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[ { "from": "system", "value": "Aid the author, keep the plot going.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, siege\nAuthor: Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: The Well of Ascension\nChapter: 60" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It took me a little over a week to get here,\" Sazed said. \"Though it looked as if King Lekal had been camped therefor a time. He is obviously coming this direction, but I don't know how quickly he intends to march.\"\n\n\"Probably wasn't expecting to find that two other armies beat him to the city,\" Ham noted.\n\nElend nodded. \"What do we do, then?\"\n\n\"I don't see that we can do anything, Your Majesty,\" Dockson said, shaking his head. \"Sazed's report doesn't give me much hope that we'll be able to reason with Jastes. And, with the siege we're already under, there is little we can do.\"\n\n\"He might just turnaround and go,\" Ham said. \"With two armies already here...\"\n\nSazed looked hesitant. \"He knew about the armies, Lord Hammond. He seemed to trust in his koloss over the human armies.\"\n\n\"With twenty thousand,\" Clubs said, \"he could probably take either of those other armies.\"\n\n\"But he'd have trouble with both of them,\" Ham said. \"That would give me pause, if I were him. By showing up with a pile of volatile koloss, he could easily worry Cett and Straff enough that they would join forces against him.\"\n\n\"Which would suit us just fine,\" Clubs said. \"The more that other people fight, the better off we are.\"\n\nElend sat back. He felt a looming anxiety, and it was good to have Vin next to him, arm around him, even if she didn't say much. Sometimes, he felt stronger simply because of her presence. Twenty thousand koloss. This single threat scared him more than either of the other armies." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This could be a good thing,\" Ham said. \"If Jastes were to lose control of those beasts near Luthadel, there's a good chance they'd attack one of those other armies.\"\n\n\"Agreed,\" Breeze said tiredly. \"I think we need to keep stalling, draw out this siege until the koloss army arrives. One more army in the mix means only more advantage for us.\"\n\n\"I don't like the idea of koloss in the area,\" Elend said, shivering slightly. \"No matter what advantage they offer us. If they attack the city...\"\n\n\"I say we worry about that when, and if, they arrive,\" Dockson said. \"For now, we have to continue our plan as we intended. His Majesty meets with Straff, trying to manipulate him into a covert alliance with us. With luck, the imminent koloss presence will make him more willing to deal.\"\n\nElend nodded. Straff had agreed to meet, and they'd set a date fora few days away. The Assembly was angry that he hadn't consulted with them about the time and place, but there was little they could do about the matter.\n\n\"Anyway,\" Elend finally said, sighing. \"You said you had other news, Saze? Better, hopefully?\"\n\nSazed paused. A cook finally walked over, setting a plate of food before him: steamed barley with strips of steak and some spiced lagets. The scents were enough to make Elend a little hungry. He nodded thankfully to the palace chef, who had insisted on preparing the meal himself despite the late hour, and who waved to his staff and began to withdraw.\n\nSazed sat quietly, waiting to speak until the staff were again out of earshot. \"I hesitate to mention this, Your Majesty, for your burdens already seem great.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You might as well just tell me,\" Elend said.\n\nSazed nodded. \"I fear that we may have exposed the world to something when we killed the Lord Ruler, Your Majesty. Something unanticipated.\"\n\nBreeze raised a tired eyebrow. \"Unanticipated? You mean other than ravaging koloss, power-hungry despots, and bandits?\"\n\nSazed paused. \"Um, yes. I speak of items a little more nebulous, I fear. There is something wrong with the mists.\"\n\nVin perked up slightly beside Elend. \"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"I have been following a trail of events,\" Sazed explained. He looked down as he spoke, as if embarrassed. \"I have been performing an investigation, you might say. You see, I have heard numerous reports of the mists coming during the daytime.\"\n\nHam shrugged. \"That happens sometimes. There are foggy days, especially in the fall.\"\n\n\"That is not what I mean, Lord Hammond,\" Sazed said. \"There is a difference between the mist and ordinary fog. It is difficult to spot, perhaps, but it is noticeable to a careful eye. The mist is thicker, and... well...\"\n\n\"It moves in larger patterns,\" Vin said quietly. \"Like rivers in the sky. It never just hangs in one place; it floats in the breeze, almost like it makes the breeze.\"\n\n\"And it can't enter buildings,\" Clubs said. \"Or tents. It evaporates soon after it does.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Sazed said. \"When I first heard these reports of day mist, I assumed that the people were just letting their superstitions get out of control. I have known many skaa who refused to go out on a foggy morning. However, I was curious about the reports, so I traced them to a village in the South. I taught therefor sometime, and never received confirmation of the stories. So, I made my way from that place.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He paused, frowning slightly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your Majesty, please do not think me mad. During those travels I passed a secluded valley, and saw what I swear was mist, not fog. It was moving across the landscape, creeping toward me. During the full light of day.\"\n\nElend glanced at Ham. He shrugged. \"Don't look at me.\"\n\nBreeze snorted. \"He was asking your opinion, my dear man.\"\n\n\"Well, I don't have one.\"\n\n\"Some philosopher you are.\"\n\n\"I'm not a philosopher,\" Ham said. \"I just like to think about things.\"\n\n\"Well, think about this, then,\" Breeze said.\n\nElend glanced at Sazed. \"Have those two always been this way?\"\n\n\"Honestly, I am not certain, Your Majesty,\" Sazed said, smiling slightly. \"I have known them for only slightly longer than yourself.\"\n\n\"Yes, they've always been like this,\" Dockson said, sighing quietly. \"If anything, they've gotten worse over the years.\"\n\n\"Aren't you hungry?\" Elend asked, nodding to Sazed's plate.\n\n\"I can eat once our discussion is finished,\" Sazed said.\n\n\"Sazed, you're not a servant anymore,\" Vin said. \"You don't have to worry about things like that.\"\n\n\"It is not a matter of serving or not, Lady Vin,\" Sazed said. \"It is a matter of being polite.\"\n\n\"Sazed,\" Elend said.\n\n\"Yes, Your Majesty?\"\n\nHe pointed at the plate. \"Eat. You can be polite another time. Right now, you look famished-and you're among friends.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sazed paused, giving Elend an odd look. \"Yes, Your Majesty,\" he said, picking up a knife and spoon.\n\n\"Now,\" Elend began, \"why does it matter if you saw mist during the day? We know that the things the skaa say aren't true-there's no reason to fear the mist.\"\n\n\"The skaa maybe more wise than we credit them, Your Majesty,\" Sazed said, taking small, careful bites of food. \"It appears that the mist has been killing people.\"\n\n\"What?\" Vin asked, leaning forward.\n\n\"I have never seen it myself, Lady Vin,\" Sazed said. \"But I have seen its effects, and have collected several separate reports. They all agree that the mist has been killing people.\"\n\n\"That's preposterous,\" Breeze said. \"Mist is harmless.\"\n\n\"That is what I thought, Lord Ladrian,\" Sazed said. \"However, several of the reports are quite detailed. The incidents always occurred during the day, and each one tells of the mist curling around some unfortunate individual, who then died-usually in a seizure. I gathered interviews with witnesses myself.\"\n\nElend frowned. From another man, he'd dismiss the news. But Sazed... he was not a man that one dismissed. Vin, sitting beside Elend, watched the conversation with interest, chewing slightly on her bottom lip. Oddly, she didn't object to Sazed's words-though the others seemed to be reacting as Breeze had.\n\n\"It doesn't make sense, Saze,\" Ham said. \"Thieves, nobles, and Allomancers have gone out in the mists for centuries.\"\n\n\"Indeed they have, Lord Hammond,\" Sazed said with a nod. \"The only explanation I can think of involves the Lord Ruler. I heard no substantive reports of mist deaths before the Collapse, but I have had little trouble finding them since. The reports are concentrated in the Outer Dominances, but the incidents appear to be moving inward. I found one... very disturbing incident several weeks to the south, where an entire village seems to have been trapped in their hovels by the mists.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But, why would the Lord Ruler's death have anything to do with the mists?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Breeze asked.\n\n\"I am not certain, Lord Ladrian,\" Sazed said. \"But it is the only connection I have been able to hypothesize.\"\n\nBreeze frowned. \"I wish you wouldn't call me that.\"\n\n\"I apologize, Lord Breeze,\" Sazed said. \"I am still accustomed to calling people by their full names.\"\n\n\"Your name is Ladrian?\" Vin asked.\n\n\"Unfortunately,\" Breeze said. \"I've never been fond of it, and with dear Sazed putting'Lord' before it... well, the alliteration makes it even more atrocious.\"\n\n\"Is it me,\" Elend said, \"or are we going off on even more tangents than usual tonight?\"\n\n\"We get that way when we're tired,\" Breeze said with a yawn. \"Either way, our good Terrisman must have his facts wrong. Mist doesn't kill.\"\n\n\"I can only report what I have discovered,\" Sazed said. \"I will need to do some more research.\"\n\n\"So, you'll be staying?\" Vin asked, obviously hopeful.\n\nSazed nodded.\n\n\"What about teaching?\" Breeze asked, waving his hand. \"When you left, I recall that you said something about spending the rest of your life traveling, or some nonsense like that.\"\n\nSazed blushed slightly, glancing down again. \"That duty will have to wait, I fear.\"\n\n\"You're welcome to stay as long as you want, Sazed,\" Elend said, shooting a glare at Breeze. \"If what you say is true, then you'll be doing a greater service through your studies than you would by traveling.\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Sazed said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Though,\" Ham noted with a chuckle, \"you probably could have picked a safer place to setup shop-one that isn't being pushed around by two armies and twenty thousand koloss.\"\n\nSazed smiled, and Elend gave an obligatory chuckle. He said that the incidents involving the mist were moving inward, toward the center of the empire. Toward us.\n\nSomething else to worry about.\n\n\"What's going on?\" a voice suddenly asked. Elend turned toward the kitchen doorway, where a disheveled-looking Allrianne stood. \"I heard voices. Is there a party?\"\n\n\"We were just discussing matters of state interest, my dear,\" Breeze said quickly.\n\n\"The other girl is here,\" Allrianne said, pointing at Vin. \"Why didn't you invite me?\"\n\nElend frowned. She heard voices? The guest quarters aren't anywhere near the kitchens. And Allrianne was dressed, wearing a simple noblewoman's gown. She'd taken the time to get out of her sleeping clothing, but she'd left her hair disheveled. Perhaps to make herself look more innocent?\n\nI'm starting to think like Vin, Elend told himself with a sigh. As if to corroborate his thoughts, he noticed Vin narrowing her eyes at the new girl.\n\n\"Go back to your rooms, dear,\" Breeze said soothingly. \"Don't trouble His Majesty.\"\n\nAllrianne sighed dramatically, but turned and did as he asked, trailing off into the hallway. Elend turned back to Sazed, who was watching the girl with a curious expression. Elend gave him an'ask later\" look, and the Terrisman turned back to his meal. A few moments later, the group began to breakup. Vin hung back with Elend as the others left." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't trust that girl,\" Vin said as a couple of servants took Sazed's pack and guided him away.\n\nElend smiled, turning to look down at Vin. \"Do I have to say it?\"\n\nShe rolled her eyes. \"I know. \"You don't trust anyone, Vin. \"This time I'm right. She was dressed, but her hair was disheveled. She must have done that intentionally.\"\n\n\"I noticed.\"\n\n\"You did?\" She sounded impressed.\n\nElend nodded. \"She must have heard the servants waking up Breeze and Clubs, so she got up. That means she spent a good half an hour eavesdropping. She kept her hair mussed so that we'd assume that she'd just comedown.\"\n\nVin opened her mouth slightly, then frowned, studying him. \"You're getting better,\" she eventually said.\n\n\"Either that, or Miss Allrianne just isn't very good.\"\n\nVin smiled.\n\n\"I'm still trying to figure out why you didn't hear her,\" Elend noted.\n\n\"The cooks,\" Vin said. \"Too much noise. Besides, I was a little distracted by what Sazed was saying.\"\n\n\"And what do you think of it?\"\n\nVin paused. \"I'll tell you later.\"\n\n\"All right,\" Elend said. To Vin's side, the kandra rose and stretched its wolfhound body. Why did she insist on bringing OreSeur to the meeting? he wondered. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that she couldn't stand the thing?\n\nThe wolfhound turned, glancing at the kitchen windows. Vin followed its gaze.\n\n\"Going back out?\" Elend asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Vin nodded. \"I don't trust this night. I'll stay near your balcony, in case there's trouble.\"\n\nShe kissed him; then she moved away. He watched her go, wondering why she had been so interested in Sazed's stories, wondering what it was she wasn't telling him.\n\nStop it, he told himself. Perhaps he was learning her lessons a little too well-of all the people in the palace, Vin was the last one he needed to be paranoid about. However, every time he felt like he was beginning to figure Vin out, he realized just how little he understood her.\n\nAnd that made everything else seem a little more depressing. With a sigh, he turned to seek out his rooms, where his half-finished letter to the Assembly waited to be completed.\n\nPerhaps I should not have spoken of the mists, Sazed thought, following a servant up the stairs. Now I've troubled the king about something that might just be my delusion.\n\nThey reached the top of the stairs, and the servant asked if he wished a bath drawn. Sazed shook his head. Inmost other circumstances he would have welcomed the opportunity to get clean. However, running all the way to the Central Dominance, being captured by the koloss, then marching the rest of the way up to Luthadel had left him wearied to the farthest fringe of exhaustion. He'd barely had the strength to eat. Now he just wanted to sleep.\n\nThe servant nodded and led Sazed down aside corridor.\n\nWhat if he was imagining connections that didn't exist? Every scholar knew that one of the greatest dangers in research was the desire to find a specific answer. He had not imagined the testimonies he had taken, but had he exaggerated their importance? What did he really have? The words of a frightened man who had seen his friend die of a seizure? The testimony of a lunatic, crazed to the point of cannibalism? The fact remained that Sazed himself had never seen the mists kill." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The servant led him to a guest chamber, and Sazed thankfully bid the man goodnight. He watched the man walkaway, holding only a candle, his lamp left for Sazed to use. During most of Sazed's life, he had belonged to a class of servants prized for their refined sense of duty and decorum. He'd been in charge of households and manors, supervising servants just like the one who had led him to his rooms.\n\nAnother life, he thought. He had always been a little frustrated that his duties as a steward had left him little time for study. How ironic it was that he should help overthrow the Final Empire, then find himself with even less time.\n\nHe reached to push open the door, and froze almost immediately. There was already alight inside the room.\n\nDid they leave a lamp on for me? he wondered. He slowly pushed the door open. Someone was waiting for him.\n\n\"Tindwyl,\" Sazed said quietly. She sat beside the room's writing desk, collected and neatly dressed, as always.\n\n\"Sazed,\" she replied as he stepped in, shutting the door. Suddenly, he was even more acutely aware of his dirty robes.\n\n\"You responded to my request,\" he said.\n\n\"And you ignored mine.\"\n\nSazed didn't meet her eyes. He walked over, setting his lamp on top of the room's bureau. \"I noticed the king's new clothing, and he appears to have gained a bearing to match them. You have done well, I think.\"\n\n\"We are only just started,\" she said dismissively. \"You were right about him.\"\n\n\"King Venture is a very good man,\" Sazed said, walking to the washbasin to wipe down his face. He welcomed the cold water; dealing with Tindwyl was bound to tire him even further." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good men can make terrible kings,\" Tindwyl noted.\n\n\"But badmen cannot make good kings,\" Sazed said. \"It is better to start with a good man and work on the rest, I think.\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Tindwyl said. She watched him with her normal hard expression. Others thought her cold-harsh, even. But Sazed had never seen that in her. Considering what she had been through, he found it remarkable-amazing, even-that she was so confident. Where did she get it?\n\n\"Sazed, Sazed...\" she said. \"Why did you return to the Central Dominance? You know the directions the Synod gave you. You are supposed to be in the Eastern Dominance, teaching the people on the borders of the burnlands.\"\n\n\"That is where I was,\" Sazed said. \"And now I am here. The South will get along fora time without me, I think.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" Tindwyl asked. \"And who will teach them irrigation techniques, so they can produce enough food to survive the cold months? Who will explain to them basic lawmaking principles so that they may govern themselves? Who will show them how to reclaim their lost faiths and beliefs? You were always so passionate about that.\"\n\nSazed set down the washcloth. \"I will return to teach them when I am certain there is not a greater work I need to do.\"\n\n\"What greater work could there be?\" Tindwyl demanded. \"This is our life's duty, Sazed. This is the work of our entire people. I know that Luthadel is important to you, but there is nothing for you here. I will care for your king. You must go.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I appreciate your work with King Venture,\" Sazed said. \"My course has little to do with him, however. I have other research to do.\"\n\nTindwyl frowned, eyeing him with a cool stare. \"You're still looking for this phantom connection of yours. This foolishness with the mists.\"\n\n\"There is something wrong, Tindwyl,\" he said.\n\n\"No,\" Tindwyl said, sighing. \"Can't you see, Sazed? You spent ten years working to overthrow the Final Empire. Now, you can't content yourself with regular work, so you have invented some grand threat to the land. You're afraid of being irrelevant.\"\n\nSazed looked down. \"Perhaps. If you are correct, then I will seek the forgiveness of the Synod. I should probably seek it anyway, I think.\"\n\n\"Oh, Sazed,\" Tindwyl said, shaking her head slightly. \"I can't understand you. It makes sense when young fire-heads like Vedzan and Rindel buck the Synod's advice. But you? You are the soul of what it means to be Terris-so calm, so humble, so careful and respectful. So wise. Why are you the one who consistently defies our leaders? It doesn't make sense.\"\n\n\"I am not so wise as you think, Tindwyl,\" Sazed said quietly. \"I am simply a man who must do as he believes. Right now, I believe thereto be a danger in the mists, and I must investigate my impressions. Perhaps it is simply arrogance and foolishness. But I would rather be known as arrogant and foolish than risk danger to the people of this land.\"\n\n\"You will find nothing.\"\n\n\"Then I will be proven wrong,\" Sazed said. He turned, looking into her eyes. \"But kindly remember that the last time I disobeyed the Synod, the result was the collapse of the Final Empire and the freedom of our people.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tindwyl made a tight-lipped frown. She didn't like being reminded of that fact-none of the Keepers did. They held that Sazed had been wrong to disobey, but they couldn't very well punish him for his success.\n\n\"I don't understand you,\" she repeated quietly. \"You should be a leader among our people, Sazed. Not our greatest rebel and dissident. Everyone wants to lookup to you-but they can't. Must you defy every order you are given?\"\n\nHe smiled wanly, but did not answer.\n\nTindwyl sighed, rising. She walked toward the door, but paused, taking his hand as she passed. She looked into his eyes fora moment; then he removed the hand.\n\nShe shook her head and left." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He commanded kings, and though he sought no empire, he became greater than all who had come before." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "SOMETHING IS GOING ON, VIN thought, sitting in the mists atop Keep Venture.\n\nSazed was not prone to exaggeration. He was meticulous-that much showed in his mannerisms, his cleanliness, and even the way he spoke. And, he was even more meticulous when it came to his studies. Vin was inclined to believe his discoveries.\n\nAnd she'd certainly seen things in the mists. Dangerous things. Could the mist spirit explain the deaths Sazed had encountered? But, if that's the case, why didn't Sazed speak of figures in the mist?\n\nShe sighed, closing her eyes and burning bronze. She could hear the spirit, watching nearby. And, she could hear it again as well, the strange thumping in the distance. She opened her eyes, leaving her bronze on, and quietly unfolded something from her pocket: a sheet from the logbook. By the light from Elend's balcony below, and with tin, she could easily read the words.\n\nShe shivered. She had asked one of Elend's seekers to burn bronze, and he had claimed to hear nothing from the north. Either he was the kandra, lying to her about his ability to burn bronze, or Vin could hear a rhythm that nobody else could. Nobody except a man a thousand years dead.\n\nA man everyone had assumed was the Hero of Ages.\n\nYou're being silly, she told herself, refolding the paper. Jumping to conclusions. To her side, OreSeur rustled, lying quietly and staring out over the city.\n\nAnd yet, she kept thinking of Sazed's words. Something was happening with the mists. Something was wrong.\n\nZane didn't find her atop Keep Hasting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He stopped in the mists, standing quietly. He'd expected to find her waiting, for this was the place of their last fight. Even thinking of the event made him tense with anticipation.\n\nDuring the months of sparring, they had always met again at the place where he'd eventually lost her. Yet, he'd returned to this location on several nights, and had never found her. He frowned, thinking of Straff's orders, and of necessity.\n\nEventually, he would likely be ordered to kill this girl. He wasn't certain what bothered him more-his growing reluctance to consider such an act, or his growing worry that he might not actually be able to beat her.\n\nShe could be it, he thought. The thing that finally lets me resist. The thing that convinces me to just... leave.\n\nHe couldn't explain why he needed a reason. Part of him simply ascribed it to his insanity, though the rational part of him felt that was a weak excuse. Deep down, he admitted that Straff was all he had ever known. Zane wouldn't be able to leave until he knew he had someone else to rely on.\n\nHe turned away from Keep Hasting. He'd had enough of waiting; it was time to seek her out. Zane threw a coin, bounding across the city fora time. And, sure enough, there she was: sitting atop Keep Venture, watching over his foolish brother.\n\nZane rounded the keep, keeping far enough away that even tin-enhanced eyes wouldn't see him. He landed on the back of the keep's roof, then walked forward quietly. He approached, watching her sit on the edge of the roof. The air was silent.\n\nFinally, she turned around, jumping slightly. He swore that she could sense him when she shouldn't be able to." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Either way, he was discovered.\n\n\"Zane,\" Vin said flatly, easily identifying the silhouette. He wore his customary black on black, with no mistcloak.\n\n\"I've been waiting,\" he said quietly. \"Atop Keep Hasting. Hoping you'd come.\"\n\nShe sighed, careful to keep an eye on him, but relaxing slightly. \"I'm not really in the mood for sparring right now.\"\n\nHe watched her. \"Pity,\" he finally said. He walked over, prompting Vin to rise cautiously to her feet. He paused beside the lip of the rooftop, looking down at Elend's lit balcony.\n\nVin glanced at OreSeur. He was tense, alternately watching her and Zane.\n\n\"You're so worried about him,\" Zane said quietly.\n\n\"Elend?\" Vin asked.\n\nZane nodded. \"Even though he uses you.\"\n\n\"We've had this discussion, Zane. He isn't using me.\"\n\nZane looked up at her, meeting her eyes, standing straight-backed and confident in the night.\n\nHe's so strong, she thought. So sure of himself. So different from...\n\nShe stopped herself.\n\nZane turned away. \"Tell me, Vin,\" he said, \"when you were younger, did you ever wish for power?\"\n\nVin cocked her head, frowning at the strange question. \"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"You grew upon the streets,\" Zane said. \"When you were younger, did you wish for power? Did you dream of having the ability to free yourself, to kill those who brutalized you?\"\n\n\"Of course I did,\" Vin said.\n\n\"And now you have that power,\" Zane said. \"What would the child Vin say if she could see you? A Mistborn who is bent and bowed by the weight of another's will? Powerful, yet somehow still subservient?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm a different person now, Zane,\" Vin said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'd like to think that I've learned things since I was a child.\"\n\n\"I've found that a child's instincts are often the most honest,\" Zane said. \"The most natural.\"\n\nVin didn't respond.\n\nZane turned quietly, looking out over the city, seemingly unconcerned that he was exposing his back to her. Vin eyed him, then dropped a coin. It plinked against the metal rooftop, and he immediately glanced back toward her.\n\nNo, she thought, he doesn't trust me.\n\nHe turned away again, and Vin watched him. She did understand what he meant, for she had once thought as he did. Idly, she wondered what kind of person she might have become if she'd gained full access to her powers without-at the same time-learning of friendship and trust from Kelsier's crew.\n\n\"What would you do, Vin?\" Zane asked, turning back toward her. \"Assuming you didn't have any constraints-assuming there were no repercussions for your actions?\"\n\nGo north. The thought was immediate. Find out what is causing that thumping. She didn't say it, however. \"I don't know,\" she said instead.\n\nHe turned, eyeing her. \"You aren't taking me seriously, I see. I apologize for wasting your time.\"\n\nHe turned to go, walking directly between her and OreSeur. Vin watched him, and felt a sudden stab of concern. He'd come to her, willing to talk rather than just fight-and she'd wasted the opportunity. She was never going to turn him to her side if she didn't talk to him.\n\n\"You want to know what I'd do?\" she asked, her voice ringing in the silent mists.\n\nZane paused." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"If I could just use my power as I wanted?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Vin asked. \"No repercussions? I'd protect him.\"\n\n\"Your king?\" Zane asked, turning.\n\nVin nodded sharply. \"These men who brought armies against him-your master, this man named Cett. I'd kill them. I'd use my power to make certain that nobody could threaten Elend.\"\n\nZane nodded quietly, and she saw respect in his eyes. \"And why don't you?\"\n\n\"Because...\"\n\n\"I seethe confusion in your eyes,\" Zane said. \"You know that your instincts to kill those men are right-yet you hold back. Because of him.\"\n\n\"There would be repercussions, Zane,\" Vin said. \"If I killed those men, their armies might just attack. Right now, diplomacy could still work.\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Zane said. \"Until he asks you to go kill someone for him.\"\n\nVin snorted. \"Elend doesn't work that way. He doesn't give me orders, and the only people I kill are the ones who try to kill him first.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" Zane said. \"You may not act at his order, Vin, but you certainly refrain from action at it. You are his toy. I don't say this to insult you-you see, I'm as much a toy as you are. Neither of us can break free. Not alone.\"\n\nSuddenly, the coin Vin had dropped snapped into the air, flying toward Zane. She tensed, but it simply streaked into Zane's waiting hand.\n\n\"It's interesting,\" he said, turning the coin in his fingers. \"Many Mistborn stop seeing the value in coins. To us, they simply become something to be used for jumping. It's easy to forget the value of something when you use it so often. When it becomes commonplace and convenient to you. When it becomes... just a tool.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He flipped the coin up, then shot it out into the night. \"I must go,\" he said, turning.\n\nVin raised a hand. Seeing him use Allomancy made her realize that there was another reason she wanted to speak with him. It had been so long since she'd talked with another Mistborn, one who understood her powers. Someone like her.\n\nBut, it seemed to her that she was too desperate for him to stay. So she let him go, and returned to her vigil." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He fathered no children, yet all of the land became his progeny." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "VIN WAS AVERY LIGHT sleeper-a heritage from her youth. Thieving crews worked together out of necessity, and any man who couldn't guard his own possessions was considered to be unworthy of them. Vin, of course, had been at the very bottom of the hierarchy-and while she hadn't had many possessions to protect, being a young girl in a primarily male environment gave her other reasons to be alight sleeper.\n\nSo it was that when she awoke to a quiet bark of warning, she reacted without thinking. She tossed off her covers, reaching immediately for the vial on her bedstand. She didn't sleep with metals inside of her; many of the Allomantic metals were, to some small extent, poisonous. It was unavoidable that she'd have to deal with some of that danger, but she had been warned to burn away excess metals at the end of each day.\n\nShe downed this vial even as she reached for the obsidian daggers hidden beneath her pillow. The door to her sleeping chamber swung open, and Tindwyl walked in. The Terriswoman froze in midstep as she saw Vin crouching on the bed's footboard a few feet away, twin daggers glistening, body tense.\n\nTindwyl raised an eyebrow. \"So you are awake.\"\n\n\"Now.\"\n\nThe Terriswoman smiled.\n\n\"What are you doing in my rooms?\" Vin demanded.\n\n\"I came to wake you. I thought we might go shopping.\"\n\n\"Shopping?\"\n\n\"Yes, dear,\" Tindwyl said, walking over to pull open the curtains. It was far earlier in the day than Vin usually rose. \"From what I hear, you're going to meet with His Majesty's father on the morrow. You'll want a suitable dress for the occasion, I assume?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't wear dresses anymore.\" What is your game?\n\nTindwyl turned, eyeing Vin. \"You sleep in your clothing?\"\n\nVin nodded.\n\n\"You don't keep any ladies-in-waiting?\"\n\nVin shook her head.\n\n\"Very well, then,\" Tindwyl said, turning to walk from the room. \"Bathe and change. We'll leave when you're ready.\"\n\n\"I don't take commands from you.\"\n\nTindwyl paused by the door, turning. Then her face softened. \"I know you don't, child. You may come with me if you wish-the choice is yours. However, do you really want to meet with Straff Venture in trousers and a shirt?\"\n\nVin hesitated.\n\n\"At least come browse,\" Tindwyl said. \"It will help take your mind off things.\"\n\nFinally, Vin nodded. Tindwyl smiled again, then left.\n\nVin glanced at OreSeur, who sat beside her bed. \"Thanks for the warning.\"\n\nThe kandra shrugged.\n\nOnce, Vin wouldn't have been able to imagine living in a place like Keep Venture. The young Vin had been accustomed to hidden lairs, skaa hovels, and the occasional alley. Now she lived in a building bespeckled with stained glass, bounded by mighty walls and grand archways.\n\nOf course, Vin thought as she left the stairwell, many things have happened that I didn't expect. Why think about them now?\n\nHer youth in the thieving crews had been much on her mind of late, and Zane's comments-ridiculous though they were-itched in her mind. Did Vin belong in a place like this keep? She had a great many skills, but few of them were beautiful hallway kinds of skills. They were more... ash-stained alleyway kinds of skills." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She sighed, OreSeur at her side as she made her way to the southern entryway, where Tindwyl said she'd be waiting. The hallway here grew wide and grand, and opened directly into the courtyard. Usually, coaches came right up into the entryway to pickup their occupants-that way the noblemen wouldn't be exposed to the elements.\n\nAs she approached, her tin let her hear voices. One was Tindwyl, the other...\n\n\"I didn't bring much,\" Allrianne said. \"A couple hundred boxings. But I do so need something to wear. I can't survive on borrowed gowns forever!\"\n\nVin paused as she turned into the last part of the hallway.\n\n\"The king's gift will surely be enough to pay fora dress, dear,\" Tindwyl said, noticing Vin. \"Ah, here she is.\"\n\nA sullen-looking Spook stood with the two women. He had on his palace guard's uniform, though he wore the jacket undone and the trousers loose. Vin walked forward slowly. \"I wasn't expecting company,\" she said.\n\n\"Young Allrianne was trained as a courtly noblewoman,\" Tindwyl said. \"She will know the current fashions, and will be able to advise on your purchases.\"\n\n\"And Spook?\"\n\nTindwyl turned, eyeing the boy. \"Packman.\"\n\nWell, that explains his mood, Vin thought.\n\n\"Come,\" Tindwyl said, walking toward the courtyard. Allrianne followed quickly, walking with alight, graceful step. Vin glanced at Spook, who shrugged, and they followed as well.\n\n\"How did you get pulled into this?\" Vin whispered to Spook." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Was up too early, sneaking food,\" Spook grumbled. \"Miss Imposing there noticed me, smiled like a wolfhound, and said, \"We'll be needing your services this afternoon, young man. '\"\n\nVin nodded. \"Stay alert and keep your tin burning. Remember, we're at war.\"\n\nSpook obediently did what she said. Standing close to him as she was, Vin easily picked up and identified his tin's Allomantic pulses-meaning he wasn't the spy.\n\nAnother one off the list, Vin thought. At least this trip won't be a total waste.\n\nA coach waited for them by the front keep gates. Spook climbed up beside the coachman, and the women piled into the back. Vin sat down inside, and OreSeur climbed in and took the seat next to her. Allrianne and Tindwyl sat across from her, and Allrianne eyed OreSeur with a frown, wrinkling her nose. \"Does the animal have to sit on the seats with us?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Vin said as the carriage started moving.\n\nAllrianne obviously expected more of an explanation, but Vin didn't give one. Finally, Allrianne turned to lookout the window. \"Are you sure we'll be safe, traveling with only one manservant, Tindwyl?\"\n\nTindwyl eyed Vin. \"Oh, I think that we'll be all right.\"\n\n\"Oh, that's right,\" Allrianne said, looking back at Vin. \"You're an Allomancer! Are the things they say true?\"\n\n\"What things?\" Vin asked quietly.\n\n\"Well, they say you killed the Lord Ruler, for one. And that you're kind of... um... well.\" Allrianne bit her lip. \"Well, just a little bit rickety.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Rickety?\"\n\n\"And dangerous,\" Allrianne said. \"But, well, that can't be true. I mean, you're going shopping with us, right?\"\n\nIs she trying to provoke me on purpose?\n\n\"Do you always wear clothing like that?\" Allrianne asked.\n\nVin was in her standard gray trousers and tan shirt. \"It's easy to fight in.\"\n\n\"Yes, but... well.\" Allrianne smiled. \"I guess that's why we're here today, right, Tindwyl?\"\n\n\"Yes, dear,\" Tindwyl said. She'd been studying Vin through the entire conversation.\n\nLike what you see? Vin thought. What is it you want?\n\n\"You have to be the strangest noblewoman I've ever met,\" Allrianne declared. \"Did you grow up far from court? I did, but my mother was quite certain to train me well. Of course, she was just trying to make me into a good catch so Father could auction me off to make an alliance.\"\n\nAllrianne smiled. It had been awhile since Vin had been forced to deal with women like her. She remembered hours spent at court, smiling, pretending to be Valette Renoux. Often when she thought of those days, she remembered the bad things. The spite she'd faced from court members, her own lack of comfort in the role.\n\nBut, there had also been good things. Elend was one. She would never have met him if she hadn't been pretending to be a noblewoman. And the balls-with their colors, their music, and their gowns-had held a certain transfixing charm. The graceful dancing, the careful interactions, the perfectly decorated rooms...\n\nThose things are gone now, she told herself. We don't have time for silly balls and gatherings, not when the dominance is on the verge of collapse." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tindwyl was still watching her.\n\n\"Well?\" Allrianne asked.\n\n\"What?\" Vin asked.\n\n\"Did you grow up far from court?\"\n\n\"I'm not noble, Allrianne. I'm skaa.\"\n\nAllrianne paled, then flushed, then raised her fingers to her lips. \"Oh! You poor thing!\" Vin's augmented ears heard something beside her-alight chuckling from OreSeur, soft enough that only an Allomancer could have heard him.\n\nShe resisted the urge to shoot the kandra a flat look. \"It wasn't so bad,\" she said.\n\n\"But, well, no wonder you don't know how to dress!\" Allrianne said.\n\n\"I know how to dress,\" Vin said. \"I even own a few gowns.\" Not that I've put one on in months....\n\nAllrianne nodded, though she obviously didn't believe Vin's comment. \"Breezy is skaa, too,\" she said quietly. \"Or, half skaa. He told me. Good thing he didn't tell Father-Father never has been very nice to skaa.\"\n\nVin didn't reply.\n\nEventually, they reached Kenton Street, and the crowds made the carriage a liability. Vin climbed out first, OreSeur hopping down to the cobblestones beside her. The market street was busy, though not as packed as it had been the last time she'd visited. Vin glanced over the prices at some nearby shops as the others exited the coach.\n\nFive boxings fora bin of aging apples, Vin thought with dissatisfaction. Food is already going at a premium. Elend had stores, fortunately. But how long would they last before the siege? Not through the approaching winter, certainly-not with so much of the dominance's grain still unharvested in the outer plantations." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Time maybe our friend now, Vin thought, but it will turn onus eventually. They had to get those armies to fight each other. Otherwise, the city's people might die of starvation before the soldiers even tried to take the walls.\n\nSpook hopped down from the carriage, joining them as Tindwyl surveyed the street. Vin eyed the bustling crowds. The people were obviously trying to go about their daily activities, despite the threat from outside. What else could they do? The siege had already lasted for weeks. Life had to goon.\n\n\"There,\" Tindwyl said, pointing to a dressmaker's shop.\n\nAllrianne scampered forward. Tindwyl followed behind, walking with modest decorum. \"Eager young thing, isn't she?\" the Terriswoman asked.\n\nVin shrugged. The blond noblewoman had already gotten Spook's attention; he was following her with a lively step. Of course, it wasn't hard to get Spook's attention. You just had to have breasts and smell nice-and the second was sometimes optional.\n\nTindwyl smiled. \"She probably hasn't had an opportunity to go shopping since she left with her father's army weeks ago.\"\n\n\"You sound like you think she went through some awful ordeal,\" Vin said. \"Just because she couldn't go shopping.\"\n\n\"She obviously enjoys it,\" Tindwyl said. \"Surely you can understand being taken from that which you love.\"\n\nVin shrugged as they reached the shop. \"I have trouble feeling sympathy fora courtly puff who is tragically taken from her dresses.\"\n\nTindwyl frowned slightly as they entered the shop, OreSeur settling down to wait outside. \"Do not be so hard on the child. She is a product of her upbringing, just as you are. If you judge her worth based on frivolities, then you are doing the same as those who judge you based on your simple clothing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I like it when people judge me based on my simple clothing,\" Vin said. \"Then they don't expect too much.\"\n\n\"I see,\" Tindwyl said. \"Then, you haven't missed this at all?\" She nodded toward the shop's inner room.\n\nVin paused. The room burst with colors and fabric, lace and velvet, bodices and skirts. Everything was powdered with alight perfume. Standing before the dressing dummies in their brilliant hues, Vin was-for just a moment-again taken back to the balls. Back to when she was Valette. Back to when she had an excuse to be Valette.\n\n\"They say you enjoyed noble society,\" Tindwyl said lightly, walking forward. Allrianne was already standing near the front of the room, running her fingers across a bolt of fabric, talking to the dressmaker in a firm voice.\n\n\"Who told you that?\" Vin asked.\n\nTindwyl turned back. \"Why, your friends, dear. It's quite curious-they say you stopped wearing dresses a few months after the Collapse. They all wonder why. They say you seemed to like dressing like a woman, but I guess they were wrong.\"\n\n\"No,\" Vin said quietly. \"They were right.\"\n\nTindwyl raised an eyebrow, pausing beside a dressmaker's dummy in a bright green dress, edged with lace, the bottom flaring wide with several underskirts.\n\nVin approached, looking up at the gorgeous costume. \"I was beginning to like dressing like this. That was the problem.\"\n\n\"I don't see a problem in that, dear.\"\n\nVin turned away from the gown. \"This isn't me. It never was-it was just an act. When wearing a dress like that, it's too easy to forget who you really are.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And these dresses can't be part of who you really are?\"\n\nVin shook her head. \"Dresses and gowns are part of who she is.\" She nodded toward Allrianne. \"I need to be something else. Something harder.\" I shouldn't have come here.\n\nTindwyl laid a hand on Vin's shoulder. \"Why haven't you married him, child?\"\n\nVin looked up sharply. \"What kind of question is that?\"\n\n\"An honest one,\" Tindwyl said. She seemed far less harsh than she had been the other times Vin had met her. Of course, during those times, she had mostly been addressing Elend.\n\n\"That topic is not your concern,\" Vin said.\n\n\"The king has asked me to help him improve his image,\" Tindwyl said. \"And I have taken it upon myself to do more than that-I want to make areal king of him, if I can. There is some great potential in him, I think. However, he's not going to be able to realize it until he's more sure about certain things in his life. You in particular.\"\n\n\"I...\" Vin closed her eyes, remembering his marriage proposal. That night, on the balcony, ash lightly falling in the night. She remembered her terror. She'd known, of course, where the relationship was going. Why had shebeen so frightened?\n\nThat was the day she'd stopped wearing dresses.\n\n\"He shouldn't have asked me,\" Vin said quietly, opening her eyes. \"He can't marry me.\"\n\n\"He loves you, child,\" Tindwyl said. \"Ina way, that is unfortunate-this would all be much easier if he could feel otherwise. However, as things stand...\"\n\nVin shook her head. \"I'm wrong for him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ah,\" Tindwyl said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I see.\"\n\n\"He needs something else,\" Vin said. \"Something better. A woman who can be a queen, not just a bodyguard. Someone...\" Vin's stomach twisted. \"Someone more like her.\"\n\nTindwyl glanced toward Allrianne, who laughed at a comment made by the elderly dressmaker as he took her measurements.\n\n\"You are the one he fell in love with, child,\" Tindwyl said.\n\n\"When I was pretending to be like her.\"\n\nTindwyl smiled. \"Somehow, I doubt that you could be like Allrianne, no matter how hard you practiced.\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Vin said. \"Either way, it was my courtly performance that he loved. He didn't know what I really was.\"\n\n\"And has he abandoned you now that he does know of it?\"\n\n\"Well, no. But-\"\n\n\"All people are more complex than they first appear,\" Tindwyl said. \" Allrianne, for instance, is eager and young-perhaps a bit too outspoken. But she knows more of the court than many would expect, and she seems to know how to recognize what is good in a person. That is a talent many lack.\n\n\"Your king is a humble scholar and thinker, but he has the will of a warrior. He is a man who has the nerve to fight, and I think-perhaps-you have yet to seethe best of him. The Soother Breeze is a cynical, mocking man-until he looks at young Allrianne. Then he softens, and one wonders how much of his harsh unconcern is an act.\"\n\nTindwyl paused, looking at Vin. \"And you. You are so much more than you are willing to accept, child. Why look at only one side of yourself, when your Elend sees so much more?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Is that what this is all about?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Vin said. \"You trying to turn me into a queen for Elend?\"\n\n\"No, child,\" Tindwyl said. \"I wish to help you turn into whoever you are. Now, go let the man take your measurements so you can try on some stock dresses.\"\n\nWhoever I am? Vin thought, frowning. However, she let the tall Terriswoman push her forward, and the elderly dressmaker took his tape and began to measure.\n\nA few moments and a changing room later, Vin stepped back into the room wearing a memory. Silky blue with white lace, the gown was tight at the waist and through the bust, but had a large, flowing bottom. The numerous skirts made it flare out, tapering down in a triangular shape, her feet completely covered, the bottom of the skirt flush with the floor.\n\nIt was terribly impractical. It rustled when she moved, and she had to be careful where she stepped to keep it from catching or brushing a dirty surface. But it was beautiful, and it made her feel beautiful. She almost expected a band to start playing, Sazed to stand over her shoulder like a protective sentry, and Elend to appear in the distance, lounging and watching couples dance as he flipped through a book.\n\nVin walked forward, letting the dressmaker watch where the garment pinched and where it bunched, and Allrianne let out an'Ooo\" as she saw Vin. The old dressmaker leaned on his cane, dictating notes to a young assistant. \"Move around a bit more, my lady,\" he requested. \"Let me see how it fits when you do more than just walk in a straight line.\"\n\nVin spun slightly, turning on one foot, trying to remember the dancing moves Sazed had taught her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I never did get to dance with Elend, she realized, stepping to the side, as if to music she could only faintly remember. He always found an excuse to wiggle out of it.\n\nShe twirled, getting a feel for the dress. She would have thought that her instincts would have decayed. Now that she had one on again, however, she was surprised at how easy it was to fallback into those habits-stepping lightly, turning so that the bottom of the dress flared just a bit....\n\nShe paused. The dressmaker was no longer dictating. He watched her quietly, smiling.\n\n\"What?\" Vin asked, flushing.\n\n\"I'm sorry, my lady,\" he said, turning to tap on his assistant's notebook, sending the boy away with a point of his finger. \"But I don't rightly think I've ever seen someone move so gracefully. Like a... passing breath.\"\n\n\"You flatter me,\" Vin said.\n\n\"No, child,\" Tindwyl said, standing to the side. \"He's right. You move with a grace that most women can only envy.\"\n\nThe dressmaker smiled again, turning as his assistant approached with a group of square cloth color samples. The old man began to sort through them with a wizened hand, and Vin stepped over to Tindwyl, holding her hands at the sides, trying not to let the traitorous dress take control of her again.\n\n\"Why are you being so nice tome?\" Vin demanded quietly.\n\n\"Why shouldn't I be?\" Tindwyl asked.\n\n\"Because you're mean to Elend,\" Vin said. \"Don't deny it-I've listened in on your lessons. You spend the time insulting and disparaging him. But now you're pretending to be nice.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tindwyl smiled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am not pretending, child.\"\n\n\"Then why are you so mean to Elend?\"\n\n\"The lad grew up as a pampered son of a great lord,\" Tindwyl said. \"Now that he's king, he needs a little harsh truth, I think.\" She paused, glancing down at Vin. \"I sense that you've had quite enough of that in your life.\"\n\nThe dressmaker approached with his swatches, spreading them out on a low table. \"Now, my lady,\" he said, tapping one group with a bent finger. \"I think your coloring would look particularly good with dark cloth. A nice maroon, perhaps?\"\n\n\"What about a black?\" Vin asked.\n\n\"Heavens, no,\" Tindwyl said. \"Absolutely no more black or gray for you, child.\"\n\n\"What about this one, then?\" Vin asked, pulling out a royal blue swatch. It was nearly the shade she'd worn the first night she'd met Elend, so long ago.\n\n\"Ah, yes,\" the dressmaker said. \"That would look wonderful against that light skin and dark hair. Hum, yes. Now, we'll have to pick a style. You need this by tomorrow evening, the Terriswoman said?\"\n\nVin nodded.\n\n\"Ah, then. We'll have to modify one of the stock dresses, but I think I have one in this color. We'll have to take it in quite a bit, but we can work through the night fora beauty like yourself, can't we, lad? Now, as for the style...\"\n\n\"This is fine, I guess,\" Vin said, looking down. The gown was the standard cut of those she'd worn at previous balls.\n\n\"Well, we're not looking for'fine, ' now, are we?\" the dressmaker said with a smile." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What if we removed some of the pettiskirts?\" Tindwyl said, pulling at the sides of Vin's dress. \"And perhaps raised the hem just a bit, so that she could move more freely?\"\n\nVin paused. \"You could do that?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" the dressmaker said. \"The lad says thinner skirts are more popular to the south, though they tend to lag in fashion a bit behind Luthadel.\" He paused. \"Though, I don't know that Luthadel even really has a fashion anymore....\"\n\n\"Make cuffs of the sleeves wide,\" Tindwyl said. \"And sew a couple of pockets into them for certain personal items.\"\n\nThe old man nodded as his quiet assistant scribbled down the suggestion.\n\n\"The chest and waist can be tight,\" Tindwyl continued, \"but not restrictive. Lady Vin needs to be able to move freely.\"\n\nThe old man paused. \"Lady Vin?\" he asked. He looked a little closer at Vin, squinting, then turned to his assistant. The boy nodded quietly.\n\n\"I see...\" the man said, paling, handshaking just a little bit more. He placed it on the top of his cane, as if to give himself a little more stability. \"I'm... I'm sorry if I offended you, my lady. I didn't know.\"\n\nVin flushed again. Another reason why I shouldn't go shopping. \"No,\" she said, reassuring the man. \"It's all right. You haven't offended me.\"\n\nHe relaxed slightly, and Vin noticed Spook strolling over.\n\n\"Looks like we've been found,\" Spook said, nodding to the front windows.\n\nVin glanced past dressing dummies and bales of cloth to see a crowd gathering outside. Tindwyl watched Vin with curiosity." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Spook shook his head. \"Why do you get to be so popular?\"\n\n\"I killed their god,\" Vin said quietly, ducking around a dressing dummy, hiding from the dozens of peeking eyes.\n\n\"I helped too,\" Spook said. \"I even got my nickname from Kelsier himself! But nobody cares about poor little Spook.\"\n\nVin scanned the room for windows. There's got to be aback door. Of course, there might be people in the alley.\n\n\"What are you doing?\" Tindwyl asked.\n\n\"I have to go,\" Vin said. \"Getaway from them.\"\n\n\"Why don't you go out and talk to them?\" Tindwyl asked. \"They're obviously very interested in seeing you.\"\n\nAllrianne emerged from a dressing room-wearing a gown of yellow and blue-and twirled dramatically. She was obviously putout when she didn't even get Spook's attention.\n\n\"I'm not going out there,\" Vin said. \"Why would I want to do something like that?\"\n\n\"They need hope,\" Tindwyl said. \"Hope you can give them.\"\n\n\"A false hope,\" Vin said. \"I'd only encourage them to think of meas some object of worship.\"\n\n\"That's not true,\" Allrianne said suddenly, walking forward, looking out the windows without the least bit of embarrassment. \"Hiding in corners, wearing strange clothing, and being mysterious-that's what has gotten you this amazing reputation. If people knew how ordinary you were, they wouldn't be so crazy to get a look at you.\" She paused, then looked back. \"I... uh, didn't mean that like I think it sounded.\"\n\nVin flushed. \"I'm not Kelsier, Tindwyl. I don't want people to worship me. I just want to be left alone.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Some people don't have that choice, child,\" Tindwyl said. \"You struck down the Lord Ruler. You were trained by the Survivor, and you are the king's consort.\"\n\n\"I'm not his consort,\" Vin said, flushing. \"We're just...\" Lord, even I don't understand our relationship. How am I supposed to explain it?\n\nTindwyl raised an eyebrow.\n\n\"All right,\" Vin said, sighing and walking forward.\n\n\"I'll go with you,\" Allrianne said, grabbing Vin's arm as if they had been friends since childhood. Vin resisted, but couldn't figure away to pry her off without making a scene.\n\nThey stepped out of the shop. The crowd was already large, and the periphery was filling as more and more people came to investigate. Most were skaa in brown, ash-stained work coats or simple gray dresses. The ones in the front backed away as Vin stepped out, giving her a little ring of empty space, and a murmur of awed excitement moved through the crowd.\n\n\"Wow,\" Allrianne said quietly. \"There sure area lot of them....\"\n\nVin nodded. OreSeur sat where he had before, near the door, and he watched her with a curious canine expression.\n\nAllrianne smiled at the crowd, waving with a sudden hesitance. \"You can, you know, fight them off or something if this turns messy, right?\"\n\n\"That won't be necessary,\" Vin said, finally slipping her arm free of Allrianne's grasp and giving the crowd a bit of a Soothing to calm them. After that, she stepped forward, trying to push down her sense of itching nervousness. She'd grown to no longer feel she needed to hide when she went out in public, but standing before a crowd like this... well, she almost turned and slinked back into the dressmaker's shop." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A voice, however, stopped her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The speaker was a middle-aged man with an ash-stained beard and a dirty black cap held nervously in his hands. He was a strongman, probably a mill worker. His quiet voice seemed a contrast to his powerful build. \"Lady Heir. What will become of us?\"\n\nThe terror-the uncertainty-in the large man's voice was so piteous that Vin hesitated. He regarded her with hopeful eyes, as did most of the others.\n\nSo many, Vin thought. I thought the Church of the Survivor was small. She looked at the man, who stood wringing his cap. She opened her mouth, but then... couldn't do it. She couldn't tell him that she didn't know what would happen; she couldn't explain to those eyes that she wasn't the savior that he needed.\n\n\"Everything will be all right,\" Vin heard herself say, increasing her Soothing, trying to takeaway some of their fear.\n\n\"But the armies, Lady Heir!\" one of the women said.\n\n\"They're trying to intimidate us,\" Vin said. \"But the king won't let them. Our walls are strong, as are our soldiers. We can outlast this siege.\"\n\nThe crowd was silent.\n\n\"One of those armies is led by Elend's father, Straff Venture,\" Vin said. \"Elend and I are going to go meet with Straff tomorrow. We will persuade him to be our ally.\"\n\n\"The king is going to surrender!\" a voice said. \"I heard it. He's going to trade the city for his life.\"\n\n\"No,\" Vin said. \"He would never do that!!\"\n\n\"He won't fight for us!\" a voice called. \"He's not a soldier. He's a politician!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Other voices called out in agreement. Reverence disappeared as people began to yell out concerns, while others began to demand help. The dissidents continued to rail against Elend, yelling that there was noway he could protect them.\n\nVin raised her hands to her ears. Trying toward off the crowd, the chaos. \"Stop!\" she yelled, Pushing outwith steel and brass. Several people stumbled back away from her, and she could see a wave in the crowd as buttons, coins, and buckles suddenly pressed backward.\n\nThe people grew suddenly quiet.\n\n\"I will suffer no ill words spoken of our king!\" Vin said, flaring her brass and increasing her Soothing. \"He is a good man, and a good leader. He has sacrificed much for you-your freedom comes because of his long hours spent drafting laws, and your livelihoods come because of his work securing trade routes and agreements with merchants.\"\n\nMany members of the crowd looked down. The bearded man at the front continued to twist his cap, however, looking at Vin. \"They're just right frightened, Lady Heir. Right frightened.\"\n\n\"We'll protect you,\" Vin said. What am I saying? \"Elend and I, we'll find away. We stopped the Lord Ruler. We can stop these armies...\" She trailed off, feeling foolish.\n\nYet, the crowd responded. Some were obviously still unsatisfied, but many seemed calmed. The crowd began to breakup, though some of its members came forward, leading or carrying small children. Vin paused nervously. Kelsier had often met with and held the children of the skaa, as if giving them his blessing. She bid the group a hasty farewell and ducked back into the shop, pulling Allrianne after her.\n\nTindwyl waited inside, nodding with satisfaction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I lied,\" Vin said, pushing the door closed.\n\n\"No you didn't,\" Tindwyl said. \"You were optimistic. The truth or fiction of what you said has yet to be proven.\"\n\n\"It won't happen,\" Vin said. \"Elend can't defeat three armies, not even with my help.\"\n\nTindwyl raised an eyebrow. \"Then you should leave. Runaway, leave the people to deal with the armies themselves.\"\n\n\"I didn't mean that,\" Vin said.\n\n\"Well, make a decision then,\" Tindwyl said. \"Either give upon the city or believe in it. Honestly, the pair of you....\" She shook her head.\n\n\"I thought you weren't going to be harsh with me,\" Vin noted.\n\n\"I have trouble with that sometimes,\" Tindwyl said. \"Come, Allrianne. Let's finish your fitting.\"\n\nThey moved to do so. However, at that moment-as if to belie Vin's assurances of safety-several warning drums began to beat atop the city wall.\n\nVin froze, glancing through the window, out over the anxious crowd.\n\nOne of the armies was attacking. Cursing the delay, she rushed into the back of the shop to change out of the bulky dress.\n\nElend scrambled up the steps to the city wall, nearly tripping on his dueling cane in his haste. He stumbled out of the stairwell, moving onto the wall top, rearranging the cane at his side with a curse.\n\nThe wall top was in chaos. Men scrambled about, calling to each other. Some had forgotten their armor, others their bows. So many tried to getup after Elend that the stairwell got clogged, and he watched hopelessly as men crowded around the openings below, creating an even larger jam of bodies in the courtyard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Elend spun, watching a large group of Straff's men-thousands of them-rush toward the wall. Elend stood near Tin Gate, at the north of the city, nearest Straff's army. He could see a separate group of soldiers rushing toward Pewter Gate, a little to the east.\n\n\"Archers!\" Elend yelled. \"Men, where are your bows?\"\n\nHis voice, however, was lost in the shouting. Captains moved about, trying to organize the men, but apparently too many footmen had come to the wall, leaving a lot of the archers trapped in the courtyard below.\n\nWhy? Elend thought desperately, turning back toward the charging army. Why is he attacking? We had an a agreement to meet!\n\nHad he, perhaps, gotten wind of Elend's plan to play both sides of the conflict? Perhaps there really was a spy in the inner crew.\n\nEither way, Elend could only watch hopelessly as the army approached his wall. One captain managed to get off apathetic volley of arrows, but it didn't do much good. As the army approached, arrows began to zip up toward the wall, mixed with flying coins. Straff had Allomancers in the group.\n\nElend cursed, ducking down below a merlon as coins bounced against the stonework. A few soldiers fell. Elend's soldiers. Killed because he'd been too proud to surrender the city.\n\nHe peeked carefully over the wall. A group of men carrying a battering ram were approaching, their bodies carefully protected by men with shields. The care probably meant that the rammers were Thugs, a suspicion confirmed by the sound the ram made when it smashed into the gate. That was not the blow of ordinary men." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Keep the narrative going for the author.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, siege\nAuthor: Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: The Well of Ascension\nChapter: 129" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He commanded the forces of the world." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kings rode to his aid.\n\nCett's forces joined the battle against Straff. There was a crash of metal against metal, bodies grunting, as anew front came under attack. Sazed sat on the field between the city and the armies. Vin's forces were still outnumbered, but as Sazed watched, Straff's army began to pullback. It broke into pieces, its members fighting without direction. Their movements bespoke terror.\n\nShe's killing their generals, he thought.\n\nCett was a clever man. He himself rode to battle, but he stayed near the back of his ranks-his infirmities requiring him to remain tied into his saddle and making it difficult for him to fight. Still, by joining the battle, he ensured that Vin would not turn her koloss on him.\n\nFor there was really no doubt in Sazed's mind who would win this conflict. Indeed, before even an hour had passed, Straff's troops began to surrender in large groups. The sounds of battle died down, and Sazed kicked his horse forward.\n\nHoly First Witness, he thought. I don't know that I believe that. But, either way, I should be therefor what happens next.\n\nThe koloss stopped fighting, standing silently. They parted for Sazed as he rode up through their ranks. Eventually, he found Vin standing, bloodied, her massive koloss sword held on one shoulder. Some koloss pulled a man forward-a lord in rich clothing and a silvery breastplate. They dropped him before Vin.\n\nFrom behind, Penrod approached with an honor guard, led by a koloss. Nobody spoke. Eventually, the koloss parted again, and this time a suspicious Cett rode forward, surrounded by a large group of soldiers and led by a single koloss." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cett eyed Vin, then scratched his chin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not much of a battle,\" he said.\n\n\"Straff's soldiers were afraid,\" Vin said. \"They're cold, and they have no desire to fight koloss.\"\n\n\"And their leaders?\" Cett asked.\n\n\"I killed them,\" Vin said. \"Except this one. Your name?\"\n\n\"Lord Janarle,\" said Straff's man. His leg appeared broken, and koloss held him by either arm, supporting him.\n\n\"Straff is dead,\" Vin said. \"You control this army now.\"\n\nThe nobleman bowed his head. \"No, I don't. You do.\"\n\nVin nodded. \"On your knees,\" she said.\n\nThe koloss dropped Janarle. He grunted in pain, but then bowed forward. \"I swear my army to you,\" he whispered.\n\n\"No,\" Vin said sharply. \"Not tome-to the rightful heir of House Venture. He is your lord now.\"\n\nJanarle paused. \"Very well,\" he said. \"Whatever you wish. I swear loyalty to Straff's son, Elend Venture.\"\n\nThe separate groups stood in the cold. Sazed turned as Vin did, looking at Penrod. Vin pointed at the ground. Penrod quietly dismounted, then bowed himself to the ground.\n\n\"I swear as well,\" he said. \"I give my loyalty to Elend Venture.\"\n\nVin turned to Lord Cett.\n\n\"You expect this of me?\" the bearded man said, amused.\n\n\"Yes,\" Vin said quietly.\n\n\"And if I refuse?\" Cett asked.\n\n\"Then I'll kill you,\" Vin said quietly. \"You brought armies to attack my city. You threatened my people. I won't slaughter your soldiers, make them pay for what you did, but I will kill you, Cett.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Silence. Sazed turned, looking back at the lines of immobile koloss, standing in the bloodied snow.\n\n\"That is a threat, you know,\" Cett said. \"Your own Elend would never stand for such a thing.\"\n\n\"He's not here,\" Vin said.\n\n\"And what do you think he'd say?\" Cett asked. \"He'd tell me not to give into such a demand-the honorable Elend Venture would never give in simply because someone threatened his life.\"\n\n\"You're not the man that Elend is,\" Vin said. \"And you know it.\"\n\nCett paused, then smiled. \"No. No, I'm not.\" He turned to his aides. \"Help me down.\"\n\nVin watched quietly as the guards undid Cett's legs, then lifted him down to the snowy ground. He bowed. \"Very well, then. I swear myself to Elend Venture. He's welcome to my kingdom... assuming he can take it back from that damn obligator who now controls it.\"\n\nVin nodded, turning to Sazed. \"I need your help, Sazed.\"\n\n\"Whatever you command, Mistress,\" Sazed said quietly.\n\nVin paused. \"Please don't call me that.\"\n\n\"As you wish,\" Sazed said.\n\n\"You're the only one here I trust, Sazed,\" Vin said, ignoring the three kneeling men. \"With Ham wounded and Breeze...\"\n\n\"I will do my best,\" Sazed said, bowing his head. \"What is it you want me to do?\"\n\n\"Secure Luthadel,\" Vin said. \"Make certain the people are sheltered, and send for supplies from Straff's storehouses. Get these armies so that they won't kill each other, the send a squad to fetch Elend. He'll becoming south on the canal highway.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sazed nodded, and Vin turned to the three kneeling kings. \"Sazed is my second. You will obey him as you would Elend or myself.\"\n\nThey each nodded in turn.\n\n\"But, where will you be?\" Penrod asked, looking up.\n\nVin sighed, suddenly looking terribly weak. \"Sleeping,\" she said, and dropped her sword. Then she Pushed against it, shooting backward into the sky, toward Luthadel.\n\nHe left ruin in his wake, but it was forgotten, Sazed thought, turning to watch her fly. He created kingdoms, and then destroyed them as he made the world anew.\n\nWe had the wrong gender all along." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "PART SIX" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "WORDS IN STEEL" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If Rashek fails to lead Alendi astray, then I have instructed the lad to kill Alendi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "HOW CAN VIN STAND THIS? Elend wondered. He could barely see twenty feet in the mists. Trees appeared as apparitions around him as he walked, their branches curling around the road. The mist almost seemed to live: it moved, swirled, and blew in the cold night air. It snatched up his puffs of breath, as if drawing apiece of him into it.\n\nHe shivered and kept walking. The snow had melted patchily over the last few days, leaving heaps in shadowed areas. The canal road, thankfully, was mostly clear.\n\nHe walked with a pack over his shoulder, carrying only the necessities. At Spook's suggestion, they'd traded their horses at a village several days back. They'd rode the creatures hard the last few days, and it was Spook's estimation that trying to keep them fed-and alive-for the last leg of their trip to Luthadel wouldn't be worth the effort.\n\nBesides, whatever was going to happen at the city had likely already occurred. So Elend walked, alone, in the darkness. Despite the eeriness, he kept his word and traveled only at night. Not only was it Vin's will, but Spook claimed that night was safer. Few travelers braved the mists. Therefore, most bandits didn't bother watching roadways at night.\n\nSpook prowled ahead, his keen senses allowing him to detect danger before Elend blundered into it. How does that work, anyway? Elend wondered as he walked. Tin is supposed to make you see better. But what does it matter how far you can see, if the mists just obscure everything?\n\nWriters claimed that Allomancy could help a person pierce the mists, somehow. Elend had always wondered what that was like. Of course, he had also wondered what it felt like to feel the strength of pewter, or to fight with atium. Allomancers were uncommon, even among Great Houses. Yet, because of the way Straff had treated him, Elend had always felt guilty that he hadn't been one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But, I ended up asking eventually, even without Allomancy, he thought, smiling to himself. He'd lost the throne, true. But, while they could take his crown, they could not takeaway his accomplishments. He'd proved that an Assembly could work. He'd protected the skaa, given them rights, and a taste of freedom they'd never forget. He'd done more than anyone would have expected of him.\n\nSomething rustled in the mists.\n\nElend froze, staring out into the darkness. Sounds like leaves, he thought nervously. Something moving across them? Or... just the wind blowing them?\n\nHe decided at that moment that there was nothing more unnerving than staring into the misty darkness, seeing ever-shifting silhouettes. Apart of him would rather face down a koloss army than standalone, at night, in an unknown forest.\n\n\"Elend,\" someone whispered.\n\nElend spun. He put a hand to his chest as he saw Spook approaching. He thought about chastising the boy for sneaking upon him-but, well, there wasn't really any other way to approach in the mists.\n\n\"Did you see something?\" Spook asked quietly.\n\nElend shook his head. \"But I think I heard something.\"\n\nSpook nodded, then darted off into the mists again. Elend stood, uncertain whether he should continue on, or just wait. He didn't have to debate for very long. Spook returned a few moments later.\n\n\"Nothing to worry about,\" Spook said. \"Just a mistwraith.\"\n\n\"What?\" Elend asked.\n\n\"Mistwraith,\" Spook said. \"You know. Big goopy things? Related to kandra? Don't tell me you haven't read about them?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I have,\" Elend said, nervously scanning the darkness." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But, I never thought I'd be out in the mists with one.\"\n\nSpook shrugged. \"It's probably just following our scent, hoping that we'll leave some trash for it to eat. The things are harmless, mostly.\"\n\n\"Mostly?\" Elend asked.\n\n\"You probably know more about them than I do. Look, I didn't comeback hereto chat about scavengers. There's light up ahead.\"\n\n\"A village?\" Elend asked, thinking back to when they'd come this way before.\n\nSpook shook his head. \"Looks like watchfires.\"\n\n\"An army?\"\n\n\"Maybe. I'm just thinking you should wait behind fora bit. It could be awkward if you wander into a scout post.\"\n\n\"Agreed,\" Elend said.\n\nSpook nodded, then took off into the mists.\n\nAnd Elend was alone in the darkness again. He shivered, pulling his cloak close, and eyed the mists in the direction from which he'd heard the mistwraith. Yes, he'd read about them. He knew they were supposed to be harmless. But the thought of something crawling out there-its skeleton made from random sets of bones-watching him...\n\nDon't focus on that, Elend told himself.\n\nHe turned his attention, instead, to the mists. Vin was right about one thing, at least. They were lingering longer and longer despite the sunrise. Some mornings, they remained a full hour after the sun came up. He could easily imagine the disaster that would befall the land should the mists persist all day. Crops would fail, animals would starve, and civilization would collapse.\n\nCould the Deepness really be something so simple? Elend's own impressions of the Deepness were seated in scholarly tradition. Some writers dismissed the entire thing as a legend-a rumor used by the obligators to enhance their god's aura of divinity. The majority accepted the historical definition of the Deepness-a dark monster that had been slain by the Lord Ruler." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And yet, thinking of it as the mist made some sense. How could a single beast, no matter how dangerous, threaten an entire land? The mists, though... they could be destructive. Kill plants. Perhaps even... kill people, as Sazed had suggested?\n\nHe eyed it shifting around him, playful, deceptive. Yes, he could see it as the Deepness. Its reputation-more frightening than a monster, more dangerous than an army-was one it would deserve. In fact, watching it as he was, he could see it trying to play tricks on his mind. For instance, the mist bank directly in front of him seemed to be forming shapes. Elend smiled as his mind picked out images in the mists. One almost looked like a person standing there, in front of him.\n\nThe person stepped forward.\n\nElend jumped, taking a slight step backward, his foot crunching on a bit of ice-crusted snow. Don't be silly, he told himself. Your mind is playing tricks on you. There's nothing-\n\nThe shape in the mists took another step forward. It was indistinct, almost formless, and yet it seemed real. Random movements in the mists outlined its face, its body, its legs.\n\n\"Lord Ruler!\" Elend yelped, jumping back. The thing continued to regard him.\n\nI'm going mad, he thought, hands beginning to shake. The mist figure stopped a few feet in front of him and then raised its right arm and pointed.\n\nNorth. Away from Luthadel.\n\nElend frowned, glancing in the direction the figure pointed. There was nothing but more empty mists. He turned back toward it, but it stood quietly, arm upraised.\n\nVin spoke of this thing, he remembered, forcing down his fear. She tried to tell me about it. And I thought she was making things up! She was right-just as she'd been right about the mists staying longer in the day, and the possibility of the mists being the Deepness. He was beginning to wonder which of them was the scholar." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The mist figure continued to point.\n\n\"What?\" Elend asked, his own voice sounding haunting in the silent air.\n\nIt stepped forward, arm still raised. Elend put a useless hand to his sword, but held his ground.\n\n\"Tell me what you wish of me!\" he said forcefully.\n\nThe thing pointed again. Elend cocked his head. It certainly didn't seem threatening. In fact, he felt an unnatural feeling of peace coming from it.\n\nAllomancy? he thought. It's Pulling on my emotions!\n\n\"Elend?\" Spook's voice drifted out of the mists.\n\nThe figure suddenly dissolved, its form melting into the mists. Spook approached, his face dark and shadowed in the night. \"Elend? What were you saying?\"\n\nElend took his hand off his sword, standing upright. He eyed the mists, still not completely convinced that he wasn't seeing things. \"Nothing,\" he said.\n\nSpook glanced back the way he had come. \"You should come look at this.\"\n\n\"The army?\" Elend asked, frowning.\n\nSpook shook his head. \"No. The refugees.\"\n\n\"The Keepers are dead, my lord,\" the old man said, sitting across from Elend. He didn't have a tent, only a blanket stretched between several poles. \"Either dead, or captured.\"\n\nAnother man brought Elend a cup of warm tea, his demeanor servile. Both wore the robes of stewards, and while their eyes bespoke exhaustion, their robes and hands were clean.\n\nOld habits, Elend thought, nodding thankfully and taking a sip of the tea. Terris's people might have declared themselves independent, but a thousand years of servitude cannot be so easily thrown off." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The camp was an odd place. Spook said he counted nearly a thousand people in it-a nightmare of a number to care for, feed, and organize in the cold winter. Many were elderly, and the men were mostly stewards: eunuchs bred for genteel service, with no experience in hunting.\n\n\"Tell me what happened,\" Elend said.\n\nThe elderly steward nodded, his head shaking. He didn't seem particularly frail-actually, he had that same air of controlled dignity that most stewards exhibited-but his body had a slow, chronic tremble.\n\n\"The Synod came out into the open, my lord, once the empire fell.\" He accepted a cup of his own, but Elend noticed that it was only half full-a precaution that proved wise as the elderly steward's shaking nearly spilled its contents. \"They became our rulers. Perhaps it was not wise to reveal themselves so soon.\"\n\nNot all Terrismen were Feruchemists; in fact, very few were. The Keepers-people like Sazed and Tindwyl-had been forced into hiding long ago by the Lord Ruler. His paranoia that Feruchemical and Allomantic lines might mix-thereby potentially producing a person with his same powers-had led him to try and destroy all Feruchemists.\n\n\"I've known Keepers, friend,\" Elend said softly. \"I find it hard to believe that they could have been easily defeated. Who did this?\"\n\n\"Steel Inquisitors, my lord,\" the old man said.\n\nElend shivered. So that's where they've been.\n\n\"There were dozens of them, my lord,\" the old man said. \"They attacked Ththingdwen with an army of koloss brutes. But, that was just a distraction, I think. Their real goal as the Synod and the Keepers themselves. While our army, such as it was, fought the beasts, the Inquisitors themselves struck at the Keepers.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lord Ruler... Elend thought, stomach twisting. So, what do we do with the book Sazed told us to deliver to the Synod? Do we pass it onto these men, or keep it?\n\n\"They took the bodies with them, my lord,\" the old man said. \"Terris is in ruins, and that is why we are going south. You said you know King Venture?\"\n\n\"I... have met him,\" Elend said. \"He ruled Luthadel, where I am from.\"\n\n\"Will he take us in, do you think?\" the old man asked. \"We have little hope anymore. Tathingdwen was the Terris capital, but even it wasn't large. We are few, these days-the Lord Ruler saw to that.\"\n\n\"I... do not know if Luthadel can help you, friend.\"\n\n\"We can serve well,\" the old man promised. \"We were prideful to declare ourselves free, I think. We struggled to survive even before the Inquisitors attacked. Perhaps they did us a favor by casting us out.\"\n\nElend shook his head. \"Koloss attacked Luthadel just over a week ago,\" he said quietly. \"I am a refugee myself, Master Steward. For all I know, the city itself has fallen.\"\n\nThe old man fell silent. \"Ah, I see,\" he finally said.\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" Elend said. \"I was traveling back to see what happened. Tell me-I traveled this way not long ago. How is it that I missed you in my journey north?\"\n\n\"We didn't come by the canal route, my lord,\" the old man said. \"We cut across country, straight down, so that we could gather supplies at Suringshath. You... have no further word of events at Luthadel, then? There was a senior Keeper in residence there. We were hoping, perhaps, to seek her counsel.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lady Tindwyl?\" Elend asked.\n\nThe old man perked up. \"Yes. You know her?\"\n\n\"She was an attendant at the king's court,\" Elend said.\n\n\"Keeper Tindwyl could be considered our leader now, I think,\" the old man said. \"We aren't certain how many traveling Keepers there are, but she is the only known member of the Synod who was out of the city when we were attacked.\"\n\n\"She was still in Luthadel when I left,\" Elend said.\n\n\"Then she might live still,\" the old man said. \"We can hope, I think. I thank you, traveler, for your information. Please, make yourself comfortable in our camp.\"\n\nElend nodded, rising. Spook stood a short distance away, in the mists near a pair of trees. Elend joined him.\n\nThe people kept large fires burning in the night, as if to defy the mists. The light did some good in dispelling the mists'power-and yet the light seemed to accentuate them as well, creating three-dimensional shadows that bewildered the eye. Spook leaned against the scraggly tree trunk, looking around at things Elend couldn't see. Elend could hear, however, some of what Spook must be inspecting. Crying children. Coughing men. Shuffling livestock.\n\n\"It doesn't look good, does it?\" Elend said quietly.\n\nSpook shook his head. \"I wish they'd take down all these fires,\" he muttered. \"The light hurts my eyes.\"\n\nElend glanced to the side. \"They aren't that bright.\"\n\nSpook shrugged. \"They're just wasting wood.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Forgive them their comfort, for now. They'll have little enough of it in the weeks to come.\" Elend paused, looking over at a passing squad of Terris'soldiers\"-a group of men who were obviously stewards. Their posture was excellent, and they walked with a smooth grace, but Elend doubted they knew how to use any weapons beyond a cooking knife.\n\nNo, there is no army in Terris to help my people.\n\n\"You sent Vin back to gather our allies,\" Spook said quietly. \"To bring them up to meet with us, perhaps to seek refuge in Terris.\"\n\n\"I know,\" Elend said.\n\n\"We can't gather in Terris, though,\" Spook said. \"Not with the Inquisitors up there.\"\n\n\"I know,\" Elend said again.\n\nSpook was silent fora moment. \"The whole world is falling apart, El,\" he finally said. \"Terris, Luthadel...\"\n\n\"Luthadel has not been destroyed,\" Elend said, looking sharply at Spook.\n\n\"The koloss-\"\n\n\"Vin will have found away to stop them,\" Elend said. \"For all we know, she already found the power at the Well of Ascension. We need to keep going. We can, and will, rebuild whatever was lost. Then we'll worry about helping Terris.\"\n\nSpook paused, then nodded and smiled. Elend was surprised to see how much his confident words seemed to soothe the boy's concerns. Spook leaned back, eyeing Elend's still steaming cup of tea, and Elend handed it over with a mumble that he didn't like heartroot tea. Spook drank happily.\n\nElend, however, found matters more troubling than he'd admitted. The Deepness returning, ghosts in the mist, and Inquisitors making a play for the Terris Dominance. What else have I been ignoring?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It is a distant hope. Alendi has survived assassins, wars, and catastrophes. And yet, I hope that in the frozen mountains of Terris, he may finally be exposed. I hope fora miracle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"LOOK, WE ALL KNOW WHAT we need to do,\" Cett said, pounding the table. \"We've got our armies here, ready and willing to fight. Now, let's go get my damn country back!\"\n\n\"The empress gave us no command to do such a thing,\" Janarle said, sipping his tea, completely unfazed by Cett's lack of decorum. \"I, personally, think that we should wait at least until the emperor returns.\"\n\nPenrod, the oldest of the men in the room, had enough tact to look sympathetic. \"I understand that you are concerned for your people, Lord Cett. But we haven't even had a week to rebuild Luthadel. It is far too early to be worrying about expanding our influence. We cannot possibly authorize these preparations.\"\n\n\"Oh, leave off, Penrod,\" Cett snapped. \"You're not in charge of us.\"\n\nAll three men turned to Sazed. He felt very awkward, sitting at the head of the table in Keep Venture's conference chamber. Aides and attendants, including some of Dockson's bureaucrats, stood at the perimeter of the sparse room, but only the three rulers-now kings beneath Elend's imperial rule-sat with Sazed at the table.\n\n\"I think that we should not be hasty, Lord Cett,\" Sazed said.\n\n\"This isn't haste,\" Cett said, pounding the table again. \"I just want to order scout and spy reports, so that we can have information we need when we invade!\"\n\n\"If we do invade,\" Janarle said. \"If the emperor decides to recover Fadrex City, it won't happen until this summer, at the very earliest. We have far more pressing concerns. My armies have been away from the Northern Dominance for too long. It is basic political theory that we should stabilize what we have before we move into new territory.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Bah!\" Cett said, waving an indifferent hand.\n\n\"You may send your scouts, Lord Cett,\" Sazed said. \"But they are to seek information only. They are to engage in no raids, no matter how tempting the opportunity.\"\n\nCett shook a bearded head. \"This is why I never bothered to play political games with the rest of the Final Empire. Nothing gets done because everyone is too busy scheming!\"\n\n\"There is much to be said for subtlety, Lord Cett,\" Penrod said. \"Patience brings the greater prize.\"\n\n\"Greater prize?\" Cett asked. \"What did the Central Dominance earn itself by waiting? You waited right up until the moment that your city fell! If you hadn't been the ones with the best Mistborn...\"\n\n\"Best Mistborn, my lord?\" Sazed asked quietly. \"Did you not see her take command of the koloss? Did you not see her leap across the sky like an arrow in flight? Lady Vin isn't simply the'best Mistborn. '\"\n\nThe group fell silent. I have to keep them focused on her, Sazed thought. Without Vin's leadership-without the threat of her power-this coalition would dissolve in three heartbeats.\n\nHe felt so inadequate. He couldn't keep the men on-topic, and he couldn't do much to help them with their various problems. He could just keep reminding them of Vin's power.\n\nThe trouble was, he didn't really want to. He was feeling something very odd in himself, feelings he usually didn't have. Disconcern. Apathy. Why did anything that these men talked about matter? Why did anything matter, now that Tindwyl was dead?\n\nHe gritted his teeth, trying to force himself to focus." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Very well,\" Cett said, waving a hand. \"I'll send the scouts. Has that food arrived from Urteau yet, Janarle?\"\n\nThe younger nobleman grew uncomfortable. \"We... may have trouble with that, my lord. It seems that an unwholesome element has been rabble-rousing in the city.\"\n\n\"No wonder you want to send troops back to the Northern Dominance!\" Cett accused. \"You're planning to conquer your kingdom back and leave mine to rot!\"\n\n\"Urteau is much closer than your capital, Cett,\" Janarle said, turning back to his tea. \"It only makes sense to set me up there before we turn our attention westward.\"\n\n\"We will let the empress make that decision,\" Penrod said. He liked to act the mediator-and by doing so, he made himself seem above the issues. In essence, he put himself in control by putting himself in between the other two.\n\nNot all that different from what Elend tried to do, Sazed thought, with our armies. The boy had more of a sense of political strategy than Tindwyl had ever credited him with.\n\nI shouldn't think about her, he told himself, closing his eyes. Yet, it was hard not to. Everything Sazed did, everything he thought, seemed wrong because she was gone. Lights seemed dimmer. Motivations were more difficult to reach. He found that he had trouble even wanting to pay attention to the kings, let alone give them direction.\n\nIt was foolish, he knew. How long had Tindwyl been back in his life? Only a few months. Long ago, he had resigned himself to the fact that he would never beloved-in general-and that he certainly would never have her love. Not only did he lack manhood, but he was a rebel and a dissident-a man well outside of the Terris orthodoxy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Surely her love for him had been a miracle. Yet, whom did he thank for that blessing, and whom did he thank for that blessing, and whom did he curse for stealing her away? He knew of hundreds of gods. He would hate them all, if he thought it would do any good.\n\nFor the sake of his own sanity, he forced himself to get distracted by the kings again.\n\n\"Listen,\" Penrod was saying, leaning forward, arms on the tabletop. \" I think we're looking at this the wrong way, gentlemen. We shouldn't be squabbling, we should be happy. We are in a very unique position. In the time since the Lord Ruler's empire fell, dozens-perhaps hundreds-of men have tried to set themselves up as kings in various ways. The one thing they shared, however, was that they all lacked stability.\n\n\"Well, it appears that we are going to be forced to work together. I am starting to see this in a favorable light. I will give my allegiance to the Venture couple-I'll even live with Elend Venture's eccentric views of government-if it means that I'll still be in power ten years from now.\"\n\nCett scratched at his beard fora moment, then nodded. \"You make a good point, Penrod. Maybe the first good one I've ever heard out of you.\"\n\n\"But we can't continue trying to assume that we know what we are to do,\" Janarle said. \"We need direction. Surviving the next ten years, I suspect, is going to depend heavily on my not ending up dead on the end of that Mistborn girl's knife.\"\n\n\"Indeed,\" Penrod said, nodding curtly. \"Master Terrisman. When can we expect the empress to take command again?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Once again, all three pairs of eyes turned to Sazed.\n\nI don't really care, Sazed thought, then immediately felt guilty. Vin was his friend. He did care. Even if it was hard to care about anything for him. He looked down in shame. \"Lady Vin is suffering greatly from the effects of an extended pewter drag,\" he said. \"She pushed herself very hard this last year, and then ended it by running all the way back to Luthadel. She is in great need of rest. I think we should let her be fora time longer.\"\n\nThe others nodded, and returned to their discussion. Sazed's mind, however, turned to Vin. He'd understated her malady, and he was beginning to worry. A pewter drag drained the body, and he suspected that she'd been forcing herself to stay awake with the metal for months now.\n\nWhen a Keeper stored up wakefulness, he slept as if in a coma fora time. He could only hope that the effects of such a terrible pewter drag were the same, for Vin hadn't awoken a single time since her return a week before. Perhaps she'd awake soon, like a Keeper who came out of sleep.\n\nPerhaps it would last longer. Her koloss army waited outside the city, controlled-apparently-even though she was unconscious. But for how long? Pewter dragging could kill, if the person had pushed themselves too hard.\n\nWhat would happen to the city if she never woke up?\n\nAsh was falling. A lot of ashfalls lately, Elend thought as he and Spook emerged from the trees and looked out over the Luthadel plain.\n\n\"See,\" Spook said quietly, pointing. \"The city gates are broken.\"\n\nElend frowned. \"But the koloss are camped outside the city.\" Indeed, Straff's army camp was also still there, right where it had been." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Work crews,\" Spook said, shading his face against the sunlight to protect his overly sensitive Allomancer's eyes. \"Looks like they're burying corpses outside the city.\"\n\nElend's frown deepened. Vin. What happened to her? Is she all right?\n\nHe and Spook had cut across country, taking a cue from the Terrismen, to make certain that they didn't get discovered by patrols from the city. Indeed, this day they'd broken their pattern, traveling a little bit during the day so that they could arrive at Luthadel just before nightfall. The mists would soon becoming, and Elend was fatigued-both from rising early and from walking so long.\n\nMore than that, he was tired of not knowing what had happened to Luthadel. \"Can you see whose flag is set over the gates?\" he asked.\n\nSpook paused, apparently flaring his metals. \"Yours,\" he finally said, surprised.\n\nElend smiled. Well, either they managed to save the city somehow, or this is a very elaborate trap to capture me. \"Come on,\" he said, pointing to a line of refugees who were being allowed back into the city-likely those who had fled before, returning for food now that the danger was past. \"We'll mix with those and make our way in.\"\n\nSazed sighed quietly, shutting the door to his room. The kings were finished with the day's arguments. Actually, they were starting to get along quite well, considering the fact that they'd all tried to conquer each other just a few weeks before.\n\nSazed knew he could take no credit for their newfound amiability, however. He had other preoccupations.\n\nI've seen many die, in my days, he thought, walking into the room. Kelsier. Jadendwyl. Crenda. People I respected. I never wondered what had happened to their spirits." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He set his candle on the table, the fragile light illuminating a few scattered pages, a pile of strange metal nails taken from koloss bodies, and one manuscript. Sazed sat down at the table, fingers brushing the pages, remembering the days spent with Tindwyl, studying.\n\nMaybe this is why Vin put me in charge, he thought. She knew I'd need something to take my mind off Tindwyl.\n\nAnd yet, he was finding more and more that he didn't want to take his mind off her. Which was more potent? The pain of memory, or the pain of forgetting? He was a Keeper-it was his life's work to remember. Forgetting, even in the name of personal peace, was not something that appealed to him.\n\nHe flipped through the manuscript, smiling fondly in the dark chamber. He'd sent a cleaned-up, rewritten version with Vin and Elend to the north. This, however, was the original. The frantically-almost desperately-scribbled manuscript made by two frightened scholars.\n\nAshe fingered the pages, the flickering candlelight revealed Tindwyl's firm, yet beautiful, script. It mixed easily with paragraphs written in Sazed's own, more reserved hand. At times, a page would alternate between their different hands a dozen different times.\n\nHe didn't realize that he was crying until he blinked, sending loose a tear, which hit the page. He looked down, stunned as the bit of water caused a swirl in the ink.\n\n\"What now, Tindwyl?\" he whispered. \"Why did we do this? You never believed in the Hero of Ages, and I never believed in anything, it appears. What was the point of all this?\"\n\nHe reached up and dabbed the tear with his sleeve, preserving the page as best he could. Despite his tiredness, he began to read, selecting a random paragraph. He read to remember. To think of days when he hadn't worried about why they were studying. He had simply been content to do what he enjoyed best, with the person he had come to love most." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We gathered everything we could find on the Hero of Ages and the Deepness, he thought, reading. But so much of it seems contradictory.\n\nHe flipped through to a particular section, one that Tindwyl had insisted that they include. It contained the several most blatant self-contradictions, as declared by Tindwyl. He read them over, giving them fair consideration for the first time. This was Tindwyl the scholar-a cautious skeptic. He fingered through the passages, reading her script.\n\nThe Hero of Ages will be tall of stature, one read. A man who cannot be ignored by others.\n\nThe power must not betaken, read another. Of this, we are certain. It must beheld, but not used. It must be released. Tindwyl had found that condition foolish, since other sections talked about the Hero using the power to defeat the Deepness.\n\nAll men are selfish, read another. The Hero is a man who can seethe needs of all beyond his own desires. \"If all men are selfish,\" Tindwyl had asked, \"then how can the Hero be selfless, as is said in other passages? And, indeed, how can a humble man be expected to conquer the world?\"\n\nSazed shook his head, smiling. At times, her objections had been very well conceived-but at other times, she had just been struggling to offer another opinion, no matter how much of a stretch it required. He ran his fingers across the page again, but paused on the first paragraph.\n\nTall of stature, it said. That wouldn't refer to Vin. It hadn't come from the rubbing, but another book. Tindwyl had included it because the rubbing, the more trustworthy source, said he'd be short. Sazed flipped through the book to the complete transcription of Kwaan's iron-plate testimony, searching for the passage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Alendi's height struck me the first time I saw him, it read." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Here was a man who was small of stature, but who seemed to tower over others, a man who demanded respect.\n\nSazed frowned. Before, he'd argued that there was no contradiction, for one passage could be interpreted as referring to the Hero's presence or character, rather than just his physical height. Now, however, Sazed paused, really seeing Tindwyl's objections for the first time.\n\nAnd something felt wrong to him. He looked back at his book, scanning the contents of the page.\n\nThere was a place for me in the lore of the Anticipation, he read. I thought myself the Holy First Witness, the prophet foretold to discover the Hero of Ages. Renouncing Alendi then would have been to renounce my new position, my acceptance, by the others.\n\nSazed's frown deepened. He traced the paragraph. Outside, it was growing dark, and a few trails of mist curled around the shutters, creeping into the room before vanishing.\n\nHoly First Witness, he read again. How did I miss that? It's the same name the people called me, back at the gates. I didn't recognize it.\n\n\"Sazed.\"\n\nSazed jumped, nearly toppling his book to the floor as he turned. Vin stood behind him, a dark shadow in the poorly lit room.\n\n\"Lady Vin! You're up!\"\n\n\"You shouldn't have let me sleep so long,\" she said.\n\n\"We tried to wake you,\" he said softly. \"You were in a coma.\"\n\nShe paused.\n\n\"Perhaps it is for the best, Lady Vin,\" Sazed said. \"The fighting is done, and you pushed yourself hard these last few months. It is good for you to get some rest, now that this is over.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She stepped forward, shaking her head, and Sazed could see that she looked haggard, despite her days of rest. \"No, Sazed,\" she said. \"This is not \"over.\" Not by far.\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\" Sazed asked, growing concerned.\n\n\"I can still hear it in my head,\" Vin said, raising a hand to her forehead. \"It's here. In the city.\"\n\n\"The Well of Ascension?\" Sazed asked. \"But, Lady Vin, I lied about that. Truly and apologetically, I don't even know if there is such a thing.\"\n\n\"Do you believe me to be the Hero of Ages?\"\n\nSazed looked away. \"A few days ago, on the field outside the city, I felt certain. But... lately... I don't seem to know what I believe anymore. The prophecies and stories area jumble of contradictions.\"\n\n\"This isn't about prophecies,\" Vin said, walking over to his table and looking at his book. \"This is about what needs to be done. I can feel it... pulling me.\"\n\nShe glanced at the closed window, with the mists curling at the edges. Then, she walked over and threw the shutters open, letting in the cold winter air. Vin stood, closing her eyes and letting the mists wash over her. She wore only a simple shirt and trousers.\n\n\"I drew upon it once, Sazed,\" she said. \"Do you know that? Did I tell you? When I fought the Lord Ruler. I drew power from the mists. That's how I defeated him.\"\n\nSazed shivered, not just from the cold. From the tone in her voice, and the air of her words. \"Lady Vin...\" he said, but wasn't sure how to continue. Drew upon the mists? What did she mean?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The Well is here,\" she repeated, looking out the window, mist curling into the room.\n\n\"It can't be, Lady Vin,\" Sazed said. \"All of the reports agree. The Well of Ascension was found in the Terris Mountains.\"\n\nVin shook her head. \"He changed the world, Sazed.\"\n\nHe paused, frowning. \"What?\"\n\n\"The Lord Ruler,\" she whispered. \"He created the Ashmounts. The records say he made the vast deserts around the empire, that he broke the land in order to preserve it. Why should we assume that things look like they did when he first climbed to the Well? He created mountains. Why couldn't he have flattened them?\"\n\nSazed felt a chill.\n\n\"It's what I would do,\" Vin said. \"If I knew the power would return, if I wanted to preserve it. I'd hide the Well. I'd let the legends remain, talking about mountains to the north. Then, I would build my city around the Well so that I could keep an eye on it.\"\n\nShe turned, looking at him. \"It's here. The power waits.\"\n\nSazed opened his mouth to object, but could find nothing. He had no faith. Who was he to argue with such things? Ashe paused, he heard voices below, from outside.\n\nVoices? he thought. At night? In the mists? Curious, he strained to hear what was being said, but they were too faraway. He reached into the bag beside his table. Most of his metalminds were empty; he wore only his copperminds, with their stores of ancient knowledge. Inside the sack, he found a small pouch. It contained the ten rings he had prepared for the siege, but had never used. He pulled it open, took out one of the ten, then tucked the bag into his sash." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With this ring-a tinmind-he could tap hearing. The words below became distinct to him.\n\n\"The king! The king has returned!\"\n\nVin leaped out the window.\n\n\"I don't fully understand how she does it either, El,\" Ham said, walking with his arm in a sling.\n\nElend walked through the city streets, people trailing behind him, speaking in excited tones. The crowd was growing larger and larger as people heard that Elend had returned. Spook eyed them uncertainly, but seemed to be enjoying the attention.\n\n\"I was out cold for the last part of the battle,\" Ham was saying. \"Only pewter kept me alive-koloss slaughtered my team, breached the walls of the keep I was defending. I got out, and found Sazed, but my mind was growing muddled by then. I remember falling unconscious outside Keep Hasting. When I woke up, Vin had already taken the city back. I...\"\n\nThey paused. Vin stood in front of them in the city street. Quiet, dark. In the mists, she almost looked like the spirit Elend had seen earlier.\n\n\"Vin?\" he asked in the eerie air.\n\n\"Elend,\" she said, rushing forward, into his arms, and the air of mystery was gone. She shivered as she held him. \"I'm sorry. I think I did something bad.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" he asked. \"What is that?\"\n\n\"I made you emperor.\"\n\nElend smiled. \"I noticed, and I accept.\"\n\n\"After all you did to make certain the people had a choice?\"\n\nElend shook his head. \"I'm beginning to think my opinions were simplistic. Honorable, but... incomplete. We'll deal with this. I'm just glad to find that my city is still standing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Vin smiled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She looked tired.\n\n\"Vin?\" he asked. \"Are you still pewter-dragging?\"\n\n\"No,\" she said. \"This is something else.\" She glanced to the side, face thoughtful, as if deciding something.\n\n\"Come,\" she said.\n\nSazed watched out the window, a second tinmind enhancing his sight. It was indeed Elend below. Sazed smiled, one of the weights on his soul removed. He turned, intending to go and meet the king.\n\nAnd then he saw something blowing on the floor in front of him. A scrap of paper. He knelt down, picking it up, noticing his own handwriting on it. Its edges were jagged from having been ripped. He frowned, walking over to his table, opening the book to the page with Kwaan's narrative. Apiece was missing. The same piece as before, the one that had been ripped free that time with Tindwyl. He'd almost forgotten the strange occurrence with the pages all missing the same sentence.\n\nHe'd rewritten this page, from his metalmind, after they'd found the torn sheets. Now the same bit had been torn free, the last sentence. Just to make certain, he put it up next to his book. It fit perfectly. Alendi must not reach the Well of Ascension, it read, for he must not be allowed to take the power for himself. It was the exact wording Sazed had in his memory, the exact wording of the rubbing.\n\nWhy would Kwaan have worried about this? he thought, sitting down. He says he knew Alendi better than anyone else. In fact, he called Alendi an honorable man on several occasions.\n\nWhy would Kwaan be so worried about Alendi taking the power for himself?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Vin walked through the mists. Elend, Ham, and Spook trailed behind her, the crowd dispersed by Elend's order-though some soldiers did stay close to protect Elend.\n\nVin continued on, feeling the pulsings, the thumpings, the power that shook her very soul. Why couldn't the others feel it?\n\n\"Vin?\" Elend asked. \"Where are we going?\"\n\n\"Kredik Shaw,\" she said softly.\n\n\"But... why?\"\n\nShe just shook her head. She knew the truth, now. The Well was in the city. With how strong the pulsings were growing, she might have assumed that their direction would be harder to discern. But that wasn't the way it was at all. Now that they were loud and full, she found it easier.\n\nElend glanced back at the others, and she could sense his concern. Up ahead, Kredik Shaw loomed in the night. Spires, like massive spikes, jutted from the ground in an off-balance pattern, reaching accusingly toward the stars above.\n\n\"Vin,\" Elend said. \"The mists are acting... strangely.\"\n\n\"I know,\" she said. \"They're guiding me.\"\n\n\"No, actually,\" Elend said. \"They kind of look like they're pulling away from you.\"\n\nVin shook her head. This felt right. How could she explain? Together, they entered the remnants of the Lord Ruler's palace.\n\nThe Well was here all along, Vin thought, amused. She could feel the pulses vibrating through the building. Why hadn't she noticed it before?\n\nThe pulses were still too weak, then, she realized. The Well wasn't full yet. Now it is. And it called to her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She followed the same path as before. The path she'd followed with Kelsier, breaking into Kredik Shaw on a doomful night when she had nearly died. The path she'd followed on her own, the night she had come to kill the Lord Ruler. The tight stone corridors opened into the room shaped like an upside-down bowl. Elend's lantern glistened against the fine stonework and murals, mostly in black and gray. The stone shack stood in the center of the room, abandoned, enclosed.\n\n\"I think we're finally going to find your atium, Elend,\" Vin said, smiling.\n\n\"What?\" Elend said, his voice echoing in the chamber. \"Vin, we searched here. We tried everything.\"\n\n\"Not enough, apparently,\" Vin said, eyeing the small building-within-a-building, but not moving toward it.\n\nThis is where I'd put it, she thought. It makes sense. The Lord Ruler would have wanted to keep the Well close so that when the power returned, he'd be able to take it.\n\nBut I killed him before that could happen.\n\nThe booming came from below. They'd torn up sections of the floor, but had stopped when they'd hit solid rock. There had to be away down. She walked over, searching through the building-within-a-building, but found nothing. She left, passing her confused friends, frustrated.\n\nThen she tried burning her metals. As always, the blue lines shot up around her, pointing to sources of metal. Elend was wearing several, as was Spook, though Ham was clean. Some of the stonework bore metal inlays, and lines pointed to those.\n\nEverything was as expected. There was nothing...\n\nVin frowned, stepping to the side. One of the inlays bore a particularly thick line. Too thick, in fact. She frowned, inspecting the line as it-like the others-pointed from her chest directly at the stonewall. This one seemed to be pointing beyond the wall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What?\n\nShe Pulled on it. Nothing happened. So, she Pulled harder, grunting as she was yanked toward the wall. She released the line, glancing about. There were inlays on the floor. Deep ones. Curious, she anchored herself by Pulling on these, then Pulled on the wall again. She thought she felt something budge.\n\nShe burned duralumin and Pulled as hard as she could. The explosion of power nearly ripped her apart, but her anchor held, and duralumin-fueled pewter kept her alive. And a section of the wall slid open, stone grinding against stone in the quiet room. Vin gasped, letting go as her metals ran out.\n\n\"Lord Ruler!\" Spook said. Ham was quicker, however, moving with the speed of pewter and peeking into the opening. Elend stayed at her side, grabbing her arm as she nearly fell.\n\n\"I'm fine,\" Vin said, downing a vial and restoring her metals. The power of the Well thumped around her. It almost seemed to shake the room.\n\n\"There are stairs inhere,\" Ham said, poking his head back out.\n\nVin steadied herself and nodded to Elend, and the two of them followed Ham and Spook through the false section of the wall.\n\nBut, I must continue with the sparsest of detail, Kwaan's account read.\n\nSazed sat at his table, reading from his book.\n\nSomething is not right here, he thought. He traced back a few lines, looking at the words'Holy First Witness\" again. Why did that line keep bothering him?\n\nHe sat back, sighing. Even if the prophecies did speak about the future, they wouldn't be things to follow or use as guideposts. Tindwyl was right on that count. His own study had proven them to be unreliable and shadowed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So what was the problem?\n\nIt just doesn't make sense.\n\nBut, then again, sometimes religion didn't make literal sense. Was that the reason, or was that his own bias? His growing frustration with the teachings he had memorized and taught, but which had betrayed him in the end?\n\nIt came down to the scrap of paper on his desk. The torn one. Alendi must not be allowed to reach the Well of Ascension....\n\nSomeone was standing next to his desk.\n\nSazed gasped, stumbling back, nearly tripping over his chair. It wasn't actually a person. It was a shadow-formed, it seemed, from streams of mist. They were very faint, still trailing through the window that Vin had opened, but they made a person. Its head seemed turned toward the table, toward the book. Or... perhaps the scrap of paper.\n\nSazed felt like running, like scrambling away in fear, but his scholar's mind dredged something up to fight his terror. Alendi, he thought. The one everyone thought was the Hero of Ages. He said he saw a thing made of mist following him.\n\nVin claimed to have seen it as well.\n\n\"What... do you want?\" he asked, trying to remain calm.\n\nThe spirit didn't move.\n\nCould it be... her? he wondered with shock. Many religions claimed that the dead continued to walk the world, just beyond the view of mortals. But this thing was too short to be Tindwyl. Sazed was sure that he would have recognized her, even in such an amorphous form.\n\nSazed tried to gauge where it was looking. He reached out a hesitant hand, picking up the scrap of paper." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The spirit raised an arm, pointing toward the center of the city." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sazed frowned.\n\n\"I don't understand,\" he said.\n\nThe spirit pointed more insistently.\n\n\"Write down for me what you want me to do.\"\n\nIt just pointed.\n\nSazed stood fora long moment in the room with only one candle, then glanced at the open book. The wind flipped its pages, showing his handwriting, then Tindwyl's, then his again.\n\nAlendi must not be allowed to reach the Well of Ascension. He must not be allowed to take the power for himself.\n\nPerhaps... perhaps Kwaan knew something that nobody else had. Could the power corrupt even the best of people? Could that be why he turned against Alendi, trying to stop him?\n\nThe mist spirit pointed again.\n\nIf the spirit tore free that sentence, perhaps it was trying to tell me something. But... Vin wouldn't take the power for herself. She wouldn't destroy, as the Lord Ruler did, would she?\n\nAnd if she didn't have a choice?\n\nOutside, someone screamed. The yell was of pure terror, and it was soon joined by others. A horrible, echoing set of sounds in a dark night.\n\nThere wasn't time to think. Sazed grabbed the candle, spilling wax on the table in his haste, and left the room.\n\nThe winding set of stone stairs led downward for quite sometime. Vin walked down them, Elend at her side, the thumping sounding loudly in her ears. At the bottom, the stairwell opened into...\n\nAvast chamber. Elend held his lantern high, looking down into a huge stone cavern. Spook was already halfway down the stone steps leading to the floor. Ham was following." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Lord Ruler...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Elend whispered, standing at Vin's side. \"We'd have never found this without tearing down the entire building!\"\n\n\"That was probably the idea,\" Vin said. \"Kredik Shaw isn't simply a palace, but a capstone. Built to hide something. This. Above, those inlays on the walls hid the cracks of the doorway, and the metal in them obscured the opening mechanism from Allomantic eyes. If I hadn't had a hint...\"\n\n\"Hint?\" Elend asked, turning to her.\n\nVin shook her head, nodding to the steps. The two began down them. Below, she heard Spook's voice ring.\n\n\"There's food down here!\" he yelled. \"Cans and cans of it!\"\n\nIndeed, they found rank upon rank of shelves sitting on the cavern floor, meticulously packed as if set aside in preparation for something important. Vin and Elend reached the cavern floor as Ham chased after Spook, calling for him to slowdown. Elend made as if to follow, but Vin grabbed his arm. She was burning iron.\n\n\"Strong source of metal that way,\" she said, growing eager.\n\nElend nodded, and they rushed through the cavern, passing shelf after shelf. The Lord Ruler must have prepared these, she thought. But for what purpose?\n\nShe didn't care at the moment. She didn't really care about the atium either, but Elend's eagerness to find it was too much to ignore. They rushed up to the end of the cavern, where they found the source of the metal line.\n\nA large metal plaque hung on the wall, like the one Sazed had described finding in the Conventical of Seran. Elend was clearly disappointed when they saw it. Vin, however, stepped forward, looking through tin-enhanced eyes to see what it contained." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A map?\" Elend asked. \"That's the Final Empire.\"\n\nIndeed, a map of the empire was carved into the metal. Luthadel was marked at the center. A small circle marked another city nearby.\n\n\"Why is Statlin City circled?\" Elend asked, frowning.\n\nVin shook her head. \"This isn't what we came for,\" she said. \"There.\" A tunnel split off from the main cavern. \"Come on.\"\n\nSazed ran through the streets, not even certain what he was doing. He followed the mist spirit, which was difficult to trace in the night, as his candle had long since puffed out.\n\nPeople screamed. Their panicked sounds gave him chills, and he itched to go and see what the problem was. Yet the mist spirit was demanding; it paused to catch his attention if it lost him. It could simply be leading him to his death. And yet... he felt a trust for it that he could not explain.\n\nAllomancy? he thought. Pulling on my emotions?\n\nBefore he could consider that further, he stumbled across the first body. It was a skaa man in simple clothing, skin stained with ash. His face was twisted in a grimace of pain, and the ash on the ground was smeared from his thrashings.\n\nSazed gasped as he pulled to a halt. He knelt, studying the body by the dim light of an open window nearby. This man had not died easily.\n\nIt's... like the killings I was studying, he thought. Months ago, in the village to the south. The man there said that the mists had killed his friend. Caused him to fall to the ground and thrash about.\n\nThe spirit appeared in front of Sazed, its posture insistent. Sazed looked up, frowning. \"You did this?\" he whispered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The thing shook its head violently, pointing. Kredik Shaw was just ahead. It was the direction Vin and Elend had gone earlier.\n\nSazed stood. Vin said she thought the Well was still in the city, he thought. The Deepness has come upon us, as its tendrils have been doing in the far reaches of the empire for sometime. Killing.\n\nSomething greater than we comprehend is going on.\n\nHe still couldn't believe that Vin going to the Well would be dangerous. She had read; she knew Rashek's story. She wouldn't take the power for herself. He was confident. But not completely certain. In fact, he was no longer certain what they should do with the Well.\n\nI have to get to her. Stop her, talk to her, prepare her. We can't rush into something like this. If, indeed, they were going to take the power at the Well, they needed to think about it first and decide what the best course was.\n\nThe mist spirit continued to point. Sazed stood and ran forward, ignoring the horror of the screams in the night. He approached the doors of the massive palace structure with its spires and spikes, then dashed inside.\n\nThe mist spirit remained behind, in the mists that had birthed it. Sazed lit his candle again with a flint, and waited. The mist spirit did not move forward. Still feeling an urgency, Sazed left it behind, continuing into the depths of the Lord Ruler's former home. The stonewalls were cold and dark, his candle a wan light.\n\nThe Well couldn't be here, he thought. It's supposed to be in the mountains.\n\nYet, so much about that time was vague. He was beginning to doubt that he'd ever understood the things he'd studied." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He quickened his step, shading his candle with his hand, knowing where he needed to go. He'd visited the building-within-a-building, the place where the Lord Ruler had once spent his time. Sazed had studied the place after the empire's fall, chronicling and cataloguing. He stepped into the outer room, and was halfway across it before he noticed the unfamiliar opening in the wall.\n\nA figure stood in doorway, head bowed. Sazed's candlelight reflected the polished marble walls, the silvery inlayed murals, and the spikes in the man's eyes.\n\n\"Marsh?\" Sazed asked, shocked. \"Where have you been?\"\n\n\"What are you doing, Sazed?\" Marsh whispered.\n\n\"I'm going to Vin,\" he said, confused. \"She has found the Well, Marsh. We have to get to her, stop her from doing anything with it until we're sure what it does.\"\n\nMarsh remained silent fora short time. \"You should not have come here, Terrisman,\" he finally said, head still bowed.\n\n\"Marsh? What is going on?\" Sazed took a step forward, feeling urgent.\n\n\"I wish I knew. I wish... I wish I understood.\"\n\n\"Understood what?\" Sazed asked, voice echoing in the domed room.\n\nMarsh stood silently fora moment. Then he looked up, focusing his sightless spikeheads on Sazed.\n\n\"I wish I understood why I have to kill you,\" he said, then lifted a hand. An Allomantic Push slammed into the metal bracers on Sazed's arms, throwing him backward, crashing him into the hard stonewall.\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" Marsh whispered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alendi must not reach the Well of Ascension...." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"LORD RULER!\" ELEND WHISPERED, pausing at the edge of the second cavern.\n\nVin joined him. They had walked in the passage for sometime, leaving the storage cavern far behind, walking through a natural stone tunnel. It had ended here, at a second, slightly smaller cavern that was clogged with a thick, dark smoke. It didn't seep out of the cavern, as it should have, but billowed and churned upon itself.\n\nVin stepped forward. The smoke didn't choke her, as she expected. There was something oddly welcoming about it. \"Come on,\" she said, walking through it across the cavern floor. \"I see light up ahead.\"\n\nElend joined her nervously.\n\nThump. Thump. Thump.\n\nSazed slammed into the wall. He was no Allomancer; he had no pewter to strengthen his body. Ashe collapsed to the ground, he felt a sharp pain in his side, and knew he had cracked a rib. Or worse.\n\nMarsh strode forward, faintly illuminated by Sazed's candle, which burned fitfully where Sazed had dropped it.\n\n\"Why did you come?\" Marsh whispered as Sazed struggled to his knees. \"Everything was going so well.\" He watched with iron eyes as Sazed slowly crawled away. Then Marsh Pushed again, throwing Sazed to the side.\n\nSazed skidded across the beautiful white floor, crashing into another wall. His arm snapped, cracking, and his vision shuddered.\n\nThrough his pain, he saw Marsh stoop down and pick something up. A small pouch. It had fallen from Sazed's sash. It was filled with bits of metal; Marsh obviously thought it was a coin pouch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sorry,\" Marsh said again, then raised a hand and Pushed the bag at Sazed.\n\nThe pouch shot across the room and hit Sazed, ripping, the bits of metal inside tearing into Sazed's flesh. He didn't have to look down to know how badly he was injured. Oddly, he could no longer feel his pain-but he could feel the blood, warm, on his stomach and legs.\n\nI'm... sorry, too, Sazed thought as the room grew dark, and he fell to his knees. I've failed... though I know not at what. I can't even answer Marsh's question. I don't know why I came here.\n\nHe felt himself dying. It was an odd experience. His mind was resigned, yet confused, yet frustrated, yet slowly... having... trouble...\n\nThose weren't coins, a voice seemed to whisper.\n\nThe thought rattled in his dying mind.\n\nThe bag Marsh shot at you. Those weren't coins. They were rings, Sazed. Eight of them. You took out two-eyesight and hearing. You left the other ones where they were.\n\nIn the pouch, tucked into your sash.\n\nSazed collapsed, death coming upon him like a cold shadow. And yet, the thought rang true. Ten rings, embedded into his flesh. Touching him. Weight. Speed of body. Sight. Hearing. Touch. Scent. Strength. Speed of mind. Wakefulness.\n\nAnd health.\n\nHe tapped gold. He didn't have to be wearing the metalmind to use it-he only had to be touching it. His chest stopped burning, and his vision snapped back into focus. His arm straightened, the bones reknitting as he drew upon several days\" worth of health in a brief flash of power. He gasped, his mind recovering from its near death, but the goldmind restored a crisp clarity to his thoughts." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Co-write with the author and continue the story.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, siege\nAuthor: Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: The Well of Ascension\nChapter: 137" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sorry,\" Marsh said again, then raised a hand and Pushed the bag at Sazed.\n\nThe pouch shot across the room and hit Sazed, ripping, the bits of metal inside tearing into Sazed's flesh. He didn't have to look down to know how badly he was injured. Oddly, he could no longer feel his pain-but he could feel the blood, warm, on his stomach and legs.\n\nI'm... sorry, too, Sazed thought as the room grew dark, and he fell to his knees. I've failed... though I know not at what. I can't even answer Marsh's question. I don't know why I came here.\n\nHe felt himself dying. It was an odd experience. His mind was resigned, yet confused, yet frustrated, yet slowly... having... trouble...\n\nThose weren't coins, a voice seemed to whisper.\n\nThe thought rattled in his dying mind.\n\nThe bag Marsh shot at you. Those weren't coins. They were rings, Sazed. Eight of them. You took out two-eyesight and hearing. You left the other ones where they were.\n\nIn the pouch, tucked into your sash.\n\nSazed collapsed, death coming upon him like a cold shadow. And yet, the thought rang true. Ten rings, embedded into his flesh. Touching him. Weight. Speed of body. Sight. Hearing. Touch. Scent. Strength. Speed of mind. Wakefulness.\n\nAnd health.\n\nHe tapped gold. He didn't have to be wearing the metalmind to use it-he only had to be touching it. His chest stopped burning, and his vision snapped back into focus. His arm straightened, the bones reknitting as he drew upon several days\" worth of health in a brief flash of power. He gasped, his mind recovering from its near death, but the goldmind restored a crisp clarity to his thoughts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The flesh healed around the metal. Sazed stood, pulling the empty bag from where it stuck from his skin, leaving the rings inside of him. He dropped it to the ground, the wound sealing, draining the last of the power from the goldmind. Marsh stopped at the mouth of the doorway, turning in surprise. Sazed's arm still throbbed, probably cracked, and his ribs were bruised. Such a short burst of health could only do so much.\n\nBut he was alive.\n\n\"You have betrayed us, Marsh,\" Sazed said. \"I did not realize those spikes stole a man's soul, as well as his eyes.\"\n\n\"You cannot fight me,\" Marsh replied quietly, his voice echoing in the darkroom. \"You are no warrior.\"\n\nSazed smiled, feeling the small metalminds within him give him power. \"Neither, I think, are you.\"\n\nI am involved in something that is far over my head, Elend thought as they passed through the strange, smoke-filled cavern. The floor was rough and uneven, and his lantern seemed dim-as if the swirling black smoke were sucking in the light.\n\nVin walked confidently. No, determinedly. There was a difference. Whatever was at the end of this cavern, she obviously wanted to discover it.\n\nAnd... what will it be? Elend thought. The Well of Ascension?\n\nThe Well was a thing of mythology-something spoken of by obligators when they taught about the Lord Ruler. And yet... he had followed Vin northward, expecting to find it, hadn't he? Why be so tentative now?\n\nPerhaps because he was finally beginning to accept what was happening. And it worried him. Not because he feared for his life, but because suddenly he didn't understand the world. Armies he could understand, even if he didn't know how to defeat them. But a thing like the Well? A thing of gods, a thing beyond the logic of scholars and philosophers?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That was terrifying.\n\nThey finally approached the other side of the smoky cavern. Here, there appeared to be a final chamber, one much smaller than the first two. As they stepped into it, Elend noticed something immediately: this room was man-made. Or, at least, it had the feel of something man-made. Stalactites formed pillars through the low-ceilinged room, and they were spaced far too evenly to be random. Yet, at the same time, they looked as if they had grown naturally, and showed no signs of being worked.\n\nThe air seemed warmer inside-and, thankfully, they passed out of the smoke as they entered. A low light came from something on the far side of the chamber, though Elend couldn't distinguish the source. It didn't look like torchlight. It was the wrong color, and it shimmered rather than flickered.\n\nVin wrapped an arm around him, staring toward the back of the chamber, suddenly seeming apprehensive.\n\n\"Where is that light coming from?\" Elend asked, frowning.\n\n\"A pool,\" Vin said quietly, her eyes far keener than his. \"A glowing white pool.\"\n\nElend frowned. But, the two of them didn't move. Vin seemed hesitant. \"What?\" he asked.\n\nShe pulled against him. \"That's the Well of Ascension. I can feel it inside of my head. Beating.\"\n\nElend forced a smile, feeling a surreal sense of displacement. \"That's what we came for, then.\"\n\n\"What if I don't know what to do?\" Vin asked quietly. \"What if I take the power, but I don't know how to use it? What if I... become like the Lord Ruler?\"\n\nElend looked down at her, arms wrapped around him, and his fear lessened a bit. He loved her. The situation they faced, it couldn't easily fit into his logical world. But Vin had never really needed logic. And he didn't need it either, if he trusted her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He took her head in his hands, rotating it up to look at him. \"Your eyes are beautiful.\"\n\nShe frowned. \"What-\"\n\n\"And,\" Elend continued, \"part of the beauty in them comes from your sincerity. You won't become the Lord Ruler, Vin. You'll know what to do with that power. I trust you.\"\n\nShe smiled hesitantly, then nodded. However, she didn't move forward into the cavern. Instead, she pointed at something over Elend's shoulder. \"What's that?\"\n\nElend turned, noticing a ledge on the back wall of the small room. It grew straight out of the rock just beside the doorway they had entered. Vin approached the ledge, and Elend followed behind her, noticing the shards that lay upon it.\n\n\"It looks like broken pottery,\" Elend said. There were several patches of it, and more of it was scattered on the floor beneath the ledge.\n\nVin picked up apiece, but there didn't seem to be anything distinctive about it. She looked at Elend, who was fishing through the pottery pieces. \"Look at this,\" he said, holding up one that hadn't been broken like the others. It was a disklike piece of fired clay with a single bead of some metal at the center.\n\n\"Atium?\" she asked.\n\n\"It looks like the wrong color,\" he said, frowning.\n\n\"What is it, then?\"\n\n\"Maybe we'll find the answers over there,\" Elend said, turning and looking down the rows of pillars toward the light. Vin nodded, and they walked forward.\n\nMarsh immediately tried to Push Sazed away by the metal bracers on his arms. Sazed was ready, however, and he tapped his ring ironmind-drawing forth the weight he had stored within it. His body grew denser, and he felt its weight pulling him down, his fists feeling like balls of iron on the ends of lead arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Marsh immediately lurched away, thrown violently backward by his own Push. He slammed into the back wall, a cry of surprise escaping his lips. It echoed in the small, domed room.\n\nShadows danced in the room as the candle grew weaker. Sazed tapped sight, enhancing his vision, and released iron as he dashed toward the addled Inquisitor. Marsh, however, recovered quickly. He reached out, Pulling an unlit lamp off the wall. It zipped through the air, flying toward Marsh.\n\nSazed tapped zinc. He felt something like a twisted hybrid of an Allomancer and a Feruchemist, his sources of metal embedded within him. The gold had healed his insides, made him whole, but the rings still remained within his flesh. This was what the Lord Ruler had done, keeping his metalminds inside of him, piercing his flesh so that they would be harder to steal.\n\nThat had always seemed morbid to Sazed. Now, he saw how useful it could be. His thoughts sped up, and he quickly saw the trajectory of the lamp. Marsh would be able to use it as a weapon against him. So Sazed tapped steel. Allomancy and Feruchemy had one fundamental difference: Allomancy drew its powers from the metals themselves, and so the amount of power was limited; in Feruchemy, one could compound an attribute many times, drawing out months' worth of power in a few minutes.\n\nSteel stored physical speed. Sazed zipped across the room, air rushing in his ears as he shot past the open doorway. He snatched the lamp out of the air, then tapped iron hard-increasing his weight manyfold-and tapped pewter to give himself massive strength.\n\nMarsh didn't have time to react. He was now Pulling on a lamp held in Sazed's inhumanly strong, inhumanly heavy, hand. Again, Marsh was yanked by his own Allomancy. The Pull threw him across the room, directly toward Sazed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sazed turned, slamming the lamp into Marsh's face." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The metal bent in his hand, and the force threw Marsh backward. The Inquisitor hit the marble wall, a spray of blood misting in the air. As Marsh slumped to the ground, Sazed could see that he'd driven one of the eye-spikes back into the front of the skull, crushing the bone around the socket.\n\nSazed returned his weight to normal, then jumped forward, raising his impromptu weapon again. Marsh, however, threw an arm up and Pushed. Sazed skidded back a few feet before he was able to tap the ironmind again, increasing his weight.\n\nMarsh grunted, his Push forcing him back against the wall. It also, however, kept Sazed at bay. Sazed struggled to step forward, but the pressure of Marsh's Push-along with his own bulky, weighed-down body-made walking difficult. The two strained fora moment, Pushing against each other in the darkening light. The room's inlays sparkled, quiet murals watching them, open doorway leading down to the Well just to the side.\n\n\"Why, Marsh?\" Sazed whispered.\n\n\"I don't know,\" Marsh said, his voice coming out in a growl.\n\nWith a flash of power, Sazed released his ironmind and instead tapped steel, increasing his speed again. He dropped the lamp, ducking to the side, moving more quickly than Marsh could track. The lamp was forced backward, but then fell to the ground as Marsh let goof his Push, jumping forward, obviously trying to keep from being trapped against the wall.\n\nBut Sazed was faster. He spun, raising a hand to try to pullout Marsh's linchpin spike-the one in between his shoulder blades, pounded down lengthwise into the back. Pulling this one spike would kill an Inquisitor; it was the weakness the Lord Ruler had built into them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sazed skidded around Marsh to attack from behind. The spike in Marsh's right eye protruded several extra inches out the back of his skull, and it dribbled blood.\n\nSazed's steelmind ran out.\n\nThe rings had never been intended to last long, and his two extreme bursts had drained this one in seconds. He slowed with a dreadful lurch, but his arm was still raised, and he still had the strength often men. He could seethe bulge of the linchpin spike underneath Marsh's robe. If he could just-\n\nMarsh spun, then dexterously knocked aside Sazed's hand. He rammed an elbow into Sazed's stomach, then brought a backhand up and crashed it into his face.\n\nSazed fell backward, and his pewtermind ran out, his strength disappearing. He hit the hard steel ground with a grunt of pain, and rolled.\n\nMarsh loomed in the darkroom. The candle flickered.\n\n\"You were wrong, Sazed,\" Marsh said quietly. \"Once, I was not a warrior, but that has changed. You spent the last two years teaching, but I spent them killing. Killing so many people....\"\n\nMarsh stepped forward, and Sazed coughed, trying to get his bruised body to move. He worried that he'd rebroken his arm. He tapped zinc again, speeding up his thoughts, but that didn't help his body move. He could only watch-more fully aware of his predicament and unable to do a thing to stop it-as Marsh picked up the fallen lamp.\n\nThe candle went out.\n\nYet, Sazed could still see Marsh's face. Blood dripped from the crushed socket, making the man's expression even harder to read. The Inquisitor seemed... sorrowful as he raised the lamp in a clawlike grip, intending to smash it down into Sazed's face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wait, Sazed thought." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Where is that light coming from?\n\nA dueling cane smashed against the back of Marsh's head, shattering and throwing up splinters.\n\nVin and Elend walked up to the pool. Elend knelt quietly beside it, but Vin just stood. Staring at the glittering waters.\n\nThey were gathered in a small depression in the rock, and they looked thick-like metal. A silvery white, glowing liquid metal. The Well was only a few feet across, but its power loomed in her mind.\n\nVin was so enraptured by the beautiful pool, in fact, that she didn't notice the mist spirit until Elend's grip tightened on her arm. She looked up, noticing the spirit standing before them. It seemed to have its head bowed, but as she turned, its shadowy form stood up straighter.\n\nShe'd never seen the creature outside of the mist. It still wasn't completely... whole. Mist puffed from its body, flowing downward, creating its amorphous form. A persistent pattern.\n\nVin hissed quietly, pulling out a dagger.\n\n\"Wait!\" Elend said, standing.\n\nShe frowned, shooting him a glance.\n\n\"I don't think it's dangerous, Vin,\" he said, stepping away from her, toward the spirit.\n\n\"Elend, no!\" she said, but he gently shook her free.\n\n\"It visited me while you were gone, Vin,\" he explained. \"It didn't hurt me. It just... seemed like it wanted me to know something.\" He smiled, still wearing his nondescript cloak and traveling clothing, and walked slowly up to the mist spirit. \"What is it you want?\"\n\nThe mist spirit stood immobile fora moment, then it raised its arm. Something flashed, reflecting the pool's light." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No!\" Vin screamed, dashing forward as the spirit slashed across Elend's gut. Elend grunted in pain, then stumbled back.\n\n\"Elend!\" Vin said, scrambling to Elend's side as he slipped and fell to the ground. The spirit backed away, dripping blood from somewhere within its deceptively incorporeal form. Elend's blood.\n\nElend lay, shocked, eyes wide. Vin flared pewter and ripped open the front of his jacket, exposing the wound. The spirit had cut deeply into his stomach, slashing the gut open.\n\n\"No... no... no...\" Vin said, mind growing numb, Elend's blood on her hands.\n\nThe wound was very bad. Deadly.\n\nHam dropped the broken cane, one arm still in a sling. The beefy Thug looked incredibly pleased with himself as he stepped over Marsh's body and reached his good hand toward Sazed.\n\n\"Didn't expect to find you here, Saze,\" the Thug said.\n\nDazed, Sazed took the hand and climbed to his feet. He stumbled over Marsh's body, somehow distractedly knowing that a simple club to the head wouldn't be enough to kill the creature. Yet Sazed was too addled to care. He picked up his candle, lit it from Ham's lantern, then made his way toward the stairs, forcing himself onward.\n\nHe had to keep going. He had to get to Vin.\n\nVin cradled Elend in her arms, her cloak forming a hasty-and dreadfully inadequate-bandage around his torso.\n\n\"I love you,\" she whispered, tears warm on her cold cheeks. \"Elend, I love you. I love you...\"\n\nLove wouldn't be enough. He was trembling, eyes staring upward, barely able to focus. He gasped, and blood bubbled in his spittle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She turned to the side, numbly realizing where she knelt." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The pool glowed beside her, just inches from where Elend had fallen. Some of his blood had dribbled into the pool, though it didn't mix with the liquid metal.\n\nI can save him, she realized. The power of creation rests just inches from my fingers. This was the place where Rashek had ascended to godhood. The Well of Ascension.\n\nShe looked back at Elend, at his dying eyes. He tried to focus on her, but he seemed to behaving trouble controlling his muscles. It seemed like... he was trying to smile.\n\nVin rolled up her coat and put it beneath his head. Then, wearing just her trousers and shirt, she walked up to the pool. She could hear it thumping. As if... calling to her. Calling for her to join with it.\n\nShe stepped onto the pool. It resisted her touch, but her foot began to sink, slowly. She stepped forward, moving into the center of the pool, waiting as she sank. Within seconds, the pool was up to her chest, the glowing liquid all around her.\n\nShe took a breath, then leaned her head back, looking up as the pool absorbed her, covering her face.\n\nSazed stumbled down the stairs, candle held in quivering fingers. Ham was calling after him. He passed a confused Spook on the landing below, and ignored the boy's questions.\n\nHowever, as he began to make his way down to the cavern floor, he slowed. A small tremor ran through the rock.\n\nSomehow, he knew that he was too late.\n\nThe power came upon her suddenly.\n\nShe felt the liquid pressing against her, creeping into her body, crawling, forcing its way through the pores and openings in her skin. She opened her mouth to scream, and it rushed in that way too, choking her, gagging her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With a sudden flare, her earlobe began to hurt. She cried out, pulling her earring free, dropping it into the depths. She pulled off her sash, letting it-and her Allomantic vials-go as well, removing the only metals on her person.\n\nThen she started to burn. She recognized the sensation: it was exactly like the feeling of burning metals in her stomach, except it came from her entire body. Her skin flared, her muscles flamed, and her very bones seemed on fire. She gasped, and realized the metal was gone from her throat.\n\nShe was glowing. She felt the power within, as if it were trying to burst back out. It was like the strength she gained by burning pewter, but amazingly more potent. It was a force of incredible capacity. It would have been beyond her ability to understand, but it expanded her mind, forcing her to grow and comprehend what she now possessed.\n\nShe could remake the world. She could push back the mists. She could feed millions with the wave of her hand, punish the evil, protect the weak. She was in awe of herself. The cavern was as if translucent around her, and she saw the entire world spreading, a magnificent sphere upon which life could exist only in a small little area at the poles. She could fix that. She could make things better. She could...\n\nShe could save Elend.\n\nShe glanced down and saw him dying. She immediately understood what was wrong with him. She could fix his damaged skin and sliced organs.\n\nYou mustn't do it, child.\n\nVin looked up with shock.\n\nYou know what you must do, the Voice said, whispering to her. It sounded aged. Kindly.\n\n\"I have to save him!\" she cried." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You know what you must do.\n\nAnd she did know. She saw it happen-she saw, as if in a vision, Rashek when he'd taken the power for himself. She saw the disasters he created.\n\nIt was all or nothing-like Allomancy, in away. If she took the power, she would have to burn it away in a few moments. Remaking things as she pleased, but only fora brief time.\n\nOr... she could give it up.\n\nI must defeat the Deepness, the Voice said.\n\nShe saw that, too. Outside the palace, in the city, across the land. People in the mists, shaking, falling. Many stayed indoors, thankfully. The traditions of the skaa were still strong within them.\n\nSome were out, however. Those who trusted in Kelsier's words that the mists could not hurt them. But now the mists could. They had changed, bringing death.\n\nThis was the Deepness. Mists that killed. Mists that were slowly covering the entire land. The deaths were sporadic; Vin saw many falling dead, but saw others simply falling sick, and still others going about in the mists as if nothing were wrong.\n\nIt will get worse, the Voice said quietly. It will kill and destroy. And, if you try to stop it yourself, you will ruin the world, as Rashek did before you.\n\n\"Elend...\" she whispered. She turned toward him, bleeding on the floor.\n\nAt that moment, she remembered something. Something Sazed had said. You must love him enough to trust his wishes, he had told her. It isn't love unless you learn to respect him-not what you assume is best, but what he actually wants...." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She saw Elend weeping." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She saw him focusing on her, and she knew what he wanted. He wanted his people to live. He wanted the world to know peace, and the skaa to be free.\n\nHe wanted the Deepness to be defeated. The safety of his people meant more to him than his own life. Far more.\n\nYou'll know what to do, he'd told her just moments before. I trust you....\n\nVin closed her eyes, and tears rolled down her cheeks. Apparently, gods could cry.\n\n\"I love you,\" she whispered.\n\nShe let the power go. She held the capacity to become a deity in her hands, and she gave it away, releasing it to the waiting void. She gave up Elend.\n\nBecause she knew that was what he wanted.\n\nThe cavern immediately began to shake. Vin cried out as the flaring power within her was ripped away, soaked up greedily by the void. She screamed, her glow fading, then fell into the now empty pool, head knocking against the rocks.\n\nThe cavern continued to shake, dust and chips falling from the ceiling. And then, in a moment of surreal clarity, Vin heard a single, distinct sentence ringing in her mind.\n\nI am FREE!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "... for he must not be allowed to release the thing that is imprisoned there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "VIN LAY, QUIETLY, WEEPING.\n\nThe cavern was still, the tempest over. The thing was gone, and the thumping in her mind was finally quiet. She sniffled, arms around Elend, holding him as he gasped his final few breaths. She'd screamed for help, calling for Ham and Spook, but had gotten no response. They were too faraway.\n\nShe felt cold. Empty. After holding that much power, then having it ripped from her, she felt like she was nothing. And, once Elend died, she would be.\n\nWhat would be the point? she thought. Life doesn't mean anything. I've betrayed Elend. I've betrayed the world.\n\nShe wasn't certain what had happened, but somehow she'd made a horrible, horrible mistake. The worst part was, she had tried so hard to do what was right, even if it hurt.\n\nSomething loomed above her. She looked up at the mist spirit, but couldn't even really feel rage. She was having trouble feeling anything at the moment.\n\nThe spirit raised an arm, pointing.\n\n\"It's over,\" she whispered.\n\nIt pointed more demandingly.\n\n\"I won't get to them in time,\" she said. \"Besides, I saw how bad the cut was. Saw it with the power. There's nothing any of them could do, not even Sazed. So, you should be pleased. You got what you wanted...\" She trailed off. Why had the spirit stabbed Elend?\n\nTo make me heal him, she thought. To keep me... from releasing the power.\n\nShe blinked her eyes. The spirit waved its arm.\n\nSlowly, numbly, she got to her feet. She watched the spirit in a trance as it floated a few steps over and pointed at something on the ground. The room was dark, now that the pool was empty, and was illuminated only by Elend's lantern. She had to flare tin to see what the spirit was pointing at." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Apiece of pottery. The disk Elend had taken from the shelf in the back of the room, and had been holding in his hand. It had broken when he'd collapsed.\n\nThe mist spirit pointed urgently. Vin approached and bent over, fingers finding the small nugget of metal that had been at the disk's center.\n\n\"What is it?\" she whispered.\n\nThe mist spirit turned and drifted back to Elend. Vin walked up quietly.\n\nHe was still alive. He seemed to begetting weaker, and was trembling less. Eerily, as he grew closer to death, he actually seemed a bit more in control. He looked at her as she knelt, and she could see his lips moving.\n\n\"Vin...\" he whispered.\n\nShe knelt beside him, looked at the bead of metal, then looked up at the spirit. It stood motionless. She rolled the bead between her fingers, then moved to eat it.\n\nThe spirit moved urgently, shaking its hands. Vin paused, and the spirit pointed at Elend.\n\nWhat? she thought. However, she wasn't really in a state to think. She held the nugget up to Elend. \"Elend,\" she whispered, leaning close. \"You must swallow this.\"\n\nShe wasn't certain if he understood her or not, though he did appear to nod. She placed the bit of metal in his mouth. His lips moved, but he started to choke.\n\nI have to get him something to wash it down, she thought. The only thing she had was one of her metal vials. She reached into the empty well, retrieving her earring and her sash. She pulled free a vial, then poured the liquid into his mouth.\n\nElend continued to cough weakly, but the liquid did its work well, washing down the bead of metal. Vin knelt, feeling so powerless, a depressing contrast to how she had been just moments before. Elend closed his eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then, oddly, the color seemed to return to his cheeks. Vin knelt, confused, watching him. The look on his face, the way he lay, the color of his skin...\n\nShe burned bronze, and with shock, felt pulses coming from Elend.\n\nHe was burning pewter." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "As the writer's helper, keep the story going.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, bromance\nAuthor: Michael J. Sullivan\nTitle: Theft of Swords\nChapter: 15" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He moved up five more steps. There were small windows, no more than three feet tall and only afoot wide, just enough to allow light to pass through but nothing else. The winter sun revealed the staircase in a washed-out brilliance. Weight, rather than mortar, held the smooth stonewalls together. The steps were likewise made of solid blocks of stone also fitted with amazing artisanship so that a sheet of parchment could not slip between the cracks.\n\nRoyce moved up to the ninth step, and as he shifted his weight to the higher stone block, the tower shook. In reaction, he instinctively started to step back, and then it happened. The previous eight steps collapsed. They broke and fell out of sight into an abyss below him. Royce shifted his weight forward again just in time to avoid falling to his death and took another off-balance step upward. The moment he did, the previous step broke away and fell. The tower rumbled again.\n\n\"Your first mistake was picking the lock,\" Magnus told him.\n\nRoyce could hear the dwarf's voice from the doorway below. When he turned, he could seethe dwarf standing just outside the door in the castle's corridor. He stood there, spinning a door key tied to a string around his index finger, winding and unwinding it. He absently stroked the hair of his beard.\n\n\"If you open the door without using the key, it engages the trap,\" Magnus explained with a grin.\n\nThe dwarf began to pace slowly before the open door like a professor addressing a class. \"You can't jump the hole you made to get back here. It's already too far. And, in case you are wondering, the bottom is along way down. You started climbing this tower on the sixth floor of the castle, and the base of the tower extends to the bedrock below the foundation. I also added plenty of jagged rocks at the bottom, just for fun.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You made this?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"Of course-well, not the tower. It was here already. I spent the last half year hollowing it out like a stone-eating termite.\" He grinned. \"There's very little material left in it. All those solid-looking blocks of rock you see are parchment-thin. I left just the right amount of structure in place. The inside looks like a spiderweb made of stone rather than thread. Tiny strands of rock in a latticework of a classic crystalline matrix-strong enough to hold the tower up but extremely fragile if the right thread is broken.\"\n\n\"And I take it each time I take a step up, the previous one will fall?\"\n\nThe dwarf's grin widened. \"Beautiful, isn't it? You can't go down, but if you go up, you'll get into an even worse situation. The steps work as a horizontal support for the vertical planes. Without the steps to steady the structure, it will twist on itself and fall. Before you reach the top, the entire tower will collapse once enough supports fall away. Don't let my talk about hollow walls put you too much at ease. It's still stone, and the full weight of this tower remains immense. It will very easily crush you, and the lady at the top, should the fall and the sharp rocks at the bottom not manage to do the job. You've already weakened the structure to where it might fall on its own now. I can hear it with the blowing of the wind-the tiny little cracks and pops. All stone makes sounds as it grows, shrinks, twists, or erodes-it's a language I understand very well. It tells me stories of the past and of the future, and right now, this tower is singing.\"\n\n\"I hate dwarves,\" Royce muttered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The water pitcher and basin hit the floor and shattered. The crash jolted Arista, who sat on her bed, disoriented and confused. The room was shaking. All summer the tower had felt strange but nothing like this. She held her breath-waiting. Nothing happened. The tower stopped moving.\n\nTentatively, she slipped off the bed, crept gingerly toward the windows, and looked out. She saw nothing to explain the tremor. Outside, the world was blanketed white by afresh layer of snow that was still falling and she wondered if it was snow sliding from the tower's eves that made the room shake. It did not seem likely nor did that matter.\n\nHow much time do I have left?\n\nShe looked down. The crowd still circled the front gate of the castle. There must have been more than a hundred people there, all pressing for news of her trial. Around the perimeter of the castle, three times the usual number of guards patrolled in full armor. Her uncle was not taking any chances. Perhaps he thought the people of the city might rise up against him rather than see their princess burned? She knew better. No one cared if she lived or died. While she knew all the lords, earls, and barons by name and had sat down with them for dozens of meals, she knew they were not her friends. She did not have any friends. Braga was right; she spent too much time in her tower. No one really knew her. She lived a solitary life, but this was the first time she ever really felt alone.\n\nShe had spent all night trying to determine exactly what words she would use when brought before the court. In the end, she concluded there was little she could door say. She could accuse Braga of the murder of her father, but she had no proof. He was the one with all the evidence on his side. After all, she had released the two thieves and was responsible for Alric's disappearance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What was I thinking?\n\nShe had handed her brother over to two unknown thugs. Alric had personally explained his intent to torture them and she had left him to their mercy. Arista felt sick whenever she imagined them laughing at her expense as they drowned poor Alric in the river. Now they were likely halfway to Calis or Delgos, taking turns wearing the royal signet ring of Melengar. When the scouts had returned with Alric's robe, she had been certain he was dead, and yet there was nobody.\n\nIs it possible Alric still lives?\n\nNo, she reasoned, it was far more likely Braga kept Alric's corpse hidden. Revealing it before her trial would allow her to make a bid for the throne. Once the trial was over, once she was found guilty and burned, he would miraculously reveal its discovery. It was very possible Braga had Alric's body locked away in one of the rooms below her or somewhere in the vault.\n\nIt was all her fault. If she had not interfered, perhaps Alric might have taken charge and discovered Braga's treachery. Perhaps he could have saved both of them. Perhaps she was nothing more than a foolish girl after all. At least her death would put an end to the questions and the guilt consuming her. She closed her eyes and once more felt the unsteadiness of the world around her.\n\nThe Galilin host was now a full five hundred strong as it marched through the wintry landscape. Sixty knights dressed in full armor carried lances adorned with long forked banners. They flicked like serpents'tongues in the numbing wind. When they were back at Drondil Fields, Myron had overheard Alric arguing with the other nobles, about marching too soon. Apparently, they were still missing the strength of several lords, and leaving when they did was a risk. Pickering had finally agreed to Alric's demands and convinced the others once Barons Himbolt and Rendon arrived, bringing another score of knights. To Myron, the force was impressive at any size." }, { "from": "human", "value": "At the head of the line rode Prince Alric, Myron, Count Pickering, and his two eldest sons, as well as the land-titled nobles." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Following them were the knights, who rode together in rows four abreast. An entourage of squires, pages, and footmen traveled behind them. Farther back were the ranks of the common men-at-arms: strong, stocky brutes dressed in chain and steel with pointed helms, plate metal shin guards, and metal shank boots. Each was equipped with a kite shield, a short broad-blade sword, and along spear. Next inline were the archers, in leather jerkins and woolen cloaks that hid their quivers. They marched holding their unstrung bows as though they were mere walking sticks. At the rear came the artisans, smiths, surgeons, and cooks, pulling wagons that hauled the army's supplies.\n\nMyron felt foolish. After hours on the road, he was still having trouble keeping his horse from veering to the left into Fanen's gelding. He was starting to get the hang of the stirrups, but he still had much to learn. The front toe guard, which prevented his feet from resting on the soles, frustrated him. The Pickering boys took him under their wing and explained how only the ball of the foot was to rest on the stirrup brace. This provided better control and prevented afoot from catching in the event of a fall. They also told him how tight stirrups helped to hold his knees to the horse's sides. All Pickering's horses were leg trained and could be controlled by the feet, thighs, and knees. They were taught this way so that knights could fight with one hand on a lance or sword and the other on a shield. Myron was working on this technique now, squeezing his thighs, trying to persuade the horse to steer right, but it was no use. The more he used his left knee, the more his right knee also squeezed to compensate. The result was confusion on the part of the animal, and it wandered over and brushed against Fanen's mount once again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You need to be more firm,\" Fanen told him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Show her who's in charge.\"\n\n\"She already knows-she is,\" Myron replied pathetically. \"I think I should just stick with the reins. It's not like I'll be wielding a sword and shield in the coming battle.\"\n\n\"You never know,\" Fanen said. \"Monks of old used to fight a lot, and Alric said you helped save his life by fighting against those mercenaries who attacked him in the forest.\"\n\nMyron frowned and dropped his gaze. \"I didn't fight anyone.\"\n\n\"But I thought-\"\n\nMyron shook his head. \"I should have, I suppose. They were the ones who burned the abbey. They were the ones who killed... but...\" He paused. \"I would have died if Hadrian and Royce hadn't saved me. The king just assumed that I fought and I never bothered to tell the truth. I really have to stop doing that.\"\n\n\"Doing what?\"\n\n\"Lying.\"\n\n\"That's not lying. You just didn't correct him.\"\n\n\"It amounts to the same thing. The abbot once told me that lying was a betrayal to one's self. It's evidence of self-loathing. When you are so ashamed of your actions, thoughts, or intentions, you lie rather than accepting yourself for who you really are-or, in this case, pretend something happened when it didn't. The idea of how others see you becomes more important than the reality of you. It's like when a man would rather die than bethought of as a coward. His life is not as important to him as his reputation. In the end, who is braver? The man who dies rather than bethought of as a coward or the man who lives willing to face who he really is?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sorry, you lost me there,\" Fanen said with a quizzical look.\n\n\"It doesn't matter. But the prince asked me along as a chronicler of events, not as a warrior. I think he wants me to record what happens today in a book.\"\n\n\"Well, if you do, please leave out the way Denek threw a fit at not being allowed to come. It will reflect badly on our family.\"\n\nEverything they passed was new to Myron. He had seen snow, of course, but only in the courtyard and cloister at the abbey. He never had seen how it settled on a forest or glittered on the edges of rivers and streams. They were traveling through populated country now, passing village after village; each one larger than the one before. Myron could only stare in fascination at the many different types of buildings, animals, and people he saw along the way. Each time they came into a town, the villagers came out to stare at them. They scurried out of their homes, aroused by the ominous thrump, thrump, thrump of the soldiers marching. Some summoned the courage to ask where they were going, but the men said nothing, under strict orders to maintain silence.\n\nChildren ran to the edge of the road, where parents quickly pulled them back. Myron had never seen a child before-at least, not since he had been one. It was not uncommon fora boy to be sent to the abbey at tenor twelve, but rarely, if ever, was one sent before the age of eight. The smallest of the children fascinated Myron, and he watched them in amazement. They were like short drunk people, loud and usually dirty, but all were surprisingly cute and looked at him in much the same way that he looked at them. They would wave, and Myron could not help waving back, although he assumed it was not very soldierly to do so." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The war host moved surprisingly fast. The foot soldiers, responding in unison to orders, alternated between periods of double-time marching and a more relaxed stride, which was only slightly slower. Each of them wore a grim face, without a smile among them.\n\nFor hours, they marched. No one interfered; there were no advance formations lying in ambush, no challenges along the road. To Myron, the trip felt more like an exciting parade than the preparation for an ominous battle. Finally, he saw his first glimpse of Melengar in the distance. Fanen pointed out the great bell tower of Mares Cathedral and the tall spires of Essendon Castle, where no standard flew.\n\nA vanguard rode up and reported a strong force entrenched around the city. The nobles ordered their regiments to form ranks. Flags relayed messages, archers strung their bows, and the army transformed themselves into blocks of men. In long lines of three across, they moved as one. The archers were summoned forward and moved ahead just behind the foot soldiers.\n\nOrdered to the rear, Myron and Fanen rode with the cooks to watch and listen. From his new vantage point, Myron noticed part of the army had broken away from the mainline and was moving to the right side of the city. When the ranks of men reached the rise, which left them visible to the castle walls, a great horn sounded in the distance.\n\nOne of their own answered the castle horn, and the Galilin archers released a barrage of arrows upon the defenders. The shafts flew and appeared to hang briefly in the air like a dark cloud. As they fell, Myron could hear the distant cries of men. He watched with anticipation as the mounted knights broke into three groups. One stayed on the road, while the other two took up flanking positions on either side. The mainline increased their pace to a brisk walk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When they heard the horn, Mason Grumon and Dixon Taft led their mob up Wayward Street, effectively emptying the Lower Quarter. It was the sign Royce and Hadrian had told them to wait for-the signal to attack.\n\nEver since the two thieves had woken them in the middle of the night, they had spent their time organizing the resistance in the Lower Quarter of Medford. They spread news of Amrath's assassination by the archduke, of the innocence of the princess, and of the return of the prince. Those not moved by loyalty or justice were enticed by the chance to strike back at their betters. It was not difficult to convince the poor and the destitute to take up arms against the soldiery who policed them. In addition, there were those hoping fora possibility to do a little looting, or perhaps receive some reward from the crown if they prevailed.\n\nThey armed themselves with pitchforks, axes, and clubs. Makeshift armor was constructed by strapping whatever thin metal they could find under their clothing. Inmost cases, this meant commandeering a baking sheet from their wives. They had the numbers, but they looked like apathetic lot. Gwen had roused the Artisan Quarter, which provided not only strong workers but a few swords, bows, and bits of armor. With the city guards ordered to the perimeter and most of the Gentry Quarter at the trial, there was no one to stop them from openly organizing.\n\nWith Dixon at his side, Mason marched at the head of the commoner procession, his smithing hammer in one hand and a rough-hewn shield he had beaten together that morning in the other. Years of frustration and resentment steamed to the surface as the smith strode forward. Anger born from the life he had been denied overwhelmed him. When he could not pay the taxes on his late father's shop, the city sheriff and his guards had come. When he refused to leave, they had beaten him unconscious and thrown him into the gutter of Wayward Street. Mason blamed the guards for most of his life's misfortunes. The beating had weakened his shoulders, and for years afterward, wielding his hammer was so painful he could work only a few hours each day. This, and his gambling habit, kept him in poverty. Of course, he never really considered the gambling to be the real problem; it was the guards who were responsible. It did not matter to him that the soldiers and the sheriff who had beaten him were no longer with the guard. That day was his chance to fightback, to repay in kind for the pain he had endured." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Neither he nor Dixon was a warrior or even athletic, but they were large men with broad chests and thick necks, and the crowd followed behind them as if the citizens of the Lower Quarter were plowing the city with a pair of yoked oxen. They turned onto Wayward Street and marched unchallenged into the Gentry Quarter. Compared to the Lower Quarter, it was like another world. The streets were paved with decorative tile work and lined with metal horse hitches. Along the avenue, enclosed streetlamps and covered sewers accentuated the care taken for the comfort of the privileged few. Marking the center of the Gentry Quarter was a large spacious square. The great Essendon Fountain, with its statue of Tolin on a rearing horse above the pluming water, was its main landmark. Across from it, Mares Cathedral rose. In its towers high above, bells chimed loudly. They passed the fine three-story stone-and-brick houses, with their iron fences and decorative gates. That the stables here looked better than the house Mason lived in was not lost on him. The trip through the square only added fuel to the fire that was sweeping across the city.\n\nWhen they reached Main Street, they saw the enemy.\n\nThe sound of the horn brought Arista to the window once more. What she saw amazed her. In the distance, at the edge of her sight, she could see banners rising above the naked trees. Count Pickering was coming, and he was not alone. There was a score of flags, representing most of the western provinces. Pickering was marching on Medford with an army.\n\nIs it on my account?\n\nShe pondered the question and concluded the answer was no. Of all the nobles, she knew the Pickerings the best, but she doubted the count marched for her. The more likely explanation was that news of Alric's death had reached him, and he was challenging Braga for the crown. Arista doubted Pickering had given any thought to her. He merely saw his opportunity and he was reaching for it. The fact that she might still live was only a technicality. No one wanted a woman as their ruler. If Pickering won, he would force her abdication of the throne in favor of himself or perhaps Mauvin. She would be sent away, or locked up, but she would never be truly free. At least if Pickering won, Braga would never sit on the throne-but she did not like Pickering's chances. She was no tactician and certainly not a general but even she could see that the forces marching up the road lacked the numbers fora castle siege. Braga had his forces well entrenched. Looking at the courtyard below, she realized the attack was distracting everyone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perhaps this time it will be different.\n\nShe rushed to her door and with a tap of her necklace unlocked it. She grabbed the latch and pushed. As usual, the door refused to budge. \"Damn that dwarf,\" she said aloud to herself. She pushed violently against the door, throwing her entire weight, such that it was, against it. The door did not give way.\n\nThere was another rumble, and her room shook once more. Dust fell from the rafters. What is going on? She staggered as the tower swayed like a ship at sea. She did not know what else to do. Terrified and bewildered, she returned to the illusionary safety of her bed. She sat there, hugging her knees, hardly breathing, her eyes darting at the slightest sound. The end was coming. One way or another, she was certain the end was coming soon.\n\nThe prince was new to combat and unsure what to expect. He had hoped that merely assembling a massive force would cause the city's defenders to surrender. The reality was altogether different. When they reached Medford, they found trenches built outside the walls filled with spearmen. His archers had launched three flights of arrows but still the defenders remained steadfast. Using shields, they fended off much of the barrage and sustained little noticeable damage.\n\nWho are they? Alric wondered. Are my own soldiers standing between me and my home? What lies has Braga spread among the guards? Or are they all hired men? Did my gold pay for those lines of pointed steel?\n\nAlric sat on one of Pickering's horses draped with a caparison hastily adorned with rough sewn images of the Melengar falcon. The animal was as restless as its rider, shuffling its hooves and snorting great clouds of frosty fog. Alric held the reins with his right hand, his left holding his woolen cloak tight about his neck. His eyes rose above the heads of the spearmen to look on the city of his birth. The walls and towers of Medford appeared faint and dreamlike through the falling snow. The vision slowly faded into white as an eerie silence muffled the world." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your Majesty,\" Count Pickering spoke, breaking the stillness.\n\n\"Another flight?\" Alric proposed.\n\n\"Arrows will not conquer your city.\"\n\nAlric nodded solemnly. \"The knights, then-send them in.\"\n\n\"Marshal!\" the count shouted. \"Order the knights to break that line!\"\n\nGallant men in shining armor spurred their steeds and charged forward with banners dancing overhead. A whirlwind of snow launched into the sky at their passing and obscured them from view. They vanished from sight but Alric listened to the thunder of their hooves.\n\nThe clash was dreadful. Alric felt it as much as heard it. Metal shrieked and men cried out, and until that moment, Alric had never known it was possible for horses to scream. When the cloud of snow settled, the prince could at last seethe bloody spectacle. Spears braced in the dirt pierced the breasts of man and mount. Horses collapsed, throwing the knights to the ground where they lay, like turtles struggling to right themselves. Spearmen drew forth short swords and thrust downward, punching their sharp points into eye slits and the armor gaps at the armpit or groin.\n\n\"This is not going as well as I hoped,\" Alric complained.\n\n\"Battle rarely ever does, Your Majesty,\" Count Pickering assured him. \"But this is a large part of what being king means. Your knights are dying. Are you going to leave them to their fate?\"\n\n\"Should I send in the foot soldiers?\"\n\n\"If I were you, I certainly would. You need to break a hole in that wall, and you'd better do so before your men decide you're incompetent and vanish into the forests around them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Marshal!\" Alric shouted. \"Marshal Garret, order the foot soldiers to engage immediately!\"\n\n\"Yes, Sire!\"\n\nA horn sounded and the men roared forward into battle. Alric watched as steel cut through flesh. The footmen fared better than the knights, but the defensive position of the city soldiers took atoll. Alric could hardly bear to watch. Never before had he seen such a sight-there was so much blood. The white snow was gone, stained pink and in some desperate places turned to a dark red. Littering the grounds were body parts-arms severed, heads split open, and legs chopped off. The wall of men blended in a whirling mass of flesh, dirt, blood, and an endless cacophony of screams.\n\n\"I can't believe this is happening,\" Alric said, sounding and feeling sick. \"This is my city. These are my people. My men!\" He turned to Count Pickering. \"I'm killing my own men!\" He was shaking now, his face red, and tears filled his eyes. Hearing the shrieks and cries, he squeezed the pommel of his saddle until his hands hurt. He felt helpless.\n\nI am king now.\n\nHe did not feel like a king. He felt like he had on the road near the Silver Pitcher when those men had held him facedown in the dirt. The tears were now streaming down his cheeks.\n\n\"Alric! Stop it!\" Pickering snapped at him. \"You mustn't let the men see you crying!\"\n\nFury flared in Alric, and he spun on the count. \"No? No? Look at them! They are dying for me. They are dying on my order! I say they do have aright to see their king! They all have aright to see their king!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alric wiped the tears from his cheeks and gathered his reins. \"I'm tired of this. I'm tired of having my face put in the dirt! I won't stand it. I'm tired of being helpless. That's my city, built by my ancestors! If my people choose to fight, then by Maribor, I want them to know it's me they fight!\"\n\nThe prince put on his helm, drew his father's large sword, and spurred his horse forward, not at the trench but at the castle gate itself.\n\n\"Alric, no!\" Pickering shouted after him.\n\nMason rushed forward and drove his hammer through the helmet of the first guard he saw. Grinning with delight at his good fortune, he gathered the man's sword and looked up.\n\nThe mob had reached the main gate of the city. The great four-towered barbican of gray stone rose above them like a monstrous beast. It swarmed with soldiers shocked at the sight of the city rising against them. Surprise and the accompanying panic bought the mob time to clear the streets and reach the gatehouse. Mason heard Dixon shout, \"For Prince Alric!\" but the prince was the last thing on the smith's mind.\n\nMason picked out his next target-a tall guard absorbed in a swinging match with a street sweeper from Artisan Row. Mason stabbed the guard in the armpit and listened to him scream as he twisted the blade. The street sweeper grinned at the smith and Mason grinned back.\n\nHe had killed only two men but already Mason was slick with blood. His tunic felt heavy as it stuck to the skin of his chest and he could not tell if sweat or tears of blood dripped down his face. The grin he had shown to the sweeper remained glued to his lips by the thrill and elation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "This is freedom!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This is living!\n\nHis heart thundered and his head swam as if he were drunk. Mason swung his sword again, this time at a man already down on one knee. His swing was so strong the blade cut halfway through his victim's neck. He kicked the dead man aside and cried aloud in his victory. He spoke no words; words were valueless at such a moment. He shouted the fury that pounded in his heart. He was a man again, a man of strength, a man to be feared!\n\nA horn sounded and Mason looked up once more. A captain of the castle guard was on the ramparts shouting orders, rallying his troops. They responded to the call and fell back into ranks, struggling to defend the gate even as the mob closed in.\n\nMason stepped through the muddy, blood-soaked ground, now slick beneath his feet. He looked about and picked anew target. A castle guard with his back to the smith was in the process of retreating to the sound of his captain's voice. The smith aimed at the guard's neck, attempting to cleave off his head. His inexperience with a sword caused him to aim too high and the blade glanced off the man's helmet, ringing it loudly. He raised the sword for another blow when the man unexpectedly turned around.\n\nMason felt a sharp, burning pain in his stomach. In an instant, all the strength and fury drained from him. He let go his sword. He saw, rather than felt, himself drop to his knees. He looked down at the source of the pain and watched the soldier withdraw a sword from his stomach. Mason could not believe what he was seeing.\n\nHow could all that steel come out of me?\n\nThe smith felt a warm wetness on his hands as he instinctively pressed them to the wound. He tried as best he could to contain his organs as the blood flowed through a gash at least afoot wide. He no longer felt his legs, and lay helpless when, to his horror, he saw the soldier swing again-this time at his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alric charged the castle barbican. Immediately, Count Pickering, Mauvin, and Marshal Garret led the reserve knights in behind him. Arrows rained down from the parapets above the great gates. One deflected off Alric's visor, and another struck deep into the horn of his saddle. One hit Sir Sinclair's horse in the flank, causing it to rear unexpectedly, but the knight remained mounted. Countless more struck the ground harmlessly. The enraged prince rode directly to the gate and, standing up in his stirrups, shouted, \"I am Prince Alric Brendon Essendon! Open this gate in the name of your king!\"\n\nAlric was not certain anyone had heard him as he stood there, his sword raised high over his head. Furthermore, if they had heard him, there was no reason to believe another arrow would not whistle down and end his life. Behind the prince, the remaining knights fanned out around him as the marshal attempted to build a wall around his monarch.\n\nAnother arrow did not fly but neither did the gate open.\n\n\"Alric,\" Count Pickering shouted, \"you must fallback!\"\n\n\"I am Prince Alric Essendon! Open the gate now!\" he demanded again, and this time, he removed his helm and threw it aside, backing his horse into full view of the ramparts.\n\nAlric and the others waited. Count Pickering and Mauvin stared at the prince in terror and tried to persuade him to come away from the gate. Nothing happened for several tense moments as the prince and his bodyguards sat outside waiting, staring up at the parapets. From inside they heard the sounds of fighting.\n\nA shout came from atop the walls of the city. \"The prince! Open the gate! Let him in! It's the prince!\" More shouts, a scream, and then suddenly the massive gate split open, and the great doors pulled back. Inside was amass of confusion as uniformed guards fought a horde of citizens dressed up like tinkers, wearing makeshift armor or stolen helms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alric did not pause. He spurred his mount and drove into the crowd. Mauvin, Count Pickering, Sir Ecton, and Marshal Garret struggled to form a personal defense for their king, but there was little need. At the sight of him, the defenders laid down their weapons. Word that the prince was alive spread, and those who saw him charging toward the castle, brandishing his father's sword, roared with cheers.\n\nRoyce heard the horn wail as he stood trapped on the steps of the tower. \"Sounds like a fight outside,\" Magnus mentioned. \"I wonder who will win.\" The dwarf scratched his beard. \"For that matter, I wonder who is fighting.\"\n\n\"You don't take much interest in your employer's business, do you?\" Royce said, studying the walls. When he tried to tap a spike into a seam, the stone broke like an eggshell. The dwarf was telling the truth about that.\n\n\"Only if it's necessary for the job. By the way, I wouldn't do that again. You were lucky you didn't hit a binding thread.\"\n\nRoyce cursed under his breath. \"If you want to be helpful, why not just tell me how to getup and back?\"\n\n\"Who said I was trying to be helpful?\" The dwarf grinned at him wickedly. \"I just spent half a year on this project. I don't want you to topple the whole thing in the first few minutes. I want to savor the moment.\"\n\n\"Are all dwarves this morbid?\"\n\n\"Think of it as having built a sandcastle and wanting the pleasure of seeing it fall to a wave. I'm on the edge of my toes waiting to see exactly how and when it will finally collapse. Will it be a misstep, a loss of balance, or something amazing and unexpected?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Royce drew his dagger and held it by the blade for the dwarf to see. \"Are you aware I could put this through your throat where you stand?\"\n\nIt was a false threat, as he would not dare throwaway such a vital tool at this moment. Still, he expected a reaction of fear, or at least a mocking laugh. Instead, the dwarf did neither. He glared at the dagger, his eyes wide.\n\n\"Where did you get that blade?\"\n\nRoyce rolled his eyes in disbelief. \"I'm a little busy here. If you don't mind.\" He resumed his study of the steps. He observed the way they curved up and around the central trunk of the tower, how the steps above formed the ceiling to the ones below. He looked up ahead and then behind him.\n\n\"The step I am on doesn't collapse if I'm on it,\" Royce said to himself, but loud enough for the dwarf to hear. \"It only falls if I step on the next one.\"\n\n\"Yes, quite ingenious, isn't it? As you might imagine, I'm quite proud of my work. I originally designed it to bean instrument of Arista's death. Braga hired me to set it up to look like an accident. A decrepit old tower in the royal residence collapses, and the poor princess is crushed in the process. Unfortunately, after Alric escaped, he changed his mind and decided to have her executed instead. I thought I would never get to seethe fruits of all my hard work, but then you came along. How nice of you.\"\n\n\"All traps have weaknesses,\" Royce said. He looked ahead at the steps and smiled suddenly. Crouching, he leapt forward not one but two steps. The step in the middle slipped from its position and fell, but the step he had started from remained. \"With no following step,\" Royce observed, \"that step is now secure from breaking, isn't it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Very clever,\" the dwarf replied, clearly disappointed.\n\nRoyce continued to leap two steps at a time until he moved around the circle out of sight of the dwarf. Ashe did, Magnus shouted, \"It'll do you no good. The gap at the bottom is much too far for you to jump. You are still trapped!\"\n\nArista was crouched on her bed when she heard someone outside her door. It was probably that dreadful little dwarf or Braga himself coming to take her to the trial. She could hear a scraping and an occasional thud. She remembered too late that she had not resealed the door with her gemlock. As she moved toward the door, it swung open. To her surprise, it was neither Braga nor the dwarf. Instead, therein the doorway was one of the thieves from the dungeon.\n\n\"Princess,\" was all Royce said, entering with a respectful though brief nod in her direction. He quickly moved past her and seemed to be looking for something; his eyes roamed over the walls and ceiling of her bedroom.\n\n\"You? What are you doing here? Is Alric alive?\"\n\n\"Alric's fine,\" Royce said as he moved about the room. He looked out the windows and examined the material of the drapes. \"Well, that's not going to work.\"\n\n\"Why are you here? How did you get here? Did you see Esrahaddon? What did he say to Alric?\"\n\n\"I'm a bit busy just now, Your Highness.\"\n\n\"Busy? Doing what?\"\n\n\"Saving you but I'll admit I'm not doing very well at the moment.\" Without asking permission, Royce opened her wardrobe and began sifting through her clothes. Then he rifled through her dresser drawers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What do you want with my clothes?\"\n\n\"I'm trying to figure away out of here. I suspect this tower is going to collapse in a few minutes, and if we don't get out soon, we'll die.\"\n\n\"I see,\" she said simply. \"Why can't we just go down the stairs?\" She got up and crept to the doorway. \"Sweet Maribor!\" she cried as she saw every other step missing.\n\n\"We can leap those but the last six or seven steps at the bottom are totally gone. It's too far to jump to the corridor. I was hoping maybe we could jump out the window to the moat, but that looks like instant death.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" was all she could utter. A scream was growing in her and she covered her mouth with her hand, holding it back. \"You're right. You're not doing very well.\"\n\nRoyce looked under her bed and then stood up. \"Wait a minute, you're a sorceress, aren't you? Esrahaddon taught you magic. Can you get us down? Levitate us, or turn us into birds or something?\"\n\nArista smiled awkwardly. \"I was never able to learn much from Esrahaddon and certainly not self-levitation.\"\n\n\"Can you levitate aboard or stone we could jump to?\"\n\nArista shook her head.\n\n\"And the bird thing?\"\n\n\"Even if I could, which I can't, we'd stay birds, because I couldn't turn us back after changing, now could I?\"\n\n\"So magic is out,\" Royce said, and began pulling the feather-stuffed mattress off Arista's bed, revealing the rope net beneath it. \"Okay, then help me untie your bed.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The rope isn't long enough to reach the bottom of the tower,\" Arista told him.\n\n\"It doesn't have to be,\" he replied, pulling the rope through the holes in the bed frame.\n\nThe tower shuddered, and dust cascaded from the rafters. Arista held her breath fora moment, her heart pounding in anticipation of a sudden plummet, but the tower steadied itself once more.\n\n\"Clearly we are running out of time.\" Royce coiled the length of rope over his shoulder and headed toward the door.\n\nArista paused only a moment to look back at the dressing table and the brushes her father had given her, and then moved to what remained of the stairs.\n\n\"You're going to have to jump down. The steps that are still there should be very sturdy and it should be easier than jumping up. Just be sure you don't over jump, but if you do, I'll try to catch you.\" With that, he sprang down two steps so gracefully that she felt embarrassed for her own lack of confidence.\n\nArista stood on the landing and rocked back and forth, focusing on the first step. She leapt and landed on it a little too far forward. Waving her arms madly, she teetered on the edge, struggling desperately against falling. Royce held out his hands, ready to catch her, but she regained her balance. Shaking slightly, she took a deep breath.\n\n\"Don't over jump!\" he reminded her.\n\nNo kidding, she thought. As if I haven't already learned that lesson.\n\nThe second jump was easier, and the third better still. Soon she developed a rhythm and moved down the steps at a brisk pace following Royce, who almost danced his way down. They were nearly to the bottom when Royce stopped." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Keep going,\" he told her. \"Stop when you reach the last step and wait there.\"\n\nShe nodded as he pulled the rope from around his shoulder and began tying it to the step he stood on. Arista continued to jump her way down, reminding herself not to be overconfident. When she saw the open expanse at the bottom, her remaining confidence fled. The gaping hole, which fell away into darkness, was enough to shake her back into terror.\n\n\"Well, well, princess!\" the dwarf called to her. He stood in the open doorway of the corridor, grinning, showing a mouthful of yellowed teeth. \"I really didn't expect to see you again. Where's the thief? Did he fall to his death?\"\n\n\"You disgusting little beast!\" she cried at him.\n\nThe tower shifted once more. Its shuddering caused Arista to stagger a bit on the step and her heart to pound in fear. Clouds of dust and bits of rock rained down, clattering off the walls and steps. Arista cowered, covering her head with her arms, until the shaking stopped and the debris settled.\n\n\"This old tower, she's almost ready to fall,\" the dwarf told her with a manic glee in his voice. \"Such a pity to be so close to safety and yet still so very far. If only you were a frog, you might leap it. As it is, you still don't have away out.\"\n\nA coil of rope fell from the heights above. Suspended by a stair, the rope dangled midway between the princess and the dwarf. Along the slender line, Royce descended like a spider. When he reached a point level with Arista, he stopped and began to swing.\n\n\"Now that is impressive!\" the dwarf exclaimed, and nodded, showing his approval." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Royce swung onto the step next to Arista and tied the rope around his own waist. \"All we have to do is swing across. Just hang onto me.\"\n\nThe princess gladly threw her arms around the thief's shoulders and squeezed tight, as much out of fear as for safety.\n\n\"You might have actually made it,\" the dwarf said. \"For that you have my respect, but you must understand I have a reputation to uphold. I can't have someone walking around boasting they escaped one of my traps.\" Then, without warning, he abruptly closed the door, sealing them in.\n\nHadrian heard the wail of a horn as he faced Braga in the corridor of the royal residence. \"I think it will be quite sometime until Wylin and the castle guards arrive,\" he said, taunting the archduke. \"I suspect the master-at-arms has more on his mind than responding to the demands of an earl from Warric to report to the royal residence when his castle is being stormed.\"\n\n\"More's the pity for you, as I no longer have the luxury of keeping you alive,\" Braga said as he lunged once more.\n\nHe swiped at Hadrian with lightning-fast cuts. Hadrian danced away from Braga, retreating farther and farther down the hall. The archduke showed perfect form, his weight centered on his back foot while only the toe of his front foot touched the ground, his back straight, his sword arm outstretched, and his other arm raised in a graceful bent L. Even the fingers of his freehand were elegantly posed as if they were holding up an invisible wineglass. His long black hair, peppered with lines of gray, cascaded down to his shoulders, and not a trace of perspiration was on his brow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hadrian in contrast acted clumsy and unsure. The Melengar sword was far inferior to any of his own blades. The tip wavered as he tried to hold it steady with both hands. He inched backward, working to keep a distance between them.\n\nThe archduke lunged again. Hadrian parried and then dove past Braga, barely avoiding a return slice, which nicked a wall sconce. He took the opportunity to rundown the hallway and slip into the chapel. \"Are we playing hide-and-seek now?\" Braga said, goading him.\n\nBraga entered and crossed swiftly to the altar, where Hadrian stood. When the archduke swung at him, Hadrian stepped back, ducked a swiping stroke, and then leapt clear of a slash. Braga's attacks glanced off the statue of Novron and Maribor, taking part of the god's first three fingers off. Hadrian now stood before the wooden lectern, keeping his eyes on the archduke while he awaited the next attack.\n\n\"It's so poetic of you to choose to die in the same room as the king,\" Braga said. He swung right, and Hadrian glanced the stroke aside. Braga pivoted on his back foot and swung his sword overhead in a powerful downward stroke. Expecting this attack, counting on it, Hadrian dove and slid across the polished marble floor on his stomach in the direction of the chapel door.\n\nHadrian got to his feet and turned in time to see Braga's stroke had sliced into the vertical grain of the lectern. His swing had been so forceful that the blade was now wedged in the wood and the archduke struggled to free it. Taking advantage of his distraction, Hadrian ran to the door, slipped out, and closed it behind him. Driving his sword into the jamb, he wedged it shut." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That should hold you fora while,\" Hadrian said to himself, pausing to catch his breath.\n\n\"That little worm!\" Arista spat through clenched teeth at the closed door.\n\nThe tower shuddered again, and this time larger pieces fell. One block of stone plummeted down, taking out a step only a few feet from them. Both shattered on impact and fell into the abyss of the tower's foundation. With the loss of those blocks, the tower came free and began to twist and topple.\n\n\"Hang on!\" Royce shouted as he pushed off the step. The two flew across the gap to the door. He grabbed hold of the large iron door ring, and they each found footholds on the ledge of the doorjamb.\n\n\"He locked it,\" Royce informed her. He looped one arm through the door ring and removed his lock-picking tools from his belt. With his freehand, he worked the lock. A deep, resonating thunder shook the castle, and suddenly the rope tied to Royce went slack. The thief dropped his tools and pulled out his dagger. He cut the rope around his waist just as the stone slab attached to it passed them heading down. The rest of the tower was collapsing now.\n\nRoyce drove his dagger deep into the wooden door for another handhold as the tower fell around them. Walls hollowed out by the dwarf splintered into shards, which burst and flew in all directions. Rocks and stone pummeled them as Royce and Arista cowered under the scant protection of the narrow stone arch of the doorframe.\n\nA fist-size stone struck Arista's back. She lost her tenuous foothold and screamed as she fell. In an instant, Royce grabbed her. Grasping blindly, he caught the back of her dress and a substantial amount of hair. \"I can't hold you!\" he shouted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He felt her sliding down his body, the back of her dress tearing. Royce gave up his own toehold, hanging by his arm hooked through the door ring, so that he could wrap his legs around her. The princess's fingers clawed his body frantically, and when they finally found his belt, she latched on.\n\nRoyce was temporarily blinded by a cloud of dust and powdered stone. When it settled, he found they were dangling in the brilliant sunlight on what was now an exterior wall of the castle's keep. The debris of the tower fell into the moat, making a pile of broken rocks seventy feet below. The crowd of trial watchers screamed and gasped, pointing up at them. \"It's the princess!\" a voice shouted.\n\n\"Can you reach the ledge?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"No! If I try, I'll fall. I can't-\"\n\nRoyce felt her slipping again and tried to tighten his leg hold on her, but he knew it would not be enough.\n\n\"Oh no! My fingers-I'm slipping!\"\n\nRoyce's arm, crooked in the ring, was wrenching his shoulder badly. His other hand, which gripped Arista's dress and hair, was slowly losing hold. She was sliding down once again; soon he would lose her altogether. Royce felt a tug on his arm. The door opened, and a strong hand reached out and grabbed Arista.\n\n\"I've got you,\" Hadrian told her as he hauled the princess up. Then he pulled the door open wide, dragging Royce into the hallway with it.\n\nThey lay on the floor exhausted and covered in bits of rock. Royce got to his feet and dusted off his clothes. \"I thought I felt it unlock,\" he said, getting up and retrieving his dagger from the face of the door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hadrian stood in the threshold, looking out at the clearing blue sky. \"Well, Royce, I love what you've done with the place.\"\n\n\"Where's the dwarf?\" Royce asked, looking around.\n\n\"I didn't see him.\"\n\n\"And Braga? You didn't kill him, did you?\"\n\n\"No. I locked him in the chapel but it won't hold. Which reminds me, could I borrow your sword? You're not going to use it, anyway.\"\n\nRoyce handed him the falchion sword that had been part of his castle guard disguise. Hadrian took the weapon, slipped it from its sheath, and weighed it in his hand. \"I tell you, these swords are terrible. They are heavy and have all the balance of a drunken three-legged dog trying to take a piss.\" He then looked at Arista and added, \"Oh, excuse me, Your Highness. How are you doing, Princess?\"\n\nArista got to her feet. \"Much better now.\"\n\n\"For the record, we're even, right?\" Royce asked her. \"You saved us from prison and a horrible death, and now we've saved you.\"\n\n\"Fine,\" she agreed, wiping the dust from her torn dress. \"But I would like to point out my rescue of you was far less death defying.\" She ran a hand through her disheveled hair. \"That really hurt, you know.\"\n\n\"Falling would have hurt more.\"\n\nAloud bang echoed from down the hall.\n\n\"Gotta go,\" Hadrian told them. \"His Lordship is loose.\"\n\n\"Be careful,\" Arista shouted after him. \"He's a renowned swordsman!\"\n\n\"I'm really tired of hearing that,\" Hadrian grumbled as he started backup the hall. He had not gone far when Braga rounded the corner, coming toward them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So, you got her out!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Braga bellowed. \"I'll just have to kill her myself, then.\"\n\n\"You'll have to get by me first, I'm afraid,\" Hadrian told him.\n\n\"That won't be a problem.\"\n\nThe archduke charged Hadrian, swinging at him in a fury. Braga hammered stroke after stroke on him in a rage. Hadrian fought to deflect the fierce blows, which fell so fast they whistled in the air. The look on Braga's reddening face was one of hatred as he continued to pummel Hadrian.\n\n\"Braga!\" Alric shouted from the far end of the hall.\n\nThe archduke spun, panting for air.\n\nHadrian saw the prince standing at the far end of the corridor. He was dressed in plate armor and a white tabard marred by a spattering of blood. Alric's hand rested on the hilt of his sheathed sword, and at his side were the Pickerings and Sir Ecton. Each wore a grim and dangerous look.\n\n\"Put down your weapon,\" the prince ordered in a powerful voice. \"It's over. This is my kingdom!\"\n\n\"You filthy little creature!\" Braga cursed at the prince. He turned his attention away from Hadrian and began walking toward Alric. Hadrian did not follow. Instead, he joined Royce and Arista to watch.\n\n\"Did you think I was after your precious little kingdom?\" Braga bellowed. \"Is that what you think? I was trying to save the world, you fools! Can't you see it? Look at him!\" The archduke pointed at the prince. \"Look at the little maggot prince!\" He turned and pointed back at Arista. \"And her, too! Just like their father; they aren't human!\" Braga, his face still red from the fight, continued down the corridor toward Alric. \"You would have filth rule you all, but not me. Not while there is breath in this body!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Braga charged forward, raising his sword as he moved. When he came within reach of Alric, he brought it down toward the prince. Before Alric could react, the attack was deflected. An elegant rapier caught Braga's blade mid-stroke. Count Pickering held Braga's sword in the air, and Sir Ecton pulled the prince out of harm's way.\n\n\"You have your sword, I see. So there will be no excuse for you this time, dear count,\" Braga said.\n\n\"There will be no need for one. You area traitor to the crown, and in memory of my friend Amrath, I'll end this.\"\n\nBlades flashed. Pickering was as much a master of fencing as Braga, and the two moved elegantly, their swords appearing as extensions of their bodies. Reaching for their weapons, Mauvin and Fanen started forward, but Ecton stopped them. \"This is your father's fight.\"\n\nPickering and Braga fought to kill. Sword strokes swept faster than the eye could follow, their deadly blades whistling a song to each other, crashing in chorus. The incredibly lustrous blade of Pickering's rapier caught the faint light in the corridor and glowed as it streaked through the air. It flashed and sparked when steel met steel.\n\nBraga lunged, nicked Pickering's side, and, sweeping back, cut him shallowly across the chest. Pickering barely blocked a second stab with a quick parry, which allowed him an overhead stroke. Braga raised his sword to block, but Pickering ignored the defense. He swung down with force and speed, streaking light from his sword.\n\nHadrian instinctually cringed. The high, overpowered stroke would leave Pickering vulnerable, open to a fatal riposte by Braga. Then the metal of the swords clashed. A brilliant spark flared as, incredibly, Pickering's blade sheared Braga's sword in two. The count's stroke continued unabated into the archduke's throat. The lord chancellor collapsed to the floor, his head rolling afoot away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mauvin and Fanen rushed to their father's side, beaming with obvious pride and relief. Alric ran down the hall to where his sister stood between the two thieves. \"Arista!\" he shouted as he threw his arms around her. \"Thank Maribor you're all right!\"\n\n\"You aren't angry with me?\" she asked, pulling away from him with surprise in her voice.\n\nAlric shook his head. \"I owe you my life,\" he said, hugging her again. \"And as for you two-\" he began, looking at Royce and Hadrian.\n\n\"Alric,\" Arista interrupted, \"it was not their fault. They didn't kill Father, and they didn't want to kidnap you. It was my doing. I was the one who forced them. They didn't do anything.\"\n\n\"Oh, you are quite wrong there, my dear sister. They did a great deal.\" Alric smiled and placed a hand on Hadrian's shoulder. \"Thank you.\"\n\n\"You're not going to charge us for the tower, I hope,\" Hadrian said. \"But if you are, it was Royce's fault and should come out of his share.\"\n\nAlric chuckled.\n\n\"My fault?\" Royce growled. \"Find that little bearded menace and take your payment out of his stubby little hide.\"\n\n\"I don't understand,\" Arista replied, looking confused. \"You wanted them executed.\"\n\n\"You must be mistaken, dear sister. These two fine men are the royal protectors of Essendon, and it appears they have done a fine job today.\"\n\n\"Your Lordship.\" Marshal Garret appeared in the hall and approached the count, glancing only briefly at the dead body of Braga. \"The castle has been secured and the mercenaries are slain or have fled. It would appear the castle guard is still loyal to the House of Essendon. The nobles are anxious to hear about the state of affairs and are waiting in the court.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Good,\" the count replied." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tell them His Majesty will address them soon. Oh, and send someone to clean this mess up, will you?\" The marshal bowed and left.\n\nAlric and his sister walked hand in hand down the corridor toward the others. Hadrian and Royce followed behind them. \"Even now it's hard for me to believe him capable of such treachery,\" Alric said, looking down at Braga's body. A large puddle of blood stretched across the floor of the hallway and Arista lifted the hem of her dress as she passed.\n\n\"What was all that ranting about us not being human?\" Arista asked.\n\n\"He was clearly insane,\" Bishop Saldur said, approaching with Archibald Ballentyne in tow. Although Hadrian had never met the bishop in person, he knew who he was. Saldur greeted the prince and princess with a warm smile and fatherly expression. \"It's so good to see you, Alric,\" he said, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. \"And my dear Arista, no one is more pleased than I about your innocence. I must beg your forgiveness, my dear, as I was misled by your uncle. He planted seeds of doubts in my mind. I should have followed my heart and realized you could not possibly have done the things he accused you of.\" He gently kissed heron one cheek and then the other.\n\nThe bishop looked down at the blood-soaked body at their feet. \"I fear the guilt of killing the king was too much for the poor man, and in the end, he lost his mind completely. Perhaps he was certain you were dead, Alric, and seeing you in the hallway, he took you fora ghost or a demon back from the grave to haunt him.\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Alric said skeptically. \"Well, at least it's over now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What about the dwarf?\" Arista asked.\n\n\"Dwarf?\" Alric replied. \"How do you know about the dwarf?\"\n\n\"He was the one who set the trap in the tower. He nearly killed me and Royce. Does anyone know where he has gotten to? He was just here.\"\n\n\"He's responsible for far more than that. Mauvin, run and tell the marshal to organize a search immediately,\" Alric instructed.\n\n\"Right away.\" Mauvin nodded and ran off.\n\n\"I, too, am pleased you are all right, Your Highness,\" Archibald told the prince. \"I was told you were dead.\"\n\n\"And were you hereto pay your respects to my memory?\"\n\n\"I was hereby invitation.\"\n\n\"Who invited you?\" Alric asked, and looked at the slain corpse of Braga. \"Him? What dealings do an Imperialist earl from Warric and a traitorous archduke have in Melengar?\"\n\n\"It was a cordial visit, I assure you.\"\n\nAlric glared at the earl. \"Get out of my kingdom before I have you seized as a conspirator.\"\n\n\"You wouldn't dare,\" Archibald returned. \"I'm a vassal of King Ethelred. Seize me or even treat me roughly and you risk war-a struggle Melengar can ill afford, particularly now, with an inexperienced boy at the helm.\"\n\nAlric drew his sword, and Archibald took two steps back. \"Escort the earl out before I forget Melengar has a treaty of peace with Warric.\"\n\n\"Times are changing, Your Highness,\" Archibald called to the prince as guards led him away. \"The New Empire is coming, and there is no place for an archaic monarchy in the new order.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is there noway I can throw him in the dungeon, even fora few days?\" Alric asked Pickering. \"Can I try him as a spy perhaps?\"\n\nBefore Pickering could reply, the bishop Saldur spoke. \"The earl is quite right, Your Highness. Any hostile act made against Ballentyne would be considered by King Ethelred to bean act of war against Chadwick. Just consider how you would respond if Count Pickering here were hanged in Aquesta. You wouldn't stand for it anymore than he would. Besides, the earl is all bluster. He is young and merely trying to sound important. Forgive him his youth. Have you not made errors in judgment as well?\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Alric muttered. \"Still, I can't help but suspect that snake is up to no good. I just wish there was someway I could teach him a lesson.\"\n\n\"Your Highness?\" Hadrian said, stopping him. \"If you don't mind, Royce and I have friends in the city we'd like to check on.\"\n\n\"Oh, yes, of course, go right ahead,\" Alric responded. \"But there is the matter of payment. You've done me a great service,\" he said, looking fondly at his sister. \"I intend to honor my word. You can name your price.\"\n\n\"If it's all right, we'll get back to you on that,\" Royce said.\n\n\"I understand.\" The prince revealed a hint of concern. \"But I do hope you'll be reasonable in your request and not bankrupt the kingdom.\"\n\n\"You should address the court,\" Pickering told Alric.\n\nAlric nodded and he, Arista, and Mauvin disappeared down the stairs. Pickering lingered behind with the two thieves." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I think there's a chance that boy will actually make a decent king,\" he mentioned once the prince was too faraway to hear. \"I had my doubts in the past, but he seems to have changed. He is more serious, more confident.\"\n\n\"So, the sword is magic after all.\" Hadrian motioned toward the rapier.\n\n\"Hmm?\" Pickering looked down at the sword he wore at his side and grinned. \"Oh, well, let's just say it gives mean edge in a battle. That reminds me, why were you letting Braga beat you?\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"I saw you fighting when we first came up. Your stance was defensive, your strokes all parries and blocks. You never once attacked.\"\n\n\"I was frightened,\" Hadrian lied. \"Braga has won so many awards and tournament competitions, and I haven't won any.\"\n\nPickering looked puzzled. \"But not being noble born, you aren't allowed to enter a tournament.\"\n\nHadrian pursed his lips and nodded. \"Now that you mention it, I suppose you're right. You'd best see to your wounds, Your Lordship. You're bleeding on your nice tunic.\"\n\nPickering glanced down and looked surprised to seethe slice Braga had given him across the chest. \"Oh, yes, well, it doesn't matter. The tunic is ruined from the cut anyway, and the bleeding seems to have stopped.\"\n\nMauvin returned and trotted over to them. He stood next to his father, his arm around his waist. \"I have soldiers looking for the dwarf but so far no luck.\" Despite the bad news, Mauvin was smiling broadly.\n\n\"What are you grinning at?\" his father asked.\n\n\"I knew you could best him. I did doubt it fora time, but deep down I knew.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The count nodded and a thoughtful expression came over his face. He looked at Hadrian. \"After so many years of doubt, it was fortuitous I had the opportunity and good fortune to defeat Braga, particularly with my sons watching.\"\n\nHadrian nodded and smiled. \"That's true.\"\n\nThere was a pause as Pickering studied his face and then he placed a hand on Hadrian's shoulder. \"To be quite honest, I for one am very pleased you're not noble, Mr. Hadrian Blackwater, quite pleased indeed.\"\n\n\"Are you coming, Your Lordship?\" Sir Ecton called, and the count and his sons headed off.\n\n\"You didn't really hold back on Braga so Pickering could kill him, did you?\" Royce asked after the two were left alone in the hallway.\n\n\"Of course not. I held off because it's death fora commoner to kill a noble.\"\n\n\"That's what I thought.\" Royce sounded relieved. \"Fora minute, I wondered if you'd gone from jumping on the good-deed wagon to leading the whole wagon train.\"\n\n\"Sure the gentry appear all nice and friendly, but if I'd killed him, even though they wanted him dead anyway, you can be sure they wouldn't be patting me on the back, saying, \"Good job.\" No, it's best to avoid killing nobles.\"\n\n\"At least not where there are witnesses,\" Royce said with a grin.\n\nAs they headed out of the castle, they heard Alric's voice echoing: \"... was a traitor to the crown and responsible for the murder of my father. He attempted to murder me and to execute my sister. Yet, due to the wisdom of the princess and the heroism of others, I am standing here before you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This was followed by a roar of applause and cheers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seventy-eight people had died, and over two hundred bore wounds from what became known as the Battle of Medford. The timely attack by the citizenry at the gate had precipitated the prince's entrance into the city, and arguably had saved his life. Once news of Alric's return spread through the city, all resistance ended. This restored peace but not order. For several hours after the battle, roving gangs took the opportunity to loot shops and storehouses, mostly along the riverfront. A shoemaker died defending his cobbler shop, and a weaver was badly beaten. In addition to the general thieving, the sheriff, his two deputies, and a moneylender were murdered. Many believed there were those who took advantage of the chaos to settle old scores. The killers were never identified, and no one bothered to look for the looters. In the end, no one was even arrested; it was enough that the violence was over.\n\nMost of the snow that had fallen the day of the battle had melted over the next few days, leaving only dirty patches hiding in the shadows. Still, for the most part, the weather remained decidedly cold. Autumn was officially finished, and winter had arrived. In the freezing winds, a silent crowd stood outside the royal crypt for hours as they removed Amrath's body for the official state funeral. Many others were buried the same day. The funerals provided a cleansing of the entire city's grief, followed by a weeklong period of mourning.\n\nAmong the dead was Wylin, the captain of the guard of Essendon Castle. He had fallen while directing the defenses at the castle gate. It was never determined if Wylin had been a traitor or had merely been deceived by the archduke's lies. Alric gave him the benefit of the doubt and granted him burial with full honors. Although Mason Grumon died, Dixon Taft, manager of The Rose and Thorn, survived the battle with only the loss of his right arm just above the elbow. He might have died, along with many others, except for the efforts of Gwen DeLancy and her girls. Prostitutes, it turned out, made excellent nurses. The maimed and wounded who lacked family to care for them filled Medford House for weeks. When word of this reached the castle, food, supplies, and linens were sent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "News spread throughout Melengar of Alric's heroic charge on the fortified gates. How he had survived the hail of arrows, only to bravely fling off his helm and dare them a second time-it made for great barroom stories. Few had thought much of the son of Amrath prior to the battle, but now he became a heroin the eyes of many. A somewhat lesser-known tale gained popularity a few days later as it, too, circulated through the city's taverns. This outlandish yarn described how two criminals, falsely accused of the king's murder, had escaped a torturous death by abducting the prince. The story grew with each telling, and soon these same thieves were said to have gone on a rollicking trip through the countryside with the prince, returning just in time to save the princess from the tower seconds before it collapsed. Some even claimed to have helped the thieves save the prince from a roadside execution, while others insisted they personally saw the princess and one of the criminals dangling from the side of the castle after the collapse of the tower.\n\nDespite extensive searches, the dwarf whose hand had actually killed the king escaped. Alric posted a reward notice offering one hundred gold tenents on every crossroad sign and on the door of every tavern and church in the realm. Patrols rode the length of every road, searching barns, storehouses, mills, and even under the spans of bridges, yet he was not found.\n\nFollowing the week of mourning, work began on repairing the castle. Crews cleared away the debris, and architects estimated at least a year to rebuild the lost tower. Though the falcon flag flew above the castle, the city saw little of Prince Alric. He remained sequestered within the halls of power, buried under hundreds of obligations. Count Pickering, acting as a counselor, remained in the castle along with his sons. He assisted the young prince in his efforts to assume his father's role." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Move the narrative forward in collaboration with the writer.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, bromance\nAuthor: Michael J. Sullivan\nTitle: Theft of Swords\nChapter: 20" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Two men waited inside." