taken a journey to Kartish, hoping to sway those who had once been allies. <\/p>\n

\t He had never returned. Some said that his mournful spirit could be seen at night in the towers at the Courts of Tide, wandering the hallways, rummaging through the empty lock-boxes in the treasure room. And so Mystarria had been attacked on a dozen fronts, like a great bull taken down by jackals that ripped it apart and gorged themselves while leaving their prey still only half alive. Its treasuries had been looted, its towers knocked down, its farms and cities burned, its lands divided. The Warlords of Internook held the coast, while Beldinook took the east, and Crowthen to the north split the rest. Frankly, after the rapes, the looting, and the murder, Fallion did not see that there was much of a country left worth fighting over. <\/p>\n

\t He eyed the remains of Castle Coorm, dully surprised to see it still intact. The towers of the castle stood, but dark stands of ivy grew up them, looking like rents in the darkness. The eastern-most walls were a decrepit gray, most of the lime having washed away after years of winter storms. A lone bullfrog bellowed amid the placid reeds of the moat. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion held to the shadows. He wore a gray half-cape, fastened with a silver cape pin in the form of an owl, long black hair sweeping back over his shoulders, brown eyes so full of light that they seemed a perfect mirror for the distant fires. A naked blade gleamed silver in his hand. He studied the fires, and for an instant an image came to mind of a vast rune made of flames, encircled by flames\u2014The Seal of the Inferno. It had been almost three years ago that he had first seen it in a dream while staring into the hearth after a midwinter\u2019s dinner. Since then he had begun practicing his skills as a flameweaver, listening to the many tongues of fire, seeking inspiration in sunlight. He knew which direction the seal lay, deep in the Underworld. The wheel of fire haunted him, came to mind a hundred times a day. He could not so much as glance at the sun or even a silver moon without seeing the afterimage of the rune imprinted on his retina. <\/p>\n

\t He had crossed the oceans to find it. Just a couple hundred more miles now, and he would descend into the Mouth of the World, hoping to locate the Seal of the Inferno and repair the damage to it. By mending its defects and binding it to the Seal of Heaven and the Seal of Earth, he hoped to restore balance to the world, to remake it in the perfect image of the One True World of legend. Behind him came Rhianna, following so close at Fallion\u2019s back that she touched him. Her fierce blue eyes looked troubled, and she clung to her quarterstaff as if she was lost at sea and it was the only thing that might save her from drowning. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI remember this place,\u201d she said, her voice shaky. \u201cI remember\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n

\t She placed a hand on Fallion\u2019s shoulder and just stood. Her flawless face was white with shock, a grimace of pain formed by the slash of her lips. <\/p>\n

\t For nearly a decade, Rhianna had blocked out her memories of this place. But now, Fallion could see, they threatened to overwhelm her. <\/p>\n

\t At her back stood Fallion\u2019s younger brother, Jaz, followed by their foster sister, Talon. Jaz carried a war bow carved from ruddy red reaver\u2019s horn. Talon bore a light saber that some dainty gentleman might have worn for a night on the town, but in her practiced hands, the blade would never be confused for a mere adornment. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat do you remember?\u201d Fallion asked Rhianna. <\/p>\n

\t Rhianna\u2019s brows drew together in concentration; she recalled racing down a mountain on a force horse that had been richly endowed with runes of brawn and metabolism. Fallion sat in the saddle ahead of her, and she clung to him for dear life. Even then she realized that she was falling in love with him. She remembered thinking him strong and handsome, and she prayed that he would be able to save her. They must have been traveling at eighty miles per hour, for the pines at the margin of the road seemed to fly past. Her heart pounded as if trying to beat its way out of her chest, and in her young mind, she could not imagine that she would live until she reached the castle. Her stomach had ached, and she worried that something was eating her. A strengi-saat had placed its eggs in her womb to hatch, and the young were eating their way out. She remembered it all. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWe were being chased by monsters,\u201d Rhianna said, suddenly planting her staff firmly in the ground. She had been a child back then, with a child\u2019s fears. But for years she had been practicing with weapons, and she was growing dangerous. The staff that she bore now was bejeweled and covered in runes. It had once belonged to the Earth King himself. She grimaced. \u201cNow we\u2019re back, and we\u2019re<\/span> the monsters.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Jaz laughed. He always seemed to be light of heart lately. Rhianna had come on this journey because she loved Fallion, because she would throw herself in death\u2019s path to protect him. But Jaz had come because, as he\u2019d said, \u201cI\u2019ve been following him around since I could crawl. I don\u2019t see why I should stop now.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Jaz said, \u201cI was sure we\u2019d blundered past this place ten leagues back. And look, there are people<\/span> inside. You think if we beg nicely, they\u2019d part with a mug of ale?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Jaz sat down and tried pulling off a boot. It had mud inside and came free with a sucking sound. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cPeople will do astonishing things for money,\u201d Fallion said, \u201ceven part with perfectly good ale.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t He turned back to the castle. The long war had taken its toll. A village had once thrived on the hill below, a place named Weeds. A few dozen cozy mud-and-wattle cottages had grown up here with roofs thatched from wheat straw. As a child, Fallion had imagined that they were living things, lounging among the herb and flower gardens, partitioned with rock walls. The homes had been shaded in the long summer by fruit trees. <\/p>\n

\t He regarded the ruins of a cottage on a knoll, and suddenly had a memory from when he was a child of three. In it, his father had come home from his wanderings, and had taken him out into the village among the crowds. Fallion had ridden on his father\u2019s shoulder, until his father stopped beneath a cherry tree on the knoll. There, Fallion pulled the red cherries from the tree, and they were so ripe that they burst at his touch, and juice ran thick down his fingers. He licked it off and picked his fill, all the while begriming his father, he was sure now. <\/p>\n

\t But his father had only laughed with delight. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion remembered riding upon the shoulders of a king, being taller than everyone, looking down upon men that had dwarfed him, wishing that he could be that tall forever. He smiled. It was a good memory, and one of only a handful that he recalled of his father. The journey across the ocean had been worth making just for that. <\/p>\n

\t But no cottages graced the fields anymore. Nothing was left but burned-out remains: their rocky husks down in the distance looked like dead beetles. <\/p>\n

\t The folk in the castle had probably burned the houses so that the monsters would not be able to hide in them. Strengi-saats<\/span>, the enemy was called in the old tongue, the \u201cstrong ones.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t And it was rumored that worse things had begun to haunt the woods. It was rumored that one of them might even haunt Castle Coorm. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cCastle Coorm has become an island, a refuge of stone besieged by a wilderness of trees,\u201d Fallion mused. \u201cNow there\u2019s not a hamlet within thirty leagues.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWe should know,\u201d Talon groused. \u201cWe just floundered through every bog between here and the Courts of Tide.\u201d She crouched, resting on her heels. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion was more leg-sore and hungry than he had ever been. Worse, he had a bad cut on his calf. It wasn\u2019t much, but the smell of congealed blood drew strengi-saats. <\/p>\n

\t He wasn\u2019t sure if he should try to rest here. He had heard a strange rumor of this place, the strangest that he\u2019d heard in his life. It was said that several years past, a woman of Coorm had given birth not to a child, but to a tree\u2014a short, stunted tree with a handful of roots and two gnarled limbs. The tree, it was said, had bark that was a ruddy gold. Fallion wondered at the tale. It was said that the woman\u2019s flesh was green, like one of the wizardborn filled with Earth Powers, and some speculated that her offspring was a \u201cWorld Tree,\u201d like the One True Oak of legend that had spread its branches wide, giving shelter to all of mankind at the beginning of creation. <\/p>\n

\t Among the peasants, the idea of a woman giving birth to a World Tree somehow did not seem beyond the realm of possibility. After all, since the coming of the Earth King, Fallion\u2019s father, the world had changed. The children born after his coming were stronger than men in times past, wiser and more purposeful, even as the world around them grew stranger and more treacherous. Men were becoming more perfect. <\/p>\n

\t So was evil. <\/p>\n

\t The tree, so the tale went, had been planted in the castle green, where it could be protected and admired, but then a bandit came from the woods, Lord Hale, a man of great power. It was said that he slaughtered the wizardess. <\/p>\n

\t Many had fled from Coorm then, and for years now, there had been no news from the castle. Suddenly, a woman screamed down below. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d Jaz asked. He pulled on his boot, leapt up. It was not the drawn-out wail of someone grieving past loss. It was announced first by grunts and short yelps of pain, shrieks of terror. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSomeone is fighting,\u201d Fallion said. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSomeone is dying!\u201d Rhianna corrected. <\/p>\n

\t From across the fields, at the eastern verge of the woods, a deep snarl erupted, like the sound of thunder on the horizon, followed by the strange bell-like cry of a strengi-saat. In the woods just up the hill, a pair of crows suddenly cried out, \u201cClaw, claw, claw.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion glanced up. The woods here and been burned back, blackening the great oaks, searing away the brush, leaving the strengi-saats fewer places to hide, Fallion speculated. Up in the nearby trees, he spotted the crows. The birds were half asleep, but they watched the castle as if it were the sprawling carcass of a dying giant. <\/p>\n

\t The woman screamed again, her voice echoing from the castle walls. Fallion, willed his heart to slow, and listened. <\/p>\n

\t The sounds of the scuffle at Coorm came to him with unnatural clarity, as often happened in the mountains on a clear morning. <\/p>\n

\t He wished for more, half-wished that he had taken endowments of hearing or sight from others. Some had offered when he left\u2014the children that had served under him in the Gwardeen, there in the outposts at the Ends of the Earth. But he had declined. It was an evil thing to take an endowment from a man, for if a man gave you his strength, his heart might fail thereafter. Fallion could not bear the thought of using another person that way. Still, he had nearly three hundred forcibles in his pack as part of his inheritance, and if the need was great enough, he knew that someday he might yet have to take endowments. There was a gruff cry, a man shouting, \u201cDamn the wench,\u201d followed by a smack, the sound of a fist pummeling a face. \u201cShe bit me.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The woman\u2019s wail went silent, though she grunted and struggled still. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cOpen the gates!\u201d the attacker cried in his deep voice. \u201cOpen the damned gates, will you?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t In the hills, strengi-saats roared. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThey\u2019re going to give a woman to the strengi-saats,\u201d Rhianna whispered. The thought horrified her. She found her heart pounding so hard that she was afraid it would burst. The strengi-saats wouldn\u2019t simply eat the woman. Though they were fierce carnivores, with claws like reaping hooks and teeth like scythes, they didn\u2019t simply rend one\u2019s flesh. No, one of the females would rape the woman, inserting a long ovipositor into the woman\u2019s womb so that it could incubate half a dozen leathery eggs. <\/p>\n

\t Then the strengi-saat would drag the woman into the woods, hide her high among the limbs of a tree, and keep her, terrified but alive, until the eggs hatched, and the young ate their way from the woman\u2019s body. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cFools,\u201d Fallion growled. \u201cWhat are they thinking? In killing her this way, they only reinforce the numbers of their enemies.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSomething more heinous is going on here,\u201d Talon concluded. \u201cPerhaps that is what they want\u2014to increase the numbers of the strengi-saats.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The castle\u2019s gate began to creak open. Talon clutched her blade, which was as long as her arm and two fingers in width. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion studied the sentries along the wall. He could see their shadowed forms, pacing. There were no more than half a dozen. Two were peering down inside the gates, watching whatever struggle was occurring, but the others showed better judgment, and kept their watch still. The castle gate swung out, and a pair of burly guards in chain mail and helms dragged the woman outside, hurled her to the ground. The guards turned, trudged back into the castle, and slammed the gate. Fallion could see a tangle of blond hair on the woman, a white night dress ripped and dirty. She cried in terror and tried to pull her torn dress up, covering her breasts. <\/p>\n

\t She looked forlornly at the gate, went and pounded on it. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cBetter run, lass,\u201d one guard shouted from the wall. \u201cIn ten seconds, our archers open fire.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t She peered across the darkened fields. There was no shelter out there, only the ruins of a few cottages. An arrow bounced off the ground at her bare feet, and then another. She leapt away from them, gathered her courage, picked up her skirt, and took off running. <\/p>\n

\t West. She was heading west, toward a tall hill where a lip of woods protruded closest to the castle. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cNot that way, silly wench,\u201d Rhianna hissed. <\/p>\n

\t From the western hill, a strengi-saat raised a barking call, one that Rhianna recognized as a hunting cry. The woman stopped in her tracks, spun, and headed east, closer to Rhianna\u2019s direction, racing along a muddy track that looked black among the fields. <\/p>\n

\t Rhianna saw where it would reach the woods, just two hundred yards to the north. With any luck, Rhianna thought, I could meet her there. <\/p>\n

\t But it would be a race, with the strengi-saats hot on the woman\u2019s trail. Rhianna leapt forward, racing through the dark woods. <\/p>\n

\t We\u2019ll have to fight them, Fallion realized, chasing after Rhianna, leaping over a fallen tree, running through a patch of ashes. The morning air was wet and full of dew, thick in his nostrils, muting the biting tang of old ash. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion pumped his legs, driving hard. <\/p>\n

\t In a more perfect world, he thought, a rescuer could run with infinite swiftness. As he raced, crows came awake, squawking and taking flight in the night air, black wings raking the sky. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThe strengi-saats are coming!\u201d Jaz warned, as he and Talon raced up behind Fallion. Out across the field, several large, nebulous shadows moved in from the east. Fallion could not see what lay within them. The strengi-saats drew in the light, deepening the darkness all about them. In the night, in the woods or upon a lonely street, so long as they remained still they would stay hidden, camouflaged among their shadows. But running across the fields, their strange ability did them little good. True, their forms remained indistinct, but their presence was easily detected. <\/p>\n

\t The woman reached the woods just ahead of Rhianna, then halted and dropped to her hands and knees, gasping for breath, looking up to peer about in wide-eyed terror. She glanced in Fallion\u2019s direction but seemed not to see him. It was not until Rhianna\u2019s boot snapped a twig that the woman leapt in terror, rising up with a small branch as her only weapon. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cDon\u2019t be afraid,\u201d Rhianna whispered. \u201cWe\u2019re friends.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Rhianna turned and took a guard position, peering among the trees, her staff at the ready. The young woman stood staring at them all, holding her stick out like a rapier. Apparently she could not believe that anyone would be out here in the forest by night, among the strengi-saats. \u201cWho are you?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion peered hard. The woman looked to be eighteen or nineteen, a little younger than he. Her face was familiar. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cTen years is a long time,\u201d Jaz offered. \u201cBut not long enough so that I would forget your name, Farion. Your father was a good teacher.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Farion stood rooted to the ground, shaking. \u201cJaz?\u201d she said, incredulous, then looked to Fallion. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cMilord?\u201d she cried, dropping to one knee. Tears began to flow freely down her face. \u201cI\u2014we thought you dead. I thought you had died ages ago.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWe\u2019re sorry to have left,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cOur enemies were too numerous to fight. It had to look as if we were dead.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHave you come to take back Castle Coorm? Where\u2019s your army?\u201d she looked back into the woods, as if hoping that thousands of runelords marched at his back. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThere is no army but the four of us,\u201d Fallion admitted. <\/p>\n

\t The words seemed to break Farion\u2019s heart. She sagged to the ground, as if all hope were lost, and just began to sob. Nearby, Fallion heard the rumbling growl of a strengi-saat. Dawn was still minutes away, but it was dark here in the woods. He knew that a fire would keep the monsters at bay. It would also alert the soldiers at Castle Coorm to his presence. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAll is lost then,\u201d Farion muttered. \u201cAll is lost.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cNot all,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cI\u2019ll gather an army soon.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Farion shook her head. \u201cLord Hale tried to force me to his bed. I fought him, and he threw me out, as an example to the others. I\u2019m afraid\u2026he\u2019ll make an example of my sister. She is only thirteen.\u201d She looked forlornly to each side of the woods. Then she peered up into Fallion\u2019s eyes. \u201cPlease, she\u2019s all that I have left.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cDamn,\u201d Jaz swore, looking to Fallion, urging Fallion to fight. He added hopefully, \u201cThe men on the walls have ashen bows. Mine has a farther reach.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSo,\u201d Fallion said, \u201cyou\u2019ll fire on the guards while I batter down the gate? I think your jokes are getting better.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The group had not planned to stop at Coorm. They had more urgent business farther on. Now they had to stop, Rhianna realized. They couldn\u2019t leave these women to suffer. A woman alone might live a night or two here in the woods, but the strengi-saats would get her in time. Rhianna knew by the look on Jaz\u2019s face that live or die, he would not leave Castle Coorm without a fight. But Fallion seemed reticent. <\/p>\n

\t What\u2019s wrong with you? Rhianna wondered. We both know what it\u2019s like to be children, to be held in the clutches of an enemy. Don\u2019t you dare walk away from this, Fallion. If you do, I will stop loving you. But Fallion looked to the west longingly, unsure. <\/p>\n

\t He wants to mend the earth, Rhianna thought. The need presses him, and it breaks his heart to hold back, even for a worthy cause. He must weigh the risk that many might die during the time that is lost against the certainty that this one will<\/span> die. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAll right,\u201d Fallion said at last. \u201cI\u2019ll free your city. But afterward, we will have to redouble our speed.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Relief flooded through Rhianna. I\u2019m right to love him, she thought. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion kicked some leaves into a pile, knelt over it, and sparked some flint against the hilt of his sword. The leaves were dry in midsummer and caught fire instantly. If Farion thought it strange that they took fire so fast, it did not show in her face. Only relief was revealed there. In moments a fierce little blaze was going. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIs your father well?\u201d Fallion asked. \u201cI have often missed his counsel.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHis Dedicates were killed years back,\u201d Farion said. \u201cHe lost his wit, his stamina, his metabolism. All of the lore that he once knew, it\u2019s all gone. For a while, Lord Hale made him his fool, but now he is little more than a simpleton for me to care for. He fetches wood and can feed the cats, but he\u2019s no use for aught else.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion grieved silently. In all of the realm there had not been a man who loved learning half as much as her father, Hearthmaster Waggit. Among the many ruins that Fallion had encountered in the week since his return to Mystarria, this one seemed to sadden him the most. <\/p>\n

\t He peered into the flames for a long moment, and the Seal of the Inferno appeared, like a burning wheel, imprinted upon his retina. He pulled a log onto the fire. The dancing flames seemed to beckon him. Off to his left a shadow moved, perhaps thirty paces from the fire. A strengi-saat. He peered in its direction, and the shadows thickened. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cJaz,\u201d Fallion warned. He picked up a stick from the fire and hurled it toward the shadow. The twig flipped end over end, hit something and blazed bright, revealing the strengi-saat. It was a large one, perhaps eighteen feet from nose to tail, but had looked smaller as it bellied low to the ground. Its jaws were wide enough to carry a man whole, and its head was leathery and seemed to have scales instead of fur like that found on its back and belly. Ugly black hide stretched over a face as naked as a buzzard\u2019s. It had no ears, only tympanums, round membranes the size of plates, just behind its enormous eyes. It whirled to race away. <\/p>\n

\t Jaz fired. The arrow plocked<\/span> into the monster\u2019s chest, skewering a lung. Black blood gushed out in a fountain as the strengi-saat roared and began rolling among the pine needles. Rhianna shouted and rushed toward it, her staff at the ready, and the monster leapt away, hoping to escape. It lunged off into the shadows, leaving Rhianna far behind. Fallion knew that it would only find a quiet place to die. The sun had not yet risen, but the sky was growing light. In a moment, the bright disk would rise and hang like a shield upon the shoulder of the world. Fallion warmed his hands by the fire, let its energy seep into him for a few moments longer. <\/p>\n

\t For the past year, he had been seeking to master the flameweavers\u2019 arts in earnest. He could feel the energy building inside him, a hidden inferno. When he judged that he could hold no more, he abruptly stood and announced, \u201cLet\u2019s go deal with this Lord Hale.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Far above Fallion a star shone so dimly that it could not be seen, a light so distant that even upon<\/span> the darkest of nights it was only a hazy malformed speck in the vastness of space, unremarkable,<\/span> unknown. Fallion had never seen the star, for only those with many endowments of sight could<\/span> discern it. He had never gazed up from a meadow at night and wondered whether worlds spun in<\/span> lazy circles about it. He had never dreamt that it might harbor people similar to his.<\/span> Yet upon that world a young man, not entirely human in form, faced challenges of his own\u2026.<\/span> 2<\/span><\/p>\n

UPON A FAR WORLD<\/span><\/p>\n

When the great Rune of Creation was shattered, the One True World shattered with it into a<\/span> million million Shadow Worlds, each a distortion of the perfect whole, each diminished.<\/span> Do men even exist on such worlds? I used to ask. I believed that they must, at least on some of<\/span> those worlds, for the Bright Ones dwelt upon the One True World, and we are but shadows of<\/span> them. <\/span><\/p>\n

How many times had I wondered if upon one of those shadow worlds there was another me, a<\/span> twisted mockery of what I am, or a shining example of what I might yet become.<\/span> If I were to walk upon such a world, I wondered, and happen upon my shadow self, would I even<\/span> recognize myself? <\/span><\/p>\n

But never did I guess that it would happen in my lifetime. I do not blame Fallion for what he did.<\/span> None of us could ever have guessed the terrible consequences of what would come. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014the Wizard Binnesman<\/span><\/p>\n

\t The Great War was finally near an end, and mankind had lost. <\/p>\n

\t The castle at Caer Luciare was now a last and lonely refuge perched on the sides of a mount. The forbidding wastes below were a rocky tumult. To the north, west and east, the ruins of ancient cities climbed above the scree. The vast oaks that had once refreshed this land were gone, tree and acorn, razed during battles with the wyrmlings, and now the fields boasted little but boulders, weeds, and thistles. Only in a few distant fens could green still be seen. <\/p>\n

\t Refugees had swelled Caer Luciare\u2019s numbers to more than thirty-eight thousand. The High King himself had come after the fall of Gonart, and the Light of Dalharristan had resorted here with his family now for six years. And this past month alone, four hundred good Kartoche warriors with skin whiter than bone had journeyed north to take refuge among Caer Luciare\u2019s ranks. <\/p>\n

\t Everyone said that the warlords were preparing for some fierce assault against the evil that dwelt in the north, at Rugassa. <\/p>\n

\t Had you been walking the tower at Caer Luciare that morning, you might have seen Alun, a young man of nineteen who still seemed far more a boy than a man, down on the green outside the gates amid a swarm of dogs. The hounds around him bayed excitedly at the promise of the hunt, while mastiffs woofed. <\/p>\n

\t Alun knelt with his neck and back bent like a willow frond as he groomed an old hound. Alun was a gangrel, he was, with a crooked nose, stick-like arms, and a head and hands that were too meaty for his body. His leather trousers and red wool tunic were matted with hair and smelled of dog. The dogs looked fierce in their masks and cuirasses of boiled leather, their wicked collars bristling with spikes. Yet the nubs of their tails wagged furiously, belying their fierce appearance. Their tails wagged despite the fact that some of the dogs knew that they would die in this day as the warriors scoured the forest, hunting for wyrmling \u201charvesters.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t There weren\u2019t enough dogs for the hunt, Alun knew, not enough healthy ones. He had others in the kennels, limping on mangled paws or with bellies ripped open; right now he was preparing to send Wanderlust into the fray. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat do you say, love?\u201d Alun asked the hound as he combed. He wanted her to look nice, in case she died today. <\/p>\n

\t Wanderlust was old. The black hair on her snout had gone gray. Her joints were swollen, and as Alun held her muzzle, peered into her loving brown eyes, and strapped on a fighting collar, she barely managed a slow wag of her tail, as if to say, \u201cAnother battle? I\u2019m so weary, but I will go.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t At first glance, she didn\u2019t look like much of a dog. But Wanderlust was more than a common hound. Her mother was a sand hound, a breed so named for its sandy color, renowned for its good nose. But her father was a brute, descended from three strains of war dog. Wanderlust was almost as large as a mastiff, and she had a warrior\u2019s heart. Even in old age, if she smelled a wyrmling, she would be first to the fray. <\/p>\n

\t Alun put on Wanderlust\u2019s mask, as red as a bloodied skull. He had fashioned it himself, and it reminded him that all too soon there be nothing left of her but a skull. If the wyrmlings didn\u2019t get her, age would. A hound named Thunder rushed up and bayed in Alun\u2019s face. Alun gave Thunder a stern look, warned him to go sit, then Alun twisted over to dig in his big rucksack for Wanderlust\u2019s cuirass. A shadow fell over Alun; he looked up. Warlord Madoc stood above him, a tall man in his forties, astonishingly big-boned and broad at the chest. He was a powerful man, as relentlessly bred for war as any of the dogs in Alun\u2019s care. His bald head was painted in a red war mask, though he had not yet donned his armor. At his back were his twin sons, Connor and Drewish, both eighteen, in masks of blue. Alun drew back reflexively, for Drewish had often kicked him. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cG\u2019day, milord,\u201d Alun said. \u201cNice day for a hunt.\u201d He nodded toward the wastes. The rising sun sprang above the fog-shrouded vales, staining the mist in shades of rose. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cFagh! I grow weary of hunts,\u201d Madoc groused, his tone equally full of fatigue and disgust. He nodded at Wanderlust. \u201cSending the old bitch out?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAye, milord.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Warlord Madoc grew thoughtful. \u201cYou\u2019re grooming her for her burial. She deserves such honor. But I have a more vital task for her today\u2014and for you, I think.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cMilord?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cMaster Finnes tells me that your dog has a nose so strong that she can track the trail of a quail a day after it has taken to air\u2014even if it flies over open water.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cTrue enough,\u201d Alun said, his heart suddenly pumping, excited to hear that Wanderlust might get a reprieve. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThen, I need you to track\u2026 someone. <\/span>\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Alun wondered whom. He had not heard of any criminals that had escaped the dungeons or highwaymen hiding in the wastes. No one dared stray outside the castle these days. \u201cWho, milord?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSwear on your eyes and your hands that you won\u2019t tell?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t That was a serious oath. If Alun broke it, Warlord Madoc would require his eyes and hands as payment. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2019ll nay tell nobody.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI want you to track Daylan Hammer.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cMilord?\u201d Alun asked, surprised. Daylan Hammer was a hero. No, he was more than a hero, he was a legend, not some common criminal to be hunted and spied upon. Tales of his exploits stretched back for centuries. It was said that he was immortal, that in his youth he had traveled to another world, where he had drunk a potion that somehow let him cheat death. Some thought that he might even be from another world. He could not be killed, yet he had a habit of disappearing for decades on end, then showing up again. He had come to Caer Luciare last summer, at the end of the month of Wheat, and had been wintering all season. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou heard aright,\u201d Madoc said. \u201cDaylan Hammer has a habit of abandoning the hunt, taking off into the wastes alone. There is a pattern to it. If I\u2019m right, he\u2019ll leave the hunt today. I suspect him of foul deeds. I need to know where he goes.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Alun must have looked worried. At the very least, he did not know how to answer. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAre you up to the task?\u201d Madoc demanded. \u201cWould you risk the wastes alone, with nothing but that dog?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2019m\u2014not afraid,\u201d Alun said. \u201cWanderlust will warn me if there is any danger about.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cDo this for me,\u201d Madoc said, \u201cand I\u2019ll make you Master of the Hounds\u2026.\u201d He fell silent, letting this sink in. \u201cWith the title comes your freedom and a grant of all of the rights owed to a warrior of the clan\u2026.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Alun\u2019s jaw dropped in astonishment. He and his ancestors had lived as serfs for generations. They were the most ill-bred of mankind\u2014the servant caste\u2014made slaves by nature. As a child, Alun had often been told that warlord Madoc would geld him when he got older so that he wouldn\u2019t pollute the blood lines. Alun had never dared to dream of rising above his fate. <\/p>\n

\t But as a warrior of the clan, he would gain the right to own property. He would someday be able to buy himself a fine house instead of sleeping in the kennels among the dogs. He would eat at the warlord\u2019s table and drink the warlord\u2019s wine, instead of eating scraps. He would be eligible to marry a fine woman, a warlord\u2019s daughter. \u201cMaster Finnes is growing old,\u201d Madoc explained. \u201cHe tells me that you know dogs as well as any man alive, and you will be a great service to the clan. You are ready to move up in this world.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Alun listened, but worried. Compliments, he found, were like grease on an axle. When applied liberally, they will speed one along on a journey\u2014but soon wear out. <\/p>\n

\t Madoc was offering too much for this one small act of service. There was more going on here than Madoc let on. At his back, Drewish only leered. <\/p>\n

\t Madoc is afraid to his send his own sons to spy on Daylan Hammer, Alun realized. This game is more dangerous than it appears. It\u2019s not just the wyrmlings I have to fear\u2014it\u2019s Daylan himself. If he\u2019s involved in some plot, he might kill to cover it up. That\u2019s what Madoc fears. That\u2019s what he suspects. Indeed, Sir Croft had died under suspicious circumstances on the hunt some four weeks past, off on the trail alone. Now that Alun thought of it, hadn\u2019t someone said that Croft had gone out to search for Daylan Hammer? <\/p>\n

\t But at the time, Alun hadn\u2019t given that a second thought. He\u2019d imagined that Croft was slain by a wyrmling before he found the immortal. <\/p>\n

\t Daylan Hammer seemed to be a virtuous man, wise and brave. He was as handy with a joke or a song as he was with a bow\u2014and after centuries of practice, no one was handier with a bow. Everyone admired him. He was\u2026the kind of lord that Madoc could never hope to be. Is Madoc\u2019s jealousy clouding his judgment? Alun wondered. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou suspect him of Croft\u2019s death,\u201d Alun said. <\/p>\n

\t Wanderlust inched forward, pressing her muzzle into Alun\u2019s chest, reminding him that she needed her cuirass. Up at the castle gate, hooves thundered on the drawbridge as a pair of warriors issued forth, and in the fields below the castle, a murder of crows began to caw and fly up out of a field of oats. Madoc grinned. \u201cSmart lad,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s more to you than meets the eye. I suspect him of murder, and more. If he is the traitor that I think he is, I\u2019ll tie his hands behind his back and let the headsman take a few swings at him.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Drewish laughed, \u201cThen we\u2019ll find out just how immortal he really is.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t If I follow Daylan Hammer and find something to accuse him of, what then? Alun wondered. If Madoc succeeds in taking vengeance, for the rest of time people will remember me as the man who betrayed Daylan Hammer. <\/p>\n

\t Madoc seemed almost to read his mind. \u201cIt is possible,\u201d he said, \u201cthat Daylan Hammer is as fair as he seems. But I have found that it is a rare man who can really be trusted. Every man\u2019s hand seeks his brother\u2019s purse, especially in days like these. And if Daylan Hammer sees some advantage in betraying us\u2026<\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2019d send a warrior again, or Connor or Drewish, but you have a chance to succeed where they would fail. If Daylan catches you, you can tell him that you were out hunting for a lost dog. That is, after all, your lot in life, and it would sound feasible that you would go out and hunt for an animal that you love.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI think\u2026\u201d Alun said, \u201cthat Daylan Hammer is a good man.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cGood to who?\u201d Madoc asked. \u201cIs he loyal to this kingdom? Of course not. He was born before it was, and it will fade and die long before he does. We are like dreams to him that come vividly in the night and just as soon vanish. I make plans for my lands. My serfs know that we will plant barley in the field for three years, and let it lie fallow for two. But think how Daylan Hammer must scheme. What does he plan for these lands in a hundred years, or a thousand, or in ten thousand? <\/p>\n

\t \u201cMore to the point, what will he do to bring those plans to bear? Will you and I suffer for it?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Alun grunted thoughtfully, stroked Wanderlust on the back. Most likely, he would find that Daylan was guilty of nothing, and by humoring Warlord Madoc, Alun would earn his gratitude. But if Alun discovered anything of import\u2026he\u2019d be well rewarded. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2019ll do it, milord,\u201d Alun said. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t As Warlord Madoc and his sons strode across the greens well out of earshot, Drewish asked his father, <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t really grant him clan rights, would you? Mother thinks he should be gelded. He\u2019s more of a cur than any of the dogs that he sleeps with.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2019ll keep my end of the bargain,\u201d Madoc said. \u201cI must prove to my people that my word is good. Let him marry a warrior\u2019s daughter, if he can find one who will sleep with him. We\u2019ll send him and his offspring to the head of every battle.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat if Daylan discovers what we\u2019re up to?\u201d Drewish asked. \u201cHe is a persuasive man. Alun would gladly follow him, I think, right into a kezziard\u2019s maw, if the old man asked it of him.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWe can trust Alun,\u201d Warlord Madoc said. \u201cDaylan Hammer has no coin to buy the lad, and we\u2019re offering him\u2026more than he could ever dream. He\u2019ll betray Daylan Hammer.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHow can you be sure?\u201d Drewish asked. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHis dogs,\u201d Madoc replied. \u201cEvery day, Alun sends them to their deaths, betraying those that love him best. He\u2019s grown adept at betrayal.\u201d <\/p>\n

3<\/span><\/p>\n

A WARM RECEPTION<\/span><\/p>\n

In my dreams, it was always the same. I stood in the underworld, and a great wheel of fire was<\/span> emblazoned before my eyes, the Seal of the Inferno. <\/span><\/p>\n

There were other Seals, the Seal of Heaven, the Seal of Earth\u2014but those were already mended, or<\/span> at least, were far along the path. <\/span><\/p>\n

I stared into the rune. To a commoner it would have looked only like a bowl of fire, tongues of<\/span> flame in greens and reds and blues, sputtering aimlessly. But to my eyes, I read purpose and<\/span> meaning in those flames. They whispered to me, telling me their secrets. And I watched how they<\/span> subsided and reappeared in patterns that could not have been random, and I began to understand.<\/span> The pain of the world, its despair and torment, was written in those flames. They were bent and<\/span> tainted, cruel and deformed. I knew that with only the smallest changes, the slightest of twists, I<\/span> could fix them. And in mending them, I would mend the world. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014from the journal of Fallion Orden<\/span><\/p>\n

\t Fallion strode purposefully down the rutted road toward the gates of Castle Coorm. The sun was rising now, a brilliant gold rim of light on the horizon and not a cloud in the sky. Behind him, the others followed. <\/p>\n

\t Each of them bore a torch, though Fallion made sure that his burned the brightest. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cTorch-bearer.\u201d That was Fallion\u2019s name among the flameweavers. Somehow, as he bore the torch toward the castle, he wondered if it was only descriptive, or if it was prophetic. The castle gate was closed, the drawbridge had been raised again. Fallion could see a pair of mallards grabbling in the serene waters of the moat, splashing and preening, while their chicks bobbed about in their wake. But whenever he looked to the drawbridge, he suddenly had a flash of light that pierced his eye, and he saw the Seal of the Inferno, burning inside a ring of fire. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cLook,\u201d Jaz muttered. \u201cThere\u2019s the old rock where I used to hunt for that bullfrog. Do you think it\u2019s still there?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion glanced at the rock, there at the side of the moat, with rushes growing up around it. He smiled at the memory. \u201cGo and see, if you want.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Jaz laughed. \u201cHey, can rocks shrink? This whole castle seems much smaller than it used to be.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The guards atop the castle wall had taken notice of them, raising their bows and nocking arrows, crouching between the merlons atop the castle wall. There were eight archers. One guard raced down into the depths of the castle. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion marched right up to the edge of the moat, where he and his brother had fished as children. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThat will be far enough!\u201d a guard shouted dangerously from the wall. \u201cState your name and business.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cMy name is my own affair,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cI have come to challenge Lord Hale to personal combat, to avenge the honor of this girl, the Lady Farion\u2014and to avenge the honor of the land of Mystarria.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion heard a gruff laugh and the sound of heavy boots pounding up wooden stairs in the gate tower, just to his left. Lord Hale did not come swiftly. He came in a measured pace, ponderously, thump, thud, thump. By the creaking of wooden steps, Fallion could tell that he must be a hill of a man. But when Lord Hale appeared, leering down over the battlements, Fallion was not sure that he was a man at all. <\/p>\n