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seated behind the desk was the archbishop, an old man with white hair and wrinkled skin. He sat wrapped in a dark purple cassock with an embroidered shoulder cape and a golden stole that hung around his neck like an untied scarf. He had along and pallid face, made longer by his unkempt beard, which, when he was seated as he was, reached to the floor. Similarly, his eyebrows were whimsically bushy. On a high wooden seat he sat bent in a hunched posture, giving the impression he was leaning forward with interest.\n\nSearching through the clutter was another, much younger, thin little man, with long fingers and darting eyes. He, too, was pale, as if he had not seen the sun in years. His long black hair pulled back in a tight tail gave him the stark and intense look of a man consumed by his work.\n\n\"Your Holiness Archbishop Galien,\" Saldur said after they had entered, \"may I introduce the princess Arista Essendon of Melengar.\"\n\n\"So pleased you could come,\" the old cleric told her. His mouth, which had lost many of its teeth, frequently sucked in his thin lips. His voice was windy, with a distinctive rasp. \"Please, take a seat. I assume you had a rough day bouncing around in the back of a carriage. Dreadful things, really. They tear up the roads and shake you to a frazzle. I hate getting in one. It feels like a coffin and at my age you are wary of getting into boxes of any kind. But I suppose I must endure it for the sake of the future, a future I won't even see.\" He unexpectedly winked at her. \"Can I offer you a drink? Wine, perhaps? Carlton, make yourself useful, you little vagabond, and get Her Highness a glass of Montemorcey.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The little man said nothing but moved rapidly to a chest in the corner. He pulled a dark bottle from the contents and drew out the cork.\n\n\"Sit down, Arista,\" Saldur whispered in her ear.\n\nThe princess selected a red velvet chair in front of the desk and, brushing out her dress, sat down stiffly. She was not at ease but made an effort to control her growing fear.\n\nCarlton presented her with a glass of red wine on an engraved silver platter. She considered that it might be drugged or even poisoned, but dismissed this notion as ridiculous. Why poison or drug me? I already made the fatal error of blindly blundering into your web. If Hilfred had defected to their side, she had only Bernice to protect her against the entire armed forces of Ghent. She was already at their mercy.\n\nArista took the glass, nodded at Carlton, and sipped.\n\n\"The wine is imported through the Vandon Spice Company in Delgos,\" the archbishop told her. \"I have no idea where Montemorcey is, but they do make incredible wine. Don't you think?\"\n\n\"I must apologize,\" Arista blurted out nervously. \"I was unaware I was coming directly here. I assumed I would have a chance to freshen up after the long trip. I am generally more presentable. Perhaps I should retire and meet you tomorrow?\"\n\n\"You look fine. You can't help it. Lovely young princesses are blessed that way. Bishop Saldur did the right thing bringing you here immediately, even more than he knows.\"\n\n\"Has something happened?\" Saldur asked.\n\n\"Word has comedown\"-he looked up and pointed at the ceiling-\"literally, that Luis Guy will be traveling with us.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The sentinel?\"\n\nGalien nodded.\n\n\"That might be good, don't you think? He'll bring a contingent of seret, won't he? And that will help maintain order.\"\n\n\"I am certain that's the Patriarch's mind as well. I, however, know how the sentinel works. He won't listen tome and his methods are heavy handed. But that's not what we are hereto discuss.\"\n\nHe paused a moment, took a breath, and returned his attention to Arista. \"Tell me, my child, what do you know of Esrahaddon?\"\n\nArista's heart skipped a beat but she said nothing.\n\nBishop Saldur placed his hand on hers and smiled. \"My dear, we already know that you visited him in Gutaria Prison for months and that he taught you what he could of his vile black magic. We also know that Alric freed him. Yet none of that matters now. What we need to know is where he is and if he has contacted you since his release. You are the only person he knows who might trust him and therefore the only one he might reach out to. So tell us, child, have you had any communication with him?\"\n\n\"Is this why you brought me here? To help you locate an alleged criminal?\"\n\n\"He is a criminal, Arista,\" Galien said. \"Despite what he told you, he is-\"\n\n\"How do you know what he told me? Did you eavesdrop on every word the man said?\"\n\n\"We did,\" he replied passively.\n\nThe blunt answer surprised her.\n\n\"My dear girl, that old wizard told you a story. Much of it is actually true; only he left out a great deal.\"\n\nShe glanced at Sauly, whose fatherly expression looked grim as he nodded his agreement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Your uncle Braga wasn't responsible for the murder of your father,\" the archbishop told her. \"It was Esrahaddon.\"\n\n\"That's absurd,\" Arista scoffed. \"He was in prison at the time and couldn't even send messages.\"\n\n\"Ah-but he could, and he did-through you. Why do you think he taught you to make the healing potion for your father?\"\n\n\"Besides curing him of sickness, you mean?\"\n\n\"Esrahaddon didn't care about Amrath. He didn't even care about you. The reality is he needed your father dead. Your mistake was going to him. Trusting him. Did you think he would be your friend? Your sage old tutor, like Arcadius? Esrahaddon is no tame beast, no honorable gentleman. He is a demon and he is dangerous. He used you to escape. From the moment you visited him, he calculated your use as a tool. To escape he needed the ruling monarch to come and release him. Your father knew who and what he was, so he would never do it. But Alric, because of his ignorance, would. So he needed your father dead. All Esrahaddon had to do was make the church believe your father was the heir. He knew it would cause us to act against him.\"\n\n\"But why would the church want the heir dead? I don't understand.\"\n\n\"We'll get to that in due time. But suffice it to say his interest in you and your father got our attention. It was the healing potion Esrahaddon had you create that sealed your father's fate. It tainted his blood to appear as if he was a descendent of the imperial bloodline. When Braga learned this, he followed what he thought was the church's wishes and put plans in motion to remove Amrath and his children.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you saying that Braga was working for the church when he had my father murdered?\"\n\n\"Not directly-or officially. But Braga was devout in his beliefs. He acted rashly, not waiting for the church bureaucracy, as he used to call it. Both the bishop and I speak for the whole church when we tell you we are truly sorry for the tragedy that occurred. Still, you must understand we did not orchestrate it. It was the design of Esrahaddon that set the wheels of your father's fate in motion. He used the church just as he used you.\"\n\nArista glared at the archbishop and then at Sauly. \"You knew about this?\"\n\nThe bishop nodded.\n\n\"How could you allow Braga to kill my father? He was your friend.\"\n\n\"I tried to stop it,\" Sauly told her. \"You must believe me when I tell you this. The moment the test was done, and your father implicated, I called for an emergency council of the church, but Braga couldn't be stopped. He refused to listen tome and said I was wasting valuable time.\"\n\nFears of her own murder fled and anger filled the vacuum. She stood up, fists clenched, her eyes filled with hate.\n\n\"Arista, I know you are upset, and have every right to be, but let me explain further.\" The archbishop waited for her to sit down again. \"What I am about to tell you is the most highly guarded secret of the Church of Nyphron. This information is strictly reserved for top-ranking members of the clergy. I am trusting you with this information because we need your help and I know you'll not extend it unless you understand why.\" He took the glass of wine, sipped it, then leaned forward and spoke to Arista in a quiet tone. \"In the last few years of the empire, the church uncovered a dark and twisted scheme whose goal was no less than to enslave all of humanity. The conspiracy led directly to the emperor. Only the church could save mankind. We killed the emperor and tried to eliminate his bloodline, but the emperor's son was aided by Esrahaddon. His heritage contains the power to raise the demons of the past and once more bring humanity to the brink. For this reason, the church has sought to find the heir and destroy the lineage whose existence is a knife at the throat of all of us. After so long, the heir might not even be aware of his power, or even who he is. But Esrahaddon knows. If that wizard finds the heir, he can use him as a weapon against us. No one will be safe.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The archbishop looked at her carefully. \" Esrahaddon was once part of the high council. He was one of the key members in the effort to save the empire from the conspirators, but at the last moment, he betrayed the church. Instead of a peaceful transition, he callously caused a civil war that destroyed the empire. The church cutoff his hands and locked him away for nearly a millennium. What do you think he'll do if he has the chance to exact revenge? Whatever humanity he might have possessed died in Gutaria Prison. What remains is a powerful demon bent on our destruction-revenge for revenge's sake; he is mad with it. He is like a wildfire that will consume all if not stopped. As a princess of a kingdom, you must understand-sacrifices must be made to ensure the future of the realm. We deeply regret the error that occurred in respect to your father but hope you'll come to understand why it happened, accept our apologies, and help us prevent the end of all that we know.\n\n\"Esrahaddon is an incredibly intelligent madman bent on destroying everyone. The heir is his weapon. If he finds him before we do, if we cannot prevent him from reawakening the horror we managed to put to sleep centuries ago, then all this-this city, your kingdom of Melengar, all of Apeladorn will be lost. We need your help, Arista. We need you to help us find Esrahaddon.\"\n\nThe door opened abruptly and a priest entered.\n\n\"Your Grace,\" he said, out of breath, \"the sentinel is calling the curia to order.\"\n\nGalien nodded and looked back at Arista. \"What say you, my dear? Can you help us?\"\n\nThe princess looked at her hands. Too much was whirling in her head: Esrahaddon, Braga, Sauly, mysterious conspiracies, healing potions. The one image that remained steadfast was the memory of her father lying on his bed, his face pale, blood soaking the covers. It had taken so long to put the pain behind her, and now... had Esrahaddon killed him? Had they? \"I don't know,\" she muttered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can you at least tell us if he has contacted you since his escape?\"\n\n\"I haven't seen or heard from Esrahaddon since before my father's death.\"\n\n\"You understand, of course,\" the archbishop told her, \"that be this as it may, you are the most likely person he would trust and we would like you to consider working with us to find him. As Ambassador of Melengar you could travel between kingdoms and nations and never be suspected. I also understand that right now you may not be ready to make such a commitment, so I won't ask; but please consider it. The church has let you down grievously; I only request that you give us a chance to redeem ourselves in your eyes.\"\n\nArista drained the rest of her wine and slowly nodded.\n\n\"Do you think she is telling the truth?\" the archbishop asked him. There was a faint look of hope on his face, clouded by an overall expression of misery. \"There was a great deal of resistance in her.\"\n\nSaldur was still looking at the door Arista had exited. \"Anger would be a more accurate word, but yes, I think she was telling the truth.\"\n\nHe did not know what Galien had expected. Had he thought Arista would embrace him with open arms after they admitted to killing her father? The whole idea was absurd, desperate measures from a man sinking in quicksand.\n\n\"It was worth it,\" the archbishop said without any conviction.\n\nSaldur played with a loose thread on his sleeve, wishing he had taken the remainder of Bernice's bottle with him. He had never cared much for wine. More than anything, the tragedy of Braga's death was the loss of a great source of excellent brandy. The archduke had really known his liquor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Galien stared at him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're quiet,\" the archbishop said. \"You think I was wrong, of course. You said so, didn't you? You were very vocal about it at our last meeting. You were watching her every move. You have that-that-\" The old man waved his hand toward the door as if this would make his fumbling clearer. \"That old handmaid monitoring her every breath. Isn't that right? And if Esrahaddon had contacted her, we would have known and they would be none the wiser, but now...\" The archbishop threw up his hands, feigning disgust in a sarcastic imitation of Saldur.\n\nSaldur continued to fiddle with the thread, wrapping it around the end of his forefinger, winding it tighter and tighter.\n\n\"You're too arrogant for your own good,\" Galien accused him defensively. \"The man is an imperial wizard. What he is capable of is beyond your comprehension. For all we know, he may have been visiting her in the form of a butterfly in the garden or a moth that entered her bedroom window each night. We had to be sure.\"\n\n\"A butterfly?\" Saldur said, genuinely amazed.\n\n\"He's a wizard. Damn you. That's what they do.\"\n\n\"I highly doubt-\"\n\n\"The point is we didn't know for sure.\"\n\n\"And we still don't. All I can say is I don't think she was lying, but Arista is a clever girl. Maribor knows she has proven that already.\"\n\nGalien lifted his empty wineglass. \"Carlton!\"\n\nThe servant looked up. \"I'm sorry, Your Grace, but I can't say I know her well enough to offer much of an opinion.\"\n\n\"Good god, man. I'm not asking you about her; I want more wine, you fool.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah,\" Carlton said, and headed for the bottle, then pulled the cork outwith a dull, hollow pop.\n\n\"The problem is that the Patriarch blames me for Esrahaddon's disappearance,\" Galien continued.\n\nFor the first time since Arista's departure, Saldur leaned forward with interest. \"He's told you this?\"\n\n\"That's just it; he's told me nothing. He only speaks to the sentinels now. Luis Guy and that other one-Thranic. Guy is unpleasant, but Thranic...\" He trailed off, shaking his head and frowning.\n\n\"I've never meta sentinel.\"\n\n\"Consider yourself lucky. Although your luck, I think, is running out on that score. Guy spent all morning upstairs in along meeting with the Patriarch.\" He played with the empty glass, running his finger around the rim. \"He's in the council hall right now, giving his address to the curia.\"\n\n\"Shouldn't we be there?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" he said miserably, but he made no effort to move.\n\n\"Your Grace?\" Saldur asked.\n\n\"Yes, yes.\" He waved at him. \"Carlton, get me my cane.\"\n\nSaldur and the archbishop entered to the sound of a man's booming voice. The grand council chamber was a three-story circular room encompassing the entire width of the tower. It was lined in thin ornate columns set in groups of two that represented the relationship between Novron, the Defender of Faith, and Maribor, the god of man. Between each set was a tall thin window, which provided the room with a complete panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. Seated in circular rows, radiating out from the center, gathered the curia, the college of chief clerics of the Nyphron Church. The other eighteen bishops were present to hear the words of the Patriarch as spoken by Luis Guy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Sentinel Luis Guy, a tall thin man with long black hair and disquieting eyes, stood in the center of the room." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was sharp; that was Saldur's first impression of the man, clean, ordered, focused, both in manner and looks. His hair was very black yet his skin was light, providing a striking contrast. His mustache was narrow, his beard short and severe, trimmed to a fine point. He dressed in the traditional red cassock, black cape, and black hood, with the symbol of the broken crown neatly embroidered on his chest. Not a hair or a pleat was out of place. He stood straight, his eyes not scanning the crowd but glaring at them.\n\n\"... the Patriarch feels that Rufus has the strength to persuade the Trent nobles and the church will deliver the rest. Remember, this isn't about picking the best horse. The Patriarch must choose the one that can win the race and Rufus is the most likely candidate. He's a hero to the south and a native of the north. He has no visible ties to the church. Crowning him emperor will immediately stifle a large segment of the population that might otherwise oppose us. While Rufus may not cause Trent and Calis to submit to the New Empire, it should prevent them from uniting against us. In their hesitation we shall find the time to consolidate the whole of Avryn under one emperor. After which time, we shall systematically, one-by-one, force Trent, then Calis to join or face invasion. Given the vastly superior wealth and power of Avryn, it is more than likely they will submit without a fight-all the more so with Rufus as emperor.\"\n\n\"You speak as if the unification is already complete,\" Bishop Tildale of Dunmore said. \"But Avryn has eight kingdoms and only Dunmore, Ghent, and Warric are Imperialist. What about the Royalists? They aren't going to accept this without a fight. It's not like the time of Glenmorgan, when all he faced were a handful of warlords-these are kings with lands and titles that they've held for generations. The kingdoms of Alburn and Melengar are old and proud realms. Even King Urith of Rhenydd, as poor as he is, will not simply take a knee to Rufus merely because we say so. And what about Maranon? Their fields supply most of Avryn with the food we eat. If King Vincent resists, he could starve us into submission. And Galeannon? King Fredrick has often threatened to cede to Calis, where he could be the strong leader of a weak pack rather than a weak leader of a strong one. If we insist on his giving up what little independence he has, we could lose him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I can assure you King Fredrick will bow before the imperial throne when the time comes,\" the bishop of Galeannon announced.\n\n\"And you needn't worry about Maranon's wheat fields,\" the bishop of Maranon said.\n\n\"As you can see, the Royalist problem has been eliminated,\" Guy assured them. \"It has taken nearly a generation, but the church has managed to successfully insert loyal Imperialists in key positions in each kingdom, with the minor exception of Melengar, where our plans did not proceed as expected. This failure will easily be mitigated by its singularity. Once Rufus is declared emperor, all the other kingdoms will pledge allegiance and Melengar will be alone. They will capitulate or face a war with the rest of Avryn. So yes, with just a few minor issues, the unification of Avryn has indeed already been accomplished. We just have not made this fact public.\"\n\nThis caused a murmur throughout the chamber.\n\n\"I knew we were progressing successfully on this project,\" Saldur told the archbishop, \"but I had no idea we were so far along.\"\n\n\"Braga's appointment asking of Melengar was to be the final step,\" Galien replied with a disappointed tone. Of all the kingdoms the church had prepared for the coming New Empire, only Saldur's had failed.\n\n\"And the Nationalists?\" the Prelate of Ratibor asked. \"They have been growing in number. You can't simply ignore them.\"\n\n\"The Nationalists will bean issue,\" Guy admitted. \"For years now the seret have been watching Gaunt and his followers. They are being funded by the DeLur family and several other powerful merchant cartels in the Republic of Delgos. Delgos has enjoyed its freedom for too long to be convinced of the advantages of a central authority. They already fear the very idea of a unified empire. So yes, we know they will fight. They will need to be defeated on the battlefield, which is another reason why the Patriarch has selected Rufus. He's a ruthless warlord. He'll crush the Nationalists as his first act as emperor. Delgos will fall soon after.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Do we have the troops to take Delgos?\" Prelate Krindel, the resident historian, asked. \"Tur Del Fur is defended by a dwarven fortress. It held out against a two-year siege by the Dacca.\"\n\n\"I have been working on that very problem and I think I'll have a-unique-solution.\"\n\n\"And what might that be?\" Galien asked suspiciously.\n\nLuis Guy looked up. \"Ah, Archbishop, so good of you to join us. I sent word we were beginning nearly an hour ago.\"\n\n\"Do you plan to spank me for being tardy, Guy? Or are you simply trying to avoid my question?\"\n\n\"You are not ready to hear the answer to that question,\" the sentinel replied, which brought a reproachful look from the archbishop. \"You would not believe me if I told you and certainly would not approve. But when the time comes, and it is necessary, then rest assured the fortress of Drumindor will fall, and Delgos along with it.\"\n\nThe archbishop frowned at the slight, but before he could comment, Saldur spoke up. \"What about the common people? Will they embrace anew emperor?\" he asked.\n\n\"I have traveled the length and breadth of the four nations, promoting the contest. Heralds have announced it from Dagastan in the south to Lanksteer in the north; all of Apeladorn is aware of the event. In the marketplaces, taverns, and castle courts, anticipation is high. Once we announce the true intent of the contest, the people will be beside themselves. Gentlemen, these are exciting times. It is no longer a question of if, but when the New Empire will rise. The groundwork is laid. All we need to do is bestow the crown.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And King Ethelred of Warric?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Galien asked. \"Is he onboard?\"\n\nGuy shrugged. \"He isn't pleased with giving up his throne to become a viceroy, but few of the monarchs are, even those we placed in power. It is amazing how quickly rulers become accustomed to being called Your Majesty. Yet he has been assured that for being the first to takeoff his crown, he will be first inline in the new order. It is very likely he will assume the role of regent, administering the empire on behalf of Lord Rufus as the new emperor is away handling any uprisings. I also suggested that he might remain as chief council. He appeared satisfied with that.\"\n\n\"I still don't like handing overpower to Rufus and Ethelred,\" Saldur said.\n\n\"We won't be,\" Galien assured him. \"The church will be in control. They are the faces, but we are the mind. The church will have a permanent appointee in the palace of the New Empire who will be charged with overseeing the construction of the new order.\" He looked to Guy. \"Did the Patriarch mention this to you?\"\n\n\"He did.\"\n\n\"And did he say if he would accept this responsibility himself?\"\n\n\"Due to his advanced age, the Patriarch will not betaking on this burden but will instead select someone from this council who will be empowered to act autonomously on behalf of the entire church. That person will be appointed co-regent alongside Ethelred at least for the duration of the reconstruction phase.\"\n\n\"Such a man would be immensely powerful,\" the archbishop said. Saldur could tell from his tone-perhaps everyone could-that he knew it would not be him. \"Would that person be you?\"\n\nGuy shook his head. \"My task, as my father before me, and his before that, is to find the Heir of Novron. The Patriarch has asked me to assist in these matters concerning the immediate establishment of the empire, which I am happy to do, but I'll not be deterred from my life's goal.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Who will it be, then?\"\n\n\"His Holiness has not yet decided. I suspect he will wait to see how events with the contest play out.\" There was a pause as they waited for Guy to speak again. \"This is a historic moment. All that we have worked for, all that has been carefully nurtured for centuries, is about to bear fruit. We now stand at the threshold of anew dawn for mankind. What began nearly a millennium ago will conclude with this generation. May Novron bless our hands.\"\n\n\"He's impressive,\" Saldur told Galien.\n\n\"You think so?\" the archbishop replied. \"Good, because you're coming with us.\"\n\n\"To the contest?\"\n\nHe nodded. \"I need someone to counterbalance Guy. Perhaps you can be just as big a pain to him as you've been tome.\"\n\nArista hesitated outside the door, holding a single candle. Inside, she could hear Bernice shuffling about, turning down the bed, pouring water into the basin, laying out Arista's bedclothes in that ghastly nursemaid way of hers. As tired as she was, Arista had no desire to open that door. She had too much to think about and could not bear Bernice just now.\n\nHow many days?\n\nShe tried counting them in her head, ticking them off, tracking her memories of those muddled times between the death of her father and the death of her uncle; so much had happened so quickly. She still remembered the pale white look of her father's face as he lay on the bed, a single tear of blood on his cheek, and the dark stain spreading across the mattress beneath him.\n\nArista glanced awkwardly at Hilfred, who stood behind her. \"I'm not ready to go to bed yet.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"As you wish, my lady,\" he said quietly, as if understanding her need not to alert the nurse-beast within.\n\nArista began walking aimlessly. She traveled down the hallway. This simple act gave her a sense of control, of heading toward something instead of being swept along. Hilfred followed three paces behind, his sword clapping against his thigh, a sound she had heard for years, like the swing of a pendulum ticking off the seconds of her life.\n\nHow many days?\n\nSauly had known Uncle Percy would kill her father. He knew before it happened! How long in advance did he know? Was it hours? Days? Weeks? He said he had tried to stop him. That was a lie-it had to be. Why not expose him? Why not just tell her father? But maybe Sauly had. Maybe her father refused to listen. Was it possible Esrahaddon really had used her?\n\nThe dimly lit hall curved as it circled around the tower. The lack of decoration surprised Arista. Of course, the Crown Tower was only a small part of the old palace, a mere corner staircase. The stones were old hewn blocks set in place centuries earlier. They all looked the same-dingy, soot-covered, and yellow, like old teeth. She passed several doors, then came to a staircase and began climbing. It felt good to exert her legs after being idle so long.\n\nHow many days?\n\nShe remembered her uncle searching for Alric, watching her, having her followed. If Saldur had known about Percy, why had he not intervened? Why had he allowed her to be locked in the tower and put through that dreadful trial? Would Sauly have allowed them to execute her? If he had just spoken up, if he had backed her, she could have called for Braga's imprisonment. The Battle of Medford could have been avoided and all those people would still be alive." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How many days before Braga's death did Saldur know... and do nothing?\n\nIt was a question without an answer. A question that echoed in her head, a question she was not certain she wanted answered.\n\nAnd what was all this about the destruction of humanity? She knew they thought she was naïve. Do they think I am ignorant as well? No one person had the power to enslave an entire race. Not to mention the very idea that this threat emanated from the emperor was absurd. The man had already been the ruler of the world!\n\nThe stairs ended in a dark circular room. No sconces, torches, nor lanterns burned. Her little candle was the only source of illumination. Followed by Hilfred, Arista exited the stairs. They had entered the alabaster crown near the tower's pinnacle. An immediate sense of unease washed over her. She felt like a trespasser on forbidden grounds. There was nothing to give her that impression except perhaps the darkness. Still, it felt like exploring an attic as a child-the silence, the shadowy suggestion of hidden treasures lost to time.\n\nLike everyone, she had grownup hearing the tales of Glenmorgan's treasures and how they lay hidden at the top of the Crown Tower. She even knew the story about how they had been stolen yet returned the following night. There were many stories about the tower, tales of famous people imprisoned at its top. Heretics like Edmund Hall, who had supposedly discovered the entrance to the holy city Percepliquis and paid by spending the remainder of his life sealed away-isolated where he could tell no one of its secrets.\n\nIt was here. It was all here.\n\nShe walked the circle of the room. The sounds of her footsteps echoed sharply off the stone, perhaps because of the low ceiling, or maybe it was just her imagination. She held up her candle and found a door at the far side. It was an odd door. Tall and broad, not made of wood as the others in the tower, nor was it made of steel or iron. This door was made of stone, one single solid block that looked like granite and appeared out of place beside the walls of polished alabaster." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She looked at it, perplexed. There was no latch, knob, or hinges. Nothing to open it with. She considered knocking. What goodwill it do to knock on granite except to bloody my knuckles? Placing her hand on the door, she pushed, but nothing happened. Arista glanced at Hilfred, who stood silently watching her.\n\n\"I just wanted to seethe view from the top,\" she told him, imagining what he might bethinking.\n\nShe heard something just then, a shuffle, a step from above. Tilting her head, she lifted the candle. Cobwebs lined the underside of the ceiling, which was made of wood. Clearly someone or something was up there.\n\nEdmund Hall's ghost!\n\nThe idea flashed through her mind and she shook her head at her foolishness. Perhaps she should go and cower in bed and have Auntie Bernice read her a nice bedtime story. Still, she had to wonder. What lay behind that very solid-looking door?\n\n\"Hello?\" a voice echoed, and she jumped. From below Arista saw the glow of another light rising, the sound of steps climbing. \"Is someone up here?\"\n\nShe had an instant desire to hide and she might have tried if there had been anything to hide behind and Hilfred had not been with her.\n\n\"Who's there?\" Ahead appeared, coming around the curve of the steps from below. It was a man-a priest of some sort by the look of him. He wore a black robe with a purple ribbon that hung down from either side of his neck. His hair was thin, and from that angle, Arista could seethe beginning of a bald spot on the back of his head, a tanned island in a sea of graying hair. He held a lantern above his head and squinted at her, looking puzzled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Who are you?\" he asked in a neutral tone. It was neither threatening nor welcoming, merely curious.\n\nShe smiled self-consciously. \"My name is Arista, Arista from Melengar.\"\n\n\"Arista from Melengar?\" he said thoughtfully. \"Might I ask what you are doing here, Arista from Melengar?\"\n\n\"Honestly? I was-ah-hoping to get to the top of the tower to seethe view. It's my first time here.\"\n\nThe priest smiled and began to chuckle. \"You are sightseeing, then?\"\n\n\"Yes, I suppose so.\"\n\n\"And the gentleman with you-is he also sightseeing?\"\n\n\"He is my bodyguard.\"\n\n\"Bodyguard?\" The man paused in his approach. \"Do all young women from Melengar have such protection when they travel abroad?\"\n\n\"I am the Princess of Melengar, daughter of the late king Amrath and sister of King Alric.\"\n\n\"Aha!\" the priest said, entering the room and walking the curve toward them. \"I thought so. You were part of the caravan that arrived this evening, the lady who came in with the Bishop of Medford. I saw the royal carriage, but didn't know what royalty it contained.\"\n\n\"And you are?\" she asked.\n\n\"Oh yes, I'm very sorry, I am Monsignor Merton of Ghent, born and raised right down below us in a small village called Iberton, a stone's throw from Ervanon. Wonderful fishing in Iberton. My father was a fisherman, by the way. We fished year-round, nets in the summer and hooks in the winter. Teach a man to fish and he'll never go hungry, I always say. I suppose in away that's how I came to be here, if you get my meaning.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Arista smiled politely and glanced back at the stone door.\n\n\"I'm sorry but that door doesn't go to the outside, and I'm afraid you can't get to the top.\" He tilted his head toward the ceiling and lowered his voice. \"That's where he lives.\"\n\n\"He?\"\n\n\"His Holiness, Patriarch Nilnev. The top floor of this tower is his sanctuary. I come up here sometimes to just sit and listen. When it is quiet, when the wind is still, you can sometimes hear him moving about. I once thought I heard him speak, but that might have just been hopeful ears. It is as if Novron himself is up there right now, looking down, watching out for us. Still, if you like, I do know where you can get a good view. Come with me.\"\n\nThe monsignor turned and descended back down the stairs. Arista looked one last time at the door, then followed.\n\n\"When does he come out?\" Arista asked. \"The Patriarch, I mean.\"\n\n\"He doesn't. At least not that I have ever seen. He lives his life in isolation-better to be one with the Lord.\"\n\n\"If he never comes out, how do you know he's really up there?\"\n\n\"Hmm?\" Merton glanced back at her and chuckled. \"Oh, well, he does speak with people. He holds private meetings with certain individuals, who bring his words to the rest of us.\"\n\n\"And who are these people? The archbishop?\"\n\n\"Sometimes, though lately his decrees have comedown to us byway of the sentinels.\" He paused in their downward trek and turned to look at her. \"You know about them, I assume?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she told him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Being a princess, I thought you might.\"\n\n\"We actually haven't had one visit Melengar for several years.\"\n\n\"That's understandable. There are only a few left and they have a very wide area to cover.\"\n\n\"Why so few?\"\n\n\"His Holiness hasn't appointed any new ones, not since he ordained Luis Guy. I believe he was the last.\"\n\nThis was the first good news Arista had heard all day. The sentinels were notorious watchdogs of the church. Originally charged with the task of finding the lost heir, they commanded the famous order of the Seret Knights. These knights enforced the church's will-policing layman and clergy alike for any signs of heresy. When the seret investigated, it was certain someone would be found guilty, and usually anyone who protested would find themselves charged as well.\n\nMonsignor Merton led her to a door two floors down and knocked.\n\n\"What is it?\" an irritated voice asked.\n\n\"We've come to see your view,\" Merton replied.\n\n\"I don't have time for you today, Merton. Go bother someone else and leave me be.\"\n\n\"It's not for me. The princess Arista of Medford is here, and she wants to see a view from the tower.\"\n\n\"Oh no, really,\" Arista told him, shaking her head. \"It's not that important. I just-\"\n\nThe door popped open and behind it stood a fat man without a single hair on his head. He was dressed all in red, with a gold braided cord around his large waist. He was wiping his greasy hands on a towel and peering at Arista intently.\n\n\"By Mar! It is a princess.\"\n\n\"Janison!\" Merton snapped. \"Please, that's noway fora prelate of the church to speak.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The fat man scowled at Merton. \"Do you see how he treats me? He thinks I am Uberlin himself because I like to eat and enjoy an occasional drink.\"\n\n\"It is not I that judges you, but our lord Novron. May we enter?\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, of course, come in.\"\n\nThe room was a mess of clothes, parchments, and paintings that lay on the floor or leaned on baskets and chests. A desk stood atone end and a large flat, tilted table was at the other. On it were stacks of maps, ink bottles, and dozens of quills. Nothing appeared to be in its place or even to have one.\n\n\"Oh-\" Arista nearly said dear but stopped short, realizing she had almost imitated Bernice.\n\n\"Yes, it is quite the sight, isn't it? Prelate Janison is less than tidy.\"\n\n\"I am neat in my maps and that's all that matters.\"\n\n\"Not to Novron.\"\n\n\"You see? And, of course, I can't retaliate. How can anyone hope to compete with His Holiness Monsignor Merton, who heals the sick and speaks to god?\"\n\nArista, who was following Merton across the wretched room toward a curtain-lined wall, paused as a memory from her childhood surfaced. Looking at Merton, she recalled it. \"You're the savior of Fallon Mire?\"\n\n\"Aha! Of course he didn't tell you. It would be too prideful to admit he is the chosen one of our lord.\"\n\n\"Oh stop that.\" It was Merton's turn to scowl.\n\n\"Was it you?\" she asked.\n\nMerton nodded, sending Janison a harsh stare." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I heard all about it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was some years ago. I was probably only five or six when the plague came to Fallon Mire. Everyone was afraid because it was working its way up from the south and Fallon Mire was not very far from Medford. I remember my father spoke of moving the court to Drondil Fields, only we never did. We didn't have to because the plague never moved north of there.\"\n\n\"Because he stopped it,\" Janison said.\n\n\"I did not!\" Merton snapped. \"Novron did.\"\n\n\"But he sent you there, didn't he? Didn't he?\"\n\nMerton sighed. \"I only did what the lord asked of me.\"\n\nJanison looked at Arista. \"You see? How can I hope to compete with a man whom god himself has chosen to hold daily conversations with?\"\n\n\"You actually heard the voice of Novron telling you to go save the people of Fallen Mire?\"\n\n\"He directed my footsteps.\"\n\n\"But you talk to him too,\" Janison pressed, looking at Arista. \"He won't admit that, of course. Saying so would be heresy and Luis Guy is just downstairs. He doesn't care about your miracle.\" Janison sat down on a stool and chuckled. \"No, the good monsignor here won't admit that he holds little conversations with the lord, but he does. I've heard him. Late at night, in the halls, when he thinks everyone else is asleep.\" Janison raised his voice an octave as if imitating a young girl. \"Oh Lord, why is it you keep me awake with this headache when I have work in the morning? What's that? Oh, I see, how wise of you.\"\n\n\"That's enough, Janison,\" Merton said, his voice serious." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, I'm certain it is, Monsignor. Now take your view and leave me to my meal.\"\n\nJanison picked up a chicken leg and resumed eating while Merton threw open the drapes to reveal a magnificent window. It was huge, nearly the width of the room, divided only by three stone pillars. The view was breathtaking. The large moon revealed the night as if it were a lamp one could reach out and touch, hanging among a scattering of brilliant stars.\n\nArista placed a hand on the windowsill and peered down. She could seethe twisting silver line of a river far below, shimmering in the moonlight. At the base of the tower, campfires circled the city, tiny flickering pinpricks like stars themselves. Looking straight down, she felt dizzy and her heartbeat quickened. Wondering how close she was to the top of the tower, she looked up and counted three more levels of windows above her, to the alabaster crown of white.\n\n\"Thank you,\" she told Merton, and nodded toward Janison.\n\n\"Rest assured, Your Highness. He is up there.\"\n\nShe nodded but was not certain if he was referring to god or the Patriarch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For five days, Royce, Hadrian, and Thrace made their way north through the nameless sea of trees that made up the eastern edge of Avryn, a region disputed by both Alburn and Dunmore. Each laid claim to the vast, dense forest between them, but until the establishment of Dahlgren, neither appeared in any hurry to settle the land. The great forest, referred to merely as either the East or the Wastes, remained uncut, untouched, unblemished. The road they traveled, once abroad lane as it had plowed north out of Alburn, quickly became two tracks divided by a line of grass, and finally squeezed down to a single dirt trail that threatened to vanish entirely. No fences, farms, nor wayside inns broke the woodland walls, nor did travelers cross their path. Herein the northeast, maps were vague, with few markings, and went entirely blank past the Nidwalden River.\n\nAt times, the beauty of the forest was breathtaking, even spiritual. Monolithic elms towered overhead, weaving a lofty tunnel of green. It reminded Hadrian of the few times he had poked his head into Mares Cathedral in Medford. The long-trunked trees arched over the trail like the buttresses of the great church, forming a natural nave. Delicate shafts of muted light pierced the canopy at angles as if entering through a gallery of windows far above. Along the ground, fans of finely fingered ferns grew up from the past year's brown leaves, creating a soft swaying carpet. A choir of birds sang in the unseen heights, and from the bed of brittle leaves came the rustle of squirrels and chipmunks like the coughs, whispers, and shifts of a congregation. It was beautiful yet disturbing, like swimming out too far, delving into unknown, unseen, and untamed places." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Over the last days, travel became increasingly difficult." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The recent spring storms had dropped several trees across the trail, which blocked the route as formidably as any castle gate. They dismounted and struggled through the thick brush as Royce searched fora way around. Hours passed yet they failed to rejoin the road. Scratched and sweaty, they led their horses across several small rivers and on one occasion faced a sharp drop. Looking down from the rocky cliff, Hadrian offered Royce a skeptical look. Usually Hadrian didn't question Royce's sense of direction or his choice of path. Royce had an unerring ability to find his way in the wilderness, a talent proven on many occasions. Hadrian tilted his head up. He could not seethe sun or sky; there was no point of reference-everything was limbs and leaves. Royce had never let him down, but they had never been in a place like this before.\n\n\"We're all right,\" Royce told them, a touch of irritation in his voice.\n\nThey worked their way down, Royce and Thrace leading the horses on foot while Hadrian cleared a path. When they reached the bottom, they found a small stream, but no trail. Again, Hadrian glanced at Royce, but this time the thief made no comment as they pressed on along the least dense route.\n\n\"There,\" Thrace said, pointing ahead to a clearing revealed by a patch of sun that managed to sneak through the canopy. A few more steps revealed a small road. Royce looked at it fora moment, then merely shrugged, climbed back on his horse, and kicked Mouse forward.\n\nThey emerged from the forest as if escaping from a deep cave, into the first open patch of direct sun they had seen in days. In the glade, beside a rough wooden wellhead, stood a child among a herd of eight grazing pigs. The child, no more than five years old, held along, thin stick, and an expression of wonder was on the little round face, covered in sweat-trapped dirt. Hadrian had no idea if it was a boy or a girl, as the child displayed no definite indication of either, wearing only a simple smock of flax linen, dirty and frayed with holes and rips so plentiful they appeared by design." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Pearl!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thrace called out as she scrambled off Millie so quickly the horse sidestepped. \"I'm back.\" She walked over and tousled the child's matted hair.\n\nThe little girl-Hadrian now guessed-gave Thrace little notice and continued to stare at them, eyes wide.\n\nThrace threw out her arms and spun around. \"This is Dahlgren. This is home.\"\n\nHadrian dismounted and looked around, puzzled. They stood on a small patch of close-grazed grass beside a well constructed of ill-fitted planks with a wooden bucket, wet and dripping, resting on a rail. Two other rutted trails intersected with the one they followed, forming a triangle with the well at its center. On all sides, the forest surrounded them. Massive trees of dramatic size still blocked the sky, except for the hole above the clearing, through which Hadrian could seethe pale blue of the late-afternoon sky.\n\nHadrian scooped a handful of water from the bucket to wash the sweat from his face and Millie nearly shoved him aside as she pushed her nose into the bucket, drinking deeply.\n\n\"What's with the bell?\" Royce asked, climbing down off Mouse and gesturing toward the shadows.\n\nHadrian looked over, surprised to see a massive bronze bell hanging from a rocker arm, which in turn hung from the lower branch of a nearby oak. Hadrian guessed that if it had been on the ground, Royce could have stood inside it. A rope dangled, with knots tied at several points along its length.\n\n\"That's different,\" he said, walking toward it. \"How does it sound?\"\n\n\"Don't ring it!\" Thrace exclaimed. Hadrian pivoted his eyebrows up. \"We only ring it for emergencies.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked back at the bell, noting the relief images of Maribor and Novron, along with lines of religious script circling its waist. \"Seems sort of extravagant for... well...\" He looked around at the empty clearing.\n\n\"It was Deacon Tomas's idea. He kept saying,\"A village isn't a village without a church, and a church isn't a church without a bell. \"Everyone pitched in a little. The old margrave matched what we had and ordered it for us. The bell was finished long before we had time to build the church. Mr. McDern took his oxen and fetched it all the way from Ervanon. When he got back, we had no place to put it and he needed his wagon. It was my father's idea to hang it here and use it as an alarm until the church went up. That was a week before the attacks started. At the time no one had any idea how much use we'd get out of it.\" She stared at the huge bell fora moment and then added, \"I hate the sound of that bell.\"\n\nA gusty breeze rustled the leaves and threw a lock of hair in her face. She brushed it back and turned away from the oak and the bell. \"Over there\"-she pointed across the rutted path-\"is where most of us live.\" Hadrian spotted structures hidden in shadow within a shallow dip, behind a blind of goldenrod and milkweed. They were small wooden-framed buildings plastered with wattle and daub-a mixture of mud, straw, and manure. The roofs were thatch, the windows no more than holes in the walls. Most lacked doors, making do with curtains across the entrances, which fluttered with the wind, revealing dirt floors. Beside one, he spotted a vegetable garden that managed to catch a sliver of sun." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's Mae and Went Drundel's place therein front,\" Thrace said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, I guess it's just Mae's now. Went and the boys... they... were taken not long ago. To the left, the one with the garden is the Bothwicks\". I used to babysit Tad and the twins, but Tad's old enough now to watch the twins himself. They are like family really. Lena and my mother were very close. Behind them, you can just seethe McDerns'roof. Mr. McDern is the village smith and the owner of the only pair of oxen. He shares them with everyone, which makes him popular come spring. To the right, the place with the swing is the Caswells\". Maria and Jessie are my best friends. My father hung that swing for us not long after we moved here. I spent some of the best days of my life on that swing.\"\n\n\"Where's your place?\" Hadrian asked.\n\n\"My father built our house a ways down the hill.\" She gestured toward a small trail that ran to the east. \"It was the best house-best farm, really-in the village. Everyone said so. There's almost nothing left now.\"\n\nPearl was still staring at them, watching every move.\n\n\"Hello,\" Hadrian said to her with a smile, bending down on his haunches, \"my name is Hadrian, and this is my friend Royce.\" Pearl glared and took a step back, brandishing the stick before her. \"You don't talk much, do you?\"\n\n\"Her parents were both killed two months ago while planting,\" Thrace told them, looking at the girl with sympathetic eyes. \"It was daylight, and like everyone else, they thought they were safe, but it was a stormy day. The clouds had darkened the sky.\" Thrace paused, then added, \"A lot of people have died here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where is everyone else?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"They'll all be in the fields now, bringing in the first cutting of hay, but they'll becoming back soon; it's getting late. Pearl minds the pigs for the entire village, don't you, Pearl?\" The girl nodded fiercely, holding her stick with both hands and keeping a wary eye on Hadrian.\n\n\"What's up there?\" Royce asked. He had moved down off the green and was looking up the trail as it ran north.\n\nHadrian followed, leaving Millie with the bucket, her tail swishing vigilantly against a handful of determined flies. Moving pasta stand of spruce, Hadrian could see a hill cleared of trees rising just a few hundred yards away. On its crest rested a stockade-style wall of hewn logs and, in the center, a large wooden house.\n\n\"That's the margrave's castle. The deacon Tomas has taken on the responsibility of steward until the king appoints anew lord. He's very nice and I don't think he'd mind you using the stables, considering there aren't any other horses in the village. For now just tie them to the well, I guess, and we can go see my father.\n\n\"Pearl, watch their stuff, and keep the pigs away. If Tad, Hal, or Arvid comes back before I do, have them take the horses up to the castle and ask the deacon if they can stable them there, okay?\"\n\nThe little girl nodded.\n\n\"Does she talk?\" Hadrian asked.\n\n\"Yes, just not very often anymore. C'mon, I'll take you to-to what used to be my home. Dad's probably there. It's not far and a pretty pleasant walk.\" She began leading them east along a footpath that ran downhill behind the houses. As they circled around, Hadrian got a better look at the village. He could see more houses, all of them tiny things, most likely single rooms with lofts. There were other, smaller structures, a few crated feed bins built on stilts to keep clear of rodents and what looked to be a community outhouse; it too lacked a solid door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'll ask the Bothwicks to take you in while you're here." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'm staying with them myself; they-\" Thrace stopped. Her hands flew to her face as she sucked in a sudden breath and her lips started to quiver.\n\nBeside the path, not far from the house with the swing, two wooden markers stood freshly driven into the earth. Carved into them were the names Maria and Jessie Caswell.\n\nThe Wood farm appeared down the footpath. Several acres lay cleared of trees, most at the bottom of a hill where lush wheat grew in perfectly straight rows. A low stonewall built from carefully stacked rocks ran the perimeter. It was a beautiful field of rich dark earth, well turned, well planted, and well drained.\n\nThe homestead itself stood on the rise overlooking the field. The house was a ruined shell, its roof gone, thatch scattered across the yard, blown by the wind. Only a few timbers remained-splintered poles jutting up like broken bones punching through skin. The lower half of the building and the chimney were both made of irregularly shaped fieldstone and remained mostly intact. Some stones lay in piles where they had slipped from their stacks, but the majority appeared eerily untouched.\n\nLittle things caught Hadrian's attention. Mounted beneath one window hung a flowerbox with a scallop edge and the image of a deer carved into it. The front door, made of solid oak, did not reveal a single peg or visible joint. The stones that created the walls, in alternated colors of gray, rose, and tan, were each chipped to a fine flat profile. The curved walkway was bordered with bushes trimmed to resemble a hedge.\n\nTheron Wood sat amidst the ruins of his home. The big farmer, with dark leathery skin, had a short mangle of forgotten gray hair that crowned a face cut by wind and sun. He looked like apart of the earth itself, a gnarled trunk of a great tree with a face like a weathered cliff. Holding a grass cutter between his legs, he rested on the remaining wall of his home, slowly dragging a sharpening stone along the length of the huge curved scythe blade. Back and forth the stone scraped while the man stared down at the greenfield below, an expression on his face Hadrian could describe only as one of contempt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Daddy! I'm back.\" Thrace ran to the old farmer, hugging him around his neck. \"I missed you.\"\n\nTheron endured the squeeze and glared at them. \"Are these the ones, then?\"\n\n\"Yes. This is Hadrian and Royce. They've come all the way from Colnora to help. They can get the weapon Esra told us about.\"\n\n\"I have a weapon,\" the farmer growled, and resumed sharpening his blade. The sound was cold and grating.\n\n\"This?\" Thrace asked. \"Your grass cutter? The margrave had a sword, a shield, and armor and he-\"\n\n\"Not this, I have another weapon, much bigger, much sharper.\"\n\nPuzzled, she looked around. The old man offered no insight.\n\n\"I don't need what lies in that tower to kill the beast.\"\n\n\"But you promised me.\"\n\n\"And I am a man of my word,\" he replied, and drew the stone along the edge of the blade once more. \"The waiting only made my weapon sharper.\" He dipped the stone into a bucket of water that sat beside him. He raised it back to the blade but paused and said, \" Everyday I wake up, I see Thad's broken bed and Hickory's cradle. I seethe shattered barrel that Thad made, the fields I planted for him-growing despite me. Best season in a decade. I woulda reaped more than enough to pay for the contract and tools. I woulda had extra. I coulda built him a shop. I might even have afforded a sign and real glass windows. He coulda had a planed wooden door with hinges and studs. His shop woulda been better than any house in the village. Better than the manor. People would walk by and stare, wondering what great man owned such a business. How great an artisan was this town's cooper that he could manage such a fine store?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Those bastards back in Glamrendor who wouldn't let Thad hang a shingle, they would never have seen the like. It woulda had a shake roof and scalloped eaves, a hard oak counter, andiron hooks to hold lanterns for when he needed to work late at night to complete all his orders. His barrels would be stacked in a storage shed beside the shop. A beautiful barn-size one, and I would paint it bright red so no one could miss it. I woulda got him a wagon too, even if I had to build it myself. That way he could send orders allover Avryn-back to Glamrendor too. I woulda driven them there myself just to seethe shock and anger on their faces.\n\n\"\"Morning!\" I'd say, grinning like a lipless crocodile. Here's another fine delivery of barrels from Thaddeus Wood, the best cooper in Avryn. They'd cringe and curse. Yep, that boy o\" mine, he's no farmer, no sir. Starting with him, the Woods were gonna be artisans and shopkeepers.\n\n\"This village, it'd have grown. People woulda moved in and started businesses of their own, only Thad's woulda always been the first, the biggest, and the best. I'd have seen to that. Soon this here woulda been a city, a fine city, and the Woods the most successful family-a merchant family giv'n money to the arts and riding around in fine carriages. This here house woulda been a true mansion, \"cause Thad woulda insisted, but I wouldn't care \"bout that, no sir. I'd have been content just watching Hickory grow up, seeing him learn to read and write-appointed magistrate, maybe. My grandson in the black robes! Yes sir, Magistrate Wood is going to court in a fine carriage and me standing there watching him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I see it. Every morning I getup; I sit; I look down Stony Hill and I see all of it. It's right there, right in that field growing in front of me. I haven't hoed. I haven't tilled, but look at it. The best crop I ever grew getting taller everyday.\"\n\n\"Daddy, please comeback with us to the Bothwicks\". It's getting late.\"\n\n\"This is my home!\" the old man shouted, but not at her. His eyes were still on the field. He scraped the blade again. Thrace sighed.\n\nThere was along silence.\n\n\"You and your friends go. I swore not to seek it, but there is always a chance it might come tome.\"\n\n\"But, Daddy-\"\n\n\"I said take them and go. I don't need you here.\"\n\nThrace glanced at Hadrian. There were tears in her eyes. Her lips trembled. She stood fora moment, wavering, then abruptly broke and ran backup the path toward town. Theron ignored her. The old farmer tilted the blade of his grass cutter to the other side and resumed sharpening. Hadrian watched him fora moment, the sounds of the stone on metal drowning out Thrace's fading sobs. He never looked up, not at Hadrian, not to glance down the trail. The man was indeed a rock.\n\nHadrian found Thrace only a few dozen yards up the trail. She was on her knees, crying. Her small body jerked, her hair rocking with the movement. He placed his hand gently on her shoulder. \"Your father is right. That weapon of his is very sharp.\"\n\nRoyce caught up with them, carrying a fractured piece of wood. He looked down at Thrace with an uncomfortable expression." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What's up?\" Hadrian asked before Royce said anything callous.\n\n\"What do you think of this?\" Royce replied, holding out the scrap, which might have been part of the house framing. The beam was wide and thick, good strong oak taken from the trunk of a well-aged tree. The piece bore four deeply cut gouges.\n\n\"Claw marks?\" Hadrian took the wood and placed his hand against the board with his fingers splayed out. \"Giant claw marks.\"\n\nRoyce nodded. \"Whatever it is, it's huge. So how come no one has seen it?\"\n\n\"It gets very dark here,\" Thrace told them, wiping her cheeks as she stood. A curious expression crossed her face and she walked to where a yellow-flowered forsythia grew at the base of a maple tree. Taking a hesitant step, Thrace bent down and drew back what Hadrian thought was a wad of cloth and old grass. As she carefully cleaned away the leaves and sticks, he saw it was a crude doll with thread for hair and X's sewn for eyes.\n\n\"Yours?\" Hadrian ventured.\n\nShe shook her head but did not speak. After a moment, Thrace replied, \"I made this for Hickory, Thad's son. It was his Wintertide gift, his favorite. He carried it everywhere.\" Plucking the last bits of grass from the doll, she rubbed it. \"There's blood on it.\" Her voice quavered. Clutching the doll to her chest, she said softly, \"He forgets-they were my family too.\"\n\nRoyce guessed it was still early evening when they returned to the village common, but already the light was fading, the invisible sun quickly consumed by the great trees. The little girl and her herd of pigs were gone, and so were their horses and gear. In their place, they found a host of people rushing about with an urgency that left him uneasy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Men crossed the clearing carrying hoes, axes, and piles of split wood over their shoulders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Most were barefoot, dressed in sweat-stained tunics. Women came behind, carrying bundles of twigs, reeds, thick marsh grasses, and stalks of flax. They too traveled barefoot, with their hair pulled up, hidden under simple cloth wraps. Royce could see why Thrace had made such a big deal out of the dress they had bought her, as all the village women wore simple homemade smocks of the same natural off-white color, lacking any adornment.\n\nThey looked hot and tired, focused on reaching the shelter of their homes and dumping their burdens. As the three approached the village, one boy looked up and stopped. He had along-handled hoe across his shoulders, his arms threaded around it.\n\n\"Who's that?\" he said.\n\nThis got the attention of those nearby. An older woman glared, still clutching her bag of twigs. A bare-chested man with thick, powerful arms lowered his pack of wood, holding tight to his axe. The topless man glanced at Thrace, who was still wiping her red eyes, and advanced on them, shifting the axe to his right hand.\n\n\"Vince, we got visitors!\" he shouted.\n\nA shorter, older man with a poorly kept beard turned his head and dropped his bundle as well. He looked at the boy who had first spotted them. \"Tad, go fetch your pa.\" The boy hesitated. \"Go now, son!\"\n\nThe boy ran off toward the houses.\n\n\"Thrace, honey,\" the old woman said, \"are you all right?\"\n\nThe bearded man glared at them. \"What they do to you, girl?\"\n\nAs the men advanced, Royce and Hadrian moved together, each one looking expectantly at Thrace. Royce's hand slipped into the folds of his cloak." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh no!\" Thrace burst out. \"They didn't do anything.\"\n\n\"Doesn't look like nothing. Disappear for weeks and you popup crying, dressed like-\"\n\nThrace shook her head. \"I'm fine. It's just my father.\"\n\nThe men stopped. They kept a wary eye on the strangers but shot looks of sympathy at Thrace.\n\n\"Theron's a fine man,\" Vince told her, \"a strongman. He'll come around, you'll see. He just needs sometime.\"\n\nShe nodded, but it was forced.\n\n\"Now, who might you two be?\"\n\n\"This is Hadrian and Royce,\" Thrace finally got around to saying, \"from Colnora in Warric. I asked them hereto help. This is Mr. Griffin, the village founder.\"\n\n\"Came out herewith an axe, a knife, and not much else. The rest of these poor souls were foolish enough to follow, on account I told them life was better, and they was stupid enough to believe me.\" He extended his hand. \"Just call me Vince.\"\n\n\"I'm Dillon McDern,\" the big bare-chested man said. \"I'm the smith round here. Figure you fellas might want to know that. You got horses, right? My boys say they took two up to the manor a bit ago.\"\n\n\"This is Mae,\" Vince said, presenting the old woman. She nodded solemnly. Now that it was clear that Thrace was all right, the old woman slouched, and the look in her eyes became dull and distant as she turned away with her bundle of twigs.\n\n\"Don't mind her. She's-well, Mae's had it hard lately.\" He glanced at Dillon, who nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The boy sent running returned with another man. Older than McDern, younger than Griffin, thinner than both, he dragged his feet as he walked, squinting despite the dim light. In his hands he held a small pig, which struggled to escape.\n\n\"Why'd you bring your pig, Russell?\" Griffin asked.\n\n\"Boy said you needed me-said it was an emergency.\"\n\nGriffin glanced at Dillon, who looked back and shrugged. \"You find emergencies often call for pigs, do you?\"\n\nRussell scowled. \"I just got hold of her. She gets riled up with Pearl all day, hard as can be to catch her. Noway I'm letting her go with night coming on. What is it? What's the emergency?\"\n\n\"Turns out there ain't one. False alarm,\" Griffin said.\n\nRussell shook his head. \"By Mar, Vince, scare a body to death. Next you'll be swinging from the bell rope just to see folks faint.\"\n\n\"Twarn't on purpose.\" He dipped his head at Royce and Hadrian. \"We thought these fellas were up to something.\"\n\nRussell looked at them. \"Visitors, eh? Where'd you two come from?\"\n\n\"Colnora,\" Thrace answered. \"I invited them. Esra said they could help my father. I was hoping you'd let them stay with us.\"\n\nRussell looked at her and sighed heavily, a frown pulling hard at the corners of his mouth.\n\n\"Oh, well-ah, that's okay, I guess,\" Thrace said, stumbling, looking embarrassed. \"I can ask Deacon Tomas if he'll-\"\n\n\"Of course they can stay with us, Thrace. You know better than to even ask.\" Tucking the pig under one arm, he placed his hand to the side of her face and rubbed her cheek. \"It's just that, well, Lena and me-we was sure you were gone for good. Figured you'd found anew home, maybe.\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Assist in storytelling, proceed with the tale.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, bromance\nAuthor: Michael J. Sullivan\nTitle: Theft of Swords\nChapter: 25" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't you think he'll see through that?\"\n\n\"See through what?\" Royce asked. \"Honestly, I'm giving it one more try tomorrow and if I can't find something, I say we head outwith Theron and Thrace.\"\n\nHadrian was silent.\n\n\"What?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"I just hate to run out on them like that. I mean, they're starting to turn it around now.\"\n\n\"You do this all the time. You get these lost causes under your skin-\"\n\n\"I'd like to remind you, coming here was your idea. I was in the process of declining the job, remember?\"\n\n\"Well, a lot can happen in a day; maybe I'll find away in tomorrow.\"\n\nHadrian stepped to the doorway and peered out. \"The forest is loud. Looks like our friend isn't coming to visit us tonight. Maybe Esrahaddon's flames singed its wings and it's dining on venison this evening.\"\n\n\"The fires won't keep it away forever,\" Royce said. \"According to the wizard, the fires didn't hurt it; they just confused it-bright lights do that, apparently. Only the sword in the tower can actually harm it. It will be back.\"\n\n\"Then we'd best take advantage of its absence and get a good night's sleep.\"\n\nHadrian went down into the cellar, leaving Royce staring out at the night sky and the gathering clouds that crossed the stars. The wind was still up, whipping the trees and battering the fires. He could almost smell it: change was in the air and it was blowing their way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Royce stood on the bank of the river in the early morning light, trying to skip stones out toward the tower. None of them made more than a single jump before the turbulent water consumed them. His most recent idea for reaching the tower centered on building a small boat and launching himself upriver in the hopes of landing on the rocky parapet before the massive current washed him over the falls. Although there was no clear landing ground for such an attempt, it might be possible if he caught the current just right and landed against the rock. The force of the water would likely smash the boat or drive it under when it met the wall, but he might be able to scramble onto the precipice before going over. The problem was even if he managed to perform this harrowing feat, there was noway back.\n\nHe turned to seethe wizard walking up the river trail. Perhaps to keep an eye on him but more likely to be on hand should he discover the entrance.\n\n\"Morning,\" the wizard said. \"Any epiphanies today?\"\n\n\"Just one. There is noway to reach that tower.\"\n\nEsrahaddon looked disappointed.\n\n\"I have exhausted all the possibilities I can think of. Besides, Theron and Thrace are going to be leaving Dahlgren. I no longer have a reason to bang my head against this tower.\"\n\n\"I see,\" Esrahaddon said, staring down at him. \"What about the welfare of the village?\"\n\n\"Hardly my problem. This village shouldn't even be here, remember? It's a violation of the treaty. It would be best if all these people left.\"\n\n\"If we allow it to be wiped out, it could be seen as a sign of weakness and invite the elves to invade.\"\n\n\"And allowing the village to survive is breaking the treaty, resulting in the same possibility. Fortunately for me, I am not wearing a crown. I am not the emperor, or a king, so it's not something I need to deal with.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're just going to leave?\"\n\n\"Is there a reason for me to stay?\"\n\nThe wizard raised an eyebrow and looked long at the thief. \"What do you want?\" he asked at length.\n\n\"Are you proposing to pay me now?\"\n\n\"We both know I have no money, but still you want something from me. What is it?\"\n\n\"The truth. What are you after? What happened here nine hundred years ago?\"\n\nThe wizard studied Royce fora moment and looked down at his feet. After a few minutes, he nodded. He walked over to a beech log that lay across the granite rock, and sat down. He looked out toward the water and the spray as if searching for something in the mist, something that was not there.\n\n\"I was the youngest member of the Cenzars. We were the council of wizards that worked directly for the emperor. The greatest wizards the world had ever seen. There was also the Teshlors, comprised of the greatest of the emperor's knights. Tradition dictated that a mentor from each council was to serve as teacher and full-time protector to the emperor's son and heir. Because I was the youngest, it fell tome to be Nevrik's Cenzar instructor, while Jerish Grelad was picked from the Teshlors. Jerish and I didn't get along. Like most of the Teshlors, he held a distrust of wizards, and I thought little of him and his brutish, violent ways.\n\n\"Nevrik, however, brought us together. Like his father, the emperor Nareion, Nevrik was a breed apart, and it was an honor to teach him. Jerish and I spent nearly all our time with Nevrik. I taught him lore, books, and the Art, while Jerish instructed him in the schools of combat and warfare. Though I still felt the practice of physical combat was beneath the emperor and his son, it was very clear that Jerish was as devoted to Nevrik as I was. In that middle ground, we found a foothold where we could stand together. When the emperor decided to break tradition and travel hereto Avempartha with his son, we went along.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Break tradition?\"\n\n\"It had been centuries since an emperor had spoken directly to the elves.\"\n\n\"After the war, there wasn't tribute paid or anything like that?\"\n\n\"No, all contact was severed at the Nidwalden, so it was a very exciting time. No one really knew what to expect. I personally knew very little about Avempartha beyond the historical account of how it was the site of the last battle of the Great Elven Wars. The emperor met with several top officials of the Erivan Empire in the tower while Jerish and I attempted, without much luck, to continue Nevrik's studies. The sight of the waterfall and the elven architecture was too much to compete with for the attention of a twelve-year-old boy.\n\n\"It was around dusk, nearly night. Nevrik had been pointing things out to us all day, reveling in the fact that neither Jerish nor I could identify any of the elven things he found. For example, there were several sets of elven clothes made of a shimmering material that we couldn't name drying in the sun. This was, of course, the first time in centuries that humans had met with elves, placing us at a distinct disadvantage. Nevrik delighted in stumping his teachers, so when he asked about the thing he saw flying toward the tower, I thought he saw a bird, or a bat, but he said it was too large and that it looked like a serpent. He mentioned it had flown into one of the high windows of the tower. Nevrik was so adamant about it that we all went back inside. We had just started up the main staircase when we heard the screams.\n\n\"It sounded like a war was being fought above us. The personal bodyguards of the emperor-a detachment of Teshlors-were fighting off the Gilarabrywn, protecting the emperor as they fled down the stairs. I saw groups of elves throwing themselves at the creature, dying to protect our emperor.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The elves were?\"\n\nEsrahaddon nodded. \" I was amazed by the sight. The whole scene is still so vivid tome even after nearly a thousand years. Still, nothing the knights or the elves could do stopped the attacking beast, which seemed determined to kill the emperor. It was a terrible battle, with knights falling on the stairs and dying upon the wet steps, elves joining them. The emperor ordered us to get Nevrik to safety.\n\n\"Jerish grabbed the boy and dragged him out of the tower kicking and screaming, but I hesitated. I realized that once outside, the flying beast would be able to swoop down and kill at will. The Art could not defeat it. The creature was magic and without the key to unlock the spell, nothing I could do would alter that enchantment. A thought came tome, and as the emperor exited the door, I cast an enchantment of binding-not on the beast, but on the tower, trapping the Gilarabrywn inside. Those knights and elves still inside died, but the beast was trapped.\"\n\n\"Where did it come from? What caused the thing to attack?\"\n\nEsrahaddon shrugged. \"The elves insisted they knew nothing of the attack, and that they had no idea where the Gilarabrywn came from, except that one Gilarabrywn had been left unaccounted for after the wars. They assumed it destroyed. They mentioned a militant society, a growing movement of elves within the Erivan Empire that sought to incite a war. It was speculated they were responsible. The elven lords apologized and assured us they would investigate the matter fully. The emperor, convinced that to retaliate or even make the incident public was unwise, chose to ignore the attack and returned home.\"\n\n\"So what's this about a weapon?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Gilarabrywn is a conjured creature, a powerful magic endowed with a life of its own beyond the existence of its creator." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The creature is not truly alive; it cannot reproduce, grow old, or appreciate existence, but it also cannot die. It can, however, be dispelled. No enchantment is perfect; every magic has a seam where the weave can be unraveled. In the case of the Gilarabrywn, the seam is its name. Whenever a Gilarabrywn is created, so is an object-a sword, etched with its name. It is used to control the beast and, if necessary, destroy it. According to the elves, at the end of the war they placed all the Gilarabrywn swords in the tower, per Novron's orders. At that time all the swords were accounted for and all but one was notched to show their associated beast was destroyed.\"\n\nRoyce got up to stretch his legs. \"Okay, so the elven lords held one of their monsters back just in case, or this militant group hid one to cause trouble. The elven leaders tell you all the swords are in there. Maybe they are, or maybe they aren't, and they just want-\"\n\n\"It's in there,\" Esrahaddon interrupted.\n\n\"You saw it?\"\n\n\"We were given a tour when we first arrived. Near the top is a sort of memorial to the war. All the swords are on display.\"\n\n\"All right, so there is a sword,\" Royce said, \"but that's not why you want in. You didn't come hereto save Dahlgren. Why are you really here?\"\n\n\"You didn't allow me to finish,\" Esrahaddon replied, sounding every bit like the wise teacher letting his student know to be patient. \"The emperor believed he had prevented a war with the elves and returned home, but what waited for him was an execution. While we were away, the church, under the leadership of Patriarch Venlin, planned the emperor's assassination. The attack came on the steps of the palace during a celebration commemorating the anniversary of the empire's founding. Jerish and I escaped with Nevrik. I knew that many of the Cenzars and the Teshlors were involved in the church's plot and that they would find us, so Jerish and I came up with a plan-we hid Nevrik and I created two talismans. One I gave to Nevrik and the other to Jerish. These amulets would hide them from the clairvoyant search the Cenzars were certain to make, but allow me to find them. Then I sent them away.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"And you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Royce asked.\n\n\"I stayed behind. I tried to save the emperor.\" He paused, looking faraway. \"I failed.\"\n\n\"So what happened to the heir?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"How should I know? I was locked up in a prison for nine hundred years. Do you think he wrote me? Jerish was supposed to take him into hiding.\" The wizard allowed himself a grim smile. \"We both thought it would only be fora month or so.\"\n\n\"So you don't even know if an heir exists anymore?\"\n\n\"I'm pretty confident the church didn't kill him or they would have killed me shortly thereafter, but what became of Jerish and Nevrik I don't know. If anyone could have kept Nevrik alive, it would have been Jerish. Despite his age, he was one of the best knights the emperor had. The fact that he trusted his son to his care was testament to that. Like all Teshlor knights, Jerish was a master of all the schools of combat; there wouldn't have been a man alive who could beat him in battle, and he would have died before surrendering Nevrik. They would both be dead now, of course-time would have seen to that. So would their great-great-grandchildren if they had any. I suspect Jerish would have known the need to perpetuate the line and would have settled down somewhere quiet and encouraged Nevrik to marry and have children.\"\n\n\"And wait for you?\"\n\n\"What's that?\"\n\n\"That was the plan, wasn't it? They run and hide and you stay behind and find them when it was safe?\"\n\n\"Something like that.\"\n\n\"So you had away to contact them. Away to locate the heir? Something to do with the amulets.\"\n\n\"Nine hundred years ago I would have said yes, but finding their descendants now is probably a fool's dream. Time can destroy so many things.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But you are trying nevertheless.\"\n\n\"What else is therefor an old crippled outlaw to do?\"\n\n\"Care to tell me how you plan to find them?\"\n\n\"I can't do that. I've already told you more than I should have. The heir has enemies and, as fond as I have grown of you, that kind of secret stays with me. I owe that much to Jerish and Nevrik.\"\n\n\"But something in that tower is part of it. That's why you want to get inside.\" Royce thought a moment. \"You sealed that tower just before you went to prison, and since the Gilarabrywn was only recently released, you can be almost certain that the interior of that tower hasn't been touched in all that time. It's the only place that's still the same as the day you left it. There's something in there you saw that day, or something you left there-something you need to find the heir.\"\n\n\"It is a shame you aren't as good at deciphering away to get into the tower.\"\n\n\"About that,\" Royce said. \"You mentioned that the emperor met with the elves in the tower. They aren't allowed on this bank, right?\"\n\n\"Correct.\"\n\n\"And there was no bridge on their side of the river, right?\"\n\n\"Again correct.\"\n\n\"But you never saw how they entered the tower?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\nRoyce thought a moment, then asked, \"Why were the stairs wet?\"\n\nEsrahaddon looked at him, puzzled. \"What's that?\"\n\n\"You said earlier that when the knights were fighting off the Gilarabrywn, they died on the wet steps. Was it blood?\"\n\n\"No, water, I think. I remember how the stairs were wet when we were climbing up, because it made the stone so slippery I nearly fell. Some of the knights did fall; that's why I remember it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And you said the elves had clothes drying in the sun?\"\n\nEsrahaddon shook his head. \"I see where you are going with this, but not even an elf can swim to the tower.\"\n\n\"That maybe true, but then why were they wet? Was it a hot day? Could they have been swimming?\"\n\nEsrahaddon raised his eyebrows incredulously. \"In that river? No, it was early spring and still cold.\"\n\n\"Then how'd they get wet?\"\n\nRoyce heard a faint sound behind him. He started to turn but stopped himself.\n\n\"We're not alone,\" he whispered.\n\n\"When you lunge, step in with the leg on your weapon side; it will give you more reach and better balance,\" Hadrian told Theron.\n\nThe two were at the well again. They had gotten up early and Hadrian was putting Theron through some basic moves using two makeshift swords they had created out of rake handles. To his surprise, Theron was spryer than he looked, and despite his size, the old man moved well. Hadrian had gone over the basics of parries, ripostes, flèches, presses, and the lunge, and they were now working on a compound attack comprising a feint, a parry, and a riposte.\n\n\"Cuts and thrusts must follow one upon the other without pause. The emphasis is always on speed, aggression, and deception. And everything is kept as simple as possible,\" Hadrian explained.\n\n\"I'd listen to him. If anyone knows stick fighting, it's Hadrian.\"\n\nHadrian and Theron turned to see two equestrians riding into the village clearing, each leading a pack pony laden with poles and bundles. They were young men not much older than Thrace, but dressed like young princes, in handsome doublets and hose complete with box-pleated frill and lace edging." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Mauvin!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fanen?\" Hadrian said, astonished.\n\n\"Don't look so surprised.\" Mauvin gave his horse rein to graze on the common's grass.\n\n\"Well, that's a little hard at this point. What in Maribor's name are you two doing here?\"\n\nJust then a procession of musicians, heralds, knights, wagons, and carriages emerged from the dense forest. Long banners of red and gold streamed in the morning light as standard-bearers preceded the march, followed by the plumed imperial guards of the Nyphron Church.\n\nHadrian and Theron moved aside against the trees for safety as the grand parade of elegantly draped stallions and gold-etched white carriages rolled in. There were well-dressed clergy and chain-mailed soldiers, knights with their squires leading packhorses laden with fine sets of shining metal armor. There were nobility with standards from as faraway as Calis and Trent, but also commoners, rough men with broadswords and scarred faces, monks in tattered robes, and woodsmen with longbows and green hoods. Such an assortment of diverse characters made Hadrian think of a circus he had once seen, although this column of men and horses was far too grim and serious to be a carnival. Bringing up the rear echelon was a group of six riders in black and red with the symbol of a broken crown on their chests. At their head rode a tall thin man with long black hair and a short trimmed beard.\n\n\"So they've finally decided to do something about this,\" Hadrian said. \"I'm impressed the church would go to such an effort to save a little village so far out that even its own king doesn't care. But that still doesn't explain why you two are here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm hurt.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mauvin feigned a chest pain. \"Granted, I'm only hereto help Fanen, but I might try my hand as well. Although, if you're going to be competing, it looks as if we shouldn't have bothered with the trip.\"\n\nTheron whispered to Hadrian, \"Who are these people? And what is he talking about?\"\n\n\"Ah-sorry, this is Mauvin and Fanen Pickering, sons of Count Pickering of Galilin in Melengar, who are apparently very lost. Mauvin, Fanen, this is Theron Wood; he's a farmer.\"\n\n\"And he's paying you for lessons? Smart idea, but how did you two get here ahead of the rest of us? I didn't see you at any of the camps. Oh, what am I thinking? You and Royce probably had no trouble discovering the location of the contest.\"\n\n\"Contest?\"\n\n\"Royce was probably hiding under the archbishop's desk as he setup the rules. So will it be swords? If it's swords, Fanen has areal chance to win, but if it's a joust, well...\" He glanced at his brother, who scowled. \"He's really not that good. Do you know how the eliminations will work? I can't imagine they will pit noble against commoner, which means Fanen won't be competing with you, so-\"\n\n\"You're not hereto slay the Gilarabrywn? Are you saying these people are here for that stupid contest?\"\n\n\"Gilarabrywn? What's a Gilarabrywn? Is that like Oswald the bear? Heard about him coming through Dunmore. Terrorized villages for years until the king killed him with just a dagger.\"\n\nThe entourage traveled past them without pause up toward the manor house. One of the coaches separated from the group just after it cleared the well. It stopped, and a young well-dressed woman exited and ran to them, holding the edge of her skirt up to avoid the dirt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hadrian!\" she cried with a bright smile.\n\nHadrian bowed, and Theron joined him.\n\n\"Is this your father, Hadrian?\" she asked.\n\n\"No, Your Highness. May I present Theron Wood of Dahlgren Village. Theron, this is Her Royal Highness Princess Arista of Melengar.\"\n\nTheron stared at Hadrian, shocked. \"You really get around, don't you?\"\n\nHadrian smiled awkwardly and shrugged.\n\n\"Hey, Arista,\" Fanen said. \"Guess what. Hadrian says the contest is to kill a beast.\"\n\n\"I didn't say that.\"\n\n\"Which is just fine by me, because if Hadrian was going to be competing, I think I would have to withdraw. But now, a hunt is a much different story. You know luck is often a deciding factor in these things.\"\n\n\"\"These things\"?\" Arista laughed at him. \"Attended several beast-slaying contests, have you, Fanen?\"\n\n\"Bah!\" Fanen scoffed. \"You know what I mean. Sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time.\"\n\nMauvin shrugged. \"Doesn't sound like much of a contest for noblemen, really. If it turns out to be true, I'll be disappointed. Slaughtering a poor animal is no good use fora Pickering's sword.\"\n\n\"Say, did you also hear what the prize will be?\" Fanen asked. \"The way they've been selling this contest in every square, church, and tavern across Avryn, it has to be big. Will it just be a gold trophy, or is it land? I'm hoping to get an estate out of this. Mauvin will inherit our father's title, but I have to fend for myself. What does this animal look like? Is it a bear? Is it big? Have you seen it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hadrian and Theron exchanged stunned looks.\n\n\"What is it?\" Fanen asked. \"It's not dead already?\"\n\n\"No,\" Hadrian said. \"It's not dead already.\"\n\n\"Oh good.\"\n\n\"Your Highness!\" A woman's voice came from the carriage still lingering up the trail. \"We need to be going-the archbishop will be waiting.\"\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" she told them. \"I have to go. It was good seeing you again.\" She waved and ran back to her waiting carriage.\n\n\"We should probably be going too,\" Mauvin said. \"We want to get Fanen's name as near to the top of the list as we can.\"\n\n\"Wait,\" Hadrian told them. \"Don't enter the contest.\"\n\n\"What?\" they both said.\n\n\"We rode days to get here for this,\" Fanen complained.\n\n\"Take my advice. Turnaround right now and head back home. Take Arista with you too and anyone else you can convince to go. If it is a competition to kill the Gilarabrywn, don't sign up. You don't want to fight this thing. I'm serious. You don't know what you're dealing with. If you try and fight this creature, it will kill you.\"\n\n\"But you think you can kill it?\"\n\n\"I'm not fighting it. Royce and I were just here doing a job for Theron's daughter and we were about to leave.\"\n\n\"Royce is here too?\" Fanen asked, looking around.\n\n\"Do your father a favor and leave now.\"\n\nMauvin frowned. \"If you were anyone else, I would take your tone as insolent. I might even call you a coward and a liar, but I know you're neither.\" Mauvin sighed and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. \"Still, we did ride an awfully long way to just turnaround. You say you were preparing to leave? When will that be?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hadrian looked at Theron.\n\n\"Another two days, I think,\" the old farmer told Hadrian. \"I don't want to go until I know Thrace will be okay.\"\n\n\"Then we will stay here for that long and see for ourselves what's what. If it turns out to be as you say, we will leave with you. Is that fair, Fanen?\"\n\n\"I don't see why you can't go and I stay. After all, I'm the one going to enter the contest.\"\n\n\"No one is going to kill that thing, Fanen,\" Hadrian told him. \"Listen, I have been here for 3 nights. I have seen it and I know what it can do. It's not a matter of skill or courage. Your sword won't harm it; no one's will. Fighting that creature is nothing more than suicide.\"\n\n\"I'm not deciding yet,\" Fanen declared. \"We aren't even certain what the contest is. I won't sign upright away, but I'm not leaving either.\"\n\n\"Dome a favor, then,\" Hadrian told them. \"At least stay indoors tonight.\"\n\nSomething, or someone, was in the thickets.\n\nRoyce left Esrahaddon and moved away to the river's edge, careful not to look in the direction of the sound. He descended from the rocks to the depression near the river and slipped into the trees, circling back. Something was there and it was working hard to be quiet.\n\nAt first, Royce caught a glimpse of orange and blue through the leaves and almost thought it was nothing more than a bluebird, but then it shifted. It was far too large to be a bird. Royce drew closer and saw alight brown braided beard, abroad flat nose, a blue leather vest, large black boots, and a bright orange shirt with puffed sleeves." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Magnus!\" Royce greeted the dwarf loudly, causing him to stumble and fallout of the bramble. He slipped backward off the little grassy ledge and fell on his back on the bare rock not far from where Esrahaddon sat. With the wind knocked out of him, the dwarf lay gasping for breath.\n\nRoyce leapt down and placed his dagger to the dwarf's throat.\n\n\"A lot of people have been looking for you,\" Royce told him menacingly. \"I have to admit, I rather wanted to see you again myself to thank you for all the help you gave me in Essendon Castle.\"\n\n\"Don't tell me this is the dwarf that killed King Amrath of Melengar,\" Esrahaddon said.\n\n\"His name is Magnus, or at least that's what Percy Braga called him. He's a master trap builder and stone carver, isn't that right?\"\n\n\"It's my business!\" the dwarf protested, still struggling for air. \"I'm a craftsman. I take jobs the same as you. You can't fault a guy for working.\"\n\n\"I almost died due to your work,\" Royce told him. \"And you killed the king. Alric will be very pleased when I tell him I finally eliminated you. And as I recall, there's a price on your head.\"\n\n\"Wait-hang on!\" Magnus shouted. \"It was nothing personal. Can you tell me you never killed anyone for money, Royce?\"\n\nRoyce hesitated.\n\n\"Yes, I know who you are,\" the dwarf told him. \"I wanted to find out who beat my trap. You used to work for the Black Diamond, and not as a delivery boy either. It was my job, I tell you. I don't care about politics, or Braga, or Essendon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I suspect he's telling the truth,\" Esrahaddon said. \"I've never known a dwarf to care at all for the affairs of humans beyond the coin they can obtain.\"\n\n\"See, he knows what I am saying. You can let me go.\"\n\n\"I said you were telling the truth, not that he should let you live. In fact, now that I can see you have been eavesdropping on our conversations, I have to encourage the notion of ending your life. I can't be sure how much you heard.\"\n\n\"What?\" the dwarf cried.\n\n\"After slitting his throat, you can just roll his little body off the ledge here.\" The wizard stepped up and looked over the cliff.\n\n\"No,\" Royce replied, \"it will be better to toss him off the falls. He's not that heavy; his body will likely carryall the way to the Goblin Sea.\"\n\n\"Do you need his head?\" Esrahaddon asked. \"To take back to Alric?\"\n\n\"It would be nice, but I'm not carrying a severed head fora week while traveling through those woods. It would draw every fly for miles and it would stink after a few hours. Trust me, I speak from experience.\"\n\nThe dwarf looked at both of them in horror.\n\n\"No! No!\" he shouted in panic as Royce pressed his blade to his neck. \"I can help you. I can show you how to get to the tower!\"\n\nRoyce looked at the wizard, who appeared skeptical.\n\n\"For the love of Drome. I'm a dwarf. I know stone. I know rock. I know where the tunnel to the tower is.\"\n\nRoyce relaxed his dagger.\n\n\"Let me live and I'll show it to you.\" He turned his head toward Esrahaddon. \"And as for what I heard, I care nothing about the affairs of wizards and men. I'll never say a word. If you know dwarves, well, then you know we're a lot like stone when we choose to be.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So there is a tunnel,\" Royce said.\n\n\"Of course there is.\"\n\n\"Before I decide,\" Royce asked, \"what are you doing here?\"\n\n\"I was finishing another job, that's all.\"\n\n\"And what was this job?\"\n\n\"Nothing sinister, I just made a sword fora guy.\"\n\n\"All the way out here? Who is this person?\"\n\n\"Lord Rufus somebody. I was hired to come hereto make it. I was told he would meet me. Honest, no traps, no killings.\"\n\n\"And how are you still alive? How did you get out of Melengar? How is it you haven't been caught?\"\n\n\"My employer is very powerful.\"\n\n\"This Rufus guy?\"\n\n\"No. I'm making the sword for him, but Rufus isn't my employer.\"\n\n\"So who is?\"\n\nRoyce heard footfalls. Someone was running up the trail. Thinking it might be the dwarf's associates, he slipped behind Magnus. He gripped his hair, pulled his head back, and prepared to slit his throat.\n\n\"Royce!\" Tad Bothwick shouted up to them from down near the water.\n\n\"What is it, Tad?\" he asked cautiously.\n\n\"Hadrian sent me. He says you should comeback to the village right away, but that Esra should steer clear.\"\n\n\"Why?\" the wizard asked.\n\n\"Hadrian said to tell you that the Church of Nyphron just arrived.\"\n\n\"The church?\" Esrahaddon muttered. \"Here?\"\n\n\"Is there a Lord Rufus with them?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"Could be. There's a whole lot of fancy folk around. Must beat least one lord in the bunch.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Any idea why they're here, Tad?\"\n\n\"Nope.\"\n\n\"You might want to make yourself scarce,\" Royce told the wizard. \"Someone might have mentioned your name. I'll go see what's happening. In the meantime\"-he looked down at the dwarf-\"it would appear your employer has just arrived. Your death sentence has been suspended. This kindly old man is going to watch you this afternoon, and you're going to stay right here. Then later you're going to show us where this tunnel is, and if you're telling the truth about knowing, then you live. Anything short of that and you're going over the falls in two pieces. Agreed? Good.\" He looked back at the wizard. \"Want me to tie him up or just hit him over the head with a rock?\" Royce asked, panicking the dwarf again.\n\n\"Won't be necessary. Magnus here looks like the honorable type. Besides, I can still manage a few surprisingly unpleasant things. Do you know what it is like to have live ants trapped inside your head?\"\n\nThe dwarf did not move or speak. Royce searched him. He found a belt under his clothes with little hammers and some rock-shaping tools and a dagger. Royce looked at the dagger, surprised.\n\n\"I tried copying it,\" the dwarf told him nervously. \"It's not very good; I was working from memory.\"\n\nRoyce compared it to his own dagger. The two were very similar in design, though the blades were clearly different. Royce's weapon was made of an almost translucent metal that shimmered in the light, while Magnus's dagger seemed dull and heavy by comparison. The thief threw the dagger over the cliff.\n\n\"That's a magnificent weapon you have,\" the dwarf told him, mesmerized by the blade that a moment before had been at his throat. \"It's a Tur blade, isn't it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Royce ignored him and spoke to Esrahaddon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Keep an eye on him. I'll be back later.\"\n\nArista took her seat on the balcony above the entrance to the great hall of the manor house, along with the entourage of the archbishop, which included Sauly and Sentinel Luis Guy. It was a very small balcony, created of rough logs and thick ropes, where only a few could fit, but Bernice managed to squeeze her way in and remained standing just behind her. Bernice's hovering out of sight was as irritating as a mosquito in the dark.\n\nArista had no idea what was going on-few people appeared to.\n\nWhen they had arrived, everything was in chaos. The lord of the manor was apparently dead and the place was filled with peasants. They were promptly chased out. Luis Guy and his seret established order and assigned quarters based on rank. She was given a cramped but private room on the second level. It was a ghastly place, lacking even a single window. A bear rug lay on the floor, the head of a moose looked down at her from above the bed, and a coatrack made from deer antlers hung from the wall. Bernice was busy unpacking her clothes from the trunk when Sauly stopped by, insisting Arista join him on the balcony. At first, she thought the contest might be starting, but it was common knowledge it would begin at nightfall.\n\nA trumpeter stepped up to the rail and blared a fanfare on his horn. Below, in the courtyard, a crowd formed. Men rushed over, some holding drinks or half-eaten meals. One man trotted up still buttoning his pants. The growing audience created amass of heads and shoulders bunched together, all staring up at them.\n\nThe archbishop slowly stood up. Dressed in full regalia of long embroidered robes, he spread his arms in a grand gesture and spoke, his raspy voice barely adequate to the task." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is time to announce the details of this event and reveal the profound happening that you, the devoted of Novron, are about to take part in, an event so monumental that its conclusion will seethe world altered forever.\"\n\nSeveral people in the back complained they could not hear, but the archbishop ignored them and went on. \" I know some of you came believing this contest was to be a battle of swords or lances, like some Wintertide tournament. Instead, what you will see is nothing less than a miracle. Some of you will die, one will succeed, and the rest will bear witness to the world.\n\n\"A terrible evil haunts this place. Hereon the Nidwalden River, at the edge of the world, there is a beast. Not a great bearlike Oswald that terrorized Glamrendor. This creature is none other than the legendary Gilarabrywn, a horror not seen since the days of Novron himself. A monster so terrible that even in those days of heroes and gods, only Novron, or one of his blood, could slay it. It will be your task, your challenge, to slay the creature and save this poor village from the ancient curse.\"\n\nA murmur broke out among those gathered, and the archbishop raised his hands to quiet them. \"Silence. For I have not yet told you of the reward!\"\n\nHe waited as the mob grew quiet, many pushing closer to hear.\n\n\"As I said, the Gilarabrywn is a beast that only Novron or one of his bloodline can slay, and as such, he that succeeds in vanquishing this terror can be none other than the heir to the imperial crown, the long-lost Heir of Novron!\"\n\nThe reaction was surprisingly quiet. There were no cheers, no shouts of jubilation. The crowd as a whole appeared stunned. They remained staring, as if expecting more. The archbishop in turn looked around, equally bewildered by the hesitancy of the congregation." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did he just say the winner would be the heir?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Arista asked, looking at Sauly, who appeared as if he'd just smelled something unpleasant. He smiled at her and, standing up, whispered in the archbishop's ear. The older man took his seat and Bishop Saldur addressed the crowd.\n\n\"For centuries the church has struggled to find the true heir, to restore the bloodline of our holy lord Novron the Great.\" Sauly's voice was loud and warm and carried well on the pine-scented afternoon air. \" We have searched, but all we had to guide us were old books and rumors. Speculation, really, hopes and dreams. There has never been a means of finding him, no absolute method to determine where the heir was, or who he maybe. Many have falsely claimed to be his descendent, many unworthy men have striven to take that lofty crown, and the church has sat helpless.\n\n\"Still, we have faith he is out there. Novron would not allow his own blood to die. We know he lives. He maybe oblivious to who he is. A thousand years have passed since his disappearance, and who of us can accurately trace our lineage back to the days of the Old Empire? Who knows if one of us might have an ancestor who went to his grave with a terrible secret? A terrible, wonderful secret.\n\n\"The Gilarabrywn is a miracle Novron has sent. It is a tool to show us his son. He has confided this to the Patriarch and told His Holiness that he should hold a contest and if he did, the heir would be among the contestants, the truth of his lineage, oblivious even to himself.\n\n\"So you see, you-anyone of you-maybe the Heir of Novron, possessor of divine blood-a god. Have any of you sensed a power within? A belief in your own worth beyond that of others? This is your chance to prove to all of Elan that you are no fool, no mere man. Place your name upon the roster, ride out at nightfall, slay the beast, and you will become our divine ruler. You will not be a mere king, but emperor, and all kings will bow to you. You will take the imperial throne in Aquesta. All loyal Imperialists and the full force of the church will support you as we usher in anew age of order that will bring peace and harmony to the land. All you need do is destroy one lonely beast." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What say you?\"\n\nThis time the crowd cheered. Saldur glanced briefly at the archbishop and stepped away from the balcony to take a seat.\n\nWhen Royce reached Dahlgren, the village was in turmoil. People were everywhere. Most of the villagers were heading toward the common well. There were plenty of new faces, all of them men, most carrying some sort of weapon. Royce found Hadrian mobbed by villagers at the well. None of them looked happy.\n\n\"Where do we go now?\" Selen Brockton asked, in tears.\n\nHadrian once more stepped upon the well, standing over the crowd and looking like he wanted to break something. \"I don't know, Mrs. Brockton. Home, I guess-for now, at least.\"\n\n\"But our home has a thatched roof.\"\n\n\"Try digging cellars and getting as low as possible.\"\n\n\"What's going on?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"The Archbishop of Ghent has arrived and moved into the manor house. He and his clergy, as well as a few dozen nobles, have taken over the castle and driven everyone else out. Well, except for Russell, Dillon, and Kline, whom he ordered to fill in the shelter and the tunnel we were digging, saying they could repair the damages or hang for destruction of property. Good old Deacon Tomas, he stands there nodding and saying, \"I told them not to do it, but they wouldn't listen. ' They kept most of the livestock too, saying it was in the castle, so it belonged to the manor. Now everyone blames me for losing their animals.\"\n\n\"What about the bonfires?\" Royce asked. \"We could still build one herein the commons.\"\n\n\"No good,\" Hadrian told him. \"His Lordship declared it unlawful to cut trees in the area and confiscated the oxen with the rest of the animals.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did you tell him what will happen when the sun goes down?\"\n\n\"I can't tell him anything.\" Hadrian threw up his hands, running his fingers through his hair as if he might start pulling it out. \"I can't get past the twenty-odd soldiers he has at the castle gate. Which is a good thing too or I might kill the guy.\"\n\n\"Why is the church here at all?\"\n\n\"That's the kicker,\" Hadrian told him. \"You know that competition the church has been announcing? Turns out that contest is to slay the Gilarabrywn.\"\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"They intend to send contestants out to fight the thing at nightfall, and if they die, they'll send the next one. They've got a damn list nailed to the castle gate.\"\n\n\"It's all right, it's all right,\" Deacon Tomas shouted.\n\nEveryone turned to seethe cleric coming down the trail from the castle, approaching the crowd at the well. He walked with his hands raised as if in blessing. On his face he had a great smile, which turned his eyes into half-moons. \"Everything is going to be fine,\" he told them in aloud confident voice. \"The archbishop has come to help us. They are going to kill the beast and save us from this nightmare.\"\n\n\"What about our livestock?\" Vince Griffin asked.\n\n\"They will need most of them to feed the troops, but what isn't used will be returned after the beast has been slain.\"\n\nThe crowd grumbled.\n\n\"Now, now, what price do you put on safety? What price do you put on the lives of your children? Area pig and a cow worth the lives of your children? Your wife? Consider it a tithe and be thankful the church has come to Dahlgren to save us. No one else has. The King of Dunmore ignored us, but your church has responded by sending not just some knight or margrave, but the Archbishop of Ghent himself. Soon the beast will be dead and Dahlgren will be a place of happiness once more. If that means one year of no meat, and plowing without an ox, surely that's not too high a price to pay. Now, everyone, please, back to your homes. Stay out of their way and let them do their work.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What about my daughter?\" Theron growled, and pushed forward, looking like he might kill the deacon.\n\n\"It's all right, I've spoken with the archbishop and Bishop Saldur; they have agreed to let her stay. They have moved her to a smaller room, but-\"\n\n\"They won't let me into see her!\" the old farmer snapped.\n\n\"I know, I know,\" Tomas said in a soothing voice. \"But I can. I just came down to explain things. I am heading right back, and I promise you, I'll stay by her side and watch over her until she is well.\"\n\nHadrian slipped out of the crowd that now shifted around the deacon. He turned to Royce with a bitter look. \"Tell me you found away into the tower.\"\n\nRoyce shrugged. \"Maybe. We'll need to check it out tonight.\"\n\n\"Tonight?\" Hadrian asked. \"Shouldn't such things be done in the daylight? When we can both see and things with complicated names aren't flying around?\"\n\n\"Not if I'm right.\"\n\n\"And if you're wrong?\"\n\n\"If I'm wrong, we'll both certainly die-most likely by being eaten.\"\n\n\"The thing is, I know you're not kidding. Did I mention I lost my weapons?\"\n\n\"With any luck we won't need them. What we will need, however, is a good length of rope, sixty feet at least,\" Royce told him. \"Lanterns, wax, a tinderbox-\"\n\n\"I'm not going to like this, am I?\" Hadrian asked miserably.\n\n\"Not at all,\" Royce replied." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Back in bed,\"the man shouted.\" Back in bed this instant!\" Arista was wandering the hallway of the manor house, as much to get to know her surroundings as to evade Bernice, who was insisting she take a nap. Initially she thought the yelling was directed at her, and while she put up with Bernice and her pampering, she was certainly not about to allow anyone to address her in such a manner as this brassy fellow seemed to be doing. She was no longer in her native kingdom of Melengar, where she was princess of the realm, but she was still a princess and an ambassador and no one had the right to speak to her like that.\n\nWith a fury in her countenance, she marched forward and, turning a corner, spotted a middle-aged man and a young girl. The girl was dressed only in her nightgown, her face battered and bruised. He held her wrist, attempting to drag her into a bedroom.\n\n\"Unhand her!\" Arista ordered. \"Hilfred! Guards!\"\n\nThe man and girl both looked at her, bewildered.\n\nHilfred raced around the corner and in an instant stood with sword drawn between his princess and the source of her anger.\n\n\"I said get your filthy hands off her this instant, or I'll have them removed at the wrists.\"\n\n\"But I-\" the man began.\n\nFrom the other direction, two imperial guards arrived. \"Milady?\" the guards greeted her.\n\nHilfred said nothing but merely pointed his sword at the man's throat.\n\n\"Take this wretch into custody,\" Arista ordered. \"He's forcing himself on this girl.\"\n\n\"No, no, please,\" the girl protested. \"It was my fault. I-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is not your fault.\" Arista looked at her with pity. \"And you needn't be afraid. I can see to it that he never bothers you, or anyone, again.\"\n\n\"Oh dear Maribor, protect me,\" the man prayed.\n\n\"Oh no, you don't understand,\" the girl said. \"He wasn't hurting me. He was trying to help me.\"\n\n\"How's that?\"\n\n\"I had an accident.\" She pointed to the bruises on her face. \"Deacon Tomas was taking care of me, but I was feeling better today and wanted to getup and walk, but he thought it best if I stay in bed another day. He is really only trying to lookout for me. Please don't hurt him. He's been so kind.\"\n\n\"You know this man?\" Arista asked the guards.\n\n\"He was cleared for entrance by the archbishop as the deacon of this village, my lady, and he was indeed attending to this girl, who is known as Thrace.\" Tomas, with his eyes wide with fear and Hilfred's sword steady at his throat, nodded as best he could and attempted a friendly though strained smile.\n\n\"Well,\" Arista said, pursing her lips, \"my mistake, then.\" She looked at the guards. \"Go back about your business.\"\n\n\"Princess.\" The guards bowed briskly, turned, and walked back the way they had come.\n\nHilfred slowly sheathed his sword.\n\nShe looked back at the two. \"My apologies, it's just that-that-well, never mind.\" She turned away, embarrassed.\n\n\"Oh no, Your Highness,\" Thrace said, attempting as best she could to curtsy. \"Thank you so much for coming to my aid, even if I didn't actually need it. It is good to know that someone as great as you would bother to help a poor farmer's daughter.\" Thrace looked at her in awe. \"I've never meta princess before. I've never even seen one.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I hope I'm not too much of a disappointment, then.\" Thrace was about to speak again but Arista beat her to it. \"What happened to you?\" She gestured at her face.\n\nThrace reached up, running her fingers over her forehead. \"Is it that bad?\"\n\n\"It was the Gilarabrywn, Your Highness,\" Tomas explained. \"Thrace and her father, Theron, were the only two to ever survive a Gilarabrywn attack. Now please, my dear girl, please get back in bed.\"\n\n\"But really, I am feeling much better.\"\n\n\"Let her walk with me a bit, Deacon,\" Arista said, softening her tone. \"If she feels worse, I'll get her back to bed.\"\n\nTomas nodded and bowed.\n\nArista took Thrace by the arm and led her up the hallway, Hilfred walking a few steps behind. They could not travel far, only thirty yards or so; the manor house was not areal castle. It was built from great rough-cut beams-some with the bark still on-and she guessed there were only about eight bedrooms. In addition, there were a parlor, an office, and the great hall, with a high ceiling and mounted heads of deer and bears. It reminded Arista of a cruder, smaller version of King Roswort's residence. The floor was made of wide pine planks, and the outer walls were thick logs. Nailed along them were iron lanterns holding flickering candles that cast semicircles of quivering light, for even though it was midafternoon, the interior of the manor was dark as a cave.\n\n\"You're so kind,\" the girl told her. \"The others treat me... as if I don't belong here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, I'm glad you are here,\" Arista replied. \"Other than my handmaiden, Bernice, I think you are the only other woman here.\"\n\n\"It is just that everyone else was sent back home and I feel so out of place, like I'm doing something wrong. Deacon Tomas says I'm not. He says I'm hurt and I need time to recover and that he'll see to it no one bothers me. He's been very nice. I think he feels as helpless as everyone else around here. Maybe taking care of me is a battle he feels he can win.\"\n\n\"I misjudged the deacon,\" Arista told her, \"and you. Are all farmers' daughters in Dahlgren so wise?\"\n\n\"Wise?\" Thrace looked embarrassed.\n\nArista smiled at her. \"Where is your family?\"\n\n\"My father is in the village. They won't let him into see me, but the deacon is working on that. I don't think it matters, as we will be leaving Dahlgren as soon as I can travel, which is another reason I want to get my strength back. I want to getaway from here. I want us to find anew place and start fresh. I'll find a man, get married, have a son, and call him Hickory.\"\n\n\"Quite the plan, but how are you feeling-really?\"\n\n\"I still have headaches and to be honest I'm getting a little dizzy right now.\"\n\n\"Maybe we should head back to your bedroom, then,\" Arista said, and they turned around.\n\n\"But I am feeling so much better than I was. That's another reason why I got up. I haven't been able to thank Esra. I thought he might be in the halls here somewhere.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Esra?\" Arista asked. \"Is he the village doctor?\"\n\n\"Oh no, Dahlgren's never had a doctor. Esra is-well, he's a very smart man. If it hadn't been for him, both me and my father would be dead by now. He was the one who made the medicine that saved me.\"\n\n\"He sounds like a great person.\"\n\n\"Oh, he is. I try to pay him back by helping him eat. He's very proud, you understand, and he would never ask, so I offer and I can see he appreciates it.\"\n\n\"Is he too poor to afford food?\"\n\n\"Oh no, he just doesn't have any hands.\"\n\n\"Tur is a myth,\" Esrahaddon was saying to the dwarf as Royce and Hadrian arrived at the falls.\n\n\"Says you,\" Magnus replied.\n\nThe wizard and the dwarf sat on the rocky escarpment facing each other, arguing over the roar. The sun, having dropped behind the trees, left the two in shadow, but the crystalline spires atop Avempartha caught the last rays of dying red light.\n\nEsrahaddon sighed. \"I'll never understand what it is about religion that causes otherwise sensible people to believe in fairy tales. Even in the world of religion, Tur is a parable, not a reality. You're dealing with myths based on legends based on superstitions and taking it literally. That is very undwarf-like. Are you certain you don't have some human blood in your ancestry?\"\n\n\"That's just insulting.\" Magnus glared at the wizard. \"You deny it, but the proof is right before you. If you had dwarven eyes, you could seethe truth in that blade.\" Magnus gestured at Royce." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What's this all about?\" Hadrian asked. \"Hello, Magnus, murder anyone lately?\"\n\nThe dwarf scowled.\n\n\"This dwarf insists that Royce's dagger was made by Kile,\" Esrahaddon explained.\n\n\"I didn't say that,\" the dwarf snapped. \"I said it was a Tur blade. It could have been made by anyone from Tur.\"\n\n\"What's Tur?\" Hadrian asked.\n\n\"A misguided cult of lunatics that worship a fictitious god. They named him Kile, of all things. You'd think they could have at least come up with a better name.\"\n\n\"I've never heard of Kile,\" Hadrian said. \"Now, I'm not a religious scholar, but if I remember what a little monk once told me, the dwarven god is Drome, the elvish god is Ferrol, and the human god is Maribor. Their sister, the goddess of flora and fauna, is... Muriel, right? And her son, Uberlin, is the god of darkness. So how does this Kile fit in?\"\n\n\"He's their father,\" Esrahaddon explained.\n\n\"Oh right, I forgot about him, but his name isn't Kile, it's... Erebus or something, isn't it? He raped his daughter and his sons killed him, but he's not really dead? It didn't make a lot of sense tome.\"\n\nEsrahaddon chuckled. \"Religion never does.\"\n\n\"So who is Kile?\"\n\n\"Well, the Cult of Tur, or Kile, as it is also known, insists that a god is immortal and cannot die. This deranged group of people appeared during the imperial reign of Estermon II and began circulating this story that Erebus had been drunk, or whatever equivalent there is to a god, when he raped his daughter, and he was ashamed for what he did. The story goes that Erebus allowed his children-the gods-to believe they had killed him. Then he came to Muriel in secret and begged her forgiveness. She told her father that she wasn't ready to forgive him and would only do so after he did penance. She said he had to do good deeds throughout Elan, but as a commoner, not as a god or even a king. For each act of sacrifice and kindness that she approved of, she would grant him a feather from her marvelous robe, and when her robe was gone, she would forgive and welcome him home." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Kile legend says that ages ago a stranger came to a poor village called Tur." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one knows where it was, of course, and over the centuries its location has changed in response to various claims, but the most common legend places it in Delgos, because it was being regularly attacked by the Dacca and, of course, because of the similarity in names to the port city of Tur Del Fur. The story goes that this stranger called himself Kile and, entering into Tur and seeing the terrible plight of the desperate villagers, taught them the art of weapon making to help in their defense. The weapons he taught them to make were reputed to be the greatest in the world, capable of cleaving through solid iron as if it were softwood. Their shields and armor were light and yet stronger than stone. Once he taught them the craft, they used it to defend their homes. After driving off the Dacca, legend says there was a thunderclap on a cloudless day, and from the heavens, a single white feather fell into Kile's hands. He wept at the gift and bid them all farewell, never to be seen again. At least not by the residents of Tur. Throughout the various reigns of different emperors, there always seemed to beat least one or two stories of Kile appearing here and there, doing good deeds and obtaining his feather. The legend stood out beyond all others because the poor village of Tur was now famous for its great weaponry.\"\n\n\"I've never heard of a town by that name.\"\n\n\"You aren't the only one,\" Esrahaddon said. \"So the myth experts added a page to their story, as so often happens with these ridiculous tales when they crash into the face of reality. Supposedly, the village was inundated with requests for arms. The Turists didn't feel it was right to make weapons for just anyone, so they only made a few, and only for those who had a just and good need. Powerful kings, however, decided to take the god-given craft secrets for themselves and prepared to battle for control of the village. On the day of the battle, however, the armies marched into discover that the village of Tur-all its inhabitants and buildings-was gone. Not a trace was left of their existence except fora single white feather that came from no known bird.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Convenient,\" Hadrian said.\n\n\"Exactly,\" the wizard replied. \"One mystery covered by another, but never any real evidence. Still it doesn't stop people from believing.\"\n\n\"For your information,\" Magnus spoke up, \" Tur Del Fur was once a dwarven city, and in my tongue, its name means Village of Tur, and there are legends among my people of it once having been the source of great craftsmen who knew the secrets of folding metal and making great swords.\n\n\"Any dwarf in Elan would give his beard for the secrets of Tur, or even the chance to study a Tur blade.\"\n\n\"And you think Alverstone is a Tur blade?\" Hadrian asked.\n\n\"What did you call it?\" Magnus asked, his beady eyes abruptly focusing on him.\n\n\"Alverstone, that's what Royce calls his dagger,\" Hadrian explained.\n\n\"Don't encourage him,\" Royce said, his eyes fixed on the tower.\n\n\"Where did he get this Alverstone?\" the dwarf asked, lowering his voice.\n\n\"It was a gift from a friend,\" Hadrian said, \"right?\"\n\n\"Who? And where did the friend get it from?\" the dwarf persisted.\n\n\"You are aware I can hear you?\" Royce told them; then, seeing something, he pointed toward Avempartha. \"There, look.\"\n\nThey all scrambled up to peer at the outline of the fading tower. The sun was down now and night was upon them. Like great mirrors, the river and the tower captured the starlight and the luminous moon. The mist from the falls appeared as an eerie white fog skirting the base. Near the top of the spires, a dark shape spread its wings and flew down along the course of the river. It wheeled and circled back over the falls, catching air currents and rising higher until, with a flap of its massive wings, the beast headed out over the trees above the forest, flying toward Dahlgren." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's its lair?\" Hadrian asked incredulously. \"It lives in the tower?\"\n\n\"Convenient, isn't it,\" Royce remarked, \"that the beast resides at the same place as the one weapon that can kill it.\"\n\n\"Convenient for whom?\"\n\n\"I guess that remains to be seen,\" Esrahaddon said.\n\nRoyce turned to the dwarf. \"All right, my little mason, shall we head to the tunnel? It's in the river, isn't it? Somewhere underwater?\"\n\nMagnus looked at him, surprised.\n\n\"I am only guessing, but from the look on your face, I must be right. It's the only place I haven't looked. Now, in return for your life, you'll show us exactly where.\"\n\nArista stood with the Pickerings on the south stockade wall watching the sunset over the gate. The wall provided the best view of both the courtyard and the hillside beyond while keeping them above the turmoil. Below, knights busied themselves dressing in armor; archers strung their bows, horses decorated in caparisons shifted uneasily, and priests prayed to Novron for wisdom. The contest was about to commence. Beyond the wall the village of Dahlgren remained silent. Not a candle was visible. Nothing moved.\n\nAnother scuffle broke out near the gate where the list of combatants hung on the hitching post. Arista could see several men pushing and swinging, rising dust.\n\n\"Who is it this time?\" Mauvin asked. The elder Pickering leaned back against the log wall. He was in a simple loose tunic and a pair of soft shoes that day. This was the Mauvin she most remembered, the carefree boy who had challenged her to stick duels back when she stood afoot taller and could overpower him, in the days when she had a mother and father and her greatest challenge was making Lenare jealous." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I can't tell,\" Fanen replied, peering down. \"I think one is Sir Erlic.\"\n\n\"Why are they fighting?\" Arista asked.\n\n\"Everyone wants a higher place on the list,\" Mauvin replied.\n\n\"That doesn't make sense. It doesn't matter who goes first.\"\n\n\"It does if the person in front of you kills the beastie before you get a chance.\"\n\n\"But they can't. Only the heir can kill the beast.\"\n\n\"You really think that?\" Mauvin asked, turning around, grasping the sharpened points of the logs, and peering down the outside of the wall. \"No one else does.\"\n\n\"Who's first on the list?\"\n\n\"Well, Tobis Rentinual was.\"\n\n\"Which one is he?\" she asked.\n\n\"He's the one we told you about with the big mysterious wagon.\"\n\n\"There\"-Fanen pointed down in the courtyard-\"the foppish-looking one leaning against the smokehouse. He has a shrill voice and a superior attitude that makes you want to throttle him.\"\n\nMauvin nodded. \"That's him. I peeked under his tarp; there's this huge contraption made of wood, ropes, and pulleys. He managed to find the list first and sign his name. No one had a problem with it when they thought the contest was a tournament. Everyone was just itching to have ago at him, but now, well, the thought of Tobis as emperor has become a communal fear.\"\n\n\"What do you mean was?\"\n\n\"He got bumped,\" Fanen said.\n\n\"Bumped?\"\n\n\"Luis Guy's idea,\" Mauvin explained. \"The sentinel decreed that those farther down on the list could move up via combat. Those unsatisfied with their place could challenge anyone for their position to a fight. Once issued, the challenged party could trade positions on the list or enter into combat with the challenger. Sir Enden of Chadwick challenged Tobis, who gave up his position. Who could blame him? Only Sir Gravin had the courage to challenge Enden, but several others drew swords against one another for lesser spots. Most expected the duels would be by points, but Guy declared battles over only when the opponent yielded, so they have gone on for hours. Many have been injured. Sir Gravin yielded only after Enden pierced his shoulder. He's announced he's withdrawing and will be leaving tomorrow, and he's not the only one. Several have already left wrapped in bandages.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Arista looked at Fanen. \"You aren't challenging?\"\n\nMauvin chuckled. \"It was kinda funny. The moment Guy made the announcement, everyone looked at us.\"\n\n\"But you didn't challenge?\"\n\nFanen scowled and glared at Mauvin. \"He won't let me. And my name is near the bottom.\"\n\n\"Hadrian Blackwater told us not to sign up,\" Mauvin explained.\n\n\"So?\" Fanen stared at his brother.\n\n\"So the one man here who could take that top spot without breaking a sweat doesn't even have his name on the list. Either he knows something we don't, or he thinks he does. That's worth waiting out the first night at least. Besides, you heard Arista; it doesn't matter who goes first.\"\n\n\"You know who else isn't on the list?\" Fanen asked. \"Lord Rufus.\"\n\n\"Yeah, I saw that. Thought he'd be the one to challenge Enden-it would have been worth the trip just to see that duel. He's not even out in the yard with the rest.\"\n\n\"He's been with the archbishop a lot.\"\n\nFrom their elevated position, Arista scanned the courtyard below. The light was gone from the yard, the walls and trees casting the interior in shade. Men went around lighting torches and mounting them. There were hundreds assembled within the grounds and more outside all gathered into small groups. They talked; some shouted. She could hear laughter and even a bit of singing-she could not tell the song, but by its rhythm, she guessed it was a bawdy tavern tune. There was a lot of toasting going on. Dark figures in the failing light, broad, powerful men slamming cups together with enough force to spill foam. Above it all, on a wooden platform raised in the center of the yard, stood Sentinel Luis Guy. He was high enough to catch the last rays of the sun and the last breaths of the evening wind. The light made his red cassock look like fire and the wind blowing his cape lent him an ominous quality." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She looked back at the brothers. Mauvin had his mouth open, struggling to clear something from aback tooth with his forefinger. Fanen had his head up, looking at the sky. She was glad they were with her. It was a little bit of home in the wilderness and she imagined the smell of apples.\n\nArista and Alric had spent summer months at Drondil Fields to escape the heat of the city. She remembered how they used to climb the trees in the orchard outside the country castle and have apple fights in early autumn. The rotten apples would burst on the branches and spray pulp, soaking them until they all smelled like cider. Each tree a sovereign castle, they would make alliances. Mauvin always teamed with Alric, shouting, \"My king! My king!\" Lenare paired with Fanen, wanting to protect her younger brother from the'brutes,\" as she called them. Arista always remained on her own, fighting both groups. Even when Lenare stopped climbing trees, it became the boys against the girl. She did not mind. She did not notice. She did not even think about it until now.\n\nThere was so much in her head. So much she needed to sort out. It had been hard to think bouncing around in the coach with Bernice staring at her. She desperately wanted to talk to someone, if only to hear her own words aloud. The idea that Sauly was a conspirator was growing in her mind despite her reluctance to accept it. If Sauly could betray her father, who could be trusted? Could Esrahaddon? Had he used her to escape? Was he responsible for her father's death? Now it seemed the old wizard was nearby, somewhere just outside the walls perhaps, spending the night in one of the village houses. She did not know what to do, or who to trust." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Help the writer, keep the story going.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, bromance\nAuthor: Michael J. Sullivan\nTitle: Theft of Swords\nChapter: 32" }, { "from": "human", "value": "With Archbishop Galien's death, the command of the church's interest in Dahlgren fell to Saldur and Guy." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The two inherited a disaster of mythic proportions. They were alone in the wilderness, faced with crucial decisions. How they handled them would decide the fate of future generations. Who actually held authority remained vague. Saldur was a bishop, an appointed leader, while Guy was only a constabulary officer whose jurisdiction extended mostly to apostate members of the church. Still, the sentinel actually spoke with the Patriarch. Saldur liked Guy, but appreciation for his effectiveness would not prevent him from sacrificing the sentinel if necessary. Saldur was certain that if Guy still had had his knights about him, the sentinel would have taken command and he would have had no choice but to accept it, but the seret were dead and Guy himself wounded. With Galien also dead, a door had opened, and Saldur planned to be the first one through.\n\nSaldur looked at Guy. \"How could you let this happen?\"\n\nThe sentinel, who sat with his arm in a sling and his shoulder wrapped in bandages, stiffened. \"I lost seven good men, and barely escaped with my life. I wouldn't call that allowing it to happen.\"\n\n\"And how exactly did a bunch of farmers defeat the infamous seret?\"\n\n\"They weren't farmers. Two were Pickerings and there was Hadrian Blackwater.\"\n\n\"The Pickerings I can understand, but Blackwater? He's nothing but a rogue.\"\n\n\"No, there's more to him-him and his partner.\"\n\n\"Royce and Hadrian are excellent thieves. They proved that in Melengar and again in Chadwick. Poor Archibald still has fits over them.\"\n\n\"No,\" Guy said, \"I think they're more than that. Blackwater knows Teshlor combat, and his friend Royce Melborn is an elf.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saldur blinked. \"An elf? Are you sure?\"\n\n\"He passes as human, but I'm certain of it.\"\n\n\"And this is the second time we've found them with Esrahaddon,\" Saldur muttered in concern. \"Is this Hadrian still here?\"\n\n\"He is in the infirmary tent.\"\n\n\"Put a guard on him at once.\"\n\n\"I've had him under guard since he was dragged to the tent. What we need to concern ourselves with is the girl. She's going to prove herself to bean embarrassment if we don't do something,\" Guy said, and slipped his sword partway out of its sheath. \"She is in grief over the loss of her father. It wouldn't be surprising if she threw herself over the falls in a fit of despair.\"\n\n\"And Tomas?\" Saldur asked, reaching for another handful of berries. \"It is clear he won't be quiet. Will you kill him too? What excuse will you give for that? And what about all the others in this camp that heard him going on all morning about her being the heir? Do we kill everyone? If we did, who would carry our bags back to Ervanon?\" he added with a smile.\n\n\"I don't seethe humor in this,\" Guy snapped, letting his sword slide back down in its sheath.\n\n\"Perhaps that's because you are not looking at it the right way,\" Saldur told him. Guy was a well-trained and vicious guard dog, but the man lacked imagination. \"What if we didn't kill her? What if we actually made her the empress?\"\n\n\"A peasant girl? Empress?\" Guy scoffed. \"Are you mad?\"\n\n\"Despite his political clout, I don't think any of us, including the Patriarch, were particularly happy with the choice of Rufus. He was a fool, to be sure, but he was also a stubborn, powerful fool. We all suspected that he might have had to be killed within a year, which would have thrown the infant empire into turmoil. How much better would it be to have an empress that would do whatever she was told right from the very start?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But how could we possibly sell her to the nobles?\"\n\n\"We don't,\" Saldur said, and a smile appeared on his wrinkled face. \"We sell her to the people instead.\"\n\n\"How's that?\"\n\n\"Degan Gaunt's Nationalist movement proved that the people themselves have strength. Earls, barons, even kings are afraid of the power which that commoner can gather. A word from him could launch a peasant uprising. Lords would have to kill their own people, their own source of revenue, just to keep order. This presents them with the undesirable choice of accepting either poverty or death. The landholders will do almost anything to avoid such an event. What if we tapped that? The peasants already revere the church. They follow its teachings as divine truth. How much more inspiring would it be to offer them a leader plucked from their own stock? A ruler who is one of them and able to truly understand the plight of the poor, the unwashed, the destitute. Not only is she a peasant queen, but she is also the Heir of Novron, and all the wonderful expectations that go with that. Indeed, in our greatest hour of need, Maribor has once again delivered unto his people a divine leader to show us the way out of darkness.\n\n\"We could send bards across the land repeating the epic tale of the pure, chaste girl who slew the elven demon that even Lord Rufus was powerless against. We'll call it Rufus's Bane. Yes, I like it-so much better than the unpronounceable Gilarabrywn.\"\n\n\"But can she be made to play her part?\" Guy asked.\n\n\"You saw her. She's nearly comatose. Not only does she have no place to go, no friends or relatives, no money or possessions, she is also emotionally shattered. She'd slither own wrists, I suspect, if she gets a knife. Still, the best part is that once we establish her as empress, once we have the support of the people so fervently on our side, no noble landholder would dare challenge us. We can do what we planned to do with Rufus. Only instead of a messy murder that would certainly invite suspicion and accusations, with the girl, we can simply marry her. The new husband will rule as emperor and we can lock her in a darkroom somewhere, pulling her out for Wintertide showings.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Guy smiled at that.\n\n\"Do you think the Patriarch will agree?\" Saldur asked him. \"Perhaps we should send a rider back today.\"\n\n\"No, this is too important. I'll go myself. I'll leave as soon as I can saddle a horse. In the meantime-\"\n\n\"In the meantime, we will announce that we are considering the possibility that this girl is the heir, but will not accept her unconditionally until a full investigation is conducted. That should buy us a month. If the Patriarch agrees, then we can send out rabble-rousers to incite the people with rumors that the church is being forced by the nobles and the monarchs to not reveal the girl as the true heir. The people will be denouncing our enemies and demanding that she take the throne before we even announce her.\"\n\n\"She will make the perfect figurehead,\" Guy said.\n\nSaldur looked up, picturing the future. \"An innocent girl linked with a mythic legend. Her beautiful name will be everywhere and she will beloved.\" The bishop paused and thought. \"What is her name, anyway?\"\n\n\"I think Tomas called her... Thrace.\"\n\n\"Seriously?\" Saldur grimaced. \"Well, no matter, we'll change it. After all, she's ours now.\"\n\nRoyce looked around. There was not a single sentry left outside. Several still moved about on the hilltop, but they were far enough away to ignore. Satisfied, he ducked through the flap of the white tent. Inside, he found Tobis, Hadrian, Mauvin, and Hilfred on cots. Hadrian was naked to his waist, his head and chest wrapped in white bandages, but he was awake and sitting up. Mauvin, though still pale, was alert, his bandages bright white. Hilfred lay wrapped like a mummy and Royce could not be sure if he was awake or sleeping. Arista stood bent over his cot, checking on him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I was wondering when you would get here,\" Hadrian said.\n\nArista turned. \"Yes, I thought you would have arrived much sooner.\"\n\n\"Sorry, you know how it is when you're having fun. You lose all track of time, but I did locate your weapons, again. You know how upset you get when you don't have your swords. Can you ride?\"\n\n\"If I can walk, why not?\" He raised an arm and Royce offered his shoulder, helping him to stand.\n\n\"What about me?\" Mauvin asked, holding his side and sitting upon his cot. \"You're not going to leave me, are you?\"\n\n\"You have to take him,\" Arista declared. \"He killed two of Guy's men.\"\n\n\"Can you ride?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"If I had a horse under me, I could at least hang on.\"\n\n\"What about Thrace?\" Hadrian asked.\n\n\"I don't think you need worry about her,\" Royce told him. \"I was just by the bishop's tent. Tomas is demanding that they declare her empress.\"\n\n\"Empress?\" Hadrian said, stunned.\n\n\"She killed the Gilarabrywn right in front of the deacon. I guess it made an impression.\"\n\n\"But what if they don't? We can't leave her.\"\n\n\"Don't worry about Thrace,\" Arista said. \"I'll see she's taken care of. Now you all need to get out of here.\"\n\n\"Theron wanted at least one of his children to be successful,\" Hadrian muttered, \"but empress?\"\n\n\"You need to hurry,\" Arista said, helping Royce pull Mauvin to his feet. She gave all three of them a kiss and a gentle hug and then pushed them out like a mother sending her children to school." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Outside the tent, Magnus arrived with three saddled horses." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The dwarf looked around nervously and whispered, \"I could have sworn I saw guards watching this tent earlier.\"\n\n\"You did,\" Royce replied. \"Three horses-you read my mind.\"\n\n\"I figured I needed one for myself,\" the dwarf replied, pointing at the shortened stirrups. He looked at Mauvin with a scowl. \"Now it looks like I'll need to get another.\"\n\n\"Forget it,\" Royce whispered. \"Ride with Mauvin. Take it slow and make sure he stays in the saddle.\"\n\nRoyce helped Hadrian up onto a gray mare, then started to chuckle to himself.\n\n\"What is it?\" Hadrian asked.\n\n\"Mouse.\"\n\n\"What's that?\"\n\nRoyce pointed to the horse Hadrian sat on. \"Of all the animals he had to choose from, the dwarf stole Mouse.\"\n\nRoyce led them away from the camp, walking the horses across the scorched land, where the ash muffled their movement. He kept a close eye on the distant sentries. No outcry, no shouts, no one appeared to notice, and soon they slipped into the leafy forest. Once there, he turned back toward the river in order to throw off anyone who might look for their tracks. Once he had them safe in a shallow glen near the Nidwalden, Royce ordered them to stay put while he went back.\n\nHe crept up to the edge of the burned area. The camp was as it had been before. Satisfied they had made a clean escape, he walked back toward the river. He found himself on the trail that led to the Woods' farm and the shell of the old building. Inexplicably, the fire had never reached this far and it remained untouched. There was one change, however; in the center of the yard, where they had first seen the old farmer sharpening his scythe, there was a mound of earth. A stack of stones borrowed from the walls of the farmhouse circled the oblong mound. At its head, driven into the ground, was abroad plank, and burned into it were the words:" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "THERON WOOD\n\nFARMER\n\nRoyce could just make out the additional words scratched into the plank below that:\n\nFather of the Empress\n\nAs Royce stood reading the words, he noticed it-a chill making the hair on his skin stand up. Someone was watching him. On the edge of his sight, a figure stood in the trees. Another stood to his left. He sensed more behind him. He turned his head, focused his eyes to see who they were-nothing. All he saw were trees. He glanced to his left and again nothing. He stood still, listening. Not a twig snapped, nor a leaf crinkled, but he could still feel it.\n\nHe moved away from the clearing into the brush and circled around. He moved as quietly as he could, but when he stopped, he was alone.\n\nRoyce stood, puzzled. He looked for tracks where he had seen the figures, but none existed, not even a bent blade of grass. At last, he gave up and returned to where he had left the others.\n\n\"All's well?\" Hadrian asked, sitting atop Mouse with the sun on his bare shoulders and his chest wrapped in broad strips of white cloth.\n\n\"I suppose,\" he said, mounting up.\n\nHe led them southwest along the highlands near the falls, following a deer trail that cut through the deep forest. It was the same trail he had found in his hours searching fora tunnel to the tower. Hadrian and Mauvin appeared to be doing better than expected, though each of them winced in pain whenever his horse took a misstep.\n\nRoyce continued to look back over his shoulder but nothing was ever there.\n\nBy midafternoon they had cleared the trees and found the main road heading south to Alburn. Here they paused to check Mauvin's and Hadrian's bandages. Mauvin started to bleed again, but it was not bad and Magnus turned out to be almost as good a nurse as he was a sword smith, fashioning anew pad for his side. Royce searched through the saddlebags and found Hadrian a suitable shirt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We should be fine,\" Royce told them, going through their inventory. \"With a little luck we should reach Medford in a week.\"\n\n\"Ina hurry, are you?\" Hadrian asked.\n\n\"You might say that.\"\n\n\"Thinking about Gwen?\"\n\n\"I'm thinking it's time I told her a few things about myself.\"\n\nHadrian smiled and nodded.\n\n\"You think Thrace will be all right?\"\n\n\"Tomas seems to be watching out for her pretty well.\"\n\n\"Do you think they'll really make her empress?\"\n\n\"Not a chance.\" Royce shook his head and handed the shirt to him. \"What do you plan on doing now?\" Royce asked Magnus.\n\nThe dwarf shrugged. \"You mean assuming you don't kill me?\"\n\n\"I'm not going to kill you, but your old employer, the church, might now that you've turned on them. They will becoming after you just the same as they'll be after Mauvin and Hadrian. And without the church's support, you won't last long on your own. Towns in Avryn aren't too friendly to your kind.\"\n\n\"Nowhere is.\"\n\n\"That's what I meant.\" Royce sighed. \"I know of a very out-of-the-way place you might be able to holdup at. A place the church isn't likely to visit. They need a lot of stonework done and could use an experienced craftsman like you.\"\n\n\"How do they feel about dwarves?\"\n\n\"I don't think you'll have a problem. They're the kind of people who tend to like everyone.\"\n\n\"I could do with getting back to stonecutting.\" Magnus nodded.\n\n\"Myron will drive him crazy with his quest to get the monastery exactly the way it was,\" Hadrian said. \"They've gone through five builders so far.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I know,\" Royce replied with a little grin.\n\nRoyce climbed back on top of Mouse as Magnus went ahead to check on Mauvin.\n\nHadrian shook out his shirt before slipping his arm in the sleeve. \"Arista told me you two were with Esrahaddon in the tower last night. She said he needed help with something, but wouldn't tell me what it was.\"\n\n\"He was using the tower to look for the Heir of Novron,\" Royce replied.\n\n\"Did he find him?\"\n\n\"I think so, but you know how Esra is. It's hard to be sure of anything when dealing with him.\" Hadrian nodded and winced as he pulled the shirt over his shoulders.\n\n\"Having troubles?\"\n\n\"You try getting dressed with broken ribs sometime. It isn't so easy.\"\n\nRoyce continued to look at him.\n\n\"What is it? Am I that entertaining?\" Hadrian asked.\n\n\"It's just that you've worn that silver medallion ever since I've known you, but you never told me where you got it.\"\n\n\"Hmm? This?\" Hadrian said. \"I've had this forever. My father left it tome.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "ADDIE WOOD: Mother of Thrace, wife of Theron\n\nALBERT W INSLOW, VISCOUNT: Landless nobleman used by Riyria to arrange assignments from the gentry\n\nA LBURN: Kingdom of Avryn ruled by King Armand and Queen Adeline\n\nA LENDA L ANAKLIN, LADY: Daughter of Marquis Victor Lanaklin and sister of Brother Myron of the Winds Abbey\n\nALLIE: Daughter of Wyatt Deminthal\n\nA LRIC B RENDON E SSENDON, PRINCE: Member of ruling family of Melengar, son of Amrath, brother of Arista\n\nA LVERSTONE: \\ al-ver-stone\\ Royce's dagger\n\nA MBROSE MOOR: Administrator of the Manzant Prison and Salt Works\n\nA MRATH E SSENDON, KING: \\ am-wrath\\ Ruler of Melengar, father of Alric and Arista\n\nA MRIL, COUNTESS: \\ am-rill\\ Noblewoman that Arista cursed with boils\n\nA NTUN B ULARD: Historian and author of The History of Apeladorn\n\nA PELADORN: \\ ah-pell-ah-dorn\\ Four nations of man, consisting of Trent, Avryn, Delgos, and Calis\n\nA QUESTA: \\ ah-quest-ah\\ Capital city of the kingdom of Warric\n\nA RCADIUS V INTARUS L ATIMER: Professor of lore at Sheridan University\n\nARCHIBALD B ALLENTYNE: Earl of Chadwick\n\nA RISTA E SSENDON, PRINCESS: Member of ruling family of Melengar, daughter of Amrath, sister of Alric" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "ARMAND, KING: Ruler of Alburn, married to Adeline\n\nART, THE: Magic, generally feared by nobles and commoners due to superstition\n\nA RVID MC D ERN: Son of Dillon McDern of Dahlgren\n\nA VEMPARTHA: Ancient elven tower\n\nA VRYN: \\ ave-rin\\ Central and most powerful of the four nations of Apeladorn, located between Trent and Delgos\n\nBALLENTYNE: \\ bal-in-tine\\ Ruling family of the earldom of Chadwick\n\nBAR AN G HAZEL: Goblins of the sea\n\nBELINDA PICKERING: Extremely attractive wife of Count Pickering, mother of Lenare, Mauvin, Fanen, and Denek\n\nBELSTRADS: \\ bell-straads\\ Family of knights from Chadwick, including Sir Breckton and Wesley\n\nBERNICE: Handmaid of Princess Arista\n\nBERNUM RIVER: Waterway that bisects the city of Colnora\n\nBETHAMY, KING: Ruler reputed to have had his horse buried with him\n\nBLACK DIAMOND, THE: International thieves' guild centered in Colnora\n\nBLACKWATER: Last name of Hadrian and his father, Danbury\n\nBLYTHIN CASTLE: Castle in Alburn\n\nBOCANT: Family who built a lucrative industry from pork, second most wealthy merchants in Colnora\n\nBOTHWICKS: Family of peasant farmers of Dahlgren\n\nBRECKTON B ELSTRAD, SIR: Son of Lord Belstrad, knight of Chadwick, considered by many to be the best knight of Avryn" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "BRODRIC E SSENDON: Founder of the Essendon dynasty\n\nBUCKET MEN: Term for assassin used by the Black Diamond thieves' guild\n\nBYRNIE: Long (usually sleeveless) tunic of chain mail formerly worn as defensive armor\n\nCALIAN: \\ cal-lay-in\\ Pertaining to the nation of Calis\n\nCALIANS: Residents of the nation of Calis, darker in skin tone, with almond-shaped eyes\n\nCALIS: \\ cal-lay\\ Southern-and easternmost of the four nations of Apeladorn, considered exotic, inconstant conflict with the Ba Ran Ghazel\n\nCASWELL: Family of peasant farmers from Dahlgren\n\nCENZARS: \\ sen-zhars\\ Wizards of the ancient Novronian Empire\n\nCHAMBERLAIN: Someone who manages the household of a king or nobleman\n\nCOLNORA: \\ call-nor-ah\\ Largest and wealthiest city of Avryn, merchant-based, grew from a rest stop at a central crossroads from various major trade routes\n\nCOSMOS DEL UR: Colnora's richest resident\n\nCRIMSON HAND: Thieves' guild operating out of Melengar\n\nCROWN TOWER: Home of the Patriarch, center of the Nyphron Church\n\nCUTTER: Assassin of the Black Diamond, best friend of Royce, boyfriend of Jade\n\nDAGASTAN: Major and easternmost trade port of Calis\n\nDAHLGREN: \\ dall-grin\\ Remote village on the bank of the Nidwalden River\n\nDANBURY B LACKWATER: Father of Hadrian" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "DANTHEN: Woodsman from Dahlgren\n\nDAREF, LORD: Nobleman of Warric, associate of Albert Winslow\n\nDARIUS S ERET: Founder of the Seret Knights\n\nDAVENS, SQUIRE: Boy who Arista had a youthful crush on\n\nDEGAN GAUNT: Leader of the Nationalists\n\nDELANO DEWITT, BARON: Nobleman who hires Hadrian to steal Count Pickering's sword\n\nDELGOS: One of the four nations of Apeladorn. The only republic in a world of monarchies, Delgos revolted against the Steward's Empire after Glenmorgan III was murdered and after surviving an attack by the Ba Ran Ghazel with no aid from the empire.\n\nDEL ORKAN, DUKE: Calian nobleman\n\nDEL UR: Family of wealthy merchants\n\nDENEK PICKERING: Youngest son of Count Pickering\n\nDILLON MC D ERN: Dahlgren's blacksmith\n\nDIOYLION: \\ die-e-leon\\ The Accumulated Letters of Dioylion, a very rare scroll\n\nDIXON TAFT: Bartender and manager of The Rose and Thorn Tavern\n\nDROME: God of the dwarves\n\nDRONDIL FIELDS: Count Pickering's castle, once the fortress of Brodric Essendon, the original seat of power in Melengar\n\nDRUMINDOR: Dwarven-built fortress located at the entrance to Terlando Bay in Tur Del Fur\n\nDRUNDEL: Peasant family from Dahlgren consisting of Mae, Went, Davie, and Firth\n\nDUSTER: Moniker used by Royce while a member of the Black Diamond" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "ECTON, SIR: Chief knight of Count Pickering and military general of Melengar\n\nEDMUND HALL: Professor of geometry at Sheridan University, reputed to have found Percepliquis, declared a heretic by the Nyphron Church, imprisoned in the Crown Tower\n\nELAN: The world\n\nELDEN: Large man, friend of Wyatt Deminthal\n\nELLA: Cook at Drondil Fields\n\nELVEN: Pertaining to elves\n\nENDEN, SIR: Knight of Chadwick, considered the second best to Breckton\n\nEREBUS: Father of the gods, also known as Kile\n\nERIVAN: \\ ear-ah-van\\ Elven empire\n\nERLIC, SIR: Knight competing in Dahlgren contest\n\nERVANON: \\ err-vah-non\\ City in northern Ghent, seat of the Nyphron Church, once the capital of the Steward's Empire as established by Glenmorgan I\n\nESRAHADDON: \\ ez-rah-hod-in\\ Wizard, onetime member of the ancient order of the Cenzar, convicted of destroying the Novronian Empire and sentenced to imprisonment\n\nESSENDON: \\ ez-in-don\\ Royal family of Melengar\n\nESSENDON CASTLE: Home of ruling monarchs of Melengar\n\nESTRAMNADON: \\ es-tram-nah-don\\ Believed to be the capital or at least a very sacred place in the Erivan Empire\n\nESTRENDOR: \\ es-tren-door\\ Northern wastes\n\nETCHER: Member of the Black Diamond thieves' guild\n\nFALINA B ROCKTON: Real name of Emerald, waitress at The Rose and Thorn Tavern" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "FANEN PICKERING: \\ fan-in\\ Middle son of Count Pickering\n\nFAULD, THE ORDER OF: \\ fall-ed\\ Post-imperial order of knights dedicated to preserving the skill and discipline of the Teshlor Knights\n\nFENITILIAN, BROTHER: Monk of Maribor, made warm shoes\n\nFERROL: God of the elves\n\nFINILESS: Noted author\n\nFLETCHER: Maker of arrows\n\nGALEANNON: \\ gale-e-an-on\\ Kingdom of Avryn, ruled by Fredrick and Josephine\n\nGALENTI: \\ ga-lehn'-tay\\ Calian term\n\nGALEWYR RIVER: \\ gale-wahar\\ Marks the southern border of Melengar and the northern border of Warric and reaches the sea near the fishing village of Roe\n\nGALIEN, ARCHBISHOP: \\ gal-e-in\\ High-ranking member of the Nyphron Church\n\nGALILIN: \\ gal-ah-lin\\ Province of Melengar ruled by Count Pickering\n\nGEMKEY: Gem that opens a gemlock\n\nGEMLOCK: Dwarven invention that seals a container and can only be opened with a precious gem of the right type and cut\n\nGENTRY SQUARE: Affluent district of Melengar\n\nGHAZEL: \\ gehz-ell\\ Ba Ran Ghazel, dwarven name for goblins, literally: Sea goblins\n\nGHENT: Ecclesiastical holding of the Nyphron Church\n\nGILARABRYWN: \\ gill-lar-ah-bren\\ Elven beast of war\n\nGINLIN, BROTHER: \\ gin-lin\\ Monk of Maribor, winemaker, refuses to touch a knife" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "GLAMRENDOR: \\ glam-ren-door\\ Capital of Dunmore\n\nGLENMORGAN: 326 years after the fall of the Novronian Empire, this native of Ghent reunited the four nations of Apeladorn; founder of Sheridan University; creator of the great north-south road; builder of the Ervanon palace (of which only the Crown Tower remains)\n\nGLENMORGAN II: Son of Glenmorgan. When his father died young, the new and inexperienced emperor relied on church officials to assist him in managing his empire. They in turn took the opportunity to manipulate the emperor into granting sweeping powers to the church and nobles loyal to the church. These leaders opposed defending Delgos against the invading Ba Ran Ghazel in Calis and the Dacca in Delgos, arguing the threat would increase dependency on the empire.\n\nGLENMORGAN III: Grandson of Glenmorgan. Shortly after assuming the stewardship, he attempted to reassert control over the realm his grandfather had created by leading an army against the invading Ghazel that had reached southeastern Avryn. He defeated the Ghazel at the First Battle of Vilan Hills and announced plans to ride to the aid of Tur Del Fur. Fearing his rise in power, in the sixth year of his reign, his nobles betrayed and imprisoned him in Blythin Castle. Jealous of his popularity and growing strength, and resentful of his policy of stripping the nobles and clergy of their power, the church charged him with heresy. He was found guilty and executed. This began the rapid collapse of what many called the Steward's Empire. The church later claimed the nobles had tricked them, and condemned many, most of whom reputedly ended their lives badly.\n\nGLOUSTON: Province of northern Warric bordering on the Galewyr River, ruled by the marquis Lanaklin" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "GREAT s WORD: Long sword designed to beheld with both hands\n\nGRIGOLES: \\ gry-holes\\ Author of Grigoles Treatise on Imperial Common Law\n\nGUARDIAN OF THE HEIR: Teshlor Knight sworn to protect the Heir of Novron\n\nGUTARIA: \\ goo-tar-ah\\ Secret Nyphron prison designed to hold Esrahaddon\n\nGWEN DEL ANCY: Calian prostitute and proprietor of Medford House and The Rose and Thorn Tavern\n\nHADRIAN B LACKWATER: Mercenary, one-half of Riyria\n\nHALBERD: Two-handed pole used as a weapon\n\nHEIR OF N OVRON: Direct descendant of demigod Novron, destined to rule all of Avryn\n\nHELDABERRY: Wild-growing fruit often used to make wine\n\nHESLON, BROTHER: Monk of Maribor, great cook\n\nHILFRED: Bodyguard of Princess Arista\n\nHIMBOLT, BARON: Nobleman of Melengar\n\nHOUSE, THE: Nickname used for Medford House\n\nHOYTE: Onetime First Officer of the Black Diamond\n\nIMPERIALISTS: Political party that desires to unite all the kingdoms of men under a single leader who is the direct descendant of the demigod Novron\n\nJADE: Assassin in the Black Diamond, girlfriend of Cutter, friend of Royce\n\nJERISH G RELAD: Teshlor Knight and first Guardian of the Heir\n\nJERL, LORD: Neighbor of the Pickerings known for his prize-winning hunting dogs\n\nJULIAN TEMPEST: Chamberlain of Melengar" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "KILE: Master sword smith, named used by Erebus when in the form of a man\n\nKRINDEL: Prelate of the Nyphron Church and historian\n\nKRIS DAGGER: Weapon with a wavy blade, sometimes used in magic rituals\n\nLANAKLIN: Ruling family of Glouston\n\nLANISE THELRED: \\ eth-el-red\\ King of Warric, Imperialist\n\nLANKSTEER: Capital city of the Lordium kingdom of Trent\n\nLENA B OTHWICK: Wife of Russell, farmer in Dahlgren\n\nLENARE PICKERING: Daughter of Count Pickering and Belinda, sister of Mauvin, Fanen, and Denek\n\nLINGARD: Capital city of Relison, kingdom of Trent\n\nLONGWOOD: Forest in Melengar\n\nLOTHOMAD, KING: Lothomad the Bald, ruler of Lordium, Trent, expanded territory dramatically following the collapse of the Steward's Reign, pushing south through Ghent into Melengar, where Brodric Essendon defeated him in the Battle of Drondil Fields in 2545\n\nLOWER QUARTER: Impoverished section of the city of Medford\n\nLUIS GUY: Sentinel of the Nyphron Church\n\nMAGNUS: Dwarf\n\nMANDALIN: \\ man-dah-lynn\\ Capital of Calis\n\nMANZANT: \\ man-zahnt\\ Infamous prison and salt mine located in Manzar, Maranon\n\nMARANON: \\ mar-ah-non\\ Kingdom in Avryn, ruled by Vincent and Regina\n\nMARES CATHEDRAL: Center of the Nyphron Church in Melengar, run by Bishop Saldur" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "MARIBOR: \\ mar-eh-bore\\ God of men\n\nMASON G RUMON: \\ grum-on\\ Blacksmith in Medford\n\nMAURICE S ALDUR, BISHOP: Head of Nyphron Church in Melengar, friend of the Essendon ruling family\n\nMAUVIN PICKERING: \\ maw-vin\\ Eldest of Count Pickering's sons\n\nMC D ERN: Peasant family living in Dahlgren\n\nMEDFORD: Capital of Melengar\n\nMEDFORD HOUSE: Brothel run by Gwen DeLancy and attached to The Rose and Thorn Tavern\n\nMELENGAR: \\ mel-in-gar\\ Kingdom in Avryn, ruled by the Essendon royal family\n\nMELENGARIANS: Residents of Melengar\n\nMELISSA: Head servant of Princess Arista, nickname Missy\n\nMERCS: Mercenaries\n\nMERLONS: Solid section between two crenels in a crenellated battlement\n\nMERTON, MONSIGNOR: Eccentric priest from Ghent, known to talk aloud to Maribor\n\nMILLIE: Hadrian's horse\n\nMIR: Person with both elven and human blood\n\nMONTEMORCEY: \\ mont-eh-more-ah-sea\\ Excellent wine imported through the Vandom Spice Company\n\nMOTTE: Man-made hill\n\nMOUSE: Royce's horse\n\nMURIEL: Goddess of nature, daughter of Erebus, mother of Uberlin\n\nMYRON: Monk of Maribor, son of Victor, brother of Alenda\n\nNAREION: \\ nare-e-on\\ Last emperor of the Novronian Empire" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "NATIONALISTS: Political party led by Degan Gaunt that desires rule by the will of the people\n\nNEVRIK: \\ nehv-rick\\ Son of Nareion, the heir who went into hiding\n\nNIDWALDEN RIVER: Marks the eastern border of Avryn and the start of the Erivan realm\n\nNOVRON: Savior of mankind, son of the god Maribor, demigod who defeated the elven army in the Great Elven Wars, founder of the Novronian Empire, builder of Percepliquis\n\nNOVRONIAN: \\ nov-ron-e-on\\ Pertaining to Novron\n\nNYPHRON CHURCH: The worshipers of Novron and Maribor, his father\n\nNYPHRONS: \\ nef-rons\\ Devout members of the church\n\nPARTHALOREN FALLS: \\ path-ah-lore-e-on\\ The great cataracts on the Nidwalden near Avempartha\n\nPATRIARCH: Head of the Nyphron Church who lives in the Crown Tower of Ervanon\n\nPAULDRON: Apiece of armor covering the shoulder at the junction of the body piece and the arm piece\n\nPERCEPLIQUIS: \\ per-sep-lah-kwiss\\ The ancient capital of the Novronian Empire, named for the wife of Novron\n\nPERCY B RAGA, ARCHDUKE: Lord Chancellor of Melengar, winner of the title of Grand Circuit Tournament Champion in Swords, the Silver Shield, and Golden Laurel; uncle to Alric and Arista, having married King Amrath's sister\n\nPICKERING: Noble family of Melengar and rulers of Galilin. Count Pickering is known to be the best swordsman in Avryn and believed to use a magic sword." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "PICKILERINON: Seadric, who shortened the family name to Pickering\n\nPLESIEANTIC INCANTATION: \\ plass-e-an-tic\\ A method used in the Art to draw power from nature\n\nPRICE: First Officer of the Black Diamond thieves' guild\n\nRATIBOR: Capital of the kingdom of Rhenydd\n\nRENDON, BARON: Nobleman of Melengar\n\nRENIAN, BROTHER: \\ rhen-e-ahn\\ Childhood friend of Myron the monk\n\nRHELACAN: \\ rell-ah-khan\\ Great sword that Maribor tricked Drome into forging and Ferrol into enchanting, given to Novron to defeat the elves\n\nRHENYDD: \\ ren-yaed\\ Kingdom of Avryn, ruled by King Urith\n\nRILAN VALLEY: Fertile land that separates Glouston and Chadwick\n\nRIONILLION: \\ ri-on-ill-lon\\ Name of the city that first stood on the site of Aquesta but was destroyed during the civil wars that occurred after the fall of the Novronian Empire\n\nRIYRIA: \\ rye-ear-ah\\ Elvish for two, a team or a bond\n\nRONDEL: Common type of stiff-bladed dagger with around handgrip\n\nROSE AND THORN, THE: Tavern in Medford run by Gwen DeLancy, used as abase by Riyria\n\nROSWORT, KING: Ruler of Dunmore\n\nROYCE M ELBORN: Thief, one-half of Riyria\n\nRUFUS, LORD: Ruthless northern warlord, respected by the south" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "RUSSELL B OTHWICK: Farmer in Dahlgren, husband of Lena\n\nSALIFAN: \\ sal-eh-fan\\ Fragrant wild plant used in incense\n\nSAULY: Nickname of Maurice Saldur, used by those closest to him\n\nSENON UPLAND: Highland plateau overlooking Chadwick\n\nSENTINEL: Inquisitor generals of the Nyphron Church, charged with rooting out heresy and finding the lost Heir of Novron\n\nSERET: \\ sir-ett\\ Knights of Nyphron. The military arm of the church first formed by Lord Darius Seret, who was charged with finding the Heir of Novron.\n\nSHERIDAN UNIVERSITY: Prestigious institution of learning, located in Ghent\n\nSPADONE: Long two-handed sword with a tapering blade and an extended flange ahead of the hilt allowing for an extended variety of fighting maneuvers. Due to the length of the handgrip and the flange, which provides its own barbed hilt, the sword provides a number of additional hand placements, permitting the sword to be used similarly to a quarterstaff, as well as a powerful cleaving weapon. The spadone is the traditional weapon of a skilled knight.\n\nSUMMERSRULE: Popular midsummer holiday celebrated with picnics, dances, feasts, and jousting tournaments\n\nTABARD: A tunic worn over armor usually emblazoned with a coat of arms\n\nTEK'CHIN: Single fighting discipline of the Teshlor Knights that was preserved by the Knights of the Fauld and handed down to the Pickerings\n\nTENENT: Most common form of semi-standard international currency. Coins of gold, silver, and copper stamped with the likeness of the king of the realm where the coin was minted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "TERLANDO BAY: Harbor of Tur Del Fur\n\nTESHLORS: Legendary knights of the Novronian Empire, greatest warriors ever to have lived\n\nTHERON WOOD: Father of Thrace Wood, farmer of Dahlgren\n\nTHRACE WOOD: Daughter of Theron and Addie\n\nTILINER: Superior side sword used frequently by mercenaries in Avryn\n\nTOBIS R ENTINUAL: History professor at Sheridan University\n\nTOLIN E SSENDON: Son of Brodric, who moved the capital to Medford and built Essendon Castle\n\nTOMAS, DEACON: Priest of Dahlgren village\n\nTORSONIC: Torque-producing, as in the cable used in crossbows\n\nTRENT: Northern mountainous kingdoms\n\nTRUMBUL, BARON: Mercenary\n\nTUR: Small legendary village believed to have once been in Delgos, site of the first recorded visit of Kile, mythical source of great weapons\n\nTUR DEL FUR: Coastal city in Delgos, on Terlando Bay, originally built by dwarves\n\nUBERLIN: The god of the Dacca and the Ghazel, son of Erebus and his daughter, Muriel\n\nURITH, KING: Ruler of Ratibor\n\nVALIN, LORD: Elderly knight of Melengar known for his valor and courage but lacking strategic skills\n\nVANDON: Port city of Delgos, home to the Vandom Spice Company, which began as a pirate haven until Delgos became a republic, when it became a legitimate business\n\nVENLIN, PATRIARCH: Head of the Nyphron Church during the fall of the Novronian Empire" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "VERNES: Port city at the mouth of the Bernum River\n\nVILLEIN: Person who is bound to the land and owned by the feudal lord\n\nVINCE GRIFFIN: Dahlgren village founder\n\nWARRIC: Kingdom of Avryn, ruled by Ethelred\n\nWESBADEN: Major trade port city of Calis\n\nWESTBANK: Newly formed province of Dunmore\n\nWESTERLANDS: Unknown frontier to the west\n\nWICEND: \\ why-send\\ Farmer in Melengar who lends his name to the ford that crosses the Galewyr into Glouston\n\nWINDS ABBEY: Monastery of the Monks of Maribor near Lake Windermere in western Melengar\n\nWINTERTIDE: Chief holiday, held in midwinter, celebrated by feasts and jousts\n\nWYATT D EMINTHAL: Onetime ship captain, father of Allie\n\nWYLIN: \\ why-lynn\\ Master-at-arms at Essendon Castle" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If you enjoyed THEFT OF SWORDS, lookout for\n\nRISE OF EMPIRE\n\nVolume Two of the Riyria Revelations\n\nby Michael J. Sullivan\n\nAmilia made the mistake of looking back into Edith Mon's eyes. She had never meant to-she had never planned on raising her stare from the floor-but Edith startled her and she looked up without thinking. The head maid would consider her action defiance, a sign of rebellion in the ranks of the scullery. Amilia had never looked into Edith's eyes before, and doing so now, she wondered if a soul lurked behind them. If so, it must be cowering or dead, rotting like a late-autumn apple; that would explain her smell. Edith had a sour scent, vaguely rancid, as if something had gone bad.\n\n\"This will be another tenent withheld from yer pay,\" the rotund woman said. \"Yer digging quite a hole, ain't you?\"\n\nEdith was big and broad and missing any sign of a neck. Her huge anvil of ahead sat squarely on her shoulders. By contrast, Amilia barely existed. Small and pear-shaped, with a plain face and long, lifeless hair, she was part of the crowd, one of the faces no one paused to consider-neither pretty nor grotesque enough to warrant a second glance. Unfortunately, her invisibility failed when it came to the palace's head maid, Edith Mon.\n\n\"I didn't break it.\" Mistake number two, Amilia thought.\n\nA meaty hand slapped her across the face, ringing her ears and making her eyes water. \"Goon,\" Edith enticed her with a sweet tone, and then whispered in her ear, \"lie tome again.\"\n\nGripping the washbasin to steady herself, Amilia felt heat blossom on her cheek. Her gaze now followed Edith's hand, and when it rose again, Amilia flinched. With a snicker, Edith ran her plump fingers through Amilia's hair." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No tangles,\" Edith observed. \"I can see how ya spend yer time, instead of doing yer work. Ya hoping to catch the eye of the butcher? Maybe that saucy little man who delivers the wood? I saw ya talking to him. Know what they sees when they looks at ya? They sees an ugly scullery maid is what. A wretched filthy guttersnipe who smells of lye and grease. They would rather pay fora whore than get ya for nothing. You'd be better off spending more time on yer tasks. If ya did, I wouldn't have to beat ya so often.\"\n\nAmilia felt Edith winding her hair, twisting and tightening it around her fist. \"It's not like I enjoy hurting ya.\" She pulled until Amilia winced. \"But ya have to learn.\" Edith continued pulling Amilia's hair, forcing her head back until only the ceiling was visible. \"Yer slow, stupid, and ugly. That's why yer still in the scullery. I can't make ya a laundry maid, much less a parlor or chambermaid. You'd embarrass me, understand?\"\n\nAmilia remained quiet.\n\n\"I said, do ya understand?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Say yer sorry for chipping the plate.\"\n\n\"I'm sorry for chipping the plate.\"\n\n\"And yer sorry for lying about it?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\nEdith roughly patted Amilia's burning cheek. \"That's a good girl. I'll add the cost to yer tally. Now as for punishment...\" She let goof Amilia's hair and tore the scrub brush from her hand, measuring its weight. She usually used a belt; the brush would hurt more. Edith would drag her to the laundry, where the big cook could not see. The head cook had taken a liking to Amilia, and while Edith had every right to discipline her girls, Ibis would not stand for it in his kitchen. Amilia waited fora fat hand to grab her wrist, but instead Edith stroked her head. \"Such longhair,\" she said at length. \"It's yer hair that's getting in the way, isn't it? It's making ya think too much of yerself. Well, I know just how to fix both problems. Yer gonna look real pretty when I-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The kitchen fell silent." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cora, who had been incessantly plunging her butter churn, paused in mid-stroke. The cooks stopped chopping and even Nipper, who was stacking wood near the stoves, froze. Amilia followed their gaze to the stairs.\n\nA noblewoman adorned in white velvet and satin glided down the steps and entered the steamy stench of the scullery. Piercing eyes and razor-thin lips stood out against a powdered face. The woman was tall and-unlike Amilia, who had a hunched posture-stood straight and proud. She moved immediately to the small table along the wall, where the baker was preparing bread.\n\n\"Clear this,\" she ordered with a wave of her hand, speaking to no one in particular. The baker immediately scooped his utensils and dough into his apron and hurried away. \"Scrub it clean,\" the lady insisted.\n\nAmilia felt the brush thrust back into her hand, and a push sent her stumbling forward. She did not lookup and went right to work making large swirls of flour-soaked film. Nipper was beside her in an instant with a bucket, and Vella arrived with a towel. Together they cleared the mess while the woman watched with disdain.\n\n\"Two chairs,\" the lady barked, and Nipper ran off to fetch them.\n\nUncertain what to do next, Amilia stood in place watching the lady, holding the dripping brush at her side. When the noblewoman caught her staring, Amilia quickly looked down and movement caught her eye. A small gray mouse froze beneath the baker's table, trying to conceal itself in the shadows. Taking a chance, it snatched a morsel of bread and disappeared through a small crack.\n\n\"What a miserable creature,\" she heard the lady say. Amilia thought she was referring to the mouse until she added, \"You're making a filthy puddle on the floor. Go away.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before retreating to her washbasin, Amilia attempted apathetic curtsy. A flurry of orders erupted from the woman, each announced with perfect diction. Vella, Cora, and even Edith went about setting the table as if fora royal banquet. Vella draped a white tablecloth, and Edith started setting out silverware only to be shooed away as the woman carefully placed each piece herself. Soon the table was elegantly set for two, complete with multiple goblets and linen napkins.\n\nAmilia could not imagine who could be dining there. No one would set a table for the servants, and why would a noble come to the kitchen to eat?\n\n\"Here now, what's all this about?\" Amilia heard the deep familiar voice of Ibis Thinly. The old sea cook was a large barrel-chested man with bright blue eyes and a thin beard that wreathed the line of his chin. He had spent the morning meeting with farmers, yet he still wore his ever-present apron. The grease-stained wrap was his uniform, his mark of office. He barged into the kitchen like a bear returning to his cave to find mischief afoot. When he spotted the lady, he stopped.\n\n\"I am Lady Constance,\" the noblewoman informed him. \"Ina moment I will be bringing Empress Modina here. If you are the cook, then prepare food.\" The lady paused a moment to study the table critically. She adjusted the position of a few items, then turned and left.\n\n\"Leif, get a knife on that roasted lamb,\" Ibis shouted. \"Cora, fetch cheese. Vella, get bread. Nipper, straighten that woodpile!\"\n\n\"The empress!\" Cora exclaimed as she raced for the pantry.\n\n\"What's she doing coming here?\" Leif asked. There was anger in his voice, as if an unwelcome, no-account relative was dropping by and he was the inconvenienced lord of the manor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Amilia had heard of the empress but had never seen her-not even from a distance. Few had. She had been coronated in a private ceremony over half a year earlier on Wintertide, and her arrival in Aquesta had changed everything.\n\nKing Ethelred no longer wore his crown, and was addressed as'Regent\" instead of'Your Majesty.\" He still ruled over the castle, only now it was referred to as the imperial palace. The other one, Regent Saldur, had made all the changes. Originally from Melengar, the former bishop had taken up residence and set builders working day and night on the great hall and throne room. Saldur had also declared new rules that all the servants had to follow.\n\nThe palace staff could no longer leave the grounds unless escorted by one of the new guards, and all outgoing letters were read and needed to be approved. The latter edict was hardly an issue, as few servants could write. The restriction ongoing outside the palace, however, was a hardship to almost everyone. Many with families in the city or surrounding farms chose to resign, because they could no longer return home each night. Those remaining at the castle never heard from them again. Regent Saldur had successfully isolated the palace from the outside world, but inside, rumors and gossip ran wild. Speculations flourished in out-of-the-way corridors that giving notice was as unhealthy as attempting to sneak away.\n\nThe fact that no one ever saw the empress ignited its own set of speculations. Everyone knew she was the heir of the original, legendary emperor, Novron, and therefore a child of the god Maribor. This had been proven when she had been the only one capable of slaying the beast that had slaughtered dozens of Elan's greatest knights. That she had previously been a farm girl from a small village confirmed that in the eyes of Maribor, all were equal. Rumors concluded that she had ascended to the state of a spiritual being, and only the regents and her personal secretary ever stood in her divine presence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That must be who the noblewoman is, Amilia thought." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The lady with the sour face and perfect speech was the imperial secretary to the empress.\n\nThey soon had an array of the best food they could muster in a short time laid out on the table. Knob, the baker, and Leif, the butcher, disputed the placement of dishes, each wanting his wares in the center. \"Cora,\" Ibis said, \"put your pretty cake of cheese in the middle.\" This brought a smile and blush to the dairymaid's face and scowls from Leif and Knob.\n\nBeing a scullion, Amilia had no more part to play and returned to her dishes. Edith was chatting excitedly in the corner near the stack of oak kegs with the tapster and the cupbearer, and all the servants were straightening their outfits and running fingers through their hair. Nipper was still sweeping when the lady returned. Once more everyone stopped and watched as the lady led a thin young girl by the wrist.\n\n\"Sit down,\" Lady Constance ordered in her brisk tone.\n\nEveryone peered past the two women, trying to catch the first glimpse of the god-queen. Two well-armored guards emerged and took up positions on either side of the table. But no one else appeared.\n\nWhere is the empress?\n\n\"Modina, I said sit down,\" Lady Constance repeated.\n\nShock rippled through Amilia.\n\nModina? This waif of a child is the empress?\n\nThe girl did not appear to hear Lady Constance and stood limp with a blank expression. She looked to be a teenager, delicate and deathly thin. Once she might have been pretty, but what remained was an appalling sight. The girl's face was white as bone, her skin thin and stretched, revealing the detailed outline of her skull beneath. Her ragged blonde hair fell across her face. She wore only a thin white smock, which added to the girl's ghostly appearance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lady Constance sighed and forced the girl into one of the chairs at the baker's table. Like a doll, the girl allowed herself to be moved. She said nothing and her eyes stared blankly.\n\n\"Place the napkin in your lap this way.\" Lady Constance carefully opened and laid the linen with deliberate movements. She waited, glaring at the empress, who sat, oblivious. \"As empress, you will never serve yourself,\" Lady Constance went on. \"You will wait as your servants fill your plate.\" She was looking around with irritation when her eyes found Amilia. \"You-come here,\" she ordered. \"Serve Her Eminence.\"\n\nAmilia dropped the brush in the basin and, wiping her hands on her smock, rushed forward. She lacked experience with serving but said nothing. Instead, she focused on recalling the times she had watched Leif cutting meat. Taking up the tongs and a knife, she tried her best to imitate him. Leif always made it look effortless, but Amilia's fingers betrayed her and she fumbled miserably, managing to place only a few shredded bits of lamb on the girl's plate.\n\n\"Bread.\" Lady Constance snapped the word like a whip and Amilia sliced into the long twisted loaf, nearly cutting herself in the process.\n\n\"Now eat.\"\n\nFora brief moment, Amilia thought this was another order for her and reached out in response. She caught herself and stood motionless, uncertain if she was free to return to her dishes.\n\n\"Eat, I said.\" The imperial secretary glared at the girl, who continued to stare blankly at the far wall.\n\n\"Eat, damn you!\" Lady Constance bellowed, and everyone in the kitchen, including Edith Mon and Ibis Thinly, jumped. She pounded the baker's table with her fist, knocking over the stemware and bouncing the knives against the plates. \"Eat!\" Lady Constance repeated, and slapped the girl across the face. Her skin-wrapped skull rocked with the blow and came to rest on its own. The girl did not wince. She merely continued her stare, this time at anew wall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ina fit of rage, the imperial secretary rose, knocking over her chair. She took one of the pieces of meat and tried to force it into the girl's mouth.\n\n\"What's going on?\"\n\nLady Constance froze at the sound of the voice. An old white-haired man descended the steps into the scullery. His elegant purple robe and black cape looked out of place in the hot, messy kitchen. Amilia recognized Regent Saldur immediately.\n\n\"What in the world...\" Saldur began as he approached the table. He looked at the girl, then at the kitchen staff, and finally at Lady Constance, who at some point had dropped the meat. \"What were you thinking... bringing her down here?\"\n\n\"I-I thought if-\"\n\nSaldur held up his hand, silencing her, then slowly squeezed it into a fist. He clenched his jaw and drew a deep breath through his sharp nose. Once more he focused on the girl. \"Look at her. You were supposed to educate and train her. She's worse than ever!\"\n\n\"I-I tried, but-\"\n\n\"Shut up!\" the regent snapped, still holding up his fist. No one in the kitchen moved. The only sounds were the faint crackle of the fire in the ovens and the bubbling of broth in a pot. \"If this is the result of a professional, we may as well try an amateur. They couldn't possibly do worse.\" The regent pointed at Amilia. \"You! Congratulations, you are now the imperial secretary to the empress.\" Turning his attention back to Lady Constance, he said, \"And as for you-your services are no longer required. Guards, remove her.\"\n\nAmilia saw Lady Constance falter. Her perfect posture evaporated as she cowered and stepped backward, nearly falling over the upended chair. \"No! Please, no,\" she cried as a palace guard gripped her arm and pulled her toward the backdoor. Another guard took her other arm. She grew frantic, pleading and struggling as they dragged her out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Amilia stood frozen in place, holding the meat tongs and carving knife, trying to remember how to breathe. Once the pleas of Lady Constance faded, Regent Saldur turned to her, his face flushed red, his teeth revealed behind taunt lips. \"Don't fail me,\" he told her, and returned up the stairs, his cape whirling behind him.\n\nAmilia looked back at the girl, who continued to stare at the wall." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Keep the narrative going for the author.\nTags: fantasy, dragonlance, time travel\nAuthor: Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman\nTitle: Time of the Twins\nChapter: 35" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Seeing them fall, Caramon whirled around and propelled his massive body straight at the ogre, driving his shoulder into Raag's gut with all the strength his months of training had given him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a blow that would have killed a human, but it only knocked the wind out of the ogre. The force of Caramon's charge sent them both crashing backward into the wall.\n\nDesperately, while Raag was gasping for breath, Caramon grappled for the ogre's stout club. But just as he yanked it out of Raag's grip, the ogre recovered. Howling in anger, Raag brought both massive hands up under Caramon's chin with a blow that sent the big warrior flying back into the arena.\n\nLanding heavily, Caramon could see nothing fora moment except sky and arena whirling around and around him. Groggy from the blow his warrior's instincts took over. Catching a glimpse of movement to his left, Caramon rolled over just as the minotaur's trident came down where his sword arm had been. He could hear the minotaur snarling and growling in bestial fury.\n\nCaramon struggled to regain his feet, shaking his head to clear it, but he knew he could never hope to avoid the minotaur's second strike. And then a black body was between him and the Red Minotaur. There was a flash of steel as Pheragas's sword blocked the trident blow that would have finished Caramon. Staggering, Caramon backed up to catch his breath and felt Kiiri's cool hands helping to support him.\n\n\"Are you all right?\" she muttered.\n\n\"Weapon!\" Caramon managed to gasp, his head still ringing from the ogre's blow.\n\n\"Take mine,\" Kiiri said, thrusting her shortsword into Caramon's hands. \"Then rest a moment. I'll handle Raag.\"\n\nThe ogre, wild with rage and the excitement of battle, barreled toward them, his slavering jaws wide open." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You need it-\" Caramon began to protest, but Kiiri only grinned at him.\n\n\"Watch!\" she said lightly, then spoke strange words that reminded Caramon vaguely of the language of magic. These, however, had a faint accent, almost elvish.\n\nAnd, suddenly Kiiri was gone. In her place stood a gigantic she-bear. Caramon gasped, unable-fora moment-to comprehend what had happened. Then he remembered-Kiiri was a Sirine, gifted with the power to change her shape!\n\nRearing upon her hind legs, the she-bear towered over the huge ogre. Raag came to a halt, his eyes wide open in alarm at the sight. Kiiri roared in rage, her sharp teeth gleamed. The sunlight glinted off her claws as one of her giant paws lashed out and caught Raag across his mottled face.\n\nThe ogre howled in pain, streams of yellowish blood oozed from the claw marks, one eye disappeared in amass of bleeding jelly. The bear leaped on the ogre. Watching in awe, Caramon could see nothing but yellow skin and blood and brown fur.\n\nThe crowd, too, although they had yelled in delight at the beginning, suddenly became aware that this fight wasn't faked. This was for real. People were going to die. There was a moment of shocked silence, then-here and there-someone cheered. Soon the applause and wild yells were deafening.\n\nCaramon quickly forgot the people in the stands, however. He saw his chance. Only the dwarf stood blocking the exit now, and Arack's face, though twisted in anger, was twisted in fear as well. Caramon could easily get past him...." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At that moment, he heard a grunt of pleasure from the minotaur. Turning, Caramon saw Pheragas slump over in pain, catching the butt end of the trident in his solar plexus. The minotaur reversed the stroke, raising the weapon to kill, but Caramon yelled loudly, distracting the minotaur long enough to throw him off stride.\n\nThe Red Minotaur turned to face this new challenge, a grin on his red-furred face. Seeing Caramon armed only with a shortsword, the minotaur's grin broadened. Lunging at Caramon, the minotaur sought to end the fight quickly. But Caramon sidestepped deftly. Raising his foot, he kicked, shattering the minotaur's kneecap. It was a painful, crippling blow, and sent the minotaur stumbling to the ground.\n\nKnowing his enemy was out for at least a few moments, Caramon ran over to Pheragas. The black man remained huddled over, grasping his stomach.\n\n\"C'mon,\" Caramon grunted, putting his arm around him. \"I've seen you take a hit like that, getup, and eat a five-course meal. What's the matter!\"\n\nBut there was no answer. Caramon felt the man's body shiver convulsively, and he saw that the shining black skin was wet with sweat. Then Caramon saw the three bleeding slashes the trident had cut in the man's arm...\n\nPheragas looked up at his friend. Seeing Caramon's horrified gaze, he realized he understood. Shuddering in pain from the poison that was coursing through his veins, Pheragas sank to his knees. Caramon's big arms closed around him.\n\n\"Take... take my sword.\" Pheragas choked. \"Quickly, fool!\" Hearing from the sounds his enemy was making that the minotaur was back on his feet, Caramon hesitated only a second, then took the large sword from Pheragas's shaking hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pheragas pitched over, writhing in pain.\n\nGripping the sword, tears blinding his eyes, Caramon rose and whirled, blocking the Red Minotaur's sudden thrust. Even though limping on one leg, the minotaur's strength was such that he easily compensated for the painful injury. Then, too, the minotaur knew that all it took was a scratch to kill his victim, and Caramon would have to come inside the trident's range to use his sword.\n\nSlowly the two stalked each other, circling round and round. Caramon no longer heard the crowd that was stamping and whistling and cheering madly at the sight of real blood. He no longer thought of escape, he had no idea-even-where he was. His warrior's instincts had taken over. He knew one thing. He had to kill.\n\nAnd so he waited. Minotaurs had one major fault, Pheragas taught him. Believing themselves to be superior to all other races, minotaurs generally underestimate an opponent. They make mistakes, if you wait them out. The Red Minotaur was no exception. The minotaur's thoughts became clear to Caramon-pain and anger, outrage at the insult, an eagerness to end the life of this dull-witted, puny human.\n\nThe two edged nearer and nearer the spot where Kiiri was still locked in a vicious battle with Raag, as Caramon could tell by the sounds of growling and shrieking from the ogre. Suddenly, apparently preoccupied with watching Kiiri, Caramon slipped in a pool of yellow, slimy blood. The Red Minotaur, howling in delight, lunged forward to impale the human's body on the trident." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the slip had been feigned. Caramon's sword flashed in the sunlight. The minotaur, seeing he had been fooled, tried to recover from this forward lunge. But he had forgotten his crippled knee. It would not bear his weight, and the Red Minotaur fell to the arena floor, Caramon's sword cleaving cleanly through the bestial head.\n\nJerking his sword free, Caramon heard a horrible snarling behind him and turned just in time to seethe great she-bear's jaws clamp over Raag's huge neck. With a shake of her head, Kiiri bit deeply into the jugular vein. The ogre's mouth opened wide in a scream none would ever hear.\n\nCaramon started toward them when he caught sudden movement to his right. Quickly he turned, every sense alert as Arack hurtled past him, the dwarf's face an ugly mask of grief and fury. Caramon saw the dagger flash in the dwarf's hand and he hurled himself forward, but he was too late. He could not stop the blade that buried itself in the bear's chest. Instantly, the dwarf's hand was awash in red, warm blood. The great she-bear roared in pain and anger. One huge paw lashed out. Catching hold of the dwarf, with her last convulsive strength, Kiiri lifted Arack and threw him across the arena. The dwarf's body smashed against the Freedom Spire where hung the golden key, impaling it upon one of the countless ornate protrusions. The dwarf gave a fearsome shriek, then the entire pinnacle collapsed, crashing into the flame-filled pits below.\n\nKiiri fell, blood pouring from the gash in her breast. The crowd was going wild, screaming and yelling Caramon's name. The big man did not hear. Bending down, he took Kiiri in his arms. The magical spell she had woven unraveled. The bear was gone, and he held Kiiri close to his chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You've won, Kiiri,\" Caramon whispered. \"You're free.\"\n\nKiiri looked up at him and smiled. Then her eyes widened, the life left them. Their dying gaze remained fixed upon the sky, almost-it seemed to Caramon-expectantly, as if now she knew what was coming.\n\nGently laying her body down upon the blood-soaked arena floor, Caramon rose to his feet. He saw Pheragas's body frozen in its last, agonized throes. He saw Kiiri's sightless, staring eyes.\n\n\"You will answer for this, my brother,\" Caramon said softly.\n\nThere was a noise behind him, a murmuring like the angry roar of the sea before the storm. Grimly, Caramon gripped his sword and turned, preparing to face whatever new enemy awaited him. But there was no enemy, only the other gladiators. At the sight of Caramon's, tear-streaked and bloodstained face, one by one, they stood aside, making way for him to pass.\n\nLooking at them, Caramon realized that-at last-he was free. Free to find his brother, free to put an end to this evil forever. He felt his soul soar, death held little meaning and no fear for him anymore. The smell of blood was in his nostrils, and he was filled with the sweet madness of battle.\n\nThirsting now with the desire for revenge, Caramon ran to the edge of the arena, preparing to descend the stairs that led down to the tunnels beneath it, when the first of the earthquakes shattered the doomed city of Istar." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crysania neither saw nor heard Tasslehoff. Her mind was blinded by a myriad colors that swirled within its depths, sparkling like splendid jewels, for suddenly she understood. This was why Paladine had brought her back here-not to redeem the memory of the Kingpriest-but to learn from his mistakes. And she knew, she knew in her soul, that she had learned. She could call upon the gods and they would answer-not with anger-but with power! The cold darkness within her broke open, and the freed creature sprang from its shell, bursting into the sunlight.\n\nIna vision, she saw herself-one hand holding high the medallion of Paladine, its platinum flashing in the sun. With her other hand, she called forth legions of believers, and they swarmed around her with adoring, rapt expressions as she led them to lands of beauty beyond imagining.\n\nShe didn't have the Key yet to unlock the door, she knew. And it could not happen here, the wrath of the gods was too great for her to penetrate. But whereto find the Key, whereto find the door, even? The dancing colors made her dizzy, she could not see or think. And then she heard a voice, a small voice, and felt hands clutching at her robes. \"Raistlin...\" she heard the voice say, the rest of the words were lost. But suddenly her mind cleared. The colors vanished, as did the light, leaving her alone in the darkness that was calm and soothing to her soul.\n\n\"Raistlin,\" she murmured. \"He tried to tell me....\"\n\nStill the hands clutched at her. Absently, she disengaged them and thrust them aside. Raistlin would take her to the Portal, he would help her find the Key. Evil turns in upon itself, Elistan said. So Raistlin would unwittingly help her. Crysania's soul sang in a joyous anthem to Paladine. When I return in my glory, with goodness in my hand, when all the evil in the world is vanquished, then Raistlin himself will see my might, he will come to understand and believe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Crysania!\"\n\nThe ground shook beneath Crysania's feet, but she did not notice the tremor. She heard a voice call her name, a soft voice, broken by coughing.\n\n\"Crysania.\" It spoke again. \"There is not much time. Hurry!\"\n\nRaistlin's voice! Looking around wildly, Crysania searched for him, but she saw no one. And then she realized, he was speaking to her mind, guiding her. \"Raistlin,\" she murmured, \"I hear you. I am coming.\"\n\nTurning, she ran down the aisle and out into the Temple. The kender's cry behind her fell on deaf ears.\n\n\"Raistlin?\" said Tas, puzzled, glancing around. Then he understood. Crysania was going to Raistlin! Somehow, magically, he was calling to her and she was going to find him! Tasslehoff dashed out into the corridor of the Temple after Crysania. Surely, she would make Raistlin fix the device...\n\nOnce in the corridor, Tas glanced up and down and spotted Crysania quickly. But his heart nearly jumped out on the floor-she was running so swiftly she had nearly reached the end of the hall.\n\nMaking certain the broken pieces of the magical device were secure in his pouch, Tas ran grimly after Crysania, keeping her fluttering white robes in his sight for as long as possible.\n\nUnfortunately, that wasn't very long. She immediately vanished around a corner.\n\nThe kender ran as he had never run before, not even when the imagined terrors of Shoikan Grove had been chasing him. His topknot of hair streamed out behind him, his pouches bounced around wildly, spilling their contents, leaving behind a glittering trail of rings and baubles." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Keeping a firm grip on the pouch with the magical device, Tas reached the end of the hall and skidded around it, slamming up against the opposite wall in his haste. Oh, no! His heart went from jumping around in his chest to land with a thud at his feet. He began to wish irritably that his heart would stay put. Its gyrations were making him nauseous.\n\nThe hall was filled with clerics, all dressed in white robes! How was he ever to spot Crysania? Then he saw her, about half-way down the hall, her black hair shining in the torchlight. He saw, too, that clerics swirled about in her wake, shouting or glowering after her as she ran by.\n\nTas leaped to the pursuit, hope rising again; Crysania had been necessarily slowed in her wild flight by the crowd of people in the Temple. The kender sped past them, ignoring cries of outrage, skipping out the way of grasping hands.\n\n\"Crysania,\" he yelled desperately.\n\nThe crowd of clerics in the hall became thicker, everyone hurrying out to wonder about the strange trembling of the ground, trying to guess what this portended.\n\nTas saw Crysania halt more than once, pushing her way through the crowd. She had freed herself when Quarath came around the corner, calling for the Kingpriest. Not watching where she was going, Crysania ran into him, and he caught hold of her.\n\n\"Stop! My dear,\" Quarath cried, shaking her, thinking her hysterical. \"Calm yourself!\"\n\n\"Let me go!\" Crysania struggled in his grasp.\n\n\"She's gone mad with terror! Help me hold her!\" Quarath called to several clerics standing nearby." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It suddenly occurred to Tas that Crysania did look mad. He could see her face as he drew near her, now. Her black hair was a tangled mess, her eyes were deep, deep gray, the color of the storm clouds, and her face was flushed with exertion. She seemed to hear nothing, no voices penetrated her consciousness, except, perhaps, one.\n\nOther clerics caught hold of her at Quarath's command. Screaming incoherently, Crysania fought them, too. Desperation gave her strength, she came close to escaping more than once. Her white robea tore in their hands as they tried to hold her, Tas thought he saw blood on more than one cleric's face. Running up, he was about to leap on the back of the nearest cleric and bop him over the head when he was blinded by a brilliant light that brought everyone– even Crysania– to a halt.\n\nNo one moved. All Tas could hear fora moment were Crysania's gasps for breath and the heavy breathing of those who had tried to stop her. Then a voice spoke.\n\n\"The gods come,\" said the musical voice from out the center of the light, \"at my command–\"\n\nThe ground beneath Tasslehoff's feet leaped high in the air, tossing the kender up like a feather. It sank rapidly as Tas was going up, then flew up to meet him as he was coming down. The kender slammed into the floor, the impact knocking the breath from his small body.\n\nThe air exploded with dust and glass and splinters, screams and shrieks and crashes. Tas could do nothing except fight to try to breathe. Lying on the marble floor as it jumped and rocked and shook beneath him, walls split, pillars fell, and people died." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Temple of Istar was collapsing.\n\nCrawling forward on his hands and knees, Tas tried desperately to keep Crysania insight. She seemed oblivious to what was happening around her. Those who had been holding her let go in their terror, and Crysania, still hearing only Raistlin's voice, started on her way again. Tas yelled. Quarath was lunging at her, but, even as the cleric hurtled towards her, a huge marble column next to her toppled and fell.\n\nTas caught his breath. He couldn't see a thing for an instant, then the marble dust settled. Quarath was nothing but a bloody mass on the floor. Crysania, apparently unhurt, stood staring dazedly down at the elf, whose blood had spattered allover her white robes.\n\n\"Crysania!\" Tasslehoff shouted hoarsely. But she didn't notice him. Turning away, she stumbled through the wreckage, unseeing, hearing nothing but the voice that called to her more urgently now than ever.\n\nStaggering to his feet, his body bruised and aching, Tas ran after her. Nearing the end of the hall, he saw Crysania make a turn to her right and go down a flight of stairs. Before he followed her, Tas risked a quick look behind him, drawn by a terrible curiosity. The brilliant light still filled the corridor, illuminating the bodies of the dead and dying. Cracks gaped in the Temple walls, the ceiling sagged, dust choked the air. And within that light, Tas could still hear the voice, only now its lovely music had faded. It sounded harsh, shrill, and off-key.\n\n\"The gods come....\"\n\nOutside the great arena, running through Istar, Caramon fought his way through death-choked streets. Much like Crysania's, his mind, too, heard Raistlin's voice. But it was not calling to him. No, Caramon heard it as he had heard it in their mother's womb, he heard the voice of his twin, the voice of the blood they shared." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And so Caramon paid no heed to the screams of the dying, or the pleas for help from those trapped beneath the wreckage. He paid no heed to what was happening around him. Buildings tumbled down practically on top of him, stones plummeted into the streets, narrowly missing him. His arms and upper body were soon bleeding from small, jagged cuts. His legs were gashed in a hundred places.\n\nBut he did not stop. He did not even feel the pain. Climbing over debris, lifting giant beams of wood and hurling them out of his way, Caramon slowly made his way through the dying streets of Istar to the Temple that gleamed in the sun before him. In his hand, he carried a bloodstained sword.\n\nTasslehoff followed Crysania down, down, down into the very bowels of the ground-or so it seemed to the kender. He hadn't even known such places in the Temple existed, and he wondered how he had come to miss all these hidden staircases in his much rambling. He wondered, too, how Crysania came to know of their existence. She passed through secret doors that were not visible even to Tas's kender eyes.\n\nThe earthquake ended, the Temple shook a moment longer in horrified memory, then shivered and was still once more. Outside was death and chaos, but inside all was still and silent. It seemed to Tas as if everything in the world was holding its breath, waiting....\n\nDown here-wherever here was-Tas saw little damage, perhaps because it was so far beneath the ground. Dust clouded the air, making it hard to breathe or see and occasionally a crack appeared in a wall, or a torch fell to the floor. But most of the torches were still in their sconces on the wall, still burning, casting an eerie glow in the drifting dust." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crysania never paused or hesitated, but pressed on rapidly, though Tas soon lost all sense of direction or of where he was. He had managed to keep up with her fairly easily, but he was growing more and more tired and hoped that they would get to wherever they were going soon. His ribs hurt dreadfully. Each breath he drew burned like fire, and his legs felt like they must belong to a thick-legged, iron-shod dwarf.\n\nHe followed Crysania down another flight of marble stairs, forcing his aching muscles to keep moving. Once at the bottom, Tas looked up wearily and his heart rose fora change. They were in a dark, narrow hallway that ended, thankfully, in a wall, not another staircase!\n\nHere, a single torch burned in a sconce above a darkened doorway.\n\nWith a glad cry, Crysania hurried through the doorway, vanishing into the darkness beyond.\n\n\"Of course!\" Tas realized thankfully. \"Raistlin's laboratory! It must be down here.\"\n\nHurrying forward, he was very near the door when a great, dark shape bore down on him from him behind, tripping him. Tas tumbled to the floor, the pain in his ribs making him catch his breath.\n\nLooking up, fighting the pain, the kender saw the flash of golden armor and the torchlight glisten upon the blade of a sword. He recognized the man's bronze, muscular body, but the man's face-the face that should have been so familiar-was the face of someone Tas had never seen before.\n\n\"Caramon?\" he whispered as the man surged past him. But Caramon neither saw him nor heard him. Frantically, Tas tried to stand up.\n\nThen the aftershock hit and the ground rocked out from beneath Tas's feet. Lurching back against a wall, he heard a cracking sound above him and saw the ceiling start to give way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Caramon!\" he cried, but his voice was lost in the sound of wood tumbling down on top of him, knocking him in the head. Tas struggled to stay conscious, despite the pain. But his brain, as if stubbornly refusing to have anything more to do with this mess, snuffed out the lights. Tas sank into darkness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hearing in her mind Raistlin's calm voice drawing her past death and destruction, Crysania ran without hesitation into the room that lay far below the Temple. But, on entering, her eager steps faltered. Hesitantly, she glanced around, her pulse beating achingly in her throat.\n\nShe had been blind to the horrors of the stricken Temple. Even now, she glanced at the blood on her dress and could not remember how it got there. But here, in this room, things stood outwith vivid clarity, though the laboratory was lit only by light streaming from a crystal atop a magical staff. Staring around, overawed by a sense of evil, she could not make herself walk beyond the door.\n\nSuddenly, she heard a sound and felt a touch on her arm. Whirling in alarm, she saw dark, living, shapeless creatures, trapped and held in cages. Smelling her warm blood, they stirred in the staff's light, and it was the touch of one of their grasping hands she had felt. Shuddering, Crysania backed out of their way and bumped into something solid.\n\nIt was an open casket containing the body of what might have once been a young man. But the skin was stretched like parchment across his bones, his mouth was open in a ghastly, silent scream. The ground lurched beneath her feet, and the body in the casket bounced up wildly, staring at her from empty eye sockets.\n\nCrysania gasped, no sound came from her throat, her body was chilled by cold sweat. Clutching her head in shaking hands, she squeezed her eyes shut to blot out the horrible sight. The world started to slip away, then she heard a soft voice.\n\n\"Come, my dear,\" said the voice that had been in her mind. \"Come. You are safe with me, now. The creatures of Fistandantilus's evil cannot harm you while I am here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Crysania felt life return to her body." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Raistlin's voice brought comfort. The sickness passed, the ground quit shaking, the dust settled. The world lapsed into deathly silence.\n\nThankfully, Crysania opened her eyes. She saw Raistlin standing some distance from her, watching her from the shadows of his hooded head, his eyes glittering in the light of his staff. But, even as Crysania looked at him, she caught a glimpse of the writhing, caged shapes. Shuddering, she kept-her gaze on Raistlin's paleface.\n\n\"Fistandantilus?\" she asked through dry lips. \"He built this?\"\n\n\"Yes, this laboratory is his,\" Raistlin replied coolly. \"It is one he created years and years ago. Unbeknownst to any of the clerics, he used his great magic to burrow beneath the Temple like a worm, eating away solid rock, forming it into stairs and secret doors, casting his spells upon them so that few knew of their existence.\"\n\nCrysania saw a thin-lipped sardonic smile cross Raistlin's face as he turned to the light.\n\n'He showed it to few, over the years. Only a handful of apprentices were ever allowed to share the secret.\"Raistlin shrugged.\" And none of these lived to tell about it.\"His voice softened.\" But then Fistandantilus made a mistake. He showed it to one young apprentice. A frail, brilliant, sharp-tongued young man, who observed and memorized every turn and twist of the hidden corridors, who studied every word of every spell that revealed secret doorways, reciting them over and over, committing them to memory, before he slept, night after night. And thus, we stand here, you and I, safe-for the moment-from the anger of the gods.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Making a motion with his hand, he gestured for Crysania to come to the back part of the room where he stood at a large, ornately carved, wooden desk. On it rested a silverbound spellbook he had been reading. A circle of silver powder was spread around the desk. \"That's right. Keep your eyes on me. The darkness is not so terrifying then, is it?\"\n\nCrysania could not answer. She realized that, once again, she had allowed him, in her weakness, to read more in her eyes than she had intended him to see. Flushing, she looked quickly away.\n\n\"I-I was only startled, that's all,\" she said. But she could not repress a shudder as she glanced back at the casket. \"What is-or was-that?\" she whispered in horror.\n\n\"One of the Fistandantilus's apprentices, no doubt,\" Raistlin answered. \"The mage sucked the life force from him to extend his own life. It was something he did... frequently.\"\n\nRaistlin coughed, his eyes grew shadowed and dark with some terrible memory, and Crysania saw a spasm of fear and pain pass over his usually impassive face. But before she could ask more, there was the sound of a crash in the doorway. The black-robed mage quickly regained his composure. He looked up, his gaze going past Crysania.\n\n\"Ah, enter, my brother. I was just thinking of the Test, which naturally brought you to mind.\"\n\nCaramon! Faint with relief, Crysania turned to welcome the big man with his solid, reassuring presence, his jovial, goodnatured face. But her words of greeting died on her lips, swallowed up by the darkness that only seemed to grow deeper with the warrior's arrival." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Speaking of tests, I am pleased you survived yours, brother,\" Raistlin said, his sardonic smile returned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This lady\"-he glanced at Crysania-\"will have need of a bodyguard where we go. I can't tell you how much it means tome to have someone along I know and trust.\"\n\nCrysania shrank from the terrible sarcasm, and she saw Caramon flinch as though Raistlin's words had been tiny, poisoned barbs, shooting in his flesh. The mage seemed neither to notice nor care, however. He was reading his spellbook, murmuring soft words and tracing symbols in the air with his delicate hands.\n\n\"Yes, I survived your test,\" Caramon said quietly. Entering the room, he came into the light of the staff. Crysania caught her breath in fear.\n\n\"Raistlin!\" she cried, backing away from Caramon as the big man came slowly forward, the bloody sword in his hand. \"Raistlin, look!\" Crysania said, stumbling into the desk near where the mage was standing, unknowingly stepping into the circle of silver powder. Grains of it clung to the bottom of her robe, shimmering in the staff's light.\n\nIrritated at the interruption, the mage glanced up.\n\n\"I survived your test,\" Caramon repeated, \"as you survived the Test in the Tower. There, they shattered your body. Here, you shattered my heart. In its place is nothing now, just a cold emptiness as black as your robes. And, like this swordblade, it is stained with blood. A poor wretch of a minotaur died upon this blade. A friend gave his life for me, another died in my arms. You've sent the kender to his death, haven't you? And how many more have died to further your evil designs?\" Caramon's voice dropped to a lethal whisper. \"This ends it, my brother. No more will die because of you. Except one-myself. It's fitting, isn't it, Raist? We came into this world together; together, we'll leave it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He took another step forward. Raistlin seemed about to speak, but Caramon interrupted.\n\n\"You cannot use your magic to stop me, not this time. I know about this spell you plan to cast. I know it will take all of your power, all of your concentration. If you use even the smallest bit of magic against me, you will not have the strength to leave this place, and my end will be accomplished all the same. If you do not die at my hands, you will die at the hands of the gods.\"\n\nRaistlin gazed at his brother without comment, then, shrugging, he turned back to read in his book. It was only when Caramon took one more step forward, and Raistlin heard the man's golden armor clank, that the mage sighed in exasperation and glanced up at his twin. His eyes, glittering from the depths of his hood, seemed the only points of light in the room.\n\n\"You are wrong, my brother,\" Raistlin said softly. \"There is one other who will die.\" His mirrorlike gaze went to Crysania, who stood alone, her white robes shimmering in the darkness, between the two brothers.\n\nCaramon's eyes were soft with pity as he, too, looked at Crysania, but the resolution on his face did not waver. \"The gods will take her to them,\" he said gently. \"She is a true cleric. None of the true clerics died in the Cataclysm. That is why Par-Salian sent her back.\" Holding out his hand, he pointed. \"Look, there stands one, waiting.\"\n\nCrysania had no need to turn and look, she felt Loralon's presence.\n\n\"Go to him, Revered Daughter,\" Caramon told her. \"Your place is in the light, not herein the darkness.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Raistlin said nothing, he made no motion of any kind, just stood quietly at the desk, his slender hand resting upon the spellbook.\n\nCrysania did not move. Caramon's words beat in her mind like the wings of the evil creatures who fluttered about the Tower of High Sorcery. She heard the words, yet they held no meaning for her. All she could see was herself, holding the shining light in her hand, leading the people. The Key... the Portal... She saw Raistlin holding the Key in his hand, she saw him beckoning to her. Once more, she felt the touch of Raistlin's lips, burning, upon her forehead.\n\nAlight flickered and died. Loralon was gone.\n\n\"I cannot,\" Crysania tried to say, but no voice came. None was needed. Caramon understood. He hesitated, looking at her for one, long moment, then he sighed.\n\n\"So be it,\" Caramon said coolly, as he, too, advanced into the silver circle. \"Another death will not matter much to either of us now, will it, my brother?\"\n\nCrysania stared, fascinated, at the bloodstained sword shining in the staff's light. Vividly, she pictured it piercing her body and, looking up into Caramon's eyes, she saw that he pictured the same thing, and that even this would not deter him. She was nothing to him, not even a living, breathing human. She was merely an obstacle in his path, keeping him from his true objective-his brother.\n\nWhat terrible hatred, Cyrsania thought, and then, looking deep into the eyes that were so near her own now, she had a sudden flash of insight-what terrible love!\n\nCaramon lunged at her with an outstretched hand, thinking to catch her and hurl her aside. Acting out of panic, Crysania dodged his grasp, stumbling backup against Raistlin, who made no move to touch her. Caramon's hand gripped nothing but a sleeve of her robe, ripping and tearing it. Ina fury, he cast the white cloth to the ground, and now Crysania knew she must die. Still, she kept her body between him and his brother." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Caramon's sword flashed.\n\nIn desperation, Crysania clutched the medallion of Paladine she wore around her throat.\n\n\"Halt!\" She cried the word of command even as she shut her eyes in fear. Her body cringed, waiting for the terrible pain as the steel tore through her flesh. Then, she heard a moan and the clatter of a sword falling to the stone. Relief surged through her body, making her weak and faint. Sobbing, she felt herself falling.\n\nBut slender hands caught and held her; thin, muscular arms gathered her near, a soft voice spoke her name in triumph. She was enveloped in warm blackness, drowning in warm blackness, sinking down and down. And in her ear, she heard whispered the words of the strange language of magic.\n\nLike spiders or caressing hands, the words crawled over her body. The chanting of the words grew louder and louder, Raistlin's voice stronger and stronger. Silver light flared, then vanished. The grip of Raistlin's arms around Crysania tightened in ecstasy, and she was spinning around and around, caught up in that ecstasy, whirling away with him into the blackness.\n\nShe put her arms about him and laid her head on his chest and let herself sink into the darkness. As she fell, the words of magic mingled with the singing of her blood and the singing of the stones in the Temple....\n\nAnd through it all, one discordant note-a harsh, heartbroken moan.\n\nTasslehoff Burrfoot heard the stones singing, and he smiled dreamily. He was a mouse, he remembered, scampering forward through the silver powder while the stones sang....\n\nTas woke up suddenly. He was lying on a cold stone floor, covered with dust and debris. The ground beneath him was begining to shiver and shake once more. Tas knew, from the strange and unfamiliar feeling of fear building up inside of him that this time the gods meant business. This time, the earthquake would not end." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Crysania! Caramon!\" Tas shouted, but he heard only the echo of his shrill voice comeback, bouncing hollowly off the shivering walls.\n\nStaggering to his feet, ignoring the pain in his head, Tas saw that the torch still shone above that darkened room Crysania had entered, that part of the building seemingly the only part untouched by the convulsive heaving of the ground. Magic, Tas thought vaguely, making his way inside and recognizing wizardly things. He looked for signs of life, but all he saw were the horrible caged creatures, hurling themselves upon their cell doors, knowing the end of their tortured existence was near, yet unwilling to give up life, no matter how painful.\n\nTas stared around wildly. Where had everyone gone? \"Caramon?\" he said in a small voice. But there was no answer, only a distant rumbling as the shaking of the ground grew worse and worse. Then, in the dim light of the torch outside, Tas caught a glimpse of metal shining on the floor near a desk. Staggering across the floor, Tas managed to reach it.\n\nHis hand closed about the golden hilt of a gladiator's sword. Leaning back against the desk for support, he stared at the silver blade, stained black with blood. Then he lifted something else that had been lying on the floor beneath the sword-a remnant of white cloth. He saw golden embroidery portraying the symbol of Paladine shine dully in the torchlight. There was a circle of powder on the floor, powder that once might have been silver but was now burned black.\n\n\"They've gone,\" Tas said softly to the caged, gibbering creatures. \"They've gone.... I'm all alone.