\t Lord Hale was huge, nearly seven feet tall and four feet wide at the shoulder. There was no beauty or grace in him. His flaccid jowls were so pale that he might never have spent a day in the sun, and his silver eyes were lifeless and hollow, like pits gouged in ice. He was bald on top, with a circlet of long greasy hair that covered his ears. It seemed to be silver on the ends, but looked almost as if it were rotting at the roots, like a tuft of cotton that has festered in its boll through the winter. But it wasn\u2019t just the man\u2019s hair that seemed to be rotting. There were blotches on his forehead, yellow fungal growths layered over a patch of dirty warts. <\/p>\n

\t He was toad of a man, a festering toad, dying from cankers. <\/p>\n

\t And then there was his expression, his manner. He leaned his fat elbows upon a merlon and peered down upon Fallion with a superior air, and there was such malevolent intent lined upon every inch of his face, that Fallion had seldom seen the like. <\/p>\n

\t It isn\u2019t just his hair that is rotting, Fallion thought. It is all of him. The evil in him is so strong, it\u2019s rotting him away. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion peered at him, through him. He could detect no locus in the man\u2019s soul, no festering evil from the netherworld. But Fallion had learned that not all evil men harbored the parasites. Greed and stupidity alone accounted for much evil in the world. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI know you,\u201d Hale leered. \u201cI knew you\u2019d come back. I told her, I did. I says to Shadoath, \u2018Let me watch the castle here. They always come back.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\t So, Fallion realized, the man worked for Fallion\u2019s old enemy. Hale had manned his outpost for years, and even now perhaps was unaware that the war was over and that Shadoath had lost. The very fact that Hale had come with Shadoath though, gave Fallion pause. And briefly Fallion wondered if Shadoath had returned\u2014if the locus had taken a new body. <\/p>\n

\t Perhaps Hale is not human, Fallion thought. Shadoath had brought fallen Bright Ones and golaths with her from the netherworld, along with her strengi-saats. It was possible that Hale was something other than human, some breed of giant. <\/p>\n

\t Hale studied Jaz, Rhianna, and Talon, gave an approving nod. \u201cSo, I knew you\u2019d come back,\u201d he said smugly. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t know you\u2019d come back like salmon\u2014to spawn.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t He burst into a round of crude laughter, and some of the archers on the wall followed suit. He plans to kill us, Fallion knew, but he won\u2019t try it yet. He wants to savor the moment, draw it out. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSo, I remember you,\u201d Hale said. \u201cDo you remember me?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion shook his head. \u201cNo.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWe\u2019ve met before,\u201d Hale said. \u201cI\u2019ll give you a hint. It was on that day you run off.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion remembered. Lord Asgaroth had brought troops to the castle, surrounded it, and then demanded that Fallion\u2019s mother offer up her sons as hostages. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion himself had stood on the wall and given his answer, commanding the archers to open fire. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI remember,\u201d Fallion said, not completely sure. \u201cA fat man on a pony, a giant of a target, rushing off. I remember a fleeting thought, \u2018How could they miss that one!\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Lord Hale roared in glee. Oh how he was savoring the moment. Fallion calculated that in an instant, he would command his troops to fire. <\/p>\n

\t So Fallion took the initiative. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI did not command my men to fire lightly,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cIt is a grave thing to take another\u2019s life, even if it must be done to satisfy justice.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Hale mocked his choice of words. \u201cOh, it is indeed a grave<\/span> thing to take a life. Ain\u2019t it lads?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2019m sorry now that I must take yours,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cI offer you one last chance. Surrender yourself, and I will be lenient.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t It was a sincere offer, but Hale merely grinned patiently and said, \u201cCome and take my life, if you think you can.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion raised his hand, as he had upon that fateful day, and called out to Lord Hale\u2019s troops. These were no men that he recognized from the old days when his family held this castle. These were rogues and bandits that had crawled out of the hills. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou men upon the walls,\u201d Fallion shouted. \u201cI am Fallion Sylvarresta Orden, heir to Gaborn Val Orden, and rightful lord of this realm. I bid you to join in helping restore peace and prosperity to the land.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t He looked toward Lord Hale, and shouted \u201cFire!\u201d as he made a pulling motion with his fist. None of the archers fired upon Warlord Hale. But then Fallion hadn\u2019t expected that they would. Hale laughed in derision, looked right and left toward his archers. At his glance, the men stiffened, drew their bows to the full. His patience was at an end, Fallion could see. He was tired of playing. In apparent resignation, Fallion said, \u201cIf your men won\u2019t obey my command, perhaps the heavens will.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t He raised his hand a second time and shouted \u201cFire!\u201d <\/p>\n

\t He let go of some the energy that had been stored in him, sent it questing behind him, used it to heat the torches so that they all flared up in an instant. <\/p>\n

\t He gathered that heat and sent it racing through the air. The torches sputtered out as a dozen ashen war bows suddenly superheated and burst into flames. The well-oiled strings and the lacquer made perfect fuel. <\/p>\n

\t At that instant, Fallion\u2019s friends scattered, and Fallion drew a wreath of smoke about him, just in case any of the archers had the presence of mind to try to fire one last shot with the flaming bows. A couple did, muttering curses as the arrows flew. But the sudden flames had spoiled their aim, and the worst that happened was that a fiery arrow blurred past Fallion\u2019s shoulder. Lord Hale barely had time to register his surprise. Perhaps he had not seen the unnatural gleam in Fallion\u2019s eye, or perhaps he had not recognized it as the mark of a flameweaver. Too late he saw his mistake. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion reached into the sky, sent his energy out and used it to gather motes of light from the heavens, as if trapping flies within a web. <\/p>\n

\t From horizon to horizon the skies went black. Then he drew the light toward him in a fiery funnel, an infernal tornado that dropped white hot into his palm. <\/p>\n

\t For half an instant, he let the fire build, and then hurled it toward Warlord Hale. The fireball struck, hitting the warlord\u2019s oily skin, his clothes, and Hale shrieked and tried to bat the flames away. But Fallion only intensified them, sent energy streaming into him so that as an outer layer of hair or skin or fat burned, steam rose from the inner layers, drying them until they caught flame too, then the layer below took fire. <\/p>\n

\t It happened quickly, a few seconds at most, but Fallion burned the man, turning him into a fiery pillar of blackened ash and pain. <\/p>\n

\t Only his eyes Fallion left untouched, so that Hale\u2019s men might see the horror in them. Lord Hale flailed about, shrieking, and then just staggered over the wall and dropped into the moat like a meteor, where his carcass sputtered and fumed in the water. <\/p>\n

\t The guards all dove for cover, lest Fallion target one of them next. Cheers arose from the commoners that Lord Hale had kept as his slaves in the castle, and suddenly there was the pounding of feet on stairs as some of them began rushing the guards, intent on taking vengeance for years of abuse. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion and those outside the castle could do little now except wait for the drawbridge to open. He peered at the bridge, and a Seal of the Inferno blossomed in his mind, a fiery wheel, striking him like a blow. <\/p>\n

\t It seems so near, he thought. The seal must be nearer than I imagined. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to clear his vision. There were screams and the clash of arms coming from the castle. He worried for the peasants who were giving their lives in this battle. <\/p>\n

\t He did not like the brutality, but he could not deny the people their well-deserved vengeance. They hunger for it, Fallion thought, and by the Powers, after the horrors that I\u2019ve seen, I\u2019d like my fill of it myself. <\/p>\n

4<\/span><\/p>\n

TAKING COUNCIL AT TWILIGHT<\/span><\/p>\n

Better to die a fair death than to live as a wyrmling. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014a saying in Caer Luciare<\/span><\/p>\n

\t Dogs can talk, Alun knew, and right now, Wanderlust was telling him that she smelled a wyrmling. Oh, a hound doesn\u2019t speak in words, but their bodies can tell you volumes. Wanderlust stood with her muzzle pointed down a dank trail in the deepest shadows of a swamp, growling far back in her throat. Her tail did not wag, as it would if she only smelled a stag or a bear. Instead, her flanks quivered nervously, and the nub of her tail was as steady as a stone. She turned and looked back at him, imploring with her eyes, asking what to do. If the wyrmling had been near, she\u2019d have taken small leaps backward while peering in its direction. No, the trail was hours old. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cLeave it,\u201d Alun whispered, gripping his short spear. \u201cWe\u2019ve got better things to do.\u201d He pointed to Daylan Hammer\u2019s prints in the mud. <\/p>\n

\t After accepting the honor of the hunt, Alun had gone to his room and retrieved his leather boots and a light spear. He took no armor, no heavy steel, sacrificing safety for speed. Daylan Hammer was small, but it was said that he could run with the speed of three men. <\/p>\n

\t Catching the immortal\u2019s scent had not been hard. Alun had simply gone to the barracks where Daylan slept and stuck Wanderlust\u2019s muzzle into his bed. From there, the hound easily tracked him through the woods, even though Daylan rode on horseback. <\/p>\n

\t Alun had to race to keep up all morning, but at no time had Daylan Hammer ever gotten more than two or three hours ahead of him. <\/p>\n

\t As Madoc had predicted, Daylan Hammer had broken off from the hunt early. He\u2019d ridden south of the castle for nearly ten miles, through the rocky Hallow Hills and down into the swamps beneath. Then he\u2019d left his horse when the muck got too thick, and set off on foot. <\/p>\n

\t He was traveling fast. Even in a mire he could outrace a commoner, it seemed, especially one who had to worry about making any noise that might alert his quarry. Alders and willows raised their leafy branches all around, and Alun had to make sure not to step on fallen twigs. <\/p>\n

\t Fortunately, Alun had figured out where Daylan Hammer was going. There was a hill not a mile ahead, a small rise where, in some distant past, the ancients had raised a sand-stone tower. Large images had been carved into the inner walls of the stone\u2014likenesses of six beautiful women; thus it was called the Tower of the Fair Ones. Though the wind and rain had ravaged the outer ramparts, the women were still there today, safe and protected. Legend said that it once had been the home to a wealthy merchant who kept his daughters under strong guard, safe from the attentions of ill-bred suitors In fairer times, it had been a popular retreat for lovers. <\/p>\n

\t Alun hurried along through the brush, with Wanderlust silently urging him on. She had never been one for barking much, and Alun had taught her not to bark at all when on the trail of an outlaw. Because the ground was soft and he did not want Daylan Hammer to know that he was being followed, Alun took his path parallel to the hero\u2019s track. As the ground rose, cover became dense. Blackberry bushes tangled among a few evergreens and fern thickets. The water in the nearby swamps was warm, for much of it came from hot springs and geysers high on Mount Luciare, and was diverted through the castle to heat it, even in winter. Because of this, the plants here had an easy winter, and were larger and lusher than in the valleys nearby. <\/p>\n

\t When Alun finally spotted the old tower rising above the woods, he halted. He was only a hundred yards off, and he could see Daylan Hammer there with his back to Alun. The immortal had leaned a log against the tower, which was only about forty feet high, and now was climbing the log, using it to scale the tower wall. <\/p>\n

\t Alun retreated beneath the low branches of an evergreen for cover and lay in the shadows with one arm resting around Wanderlust to keep her quiet. <\/p>\n

\t Daylan Hammer reached the top. The roof had caved in ages ago, and so the immortal merely balanced upon the narrow rock wall. After a moment, he took off his cape and threw it to the ground, then unsheathed his war hammer and let it fall, too. <\/p>\n

\t He relaxed for a long moment, shook out his auburn hair, and just stood, gazing up toward the sun, as if taking his rest, daydreaming. <\/p>\n

\t Daylan Hammer looked like a young man, perhaps in his mid-twenties. He was short of stature, even among the poorly bred, but of course was dwarfed by those of the warrior caste. He had a weathered face, his beard cut short. But there was agelessness to his blue eyes, as if he had seen far too many horrors and had loved far too often and had grown weary of life. <\/p>\n

\t Alun wondered what the immortal dreamed about. Perhaps, he imagined, Daylan Hammer had been in love with one of the beauties whose image was housed inside. Perhaps he comes here only to mourn her. As minutes stretched into hours, Wanderlust grew bored of the watch, and soon lay in the shadows of the evergreen, snoring. As the sun began to drop toward the horizon, Alun fell to dreaming himself. There was a chance that he could be freed. And he began to think about what that would mean. Wanderlust whimpered in her sleep. Her paws were in the air, and she waved them just a little. Dreaming of the hunt, of rabbits or harts, Alun figured from her smile. <\/p>\n

\t He could understand dogs. Their body language spoke volumes. Not like women. You can look at a pretty lass and never have an idea what she is thinking, if she is thinking at all. Alun didn\u2019t have a lover, had never even kissed a girl. He had once approached Gil the fishmonger and asked for his daughter\u2019s hand in marriage, but the man had laughed in his face. \u201cWhat? An oaf who stinks of dogs wants to marry my daughter what stinks of fish? What malodorous little tadpoles you would spawn!\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The fishmonger\u2019s daughter was nice to look at. She had long brown hair and eyes as solemn as an old hound\u2019s. And she didn\u2019t talk much. That was a fine trait, in Alun\u2019s estimation. He had been teased rudely as a child, and couldn\u2019t bear the presence of gossips or scolds. <\/p>\n

\t Once I become a clansman, he imagined, Gil will bring his daughter by the hand and beg me to marry her. <\/p>\n

\t And what will I say? <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat, you want me to marry your daughter what stinks of fish?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t He\u2019d laugh and turn the man out. <\/p>\n

\t And then I\u2019ll be alone again, he thought. <\/p>\n

\t So if not the fishmonger\u2019s daughter, who will I marry? <\/p>\n

\t There were plenty to choose from\u2014daughters of old warlords who were penniless, daughters of wealthy merchants who would hope to add a title to their fortunes. <\/p>\n

\t Why not marry the best? he wondered. <\/p>\n

\t And suddenly he dared imagine the impossible. <\/p>\n

\t The best. The best would be well bred and wealthy. She would be beautiful to look upon, but she would also be generous and good of heart. She would love him, and not disrespect him for coming from a low breed. <\/p>\n

\t A young woman came to mind. He had never thought of her before, not in that way. Her exalted station had been too far above his. Her name was Siyaddah, and her father was the Emir of Dalharristan. She had spoken to Alun often, for as a young woman she had loved to come to the kennels and play with the new pups, petting them and bringing scraps from the kitchens and bones for the pups to wrestle over. Siyaddah had the brownest eyes, almost as black as her hair. They sparkled when she laughed, and her skin was dark and silky. <\/p>\n

\t She had always treated Alun as more than a slave. She had laughed with him as if he were a friend, and once she even laid her hand upon his arm; highborn women almost never did that. He had wondered if she had feelings for him. <\/p>\n

\t Once my rank is secure, Alun thought, I could ask her father for her hand in marriage. He won\u2019t go for it. But if he said no, what would I have lost? <\/p>\n

\t He strongly doubted that the Emir would say yes. There were rumors that he was saving his daughter, that he hoped to marry her to High King Urstone\u2019s son. <\/p>\n

\t Alun thought, But that will never hap\u2014<\/p>\n

\t A huge shadow fell over him, followed by the pounding of heavy wings. Alun\u2019s heart leapt in his chest. He suddenly felt as a mouse must feel when touched by the shadow of the hawk. He peered up in terror and saw some beast. It wasn\u2019t a drake. This thing had vast translucent wings of palest gold that rippled in the air like sheets moved by the wind. <\/p>\n

\t A wyrmling Seccath! Alun thought, fear rising in his throat. Alun had seen a Seccath only once, nine years ago, when he was but a boy. The High King himself had captured it and brought it to Castle Luciare, where it was stripped of its wings and held prisoner deep in the dungeons, even to this day. The Seccath winged its way straight toward Daylan Hammer, and Alun had the forethought to realize that the immortal had no weapon to protect him. <\/p>\n

\t Just as Alun was about to shout a warning, the Seccath folded its wings and dropped to the tower wall, opposite from Daylan Hammer. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t \u201cWell met,\u201d Daylan Hammer said. <\/p>\n

\t The wyrmling settled onto the wall. She was a pale-eyed woman with blond hair shaved short and with huge bones. Her neck and forehead were tattooed with cruel glyphs, prayers to Lady Despair. There was no beauty in her that Daylan could see, unless one considered that brutality could be considered comely. <\/p>\n

\t Not for the first time, Daylan considered how decency and innocence were inextricably mingled with a human\u2019s concept of beauty. On almost every world he had visited, in any nation, a person whose face was smooth, childlike\u2014innocent, and compassionate\u2014was considered more beautiful than one who was not. Not so among the wyrmlings. <\/p>\n

\t Indeed, it was believed that the wyrmlings\u2019 ancestors had been human, but they had been bred for war over so many generations that they had evolved into something else. So there was an inbred cruelty and wariness to the woman\u2014a rough and hawkish face, a scowl to the mouth, blazing eyes, and a wary stance, as if she only hoped for a chance to gut him. <\/p>\n

\t Her artificial wings folded around her now, making her look as if she were draped in translucent yellow robes. Behind her, the dying sun hung just above the horizon like a bloody eye. The wyrmling peered at Daylan, cold and mocking in her rage. The wyrmlings could not abide light. It pained their eyes and burned their skin. <\/p>\n

\t Humans feared the darkness, and so they had agreed to meet here now, in the half-light. The sight of her sent a shudder through Daylan. Thoughts of compassion, honor, decency\u2014all were alien to her, incomprehensible. The maggot that infected her soul saw to that. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWell met?\u201d she asked, as if trying to make sense of the greeting. \u201cWhy would it be well to meet me? <\/p>\n

\t Your body trembles. It knows the gaze of a predator when it sees it. Yet you think it well to meet me?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Daylan chuckled. \u201cIt is only a common greeting among my people.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIs it?\u201d the wyrmling demanded, as if he lied. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSo,\u201d Daylan said, \u201cyou asked for proof that your princess is still alive.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cCan you name the day she drew her first blood?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t It was a difficult question, Daylan knew. The wyrmlings kept great beasts to use in times of war\u2014the world wyrms. Among wyrmlings, time was measured in \u201crounds\u201d which lasted for three years\u2014the length of time that it took between breeding cycles for a female wyrm. Each day in a round had its own name. Thus, there were over a thousand days in a round, and if Daylan had to lie, he would have had a slim chance of guessing the right day. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cPrincess Kan-hazur says that she drew first blood upon the day of Bitter Moon.\u201d That was all that he needed to say, but he wanted to offer ample proof. \u201cIt was in the two hundred and third year of the reign of the Dread Emperor Zul-torac. She fought in the Vale of Pearls against the he-beast Nezyallah, and broke his neck with her club.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Daylan knew a bit about politics among wyrmlings. As he understood it, the \u201che-beast\u201d was in fact the Princess\u2019s own older brother. He would have been larger and stronger than her, but the princess claimed that her brother was also less violent, and therefore less \u201cable to lead,\u201d by wyrmling standards. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAaaaah,\u201d the wyrmling sighed. \u201cA fine battle it was. Kan-hazur won scars both of flesh and of the heart that day.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYes,\u201d Daylan said. \u201cAnd now, do we have a bargain?\u201d <\/p>\n

5<\/span><\/p>\n

A LIGHT IN THE HEAVENS<\/span><\/p>\n

Death never comes at a timely hour. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014a saying of the netherworld<\/span><\/p>\n

\t Alun waited for the two to leave\u2014the wyrmling flying back north, while Daylan Hammer climbed gingerly from the wall. <\/p>\n

\t He let Daylan Hammer have a five minute lead, and then hurried for the castle. I\u2019m in a real fix now, Alun decided. It was eleven miles back to the castle, and he\u2019d never be able to make it before dark. The wyrmling harvesters would come out by then. Indeed, the last sliver of sun dipped below the horizon as he began his race, and he knew that he had perhaps a half an hour of light, and there would only the faintest waning moon tonight. <\/p>\n

\t Maybe I\u2019ll get lucky, he thought. The lords have been hunting the harvesters hard. There can\u2019t be many around the castle. <\/p>\n

\t But he had little hope. Wyrmling harvesters butchered humans, taking certain glands that the wyrmlings used for elixirs. Thus, the castle attracted the wyrmlings like wolves to a carcass. So Alun ran, heart pounding, sweat streaming down his forehead, his back, his neck and face. He came up out of the bogs into the wastes and kept to a rocky ravine, the dry bed of creek. The shadows grew long and deep, and he struggled to keep up with Wanderlust. The dog will warn me of danger, he thought\u2014until he rounded a boulder; something large lurched in front of him. <\/p>\n

\t He heard the sound of steel clearing a scabbard, and Daylan Hammer\u2019s boot knife pressed up against Alun\u2019s nose. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d Daylan demanded. \u201cWhy are you following me?\u201d Daylan studied him with a cold eye. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI, I, I uh, was looking for a lost dog,\u201d Alun explained, coming up with the lie. \u201cWanderlust here is my favorite.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The dog growled at Daylan Hammer but didn\u2019t dare attack. Oh, she\u2019d try to take him if Alun so commanded, but Alun knew that if he ordered her to kill, Daylan\u2019s knife could plunge through his eye before the hound could even get a bite of the immortal. <\/p>\n

\t Daylan smiled, sheathed his knife. Apparently he decided the Alun didn\u2019t represent much of a threat. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou\u2019ve followed me for hours.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI didn\u2019t see nothin\u2019!\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou didn\u2019t see me meet with a wyrmling Seccath?\u201d Daylan smiled at the lie, as if it were nothing. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cNo!\u201d Alun insisted. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThen you\u2019re a terrible spy, and not worth the half of what they\u2019re paying you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Daylan sat down on a large rock and patted a spot next to him, inviting Alun to rest. Alun was gasping from fear and exhaustion. Daylan suggested, \u201cLean your head between your knees. Catch your breath.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Alun did as he was told, unnerved at the realization that there was nothing he could do to protect himself from a man like Daylan Hammer. \u201cWhat are you going to do with me?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou mean do to you?\u201d Daylan laughed. \u201cNothing. If I wanted to kill you, I\u2019d leave you here in the waste for the wyrmlings. They\u2019d take a meager harvest from you. But I won\u2019t leave you alone, and I won\u2019t harm you. I just want to know one thing: who sent you?\u201d His tone was mild, affable, as if he were asking what Alun thought of the weather. <\/p>\n

\t Alun sat gasping for a moment. It was no use lying. If he lied, Daylan might leave him for the wyrmlings, and that would be that. <\/p>\n

\t But there was something more to it. <\/p>\n

\t He liked the way that Daylan had asked. When Madoc had come, he\u2019d stood over Alun with his brutish sons at his back, and had taken an intimidating stance. There were subtle threats implied, Alun suddenly realized. <\/p>\n

\t But even when he made the mildest of threats, Daylan didn\u2019t sound serious. Indeed, he was smiling, as if sharing a joke. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWarlord Madoc,\u201d Alun said at last. \u201cWarlord Madoc sent me.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat did he say about me? What does he suspect?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHe thinks that you\u2019re a traitor, that you killed Sir Croft.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSir Croft got himself<\/span> killed,\u201d Daylan said. \u201cHe followed me, as you did, but he didn\u2019t keep to his cover as well. I didn\u2019t see him, but the wyrmling did. She caught him. By the time I heard Croft\u2019s cries, the harvest had been taken.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Alun said nothing. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cDid you hear our conversation?\u201d Daylan asked, \u201cMine and the Seccath\u2019s?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Alun shook his head. \u201cI was too far away to hear anything. I didn\u2019t dare try to get close.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAh,\u201d Daylan said. \u201cI am trying to make a bargain with the wyrmlings. They have High King Urstone\u2019s son. They\u2019ve held him hostage now for more than a decade. And as you know, we have Zul-torac\u2019s daughter. Zul-torac has forsaken his flesh, and lives only as a shadow now. He cannot spawn any more offspring, and so his daughter is precious to him. I hope to make an exchange of hostages.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cPrince Urstone is still alive, after all these years?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cBarely, from what I understand.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAnd is he even human?\u201d Alun asked. \u201cSurely by now they\u2019ve put him in a crystal cage and fit him with a wyrm.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHe\u2019s resisted the cage, and the wyrm,\u201d Daylan said. \u201cHe is still human.\u201d Alun doubted that anyone could resist the cage for so long. It was said that the pains one endured there made a person long for death, long for release. Better to let a wyrm infest your soul, lose your humanity, than to resist. \u201cThrough a messenger, I have put questions to him,\u201d Daylan explained, \u201cmoral questions that no person infected by a wrym could have answered correctly. The crystal cage destroys most men, but others it only purifies, filling them with compassion and the wisdom that can only come from having endured great pain and perfect despair.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Alun peered up, hope in his eyes. If Daylan was right, then the prince was the kind of hero that men only hear of in legends. <\/p>\n

\t Daylan Hammer grasped Alun by the wrist. \u201cOld King Urstone is failing. He won\u2019t last much longer than that dog of yours. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIn three days, a thousand of the strongest warriors in Caer Luciare will ride north to attack the wyrmlings, to take back the fortress at Cantular. In seventeen years, no attack so bold has been attempted, for word of such an attack might well drive Emperor Zul-torac mad with bloodlust, and the life of Prince Urstone would be forfeit. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAnd so I am trying to negotiate an exchange of hostages\u2014before the attack takes place.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cBut, once we give up their princess,\u201d Alun asked, \u201cwon\u2019t the wyrmlings attack Caer Luciare in force?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cOf course they will,\u201d Daylan said. <\/p>\n

\t Alun didn\u2019t understand. The immortal was giving up their hostage, the only thing that had protected the Caer for more than a decade. If Alun understood him aright, with the hostage lost, the wyrmlings would attack, and by the end of this week, everyone that he knew could be dead. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThis is madness!\u201d Alun shouted. \u201cYou\u2019ve gone daft! King Urstone would never agree to such a plan. What do we gain? You are just hurrying our end!\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThe end is coming, whether we like it or not,\u201d the immortal said. \u201cWarlord Madoc has convinced the others to make this assault in an effort to secure the borders. Madoc is a fool who dreams of rebuilding the kingdom. Others are tired of hiding, of watching our numbers dwindle away day by day, and so they hope to die fighting, as warriors will. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cBut once Madoc takes Cantular, the prince\u2019s life is forfeit, and Emperor Zul-torac will retaliate. The wyrmling code demands vengeance. They have a saying, \u2018Every insult must be paid for in blood.\u2019<\/p>\n

\t Zul-torac\u2019s honor will demand that he hit us hard, even if he must cut his way through his own daughter to do so.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Alun still didn\u2019t understand. There was no justification for giving up their hostage. Daylan Hammer was making a token gesture, trying to save two lives for what\u2026a week? <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI don\u2019t see any value in trying to save the prince,\u201d Alun said. \u201cIf we are all to die, why not just hit them, and let the prince be damned?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThat\u2019s how Madoc would have it, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Daylan said. Alun realized that he was right. \u201cIt sounds courageous, daring. Many lords applaud his courage. But think: what if mankind is not wiped out? What if a few hundred or even thousands of you were able to run off into the wilderness, or hide in the caves beneath Caer Luciare? What then? If the prince dies and Madoc manages to win the battle, who will the kingdom fall to when the High King dies?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWarlord Madoc,\u201d Alun said, for the High King had no other heir. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cMadoc himself might not be a bad High King,\u201d Daylan Hammer said. \u201cBut what of his sons? To put them on a throne would be a disaster. If Madoc or his sons were to learn of my plan, you know that they would oppose it. They could easily sabotage it. No one would blame them if they put the wyrmling princess to the sword. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2019m not hoping just to save just our prince, Alun, I\u2019m hoping to save our kingdom, our people.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t A chill wind suddenly swept over the rocks, down from the mountain. <\/p>\n

\t There were too many ifs in Daylan\u2019s argument. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cLet\u2019s say you\u2019re right,\u201d Alun said. \u201cLet\u2019s say that the lords take Cantular, and the wyrmlings in a fit of rage come and wipe us all out, as seems most likely. Then\u2026what will all of this have accomplished? The sum of all your acts is what, to save one wyrmling princess?\u201d The thought was absurd. \u201cIs there something you\u2019re not telling me?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Daylan smiled, and suddenly he looked old and weary and bent. \u201cThere is indeed,\u201d he admitted. \u201cI believe that it is time to free the princess. I believe that we should stop using her as a shield, even if there is no hope for our people.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHow so?\u201d Alun asked, a sudden fear rising in him. Would Daylan Hammer throw away their hostage for nothing? <\/p>\n

\t \u201cNo one should be put to such indignity. No life should be so abused. You\u2019ve stolen her freedom, terrorized her, and victimized her. She was but a child when she was captured. Does your weakness as a nation, your cowardice, justify such behavior?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThey did it to us first,\u201d Alun pointed out. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThey took a warrior captive. Your people took a child. It\u2019s not the same. But even if the acts were equal, does that mean that because the wyrmlings are cruel and craven, you would fall to their estate? <\/p>\n

\t Don\u2019t you realize that that is precisely what they want? The maggots that infect their souls cannot possess your body so long as you remain pure enough, innocent enough. As a people, you cannot let yourselves sink to their level. There is great power in doing what is right, and letting the consequences be damned. It is the safest course, even when the peril appears great, for it is better to lose your life than to throw away your soul. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAlun, I\u2019m not trying to just free a pair of hostages. I\u2019m hoping to lift this pall of shame that covers Caer Luciare. I\u2019m hoping, in some small way, to redeem this people.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t The drawbridge fell open, and all that Fallion saw within the courtyard was the tree, seemingly tall now, nearly thirty feet. Every branch, every twig, seemed to be a wonder, the product of some superhuman artistry. <\/p>\n

\t The villagers, bloody and bedraggled, were crowded around it, shouting in joy, cheering for Fallion, for freedom, their voices seeming to come from a great distance, like a wind rushing above a vast forest. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cMilord,\u201d one old woman shouted, \u201cremember me?\u201d Fallion smiled. He did indeed. She had been a scullery maid in the castle; she had taught him how to cook a pudding. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAnd me, milord?\u201d a man cried. It was the cobbler who had given Fallion his pet ferrin as a child. And as the bridge lowered, all of the weight of his journey washed out of Fallion, and he felt renewed\u2014not just rested in mind, but refreshed in spirit. <\/p>\n

\t It was more than the homecoming. It was the tree that influenced him. Now was the time to do things. Now was the time to become a better person, to seek perfection. The urge came to him so clearly it was almost a command. <\/p>\n

\t But as the bridge dropped farther, Fallion began to realize that something was horribly wrong. There was darkness among the branches, a lingering shadow, and the tree had almost no leaves, and those were only on the top-most branches, though it was high summer. <\/p>\n

\t And as he saw the bole of the tree, scarred and blackened by flames, he began to understand why. The bridge dropped, and he saw it now. The tree was surrounded by a circular wall of stone. And within that wall of stones, worms of green flame sputtered and burned, while white-hot sparks shot out from time to time amid a rune of fire. It was the Seal of the Inferno. <\/p>\n

\t The image smote him, went whirling before his eyes, filling his vision. He blinked and turned away, sought to clear his sight, but the image could not be pushed aside. He stood before the Seal of the Inferno, and it forced itself upon him. <\/p>\n

\t Serve me, a voice demanded in the whispering tongue of flames. Give your all to me. Fallion dropped to one knee and held his forearm against his eyes. <\/p>\n

\t It wasn\u2019t supposed to be here. The Seal was supposed to be in the Underworld, linking the Seal of Heaven to the Seal of Earth. By smoothing out its flaws, Fallion hoped to bind the shattered remains of the One True World back into a single whole. <\/p>\n

\t But this thing before him, it was lying naked in the open, like a festering wound. Even with his eyes clenched, the rune thrust itself on his consciousness. You cannot escape, <\/span> it whispered. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cFallion?\u201d he heard Rhianna calling desperately. \u201cFallion, what\u2019s wrong?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThe Seal,\u201d Fallion shouted. \u201cIt\u2019s breached! It\u2014has been sullied, warped. <\/span>\u201d He could think of no other way to describe the damage. The rune had been twisted, subverted by some malicious power. It was raging, wanton. It should have been controlled, a shining thing of golden light. All that he saw now was dangerous wreckage. <\/p>\n

\t The same power that had broken the Seals in the beginning did this, he realized\u2014the Queen of the Loci. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cCan you fix it?\u201d Rhianna asked, her voice seeming to come from far away. A tremendous fear welled up in Fallion. The Seal shouldn\u2019t have been here. He knew of no human-born flameweaver who was powerful enough to have re-created the Seal. Only the Queen of all Loci could do that. He worried that she might be near. <\/p>\n

\t In his dreams, fixing it had been so easy. But now, confronted by the abomination itself, he wasn\u2019t sure. Seeking fuel, Fallion reached up into heaven and grasped the light, pulling it down in fiery cords, letting it build. <\/p>\n

\t He opened his eyes, staring into the wheel of fire, searching for its flaws. Shapes began to emerge. To a commoner, it would have only looked like a bowl of flames, endlessly burning without a source, but to Fallion, there was meaning within those shapes. One had to watch, to study the patterns, see where new flames appeared, where old ones died, how they twisted and flickered, how tall they rose. He could read the meanings of their movements if he had enough time to study them. But how much time would it take? Weeks, he suspected. Months. Years. There were runes hidden within runes here, a maze of them. He would have to pace himself, work in short sessions. <\/p>\n

\t Fix the biggest problems first, he told himself. <\/p>\n

\t Blue tongues of flame erupted and spouted seemingly at random, and white phosphorous airs rose and sputtered. He could hear tongues of flame muttering and cursing in torment at how they had been twisted. But those were mere distractions. <\/p>\n

\t A serpentine incandescence burrowed through the rune, emitting sparks. It represents the worm at the world\u2019s heart, he realized. But why is it so large? <\/p>\n

\t He followed its shape backward, saw its tail wrapped around the bole of the golden tree, searing it, even as the worm drew away the light from its branches. <\/p>\n

\t What an abomination! he thought. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion hurled a ball of flame, used its energy to sever the tail that bound the world worm to the One True Tree. There was a crackling sound, a roar of fire, and the shadows fled from around the tree. The flames cursed Fallion, and struck back, like some living thing. A blast of heat surged into him, filling him. <\/p>\n

\t Almost, Fallion burst into flames. The inferno begged Fallion to let go, to leave his flesh behind and become one with Fire, as his master had years ago at the battle for Shadoath\u2019s Castle. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cNo!\u201d Fallion shouted, knowing that he had no choice but to fight. The Seal of the Inferno was a deadly puzzle. Either he had to heal it, or it would destroy him. <\/p>\n

\t In his dreams, he had always repaired the rune. The dream came every night, and it had always been the same. The flames spoke with a million tongues. In his dream he tamed them, taught them to speak with only one. <\/p>\n