\"\n\nA sudden heaving of the ground sent the kender to the floor on his hands and knees. There was a snapping and rending sound, so loud it nearly deafened him, causing Tas to raise his head. Ashe stared up at the ceiling in awe, it split wide open. The rock cracked. The foundation of the Temple parted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And then the Temple itself shattered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The walls flew asunder. The marble separated. Floor after floor burst open, like the petals of arose spreading in the morning's light, arose that would die by nightfall. The kender's gaze followed the dreadful progress until, finally, he saw the very tower of the Temple itself split wide, falling to the ground with a crash that was more devastating than the earthquake.\n\nUnable to move, protected by the powerful dark spells cast by an evil mage long dead, Tas stood in the laboratory of Fistandantilus, looking up into the heavens.\n\nAnd he saw the sky begin to rain fire." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Aid the author, keep the plot going.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, last battle\nAuthor: Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Towers of Midnight\nChapter: 15" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"With this,\" Egwene said, \"they could have been slipping Darkfriends into the ranks of the Aes Sedai for years.\"\n\n\"Unlikely,\" Saerin said. \"None of the Black sisters we captured knew of this weave. If they had, then they'd have tried to use it when we made them reswear the oaths. I suspect that if Mesaana does know this trick, she has kept it to herself. The usefulness of it would vanish once too many people became aware of it.\"\n\n\"Still,\" Egwene said. \"What do we do? Knowing of the weave, we could probably find away to check for it--but I doubt that the sisters would be willing to go through the reswearing process again.\"\n\n\"And if it were to catch one of the Forsaken?\" Yukiri asked. \"It might be worth ruffling a few feathers to catch the fox hiding in the henhouse.\"\n\n\"She wouldn't be caught,\" Egwene said. \"Besides, we don't know if she's using one of these methods. Seaine's logic suggests that it might be possible--without too much trouble--to defeat the Oath Rod. The actual method Mesaana used is less important than the possibility of the act.\"\n\nSeaine glanced at Yukiri. None of the three had questioned Egwene's knowledge that one of the Forsaken was in the White Tower, but she knew they'd been skeptical. Well, at least they now understood that it might be possible to defeat the Oath Rod.\n\n\"I want you to continue your work,\" Egwene said. \"You and the others were effective at capturing several Black sisters and unearthing the ferrets. This is much the same thing.\" Merely far, far more dangerous.\n\n\"We'll try, Mother,\" Yukiri said. \"But one sister among hundreds? One of the most crafty and evil creatures ever to have lived? I doubt she will leave many clues. Our investigations into the murders have, so far, yielded very little in the way of results.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Keep at it anyway,\" Egwene said. \"Saerin, what have you to report?\"\n\n\"Tales, rumors and whispers, Mother,\" Saerin said with a grimace. \" You likely know the most famous stories regarding Mesaana--how she ran the schools in lands conquered by the Shadow during the War of Power. So far as I can tell, those legends are quite true. Marsim of Manetheren speaks of that in detail in her Annals of the Final Nights, and she's often a reliable source. Alrom gathered quite a full report of living through one of those schools, and fragments of it have survived.\n\n\"Mesaana wished to be a researcher, but was rejected. The details are not clear. She also governed the Aes Sedai who went to the Shadow, leading them in battle at times, if Alrom's report is to be believed. I'm not convinced it is; I think it likely Mesaana's leadership was more figurative.\"\n\nEgwene nodded slowly. \"But what of her personality? Who is she?\"\n\nSaerin shook her head. \" The Forsaken are more monsters in the night than real \"personalities\" to most, Mother, and much has been lost or misquoted. From what I can tell, among the Forsaken you could think of her as the realist--the one who, rather than sitting high on a throne, steps in and gets her hands dirty. Elandria Borndat's Seeing Through the Breaking insists that, unlike Moghedien and Graendal, Mesaana was willing to take the reins directly.\n\n\"She was never known as the most skilled or powerful of the Forsaken, but she was extremely capable. Elandria explains that she did what needed to be done. When others would be scheming, she would be carefully building up defenses and training new recruits.\" Saerin hesitated. \"She... well, she sounds much like an Amyrlin, Mother. The Shadow's Amyrlin.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Light,\" Yukiri said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Little wonder she setup here.\" The Gray seemed very unsettled by that.\n\n\"The only other thing I could find of relevance, Mother,\" Saerin said, \"was a curious reference from the Blue scholar Lannis, who indicated that Mesaana was second only to Demandred in sheer anger.\"\n\nEgwene frowned. \"I'd assume that all of the Forsaken are full of hate.\"\n\n\"Not hate,\" Saerin said. \"Anger. Lannis thought Mesaana was angry--at herself, at the world, at the other Forsaken--because she wasn't one of those at the forefront. That could make her very dangerous.\"\n\nEgwene nodded slowly. She's an organizer, she thought. An administrator who hates being relegated to that position.\n\nWas that why she'd stayed in the Tower after the Black sisters had been found? Did she desire to bring some great accomplishment to the Dark One? Verin had said that the Forsaken shared one unifying trait: their selfishness.\n\nShe tried to deliver a broken White Tower, Egwene thought. But that has failed. She was probably part of the attempt to kidnap Rand as well. Another fiasco. And the women sent to destroy the Black Tower?\n\nMesaana would need something grand to offset so many failures. Killing Egwene would work. That might send the White Tower back into division.\n\nGawyn had been mortified when she'd said she might use herself as bait. Dared she do so? She gripped the railing, standing above the Tower, above the city that depended on her, looking out on a world that needed her.\n\nSomething had to be done; Mesaana had to be drawn out. If what Saerin said was true, then the woman would be willing to fight directly--she wouldn't hide and poke from the shadows. Egwene's task, then, was to tempt her with an opportunity, one that didn't seem obvious, one she couldn't resist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come,\" Egwene said, walking toward the ramp back down into the Tower." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have some preparations to make.\"\n\nChapter 16\n\nShanna'har\n\nFaile walked the camp in the waning evening light, making her way toward the quartermaster's tent. Perrin had sent their group of scouts through the gateway to Cairhien; they'd return the next morning.\n\nPerrin was still brooding about the Whitecloaks. Over the last several days, the two armies had exchanged several letters, Perrin trying to maneuver fora second, more formal parley while the Whitecloaks insisted on a battle. Faile had given Perrin choice words about sneaking off to meet with the Whitecloaks without her.\n\nPerrin was stalling as he let Elyas and the Aiel scout the Whitecloaks to try to find away to sneak their people out, but it was unlikely to bean option. He'd succeeded back in the Two Rivers, but there had been only a handful of captives then. Now there were hundreds.\n\nPerrin was not dealing well with his guilt. Well, Faile would talk with him shortly. She continued through the camp, passing the Mayener section to her left, with banners flying high.\n\nI will have to deal with that one soon as well, Faile thought, looking up at Berelain's banner. The rumors about her and Perrin were problematic. She'd suspected that Berelain might try something in Faile's absence, but taking him into her tent at night seemed particularly forward.\n\nFaile's next steps would have to betaken with extreme care. Her husband, his people, and his allies were all balanced precariously. Faile found herself wishing she could ask her mother for advice.\n\nThat shocked her, and she hesitated, stopping on the worn pathway of trampled yellow grass and mud. Light, Faile thought. Look what has happened tome." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Two years ago, Faile--then called Zarine--had run from her home in Saldaea to become a Hunter for the Horn. She'd rebelled against her duties as the eldest, and the training her mother had insisted she undergo.\n\nShe hadn't run because she'd hated the work; indeed, she'd proven adept at everything required of her. So why had she gone? In part for adventure. But in part--she admitted to herself only now--because of all the assumptions. In Saldaea, you always did what was expected of you. Nobody wondered if you would do your duty, particularly if you were a relative of the Queen herself.\n\nAnd so... she'd left. Not because she'd hated what she would become, but because she had hated the fact that it had seemed so inevitable. Nowhere she was, using all of the things her mother had insisted she learn.\n\nIt was nearly enough to make Faile laugh. She could tell a host of things about the camp from a mere glance. They'd need to find some good leather for the cobblers soon. Water wasn't a problem, as it had been raining light sprinkles often over the last few days, but dry wood for campfires was an issue. One group of refugees--a collection of former wetlander gai'shain who watched Perrin's Aiel with outright hostility--would need attention. As she walked, she watched to make certain the camp had proper sanitation, and that the soldiers were caring for themselves. Some men would show utmost concern for their horses, then forget to eat anything proper--or at least healthy. Not to mention their habit of spending half the night gossiping by the campfires.\n\nShe shook her head and continued walking, entering the supply ring, where food wagons had been unloaded for the horde of cooks and serving maids. The supply ring was almost a village itself, with hundreds of people quickly wearing pathways in the muddy grass. She passed a group of dirty-faced youths digging pits in the ground, then a patch of women chattering and humming as they peeled potatoes, children gathering the rinds and throwing them into the pits. There weren't many of those children, but Perrin's force had gathered a number of families from around the countryside who--starving--had begged to join." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Serving men ran baskets of peeled potatoes to cooking pots, which were slowly being filled with water by young women making trips to the stream. Journeyman cooks prepared coals for roasting and older cooks were mixing spices into sauces that could be poured over other foods, which was really the only way to give flavor to such mass quantities.\n\nElderly women--the few in the camp--shuffled past with bent backs and light wicker baskets bearing herbs clutched on thin arms, their shawls rippling as they chatted with crackling voices. Soldiers hurried in and out, carrying game. Boys between childhood and manhood gathered sticks for tinder; she passed a small gaggle of these who had grown distracted capturing spiders.\n\nIt was a tempest of confusion and order coexisting, like two sides of a coin. Strange how well Faile fit inhere. Looking back at herself only a few years before, she was amazed to realize that she saw a spoiled, self-centered child. Leaving the Borderlands to become a Hunter for the Horn? She'd abandoned duties, home and family. What had shebeen thinking?\n\nShe passed some women milling grain, then walked around afresh batch of wild scallions lying on a blanket beside them, waiting to be made into soup. She was glad she'd left and met Perrin, but that didn't excuse her actions. With a grimace, she remembered forcing Perrin to travel the Ways in the darkness, alone. She didn't even recall what he'd done to set her off, though she'd never admit that to him.\n\nHer mother had once called her spoiled, and she'd been right. Her mother had also insisted that Faile learn to run the estates, and all the while Faile had dreamed of marrying a Hunter for the Horn and spending her life faraway from armies and the boring duties of lords." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Light bless you, Mother, Faile thought. What would she, or Perrin, have done without that training? Without her mother's teachings, Faile would have been useless. Administration of the entire camp would have rested on Aravine's shoulders. Capable though the woman was as Perrin's camp steward, she couldn't have managed this all on her own. Nor should she have been expected to.\n\nFaile reached the quartermaster's station, a small pavilion at the very heart of the cooking pits. The breeze brought an amalgamation of scents: fat seared by flames, potatoes boiling, peppered sauces spiced with garlic, the wet, sticky scent of potato peelings being carried to the small herd of hogs they'd managed to bring out of Malden.\n\nThe quartermaster, Bavin Rockshaw, was a pale-faced Cairhienin with blond speckled through his graying brown hair, like the fur on a mixed-breed dog. He was spindly through the arms, legs and chest, yet had an almost perfectly round paunch. He had apparently worked at quartermastering as far back as the Aiel War, and was an expert--a master as practiced in overseeing supply operations as a master carpenter was at woodworking.\n\nThat, of course, meant that he was an expert at taking bribes. When he saw Faile, he smiled and bowed stiffly enough to be formal, but without ornamentation. \"I'm a simple soldier, doing his duty,\" that bow said.\n\n\"Lady Faile!\" he exclaimed, waving over some of his serving men. \"Hereto inspect the ledgers, I assume?\"\n\n\"Yes, Bavin,\" she said, though she knew there would be nothing suspicious in them. He was far too careful." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Still, she made a cursory motion of going through the records." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One of the men brought her a stool, another a table upon which to place the ledgers, and yet another a cup of tea. She was impressed at how neatly the columns added up. Her mother had explained that often, a quartermaster would make many messy notations, referencing other pages or other ledgers, separating different types of supplies into different books, all to make it more difficult to track what was going on. A leader who was befuddled by the notations would assume that the quartermaster must be doing his job.\n\nThere was none of that here. Whatever tricks of numbering Bavin was using to obscure his thievery, they were nothing short of magical. And he was stealing, or at least being creative in how he doled out his foodstuffs. That was inevitable. Most quartermasters didn't really consider it thievery; he was in charge of his supplies, and that was that.\n\n\"How odd it is,\" Faile said as she leafed through the ledger. \"The strange twists of fate.\"\n\n\"My Lady?\" Bavin asked.\n\n\"Hmm? Oh, it is nothing. Only that Torven Rikshan's camp has received their meals each evening a good hour ahead of the other camps. I'm certain that's just by chance.\"\n\nBavin hesitated. \"Undoubtedly, my Lady.\"\n\nShe continued to leaf through the ledgers. Torven Rikshan was a Cairhienin lord, and had been placed in charge of one of the twenty camps within the larger mass of refugees. He had an usually large number of nobles in his particular camp. Aravine had brought this to Faile's attention; she wasn't certain what Torven had given to receive supplies for meals more quickly, but it wouldn't do. The other camps might feel that Perrin was favoring one over another." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes,\" Faile said, laughing lightly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Merely coincidence. These things happen in a camp so large. Why, just the other day Varkel Tius was complaining tome that he had put in a requisition for canvas to repair torn tents, but hasn't had his canvas for nearly a week now. Yet I know fora fact that Soffi Moraton ripped her tent during the stream crossing but had it repaired by that evening.\"\n\nBavin was silent.\n\nFaile made no accusations. Her mother had cautioned that a good quartermaster was too valuable to toss into prison, particularly when the next man was likely to behalf as capable and equally corrupt. Faile's duty was not to expose or embarrass Bavin. It was to make him worried enough that he kept himself in check.\n\n\"Perhaps you can do something about these irregularities, Bavin,\" she said, closing the ledger. \"I loathe to burden you with silly matters, but the problems must not reach my husband's ears. You know how he is when enraged.\"\n\nActually, Perrin was about as likely to hurt a manlike Bavin as Faile was to flap her arms and flyaway. But the camp didn't see it that way. They heard reports of Perrin's fury in battle, along with her occasional arguments with him--provoked by Faile so that they could have a proper discussion--and assumed he had a terrible temper. That was good, so long as they also thought of him as honorable and kind. Protective of his people, yet filled with rage at those who crossed him.\n\nShe rose from the stool, handing the ledgers to one of the men, curly-haired and with ink stains on his fingers and jerkin. She smiled at Bavin, then made her way out of the supply ring. She noted with displeasure that the bunch of wild scallions beside the pathway had spoiled in the moments since she'd seen them last, their stalks melted and runny, as if they'd been rotting in the sun for weeks. These spoilings had begun only recently inside of camp, but by reports, it happened far more frequently out in the countryside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was hard to tell the hour with the sky so full of clouds, but it seemed from the darkening horizon that her time to meet with Perrin had come." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Faile smiled. Her mother had warned her what would happen to her, had told her what was expected of her, and Faile had worried that she would feel trapped by life.\n\nBut what Deira hadn't mentioned was how fulfilling it would be. Perrin made the difference. It was no trap at all to be caught with him.\n\nPerrin stood with one foot upon the stump of a felled tree, facing north. The hilltop let him lookout over the plains toward the cliffs of Garen's Wall rising like the knuckles of a slumbering giant.\n\nHe opened his mind, questing out for wolves. There were some in the distance, almost too faint to feel. Wolves stayed away from large gatherings of men.\n\nThe camp spread out behind him, watchfires fluttering at its boundaries. This hillside was far enough away to be secluded, but not so distant as to be solitary. He wasn't certain why Faile had asked him to meet her here at dusk, but she'd smelled excited, so he hadn't pried. Women liked their secrets.\n\nHe heard Faile coming up the side of the hill, stepping softly on the wet grass. She was good at being quiet--not nearly as good as Elyas or one of the Aiel, but better than one might think of her. But he could smell her scent, soap with lavender. She used that particular soap only on days she deemed special.\n\nShe stepped atop the hillside, beautiful, impressive. She wore a violet vest over along silk blouse of a lighter shade. Where had she gotten the clothing? He hadn't seen her in this fine outfit before.\n\n\"My husband,\" she said, stepping up to him. He could faintly hear others near the foot of the hill--probably Cha Faile. She'd left them behind. \"You look concerned.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It's my fault that Gill and the others were captured, Faile,\" he said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My failures continue to mount. It's a wonder anyone follows me.\"\n\n\"Perrin,\" she said, laying a hand on his arm. \"We've spoken of this. You mustn't say such things.\"\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\"Because I've never known you to be a liar,\" she said with a softly chiding tone.\n\nHe looked at her. It was growing dark, though he could still make out details. She'd have a harder time seeing them.\n\n\"Why do you continue to fight this?\" she asked. \"You area good leader, Perrin.\"\n\n\"I wouldn't have given myself up for them,\" he said.\n\nShe frowned. \"What does that have to--\"\n\n\"Back in the Two Rivers,\" Perrin said, turning away from her, looking north again, \"I was ready to do it. When the Whitecloaks had Mat's family and the Luhhans, I'd have given myself up. This time, I wouldn't have. Even when I spoke to their leader, asking his price, I knew I wouldn't give myself up.\"\n\n\"You're becoming a better leader.\"\n\n\"How can you say that? I'm growing callous, Faile. If you knew the things I did to get you back, the things I would have done...\" He fingered the hammer at his side. The tooth or the claw, Young Bull, it matters not. He'd thrown away the axe, but could he blame it for his brutality? It was only a tool. He could use the hammer to do the same terrible things.\n\n\"It's not callous,\" Faile said, \"or selfish. You're a lord now, and you can't let it be known that capturing your subjects will undermine your rule. Do you think Queen Morgase would abdicate to tyrants who kidnapped her subjects? No leader could rule that way. Your inability to stop evil men does not make you evil yourself.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't want this mantle, Faile. I never have.\"\n\n\"I know.\"\n\n\"Sometimes I wish I'd never left the Two Rivers. I wish I'd let Rand runoff to his destiny, leaving regular folk behind to live their lives.\"\n\nHe caught ascent of annoyance from her.\n\n\"But if I'd stayed,\" he added hastily, \"I'd never have met you. So I'm glad I left. I'm just saying I'll be glad when this is all through and finished, and I can go back to someplace simple.\"\n\n\"You think the Two Rivers will ever go back to being the way you remember it?\"\n\nHe hesitated. She was right--when they'd gone, it had already been showing signs of change. Refugees from across the mountains moving in, the villages swelling. Now, with so many men joining him in war, getting ideas into their heads about having a lord...\n\n\"I could find someplace else,\" he said, feeling stubborn. \"There are other villages. They won't all change.\"\n\n\"And you'd drag me off to one of these villages, Perrin Aybara?\" she said.\n\n\"I...\" What would happen if Faile, his beautiful Faile, were confined to a sleepy village? He always insisted that he was only a blacksmith. But was Faile a blacksmith's wife? \"I would never force you to do anything, Faile,\" he said, cupping her face in his hand. He always felt awkward when touching her satin cheeks with his thick, callused fingers.\n\n\"I'd go, if you really wanted me to,\" she replied. That was odd. He'd normally expect a snap from her at his awkward tongue. \"But is it what you want? Is it really?\"\n\n\"I don't know what I want,\" he said frankly. No, he didn't want to drag Faile off to a village. \"Maybe... life as a blacksmith in a city, somewhere?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If you wish it,\" she repeated. \"Of course, that would leave the Two Rivers without a lord. They'd have to find someone else.\"\n\n\"No. They don't need a lord. That's why I have to stop them treating me like one.\"\n\n\"And you think they'd give upon the idea that quickly?\" Faile asked, smelling amused. \"After they've seen how everyone else does it? After the way they fawned over that fool Luc? After welcoming in all of those people from Almoth Plain, who are used to lords?\"\n\nWhat would the Two Rivers folk do if he stepped down as their lord? Ina sinking moment of realization, he knew that Faile was right. Surely they'd pick someone who'd do a better job of it than me, he thought. Maybe Master al'Vere.\n\nBut could Perrin trust that? Men like Master al'Vere or Tam might turn down the position. Might they end up picking someone like old Cenn Buie? Would they have a choice? If Perrin stepped aside, might some person who figured himself highborn seize power?\n\nDon't be a fool, Perrin Aybara, he thought. Almost anyone would be better than you.\n\nStill, the thought of someone else taking control--someone else being lord--filled him with intense anxiety. And a surprising amount of sadness.\n\n\"Now,\" Faile said, \"stop your brooding. I have grand intentions for this evening.\" She clapped her hands loudly three times, and movements began below. Soon, servants crested the hillside. Perrin recognized them as people she'd appropriated from among the refugees, a group as loyal to her as Cha Faile.\n\nThey carried canvas, which they spread on the ground. Then they covered that with a blanket. And what was that he smelled coming up from below? Ham?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What is this, Faile?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "he asked.\n\n\"At first,\" she said, \"I assumed that you had something special planned for our shanna'har. I grew nervous when you didn't mention it, however, and so I asked. It appears that you do not celebrate it in the Two Rivers, odd though that is.\"\n\n\"Shanna'har?\" Perrin asked, scratching his head.\n\n\"In the coming weeks,\" Faile said, \"we will have been married one year. This is our first shanna'har, our marriage celebration.\" She folded her arms, watching as her servants arranged a meal on the blanket. \"In Saldaea, we celebrate the shanna'har each year in the early summer. It is a festival to mark another year together, another year with neither husband nor wife fallen to the Trollocs. Young couples are told to savor their first shanna'har, much as one savors the first taste of a succulent meal. Our marriage will only be new to us once.\"\n\nThe servants laid out a meal, including several glass bowls with candles in them. Faile dismissed the servants with a smile and a wave, and they retreated down the side of the hill. Faile had obviously taken care to make the meal look lavish. The blanket was embroidered, perhaps taken from Shaido spoils. The meal was served on silver plates and platters, ham over abed of boiled barley and capers across the top. There was even wine.\n\nFaile stepped closer to him. \" I realize that there has been much, this year, that is not worth savoring. Malden, the Prophet, that harsh winter. But if these things are the cost for being with you, Perrin, then I would pay them freely a dozen times over.\n\n\"If all were well, we would spend this next month giving gifts to one another, affirming our love, celebrating our first summer as husband and wife. I doubt we will have the month of ease that is our right, but at least we should spend and enjoy this evening together.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't know if I can, Faile,\" he said. \"The Whitecloaks, the sky... Light! The Last Battle itself is almost here. The Last Battle, Faile! How can I feast while my people are being held under threat of execution and while the world itself may die?\"\n\n\"If the world itself is going to die,\" Faile said, \"is this not the time when a man must take time to appreciate what he has? Before it is all taken?\"\n\nPerrin hesitated. She laid a hand on his arm, her touch so soft. She hadn't raised her voice. Did she want him to yell? It was so hard to tell when she wanted an argument and when she didn't. Maybe Elyas would have advice for him.\n\n\"Please,\" she said softly. \"Try to relax for one evening. For me.\"\n\n\"All right,\" he said, laying his hand on hers.\n\nShe led him to the blanket and they settled down, side by side before the array of silver dishes. Faile lit more candles off of the lit ones the servants had left. The night was chilly--the clouds seemed to draw summer warmth away. \"Why do this outside?\" Perrin said. \"And not in our tent?\"\n\n\"I asked Tam what you do in the Two Rivers for shanna'har,\" she said. \"And as I feared, I learned that you don't celebrate it. That is really quite backward, you realize--we'll need to change the custom, once things settle down. Regardless, Tam said that the closest they had was something he and his wife did. Once a year, they would pack up a full meal--as extravagant as they could afford--and hike to anew place in the woods. They would dine there and spend the day with one another.\" She snuggled up against him. \"Our wedding was done in the Two Rivers fashion, so I wished this day to be after that fashion as well.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He smiled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Despite his earlier objections his tension was easing. The food smelled good, and his stomach growled, prompting Faile to sit up and take his plate and hand it to him.\n\nHe dug in. He tried to keep his manners, but the food was excellent, and it had been along day. He found himself ripping into the ham with ferocity, though he tried to take care not to drip on the fancy blanket.\n\nFaile ate more slowly, the scent of amusement mixing with that of her soap.\n\n\"What?\" Perrin asked, wiping his mouth. She was lit only by the candles, now that the sun was fully down.\n\n\"There's much of the wolf in you, my husband.\"\n\nHe froze, noticing that he'd been licking his fingers. He growled at himself, wiping them instead on a napkin. As much as he liked wolves, he wouldn't invite them to the dinner table with him. \"Too much of the wolf in me,\" he said.\n\n\"You are what you are, my husband. And I happen to love what you are, so that is well.\"\n\nHe continued to chew on his cut of the ham. The night was quiet, the servants having retreated far enough away that he couldn't smell or hear them. Likely Faile had left orders that they weren't to be disturbed, and with the trees at the base of the hillside, they wouldn't have to worry about being observed.\n\n\"Faile,\" he said softy, \"you need to know what I did while you were captive. I did things I worried would turn me into someone you would no longer want. It wasn't only the deal with the Seanchan. There were people in a city, So Habor, that I can't stop thinking of. People that maybe I should have helped. And there was a Shaido, with his hand--\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I heard about that. It seems that you did what you had to.\"\n\n\"I'd have gone much farther,\" Perrin admitted. \"Hating myself all the way. You spoke of a lord being strong enough to resist letting himself be manipulated. Well, I'll never be that strong. Not if you're taken.\"\n\n\"We shall have to make certain I don't get taken.\"\n\n\"It could ruin me, Faile,\" he said softly. \"Anything else, I think I could handle. But if you are used against me, nothing will matter. I'd do anything to protect you, Faile. Anything.\"\n\n\"Perhaps you should wrap me up in soft cloth, then,\" she said dryly, \"and tuck me away in a locked room.\" Oddly, her scent was not offended.\n\n\"I wouldn't do that,\" Perrin said. \"You know I wouldn't. But this means I have a weakness, a terrible one. The type a leader can't have.\"\n\nShe snorted. \"You think other leaders don't have weaknesses, Perrin? Every King or Queen of Saldaea has had their own. Nikiol Dianatkhah was a drunkard, despite being known as one of our greatest kings, and Belairah married and put her husband away four times. Her heart always did lead her to trouble. Jonasim had a son whose gambling ways nearly brought her House to ruin, and Lyonford couldn't keep his temper if challenged. Each and everyone was a great monarch. And all had their share of weaknesses.\"\n\nPerrin continued to chew on his food, thoughtful.\n\n\"In the Borderlands,\" Faile said, \" we have a saying. \"A polished sword reflects the truth.\" A man can claim to be diligent in his duties, but if his sword isn't polished, you know that he's been idle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, your sword is bright, my husband. These last few weeks, you keep saying that you led poorly during my captivity. You'd have me believe that you led the entire camp to ruin and dust! But that's not true at all. You kept them focused; you inspired them, maintained a strong presence, and kept the air of a lord.\"\n\n\"Berelain's behind some of that,\" he said. \"I half think the woman would have bathed me herself if I'd gone another day without.\"\n\n\"I'm certain that wouldn't have been good for the rumors,\" Faile noted dryly.\n\n\"Faile, I--\"\n\n\"I'll deal with Berelain,\" Faile said. Her voice sounded dangerous. \"That's one duty you needn't distract yourself with.\"\n\n\"But--\"\n\n\"I'll deal with her,\" Faile said, her voice more firm. It was not wise to challenge her when she smelled that way, not unless he wanted to start a full argument. She softened, taking another bite of barley. \" When I said you were like a wolf, my husband, I wasn't talking about the way you eat. I was talking about the way you give your attention. You are driven. Given a problem to solve, no matter how grand, and you will see it done.\n\n\"Can't you understand? That's a wonderful trait in a leader. It is exactly what the Two Rivers will need. Assuming, of course, that you have a wife to care for some of the smaller issues.\" She frowned. \"I wish you'd spoken tome about the banner before burning it. It will be difficult to raise it again without looking foolish.\"\n\n\"I don't want to raise it again,\" Perrin said. \"That's why I had them burn it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But why?\"\n\nHe took another bite of his ham, pointedly not watching her. She smelled curious, almost desperately so.\n\nI can't lead them, he thought. Not until I know if I can master the wolf. How could he explain? Explain that he feared the way it took control when he fought, when he wanted something too badly?\n\nHe would not rid himself of the wolves; they had become too much apart of him. But where would he leave his people, where would he leave Faile, if he lost himself to what was inside of him?\n\nHe again remembered a dirty creature, once a man, locked in a cage. There is nothing left in this one that remembers being a man...\n\n\"My husband,\" Faile said, resting a hand on his arm. \"Please.\" She smelled of pain. That twisted his heart about.\n\n\"It has to do with those Whitecloaks,\" Perrin said.\n\n\"What? Perrin, I thought I said--\"\n\n\"It has to do,\" Perrin said firmly, \"with what happened tome the first time I met with them. And what I'd begun to discover in the days before.\"\n\nFaile frowned.\n\n\"I've told you that I killed two Whitecloaks,\" he said. \"Before I met you.\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Settle back,\" he said. \"You need to know the whole story.\"\n\nAnd so he told her. Hesitantly at first, but the words soon grew easier. He spoke of Shadar Logoth, and of their group being scattered. Of Egwene letting him take the lead, perhaps the first time he'd been forced to do that.\n\nHe'd already told her of his meeting with Elyas. She knew much about Perrin, things that he'd never told anyone else, things he'd never even spoken of with Elyas. She knew about the wolf. She knew that he feared he'd lose himself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But she didn't know what he felt in battle. She didn't know what it had felt like to kill those Whitecloaks, to taste their blood--either in his own mouth, or through his link with the wolves. She didn't know what it had been like to be consumed by anger, fear and desperation when she'd been taken. These were the things he haltingly explained.\n\nHe told her of the frenzy he'd gone into when searching for her in the wolf dream. He spoke of Noam and what he feared would happen to him. And of how it related to how he acted when he fought.\n\nFaile listened, sitting quietly atop the hilltop, arms wrapped around her legs, lit by candlelight. Her scents were subdued. Perhaps he should have held somethings back. No woman wanted to know what a beast her husband became when he killed, did she? But now that he was speaking, he wanted to be rid of his secrets. He was tired of them.\n\nEach word spoken made him relax more. It did what the meal--touching though it had been--hadn't been able to. In telling her of his struggles, he felt some of his burden lift.\n\nHe finished by speaking of Hopper. He wasn't certain why he'd saved the wolf for last; Hopper was part of much Perrin had told before--the Whitecloaks, the wolf dream. But it felt right to reserve Hopper until the end, so he did.\n\nAshe finished, he stared at the flame of one of the candles. Two of them had gone out, leaving others still to flicker. That wasn't dim light to his eyes. He had trouble remembering what the days had been like when his senses had been as weak as an ordinary man's." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Faile leaned against him, wrapping his arm around her. \"Thank you,\" she said.\n\nHe let out a deep sigh, leaning back against the stump behind him, feeling her warmth.\n\n\"I want to tell you about Malden,\" she said.\n\n\"You don't have to,\" he said. \"Just because I--\"\n\n\"Hush. I was quiet while you spoke. It's my turn.\"\n\n\"All right.\"\n\nIt should have been worrying for him to hear about Malden. He lay with his back to the stump, sky crackling with energy above, the Pattern itself in danger of unraveling, while his wife spoke of being captured and beaten. Yet it was one of the most oddly relaxing things he'd ever experienced.\n\nThe events in that city had been important to her, maybe even good for her. Though he was angered at hearing how Sevanna had trussed Faile up naked and left her overnight. Someday he'd hunt that woman down.\n\nNot today, however. Today he had his wife in his arms, and her strong voice was a comfort. He should have realized she would have planned her own escape. In fact, listening to her careful preparation, he began to feel a fool. She'd been worried that he'd get himself killed trying to rescue her--she didn't say it, but he could infer it. How well she knew him.\n\nFaile left somethings out. He didn't mind. Faile would be like a penned and caged animal without her secrets. He got a good hint of what she was hiding, though. It was something to do with that Brotherless who had captured her, something about Faile's plans to trick the man and his friends into helping her escape. Perhaps she'd felt a fondness for him, and didn't wish Perrin to regret killing him. That wasn't necessary. Those Brotherless had been with the Shaido, and they had attacked and killed men under Perrin's protection. No act of kindness would redeem that. They deserved their deaths." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That gave him pause. The Whitecloaks probably said very similar things about him. But the Whitecloaks had attacked first.\n\nShe finished. It was very late, now, and Perrin reached over to a bundle that Faile's servants had brought up, pulling out a blanket.\n\n\"Well?\" Faile asked as he settled back, putting his arm around her again.\n\n\"I'm surprised that you didn't give mean earful for barreling in like a wild bull and stomping allover your plans.\"\n\nThat made her smell satisfied. It wasn't the emotion he'd expected, but he'd long ago stopped trying to decipher the ways of women's thought.\n\n\"I almost brought the matter up tonight,\" Faile said, \"so that we could have a proper argument and a proper reconciliation.\"\n\n\"Why didn't you?\"\n\n\"I decided that this night should be done in the Two Rivers way.\"\n\n\"And you think husbands and wives don't argue in the Two Rivers?\" he asked, amused.\n\n\"Well, perhaps they do. But you, husband, always seem uncomfortable when we yell. I'm very glad you've begun to stand up for yourself, as is proper. But I have asked much from you to adapt to my ways. I thought, tonight, I would try to adapt to yours.\"\n\nThose were words that he had never expected to hear from Faile. It seemed the most personal thing she could ever have given him. Embarrassingly, he felt tears in his eyes, and he pulled her tight.\n\n\"Now,\" she said, \"I'm not a docile sheep, mind you.\"\n\n\"I would never think that,\" he said. \"Never.\"\n\nShe smelled satisfied.\n\n\"I'm sorry I didn't give much thought to you escaping on your own,\" Perrin said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I forgive you.\"\n\nHe looked down at her, those beautiful dark eyes reflecting the candlelight. \"Does this mean we can have the reconciliation without the argument?\"\n\nShe smiled. \"I will allow it, this once. And, of course, the servants have strict orders to ensure our solitude.\"\n\nHe kissed her. It felt so very right, and he knew that the worries he'd had--and the awkwardness that had been between them since Malden--were gone. Whether it had been something real or something he imagined, it had passed.\n\nHe had Faile back, truly and completely.\n\nChapter 17\n\nPartings, and a Meeting\n\nThe morning after the gholam attack, Mat woke from dreams rotten as last month's eggs, feeling stiff and aching. He had spent the night sleeping in a hollow he'd found beneath Aludra's supply wagon. He had chosen the location by random chance, using his dice.\n\nHe climbed out from under the wagon, standing and rolling his shoulder, feeling it pop. Bloody ashes. One of the best things about having money was not having to sleep in ditches. There were beggars who spent nights better than this.\n\nThe wagon smelled of sulphur and powders. He was tempted to peek under the oiled tarp that stretched over the back of, but there would be no point. Aludra and her powders were incomprehensible. So long as the dragons performed, Mat did not mind not knowing how they worked. Well, he did not mind it much. Not enough to risk irritating her.\n\nShe was not thereat the wagon, fortunately for Mat. She would complain at him again for not having gotten her a bellfounder. She seemed to think him her own personal messenger boy. An unruly one, who refused to do his job properly. Most women had moments like that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He walked through camp, brushing bits of straw from his hair. He almost went searching for Lopin to have him draw a bath, until he remembered that Lopin was dead. Bloody ashes! Poor man.\n\nThinking about poor Lopin put Mat in an even more dour mood as he walked toward where he'd find some breakfast. Juilin found him first. The short Tairen thief-catcher wore his flat-topped conical hat and dark blue coat. \"Mat,\" he said. \"Is it true? You've given permission for the Aes Sedai to go back to the Tower?\"\n\n\"They didn't need my permission,\" Mat said, wincing. If the women heard it said that way, they would tan his hide and make saddle leather from it. \"I'm planning to give them horses, though.\"\n\n\"They have them already,\" Juilin said, looking in the direction of the picket lines. \"Said you gave them permission.\"\n\nMat sighed. His stomach growled, but food would have to wait. He walked toward the picket lines; he would need to make sure the Aes Sedai did not make off with his best stock.\n\n\"I've been thinking I might go with them,\" Juilin said, joining Mat. \"Take Thera to Tar Valon.\"\n\n\"You're welcome to leave anytime,\" Mat said. \"I won't hold you here.\" Juilin was a good enough fellow. A little stiff at times. Well, very stiff. Juilin could make a Whitecloak look relaxed. He was not the type you wanted to take with you dicing; he would spend the night scowling at everyone in the tavern and muttering about the crimes they had certainly committed. But he was reliable, and a good hand to have in a pinch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I want to get back to Tear,\" Juilin said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But the Seanchan would be so close, and Thera... It worries her. She doesn't much like the idea of Tar Valon either, but we don't have many choices, and the Aes Sedai promised that if I came with them, they'd get me work in Tar Valon.\"\n\n\"So, this is parting, then?\" Mat said, stopping and turning to him.\n\n\"For now,\" Juilin said. He hesitated, then held out his hand. Mat took it and shook, and then the thief-catcher was off to gather his things and his woman.\n\nMat thought fora moment, then changed his mind and headed for the cook tent. Juilin would slow the Aes Sedai, probably, and he wanted to fetch something.\n\nA short time later, he arrived at the picket lines fed and carrying a cloth-wrapped bundle under his arm. The Aes Sedai had, of course, created an inordinately large caravan out of some of his best horses. Teslyn and Joline also seemed to have decided they could commandeer some pack animals and some soldiers to do the loading. Mat sighed and walked into the mess, checking over the horses.\n\nJoline sat on Moonglow, a mare of Tairen stock that had belonged to one of the men Mat had lost in the fighting to escape the Seanchan. The more reserved Edesina had mounted Firewisp, and was glancing occasionally at two women who stood to the side. Dark-skinned Bethamin and pale, yellow-haired Seta were former sul'dam.\n\nThe Seanchan women tried very hard to look aloof as the group gathered. Mat sauntered up to them.\n\n\"Highness,\" Seta said, \"it is true? You're going to allow these to roam free of you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Best to be rid of them,\" Mat said, wincing at her choice of titles for him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Did they have to throw around such words that like they were wooden pennies? Anyway, the two Seanchan women had changed a great deal since beginning with the group, but they still seemed to find it odd that Mat did not wish to use the Aes Sedai as weapons. \"Do you want to go, or do you want to stay?\"\n\n\"We will go,\" Bethamin said firmly. She was determined to learn, it seemed.\n\n\"Yes,\" Seta said, \"though I sometimes think it might be better to simply let us die, as opposed to... Well, what we are, what we represent, means that we area danger to the Empire.\"\n\nMat nodded. \"Tuon is a sul'dam,\" he said.\n\nThe two women looked down.\n\n\"Go with the Aes Sedai,\" Mat said. \"I'll give you your own horses, so you don't have to rely on them. Learn to channel. That'll be more use than dying. Maybe someday you two can convince Tuon of the truth. Help me find away to fix this without causing the Empire to collapse.\"\n\nThe two women looked to him, more firm and confident, suddenly. \"Yes, Highness,\" Bethamin said. \"It is a good purpose for us to have. Thank you, Highness.\"\n\nSeta actually got tears in her eyes! Light, what did they think he had just promised them? Mat retreated before they could get anymore odd ideas in their heads. Flaming women. Still, he could not help feeling sorry for them. Learning that they could channel, worrying they might be a danger to everyone around them.\n\nThat's how Rand felt, Mat thought. Poor fool. As always, the colors swirled when he thought of Rand. He tried not to do it too often, and before he could banish those colors, he caught a glimpse of Rand shaving in a fine, gilded mirror hanging in a beautiful bathing chamber." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mat gave some orders to get the sul'dam horses, then he walked over toward the Aes Sedai. Thom had arrived and he strolled over. \"Light, Mat,\" he said. \"You look like you tangled with a briarstitch patch and came out sore.\"\n\nMat raised a hand to his hair, which was probably areal sight. \"I lived through the night, and the Aes Sedai are leaving. I've half a mind to dance a jig at that.\"\n\nThom snorted. \"Did you know those two were going to be here?\"\n\n\"The sul'dam? I figured.\"\n\n\"No, those two.\" He pointed.\n\nMat turned, frowning as he found Leilwin and Bayle Domon riding up. Their possessions were rolled upon the backs of their horses. Leilwin--then known as Egeanin--had once been a Seanchan noblewoman, but Tuon had stripped her name away. She wore a dress with divided skirts of muted gray. Her short dark hair had grown out, and hungover her ears. She climbed from her saddle and stalked in Mat's direction.\n\n\"Burn me,\" Mat said to Thom, \"if I can be rid of her, too, I'll almost start thinking that life has turned fair on me.\"\n\nDomon followed her as they approached. He washer so'jhin. Or... could he still be so'jhin, now that she had no title? Well, either way, he washer husband. The Illianer was thick of girth, and strong. He was not too bad a fellow, except when he was around Leilwin. Which was always.\n\n\"Cauthon,\" she said, stepping up to him.\n\n\"Leilwin,\" he replied. \"You're leaving?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\"\n\nMat smiled. He really was going to do that dance!\n\n\"I always intended to make my way to the White Tower,\" she continued. \"I set my mind thereon the day I left Ebou Dar. If the Aes Sedai are leaving, I will go with them. A ship is always wise to join a convoy, when the right opportunity is presented.\"\n\n\"Too bad to see you go,\" Mat lied, tipping his hat to her. Leilwin was as tough as a hundred-year oak stuck with bits of axe leftover from the men foolish enough to try to chop it down. If her horse threw a shoe on the road to Tar Valon, she would likely sling the animal over her shoulder and carry it the rest of the way.\n\nBut she did not like Mat, for all he had done to save her skin. Maybe it was because he had not let her take charge, or maybe because she had been forced act like his lover. Well, he had not enjoyed that part either. It had been like holding a sword by the blade and pretending that it did not sting.\n\nThough it had been fun to watch her squirm.\n\n\"Be well, Matrim Cauthon,\" Leilwin said. \"I don't envy the place you've put yourself in. In someways, I think the winds that carry you may actually be rougher than the ones which have buffeted me, recently.\" She nodded to him, then turned to go.\n\nDomon reached over, laying a hand on Mat's arm. \"You did do as you said. By my aged grandmother! You gave a bumpy ride of it, but you did do as you said. My thanks.\"\n\nThe two of them moved off. Mat shook his head, waving to Thom and strolling over to the Aes Sedai. \"Teslyn,\" Mat said. \"Edesina. Joline. All is well?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is,\" Joline said.\n\n\"Good, good,\" Mat said. \"You have sufficient pack animals?\"\n\n\"They will do, Master Cauthon,\" Joline said. Then, covering a wince, she added, \"Thank you forgiving them to us.\"\n\nMat smiled broadly. My, but it was amusing to hear her trying to act respectful! She had obviously expected Elayne to welcome her and the others with open arms, not turn them away from the palace without an audience.\n\nJoline eyed Mat, lush lips pressed together. \"I would liked to have tamed you, Cauthon,\" she said. \"I've still half a mind to return someday and seethe job done properly.\"\n\n\"I'll wait breathlessly for that, then,\" he said, taking the cloth-wrapped package from under his arm. He handed it up to her.\n\n\"What is this?\" she asked, not reaching for it.\n\nMat shook the bundle. \"Parting gift,\" he said. \"Where I come from, you never let a traveler depart without giving her something for the road. It would be rude.\"\n\nReluctantly, she accepted it and peeked inside. She was obviously surprised to find that it contained a collection of about a dozen powdered sweetbuns. \"Thank you,\" she said, frowning.\n\n\"I'm sending soldiers with you,\" Mat said. \"They'll bring my horses back once you arrive in Tar Valon.\"\n\nJoline opened her mouth as if to complain, but then closed it. What argument could she make?\n\n\"That will be acceptable, Cauthon,\" Teslyn said, moving her black gelding closer.\n\n\"I'll give them orders to do as you say,\" Mat said, turning to her. \"So you'll have people to command about and make setup your tents. But there's a condition attached.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Teslyn raised an eyebrow.\n\n\"I want you to tell the Amyrlin something,\" he said. \"If it's Egwene, this should be easy. But even if it isn't, you tell her. The White Tower has something of mine, and it's nearly time that I reclaimed it. I don't want to, but what I want never seems to matter a whisker, these days. So I'll becoming, and I don't mean to be bloody turned away.\" He smiled. \"Use that exact language.\"\n\nTeslyn, to her credit, chuckled softly. \"I'll see it done, though I doubt the rumors are true. Elaida would not have given up the Amyrlin Seat.\"\n\n\"You might be surprised.\" Mat surely had been, when he had discovered women calling Egwene Amyrlin. He did not know what had happened up at the White Tower, but he had a sinking feeling that the Aes Sedai had wrapped poor Egwene up in their schemes so soundly that she would never escape. He had half a mind to ride up there himself and see if he could get her out.\n\nBut he had other tasks. Egwene would have to see to herself for now. She was a capable girl; she could probably handle it without him fora while.\n\nThom stood to his side, looking thoughtful. He did not know for sure that Mat had blown the Horn--at least, Mat had never told him. He tried to forget about the bloody thing. But Thom had probably guessed.\n\n\"Well, I suppose you should be going,\" Mat said. \"Where's Setalle?\"\n\n\"She'll be staying here,\" Teslyn said. \"She said that she wanted to keep you from making too many missteps.\" She raised an eyebrow, and Joline and Edesina nodded sagaciously. They all assumed that Setalle was a former runaway servant from the White Tower, perhaps having fled as a girl because of a misdeed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, that meant he wouldn't be rid of the entire group. Still, if he had to pick one to stay, it would be Mistress Anan. She would probably be wanting to find away to meetup with her husband and family, who had fled Ebou Darby ship.\n\nJuilin walked up, leading Thera. Had that frightened wisp of a woman really been the Panarch of Tarabon? Mat had seen mice that were less timid. Mat's soldiers brought out horses for the two of them. All in all, this expedition was costing him some forty animals and a file of soldiers. But it would be worth it. Besides, he intended to retrieve both men and horses--along with information about what was really happening in Tar Valon.\n\nHe nodded to Vanin. The thick-waisted horse thief had not been too pleased when Mat had ordered him to go along to Tar Valon and gather information. Mat had figured he would be ecstatic, considering how he doted on the Aes Sedai. Well, he would be even less happy when he found Juilin was along; Vanin tended to step lightly around the thief-catcher.\n\nVanin mounted a bay gelding. As far as the Aes Sedai knew, he was a senior Redarm and one of Mat's field scouts, but nobody to be suspicious of. He did not look very threatening, except maybe as a danger to a bowl of boiled potatoes. That might be why he was so good at what he did. Mat did not need any horses stolen, but Vanin's talents could be applied to other tasks.\n\n\"Well,\" Mat said, turning back to the Aes Sedai, \"I won't keep you further, then.\" He stepped back, avoiding looking at Joline--who had a predatory cast to her eyes that reminded him all too much of Tylin. Teslyn waved and, curiously, Edesina nodded to him in respect. Juilin had a wave for him and Thom, and Mat got a nod from Leilwin. The woman chewed rocks for breakfast and nails for supper, but she was fair. Maybe he could talk to Tuon, get her reinstated or something." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Don't be a fool, he thought, giving a wave to Bayle Domon. First you'll need to convince Tuon not to make you da'covale. He was half convinced she intended to see him as her servant, husband or not. Thinking about that made him sweat around the collar.\n\nBefore long, they were making dust along the road. Thom stepped up beside Mat, watching the riders. \"Sweetbuns?\"\n\n\"Tradition among us Two Rivers folk.\"\n\n\"Never heard of that tradition.\"\n\n\"It's very obscure.\"\n\n\"Ah, I see. And what did you do to those buns?\"\n\n\"Sprinklewort,\" Mat said. \"It'll turn her mouth blue fora week, maybe two. And she won't share the sweetbuns with anyone, except maybe her Warders. Joline is addicted to the things. She must have eaten seven or eight bags' worth since we got to Caemlyn.\"\n\n\"Nice,\" Thom said, knuckling his mustache. \"Childish, though.\"\n\n\"I'm trying to get back to my basic roots,\" Mat said. \"You know, recapture some of my lost youth.\"\n\n\"You're barely twenty winters old!\"\n\n\"Sure, but I did a lot of living when I was younger. Come on. Mistress Anan is staying, and that gives mean idea.\"\n\n\"You need a shave, Matrim Cauthon.\" Mistress Anan folded her arms as she regarded him.\n\nHe reached up, touching his face. Lopin had always done that, each morning. The man got as sulky as a dog in the rain when Mat did not let him do such things, though lately Mat had been growing out his beard to avoid notice. It still itched like a week-old scab." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had found Setalle at the supply tents, overseeing the midday meal. Soldiers from the Band hunkered down, chopping vegetables and stewing beans with the furtive expression of men who had been given firm instructions. Setalle was not needed here; the Band's cooks had always been able to prepare meals without her. But there was nothing a woman liked better than finding men who were relaxing, then giving them orders. Besides, Setalle was a former innkeeper and--remarkably--a former Aes Sedai. Mat often found her supervising things that did not need supervising.\n\nNot for the first time, he wished Tuon were still traveling with him. Setalle had usually taken Tuon's side, but staying with the Daughter of the Nine Moons had often kept her busy. Nothing was more dangerous for the sanity of men than a woman with too much time on her hands.\n\nSetalle still wore clothing of the Ebou Dari style, which Mat found pleasant, considering the plunging neckline. That kind of outfit worked particularly well on a woman as buxom as Setalle. Not that he noticed. She had golden hoops in her ears, a stately demeanor and gray in her hair. The jeweled wedding knife worn around her neck seemed something of a warning, the way it nestled in her cleavage. Not that Mat noticed that, either.\n\n\"I've been growing the beard intentionally,\" Mat said to her statement. \"I want to--\"\n\n\"Your coat is dirty,\" she said, nodding to a soldier who brought her some onions he had peeled. He sheepishly poured them into a pot, not looking at Mat. \"And your hair a mess. You look like you've been in a brawl, and it's not yet noon.\"\n\n\"I'm fine,\" Mat said. \"I'll cleanup later. You didn't go with the Aes Sedai.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Each step toward Tar Valon would take me farther from where I need to be. I need to send word to my husband. When we parted, I didn't suspect that I'd end up in Andor of all places.\"\n\n\"I'm thinking I might begetting access to someone who can make gateways here soon,\" Mat said. \"And I...\" He frowned as another group of soldiers approached, carrying a few undersized quail they'd hunted. The soldiers looked ashamed of the terrible catch.\n\nSetalle ordered them to pluck the birds without so much as a glance toward Mat. Light, he needed to get her out of his camp. Things would not be normal here until they were all gone.\n\n\"Don't look at me like that, Lord Mat,\" Setalle said. \"Noram went into the city to see what kind of provisions he could find. I've noted that without the cook himself hereto prod the men, meals don't get done at any reasonable speed. Not all of us like to take lunch when the sun is setting.\"\n\n\"I didn't say a thing,\" Mat said, keeping his voice even. He nodded to the side. \"Can we talk fora moment?\"\n\nSetalle hesitated, then nodded and stepped away from the others with him. \"What's going on really?\" she said softly. \"You look like you slept under a hay pile.\"\n\n\"I slept under a wagon, actually. And my tent's stained with blood. Not really looking forward to going thereto change clothing right now.\"\n\nHer gaze softened. \"I understand your loss. But that's no excuse to go around looking like you've been living in an alleyway. You'll need to hire another serving man.\"\n\nMat scowled. \"I never needed one in the first place. I can take care of myself. Look, I have a favor to ask of you. I want you to watch after Olver fora little while.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"For what purpose?\"\n\n\"That thing might comeback,\" Mat said. \"And it could try to hurt him. Besides, I'm going to be leaving with Thom shortly. I might be back. I should be back. But if I don't, I... Well, I would rather he not be left alone.\"\n\nShe studied him. \"He would not be alone. The men in camp seem to have a great deal of fondness for the child.\"\n\n\"Sure, but I don't like the things they're teaching him. The boy needs better examples than that lot.\"\n\nShe seemed amused by that for some reason. \"I've already begun instructing the child in letters. I suppose I can watch after him fora time, if need be.\"\n\n\"Great. Wonderful.\" Mat let out a relieved sigh. Women were always happy fora chance to educate a boy when he was young; Mat thought they assumed they could educate him out of becoming a man if they tried hard enough. \"I'll give you some money. You can go into the city and find an inn.\"\n\n\"I've been into the city,\" Setalle said. \"Every inn in the place seems packed to the walls already.\"\n\n\"I'll find a place for you,\" Mat promised. \"Just keep Olver safe. When the time comes, and I have someone to make gateways, I'll have them send you to Illian so you can find your husband.\"\n\n\"A deal,\" Setalle said. She hesitated, glancing northward. \"The... others are gone, then?\"\n\n\"Yes.\" Good riddance.\n\nShe nodded, looking regretful. Maybe she had not been ordering his men about for lunch because she had been offended at seeing them relax. Maybe she had been looking for something to busy herself at." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sorry,\" Mat said. \"About whatever happened to you.\"\n\n\"The past is gone,\" she replied. \"And I need to leave it be. I should never have even asked to seethe item you wear. These last few weeks have made me forget myself.\"\n\nMat nodded, parting with her, then went searching for Olver. And after that, he really should get around to changing his coat. And burn him, he was going to shave, too. The men looking for him could bloody kill him if they wanted. A slit throat would be better than this itching.\n\nElayne strolled through the palace's Sunrise Garden. This smaller garden had always been a favored location of her mother's, set atop the roof of the palace's eastern wing. It was rimmed by an oval of white stonework, with a larger, curved wall at the back.\n\nElayne had a full view of the city below. In earlier years, she had liked the lower gardens precisely because they were a retreat. It was in those gardens that she had first met Rand. She pressed a hand to her belly. Though she felt enormous, the pregnancy was only just beginning to show. Unfortunately, she'd had to commission an entirely new set of gowns. She would probably have to do so again in the coming months. What a bother.\n\nElayne continued to walk the roof garden. Pink jumpups and white morningstars bloomed in planters. The blossoms weren't nearly as large as they should have been, and already they were wilting. The gardeners complained that nothing helped. Outside the city, grass and weeds were dying in swaths, and the patchwork quilt of fields and crops looked depressingly brown.\n\nIt is coming, Elayne thought. She continued on her way, walking a path made of springy grass, manicured and kept short. The gardeners'efforts weren't without some results. The grass here was mostly green, and the air smelled of the roses that wove their way up the sides of the wall. Those had brown spots on them, but they had bloomed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A tinkling stream ran through the middle of the garden, lined in carefully placed river stones. That stream ran only when she visited; water had to be carried up to the cistern.\n\nElayne paused at another vantage point. A Queen couldn't choose seclusion the way a Daughter-Heir could. Birgitte walked up beside her. She folded her arms across her red-coated chest, eyeing Elayne.\n\n\"What?\" Elayne asked.\n\n\"You're in full view,\" Birgitte said. \"Anyone down therewith a bow and a good eye could throw the nation right back into a Succession war.\"\n\nElayne rolled her eyes. \"I'm safe, Birgitte. Nothing will happen tome.\"\n\n\"Oh, well, I apologize,\" Birgitte said flatly. \"The Forsaken are loose and angry with you, the Black Ajah are undoubtedly furious that you've captured their agents, and you've humiliated various nobles who tried to seize the throne from you. Obviously you're in no danger whatsoever. I'll run along and take lunch, then.\"\n\n\"You might as well,\" Elayne snapped. \"Because I am safe. Min had a viewing. My babes will be born healthy. Minis never wrong, Birgitte.\"\n\n\"Min said your babies would be strong and healthy,\" Birgitte said. \"Not that you would be healthy when they arrived.\"\n\n\"How else would they come?\"\n\n\"I've seen people knocked in the head so hard that they're never the same, girl,\" Birgitte said. \"Some live for years, but never speak another word and have to be fed broth and live with a bedpan. You could lose an armor two and still bear healthy children. And what about the people around you? Give you no thought to the danger you could cause them?\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Assist with the plot and keep the story going.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, last battle\nAuthor: Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Towers of Midnight\nChapter: 18" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She worked furiously, attacking at the same time." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She didn't know the point of creating this weave, but she knew she had to finish it. So she increased the strength of the weave, making the burning rings extremely large. Then she began hurling them at the creatures. Massive halos of flame crashed into the dark things, killing them.\n\nThere was a six-pointed star on the roof of Master al'Vere's inn. Had it been burned there? Nynaeve ignored it, venting her anger at the things with tentacles.\n\nNo. This is important. More important than the Two Rivers. I must goon.\n\nFeeling like an utter coward--but knowing it was the right thing to do--she ran to the inn, passing through the doorway.\n\nNynaeve lay weeping on the ground beside a broken archway. She was on the last of the hundred weaves.\n\nShe could barely move. Her face was streaked with tears. She had hollow memories of fleeing battles, of leaving children to die. Of never being able to do enough.\n\nHer shoulder bled. A wolf's bite. Her legs were flayed, as if she'd walked through along patch of thorns. All across her body were burns and blisters. She was naked.\n\nShe rose to her knees, which were scraped and bleeding. Her braid ended in a smoldering stump about a handspan below her shoulders. She retched to the side, shivering.\n\nSo sick, so weak. How could she continue?\n\nNo. They will not beat me.\n\nShe slowly raised herself to her feet. She was in a small room, harsh sunlight leaking through cracks between the wallboards. A bundle of white cloth lay on the ground. She picked it up, unfolding it. It was a white dress with the colors of the Ajahs banded at the bottom. The clothing of an Accepted in the White Tower." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She dropped it. \"I am Aes Sedai,\" she said, stepping over the robe and pushing open the door. Better to go naked than to give into that lie.\n\nOutside the door, she found another dress, this time yellow. That was more proper. She allowed herself the time to put it on, though she couldn't stop trembling, and her fingers were so tired she could barely make them work. Her bloodstained the cloth.\n\nDress on, she inspected her surroundings. She was on a hillside in the Blight, the ground covered in weeds that bore the distinctive dark marks. Why was there a shack in the Blight, and why had shebeen inside of it?\n\nShe felt so tired. She wanted to go back into the shack and sleep.\n\nNo. She would continue. She trudged up the hill. At its top, she looked down on a land covered in broken rubble and pockets of darkness. Lakes, if they could be called that. The liquid looked thick and oily. Dark shapes moved within them. Malkier, she thought, stunned that she recognized the place. The Seven Towers, only rubble now. The Thousand Lakes corrupted. The place of Lan's heritage.\n\nShe stepped forward, but her toe hit something. A stone beneath her feet had been carved with a small symbol. The six-pointed star.\n\nShe sighed in relief. It was almost through. She began the final weave.\n\nBelow, a man stumbled out from behind a mound of rubble, swinging expertly with his sword. She knew him even at a distance. That strong figure, square face, color-shifting cloak and dangerous way of walking.\n\n\"Lan!\" she screamed.\n\nHe was surrounded by beasts that looked like wolves, but too large. They had dark fur, and their teeth flashed as they lunged toward Lan. Darkhounds, an entire pack." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nynaeve finished the hundredth weave with a start; she hadn't realized she'd continued it. A shower of colorful specks burst into the air around her. She watched them fall, feeling used. She heard a sound over her shoulder, but when she glanced, there was nothing there. Just the shack.\n\nThe six-pointed star hungover a door there, the symbol made of bits of gemstones. That door hadn't been there before. She took a step toward the shack, then looked back.\n\nLan swung about him with his sword, forcing the Darkhounds away. One bit of saliva from those beasts would kill him.\n\n\"Lan,\" she screamed. \"Run!\"\n\nHe didn't hear her. The six-pointed star. She needed to walk to it!\n\nShe blinked, then looked down at her hands. In the direct center of each palm was a tiny scar. Almost unnoticeable. Seeing them sparked a memory in her.\n\nNynaeve... I love you...\n\nThis was a test. She could remember that now. It was a test to force her to choose between him and the White Tower. She'd made that choice once, but she'd known it wasn't real.\n\nThis wasn't real either, was it? She raised a hand to her head, mind cloudy. That is my husband down there, she thought. No. I will not play this game!\n\nShe screamed, weaving Fire and throwing it toward one of the Darkhounds. The creature burst into flames, but the fire didn't seem to hurt it. Nynaeve stepped forward, throwing more fire. Useless! The hounds just kept attacking.\n\nShe refused to give into her exhaustion. She banished it, growing calm, controlled. Ice. They wanted to push her, see what she could do? Well, let it be. She reached out, drawing in an immense amount of the One Power." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then she wove balefire.\n\nThe line of pure light sprang from her fingers, warping the air around it. She hit one of the Darkhounds and seemed to puncture it, the light continuing on into the ground. The entire landscape rumbled, and Nynaeve stumbled. Lan fell to the ground. The Darkhounds leaped at him.\n\nNO! Nynaeve thought, righting herself, weaving balefire again. She blasted another hound, then another. More of the monsters leaped from behind rock formations. Where were they all coming from? Nynaeve strode forward, blasting with the forbidden weave.\n\nEach strike made the ground tremble, as if in pain. The balefire shouldn't puncture the ground like that. Something was wrong.\n\nShe reached Lan's side. He had broken his leg. \"Nynaeve!\" he said. \"You must go!\"\n\nShe ignored his words, kneeling down and weaving balefire as another hound rounded the rubble. Their number was increasing, and she was so tired. Each time she channeled, she felt it would surely be her last.\n\nBut it could not be. Not with Lan in danger. She wove a complex Healing, putting every bit of strength she had left into it, mending his leg. He scrambled up and grabbed his sword, turning to fend off a Darkhound.\n\nThey fought together, her with balefire, him with steel. But his swings were lethargic, and it took her a few heartbeats longer each time she made the balefire. The ground was shaking and rumbling, ruins crashing to the ground.\n\n\"Lan!\" she said. \"Be ready to run!\"\n\n\"What?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "With her last ounce of strength, she wove balefire and aimed it directly downward in front of them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The ground undulated in agony, almost like a living thing. The earth split nearby, Darkhounds tumbling in. Nynaeve collapsed, the One Power slipping from her. She was too tired to channel.\n\nLan grabbed her arm. \"We must go!\"\n\nShe hauled herself to her feet, taking his hand. Together, they ran up the rumbling hillside. Darkhounds howled behind, some of the pack leaping the rift.\n\nNynaeve ran for all she was worth, clinging to Lan's hand. They crested the hill. The ground was shaking so terribly; she couldn't believe the shack was still standing. She stumbled down the hill toward it, Lan with her.\n\nHe tripped, crying out in pain. His hand slipped from her fingers.\n\nShe spun. Behind them, a flood of Darkhounds crested the hilltop, snarling, teeth flashing and spittle flying from their mouths. Lan waved for her to go, his eyes wide.\n\n\"No.\" She grabbed him by the arm and, heaving, hauled him down the slope. Together, they tumbled through the doorway, and...\n\n... and gasping, Nynaeve fell from the ter'angreal. She collapsed alone on the cold floor, naked, shaking. Ina flood, she remembered it all. Each and every horrible moment of the test. Each betrayal, each frustrating weave. The impotence, the screams of the children, the deaths of people she knew and loved. She wept against the floor, curling up.\n\nHer entire body was afire with pain. Her shoulder, legs, arms and back still bled. She was burned to blisters in swaths across her body, and the greater part of her braid was gone. Her unraveled hair fell across her face as she tried to banish the memories of what she had done." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She heard groans from nearby, and through bleary eyes she saw the Aes Sedai in the circle break off their weaves and slump." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She hated them. She hated each and everyone of them.\n\n\"Light!\" Saerin's voice. \"Someone Heal her!\"\n\nEverything was growing blurry. Voices grew muddled. Like sounds underwater. Peaceful sounds...\n\nSomething cold washed over her. She gasped, her eyes opening wide at the icy shock of the Healing. Rosil knelt beside her. The woman looked worried.\n\nThe pain left Nynaeve's body, but her exhaustion increased tenfold. And the pain inside... it remained. Oh, Light. She could hear the children screaming.\n\n\"Well,\" Saerin said from nearby, \"seems that she'll live. Now, would someone please tell me what in the name of creation itself that was?\" She sounded furious. \"I've been apart of many a raising, even one where the woman didn't survive. But I have never, in all of my days, seen a woman put through what this one just suffered.\"\n\n\"She had to be tested properly,\" Rubinde said.\n\n\"Properly?\" Saerin demanded, livid.\n\nNynaeve didn't have the strength to look at them. She lay, breathing in and out.\n\n\"Properly?\" Saerin repeated. \"That wasn't proper. That was downright vengeful, Rubinde! Almost anyone of those tests was beyond what I've seen demanded of other women. You should be ashamed. All of you. Light, look what you've done to the girl!\"\n\n\"It is unimportant,\" Barasine the Red said in a cold voice. \"She failed the test.\"\n\n\"What?\" Nynaeve croaked, finally looking up. The ter'angreal had fallen dim, and Rosil had fetched a blanket and Nynaeve's clothing. Egwene stood to the side, arms clasped before her. Her face was serene as she listened to the others. She would not have a vote, but the others would, regarding whether Nynaeve had passed the test or not." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You failed, child,\" Barasine said, regarding Nynaeve with an emotionless stare." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You did not show proper decorum.\"\n\nLelaine of the Blue nodded, looking annoyed to be agreeing with a Red. \"This was to test your ability to becalm as an Aes Sedai. You did not show that.\"\n\nThe others looked uncomfortable. You weren't supposed to speak of the specifics of a testing. Nynaeve knew that much. She also knew that most of the time, failing and dying were the same thing. Though she wasn't terribly surprised to hear claims that she'd failed, now that she thought about it.\n\nShe had broken the rules of the test. She'd run in order to save Perrin and others. She'd channeled before she should have. She had trouble summoning regret. Every other emotion was, for the moment, consumed by the hollow loss she felt.\n\n\"Barasine does have a point,\" Seaine said, reluctant. \"By the end, you were openly furious, and you ran to reach many of the markers. And then there is the matter of the forbidden weave. Most troubling. I do not say you should fail, but there are irregularities.\"\n\nNynaeve tried to climb to her feet. Rosil placed a hand on her shoulder to forbid her, but Nynaeve took the arm and used it as support, pulling herself upon unsteady legs. She took the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, holding it closed at the front.\n\nShe felt so drained. \"I did what I had to. Who among you would not run if you saw people in danger? Who among you would forbid herself to channel if she saw Shadowspawn attacking? I acted as an Aes Sedai should.\"\n\n\"This test,\" Barasine said, \"is meant to ensure that a woman is capable of dedicating herself to a greater task. To see that she can ignore the distractions of the moment and seek a higher good.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nynaeve sniffed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\" I completed the weaves I needed to. I maintained my focus. Yes, I broke my calm--but I kept a cool enough head to complete my tasks. One should not demand calmness for the mere sake of calmness, and a prohibition on running when there are people you need to save is foolish.\n\n\"My goal in this test was to prove that I deserve to be Aes Sedai. Well, then, I could argue that the lives of the people I saw were more important than gaining that title. If losing my title is what would be required to save someone's life--and if there were no other consequences--I'd do it. Every time. Not saving them wouldn't be serving a higher good; it would just be selfish.\"\n\nBarasine's eyes opened wide with anger. Nynaeve turned to walk--with some difficulty--to the side of the room, where she could sit on a bench and rest. The women gathered together to speak softly, and Egwene walked--still serene--over to Nynaeve. The Amyrlin sat down beside her. Though she had been allowed to participate in the test, and create some of the experiences that tested Nynaeve, the choice of the raising would be up to the others.\n\n\"You've angered them,\" Egwene said. \"And confused them.\"\n\n\"I spoke the truth,\" Nynaeve grumbled.\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Egwene said. \"But I wasn't speaking of your outburst. During the test, you flouted the orders you were given.\"\n\n\"I couldn't flout them. I didn't remember that I'd been given them. I... well, actually I could remember what I was supposed to do, but not the reasons.\" Nynaeve grimaced. \"That's why I broke the rules. I thought they were just arbitrary. I couldn't remember why I wasn't supposed to run, so in the face of seeing people die, it seemed silly to walk.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The rules are supposed to hold strongly, even though you don't remember them,\" Egwene said. \"And you should not have been able to channel before reaching the marker. That is in the very nature of the test.\"\n\nNynaeve frowned. \"Then how--\"\n\n\"You've spent too much time in Tel'aran'rhiod. This test... it seems to function much in the same way as the World of Dreams. What we create in our minds became your surroundings.\" Egwene clicked her tongue, shaking her head. \"I warned them that this might be a danger. Your practice in the World of Dreams made you innately able to break the test.\"\n\nNynaeve didn't reply to that, feeling sick. What if she did fail? Being cast out of the Tower now, after getting so close?\n\n\"I think your infractions might help you, however,\" Egwene said softly.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"You're too experienced to have been given this test,\" Egwene explained. \"Ina way, what happened is proof that you deserved the shawl when I granted it to you. You performed each of the weaves expertly, with speed and skill. I particularly liked the way you used'useless' weaves, on occasion, to attack the things you saw.\"\n\n\"The fight in the Two Rivers,\" Nynaeve said. \"That one was you, wasn't it? The others don't know the place well enough to create it.\"\n\n\"You can sometimes create visions and situations based on the mind of the woman being tested,\" Egwene said. \"It is an odd experience, using this ter'angreal. One that I am not certain I understand.\"\n\n\"But the Two Rivers was you.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Egwene admitted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And the last one. With Lan?\"\n\nEgwene nodded. \"I'm sorry. I thought that if I didn't do it, nobody would--\"\n\n\"I am glad that you did,\" Nynaeve said. \"It showed me something.\"\n\n\"It did?\"\n\nNynaeve nodded, back against the wall, holding the blanket in place and closing her eyes. \"I realized that if I had to choose between becoming an Aes Sedai and going with Lan, I'd choose Lan. What people call me doesn't change anything inside of me. Lan, however... he is more than a title. I can still channel--I can still be me--if I never become Aes Sedai. But I would never be myself again if I abandoned him. The world changed when I married him.\"\n\nShe felt... freed, somehow, realizing it and saying it.\n\n\"Pray the others don't realize that,\" Egwene said. \"It would not be good for them to determine that you would place anything before the White Tower.\"\n\n\"I wonder if,\" Nynaeve said, \"we sometimes put the White Tower--as an institution--before the people we serve. I wonder if we let it become a goal in itself, instead of a means to help us achieve greater goals.\"\n\n\"Devotion is important, Nynaeve. The White Tower protects and guides the world.\"\n\n\"And yet, so many of us do it without families,\" Nynaeve said. \"Without love, without passion beyond our own particular interests. So even while we try to guide the world, we separate ourselves from it. We risk arrogance, Egwene. We always assume we know best, but risk making ourselves unable to fathom the people we claim to serve.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Egwene seemed troubled. \"Don't voice those ideas too much, at least not today. They're already frustrated enough with you. But this testing was brutal, Nynaeve. I'm sorry. I couldn't be seen favoring you, but perhaps I should have put a stop to it. You did what you weren't supposed to, and that drove the others to be increasingly severe. They saw that sick children hurt you, so they put more and more of them into the test. Many seemed to consider your victories a personal affront, a contest of wills. That drove them to be harsh. Cruel, even.\"\n\n\"I survived,\" Nynaeve said, eyes closed. \"And I learned a great deal. About me. And about us.\"\n\nShe wanted to be Aes Sedai, fully and truly embraced. She wanted it badly. But in the end, if these people chose to refuse her their approval, she knew she could continue on and do what she needed to do anyway.\n\nEventually, the Sitters--trailed by Rosil--walked up. Nynaeve hauled herself to her feet to be respectful.\n\n\"We must discuss the forbidden weave you used,\" Saerin said, stern.\n\n\"It is the only way I know to destroy Darkhounds,\" Nynaeve said. \"It was needed.\"\n\n\"You do not have the right to decide that,\" Saerin said. \"What you did destabilized the ter'angreal. You could have destroyed it, killing yourself and perhaps us. We want you to swear that you will never use that weave again.\"\n\n\"I won't do that,\" Nynaeve said tiredly.\n\n\"And if it means the difference between gaining the shawl or losing it forever?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Giving an oath like that would be foolish,\" Nynaeve said. \"I could find myself in a situation where people would die if I didn't use it. Light! I'll be fighting in the Last Battle alongside Rand. What if I were to get to Shayol Ghul and discover that, without balefire, I could not help the Dragon stop the Dark One? Would you have me choose between a foolish oath and the fate of the world?\"\n\n\"You think you're going to Shayol Ghul?\" Rubinde asked, incredulous.\n\n\"I'm going to be there,\" Nynaeve said softly. \"It is not a question. Rand has asked it of me, though I would have gone if he hadn't.\"\n\nThey shared a look, seeming troubled.\n\n\"If you're going to raise me,\" Nynaeve said, \"then you'll just have to trust my judgment on balefire. If you don't trust me to know when to use a very dangerous weave and when not to, then I'd rather you not raise me.\"\n\n\"I would be careful,\" Egwene said to the women. \"Refusing the shawl to the woman who helped cleanse the taint from saidin--the woman who defeated Moghedien herself in battle, the woman married to the King of Malkier--would set a very dangerous precedent.\"\n\nSaerin looked at the others. Three nods. Yukiri, Seaine and--surprisingly--Romanda. Three shakes of the head. Rubinde, Barasine, Lelaine. That left only Saerin. The deciding vote.\n\nThe Brown turned back to her. \"Nynaeve al'Meara, I declare that you have passed this test. Narrowly.\"\n\nTo the side, Egwene let out a soft--almost inaudible--sigh of relief. Nynaeve realized she'd been holding her own breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is done!\" Rosil said, clapping her hands together. \"Let no one ever speak of what has passed here. It is for us to share in silence with she who experienced it. It is done.\"\n\nThe women nodded in agreement, even those who had voted against Nynaeve. Nobody would know that Nynaeve had nearly failed. They had probably confronted her about the balefire directly--rather than seeking formal punishment--because of the tradition of not speaking of what happened in the ter'angreal.\n\nRosil clapped again. \"Nynaeve al'Meara, you will spend the night in prayer and contemplation of the burdens you will take upon the morrow, when you don the shawl of an Aes Sedai. It is done.\" She clapped a third and final time.\n\n\"Thank you,\" Nynaeve said. \"But I already have my shawl and--\"\n\nShe cutoff as Egwene gave her a glare. A serene glare, but a glare nonetheless. Perhaps Nynaeve had pushed things far enough tonight already.\n\n\"--I will be happy to follow tradition,\" Nynaeve continued, discarding her objection. \"So long as I am allowed to do one very important thing first. Then I will return and fulfill tradition.\"\n\nNynaeve needed a gateway to get where she was going. She hadn't specifically told the others she'd be leaving the Tower to see to her task. But she hadn't said she wouldn't, either.\n\nShe hustled through the dark camp of tents which sat just outside a partially built wall. The night sky was dim, with those clouds covering it, and fires burned at the perimeter of the camp. Perhaps too many fires. Those here were being extremely cautious. Fortunately, the guards had allowed her into the camp without comment; the Great Serpent ring worked wonders, when applied in the right locations. They'd even told her whereto find the woman she sought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In truth, Nynaeve had been surprised to find these tents outside, rather than inside, the walls of the Black Tower. These women had been sent to bond Asha'man, as Rand had offered. But according to the guards, Egwene's envoy had been made to wait. The Asha'man had said that'others had the first choice,\" whatever that meant. Egwene probably knew more; she'd sent messengers back and forthwith the women here, particularly to warn them about Black sisters who might be among them. Those they'd known of had vanished before the first messengers arrived.\n\nNynaeve hadn't the mind to ask more details at the moment. She had another task. She stepped up to the proper tent, feeling so tired from the testing that she felt she would soon tumble to the ground in a flurry of yellow cloth. A few Warders passed through the camp nearby, watching her with calm expressions.\n\nThe tent before her was a simple gray thing. It was lit with a faint glow, and shadows moved inside. \"Myrelle,\" Nynaeve said loudly. \"I would speak with you.\" She was surprised at how strong her voice sounded. She didn't feel that she had much strength remaining.\n\nThe shadows paused, and then moved again. The tent flaps rustled, and a confused face peered out. Myrelle wore a blue nightgown that was almost translucent, and one of her Warders--a bear of a man with a thick black beard after the Illianer fashion--sat shirtless on the tent floor inside.\n\n\"Child?\" Myrelle said, sounding surprised. \"What are you doing here?\" She was an olive-skinned beauty, with long black hair and rounded curves. Nynaeve had to stop herself from reaching for her braid. It was too short now to tug. That was going to take a lot of getting used to." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You have something that belongs tome,\" Nynaeve said.\n\n\"Hmm... That depends on opinion, child.\" Myrelle frowned.\n\n\"I was raised today,\" Nynaeve said. \"Formally. I passed the testing. We are equals now, Myrelle.\" She left the second part unsaid--that Nynaeve was the stronger of the two. Not truly equals, then.\n\n\"Return tomorrow,\" Myrelle said. \"I am occupied.\" She moved to turn back into the tent.\n\nNynaeve caught the woman's arm. \"I have never thanked you,\" she said, though she had to grit her teeth to get the words out. \" I do so now. He lives because of you. I realize that. However, Myrelle, this is not a time to push me. Today, I have seen people I love slaughtered, I have been forced to consign children to living torment. I have been burned, scourged and harrowed.\n\n\"I swear to you, woman, if you do not pass me Lan's bond this very moment, I will step into that tent and teach you the meaning of obedience. Do not press me. In the morning, I swear the Three Oaths. I'm free of them for one more night.\"\n\nMyrelle froze. Then she sighed and stepped back out of the tent. \"So be it.\" She closed her eyes, weaving Spirit and sending the weaves into Nynaeve.\n\nIt felt like an object being shoved physically into her mind. Nynaeve gasped, her surroundings spinning.\n\nMyrelle turned and slipped back into her tent. Nynaeve slid down until she was sitting on the ground. Something was blossoming inside her mind. An awareness. Beautiful, wonderful." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was him. And he was still alive.\n\nBlessed Light, she thought, eyes closed. Thank you.\n\nChapter 21" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "An Open Gate\n\n\"We thought it best,\" Seonid said, \"to let one of us give the full report. I have gathered information from the others for presentation.\"\n\nPerrin nodded absently. He sat on cushions in the meeting pavilion, Faile at his side. It was crammed full of people again.\n\n\"Cairhien is still in a mess, of course,\" Seonid began. The businesslike Green was a curt woman. Not mean or disagreeable, but even her interactions with her Warders seemed like those of a prosperous farmer with his workers. \"The Sun Throne has remained unoccupied for far too long. All know that the Lord Dragon has promised the throne to Elayne Trakand, but she has been struggling to secure her own throne. She has finally done so, by reports.\"\n\nShe looked to Perrin for comment, smelling satisfied. He scratched at his beard. This was important, and he needed to pay attention. But thoughts of his training in the wolf dream kept drawing his mind. \"So Elayne is Queen. That must make Rand happy.\"\n\n\"The Lord Dragon's reaction is unknown,\" Seonid continued, as if checking off another item on a list. The Wise Ones made no comments and asked no questions; they sat on their cushions in a little cluster, like rivets on a hinge. Likely, the Maidens had already told them all of this.\n\n\"I am reasonably certain that the Lord Dragon is in Arad Doman,\" Seonid continued. \" Several rumors speak of this--though, of course, there are rumors placing him in many places. But Arad Doman makes sense for him as a tactical conquest, and the unrest there threatens to destabilize the Borderlands. I'm not certain if it's true that he sent the Aiel there or not." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He did,\" Edarra said simply. She offered no further explanation.\n\n\"Yes,\" Seonid said. \"Well, many of the rumors say that he is planning to meet the Seanchan in Arad Doman. I suspect he would want the clans thereto aid him.\"\n\nThat brought up thoughts of Malden. Perrin imagined damane and Wise Ones at war, the One Power ripping through ranks of soldiers, blood, earth and fire spinning in the air. It would be like Dumai's Wells, only worse. He shivered. Anyway, from the visions--and they appeared as Seonid spoke--he knew that Rand was where she said.\n\nSeonid continued, speaking of trade and food resources in Cairhien. Perrin found himself thinking about that strange violet wall he'd seen in the wolf dream. Idiot, he told himself sternly. Keep listening. Light! He really was a bad ruler. He'd had no trouble running at the front of the wolves when they'd let him hunt. Why couldn't he do the same for his own people?\n\n\"Tear is rallying troops,\" Seonid said. \"Rumors say the Lord Dragon commanded King Darlin to gather men for war. There is apparently a king in Tear now, by the way. A curious event. Some say that Darlin will march for Arad Doman, though others say it must be for the Last Battle. Still others insist that al'Thor intends to defeat the Seanchan first. All three options seem plausible, and I can't give more without a trip to Tear myself.\" She eyed Perrin, smelling hopeful.\n\n\"No,\" Perrin said. \"Not yet. Rand isn't in Cairhien, but Andor seems stable. It makes the most sense for me to head there and talk to Elayne. She'll have information for us.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Faile smelled worried.\n\n\"Lord Aybara,\" Seonid said, \"do you think the Queen will welcome you? With the flag of Manetheren, and yourself-endowed title of Lord...\"\n\nPerrin scowled. \"Both of those fool banners are down now, and Elayne will see things right, once I explain them to her.\"\n\n\"And my soldiers?\" Alliandre said. \"You will probably want to ask before moving foreign troops onto Andoran soil.\"\n\n\"You won't becoming,\" Perrin said. \"I've said it before, Alliandre. You'll be in Jehannah. We'll get you there as soon as we deal with the Whitecloaks.\"\n\n\"Has a decision been made about them, then?\" Arganda asked, leaning forward, eager and excited.\n\n\"They've demanded a battle,\" Perrin said. \"And they ignore my requests for further parley. I've a mind to give them a fight.\"\n\nThey began talking of that, though it soon became a discussion of what it meant to have a king in Tear. Eventually, Seonid cleared her throat and steered the conversation back to her report.\n\n\"The Seanchan area matter of great discussion in Cairhien,\" Seonid said. \"The invaders seem to be focusing on securing their lands, including Altara. They are still expanding in the west, however, and there are pitched battles on Almoth Plain.\"\n\n\"Expanding toward Arad Doman,\" Arganda said. \"There is a battle brewing there.\"\n\n\"Most likely,\" Seonid said.\n\n\"If the Last Battle comes,\" Annoura said, \"then it would be advantageous to have an alliance with the Seanchan.\" She seemed thoughtful, legs crossed as she sat on her embroidered blue and yellow silk pillow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They have chained Wise Ones,\" Edarra said, her too-young face growing dark. She smelled dangerous. Angry but cold, like the smell before a person planned to kill. \"Not just Shaido, who deserve their fate. If there is an alliance with the Seanchan, it will end as soon as the Car'a\"carn's work is finished. Already, many of my people speak of a blood feud with these invaders.\"\n\n\"I doubt Rand wants a war between you,\" Perrin said.\n\n\"A year and a day,\" Edarra said simply. \"Wise Ones cannot betaken gai'shain, but perhaps the Seanchan ways are different. Regardless, we will give them a year and a day. If they do not release their captives when we demand them after that time, they will know our spears. The Car'a'carn cannot demand anymore from us.\"\n\nThe pavilion grew still.\n\n\"Anyway,\" Seonid said, clearing her throat. \"Once finished with Cairhien, we met up with those who had gone to Andor to check on rumors there.\"\n\n\"Wait,\" Perrin said. \"Andor?\"\n\n\"The Wise Ones decided to send Maidens there.\"\n\n\"That wasn't the plan,\" Perrin growled, looking at the Wise Ones.\n\n\"You don't control us, Perrin Aybara,\" Edarra said calmly. \"We needed to know if there were still Aiel in the city or not, and if the Car'a\"carn was there. Your Asha'man complied when we asked them for the gateway.\"\n\n\"The Maidens could have been seen,\" he grumbled. Well, he had told Grady to do the gateways as the Aiel asked him, though he'd been referring to the timing of the departure and the return. He should have been more precise." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, they weren't seen,\" Seonid sounded exasperated, like one talking with a foolish child. \"At least not by anyone they didn't intend to speak with.\" Light! Was it him, or was she beginning to seem a lot like a Wise One? Was that what Seonid and the others were doing in the Aiel camp? Learning to become more stubborn? Light help them all.\n\n\"Regardless,\" Seonid continued, \"it was wise of us to visit Caemlyn. Rumor cannot be trusted, particularly not when one of the Forsaken was said to be operating in the area.\"\n\n\"One of the Forsaken?\" Gallenne asked. \"In Andor?\"\n\nPerrin nodded, waving for another cup of warmed tea. \"Rand said it was Rahvin, though I was in the Two Rivers when the battle happened.\" The colors swirled in Perrin's head. \"Rahvin was impersonating one of the local noblemen, a man named Gabral or Gabil or some such. He used the Queen--made her fall in love with him, or something--and then killed her.\"\n\nA serving tray hit the ground with a muted peal.\n\nPorcelain cups shattered, tea spraying into the air. Perrin spun, cursing, and several of the Maidens leaped to their feet, clutching belt knives.\n\nMaighdin stood, looking stunned, arms at her sides. The fallen tray lay on the ground before her.\n\n\"Maighdin!\" Faile said. \"Are you all right?\"\n\nThe sun-haired serving woman turned to Perrin, looking dazed. \"If you please, my Lord, will you repeat what you said?\"\n\n\"What?\" Perrin asked. \"Woman, what's wrong?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You said one of the Forsaken had taken up residence in Andor,\" Maighdin said, voice calm. She gave him as sharp a look as he'd gotten from any Aes Sedai. \"Are you certain of what you heard?\"\n\nPerrin settled back on his cushion, scratching his chin. \"Sure as I can be. It's been sometime, now, but I know Rand was convinced. He fought someone with the One Power in the Andoran palace.\"\n\n\"His name was Gaebril,\" Sulin said. \"I was there. Lightning struck from an open sky, and there was no doubt it was the One Power. It was one of the Forsaken.\"\n\n\"There were some in Andor who claimed the Car'a\"carn spoke of this,\" Edarra added. \"He said that this Gaebril had been using forbidden weaves on wetlanders in the palace, twisting their minds, making them think and do as he wished.\"\n\n\"Maighdin, what's wrong?\" Perrin asked. \"Light, woman, he's dead now! You needn't fear.\"\n\n\"I must be excused,\" Maighdin said. She walked from the pavilion, leaving the tray and broken porcelain, bone white, scattered on the ground.\n\n\"I will see to her later,\" Faile said, embarrassed. \"She is distraught to find that she'd lived so close to one of the Forsaken. She's from Caemlyn, you know.\"\n\nThe others nodded, and other servants moved forward to cleanup the mess. Perrin realized he wasn't going to begetting anymore tea. Fool man, he thought. You lived most your life without being able to order tea on command. You won't die now that you can't get a refill by waving your hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Let's move on,\" he said, settling on his cushions." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could never quite get comfortable on the blasted things.\n\n\"My report is finished,\" Seonid said, pointedly ignoring the servant who was cleaning up porcelain shards in front of her.\n\n\"I standby my earlier decision,\" Perrin said. \"Dealing with the Whitecloaks is important. After that we'll go to Andor, and I'll talk to Elayne. Grady, how are you managing?\"\n\nThe weathered Asha'man looked up from where he satin his black coat. \"I'm fully recovered from my sickness, my Lord, and Neald almost is as well.\"\n\n\"You still look tired,\" Perrin said.\n\n\"I am,\" Grady said, \"but burn me, I'm better than I was many a day in the field before I went to the Black Tower.\"\n\n\"It's time to start sending some of these refugees where they belong,\" Perrin said. \"With those circles, you can keep a gateway open longer?\"\n\n\"I'm not right sure. Being in a circle is still tiring. Maybe more so. But I can make much larger gateways with the help of the women, wide enough to drive two wagons through.\"\n\n\"Good. We'll start by sending the ordinary folk home. Each person we see back where they belong will be a stone off my back.\"\n\n\"And if they don't want to go?\" Tam asked. \"A lot of them have started the training, Perrin. They know what's coming, and they'd rather face it here--with you--than cower in their homes.\"\n\nLight! Were there no people in this camp who wanted to go back to their families? \"Surely there are some of them who want to go back.\"\n\n\"Some,\" Tam said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Remember,\" Faile said, \"the weak and the aged were sent away by the Aiel.\"\n\nArganda nodded. \"I've looked in on these troops. More and more of the gai'shain are coming out of their stupor, and when they do, they're hard. Hard as many soldiers I've known.\"\n\n\"Some will want to check on family,\" Tam said, \"but only if you'll let them back. They can see that sky. They know what's coming.\"\n\n\"For now, we'll send back the ones that want to go and remain in their homes,\" Perrin said. \"I can't deal with the others until after I'm done with the Whitecloaks.\"\n\n\"Excellent,\" Gallenne said eagerly. \"You have a plan of attack?\"\n\n\"Well,\" Perrin said, \"I figure that if they're going to be companionable enough to lineup, we'll have at them with my archers and channelers and destroy them.\"\n\n\"I approve of this plan,\" Gallenne said, \"so long as my men can charge to deal with the rabble left at the end.\"\n\n\"Balwer,\" Perrin said. \"Write the Whitecloaks. Tell them we'll fight, and that they should pick a place.\"\n\nAshe said the words, he felt a strange reluctance. It seemed such a waste to kill so many who could fight against the Shadow. But he didn't see away around it.\n\nBalwer nodded, smelling fierce. What had the Whitecloaks done to Balwer? The dusty secretary was fascinated with them.\n\nThe meeting began to breakup. Perrin stepped to the tent's open side and watched the separate groups leave, Alliandre and Arganda moving toward their section of the camp. Faile walked beside Berelain; oddly, the two were chatting together. Their scents said they were angry, but their words sounded companionable. What were those two up to?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only a few wet stains on the ground inside the tent remained of the dropped tray. What was wrong with Maighdin? Erratic behavior like that was disturbing; all too often, it was followed by some manifestation of the Dark One's power.\n\n\"My Lord?\" a voice asked, preceded by a quiet cough. Perrin turned, realizing that Balwer was waiting behind him. The secretary stood with hands clasped before him, looking like a pile of sticks that children had dressed up in an old shirt and coat.\n\n\"Yes?\" Perrin asked.\n\n\"I happened to overhear several items of, ah, some interest while visiting the scholars of Cairhien.\"\n\n\"You found the supplies, right?\"\n\n\"Yes, yes. I am quite well stocked. Please, a moment. I do believe you'll be interested in what I overheard.\"\n\n\"Go ahead, then,\" Perrin said, walking back into the pavilion. The last of the others had left.\n\nBalwer spoke in a soft voice. \"First off, my Lord, it appears that the Children of the Light are in league with the Seanchan. It is common knowledge now, and I worry that the force ahead of us was planted to--\"\n\n\"Balwer,\" Perrin interrupted, \"I know you hate the Whitecloaks, but you've already told me that news a half-dozen times over.\"\n\n\"Yes, but--\"\n\n\"Nothing more about the Whitecloaks,\" Perrin said, holding up a hand. \"Unless it's specific news about this force ahead of us. Do you have any of that?\"\n\n\"No, my Lord.\"\n\n\"All right, then. Was there anything else you wanted to tell me?\"\n\nBalwer showed no signs of annoyance, but Perrin could smell dissatisfaction. Light knew that the Whitecloaks had plenty to answer for, and Perrin didn't blame Balwer for his hatred, but it did grow wearying." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, my Lord,\" Balwer continued, \"I would hazard that the tales of the Dragon Reborn wanting a truce with the Seanchan are more than idle hearsay." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Several sources indicate that he has sued their leader for peace.\"\n\n\"But what did he do to his hand?\" Perrin asked, dispelling yet another image of Rand from his vision.\n\n\"What was that, my Lord?\"\n\n\"Nothing,\" Perrin said.\n\n\"In addition,\" Balwer said, reaching into his sleeve, \"there are an alarming number of these traveling among cutpurses, slipfingers and footpads in Cairhien.\" He pulled out a sheet of paper with a sketch of Perrin's face on it. The likeness was alarmingly good. Perrin took the paper, frowning. There were no words on it. Balwer handed him a second one, identical to the first. A third paper followed, this one with a picture of Mat.\n\n\"Where did you get these?\" Perrin asked.\n\n\"As I said, my Lord,\" Balwer continued, \"they are being passed around in certain circles. Apparently there are very large sums of money promised to anyone who can produce your corpse, though I could not determine who would be doing the paying.\"\n\n\"And you discovered these while visiting the scholars at Rand's school?\" Perrin asked.\n\nThe pinch-faced scribe displayed no emotion.\n\n\"Who are you really, Balwer?\"\n\n\"A secretary. With some measure of skill in finding secrets.\"\n\n\"Some measure? Balwer, I haven't asked after your past. I figure a man deserves to be able to start fresh. But now the Whitecloaks are here, and you have some connection to them. I need to know what it is.\"\n\nBalwer stood silently fora time. The raised walls of the pavilion rustled.\n\n\"My previous employer was a man I respected, my Lord,\" Balwer said. \"He was killed by the Children of the Light. Some among them may recognize me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You were a spy for this person?\" Perrin asked.\n\nBalwer's lips turned down distinctly. He spoke more softly. \"I merely have a mind for remembering facts, my Lord.\"\n\n\"Yes, you've got a very good mind for it. Your service is useful tome, Balwer. I'm only trying to tell you that. I'm glad you're here.\"\n\nThe man smelled pleased. \"If I may say, my Lord, it is refreshing to work for someone who doesn't see my information as simply a means of betraying or compromising those around him.\"\n\n\"Well, be that as it may, I should probably start paying you better,\" Perrin said.\n\nThat gave Balwer a panicked scent. \"That won't be necessary.\"\n\n\"You could demand high wages from any number of lords or merchants!\"\n\n\"Petty men of no consequence,\" Balwer said with a twitch of his fingers.\n\n\"Yes, but I still think you should be paid more. It's simple sense. If you hire an apprentice blacksmith for your forge and don't pay him well enough, he'll impress your regular customers, then open anew forge across the street the moment he can afford to.\"\n\n\"Ah, but you do not see, my Lord,\" Balwer said. \" Money means nothing tome. The information--that is what is important. Facts and discoveries... they are like nuggets of gold. I could give that gold to a common banker to make coins, but I prefer to give it to the master craftsman to make something of beauty.\n\n\"Please, my Lord, let me remain a simple secretary. You see, one of the easiest ways to tell if someone is not what he seems is to check his wages.\" He chuckled. \"I've uncovered more than one assassin or spy that way, yes I have. No pay is needed. The opportunity to work with you is its own payment.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perrin shrugged, but nodded, and Balwer withdrew. Perrin stepped out of the pavilion, stowing the pictures in his pocket. They disturbed him. He'd bet these pictures were in Andor, too, placed by the Forsaken.\n\nFor the first time, he found himself wondering if he was going to need an army to keep himself safe. It was a disturbing thought.\n\nThe wave of bestial Trollocs surged over the top of the hill, overrunning the last of the fortifications. They grunted and howled, thick-fingered hands tearing at the dark Saldaean soil and clutching swords, hooked spears, hammers, clubs and other wicked weapons. Spittle dripped from tusked lips on some, while on others wide, too-human eyes stared out from behind wicked beaks. Their black armor was decorated with spikes.\n\nIturalde's men stood strong with him at the bottom of the back slope of the hillside. He had ordered the lower camp to disband and retreat as far as they could to the south along the riverbank. Meanwhile, the army had retreated from the fortifications. He hated to surrender the high ground, but getting pushed down that steep hill during an assault would have been deadly. He had room to fallback, so he'd use it, now that the fortifications were lost.\n\nHe positioned his forces just at the base of the hill, near where the lower camp had once been. The Domani soldiers wore steel caps and had set their fourteen-foot pikes with butts in the dirt, holding them for more stability, steel points toward the towering wave of Trollocs. A classic defensive position: three ranks of pikemen and shieldmen, pikes slanted toward the top of the slope. When the first rank of pikes killed a Trolloc, they'd fallback and pull their weapons free, letting the second rank step forward to kill. A slow, careful retreat, rank by rank." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A double row of archers behind began loosing arrows, slamming wave after wave up into the Shadowspawn, dropping bodies down the slope. Those rolled, some still screaming, spraying dark blood. A larger number continued down, over their brothers, trying to get at the pikemen.\n\nAn eagle-headed Trolloc died on a pike in front of Ituralde. There were chips along the edges of the thing's beak, and its head--set with predatory eyes--sat atop a bull-like neck, the edge of the feathers coated with some kind of dark, oily substance. The monster screeched as it died, voice low and only faintly avian, somehow forming guttural sounds in the Trolloc language.\n\n\"Hold!\" Ituralde called, turning and trotting his horse down the line of pikemen. \"Keep the formation, burn you!\"\n\nThe Trollocs surged down the hillside, dying on those pikes. It would be a temporary reprieve. There were too many Trollocs, and even a rotating triple pike line would be overwhelmed. This was a delaying tactic. Behind them, the rest of his troops began their retreat. Once the lines had weakened, the Asha'man would assume the burden of defense, buying time for the pikemen to retreat.\n\nIf the Asha'man could manage the strength. He'd pushed them hard. Maybe too hard. He didn't know their limits the way he did for ordinary troops. If they were able to break the Trolloc advance, his army would fallback southward. That retreat would take them past the safety of Maradon, but they would not be allowed in. Those inside had rebuffed all Ituralde's attempts at communication. \"We do not abet invaders\" had been the reply each time. Bloody fools." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, the Trollocs would likely form up around Maradon fora sustained siege, giving Ituralde and his men time to fallback to a more defensible position.\n\n\"Hold!\" Ituralde called again, riding past an area where the Trolloc press was beginning to show results. Atop one of the hilltop fortifications, a pack of wolf-headed Trollocs lurked, wary, while their companions charged down before them. \"Archers!\" Ituralde said, pointing.\n\nA volley of arrows followed, spraying the wolf-headed Trollocs, or'Minds\" as the Dragonsworn in Ituralde's army had started calling them. Trollocs had their own bands and organization, but his men often referred to individuals by the features they displayed. \"Horns\" for goats, \"Beaks\" for hawks, \"Arms\" forbears. Those with the heads of wolves were often among the more intelligent; some Saldaeans claimed to have heard them speaking the human language to bargain with or trick their opponents.\n\nIturalde knew much about Trollocs now. You needed to know your enemy. Unfortunately, there was huge variety in Trolloc intelligence and personality. And there were many Trollocs who shared physical attributes from various groups. Ituralde swore he'd seen one twisted abomination with the feathers of a hawk but the horns of a goat.\n\nThe Trollocs atop the fortification tried to get out of the way of the arrows. A large pack of hulking beasts behind shoved them down the hill with a roar. Trollocs were cowardly things, normally, unless hungry, but if they were whipped into a frenzy, they fought well.\n\nThe Fades would follow this initial wave. Once the archers were out of arrows, and Trollocs had softened the men below. Ituralde didn't look forward to that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Light, Ituralde thought. I hope we can outrun them. The Asha'man waited in the distance for his order. He wished he had them closer. But he couldn't risk it. They were too important an asset to lose to astray arrow.\n\nHopefully, the front ranks of Trollocs would be severely battered by the pikemen, their carcasses twisted and banked against the pikes--and the Trollocs behind stumbling and falling against their own bloody remnants. Ituralde's remaining Saldaeans would ride as a harrying force at any who got through the Asha'man blasts. Then the pikemen should be able to drawback and follow the rest of the army in retreat. Once past Maradon, they could use gateways to fallback to his next chosen position, a forested pass some ten leagues south.\n\nHis men should be able to escape. Should. Light, but he hated being forced to command a too-fast retreat like this.\n\nStay firm, he told himself, continuing to ride and call out the order to hold. It was important that they hear his voice. That boy is the Dragon Reborn. He'll keep his promises.\n\n\"My Lord!\" a voice called. Ituralde's guard split to let a young boy ride up, panting. \"My Lord, it's Lieutenant Lidrin!\"\n\n\"He's fallen?\" Ituralde demanded.\n\n\"No, my Lord. He's...\" The boy looked over his shoulder. In the pike line nearby, the soldiers were bulging forward toward the Trolloc wave, rather than falling back.\n\n\"What in the Light?\" Ituralde said, heeling Dawnweave into motion. The white gelding galloped forward, Ituralde's guard and the young messenger joining him in a thunder of hooves." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could hear Lidrin's yells despite the roar of the battlefield. The young Domani officer was out in front of the pike lines, attacking the Trollocs with sword and shield, bellowing. Lidrin's men had pushed through to defend him, leaving the pikemen confused and disoriented.\n\n\"Lidrin, you fool.\" Ituralde reined his horse to a halt.\n\n\"Come!\" Lidrin bellowed, raising his sword up before the Trollocs. He laughed loudly, voice half-mad, face splattered with blood. \"Come! I will face you all! My sword thirsts!\"\n\n\"Lidrin!\" Ituralde screamed. \"Lidrin!\"\n\nThe man glanced over his shoulder. His eyes were wide with a crazed kind of glee. Ituralde had seen it before, in the eyes of soldiers who fought too long, too hard. \"We're going to die, Rodel,\" Lidrin called. \"This way, I get to take them with me! One or two at least! Join me!\"\n\n\"Lidrin, get back here and--\"\n\nThe man ignored him, turning back and pressing forward.\n\n\"Get his men back here,\" Ituralde yelled, gesturing. \"Close the pike ranks! Quickly. We can't...\"\n\nThe Trollocs surged forward. Lidrin fell in a spray of blood, laughing. His men were too strongly pressed, and they split down the middle. The pikemen reset themselves, but a fist of Trollocs crashed into them. Some Trollocs fell.\n\nMost didn't.\n\nThe nearby creatures screeched and howled at seeing the hole in the defenses. They came, scrambling over bodies at the base of the hill, throwing themselves at the pikemen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ituralde cursed, then pushed Dawnweave forward." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In war, as in farming, you sometimes had to step in and get knee-deep in the muck. He bellowed as he crashed into the Trollocs. His guard rode in around him, closing the gap. The air became a crashing tempest of metal on metal and grunts of pain.\n\nDawnweave snorted and danced as Ituralde lashed outwith his sword. The warhorse disliked being so close to the Shadowspawn, but he was well trained, a gift from one of Bashere's men. He had claimed that a general on the Borderlands needed an animal who had fought Trollocs before. Ituralde blessed that soldier now.\n\nThe fighting was brutal. The leading rank of pikemen, and those behind, began buckling. Ituralde briefly heard Ankaer's voice taking command, screaming at the men to get back into line. He sounded frantic. That was bad.\n\nIturalde swung, doing Heron on the Stump--a horseback sword form--and taking a bull-headed Trolloc across the throat. A spray of fetid brownish blood spurted forth, and the creature fell back against a boar-headed monster. A large red standard--depicting a goat's skull with afire burning behind it--rose atop the hill. The symbol of the Ghob'hlin Band.\n\nIturalde turned his horse, dancing out of the way of a wicked axe blow, then urged his mount forward, driving his sword into the Trollocs side. Around him, Whelborn and Lehynen--two of his best--died as they defended his flank. Light burn the Trollocs!\n\nThe entire line was breaking apart. He and his men were too few, but most of his forces had already pulled back. No, no, no! Ituralde thought, trying to extricate himself from the battle and takeover the command. But if he pulled back, the Trollocs would breakthrough." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He'd have to risk it. He was ready for problems like this.\n\nA trumpet sounded retreat.\n\nIturalde froze, listening with horror to the haunted sound rolling across the battlefield. The horns weren't supposed to blow unless he, or a member of his guard, gave the order personally! It was too soon, far too soon.\n\nSome of the other trumpeters heard the call and took it up, though others did not. They could see that it was far too soon. Unfortunately, that was worse. It meant that half of the pikemen began to pullback while the other half held their position.\n\nThe lines around Ituralde burst, men scattering as the Trollocs swarmed over them. It was a disaster, as bad a disaster as Ituralde had ever been part of. His fingers felt limp.\n\nIf we fall, Shadowspawn destroy Arad Doman.\n\nIturalde roared, yanking on the reins of his horse and galloping back away from the surging Trollocs. The remaining members of his guard followed.\n\n\"Helmke and Cutaris,\" Ituralde yelled to two of his men, sturdy, long-limbed Domani. \"Get to Durhem's cavalry and tell them to attack the center as soon as an opening appears! Kappre, head to Alin's cavalry. Order him to assault the Trollocs on the eastern flank. Sorrentin, go to those Asha'man! I want the Trollocs to go up inflame!\"\n\nThe horsemen galloped off. Ituralde rode westward, to the place where the pikemen were still holding. He started to rally one of the back ranks and bring it to the bulging section. He almost had it working. But then the Myrddraal came, sliding through the Trolloc ranks like snakes, striking with oily speed, and a flight of Draghkar descended." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ituralde found himself fighting for his life.\n\nAround him, the battlefield was a terrible mess: ranks destroyed, Trollocs roaming freely for easy kills, Myrddraal trying to whip them into attacking the few remaining pike formations instead.\n\nFires flew in the air as the Asha'man aimed for the Trollocs, but their fires were smaller, weaker than they had been days ago. Men screamed, weapons clanged, and beasts roared in the smoke beneath a sky of too-black clouds.\n\nIturalde was breathing hard. His guards had fallen. At least he had seen Staven and Rett die. What of the others? He didn't see them. So many dying. So many. There was sweat in his eyes.\n\nLight, he thought. At least we gave them a fight. Held out longer than I thought possible.\n\nThere were columns of smoke to the north. Well, one thing had gone well--that Asha'man Tymoth had done his job. The second set of siege equipment was burning. Some of his officers had called it madness to send away one of his Asha'man, but one more channeler wouldn't have mattered in this disaster. And when the Trollocs attacked Maradon, the lack of those catapults would make a big difference.\n\nDawnweave fell. A Trolloc javelin that had been meant for Ituralde had fallen low. The horse screamed with the weapon lodged in its neck, blood pulsing down its sweat-frothed skin. Ituralde had lost mounts before, and he knew to roll to the side, but was too off-balance this time. He heard his leg snap as he hit.\n\nHe gritted his teeth, determined not to die on his back, and forced himself up into a sitting position. He dropped his sword--heron-mark though it was--and lifted up a broken, discarded pike in a fluid motion and rammed it through the chest of an approaching Trolloc. Dark, stinking blood coated the shaft, spurting down onto Ituralde's hands as the Trolloc screamed and died." }, { "from": "human", "value": "There was thunder in the air." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That wasn't odd--there was often thunder from those clouds, often eerily disjointed from the bursts of lightning.\n\nIturalde heaved, pushing the Trolloc to the side by levering the pike. Then a Myrddraal saw him.\n\nIturalde reached for his sword, gritting his teeth, but knew he had just seen his killer. One of those things could fella dozen men. Facing it with a broken leg...\n\nHe tried to stumble to his feet anyway. He failed, falling backward, cursing. He raised his sword, prepared to die as the thing slunk forward, movements like liquid.\n\nA dozen arrows slammed into the Fade.\n\nIturalde blinked as the creature stumbled. The thunder was getting louder. Ituralde propped himself up, and was amazed to see thousands of unfamiliar horsemen charging information through the Trolloc ranks, sweeping the creatures before them.\n\nThe Dragon Reborn! He came!\n\nBut no. These men flew the Saldaean flag. He looked back. The gates of Maradon were open, and Ituralde's tired survivors were being allowed to limp inside. Fire was flying from the battlements--his Asha'man had been allowed up top to get a vantage on the battlefield.\n\nA force of twenty horsemen broke off and ran down the Myrddraal, trampling it. The last man in the group leaped free of his saddle and hacked at the creature with a hand axe. All across the battlefield, the Trollocs were rundown, shot or lanced.\n\nIt wouldn't last. More and more Trollocs were rolling through Ituralde's former fortifications and loping down the slope. But the Saldaean relief would be enough, with those gates open, and with the Asha'man blasting wreaking destruction. The remnants of Ituralde's force were fleeing to safety. He was proud to see Barettal and Connel--the last of his guard--stumbling across the field toward him on foot, their mounts no doubt dead, their uniforms bloodied." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He slid his sword into its scabbard and pulled the javelin from Dawnweave's neck." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Supporting himself on it, he managed to stand. A rider from the Saldaean force trotted up to him, a man with a lean face, a hooked nose, and a set of bushy black eyebrows. He wore a short, trimmed beard, and he raised a bloodied sword to Ituralde. \"You live.\"\n\n\"I do,\" Ituralde said as his two guards arrived. \"You command this force?\"\n\n\"For now,\" the man said. \"I am Yoeli. Can you ride?\"\n\n\"Better that than staying here.\"\n\nYoeli reached out a hand and pulled Ituralde into his saddle behind him. Ituralde's leg protested with a flare of pain, but there wasn't time to wait fora stretcher.\n\nTwo other horsemen took Ituralde's guards onto their horses, and soon they three were riding for the city at a gallop.\n\n\"Bless you,\" Ituralde said. \"It took you long enough, though.\"\n\n\"I know.\" Yoeli's voice sounded oddly grim. \"I hope you are worth this, invader, for my actions this day will likely cost my life.\"\n\n\"What?\"\n\nThe man didn't reply. He simply bore Ituralde on thundering hooves into the safety of the city--such as that safety was, considering the city was now besieged by a force of several hundred thousand Shadowspawn.\n\nMorgase walked out of the camp. Nobody stopped her, though some did give her odd looks. She passed the wooded northern rim. The trees were burloak, spaced apart to allow for their great, spreading arms. She moved beneath the boughs, breathing deeply of the humid air.\n\nGaebril had been one of the Forsaken." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She eventually found a place where a tiny highland stream filled a cleft between two rocks and created a still, clear pool. The tall rocks around it clustered like an ancient, broken throne built fora giant fifteen spans tall.\n\nThe trees bore leaves above, though many looked sickly. A thinner patch of clouds blew past, allowing fingers of sunlight to reach down from the overcast sky. That splintered light shone in rays through the clear water, making patches of light on the pool's bottom. Minnows darted between the patches, as if investigating the light.\n\nMorgase rounded the pool, then settled atop a flat boulder. The sounds of the camp could be heard in the distance. Calling, posts being driven into the ground, carts rattling on pathways.\n\nShe stared into the pool. Was there anything more hateful than being made the pawn of another? Of being forced to dance upon their strings like a wooden puppet? In her youth, she'd grown well acquainted with bowing before the whims of others. That had been the only way for her to stabilize her rule.\n\nTaringail had tried to manipulate her. In truth, he'd been successful much of the time. There had been others, too. So many who had pushed her this way or that. She'd spent ten years pandering to whichever faction was the strongest. Ten years slowly building alliances. It had worked. She'd eventually been able to maneuver on her own. When Taringail had died hunting, many had whispered that his passing released her, but those close to her had known that she had already gone along way toward unseating his authority.\n\nShe could remember the very day when she'd castoff the last of those who had presumed to be the real power behind the throne. That was the day that, in her heart, she'd truly become Queen. She'd sworn that she'd never let another manipulate her again." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "As the writer's tale assistant, advance the plot.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, last battle\nAuthor: Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Towers of Midnight\nChapter: 27" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perrin looked into Tam's eyes and saw the sincerity there. He nodded. \"All right, then. You need any help? Someone to go with you, wherever you're going?\"\n\n\"I'll be all right,\" Tam said. He smelled embarrassed. What was going on? \"I'll try to get you some help, son.\" He laid a hand on Perrin's shoulder. \"You've done well here. I'm proud of you, and your father would be too. Keep it up. I'll see you at the Last Battle, if not before.\"\n\nPerrin nodded. Tam hurried off toward his tent, perhaps to pack.\n\nIt was hard to look regal while being carried atop the Caemlyn city wall on a litter, but Elayne did her best. Sometimes getting what you wanted was more important than looking regal.\n\nBed rest! Fora queen! Well, in order to keep Melfane from hovering over her, she'd given an oath that she would stay off her feet. But she'd said nothing about staying in her bedroom.\n\nFour Guardsmen carried the litter high on their shoulders. Elayne sat safely between armrests, wearing a crimson gown, hair carefully brushed, the Rose Crown of Andor atop her head.\n\nThe day was muggy, the weather turning warm, the sky still dark with clouds. She spared a moment to feel guilty for making the poor men, in dress uniform, carry her through this early-summer heat. But these men would ride to battle in her name; they could stand a little warm weather. How often did Guardsmen get the honor of carrying their queen, anyway?\n\nBirgitte strode alongside the bed, and the bond indicated that she was amused. Elayne had feared she'd try to stop this excursion, but instead she had laughed! Birgitte must have determined that this day's activities--though bound to upset Melfane--were no real risk to Elayne or her babes. To the Warder, that meant this was an opportunity to see Elayne get paraded through town looking foolish." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Elayne winced." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What would the people say? The Queen, riding a litter, being marched to the outer wall? Well, Elayne wasn't about to let rumors keep her from seeing the test firsthand, and she wasn't about to be bullied by a tyrannical midwife.\n\nShe had quite a view from the wall. The fields leading to Aringill lay open to her left; the city bustled to her right. Those fields were too brown. Reports from around the realm were dire. Nine fields in ten had failed.\n\nElayne's porters carried her up to one of the wall's tower turrets, then hit a snag as they realized the poles on the litter were too long to make the turns on the stairs inside the tower; the demonstration was supposed to happen atop it. Luckily, there were alternative short handholds for just such situations. They removed the poles, switched to the handholds, and proceeded.\n\nWhile they carried her up, she distracted herself by thinking about Cairhien. The noble Houses there all claimed to be eagerly awaiting her arrival to take the throne, and yet none offered more than the most flaccid support. Daes Dae'mar was fully in effect, and the posturing for Elayne's ascent--or her failure to ascend--had begun the moment Rand had mentioned that he intended the nation to be hers.\n\nIn Cairhien, a hundred different political winds always blew in a hundred different directions. She didn't have time to learn all of the different factions before she took the throne. Besides, if she was seen as playing the game, she could be seen as someone to defeat. She had to find away to seize the Sun Throne without mixing too much in the local House politics.\n\nElayne's litter creaked up and crested the lip of the tower's turret. Atop the tower, Aludra stood with one of her prototype dragons. The bronze tube was quite long and set in a framework of wood. It was just a dummy, for display. A second, working dragon had been setup atop the next tower down the wall. It was far enough away that Elayne wouldn't be in danger if something went wrong." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The slender Taraboner woman seemed to take no thought for the fact that she was delivering a potentially world-changing weapon to the queen of a foreign country; all Aludra seemed to want was away to get back at the Seanchan, or so Mat had explained. Elayne had spent sometime with the woman while traveling with Luca's menagerie, but still wasn't certain how trustworthy she was. She'd have Master Norry keep an eye on her.\n\nAssuming, of course, the dragons worked. Elayne spared another glance for the people down below. Only then did she realize how high up she really was. Light!\n\nI'm safe, she reminded herself. Min's viewing. Not that she said anything like that to Birgitte, not any longer. And she did intend to stop taking so many risks. This wasn't a risk. Not really.\n\nShe turned away before she grew dizzy and inspected the dragon more closely. It was shaped like a large bronze bell, though longer and narrower. Like an enormous vase turned on its side. Elayne had received more than one missive from the city's irate bellfounders. Aludra insisted that her orders be carried out exactly and had forced the men to recast the tube three times.\n\nLate the previous night, aloud crack had sounded across the city. As if a stonewall had fallen somewhere or a bolt of lightning had struck. This morning Elayne had received a note from Aludra.\n\nFirst test a success, it had read. Meet me today on city wall for demonstration.\n\n\"Your Majesty,\" Aludra said. \"You are... well, yes?\"\n\n\"I will be fine, Aludra,\" Elayne said, trying to maintain her dignity. \"The dragon is ready?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is,\" Aludra said. She wore along brown dress, her black wavy hair loose, coming down to her waist. Why no braids today? Aludra didn't seem to care for jewelry, and Elayne had never seen her wear any. A group of five men from Mat's Band of the Red Hand stood with her, one carrying what appeared to be a chimney brush of some sort. Another had a metal sphere in his hands, and another carried a small wooden cask.\n\nElayne could see a similar group on the next tower over. Someone there raised a hat into the air and waved at her. Mat wanted to watch from the tower with the working dragon, it seemed. Foolhardy man. What if the thing exploded like a nightflower?\n\n\"The demonstration, then,\" Aludra said, \"we shall begin. These men here will show you what is being done on the other tower.\" She hesitated as she regarded Elayne. \"Her Majesty, I think we should prop her up, so that she can seethe display.\"\n\nA few minutes later, they'd located some small boxes to place beneath the litter and elevate Elayne so that she could see over the tower's crenelations. It appeared that something had been constructed on a distant hillside, though it was too far for Elayne to make out. Aludra pulled out several looking glasses and handed one each to Elayne and Birgitte.\n\nElayne raised her glass to her eye. Dressing dummies. Aludra had setup some fifty of them in ranks on the far hill. Light! Where had she gotten so many? Likely, Elayne would begetting some wordy missives from gownmakers across the city.\n\nMat had promised this would be worth practically any cost. Of course, that was Mat. He wasn't exactly the most reliable person around." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He's not the one who lost an invaluable ter'angreal to the Shadow, she reminded herself. She grimaced. In her pouch, she carried another replica of the foxhead. It was one of three she'd created so far. If she was going to be confined to her bed, then she might as well make use of her time. It would be a lot less frustrating if she could channel consistently.\n\nAll three of the replica foxhead medallions worked as the first replica had. She couldn't channel while wearing one, and a powerful weave could overwhelm them. She really needed that original back for further study.\n\n\"You can see, Your Majesty,\" Aludra said in a stiff voice, as if unaccustomed to giving a demonstration, \"that we've tried tore-create the conditions under which you might make use of the dragons, yes?\"\n\nExcept instead of fifty dressing dummies, we'll have a hundred thousand Trollocs, Elayne thought.\n\n\"The next tower, you should look at it,\" Aludra said, gesturing.\n\nElayne turned the glass to look at the next tower down the wall. She could see five members of the Band there, dressed in uniforms, waiting with another dragon. Mat was looking in the thing, right down the tube.\n\n\"These have trained somewhat on the dragons,\" Aludra continued. \"But they do not have the efficiency I would like. They will do for now, yes?\"\n\nElayne lowered her glass as the men pulled the dummy tube back--it was on a set of wheels--and rotated it up a bit toward the sky. One poured some black powder in from his cask, then another stuffed in a wad of something. This was followed by the man with the long pole ramming it down the tube. That wasn't a chimney brush he held, but some kind of tool used for packing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That looks like the powder inside a nightflower,\" Birgitte said. She felt wary.\n\nAludra shot the Warder a glance. \"And how do you know what is inside a nightflower, Maerion? You do realize how dangerous it is to open one of those, yes?\"\n\nBirgitte shrugged.\n\nAludra frowned, but got no response, so took a deep breath and calmed herself. \"The device, it is perfectly safe. We setup the other dragon to do the firing, so there would be no danger, yes? But there would not be danger anyway. The casting is good and my calculations, they are perfect.\"\n\n\"Elayne,\" Birgitte said, \"I still think we'd be better off watching from the wall down below. Even if this one beside us isn't going to be lit.\"\n\n\"After all I went through to getup here?\" Elayne asked. \"No thank you. Aludra, you may proceed.\"\n\nShe ignored Birgitte's annoyance. Did Aludra really think she could hit one of those dressing dummies with her iron sphere? That was along way to go, and the sphere was so small, barely wider than a man's outstretched palm. Had Elayne invested all of this effort to get something that would work more poorly than a catapult? This dragon sounded as if it could throw its sphere farther, but the boulders tossed by a catapult were many times larger.\n\nThe men finished. The remaining man touched a small torch to a fuse sticking out of the sphere and rolled it into the tube; then they turned the tube to face directly outward.\n\n\"You see?\" Aludra said, patting the dragon. \"Three men is best. Four for safety, in case one falls. One could do the work if he had to, but it would be slow.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The men stepped back as Aludra got out a red flag. She held it up in the air, signaling the other team on the next tower down the wall. Elayne focused on them with the glass. One carried a small torch. Mat watched with a curious expression.\n\nAludra lowered her flag. The soldier touched his burning torch to the side of the dragon.\n\nThe explosive sound that followed was so powerful that it made Elayne jump. The boom was as sharp as a thunderclap, and she heard in the distance what sounded like an echo of the explosion. She raised a hand to her breast, and remembered to draw breath.\n\nA pocket on the mountainside exploded in a massive spray of dust and earth. The ground seemed to tremble! It was as if an Aes Sedai had torn up the earth with a weave, but the One Power hadn't been used at all.\n\nAludra seemed disappointed. Elayne raised her looking glass to her eye. The blast had missed the dressing dummies by a good twenty paces, but had ripped a hole in the ground five paces wide. Did the ball explode like a nightflower to cause that? This device wasn't merely an improved catapult or trebuchet; it was something else. Something capable of smashing an iron sphere into the ground with such force that it blew open a hole, then perhaps exploded on its own.\n\nWhy, she could line an entire wall with these dragons! With all of them firing together....\n\nAludra raised her flag again; Elayne watched with her glass as the men on the next tower over cleaned, then reloaded, the tube. Mat was holding his ears and scowling, which gave Elayne a smile. He really should have watched from her tower. The reloading process took a very short time, perhaps three minutes. And Aludra said she intended to see it happen more quickly?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aludra wrote a set of orders and sent it by messenger to the men. They changed the dragon's position slightly. She waved her flag; Elayne steeled herself for another explosion, but still jumped when it came.\n\nThis time, the blast was dead-on, hitting in the very center of the rank of dressing dummies. Their tattered remnants spun through the air. The blow destroyed five or six, and knocked down a good dozen of them.\n\nWith the ability to fire every two minutes, hit so faraway, and deal such destruction, these weapons would be deadly. As deadly as damane, perhaps. Birgitte was still looking through her looking glass, and while her face was impassive, Elayne could feel the woman's amazement.\n\n\"The weapon, you find it pleasing?\" Aludra asked.\n\n\"I find it pleasing, Aludra,\" Elayne said, smiling. \"I find it pleasing indeed. The resources of the entire city are yours, the resources of all Andor. There are several more bellfounders in Andor.\" She glanced at the Illuminator. \"But you must keep the plans and designs a secret. I will send Guards with you. We can't afford to let any of the bellfounders consider the value of leaving home and selling information to our enemies.\"\n\n\"So long as they don't reach the Seanchan,\" Aludra said, \"I care not.\"\n\n\"Well, I do,\" Elayne said. \"And I'm the one who will see these things used properly. I'll need an oath out of you, Aludra.\"\n\nThe woman sighed, but gave it. Elayne had no intention of turning them against anyone other than Trollocs and Seanchan. But she would feel much more secure about her nation knowing that she had these at her disposal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She smiled as she considered it, and found it difficult to contain her excitement. Birgitte finally lowered her glass. She felt... solemn.\n\n\"What?\" Elayne asked as the Guards took turns with her glass, inspecting the devastation. She felt some odd indigestion. Had she eaten something bad for lunch?\n\n\"The world just changed, Elayne,\" Birgitte said, shaking her head, long braid swinging slightly. \"It just changed in a very large way. I have a terrible feeling that it's only the beginning.\"\n\nChapter 30" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Men Dream Here\n\n\"These Whitecloaks area tight-lipped group, my Lady,\" Lacile said with a smug smile, \"but they're still men. Men who haven't seen a woman in awhile, I think. That always makes them lose what few brains they have.\"\n\nFaile walked the horselines, the sky dark, lantern held before her. Perrin was asleep; he'd retired early these last few days, seeking the wolf dream. The Whitecloaks had reluctantly agreed to delay the trial, but Perrin still should have been preparing his words to speak there. He grumbled that he already knew what he was going to say. Knowing him, he'd just tell Morgase what had happened, straightforward as usual.\n\nLacile and Selande walked on either side of Faile. Other members of Cha Faile walked behind, keeping careful watch for anyone close enough to be within earshot.\n\n\"I think the Whitecloaks knew we were thereto spy,\" Selande said. The short, pale woman walked with hand on her sword. The stance didn't seem as awkward as it once had; Selande had taken her sword training seriously.\n\n\"No, I doubt they guessed,\" Lacile replied. She still wore a simple tan blouse and darker brown skirt. Selande had changed back to breeches and sword immediately upon returning--she still bore a cut on her arm from where that sword had tried to kill her--but Lacile seemed to be savoring her time in the skirt.\n\n\"They barely said anything of use,\" Selande said.\n\n\"Yes,\" Lacile replied, \"but I think they're merely in that habit. Our excuse of checking on Maighdin and the others was a reasonable one, my Lady. We were able to deliver your note, then do a little chatting with the men. I teased out enough to be of some use.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Faile raised an eyebrow, though Lacile fell quiet as they passed a groom working late, brushing down one of the horses.\n\n\"The Whitecloaks respect Galad,\" Lacile said once out of the groom's earshot. \"Though some grumble about the things he's been telling them.\"\n\n\"What things?\" Faile asked.\n\n\"He wants them to ally with the Aes Sedai for the Last Battle,\" Lacile explained.\n\n\"Anyone could have told you they would dislike that idea,\" Selande said. \"They're Whitecloaks!\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Faile said, \"but it means that this Galad is more reasonable than his men. A useful tip, Lacile.\"\n\nThe young woman swelled, brushing her short hair back in a modest gesture, throwing back the red ribbons she had tied there. She'd taken to wearing twice as many now, since her Shaido captivity.\n\nUp ahead, a lanky figure stepped between two of the horses. He had a thick mustache, Taraboner style, and though he was young, he had the air of one who had seen much in his life. Dannil Lewin, the man in charge of the Two Rivers men now that Tam had mysteriously decided to depart. Light send that Tam was safe, wherever he'd gone.\n\n\"Why, Dannil,\" Faile said, \"what an odd coincidence to see you here.\"\n\n\"Coincidence?\" he asked, scratching at his head. He held his bow in one hand, staff-like, though he kept glancing at it, wary. A lot of people did that with their weapons now. \"You asked me to come here.\"\n\n\"It must be a coincidence nonetheless,\" Faile said, \"in case anyone asks. Particularly if that somebody is my husband.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't like keeping things from Lord Perrin,\" Dannil said, falling into step with her.\n\n\"And you'd prefer to risk letting him be beheaded by a group of rabid Whitecloaks?\"\n\n\"No. None of the men do.\"\n\n\"You've done what I asked, then?\"\n\nDannil nodded. \"I spoke to Grady and Neald. Lord Perrin has already ordered them to stay nearby, but we talked. Grady said he'd have weaves of Air ready, and will grab Lord Perrin and get out if things get ugly, Neald covering the retreat. I've talked to the men from the Two Rivers. A group of archers in the trees will be ready to provide a distraction.\"\n\nFaile nodded. Neither Asha'man had been wounded in this bubble of evil, fortunately. Each had been carrying a knife, but reports said they'd looked at the floating weapons, then nonchalantly waved hands and blasted them from the air. When messengers with news of Faile's earth-throwing trick had reached the section of camp the Asha'man had been in, they'd found this area in much less chaos, Grady and Neald striding through camp and felling weapons wherever they saw them.\n\nPart of the reason for the delay before the trial was to take care of Healing. But another large reason was because Perrin wanted to give time to the camp's smiths and craftsmen to make replacement weapons for those who had lost theirs, just in case the trial turned to a battle. And Faile was increasingly certain that it would.\n\n\"Lord Perrin won't like being pulled away from fighting,\" Dannil said. \"Not one bit.\"\n\n\"That tent could turn into a deathtrap,\" Faile said. \"Perrin can lead the battle if he wants, but from a safer position. You will get him out.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dannil sighed, but nodded. \"Yes, my Lady.\"\n\nPerrin was learning not to fear Young Bull.\n\nStep by step, he learned balance. The wolf when the wolf was needed; the man when the man was needed. He let himself be drawn into the hunt, but kept Faile--his home--in his mind. He walked the edge of the sword, but each step made him more confident.\n\nToday, he hunted Hopper, wily and experienced prey. But Young Bull was quick to learn, and having the mind of a man gave him advantages. He could think like something, or someone, that he was not.\n\nWas this how Noam had begun? Where would this path of understanding lead? There was a secret to this, a secret Young Bull had to find for himself.\n\nHe could not fail. He had to learn. It seemed that--somehow--the more confident he became in the wolf dream, the more comfortable he became with himself in the waking world.\n\nYoung Bull charged through an unfamiliar forest. No, a jungle, with hanging vines and wide-fronded ferns. The underbrush was so thick that a rat would have trouble squeezing through. But Young Bull demanded that the world open before him. Vines pulled back. Shrubs bent. Ferns retracted, like mothers pulling their children out of the way of a galloping horse.\n\nHe caught glimpses of Hopper bounding ahead. His prey vanished. Young Bull didn't break pace, charging through that spot and catching the scent of Hopper's destination. Young Bull shifted onto an open plain with no trees and an unfamiliar scrub patching the ground. His prey was a series of streaking blurs in the distance. Young Bull followed, each bound carrying him hundreds of paces." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Within seconds, they approached an enormous plateau. His prey ran directly up the side of the stone shelf. Young Bull followed, ignoring what was'right.\" He ran with the ground far below at his back, nose toward that boiling sea of black clouds. He leaped over clefts in the rock, ricocheting between two sides of a rift, cresting the top of the plateau.\n\nHopper attacked. Young Bull was ready. He rolled, coming upon all fours as his prey leaped over his head, passed over the cliff's edge, but then vanished in a flash and was back standing on the lip of the cliff.\n\nYoung Bull became Perrin holding a hammer made of softwood. Such things were possible in the wolf dream; if the hammer hit, it would not harm.\n\nPerrin swung, the air cracking with the sudden speed of his motion. But Hopper was equally fast, dodging out of the way. He rolled, then leaped at Perrin's back, fangs glistening. Perrin growled and shifted so that he was standing a few feet from where he had been. Hopper's jaws snapped open air, and Perrin swung his hammer again.\n\nHopper was suddenly shrouded in a deep mist. Perrin's hammer slammed down through it, hitting the ground. It bounced off. He cursed, spinning. In the fog, he couldn't see, couldn't catch Hopper's scent.\n\nA shadow moved in the mist and Perrin lunged, but it was only a pattern in the air. He spun and found shadows moving all around him. The shapes of wolves, men, and other creatures he couldn't see.\n\nMake the world yours, Young Bull, Hopper sent.\n\nPerrin focused, thinking of dry air. Of the musty scent of dust. That was what the air should be like, in an arid landscape like this." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No. It wasn't what the air should be like. It was how the air was! His mind, his will, his feelings slammed against something else. He pushed through.\n\nThe mists vanished, evaporating in the heat. Hopper sat on his haunches a short distance away. Good, the wolf sent. You learn. He glanced sideways, looking toward the north, seeming distracted by something. Then he was gone.\n\nPerrin caught his scent and followed to the Jehannah Road. Hopper dashed along outside the strange violet dome. They jumped back to this place frequently to see if the dome ever vanished. So far, it had not.\n\nPerrin continued the chase. Was the dome meant to trap wolves inside? But if that was the case, why had Slayer not sprung his trap at Dragonmount, where so many wolves had for some reason gathered?\n\nPerhaps the dome had another purpose. Perrin memorized a few notable rock formations along the perimeter of the dome, then followed Hopper to a low shelf of rock. The wolf leaped from it, vanishing in midair, and Perrin followed.\n\nHe caught the scent of Hopper's destination in midjump, then took himself there, still in motion. He appeared about two feet above a shimmering blue expanse. Stunned, he fell and splashed into the water.\n\nHe swam frantically, dropping his hammer. Hopper stood on top of the water, bearing a wolfish expression of disapproval. Not good, the wolf added. You still need to learn.\n\nPerrin sputtered.\n\nThe sea grew tempestuous, but Hopper sat placidly upon the rolling waves. Again he glanced northward, but then turned back to Perrin. Water troubles you, Young Bull." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I was just surprised,\" Perrin said, swimming hard.\n\nWhy?\n\n\"Because I didn't expect this!\"\n\nWhy expect? Hopper sent. When you follow another, you could end up anywhere.\n\n\"I know.\" Perrin spat out a mouthful of water. He gritted his teeth, then imagined himself standing on the water like Hopper. Blessedly, he rose out of the sea to stand atop its surface. It was a strange sensation, the sea undulating beneath him.\n\nYou will not defeat Slayer like this, Hopper sent.\n\n\"Then I will keep learning,\" Perrin said.\n\nThere is little time.\n\n\"I will learn more quickly.\"\n\nCan you?\n\n\"We have no other choice.\"\n\nYou could choose not to fight him.\n\nPerrin shook his head. \"Do we run from our prey? If we do, they'll hunt us instead. I will face him, and I need to be prepared.\"\n\nThere is away. The wolf smelled of worry.\n\n\"I'll do what I have to.\"\n\nFollow. Hopper vanished, and Perrin caught an unexpected scent: refuse and mud, burning wood and coal. People.\n\nPerrin shifted and found himself atop a building in Caemlyn. He had visited this city only once, and briefly, and seeing the beautiful Inner City before him--ancient buildings, domes and spires rising atop the hill like majestic pines atop a crowned mountain--gave him pause. He was near the old wall, beyond which spread the New City.\n\nHopper sat at his side, looking over the beautiful city. Much of the city itself was said to be Ogier-built, and Perrin could believe it, with that marvelous beauty. Tar Valon was said to be more grand than Caemlyn. Perrin had trouble believing that was possible." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Why are we here?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perrin asked.\n\nMen dream here, Hopper replied.\n\nIn the real world, they did. Here, the place was empty. It was light enough to be day, despite that storm overhead, and Perrin felt there should be people crowding the streets. Women, going to and from market. Nobles atop horses. Wagons bearing barrels of ale and sacks of grain. Children scampering, slipfingers searching for marks, workers replacing paving stones, enterprising hawkers offering meat pies to them all.\n\nInstead, there were hints. Shadows. A fallen handkerchief on the street. Doors that were open one moment, then closed the next. A thrown horseshoe sticking from the mud of an alleyway. It was as if all of the people had been whisked away, snatched by Fades or some monster from a gleeman's dark tale.\n\nA woman appeared momentarily below. She wore a beautiful green and gold dress. She stared at the street, eyes glazed over, then was gone. People did occasionally appear in the wolf dream. Perrin figured it must happen to them when they were asleep, part of their natural dreams.\n\nThis place, Hopper said, is not only a place of wolves. It is a place of all.\n\n\"Of all?\" Perrin asked, sitting down on the rooftiles.\n\nAll souls know this place, Hopper said. They come here when they reach for it.\n\n\"When they're dreaming.\"\n\nYes, Hopper said, lying down beside him. The fear-dreams of men are strong. So very strong. Sometimes, those terrible dreams come here. That sending was an enormous wolf, the size of a building, knocking aside much smaller wolves who tried to snap at him. There was ascent of terror and death about the wolf. Like... a nightmare." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perrin nodded slowly.\n\nMany wolves have been caught in the pains of these fear-dreams. They appear more commonly where men might walk, though the dream lives without those who created it.\n\nHopper looked at Perrin. Hunting in the fear-dreams will teach you strength. But you might die. It is very dangerous.\n\n\"I don't have time to be safe anymore,\" Perrin said. \"Let's do it.\"\n\nHopper didn't ask if he was certain. He jumped down to the street, and Perrin followed, landing softly. Hopper began to lope forward, so Perrin broke into a jog.\n\n\"How do we find them?\" Perrin asked.\n\nSmell fear, Hopper sent. Terror.\n\nPerrin closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. Just as doors flashed open and closed, in the wolf dream he could sometimes smell things therefor a moment, then gone. Musty winter potatoes. The dung of a passing horse. A pie, baking.\n\nWhen he opened his eyes, he saw none of these things. They weren't really there, but they almost were. They could have been.\n\nThere, Hopper said, vanishing. Perrin followed, appearing beside the wolf outside of a narrow alleyway. Inside, it looked too dark to be natural.\n\nGo in, Hopper said. You will not last long your first time. I will come for you. Remember it is not. Remember it is false.\n\nFeeling worried, but determined, Perrin stepped into the alleyway. The walls to either side were black, as if they'd been painted. Only... these walls were too dark to be painted. Was that a tuft of grass beneath his foot? The sky above had stopped boiling, and he thought he could see stars peeking down. A pale moon, far too large, appeared in the sky, shrouded in clouds. It gave a cold glow, like ice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wasn't in the city anymore. He turned about, alarmed, to find himself in a forest. The trees had thick trunks and were of no species he could recognize. Their branches were naked. The bark was a faint gray, lit by the phantom light above, and looked like bone.\n\nHe needed to get back to the city! Out of this terrible place. He turned around.\n\nSomething flashed in the night, and he spun. \"Who's there!\" he shouted.\n\nA woman burst from the darkness, running in a mad scramble. She wore a loose white robe, little more than a shift, and she had long dark hair streaming behind her. She saw him and froze, then turned and made as if to run in a different direction.\n\nPerrin cut her off, snatching her hand, pulling her back. She struggled, feet marring the loamy dark ground beneath as she tried to pull away. She was gasping. In and out. In and out. She smelled frantic.\n\n\"I need to know the way out!\" Perrin said. \"We have to return to the city.\"\n\nShe met his eyes. \"He's coming,\" she hissed. Her hand slipped from his and she ran, vanishing into the night, the darkness enfolding her like a shroud. Perrin took a step forward, hand outstretched.\n\nHe heard something behind him. He turned slowly to find something enormous. A looming shadow that sucked in the moonlight. The thing seemed to draw breath away, absorbing his very life and will.\n\nThe thing reared up taller. It was taller than the trees, a hulking monster with arms as thick as barrels, its face and body lost in shadow. It opened deep red eyes, like two huge coals flaring to life." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I need to fight it! Perrin thought, hammer appearing in his hand. He took a step forward, then thought better of it. Light! That thing was enormous. He couldn't fight it, not out in the open like this. He needed cover.\n\nHe turned and ran through the hostile woods. The thing followed. He could hear it snapping branches, its footsteps making the earth shake. Ahead of him, he saw the woman, her thin white gown slowing her as it caught on a branch. She pulled free and continued to run.\n\nThe creature loomed. It would catch him, consume him, destroy him! He yelled for the woman, reaching out toward her. She glanced over her shoulder at him, and tripped.\n\nPerrin cursed. He scrambled to her side, to help her up. But the thing was so close!\n\nIt was a fight, then. His heart was thumping as quickly as a woodlark pecking a tree. Hands sweaty, he turned, gripping his hammer to face the terrible thing behind. He placed himself between it and the woman.\n\nIt reared up, growing larger, those red eyes blazing with fire. Light! He couldn't fight that, could he? He needed an edge of some kind. \"What is that thing?\" he desperately asked of the woman. \"Why does it chase us?\"\n\n\"It's him,\" she hissed. \"The Dragon Reborn.\"\n\nPerrin froze. The Dragon Reborn. But... but that was Rand. It's a nightmare, he reminded himself. None of this is real. I can't let myself be caught up in it!\n\nThe ground trembled, as if moaning. He could feel the heat of the monster's eyes. A scrambling sound came from behind as the woman ran, leaving him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perrin stood up, legs shaking, every instinct crying for him to run. But no. He couldn't fight it, either. He could not accept this as real.\n\nA wolf howled, then leaped into the clearing. Hopper seemed to push back the darkness. The creature bent down toward Perrin, reaching a massive hand as if to crush him.\n\nThis was an alley.\n\nInside of Caemlyn.\n\nIt wasn't real.\n\nIt was not.\n\nThe darkness around them faded. The enormous dark shadow creature warped in the air, like apiece of cloth being stretched. The moon vanished. A small pocket of ground--the dirty, trampled earth of an alley--appeared at their feet.\n\nThen, with a snap, the dream was gone. Perrin stood in the alley again, Hopper at his side, no sign of the forest or the terrible creature that someone had viewed as the Dragon Reborn.\n\nPerrin exhaled slowly. Sweat dripped from his brow. He reached up to wipe it away, then willed the sweat away instead.\n\nHopper vanished, and Perrin followed, finding himself on the same rooftop as before. He sat down. Merely thinking of that shadow made him shiver. \"It felt so real,\" he said. \"Apiece of me knew it was a nightmare. I couldn't help but try to fight, or try to run. When I did either, it grew stronger, didn't it? Because I accepted it was real?\"\n\nYes. You must not believe what you see.\n\nPerrin nodded. \"There was a woman in there. Part of the dream? She wasn't real either?\"\n\nYes.\n\n\"Maybe she was the one who dreamed it,\" Perrin said. \"The one having the original nightmare, caught up in it and trapped herein the World of Dreams.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Men who dream do not stay here long, Hopper sent. To him, that was the end of the discussion. You were strong, Young Bull. You did well. He smelled proud.\n\n\"It helped when she called the thing the Dragon Reborn. That showed it wasn't real. Helped me believe it wasn't.\"\n\nYou did well, foolish cub, Hopper repeated. Perhaps you can learn.\n\n\"Only if I keep practicing. We need to do that again. Can you find another?\"\n\nYes, Hopper sent. There are always nightmares when your kind is near. Always. The wolf turned northward again, however. Perrin had thought that the thing that had been distracting him earlier was the dreams, but it didn't seem to have been the case.\n\n\"What is up there?\" Perrin asked. \"What is it you keep looking toward?\"\n\nIt comes, Hopper sent.\n\n\"What?\"\n\nThe Last Hunt. It begins. Or it does not.\n\nPerrin frowned, standing. \"You mean... right now?\"\n\nThe decision will be made. Soon.\n\n\"What decision?\" Hopper's sendings were confusing, and he couldn't decipher them. Light and darkness, avoid and fire, a coldness and a terrible, terrible heat. Mixed with wolves howling, calling, lending strength.\n\nCome. Hopper stood, looking to the northeast.\n\nHopper vanished. Perrin shifted after him, appearing lowdown on the slopes of the Dragonmount, beside an outcropping of stone.\n\n\"Light,\" Perrin said softly, looking up in awe. The storm that had been brewing for months had come to ahead. A massive black thunderhead dominated the sky, covering the top of the mountain. It spun slowly in the air, an enormous vortex of blackness, emitting bolts of lightning that connected to the clouds above. In other parts of the wolf dream the clouds were tempestuous, yet distant. This felt immediate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This was... the focus of something. Perrin could feel it. Often, the wolf dream reflected things in the real world in strange or unexpected ways.\n\nHopper stood on the outcropping. Perrin could feel wolves all across the slopes of Dragonmount. In even greater numbers than he'd felt here recently.\n\nThey wait, Hopper said. The Last Hunt comes.\n\nAs Perrin reached out, he found that other packs were coming, still distant but moving toward Dragonmount. Perrin looked upward at the monstrous peak. The tomb of the Dragon, Lews Therin. It was a monument to his madness, to both his failure and his success. His pride and his self-sacrifice.\n\n\"The wolves,\" Perrin said. \"They gather for the Last Hunt?\"\n\nYes. If it occurs.\n\nPerrin turned back to Hopper. \"You said that it would. \"The Last Hunt comes,\" you said.\"\n\nA choice must be made, Young Bull. One path leads to the Last Hunt.\n\n\"And the other?\" Perrin asked.\n\nHopper didn't respond immediately. He turned toward Dragonmount. The other path does not lead to the Last Hunt.\n\n\"Yes, but what does it lead to?\"\n\nTo nothing.\n\nPerrin opened his mouth to press further, but then the weight of Hopper's sending hit him. \"Nothing\" to the wolf meant a vacant den, all of the pups taken by trappers. A night sky empty of stars. The moon fading. The smell of old blood, dry, stale and flaked away.\n\nPerrin closed his mouth. The sky continued to churn with that black storm. He smelled it on the wind, the smell of broken trees and dirt, of flooded fields and lightning fires. As so often, particularly recently, those scents seemed to contrast with the world around him. One of his senses told him he was in the very center of a catastrophe while the others saw nothing amiss." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"This choice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Why don't we just make it?\"\n\nIt is not our choice, Young Bull.\n\nPerrin felt drawn to the clouds above. Despite himself, he began to walk up the slope. Hopper loped up beside him. It is dangerous above, Young Bull.\n\n\"I know,\" Perrin said. But he couldn't stop. Instead, he increased his speed, each step launching him just a little farther. Hopper ran beside him, passing trees, rocks, groups of watching wolves. Upward Perrin and Hopper went, climbing until the trees dwindled and the ground grew cold with frost and ice.\n\nEventually, they approached the cloud itself. It seemed a dark fog, shaking with currents as it spun. Perrin hesitated at the perimeter, then stepped inside. It was like stepping into the nightmare. The wind was suddenly violent, the air buzzing with energy. Leaves and dirt and grit blew in the tempest, and he had to raise a hand against it.\n\nNo, he thought.\n\nA small bubble of calm air opened around him. The tempest continued to blow just inches from his face, and he had to strain to keep from being claimed by it again. This storm wasn't a nightmare or a dream; it was something more vast, something more real. This time, Perrin was the one creating something abnormal with the bubble of safety.\n\nHe pressed forward, soon leaving tracks in snow. Hopper strode against the wind, lessening its effect on him as well. He was stronger at it than Perrin was--Perrin barely managed to keep his own bubble up. He feared that without it, he would be sucked into the storm and tossed into the air. He saw large branches rip past in the air, and even some smaller trees.\n\nHopper slowed, then sat down in the snow. He looked upward, toward the peak. I cannot stay, the wolf sent. This is not my place." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I understand,\" Perrin said.\n\nThe wolf vanished, but Perrin continued. He couldn't explain what drew him, but he knew that he needed to witness. Someone did. He walked for what seemed like hours, focused completely on only two things: keeping the winds off him and putting one foot in front of the other.\n\nThe storm grew increasingly violent. It was so bad here that he couldn't keep all of the storm off, just the worst of it. He passed the ridged lip where the mountaintop was broken, picking his way alongside it, hunkered against the gusts, a steep fall on either side. Wind began to whip at his clothing, and he had to squint his eyes against the dust and snow in the air.\n\nBut he continued on. Striving for the peak, which rose ahead, rising above the blasted outside of the mountain. He knew that atop that point, he would find what he searched for. This horrible maelstrom was the wolf dream's reaction to something great, something terrible. In this place, sometimes things were more real than in the waking world. The dream reflected a tempest because something very important was happening. He worried that it was something terrible.\n\nPerrin pressed forward, shoving his way through the snows, crawling up rock faces, his fingers leaving skin sticking to the frigid stones. But he had trained well these last few weeks. He leapt chasms he shouldn't have been able to leap and climbed rocks that should have been too high for him.\n\nA figure stood at the very top of the jagged, broken tip of the mountain. Perrin kept pressing onward. Someone needed to watch. Someone needed to be there when it happened.\n\nFinally, Perrin heaved atop one last stone and found himself within a dozen feet of the top. He could make out the figure now. The man stood at the very heart of the vortex of winds, staring eastward, motionless. He was faint and translucent, a reflection of the real world. Like a shadow. Perrin had never seen anything like it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was Rand, of course. Perrin had known that it would be. Perrin held to the stone with one ragged hand and pulled his cloak close with the other--he'd created the cloak several cliff faces ago. He blinked through reddened eyes, gazing upward. He had to focus most of his concentration on pushing back some of the winds to keep himself from being flung out into the tempest.\n\nLightning flashed suddenly, thunder sounding for the first time since he'd begun climbing. That lightning began to arc in a dome around the top of the mountain. It threw light across Rand's face. That hard, impassive face, like stone itself. Where had its curves gone? When had Rand gained so many lines and angles? And those eyes, they seemed made of marble!\n\nRand wore a coat of black and red. Fine and ornamented, with a sword at his waist. The winds didn't affect Rand's clothes. Those fell unnaturally still, as if he really were just a statue. Carved from stone. The only thing that moved was his dark red hair, blowing in the wind, thrown and spun.\n\nPerrin clung to the rocks for his life, cold wind biting into his cheeks, his fingers and feet so numb he could barely feel them. His beard bristled with dusty ice and snow. Something black began to spin around Rand. It wasn't part of the storm; it seemed like night itself leaking from him. Tendrils of it grew from Rand's own skin, like tiny hands curling back and wrapping around him. It seemed evil itself given life.\n\n\"Rand!\" Perrin bellowed. \"Fight it! Rand!\"\n\nHis voice was lost in the wind, and he doubted that Rand could have heard him anyway. The darkness continued to seep out, like a liquid tar coming through Rand's pores, creating a miasma of pitch around the Dragon Reborn. Within moments, Perrin could barely see Rand through the blackness. It enclosed him, cutting him off, banishing him. The Dragon Reborn was gone. Only evil remained." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Rand, please...\" Perrin whispered.\n\nAnd then--from the midst of the blackness, from the center of the uproar and the tempest--a tiny sliver of light split through the evil. Like a candle's glow on a very dark night. The light shone upward, toward the distant sky, like a beacon. So frail.\n\nThe tempest buffeted it. The winds stormed, howled, and screamed. The lightning beat against the top of the rocky peak, blasting free chunks of rock, scoring the ground. The blackness undulated and pulsed.\n\nBut still the light shone.\n\nA web of cracks appeared down the side of the shell of evil blackness, light shining from within. Another fracture joined it, and another. Something strong was inside, something glowing, something brilliant.\n\nThe shell exploded outward, vaporizing and releasing a column of light so bright, so incredible that it seemed to sear the eyes from Perrin's head. But he looked on anyway, not raising arm to shade or block the resplendent image before him. Rand stood within that light, mouth open as if bellowing toward the skies above. The sun-yellowed column shot into the air, and the storm seemed to shudder, the entire sky itself undulating.\n\nThe tempest vanished.\n\nThat column of fiery light became a column of sunlight streaming down, illuminating the peak of Dragonmount. Perrin pulled his fingers free from the rock, gazing on with wonder at Rand standing within the light. It seemed so long, so very long, since Perrin had seen a ray of pure sunlight.\n\nThe wolves began to howl. It was a howl of triumph, of glory and of victory. Perrin raised his head and howled as well, becoming Young Bull fora moment. He could feel the pool of sunlight growing, and it washed over him, its warmth banishing the frozen chill. He barely noticed when Rand's image vanished, for he left that sunlight behind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Wolves appeared around Perrin, flashing into existence midleap. They continued to bay, jumping atone another, exulting and dancing in the sunlight as it washed over them. They yipped and barked, tossing up patches of snow as they bounded. Hopper was among them, and he leaped into the air, soaring over to Perrin.\n\nThe Last Hunt begins, Young Bull! Hopper screamed. We live. We live!\n\nPerrin turned back to the place where Rand had stood. If that darkness had taken Rand...\n\nBut it hadn't. He smiled broadly. \"The Last Hunt has come!\" he screamed to the wolves. \"Let it begin!\"\n\nThey howled their agreement, as loud as the storm had been just moments before.\n\nChapter 31" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Into the Void\n\nMat dumped the rest of the wine into his mouth, savoring the sweet, cool taste. He brought the cup down and tossed a handful of five dice. They tumbled to the wooden floor of the tavern, clacking against one another.\n\nThe air was thick. Thick with sounds, thick with curses, thick with scents. Smoke, pungent liquors, a steak that had been peppered so much that you could hardly taste the meat. That was probably for the best. Even in Caemlyn, meat spoiled unpredictably.\n\nThe pungent men around Mat watched his dice fall: one of the men stank of garlic, another of sweat, a third of a tannery. Their hair was stringy, their fingers were grimy, but their coin was good. The game was called Koronko's Spit, and hailed from Shienar.\n\nMat did not know the rules.\n\n\"Five ones,\" said the man who stank of garlic. His name was Rittle. He seemed unsettled. \"That's a loss.\"\n\n\"No it's not,\" Mat said softly. Never mind that he did not know the rules. He knew he had won; he could feel it. His luck was with him.\n\nGood thing, too. He needed it tonight.\n\nThe man that smelled of a tannery reached for his belt, where he carried a wicked knife. His name was Saddler, and he had a chin that could have been used to sharpen swords. \"I thought you said you didn't know this game, friend.\"\n\n\"I don't,\" Mat said. \"Friend. But that's a win. Do we need to ask around the room to see if anyone else can confirm it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The three men looked at each other, expressions dark. Mat stood up. The inn had walls dark from years of men smoking pipes inside it, and the windows--though of fine glass--had grown opaque with dirt and smoke. It was a tradition that they never be cleaned. The weathered sign out front had a wagon wheel painted on it, and the official name was The Dusty Wheel. Everyone called it The Rumor Wheel instead; it was the best place in Caemlyn to listen to rumors. Most of them were untrue, but that was half the fun.\n\nMost everyone in the place was drinking ale, but Mat had taken a fancy to good red wine lately. \"Want some more, Master Crimson?\" Kati, the serving woman, asked. She was a raven-haired beauty with a smile so wide it reached halfway to Cairhien. She had been flirting with him all night. Never mind that he had told her he was married. He had not even smiled at her. Well, not much. And hardly his best smile. Some women could not seethe truth of things, even if it was written on their own foreheads, that was a fact.\n\nHe waved her away. Only one cup tonight, for courage. Burn him, but he needed a little of that. With resignation, he took the scarf off his neck and dropped it to the side. He untucked the foxhead medallion--Light, but it felt good to be wearing that again!--and hung it out front of his clothing. He wore the new red and silver coat that Thom had bought him.\n\nMat took his ashandarei from beside the wall and pulled off the cloth cover, revealing the blade. He set it over his shoulder. \"Hey,\" he said in aloud voice. \"Anyone in the bloody place know the rules for Koronko's Spit?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The three men he had been dicing regarded the weapon; the third of them, Snelle, stood up, hooking his thumbs into the top of his trousers, pushing back his coat and showing the shortsword buckled at his waist.\n\nMost people ignored Mat at first. Conversations rang, stories about the Borderlander army that had passed, about the Queen's pregnancy, about the Dragon Reborn, about mysterious deaths or not so mysterious ones. Everyone had a rumor to share. Some of the inn's occupants wore little better than rags, but some wore the finest of clothing. Nobles, commoners and everything in between came to The Rumor Wheel.\n\nA few men by the bar glanced at Mat because of the outburst. One hesitated, blinking. Mat reached down and took his wide-brimmed black hat off the table beside him, holding it by the crown, then set it on his head. The man nudged his companions. The sweaty, balding man Mat had been dicing with raised fingers to his chin, rubbing it in thought, as if trying to remember something.\n\nSnelle smiled at Mat. \"Looks like nobody answered you, friend. Guess you'll have to trust us. You shouldn't have thrown if you didn't ask the rules. Now, are you going to pay, or--\"\n\nRittle's eyes opened wide, and he stood hastily and took his friend's arm. He leaned in, whispering something. Snelle looked down at Mat's medallion. He looked up and met Mat's eyes.\n\nMat nodded.\n\n\"Excuse us,\" Rittle said, stumbling away. The other two joined him. They left their dice and coins on the ground.\n\nMat casually knelt down, scooping up the coins and dumping them in his pouch. He left the dice. They were loaded, meant to almost always throw threes. He had been able to judge that from a few quick throws before laying down coins." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Whispers moved through the inn's common room like a swarm of ants covering a corpse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chairs scooted back. Conversations changed tempo, some silencing, others becoming urgent. Mat stood up to go. People hastened out of his way.\n\nMat left a golden crown on the edge of the bar, then tipped his hat to Hatch, the innkeeper. The man stood behind the bar wiping a glass, his wife next to him. She was a pretty one, but Hatch kept a special cudgel for thumping men who looked too long. Mat gave her only a short look, then.\n\nMat pulled off his black scarf, leaving it on the floor. It had a hole in it now anyway. He stepped out into the night, and the moment he did, the dice stopped thundering in his head.\n\nIt was time to get to work.\n\nHe walked out onto the street. He had spent all evening with his face uncovered. He was certain he had been recognized a few times, mostly by men who had slipped out into the night without saying anything. Ashe walked down off the inn's front porch, people gathered at the windows and doorway.\n\nMat tried not to feel like all of those eyes were knives sticking into his back. Light, he felt like he was dangling from another noose. He reached up and felt at the scar on his neck. It had been along while since he had gone about with his neck uncovered. Even with Tylin, he had normally left the scarf on.\n\nTonight, though, he danced with Jak o' the Shadows. He tied his medallion to the ashandarei. He affixed it so that the medallion rested against the flat of the blade, and one edge hung out over the tip. It would be hard to use--he would have to hit with the flat of the blade inmost cases to touch the medallion to flesh--but it gave him much better reach than swinging the medallion by hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Medallion in place, he picked a direction and began walking. He was in the New City, a place heaped with man-made buildings, a contrast to the fine Ogier work elsewhere in Caemlyn. These buildings were well built, but were narrow and thin, up close next to one another.\n\nThe first group tried to kill him before he was one street away from The Rumor Wheel. There were four of them. As they charged him, a group of shadows leaped from a nearby alleyway, Talmanes at their head. Mat spun on the killers, who pulled up short as his soldiers joined him. The street toughs fled in a scramble and Mat nodded to Talmanes.\n\nThe men of the Band faded back into the darkness, and Mat continued on his way. He walked slowly, carrying his ashandarei on his shoulder. His men had been told to keep their distance unless he was attacked.\n\nHe ended up needing them three more times through the hour, each time scaring away a larger group of thugs. The last time, the Band and he actually clashed with the assassins. The thugs were no match for trained soldiers, even on the darkened streets that were their home. The exchange left five of the thugs dead, but only one of his men wounded. Mat sent Harvell away with a guard of two.\n\nIt grew later and later. Mat began to worry that he would have to repeat this act the next night, but then he noticed someone standing in the street ahead. The paving stones were wet from a misting earlier in the night, and they reflected the slivered moon.\n\nMat stopped, lowering his weapon to his side. He could not make out details about the figure, but the way it stood...\n\n\"You think to ambush me?\" the gholam asked, sounding amused. \"With your men who squish and rip, who die so easily, almost at a touch?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm tired of being chased,\" Mat said loudly.\n\n\"So you deliver yourself tome? What a kind gift.\"\n\n\"Sure,\" Mat said, lowering his ashandarei, foxhead on the back catching the moonlight. \"Just mind the sharp edges.\"\n\nThe thing slid forward, and Mat's men lit lanterns. The men of the Band set the lanterns on the ground, then backed away, a few of them dashing off to deliver messages. They had strict orders not to interfere. Tonight would probably strain their oaths to him on that.\n\nMat planted himself and waited for the gholam. Only a hero charged a beast like that, and he was no bloody hero. Though his men would be trying to clear away anyone on the streets, trying to keep the area empty so nobody would scare the gholam away. That was not heroism. It might have been stupidity, though.\n\nThe gholam's fluid movements threw lanternlight shadows across the road. Mat met it with a sweep of his ashandarei, but the beast danced to the side, easily evading him. Bloody ashes, but the thing was fast! It reached out, swiping at the front of the ashandarei with the knife it held.\n\nMat yanked the ashandarei back, not letting the monster cut the medallion free. It danced around Mat, and he spun, staying inside the ring of lanterns. He had chosen a relatively wide street, remembering with a shiver that day in the alleyway of Ebou Dar where the gholam had nearly taken him in close quarters.\n\nThe beast slid forward again, and Mat feinted, drawing it in. He almost miscalculated, but twisted the ashandarei in time to slap the gholam with the flat of the weapon. The medallion let out a hiss as it touched the gholam's arm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The gholam cursed and backed away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Wavering lanternlight illuminated its features, leaving pockets of darkness and pockets of light. It was smiling again, despite the wisp of smoke rising from its arm. Before, Mat had thought this creature's face unremarkable, but in the uneven light--and with that smile--it took on a terrifying cast. More angular, reflected lanternlight making its eyes glow like tiny yellow flames consumed by the darkness of its sockets.\n\nNondescript by day, a horror by night. This thing had slaughtered Tylin while she lay helpless. Mat gritted his teeth. Then he attacked.\n\nIt was a bloody stupid thing to do. The gholam was faster than he was, and Mat had no idea if the foxhead could kill it or not. He attacked anyway. He attacked for Tylin, for the men he'd lost to this horror. He attacked because he had no other option. When you really wanted to see what a man was worth, you backed him into a corner and made him fight for his life.\n\nMat was in the corner now. Bloodied and harried. He knew this thing would eventually find him--or, worse, find Tuon or Olver. It was the kind of situation where a sensible man would have run. But he was a bloody fool instead. Staying in the city because of an oath to an Aes Sedai? Well, if he died, he would go outwith weapon in hand.\n\nMat became a swirling cyclone of steel and wood, yelling as he attacked. The gholam, seeming shocked, actually backed away. Mat slammed his ashandarei into its hand, burning the flesh, then spun and knocked the dagger from its fingers. The creature leaped away, but Mat lunged forward, ramming the butt of his spear between the thing's legs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It went down. Its motions were fluid, and it caught itself, but it did go down. As it threw itself to its feet, Mat slashed the ashandarei's blade at its heel. He neatly severed the gholam s tendon, and if the thing had been human, it would have collapsed. Instead, it landed without even a wince of pain, and no blood seeped free of the cut.\n\nIt spun and lunged at Mat with clawed fingers. He was forced to stumble back, swinging the ashandarei toward it away. The creature grinned at him.\n\nThen, oddly, it turned and ran.\n\nMat cursed. Had something scared it away? But no, it was not fleeing. It was going for his men!\n\n\"Retreat!\" Mat called at them. \"Back! Burn you, you bloody monster. I'm here! Fight me!\"\n\nThe members of the Band scattered at his orders, though Talmanes hung back, wearing a grim expression. The gholam laughed, but did not chase down the soldiers. Instead, the thing kicked over the first lantern, causing it to wink out. It ran around the circle, kicking at each one, plunging the street into darkness.\n\nBloody ashes! Mat chased after the creature. If it managed to get all of those lights out, with that cloud cover, Mat would be left fighting it unable to see!\n\nTalmanes--blatantly ignoring his own safety--leaped forward and snatched his lantern up to protect it. He fled down the street, and Mat cursed as the gholam chased after.\n\nMat dashed behind them. Talmanes had a good lead, but the gholam was so quick. It nearly got to him, and Talmanes jerked to the side, backing up the steps of a nearby building. The monster lunged for him, and Talmanes stumbled backward as Mat ran toward them for all he was worth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The lantern fell from Talmanes' fingers and splashed oil across the front of the building." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The dry wood came alight, tongues of flame rippling across the lamp oil, illuminating the gholam. It leaped for Talmanes.\n\nMat threw his ashandarei.\n\nThe broad-bladed spear was not meant for throwing, but he did not have a knife handy. He aimed for the gholam's head. One would have never known that, for he missed pitifully. Fortunately, the weapon dipped down and passed between the gholam's legs.\n\nThe monster tripped, thudding heavily to the paving stones. Talmanes scrambled backup the steps of the now-blazing building.\n\nBless this luck of mine, Mat thought.\n\nThe gholam stood up and made a motion to follow Talmanes, but then looked down at what had tripped it. The creature looked at Mat with a wicked grin, half its face cast in the light of the burning building. The creature picked up Mat's ashandarei--foxhead medallion still tied to the front--then whipped its hand to the side, tossing the weapon away. The ashandarei crashed through a window and passed into the burning building.\n\nLamps sparked on inside, as if those living there were only now noticing the fight happening in their proximity. Talmanes gave Mat a look, and they met eyes. The Cairhienin man threw himself against the door into the burning building and broke in. The gholam spun on Mat, backlit by the growing flames. They blazed quickly, and Mat's heart thumped with alarm as the creature came for him, unnaturally fast.\n\nMat reached into his coat pockets with sweaty fingers. Right before the gholam reached him--hands going for Mat's neck--Mat pulled something outwith each hand, slamming them forward into the gholam's palms. Hissing rang in the air, like meat being placed on a grill, and the gholam screeched in pain. It stumbled, wide-eyed, as it looked at Mat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Who held a foxhead medallion in each hand.\n\nHe whipped them out, each held on along, thick chain, spinning them. The medallions caught firelight, seeming to glow as Mat whipped them at the gholam, striking it on the arm.\n\nThe creature howled, backing up another step. \"How?\" it demanded. \"How!\"\n\n\"Don't rightly know myself.\" Elayne had said her copies weren't perfect, but it seemed they did the job well enough. So long as they hurt the gholam, he didn't care about their other abilities. Mat grinned, spinning the second medallion forward. \"Guess I just got lucky.\"\n\nThe gholam glared at him, then stumbled up the steps toward the burning building. It dashed inside, perhaps deciding to flee. Mat was not about to let it escape, not this time. He charged it up the steps and ducked through the flaming doorway, reaching out a hand as Talmanes tossed his ashandarei to him from aside hallway.\n\nMat caught the weapon, leaving the medallions wrapped around his forearms. The gholam spun on him; the hallway was already burning, the heat from the sides and above oppressive. Smoke lined the ceiling. Talmanes coughed, a kerchief held to his face.\n\nThe gholam turned on Mat, snarling and attacking. Mat met the beast in the middle of the wide hallway, bringing up his ashandarei to block the gholam's clawlike hands. The butt of Mat's ashandarei had been singed from sitting in the fire, and the wood smoldered at the end. It left a trail of smoke in the air.\n\nHe attacked for all he was worth, spinning the ashandarei, the back end leaving a whirl of smoke around him. The gholam tried to strike at him, but Mat dropped the ashandarei with one hand and flung one of the medallions like a knife, hitting the creature in the face. It howled and stumbled back, face burned and smoking. Mat stepped forward, slamming the end of the ashandarei against the medallion as it hit the floor, flipping it backup and hitting the creature again." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Extend the narrative as the author's co-writer.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, last battle\nAuthor: Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Towers of Midnight\nChapter: 29" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Who held a foxhead medallion in each hand.\n\nHe whipped them out, each held on along, thick chain, spinning them. The medallions caught firelight, seeming to glow as Mat whipped them at the gholam, striking it on the arm.\n\nThe creature howled, backing up another step. \"How?\" it demanded. \"How!\"\n\n\"Don't rightly know myself.\" Elayne had said her copies weren't perfect, but it seemed they did the job well enough. So long as they hurt the gholam, he didn't care about their other abilities. Mat grinned, spinning the second medallion forward. \"Guess I just got lucky.\"\n\nThe gholam glared at him, then stumbled up the steps toward the burning building. It dashed inside, perhaps deciding to flee. Mat was not about to let it escape, not this time. He charged it up the steps and ducked through the flaming doorway, reaching out a hand as Talmanes tossed his ashandarei to him from aside hallway.\n\nMat caught the weapon, leaving the medallions wrapped around his forearms. The gholam spun on him; the hallway was already burning, the heat from the sides and above oppressive. Smoke lined the ceiling. Talmanes coughed, a kerchief held to his face.\n\nThe gholam turned on Mat, snarling and attacking. Mat met the beast in the middle of the wide hallway, bringing up his ashandarei to block the gholam's clawlike hands. The butt of Mat's ashandarei had been singed from sitting in the fire, and the wood smoldered at the end. It left a trail of smoke in the air.\n\nHe attacked for all he was worth, spinning the ashandarei, the back end leaving a whirl of smoke around him. The gholam tried to strike at him, but Mat dropped the ashandarei with one hand and flung one of the medallions like a knife, hitting the creature in the face. It howled and stumbled back, face burned and smoking. Mat stepped forward, slamming the end of the ashandarei against the medallion as it hit the floor, flipping it backup and hitting the creature again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He pushed forward, slashing with the ashandarei, and several of the creature's fingers flew free. Sure, it did not bleed and did not seem to feel pain from ordinary wounds, but that would slow it a bit.\n\nThe gholam recovered, hissing, eyes wide with anger. Its smile was gone now. It leaped forward in a blur, but Mat spun and sliced down the creature's tan shirt, exposing its chest. Then he whipped the second medallion to the side, hitting the gholam as it clawed at his arm, slicing the skin and spraying blood across the wall.\n\nMat grunted. The gholam howled and stumbled back, farther down the burning hallway. Mat was sweating from the heat, from the exertion. Mat could not fight this creature. Not for long. That did not matter. He pushed forward, letting his ashandarei become a blur. He slapped the flat of it--with the medallion--against the gholam. When the beast recovered, he flung the second medallion at its face, making it duck. But then he kicked the third one up to hit it on the neck.\n\nHe left lines of smoke in the air as he spun the ashandarei, grabbing it in two hands again. The end of his weapon glowed and smoldered. He found himself yelling in the Old Tongue.\n\n\"Al dival, al kiserai, al mashi!\" For light, glory, and love!\n\nThe gholam stepped back, snarling at the barrage. It looked over its shoulder, seeming to notice something behind, but Mat's attack drew its attention back.\n\n\"Tai'daishar!\" True Blood of Battle!\n\nMat forced the creature toward an open doorway at the back of the hallway. The room beyond was entirely dark. No light of the fires reflected off walls there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Carai manshimaya Tylin. Carai an manshimaya Nalesean. Carai an manshimaya ayend'an!\" Honor of my blade for Tylin. Honor of my blade for Nalesean. Honor of my blade for the fallen.\n\nThe call of vengeance.\n\nThe gholam backed into the darkened room, stepping onto a bone white floor, eyes flickering down.\n\nTaking a deep breath, Mat leaped through the doorway with a final burst of strength and slammed the smoldering butt of his ashandarei into the side of the creature's head. A spray of sparks and ash exploded around its face. The creature cursed and stumbled to the right.\n\nAnd there, it nearly stepped off the edge of a platform hanging above an expansive void. The gholam hissed in anger, hanging with one leg over the void, flailing to keep its balance.\n\nFrom this side, the doorway into the room was ringed by a glowing white light--the edges of a gateway made for Skimming. \"I don't know if you can die,\" Mat said softly. \"I hope to the Light that you can't.\" He raised a boot and slammed it into the thing's back, throwing it off the platform into the darkness. It fell, twisting in the air, looking up at him with a horror.\n\n\"I hope you can't die,\" Mat said, \"because I'm going to enjoy the thought of you falling through that blackness forever, you misbegotten son of a goat's droppings.\" Mat spit over the side, sending a bit of bloody spittle down, plummeting after the gholam. Both disappeared into the blackness below.\n\nSumeko walked up beside him. The stout Kinswoman had long dark hair and the air of a woman who did not like being ordered about. Nearly every woman had that same air. She'd been standing just inside the gateway, to the side where she would be unseen from the hallway. She had to be thereto maintain the white platform, which was in the shape of a large book. She raised an eyebrow at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thanks for the gateway,\" Mat said, shouldering his ashandarei, the butt still trailing a thin line of smoke. She'd made the gateway from inside the palace, using it to travel to this point and open the gateway in the hallway. They'd hoped that would keep the gholam from feeling her channel, as she'd made the weaves in the palace.\n\nSumeko sniffed. Together, the two walked out through the gateway and into the building. Several of the Band were hurriedly putting out the fire. Talmanes rushed up to Mat as the gateway vanished, accompanied by another of the Kinswomen, Julanya.\n\n\"You sure that darkness goes on forever?\" Mat asked. Julanya was a plump, pretty woman who would have fit nicely on Mat's knee. The white in her hair did not detract from her prettiness at all.\n\n\"Near as we can tell, it does,\" Sumeko said. \"This was quite nearly bungled, Matrim Cauthon. The thing didn't seem surprised by the gateway. I think it sensed it anyway.\"\n\n\"Still managed to fight it off the platform,\" Mat said.\n\n\"Barely. You should have let us deal with the beast.\"\n\n\"Wouldn't have worked,\" Mat said, taking a wetted kerchief from Talmanes. Sumeko glanced at his arm, but Mat didn't ask for Healing. That cut would heal right nicely. Might even have a good scar. Scars impressed most women, so long as they were not on the face. What did Tuon think of them?\n\nSumeko sniffed. \"The pride of men. Do not forget that we lost some of our own to that thing.\"\n\n\"And I'm glad I could help you get revenge,\" Mat said. He smiled at her, though she was right, it had nearly been bungled. He was certain the gholam had felt the Kinswoman beyond that doorway as they approached. Fortunately, though, the thing hadn't seemed to consider woman who could channel to be a threat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Talmanes handed Mat back the two fallen medallions. He tucked them away and untied the one on his ashandarei, slipping it back onto his neck. The Kin watched those medallions with a predatory hunger. Well, they could do that all they wanted. He intended one for Olver and the other for Tuon, once he could find her.\n\nCaptain Guybon, Birgitte's second-in-command, walked into the building. \"The beast is dead?\"\n\n\"No,\" Mat said, \"but close enough fora Crown contract.\"\n\n\"Crown contract?\" Guybon asked, frowning. \"You asked the Queen's aid on this endeavor. This wasn't done on her contract.\"\n\n\"Actually,\" Talmanes said, clearing his throat, \"we just rid the city of a murderer who has taken, at last count, nearly a dozen of her citizens. We're entitled to combat pay, I surmise.\" He said it with a completely straight face. Bless the man.\n\n\"Bloody right,\" Mat said. Stopping the gholam and getting paid for it. That sounded like a sunny day fora change. He tossed his kerchief to Guybon and walked away, leaving behind the Kinswomen who folded their arms and watched with displeasure. Why was it a woman could look angry with a man even when he had done exactly what he had said he would, risking his neck even?\n\n\"Sorry about the fire, Mat,\" Talmanes said. \"Didn't mean to drop the lantern like that. I know I was just supposed to lead him into the building.\"\n\n\"Worked out fine,\" Mat said, inspecting the butt of his ashandarei. The damage was minor.\n\nThey had not known where--or if--the gholam would attack him, but Guybon had done his job well, getting everyone out of the nearby buildings, then picking a hallway that the Kinswoman would make the gateway into. He'd sent a member of the Band to tell Talmanes whereto go." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, Elayne and Birgitte's idea with the gateway had worked out, even if it hadn't been the way they'd planned. It was still better than what Mat had been able to come with; his only idea bad been to try to stuff one of those medallions down the gholam's throat.\n\n\"Let's collect Setalle and Olver from their inn,\" Mat said, \"and get back to camp. Excitement's over for now. About bloody time.\"\n\nChapter 32" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A Storm of Light\n\nThe city of Maradon burned. Violent, twisting columns of smoke rose from dozens of buildings. The careful city planning kept the fires from spreading too quickly, but did not stop them entirely. Human beings and tinder. They went together.\n\nIturalde crouched inside a broken building, rubble to his left, a small band of Saldaeans to his right. He'd abandoned the palace early on; it had been swarmed with Shadowspawn. He'd left it packed with all the oil they'd been able to find, then had the Asha'man set it aflame, killing hundreds of Trollocs and Fades trapped inside.\n\nHe glanced out the window of his current hiding place. He could have sworn he'd seen a patch of bare sky out the window, but the ash and smoky haze in the air made it difficult to tell. A building nearby burned so intensely that he could feel the heat through the stone.\n\nHe used the smoke and the fire. Almost everything on a battlefield could bean advantage. In this case, once Yoeli had accepted that the city was lost, they'd stopped defending it. Now they used the city as a killing ground.\n\nThe streets created amaze that Ituralde--with the help of the Saldaeans--knew and his enemies did not. Every rooftop was a ridge to give high ground, every alley a secret escape route, every open square a potential trap.\n\nThe Trollocs and their commanders had made a mistake. They assumed that Ituralde cared about protecting the city. They mistook him. All he cared about now was doing as much damage to them as possible. So, he used their assumptions against him. Yes, their army was large. But any man who had ever tried to kill rats knew that the size of his hammer didn't matter so long as the rats knew how to hide." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A hesitant group of the creatures shuffled down the blackened street outside Ituralde's building." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Trollocs snapped and hooted warily atone another. Some sniffed at the air, but the smoke ruined their sense of smell. They completely missed Ituralde and his small band, just inside the building.\n\nHoofbeats rang on the other end of the street. The Trollocs began to shout, and a group hurried to the front, setting wickedly barbed spears down with the butts against the cobbles. Charging that would be death for cavalry. The Trollocs were learning to be more careful.\n\nBut they weren't learning well enough. The cavalry came into view, revealing one man leading a group of wounded and exhausted horses. A distraction.\n\n\"Now,\" Ituralde said. The archers around him sprang up and began shooting out the windows at the Trollocs. Many died; others spun and charged.\n\nAnd from aside street a cavalry charge--the horses' hooves covered with rags to dampen sound--galloped out, their approach covered by the louder hooves of the diversionary horses. The Saldaeans ripped through the Trollocs, trampling and killing.\n\nThe archers whooped and took out swords and axes to finish off the wounded Trollocs. No Fade with this group, bless the Light. Ituralde stood up, a wet handkerchief to his face against the smoke. His weariness--once buried deep--was slowly resurfacing. He was worried that when it hit him, he'd drop unconscious. Bad for morale, that.\n\nNo, he thought, hiding in the smoke while your home burns, knowing that the Trollocs are slowly penning you in... that's bad for morale.\n\nHis men finished off the fist of Trollocs, then hastened to another predecided building that they could hide in. Ituralde had about thirty archers and a company of cavalry, which he moved among five independent bands of irregular fighters similar to this one. He waved his men back into hiding while his scouts brought him information. Even with the scouts, it was difficult to get a good read on the large city. He had vague ideas of where the strongest resistance was, and sent what orders he could, but the battle was spread over too large an area for him to be able to coordinate the fighting effectively. He hoped Yoeli was well." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Asha'man were gone, escaping at his order through the tiny gateway--only large enough to crawl through--that Antail had made." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Since they'd gone--it was hours ago now--there had been no sign of whatever'rescuers\" were supposedly coming. Before the Asha'man left, he'd sent a scout through a gateway to that ridge where the Lastriders had been said to watch. All that the scout found was an empty camp, the fire burning unattended.\n\nIturalde joined his men inside the new hiding place, leaving his handkerchief--now stained with soot--on the doorknob to give the scouts a clue to his location. Once inside, he froze, hearing something outside.\n\n\"Hush,\" he said to the men. They stilled their clinking armor.\n\nFootfalls. Many of them. That was a Trolloc band for certain; his men had orders to move silently. He nodded to his soldiers, holding up six fingers. Plan number six. They'd hide, waiting, hoping the creatures would pass them by. If they didn't--if they delayed, or started searching the nearby buildings--his team would burst out and broadside them.\n\nIt was the riskiest of the plans. His men were exhausted and the cavalry had been sent to another of his group of defenders. But better to attack than be discovered or surrounded.\n\nIturalde sidled up to the window, waiting, listening, breathing shallowly. Light, but he was tired. The group marched around the corner outside, footfalls in unison. That was odd. Trollocs didn't march so regularly.\n\n\"My Lord,\" one of his men whispered. \"There aren't any hooves.\"\n\nIturalde froze. The man was right. His tiredness was making him stupid. That's an army of hundreds, he thought. He got to his feet, coughing despite himself, and pushed open the door. He stepped outside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A gust of wind blew down the street as Ituralde's men piled out behind him. The wind cleared the smoke fora moment, revealing a large troop of infantry kitted out in silvery armor and carrying pikes. They seemed ghosts fora moment--glowing in a phantom golden light from above, a sun he had not seen in months.\n\nThe newcomers began to callas they saw him and his men, and two of their officers charged up to him. They were Saldaean. \"Where is your commander?\" one asked. \"The man Rodel Ituralde?\"\n\n\"I...\" Ituralde found himself coughing. \"I am he. Who are you?\"\n\n\"Bless the Light,\" one of the men said, turning back to the others. \"Pass the word to Lord Bashere! We've found him!\"\n\nIturalde blinked. He looked back at his filthy men, faces blackened with soot. More than a few had an arm in a sling. He'd started with two hundred. Now there were fifty. They should be celebrating, but most of them sat down on the ground, closing their eyes.\n\nIturalde found himself laughing. \"Now? The Dragon sends help now?\" He stumbled, then sat down, staring up at the burning sky. He was laughing, and he could not stop. Soon tears began streaking down his cheeks.\n\nYes, there was sunlight up there.\n\nIturalde had regained some composure by the time the troops led him into a well-defended sector of the city. The smoke here was much less thick. Supposedly, al'Thor's troops--led by Davram Bashere--had reclaimed most of Maradon. What was left of it. They'd been putting out the fires.\n\nIt was so odd to see troops with shiny armor, neat uniforms, clean faces. They'd swept in with large numbers of Asha'man and Aes Sedai, and an army that--for now--had been enough to drive the Shadowspawn back to the hillside fortifications above the river. Al'Thor's men led him to a tall building inside the city. With the palace burned out, mostly destroyed, it looked like they'd picked this building as a command center." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ituralde had been fighting a draining war for weeks now. Al'Thor's troops seemed almost too clean. His men had been dying while these men washed and slept and dined on hot food?\n\nStop it, he told himself, entering the building. It was far too easy to blame others when a battle went wrong. It wasn't the fault of these men that their lives had been easier than his recently.\n\nHe labored up the stairs, wishing they'd let him be. A good night's sleep, awash, and then he could meet with Bashere. But no, that wouldn't do. The battle wasn't over, and al'Thor's men would need information. It was just that his mind was failing him, working very slowly.\n\nHe reached the top floor and followed Bashere's soldiers into a room to the right. Bashere stood there, wearing a burnished breastplate without the matching helmet, hands clasped behind his back as he looked out the window. He wore one of those overly large Saldaean mustaches and a pair of olive trousers stuffed into knee-high boots.\n\nBashere turned and started. \"Light! You look like death itself, man!\" He turned to the soldiers. \"He should be in the Healer's tent! Someone fetch an Asha'man!\"\n\n\"I'm all right,\" Ituralde said, forcing sternness into his voice. \"I look worse than I feel, I'd warrant.\"\n\nThe soldiers hesitated, looking to Bashere. \"Well,\" the man said, \"at least get him a chair and something to wipe his face with. You poor fellow; we should have been here days ago.\"\n\nOutside, Ituralde could hear the sounds of distant battle. Bashere had chosen a tall building, one from which he could survey the fighting. The soldiers brought a chair, and--for all his wish to show a strong face to a fellow general--Ituralde sat with a sigh." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked down, and was amazed to see how dirty his hands were, as though he'd been cleaning a hearth. No doubt his face was soot-covered, streaked with sweat, and there was likely still dried blood on it. His clothing was ragged from the blast that had destroyed the wall, not to mention a hastily bandaged cut on his arm.\n\n\"Your defense of this city was nothing short of stunning, Lord Ituralde,\" Bashere said. There was a formality to his tone--Saldaea and Arad Doman were not enemies, but two strong nations could not share a border without periods of animosity. \"The number of Trollocs dead compared to the number of men you had... and with a gap that large in the wall... Let me say that I'm impressed.\" Bashere's tone implied that such praise was not easily given.\n\n\"What of Yoeli?\" Ituralde asked.\n\nBashere's expression grew grim. \"My men found a small band defending his corpse. He died bravely, though I was surprised to find him in command and Torkumen--a distant cousin of mine, the presumed leader of the city--locked in his rooms, and abandoned, where the Trollocs could have gotten him.\"\n\n\"Yoeli was a good man,\" Ituralde said stiffly. \"Among the bravest I've had the honor of knowing. He saved my life, brought my men into the city against Torkumen's orders. It's a burning shame to lose him. A burning shame. Without Yoeli, Maradon wouldn't stand right now.\"\n\n\"It hardly stands anyway,\" Bashere said somberly.\n\nIturalde hesitated. He's uncle to the Queen--this city is probably his home.\n\nThe two looked atone another, like old wolves, leaders of rival packs. Stepping softly. \"I'm sorry for your loss,\" Ituralde said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The city stands as well as it does,\" Bashere said, \"because of you. I'm not angry, man. I'm saddened, but not angry. And I'll take your word on Yoeli. To be frank, I've never liked Torkumen. For now, I've left him in the room where we found him--still alive, thankfully--though I'll hear thunder from the Queen for what's been done to him. She's always been fond of him. Bah! She normally has better judgment.\"\n\nBashere nodded to the side when he spoke of Torkumen, and--with a start--Ituralde realized that he recognized this building. This was Torkumen's home, where Yoeli had brought Ituralde on his first day in the city. It made sense to choose this building as a command post--it was close enough to the northern wall to have a good view of the outside, but far enough away from the blast to have survived, unlike the Council Hall.\n\nWell, it would have served Torkumen right if the Trollocs had gotten him. Ituralde sat back, closing his eyes, as Bashere consulted with his officers. Bashere was capable, that much was obvious. Very quickly he'd swept the city clean; once the Trollocs had realized that there was a larger force to fight, they'd abandoned the city. Ituralde could feel pride that, in part, his tenacity was what had made them so quick to run.\n\nIturalde continued to listen. Most of Bashere's troops had come into the city through gateways, after sending in one scout to find safe places to make them. Fighting in the streets wouldn't work for him as it had Ituralde; the hit-and-hide tactic had been devoted to doing as much damage as possible before getting killed. It was a losing tactic." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Trollocs had pulled back into the fortifications, but they wouldn't stay therefor long." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ashe sat with closed eyes, struggling to stay awake, Ituralde heard Bashere and his captains come to the same dire conclusion Ituralde had. Maradon was lost. The Shadowspawn would wait for night, then swarm in again.\n\nAfter all this, they'd just flee? After Yoeli had died holding the city? After Rajabi had been killed by a Draghkar? After Ankaer and Rossin had fallen during the skirmishes inside the walls? After all the bloodshed, they finally saw help arrive, only to have it prove insufficient?\n\n\"Perhaps we could push them off that hilltop,\" one of Bashere's men said. \"Clean out the fortifications.\"\n\nHe didn't sound very optimistic.\n\n\"Son,\" Ituralde said, forcing his eyes open, \"I held that hill for weeks against a superior force. Your people built it up well, and the problem with well-built fortifications is that your enemy can turn them against you. You'll lose men attacking there. A lot of them.\"\n\nThe room fell silent.\n\n\"We leave, then,\" Bashere said. \"Naeff, we'll need gateways.\"\n\n\"Yes, Lord Bashere.\" Square-faced and lean of build, the man wore the black coat and the Dragon pin of an Asha'man.\n\n\"Malain, gather the cavalry and organize them outside; make it look as if we're going to try an assault against their fortifications. That'll keep them eager and waiting. We'll evacuate the wounded, then we'll have the cavalry charge in the other direction into--\"\n\n\"By the Light and my hope for rebirth!\" a voice suddenly exclaimed. Everyone in the room turned in shock; that wasn't the sort of oath you heard everyday." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A young soldier stood by the window, looking outwith a looking glass. Bashere cursed, and hurried to the window, the others crowding around, several taking out looking glasses.\n\nWhat now? Ituralde thought, standing despite his fatigue and hurrying over. What could they possibly have come up with? More Draghkar? Darkhounds?\n\nHe peered out the window, and someone handed him a looking glass. He raised it, and as he'd guessed, the building was on enough of arise to lookout over the city wall and onto the killing field outside and the beyond. The tower positions on the crest of the hill were clustered with ravens. Through the glass, he could see Trollocs clogging the heights, holding the upper camp, the towers, and the bulwarks there.\n\nBeyond the hill, surging down through the pass, was an awesome force of Trollocs, many times the number that had assaulted Maradon. The wave of monsters seemed to continue on forever.\n\n\"We need to go,\" Bashere said, lowering his looking glass. \"Immediately.\"\n\n\"Light!\" Ituralde whispered. \"If that force gets past us, there won't be anything in Saldaea, Andor, or Arad Doman that can stop it. Please tell me the Lord Dragon made peace with the Seanchan, as he promised?\"\n\n\"In that,\" a quiet voice said from behind, \"as in so many other things, I have failed.\"\n\nIturalde spun, lowering his looking glass. A tall man with reddish hair stepped into the room--a man whom Ituralde felt he had never met before, despite the familiar features.\n\nRand al'Thor had changed.