\t He looked to the field where a bowl of flames should be, and saw the flames. But almost instantly they snuffed out, leaving only two. <\/p>\n

\t For a moment, he knelt with mouth agape, unsure how to proceed. This is where he was to bind the worlds, bring all of them into one. But only two flames remained in this bowl. Each flame flickered and swayed in its own dance. <\/p>\n

\t For long seconds Fallion held still, waiting for the other flames to reappear. The heat continued to build in him, threatening to overwhelm him. He could feel it in the back of his throat. Steam began to rise from his cloak. <\/p>\n

\t Desperate, Fallion lashed out, hurling back the heat that threatened to overwhelm him, and bound the two flames into one. <\/p>\n

\t The fires of the Seal lashed out, roaring toward Fallion, and then died in an instant. Suddenly all that remained was a ring of smoke rising around the golden tree. In the ensuing silence, Fallion found his heart pounding and sweat rolling down his face. There was no voice coming from the remains of the fire. There was no voice in the tree. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIs it over?\u201d Jaz asked. <\/p>\n

\t All around them, the world seemed to return to normal. Fallion could hear the morning bird song as robins and larks worked the nearby meadows. The rising sun stood golden in the sky. A faint breeze stealing down from the mountains cooled his skin. <\/p>\n

\t And overhead, a great light began to fill the sky. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t Daylan Hammer fell silent for a long moment, leaving Alun time to ponder his words. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cCan\u2019t, can\u2019t you help us in some other way?\u201d Alun asked. \u201cYou visit the netherworld it is said. Surely\u2026there is some weapon that you could lend us?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou think that better weapons can save you?\u201d Daylan mused. \u201cYou ask for a dangerous thing. I\u2019ve heard tales of entire worlds that have been leveled\u2014all because one like me handed out such weapons to those in need. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIt is forbidden. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cEven if I gave them to you, they could not save you. In time, your enemies would capture them and turn them against you. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cBesides, you have all of the weapons that you need to destroy this world.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Alun tried to imagine what he could be talking about. Swords? War clubs? \u201cWhat weapons?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHate,\u201d Daylan answered. \u201cYour people don\u2019t just live under the shadow of the wyrmlings. You have fallen far beneath it. In a generation, there will no longer be any difference between them and you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Daylan fell silent, then at last asked, \u201cSo, what will you tell Warlord Madoc?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Alun thought hard. If he told the truth, he might gain his freedom, untold riches. He could marry well and live happily. <\/p>\n

\t And if he lied\u2026. <\/p>\n

\t Then Daylan would free Princess Kan-hazur, leaving his people to withstand the full onslaught of the wyrmlings. Prince Urstone would come to rule, hopefully to help any who escaped. Even if my people survive, Alun wondered, will House Urstone ever reward me? <\/p>\n

\t He had never caught the eye of the High King. It seemed too fanciful a notion to entertain. Suddenly there was a bright light in the sky, as if a star had been born. Alun did not become aware of it all at once. Instead, it seemed that for several seconds it became brighter and brighter. <\/p>\n

\t He looked up, and saw a pale disk, as big as a moon. A star is falling, Alun thought. It\u2019s coming right at us. <\/p>\n

\t The light grew brilliant, and suddenly Alun recalled hearing a tale of a meteorite that had crashed into the mountains years ago, filled with iron from the stars. But he realized that anything as big as this would surely smash him when it hit. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t Fallion peered up at the growing orb. He could see blue\u2014vast seas, and the actinic white of clouds whirling above them. He saw the blush of the morning sun striking clouds at the terminus. He spotted a continent, with a great red desert and snow-topped mountains. He could make out silver veins of rivers, the emerald green of forests, a lake shaped like a kidney. <\/p>\n

\t People around Fallion began to cry out in astonishment and fear, and some threw up their hands to brace for the impact. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat\u2019s that!\u201d Alun shouted, still peering at the coming world. He could not believe that his life was over. He wanted Daylan Hammer to explain the sight away, offer some comfort. He looked at Daylan Hammer, whose eyes were wide with wonder. \u201cIt\u2019s the end of the world,\u201d he said as the huge disk suddenly filled the whole sky. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t \u201cThis is the end!\u201d Talon cried. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion stared at the coming world, fear coursing through him like a bolt of lightning, and whispered, \u201cNo, my friends, it is only beginning.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t The ground trembled and groaned, and a mighty blast raked Alun\u2019s face. There was a fire in the heavens. Wind roared all around him, and tornados of light touched down. <\/p>\n

\t Alun threw up his hands to protect his eyes, and gritted his teeth. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t Two worlds collided, folding into one. There were no crushing rocks falling from the sky, no vast craters formed, no plasma spewing from the far side of a ruined world. <\/p>\n

\t Instead a rain of atoms fell, sizzling past one another through the vast empty spaces that exist between the nucleus of one atom and another. <\/p>\n

\t To Fallion, the impact felt as if a great wind roared through him. He could feel it pelting him on the head and shoulders, driving through him, and leaving through the soles of his feet. Bolts of static electricity raced everywhere, across the surface of the castle, and there was a rushing sound so loud, accompanied by screams, that it felt like the end of the world. <\/p>\n

\t And suddenly the ground whirled and began to lurch beneath his feet. He could feel a hill rising beneath him, the ground shooting up so fast that his knees buckled. <\/p>\n

\t The walls of Castle Coorm trembled and rolled as if during an earthquake. The east wall bucked, spilling into the moat, and the queen\u2019s tower canted to one side and collapsed. Huge stones surged up through the ground, their faces seeming weathered by centuries of erosion. <\/p>\n

\t Suddenly the atoms sliding through empty space halted, joining together as tightly as a key in the lock of a manacle, according to some pattern laid out in the master rune an eternity in the past. The ground lurched to a halt, and Fallion felt an impact. No blow by a human hand could have been so devastating. It was as if a giant slapped him, sending him into oblivion. 6<\/span><\/p>\n

A NEW WORLD<\/span><\/p>\n

When we plow a field to ready it for planting, much is lost. The holes and homes of mice and<\/span> snakes are torn apart, the struggling roots of last year\u2019s herbs are broken. To me, the mouse and<\/span> the herb are wondrous things, to be enjoyed and treasured. But we lay them waste\u2014all in the<\/span> hope of some distant harvest. Thus in making one marvelous thing, regretfully we put an end to<\/span> another. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014the Wizard Sisel<\/span><\/p>\n

\t Fallion woke with a groan, only becoming conscious in slow increments. His eyes fluttered open, but the dust in the air was so thick that he soon had to close them. <\/p>\n

\t Everywhere, the townspeople were screaming for help, and Jaz was shouting, \u201cFallion, there\u2019s something wrong with Talon!\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Lying still for a second, Fallion tried to collect his strength. He felt half-dead. He was so feeble that he could hardly lift a hand. It was as if he had suffered an endless illness, and only now might be on the way to recovery though he felt as he might just as easily die. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cFallion? Can you hear me?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cComing,\u201d Fallion managed to say. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion looked toward Jaz, could see his dim outline through a haze of dust as thick as any fog, crouching above Talon. Rocks had risen all around, a jumble of them. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion felt so weak, he didn\u2019t know if he could stand, so he summoned all of his strength and tried to crawl toward Talon on his hands and knees, but as he lifted his left hand, he found that a thick vine was latched to the meaty part of his palm. <\/p>\n

\t He tried to pull away, but it hurt too much. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the vine wasn\u2019t latched to his palm\u2014it was growing through it. The trunk of the vine, about a quarter inch in diameter, ran cleanly through the meat of his palm and continued out the other side. <\/p>\n

\t He peered at his palm for half an instant, trying to understand. <\/p>\n

\t Two worlds combined, he realized. And upon those worlds, two living things had occupied the same space. <\/p>\n

\t So a vine grew through him. But what was wrong with Talon? <\/p>\n

\t Dread surged through him as he drew his dagger, hacked through the vine, pulled it out as if it were an arrow, and then clasped his hand and tried to staunch a raging flow of blood. Talon was hurt, Jaz had said. What if she has a bush growing through her, or a tree? <\/p>\n

\t Why did I even bring her? he wondered. He hadn\u2019t needed her. She could have stayed home, found some boy to love. But she\u2019d wanted an adventure. <\/p>\n

\t He peered up, but the dust was too thick to make out Talon. His energy was coming a little better now. He climbed to his feet. The gritty dust got in his eyes, and he had to stagger, half-blind, toward Jaz. By the time that he got there, Rhianna and Farion were circled around, both of them having crawled too, both swearing and uttering curses. <\/p>\n

\t She\u2019s dead, Fallion thought. Our little Talon is dead. He\u2019d always thought of her as a sister, a fierce little sister, and he tried to imagine how he would break the news to Myrrima, their foster mother. Their foster father, Borenson, was a warrior, and he would take it stoutly, though it would break his heart. But Myrrima\u2026she was too tender to bear such news. <\/p>\n

\t As he got close, he rejoiced to see that she was breathing, her chest rising and falling. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cShe\u2019s out cold,\u201d Jaz was telling the others. <\/p>\n

\t Jaz looked up, moved back for Fallion to get a better view, and Fallion gasped. Their Talon had changed. At first, he thought that it was only a matter of growth. Talon had always been a diminutive girl, combining her mother\u2019s lithe body and her father\u2019s strength. But she was diminutive no more. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat do you think?\u201d Jaz asked. \u201cSeven feet tall? Maybe more?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t That looks about right, Fallion thought. And three across the shoulder. She looked as if she weighed a good three hundred pounds, all of it muscle. <\/p>\n

\t Her face remained much the same, or, at least Fallion could still see Talon\u2019s resemblance in it. But it stretched in an odd way. There were two strange humps above her brow, like those on a calf that is about to sprout horns, and her forehead seemed thickened, as if a bony plate had grown there. Her cheekbones were similarly armored. She groaned, opening her mouth as if to curse at some bad dream, revealing incisors that had become over-large. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat happened?\u201d Jaz asked. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion suspected that he knew. Some other creature must have been standing where Talon was, on that shadow world, and the two of them had become one. <\/p>\n

7<\/span><\/p>\n

THE HUNTER AWAKES<\/span><\/p>\n

There was a time when the Knights Eternal were Lady Despair\u2019s most fearsome weapon. But as<\/span> her powers grew, so did the powers of her minions, and the walking shadows, the Death Lords,<\/span> began to haunt our dreams. With the merging of the two worlds, though, we should have guessed<\/span> that it was only a matter of time before the Knights Eternal reestablished their dominion. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014the Wizard Sisel<\/span><\/p>\n

\t Gongs were tolling in Rugassa, their deep tones reverberating among the rocks in the fortress, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere, thundering up from the center of the earth. Upon the toll, Vulgnash awoke in the tower crypt, and with a powerful kick threw off the lid of his coffin. Gripping its sides, he inspected his rotting flesh. His skin had dried, becoming gray and leathery, and his flesh had cracked and wrinkled. Maggots had burrowed trails through his arms. How long, he wondered, since last I walked the earth? He had hoped to remain dead for eternity this time. <\/p>\n

\t But Lady Despair summoned him, and he rose at her bidding. He had promised his service to the Great Wyrm, whether it be in life, or in death, and now he had to answer the call. Besides, he would rather be summoned into the presence of Lady Despair than into that of the Emperor. From the condition of his hands, he imagined that it had not been long. Three years since last he woke, perhaps five, no more. <\/p>\n

\t Yet Vulgnash felt as if he had been pummeled. Every muscle in his body ached; he had seldom felt so weak. <\/p>\n

\t He climbed from the coffin, and stood for a moment, staring down through a tower window. People rushed everywhere a thousand feet below him, like beetles in a dung hill. The fortress was in ruins. Walls of black basalt looked as if they had split during an earthquake. He peered out beyond the city gate, to see if the fortress was under attack, and stared in awe. There was a strange and wondrous change in the land: a forest stood out on the plains before the castle. The plains should have been barren. Last he knew, they were burned twice yearly so that no army could draw near without being seen. <\/p>\n

\t But here was a forest of hoary pine trees that looked to be a thousand years old. And strange birds flew up out of it, like none that he had ever seen before. <\/p>\n

\t How long? he wondered. A thousand years? It can\u2019t be. My flesh would have turned to dust, and I would be beyond the power even of Lady Despair to call. <\/p>\n

\t And now the gongs were sounding, announcing that the Great Wyrm demanded his presence. Vulgnash swore, strode to his closet, and drew on a crimson robe to hide the ruin of his face, then went striding down the stairs, into the great hall. <\/p>\n

\t He felt so weak, he needed sustenance; and so as he entered the great hall, where servants went scurrying about in terror, their eyes wide in fright to see him, he grabbed a small girl of eight or nine. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYour life is mine,\u201d he whispered, then placed five fingers upon her skull\u2014one between her eyes, two upon each of her eyes, and his thumb and pinky finger upon her mandibles. At this touch, the girl\u2019s blood turned to ice water in her veins, and she wet herself. The girl tried to withdraw in terror, but his fingers held to her flesh as if it were his own. Some of the servants that saw groaned or looked away in horror; one cried out the girl\u2019s name in mourning, \u201cAh, little Wenya!\u201d <\/p>\n

\t With a whispered incantation, the girl\u2019s passions\u2014her longing for life, her hopes and ambitions\u2014and the fire in her soul that drove them were drawn away. <\/p>\n

\t The spell went to work, and the girl\u2019s flesh, rife with water, began to sag and putrefy, even as Vulgnash\u2019s own flesh gained heft and a less unwholesome color. <\/p>\n

\t When he was done, he let the girl fall away, a dry and rotting husk. He felt refreshed, but not refreshed enough. He would need to feed on others before he regained his full strength. But the gongs were tolling, and he had no time for it. <\/p>\n

\t He grabbed a torch from a sconce, then went striding down to the lower levels. Powerful guards cringed in terror as he passed, for they knew what Vulgnash was. <\/p>\n

\t The black basalt tunnels were cracked and broken, and often the passageway was littered with rubble and boulders. Vulgnash waded through or climbed over as the need took him. Is this why she summoned me? he wondered. A mere earthquake? But no, he knew that there must be some greater threat to the realm. <\/p>\n

\t In his weakened state, the race left him drained. <\/p>\n

\t The great fortress of Rugassa was built upon the crown of a volcano, and his spiraling journey downward felt like a plummet. All the while, the gongs grew louder, more insistent, until at last he had gone far enough, and the corridor opened into the audience chamber. <\/p>\n

\t Two others had arrived before him and stood at each side of the chamber like an honor guard, robed all in crimson. Thul and Kryssidia were their names. <\/p>\n

\t She has summoned three of the Knights Eternal, Vulgnash realized, a full quorum. Great need must be upon her. <\/p>\n

\t A platform jutted out above a lake of boiling magma, which heated the room like a blast furnace. Tunnels high up allowed the hot air to escape, while lower vents, one of which sat directly behind the platform, allowed cold air to rush in. <\/p>\n

\t Thus as Vulgnash reached the end of the platform, he found himself at the mouth of the vent, a chill wind whirling all about him, making his blood-red cape flutter like a caged bird. Without the refreshing wind, no mere mortal could have withstood the heat of this place. Even Vulgnash would have succumbed in time. He peered down, hundreds of feet below, into the pool of magma. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cLady Despair,\u201d Vulgnash cried. \u201cI hear your summons, and obey.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The lake of magma below him was red hot. Suddenly it boiled madly and the lake began to rise. Molten stone churned, and the level kept rising, until it seemed that the platform itself would be swallowed by magma. <\/p>\n

\t Then the mouth of the great wyrm appeared, rising from the molten flow. She was a hundred yards in diameter, and her mouth, which had five hinges, each jaw shaped like a spade, could have swallowed a small fortress. <\/p>\n

\t She rose up, and magma streamed off of her. <\/p>\n

\t Vulgnash dropped to one knee and bowed until the bony plate on his forehead touched the hot floor. A great rushing voice filled the room. \u201cSpeak, Vulgnash. I feel that your mind is clouded by questions.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Vulgnash dared hardly admit it to himself. He was not used to questioning his master. But he could not hide his thoughts from the Great Mother. The wyrm that was within him spoke to her, revealing his deepest secrets. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHow long?\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cFour years, since last I summoned you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cBut\u2026there is a forest growing outside the gates,\u201d Vulgnash objected. He knew that he had to have slept for centuries. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cA great and strange thing has happened,\u201d the wyrm said. \u201cThe world is changed, made anew by a powerful wizard, named Fallion Orden. He has combined two worlds into one, his and ours. He is our enemy. He must be dealt with.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t That any one wizard could have such power seemed unimaginable. \u201cYou have but to command me, my master, and I will throw myself into battle no matter how fearsome the foe. But\u2026how do we fight such a creature?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHave no fear,\u201d the Great Mother said. \u201cI brought Fallion here by design. In his world, his power was great. But in this new world\u2026he cannot withstand you. He is a flameweaver, talented in some ways, but he is only a child in his understanding\u2026.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Vulgnash smiled, his lips pulling back to reveal his overlarge incisors. If there was one thing that he understood, it was the weaving of flames. He had been mastering his skills for millennia. The Great Mother continued. \u201cTake the three into the woods south of the ruins at Caer Golgeata. You will find a golden tree there. Destroy it, root and limb. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou will also find humans, small in stature, led by the wizard Fallion. Bring him, and prepare his spirit to receive a wyrm.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Vulgnash knew that powerful enemies sometimes required wyrms of great power to subdue them. Knowing which wyrm was to take him might make a subtle difference as to the type of tortures Vulgnash would use to prepare the victim. \u201cIs there a particular wyrm that I should prepare him for?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The answer struck Vulgnash with awe. <\/p>\n

\t Lady Despair answered, \u201cI may well possess him myself.\u201d <\/p>\n

8<\/span><\/p>\n

TALON<\/span><\/p>\n

Life is an endless awakening. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a child, we awaken to the wonders and horrors of the universe.<\/span> As young adults we awaken to our own growing powers, even as young love enslaves us.<\/span> As adults, we awaken to the worry and responsibility of caring for others.<\/span> Last of all, we awaken to death, And the light beyond. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014High King Urstone<\/span><\/p>\n

\t In the tallest tower of Castle Coorm, Fallion kicked open the door to a small room and stood for a moment, letting his eyes adjust as motes of dust floated in his view. The room had served as his bedroom as a child, a room for both him and Jaz. But as Jaz said, it had grown smaller over the years. <\/p>\n

\t The room was filled with trash\u2014broken chairs from the king\u2019s hall, a broken wheel from a wagon, various tools with broken shafts\u2014all things that had some worth but needed the tender care of a good wood-wright. <\/p>\n

\t Beneath the litter, Jaz\u2019s bed still remained, but Fallion\u2019s was gone. Gone also were their treasures\u2014the princely daggers that had hung on the wall, the fine curtains that had once hung over the window, the carved and painted animals that Jaz had played with as a child. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion had hoped to find something to remind him of his childhood, but there was nothing. Nor had he found much of worth in Warlord Hale\u2019s chamber. It seemed that everything of worth had long ago been destroyed, sold off, or stolen. <\/p>\n

\t He closed the door, then climbed the stairs to the uppermost tower, where his mother\u2019s far-seers had once kept vigil. <\/p>\n

\t There, upon a mossy roof that was growing weak from rot, he peered out across the altered landscape. Rocks rose up in a tumult, twisted and eerie. It was not as if they had just thrust up from the ground, broken and new. Instead, they looked to have been sculpted by wind and rain over millennia. Their forms were graceful, strange, and utterly out of place. <\/p>\n

\t In the past hours, the dust had begun to settle, and though a yellow haze obscured the heavens, in the distance the ruins of ancient cities could be seen in half-a-dozen directions, their stonework marvelous and otherworldly, and their broken towers soaring high. <\/p>\n

\t Yellow moths of a type that Fallion had never seen fluttered everywhere, clouds of them rising above the forest, apparently unnerved at the vast change. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion felt unnerved, too. The sun was too bright, and rested in the wrong place in the sky. The plants seemed to have a strange metallic tang. A great weariness was on him, sapping his strength. He felt on the verge of collapse, and feared that if he slowed down, if he stopped for even a minute, he would just lie down and never regain the strength to rise again. <\/p>\n

\t Rhianna climbed the stairs behind him, came up to him wordlessly, then just stood stroking his back. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHas Talon stirred?\u201d Fallion asked. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cNot yet,\u201d Rhianna answered. Talon was still unconscious, resting in the hovel where Hearthmaster Waggit lived. Fallion had come here to search for richer quarters, but Warlord Hale\u2019s room had been a pigsty, full of rotting food and foul odors. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThis is a trap,\u201d Fallion said as he peered out above the woods. \u201cThis whole place is a trap. We should leave.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cNot without Talon,\u201d Rhianna said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t leave her, and neither could you. We\u2019ll have to wait until she\u2019s ready to travel.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t She had been unconscious for hours. Fallion worried that she would die. Certainly, there had been others in the village that had died. One had been crushed under rocks when a wall buckled; others had perished from wounds received in taking the keep. Two elderly men apparently died for no reason at all, except, perhaps, from the shock of the change. <\/p>\n

\t And there were other oddities. Another young man had grown large and distorted, like Talon. He too was unconscious. <\/p>\n

\t Four people had apparently vanished altogether; Fallion suspected that they lay crushed somewhere beneath the rubble. Fallion could hear their sons and daughters even now, down among the castle grounds, calling out their parents\u2019 names in vain. <\/p>\n

\t Another young girl had a large gorse bush grow through a lung during the change and would not make it through the night. <\/p>\n

\t Talon might not make it, either, Fallion knew. Whatever she had become, it might not survive. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou should go down among the people,\u201d Rhianna said. \u201cThere is talk of throwing a celebration tonight.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2019m not in the mood to dance or sing,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cThey shouldn\u2019t be, either.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou saved them,\u201d Rhianna said. \u201cThey want to honor you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI didn\u2019t save all of them.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cPerhaps not,\u201d Rhianna said, \u201cbut I heard a woman talking down there. She said that \u2018Under Warlord Hale\u2019s rule, we were all dead. But good Fallion has brought us back to life.\u2019 That seemed reason enough to honor you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Rhianna took his hand, squeezed it. She wanted to infuse him with the love that she felt, but she knew that it was incomprehensible to him, for the love that she felt was not something that she had learned in her mother\u2019s arms. Her love was deeper, and more profound. She had once given an endowment of wit to a sea ape, and had learned to see the world through its eyes. It had been as devoted to its master as a dog would be. It had adored its master. There were no words to describe the depth of its affection. And now, Rhianna felt that way about Fallion. Only long years of practice allowed her to keep from constantly following him with her eyes, or from stroking his cheek, or kissing his lips. She dared not let him know, for she knew that it was a burden for one to have to bear unrequited love. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIf the villagers want to honor me,\u201d Fallion said after a moment, \u201ctell them to post a heavy guard. And tell them not to wait until tonight. There may be worse things in those woods than strengi-saats now.\u201d He sighed, stood resting with his palms upon the head of a gargoyle for a moment, as if bestowing a blessing, and then when he had regained his strength, said, \u201cI\u2019ll go check on Talon.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t He stalked down the stairway in a foul mood. As he descended, he found himself in darkness, until he came out upon the green. Three women were tending the tree, tenderly wrapping the scars on its bark in tan linen. <\/p>\n

\t A few hours ago, Fallion remembered hearing them cheer as he freed them from Warlord Hale. Unbidden, words came to mind, a cruel voice speaking in a hiss. \u201cThough the world may applaud your slaughter, you will come to know that each of your victories is mine.\u201d In his mind\u2019s eye, he saw his old enemy Asgaroth upon his fine blood mare, a tall man in black, wrapped in shadows. And once again Fallion felt his shirt tear open, felt the words scrawled upon his chest formed from runes of air, like insects marching over his skin. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion bit his lip. A cold certainty was upon him. The crowds had applauded his slaughter not hours ago, when he\u2019d killed Warlord Hale, but the taste of victory was sour. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion gazed at the tree for a long moment. He felt strange in its presence. It made him want to be a better man, and he recalled hearing its voice earlier, its cry for help. But now there was only a deep silence in his thoughts. It was as if the tree were fast asleep. <\/p>\n

\t He hurried down a back street where cobbles had come out of the road, leaving it pitted and muddy. He ducked into Waggit\u2019s hovel, saw Waggit puttering about the hearth, looking here and there, as if trying to decide whether it was time to build a dinner fire. Waggit\u2019s endowments had aged him. His hair had gone silver, and it was long and unkempt. He still had the height of a warrior, but the muscles in his chest and shoulders had grown thin and wasted. <\/p>\n

\t He looked up from the hearth, \u201cFallion!\u201d he said in glee. \u201cYou\u2019ve come home!\u201d <\/p>\n

\t So much had changed over the years, Fallion felt surprised that Waggit even recognized him. Waggit shouted in glee and danced a step. \u201cIt\u2019s good to see you, boy!\u201d He leapt across the room, gave Fallion a hug, and burst into tears. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cGood to see you, too, old friend,\u201d Fallion said, taking the proffered hug. And it was. Waggit\u2019s summer jacket was worn and old. To Fallion he felt too thin in the ribs. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhere have you been\u2014\u201d Waggit asked, \u201coff fighting reavers?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t It was ground they had covered only hours ago, but Waggit had already forgotten. \u201cNothing so grand, I\u2019m afraid,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cI went sailing to the Ends of the Earth, to Landesfallen.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAh!\u201d Waggit said. \u201cI hope they fed you good.\u201d It was the best reply he could come up with. He stood with head cocked to one side, as if hoping to be of some help. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI ate well enough,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cAny word of advice today, old friend?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Waggit peered hard at Fallion with rheumy eyes, his face growing desperate as he tried to recall some tidbit of forgotten lore. His lower lip began to tremble, and he cast his eyes about the room as if searching for something. At last, he merely shrugged, then burst into tears. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion put his arms around the old man. \u201cThere now,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve given me enough wise counsel to last me a lifetime.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2026can\u2019t remember,\u201d Waggit said. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2019ll remember for the both of us,\u201d Fallion said. He hugged Waggit once more, wondering at the cruelty of forcibles. <\/p>\n

\t Waggit had not been born a fool, he once told Fallion. But he had slipped into an icy creek as a child, while fetching water for his mother, and had nearly drowned. After that, his ability to remember was stolen, and he ended up working the silver mines. <\/p>\n

\t But when the reavers attacked Carris, he had fought them with his pick, actually killing a few. For his courage and strength, he had been granted a few forcibles, and with a few endowments of wit and stamina, had made himself a scholar, one of the wisest in the land. <\/p>\n

\t Now the folk who had granted the endowments, his Dedicates, were all dead, and with their deaths, Waggit\u2019s ability to remember had died too, along with the lore that he\u2019d once mastered. Did my father do well or ill, granting him endowments? Fallion wondered. Would Waggit not have been happier to remain a fool than to gain great wisdom and lose it all? <\/p>\n

\t Fallion fought back his sadness and ducked through a curtain into the cozy room where Talon lay upon a low cot. She had grown too large to fit on it. <\/p>\n

\t Jaz had covered her with a coarse blanket, and now he knelt beside her, his shoulders slumped from weariness, so still that he looked as if drawing a breath was almost too great a chore. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHow is she doing?\u201d Fallion asked. \u201cAny change?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Jaz shook his head slightly. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThere is a chair here in the corner, if you would like it,\u201d Fallion offered. Jaz shrugged. \u201cI know. I was too tired to get up and sit.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion slumped in the chair. <\/p>\n

\t Jaz did not turn. As he gazed at Talon, his face was lined with grief. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI thought for sure,\u201d he said softly, \u201cthat when you healed the worlds, we\u2019d get cloudbursts of beer, and the meadows would sprout dancing girls as pretty as any flower\u2026.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSorry to disappoint you,\u201d Fallion said. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with us? I feel like a burrow bear that\u2019s been pulled out of its hole in mid-winter. I just want to sleep for a few more months.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cJaz, we have to go away,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cWe have to get out of here, now.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d Jaz did not move. He looked as if he was too tired to care. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThat rune, it was a trap. The tree was the bait. Once my mind touched the rune, I knew that I had to mend it or die. But it couldn\u2019t be mended, not really. It was meant to do only one thing, to bind two shadow worlds into one. I didn\u2019t bind all of the worlds into one. I didn\u2019t heal anything. I fear I\u2019ve made things worse.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Jaz nodded almost imperceptibly, as if he couldn\u2019t muster the energy to care. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cJaz, no human sorcerer made that rune. It was beyond the power of any mortal to form. I know who made it: our father\u2019s ancient enemy, the Queen of the Loci.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Now Jaz looked at him, cocking his head just a bit, peering at him from the corner of his eye. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cShe\u2019s here, Jaz, somewhere. She knows what I\u2019ve done. She tricked me into doing it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cMaybe, maybe she was just testing you,\u201d Jaz suggested. \u201cMaybe she wanted to see if you really could bind the worlds. If the wizards are right, she was never able to do that. If she\u2019d been able to, she\u2019d have bound all of the worlds together into one, under her control.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIt was a test,\u201d Fallion agreed. \u201cBut in passing it, I failed us all.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Jaz finally drew a deep breath, as if trying to muster the energy to rise. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cGo then, if you must,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t leave Talon behind. And we can\u2019t let the Queen of the Loci catch you. If she does, we both know what she will try to force you to do\u2014bind the worlds into one, all under her control.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion hesitated. He couldn\u2019t bear the thought of leaving Talon, not like this. He wasn\u2019t certain what was wrong with her. Perhaps in the melding, her organs had become jumbled up. Perhaps the creature that lay before him had two hearts and only half a lung. He couldn\u2019t be certain. He only knew that in binding the two worlds together, he had not done it perfectly. There had been mistakes, dangerous errors. The vine that had grown through his hand was just one of them, and the stinging pain and the bloody bandage that he now wore were constant reminders. What if I\u2019d tried binding all of the worlds into one? Fallion wondered. What if those little errors had been multiplied a million million times over? <\/p>\n

\t It would have been a catastrophe. I would have destroyed the world. <\/p>\n

\t Maybe that is why the Locus Queen set this trap\u2014to see what would happen if I succeeded. There was a pitcher of water on the bed stand. Fallion felt thirsty but too tired to take a drink. Still, he knew that his body would need it. <\/p>\n

\t Talon suddenly groaned in her sleep. \u201cIshna! Ishna! Bolanda ka!\u201d She thrashed from side to side. Her voice was deep and husky. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat did she say?\u201d Jaz asked. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion shook his head. It was no language that he had ever heard, and he was familiar with several. He wondered if it were just aimless babbling, the ranting that came with a fevered dream. Fallion got up, found a towel on the bed stand, and poured some of the cool water from the pitcher onto the towel. <\/p>\n

\t He knelt beside Talon and dabbed her forehead, held the rag there with one hand and touched her cheek with the other, checking for a fever. <\/p>\n

\t She was definitely warm. <\/p>\n

\t He had been holding the rag on her head for all of thirty seconds when her eyes sprang open wide, filled with terror, and she backhanded him. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion went flying as if he\u2019d been kicked by a war horse. <\/p>\n

\t In an instant, Talon sprang to her feet, as if to do battle, knocking Jaz aside. \u201cWyrmlings!\u201d she shouted, her eyes darting about the room, trying to take everything in. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cTalon, it\u2019s okay!\u201d Jaz said. \u201cYou\u2019re all right! You\u2019re with friends.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Talon stood, gasping for breath. At seven feet tall, she dwarfed all of those around her, dwarfed the tiny room. Every muscle in her arms and neck seemed strained, and she took a battle stance. In that moment, she seemed a fearsome warrior, more terrifying than any man that Fallion had ever seen. Her eyes darted about, as if she was trapped in some nightmare. Slowly her vision cleared. She recognized Fallion and Jaz, but merely stood in shock, trying to make sense of the situation. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIt\u2019s all right,\u201d Jaz assured her. \u201cYou were only dreaming. You were just dreaming. Do you know where you are?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Talon peered down at the floor, so far below her, and then peered at her hands, huge and powerful, as if trying to make sense of them. \u201cAm I still dreaming?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t She studied Fallion, who lay on the floor, holding his arm where she had hit him. Fallion remembered being trampled by a bull and taking far less hurt. He tried moving his arm experimentally. He didn\u2019t think that it was broken, but it would be black and blue for weeks. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cNo,\u201d Jaz said. \u201cThe world has changed. Two worlds are combined, and I guess\u2026you changed with them. We\u2019re not sure what happened\u2026.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion waited for a reaction. He had thought that she would weep for her lost humanity or sit and sulk. Instead, shock and acceptance seemed to come almost at the same moment. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI see,\u201d she said, peering at her hands as if considering the implications of his words. Then with a sigh she said, \u201cLet\u2019s go see this new world.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t More than anything, this showed Fallion the depth of the change in Talon. Gone was the young woman Fallion had known. <\/p>\n

\t Talon reached down to take Fallion\u2019s hand. He proffered his good hand, but when she grasped it, Fallion cried out in pain. \u201cNot so tight!\u201d <\/p>\n

\t She looked at him in disbelief. \u201cSorry. I, uh, barely touched you.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t He felt sure that she was telling the truth. He also felt sure that if she wanted, she could tear his arm off as easily as she could rip the wing off of a roasted chicken. <\/p>\n

\t She pulled Fallion to his feet, then stalked out of the room on unsteady legs, as if trying to become accustomed to her new size. <\/p>\n

\t She strode out into the street, went to the gate tower, and by the time she reached it she leapt up, taking the stairs up four at a stride. Then she just stood for a long moment until Fallion caught up. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cDamn,\u201d she whispered when he drew near. \u201cYou\u2019ve made a mess of things.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d Fallion asked. \u201cAre you ill?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cFallion,\u201d Talon said, \u201cI feel great. I feel\u2026better than I\u2019ve ever felt before.\u201d She turned and peered at him. \u201cYou\u2019ve done me no harm. In fact, it is the opposite. I feel more\u2026whole, than I ever felt before.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion understood what she meant, partly. It was said that all of the worlds were but shadows of the One True World, and some wizards suspected that a man might have shadows of himself on each of those worlds. <\/p>\n

\t Somehow, Fallion suspected, he had bound Talon to her shadow self. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cNightfall is coming,\u201d she said. \u201cThe\u2026wyrmlings will come with it. We have to get away, get to safety.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion couldn\u2019t imagine any place safer than the castle, even in its poor repair. Nor did he know what a wyrmling was. But this world was in ruins. And the wyrmlings were the cause. There is a rule to war. The first rule, Fallion had been taught, was to know your enemy. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat are wyrmlings?\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cGiants.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cLike you?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cLarger than me,\u201d Talon laughed. \u201cI am human, bred to be one of the warrior clan, large and fierce. My ancestors were bred to be this way, much as you breed dogs of war to increase their size, their viciousness. And though I am larger than a human of feral stock, the wyrmlings are more than a head taller than me, and outweigh me by hundreds of pounds. We are but feeble imitations of the wyrmlings. And we true humans are almost all gone. There are fewer than forty thousand of us left. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThe wyrmlings hunt by night,\u201d Talon explained, \u201cfor they cannot tolerate light. They eat only meat, and they worship the Lady Despair.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI see,\u201d Fallion said. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cNo, not really,\u201d Talon answered. \u201cThere\u2019s more to tell, and it will take hours to do so. But first, we must get away from here.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhere do we go?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Talon peered into the distance, closed her eyes in consternation. \u201cI can\u2019t remember\u2026. It\u2019s like a dream. I see the place, but I can\u2019t put a name to it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThen give yourself a moment to wake,\u201d Fallion said. <\/p>\n