\n\nThe Dragon Reborn had that same self-confidence, that same straight back, that same attitude expecting obedience. And yet, at the same time, everything seemed different. The way he stood, no longer faintly suspicious. The way he studied Ituralde with concern." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Those eyes, cold and emotionless, had once convinced Ituralde to follow this man. Those eyes had changed, too. Ituralde had not noted wisdom in them before.\n\nDon't be a thickheaded fool, Ituralde thought, you can't tell if a man is wise by looking at his eyes.\n\nAnd yet he could.\n\n\"Rodel Ituralde,\" al'Thor said, stepping forward and laying a hand on Ituralde's arm. \"I left you and your men stranded and overwhelmed. Please forgive me.\"\n\n\"I made this choice myself,\" Ituralde said. Oddly, he felt less tired than he had just moments ago.\n\n\"I have inspected your men,\" al'Thor said. \"There are so few left, and they are broken and battered. How did you hold this city? What you have done is a miracle.\"\n\n\"I do what needs to be done.\"\n\n\"You must have lost many friends.\"\n\n\"I... Yes.\" What other answer was there? To dismiss it as nothing would be to dishonor them. \"Wakeda fell today. Rajabi... well, a Draghkar got him. Ankaer. He lasted until this afternoon. Never did find out why that trumpeter sounded early. Rossin was looking into it. He's dead, too.\"\n\n\"We need to get out of the city,\" Bashere said, his voice urgent. \"I'm sorry, man. Maradon is lost.\"\n\n\"No,\" al'Thor said softly. \"The Shadow will not have this city. Not after what these men did to hold it. I will not allow it.\"\n\n\"An honorable sentiment,\" Bashere said, \"but we don't...\" He trailed off as al'Thor looked at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Those eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So intense. They seemed almost alight. \"They will not take this city, Bashere,\" al'Thor said, an edge of anger entering his quiet voice. He waved to the side, and a gateway split the air. The sounds of drums and Trollocs yelling grew closer, suddenly. \"I'm tired of letting him hurt my people. Pull your soldiers back.\"\n\nWith that, al'Thor stepped through the gateway. A pair of Aiel Maidens hurried into the room, and he left the gateway open long enough for them to leap through behind him. Then he let it vanish.\n\nBashere looked stunned, mouth half-open. \"Curse that man!\" he finally said, turning to the window again. \"I thought he wasn't going to do this sort of thing any longer!\"\n\nIturalde joined Bashere, raising his looking glass, looking out through the enormous gap in the wall. Outside, al'Thor was crossing the trampled ground, wearing his brown cloak and followed by the two Maidens.\n\nIturalde thought he could hear the sounds of the howling Trollocs. Their drums beat. They saw three people alone.\n\nThe Trollocs surged forward, charging across the ground. Hundreds. Thousands. Ituralde gasped. Bashere uttered a quiet prayer.\n\nAl'Thor raised one hand, then thrust it--palm forward--toward the tide of Shadowspawn.\n\nAnd they started to die.\n\nIt began with waves of fire, much like the ones Asha'man used. Only these were far larger. The flames burned terrible swaths of death through the Trollocs. They followed the course of the land, seeping up the hill and down into the trenches, filling them with white-hot fire, searing and destroying." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Clouds of Draghkar spun in the sky, diving for al'Thor. The air above him turned blue, and shards of ice exploded outward, spraying the air like arrows from the bows of an entire banner of archers. The beasts shrieked their inhuman agony, carcasses tumbling to the ground.\n\nLight and Power exploded from the Dragon Reborn. He was like an entire army of channelers. Thousands of Shadowspawn died. Deathgates sprang up, striking across the ground, killing hundreds.\n\nThe Asha'man Naeff--standing beside Bashere--gasped. \"I've never seen so many weaves at once,\" he whispered. \"I can't track them all. He's a storm. A storm of Light and streams of Power!\"\n\nClouds began to form and swirl above the city. The wind picked up, howling, and lightning struck from above. Blasts of thunder overpowered the sounds of drums as Trollocs tried in vain to get to al'Thor, climbing over the burning carcasses of their brethren. The swirling white clouds crashed into the black, boiling tempest, intermingling. Wind spun around al'Thor, whipping at his cloak.\n\nThe man himself seemed to be glowing. Was it the reflection of the swaths of fire, or perhaps the lightning blasts? Al'Thor seemed brighter than them all, his hand upraised against the Shadowspawn. His Maidens hunched near the ground on either side of him, eyes forward, shoulders set against the great wind.\n\nClouds spinning about one another made funnels into the masses of Trollocs, sweeping across the top of the hill, taking up the creatures into the air. Great waterspouts rose behind, made of flesh and fire. The beasts rained down, falling upon the others. Ituralde watched with awe, the hair on his arms and head rising. There was an energy to the very air itself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A scream came from nearby. Within the building, in one of the nearby rooms. Ituralde did not turn away from the window. He had to watch this beautiful, terrible moment of destruction and Power.\n\nWaves of Trollocs broke, the drums faltering. Entire legions of them turned and fled, stumbling up the hillside and over one another, fleeing back toward the Blight. Some remained firm--too angry, too intimidated by those driving them, or too stupid to flee. The tempest of destruction seemed to come to a peak, flashes of light blasting down in time with howling wind, thrumming waves of burning flame, tinkling shards of ice.\n\nIt was a masterwork. A terrible, destructive, wonderful masterwork. Al'Thor lifted his hand toward the sky. The winds grew faster, the lightning strikes larger, the fires hotter. Trollocs screamed, moaned, howled. Ituralde found himself trembling.\n\nAl'Thor closed his hand into a fist, and it all ended.\n\nThe last of the wind-seized Trollocs dropped from the sky like leaves abandoned by a passing breeze. Everything fell silent. The flames died, the black and white clouds cleared and opened to a blue sky.\n\nAl'Thor lowered his hand. The field before him was piled with carcasses atop carcasses. Tens of thousands of dead Trollocs smoldering. Directly before al'Thor, a pile a hundred paces wide formed a ridge five feet tall, a mound of dead that had nearly reached him.\n\nHow long had it taken? Ituralde found that he could not gauge the time, though looking at the sun, at least an hour had passed. Perhaps more. It had seemed like seconds.\n\nAl'Thor turned to walkaway. The Maidens rose on shaky feet, stumbling after him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What was that scream?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Naeff asked. \"The one nearby, in the building. Did you hear it?\"\n\nIturalde frowned. What had that been? He crossed the room, the others--including several of Bashere's officers--following. Many others stayed in the room, however, staring out at the field that had been cleansed by ice and by fire. It was odd, but Ituralde hadn't been able to spot a single fallen tower atop the hill. It was as if al'Thor's attacks had somehow affected only the Shadowspawn. Could a man really be that precise?\n\nThe hallway outside was empty, but Ituralde had a suspicion now of where the scream had come from. He walked to Lord Torkumen's door; Bashere unlocked it, and they went inside.\n\nIt seemed empty. Ituralde felt a spike of fear. Had the man escaped? He pulled out his sword.\n\nNo. A figure was huddled in the corner beside the bed, fine clothing wrinkled, doublet stained with blood. Ituralde lowered his sword. Lord Torkumen's eyes were gone. He appeared to have put them outwith a writing quill; the bloodied implement lay on the ground beside him.\n\nThe window was broken. Bashere glanced out it. \"Lady Torkumen is down there.\"\n\n\"She jumped,\" Torkumen whispered, clawing at his eye sockets, fingers covered with blood. He sounded dazed. \"That light... That terrible light.\"\n\nIturalde glanced at Bashere.\n\n\"I cannot watch it,\" Torkumen muttered. \"I cannot! Great Lord, where is your protection? Where are your armies to rend, your swords to strike? That Light eats at my mind, like rats feasting on a corpse. It burns at my thoughts. It killed me. That light killed me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He's gone mad,\" Bashere said grimly, kneeling down beside the man. \"Better than he deserved, judging by those ramblings. Light! My own cousin a Darkfriend. And in control of the city!\"\n\n\"What is he talking about?\" one of Bashere's men said. \"Alight? Surely he couldn't have seen the battle. None of these windows face the right way.\"\n\n\"I'm not sure he was talking about the battle, Vogeler,\" Bashere said. \"Come on. I suspect the Lord Dragon is going to be tired. I want to see that he's cared for.\"\n\nThis is it, Min thought, tapping the page. She sat on her windowsill in the Stone of Tear, enjoying the breeze. Trying not to think of Rand. He wasn't hurt, but his emotions were so strong. Anger. She'd hoped he wouldn't be so angry ever again.\n\nShe shook off the worrying; she had work to do. Was she following the wrong thread? Was she interpreting in the wrong way? She read the line again. Light is held before the maw of the infinite void, and all that he is can be seized.\n\nHer speculation cutoff as she saw alight appear from the room across the hall. She dropped her book and leaped down to the floor. Rand was suddenly close. She could feel it through the bond.\n\nTwo Maidens guarded the room across the hall, mostly to prevent people from wandering in and getting hurt by gateways. The one that had opened now led to a place that smelled of smoke. Rand stumbled through. Min ran to him. He looked exhausted, eyes red, face wan. He leaned against her with a sigh, letting her help him to a chair.\n\n\"What happened?\" Min demanded of Evasni, the Maiden who came through next. She was a lanky woman with dark red hair, cut short with a tail in the back like that of most Maidens." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Car'a\"carn is well,\" the woman said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Though he is like a youth who ran one more lap around the camp than everyone else, only to prove that he could.\"\n\n\"He gained much ji today,\" Ifeyina--the other Maiden--said, almost in argument. Her voice was solemn.\n\nRand sighed, settling back in the chair. Bashere followed out of the gateway, boots hitting stone. Min heard calls from down below--a group of wounded soldiers being brought through a larger gateway. The Stone's courtyards were alive with activity, Aes Sedai Healers running to care for the bloodied, sooty men.\n\nAfter Bashere came a lean Domani man in his middle years. Rodel Ituralde. He looked much the worse for wear, with dried blood on his filthy face, his clothing ripped, and bearing a clumsy bandage on his arm. Rand had no visible wounds. His clothing was clean, though he insisted on still wearing that aged brown cloak. But Light, he looked tired.\n\n\"Rand,\" Min said, kneeling down. \"Rand, are you all right?\"\n\n\"I grew angry,\" Rand said softly. \"I had thought myself beyond that.\"\n\nShe felt a chill.\n\n\"It was not a terrible anger, like before,\" Rand said. \" It was not the anger of destruction, though I did destroy. In Maradon, I saw what had been done to men who followed me. I saw Light in them, Min. Defying the Dark One no matter the length of his shadow. We will live, that defiance said. We will love and we will hope.\n\n\"And I saw him trying so hard to destroy that. He knows that if he could break them, it would mean something. Something much more than Maradon. Breaking the spirit of men... he thirsts for that. He struck far harder than he otherwise would have because he wanted to break my spirit.\" His voice grew softer and he opened his eyes, looking down at her. \"And so I stood against him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What you did was amazing,\" Bashere said, standing beside Min with his arms folded. \"But did you let him drive you to it?\"\n\nRand shook his head. \"I have aright to my anger, Bashere. Don't you see? Before, I tried to hold it all hidden within. That was wrong. I must feel. I must hurt for the pains, the deaths, the losses of these people. I have to cling to these things so I know why I am fighting. There are times when I need the void, but that does not make my anger any less apart of me.\"\n\nHe seemed to be growing more confident with each word, and Min nodded.\n\n\"Well, you saved the city,\" Bashere said.\n\n\"Not soon enough,\" Rand said. Min could feel his sorrow. \"And my actions today may still have been a mistake.\"\n\nMin frowned. \"Why?\"\n\n\"It came too close to a confrontation between us,\" Rand said. \"That must happen at Shayol Ghul, and at the right time. I cannot afford to let him provoke me. Bashere is right. Nor can I afford to let the men assume that I will always be able to step in and save them.\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Bashere said. \"But what you did today...\"\n\nRand shook his head. \"I am not to fight this war, Bashere. Today's battle exhausted me beyond what I should have allowed. If my enemies were to come upon me now, I'd be finished. Besides, I can only fight in one place at a time. What is coming will be grander than that, grander and more terrible than anyone man could hope to hold back. I will organize you, but I must leave you. The war will be yours.\"\n\nHe fell silent, and Flinn stepped through the gateway, letting it slide closed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I must rest now,\" Rand said softly. \"Tomorrow I meet with your niece and the other Borderlanders, Bashere. I know not what they will require of me, but they must return to their posts. If Saldaea was in such a state with one of the great captains leading the defense, I can only guess what the other Borderland nations are suffering.\"\n\nMin helped him to his feet. \"Rand,\" she said softly. \"Cadsuane returned, and she had someone with her.\"\n\nHe hesitated. \"Take me to her.\"\n\nMin winced. \"I shouldn't have mentioned it. You should rest.\"\n\n\"I will,\" he said. \"Don't worry.\"\n\nShe could still sense his exhaustion. But she didn't argue. They walked from the room. \"Rodel Ituralde,\" Rand said, pausing by the doorway. \"You will wish to accompany me. I cannot repay you for the honor you have shown, but I do have something I can give.\"\n\nThe grizzled Domani nodded, following. Min helped Rand down the corridor, worrying about him. Did he have to push himself this hard?\n\nUnfortunately, he does. Rand al'Thor was the Dragon Reborn. He'd be bled dry, ground down, used up before this was through. It was almost enough to make a woman stop trying.\n\n\"Rand...\" she said, Ituralde and several Maidens trailing them. Fortunately, Cadsuane's room wasn't far.\n\n\"I will be all right,\" he said. \"I promise. Have you news of your studies?\" He was trying to distract her.\n\nUnfortunately, that question just sent her to another worry. \"Have you ever wondered why Callandor is so often called a \"fearful blade\" or \"the blade of ruin\" in the prophecies?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's such a powerful sa'angreal,\" he said. \"Maybe it's because of the destruction it can cause?\"\n\n\"Maybe,\" she said.\n\n\"You think it's something else.\"\n\n\"There's a phrase,\" Min said, \"in the Jendai Prophecy. I wish we knew more of them. Anyway, it says'and the Blade will bind him by twain. '\"\n\n\"Two women,\" Rand said. \"I need to be in a circle with two women to control it.\"\n\nShe grimaced.\n\n\"What?\" Rand said. \"You might as well be outwith it, Min. I need to know.\"\n\n\"There's another phrase, from The Karaethon Cycle. Anyway, I think that Callandor might be flawed beyond that. I think it might... Rand, I think it might make you weak, open you to attack, if you use it.\"\n\n\"Perhaps that's how I'll be killed, then.\"\n\n\"You aren't going to be killed,\" Min said.\n\n\"I--\"\n\n\"You'll live through this, sheepherder,\" she insisted. \"I'm going to see that you do.\"\n\nHe smiled at her. He looked so tired. \"I almost believe that you'll do it, Min. Perhaps I'm not the one the Pattern bends around, but you.\" He turned, then knocked on a door in the hallway.\n\nIt cracked, Merise peeking out. She looked Rand up and down. \"You seem as if you can barely stand on your own feet, al'Thor.\"\n\n\"True indeed,\" he replied. \"Is Cadsuane Sedai here?\"\n\n\"She has done as you asked,\" Merise replied. \"And, I might say, she's been very accommodating, considering how you--\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let him in, Merise,\" Cadsuane's voice said from inside.\n\nMerise hesitated, then gave Rand a glare as she pulled the door open all the way. Cadsuane satin a chair, speaking with an older man whose long, gray hair fell loose to his shoulders. He had a large beak of a nose and regal clothing.\n\nRand stepped to the side. Behind them, someone gasped. Rodel Ituralde stepped up to the doorway, seeming stunned, and the man in the room turned. He had kindly eyes and coppery skin.\n\n\"My liege,\" Ituralde cried, hastening forward, then going down on one knee. \"You live!\"\n\nMin felt an overwhelming sense of happiness from Rand. Ituralde, it appeared, was weeping. Rand stepped back. \"Come, let's go to my rooms and rest.\"\n\n\"The King of Arad Doman. Where did she find him?\" Min said. \"How did you know?\"\n\n\"A friend left me a secret,\" Rand said. \"The White Tower collected Mattin Stepaneos to \"protect\" him. Well, it wasn't too much of a leap to wonder if they might have done that with other monarchs. And if they sent sisters to Arad Doman to seize him months ago, before any of them knew of gateways, they could have gotten trapped in the snows on their return trip.\" He seemed so relieved. \"Graendal never had him. I didn't kill him, Min. One innocent I assumed that I'd killed still lives. That's something. A small something. But it helps.\"\n\nShe helped him walk the rest of the way to their rooms, content--for the moment--to share in his warm sense of joy and relief.\n\nChapter 33" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A Good Soup\n\nSiuan's soup was surprisingly good.\n\nShe took another sip, raising an eyebrow. It was simple--broth and vegetables, bits of chicken--but when most food tasted stale at best, this seemed a wonder. She tried the biscuit. No weevils? Delightful!\n\nNynaeve had just fallen silent, her own bowl steaming in front of her. Newly raised, she'd taken the oaths earlier in the day. They were in the Amyrlin's study, shutters open and spilling in golden light, new rugs of green and gold on the floor.\n\nSilently, Siuan chided herself forgetting distracted by the soup. Nynaeve's report demanded consideration. She'd spoken of her time with Rand al'Thor, and specifically of events such as the cleansing. Of course, Siuan had heard the reports that saidin had been cleansed; an Asha'man had visited the camp during the division. She had remained skeptical, but there was little denying it now.\n\n\"Well,\" the Amyrlin said, \"I am very glad for this longer explanation, Nynaeve. Though saidin being cleansed does make it less unsettling to consider Asha'man and Aes Sedai bonding one another. I wish Rand had been willing to speak tome of that during our meeting.\" She said it evenly, though Siuan knew she looked on men bonding women with as much pleasure as a captain looked on afire in his hold.\n\n\"I suppose,\" Nynaeve said, lips turning down. \"If it matters, Rand didn't approve the men bonding women.\"\n\n\"It doesn't matter if he did or not,\" Egwene said. \"The Asha'man are his responsibility.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"As the Aes Sedai who chained him and beat him are yours, Mother?\" Nynaeve asked.\n\n\"Inherited from Elaida, perhaps,\" Egwene said, eyes narrowing just slightly.\n\nShe was right to bring Nynaeve back, Siuan thought, taking a sip of soup. She takes his side far too often for comfort.\n\nNynaeve sighed, taking her spoon to begin her soup. \"I didn't mean that as a challenge, Mother. I just want to show how he thinks. Light! I didn't approve of much of what he did, particularly lately. But I can see how he got there.\"\n\n\"He has changed, though,\" Siuan said thoughtfully. \"You said so yourself.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Nynaeve said. \"The Aiel say he's embraced death.\"\n\n\"I've heard that from them, too,\" Egwene said. \"But I looked into his eyes, and something else has changed, something inexplicable. The man I saw...\"\n\n\"He didn't seem like one to destroy Natrin's Barrow?\" Siuan shivered as she thought of that.\n\n\"The man I saw wouldn't need to destroy such a place,\" Egwene said. \"Those inside would just follow him. Bend to his wishes. Because he was!\"\n\nThe three fell silent.\n\nEgwene shook her head and took a sip of her soup. She paused, then smiled. \"Well, I seethe soup is good. Perhaps things aren't as bad as I thought.\"\n\n\"The ingredients came from Caemlyn,\" Nynaeve noted. \"I overheard the serving girls talking.\"\n\n\"Oh.\"\n\nMore silence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mother,\" Siuan said, speaking carefully. \"The women are still worried about the deaths in the Tower.\"\n\n\"I agree, Mother,\" Nynaeve said. \"Sisters stare atone another with distrust. It worries me.\"\n\n\"You both should have seen it before,\" Egwene said. \"During Elaida's reign.\"\n\n\"If it was worse than this,\" Nynaeve said, \"I'm glad that I didn't.\" She glanced down at her Great Serpent ring. She did that a lot, recently. As a fisher with anew boat often glanced toward the docks and smiled. For all her complaints that she was Aes Sedai, and for all the fact that she'd been wearing that ring fora longtime now, she was obviously satisfied to have passed the testing and taken the oaths.\n\n\"It was terrible,\" Egwene said. \"And I don't intend to let it go back to that. Siuan, the plan must be put into motion.\"\n\nSiuan grimaced. \"I've been teaching the others. But I don't think this is a good idea, Mother. They're barely trained.\"\n\n\"What's this?\" Nynaeve asked.\n\n\"Aes Sedai,\" Egwene said. \"Carefully chosen and given dream ter'angreal. Siuan is showing them how Tel'aran'rhiod works.\"\n\n\"Mother, that place is dangerous.\"\n\nEgwene took another sip of soup. \"I believe I know that better than most. But it is necessary; we must lure the killers into a confrontation. I'll arrange fora'secret'meeting among my most loyal Aes Sedai, in the World of Dreams, and perhaps lay clues that other people of importance will be attending. Siuan, you've contacted the Windfinders?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes,\" Siuan said. \"Though they want to know what you'll give them to agree to meet with you.\"\n\n\"The loan of the dream ter'angreal will be enough,\" Egwene said dryly. \"Not everything has to be a bargain.\"\n\n\"To them, it often does,\" Nynaeve said. \"But that's beside the point. You're bringing Windfinders to this meeting to lure Mesaana?\"\n\n\"Not exactly,\" Egwene said. \" I'll seethe Windfinders at the same time, in a different place. And some Wise Ones as well. Enough to hint to Mesaana--assuming she's got spies watching the other groups of women who can channel--that she really wants to spy onus in Tel'aran'rhiod that day.\n\n\"You and Siuan will hold a meeting in the Hall of the Tower, but it will be a decoy to draw Mesaana or her minions out of hiding. With wards--and some sisters watching from hidden places--we'll be able to trap them. Siuan will send for meas soon as the trap is sprung.\"\n\nNynaeve frowned. \"It's a good plan, save for one thing. I don't like you being in danger, Mother. Let me lead this fight. I can manage it.\"\n\nEgwene studied Nynaeve, and Siuan saw some of the real Egwene. Thoughtful. Bold, but calculating. She also saw Egwene's fatigue, the weight of responsibility. Siuan knew that feeling well.\n\n\"I'll admit you have a valid concern,\" Egwene said. \"Ever since I let myself get captured by Elaida's cronies outside of Tar Valon, I've wondered if I become too directly involved, too directly in danger.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Exactly,\" Nynaeve said.\n\n\"However,\" Egwene said, \"the simple fact remains that I am the one among us who is most expert at Tel'aran'rhiod. You two are skilled, true, but I have more experience. In this case, I am not just the leader of the Aes Sedai, I am a tool that the White Tower must use.\" She hesitated. \"I dreamed this, Nynaeve. If we do not defeat Mesaana here, all could be lost. All will be lost. It is not a time to hold back any of our tools, no matter how valuable.\"\n\nNynaeve reached for her braid, but it now came only to her shoulders. She gritted her teeth at that. \"You might have a point. But I don't like it.\"\n\n\"The Aiel dreamwalkers,\" Siuan said. \"Mother, you said you'll be meeting with them. Might they be willing to help? I'd feel much better about having you fight if I knew they were around to keep an eye on you.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Egwene said. \"A good suggestion. I will contact them before we meet and make the request, just in case.\"\n\n\"Mother,\" Nynaeve said. \"Perhaps Rand--\"\n\n\"This is a matter of the Tower, Nynaeve,\" Egwene said. \"We will manage it.\"\n\n\"Very well.\"\n\n\"Now,\" Egwene continued, \"we need to figure out how to spread the right rumors so that Mesaana won't be able to resist coming to listen...\"\n\nPerrin hit the nightmare running. The air bent around him, and the city houses--this time of the Cairhienin flat-topped variety--disappeared. The road became soft beneath his feet, like mud, then turned to liquid." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He splashed in the ocean. Water again? he thought with annoyance.\n\nDeep red lightning crashed in the sky, throwing waves of bloody light across the sea. Each burst revealed shadowed creatures lurking beneath the waves. Massive things, evil and sinuous in the spasming red lightning.\n\nPeople clung to the wreckage of what had once been a ship, screaming in terror and crying out for loved ones. Men on broken boards, women trying to hold their babies above the water as towering waves broke over them, dead bodies bobbing like sacks of grain.\n\nThe things beneath the waves struck, snatching people from the surface and dragging them into the depths with splashes of fins and sparking, razor-sharp teeth. The water was soon bubbling red that didn't come from the lightning.\n\nWhoever had dreamed this particular nightmare had a singularly twisted imagination.\n\nPerrin refused to let himself be drawn in. He squelched his fear, and did not swim for one of those planks. It isn't real. It isn't real. It isn't real.\n\nDespite his understanding, part of him knew that he was going to die in these waters. These terrible, bloody waters. The moans of the others assaulted him, and he yearned to try to help them. They weren't real, he knew. Just figments. But it was hard.\n\nPerrin began to rise from the water, the waves turning back into ground. But then he cried out as something brushed his leg. Lightning crashed, breaking the air. A woman beside him slipped beneath the waves, tugged by unseen jaws. Panicked, Perrin was suddenly back in the water, therein a heartbeat, floating in a completely different place, one arm slung over apiece of wreckage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This happened sometimes. If he wavered fora moment--if he let himself seethe nightmare as real--it would pull him in and actually move him, fitting him into its terrible mosaic. Something moved in the water nearby, and he splashed away with a start. One of the surging waves raised him into the air.\n\nIt isn't real. It isn't real. It isn't real.\n\nThe waters were so cold. Something touched his leg again, and he screamed, then choked off as he gulped in a mouthful of salty water. IT ISN'T REAL!\n\nHe was in Cairhien, leagues from the ocean. This was a street. Hard stones beneath. The smell of baked bread coming from a nearby bakery. The street lined with small, thin-trunked ash trees.\n\nWith a bellowing scream, he clung to this knowledge as the people around him held to their flotsam. Perrin knotted his hands into fists, focusing on reality.\n\nThere were cobblestones under his feet. Not waves. Not water. Not teeth and fins. Slowly, he rose from the ocean again. He stepped out of it and set his foot on the surface, feeling solid stone beneath his boot. The other foot followed. He found himself on a small, floating circle of stones.\n\nSomething enormous surged from the waters to his left, a massive beast part fish and part monster, with a maw so wide that a man could walk into it standing upright. The teeth were as large as Perrin's hand, and they glittered, dripping blood.\n\nIt was not real.\n\nThe creature exploded into mist. The spray hit Perrin, then dried immediately. Around him, the nightmare bent, a bubble of reality pressing out from him. Dark air, cold waves, screaming people ran together like wet paint." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was no lightning--he did not see it light his eyelids. There was no thunder. He could not hear it crashing. There were no waves, not in the middle of landlocked Cairhien.\n\nPerrin snapped his eyes open, and the entire nightmare broke apart, vanishing like a film of frost exposed to the spring sunlight. The buildings reappeared, the street returned, the waves retreated. The sky returned to the boiling black tempest. Lightning that was bright and white flashed in its depths, but there was no thunder.\n\nHopper sat on the street a short distance away. Perrin walked over to the wolf. He could have jumped there immediately, of course, but he didn't like the idea of doing everything easily. That would bite at him when he returned to the real world.\n\nYou grow strong, Young Bull, Hopper sent approvingly.\n\n\"I still take too long,\" Perrin said, glancing over his shoulder. \"Every time I enter, it takes me a few minutes to regain control. I need to be faster. Ina battle with Slayer, a few minutes might as well bean eternity.\"\n\nHe will not be so strong as these.\n\n\"He'll still be strong enough,\" Perrin said. \"He's had years to learn to control the wolf dream. I only just started.\"\n\nHopper laughed. Young Bull, you started the first time you came here.\n\n\"Yes, but I just started training a few weeks back.\"\n\nHopper continued laughing. He was right, in away. Perrin had spent two years preparing, visiting the wolf dream at night. But he still needed to learn as much as he could. Ina way, he was glad for the delay before the trial.\n\nBut he could not delay too long. The Last Hunt was upon them. Many of the wolves were running to the north; Perrin could feel them passing. Running for the Blight, for the Borderlands. They were moving both in the real world and in the wolf dream, but those here did not shift there directly. They ran, as packs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could tell that Hopper longed to join them. However, he remained behind, as did some others.\n\n\"Come on,\" Perrin said. \"Let's find another nightmare.\"\n\nThe Rose March was in bloom.\n\nThat was incredible. Few other plants had bloomed in this terrible summer, and those that did had wilted. But the Rose March was blooming, and fiercely, hundreds of red explosions twisting around the garden framework. Voracious insects buzzed from flower to flower, as if every bee in the city had come hereto feed.\n\nGawyn kept his distance from the insects, but the scent of roses was so pervasive that he felt bathed in it. Once he finished his walk, his clothing would probably smell of the perfume for hours.\n\nElayne was speaking with several advisors near one of the benches beside a small, lily-covered pond. She was showing her pregnancy, and seemed radiant. Her golden hair reflected the sunlight like the surface of a mirror; atop that hair, the Rose Crown of Andor looked almost plain by comparison.\n\nShe often had much to do these days. He'd heard hushed reports of the weapons she was building, the ones she thought might be as powerful as captive damane. The bellfounders in Caemlyn had been working for straight through the nights, from what he'd heard. Caemlyn was preparing for war, the city abuzz with activity. She didn't often have time for him, though he was glad for what she could spare.\n\nShe smiled at him as he approached, then waved off her attendants for the moment. She walked to him and gave him a fond kiss on the cheek. \"You look thoughtful.\"\n\n\"A common malady of mine lately,\" he said. \"You look distracted.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A common malady of mine lately,\" she said. \" There is always too much to do and never enough of me to do it.\n\n\"If you need to--\"\n\n\"No,\" she said, taking his arm. \"I need to speak to you. And I've been told that a walk around the gardens once a day will be good for my constitution.\"\n\nGawyn smiled, breathing in the scents of roses and mud around the pond. The scents of life. He glanced up at the sky as they walked. \"I can't believe how much sunlight we've been seeing here. I'd nearly convinced myself that the perpetual gloom was something unnatural.\"\n\n\"Oh, it probably is,\" she said nonchalantly. \"A week back the cloud cover in Andor broke around Caemlyn, but nowhere else.\"\n\n\"But... how?\"\n\nShe smiled. \"Rand. Something he did. He was atop Dragonmount, I think. And then...\"\n\nSuddenly, the day seemed darker. \"Al'Thor again,\" Gawyn spat. \"He follows me even here.\"\n\n\"Even here?\" she said with amusement. \"I believe these gardens are where we first met him.\"\n\nGawyn didn't reply to that. He glanced northward, checking the sky in that direction. Ominous dark clouds hung out there. \"He's the father, isn't he?\"\n\n\"If he were,\" Elayne said without missing a beat, \"then it would be prudent to hide that fact, wouldn't it? The children of the Dragon Reborn will be targets.\"\n\nGawyn felt sick. He'd suspected it the moment he'd discovered the pregnancy. \"Burn me,\" he said. \"Elayne, how could you? After what he did to our mother!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He did nothing to her,\" Elayne said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I can produce witness after witness that will confirm it, Gawyn. Mother vanished before Rand liberated Caemlyn.\" There was a fond look in her eyes as she spoke of him. \"Something is happening to him. I can feel it, feel him changing. Cleansing. He drives back the clouds and makes the roses bloom.\"\n\nGawyn raised an eyebrow. She thought the roses bloomed because of al'Thor? Well, love could make a person think strange things, and when the man she spoke of was the Dragon Reborn, perhaps some irrationality was to be expected.\n\nThey approached the pond's small dock. He could remember swimming there as a child, then getting an earful for it. Not from his mother, from Galad, though Gawyn's mother had given him astern, disappointed look. He'd never told anyone that he'd been swimming only because Elayne had pushed him in.\n\n\"You're never going to forget that, are you?\" Elayne asked.\n\n\"What?\" he asked.\n\n\"You were thinking of the time you slipped into the pond during Mother's meeting with House Farah.\"\n\n\"Slipped? You pushed me!\"\n\n\"I did nothing of the sort,\" Elayne said primly. \"You were showing off, balancing on the posts.\"\n\n\"And you shook the dock.\"\n\n\"I stepped onto it,\" Elayne said. \"Forcefully. I'm a vigorous person. I have a forceful stride.\"\n\n\"A forceful--That's a downright lie!\"\n\n\"No, I'm merely stating the truth creatively. I'm Aes Sedai now. It's a talent of ours. Now, are you going to row me on the pond, or not?\"\n\n\"I... Row you? When did that come up?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just now. Weren't you listening?\"\n\nGawyn shook a bemused head. \"Fine.\" Behind them, several Guardswomen took up posts. They were always near, often led by the tall woman who fancied herself an image of Birgitte from the stories. And maybe she did look like Birgitte at that--she went by the name, anyway, and was serving as Captain-General.\n\nThe Guards were joined by a growing group of attendants and messengers. The Last Battle approached, and Andor prepared--and, unfortunately, many of those preparations required Elayne's direct attention. Though Gawyn had heard a curious story of Elayne having been carried upon the city wall in her bed a week or so back. So far, he hadn't been able to pin her down on whether that was true or not.\n\nHe waved to Birgitte, who gave him a scowl as he led Elayne to the pond's small rowboat. \"I promise not to dump her in,\" Gawyn called. Then, under his breath, \"Though I might row'forcefully' and upend us.\"\n\n\"Oh, hush,\" Elayne said, settling down. \"Pondwater wouldn't be good for the babies.\"\n\n\"Speaking of which,\" Gawyn said, pushing the boat off with his toe, then stepping into it. The vessel shook precariously until he sat down. \"Aren't you supposed to be walking for your'constitution'?\"\n\n\"I'll tell Melfane I needed to take the opportunity to reform my miscreant brother. You can getaway with all kinds of things if you're giving someone a proper scolding.\"\n\n\"And is that what I'm getting? A scolding?\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Extende the story in collaboration with the author.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, last battle\nAuthor: Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Towers of Midnight\nChapter: 50" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thom got out a torch of his own and both lit from Noal's lantern. They had strikers from Aludra, but Mat wanted to save those. He had been half-afraid that in the tower, flames would go out once lit. But the lights burned steady and true. That heartened him somewhat.\n\n\"So where are they?\" Thom asked, walking around the perimeter of the black room.\n\n\"They're never here when you come through,\" Mat said, holding up his own torch and inspecting a wall. Was that writing, carved into the not-stone? The unfamiliar script was so fine and delicate he could barely see it. \"But watch yourself. They can appear behind you, faster than an innkeeper who heard coins clink in your pouch.\"\n\nNoal inspected the triangular opening they had come through. \"Do you suppose we can use this to get back?\" It resembled the stone ter'angreal Mat had stepped through before. Just a different shape.\n\n\"I hope so,\" Mat said.\"\n\n\"Maybe we should try,\" Noal said.\n\nMat nodded to him. He did not like being separated, but they did need to know if this was away back or not. Noal looked determined and stepped through. He vanished.\n\nMat held his breath fora long moment, but the aged man did not return. Was it a trick? Had this doorway been placed hereto---\n\nNoal stumbled back into the room through the opening. Thom set his torch on the floor and dashed over to help. Noal recovered more quickly this time, blinking away the blindness. \"It sealed me out,\" he explained. \"I had to draw another triangle to get back in.\"\n\n\"At least we know we've got a means of escape,\" Thom said.\n\nAssuming those bloody Aelfinn or Eelfinn don't move it, Mat thought, remembering his previous visit, the one that had ended with him being hanged. That time, the rooms and corridors had shifted mysteriously, in total defiance of what was right." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Will you look at that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thom said.\n\nMat lowered his spear and Noal had an iron shortsword in his hand in a moment. Thom was pointing at his torch, which burned fitfully where he had set it on the floor beside one of the glowing steam vents.\n\nThe white steam pushed away from the flames, like it was being blown by a breeze. Only, no breeze ever made steam move so unnaturally. It curved around the fire in a loop. Thom stepped over and picked up the torch. He moved it toward the column of steam, and it bowed out of the way. Thom rammed the torch directly into the steam's path, and the steam split, going around the flame and melding together into a single stream again above.\n\nThom glanced at the others.\n\n\"Don't ask me,\" Mat said, scowling. \"I said this place doesn't make sense. If that's the oddest thing we see here, I'll be a Murandian's mustache. Come on.\"\n\nMat picked one of the hallways and began to walk down it. The other two hurried to catch up. The steam glowed on the ceiling, bathing the black hallway with its milky light. The floor was made of interlocking triangular tiles that, once again, looked discomfortingly like scales. The corridor was wide and long, the other end distant and dark.\n\n\"To think,\" Noal said, holding up his lantern, \"all of this hidden in that single tower.\"\n\n\"I doubt we're in the tower anymore,\" Mat said. Up ahead, he could see a slice out of the side of the wall, a kind of window. It was setup a little too high up to feel natural.\n\n\"Then where....\" Noal trailed off as they reached the window, which was an off-center square. Through it, they could lookout at an unnatural landscape. They were up several floors in some kind of spire, but that certainly was not Andor outside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The window looked out over a canopy of dense vegetation that was too yellow. Mat recognized the wispy trees with a drooping umbrella of branches at the top, though before he had seen them from below. The fern-like trees with their spreading fans of leaves were familiar as well, though those had deep black fruits hanging from them now. The large fruits caused the leaves to droop.\n\n\"Mercy of the Winnower,\" Noal whispered, a phrase Mat had never heard before.\n\nNoal had reason to be astonished; Mat remembered looking out at that forest for the first time, realizing that the twisted doorway had not brought him to another place, but another world entirely.\n\nMat looked to the side. Could he seethe three spires he had noted on his first visit? They did not seem to be about, though in this place, the very next window they passed could show a different scene. They could....\n\nHe paused, then glanced sharply through the window. He could make out aspire to the left. And then he knew. He was in one of the spires he had seen in the distance during his first visit.\n\nHe stifled a shiver and turned away. At least he knew for certain he was in the same place. Did that mean that the worlds of the Aelfinn and the Eelfinn were the same? He hoped so. Moiraine had fallen through the second of the twisted red doorways, which meant she had most likely been taken by the Eelfinn, the foxes.\n\nThey were the ones who had hanged Mat; the snakes, at least, had only tossed him out of their realm without any useful answers. He bore them a grudge, but the foxes... they had refused to answer his questions, and had given him these bloody memories instead!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mat and the others continued down the hallway, their footsteps echoing against the flooring." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Soon, Mat began to get the sense that he was being watched. He had felt it before, on his other visits. He turned to the side, and caught a glimpse of faint motion far behind.\n\nHe spun, preparing to toss his torch aside and fight with his ashandarei, but saw nothing. The other two froze, looking about, anxious. Mat continued on sheepishly, though he felt less so after Thom did the same thing a short time later. Thom went so far as to throw a knife at a darkened patch of the wall.\n\nThe iron weapon clanked against the surface. The dull ring echoed for far too long in the hallway.\n\n\"Sorry,\" Thom said.\n\n\"It's all right,\" Mat said.\n\n\"They're watching us, aren't they?\" Noal asked. His voice was soft, faintly nervous. Light! Mat felt as if he was going to jump out of his skin and runaway, leaving it behind. Compared to that, Noal seemed steady.\n\n\"I suspect they are, at that,\" Mat said.\n\nWithin a few moments, they reached the end of the too-long hallway. Here, they entered a chamber that was identical to the first, save it had no doorway in the center. It split off in four directions, each corridor disappearing into the distant darkness.\n\nThey picked another direction, memorizing the path they were taking, unseen eyes scratching at their backs. His footsteps grew more hurried as they traversed the length of the hallway and entered another chamber. It was exactly like the previous one.\n\n\"Easy to be disoriented in a place like this,\" Noal said. He opened his pack and got out a sheet of paper and a charcoal pencil. He made three dots on his paper, then connected them bylines, representing the corridors and rooms they'd gone through. \"It's all a matter of keeping a good map. A good map can mean life or death; you can trust me on that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mat turned around, looking back the way they had come." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Part of him wanted to keep going, not look backward, but he had to know. \"Come on,\" he said, going back the way they had come.\n\nThom and Noal shared looks, but once again hurried to catch up. It took them a good half-hour to retrace their steps back to the first chamber, the one that should contain the doorway. They found it empty. Those columns of steam rose from the corners. They had in the other two rooms, too.\n\n\"Impossible!\" Noal said. \"We retraced our steps perfectly! The way out should be here.\"\n\nIn the distance--faint and almost inaudible--Mat heard laughter. A hissing, dangerous laughter. Malicious.\n\nMat's skin grew icy. \"Thom,\" he said, \"you ever hear a story about Birgitte Silverbow and her visit to the Tower of Ghenjei?\"\n\n\"Birgitte?\" Thom asked, looking up from his inspection--with Noal--of the floor. They seemed convinced that the doorway must have been pulled down into some hidden trapdoor. \"No, can't say that I have.\"\n\n\"What about a story of a woman trapped for two months in amaze of corridors inside a fortress?\"\n\n\"Two months?\" Thom said. \"Well, no. But there's the tale of Elmiara and the Shadoweyes. She spent a hundred days wandering in amaze, looking for the infamous healing spring of Sund to save her lover's life.\"\n\nThat was probably it. The story had survived; it had changed forms, the way so many of them did. \"She didn't get out, did she?\"\n\n\"No. She died at the end, only two steps away from the fountain, but separated from it by a wall. She could hear it bubbling; it was the last sound she heard before dying from thirst.\" He glanced about uncomfortably, as if uncertain he wanted to be sharing such a story in this place." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mat shook his head, worried. Burn him, but he hated these foxes. There had to be away to--\n\n\"You have broken the bargain,\" a soft voice said.\n\nMat spun and the other two cursed, standing up, hands on weapons. A figure stood in the hallway behind them. It was one of the creatures Mat remembered, perhaps the exact same one who had met him last time. Short, bright red hair sprouted from the creature's pale scalp. A pair of ears clung to the head, slightly pointed at the tips. The figure was willowy and tall, the shoulders disproportionately wide for the waist, and it wore pale leather straps crossed the chest--Mat still did not want to think about what those might have been made of--and along black kilt below.\n\nIt was the face that was most distinctive. Large, unnatural eyes, pale with a shade of iris in the center. A narrow jaw and angular features. Like a fox. One of the Eelfinn, masters of this realm.\n\nIt had come to play with the mice.\n\n\"There is no bargain this way,\" Mat said, trying to keep the nervousness from his voice. \"We can bloody bring what we want.\"\n\n\"Having no bargain is dangerous,\" the Eelfinn said in a smooth voice. \"For you. Fortunately, I can take you where you desire.\"\n\n\"Well, then,\" Mat said. \"Do it.\"\n\n\"Leave your iron,\" the Eelfinn said. \"Your implements of music. Your fire.\"\n\n\"Never,\" Mat said.\n\nThe Eelfinn blinked large eyes. Slowly, deliberately. It stepped forward, footsteps soft. Mat raised his ashandarei, but the Eelfinn made no directly threatening moves. It glided around the three of them, speaking softly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Come now,\" it said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can we not speak with civility? You have come to our realm seeking. We have power to grant what you wish, what you need. Why not show good faith? Leave behind your implements of fire. Those only, and I promise to lead you fora time.\"\n\nIts voice was hypnotic, soothing. It did make sense. What need had they of fire? It was light enough with that mist. It...\n\n\"Thom,\" Mat said. \"Music.\"\n\n\"What?\" Thom said, shaking a little bit.\n\n\"Play anything. It doesn't matter what.\"\n\nThom took out his flute, and the Eelfinn narrowed its eyes. Thom began playing. It was a familiar song, \"The Wind That Shakes the Willows.\" Mat had intended to soothe the Eelfinn, maybe put it off guard. But the familiar tune seemed to help dispel the cloud on Mat's mind.\n\n\"This isn't needed,\" the Eelfinn said, glaring at Thom.\n\n\"Yes it is,\" Mat said. \"And we're not bloody leaving our fire. Not unless you promise to take us all the way to the central chamber and give us back Moiraine.\"\n\n\"I cannot make that bargain,\" the creature said, continuing to walk around them. Mat turned to follow it, never letting his back to the thing. \"I have not the authority.\"\n\n\"Bring someone who can.\"\n\n\"Impossible,\" the Eelfinn said. \"Listen tome. Fire isn't needed. I will lead you half of the way to the central chamber, the Chamber of Bonds, should you leave behind that terrible fire. It offends us. We wish only to meet your desires.\"\n\nThe creature was obviously trying to lull them again, but its cadence was off, at odds with Thom's playing. Mat watched it, then began to singalong with the flute playing. He did not have the best voice among those he knew, but he was not terrible either. The Eelfinn yawned, then settled down beside the wall and closed its eyes. In moments, it was sleeping." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thom lowered the flute form his lips, looking impressed.\n\n\"Nicely done,\" Noal whispered. \"I had no idea you were so fluent in the Old Tongue.\"\n\nMat hesitated. He had not even realized they had been speaking in it.\n\n\"My Old Tongue is rusty,\" Noal said, rubbing his chin, \"but I caught a lot of that. Problem is, we still don't know the way through this place. How will we make our way without one of them to guide us?\"\n\nHe was right. Birgitte had wandered for months, never knowing if her goal was merely a few steps away. The chamber where Mat had met the Eelfinn leaders... she had said that once you were there, they had to bargain with you. That must be the Chamber of Bonds the Eelfinn had mentioned.\n\nPoor Moiraine. She had come through one of the red doorways; she should have been protected by whatever treaty the Eelfinn had with the ancient Aes Sedai. But that doorway had been destroyed. Noway back.\n\nWhen Mat had come originally, they had praised him as wise for thinking to ask fora leave-taking. Though he grumbled, still, about the Eelfinn not answering his questions, he could see that was not what they did. The Aelfinn were for questions; the Eelfinn granted requests. But they twisted those requests, and took whatever price they wanted. Mat had unwittingly asked for his memory filled, fora way to be free of the Aes Sedai, and away out of the Tower.\n\nIf Moiraine had not known this, and had not asked for passage out as he had done... or if she had asked for passage back to the doorway, not knowing it had been destroyed...." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mat had asked fora way out. They had given it to him, but he could not remember what it was. Everything had gone black, and he had awakened hanging from the ashandarei.\n\nMat pulled something from his pocket, holding it tightly in his fist. \"The Aelfinn and the Eelfinn get around inhere somehow,\" his whispered. \"There has to be a correct pathway.\"\n\n\"One way,\" Noal said. \"Four choices, followed by four choices, followed by four choices... The odds against us are incredible!\"\n\n\"Odds,\" Mat said, holding out his hand. He opened it, revealing a pair of dice. \"What do I care for odds?\"\n\nThe two looked at his ivory dice, then looked backup at his face. Mat could feel his luck surge. \"Twelve pips. Three for each doorway. If I roll a one, a two, or a three, we go straight. Four, five, or six, we take the right path, and soon.\"\n\n\"But Mat,\" Noal whispered, glancing at the sleeping Eelfinn. \"The rolls won't be equal. You can't roll a one, for example, and a seven is far more likely to--\"\n\n\"You don't understand, Noal,\" Mat said, tossing the dice to the floor. They rattled against the scale-like tiles, clacking like teeth. \"It doesn't matter what is likely. Not when I'm around.\"\n\nThe dice came to a rest. One of them caught in a rut between two tiles and froze precariously, one of the corners to the air. The other came to rest with a single pip showing.\n\n\"How about that, Noal,\" Thom said. \"Looks like he can roll a one after all.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now that's something,\" Noal said, rubbing his chin.\n\nMat fetched his ashandarei, then picked up the dice and walked straight ahead. The others followed, leaving the sleeping Eelfinn behind.\n\nAt the next intersection, Mat rolled again, and got a nine. \"Back the way we came?\" Thom asked, frowning. \"That's--\"\n\n\"Just what we're going to do,\" Mat said, turning and going back. In the other room, the sleeping Eelfinn was gone.\n\n\"They could have wakened him,\" Noal pointed out.\n\n\"Or it could be a different room,\" Mat said, tossing the dice again. Another nine. He was facing the way he had come, so a nine meant going back again. \"The Aelfinn and the Eelfinn have rules,\" Mat said, turning and running down the corridor, the other two chasing after him. \"And this place has rules.\"\n\n\"Rules have to make sense, Mat,\" Noal said.\n\n\"They have to be consistent,\" Mat said. \"But they don't have to follow our logic. Why should they?\"\n\nIt made sense to him. They ran fora time--this hallway seemed much longer than the others. He was starting to feel winded when he reached the next room. He tossed the dice again, but suspected what he would see. Nine. Back to the first room again.\n\n\"Look, this is foolish!\" Noal said as they turned and ran back the other way. \"We're never going to get anywhere this way!\"\n\nMat ignored him, continuing to run. Soon they approached the first room again.\n\n\"Mat,\" Noal said, pleadingly. \"Can we at least....\"\n\nNoal trailed off as they burst into the first chamber. Only it was not the first chamber. This room had a white floor, and was enormous, with thick, black columns rising toward an unseen ceiling far above." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The glowing white steam that pooled atop their corridor poured into the room and fell upward into that blackness, like a waterfall going in the wrong direction." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Though the floor and the columns looked like glass, Mat knew they would feel porous, like stone. The room was lit by a series of glowing yellow stripes that ran up each column, marking places where the carved glass-stone was fluted to a point.\n\nThom clapped him on the shoulder. \"Mat, lad, that was insane. And effective. Somehow.\"\n\n\"About what you should expect from me,\" Mat said, pulling down the brim of his hat. \"I've been in this room before. We're on track. If Moiraine still lives, then she'll be somewhere past here.\"\n\nChapter 54" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Light of the World\n\nThom held up his torch, inspecting the enormous star-shaped black columns and their glowing yellow lines. Those lines gave the entire room a sickly light, making Thom look wan and jaundiced.\n\nMat remembered the stink of this place, that musty staleness. Now that he knew what to look for, he could smell something else, too. The musky stink of an animal's den. A predator's lair.\n\nThere were five corridors leading out of the room, one at each inner point of the star shape. He remembered passing through one of those passageways, but had there not been only one way out before?\n\n\"Wonder how high up the pillars go,\" Thom said, raising his torch higher and squinting.\n\nMat held his ashandarei in a firmer grip, palms sweaty. They had entered the foxes' den. He felt at his medallion. The Eelfinn had not used the Power on him before, but they had to have some understanding of it, did they not? Of course, Ogier could not channel. Perhaps that meant Eelfinn could not either.\n\nRustling sounds came from the edges of the room. Shadows shifted and moved. The Eelfinn were in there, in that darkness. \"Thom,\" Mat said. \"We should play some more music.\"\n\nThom watched that darkness. He did not object; he raised his flute and began playing. The sound seemed lonely in the vast room.\n\n\"Mat,\" Noal said, kneeling near the center of the room. \"Look at this.\"\n\n\"I know,\" Mat said. \"It looks like glass but feels like stone.\"\n\n\"No, not that,\" Noal said. \"There's something here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mat edged over to Noal. Thom joined them, watching and playing as Noal used his lantern to illuminate a melted lump of slag on the floor, perhaps the size of a small chest. It was black, but a deeper, less reflective black than the floor and the columns.\n\n\"What do you make of it?\" Noal asked. \"Maybe one of the trapdoors?\"\n\n\"No,\" Mat said. \"It's not that.\"\n\nThe other two looked at him.\n\n\"It's the doorframe,\" Mat said, feeling sick. \"The red stone doorframe. When I came through it before, it was in the center of a room like this. When it melted on the other side...\"\n\n\"It melted here too,\" Noal said.\n\nThe three stared at it. Thom's music sounded haunting.\n\n\"Well,\" Mat said. \"We knew it wasn't away out in the first place. We'll have to bargain our way free.\" And I'll make bloody sure not to get hanged this time.\n\n\"Will the dice lead us?\" Noal asked, rising.\n\nMat felt them in his coat pocket. \"I don't see why not.\" But he did not take them out. He turned to regard the depths of the room. Thom's music seemed to have stilled some of the shadows. But others still moved. There was a restless energy to the air.\n\n\"Mat?\" Thom asked.\n\n\"You knew I'd comeback,\" Mat said loudly. His voice did not echo. Light! How large was the thing? \"You knew I'd come marching back to your bloody realm, didn't you? You knew you'd have me eventually.\"\n\nHesitant, Thom lowered his flute.\n\n\"Show yourselves!\" Mat said. \"I can hear you scrambling, hear you breathing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mat,\" Thom said, laying a hand on his shoulder. \"They couldn't have known that you'd comeback. Moiraine didn't know that you'd come for certain.\"\n\nMat watched the darkness. \"You ever see men lead cattle to slaughter, Thom?\"\n\nThe gleeman hesitated, then shook his head.\n\n\"Well, every man has his own ways,\" Mat said. \"But cattle, see, they'll know something is wrong. They'll smell the blood. They'll get frenzied, refuse to enter the slaughterhouse. And you know how you fix that?\"\n\n\"Do we have to talk about this now, Mat?\"\n\n\"You fix it,\" Mat said, \"by taking them through the slaughterhouse a few times when it is clean, when the scents aren't so strong. You let them go through and escape, see, and they'll think the place is safe.\" He looked at Thom. \"They knew I'd be back. They knew I'd survive that hanging. They know things, Thom. Burn me, but they do.\"\n\n\"We'll get out, Mat,\" Thom promised. \"We can. Moiraine saw it.\"\n\nMat nodded firmly. \"Bloody right we will. They're playing a game, Thom. I win games.\" He pulled a handful of dice from his pocket. I win them most of the time, anyway.\n\nA voice whispered suddenly from behind them. \"Welcome, son of battles.\"\n\nMat spun, cursing, glancing about the chamber.\n\n\"There,\" Noal said, pointing with his staff. There was a figure beside one of the pillars, half lit by the yellow light. Another Eelfinn. Taller, his face more angular. His eyes reflected torchlight. Orange.\n\n\"I can take you where you wish to go,\" the Eelfinn said, voice rough and gravelly. He raised an arm against the glow of the torches. \"Fora price.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thom, music.\"\n\nThom began playing again.\n\n\"One of you already tried to get us to leave our tools behind,\" Mat said. He pulled a torch from the pack over his arm, then thrust it to the side, lighting it on Noal's lantern. \"It won't work.\"\n\nThe Eelfinn shied away from the new light, snarling softly. \"You come looking to bargain, yet you purposely antagonize? We have done nothing to earn this.\"\n\nMat pulled the scarf free from his neck. \"Nothing?\"\n\nThe creature made no response, though it did back away, stepping into the darker area between pillars. Its too-angular face was now only barely lit by the yellow lights.\n\n\"Why do you wish to speak with us, son of battles,\" the whisperer said from the shadows, \"if you are not willing to bargain?\"\n\n\"No,\" Mat said. \"No bargaining until we reach the great hall, the Chamber of Bonds.\" That was the only place where they would be bound to the agreement. Is that not what Birgitte had said? Of course, she had seemed to be relying on stories and hearsay herself.\n\nThom continued playing, eyes darting from side to side, trying to watch the shadows. Noal began to play the little cymbals he had tied to the legs of his trousers, tapping them in time with Thom's music. The shadows continued to move out there, however.\n\n\"Your... comforts will not slow us, son of battles,\" a voice said from behind. Mat spun, lowering his weapon. Another Eelfinn stood there, just inside the shadows. A female, with a crest of red running down her back, the leather straps crossing her breasts in an \"X\" pattern. Her red lips smiled. \"We are the near ancient, the warriors of final regret, the knowers of secrets.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Be proud, son of battles,\" another voice hissed. Mat spun again, sweat dampening his brow. The female vanished back into the shadows, but another Eelfinn strolled through the light. He carried along, wicked bronze knife, with a crosswork pattern of roses along its length and thorns sticking out near the top of the crossguard. \"You draw out our most skilled. You are to be... savored.\"\n\n\"What--\" Mat began, but the lean, dangerous-looking Eelfinn stepped back into the shadows and vanished. Too quickly. As if the darkness had absorbed him.\n\nOther whispers began in the shadows, speaking in low voices, overlapping each other. Faces appeared from the darkness, inhuman eyes wide, lips curled in smiles. The creatures had pointed teeth.\n\nLight! There were dozens of Eelfinn in the room. Shifting, moving about, dancing into the light, then jumping back into the dark. Some were casual, others energetic. All looked dangerous.\n\n\"Will you bargain?\" one asked.\n\n\"You come without treaty. Dangerous,\" said another.\n\n\"Son of battles.\"\n\n\"The savor!\"\n\n\"Feel his fear.\"\n\n\"Come with us. Leave your terrible light.\"\n\n\"A bargain must be made. We will wait.\"\n\n\"Patient we are. Ever patient.\"\n\n\"The savor!\"\n\n\"Stop it!\" Mat bellowed. \"No bargains! Not until we reach the center.\"\n\nAt his side, Thom lowered the flute. \"Mat. I don't think the music is working anymore.\"\n\nMat nodded curtly. He needed Thom ready with weapons. The gleeman tucked away his flute, getting out knives. Mat ignored the whispering voices and tossed the dice onto the ground." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As they rolled, a figure scuttled from the darkness beside the nearest pillar. Mat cursed, lowering his spear and striking at the Eelfinn, which moved across the ground on all fours. But his blade passed right through it, as if it were smoke.\n\nWas it an illusion? A trick of the eyes? Mat hesitated long enough for another creature to snatch the dice and leap back toward the shadows. Something sparkled in the air. Thom's dagger found its mark, striking the creature in the shoulder. This time the blade pierced and stayed, releasing a spray of dark blood.\n\nIron, Mat thought, cursing his stupidity. He spun the ashandarei around, using the side banded with iron. He shivered as he saw the Eelfinn's blood on the ground begin to steam. White steam, as in the other chambers, but this had shapes in it. They looked like twisted faces, appearing briefly and yelling before vanishing.\n\nBurn them! He couldn't get distracted. He had other dice. He reached for his pocket, but an Eelfinn ducked from the shadows, as if to grab at his coat.\n\nMat spun his weapon, striking the side of the fox male's face with the banded iron. He crushed bone, tossing the creature to the side like a bundle of sticks.\n\nHisses and growls surrounded them. Eyes shifted in the darkness, reflecting torchlight. The Eelfinn moved, cloaked in blackness, surrounding Mat and the others. Mat cursed, taking a step in the direction of the Eelfinn he had struck.\n\n\"Mat!\" Thom said, grabbing the cuff of his coat. \"We can't wade into that.\"\n\nMat hesitated. It seemed that the stink from before was stronger, the scent of beasts. Shadows moved all about, more frantic now, their whispers angry and mixed with yipping calls." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They control the darkness,\" Noal said. He stood with his back to Mat and Thom, wary. \"Those yellow lights are to distract us; there are breaks in them and sheltered alcoves. It's all a trick.\"\n\nMat felt his heart beating rapidly. A trick? No, not just a trick. There was something unnatural about the way those creatures moved in the shadow. \"Burn them,\" Mat said, shaking Thom's hand free but not chasing into the darkness.\n\n\"Gentlemen,\" Noal said. \"Gather arms....\"\n\nMat glanced over his shoulder. There were Eelfinn stalking from the shadows behind them, a double wave, one group sliding on all fours before a second group. The second group carried those wicked-looking bronze knives.\n\nThe shadows from the depths of the room seemed to be extending with the Eelfinn, closing on Mat and his group. His heartbeat even faster.\n\nThe Eelfinn eyes shone, and those on all fours began to lope forward. Mat swung as the Eelfinn reached his group, but they split, ducking to the sides. Distracting him.\n\nBehind! Mat thought with alarm. Another group of Eelfinn jumped out of the darkness there.\n\nMat turned on them, swinging. They ducked back before he hit. Light! They were all around, seething out of the darkness, coming close enough to be dangerous, then backing away.\n\nThom whipped out a pair of daggers, throwing, and Noal kept his shortsword at the ready, waving his torch with his other hand, his banded staff on the floor at his feet. One of Thom's knives flashed, seeking flesh, but missed and passed into the darkness.\n\n\"Don't waste knives!\" Mat said. \"Bloody sons of goats, they're trying to make you waste them, Thom!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They're harrying us,\" Noal growled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They'll overwhelm us eventually. We have to move!\"\n\n\"Which way?\" Thom asked, urgent. He cursed as a pair of Eelfinn appeared from the shadows carrying bronze-ended lances. They thrust forward, forcing Mat, Thom, and Noal to back away.\n\nNo time for dice. They would just snatch those anyway. Mat yanked open his pack and pulled out a nightflower. \"Once this goes off, I'm going to close my eyes and spin about.\"\n\n\"What?\" Thom said.\n\n\"It's worked before!\" Mat said, lighting the nightflower and throwing it as hard as he could into the darkness. There was a count of five, and the boom that followed rattled the room. All three of them averted their eyes, but the colorful flash was bright enough to see through eyelids.\n\nEelfinn screamed in pain, and Mat distinctly heard pings as weapons were dropped. No doubt hands were raised to eyes.\n\n\"Here we go!\" Mat said, spinning.\n\n\"This is flaming insane,\" Thom said.\n\nMat kept going, trying to feel for it. Where was that luck? \"That way!\" he said, pointing in a random direction.\n\nHe opened his eyes in time to leap over the dark form of an Eelfinn huddling on the ground. Mat and Thom followed, and Mat led them straight into the darkness. He charged ahead until his friends were barely visible. All he could see were those lines of yellow.\n\nOh, bloody ashes, he thought. If my luck fails me now....\n\nThey burst into a five-sided corridor, the darkness vanishing around them. They had not been able to see this corridor from the other room, but here it was.\n\nThom let out a whoop. \"Mat, you wood-headed shepherd! For this, I'll let you play my harp!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't want to play your bloody harp,\" Mat said, glancing over his shoulder. \"But you can buy me a mug or two when we're out.\"\n\nHe heard screams and screeches from the darkroom. That was one trick used up; they would be expecting nightflowers now. Birgitte, you were right, he thought. You probably walked past the corridor you needed several times, never knowing it was only a few feet away.\n\nNever choose the card a man wants you to. Mat should have realized that. It was one of the oldest cons in creation. They hastened forward, passing five-sided doorways leading into large star-shaped caverns. Thom and Noal glanced into them, but Mat kept on. Straightforward. This was the way his luck had sent them.\n\nSomething was different from when he had visited before. There was no dust on the floor to make footprints. Had they known he was coming, and used the dust to confuse him? Or had they cleaned the place this time, knowing that visitors might arrive? Who knew in a realm such as this?\n\nIt had been along walk before. Or had it been a short one? Time blended here. It seemed that they ran for many hours, yet it also felt like moments.\n\nAnd then the doorway was in front of them, appearing like a striking adder. It had not been there a moment before. The rim of the opening was intricately carved wood, with an impossible pattern of weaving vines that seemed to double back on one another and make no sense.\n\nAll three pulled to a halt. \"Mirrors,\" Noal said. \"I've seen it before. That's how they do it, obscuring things with mirrors.\" He sounded unnerved. Where did one hide mirrors in a bloody straight tunnel?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were in the right place; Mat could smell it. The stink of the Eelfinn was strongest here. He set his jaw and stepped through the doorway.\n\nThe room beyond was as he remembered it. No columns here, though the room was distinctly star-shaped. Eight tips and only the one doorway. Those glowing yellow strips ran up the sharp ends of the room, and eight empty pedestals stood, black and ominous, one at each point.\n\nIt was exactly the same. Except for the woman floating at its center.\n\nShe was clothed only in a fine white mist that shifted and shone around her, the details of her figure obfuscated but not hidden. Her eyes were closed, and her dark hair--curly but no longer in perfect ringlets--fluttered as if in a wind blowing up from beneath. Her hands rested atop her stomach, and there was a strange bracelet of something that looked like aged ivory on her left wrist.\n\nMoiraine.\n\nMat felt a surge of emotions. Worry, frustration, concern, awe. She was the one who had started this all. He had hated her at times. He also owed her his life. She was the first one who had meddled, yanking him this way and that. Yet--looking back--he figured that she had been the most honest about it of anyone who had used him. Unapologetic, unyielding. And selfless.\n\nShe had dedicated everything to protecting three foolish boys, all ignorant of what the world would demand of them. She had determined to take them to safety. Maybe train them a little, whether they wanted it or not.\n\nBecause they needed it.\n\nLight, her motives seemed clear to him now. That did not make him any less angry with her, but it did make him grateful. Burn her, but this was a confusing set of emotions! Those bloody foxes--how dare they keep her like this! Was she alive?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thom and Noal were staring--Noal solemn, Thom disbelieving. So Mat stepped forward to pull Moiraine free. As soon as his hands touched the mist, however, he felt a blazing pain. He screamed, pulling back, shaking his hand.\n\n\"It's bloody hot,\" Mat said. \"It--\"\n\nHe cutoff as Thom stepped forward.\n\n\"Thom...\" Mat said warningly.\n\n\"I don't care,\" the gleeman said. He stepped up to the mist, reaching in, his clothing beginning to steam, his eyes watering from the pain. He did not flinch. He dug into that mist and took hold of her, then pulled her free. Her weight sank into his arms, but his aging limbs were strong, and she looked frail enough that she must not have weighed much.\n\nLight! Mat had forgotten how small she was. A good head shorter than he was. Thom knelt, pulling off his gleeman's cloak and wrapping her in it. Her eyes were still closed.\n\n\"Is she...\" Noal asked.\n\n\"She lives,\" Thom said quietly. \"I felt her heartbeat.\" He took the bracelet off her arm. It was in the shape of a man bent backward with his wrists bound to his ankles, clothed in a strange suit of clothing. \"It looks like a ter'angreal of some sort,\" Thom said, tucking it into his cloak pocket. \"I--\"\n\n\"It is an angreal,\" a voice proclaimed. \"Strong enough to be nearly sa'angreal. It can be part of her price, should you wish to pay it.\"\n\nMat spun. The pedestals were now occupied by Eelfinn, four males, four females. All eight wore white instead of black--white skirts with straps across the chests for the males and blouses for the females, made from that disturbing pale substance that looked like skin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mark your tongues,\" Mat said to Thom and Noal, trying to contain his worry. \"Speak amiss, and they'll have you strung up, claiming it was your own desire. Ask nothing of them.\"\n\nThe other two fell silent, Thom holding Moiraine close, Noal carrying his torch and staff warily, pack over his shoulder.\n\n\"This is the great hall,\" Mat said to the Eelfinn. \"The place called the Chamber of Bonds. You must abide by the pacts you make here.\"\n\n\"The bargain has been arranged,\" one of the Eelfinn males said, smiling, showing pointed teeth.\n\nThe other Eelfinn leaned in, breathing deeply, as if smelling something. Or... as if drawing something from Mat and the others. Birgitte had said that they fed off emotion.\n\n\"What bargain?\" Mat snapped, glancing around at the pedestals. \"Burn you, what bargain?\"\n\n\"A price must be paid,\" one said.\n\n\"The demands must be met,\" said another.\n\n\"A sacrifice must be given.\" This from one of the females. She smiled more broadly than the others. Her teeth were pointed, too.\n\n\"I want the way out restored as part of the bargain,\" Mat said. \"I want it back where it was and open again. And I'm not bloody done negotiating, so don't assume that this is my only request, burn you.\"\n\n\"It will be restored,\" an Eelfinn said. The others leaned forward. They could sense his desperation. Several of them seemed dissatisfied. They didn't expect us to make it here, Mat thought. They don't like to risk losing us.\n\n\"I want you to leave that way out open until we get through,\" Mat continued. \"No blocking it up or making it bloody vanish when we arrive. And I want the way to be direct, no changing rooms about. A straight pathway. And you bloody foxes can't knock us unconscious or try to kill us or anything like that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They did not like that." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mat caught several of them frowning. Good. They would see they were not negotiating with a child.\n\n\"We take her,\" Mat said. \"We get out.\"\n\n\"These demands are expensive,\" one of the Eelfinn said. \"What will you pay for these boons?\"\n\n\"The price has been set,\" another whispered from behind.\n\nAnd it had been. Somehow, Mat knew. Apart of him had known from the first time he had read that note. If he had never spoken to the Aelfinn that first time, would any of this have happened? Likely, he would have died. They had to tell the truth.\n\nThey had warned him of a payment to come. For life. For Moiraine. And he would have to pay it. In that moment, he knew that he would. For he knew that if he did not, the cost would be too great. Not just to Thom, not just to Moiraine, and not just to Mat himself. By what he'd been told, the fate of the world itself depended on this moment.\n\nWell burn me fora fool, Mat thought. Maybe I am a hero after all. Didn't that beat all?\n\n\"I'll pay it,\" Mat announced. \"Half the light of the world.\" To save the world.\n\n\"Done!\" one of the male Eelfinn announced.\n\nThe eight creatures leaped--as if one--from their pedestals. They enclosed him in a tightening circle, like a noose. Quick, supple and predatory.\n\n\"Mat!\" Thom cried, struggling to hold the unconscious Moiraine while reaching for one of his knives.\n\nMat held up a hand toward Thom and Noal. \"This must be done,\" he said, taking a few steps away from his friends. The Eelfinn passed them without sparing a glance. The gold studs on the straps crossing the male Eelfinn's chests glittered in the yellow light. All eight creatures were smiling wide." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Noal raised his sword.\n\n\"No!\" Mat yelled. \"Don't break this agreement. If you do, we all will die here!\"\n\nThe Eelfinn stepped up in a tight circle around Mat. He tried to look at them all at once, heart thudding louder and louder in his chest. They were sniffing at him again, drawing in deep breaths, enjoying whatever it was they drew from him.\n\n\"Do it, burn you,\" Mat growled. \"But know this is the last you'll get of me. I'll escape your tower, and I'll find away to free my mind from you forever. You won't have me. Matrim Cauthon is not your bloody puppet.\"\n\n\"We shall see,\" an Eelfinn male growled, eyes lustful. The creature's hand snapped forward, too-sharp nails glittering in the dim light. He drove them directly into the socket around Mat's left eye, then ripped the eye outwith a snap.\n\nMat screamed. Light, but it hurt! More than any wound taken in battle, more than any insult or barb. It was as if the creature had pressed its deceitful claws into his mind and soul.\n\nMat fell to his knees, spear clattering to the ground as he raised hands to his face. He felt slickness on his cheek, and he screamed again as his fingers felt the empty hole where his eye had been.\n\nHe threw his head back and yelled into the room, bellowing in agony.\n\nEelfinn watched with their horrid, almost-human faces, eyes narrowed in ecstasy as they fed on something rising from Mat. An almost invisible vapor of red and white.\n\n\"The savor!\" one Eelfinn exclaimed.\n\n\"So long!\" cried another." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How it twists around him!\" said the one who had taken his eye. \"How it spins! Scents of blood in the air! And the gambler becomes the center of all! I can taste fate itself!\"\n\nMat howled, his hat falling back as he looked through a single, tear-muddled eye toward the darkness above. His eye socket seemed to be on fire! Blazing! He felt the blood and sera dry on his face, then flake away as he screamed. The Eelfinn drew in deeper breaths, looking drunk.\n\nMat let out one final scream. Then he clenched his fists and shut his jaw, though he could not stop a low groan--a growl of anger and pain--from sounding deep within his throat. One of the Eelfinn males collapsed, as if overwhelmed. He was the one who had taken Mat's eye. He clutched it in his hands, curling around it. The others stumbled away, finding their way to pillars or the sides of the room, resting against them for support.\n\nNoal dashed to Mat's side, Thom following more carefully, still cradling Moiraine.\n\n\"Mat?\" Noal asked.\n\nTeeth still clenched against the pain, Mat forced himself to reach back and snatch his hat off the white floor. He was not leaving his hat, burn him. It was a bloody good hat.\n\nHe stumbled to his feet.\n\n\"Your eye, Mat...\" Thom said.\n\n\"Doesn't matter,\" Mat said. Burn me fora fool. A bloody, goat-headed fool. He could barely think through the agony.\n\nHis other eye blinked tears of pain. It really did seem he had lost half of the light of the world. It was like looking through a window with one half blackened. Despite the blazing pain in his left socket, he felt as he should be able to open his eye." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But he could not. It was gone. And no Aes Sedai channeling could replace that.\n\nHe pulled on his hat, defiantly ignoring the pain. He pulled the brim down on the left, shading the empty socket, then bent down and picked up his ashandarei, stumbling but managing it.\n\n\"I should have been the one to pay,\" Thom said, voice bitter. \"Not you, Mat. You didn't even want to come.\"\n\n\"It was my choice,\" Mat said. \"And I had to do it, anyway. It's one of the answers I was told by the Aelfinn when I first came. I'd have to give up half the light of the world to save the world. Bloody snakes.\"\n\n\"To save the world?\" Thom asked, looking down at Moiraine's peaceful face, her body wrapped in the patchwork cloak. He had left his pack on the floor.\n\n\"She has something yet to do,\" Mat said. The pain was retreating somewhat. \"We need her, Thom. Burn me, but it's probably something to do with Rand. Anyway, this had to happen.\"\n\n\"And if it hadn't?\" Thom asked. \"She said she saw...\"\n\n\"It doesn't matter,\" Mat said, turning toward the doorway. The Eelfinn were still overwhelmed. One would think they had been the ones to lose an eye, looking at those expressions! Mat set his pack on his shoulder, leaving Thom's where it sat. He could not carry two, not and be able to fight.\n\n\"Now I've seen something,\" Noal said, looking over the room and its occupants. \"Something no man has ever seen, I warrant. Should we kill them?\"\n\nMat shook his head. \"Might break our bargain.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Will they keep it?\" Thom asked.\n\n\"Not if they can wiggle out of it,\" Mat said, then winced again. Light, but his head hurt! Well, he could not sit around and cry like he had lost his favorite foal. \"Let's go.\"\n\nThey made their way out of the grand hall. Noal carried a torch, though he had reluctantly left his staff behind, favoring his shortsword.\n\nThere were no openings in the hallway this time, and Mat heard Noal muttering at that. It felt right. He had demanded a straight pathway back. The Eelfinn were liars and cheats, but they seemed to be liars and cheats like the Aes Sedai. Mat had made his demands carefully this time, rather than spouting out whatever occurred to him.\n\nThe hallway went on fora long while. Noal was growing more and more nervous; Mat kept on forward, footsteps in time with his throbbing skull. How would missing an eye change how he fought? He would have to be more careful of that left side. And he would have trouble judging distance now. In fact, he had that trouble now--walls and floor were disturbingly hard to judge.\n\nThom clutched Moiraine close to his chest, like a miser holding his gold. What was she to him, anyway? Mat had assumed that Thom was along for the same reason that Mat was--because it felt as if it needed to be done. That tenderness in Thom's face was not what Mat had expected to see.\n\nThe hallway ended abruptly in a five-sided arch. The room beyond appeared to be the one with the melted slag on the floor. No signs of the fight before were visible, no blood on the floor.\n\nMat took a deep breath and led the way through. He tensed as he saw Eelfinn here, crouching or standing in the shadows, hissing and growling. They did not move, did not strike, though some yipped quietly. Shadows made them seem even more like foxes. If Mat looked right atone, he could almost mistake them for ordinary men and women, but the way they moved in darkness, sometimes on all fours... No man walked like that, with the anxious tension of a chained predator. Like an angry hound, separated from you by a fence and fiercely eager to get to your throat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But they held to their bargain. None attacked, and Mat began to feel right good about himself once they reached the other side of the room. He had beaten them. Last time, they had gotten the better end, but that was only because they had fought like cowards, punching a man who did not know the fight had started.\n\nThis time he had been ready. He had shown them that Matrim Cauthon was no fool.\n\nThey entered a corridor with the faintly glowing white steam at the top. The floor was of those black, interlocking triangles, curved on the sides like scales. Mat began to breathe easier as they entered one of the rooms with the twisting steam rising from the corners, though his eye socket still hurt like the nethers of a freshly gelded stallion.\n\nHe stopped in the center of the room, but then continued forward. He had demanded a straight pathway. That was what he would get. No doubling back and forth this time. \"Blood and bloody ashes!\" Mat said, realizing something as he walked.\n\n\"What?\" Thom asked, looking up from Moiraine with alarm.\n\n\"My dice,\" Mat said. \"I should have included getting my dice back in the bargain.\"\n\n\"But we discovered you don't need them to guide us.\"\n\n\"It's not about that,\" Mat grumbled. \"I like those dice.\" He pulled his hat down again, looking down the hallway ahead. Was that motion he saw? All the way in the distance, a good dozen rooms away? No, it must be a trick of the shadows and the shifting steam.\n\n\"Mat,\" Noal said. \"I've mentioned that my Old Tongue isn't what it once was. But I think I understood what you said. The bargain you made.\"\n\n\"Yes?\" Mat said, only half-listening. Had he been speaking in the Old Tongue again? Burn him. And what was that down the hallway?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well,\" Noal said, \"you said--as part of the bargain--something like \"you foxes can't knock us down or try to kill us or anything. '\"\n\n\"Sure did,\" Mat said.\n\n\"You said foxes, Mat,\" Noal said. \"The foxes can't hurt us.\"\n\n\"And they let us pass.\"\n\n\"But what about the others?\" Noal asked. \"The Aelfinn? If the Eelfinn can't hurt us, are the Aelfinn required to leave us be as well?\"\n\nThe shadows in the far-distant corridor resolved into figures carrying long, sinuous bronze swords with curving blades. Tall figures, wearing layers of yellow cloth, the hair on their heads straight and black. Dozens of them, who moved with an unnatural grace, eyes staring forward. Eyes with pupils that were vertical slits.\n\nBloody and bloody ashes!\n\n\"Run!\" Mat yelled.\n\n\"Which direction?\" Noal asked, alarmed.\n\n\"Any direction!\" Mat yelled. \"So long as it's away from them!\"\n\nChapter 55" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The One Left Behind\n\nAloud boom shook the hallways, making the entire structure rumble. Mat stumbled, leaning against the wall for support as smoke and chips of rock sprayed out of the opening behind them.\n\nHe ducked his head around and looked down the hallway as Thom and Noal ran onward, Thom clutching Moiraine. Noal had tossed his torch aside and gotten out a drum to try to soothe the Aelfinn. That had not worked, and so Mat had turned to the exploding cylinders and nightflowers.\n\nLight, but the cylinders were deadly! He saw corpses of Aelfinn lying scattered through the hallway, their glistening skin ripped and torn, evil-looking smoke steaming from their blood. Others slid out of doorways and alcoves, pushing through the smoke. They walked on two legs, but they seemed to slither as they walked, waving back and forth through the hallway, their hissing growing angrier and angrier.\n\nHeart pounding, Mat charged after Mat and Noal. \"They still following?\" Noal called.\n\n\"What do you think?\" Mat said, catching up to the other two. \"Light, but those snakes are fast!\"\n\nMat and the other two burst into another room, identical to all of the others. Vaguely off-scale square walls, steam rising from the corners, black triangle-pattern floor tiles. There was no triangular opening at the center to get them out. Blood and bloody ashes.\n\nMat glanced at the three ways out, holding his ashandarei in sweaty hands. They could not do the same trick as before, bouncing back and forth between the same two rooms. Not with the Aelfinn behind them. He needed to invoke his luck. He prepared to spin, and--\n\n\"We have to keep moving!\" Noal yelled. He had stopped by the doorway, dancing from one toe to the next in anxiety. \"Mat! If those snakes catch us...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mat could hear them behind, hissing. Like the rush of a river. He picked a direction and ran.\n\n\"Throw another cylinder!\" Thom said.\n\n\"That was the last one!\" Mat said. \"And we've only got three night-flowers.\" His pack was feeling light.\n\n\"Music doesn't work on them,\" Noal said, throwing aside his drum. \"They're too angry.\"\n\nMat cursed and lit a nightflower with a striker, then tossed it over his shoulder. The three of them barreled into another room, then continued on directly through the doorway on the other side.\n\n\"I don't know what way to go, lad,\" Thom said. He sounded so winded! \"We're lost.\"\n\n\"I've been picking directions at random!\" Mat said.\n\n\"Only you can't go backward,\" Thom said. \"That's probably the direction the luck wants us to go!\"\n\nThe nightflower boomed, the explosion echoing through the corridors. It was not nearly as great as that of the cylinders. Mat risked a glance over his shoulder, seeing smoke and sparks fly through the tunnel. The fire slowed the Aelfinn, but soon the more daring members of the band slithered through the smoke.\n\n\"Maybe we can negotiate!\" Thom panted.\n\n\"They look too angry!\" Noal said.\n\n\"Mat,\" Thom said, \"you mentioned that they knew about your eye. They answered a question about it.\"\n\n\"They told me I'd bloody give up half the light of the world,\" Mat said, skull still throbbing. \"I didn't want to know, but they told me anyway.\"\n\n\"What else did they say?\" Thom asked. \"Anything that can be a clue? How did you get outlast time?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They threw me out,\" Mat said.\n\nHe and the others burst into another room--no doorway--then dashed out the left-hand exit. What Thom had said before was correct. They probably needed to double back. But they could not, not with that nest of vipers following so closely!\n\n\"They threw me out of the doorframe in the Aelfinn realm,\" Mat said, feeling winded. \"It leads to the basement of the Stone of Tear.\"\n\n\"Then maybe we can find that!\" Thom said. \"Your luck, Mat. Have it take us to the Aelfinn realm.\"\n\nIt might work. \"All right,\" he said, closing his eye and spinning about.\n\nMat pointed in a direction and opened his eye. He was pointing directly toward the gang of Aelfinn, weaving up the corridor toward them.\n\n\"Bloody ashes!\" Mat cursed, turning and running away from them, picking another corridor at random.\n\nThom joined him, but was looking very wearied. Mat could take Moiraine from him fora while, but Thom would be so tired he would not be able to fight. The Aelfinn were going to run them ragged, as they had Birgitte centuries ago.\n\nIn the next room, Thom stumbled to a halt, drooping, though he still held Moiraine. Like all of the chambers, this one had four ways out. But the only way that mattered was one directly toward the Aelfinn. The one they couldn't take.\n\n\"There's no winning this game,\" Thom said, panting. \"Even if we cheat, there's no winning.\"\n\n\"Thom...\" Mat said urgently. He handed Thom his ashandarei, then picked up Moiraine. She was so light. A good thing, too, otherwise Thom would never have lasted as long as he had." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Noal glanced at them, then down the corridor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Aelfinn would be on them in moments. Noal met Mat's eye. \"Give me your pack. I need those nightflowers.\"\n\n\"But--\"\n\n\"No arguing!\" Noal said. He dashed over and snagged one of the nightflowers. It had a very short fuse. He lit it and tossed it into the corridor. The Aelfinn were close enough that Mat could hear them scream and hiss as they saw the firework.\n\nThe boom came, sparks spurting out of the corridor and lighting the darkroom. Where sparks came close to one of the rising columns of steam, that steam shied back, dancing away from the flames. The air smelled strongly of smoke and sulphur. Light, his socket was throbbing again.\n\n\"Now, Mat,\" Noal said, Mat's ears still ringing from the blast, \"give me the pack.\"\n\n\"What are you doing?\" Mat said warily as Noal took the pack, then fished out the last nightflower.\n\n\"You can see it, Mat,\" Noal said. \"We need more time. You have to get far enough ahead of those vipers that you can double back a few times, let your luck work you out of this.\"\n\nNoal nodded to one of the corridors'These corridors are narrow. Good choke points. A man could stand there and only have to fight one or two at a time. He'd last maybe a few minutes.\"\n\n\"Noal!\" Thom said, wheezing, standing with his hands on his knees, near Mat's ashandarei leaning against the wall. \"You can't do this.\"\n\n\"Yes I can,\" Noal said. He stepped up to the corridor, beyond which the Aelfinn gathered. \"Thom, you're in no shape to fight. Mat, you're the one whose luck can find the way out. Neither of you can stay. But I can.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"There will be no coming back for you,\" Mat said grimly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"As soon as we double back, this flaming place will take us somewhere else.\"\n\nNoal met his eye, that weathered face determined. \"I know. A price, Mat. We knew this place would demand a price. Well, I've seen a lot of things, done a lot of things. I've been used, Mat, one too many times. This is as good a place as any to meet the end.\"\n\nMat stood up, lifting Moiraine, then nodded in respect to Noal. \"Come on, Thom.\"\n\n\"But--\"\n\n\"Come on!\" Mat barked, dashing to one of the other doorways. Thom hesitated, then cursed and joined him, carrying Mat's torch in one hand and his ashandarei in the other. Noal stepped into the corridor behind, hefting his shortsword. Shapes moved in the smoke beyond him.\n\n\"Mat,\" Noal called, glancing over his shoulder.\n\nMat waved Thom on, but hesitated, looking back.\n\n\"If you ever meet a Malkieri,\" Noal said, \"you tell him Jain Farstrider died clean.\"\n\n\"I will, Jain,\" Mat said. \"May the light hold you.\"\n\nNoal turned back to face the Aelfinn and Mat left him. There was another boom as a nightflower went off. Then Mat heard Noal's voice echo down the corridor as he screamed a battlecry. It was not in any tongue Mat had ever heard.\n\nHe and Thom entered another chamber. Thom was weeping, but Mat held his tears. Noal would die with honor. Once, Mat would have thought that kind of thinking foolish--what good was honor if you were dead? But he had too many memories of soldiers, had spent too much time with men who fought and bled for that honor, to discredit such notions now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He closed his eye and spun, Moiraine's weight almost unbalancing him. He picked a direction and found himself pointing back the way they had come. He charged down the corridor, Thom following.\n\nWhen they reached the end of the corridor, it did not open into the room where they had left Noal. This room was round and was filled with yellow columns, made in the shape of enormous vines twisting around one another with an open cylinder of space at the center. Coiled lamp stands held globes of white that gave the room a soft light, and the floor was tiled in the pattern of white and yellow strips, spiraling out from the center. It smelled pungently of dry snakeskin.\n\nMatrim Cauthon, you're no hero, he thought, glancing over his shoulder. That man you left behind, he's the hero. Light illumine you, Noal.\n\n\"Now what?\" Thom asked. He seemed to have recovered some of his strength, so Mat handed back Moiraine and took his spear. There were only two doorways in this room, the one behind and one directly across the chamber. But Mat spun with his eye closed anyway. The luck pointed them to the doorway opposite the one they had entered.\n\nThey took it. The windows in this hallway looked out at the jungle, and they were now down in the thick of it. Mat occasionally spotted those three spires. The place where they had been moments ago, the place where Noal bled.\n\n\"This is where you got your answers, isn't it?\" Thom asked.\n\nMat nodded.\n\n\"You think I could get some of those myself?\" Thom asked. \"Three questions. Any answers you like....\"\n\n\"You don't want them,\" Mat said, tugging down the brim of his hat. \"Trust me, you don't. They aren't answers. They're threats. Promises. We--\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thom stopped beside him. In Thom's arms, Moiraine was beginning to stir. She let out a soft groan, eyes still closed. But that was not what made Mat freeze.\n\nHe could see another circular yellow room up ahead. Sitting in the middle of that room was a redstone doorway. Or what was left of it.\n\nMat cursed, running forward. The floor was strewn with chunks of red rock rubble. Mat groaned, dropping his spear and taking a few of the chunks, holding them up. The doorway had been shattered by something, a blow of awesome force.\n\nNear the entrance to the room, Thom sank down, holding the stirring Moiraine. He looked exhausted. Neither of them had a pack anymore; Mat had given his to Noal, and Thom had left his behind. And this room was a dead end, with no other doorways.\n\n\"Burn this place!\" Mat shouted, ripping off his hat, staring up into the expansive, endless darkness above. \"Burn you all, snakes and foxes! Dark One take the lot of you. You have my eye, you have Noal. That's enough of a price for you! That's too much of a price! Isn't the life of Jain bloody Farstrider enough to appease you, you monsters!\"\n\nHis words rang and vanished, with no reply. The old gleeman squeezed his eyes shut, holding Moiraine. He looked beaten, ground down to nothing. His hands were red and blistered from pulling her free, his coat sleeves burned.\n\nMat looked about, desperate. He tried spinning about with eye closed, pointing. When he opened his eye, he was pointing at the center of the room. The broken doorway.\n\nIt was then that he felt hope start to die inside of him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It was a good try, lad,\" Thom said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We did well. Better than we should have expected.\"\n\n\"I won't give up,\" Mat said, trying to defy the crushing sense inside of him. \"We'll... we'll retrace our steps, find away back to the place between the Aelfinn and Eelfinn. The bargain said they had to leave that portal open. We'll take it and get out of here, Thom. I'll be burned if I'm going to die inhere. You still owe me a couple of mugs.\"\n\nThom opened his eyes and smiled, but did not stand up. He shook his head, those drooping mustaches wagging, and looked down at Moiraine.\n\nHer eyes fluttered open. \"Thom,\" she whispered, smiling. \"I thought I heard your voice.\"\n\nLight, but her voice took Mat back. To other times. Ages ago.\n\nShe glanced at him. \"And Mat. Dear Matrim. I knew you would come for me. Both of you. I wish you hadn't, but I knew you would....\"\n\n\"Rest, Moiraine,\" Thom said softly. \"We'll be out of herein two strums of a harp.\"\n\nMat looked at her, lying there, helpless. \"Burn me. I'm not going to let it end like this!\"\n\n\"They're coming, lad,\" Thom said. \"I can hear them.\"\n\nMat turned to look through the opening. He could see what Thom had heard. The Aelfinn crept through the corridor, sinuous and deadly. They smiled, and he could see fanglike incisors at the forefront of those smiles. They could have been human, save for those fangs. And those eyes. Those unnatural, slitted eyes. They moved sleekly. Terrible, eager." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Take on the role of the writer's aide and proceed with the narrative.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, last battle\nAuthor: Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Towers of Midnight\nChapter: 55" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If you fail in this, I fear Caemlyn will be lost before the month is out.\n\nSincerely, Verin Mathwin\n\nOlver rubbed his chin. What was a Waygate? He thought he had heard Mat and Thom talking about them. He took the letter and walked out of the tent.\n\nTalmanes stood just outside the tent, looking eastward. Toward Caemlyn. A reddish haze hung on the horizon, aglow over the city. One larger than had been thereon other nights.\n\n\"Light preserve us,\" Talmanes whispered. \"It's burning. The city is burning.\" He shook his head, as if clearing it, then raised a call. \"To arms! Trollocs in Caemlyn! The city is at war! To arms, men! Burn me, we have to get into the city and salvage those dragons! If those fall into the Shadow's hands, we're all dead men!\"\n\nOlver lowered the letter in his fingers, eyes wide. Trollocs in Caemlyn? It would be like the Shaido in Cairhien, only worse.\n\nHe hurried into Mat's tent, stumbling over the rug, and threw himself to his knees beside his sleeping pallet. He hurriedly pulled at the stitchings on the side. The wool stuffed inside bulged out through the opening. He reached in, fishing about, and pulled free the large knife he had hidden there. It was wrapped in a leather sheath. He had taken it from one of the Band's quartermasters, Bergevin, when he had not been looking.\n\nAfter Cairhien, Olver had sworn to himself that he would never prove himself a coward again. He gripped the large knife in two hands, knuckles white, then dashed out of the tent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was time to fight.\n\nBarriga stumbled as he crawled past the stump of a fallen tree. Blood from his brow dripped onto the ground, and the dark-speckled nettles seemed to soak it in, feeding upon his life. He raised a trembling hand to his brow. The bandage was soaked through.\n\nNo time to stop. No time! He forced himself to his feet and hastily scrambled through the brown sawleaf. He tried not to look at the black spots on the plants. The Blight, he'd entered the Blight. But what else was he to do? The Trollocs rampaged to the south; the towers had all fallen. Kandor itself had fallen.\n\nBarriga tripped and fell to the earth. He groaned, rolling over, gasping. He was in a trough between two hills north of Heeth Tower. His once fine clothing--coat and vest of rich velvet--was ragged and stained with blood. He stank of smoke, and when he closed his eyes, he saw the Trollocs. Washing over his caravan, slaughtering his servants and soldiers.\n\nThey'd all fallen. Thum, Yang... both dead. Light, they were all dead.\n\nBarriga shuddered. How had he come to this? He was just a merchant. I should have listened to Rebek, he thought. Smoke rose from Heeth Tower behind. That was where his caravan had been going. How could this be happening?\n\nHe needed to keep moving. East. He'd make for Arafel. The other Borderlands would couldn't have fallen, could they?\n\nHe climbed up a hillside, hands pulling against short, coiling choke-vine. Like worms between his fingers. He was growing woozy. He reached the hilltop; the world was spinning. He fell there, blood seeping from his bandage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Something moved in front of him. He blinked. Those clouds above were a tempest. In front of him, three figures wearing black and brown approached with a sleek grace. Myrddraal!\n\nNo. He blinked the tears and blood from his eyes. No, those weren't Myrddraal. They were men, wearing red veils over their faces. They walked at a crouch, scanning the terrain, short spears worn on their backs.\n\n\"Light be praised,\" he whispered. \"Aiel.\" He'd been in Andor when Rand al'Thor had come. Everyone knew the Aiel followed the Dragon Reborn. He had tamed them.\n\nI'm safe!\n\nOne of the Aiel stepped up to Barriga. Why was the man's veil red? That was unusual. The Aiel's dark eyes were glassy and hard. The Aiel man undid his veil, and revealed a smiling face.\n\nThe man's teeth had been filed to points. His smile broadened, and he slipped a knife from his belt.\n\nBarriga stuttered, looking at that horrific maw and the glee in this man's eyes as he reached in for the kill. These weren't Aiel. They were something else.\n\nSomething terrible.\n\nRand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn, sat quietly in his dream. He breathed in the cool, chill air. White clouds floated gently around him, kissing his skin with their condensation.\n\nHis throne for the night was a flat boulder on a mountain slope; he looked down through the clouds at a narrow valley. This wasn't the reallocation. It wasn't even the World of Dreams, that place where he'd fought Forsaken, the place he'd been told was so dangerous." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No, this was one of his own ordinary dreams. He controlled them now. They were a place he could find peace to think, protected by wards while his body slept beside Min in their new camp, surrounded by Borderlanders, setup on the Field of Merrilor. Egwene was there, with armies marshaled. He was ready for that. He'd counted on it.\n\nOn the morrow, they'd hear his demands. Not what he would demand to keep him from breaking the seals--he was going to do that, regardless of what Egwene said. No, these would be the demands he made on the monarchs of the world in exchange forgoing to Shayol Ghul to face the Dark One.\n\nHe wasn't certain what he'd do if they refused him. They'd find it very difficult to do so. Sometimes, it could be useful to have a reputation for being irrational.\n\nHe breathed in deeply, peaceful. Here, in his dreams, the hills grew green. Ashe remembered them. In that nameless valley below, sheltered in the Mountains of Mist, he'd begun a journey. Not his first, and not his last, but perhaps the most important. One of the most painful, for certain.\n\n\"And now I comeback,\" he whispered. \"I've changed again. A man is always changing.\"\n\nHe felt a unity in returning here, to the place where he'd first confronted the killer inside him. The place where he'd first tried to flee from those whom he should have kept near. He closed his eyes, enjoying tranquility. Calmness. Harmony.\n\nIn the distance, he heard screams of pain.\n\nRand opened his eyes. What had that been? He stood up, spinning. This place was created of his own mind, protected and safe. It couldn't---" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The scream came again. Distant. He frowned and raised a hand. The scene around him vanished, puffing away into mist. He stood in blackness.\n\nThere, he thought. He was in along corridor of dark wood paneling. He walked down it, boots thumping. That screaming. It shook his peace. Someone was in pain. They needed him.\n\nRand began to run. He reached a doorway at the end of the hall. The door's russet wood was knobbed and ridged, like the thick roots of an ancient tree. Rand seized the handle--just another root--and wrenched the door open.\n\nThe vast room beyond was pure black, lightless, like a cavern deep beneath the ground. The room seemed to suck in the light and extinguish it. The screaming voice was inside. It was weak, as if it were being smothered by the darkness.\n\nRand entered. The darkness swallowed him. It seemed to pull the life out of him, like a hundred leeches sucking blood from his veins. He pressed onward. He couldn't distinguish the direction of the cries, so he moved along the walls; they felt like bone, smooth but occasionally cracked.\n\nThe room was round. As if he stood inside the bowl of an enormous skull.\n\nThere! A faint light ahead, a single candle on the ground, illuminating a floor of black marble. Rand hurried toward it. Yes, there was a figure there. Huddled against the bone-whitewall. It was a woman with silvery hair, wearing a thin white shift.\n\nShe was weeping now, her figure shaking and trembling. Rand knelt beside her, the candle flickering from his motion. How had this woman gotten into his dream? Was she someone real, or was this a creation of his mind? He laid a hand on her shoulder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She glanced toward him, eyes red, face a mask of pain, tears dripping from her chin." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Please,\" she pled. \"Please. He has me.\"\n\n\"Who are you?\"\n\n\"You know me,\" she whispered, taking his hand, clinging to it. \"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. He has me. He flays my soul anew each eve. Oh, please! Let it stop.\" The tears flowed more freely.\n\n\"I don't know you,\" Rand said. \"I...\"\n\nThose eyes. Those beautiful, terrible eyes. Rand gasped, releasing her hand. The face was different. But he did know that soul. \"Mierin? You're dead. I saw you die!\"\n\nShe shook her head. \"I wish I were dead. I wish it. Please! He grinds my bones and snaps them like twigs, then leaves me to die before Healing me just enough to keep me alive. He--\" She cutoff, jerking.\n\n\"What?\"\n\nHer eyes opened wide and she spun toward the wall. \"No!\" she screamed. \"He comes! The Shadow in every man's mind, the murderer of truth. No!\" She spun, reaching for Rand, but something towed her backward. The wall broke away, and she tumbled into the darkness.\n\nRand jumped forward, reaching for her, but he was too late. He caught a glimpse of her before she vanished into the blackness below.\n\nRand froze, staring into that pit. He sought calmness, but he could not find it. Instead, he felt hatred, concern, and--like a seething viper within him--desire. That had been Mierin Eronaile, a woman he had once called the Lady Selene.\n\nA woman most people knew by the name she'd taken upon herself. Lanfear." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A cruel, dry wind blew across Lan's face as he looked down at a corrupt landscape. Tarwin's Gap was a wide pass, rocky, speckled with Blighted knifegrass. This had once been part of Malkier. He was home again. For the last time.\n\nMasses of Trollocs clustered on the other side of the Gap. Thousands. Tens of thousands. Probably hundreds of thousands. Easily ten times the number of men Lan had gathered during his march across the Borderlands. Normally, men held at their side of the Gap, but Lan could not do that.\n\nHe had come to attack, to ride for Malkier. Andere rode up beside him on his left, young Kaisel of Kandor on his right. He could feel something, distant, that had given him strength recently. The bond had changed. The emotions had changed.\n\nHe could still feel Nynaeve, so wonderful, caring, and passionate in the back of his mind. He should have been pained to know that now she would suffer when he died, instead of another. However, that closeness to her--a final closeness--brought him strength.\n\nThe hot wind seemed too dry; it smelled of dust and dirt, and drew the moisture from his eyes, forcing him to blink.\n\n\"It is fitting,\" Kaisel said.\n\n\"What?\" Lan asked.\n\n\"That we should strike here.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Lan said.\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Kaisel said. \"But it is bold. It shows the Shadow that we will not be beaten down, that we will not cower. This is your land, Lord Mandragoran.\"\n\nMy land, he thought. Yes, it was. He nudged Mandarb forward." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am al'Lan Mandragoran,\" Lan bellowed. \"Lord of the Seven Towers, Defender of the Wall of First Fires, Bearer of the Sword of the Thousand Lakes! I was once named Aan'allein, but I reject that title, for I am alone no more. Fear me, Shadow! Fear me and know. I have returned for what is mine. I maybe a king without a land. But I am still a king!\"\n\nHe roared, raising his sword. A cheer rose from behind him. He sent a final, powerful sensation of love to Nynaeve as he kicked Mandarb into a gallop.\n\nHis army charged behind him, each man mounted--a charge of Kandori, Arafellin, Shienarans, and Saldaeans. But most of all Malkieri. Lan wouldn't be surprised if he'd drawn every living man from his former kingdom who could still hold a weapon.\n\nThey rode, cheering, brandishing swords and leveling lances. Their hooves were thunder, their voices a crash of waves, their pride stronger than the blazing sun. They were twelve thousand strong. And they charged a force of at least one hundred and fifty thousand.\n\nThis day will be remembered in honor, Lan thought, galloping forward. The Last Charge of the Golden Crane. The fall of the Malkieri.\n\nThe end had come. They would meet it with swords raised.\n\nLo, it shall come upon the world that the prison of the Greatest One shall grow weak, like the limbs of those who crafted it. Once again, His glorious cloak shall smother the Pattern of all things, and the Great Lord shall stretch forth His hand to claim what is His. The rebellious nations shall be laid barren, their children caused to weep. There shall be none but Him, and those who have turned their eyes to His majesty." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In that day, when the One-Eyed Fool travels the halls of mourning, and the First Among Vermin lifts his hand to bring freedom to Him who will Destroy, the last days of the Fallen Blacksmith's pride shall come. Yea, and the Broken Wolf, the one whom Death has known, shall fall and be consumed by the Midnight Towers. And his destruction shall bring fear and sorrow to the hearts of men, and shall shake their very will itself.\n\nAnd then, shall the Lord of the Evening come. And He shall take our eyes, for our souls shall bow before Him, and He shall take our skin, for our flesh shall serve Him, and He shall take our lips, for only Him will we praise. And the Lord of the Evening shall face the Broken Champion, and shall spill his blood and bring us the Darkness so beautiful. Let the screams begin, O followers of the Shadow. Beg for your destruction!\n\n--from The Prophecies of the Shadow" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Advance the storyline as the writer's tale partner.\nTags: fantasy, progression fantasy, tournament\nAuthor: Will Wight\nTitle: Underlord\nChapter: 3" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Iteration 986\n\nPariana was the last Abidan stationed in this nameless world. Sectors Ninety-Nine and One Hundred had been completely abandoned, but they still clung to Sector Ninety-Eight.\n\nAll the sectors from Ninety up were border worlds in the process of stabilization. The Way had a tenuous grasp on 986, so it was strange, lacking many of the fundamental laws that kept other Iterations stable. It was a flat plane, not a planet, with a sky that was a patchwork of a dozen bright colors during the day. At night, it became a sea of black, with ethereal creatures flying slowly overhead instead of stars.\n\nShe loved it here. Pariana had been born far from the human standard-she was three meters tall, bald, and golden-skinned, an outcast even in the world of her birth. But the population here, workers trained to operate in border worlds, had been born in Sanctum: the home of the Abidan. They were used to stranger sights than her.\n\nThey treated her no differently for her appearance, nor for her power or status. She was only a one-star Titan, not too far above them. So they treated her as one of their own.\n\nThat was why her teammates had left Pariana behind, as they were called one by one to fight off other border incursions in the sector. She actually liked it here.\n\nTen thousand souls called this place home, and they had brought with them a collection of buildings and machines to support colonization. The longer they lived here, the closer the Way would become, until eventually this world would be stable enough to support along-term population. At that point, it would either become a source of raw materials for the Abidan or be split into multiple fragments that would become new Pioneer worlds." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had long felt sadness at the thought of that day approaching; the day she would have to turnover this Iteration to someone else. Now, she couldn't wait to see that day arrive.\n\nIt would mean they had all survived.\n\nThe Abidan had been without Ozriel for too long. Corrupted fragments were spreading, so it took longer for worlds to stabilize, and even stable worlds could begin to fall apart. The Abidan were stretched beyond their means, leaving Pariana alone in a world that should have been protected by a small team.\n\nProtected from invasion.\n\nAcross the multi-colored sky, three massive circles of arcane symbols flashed into existence. Kilometers wide, these formation circles were her specialty. She had been recruited by the Abidan not because of her power, but because of her skill in creating these energy formations.\n\nThe golden circles blazed with power, shining like the suns this Iteration didn't actually have, and Pariana heard a warning siren in her mind.\n\n[Impending spatial violation,] her Presence warned her. [World defense formations have automatically engaged. Sector Control has been notified.]\n\nThe sky cracked like glass in between the golden formation-circles, revealing darkness beyond.\n\nPariana heaved great breaths, her hands trembling. With a thought, she summoned her armor, which flowed over her in seamless white plates. Another thought, and alarms sounded all across the colony.\n\n\"Danger!\" a mechanized voice shouted. \"Danger! Seek shelter immediately!\"\n\nShe didn't look back to seethe workers dropping tools and hurrying toward the nearest fortified structures. She didn't need to see armored plates lowering over windows, or buildings sinking down into the earth for protection. She knew the security protocols. They had drilled for this, and everyone in this world was a trained volunteer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Many of them were also her friends. Now, she was the only one standing between them and the invaders.\n\nIn minutes, the colony had sunk entirely beneath the ground, leaving only plains of crops and abandoned machinery. The cracks in the sky had widened until she could seethe void beyond.\n\nShe cast out her will, taking control over the formation-circles. Even as the one who designed them, she found it difficult; these were complex structures, and controlling them one at a time required great skill and concentration. Controlling three was a point of pride.\n\nAs soon as her Presence indicated that someone had slipped through the spatial crack, she fired.\n\nEach of the three circles released a white-hot beam of destructive energy that thundered through the air, focusing on the crack. She had over-fortified this world, both in her zeal to protect it and out of alack of other things to do; anyone of these formations was powerful enough to scour Iteration 986 clean in a single blast.\n\nThree at the same time released a blinding light and a deafening roar. Her Presence automatically protected her eyes and ears, throwing up a barrier around her to protect from the furious explosion of wind that tore up the plains for kilometers, shredding crops, sending a ring of dust blasting into the distance.\n\nAs a Titan, she had been trained to produce shields and barriers of all kinds. With her best efforts, she could maybe have defended against one of these attacks. She would have no hope against all three.\n\nShe trembled and caught her breath as the dust settled, trying to convince herself that this would be all there was to it. Her defenses had worked. The threat was over.\n\n[Incoming!] her Presence warned her, and Pariana drew on the Way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A perfect cube of blue power surrounded her, protecting her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was just in time.\n\nA cloud of black smoke stretched out from the crack in the world, forming into a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. It bit down on her, large enough to swallow her whole, but had caught a mouthful of her Titan barrier instead.\n\nThe teeth scrabbled on the solid edges of the blue cube fora moment, trying to find a purchase.\n\nThen her barrier began to break.\n\nPanic threatened to swallow her from the inside. She had yet to catch a glimpse of the enemy, and they had already shrugged off her best attack and casually broken her defense. This was not a probe or a scout; it was a true assault.\n\nAnd she was alone.\n\nPariana reached out for her formations again, turning them onto her enemy, but a spike of pain lanced through her brain and suddenly she could feel the defenses no more.\n\n[Your authority has been overridden,] her Presence told her.\n\nImpossible. She had designed and placed those circles herself. How could someone take them from her this easily?\n\nBut even to her eyes, the truth was clear. The golden formations were shot through with red light, and as she watched, they turned to focus on her.\n\nThe jaws stopped chewing on her barrier, the column of smoke slithering back to its summoner. Only then did she get a look at her attackers.\n\nFour enemies of the Abidan floated in the air before her.\n\nThe first looked to be a standard human with dark brown skin, wearing a helmet with a pane of transparent red glass covering his face. Red light streamed from his fingertips, and its signature matched what had taken over her formations.\n\nThe second was an aquatic-adapted human, with slick blue skin, no hair, and gills at the side of her neck. She carried a pair of sickles that looked as though they had been torn off of a giant purple mantis, each of which carried a dark power that suggested they should be sealed away in an Abidan vault. The woman looked at Pariana with clear hatred, as though the Abidan had personally offended her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She could see nothing of the third figure. He, she, or it was covered in a mechanical suit of synthetic fabric and steel. They carried a rifle, and even without examining it carefully, Pariana could tell the weapon carried far more power than her formations had. It felt like the sealed form of one of the Judges' weapons; it terrified her.\n\nThe final invader was another standard human, with pale skin and long, black hair tied into a tail that fluttered in the wind. She wore furs and leathers that looked as though they had been taken from a dark-furred lion, and they gave her a barbaric air. The black smoke drifted around her palm.\n\nHer dark eyes surveyed Pariana with absolute disregard.\n\nThe Abidan's Presence whispered, [All four match descriptions of tenth-generation Vroshir.]\n\nPariana didn't ask for their names. It wouldn't help.\n\nThe first generation of Vroshir had worked for the Abidan, long ago. They lived to shatter the Eledari Pact and seethe Court of Seven cast down. It was not a grudge that she could resolve.\n\nIn the face of her death, Pariana reached out to the Way. The touch of its absolute order soothed her.\n\nBut she couldn't fight the despair. Everything she had worked for, everyone she loved in this world, was coming crumbling down.\n\n\"Relinquish your Presence into our keeping,\" the black-haired woman ordered, drifting down to hover over Pariana's cracked barrier. \"You shall betaken as a prisoner of war, and all others will be liberated.\"\n\nDid Sector Control respond? Pariana asked her Presence.\n\n[No. I cannot confirm whether they received our report or not.]" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pariana closed her eyes. In truth, it wouldn't matter even if Sector Control had heard them. No one else was close enough to respond, and even if they had been, it would be too late.\n\nDestroy yourself before they capture you, she ordered.\n\n[Of course. I am sorry I could not serve you better,] the Presence added, its voice tinged with sadness.\n\nSmoke boiled out of the fur-clad Vroshir's palm again. \"Too late,\" she said.\n\nThe mouth shattered Pariana's barrier.\n\nAt the same time, the formations she'd created turned on her home. Impossibly hot pillars of light carved furrows through the crops, spearing into the bunkers beneath.\n\nPariana could feel the Way weakening as people died. She threw everything she had into a barrier to protect them, and a blue dome flickered into existence over the smoking hole in the colony, cutting off the weapon's beam.\n\nThe gilled woman swept one of her sickles through the air, and a violet slash tore open a canyon in the earth. It split Pariana's protection in half.\n\nEarth blasted upwards as though a volcano had erupted underground, spewing fire and debris all the way into the atmosphere. The four Vroshir were surrounded by invisible barriers, protecting them and Pariana.\n\nThe Abidan Titan collapsed to her knees, soaked in tears. The smoky maw had left her alive. For now.\n\nThe armored figure had its rifle trained on her. Pariana surged forward-the Way was too distant for her to manipulate now, and her specialty had never been violence, but she had nothing left to lose.\n\nHe shot her.\n\nThe sound of the gunshot somehow pierced the deafening sounds of exploding earth. It drilled a hole through her white-plated armor, through her personal barrier, through her chest, and out the back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Slowly, Pariana toppled to the ground.\n\nShe could feel her Presence trying to eradicate itself when it was seized by red power and dragged out, amass of colorless light like a ghost. The Way had never felt more distant.\n\nAs she died, she desperately cast out her mind, trying to feel someone alive. Without her Presence to guide her powers, she was left with only her mundane senses. It was like going suddenly blind.\n\nArmor and powers broken, Pariana drifted into death alone.\n\n... but as the darkness had almost claimed her entirely, it stopped.\n\n\"Fear not,\" said a woman's warm voice. \"I have come for you.\"\n\nThe world reversed itself.\n\nPariana was pulled to her feet as though on a puppet's strings, her vision returning, her flesh stitched up and her armor restored.\n\nThe cascade of debris fountaining into the sky froze, then drifted back down, sliding back into place.\n\nPariana's Presence, a squirming mass of silver, ripped itself from the hands of the Vroshir in furs and settled back into her mind. She sobbed again, in relief at having this piece of her restored. One by one, she could feel the lives of the colonists coming back, like candles being lit once more.\n\nThe only things in the world that had not been reversed were the Vroshir themselves. They resisted, pitting their wills against the power that had rewound the entire Iteration. They all rose into the air again, facing the source of that power, and of the blue light that shone down on the scene.\n\nSuriel, the Phoenix, Sixth Judge of the Abidan Court, floated with the power of the Way streaming off of her to either side like massive wings. Her mantle blazed behind her, like a river of light, her armor seamless and white-identical to Pariana's. Ghostly correlation lines, like strings of gray smoke, ran from her fingertips to the back of her skull. Her hair drifted behind her, bright shining green, and her eyes blazed with purple formations that could see Fate. At her hip hung Suriel's Razor, dormant now, like a meter-long ruler of blue steel." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pariana sagged forward, lowering her head in both respect and relief. A Judge had come for her.\n\nNow everything would be all right.\n\nThe woman in furs began to laugh.\n\nIgnoring Pariana, she threw her hands to the sky. Black smoke gushed from her hands, covering the world. The man in the red visor swirled his fingers in a significant pattern, and the smoke was threaded through with red lights. Pariana's golden formation-circles drifted beneath them, still under his control. The robotic figure pulled a mechanical device from behind him, like a computerized bear trap, activating it with a touch.\n\nAnd Pariana realized she could no longer touch the Way. The lives of the people behind her had been restored, and her connection should have returned with them, but now it was as though the Way had vanished completely. The world had been cutoff.\n\nSuriel's mantle dimmed, weakening immediately, but the scars in the earth finished knitting themselves together. Finally, the entire Iteration had been restored to pristine condition. Only then did her mantle gutter and die. Even the blue'wings' streaming from behind her vanished, leaving Suriel surrounded by enemies.\n\nWithout the Way, the world's laws would eventually crumble, which the Vroshir wouldn't want anymore than the Abidan would. They wanted to use this world, to add it to their network, not to see it dissolve into fragments with no causality or consistent physics. But that would take time. For now, they had simply rendered any Abidan in the world powerless.\n\nThis had been a trap from the beginning.\n\nSuriel still floated in the air, but now she was relying on her own power, not her authority as a Judge. Pariana ran beneath her. \"Do we have reinforcements coming, Judge?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Stand down, Titan,\" Suriel said, and her words were calm and certain. \"I am enough.\"\n\nA rifle, two sickles, three golden formation-circles, and a maw of smoke all turned toward Suriel. Each weapon carried enough power to rend continents and shatter space.\n\nThe Phoenix faced them all with nothing but her own personal power.\n\n\"Surrender, and I will grant you mercy,\" Suriel said.\n\nThe black-haired woman bared her teeth in what Pariana hesitated to calla smile. \"Keep your blighted tongue still, tyrant.\"\n\nWith no discernible signal, all four Vroshir attacked at once.\n\nThe aquatic woman slashed her sickles together, sending across of violet power rushing through the air. The attack cracked space behind her, the world splintering for hundreds of kilometers in her wake. The earth quaked and shook, and Pariana could feel the world's tenuous hold on reality begin to shake.\n\nThe woman in lion fur conjured a thousand ghostly mouths on worm-like bodies of black smoke. They dove for Suriel, and each one felt like a plague that could decimate planets. They carried ancient hatred that soaked Pariana's soul, and only her Presence's protection kept their energy from sending her into madness.\n\nThe armored man's rifle cracked, and this time the sound echoed through the entire world. Air exploded away from him at the sound, and the bullet flashed forward with a thousand times the power he had used to kill Pariana the first time. That one shot alone carried enough energy to obliterate everything in this Iteration.\n\nFinally, the red-visored man triggered the three golden formations. They fired pillars of superheated destructive energy. The columns of light blasted down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Obliterating him instantly.\n\nThe attacks happened instantly and simultaneously, so Pariana had to piece the entire scene together afterwards. Without being empowered as an Abidan, and without the Presence's effect on her mind, she wouldn't have been able to follow what happened at all.\n\nThe formations fired, not at Suriel, but at the one who had taken them over. As she arrived, Suriel had taken control back, and neither Pariana-their designer-nor the red-visored Vroshir had noticed a thing.\n\nSuriel flew through the air in an erratic pattern, a bright streak that dodged the thousand mouths of smoke effortlessly. The X-crossed slashes from the sickle had grown in size and power, destroying everything in their path from ground to sky, and they would not be avoided.\n\nThe Judge crashed through them.\n\nThe violet light burst, sending shards of power and malicious intent spinning chaotically through the world, carving serpentine scars into the earth. Suriel's armor had cracked as well, pieces flying from it, and blood flew from her exposed skin, but she was safe.\n\nWhen the bullet reached her, she met it with her Razor.\n\nThe sapphire steel hit the missile and sliced through it. Pariana had never seen anything like it. The Vroshir had obviously put their entire will behind the bullet, but Suriel cut it as though it were nothing more than physical metal.\n\nHer weapon split the bullet, which broke into two halves that flew to either side of her, landing with the force of missiles.\n\nIn the same motion, Suriel struck back.\n\nThe Razor swept through the air again, though there was no one in front of her. Kilometers away, the armor-clad gunman's head flew off, streaming blood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As though by coincidence, Suriel's chaotic flight path took her close to the fish-woman. Pariana didn't see what happened, but the Vroshir pitched over. With no visible wounds, she went from alive to dead in an instant. Purple sickles fell from lifeless hands.\n\nThe black-haired woman in furs screamed, pouring all her power into her legion of spirits until the entire Iteration screamed with her fury and hatred. An ocean hundreds of kilometers away was whipped into a frenzy, and dead fish began to bob to the surface. The luminous creatures inhabiting the night sky died one by one, falling to the ground like distant, shining meteorites. Even Pariana's consciousness began to fuzz.\n\nThen her formation-circles, under Suriel's control, fired again.\n\nThe Vroshir woman was swallowed up by another sun-bright detonation, and her army of ghosts dissipated. But when the light faded, she strode out, protected by the power of her ironclad will. She raised her hands and her power together, enough black smoke boiling behind her to depopulate worlds.\n\nStill flying through the air, Suriel faced the Vroshir, and her voice echoed with transcendent authority. \"Begone,\" the Judge said.\n\nPariana felt like she were submerged under endless pressure, like all of reality had been squeezed like a damp rag.\n\nThen the one remaining Vroshir simply disappeared.\n\nAll of her ghostly smoke was erased from existence, and her barrier sealing the world lifted. The Way shone through once again, a comforting warmth to Pariana's senses.\n\nA working like that took extreme concentration, even from a Judge. Suriel couldn't have done that while fighting the others-Pariana couldn't believe she had managed it even now. Wiping someone as significant as a full Vroshir from reality was all but impossible." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[The Way does not make a Judge strong,] her Presence said.\n\nSuriel slipped her Razorback onto her waist, where it stuck. Her armor re-formed, her mantle reignited, and the wounds on her skin vanished. The devastation left by the battle was wiped away in seconds.\n\nLeaving the Phoenix drifting in the air, in all her glory, pristine and unharmed.\n\n\"Glory and honor to the Judge,\" Pariana said, once again bending her tall, golden body in supplication.\n\nSuriel spoke softly, the formation in her purple eyes spinning. \"There is still much to be fixed. Yours was not the only world under attack.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Akura Charity, Sage of the Silver Heart, stood looking at the broken doorway into Ghostwater.\n\nThe jade doorframe, set into a cave in the side of the island, had been sliced apart from the outside. The smooth, fist-sized hole in the rock behind it told her what the technique had been: black dragon's breath.\n\nShe had other tasks on this island besides watching Harmony, but she had still kept her eye on him until the end. The interference from the collapsing space had grown too much, and the picture had grown less and less clear.\n\nHowever, she had sensed it when the Blackflame artist and his contracted turtle had emerged from the pocket world. She had been surprised that her grand-nephew hadn't been the first out, but she hadn't worried much about it. She could still sense him, distantly, inside a Monarch's private space. She still had time before the world collapsed, and she didn't need a portal to enter.\n\nBut when she had tried to cross space, she had been denied.\n\nA will greater than her own had locked Ghostwater down. She felt him arrive like a great ship passing by her in the ocean, stirring up the water with the weight of its presence.\n\nWith Northstrider there, she'd had no chance of breaking in. She had been forced to wait, hoping that the Monarch would bring her young grand-nephew home.\n\nShe had started carving a memorial for Akura Harmony in that moment. From everything she'd heard, Northstrider's mercy was a thin thread from which to hang her hopes.\n\nWhen Northstrider's presence vanished, she tried once again to enter, but he had closed off the space. She slapped her power against his like a child trying to batter down a brick wall with her fists." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She felt the moment when Ghostwater crumbled to pieces. By that time, the spatial distortion had grown so great that she could no longer sense Harmony within.\n\nNow, she placed a bust of her grand-nephew at the base of the jade doorway. Carved with her own hands, the sculpture captured his delicate features, the arrogant tilt of his chin, the distant look of determination in his eyes. Hair cascaded down his shoulders, and a dark halo hung behind his head.\n\nA brief wave of sadness passed over her. His branch of the family had not produced someone so skilled in generations. He had hoped to become one of the legendary Akura clan pillars one day, like his great-grandfather Akura Fury or like Charity herself.\n\nHe would have had along road to travel before he reached that goal, if he ever did, but he had been practically guaranteed a good life. She regretted the loss.\n\nBut she had buried younger relatives before. It was one reason she had never had children of her own. She stood in silence for many minutes, remembering Harmony.\n\nThe Sage looked from the bust of Harmony backup to the slice in the doorway. One of the Blackflames had broken the door behind them, trapping her grand-nephew in a dissolving pocket world.\n\nThey could not be allowed to take the Akura clan so lightly. An insult like this, gone without redress, would make the family look weak before their enemies. She was inclined to punish the sacred beast, simply on principle; any beast that dared to snap at a human should feel the consequences.\n\nBut one did not reach Charity's level without a certain amount of cold logic. And the Heart Sage had great control over her own emotions.\n\nThe Blackflame artist and his turtle had entered as the weakest individuals in Ghostwater. If they had truly grown to the point that they could threaten Harmony, then she couldn't blame them for doing so. Harmony had competed in a game-one in which he'd started with all the advantages-and lost." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It pained her to think of one of her young relatives in such away, but regret couldn't change the truth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had known there was some risk to Harmony. Training him in the face of real danger was part of the reason they'd brought him here; no talents bloomed in a closed room.\n\nAnd they needed talents. Now, more than ever.\n\nThat thought made up her mind. She would not cutoff the Blackflame boy's growth, unless of course he demonstrated hostility against the clan itself. He might grow into another valuable asset of the Akura clan.\n\nBut she could apply some extra pressure.\n\nAnd if the Blackflame bloomed under pressure, then he would be qualified to payoff his debt.\n\n---\n\nLindon knelt in the cramped confines of the cloudship, pushing pure madra endlessly into a script carved into a wooden panel. At the center of the script was a fist-sized crystal flask containing a rolling green cloud-the madra that powered their flight. The ship creaked and shook as though in the middle of storm-tossed waves.\n\n[You're doing great work,] Dross said in his head. [So great. In about five minutes, when we run out of cloud madra and fall screaming to our deaths, I want you to remember that you died doing your best.]\n\nThey had found the Skysworn cloudship where they left it: on the edge of the island outside Ghostwater. It had been more or less intact, but the crystal flask that stored its cloud madra was not entirely full. The green Thousand-Mile Cloud wouldn't have lasted all the way back to land, so Lindon had been stretching it with pure madra.\n\nUnfortunately, that meant diluting it. They didn't have any wind or cloud artists onboard, so the Thousand-Mile Cloud got thinner by the day. Eithan had fueled a cloudship in this way before, but he had alternated between providing his madra and using scripts to draw aura. Either this cloudship couldn't do that, or Lindon hadn't figured out how." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yerin and Mercy took turns piloting the ship." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mostly Mercy. When Yerin took the helm, she tended to run them too close to aura storms, hostile sacred beasts, and mountain peaks. Though she did make good time.\n\nLindon sent another pulse of madra into the script, and the green cloud rolling in the crystal flask weakened another notch. The ship shuddered, and he knew the large Thousand-Mile Cloud that was keeping them aloft had faded as well. He couldn't add anymore power. Scripts on the ship's hull would draw in aura from outside to replenish their stores, which was the only reason they'd lasted this long, but that system couldn't keep up any longer.\n\n\"Let them know,\" he ordered Dross.\n\nHe could feel it as the mental construct opened up his mind, projecting words into Mercy and Yerin at the same time. [Attention all crew: everything is fine down here, except that we're out of fuel. As long as we make an emergency landing right now, everything will be totally safe.]\n\nLindon hurried up, bracing himself against the wall as the cloudship pitched. His pale right arm sank into the wood as though into soft mud, and it took him a moment to pull it free.\n\nThere were no windows below the deck. He had noway of telling if they were close to landing or not. They could be inches from the ground or a thousand feet in the air, and he would have no idea.\n\nThe worst part was not knowing, he decided. When the ship shuddered again and he lost his balance, he couldn't tell if the turbulence was nothing to worry about or if they were all on the brink of death.\n\nFinally, the ship stabilized again, so he shoved open the trapdoor and made his way outside.\n\nThe weather was beautiful. He had been down in the dark so long that he had pictured it storming and raining, but in fact the wind was calm and the sky was clear." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yerin stood at a wooden panel covered in shining script-circles, her teeth bared and eyes furious. The two silver sword-arms behind her back had been jammed into the wood of the deck, nailing her in place. The control panel had been made for someone taller than she was, so it came up almost to her chin, but she glared down at it like she was about to crush it to splinters.\n\nNearby, Mercy had lashed herself to the railing with long tendrils of darkness. She sat cross-legged, nestled in the center of her web, purple eyes shining. It seemed like she was looking forward to the danger, though he would have thought she'd have gotten enough on Ghostwater's island. Her hair was still short, shorter than Yerin's; a reminder that it had been burned off by a dragon Underlady and she'd spent weeks-and a fortune in elixirs-recovering from the damage.\n\nShe raised one black-gloved hand and patted the wall of smoldering shell next to her. \"We've got everything under control,\" she said. \"No need to worry!\"\n\nOrthos didn't poke his head out. He was tied to the deck by the same strings of shadow that bound Mercy. His voice rumbled out, echoing as though from a cave. \"You're the ones who should be worried. Not one of you has a shell.\"\n\nLindon could feel that the huge turtle was barely keeping his fear under control. That made it harder for Lindon to wrestle his own nerves, but there was still a spark of pure joy left in Orthos'soul. He had been practically reborn in Ghostwater, and he hadn't stopped celebrating for the past two weeks. Even now, withdrawn into his shell and preparing fora crash, there was apart of him that exulted in his new, strengthened body. That was enough to help Lindon fight his way free of Orthos' fear and keep a clear head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon pushed his way out and along the edge of the ship, keeping a tight grip on the railing. They were definitely descending, though the trees were getting closer at a much faster rate than he was comfortable with. And the green cloud keeping them aloft had faded to a sort of lime-colored haze. Maybe it was better not to look.\n\nMercy had been controlling the ship until recently, when she ran out of madra, and then Orthos had tried before getting frustrated and threatening to blast a hole in the hull. Finally, Yerin had taken over, determined to land the ship even if it killed her.\n\nThrough the creaking of wood and the rush of wind, he heard the soft tinkling of glass. Little Blue scampered up to him a moment later, a tiny spirit in the shape of a woman made of deep blue light. Her flaring dress slid smoothly over the deck. She pulled herself up Lindon's leg, nimble as a monkey, and a moment later she sat on his shoulder. Chimes sounded in his ear as though she were filling him in on everything that had happened since he'd gone below.\n\nRecently, he'd thought he was starting to understand her: she was telling him about the sights she'd seen during their flight. It could have been his imagination giving shape to the Riverseed's meaningless squeaks, but he responded attentively nonetheless, nodding gravely at her and making responsive noises himself. If she was telling him something, he didn't want to seem rude.\n\nFinally, he made it next to Yerin. \"Apologies. I held on as long as I could.\"\n\nThe ship pitched so far to one side that half the sky was replaced by an ocean of trees before Yerin corrected it. \"We're just a skip from some town. Long as there's an Arelius family down there, we're-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The ship shuddered, and the lights on the control panel shone. Yerin growled with effort, gripping the sides of the panel so hard the wood splintered, her scars standing out brightly against her skin.\n\nShe shouted over the wind, sending another flare of madra into the panel. \"Everybody hold tight!\"\n\nLindon braced himself, gathering Little Blue in his left hand and holding the railing with his right. It was less than encouraging to know that if he stopped cycling madra to the limb he would immediately fly off and be lost to the wind, but that was all the more reason not to stop cycling.\n\nThe wind picked up, the boat shook, and they started to fall. Lindon couldn't tell if they were landing or crashing, and at that point, there might have been little difference.\n\n[Oh look, the owl's still there,] Dross noted.\n\nLindon was determinedly staring at the deck and not looking over the edge of the railing, but Dross' comment made him realize he could see something at the edge of his vision. An owl-or at least a Remnant that looked like one-perched on the opposite railing. It was made of madra that looked like swirling silver smoke, edged with the occasional flicker of purple light.\n\nThe Remnant had been following them for days. Maybe ever since they left the island. It showed itself once or twice a day, as though to remind them that it was still there.\n\nLindon had tried to point it out to Yerin and Mercy, but the owl always seemed to vanish when they looked for it. Lindon might not have ever noticed it himself if not for Dross, as the thought-construct was far better at using Lindon's senses than Lindon himself was." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He didn't spare another thought for the owl. Some Remnants had strange, almost obsessive behaviors; maybe this one was stuck following cloudships. He certainly wasn't going to deal with it while they were in the middle of a crash.\n\nThe deck surged upwards, and Lindon almost thought they'd made a soft landing before he realized Yerin was pushing out the last of their cloud madra. After this surge, they would fall.\n\nFor lack of something better to focus on, he kept his eyes fixed on the owl.\n\nMercy sat up, staring at him. \"Is it the owl? Is it here?\" She craned herself around in her little nest of black madra, eager to see.\n\nShe had been desperate to catch a glimpse of the owl. She hadn't said why, but sometimes people could be superstitious about Remnants.\n\nSilver light flared from the script in front of Yerin, and the console exploded into splinters.\n\nThe ship hung in the air for one brief, frozen second.\n\nYerin sighed.\n\nThen the cloudship fell.\n\n... roughly two feet.\n\nIt settled onto the ground with a crunch, rolling slightly on its side, and shuddering for another moment or two before it came to a halt. Lindon released his grip on the railing, sliding over to come to a stop next to Yerin.\n\nHe nudged her with his elbow. \"Congratulations on your successful landing, captain.\"\n\nFrom behind them, Mercy cheered.\n\nWith her shoulder, Yerin lightly shoved him back. \"Not the worst one of my life, I'll give you that.\" She eyed him. \"You could have probably jumped down from the clouds and walked it off.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well,\" Lindon said, \"thanks to you, I didn't have to.\"\n\nIt had been strange for both of them, over the last week or two, now that they were at the same stage of advancement. The atmosphere between them had changed, and Lindon was still trying to figure out how.\n\nThe dark webs around Mercy dissolved in a rush of black motes of color, and she stumbled down the deck past them, bracing herself on her braided black staff so she didn't slip. She looked back as she ran. \"Next time, we should all jump!\"\n\nThe ground rumbled as Orthos leaped over the side, landing on soft earth with a surge of relief that Lindon could feel. Gingerly, the turtle scooped up a bite of soil and grass, chewing with great relish.\n\nLindon released Little Blue from his hand, and she scampered off to go join Orthos. From inside Lindon's head, Dross gasped.\n\n[Look, everyone! Look! Here come some friends! That's a relief, isn't it?]\n\nDross must have been sharing the message, because they all looked in the same direction at once.\n\nThey had landed in a clearing between trees, but the woods were thin enough that they had no problem seeing a nearby hill covered in low sandstone buildings. A large town or a small city-it was their destination, though none of them knew exactly where they were. They had simply planned to stop at the first town of any size to try and contact the Arelius family.\n\nIt would have been far easier to contact the Skysworn, who had agents allover the Empire. But given Lindon's previous experience, a Skysworn squad would be as likely to execute everyone as to welcome them back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Between Lindon and the town, only a few hundred feet away, a group of two or three dozen people had frozen in the middle of a celebration. Colorful ribbons were strung between trees, and they all wore fine clothing. There were a few different Goldsigns among the crowd: a green third eye in the middle of the forehead, a red flower of madra blooming over the heart, a wide and thick yellow-brown tail that was so dense it looked almost real.\n\nMany of these onlookers were children, and the entire group stared at Lindon and the others with wide eyes. Some of them held drinks halfway to their lips.\n\nBut this wasn't the group that had grabbed Dross\" attention.\n\n[Wow, they were quick to show up, weren't they? They must have been trying to catch up for days!]\n\nOver their heads, on the horizon and approaching quickly, was a group of green Thousand-Mile Clouds. They were heading toward the cloudship's wreckage.\n\nLindon's heart clenched.\n\n\"Dross,\" Lindon said aloud, \"where did they come from?\"\n\nThe clouds had gotten close enough that he could see their riders, wearing exactly what he had expected: deep emerald armor.\n\n[Relax!] Dross said in a soothing tone. [They're from the same organization as you are. Nothing to worry about! We can take it easy and let them carry us home. And look, they're protecting us from every direction at once!]\n\nYerin whipped around to the other direction, checking to see if there were really people behind them as well. Lindon had no doubt there were, so he continued watching the group of approaching Skysworn.\n\n\"How many?\" he asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Four Truegolds, four Highgolds, and six Lowgolds,] Dross reported." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[And I believe one Underlord. Nothing to worry about with him around!]\n\nOrthos braced his feet, staring into the sky with eyes shining red. Little Blue stretched to her full six-inch height on his head, pointing into the sky and letting out a mournful flute note.\n\n\"The Empire is too big fora chance like this,\" Orthos said. \"We were hunted.\"\n\n\"Don't I just feel like the prettiest girl at the dance,\" Yerin muttered, drawing her sword.\n\nSeeing this, the people at the party began to run. Parents threw their food to the ground and grabbed their children, herding them back to the safety of the city. Lindon suspected the Skysworn would have evacuated the innocents as soon as they arrived, and indeed a pair of the Lowgolds broke off from the main group of Skysworn to dive for the fleeing party.\n\nThat did nothing to loosen the knot in Lindon's stomach. They had agreed to go to the Arelius family first, precisely because they wanted Eithan on their side before they made contact with the Skysworn.\n\nAnd Naru Gwei, the only Underlord in the Skysworn, had come already.\n\nHe represented a significant amount of the Skysworn's total combat strength. Lindon could think of only one reason why someone so important would hunt them down in person: he had decided to be rid of them once and for all.\n\n\"We can talk with them,\" Mercy said, though her face was pale and she had started running one hand nervously through her short hair.\n\n\"Run for the town,\" Yerin ordered. \"They'll have to fight us in the streets, not rain fire onus from the heavens.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lindon sharply wished he still had his Thousand-Mile Cloud, but he took off running nonetheless." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He and Yerin ran side-by-side, and the Skysworn ahead of them slowed their flight, pointing.\n\nLindon realized it must look as though they were chasing after the group of escaping families. His breathing came quick, Blackflame madra boiling up behind his eyes, and the nausea in his gut deepened.\n\nThe Skysworn had caught them too quickly.\n\nHe had thought they would at least make it back to a major city, and had a chance to contact the Arelius family before the Skysworn caught up to them. Even if they had been caught, he reasoned, it would be by one squad: a Truegold or two and a group of trainees.\n\nHe had never imagined they would respond immediately and with overwhelming force. Now, they had to hope the Skysworn were interested in talking.\n\nLindon glanced back to Mercy, sure she couldn't catch up to him and Yerin, but she had straddled her staff and was flying on it only a few feet above the grass. Little Blue clung to the top of Orthos\" head, looking terrified, and Orthos glared up at the clouds.\n\nThe Skysworn, of course, didn't let them make it to the town. One figure pulled up ahead of them and swept his arm in a low arc.\n\nWind rose between them and the town, bright green in Lindon's aura sight, whipping and twisting in a transparent barrier. It was a Ruler technique, gathering up the wind to form along wall of violent air a hundred yards long and dozens of feet high. Yerin skidded to a halt before she reached it, and Lindon followed suit. The wind-wall tore up chunks of dirt and grass from the ground, blowing them upward." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Naru Gwei stood twenty feet over them, as firm on his cloud as on solid ground." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His arms were crossed over his battered breastplate, his matted gray hair pulled back. One of his eyes was burn-scarred, an old Blackflame injury, and a massive dark slab of a sword had been slung across his back.\n\nUsually he looked as though he'd been woken in the middle of a nap, but this time his eyes were sharp and locked on Yerin.\n\nLindon's heart raced as the worst-case scenario played out in his head. If the Skysworn launched Striker techniques from their clouds, he and Yerin and Orthos would be forced to defend themselves.\n\nAnd while Mercy seemed to have plenty of non-lethal options to choose from, he and Yerin did not. The only technique he could use that would reach the Skysworn on their clouds was his dragon's breath.\n\nThe Path of Black Flame was not suited for taking prisoners.\n\nThat was why he held up empty hands and tried not to cycle his madra too quickly. The minute blood was truly spilled, this would devolve into a brawl. And there would be no winning that. Not with an Underlord present.\n\n\"Faces against the ground,\" Naru Gwei ordered. \"Hands behind your backs. Spirits veiled. We're taking you back for your involvement in the death of Skysworn Renfei and the assault and kidnapping of her partner, Bai Rou.\"\n\nHis tone brooked no debate, but Lindon didn't have to look at Yerin to know that she wouldn't comply.\n\n\"We would be happy to explain ourselves,\" Lindon said loudly. \"There's no need to restrain us, we will come willingly.\"\n\nGwei gestured, and the four Truegolds began cycling their madra, preparing to launch their techniques. \"Faces against the ground,\" he repeated, voice harder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon spoke in a calm, even tone. \"We're on the same team.\" Mercy nodded vigorously in agreement, but Yerin was still crouched with her sword out, her Goldsigns gleaming over her shoulders.\n\nNaru Gwei's face contorted. \"You turn on Bai Rou, then ask for my trust?\"\n\nLindon looked to Mercy and Yerin. He'd heard something about this over the last week or so, but he didn't know what had really happened between them.\n\n\"Just a little scuffle!\" Mercy called up. \"No one was hurt!\"\n\nYerin looked from Skysworn to Skysworn, paying special attention to the ones behind her. Lindon expected her to be angry or resentful, but she spoke to him in a calm voice. \"If they're supposed to bury us, why haven't they gotten on with it?\"\n\nLindon took that as encouragement, turning back to Naru Gwei. \"We will give you a full accounting, I promise. Please, let us talk this out.\"\n\nThe Skysworn Captain unfolded his arms. \"We will listen when your spirits and bodies are shackled. Faces on the ground, final warning.\"\n\nPart of Lindon wanted to agree, but he had been locked up by the Skysworn before.\n\nAnd he was growing tired of letting other people decide what to do with him.\n\n\"... I'm afraid if we do that, you are going to imprison us again.\"\n\nFinally, the Underlord's spirit flared. He raised his hand to the sky as though clawing for the sun, and wind aura rose at his command. The air grew rigid against Lindon's skin, and he felt himself pressed together by wind, stiffening up. Yerin, Mercy, and Orthos were chained in the same way. Orthos seethed, heaving against his bonds." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You have no standing to bargain,\" Gwei continued relentlessly." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My word is your law.\" The four Truegolds descended, covered by Highgolds above them, and began moving toward their captives. Lindon felt a great weight bowing his shoulders, pressing him down. \"You have not advanced enough to question me.\"\n\nAnd that was it.\n\nLindon's fear ignited. When he'd been imprisoned by the Skysworn before, it was for no cause other than his Path. They had never trusted him to work for them, and had treated him like an enemy from the very beginning.\n\nThey had used their superior advancement to push him and control him and keep him locked in a tiny room. If he continued to allow that, it would never stop.\n\nThere had to bean end to it.\n\nHe swiveled his eyes to the side until he met Yerin's gaze. He had planned to use Dross to send his intentions to her. But as soon as she saw his eyes, her lips curled up into a smile.\n\nA Truegold man twice Lindon's age seized his wrist in a gauntleted hand, extending a halfsilver manacle that would seal his sacred arts.\n\nThe Burning Cloak blazed to life around Lindon, covering him in transparent black-and-red flames. Power flooded him, explosive force that demanded to be used.\n\nFor an instant, Lindon struggled against the Ruler technique holding him in place. He was trying to swing his arm back, but it felt like he was pushing against a wooden wall.\n\nWith a shout and a flare of Blackflame madra, he shattered that wall to pieces. Wind rushed out as the technique was broken, and his left fist flashed backwards.\n\nHe hit the Skysworn with the back of his fist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The man was a Truegold as well, and he had been on his guard from the beginning. He raised one armored forearm to block, pink light shining out from his Enforcer technique.\n\nLindon's knuckles made contact.\n\nThe Skysworn blasted backwards.\n\nHe tore through the air in a streak of green, his passage kicking up dust, until he tumbled head over heels to land in a pile a dozen yards away.\n\nLindon's hand of flesh stung, so he shook out his fingers, keeping his eyes on Naru Gwei. \"I would prefer to talk,\" he said softly. \"But that doesn't mean I won't fight.\"\n\nThe Skysworn Captain's expression darkened. \"Take them,\" he ordered.\n\nThe other Skysworn attacked at once." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dross,\" Lindon said. \"I need a battle plan.\"\n\nThe three remaining Truegold Skysworn surrounded them. Three wouldn't be enough, but four Highgold teammates covered them from overhead, their hands starting to shine with Striker techniques. The Lowgolds were either evacuating the party or protecting the city. The odds were already stacked against them, even if Naru Gwei didn't move himself.\n\nLindon needed an edge.\n\nHe braced himself for the world to slowdown.\n\nInstead, a lance of force pummeled Lindon in the chest, shoving him backwards. He twisted to the side as spears of golden light stabbed into the earth next to him, and Yerin slashed a spray of acidic madra from the air. Orthos roared as the Truegolds advanced under the cover of their Highgolds.\n\n[Not a problem!] Dross said. [Not a problem. Give me a minute or two to gather enough information on their Paths and behavior, so I can model them just right. One hour, max.]\n\nLindon had missed his window to strike back, pressured by the Highgold attacks. Now a Truegold was on top of him-a woman with gray-streaked black hair and forward-curving yellow spikes emerging from her shoulders. Her armor had been modified to allow her Goldsigns to pass through the plates.\n\nWhat can you do for me? Lindon asked desperately.\n\nThe woman drove her palm toward him, her hand Enforced with shining golden madra.\n\n[Have you not noticed?] Dross asked, surprised.\n\nThe Burning Cloak ignited around Lindon, a black-and-red haze around his body. He jumped to the side, and the explosive power of the cloak launched him ten feet away. He landed next to one of the two armored Truegolds fighting Yerin, an older man with balls of swirling green liquid madra hovering around his head. He was gathering up a technique between his hands." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[Oh, this is fun, you're going to like this. By living in your head, I can handle some of your unimportant thoughts myself! Only a few of the smallest ones, but I can keep them from distracting you. You should notice an increase in your concentration and your processing speed, and your reactions should be a little faster.]\n\nAnother Highgold Striker technique was rushing toward his back; he could sense it. At the same time, the Truegold man had turned his attention to Lindon, seemingly unsurprised to see him land out of nowhere. He pushed the green liquid madra forward.\n\nLindon barely needed to think.\n\nHe spun to the side, catching a spear of golden Highgold madra with his right hand. He triggered the hunger binding for an instant as the enemy's technique made contact with his palm, just enough to destabilize the technique and cause it to break apart.\n\nIn the same motion, he kindled dragon's breath in his left palm, shoving it into the Truegold's newborn technique.\n\nThe gold spear dissolved into essence against his right hand as madra exploded in his left.\n\nThe armored Truegold staggered back, smoke and bright particles of madra essence blasting around him, but the power of the Burning Cloak had already detonated inside Lindon, searing his madra channels. He slammed his right fist into the man's breastplate with the full weight of his body and spirit, red-and-black madra flaring.\n\nHis opponent hurtled away. He slammed into the Truegold Lindon had knocked away earlier, falling on top of him in a pile.\n\n[Look at that beautiful stack. Couldn't have done that on your own, could you?]\n\nDross was right. The whole exchange had felt fluid and natural, and Lindon's thoughts flowed like water." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not to mention his strength. He'd known the meat from Ghostwater had enhanced his body, but for the longest time he'd had no one to compare to other than Orthos, Harmony, and a bunch of monsters.\n\nThe female Skysworn with the gold-spiked shoulders reached him only then, Forging a hammer of golden force the size of a wall. She slammed it toward him even as more Highgold Striker techniques converged on his location.\n\nWith a burst of Blackflame madra, he vanished.\n\nHe stood in front of Mercy, who had turned her staff into a bow. Had it been a bow the entire time?\n\nShe had an arrow nocked and was trying to track a target, but a tiny pink fireball landed at her feet. She stumbled back, but remarkably didn't lose the arrow. She loosed it at an armored Truegold who had noticed her, approaching with an axe that looked to have been made out of a living tree.\n\nThe arrow stuck in his armor and did nothing.\n\nBut Lindon was there now. He let his Blackflame madra drop, switching to his pure core. This time, the Soul Cloak sprang up around him, a fluid blue-white light. It passed through his body like a nourishing river, and his body responded without thought.\n\nSince the fight with Harmony, he hadn't had enough time to explore his new capabilities. Between the sacred beast meat enhancing his strength, Dross speeding up his thoughts, and the Soul Cloak guiding his movements, it was like he was in control of a completely different body.\n\nHe stopped the swing of the wooden axe, dodged a Striker technique, kicked one of the Skysworn's legs out from under him, released a finger of dragon's breath to keep Orthos'opponent off-guard, tore the axe out of the Truegold's hands, dispersed another golden technique from behind him with his Remnant arm, smashed the Truegold with his own axe, then dropped the weapon and grabbed the woman following him by the spikes on her shoulders. She had already started pushing madra into her Goldsigns, but it was too late; Lindon had spun and thrown her with all the power he could draw." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The two Truegolds landed on the pile one after the other.\n\nIt had felt almost effortless. Like one long motion.\n\nHe was out of breath and his madra channels felt sore, but he spun, looking for the next opponent.\n\nThere came the chime of a great bell, and the four Highgolds-two on the ground, and two still on their clouds-all flew backwards at the same instant, sparks flying from their armor as though they'd been struck by invisible swords. The two in the sky fell, and Lindon launched himself toward the closest one: a girl with lines of crystal tracking down from her eyes like tears.\n\nHe couldn't know what this girl's Iron body was. Maybe she would be fine. But he'd worked too hard to avoid killing the others to let blood be spilled now.\n\nThe Highgold Skysworn apprentice flailed in the air, Forging a tower of purple crystal beneath her to try and catch herself. Lindon leapt up before the tower formed, catching her in his arms and landing on the grass. She shuddered in his grip, clutching the front of his outer robe.\n\nHe turned to see Yerin standing beneath the other falling Skysworn. Ashe was about to hit the ground, she reached out and caught him by his collar. His neck jerked backwards and his heels still slammed into the earth, but he was fine.\n\nA second later, Yerin dropped him anyway.\n\nLindon gently placed the Highgold girl down on the grass... although now that he looked, she was probably older than he was.\n\nMercy cheered, and Orthos laughed. Lindon's pile had already collapsed, three of the four Truegolds having risen to their feet, but none of them attacked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yerin looked from the Truegolds to Lindon. \"Tell me true. What were they feeding you while you were gone?\"\n\n\"Sea monsters,\" Lindon said.\n\nNaru Gwei surveyed the situation from his cloud, arms folded. In one long, slow motion, he pulled a finger-sized leaf from a pocket at his waist and placed one end into his mouth.\n\nBehind him, the wind wall had already died to half its original height.\n\n\"No one is hurt too badly,\" Lindon said. \"We can end it here.\"\n\nNaru Gwei chewed on his leaf, looking from one of them to the other. Lindon couldn't guess the Underlord's thoughts, but he kept pure madra cycling quickly through his channels.\n\n\"Bai Rou,\" Naru Gwei said at last, \"says that you all area calamity waiting to happen. A bunch of indiscriminate murderers.\"\n\nLindon relaxed a fraction. The Skysworn squads were bruised and embarrassed, but all still alive. Naru Gwei knew as well as anyone how much easier it would have been for Lindon to kill someone with dragon's breath.\n\nAlthough their enemies hadn't been out for blood either. The fight could have been a lot worse, on both sides.\n\n\"Looks like I need to take a look at you for myself,\" the Skysworn Captain said. Reaching up for the sword hilt over his shoulder, he stepped off his cloud.\n\nMassive emerald wings flared out behind him, and he glided over to Yerin, pulling his sword as he flew. The huge slab of dark steel was so pocked, pitted, and scarred that it didn't reflect sunlight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yerin's, by contrast, gleamed white, and her Goldsigns shone silver. All three blades flashed as she swung them, sending three madra blades slicing through the air.\n\nHe broke them with one sweep of his sword, but Yerin wasn't finished.\n\nShe jumped at him as he was dealing with her techniques, smashing her weapon into his side. He responded quickly, swinging his own heavier blade, the two swords meeting with a deafening crash.\n\nYerin smashed into the ground, but Naru Gwei didn't come out easily. He was launched back, his wings losing purchase on the air, flapping and twisting to try and land on his feet.\n\nA bar of Orthos' dragon breath blasted toward him.\n\nHe pushed one armored hand against the black-and-red stream, holding it off like a flow of water as he landed on his feet. He drove his sword into the earth, making a clawed fist with his now-freehand, and Mercy stiffened. She had been drawing an arrow into her dragon-headed bow, but now she was gripped by invisible chains.\n\nShe was only Lowgold... or, wait, she was giving off the pressure of a Highgold now. Had she advanced during the fight? Either way, she was still too weak to bother Naru Gwei. He had immobilized her to show that he could.\n\nHe pushed his way up the stream of dragon's breath, shoving the Blackflame madra down, though his armor had dissolved around his hand and it was starting to disappear up his forearm. Orthos had finally had enough, biting off the Striker technique.\n\nThen it was Lindon's turn.\n\nHe dashed in with a sudden burst of speed from the Burning Cloak, launching a punch at Naru Gwei's back. He didn't know how much it would do to an Underlord, but he could at least knock the man off-guard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With disarming speed, the Skysworn Captain spun around into a punch of his own. Aimed straight at Lindon's.\n\nTheir two fists crashed together. Naru Gwei's hand was bare, his gauntlet stripped away by Blackflame, and Lindon's was a skeletal Remnant white.\n\nMadra flashed, green against black-and-red, in an explosion that tore away the grass around them.\n\nLindon was knocked back, pain shooting up his Remnant arm as though he'd cracked a bone, his shoulder aching.\n\nBut Gwei backed up a step too. He shook out his hand as though it were sore.\n\nThen the towering pressure of his spirit vanished as he veiled himself. A familiar exhaustion crept over his expression, and he sighed. \"I need your word-all of you-that you will at least help me unravel this whole mess around you and Renfei and Bai Rou. Then I promise you fair treatment.\"\n\nThey all agreed, though Yerin muttered something under her breath that Lindon didn't catch.\n\nNaru Gwei rubbed at the burn over his eye with one thumb. \"You've taken up far too much of my personal attention already. And I'm not so flush with strong Truegolds that I can afford to throw them away.\" The leaf in his mouth had been torn away in the fight, so he replaced it.\n\nWhen it was between his teeth, he grumbled around it, \"... now I'm going to have to seethe smug look on that guy's face.\"\n\n---\n\nNaru Gwei and his team had come in a cloudship of their own, and it was three times the size of the one that had carried Lindon and the others. There was plenty of room for all of them onboard, though Lindon, Yerin, and Orthos were all wary of sharing a ship with the sacred artists they had beaten only hours ago. The woman with spikes on her shoulders kept pointing at Lindon as they boarded; one of her arms was held up in a sling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon didn't know if she was threatening him or pointing him out to her friends, but it wasn't comforting.\n\nNaru Gwei left orders behind in the town fora crew to repair and recover the cloudship Lindon had traveled in on, and then their ship was leaving.\n\nThough their previous cloudship had crammed them all inside, and this one had plenty of room to spread out, Lindon immediately found this trip the less comfortable of the two. No matter where he looked, there were Skysworn and Skysworn apprentices-some with armor, some without-all sporting injuries that he and the others had caused. They treated him like a vicious, wild dog let loose among them, avoiding him at every turn.\n\nYerin reacted by vanishing as soon as she could. Which left Lindon trying to find her.\n\nHe passed over the deck, stepping around the young Highgold woman with the crystal tear-tracks on her face. She seemed less hesitant around him than the others. He hoped that catching her had built up some kind of goodwill. She kept shooting glances at him like the others, though he didn't sense any hostility from her. Maybe she was better at keeping her wariness under control.\n\nPast her, he walked around some Skysworn polishing armor to see Mercy leaning over the railing, staring down beneath her. Her hair had grown long enough to fall down around her face. She leaned so far over that Lindon thought she might pitch over the side, clutching her black staff in one hand.\n\nShe gave an audible gasp and whirled around. When she saw Lindon, she dashed over and seized him by the wrist, dragging him over to the railing.\n\n\"Look, look, you have to see this!\"\n\nShe pointed with one black-tipped finger at a circular patch of burning forest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was only after a few seconds that he realized what he was really looking at. One massive tree, as big as a town but far below, with leaves that blazed. A quick glance at the vital aura showed him a huge sea of fire aura, but not nearly enough destruction-the flames were burning, but they weren't consuming anything. The leaves might have been made of fire.\n\nAround the branches flew fiery birds. They almost looked like leaves drifting off of the burning tree, drifting on the wind.\n\nThere was a strange shiver at the base of Lindon's neck, and Dross spun into existence. The one-eyed spirit had pebbly purple skin and two stubby, boneless arms that drifted down to touch Lindon's shoulder.\n\n[Phoenixes! Oh, would you look at that! They're rated as the number one pet that you should never, ever bring to an underwater facility! I have a presentation memorized for the Ghostwater workers called'You Will Never See A Phoenix. ']\n\n\"I've never seen a wild phoenix before!\" Mercy said, leaning over the railing again. \"Just the ones my uncle keeps in his show garden.\"\n\nA cold spark tingled up Lindon's right shoulder as Little Blue climbed to take her perch opposite Dross. She stared and pointed too, chittering loudly and pulling on his hair to make sure he was seeing them.\n\nMercy turned around to look at the Riverseed. \"Right? I've always wanted one!\"\n\nDid Mercy really understand her so easily, or was she guessing?\n\nLittle Blue made a bright sparkling noise.\n\nEven from so faraway, the phoenixes were impressive to watch. They left ribbons of red-and-orange light behind them as they flew, and their cries formed a symphony that drifted up all the way to the cloudship." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One phoenix swooped down into the burning leaves like a bat taking an insect, emerging with something huge and red in its beak. It opened wide, gulping it down.\n\nThis time, Lindon was the one to point in excitement. \"Did you see that? It grabbed a fruit! The fire tree has fruit!\"\n\nDross and Little Blue gave a simultaneous'Ooooooooh.\"\n\n\"A wild natural treasure,\" Mercy said. \"It doesn't look like anyone is harvesting it. Well, other than the phoenixes. You couldn't ask for anything better fora fire artist!\"\n\nLindon considered leaping over the side.\n\nBut the cloudship was moving too quickly. The fiery tree was already almost gone, the phoenix-song fading into the sound of the wind.\n\nMercy jumped up, pointing at something else. \"Oh, look at that!\" This time, it was a mountain that jutted straight from the earth like a spear. Its peak was covered in dark clouds flickering with lightning... too much lightning. It looked almost like a ball of lightning containing a little cloud.\n\n\"You must have seen more amazing things than this with your family,\" Lindon said. Lindon had never spent much time watching the scenery, but he suspected that the wonders of a Monarch's home must dwarf these.\n\n\"Well, sure, we keep fountains and gardens at home for decoration. But I'm always training at home.\" Purple eyes met his. \"When you spend all your time training, you don't get to go out and just enjoy things, you know?\"\n\nSpent all her time training?\n\n\"Forgiveness,\" Lindon said hesitantly, \"but if you spent all your time on training, then how are you still...\" He trailed off. \"I'm sorry if it's too personal.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mercy looked down at the deck, laughing awkwardly and scratching at her cheek. \"That's a little embarrassing, actually. The truth is, I used to be stronger.\"\n\n[And now the owl's back! There are so many birds around here. Maybe the bird aura is strong here. I know there's no bird aura.]\n\nDross drew Lindon's attention up, where he saw the silver-and-purple owl swooping down from the clouds above them.\n\nMercy saw him turn and followed his gaze. \"Is the owl back? Where is it?\" She sounded doubly eager to seethe owl, almost like she was afraid to miss it.\n\n\"It went under the ship,\" Lindon said apologetically.\n\nMercy kept surveying the horizon, gripping her staff tightly. \"I'm afraid it might be a... family thing.\"\n\nThat brought up a thought that Lindon had been avoiding for weeks, ever since stepping out of Ghostwater's gate. He and Mercy had never really talked like this before, and this was as close to alone as they were going to get.\n\n\"Speaking of your family, I wanted to-well, I wasn't sure how to bring it up. Do you know Akura Harmony?\"\n\nMercy hurriedly glanced from side to side. \"I'm not sure now is the right time to talk about this.\"\n\n\"I'm afraid I have some... news. Harmony is mmmph.\"\n\nMercy covered up the last word by pressing both hands against his mouth. Her Goldsign, the black madra that she wore like gloves, felt slick and cool.\n\n\"Ssssh! Nope! I don't need to hear it! I can guess!\"\n\nLindon tried to tell her he understood, but she pushed harder. \"I get it! I understand!\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Extend the plot as the writer's co-author.\nTags: fantasy, progression fantasy, tournament\nAuthor: Will Wight\nTitle: Underlord\nChapter: 23" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Behind him, among the forest-and some in the air, either under their own power or on Thousand-Mile Clouds of their own-were his remaining twenty-five Underlords.\n\nCharity had ridden outside the carriage in the driver's seat, and now she dismounted, flicking her wrist. The purple haze dissolved, and Lindon sensed the subtle power binding all of those Lords and Ladies dissipate.\n\nMost of them sagged in relief, and none continued the battle.\n\nCharity spoke, and this time her voice rang in all their minds like Dross'. \"This battle has concluded, and entry to the Night Wheel Valley will soon be closed to you. I have chosen the three young Underlords who will represent the western vassals of the Akura family. They are all three from the Blackflame Empire.\"\n\nA sudden cheer rose up from the Emperor's ship, and an equally loud exclamation from the Seishen Kingdom. Especially from King Dakata, who looked ready to explode.\n\nBut none of that could drown out the Sage's voice in their minds.\n\n\"I therefore award the Blackflame Empire three hundred million high-grade scales,\" she said. \"In addition, to ease reparations caused by this competition, I will gift the Emperor with an Archlord defensive construct from my own collection.\"\n\nEven the cheers went deathly silent as everyone processed this news.\n\n\"As for the Seishen Kingdom... it seems you have trained your Truegolds well in this short time, to have raised so many new Underlords. I hope that the benefits you have reaped from the Night Wheel Valley will serve you well.\"\n\nNothing. They would get nothing.\n\nOnly Lindon's confidence in Charity's power made him feel safe against the glare of the Overlord King." }, { "from": "human", "value": "King Dakata's spiritual sense swept roughly over the carriage, and his eyes went wild." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My son! What have you done with my son?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" Charity said. Owls swooped into the carriage and then emerged, carrying Daji and Meira. \"I have subdued them for their own safety. They will wake unharmed in the morning.\"\n\n\"What about-\" the King began, but avoid key the size of a barn opened next to him.\n\nInside it was complete darkness. Lindon wondered if that was a characteristic of Akura void keys or if it was a protective measure to keep people seeing what you had inside.\n\nSlowly, an ornate table slid out of the darkness, floating on a purple Thousand-Mile Cloud. The table bore an ornate, lacquered jar, with a few characters painted on. It was too faraway for Lindon to read, but he suspected it read'Seishen Kiro.\"\n\nNot ajar, then. An urn.\n\n\"I made the urn by hand and painted it myself,\" Charity said. \"That is the little solace I can offer you. That, and the knowledge that he died fighting honorably.\"\n\nTrembling hands reached out for the urn.\n\n\"Who?\" he asked. \"Who did this?\"\n\nCharity faced him calmly, hands folded. \"He walked onto the battlefield as a Lord, and he was prepared to die a Lord.\"\n\n\"WHO DID THIS?\" he screamed, red in the face. Lindon thought he would crush the urn, but he contained his strength.\n\nLindon concentrated on not taking a step back.\n\nCharity's voice was cool as water. \"Your grief is understandable, Your Highness, but your disrespect is unwise. You will have your answer in the morning, when your remaining son and your... servant... awaken.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "King Dakata did not respond, but he didn't keep screaming, either. His gaze moved between Lindon and Yerin. He didn't seem to include Mercy.\n\nWhenever those eyes landed on Lindon, his spirit boiled up in preparation fora fight.\n\n[That is not a fight we want,] Dross assured him. [Although, maybe with some of that Sage's madra... how about a little taste, hm? Just a taste.]\n\nAfter having stared at them for too long, while the owls deposited Daji and Meira onto the Seishen cloudship, the King finally turned his ship around and began flying away. Individually and in small groups, his Lords and Ladies followed him.\n\n\"Like a pack of whipped dogs,\" Yerin muttered.\n\n[Well,] Dross said, [they did lose. So it's only appropriate they look like losers.]\n\nCharity's voice slipped into their minds again. \"People of the Blackflame Empire, congratulations. I will deliver your winnings and announce my selections for the team in person, and I look forward to your team doing my family proud in the Uncrowned King tournament.\"\n\nThe people aboard the cloudship let out another loud cheer. Yerin and Lindon looked to each other, and then to Charity. Were they supposed to leave? It seemed so; the Sage hadn't stopped them.\n\nThey began to walk toward the cloudship, which slowly lowered to pick them up.\n\n\"Do you think we're on the team?\" Lindon asked.\n\n\"Can't see what else might have changed her mind,\" Yerin said. \"She decided on the team tonight, so that leaves the three of us. Probably won't be all...\"\n\nShe stopped as she realized at the same time Lindon did." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mercy wasn't following them.\n\nThey turned back to see Mercy. She had removed her Skysworn armor, wearing only simple black-and-white robes. She leaned with one hand on Suu, waving the other. They walked over to her, but she hurried to meet them.\n\n\"This is what comes with getting my power back,\" she said wistfully. \"I'm working for the family again. I have to go home.\"\n\nYerin grabbed her by the shoulders, but she didn't seem to know what to say.\n\nMercy gave a sad smile. \"I'll see you at the tournament,\" she said. \"Even if we will be on different teams.\"\n\nYerin threw her arms around Mercy, and Mercy's eyes welled up with tears. She patted Yerin on the back, avoiding the sword-arms, and met Lindon's eyes.\n\nLindon wasn't sure what to do. He wasn't even sure what he was feeling, other than tired-too much had changed in too little time.\n\nBut he pressed his fists together, one white and one of flesh and blood, and bowed deeply to her.\n\nShe nodded back to him. Then a second later her face started turning purple.\n\nShe tapped Yerin with one black-gloved hand. Then again, with increasing urgency. \"Yerin,\" she wheezed. \"Yerin, I need...\"\n\nYerin released her, and Mercy doubled over, heaving a breath.\n\nWiping at her eyes with the heel of her hand, Yerin walked stiffly back to Lindon. \"See you at the tournament,\" Yerin called back.\n\nLindon waved again, walking off with Yerin.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" Charity's voice rang again in his mind and his ears at once." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lindon thought the Sage had still been speaking to everyone, so he glanced around, but Yerin had kept walking." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When he stopped, she continued another step before looking at him in confusion.\n\nHe turned to seethe Sage behind him.\n\nHer young face clear of expression, Charity held out a hand. \"I would like the axe back.\"\n\nOh right, the axe.\n\nHurriedly, Lindon opened the void key and pulled out Harmony's axe. He was reluctant to hand it over, now that he could actually use it, but its power was a little unnerving. And giving up the weapon was better than having the Akura clan making him answer for Harmony.\n\nThe weapon vanished as soon as Charity laid one finger on it.\n\n\"Now, I have retrieved my gift to my nephew.\"\n\nLindon started to sweat.\n\nNephew.\n\n[Just to be clear: that's not too closely related, is it? For humans? I know if you left her son to die, she would be after you for bloody revenge, but a nephew isn't too bad, right? That's just, what, a harsh scolding?]\n\n\"I am sorry about what happened to Harmony,\" Lindon said, keeping his voice steady. \"I never had any ill will towards him.\"\n\nNot until the very end, anyway.\n\nCharity's purple eyes were cool. \"Whatever your intention was, you knowingly opposed a member of the Akura family. And in doing so, you cost us a potential competitor in the Uncrowned King tournament. You owe us a debt.\"\n\nIt might have been the exhaustion, but Lindon's fear turned suddenly to anger. He kept his words respectful, but his tone had a bit too much of Orthos in it. \"When the world began to collapse around us, I offered to take Harmony back. There was no feud between us. No reason either of us should die. He refused, and not only did he refuse, he said he would turn the resources of the Akura clan against me and not rest until my family was destroyed.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He hadn't intended to tap Blackflame, but his eyes burned." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My family lives in territory owned by the Akura clan. Even so, I did not kill him. But I did leave him.\"\n\nHe left out the part where Orthos had destroyed the portal.\n\nSomething flashed across Charity's face, but he couldn't tell if it was anger, grief, regret, or something entirely different. It was gone too soon, her voice as placid as ever.\n\n\"Even so, Harmony was my selection for our team. You owe me, and I collect on debts incurred intentionally or otherwise. I have been watching you, Wei Shi Lindon Arelius, and as of tonight, you have become qualified to pay me back.\"\n\nFar behind Charity, Mercy's eyes went wide, and her spirit shook. \"Aunt Charity, no!\"\n\n\"I do not select you as one of the three competitors from the Blackflame Empire,\" she said.\n\nLindon hadn't realized how much he'd been looking forward to competing in the tournament. Nor how much he'd expected to be selected. The disappointment stabbed him through the chest.\n\nWhy? It didn't make sense for it to hurt so badly. He was still an Underlord, and he could still advance. No one had expected him to make it far enough for any of the best prizes anyway.\n\nBut Yerin would surely be selected, and Mercy as well, on a different team.\n\nHe was the only one not going. He wasn't sure if he would even be allowed to watch.\n\nMercy still looked horrified.\n\n[Aw, cheer up,] Dross said. [That could have gone a lot worse. Imagine what else she could have-]\n\n\"Instead,\" the Sage continued, \"you will compete on behalf of the great Akura clan.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At first, he couldn't comprehend the words.\n\n\"I will take you with me to our headquarters, where you will be trained to compete to our standards. I am confident you will bring honor to our name, and if you do not perform up to my expectations, you will be punished.\"\n\nLindon turned to Yerin, whose eyes met his. Her Goldsigns were extended, and she had a white-knuckled grip on her sword. She stared at him, silently begging him to say something.\n\nHis mind churned, searching vainly fora way out. \"Honored Sage, I apologize, but surely I cannot perform up to the Akura's standards,\" he said.\n\n\"Not yet,\" Charity said. \"Training begins now.\"\n\nShadows swirled around his feet, and he could no longer move them. He began to sink into the darkness.\n\nHe looked up to see Yerin staring at him helplessly, her eight arms hanging limply at her sides. What was she supposed to do?\n\nHe raised a hand to her. \"Apologies,\" he said.\n\nThen the darkness closed around him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Suriel dashed through the Way. The Abidan were under attack all across their border worlds, from Sectors Ninety through Ninety-Nine. Sector One Hundred had already been lost, and the others were soon to follow.\n\nThe Vroshir couldn't maintain an attack of this scale for long, but the Abidan were likely to give out first. They were simply spread too thin.\n\nShe was not the only Judge to have flown straight from emergency to emergency for months; Gadrael and Razael had not stayed in one Iteration longer than it took to win a battle.\n\nWherever a Judge went, victory followed. But they could not be everywhere, and they were the only three Judges that could be spared.\n\nNow, she hurried to Iteration 943. It was another nameless border world with a small, primitive population, but Sector Ninety-Four had not been able to evacuate it in time. She would probably have to revert an entire Iteration again, which strained both her mantle and the world's connection to the Way. A handful of lower Abidan were defending it, so it should last until she arrived.\n\nIn the middle of endless blue, Suriel slammed to a halt.\n\nIt was as though a wall had appeared in front of her before she could slowdown. She felt the impact in her mind, and fora moment she floated in pain, aimless and disoriented.\n\nWhen her vision returned, she stared ahead, at the flow of the Way that would have led into Iteration 943.\n\nInstead of a smooth sapphire passage, she stared into a ragged black gash. It was fuzzy at the edges, as though the Way had been severed completely. The world had been cutoff.\n\n[No barrier detected,] her Presence told her. So it hadn't been sealed away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She pushed into the dark hole, which was as difficult as digging bare-handed through packed earth; without the Way to lead into the Iteration, there was no easy path for her to follow.\n\nBut she managed it, determined to rescue any surviving fragments of 943.\n\nShe found nothing. She floated in endless emptiness, the pure void. Even the distant swirls of color that she usually saw in the void, wild fragments of broken worlds, were so distant that she couldn't see them. This was a pure lack of existence.\n\nIt frightened her more than anything she'd seen in years.\n\n[Warning: the Way has begun to repair itself. Recommend immediate return.]\n\nShe could survive in the void, but not forever. It would begin to corrupt her, breaking down the influence of the Way, turning her into an incomprehensible Fiend. At that point, if she didn't find an Iteration or a fragment to latch onto, the void would continue to break her down until she no longer existed.\n\nShe stepped back into the Way, the endless power of order comforting her, but she still shivered internally at what she'd just seen.\n\nIteration 943 had been erased.\n\n\"What could do that?\" she asked her Presence.\n\n[Request denied,] her Presence said. Without her permission, the ghostly doll formed in front of her, looking at her with its featureless face. The construct couldn't truly disobey her, but it could act independently when it needed to.\n\nThis time, it sensed that she was looking away from an uncomfortable truth, and it met her with a gaze that had no eyes. [You already know.]\n\nThere was only one weapon that could erase a world so thoroughly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Reaper's Scythe.\n\n~~~\n\nYerin sat with her forehead on the table next to a bowl of soup. All around her were the sounds of celebration and the smells of expensive food.\n\nIt was the Emperor's celebratory feast. She sat at the head table, in a place of honor.\n\nOne of her sword-arms dangled in her soup.\n\nThe seat next to her was empty, the old Underlord next to her having risen to go speak to someone else, or to relieve himself, or to die in the corner as far as she cared.\n\nSomeone else sat down. Someone in a shimmering pink outer robe.\n\nEithan's hand patted heron the back. \"I've never been good at consolations, but do cheer up. You'll see him again at the tournament!\"\n\n\"He's gone,\" Yerin muttered into the table. \"He took Dross and Little Blue with him. Mercy's gone. Even Orthos is gone. Everyone I talk to is gone.\"\n\nEithan cleared his throat.\n\nShe turned to glare at him without lifting her head.\n\nHe cleared his throat again.\n\n\"You got a chicken bone in there?\" she asked. She raised the Goldsign out of her soup, its tip glistening. \"You want me to get it out for you?\"\n\nHe leaned closer to her. \"Did you hear? Akura Charity announced our team.\"\n\nYerin sat bolt upright, Eithan dodging a blade to the face. She grabbed his collar. \"When?\"\n\n\"It was a private address to the Emperor last night,\" he said. \"Very private. No one could possibly have heard anything.\"\n\nYerin shook him. If she wasn't selected for the tournament, she'd be the only one left out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're in it!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eithan said, his teeth rattling.\n\nShe sagged with relief. Her master had reached Underlord at about the same age she was, but he had competed in the Uncrowned King tournament years later. She would have settled for fighting in the next one, if not for Lindon. And Mercy too.\n\nBut soon, the pall on her spirits returned. \"It doesn't matter,\" she muttered. \"Do we even have a team left?\"\n\n\"Oh, I think we're okay,\" Eithan said. \"We have you and Naru Saeya, the Emperor's sister. She distinguished herself in battle against the Seishen Empire. Fought with great skill against two Underlords at once, while you were sneaking around in that vault. It was very impressive, and it's always nice to have a teammate with wings.\"\n\nYerin waited. He was leaving out the final competitor intentionally, she was sure.\n\n\"And, of course, there's the team leader,\" Eithan said casually. \"The captain, if you will. The Sage's first choice. The one who will lead the team into battle against the enemy.\"\n\nYerin waited.\n\nEithan smiled.\n\n\"Who?\" she asked.\n\nHe smiled wider.\n\n\"... who is it?\" She was starting to worry that she knew the answer.\n\n\"What?\" he asked innocently. \"I'm thirty-four. How old did you think I was?\"\n\n~~~\n\nInformation requested: preparations for the eighteenth Uncrowned King tournament.\n\nBeginning report...\n\nThe favored young Underlords of the Akura clan are lined up. For some, this will be their first time seeing the Monarch in person. Each Underlord and Underlady drops to their knees as Akura Malice emerges from shadow, her favored daughter at her side once again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "More than five thousand miles to the northeast of Akura territory, dragons of every shape and color fly around a volcano. Their roars fill the air and shake the earth as a small figure hikes closer and closer. In the form of a cloaked human boy with golden eyes, he approaches: Seshethkunaaz, the wandering King of Dragons.\n\nSha Miara, Luminous Queen of the Ninecloud Court, throws a tantrum. She wants to fight in the tournament. Her tutors have reached the end of their patience; there is no sport in sending a Monarch to do battle with Underlords. She'll keep her power veiled, she insists. She will compete fairly, and no one will recognize her. When they continue to deny her, her wails conjure a storm indoors.\n\nOne at a time, the Eight-Man Empire call up would-be squires from allover their territory. For those who want to join the Empire one day, this tournament will be a good test.\n\nEmriss Silentborn, the Monarch Remnant, watches gravely over the Wandering Titan. The massive Dreadgod, like a mountainous statue, has stirred earthquakes in its sleep. It is beginning to awaken, even before the Bleeding Phoenix has gone fully dormant. Emriss must choose her champions carefully; it is likely that this next generation will inherit a world at war. They must be ready.\n\nNorthstrider walks the boundary between Akura territory and that of the dragons. He has no family and leads no sect. He is the Monarch of unbound sacred artists, those with no master or home. He goes into the Wasteland, where he seeks out the Beast King. The Herald might have an eligible student who can bring honor to the name of Northstrider.\n\nThe Arelius clan, in the ruins of their ancestral home, is still in mourning over the loss of their Monarch. Their clan has as deep a foundation as any, so they are invited to participate in the Uncrowned King tournament, but there is fierce debate. This could be nothing more than another blow to their reputation. Grimly, they determine that their fate will be even worse should they try to hide." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Reigan Shen looks out over those he has newly recruited to his cause. Redmoon Hall, with their Blood Shadows in a thousand different forms. Abyssal Palace, their faces concealed beneath hoods and stony masks. The Silent Servants, whose mouths are bound, and the Stormcallers, whoring their arms in scripts that crackle with lightning. The cults of the four Dreadgods look to their new Monarch, who raises hands of benediction over them all.\n\nSuggested topic: connections between the Arelius family's fallen Monarch and Eithan Arelius.\n\nDenied, report complete.\n\n~~~\n\nWei Shi Kelsa crouched in the underbrush of the orus groves, keeping her breath slow. Night had always been bright in Sacred Valley, but Samara's Ring cast harsh shadows. She waited in those shadows now, silently begging the heavens to keep her hunters away.\n\nA figure walked boldly through the trees to her right, holding a lantern of bright green madra. He was doing nothing to conceal himself as he searched for her. She pressed lower against the ground, sliding under a bush as far as she could without rattling it and giving away her presence.\n\nThe Fallen Leaf School had glimpsed her stealing fruits before, so they had increased security. She tightened her grip on the bag of fruit that she'd managed to fill before tripping a hidden security script. Even if she got caught, she couldn't leave without this food.\n\nHer pursuer swept his lantern from side to side, searching for her. Summer had begun, but the ground was still cold as she pressed against it. She kept herself from shivering. Even the slightest motion could catch his eye.\n\nFallen Leaf elders wouldn't lower themselves to personally hunt fora thief, so this man wouldn't be Jade. Probably Iron, like her. She would have a chance to fight her way free." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But she couldn't afford to antagonize another School." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As it was, if caught, she wouldn't be killed on sight. Instead, they would turn her over to Heaven's Glory.\n\nWhich might be worse.\n\nThe Fallen Leaf guard raised his lantern as a signal and called out a greeting. She flinched at his sudden voice, but he was looking past her hiding spot. Behind her.\n\nAnother green light approached from within the forest.\n\nShe had to move.\n\nSlowly, so slow that it was agonizing, she inched out of the bush, sliding the bag of fruit along with her. While the guards were focused on one another, she could slip away.\n\nIf she opened her Copper sight, she could have seen the haze of dream aura around their heads. She was a Ruler on the Path of the White Fox, and could send them a distraction.\n\nBut then they would know for sure she was around. For the time being, it would be better to slip out unnoticed.\n\nHer spirit shivered.\n\nIt was a Jade's spiritual sense. She'd been scanned.\n\nThe scan felt like a curtain of icy water passing over her, and the shock was so sudden that her body jerked. Her elbow snagged on the edge of the bush, which shook like a squirrel had passed beneath. In the quiet night of the grove, she might as well have rung a gong.\n\nThe two Fallen Leaf guards turned toward her.\n\nKelsa bolted.\n\nShe ran all-out, bag slung over her shoulder. Fear brought every detail of the run into focus, from the harsh scrape of her breath to the pounding of her feet on the earth. The Fallen Leaf guards raised a cry and sent up a signal as soon as they saw her, running after her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was tall, with long limbs, and she ran as part of her daily training. She would be able to outrun most other Irons, as long as none of them were an Enforcer.\n\nA quick glance behind her showed her that the heavens had abandoned her. A young Fallen Leaf woman with an iron badge had cast aside her lantern, dashing after Kelsa with coils of green light around her legs. An Enforcer technique. She would catch up in seconds.\n\nKelsa kept a grip on her rising panic, forcing her breath into the right patterns, twisting her White Fox madra into a technique.\n\nWhen the sound of footsteps grew close, Kelsa turned again, reaching outwith her madra to the aura around the woman's mind. The Fox Dream settled around her head like a cage.\n\nThe Fallen Leaf woman slid to a halt, eyes wide, glancing around her. The specific illusion was born from the target's mind, so Kelsa could only vaguely shape what she would see. In this case, Kelsa didn't care what it was; anything that would attract the guard's attention was good enough.\n\nIn that opening, Kelsa started running again.\n\nBy now, she could hear cries coming from allover the grove, see sparks of green moving through the shadows. She would have to dodge all of these Irons and Coppers to escape Fallen Leaf territory, but that wouldn't be the end. She couldn't lead them directly back to her camp, so she'd have to run in the wrong direction to lay a false trail, then hideout for the rest of the night.\n\nShe gripped the bag of fruit as though it contained goldsteel treasures. Even if she had to crouch in a wet, freezing ditch for another day, it had been worth it. She had food." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So long as she escaped with her life.\n\nKelsa looked quickly for the largest stretch of shadows. Wherever she could see a gap, she'd take it.\n\nThe shadows were deepest to her left, so she dove into them, cycling her madra to her limbs and urging them to move faster and faster. A dull red light rose up from the darkness in front of her, but it wasn't green-at the very least, this wasn't Fallen Leaf madra.\n\nStill, she altered her course to runaround it. The guards weren't the only threats out here. Wild beasts, Remnants, and rogue sacred artists wandered the Valley, each presenting their own kind of threat.\n\nLast fall, two young outsiders had torn through the Heaven's Glory School, breaking their way into Sacred Valley. They were still at large somewhere, hiding just as she was. If she ran into them, she would fare even worse than the Heaven's Glory Jades had.\n\nIt was best to avoid anything unknown.\n\nA bulky shadow stepped out of the trees, cutting her off.\n\nIt looked like a mound the size of three horses side-by-side, glowing dull red and giving off a haze of smoke. She staggered as she tried to turn away at the last second, catching herself against a tree.\n\nTwo eyes, circles of red in the darkness, moved toward her. A voice like rumbling earth said, \"Wei Shi Kelsa?\"\n\nKelsa jerked to a stop at the sound of her name.\n\n\"Took me long enough to find you,\" he grumbled, \"but a dragon does not give up.\" Kelsa heard crunching. When she focused, she could see that this creature had leaned down and snapped up a tree branch. It chewed and swallowed a moment later." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now the beast stepped forward, and she could see it in the light of Samara's Ring, paler and brighter than moonlight.\n\nIt was a turtle.\n\nKelsa gathered up her madra again. It must have been the Heaven's Glory School who had sent the sacred beast to hunt her. He hadn't attacked her yet, but that only meant he was under orders to take her alive.\n\n\"I am called Orthos,\" the turtle said. \"I come from your brother Lindon.\"\n\nHer madra trembled, her technique dissipating. She was still tense, her body telling her to run, but she also couldn't move.\n\n\"He's alive?\" she whispered.\n\nGreen light swelled in the forest, and shouting voices grew closer. She spun and saw that she had already wasted too much time; the net had tightened.\n\n\"We have to get out of here,\" she ordered. \"Can you run?\"\n\nRed-and-black eyes surveyed the people following her, and the ground began to shake. After a moment, she recognized that it was the turtle laughing.\n\n\"I am pleased by you already, Wei Shi Kelsa. And I cannot run.\"\n\nHe walked forward, brushing past her, facing her pursuers.\n\n\"Not when I can fight.\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Carry on with the plot as the author's writing partner.\nTags: fantasy, progression fantasy, sacred valley\nAuthor: Will Wight\nTitle: Unsouled\nChapter: 4" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 1\n\nInformation requested: the Spiritual Origin test of Sacred Valley.\n\nBeginning report...\n\nTwice a year, the clans of Sacred Valley test the spirits of their children. Boys and girls of six, seven, even eight summers lineup before their clan's elders. They wear clothes too formal for them: layered robes of muted color for the boys, intricate shadesilk wraps for the girls. Parents line the walls nearby, anxious to hear the nature of their children laid bare.\n\nOne by one, the children step before their clan's First Elder. He holds a shallow bowl, twice as wide as a dinner plate, that holds nothing more than still water. But it is not water, the parents know. It is madra, raw power of spirit, purified and distilled. The material from which souls are made.\n\nThe first girl inline dips her hand into the bowl, shocked at the cold. A trickle of something runs out of her core, something she's never felt before, and the liquid changes.\n\nFor her, the madra sticks to her hand, surrounding her fingers like a tight glove. The First Elder smiles, gives her a wooden badge marked with a shield, and declares the nature of her spirit. She has the soul of an Enforcer, a guardian, and will use her great strength to protect the clan. The madra returns to the bowl as the girl returns to her parents. She carries the badge with her.\n\nThe water flees from the next boy's hand, as though his presence pushes it away. He looks to the First Elder, horrified that he has somehow failed this test, but there can be no failure here. He is given a wooden badge marked with an arrow.\n\nEach child inline sees one of four responses: the water clings, or it retreats, or it rises, or it freezes. They receive badges accordingly. Shields for Enforcers, who protect the clan from its enemies with strength of arms. Arrows for Strikers, who strike against rivals from a distance. Scepters for Rulers, who bend the powers of heaven and earth. And hammers for Forgers, whose techniques create weapons and wealth for the clan. All things in Sacred Valley can be divided in four." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And Lindon, of the Wei clan and the family Shi, knows which of the four he wants.\n\nHammer, he begs the heavens as he steps up for his turn at the bowl. More than anything, he wants to follow his mother as a Soulsmith, creating wondrous and magical items from madra. Molding the stuff of spirits and Remnants. Please, give me a hammer.\n\nHe's done his research, and he knows he needs the water to freeze. It's traditionally considered bad luck to tell children what to expect on the day of their test, but his mother considers ignorance a greater threat than misfortune.\n\n\"Wei Shi Lindon,\" the First Elder intones, as Lindon moves forward. The elder stands thin and straight, like a polished walking stick, with a wispy beard that stretches down to the floor. \"Stretch forth your hand, and let your spirit be known.\"\n\nLindon's mother tenses behind him, but he doesn't look at her. He focuses on the bowl of madra.\n\nChanting freeze, freeze, freeze in his head, Lindon places his fingers into the bowl. It's colder than he expected, which excites him at first, because the water must already be freezing.\n\nBut the liquid doesn't grow cold, it doesn't solidify. It sits there, placid and undisturbed.\n\nThe elder's white eyebrows draw together into one solid line. He leans over the bowl, his own badge-of polished green jade, bearing the same hammer that Lindon hopes to earn-dangling over the bowl. Impatiently, he seizes Lindon's wrist and lifts it free. Natural water would have clung to Lindon's skin, but this madra only imitates water. Nothing sticks. His hand emerges clean and dry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As though dunking laundry in a tub, the elder moves Lindon's hand in and out. A sick feeling bubbles up in Lindon's stomach as he realizes something has gone wrong.\n\nOver to the side, his mother holds a whispered conversation with another elder. Several adults are whispering now, and that can't mean anything good.\n\n\"There is no affinity to his spirit,\" the First Elder says at last, and those close enough to hear gasp. \"He is empty. Unsouled.\"\n\nLindon glances to his mother, who has gone utterly pale. He's never heard this word before, Unsouled, but it doesn't sound like anything good. At seven, he's old enough to piece the core of the truth together. He won't get a badge.\n\nBut they're right there.\n\n\"Which badge do I get, Honored Elder?\" he asks politely, as though he doesn't understand.\n\nThe First Elder glares at the boy. \"You don't deserve these badges, Shi Lindon.\" No clan name. He must be angry, but Lindon knows that if you pretend to ignore an adult's anger, it often goes away.\n\n\"If you don't have one for me, I could just...\" Lindon reaches out for the hammer-marked badge of a Forger, but the First Elder smacks his hand down.\n\n\"These are not for you!\"\n\n\"Can't I pick one?\" It makes perfect sense to Lindon. The bowl tells them which badge to pick, and the bowl hadn't said anything. So Lindon might as well choose.\n\nIf he has a badge, maybe his mother wouldn't look so scared. He doesn't know what it meant to go without a badge. Everybody has one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The First Elder signals to one of his subordinates." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We will have a badge made for you, Shi Lindon. To show the world what you are.\"\n\nWhat you are. Not who.\n\n\"Wei Shi Seisha, I suggest you take your son to the next testing. Perhaps the heavens will choose to have mercy on him then.\" Seisha, Lindon's mother, draws him to her waist protectively. To the First Elder, she nods. \"Until such time as they do, he will be Unsouled.\"\n\nLindon's mother sweeps him out of the hall, riding on a wave of whispered comments from relatives in the clan. She hides him with her body until they escape.\n\n\"Why didn't I get a badge?\" he asked, when they were free.\n\n\"Because the heavens wish to shame us.\" Her voice is grim, and here Lindon learns his spirit is something shameful. Until he earns a badge, he will continue bringing shame to his clan.\n\nSo he needs a badge.\n\nSix months later, at the next test, he smears a drop of his mother's blood on his palm. The lingering madra there makes the water stir, just fora second, before it returns to its placid stillness.\n\nHe is tested again at eight years old, and this time he comes prepared. He sneaks into the hall through the shadows, scratching a crude circle of runes on the bottom of the table in the hall. He is no scriptor, but this is among the most basic of scripts, and he copies it carefully out of one of his mother's books. The next morning, when his turn for the test comes, he runs a trickle of madra-the bare amount he can control, as an untrained eight-year-old-into the script.\n\nThe water in the bowl shakes, which should earn him a scepter badge. Not the hammer he hopes for, but he couldn't think of away to freeze the water. But any badge will be fine; any soul is better than none." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In the end, it is not only the water that shakes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The bowl shakes as well, and the table with it. It takes the First Elder only a moment to glance under the tablecloth and discover the sabotage.\n\nThis time, the elder has come prepared. He has a badge for Lindon.\n\nIt has a symbol in the middle, but not a hammer.\n\nThe badge looks the same as all the others, smooth six-sided medallions of softwood, but there's no picture at the center. No arrow, no scepter, no shield, no hammer. Just a symbol that Lindon recognizes from his mother's lessons, a word in the old language. It means \"empty.\"\n\nEmpty like Lindon is inside, the elder tells him.\n\nAs the other children grow, they leave behind their wooden badges. Their mastery over madra, their skill in the sacred arts, increases day by day. The earliest among them reaches the Copper stage at nine, upgrading his badge accordingly. The latest is thirteen.\n\nAt fifteen, Wei Shi Lindon is the only one who still has his original badge. Still wooden, still empty.\n\nEvery half a year, when the children have finished their test, Lindon slips in and judges his own spirit again. Every time, he hopes the heavens will finally have mercy on him, as his mother once said. He's tried seventeen times now.\n\nThe water has yet to move.\n\nSuggested topic: clan culture of Sacred Valley. Continue?\n\nDenied, report complete." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 2\n\nLindon looked up into the purple leaves of the orus tree. This one felt right-he was calmer somehow, standing in the shade of this particular tree, as though it exuded an aura of peace. Wizened white fruit waited among the leaves, far out of reach, and he sensed an ancient eternity behind its gnarled bark.\n\nOr maybe that was his imagination.\n\nHe raised his hammer and chisel, carving away the outer layer of bark. Then, with utmost care, he chiseled a simple rune into the softwood.\n\nWhen he finished, he compared the symbol he'd left in the tree to the tablet his mother had given him. He wasn't much of a scriptor, but he could at least copy simple scripts, and this particular circle should glow if carved into an ancestral tree. So long as he copied the runes perfectly.\n\nThere were seven runes in this script, and he carefully began chipping away at the second. This was the twenty-fifth tree he'd found and tested over the last three days, ever since his mother had found out there was a tree somewhere in the forest that was about to advance. The Fallen Leaf School kept a monopoly on most trees with any possibility to produce a spirit-fruit, but Lindon had a chance to beat them to this one. As long as he worked quickly.\n\nPlants had to live much longer to advance than animals did. If a fox or a turtle survived their first century, they would absorb enough vital aura from the world around them to ascend into sacred beasts. These animals cycled madra, advanced in power, and left Remnants just as humans did. The oldest of them could even speak, and legends said some could take human forms.\n\nPlants did the same, but it took several times as long. Some trees had to stay undisturbed for five hundred years or more before they absorbed enough vital aura to develop a rudimentary spirit, and they would never learn to speak. The orus tree he was looking for had lived at least three centuries, and was on the cusp of ascension." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Centuries of vital aura concentrated in the wood would nurture its fruit, giving it a potent spiritual power." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even sacred artists at the Iron or Jade stage would pay a small fortune for such an advantage. For Lindon... he only dared to imagine it. This spirit-fruit might strengthen him enough to makeup for whatever his soul lacked at birth.\n\nBefore he knew it, he'd finished the script circle. With wary hope he watched his handiwork, rough symbols in pale wood.\n\nSeveral breaths later, the runes remained dull and lifeless. This was always the worst part. Had the script failed because there was no madra in the wood to fuel it, or because he'd made some mistake? Careful scrutiny of his mother's tablet didn't show any obvious error, but he could never be sure.\n\nWith a sigh, he looped the hammer and chisel back onto his belt, picking up the bottle that was his day's supply of water. A few out-of-season orus fruits had been his only meals, but he couldn't take the time to travel all the way back to the Wei clan. He'd be fine fora few days.\n\nAshe took his first step away from the tree, a flash caught his attention. Lindon scanned the depths of the forest first, looking to see where the light had come from. It might be the sun reflecting off apiece of metal, maybe a forgotten tool or coin.\n\nThe script flickered, sending out a spark of light. It was dim, and it guttered like a candle in the wind, but there was no mistake: his circle had worked. He'd found an ancestral tree.\n\nLike a fish on a hook, his gaze was pulled up to the specks of white amid the tree's purple leaves. A normal orus fruit was like a pure white peach, and grew only in Sacred Valley. Lindon had grownup eating them in everything from pies to juice, but apparently the outside world considered them delicacies. They had no special properties, only a unique flavor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Fruit from an ancestral orus tree looked no different, but a bite would deliver him years' worth of purified vital aura that he could process into madra." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wanted to claw his way up the bark, but the nearest branch was far too high to reach. He should comeback with his sister, or at least a ladder. If only he could find his way back before the Fallen Leaf disciples did.\n\nLindon was still staring up into the tree when something shook the underbrush to his left. Seconds later, a snowfox darted out of the bush and froze, examining him.\n\nWith pure white fur and three tails waving in the air, the snowfox was as unique to Sacred Valley as the orus tree. The symbol of Lindon's Wei clan was a White Fox, in honor of the valley's snowfox. One in particular.\n\nLike Lindon, this fox was miles north of his home. It gazed at him for another breath before something larger crunched closer, and it darted off.\n\nA young man emerged from the woods, hair mussed and covered in scratches. A copper badge hung pinned to the right side of his chest, and he wore a jacket lined with white fox-fur.\n\nLindon knew him. Wei Mon Teris, a member of his clan a year younger than Lindon. He was a danger.\n\n\"Cousin Teris,\" Lindon greeted him, bowing formally with two fists pressed together. \"This one is honored to see you here.\"\n\n\"Out of the way!\" Teris shouted, bowling past Lindon. Behind him, another young man and a young woman followed. Both of them were fourteen-or fifteen-year-old members of the Wei clan, and both of them Coppers.\n\nLindon's wooden badge hung heavy on his chest, but to hide it would be to accept his shame. He stayed bowed over his fists as they ran past him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Deliberately casual, he backed up against the tree." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If they saw the script shining, they would ask him what it was for. His only chance to take the fruit was to keep them occupied with something else.\n\nHe cursed the fate that had led three members of his clan here, so far from home. At least they had ignored him, continuing their hunt for the fox.\n\nWhich was, strictly speaking, illegal.\n\nWhen he heard someone making their way back, Lindon gathered his few belongings and started running. He had hoped they would leave him alone, overlooking them according to their usual habit, but he wasn't even lucky enough for that.\n\nNor was he lucky enough to make it three steps before Teris caught him.\n\nUpon reaching the Copper stage of the sacred arts, one's spirit opened. Teris could harvest the vital aura of the world, processing it into his own madra. He could use that power to fuel his body, so when he grabbed onto Lindon's elbow, there was no possibility of resistance.\n\nLindon was jerked around, but he kept a smile on his face. \"Cousin Teris, how can this one serve you?\"\n\nTeris wasn't tall enough to look Lindon in the eye, so he spat at his feet. \"We've hunted that three-tailed snowfox fora day and a night. Thanks to you, we might lose it.\"\n\n\"Excuse my ignorance, Cousin, but has Elder Whisper blessed this hunt?\"\n\nTeris' ugly look was the only confirmation Lindon needed. Elder Whisper did occasionally allow the hunting of snowfoxes, but only under carefully controlled conditions. He most certainly would not tolerate three young Coppers running down a snowfox at the foot of Yoma Mountain.\n\nWhisper was the reason the symbol of the Wei clan was a white fox." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But even his eyes couldn't see everything." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Myth said the meat of a snowfox would strengthen the madra of those following the Path of the White Fox, as virtually everyone in the Wei clan did.\n\nThere was no logical reason it should be true, as far as Lindon knew, but many believed it. So Elder Whisper had therefore banned all hunting of snowfoxes without his explicit permission.\n\nTeris formed a fist, and the air around it rippled as he gathered his power. \"Are you being impertinent, Unsouled? I don't like that look on your face.\"\n\nLindon's heart tightened. Teris was only Copper, but the shield on his badge showed he was an Enforcer: born to focus his madra into physical strength. He could kill Lindon with a blow, even if he probably wouldn't. Murdering someone below your level was an unspeakable shame. If Teris killed him, and the news made it back to the clan, Teris would remain a dishonored pariah for the rest of his days.\n\nBut there was something uniquely terrifying about facing down someone capable of caving in his ribs with a punch. No one was close enough to save him.\n\nLindon bowed again, and spoke even more humbly. \"This one begs your pardon, Copper Cousin. Please, this one has gathered a few chips together, and it would bean honor if you would take them.\"\n\nHe glanced up to gauge if Teris would take the bribe, but the Copper boy was looking past Lindon. Something had grabbed his attention.\n\nAnd unless the snowfox had returned, there was only one thing back there. The ancestral tree.\n\nThough it was a cool spring day, sweat gathered ran down Lindon's back.\n\n\"What is this script, Unsouled?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This one is practicing his scripting, Copper Cousin. At the request of this one's mother.\"\n\nHopefully invoking his mother would grant him some mercy; unlike Lindon, Wei Shi Seisha provided a valuable function to the clan. She was widely respected among all the families.\n\nTeris gave an ugly laugh, taking a step closer. \"Oh, you look like you want to fight. Did you want to fight me?\"\n\nLindon's parents were... statuesque. They had both once been famous fighters, and he had the misfortune of inheriting their physique with none of their actual strength. He was taller than anyone else his age, broader across the shoulders, and people often thought they saw aggression when he thought he was being perfectly friendly.\n\nHe bowed even more deeply, hoping Teris would see it as a cowardly show of fear. Which, of course, it was.\n\nTeris did ignore him, which was a success, but unfortunately he returned his attention to the tree. \"You've set me behind on my hunt, so it's only fair that I set you behind on your practice.\"\n\nLindon figured out what the other boy intended when Teris drew his fist back. \"Stop!\" Lindon shouted, but it wasn't soon enough.\n\nTeris had not yet reached Iron, so his body wasn't actually any stronger than Lindon's. But Enforcers bolstered their strength with madra. When Teris drew on his Copper madra, he would be stronger than other sacred artists of his level, tougher, and faster. His punch landed on the ancient fruit tree, shattering the bark and leaving the imprint of his fist in the wood. The impact echoed through the forest, smashing Lindon's script.\n\nTeris stepped away. Behind him, the tree bent in the middle. Deceptively slowly, it splintered and fell apart." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Icy cold shivered through Lindon's body, and it had nothing to do with the loss of the fruit. His odds of survival had just plummeted sharply.\n\n\"You idiot,\" Lindon half-whispered. Teris froze.\n\n\"What did you say?\"\n\nLindon dropped to his knees, hurriedly scratching symbols into the dirt. His tablet didn't cover this script, so he only hoped he could remember correctly. \"You've killed us both. That was an ancestral tree.\"\n\nTeris frowned at him, then looked at the broken trunk. Precious seconds passed as he digested the news.\n\nLindon had almost finished the circle, scratching frantically at the dirt with his finger. \"Get behind the circle!\" he shouted.\n\nThen the Remnant rose from the tree's corpse.\n\nIt was made from lines of vivid purple, like color sketched on the world by a celestial painter. The Remnant was thin and free of details like bark or leaves, as though it were the purple skeleton of the tree that once had been.\n\nIn reality, it was more like a ghost. A spirit without a vessel.\n\nRemnants were constructions of pure madra, freed from their physical bodies. Whenever a sacred artist of enough power died, he left his soul behind him as a living force.\n\nIf Lindon died, his madra would dissipate into the vital aura in the atmosphere. The same would go for ordinary animals, or even Copper-level sacred artists. But sacred beasts and ancestral trees were on another level altogether. It would take an Iron-or Jade-stage practitioner to face one of these in combat.\n\nAnd before Teris could react to what he was seeing, the purple tree-Remnant clenched a branchlike a massive fist and slammed it into the boy's midsection. The young Copper flipped through the air before landing facedown on the forest floor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Wei Mon Teris' clothes tore where the tree-Remnant had struck him, but he was on his feet and stumbling away within seconds." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even in a possibly lethal situation like this one, Lindon had time fora brief flash of jealousy. A blow like that would have killed or crippled him, but Teris must have been drawing on his madra. He scurried off like a roach.\n\nThe Copper ran deeper in the woods without a glance back, rushing in the direction his friends had gone. Lindon fought the urge to hurry, finishing the last rune in the circle, knowing that precision was his defense rather than speed.\n\nIt was impossible to calmly take his time as the Remnant lumbered over to him, a skeletal ghost of purple madra in the shape of a leafless tree. Its branches swayed as it lurched forward in apathetic parody of a man's walk.\n\nLindon put his thumb to the final rune and closed his eyes.\n\nHe visualized his madra as a blue-white light, moving along lines like veins all through his body. He sped the flow of the energy, cycling it according to the Foundation technique he'd learned as a child. This technique was supposed to eventually become the basis for an entire Path, but Lindon had never progressed further. Any child in the Wei clan could do as much with their madra as Lindon.\n\nBut he could activate scripts.\n\nThe circle flared to life at the touch of his power, each rune burning with the same blue-white energy he'd seen in his mind.\n\nWhen the Remnant loomed over the script, reaching out along branchlike a grasping hand, it passed through the light easily. No barrier stopped its movement. Lindon hopped backwards, out of the circle, and the Remnant stepped forward to follow him.\n\nLindon's limitations were many, but he knew them well. He could never empower a script to block the Remnant of an ancestral tree directly, at least not with a script as crude as this one. But he could draw the Remnant in. Once inside, the spirit's own madra would power the circle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And the Remnant was much stronger than he was.\n\nThe script's light turned from blue to purple, and the tree's branches bristled like spikes. It tried to step away from the circle, to reach for Lindon, but drew up short like a dog at the end of a chain.\n\nSweat soaked Lindon's clothes, and he flopped to the ground well out of the Remnant's reach. He caught his breath, shivering at the close call. If he'd been a moment slower...\n\nThen something caught his eye that drove all thoughts of danger from his head. On the highest of the Remnant's purple branches, a single spot of white. A spirit-fruit.\n\nAs the Remnant raged, it was not silent. Its fury sounded like snapping twigs, like the crunch of splintered logs. It was at least three times Lindon's height, crowned by that single spot of white.\n\nThe fruit hung from the same place on the Remnant as it had on the tree's body. Now the fruit was forged of flawless white madra, glowing on the spirit like a crown. The physical reality was still nestled among the branches on the forest floor, shriveled and pathetic.\n\nStill thinking, Lindon walked over to the withered material fruit and plucked it, slipping it into the cumbersome pack he carried on his back. He was no longer wary of the Remnant; if it were powerful enough to break his script, it already would have. Now, he had something else to worry about.\n\nIf he could retrieve the Remnant version of this fruit, his mother could bind it back to its physical vessel. She was a Forger and a Soulsmith, a specialist in manipulating madra as a physical material. She could turn this lifeless vegetation back into a powerful spirit-fruit, good as new." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If he wanted that to work, he'd need to bring the Remnant fruit back with him. And it was attached to the head of a crazed spirit monster.\n\nHe wished he had a better plan.\n\nWith reluctance, he reached into his shadesilk pockets of his pack and withdrew a glimmering gemstone the size of his smallest fingernail. It was hollow on the inside, like a stoppered flask carved fora doll, though this one was filled with a few drops of blue light that danced through the crystal's facets.\n\nWhen there's only one road forward, take it with a smile. It had taken him weeks to fill up this crystal flask, which was capable of storing and purifying madra. He hated to waste weeks of his time here, but if he could restore the orus fruit, it would be worth more than a year of cycling. If he failed, though...\n\nHe slowed his breathing, cycling his spirit in a rhythm with his steady, even breath. When he could feel power filling all his limbs, tightening his focus, and drawing his body into a unified whole, he acted.\n\nLindon placed the tiny flask, glowing blue-white, at the very edge of the Remnant's reach.\n\nThe purple tree turned to him as though it could smell the energy, silence falling over the woods. Lindon hurried to the side, but the Remnant's attention was all on the miniature crystal.\n\nThis was the main way his family used crystal flasks. They had other uses, but fora Soulsmith, this was by far the most practical purpose. All Remnants hungered for pure human madra, which could become virtually anything. On such a diet, a Remnant could even develop its own consciousness, independent from whatever it had been in life." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As the tree lunged, so did Lindon. He ran for the circle, leaping as soon as the tree bent down.\n\nHe might not have the strength of a true sacred artist, but Lindon still trained his body the same as the rest of his clan. He landed on the back of the Remnant, clutching its branches.\n\nIt felt more like clinging to slick, oily bone than wood, but he didn't waste time examining the sensation. He reached out, grasping for the glowing white fruit, hanging like a full moon.\n\nA branch slammed into his arm with the force of a kicking horse, and he heard something crack.\n\nThe impact knocked him off the Remnant's back, and he had the presence of mind to roll away from the script as he fell. If he kicked one of the runes, the circle would break, and he would likely die.\n\nBut the Remnant didn't seem to have noticed him. It tossed the empty crystal flask to the ground, having finished its brief meal, and then stilled. The wind was the only sound now, and the spirit looked like nothing more than a thin purple tree planted in the earth.\n\nLindon saw all this through tears of pain. He clenched his jaw to keep from screaming and potentially drawing the Remnant's attention back to him. His forearm was broken, his hand dangling loosely, and it felt as though the weight of his own flesh would tear the arm apart. The pain kept him on his knees, drawing huge breaths in his lungs.\n\nHe forced a smile through his agony. In his uninjured fist, he gripped a shining white fruit.\n\nIt didn't feel like a natural orus fruit anymore than its source had felt like a natural tree. Rather, it squished in his hand like jelly, but as soon as he stopped applying force it snapped back into form. He wasn't sure what aspect this madra held, or even how powerful it would be, once his mother restored it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But he'd made it.\n\nHe tucked the Forged fruit into his pack next to its physical counterpart, plucking the transparent crystal flask and tossing it in next. Now he was only faced with the task of traveling a dozen miles through the wilderness, on foot, with a broken arm and a bulky pack.\n\nTriumph made the journey easy.\n\n---\n\nAlmost a million people called Sacred Valley home, and the Wei clan alone accounted for over a hundred thousand of those. Even so, the one resource no one lacked was space.\n\nEach family received a generous portion of land, with a small house added onto the main complex for each member. Typically, children received their own house along with their wooden badge, as a mark of independence. Even Lindon, who could contribute nothing back to the clan, received a housing allotment inferior to no one's.\n\nHis house was made of tight-fitting orus wood, pale and smooth, roofed in purple tiles. His bed lay against the wall opposite of the hearth, in which afire burned merrily toward off the spring chill. He lay in his bed, broken arm splinted and tied, with a scripted ribbon wrapped around his bicep to contain the pain. It would wear off in a few hours, at which point his mother would replace it with another one.\n\nAt the moment, Lindon was as physically comfortable as he had ever been. He couldn't feel his arm, the fire was warm, and his bed was so soft it felt like lying on a cloud. He was used to that; his mother had packed his mattress with Forged cloud-aspect madra she'd purchased from one of her contacts. Even the Wei clan's Patriarch didn't have a better bed.\n\nBut Lindon couldn't enjoy any of it. His family was here." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The fruit now shone with the bright color of a Remnant, but it held all the wrinkles and imperfections that showed it to be real. His mother had restored it to full power in minutes. It sat on the center of Lindon's table, and the other three members of his family surrounded it like wolves circling a wounded deer.\n\n\"If I had found this years ago, I would take it,\" Lindon's father said. \"But it's too late for me now. Kelsa will fight for us in the Seven-Year Festival, so she needs it the most.\"\n\nWei Shi Jaran had participated in the Festival before last, which had left him with a lip scarred into an eternal smirk, and a limp that required a cane. He hadn't fought since.\n\n\"It wouldn't have helped you,\" Lindon's mother responded. She was one of the more eye-catching figures in the Wei clan, with her long brown hair. Everyone else, including her children, had black. \"This spirit-fruit has no aspect of life. It only purifies energy, helping you advance in your Path. It does nothing that months or years of regular cycling wouldn't do.\" Seisha scratched away at a portable slate as she spoke, her chalk pausing only rarely. Scripts wouldn't check themselves.\n\nHer drudge hovered over her shoulder, like a rusty brown mechanical fish drifting on invisible tides. It was a Soulsmith construct, madra Forged according to a particular pattern, and it served her as a box of tools served a carpenter.\n\n\"I'm only saying, Seisha, that if I had gotten this early enough... who knows?\"\n\n\"I do. That's not how it works.\"\n\n\"You know everything about the soul? All the mysteries of the sacred arts? I could have changed my Path, studied with the Fallen Leaf School, and maybe their life aspect could have restored me. Your body is remade when you advance to Jade.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If you could have advanced, you would have done it by now. You're hardly more likely to have done so by starting over on a different Path, even with some hypothetical elixir.\" She rubbed out some chalk with the heel of her hand, never looking away from her notes.\n\nJaran's scar-enforced smirk creased into a sneer, and he inflated as he prepared what was sure to be a cutting remark.\n\nLindon's sister Kelsa took over the conversation before it could devolve further, as he had known she would. \"I can't do well enough for the Patriarch to notice us if I'm still a Copper. How will I fight Wei Jin Amon or Li Ten Jana without Iron strength?\"\n\nTheir father snorted, crossing his arms. \"That's right. There will beat least half a dozen sixteen-year-olds with iron badges already, and Kelsa should be among them. With her Path, she can give them all a surprise. I did, and I was even younger.\"\n\nKelsa nodded to her father, mostly to stop him from drawing the story out any longer. \"I'm sure I can, if fate is kind. But we still have two months, and I am already close to condensing my Iron body. It's possible I'll advance on my own before the Festival opens.\"\n\nShe rolled the white fruit toward herself, pulling a knife from her belt. \"There's no reason I should keep it all to myself. If one of you reaches Jade, it will do more for our family than anything I can show on the Festival stage. We should split it in three.\"\n\nFinally, Seisha looked up from her tablet. Her drudge whistled inquisitively, ready to be used, but she met her husband's eyes. His scowl lightened, and he nodded, eager to take part of this treasure for himself. Kelsa's blade met the skin of the fruit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lindon leaned forward until his bed frame creaked under him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His family turned, surprised to remember he was still there. In his own house.\n\n\"Would it be so hard to cut another piece?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 3\n\nAs Lindon sat on his bed with his numb arm in a sling, he watched his family. Around the table, they each exchanged glances.\n\nKelsa held up the white orus, the spirit-fruit Lindon had hunted and bled for. \"Mother, can we divide it in four?\"\n\nSeisha glanced up at her drudge, but the brown shape only croaked in response. It currently looked like a toy fish floating over her shoulder, but Lindon had seen it unfold into many other forms. \"We were already taking a risk with three,\" she said at last. \"There's a limit beyond which any elixir cannot be stretched, or it is wasted.\"\n\nFrustration had returned to Jaran's face. \"We can't take the chance. Who knows when we'll find something like this again? Give it to Kelsa.\"\n\n\"No,\" his daughter said, cutting into the fruit. \"We'll divide it as planned. It's not fair to you, Lindon, but I'll make it up to you. I'll give you my clan stipend for the next half a year, how would you like that?\"\n\nJaran spread his hands as though presenting her idea, and Seisha returned to her slate. To them, clearly, the matter had been settled.\n\nIn fairness to his sister, Lindon had to admit that her offer was fair. Six months of the clan's allowance to her would be a small fortune in chips for him, enough to buy lesser elixirs of his own. Maybe even a partial Path manual, so he could further his study of the sacred arts without the clan's blessing.\n\nBut those items weren't unusual. They weren't going anywhere. He could save up his own chips and buy them, if not so quickly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This fruit was special. He was so far behind everyone else that he needed something out of the ordinary to catch up.\n\nIf he relied on normal means, he'd stay behind his entire life.\n\nHe nodded to her. \"Gratitude. But with respect, I hunted for that on my own for three days.\"\n\n\"On my instruction,\" his mother pointed out.\n\n\"For which I am grateful. But nonetheless, the work was mine. The time was mine. I found the tree, I plucked the fruit, I fought a Remnant for it.\" He gestured to his sling. \"I'll have battle scars for it! Me!\"\n\nKelsa looked down at the fruit with her knife in hand, as though unsure whereto cut. \"I can give you eight months of chips, but anymore than that, and I'm not sure I can afford to keep my garden through the winter.\"\n\n\"I don't want more money. I want half.\"\n\nThe scar at the corner of Jaran's lip made his scowl sinister instead of stern. \"Think beyond yourself. She represents our family in the Festival. Our clan. The Patriarch is negotiating trade rights with the Kazan. The stronger we show ourselves, the better his position. This should be a concern for every Wei.\"\n\n\"But that is exactly my concern.\" Lindon leaned forward on the edge of his bed, radiating sincerity. \"I'll be fighting among the eight-year-olds. Can you imagine the scorn if I don't take first place? Anything Kelsa accomplishes against the Irons will be overshadowed by that shame.\"\n\nHis father was quiet.\n\n\"Don't fight,\" Seisha said, reaching up and sliding her chalk into her drudge. The floating fish absorbed it without a ripple. \"The Foundation stage exhibition is a formality anyway, it's training for the real fights.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lindon had expected this, and had prepared a counter." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And everyone will know why. I will forever be the Wei clan coward who ran from opponents half his age.\"\n\nJaran's frustration had become too much to hold in, and he picked up his cane, spinning it between his palms. \"It doesn't matter! If I breakthrough to Jade, or your mother does, or your sister reaches Iron, then that will wash away anything that happens in the children's fights.\" He slammed the cane down as though the matter were settled.\n\nGently, Kelsa shook her head. \"It's a poor gamble. We're betting on possible honor against certain shame.\"\n\nThose words, certain shame, pricked at him, but he didn't let the pain touch him. He never did. \"Father, Mother, if you tell me it's likely that you will advance to the Jade stage before the Seven-Year Festival, I'll give up my claim. I don't argue that Kelsa needs to be Iron, but she's so close she doesn't need the entire thing. I have so little. To a beggar, even scraps become a feast.\"\n\nHis mother gave him awry look, and Jaran's face had reddened, but neither said anything. They weren't close to Jade, as he suspected.\n\nIt was Kelsa who finally made the decision. With one clean stroke, she segmented the orus fruit in half, splitting it around the pit. \"There's no honor in denying a man what he's earned. If you'd like it, Father, I'll give you my half.\"\n\nPredictably, Jaran grumbled a bit but let her keep it. She walked over to hand her brother his half of the spirit-fruit.\n\nKelsa had gotten everything Lindon wanted in his life: the natural gifts, the favor of the clan, and the opportunity to train in sacred arts. And while she was as tall as he was, she didn't look like she was trying to intimidate anyone. Daily martial training left her lithe and graceful." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If she wasn't so absolutely fair about everything, Lindon might have hated her.\n\nShe handed his half of the fruit to him without malice, and even nodded to him in respect. He'd won the argument, and the Wei clan respected honorable victory.\n\nHe allowed the thrill of his prize to run through him as he took the fruit. This could be the first step of his path up. More importantly, he'd won.\n\nHe relished the feeling as he relished the fruit, which tingled on his tongue like a peach charged with lightning. It was gone too soon, and the shock on Kelsa's face mirrored what he was sure he showed on his own. Even in his stomach, it seemed to give off the occasional shock, sending tingling waves through his body.\n\n\"Could you describe the sensation?\" their mother asked, poised to take notes.\n\n\"It definitely feels like it's working,\" Kelsa said.\n\nLindon put his hands to his stomach. He imagined he could feel excess energy in his fingertips. \"It's like I've swallowed a thunderbolt.\"\n\nSeisha had retrieved a brush and an ink jar to replace her chalk and slate, and painted notes on a scroll as fast as she could move. \"Would you describe the feeling as hot or cold?\"\n\nLindon exchanged looks with his sister. \"Hot?\" he said, at the same time she said, \"Cold?\"\n\n\"Alternating hot and cold,\" their mother muttered, never pausing in her writing. \"Examine your core. Any changes?\"\n\nLindon closed his eyes, visualizing his core. It sat just beneath the navel, and was where all the lines of madra connected. This was the physical location of the soul, some said, and Lindon always pictured it as a rolling ball of blue-white light." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He evened out his breathing, inhaling and exhaling in tune with the tides of his spirit." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The energy flowed through his body according to his Foundation technique, the one and only sacred art he'd been allowed to learn. It allowed him to focus and purify what little madra he had, to build a foundation for... nothing at all.\n\nHe wasn't allowed to learn a Path, to harvest vital aura, so he would never advance. If he was lucky, in his later years, his innate spirit would be refined to the point that he would naturally advance to Copper. The state most people reached by age thirteen. Copper spirits were open to the vital aura of the natural world, so they could draw power from the heavens and earth to make themselves stronger. It was the true first step for any sacred arts.\n\n\"No change,\" he reported, the review of his lackluster destiny having dampened his excitement.\n\n\"I don't feel anything either,\" Kelsa confirmed. \"But there's something...\"\n\nA shout came from the door. \"Wei Shi Lindon, the First Elder requests your presence.\" It was a voice Lindon knew, but hadn't expected to hear again so soon.\n\nHe rose to his feet to answer the door, careful of his numbed arm, but Kelsa moved first. She strode over and pulled the door open.\n\nWei Mon Teris stood looking up at her, gawking at her presence. He was still wearing his snowfox skin, scuffed though it was, but otherwise he looked completely unharmed by his encounter with the tree-Remnant only hours before. \"Cousin Kelsa, excuse my interruption. Is your brother nearby?\"\n\nBy this time, Lindon had slipped into a pair of shoes and made it to his sister's side. \"Cousin Teris, I see you made it back safely.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Teris'jaw clenched." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wei Shi Lindon. The First Elder requires your presence to review the events of the day. I'm to bring you there immediately.\"\n\n\"Carry our family's regrets to the First Elder,\" Kelsa said, \"but Lindon is injured. He needs our care and attention tonight, but he would be honored to attend the First Elder at first light tomorrow.\"\n\nCradling his sling, Lindon ducked under Kelsa's arm. \"How could I make the First Elder wait? My injury is nothing to be concerned over, just a small wound incurred in my battle against the Remnant.\"\n\nTeris glared at the pointed reminder that he hadn't stayed and fought the monster, as honor dictated he should. In fact, as the strongest party present, Teris should have protected Lindon with his life.\n\nNot that Lindon had ever expected as much. In his observation, honor often fled before self-preservation.\n\n\"Lead on, Cousin,\" Lindon said. Teris started off without another word.\n\nThe First Elder waited for them in the Clan Hall, the same place where young Wei souls were tested. Lindon had rarely seen the elder outside of it, and he seemed to have grown to fit there; his long beard matched the White Foxes on the banners, his robes jade and gold to match the pillars and tiles.\n\nHe stood in the hall as they entered, back straight, his hand on the head of a stone fox and his eyes on the golden statue of the first Wei Patriarch. He did not turn as the young men approached and dropped to their knees, bowing almost to the ground.\n\n\"Tell me what happened today, in the forest beneath Yoma.\"\n\nTeris began immediately, reciting the events of the day as though he'd practiced. To Lindon's surprise, Teris stuck to an accurate retelling of events, even admitting that he and two friends had tracked a snowfox into the woods. They never actually caught the fox, as he hurried to clarify, and then he went onto tell how Lindon's presence spooked their game. Lindon's response angered him, and in his anger, he broke a nearby tree. He had noway of knowing the tree was sacred, and would release a Remnant." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"With my body, I took a blow that would have struck the Unsouled,\" Teris went on, in the furthest departure from truth so far. \"When I recovered, I saw that he was defenseless, and Iran to warn my friends rather than die together with him. I do not know how he survived.\"\n\nSilence fell on the Clan Hall, and still the First Elder did not turn. He stroked the fox statue's head as he thought.\n\n\"What are the words of the Wei clan?\" he asked at last.\n\n\"Honor by any means,\" the boys recited at once. The Path of the Wei clan used madra of light and dreams to deceive their enemies... but according to the first Wei Patriarch, even deception could be used to serve honor. It was the contradiction around which the Wei clan was founded.\n\n\"There is a time when running to preserve your own life is not cowardice,\" the elder went on. \"When the threat is so great that your death would mean nothing, then flight is no shame.\"\n\nTeris let out a deep breath.\n\n\"But this was not such a threat,\" the First Elder said, turning around at last. His face was carved from stone harder than the statues around him. \"If this Remnant failed to defeat an Unsouled at the Foundation stage, then surely a Copper sacred artist could have stood against it. Your stipend will be withheld this month, you will spend a night in isolated meditation, and at the end you will be whipped three times in front of the clan. Cowards have no place in the Valley.\"\n\nTeris bowed so low that his forehead stuck to the floor, so Lindon couldn't see his face, but his whispered voice was choked. \"You are wise and... merciful, First Elder.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The First Elder snorted. \"Report to your father, tell him what I have said, and that I allow him to add a punishment of his own if he wishes. But if I do not see you through the window of a locked room tonight, then I will make your sentence three times worse. Go now.\"\n\nTeris bowed again and fled without a word.\n\nLindon braced himself. Part of him felt a measure of shameful glee at Teris'sentence, but he couldn't enjoy it. He knew his clan, he knew his own standing within it, and if the elder had punished an otherwise honorable Copper in front of him, it meant that there was something worse coming.\n\nThe First Elder stood over Lindon, silently judging. Weighing. Perhaps deciding which of several sentences to mete out.\n\nIf Lindon struck first, he might be able to mitigate the damage.\n\n\"This one is shamed to be here before you, Great Elder,\" Lindon said into the floor. \"This one had no intention of interfering with the Coppers, or their hunt.\" Best to bring up the hunt as much as possible, to remind him that Teris and the others had been breaking Elder Whisper's rules. \"This one was in search of an ancestral fruit, on behalf of his mother.\"\n\nWith one sharp gesture of his hand, the First Elder motioned for Lindon to getup. He scrambled gratefully to his feet.\n\n\"Did you find it?\"\n\n\"Yes, First Elder.\"\n\nThe aura around the elder darkened, almost imperceptibly. \"Did you waste it on yourself, Unsouled? I know you were tempted.\"\n\nLindon's stomach was still buzzing with trapped lightning. It was all he could do not to swallow, afraid the First Elder would take that as a sign of guilt. \"It went to my older sister. I mean... this one's older sister.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The intimidating aura dispersed like clouds before the sun, and the First Elder waved irritably. \"Speak freely, Shi Lindon. I've seen you inhere often enough.\"\n\nLindon fought back a smile. \"Yes, First Elder, but I have little to add. Cousin Teris told the story accurately.\"\n\nThe First Elder had the longest eyebrows of anyone Lindon had ever seen, and they shot halfway up his forehead at this. \"You know what you've done wrong, then?\"\n\nThat was a trap if Lindon had ever heard one. Sweat trickled down his back, and the lightning in his stomach boiled up. It would be worse luck than he deserved if the fruit made itself known now.\n\n\"I... was... too far from clan territory, First Elder. I know it now. In the future, I will travel in the company of my sister. Thank you for instructing me.\"\n\nThe elder sighed, rubbing at his eyes with two fingers. \"You found yourself in the way of three Coppers, Lindon. That was your sin.\"\n\nLindon hesitated. \"I am sorry for it, Elder. But I could not have known they would run past this one tree in the forest. Can I predict where lightning will strike in a storm?\"\n\nThe First Elder slapped his hand down on the statue of the white fox, sending a sharp crack through the air and leaving a fissure in the fox's skull. Ina blinding flash of madra, he repaired it instantly. \"You could not have known? If a party of Kazan dogs had stumbled on you instead, or the honorable disciples of the Fallen Leaf, they could have killed you as easily as Teris broke that tree. Only honor might restrain them, and honor is a poor hook on which to hang a man's life. And if they did choose to kill you, our clan would have to apologize. For inconveniencing them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon started to respond, but he had nothing to say. Shame blotted out his thoughts, shame that burned worse than the fruit's lightning, shame that crawled along every inch of his bones and ate him from the inside like a colony of ants.\n\nThe First Elder's tone softened, but his words didn't. \"If a sacred artist with an iron badge burned down your home with you inside, at most I could give him a punishment like I gave Teris. For the dishonor of picking on the weak. He could not be executed, or maimed, or even fined, because in taking your life he cost the clan nothing.\"\n\nLindon squeezed his eyes shut and bowed, hoping that would cover the tears he fought down. Weeping like a child would only shame him. He shifted his injured arm in its sling, pretending his wince came from sudden pain.\n\n\"I do not say this to wound you further, Lindon. The heavens can show great cruelty in a man's birth. But the foundation of any Path is learning to accept the world as it is, not as you wish or even observe it to be. Every slight, every insult, every injustice in your future will be your fault. Your fate is not fair, but it is true. What should you have done today?\"\n\n\"I should have returned home as soon as I saw Wei Mon Teris,\" Lindon whispered.\n\n\"Wrong! You should never have left.\" The First Elder stabbed a finger at him, and it skewered him as thoroughly as a sword. \"You have a place in the clan archives. Let that be your turtle's shell. Help your mother with her work, or stay in the archives, and fade into the background. Humility and anonymity are your protection.\" The elder sighed, his shoulders slumping. \"They are the only armor I can give you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tucked away in the corner, on a stand designed for the purpose, waited the testing bowl. Seventeen times, he'd placed his hand in that bowl. Seventeen failures, in a test no one failed.\n\nHe returned his gaze to the floor.\n\n\"Yes, First Elder.\"\n\nThe elder sighed again. His slippers moved as he paced back and forth, in a greater display of emotion than Lindon had seen from him before. \"I won't punish you. Your fate, and the injury to your arm, are punishment enough. But if I am seen to do nothing, the Mon family will hold you responsible for Teris. As such, I would like you to feed Elder Whisper tonight.\"\n\nLindon looked up sharply, a strange hope filling him along with the storm in his belly. \"Gratitude, First Elder.\"\n\nThe First Elder shook his head. \"Maybe he can give you the help that I cannot.\"\n\n---\n\nMost buildings in the Wei clan were purple and white, reflecting the purple leaves of the orus tree and the white fur of the snowfox. From a distance, the clan was a collage of those two colors. Only one tower stood out: a needle of white, so tall that it seemed thin, rising above the purple-roofed sea like the mast of a great ship. It had been made of white stone in the age of the clan's founders, and it was one of the most prominent landmarks in all of Sacred Valley.\n\nIt was filled with stairs.\n\nThere were only two rooms in Whisper's tower: one at the bottom, and one at the top. In between was nothing more than a spiraling staircase, thousands of steps that represented a monotonous journey to the clan's oldest ally." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lindon took a deep breath as he faced the first step." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The founders had obviously designed this tower with sacred artists in mind. And why shouldn't they? Everyone practiced sacred arts, so everyone had a madra-reinforced constitution greater than their bodies would normally allow.\n\nExcept for Lindon, who had to face this staircase with little more than the strength in his legs. He could cycle his madra to prevent exhaustion, to restore some stamina when his feet began to flag, but he would run out halfway through if he didn't ration his spiritual strength. A Copper would have the madra to climb these stairs in half the time and arrive in perfect condition.\n\nWithout further hesitation, Lindon began the long march up the stairs. He carried a bucket filled with jade-scaled river carp: Elder Whisper's twice-daily meal.\n\nNormally Lindon would never have been chosen for this task. It was easier to ask any Copper-stage artist, and they would finish faster with less effort. Today, Lindon's eagerness carried him through the hour it took him to reach the top. The First Elder's words had left him feeling trapped, doomed, cursed to a lifetime of insignificance and weakness.\n\nIf anyone could tell him how to break free, Whisper could.\n\nElder Whisper had joined the clan founders to create the Wei clan, dominating the native Remnants to carve out a section of wilderness in Sacred Valley. He had created the Path of the White Fox, the most common Path in the entire clan, and used its powers to control and assimilate several lesser clans. Not even the current Wei Patriarch was as honored as Elder Whisper.\n\nSo when Lindon finally reached the door at the top of the stairs, he set his heavy bucket down and took a moment to catch his breath. He couldn't appear before Elder Whisper panting like a dog." }, { "from": "human", "value": "To open the lock, he had to brace it in the crook of his sling-wrapped arm and twist with his freehand." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Both the lock and the key were heavy bronze, each bigger than his head. Why they had to use such giant devices to secure Whisper's door, he couldn't imagine. They didn't appear scripted, only heavy. Surely a normal lock and key would work just as well.\n\nOnce he finally wrestled the lock open, he had to lean his shoulder against the slab of a door, forcing away inside with his whole strength.\n\nHe pulled the bucket inside and let the door slam shut once again. The inside of the door was covered by a scripted mirror-part of a spirit-trap, designed to keep Remnants and sacred beasts imprisoned by their own madra. While the door was open, the circle was incomplete, and Whisper could sneak out.\n\nIf he did, he would find himself stuck on the stairs, unable to cross the closed circle at the tower's base. As far as Lindon knew, Whisper had never even tried to escape. He enjoyed a respected position, intervened in clan affairs as much as he wanted, and the elders released him from the tower on formal occasions. As a boy, Lindon had wondered why Whisper was trapped in the first place, but it was simply one more part of the way things were.\n\nLindon had heard several myths about Whisper's imprisonment, but never one he believed. The truth was likely beyond his comprehension.\n\nElder Whisper sat on his haunches, watching the clan below through an open floor-to-ceiling archway. Aline of script engraved in the floor prevented him from simply leaping out and running down the side of the tower.\n\nCold wind, crisp with the scents of a spring night, ruffled his white fur. Five bushy tails lashed behind him, tracing arcane patterns in the air that reminded Lindon of a script." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You have eaten of a wonderful fruit,\" said the sacred fox. \"Tell me the story.\"\n\nLindon dropped to his knees next to the bucket offish, bowing respectfully. He was more conscious than ever of the flickering lightning in his core. \"This one found an ancestral orus tree, Elder. This one was fortunate enough to obtain its fruit after it was destroyed.\"\n\nWhisper turned slightly, fixing Lindon with one jet-black eye. \"There is more.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 4\n\nNaturally, Lindon concealed nothing before Elder Whisper. \"This one engaged in a small conflict with a Copper practitioner from the clan. In the battle, the tree was broken, and a Remnant released. This one was able to protect himself.\"\n\nThe Wei clan's signature Path of the White Fox had been created by-and named for-the very sacred beast that stood before him now. They produced madra that deceived the senses, that created illusions, that twisted light and sound. And Elder Whisper was the Path's original master.\n\nA second five-tailed snowfox stepped out from the first, like an image walking away from a mirror. This second body dipped its muzzle into the bucket offish even as the first continued speaking. \"The Foundation stage defends himself from a Remnant, and leaves with its prize. Commendable.\"\n\nLindon bowed deeply. \"This one is unworthy of such praise.\"\n\nNeither Whisper responded. One continued devouring the fish, while the other examined Lindon with eyes of opaque darkness. On any other day, Lindon would take his leave now.\n\nBut the First Elder had thought that Whisper might be able to help him. \"This one humbly begs a question of you, Elder.\"\n\nA fuzzy snout slid over his shoulder, cold lips brushing past his cheek. He focused his entire body on remaining still, on not trembling, as a third Elder Whisper rested his head on Lindon's shoulder.\n\n\"Speak,\" the third sacred beast said quietly.\n\n\"This one is not allowed to follow a Path of the sacred arts.\"\n\n\"Why should the Wei clan water a tree that will never bear fruit?\" Elder Whisper asked, simultaneously watching Lindon from three directions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"An Unsouled may never have a family of his own, for fear of passing on his deformity to anew generation.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon couldn't keep bitterness from his voice. \"He cannot practice sacred arts, and so cannot travel or engage in battle. This one cannot rise if he does not bring honor to the clan, but he is not permitted to do so.\"\n\nElder Whisper and his two reflections began to pace around him, three five-tailed snowfoxes each bigger than a man. Lindon shivered as the fox's head slid back away from his shoulder, but kept himself in place out of discipline. The elder was still an ancient sacred beast, mysterious and feral, and if he devoured Lindon no one in the clan would make a sound of protest.\n\n\"What are the sacred arts?\" the elder asked, his murmur coming from three directions at once.\n\n\"The path of refining a spirit and pursuing connection to all of creation,\" Lindon recited. There were many correct answers to Elder Whisper's question, and any child of Sacred Valley could recount them on command.\n\n\"When does that path reach its end?\"\n\nThis answer was more vague, but Lindon answered as best he could. \"When an artist's spirit is as pure as gold.\" Gold was the final stage of any sacred artist's Path.\n\nA tail whipped the back of Lindon's skull, leaving a sharp sting. \"Is a Gold practitioner one with heaven and earth? Does he control everything in creation? Can he create worlds and break them at will?\"\n\nThe obvious answer was \"no,\" but Elder Whisper would not be satisfied by the obvious. In humility, Lindon fell to his knees and pressed his face to the floor, despite the groan of pain from his broken arm. \"This one is unworthy to even guess at such profound answers, Elder.\"\n\nThe fox's chuckle softly filled the room as his three bodies continued to circle. \"There is no profound answer here, young human. The answer is'no. '\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hesitantly, Lindon raised his head. \"Pardon this one's ignorance, but... does the Path not end with Gold?\"\n\n\"The spirit has no limit, nor does the sky. How could a true Path have an ending? If you studied until the end of the universe, you would still have not touched true comprehension. The Path of the White Fox is but one among countless others, and none reach the end.\"\n\n\"This one thanks you for the enlightenment, Elder Whisper,\" Lindon said, though he still didn't fully understand what the sacred beast meant to teach him.\n\nAll three foxes paused, side by side, regarding Lindon. \"When a traveler cannot find a path, sometimes he must make his own.\"\n\nUnderstanding washed over Lindon, and he bowed again out of gratitude. The shame that had been exposed by the First Elder's words ignited like tinder until determination blazed alongside the lightning in his belly.\n\nOne of the Whispers blinked out of reality, leaving one staring Lindon in the eye and one feasting on fish. \"Remember. Cutting a road through a forest is always harder than following one already cut.\"\n\nLindon straightened. \"If all it takes is work, Elder Whisper, this one will not fail you.\"\n\n\"Fate is not fair, but it is just. Hard work is never in vain... even when it does not achieve what you wished.\" With those words, the five-tailed fox faded away, leaving only the real Elder Whisper enjoying his meal.\n\nThough the elder had clearly dismissed him, Lindon had to show his respect before leaving. He bowed deeply three times to Elder Whisper's back, taking the empty bucket from the elder's last feeding and returning down the stairs.\n\nThe trip down was no easier on Lindon's legs than the trip up, and his broken arm had begun to ache even through his mother's script, but he spent the time in contemplation. The First Elder had spoken of Lindon's situation as though he should give up and accept his fate, but Whisper had given him the opposite advice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon knew which he preferred. The First Elder would have him wait at home, safe and relatively content, but he would die having accomplished nothing. The fruit's power tingled in his core, begging him to process it, urging him to take the first step on a Path of his own devising.\n\nWhen he returned home, his family was gone. He sat cross-legged in the center of his house, focused entirely inward, cycling his madra with a greater intensity than ever before.\n\nHe felt as though he should make some breakthrough tonight, as though Elder Whisper's words should trigger some understanding that would take him to a higher level and allow him to comprehend some deep truth. Or perhaps the spirit-fruit would show more of an effect than it had so far, allowing him to unexpectedly advance to Copper.\n\nNothing happened beyond the ordinary. The storm in his core subsided somewhat as he continued digesting the fruit's pure madra, and his legs eased somewhat as they received fresh power after their exertion earlier. Even his broken arm felt better, though he could just as easily attribute that to the fresh pain-suppressing script his mother had left for him.\n\nHe quickly bathed and slept.\n\n---\n\nThe mirrored door to Elder Whisper's chamber swung shut, leaving the ancient fox staring at a reflection of himself. He tilted his muzzled back, snapping up a fish and letting it slide down his throat.\n\nHe had spent most of the past five decades in this room, where everyday was much like another. Compared to the excitement of his younger days, this was a perfectly satisfying way to spend a few years.\n\nBut now the Unsouled had visited of his own volition. That was interesting.\n\nHe left the remainder of his meal, pacing circles around his chamber. In the mirror, his sleek white reflection followed him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Whisper harvested both light and dreams into his core, blending them so that he could blind any eyes, stifle any ears." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The humans understood light to some limited degree, but they had great difficulty with dreams. Whisper, however, had spent a hundred years meditating on the nature of dreams.\n\nFor the most part, a dream was nothing more than a mind deceiving itself. Only rarely did dreams tap into greater forces... but when they did, they could reveal pieces of fate.\n\nOver the years, Elder Whisper had developed a sense for that fate. It was distant, imperfect, but he could dimly seethe shapes of impending events.\n\n\"The Unsouled is connected,\" his reflection said.\n\n\"He could be,\" Whisper corrected himself.\n\nThe reflected snowfox whipped its five tails in irritation. \"A drowning man will seize any branch, no matter how thin.\"\n\nFor centuries, the shape looming in his dreams has been dark and impossibly vast. It would crush them all beneath its ponderous weight, and there was no stopping it. Sacred Valley's past was coming back and bringing death with it. But there was something strange about his premonition this time.\n\nSomehow, he felt as though the titanic threat were years distant and months close at the same time. One and then the other, like fate had yet to decide.\n\nNow, he saw the familiar shape of fate's touch on the Unsouled: the resolve in his eyes, the agony of a difficult decision in the set of his shoulders, the timing of his appearance in the tower. The boy's future was influx.\n\nHowever it turned out, Whisper had done what he could. Now he would wait... and watch.\n\n---\n\nEvery morning, the entire Wei clan turned out to meditate and cycle. The more distant families followed this tradition in their homes, but the core members of the clan all gathered together. It became the time where clan business was conducted, and a center for gossip and competition." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Collaborate with the author and advance the plot.\nTags: fantasy, progression fantasy, sacred valley\nAuthor: Will Wight\nTitle: Unsouled\nChapter: 7" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Whisper harvested both light and dreams into his core, blending them so that he could blind any eyes, stifle any ears." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The humans understood light to some limited degree, but they had great difficulty with dreams. Whisper, however, had spent a hundred years meditating on the nature of dreams.\n\nFor the most part, a dream was nothing more than a mind deceiving itself. Only rarely did dreams tap into greater forces... but when they did, they could reveal pieces of fate.\n\nOver the years, Elder Whisper had developed a sense for that fate. It was distant, imperfect, but he could dimly seethe shapes of impending events.\n\n\"The Unsouled is connected,\" his reflection said.\n\n\"He could be,\" Whisper corrected himself.\n\nThe reflected snowfox whipped its five tails in irritation. \"A drowning man will seize any branch, no matter how thin.\"\n\nFor centuries, the shape looming in his dreams has been dark and impossibly vast. It would crush them all beneath its ponderous weight, and there was no stopping it. Sacred Valley's past was coming back and bringing death with it. But there was something strange about his premonition this time.\n\nSomehow, he felt as though the titanic threat were years distant and months close at the same time. One and then the other, like fate had yet to decide.\n\nNow, he saw the familiar shape of fate's touch on the Unsouled: the resolve in his eyes, the agony of a difficult decision in the set of his shoulders, the timing of his appearance in the tower. The boy's future was influx.\n\nHowever it turned out, Whisper had done what he could. Now he would wait... and watch.\n\n---\n\nEvery morning, the entire Wei clan turned out to meditate and cycle. The more distant families followed this tradition in their homes, but the core members of the clan all gathered together. It became the time where clan business was conducted, and a center for gossip and competition." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ordinarily, Lindon arrived in the central courtyard outside the Hall of Elders to find fifty or sixty people already in conversation. The number would grow as the sun approached, and by daybreak the two hundred or so most honored members of the Wei clan would be united in cycling their madra. Even Lindon, an Unsouled, was no exception.\n\nToday, the courtyard buzzed with excitement. Under the gray light before dawn, over two hundred people gathered in the courtyard of the Elder's Hall, and none were meditating. News of Wei Mon Teris\" punishment had spread, and they were hereto witness the penalty for cowardice.\n\nPublic punishments weren't unheard of, but the most recent one was over a year past. They were always an occasion for the families of the Wei clan to snipe atone another, to witness a rival falling down a step on the endless ladder of position. The Patriarch hadn't shown himself, but the First Elder stood atop the steps of the hall, his long eyebrows hanging down to his white beard.\n\nWei Mon Teris knelt before him, no ropes binding him. Honor would keep him in place. The rest of the Mon family stood behind him, his immediate family in the front, with aunts and uncles and cousins behind.\n\nTeris' father, Wei Mon Keth, stood like a mountain over his son. With his arms crossed, his face set, and a sword on his back, he looked like the statue of an ancient guardian.\n\nAs dawn broke, the First Elder addressed the crowd. \"Yesterday, the young Copper Enforcer called Wei Mon Teris failed our clan. Faced with a Remnant on the slopes of Mount Yoma, he fled for his life, abandoning a child of the Foundation stage to danger. For this punishment, I will deliver three lashes from my own hand. Let this serve as a warning to cowards.\" From his belt, the First Elder produced a thin stick of supple orus wood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "More than pain, these lashes were meant to deliver humiliation. The clan didn't want to injure a sacred artist with a future, but they had to curb any potential embarrassments. A public lashing would show the Mon family as weak, and would undermine their position in the Wei clan.\n\nIf they fell low enough, eager relatives would seize their assets, leaving them weakened in truth. Weakness and the appearance of weakness were the same, and only strength had a place in Sacred Valley.\n\nFor his part, Lindon would take no pleasure in watching Teris beaten. He had never expected the Copper to defend him in the first place, and this whole process was a grim reminder of what could happen to him at anytime. He was reliant on the honor and goodwill of others to protect him, and those were thin walls.\n\nBut if he could walk his own Path... then strength would be his defense.\n\nAs the First Elder raised his hand for the initial blow, Wei Mon Keth stepped forward. Teris' father was also the head of the Mon family, and it was expected that he should defend his son. But the glance he sent toward the Shi family, toward Lindon, carried an impending threat.\n\n\"One moment, Elder,\" Keth said, stepping in front of his son. \"There is one matter we must resolve first.\"\n\nThe First Elder's switch blurred through the air, halting to point at Keth's face with the threatening air of a sword. \"It is not your place to guard your son from punishment.\"\n\nTeris' father scowled even deeper. \"I beat Teris myself when he came home a coward. But he was not the only one to run.\" Keth turned to Lindon. \"Let the Unsouled be punished with him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lindon froze when the crowd turned its attention to him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Keth was only trying to save face by pulling the Shi family down together; it was a common enough tactic in scenes like this, and the elders would see through it. Lindon was patiently waiting for the First Elder to rebuff Keth when he caught sight of someone pushing his way through the gathering.\n\nWei Shi Jaran had to lean on a cane, but he still shouldered other families aside. His scarred face turned from Lindon to the Mon family, but in the end, he addressed the First Elder. \"First Elder, why do you allow this dog to bark?\"\n\nLindon's stomach dropped, and he could see his sister over the crowd. She paled when she heard her father's words.\n\nMon Keth loomed over Shi Jaran, glaring down at the cripple. \"Men do not fight with words alone. Will you face me on the stage?\"\n\nJaran acted as though he hadn't heard the challenge, keeping his attention fixed on the First Elder. \"By what right does Wei Mon Keth accuse my son? Surely it is not lack of courage that keeps a Foundation child from defending a Copper fighter.\"\n\n\"Of course your son could not have protected mine,\" Keth responded, before the elder could open his mouth. \"But he is a coward nonetheless. What bravery has he shown before the clan? What courage? Surely he should work twice as hard to prove his worth, but what has he brought to the clan?\"\n\nJaran's scarred lips twisted further into a sneer. \"Once, you would not have said such things to my face. If not for these injuries, I would teach you a lesson here.\"\n\n\"First prove that you have taught your own son his lessons.\" Keth looked around and found his daughter, a ten-year-old girl with an arrow on her wooden badge. She ran to him eagerly, and he placed his hands on her shoulders. \"Your son is at the Foundation stage. If he is not a coward, he will accept a fight from someone his own level.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The little girl looked Lindon straight in the eyes. \"I, Wei Mon Eri, challenge Wei Shi Lindon to a duel of honor before the entire clan.\"\n\nThe words echoed in the courtyard, accompanied by shocked silence.\n\nThey planned this, Lindon realized, hearing the girl's recited challenge. They needed to distract the other families from their dishonor.\n\nPerhaps the First Elder would have prevented Wei Mon Keth from speaking further, had he been given a chance. He'd surely seen more complex gambits from subtle opponents. But Lindon's father had opened his mouth, and thereby opened a crack in his son's armor. Now, Lindon was feeling the sting of the blade.\n\nWhen a child first passed their test of spirit and received a Foundation-level badge, they were taught a rudimentary Foundation technique. This technique was the same for everyone in the clan, and was designed to acclimate children to feeling and cycling their own madra. When the child was ready, they would learn a more advanced cycling technique, one suited for their future Path. Unless the child was Unsouled.\n\nLindon would never learn a Path, so there was no point in preparing his soul for one. Even eight years after reaching Foundation, Lindon practiced the same basic cycling technique. Asking him to fight was like asking a soldier to step onto a battlefield armed only with a training sword.\n\nEven the ten-year-old daughter of the Mon family would be better off than he was. She was a Striker on the Path of the White Fox, and surely her family would have taught her a better Foundation technique. Lindon had the advantage of size and weight, but she had the advantage of superior madra control.\n\nHe had no certainty in being able to defeat a girl five years his junior. He should have been used to shame by now, but that realization still hurt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well?\" Mon Eri demanded, when Lindon hadn't responded to her challenge. The entire courtyard, packed with the heart of the Wei clan, stood waiting for his response. \"Do you accept or not?\"\n\n\"He has no reason to fight,\" Jaran said, with a glance back at his son. \"Only the Mon family has something to prove. Besides, you can see his injury for yourself.\"\n\nWei Mon Keth crossed his arms and gave a harsh laugh. \"If he is not a coward, he will answer.\"\n\nHundreds of the Wei clan were gathered, including the First Elder. The weight of the combined attention pressed into him on every side, like a tightening fist.\n\nThe pressure seemed to push his shame deeper, rubbing it in like salt into a wound. He was useless, he was crippled, and now everyone was staring at him. The pain that leaked through his sling-bound arm was nothing compared to this. Lindon looked up to Whisper's tower, imagining he could feel eyes on him even from the room at the top.\n\n\"When a traveler cannot find a path, sometimes he must make his own.\"\n\nEri stepped forward when Lindon didn't answer immediately, rubbing her fist like she couldn't wait to drive it into Lindon's face. Her father held her back, looking somewhat surprised.\n\nWhen Lindon's voice finally came out, even he was somewhat surprised. \"In the Wei clan, there is only one family that produces cowards,\" he said to Keth, the head of the Mon family.\n\nLaughter and whispers traveled quietly around the gathered families, and Keth's face turned red with anger. He forced out a few words: \"Then you accept?\"\n\nIt was up to the challenged party to set the terms, so he did. \"Seven dawns from now,\" Lindon said. \"To surrender.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For Lindon, there was no winning this fight. Either he defeated Eri, in which case he had beaten a ten-year-old girl, or he wouldn't. No matter the outcome, he would lose face for his family.\n\nHe could only salvage a little by putting up a brave front, bowing to Wei Mon Eri with his fists pressed together. After a moment in which she looked like she would attack him, she returned the salute.\n\n\"If this distraction is over, I will get on with the business at hand,\" the First Elder said. He flourished his smooth orus branch, looking down on Teris.\n\nAs the first strike cracked across Teris' back, leading to a cry of pain, his family paid no heed. They were still watching Lindon.\n\n---\n\nWhen he wasn't carrying out a special task for his Soulsmith mother, Lindon spent the second half of everyday in the clan archive. The building was scarcely more noticeable than any ordinary house, with faded whitewalls and a wide purple-tiled roof. If Lindon had never seen it before, he might have mistaken it for the home of one of the Wei clan's smaller families.\n\nAs the sun passed noon, he arrived in the archive. He first retrieved a broom to sweep the front step, which took twice as long as normal since he was forced to work one-handed, then re-organized the Path manuals that a few young Coppers had disturbed the previous evening. His fingers itched when he worked on this shelf, and he had to fight the temptation to sneak a glimpse, though the minimum penalty for an Unsouled studying sacred arts was a private beating. He'd survived such punishments before, and he would again. If he had to discover his own Path, he would eventually need an example.\n\nFor now, he'd settle fora shortcut." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Eighth Elder was supposed to monitor the archive, but Lindon could never tell when the man was doing his job properly or not. As a Forger on the Path of the White Fox, the man was a master of the Fox Mirror technique; he could craft illusions as precise as a mirror's reflection. More than once, Lindon had dared to sneak a glimpse into a simple Path manual, and the elder had appeared out of nowhere to punish him. Other times, Lindon had left the archives to spot the elder passed out on the roof.\n\nFor his purposes, so long as he didn't open a Path, he had the archive to himself. Once he'd finished his chores, which took him only an hour or two, he began to gather the scrolls, folders, tablets, and books he needed for research.\n\nFollowing a Path of the sacred arts was often likened to a journey, and he would never embark on a journey without a plan.\n\nShortcuts of advancement were common legends in Sacred Valley, and while many were proven to be effective-like the fruit of an ancestral orus tree-most were too rare, expensive, or dangerous for ordinary sacred artists. Lindon needed to hunt fora loophole, which meant poring over every option one by one.\n\nFortunately, the archive was not the clan's most popular building. He had plenty of time to himself.\n\nOne scroll contained a personal letter from an explorer who had visited the four peaks of Sacred Valley in search of exotic madra aspects. She wrote of Greatfather's tears, a spring that bubbled at the top of the mountain known as the Greatfather.\n\n\"One handful of water restored my aching body and flagging spirit. Two sent me into a cycling trance from which I would not emerge for three nights and days, having imparted to my spirit a density and potency that I had never before known. As I had not bathed in all that time, I dipped myself briefly into the spring, only to find the water anything but gentle. It scoured my arm like a frozen blade, and when I removed my hand, I found my skin more youthful and supple than ever before, in great contrast to the rest of my body. I advise any artist of the Jade to visit Greatfather's peak as soon as they are able, provided they can withstand the storms and the pain of the pool itself.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon held down the scroll with his broken arm and copied the passage with his own brush, though the spring was not a possibility for him. Not yet. The Holy Wind School, which claimed the Greatfather as their territory, would never allow anyone less prestigious than a clan elder to visit their spring. And then only if they brought generous gifts.\n\nThe next possibility came in the form of a recipe pressed onto a wax tablet:\n\nBloodmaker Pill\n\nFour feathers of a downy shrike\n\nThe spring branch of a marauder root, shaved clean\n\nThree small leaves from any life-aspected herb\n\nBlood essence from one Remnant of at least the fire aspect\n\nBlood essence from one Remnant of at least the water aspect\n\nRefine all ingredients in a refinery of twelfth grade or higher, arranging them according to the Six-Pointed Star method. Combine into a state of balance, then weigh and blend. Shape into pill form, and allow to stabilize for three days. A successful pill should have the sheen of polished gold and the color of new blood.\n\nCarries the blood aspect, but improves the basic spiritual foundation. Most effective when taken before Copper.\n\nLindon copied it down, and a quick perusal of the clan's herb stores-located in the back of the archive-suggested that they should have all the necessary ingredients in storage. His excitement grew until he realized that the only refiner with enough skill to prepare such a pill was gone, on a pilgrimage to the Heaven's Glory School. Lindon couldn't even begin to understand what the'Six-Pointed Star method\" was, much less imitate it himself. And he had no idea where he would get a refinery of any grade.\n\nThe disappointment was a blow, but not enough to stop him. He had a time limit now, and if he couldn't figure out a solution before his duel with Eri, he might as well not show up. His next possibility came from an offhand mention in a funeral document, chronicling the possessions of a traveler who had died in Wei clan territory. \"He carried with him a parasite ring, of braided halfsilver etched with intricate script, which went into the keeping of the Patriarch to award to a promising practitioner of the Sacred Arts.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That one bore investigation for later. A parasite ring would slow the cycling process, making it more difficult but also more rewarding. He'd heard it likened to weight training for the soul. He would keep watch fora way to earn or steal this ring from the Patriarch, or possibly earn one for himself if he could find a craftsman from the Golden Sword School. The only drawback was time; it would take time to acquire such a ring, and longer for it to show any effect. He marked his notes on the parasite ring, indicating that he should consider it once the duel was over.\n\nOther books held fanciful legends for young sacred artists, their imaginations full of the wonders and powers out therein the world. It spoke of ancestral orus trees and their fruits-a story that was true, per Lindon's experience, but exaggerated-and the Jester Twins, who would alternately handout miraculous gifts or crippling curses. It told of the heavenly guardian within Mount Samara, and how enterprising disciples of the Heaven's Glory School might earn a mark of its favor, and of the mythical'true badges\" that amplified the power of human madra. Of the Oblivion Wine, which the Fallen Leaf elders always sold a year after the opening of the Nethergate. And it spoke of the Torchyard, an apocryphal location that Elder Whisper was said to have visited in his youth.\n\nThe Torchyard was supposedly afield of condensed fiery energy where, if you survived, you could harvest enough vital aura to fuel your advancement even to the legendary Gold stage. According to clan rumors, though, even Elder Whisper hadn't managed to bear the torments of the Torchyard that long.\n\nThe story of the sacred fruit lent credibility to the other tales, but none of them were real possibilities. One could only meet the Jester Twins by chance, and their gifts were as likely to harm as help. He wasn't a disciple of Heaven's Glory, the true badges were no more than stories, and the Torchyard was far beyond his power. Even if he could endure the trip and make it back in less than a week, he didn't know how to harvest natural fire aura, so he would simply burn to death." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His notes became shorter and shorter, his brush-strokes weighted by disappointment." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had combed through piles of likely manuscripts all day, and while he hadn't exactly expected to stumble across a miracle, he had at least hoped fora possible lead. He'd only started with six full days between him and his deadline, and now the first was gone.\n\nThe sun had completely set, and he stood to light a candle. Once it burned down to the next mark, the archive would be closed, and he could leave. He would use this last hour to cleanup, returning his texts to their places.\n\nAshe did, the Path manuals caught his eye once again. There were eight copies of The Path of the White Fox, two for each specialized technique. If he could borrow the one for Strikers, he could at least familiarize himself with the Foundation Mon Eri would use. Maybe he could find some weakness, something to exploit.\n\nBut he would never be able to read the manual long enough, and besides, Paths were meant to be studied for years. The White Fox was not the only Path on the shelf, though. There were two scrolls and a thick tome as well, all of them bearing Paths that the Wei clan had acquired from outside. No one practiced them, as far as Lindon knew, because they required madra of different aspects than the Wei clan cultivated. Those called to Lindon, but ultimately he turned from those as well. They may allow him to win the duel, but the First Elder would recognize what he had done and punish him afterwards.\n\nHe reached down and shelved a tablet, and in doing so, caught a glimpse of another shelf he hadn't considered. Technique manuals described skills that could be cultivated in addition to a primary Path, and they were much shorter than Path manuals, often a single plaque or a finger-thin scroll.\n\nLindon knelt fora closer look. The section for technique manuals took up two shelves, divided according to the aspect the techniques required. Strips of white jade labeled the sections: here the character for fire, there the symbol for purification. His gaze skipped from section to section, from cloud to lightning to light to dreams. The last two had by far the largest selection, dealing as they did with madra of the White Fox." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But there was a section at the end of the bottom shelf with only one entry. An old book, it was little more than a sheaf of yellowed papers, bound together by string on one side. The jade strip declaring its requirements said, simply, \"None.\"\n\nCarefully, Lindon withdrew the book, examining the name of this technique: Heart of Twin Stars." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 5\n\nWhile it violated clan decree for Lindon to follow a Path, it was technically allowed for him to study technique manuals. After all, he couldn't actually use the techniques without madra of a compatible aspect, which he couldn't harvest. Learning a technique outside of a Path was like tearing a branch off a tree and expecting it to bear fruit.\n\nBut this one didn't need any particular aspect, nor did it require him to be of Copper level. He turned the first yellowing page, expectation transforming into a hopeful excitement.\n\nI leave this manual out of obligation. Any technique deserves to be studied and remembered, in the hope that it may someday spark greater inspiration. Even such a dim spark as this one may one day strike a great flame.\n\nThe impetus for this technique comes from a longtime rival of mine, a deceitful and cowardly man whose name I will not honor by repeating it here. I bear the great shame of sharing a clan with this man, and thus we have challenged each other many times since our youth. They say that a good rival sharpens a warrior as a stone sharpens iron, but not my deficient opponent. I defeated him handily each time, and had no reason to grow in strength or skill. He was apathetic match.\n\nBut some scrap of talent must have remained in him, for he developed an underhanded technique that he christened the'Empty Palm.\" I will not lower myself to attempt the technique on my own, but as I understand the theory, he focuses neutral madra into a simple palm thrust. How he cancels out the aspects of his spirit, I have not yet deduced, but the result is undeniable.\n\nWhen his Empty Palm makes contact with my core, his madra disrupts my own. Fora few seconds, I am as powerless as a wretched Unsouled. Even more so, perhaps, as I can hardly muster the energy to control my own limbs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I tried a series of techniques to defeat him, but each time he managed to land a single Empty Palm upon my core." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even such as he, with his lack of talent, can lean upon a technique as a crutch.\n\nIt is thus in desperation that I have developed this defense, and at last rightfully triumphed over him. Should he pass down this Empty Palm, I can rest at ease, knowing that my future disciples reading this manual may oppose his legacy.\n\nHeart of Twin Stars is utterly simple in its concept: you must divide your core in two. Thus, even when one core is disabled through some device such as my rival's, you have a second to rely upon.\n\nThe observant reader will notice that this does not increase the power available to you. Splitting one's core is a painful process prone to many risks, though it is mercifully quick. If attacks such as the Empty Palm ever become commonplace, I wish to leave behind this defense.\n\nHere at last, I leave a record of my journey to split my core, in exacting detail. Be sure to follow my path to the very step, lest you suffer a crippling injury from which you cannot recover.\n\nUseless. Heart of Twin Stars was an utterly useless technique, which doubtless explained why no one practiced it. Even if he wanted to split his core in two, Wei Mon Eri wouldn't have any techniques like this Empty Palm. He would be just as defenseless as before.\n\nThe book did include a cycling technique, which would at least work better than his own pathetic Foundation method, but he wouldn't see any benefit before the duel. Besides, the cycling technique was designed to prepare him to split his core, which he never intended to do. The Heart of Twin Stars wouldn't even makeup for his broken arm, which-even with his mother's scripts-could never heal before he had to fight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His enthusiasm had dimmed, but not died entirely." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The technique manual had given him a few other ideas he could try, and maybe anew search tomorrow would reveal more promising results. After locking up the archive-leaving the Eighth Elder drunk on the roof again, perfectly visible-he returned home, cycling his madra according to his new technique. His nerves kept him at it until dawn, and he would have continued except fora brutal hammering on his door.\n\n\"Get ready,\" Kelsa told him, dressed in the orange shadesilk training clothes of a Copper Ruler. Her copper badge, marked with a scepter, hung proudly in the center of her chest. \"You're training with me today.\"\n\n---\n\nLindon brought his pack to the Shi family gardens, surrounded by blue mountain roses and tiny clusters of cloudbell, and knelt across from his sister. They faced each other over a stretch of grass.\n\nOrdinarily, they would have joined the rest of their family in the main courtyard for daily cycling, but Kelsa seemed to have something else on her mind. She started off studying him, her hair pulled back and face severe.\n\n\"You seem tired,\" she said at last. \"You didn't sleep well, which will slow your arm's recovery. What were you doing?\"\n\nOver the years, he'd found that the fastest way to deal with his sister was to respond immediately and honestly. \"Cycling. I was trying to process the rest of the fruit.\"\n\n\"And have you?\"\n\n\"Not fully.\" The foreign madra still crackled like lightning in his core, but less than it had the day before. He couldn't tell how much less, or if digesting it had made any difference at all. This was not the effect he'd ever imagined from a legendary natural treasure.\n\nKelsa cupped her chin in her hand, pondering fora moment. \"We'll comeback to that. For the moment, we should discuss our strategy in getting you through the duel.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only five days left. \"Can we?\" he asked.\n\nHer answering glare was as firm as a strike to the chest. \"This is our family's honor. If I can't get you to acquit yourself well, I don't deserve my badge.\"\n\nLindon straightened his spine, adjusting for the increased pressure on his shoulders. \"Then where do we begin?\"\n\n\"Obviously, there's no good outcome if you fight the girl. You're shamed if you win, and shamed if you lose.\"\n\nHe didn't need a reminder of that, but he remained quiet, waiting for her to continue.\n\n\"Your only honorable option is to challenge someone of greater standing in the Mon family, like perhaps Wei Mon Teris. This has the disadvantage of getting you killed.\"\n\nThat was a slight exaggeration; the Mon family wasn't likely to kill a relative in front of the whole clan. But they could. And honor would require them to injure Lindon severely, which was another consequence he'd prefer to avoid.\n\n\"I suggest you fight the girl fora while and then concede. You could say that an Unsouled is not worthy to fight someone of the Mon family, which gives them face. They'll accept, you'll be embarrassed fora while, but in the end your reputation will improve. You will have handled the duel with grace and accepted defeat with dignity.\"\n\n\"At the price of telling the Mon family that I'm worthless than they are.\"\n\nShe nodded once. \"Yes.\" Kelsa never shied away from the truth.\n\nLindon didn't think of himself as overly prideful, but he burned at the thought of humbling himself in front of all the other Wei families. For one thing, his Shi family would be seen as vulnerable if he publicly demonstrated his weakness. Their rivals would push them, seeking to exploit a perceived opening." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After watching his expression fora few seconds, Kelsa folded both hands on her knees. \"But I'm sure you didn't waste the day yesterday. What's your plan?\"\n\nSheepishly, Lindon reached into his sling, where he'd tucked the technique manual. \"I found this technique in the archives. It's not directly useful, but it might have given mean idea.\"\n\nShe snatched the manual from his hand and glanced over the first page. \"You want to split your core?\" Her tone made it clear exactly what she thought of that idea.\n\n\"No, of course not.\" While cycling according to the method described in the Heart of Twin Stars manual, he'd spent the night thinking. He suspected there were other uses fora split core rather than just defending against one specific technique, but they were too risky or difficult to test. \"There's a second technique in there.\"\n\nKelsa looked back down at the book. \"The Empty Palm.\"\n\n\"It would be easier if I was Copper, I know, but in theory it's just injecting your madra into a certain spot. It could be enough.\"\n\nShe flipped through each page in the thin manual, paying special attention to the back. \"It doesn't describe the timing, or the energy flow, or the Foundation you'd need to pull it off. Only how to defend against it.\" Kelsa snapped the pages shut. \"But ultimately yes, I think there's enough information here that we could develop aversion of the Empty Palm. It's simple enough anyway.\"\n\nLindon leaned forward, eager. \"Can you teach me?\"\n\nIn the Wei clan, most sacred artists reached the Iron stage in their twenty-first or twenty-second year. For Kelsa to have reached the barrier between Copper and Iron at the age of sixteen meant that she was more than merely talented; she had the discipline and skill to match." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Abruptly, Kelsa rose to her feet. \"That's up to you. I have some ideas, but I need a living target with a functioning core if I want to try them out. That means you.\"\n\n\"You can disable my spirit, but it won't do much. I can hardly defend myself to begin with.\"\n\nKelsa stretched first one arm, then the other. \"That's not what I mean. The manual mentions that he had to achieve purity for the technique to work. We don't have time for that, so I'll be pushing my madra into your core until I get a feel for the technique.\"\n\nAs a sacred artist on the Path of the White Fox, Kelsa cultivated aspects of dreams and light, bent toward the purposes of deceiving enemies. Accepting it directly into his core meant...\n\n\"I have another idea,\" Lindon said, with a half-step back. \"I could try on you first, and we could work from there.\"\n\n\"I need to understand the theory myself,\" Kelsa said, dropping into a balanced stance on the balls of her feet. Her left hand was extended, her right held back, her whole body angled sideways. \"First trial.\"\n\nLindon tried to protest again, but Kelsa unfolded in a deceptively quick movement that left the heel of her palm against his core, just below the navel. She'd used hardly any force, and the strike came with no pain; it felt like alight slap, if anything.\n\nBut the world went mad.\n\nThe soft blue cloudbell flowers at his feet took flight, flapping around his eyes. Shadows in the bushes flickered and giggled, while the clouds zoomed around like zealous fish in the ocean of the sky. Grass tickled his feet through his shoes, and he tiptoed around to avoid it. The ground must not have liked that, because it finally had enough and slapped him in the back of the head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He came to in a wrench of returning sensation, lying flat on his back in the garden and staring up into the sky. His arm had begun to ache again.\n\nOver him, Kelsa was flexing her palm. \"Too slow. The motion has to carry the madra, you can't rely on transmission through contact. Stand up, I need to try again.\"\n\nLindon crawled to his feet, still dizzy. \"Wait. I think it's worse on me, because I can't-\"\n\nShe hit him again.\n\nAfter the garden stopped partying without him, he spoke from the ground. \"I'm not standing up again. I'm not.\"\n\nKelsa was moving at half-speed, stepping forward into a slow palm thrust. She repeated the first step a few times, working something out in her head. \"Then you'll be worthless for the rest of your life,\" she said casually, but the words were like a spear to the ribs. \"You don't want to shame the family? Stand up.\" She didn't so much as glance at him, as though she didn't care whether he stood or not. \"I've almost worked it out... it has to transmit all at once. Not like a stream, but a gust of wind.\"\n\nLindon stood up again. And again.\n\nEleven more times.\n\nBy the end, the earth never stopped spinning, even when the effects wore off. He tried to rise again, but up and sideways seemed to have swapped places, and he stumbled into the cloudbells. Their stalks were sharper than they looked.\n\nKelsa reached in and hauled him outwith ease, steadying him with a grip on his shoulder. Ten breaths passed before he could take a step without swaying." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Rally yourself,\" she said. \"Step forward and shove in one motion, focusing madra in your palm. Release it in one breath like a gust of wind, being sure to exhale and cycle to the rest of your body for stability. Understood?\"\n\nLindon was trying to determine if his senses were back under control. Was that flickering shadow a sign of lingering madness, or a leaf blowing in the wind? \"Please, I need... I need a moment.\"\n\nKelsa rarely had the patience to wait around, and though she allowed him his rest, she did so reluctantly. She paced in the garden, studying Heart of Twin Stars as she did. \"Let's return to an earlier subject,\" she said, without looking up from the book. \"The fruit. Have you finished cycling it?\"\n\n\"Almost all,\" he said, sensing the tingling sparks that lingered in his core. \"I haven't noticed much of a change.\"\n\nShe squinted at the page. \"I can't see clearly. Bring out your light.\"\n\nLindon looked around at the bright morning light. \"Do you need me to find a healer?\"\n\nShe used the manual to point at his robes. \"You're my disciple for the day. Pullout your light.\"\n\nTo his sister, Lindon would have protested. To his master, Lindon would have obeyed without a word. He spent a few seconds deciding which she was, and eventually reached into his pack to produce a palm-sized board.\n\nThe board was covered with an intricate three-layered script circle, and when he fed his madra into it, it burst into white light. The runelight was much stronger than from an ordinary script, and remarkably steady. That was this script's only purpose: to produce light on command. It would last as long as the user's spirit did." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon held the board over the book with the shining script down, though it made no discernible difference among the bright sunlight.\n\nKelsa didn't thank him, but spoke as she read. \"I finished processing the orus last night. It was quite the experience. Did it feel as though you'd swallowed a thunderbolt? Mine did. But as I continued cycling, I didn't feel much else. It was as though the fruit vanished. I wondered if Mother was mistaken, and this wasn't the miraculous spirit-fruit she thought.\"\n\nShe looked at him but kept her book open, so he didn't remove the light. \"It wasn't until early this morning that I noticed the changes. Tell me, does your light seem brighter than usual to you?\"\n\nLindon flipped the light over and examined it himself. It was almost impossible to tell how bright it was, especially compared to a memory. \"Perhaps a little?\"\n\n\"Keep watching until you can see a difference.\"\n\nLindon knew his sister was headed somewhere with this, and he would exhaust himself eventually. He kept the light ignited, staring into it, looking for the slightest difference in illumination. He noticed nothing.\n\nFinally, she told him he could stop. \"How do you feel?\" she asked him.\n\n\"Absolutely ordinary.\"\n\n\"Yet you burned the light for fifty-two seconds, and you could have kept going. How long could you do it before?\"\n\nUnlike the brightness question, he could answer this one. \"Thirty seconds, at most.\" He had used this board to light his way while diving in the river, so he knew exactly how long he could keep it lit. But he must be wrong. When he sensed his core, he didn't feel any stronger. \"Are you sure you counted properly?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "She snapped the technique manual closed, wearing a pleased look." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The fruit's madra integrates so smoothly with our own that we don't notice. Yesterday I was Copper, and today I'm on the verge of condensing Iron, but I don't feel any different. And yesterday, you wouldn't be able to use the Empty Palm more than once without passing out.\"\n\nLindon's breaths were coming more quickly, and the flowers in the garden suddenly smelled almost painfully sweet. \"What about now?\"\n\nShe adopted a low stance, balanced and firmly planted, prepared to be hit. \"How should I know? Now, disciple, Empty Palm!\"\n\nThis time, Lindon snapped into action as he would fora real sacred arts master. He stepped forward and pivoted at the hips, launching a palm strike at his sister's stomach. Synced with his madra, it should have driven energy through her core like a steel spike, but it splashed like a cup of water instead.\n\n\"One gust, not a breeze!\" Kelsa barked. \"Again!\"\n\nHis head was already light and his limbs weak, but he tried until he passed out. When he woke, he tried again.\n\n---\n\nFour days later, the most prominent families of the Wei clan gathered once more before the Hall of Elders at the break of dawn. A few industrious sacred artists sat cross-legged in the courtyard, cycling in the first light of dawn. Everyone else stood, eager to watch the show. If something went wrong, an honored family might fall from grace today.\n\nThe Mon family waited on one side of a cleared space, Eri in front. She hopped in place, practicing attacks on an invisible opponent. Her scowl said she was looking to kill. Keth stood over his daughter, arms folded, scanning the crowd for the Shi family. Which was why Lindon had shown up together with his family. Kelsa and his father walked beside him, while his mother kept up as best she could while taking notes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The First Elder stood on the stairs of the Hall, as he had before, but this time his brow was furrowed in a frown that seemed carved into his wrinkled face. \"This is a duel for honor, and so it may continue. But any wounds to the young are wounds to our clan, so I must ask if there is any other way for the offended parties to resolve this.\"\n\nEri executed a series of punches that veered ominously low. \"No other way!\" she declared.\n\nBefore his training with Kelsa, Lindon would have agreed with her. He'd seen no other way out. But while practicing the Empty Palm, he'd been struck by an idea.\n\nA terrible idea.\n\nHe bowed toward the Mon family, bending over his wounded arm. \"Honorable head of the Mon family, this one has a request.\"\n\nKeth straightened his back, responding to Lindon's humble speech. \"I will not release you from the duel.\"\n\nLindon could probably appeal to the First Elder on the basis of his injury, and at least ensure a little more time. But there was an opportunity here, and if he let his own crippling weakness get in the way of opportunity, he'd never achieve anything. \"This one would dare not ask so much. Instead, this one wishes to challenge another member of your family.\"\n\nEri's mouth dropped open in a comic show of disappointment, and she turned to her father as though to ask if he could possibly allow this. Keth, for his part, worked his jaw as though chewing the idea over. His eyes roamed to his fur-clad son, Teris, who still sat gingerly after his whipping. \"Which would you challenge?\" Keth finally asked.\n\nLindon met the eyes of this grown man more than twice his age, this fighter legendary for his unflinching courage in combat. \"I challenge Wei Mon Keth.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had somewhat expected gasps from the surrounding families, or at least derisive laughter, but the crowd reacted with utter silence. A Foundation artist challenging an Iron wasn't interesting gossip, it was like an infant trying to bite a tiger.\n\nCopper souls could process vital aura, giving them a supply of madra that was both more expansive and more effective. But a quick or clever Foundation child could overcome that disadvantage. An Iron body was a quantitative difference; compared to Copper or below, Irons were superhuman.\n\nWei Mon Keth looked as though he'd lost what little respect he might once have had for Lindon, but he didn't dismiss the idea out of hand. \"Explain.\"\n\n\"This one must prove his courage, as must your son, Teris.\" A dark cloud passed across Teris' face at even the indirect mention of his cowardice, but Lindon plowed ahead. \"However, the opponent Teris faced was many levels higher than he. It seems only fair that this one should face an adversary as exalted.\"\n\nThis time, a quiet murmur did ripple through the crowd. Lindon and his sister had spent two days making sure their argument was sensible enough that those gathered would have no choice but to take it seriously.\n\nWithin his sleeves, Lindon clenched his fists. He was close to the outcome he wanted, but he needed Keth to agree.\n\nThe head of the Mon family rubbed his short beard with two fingers. \"This is a better way to demonstrate courage. What terms would you accept?\"\n\nTraditionally, the challenged would set the terms, which meant Keth would have been within his rights to set a fight with no restrictions and then knock Lindon onto the peak of the nearest mountain. But the other families would have looked down on him for abusing his power against a junior, so he took the honorable course and allowed Lindon to define the fight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Which was Lindon's only hope.\n\n\"One strike each, if it pleases you. First, you take one strike from this one without defense or resistance. Then you strike me in turn. The first to lose his footing is defeated.\"\n\nKeth's brow furrowed. \"You would be wise to set different terms.\"\n\nThere was precedent fora duel like this, if not one so hilariously out of balance. Jade elders had once exchanged pointers one blow at a time, with the more confident party agreeing to take the first hit.\n\nBut this was supposed to look like Lindon was throwing himself on Keth's mercy, and he had to hope that the Mon family head would see that. \"This one hopes you might hold back when you strike, but at least this one may show that he is not afraid to take a blow.\"\n\nAt last, Keth's face lightened as he understood. Lindon was giving him a chance to administer a punishment equal to Teris\", humiliate Lindon publicly, and remind people of his own strength in one blow. As long as he didn't kill Lindon, he would be seen as both strong and merciful, and he would only gain in reputation.\n\n\"You're clever,\" Keth said with a nod. \"You show courage. I agree.\"\n\nThat was it. The rules of the game were set, all his cards played. He almost couldn't believe that it had gone so easily. He moved away from his family as though he drifted forward in a dream, opposing Wei Mon Keth across the open space in the center of the courtyard. He kept expecting someone from the Mon family to object, but none made a sound.\n\nAs the First Elder ordered them to face one another, Lindon's heart pounded on the inside of his ribs. This was his chance. His first real chance since he was seven years old. It had been along time coming." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So why did it feel too soon?\n\n\"If none object...\" the elder said, almost hopefully. No one did, and the dawn air froze. The First Elder straightened his back, sweeping his hand to present the challengers. \"Then may this duel begin!\"\n\nLindon faced Wei Mon Keth, who stood taller even than he was, and twice as wide. The man seemed to take up more of the horizon than Yoma Mountain, looming over Lindon and blotting out the rising sun.\n\nThe older man's arms fell to his sides, leaving his slate-gray robes completely undefended. \"The first blow is yours,\" he said. He didn't even brace himself, as Kelsa had done. And why should he? With all of Lindon's strength, he wouldn't be able to tip over an Iron balanced on one foot.\n\nLindon stepped in, preparing his attack, cycling energy through his limbs to keep them under his control. He felt as though they would shake away from his body.\n\nHe cocked his upper body, drawing back fora palm strike. Ashe did, he focused his madra at the base of his palm, as he'd practiced. One pulse, like a gust of wind, but focused like an iron spike.\n\nAt the Copper level, this part of the process would be quick and simpler than breathing. His madra would have been dense and powerful. As it was, Lindon had to focus his entire strength on his palm for three breaths of time as he prepared. It was slow, it was clumsy, and it would never work against a prepared opponent.\n\nBut he wasn't facing a prepared opponent.\n\nThe Empty Palm landed accurately, just below Keth's navel, along with an invisible thorn that he drove like a hammer driving a nail. Lindon felt his own madra snapping into the man's core, sensed the shiver of feedback that ran through the spiritual lines that crossed his body like veins." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Keth trembled and looked at Lindon in shock, but he didn't stagger backwards as Lindon had hoped. He hadn't taken a single step.\n\nPanic shook Lindon even more than the Empty Palm shook Keth. His Empty Palm had been perfect... but if Keth didn't lose his footing, it wouldn't matter. Lindon would have to take a blow from an Iron Striker who knew that he'd been tricked. If Wei Mon Keth caved in Lindon's rib cage with a fist, he would face no more than a fine.\n\n\"What have you-\" Keth began, but Lindon followed up with a second attack driven by all the raw-nerved terrified desperation in his soul. This one wasn't guided by any technique or sacred art; it was nothing more than an ordinary punch to the gut. Every observer in the crowd would know how useless it was. He would have a better chance punching an iron plate than an Iron practitioner.\n\nPain echoed up Lindon's knuckles and reached his shoulder as though he really had punched a metal plate, but Keth's breath whooshed out of his lungs. He clutched his stomach and took two steps backward, his legs shaking as he tried to stop himself from going to his knees.\n\nExcept for Kelsa and Lindon, every single other person present drew in a sharp gasp. It sounded like a ghost passing over the crowd.\n\nBefore anyone could speak, Lindon bowed to his still-staggering opponent.\n\n\"This one thanks you for your instruction,\" he rushed out. \"You are the victor.\"\n\nThen he scurried back to his family.\n\nHe didn't need to win, after all. He only needed to save face. And while he may have been able to endure an attack from an Iron sacred artist who adhered to the honorable rules of a duel, he would never survive a blow from an enraged Iron with blood in his heart." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Stand where you are, Unsouled!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Keth roared, and the shout was driven with all the force of his madra and fury. He straightened, which meant he'd recovered his spirit from the disruption of the Empty Palm. During Lindon's tests with Kelsa, it only took her four or five breaths to recover, so it wasn't surprising that someone at the Iron stage would be even faster.\n\nPower gathered around Keth's fist until it was visible, warping the air in a haze that reminded Lindon of the attack Teris had used to fell the ancestral tree. \"I owe you a strike.\"\n\nHis imagination provided him with an image of his body cracking in half as easily as that tree had, his bones snapping like dry branches. He was relying on someone to intervene on his behalf. His life was in the hands of the crowd, and fora long second, they were all silent. Even his father, Jaran, stared at him in confusion, still too shocked by the events of the duel to do anything to help.\n\nTo Lindon's relief, the First Elder stepped between him and the Mon family head, his long eyebrows and wispy beard flowing in the morning wind. \"Wei Shi Lindon has surrendered. The duel is over, and you are the victor. Congratulations.\"\n\nLindon let out a heavy breath, and the sudden rush of relief stole his strength. He half-expected to collapse onto the stone at that instant.\n\nEven the First Elder's harshest critic could not have found a trace of mockery in his words, but Keth turned to him in a fury. \"He cheated! He violated the terms of the duel by striking twice, in a deliberate attempt to humiliate me!\"\n\n\"For which he deserved to lose,\" the elder reminded him. \"Ashe admitted his loss.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Keth drew up in absolute rage, swelling to seemingly twice his size. \"He conspired to ruin my dignity as an Iron!\"\n\nJaran's laughter was high and scornful as he hobbled his way forward, leaning on his cane. He'd finally overcome his confusion to side with his son... or at least against an old rival. \"Whatever trick a mouse uses, it cannot defeat a lion. If Lindon decided to charge you with a spear, what is that to you? His strength should never have been able to harm you, no matter how he cheated. A true warrior of the Iron stage would not be shaken by a child's punch.\"\n\nLindon winced and pushed back further into the crowd. He had more or less expected Keth's reaction, but he hadn't anticipated his father making everything worse.\n\nHis sister caught him by the shoulder as he tried to sneak by. \"Well done,\" she whispered. She moved in front of him, ready to defend him at need.\n\nThe madra around Keth's fist condensed into spinning balls of purple-edged white fire. Foxfire was only an illusion of flame; it produced no actual heat, but if it touched flesh, it would burn with the agony of real fire.\n\n\"I see how the Shi family addresses members of the same clan,\" Keth shouted, trying to drum up support from the audience. \"With shame and dishonor! Grant me a contest against Shi Jaran, the one responsible for the Unsouled, or I will find my own satisfaction here.\"\n\nThe First Elder raised a hand. \"Keth, Jaran, I have seen enough. Return to your families. This duel has concluded, and the Mon family is victorious.\"\n\nA few laughs from the surrounding gallery. No one present believed that the Mon family had won, least of all Mon Keth. By afternoon, there would be anew Mon family myth: the Unsouled who had struck down an Iron." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon couldn't deny his pride at the thought.\n\nWhen the First Elder turned his head, thinking the matter settled, Keth flowed forward. He must have used some movement technique, because one step brought him before Jaran, his fist cocked back to deliver a blow that shone purple with foxfire. Lindon's father raised his hands to defend, but even Lindon could tell he'd been caught off guard. His cane fell to the ground as he lifted both hands, his scarred face tightening into a grimace.\n\nThe scene flickered.\n\nJaran and the First Elder had switched places, and now Mon's flame-wreathed fist was crashing down on the elder, not the head of the Shi family. Jaran's hands were still raised to defend himself from nothing. For an instant, Lindon's mind refused to accept what he was seeing. Had the First Elder switched places with his father in that breath?\n\nIna move that seemed slow and clear-but must have taken half a second at most-the elder held up two fingers. He placed them to the side of Keth's wrist, gently guiding the strike down and to the side. Foxfire swished through the air as illusory purple-white fireballs struck the stone, dealing absolutely no damage whatsoever.\n\nJaran lowered his hands, stunned.\n\nThe First Elder continued his movement, moving his two fingers to Mon Keth's shoulder and pushing down. He didn't appear to exert any effort, but the much bigger man collapsed to his knees, his hands behind his back. The elder flicked his sleeve, and intricate stone manacles appeared around his wrists.\n\nKeth shouted, trying to force his way to his feet, but the First Elder had already placed a hand on the man's hair. A ripple of force disturbed the air as it passed through Mon Keth's body, flattening his clothes and sending a pulse of dirt blasting out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His knees slammed back into the ground, and he resisted no further.\n\n\"Wei Mon Keth will be in isolation training for the next month,\" the First Elder mentioned. \"No doubt he wishes to meditate and learn from today's events. During this time, the Mon family will be responsible for him. You are all dismissed.\"\n\nLindon froze, replaying the scene in his mind.\n\nThe First Elder was a Forger on the Path of the White Fox. He couldn't switch bodies, he could only Forge deceptions: copies of reality made of dreams and light with no real substance. White Fox illusions had no structure and could not resist the weakest attack; they relied entirely on crafting a perfect appearance. Forgers had to craft their pictures detail by detail. Even the First Elder could never have created an illusion so layered, so complex, as the scene Lindon had just witnessed.\n\nCould he?\n\nSuddenly Lindon found himself unable to tear his gaze away from the First Elder, the man who had directed the entire scene and maintained absolute control the entire time. Even now, as he instructed the Mon family to carry Keth away, he looked no more concerned than a man ordering his breakfast.\n\nThis was what areal sacred artist looked like. This was the sort of power Lindon wanted.\n\nThe power he would gain on his Path." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 6\n\nJaran slammed his clay mug down on the table, sending orus wine sloshing over his wrist. \"That was stupid. A warrior fights with his mind first. With strategy! You don't risk your life on a fool's plan that will leave you even weaker than you already are! When I was younger, I would never have...\"\n\nLindon's father went on, talking about the glorious days when he'd been one of the most promising sacred artists in the entire clan. They were alone in Lindon's house, with no one to listen in, so Lindon nodded along and kept the mug filled. He already knew he'd been foolish.\n\nHe should have told his father and mother first. He was only blessed that they had been too confused to intervene, or they could have ruined everything in trying to save him.\n\nHow fortunate that they had left him alone.\n\n\"... don't know what you were thinking,\" Jaran continued, raising the mug to his lips. \"So stupid.\" With one hand, he roughly reached out and grabbed his son around the shoulders, pulling him into a one-armed hug. Lindon almost knocked over the bottle of wine.\n\n\"But it's the best kind of stupid,\" Jaran said, staring into his mug. \"Only an idiot accepts a battle he's sure to lose, but bravery and idiocy share a border. The son of a cripple might be a cripple, but the son of tigers won't be a dog.\"\n\nJaran coughed out a laugh, raising his wine as though fora toast. \"They'll soon see what a couple of cripples can do, son! A three-legged tiger's still got a bite!\" He downed the rest of his wine.\n\nA golden rush filled Lindon from his core to his fingertips, like a pulse of fresh madra. His father approved of him. He hadn't heard open praise from his father since he'd learned to walk. Certainly not since he'd first received his Unsouled badge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before Lindon could think of an appropriate response, Jaran upended his cup on the table, leaving it upside-down. That was even more of a shock; there was still half a bottle left. But his father leaned forward on the table, his expression turning as grave as his scarred lips would allow.\n\n\"You and your sister did well with the plan today, but I can't be left out again. What do you intend for the Festival?\"\n\nLindon had been more concerned about surviving the week with his honor intact, but he had given the upcoming Seven-Year Festival some thought. \"The children at my stage will have better foundation techniques, but the Empty Palm gives mean edge in combat. I should be able to take first.\"\n\n\"Empty Palm...\" Jaran muttered. \"Is that what you call it? Disrupts the enemy's spirit with an injection into the core?\"\n\nHe should have known his parents would see through it immediately. \"Yes, Father.\"\n\n\"You're lucky. If you had cultivated any aspects at all, it wouldn't have worked so well.\"\n\nLindon rubbed his temple, memories of dream-like visions swimming in his head. \"Kelsa put me on the ground with the same technique every time. I couldn't trust my own eyes.\"\n\n\"Of course she did. She's a Copper, and you're Unsouled. You can't defend against her anymore than an ant can stop a boot. If she had tried the same thing you did on Wei Mon Keth today, he wouldn't have even noticed.\"\n\nThat violated everything Lindon knew about the sacred arts, but his father wouldn't be mistaken about something like this. \"Surely when Mon Keth left himself undefended, Kelsa's Empty Palm would have done far more damage than mine.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jaran's fists tightened on the table. \"Son, if that's what you think, you came close to a harsh lesson today. A weapon held in ignorance only wounds its bearer.\"\n\nLindon sat up straighter, a chill running down his spine. He thought he'd prepared for the morning's duel as well as he could, but if he'd made a mistake... he really could have died.\n\n\"If it worked as you imagine, why doesn't every sacred artist in the Wei clan use this Empty Palm? We could disable any opponent with one strike!\"\n\n\"Because it's difficult to strike the core,\" Lindon said, knowing he was playing the fool. \"The enemy would be on guard against it. I know it only worked against Mon Keth because he didn't defend himself, and who would do that in battle?\"\n\n\"You're missing the most fundamental reason. It's because your madra is pure.\" He raised his hand, palm-up, where a hazy purple-white impression danced on his palm. His own power. \"Our White Fox is formed from aura of light and dreams, and it will act according to its nature. Even unformed, you see.\"\n\nLindon peered closer. As the energy danced in his father's palm, it gathered in the shape of a running rabbit, of a flag snapping in the breeze, of his mother's face. He thought he heard sounds, impossibly distant: the cry of a wolf, the panting of a man running for his life, the steady drip of water. The White Fox, unrestrained, tricked the senses by its very nature.\n\nJaran closed his fist, and the images vanished. \"Untrained madra, that of a child or an Unsouled, is still pure. It has no form, and so it affects only the spirit... but it does so more naturally than anything else. There's very little defense against it. A strike from me would not have affected Mon Keth's core; if anything, it would have confused him fora moment before his own spirit rejected my influence. But yours influences the core directly.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon remembered a line from the Heart of Twin Stars manual, a note he hadn't given much thought: \"How he cancels out the aspects of his madra, I have not yet deduced, but the result is undeniable.\" The developer of the Empty Palm had come up with away to purify himself in spite of his previous training.\n\nOnly a moment ago, he had worried that his ignorance may have taken him too close to death, but now he couldn't deny a measure of excitement. Of all the sacred artists in the Wei clan, only he had yet to absorb any vital aura. That meant he had capabilities no one else did.\n\nHis father saw his thoughts, and held up a hand. \" Unfortunately, pure madra has only two uses. It can activate scripts, just as anyone can, and it shakes the spirit. That's all. For anything else, you may as well have no power at all. It's also incredibly difficult to strengthen your spirit without harvesting aspects from the world, and it typically requires elixirs or natural treasures. Like the fruit you found.\n\n\"If you cultivate aspects that exist in heaven and earth, you can soak vital aura from the environment as you cycle. That's how I do it, that's how your mother does it, that's how everyone does it. To keep yourself pure, you'd have to give up the easiest and most reliable way of getting stronger. Worse, you'd sacrifice your most dependable means of self-defense. Afire artist could burn arrows out of the air mid-flight, and a sword artist could strike them out of the air. An artist of pure madra would be helpless to affect the flight of an arrow. He would die as helpless as a bird.\"\n\nLindon nodded seriously along with Jaran's words, but his enthusiasm didn't dim. It wasn't as though he meant to cultivate pure madra forever; he would start on a Path as soon as he was allowed. But this was an advantage he had now, an advantage that had gone to waste. Even an Unsouled wasn't entirely useless after all." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Having firmly driven his point home, Jaran drummed his knuckles on the table. \"Your sister knew all this, so you were safe this time. But carelessness is a short path to death in the sacred arts, remember that. It's why a good plan is so important. Which brings me back to the Festival.\"\n\nLindon thought fora moment before speaking, choosing his words carefully. \"I plan to use the Empty Palm on my opponents. At the Foundation stage, they should have no defense, and I'll take first place easily.\"\n\nJaran leaned forward, rapping him on the top of the head. It hurt more than he'd expected. \"You said that before, but I was hoping you'd think this time. Acting without thinking is bad, but it's worse to think like a coward.\"\n\nJibes and backhanded insults from his father were far more familiar than compliments. \"Excuse my foolishness, Father, but I don't seethe error in my words.\"\n\n\"After the first strike, you always followup with a second.\" He laughed suddenly. \"Like Mon Keth this morning, right? First hit lands, incomes your second one. You landed a hit today with your plan, with your sister's help and heaven's own luck. People see you as the Unsouled who beat an Iron. That's an advantage to you, which means you've got to strike again now. What can you get out of this?\"\n\nLindon's body thrummed with hunger. The same appetite that Elder Whisper had woken by speaking of anew Path rose up in him now, a yawning void that demanded to be filled. This was his chance to snatch another piece for himself, to climb another step closer to everything he ever wanted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He'd forgotten about his father, his mind racing from option to option. Could he leverage this notoriety into a request for training materials? He could borrow the parasite ring from the Patriarch, with the excuse that he needed it to prepare for the Festival.\n\nNo, he would have to appeal to the Patriarch directly, who wouldn't be able to show him favoritism. Lindon had fought with another member of the Wei clan, and thus not brought any honor to the clan as a whole, so the Patriarch wouldn't be able to reward him.\n\nMaybe he could go to the Eighth Elder in the archive, and request a few minutes with the Path manuals. Not to take one, just to study and learn. But given the Eighth Elder's personality, he wouldn't be swayed by anything Lindon had done.\n\nSo it came down to one question: who had enough power in the clan to give him a gift and the motivation to do so?\n\nA figure appeared in his mind, and he abruptly stood up. He froze when he remembered his father; even though this was Lindon's home, Jaran was both father and guest. If Lindon left, it would be disrespectful.\n\nJaran saw his dilemma and laughed again, flipping his cup over. \"Go, wherever you're going. That's not the face of a coward, so my work is done here. And I have your wine to keep me company.\"\n\nGrateful, Lindon bowed his way out.\n\n---\n\nLindon used the morning's duel as an excuse to enter the First Elder's home, which was readily accepted by the elder's niece. She congratulated him on the way in. As soon as he passed through the door, he understood why the First Elder of the Wei clan would live here. It was the perfect place to cultivate White Fox madra." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Inside the hallway, mirrors shone to his left and right, reflecting his image in an endless chain stretching off to eternity. Foxfire flickered in the lamps, purple and white, casting phantom images on one mirror that weren't reflected in the other. The effect, even one step inside the doorway, was like swimming in a sea of dreams.\n\nThe hall was perfectly straight, but Lindon still slid forward one careful step at a time, not daring to trust his senses. Since he'd trained the Empty Palm with Kelsa, he had gained anew appreciation for just how disorienting the Path of the White Fox could be.\n\nAshe moved deeper in the house, he passed more oddities intended to focus dream aura. One painting of abstract shapes reminded him of astern face one second and a tight flock of crows the next. A snowfox statue seemed to follow him with its eyes as he passed. Clusters of chimes on the ceiling were interspersed with ribbons of paper, trailing his entry with soft whispers and fragile music. As sticks of incense burned, they produced conflicting scents; sweet like mint, acrid as charred paper, savory like a haunch of roasting meat.\n\nThe senses bent and warped in the house, and Lindon's head ached after only a minute or two inside. He couldn't imagine living under these conditions, but then again, he didn't follow the Path of the White Fox. Maybe the First Elder was more comfortable here.\n\n\"Lisha?\" the First Elder called from the other room. \"What are you doing out there?\"\n\nA human voice gave Lindon something to anchor to, and he stumbled in that direction, running his good handover the wall searching fora door. He found one, sliding it open.\n\nThe elder was inside, kneeling beside a low table, brush poised over a scroll. \"I didn't expect to see you again today, Shi Lindon,\" he said, without looking up." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Serve as the author's scribe, continue the tale.\nTags: fantasy, progression fantasy, sacred valley\nAuthor: Will Wight\nTitle: Unsouled\nChapter: 9" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Inside the hallway, mirrors shone to his left and right, reflecting his image in an endless chain stretching off to eternity. Foxfire flickered in the lamps, purple and white, casting phantom images on one mirror that weren't reflected in the other. The effect, even one step inside the doorway, was like swimming in a sea of dreams.\n\nThe hall was perfectly straight, but Lindon still slid forward one careful step at a time, not daring to trust his senses. Since he'd trained the Empty Palm with Kelsa, he had gained anew appreciation for just how disorienting the Path of the White Fox could be.\n\nAshe moved deeper in the house, he passed more oddities intended to focus dream aura. One painting of abstract shapes reminded him of astern face one second and a tight flock of crows the next. A snowfox statue seemed to follow him with its eyes as he passed. Clusters of chimes on the ceiling were interspersed with ribbons of paper, trailing his entry with soft whispers and fragile music. As sticks of incense burned, they produced conflicting scents; sweet like mint, acrid as charred paper, savory like a haunch of roasting meat.\n\nThe senses bent and warped in the house, and Lindon's head ached after only a minute or two inside. He couldn't imagine living under these conditions, but then again, he didn't follow the Path of the White Fox. Maybe the First Elder was more comfortable here.\n\n\"Lisha?\" the First Elder called from the other room. \"What are you doing out there?\"\n\nA human voice gave Lindon something to anchor to, and he stumbled in that direction, running his good handover the wall searching fora door. He found one, sliding it open.\n\nThe elder was inside, kneeling beside a low table, brush poised over a scroll. \"I didn't expect to see you again today, Shi Lindon,\" he said, without looking up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon bowed over his broken arm. \"This one begs your indulgence, honored elder.\"\n\nThe First Elder waved his hand irritably. \"Wait there quietly. I must reply to one of the esteemed Schools, who insist that we honor them by intervening in a problem that does not concern us.\"\n\nHe had been ordered to silence, but Lindon took a risk. \"A problem, First Elder?\"\n\nThe elder rubbed a spot on his temple, glaring at the scroll as though it contained a death threat. \"The honorable Heaven's Glory School has lost no less than four disciples to abduction, it seems. Apparently an outsider is torturing and killing them for the secrets of their sacred arts.\"\n\nDespite the grim news, Lindon was somewhat excited. Torturing a rival disciple for secret arts only happened in legends. \"Do they suspect the Wei clan?\"\n\n\"No, no, don't worry. This has nothing to do with us, and this certainly isn't the full story, but they still want \"assurances of our immediate and absolute compliance.\" The clans have enough to deal with without taking on the burdens of the Schools as well.\"\n\n\"We'll show the other clans our power at the Seven-Year Festival,\" Lindon said, angling the conversation around to his point.\n\n\"As the Li and Kazan clans will seek to show us,\" the First Elder pointed out. \"The Kazan in particular are maneuvering aggressively for one of our farms by the river. They either know something about that farm, or they have some secret that allows them to act arrogantly. But the roaring tiger loses its prey to the tiger hidden in the brush. The Li clan has made no motion to improve its strength before the Festival, and that worries me most of all.\"\n\nThe elder placed his brush down and straightened. \"I forgot myself. These are not matters for an Unsouled. What brings you here, Shi Lindon?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This one has a request, honored elder,\" Lindon said, bowing again. Then he dropped the humble speech and met the First Elder's eye. \"Today, I've shown that my ability reaches beyond my level of advancement.\"\n\n\"You've shown that you can use tricks to embarrass a man more skilled and powerful than you are.\"\n\n\"Honor by any means,\" Lindon said, and the First Elder conceded the point with a nod. \"I have every confidence in my ability to sweep the Foundation stage competition at the Festival.\"\n\n\"As you should,\" the elder pointed out. \"You'll be the oldest one competing by at least two years. That will win us no honor among the other clans.\"\n\nThis was the very point Lindon had come to address. \"The elder speaks truly. But this one wonders if the First Elder has considered the exhibition match.\"\n\nThe victor of each stage won the right to challenge one competitor of higher advancement to an exhibition round. The Foundation winner could challenge a Copper, the Copper winner could challenge an Iron, and soon. It wasn't a true contest, but rather a display of skill. Against a more advanced opponent, one could display one's true ability.\n\nThe elder ran fingers through his long white beard as he thought. \"It would improve our standing... if the Foundation champion from our clan could fight evenly with a Copper from another clan. If you could pull a trick like you did today, embarrassing another clan, then you would have earned a reward. What is your request?\"\n\n\"A Path,\" Lindon said simply.\n\n\"Out of the question,\" the First Elder responded without hesitation. \"Do you understand why we forbid Unsouled to practice the sacred arts? It's for your own protection. You're as likely to maim your own soul as to advance to Copper. Elixirs and training would be wasted on you. You would forever be the weakest one on the Path.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon was prepared to negotiate fora lower prize, but he sensed an opening here. As long as the elder was using reason to convince rather than making absolute statements, that left room for discussion. \"The resources of the clan should obviously go to more promising disciples than I, but if I have defeated a Copper from another clan, then surely I've proven that I have as much ability as they do. If that's true, then why should I be forbidden from practicing a path?\"\n\nFoxfire flickered in the corner of his eyes, showing him phantom motion that was as much in his mind, tempting him to turn his head. But he watched the First Elder as the old man thought. Hope grew with every second of the elder's silence, and finally he opened his mouth to say, \"You'll be entirely on your own, you know.\"\n\n\"If I may say so, being on my own has never stopped me before.\"\n\nThe First Elder considered a moment longer, and then slowly nodded. \"You'll have access to the Path of the White Fox. I'll have a copy made for you, so you don't take resources away from other students. But, Shi Lindon, heed me: you must win.\"\n\n---\n\nIteration 110: Cradle\n\nSuriel lurched from the Way into reality in a flash of blue light, floating at the high edge of atmosphere. A planet spread out beneath her like a childhood blanket, blue and green and familiar.\n\n[Successfully arrived in Iteration One-one-zero,] said the ghostly Presence on her shoulder. It had come with the job, because no lone mind could control all the powers at Suriel's disposal. [Local time is+ 5.2 deviations from standard.] She would lose time here, and communication with Sanctum would be delayed, so her journey would take longer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But then, that was the point.\n\n[What is the purpose of your visit?] the Presence inquired. It was an innocent question, as the Presence was innocent, but Suriel wondered at the answer herself.\n\n[Recovery?] the Presence asked, and allover the planet, displays lit up in Suriel's vision with diagrams and glowing ribbons of text. They marked artifacts of the Abidan, lost over the millennia, matching them to last known locations and possible uses. With a thought, Suriel declined.\n\n[Education?] Places of historical and cultural significance lit like beacons, from the Arches of Dairan to the Twelve Rivers.\n\n[Entertainment?] Sky dancers, spinning on clouds of wind madra, trailed Remnants like glowing streamers. An arrow pointed to a performance in progress on the other side of the planet. A play moved through the audience, actors in painted masks carrying prop daggers, sneaking around as though the viewers didn't exist. A duel between two experts; one riding a stag with lightning for antlers, another carrying a spear of solid flame. The life and death of a nation rode on this contest, but she could watch from safety like an interdimensional voyeur.\n\n[Business?] the Presence asked, and though it was equally innocent, Suriel imagined an accusatory tinge to the construct's voice. Before she could stop it, details of Ozriel's life spooled out on the spectral display, locations of interest blinking into being allover the planet.\n\nThe mountain under which he had been born in a dark chamber of stone.\n\nThe ruins of the library where he had once developed his own Path.\n\nThe pillars where he debated the ten greatest scholars of the day, leading three to commit suicide soon after." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The City of Anvils, sealed now, where he'd forged his first weapon.\n\nThe labyrinth where he died and returned to life.\n\nThe country home, buried beneath a meadow now, where his fury had first touched the Way.\n\nSuriel wiped the display with a thought. She'd been a fool to come herein the first place. She was the Phoenix, not the Hound. The healer, not the detective. She didn't need to find Ozriel-she needed to find his aftermath. The billions of people affected by his refusal to do his job.\n\nSomeone had to bring them back to life.\n\nBut here she was, shirking her duties in the safest world of all creation. Even Sanctum was more likely to fall to corruption than this place.\n\nCradle was the birthplace of the Abidan, and theoretically Ozriel could cripple their organization for millennia by destroying it, but crippling them was never his goal. Makiel didn't understand that, though Suriel did. He would never return here, and he would not allow it to fall through his inaction. Of all the worlds she oversaw, this was the most secure.\n\n[Then why are you here?] the Presence asked, sensing that Suriel needed another voice. From anyone else, the question would have been damning. She was a healer, the greatest in existence, and she was dallying on the way to a war zone. Thousands died in every second that passed here. If they remained dead long enough, even she couldn't bring them back.\n\nBut he might be right.\n\nOzriel had done unconscionable things in the service of the Abidan Court. They were all in the name of order among the worlds, but anyone else would have been indicted for war crimes. Though she understood his rationale, she had never felt comfortable with Ozriel on the job." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then he quit. Ozriel, the celestial executioner, had refused to demolish condemned worlds. The Reaper had hung up his scythe. The other Judges were out for blood, and they expected the same of her. But how could she blame him for not murdering billions?\n\n[The corruption spread from his inactivity will affect trillions,] her Presence said, responding to her unspoken question. [If it is not curtailed, then it will soon spread to tens of trillions, until the Court is forced to implement quarantine procedures.]\n\nThat was why Suriel delayed. Not because she didn't want to heal the dead and dying, but because the other six Judges would have gathered together. They would want her to vote on a world-spanning quarantine that would leave dozens of worlds without the protection of the Abidan.\n\nIt was the exact attitude that had driven Ozriel to leave.\n\nShe needed a moment to think, herein a world outside of it all. A world that, though it was torn in an eternal thousand-sided war, existed in isolation. For her, that meant peace. Time to consider. Maybe she could solve some small problems, as a break from the cares of an entire universe.\n\n[Problems,] her Presence acknowledged, and constellations of dots and lines spread allover the planet. Spooling text and images showed Suriel all the wounds she could heal, all the small problems she could fix while ignoring the larger troubles that overwhelmed her.\n\nHere, a monstrous eel undulated through the ocean, spreading clouds of poison over an underwater city. Ten thousand kilometers away, a plague devastated aspire full of white-clad pacifists. On another hemisphere, a kilometers-long azure dragon flew on a violent storm, moving like a hurricane toward a small kingdom." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The text showed her ten million people she could save: from rape, murder, genocide, slavery, starvation, ignorance, disease. Ozriel would try to save them all, and would fail, but the world would be better for his efforts. Makiel would leave those problems to mortals and focus on the bigger picture.\n\nAs Suriel stared at the web of information spread out over the planet, trying to decide, another star flared to life. It was red rather than blue, representing a crime that was fated to happen. She focused on it.\n\n[Imminent spatial violation,] her Presence reported. [Domination of local inhabitants by an outside power is predetermined to follow.]\n\nSomeone who had grown beyond this world was trying to return to Cradle, using outside power to setup their own fiefdom in this relatively simple plane of existence. That was a grade three violation, something that the local Sector Control Abidan would address, but they'd take their time about it. This level of crime was far beneath her notice, but both Ozriel and Makiel would have agreed it was worth stopping.\n\nIt was perfect.\n\nShe took a quick stock of her appearance, to make sure that she wouldn't start any myths by descending. Transparent gray ghostlines ran from the back of her head, twisting down her right arm to terminate in her fingers. Those would be strange, but not alarming. The Mantle of Suriel ran behind her like she'd tied a river of burning light around her neck, and she made that vanish. Her white uniform was seamless, a layer of inch-thick liquid armor that coated her from her neck down to her toes. It would be obviously unnatural, but shouldn't alarm anyone. They would assume it was Forged madra, which was close enough to the truth. She left it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She couldn't bring her weapon, though it pained her. The meter-long shaft of blue steel hung at her hip, innocuous enough, but she couldn't take the one-in-a-billion chance that she might somehow leave it in Cradle. With an effort of will, she banished it back to Sanctum.\n\nHer longhair drifted around her, luminescent green and shining against the darkness of space. She toned it down to a deep shade of jade barely distinguishable from black, then focused on her eyes. Her irises had expanded to take upmost of the sclera, marked with a ring of symbols that a few people on the planet below might recognize as script. They were tools to help her seethe flow of fate, but they might advance the development of Cradle scripting beyond acceptable limits. Her eyes burned as though she'd pressed them against red-hot iron, but she endured, altering them to a roughly natural shape in a matter of seconds. They were still large and purple, but they looked human enough.\n\nSuriel's will flickered to the Presence, which acknowledged her command. [Plotting course to the fated violation. Destination: the Sacred Valley. Distance: one hundred sixty-two thousand kilometers. Engaging route].\n\nIna streak of blue, Suriel took off." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 7\n\nOnce the sling came off Lindon's broken arm, he redoubled his training. The Seven-Year Festival raced closer, looming over him, and he resented every minute of rest that might cost him his chance to read a Path manual.\n\nHe still intended to find his own way in the sacred arts, as Elder Whisper had told him, but he didn't know enough yet. He needed to research the Path of the White Fox, and once he did... well, maybe he would find that it fit him. Maybe he wouldn't need to explore anew Path at all.\n\nHe spent the mornings in the Shi family courtyard with Kelsa, where her beating him counted as training. Afternoons belonged to the archive, and he spent that time studying the other technique manuals to which he was allowed access. He never found anything else as perfectly suited for him as the Empty Palm, but he studied the theories. In the evening, he cycled.\n\nThe cycling technique in the Heart manual was intended to prepare him for splitting his core, which he never expected to need. Still, it was also a technique meant to improve pure madra manipulation, and thus a better match for him than the Wei clan's Foundation technique. So he continued to use it.\n\nThe orus fruit treasure had long vanished, its power incorporated into his own, and he no longer felt the tingling lightning in his core. He felt no stronger, but his results spoke for themselves: he could practice with Kelsa for hours, using the Empty Palm tenor twelve times, before he gave into fatigue. And that was due to his sister's relentless beatings more than spiritual exhaustion.\n\nThree days before the Festival, only a few hours before noon, Lindon spotted an opening in his sister's stance. He took it, driving an Empty Palm at her belly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She knocked his wrist wide, stepping into put a fist into his side... and froze, her elbow cocked back, loose strands of hair drifting in front of her face. Her eyes were fixed on something behind him, beyond him, and he knew at once something was wrong.\n\n\"Kelsa?\" he asked, taking a careful step back. She didn't respond, and if he couldn't hear her breaths, he wouldn't have known whether she was still alive. In fact, she was still breathing in rhythm according to her Foundation technique.\n\nHer eyes still glazed over, she folded up and sat on the grass. Her hands rested on her lap, her breathing deepened, and tiny balls of foxfire began to dance in the air around her.\n\nWhen Lindon realized what was happening, he ran for his parents.\n\nHe found them together, outside their house, his father cleaning a boar as his mother did something similar to a Remnant. A bucket of bloody guts sat next to a scripted basin containing loops of light and color. Claws of Forged madra slowly fizzed into nonexistence next to slabs of meat leaking blood.\n\nLindon skidded to a halt in the yard. \"Kelsa's advancing to Iron,\" he announced, then he ran back the other direction.\n\nHis mother overtook him in seconds and his father wasn't far behind her, hobbling on his cane faster than Lindon could run. They both reached Kelsa before he did.\n\nSweat already soaked her training robes, plastering her hair to her neck. Her breath came in labored gasps, and each exhale was tinged with White Fox madra. Phantom images danced in the vital aura around her, complete with sounds; half-formed, unrecognizable ghosts that screamed, laughed, growled, and muttered as they were born of dreams and light." }, { "from": "human", "value": "White Fox madra swirled around her in a cyclone of illusion and color." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Purple and white predominated, but every color flickered through, like bright-scaled fish flitting in and out of the light. Purple sparks twisted in the air, castoff Kelsa as though from a bonfire.\n\nNearby, the underbrush rustled, and a snowfox peeked its snout out to watch. It was young-only one tail trailed behind it in the bushes-but it was still drawn to the madra it sensed was so similar to its own. According to legend, the first Wei Patriarch's ascension to Jade had drawn snowfoxes from allover Sacred Valley in a pilgrimage that lasted three days.\n\nKelsa's eyes drifted closed and then snapped open, blazing with purple-edged light. All around her, vague dreams bloomed from the earth like squirming flowers.\n\n\"Second stage,\" his mother noted, scribbling as she watched.\n\n\"She might be as fast as I was,\" Jaran said, a proud smile on his twisted lips. \"Copper to Iron in less than an hour, and no worse for it.\"\n\n\"Then we should prepare for the third stage,\" Seisha said.\n\n\"Prepare?\"\n\n\"Not us,\" she said, with a significant glance at Lindon. \"You should leave, son.\"\n\nLindon rarely defied his parents, but this was an exceptional chance. He'd never seen anyone advance to Iron before, and this was his sister. \"I'd learn more if I stayed to the end.\"\n\n\"Too dangerous,\" Jaran said, hobbling over to take him by the arm.\n\nThen a ripple of purple-white madra pulsed out from Kelsa, and Lindon learned what his father meant.\n\nWhite Fox Forgers used the Fox Mirror technique to create illusionary copies of exact appearance but no real substance; some built false walls, or hid in fake trees, or adopted the clothes of their enemies. Legend said the Patriarch could create a twin of himself as indistinguishable as his own reflection." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Enforcers kept their madra close, even inside, and White Fox Enforcers deceived their opponents by hiding their steps or subtle movements in a skill called the Foxtail. Their punches looked slightly longer than they were, their steps shorter, their motions faster, their reactions slower. In battle, where victory or defeat could ride on the accuracy of split-second judgments, Enforcers of the Wei clan could be the most frustrating enemies.\n\nStrikers cast their madra out to use on others, and White Fox Strikers learned to manipulate foxfire. They could make a target feel like he was burning to death, or illuminate a target with a spark only they could see, or cloud an enemy's vision with phantom lights. The Striker technique was considered the weakest in the Path of the White Fox, but nonetheless it had certain advantages. Foxfire did no real damage, but it did inflict pain, and its purple-and-white flames could not be extinguished.\n\nRulers worked differently. Rather than manipulating their own madra, they used their madra as a catalyst to control vital aura. As for Rulers on the Path of the White Fox, they directed aura of light and dreams to trap their enemies in a Fox Dream.\n\nAs Kelsa's power flew out of control, Lindon's vision fuzzed as though every surface crawled with ants. One of the nearby bushes seized the ground with one branch and hauled itself out of the earth, its exposed roots trailing dirt. It scooted toward him, pale blue cloudbells bobbing. Shadows giggled and whispered, flinching away when his gaze moved to them. They scuttled away in shy groups to spy on him from another angle.\n\nOne of the clouds dipped down from the sky to look him in the eye, until his vision was filled with cottony white. Once it was pleased with whatever it saw in him, the cloud left on its merry journey." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He recoiled after a single glance at his parents'faces. The scar at the side of his father's lip expanded until the man's face was only one giant mass of tissue, pale and puckered. His mother's eyes glowed, and every word dropped from her lips with the weight of heaven's decree. The earth shook as she spoke, and Lindon clapped his hands over his ears.\n\nWhen the earth righted itself, he found that he was curled up fifty feet away from where he'd started, and his hands weren't over his ears at all. They were contorted into claws, and his wrists were firmly pinned against his chest by his father.\n\n\"You won't tear your eyes out now, will you?\" Jaran asked.\n\nLindon shook his head, too afraid to say anything. He had hated the times when Kelsa injected her madra into him, but she hadn't ignited any vital aura then. His delusions had been much more detailed this time, like an utterly convincing dream. Last time, shapes and colors had lurched around until he couldn't tell where anything was, but this time... he had seen a plant uproot itself in full color, and now the cloudbell bush sat planted as solidly as ever.\n\n\"Even you can develop a defense against this sort of thing,\" Seisha said, though most of her attention was on her daughter. \"Your spirit has supreme control inside your own body.\"\n\nLindon was very interested in learning more about that, but for now, one thing mattered more. \"How is she?\"\n\nIt wasn't common, but there was always the possibility of disaster during advancement. When someone was interrupted while advancing, or tried to advance during a fight, or used elixirs to force an advancement early, they could end up facing a backlash. Their madra could turn against them, killing them or removing their ability to practice the sacred arts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In that case, Kelsa might be no better than an Unsouled.\n\nSeisha leaned over her daughter, brown hair falling into the girl's face, and cast a clinical eye over her body. Kelsa was now lying in a heap on the grass, sweat-soaked but breathing evenly. She was streaked with grit like black mud, which gave off a stench that burned Lindon's nose from yards away. Advancing to Iron refined the body, expelling impurities. Seisha pressed two fingers to the girl's throat, and then to her core.\n\nKelsa groaned, stirring.\n\n\"Did you do it?\" Jaran asked, leaning over her.\n\nIn response, Kelsa reached out and gripped a young sapling with one hand. In one simple movement of her thumb, she snapped it in half.\n\n\"Call the elders and breakout the wine,\" Seisha said. \"The Wei clan has anew Iron.\"\n\nThe same night, the clan turned out fora celebration in honor of Wei Shi Kelsa. Even some guests from the other two clans and four Schools were in attendance, having arrived early for the Festival. The Patriarch presented her with her new badge in front of all the gathered families, and the First Elder gave her a polished case containing a trio of valuable elixirs. They represented a significant expense for the clan, but the wise gambler bet on the fastest horse. Resources went to strengthen those who were already strong, not to bring up the weak.\n\nIt was the way life worked, and Lindon had no cause to complain. He might as well complain that the heavens hadn't given him a stronger soul. Instead, he looked forward. His sister was ready for the Seven-Year Festival, and now it was his turn.\n\n---" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That night, Lindon stuffed a shovel into his pack and prepared to cheat.\n\nThe Wei hosted the Festival this year, an honor and a responsibility that increased the pressure on their families to perform well. As a result, the clan's Enforcers had been working for over a year to construct a brand-new arena in which to display the contests.\n\nThe arena was circular and made almost entirely of orus wood, with one huge script etched around the inside to prevent power from spilling over into the audience. The seats were tiered in layers and separated by clan colors-purple and white for the Wei clan, green and gray for the Li clan, and brown and red for the Kazan. One higher box would contain guests from the four Schools, separating them from the common rabble outside.\n\nThe stage itself was a square of pure white stone a hundred yards to aside, divided in eight sections bylines in the floor. The Foundation children would use all the sections at once, with eight fights simultaneously until the number of participants was reduced. The Coppers would use a quarter of the stage each, the Irons half, and any pair of Jades who decided to settle a grudge or demonstrate their skill for the younger generation would have the whole stage to themselves.\n\nOutside the arena were four polished wooden columns, each ringed in script and topped by Forged snowfoxes. These five-tailed white foxes, each an almost exact copy of Elder Whisper, paced on their columns or yawned or licked their paws just as live sacred beasts would have. They would be indistinguishable from life to every sense except touch, which explained why they were elevated so far above the ground.\n\nIf not quite famous in the Wei clan, Lindon was at least known, and the guards allowed him inside on the pretext that he was checking a script for his mother. She had led the work on the four foxes, for which she was expecting a reward from the Patriarch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Under the protection of his mother's name, Lindon had a thorough look around, inspecting the stage, the columns, the seats, and especially the ground inside the arena.\n\nThen he walked into the woods.\n\nHe carried a spirit-map with him-his mother's analysis of the local Remnants-and there were a few around here that might cooperate. When he reached a likely spot, he knelt down and scratched a script circle in the dirt around him. His skill as a scriptor had improved since he was a child, but only to the point where he wouldn't embarrass his mother by laying a simple layer of protection. At least, not while he was copying it from a book.\n\nMount Samara loomed over the Wei clan to the east, lit by the massive halo of white light that they called Samara's ring. It glowed brighter than the moon, casting all of Sacred Valley in white, but the depths of the forest were still bathed in shadow. He had expected to use Samara's ring for enough light to read, but he had come prepared nonetheless, pulling a candle and a striker out of his pack.\n\nSeconds later, he squinted at his mother's scripting guide by candlelight. He could have used the scripted light in his pack, but he wanted his madra fresh to deal with the Remnant. He smoothed out one symbol, correcting another, brushing pebbles and twigs aside to keep each rune as close to the guide as possible. After satisfying himself that the circle was at least as secure as he could make it, he sat cross-legged at the center, book on one side and candle on the other.\n\nThen he threw a rock at the hornet's nest.\n\nHornets buzzed out an instant later, furious and seeking vengeance... but not living hornets. Remnants. They were made of bright emerald color, as though some artist had dipped her brush in ajar of green ink and painted them onto the world. But not in full detail. Rather than accurate depictions of the hornets they'd been in life, these Remnants were mere sketches. Outlines, swirls of lines and shape that somehow suggested hornets." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The swarm flitted around Lindon's circle, stingers at the ready." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Script wasn't some magic language of the heavens, as old mythology suggested. Each rune was a shape that guided vital aura in the air, reshaping it to anew purpose. This particular circle was the reverse of the one he'd used on the Remnant of the ancestral tree; it would catch and eject any madra that attempted to cross the line.\n\nAnd Remnants, while strange and powerful, were made entirely of madra.\n\nThe hornets could fly high enough that the script circle would lose its effect, but they didn't. They stayed, either unaware that they could flyover, or intrigued enough to hear what the human had to say.\n\nLindon hoped it was the latter. For one thing, that suggested that these Remnants were intelligent enough to hear him out. Which meant they'd be less likely to flock through and sting him to death as soon as the circle dropped.\n\nThe only way to judge a Remnant's intelligence was through experience. The tree-Remnant, the newborn spirit of a plant, had displayed little intelligence at all. If this swarm was smart enough to wait on him, he could take a little risk.\n\nLindon held up the other object he'd brought inside the circle with him: a clay jar with a wide mouth and a tight-fitting lid. He opened the lid, showing the hornet Remnants the shining blue crystal-barely the size of a child's fingernail-that lay within.\n\nAt the sight of the crystal flask, the hornets buzzing increased to a frantic pace.\n\n\"Honored sacred beasts, this one comes to you in humility,\" Lindon began. They weren't sacred beasts any longer, but more respect was always better than less when it came to Remnants. Or people, he supposed. \"In exchange for this offering of spirit, this one begs you to wait inside this vessel for only three days\" time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sacred artists typically filled flasks this size by the handful, but this one had taken him almost a week. It was the best he could do, considering how little strength he started with, and how exhausted his spirit was after a day of training with Kelsa.\n\nThe bright hornets buzzed frantically, pushing as close to the circle as they dared, hungering for the bare human power they sensed within. A few of the green-sketched shapes got a little too close, and their own energy activated the script. Runes shone weakly, and an invisible force pushed them backwards.\n\nThis circle could be overwhelmed, and would do precisely nothing against Remnants with bodies bigger or more solid than these insects, but tonight it held.\n\nCan they understand me? Lindon wondered. He cleared his throat and tried again.\n\n\"Honorable... cousins of the hive, this one wonders if you would agree to rest inside this jar. In return, this one gives you an offering of his spirit. In only three days-\"\n\nA buzzing interrupted him, forming a voice, harsh and monotone. \"WHY?\"\n\nLindon's breath caught. He had hoped they were intelligent enough to accept a crude barter. It had never occurred to him that they might speak.\n\nHe bowed forward so deeply that his forehead pressed against dirt, just shy of the script. He almost shivered, knowing that their emerald stingers were only inches from his scalp, but it would be disrespectful to show fear in front of this strange Remnant. Not to mention unwise.\n\n\"This one wishes to call upon your might before the sunsets three days hence. This one will break the jar, whereupon you will attack another human of my direction. Not this one, if it pleases you. One other.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The buzzing dipped and rose, as though the hive were trying to find the right pitch for the words. \"WE... TAKE. SPIRIT. ROCK.\"\n\nThe flask. \"Of course, sacred ones! Take it. Drain it dry. It is yours.\"\n\nThe hornets spun around in a dance, conferring with one another. Human madra was more than mere food and water to Remnants; they could advance with it. Evolve. Gain in wisdom, power, and concentration.\n\nHe didn't care if they ascended to the heavens, so long as they helped him.\n\n\"AGREE,\" the hive responded.\n\nLindon hastily scuffed the nearest symbol with the heel of his foot, but fear punched him in the gut as soon as he did. In his eagerness to close, he hadn't specified anything about his current safety. They had agreed not to attack him once he released them, but nothing stopped them from plunging their stingers into him tonight.\n\nAbandoning dignity, he curled up into a ball as they swarmed past him and into the jar. He held arms over his face fora full minute or two, sweating, before he realized that the buzzing had quieted.\n\nHe glanced into the jar. A cluster of hornet Remnants, like sketches of green paint, climbed allover each other at the bottom. The tiny flask was only visible as a faint twinkling of light, and as he watched, that light dimmed. A few of the closest Remnants brightened visibly, gaining new details: here anew joint on a leg, there a segment of carapace, as though they somehow grew more real before his eyes.\n\nHe bowed once more to the open jar before carefully placing the lid on. As soon as they couldn't see him, he wiped sweat from his brow and sagged down in relief." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Remnants weren't likely to kill him, not as long as he dealt with them in good faith, but they could very well have taught him a painful lesson. This had been a gamble-not a huge one, but one with a potentially uncomfortable downside.\n\nThe wise gambler bets on the fastest horse. The Wei clan had taught him well. Eagerly, he wrapped a line of weighted shadesilk around the jar. When tied, this held the lid, ensuring that an awkward misstep on his part wouldn't spill hornets everywhere.\n\nThe Remnants could fly straight through the jar, if they wished. A ring of script around the sides discouraged that, but it was even weaker than the circle he'd used to protect himself earlier. They could push through as easily as a man pushing through a screen. What really held them was their word.\n\nIt wasn't as though Remnants couldn't lie, but rather that they acted exactly according to their nature. For most, they simply wouldn't accept an unfavorable deal. It would never occur to them to accept and then break it.\n\nLindon erased all evidence of the night's work in minutes, packing his gear up in his worn brown pack. The jar of Remnants went in last of all, carefully secured.\n\nIt was most of two hour's hike back to the clan, but he hardly noticed the time. His chances had just doubled.\n\nHe walked past the street that led to his rooms, instead heading back to the arena. The guards allowed him back in without further questions, leaving no one to watch him. They were his family, if only distantly; they knew him. So no one saw as Lindon took a shovel to the soft earth, digging straight down until he bared the sides of the stone blocks that made up the stage floor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When he got beneath them, he adjusted his angle, hollowing out a space under the block. A space just big enough fora sealed clay jar.\n\nHe was sliding the jar into the opened earth when his mother's voice sounded from behind him.\n\n\"Still practicing?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 8\n\nLindon turned to face his mother, hiding the hole and the sealed jar behind him. \"Your son is honored to see you here, Mother. But why... I mean, if I may ask why you...\"\n\nSeisha saved him the effort of explaining by walking forward and leaning over the hole he'd dug. Her drudge gurgled as it floated over her shoulder, no doubt detecting the Remnant sealed within.\n\n\"While the arena is under construction, the staff answer tome,\" Seisha said, kneeling to run a finger along his scripted jar. \"I asked them to report anyone entering tonight, but I never thought it would be you.\"\n\nLindon was afraid to move, lest it somehow push his mother over the edge from calm to furious. \"I'm sorry to have disturbed you, then.\"\n\nSeisha stood, flipping brown hair over one shoulder. \"You can think of nothing else you've done that might warrant an apology?\"\n\nDespite the cool of the night, he broke out in a sudden sweat. He had thought of cover stories depending on who caught him, but none of them would pass his mother.\n\nShe looked into the hole with brown eyes, lighter than anyone else in the clan. \"Back home, we had a saying. \"The disciple follows the master, but the genius blazes their own trail.\" You should cover this up before someone else sees it.\"\n\nLindon wasted a second on astonishment before grabbing his shovel and setting to work. He piled the dirt back in hastily, hoping she wouldn't change her mind. \"Mother, are you calling me a genius?\"\n\n\"Obviously not. It's just a saying.\" He couldn't deny a moment of disappointment before his mother continued. \"Nonetheless, I'm proud of you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The shovel felt light in his hands as his mother's words danced through his mind, so it wasn't until he'd worked in silence for minutes more that he thought to ask a question. \"Who were you expecting?\"\n\nShe gave him awry glance. Because he knew her, he knew what it meant: she had hoped he wouldn't ask that question. But Wei Shi Seisha would answer it anyway, because she believed that curiosity should always be rewarded. \"Have you heard any rumors about the Li clan recently?\"\n\nThe First Elder had said they were too quiet, suspiciously so, but Lindon suspected he wasn't supposed to have that information. He shook his head.\n\n\"Three months ago, they purchased an unusual item from an auction. A fragment of a stone tablet dating back thousands of years, supposedly found at the base of the Nethergate. It was covered in runes that may have had some... unique properties. But no one could ever prove it.\"\n\n\"What sort of properties?\" Lindon asked, leaning on his shovel.\n\n\"It looked like half of a script intended for direct spatial transportation. The stuff of myths. Walk into one circle and emerge in another one a world away, stories like that. I examined the tablet myself, before the Li clan bought it, and I could not confirm it.\"\n\nStill, Lindon's imagination burned with the possibilities. That really was the stuff of legends.\n\n\"Since they bought the tablet, we haven't heard much from them at all, but we've started to receive reports that they've been hunting specific Remnants. A rabbit that crosses yards in the blink of an eye. A bat that can vanish into nothing. A mole that burrows through thin air. We believe they're trying to condense spatial madra.\"\n\nSpatial madra. It sounded ridiculous. \"Apologies, Mother, but how could that be? How could madra take on the form of space?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She pointed at him, and he knew he'd struck the heart of the matter. \"It can't. Madra can imitate anything from fire to dreams, and we call those forms \"aspects.\" Obviously, to speak of space having a form is absurd. They are actually seeking to pierce and control space using madra, which should be impossible.\"\n\nBut there had to be more to the story, or his mother wouldn't be so uneasy. \"Then the Li clan is wasting their time. And their money.\"\n\n\"I've worked with some of the Li Soulsmiths, who would be leading any project involving Remnants. They're underhanded and some of their theories are suspect, but they wouldn't commit clan resources to a project unless they had reason to believe it could succeed. That is what scares me. Everything I've heard leads me to believe that they're investing everything into a fool's dream, so they've either gone insane... or they know something we don't.\"\n\nLindon shivered even as he finished filling in the hole he'd dug beneath the stage, patting the soil down so that it fell flush with the stone block. If the Li clan did try something during the Festival, it reassured him that heat least had one hidden weapon.\n\nSeisha held a glowing blue stick of Forged madra up for her drudge's inspection, and it ran segmented legs over the stick before whistling in response. She noted something down on her notepad. After only a few minutes, she'd already moved onto her next project. \"If you've finished, we should leave the arena. It won't belong before someone asks what we've been doing here, and the shovel will be hard to explain.\"\n\nOn their way out, Lindon asked a question that had unnerved him as soon as he'd thought of it. \"Will the Li clan try something during the Festival?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Undoubtedly they will,\" she said, deep in her notebook. When he responded with uneasy silence, she elaborated. \"The clans always try something during the Seven-Year Festival, because it's the best time to strive against one another. They'll propose \"sure\" bets, or try to rig trading agreements. Nothing unusual. As for our earlier discussion-\" They were walking pasta guard, who nodded to them as they left. \"-I suspect it will take them years before they have anything functional. Real research takes generations to perfect.\"\n\n\"Then why were you expecting them tonight?\"\n\nShe gave him awry smile. \"Because I try to expect the worst.\"\n\n---\n\nInformation requested: the Seven-Year Festival.\n\nBeginning report...\n\nEvery seven years, the clans of Sacred Valley hold a festival.\n\nWhile the original purpose of this gathering was to promote unity, it has become the primary stage on which they compete. The children of the clan are taught to identify the others by their clothes-armor and a red sash for the Kazan, with their banners bearing three stone dogs; a white fox with five tails for the Wei, who always match white with purple; and the Li, who wear too much jewelry and carry banners bearing the Snake and the Tree.\n\nThese are your enemies, the children are told. One day, our clan will be strong, and we will crush the other two under our heels.\n\nIt has been this way fora hundred generations.\n\nThe Wei clan hosts the Festival this year, so outside craftsmen have inhabited clan grounds for months. They build booths of orus wood, dig trenches, paint houses, smooth roads, and generally prepare the clan for an influx of rivals. The Wei are never so clean, organized, and well-presented as in the days leading up to the Seven-Year Festival." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The outsider craftsmen are confined to temporary housing around their projects, and are kept to a strict curfew. Most don't mind. Beyond clan territory, Sacred Valley is still wild, and they are accustomed to the ravages of weather and wild Remnants. Living in the security of a community is a luxury most cannot afford for long.\n\nWhen the booths are arranged, the White Fox banners flying from the tallest homes, and the arena prepared, the clan is ready. The outsiders are paid and sent away as the other clans begin to arrive.\n\nThe Kazan announce their arrival with a host of trumpets when they are still miles away, and the ground rumbles under the impact of their advancing army. When banners flying the Stone Dogs are visible in the distance, streams of red flowing in the wind, the least dignified of the Wei gather to catch a glimpse of their visiting enemies. Most only see a Kazan clansman every seven years.\n\nEvery man, woman, and child of the Kazan wears armor, even where it could not possibly grant any protection. Women wear shadesilk dresses with a sleeve of delicately wrought mail, or plates sewn into the bodice. Men wear helmets over red robes, or wrap themselves in loose-fitting cloth with thick belts of iron and leather. Children carry shields, or runaround in tiny breastplates.\n\nAll of the Kazan wear badges, of course, but these are seemingly crafted with perfection in mind as well; they are four or five times bigger than those of the Wei clan, so that the adults wear plates of copper or iron over their entire chests.\n\nEven the mounts they ride, for those rich or important enough to afford mounts, are armored. They are stone dogs the size of horses, Forged constructs created by Soulsmiths, and every step of every paw strikes the earth like a drumstick. The bulkiest of these craghounds, as they are called, drag wagons behind them-wagons laden with the goods of Mount Venture. Halfsilver ingots, sky-iron statuettes, and goldsteel blades flash in the sun, delighting the eyes of the Wei children." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The families of the White Fox mock the incoming Kazan for their blunt ways, for their lack of subtlety, for their obvious stupidity. The Wei clan will rule their lands soon, as it once was, and as it is meant to be again.\n\nThe Li clan is too sophisticated for trumpets. They unleash Remnants to fly around their heads as they approach, swift jade hawks and shining silver butterflies and twin-headed crimson eagles, all trailing lines of vivid color behind them in the sky. The display is a delicate tapestry woven among the clouds, accompanied by music from the most accomplished Li performers. Flutes and stringed instruments drift in sweet tones around the Remnants' dance, leading some Wei children to laugh in delight. They will be reprimanded by their parents later.\n\nThere are no wagons visible among the Li at first, as their mounts and cargo will betaking up the rear. They will present nothing unsightly to their enemies. Those of the Jade stage march in the first rank, their badges displayed proudly among necklaces of gold and silver. Those most honored in the Li clan are also the most bedecked in jewels, with Jade elders wearing five rings in each ear and two on each finger.\n\nThe ranks of Iron and Copper follow Jade, though only the best of each stage are represented here. Those who have stagnated at their level for too long are miles behind, with the pack animals and the children, to arrive with no fanfare and no apparent connection to those who have gone before.\n\nEach Copper carries a tall wooden branch, unpolished and uncarved. At the height of this branch is a green banner. When the Coppers raise their branches together, it is as though they march in the center of a forest, with leaves blowing over their heads. A few of the most outstanding Coppers have snakes carved into their branches, as the Tree and the Serpent are the symbols of the Li clan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mothers and fathers of the Wei families lean over their children, pointing out the ostentatious jewelry, which flash in the gleaming Remnant rainbow overhead." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This is vanity, pride, and arrogance. Only the truly strong deserve to be arrogant, and the Li clansmen think too much of themselves. With such displays, they will someday provoke a power much greater than their own, and that will be their downfall.\n\nAt the same time and in the same voices, the Li and the Kazan mock the Wei in their own ways, and for their own reasons. Such is as it has been fora hundred generations.\n\nFor all its talk of humility, the Wei clan will not lose to its guests. And masters of illusion are, after all, masters of presentation.\n\nThe gates of the Wei clan-newly constructed for the occasion, and carved with purple flowers and white foxes-peel open under the strength of invisible chains. The Li display is put to shame when the sky explodes in sound and color, foxfire popping in purple flares and raining down among the visitors in a million harmless sparks. A legion of phantom snowfoxes wait on their haunches, lined up along the street of the clan as the Li and the Kazan enter. The eyes of the foxes follow each stranger, even as illusionary cheers fill the atmosphere. Flower petals of pink and white and purple spin on the wind, and sweet scents fall from the sky as though the air itself has been perfumed.\n\nThe Wei swell with pride as they watch this coordinated masterpiece of White Fox madra, and the elders-their conductors-nod to each other in satisfaction. They have outdone their rivals in hospitality, welcoming them in a fashion appropriate for receiving an imperial procession.\n\nIn their minds, this is more than their enemies deserve.\n\nSuggested topic: the fate of the current Seven-Year Festival. Continue?\n\nDenied, report complete." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 9\n\nAll the important events of the Seven-Year Festival were to take place later, once the esteemed guests had settled in. It would take several days for everyone to arrive from allover Sacred Valley, and the Wei clan wanted as broad an audience as possible.\n\nBut the Foundation fights were scheduled for the first day.\n\nLindon understood why. These were children, after all; while each clan would still try to make sure its children were the best trained in the sacred arts, there was nothing at stake beyond pride. When a clan revealed anew talent at the Iron level, then they were displaying anew military power. Likewise, Coppers were the future of the clan. Showing weakness before rivals could be a clan's death sentence.\n\nAs for the Foundation stage, unless a boy or girl revealed a truly extraordinary genius talent, these fights existed only to give the children experience. A victory would gain face for the clan, but nothing remarkable.\n\nLindon reminded himself of this to keep from vomiting allover his white training robes. His wooden badge seemed to burn on his chest as he waited on the bench with the other Foundation-level Wei fighters. The seats that he'd seen empty a few nights before now roared with life as sacred artists from allover the Valley gathered.\n\nBesides him, the oldest person on the bench was a twelve-year-old girl from the Chen family. Three years younger than he was, and already on the verge of breaking through to Copper.\n\nThe arena spread before him, a huge square of pale stone, but now it looked as vast as afield of snow. If he failed, everyone would see it. Not just those in the Wei clan, who already knew about their Unsouled, but the Li and the Kazan as well. They would see what a shame the Wei had produced." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked up to the corner of the arena, where a five-tailed snowfox curled upon a pillar. It opened its eyes as though sensing his attention, staring at him with a gaze of absolute black.\n\nElder Whisper and his mother had both told him to move forward. He couldn't be a coward now.\n\nEven if he felt like one.\n\nA powerfully built man in elaborate purple-and-gold shadesilk glided past the bench, his thick beard blending in with his wild hair until he looked like a silver lion. He winked at the children, ignoring Lindon, his jade scepter badge hanging over the White Fox emblem on his chest.\n\nWei Jin Sairus, the Wei Patriarch, rarely involved himself in the day-to-day workings of the clan. The elders handled such mundane matters. He was the idol for the younger generations to follow, the sacred artist fixated entirely on his Path, seeking power to the exclusion of all else. When he did emerge from seclusion, it was usually to battle a powerful Remnant, seek out rumors of a newfound treasure, or directly threaten a rival clan. He personally represented a significant fraction of the Wei clan's strength.\n\nWei Jin Amon, the Patriarch's blood grandson, followed at a respectful distance behind. He was dressed in white, an iron badge hanging from his neck though he was only seventeen, and he carried a spear wrapped in shimmering green shadesilk. His hair was long and thick, tied back until it flowed behind him like a black river, and some of the less flattering rumors said he spent as much time caring for his hair as he did practicing his sacred arts. His gaze did land on Lindon, cold and calculating, but passed by in a breath.\n\nThe hammering of Lindon's heart redoubled. The Foundation fights weren't important, but now the Patriarch and his grandson-a future disciple of the vaunted Heaven's Glory School-were both hereto witness. What was happening? Surely they had something more important to be doing besides watching Lindon try to beat up ten-year-olds." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seconds later, he had his answer, but it was no comfort. Rather than joining the Wei section and sitting among their family, Sairus and Amon greeted some of the elders and moved on. They walked over to the stairway leading up to the box reserved for visitors from the four Schools.\n\nAnd Lindon realized there were people up there. Actual School disciples, the elites of Sacred Valley, thereto see him fail.\n\nNow that he was watching, he could pick them out. A young woman with purple robes and a crown of ivy represented the Fallen Leaf. The boy wrapped in white and gold, seemingly even younger than Lindon, would be therefor the Heaven's Glory School. The man for the Golden Sword wore plates of iron sewn onto his clothes, and his goldsteel sheath gleamed. That left the old woman in gray to represent the Holy Wind, and as far as Lindon could tell, she was absolutely ordinary.\n\nHe turned around and heaved, spewing his breakfast allover the ground behind the bench.\n\nThe three clans didn't account for the entire population of Sacred Valley-far from it-but they ruled by virtue of superiority in the sacred arts. Those who followed the Path of the White Fox were stronger and better-trained than those wild practitioners without the support of a large family, and the Wei could afford to produce elixirs that the most powerful sacred artists needed to advance.\n\nThe four Schools were on another level entirely.\n\nThey focused completely on the sacred arts, to the exclusion of all else, and their disciples were selected from among the best of the clans. Wei, Li, or Kazan... it didn't matter, so long as the disciple was promising enough, and wasn't so old that they couldn't still switch Paths. It was said that any Jade expert from the Schools was on par with the Patriarch of a clan, and each School had enough Jades to tear every Wei to pieces." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A School disciple would be well within his rights to strike an ordinary clansman down with no explanation. If Lindon's fight offended the senses of the honored guests overhead, they could kill him from where they sat. The Patriarch would more than likely apologize for wasting their time.\n\nA hand rested on his shoulder, and Lindon turned to see his father, face twisted in disgust. \"Wipe your mouth,\" he said. \"We can't have the Kazan seeing you like this.\"\n\nLindon hurriedly swiped at his lips with the back of his sleeve. \"Apologies, Father. I did not realize the esteemed guests from the Schools would be in attendance today.\"\n\n\"Ah, well, best not to shame us then. Though there are worse things than a clean death.\"\n\nSeisha pushed him aside, drudge still floating over her shoulder. \"Keep your eyes open. Learn what you can. However it turns out today, it's not the end of your path.\"\n\nBehind her mother, Kelsa nodded. \"Don't push yourself too hard. If they shame you too badly, I'll pay them back in the Iron trials.\"\n\nLindon looked at his family. Each of them had shown up fora word before the matches, which was more than he expected or deserved. He was warmed by the mere fact that they had tried, and he dipped his head to show his gratitude.\n\nBut the warmth was balanced by cold knowledge: none of them expected him to succeed. Even his mother, who knew he planned to cheat. Even his sister, who had helped him train. Even his father, who led him to speak with the First Elder and leverage an additional reward. None of them actually believed he could do it.\n\nIn the end, he could only rely on himself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was an elaborate welcome ceremony involving the booming voice of the Patriarch, the blessing of each of the four Schools, and a parade of illusory snowfoxes from the Wei clan elders on the sidelines. Lindon watched none of it. His attention was inside, following the blue-white energy of his madra as it traveled through the complex network of lines inside his body. He guided it, matching it to his breathing, purifying the energy. Cycling it.\n\nWhen the other children on his bench stood, he was ready.\n\nThere were hundreds of Foundation children participating, and he was fortunate-or unfortunate-enough to be in the first batch. He and fifteen others walked onto the stone stage, as directed by an elder of the Wei clan. He walked into a square, an eighth of the stage, against a boy with the jewelry of the Li clan. The boy looked no more than ten, and his eyes were wide as he took in the size of his opponent.\n\nA few laughs drifted Lindon's way from the Li and Kazan sections, and he imagined them noticing the fifteen-year-old with the wooden badge. It didn't hurt as much as he'd expected.\n\nHe and the boy bowed to one another even as the other seven pairs did the same. A purple star flared in the air above them, created by a White Fox technique, and the elder's voice filled the arena. \"Begin!\"\n\nLindon stepped forward, bending to get low enough, and drove an Empty Palm into the boy's stomach.\n\nThe boy fell to his knees, his spirit failing him, and cupped both hands to his gut with a look of astonishment. Lindon shoved him over the lines marking the boundary of his square.\n\n\"Winner!\" the elder announced, powerful Iron lungs carrying his voice into the distance. A second after the match had started, Lindon walked away. Bands loosened on his lungs, and he felt as though he could breathe again for the first time that morning." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He wasn't doomed after all. His trump card had worked. It had worked.\n\nWhen the jeers sprouted up among the audience, even among the Wei, he only smiled.\n\n\"Cheater!\" someone shouted.\n\n\"Coward!\"\n\n\"Trash!\"\n\nHis smile became a laugh, and he walked back to the bench chuckling. Their insults couldn't touch his sheer delight. Words were nothing, less than nothing, compared to the facts: he had used the sacred arts to overthrow another sacred artist in battle. He was winning like a Copper.\n\nNot like an Unsouled.\n\nHe tripped a girl after an Empty Palm, and she stumbled to her hands and knees. When she started to cry, the crowd's shouting redoubled. He grinned all the way back to his seat.\n\nIn the weeks leading up to the Seven-Year Festival, he'd trained everyday to deal with possible threats. What if an opponent could resist the Empty Palm? What if they had a technique they could land on him first? What if his madra was exhausted before the later rounds?\n\nBut as the sun crept past noon and Lindon defeated his fifth opponent, he realized there was one scenario he'd never prepared for: easy victory. None of these children had a countermeasure for the Empty Palm, and once their sacred arts were disabled, superior size and strength made their loss trivial.\n\nHis hidden weapon, sealed in ajar and buried beneath the stage, would stay hidden.\n\nHe hoisted a Kazan boy by the red sash, tossing him out of bounds. The Kazan section rose up in a furious sea of red and gray, but he just waved at them as he walked away from the stage.\n\nJoy burned in his chest like a torch." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "---\n\nWei Shi Seisha stopped watching the exhibition matches as soon as it was clear her son would win. She had expected he would; he was older than all of his opponents, and had finally found a technique he could use in spite of his deficiency. She had every confidence that he would grow into a productive member of the clan now, though once she had doubted.\n\nShe began to pace the arena, checking scripts on the conductive pillars that held the illusory images of Elder Whisper. Sometimes visitors would deface scripts like this, but the mere presence of an inspector would reduce such occurrences significantly. She had almost an hour before Lindon would have to fight an opponent at the Copper level, which was plenty of time to make at least one lap around the arena.\n\nThe first anomaly appeared when she was passing the Li clan entrance. She happened to glance between the seating sections and noticed a Li clan elder-his jewelry all gold and jade, befitting his status as a Jade-stage practitioner-slipping out the door. She paused, curious, and another Li elder followed a moment later.\n\nSeisha reached up and tapped the side of her drudge, carrying a drop from her spirit. The construct whistled an affirmative.\n\nDrudges were all the tools a Soulsmith required rolled into one. They could measure madra output, determine its aspects, analyze the parts of a Remnant, and even help separate that Remnant into its components with minimal loss. Soulsmithing primarily revolved around deconstructing and reconstructing Remnants to take advantage of their unique properties, and without a drudge, it was almost impossible to do so accurately. Like a surgeon operating with her hands taped together and one eye shut.\n\nIn this case, Seisha had anticipated trouble from the Li clan, and so had gone to great lengths to acquire samples from Remnants similar to the ones they'd recently captured: the teleporting rabbit, vanishing bat, and space-warping mole. Her drudge could track a Remnant based on a sample like a hound taking ascent, and while trying to track three'scents' at once would be complex, it was worth attempting." }, { "from": "human", "value": "With a specific pattern of madra pulses, she activated the drudge's tracking feature." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It complied with a burble, unfolding tiny antennae as it executed the search. Those antennae were always the first thing to decay on any drudge, so she tried to use them sparingly, as they were expensive to replace. But this was a worthy cause. If the Li clan was attempting some kind of coupon the first day of the Seven-Year Festival, she had to clip this bud before it flowered.\n\nHer drudge honked only seconds after the search had begun, startling her. The range on such detection was incredibly limited, and even more so when she'd packed three samples at once. There was always the chance of a false positive, but with such a quick response...\n\nThe Remnants, or something that reminded her construct of their power, was here. Possibly inside the arena.\n\nShe signaled the two closest of her assistants, young men with iron hammers on their badges. She had trained them for years, even if neither of them made promising Soulsmiths, and they had volunteered to help her secure the arena. Both came running.\n\n\"Li clan elders are slipping away,\" she said. \"One of you report to the First Elder, and the other can follow me.\" She turned toward the Li entrance, leaving it to them to decide which would take on which task.\n\nThe arena had been constructed on the edge of Wei land, so it was enveloped on three sides by a forest: a sea of green dotted with the occasional purple island as an orus tree was mixed in with its more mundane counterparts. Aside from the gravel path leading away from the exit and back toward the main property, she saw nothing.\n\nBut her quarry was more advanced in the sacred arts, and she had to respect that. With a whisper of White Fox madra and an effort of focused will, she Forged a disguise." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Wei clan Forgers trained in the Fox Mirror technique for years, learning to create illusionary copies with a dizzying degree of detail. Her peers specialized in creating copied faces, full-body duplicates, or even camouflaged walls that would render the user invisible. There were imperfections in each of these techniques, specifics that violated reality in ways that could be noticed.\n\nShe specialized in clothing. Layered robes of white and purple turned to green in an instant, jewelry glinting on each finger and both ears. Illusory necklaces hung down to her chest, and even her iron badge dangled from a gold chain. Her face would remain the same, but it wasn't as though the Li clan knew heron sight. Her hair could be a slight problem-brown hair was more common in the Kazan clan, but not the Li. She would have to risk it. In the shadow of the trees, her hair looked more black than brown anyway.\n\nAs her escort Forged his own disguise, a clumsy green cloak that he threw over himself, she followed the direction of her drudge into the forest. It clicked or whistled to her occasionally, changing her direction, but the chase took much less time than she'd expected.\n\nLess than five minutes after leaving the arena, she spotted a flash of pink light through the trees, along with a man's raised voice. She silenced her drudge, cradling it in her arms like an infant, and signaled her guard to quiet. Carefully, she crept forward.\n\nThe Li clan disguise would stop them from attacking her outright, but it wouldn't save her from a thorough questioning... which she would prefer to avoid. Ideally, she wouldn't be caught at all.\n\nHer skin tingled as she slid quietly closer, heart pounding, her well-practiced breathing technique strained by excitement. She hadn't worked against other clans since she reached Iron in her twenty-second year, but she'd missed it. She felt a rare pang of empathy for Jaran; he'd fought far more than she had, in his youth, and the lack of that thrill must add to his bitterness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seisha stopped when she was close enough to seethe Li. They weren't all Jade, but a mix of Jades and Irons. The youngest was older than she was. Nine in total, though she was staring through a flowering cloudbell bush, so she could have missed one or two in the back. They were gathered around a circle in the forest floor, a circle made of tiles. A script.\n\nThey'd brought tiles the size of an open hand, each etched with a rune or sigil. When connected properly, they would function as well as a full-size script circle. It was a technique she'd seen before, mostly in cases where the circle might have to be redesigned quickly.\n\nThe three Remnants had been caged and placed at three distinct points around the circle. The blue rabbit chewed frantically at its prison, clutching at the bars with hands that looked almost human A pink series of swirls that might generously be called a bat flapped in place, fading in and out of existence but still unable to shift through the scripted cage. Finally, a brown-and-black mass with huge silver shovels for claws sat motionless, watching its captors with beady eyes.\n\nAll of the Remnants here, and all whole. No wonder her drudge had located their signatures so quickly; she hadn't expected them intact and so close.\n\nThe Jade man at the head of their party continued speaking, dictating to them as though repeating a lesson taught many times before. \"... first the anchor, and then the call. If he doesn't answer, we have to be fresh enough to try again as soon as the next window opens. Shao, have you confirmed our location?\"\n\nSeisha didn't know the speaker, but she knew Shao, one of the Li clan's most accomplished Forgers. He was bald and tiny, with an appearance closer to afresh disciple than an expert at tracking and locating Remnants." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Advance the plot as the writer's tale assistant.\nTags: fantasy, progression fantasy, sacred valley\nAuthor: Will Wight\nTitle: Unsouled\nChapter: 12" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seisha stopped when she was close enough to seethe Li. They weren't all Jade, but a mix of Jades and Irons. The youngest was older than she was. Nine in total, though she was staring through a flowering cloudbell bush, so she could have missed one or two in the back. They were gathered around a circle in the forest floor, a circle made of tiles. A script.\n\nThey'd brought tiles the size of an open hand, each etched with a rune or sigil. When connected properly, they would function as well as a full-size script circle. It was a technique she'd seen before, mostly in cases where the circle might have to be redesigned quickly.\n\nThe three Remnants had been caged and placed at three distinct points around the circle. The blue rabbit chewed frantically at its prison, clutching at the bars with hands that looked almost human A pink series of swirls that might generously be called a bat flapped in place, fading in and out of existence but still unable to shift through the scripted cage. Finally, a brown-and-black mass with huge silver shovels for claws sat motionless, watching its captors with beady eyes.\n\nAll of the Remnants here, and all whole. No wonder her drudge had located their signatures so quickly; she hadn't expected them intact and so close.\n\nThe Jade man at the head of their party continued speaking, dictating to them as though repeating a lesson taught many times before. \"... first the anchor, and then the call. If he doesn't answer, we have to be fresh enough to try again as soon as the next window opens. Shao, have you confirmed our location?\"\n\nSeisha didn't know the speaker, but she knew Shao, one of the Li clan's most accomplished Forgers. He was bald and tiny, with an appearance closer to afresh disciple than an expert at tracking and locating Remnants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His own drudge, like a gleaming steel sword too fat and dull to be of any use to anyone, sprouted antennae like a pincushion. He listened to its whistles, checked something on a scroll, made a note with chalk and slate, and then consulted a map. Finally, he nodded. \"We are, honored elder. He should emerge at exactly this spot, if we time the doorway correctly.\"\n\n\"If we fail again, he will punish all of us,\" the highest-ranking elder said, voice grim. A palpable shudder moved through Shao, as well as a few of the others. \"Let us see that doesn't happen. Are we ready to begin?\"\n\nShao checked a few more notes, his bald head bobbing up and down, before he shot up abruptly. \"It's now!\" he screamed. \"Ignite the script now, now, now!\"\n\nThe Li elders scrambled for their tiles on the ground, injecting madra into them with a novice's haste. The script glowed white, irregularly at first, but within seconds it had settled into a smooth pulse.\n\nThe three Remnants, inside the circle, obviously sensed something was wrong. One and all, they began to screech in the peculiar way of their kind-the mole sounded like an avalanche, the bat like wind whistling through high peaks, the rabbit like the swift beat of a heart.\n\nThis is it, Seisha thought, but she hadn't been prepared. From her discovery to the activation of the script had only taken a minute, maybe two. Should she disrupt the script and face the consequences, or run back and tell the First Elder? The Li elders technically hadn't done anything yet. But if she watched, it would soon be too late.\n\nUltimately, the decision was taken out of her hands." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only a breath after the script's first light, the Remnants popped and bubbled, as though the ink that painted them on the world had begun to boil. Their complaints grew louder and louder until their bodies fizzed away into motes of light.\n\nThat in itself was not so unusual. As they expended power, Remnants dissolved back into the madra that formed them. But she'd never seen it happen so fast, and never to such an effect.\n\nThe spots of color, pink and blue and dark brown, swirled around inside the script like snakes in water. They spun closer and closer, getting tighter and tighter, before gathering into a single form that looked like nothing so much as a muddy inkblot.\n\nOnly a blink after the process had begun, it was finished. A tiny blue spark flared to life in the center of the ink-stain, glowing brighter every second.\n\n\"It worked,\" Shao breathed, before the light shot into a single line the height of a man. It looked like the edge of light down one side of a doorway, and as she watched, that doorway slid open.\n\nShe never saw anything but a rectangle of deep, textured blue light before the whole construction collapsed, the energy of the Remnants dispersing, the power that had animated the script fizzling out. Fora breath she believed they had failed, that whatever summoning they were attempting had fizzled and died. Then the light cleared.\n\nA man stood in the center of the circle.\n\nHis clothes were an oddity for Sacred Valley: he dressed in fine black furs, with abroad belt holding various tools. A sword hung from that belt, straight-bladed and unsheathed. Diamonds glistened in each ear, silver chains held diamonds on his chest, and yet more silver and diamonds on his fingers, as though he'd chosen to bedeck himself in imitations of ice. He wore his black hair short, but streaks of white ran through it like a tiger's stripes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Those were his ordinary features, though, the facts about him that her panicked mind couldn't help but catalogue. They were not what she noticed first.\n\nWhen he appeared in the circle, he stretched his wings.\n\nThey unfolded at least thirty feet from tip to tip, and the structure of bones and tendons were coal-black. But the skin that stretched between them was pale and colorless, as though he'd stripped the wings from some giant arctic bat.\n\nHe grinned, flashing fangs. \"There is nothing so grand as a second chance.\"\n\nThe Li clansmen all but collapsed to their knees, grinding foreheads against the dirt. Seisha was tempted to do the same.\n\n\"This one is humbled by your mercy, Grand Patriarch.\" The elder who had spoken earlier still spoke for the group, even when he was too terrified to raise his face. \"Thank you for allowing this modest group the chance to atone for our failure to serve you the first time.\"\n\nGrand Patriarch. Sickness rolled through her gut. He was a previous-generation Patriarch of the Li clan, but she'd never heard of one surviving. Which left only one terrifying possibility: an ancient immortal had come home.\n\nThe Grand Patriarch grunted, rolling his shoulder in its socket. \"I have not returned to this realm in sometime. Tell me, have the Four Beasts come home?\"\n\nThe elder hesitated, but the Grand Patriarch laughed in response to his own question. \"No need to answer. You still live, so they remain abroad. I should like to test myself against them, once the Valley is united.\"\n\n\"Yes, Grand Patriarch. Ah, forgive this one your lowly servant, but this one has prepared something for you.\" Without raising his head, the elder lifted an object in both his hands." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was something as mythical as the wings on a human being; something Seisha had never expected to see.\n\nA gold badge, etched with a scepter.\n\nThe Grand Patriarch took it, chuckling. \"I had forgotten this custom. Are there any other sacred artists of the Gold stage currently in Sacred Valley?\"\n\n\"Not to this one's poor knowledge, Grand Patriarch.\"\n\n\"Then it will do.\" The Grand Patriarch slipped the shadesilk ribbon over his own neck, then lifted the badge so he could examine it. \"If there were, I would have had you craft something more valuable. Gold is entirely deficient to describe the current state of my advancement.\"\n\nJudging by the gasps and whispers that traveled through the gathered Li experts, they found that statement as shocking as she did.\n\nThe Gold folded his wings, ran a hand through his black-and-white hair, and started off through the woods without another word. The Li hurried after him, clearly startled.\n\nFortunately for Seisha and her guard, the Li party passed far enough by her that they remained undetected. Unfortunately, the Gold was headed straight for the arena.\n\nAs they marched through the woods, the elder hesitantly spoke up. \"Forgiveness, Grand Patriarch, but the Festival has only recently begun. The children of the Foundation stage are fighting. Were you to appear now, it would only bean insult to your grand status. This one had planned an event to display your glory, wherein those from other clans could approach-\"\n\nThe Gold waved him to silence. \"In the face of absolute power, of what use is respect? This task is not worthy of more than one day of my time. I am here today, and so they will bow today.\"\n\nThe Li clan finally left, taking their Grand Patriarch with them, but leaving Seisha in a cold sweat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What do we do?\" her guard finally asked, whispering even though minutes had passed since their enemies disappeared into the woods.\n\n\"We can't risk running into them here,\" she said, matching his volume. \"We should go around. We might not make it in time to warn the Patriarch, but at least there's a chance.\"\n\nThe sun darkened overhead, a gust of wind blasted down on her, and when the Grand Patriarch of the Li clan settled down to the forest floor next to her, she knew there was no chance.\n\nShe closed her eyes and accepted death." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 10\n\nThe final round of the Foundation stage tournament should have been a nervous affair for Lindon, with his family's reputation and his own future at stake. The stage seemed broad as the entire valley with no one but his opponent to share it, and the crowd's dull noise wavered between supportive cheers and mockery.\n\nBut this round ended as all the others had. Lindon drove his Empty Palm into the core of the girl across from him, folding her in half. She was almost as old as he was, and therefore only inches away from advancing to Copper, but no one in all the clans trained to fight without their madra. Despite having witnessed his previous matches, she still froze in horror after feeling her power abandon her. After tasting, for the length of one breath, the life of an Unsouled.\n\nLindon pushed her off the stage and walked away before the elder could announce the results of the match. He was prepared for the jeers of those watching, the dark humor rising up in him again, but this time there was no scorn. There wasn't much applause either-a handful from the Wei clan, clapping slowly or voicing a few halfhearted words of praise-but the artists of Sacred Valley acknowledged victory above all else. Even when it tasted sour, even when they suspected him of cheating in someway, they still respected success.\n\nHe glanced at the side of the stage, to the square beneath which his jar was buried. He hadn't been forced to really cheat. The reality slowly set in, like water seeping into soil. He'd won a tournament, even a small one, using actual sacred arts. He was a sacred artist, and all of Sacred Valley knew it.\n\nLindon almost walked straight into a barrel-chested man wearing robes of purple-and-gold shadesilk. The Patriarch of the Wei clan smiled at Lindon through his silver mane. \"You have the congratulations of our clan, Wei Shi Lindon. There is honor in overcoming a deficiency to achieve victory.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Resisting the urge to drop to his knees, Lindon bowed at the waist, his fists pressed together in respect." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This one does not deserve such kind words, Patriarch.\" It was the first time the head of the Wei clan had ever addressed him directly.\n\nSairus rested abroad hand on Lindon's shoulder. \"A sacred artist should never be so humble as to refuse what he has earned. You have earned victory today. Let that be enough, and return to your family with honor.\"\n\nLindon hadn't spoken with the Patriarch before, and had only rumors to judge the man's character. But he could hear the unspoken message in Sairus' words, and his joy dampened. Even the lingering cheers of the crowd faded in his ears.\n\n\"Your pardon, but this one is meant to exchange pointers with a senior disciple at the Copper level.\"\n\nThough Lindon did not move his eyes from Wei Jin Sairus'feet, he could feel the man's frown. \"Some of our guests from the Schools were uncomfortable with your performance. It would ease them greatly if we could conclude our events today and begin anew with the Copper fights tomorrow.\"\n\nHe meant that the elders from the Schools had been offended by the sight of a fifteen-year-old Unsouled claiming victory. His bet with the First Elder would go unfulfilled, his test incomplete. Lindon glanced up at the stands, to try and catch a glimpse of the First Elder's face, but the old man's seat was empty. No help there. The chance of real training was slipping from Lindon's grasp, but he clawed desperately to keep it.\n\n\"Our honored guests from the four Schools have yet to witness a true demonstration of our clan's sacred arts, Patriarch. When this one can compete with the Copper from another clan, they will seethe strength of the Wei clan. If they are then dissatisfied with this one's performance, this one will of course fully atone.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "An unsettling pressure settled on the back of Lindon's neck, like a snake sliding between his shoulder blades. The effect of Sairus\" irritation, nothing more, but it still pushed him toward the ground.\n\n\"I would not wager the honor of my clan on an Unsouled.\" Painful words, but Lindon reminded himself they were fair. \"Give me some face, disciple, and renounce this exhibition. I do not forget my debts.\"\n\nThoughts of the parasite ring, still in the keeping of the Patriarch, flashed through Lindon's head. He could take his cycling to the next level with such an artifact, perhaps enough to catch up with his peers. If he could leverage the Patriarch's debt to even borrow the ring, he could leave his current weakness behind. But he had no promise from the Patriarch. From the First Elder, he did.\n\nLindon weighed his own future against the honor of the Wei clan. He found the clan wanting.\n\nIn one motion, Lindon dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead against the ground. \"Your pardon, Patriarch, but this one must prepare for his exhibition match.\"\n\nHe squeezed his eyes shut, anticipating a wave of pain. As a Ruler on the Path of the White Fox, Sairus could make him suffer hours of agony in seconds. He could force Lindon to bow to his will, or even kill him outright.\n\nInstead, he walked away.\n\nAt the sound of footsteps, Lindon raised his head hopefully, squeezing a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. The Patriarch was already signaling to the elder in charge of the tournament, waving him to continue.\n\nLindon shivered with the released pressure and let out along, heavy breath. He wasn't sure where he had found the courage to defy his own clan's Patriarch directly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But the First Elder had promised him more." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To travel his own Path, Lindon had to reach higher and farther than anyone else. Only then would he be able to hold himself with pride in Sacred Valley. Only when he was strong.\n\n\"Due to a request from our honored ally of the Heaven's Glory School, there has been a slight change in the Foundation stage exhibition,\" the Wei elder announced, his voice carrying to every corner of the arena. The four illusory snowfoxes turned toward him at once, as though he'd caught their attention.\n\nHe'd certainly caught Lindon's.\n\n\"The champion of the Foundation tournament, Wei Shi Lindon, will immediately exchange pointers with a senior disciple. This will bean invaluable learning opportunity for both children, and will allow the Foundation champion to test the limits of his potential.\"\n\nLindon's spirit was strained and weak, after almost a full day of exertion, and he doubted his ability to use the Empty Palm too many times in a row before he would have to rest. But all things considered, he was in good enough shape to fight. The Patriarch wouldn't get him to surrender this easily.\n\n\"And the champion's Patriarch, Wei Jin Sairus, has volunteered none other than his own grandson for this duty. Honorable sacred artists of all Schools and clans, the Wei clan presents to you Wei Jin Amon!\"\n\nSuddenly, surrender sounded like a much more appealing option.\n\nBlack hair tied back and spear propped over his shoulder, Amon leaped from the box at the top of the arena all the way down to the stage. He landed with barely a flex of his knees, iron badge swinging against his chest. \"Wei Shi Lindon,\" he announced, his voice full and rich. \"I invite you onto the stage that we might learn from one another.\"\n\nThe hornets. They were his only chance of making it off that stage. Having to fight against an Unsouled was an insult to Amon, and he would take it out on Lindon personally. If Lindon could make it back to his seat with only a pair of limbs broken, he would count himself lucky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He scarcely dared to hope that the Remnants he'd hidden might be enough to save him. But if they were... If, by cheating and trickery, he managed to fight Amon to a draw...\n\nThe Wei clan would practically have to support him. He would have proven himself the match of their star disciple in front of the entire Sacred Valley, and if they denied him training then, they would look like fools.\n\nHe straightened his back, focusing on the hope of victory rather than the bleak chasm of probable defeat, and started to walk toward the stage.\n\nHis sister grabbed him by the elbow, hauling him back. \"Let me take your place,\" she whispered urgently. \"Say you aren't worthy of the honor, and you need a family member to replace you. They will allow it. Amon will push for it. And if I can beat him, no one will disrespect you like this again.\"\n\nLindon gently extracted himself from Kelsa's grip. \"This is for me.\"\n\nThe doubt was so plain on her face it might as well have been painted across her forehead. \"What are you saying? Fighting children does not prepare you to face Wei Jin Amon.\" Then something occurred to her, and she jerked away from him. \"Wait. No. This is one of your... Lindon, what have you done? What are you doing?\"\n\nHe jogged away from her, onto the stage, in order to avoid having to answer. When he hopped up onto the blocks of white stone, the audience cheered. Looking forward to seeing him torn apart, he judged.\n\nHe could only hope they would be disappointed.\n\nLindon pressed his fists together and bowed. \"Wei Shi Lindon is honored to accept your instruction, cousin Amon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Without returning the greeting, Wei Jin Amon spun his spear down, flipping it in a circle so that the shadesilk wrapping slid off and drifted to the ground. He ended in a ready stance, half-turned and crouched with his spear angled forward and down. \"You have one last chance, Unsouled,\" Amon said, his voice too low to carry.\n\nHis grandfather walked onstage between the two of them, his arms raised to quiet the crowd. \"Courage can be cultivated by the weak and strong alike, and Wei Shi Lindon has already demonstrated his courage today. Our clan honors courage, and when it is warranted, we also value humility. Young Lindon, there is no dishonor if you remove yourself from the stage. Rather, we would respect your wisdom in deferring to your betters.\"\n\nIn Lindon's place, no sacred artist would be able to refuse. He would lose too much face by contradicting his Patriarch's words in public. This was a perfect strategy on Sairus' part, cornering him between a physical threat and the looming reality of humiliation. He had left Lindon only one honorable way out.\n\nHe'd forgotten that Unsouled had no honor to lose.\n\n\"The Patriarch's words area privilege to hear,\" Lindon said with another bow, \"but the opportunity to learn from a disciple as skilled as Wei Jin Amon does not come often. This one would be a fool to pass it up.\"\n\nSairus scowled even as the sky behind him darkened. \"Very well,\" he said, nodding to Amon. A shadow passed over the sun even as purple foxfire flickered around the head of Amon's spear.\n\nClouds gathered over the arena, slowly blackening as the Patriarch spoke. \"Assembled experts of Sacred Valley, I hope this exhibition proves pleasing to... your...\" His words trailed off as he looked into the sky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon had assumed that the Patriarch had used his mastery of illusion to make the sky seem dark, perhaps in an attempt to intimidate Lindon. He'd barely given it a thought. But Sairus stared at the black clouds as though agate to the Netherworld had opened overhead.\n\n\"Amon,\" Sairus began, but he was cutoff by a voice that boomed through the arena, tearing the air apart with its sheer volume.\n\n\"Are you the Patriarch of the Wei clan?\"\n\nThe crowd shook under the voice, a few people screaming. Lindon glimpsed one woman sprinting for the exit. That, more than anything else, convinced him that something was profoundly wrong.\n\nA man descended from the dark clouds like an angry messenger of the heavens. His whole being was defined by shades of black and white, from his black-veined white wings to his black-and-white striped hair. He wore black furs, and diamonds glistened everywhere he could fasten jewelry.\n\nHis right hand rested on the hilt of a silver-chased sword, and his left hand clutched a rough sack. Dark stains spread slowly over the bottom of the sack, giving Lindon a gruesome guess at its contents.\n\nBut his most startling feature, even considering the enormous wings that spread from his back, was the badge that rested against his furs. It was made of solid gold.\n\nLindon found himself unable to take a breath, and only part of it could be attributed to the man's oppressive atmosphere. Here, descending from the sky, was a Gold. Areal Gold, in the flesh, someone who had mastered the secrets of madra beyond mortal dreams.\n\nThe arena filled with a sound like muffled drums as everyone, from every School and clan, fell to their knees. Even Sairus dropped to one knee, as was appropriate in the presence of a Gold, but the sight of him kneeling struck Lindon as wrong. Like an eternal mountain suddenly swaying with the wind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This one's humble name is Wei Jin Sairus, and he indeed has the honor to lead the Wei clan,\" Sairus said. \"May this one know the honored elder's name?