\t Talon peered into the distance for a long minute. \u201cLuciare. The fortress is called Luciare.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhere is it?\u201d Fallion asked. <\/p>\n

\t Talon closed her eyes, concentrated. She could see her mother and father there. Borenson was much the same in both worlds she decided, but Talon\u2019s mothers were not the same woman at all. How would that work? she wondered. Where is my father\u2014in Luciare, or back in Landesfallen? And what of my sisters and brothers? <\/p>\n

\t She wanted to find them, make sure that all of them were well, that they had survived this transformation. But the world had shifted, and she was on strange ground. <\/p>\n

\t Talon shook her head. \u201cI\u2019m not sure. Everything\u2019s\u2026wrong. I\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve even been here before. She nodded to a distant peak to the south, one with a distinctive hump upon the eastern flank. \u201cThat could be Mount Shuneya. That means that Luciare would be west, west by southwest, maybe\u2014a hundred miles, or a hundred and twenty. We can\u2019t make it tonight, or even tomorrow\u2026.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t They wouldn\u2019t be able to make it even in four days, Fallion suspected, not with him in his current condition. But he could hear the urgency in Talon\u2019s voice. <\/p>\n

\t He looked up at her and wondered, Why don\u2019t I have a body like hers? Why didn\u2019t I combine with my shadow self? <\/p>\n

\t Instead he felt frail, worn. <\/p>\n

\t This whole place is a snare, Fallion realized. The one who set it couldn\u2019t know for sure when I would come, or even if I would come. But now that the wire has been sprung, the hunter will be upon us. Fallion suspected it, and Talon seemed to feel it in her bones. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHow long before the wyrmlings get here?\u201d Fallion asked. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThey have fortresses nearby, within thirty miles,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd there might be hidden outposts even closer than that. If the local commanders know to watch this place, they\u2019ll come tonight. Even if Lady Despair has to send assassins from Rugassa, they could be on our trail by dawn.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t So, Fallion thought, a race is on. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWe\u2019ll have to keep under the cover of trees, lie low in the woods during the night, and run through the days\u2026.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHow do you know all of this?\u201d Fallion asked. \u201cHow can you be sure?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t A look of confusion washed over Talon\u2019s face, and she shook her head. \u201cMy father, the man you know as Sir Borenson, is\u2026Aaath Ulber\u2014High Guard. I\u2026we are Warrior Clan.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t So Fallion felt even more convinced. Talon hadn\u2019t merged with some beast. She had merged with her shadow self, with the woman she had been on this world. <\/p>\n

\t Are all of them so large? Fallion wondered. It would explain the strange ruins, so high and soaring. But no, Talon had been but a girl, and had been diminutive at that. The humans of this world wouldn\u2019t all be so large. He suspected that most would be larger. <\/p>\n

\t I\u2019ve brought us to a land of giants, he realized, giants that have almost been destroyed by the wyrmlings. A sudden fear took him. Whatever was coming, he didn\u2019t think that he could fight it. He\u2019d fallen into a trap. He had been forced to join these two worlds together, and he saw the ruin that had followed. He could not fix what he had done. He had no idea how to un-bind the two worlds. And he suspected that his Queen of the Loci was rejoicing in what he had done. Perhaps the best way to thwart her plan, he considered, is to continue my journey to the Mouth of the World and finish binding all of the shadow worlds all into one. <\/p>\n

\t But he considered the damage he had done, and wondered now at the wisdom of that. If he bungled this further, he could destroy the world, not heal it. And there was a second worry. Perhaps that proposed course of action was exactly what the enemy wanted. <\/p>\n

\t Talon turned to Fallion, gave him a calculating gaze. Then her eyes snapped to Jaz who was still feebly making his way across the courtyard below, too weak to keep pace. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion marveled at the change in Talon. She looked vibrant, energized. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cHow soon can we be ready to go?\u201d she demanded. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2019m ready now,\u201d Fallion lied, feeling too fragile for a forced march. \u201cBut you\u2019ve been asleep for hours. We thought that you would die. The question is how do you feel?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t She smiled, showing her overlarge canines. \u201cNever better,\u201d she said, a tone of wonder creeping into her voice. She peered down at her hand again, clenched it and unclenched, as if realizing it was true. \u201cI feel like I could crush rocks in these hands.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI think you\u2019re right,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cYou nearly crushed me.\u201d <\/p>\n

9<\/span><\/p>\n

THE COUNCIL<\/span><\/p>\n

A king who is weak and ineffective is a kind of traitor, and bringing such a man down can be an<\/span> act of patriotism. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Warlord Madoc<\/span><\/p>\n

\t Alun struggled up toward Caer Luciare, his mouth agape. <\/p>\n

\t There were trees everywhere, huge firs on the skirts of the mountain, white aspens along its top. They had grown in an instant, appearing as if in a vision, their shimmering forms gaining substance. He had seen them as he fainted, and when he woke, aching and weary, everything had changed. The sun was still up, marvelously drawn back in the sky, and the hills were full of dust clouds and birds. Daylan Hammer was nowhere to be seen. <\/p>\n

\t Wanderlust had stayed at Alun\u2019s side, and once he got to his feet, the dog set out on Daylan Hammer\u2019s trail again. The dog was able to track him through the thick sod, heading straight for Caer Luciare. But as Alun neared, he peered in stunned silence at the devastation. The fortress was in ruins. The mountain it had rested upon had dropped hundreds of feet in elevation, and with the drop, the whole structure of the mountain had changed. A stone cliff had broken away, exposing tunnels hidden beneath it like the burrows of wood worms in a rotten log. <\/p>\n

\t Steam from the hot pools beneath the castle hissed out of a dozen rents, and the streams above the castle had been diverted. Waterfalls now emptied down the cliffs from three separate tunnels. Everywhere, people were rushing to and fro like ants in a broken nest, and Alun staggered up to the castle in a daze, feeling wearier than he\u2019d ever been. <\/p>\n

\t He worried what would happen if the wyrmlings should attack. With the rents in the fortress, they\u2019d have easy access. It might well be indefensible. <\/p>\n

\t He put Wanderlust in the kennel, made sure that the dogs all had food and water, then went looking for Warlord Madoc. <\/p>\n

\t He found him in the battle room, with the High King and his lords, having a shouting match. Daylan Hammer was there, too, and the Wizard Sisel. High King Urstone looked haggard upon his dais, as much shocked by the devastation as Alun. The Warlords standing in the audience hall appeared angry, as if seeking a target for their frustrations. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI say we strike now, and strike hard!\u201d Madoc roared. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAnd leave ourselves defenseless?\u201d the Emir asked. \u201cThere are breaches in our defenses. We need men to repair them, strong men like our warriors, and we need time.\u201d The Emir was a tall man for one of his kind. He was shorter than Madoc, and much narrower of shoulder. But he held himself like a king, and thus seemed to cast a long shadow. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAnd if the wyrmlings have such breaches in their defenses,\u201d Warlord Barrest asked, \u201cwould it not be the chance of a lifetime? We might break into their prison with ease, and release the prince, and send out assassins against Zul-torac.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat weapon would you use to pierce his shadow?\u201d the Emir asked. \u201cCan it even be slain?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIt can,\u201d Madoc said, \u201cwith cold iron and sunlight.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThat is but a presumption,\u201d King Urstone said. \u201cNo one has ever killed a Death Lord.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The Wizard Sisel said, \u201cI think it is more than a presumption, it is a calculated chance. Sunlight would loosen the monstrous spells that bind his spirit to this world. It should weaken him to the point that he could be slain.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t King Urstone was a bit taller than Warlord Madoc, but narrower at the shoulder. He wore no badge of office. Instead, he wore a shirt of plain chain mail, covered by a brown cape, as if he were but another soldier in the castle. His face was wise and lined with wrinkles, and his beard, which was light brown going gray, made him look wiser still. He said reasonably \u201cAttacking Zul-torac is foolhardy. You can\u2019t reach him. He never leaves the warrens beneath Mount Rugassa. He hides among the shadows with the other Death Lords. You\u2019ll never expose him to light. And if you were to attack, his reprisals would tear our realm apart. Let there be no talk of antagonizing Zul-torac. It is only because we hold his daughter hostage that we have enjoyed what little peace we could find these last few years. So long as Zul-torac lives, we can hope to live.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The Emir had always been wise in counsel. Now he bent his head in thought. \u201cEven if we tried to strike at the north, we might well find that this devastation\u2014this spell\u2014is but a local affair. It may have no effect upon Rugassa.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t He looked to the Wizard Sisel. \u201cWhat think you, wizard? Is it a local affair?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The Wizard Sisel leaned upon his staff and bent his head in thought. His face was burned by sun and wind, with cheeks the color of a ripe apple. His hands and fingernails were dirty from his garden, and his robes looked bedraggled. But he carried himself with dignity despite his ragged attire. He was a powerful wizard, and it was his wards and enchantments that had long helped protect Caer Luciare. All ears bent as he voiced his opinion. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIt is no local affair,\u201d the wizard said. Of them all, only his voice sounded calm and reasonable. \u201cWe saw a world fall from the sky, and now the whole world has changed. Grave changes have occurred. I feel it. The earth groans in pain. I can feel it in the soil, and hear it among the rocks. What the cause is, I do not yet know. But this I can say: it is time to prepare for war, not go to war. Did a wyrmling cast this spell\u2014perhaps even Zul-torac himself? If so, he may have known the destruction it would bring. Leaving the castle now, leaving it undefended, would mean that we are playing into the enemy\u2019s hands. And even if it was not a wyrmling who caused this destruction, this spell will rile them. Casting it is like beating a hornets\u2019 nest with a stick. My feeling is that the wyrmlings will strike at us, no matter what.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThen it is even more imperative that we take Cantular now,\u201d Madoc said. \u201cBy taking the bridge and holding it, we can forestall any attempt at a more serious attack.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYour argument is persuasive,\u201d King Urstone said. \u201cAlmost, I would ride to war now. If Sisel is right, the wyrmlings will soon be on their way, and my son\u2019s life is forfeit, for I cannot put my love for him above the needs of my people\u2014<\/p>\n

\t \u201cHowever,\u201d King Urstone continued, \u201cI would have the counsel of Daylan Hammer on this, for he has wisdom gained over countless ages. This spell that is upon us, Daylan\u2014this new world that fell from the heavens\u2014have you heard of the like?\u201d Urstone was an aging man, much worn by his office, and looked as drained as Alun felt. But he was of the warrior caste, and he was a powerful man. Indeed, Alun had never seen the king show a hint of weariness, until now. <\/p>\n

\t Daylan Hammer strode to the center of the audience hall and pulled himself to his full height. Among the warriors, he was a small man, for none of them were less than a foot taller. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThere has never been the like,\u201d Daylan said, \u201cin all of the lore that I know. But upon the netherworld there has been the hope that such a thing would be.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cA hope?\u201d King Urstone asked in dismay. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThere has been the hope that someone would someday gain the power to bind worlds together. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cLong ago, there was but one world, and one moon, and all men lived in perfect contentment, in perfect peace. There was no death or pain, no deformity, no poverty or war or vice. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cBut one went out from among our forefathers who sought power. She sought to wrest control of the world from the others. The control of the world was bound into a great rune, the Seal of Creation. She sought to twist it, to bind it to her, so that she would become the lord of the earth. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cBut in the process of twisting it, the Seal of Creation was broken, and the One World shattered into many, into thousands and tens of thousands and into millions\u2014each a world orbiting its own sun, each a flawed replica of that One True World. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThe world that you live upon,\u201d Daylan said, \u201cis but a flawed shadow of that world, like a piece of broken crystal that can only hint at what it once was.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Daylan Hammer paused, and High King Urstone demanded. \u201cWhy have I never heard this lore?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIt has been lost here upon your world,\u201d Daylan said. \u201cBut it is remembered elsewhere, on other worlds. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThere has been a hope, a prophecy, that one among us would gain the power to bind the shadow worlds into one. If so, then I know who has done this. It may be that he has gained that power at last\u2014\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cOr?\u201d King Urstone demanded. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cOr it may be that the enemy has gained such control. Long has she endeavored, hoping to learn how to bind worlds into one. But that skill has eluded her.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThis is madness,\u201d Warlord Heddick cried. \u201cWhat proof do we have that any of this is true?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIf it is proof that you want,\u201d Daylan said, \u201clook inside yourselves. Some of you must feel the change. In the past two hours alone I have heard a dozen people talking of strange dreams, of other lives that they remember. If I am right, many of you have combined with your other self, a shadow self. And our captains tell us that thousands of our people have just vanished. I suspect that they are scattered across the earth, having also combined with their shadow selves. Those \u2018dreams\u2019 that you are having are not dreams, they are memories. They are the proof that you seek, and if you question those who have them, you will find that their stories, their memories, corroborate one another. Do any of you have them?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Several warlords looked dumbfounded. Of them all, Warlord Madoc seemed most affected by Daylan\u2019s words. His face went pale with shock, and he stood, trembling. <\/p>\n

\t The Wizard Sisel bent his head in profound thought and muttered, \u201cThis matter\u2026demands attention.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t It was at this moment that Warlord Madoc happened to glance toward the doorway and saw Alun standing there. He smiled secretively, nodded toward Daylan. <\/p>\n

\t Immediately the blood drained from Alun\u2019s face and his heart pounded. He feared that he would be called upon to betray Daylan Hammer, to speak against him here in public, and he was almost as afraid of speaking before the king as he was of dying. He swallowed hard, looked around. Daylan had asked Alun to lie in his behalf. Daylan claimed that his own plans were superior to those of Warlord Madoc. <\/p>\n

\t But were they? <\/p>\n

\t Did Alun dare let the immortal steal off with the Princess Kan-hazur? Did they dare throw aside their shield now, when the castle had burst apart at every seam? <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat do you advise?\u201d King Urstone asked Daylan Hammer. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI think,\u201d Daylan said, \u201cthat the Wizard Sisel speaks wisely. I think that you should look to your defenses, mend the walls of your fortress. It has served you well for many years, and you will need all of your strength to hold it now.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The king nodded his head in thought, and Alun knew that he was persuaded to keep his troops home. It was the safest course, and to provoke the wyrmlings would be to condemn his son to death. Even after these many years, the king was loath to do so. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWait!\u201d Warlord Madoc said, stamping his foot to gain attention. \u201cYour Highness, before we give heed to the counsel of Daylan Hammer, there is something that you should know. Thrice in the past six weeks, he has left the hunt and gone off on his own. Four weeks past, I sent Sir Croft to follow him, and Sir Croft was found dead. Today, I sent young Alun here.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t He turned abruptly. \u201cSo, what did you learn?\u201d Warlord Madoc demanded. Alun caught his breath. If he told the truth, the warlords would test to see if Daylan Hammer truly was immortal. <\/p>\n

\t If he lied, it could mean death for everyone else. <\/p>\n

\t And then there was the matter of his reward\u2026<\/p>\n

\t \u201cDaylan Hammer went to the Tower of the Fair Ones. There\u2026he met with a wyrmling\u2014\u201d Alun said. There were howls of outrage from the lords, \u201cTraitor! Death to him!\u201d Instantly the room flew into a commotion. <\/p>\n

\t There was no time for questioning Daylan Hammer. He reached for his saber in a blinding flash, even as he tried to dodge toward the door. The angry lords took this as a sign of guilt. Among commoners, he would have escaped easily. <\/p>\n

\t But he was among warriors, men bred for battle for five thousand years. War clubs were thrown, and he dodged one, took another in the back. It sent Daylan sprawling, and he flashed his saber and neatly sliced the hamstring of Warlord Cowan. Madoc\u2019s son Connor took that moment to lash out with a vicious kick to the head that knocked Daylan Hammer halfway across the room, right into the arms of Madoc himself, who grabbed the immortal and pinned him to the floor with his bulk. There were shouts of \u201cHold him!\u201d \u201cGrab him!\u201d \u201cOw, damn!\u201d \u201cThrow him in the oubliette; maybe a swim in the piss will settle him down!\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Soon, half a dozen of the younger warlords each had a piece of Daylan\u2014an arm here, a leg there\u2014and though Daylan thrashed and kicked at them, they went lugging him past Alun, taking him to the oubliette. Alun saw Daylan\u2019s face red with rage and exertion as he passed. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAlun?\u201d Daylan said in dismay, astonished that the lad had betrayed him. And then the young warlords were gone, dragging their prisoner to the oubliette. The king hunched upon his dais, looking old and bewildered, while the warlords waited upon his word. Alun found himself staggering forward. He wanted to explain what Daylan had done, his reasoning, for he was sure that that would earn Daylan some leniency. <\/p>\n

\t But the very notion that Daylan was conspiring with the wyrmlings proved his treachery as far as the warlords were concerned. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cUh,\u201d Alun began to say, but a huge hand slapped him on a shoulder, startling him. It was Drewish, leering down at him threateningly. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWell done,\u201d Drewish whispered. \u201cYou will dine at our family\u2019s table tonight. And tomorrow, you will come with us into battle, as one of the warrior clan.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t At the promise of reward, Alun fell silent. <\/p>\n

\t The old king nodded at his men, his face filled with endless sadness. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cMadoc is right. There may never be a better time to attack,\u201d the king said. \u201cFor long I\u2019ve hoped to win my son\u2019s freedom, and I\u2019ve listened to Daylan\u2019s counsel. But I can hesitate no longer. The good of my people must outweigh my own selfish desires. Prepare for battle.\u201d <\/p>\n

10<\/span><\/p>\n

A MAN OUT OF FAVOR<\/span><\/p>\n

Peace can be found in any clime, and any circumstance. He who has learned how to face death<\/span> and dishonor without fear cannot have his peace taken from him. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Daylan Hammer<\/span><\/p>\n

\t Daylan Hammer struggled against his captors as they bore him to the dungeons. He thrashed and kicked, but even with four endowments of brawn, he couldn\u2019t match the combined strength of the warrior clan. These men had been bred to battle over too many generations and were too large. In fighting them, he only risked breaking his bones. <\/p>\n

\t So he battled them, but at a measured pace. He didn\u2019t want them to guess his true strength. They dragged him to the dungeons. <\/p>\n

\t There were fine cells at the top, places where nobles had been held captive in ages past. Now, only a few scraggly paupers filled the cells. Justice in Caer Luciare didn\u2019t lend itself to long prison stays. A few lashes with a whip for disturbing the peace, a lopped-off hand for stealing, a day in the stocks for questioning a lord\u2019s character\u2014those were the kinds of punishment that were dealt out. The prison was used mainly to hold criminals for a few hours before sentencing. <\/p>\n

\t So Daylan hoped for a nobleman\u2019s cell. But they bore him below, past the torture chamber where tongs and forges and bloodied knives gave mute testimony to past retributions. The Princess Kan-hazur was in a cell near the door. He saw her sitting, dressed in gray rags, her dark hair a ragged mat. She was larger than most of the warriors, topping eight feet, and though she was but eighteen, her long, powerful arms looked as if they could snap a man in half. She growled as the warriors passed, and lunged, grabbing one by the collar and ramming his head into the bars. <\/p>\n

\t Daylan kicked hard then, using the diversion to nearly break free. <\/p>\n

\t But years of confinement had left the princess weak, and within a moment the warrior had her by the hair, twisting her head around until he could get her in a stranglehold. <\/p>\n

\t The warriors carried Daylan past her cell, to a small grate, and Daylan fought fiercely at that point, managing to kick one warrior in the face and loosen a few teeth, just before they shoved him into a foul hole. <\/p>\n

\t He slid down a rough incline perhaps forty feet, before he landed in a pool of feces and urine that was chest-deep. <\/p>\n

\t There was little light in this place. He peered up above, perhaps a hundred feet. Light shone through a few privies. He was below the soldiers\u2019 barracks. <\/p>\n

\t The walls were slick with excrement, the slope far too steep for a man to climb. The dark waters were hot and smelled of sulfur. Obviously, they had trickled in through some crack in the rock from the hot springs that were used to warm the city in the winter. The water was too hot for comfort. <\/p>\n

\t There was a jangle of keys up above as his captors locked the iron grate. Someone laughed and shouted down at him, \u201cDinner!\u201d <\/p>\n

\t A loaf of bread came bouncing down the slimy slope, to land with a wet plop. Daylan picked it up. It had been old and crusty. <\/p>\n

\t For a long moment he stood, assessing the situation. <\/p>\n

\t The smell was atrocious, but he knew that you could get used to any smell. He had been in some dire places in his life, but nowhere as foul as this. <\/p>\n

\t There was nowhere to sit, nowhere to rest. The cesspool left him only a small space to stand in, perhaps only ten feet across. And he imagined that when he got tired enough, he could try to float. But the excrement in the cesspool had the consistency of quicksand. A layer of water and urine covered the top, perhaps to a depth of four inches, and all beneath that was a sordid stew. To try to rest would be to drown. <\/p>\n

\t Of course, that was what he was here for. That was his torment. He could stand in the muck while soldiers rained their urine down on him, or dropped a foul hail upon him, waiting for days without food or drink, until the High King decided that it was time to fish him out, bring him to his trial, and, hopefully, condemn him to a speedy death. <\/p>\n

\t Or he could choose to rest, and thus to drown. <\/p>\n

\t He tried wading a bit, found that objects that were sharp and hard rolled and shifted beneath his feet\u2014the bones of those who had chosen to drown. <\/p>\n

\t After a few minutes, the sound of the captor\u2019s harsh laughter died away, and he was left to himself. I am supposed to deliver the princess to the rendezvous point tomorrow, he realized. That will take some doing, he thought, emitting a bark of painful laughter. So much had changed in just a few hours. He wondered if the wyrmlings could keep to the bargain now, even if he did manage to deliver her. <\/p>\n

\t He thrashed about, trying to find a comfortable place to stand. <\/p>\n

\t Perhaps if I can climb up to the grate, he thought, I could squeeze through the bars. But the climb looked impossible. Without a rope it was hopeless. <\/p>\n

\t Even endowments of brawn and grace would not let him negotiate that slick slope. I\u2019ll have to dig my fingernails into the rock, he thought, to get any purchase. Maybe then, I could climb out. <\/p>\n

\t But even to try would attract attention. Once news of a captive broke out in the barracks, many a curious eye would be aimed down the privy holes. <\/p>\n

\t That is, until tomorrow, Daylan realized. <\/p>\n

\t The troops were to leave at dawn. <\/p>\n

\t As if to confirm his worries, someone called out from above, \u201cLook, there\u2019s a rat in the pisser.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWell then, you know what to do,\u201d a gruff voice laughed. <\/p>\n

\t A steady yellow rain began to fall. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou men sat at my table,\u201d Daylan shouted up. \u201cWhich of my songs or jokes offended you so?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t There was no answer from above. <\/p>\n

\t With no other recourse, Daylan Hammer merely folded his arms, closed his eyes, and tried to remember fairer days. <\/p>\n

11<\/span><\/p>\n

UPON A BED OF STARS<\/span><\/p>\n

Not even a village idiot will honor a lord of poor character, and any man who builds a noble<\/span> character\u2014whether he be low-born or high\u2014will find himself honored by all. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Hearthmaster Waggit<\/span><\/p>\n

\t It was with a heavy heart that Fallion left Castle Coorm. There were over a hundred and eighty people left in the castle, mostly impoverished families with grubby children, too little food, and no way to protect themselves. <\/p>\n

\t If Talon was right, they would be in grave danger so long as they stayed in Coorm. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cLeave here,\u201d Fallion warned them. \u201cStay in the caves beneath the castle tonight. There are boats that can take you out through the underground river in the morning, so that the little ones will not have to walk so far. They\u2019ll carry your food, too. Whatever you do, don\u2019t show your faces above ground tonight. Stay hidden till morning, then make your way north to Ravenspell, or east to the Courts of Tide. There should be people there, greater safety. Travel only by day, and hide yourselves at night.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t He looked at a young boy, no more than three, terrified and vulnerable. His right cheek was bruised, and his eye swollen shut. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion patted his head, whispered some words of encouragement. <\/p>\n

\t In a more perfect world, he thought, children would never know such fear. He wished that he could do more for them. He was tempted to stay behind, lead them to safety himself, but Talon had objected. \u201cIf we\u2019re right, you\u2019re the one that the enemy is searching for. Staying with the refugees would only slow you down\u2014and place them in greater danger.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t So Fallion left amid sad farewells, hugging Hearthmaster Waggit and Farion, departing the castle an hour before sunset, taking only his three friends and some food. At the castle gate, Fallion and the others raised their swords in salute, crying out, \u201cSworn to defend.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The people cheered, not realizing that the salute carried sad memories for the four. For it was on just such a journey from this castle that they had first sworn their oaths to one another. Fallion took one last longing look at the golden tree, tried to let its form become etched in his memory. For a long moment, he listened, hoping to hear its voice in his mind once again. But there was nothing. Regretfully, he struck out through the meadows, heading toward the mountains to the west. The air was full of the smell of pines, clean and refreshing, and the warm sun beat down on the fields. With every step, Fallion found himself threshing wheat and oats, knocking the full kernels from the stalks. Grasshoppers and honeybees rose up in small clouds as they passed. <\/p>\n

\t Soon his party reached the coolness beneath the woods. Sunshine slanted through the trees, casting shadows, while light played upon motes of dust and pollen in the air. The woods filled with the chatter of jays, the thumping of woodpeckers, the peeps of nuthatches and occasional coo of a mourning dove. <\/p>\n

\t It would have been a perfect walk, if Fallion hadn\u2019t felt so drained. The weariness lingered with him, left him so sapped that he could hardly walk, much less keep up with Talon\u2019s grueling pace. Still, she urged him on. <\/p>\n

\t Jaz often complained, for he was as weary as any, but Rhianna merely kept silent, following at Fallion\u2019s back like a shadow, sometimes whispering encouragement. <\/p>\n

\t The old road to Hay was a road no longer. In this new world, it was filled with rocks and scree, gouged by canyons and blocked by hills. Sometimes along the path, Fallion saw further evidence of the damage done by his spell\u2014trees growing up insanely through boulders, a nuthatch impaled by a tuft of grass, speared through by a dozen small blades, struggling vainly to break free. And he wondered at the damage done to himself. Why am I so weary? He found sweat rolling off of him, a steady sheen, even though the day was cool. <\/p>\n

\t But not all of the \u201caccidents\u201d were bad. As they walked along near sundown, they came upon a vine growing in the shadows of some rocks. It looked like some kind of pea, with a few brilliant white blossoms and it had berries on it\u2014perfectly white berries, like wild pearls, that glowed brightly among the shadows. <\/p>\n

\t Rhianna stopped and peered at them in wonder. \u201cWhat are these called?\u201d she asked Talon. Talon merely shrugged. \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen them before, never heard of them\u2014not in either world.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion could only imagine that two plants had combined, creating something that was better than on either world. Whether the light-berries, as he decided to call them, had ever existed on the One True World, he did not know, but he liked to think that they had. <\/p>\n

\t Rhianna picked a dozen berries, carried them in her palm for a ways. It wasn\u2019t until they stopped that night in a rocky grotto, shielded on three sides by rocks and from above by a huge pine tree, that Fallion came up with a theory for his fatigue. They plunged into the blackness of the grotto, a place that would be decidedly easy to defend from strengi-saats. Jaz threw down his pack, dropped onto a bed of pine needles, and said dramatically, \u201cI\u2019m dead.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion brushed some twigs off of a mossy bed. A firefly flew up out of a nearby bush, then others began to shine, turning into lights that danced and weaved among the trees. Rhianna laid her light-berries down, but Fallion saw that they were fading. That\u2019s when the realization struck. \u201cOf course you\u2019re dead,\u201d Fallion told Jaz. \u201cAnd so am I, and Rhianna.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Rhianna halted, peered at him in the shadows, as did Talon. \u201cAll three of us are dead\u2014at least we were on this world.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d Talon asked, standing above him like a hulk. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cTalon, you said that humans were almost gone from this shadow world. How many are left?\u201d Fallion asked. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThirty-eight thousand.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYet on our world, there were millions,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cTalon I\u2019ve been wondering why you<\/span> joined with your shadow self, but we didn\u2019t. Now I understand. We have no shadow selves here.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The others peered at him, and Fallion talked in a rush, thinking aloud. \u201cWe were hunted as children, Jaz and I, from before our birth. Rhianna was, too. On this world, our other selves failed to survive. That\u2019s why we feel so\u2026dead.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t There was a long silence. \u201cYou\u2019re scaring me,\u201d Rhianna said. She sat down on unsteady legs, nearly collapsing from exhaustion. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cIf we died on this world, wouldn\u2019t we remember at least some of our lives?\u201d Jaz asked. \u201cShouldn\u2019t we remember being children?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cDoes dust remember?\u201d Talon asked. <\/p>\n

\t There was a drawn-out silence as Fallion considered the implications. He wondered if he even had a history on this world. Had he died, or had it been one of his ancestors? Perhaps he\u2019d never been born here. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cFallion,\u201d Rhianna asked with rising concern. \u201cYou came on this quest because you want to heal the world, bind the shadow worlds into one perfect world. But have you considered the possibility that in that world, perhaps none of us would exist?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cWe feel half-dead now,\u201d Jaz said. \u201cWould we die if all the worlds were bound?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion had no idea. <\/p>\n

\t If I bind the worlds, heal them, Fallion wondered, is it possible that I would be doing it for others, and not for myself? <\/p>\n

\t And what about those unfortunate souls like me? Would I doom them to oblivion? Or would we all live, filling a single world to the breaking point? <\/p>\n

\t He had no answers. But suddenly he realized that he had to stop his quest to mend the worlds. For years now he had felt driven. But now he needed some answers before he could proceed. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cTalon,\u201d he asked. \u201cIn the city of Luciare, is there an Earth Warden, a wizard that we can talk to?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Talon thought for a moment, then nodded. \u201cSisel is his name. Our warriors are strong, but I think that it is by his powers more than any other that the city has been preserved.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThen I must talk to him when we reach the city,\u201d Fallion said. <\/p>\n

\t The party laid down then, Rhianna cuddling up at Fallion\u2019s side. Talon took the first watch. Everyone seemed to be lost in their own private thoughts for a long time, and soon Fallion heard Jaz begin to snore while Rhianna fell into a fitful sleep. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion laid abed that night, under the gloom of the trees, the brief flashing of fireflies nearly the only source of light. <\/p>\n

\t A few stars shone between the branches of the trees. His mother had taught him that stars were only distant suns, and that worlds like his drifted around them. He wondered what the worlds that circled these suns were like, and he wondered if somewhere up there one of his shadow selves might be looking down upon his own world. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion kept an eye on Talon, who merely rested with her back to the rock. There was little chance of them being discovered by wyrmlings, but Fallion had to worry about strengi-saats, and perhaps beasts that he\u2019d never even imagined. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cTell me stories,\u201d Fallion asked Talon when the others were all asleep, \u201cabout your life in the castle, about your father.\u201d He wanted to keep her awake as much as he wanted to hear stories. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2026don\u2019t remember much,\u201d Talon said softly. \u201cIt\u2019s all like a dream, one that you\u2019ve forgotten and then struggle to recall in the morning. I remember things, but they\u2019re so\u2026disjointed.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThen tell me what you remember the best.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t And she did. <\/p>\n

\t On this world, Borenson had married a woman, but not Myrrima. She was a woman of the warrior clans, a fit mate, and Borenson had dutifully sired seven children upon her. Talon had been raised in a cr\u00e8che with the other warrior children, trained to fight. She had been taught her duties as a warrior, and saw breeding as one of those duties. Her father\u2019s rank was so high that she was greatly desired by other men, but few were considered suitable mates. Her father had been consulting the genealogies, trying to decide which man would win her as the prize. Hers had been a grim life, and narrow, Fallion thought. There were no happy childhood memories, unless one counted a score of victories in mock combat\u2014or the slaughter of her first wyrmling at the age of fourteen\u2014as happy memories. <\/p>\n

\t The news saddened Fallion. He had hoped that life on other shadow worlds might be happier than life on his own. At the worst, he thought it would be a distorted reflection, but a reflection nonetheless. He had to look hard to see any similarities between the worlds. The land wasn\u2019t the same. The low hills of Coorm were mountains here, and much else had changed. The warrior clans of Shadow, as he decided to call the other world, hardly looked human. <\/p>\n

\t But the more he considered, the more that he saw that the worlds were alike. There were pine trees and bears on both of the worlds, harts and hares. <\/p>\n

\t He asked about reavers in the underworld, and Talon assured him that they existed. \u201cBut the wyrmlings went to war with them a century ago. They don\u2019t pose a threat. Not like they did on our world.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Perhaps, Fallion thought, but he could not be sure. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cAnd yet\u2026\u201d Fallion mused. \u201cIn both worlds, the plight of mankind is great. My father used his Earth Powers to save millions. If not for him, our world would have been destroyed, as this one has been destroyed.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion fell silent for a long time. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cSo the worlds really are reflections of each other,\u201d Talon mused. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cNo,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cI think that they are not reflections so much as distortions, distortions of the One True World. I think a great war is going on there, and few are left among mankind.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t The thought had never occurred to him before, but it felt right. It was said that the Queen of the Loci had tried to seize control of the Great Seals in ages past, and during a battle she had rent them, breaking them. <\/p>\n

\t Fallion had always imagined that the story ended there. But the battle for control still goes on, he thought, upon countless shadow worlds. <\/p>\n

\t Rhianna called out softly in her sleep, \u201cFallion?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t He glanced back at her, lying beneath the shadows of the pine. She rolled over in her sleep, using her arms as a pillow. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cFallion,\u201d Talon whispered, \u201cwhat happened to all of the people on our world? Are they all still alive? Did you bring them all with us?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion had been worrying about this very thought through much of the evening. <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI believe so,\u201d Fallion said. \u201cJaz, Rhianna, and I are all half-alive. The folk in Coorm too, though some of the older ones, it seems, could not endure the shock.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cYou don\u2019t sound certain.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cThe problem is,\u201d Fallion said, \u201cin both worlds, this area was a wilderness. There might be millions of people living in Indhopal, but that is a thousand miles away, and until I see them, I can\u2019t be sure.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cI\u2019ll bet they\u2019re a little confused!\u201d Talon smiled, showing her oversized canines. \u201cMillions of humans on this world again\u2014that will be good news to the folk of Luciare. Father will dance when he learns of it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t \u201cBut will they be worth much, fighting your giants?\u201d Fallion wondered. He knew that they wouldn\u2019t, not if they had only their own strength. \u201cAre forcibles used among the clans?\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Talon shook her head. \u201cSuch magic has not been heard of. The three hundred forcibles we brought with us will be a great prize for the clans.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t Fallion started to speak, but Talon reached over and threw a hand over his mouth. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

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Book Preview WORLDBINDER Tor Books by David Farland \u00a0 \u00a0 PROLOGUE Though your heart may burn with righteous desires, your noblest hopes will become fuel to fire despair among mankind. That which you seek to build will crumble to ash. War shall follow you all of your days, and though the world may applaud your … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[225],"class_list":["post-3840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-david-farland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}