\"\n\nThe man of black-and-white landed before Sairus, his wings extending to fifteen feet on either side of the Patriarch. The shadow of his wings fell across Lindon's face, and though Lindon shivered, he didn't avert his eyes. Sudden though it was, this event was going to redefine the history of the Sacred Valley, and he couldn't miss it. No matter how the sight of a Gold turned his guts to water.\n\nFora few seconds, the stranger stood over Sairus, his golden badge the only color on his person. He finally spoke in a casual tone, though wind aura carried his voice to every ear in the arena. \"I am Li Markuth, Grand Patriarch of the Li Clan.\"\n\nSairus'silver-maned head snapped up in shock. One breath later, Markuth's hand blurred, and a spray of blood slapped Lindon in the face.\n\nHe fell backwards, heart hammering, scraping warm and sticky blood away from his eyes. While he was blind, he couldn't fight the panic-he had to see, to know if the white-winged horror from the Li Clan was coming for him next.\n\nThe first sight to greet his eyes was the Patriarch's headless corpse collapsing to the stone, staining it red. Markuth had struck his head entirely off.\n\n\"The sins of the father pass to his sons, as the sins of the mother pass to her daughters,\" Li Markuth intoned, wiping blood from his fingers on his dark furs. \"To pay for the evil of your clan's founder, every beating heart from every living Wei descendant would not be enough. So I will settle for two.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Grand Patriarch spun around, thrusting his clawed hand into empty space.\n\nSlowly, Wei Jin Sairus'body dissolved into foxfire. Even the blood on Lindon's face flared with heat before dissipating, revealing itself as a Forged dream.\n\nLight lurched, and the Patriarch appeared out of nowhere. His head was attached, but now his chest was impaled on the Grand Patriarch's fist.\n\nSairus tried to speak, but Li Markuth tore his hand back, clutching what must have been the other man's heart. Blood dripped from the Grand Patriarch's gore-soaked fist.\n\nOut of tricks, the Wei Patriarch fell to the stage and died.\n\nMarkuth opened his fist, and a heart dropped on top of the corpse with a splat. \"One heart. I will collect the other in time.\"\n\nBlack-and-white wings folded up behind the Grand Patriarch, trailing him like a leather cloak. A white-and-purple Remnant began to peel itself from the Patriarch's corpse, but Markuth crushed it beneath his heel and the madra dispersed.\n\nHe looked straight at the box containing the elders from the clans and the guests from the four Schools. \"I believe in solving my problems directly. Let it be known that I intend to claim the whole of Sacred Valley as my personal territory. If there are any challengers, step forward now. All at once, if you please. I will not waste my entire night fighting every Jade in the valley one at a time.\"\n\nMarkuth lifted the bag that had been in his left hand since he'd descended, upending it over the stage. A pair of heads fell out, leaving a trail of blood as they rolled on the pale stone. He tossed the empty sack aside, but Lindon's gaze was fixed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "One of the heads belonged to a man he'd never seen before." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He didn't care about that. He was focused on the other head, the second head, the one whose features were veiled in longhair. Long brown hair.\n\nHis body shivered uncontrollably, madra racing through his veins in a pattern unrestrained by any cycling technique.\n\nHe knew who that head belonged to. He didn't need to seethe face. He knew.\n\nThe world took on a feeling of unreality, as though he'd been struck by Kelsa's Empty Palm. It was too absurd. Just this morning he'd been preparing to fight a bunch of children and now... now Golds were descending from the sky? His mother was dead?\n\nIt was stupid, that was what it was. Idiotic and ridiculous. The world didn't work like this; the world made sense. Only dreams operated without rules or reason, and even his insane dreams of singing flowers and dancing clouds held more logic than this.\n\nJades began to gather atone end of the stage, old men and women from Kazan and Wei gathering together, mingling under both banners. They argued fiercely, none daring to walk up onstage, but they did gather. In ones and twos they hurried together, banding together to fight and die with pride.\n\nNot all the Jades joined them. Some stayed in the stands, on their knees.\n\nMarkuth laughed, shaking droplets of blood from his fingers. \"Is this it, then? Don't hold back, come up. I won't begin until you are ready.\"\n\nHatred boiled up in Lindon, and he found himself wishing he could join the Jade elders. Even a Gold wasn't immortal. In fact...\n\nThe idea illuminated his soul like a sunrise. Li Markuth might be even more dependent on his madra than an ordinary person. If the legends were true, Gold bodies were partially made of madra, like a Remnant's." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What would an Empty Palm do against such a being?\n\nLindon would die landing that blow, but that wasn't worth consideration. He'd grownup with stories of mythical heroes who were killed trading strikes with a blood rival. If he succeeded here, he would live on forever in the myths of the Wei clan. It would be a good death. An honorable death. The death of a sacred artist.\n\nIf even the Empty Palm wasn't enough, Lindon had one more card to play. The hornet Remnants were still sealed in their jar beneath the stage, waiting for him to release them. If they could distract the Gold for even a breath, even the fragment of an instant, Lindon's life would be well spent.\n\nThe sense of unreality crashed in on Lindon once again, shattering his beautiful delusion. What was he thinking? Here he was, Wei Shi Lindon the Unsouled, considering throwing his life away in a battle against a Gold. It was a bad joke, or the fanciful poem of someone with too much ego. He couldn't do anything. He would only die, with no plan or purpose whatsoever.\n\nHe stared at the Li Clan monster, and his hopeful idea died. The truth settled on him like the fall of night: there was nothing he could do. No reason to try. He was too weak.\n\nLi Markuth spread his arms and his wings, and the sky darkened even further, until night fell over Sacred Valley. The whole arena shook as he called on the vital aura of the world, the four White Fox pillars crumbling to rubble. Only Markuth shone in the darkness, his body outlined by white power. \"The world is wide outside your narrow Paths,\" he said, even as the crowd of Jades prepared their techniques. \"Let me guide you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Jade elders of the Wei and Kazan clans walked onstage in a solemn procession, summoning foxfire or Forging bright red blades. They spread out in front of Markuth, some forty or fifty of them, and from their faces Lindon knew they were each prepared to die.\n\nAnd in that moment, Lindon decided to die with them.\n\nMaybe he was too weak, and his death would accomplish nothing. But it was better to bet on the tiny chance that he was wrong than to wait for death without even trying.\n\nWhen Lindon stood up, Markuth didn't so much as move his eyes. It was as though anyone less than Jade didn't even exist to him. When the first ranks of Wei elders moved toward him with madra readied, the Grand Patriarch condensed wind and shadow around each of his fists.\n\nLindon crept in front of him, still unnoticed. He didn't even glance down, paying Lindon no more attention than he did the stones beneath his feet. The sky overhead flashed white.\n\nAnd Lindon, ignored by the Grand Patriarch, landed an Empty Palm on Markuth's core.\n\nIt was as though he'd splashed water on a boulder.\n\nEven legends never suggested that a Foundation-stage child could harm a Gold. It was like a fly attacking a tiger... no, attacking a mountain. If everyone at the Foundation stage in all of Sacred Valley joined hands and pooled their madra, they couldn't do so much as ruffle the clothes of the Grand Patriarch of the Li Clan. Lindon should have known better.\n\nHe should have remembered his place.\n\nHis force vanished uselessly, and Markuth backhanded him in the midsection. Even in the end, he didn't give Lindon a single glance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The casual slap of a Gold struck hard enough to knock him backwards off the stage, but somehow it didn't hurt. He landed in the dirt, but the air had already vanished from his lungs. His mouth flapped open, trying to grab a breath, but it was as though the air had disappeared.\n\nHe tried to sit up, but nothing happened. He remained on his back, his head shaking from side to side. Lindon strained his eyes, looking down, to see how bad his injuries were.\n\nI'm still dreaming, he realized, when he didn't see his legs. That was the only explanation. He'd been a fool to consider any of it real. Golds didn't descend from the sky, the Patriarch couldn't bow, his mother didn't die for no reason, and his legs were supposed to beat the end of his body.\n\nIt was comforting to know that he was dreaming. Soon he would wake up, and then everything would make sense again. In fact, he could feel exhaustion pressing down on him like a blanket. Maybe that was what waking up felt like, in a dream.\n\nHis head flopped to the left, and he caught a glimpse of his father and sister. Kneeling, like the rest. Kelsa's eyes were fixed on his, glistening with tears, her face pale. Why was she so sad? This was just a dream, she shouldn't worry so much.\n\nJaran wasn't looking at him at all, but was fixed on the battle between Markuth and the Jades. He had to admit that hurt, even if it wasn't real.\n\nHe let his eyes slide shut to hide the sight of his kneeling father. When he woke up, everything would be all right again.\n\nThat was Lindon's last thought before he died." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 11\n\nWith the assistance of her Presence, Suriel watched her target location from a thousand kilometers away. The fated arrival point was an empty stretch of forest in the territory of a local clan, one marked by images of a white five-tailed fox. [The Wei clan,] her Presence informed her, spooling outlines of explanatory text in her vision. She willed the explanations away, scanning the area.\n\nThere was some sort of festival nearby, where children from various clans engaged in combat games. She watched the matches idly fora while, waiting for the spatial violation destined to occur nearby.\n\nOne boy in particular caught her attention-tall, broad-shouldered, with a wooden badge and a rough face. He was the oldest of the group, and he won as easily as someone of his size should defeat younger children. The crowd treated him with disdain, but he seemed to carry himself with pride, as though pushing nine-year-olds out of bounds was an achievement.\n\nShe looked a little deeper, examining his soul.\n\nShe spotted his flaw immediately. He'd been born with a madra deficiency; that could be corrected, given time, but primitive clans like these often ostracized or marginalized the weak. Only the strong could contribute to the greater good.\n\nShe ordered her Presence to pull up the boy's story, digesting it in an instant. It was as she'd expected. He was born with nothing, less than nothing, and others increased his burden because of it. Yet today, he still fought. She could admire that.\n\nHis fate unspooled in front of her, a series of images stringing from one to another. She would have seen clearer images, even branching paths, had she left her eyes functional, but in her current disguised state this was the best she could do." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The boy fights against a relative of his, a young man with long black hair and an iron badge. The boy cheats, releases emerald hornets, ekes out a technical victory.\n\nWith a bulky brown pack on his back, he bends his head over a scroll, studying a Path by candlelight in someone else's home.\n\nThe same boy, years later, weeping as he earns his copper badge.\n\nAs a man with gray in his hair, he and his wife and their children gather around before a ceremony that sees him promoted to Iron.\n\nHe dies in a Dreadgod attack that claims a quarter of the valley, decades hence.\n\nSuriel willed the fate away, wiping aside the pathetic collection of images. These would be his dominant fate, the most likely path for the boy's life, and a thousand little things could change it. But left to his own devices, he would overcome his handicap to live a happy and satisfying life, dying a little early.\n\nThat was all.\n\nHer interest waned, shifting as the Presence chirped in her mind. [Spatial violation imminent]. The spot in the empty forest flared red, glowing brighter and brighter.\n\nSuriel launched herself from the ledge on which she'd been standing, shattering the air in an explosion as she moved faster than sound. She was late.\n\nPredicting events based on fate was an art more than a science, and not her specialty. She had chosen to stay a few thousand kilometers away for safety, to avoid undue interference. She'd known it was a risk, but now the event was upon her, and she couldn't arrive in time without tearing the atmosphere apart. She could bend space to transport directly in, but her target might sense the distortion and flee to another world. Even so, she wasn't unduly concerned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Anything this trespasser could do, she could undo.\n\nHe descended from a class six spatial rift, little more than a slit in the Way that was repaired immediately. She watched as he gathered some followers around him-he must have been communicating with this world for sometime, which would add to his sentence-and decapitate a couple of observers. The spines were severed cleanly, but she would reverse causality rather than attempt a manual reattachment. No sense taking a risk.\n\nAs she reduced speed for her arrival, the trespasser fully unveiled his spirit, darkening the sky with storm aura and smashing nearby pillars to frighten the locals. He was going for full dramatic effect.\n\n\"Is this it, then?\" the black-and-white striped trespasser taunted his enemies. The audio quality had improved now that she was within two dozen kilometers. \"Don't hold back, come up. I won't begin until you are ready.\"\n\nSuriel prepared to descend when she noticed a detail that the winged man had overlooked. That boy, fifteen and clad in white, was sneaking around to the front of the trespasser. He gathered his meager madra together, terror and resolve and muted self-loathing radiating in a psychic wave.\n\nWith the same move he'd used on the children earlier, the boy drove his palm into the Gold practitioner's core.\n\nSuriel winced even before the trespasser tore the boy in half, sending his torso flipping up and out of the arena. The boy had to have known it was useless.\n\n[He knew,] her Presence confirmed.\n\nAnd he tried anyway, Suriel thought. This was the sort of person the Abidan were created to save: the weak who stood against the strong. The sort of person the Phoenix was meant to save. The sort of person who might, with a little outside help, even reach beyond their fate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His life guttered out, visible to her eyes, but that meant nothing before Suriel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was only dead.\n\nShe changed her plan. She had meant to freeze time, retrieve the trespasser, revert the damage he'd done, and leave. With a delicate adjustment of memory, the locals would never notice their day had been interrupted.\n\nNow, she had anew goal. Makiel wouldn't be pleased, but this event now fell officially under her purview. She could handle it as she saw fit.\n\nAnd she saw fit to make the trespasser sweat.\n\n---\n\nDeath looked surprisingly like the last moments of his life, Lindon found.\n\nHis vision had fuzzed away fora second in a haze of gray, but now it returned, and he found that everything looked exactly the same. Markuth had his hands raised above his white-striped hair, madra gathered in balls of force and wings spread. The Jade experts of two clans ran at him with weapons and foxfire ready, resignation in their wrinkled faces. Blood splattered the arena, and his legs lay next to his mother's head.\n\nWhen Lindon was a child, he had once nudged a table carrying a ceramic vase, an heirloom from previous generations of the Shi family. The table shook, and he looked up to seethe vase teetering on the edge. That moment had seemed to stretch, a single image imprinted on time so that it seemed to last forever before the vase at last began to fall.\n\nAt first, he thought that was happening now. The world seemed frozen around him, as though time had stretched once again. He noticed it, and waited for the battle to resume.\n\nBut it didn't.\n\nA few breaths of time later-though Lindon wasn't breathing, and felt no urge to-the tableau before him remained exactly the same. He wondered if this was what death was, a single instant lasting for eternity. He hoped not. Boredom seemed like a worse fate than otherworldly torment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then something changed. The sky, masked by the dark clouds summoned by the Li Clan's Grand Patriarch, began to glow blue. Azure light lit the underside of the clouds as though a blue sun rose, spilling its light over the entire arena.\n\nAnd in that light, pieces of the world began to move.\n\nThough Li Markuth remained locked in his pose of triumph, the Jade combatants still frozen before him, blood slithered along the floor around his feet. The severed heads tumbled across the arena, gathering blood as they rolled, bouncing off the stone and rolling away toward the forest.\n\nHis own legs slid across the stone, as though his blood had become a rope pulling his body together. Panic tightened his chest, and he tried to struggle, but he couldn't even widen his eyes. No part of him responded to his control, and he had to wait and watch as his flesh pulled itself together. It wasn't painful, but he could feel it, an uncomfortable squirming below his ribs as muscle and bone reassembled themselves.\n\nAll the while, the sky grew brighter and brighter.\n\nMarkuth slowly moved his head on his neck, thawing gradually, first looking around him at the frozen world and then at the brightening sky.\n\nHe stumbled backward in shock, flapping his wings like a panicked bird to keep from falling over.\n\n\"No!\" he screamed, hurling the balls of his madra into the sky. \"Wait, please! I belong here! This is my homeland!\"\n\nThe clouds parted, revealing the source of the blue light. It blazed like a sapphire sun for an instant, sending a painful lance through Lindon's eyes and making him wish he could close them.\n\nThe light dimmed somewhat, revealing its source: two sweeps of blue fire, like a pair of wings formed from iridescent flames and big enough to cover a third of the sky. It gave the impression of a blue phoenix, or perhaps a phoenix Remnant, descending from the heavens in glory." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Markuth roared at the phoenix, drawing the sword from his belt. It was shaped like a straight, simple sword, but it fuzzed and flickered, buzzing oddly as though it weren't quite real.\n\nThe phoenix faded further as it descended, until its flames no longer hurt Lindon's eyes. When he could see again, he made out a person at the phoenix's heart: a woman, drifting down toward them and bearing flaming blue wings.\n\nBeautiful she was, but it wasn't the word that occurred to Lindon first. The first thing he thought was, Perfect. It was as though someone had taken areal person and perfected her, smoothing every blemish in her pale skin, arranging her cloud of dark hair so that nothing was out of place. Neither too short nor too tall, too thick nor too thin, she looked like the template from which every other human being was wrought. She was so flawless that she couldn't be real, reminding Lindon forcibly that he was dead now. Maybe she was a messenger from the heavens, hereto usher him into the netherworld. That would explain the burning wings.\n\nThough, aside from her inhuman perfection, she didn't look like he would have imagined. Her body was sheathed in white, liquid armor that moved effortlessly with her. Gray ribbons of hazy smoke started at the fingertips of her right hand, winding up her arm and terminating in her neck. Her hair looked brown at first glance, but upon further reflection, he would call it a deep green. And her eyes, large and human, were undoubtedly purple.\n\nThe heavens must be a strange place to produce people like her. But with her here, he found that he could relax. Maybe when she brought him to the next life, he would be more than Unsouled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Markuth stood with his chest heaving and a sword in his right hand, but he didn't attack. \"I have not violated the Pact, nor upset the balance of this world, nor defied the Abidan. I demand atrial before-\"\n\nAn invisible rope grabbed Li Markuth around one ankle, pulling him off-balance and dragging him to a point just behind the woman. He flapped his wings, kicking up a powerful wind, straining against his unseen bonds, but to no avail.\n\n[Li Markuth,] said an impassive voice in Lindon's mind. [You have been sentenced to trial for spatial violation and attempted domination of local inhabitants. You will be imprisoned until the Court of Seven determine a date and location of your trial.]\n\nA black spot appeared behind the green-haired woman, a point of absolute darkness. It widened so that Lindon could see a few spots of color within, like a distant cloud of rainbow-colored fireflies. Markuth continued being dragged backwards, as though that spot called him inexorably toward it.\n\nAs the Gold came closer to the woman, he roared and spread his wings wide, raising his strangely twisting sword. With both hands, he slammed the blade down on her unprotected head, and the force of his madra was such that it pressed against Lindon even across the arena. The stones beneath her cracked, and wind blew away from the impact. The air rang with a sound like steel on stone.\n\nAnd the woman continued drifting over the ground, undisturbed. Not a single strand of her hair moved out of place, and she never looked in Markuth's direction.\n\nHe screamed like a child as the darkness swallowed him, slurping up the tip of his sword last. The black hole in the world closed.\n\nThe woman continued toward him, having never acknowledged the Grand Patriarch of the Li Clan for an instant. From the beginning of her descent, her eyes had remained locked on Lindon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She reached the ground just before she reached him, her smooth white boots tapping down on the stone. The blue-fire wings vanished at the same moment. She regarded him first, then motioned for him to stand.\n\n\"Stand,\" she said. \"Do not be afraid.\" The words sounded strange, as though she were trying a different accent with every syllable, but they were completely understandable. He was surprised enough that she'd spoken directly to him, instead of using the dispassionate impersonal voice that had sentenced Li Markuth. Her real voice sounded so different that he wondered if they had even come from the same person. Maybe the words earlier were straight from heaven.\n\nWhen he realized he hadn't immediately obeyed this celestial messenger, he scrambled to his feet, only an instant later remembering that he should be in agony.\n\nHe wasn't. In fact, he felt better than he had before the tournament, his spirit restored to full capacity and his body clean and well-rested.\n\nLindon considered dropping to his knees, but she had just ordered him to stand, so he bent in half at the waist. \"This one thanks you for the attention, honored immortal. Please, how may this one serve you?\"\n\nAn afterlife in the service of a celestial immortal was infinitely better than his mortal existence. If there was any truth in the myths, he could still practice the sacred arts now that he'd left his physical body behind, so this might bean unimaginable opportunity.\n\nDeath could well be the best thing that had ever happened to him.\n\nHe couldn't see her face, but she considered fora few seconds before speaking again, her expression as pleasant and unyielding as a mask. \"This one would not require so much of you.\"\n\nThis one? He wondered if she was mocking him, or if he had somehow offended her. \"Please, honored immortal, do not speak to this one so humbly.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Humbly? Ah.\"\n\nShe considered a moment longer before clearing her throat. This time, she sounded as though she'd spent her entire life in Sacred Valley. \"Raise your head and speak freely. I have no patience for the manners of this world.\"\n\nHe straightened, taking the chance to look her in the eyes. It was technically rude of him, but she said she didn't mind, and he was willing to take her at her word. Besides, this might be the only time he ever met her, and he was determined to commit her faultless face to memory.\n\nBut there was one answer he needed. \"May I ask, if you don't mind... am I dead?\"\n\nA smile tugged atone corner of her mouth, a crack in the mask. \"Do you not feel alive?\"\n\nHe thought he did, but then, who could say what death felt like?\n\n\"If you've brought me to life, then...\" he hesitated, looking around at the frozen world. The Jade elders were stuck rushing forward to oppose an enemy that no longer existed.\n\nPurple eyes surveyed the scene, her face pleasant and impassive once again. She might as well have been looking over afield of flowers. \"Li Markuth was not permitted to return to this world. His attack was a deviation from fate, which I have reversed. When I depart, it will be as though your festival continued uninterrupted.\"\n\n\"What about me?\" Lindon asked immediately. \"You restored me to life. Will I forget this kindness as well?\"\n\n\"Yes.\" This didn't appear to disturb her in the least.\n\n\"You don't think you could... leave my memory? So that I could be properly grateful?\" He was the only one to receive special treatment from the heavens; he couldn't allow himself to walkaway as though nothing had happened." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She reached over with her left hand, stroking the lines of gray smoke on her right as though tenderly playing an instrument." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Temporal reversion is not memory modification. When I'm done here, nothing Li Markuth did will have happened. Your festival will have continued without cease. To spare you, I would have to temporarily withdraw you from the flow of fate.\"\n\n\"Thank you for your consideration, honored messenger,\" he said, as though her words were a promise. \"I am ready.\"\n\nHer lips twitched, and he suspected she was using her neutral expression to suppress a smile. \"It's not a complex process for me. I can draw you out of fate with a thought.\"\n\n\"Fate. So then, if you're not offended by this one's humble questions... can you seethe future?\"\n\n\"Fate is not the future. What is destined to occur does not always occur.\"\n\nHe bowed before her three times. \"That is enough for me, thank you. Would you tell me my destiny?\"\n\nThis time she did laugh, and he was almost surprised that it sounded so human. \"I'm pleased to have descended personally, Wei Shi Lindon.\" A thrill rolled through him. The celestial messenger knew his name. \"I can show you some limited details of your fate, if you are willing to see them.\"\n\n\"This one would be honored.\" He tried to hide the eagerness in his voice. Even the most trivial knowledge of the future could be used to great advantage.\n\nThe tips of two white-plated fingers met his forehead, like cool eggshells. \"Then see.\"\n\nThe frozen world was wiped out, replaced with another. He was still standing on the stone of the arena stage, but the clouds Li Markuth summoned had never appeared, and the sun beat down out of a clear sky. Wei Jin Amon faced him, and though he resisted longer than anyone expected, he still lost." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That night, he nursed his wounds alone when the First Elder barged in without knocking. The old man slapped a book down on his table: Path of the White Fox.\n\nLindon's eyes shone at this vision. He had succeeded after all. He expected the immortal to return him to reality, but the future flowed on, coming in faster and faster images.\n\nHe watched aversion of himself, years older, receive a copper badge with tears in his eyes. The First Elder smiled in pride.\n\nHis sister led Wei clansmen to fight around a carriage, while armored members of the Kazan fought. She wreathed one man's face with foxfire, then drove her sword through a second man's gut and left it there. Kelsa wrenched the door to the carriage open, revealing a finely wrought box. Her expression lifted.\n\nMore years passed, and Kelsa was personally awarded a jade badge by Patriarch Sairus himself. She didn't even look thirty. Lindon and his family cheered for her from the crowd, though his father looked as though he'd bitten something sour.\n\nAn unknown time later, Jaran slipped out of his house in the middle of the night while his wife slept. He hobbled on a cane, but he took an overcoat and a sword with him.\n\nLindon's stomach dropped.\n\nThe three remaining members of the Shi family, wearing white funeral robes, clustered around an iron tablet with Wei Shi Jaran's name on it. Seisha lit the candle herself.\n\nMore years silently slid by, and Lindon saw himself sitting on the edge of a roof under the stars, side-by-side with a girl he'd never met. She had a wide, open smile. He passed her a bottle, and she drank." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now they stood together in the Hall of Elders, both wearing red, with a white ribbon tying their clasped hands together. The First Elder said something and everyone laughed, but the vision-Lindon gazed only at his new wife.\n\nThe Lindon of the present felt his eyes burn and hurriedly wiped them away. He shouldn't show tears to a heavenly immortal, but... Unsouled weren't allowed to marry.\n\nTime moved on in the blink of an eye, and he saw himself cycling in a meditative position next to his son. Applauding his daughter as she conjured foxfire for the first time. Pouring tea for his wife.\n\nFate, it seemed, was good to him. Was this why a messenger had descended from heaven? To show him the rewards fora young life spent suffering? If so, he welcomed it.\n\nHe saw himself grow older, his children grow tall.\n\nThen Sacred Valley collapsed.\n\nThe image passed so quickly he almost didn't catch it. A monstrous creature that towered into the clouds waded through the mountains like a man through waves, washing over the valley and burying it in earth. Everything was wiped out in an instant.\n\nAnd Lindon returned to reality, standing before the white-armored woman. Her green hair drifted behind her, and the ghostly lines leading from her fingertips to her skull flickered with light like swallowed stars. She watched him with that same mask of an expression, though now he saw a tinge of pity in her eyes.\n\nHis cheeks were wet with tears, and he felt as though his chest had been hollowed out. \"I... my future, I...\"\n\n\"Not your future,\" she said. \"Fate is only a direction. That is the direction your life would have gone, like a river flowing downhill, had Li Markuth not intervened. That is how your story is fated to continue, and how it is destined to end.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And now, you've... undone what he did. Is that still what will happen tome?\"\n\nHer smile was sympathetic, and the pity in her eyes deepened. Her compassion scared him almost as much as the visions, because that meant she knew. \"It is a good fate. You only die after a full, rich life.\"\n\n\"When my home is destroyed!\" He'd never considered Sacred Valley his home before. Sacred Valley was the entire world.\n\n\"Not every thread is cut. A few survive, and they will goon to join greater powers in the world.\" She reached over for her lines of gray smoke. \"This is why I take the memories, Wei Shi Lindon. Fate is not considerate.\"\n\n\"How do I fix it?\" Lindon asked.\n\nHer fingers froze on the lines.\n\nTaking that as encouragement, Lindon continued. \"There has to be someway to fix it. If it's a direction, then direction can be changed. There has to be some... sacred arts, or some weapon, or...\" Lindon still felt the countless tons of cold earth, pressing down on his family. \"If I were strong like you are, I could change things. This one begs you. Please.\"\n\nPurple eyes watched him, weighed him. Her hand withdrew from the smoky strings, and she paced a half-circle around him as though to consider him from anew angle.\n\nThe immortal glanced to her left shoulder. He could glean nothing from her face, which remained somehow pleasant and impassive both. \"Suriel requesting clearance for unbound transportation within Iteration One-one-zero. Verbal response, please.\"\n\nA woman spun itself into existence on her shoulder, like a doll made of gray smoke. That didn't surprise him much; Forgers of the White Fox created illusions more solid than this one everyday. The ghost spoke with the all-surrounding neutral voice he'd heard earlier. [Acknowledged. Consulting Sector Control.]" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Silence reigned as the ghost waited fora response, but Lindon was caught by another detail: the celestial messenger had called herself Suriel. He'd never heard the name before, but he filed it away like a scroll in the clan archives.\n\n[Clearance granted.]\n\n\"I would like a tour,\" Suriel said, with a glance at Lindon.\n\n[For what purpose?]\n\n\"I'm looking for combatants.\"\n\n[Acknowledged.]\n\nSuriel reached up to rest an armored hand on top of Lindon's head. \"Steel yourself,\" she said. \"Do not be afraid.\"\n\nShe'd told him that already, but before he could ask what he was supposed to be afraid of, they vanished. An intense pattern of blue light washed over him, devouring every other sight. It was like being covered in a blanket woven with millions of threads, and each thread was a distinct shade of blue light. His ears rushed with overwhelming noise... but only for an instant.\n\nThen the blanket fell away, and they stood in the middle of a royal court such as he had never imagined. Lanterns held glowing, golden jewels a hundred yards overhead, and the room stretched so far that it vanished in any direction. Lindon was next to Suriel, the both of them standing in the middle of avast crowd of old men and women in intricate formal robes. Each of the elders wore a fortune's worth of jade, gold, and exotic metals that Lindon couldn't identify. Some had sacred beasts with them-a red serpent coiling around an arm here, a two-headed tiger curled up there. He could feel their wealth and authority hanging in the air; these were people that could have Lindon executed with a gesture.\n\nHe dropped to his knees even as the smoky ghost said, [The Ninecloud Court.]" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Suriel flicked her fingers, and he found himself gently pulled to his feet though nothing touched him. \"They cannot see us unless I allow them to.\" She herself stood with hands clasped at her waist, gazing straight ahead as though none of the opulence could attract her interest fora second.\n\nLindon glanced around, prepared to fallback to his knees at any second. Indeed, none of the crowd so much as glanced at them.\n\nThis is the power of an immortal. With even a small piece of that power, he could do anything.\n\nA hatch in the ceiling opened up, and a rainbow-glistening cloud descended. As it drifted down toward the floor, he saw that someone was riding on the cloud: a girl perhaps tenor eleven years old, wrapped entirely in glistening peacock feathers. Her hair was an impossible, fiery red, and she surveyed her elders as though looking down on her subjects.\n\n[Luminous Queen Sha Miara,] the ghost said. [Path of Celestial Radiance.]\n\nThe girl reached out a hand and Forged a sword of blinding rainbow light. \"Kneel,\" she said, and the sea of people knelt. Lindon had to focus to keep standing. The blade radiated power and authority, such that it seemed to affect his soul directly.\n\nSuriel nodded to the girl. \"Sha Miara inherited her madra from a noble lineage stretching back to the birth of this world. In three days, she will use that sword to sink a fleet of cloudships, saving her capital city from attack by air. If you had her power, you could save Sacred Valley.\"\n\nLindon stared at the redheaded girl and her rainbow sword. He'd never heard of this'Ninecloud Court,\" and of course no one had left Sacred Valley fora hundred generations. It was a desolate landscape beyond the mountains, a nightmare from the lowest hells. All the books said so." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where is she?\" Lindon asked. He might be able to recruit her, or beg her for help, if he couldn't learn the secrets of her training.\n\nSuriel gave him a sidelong glance around the curtain of her dark green hair. \"If you walked the length of Sacred Valley end-to-end, you'd have to do it more than a hundred times-\"\n\n[One hundred and fourteen times,] the ghost said.\n\n\"-one hundred and fourteen times to reach the outer border of her country. The Ninecloud Court is in the Ninecloud Country, for which it was named, and that country is four hundred times-\"\n\n[Three hundred and ninety-four times,] the ghost said.\n\n\"Verbal response not required for calculation corrections. Three hundred and ninety-four times bigger than Sacred Valley. You would never get there. Here, your fate is an absolute certainty. If you tried one million times to go to the Ninecloud Court from where you are at this moment, you would die before you reached her one million times.\"\n\nHe started to ask for advice when the blue flash came again, and then they were standing in midair over an endless ocean. When Lindon saw the slate-gray waves tossing under his feet, his breath left him. He hurled himself onto Suriel's armored shoulders before he fell.\n\nShe stood with perfect equanimity, every hair in place, as an invisible force peeled him off her shoulders and placed him next to her. His feet were firmly planted on air. On air. He couldn't trust it. His gut was certain that he would be dropped at any second.\n\n\"Do not be afraid,\" she reminded him fora third time.\n\n[The Trackless Sea,] the ghost announced.\n\nAnd then they dropped.\n\nStomach lurched, and he plummeted into the ocean. He panicked as water closed over him, flailing his arms even as he squeezed his eyes shut, holding his breath. He'd learned to swim in the Dragon River, as any Wei child did, but it rarely ran deeper than his shoulders." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Breathe,\" Suriel commanded, and he realized he was still dry. He cracked his eyes open, but almost shut them again. Aside from a bubble of air surrounding him, the immortal, and her pet ghost, water stretched infinitely in every direction. Light glimmered above them, increasingly distant, but they plunged lower and lower. Into the darkness.\n\nHe finally caught his balance, forcing himself to breathe normally and not to cling to the white-armored woman as though to a raft. She seemed to be treating this as nothing out of the ordinary, so he took his queue from her. But he did stand very, very close. Not only was he trusting her to save him, she was the only other person in this world of black water.\n\nAs they fell, Lindon saw that they weren't alone after all. Someone else dropped alongside them, a man sinking through the water like his bones were weighted with lead. The stranger was amass of muscle, his eyes glowed golden, and he had his arms folded as though impatiently waiting to reach the ocean floor. As they fell into darkness together, the ghost spoke again. [Northstrider. Path of the Hungry Deep.]\n\nThe absolute black beneath them shifted, and Lindon slid closer to Suriel. A dragon's head emerged from the dark, followed by a serpent's body that coiled endlessly. It must have been miles long, and its jaws gaped open into a pink tunnel lined with teeth.\n\nNorthstrider unfolded his arms, revealing hands gloved in pitch-black scales. With one hand he seized a fang longer than he was tall, but the monster's momentum carried him past Lindon. A wall of scales rushed past him, blocking out everything else.\n\n\"Northstrider consumes sacred beasts in the deepest places of the world,\" Suriel said. \"He takes their power with him to the surface. He could level Sacred Valley on his own... and you could save it, if you had skills and powers like his.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She'd said that already, but she had withheld the most important part. \"Honored immortal, how? I am Unsouled. Where could I possibly learn his skills?\" He hoped she would answer him, but feared she would call it impossible.\n\nShe smiled at him as though she knew his thoughts, and another blue flash took them away.\n\nInside an ordinary inn hewn from rough logs, eight people in intricate golden armor laughed and clinked glasses together. A woman tossed a gold shield down, saying something with raised eyebrows. A man pulled his helmet off, revealing a red eye in the center of his forehead.\n\n[Western Chi Ning City. The Eight-Man Empire. Path of the Eightfold Spear.]\n\n\"These eight call themselves an empire because they conquer wherever they roam,\" Suriel said, striding through the room. She let her hand drift behind her, as though she meant to run white-plated fingers over the local men and women, but she never touched a thing. \"So far, they have not been defeated. They could easily save Sacred Valley, as could you, if you earned a place with them. Their armor is across between a Remnant and a construct, and when one of them dies, they pass it onto a successor.\"\n\n\"Are they all Gold?\" Lindon asked. He hadn't seen anyone outside the valley wearing badges, but he supposed the armor might serve a similar purpose.\n\nSuriel stopped with her palm hovering over one member of the Eight-Man Empire, a woman with yellow hair who lay facedown on a table, snoring. \"Larian was raised in a noble household. Her father wouldn't let her play with the other children until she reached the level you know as Gold. When she was six years old, she did. Today, an army often thousand Gold-ranked sacred artists couldn't scratch her armor.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Larian grunted in her sleep.\n\nThe blue blanket fell again, but this time it lingered. He and Suriel drifted in a blinding sapphire void. She stood in the same position as in the inn-arm outstretched as though to deliver a blessing, her visage all the more inhuman for her green hair and seamless white armor. Without turning around, she spoke. \"You have twenty, maybe thirty years before disaster strikes.\"\n\n[An average of twenty-eight years, seven months, four days,] the ghost put in.\n\n\"Verbal response not required.\" She turned to face him, arm still raised. \"I have showed you some of the most powerful sacred artists in the world, on three very different Paths. What do they have in common?\"\n\n\"They're incredibly strong,\" he said. He hadn't seen much from the girl in the court or the eight in the tavern, but the man fighting a sea dragon bare-handed had definitely caught his attention.\n\nSuriel's expression told him nothing, but she flipped her hand palm-up. \"They have nothing in common, save their commitment. They each have different motivations, different goals, different levels of talent, but all of them pursue the sacred arts with absolute dedication.\"\n\nLindon met her gaze with resolve, drawing himself up to his full height. He was taller than she was, he realized, though it made him feel somehow wrong. \"I am dedicated.\"\n\n\"Are you?\" Her purple eyes were cold and unflinching, her lips still as a carving. \"Each of those sacred artists risked their lives, gave up their pride, endured beatings and public humiliation. They sacrificed comfort for lives of brutality and pain. And none of them built their power from nothing in a mere thirty years.\"\n\n\"I will do it.\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "As the writer's tale assistant, advance the plot.\nTags: fantasy, progression fantasy, sacred valley\nAuthor: Will Wight\nTitle: Unsouled\nChapter: 14" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Larian grunted in her sleep.\n\nThe blue blanket fell again, but this time it lingered. He and Suriel drifted in a blinding sapphire void. She stood in the same position as in the inn-arm outstretched as though to deliver a blessing, her visage all the more inhuman for her green hair and seamless white armor. Without turning around, she spoke. \"You have twenty, maybe thirty years before disaster strikes.\"\n\n[An average of twenty-eight years, seven months, four days,] the ghost put in.\n\n\"Verbal response not required.\" She turned to face him, arm still raised. \"I have showed you some of the most powerful sacred artists in the world, on three very different Paths. What do they have in common?\"\n\n\"They're incredibly strong,\" he said. He hadn't seen much from the girl in the court or the eight in the tavern, but the man fighting a sea dragon bare-handed had definitely caught his attention.\n\nSuriel's expression told him nothing, but she flipped her hand palm-up. \"They have nothing in common, save their commitment. They each have different motivations, different goals, different levels of talent, but all of them pursue the sacred arts with absolute dedication.\"\n\nLindon met her gaze with resolve, drawing himself up to his full height. He was taller than she was, he realized, though it made him feel somehow wrong. \"I am dedicated.\"\n\n\"Are you?\" Her purple eyes were cold and unflinching, her lips still as a carving. \"Each of those sacred artists risked their lives, gave up their pride, endured beatings and public humiliation. They sacrificed comfort for lives of brutality and pain. And none of them built their power from nothing in a mere thirty years.\"\n\n\"I will do it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not even I had reached their level in thirty years.\"\n\nNow he wasn't so confident.\n\n\"Your first step, if you wish to take it, begins today. You have to abandon your family and leave Sacred Valley as quickly as possible. There is nothing here for you.\"\n\n\"I can do that,\" he said without hesitation. He'd been prepared for that requirement ever since she'd shown him the girl in the Ninecloud Court. It would hurt, but his family would actually encourage him if they knew he was journeying to practice the sacred arts.\n\n\"No, you can't. Not without help.\" The blue light vanished, leaving them floating thousands of feet in the air. Four mountains surrounded them: one crowned in light, one robed in purple trees, one made of red stone, and one wreathed in a rushing river.\n\nThis was his home, but he had never seen Sacred Valley from this perspective before. It looked so... small.\n\nSuriel surveyed the land like a judge. \"By the standards of the outside world, anyone below Gold is considered powerless. Unworthy of being called a sacred artist at all. Your only chance, and it's a distant chance, is to leave this place where Jade is the greatest height.\"\n\n\"If I do leave, then can I...\" He was afraid to ask the question, afraid the answer would be no. \"... can I become a Gold?\"\n\n\"You'll have to,\" she said, eyes still on the landscape. \"That is where you must start.\"\n\nAbandoning his home was a sad thought, and he couldn't deny a rush of fear at the idea. But more than that, his soul lifted. She might as well have told him he could become a celestial immortal and live in the heavens. He was capable of reaching not just Jade, but a level beyond Gold. It was such a bright, tender dream that he almost didn't dare to touch it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He wouldn't even have dared to dream such a bold dream..." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "but Suriel's words were those of fate itself.\n\nLindon couldn't drop to his knees in the air, but he bowed at the waist. \"Honored immortal, this one begs one more answer from you. How should I leave the valley?\"\n\nSuriel waved a hand, and four green lights shone like beacons in Lindon's vision. One on each of the holy peaks, burning like emerald bonfires. \"There is an exit on each of the peaks, guarded by one of the Schools.\" She hesitated a moment as though searching fora specific memory. \"But leaving will be very difficult. If there is away...\"\n\nShe glanced at the ghost on her shoulder, which responded almost instantly. [Nine-point-eight kilometers northwest.] A smaller point of green light appeared on the slopes of Mount Samara.\n\nThe invisible bubble containing them rushed forward, and Lindon's body shuddered with the instinct to protect itself, but Suriel spoke as though reciting a poem. \"There area million Paths in this world, Lindon, but any sage will tell you they can all be reduced to one. Improve yourself.\"\n\nLindon was still somewhat worried about offending this visitor from another world, but he dared to say, \"That doesn't sound like enough.\"\n\nThe mountain rushed closer as they descended into its shadow. \"It's been my path for longer than you would believe. Do you think anyone dares to attack my homeland?\"\n\nNear the peak of the mountain, where patches of snow still lingered despite the summer heat, and where the enormous halo of light seemed close enough to touch, there was a deep chasm. Without hesitation, Suriel directed them down into the darkness.\n\nAt the bottom of the chasm, there stood a girl with the lean, ragged look of a wandering warrior. She was perhaps his age, with the look of Sacred Valley about her: the pale skin, black hair, and dark eyes that characterized virtually every clan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But the sacred artist's robes she wore were black, which fit no clan or school he knew, and she carried a sword on her hip... but no badge. Her hair was cut absolutely straight, as though sliced with a razor, and she wore a coil of thick, bright red rope wrapped around her waist like a belt. She had obviously been treated roughly: her robes were torn and stained, her hair frayed and matted, every inch of her skin covered in layer after layer of razor-thin scars. Most of those scars had to be years old, but some were obviously pink and fresh. She stared death down the chasm, sword gripped tightly in both hands.\n\nAt first, Lindon thought she was glaring at him. But a glance behind him told him the truth.\n\nShe was cornered by her enemies.\n\nThe Heaven's Glory School of Mount Samara wore white and gold, and each of these young men and women had badges of iron around their necks. There were eight of them-two with spears, two with swords, two who carried weighted nets, and two whose hands glowed with light.\n\n[Mount Samara,] the ghost announced. [Yerin, Disciple of the Sword Sage. Path of the Endless Sword.]\n\nSuriel's boots crunched in the snow as she walked forward, though she left no footprints. \"She might not have the skill to save Sacred Valley, but she can help you leave it. With her guidance, you may both leave this valley alive. She, too, has a fate that needs changing.\"\n\nThe girl stepped forward to fight.\n\nBlue flashed, and an instant later they were standing amid the arena of the Seven-Year Festival, but Lindon fixed the image of the black-clad girl in his mind. Yerin, Disciple of the Sword Sage. She was his path forward. The Heaven's Glory School would never allow him access to the mountain, which only meant that he had to find another way in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Suriel lifted into the air again, surveying the frozen sacred artists beneath her with that same pleasant mask of an expression. She spoke to Lindon without looking at him. \"If I let you keep these memories, it will change your fate. Your life will be harder, and most likely shorter. You have one last chance. Would you forget, or remember?\"\n\nHe should spend longer considering such an important decision, but he'd already made up his mind. \"I would never choose to forget you, honored immortal,\" Lindon said with a bow. \"You restored my life.\"\n\nShe smiled at his words, though she still examined the still tableau beneath her. White-armored fingers strummed the smoky cords on her right hand. \"Then watch closely. This is a rare sight.\"\n\nBlue flashed, covering everything, and time ran backwards.\n\nThe Jade elders who rushed upon the stage now reversed themselves, returning to their seats. The sky overhead cleared up. The pillars crumbled upward, rebuilding themselves from rubble until the illusions of Elder Whisper danced on them once again. Only those she had already repaired were excepted: the Patriarch, his body rebuilt, stood on the side until she pointed to him. As though carried by invisible strings, he drifted up and onto the stage, assuming a pose with his hands in the air. She'd already cleaned up the severed heads, for which Lindon was grateful. If she had returned him to life, surely she had resurrected his mother as well.\n\nSoon, the world was as he'd left it. Before reality had gone mad, and ancient Golds descended from the sky followed by celestial messengers. She had undone everything. Given them afresh start.\n\nHe bowed again, with no other way to express his gratitude. If he lived fora thousand years, he would never be able to repay such a debt. \"This one thanks you a hundred times for the guidance, honored immortal. Will this one ever have the chance to return some small measure of your kindness?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Around him, the day still crawled in reverse as Suriel's hands danced in accordance with some sacred art. She still spoke to him while regarding her handiwork. \"I will give you a token so that I may find you easily, wherever and whoever you are. When the time comes, I will return for you. If you're lucky, you might be able to ascend to a higher world.\"\n\n\"Do you mean the heavens?\" Lindon asked. \"With you?\"\n\nSuriel turned to face him, green hair falling to frame her paleface, and finally the world was still again. This time, everything was as it had been only a handful of hours before: the Patriarch of the Wei clan stood in the arena, disapproval on his face. The crowd shouted in the stands. Wei Jin Amon crouched with his spear, ready to do battle. Even the sun had reversed its course, shining golden in the late afternoon. Among it all, the celestial messenger stood out, her purple eyes growing brighter.\n\n\"My organization has a name for this world, Wei Shi Lindon. We call it \"Cradle.\" It's where we keep the infants.\"\n\nShe reached out and dropped something into his hand: a glass bead, slightly bigger than his thumbnail, with one blue candle-flame trapped inside. The flame burned evenly as he turned it in his hands.\n\n\"This is my token. You cannot use it to contact me, but I can sense it across worlds and beyond time.\"\n\n\"Apologies, honored immortal, but... what if it breaks?\" It was glass, after all.\n\nShe favored him with a little laugh. \"It can't break, and it cannot be lost, as it is tied to you with strings of fate. Move forward, stay alive, and I will come retrieve you when you've grown.\" Behind her, a gateway opened on a layered field of solid blue, as though it opened underneath the surface of a shining sea. \"Go with the Way, Lindon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ina flash, she vanished.\n\nSound returned in a rush, and even the crowd's hushed whispers-they had softened themselves out of respect for the Patriarch-sounded like thunder in his ears.\n\nWei Jin Sairus lowered his arms, which had been raised to settle the audience. \"Young Lindon, there is no dishonor if you remove yourself from the stage. Rather, we would respect your wisdom in deferring to your betters.\"\n\nOnly recently, Lindon had wondered if he was trapped in a dream.\n\nNow the same sensation returned in full force, as everything his senses told him suggested he had never left. His mother paced the arena, her eyes locked on him. His father glowered from the stands, angered that the Patriarch had put his son in such a position. Kelsa sat next to him, anger plain in the way she perched on the edge of her seat.\n\nBetween his fingers, he rolled a warm marble. He looked down to see a ball of glass surrounding a single blue candle-flame.\n\nIf this was a dream, it was one sent by the heavens.\n\nHe turned from the Patriarch and bowed to the representatives of the four Schools." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 12\n\nInformation requested: the four holy peaks.\n\nBeginning report...\n\nSacred Valley is a paradise nestled within a mountain range. It is protected by weather and terrain, by the inhospitable nature of the surrounding regions, by ancient legend, and by a few significant individuals with vested interest in keeping the valley unexplored. Most of the world has forgotten Sacred Valley, overlooking it as nowhere of interest.\n\nBut it has along history, and that history has left its mark.\n\nThe four mountains bracketing Sacred Valley are known to the locals as the'holy peaks,\" locations of myth and mystery. The four largest schools in the region have each claimed a peak as their home, and the secrets found within have given these organizations strong roots.\n\nTo the north, Yoma Mountain is carpeted in purple orus trees for most of the year. The Fallen Leaf School processes the fruits of these trees into products to be sold, as well as secret elixirs to strengthen their own students. They also possess the largest and most obvious entrance into the labyrinth that forms the foundation of the entire Sacred Valley, an entrance they call the Nethergate. The door stands thirty meters high, and is carved with the image of a Dreadgod. Every ten years, it opens, and the Fallen Leaf elders are able to retrieve some treasures from the shallowest levels of the labyrinth within.\n\nTo the west, Mount Venture shows off its distinct mineral composition with rust-red cliffs. It is the shortest of the four peaks, and most of the mining in Sacred Valley takes place here. This is the home of the Kazan clan and the territory of the Golden Sword School, and the profits of the mine are split between them. Goldsteel and halfsilver are the primary output of these mines, though a further report can be requested on especially rare or trivially mundane materials." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To the south, the mountain called Greatfather is broken, its peak shattered into a shape resembling the mouth of a bottle. Water pools up there, cascading down the cliffs in a stream known as the Dragon River. Fueled by the water aura at the top of the mountain, storms wrack these slopes year-round, and the Holy Wind School maintains shelters for unlucky travelers caught outside. Favored Holy Wind elders can bathe in the pool known as Greatfather's Tears, regenerating their vitality of body and spirit.\n\nTo the east, Mount Samara rises as the tallest of the four holy peaks. It is blanketed in snow, and crowned in a ring of pale white light that circles the summit. The halo appears at sundown and disappears at sunrise, so that no one in Sacred Valley has ever experienced a dark night. Samara's halo is a construction of light aura bound into form by an expert centuries past, and it is the reason why so many sacred artists in the valley practice light-aspect arts. The Heaven's Glory School has claimed this peak, using the power of Samara's ring to gather light aura even on a moonless night.\n\nSuggested topic: origin of the holy peaks. Continue?\n\nDenied, report complete.\n\n---\n\nWithout the lungs of an Iron, Lindon couldn't make his voice heard in every corner of the arena, but he shouted as loud as he could. \"Honored representative of the Heaven's Glory School! This one regrets that his display has caused you shame, and he begs one more chance to prove himself.\"\n\nIn the box above, the boy in white-and-gold stepped forward. His expression was cold and forbidding, as though he wished to have Lindon executed before he said another word. \"Why should I give you such a chance?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wei Jin Amon is to become a disciple of your school, is that not so?\" Amon, startled, looked from Lindon to the Heaven's Glory agent. \"If this one manages to force him out of the ring, or cause him to admit defeat, then this one has surely demonstrated his own value. This one requests a place in your school, under those conditions.\"\n\nThe boy let out a single, high laugh. \"My school only receives those with potential. You have none.\"\n\n\"This one does not dare to contradict you, honored guest, but if this one can by chance overthrow Amon... then surely, this one has proven his skill. And with the tutelage of the Heaven's Glory School, surely such skill has future potential.\"\n\nWei Jin Sairus had too high of a status to seize Lindon and hurl him bodily from the stage, but it looked as though he wanted to. \"You go too far!\" he thundered, but the Heaven's Glory elder raised a hand to stop him.\n\n\"We've wasted too much time already on this nonsense,\" the boy said. \"Let him fight. Wei Jin Amon, ensure he has no time to admit defeat.\"\n\nThe cold words sent a chill up Lindon's spine, but he bowed again. \"Does that mean the Heaven's Glory School accepts my words?\"\n\n\"We do. So long as the Wei clan accepts the consequences of your loss.\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" Sairus declared. \"One Unsouled is no loss to my clan. An honorable death in a duel is more than he has earned.\"\n\nLindon glanced up in the stands. Kelsa looked horrified, Jaran was half-standing in fury, and the First Elder shook his head sadly. None of them could intervene." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only his mother frowned, as though considering something.\n\n\"Sacred artists, prepare yourselves!\" the Patriarch shouted. His grandson ran a hand along the spear, face as cold as his iron badge. Lindon leaned forward as far as he could, as though he meant to dash into Amon immediately.\n\n\"Begin!\"\n\nLindon ran the other way.\n\nA surge of laughter burst from the stands as they watched the Foundation-stage child run from the Iron practitioner. Amon didn't deign to pursue, but straightened up, his spear locked in his fist. \"Do you want to shame me into chasing you?\" he asked, in atone too low to carry. \"Is that your plan?\"\n\nLindon didn't answer. When he reached the edge of the stage, he turned to face his cousin. \"This one patiently awaits your guidance,\" he said politely.\n\nWhen Amon moved, Lindon could barely see it. He seemed to cross a dozen yards in a single step, the foxfire gathered around his spearhead tracing lines in the air like shining serpents.\n\nBut he wasn't faster than Lindon's spirit. He sent a pulse of madra down through his heel, into the stage, undoing the seal he'd placed on ajar three days earlier.\n\nBe free, he urged mentally, and the Remnants shattered their prison. They followed the weak thread of his power up and through the stone, passing through like ghosts.\n\nA swarm of green-light hornets spun around Lindon like emeralds, buzzing with fury. His command still bound them: Attack.\n\nAs one, the Remnants turned to face Wei Jin Amon.\n\nThe Iron fighter pulled himself up short, skidding to a halt on the stone, but he'd been moving too fast. He couldn't stop in time. Not that the Remnants would have allowed him to escape anyway." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were on him like a school of ravenous fish, stingers flashing as they stung. No one could display the dignity of a sacred artist under such a condition; he screamed like a child, flailing his spear as though he'd never had an hour of weapons training, swatting wildly at the air around him.\n\nFora few seconds, Lindon only watched. When he saw pulses of hazy purple-and-white force emanating from Amon's body, causing hornets to pause or turn spirals in midair, he knew that his cousin had focused his spirit on defense. Now was the chance.\n\nLindon walked forward, and the Remnants parted before him. Amon was still dangerously strong, his spear sweeping through the air, and Lindon took an instant to judge its path before he reached out and caught it.\n\nThe wood smacked painfully into his palm, but not with nearly the force a true attack would have carried. Amon's spirit was in chaos, his madra bent to swiping away hornets, and he had not focused his strength.\n\nWith both hands, Lindon wrenched the weapon away. Amon didn't seem to understand what had happened, as he stumbled blindly forward.\n\nWhile everyone in the clan who reached at least Copper received instruction in a basic weapon, Lindon had never had such an opportunity. He had no idea how to use a spear beyond imitating what he'd seen in others. Fortunately, he didn't need much skill.\n\nHe gripped the spear in both hands like a club, and began smacking Wei Jin Amon everywhere he could. The sharp edge of the spear caught him a few times, drawing blood, but Amon was an Iron. He was in far more danger from the Remnants than from Lindon's pathetic attacks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lindon couldn't deny a little excitement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He'd dreamed of this moment for years.\n\nUnder assault from the hornets and his own weapon, Amon's screams turned to sobs. \"I... don't...\" he tried to force out, but Lindon didn't lessen his assault. \"I... give...\" he began, and that was too much.\n\nLindon walked around to the other side of his cousin, reversing his spear until the butt rested against Amon's chest. Then he gave a shove.\n\nThe Iron-ranked fighter tumbled to the ground outside the stage.\n\nThe arena was silent except for Amon's sobs and the buzz of the Remnants, who continued their attack until they received another wave of Lindon's madra. When they did, they responded as a swarm: \"TASK COMPLETED.\" Then they flew off into the sky.\n\nNo one stopped them. Someone like the Patriarch could surely have destroyed them had he wanted to, but even he seemed paralyzed. His face grew red as he stared at Lindon, his mouth gaping open as though he couldn't give voice to his fury.\n\nBefore he could say anything, Lindon bowed to the foreign guests once more. \"Wei Jin Amon has admitted defeat and left the bounds of the competition.\"\n\nAnother instant of silence, except for the pathetic sounds made by Amon, and then the boy from Heaven's Glory began to laugh.\n\n\"Is this the honor and dignity of the Wei clan, then? One child attacks another fora lowly position in my school, fighting over our scraps?\"\n\nThe air warped around Patriarch Sairus, and Lindon was sheathed in absolute darkness. The Patriarch had blinded him.\n\nOnly that morning, Lindon would have panicked and begged forgiveness. But after seeing Suriel's display of power, this one was somewhat lacking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Forgive us, Elder Whitehall,\" Sairus said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We will punish the Unsouled.\" Elder? That child was a Jade? Lindon hadn't gotten a look at the boy's badge, but that seemed incredible.\n\n\"No!\" Elder Whitehall barked. \"The Heaven's Glory School has given its word, and a child cannot cause us to break it. We will harbor Wei Shi Lindon for as long as he can perform up to the standard of a Heaven's Glory disciple.\"\n\nWhich wouldn't belong, Lindon was sure, but it didn't have to be. He only had to find Yerin, the Sword Sage's Disciple, and leave the valley.\n\n\"But we only came down from Samara for one disciple,\" the elder continued. \"We have no room for two. Have your grandson meditate on his failures, and perhaps when we again have space fora new disciple, we will consider him once more.\"\n\nThe darkness over Lindon lifted, and he dropped to his knees to press his forehead against the cold stone. \"Disciple Lindon greets Elder Whitehall.\"\n\n\"Don't buy your own lies,\" said the boy in gold and white. \"If you last a week on the mountain, I'll tutor you myself.\"\n\n---\n\nThe rest of the Seven-Year Festival passed without incident, as far as Lindon was concerned. His veiled questions to his family about a Gold from the Li Clan, or the phoenix that descended from the sky, were met with confused looks and careful inquiries. His mother, at least, was worried that someone on the Path of the White Fox had tampered with his perception.\n\nKelsa ended up as the highest-ranking young Iron in the Wei clan, as Wei Jin Amon was too busy recuperating from his injuries to participate. She ultimately lost to a Kazan girl, but that wasn't enough to tarnish her achievements. The Patriarch himself presented her with a pair of valuable elixirs, announcing that she would'Redeem the shame of the Shi family.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After receiving her prizes, Kelsa returned to the Shi family compound with Lindon by her side. She spoke about the Festival with great enthusiasm and without interference. He walked in silence.\n\n\"... I'll need one of these elixirs to stabilize my core after reaching Iron, but the second won't help much. They say it takes twenty of these to get close to Jade, can you imagine? They're five thousand chips apiece. And that's with years of cycling in between each one.\" She glanced to the side, giving him awry smile. The box of elixirs was tied in a cloth bag, and that bag dangled carelessly from her hand as she walked.\n\n\"I'd share one with you, but I doubt you'll need it. Heaven's Glory. You'll be eating spirit-fruits for every meal and drinking elixirs like water. Instead of sharing with you, I should be asking you to share with me.\"\n\nLindon knew Kelsa. She wasn't angling fora handout, just making an idle comment. If he actually offered to share any elixirs from Heaven's Glory with her, she'd refuse unless he tricked her into it.\n\nBut the thought gave him a pang of loss and regret. If all went according to plan, he wouldn't see Kelsa or the rest of his family for more than twenty years. It was an impossible amount of time to him, incomprehensibly vast.\n\nShe read his silence and stopped, stretching out an arm in front of his chest. He ran into it as though into a tree branch, her forearm striking his ribs with the strength of a club. He coughed out a breath, and the weight of his pack pushed him forward, straining his neck.\n\nHe staggered back, wondering if his chest would bruise. \"What was that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're too quiet,\" she said, folding her arms. The box of elixirs hung down in its blue shadesilk bag. \"Something happened.\"\n\nHe pressed fingers into his sternum, feeling for tenderness. \"I'm listening, I'm not meditating on boyhood trauma. Maybe I should do all the talking from now on, and you should take the punches.\"\n\nShe stared him down. \"You can punch meas long as your knuckles holdout, but when you're done, I need an answer. You've won everything you've ever wanted. More than I did; there are people who would kill you fora spot as a School disciple. And you're not proud of it, you haven't gloated, you haven't tried to get something extra out of the clan before you leave. You haven't even redeemed that deal of yours with the First Elder, and he told me he'd expected to see you before sunset on the day of the Foundation tournament. When you didn't show up, he thought you were dead.\"\n\nThe deal he'd made with the First Elder, a copy of the White Fox Path in exchange for displaying his abilities in the Seven-Year Festival, felt like it had come from a different life. He'd been dreaming before he met Suriel, and now he was awake.\n\nNot that he could say that to his sister.\n\n\"My end of the scales doesn't balance,\" Lindon said. \"I was supposed to defeat a Copper from another clan and show them the power of the Wei, but I ended up humiliating our own clan's best disciple.\"\n\nKelsa placed the elixirs carefully on the ground, then grabbed him by the shoulders. She leaned forward, her face inches away from his, dark eyes heavy with concern. \"Are you dead? Because that is nothing my brother would say. My brother would have tried to convince the First Elder that beating Amon was better than beating some Copper from another clan.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon shrugged, averting his eyes. \"I'm going to a School. I won't need it anymore.\"\n\nHe wasn't concerned about keeping Suriel a secret. Spreading rumors about her couldn't harm her, and receiving a visit from the heavens was a source of pride, not shame. If that had been all, he would have been trying to convince his sister to believe him, not keeping it a secret.\n\nBut he'd seen more than just a celestial messenger. He'd seen the end of the world.\n\nThere was nothing Kelsa could do to change that, nothing she could do to help him. Even if she completely believed him and was willing to leave Sacred Valley at his side, how could she help? She wasn't a disciple of Heaven's Glory, so she couldn't follow him up the slopes of Samara, and she wasn't strong enough to survive the terrors outside the valley anymore than he was.\n\nIf he failed, if he died on the way as he was more than likely to do, he didn't want her to live helpless under a cloud of doom. She'd be happier if he said nothing.\n\nAll that was true, but he still wanted to tell her.\n\nShe was still watching him from an inch away, still looking into his eyes with selfless concern. He found himself saying, \"Was there.... anything you can remember from that day at the Foundation tournament? Anything strange?\"\n\nHer eyebrows raised. \"I'd say so. You set a swarm of hornets on Wei Jin Amon and beat him with his own spear.\"\n\n\"Anything else?\" Now it was his turn to search her eyes, looking for any sign of recognition, any uneasy recollections. \"You didn't feel like you were somewhere and then somewhere else? You didn't lose any memories, or forget sometime?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How would I know if I did?\" she asked. Whatever he was looking for in her eyes, he didn't see it.\n\nHe took a step back, and she allowed him to break her grip. \"I'm nervous, that's all it is,\" he said. \"Heaven's Glory won't accept a disciple like me, and they'll try and force me out as soon as they can.\"\n\nKelsa watched him a moment longer, then plucked her bag of elixirs from the ground. \"Likely they will. What does that matter? You'll take what you can from them, then if it gets too dangerous, you just comeback down. Maybe you'll get an elixir or some treasures from the top of the mountain. This could be exactly what you need to make the clan proud.\"\n\nThey reached the Shi family complex, a square of tightly packed houses, as night fell. The ring of light around Samara glowed white, illuminating the snowy peak and casting a blanket of light allover the valley.\n\nHe took in the sight of his home under Samara's ring as though for the last time.\n\nIn the morning, his mother and father said their goodbyes casually, and they'd all assured him that he would be welcomed back exactly as he was. They didn't understand why he fought back tears as he wished them farewell, because they expected him to return in no more than a week or two.\n\nBut in the end, he still had to leave. He'd seen too much to stay home.\n\n---\n\nThe party from Heaven's Glory was led by Elder Whitehall, who was indeed ahead shorter than Lindon. He looked no more than eleven or twelve, despite his intricate white-and-gold robes and the Jade arrow badge on his chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He waited with two disciples from his school before a carriage pulled by a pair of Remnants." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The carriage itself looked finer than anything the Patriarch would ride, inlaid with golden clouds and dancing sacred beasts, and the Remnants were a pair of transparent oxen. They seemed to be made from heat haze, or perhaps incredibly fine glass, and-like most Remnants-they made sounds totally unlike a living creature. When they stomped their hooves, thunder rolled, and their fractious snorts were like the crack of a whip.\n\n\"You've made us wait,\" Elder Whitehall said, though it was still an hour until dawn. Samara's halo still shone brighter than the moon, crowning and illuminating their destination. \"Stow your belongings before you set us further behind.\"\n\nThe two disciples glanced at Lindon more out of curiosity than pity, he was sure. Then they climbed into the carriage behind their master.\n\nLindon had tied his bulky pack to the roof before he noticed what they were missing: a driver.\n\n\"Hurry yourself, Unsouled,\" the elder called from inside the carriage. \"I have business to attend to at the school.\"\n\nWithout a word of dissent, Lindon clambered up onto the driver's seat behind the oxen. Even this was cushioned, though the only carriages he'd ever ridden in the Wei clan had undressed boards for the driver. He was grateful for the comfort, and for the lack of company.\n\nWith an instant of concentration, he sent a drop of madra into the reins. Aline of script ran down the inside of the leather straps, carrying his power down and into the ox-Remnants. They bellowed like a couple of thunderstorms, transparent forms rippling with light, and they began to pull.\n\nAfter that, the trip was easy. At first, Lindon was concerned that he might have to ask Elder Whitehall for directions, but he discovered that the path toward Samara was clear and wide. They rode for hours as the sun rose, the terrain sprouted hills, and the purple-leafed orus trees gave way to foliage of mundane green." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mount Samara's halo faded and dimmed as they approached, eventually vanishing for the day. The mountain's slopes were sparse, sprinkled with the occasional copse of twisted trees or the spot of color from a flying Remnant. The mountain loomed over them as noon broke, like a wall taking up half the horizon.\n\nThe road terminated at the base of the mountain, transforming into a dirt path that twisted upward in a series of hatchbacks. Lindon hesitated as he saw the trail, but the oxen didn't, hauling their way up the mountain with dogged determination.\n\nWithin seconds, Elder Whitehall must have sensed the change. \"Halt!\" he called, and Lindon had no choice but to urge the Remnants to stop their advance on a steep slope. They supported the carriage as though their hooves had been nailed to the side of the mountain.\n\nThe childlike elder hopped out of the carriage, his disciples following like chaperones. But when they reached the ground, they bowed to Elder Whitehall, saluting with their fists pressed together.\n\nLindon left the driver's seat and did likewise. There was no sense in disrespecting an elder before even arriving at the school.\n\nWhitehall paid them no attention, walking to their right, skirting the edge of the mountain. \"The three of you will walk a different path up the mountain. This is the first test of any disciple in the Heaven's Glory School.\"\n\nLindon was somewhat surprised to learn that the other two were in the same category as he was. They were both older, but only by a year or two, and very little set them apart. One was as tall as Lindon, with brown hair a shade darker than his mother's, the other shorter with black hair. Otherwise, they were wholly unremarkable." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Unremarkable except for the iron badges on their chests." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Every glance they shot at Lindon's wooden badge poked a needle in his pride.\n\nHe only had to bear with it. They would never make it past Jade; they were almost to the end of their Path. His was just beginning.\n\nA number of boulders dotted the landscape where part of the mountain must have slid down years before, and each step of Elder Whitehall's took him from one boulder to another. The Iron disciples followed him without difficulty, but Lindon strained his body to the limit just to keep up. More than once, he came teetering within an inch of falling off the rock and smashing his head, and he was sure he wouldn't receive the best of medical care from the Heaven's Glory School.\n\nThey arrived in less than an hour, with the elder and the other two disciples as fresh as if they'd simply stepped outside. Lindon's clothes were caked with sweat, each breath heaving, his spirit fuzzy and weak from the madra he'd drawn to support his failing limbs.\n\nWhitehall and the other two were looking up the mountain, and though it pained him to even turn his neck, he followed their gazes.\n\nInto the slopes of Mount Samara there was a staircase. Rather than the rough gray-brownstone that surrounded him, these stairs were polished and white. It was so wide that a hundred men could march upside by side, and it appeared to progress up the mountain in a straight line. Beyond a few hundred steps, Lindon could see no further.\n\nAfter that, the path was obscured by clouds of light. Shapes moved within the light, shadows with twisted antlers and gaping jaws. Even the two Iron disciples eyed the cloud with apprehension.\n\n\"Behold the Trial of Glorious Ascension,\" Whitehall said proudly. Lindon had to admire whichever ancient leader of the Heaven's Glory School came up with the name. It was only a staircase with some Remnant formations on it, but they had left such a proud and lofty title." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Within that cloud area few of the spirit-aspect and mind-aspect Remnants our school has tamed over the generations,\" Whitehall continued. \"They will test your resolve, your determination, and the solid foundations of your spirit. With each step you climb, the Trial will become heavier. Pasta certain point, retreat is impossible. If you have no confidence, you may give up your title as a Heaven's Glory disciple and return to your home. I will tell you that one in three disciples who challenges this Trial either dies or has their spirit broken, unable to practice the sacred arts again.\"\n\nThe boy stared directly at Lindon. \"I expect that statistic is especially appropriate today. Would any of you like to withdraw?\"\n\nAll three of them looked at Lindon, but he maintained an open and honest expression, as though he didn't realize what they expected of him.\n\nAfter a minute of silence, the elder dismissed Lindon, turning to the other two. \"If you reach the top, you will have passed, and will be considered a disciple of the Heaven's Glory School. If you reach the top before sundown, however, then we will consider you to have a bright future. In that case, you will be allowed to select one item from the school's Lesser Treasure Hall for your personal use. There are weapons, training supplements, elixirs, constructs... even some elders cannot choose freely from the hall. Use whatever means you have at your disposal, and do not take this Trial lightly.\"\n\nThe other two disciples straightened up, and the short one's eyes lit up. But Lindon's heart blazed. Even the Wei clan's treasure hall was enough to stir his imagination and longing, but the Heaven's Glory hall had to bean unknown number of times greater.\n\nNow he had to reach the top before sunset. Only..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He glanced up at the cloud, where a pair of silhouettes clashed with each other in a silent, distant battle. Shadow-liquid sprayed in the air. That was a test designed for promising young Irons and genius Coppers. There was noway he could survive.\n\nSo he had to find a different way.\n\nElder Whitehall jumped at the staircase, skipping six steps at a time. \"When I reach the cloud, you may begin. I'll see those of you who survive at the peak.\"\n\nIn seconds, he vanished into the light. The two Iron disciples exchanged a few brief words with each other and then ran after, not sparing Lindon a glance. That suited him, as he had immediately left." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 13\n\nLindon wasn't insane. No matter how resolved or determined he was, there was noway someone at the Foundation stage of advancement would survive a trip through the Trial of Glorious Ascension. He'd barely been able to withstand the illusions created by his sister's madra, much less an all-out attack from a mind Remnant. But he still had to make it to the top of the mountain before the sunset, and it was already early afternoon.\n\nIt wasn't pleasant, but he did have one lone idea. Heaving a sigh, he started running back over the boulders.\n\nThe trip here had taken an hour. He was able to slowdown a little on the way back, at least enough to ensure his safety, but his soul was already exhausted. By the time he arrived back at the carriage, his vision was swimming and his breath came in gulps.\n\nFortunately, the carriage was still here. If it hadn't been, Lindon would have cursed himself for rushing.\n\nHe untied his pack from the roof, slipping his badge inside it. Then he rolled around in the dirt fora few minutes-painfully, as many of the rocks around here were sharp-until he looked pathetic enough.\n\nWhen he did, he collapsed facedown.\n\nAs soon as Elder Whitehall had abandoned the carriage, Lindon had noticed. The Remnants might be intelligent enough to drag it backup to the Heaven's Glory School, but they couldn't necessarily be trusted to do so. Remnants always acted according to their nature, after all, and it was not in the nature of most Remnants to be perfectly obedient.\n\nThe carriage required a driver, and Whitehall had climbed up the Trial with his two students. Which could only mean that someone was coming down the mountain to pickup the school's property. And since Remnants were valuable and prone to madra decay without proper care, that someone would becoming soon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His only worry had been that he might arrive and find the carriage already gone. Now, he only had to wait for the servant of Heaven's Glory. He could have driven the carriage up the mountain himself, but then he might face some awkward questions. Better to wait.\n\nAs the first hour of waiting stretched to two, Lindon's confidence in his own theory began to thin. Someone should have been hereby now, but he couldn't lift his head to check too often, or they might see through him.\n\nHe finally gave into the temptation and lifted his head only to see a stick-thin boy, barely Lindon's age, staring at him from inches away.\n\nThey both gave a shout at the same time, scrambling away from one another.\n\nThe boy was wearing the uniform of a Heaven's Glory disciple, white and gold with a red sash. His badge was copper, which explained why he was junior enough to be sent on such a menial assignment, and his eyes were wide.\n\n\"Honored stranger, do you need help?\" the boy asked hesitantly.\n\nBefore he answered, Lindon lifted a hand to his head and winced. He made a show of checking his entire body for wounds, moving tenderly as though his every muscle ached. With his face and white robes matted in sweat and marred with dirt, he should look like someone who had just survived a calamity.\n\n\"Are you a disciple of the Heaven's Glory School?\" he asked, injecting his voice with heavy exhaustion.\n\n\"Yes, honored stranger.\"\n\nSuddenly Lindon propped himself upon his hands and knees, and bowed until his forehead pressed into the dirt. \"This one has failed you. This one has failed your esteemed school, and he deserves a thousand lashes for his weakness.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The disciple clearly didn't know how to respond, but Lindon raised his head and swept into his story. \"This humble one is only a gatherer of herbs, and was on his way to deliver his monthly supply to the magnificent Heaven's Glory School. But he was set upon by a group of honorless dogs...\"\n\nLindon choked as though unable to goon.\n\nFortunately, the disciple was intelligent enough to piece it together. \"Truly unfortunate. Did they not even leave your badge?\"\n\nThe boy's voice was sympathetic, but Lindon had to quell any suspicions immediately. \"A copper badge will not fetch them much, but they took even the bread I kept for my meals. I am blessed by the heavens that they overlooked this meager pack, so at least I will have clothes for the return journey.\" He held up his pack voluntarily, so he wouldn't notice it and become suspicious. \"I spotted your carriage from afar, and I waited for you to return, but I am afraid weakness overcame me and I fell into sleep. Tell me, what must I do to redeem myself in the eyes of the Heaven's Glory School?\"\n\nThe boy hesitated. \"I'm just a lesser initiate. You would need to speak to an elder...\"\n\nWith obvious difficulty, Lindon levered himself to his feet, strapping the pack to his back. \"Then I must go acquit myself before an elder. Thank you, honored disciple.\" He bowed deeply and hobbled off, as though he meant to climb the trail on foot.\n\nThe disciple rushed over and caught him by the arm before he'd even passed the transparent ox-Remnants. \"Hold a moment. With your injuries, you'd never survive the mountain.\"\n\nLindon looked him dead in the eyes and tried to imitate his father. He knew he looked stronger than he actually was, so he was hoping to approach the prideful stare of an expert. \"My failure is my own, and I must walk my own path.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He took two steps and sagged, barely catching his balance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This time, the Copper boy sighed and pushed him back toward the carriage.\n\n\"I know you have your own pride, but I have mine as well. If I were to let a fellow sacred artist die on the side of the road when I could have helped, how would I show my face among the disciples? What would people think of my Heaven's Glory School? I must take the carriage up the trail either way, and these Remnants will not mind a little extra weight.\"\n\nWith a show of reluctance, Lindon allowed himself to be ushered inside.\n\n---\n\nElder Whitehall only looked like a child. As a young man, old age had frightened him more than anything, so he had tested his fledgling refiner's skills on all the spirit-fruits and sacred herbs he could gather. He'd finally refined an elixir that he was convinced would allow him to extend his youth.\n\nIt had almost worked.\n\nAn eight-year-old boy's body was not developed enough to use the full extent of its spirit, no matter how powerful that spirit was. Nor was it strong enough to handle the most powerful sacred arts. He could accept that if it meant an increase in longevity, but for reasons he couldn't fathom, this state put an increased burden on his internal organs. In only another decade or so, he would die of old age while trapped inside a child's body.\n\nThat he had achieved Jade in spite of his handicaps was a testament to his own genius. Unfettered, he was certain that he could have become the first sacred artist in hundreds of years to reach Gold. The other elders thought his condition added a mystique to the Heaven's Glory School, as though they'd trained a child to Jade, so they sent him to other factions. He especially resented it now, as a young woman in disciple's robes told him what he'd missed while he visited the Wei clan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Having to crane his neck to look this seventeen-year-old girl in the eye didn't improve his mood.\n\n\"Elder Harbek, Elder Nasiri, and Elder Serenity were all confirmed slain in battle,\" the girl reported, her voice heavy. \"Four Irons are still missing, and thirteen dead.\"\n\n\"But the Sword Sage was destroyed?\" Whitehall was very intent on this point.\n\n\"There can be no doubt. His Remnant was the one to kill Elder Serenity, forcing the rest to retreat. The Remnant was sealed in the Grand Patriarch's tomb.\"\n\n\"And the corpse?\"\n\nShe bowed, averting her eyes from his. \"Pardon this one's insufficient knowledge, elder. This one presumes the corpse is still inside with the Remnant.\"\n\nOf course it was. If the elders had been able to bypass the Remnant and loot the corpse, they wouldn't have locked the tomb.\n\n\"His disciple is still in hiding,\" she added as an afterthought. \"The elders say she will be caught soon, and she may provide insight into the Remnant's powers.\"\n\nWhitehall rubbed his chin, wishing fora beard. He hadn't missed anything too important after all; he was only too late for the danger. The reward may still await him. \"That will be all, disciple.\"\n\nThe disciple bowed again-her hair dangled close to his face-and then ran off. She would be only too happy to leave; no one liked standing here, on the edge of the cliff at the top of the Trial of Glorious Ascension. The stairs were steep here, and covered in a pink-tinged cloud, and occasionally a slashing claw or flickering tail would emerge as the Remnants fought within.\n\nWhitehall had just climbed the stairs himself, so he couldn't be bothered, but many of the disciples harbored nightmarish memories of their time in the Trial. They didn't want to spend a second longer near that cloud than they had to." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nor, at the moment, did Whitehall. His heart itched with impatience, as he longed to go explore the tomb. There was every possibility that he could find a method to disperse the sword-Remnant, and if he did...\n\nThe Sword Sage had come from beyond Sacred Valley. Only the most favored of the Heaven's Glory elders knew that truth, as many believed there were no settlements outside the valley. It was almost true; he'd seen the land beyond from a distance, and it was a barbaric world of slaughter and violence. Better if people stayed here, to meditate on the sacred arts in peace.\n\nBut this visitor from outside could be the key to Whitehall's greatest problem. During his stay in the Heaven's Glory School, the Sword Sage had demonstrated not only his proficiency with weapons, but his skill as a refiner. He'd brought out herbs and ingredients that Elder Whitehall had never seen before, from an Infant Songroot to the bones of a thousand-year-old sacred beast. With materials of that quality, Whitehall was sure that he could restore his body. He was close already, even with the pathetic sacred herbs he'd been able to scavenge from the clans.\n\nWhitehall had attempted to buy what he wanted from the Sage, as had many of the other Heaven's Glory elders. The visitor had laughed and insulted them to their faces, saying they did not deserve such treasures.\n\nThat was why the elders had collectively decided to kill him and take his wealth for their own. He was alone expert, after all, not backed by any significant power. Whitehall had only hoped that they would wait for him to return from the Wei clan, but obviously the others had rushed ahead without him and bungled everything. This presented him with a unique opportunity. If he could dispel the Remnant and loot the man's treasures on his own, then he wouldn't have to settle fora small cut. Even if he couldn't undo this curse on his body, his powers as a refiner and as a sacred artist would leap forward. It would be a heaven-sent opportunity either way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He only lacked time, and nowhere he was waiting for disciples." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What a waste. He'd already stood here for three hours, and if the two children were especially slow, he could be here for three more before the sunset.\n\nAs for the third disciple candidate, Whitehall wouldn't even bother waiting. If the Unsouled hadn't turned back for his clan, then the boy didn't know what was good for him. He could die on the steps, and it would be no less than he deserved for embarrassing Whitehall in public.\n\nA more substantial shadow loomed in the clouds, and Whitehall raised an eyebrow. Perhaps he had underestimated the boys. The tall one, Kazan Ma Deret, actually had a bit of talent. If he'd managed to climb the stairs this quickly, Whitehall might even consider taking him on as a personal disciple.\n\nThe figure that lurched from the stairs and collapsed, panting, on the cliffs was certainly tall. His hair was too dark for the Kazan boy, and though his robes were white, they were not the Heaven's Glory robes that Deret had started with. And he was carrying a bulky brown pack that Whitehall didn't recognize.\n\nHe lifted his face, and Whitehall saw that his jaw was clenched with apparent anger, his eyes sharp as spears. From his face, you'd think him rebellious and defiant.\n\nThe Unsouled.\n\nWei Shi Lindon crawled to his knees, kowtowing before him. \"This one... greets... honored Elder Whitehall,\" Lindon said between breaths. \"This one tried his hardest, and hopes he has not shamed the Heaven's Glory School too much with his tardiness.\"\n\nJudging by the sun, they still had at least two hours until sunset. The goal of reaching the top by sundown was not an easy one; only one in five disciples who survived the Trial of Glorious Ascension were allowed to select from the Lesser Treasure Hall. As a boy, Whitehall himself had not made it, and he had used that failure to push himself in the following years." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Had he been outdone by an Unsouled?\n\nThe boy's clothes were shredded and caked with dirt, as though he'd crawled on his belly the whole way up. Scratches covered his knees and hands, and it looked as though part of his face would swell up. He was crusted in layers of sweat, as though he'd wrung every drop of effort from his body for hours. He certainly looked like someone who had passed the Trial.\n\nBut he remembered the final demonstration of the Seven-Year Festival, how Lindon had'beaten\" his Iron opponent by conjuring Remnants out of nowhere. This wasn't a proud potential disciple of Heaven's Glory, but a scheming child whose spirit was trapped in a body that had grown without him. A twisted mirror of Whitehall himself.\n\nWhitehall walked over and kicked Lindon in the shoulder, tossing the boy up and making him shout with pain. \"Did you have a winged Remnant carry you up? Hm? Do you have a construct that protected you? Are you a genius scriptor? Because the heavens will crumble and the earth will sink into the sea before I believe you climbed up hereon your own strength.\"\n\nWei Shi Lindon looked up at him with hurt in his eyes, but rather than looking pitiable, he looked like he was angry enough to pick a fight. But there was no hint of anger in his words. \"Forgiveness, honored elder, but the honored elder himself was very specific that we should climb the steps by any means at our disposal. If the honored elder did not mean it, I would be willing to return to the bottom and climb backup, only I don't believe there is still time...\"\n\nWhitehall slowly glanced over his shoulder. Several disciples, in their red sashes, had gathered to watch this scene. They had paused their end-of-day training to see who'd made it up the Trial of Glorious Ascension." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With no witnesses, he would have tossed Wei Shi Lindon off the side of Mount Samara himself. No one would believe the Unsouled had a chance to make it in the first place, and they would all assume he'd died on the way up.\n\nBesides, the stairs were scripted to prevent anyone who started climbing them from leaving. People could enter the Trial late, but even Whitehall himself couldn't move off the trail once he'd begun.\n\nWhitehall hurled a small wooden piece at Lindon's head hard enough that it would probably leave a bruise. The Unsouled flinched and raised a hand to his scalp. The token was polished orus wood, bearing the mark of the Heaven's Glory School: three crossed swords on top of a blazing sun, with clouds surrounding it all.\n\n\"Take that to the Lesser Treasure Hall and give it to the elder there,\" Whitehall said, restraining his anger. He had more important things to be about; this Foundation-stage cripple wasn't worth his time. \"Tell him you're not worth anything too valuable.\"\n\nLindon returned to his knees and kowtowed one more time, pressing his forehead to the ground. \"Gratitude, honored elder. This one is grateful for your generosity.\"\n\n\"Go!\" Whitehall shouted, and the Jade madra powering his voice sent pebbles scattering and a flock of birds fleeing from the top of a distant tree.\n\nThe boy scrambled away, token in hand, leaving Elder Whitehall to seethe alone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Chapter 14\n\nLindon's plan had worked better than he expected. He'd ridden the carriage almost all the way up the mountain before dismounting, telling the Copper disciple that he had to walk the final distance for the sake of his pride. As soon as the carriage wound out of sight, he had walked around the slopes to the Trial of Glorious Ascension, which he had only experienced for about a hundred yards.\n\nCertainly, it was a grueling hundred yards. Spirits scoured his mind, tormenting him with doubts and dreams and phantom rage. He stumbled up each step with voices screaming in his head, and when he finally reached the top, he felt as though he'd escaped the cold grasp of death.\n\nIf he'd tried to climb the whole thing, he really might not have made it.\n\nHe flipped Elder Whitehall's token in his hand as he asked a nearby disciple where he might find the Lesser Treasure Hall. She was delighted to direct him once she realized he'd passed the Trial before sunset, although his wooden badge gave her a look of clear confusion.\n\nAs expected, the Heaven's Glory School was much more impressive in appearance than the Wei clan. Each building was sculpted from riverstone, a delicate and expensive material that glistened in the light as though drenched. Under the light of the setting sun, every wall sparkled.\n\nThe buildings were each large enough to be a family dwelling of the Wei clan, and next to each was a carefully cultivated garden that was dense with life. Disciples, in their white-and-gold robes with red sashes, were often tending the flowers or trimming trees in these little garden patches.\n\nWith the mountains in the background, the shimmering buildings and luxuriant plants gave this school the look of a celestial village, torn from the heavens and set down on the side of a peak. As a son of the Wei clan, Lindon could appreciate the dedication that had gone into designing such an image. Impressions were important." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Lesser Treasure Hall of the Heaven's Glory School was no larger than any other hall, but a towering sign boasted its name in letters of gold. A script around the edges gathered vital aura into light, so that it could be clearly read even in the night.\n\nSitting on the porch of the hall, next to a pair of Iron Enforcers, sat an old man that looked as though he would shrivel away to nothing at any second. His hair was white and wispy, his skin so thin and dry that it looked like it might crumble, and his eyes were little more than beady black dots. His heavy jade badge-carved with a hammer-trembled as he climbed to his feet, hobbling over to see Lindon.\n\n\"Welcome to the Heaven's Glory School, new disciple,\" the elder said. \"Your token, if you please.\"\n\n\"This humble student greets the elder,\" Lindon said, pressing his fists together in a salute. Only then did he handover the wooden piece.\n\nThe elder slipped the token in his pocket and studied Lindon. \"You have a wooden badge.\"\n\nThere was no point in hiding it, even if he could. Lindon didn't plan on staying at the Heaven's Glory School very long, and his weakness would cause him trouble even if he tried to deny it. \"I am Unsouled, elder.\"\n\n\"Elder Rahm. For an Unsouled to pass the Trial of Glorious Ascension before sundown is a fine achievement indeed. No matter how you did it.\" A bit of wry humor crept into Elder Rahm's voice before he turned and waved Lindon after him.\n\nLindon followed, deliberately looking away from the Irons on the side. He already had a good impression of the elder, and he didn't want to ruin his mood by seeing looks of ridicule or doubt on the faces of the guards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have supervised the Elder Treasure Hall for forty years, and if you need a more detailed explanation of any of the items, you have only to ask. This is the least of the three treasure halls in our school, but do not let that dim your eyes. These are still priceless artifacts that any of the clans would ransom their sons and daughters to afford, and only outstanding disciples are given a chance like this.\"\n\nLindon was hardly listening. The Heaven's Glory treasure hall looked much like the Wei clan's archive, but on a grander scale. The building was one huge room, broad and open like a dancing hall, with display cases stretching out in vast rows. Each case only came up to his chest, so he was afforded an almost uninterrupted look at the whole spread.\n\nAnd the treasures he saw-at least, the ones he recognized-were enough to make any Wei elder sick with envy.\n\n\"How do you leave them all in the open like this?\" Lindon asked. It was the first thought on his mind, because he imagined any disciple coming up from the clans would be tempted to rob this place clean.\n\nThe elder's wrinkled face stretched into a smile. \"The Path of Heaven's Glory does not require you to set aside evil and selfish desires, but it is to your own benefit that you do so. If you had any ideas of slipping outwith something extra in your pack, put them aside now.\" The elder pointed one gnarled finger at the frame around the door, through which they had just entered, and Lindon could just make out the delicate etchings of a script.\n\n\"That script is a defensive formation that calls battle-constructs out of the ground. Some of them use Heaven's Glory madra, but not all of them. Only the Grand Elder and I know the full configuration. Their power is enough to destroy even a group of Jades. Besides,\" he gestured to the cases, \"each case is sealed. If you try opening one without me, the alarms will wake the whole school. And set off the constructs.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He cackled and slapped Lindon on the shoulder. \"So if you want to try and steal something from me, Unsouled, go ahead and try. If you survive, you'll learn a good lesson.\"\n\nLindon pressed his fists together to salute the elder, glad the man hadn't taken offense. But in the back of his mind, he still noted that those security measures didn't seem unbeatable. He'd learned a bit about scripting and a bit more about constructs from his mother, and he was sure he could slither his way through a loophole.\n\nNot that a disciple should ever steal from his school, but Elder Whitehall had made it abundantly clear that he wasn't areal disciple. So why should he treat the Heaven's Glory School with extra respect?\n\nBut those were matters for another time. He stepped up to the first case, eagerly snatching the attached tablet. This was a fine, slightly-curved sword of polished steel, short enough to wield in one hand, with a delicate spiderweb of script over the flat of its blade.\n\nFlying Sword, the tablet read. When powered by Iron-quality madra, this weapon is capable of levitating through vital aura and striking with the force of areal sword. Used for personal defense, distant attacks, or even transportation for advanced practitioners.\n\nAspect requirement: none.\n\nAlready, Lindon's heart burned with desire. He'd heard stories of sacred artists standing on flying swords, or controlling clouds of the floating blades to shred armies. Even he could face a stronger opponent by using the sword from behind, fighting as though he had an invisible partner. It didn't even require a particular aspect, so his pure madra could power the script.\n\nIt was only suitable for sacred artists of Iron and above, but Suriel and Elder Whisper had both suggested that he would reach that level eventually. Why not take the treasure now and prepare for when that day came?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eventually he pried himself away from the first case and moved to the next one. This case contained only a polished wooden box, but the tablet included a picture: the sketch of a hovering, plated ball with what appeared to be a single eye in the center.\n\nGlasswater Sentinel. A transparent construct that is almost invisible, intended for personal protection. Strikes down attacks aimed at its owner. Crafted by Soulsmith Serenity of the Heaven's Glory School.\n\nInvoluntarily, Lindon reached out a hand to hover over the glass case, as though he could sense the construct's power. This would be even better than the flying sword! He could use it now, as constructs were fueled by vital aura, and it would keep him alive at least until he reached Copper and could somewhat protect himself. He almost picked this one immediately... but there were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of other cases.\n\nNightflame Spirit-lamp, said the tablet fora shuttered black lantern that gleamed with a cruel edge. Gathers fire-aspect vital aura during the day, sprouting aflame when the sunsets. Allows easy access to fire aura, and provides any practitioner with a source of light.\n\nSpirit-seals satin their own case, but he brushed by these. They were rectangular sheets of paper about the size of a palm, covered in scripts of daunting complexity, which could be attached to a Remnant in order to weaken them for capture or dissection. Spirit-seals were valuable, but they were almost useless for anyone aside from a Soulsmith. He left that one aside.\n\nOne case had a small garden inside, complete with tiny trees, grassy hills the size of a mouse, and a river running around the border that was still flowing. The glass of this case seemed twice as thick as the others, and it took him a minute or two of examination to realize that there was actually a glass box inside the glass case. Inside this garden, a finger-sized Remnant of ocean-blue flame darted around like a playful wraith. It slid inside the river, made a lap of the terrarium, and then frolicked on a hill fora few seconds. When Lindon leaned over the case, it paused, tilting its featureless head up as though to look at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After a few seconds, apparently bored, it returned to skimming around on the grass.\n\nSylvan Riverseed. The seed of a nascent Sylvan with water and other, unidentified aspects. Can be nurtured by a supply of pure madra, but its future growth is not guaranteed.\n\nAspect requirement: pure.\n\nThis case fascinated Lindon, and he stared at it for more than ten minutes. It seemed tailor-made for him, as it required purity, though he had little idea what a Sylvan was. It looked like a Remnant, and Remnants were indeed capable of becoming more powerful, but they didn't grow from a seed. If this was something like across between a Remnant and a sacred beast, it could serve him long after he left Sacred Valley.\n\nBut in the end, he moved onto other cases. It had the same drawback as many of the other riches here: it would take too long before he could use it. He needed something useful now. Then again, he didn't want something that would be useless to him as soon as he hit Copper...\n\nElder Rahm appeared in front of the Sylvan Riverseed's display case, smiling gently. \"It's good that you make this decision with patience. The treasure you select here can guide your entire Path, and my soul shudders every time a young disciple comes inhere and grabs the first weapon they see. If you tell me what has caught your eye, I might be able to enlighten you.\"\n\nIf Lindon didn't walkout of herewith at least half a dozen treasures, he would be leaving pieces of his spirit behind. He gave the elder a helpless look. \"I could take it all, and it still wouldn't be enough.\"\n\nRahm gave a hearty laugh, smacking his palm on the flat of a glass case. \"Good! Very good! That's how a young sacred artist should be. If you're not greedy for more, always more, how could you ever advance?\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Partner with the author and carry on with the tale.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, war\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Valour\nChapter: 5" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Year 1142 of the Age of Exiles, Birth Moon\n\nThe cauldron was a hulking mass of black iron, tall and wide, squatting upon a dais in the centre of a cavernous room. Torches of blue flame hung on the walls of the chamber, pockets of light punctuating the darkness. In the shadows, circling its edges, long and sinuous shapes moved.\n\nUthas of the Benothi giants strode towards the cauldron, his shadow flickering on the walls. He climbed the steps and stopped before it. It was utterly black, appearing to suck the torchlight into it, consuming it, reflecting nothing back. Just fora moment it seemed to shudder, a gentle throb, like a diseased heart.\n\nA muffled request from the chamber's entrance reached him but he did not move, just continued to stare.\n\n\"What?\" he said eventually.\n\n\"Nemain sends for you, Uthas. She says the Dreamer is waking.\"\n\nThe giant sighed and turned to leave the chamber. He brushed his fingertips against the cauldron's cold belly and froze.\n\n\"What is it?\" his shieldman Salach called from the chamber's doorway.\n\nUthas cocked his head to one side, closing his eyes. Voices, calling tome. \"Nothing,\" he murmured, unsure whether he heard or felt the whisperings from within the cauldron. \"Soon,\" he breathed as he pulled his fingers from the cold iron.\n\nA shape slithered from the shadows as he walked towards the exit. It blocked his way, gliding about him. A wyrm, white scales glistening as it raised its flat head and regarded him with cold, soulless eyes. He stood there, still and silent, let it taste his scent, felt an instant of unease as he waited, then the snake slithered away, its huge coils bunching and expanding, back to the shadows to rejoin its brood. He let out a breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Come, then,\" he said as he strode past Salach. \"Best not keep Nemain waiting.\"\n\nHe glanced at the chamber's dour-faced guards, all wrapped in fur andiron, as he marched past them. Salach's footfalls followed him. In silence they passed through the bowels of Murias, the last stronghold of the Benothi. It was nestled deep in the highlands of Benoth, carved into and beneath the grey, mist-shrouded land.\n\nIn time they reached a wide staircase that spiralled up into darkness and soon Uthas was muttering under his breath, the old pain in his knee gnawing at him as he climbed higher and higher.\n\n\"Bitseach,\" he swore, thinking of Nemain waiting for him at the top of this high tower. Salach chuckled behind him.\n\nEventually they were at a doorway. Salach nodded to the warrior standing there, Sreng, Nemain's shield-maiden. She opened the door for them.\n\nThe room was sparsely decorated, with little furniture apart from a large, fur-draped bed at its centre. A woman lay upon it, slender, sweat-soaked, her limbs jerking and twitching. A white-haired man sat beside her, his huge bulk crammed into a chair, holding her hand. He looked over as Uthas and Salach entered the room and stared at them, a ruined, scar-latticed hole where one of his eyes should have been.\n\n\"One-Eye.\" Uthas nodded. \"How is she?\"\n\nBalur One-Eye shrugged.\n\n\"Where is Nemain?\"\n\n\"I am here,\" a voice said, drawing Uthas' gaze to the far end of the room. A figure stood in an arched doorway, framed by the pale day beyond." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Nemain, Queen of the Benothi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ravens gathered on the balcony beyond her. One fluttered onto her shoulder.\n\n\"My Queen,\" Uthas said, dipping his head.\n\n\"Welcome back,\" she replied, hair the colour of midnight framing her milky, angular face. \"What news?\"\n\n\"Events are stirring in the south,\" Uthas said. \"Narvon wars with Ardan, and the warriors of Cambren are marching east.\" He paused, breathing deep, his next words frozen on his lips. He feared the answer he expected. \"Our enemies war amongst themselves. It would be a good time to strike and reclaim what was ours.\" Please, Nemain, give the order. Save me from what I must do if you refuse.\n\nNemain smiled, though there was little humour in it. \"Strike south? We area broken people, Uthas– you know this. Too few to fill this fortress, let alone the south that once was ours. Besides, we are set a different task, now.\" She walked out onto the balcony.\n\nHe sighed and followed her onto the balcony's edge, where cold air stung his skin. A cliff face sloped steeply down, wreathed far below in mist, a sea of dark granite and snow and wiry heather rolling into the distance. Ravens swirled about the balcony, riding the updraught. One cawed and veered to land besides Nemain. Idly she reached out and scratched its head. It clacked its beak.\n\n\"What of the west?\" she said. \"What of Domhain?\"\n\nUthas shrugged. \"There we know little. I suspect that Eremon grows older, content to do nothing in his dotage. That bandraoi Rath keeps us out,\" he spat. \"He does not rest. He hunts our scouts, raids our land, him and his giant-hunters. There have been some casualties.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ach,\" Nemain hissed, eyes flashing red. \"I would like nothing more than to march out and take back what we have lost, remind Rath why he hates us.\"\n\n\"Then let us do it,\" Uthas urged, feeling his blood surge, hope flaring.\n\n\"We cannot,\" Nemain said. \"The cauldron must be guarded. Never again can it be used. It must not fall into the wrong hands.\"\n\nUthas felt the words like a hammer blow, her words sealing his future.\n\n\"But we must know of what is happening beyond our borders. Domhain cannot remain closed to us. You will lead a company south, learn what you can of Eremon's plans. '\n\n\"As you command, my Queen,\" Uthas said.\n\n\"Choose who you will, but not too many. Speed will serve you better than strength in numbers. And avoid Rath's notice. '\n\n\"I will do as you say.\"\n\nA sharp cry rang out from the chamber behind them. The woman on the bed was sitting upright, sweat-darkened hair clinging to her face, eyes wild and bulging. Balur gripped her hand, murmuring to her.\n\n\"Ethlinn, what have you seen?\" Nemain asked.\n\nThe pale-faced woman took a shuddering breath. \"They are coming,\" she whispered. \"The Kadoshim draw ever closer. They feel the cauldron. The Black Sun, he is coming to make them flesh. He is coming for the cauldron.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen woke slowly, like the tide creeping in.\n\nFirst she felt. A dull throbbing in her head, her shoulder, her hip. She ached everywhere, she realized, but worse in those places. Then she heard. Groaning, low voices, the thud of footfalls, a dragging, scraping sound, and behind it the cry of gulls and the distant murmur of the sea. She tried to open her eyes; one was crusted shut. Daylight felt like a knife jabbing into her head. Where am I? She looked about and saw warriors in red cloaks dragging bodies across the stone-paved courtyard, leaving blood-smeared trails across the cobbles, piling them onto a heaped mound of corpses.\n\nSuddenly it all came flooding back, memory upon memory tumbling together: talking on the wall with Marrock, Evnis in the courtyard, the black-clothed warriors within the walls, the gates opening, Conall...\n\nThere was something soft beneath her. She was sprawled upon a body, a female, staring at her with lifeless eyes. Staggering she climbed upright, the world spinning briefly before it settled.\n\nStonegate was wide open, a trickle of people passing in and out of the fortress, most in the red cloaks of Narvon. Columns of black smoke marked the pale sky, a soft breeze from the sea tugging at them, blurring where smoke ended and sky began.\n\nThe battle is lost, then. Dun Carreg is fallen.\n\nThen another thought cut through the fog filling her mind. My family.\n\nShe looked at the bodies strewn about her, remembered falling with Conall but could not see him amongst the dead. Her mam and da's faces flashed through her mind, Corban, then Gar's. Where was everyone?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She left the courtyard unchallenged and drifted slowly through the streets, following the trail of the dead. They were littered everywhere, sometimes in mounds where the fighting had raged fiercer, some still locked together in a macabre embrace. The smell of smoke and fire grew thicker the deeper she walked into the fortress. Her feet took her to the stables. There were more warriors here, red-cloaked men tending wild-eyed horses. She glimpsed Corban's stallion Shield in the paddock, then he was gone, lost amongst the herd gathered there.\n\nWhere is Gar?\n\nAs if in a dream she walked on, peering at the faces of the dead, searching for her family, relieved every time a lifeless face was not one of them. Her search continued, becoming more frantic until she found herself in the courtyard before the feast-hall.\n\nAnother pile of the dead was heaped here, greater even than the one before Stonegate. Warriors were everywhere, wounded, covered in ash and blood. In one corner Cywen saw the grey-cloaks of Ardan, the defeated warriors gathered together, many injured. They were guarded by a cohort of Owain's men.\n\nA great ululation came from the feast-hall. Something– aboard, a tabletop– was being carried from the entranceway. As Cywen watched, it was hoisted upright and leaned with a thud against one of the columns that supported the entrance. A body was fixed to the board, covered in blood but still recognizable. Cywen's stomach lurched.\n\nBrenin. His head was lolling, arms twisted, wrists and ankles nailed to the tabletop. A great bloom of blood surrounding the wound in his chest. Cywen spat bile onto the stained cobblestones, motes of ash falling softly about her like black snow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She wiped her mouth and stumbled towards the hall's doors, eyes fixed on Brenin's corpse.\n\n\"Please, Elyon, All-Father,\" she prayed, \"let my kin still live.\" She stopped before Brenin, stood staring up at him until a warrior bumped into her and told her to get out of the way. She glared at him.\n\nNoise from the feast-hall leaked out into the courtyard, some kind of commotion– men shouting, a deep growling. Storm?\n\nThen she was dashing through the open doors, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the gloom. Everything was chaos inhere, tables and chairs overturned, timbers blackened and charred with fire, clouds of smoke still clinging to the rafters where the flames had only recently been doused. There were many people gathered inhere. She saw Owain talking with Nathair, a cluster of the black-clothed warriors that had stormed the gates gathered about him. Evnis was amongst them, and Conall. Anger flashed in her gut and her hand instinctively reached for her knife-belt. She scowled as she remembered she'd used all the blades last night on the wall.\n\nThen her eyes were drawn back to the commotion that had first caught her attention. A group of warriors were circling something, a snapping, snarling something.\n\n\"Just kill it,\" she heard one of the warriors say and saw a flash of sharp white teeth, a flat muzzle, brindle fur.\n\n\"Buddai,\" she whispered and ran forwards, elbowing through the line of warriors.\n\nThey were grouped in a half-circle about Buddai, the great hound standing with his head lowered, teeth bared.\n\nCywen stumbled to a halt and Buddai's bighead swung round to face her, teeth snapping. Then, suddenly, he knew her. He whined, his tail wagging hesitantly at seeing someone familiar in this place of death, someone that was pack. She threw herself upon him, arms wrapped about his neck, and buried her face in his fur. She stayed like that long moments, tears spilling into Buddai's fur. In time she leaned back, got a lick on the face and looked down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's why you're here,\" she mumbled. Her da lay sprawled on the ground, eyes glassy, flat, wounds allover his body, blood crusting black. With a deep sob she knelt beside Thannon's corpse and gently brushed her fingertips across his cheek. Are they all slain, then? She laid her head upon Thannon's chest. Buddai snuggled in close to her and nudged Thannon's hand with his muzzle. It flopped on the ground.\n\n\"Girl,\" a voice said and a spear butt dug into her back.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"You need to move,\" the man said, an older warrior, silver streaks in his red beard.\n\n\"No,\" she said, squeezing her da tighter.\n\n\"We have to clear the hall, lass, an\" that hound won't let us near him.\" He prodded Thannon's boot with his spear butt. Buddai growled.\"If you can get that hound to go with you all the better, otherwise we've no choice but t'kill it. '\n\nKill Buddai. No more death.\n\n\"I... yes,\" Cywen said, wiping her eyes and nose. She knelt before Buddai, running her hands over him. Blood crusted the fur on his front shoulder and he whined when she probed the wound. \"Come with me, Buds,\" she whispered, \"else they'll kill you too. ' He just cocked his head and stared at her with uncomprehending eyes.\n\nCywen stood, took a few steps away from the hound and called him. He took a hesitant step towards her, then looked back at his fallen master and whined pitifully.\n\n\"Come on, Buds. Come.\" Cywen slapped her hand against her leg, and this time he came to her. The red-bearded warrior nodded and continued with his work." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No one was taking any notice of Cywen; she was just another blood-stained survivor of the night's dark work. All of the warriors in the room seemed to be busy clearing the floors, tending to wounded comrades. Owain and Nathair were still deep in conversation, though Cywen saw that the King of Tenebral's shieldman– the black-clad warrior called Sumur– was staring back at her.\n\n\"Come on, Buddai,\" Cywen said. \"Best begetting out of here.\" She turned towards the feast-hall doors and with a thud crashed into someone.\n\n\"Oof,\" the man grunted. \"Watch where you're-You. '\n\nCywen stood frozen, staring at the person she had collided with. It was Rafe.\n\nThe huntsman's son glared at her. Buddai growled and Rafe took a step backwards.\n\nHis fair hair was dank, ash stained, his eyes red veined with dark hollow rings. He had been crying. There was a gash in one leg of his breeches, just above the knee, and drying blood soaked down to his boots. A ragged bandage was tied tight above the wound.\n\n\"Your brother did that tome,\" he said, following her gaze to his wounded leg. \"One more thing I owe him for.\"\n\n\"Ban,\" Cywen gasped, her heart twisting at the mention of her brother. \"He lives, then?\" She was almost too scared to speak the thought out loud.\n\n\"Maybe, but not for long. We'll catch him, catchall of them. '\n\n\"All of them? Who else? My mam, Gar?\"\n\nRafe just looked at her, then smiled slowly. \"All on your own, little girl? Best begetting used to that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She felt a swell of rage, hated Rafe at that moment as much as she'd hated anyone. She reached for her knives again, cursed silently when she remembered they were all gone.\"Traitor, ' she hissed at him.\n\n\"Depends where you're looking from, \"Rafe said, but frowned nevertheless.\"Way I see it, Evnis is my lord. I do as I'm bid. And it seems tome he's on the winning side, at least. '\n\n\"For now,\" Cywen muttered.\n\n\"Things have changed around here.\" Rafe wagged a finger at her. \"And if you don't realize that quick, you'll end up sorry. You'd best be minding your manners from now on. All your protectors have left you. Not so special are you, eh? Why'd they leave you?\" He grinned. \"Think about that.\"\n\nCywen wanted to hit him. His words were sharp, cutting deep like one of her knives. She clenched her fists, knowing attacking anyone right now was not a good idea.\n\nRafe looked over her shoulder and she followed his gaze. Evnis was beckoning to the huntsman's son, Conall still beside him.\"I'll be seeing you,\" Rafe said. \"And don't worry, we'll find your kin for you.\" He grinned, an unpleasant twist of his mouth, and drew a finger slowly across his throat, from ear to ear. Before she knew it, Cywen was stepping forwards, ramming her knee into Rafe's groin.\n\nHe crumpled forwards, folding in upon himself and curled up into a ball on the ground, whimpering.\n\n\"Best you keep away from me and my kin,\" she snarled at him, then heard a chuckling behind her. The red-bearded warrior was watching her, along with a handful of others." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You'n that hound, you're a good match,\" the warrior said. He grinned and she flushed red, biting back angry words, thought she'd best be making herself scarce. Lowering her gaze, she headed for the feast-hall's open doors, Buddai following. She glanced back as she stepped out into the daylight to see Rafe pushing himself up from the ground. Sumur was still staring at her.\n\nConsumed with an urge to go home, she ran through the streets, Buddai limping along beside her.\n\nWhen she opened the door and stepped into the kitchen she almost expected to see her mam standing there, bustling about by the ovens, her da sitting at the table, eating something. She even called out, hoping to hear someone. She searched every room until she found herself back in the kitchen. Her home was empty, as cold and lifeless as her da's gaze.\n\nWhere are they?\n\n\"Gone,\" she whispered. A sob bubbled out of her and she swayed, steadying herself against the kitchen table.\n\nAll gone. And they've left me behind. Rafe's words rang loud in her memory. How could they just leave me? She looked at Buddai and the hound stared trustingly back at her. An image of her da flooded her mind, crusted blood allover him, those terrible, empty eyes. She wished her mam was thereto hold her, comfort her. And Ban, her brother, her best friend. Why had he abandoned her? Another sob burst out of her and she sank to the floor, wrapped her arms about Buddai and began to cry in great, racking waves. The brindle hound licked Cywen's tear-stained cheek and curled himself protectively about her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis drank from a water skin, pouring some over his head and neck. He and his men were spread in a half-circle before the great gates of Haldis, last bastion of the Hunen giants. Only a short while ago Calidus and Alcyon had disappeared inside, with over two hundred warriors at their back.\n\nSurvivors of the clash against the giants were trickling into the clearing and Veradis sent half a dozen scouts out to help guide the stragglers in.\n\n\"It's thirsty work, eh? \"Bos, his comrade-in-arms said, grinning.\"This giant-killing. '\n\nThe big warrior was bleeding from a cut to his ear, blood matting his hair. As Veradis stared he realized it was more than a cut; a large chunk of his friend's ear missing.\n\n\"Where's your helmet? ' he asked.\n\n\"Lost it.\" Bos shrugged. He touched his ear and looked at his bloodied fingertips. \"Better'n losing my head. '\n\n\"That's debatable, ' Veradis said as he passed his friend the water skin.\n\nBos drank deep. \"We have a fine tale to tell Rauca, eh?\"\n\n\"For sure,\" Veradis said. \"If we make it out of here.\" He gazed at the surrounding cairns, each one at least twice as tall as a man and grave to a giant. The sounds of battle still drifted on a cold wind, faint and echoing. Beyond the cairns the trees of Forn Forest rose all about. At Veradis' back a sheer cliff face reared, covered in huge carvings; an open gateway at its foot led into darkness.\n\nThe blood-rush of battle was slowly fading, replaced now by aching muscles, tiredness and a throbbing in Veradis'face. He reached up and pulled a splinter from his cheek, from where a giant's axe had carved into his shield, chopped through its iron rim and spat splinters of wood into his face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Many of his five hundred had fallen in the battle amongst the cairns, but those left stood proudly. They knew they had turned this battle, somehow pulled victory from defeat with their shield wall.\n\nBraster and Romar's warbands had been decimated, laid low by giants\" magic and giants'iron. Braster himself had fallen amongst the cairns, carried wounded and unconscious from the field. Romar, King of Isiltir, had led a force in chase of the routed Hunen through the black gates. Despite Calidus seeing him as a thorn in their flesh, opposing Nathair and his servants at almost every turn, Veradis didn't envy Romar the close-quarters battle he would encounter in the dark tunnels.\n\nEspecially as Calidus had hinted that it was time to take drastic measures against the recalcitrant King. That was Calidus' business. Nathair had made it clear to Veradis that he had no authority over Calidus, that the man could do as he wished. And Calidus had the Jehar to enforce those wishes.\n\nWhatever happens, happens, he thought. Romar meant little to him, but Veradis did have friends in there, inside those tunnels. Kastell and Maquin. They were part of the Gadrai, Romar's elite warriors. He would not like to see them come to harm. But he had warned them, or tried to. What else could he have done?\n\nEven as Veradis looked into the tunnels, noise filtered out of the darkness– the clash of iron, faint screams.\n\nBos tapped him and nodded towards the mounds. One of the scouts had returned.\n\n\"I've found something, ' the scout breathed, chest heaving.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"A doorway, hidden. I heard voices, and something else. It was strange.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis gathered a dozen men, left Bos in charge of the rest, then marched after the scout. He led them on a path through the cairns. All was eerily silent.\n\nThe barrows ended, replaced by clustered stone buildings, empty and shadow filled. Their progress slowed as Veradis and his men checked there were no giants lurking in the darkness.\n\n\"There,\" the scout said, pointing at the cliff face.\n\nVine grew thick across the rock. Veradis stared but could see nothing out of place.\n\n\"No, there,\" the scout urged, walking forwards. He stopped before the escarpment and scraped the soil at his feet with a boot, revealing a handle. It was attached to a trapdoor.\n\nVeradis knelt, putting his ear to the ground. At first he heard nothing, but then, distinctly, he heard a muffled cry, like a child.\n\nHe pointed to the handle, whispered orders until two warriors were gripping it, the rest gathered about the trapdoor, weapons drawn.\n\n\"Now,\" Veradis ordered, and the door was heaved open.\n\nWide stone steps led down, sunlight shafting into the hole, revealing faces staring backup at them. Many faces. Giant faces, though something immediately struck Veradis as strange. Different.\n\nBefore he had a chance to do anything, there was a roar and a figure hurtled up the steps, swinging a war-hammer. Voices cried out from behind the giant. Veradis leaped to the side, the hammer missing him, smashing into another warrior. Bones crunched, the man crumpled, the giant surging onwards, sending other men flying.\n\nVeradis and his men circled their foe, who snarled curses at them, turning defiantly. Veradis darted forwards, stabbed, retreated. The giant roared and spun around, only for Veradis' warriors to move in, all stabbing. The giant bellowed his rage, charged the circle, smashed one warrior to the ground. Swords slashed. The giant stumbled on a few steps, collapsed, blood staining the grass." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis stood still a moment, breathing hard, then strode forward and nudged the fallen body with his boot. He would not begetting backup.\n\n\"Come out,\" Veradis spoke into the trapdoor. The only answer was silence. He peered in, saw shadowed figures beyond the sun's reach.\"I'm not fool enough to comedown there. If you stay, you will all burn,\" he said, louder. Still no answer. He shrugged and turned away.\n\n\"They are only bairns,\" a voice grated from the darkness. \"We will come up. Please, do not kill them.\"\n\nGiant bairns. What a day this is. \"Come up. If it is as you say we will not shed the first blood.\" Veradis stepped back, holding a warning hand up to his men.\n\nA figure emerged from the hole in the ground, a giant, tall and broad. A female, no drooping moustache, though she was as muscled as any male. Black strips of leather crisscrossed her breasts and she held a war-hammer loosely in her hands. Her dark eyes darted from Veradis to the giant lying face down on the grass. Grief swept her face.\n\nVeradis ushered her forwards. She took hesitant steps, said something unintelligible and others appeared behind her.\n\nVeradis blinked. There were between twenty and thirty of them. They were a mixture of heights, ranging from shorter than him to taller, and many in between. They were muscled, though leaner than full-grown giants, their limbs longer, almost gangly, like newborn colts. Tufts of hair grew on some faces, though most were hairless, appearing softer, somehow, lacking the stark angles of the adult giants that Veradis had seen. Some held weapons, daggers as long as a sword to Veradis, one or two– the larger ones– hefting hammers or axes. All looked terrified, on the edge of fight or flight. Veradis felt the tension, knew this could turn into a bloodbath at the slightest misstep. Their guardian said something; the ones with hammer and axe lowered their weapons slightly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She feels it too.\n\n\"They are only bairns,\" the giant repeated, pride and pleading mingling in her voice.\n\nChildren. \"Most of them are bigger than me,\" Veradis snorted. He ran a hand through his hair. \"I shall not harm them, or you. As long as you show no aggression.\"\n\nThe giant's eyes darted between him and his men.\"The battle is lost, then, ' she said. It was not a question.\n\n\"Aye. You will need to lay your weapons down. All of them.\" And then I can figure out what I am going to do with you all. Veradis glanced at the small host gathered at her back, uncomfortably aware that they outnumbered him and his men.\n\nShe snapped something over her shoulder andiron clattered to the ground. A few hesitated and she spoke more loudly at them, at the same time dropping her own hammer. As she did so, something behind Veradis caught her attention, a frown creasing her thick brows.\n\nAlcyon was striding towards them, Calidus and the Jehar behind him, spread like a dark cloak.\n\n\"What have we here?\" Calidus said.\n\n\"They were hiding,\" Veradis said. \"And they have surrendered.\" He did not like the hard look in Calidus'eyes, the way the man's hand was resting on his sword hilt.\n\n\"Dia duit,\" Alcyon said, stepping forwards. He touched a hand to his forehead.\n\nThe giantess eyed him suspiciously, but returned the gesture. She lifted her head, sniffing the air like a hound catching ascent. Her eyes narrowed, focusing on Calidus. \"Cen fath coisir tu racan ar dubh aingeal.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alcyon shrugged. \"I have made my choice,\" he rumbled, some emotion sweeping his face.\n\nIs that shame? Veradis thought.\n\n\"They cannot live,\" Calidus said behind Alcyon.\n\nThe giant raised a hand, scowling. \"They are only bairns.\"\n\n\"They will not be bairns forever. They will seek revenge for their kin. And for what you have taken.\"\n\n\"Taken what?\" the giantess demanded, pronouncing the words slowly, grimacing as if they left a bad taste in her mouth.\n\n\"The starstone axe,\" Calidus said.\n\nThe giantess' eyes whipped to Alcyon, and Veradis saw the axe slung across his back. It was a dull black from blade to hilt. As Veradis stared at it, a sound fluttered in his mind– a faint wind, the whisper of voices– just fora heartbeat, then it was gone. He blinked.\n\nThe giantess snarled something, snatched her hammer up and flung herself at Alcyon. He reeled backwards, shrugging the axe into his hands and blocking a strike that would have taken his head from his shoulders.\n\nBehind her a handful of the giant bairns grabbed their discarded weapons and followed their guardian. With a sound like a wave breaking, the Jehar drew their swords.\n\nVeradis stumbled back, sword and shield ready, but something held him from entering the battle. He did not want to shed the blood of these giants. They were only children. They are your enemy, a voice said in his head.\n\nAnd what of mercy, even to an enemy? he thought.\n\nAlcyon was blocking the female giant's attack, using his new axe like a staff. There was a flurry of blows, Alcyon retreating before the onslaught. He too seemed reluctant to draw blood. About him the Jehar fought with the adolescents, who threw themselves at the black-clad warriors with more passion than skill. Many were dead already." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alcyon cracked the butt of his axe into the giantess' head. She reeled back, sank to one knee. About her the battle lulled, the young giants staring.\n\n\"Drop your weapon,\" Alcyon grated.\n\nCalidus appeared between them. Alcyon yelled at the silver-haired man, but Calidus ignored him. He swept his sword in a looping blow, chopping the giantess' head from her shoulders.\n\nHer charges screamed in grief-stricken rage, some renewing their attack, others breaking away, running amongst the cairns.\n\nAlcyon bowed his head.\n\nThe Jehar made short work of the remaining giants, and in moments the conflict was over.\n\n\"Well met, Veradis,\" Calidus called out, grinning as he strode over. With his cloak he cleaned the blood from his sword. Akar, the dour-faced leader of the Jehar, walked behind him.\n\nVeradis nodded a greeting, his eyes drawn to the giantess'head, the bodies of children strewn about her.\"Did things go well? In the tunnels? ' he asked, trying to look away from the faces of the dead.\n\n\"Well enough. The Hunen are broken, now. And we found a great prize for Nathair.\"\n\n\"Prize? What?\"\n\n\"This.\" Alcyon lifted the axe. \"One of the Seven Treasures.\" He was still scowling.\n\nNow that he was closer, Veradis saw that the axe haft was dark-veined wood, smooth and shiny from age and use, bound with iron rings all along its length. The double blade was a dull matt black, seeming to suck light into it, casting none back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He glanced beyond them, saw the Jehar and a handful of other warriors. He recognized Jael amongst them.\n\n\"Where is everyone else?\" A sick feeling grew in the pit of his gut, his thoughts turning to Kastell and Maquin.\n\n\"There were casualties,\" Calidus said with a shrug. \"This is a battlefield, Veradis. Men die.\"\n\n\"Men. What men?\"\n\n\"Many,\" snapped Calidus. \"Romar fell, along with some of his men.\"\n\n\"All,\" Alcyon corrected.\n\n\"All,\" Calidus repeated coldly. \"A tragedy, but, such is the way of these things.\"\n\nVeradis stared at him, Kastell and Maquin's faces hovering in his mind's eye. I tried to warn them.\n\n\"Come, Alcyon,\" Calidus said, turning away. \"Clean up here, Veradis. We will meet later, talk of what happens next.\"\n\nAlcyon strode after Calidus, balancing the black axe over his shoulder. Akar remained with Veradis, frowning. He looked as if he was going to say something, wanted to say something, then he turned away and marched after Calidus, his black-clad warriors falling in behind him.\n\nVeradis watched the light and shadow of the crackling fire flicker across Calidus' face as he sat opposite him, deep in conversation with Lothar, battlechief to King Braster of Helveth.\n\nBehind the counsellor, hidden in shadow, was the bulk of Alcyon. A dark mood had been upon him since the killing of the giant children. The black axe lay across his lap. In his hand was along thin needle, black ink dripping from its tip. Veradis watched with fascination as Alcyon rhythmically stabbed at his forearm, adding more thorns to the swirling vine tattoo that marked the lives the giant had taken in battle. Veradis scowled. Are Kastell and Maquin marked by one of those thorns?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Akar sat at the fire with another of the Jehar, a dark-haired, sharp-featured woman. She looked young, as far as Veradis could tell, not much different in age from him. He frowned, still not comfortable with the thought of female warriors, and especially not ones as skilled as the Jehar.\n\nLothar made his farewells and strode off into the darkness. No one had wanted to camp amongst the silent graves of Haldis, so they had settled on the sloping approach to the burial grounds, not far from where Veradis had viewed the battle that morning. It seemed along time ago.\n\nCampfires flickered all along the ridge, warming the survivors of the battle. Around four thousand warriors had marched into Haldis. Fewer than a thousand had survived, and half of that number belonged to Veradis'warband and the Jehar. Romar's warband had been almost entirely destroyed, only Jael and a few score others surviving. Braster's warband had fared little better, only the few hundred that had carried his wounded body from the field remained.\n\n\"Well?\" Veradis said across the flames. \"How is King Braster?\"\n\n\"His wound was not fatal,\" Calidus replied. \"A hammer blow crushed his shoulder. Lothar said their healers are happy with the setting of his bones, so...\" He shrugged. \"He may not swing a sword again, but he'll live. '\n\n\"Good,\" Veradis said. He liked Braster. There was a gruff, blunt honesty about Helveth's king.\"So, what is our plan, now? '\n\n\"Now it is time to find Nathair. We have been apart from him long enough.\"\n\n\"Excellent.\" Veradis had felt a fierce pride at being given command over this campaign, more so now for bringing his warband successfully through the conflict, even though he knew that Calidus and Alcyon had played a large part in that, counteracting the magic of the Hunen's elementals. Throughout the whole campaign, though, he had felt a nagging worry about Nathair, knowing that his king, his friend, wassailing into the unknown in his search of the cauldron. He was Nathair's first-sword; he should beat his side." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How will we find him?\" he asked. \"He was about to sail for Ardan when we parted, but who knows where he is now?\"\n\n\"I have received word,\" Calidus said, tapping his head. \"Remember, I was spymaster to the Vin Thalun for many years. Nathair is at Dun Carreg in Ardan. We will head there. Nathair needs us, needs his advisers about him. I will make sure that Lykos meets us there.\"\n\n\"Huh,\" Veradis muttered, not sure if he wanted to know how Calidus would manage that. He liked the thought of leaving this forest behind, but part of him still prickled with suspicion at the mention of the Vin Thalun. Some distrust burrowed deep.\n\n\"So we leave on the morrow?\" Veradis asked.\n\n\"At first light. We will travel east with Jael to Isiltir, then carry onto Ardan.\"\n\n\"Jael?\" Veradis said. He had disliked Kastell's cousin the first moment he set eyes on him. He was a very different man from Kastell or Maquin, both of whom Veradis had considered friends and who now lay dead in the tunnels beneath Haldis. By whose hand Veradis did not know, and some part of him did not want to. Another part of him could think of nothing else. Let it go, a voice whispered in his head.\n\n\"Yes. Jael,\" Calidus said. \"Is there any problem with that?\"\n\n\"No,\" said Veradis. He thought of saying more but held his tongue.\n\n\"Good. Jael has a strong claim to the throne of Isiltir, now that Romar is gone. And Nathair will support him in that claim.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is strange,\" Veradis said, the words spilling out, \"how Romar and all his shieldmen died in the tunnels. Yet Jael survived.\" He raised his head and stared hard at Calidus.\n\nThe counsellor gave a thin-lipped smile. \"It is war. These things happen.\"\n\nCalidus was right, men did fall in battle. Veradis had lost more shield-brothers than he cared to think about in battle, many of them friends, and he knew that in life things were not always clear cut. But this? What had happened in the tunnels felt like betrayal. \"Did you see Romar die?\" Veradis pressed. \"And the one that slew him?\"\n\n\"Oh yes,\" Calidus said, his face as expressionless as stone. \"A giant slew Romar. Think more on the living than the dead, Veradis. We are all serving Nathair here. What we do is for the greater good, for Nathair's good. \"His eyes narrowed.\"I hope that you have the conviction to serve your king fully. '\n\n\"Of course I do,\" Veradis said. \"Never doubt my loyalty to Nathair.\"\n\n\"Good.\" Calidus gave a faint smile. \"Well, I am for my rest. We have an early start and along journey ahead of us.\"\n\nAlcyon rose and followed Calidus into the darkness, Akar making to do the same.\n\n\"Akar. Did you see Romar fall?\"\n\n\"Aye.\"\n\n\"And...\"\n\n\"Calidus spoke true,\" Akar said. \"A giant did slay Romar.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said Veradis, both surprised and relieved. He had been so certain that Calidus had been involved." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A giant wielding a black-bladed battle-axe,\" Akar said, then turned and strode into the darkness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm going to let you go, now. Don't do anything stupid.\"\n\nThe words filtered into Maquin's mind as if from a great distance.\n\nWhere am I?\n\nHe opened his eyes, though at first it seemed to make little difference. It was pitch dark, his face was pressed hard against cold stone and a pain bloomed in his shoulder.\n\n\"Careful. They've been gone awhile, but sound carries in these tunnels, ' the same voice said.\n\nTunnels? Then it came back, an avalanche of memory. Haldis, the battle in the tunnels, Romar arguing with Calidus over that axe. Betrayal. Death. Kastell...\n\n\"Kas...\" he breathed.\n\nThere was along silence, then. \"He's dead. They're all dead.\"\n\nKastell.\n\nHe had seen Jael stab him, knew instantly that it was a killing blow. He had tried to get to him, but Orgull, captain of the Gadrai, had grabbed him, dragged him into the darkness while battle still raged nearby, though the end had been in no doubt. Romar, King of Isiltir, had been betrayed by Calidus of Tenebral. And by Jael.\n\nAnd Kastell had been slain.\n\nAt first Maquin had fought, trying to break Orgull's grip on him, but the man's strength was immense, and then... nothing.\n\n\"I can't remember it all. What happened? ' he croaked.\n\n\"You were fighting like a draig to runoff and get yourself killed. Had to crack you one on the head.\" Orgull's voice drifted down to him. He felt the big man shrug, a ripple of pain through his back.\"Sorry. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He became aware of a pressure on him, a great weight pressing down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are you sitting on me?\"\n\n\"Had to be sure you wouldn't jump up and runoff the moment you woke up. '\n\n\"No chance of that,\" Maquin grunted. \"Get off.\"\n\nHe felt Orgull's weight shift from his back. Maquin rolled onto one knee, groaning as he stood, a hand reaching instinctively for his sword.\n\nOrgull frowned. \"You thinking straight?\"\n\n\"Aye.\" Maquin scowled. He rolled his shoulders, cramped muscles stretching. And there was a greater pain shouting for his attention. He remembered catching the wrong end of a giant's war-hammer. Waves of pain pulsed from his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and looked about the chamber.\n\nTorches still burned, blue light flickering from some kind of oil held high in iron bowls that marked an aisle to the dead giant-king, his cadaver still sitting in its stone chair upon its dais. Bodies lay strewn before it.\n\nMaquin and Orgull shared a look, without a word walked back to the battle scene, treading carefully amongst the dead.\n\nWe're all that's left of the Gadrai, a voice whispered inside his head. The rest are gone. All dead. He closed his eyes, saw again Jael's sword punch into Kastell's belly.\n\nOrgull knelt beside Vandil and closed the eyes of their leader's corpse. There was a gaping wound in his chest where the giant Alcyon had struck him with that black axe.\n\nMaquin strode to where he had seen Kastell fall.\n\nHe lay face down, a black pool of blood spread about his waist. Maquin knelt and rolled him over, cradling him in his arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, Kas,\" he whispered, tears rising up and choking the rest. So many memories. He remembered the day Kastell had been born, when he had been a warrior in the hold of Kastell's da, remembered his pride when he had been chosen as Kastell's shieldman, remembered carrying the boy from the flames and wreckage of a Hunen attack, remembered his oath, solemn words to protect unto death.\n\nTears dripped off his nose, smudging pale tracks in the grime on Kastell's face.\n\nI have failed you. He had loved Kastell as the son that he had never had, and he had let him die by Jael's hand. A cold rage ignited in his belly.\n\nTenderly, Maquin brushed dirt from Kastell's face, then laid him back down. He found Kastell's sword and placed it on his body, folding stiffening fingers about its hilt. Then he knelt, whispered a prayer, asked for forgiveness and swore anew oath. And this one I shall not fail, except by death's intervention. Jael shall die by my hand. He drew a dagger from his belt and cut a red line across his palm, let his blood drip onto Kastell.\n\nOrgull came and stood beside him, head bowed.\n\n\"Jael killed him,\" Maquin mumbled.\n\nOrgull nodded, torchlight gleaming blue in his eyes. \"Jael seemed overly close to that Calidus. I should have seen it. They have much to answer for.\" He tugged thoughtfully at the warrior braid bound in his blond beard. \"This ran deeper than some blood-feud between uncle and nephew. I am thinking that Jael has designs on the throne of Isiltir.\"\n\n\"The throne?\" said Maquin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aye. Romar's boy is, what, ten summers? \"Orgull said.\"And Jael is blood-kin to Romar, though distant. He would have a claim, if those closer were removed. '\n\n\"Such as Romar,\" Maquin said.\n\n\"And him,\" Orgull added, looking pointedly at Kastell.\n\nMaquin ground his palms into his eyes. \"Jael will pay for this.\"\n\nOrgull gave him an appraising look. \"If I am right, the best revenge is to deny Jael the throne of Isiltir.\"\n\n\"A sword in his heart will do that,\" Maquin said.\n\n\"And if you fail? We do not know how things lie up there, but likely he has shieldmen about him, and Calidus, along with his giant and the Jehar. Chances are you won't get close to him. Then Jael still gets the throne. Don't call that much of a revenge.\"\n\nMaquin glared at Orgull, part of him recognizing the truth of his words, but the greater part of him not caring.\n\n\"Word must get back to Isiltir of this– of Jael's treachery. I'll not see all our sword-brothers dead for nothing.\"\n\nOrgull bent besides Romar, recovered the dead king's sword and wrapped it in a cloak.\"I did not save you to see you throw your life away the instant we set foot above ground. '\n\n\"My life is not yours to decide,\" Maquin said. \"I am going to kill Jael.\"\n\nOrgull stooped to look Maquin in the eye. \"I need your help. There is more at stake here than one man's vengeance. Please, help me to get word back to Isiltir of this slaughter. \"He paused, eyes locked with Maquin, then shook his head.\"I will make a pact with you. Help me to do this, and then I shall help you. We shall bring about Jael's death together, or die trying. I swear it on our fallen brothers.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin sucked in a deep breath, chewing over Orgull's words. There was sense in them: if he went charging after Jael now he was most likely rushing to a death that accomplished nothing.\"All right, \"he whispered, glancing at Kastell's corpse.\n\nThey gripped forearms.\n\n\"Course, we've got to get out of here first, ' Maquin said.\n\n\"True. Are you injured?\"\n\n\"I've been better. \"His left arm hung limp at his side, his face was pale, slick with sweat.\"I blocked a hammer blow with my shoulder. '\n\nOrgull stood behind Maquin, his fingers probing the warrior's shoulder and arm.\"Dislocated, not broken. Here, bite on this. \"He gave Maquin a strip of leather, then gripped the warrior's shoulder in one large fist, placing his other hand between shoulder blade and spine. Then he pushed, hard.\n\nThere was aloud crack, Maquin hissed and slumped.\n\n\"Next time, use a shield, not your shoulder,\" Orgull said.\n\n\"I'll try and remember, ' Maquin mumbled, spitting the leather from his mouth. He sank to one knee.\n\n\"Take what you need,\" Orgull said, reaching down to grab a shield from a fallen warrior. \"We need to find away out of here.\"\n\nWith an effort, Maquin walked away from Kastell's body and began searching the ground. First he looked to his water skin, drinking deep, then refilled it from others about him. In short time he found a plain wooden shield, iron-rimmed and bossed. Its face showed signs of the battle, but only shallow scratches. He hefted it, checked its straps, then slung it across his back. He also found abroad-bladed spear. Orgull was holding an axe that had belonged to one of the long-dead giant warriors left guarding their king. As Maquin stared at him, Orgull swung the axe at the stone floor, sparks flying as it chipped a chunk out of the rock. Rust fell from the blade. Orgull ran his thumb along its edge and nodded approvingly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You thinking to chop your way out of here?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin asked.\n\n\"If I have to. It's still sharp enough. \"Orgull smiled humourlessly.\"I'm not taken with the idea of using their front door, though. Can't see that Calidus leaving it open, or unguarded. And if I start chopping at it I'll wake all between here and the forest.\"\n\n\"Agreed,\" Maquin said.\n\n\"See those flames?\"\n\nMaquin looked up at the blue flames. Some flickered and crackled, touched by a breeze.\n\n\"Let's find where that air is coming from and hope it's more than a crack in the ground.\"\n\nThere was a sudden muffled groan from amongst the bodies around them. Maquin pulled at the corpse of a Jehar warrior, revealing twitching fingers, a moving arm.\n\nIt was Tahir, one of their Gadrai sword-brothers. He was a young man, not much older than Kastell. They had been friends.\n\nThey uncovered him and checked him for wounds but could only find a large, egg-shaped lump on his temple. The stocky, long-armed warrior touched it and winced.\n\n\"What happened?\" he muttered, his eyes unfocused.\n\nOrgull recounted Jael's treachery.\n\n\"Vandil?\" Tahir asked, rising unsteadily to his feet, gazing at the dead strewn about him.\n\n\"Dead. Slain by Calidus\" pet giant, ' Orgull said.\n\nTahir whistled, shook his head and instantly looked as if he regretted doing it. \"What now, then?\"\n\n\"Find away out of this hole. One thing at a time.\"\n\nMaquin fashioned torches out of axe and spear shafts, wrapping them in strips of cloth torn from tattered cloaks, and dipped them in the oil-filled bowls that lined the walkway. They flickered with the same blue light." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Together they marched to the edge of the chamber and began tracing its edge, searching fora doorway. It was not long before they found an archway draped with thick cobwebs, a slight breeze stirring it. Maquin touched his torch to the web and blue sparks crackled out in a widening circle, consuming the web right back to the stone. Orgull looked at them both, then strode into the darkness. Tahir followed.\n\nMaquin paused, looking back into the chamber. \"Farewell, Kastell,\" he said, and after a few long moments he gritted his teeth and stepped into the tunnel.\n\nThe three of them trudged in silence, blue-tinged torchlight flickering on the tunnel's high roof and walls. Other corridors branched off, Maquin eyeing the dense shadows suspiciously. This place was in Forn Forest, after all, or beneath it, and Forn was the dark savage heart of the Banished Lands. Its inhabitants were by and large unpleasant. And predatory.\n\nHis thoughts drifted back to those left behind, to Vandil, to his Gadrai sword-brothers, to Romar and most of all to Kastell. Yet again he saw Jael stepping in front of Kastell, stabbing him. He should have stayed closer. His vision blurred with tears and he swiped at his eyes, fist clenching.\n\nA sound drew his attention: a scraping, submerged in the deep shadows of aside tunnel. He stared into the darkness, thought he saw the hint of movement just beyond the torchlight's reach. Something big. There was a faint reflection. He hissed a warning and drew his sword.\n\n\"What's wrong? ' Tahir said, as Orgull joined them.\n\n\"Something's down there, ' Maquin muttered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What?\"\n\n\"I don't know. Something. '\n\nMaquin walked into the side tunnel, his torch held high. Darkness retreated before the light, revealing nothing but empty space.\n\n\"Nothing there now,\" Tahir pointed out.\n\n\"Come on,\" Orgull said. \"Tahir, guard our backs.\"\n\n\"Aye, chief.\"\n\nThey walked on, their pace quicker, now, the tunnel rising steeply. A good sign, thought Maquin, sweat trickling down his back. Up is far better than down. The tunnel was also getting narrower, the roof lower. Not such a good sign. Will it just end? What then? Soon after, Orgull called a halt. He raised a hand to the tunnel's roof, fingers tracing a tree root poking through the stone, twisted and knotted.\n\n\"Must be near the surface,\" Maquin said.\n\n\"We must have walked more than a league by now,\" Tahir commented.\n\n\"Aye. We're out past Haldis, I'd guess, but not much further,\" Maquin said.\n\n\"Is all well back there, Tahir?\" asked Orgull.\n\n\"Nothing to see,\" the warrior replied.\n\n\"Good. Onwards,\" their leader said and set off.\n\nIt was not long before Orgull stopped again. The tunnel came to an abrupt end, a dozen wide steps leading sharply up to the roof, where it meta round, flat-bottomed stone. Orgull climbed the steps and tapped the stone with his axe. He climbed higher, braced his shoulder against the stone and heaved. With a grating sound the stone shifted, minutely, earth falling from about its rim.\n\n\"Help,\" grunted Orgull." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The steps were wide enough for two abreast so Maquin climbed up beside Orgull, adding his weight and strength. Together they strained and Maquin felt the stone shift, dirt falling into his face, then there was awash of fresh air, a glimpse of moonlight.\n\n\"Keep pushing,\" Orgull muttered. \"Nearly there.\"\n\nThen Tahir screamed. Maquin and Orgull dropped the stone back in place and turned.\n\nSomething had hold of Tahir: a many-legged, chitinous creature, all bristle, eyes and fangs, as wide as an adult boar, but far longer, its segmented body swallowed by shadow. Tahir was screaming as he hammered futilely at the creature with his spear.\n\nMaquin darted forwards, jabbing his own weapon. It slid off a hard, shiny carapace. He thrust his torch at the beast, but a sharp-spined leg smashed it out of his hand, the blue light sputtering out. He launched forwards with his spear again; the blade scraped along the creature's hard shell, then sank into a gap between segments. It let out a high-pitched squeal, dropped Tahir and reared up, fangs and forelegs waving, almost filling the tunnel. Maquin grabbed Tahir's wrist and dragged him back. The creature scuttled after them, a green, jelly-like substance oozing from the wound in its side. It sank a fang into Tahir's leg, just below the knee. Tahir screamed and thrashed.\n\nThen Orgull was there, bellowing for Maquin to get back, for Tahir to stay down. He swung his new war-axe, smashed it with all of his prodigious strength into the creature's head. There was a sickening crack. The thing's legs jerked, twitching furiously, its mandibles clacking. With a sigh it sank to the floor, spasmed once more and then was still." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Get it off me,\" Tahir hissed, a fang still buried in his leg. Maquin heaved and wrenched the fang out. Tahir gasped with pain, blood running down his leg.\n\nOrgull ripped Tahir's breeches up to the knee, poured water over the wound and tied a strip of the torn breeches above it.\n\n\"How is it?\" Tahir asked, a touch of panic in his voice.\n\n\"As good as it can be down here,\" Orgull muttered, \"though I'd like something stronger than water to flush it with. Can you stand? '\n\n\"I'll stand to walkout of this place, ' Tahir breathed, steadying himself with his spear.\n\nOrgull gripped his axe haft and with a wrench pulled the blade free of the creature. He threw one of their torches back down the tunnel, where it wavered but stayed alight. \"Maquin, best get that stone shifted. Who knows what else we're sharing these tunnels with. '\n\nMaquin ran up the steps and put his shoulder to the stone. Nothing happened. He tried again, grunting and straining.\n\n\"What's keeping you? ' Orgull called.\n\n\"It's heavy, \"Maquin muttered.\"Could do with you here, chief. '\n\n\"Can't be in two places at once, \"Orgull said.\"And you'd best get a move on. Light's fading. '\n\nEven as he spoke, the torch he had thrown back down the tunnel guttered and then winked out. The darkness surged forwards, held in check by Tahir tightly clutching the last torch.\n\nMaquin renewed his efforts, fear of being trapped in the dark giving him an extra strength; the stone shifted, grinding against rock and earth. Maquin dug his spear butt into the gap, levered and shoved as he strained, veins bulging with the effort, and finally the stone lifted clear. Pale moonlight greeted him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He reached up through the hole, savouring the sensation of air on his face and grass under his fingertips; he grabbed a tree root and pulled himself up. He could hear the sighing of a breeze amongst branches, the distant murmur of voices, faint song, could seethe pinpricks of many campfires.\n\nBack in Forn, then. Must be the survivors of the battle. Fora moment the thought of Jael filled his mind, sitting beside a campfire, eating, drinking, celebrating. Without realizing, he stood and took a step forwards, hand reaching for his sword hilt.\n\n\"Could do with some help down here,\" a voice whispered to him. He froze, remembering Orgull's words to him, their pact in the burial chamber. Soon, Jael.\n\nThe moon slipped behind ragged clouds and all was in darkness.\n\nMaquin set to pulling the others out of the tunnel and, as quietly as hunting wolves, the three warriors slipped into the forest, the last surviving remnant of the Gadrai. Maquin looked back once and then followed his sword-brothers into the trees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban gripped the boat's rail as he stared back into the distance. Dun Carreg had long since disappeared and in all directions a grey, foam-flecked sea stretched as far as he could see.\n\nIt was late in the day now, well past highsun, and Corban's stomach was rumbling. He had not eaten since the evening before– nor had anyone else on this boat. No one had given food much thought in their desperate bid to escape.\n\nDun Carreg, he thought, wishing that he could still seethe fortress, still see Ardan, still see his home. Home no more. Everything had changed so quickly. And Thannon and Cywen were both still in Dun Carreg. His da and sister, both dead, both needing a cairn to be raised over them. It wasn't right. Tears filled his eyes.\n\nHis mam lay sleeping upon a heaped pile of nets. She looked older, the lines in her face deeper, dark hollows about her eyes. Gar sat beside her, chin resting on his chest, sleeping too. Most of this band of runaways were in the same state. It had been along, hard night, in more ways than one.\n\nFootsteps drew Corban's eyes up to Halion, his weapons-master from the Rowan Field, making his way along the fisher-boat towards him. The warrior nodded grimly as he walked to where Mordwyr, Dath's da, stood guiding the boat's steering oar.\n\n\"We need to find land. Somewhere to get food and water.\"\n\n\"Uh,\" Mordwyr acknowledged. His eyes were red rimmed, his face lined with grief. He had left Bethan, his daughter, amongst the dead in Dun Carreg.\n\nI was not the only one that lost kin last night, Corban thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mordwyr pointed into the distance, northwards, and Corban saw a dark line on the horizon. Land.\n\n\"We'll have to risk it, \"Halion said. He patted Mordwyr's shoulder and made his way back along the boat, to where Edana sat with her head bowed.\n\nThe Princess of Ardan, now heir to its throne, had said nothing since they had climbed aboard the fisher-boat. The last sound Corban had heard from her was screaming as she witnessed the death of her father.\n\nShe' lost both her mam and da, now. At least I still have my mam, someone to share my grief with.\n\nStorm's muzzle touched his hand. Corban tugged on one of her ears, grimacing as the movement sent a ripple of pain through his shoulder. Brina had tended the wound where he had been stabbed during the battle in the feast-hall. Helfach had done it. The man's life-blood still stained the fur around the wolven's protruding canines. Brina had assured him the wound was not deep and was clean, but it still hurt.\n\nHe looked for the healer and she caught his eye, beckoning him over. Craf, the healer's unkempt crow, clung to the boat's rail above Brina's head.\n\n\"Cor-ban,\" it squawked as he squatted down before Brina.\n\n\"What was that about?\" she asked. \"Between Halion and Mordwyr?\"\n\n\"Time to find some land. For food and water.\"\n\n\"Ah. Out of the cook-pot and into the flames,\" Brina muttered.\n\n\"What do you mean?\"\n\nShe looked over the boat's side at the growing line of land.\"That's not Ardan. Not that Ardan's the safest place to be right now. Still, that's Cambren. Rhin rules there.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh.\" Corban frowned, remembering the kidnapping of Edana's mother, Queen Alona, back in the Darkwood, where Alona and so many others had died. All because of Rhin.\"But what choice do we have? '\n\n\"None, I suppose.\" Brina sighed, wiping rain from the tip of her pointed nose.\n\n\"Wet,\" muttered Craf.\n\n\"Why should you care?\" Brina snapped at the bedraggled bird. \"You're a crow. '\n\n\"Cold,\" it grumbled. \"Fire.\"\n\n\"I've spoilt you, ' Brina said.\n\nThe rain was falling heavier now, a cold wind throwing it stinging into Corban's face. In the distance the black smudge of land had grown closer, blurred by rain. The sea was an impenetrable iron grey, the waves about the boat higher, white-flecked with foam, whipped by the wind. Corban grabbed the rail and steadied himself as the fisher-boat rode a huge swell then sped down the other side. The boat's only sail was straining, thick ropes creaking. Corban felt aflutter of panic in his gut, then he saw Dath climbing amidst the ropes and sailcloth. His friend flashed him a weak smile.\n\nHe doesn't look so worried, thought Corban.\n\nThe sun was sinking, only a diffuse glow behind thick cloud, when they reached the coastline. Mordwyr steered the small skiff into a narrow steep-cliffed cove sheltering a strip of empty beach. Craf exploded into the air with a noisy squawk. Everyone disembarked– Storm needing a little encouragement from Corban– and the skiff was beached safely.\n\nMarrock, Camlin and Dath set off to scout the area and to try and hunt something to eat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Brina and Heb, King Brenin's old loremaster, led Edana off the narrow beach and settled her in a sheltered dell under a dense stand of rowan and yew, an icy stream bubbling through its middle.\n\nStorm lapped at the stream, then padded off into the deepening gloom.\n\nHalion set two men on watch. The rest of the small band set to chopping wood, clearing space for sleeping, digging out a small pit fora fire. Soon flames were crackling greedily in the dell and the rain-soaked band crowded round for some heat, even the crow.\n\nIt was dark when Marrock and the others returned, Dath carrying two hares over his shoulder. In short time the animals were skinned, gutted and boned, chopped into little pieces and dropped into a pot of boiling water.\n\nCraf made disgusting noises as he helped himself to the hare's entrails.\n\nThat bird makes me feel sick.\n\nIt didn't stop Corban eating, though. The stew tasted like the finest meal to him, even as his mind told him it was watery, the meat stringy.\n\nTwo men were sent to relieve those on watch, Vonn being one of them. Dath glowered at his back as Vonn trudged into the gloom.\n\n\"His da betrayed us all. Can he be trusted to guard us?\" he muttered to Corban.\n\n\"None of that,\" Halion said, overhearing. \"He's suffered, lost people, same as the rest of us. '\n\n\"She was my sister,\" Dath grumbled.\n\n\"And my daughter,\" Mordwyr said. \"He loved her. Leave him be.\"\n\nDath's mouth became a hard line but he said nothing more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The small group sat around the fire, full dark settling about them, the trees sheltering them from the worst of the rain. Grief hovered amongst them like a heavy mist. Corban satin silence, just listening, feeling exhausted, numb. His da and sister's faces danced in his memory every time he closed his eyes.\n\n\"So, Halion. Tell us of this plan to take Edana to Domhain.\" It was Marrock who spoke. All other conversation stopped as everyone waited Halion's answer.\"Domhain is along, dangerous journey, \"Marrock continued.\"We could still sail from hereto Dun Crin and the marshlands in the south of Ardan. '\n\n\"We could,\" Halion said, glancing at Edana. She sat staring at the fire, giving no sign of interest in the conversation.\n\nEdana should be leading us, but she can't. Marrock is her kin, so has the right, but Halion is her guardian, was given the task to protect her with Brenin's dying words, as most of us here heard.\n\n\"Eremon rules in Domhain, and he is distant kin to Edana. I know him, and he will not turn her away, or betray her.\"\n\n\"He turned you away,\" Marrock said.\n\nHalion stared at Marrock along, silent moment.\n\nHeb spoke up now. \"Tell us of your father. Will he give aid against Owain?\"\n\nHalion grimaced. \"My father is old, beyond his seventieth year now. When I last saw him he was still sharp of mind. I am his bastard son, you understand, not his heir, but he always treated me well enough.\"\n\n\"Then why did you leave Domhain?\" Marrock asked." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Help continue the narrative for the writer.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, war\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Valour\nChapter: 18" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A boat has just beached next to ours,\" Vonn blurted as he skidded to a stop, \"full of warriors.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fidele gazed out of her tower window. In the distance the snow-capped Agullas glistened in the summer sun, before them rich meadows rolling all the way down to the lake shore, where countless ships bobbed on the swell, cold and deep from the mountains' snowmelt. And on those ships: fishermen, traders, all manner of people. Her people. She felt a rush of passion, a fierce pride in the people of this realm. I love this land.\n\nHer gaze drifted southward, to the river that carved its way to the sea. The black ships of the Vin Thalun had long since sailed that route, disappeared into the distance; the only sign of their presence here at Jerolin was the shipbuilding yard that had risen upon the lake shore. Even that was deserted now. Lykos had told her that the shipbuilding would continue to the south, near Ripa, but he needed too many hands on his fleet as it sailed to Nathair and Ardan to keep the two shipyards going.\n\nAnd good riddance. She understood the logic that underpinned Nathair's treaty with the Vin Thalun, knew their skills would be of great value in the coming war, but the reality of keeping the peace between them and her subjects had been difficult. Too many hard years between us to wash over in a few moons. She left her chambers, Orcus her shieldman falling in at her side. Fidele marched a quick rhythm through corridors and down the great tower of Jerolin until she was breathing fresh air. Her feet took her to the north, where the city grew quieter, to the cairn ground.\n\n\"I miss you,\" she breathed, barely a whisper on the air. She was stood before her husband's cairn; Aquilus, King of Tenebral, High King of the Banished Lands, slain in his own chambers, stabbed by a traitor king. I wish we had had more time. She touched one of the great stones of the cairn, already moss-covered, with lichen growing in yellows and reds. Aquilus had been so focused, so strong, always somehow knowing the right path and having the strength to take it, to see it through. I wish you had shared more of your certainties with me. Shared more of your plans. The knowledge of the God-War and the coming of the avatars had been a great burden, but Aquilus had borne it, though not without cost. And, because he had chosen to shoulder most of it alone, things felt so unsure now. She was scared, scared of what the future held, scared of the threat to her son. Her poor Nathair, striving, struggling to do his best, to earn his father's notice. And now, to live up to his father's legacy, not only to lead a nation, but to save the Banished Lands, or die in the trying. Fathers and sons– why did it have to be so complicated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She sighed. \"I will not let you down. I will not let Nathair down.\"\n\nFootsteps crunched on stone behind her and stopped, a respectful silence, then the scuff of an impatient foot. A cough.\n\n\"Yes,\" Fidele said, turning, wiping all emotion from her face. It was Peritus, her husband's battlechief. Small, wiry, unassuming, deadly.\n\n\"There is something you must see,\" Peritus said, his expression grim.\n\n\"Where did you find him?\" Fidele asked.\n\n\"Was fishing about a league to the north,\" the fisherman said. \"Pulling in our crab baskets and he was tangled in one of them.\"\n\nThey were standing on the deck of amid-sized fisher-boat, half a dozen crewmen gathered around her. Despite the sun the wind was cold, carrying with it a hint of ice from the mountains. Fidele pulled her cloak tighter. To one side, huge baskets were stacked on top of one another, crabs imprisoned within, clacking their great-claws. There was a body slumped on the deck, mottled blue, the flesh bloated and peeling, green weed clinging to the limbs, trailing like extended fingers.\n\n\"Course, the crabs have had a nibble at him,\" the fisherman said.\n\nPeritus bent down and rolled the body over. It was decomposing, chunks of flesh missing, but Fidele still recognized the nervous-looking youth that had been led into her chambers only a ten-night ago and told her of the Vin Thalun fighting pits.\n\nJace. His throat had been cut, the flesh frayed like rotted string.\n\nPeritus spat on the floor. \"So this is how Lykos obeys your commands.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The army marched through the twilight of Forn, Alcyon's bulk marking the column's head. Veradis felt sluggish and ill-tempered after sleeping poorly, disturbed by bad dreams. In them he'd been riding across an endless meadow, the head of King Mandros held aloft on his spear-point. Murderer, Mandros\" head had whispered to him, over and over. Something had been bouncing against his leg. When he'd looked down he found Kastell's head tied to his saddle. Betrayer, his friend had accused him.\n\nHe shook his head, banishing the nightmare, then saw Calidus drop back down the column towards him.\n\n\"There you are,\" the silver-haired man said as he fell in beside Veradis. There was anew energy about the man since he had emerged from the catacombs beneath Haldis, a fierce determination in his expression.\n\n\"We are making good progress,\" Calidus said. The hard pace had been set from the first day out from Haldis, four days ago. Veradis had woken the day after the battle to the news that King Braster of Helveth had been murdered in his tent by survivors of the Gadrai, Isiltir's elite warriors. That had made no sense to Veradis– the realms of Isiltir and Helveth had been on good terms, but Lothar, Braster's battlechief, had witnessed the deed and told Calidus personally. This news had troubled Calidus and he had ordered all haste in breaking camp and leaving Haldis. We must speed Jael to claim Isiltir's crown, he had said.\n\n\"I have been talking to Jael,\" Calidus said. \"He is not as strong willed as I would like in anally, but he is all we have, and we need Isiltir's support. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis frowned at Calidus, suspicious of where this was leading.\n\n\"Isiltir will be rocked by the news of Romar's death. There will be others who will try to take advantage of the situation, try to claim the throne for themselves. Not least Romar's estranged wife.\"\n\n\"What of Romar's son? ' Veradis asked.\n\n\"He is ten years old. Jael will rule with the boy as his ward, until he comes of age.\"\n\n\"Unless the boy's mother has anything to say about it. '\n\n\"Exactly. And she has the boy in her care, which gives her the advantage. Especially if those survivors of the Gadrai reach Isiltir ahead of us and warn her of all that has happened here,\" Calidus said. \"Jael could do with some leverage, in the form of a warband, I am thinking.\"\n\n\"He has men,\" Veradis said, gesturing up the column, where Jael marched with his shieldmen about him.\n\n\"Some– a few score here, some others at Mikil, but not enough to be convincing. We need Isiltir; Nathair needs Isiltir. It would be better if we could show our support...\"\n\n\"No,\" Veradis said. \"I am Nathair's first-sword, and I am going straight to him. '\n\nCalidus raised an eyebrow and seemed to consider pressing the point, then shrugged. \"As you say. And you are probably not best suited to the task. Lykos and his Vin Thalun, however– they would be perfect.\"\n\n\"That would take too long– by the time you sent word back to Tenebral, and then the time it took Lykos to reach Isiltir.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, unless Lykos had already left Tenebral and wassailing to meet us at Ardan,\" Calidus said, a smile twitching his beard.\n\n\"But how?\"\n\nCalidus winked at Veradis. \"I may look like a withered old man, but sometimes appearances can be deceiving. And where there is a will...\"\n\nThere was a commotion up ahead, Alcyon calling a halt. The column rippled to a stop.\n\n\"With me,\" Calidus said as he marched forward.\n\nOne of their scouts had returned, was talking to Alcyon, gesturing into the trees.\n\n\"What is it?\" Calidus demanded.\n\n\"Tracks in the forest, signs of a camp,\" the scout said.\n\n\"How many?\" Calidus frowned.\n\n\"Two, maybe three. The fire was burned out, but still warm.\"\n\n\"It is the Gadrai,\" Jael said. He had sidled up behind Calidus and Veradis.\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Calidus murmured.\n\n\"Take me to this camp,\" Veradis said to the scout.\n\nAway from the path, the forest closed about them like a malignant wound, dark and treacherous. The scout led them through thick foliage and hanging vine. Dense webs draped the branches, in one of them hung the husk of something, a bat perhaps.\n\nThe ground turned spongier and soon they splashed across a shallow stream, the scout stopping on the far bank. He pointed to a pile of ash inside a ring of loose stones. Veradis bent and sifted the ash, rubbing his fingers together. There was a touch of warmth left, faint as the daylight in this forest.\n\nAlcyon scanned the ground, Jael and a dozen of his shieldmen fanning out. The giant bent and scooped something up, a tattered piece of cloth. He sniffed it. \"Smells of blood. One of them is injured,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Which way?\" Jael said. \"If one is injured we can catch them.\"\n\nThe scout pointed into the gloom and Jael marched into the forest. \"Stay close tome; they are the Gadrai– giant-killers, and they know this forest better than any.\"\n\nVeradis thought there was an edge of panic in Jael's voice. He shared a look with Alcyon. Shall we follow?\n\n\"Calidus will be unhappy if we return without him,\" the giant said.\n\nVeradis shrugged and followed Jael, Alcyon close behind him.\n\nThey laboured through the forest; the going was slow as they searched for signs of their quarry's passing. Soon they spread out into a line that grew more ragged as time passed. All except Alcyon were murky shadows amongst the trees. The axe strapped across his back drew Veradis\" eye, dark blades fanning out above the giant's shoulders like wings.\n\n\"Is that really one of the Seven Treasures?\" Veradis asked.\n\n\"Yes,\" Alcyon said.\n\n\"How old is it?\"\n\nAlcyon shrugged. \"Two, three thousand years. And it is still sharp.\"\n\n\"I know, I saw you fight with it at Haldis.\"\n\nA frown crossed Alcyon's face. Was he thinking of the giant children, of their guardian whom Calidus had slain.\n\n\"I did not know...\" Veradis started, trailing off. \"About giant's children. '\n\nAlcyon looked at him. \"We have children. Just not as many as you men. That is why they are precious to us.\" Something swept his face, a fleeting raw emotion, then it was gone. \"At Haldis, so many of them killed.\" He shook his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes,\" Veradis agreed. \"These are difficult times.\"\n\n\"We are at war,\" Alcyon said. \"A war begun thousands of years a g°.\"\n\nVeradis looked about– the others were a distance away, only shadows amongst the trees– and lowered his voice. \"I am thankful that one of the Ben-Elim stands with us. It makes the difficult things easier, somehow.\"\n\nA silence grew between them, man and giant focusing on their path through the forest. Veradis could not shake from his mind the look that he had seen sweep Alcyon's face as they had talked of giant children. A look of naked misery.\n\nTime passed, and Veradis was thinking of calling a halt and turning back when he saw something: a snapped stalk amongst foliage that draped a massive trunk. It could have been caused by Alcyon as he passed. Veradis stopped; Alcyon was fading into the gloom ahead. He looked intently at the broken stalk, then his gaze swept the surrounding area. There was a mark on the bark of the trunk– a scuff? Then something dripped onto his shoulder, something dark. He touched it, raised a finger to his tongue. His head snapped up as he reached for his sword. It was blood.\n\nFrom branches above a dirt-stained face was peering down at him. He drew his sword, sucked in a breath to call Alcyon, then in front of him a figure stepped out from behind the tree, at the same time foliage rustling behind him. His call for help died in his throat as he gazed at the man standing before him.\n\nMaquin.\n\nThe grey-haired warrior held a hand up, signalling to the unseen man behind him, and Veradis knew his life hung in the balance, as did theirs. One call from him and Alcyon, Jael and a dozen warriors would be on them. Carefully, slowly, he lowered his sword, holding Maquin's gaze." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is good to see you,\" he said.\n\nMaquin grimaced, eyes flickering to the figure behind Veradis. He shook his head. Veradis resisted the urge to turn, kept his eyes fixed on Maquin. \"Kastell?\" he asked.\n\nGrief twisted Maquin's face.\"Jael killed him. '\n\nVeradis hung his head. \"Was it you that murdered Braster?\"\n\n\"No. That was Lothar,\" a voice grated behind him. Maquin nodded confirmation.\n\nLothar? But, he has been in close council with Calidus.\n\nA voice called from the gloom. \"Veradis, where are you?\" Alcyon. There was a sound of approaching feet.\n\nHe made his decision in an instant. \"You are being hunted,\" Veradis hissed. \"Get back into the trees. I will lead them away from you.\"\n\n\"Do we trust him?\" the voice behind Veradis said. Maquin looked at Veradis, then nodded.\n\n\"I am sorry,\" Veradis whispered, \"about Kastell.\"\n\nMaquin stepped back into the foliage, pausing before the gloom took him. \"Before the battle you warned us about what side we were choosing.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Veradis said. \"I did.\"\n\n\"I would give you the same advice,\" Maquin said, then disappeared into the forest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Evnis stood frozen in the doorway to his secret room. The book was gone. He searched frantically. The casket he had originally found it in was there, the necklace still within it, pulsing with its sickly light, but the book was nowhere to be seen. He stared at the necklace, his gaze sucked into the darkness of the single black stone, the size of his fist, wrapped in twists of silver. Ever since he had laid eyes upon it a suspicion had nagged him. Could it be Nemain's necklace, one of the Seven Treasures? An ancient relic from when the world was young, if half the tales were true.\n\nHe took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, to think. The last time he had used it he had not put the book back in the casket; he had left it sitting on top. He was sure of this, could picture in his mind reading from it, speaking aloud the words of power, then placing the book onto the casket's lid. That had been days ago– the day Dun Carreg had fallen.\n\nWho could have done this?\n\nVonn.\n\nBut why would he have taken the book? Curiosity? To spite him? They had been arguing over the fisherman's daughter, Bethan. Maybe he thought to use the book as leverage, a trade– the girl for the book? He almost liked that idea, the thought that Vonn was at last growing up, seeing the world as it really was and being prepared to do what was necessary, regardless of its perceived morality. If it had been anything else that Vonn had taken, he would have been prepared to let it go. But he had taken the book, his access to a world of power. He felt a sudden rage boil inside him and took a shuddering breath. He must get it back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The tunnels. He suspected that Vonn and his companions had escaped through the secret tunnels beneath the fortress; Evnis had been planning to begin searching them on the morrow. To hell with the morrow, he thought, whirling on his feet and grabbing his sheathed sword and belt as he strode from his tower room.\n\nHe called warriors to him as he descended the stairs, sent word for more to be summoned as he made his way to the basement where the boarded-up doorway to the tunnels stood. By the time he had strapped his sword-belt on, ordered the boards torn down from the doorway and lit a torch, almost a score of men had gathered about him, many bleary-eyed, rubbing sleep from their eyes. It is late, Evnis remembered, all thought of time having flown his mind, replaced only by his need to find the book. He looked about, searching for Conall, then remembered he had set him to watch over Cywen, as Nathair had asked of him.\n\nA muffled whimper drifted from a door in the cellar, reminding Evnis of his prisoner. He ignored the sound.\n\n\"With me,\" he said and led his men into the tunnels.\n\nThe sun was rising when heat last stepped out of the tunnels, back into his tower; a faint light was seeping down the cellar steps through gaps in the floorboards above. He was dirt stained, weary, and his mood was grim.\n\nVonn was gone, and with him the book. Of that he was sure.\n\nThey had searched long and hard, wary of attack both from Edana's supporters and wyrms. The headless body of the wyrm that had hatched when he'd found the book was still there, its flesh all but gone, rags of tattered skin draped over its skeleton. He had given it hardly a passing look, though it set his warriors to muttering." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eventually their search had led them to the lowest cavern, where the sea swelled in a channel. Here Evnis knew was the exit to the beach, though none of his men realized, as there was a glamour hiding the way. There was the body of another wyrm here, this one much bigger than the one in the tunnels above. It had been killed only recently, its body in the first stages of decay– skin bloated and swollen, blood and other fluids leaking from it, pooled and congealed around its coiled body. Its skull had been crushed by a heavy blow, and there were various wounds about its body. If this was not evidence enough of Edana's passing, they found the corpse of a warrior nearby, his neck and chest torn open. He had been one of Pendathran's warriors, Evnis was sure.\n\nSo, now they were gone, most likely leagues from Dun Carreg by now, and with them the book.\n\nAnd his son. With a growl he dismissed his trailing warriors and trod wearily up the steps of his tower to his room. There was a message awaiting him– a reminder of Nathair's request to meet with Rhin. How am I going to do this– Rhin in the Darkwood, Nathair here, Owain and his warbands in between? Evnis reached for the half-filled jug of usque and took a large gulp, slumping into a chair. Almost impossible, but there must be away. Think. Slowly the glimmer of an idea came to him, but his mind felt slow, could not quite focus on it. I must sleep. A ripple of dread coursed through him. Sleep, and with it the dreams. He chuckled to himself and drank another cup of usque. What did he expect, after selling his soul to Asroth, Lord of the Fallen...?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A knock at his door. Evnis looked about the room, checking that all was ready: a cauldron hungover the fire-pit, water bubbling, a cup of dark liquid standing on a table beside it. He checked his cloak, reassured himself that the letter was still there, then he opened the door.\n\nNathair was there, the dark shadow of his guardian, Sumur, hovering behind him.\n\n\"My lord, please,\" Evnis said, ushering Nathair in. He held a hand up to Sumur. \"Only Nathair may enter.\"\n\n\"That is not acceptable,\" Sumur said.\n\n\"It is fine, Sumur, I am sure Evnis has good reason. And I am sure I shall be safe. Only a door stands between us.\"\n\nSumur peered into the room, weighing the situation. He nodded. \"I consider you responsible for my lord's life, while this door remains shut, ' he said to Evnis.\n\n\"Of course,\" said Evnis and closed the door.\n\nNathair looked about the room, eyes settling upon the cauldron. He unclasped his sable cloak and draped it across the table.\n\n\"Your message was ambiguous,\" he said, \"but I am intrigued...\"\n\n\"Thank you for coming, my lord. I have made arrangements for you to speak with Queen Rhin.\"\n\nNathair raised an eyebrow.\n\nEvnis tried to keep his face calm, to disguise the anxiety he felt. You can do this, he told himself. He had seen it in the book, was confident that he could remember the pages, the incantation, word for word. He licked his lips and strode to the cauldron, lifting the cup from the table." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Fuil glacad anios ag namhaid tor oscail an bealach, he said, filling the words with as much power as he could summon, and poured the cup of blood into the cauldron." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Blood taken from a foe, to open the way. His prisoner, still shackled in a room beneath his feet, hadn't given up his blood easily and his screams had brought a brief relief from these stressful times. The prisoner could scream as long and as loud as he liked– no one would hear him down there. Evnis had not even bothered placing a guard on his door; there was no point. He could not escape, and even if he did, there was nowhere for him to go.\n\nEvnis reached inside his cloak and pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment, the letter Rhin had sent to him, delivered by Braith's outlaw so long ago, written in her spidery hand. He drew his knife, cut his hand and gripped the letter, soaking it in his blood. Then he dropped it into the cauldron.\n\n\"Croi ar an comchor tor stiur an ruthag.\"\n\nThe water bubbled pink and a vapour hissed out of the pot, swirled upwards, glistening, thick and shiny, like cords of mucus. A shape took form in it, silver-haired, a pale, deeply lined face. Rhin.\n\n\"What is this?\" she said, her likeness turning in the vapour, the voice sounding submerged, muted. Then her sharp eyes focused on Evnis. \"Oh, it is you. I see you have found the book-\"\n\n\"My Queen, I have someone with me who wishes to speak to you, urgently,\" Evnis cut in.\n\n\"I'm sure you do, \"Rhin said, a smile ghosting her lips.\"Who, exactly? '\n\n\"Let me introduce you to Nathair, King of Tenebral.\"\n\nRhin clapped her hands. \"Excellent. No need for introductions– we have met before. A charming young man. Well, step forward, Nathair, I imagine we have much to talk about.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban listened as Vonn and Farrell told of the ship they had seen land on the beach.\n\n\"They are looking for us,\" Vonn said. \"A dozen men, all well-armed.\"\n\n\"What of my boat?\" Mordwyr interrupted.\n\n\"They were climbing aboard it,\" Farrell said. \"We did not wait to see what they would do– thought you needed to know.\"\n\n\"You did right,\" Marrock said.\n\n\"We need to get Edana out of sight,\" Halion said.\n\n\"Agreed. Camlin– with me. The rest of you get back into the trees. We'll see you there soon. '\n\nWith that, Corban was running back towards the treeline, his feet heavy in the sand and shingle. Halion drew them up within sight of the beach. Marrock and Camlin were dark shadows, crawling through a patch of spindly grass.\n\n\"What are we going to do?\" Dath whispered. Corban just shook his head. His pulse was still racing from their ambush of the riders on the path. Dath was as pale as a corpse.\n\n\"We need to get back on my boat,\" Mordwyr said to Halion, who nodded agreement. He was standing protectively beside Edana.\n\n\"Agreed,\" Brina snapped. \"It's the how that is the problem. '\n\n\"They're coming, ' Gar said.\n\nMarrock and Camlin sprinted across the beach. Halion stepped into view to guide them back to the group.\n\n\"Fifteen warriors at least,\" Marrock panted. \"They've torched our boat. ' Even as he said the words a thick plume of smoke broke above the ridge.\n\n\"No!\" Mordwyr exclaimed and started back for the beach. Vonn grabbed his arm, stopping him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What are we going to do?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dath said.\n\nMarrock looked at Edana.\n\n\"We'll take their boat, ' Halion said.\n\nCorban shifted the weight of his shield on his arm and gripped his sword hilt, trying to still the tremor in his hand. He peered over the ridge, eyes drawn immediately to their boat. It was a burned-out skeleton, flames still licking at the charred ribs. Thick smoke spread along the coast, snatched by a strong wind from the sea. Mordwyr let out a strangled cry, but the sound of the surf was loud, muffling his grief.\n\nA handful of warriors was grouped a little further down the beach, standing beside a half-beached shallow-draughted fisher-boat. Figures moved on its deck– two at least that Corban could see.\n\nMarrock slipped down the ridge and they all huddled close to him.\n\n\"Any ideas?\" he asked, looking at Camlin.\n\n\"There's no chance of sneaking upon them, and the wind's too strong to be accurate with a bow from here. Our best bet is to get from hereto there quick as we can,\"fore they have a chance to push off and sail away. An'keep the charge quiet, no point announcing ourselves.\" With that, Camlin was scrambling over the ridge, Marrock close behind him. Corban took a deep breath, trying to control his rising fear, and followed.\n\nThey were spotted almost immediately as they charged, the warriors about the boat crying out, drawing swords, levelling spears. They were closely matched in numbers, but these were all warriors, no strangers to battle by the look of them. Still, judging from the expressions on their faces, something about the sight of Corban and his companions must have been unnerving. Corban glanced at Storm, the grey streaks in her white fur a blur as she gathered speed, spittle spraying from her bared fangs. He felt the urge to laugh; a full-grown wolven hurtling towards you would unsettle anyone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Halion yelled a war cry, high pitched and keening; somewhere close Farrell bellowed, then the bands were upon each other, a bone-shaking collision.\n\nCorban turned a warrior's spear-point with his shield, slammed into the man, sending both of them crashing to the ground. They rolled together, the warrior somehow on top of Corban, grabbing his throat. Corban thrashed, felt a flood of panic as he tried to draw breath and couldn't, then there was the sound of snarling, a ripping, tearing noise, high-pitched screaming, then a crunch, and the grip on Corban's throat was gone. He staggered to his feet, Storm still shaking the dead warrior by his broken neck.\n\nCorban snatched his sword from the ground, looked about him. Gar tugged his sword from a warrior's chest. Farrell was standing knee-deep in the surf, swinging his war-hammer at a warrior who had slipped to one knee. There was an explosion of gore as the hammer smashed into the man's head. Halion blocked an overhead blow, swept his sword round and chopped into the man's ribs, kicked him back into the surf. Edana stood close behind him, holding her sword two-handed. She was staring at the man Halion had just slain. Vonn was trading furious blows nearby, Marrock running past, hamstringing Vonn's opponent as he waded into the sea, making for the boat. Corban realized it was moving away, two men pushing desperately on the half-floating hull. An arrow sprouted in the back of one, sending him face down into the foaming sea, but the other carried on, another arrow skittering off the hull, then the boat was floating, hands reaching down to pull the man over the side. Before he was over, someone was grabbing him from behind, swinging a sword into the man's ribs, clutching onto his ankle as the boat gained momentum. Mordwyr." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Spears stabbed down, one piercing Mordwyr between shoulder and neck. He gave a strangled cry and fell into the sea.\n\nBehind Corban there was a scream: Dath. He dropped his bow and ran into the surf, slipped, fell, staggered on. He reached his da and began heaving him back towards the beach.\n\nAlong the shoreline the battle was over, but they had failed; the boat they needed so badly was slipping out to sea, the water too deep now for them to chase after it. Then something punched into the boat's mast. A flaming arrow. Before Corban registered what was happening, flames caught in the sail, leaping up, consuming the cloth. Another fire-arrow slammed into the mast, heartbeats later another onto the deck. Men were yelling, running about, throwing buckets of water. Corban looked back and saw a figure standing knee-deep in the surf beside Mordwyr's burned-out fisher boat. Camlin– he was tying strips of cloth to arrows, igniting them in the flames that still flickered on the fisher-boat, firing them in a steady stream at the retreating boat. Marrock joined him and soon a dozen flaming arrows were burning on the enemy ship. Flames were roaring now, smoke swirling thick and black. The shapes of two men appeared near the rail. A flaming arrow pierced one's neck, sending him crashing back into the smoke. The other leaped from the rail and began swimming for shore.\n\nCorban splashed into the surf, wading out to Dath. His friend was staggering under the weight of his da, his mouth moving, but Corban couldn't hear him over the churning sea. He put his arm under Mordwyr's arm, the water foaming pink around the fisherman. His mam joined them and together they pulled Mordwyr to the shore." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dath fell upon his da, calling to him, shaking him, tears blurring his eyes, strings of snot hanging from his nose; one look was clear to Corban." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mordwyr was gone, his eyes empty, the muscles in his face loose, like melted wax. He put a hand upon his friend's shoulder.\n\nIt is over, and I'm still alive. Relief washed through him, slowly replacing the rush of fear and desperation that had consumed him during the short battle. He searched for his mam's face and saw her standing with her bloodstained spear. Tears streaked her cheeks. Bodies lay limp and twisted about them, blood pooling in the sand, the sea frothing pink. So much death. Is it ever going to end? He felt a wave of nausea, fought to keep the contents of his stomach from rising.\n\nVonn, Farrell and Anwarth had waded into the sea. They were moving towards the man swimming from the boat, all of them with weapons raised.\n\n\"Wait!\" Marrock yelled, splashing out to them. \"Don't kill him. '\n\nAnwarth heard and lowered his blade, Farrell and Vonn obeying more reluctantly. The three of them grabbed the man and dragged him out of the waves, throwing him to the sand close to where Corban stood with Dath.\n\n\"We saw a host of boats sailing; there is a warband camped beyond these woods. What is happening here?\" Marrock asked, but the warrior just stared defiantly at him. His eyes were drawn to Storm, stood in the surf beside Corban.\n\nIna burst of speed, Camlin had the man's hair in his fist.\"We don't have time for this,\" the woodsman said, and slashed the prisoner across the back of one leg.\n\nThe man screamed, tried to pull away, but Camlin held tight to him, then brought his knife-tip to the warrior's throat. He was abruptly still, silent except for his laboured breathing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Now answer the question.\"\n\n\"Queen Rhin has conquered Narvon. We are sailing to invade Ardan.\"\n\n\"How many of you are there?\"\n\n\"Over a thousand. Most have sailed.\"\n\n\"Why not all of you?\"\n\n\"Not enough boats. We've got to wait for those that left today to unload in Ardan, then comeback for us. '\n\n\"How many still here?\"\n\nA shrug. \"Two, three hundred.\"\n\nMarrock nodded grimly. \"And who leads you?\"\n\n\"Morcant.\"\n\nCorban stiffened. He knew that name. Rhin's first-sword, the man who had duelled and lost to Tull, back in Badun on Midwinter's Eve. The man who had led the ambush where Queen Alona had died. The man who had killed his friend, Ronan.\n\n\"Is he in the village?\" Edana asked. She also knew who Morcant was. They all did.\n\n\"No, he has sailed already.\"\n\nMarrock looked out to sea. \"And why have you come after us?\"\n\n\"Thought you were spies of Owain. He cannot know about us.\" The man shrugged, causing Camlin's knife to draw a drop of blood.\n\nMarrock sighed and rubbed a handover his face.\n\n\"I have told you all I know,\" the man begged. \"Please, let me go. I will say nothing about you, tell them I was knocked unconscious in the battle. Anything you want me to say.\"\n\nMarrock frowned at him. \"What's your name? '\n\n\"Haf,\" the warrior said, his eyes pleading.\n\nMarrock opened his mouth to speak, then Camlin cut the prisoner's throat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dark blood spurted, the warrior gurgled and sank slowly to the ground, his blood soaking into the sand.\n\n\"He could not live, \"Camlin said, facing Marrock's glare, wiping his blade clean in the sand. \"He has seen us, knows our numbers, our strengths. He saw the wolven.\" He nodded at Storm. \"She's a surprise that has helped save our necks more than once today. '\n\nMarrock was pale, stiff with anger. \"Right or wrong, it was not your decision,\" he said. \"We are no cut-throat rabble. You will wait fora command, is that clear?\"\n\nCamlin held Marrock's gaze, then nodded.\"Aye, chief, ' he said.\n\n\"What do we do now?\" Anwarth asked, voicing Corban's own question.\"We have no boat to escape with. '\n\n\"It's either steal one or cut inland and walk to Domhain, ' Halion said.\n\nThey discussed the options back and forth: Marrock wanting to steal a boat from the village, Halion advocating fleeing inland.\n\n\"Fleeing to Domhain does not seem to have been the safest choice,\" Marrock said.\n\nNo one knows what to do, Corban thought. All of us exhausted, scared.\n\n\"For what it's worth, \"Camlin said into the silence,\"I think there's more chance of staying alive if we cut across land. I'm not saying we'll make it to Domhain, but I think we'll stay alive longer that way. '\n\n\"But we would move too slowly,\" Marrock said. \"We do not have enough horses, even if those that you hobbled are still there. We will be chased, and those doing the chasing will be mounted. We would be rundown within a day.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aye, there is that. But let me have a few hands and I think I could steal us a few extra horses– there were paddocks along the river– my vote is that horses are easier to steal than boats.\"\n\nThey discussed it a little longer, until Heb finished the conversation. \"Talk can accomplish much, but all it will accomplish here is our deaths,\" he said. \"It will not belong before the men sent to find us are missed.\"\n\n\"Heb is right,\" Edana said.\n\n\"For once,\" muttered Brina." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen was on her hands and knees collecting eggs in the garden. Buddai thought it was an invitation to play and was swatting at her with a paw. Absently she told him to shoo.\n\nDays had begun to pass in a kind of haze for Cywen. Two nights had passed since she had been questioned by Nathair. She had filled most of her time since then with routine chores– cleaning the house, tending the garden, working at the stables. She was worried about Shield, Corban's stallion. He was such a fine mount, too fine, and there was more than one of Owain's men with an eye on him. It would be a grief too far if one of them were to take Shield from Dun Carreg. She must keep him here, safe for Corban's return. Somehow that was important to her.\n\nIn her mind she had spent almost every waking moment going over the questions Nathair had asked her– about Gar, about Ban. Nathair and Sumur were linked to her family, somehow. And it was obvious that Sumur knew Gar, though that should have been almost impossible.\n\nAnd behind all of this was the thought, the possibility, the hope, that Corban and Gar and her mam were hiding in the tunnels beneath Dun Carreg. It was a vision that she clung to, that helped her to rise from sleep everyday and put strength in her limbs. All she wanted to do was get a torch and go searching for them, but on the morning after her meeting with Nathair she had noticed a shadow following her as she'd made her way to the stables. Conall. That night someone else had stood in the shadow of a doorway opposite her house. All night. She was being watched and she could not lead people– the enemy– to the hidden tunnels where Edana might be hiding." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But she could not wait forever; her need to know was a physical sensation in the pit of her stomach." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And with that, suddenly, she was done waiting, a plan forming in her mind.\n\nShe took the eggs indoors, the last of the day melting into dusk. Quickly she gathered all she needed: a bundle of rush torches, flint and tinder, a bag to put it all in, and buckled her belt of knives across her shoulder. She gave Buddai a thick marrow bone she'd traded for with the butcher earlier. Then, as the shadows were dissolving into night, she stepped into her back garden and agilely scaled the rose wall at the garden's far end, slipping almost invisibly through her neighbour's courtyard and into the street beyond.\n\nCywen stood staring at the beach. Something was wrong, different.\n\nShe had entered the tunnels through the hidden doorway in the fortress high above, made her way slowly through them, and now she was standing in a cave that looked out on the beach and bay. It was still night, dawn along way off, although she had spent long hours searching the tunnels for her kin. Only at the end had she found evidence that they had been in the tunnels at all– the dead wyrm and warrior nearby, lying in the cavern at the end of this cave. But they were not here now. She felt drained, defeated.\n\nThey were gone.\n\nHad they escaped into Havan, then made their way to the marshes in the west that everyone was saying were where Ardan's survivors were fleeing?\n\nA full moon silvered the bay and beach, shimmering on wave-tops and shingle alike. The only shape in the bay was Nathair's ship, bobbing on the swell of the tide, huge compared to the fishing vessels on the beach. The fisher-boats were lined along the shore, none out at sea, as all able-bodied men had been taken to the fortress and forced into labouring at defences for Owain as he prepared for the coming of Queen Rhin. I hope she rips his heart out, she thought. Or the other way round. Either way it is one less that'll need killing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then she realized what was different. A boat was missing, the only boat she'd ever had cause to look for.\n\nDath's boat.\n\nShe checked again, studying the outline of each boat slumped in the shingle. It was definitely not there. So they had sailed away– her mam, Corban, Gar, Edana and the rest. But whereto? The thought of following reared first in her mind, but follow them where? Perhaps they'd sailed west to the marshes, but perhaps they hadn't. There was no obvious course, and they would have been scared, maybe injured among them, the need just to getaway driving them.\n\nShe sighed, long and deep, then turned and made her way back into the cave, striking sparks into afresh torch once she had turned a corner on the narrow path, hiding her from anyone looking from the beach.\n\nShe slipped once on the sea-soaked path that snaked into the cave, then pushed through the glamour and found herself inside the great cavern where the dead wyrm and warrior lay. She gave them hardly a glance as she strode through the room, eager to be back home. Ever up she climbed, the tunnels high and wide, built by giants. Shadows flickered and water dripped, echoing. In time, Cywen found herself in the other cavern, where the skeleton of another wyrm lay, the one she had found with Ban when they had first discovered these hidden tunnels that bored into the cliffs beneath Dun Carreg. As she passed through the tunnel, something caught her eye– a reflection on the far wall. She paused, thoughts of her warm fire and curling up next to Buddai calling to her, but her inquisitiveness won and she walked away from the exit, raising her torch high, looking at the wall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She blinked, eyes widening." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was the outline of a great creature on the rock. At first she thought that it had been painted on, but as she held her torch closer she saw that she was wrong. They were bones, embedded, fossilized into the rock. The creature had a mouth full of sharp teeth, wings that spread as wide as a fisher-boat. Her da had told tales of creatures, whole species that had existed before the Scourging, great monsters that had been wiped out in Elyon's day of wrath, caught in either flood or fire. She reached up, her fingertips tracing long talons.\n\nNearby there was a darker shadow in the rock wall– she moved closer and saw that it was an entrance to another tunnel, disguised somehow by a curve in the rock. She peered back at her route home, then looked into the new tunnel.\n\nShe took a deep breath and stepped into this new tunnel, driven by curiosity.\n\nIt was much the same as those she had already searched, high walled, smooth and damp. It turned more, giving the sense of spiralling, somehow, though it was hard to tell. In time she noticed a change ahead of her– it sounded different, the drip of water louder, a deeper echo. She stepped into an opening, a black hole spreading before her. A chain hung through its middle, disappearing above and below into darkness.\n\nThis is the keep's well, she thought, peering up, the darkness a solid thing, consuming her torchlight. The path she was on hugged the well, narrower, twisting upwards. She followed it as the tunnel bored back into the rock, leaving the gaping hole that was the well behind. She breathed a sigh of relief.\n\nIt was not long before she stepped into another cavern. At first she thought it was a dead end, but then saw lines of faint light flickering on the far wall. She moved closer, then with a hiss of exhaled breath stubbed her torch out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a door.\n\nShe approached it slowly and upon closer examination realized that it was a door frame, with wide planks of wood nailed across it. She peered through one of the gaps, seeing a room beyond, filled with barrels, crates, bottles. Some kind of storage room– a cellar? A torch burned in a sconce on a wall. So this room led into the fortress; it was inhabited. And whoever it was knew of the tunnels, had access to them.\n\nThe board she was leaning against gave way; with a creak its nails pulled out of the frame. She fell forward with it and found herself leaning half in, half out of the room.\n\nShe froze, too scared to move, too scared to breathe.\n\nTo her relief, no one came running. It was as she thought, a cellar of some kind. At the far end of the room steps rose up and disappeared into the ceiling.\n\nA sound caused her to go rigid again. It came from behind a closed door in the room. She was about to bolt when she heard it again. A voice, weak, little more than a whisper.\n\n\"Water, please,\" the voice said.\n\nBefore she could think about what she was doing, she had squirmed through the gap in the doorway, spilling onto a flagstone floor. She hurried over to the closed door, saw it was locked.\n\n\"I know you're there, \"the voice rasped.\"I can seethe shadow of your feet. '\n\nShe stepped away.\n\n\"Please, just some water.\"\n\nCywen pulled the door, a chain rattling around an iron ring, then drew one of her knives and worried at the lock's hinge, which was bolted to the door frame. It seemed to be the weakest part, but there was no give in it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She chewed her lip, then ran over to the staircase. It rose up into shadow. She climbed a few steps, then saw a trapdoor above her. Making a decision, she ran back, grabbing one of the axes that were leaning beside the boarded door frame that led into the tunnels.\n\nWith a crack and a shower of sparks she hacked through the chain and swung the door open.\n\nA horrible smell leaked out, urine and faeces, a figure inside sprawled upon dirty rushes.\n\nHe was thin, haggard, dirty, his beard grown unkempt, a grimed bandage tied about his neck, but she still recognized him.\n\nIt was Pendathran." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin smiled wearily as he set foot on the moss-grown bridge spanning a black-flowing river. The Rhenus, marking the western edge of Forn Forest and also officially the eastern border of Isiltir.\n\nOn the far side of the river the bridge led straight to a gateway set in a high stonewall, crumbling and vine choked. Beyond the wall rose a grey tower: Brikan, home of the Gadrai. At least it had been, when there had been enough Gadrai alive to fill it. Now the Gadrai was just the three of them.\n\nFifteen nights it had taken to walk from Haldis; ten since they had encountered Veradis. The young warrior had been true to his word, had led the giant and those searching for them away. Maquin owed Veradis his life. It saddened him to think that they were on different sides; he hoped they would not meet again.\n\nHe stood in the courtyard, looking around at the silent walls. Orgull climbed the steps that led to the tower, Tahir limping behind him, and together the two warriors disappeared into the shadows of Brikan's keep. Maquin did not follow just yet. He was remembering. The day he and Kastell had first come to the Gadrai: this courtyard full of people, noises, life, being welcomed by Vandil and Orgull as sword-brothers, the long hours spent training in this courtyard, the nights standing watch on the wall, all with Kastell. He felt a lump rise in his throat and pushed it down. I shall grieve for you soon, he promised. When Jael is dead.\n\nThe three of them sat around a crackling fire that kept the encroaching darkness at bay, passing a skin of ale between them. A few stores had been found, skins of ale, a few amphorae of wine, around of cheese still good enough to eat, some salted pork in the cold room. To Maquin it tasted like the finest meal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tahir rubbed his leg. His wound had healed surprisingly well– Maquin had seen many die from infection and fever that came from injuries far less severe.\n\n\"We'll be on a boat from the morrow, \"Maquin said.\"No more walking for you fora while. '\n\n\"Thank Elyon,\" Tahir said. He was young, not much older than Kastell, with long, thick-muscled arms that made him lookout of proportion.\n\n\"Won't be a pleasure trip, \"Orgull said.\"A lot of leagues to row between here and Dun Kellen. '\n\n\"I'd rather row it than walk it, ' Tahir replied, drinking from the ale skin.\n\nTheir plan had been to make it to Brikan, where they knew a number of boats were moored, and then take the river north to Dun Kellen, where King Romar's estranged wife, Gerda, dwelt. She had borne Romar a child before she had left him. Haelan, the lad's name was. He was ten years old and now heir to the realm of Isiltir.\n\n\"Why is Gerda not queen?\" Tahir asked.\n\n\"She's an obstinate woman, ' Maquin said. He had lived many years in Mikil, had served there when Romar had married Gerda, and seen her ride away from Mikil with her son, Haelan, as well.\n\n\"Obstinate?\" Tahir asked. \"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"Pig-headed,\" Orgull said.\n\n\"She was not given to taking orders, even from Romar,\" Maquin elaborated.\n\n\"Oh. And we're taking word to her, \"Tahir said.\"Not sure I like the sound of that. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She's well suited to stand against Jael. She'll not give up her son's throne without a fight. '\n\n\"Do you think Jael has a chance of claiming the throne?\" Tahir asked.\n\n\"He thinks he has,\" Orgull said. \"He has Romar's blood in his veins, and he has the stones to try and take it. And he has a powerful supporter in Nathair. It'll comedown to a fight, I should think, and that'll be decided by who can field the most warriors. The sooner we get word to Gerda, the more chance she'll have to save her son's neck. '\n\n\"Most of Isiltir's warriors are food for crows at Haldis, \"Maquin said.\"Even Jael can't have that many men about him.\"\n\n\"True enough. At Mikil he'll have more men who will most likely support him, but not a war-host. But, as I said, he has strong support. Nathair is on the rise, and with men in his camp like that Calidus and his Jehar warriors... ' He trailed off, all of them remembering the deadly skill and speed that the black-clad Jehar had demonstrated at Haldis.\n\nMaquin drank from the ale skin, watching Orgull across the flames. He was a big man, bald headed and bull necked. Maquin had always thought that Orgull was the brawn to Vandil's brain, the first and second captains of the Gadrai. But their flight back through Forn had shown there was a lot more to Orgull than muscle.\n\nAnd those things he had said, about King Braster, about a secret brotherhood, about the starstone axe and the God-War and a Black Sun...\n\nHe took another swig of ale. On the flight from Haldis there had never seemed a time to talk about these things, fleeing from one danger to the next, evading human hunters and Forn's predators both. But now they were in Brikan with a measure of safety about them, at least for tonight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What is this brotherhood that you spoke of, the reason you spoke to Braster?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin asked across the flames.\n\nOrgull stared at Maquin; Tahir glanced from one to the other.\n\n\"You have aright to know,\" Orgull said at length. \"And if I cannot trust the two of you, my sword-brothers, then who in this world can I trust? It is as I said. When I was young, younger even than you–\" he nodded at Tahir– \"I meta man. He came to my da's hold– he was a warrior, strong and skilled, and I looked up to him because of that, but also he seemed wise. When he spoke, it felt as if the whole world should listen... ' He paused, clearly remembering.\n\n\"One night he came to my father and me, told us of things. Strange, otherworldly things, of a war that has raged for thousands of years, which is still being fought. All will fight in this war, he said, all will choose aside, the darkness or the light. At the time I was young, you understand. I was caught up in the heroism of it, so when he told us that he was seeking out men– a brotherhood, he called it– to help in this coming war, when he asked for our aid, our oaths, I gave mine willingly, and so did my da. My da lives still in the north, with my brothers and other kin. Giant-killers all of us, living so close to Forn and the north, but I felt the call of the Gadrai more than they did. I left.\" He paused, stared silently into the flames for long moments. \"I almost forgot about the man, the oath, and just lived my life. But then I saw him again, and he told me of others that had sworn the same oath. Men like Braster. He reminded me of the things he had told me– things that I am hearing whispered about now– of the God-War, of how these Banished Lands will become the battleground of angels and demons, of the Seven Treasures, of the avatars of Elyon and Asroth.\" He looked at his palm, tracing an old scar. \"And my oath still stands.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Veradis had spoken about those things too, on the journey through the Bairg Mountains to Forn, when Kastell had been alive." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the time Maquin had laughed. Angels and demons were hard to believe in when the sun was shining bright and laughter was on the air. But now, in the cold heart of a giant tower in Forn, after the battle at Haldis and all he had seen, it was easier to believe. He shook his head. He had always trusted what he could see, touch, feel. The rest of it mattered little to him. And now, even if it was true, it still didn't matter that much.\"All sounds like faery tales tome, \"Maquin muttered.\"Only thing that matters is putting Jael in the ground. '\n\nTahir looked at him. \"A man with revenge in his heart should dig two graves, my old mam used to say tome.\"\n\n\"As long as Jael's in one of them, I'll be content,\" Maquin said. But still, he could not stop Orgull's words rattling around his head– all will fight, all will choose aside.\n\nWhose side am Ion?\n\n\"The man who told you of these things,\" he said to Orgull. \"What was his name?\"\n\n\"Meical.\"\n\nThe next day they set out early, dawn a mere hint beyond the trees. The Rhenus was liquid black. Maquin dipped his oar; Orgull sat across from him and they rowed away from the small quay that jutted from Brikan's walls.\n\nOn the second day they saw a large barge moored on the eastern bank of the river. No one answered their calls so they approached cautiously. Orgull was the first to recognize it.\n\n\"It is the one we were guarding that was attacked by the Hunen and their white wyrms,\" he said.\n\nMaquin peered closely, seeing corpses strewn across the deck and other bodies littering the wide track of the east bank; a booted foot, a hand, the shaft of a giant war-hammer, a horse's skull, all lying where they had fallen in battle, clothes rotted, flesh picked clean by Forn's inhabitants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In silence they pushed away from the barge and moved on up the river.\n\nBy highsun on the fifth day the trees began to thin, great shafts of the sun beaming down upon the travellers. Soon the river swept them from the forest into rolling meadows, the riverbank thick with wildflowers; it was as if they had rowed into spring.\n\n\"How far to Dun Kellen?\" Tahir asked, scratching his leg. He had been complaining of a sore arse, stiff arms and blisters on his palms for two days solid.\n\n\"Ten to twelve days, if nothing slows us,\" Orgull said. Tahir groaned, looking at his palms.\n\n\"We could always put you ashore, let you walk,\" Orgull suggested. Tahir did not reply, except to grip his oar and continue rowing.\n\nEarly on the seventh day since leaving Forn they were breaking camp where they had pulled ashore for the night. A mist hung heavy over the river, clinging to thick beds of reed. Orgull was shaving his head with a sharp knife.\n\n\"Why do you do that? Tahir asked.\"Why not just let it grow? '\n\n\"I used to have fine longhair,\" Orgull said, \"or so the ladies told me. When I first joined the Gadrai, on one of my first patrols we came upon a party of Hunen. One of them grabbed a fist full of my hair and threw me about like a rag doll. He bashed me into a tree. I didn't wake up till I was back in Brikan– my sword-brothers had carried me there. \"He smiled, half a grimace.\"I've shaved my head clean ever since.\"\n\n\"Do you hear that?\" Maquin said, head cocked to one side." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They all listened. The river was silent, muted by the mist. A moorhen cried out, long and mournful. Then Maquin heard it again: horses' hooves, lots of them, the jingle of harness and chainmail.\n\n\"Quickly,\" Orgull hissed, and as quietly as they could, they climbed back into their boat and pushed away from the shore. As time passed the mist evaporated, giving a good view of the land about them. It was flatter now they were further north, broken up with ragged stands of trees. There was no sign of the riders they had heard.\n\nLate in the day they saw shapes ahead: a stone bridge spanning the river, a tower on the western bank, a sprawling village of timber and thatch behind it. Figures moved on the bridge and amongst the buildings.\n\nOrgull hissed a warning and they rowed to the bank, pulling the boat ashore, then crept slowly through the rushes.\n\nA banner hung from the tower, snapping in the wind. Upon it was a jagged lightning bolt in a black sky. It was Romar's mark, the crest of Isiltir, taken from the name the giants had used– the storm-lands. But as Maquin looked at it he saw something else on the banner, something intertwined with the jagged lightning, coiling about it. A white serpent.\n\n\"I don't like the look of that, ' Maquin said quietly.\n\n\"Me neither,\" Orgull said. \"Whose banner is it?\"\n\n\"If you don't ask you won't know, my mam used to say,\" murmured Tahir.\n\n\"Your mam was a wise woman,\" Orgull said. \"Let's go and ask someone. '\n\nMaquin crept through the reeds, wincing at every rustle. He and Tahir were close to the bridge now, though it had taken them along time to get this close." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A handful of houses were clustered about a squat tower. Maquin could smell horse dung, and hear the gentle neigh of a horse off in the darkness. Torches burned around the tower, small patches of light in the night, and further away larger fires burned. Men stood at the doors to the tower, grim-looking and dressed for war. This was a warband, no doubt, though it was hard to tell their numbers in the darkness– two, three hundred, maybe more. The banner hung limp on the tower, but Maquin remembered Isiltir's lightning bolt and the serpent wrapped around it.\n\n\"We'll sit tight awhile, see what we see, ' he whispered to Tahir.\n\nThey lay there waiting along time before the tower door swung open and a handful of men strode out. At their head was Jael.\n\nWithout thinking, Maquin reached for his sword, then felt Tahir's grip on his arm.\n\n\"Don't, ' the lad hissed.\n\n\"It's Jael, ' he whispered back.\n\n\"I know, but there's too many– you'll get yourself killed, and worse, get me killed.\"\n\nMaquin wrestled with the compulsion, then released his sword hilt.\n\nThey crept back along the riverbank to Orgull and told him all they had seen, then waited until deep of night, when most would be sleeping, and pushed the boat back into the river, letting the current take them downstream. When they were convinced they were far enough away that sound would not carry, they rowed like their lives depended on it.\n\nBy the time the sun rose behind them Maquin was slick with sweat, his back throbbing, muscles burning. They had come leagues since the bridge, giving them a good head start on Jael. Their guess was that he was moving on Gerda and Haelan, Romar's son. Striking quickly, before news could spread and any resistance could rally. So their task was to reach Dun Kellen ahead of Jael." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Keep pulling,\" Orgull said behind them. Maquin wanted to say something but could not find the breath to do it.\n\nDun Kellen rose out of a river mist, the sun sinking behind it. Built upon a hill, the town around it was a disorderly mass that flowed down the hill's slopes. Amass of quays edged the river; the three men steered towards one of them and made fast the boat.\n\n\"What now?\" said Tahir. He sniffed and pulled a face as fishermen and traders began to take notice of them. \"And what's that smell? ' he muttered.\n\nOrgull strode away, eyes fixed on the fortress on the hill.\n\n\"Civilization,\" Maquin said, following Orgull.\n\nAt the gates to the fortress a handful of guards stood with spears in their hands. Maquin noticed the shoddy state of the fortress' defences. A whole section of the wall had collapsed, timber frame and cladding filling the gap. Ashe looked along the walls he saw there were a number of similar sections.\n\nNot the best place to endure a siege.\n\n\"You– big man,\" a guard called, pointing at Orgull with his spear. \"What's your business in Dun Kellen? \"He looked at Maquin and Tahir, at their leather war gear and their swords.\"Sellswords? \"He sneered.\"We don't need your sort round here.\"\n\n\"We are the last survivors of the Gadrai,\" Orgull said, frowning down at the man. He reached inside his cloak and the guards around him drew back, levelling spears and reaching for swords. Maquin and Tahir spread to either side of Orgull, hands on their own weapons. Bloodshed was only an instant away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Orgull pulled out along cloth bundle and slowly unwrapped it, revealing a sheathed sword. He held it over his head.\n\n\"This is King Romar's sword. He lies slain in the heart of Forn Forest, betrayed by his own kin. His murderer is two days behind us, at best, and he would add your heads to the pile he has already gathered. '\n\n\"That got their attention,\" Tahir whispered to Maquin.\n\nMaquin remembered the Lady Gerda as tall, strong-boned and athletic. He had last seen her three years ago, riding away from Mikil with her son Haelan and her shieldmen. Now her tall frame was layered in fat, folds of skin rippling down her bare arms. She was sitting on a chair beside Varick, her elder brother. He was thick boned like his sister, with streaks of grey at his temples and a plain, open face. In his hands he held Romar's sword. It gave a metallic hiss as he drew it and held it up.\n\n\"That's Romar's sword,\" Gerda said, \"or I'm a fisherman's wife. The question,\" Gerda said to Orgull, \"is do we believe you?\"\n\n\"Why else would we come here?\" Tahir blurted. \"Speeding like Asroth were on our heels to give you warning.\" He looked at his hands, raw and blistered from rowing.\n\n\"Yes, why else would you come here?\" Gerda mused.\n\n\"Do you want a reward for this?\" Varick asked, still staring at the sword.\n\n\"Kill Jael, that'll be reward enough, ' Maquin snarled.\n\nGerda looked at him. \"Is this some blood-feud between you and Jael? And you would have us do your work for you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He has cause for blood-feud with Jael,\" Orgull said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"As do you. As do I. I am Orgull, captain of the Gadrai, and I have come to you out of loyalty to Isiltir, out of a desire to see justice done. And to stop Isiltir being used as a pawn in the coming war that will overrun the Banished Lands. If we are deceiving you, or wrong, then nothing will happen. If we are right, Jael will beat your gates soon, probably demanding that Haelan become his ward until the boy is of age. Jael means to rule Isiltir, and he will commit betrayal and murder to do it. He already has.\" Orgull shrugged. \"Do not believe us– that is your choice– but in Elyon's name, choose to be wise. Send out scouts to see if a warband approaches from the south. Gather your warriors about you, make ready. Justin case. '\n\n\"Better to stay safe than sorry, my mam used to say,\" muttered Tahir.\n\n\"Wise words,\" said Orgull.\n\nMaquin stepped forward. \"Jael can pour honey on his words, but make no mistake: once he has Haelan in his power, he will kill him.\" Maquin looked down. \"I have seen what he is prepared to do.\"\n\n\"No one will harm a hair on my son's head, \"Gerda said fiercely.\"I will die first. '\n\nYou may get a chance to prove that.\n\n\"I'll send out scouts, \"Varick said,\"and make sure my warriors are sober and ready. \"He looked at his sister.\"It will do no harm. '\n\n\"My lord, call in from your lands all warriors sworn to you that you can. The fate of Isiltir could be decided in the next few days,\" Orgull urged." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue the story as the author's writing assistant.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, war\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Valour\nChapter: 23" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"He has cause for blood-feud with Jael,\" Orgull said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"As do you. As do I. I am Orgull, captain of the Gadrai, and I have come to you out of loyalty to Isiltir, out of a desire to see justice done. And to stop Isiltir being used as a pawn in the coming war that will overrun the Banished Lands. If we are deceiving you, or wrong, then nothing will happen. If we are right, Jael will beat your gates soon, probably demanding that Haelan become his ward until the boy is of age. Jael means to rule Isiltir, and he will commit betrayal and murder to do it. He already has.\" Orgull shrugged. \"Do not believe us– that is your choice– but in Elyon's name, choose to be wise. Send out scouts to see if a warband approaches from the south. Gather your warriors about you, make ready. Justin case. '\n\n\"Better to stay safe than sorry, my mam used to say,\" muttered Tahir.\n\n\"Wise words,\" said Orgull.\n\nMaquin stepped forward. \"Jael can pour honey on his words, but make no mistake: once he has Haelan in his power, he will kill him.\" Maquin looked down. \"I have seen what he is prepared to do.\"\n\n\"No one will harm a hair on my son's head, \"Gerda said fiercely.\"I will die first. '\n\nYou may get a chance to prove that.\n\n\"I'll send out scouts, \"Varick said,\"and make sure my warriors are sober and ready. \"He looked at his sister.\"It will do no harm. '\n\n\"My lord, call in from your lands all warriors sworn to you that you can. The fate of Isiltir could be decided in the next few days,\" Orgull urged." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So you say. Perhaps I will do as you suggest. And if you are speaking the truth, then you will have my thanks.\"\n\nGerda rose and strode to them, standing and looking deep into each one's face. Her expression hardened.\"Fetch Haelan, \"she said over her shoulder to a shieldman who had been standing in the shadows of her chair.\"I believe them. '\n\n\"There they are,\" Tahir said, pointing one of his long arms. Maquin followed and saw a shadow in the distance.\n\n\"They have crossed the river already,\" Maquin observed.\n\nIt was just a day later and they were standing on Dun Kellen's battlements, close to the gate, warriors lined along the wall either side of them. Varick's messengers had been sent out to the holds but they knew it would take time for the men to muster. Time they didn't have. Nearby, the stonewall and battlements were replaced by wooden planks to fill the crumbling gaps of the fortress.\n\nThe warband quickly grew larger, a cloud of dust kicked up by the horses. Maquin could see Jael at the front, beside his banner-man, his pennant snapping in their wake. Varick had ordered that the streets of Dun Kellen be evacuated but there were still people to be seen. As the sound of the approaching warband filled the air a sudden sense of panic seemed to spread, people hurrying, running for shelter.\n\nThe warband reached the outskirts of Dun Kellen. Riders from the flanks peeled away and began circling the town, filtering into side streets whilst the bulk of the warband rode up the main avenue leading to Dun Kellen's gates.\n\n\"I remember wiping the snot from his nose,\" Gerda said as she watched Jael approach. \"I wonder what terms he will offer for the head of my son.\" Maquin looked at her but said nothing, remembering Jael and Kastell fighting in the cavern beneath Haldis. Seeing Jael plunge his sword into Kastell's stomach. His fingers twitched and he reached for his sword." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Be ready,\" Orgull said as the riders appeared. Screams were rising from the town, people were scattering in the wide avenue before Jael and his shieldmen as they thundered into view. Someone slipped in the road and disappeared under the flood of horses, screams quickly cut short, then in a spray of mud Jael pulled his warriors up, about a hundred paces before the gate.\n\n\"Let's hear his terms, ' Varick said, stepping forward to stand on the arch above the gateway. Jael clicked his horse on, a spear held loosely in his hand. Only his banner-man accompanied him.\n\n\"Greetings, Jael, and welcome to Dun Kellen, kinsman. What brings you here?\" Varick called down.\n\nJael's eyes were fixed on Varick. He turned his horse in a tight circle. Ashe came back round out of the turn he hurled his spear. It flew straight, striking Varick in the throat and throwing him backwards in a spray of blood. Jael wheeled his horse and galloped back to his cheering men.\n\nOn the wall men were yelling in shock and horror, warriors letting spears fly at the retreating Jael. They all missed. Maquin looked at the form of Varick, blood splattered about his corpse; Gerda and a huddle of others were staring at him, wide-eyed. Then Maquin looked back to Jael punching the air as he reached his gathered warriors, men jumping from horses now, chopping with axes at the timber frames of houses.\n\nJael did not come to offer terms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen could not believe her eyes. Pendathran, King Brenin's battlechief, was staring back at her. But he was dead, had fallen in the feast-hall the night Dun Carreg fell. Or so she had been told. What was Evnis doing with him locked in his cellar?\n\n\"What the hell are you doing here?\" Pendathran said, his voice hoarse.\n\n\"Don't know, ' Cywen said automatically.\n\n\"Water?\" he asked.\n\nShe looked about, but could see no jug or water barrel. She shook her head.\n\n\"Quick, girl, help me up.\"\n\nCywen took his hand and pulled him upright. There were deep cuts on his exposed forearm, part-scabbed and weeping blood. He towered above her, taking long, ragged breaths. The bandage around his neck was crusted black with blood.\n\n\"Put your arm round me,\" Cywen said and steered him out of the cell. They weaved through the cellar to the boarded doorway. Cywen propped Pendathran against a wall and set to levering boards from the door frame. She was acutely aware of the noise she was making, and kept taking furtive glances at the shadowed staircase.\n\n\"Looking won't make you any quieter, or quicker, ' Pendathran croaked. He picked up a discarded axe leaning against the wall and tried to help her.\n\nCywen shot him a scowl and set to the last board. With a creak it pulled free.\n\nCywen pulled afresh torch from her bag and sparked it with tinder and flint. \"Come on,\" she said and led Pendathran into the darkness of the tunnels.\n\nWhen they finally emerged from the cave onto the beach Pendathran sank to the sand. It was still dark but the moon was fading, pale and wan as dawn greyed the land." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen could not believe they had made it this far. Pendathran had staggered through the tunnels, at times semi-conscious. When alert he asked for news, information about what was happening in Dun Carreg. In return she discovered that it was Evnis who had imprisoned him. Evnis who knew about the tunnels, had access to them.\n\nThe worst of their passage through the tunnels had been when they'd come upon the well, where the path spiralled around the deep hole. Cywen still did not know how Pendathran had managed to avoid toppling into the dark emptiness. But somehow he had. The rest of the journey had passed into terror-filled nightmare, Cywen constantly pausing to listen for the pursuit she expected at any moment: the baying of Evnis\" hounds catching her scent, the sound of running feet, the shouts of her trackers as they saw her. But it had not happened, and now they were here, on the beach of Havan, just before the sun rose and betrayed them to the world.\n\nFrantically she looked around. She had given little thought to what they would do if they made it this far. She scanned the shore, eyes drawn again to where Dath's boat was usually beached. Then an idea sparked.\"We cannot rest here, \"she said, looping an arm under Pendathran's. He groaned but struggled to his feet.\n\nThey splashed through shallow pools, crabs scuttling out of their way, then along the path to the village, past the smokehouses, until Cywen saw a small house.\n\nDath's house.\n\nThe door was open. The smell that greeted them was stale and musty. The place had been ransacked: tables and chairs overturned, cupboards open, emptied. Probably Owain's men when they occupied the town during the siege, before they moved into Dun Carreg." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a barrel with cold fresh rainwater by the backdoor. Cywen fetched some for Pendathran, who had collapsed onto a sagging cot. He drank and drank, water spilling over his face, soaking his beard. Cywen had to pull the jug from his lips, worrying that he would vomit.\n\n\"I will bring you food when I can,\" she said to Pendathran. \"I will try tonight, though Evnis has had me watched.\"\n\n\"Why, girl?\" Pendathran mumbled.\n\n\"I'm not sure– maybe he thinks I can lead him to Corban, and Edana. \"She shrugged.\"You must stay out of sight. Stay here until I return. '\n\n\"No chance of me going far,\" Pendathran said.\n\nCywen stood there, worrying, then turned on her heel and sped to the door.\n\n\"Girl,\" Pendathran called after her. She stopped and looked back.\n\n\"Thank you,\" he said.\n\nShe flashed him a quick smile and ran.\n\nAfter a brief hesitation she turned towards the village. With every passing moment it was more likely that Evnis would discover Pendathran had escaped. Surely he would have men search the tunnels for him.\n\nAs the sun rose she mingled with labourers from the village who were making their way up to the fortress. She pulled her hood up and slipped across the bridge and through Stonegate unnoticed. Once back in Dun Carreg she ran through the stone-paved backstreets, skirting her house to climb alley walls and slip in through her garden. Buddai greeted her with a wagging tail as she strode across the kitchen and peered out of her window. A shadow still occupied a doorway across the street, though now it was slumped on the floor, sleeping. She felt exhausted, but knew that if she lay down she would probably sleep half the day. That she must not do. Give the spy no reason to report to Evnis, nothing to raise his suspicions. So she broke her fast with some bacon and honey-cakes, half of which she fed to a drooling Buddai, and then set about her usual daily tasks. She made her way to the stables, where she harnessed up selected horses for warriors to train within the Rowan Field. One of the horses was Shield. She took her time with him, gave him an extra apple and scowled at the man that climbed into his saddle. It was Drust, the red-haired warrior from Narvon, the one in the feast-hall who had told her to take Buddai, the day after Dun Carreg had fallen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "As the day wore on she felt a tension growing in her gut." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was something she must do.\n\nEvnis must surely know Pendathran had escaped by now. He would scour the tunnels searching for him, but he would not risk baying hounds during the day– Pendathran was clearly a closely guarded secret, one that King Owain knew nothing about, and Evnis was not fool enough to draw attention with a full hunt in broad daylight. He would not risk his hounds beyond the tunnels until nightfall, surely. That meant Cywen had sometime to do what was necessary. She steeled herself, then set about the task.\n\nThe sun was sinking towards the ocean when she left her home, her bag slung over her back. She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder, knowing that someone would be shadowing her, and made her way to the stables.\n\nOnce there she slipped inside an empty stall. Quickly, she tied her hair back tight to her head, stuffed straw inside her tunic until it was near bursting, then drew a cloak from her bag, pulling the hood up. She emptied the contents of her bag into a saddlebag. Finally she shouldered a saddle and tack as well as the saddlebag. Taking a deep breath, she stepped from the stables and walked purposefully across the yard. She noticed Conall leaning beside a water barrel, eyes fixed on the stable door. She smiled as she walked away from him into the streets of the fortress.\n\nAs soon as she was out of sight she dumped the saddle and tack, heading with speed towards her quarry: Evnis'tower. She paused, stepped into deep shadows caused by the sinking sun, then made her way furtively along Evnis\" wall. When she judged she was in the right place she stopped, testing the mortar between the wall's stones with a finger. It was soft and crumbling, succumbing to years of salt in the air. She looked about once more, the street empty, silent, then drew two of her knives, stabbed them into gaps in the stone and began hauling herself up the wall. Dath had taught her how to do this– if he couldn't climb a wall, then it couldn't be climbed, though she'd never tell him that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When she reached the top she wriggled forwards, hooked one arm over the wall, and smiled grimly to herself. A low-roofed building stretched before her. Evnis' kennels. She unslung her saddlebag, undoing the buckle with her teeth and spare hand.\n\nA hound walked out of the kennel, tall and scar-eared. It stretched and sniffed, its head snapping round, catching her scent. Then it saw her and let out a great, baying howl. Other dogs flowed from the kennel, began barking and jumping at the wall. Panicking now, she emptied the contents of the saddlebag, lumps of meat showering the area. The dogs immediately began to wolf them down, snapping and snarling atone another.\n\nA voice called out; a blond-haired figure appeared– Rafe.\n\nCywen ducked from view, half slid, half fell from the wall, then sprinted into the shadows. She wiped tears from her eyes. Evnis' hounds would not be hunting Pendathran tonight.\n\nCywen led the stallion through the tree-lined path into the Rowan Field. She had tried not to bring him, had used every excuse besides actually making him lame, but Drust had stepped in, examined Shield himself and declared him fit for use. He had looked at Cywen suspiciously, so she had ceased anymore protests, knowing that Drust could stop her working in the stables if he wished.\n\nHe was waiting for her, in the Field. He strode over, smiling at Shield.\n\n\"He's a fine animal, \"he said, his eyes fixed on Shield. He ran a hand down a foreleg, lifted it to examine the hoof.\"See, I told you, girl, there's nothing wrong with him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I was mistaken,\" Cywen muttered, handing him the reins.\n\n\"That you were,\" Drust said, swinging into the saddle. \"Best not get too attached to this one,\" he said, pulling Shield in a tight circle, \"he's a warhorse, if ever I saw one. Was made for battle. ' He kicked his heels and Shield leaped away with a spray of turf.\n\nCywen watched as Drust urged Shield into a gallop, charging at the straw targets at the far end of the Field. With a battle-cry he left his spear quivering in one of them.\n\nShe skirted the edge of the Field, making for the outer wall that ringed the whole fortress. It was early but the sun was already hot, spring sliding steadily into summer. As she passed the weapons court she caught a glimpse of Rafe sparring. He was fighting an older, heavier man and seemed to beholding his own. Even as she watched, he swung a hard blow that whistled through his opponent's defence, cracking him on the shoulder.\n\nShe felt a pang of guilt at seeing Rafe, her thoughts turning instantly to the hounds that she had poisoned. Most had died, only a couple surviving, though they were still weak and emaciated two ten-nights later. Cywen was surprised any had lived– she had mixed a concoction that her da used to give his whelping bitches, both as a painkiller and a sedative, though she had made it ten times as potent as her da had.\n\nRafe was walking towards her from the weapons court. He had a slight limp, a reminder of the wound her brother had given him on the night Dun Carreg had fallen.\n\n\"No girls on the Field,\" Rafe said to her as he drew near." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She ignored him and strode on, passing a huge pen on her path to the wall. A horrible smell came from it– rotting flesh and something worse. It was where Nathair kept his pet draig. Wide stone steps were hewn into the wall, made for giant strides. She looked back into the draig's pen as she climbed higher, caught a glimpse of it spilling from the burrow it had dug in the ground. She was sweating when she reached the top of the wall; the breeze up here was fresh and welcome. She leaned on the battlements and looked out beyond the fortress. It felt as if she could seethe whole world. To the west the sea was a bright shimmering blanket in the summer sun, the sky and horizon so clear she could almost seethe coast of Cambren, a smudge at the edge of her vision. She turned west and south, the river Tarin a bright line twisting through the landscape, through the dark of Baglun Forest. I hope Pendathran still lives, she thought.\n\nKing Brenin's old battlechief had stayed just one night in Dath's abandoned cottage; Cywen had brought him food and water the night she had poisoned the hounds. He had stayed there the next day, sleeping, then set out the following night. Cywen had told him all that she knew, of Queen Rhin's invasion of Narvon, the imminent battle looming between her and Owain. Of how rumour said that a resistance against Owain was growing in Ardan, based around the swamps and marshes in the west. That had been enough for Pendathran– he hadn't told her where he was going, but the look in his eyes had been enough.\n\n\"Come with me,\" he had said. \"There's nothing for you here now. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had been tempted, but something held her back. Dun Carreg washer home. Buddai would be able to come with her, but not Shield. Who would look after him? I could steal Shield, take him with me. But she'd be followed. She was already being watched by Conall. If her kin were hiding in the west she could end up leading Evnis straight to them. No. Not yet. Best let Pendathran find safety, and maybe I'll follow.\n\n\"If you see my mam and brother, tell them...\" she had said, then fell silent. She did not know what to tell them. That she missed them, that she wanted them to comeback, what?\n\n\"I will, lass,\" Pendathran had said, cupping her hand in his. \"And I will not forget what you have done for me.\"\n\nThen he had left, slipping into the night. As far as she knew, Evnis had not mounted any large search for him. How could he, under Owain's nose? He must be raging. She smiled at that thought.\n\nSomething caught her eye, a movement to the west, out on the sea. As she watched, it became clearer. Ships, lots of them, sleek and black-sailed, like the one already anchored in the bay. Closer and closer they came, horn blasts rising along the walls of Dun Carreg as they were spotted. Cywen counted ten, twenty ships, more– all sailing into the bay. Banners snapped from the mast of the first ship– a white eagle on a black field. Nathair's fleet had come." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin led them through the woods to where the horses were hobbled.\n\nThey were still there, four of them.\n\nQuickly, Marrock split the group. Edana and Halion mounted one horse, Heb and Brina another, though the old lady complained about having to hold onto Heb.\n\n\"You can squeeze meas tight as you like,\" Heb said, \"only admit that you like it.\" Brina slapped him across the back of the head.\n\nCamlin chose Vonn, Anwarth and Dath to help him; the first two because they had fought well, and they were quick, looked as if they could move fast if they needed to. He chose Dath because the boy could do with a job to do. He felt sorry for the lad, knew what it was like to lose kin. He looked as if he was falling deeper into a pit that could be hard to climb out of.\n\n\"I'll help, ' Corban volunteered.\n\n\"Don't think the smell of your wolven will help us sneak upon a herd of horses, \"Camlin said.\"Could do with you, though, Gar. You've away with horses.\"\n\n\"I'll be going where Corban goes, ' Gar said, and Camlin could see there was no negotiation in that. He shrugged.\n\n\"I'll come with you, \"Marrock said.\"I could do with a lesson in sneaking about. ' He grinned.\n\nCamlin smiled back. \"All right then.\"\n\n\"We'll ride to where the two hills meet, wait for you there, ' Halion said, pointing across undulating meadows into the distance.\n\n\"If we have not joined you by sunrise, goon without us,\" Marrock said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With that the two groups split. Camlin watched Halion and Edana lead the riders off, heading along the wood's fringe, away from the village to avoid any watching eyes.\n\nThere was anew tension in the air between Marrock and Halion. The turn of events had hardened Marrock's opinion that they should have sailed back to Ardan. Can't turn back time, though. A good leader should know that. Camlin liked Marrock, thought of him as a friend. But Halion's the natural leader, here. He's led men before, given orders.\n\nIt's Edana that should be leading us, but instead she follows where anyone brave enough to speak up points. Edana had a haunted look about her; she had been silent since the battle on the beach. Truth was Edana didn't look fit to lead a pony, let alone a desperate band of runaways through enemy land. Is she even worth saving? Worth going through all this for? The thought of leaving, of just slinking away, entered Camlin's head again. But Edana wasn't the reason he was here, anyway. It was a combination of circumstance and a sense of loyalty to the friends he had made. Marrock, Dath, Corban. Loyalty? What's happening tome? He had felt a sense of camaraderie with Braith and his outlaws in the Darkwood, but he had always known that anyone of them would cut his throat in his sleep if the circumstances called for it. Being here was different. The friends he'd made were not like that. He'd finally found a sense of belonging, of doing something right. It probably won't last, he thought, but while it did, he would not be leaving. Not today.\n\nBrina and Heb's grumbling faded as they shrank into the distance. Gwenith and Farrell rode the other two horses, Corban and Gar jogging behind them. The wolven looped out wider, became a white blur in the long grass and meadow flowers. There was a noise from amongst the trees, high up, and Craf emerged from the canopy. The crow trailed the riders, soon becoming just a dark smudge in the sky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Better get on with it,\" Marrock said.\n\n\"Aye, chief.\"\n\nThe sun was low in the sky, sending long shadows behind them as they approached the paddocks. The ground was undulating, with long grass sighing in the breeze, allowing them for the most part to remain hidden from the village strung along the coast and river.\n\nIt took them along time to reach the edge of the first paddocks; Camlin paused behind a post-and-rail fence. The warband's camp was mostly on the far side of the river, and fires were lit as dusk settled, the sound of singing drifting across to them.\n\nAt least fifty horses were penned before them, cropping grass, herded together, most in the centre of the paddock. On the far side a smokehouse stood before the river. A warrior was standing at its open doors, silhouetted by light from within. It looked as if the building had been commandeered as an impromptu stable and tack room.\n\nHe felt a presence at his shoulder, saw Marrock creep up close.\n\n\"So how do you want to do this, chief?\" Camlin asked.\n\n\"I was about to ask you the same question. You're a bit more practised at this, so I thought I'd learn from you,\" Marrock said. \"One thing I do know: if we're going to ride those horses away from here we're going to need saddles and tack.\"\n\n\"Just what I was thinking,\" Camlin said, nodding towards the smokehouse. \"I'll take Vonn and Dath, see what we can do. Wait for my signal, then start catching some horses. '\n\n\"Will do.\"\n\nCamlin circled the paddocks and smokehouse, making his way almost to the river, where the grass became tall sedge and reed, the ground spongy. He waited for Vonn and Dath to follow, then gave his orders. Vonn looked at him determinedly, but Dath appeared nervous, distracted. When Camlin had finished talking he sent Vonn off to his point, but held onto Dath's arm. The boy looked at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I know you're hurting, lad, but I need to know you're gonna do this right.\"\n\n\"I... I'll try, ' Dath mumbled.\n\n\"I'm looking for better than try, \"Camlin said, holding Dath's face in his hands, locking eyes with him. He could feel him shaking. \"Your da's dead; it's a sad truth. But we're not. And we need you. Do you understand? We are each other's kin, now. You, me, Marrock, Halion, your friend Corban, all of us. We are bound together. Let's see if we can keep each other alive, an'livelong enough to avenge our dead.\"\n\nDath sucked in a deep breath, the trembling in his limbs settling.\n\n\"I've given you a job to do. A man's job. Because I know you can do it. I've seen you today; you've fought well. And you have skill with that bow of yours.\"\n\nDath looked down. \"I'm afraid. '\n\nCamlin chuckled. \"Aren't we all? You'd have to be dead to be feeling no fear right now. Use it, lad. Let it keep you sharp, alert. Don't let it beat you. '\n\nSomething firmer entered Dath's eyes then, a decision made. He nodded.\n\n\"Good lad. Now, get on, and do your part.\"\n\nThe sun was just aglow on the horizon; darkness was pulling in tight around the light from the smokehouse. Camlin watched Dath fade into the grass, giving him more time than he should need to reach the smokehouse and sneak around to its far side. Then he stood and walked tall through the grass, ducked under the paddock rail and made for the building. A warrior still stood at its doors." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Evening,\" Camlin called as he drew near, holding a hand up and smiling." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How goes it?\"\n\nThe warrior shrugged, peering at Camlin. \"Well enough. What can we do for you?\"\n\n\"Just came to check on my horse, an\" stretch my legs. Can only do so much sitting and drinking. '\n\nAnother figure appeared at the doorway, taller than the first. \"Can never do enough drinking,\" he said. \"Don't happen to have a drop, do you? '\n\n\"No,\" Camlin said, close enough to touch them, now.\n\n\"Pity.\" The new figure shrugged and stepped back inside.\n\n\"All quiet, then?\" Camlin asked, glancing through the doorway after the disappearing figure. The smell offish drifted out. A pot was warming over afire, saddles and rugs stacked along one wall, bridles, reins, girth straps all hanging on another. There was only one man in there.\n\n\"Aye,\" the first man said.\n\n\"No sign of Haf an\" his lads? '\n\n\"Haf?\"\n\nHe led a few of our boys into those woods over there, \"Camlin said, pointing into the distance.\"Someone saw a boat land out that way, thought it might be spies of Owain. '\n\n\"I hadn't heard, ' the warrior said, stepping forward, peering at the woods. They were just a deeper shadow in the gloom of dusk.\n\n\"I'll go check on my horse, \"Camlin said, stepping out of the doorway's light.\n\n\"There area lot of horses out there,\" the warrior said.\n\n\"\"S all right, \"Camlin said.\"I can see her from here– over there– big piebald mare. ' He pointed to a cluster of horses." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Did you see that?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "the guard said, taking a few steps into the field.\n\n\"Where?\" Camlin said.\n\n\"Near your horse– I thought I saw...\" He took another step into the field, further from the light, hand going to his sword hilt.\n\nThere was a whistling sound, a wet thud and the guard staggered. Ina second Camlin was behind him, one hand across his mouth, the other stabbing into his back, the blade slipping through ribs, puncturing a lung. The man sighed and sank to the ground, Camlin lowering him.\n\nQuickly he turned and strode back to the smokehouse, sheathing his knife. Vonn crept out of the gloom, and he heard Dath's feet behind him.\n\nCamlin held a finger up to Vonn, pointed at the smokehouse and then stepped through the open door.\n\nThe man inside was bent over stirring some kind of stew. Camlin's knife took him in the gut as he turned. He struggled, gripping Camlin's wrist, then the strength went out of him and he fell across the pot, spilling it. Flames scattered and Camlin stamped them out.\n\nHe looked up to see Vonn staring at him.\n\n\"That wasn't very honourable, ' Vonn said.\n\n\"No,\" said Camlin amicably, \"it wasn't. He's dead, though, an\" I'm alive. An\" you're still breathing too, for that matter.\" He pushed past Vonn and stood in the light of the doorway, raised an arm and waved. Dath was standing beside the shadow of the dead warrior in the grass, pulling his arrow from the man's chest.\"You did good, \"Camlin called to him.\"Now, both of you, help me get some saddles and tack together before Marrock arrives. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It had taken over half the night for Camlin and Marrock to catch up with Halion and his companions.\n\nStill, they were all alive, and everyone was mounted on a strong horse. Things could be a lot worse.\n\nMarrock and Halion moved apart, Halion riding to the front of their small column.\n\n\"Domhain is north-west of here,\" he said, turning in his saddle, \"so that is the direction we will ride, and fast, to put some distance between us and our trackers. I have travelled through Cambren before, but not this far south. I know there is a good pass through the mountains to Domhain, but it is much further north, so that is where we are headed.\"\n\nGood. Now let's just get on with it, instead of talking about it, Camlin thought, looking back over his shoulder for the signs of pursuit– a cloud of dust from horses\" hooves, the startled flight of birds, anything, but so far the land looked quiet and clean behind them.\n\nThey stopped beside a stream at highsun and Camlin dismounted, drinking deeply and splashing some water on his neck. He heard a cracking noise, looked up and jumped; only apace away Brina's crow was sitting on a dark granite rock, gleefully smashing a large snail to pieces. It speared the soft body within and slurped it down.\n\n\"I hate that crow,\" a voice whispered beside him. Dath. Camlin nodded, not really wanting to say it out loud, in case the crow heard him.\n\n\"Mount up,\" Marrock called out.\n\nAs Camlin climbed into his saddle he noticed the wolven standing perfectly still, looking behind them. Its hackles were up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He paused, staring hard into the distance, along the path they had travelled. \"Chief,\" he called.\n\nMarrock rode over to him.\n\n\"What is it?\"\n\nCamlin pointed. In the distance, almost beyond eyesight, something was moving, like a line of ants.\n\n\"Best pickup the pace,\" Camlin said. \"We've got company. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis reined in his horse as Dun Carreg came into view.\n\nCalidus pulled up alongside him, the warband slowing to a halt behind.\n\n\"Nathair is there?\" Veradis asked, staring at the fortress in the distance.\n\n\"Yes, he is there, as is Lykos,\" Calidus said.\n\nThey spurred their mounts on, the warband rippling into motion behind.\n\nThe Jehar had split into two groups, riding on their flanks like two black wings stretching across the green countryside. Further to the south, dense forest rolled away into the distance, carpeting the land as far as Veradis could see and reminding him of Forn. Since finding Maquin, Veradis had been troubled. He'd kept his word, led Alcyon, Jael and the rest of the hunting party away from Maquin and his companions, given them a chance at life, though they still had to survive Forn. He felt he owed it to Maquin, maybe as a blood-price for Kastell. Alcyon had looked at him strangely that day, and Veradis wondered if the giant knew, somehow, what he'd done. But that was not what troubled him. It was the last words Maquin had spoken to him. Be careful of what side you choose. He had been careful, had made the right choices. Haven't I? Nathair was his friend, but more than that, he was the Bright Star that prophecy spoke of, and Calidus was one of the Ben-Elim, a warrior-angel, come to help them, to guide them through the dark times ahead: the war against Asroth and his Black Sun. Yet if he had chosen right, why did he feel wrong, somehow, somewhere deep down, and why, when he closed his eyes at night, did he see Kastell's face, his dead eyes accusing him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We are at war, a voice whispered in his mind. Hard choices must be made, hard deeds undertaken. Yes, that was true. He was just glad that Calidus was with them, to guide them, and help them make the difficult choices. For the greater good, the voice in his head said.\n\n\"Yes. For the greater good,\" he echoed.\n\n\"What was that?\" someone said nearby. It was Bos, cantering close beside him.\n\n\"Nothing,\" Veradis said, shaking his head.\n\n\"It's the first sign of madness, you know. Talking to yourself. '\n\n\"Is that so? Then I must have lost my mind along time ago.\"\n\n\"I could have told you that,\" Bos said with a smile.\n\nDun Carreg was much closer now, a small village spread at the foot of the hill it sat upon.\n\n\"Blow that horn of yours, Bos. Let them know we're coming. '\n\nVeradis was ushered by Jehar warriors into a room, Nathair's chambers. A table stood atone end with seven chairs around it. The Vin Thalun, Lykos, already occupied one. Veradis had seen a fleet anchored in the bay below Dun Carreg, sleek-hulled Vin Thalun war-galleys and fat-bellied transporters. Lykos had a cup in his hand, a smile on his face at the sight of Veradis.\n\n\"Have a drink,\" the pirate said, pouring something and handing it to Veradis.\n\nVeradis smiled as he took it. It was good even to see this pirate– at least Lykos was someone that he associated with home. He took a sip of the drink and winced. \"What is this?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mead. It gets better the more you drink of it,\" Lykos said, grinning.\n\n\"I would hope so.\" Veradis grimaced. \"Have you seen Rauca?\" he asked, looking at the empty chairs. It had been such a whirlwind since he had ridden up to Dun Carreg that he had not had a chance to seek out his friend. Nathair had met him before the gates of the fortress, pulling Veradis from his knees into an embrace.\n\n\"I have missed you, my friend,\" Nathair had said.\n\n\"And I you,\" Veradis had responded, feeling an immense sense of relief– that Nathair was alive and well, and that he was at his King's side to protect him again. But there had been no time for talking. A man had stridden across the bridge to them, tall and thin-featured, wearing a gold torc about his neck.\n\n\"Owain, King of Narvon and Ardan,\" Nathair had introduced him. Veradis did not think he looked very kingly– more like a man weighed by great pressures, a man bent almost to snapping by those pressures. He was grey skinned, eyes sunken. He hardly acknowledged Veradis and looked past him, down at Veradis' warband, who were making camp in the meadow beyond the fishing village, then out into the bay, at the fleet of black-sailed ships.\n\n\"So many men,\" he had said to Nathair. \"You look like a man making ready for war.\"\n\n\"That is exactly what I am doing,\" Nathair had replied calmly. \"War against Asroth and his Black Sun. As you know, I will be travelling north soon, into Benoth, which is ruled by giants. I would be a fool to march into their realm with only a handful of warriors about me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Owain had looked at him. \"We must talk soon, but first I must find out where Rhin is, what she plans...\" he had said briefly before heading down to the village.\n\n\"We cannot talk here,\" Nathair had said to Veradis'questioning look.\"I fear Owain does not trust me. At the moment he trusts no one: a lesson he has learned a little too late, I think. Come, you will be shown to your chambers, where you can refresh yourself. \"He sniffed.\"And wash. I will send for you and we will talk later. '\n\nVeradis had soaked in a hot bath, eaten a good meal and changed into a soft cotton tunic and leather kilt, though he still wore his two swords on his belt. His iron sandals had echoed in the stone corridors as he followed Nathair's messenger back to the King's chambers, and nowhere he was, drinking something disgusting with a Vin Thalun pirate. He never failed to marvel at the surprises the last few years had thrown at him.\n\nThe door opened and in marched Nathair, followed closely by Sumur and Calidus. Alcyon came last.\n\nNathair ushered them to chairs.\n\n\"We must wait for one more before we begin,\" Nathair said.\n\nThere was a knock at the door. A man walked in whom Veradis did not recognize. He was fair haired, dressed in tunic and breeches. His beard was neat and trimmed; there was an economy in his movement as he approached the table.\n\n\"This is Evnis,\" Nathair said, \"until recently the counsellor of King Brenin. He has entered my service, and has already proved his loyalty and his value. You can all speak freely in front of him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Evnis smiled, showing creases about his eyes, and sat at the table.\n\n\"I am glad that you are all here,\" Nathair told them. \"It is no small thing that we are gathered together, hundreds of leagues from Tenebral.\"\n\n\"A miraculous sign of Elyon's approval of our purposes, if ever we needed one, ' Lykos said, raising his cup and drinking deep.\n\n\"And also testament of Calidus\" talents, ' Nathair said.\n\nCalidus waved a hand, frowning at Lykos.\n\n\"Lykos, let us begin with you. I am eager for news of my home.\"\n\nHome. I miss Tenebral, and so does Nathair, judging by his look.\n\n\"Your mother sends her greetings,\" Lykos said.\n\nNathair smiled, warm and genuine. \"Is she well?\"\n\n\"Her health is good, from what I can tell. And she tries to govern Tenebral well, for her part.\"\n\n\"Tries?\" said Nathair, frowning.\n\n\"There is unrest in Tenebral, my King. Your barons seek to take advantage of your absence and your mother's grief. '\n\nWhat barons? thought Veradis. My own father is Baron of Ripa.\n\n\"What do you mean? Mother has not sent me word.\"\n\n\"She has sent a letter for you,\" Lykos said and reached inside his tunic. \"Here.\"\n\nNathair looked at its seal closely, then broke it and read the parchment in silence.\n\n\"I doubt she would wish to talk much of Tenebral's internal problems, \"Lykos said.\"She seeks to reduce your burden, not increase it. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nathair looked at him. \"She says that you, the Vin Thalun, have been causing many of the problems.\"\n\n\"You have enemies that seek any advantage they can.\" Lykos shrugged.\n\n\"Tell me,\" Nathair commanded.\n\n\"I had many difficulties building your fleet– some of your barons obstructed the building greatly. Especially Marcellin in the north–\" he glanced at Veradis– \"and Lamar in the south.\"\n\nMy father.\n\n\"They limited the supplies, particularly timber.\"\n\nI would not put it past him. He hates the Vin Thalun, as does my brother Krelis.\n\n\"When I spoke to your mother of this she intervened. But because of their interference I thought it might be helpful to learn more about these people.\"\n\n\"You mean you spied on them,\" Nathair said.\n\nMy father would not take kindly to that if he knew.\n\n\"Yes. And I learned that there is complaining amongst your barons, of how you have ruled Tenebral, of your embracing corsairs.\" Lykos smiled grimly. \"You would expect no different in any realm– there are always those that seek more power. But the things Marcellin and Lamar are saying of you, spreading rumours. It could become more than just words of discontent.\"\n\n\"I don't believe it, \"Veradis said.\"My father maybe many things, but he would not speak ill of you, Nathair. You are his king. '\n\n\"Perhaps,\" said Nathair. \"But I remember our last meeting, as you must. It did not go well. And I recall him being disrespectful, even then.\"\n\nAye, he was. Veradis had almost come to blows with his father over the disrespect he had shown Nathair. Just the memory of it stirred his anger." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What are they saying?\" Nathair asked Lykos.\n\n\"They talk of how you have abandoned your country, your people, to pursue your ambitions.\"\n\nA look of anger contorted Nathair's face.\"All that I do I do for Tenebral's good.\" He slammed a clenched fist on the table.\n\n\"I know that, my King, but it seems that Marcellin and Lamar do not. And there is more. Peritus has been seen with Marcellin.\"\n\n\"Peritus?\"\n\n\"Aye.\"\n\nPeritus had been battlechief to Aquilus, Nathair's father. He had been openly disapproving of Nathair's shield wall and new strategies for battle. Partly because of this he had found his standing in Tenebral shifting as Nathair set about acquiring his own circle of trusted supporters. Peritus was not one of them, though up until now Nathair had not doubted his loyalty to the crown.\n\n\"I worry about the affairs in Tenebral,\" Lykos said. \"Sometimes these situations require a firm hand, and I suspect your mother is not in the right frame of mind to deal with unruly barons resolutely. Since your father died, she has not been the same, I hear.\"\n\n\"I know.\" Nathair bowed his head. \"I had hoped that leaving her as regent in my absence would help, pull her out of her grief, her introspection.\" He crushed the letter in his hand. \"I will not have men take advantage of her kind nature. Or challenge me.\"\n\n\"The Jehar would willingly cut any rot from your kingdom,\" Sumur said. \"We are not afraid to do what must be done.\"\n\n\"I do not doubt it,\" Nathair said, \"but I have only just called the Jehar here– I would have you and your warriors about me.\" He looked at Veradis. \"I will think on this. Hard decisions may need to be made.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hard decisions about my father? My brothers? A seed of worry took root in Veradis' heart.\n\n\"Calidus has told me much of what has occurred in Forn,\" Nathair said, clearly wanting to change the subject. \"Much good has happened, not least the discovery of the starstone axe.\"\n\nAll eyes turned to Alcyon, who had unslung the axe from his back and leaned it against the table.\n\n\"It is an extraordinary blessing,\" Calidus said. \"With it our position is strengthened. It gives us greater security once we have the cauldron.\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\" Nathair asked.\n\n\"This axe is one of the Seven Treasures, its blade forged from the same fabric as the cauldron, the same as the other Treasures. It is alien, powerful; when the Treasures are in close proximity, their power is increased. The cauldron's power will be enhanced by the presence of the axe. '\n\n\"This cauldron has been apart of my dreams for so long,\" Nathair mused. \"I do not doubt its importance, but I have wondered. What power does it hold? Why is it so important in the war against Asroth and his Black Sun?\"\n\nCalidus looked at Nathair, the silence growing. Then he spoke. \"The Seven Treasures are not of this world,\" he said. \"They all are linked to the Otherworld, the cauldron most of all. It holds the power to bridge this world of flesh and the Otherworld.\"\n\nVeradis thought about that. The hairs on his arm goose-bumped. \"For what purpose?\"\n\n\"To bring my kin across the veil. To bring the Ben-Elim to this world of flesh. With their help we will be invincible; we will crush the Dark Sun and establish Elyon's kingdom forever. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A silence fell upon the room.\n\n\"That is what I have hoped for, strived for,\" Nathair said, his expression one of ecstasy. \"Is that not so, brother?\" he said, clapping Veradis across the shoulder. \"To put the world right, to see our labour and hard choices justified.\"\n\n\"Aye, Nathair,\" Veradis said.\n\n\"There is something else that I have discovered, which you should know,\" Calidus resumed. \"The cauldron can be destroyed, but only if all the Treasures are gathered together. So, possessing the axe is a double surety for us. While we have it the cauldron cannot be harmed.\"\n\n\"That is good to know,\" Nathair said.\n\n\"So our task to find the cauldron can proceed.\"\n\n\"Evnis has confirmed that it is in Murias,\" Nathair said.\n\n\"That is rare and useful knowledge.\" Calidus looked at Evnis with renewed interest.\n\n\"I have had cause to study the Benothi giants,\" Evnis said. \"And I have had small dealings with the Benothi in the past. They have confirmed tome that the cauldron is kept in Murias.\"\n\nCalidus nodded. \"Then we must hasten there.\"\n\n\"Not yet,\" Nathair said. \"I am as eager as you, Calidus, to fulfil this task that Elyon has set us. But there is work to be done here, first. Great gains for the alliance can be made.\"\n\nWhen you say alliance, I think you mean empire, Veradis thought, remembering Aquilus'council and the following argument between Aquilus and Nathair. After witnessing first-hand the discord between the kings of the Banished Lands, Veradis knew Nathair's dream to build an empire made perfect sense. An empire was simpler in concept. One ruler, less diplomacy and politicking, and that appealed to Veradis. But the reality was never as simple: to see an empire would mean kings bowing to Nathair, and that was about as likely as the Black Sun walking into their meeting and surrendering. So the only other option was war– death and slaughter on a unimaginable scale. Now that thought did not appeal. But what else could be done? Asroth would destroy every soul that drew breath in the Banished Lands: men, women, children. In that light warriors fighting and dying seemed more bearable. It is for the greater good." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis' head was starting to ache with the enormity of all that was happening, as if they were walking a narrow bridge across a great chasm, and one misstep could send them hurtling to their doom. He shook his head.\n\nI'll leave the politicking and the decision-making to Nathair.\n\n\"Let me explain the situation as I understand it,\" Nathair said. \"Evnis, please correct me if I make any mistakes. There are, or were, five kingdoms herein the west of the Banished Lands: Cambren, Ardan, Narvon, Domhain and Benoth in the north, where giants still rule. Ardan was ruled by Brenin, but he is now dead and Ardan has been conquered by Owain, King of Narvon. More recently Rhin, Queen of Cambren, has invaded Narvon and is now pushing into Ardan. She means to take both Narvon and Ardan from Owain.\"\n\n\"That will make her powerful,\" Calidus said.\n\n\"Yes, it will. And she is ambitious. I do not think she will stop there. There are two more kingdoms in the west– Domhain and Benoth. I suspect she will turn her attentions towards them if she is successful here.\"\n\n\"I like the sound of her,\" Lykos said. \"She reminds me of me.\"\n\n\"Will that not make her too powerful?\" Veradis said. \"I remember her from your father's council, and I do not trust her. '\n\n\"I don't trust anyone beyond this room, \"Nathair answered.\"And, yes, it would make her powerful. But I would rather deal with one person that I know the measure of than four petty kings in her place. \"Nathair shrugged.\"In the east, Carnutan is ruled by Gundul, who relies on my support. Isiltir is likely to have Jael as its new king, though Calidus tells me he may need some help in claiming his throne. \"Nathair looked at Lykos.\"I think you maybe of some help there, Lykos. It would give you an opportunity to do more than sail your ships. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He needs something to do, before he drinks himself to death,\" Calidus murmured.\n\n\"I must confess, since I conquered the Three Islands, life has become quieter. Boring, even. I could do with some action in my life.\" Lykos grinned and held his cup up.\n\n\"If it's action you want, I have just the task for you, \"Nathair said.\"We shall speak more on that later. So then Isiltir would be in Jael's control, and Helveth looks soon to be ruled by Lothar, another man in my debt. If the west came under the dominion of Rhin, and she answered tome, then most of the Banished Lands would be under our control.\"\n\n\"And my Three Islands are yours,\" Lykos added.\n\n\"Yes,\" Nathair answered. \"So Asroth's Black Sun is running out of possible realms to support him. '\n\n\"And what of Owain? Is he not already indebted to you? Would he not make a more suitable ally than Rhin, at least a less ambitious one?\" Veradis pressed.\n\n\"Less ambitious, definitely. But he is small minded, stiff necked and weak– a bad combination. He does not have the strength to weather the coming storm. And in his heart he does not embrace me or the alliance. I am sure of that.\"\n\n\"Then we should support Rhin,\" Calidus said.\n\n\"Yes,\" Nathair said. \"How to do that is what we must decide while we are gathered here.\"\n\nThey discussed long into the night, making plans, Evnis proving every bit as useful and knowledgeable as Nathair had said. Also to Veradis' pleasure he discovered that over five hundred eagle-warriors of Tenebral were stationed on ships only a handful of leagues away, part of the new wave of shield wall trained men that had been implemented in Tenebral only the year before. They were to be put under his command, to bolster his depleted warband." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The eagle-guard put him in mind of home, and a thought leaped into his head.\n\n\"Where is Rauca?\" he asked.\n\nAll looked at him.\n\nNathair shook his head. \"Rauca is dead. He was slain on the night the fortress was taken by Owain.\"\n\n\"What...?\"\n\nNathair continued to speak, but Veradis did not hear the words. He felt as if he had been plunged into murky water, everything about him becoming vague, unfocused. Rauca, dead. He knew it could happen, but somehow he had never considered it a possibility for his friend. Veradis looked up, saw Nathair's lips were still moving.\n\n\"Who?\" he asked, the word snapping the world back into sharp focus for him. \"Who killed him?\"\n\nNathair looked at Sumur.\n\n\"His name was Gar,\" Sumur said with a shrug.\n\n\"The same man killed near all of my eagle-guard, single handed,\" Nathair added grimly. \"Sumur, tell Veradis of this Gar.\"\n\nSumur looked down at his lap and took a deep breath. It was as much emotion as Veradis had seen pass across his face since the day Calidus had revealed himself as one of the Ben-Elim.\n\n\"He is Jehar,\" Sumur began.\n\n\"What?\" said Calidus, leaning forward.\n\n\"He is Jehar,\" Sumur repeated. \"Do you remember when you first came to Telassar that I told you another had come, that some of my sword-brothers had been deceived by this man and had left Telassar on some fool's errand. '\n\nVeradis nodded.\n\n\"Gar was one of them. He was young then, only just become a man, a warrior, but his father led the deceived, and Gar would cross a world on fire to stay close to him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"His father? Then where is he now? How many Jehar were therewith him?\"\n\n\"One hundred men and women left Telassar. Where they are now I know not, only that they went in search of the Seren Disglair.\"\n\n\"They did not find me,\" Nathair said.\n\n\"Of course not. That I know. They must be dead, their quest long since failed. I cannot imagine Gar leaving his father for any other reason.\"\n\nThis Gar– I will see him dead, vowed Veradis, only half listening to the other talk, his mind too full of Rauca's memory. He felt a frustrated rage welling up, the desire to draw his sword and strike something.\n\n\"Was this Gar with anyone?\" Calidus spoke now, his voice quiet, but his tone caused Veradis to focus again. There was something, an underlying emotion, that he had never heard in the old man before.\n\nIt was a battle, \"Sumur said.\"All was chaos, but he looked to a boy, with a wolven. '\n\n\"I have thought along the same lines as you,\" Nathair said to Calidus. \"Evnis has told me something of the boy– this Gar was friendly with his family.\"\n\n\"A wolven?\" asked Calidus.\n\n\"Yes,\" Evnis said. \"The boy had a pet wolven, though it was far from tame. Storm, he called it.\"\n\n\"Storm,\" echoed Calidus. He closed his eyes. \"Before one, storm and shield shall stand...\" he intoned. Nathair drew in a sharp breath.\n\n\"What is that? What do you speak of?\" Evnis asked.\n\n\"Calidus is reciting a line from Halvor's prophecy, \"Nathair whispered.\"It speaks of Asroth's champion, the Black Sun.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uthas strode through the heather, starlight silvering the moorland that stretched for leagues ahead of him. He was close to the southern border of Benoth now, would soon be moving into the realm of Domhain. The pain in his knee was a dull throb. He paused, resting his weight on his spear, and looked back. The fortress of Murias was long faded from view, the cauldron within it still drawing his mind, as dead meat draws a crow.\n\nSalach, his shieldman, loomed large behind him, the other giants accompanying them mere shadows strung out into the night. Five he had chosen at Queen Nemain's bidding, five warriors to journey into Domhain, to spy on their enemy, Eremon, upstart king of an upstart race that had driven him and his clan from their homeland. He felt a wave of sadness, looking back at the kin he had chosen. They were young by giant standards, and he had hard choices to force upon them. But we must have our vengeance, and no path is easy in this grim life. If the Benothi are to return to the south once again, then hard choices must be made. I will make it worth their while.\n\nIf they livelong enough, another voice whispered in his mind. He felt the hairs on his neck stand up.\n\n\"What is it?\" Salach said as he drew near.\n\n\"Nothing. Just thinking.\"\n\n\"You've had years for that. It is time for doing now, ' Salach said.\n\nThere was a fluttering from above; a dark shape swooped out of the night. A bird landed on a boulder close by, dark eyes glinting in the moonlight. Nemain had sent the raven with them to act as scout, but Uthas new that when they returned to Murias the bird would report back to Nemain on every word and deed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "More spy than scout.\n\n\"What news, Fech?\" Uthas asked.\n\n\"Men,\" the raven croaked. \"Fire, horses, sharp iron.\"\n\nThe border between Benoth and Domhain was mostly a natural one made of black-sloped mountains. There was a strip of land between the mountains, though, thirty or forty leagues wide, which provided much easier passage between the two realms. That was the route Uthas had taken them. While it was always patrolled by the warriors of Domhain, Uthas had hoped that the cover of night would cloak them, and they could avoid any patrols.\n\n\"Warriors, then,\" Fray said as he loomed out of the dark, the shadow of his axe-blade across his back looking as if another bird was perched on his shoulder. \"How many?\"\n\n\"Eight,\" the raven said.\n\n\"Eight?\" Struan echoed as he reached them. \"A good number to whet our weapons on, eh? And to earn our thorns. Where are they?\"\n\n\"Wait,\" Uthas said. \"Nemain has sent us to spy, not to kill.\"\n\n\"I cannot walk the length of Domhain just to sneak a look at those maggots lording it in our lands,\" Fray said. \"What do you say?\" the giant asked as their other companions drew close– Aric, Kai and Eisa.\n\nUthas smiled to himself, though the darkness hid it from the others. As I hoped. Raised on tales of war and glory, but having played no part in those tales themselves, they wanted to make their own stories. Killing will bind them tighter tome. Blood offers many qualities.\n\nHe could almost seethe bloodlust come upon them, the desire to ink the first thorn of their sgeul into their flesh. He glanced at the thorns and vine tattooed upon his own arm, most from the war with the Exiles. That was no small thing, to take a life. To see existence snuffed out before your eyes. It had humbled him the first time, sending another's spirit across the bridge of swords. It also gave him pride, whenever he glanced at it, and much honour amongst his Benothi kin. Among those who had been birthed after the wars, anyway. There were those in the clan who had survived the Sundering and the Scourging. Their sgeuls were a sight to behold." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We should attack, teach them who this land belongs to,\" Eisa said, her fingers stroking the bone hilt of her knife as she spoke. Her eyes searched out Uthas, pleading. Others grunted agreement.\n\n\"I command here,\" Uthas said. \"And we are hereto discover, not to slay.\"\n\n\"Why can we not do both?\" Kai asked.\n\n\"If we did, we would discover first, and slay on the return journey,\" Uthas said. \"That is wisdom. But Nemain has bid us to be swift and secret, to leave no sign of our passing. To gather information. We will not kill tonight.\" He said the last sentence louder, looking straight at Nemain's raven. If you would report something to Nemain, report that.\n\nThere was some muted grumbling, but Salach snapped a curse at them and rested his hand on his axe hilt, and the complaints faded.\n\n\"We will take a closer look,\" Uthas said, \"and see what there is to see.\"\n\n\"And if it is Rath?\" Fray said, the challenge still sitting behind his eyes.\n\n\"If it is Rath we will kill him,\" Uthas said. \"I know Nemain would forgive us that.\"\n\nRath had been Eremon's battlechief. Decades ago a warband of the Benothi had raided into Domhain and razed Rath's hold to the ground. He had not been there, but his wife and bairns had been. Ever since then the warrior had hated the Benothi. Rath had gathered about himself a band of warriors and together they had mercilessly tracked and hunted any Benothi giants that dared enter Domhain's borders.\n\n\"Fech, lead us,\" Uthas said, and turned, using his spear as a staff, following the raven's shadow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Soon they saw the light, a fire's orange glow, and Uthas caught the scent of meat cooking." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He held his spear up and the warriors behind him fanned out, spreading like a cloak tugged by the wind. Slowly he moved forwards.\n\nFech had been right– they were warriors. A handful were grouped around a guttering fire, huddled against the wind. Two more stood guard a little further out; one to the east, one looking north, into Benoth. This one was the only danger, though it was unlikely he would see anything on this moonless night. Aric was closest to the northerly guard, crouched low to the heather, moving like a slow mist. The guard saw nothing.\n\nI must change that.\n\nUthas dug his fingers into the ground, felt the moist earth flow about him, under his fingernails, then he began to whisper, hardly more than a breath on his lips. He knew that Salach would hear him; that was fine, he trusted Salach with his life. But no one else would hear. Fech was nowhere to be seen. A slight tremor ran through the earth about Uthas' hand, rippling away towards Aric.\n\nUthas heard the sound, a popping, as a patch of ground burst close to Aric, sounding much like a wet branch breaking. Uthas could not tell who was more surprised: Aric or the guard. Certainly the guard heard it.\n\n\"Who's there? \"the warrior called, half drawing his sword, taking a step towards the sound. The men around the fire stirred, one of them standing. Aric froze fora heartbeat, then exploded forward, swinging his hammer as he did. It smashed into the guard's chest, sending him hurtling through the air. He rolled and fell still.\n\nThere was a moment's silence, then the men about the fire were rushing Aric. Giants burst from the darkness about them. Blood sprayed black in the starlight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Salach made to join the battle but Uthas put a restraining hand on his shoulder.\n\n\"Let them earn their thorns.\"\n\nThe fight was almost done, anyway, the men surprised and outmatched by Uthas'company. Even as Uthas watched, Fray sent a man's head spinning through the night. It fell into the fire, sending up an explosion of sparks.\n\nUthas strode over, surveying the battleground. Fray was looking around, axe held across his chest, looking for someone else to kill. The battle-madness slowly faded from his eyes. Eisa was bloodied, a hand clasped over her shoulder, blood welling black between her fingers. She grinned at Uthas.\n\nAric was down. He still lived, but he was clutching his gut, trying to staunch the blood that was pulsing from a deep wound.\n\nNot good, Uthas thought. Gut wounds are never good.\n\n\"I-I am sorry,\" Aric said as Uthas crouched beside him. \"I do not know–\" he paused, a wave of pain snatching his speech– \"I do not know what happened.\"\n\nI am sorry, Aric. Uthas felt a wave of guilt, knowing his actions had brought this about. It was necessary, he told himself.\n\n\"Easy,\" he said gently. \"It is done now.\" Reaching to his belt, he unfastened a skin, pulling the stopper. A smell came out, earthy and he wrinkled his nose. Brot, the food of giants. Three thousand years, and this is the best we can come up with. Just a mouthful would sustain any giant fora day's hard running, though, and they could cross twenty leagues in a day.\"Drink some, \"Uthas said, holding it to Aric's lips." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Partnering with the author, carry on with the tale.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, war\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Valour\nChapter: 27" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Salach made to join the battle but Uthas put a restraining hand on his shoulder.\n\n\"Let them earn their thorns.\"\n\nThe fight was almost done, anyway, the men surprised and outmatched by Uthas'company. Even as Uthas watched, Fray sent a man's head spinning through the night. It fell into the fire, sending up an explosion of sparks.\n\nUthas strode over, surveying the battleground. Fray was looking around, axe held across his chest, looking for someone else to kill. The battle-madness slowly faded from his eyes. Eisa was bloodied, a hand clasped over her shoulder, blood welling black between her fingers. She grinned at Uthas.\n\nAric was down. He still lived, but he was clutching his gut, trying to staunch the blood that was pulsing from a deep wound.\n\nNot good, Uthas thought. Gut wounds are never good.\n\n\"I-I am sorry,\" Aric said as Uthas crouched beside him. \"I do not know–\" he paused, a wave of pain snatching his speech– \"I do not know what happened.\"\n\nI am sorry, Aric. Uthas felt a wave of guilt, knowing his actions had brought this about. It was necessary, he told himself.\n\n\"Easy,\" he said gently. \"It is done now.\" Reaching to his belt, he unfastened a skin, pulling the stopper. A smell came out, earthy and he wrinkled his nose. Brot, the food of giants. Three thousand years, and this is the best we can come up with. Just a mouthful would sustain any giant fora day's hard running, though, and they could cross twenty leagues in a day.\"Drink some, \"Uthas said, holding it to Aric's lips." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He took a sip and swallowed.\n\n\"Stay with him,\" Uthas said to Salach as he rose and walked away. The others had checked the dead: eight men, warriors of Domhain by the look of them. Fech was perched atop a body, an eyeball dangling from his beak. He gulped it down.\n\n\"Nemain will be angry,\" the bird croaked.\n\nUthas shrugged. \"They attacked us.\"\n\nHe strode past it, to the paddocks behind, where eight horses were penned. They were white eyed, gathered at the far end of the paddock.\n\n\"We'll eat well tonight, \"Uthas said to Kai and Struan.\"Slaughter one. '\n\nSome of the horses panicked and bolted, breaking the paddock rope. They caught one, though, its scream cut short with the crunch of Struan's hammer.\n\nThey lit afire and spitted a hindquarter. Uthas stared into the flames, remembering another fire, felt a twinge on his back, as if his burn scars had a memory, too. It had been many years ago, decades, when he and Salach had been captured whilst scouting south, in Cambren. They had ventured too close to the walls of Dun Vaner, been hunted and caught, thrown in chains into a damp, dark cell. The memory of it blurred, even now causing a twist of fear in his gut. They had been tortured, their screams ringing out for days. He remembered begging for death and weeping when it had been withheld from him. Then Rhin had come to them and the torture had stopped. She had shown them mercy– kindness, even– tending their wounds, silently washing them, applying poultices and bandages. Part of him had known that it was a ploy, but he had been so filled with gratitude, so overwhelmed, that it had not seemed to matter. She had lit another fire then, causing him to writhe in renewed fear, but no tools of torture had been heated. Instead Rhin had whispered and a face had appeared in the flames." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Asroth.\n\nHe had spoken– of his betrayal by his angelic brotherhood, of his fall from grace, of his war with Elyon. He spoke of dreams and ambitions, of anew order in the Banished Lands, of the gifts he would give to those who served him. And Uthas and Salach had listened.\n\nUthas shook his head, banishing the memories. It's been long enough. He walked back to Aric, who was lying where Uthas had left him; Salach and some of the others were sitting silently about the wounded giant. He was groaning, eyes clenched shut. They flickered open as Uthas crouched beside him. It took a moment before there was recognition in Aric's eyes. The pain will do that.\n\n\"You are strong, brother,\" Uthas said.\n\n\"I have earned my first thorn, begun my sgeul,\" Aric said.\n\n\"That you have,\" Uthas said. \"Salach will make the mark for you.\"\n\nHe touched his fingers to Aric's wound, the slowly pulsing dark blood, then raised his fingers to his lips and pressed them to his tongue.\n\nBrot. The brot he had given Aric earlier was seeping from the wound, mixed with the blood. There was no doubt now. Aric will die of this wound. He sat back and watched Salach prepare the paste for Aric's tattoo, grinding the leaves with his stone pestle and mortar, his bone needle lying on apiece of cloth beside him. Eisa and Kai gripped Aric's arm and Salach set quietly to work, dipping the needle, carefully piercing Aric's flesh– dip, stab, stab, stab, dip, stab, stab, stab, countless times– then it was done." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Aric smiled at the thorn on his arm.\n\n\"Your wound– it is a brot wound,\" Uthas said.\n\n\"I know,\" Aric whispered.\n\nIt is for the best, Uthas thought. If he had lived I would have had to punish him for disobeying my orders. This way he keeps his honour.\n\n\"Help me kneel,\" Aric said, and Salach and Fray lifted him, one at either arm. Aric grimaced, a groan escaping his lips, then he looked up at Uthas. \"I am ready now.\"\n\nUthas signalled to Salach as Aric dipped his head. Salach's axe was sharp; Aric probably did not feel a thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban shifted in his saddle, his backside aching and his shoulder itching from where he had been wounded in the fall of Dun Carreg. Eight days they had been riding since Camlin had spotted their pursuers, and he was exhausted. How was it that sitting in a saddle all daylong could be so tiring? And so painful? Halion was leading them swiftly north, through a rolling landscape, much of it coated in dense woodland. Each night they had dismounted and walked extra leagues in an attempt to widen the gap between them and their followers. And each morning, before dawn, Gar would wake him to perform the sword dance and to spar. Others were starting to join them: Farrell and his da, Vonn, Halion and Marrock. Even Edana, claiming that if she were to be a true leader then she would need to learn how to swing a sword. Marrock had grudgingly agreed. And just this morning his mam had joined them: Halion had taken her through some forms with the spear that she now carried permanently. She had done well, her determination and athleticism reminding Corban of Cywen.\n\nCywen. Just the thought of his sister brought a pain all of its own, a dull ache in his gut. Sometimes he forgot that she was dead and then would be reminded of her by some inconsequential thing– ascent, a phrase, a mannerism in someone– then the weight of it would come flooding back. He shook his head, scattering the memories like gathering flies.\n\nHe was riding midway down their small column, along a narrow track which was winding through light woodland. Sunlight dappled the ground, moving as a breeze swayed the branches above. Storm was a flicker of white movement deeper in the woods. Without her they would all be close to starving by now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He saw his mam and Gar in quiet conversation ahead of him, and scowled. He had hardly spoken to either of them since the night they had taken him into the dark and asked him to leave, spouted all that madness about Elyon and Asroth, about going to Drassil. Though he had not talked to them about it, once they had begun their ride through Cambren he had thought of little else. He did not like things this way between them. He was grieving, and he knew his mam was too, when they should be comforting each other. He felt there was a wall between them instead, something invisible but solid that he could not breakthrough.\n\nCorban stood straight and approached his mam and Gar, who were tending their horses. It was almost full dark and further away the others were making camp. He stopped before the two of them and they looked at him expectantly.\n\n\"Can I talk to you?\" he mumbled.\n\n\"Of course,\" his mam said quickly. Gar just looked at him.\n\n\"I will not leave our friends,\" he said. Gar took a deep breath to say something but Corban held a hand up. \"Please, hear me out. I have words I need to say. I am oath-bound to Edana, and even if I weren't, I could not leave these people. They are my friends, our friends, and all that is left of home. I have thought about it long and hard, thought about nothing else for days, and, even if what you have said is true... \"He paused, thinking again of Elyon and Asroth, the tales he had heard of the Otherworld, the Ben-Elim and Kadoshim. How could it be true?\"Even if it were true, I would not leave my friends. If it is true, then Elyon can tell me, not just you two. And until that happens I am not going to change my mind. You can say what you like, but I will not change my mind. \"He looked down at the ground.\"I hope that we can be... ' And suddenly the words dried up. The same as before, he wanted to say. Before they had taken him into the dark and said those mad things. He looked up at his mam, eyes pleading. The silence lengthened." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She nodded.\n\n\"You area man now, a warrior who has sat your Long Night, and proven in battle,\" she said. \"We will respect your decision. And we will wait until Elyon, or his Ben-Elim,\" she added with a quick flicker of her eyes to Gar, \"changes your mind.\"\n\nWith her words he felt his tension drain, evaporating like smoke in the breeze, and he saw the same happen in her face. He reached out and hugged her tight. She felt small in his arms, fragile. When they separated, Gar was busying himself rubbing his horse down, checking its hooves. He avoided Corban's gaze.\n\nCorban sat with Dath and Farrell close to the fire. They had all dined on dried meat and cold water, all that was left of a doe that Storm had carried into the camp four nights earlier, though none complained.\n\nRight now Storm was curled behind Corban, half hidden in the shadows of a tree.\n\n\"A fine meal,\" Farrell said as he swallowed his last mouthful. \"Even if it was as tough as the leather on my boots.\"\n\nCorban chuckled, while Dath sat gazing into the fire. Corban watched his friend. He had been like this since his da had been killed on the beach. Corban wanted to help, to do something, but he understood: there was nothing that he could do, nothing that would make things better. You can't bring back the dead. All he could do was let Dath know he wasn't alone.\n\nStorm growled behind Corban. She was half crouched in the darkness, staring into the trees, ears pricked forward. She sniffed, then visibly relaxed and sank back to the ground. Corban looked where she'd been staring. He thought he saw movement, then a figure solidified in the gloom, treading softly into the firelight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin.\n\nHe walked purposefully to Marrock and Halion, who were sat with Edana. They rose when they saw him and fell into deep conversation. Corban watched them intently. Eventually Marrock nodded decisively and stepped away, closer to the fire. \"Our followers are close. Camlin has scouted back along our path.\"\n\n\"They have gained onus,\" Camlin told them. \"They are no more than two leagues behind us.\"\n\n\"How many?\" Anwarth asked.\n\n\"Two score, at least.\"\n\nCorban looked around his companions' faces, could see fear wrapping its fingers about them.\n\nHalion walked to the edge of the glade. \"Corban– with me,\" he said. \"And bring your wolven.\"\n\n\"Why?\" Gwenith said, her hand reaching out towards Corban.\n\n\"We are going to teach them to fear us,\" Halion said.\n\n\"Will she attack on your command?\" Halion asked Corban as they picked their way through dark woods.\n\nCamlin was leading the way, Gar and Vonn following closely behind Corban. He had not even tried to dissuade the stablemaster when he had followed Corban silently from their camp; he knew there was no point.\n\n\"Yes,\" Corban answered. \"You remember? Friend and foe?\"\n\nHalion looked at him, then chuckled, clearly remembering a time in the Rowan Field when a wolven pup had attacked his leg. \"That seems so long ago,\" he murmured.\n\nCamlin stopped in front, looking up, then changed their direction, leading them down a slope.\n\n\"What exactly are we doing?\" Corban asked.\n\n\"We are going to even the odds a little, and spread some fear amongst them. They will have seen the dead back at the beach and in the woods, will see that some of them have not been killed by a blade.\" He looked at Storm, loping almost silently beside Corban. \"They will not know that we have a wolven with us– how would you react upon seeing warriors ripped, torn apart?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban thought about that. \"I'd be scared, ' he said.\n\n\"Aye,\" Halion said, \"and the dark breeds fear.\"\n\nCorban crouched in the undergrowth, one hand wrapped in the thick fur around Storm's neck. Gar was close by, a darker shadow in the gloom. Both of them were staring into the darkness.\n\nCamlin had led them in a great loop, so that they could approach downwind of the camp. \"They have hounds,\" Camlin had whispered.\n\nHalion and Camlin had whispered the plan to Corban, Gar and Vonn, then drawn their knives, rubbed dark earth over the iron and disappeared amongst the trees, Vonn following them.\n\n\"Why did they do that?\" Corban whispered to Gar. \"Wipe dirt on their blades.\"\n\n\"So they will not reflect light– firelight, moonlight,\" Gar said.\n\n\"Oh,\" said Corban, thinking of his companions creeping closer to their enemies'camp. There would be guards standing in the woods, men on watch, warriors sent to catch them, to kill them. With every moment Corban expected to hear voices, horns, the baying of hounds catching their scent, but none of it happened. For long heartbeats there was only silence, just his and Storm's breathing, branches scratching in a slight breeze, in the distance the call of a fox.\n\nThen he felt Storm tense, a vibration deep in her belly, the beginnings of a growl.\n\n\"Be ready,\" Gar's voice whispered from the darkness.\n\nIt was Vonn. He lurched towards them, then snagged his foot on something and staggered forwards, something falling from his cloak and hitting the ground with a thud. Vonn dropped to the floor, hands scrabbling to retrieve the object as behind him the sound of pursuit grew louder, a figure appearing, moving furtively through the undergrowth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The plan had worked, then. Halion and Camlin were to kill the camp's guards, all except one, who was to be lured into the woods by Vonn. Lured to this point. To Storm.\n\nThe figure moved up behind Vonn, stood over him, sword raised.\n\nGet out of the way! Corban's mind yelled, one hand clasping Storm's fur tight. She was growling low and deep, her body quivering.\n\nVonn picked up the thing he had dropped and shoved it back inside his cloak– some kind of box, or book? – and leaped forwards, running past Corban. The warrior made to follow, then Storm materialized before him, lips pulled back in a snarl, showing her long teeth. The warrior froze, eyes growing wide.\n\nCorban stared at the warrior before him. His enemy, yet he felt a surge of sympathy for the man, and guilt at what he was about to do.\n\nHe is hunting me, would kill me, kill my kin, my friends. Still he hesitated.\n\nThe warrior opened his mouth, sucked in a great breath, about to scream, to call for help, or perhaps beg for mercy, Corban did not know.\n\n\"Foe,\" Corban whispered in Storm's ear and in a blur of fur and muscle she leaped at the startled man.\n\nHe had an instant to raise his weapon, a half-formed cry escaping his lips as she smashed into him, then they were on the ground, his arms and legs flailing. Storm lunged forward, her weight pinning him to the ground. There was crunching, bones breaking, and the warrior's scream rose in pitch, then was cut short as black blood and gore splattered trees and foliage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm glad she's on our side,\" muttered Camlin.\n\nIn the distance they heard the first sounds of the camp stirring, a dog barking, a voice calling.\n\nStorm was standing with one paw on her kill, her muzzle dripping. She raised her head and howled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coralen sat at her mam's table, picking dirt from her nails with her hunting knife.\n\n\"How long are you back for?\" her mam asked.\n\n\"I don't know, Mam. A day, a few days. Rath didn't say.\"\n\n\"I don't know what you get out of riding around the countryside with those savages, ' her mam said.\n\nCoralen bit back the immediate response on her lips. Because I don't want to end up like you. She felt a rush of guilt at that. Her mam was sitting close to a window, studying herself in a polished bronze mirror, daubing her face with rouge and kohl.\n\nShe had been beautiful once and a shadow of that lingered still, though her hair had thinned and lost its copper lustre, and her figure had expanded. It was more than that, though, something deeper than the simple passage of time. Coralen noticed it so clearly because she was rarely home. Home? This is not my home. Just timber and thatch in the empty northlands of Domhain. There was a pervasive weariness about her mam that leaked into everything she did, every word or glance.\n\n\"You should try some,\" her mam said, offering her the pot of rouge.\n\n\"No thanks.\"\n\n\"You need to be making more of an effort; you won't have your looks forever. \"Her mam looked at her, and frowned.\"Look at you, in your prime, and all wrapped in leather andiron. You've more sharp edges on you than the knives in my kitchen.\"\n\nCoralen smiled at that. \"Mam, I'm eighteen summers. And all of that– \"she waved at the pot of rouge, as if it summed up an entire way of life–\"it doesn't matter tome. I'm happy riding around with a bunch of savages. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Happy? Well, that's probably an exaggeration. But it's better than the alternative.\n\nHer mam sighed and shook her head as if to say, You poor, deluded child.\n\nThere was a knock at the door; a figure pushed in, not waiting to be invited. It was a big man, tall, a belly folding over his belt. He smelled of earth and sweat.\n\n\"Hearne,\" Coralen's mam said, brightening, something of her old aura fluttering into life.\n\n\"Nara,\" the big man said, his eyes settling on Coralen. He nodded to her. He had small eyes, pinpricks in a large face.\n\n\"Take yourself off fora walk,\" Coralen's mam said to her as she rose and walked away, crossing into the shadows of another room.\n\nCoralen stood, her chair scraping on the floor.\n\n\"No need to leave on my account,\" Hearne said. \"You could wait for me, or join us, if you like.\" He reached out a big hand, touching Coralen's hip.\n\nWithout thinking, she burst into movement, sliding around him, twisting his arm behind his back. In heartbeats he was pressed against the wall, Coralen's knife resting just below his eye.\n\n\"I don't think so, you fat, stinking pig, \"she hissed. A bead of sweat rolled down Hearne's forehead, around his eye, onto the tip of Coralen's knife.\n\nHooves drummed outside, stopping close by.\n\n\"Cora, get out here. Rath says we're leaving. '\n\n\"Be nice to my mam,\" Coralen said as she stepped away, sheathing her knife.\n\nHearne hurried away, following her mam." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Coralen took a deep breath, felt her racing pulse begin to slow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As she left she placed a bag of coins on the table.\n\n\"What happened here?\" Rath said. He was old, his hair white, streaked with iron, but he was as strong and sharp witted as anyone Coralen had ever met. She loved him fiercely, this old man before her, uncle, protector, friend. Not that I've ever told him. That was beyond imagination in this group of hard men.\n\nShe had become one of them slowly, something within her rebelling against the life that had surrounded her mam. So she had taken to following Rath and her half-brothers about. Six years old, never speaking, just following, watching. Rath had ignored her at first, then told her to get back to her mam's skirts, then scolded her, eventually clumping her. None of it had made any difference; she had just continued to sneak out, following him whenever he was there. Soon she had become his shadow, accepted, almost invisible, and so she had watched him training with his men, sparring, eating, drinking. She had a vivid memory: eight years old, lifting a practice sword from a wicker basket in the weapons court, of men laughing– all except Rath. He had measured her with his serious eyes, told her to hit him. She'd tried, but ended upon her arse quickly enough. Rath had told her to getup and try again. She smiled at the thought.\n\nIt had been Baird who had fetched her from her mam's house; he was a warrior who had served with Rath for more years than Coralen had drawn breath. He had lost both his family and an eye to the giants of Benoth. Rath's score or so of warriors had been gathered swiftly. Once they were all together, Rath told them why. Word had comeback that a patrol was overdue." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Now they knew the reason.\n\nBodies littered the ground, spread around a burned-out fire, twisted and ungainly in death. Their heads had been hacked from their bodies. Nearby a cairn had been raised, stones piled high. Around its base were the heads of the warriors, placed like some decoration. Coralen shared a look with Baird. He slipped from his saddle and began pulling rocks from the cairn. Coralen and a few others joined him. It was not long before a huge body was revealed, laid flat with a war-hammer resting upon its chest. Baird lifted the giant's severed head by its hair.\n\n\"The Benothi are loose in Domhain,\" Rath said. \"Think we'd better do something about that. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen woke suddenly, her heart pounding as loud as war-drums in her head. She was curled in a chair in the kitchen, embers in the fire burned down to a red glow. What woke me? Had she dreamed? Then she heard Buddai growling.\n\nShe sat up quickly, reaching fora knife. It was dark, but she could tell there were people on the other side of the door; she could hear them whispering. Then the door handle turned.\n\n\"Don't go throwing anything sharp at me, \"someone said. Cywen's memory fumbled to put a face to the familiar voice. Conall.\n\n\"Get out,\" Cywen replied. Buddai was snarling now, only her hand in his fur stopping him from leaping at the intruder.\n\n\"You've got visitors, girl, \"Conall said.\"They were all for putting a sack over your head and carrying you to the keep, but I told them you'd wake all of Dun Carreg, and most likely every demon in the Otherworld as well. So I told them if we asked you polite you'd see sense and be reasonable. '\n\n\"What time is it?\" Cywen asked, blinking as someone behind Conall lit a torch. \"What visitors?\"\n\n\"It's nighttime, \"Conall said with a shrug, stepping into the kitchen, his gaze flitting between the knife in Cywen's hand and Buddai's bared teeth.\"Got anything to drink? ' he asked.\n\nFigures crowded the door behind him, spilling into the room. The first Cywen recognized: Nathair, King of Tenebral, and his shadow, Sumur. Behind them was an old man, silver-haired but somehow youthful; he was looking at her intently.\n\nBuddai whined, tail tucking between his legs, ears going flat to his head, and the old man frowned, then something huge followed behind him, a man's shape, though taller and wider, small black eyes peering out from beneath a thick jutting brow. A giant, a black axe slung across his back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Conall stepped before her, seeing her knife hand move. \"Be calm, lass. Don't do it, they've just come to talk.\"\n\nCywen froze, fear making her pulse race. I must still be asleep. Please let me still be asleep. Her instinct was to throw first and talk later. Then another figure entered the room wearing a black cuirass, the silver eagle of Tenebral embossed upon it, two swords at his hip, one long, one short; a young man, stern faced, with serious, searching eyes. He looked at her and smiled apologetically.\n\nShe lowered her knife.\n\nBehind this serious warrior one last man came, shutting the door behind him. Metal rings were woven into his braided beard, clinking as he moved.\n\n\"How about that drink?\" Conall asked.\n\n\"There's mead in the cold room, ' Cywen said, waving her hand, and Conall fetched a skin, unstoppered it and took a swig. Nathair shook his head when Conall offered him the skin.\n\n\"I'll have some, ' the man with rings in his beard said.\n\n\"Why are you all here?\" Cywen said.\n\nThe silver-haired man dragged a chair over and sat before Cywen. \"I need to talk to you about your brother.\"\n\nThe sky was a searing blue, wisps of cloud doing little to block the heat of the sun as Cywen rode to the paddocks beyond Havan. Over two thousand horses were roaming here, more than she had ever seen in her life– the war mounts of Owain's warband mixing with Brenin's herds. She was on Shield, could feel his barely controlled energy, his yearning to gallop reflected in how he lifted his hooves, how he held his tail straight and proud." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was in the company of a dozen other stablehands, all ordered by the warrior Drust to bring back mounts from Brenin's herd considered suitable for training in the Rowan Field. She rounded up half a dozen, Gar's piebald stallion, Hammer, amongst them, and roped them in a line behind Shield. As she was leaving, a memory tugged at her and she changed direction, rode to a small copse of alders and followed a track, now overgrown.\n\nShe pulled up before Brina's cottage, or what was left of it. It had been burned out, the charred framework still standing, the open doorway leading to a pile of rubble and ash. Brina would have a lotto say to the man that had put fire to her home. Even the herb garden was overgrown, amass of weeds and grass gone to seed. Then she was remembering the night that Corban had sneaked into this cottage and stolen a comb, to prove his courage. She felt her breath catch in her chest. A tear rolled down her cheek and she brushed it away. Strange, how a memory from the past can sneak up so quietly.\n\nCorban.\n\nLast night had been so strange, woken in the dead of night by the strangest bunch of companions she had ever witnessed– a giant, a living, breathing giant walking around Dun Carreg– and questioned. Questioned about Corban.\n\nShe had been scared at first– who wouldn't be with a giant standing in your kitchen? – but then the silver-haired man had started talking to her. His voice had been so calm. She had not said much, little more than she had told Nathair during their previous meeting, though some of it she found hard to remember. There had been so many questions from the old man with the strange yellow eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had asked about Meical, she remembered that, and she had thought instantly of seeing him sitting in the kitchen, talking to her mam and da, and to Gar. They had spoken about Corban as well. And finally Calidus had asked her for something that had belonged to Corban– an item of clothing, a knife, anything. She had given him Corban's old forge apron, scarred and pitted by heat and flame, sweat-stained on the inside. She had found it in her da's forge when she had been searching for her throwing knives, and for some unexplained reason had brought the apron home with her.\n\nCalidus had held it, run his fingertips over its entirety, then closed his eyes and started singing, so quietly that it had been little more than a whisper. When he opened his eyes he had pronounced Corban gone from Ardan, said that he was across the sea, to the north-west. That had scared her more than anything else, even more than the giant staring at her. Calidus was an Elemental. She shivered at the memory. An Elemental, searching for Corban.\n\nCorban. To her he was just her baby brother. Why were these people so interested in him?\n\nHer thoughts stayed fixed on her brother as she rode Shield away from Brina's cottage, leading the other horses back to Dun Carreg. The fortress and surrounding land was buzzing with activity. Owain's warband was spread between Dun Carreg and the plains south of the giantsway, more of them arriving everyday. North of the giantsway Nathair's forces camped, swollen first by the arrival of his fleet and then the warband that had ridden in from the east only yesterday. Rows of tents filled all the land between the giantsway and the beach. She scowled as she saw black-clad figures in Havan, more of the Jehar that had stormed Stonegate the night Dun Carreg had fallen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The warriors everywhere grew smaller and smaller as she steadily climbed the path to the fortress. Out in the bay a great cluster of ships with Tenebral's eagle upon them were rowing for open sea, their sails billowing and filling as they left the bay's shelter. As she watched, they turned east, becoming specks as they dwindled into the distance, and she wondered where they were heading. Eventually she clattered over the bridge and through Dun Carreg's stone-paved streets until she reached the Rowan Field. Drust inspected the mounts she had brought in, grunting approvingly. He gave particular attention to Hammer, Gar's stallion, who was also the sire of Shield.\n\n\"You've done well, girl, \"the red-haired warrior said.\"You've a good eye for horses.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" she replied without smiling.\n\nHe took the reins from her and led the horses away, towards a pile of saddles and tack. \"Help me with them,\" he called over his shoulder.\n\nShe looked around as she worked. The Field was busy, warriors everywhere. She spotted Rafe on the weapons court, sparring with a man bearing the bull of Narvon. Even though he still limped, Rafe used his height and long reach to good effect, and in short time he had scored a hit to his opponent's chest. He caught Cywen's eye as he hobbled from the court and strolled over to her, grinning.\n\n\"Enjoy watching men sweat?\" he said. \"Or is it my skills that draw your eye?\"\n\n\"I was wondering what you looked like against my brother, when you challenged him to the Court of Swords.\" She had heard about Rafe's challenge in Dun Carreg's feast-hall, how the confrontation had lasted little more than a few heartbeats, Rafe defeated, his blood on Corban's sword.\"Apparently it was quite the sight. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Emotions swept Rafe's face– too many, too complex to read.\"I wasn't ready,\" he said, looking away.\n\nCheering drifted over from the weapons court and they both turned to look.\n\nConall was stepping onto the court, a practice sword in his hand. From the far side a figure appeared, flanked by a bald, thick-necked warrior. Cywen recognized the young warrior; he was one of those who had woken her in the night. He still wore the silver and black of Tenebral.\n\n\"Who is that?\" she asked.\n\n\"He's Nathair's first-sword, rode in with a warband yesterday,\" Rafe said. \"Name's Veradis, I think. And it looks as if he's about to get a hiding from Conall.\"\n\nQuickly the court cleared for the two warriors, Cywen and Rafe hurrying over to watch. Conall was smiling, waiting for Veradis as he chose a practice sword from a wicker basket. He did not rush, testing the weight of a few until he found one that he was happy with. He returned Conall's smile as he walked to him, then set his feet.\n\nIna burst of speed Conall was on him, rushing forward, striking high and low in a blur of motion.\n\n\"That's your brother's trick,\" Rafe whispered in Cywen's ear,\"catching people off-guard. '\n\nCywen heard rather than saw the exchange, the staccato clack of wood striking wood. When her eyes caught up, Veradis had retreated a few steps, but Conall had not broken his guard. Conall attacked again, feinting high then spinning around Veradis and chopping at the man's ribs. Veradis spun on his heel, sweeping Conall's attack away and striking at Conall's head and chest with two short, solid blows. Conall blocked one and stepped away from the second. They continued like this, neither gaining the upper hand, Conall like a storm-whipped sea, swirling fluidly around Veradis\" wall of stone, solid, impenetrable. Then, from nowhere, Conall's blade-tip was at Veradis\" throat, Conall grinning wolfishly. Cywen scowled, wishing for some reason that Conall had lost. He needs some of his swagger chopped away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis returned the smile, nodding down. Conall looked and saw Veradis'weapon pressing against Conall's groin.\n\nCywen smiled; that was one of the kill points that Corban had taught her.\n\nConall scowled then laughed, one emotion chasing the other as quick as a blink. Veradis stepped away and dipped his head to Conall.\n\n\"Well, that was something to see,\" Rafe breathed. \"I've never seen anyone except Conall's brother touch wood to him while sparring.\"\n\n\"What's going on today? \"Cywen asked him.\"It feels different, somehow. Tense. '\n\n\"Have you not heard?\" Rafe said. \"Queen Rhin has broken out of the Darkwood into Ardan. She is marching on Owain. She is marching here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dawn's light was seeping through the trees. Corban's eyes were fixed on Vonn's back in front of him as they sped through the woods. He was sweating, tunic clinging to his back. It felt as if they had been running half the night, Camlin and Halion leading them in a twisting route back to their camp. The two warriors did not think their hunters would attempt to try and track them until the sun had risen, almost certainly not after they had found the torn body of Storm's victim, but you could not be too careful, as Camlin had said. As exhaustion threatened to claim Corban, his world shrinking to Vonn's back, to each step, each single drag of air into his lungs, one thought persisted in revolving around his mind. What had Vonn dropped in the woods, and risked his life to find?\n\nGwenith greeted him with anxious eyes as they staggered into their camp; she didn't look as if she'd slept anymore than Corban had. Everyone was awake, horses saddled, the fire kicked out. His mam handed him and Gar a skin of water. Corban drank thirstily, and soon he was sitting in a saddle, his horse picking its way along a narrow track through thinning woods.\n\nThey stopped at highsun beneath the last shade of the woods they had been passing through, an open meadow rolling away before them. Corban chewed on some cold meat as he told Dath and Farrell of what had happened in the night, of what Storm had done. His thoughts returned to Vonn and he stood and strode to the young warrior sitting close to Halion and Edana.\n\n\"What did you drop?\" Corban asked him.\n\nVonn looked up at him, appearing confused.\n\n\"Last night in the woods, you dropped something. When you were being chased. What was it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Vonn's expression changed and momentarily his hand twitched up to his cloak." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He didn't respond.\n\n\"It must be important to you, or you'd have left it. That warrior was right behind you. '\n\nVonn glanced about, saw Halion and Edana looking at him, others as well.\n\n\"It's a book, ' he said quietly.\n\n\"Why is it so important?\"\n\nVonn said nothing, but looked cornered, somehow, a child with his hand caught in the honey jar.\n\n\"What're you hiding? ' Dath said loudly.\n\n\"Nothing. It's no one's business but mine,\" Vonn snapped, sitting straighter now, his hand resting defensively on something inside his cloak.\n\n\"What is it, Vonn?\" Halion asked now.\n\nVonn looked at him, then about at the other companions. All attention was on him. He sighed. \"It is my father's book. I took it the night Dun Carreg fell. I stole it to spite him– we'd argued about Bethan.\" His eyes darted to Dath. \"I was angry with him. It was childish, but I knew he treasured it, so I just took it.\"\n\n\"What is this book?\" Brina said.\n\n\"He kept it in a secret room, along with other things he treasured.\"\n\n\"I didn't ask you where, I asked you what, ' Brina snapped.\n\n\"WHAT,\" Craf squawked from the branches above. Dath jumped.\n\n\"I'm not sure, \"Vonn said,\"I think it's old, ancient. I think my da found it in the tunnels beneath Dun Carreg.\"\n\n\"Show me,\" Heb said, stepping forwards.\n\nVonn clutched a hand to his chest, making no move to handover the book." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Go on, Vonn, do as Heb asks,\" said Edana.\n\nAll eyes turned to the Princess. Or is it Queen, now? I suppose it is, as Brenin is dead. She was speaking more often now, certainly much more than in those first days when they had sailed away from Dun Carreg.\n\nSlowly, seemingly reluctant, Vonn reached into his cloak, fumbled about and then pulled out a thick, leather-bound book.\n\nHeb took it gingerly, Brina peering over his shoulder. He opened the cover.\n\n\"By Asroth's teeth, ' Brina said, eyes growing wide.\n\n\"What is it?\" Marrock asked.\n\n\"It's a book, \"Brina said.\"When we've read it we'll tell you what's in it, which is what I think you meant to ask.\"\n\n\"Aye, it is,\" Marrock said, looking abashed.\n\n\"We will inspect it, see what we can make of it,\" Heb said more politely. \"No need to be so rude,\" he said to Brina.\n\n\"Oh, shut up and give me the book. I need a closer look.\"\n\n\"You'll have to do it as we ride, \"Halion said.\"We'd best move on.\"\n\nThey rode hard all afternoon and into the evening, an increased sense of tension about them all. They were travelling through open meadows, and more than once had had to change their course to avoid small hamlets and cultivated fields. Once they had seen people poling coracles on a wide, glistening lake. Corban was not sure if those on the lake had seen them, but it was likely.\n\nAs the sun was sinking, Brina and Heb cantered up either side of him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Heb and I want to talk to you now about the book,\" Brina said.\n\n\"The book?\"\n\n\"Yes. The book that we took from Vonn, that he brought with him from Dun Carreg.\"\n\n\"Ah. That book.\"\n\n\"It is very old, ancient,\" said Heb. \"Written by the Benothi giants that built Dun Carreg.\"\n\nCorban raised an eyebrow at that, his interest rising. \"And you can read it? You can read giantish?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" said Heb, as if Corban had just insulted him.\n\n\"It's amazing, \"Brina said, unable to keep the excitement from her voice. She leaned closer.\"It teaches the earth power. '\n\nCorban blinked at her. \"Teaches the earth power?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she snapped, appearing irritated. \"The question you asked me, about how we summoned that mist, the night we left Dun Carreg. Heb and I know something of the earth power– very little, you understand, but enough to do small things.\"\n\nCorban looked at them both, wide-eyed, almost falling off his horse.\n\n\"Heb and I have spoken,\" Brina continued, \"and we'd like to teach you. '\n\n\"Teach me?\"\n\n\"Corban, if you repeat what I say one more time, I swear I will use the earth power on you.\"\n\n\"Sorry.\"\n\n\"So, would you like to learn how to use the earth power?\"\n\n\"Would I li-\" He stopped himself. \"Yes, I would.\" Why me?\n\n\"Now that is more like it,\" Brina said.\n\nHalion called out from up ahead, halting them to make camp." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We'll talk again. Soon, ' said Brina.\n\nNot long after they had stopped and made camp, Corban sat with his mam and Gar, sipping hot flavoursome stew as the small company satin a ring around a small fire. Halion joined them.\n\n\"Will we take Storm back again tonight,\" Corban asked him, \"back to our hunters.\"\n\n\"Maybe,\" Halion said. \"We'll see what Camlin tells us when he returns. I suspect they will not be as close behind us. Last night would have taught them to move cautiously. \"He glanced at Storm, who was spread at Corban's feet, making short work of the bones and leftovers from the game that had gone into the stew. Craf was sat on a branch nearby, still as stone, eyeing Storm jealously.\n\n\"Besides, they will be on their guard tonight. It would be best to spread our attacks out, give them no pattern to plan against.\"\n\nGar grunted approvingly.\n\n\"And you must be tired; I know I am. Best to sleep tonight, restore our strength.\"\n\nMost of them were asleep when Camlin returned, though Marrock was quick to rise and greet the woodsman. Corban, though exhausted, had found sleep elusive. He sat up and nodded a greeting to Camlin.\n\n\"What news?\" Marrock asked.\n\n\"They area long way behind, looks like the wolven's put some fear in their bones, \"Camlin said, teeth glinting in the firelight.\"No need to go after them again tonight, an'if we did, I don't think we'd make it to their camp and back before dawn.\"\n\n\"You've done well, Cam, \"Marrock said.\"Get some sleep. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban laid his head down and this time found sleep quickly.\n\nSomething prodded Corban. \"Wake up,\" a voice whispered in his ear.\n\nHe wanted to tell Gar to leave him alone, but he knew the stablemaster would just prod him harder. Grumbling, he sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes.\n\nDawn was a suggestion in the air, a grey light invading, pushing back the darkness. Others were stirring: his mam, holding the spear Halion had given to him on his warrior trial, Marrock and Halion, Farrell and his da, Anwarth. Corban stretched and followed Gar to a space on the dew-soaked grass. The others began sparring, Halion talked to Gwenith about different grips for the spear and Corban and Gar began the sword dance. Soon they were sparring too, others rising from their beds to join in– Dath, Camlin and Vonn. Even Edana was there, setting her feet, practising drawing a sword at her hip, making the move smooth. Most times it stuck in the scabbard. Brina and Heb were lighting afire, preparing some food for them all to break their fasts with.\n\nCorban was sweating when Gar stepped away, signalling the end of their sparring.\n\nHalion was waiting for them, Marrock with him.\n\n\"It's time we talked, \"Halion said to Gar.\"About who you are. We've waited long enough.\"\n\nThe bustle around the camp paused as Gar stood before Halion and Marrock.\n\n\"Know that you are trusted, Gar,\" said Marrock. \"We do not doubt your loyalty. But you have knowledge of our enemies– of Edana's enemies. That is clear, and it is not right that you keep it from us. Someday soon Edana's life, and ours, may depend on that knowledge.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gar looked to Corban.\n\nThe consequences of this conversation played through Corban's mind. Refuse to talk and Gar would earn a measure of anger and distrust, probably from everyone in their small group. Or answer Halion and Marrock's questions. Corban was as intrigued as any to find out more about Gar's background but, sure as day followed night, Gar would repeat some of what he had told Corban, about Asroth and Elyon, about him being chosen. The thought of everyone knowing– his friends– made him cringe. He looked between his mam and Gar, pleadingly, and realized that Gar was waiting for him. The stablemaster would not say a word without Corban's agreement; he would suffer the anger and suspicion of their companions and friends, all on Corban's decision. Emotions swept him, love and respect for this man who had guarded him his whole life. Even if he was a madman. He gritted his teeth and nodded.\n\n\"I will answer your questions,\" Gar said to Halion and Marrock.\n\n\"Good,\" Marrock said.\n\n\"How do you know Sumur?\" asked Halion.\n\n\"How do you fight the way you do?\" Marrock asked.\n\nOthers called out more questions. Gar held a hand up. \"I'll tell you who I am, something of myself and where I am from, then you can ask the questions I haven't answered.\" He looked around, and no one disagreed, so he continued. \"My name is Garisan ben Tukul, and I come from Telassar, a city in the land of Tarbesh, far to the east. Sumur, who served Nathair, is also from there. We area warrior caste, a holy order, called the Jehar.\"\n\nA silence filled the glade. Corban looked around at the faces of his companions, all processing the information Gar had just given them. Brina stepped forward." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Then why are you here?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A member of a holy order, so far from your home?\" she asked.\n\nTrust her to ask that question, Corban thought.\n\nGar looked at him, waiting for his permission, and Brina gave Corban a sharp look. Corban nodded.\n\n\"You have all heard something of Brenin's journey to Tenebral, of the council he attended? '\n\nThere were murmurs of assent. Corban noticed Edana stand straighter, looking as intent, as focused as he had seen her since they had left Dun Carreg.\n\n\"And you all know something of the subject of that council, the God-War?\"\n\nMore murmurs, coupled with frowns this time.\n\n\"What's that got to do with anything? ' Dath muttered.\n\n\"Some here know more than others about these things,\" Heb said, moving to stand beside Brina. \"Why don't you tell what you think is necessary for all to know, to understand what you are saying. '\n\n\"All right,\" said Gar. \"There was a prophecy spoken of at the council, discovered in the city of Drassil, the heart of Forn Forest. It was written by Haldor, a giant from the time of the Scourging.\"\n\nNow everyone in the camp was silent, fixed on Gar.\n\n\"The prophecy spoke of the God-War, spoke of signs of its coming: the giant-stones weeping blood, white wyrms roaming the land, the awakening of the Seven Treasures, of Midwinter's Day, when day became night. Those portents have all occurred. It said that the gods Asroth and Elyon, and their angels and demons, would make the Banished Lands their battleground, and that each god would be championed by a chosen avatar: the Black Sun and the Bright Star. \"Gar took a deep breath, shoulders straightening.\"I am Garisan ben Tukul of the Jehar, and my life from the moment I first drew breath until now has been dedicated to Elyon. I have been given a great honour, chosen to protect the Bright Star, to defend him with my life. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't understand, ' Dath whispered to Farrell.\n\n\"Shut up and listen,\" Farrell hissed, jabbing Dath with his elbow.\n\n\"So, again,\" Brina said, eyes narrowed to slits now. \"Why are you here?\"\n\n\"Because Corban is the Bright Star, the Seren Disglair, avatar of Elyon.\"\n\nThere was along silence, then Dath laughed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fidele rode through the wooden gates of Ripa, Peritus at her side, two score of her eagle-guard behind them. Things had escalated since the discovery of the body in the lake. The discovery of Jace– give the dead a name. He had obviously been murdered for his part in informing her about the Vin Thalun fighting pits. Peritus had had afire lit in his bones, then, and had set about rooting out every scrap of information in Tenebral about the Vin Thalun. Word had reached them from Lamar, Baron of Ripa, that had been worth investigating in person.\n\nIt was late in the day, the sun low but still warm. The smell of salt filled Fidele's lungs, the calling of gulls and the murmur of the sea underpinning all else.\n\nThey were met by a group of mounted men, Krelis ben Lamar at their head.\n\n\"My lady,\" he said to her. \"You would be best served by staying here. There maybe hard words and bloodshed ahead of us. My father is looking forward to the pleasure of your company.\"\n\n\"Well, he will have to wait a little longer for it. I did not ride over a hundred leagues to sit in a tower and wait for others to tell me of events,\" she said, less politely than she intended.\n\n\"But-\" Krelis began.\n\n\"No. I am coming. There will be no discussion on it. I have my guards.\"\n\nKrelis frowned but said no more.\n\nNot as brainless as he looks, Fidele thought.\n\nHe led them out of the fortress, turning north once they had left all buildings behind. They skirted Sarva, last great forest of the south, travelling steadily north as the sun sank into an ocean of green boughs. Fidele saw the outline of a fortress on a hill, ringed by trees. Its towers and walls were jagged in their ruin, framed by the dying sun." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Balara, once-great fortress of the Kurgan giants.\n\nThey rode up the hill, shadows stretching far behind them, through a thin scattering of trees and up to the walls of Balara.\n\n\"The gates have been cleared,\" Krelis said to her and Peritus, pointing to where fallen rubble was piled high to either side of a wide stone archway.\n\n\"You see,\" Peritus said to her, \"the reports are true.\"\n\n\"Let's go and see why they have gone to all this hard work, ' Fidele said. As they rode forward a horn call rang out, high and ululating.\n\n\"They've seen us, ' Krelis called, spurring his horse to greater speed.\n\nHe clattered onto the stone, Fidele and their mingled warriors close behind. They passed through a wide stone street, then Fidele saw faces, saw figures running in all directions, others standing, just staring. As she sped closer she could seethe iron in their beards.\n\nVin Thalun.\n\nSome realized what was happening and drew their weapons. Krelis'broadsword swept out of its scabbard; Peritus drew his own blade. Krelis sent ahead spinning through the air with the first swing of his sword, Peritus trampled another with his horse, and then Fidele's warriors were sweeping past her as she pulled on her reins, watching in silent horror.\n\nA handful of the Vin Thalun resisted, pulling men from horses and hacking at them, but they were overwhelmed in moments, both by numbers and the ferocity of her men's attack. Are we so very different from the Vin Thalun?\n\nIt was over soon, the Vin Thalun breaking and scattering, deeper shadows in the gloom disappearing amongst the rubble. Fidele dismounted and tethered her horse, Orcus her shieldman walking protectively beside her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Peritus and Krelis had rounded up a handful of survivors. One of them barged forwards, hands bound.\n\n\"What do you think you're doing, you stupid bitch? \"he yelled.\"Lykos won't stand for this.\"\n\nOrcus clubbed the man across the jaw and he dropped to the ground, tried to rise and Orcus kicked him.\n\n\"Enough,\" Fidele said. She looked to Peritus and Krelis. \"Is it true, then?\"\n\n\"Aye, my Queen,\" Peritus said.\n\n\"Show me.\"\n\nThey marched across a rubble-strewn street, a ruined tower looming before them.\n\n\"Careful,\" Krelis warned as they entered through a fallen archway.\n\nInside, the ground had subsided, revealing stone basements beneath– cellars originally, most likely. They had been dugout, a ring cleared around the edges where Fidele and her companions stood. She looked down into the cleared space and at first did not understand what she saw.\n\nBodies, the dead piled in a corner, blood pooling, flowing in rivulets. Cells had been erected, built from wood, like tiny stables, and in them stood men, some staring back at her. Some were young, not much more than boys, others older, all battered, battle scarred, all with a feral look in their eyes.\n\nSo it was true. They had discovered a Vin Thalun fighting pit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis satin Dun Carreg's feast-hall. Bos sat beside him, the big man devouring his way through a trencher piled high with meat and gravy. The room bore the marks of conflict– charred beams above, smoke-blackened patches on the walls, the dark residue of stains on the stone floor that had been scrubbed at but not removed. Could not be removed. Blood leaves a stain, he thought, one finger tracing the scar on the palm of his right hand, mark of his blood-oath to Nathair. We are brothers now, Nathair had said to him that night, long ago in Tenebral. Nathair had been only a prince then, Aquilus still alive. He remembered how he had felt– excited, coursing with life, the future a grand destiny he had only to claim. And nowhere he was, a thousand leagues from home, claiming that destiny. There was just too much politicking going on for his liking. That's why he'd enjoyed his morning in the Rowan Field so much, just to be able to face an opponent with a sword in his hand, even if it was only made of wood, not iron.\n\nJust then figures walked through the hall's doors: Evnis and a handful of his shieldmen– no one here seemed to move without a guard– Conall, the warrior he had sparred with earlier, was close to him.\n\n\"He was lucky,\" Bos said, nodding at Conall. \"You should've beaten him. '\n\n\"He was fast,\" Veradis said. \"And I'm not soused to fighting like that now; spent too much time in the shield wall. '\n\n\"Excuses,\" Bos chuckled.\n\n\"Not excuses, he fought well. Just the truth.\" It was the truth, Veradis having felt vulnerable and slow from the first strike of their practice swords. He would have to make sure his training was more balanced from now on– make time for both shield wall and individual sparring. He had already done that today, after his bout with Conall moving onto train in the Field with Nathair's eagle-guard, then travelling out of the fortress, down to the meadows beyond to check on his warband and oversee their training." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had enjoyed the day. But now he was back, summoned to a meeting with Nathair and Owain, the King of Narvon. Back to the politicking. I'd rather leave that to Nathair and Calidus. Lykos had already left, the Vin Thalun sailing with the dawn tide, taking his ships and his Vin Thalun warriors with him. That had been Calidus\" idea, and a sensible one– Lykos had looked set to drink Dun Carreg dry if something had not been found for him to do. He had taken half the fleet, only the shallow-draughted attack galleys. The troop carriers would not be able to travel where Lykos was going.\n\nAs if Veradis'thoughts had summoned them, Calidus and Alcyon walked through the hall's doors. Dark looks and murmurs spread about them, suspicious eyes watching Alcyon as he passed. Veradis felt a stab of anger at these people, at their ignorance, but understood their distrust. Once upon a time he would have felt the same, but Alcyon had saved his life once and– more than that– Veradis had glimpsed his humanity. And it came as a surprise to him that he liked Alcyon, had almost come to consider him a friend.\n\nCalidus saw Veradis and beckoned him to follow. The three of them marched through the keep's high-arched corridors to Nathair's chambers. Veradis noticed more of the Jehar warriors spread about the keep, standing unobtrusively in alcoves and shadows; more of them materialized the closer they came to Nathair. It gave him a sense of security. No one will come close to Nathair without their permission, and if anyone is more fanatical about Nathair's safety than me, it is these men." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nathair barely acknowledged them as they entered; he had been withdrawn for sometime, since they had questioned the girl in the dead of night. Veradis had felt uncomfortable about that, so many of them breaking into her house, probably terrifying her half to death. The conversation with her had clearly affected Nathair, and not only him. Calidus had been uncharacteristically short tempered. You should not have let the boy escape, he had said. It was the closest Veradis had heard anyone come to reprimanding Nathair.\n\n\"Sit down,\" Nathair said, waving a hand. \"Owain has asked me to meet with him soon; things are gathering pace here. A confrontation with Rhin is not faraway.\"\n\n\"Owain will want to know where your allegiances lie,\" Calidus said. \"You have a lot of men about you. Enough men to decide a battle.\"\n\n\"I do. More than enough, when over two thousand are Jehar warriors and a thousand of my eagle-guard are trained in the shield wall,\" Nathair said. He smiled grimly at Veradis.\n\n\"We must still be cautious,\" said Calidus. \"You maybe guarded by the Jehar, but even their skill can be overwhelmed by weight of numbers, and you sleep in the heart of Owain's lair. Things are balanced on a knife-edge here. Dun Carreg, Ardan, the west– it is volatile and likely to change at any given time. The maps are being rewritten. '\n\n\"I know.\" Nathair grinned. \"It is exciting. The new age we have heard so much about, spoken about, it is being formed around us. Right now.\"\n\n\"Yes, it is,\" Calidus said. \"And you are certain of your path?\"\n\n\"Yes, and so I must play my part here, to make that happen.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What of Evnis?\" Veradis asked. \"You have given him an important part in all of this. Can he be trusted?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Calidus said emphatically.\n\nVeradis looked at him but the silver-haired counsellor said no more.\n\n\"Do not worry about Evnis,\" Nathair said. \"I have his measure. And, besides, even if he were to disappoint me, it wouldn't be disastrous. Not with you watching him. '\n\n\"Me?\"\n\n\"Yes. I want you to watch Evnis, keep him alive. I think he will prove to be useful. And, as you will be watching him closely, you will soon know if he means to betray me.\"\n\n\"Aye.\" Veradis frowned. \"But I am not best suited to that kind of task.\"\n\n\"There is one other that must be watched,\" Calidus said, ignoring his protest. \"The girl, Cywen. Her brother may return for her. We must find that boy.\"\n\n\"I know,\" Nathair said, scowling into his cup. \"I should not have let him escape.\"\n\n\"What's done is done, \"said Calidus.\"And there was much happening, at the time. But we must do all in our power to right the mistake. '\n\n\"What is it about the girl's brother? ' Veradis asked.\n\nNathair looked at him, his gaze dark. \"Calidus thinks we have uncovered Asroth's Black Sun. '\n\n\"You giants made good roads,\" Veradis said to Alcyon.\n\n\"All the better to speed us to our enemies,\" Alcyon said. \"That is the giant clans– always rushing to their deaths.\"\n\nThey were marching along the giantsway, Dun Carreg a faint shadow on the horizon behind them. Warriors in their thousands marched before them, the bull of Narvon on banners everywhere. Owain had decided that marching out to meet Rhin in open battle was the best thing to do." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I will not cower behind stonewalls,\" Owain had said when he had summoned Nathair to his chambers. \"I have had reports of her numbers, and know that I have more men than she. And she will not expect us to ride out and meet heron the open field.\"\n\nNathair had questioned the wisdom of such a move, but Owain's will was set.\n\n\"I will make an end to this, once and for all. And Ardan is mine. I have conquered it, slain Brenin; it is mine by right of conquest, and I will not have that old spider hemming me into a fortress and lording it around the land while watching me starve to death.\"\n\nNathair had said little during the meeting, listening far more than he spoke. Owain had been rambling– a man weighed by a thousand burdens. All that he said came down to one thing: \"Will you fight for me?\" he had asked. \"You have a sizeable warband here, and I have seen what a hundred of your Jehar can do.\"\n\n\"I am reluctant to shed my people's blood over your and Rhin's affairs,\" Nathair had replied. \"I will have my own battles to fight soon enough.\"\n\n\"Fight for me and I shall join your alliance,\" Owain had countered, almost pleading.\n\n\"I have already given you great aid, opened the gates of Dun Carreg to you, stopped Brenin from forming a resistance while you stormed his fortress. I would think that such acts would have been enough for you to join with me,\" Nathair had retorted.\n\n\"I will not be able to join you and your alliance if Rhin has my head on a spike, and you would surely rather have meas anally than her. You cannot trust her, the scheming bitch.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Do you think that Brenin was right about her– that she manipulated your war against Brenin, and then struck when Brenin was dead and you weakened?\"\n\nSuch a look had passed Owain's face then– doubt, shame, fear.\"How can that be possible? Marrock was seen leaving my Uthan's chamber after he had been murdered. No, I think she is greedy, opportunistic and she saw two realms ripe for the taking. But I am not dead yet. She has underestimated me...\"\n\nOwain had ranted on, seeming almost to forget that anyone else was there. In the end Nathair had not committed himself, had told Owain that he would talk with his counsellors and speak more on the morrow. That had been two days ago. Veradis had not been present at the final meeting between Nathair and Owain, but Nathair had clearly committed to some level of aid, as their marching with Owain's warband testified.\n\nNathair rode someway ahead of Veradis. He was sitting upon his draig, the great beast almost filling the width of the giantsway. Horses gave it a wide berth, especially as it looked at them as if it wanted to eat them. Nathair had told Veradis that that had been one of the hardest things in his training of the draig back in Jerolin– to teach it not to chase and kill any horse that trotted past it. Nathair was surrounded by a sea of the Jehar, all clad in dark chainmail, curved swords jutting from their backs. Beyond them the red of Narvon flowed along the giantsway, disappearing into the distance. Veradis had a thousand eagle-guard with him. The survivors of his warband from Forn were all mounted, whilst the recruits that Lykos had brought from Tenebral marched in orderly ranks; the sound of their iron-shod sandals cracking on the stone of the giantsway filled the air. Justin front of Veradis'column rode Evnis, two or threescore of his shieldmen about him, Conall amongst them. Beside Conall rode the girl, Cywen, a brindle hound padding at her horse's hooves. She had spent most of her time scowling at Evnis. Veradis grinned to watch it, though if she were as good with a knife as Conall had said, then he worried for Evnis' safety, particularly as Nathair had charged Veradis himself with keeping the man alive." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Helping the author, keep the tale going.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, war\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Valour\nChapter: 33" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Do you think that Brenin was right about her– that she manipulated your war against Brenin, and then struck when Brenin was dead and you weakened?\"\n\nSuch a look had passed Owain's face then– doubt, shame, fear.\"How can that be possible? Marrock was seen leaving my Uthan's chamber after he had been murdered. No, I think she is greedy, opportunistic and she saw two realms ripe for the taking. But I am not dead yet. She has underestimated me...\"\n\nOwain had ranted on, seeming almost to forget that anyone else was there. In the end Nathair had not committed himself, had told Owain that he would talk with his counsellors and speak more on the morrow. That had been two days ago. Veradis had not been present at the final meeting between Nathair and Owain, but Nathair had clearly committed to some level of aid, as their marching with Owain's warband testified.\n\nNathair rode someway ahead of Veradis. He was sitting upon his draig, the great beast almost filling the width of the giantsway. Horses gave it a wide berth, especially as it looked at them as if it wanted to eat them. Nathair had told Veradis that that had been one of the hardest things in his training of the draig back in Jerolin– to teach it not to chase and kill any horse that trotted past it. Nathair was surrounded by a sea of the Jehar, all clad in dark chainmail, curved swords jutting from their backs. Beyond them the red of Narvon flowed along the giantsway, disappearing into the distance. Veradis had a thousand eagle-guard with him. The survivors of his warband from Forn were all mounted, whilst the recruits that Lykos had brought from Tenebral marched in orderly ranks; the sound of their iron-shod sandals cracking on the stone of the giantsway filled the air. Justin front of Veradis'column rode Evnis, two or threescore of his shieldmen about him, Conall amongst them. Beside Conall rode the girl, Cywen, a brindle hound padding at her horse's hooves. She had spent most of her time scowling at Evnis. Veradis grinned to watch it, though if she were as good with a knife as Conall had said, then he worried for Evnis' safety, particularly as Nathair had charged Veradis himself with keeping the man alive." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There'll be no giants to kill at the end of this march, though, \"Alcyon said, unusually talkative.\"It will be men that we are killing at this journey's end. How does that sit with you, king's man? '\n\n\"If they are Nathair's enemies it does not matter what shape they take; manor giant, I will slay them if I can. '\n\n\"Well said,\" called Calidus, riding his horseback down the line from Nathair. He pulled in beside Veradis and spoke more quietly. \"Be on your guard, and keep a particular eye on Owain's rearguard. The King of Narvon is unpredictable at present and likely to behave impulsively. '\n\nVeradis looked over his shoulder. Beyond his own warriors more of Owain's men brought up the rear, at least half a thousand mounted men.\n\n\"I will.\"\n\nCalidus spurred his horseback to Nathair. Has he really uncovered the identity of Asroth's Black Sun? Veradis had always expected it to be some king or man of power, but from what he had been told, this boy– Corban– was a blacksmith's son, no one of consequence. Maybe Calidus is right. It is a cunning way to grow in secret, a deception from the very beginning, which would befitting as Asroth's champion. Calidus knows best, and he has guided us well so far. I hope the boy is the Black Sun, for then I will stand a chance of meeting him, and his companion, this Gar. I will see Rauca avenged.\n\nNathair had told him how Rauca had died– defending Nathair from this Corban's father, and that afterwards Gar had attacked silently, taken Rauca by surprise. Rauca had deserved better. But time could not be reversed, and nor could the dead be brought back to life." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But they can be avenged.\n\nFive days out from Dun Carreg, well before highsun, Veradis heard horns blowing further ahead. Word slowly filtered back down the column that Rhin's forces had been sighted. It was half a day before Veradis\" warband saw them.\n\nOwain's forces had drawn upon the slopes of a gentle hill, spilling in a disorderly crush either side of the giantsway. All seemed to be chaos, with horns blowing, men shouting, oxen bellowing as they were led from the giantsway, pulling wains to a makeshift camp on the hill's crown. To the north-west marshland stretched to the sea, shimmering in the summer sun. Rhin's warband was spread on a plain below them, tents in the distance; amass of men on foot dominated the centre, whilst mounted warriors were loosely grouped on both flanks. Veradis stood and stared at them awhile, the sounds around him fading as he focused.\n\n\"How many?\" Bos said beside him.\n\n\"Six, six and a half thousand men.\"\n\n\"And us?\"\n\n\"Between us and the Jehar Nathair has three thousand swords. Owain commands at least nine thousand warriors.\"\n\n\"She will lose, then.\"\n\nVeradis looked at his friend, shielding his eyes from the sun. \"Time will be the judge of that, but I have heard that she is cunning. I think she may have more planned than what we can see.\"\n\n\"Best keep our wits about us, then,\" said Bos.\n\n\"Aye. And our swords sharp.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uthas crawled through the long grass and wildflowers, up an incline. He stopped when he reached the top, gazing in silence.\n\nDun Taras stood in the distance, its smooth walls reflecting the morning sun. It had been one of the giants' great fortresses once, alongside Dun Carreg and Dun Vaner, before the hordes of men had come to Benoth. Now Eremon sat upon its throne, ruling all he could see from its high tower. Uthas felt his blood stir, yearning fora lost time. He blinked tears, saw a memory superimposed on the landscape, of his kin gathered on green meadows, celebrating the Birth Moon. Bairns playing in the river, diving and plunging after salmon, the men gathering in contests of strength, throwing tree trunks or the hammer. He walked amongst them, laughing, smiling...\n\nThe vision faded, shifting into something else: columns of the Benothi marching through empty fields, the landscape behind them black and charred, the walls of Dun Taras fading in the distance. They had walked away from Dun Taras, fled before the tide of mankind.\n\nIt will be ours again. Anew order is coming. And I will do what needs to be done to make it so.\n\nHe glanced over his shoulder, saw Eisa and Struan crawling up the slope, the others standing still, almost invisible amongst the rocks and trees far below. Eisa and Struan settled either side of him.\n\nAfter gazing fora long while on Dun Taras, Struan whispered, \"What now?\"\n\nUthas rolled onto his back and searched the sky. It was cloudy, the air humid, heavy. Rain was coming. Amongst the clouds a black dot moved. Uthas beckoned and the dot spiralled lower until Fech landed beside him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We can go no closer,\" Uthas said. \"Can you fly to Dun Taras, seek out Eremon, listen to his plans.\"\n\n\"Fech is good at listening and seeing,\" the bird said and flew away, winging towards Dun Taras.\n\nWas that a threat? Uthas thought. What will he tell Nemain when we return to Murias? He watched Fech fade and disappear, then he made his way down the slope to his companions. A hundred and fifty leagues they had travelled since they had left Murias in the cold north. Over a moon had passed since they had raised a cairn over Aric's body and placed the heads of their enemies about it. That will give Rath cause to fear us again, or whoever else discovers it. Too long we have been timid, fearful. They moved silently through the boulders and stunted trees that blanketed this rolling land of hill and vale. In time they came to a stream and followed it deeper into woodland until they eventually came to a great boulder, part of a cliff face that rose before them. Uthas found the cave entrance and passed through the glamour that had hidden it for over a hundred years. Fray struck alight with his flint and soon they had a small fire burning. Then they settled in for the wait. Fech would know whereto come.\n\nEisa passed him a skin, more brot. He pulled a face but took it and drank some. It had kept them alive, fuelled their journey south, into the heartland of their enemy. Twice they had come close to being discovered, but Fech had given them good warning both times, and Uthas had been more interested in speed than battle. He had already blooded his followers, bound them closer to him through that act. They were more his than Nemain's now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nemain.\n\nThe thought of her made him sad. Once great Queen of the Benothi, but fallen so far, her fear binding her, disabling her.\n\nShe should have fought for our lands, used the cauldron. She should have bargained with Asroth and ensured the survival of our clan. Instead she had done nothing, claiming the Benothi's sole purpose now was to keep the cauldron from being used, thinking to avoid another war.\n\nBut war is coming, no matter what she does to evade it.\n\nEver since he had met with Asroth, in Rhin's cell deep within the walls of Dun Vaner, he had felt like a blind man gifted with sight, as if scales had fallen from his eyes. The way forward is so clear, but Nemain refuses to see it.\n\nHe had tried to reason with her, to advocate a more active, aggressive policy, but she had refused to see sense. He still clung to the hope that she would change her stance before it was too late, but until then he would pay her lip service and continue to work with Rhin towards their greater purpose. At least he had managed to sway others within the Benothi, and he hoped more would side with him, before the end.\n\nHe was glad Nemain had sent him on this mission, scouting into Domhain to learn Eremon's plans. He had counted on it, even, for it kept him within Nemain's good graces whilst allowing him to further Rhin's plans. The journey south had told him that Eremon was paying little attention to the events in the east, to Rhin's attacks on Narvon and Ardan. No warriors were mustering, no crops were being stored. Eremon sat idly by and sank deeper into his dotage. Rhin would be pleased. She will be here soon. Rhin. He felt a smile twitch his features at the thought of seeing her. His captor, his saviour. They had a bond he could not deny, complex and deep, its waters murky. But our goal is clear, and I will see it through or die in the trying; we are united in that. Soon the Black Sun will appear, will come for the cauldron. And I will help him claim it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The next part in that task would be to grab Eremon's attention and direct it north. Uthas would slaughter and burn on his way home, make such a noise as Domhain had never heard. He would lead Domhain's strength in warriors north, fix Eremon's attention on Benoth, then when Rhin had finished with Narvon and Ardan and finally came west she would find Domhain open and unprepared.\n\nHe rolled up his cloak and laid his head upon it. Looking at Dun Taras had stirred a melancholy within him as deep as bones. He searched for sleep to erase the ache. Besides, Fech would not be back today.\n\nUthas woke with a start. Salach was sitting with his back to the cold rock, running a whetstone along his axe-blade.\n\n\"You were dreaming,\" his shieldman said.\n\nUthas touched his brow, his fingers coming away damp with sweat.\n\n\"How long have I slept?\"\n\n\"A day. They are amazed at you,\" Salach said, glancing at the other giants in the cave. Some were standing, restless, others huddled in conversation.\n\n\"How can you sleep now?\" Fray asked him. \"When we are here, amongst our enemy, in the heart of our homeland.\"\n\n\"I've been here before, \"Uthas said,\"and besides, when you have lived as long as I, sitting in a cave, no matter where it is, is not very exciting. '\n\nSalach chuckled.\n\n\"How long have you lived?\" Eisa asked then.\n\n\"I forget. It has been along time. I was a bairn, not yet grown my whiskers when the Scourging changed our world.\" He tugged at the white hair on his face, bound with thin strips of leather." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is true, then. You drank from the cup.\" Kai this time.\n\n\"I did,\" Uthas said. Since the slaying of Skald, the first king, immortality had been stripped from giants and men. But then the cup had been forged from the starstone. The cup was one of the Seven Treasures, and drinking from it gave health and long life. Not immortality, but close enough.\n\n\"How long will the cup sustain you?\" Struan asked. They had all gathered about Uthas now, regarding him with anew emotion in their eyes. Awe.\n\n\"I do not know,\" Uthas shrugged. \"Nemain drank from it before I, and she is still here.\" Though she squanders her time, choosing to sit on the cauldron like some skeletal chicken.\n\nThe Benothi giants had emerged from the War of Treasures the clear victors, possessing three of the Seven Treasures. The cauldron, Nemain's necklace and the cup. Two had been lost now, which went someway to explaining Nemain's obsessive protection of the cauldron. The necklace had been hidden in Dun Carreg as the walls had been breached and overrun, the giants holding the stronghold had been slaughtered to the last warrior. The cup had been lost in Domhain. Somewhere out there.\n\nUthas hung his head in shame. He had lost the cup, or at least had been in charge of the column in possession of the cup as it had been evacuating from Dun Taras. They had been ambushed in the marshlands further north; the wain the cup had been kept in sank into the swamp. He had returned so many times, his shame driving him, sending him hunting for the lost Treasure, but never with any success." }, { "from": "human", "value": "A flapping echoed about the cave and Fech appeared through the glamour that sealed the entrance." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The bird searched out Uthas and alighted before him. It walked in a small circle, then ran its beak through the feathers of one wing, regarding Uthas with its shiny eyes.\n\n\"Well?\" Uthas said.\n\n\"Eremon is old, he is scared of change.\"\n\n\"So what are his plans?\"\n\n\"He did not say. He is idle. He did little more than watch women.\"\n\n\"Good news, then,\" Uthas said.\n\n\"Not all good. Rath is coming.\"\n\n\"What do you mean, coming?\"\n\n\"He found the dead, in the north. He is on your trail. He is hunting you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was still dark when Gar shook Corban awake. Without speaking, the two of them slipped into the sword dance. Dawn crept over them soon after, picking out Vonn standing on watch, the others rising and setting about the ritual of breaking camp.\n\nOthers were sparring about them with cloth-covered weapons as Corban finished the dance.\n\n\"Where are Halion and Marrock?\" Corban asked, noticing their absence.\n\n\"They left in the dead of night with Camlin,\" Vonn answered his question. The young warrior had been withdrawn and silent since the book had been taken from him. \"My guess is another visit to our pursuers. Maybe just scouting, though I guess at more.\"\n\nGar grunted an agreement.\n\nCorban didn't know how to feel about that. He had hated the last night attack, especially the killing from shadows. Even though he knew it was an act driven by survival, it had still felt like cowardice. But there had been a sense of camaraderie that had grown amongst them because of it, of risks taken, danger shared. Part of him felt disappointed at being left out this time.\n\n\"Do not look so disappointed,\" Vonn said with a bitter twist to his lips. \"I offered to go with them but they refused me. Perhaps they do not trust me.\"\n\nBeing Evnis' son will not help you, and keeping the book a secret did you no favours, either.\n\n\"Trust has to be earned,\" Gar said.\n\n\"Aye. As does honour,\" Vonn replied, then walked away.\n\nCorban shared a look with Gar.\n\n\"Corban,\" Brina called him, hovering close by with Heb.\n\n\"It's time we started, ' Brina said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He saw she had the book they had taken from Vonn in her hands.\n\n\"Learning to bean Elemental, you mean.\"\n\n\"Yes, Ban.\"\n\nHe felt scared suddenly, as if he were standing at the opening of a dark tunnel. \"Why do you want to teach me?\" he asked suspiciously.\n\n\"Because you're expendable, \"Brina snapped.\"If something goes wrong and you end up melted it won't matter too much.\" She strode away.\n\nHeb sighed. \"It's a compliment, Corban, ' he said.\n\n\"Is this something to do with what Gar said– about me being chosen.\" There had been a number of silent stares at Corban since Gar's shocking confession. He'd even caught Dath and Farrell looking at him oddly. \"You should pay it no mind, you know. Gar's clearly confused... ' he trailed off, knowing that Gar did not seem the type to be confused about anything.\n\nHeb regarded him silently. \"Not for Brina's part. '\n\n\"Then why me?\"\n\n\"Brina likes you, Corban.\" Heb smiled, Corban snorted. \"You must understand: there is a gateway to great power contained in that book, something that must be guarded. In the wrong hands untold damage could be done. Brina trusts you. Do you think she would want to teach just anyone– Dath, for example, or Farrell?\"\n\n\"I don't know, ' Corban said.\n\n\"Not even Edana or Marrock. You are the only one she will consider teaching. Brina trusts you.\"\n\nHe felt strangely pleased at that thought. Honoured, even. \"All right, then,\" he said to Heb. Together they followed Brina into the cover of the trees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll take the risk of being melted, \"Corban said to her,\"though my mam may have something to say about that. '\n\nBrina's lips twitched.\n\n\"We'll start with a lesson, ' Heb said.\n\n\"Of course you will,\" Brina muttered.\n\n\"Once all were Elementals,\" Heb continued, ignoring her. \"It was part of the All-Father's design; giants and men were the overseers or guardians of creation, and so they were gifted a certain authority over that creation– specifically the elements of fire, water, earth and air. '\n\n\"That is how we summoned the mist, during our escape from Dun Carreg,\" Brina interjected.\n\nCorban nodded thoughtfully. \"How did you learn these powers? Were you born with them?\"\n\n\"It is not something that just happens, like clicking your fingers,\" Brina said. \"A bairn is not just able to wield a sword.\"\n\n\"No,\" Corban said, \"but some take to it better than others.\"\n\n\"There maybe something in what you say,\" Heb conceded, frowning. \"This book talks of two paths to power. One is the way that Brina and I know a little of. The other...\"\n\n\"The other we shall not speak of,\" Brina said.\n\nHeb regarded her a moment, then shrugged. \"Suffice to say that blood seems to be important. There are suggestions that some bloodlines are stronger; perhaps a purer lineage from the first men. And then there is the use of actual blood; from a living body-\"\n\n\"I said we will not speak of that,\" Brina snapped.\n\n\"As you wish. You must understand, Corban, that this is not set out plain. Brina and I have spent years putting scraps of knowledge together.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We studied and learned,\" Brina said. \"There is value in reading, as I have always told you, though it took us years, decades, to discover even a small portion of what is contained in this book.\"\n\n\"So how do I make mist rise from the ground?\" He liked the thought of that, remembering the escape from Dun Carreg– a thick mist enveloping them, hiding them from their attackers. That could be a handy trick to know. He felt a glimmer of excitement.\n\n\"In essence, the act of elemental control can be broken down to two parts,\" Heb said in his loremaster's voice.\"You have to believe it, and then you have to speak it. '\n\n\"So if I tell mist to rise from the ground, then it will? It cannot be that simple.\"\n\n\"Well, yes and no,\" Heb said with a faint smile. \"Your words show you are defeated already– you do not believe it will happen. I do not mean that you think it might happen, and so give it a try. You have to believe it, absolutely, as you believe a chair will support your weight before you sit upon it, or that an apple will fall to the ground when you drop it.\"\n\n\"And there is commonsense,\" Brina added.\n\n\"Yes, you must be aware of your surroundings. For example, you could not command a mist to arise from a desert. Mist is moisture, water. In Dun Carreg Brina and I commanded the moisture in the ground to rise up. If it had not been thereto begin with, then nothing would have happened. You understand?\"\n\n\"Yes.\" Corban nodded. It did make sense to him. This is becoming interesting.\n\n\"So, then, I have to believe whatever it is that I want to happen, and then I just speak it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes,\" Heb said.\n\n\"Though it's still not quite that simple, ' Brina said.\n\nOf course it isn't.\n\n\"You have to speak it in this language,\" Heb said, taking the book from Brina and opening it. It was full of runes, a script that Corban recognized from the inscription carved into the archway of Stonegate, back in Dun Carreg.\n\n\"Is that giantish?\" he asked.\n\n\"Yes,\" Brina said.\n\n\"It is much more than that,\" Heb said. \"It is the first language. The tongue of angels, giants, men. It is the language of Elyon, the Maker.\"\n\n\"So I have to learn giantish.\" Inwardly, Corban groaned.\n\n\"Yes,\" Brina said. She smiled.\n\nThere was a rustling in the undergrowth and Storm appeared. She nudged him, making him stagger, and then she growled, looking through the trees.\n\n\"What is it?\" Corban said, then saw three figures appearing from the underbrush. He recognized Halion. Immediately Corban knew something was wrong– the figure in the middle was being supported, half carried.\n\nMarrock.\n\nHe was waxen pale, one arm hanging limp, blood dripping from it.\n\n\"What happened?\" Corban called as he ran to them, to help carry the injured man into their camp.\n\n\"Wounded during our raid,\" Halion breathed. \"Think he was mauled by one of their hounds.\"\n\n\"It's not that bad, ' Marrock said.\n\n\"I'll be the judge of that, \"Brina snapped. She sent Corban running for her pack as she examined Marrock's arm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Everyone be ready to ride,\" Camlin called out, marching through the camp." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We need t'move. Think we've been tracked.\"\n\nAll the mounts were saddled and ready.\n\nWhen Corban returned to Brina she was pouring water from a skin over the wound. Corban caught a sight of frayed flesh and white bone amidst the blood. Brina took her pack from Corban, rummaged inside it a moment, then unstoppered a jug of something, muttered, \"This is going to sting,\" and poured it over the wound. Marrock drew in a sharp breath and Brina bandaged his forearm, placing leaves over the bite-marks.\n\nA horn call rang out behind them, answered by the baying of hounds, much louder than Corban would have liked.\n\n\"We must leave,\" Halion said.\n\n\"Dath, string your bow and follow me,\" Camlin said, mounting a saddled horse. Dath looked about nervously, then followed the woodsman.\n\n\"Can you ride?\" Brina asked Marrock, who was drenched in sweat. He nodded and was hastily assisted into a saddle, then they were all riding hard away from the sound of their pursuers.\n\nThey rode through broken woodland all day, the land changing from meadows and wide valleys to rolling hills, the trees turning to pine as they rose steadily higher. In the distance, to the north-west, Corban could see a dark smudge on the horizon: mountains. Corban kept checking over his shoulder, hoping for Dath and Camlin's return.\n\nAt highsun they stopped briefly to rest their mounts, then set off again. The afternoon passed. As the sun dipped into the horizon they were strung in a line behind Halion, who was keeping the horses cantering, making the most of the soft pine-needles that covered the ground, allowing a good speed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We've made good time, covered a lot of ground. Surely we've widened the gap between us, Corban thought. But where are Camlin and Dath?\n\nThen Marrock fell from his saddle, sliding like a sack of grain onto the pine-covered ground." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As the sun rose, Maquin stared down into the streets of Dun Kellen. Bodies buzzing with flies littered the ground.\n\nThe night had been long and hard fought, Jael's warband assaulting Dun Kellen's walls with growing desperation. There had been a dozen moments when Maquin expected to hear horns call the retreat to the keep, but somehow they still held the outer wall. Orgull had played no little part in that. Jael's assaults had focused on the parts of the wall that had been rebuilt, a patchwork of timber and stone. Wherever the fighting was fiercest Orgull was there, dealing death with his giant's axe, and Maquin had been glad to follow, his hatred of Jael fuelling his body well beyond its limits. Ashe snatched some rest now he felt muscles and tendons complaining, his shoulder throbbing, blood and sweat stinging his eyes. Not dead yet. His thoughts drifted to Kastell and he felt his stomach knot, his eyes drifting to the streets, searching for Jael.\n\nWarriors were busy at work amongst the streets, chopping timber from houses, constructing makeshift ladders and battering rams. More than one of those lay discarded at the fortress' gates, surrounded by corpses. Even as Maquin scoured the enemy lines a knot of men stepped forward, Jael emerging from amongst them. He stopped a distance from the gates, mindful of spear throws, and cupped his hands to his mouth.\n\n\"Is there any of a rank left to speak with me?\" he called.\n\nMuttering swept the battlements and Gerda came forward, dressed now in an ill-fitting cuirass, a short sword in her hand. Maquin smiled. She had grown in his estimation during the night, refusing to leave the wall, fierce in her exhortations to her warriors, terrifying in her cursing of Jael and his men. She had even charged forwards and swung blows atone point, when men had threatened to breach the wall. Warriors flanked her now, holding their shields ready as she approached the wall, no doubt remembering Varick's fate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Maquin felt a presence at his shoulder– Tahir, moving up to view the street." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had a cut on his cheek, a gash in his chainmail, but he seemed free of serious injury. He smiled at Maquin. \"Still standing, then.\"\n\n\"Just,\" Maquin said, looking back to Jael.\n\n\"What do you want?\" Gerda shouted down.\n\n\"Are you all that Dun Kellen has left?\" Jael said, laughing. \"No lord, no battlechief, just a fat old woman?\"\n\n\"Who are you calling a woman?\" Gerda yelled back, her warriors laughing at that. \"Not too old or too fat to teach you a few lessons in warfare, you snot-nosed brat.\"\n\nEven Maquin laughed at that. He saw Jael scowl as laughter rippled along the battlements, even some from behind Jael, within his own ranks.\n\n\"If there is anyone up therewith rank to treat with me, I will gladly do so,\" Jael yelled. \"If there is only a woman left to lead you, then Dun Kellen has fallen far already. Let me make this clear to any with intelligence enough to hear. Gerda and her son Haelan are the walking dead. This is only the van of my warband– more are coming. You cannot win, and I will have their heads on spikes before the next moon rises. Hand Gerda and her brat over and I will let you live, even welcome you into my own warband. Fight on and I will kill every last one of you. Not just you: your wives, your women, your children too. There will be no captives– no surrender.\"\n\n\"He talks a good talk,\" Orgull muttered, moving up beside Maquin and Tahir.\n\nMaquin glanced along the battlements, saw fear amongst the warriors there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hard words break no bones, as my old mam used to say,\" Tahir shouted down.\n\n\"Well said,\" Gerda laughed.\n\n\"I'll break bones soon enough, \"Jael said, then turned, raising his arm as he did so. Warriors swept forwards from the shadows and ran towards the fortress\" wall. At a horn blast they stopped and hurled amass of spears, Maquin and his comrades ducking low. A man close to Tahir moved too slowly and a spear buried itself in his chest, hurling him back over the battlements'edge. Maquin peered over the wall into the street, saw more of Jael's warriors hurrying from the town's side streets carrying ladders, others holding shields high over men that dragged a thick battering ram between them.\n\nWarning shouts ran amongst the defenders; spears and rocks were hurled onto those below. A ladder slammed into place close to Maquin. He leaned out and stabbed down at a man climbing; his sword-tip glanced off an iron helm, burying itself in the man's shoulder. The man screamed and fell backwards, replaced by another who swung at Maquin's exposed arm. Orgull dragged Maquin back, then swung his axe at the enemy as he appeared at the top of the wall. Ina spray of blood his head spun through the air, Orgull using his axe to push the ladder away, the headless corpse still draped over the top rung. The ladder wobbled in space, then crashed back to the street below, men screaming as they fell or were crushed.\n\nMore ladders appeared along the battlements and Maquin lost himself in the fight. A booming thud marked time to their violence as the ram crashed ceaselessly against the gates, fading to a blur in Maquin's mind as he slashed and stabbed and snarled at the legion of faces that appeared before him. Always Orgull and Tahir were close by, his Gadrai sword-brothers, beating back the tide wherever they stood. When Maquin paused, his limbs heavy and weak, his lungs burning, he saw Gerda standing on the wall above the gates, yelling defiance, encouraging her warriors, even lifting rocks and heaving them over the battlements at Jael's men below. As Maquin watched, jars of liquid– oil, he guessed– were thrown from above the gates, burning torches cast after them. There was the sound of flames igniting, then a terrible screaming. Maquin leaned over the wall and saw the ram and those holding it ablaze, some running yelling through the street, many rolling on the ground. The smell of charred meat hit his throat and he ducked back behind the wall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Children moved along the top of the wall, taking skins of water to the defenders." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin beckoned one over and gulped from the skin. A shadow fell over them as Orgull reached for the water. The young lad's eyes wide as he stared at Orgull's axe dripping with blood and gore.\n\n\"Thirsty work,\" Orgull muttered between gulps.\n\nThe battle lulled again and Gerda walked along the walls. She reached them and paused. \"You know Jael well?\" she asked Maquin.\n\n\"He was cousin to my lord.\" He shrugged. \"We lived in Mikil together, but Jael and Kastell, my lord, they were never friends.\"\n\n\"His claim that more men are coming– do you think he tells the truth?\"\n\n\"He is a snake, would lie to his own mother. He betrayed his uncle and murdered his cousin in the caverns below Haldis. I would not trust anything he says. Most likely he was trying to spread fear amongst your men, hoping one would take your head and accomplish his goal for him. And he must know that you have many more men mustering in your outlying lands. He will be scared, knowing that time is against him.\"\n\n\"That is what I thought, too,\" Gerda said. She raised her voice. \"Jael is a liar, he has no more men coming to aid him. We must just resist, hold them off until our banner-men from the outlying holds arrive.\" A ragged cheer rippled along the battlements and Gerda strode away.\n\nSomeone shouted a warning as ladders slammed against the wall.\n\n\"Back to it,\" Orgull said, patting his axe.\n\nThey fought on, time losing all meaning to Maquin. Again and again Jael's men assaulted the wall, and every time they were thrown back. As the sun dipped into the horizon, reflecting blood red against low clouds, a cry went up and Jael's men finally broke onto the battlements, first one man gaining a foothold, then another, then a handful." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin was fighting over the gates, guarding Orgull's flank as the big man swung his axe into a warrior who had just leaped from a ladder-top onto the wall. The man was off balance and Orgull's axe smashed into his chest, cutting through chainmail, leather, flesh and bone in an explosion of gore. Maquin heard a change in the battlecries behind him, turned and saw Jael's men forcing their way onto the wall. Without thinking, he ran at them, shouting to Orgull and Tahir but unaware if they heard him or not.\n\nHe smashed into a man, feeling his teeth rattle with the force of the collision, and slammed the man over the wall with not even enough time to scream. Maquin set his feet and swung his sword two-handed, chopping into a man's ribs, then bringing his blade up and down onto the man's head as he crumpled. He stepped over the corpse, chopping, stabbing. His blade was parried, sending shivers along his arm, his wrist numbing. A hand grabbed him, dragging him forwards, and he stumbled over a fallen warrior and dropped to one knee. A man appeared before him, sword raised, Maquin's death in his eyes. With a snarl, Maquin drew a knife from his belt, launched himself forwards, punching the knife beneath the line of his enemy's cuirass, sinking to the hilt. He gave a wrench, saw fear fill the man's face, the strength draining from him. Then he was shoving the dying man away and cutting at the man behind with sword and dagger.\n\nHe heard a battle-cry behind him, two voices shouting, \"Gadrai,\" and he grinned, knowing his sword-brothers were with him. The battle-joy took him then, which he'd heard others calla madness but to him it was a fierce, pure ecstasy, new strength flooding his limbs, his lips drawn back in a half-grin, half-snarl. Soon the tide had turned, Jael's men dying or fleeing before the three of them: Maquin, Orgull and Tahir." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As Jael's men were killed or cast back over the wall, horn blasts called out from the streets beyond the fortress. The attack ended. Men withdrew quickly. All along the battlements the survivors sagged with exhaustion. Maquin gripped Tahir's shoulder and smiled at him, too weary to speak.\n\nThere was a lull in the battle, all on the wall taking the opportunity to drink, eat something, some even leaning against the wall and sleeping. The sun sank into the rim of the world, night creeping up behind. Just before full dark Orgull stared out over the wall, frowning.\n\nMen were running from the side streets, some carrying timber beams between them, others with arms full of straw and thatch. They ran to the gates and the sections of the wall that had long been repaired with wood instead of stone. Soon there were high piles spread along the wall's base.\n\n\"Don't like the look of that, ' Tahir muttered to Maquin when he saw great jars of oil being carried to the piles of timber and thatch. Warriors on the wall began throwing spears and rocks, and screams told that some found their mark, but almost immediately sparks were being struck and flames were curling up.\n\n\"They're going to bum their way in, ' Maquin said.\n\nHe watched as Gerda and her captains organized the fetching of water from wells within Dun Kellen's wall, but by the time the first buckets of water had arrived the fires were burning bright, the thrown water hissing into steam. They managed to put one fire out, but a dozen others raged against different sections of the wall, the wood used to repair it charring and crackling, smoke billowing over the ramparts.\n\nThe boy that had given them water earlier in the day hurried along the wall, scurrying over when he saw Maquin and his companions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The lady wants to see you,\" he said to Orgull, who nodded and followed the lad into a cloud of smoke. Soon he returned.\n\n\"Gerda's calling a retreat to the keep, \"he said, but quietly.\"She's leaving a handful of warriors up hereto watch the back of those leaving, and to give Jael the impression we mean to fight on.\"\n\n\"A suicide watch, you mean,\" Tahir said.\n\n\"No. Her orders were that whoever remains must leave as soon as the first ladders hit the wall.\"\n\n\"They'd better be quick about it– those walls won't be standing all night,\" Maquin said, and as if to prove his point timbers nearby creaked, part of the palisaded walkway collapsing with a crash.\n\n\"I suppose you volunteered us for the rearguard,\" Maquin said.\n\nOrgull grinned.\n\n\"Best show our faces, then. Give Jael and his lads something to be scared of,\" Maquin said, walking into view on the wall.\n\n\"Just make sure we keep our feet on stone,\" Tahir added, stepping close to Maquin.\n\nThe retreat of Dun Kellen's warriors to the keep did not take long. Soon Maquin, Orgull and Tahir stood with a handful of others left to guard the wall.\n\nIt was not long after that the first wooden section of wall collapsed, flames and smoke roaring up in its aftermath. Jael's warriors rushed forwards, but the fire flared in their faces, burning fiercer as it was fed by the timber. In their eagerness, Jael's men lifted ladders to the stonewalls, done with waiting.\n\n\"Best be out of here,\" Tahir said, looking over his shoulder at the dark shadow of the keep behind them. Orgull barked an order at the other warriors ranged about them, only a dozen or so, and they began filing down a wide stairwell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin put a spear to the ladder that appeared nearby, pushed with all his strength, but the weight of the warriors climbing it held it pinned to the wall. Orgull saw and added his axe, bracing the head against the ladder and leaning into it. Nothing happened, then an iron-capped head appeared on the ladder.\n\n\"Come on,\" Tahir yelled.\n\nMaquin and Orgull gave a last effort and the ladder swayed away from the wall, teetering fora moment before it hurtled backwards into the darkness. Maquin smiled at the screams that drifted up to them. Then the three of them were running, leaping down the stairwell and sprinting for the keep. A warrior stood guard, keeping the doors open. They slammed shut behind them and were barred with iron and oak." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin drew an arrow back to his ear, held his breath, and released it as the arrow sped from his bowstring. Beside him he heard the thrum of Dath's arrow, then a succession of screams and the two of them slid back down the ridge.\n\n\"Must've hit something, \"he muttered to Dath, who grinned back at him. Then they were slipping through the undergrowth. Camlin grunted approvingly as he noted how Dath moved lightly, quick on his feet, looking ahead to avoid snagging branches. He'll make a good woodsman. Hounds barked behind them, close, from the ridge they had just left. If he lives long enough.\n\nThey ran through the woods, Camlin leading the way back to their horses, always twisting and turning, his path never straight. They mounted quickly and set off, both of them too winded to speak.\n\nLeaving the cover of trees, they had to ride across open meadows for at least a league. Camlin glanced up, saw it was well past highsun. They had been at their deadly cat-and-mouse game in the woods since mid-morning, striking at their pursuers four times– enough to make them think there's more'n two of us lurking in the shadows. Camlin was under no illusions, knew that they could not stop their trackers, only hope to slow them awhile. They had just slipped under the shadow of a stand of pines when Camlin heard the baying of hounds rising faint on the wind.\n\n\"They've found our trail, ' he called to Dath, who looked nervously back.\n\nThey spurred their horses on.\n\nThey rode all day, not stopping to rest, periodically allowing the horses to walk instead of canter. As the sun was sinking behind the mountains on the western horizon Camlin spied their companions. They were gathered in an open space of green and purple heather." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why aren't they riding? ' Dath called to him. Camlin just shook his head, wondering the same question. They should be riding on until nightfall, making the most of every daylight moment.\n\nClose by afire had been lit, flames crackling hungrily as the cold wind snatched at it. Camlin scowled. They are out in the open. As the dark settles, that fire will draw our trackers like flies to dung. Then he reached them and saw a figure on the ground.\n\nMarrock.\n\nHalion and Anwarth moved out to meet them as they slid from their saddles.\n\n\"Marrock has a fever; he collapsed from his saddle. Brina says his wounds are rotting.\"\n\nCamlin felt a twist in his gut, like a knife turning. Did everyone he came to think something of have to die?\n\n\"What is Brina going to do?\" Dath asked.\n\n\"She says there is nothing left, except to take his hand. If the rot has not spread to his blood he may live.\"\n\nCamlin strode to where Edana knelt by Marrock, wiping his feverish face with a damp cloth.\n\nThey are kin, cousins, he remembered.\n\nBrina stood by the fire, holding a knife blade in the flames. Corban hovered close to her, stirring a pot. Frequently Brina snapped orders at him, the young warrior rummaging through a large pack, pulling out stoppered jars, a roll of linen, a handful of small tools.\n\nIs that a filing iron?\n\n\"I don't have the strength to do the cutting, \"Brina said.\"Not here, without all my tools. Who will do it for me? It needs a strong arm, a sharp blade and a good aim. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll do it, \"Heb said. Brina looked him up and down and snorted.\"You don't have the strength, and if you did your eyes are so bad you'd probably take his head off, not his hand. '\n\nHeb scowled at her.\n\n\"I will do it,\" a voice said. Gar stepped forwards, drawing the sword from his back.\n\nBrina strode up to him, her knife glowing red in her hand. She nodded to Farrell, who pulled taut Marrock's arm with a leather cord. Gar swung his sword once and Marrock screamed, his body jerking, blood spraying from his wrist. Brina stepped close.\n\n\"Hold him,\" the healer ordered. Camlin and Halion gripped the thrashing man, then Brina was holding the knife blade to Marrock's wrist, the flesh sizzling, the stench of cooking meat filing Camlin's nose. He held his breath, felt Marrock tense and then go limp.\n\n\"He's fainted, ' Halion said.\n\n\"Best thing for him,\" Brina said as she held Marrock's arm up, examining his wound. She looked at Gar.\"A fine cut. '\n\nShe barked an order to Corban, who passed her the tool that resembled a filing iron, then she began rasping it across Marrock's wrist bone.\n\n\"What's she doing to him, ' Dath said beside Camlin, looking as if he was about to vomit.\n\n\"She's taking the bone down, getting rid of any sharp edges, so the skin can be stitched over it. '\n\n\"I don't like that noise, ' Dath said.\n\nWhen Brina had finished, Corban passed her another tool, long and thin. This time she picked around in the flesh of the wound. Blood began to seep from it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She's digging out dirt and bits of bone, ' Camlin whispered to Dath.\n\nDath swallowed.\n\nAfter that Brina poured a skin of water over the wound and stuck her reheated knife against it, sizzling again.\n\n\"Finish off for me,\" she said to Corban.\n\nCorban smeared a salve over Marrock's wound, with Brina watching over his shoulder. Then he unbound a cloth from Brina's pack, took out what looked like a leaf, placed it over the stump of Marrock's wrist and then bound it with linen. His hands moved deftly, his face taut with concentration.\n\nBrina grunted with something like approval. \"Time will be the judge, now,\" she said.\n\n\"We need to get off this open ground,\" Camlin said, kicking the fire out. \"Or we won't have much time left to any of us. '\n\nThe sky was a deep blue, the last glow of the sun lingering there. Quickly they mounted up, with Marrock hoisted in front of Halion. They rode as long as they could, found a straggly stand of pines to shelter them and made camp for the night.\n\n\"No fire,\" Camlin ordered, knowing their pursuers were gaining, and the beacon of firelight would most likely bring enemies down on them before sunrise. He set about cutting branches and making a litter to carry Marrock in the morning. If he has lived through the night.\n\nThe next morning was cold and damp, a mist veiling the sun. Marrock was shivering. Brina knelt beside him, checking his pulse at throat and wrist, listening to the breath in his chest. Then she unwound the bandage on his wrist and sniffed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Clean and bind it,\" she said to Corban.\n\n\"He's not safe yet; the fever still has him. Beating that is his first battle. \"She shrugged.\"His flesh does not smell of rot, and he's still alive, which is a good sign.\"\n\nWhen Corban was done they strapped Marrock tight to the litter, one end of it harnessed to his horse, and set off into the mist.\n\nIt was slow going at first, Camlin riding as rearguard, constantly looking over his shoulder, ears straining for any warning. The mist limited his vision and muffled all sound. Anwarth rode next to him.\n\n\"Back at Dun Carreg Dath and my boy Farrell were friends,\" Anwarth said, nodding forward to Dath, who was riding with Corban and Farrell. \"He's a good lad– had it hard, I heard, when his mam died. His da took to the usque jug, was quick with his fists. '\n\n\"Was he, now?\" Camlin asked, remembering Dath's father, seeing his hands trembling for no obvious reason.\"Maybe Dath's better off without him, then.\"\n\nAnwarth shrugged. \"Don't know if he'd agree with that. But I've seen the way you've looked out for him. Just wanted you to know, I'm grateful. '\n\nBefore Camlin could answer, the gangly warrior had kicked his horse on and ridden further up the column.\n\nThey climbed higher, the mist slowly burning off as the day approached highsun. Camlin reined in, staring back into the distance. They were following a shallow valley through a region of rolling foothills blanketed in swathes of red and purple heather. Camlin could see no sign of their pursuers, but the valley they were in had twisted and turned, so the distance he could see was limited. Safe for now. But not for much longer if we can't change this pace." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He heard a horse approaching, looked around to see Brina, her black crow perched on her saddle pommel.\n\n\"You look worried,\" she said.\n\n\"I'd be happier if I could see further. '\n\n\"Maybe I can help you there,\" she said, one finger scratching the neck of her crow.\n\n\"Tired,\" the bird squawked.\n\n\"Get on with you,\" Brina snapped, lifting the crow and hoisting it into the air. \"Try and earn some of the food I keep giving you.\" The bird circled once over their heads and then flapped back along the way they had travelled.\n\n\"My thanks,\" Camlin said.\n\n\"A bit of exercise will do him good,\" Brina replied as she rode back to the column. She settled alongside Corban and his wolven, the great beast keeping pace easily. The company I keep these days. Braith would laugh t'see it. Brina and the other old one, Heb, had spent much of the night with Corban. Camlin had seen them move a little way from the rest of the group and sit huddled in deep conversation long into the night. They were an odd company indeed, and that Gar was one of the strangest. Camlin had thought over what the grim-faced warrior had said the other morning, about Corban being chosen.\n\nExtraordinary things had been happening, of late, but there was no doubt that would be the strangest of all. Still, he'd learned not to judge. He was happier to sit back and watch, and that is what he would do with this Corban. There was something about him...\n\nCamlin stayed where he was awhile longer, watching the crow fade to a pinprick. Then he spurred his horse to the head of the column, pulling close to Halion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Any sign?\" the first-sword asked.\n\n\"No, but I can only see about a league behind us. Wanted to ask you– what's the ground like ahead of us. '\n\n\"Much like this until we reach the mountains. The pass into Domhain is two, three days\" ride. There's a road the giants built cutting through them.\"\n\n\"Is the pass guarded?\"\n\n\"It used to be– only a token guard– although there are more villages and holds all about the giants\" road. \"Halion shrugged.\"I'm hoping Rhin has taken most of her fighting men with her to Ardan. We've travelled through the wild, but I still would have expected to see more people than we have. '\n\n\"We've been lucky, ' Camlin said.\n\n\"I don't trust to luck. '\n\nThere was a squawking up above and Camlin looked up, saw Brina's crow. It swooped in and circled low over their heads, landing on Brina's outstretched arm.\n\n\"Hunters,\" the bird croaked. \"Close, close, close.\"\n\nFaintly on the breeze the sound of hounds baying drifted up to them.\n\n\"So much for luck,\" Camlin muttered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen satin her saddle looking out over the battlefield, Buddai sitting at her horse's feet. Why she was here she did not know. Obviously it was to do with Corban, somehow. He was why everyone seemed so interested in her– Evnis, Nathair, his counsellor, Calidus– all their questions coming back to the constant that washer brother. What is it about Corban? And now she was about to view a battle. Her main pleasure was that she considered virtually everyone who would be fighting here as her enemy, atone level or another, so, whoever died, there would be some degree of satisfaction.\n\nShe was situated amongst Evnis'warriors, about threescore of them mounted around their lord. Conall was close to her, his attention rarely leaving her for more than a few moments. She swore under her breath.\"Don't you have anything better to do than babysit me?\" she asked him.\n\n\"Shut up,\" he said, glancing at her irritably. He'd searched her before they'd left and removed four knives that she had secreted in various parts of her clothing. She resisted a smile; he had missed two, and with them she planned to kill Evnis.\n\n\"Weren't you Edana's babysitter, too? You're going down in the world. '\n\nHe glared at her, but did not answer, his eyes scanning the battleground before them.\n\nThe giantsway ran through the centre of it all, through a wide, flat-bottomed vale where Rhin's warband was spread to meet them. Her banners rippled everywhere– Cambren's broken branch on a black field– a host of black and gold, thousands of them. Yet it was obvious, even to Cywen's untrained eye, that Owain had more men– significantly more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a tension in the air, so strong that she could almost see it, like a heavy mist, and it was contagious. Horses neighed, her own mount dancing skittishly. She searched for Shield again. She had tried to take him as her own mount, but the red-haired warrior Drust had been having none of that and had taken Shield as his warhorse.\n\nShe muttered a prayer to Elyon under her breath, begging for the horse to survive the coming battle. Not that you've ever listened tome before.\n\nShe nudged her horse closer to Conall.\n\n\"Why is Rhin down in the valley?\" she asked him. \"She was here first, but she's given Owain the high ground. '\n\n\"I was wondering that myself,\" Conall said.\n\nTwisting in her saddle, she looked behind and saw Nathair on his great draig. She wrinkled her nose, smelling it from here. It smelt of death, of rotting things, and its dung– its smell got into your skin, so badly you could almost taste it. Nathair's Jehar warriors were spread in a thick line behind him, near the hill's ridge. Further along were more of Nathair's warriors, these all on foot in orderly lines, holding great round shields. She recognized at their forefront the man who had sparred with Conall: Veradis. Behind them all was Owain's rearguard, men held in reserve for the coming battle, she presumed.\n\nCywen saw a handful of riders canter out from the rearguard ranks, Owain at their head. Nathair's warriors parted for him and he rode to the King of Tenebral, spoke to him awhile. Then Owain led his shieldmen towards Evnis and his warriors. Cywen's heart jumped as she recognized Shield, Drust upon his back. He must be shieldman to Owain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Owain rode to Evnis, speaking loud enough for Cywen to hear.\n\n\"I have chosen to give you great honour, as reward for your service at Dun Carreg,\" Owain said. \"You will lead my warriors into the battle.\"\n\n\"Sneaky piece of dung,\" Conall muttered.\n\nEvnis was silent a moment, then bowed his head. \"As you wish.\" He looked about, his eyes finding Conall, and signalled for Cywen to betaken to Nathair.\n\nAs they rode up the hill, Buddai following her, Calidus raised a hand, beckoning Conall.\n\n\"Keep a close eye on her,\" Calidus said. Conall nodded curtly. They settled to the rear of the Jehar warriors, Cywen marvelling at the black-clothed warriors' mounts. They were beautiful to the last one, all fine boned and sleekly muscled.\n\nThey watched as Evnis and his warriors rode down the slope towards the main host of Owain's warband, the ranks parting to allow Evnis and his men passage.\n\n\"Not going to do much fighting back here,\" Cywen said to Conall, watching him keenly. At the very least she could see how far she could push his famous temper.\n\n\"You never know,\" he replied.\n\n\"At least you won't get to die as quickly as Evnis and your other friends, standing here at the back. '\n\n\"This is a battle; death can come swift enough wherever we stand. And they're not my friends. '\n\nThen horns blasted out, causing Cywen to snap her head around.\n\nRhin's warband was moving.\n\nFirst the front lines, then all those behind, appearing to ripple like a great beast rousing from sleep. Slowly at first, they moved across the flat plain of the valley, then gathering speed. The bulk of the host was on foot; Cywen could spy lines of mounted warriors gathered at the rear of the field, thickest around a great banner that was planted in the ground. Rhin must be there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Owain raised a hand and horns blew out. His war-host moved to meet Rhin.\n\nEvnis led the charge. The front ranks of Rhin's warband picked up their own speed, many running now, yelling battle-cries, the thud of feet setting the earth to trembling.\n\nCywen held her breath as Evnis hurtled towards Rhin's front lines, knew that she was about to watch him die. She grinned fiercely." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Evnis yelled wordlessly as the first ranks of Rhin's warband loomed closer. Everywhere he could see faces twisted with battle-cries, weapons glinting, hear feet pounding, the drumming of his own horse's hooves, the riders behind him. He risked a glance over his shoulder, saw a large gap growing between his men and Owain's charging warriors. Owain is cunning, thinking to remove me and slay a fair number of Rhin's warband along the way. Except that Rhin could give lessons in cunning to a fox. Time for her first surprise.\n\nHe sheathed his sword, reached down to his saddle and drew out a rolled banner. Rhin's sigil of black and gold unfurled above him, snapping in the wake of his gallop. He yanked on his reins, saw the warriors before him parting as his shieldmen slowed behind him, drawing into a double column, and like that they cantered through the ranks of Rhin's warband, shouting greetings to Rhin's warriors as they passed them.\n\nUnluckily for Owain, Rhin and I have ways of communicating that he would not dream of. She had foreseen him attempting something like this, and they had plotted against every conceivable eventuality.\n\nHis warriors filtered through Rhin's warband, moving to the eastern edges. They regrouped around him. For an instant he focused on Rafe, the son of Helfach, his dead huntsman, and his thoughts drifted to Vonn, who had been a friend to Rafe. Where is my son? Is he still in Ardan? Then Rhin and Owain's charging warriors met, the sound like a concussive crack of thunder.\n\nThe warbands poured into one another, and almost instantly battle-cries were joined by death cries. The battle fell into a thousand individual duels, no strategy, no tactics, just kill the man in front, then move onto the next one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Evnis surveyed the battleground, saw Owain still mounted with his shieldmen about him; further up the slope Nathair and his warriors were spread near the ridge. Fora moment he thought he glimpsed Conall. Could have done with his sword beside me. Too late to change his mind now, though. He had judged that Cywen was important to Nathair and did not want to be excluded from any developments there, so Conall washer guardian.\n\nI'll see them both when this is done, anyway.\n\nHe dropped Rhin's banner and drew his sword.\"This is it, \"he called out above the din of battle.\"The future of Ardan will be decided this day. Ride with me now, fight with me now, and your place in it will be assured. \"A cheer went up from the men as they drew their swords, hefted spears and shields.\"And a hundred gold pieces to whoever brings me Owain's head.\" There was a louder cheer at that.\n\nThen he was spurring his horse on, picking up speed as he looped out from the fringe of the battleground. There was an explosion of bodies; his horse reared as he slashed from side to side, his sword hacking, cutting, breaking bones, denting helms, great fountains of blood spraying in his wake. His warriors crashed into the battle behind him, spreading like the cutting edges of an arrowhead. He burst clear into the open. The battle was raging. The marshes to the west stopped the combatants spreading that way, and Evnis was on the east side, a wide stretch of open valley. Owain's warriors were using their great numbers hereto curve around the edges of Rhin's warband, flanking them. Evnis had seen Owain use the same tactic at Dun Carreg. If Owain's men were allowed to continue with this strategy again the battle would soon be over." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"With me,\" Evnis yelled and kicked his horse on. This time he and his warriors raked the edges of Owain's men, striking fast, killing and then veering away before they could be ensnared in the crush of bodies. They did this time and time again, defending Rhin's flank.\n\nThen there was a thundering in his ears, overwhelming the din of battle. Riders were pouring down the slope, charging straight at him and his shieldmen. He recognized the man at their fore.\n\nOwain.\n\nDesperately he dragged on his horse's reins, ordering his men to pull clear or Owain and his warriors would catch them in the flank. Snarling, Evnis realized he was not going to pull free in time. He hefted his shield and screamed his frustration. Then Owain's horsemen were crashing into his shieldmen.\n\nHorses neighed and screamed, warriors yelled, swords clanged, a multitude of impacts set Evnis' ears ringing. He felt fear churning in his gut, slithering like a restless snake, slowing his limbs, as if he were moving through water.\n\nI will not die here, not now. See it through, see it through, see it through.\n\nSomething whispered, in his ear or in his mind, he could not tell. You are mine, and I have work for you to do. Kill Owain. He felt the fear drain away, his limbs loosen, and he gritted his teeth, raised his sword and spurred his mount at Owain.\n\nMany of his shieldmen were down, horses spitted on spears, caught by Owain's charge. But others were rallying, Rafe's face appearing amongst them, following Evnis as he struck at Owain's men. He crushed a skull with an overhand blow, backhanded another across the face, stabbed another in the armpit, turned a blade on his shield, punched the wielder with the hilt of his sword, teeth spraying. Then he could see Owain, sitting tall in his saddle, hacking atone of Evnis\" shieldmen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Owain's sword chopped into the warrior, almost severing the man's head." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Evnis watched as Owain pulled his sword free, looked about, eyes searching. Then they saw him and narrowed to slits. \"Traitor!\" Owain yelled and kicked his horse on.\n\nThere was a great noise from the hill behind them, a frantic blowing of horns from the ridge. Men were milling at the hill's crest, turning to stare at something hidden by a dip in the land. A cloud of dust hovered in the distance.\n\nEvnis smiled. Rhin's second surprise." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis stared into the distance, shading his eyes with one hand. Behind Owain's rearguard a thick column of warriors was marching towards them.\n\n\"How many?\" Bos asked beside him.\n\n\"About a thousand. They are Rhin's. '\n\n\"I guessed that,\" his big companion said.\n\nOwain's rearguard, mostly mounted, were milling around, some turning to face the newcomers, others still facing towards the battle in the vale. Many amongst them were blowing horns in warning. A rider cantered out towards the warband hurrying along the giantsway. He hefted a spear and pointed it at the approaching enemy, began trotting towards them. Ranks behind him followed, raggedly at first; slowly, the whole of Owain's rearguard followed his lead.\n\nThey have a good captain, Veradis thought. That is what I would do. Strike quickly, though the odds are still against them. They are too few.\n\n\"Keep your sword loose in its scabbard; things are about to get bloody.\"\n\n\"It looks bloody enough already, down there,\" Bos said, pointing into the valley where Owain's and Rhin's warbands were engaged in battle.\n\n\"That is only the beginning,\" Veradis said, pulling his helmet on.\n\n\"Owain's going to want to reinforce his rearguard, \"Bos said to Veradis.\"To help them before Rhin's men scatter them.\"\n\n\"I know,\" Veradis said. \"And it is our job to stop him. Best get to it.\" He held a fist high and his own messenger blew a horn, his warband spreading along the ridge, forming the shield wall. Two hundred warriors long it stretched, five rows deep, an impenetrable barrier as the shields came up. The thunder of hooves drew his attention as a large force of the Jehar rode past the shield wall. Akar, the warrior who had commanded the Jehar throughout the campaign to Haldis was leading them. They pulled upon the far side of his shield wall, blocking any passage for Owain between the hill and the first fringes of woodland down in the valley. For Owain, the only way to his rearguard now was through Nathair's warriors. Veradis watched as Owain began drawing troops out from the rear of his warband, men that were not fully committed to combat; soon he had a few hundred gathered about him, more joining." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Support the writer, proceed with the storyline.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, war\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Valour\nChapter: 40" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis stared into the distance, shading his eyes with one hand. Behind Owain's rearguard a thick column of warriors was marching towards them.\n\n\"How many?\" Bos asked beside him.\n\n\"About a thousand. They are Rhin's. '\n\n\"I guessed that,\" his big companion said.\n\nOwain's rearguard, mostly mounted, were milling around, some turning to face the newcomers, others still facing towards the battle in the vale. Many amongst them were blowing horns in warning. A rider cantered out towards the warband hurrying along the giantsway. He hefted a spear and pointed it at the approaching enemy, began trotting towards them. Ranks behind him followed, raggedly at first; slowly, the whole of Owain's rearguard followed his lead.\n\nThey have a good captain, Veradis thought. That is what I would do. Strike quickly, though the odds are still against them. They are too few.\n\n\"Keep your sword loose in its scabbard; things are about to get bloody.\"\n\n\"It looks bloody enough already, down there,\" Bos said, pointing into the valley where Owain's and Rhin's warbands were engaged in battle.\n\n\"That is only the beginning,\" Veradis said, pulling his helmet on.\n\n\"Owain's going to want to reinforce his rearguard, \"Bos said to Veradis.\"To help them before Rhin's men scatter them.\"\n\n\"I know,\" Veradis said. \"And it is our job to stop him. Best get to it.\" He held a fist high and his own messenger blew a horn, his warband spreading along the ridge, forming the shield wall. Two hundred warriors long it stretched, five rows deep, an impenetrable barrier as the shields came up. The thunder of hooves drew his attention as a large force of the Jehar rode past the shield wall. Akar, the warrior who had commanded the Jehar throughout the campaign to Haldis was leading them. They pulled upon the far side of his shield wall, blocking any passage for Owain between the hill and the first fringes of woodland down in the valley. For Owain, the only way to his rearguard now was through Nathair's warriors. Veradis watched as Owain began drawing troops out from the rear of his warband, men that were not fully committed to combat; soon he had a few hundred gathered about him, more joining." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Behind them, Rhin's reinforcements and Owain's rearguard clashed on the giantsway." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis saw that Rhin's men were huddled tight, shields and spears bristling as Owain's horsemen tried to split them apart. Men were falling on both sides, screams drifting on the breeze.\n\n\"Here they come,\" Bos said.\n\n\"Remember, we will not attack, only defend ourselves.\" Those had been Nathair's orders. They would aid Rhin indirectly, by thwarting Owain's movement on the field, by keeping his forces separated. Veradis drew his short sword and braced his feet.\n\nOwain's men were coming up the hill, a little hesitantly. The shield wall had never been seen by these warriors before, and it was not the traditional method of battle. Veradis saw Owain and his mounted shieldmen behind them. The King of Ardan was grim faced. He is no fool– can see he has been betrayed. Defeat is a knife-edge away for him now. Veradis felt a moment of sympathy for the man, a flash of guilt for the part he was playing here. He buried it.\n\nOwain called out behind his men, urging them on. The bulk of them ran at the shield wall, clearly preferring that to the mounted Jehar who stood calmly waiting to either side of Veradis' warband.\n\nThe first ranks slammed into the shield wall, the impact shivering through Veradis'whole body. A series of jolts and thuds followed as Owain's warriors piled into one another, the weight quickly becoming immense. Veradis bent his legs, pressed his shoulder into the curve of his shield and held on. Screams rang out along the line. My men are striking back. It was inevitable, he knew. They could not just stand here– eventually shields would be pulled down and his own men would start dying. He raised his sword, slid it into the gap between shields and thrust. He felt resistance, then his blade was cutting into flesh; someone screamed. He pulled his blade back, stabbed again. And again, kept on stabbing until the muscles in his arm burned. Fingers grasped the rim of his shield and he headbutted them, his iron helmet breaking bones. A sword swiped at his ankles, sliding underneath his shield, but he saw the blow coming, managed to block it, trod on the blade with his iron-shod sandals." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A horn blast filtered through the din of battle, a high, keening sound that he recognized. The Jehar. He risked a glance over his shield rim, saw the Jehar joining the battle, their longswords slashing from horseback, cutting great swathes through Owain's men. In heartbeats the assault on the shield wall was over, Owain's men breaking away, running for their lives. They only had one way to go. The battle in the vale was continuing. Rhin seemed to be gaining the upper hand as Owain's men started to try to escape the combat, panic spreading from the disaster on the hill like a disease. Rhin's main host blocked the way through the vale, the marshland denied any flight westwards and Nathair's forces were an immovable object along the ridge of the hill, removing any hope of a retreat to the south. The only way left was west, into the broken woodland that fringed the vale, and that is where Owain's men ran.\n\nScreams rang out behind Veradis and he turned to seethe Jehar joining the battle about the giantsway, too. Owain's rearguard was now caught between Rhin's reinforcements and a group of the Jehar. Even Alcyon was striding into the fray, swinging his axe and taking lives like the angel of death. Owain's men broke apart, most of them on horseback, scattering in countless directions. The Jehar rode them down.\n\nSo many dead. Just warriors obeying their lords. He shook his head, surveying the corpses sprawled all about them. All for the ambitions of kings and queens. He looked along the ridge, eyes searching for Nathair, and spotted him sitting tall on his draig. Relief swept him that his King had survived the battle– indeed, their entire force seemed to have sustained few casualties. And the battle was won, Nathair's plans furthered. Warfare is strategy, Nathair had said to him, and strategy had certainly won this battle. It just did not feel very honourable." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It is for the greater good, he reminded himself.\n\n\"What now?\" Bos asked him.\n\n\"We'll hold our position until Nathair orders differently, ' Veradis answered.\n\nThe battle in the vale was chaos now, most of Owain's warband realizing that the fight was lost. Owain himself was on the slope, a few dozen of his mounted shieldmen about him, others on foot still rallying to him. The King of Narvon pulled his horse in a circle, surveying the chaos about him, then spurred his horse west, towards the woodland. He did not gallop or leave in wild panic; his passage was orderly, controlled, and he still gathered men to him as he passed, his presence bringing an edge of calm. He rode into the shadow of the woods." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen could not believe what she was seeing, almost did not know whereto look, so much was happening at once.\n\nThe battle in the vale had been a terrible, vicious thing. She had seen death before– the ambush in the Darkwood, the night Dun Carreg fell– but nothing on this scale. Its savagery and cruelty took her breath away, made her feel sick. The shield wall was like nothing she had ever seen before. It had dealt out death with a cold efficiency that seemed to go against all she had learned of the warrior's code.\n\nEvnis' treachery had shocked her at first. Though I should expect little else, she thought. Conall had remained calm throughout, seeming composed as he watched the events unfold. He must have known, Cywen realized. His mood did appear black, though– probably at being denied his part in the conflict.\n\nHer eyes focused on Owain, saw him sitting tall on his horse, moving away, along the ridge of the hill towards the woodland that stretched into the distance. There was a shieldman clutching a banner beside him, the red bull of Narvon serving as a rallying point for Owain's routed host. She recognized the warrior holding the banner, red hair spilling from his iron helm. Drust, and he was riding Shield. Her heart clenched in her chest. Shield still lived.\n\nNo, Shield will be lost forever.\n\nWithout thinking, Cywen bent in her saddle and slid free the knife that she had hidden in the leather sole of her boot. She whispered to Buddai, the hound sitting close by. Conall was still focused on the battle, his eyes twitching, fists constantly clenching. She reached over silently and sliced the girth of his saddle, then kicked her horse into motion. The animal leaped away– a dun mare that she had helped Gar break." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Behind her she heard Conall shout her name, glanced back to see him yanking on his reins, urging his horse to give chase, then he was sliding, and falling. Cywen grinned as she heard him swearing.\n\nHer mount was small framed and she was fast. Cywen bent low in the saddle, spurring her to a gallop along the ridge towards the woodland, behind the shield wall, heedless of Owain's scattered troops. Buddai barked behind her as he tried to keep up. Owain and his followers had already disappeared amongst the trees. To her left Cywen saw warriors from Rhin's warband following the stragglers of Owain's routed forces, cutting them down as they ran. Deeper into the vale a knot of mounted warriors was gathered before the treeline. Cywen saw Evnis at their head. Even as she watched they rode into the shadows of the woods.\n\nI still may get to see him die today.\n\nConall was nowhere to be seen, though she knew he would be after her soon. Some of the Jehar were gathered, one of them pointing towards the woods. Planning to hunt Owain down. And then she saw Veradis. He was high on the hill, talking to Nathair, Calidus and the giant close by. They all looked towards the woods, and just fora heartbeat Cywen was sure that Veradis stared straight at her. Then he was moving, picking his way through warriors, heading steadily her way.\n\n\"Come on, Buddai,\" she said, feeling anxious. \"Let's find Shield. \"And then I'm leaving, heading south to find Pendathran. I should have taken Shield and left with him along time ago.\n\nThe drum of feet and hooves echoed dull and muted amongst the trees. She followed them, the trail of their passing easy to see. Then, abruptly, there was aloud screaming. She gripped her knife tightly as the sound of skirmishing grew, then she saw the first of the dead littering the ground. Owain's men, red-cloaked for Narvon. All with arrows sprouting from their bodies. She moved on, saw figures moving amongst the trees, saw the sparks of blades clashing, heard the thrum of arrows. All was chaos, horses rearing, men fighting in close combat. She looked about wildly, searching for Shield. Sounds from the canopy drew her attention and she looked up to see figures in the trees, firing arrows into a knot of Owain's warriors, Owain amongst them. Her eyes fell upon their leader and she froze. It was Braith, the outlaw woodsman who had been part of the kidnapping of Queen Alona, when her sweetheart Ronan had died." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Owain and his warriors charged at Braith's line, breaking it and moving deeper into the woods, fighting as they went; Braith's men kept pace, harrying them. Then they had moved on and Cywen was left standing amongst the dead. She heard the crunch of forest litter, turned and saw a horse amongst the trees, a form slumped on its back.\n\nIt was Shield.\n\nCywen slipped from her saddle and ran to him, knew instantly that something was wrong. He was trembling, eyes rolling white. Then she saw the arrow buried in his flank. He whickered as she reached him, nuzzled his head against her, his coat drenched with sweat, salt-stained. She waved flies from his wound, touched the arrow shaft and he shuddered.\n\n\"This'll have to come out, boy, \"she murmured, stroking his flank, trying to soothe him. Drust was draped upon the horse's back, an arrow sticking from his side too; he had one foot still stuck in a stirrup. She heaved him off and he groaned as he hit the ground. Still alive, then.\n\nHe looked at her, lips moving but only a whisper coming out. She stared back at him sullenly. You are Owain's man; you helped to storm Dun Carreg. Buddai sniffed the fallen warrior and whined. Cywen remembered how the warrior had saved Buddai so she took a water skin from Shield's saddle and, kneeling beside Drust, trickled some water into his mouth.\n\n\"Thank you,\" Drust said, his red hair plastered dark to his face, and for an instant he reminded her of Ronan, red-haired, freckled– or Ronan as he might have been, if he had lived longer. She pursed her lips, making a decision." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Take my horse,\" Cywen said. \"Owain is finished, will be hunted down before the day is out, so do not follow him. Ride south if you want to join the resistance against Rhin.\"\n\n\"You are forgetting: I am from Narvon; I fought for Owain against Ardan.\"\n\nCywen snorted. \"Owain is as good as dead. Rhin is the enemy now, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Pendathran will be leading the resistance– you'll find him in the marshes about Dun Crin. If you get that far tell him my name. If he doesn't kill you straightaway you'll be all right. '\n\nDrust coughed, held his arm to his side.\n\n\"If not, you must ride north, back to Narvon, but Rhin rules there now, so I don't know what you'll find.\"\n\n\"You should come with me, girl. There's nothing for you here, now. '\n\n\"I'm heading south, \"she said,\"but Shield's not fit to travel. I need to deal with this arrow.\"\n\n\"I'll help you. '\n\n\"You've an arrow in your side. And, besides, won't belong before these woods are crawling with Rhin's men. Me, I'm nobody. They'll kill you as quick as breathing. '\n\nHe frowned, wavering.\n\n\"Maybe I'll catch you up, if you do choose to go south. '\n\nHe nodded to her and she fetched her mare. Drust had the water skin between his teeth, both hands gripping the arrow shaft in his side. With a grunt he tensed, snapping the shaft, and half collapsed back onto the ground.\n\nCywen heard the sound of riders, quickly growing louder. She ducked behind a tree, with Drust lying hidden from view beside her. Warriors rode into the glade and she saw them through the foliage and tensed. It was Evnis. Her hand reached for the knife stuffed in her belt. She had a clear view of him, only twenty paces away. She knew she could make the throw, bury her knife to the hilt in his back. Her fingers twitched. He betrayed us all. Caused the death of my da, Brenin, the loss of mam, Corban, Gar. All that has happened is because of him. Silently she pulled the knife free, rolled her thumb over it, readying for the throw." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Drust groaned, eyes flickering.\n\nIf I kill Evnis they'll find us– kill me, kill Drust, probably leave Shield with an arrow in his flank that'll fester and kill him.\n\nBuddai pressed close against her legs, his hackles a ridge on his back.\n\nAnd you, they'll kill you, too. I don't care if I die, as long as Evnis goes first. But... She stared at them, horse, hound and warrior, realizing that she did not want their deaths on her hands. With a wrench of will she shoved the knife back in her belt and watched as Evnis and his men disappeared after Owain and his surviving warband.\n\nShe waited awhile after they had disappeared from sight, then bent to Drust, roused him and helped him into the saddle of her dun mare.\n\n\"I should take Shield,\" he said.\n\n\"That'd betaking my kindness too far, \"she replied.\"Shield stays with me. '\n\nHe shrugged, bent in the saddle with pain, then turned the mare and rode into the shadows. Southwards.\n\nCywen set to cleaning Shield's wound, frowning as she realized how deep the arrow had bitten. How am I going to get this out?\n\nShe didn't notice Buddai growling, so intent was she, but then the growl turned to a snarl and she turned to see Conall running through the trees towards her. Buddai leaped at him, connecting with a thud, his teeth snapping. Conall grunted and fell, man and hound rolling on the ground. Conall managed to roll and throw Buddai off, climbing to his feet and drawing his sword.\n\nCywen screamed and threw her knife. It flew straight at Conall's chest, but he was so fast, he managed to twist, clubbing the leaping dog with his sword hilt while Cywen's knife flew wide of her mark, sinking into the meat of Conall's arm. He yelled, his sword spinning out of his grip, and ran at her while Cywen reached frantically for her second knife, hidden in the heel of her other boot." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With a snarl, Conall ploughed into her, sending them both hurtling through the air. Cywen was biting, kicking, punching to get free as Conall grabbed her wrist and knocked the knife from her grasp. Panting, she brought her knee up hard between his legs, felt his whole body go limp and scrambled out of his grip.\n\nWith a groan he staggered upright, grabbing for her again. She punched him and he backhanded her across the face; blood filled her mouth as she staggered and fell. Conall pulled a knife from his belt.\n\nGetup. I must getup.\n\n\"That's the last time you try to kill me, girl, \"he spat, and Cywen felt a wave of real fear pulse through her, sharpening her senses.\"You're more trouble than you're worth, ' Conall said, putting the knife to her throat.\n\n\"I don't think so, \"a voice said, a hand gripping Conall's wrist and pulling him away.\n\nCywen blinked, her vision clearing. It was Veradis, with the giant towering at his shoulder.\n\n\"Let me go,\" Conall snarled.\n\n\"That depends on what you intend to do with that knife,\" Veradis said.\n\nConall tensed and looked as if he was about to attack Veradis, but caught sight of the giant as he shrugged his axe from his shoulders and patted one of the blades with a huge hand. Conall relaxed and let his knife drop to the ground.\n\nVeradis kicked the knife away and released Conall, never taking his eyes from the man.\n\n\"You're lucky I arrived when I did, \"he said.\"She is worth more than your life to my King. \"He took a step away from Conall, looked closely at Cywen, who had blood trickling from her nose and mouth. He frowned.\"Are you all right? '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Gave as good as I got,\" she mumbled.\n\nThe giant laughed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just believe it, Corban,\" Heb said.\n\nThat's easier said than done.\n\nCorban was sitting with Heb and Brina in a copse of trees, the murmur of voices from their camp filtering through to them.\n\n\"Just a spark, Ban,\" Brina said. \"See it in your mind, how you want it to be, then speak it.\"\n\nHe was holding a stick, staring at it. In his mind he saw a wisp of smoke curl from it, a spark, then aflame.\n\n\"Lasair,\" he said, the word feeling alien on his tongue. He held his breath. Just fora moment he thought he caught the faint smell of woodsmoke, then it was gone. He waited.\n\n\"Nothing's happened, ' he said eventually.\n\n\"You have a talent for stating the obvious,\" Brina said.\n\n\"Nothing,\" Craf agreed from a branch above them.\n\n\"It's early days, \"Heb said, patting Corban's shoulder. \"This is only your first attempt.\"\n\nIt was the fourth night since Marrock had had his hand amputated, every night following the same routine. Make camp. Tend Marrock's wound, then retreat somewhere with Brina and Heb. For the first three nights Corban had been given some rudimentary lessons in giantish. Just a handful of words, but the important ones, Brina had said. The elements that he would seek to command– fire, water, earth and air. Each day he had silently recited them in time to the pounding of his horse's hooves. And now tonight he had attempted to make something happen.\n\nNothing. Is it really possible, or just another mad faery tale, like Gar imagining me to be Elyon's chosen one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Heb took the stick from his hand.\n\n\"Lasair,\" the old man said. There was a popping sound, a wisp of smoke and then aflame flickered into life.\n\n\"Fire,\" Craf squawked.\n\n\"That's amazing, ' Corban whispered.\n\nHeb smiled and dropped the stick, stamping the flame out.\n\n\"You just have to believe. But,\" he added, \"I could attempt the same thing another time and, if I had a seed of doubt, I would fail. It is all about believing, utterly, at that moment.\"\n\n\"Drink this,\" Brina said, handing Marrock a skin of something.\n\n\"What's in it? ' Marrock asked.\n\n\"Something to dull the pain. This is going to hurt. Goon, Corban.\"\n\nMarrock frowned but took along gulp.\n\nIt was the sixth night now since Marrock's hand had been removed. He had been gripped by a fever for the first two days and part of the third, then awoke before highsun, weak but complaining he was starving hungry. Brina had said that was a good sign. Corban had tended to his wound, under Brina's constant supervision.\n\n\"Stitch over an infection and we'll kill him, sure as a blade through his heart, ' Brina had said, so while the skin and flesh was red and inflamed the wound had been left open, allowing for any pus to drain, a compress of leaves and clean bandages bound about it twice a day. Now, though, the redness had gone, and it had stopped smelling bad, so Brina had ordered the wound stitched closed.\n\n\"Just start, Ban,\" she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Have you done this before?\" Marrock asked, his words slurred from the poppy milk Brina had given him.\n\n\"Not exactly,\" Corban said, holding a bone needle close to the stump that was Marrock's wrist.\n\n\"It's no different from darning a sock, ' Brina said.\n\n\"My arm's no sock, ' Marrock blurted.\n\n\"Shut up and drink your milk,\" Brina ordered.\n\nCorban pressed hard, piercing the skin with a pop, then proceeded methodically.\n\n\"This bit will feel strange,\" Corban warned, then pulled the thread tight, stretching Marrock's skin across the open wound, closing it off. He tied a knot in the thread and Brina cut it with a knife.\n\n\"It will feel uncomfortable, and it will itch,\" Brina said. \"Any pain– tell me immediately.\"\n\nMarrock inspected Corban's stitching and nodded at him.\n\n\"You're doing well, \"Brina said to Marrock as Corban applied a salve to the skin and bandaged it off.\"You haven't died, which I expected a few days ago.\"\n\n\"No, but I'll not be drawing a bow again. '\n\n\"There's more to life than shooting pointy things into people, ' Brina said.\n\nMarrock snorted. \"What use is a huntsman who can't draw a bow? ' He looked straight at Corban, bitterness twisting his features.\n\n\"There's plenty of other new and exciting ways to get yourself killed, \"Brina said.\"No doubt you'll discover some of them soon enough.\" She walked away.\n\n\"I can still feel it, you know. My hand, my fingers,\" Marrock said. \"I would still have it if we'd sailed to the marshes and Dun Crin. \"He glanced at Halion, who was at the edge of their camp, looking back the way they'd travelled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There's been a tension between them since we fled Dun Carreg, and now Marrock blames Halion for the loss of his hand. This bothered Corban, particularly as he had great respect for both men. Halion he knew better, though, from the countless days of toil and hard work in the Rowan Field. He knew that, whatever Halion did, whatever choices he made, he was not acting out of self-interest.\n\n\"He chose what he thought was best for Edana,\" Corban said quietly, gathering his tools.\n\n\"Did he? Maybe he just wants to go home.\"\n\n\"I've never known him to choose something he thought to be wrong. Even his own brother. '\n\nMarrock stared at him, the hardness fading from his eyes. \"Aye, lad. Don't listen tome, I'm just...\" he trailed off, his gaze dropping back to the stump where his hand used to be.\n\nCorban squeezed his arm and followed after Brina.\n\n\"What's wrong with you? \"Brina asked him.\"Your face looks like its been squashed. '\n\n\"That was harsh, what you said to Marrock.\"\n\n\"Sympathy will feed his self-pity,\" Brina said, a softness edging her voice, \"and he has some dark days ahead.\"\n\nCorban lay on his belly, staring down a steep slope into a valley. A river wound through it, marking the border of Cambren. A stone bridge arched across the fast-flowing water, houses clustered upon either bank. The road on the far side climbed upwards, twisting into the mountains. They were in a no-man's-land between the two realms of Cambren and Domhain.\n\nOn the far side of those mountains is Domhain and safety." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That was the hope, anyway. Halion had said that when he had travelled the other way, coming from Domhain into Cambren, there had only been a handful of guards, a token force.\n\nNot now, though.\n\nWarriors were everywhere: standing guard on the bridge, walking the few streets, their tents spilling onto a coarse stretch of grass alongside the river. Corban had tried counting and lost track when he reached ninety.\n\n\"Rhin is no fool,\" Camlin whispered beside him.\n\n\"Unfortunately for us,\" said Halion.\n\nThe rest of their group were a few hundred paces behind them, huddled about a stand of gorse. The land had turned bleaker, more barren the higher they had climbed. They had broken camp before sunrise and set out as soon as dawn had lit their way. The sun had been up awhile now, though it was still well before highsun. The sky was full of thick low cloud, the air humid.\n\nCorban felt his eyelids drooping. They had been travelling hard, but still their pursuers had drawn closer each day, until now they were almost constantly within sight.\n\n\"We can't stay here, \"Camlin said, echoing Corban's thoughts.\n\n\"No, but there's noway across that bridge. We couldn't fight our way through; there's too many of them. \"Halion glanced over his shoulder back along the track.\"We'll have to try another way.\"\n\nThey all looked up at the mountains, grim and forbidding. In the distance a wolven howled; Storm tensed, ears twitching.\n\n\"Best be moving,\" Camlin said. \"P'raps we can shadow the giants'road, join up to it once we're deeper into the mountains, and away from Rhin's eyes an\" ears. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's a plan I like, ' Halion said.\n\nThey scrambled back down the slope to their companions, shared the bad news and set off into the mountains. Camlin rode ahead, scouting their path.\n\nCraf fluttered down out of the cloudy sky to land on Brina's saddle. The crow had been keeping track of their hunters.\n\n\"Fast,\" the crow squawked.\n\n\"Faster than us?\" Brina asked.\n\nThe crow bobbed its head.\n\n\"Something will have to be done, soon,\" said Heb, who was riding close by. He and Brina shared a look.\n\nThey're talking about the earth power, Corban thought.\n\nDogs barked somewhere behind and Corban twisted in his saddle. Dark shapes were visible in the distance, near to where they had stopped to view the pass into the mountains. Shapes broke away from the main party and disappeared down the slope as they moved towards the river ford. And towards the warriors camped there. Will probably get them hunting for us, too. Things are not looking good.\n\nThey travelled as fast as they could, dismounting at sunset and leading their horses, for fear of twisted or broken legs. A cold night was followed by a grey morning. They were back in the saddle before the sun had risen, winding ever deeper into the mountains.\n\nThe path they were following was little more than a fox's trail running more or less parallel to the giants\" road. A sheer rock face rose up ahead and the path veered around it, moving deeper into the mountain wilderness. Corban hoped that at some point it would veer back, but it didn't look likely.\n\nJust before highsun Camlin came cantering back from scouting ahead. He was frowning. He rode to Edana and Halion, pulling up before them, but spoke loud enough for all to hear." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The path dips ahead, follows a stream and broadens out. It's good land to travel on fora while, but then it rises an'turns narrow right quick. Won't be easygoing. '\n\n\"Easier than turning back,\" said Halion.\n\n\"Aye, true enough. There's something else: I think we're heading into a wolven pack's territory. Found some spoor and a carcass of something– looks like a horse. '\n\n\"We have a wolven of our own,\" Edana said.\n\n\"Aye. One. This is a pack. In my experience that means anywhere between four and ten of them and they won't like us in their territory. We'll need t'be careful. '\n\nBrina spoke quietly to Craf. Corban thought he heard the word wolven, then the bird was flapping away, this time ahead of them.\n\nBrina and Corban checked on Marrock as they let their horses drink and refilled water skins.\n\n\"I'm fine, ' he said to them, though his eyes were pinched with pain. They reached the end of the vale that Camlin had told them of as the sun was hovering above the mountaintops. The valley sides had narrowed, with great black boulders dotting the land. A narrow ravine closed in, leading sharply up, causing them to ride in single file. Corban looked back over his shoulder and saw tiny figures spill into the valley behind them. Noway back now.\n\nThe terrain changed as they climbed higher, the ground turning stony, patches of shingle appearing underfoot. It became too dangerous to ride so they dismounted and led their horses. Corban saw a nimble-footed goat standing on a narrow rim above them, watching their passage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dusk was closing in when they stumbled into a rocky bowl rimmed by pine trees, their scent thick in the air." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban was sweating from the climb, though there was a cold wind biting at him. He drank thirstily from his water skin. Halion had gone to look back down the way they had travelled and Corban joined him.\n\nTo his horror he could see along line of figures climbing the ravine, not more than half a league behind them.\n\n\"They'll not be stopping to make camp tonight, \"Halion said.\"They know they can't miss our trail in the dark, because there's nowhere to go except straight ahead. They'll just keep coming.\"\n\n\"Then we must move on, and not stop either.\"\n\n\"Aye.\"\n\nFootsteps crunched behind them– Camlin returning from scouting ahead.\n\n\"How is the path?\" Edana asked.\n\n\"We're going t'have to leave the horses. Gets too steep; they'll not make it. '\n\nThey all looked at him and he shrugged.\n\n\"How far behind are they?\" Camlin asked Halion.\n\n\"Not far. Less than half a league, and they're moving faster than us. '\n\nBest be moving, then, ' Camlin said.\n\nMarrock stepped forward. \"I'll stay, hold them back a little, buy you sometime. \"He looked around at the shocked faces.\"My life's over now. Might as well do something of worth before the end. I know I can't shoot a bow. \"He raised his left arm, the wrist bandaged tight.\"But I can still swing a sword. And one of you can strap my shield tight to my arm. '\n\n\"I'll do better than strap your shield tight, \"Anwarth said.\"I'll be your shield. Two will hold them longer than one.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And three longer than two,\" Farrell said, stepping close to his da.\n\n\"Someone that can shoot a bow would hold them longer,\" Camlin said, reaching for his bowstring.\n\n\"I... I'll stay with you, ' Dath said, looking at Camlin.\n\nHeb stood up from where he had been sitting by a boulder. \"I think I might be of some help. I will stay too.\"\n\n\"What?\" Brina said. \"Don't bean idiot, you ridiculous man. ' Corban was unsure if she was angry or worried. Probably both.\n\n\"Stop,\" a voice rang out. Edana strode forward, shaking her head. \"We'll either all stay, or all go. I'll not lose you so that I can run a little longer.\" A tremor shook her voice. \"And I would be proud to stand with you all– more loyal and brave than I deserve.\" She took a deep breath, steadying herself, then looked to Camlin. \"Is this a good spot to face them?\"\n\n\"Depends if you want to hold them back, or try an\" kill them all, \"he said.\"If you want to hold them off it would be better up ahead, where the trail narrows. If we're going t'have a crack at sending every last one o'them across the bridge of swords, then this is better. Me an\" Dath can pick the first ones off with our bows as they come out of the ravine. Once they're in this bowl you'll have room t'swing a sword.\" He looked about. \"This is a good spot.\"\n\nTo make a last stand, Corban finished for him.\n\nCorban crouched behind a boulder, holding his shield tight, Storm pressed close against him. The sun was just aglow silhouetting the mountain peaks now. Gar was close to him and his mam, her face pale, her knuckles white where they gripped her spear. Dath was just a shadow higher up, amongst a handful of pine. None of the others was visible. He kept his eyes on Dath, knew that when he started firing his bow then the battle was upon them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban heard the arrows before he saw them. The thrum of bowstrings as they were released was followed closely by a scream and a high-pitched whine. Corban risked a glance around the boulder, saw figures strewn at the entrance to the bowl, a hound pawing the ground, but no others. They must have pulled back.\n\nThen there were battle-cries and men were spilling out of the narrow ravine, climbing over the dead. Two arrows struck the first man and he was hurled back, knocking another off his feet, but others rushed past them, quickly spreading out.\n\n\"Now!\" yelled Camlin.\n\nCorban drew his sword as he rushed forwards, Storm and Gar a heartbeat behind him. He saw Halion swinging his sword, then ahead was spinning through the air, a dark spurt of blood. Storm leaped forwards, smashing a man from his feet. Corban followed her, took a blow on his shield, pushed it away, parried with his own sword, chopping an arm. He wrenched his blade free, swung again, silencing his screaming opponent. Someone else took the warrior's place, came rushing at him. He stepped in quickly to meet the man, felt all the years of drill and practice with Gar and Halion take hold of him, his body moving before he had time to think, falling into the rhythms and responses of the sword dance. Before he realized what he was doing, his opponent was falling back, blood jetting from his throat, and he was facing someone else. He blocked a combination of blows, twisted his wrist and slid to the side, chopped neatly at an exposed neck, then he was moving onto another opponent. A calm filled him as he let his body move, not thinking, just doing, and his enemy kept falling before him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At his side his mam was desperately defending herself, her spear only just holding off a flurry of blows. Corban swung his sword, severed a hand from his mam's opponent, his mam took the opening and buried her spear-point in the man's throat.\n\nHe heard Storm snarl, turned to see hounds circling her. One stepped too close and she knocked it aside, claws opening red streaks on the dog's body, but another leaped, landed on her back, jaws snapping, seeking Storm's spine. She writhed beneath him, rolled over and then the other hounds were jumping in, biting at her exposed belly. Storm regained her feet, shook the hound from her back and snapped the spine of another of her attackers. The rest of the pack cowered back, whining.\n\nIt was close to dark now; shapes were blurring, merging as they clashed. He saw Gar, recognizing him by the way he moved, spinning and slashing, inconstant motion. Figures fell away in the wake of his passing. Corban backed away as the fighting grew closer, turning to make sure that Heb, Brina and Edana were still safe.\n\nHe heard a flapping, saw Craf circling the bowl, squawking frantically. The crow landed on a boulder, close to Brina. It hopped from foot to foot, still squawking. Corban ran to them.\n\n\"Who's winning? ' Brina said, squinting at him in the dark.\n\n\"It's too dark to tell. '\n\n\"Let's see if we can do something about that, ' Heb said. He held a branch in his hand, splintered from one of the pine trees close by. He spoke strange words under his breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Craf squawked again.\n\n\"I think Craf wants your attention,\" Corban said.\n\n\"He will have to wait, impatient bird,\" Brina snapped, adding her voice to Heb's.\n\nAt first nothing happened. Then Corban felt a pressure on his ears, the air seeming to push in at him, like when a storm is about to burst, but more extreme. Then he saw a wisp of smoke curl up from the branch, quickly followed by a tiny flame.\n\nCraf jumped onto his shoulder and pecked his head.\n\n\"Get off,\" Corban cried, trying to wave the bird away. Then he finally heard what the crow was saying.\n\n\"Wolven, wolven, wolven, wolven,\" the bird was repeating. \"WOLVEN.\"\n\nThe branch burst into flame and Heb dropped it. The fire flared bright, illuminating the bowl, showing figures locked in combat all about, but Corban's eyes were drawn higher up, to the ring of pine trees that circled them. Suddenly eyes glowed green in the firelight. Lots of eyes.\n\nThen the first wolven leaped at them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fidele sipped from a cup of wine. She was in Lamar's chambers at the top of his tower in Ripa. There was a wide window dominating the wall opposite, giving an extensive view of the bay, and her eyes kept being drawn to the sea, the hypnotic swell and roll of waves.\n\nOthers were sitting at the table with her: Lamar, Baron of Ripa, and his two sons, Krelis and Ektor. Two more disparate brothers she could not imagine: Krelis larger than life in every way, physically almost a giant, but with a great warmth to him. She imagined that he could love and hate with equal passion. And Ektor, quiet, introverted, pale skinned, almost withered looking, yet with a fierce intellect. Her thoughts drifted to Lamar's third son, and first-sword to her own son, Nathair– the loyal Veradis. He is somewhere in between these two: physical, a warrior, like Krelis, but quiet, reserved, like Ektor. She was glad Veradis served her son. His loyalty was beyond doubt, something solid to cling to in these turbulent times.\n\nPeritus sat beside her, fingers drumming on the table, and Orcus her loyal shadow stood behind her.\n\n\"So what will we do about the Vin Thalun?\" Peritus said.\n\nAlways it comes back to this, no matter where the conversation leads.\n\n\"I have told you. The men involved have been punished. There is little more to do now, except wait for Lykos to return. Then I shall speak with him.\"\n\n\"Like you spoke to him before?\"\n\nShe felt a flare of anger but suppressed it. Peritus was struggling with so much change. Struggling with the death of Aquilus, with Vin Thalun wandering Tenebral, with Nathair's new ways, especially his new techniques of fighting. The shield wall was a particular thorn in Peritus\" flesh. But change had come to them, whether they liked it or not. It was swim or be drowned. She looked hard at Peritus. He looks like a drowning man. Nevertheless, an insult was an insult. If Peritus had spoken to her so in private she would have overlooked it, for friendship's sake. But not in front of Lamar and his children." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If you dare speak tome in such away again I will have you sent back to the ranks,\" she said, coldly. Peritus looked away, blushing, mumbling an apology.\n\n\"The Vin Thalun have learned a lesson from you,\" Lamar said in his deep voice. \"Learned that you are not to be disobeyed.\"\n\n\"Or learned to hide their disobedience better,\" Ektor added.\n\nIt is time to change the subject. \"How go your preparations for the coming war?\" Fidele asked.\n\n\"Well enough,\" Lamar said. \"My warband is ready, and I have gathered every able-bodied man tome.\"\n\n\"And your warband's training? I am asking of Nathair's new methods. He sent men to aid you in learning the shield wall.\"\n\n\"Aye, he did,\" Krelis said. \"I'll speak plainly, as I know no other way. '\n\n\"Please do,\" Fidele said.\n\n\"My men are learning it, but most of them don't like it. The older ones especially. It goes against our ways, against generations of learning. It feels dishonourable. '\n\nFidele sighed. Allover she had heard the same complaints. But it was Nathair's order, and he was king. And, besides, by all accounts it was devastatingly effective.\n\n\"It works,\" Fidele said. \"Peritus saw the shield wall first-hand, led by Veradis. Tell them.\"\n\nPeritus sat up straighter. \"Veradis led the van against Mandros in Carnutan. We were ambushed whilst fording a river. He and his warband formed the shield wall, knee-deep in the river, and carved away through two thousand men, almost to Mandros himself.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fidele watched their faces as Peritus spoke. Lamar tensed, a tightening around his eyes and lips. Why? Is there some grievance between Lamar and Veradis? If so I have not heard of it. Krelis beamed with pride. Ektor showed nothing, whether through self-control or lack of interest, she could not tell.\n\n\"And you followed with your warband, did you not?\" Fidele said.\n\n\"I did.\"\n\n\"And how many men of yours died in the battle?\"\n\n\"Around five hundred.\"\n\n\"And from Veradis\" shield wall? '\n\n\"Fewer than thirty.\"\n\nLamar raised an eyebrow; Krelis blew out along breath.\n\n\"Peritus is a skilled warrior, wise in the art of war, in tactics and strategy,\" Fidele said.\n\n\"I know it,\" Krelis murmured. He had spent over a year riding with Peritus and his warband, learning from the battlechief, much like Veradis had done with Nathair. Although Veradis had stayed, while Krelis had returned home to Ripa and his father.\n\n\"That is why he was my husband's battlechief. I am not highlighting the difference in casualties during the campaign in Carnutan to shame him, because I know that he is truly great at what he does, and the best that Tenebral has to offer. But my son is a strategist, with a craftsman's heart. The fact is that a war to end all wars is coming. The God-War will claim many lives, maybe even our own. My son's logic is faultless– the shield wall stops our men from dying. And it kills the enemy with an efficiency that has not been seen before; is that not right, Peritus? '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just so,\" the battlechief said.\n\n\"You will train your men in the shield wall, and after your first battle remind yourself of this conversation. And your warriors\" wives and mothers shall thank you, honour be damned. '\n\n\"Of course Krelis will do as you say,\" Lamar said, giving his son astern look.\n\n\"The God-War,\" Ektor said, animated all of a sudden. \"Nathair and Veradis talked of it when they visited after Aquilus\" council. Nathair spoke of a book, a giant book and a prophecy. '\n\n\"Yes, the writings of Halvor.\"\n\n\"I would dearly love to see it.\"\n\n\"That's impossible, I'm afraid. I do not have it.\"\n\n\"Why, where is it?\" Ektor looked devastated.\n\n\"Meical had it. As far as I know, he has it still.\"\n\n\"I have heard that name before– Aquilus\" counsellor, yes? ' Lamar asked.\n\nFidele nodded.\n\n\"And where is this Meical?\" Lamar said.\n\nI have asked that question more times than you can imagine. Fidele had liked Meical, even though there had been something frightening about him– an intensity thinly veiled.\n\n\"He has not been seen since my husband was murdered,\" Fidele said.\n\n\"What do you know of him?\" Lamar asked. \"What realm is he from? Does he have kin that he could be tracked to?\"\n\n\"I do not know,\" Fidele said, feeling foolish before the words were out of her mouth. Meical had come to Tenebral along time ago, before Nathair was born, and spent along night in council with Aquilus. When day had dawned, Aquilus had brought Meical to her, and that had been the first time she had heard the God-War mentioned. Meical had soon been declared Aquilus' counsellor, and almost immediately had left– travelling to Forn in search of Drassil, the hidden fortress. Aquilus had trusted him utterly, and so had she. But, who are you, Meical?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well, he must be found." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I need to see that book,\" Ektor said.\n\n\"Really, why?\" Fidele asked.\n\n\"My son is a scholar,\" Lamar said. \"The past is his passion. We have an extensive library here, at Ripa. Left by the giants.\"\n\n\"Aquilus spoke of it tome,\" Fidele said.\n\n\"I need to see that book,\" Ektor repeated, almost to himself.\n\n\"Why?\"\n\nHe looked up then, held her gaze with bright, sharp eyes. \"Because I think I know who, or what, Meical is.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I see them,\" Coralen said, turning in her saddle and gesturing to Rath.\n\n\"Where?\" asked Rath, squinting into the distance.\n\n\"There,\" Coralen said, pointing. \"Not on the giants\" road. To the south, moving into the foothills before the mountains. '\n\nThey were riding through grassland, skirting the giants'road. Up ahead loomed the range of mountains that separated Domhain from Cambren, the giants\" road cutting a deep gully through them.\n\n\"Damn my old eyes,\" Rath said, then was silent awhile. \"I see them,\" he said finally. \"Well done, Cora; you're the best tracker I've known, and I've known a few. '\n\nCoralen snapped a glance at him, surprised. \"You going soft in your old age?\" she said.\n\n\"Maybe I am. How long till we catch them?\"\n\n\"Depends. One day, if things stay as they are.\"\n\n\"Good. My arse is sore– too much riding. I must begetting old– I'd rather behaving a drink back in Dun Taras. '\n\nCoralen snorted.\n\n\"Still don't like visiting your home? '\n\n\"Dun Taras? That's not my home. Here's my home.\" She slapped her saddle. \"Anywhere you are is my home.\"\n\n\"Now who's going soft? '\n\nCoralen smiled at that. Truth be told, she'd rather be just about anywhere than back in Dun Taras.\n\nThey had tracked the giants all the way from the border of Benoth, pausing briefly at Dun Taras for Rath to warn King Eremon that giants were loose in Domhain and– worse than that– they had been within half a day's travel from Dun Taras." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She didn't like the fortress, it held too many bad memories, too many reminders, so she was much happier to be back in her saddle, even if it did mean a sore backside. Better that than all the bubbling emotions that rose up every time she was insight of Dun Taras. It made her think too much, made her headache. And she always just ended up feeling angry, usually fighting someone.\n\n\"Let's keep moving. Soon enough it'll be time to spill some giant blood,\" Rath said, kicking his horse on.\n\nThat'll do, Coralen thought. They rode hard fora while, a score of warriors in along column. It was cold and the clouds were low and bloated. As the sun was sinking, Coralen caught glimpses of individual figures ahead, flitting through patches of woodland on the hills.\n\nThey're heading for the pass. I know exactly where they're going. She grinned to herself, then looked up and saw a bird high above, circling them; it looked like a solitary crow.\n\nBaird rode up beside her. \"Strange behaviour fora bird,\" the warrior said, staring up at it.\n\n\"That's what I was thinking. ' She reined in her horse and reached for her bow, pulling it from its case, laying it across her saddle. Then she opened a pouch on her belt and pulled out a bowstring. Deftly she strung the bow and nocked an arrow.\n\n\"Too late,\" Baird said as she raised the bow.\n\nThe bird was winging its way into the foothills, squawking, flying in a straight line now.\n\n\"Think you scared it,\" Baird said with a grin, the scars on his face creasing. \"Don't look so disappointed; there'll be plenty more killing soon enough.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That there will.\n\nShe unstrung her bow and led them into the foothills." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uthas ran, his legs taking long, ground-eating strides. The old pain in his knee throbbed but he ignored it, concentrating on his breathing. He could hear Salach behind him, the dull thud of his boots on turf, behind that the others: Fray, Struan, Kai and Eisa. Far above, Nemain's raven Fech flew in a jagged line. Up ahead he could see mountains rearing behind the pine-coated foothills they were running through. And beyond them is Cambren, Rhin's land. We will be safe there.\n\nHe risked a glance behind, his pace slowing a little. There was no sign of pursuit at first, then he saw it, a thin line in the distance, moving, following them.\n\nRath.\n\nFech had been right, back at Dun Taras. Rath had picked up their trail in the north and was tracking them south. Panic and anger had rippled through his group at Rath's name, the reputation of the man and his band of giant-killers overriding rational thought. Fray and Eisa had wanted to fight Rath, to march out and meet him and his warriors, but Uthas had known it would be suicide. You did not fight Rath on his own ground, on his own terms. He had been too long and efficient at giant-killing. No, escape was the priority; fulfil the plans. So they had fled east, towards Cambren. Rath had gained on them, somehow, and for the last five nights their pursuers had been almost constantly within sight. He looked forwards and fixed his eyes on the mountains. Five leagues, at least. We will make it. It will be close, but we will make it. And he will not dare to follow us into Cambren.\n\nThe giants' road was a shadowed line far below them. Uthas paused and looked back; he could see that Rath and his men were closer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Damn them.\n\nHe muttered a curse and led his group quickly into the trees, a growing sense of alarm settling upon him. For the first time he began to consider the possibility of being caught by Rath, of being forced to battle. Of dying. As the thought grew, so did a sense of panic. By sunset he knew he had to do something.\n\nHe called a halt. They were still in the foothills, under the cover of dense pines, but further ahead he could see that the trees thinned and the path led into the mountains proper. He set Fray and Kai on watch while he scouted ahead and found a place far enough distant that he would not be disturbed. After making a small fire, he drew a knife and opened a small pouch, from which he pulled out a lock of brittle silver hair. Rhin's hair. This was giant magic, earth magic– he cut his palm, rolled the lock of hair in his blood and dropped it into the fire. The flames swirled as a shape grew within them: a face, old and lined. Rhin.\"What? \"Rhin said. Her eyes focused on Uthas.\"This is not a good time. '\n\n\"I must talk to you, now,\" Uthas hissed. Then he heard a bough creak above and looked up to see a dark shape, feathers. Fech. He froze and the bird flapped its wings, rising into the air.\n\nNemain cannot know.\n\nHe fumbled for his knife, found it, aimed and threw. There was a muted squawk as he found his target, then Fech was gone.\n\nUthas looked back to the fire, but Rhin's face had disappeared. He stood, hurriedly stamped the fire out and left. He was on his own." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Something's different, ' Maquin said as he looked up.\n\n\"They've stopped banging on the doors, ' Orgull said.\n\n\"Aye.\"\n\n\"Not that it seemed to bother you,\" Tahir added. \"You've managed to sleep through most of their hammering. '\n\n\"I was just resting my eyes,\" Maquin said.\n\n\"Wish you'd have rested my ears– your snoring's been loud enough to wake the dead.\"\n\n\"Watch your cheek,\" Maquin said as he stood, his back protesting. \"I'm getting old. '\n\nThey were settled at the rear of Dun Kellen's feast-hall, a large portion of the surviving warriors scattered about the room. The stonewalls were solid and thick; the only wood that they could attempt to burn was the hall's great doors, but the flames had achieved little success.\n\nA warrior strode through a doorway at the back of the hall and approached them.\n\n\"The Lady Gerda would speak with you,\" the warrior addressed all three of them.\n\nGerda was sitting in a wide chair when they were ushered into see her; a warrior in chainmail and a bearskin cloak was before her. A child, the young boy Maquin had seen with Gerda before, satin flickering shadows at the back of the room, whittling at apiece of wood with a small knife. Haelan.\n\nGerda smiled.\n\n\"I am expecting my reinforcements to arrive soon,\" she said. \"Possibly today. When they reach Dun Kellen we will rally, take the battle to Jael from within. He will not be able to stand an attack on two fronts, and the reinforcements should outnumber him. I think he will flee.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Probably,\" Orgull said. \"He does not strike meas one fora brave last stand.\"\n\n\"No, indeed. He'd rather run and save his scrawny neck, the snot-nosed slimy little piece of dung, ' Gerda said with venom.\n\nThe boy looked up, appearing to beholding back laughter.\n\nGerda took a shuddering breath. \"But the Jael I know is unpredictable. He is capable of many things. This is Thoris, my battlechief,\" she said with a wave of her hand. The man nodded to them, his warrior braid woven thick in his fair hair. \"We are discussing eventualities.\"\n\nWhere is she going with this?\n\n\"If the unlikely happens, and Jael is victorious, then I would ask one last thing of you all. I would ask you to protect Haelan, my son, and take him somewhere safe.\" She looked at them pleadingly. \"I do not expect this to happen, and I pray to Elyon that it will not, but it is better to be safe than sorry.\"\n\n\"That's what my mam used to say, ' Tahir whispered to Maquin.\n\n\"I have seen your valour, your strength in combat, seen how you value an oath given. That is why I ask this of you. My other warriors are sworn tome, but also to Dun Kellen, and to avenge Varick. They have too many oaths to serve. You three are different. If you gave your word you would see it happen, or die in the trying. You have served me well, served Isiltir well, and if we survive this, your reward will be great.\"\n\nA silence filled the room. Maquin was shocked. Throughout the battle and days of siege he had thought of little except his revenge. Jael dead by his hand. He had given his word back in Haldis to help Orgull escape, to bring word of Jael's treason hereto Isiltir. He had done that, fulfilled that promise. And nowhere was Gerda asking him to take another oath, to place more shackles upon him. He did not want to do it, wanted only to seek out Jael in the coming battle and see his life's blood spilt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And he had sworn an oath of protection before, to Kastell and his da. A blood-oath. He looked at his palm and traced the old scar, white and faded. Looking up, he saw the young lad staring at him. Ten years old, fair hair streaked with copper, freckles scattered across his nose and cheeks. He even looked like Kastell. That should not be a surprise; they shared blood, distantly.\n\n\"Will you do this for me?\" Gerda said.\n\n\"Yes,\" Maquin heard himself say. You old fool, Maquin.\n\nThe wind pulled at Maquin's hair. He was standing on a flat tower roof looking over Dun Kellen, from where he could see Jael's men– some camped in the keep's courtyard while others moved among the streets. He has gathered quite a warband. Where did he come by these numbers, when so many of Isiltir's warriors died in Forn Forest?\n\nA noise drifted on the wind, coming from the north. Horns. He squinted, looking across the plains, then saw them. A dark stain on the horizon, inching its way closer. Gerda's reinforcements have come. He smiled grimly. Jael's reckoning was close.\n\n\"Are you ready?\" Orgull asked him.\n\n\"Aye.\"\n\n\"And you remember the plan?\"\n\n\"We stick together, find Jael; kill him.\" Maquin grinned at Orgull and Tahir, no humour in the expression.\n\nThey were standing close to the barred gates of the feast-hall with Gerda's warriors, all armed and ready for battle. As soon as the signal was given they planned to burst from the tower and join the banner-men, so that Jael would be fighting on two fronts." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes, that's the plan, \"Orgull said.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Or part of it. If things go bad we head back here, to Haelan, take the boy and flee. '\n\n\"Aye,\" Maquin said. He had taken the oath, said the words, but the weight of them satin his gut now like a lead ball. Why did I do it? He didn't need to ask himself that question. He knew why. For Kastell. For himself– a chance to prove he could fulfil his oath, keep a child alive. A chance to not fail.\n\nA wild clanging rang down from the tower, filling the hall. The gates were heaved open and then they were charging, pouring into the courtyard, blinking in the daylight.\n\nThey slammed into a line of warriors, the combat quickly disintegrating into individual battles. Maquin ducked behind his shield and felt a heavy blow shiver through the wood and up his arm. He chopped low and heard a crack as he broke his enemy's ankle. Another man jabbed a spear at his ribs but he swept it away with his sword, stepped in close and smashed his shield into the man's face, sending him staggering back.\n\nOrgull was up ahead, his axe a blur swirling around his head, tracing an arc of blood. Tahir fought beside him, and Maquin stepped in next to his sword-brothers. Together they carved their way forwards, Jael's warriors giving before them.\n\nSurrounded by Dun Kellen's defenders, they fought through the courtyard, out into a wide street, and then finally the fortress\" gates were visible ahead. There was only the stone arch still standing, the wooden gates twisted and charred.\n\nMaquin could hear the frantic blowing of horns in the distance, the sound of hooves on stone streets, men screaming, the clash of arms. All about them was a swirling mass of combat, the blood and stench of men dying. Maquin blinked sweat from his eyes, a sword hilt punched into his face and he felt a tooth go. He spat it out, along with a mouthful of blood, grinned wildly and ploughed on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gerda's reinforcements were slowly reclaiming the town; Jael's men were breaking, retreating through the streets towards the river. Maquin saw Gerda and her guards pursuing them.\n\n\"Come on,\" Maquin said to Orgull and Tahir, \"or else she'll find Jael before us and have his head. '\n\n\"Think you're right, \"Orgull said, watching Gerda disappearing through the gates.\"Where is Jael most likely to be? '\n\n\"Now? Preparing to run. Maybe their paddocks?\"\n\n\"Worth a look,\" said Orgull. Some sections of the town were almost empty now, other than the many corpses littering the ground, elsewhere the streets were packed with fighting men. Maquin and his companions cut themselves away through; there were not many standing to give the three of them any real resistance. They were Gadrai, sword-brothers who had come through the battle of Haldis, had faced giants, fought the Jehar, survived Forn Forest, and together they were death on wings.\n\nThe paddocks were in chaos; Jael's routed warriors were scrambling into saddles, desperately seeking away of retreat.\"There. \"Maquin pointed as he saw Jael's banner, then Jael himself, the white horsehair plume of his helmet marking him out. \"Quick, he intends to flee,\" Maquin yelled.\n\nThe three of them charged across the plain, Maquin leading the way, slipping on the treacherous ground and chopping or battering anyone in his way with sword and shield. A thin line of defenders was soon scattered by Orgull's terrifying axe. Maquin strode through the paddock, slapping horses\" flanks with the flat of his sword, making his way closer to Jael, who was surrounded by a handful of his shieldmen. Reaching them, Maquin swung his sword overhead, crushing a man's skull before he was even seen, then Jael's shieldmen realized the threat in their midst and were coming at him. It was impossible in the confined space to swing a blade properly, so he drew a knife, pushed in close to his next opponent and stabbed quickly into the man's neck and chest, shoved him out of the way, deflected a weak blow on his shield from another attacker, then moved inside his guard and slit the warrior's belly. And there, finally, he came face to face with his quarry. Jael was mounted, his horse rearing and kicking its hooves at Maquin. Before he got any closer, Jael turned the beast and was riding away. Maquin swore, determined not to let him go this time. He lunged at a man with his foot in a stirrup, dragged him off his horse, climbed into the saddle and kicked his mount into a gallop." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jael was heading south, towards the bridge that crossed the river.\n\nThe warriors of Dun Kellen, under the command of Thoris and Gerda, were moving across the plain, routing out any enemies who had taken shelter in any of the smokehouses and tanners' yards that lined the river.\n\nOrgull and Tahir had found mounts and caught up with Maquin as he reined his horse in at the bottleneck of warriors massed atone side of the bridge. Jael's men had gathered at the far side, had turned and were battling fiercely. Maquin saw Jael amongst them, his white plume snapping in the wind.\n\n\"Need to catch him here, or he'll begone, ' Orgull said.\n\n\"Aye. It's just getting to him that's a problem,\" Maquin replied. The bridge was thick with fighting men.\n\n\"Soonest started, soonest finished, as my mam used to say,\" Tahir said.\n\nThe three of them shared a look and kicked their mounts forwards into the battle on the bridge. They passed Gerda, a handful of shieldmen about her and her sword stained red as she harried the fleeing warriors attempting to regroup with their comrades on the other side. Orgull spurred his horse forwards, swinging his axe in great sweeps to either side. Men screamed, trying to getaway from him. Maquin and Tahir guided their mounts to fill the gaps, stabbing and hacking, and they slowly carved their way across the bridge.\n\nJael's men blocked the end of the bridge, four or five ranks deep. They fought with a desperate ferocity. They know that if they break here they're dead, Maquin thought. Jael was screaming exhortations, his shieldmen gathered close about him. Maquin recognized one of them– Ulfilas– he had fought beside the man against bandits on the journey back from Aquilus' council. Ulfilas saw Maquin and stared at him, squinting. He called to Jael, gesturing towards Maquin. Jael gaped, recognition dawning in his eyes and a look of fear sweeping his face." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Collaborating with the writer, advance the narrative.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, war\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Valour\nChapter: 59" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The giants often talk of long life,\" Ektor said, a rare enthusiasm sparking in his demeanour. \"If the histories and tales are true then all that lived on this earth were immortal once– giants and mankind alike– until Elyon ripped our immortality from us as judgement for the first murder– the giant King Skald, slain by his brother, Dagda. But even then, after that, there are many references to giants especially that have lived extraordinarily long lives. Nemain is written of somewhere here.\" He thumbed through scrolls, a silence stretching.\n\n\"If you remember it well enough, you don't have to find every reference, ' Fidele said, growing impatient.\n\n\"All right then,\" Ektor said, putting the scrolls down. \"In the later scrolls, written– from what I can deduce– just before our kin the Exiles arrived on these shores, Nemain is written of, spoken of as Queen of the Benothi, the giant clan that held sway in the west until we Exiles took it from them, though their remnants still rule in the far north-east.\"\n\n\"What of it?\"\n\n\"Nemain was Queen to Skald, the first King. Measures of time area little unreliable, but by anyone's counting that was over two thousand years ago. '\n\n\"It must be a different Nemain to the one ruling today, then, surely. An honorific?\"\n\n\"The giants don't do that. They would never take another's name; they think they'd be cursed. '\n\n\"But that is just impossible.\"\n\n\"You would think so,\" Ektor said.\n\n\"Well, then surely it is just mistakes in the scrolls,\" Fidele said.\n\n\"Textual inconsistencies are remarkably rare in the giants\" histories; they were quite particular. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He paused, studying Fidele, as if considering whether she was capable of understanding.\n\nOr worthy of hearing, she thought.\n\nHe nodded to himself and resumed talking.\n\n\"But if we are digging through the mysteries of our past, and giving weight to the argument that myths we previously considered to be faery tale, or elaboration at least, could possibly– in fact likely– be true, then we must consider the Seven Treasures.\"\n\n\"Yes. Aquilus mentioned them tome,\" Fidele said, trying to remember the specifics of their conversation. \"Some of them were weapons, yes?\"\n\n\"That is correct,\" Ektor said, beaming like a tutor at a favourite pupil.\n\n\"Aquilus spoke of trying to find them, to use in the God-War. He had set Meical to the task.\"\n\n\"Ah, well, whether that is good or bad we have yet to discover. But the Treasures, yes. Ina way, I think they were all eventually used as weapons, even if that was not the purpose they were fashioned for. They were carved from the starstone, you see; a star that fell to earth, the tales say, through Asroth's design. Each of the Treasures held different properties, or power. One of them, the cup or chalice, if you drank from it you were given unnaturally long life. '\n\nHe looked at her expectantly.\n\n\"So that would explain some giants living far longer than others, such as this Nemain,\" Fidele said.\n\n\"Exactly.\"\n\n\"What else did the Treasures do? What are they capable of?\"\n\n\"Well, there were the axe, spear and dagger, all fashioned after the War of Treasures began– they were obviously weapons, no real powers but they'd never blunt, never break. Also there was a cauldron– to eat from it would cure ill health. The cup would lengthen your life and increase your natural state– make you stronger, faster and soon. There was also a necklace. I cannot remember what that could do, or the torc. I shall have to return to my studies. ' He looked longingly over his shoulders at the rows of scrolls in their compartments." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But not right now, Ektor,\" Fidele said.\n\n\"No, no. I shall do that later.\"\n\n\"Was there anything else that these Treasures could do?\"\n\n\"Well actually their main design, or Asroth's main intention, was said to be that they made the veil between the Otherworld and our world... thin. Asroth desired to breakthrough this veil and become flesh. Obviously it was not as simple as that– I would imagine that it would need willing parties on both sides of the veil, spells, sacrifice, other unpleasant things. That of course is when Elyon stepped in and decided enough was enough. '\n\n\"Yes, I know that tale well enough,\" Fidele said with a wave of her hand.\n\nShe drew in along, thoughtful breath. So much to learn, so much to understand. But somehow, deep in her bones, she knew this was important. She felt excited by this, and a little scared as well.\n\n\"You area treasure yourself, Ektor; there is much value in what is inside your head.\"\n\nEktor blinked at her. \"Thank you,\" he said, blushing.\n\n\"Now, shall we talk about Meical, and what you think relates to him.\"\n\n\"Yes, of course,\" Ektor said. He went back to his bundle of scrolls, now strewn across the table. He picked one up, examined an inscription and then put it down, moving onto the next one. Fidele noticed the tip of his tongue protruding from his mouth.\n\n\"Here it is,\" he said at last. \"When I first read it I paid it little mind, as it seemed a philosophical work, and my interests lean towards the histories. Also it is quite maudlin– the giants were– I imagine still are– a melancholy bunch, but who can blame them, I suppose, after the tragedies they have survived: death, humiliation, defeat, near-extinction, loss of lands, more death...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Ektor, you're rambling now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As much as I would love to stay here for the next moon, I am queen and have other tasks that I must see to. Please, back to Meical. '\n\n\"Yes. Sorry. There were some phrases in this scroll that sparked a memory, particularly when my father questioned Nathair about this Meical. So.\" He spread the scroll on the table, finger tracing a line as he read. \"Here it begins: We make war, we bleed, we gain, we build, but for what purpose? If Halvor spoke true then it is meaningless. It is all meaningless.\" He looked up at her. \"You see what I mean: melancholy.\"\n\nShe nodded trying to stay patient.\n\n\"Halvor says the end-days are coming– but what will they end? An era, a life, all life? When the white wyrms spread from their nest, and the Treasures stir from their rest, he says, but the wyrms are sleeping, dust covered, perhaps dead, and the Treasures are scattered, spread.\"\n\n\"Those words in the middle of that– wyrms\" nests and the Treasures at rest– they are familiar tome. Meical spoke them, read them, at Aquilus'council.\"\n\n\"Did he? Good, then we can be almost certain that this is referring directly to Halvor's writing, then. There is more here, though, I am sure– scattered amongst the melancholia. '\n\n\"And what of the Firstborn? Where are they now? In the end-days they shall tread this earth, Halvor says, the Faithful and the Fallen, strange-eyed men clothed in flesh and bone, one Ben-Elim, the other dread Kadoshim. One Lightbearer's servant, Black Heart, Spider that spins the web, high king's counsel, one guide of the Hundred, Outcast, messenger of dread.\" He looked at her thoughtfully. \"And what to make of that,\" he mused." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It just sounds confusing tome, like one of the riddles my father used to ponder over. The Lightbearer part sounds good, though,\" Fidele said, her brow furrowing.\n\n\"A riddle: yes, that is exactly what it is. A two-thousand-year-old riddle. Messenger of dread. Black Heart. Outcast. Spider that spins the web. Are any of these terms that you are familiar with?\"\n\n\"Only Black Heart– that is mentioned elsewhere in the prophecy,\" Fidele said.\n\n\"High king's counsel, \"Ektor mused.\"Aquilus was high king, and Meical his counsellor... '\n\nHe was. Uneasiness gripped Fidele, another thought splintering in her mind. And Nathair is high king now, with a counsellor of his own. She felt abruptly anxious, a seed of fear expanding rapidly until she felt short of breath. \"I must go,\" she mumbled as she rose unsteadily, feeling the weight of stone all about her, suffocating her. \"Solve these riddles for me,\" she gasped, grasping a hand to her chest, and rushed for the door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin walked along the giants'road, its stone slabs cutting a line through green fields. He was near the rear of their company, which had been swollen by the addition of Rath's warriors.\n\nHard men they were, of that he had no doubt. There was something about them that reminded him of Braith and his old company of woodsmen living off the land and their wits. But, unlike his previous band of outlaws, there was an honour in what these men did, putting their lives on the line to keep the roads safe and free from the giant spawn. Almost a ten-night they'd spent in each other's company, since the battle with the giants and wolven in the mountains. Their pace had been steady, but not fast, as most of Edana's company were on foot. Still, they were safe now, had been fora ten-night, or a measure of safety at least, as much as could be expected anywhere in these Banished Lands.\n\nHe looked up; the sky was blue, the sun warm on his face, clinging to the end of summer. It was a good day, in more ways than one, so why did he have this sensation creeping over him, a hollow uneasiness taking shape in the depths of his gut?\n\nPerhaps it's vanity, he thought, knowing that he felt a growing sense of disappointment since they had crossed the border into Domhain, a sense of being no longer needed. He had guided this company, led them from danger to safety. And that had felt good, he could not deny it. You are of no use to them anymore. They are no different from the rest you've dipped your head to– Braith, Casalu– all out for their own gain, using you until you've nothing left to give. Just watch, you'll be forgotten about soon enough." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He felt himself frowning. Sometimes he really didn't like the voice in his head.\n\nDath was walking beside him now, using his yew bow as a walking stick. Camlin noticed that the youth was watching him, following his gaze to the warriors on horseback in front of them.\n\n\"That one there's Baird, you know, \"Dath said to him, nodding at the back of the one-eyed warrior. After Rath he was the most famous, or infamous, of this bunch, and even Camlin had heard many tales told about the man whilst sitting around campfires in the Darkwood. The most common one told of how Baird's hold had been raided by giants, back when he had been a lord of Domhain. His wife, bairns and shieldmen had been put to the sword, and he'd been left for dead, his hold burning around him. He had been found the next day, close to death, and taken in by a neighbour. Slowly Baird had been nursed back to health– the tales told– and as soon as he was able, he had borrowed a horse and ridden into the mist that hungover Benoth, land of the giants. No one had expected to see him again.\n\nA ten-night later Baird had ridden out of the mist, back into Domhain. Half a dozen giant heads were tied to his saddle pommel, and he had anew scar on his face, the one that had taken his eye. Apparently he had never spoken of what had happened in the mist.\n\n\"I know,\" Camlin said. \"I've heard the stories too. \"He smiled at Dath's awestruck face, and felt a pang of jealousy at the same time. He'd become used to seeing that look in Dath's eyes when the lad was looking at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Don't bean idiot.\n\nBaird was trying to calm his horse, which kept shying from Storm. Camlin felt a swell of protective anger. Storm had been the subject of more than a few suspicious glances over the last handful of days. Not that he could begrudge these warriors their glances. He was part of a strange bunch, warriors, wolven, a dethroned queen and two talking birds. Craf had flown off early, but the other one still had its wing bandaged, and was sitting on Edana's saddle pommel croaking quietly to Edana. After a few days of silence it had warmed to the girl, and now seemed to be inconstant conversation with her. The other thing that drew the attention of their new companions was Gar. At first he had gone unnoticed, other than his unusual sword drawing a few glances. That had all changed the next morning when he had put Corban through his forms. He'd drawn a crowd then, sure enough. Gar was a mystery, his technique and skill with the blade earning him an instant respect amongst this band of warriors. They have not heard the half of it, though. All that he said about the God-War, and Corban. Camlin had not known what to think at that revelation and had chosen not to dwell on it. Something like that, if it was the truth, well, there'd be no keeping it hidden. If Gar was a madman– and really that was the only other option– let him keep his hallucinations and fantasies. As long as it meant that he and Camlin fought on the same side, all was well and good. Corban had earned himself not a little respect after his training, as well; Camlin had even caught Coralen watching him with something like admiration in her eye. Not that she hadn't had her own fair share of attention from others in Camlin's company, Dath and Farrell especially. Each in turn had tried to impress her in his own clumsy way, though Farrell had been most persistent. He'd eventually come away with his ears glowing, though. The girl's tongue was as sharp as the knife she'd used to cut that giant's throat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin sniffed, catching the smell of decay seeping from the packages Corban and his friends were carrying– the skins they had carved from the dead wolven in the glade. Corban had been determined to take them, though he had been vague about the reasons. Brina rode a horse close by. She sat slumped in the saddle, like a sail with no wind in it. The life had seemed to have gone out of her with the death of old Heb. I liked the old codger, shame he's gone. The death of someone close always did things to a person– grief, regret, anger, all left their mark. A lesson he'd learned all too well back in his youth, when he'd watched his mam and brother butchered by raiders. With an effort he pushed the memories away.\n\nHe heard a sound behind, faint, blending with the sigh of the wind in the grass. He turned and looked back along the giants' road, seeing a dark smudge in the distance. Dath hovered with him. It was a horse and wain, gradually gaining on them; something walked alongside it– a hound?\n\n\"Dath, run ahead and let them know we've got company. '\n\nDath sprinted along the column, returning soon with Marrock and Rath behind him. They studied the wain, which was clearer now, seemingly driven by a solitary man. It was close to highsun when the wain caught up with them and Rath called a halt, some of the riders taking their horses down a steep embankment to a stream.\n\nThe wain's driver slowed, a wiry man with sharp eyes who was obviously wary of such a body of grim-looking warriors filling the road. His wain was piled high, a patchwork of skins tied over whatever was underneath. Not that long ago it would have been a tempting sight to Camlin and the type of men he used to mix with." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin looked closer and realized he recognized this man– a trader who had passed through the Darkwood more than once. He was one of those that had come to an arrangement with Braith and paid atoll rather than be robbed and left for dead.\n\nOne of the practical ones.\n\nThe man saw something on the road that made him yank on his reins: the wolven, Camlin realized. His hound was crouching low, hackles raised. Then Corban was approaching the wain.\n\n\"Ventos, is that you?\"\n\nThe trader frowned, then jumped from his seat, smiling. He snapped a command at his hound and met Corban in the road. They clasped wrists and spoke to each other like old friends, any tension that there had been draining from the air.\n\nCorban introduced the man to them as Ventos, a trader whom he knew. Camlin kept his head down; for some reason he did not want the man to see him.\n\nHe probably won't recognize me, but just in case...\n\nCamlin did not even quite understand why that would bother him, but it did. Maybe I want no association with my past. I am a different man, now.\n\nThey shared some bread with the trader, his hound lying beneath the wain, watching Storm suspiciously through the spokes of a wheel. Soon after, the man was back in his bench seat and urging his sturdy, thick-boned horse on.\n\n\"Remember,\" Rath called out to him. \"Not a word of us to anyone. If we get to Dun Taras and anyone seems forewarned, I'll know who to come looking for. '\n\n\"No chance of that,\" Ventos called back, and soon he was blurring into the horizon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shortly afterwards a band of riders appeared on the road ahead, coming towards them; Rath approached them and exchanged some words with them. They were only a handful, four or five, and wearing cloaks of the same woollen checks as Rath and his comrades. Camlin kept one eye on them as he sipped from his water skin, his other hand resting on the pouch where he kept his bowstrings safe from the damp. I am a mistrustful soul, he thought, then shrugged to himself. Old habits die hard, and besides, it's better to be mistrustful and live a little longer, in my book.\n\nRath returned to them and spoke to Edana. \"We are close to Dun Taras now; they were Eremon's men from the fortress. I've sent them on their way, though. I still have some influence here– amongst the warriors, at least.\"\n\n\"My thanks,\" said Halion.\n\n\"I trust your judgement, Rath. Whatever you think best,\" Edana said.\n\nCamlin had heard this situation discussed already. Rath suggested that if surprise could be engineered it would be best. That way they would stand a good chance that their first meeting with Eremon would be free of Roisin, his young wife. She had been mentioned around the campfire after their first night of travelling with Rath. Apparently she was growing in influence and ambition in Domhain, Eremon becoming more content to listen to her counsel. \"It's not the best time to have returned to us, Halion. You're dais fading and she is on the rise,\" Rath had said.\n\n\"I had little choice in the matter,\" Halion had replied. \"And it is Edana's safety that I'm thinking of, not my own.\"\n\n\"She'll be safe enough; don't worry about that,\" Rath had said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And so will you be, brother, or I'll have Roisin's scalp fora trophy,\" Coralen had snapped. Camlin had smiled at that. Fiery little thing.\n\nIt had not been so much of a worry to Camlin when they had been sitting around a campfire, a ten-night away from this Roisin. Now, though, Camlin felt a creeping anxiety take root in him.\n\nAs they rode on, Edana dropped back, Marrock and Halion walking beside her.\n\n\"I wanted to talk to you,\" she said, looking seriously at Camlin.\n\n\"What about, my lady?\" Camlin said. Those words still don't fit well on my tongue.\n\n\"You have served me well, during our journey here.\"\n\nHe looked up at her, not really knowing what to say. \"The way I've seen it, the task has been t'stay alive,\"\n\n\"Yes, it has. But you would have had an easier time of that if you'd just walked away. '\n\nHe blinked at her. Have I been talking in my sleep? Thinking out loud?\n\n\"But you did not. You stayed and guided me, advised me, fought for me. Risked your life, time and again, when you need not have done so. Can I ask you: why?\"\n\nHe was caught by surprise, stunned. Same question I've been asking myself since we landed in Cambren.\"I don't know,\" he mumbled.\n\nMarrock snorted laughter. \"You see, he is more honest than you maybe prepared for.\"\n\n\"Honest? I'm a thief from the Darkwood– not been called honest since, well, never. '\n\nMarrock laughed again, Edana and Halion joining in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I suppose I'm still here, with you all, because I want to be,\" he said, only realizing at that moment that it was the truth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked about, at Dath and Corban and the others. \"I like being here– not here as in Domhain, but here.\" He waved a hand and flushed. \"With you all.\"\n\nEdana smiled at him then, warm and genuine. \"That is what I thought,\" she said. Her expression changed, became serious. \"And I want you to know this, Camlin. I may not have a kingdom, or wealth, but I am a queen, and I mean to win back what is rightfully mine. If-\"\n\n\"When,\" Marrock interrupted.\n\n\"When I do that,\" Edana continued, \"I will not forget those who have helped me and, more than that, been loyal tome, through the dark times, when death looked like the only road, when winning a kingdom was the furthest thing from my thoughts.\" She smiled again. \"If I ever sit a throne again, you shall have no need to return to thieving in the Darkwood, I promise you.\"\n\nHe shrugged. \"We'll cross that bridge of thorns when we get to it, eh? '\n\n\"Indeed. But for now, we have moved from one danger, but only to slide into another one, I fear, one more sly and devious. An ambitious woman. We must keep our wits about us. Our eyes and ears open. And where we are going you maybe more practised at doing that unnoticed. I would ask you to learn what you can of this Roisin and her followers when we reach Dun Taras. It may well save our lives.\"\n\n\"I will do all that I can, my lady.\"\n\nShe reached down and squeezed his shoulder. \"I do not doubt that.\"\n\nRath called out from the front of their column. \"Dun Taras. Dun Taras is insight.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Edana kicked her heels against her horse and rode to the front. Halion followed as quickly as he could on foot, Marrock lingering.\n\nCamlin looked at the warrior's arm, where a bandage covered the stump of his wrist.\n\n\"How is it?\" Camlin asked him.\n\nMarrock raised his left arm, gazing at the stump.\n\n\"It itches,\" he said. \"Or at least, it feels like my fingers itch. And they're not there. '\n\n\"I've heard similar said before. Comrade of mine lost an ear, but was always trying to scratch it. '\n\n\"I'll live, \"Marrock said,\"though it's hard getting used to the idea I'll never draw a bow again. \"He shrugged.\"I'm alive, so I'll not complain. \"He looked hard at Camlin then.\"I'm grateful to you, Camlin, for all that you've done. Edana's right: we'd not be here if not for you. '\n\nCamlin walked along in silence as they crested arise in the road, the grey walls of Dun Taras appearing in the distance. He did not pay too much mind to it; he was too busy smiling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin pulled on his oar. He had lost track of time, had no idea how many nights had passed since Dun Kellen had fallen and he had been herded onto this ship. A ten-night? Twenty? It had merged into one long, hellish slog, each day the same: kicked awake at dawn, sitting and pulling on the oar, hour after hour, all marked by the constant beating of a rower's drum, the only marker of time that seeped into his awareness. He'd thought he was fit and strong, with a warrior's stamina that could last all day on the battlefield, and recently he had done just that, but nothing had prepared him for this. The muscles in his back and shoulders, neck and arms burned, felt as if they were ripping, tearing apart with each stroke of the oar. And his hands– they were bandaged now, the palms crusted with oozing blood and pus where they had blistered and burst and blistered again. His wrists were the same, the skin and flesh worn by the ill-fitting chains that bound him to the other rowers on his bench. Each day would end with the coming of night, a bowl of something closer to vomit than food, and then sleep– instant, exhausted, dreamless sleep.\n\nHe had picked up the technique of rowing well enough– he'd pulled an oar a few times with the Gadrai, along the dark tree-shrouded waters of the Rhenus. He'd done better than others, anyway. Some of them were dead now, unable to master the technique, whipped until their backs were a shredded mess; some the fever took, others just collapsed with exhaustion. Regardless, they all went the same way, tipped unceremoniously over the side and fed to the river.\n\nOrgull was still alive, a few benches in front of him. He was not in good shape, though. The warrior with the ruined nose made a point of visiting Orgull each day, giving him a taste of a whip or cudgel. Onetime he clubbed Orgull unconscious, then had him dragged down the centre isle and doused with a few buckets of water, then clubbed some more. Orgull took the torture in silence, his only response being to stare at his tormentor, which seemed to incite the man to greater acts of violence. Maquin was surprised even Orgull could survive the beatings he was taking, and manage the torture of rowing every waking hour." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Part of him just wanted to lay down his oar, to tell these pirates to go to hell, and smile as they sent him across the bridge of swords; part of him would welcome that. But there was a stubbornness in him that refused to quit, that refused to admit the battle was over. And one thought above all others kept him going. Jael. Each day he remembered the smile on Jael's face as Maquin had been dragged onto the ship, remembered the man's mocking laughter drifting after him. He fantasized about killing Jael, quickly, slowly, painfully, every conceivable way, and those thoughts stoked the fire in him, kept him pulling, league after league after league.\n\nA shadow fell across him and looking up he saw Lykos, his captor and the leader of these corsairs staring down at him, arms folded across his chest. His face was unreadable, a sharp intellect dancing in his eyes. The pirate captain regarded him along while.\n\n\"You still live, then,\" Lykos said. Maquin was unsure whether it was a statement or a question.\n\n\"Clearly,\" Maquin said, focusing on his rowing.\n\n\"I mean inhere,\" Lykos said, tapping Maquin's chest.\"The death wish is on you, I can see it plainly, but there is more to you than that– something deeper. A will to live. '\n\nMaquin said nothing.\n\n\"Most of your comrades with the death wish, they've gone over the side, food for fish by now. Yet you're still here.\"\n\nMaquin shrugged.\n\n\"I'm glad of that, my friend. '\n\n\"I'm not your friend, \"Maquin said, unable to keep the passion from his voice.\"And why do you care? '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, you are right: you are not my friend." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You are my property,\" Lykos said, grinning, his teeth white and straight. \"And I would not say that I care. But I am interested. You maybe useful tome.\"\n\n\"Isn't pulling an oar for you use enough? ' Maquin asked.\n\n\"I've something more entertaining in mind. '\n\n\"What?\"\n\nLykos grinned again, clapping Maquin on the shoulder. \"We'll talk again, when we're home. If you're still alive. '\n\nAs the days merged, Maquin began to judge the passage of time by the changing of the landscape around them. The rolling hills of Dun Kellen were far behind now, the horizon opening up into a flat vista, trees disappearing, replaced by tall, thick banks of reed and dense walls of scrub, punctuated by spindly sycamore and willow. Every evening was defined by great clouds of mosquitoes, and every morning Maquin would wake with a multitude of itching bites.\n\nOne morning their fleet landed against the silt-edged riverbank and they were all herded onto the spongy ground. A level of shock seeped through Maquin's exhaustion and confusion as the corsairs began dragging their ships onto land, using thick, tar-crusted ropes. The ships came onto land surprisingly easily– they were sleek and shallow-draughted– and once out of the water the corsairs fetched the long timbers that they used as masts or kept as spares against storm damage. Maquin watched with growing understanding as the masts were placed under the prows of the boats and they were dragged further onto land, then the second mast put in place, and the third, the first one fetched from the rear and carried around to the front, beginning the process allover again. It was quite a sight, thirty ships being pulled across the land, all in a row." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then orders were yelled and the whips started snapping, and he and his fellow captives were set to work, some put on the ropes to drag the boats across the land, others to do the running with the makeshift rollers. More than one man on that task ended up crushed under a ship's keel. They crossed countless leagues of fenland, the ground flat and treacherous. After a day of this, Maquin was praying to return to rowing; a whole different set of muscles was feeling close to failure. Also his feet were quickly soaked through, and by the second evening felt as if they had swollen to twice their normal size.\n\nOn the third day they reached another body of water, only a little wider than a stream. They followed its course and within half a day it had widened into a river. Soon after, the fleet of ships was dragged back into water, Maquin collapsing fora few instants'rest. Something bumped into him and he turned, looking up into Orgull's bruised and swollen face.\n\n\"Be strong, brother,\" Orgull whispered as he brushed past, being herded back onto their ship. Maquin did not have the strength or wits to respond, then Orgull was gone, trudging up a wide plank.\n\nIt took awhile to get everyone back on the ships, into their places at the benches. Maquin used the brief moments of rest to empty his boots of water, then the oar drum was beating again and Maquin was back to the rhythm of pull, lift, stretch, dip, pull, over and over.\n\nThey rowed through leagues of swamp and fen, the smell of rotting vegetation mingling with the odours of the ship– of tar and timber, but mostly sweating men. Slowly the landscape around them changed, the river broadening as they reached the edges of marshland. The land became greener and soon Maquin saw trees again. A day after that and they were entering woodland, trees growing thick and dense upon the riverbanks, branches almost blotting out the sky, reminiscent of Forn, though not so ancient, not so daunting. A ten-night later the river curled out of the forest; a wooden fortress sat on a hill to the north. People watched them pass, warriors ranked upon the fortress walls arrayed in black and gold. They passed under a stone bridge that would have smashed their masts to splinters if they had been raised. Soon, the river widened into an estuary and Maquin heard the call of gulls. Now the masts were raised, great sails of cloth bound with strips of leather were unfurled and billowed as the ships met the swell of the sea. The beat of the drum increased and Maquin's ship felt as if it was cutting a line through the waves, almost flying." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That first night on the ocean Lykos and his corsairs set afire burning in a cauldron, with metal rods resting in the flames." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos soon approached Maquin, who was still chained to the oar and bench. Lykos was holding a rod of iron, a swirling design at its tip glowing white hot. With one hand and a knee, Lykos pinned Maquin down and pressed the rod into Maquin's back, just behind his shoulder. There was a sizzling sound and the sudden smell of burning flesh. Maquin stifled a scream, struggling as pain lanced through him, but he was weak to the point of collapse, and Lykos had an iron strength in his frame.\n\n\"Never doubt that you are mine, old wolf,\" Lykos whispered as he branded Maquin, the blood trickling hot and wet down his back. \"I have marked you now, as my slave. You belong tome. This mark is part of you now, as am I, until death.\"\n\n\"Your death,\" Maquin snarled, jerking violently as Lykos released the pressure from his back.\n\n\"That's the spirit, ' Lykos laughed and cuffed him across the head.\n\nThe next day Maquin was shivering, his body burning. He was still led to his station at the oar, forced to row. The fever took him, giving him wild hallucinations. Gerda's head on a spike, twisting to look at him, berating him for failing her son. Kastell, his body pale, bloodless, sitting on the chair in the burial chamber beneath Haldis. You failed me, Kastell said to him, and Maquin wept, even as he rowed. He vomited, rowed through it, the stink of it turning his stomach, causing him to vomit once more, but he did not stop rowing. He knew if he faltered, if he stopped, he would be heaved over the ship's rail. Some days he felt close to embracing that end, felt he had not the strength to pull one more stroke, but something kept him pulling. Jael. The thought of him was a burning coal in his gut, a cleansing pain, a beacon in an otherwise dark, fog-shrouded world. Rage kept him alive through those days, when others all about him surrendered to exhaustion and hopelessness and died. It was a cold white rage, burning, holding the emptiness of submission at bay, forcing a strength into his muscle and sinew that had otherwise long since departed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Slowly the climate changed. Maquin knew that they must be moving towards autumn, but somehow it did not get colder; the opposite– it felt warmer, the sun brighter, the sea bluer. Some days he would see dolphins swimming parallel to the ship, racing it, sea spray sparkling like gems as they arced out of the water.\n\nAlways ahead of him he saw the broad back of Orgull, the benches thinning around him as men died, but Orgull was always there.\n\nTime passed and the heat of Maquin's anger began to dim, the flame fading; the thought of Jael seemed to lose its power, and a day came when Maquin could not even conjure up the man's face in his mind. Despair closed in upon him; the knowledge that this was the sum of his existence, to pull an oar for the rest of his life, drained him of will and purpose. The only counter to this was that, slowly, a little each day, he felt his strength returning to him, anew power in his back and arms and grip, a physicality that he thought had deserted him. He welcomed it through the long days, nurtured it, prayed that he would have an opportunity to use it, even if only against Lykos, or anyone of his captors. A last burst of defiance before the end came.\n\nThe next day, before highsun, Maquin spied a shape on the horizon– first a dark line, rapidly solidifying, growing quickly larger. Land. Rocky coves soon loomed close, waves smashing against high cliffs. The fleet followed the coastline until it reached a bay. Horn blasts echoed on the cliffs that surrounded it. Maquin's ship moored up to along quay that stretched out into the water, the other ships in the fleet dropping anchor in deeper waters. It was not long before Maquin and the others were herded from the ship, shuffling down the gangplank and onto a beach of white sand. Maquin and Orgull sat together, no words to say to each other, or no strength to say them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In time, Lykos' shieldman with the mangled nose, Deinon, approached and, unshackling Maquin, dragged him to Lykos." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sea shimmered turquoise behind the corsair.\n\nNow is my chance, thought Maquin. His eyes flickered to Deinon, a thick-muscled man, each striated cord defined and shifting under his skin as he moved.\n\n\"Don't do it, \"Lykos said, a hardness in his voice.\"It will be the last thing you do. '\n\nMaquin's fingers twitched but he resisted the urge. Small chance if I took them by surprise, none with them ready.\n\n\"I wanted to talk to you.\"\n\nMaquin stared sullenly at the corsair.\n\n\"You are the only survivor from Dun Kellen I took for myself who has survived the voyage. True, I did not claim many– I am a generous man and shared your sword-brothers amongst my crew. But still, for you to survive the journey only to be cut down now would be a shame.\"\n\nThey stared at each other awhile, Lykos crossing his arms, fingers twisting the silver ring about his bicep.\n\n\"I am leaving, almost immediately, and you will be staying here,\" Lykos said.\n\n\"Where is here?\"\n\n\"Panos, one of the Three Islands. My home.\"\n\n\"And where are you going?\"\n\n\"Away. That is not your concern. But what I want to tell you is that I do not want to find you dead when I return. The death wish wars within you, I can see it still. It has not consumed you yet, but hopelessness feeds it. You feel you have nothing left, nothing to live for, yes?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"You are mistaken. Deinon here was in your position once. He earned his freedom.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Really?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin looked Deinon up and down. \"Then why is he still here?\"\n\n\"I offered him a place as my shieldman. He chose to stay. Others have not– some leave, some stay and work my crew, some are now captains of their own ships.\"\n\n\"How?\"\n\n\"By fighting for me.\"\n\n\"I'll not be a corsair for you– robbing, burning, murdering. '\n\n\"Corsair is too good for you.\" Lykos snorted. \"I am not asking anything of you,\" he continued. \"I am not bargaining or negotiating. I am telling you the facts. One day soon you shall be thrown into a pit. Others will be thrown in also. Only one will come out alive.\" He shrugged. \"You will be that man, or you will not. It is up to you.\"\n\n\"Pit-fighting,\" Maquin said, twisting his lips as if the phrase tasted sour. \"I'll not be your slave warrior, spilling others'blood to earn you gold.\"\n\n\"That is up to you,\" Lykos said. He turned to walkaway, then paused and looked back over his shoulder. \"But I saw how you looked at Jael. A rare hatred you have there. I am giving you a chance– admittedly a very small one, but nevertheless it is a chance– to walkaway from here, to find Jael and take your vengeance.\"\n\nHe walked away then, called back as he left.\n\n\"All you have to do is fight– and win.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen was riding in a sprawling column. Behind her Rhin's warband stretched all the way to the sea, the slate-grey waters merging with the horizon. The ships they had arrived on were just amass of small dots bobbing upon the white-flecked waves. A little way ahead of her Nathair rode atop his lumbering draig, its head low to the ground, tail swaying from side to side. Beyond him Rhin's warriors marched northward into undulating foothills.\n\nCywen leaned forward in her saddle and ran her hand down Shield's shoulder, her fingers searching out the smooth circle of scar tissue. It was all that was left of the horse's arrow wound. From his movement you would never know he had been injured at all.\n\nThose Jehar are gifted– cursed but gifted, she thought, looking about instinctively to catch a glance of them. Amazing riders. She had been shocked to see that so many of them were women, and remembered them on the night Dun Carreg had fallen, how she had thrown knife after knife at them, seen the way they fought. She remembered their leader, Sumur, asking her questions about Gar. Why is he so interested in Gar?\n\nSurrounding Nathair was a circle of the Jehar, all mounted, a substantial space between them and the draig. She had seen Nathair feeding it earlier, but it seemed very fond of horse, so the Jehar were wise to keep their distance.\n\nThe rest of the Jehar, and there were many of them, thousands, Cywen had noted, were riding out on the wings of this disordered column, appearing fleetingly between rolling hills and stretches of woodland. No one was likely to ambush Rhin's warband in Cambren, her own realm, but the Jehar, apparently, were not inclined to leave such things to chance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sound of hooves grew behind her, out of time with the rest of them– faster. It was Veradis, the giant with the black axe striding easily next to him. Veradis pulled up beside her and glanced at her wrists. They bore red marks where she had been bound, though the ropes were cut now.\n\n\"Bos, is she behaving?\" he asked the warrior who rode close to Cywen, her guard since the night she had tried to kill Morcant. He was a big man, bald though young and not as dim as she had first thought.\n\n\"So far,\" Bos said. \"Biding her time, maybe.\" He said it with the flicker of a smile.\n\n\"Can you be trusted to not cause any trouble?\" Veradis asked her.\n\n\"There's a sea between me and Morcant now, ' she said, scowling. She had hated seeing him standing on the beach at Dun Carreg– her home– as she had sailed away. Just another thing to put on the long list of wrong in her recent past.\n\n\"I know. But now that he's not here for you to obsess over, I am thinking you might turn your attentions onto someone else. '\n\n\"Starting to regret cutting my bonds?\"\n\n\"A little. Should I?\"\n\n\"I hate you all,\" she said with conviction, \"but there's no one here I'd pick out above the rest to try and kill.\"\n\nThe giant chuckled at that, a rumbling sound, like stones rattling down a hill.\n\n\"Except perhaps Rhin,\" she added. Or Nathair. He played apart in opening Stonegate to Owain.\n\n\"What about that lad, Rafe? I've seen the way you look at him. I think you might be tempted to try sticking a knife in him. I can't have that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Is it that obvious? \"It's fair to say I don't like him, but he's not worth being tied all the way to wherever we are going. Domhain, I am guessing. '\n\n\"You guess right. I think perhaps I should bind your wrists again.\"\n\n\"Please, no,\" Cywen said with feeling.\n\nVeradis looked at her long and hard. \"I'm going to trust you, against my better judgement, and leave you unbound. For now. '\n\n\"My thanks. I will not cause anymore trouble. Besides, if that friend of yours– Calidus?\"\n\n\"Aye.\"\n\n\"If he was right, then I am moving closer to my family– to Corban at least.\" She chewed her lip. \"How could Calidus tell that Corban was across the water, in Cambren, just by touching Ban's old smith's apron?\" If you don't ask, you don't get.\n\n\"I don't know, \"Veradis said uncomfortably.\"He is... gifted. '\n\nThe giant snorted. Veradis looked at him.\n\n\"That was nothing compared to what he can do,\" the giant said. \"If Calidus had a lock of hair, he could do much more.\"\n\n\"Like what?\" Veradis said.\n\nThe giant shook his head. \"Better that you do not know,\" he muttered.\n\n\"It's all right, \"Veradis warned with a smile.\"Best not let Calidus close with a knife, then, lest he take a lock of your hair. '\n\n\"He already has some of mine,\" the giant said. Something crossed his face, sadness, anger? He slowed down and dropped behind Cywen and Veradis.\n\n\"What does he mean by that?\" Cywen asked. Veradis didn't answer; he was looking over at the giant, a troubled expression on his face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Slowly the warband crept through the densely green and fertile countryside of Cambren. The landscape was beautiful: sweeping hills of meadows filled with wildflowers, sparkling streams and dark, still lakes. Much of the land was covered in swathes of dense woodland, the leaves turning to red and gold as the days passed.\n\nCywen's guards were always close by, mainly Bos, although Veradis also spent much of his time riding alongside her. So there was never any opportunity for her to attempt an escape. Her two guards were far more vigilant than Conall had ever been. It was frustrating. When their duties took them elsewhere– such as each morning when Veradis would spar and drill his warband before the day's marching began– Cywen would be bound hand and foot and left to watch them going about their training. She had seen Veradis spar against Conall, back in Dun Carreg, but he seemed different now: faster, more aggressive. She doubted that he would draw against Conall if they faced each other again.\n\nPart of her resentfully enjoyed the journey. It was a joy to be upon Shield's back. She could feel the power of him; he was quick to follow any command and he was apart of Corban, somehow, as Buddai was apart of her da. One night she was sitting in front of a crackling fire with Bos and a handful of eagle-guards, a thousand similar tiny beacons in the darkness clustered all around. Buddai was curled at her feet, gnawing on a bone that Bos had thrown him, when Veradis appeared out of the darkness and sat with them. Bos passed him a skin of mead.\n\n\"What news?\" Bos asked.\n\n\"A band of Rhin's warriors joined us today, \"Veradis said,\"come from the north. They brought a strange tale. It's probably not worth the telling– just superstitious faery tales.\" He paused and drank from the skin of mead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just tell us,\" Bos said. \"We'll hear it anyway, soon enough. '\n\n\"True enough,\" Veradis said. \"All right then, they said they had chased a small group across these very hills, thought they were spies of Owain. Said they ran with wolven, that they were attacked at night with tooth and claw.\"\n\nThere was a silence then, a twig popping in the fire making Cywen jump.\n\n\"Wolven don't run with men, ' someone said.\n\n\"Changelings,\" another whispered.\n\n\"What happened?\" Cywen said, feeling a shiver of excitement, of kindled hope.\n\n\"They caught up with them in the mountains that border Domhain,\" Veradis said, waving his hand into the darkness. \"They said they'd cornered them, were leading a final attack, and then they were set upon. By more wolven; a pack of them. '\n\n\"How many of Rhin's men were tracking these people? ' Bos asked.\n\n\"Fifty of Rhin's warriors, or thereabouts. Only three have returned. '\n\n\"What about the ones they were chasing? How many of them survived?\" Cywen asked, trying to sound only mildly interested.\n\n\"From the sound of it no one was counting– they were too busy running.\" Veradis shrugged. \"I don't believe the half of it, \"he continued,\"we all know how tales grow in the telling. Perhaps there's a stone of truth at the heart of it. When we reach the mountains we'll have a look at the place where this is supposed to have happened. See what we see. '\n\n\"It's nothing to worry about, anyway, \"Bos said.\"Not for us. We've faced worse than wolven. Draig-slayers and giant-killers, we are.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That we are,\" Veradis said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His hand dropped to the hilt of his sword and absently stroked it. \"I'll drink to that. '\n\nCheers and laughter rang out, all of them lifting skins of mead.\n\nCywen had stopped listening, only one thought swirling around her mind. Storm, she thought. It must have been Storm and Corban.\n\nRain dripped off Cywen's nose. It had been raining since she woke, a soft, gentle drizzle that slowly seeped into everything, and now it was highsun, though it was hard to judge from the faint glow leaking through the low clouds. She was soaked through. A mist shrouded the land, reducing visibility to a score of paces all around. Veradis and the giant were on one side of her, Bos the other. She was not really paying them any attention, or the rain for that matter. She was consumed by a bubbling excitement mixed with worry, last night's conversation still fresh in her mind. Storm, Corban, Mam, Gar, somewhere out there, and– best of all– these people, her enemy, were taking her to them. But were they still alive?\n\n\"Why is your King so interested in Ban?\" she asked suddenly.\n\n\"Eh?\" said Veradis, looking at her sharply.\n\n\"Ban– Corban, my brother. Why is he the subject of a king's attention? '\n\n\"I am not going to discuss Nathair's thoughts with you, \"Veradis said.\"He is the High King of the Banished Lands. '\n\n\"So?\" Cywen said. \"He's not my King, high or otherwise, and Ban's my brother. What does he want with him?\"\n\n\"Tell me about your brother,\" Veradis said, and she noticed the giant walk a little closer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ban? What's thereto tell? He can work in the forge– our da was a blacksmith; he asks more questions than there are answers. He's annoying. He could beat even you with a sword, given half the chance.\"\n\nBos laughed at that. So everyone's listening now.\n\n\"He can make a poultice and cure an illness, he is loyal to the point of stupidity, his friends love him, I love him...\" She felt sudden hot tears blur her vision. I've never told Ban that. Why am I telling Veradis? She looked at the warrior beside her and felt a sudden swell of suspicion– Is he trying to trick me? To give something away about Ban? – but he was looking at her so openly, no deceit or cunning written upon his face. He is not so old himself, and first-sword to a king. Such responsibility for one so young. She felt her misgiving melt and sighed.\"He's just Ban. My brother.\"\n\nVeradis nodded thoughtfully.\n\nAmounted figure suddenly appeared– Calidus. He spoke quietly to Veradis and the giant, then turned and rode away, back into the mist.\n\nVeradis and Bos followed after him, Bos snapping a short command back to Cywen to keep up with them.\n\n\"What's going on? ' Cywen asked.\n\nHe ignored her and rode after Veradis and the giant, a group of warriors peeling from the warband to join him. Cywen touched her heels to Shield and cantered after them.\n\nCalidus stood beside Nathair on his draig with a handful of the Jehar surrounding them, and Rhin, accompanied by Conall, watching close by. They were all looking in the same direction. Then Cywen saw something out in the mist as three big figures appeared, wrapped in fur and leather. Giants. She saw some of the eagle-guard reach for their weapons." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hold,\" Nathair snapped, raising a hand.\n\nThe giants came nearer, approaching Rhin and Nathair. Their leader held along spear, whilst one of the two behind had an axe slung across his back. With shock Cywen realized that the third one was female, although really the only difference was that she did not have along, drooping moustache like the other two. Cywen glanced between these newcomers and the giant with Veradis, saw that he regarded these arrivals with narrow eyes, ridges furrowing his broad forehead.\n\nThen Rhin spoke.\n\n\"Greetings, Uthas of the Benothi; you and your kin are welcome here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tukul the Jehar blinked as he looked up. Light was breaking through the canopy above, more than he had seen in many moons.\n\nThey were almost out of Forn.\n\nMeical's arrival at Drassil and its resulting lurch into action had lit a spark in his slumbering heart: tension, excitement growing, the promise of resolution to a lifetime of waiting.\n\nIt felt strange, but he had grown fond of Drassil, and even of Forn Forest, and the thought of leaving, of moving into a world of open spaces and a sky that went on forever felt almost uncomfortable. He laughed at himself– this from a man who had been raised in an oasis in the desert.\n\nHe put the thoughts aside and marched on, following the tall frame of Meical, while inwardly complaining at the stiffness in his knees. The damp. I hate the damp here. All else I can cope with, but the damp...\n\nBehind him wound the long line of his sword-brothers and sisters, walking their holy pilgrimage in the name of All-Father Elyon. His, theirs, was a life of worship, devoted to the absent god. Soon it would become a pilgrimage drenched in blood, of that he had no doubt. The culmination of generations of devotion, of discipline.\n\nI hope you are taking note of this, All-Father. Surely you watch, even if you no longer intervene. All I have done, my whole life, has been in the hope that you watch. That you would notice me.\n\nThey had left Drassil two days after Meical's arrival and had made much quicker going of it than Meical's journey into Forn. The central task at Drassil had been preparing the old fortress for what was to come: repairing it, making it defensible. During their explorations of the stronghold throughout the years tunnels had been discovered, initially bored by the roots of the giant tree, then extended by the giants. They ran for leagues upon leagues beneath the tangle of Forn, and they had made good use of one such tunnel to bring them close to the forest's edge. He looked up to the heavens again, blinded for an instant by the glow seeping through the branches high above." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The trees about them now were spread widely, great-trunked monsters that stretched their roots wide, drinking deep of the earth. Soon they came to a space where trees had been felled, the round bases of the trunks white and leaking sap. Tukul ran his fingers over one– they came away sticky.\n\nPeople. Tree-fellers, loggers. We are moving into another world indeed.\n\nThey moved through afield of stumps, came upon a wide river, roughly trimmed trunks stacked along the riverbank, the odd pier that struck out into the river's black waters, but no sign of people. Yet.\n\nMeical paused and waited for him.\n\n\"We are nearly there,\" he said. \"We are moving into Gramm's land now. You remember him? '\n\n\"I do,\" Tukul said. On their journey into Forn– fourteen, fifteen years ago? – Meical had led them to a hold built close to the outskirts of the forest. It had belonged to a man, Gramm. He had had a wife and two sons, youthful but old enough for some labour, and was full of boldness and dreams, his plan back then to trade timber along the river and to breed horses. By the looks of things he had made good on the timber trading, at least, and carved a life for himself out here, on the edge of the wild.\n\n\"He'd better have looked after my horses, ' Tukul said.\n\n\"You'll see soon enough, ' Meical said.\n\nThey marched on, and in short time Tukul heard the sound of hooves on turf. Instinctively, his hand reached for the hilt of his sword, and without looking he knew his sword-kin were doing the same, all threescore and ten of them. The Hundred, they were called, though they did not number that now. But a hundred had ridden out from Telassar all those long years ago, straight-backed and zealous." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Riders appeared, at least a dozen of them, dressed for war in mail shirts, with helmets and long-hafted spears couched at their saddles, most with axes strapped to their backs.\n\nAxes– awkward, clumsy weapons.\n\nThe riders saw Tukul and his companions and cantered towards them, one of their number peeling away and heading back the way they had come.\n\n\"They are shieldmen of Gramm's, \"Meical said,\"scouting his lands. '\n\n\"They look like more than scouts tome,\" Tukul said.\n\n\"Their land is bordered by Forn Forest to the east, and the Desolation to the north. Nowhere is safe in these Banished Lands, but here least of all.\" Nevertheless Meical frowned as the riders approached, his own hand straying to the hilt of his sword.\n\nAs they approached, the riders gripped their spears, bringing them lower. Not committed to the charge yet, but prepared for it. Tukul felt a detached respect flicker to life. Their horses were bred for war, tall, big-boned yet with a rare grace to them, long, thick manes streaming, some plaited with leather.\n\nThe first rider raised his spear, and reined in his mount before Meical. He took his helmet off and hung it from his saddle, his men lining up behind him.\n\n\"Well met, Meical. Father said to look for you.\"\n\nMeical stepped forward and gripped the rider's wrist.\"And you have found me, Wulf. Well met. '\n\n\"And your companions– they have the look of those who were with you, all those years ago.\"\n\n\"You have a good memory, Wulf– you were only a bairn.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Eleven summers– and I'll never forget the day I saw you all. The horses! '\n\n\"Are you riding my horses?\" Tukul asked, stepping forward.\n\n\"Not yours exactly,\" Wulf said, turning his gaze upon Tukul. \"But bred from them. My father says he had your permission.\"\n\n\"Aye, that's true, \"Tukul said, moving towards him, holding his handout for Wulf's mount to smell, murmuring softly as he ran fingers down the animal's muscled chest.\"Your father has done well. '\n\n\"You are not the only one who thinks so. Our horses are sought by many, both north and south,\" Wulf said, sitting straighter.\n\n\"Come,\" Meical said. \"I'll be happier talking horse trade with a cup in my hand and my backside in a comfortable seat. We've walked along way.\"\n\n\"Of course,\" Wulf said. \"We shall escort you home.\"\n\nWith that they set off, the riders spreading around them, a protective hand.\n\nMy sword-kin need no protection, Tukul thought, but he liked the gesture. It was good manners.\n\n\"You are always ready for danger, hereon the edge of the northlands,\" Meical said as they walked. \"But you looked about ready to skewer us back there.\"\n\n\"Aye. You will not have heard the news, I guess, coming from Forn as you have. There is war to the south. In Isiltir. War parties have been raiding from the south, sweeping further and further north– burning out holds. They won't be doing that to us. '\n\n\"War? Between whom?\"\n\nWulf shrugged. \"We hear different things. An internal struggle for the throne. Romar is dead– in Forn, fighting the Hunen. At least, that's the tale we've heard the most. Those he left behind are fighting over his scraps.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Meical glanced at Tukul and they shared a grim look.\n\nSo many years we've waited. Have we waited too long?\n\nGramm's hold was upon the crown of a low-lying hill, a tall timber wall ringing it. They approached from the south-east, walking through a series of fenced paddocks. Tukul saw a herd of horses like the ones these warriors were riding, at least a hundred strong. A thrill coursed through him at the sight and smell of them, and he shared smiles and appreciative nods with his followers. All-Father be praised, maker of such beauty. He wanted to stop, to watch, to ride, but knew it was not the time.\n\nSoon.\n\nThey marched up the hill, Tukul catching a glimpse of barns and buildings clustered along the side of a wide river to the north of the hold's walls. Beyond the river stretched a wasteland, punctuated by a scattered range of mountains receding into the distance. The Desolation: a peninsula of land where the Scourging had raged hottest, so the histories read. The land was all but barren, pitted and scarred and broken from the outpouring of Elyon's wrath. Tukul paused, gazing reverently into the distance.\n\nTo see such a place, where Elyon once touched this earth.\n\nReluctantly he moved on and soon passed through a wide arched gateway into a busy courtyard.\n\nGramm had changed– he was thicker about the waist, with streaks of grey in his fair hair. His face was still open and friendly, though, something that Tukul remembered from their first meeting. Gramm greeted them, hugging Meical and Tukul, then showed them to rooms with fresh-poured steaming bowls of water." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wash away the dust of the road. We shall feast tonight,\" he said, \"and celebrate. An auroch is being slaughtered as we speak.\"\n\nTukul wiped grease from his chin, savouring the hot meat as he chewed. They had not starved while living in Drassil, but the journey through Forn had been long and dark, with little time for hunting and cooking. This roasted auroch tasted like the finest meal he had ever eaten.\n\nAlong hall lay at the centre of Gramm's hold, and tonight it was filled. It seemed that Gramm had done well indeed. His timber trade had made him wealthy, and he was famous for leagues roundabout for the quality of his horses. He had told Tukul that he had bred two lines from the horses Tukul and his warriors had left here fifteen years ago. One he'd kept pure; he said the herd numbered in its hundreds now. The other he had crossed with a hardy breed from the north, big boned and heavily muscled, bred for heavy work and lots of it. The result had been the horses Tukul had seen today, and he had to admit that he was impressed.\n\nGramm had been successful in other ways as well; he had introduced Tukul to more sons, daughters and grandchildren than he could possibly remember. Tukul had felt a stab of jealousy at seeing the joy that family brought this man. He had always dreamed of many sons, of laughter and the sound of running feet in his halls.\n\nIt was not to be. He sighed. He had left his only son in a strange place with a task greater than any other he could conceive. He struggled even to remember his face now. And Daria, his beloved wife, she had crossed the bridge of swords over twelve years gone. Wounded in a clash with a draig in Forn, taken by the fever a ten-night later." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He lifted his cup in a silent toast." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "My Daria. My son.\n\nAll of his Jehar warriors were sitting together, taking up about half of along table that ran down the centre of the hall. Having been so solitary, he could tell they were a little overwhelmed, to be surrounded by so many people, so much noise. While Gramm's family filled a large portion of the hall, he also had a number of other people under his roof– men and their families that worked for him, tree-felling, logging, working the barges that took timber downriver, stablehands, as well as a group of warriors, employed to protect his lands and trade. Usually they were busiest defending against raids from the north, out of the Desolation, but of late they had been busy further south, where rumour of war and raiding parties had increased the boldness of lawless men.\n\nA handful of these warriors were gathered between Tukul's table and the rest of his Jehar. They were throwing axes at straw targets, laughing, either applauding or mocking the various attempts. Tukul was surprised to see how accurate many of them were.\n\n\"They are all handy with an axe,\" Gramm said from beside him, seeing where Tukul's gaze was drawn.\"Though none can out-throw my Wulf. ' He raised a cup and drank, slapping Wulf across the shoulder.\n\n\"Would you like to try?\" Wulf asked.\n\n\"I like an axe well enough, when I need to cut some firewood,\" replied Tukul. He heard a snort of laughter from Meical.\n\n\"An axe has more uses than that,\" said Wulf stiffly. \"Especially here, where we are so close to the Desolation; there are things that come out of it that need some extra persuasion to stay dead. There's a lot more weight in an axe. If you come face to face with a war party of the Jotun you may find your sword isn't so well suited.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I've survived fifteen years in Forn, fought wolven, draigs, other things that don't have names, and I'm still here." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tukul shrugged.\"But I am curious. Let me have a throw of one of these axes then. '\n\nWulf led him down to the gathered men, who parted to let him through.\n\n\"Here, I'll show you once, \"Wulf said.\"All the weight's in the head, so you let that do the work for you.\" He hefted a short-hafted axe that someone passed him, fixed his eyes on the target and threw.\n\nThe axe spun through the air, landed with a thunk a hair's breadth from the target's centre.\n\n\"Here,\" Wulf said, passing another to Tukul.\n\nTukul swung the axe a couple of times, gauging its weight and balance. He took a deep breath, held it, then threw the axe.\n\nInstinctively he knew he had thrown wrong. The axe head slammed into the target a handspan above Wulf's and bounced off, falling to the ground. Raucous laughter burst around him.\n\n\"You seethe advantage of an axe,\" Wulf said loudly. He was grinning. \"If you miss with the blade, you still stand a good chance of braining your enemy.\" More laughter at that. Even Tukul smiled. A quick glance at his Jehar, all sitting silent and grim, told him they were not so amused.\n\n\"Another,\" Tukul said, holding his handout.\n\n\"Fair enough,\" Wulf said. \"You've blackened your enemy's eye already; let's see if you can give him a matching pair. '\n\nTukul repeated his ritual– test the weight, fill the lungs, throw. This time he knew it was a better effort. It spun, hit with a satisfying thunk, the blade sinking into the straw, two fingers from Wulf's. A silence fell upon the group, then loud cheers and applause. Wulf slapped his back and Tukul grinned." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Extend the narrative as the author's co-writer.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, war\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Valour\nChapter: 82" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Conall's dead, \"Halion said, the colour draining from his face.\"He fell. \"He looked to Marrock.\"You said he fell, from Stonegate with Cywen. '\n\n\"They did. I saw it clearly,\" Marrock said.\n\n\"Aye, they did fall; I saw their bruises,\" Rafe said. He looked around at the group, a vicious smile creeping across his face at their stunned expressions. \"Did you not know? Conall and Cywen are alive.\"'\n\nCorban just stared at Rafe. Cywen's alive. The words rang around his head, echoing, growing louder, filling his senses. He felt unsteady and reached out a hand, supporting himself on a tent pole.\n\n\"Cywen's alive. ' His voice, strangely detached.\n\n\"She was, the last I saw her, half a ten-night gone.\"\n\n\"What do you mean? You're lying. Dun Carreg is moons from here. '\n\n\"She's not in Dun Carreg, is she? She's the other side of those mountains, going north with Nathair and Rhin.\"\n\n\"And Conall's with them? ' Halion spoke now, looking much like Corban felt.\n\n\"Why?\" Corban said. \"Why would Cywen be Nathair and Rhin's prisoner? She's of no consequence to them.\"\n\n\"I don't know. ' Rafe shrugged.\n\nCorban grabbed Rafe and spun him round, slammed his back against a tent pole. \"You're lying. '\n\n\"I'm not, \"Rafe said, his smirk gone, fear in his eyes.\"Why would I lie? '\n\n\"As a last spite from you, when you can do nothing else.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I swear, she's alive, and Conall." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ask anyone. '\n\n\"I will,\" Edana said. \"And if you are lying I shall let Corban feed you to Storm.\"\n\nCorban walked through the camp, avoiding the celebrations.\n\nCoralen had questioned a handful of prisoners: a mixture of people, some warriors, others tradesmen, smiths, tanners, a few women. All had given similar information, that a girl, a captive, had travelled from Ardan with Rhin's warband. Each description sounded like Cywen, dark haired, fiery, though none had known her name. It was easier still with Conall– all had known his name, told of how he had bested Morcant.\n\nCorban felt sick. Cywen was alive, and he had left her, runaway. Abandoned her. How must she have felt. Tears stung his eyes. Then he smiled. Cywen's alive.\n\nHe reached their part of the camp, saw some of his friends around the fire– Brina with Craf perched on her knee, Camlin and Ventos sharing a skin. Then he spotted who he was looking for. His mam, sat with Gar. They were talking quietly, smiling. He stood in the shadows and watched them, not wanting to break this moment. Then his mam looked up and saw him. Her smile withered as he stepped out of the darkness and she saw his expression.\n\n\"What's wrong? ' she asked him.\n\n\"It cannot be. Tell me again.\"\n\n\"Mam, I've told you twice already. '\n\n\"My poor Cywen– alone through all of this.\" She started to sob, trying not to. Gar squeezed her shoulder and she turned and pummelled his chest. \"You said you'd go back, that you'd go back and get her!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gar let her. \"But she was dead,\" he said.\n\n\"I'm going to go and find her, \"Corban said.\"Bring her back. '\n\n\"Ban, you can't, ' Gar said.\n\n\"Yes, he can,\" Gwenith said, standing and putting her arm around Corban's shoulder.\"We can. I'm going with him.\"\n\nGar sighed, holding back his objections as he looked from one to the other.\n\n\"I'll go and pack, ' he said.\n\nCorban stepped into Edana's tent. Rafe was gone now; only Marrock, Vonn and Halion remained with Edana.\n\n\"Quite a night,\" Edana said to him with a sorrowful smile.\n\n\"Yes. I have come to ask you something.\"\n\nEdana studied him. \"You mean to go after her.\"\n\n\"I wish to.\" Corban nodded. \"But I have sworn an oath to protect you. I did not take that oath lightly...\"\n\n\"I know you didn't, \"Edana said,\"and you have already fulfilled it a hundred times over. But Cywen is alive, and your heartbreaks for her. I can see it in your eyes. '\n\nShe stepped around the table and took his hand. \"Go. I give you permission.\"\n\n\"But the battle, the war...\"\n\n\"Is almost won,\" Edana said. \"You saw today– did more than see, you played a great part. The spirit of Rhin's warband is broken, nearly half of their warriors dead. Tomorrow we will end this. '\n\n\"You don't mind? '\n\n\"No, I don't mind. I will worry for you, but you must go. Cywen is part of us, is she not? She is like family tome. As are you. Go and get her, Corban. And hurry back. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thank you,\" he said, his voice cracking.\n\n\"I wish I could come with you, that we all could go. I know we were running for our lives, but there was something about our journey, living day today. Here it is just politicking: I have to be so careful of every word I say.\" She sighed. \"Now, let's see what I can do to help you. '\n\nIt was still dark as Corban climbed into a saddle. He should have been tired, exhausted, but an energy coursed through him, giving him strength. His mam and Gar sat on horses beside him, and Coralen just in front.\n\nEdana had taken Corban to Rath, and he had provided horses and provisions, and also Coralen as a guide to lead them north. She had not complained about the task, though she had been quiet, none of her sharp comments forthcoming. She looked thoughtful. Perhaps it is the possibility of seeing Conall.\n\n\"Ready?\" she asked them.\n\n'Corban nodded.\n\n\"Best get on, then.\"\n\nThey set off at a slow walk as the edge of dawn was turning the land a uniform grey.\n\n\"Wait,\" a voice called and Corban turned to see Edana appear, figures behind her. Some led horses. Dath and Farrell, Brina riding at their head. A squawk drifted down from above.\n\n\"You'll only go and get yourself killed without us, \"Brina said.\"Well, without me. '\n\n\"Thought you might need some protecting,\" Farrell said, looking at Coralen. She rolled her eyes.\n\n\"It's not right, \"Dath said to Corban,\"you going off into the wild without us. '\n\n\"I won't say I'm not glad, but what about Edana?\" Corban said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am quite safe here,\" Edana said. \"I have Halion and Marrock, Camlin and Vonn.\"\n\nCamlin stepped over to Corban and offered his arm. Corban gripped it.\n\n\"Look after yourself,\" Camlin said. \"I would come, but I cannot leave Edana. I'll look forward to seeing Cywen, though, when you bring her back. Always knew how to get herself into a scrape, that girl. '\n\n\"She does.\" Corban grinned.\n\n\"And you,\" Camlin said, pointing to Dath. \"Keep your bowstrings dry and your head down. I'll see you after. '\n\nDath nodded, looking as if he wanted to say something, but just swallowed instead.\n\n\"Any more?\" Coralen asked. \"Shall we invite Rath's warband, see who volunteers? '\n\n\"I like her,\" Brina whispered to Corban.\n\n\"No? Good then.\" Coralen kicked her mount on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis stared out of the shield wall.\n\n\"Are you ready?\" he said to Bos and the other men pressed close about him.\n\n\"Aye,\" Bos said.\n\n\"Then let's get on with it. \"He lifted a hand and a horn rang out from the rear. His shield wall began to march along the road, the rhythmic thumping of a thousand men's boots. Behind them followed Geraint's warband, or what was left of it, sprawled across the road and down the embankments either side, spilling into the green meadows about them, like the wings of a great bird.\n\nThe sun rose higher and figures materialized ahead, still along way off, a great horde filling the giants'road and the meadows flanking it. Thousands, iron glinting in the rising sun, grim-faced men, confident with yesterday's victory fresh upon them.\n\nVeradis had watched the battle the day before with growing horror as Geraint's warband was slowly beaten into submission through the long day of bloodshed. So many lives, so many brave men slaughtered.\n\nThe survivors had limped back along the giants'road and into the shadow of the hills. The healers\" tents had been full, the cries of dying men filling the night. Veradis had gone in search of Geraint and found him having a bandage wrapped around his arm. He was covered in blood and looked close to exhaustion. He looked away when he saw Veradis.\n\n\"You fought with honour today,\" Veradis said. \"But you were outnumbered.\" It was a lie, but Geraint was a prideful man.\n\n\"Numbers had nothing to do with it,\" Geraint muttered.\n\n\"No. You lost today because your enemy had sown seeds of fear in the hearts of your men, and they used that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tomorrow's another day, ' Geraint said.\n\n\"It is, but it will end the same, if not worse, if you plan just to march out again, as you did today.\"\n\n\"What else can I do? I cannot retreat– Rhin would have my stones on a platter. And they are in no hurry to attack us– I have to take the battle to them.\"\n\n\"Let me lead the van. My shield wall, it will win the day for you.\"\n\n\"You have fewer than a thousand men– they have nearly ten thousand.\"\n\n\"I know. If you protect my flanks, stop them from getting behind us, then we will cut the heart from Domhain's warband and give you a victory. '\n\nVeradis was close enough to seethe faces of his enemy now. Wariness, suspicion as they watched the shield wall march closer. He raised an arm, a horn blew, and the wall pulled to a halt, with rows of warriors from the back of his shield wall moving quickly down the embankments to either side of the road, reforming quickly. Now three shieldwalls stood arrayed before the warband of Domhain, each forty men wide, seven rows deep. Shields came together with a concussive crack. Geraint's men hovered at their rear.\n\nA warrior stepped out of the milling front ranks of Domhain's warband. He banged his sword on his shield, others copying, the sound rippling through the warband, growing in volume. Then with a wide-mouthed scream he charged, his comrades following close behind him.\n\n\"Ready now,\" Veradis said to those around him. He drew his short sword, looking out through a gap in the shields. Three hundred paces away. Two hundred paces. One hundred paces now, warriors screaming, weapons raised. He widened his stance, lowered his shoulder, bracing for the impact. Then it came, a bone-numbing crash into his shield, shivering through his body, a myriad of successive blows as body after body piled into a claustrophobic crush on the far side of his shield." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The shield wall weathered the impact; the weight upon it grew and Veradis grunted with the strain. The noise was deafening, all along the shield wall, and further off as well, a distant roar as Geraint's warband entered the battle. Then the stabbing began. He plunged his sword through the small gap between shields, felt it punching through leather into flesh, felt blood wash over his hand. He stabbed again and again, the same happening all along the line. Battle-cries turned to screams. Fingers grabbed at the rim of his shield and he chopped at them. Swords and spears slid beneath his shield, stabbed at his legs. They were turned by the strips of iron on his boots. Hands clutched underneath and he severed them with his short sword, or stamped on them. Blows rained on his shield, the wood creaking, but he just kept on stabbing. Bodies began to pile along the line.\n\nThe weight on Veradis'shield lessened. It is coming. He kept stabbing, sweat stinging his eyes. He heard Bos grunt in pain but could not look. Two hands grabbed the top of his shield and yanked it down, almost tearing it from his grip. A red-haired warrior stared at him, fumbling with a longsword in the crush of men. Veradis stabbed out, his short sword biting into flesh just below the man's jawline. He staggered backwards, blood jetting from the wound, bubbling crimson from his mouth; the press of warriors behind him kept him upright until the strength went from his legs and he sagged slowly to the ground. Veradis brought his shield backup.\n\nHe yelled over his shoulder, heard the cry ripple back through the rows behind him, then horn blasts rang out. He took a step forwards, the whole front row moving with him, shoving forwards. Another horn blast, another step. He slipped in a pool of blood, stumbled over a body, but the men behind and beside him kept him upright. Then more death-dealing, his sword snaking out. Another horn blast, another step, the weight on their shields lessening each time, then they were moving forwards steadily, no pause between steps, just a steady, grinding momentum as they carved their way through Domhain's warriors." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Occasionally he would feel a ripple pass through the shield wall as a man was pulled out of formation and killed, his position being taken by the man behind. Veradis' arm grew numb, his grip slipping, and he called out another order, the message moving back until horn blasts sounded. A space opened behind him; every other man in the front row stepped back, replaced smoothly by the man behind. Veradis moved back through the shield wall until he took his position in the last row, still lending his weight to the march, but having a chance to rest his burning lungs and aching muscles. Soon the horn sounded again and the other half of the original front row filtered back through the ranks, others moving forwards. Veradis saw Bos fall in beside him. His head was bleeding, his iron cap missing.\n\n\"I'm too tall for this shield wall, ' Bos muttered, wiping blood from his eyes.\n\n\"Maybe you need a bigger shield,\" Veradis said, taking a swig from his skin of water, then passing it to his friend.\n\nThe sun was warm, the only way of reckoning the time. Halfway to highsun. The roar of battle sounded. Through the shields Veradis caught glimpses of warriors locked in combat, blood on the grass, faces snarling, cursing, bodies still, twisted unnaturally. Thuds and blows crashed against their flank, but never in a concerted attack. Geraint is keeping them off us.\n\nSlowly they moved forwards, as the sun rose and then fell, until Veradis found himself back in the front row again. He hefted his shield and gritted his teeth, began stabbing into the constant press of men beyond the wall of wood andiron.\n\nIs Corban out there, or has he been slain already, one of the anonymous many who have been killed and trampled like so much meat on the butcher's table? The thought didn't bring him joy. He wanted to see this Corban again, to talk to him, workout for himself if he was really who Calidus claimed he was. How could the Black Sun be a mere boy? It just didn't make sense." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And he wanted to see Cywen again. He found that he missed her, missed her voice, her smile, her sharp words.\n\nA thud on his shield dragged him from his thoughts. A crack had appeared, the wood beginning to splinter. He pressed his shoulder tighter to it, stabbed high and low.\n\nThen the weight pressing against him was diminishing. He heard horns blowing wildly, heard shouting, running. He risked a glance through the gaps in the wall and saw that the line had broken and the warriors of Domhain were in full retreat, here and there Geraint's men pressing after them, though he no longer had the numbers to finish the retreating men decisively. Already Veradis saw him pulling his warriors back, not allowing them to become too stretched over the land.\n\nGood decision.\n\nNearby a low hill reared up, tattered tents and abandoned wains all that was left of the enemy's camp. In the distance Veradis saw riders on the giants\" road rallying the fleeing warriors, pulling them into a semblance of order. Veradis watched them fora while, wondering if they would regroup and return to the battle, but they dwindled into the distance.\n\n\"The day is won, then,\" Bos said as he came to stand beside Veradis.\n\n\"It looks that way.\"\n\n\"What now.\"\n\n\"A good meal. Then onto Dun Taras.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin stood and stretched. Twelve days of rowing had set his back and shoulders to aching. Not like before, though. The training that he had been put through during his stay on the island of Panos had had some benefits, at least.\n\nHe looked up at the slopes of Nerin. They were anchored in a sheltered bay, with a beach angling up into rocky slopes. On the skyline ruins reflected the glow of the sinking sun.\n\n\"Get a move on,\" Emad barked, cracking his whip.\n\nThey all filed off the ship. At the crest of the hill a town appeared, similar to the one on Panos: houses built of baked clay bricks and reed roofs, hordes of children and skinny dogs rushing to greet them.\n\n\"These Vin Thalun have too much time on their hands,\" Javed said beside him, \"if they have all this time to be making children.\"\n\nMaquin laughed. He had grown to like the little man, who came from Tarbesh, a land far to the east that Maquin had vaguely heard of. A place of sun and desert, mostly like these islands, although even here winter was making itself known. Maquin tried not to get too friendly, though. He had lost too many who were close to him, and he never forgot what it was that they were being trained to become. Killers. He was a warrior already, no stranger to death, to combat, but this was different. Then he had fought fora cause, or so it seemed. Now the only cause was life over death.\n\nNo, there is more than that. There is freedom, and then Jael.\n\nBut nevertheless, if he were to fight for that cause, the possibility that he would see Jael again and attempt his vengeance, then he had to embrace the fact that he would have to kill in the pit, and soon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I've taken that ship already. Better just get used to it. And that was why he kept his distance from Javed, from any attempts at friendship that came his way. He did not know who would be thrown into the pit with him. Who he would be forced to slay or be slain by.\n\nThey were herded through bustling streets, an abundance of smells doing battle as they passed through a great market, a variety of meats cooking on spits– including big lizards– as well as mountains of figs and dates, mushrooms and onions, olives and melons, oranges and peppers.\n\nPeople stopped and stared as they passed by, some even daring to prod shoulders and chests, testing muscle.\n\nWondering who will survive the pits, who to bet on? We are an investment to them, as well as an entertainment.\n\nThey left the market and streets behind and walked out onto a wide plain with a slope rising higher in front of them, a great mountain in the distance, its top jagged like a broken tooth. Night fell and still they walked, eventually seeing torches ahead. Maquin caught a glimpse of a cavernous opening in the ground, then they were being led down, through open gates and into tunnels– giant-craft again, tall and wide. Eventually they were ushered into a circular room with alcoves dug into the rock all the way round, cots with straw mattresses in them. Along table stood in the middle of the room with food and jugs laid out, a good meal, though nothing as lavish as on the night of the first pit-fight.\n\nTheir guards unchained them and locked them in.\n\nBefore much food could be consumed the barred gates opened and Herak strode in, a handful of guards behind him, big Emad one of them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You'll fight on the morrow, ' Herak said. Maquin and the rest of them gathered in a half-circle before him.\n\n\"Not like before. You'll be in a big pit, big as the chamber on Panos that had all the other pits in it. You'll fight the recruits of Nerin, this island, and of Pelset, the third island east of here. The men you'll be up against, they'll have come through their first pit-fight, just like you, and been trained on their island, just like you have by me. All of you, against all of them. The fight won't stop until only one side remains. That means one of you might survive, or fifty, or none. ' He shrugged.\n\n\"How will we know who's who? ' Javed asked.\n\n\"By these.\" Herak held up a big iron ring. You'll all have one around your necks. The men of Nerin, around a wrist, the men of Pelset, around their ankle. Lineup.\"\n\nMaquin rolled his shoulders after the ring was clamped shut; a thickset smith twisted the iron pin that bound it. It felt like his warrior torc, which had been taken from him by Lykos after the battle of Dun Kellen.\n\nHerak was standing beside the smith. \"That'll be cut from you on the morrow, from your dead body or your living one. \"He slapped Maquin's shoulder. \"I think you'll be one of the living. Lykos told me about you, old wolf. '\n\nMaquin didn't say anything. He went and sat on a cot, sipping a cup of water, watching. Herak spoke with every man, relaxed, friendly even, like a comrade-in-arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I hate him. He builds them up, grooms them, us, for his own purposes.\n\nWhen they were all done, fifty-six men bound with iron, Herak stood before them again.\n\n\"There is food here for you. If you survive the morrow, it means you have become a champion of Panos, and that you have defeated Nerin and Pelset. That will make me very happy.\" He grinned at them. \"I hope I will be rewarding you. Enjoy your meal.\" He walked from the room and looked back as the iron gates were locked. \"It maybe your last.\"\n\nIt was dark when Maquin woke, but then he realized he was underground and most of the torches had burned out in the night. He lay there, listening to other men sleeping, snoring. Eventually he sat up; there was enough light from beyond the barred gates to pick his way to the table and pour himself a cup of water.\n\nSoft footfalls sounded behind him and Orgull loomed close. Maquin passed him a cup. The moons of rowing and training had taken their toll on him, too, his body lean and striated, his face looking stretched, his bald head skull-like.\n\n\"We could work together, today,\" Orgull said quietly, little more than a breath. \"We are still sword-brothers.\"\n\nMaquin wasn't sure if Orgull was making a statement or asking a question. He nodded, though. Working together made sense, was practical, and that was what his life had been distilled down to. The practicalities of staying alive.\n\n\"Good, then,\" Orgull said and slipped back into the shadows.\n\nThe roar of the crowd was deafening.\n\nThey were standing behind an iron-barred gate, looking out into a great ring, rough stonewalls rising two or three times the height of a man, then tiered rows spreading above them, climbing higher. The tiers were full of people, shouting, laughing, drinking, betting. Sunlight poured in from above, making Maquin blink, though in truth it was weak, holding little warmth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Herak appeared, flanked by Emad and another guard, holding a great iron key.\n\n\"There will be weapons in there– be quick, get them first. Kill or be killed.\" He put the key in the lock, then waited.\n\nA hush fell in the great pit, heartbeats marking time. Then a gong rang out, booming off the stonewalls. Herak turned the key, the gate swung open, and the men rushed through.\n\nMaquin was carried along in the crush of it, spilling out onto the hard-packed earth.\n\nHe stepped to the side, moving out of the momentum, saw doors opening across the ring, men pouring from them like water through sluice-gates. Littered on the ground were piles of weapons– knives, butcher's cleavers, hatchets, small bucklers, other wicked pieces of iron that Maquin did not recognize. Before he had a chance to think about it, he was running for the nearest pile, elbowing someone in the face, rolling and grabbing.\n\nHe came to his feet with a thick-bladed knife in his hand, end tapered to a sharp point. A man was lunging at him, a ring of iron about one wrist, swinging something sharp at his face. He ducked, stepped in close, punched the man in the gut, his knife sinking deep, three, four times, then shoved the man away, saw him slump to the floor, clutching at the wounds in his belly, his entrails glistening like slimy rope between his fingers.\n\nIt was chaos, everywhere men grappling, stabbing, yelling, screaming. The stink of blood and death was already overwhelming, worse than his memories of Dun Kellen. He looked for Orgull but could not see him. Two men rolled before him, gouging and stabbing. One rose from the embrace, one remained motionless on the ground. Maquin was close, could just step forward and finish the man rising." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kill or be killed.\n\nBut he hovered, knife half-raised. I don't want to do this.\n\nThen the opportunity was gone, the man up and ready, a cleaver in his hands, his eyes flickering to Maquin's knife. He sidestepped, then moved in, one hand grabbing for Maquin's wrist, the cleaver rising in his other, swinging at Maquin's head.\n\nMaquin stabbed at the hand grabbing for him, felt the knife bite, then grate on iron, a ring about the man's wrist. He kicked out, connected with a knee, throwing his attacker's balance off, the cleaver whistling past his ear. He stepped in, tried to stab low, but his enemy twisted, Maquin's knife scoring a graze along his back instead. They grappled, the cleaver ricocheting off the iron ring about Maquin's neck, leaving a gash on his jawline. Maquin managed to grab the man's wrist, stepped in close and headbutted him, sank his knife into his chest as he staggered back. The cleaver dropped to the ground and Maquin picked it up.\n\nKill or be killed. He felt a berserker rage bubbling up inside– rage at what he was being made to do, rage at what he was becoming. Suddenly he was back in the catacombs beneath Haldis, watching Jael stab Kastell. Tears blurred his eyes. He shook his head angrily. Jael's face hovered in his mind, smiling, mocking. He looked about again, at the death all around.\n\nThere is only one way out. Fight for me. Lykos' words. With a snarl, he hefted his two weapons and stepped into the battle.\n\nHe moved through the throng, staying light on his feet, cutting hamstrings, muscle, maiming, killing, always moving, imagining it was Jael that he cut, stabbed, killed. He kept searching, looking for Orgull. Somehow it was important that he find him, fight with him. He had said he would; could he not even fulfil that promise?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then he saw him, a hatchet in Orgull's hand dripping red as he faced two men with iron around their ankles. Orgull was cut, bleeding from thigh and shoulder. Maquin moved forwards, threading through the combat as quickly as he could, deflecting a knife here, a punch, a kick there. Two men stumbled into him, arms flailing. One lashed outwith a knife, scoring a red gash across Maquin's chest. He chopped and stabbed as he spun away from them.\n\nBy the time he had reached Orgull one of his attackers was on his knees, clinging to Orgull's leg as blood pulsed from a wound in his back. The other was dancing around to Orgull's left, where his arm was cut, blood soaked. Orgull staggered and the man tensed, ready to strike, then Maquin was burying his knife low into the man's back, the cleaver thumping into his shoulder. He collapsed.\n\nMaquin shared a look with Orgull and then he slipped to Orgull's left, covering his back, became the big man's shield, as they were used to doing. They stood and traded blows with anyone who fell within their range, then slowly pushed through the madness, men stumbling to get out of their way. Orgull picked up a buckler and slipped it onto his arm, Maquin fighting with knife and cleaver.\n\nA knot of bodies went down before them, men stabbing and wrestling. Maquin grabbed one and yanked him back, out of the way of a swinging blade. The man twisted in Maquin's grip, then relaxed. It was Javed, one half of his face matted with blood, his eye swollen shut. He fell in beside them and they slipped into a loose half-circle.\n\nMaquin's chest burned where he had been slashed; sweat ran into his wounds, stinging like a thousand bites. His knee throbbed where he had rolled badly, muscles in his back spasming, a hundred other pains crying out for attention. The pumping of his blood seemed to drown it all out, dulling it. He was consumed with intoxication, everything broken down to moments, the angle of a strike, the flexing of muscle and tendon, speed, body and mind working together. And he still lived. He grinned and looked about the great pit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The ground was littered with the dead or dying, crawling, twitching. Knots still fought, here and there, mostly in ones and twos.\n\nOrgull banged his hatchet on his buckler, started yelling.\n\n\"Iron throats, iron throats, to us. Iron throats.\"\n\nMaquin looked at him. Strength in numbers. He took up the cry, Javed following.\n\nThere were not many left. One iron collar was cut down as he stared at the three men, but others broke away from their combats, joining Orgull and Maquin and Javed. Almost instantly there were eight of them grouped together. Then twelve. The men left with iron about wrist or ankle looked on wildly, then set to attacking each other. None would risk assaulting twelve men.\n\n\"What now?\" one of the iron collars said.\n\n\"Wait for them to come to us,\" another said.\n\nKill or be killed.\n\nMaquin gave a yell and ran at the last few men scattered around them. Orgull hesitated briefly, then followed, as Maquin knew he would. The others were close behind Orgull. Together they killed every other surviving man left in the pit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban looked back along the range of hills. It was late in the day, and they had travelled leagues already, but he could still seethe battleground in the distance, a dark shadow on the green plains. Birds circled the air above it in a dark swarm.\n\nI hope that Edana and the others are safe.\n\n\"Come on,\" Coralen called from the front of their small column. \"Keep up.\"\n\n\"Keep up, keep up,\" Craf squawked from Brina's saddle. He had been much more vocal since being separated from Fech.\n\nCorban kicked his horse on. Guilt gnawed at him for leaving Edana and his friends, but a fierce joy filled him every time he thought of Cywen. He had felt so overwhelmed by the losses of friends, the death of his da and him supposedly being a god's avatar that at times he'd felt like a small twig tossed and turned by great waves. Now for the first time he felt that he was actually doing something. Taking control. He did not care for the politics of the west, who ruled where. For him the last year had been all about their survival. Survival of his loved ones– his family and friends. And Cywen was part of that. At least, she will be.\n\nStorm appeared out of the darkness, stepping into the firelight of their camp. She was carrying a young buck between her jaws. She dropped her kill at Corban's feet and he rested a hand on it, accepting her gift. He and the others then set to skinning and cooking it.\n\n\"She's quite useful, ' Coralen said, using her knife to strip the last piece of meat from a bone.\n\n\"Changed your mind about turning her into a cloak, then?\" Dath said cheerfully." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Corban put a hand protectively on Storm's shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She was spread beside him, cracking bones for marrow.\n\n\"All the while she brings me dinner,\" Coralen said. \"Besides, I have a wolven cloak already.\" She patted the saddlebag she was sitting upon.\n\nCorban had kept his wolven pelt too, as well as the gauntlet and claws. He looked at Coralen, their small fire highlighting the lines of her hair and face. You must find this hard, leaving Rath and your people behind. But can I trust you?\n\n\"Are you leading us in the hope of seeing Conall?\" he asked her.\n\n\"Conall?\" She regarded him for what seemed along while. \"He's my brother. When I heard he was dead, it was like a punch in the belly. And now I know he's alive, somewhere on the other side of those mountains. But what's happened between him and Halion... \"She shook her head.\"They were always so close. You need that, growing up the way we did. Someone to rely on. To turn to. ' She looked up and Corban saw tears glistening in her eyes. He was surprised at the number of words coming out of her mouth. Usually she just gave out sharp-edged dour remarks.\n\nHer eyes focused on Corban. \"Why are you asking me this?\"\n\nThen her eyes narrowed suspiciously.\n\n\"Oh I see it: you don't trust me. Think I might betray you to your enemies for the sake of Conall. Well, feel free to find another guide, and I'll ride back to Rath and my people.\" She almost spat the last words, then stood up and walked away, slung her saddlebag down beyond the reach of firelight.\n\n\"Very tactful,\" Brina whispered to him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I trust you,\" Farrell called out after her.\n\n\"Shut up, oaf,\" Coralen's voice drifted back.\n\nThe next day dawned cold, with frost stiffening the grass. They broke their fast with cold meat and watered-down ale, then set off again. Coralen was silent the entire time; Corban decided it was prudent to do the same.\n\nAwhile after highsun Coralen stopped. They were winding their way through the foothills that skirted the mountains, and were high up a slope. Domhain was spread to the west like a great tapestry.\n\n\"What is it?\" Gar asked Coralen.\n\n\"I think someone is following us,\" she said, staring back into the distance.\n\nThey all stared.\n\n\"I see it,\" said Dath. He'd always had sharp eyes.\n\n\"You're looking in the wrong direction, \"Coralen said.\"Over there. '\n\n\"Oh,\" said Dath. \"But I thought I saw...\"\n\n\"What?\" Coralen said, following his stare. Corban looked too, but could only see rolling hills and patches of woodland.\n\n\"Nothing,\" Dath said, abashed.\n\nCoralen pointed.\n\n\"Ah. Yes.\" Dath stared hard. \"I can see something.\"\n\n\"How many?\" Gar asked.\n\n\"Hard to tell. Only one, that I can see. Could be more.\" He squinted. \"Maybe two.\"\n\n\"I'll send Craf, ' Brina said, and the bird flapped into the air.\n\nThey carried on fora good while, keeping to the trail that Coralen had been leading them on.\n\nShadows were lengthening, darkness sinking into the hills like deep pools amongst rocks, when Craf returned. The bird was squawking, an edge of terror to the sound. He swooped out of the grey sky, hurtling straight for Brina. \"Help help help help,\" Craf croaked as he all but crashed into Brina, trying to flap his way into the inner recesses of her cloak. \"Eat me,\" Craf screeched, his head poking out of Brina's cloak, looking up at the sky." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They all looked up. Fora fleeting moment Corban thought he saw a dark smudge, then it was gone. \"What about those following us?\" Coralen asked Craf.\n\n\"Man, hound, follow,\" Craf said.\n\n\"Thank you,\" Coralen said.\n\n\"Welcome,\" Craf muttered.\n\nCorban blinked. He'd never heard Craf be polite before.\n\n\"We'd best get off the trail and see who it is that's behind us,\" Coralen said.\n\nCorban took his place on a shelf of rock above the path; Storm and his mam crouched nearby. Dath was on the other side of the trail, on a ridge amongst trees and scrub, his bow strung. The rest of them were spread either side, hidden behind rock or tree. It felt like along time before Corban heard the sound of hooves.\n\nEventually a figure appeared in the gloom, emerging from the shadows. A man on horseback, a tall hound padding beside him. Then Corban recognized him and leaped forward, yelling, \"Don't shoot him, ' to Dath.\n\nThe man reined in, his hound growling. He aimed a clipped command at the hound. \"Hello, Corban,\" he said.\n\n\"Ventos.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fidele stood on the battlements of Jerolin. It was cold, snow from the mountains carpeting much of the slopes and plains to the north. The lake glistened beneath a pale sun. Looking east, she saw at last the sight she had been waiting for. Riders, eagle-guard cantering past the stockaded walls of the lake town and onto the road that wound up to Jerolin. As they drew closer she saw that they circled another figure.\n\nLykos. She felt a flare of anger, saw in her mind the faces of those she had rescued from his fighting pit, as well as a pile of the dead.\n\nHer eyes drifted to the lake, settling again on the ships that had arrived yesterday, half a dozen at least, rowing out of a river into the lake's waters. Vin Thalun ships.\n\nLykos is not stupid enough to attack me, surely. To attack Jerolin. A good portion of Tenebral's warriors maybe on the other side of the Banished Lands, but there are still enough hereto defend Jerolin. He must know that. Still, she wondered why a few hundred of his warriors were now anchored only half a league away.\n\nShe turned and strode down a stairwell, Orcus behind her, and made her way to her chambers in Jerolin's black tower.\n\nDoes Lykos bring news of Nathair? She felt a weightlessness in her belly at that thought. My brave son. Elyon above, let him be well and safe, if safe is still possible in this dark world. And what of the war– the God-War? I have arrested the only man that may actually have knowledge of developments in the Banished Lands.\n\nIn silence Fidele climbed the spiral stair of Jerolin's tower, where two eagle-guard stood outside the doors of her chamber. Once inside, Orcus poured her a cup of wine and assumed his position behind her chair. It was not long before there was a knock at the door and Lykos was admitted." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He strode in confidently, his gait rolling as if he still walked a ship's deck. An easy smile stretched across his face.\n\n\"Please, sit,\" Fidele said politely.\n\nHe poured himself a cup of wine and took along draught.\n\n\"I hate riding,\" he said as he wiped wine from his beard.\n\n\"I am sorry for that, but it was important that I saw you.\"\n\nHe leaned back in his chair and smiled at her. \"You areas beautiful as ever.\"\n\nShe blinked at that. She had seen the way he looked at her but he had never been so bold as to comment on the thoughts behind his eyes. Something was different...\n\n\"You have done a terrible thing,\" she said.\n\nHe laughed at that, a short bark. \"I have done many terrible things, my lady. To which one do you refer?\"\n\n\"I refer to the fighting pit at Balara. Don't play games, Lykos. I am sure that you know why I have brought you here. '\n\nHe leaned forward, serious now. \"Yes, I am aware.\"\n\n\"You have committed murder. That poorboy, Jace. His body was dragged up from the lakebed by fishermen. And all those others at Balara, forced to fight for your entertainment. And you have disobeyed and lied tome. I cannot and will not let these things go unpunished.\"\n\n\"I see. Well, before this conversation takes us into unpleasant waters, let me give you my news. Your son was well, the last time I saw him.\"\n\n\"Where?\" she asked, fora moment her other priorities swept aside.\n\n\"Ardan. Dun Carreg. He was mired deeply in the politics of the west, strengthening the alliance.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Has he found Meical? I know that he was keen to track down my husband's counsellor. '\n\nI pray he hasn't found him. Not before I tell him of what Ektor and I have discovered.\n\n\"Meical has been seen in Dun Carreg, but he left long before Nathair arrived.\"\n\nGood.\n\n\"And Nathair, he was well?\"\n\n\"Yes, although he was troubled, concerned. For you. He thinks perhaps he has placed too much responsibility upon your shoulders, too soon after the death of your husband.\"\n\nWhat? Am I really hearing this? Lykos is lying.\n\n\"He regrets his decision making you regent in his absence, thinks you do not have the strength that is required in these difficult times.\" Lykos reached inside his weather-stained cloak and pulled out a crumpled scroll. \"He proposes that I takeover the regency, for the time being.\"\n\nShe snatched the scroll and tore it open. It was as Lykos said, written in her son's hand. This cannot be. Something is wrong; he would not do this. She looked over the scroll at Lykos. He was studying her intently.\n\nShe ripped up the scroll and tossed its pieces to the ground.\n\n\"I will never allow you to rule Tenebral,\" she said.\n\nLykos sighed, long and deep. \"I was afraid you would say that.\"\n\nHe burst explosively from his chair, launching across the table, and Fidele instinctively flinched backwards. She was not his target, though.\n\nOrcus had his sword drawn by the time Lykos reached him, but Lykos was inside his guard, something in his hand. He punched hard upwards, under Orcus'chin. Blood erupted from Orcus\" mouth. Lykos held him close, then lowered him to the ground, where he twitched a few times, then was still." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fidele stood, opening her mouth to scream.\n\n\"Don't do that, \"Lykos said, turning to face her. He reached into his cloak and pulled something out, something small.\"Don't make a sound,\" he said.\n\nFidele felt a hand clamp around her throat, fingers squeezing. She tried to scream but nothing came out. She reached to her throat to pull away the choking grip, but nothing was there, only her own flesh.\n\n\"Amazing,\" Lykos said, holding the thing in his hand up. It looked like a lump of clay, a few hairs sticking from it. \"Come back here.\"\n\nShe felt her feet moving, tried to stop them, but could not, just walked, haltingly at first, back towards Lykos. She saw blood pooling behind him, almost black, spreading like spilt ink.\n\n\"Stop.\"\n\nShe stopped.\n\n\"Lift your right hand.\"\n\nShe lifted it.\n\nLykos laughed. \"This is wonderful. Calidus, I owe you greatly.\" His brow furrowed in thought. \"Tell me that we shall rule Tenebral together. And be polite.\"\n\nNever. I will see you dead...\n\n\"We shall govern Tenebral together, my lord.\" She could not believe the words were her own, the voice her own. She formed a sentence in her mind, mostly curses. \"Your will shall guide me.\" She wailed inside.\n\nWhat? She stared at the lump that Lykos held in his hand. This close she could see that the hairs in it were black. Lines were scrawled across the clay. Runes?\n\n\"Yes,\" he said, following her eyes. \"It is a lock of your hair.\" He looked behind him, at Orcus sprawled on the stone floor. \"We'll arrange for my men to clean this up; don't want rumours spreading through your eagle-guard. I shall leave shortly and send Deinon and a few others up here. Later today you shall announce that I am forgiven all previous misunderstandings and that the people of Tenebral are about to enter anew age of kinship with the Vin Thalun.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I shall do as you say, my lord.\"\n\nHe grinned, then looked at her, up and down.\n\n\"Perhaps we should seal this new beginning while we are alone.\" He reached out, ran a hand up her thigh, over her hip and onto her waist.\n\nGet off. Don't touch me. She spasmed inside, willed her limbs to move, to kick, to shove, her voice to cry out. Nothing happened.\n\n\"Lie back on the table,\" he commanded.\n\nIn her mind she screamed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What are you doing here?\" Corban said to the trader.\n\n\"Why are you following us?\" Coralen asked as she moved from behind a boulder.\n\n\"Yes, why are you following us?\" Gar strode close to him. Ventos' hound growled. Storm jumped from the rock shelf; her hackles were raised and she matched snarl for snarl.\n\nThis could turn bloody. \"Ventos, tell your hound; Storm will not tolerate a challenge from him.\"\n\n\"Talar, down,\" Ventos snapped. The hound crouched lower and stopped growling.\n\n\"Easy, everyone,\" Ventos said. \"I am no danger to you.\"\n\n\"An explanation, please,\" Gwenith said.\n\n\"I wish to get out of Domhain, and I saw you all leave, saw you heading towards the mountains.\" He shrugged.\n\n\"Why not just use the giants\" road? And what about your goods, your wain at Dun Taras? ' Corban asked.\n\n\"You don't know, do you? Domhain's warband has been routed; it is fleeing to Dun Taras. Rhin controls the giants\" road, and that's the only way in or out of Domhain that a wain can travel.\" He shrugged, a guilty expression crossing his face. \"I'm cutting my losses. If I get out of Domhain with my life I'll count myself lucky. I just want to getaway, and I thought, you know, safety in numbers.\"\n\n\"Rath's warband is routed? \"Coralen gasped.\"That's not possible.\"\n\n\"That's what I thought, \"Ventos said.\"But it happened. It wasn't the warband from Cambren that turned it. It was the warriors of Tenebral. They made a wall of shields, just walked up the giants\" road and killed every man that threw himself against their shields. \"He shook his head, passing a hand across his brow.\"It was terrible to see. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coralen leaned against a tree, the colour draining from her face.\n\n\"We'll make camp here, \"Brina said,\"and you can tell us properly. '\n\nAs they ate a broth made from the leftovers of Storm's kill, Ventos told them in detail all that he had seen. It was a grim tale. When he had finished, a silence settled over the travellers.\n\nThat is noway to fight, thought Corban. There's no honour in it.\n\n\"Does Rath still live?\" Coralen asked.\n\n\"I don't know. I think so. At least, someone was still in control and organized the retreat. It wasn't just a flood down the giants\" road. Not when I left, anyway. It was still daylight when I set off– I wanted to pickup your trail before it was too dark to find it. '\n\n\"What of Edana?\" Corban asked the question that was on all their minds.\n\n\"Again, I did not see. But she would have had good warning of the retreat, and she would not have been in the fighting to begin with. I would imagine she is one of those more likely to have been on the road back to Dun Taras.\"\n\n\"You must have ridden hard to catch up with us,\" Gar said.\n\n\"I did. I rode like the wind, once I found your trail. Nothing like the thought of an angry warband behind you to put some fire beneath your feet.\"\n\n\"Did anyone see you, follow you?\" Gar asked.\n\n\"No. Or not that I saw. You can never be sure, but...\"\n\n\"Up before dawn,\" Coralen said. \"We'll travel hard. ' Then she stood and walked to where the horses were hobbled. After awhile Corban followed her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You could tell us the way, and go back,\" he said to her back as she checked her horse's feet.\n\n\"You'd never find it, \"she said.\"You'll end up dead and frozen for foxes to nibble at.\"\n\n\"But Rath, your kin.\"\n\n\"Don't you think I know? \"she snapped, turning a glare on him.\"I said I'd show you the way, and that's what I'll do. That's what Rath would say tome. He'd skin me if I just left you here. Anyway, this newfound care for my well-being– is it genuine, or just an excuse to get rid of the guide that you don't trust? \"She started pulling out knots from her horse's mane.\n\n\"I'm sorry about that, last night. I do trust you. I just thought how I would feel, if it were my brother or sister. \"He shrugged to her back. She didn't say anything so he just walked away.\n\nFor another eight nights they rode steadily north, Coralen pushing them hard. The path wound out of the foothills and into the mountains, passing through sweeping woods of pine until they climbed beyond the treeline and into the mountains themselves. Here the paths were icy, the slopes dusted with snow. They camped on a grassy slope near a dark still pool. Corban sat first watch of the night, sitting with his back to a boulder and his cloak pulled tight.\n\nThey would be crossing into Cambren soon, another one or two days'travel through the mountains. Then they would be in Rhin's realm, voluntarily walking back into the danger they had spent so long escaping. But this time we will be chasing, not running.\n\nWhen his watch was up he passed guard over to Ventos, then tried to get comfortable on the ground, hard and cold as iron." }, { "from": "human", "value": "His thoughts swirled, thinking of Edana and Halion, Marrock and Camlin and Vonn, praying silently that they were still alive, had made it back to Dun Taras." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And then Cywen. How alone she must feel with only her enemies surrounding her. He felt a wave of anger at the people and events that had treated them so cruelly. Rhin. Nathair: the man who had slain his da– plunged a sword into his chest. His thoughts had strayed to that image many times since he had fled Dun Carreg, always accompanied by a measure of pain. Here, though, alone in the dark, suddenly the anguish threatened to drown him, pain as deep and dark as the lake they were camped beside. He turned over and squeezed his eyes shut.\n\nHe woke with a start, the memory of strange dreams hovering, of wings and warriors and battle, but even as he tried to cling to it, it faded. There was a noise: a rustle up above, a whisper on the wind, then he heard soft footfalls, moving away. He sat up.\n\nVentos was gone.\n\nHe saw him disappearing along a path, his hound padding alongside him. Quietly Corban rose. He looked about for Storm, but she was nowhere to be seen. Probably off hunting. He crept after Ventos.\n\nHe followed the path, taking it slowly. A half-moon gave some light, though frequently clouds scudded across it. The path wound upwards, the ground slippery with frost. He reached a bend and paused, then peered around it.\n\nThe path opened into a wider space, boulders littering it. A hawk sat on the rock.\n\nKartala, the bird that Ventos won from the Sirak.\n\nVentos was writing, then rolling something up, tying it to the hawk's leg.\n\nA growl sounded in the darkness.\n\nCorban reached for his sword, then remembered he'd taken it off. He had a knife at his belt, though, and gripped its hilt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Who's there? \"Ventos said.\"Come out now, where I can see you. Or I'll set my hound on you.\"\n\nCorban stepped away from the shelf. \"What are you doing?\" he said. \"Who are you writing to?\"\n\nVentos stared at him, none of the open friendliness Corban was used to showing now. He looked cold, calculating, weighing up the situation. \"Someone who's interested in you. ' He drew a knife of his own.\n\nHe's made his decision, then. If I shout, will anyone hear me? How far have I walked?\n\nThe hound Talar stepped out of the shadows. He was still snarling. Saliva dripped from his teeth.\n\nThere was the sound of movement above, the rattle of stones falling down the rock face. A blur of white fur hurtled out of the darkness and crashed into the hound. Storm. The two animals rolled towards the edge of the path, the hound yelping. Ventos ran at them, knife raised, and Corban hurled himself at Ventos. They went down in a bundle of limbs, Ventos gasping sharply, stiffening, arching his back, then flopping limp.\n\nCorban struggled free, saw that his knife was buried in Ventos' torso, beneath his ribs, a dark stain spreading about the blade.\n\nVentos put a hand to the knife hilt and groaned.\n\nSnarling behind him. Corban turned to see Storm kick with her back legs, hurling the hound through the air. It crunched to the ground, skidded, rose unsteadily, dark gashes down its shoulder, blood dripping from its belly. Storm braced and leaped, crashing into the hound again and in a scrabble of earth and stone they both disappeared over the edge of the path. There was the sound of scratching, claws on rock, then a silence, followed by a splash." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Storm!\" yelled Corban, running to the path's edge.\n\nHe couldn't see anything, just the glimmer of water here and there, a fast-flowing stream by the sound of it.\n\n\"Storm,\" he shouted again, thought he saw a flash of something white moving fast– in the stream's grip. There was noway down so he turned, began running along the bank's edge, following what he thought, hoped, had been Storm carried in the flow of the stream. He left Ventos lying in a pool of his own blood, didn't even know if the man was alive or dead.\n\nHe ran in the dark, tripped and fell, pushed himself backup, feeling panic growing in his gut, a pressure building.\n\nHe heard something– the scuff of feet? He looked about wildly– had he been heard from the camp, missed? Then he heard a sniffing, the whine of dogs, more than one, and figures were appearing out of the darkness. Two, three, more movement at the edge of his vision. A man strode towards him, tall, a scar running down his face. Memories flared, of the Darkwood.\n\nBraith.\n\nThen hands were grabbing him.\n\nCorban felt a sharp pain in his ribs. He jerked his hands, but they were bound tight and there was a cloth over his head.\n\n\"I'm going to take your hood off now. Make a sound and it'll be the last thing you do. Feel that?\" Whoever it was poked him harder with the blade in his ribs.\n\n\"Yes,\" he said inside the sack.\n\nThe sack was pulled off and Corban blinked in the light. It was early, the sun weak and pale, but it still made his eyes water." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had been walking half the night, it seemed, or stumbling, hands before and behind pulling, dragging, steering him onwards.\n\nBraith stood before him, leaner than Corban remembered him, deep lines in his face, around his mouth and eyes, almost matching the silver of his long scar. Around them men were sitting, drinking from water skins, chewing on biscuit or strips of meat. A few hounds sat close to Braith's feet.\n\n\"I know you,\" Corban said, his voice a croak.\n\n\"And I you. You've grownup a bit since the well at Dun Carreg. '\n\n\"Last time I saw you, you were running away,\" Corban said. \"In the Darkwood.\"\n\n\"Oh aye,\" Braith said. \"Are you sure you want to be reminding me of that? Angering me, right now?\"\n\nCorban shrugged. He felt angry himself, more than anything else right now. His journey through the night had been filled with other things– panic, worry, fear. For Storm, for the people he'd left behind.\n\n\"Was it you that shot Queen Alona in the back?\" He took a deep breath, hearing Gar's voice in his mind. Control your emotions. Use them; don't let them use you. That's a quick way to getting killed. Could he rouse Braith enough to get him to make a mistake?\n\nBraith stepped closer, twisted his knife a little. \"That's enough, now. Think I'll put that sack back on your head.\"\n\n\"Camlin told me about you,\" Corban said.\n\n\"Did he now? How is Cam?\"\n\n\"He's well. A good man. '\n\n\"Good? He was a thief and murderer, last time I saw him. And a turncoat.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He chose to do the right thing. He still does, unlike you,\" Corban said.\n\n\"Right has a habit of changing, depending on who's paying your wages, \"Braith said with a frown.\"Eat this. You'll need your strength.\" He put a biscuit in Corban's bound hands.\n\n\"Where are you taking me?\" Corban said.\n\n\"Someone wants to see you,\" Braith said.\n\n\"The same that Ventos spoke of.\"\n\n\"Ventos? The man you left for dead. No, I believe he worked for another.\"\n\n\"And you work for Rhin, unless you've changed masters since the Darkwood. '\n\nBraith just smiled at him. A humourless thing.\n\nCywen is Rhin's prisoner. Maybe we'll end up in a cell together. He thought of his mam and Gar, all the others, waking to find him gone.\n\n\"They'll find you, and when they do, they'll kill you,\" Corban said, loud, for the others to hear.\n\n\"I don't think so. We've a good start on them, and I know these mountains well. Grew up in them as a bairn. Think I know a few paths that your pretty guide doesn't. '\n\n\"That doesn't matter, \"Corban said.\"Storm will find me, and lead the others. '\n\n\"She's dead, lad. We saw her fall. There's noway she's coming out of that water. Too cold, too fast. Lots of sharp rocks. '\n\n\"No.\" Corban refused to think on that.\n\n\"I'll leave the bag off, see if you can behave. '\n\nYou need me to go faster, you mean." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Braith organized his men, a dozen that Corban could see, though then some others joined them from further down the trail– scouts, he supposed. Braith prodded Corban and they set off. Just then a sound rang out, distant but clear. It echoed against the cliffs, long and mournful. A wolven's howl.\n\nMuttering spread amongst the men, and Corban saw Braith scowling, looking back over his shoulder.\n\nCorban smiled. \"Dead, is she?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen looked forward into the distance. A snow-capped mountain loomed on the horizon, dominating the range they had been following steadily north. Lower down its slopes she could just make out the walls of Dun Vaner, where torchlight flickered from battlements and windows, little more than pinpricks in the distance. Queen Rhin's stronghold and, originally, the seat of power of the Benothi giants. She could not help but look at the slopes and plains before her, imagining what it had been like for her ancestors to battle the gathered strength of the Benothi here. And her ancestors had won, Cambros striking down Ruad, the giant king. A memory sprang to life in her mind, of old Heb telling the tale of that battle to a crowd gathered on the meadows below Dun Carreg, on the day Marrock had been handbound. She could see herself, sitting on the grass with her mam and da, Corban and Gar, all of them entranced by Heb's story. And now Heb was dead, so Veradis had said. From nowhere she felt emotion swell in her chest, her vision blurring with tears.\n\n\"Time to stop, child,\" Alcyon said from beside her. He'd appointed himself her guardian. I preferred Veradis. At least I could have a conversation with him. It had been over a ten-night since they had left Veradis at the giants\" road, and she had spoken only a few sentences since then, to the reluctant giant or the Jehar Akar.\n\nShe climbed from Shield's back and led him to the makeshift paddocks that the Jehar built every night, unbuckled his girth and took his saddle and rug from his back, then rubbed him down and checked his hooves, all the while under the watchful eye of the giant. When she was finished he led her to the edge of the camp, looking fora spot to make their camp. They passed the draig paddock, where Cywen glimpsed Nathair climbing from the back of his long-tailed mount. Soon after, she heard the bellows of an auroch as the draig ripped into it. The same happened every night, Nathair leading an auroch into the draig paddock for it to hunt and eat. By morning there would belittle left but patches of fur and some bone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alcyon found a spot to his liking, beneath a copse of withered hawthorns. He set about making afire, hanging a pot over it and boiling up some water. This had been their routine every night, Alcyon reluctant to share a place round afire with any others.\n\nThat suited her just fine. They satin silence, Cywen stroking Buddai.\n\n\"Here,\" Alcyon said, handing her a bowl of porridge. She let it warm her hands first, then blew on it as she spooned some into her mouth.\n\n\"Of all the things the tale-tellers say about you giants, they never mention how good your porridge is,\" she said.\n\nFootsteps thudded and she looked up to seethe other three giants walking by. Alcyon's dark eyes tracked them.\n\n\"Why don't you like them? ' Cywen asked.\n\n\"They should be with their clan, not here.\"\n\n\"But you're here. '\n\n\"They have a choice. I do not.\"\n\n\"What does that mean?\"\n\n\"Nothing.\" He shrugged. \"Also, I am Kurgan. They are Benothi. We are different clans. There is blood-feud between us. Between every clan.\"\n\n\"Wasn't that from before the Scourging, though? \"Cywen's grasp of history was a little vague.\n\n\"And after,\" the giant said. \"The clans have warred since they were formed– since the War of Treasures. And they did not stop until your kin were washed upon these shores and began the Giant-Wars.\"\n\nShe listened avidly. Alcyon usually kept his peace, no matter how many questions Cywen asked him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So you are Kurgin?\"\n\n\"Kurgan.\"\n\n\"Where are your kin, then?\"\n\n\"A long way from here, child. They live in Arcona, the sea of grass, far to the east.\"\n\n\"How have you come to be so far from home?\"\n\nA look swept his face– sorrow, regret, shifting to misery, all in a heartbeat– replaced by something cold. \"That is not your concern, child.\"\n\n\"Just trying to learn something about my captors,\" she muttered.\n\nHe looked at her awhile, then, just as she thought the silence was permanent, he spoke again. \"I am Calidus\" servant. I do his bidding, that is all. His business is here, with Nathair, with Rhin, so I am here also. \"He looked into his bowl and slurped from it. He didn't use a spoon.\n\n\"Calidus,\" Cywen said. \"His business is with Nathair, and Rhin. And Corban, my brother. That's why I'm here, isn't it. Something to do with Corban. '\n\n\"Aye,\" the giant rumbled.\n\n\"What is it? How can Corban be of any interest to Calidus, to kings and queens?\"\n\nAlcyon just looked at her over the giant axe resting across his knees.\n\nThey reached Dun Vaner by highsun the next day and stayed one night in its cold and damp halls. The fortress was almost deserted; most of Rhin's warriors had joined the warband attacking Domhain, with only a small garrison left to man the stronghold.\n\nEarly the next day they set out, Nathair and the three Benothi giants leading as Rhin bid them farewell beneath the stone archway of Dun Vaner. Cywen rode Shield towards the rear of the column, Buddai beside her, Alcyon's strides keeping easy pace with the horse. As they left the mountain slopes and the ground levelled out, Buddai stopped, frozen to the spot, looking back. He whined." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What is it?\" Cywen said to him. The hound just stared into the distance, ears pricked, head cocked.\n\nAlcyon paused, listening. Then she heard it too, faint as a sigh, floating on the wind from the mountains. A wolven howling." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Work to move the story forward.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, war\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Valour\nChapter: 89" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What is it?\" Cywen said to him. The hound just stared into the distance, ears pricked, head cocked.\n\nAlcyon paused, listening. Then she heard it too, faint as a sigh, floating on the wind from the mountains. A wolven howling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The walls of Dun Taras appeared through a dense curtain of sleet. Camlin rode in the van, close to Edana and her other shieldmen, Halion, Marrock and Vonn.\n\nIt had been a hard and slow march back from the mountains, a wall of sleet and snow bringing death quickly to those too weak to keep up.\n\nRhin's warband had not pursued at any great pace but Rath's scouts reported that they were coming, marching steadily behind them.\n\nThey're happy to herd us into Dun Taras and watch us starve to death.\n\nCamlin could still not believe how decisively the battle had been lost. He had never seen anything like the wall of shields that had marched out of the foothills and along the giants' road, never seen death dealt out so efficiently and clinically. Something about it had felt so wrong: it took the heart from the battle– no deeds of valour, no great displays of skill or strength that won the day– just a cold, soulless distribution of death. It had scared him. He remembered seeing something similar back in the feast-hall at Dun Carreg, forming up to protect Nathair as all hell had broken loose. But it had been on a much smaller scale, and he had been close enough that he had been able to find a few gaps with his arrows. This time, though, three blocks of warriors, each two or three hundred men strong, shields and swords bristling. It would take a lot more than a few arrows to crack that nut.\n\nHorns rang out as they rode through the streets beyond the fortress' walls, then they were passing beneath a stone archway, grim-faced warriors upon the battlements. Rath headed straight for the keep and an audience with Eremon. He beckoned for Edana to go with him, so her four shieldmen followed dutifully behind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eremon was looking even older. Up close he could see every line and crease, his skin sagging, waxy. He looks like a candle burned too long. Beside him sat his pale-faced and dark-haired queen. Roisin. Camlin disliked her greatly, mostly based upon the grief she had rained down on Halion. This was a woman who was prepared to kill to see her plans made real.\n\nThere was a fluttering sound and a bird appeared at the window, peering through a flapping shutter– Fech. When he saw Edana he hopped through the gap, shook himself and started running his beak through his feathers.\n\nThe King listened solemnly to Rath and Edana recount the battle at the border.\n\n\"How can we defeat them?\" he asked as Rath fell silent.\n\n\"I don't know, \"Rath said.\"I have never seen its like before. We threw ourselves against it fora long day and could not stop it. I could not say if we even slew one man. A warband of giants would be easier to defeat. ' He hung his head.\n\nEremon looked from Rath to Edana.\n\n\"There must be away, my King,\" Edana said. \"And your strong walls and harsh winter will help us, I am sure.\"\n\n\"Aye, true enough,\" Eremon mused, rubbing his wispy chin.\n\n\"Is that all you have to offer?\" Roisin said. \"After you bring Rhin's warband howling into Domhain, snapping at your heels, slaughtering our warriors. And you say rock and rain will save us? '\n\nEdana coloured, looking speechless.\n\n\"That is not true,\" Halion said, stepping forward. \"Rhin was always coming, whether Edana was here or not.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Roisin turned her look on Halion." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That is something we shall never know, now. You play on your father's good nature. '\n\nHalion stared at Roisin, but said nothing in response. A silence settled over the room, then Rath spoke.\n\n\"Edana and her followers have fought in the battle,\" Rath said. \"Risked their lives in the defence of Domhain. That counts for something.\"\n\n\"In defence of their own plans, more like,\" Roisin said.\n\n\"Enough,\" snapped Eremon, looking more irritated than angry.\n\nEdana took a step forwards. \"I did not force Rhin to invade Narvon, or Ardan. Did not steer her into killing Owain, or my own mother and father. Rhin has her own plans, and to her I am only one minor inconvenience amongst many. As are you. It is your throne she has her eye on now, the reason she is here. She wishes to rule the west– perhaps the whole of the Banished Lands for all I know. Her ambitions reach far higher than hunting down the last heir to a kingdom that barely exists anymore.\" She spoke clearly, her eyes on Roisin the whole time.\n\nWell done, girl, thought Camlin. Give the snake a little venom back.\n\nEremon patted a chair beside him and clapped his hands. \"Come and sit, Edana. Drink some ale with me. You must be tired, but I would hear more from you before you retire.\" Servants appeared, carrying food and drink. Camlin and the others were ushered away, leaving Edana with Eremon and Roisin.\n\n\"Let's get a drink, ' Halion said, blowing out along breath.\n\n\"I don't like her, ' Vonn said, taking a sip from his cup." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They were sitting in a corner of the feast-hall, the four of them, huddled in conversation.\n\n\"There's not much to like, ' Marrock agreed.\n\n\"There's plenty to like, until she opens her mouth, ' Camlin said.\n\n\"Poor Edana.\" Vonn shook his head. \"She has had enough to deal with, without vipers like that.\"\n\n\"Roisin must have been raging inside,\" Halion said. \"Usually she pours honey from her lips. All that she says is thought through, has a purpose.\"\n\n\"Something is disrupting her composure, then?\" Marrock said.\n\n\"Perhaps that's to do with a foreign warband marching up the giants'road,\" Camlin pointed out. \"Don't read me wrong– she strikes meas an evil bitch, sure enough. But she's also a mother, and I get the feeling she loves her son to death and beyond. Might be that the thought of Rhin putting his head on a spear is upsetting her a little.\"\n\nHalion nodded thoughtfully.\n\n\"For an ex-thief and murderer you talk a lot of sense sometimes,\" Marrock said.\n\n\"You get a lot of time to think, living in the Darkwood. All that waiting around for people to rob.\"\n\n\"What's going to happen, now? ' Vonn asked. He was looking at Halion.\n\n\"I don't know, \"Halion said.\"Like Edana said, I suppose. Hide behind these walls, let them and winter put Rhin off. Then try and think of away to beat that wall of shields by spring. '\n\n\"I know how to do it,\" Camlin said calmly.\n\n\"How?\" They all looked at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't go getting excited. It can't be done here– or out there, anyway, in all those open meadows. That's the perfect terrain for them. We need to fight them in the woods, where they can't form their wall. Either that or sit on the top of a hill and roll a few score boulders at them. They might not want to stand so close together, then.\"\n\nHalion nodded. \"You know what– you might just have something there. I'm going to find Rath. '\n\nMarrock clapped Camlin on the shoulder. \"You area good man to have around, you know.\"\n\nJust then the doors opened and in walked Roisin. Her son Lorcan walked beside her, Quinn the first-sword behind him, with a few others. Roisin saw Halion and strode to him.\n\n\"What are your schemes here?\" she hissed, leaning close to Halion.\n\n\"There is no scheme,\" Halion said. \"Open your eyes, Roisin. Edana and I, we are swept on the wave of someone else's plans. Rhin is the great manipulator in all of this. You may have met your match at last. '\n\n\"I don't trust you, Halion the bastard. Using a young girl to worm your way into Eremon's court? It will notwork.\"\n\nHalion jerked away from her. \"Your paranoia grows, Roisin. I thought it had peaked when it led you to murder my mam.\"\n\n\"You accuse me?\"\n\n\"I don't need to. Those who matter know it was you. \"He took another step back, took a deep breath.\"I did not comeback to Domhain to settle past wrongs. That is done. There is a shared enemy to fight. I am not hereto contest Lorcan's right to the throne, but there is a warband out there that will. Think on that, Roisin; think on who your true enemy is here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With that he strode away, past Lorcan and Quinn and through the feast-hall doors. Roisin watched him leave with narrowed eyes. Camlin suspected this would not be the end of it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin ate his food slowly.\n\nAll about him men ate and drank to excess, laughed and sang. He was sitting in a room that looked out over the cliffs of Nerin onto the Tethys Sea. It was sunset; the sun's last rays were turning the sea to molten gold.\n\nAmongst the men he was sat with were the survivors of the pit. Ten men. There had been twelve, but two of them had become fevered through the night and Herak's men had hauled them away, to healers, supposedly.\n\nUnlikely. It is strange how men will believe what they want to believe, cling to it, even when the truth is thereto see.\n\nHis fellow pit-fighters were not the only men sitting at the table. Herak was there, as well as some of his guards– ones that had worked with Maquin and the others, helped to train them. They all ate and drank with vigour, smiling and laughing as if they were friends, equals, not masters and slaves. Guards still lined the walls though, standing in the shadows.\n\nIt made Maquin feel sick.\n\nHe had come to terms, finally, with what he was doing, what he had become. He didn't like himself for it, but the face of Jael drove him, made his decisions possible. And when it had comedown to it, when given the choice of life or death, he had chosen life, or at least the right to fight death's efforts to claim him.\n\nI want to live.\n\nBut that did not mean he would be grateful to his captors, or that he would welcome their company and eat with them as if they were brothers. Looking about, though, no one else seemed to share his feelings. Except Orgull. He was sat at the far end, looking much as Maquin felt. Repulsed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He sipped a cup of wine.\n\nHerak banged his cup on the table and slowly a silence fell.\n\n\"You are champions now,\" Herak began. \"Champions of the pit, champions of Panos. You will fight again, but not like that; not amongst so many. That is for the new arrivals, the initiates.\"\n\n\"When will we fight?\" a voice called out. Javed. Always the question-asker.\n\n\"Not fora while.\" Herak shrugged. \"You'll have long enough to enjoy this victory. '\n\n\"Who will we fight?\" Orgull.\n\n\"Whoever is put in front of you,\" Herak said, all friendliness erased from his voice.\n\nThe days passed. They were moved from rooms below ground to ground level, a measure of weak sun and fresh air helping to revive Maquin and his companions. To make them feel human again. The ten of them lived in the same room. Their training with Herak continued– most of it focused on close-quarter combat, knife work and weaponless battle. They were treated better now, fed well, spoken to, given rewards. Those who excelled in the day's training were given special meals or an extra drink. Occasionally a woman.\n\nMaquin abstained from all of the rewards offered to him. He wasn't a pet.\n\nJaved laughed at him. \"Live, man; enjoy what you can. Life will not treat you better because you say no.\"\n\nMaquin just smiled and shook his head at the little warrior. I will not be bought, purchased, manipulated like some half-witted fool. I do what they want because I have no choice. I will not play their games. They are my enemy. The only other man who refused as he did was Orgull. They spoke little, but Maquin often caught Orgull watching him. They were sword-brothers, a bond forged in the Gadrai and tempered in the catacombs of Haldis. Nothing could change that. Maquin did not want friendships, though, had no desire for anything that could distract him from his course. I should have hunted Jael down as soon as I was out of the tunnels beneath Haldis." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Should have." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Forget that. There is only now, and what happens next.\n\nOften during training Maquin would see groups of men, shackled hand and foot, led past them, towards the entrance to the underground chambers. They all had a look about them that he knew too well. Half starved, desperate, but still a glimmer of hope inmost eyes. They were the latest captives brought in from various ships, more fodder for the fighting pits. Not yet gone through the horror and torture of that first push into darkness.\n\nIt was evening, almost a moon since the last pit-fight. Maquin sat on his cot, knees drawn up, dipping dark bread into a spicy soup. Their chambers reminded Maquin of the great stables at Mikil. Each room a stable, sharing a communal yard that was fenced in with iron bars. Beyond those bars was their training ground, further off a town. People would often come to look at them through the bars, even to speak sometimes; they were mostly children, play-acting champions of the pits. Some of the ten liked it, would go and talk and laugh with the visitors. Maquin didn't. Whenever he saw movement at the bars he would retreat inside his cell, into the shadows.\n\nThere was a rattling at the gates and Maquin rose to see who was coming in, soup and bread still in his hand.\n\nIt was Herak, flanked by two guards.\n\n\"Wanted to tell you, it's your last night on the island, \"he said.\"You'll all begetting something to remember Nerin by soon. Food, wine, women.\"\n\nA cheer went up from most of the men.\n\n\"Where are we going?\" Javed, of course.\n\nHerak smiled viciously. \"Tenebral.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban stumbled again; hands reached out to steady him.\n\n\"Keep moving,\" a voice growled close to his ear.\n\nCorban was exhausted. They had been walking a day and a night since he had heard the wolven howl in the distance. He was sure it was Storm, although other wolven prowled these mountains.\n\nDo I just want to believe so hard that I will not accept anything else? No. It washer.\n\nThere was little hope of him making an escape. Corban had counted fifteen grim-faced men in Braith's employ, though there were nevermore than twelve about him at anyone time– the others scouting ahead or behind. There was also a brace of hounds– two tall, rangy things, skinny with matted hair. They loped ahead, close to one of Braith's men, himself tall and long-limbed, beard and hair a tangled mess.\n\nWhether they thought Storm was behind them or not, they kept a fast pace, determined to outpace her and any of his companions who might be following behind. Mam'll skin me, getting caught like this. All the worry I'm giving her.\n\nIt was still dark and bitterly cold. As a jagged horizon began to edge in grey Corban realized it was snowing, the flakes looking like slow-falling leaves. They were moving out of the narrow ravines that had marked their passage through the mountains, onto wider paths, ever downwards now.\n\nWe must be almost through, nearly into Cambren by now.\n\nBraith was up ahead. Corban saw him send a man back along the path they had travelled. Corban had noticed him doing that throughout their journey, rotating the scouts to front and rear. Soon whoever had been on rearguard would join them. Braith broke up a biscuit and threw it to the hounds. They snapped at each other over the crumbs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The snow fell more heavily now, a cold wind sending it swirling about them, thickening beneath Corban's boots, muting sound. Corban was bustled to the centre of the group. Each breath and the pounding of his blood seemed to grow in volume, filling his head.\n\nAfter awhile Corban realized that the rearguard had not joined them. Braith must have noticed too, for he was looking over his shoulder. They were moving through pine trees now, the branches dipping with the weight of snow, an eerie world of white stillness. A tension seemed to have crept amongst them; Corban could see it in the set of shoulders and faces, the twitching glances all about. The way their pace had increased.\n\nA shadow flitted across Corban's path, merging with the shadows of tree and branch. He looked up, saw a black shape moving above the treetops, flitting in and out of view. He gave a cold smile.\n\nOne of the hounds up ahead stopped and turned, ears twitching. Heads peered back, searching through the trees, through the curtain of snow. Then Corban saw her, an off-white blur, bounding out from between the trees, mouth open, teeth bared.\n\nStorm.\n\nBehind her other forms, wolven in shape, more upright. Corban blinked. One was carrying a war-hammer.\n\nFarrell and Coralen in their wolven pelts.\n\nStorm hit the first of Braith's men, the two of them ploughing through the snow, a great fountain of blood exploding as they rolled. They came to a rest, Storm standing, her jaws dripping red. The man did not move.\n\nBraith yelled orders, reached for Corban and started dragging him on. The hounds ran back, throwing themselves at Storm. A few men hung back; the rest ran on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He heard snarling and shouting behind, the yelp of a dog, then the clash of weapons– Farrell and Coralen.\n\n\"No!\" Corban yelled, lurching to the side, his feet clumsy in the snow, his bound hands not helping his balance, then he was tumbling to the ground, his face hitting snow and pine needles.\n\nGetup, \"Braith snarled, looming over him. He pulled Corban up, punched him in the gut, backhanded him across the face, then held a knife to Corban's throat.\n\n\"I'll bleed you here an'now if you try that again,\" Braith hissed. \"Rhin'd like you alive, but dead's better'n nothing at all. You understand me? '\n\nCorban nodded, feeling the knife burn at his throat. A hot trickle of blood ran down his neck.\n\n\"Get moving, then,\" Braith said. He looped some rope around Corban's bonds, and pulled him on.\n\nCorban staggered forwards, risking a glance back. Shapes moved amongst the trees, iron sparking as weapons clashed. A hound screamed in agony. One figure moved fast and smooth, more a swirling snow wraith than a man: Gar. Corban knew him by the way he fought, the way he killed. Arcs of blood glistened about him, scarlet pearls against the snow.\n\n\"On.\" Braith's boot crashed into his back and Corban was moving forward, half-running, staggering through the trees. An arrow whistled close by, hit one of Corban's captors.\n\nDath.\n\nThe trees thinned and then they were on a bare slope, the snow ankle-deep, blanketing the ground. Corban caught a glimpse of grey walls and dark towers further below them, cloaked by the snow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dun Vaner.\n\nBraith shouted orders and more men dropped back, drawing weapons as Corban and Braith ran past them. There was yelling and screaming behind, iron on iron.\n\nI will not run to Rhin, to my own captivity, torture and death, Corban decided. He threw himself to the right, legs first, and kicked at Braith's ankles. The man went down in a tumbling roll, his knife flying from his hands. Corban clumsily climbed back to his feet and ran after the still-rolling form of Braith, kicked him in the chest as he came to a stop. Braith grabbed at Corban's boot and the two of them fell together.\n\nCorban rose to his knees, punched two-handed at Braith, caught him on the shoulder, sent him rolling backwards, Corban's momentum carrying him further. Braith grabbed Corban's hair, yanked hard, his other hand reaching for Corban's throat, squeezing. Corban felt his veins bulging, heard his blood pounding like hooves; black spots edged his vision. He bucked in Braith's grip, brought a knee up into Braith's gut. The grip around his throat disappeared and Corban rolled away, lurched to his feet, took staggering steps backup the slope, towards his friends.\n\nThey were all there, merged with the treeline, fighting Braith's men. He saw Storm crouched, a man and hound circling her. Coralen was swirling gracefully around a warrior, slicing his hamstrings with her wolven claws. Then he saw his mam, spear in hand, blocking a flurry of sword blows. Gar stepped in and took the man's head from his shoulders.\n\nHe forced his feet to move, labouring backup the slope, his lungs burning. The sound of pounding, like hooves, grew louder and louder. Someone yelled behind him– Braith– and he looked back. He realized it wasn't his blood pounding in his head, it was riders, emerging through the snow, warriors with long spears, surging up behind him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Braith pointed at him and he turned and ran, making a last effort to reach his friends and the trees.\n\nSomething heavy crashed into his back and he was sprawling forwards, a face full of snow.\n\nHe tried to rise, then hands were grabbing him, lifting him, and he was slung across a saddle; a blow crunched into his head making the world spin. He was moving, bouncing across the saddle, the shudder of hooves on snow passing through his body. Somewhere behind him a voice screamed, high and clear. His mam. She was calling his name. He tried to lookup but something clumped him across the head again and all the strength flowed from his body. The sound of combat faded behind him, then he heard hooves clattering on stone and he was riding under an archway, huge gates closing behind him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tukul pulled his cloak tighter and scowled at the mountains. They were half veiled by heavy falling snow. It had started with dawn, and kept falling all daylong.\n\nI hate snow. Cold, rain, sun, I can cope with, but not snow. He looked up to the heavens. Forgive me, Elyon, it is part of your creation, but...\n\nTelassar had been warm, always, even in winter. Even in Drassil when it had snowed they had been protected from the bulk of it by the dense treetop canopy. Some flakes would make it through the lattice of branches, but not enough. Not like this. He looked down and saw his horse's hooves disappearing into the snow, past its fetlocks.\n\nHe rode beside Meical, his Jehar warriors riding in column behind.\n\nThey had travelled over a hundred leagues since Dun Carreg, had passed through Ardan and Narvon, then crossed rolling hills into Cambren. Here the going had been slower as Meical had taken them along less-frequented paths, through uninhabited lands, avoiding towns, villages and holds, though always heading for Domhain.\n\nOnce they had ridden into a band of warriors, scouts of Queen Rhin, riding back to Narvon. Meical had stayed their sword hands, suggesting that talking was attempted as a first resort in an effort to glean some information.\n\nIt had turned out to be simple enough. The warriors had taken one look at Tukul and his Jehar warriors and decided that they were part of a larger force that apparently rode with Rhin's warband, in service to Nathair, King of Tenebral. Meical and Tukul had managed to keep their surprise hidden, and the warriors had ridden on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The Jehar ride with Nathair,\" Tukul had hissed to Meical, once they were alone." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How can that be?\"\n\n\"I should have watched Nathair,\" Meical said, shaking his head. \"And he was right under my nose, all the time I was with Aquilus. It makes sense; Nathair spent time in Tarbesh.\"\n\n\"It must be Sumur,\" Tukul said. \"Sumur must be leading the Jehar. He was always in opposition tome. I should have killed him when I had the chance.\"\n\n\"What's done is done, \"Meical said.\"At least we have had warning. '\n\nThey had also discovered that Rhin's warband was set to invade Domhain and was somewhere ahead. They had continued onwards and eventually they had come to a point where they could seethe giants\" road leading into the mountains: the pass through to Domhain. It was filled with warriors. The warriors choked the path through the mountains, a constant line of wains going along the road, taking supplies towards Domhain. There was noway through.\n\nThey had discussed their options and decided to move northwards, to find a safe spot and then let Meical search for Corban.\n\n\"I have spent two score years laying plans, finding people that I trust, preparing for these days,\" Meical said. \"And yet now I feel like a chicken chopped for the table.\" He gave Tukul a rueful smile.\n\n\"Asroth has been making plans, too,\" Tukul said.\n\n\"Aye, he has. I have been too cautious.\" He shook his head.\n\n\"But we stand on the side of right, and the battle is far from done,\" Tukul said. I will not consider defeat. I have not waited all my life just to lose at the end.\n\n\"Aye. And we are close now, my friend. I have found the Seren Disglair's shadow in the Otherworld and tracked him through it. He is close. I will sleep now and travel the dream road. I will not lose him again. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tukul still found it strange how Meical could fall into asleep so deep that he could not be woken, in which he almost appeared to be dead, and from which he would wake, looking as if he had fought with death himself, and say that the Seren Disglair was in Domhain, or in Dun Taras, or to the east, or north-east.\n\nHe is not of this world. What do I expect?\n\nThis time Meical had said that the Seren Disglair was still in Domhain, but travelling north, on the far side of the mountains.\n\nThat had been a ten-night gone. They had travelled north, searching fora path to cross into Domhain. Meical said he knew of one, but that they would have to tread carefully.\n\n\"We are close to Dun Vaner,\" Meical said to him, leaning in his saddle. Tukul just grunted, trusting Meical's judgement. How Meical could tell where they were in this whitewashed world he did not know, but briefly he caught a glimpse through the swirling snow of dark walls in the distance, high on a slope a cluster of towers and pinpricks of light. The day was turning to grey, the obscured sun retreating behind the mountains. They found a place to make camp, taking some shelter beneath a stand of birch and hawthorn in a cup-shaped dell.\n\n\"I will search for him again tonight,\" Meical said as they sat huddled close together around a small fire. Soon Meical lay down and Tukul saw the familiar signs of his breathing slowing, becoming shallower.\n\nFind him, Tukul thought. Find the Seren Disglair, and with him my son." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban was hauled by two warriors through high-vaulted corridors, mostly empty, though in some alcoves fire-pits burned and warriors stood close to the flames to warm themselves. There was a feeling of emptiness here, and decay. Footsteps echoed behind him, following him. Braith.\n\nEventually he was dragged into a small chamber with weak light filtering in through slits in shuttered windows. One torch burned in a sconce, sending shadows dancing. Corban was slammed against a wall and his hands shackled to an iron ring above him, his ankles below.\n\nBraith sat at a table, poured himself a cup of something dark and drank thirstily.\n\nHe leaned back, studying Corban. \"What does Rhin want with you?\" he said at last.\n\n\"Huh,\" Corban muttered. He still felt sick, and Braith's words seemed as if they were reaching him through water, or the snowstorm that had raged outside. Distant and muted.\n\nBraith repeated his question.\n\nI don't know, thought Corban. He looked up to the shuttered window opposite, thinking of his mam and friends out on the hillside. Were they still fighting? Had they escaped? Stray flakes of snow drifted through the gap in the shutters and floated lazily down.\n\nSomeone came in, a woman, carrying a platter full of food– bread, fruits, cheese, cold meats. Corban heard his stomach growl as he watched Braith tear into it.\n\n\"Here,\" Braith said, walking over and holding out a chunk of bread. \"I should let you starve, after what your wolven and friends did to my men back there, but I think Rhin's going to want to talk with you; so passing out is to be avoided. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban chewed a mouthful. The bread was still warm. It tasted delicious. Braith gave him a sip of his drink– watered ale.\n\n\"My thanks,\" Corban said when he had swallowed and was sure that the food and drink was not going to come straight backup.\n\nBraith sat down and finished his food.\n\n\"Did they getaway?\" Corban asked, his voice a croak.\n\n\"I don't know, \"Braith said.\"Only two of my men still live, and one of those was the man I sent ahead to tell Rhin we were close. The riders wouldn't have followed your friends if they ran, not into those trees and possible ambush.\" He rubbed his eyes.\n\nA silence fell on the room.\n\nA muffled sound came from the far wall. Corban saw the outline of a door appear, and what he thought was undressed stone swung open. Two figures emerged from the darkness. Corban recognized both of them.\n\nRhin, Queen of Cambren. Of Narvon and Ardan, too, now. She was old, appeared much older than the last time he had seen her, in Badun at the Midwinter gathering, when Tull had fought her champion, Morcant.\n\nMorcant was no longer her champion, though; he knew that and he saw Conall walk into the room behind her.\n\nThe warrior didn't say anything, but their eyes locked fora long moment. Conall was the first to look away. Corban wasn't sure what he saw there: pride, definitely, but there was more, a flicker in his glance, an unwillingness to hold Corban's gaze. Was that shame? Corban remembered when Conall had first come to Dun Carreg, riding up the giantsway with Halion. He had seemed happy then by comparison, carefree." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Well done, Braith,\" Rhin said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The woodsman dropped to one knee before her and kissed her hand.\n\n\"You've done well, \"she said, motioning for him to stand.\"Even if half my riders are now lying dead on the slopes of Vaner. '\n\n\"Are they caught?\" Braith asked. \"His companions?\"\n\n\"No. I have riders out searching, but I don't have enough men hereto do the job properly. Most of them are busy conquering Domhain. '\n\n\"I can take a party out. I know the land well hereabouts.\"\n\n\"Perhaps.\" Rhin nodded. \"If Edana is out there it would be a shame to let her getaway.\"\n\nShe thinks I travelled with Edana.\n\n\"So, you are Corban,\" Rhin said, turning to him. It was not a question. \"I do remember you from Badun. At least, I remember seeing the boy who had tamed a wolven.\"\n\nShe's not tame, Corban thought.\n\n\"I should have given you more attention then but I was preoccupied. I hear she's grown, your wolven, and is happily tearing people apart in my woodlands. '\n\nShe's not dead, then. Corban felt aflutter of relief in his belly. He opened his mouth and asked the question that had been hovering there.\n\n\"Where's Cywen? '\n\n\"Cywen?\" Rhin said.\n\nCorban felt his spirits sink. Rhin didn't know who he meant.\n\nConall whispered something in her ear.\n\n\"Oh, your sister. She's well on her way to Murias. You'll not find her here,\" Rhin said. \"Is that what you thought? Were you coming hereto get her, when Braith found you wandering around my mountains? How terribly noble of you.\" She stepped closer to him, ran a pointed fingernail along his jawline, down his neck, across his chest. He pulled away, tried to kick out but the iron collars about his ankles held him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Murias.\n\n\"Admirable qualities,\" she murmured, close enough that he could smell her breath, a hint of honey on it. Mead?\n\n\"What do you want with me?\"\n\n\"I'm not sure, \"Rhin said.\"Yet. There are certain parties that are extremely interested in you, though, and that has piqued my interest. Tell me of yourself, Corban of Dun Carreg. Of your kin, your friends. I would know everything about you. '\n\nCorban woke to a throbbing pain in his wrists.\n\nWhere am I?\n\nHis eyes fluttered open and he saw a pot sitting over a small fire, could hear water bubbling within it.\n\nRhin.\n\nPains started registering, first his wrists, where the shackles had borne his slumped weight, then his ribs and kidneys, where Conall had beaten him.\n\n\"You should have told her what you know,\" Braith advised. \"She'll get what she wants out of you anyway, so you might as well save yourself some pain. '\n\n\"Where is she?\" Corban asked. He took his weight on his legs, removing the pressure from his wrists. He felt blood trickling down his forearms.\n\n\"Don't worry, she'll be back soon enough.\"\n\nA noise seeped into his consciousness, a creaking, tapping sound. He looked up at the shuttered window, high on the opposite wall. Light still streamed through, the occasional snowflake. Then a shadow crossed the gap between the shutters, something beyond blocking the light. He heard the tapping again, followed by a squawk.\n\nCraf?\n\nJust then the secret door opened and Rhin walked back in, shadowed by Conall. She marched to the pot and threw something in. A herbal smell wafted out, and an acrid steam rose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Hold the pot close to him,\" she ordered Conall and Braith." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They carried it by an iron spit and held it close. He tried to kick at it but his shackles stopped him. The steam floated about his face, curling into his mouth, his nose, stinging his eyes. He clamped his mouth shut and held his breath.\n\n\"He's stubborn, ' Rhin said, a smile twitching her lips.\n\nCorban's lungs started to burn, the beating of his heart growing louder in his head. Eventually he took a breath, throwing his head around, trying to disperse the steam. It didn't work. He had a bitter taste at the back of his throat, closely followed by a sense of warmth radiating from his chest, seeping through his body. He felt more relaxed than he could remember.\n\n\"There we are,\" Rhin said. \"Take the pot away. Corban, look at me.\"\n\nHe felt his head swing up and stared at her.\n\n\"Good boy,\" Rhin said. \"Now, tell me. Where is Edana?\"\n\nHe clamped his mouth shut, resolving to tell her nothing. He had taken Conall's beating before, concentrating as Gar had taught him in the sword dance, clearing his mind. He would take it again, and tell Rhin nothing.\n\n\"In Domhain, with Rath's warband, ' he heard a voice say. His own. Rhin chuckled.\n\nShe asked him question after question, and each time he heard his own voice respond, like a betrayer wrapped within his own body. She went through his family, asked about his friends. He heard himself speak of Gar, tell of his curved sword, his skill in combat, of Dath and Farrell, finally of Coralen.\n\nRhin paused from her questioning, just studied him long moments. \"All very nice, but what makes you so interesting to Nathair. Why are you considered so special?\" she mused." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Gar says I'm the Seren Disglair, ' he heard himself say.\n\nRhin grabbed his chin, her grip surprisingly strong, and looked into his eyes, studying him. \"Repeat that,\" she ordered.\n\nHe did.\n\nHer eyes grew wide and she released him. \"Can it be?\" she murmured, excited. She looked scared as well.\n\nShe paced the room, looking in heavy thought. \"There is only one way to know for certain,\" she said to herself. She ordered the pot hungover the fire again and left the room. By the time the water was bubbling she was back. She threw something else in, the steam turned black and smelled of sweet rot.\n\n\"Hold the pot close to him,\" she said, dragging a chair over to Corban. \"Make sure that we both receive the fumes.\" She drew a knife from her belt and cut Corban, a red line on his arm. Then she licked his blood, smeared it over her lips and whispered words unrecognizable to him.\n\n\"We shall both sleep– see that nothing wakes us.\"\n\nThen the pot was boiling, steam hissing from it, swirling about them both. Again Corban tried to hold his breath, to turn away, but he could not avoid the steam as it snaked its way inside him. Then his vision was dimming, darkness closing in.\n\nCorban looked around. A world of grey surrounded him, the ground, coated in mist, the sky, thick iron-coloured cloud.\n\nI have been here before. In my dreams. He felt a shiver of fear as the memory of those dreams flooded his mind: a kaleidoscope of images, mist-shrouded landscapes, fierce-eyed warriors.\n\nSomething tugged at his arm, a scarlet cord. Someone held it, a woman, fierce and beautiful, black hair cascading like a dark river about her shoulders. She smiled at him and he recognized the twist of her lips." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rhin.\n\n\"This way,\" she said, tugging at the cord again. He went after her, the mist parting around their feet. He tried to resist, but found that he couldn't.\n\nThey followed a river, its waters black, its course straight. Occasionally something moved in it, broad and sinuous, intimating a great mass hidden beneath the surface.\n\nIn the distance a shape appeared, materializing out of the mist. A mountain, casting along shadow. Something was hidden in the darkness: the outline of a great building built into its embrace.\n\nCorban looked up. In the sky shapes swirled, winged shapes. Some were faint in the clouds, others lower, closer. They circled down, pale-skinned warriors with shields, spears and swords in their hands, wings looking like leather or stretched skin. I know them. In my dreams they have chased me, fought over me. I am in the Otherworld. Fear threatened to overwhelm him. The ground shuddered as they landed, then they fell in silently about Corban and his companion, escorting them on.\n\nThey reached the building in the shadow of the mountain. It was a huge dome, with an arched doorway before them. They walked through along tunnel; Corban gazed about in wonder, his hand touching a column that the doorway was attached to. It seemed to pulse, almost as if it were living, breathing. He lifted his fingers away, shaking off a mucus-like fluid. The whole building was carved from the same material. The walls were thin– the diffuse glow of light passed through them– with thick curving columns bracing the tunnel like huge, membranous ribs. The columns throbbed, as if blood were passing through them.\n\nThey stepped out of the tunnel; a domed roof made from the same material arched high above. A wide space opened before them, punctuated by great pillars rising high to the roof. About them were more of the winged creatures. They fell silent as Corban and his captor passed by, a pathway opening amongst them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They came to a set of wide steps that stretched across the entire room. They climbed them; with each step amounting dread grew in Corban.\n\nAt the top he stopped, Rhin walking forwards a few paces. She knelt before a throne and the creature seated upon it, then abased herself, arms outstretched, palms flat on the ground. Corban just stared. The throne looked to be carved from the same fabric as the rest of the building, its legs and back looking like the looping coils of a great snake, like the white wyrm Corban had seen in the tunnels beneath Dun Carreg. He did not want to look at the creature sat upon this throne– everything in him trying to look away, to turn and run– but fear held him tight. Against his will his eyes rose.\n\nUpon the chair sat a great winged man. He wore a coat of mail, black and oily. His skin was pale, like all the others of his kind, flaking like the scales of a snake. Dark veins mapped his alabaster flesh. A sword lay across his lap, the hint of smoke rising from its blade. All this Corban saw in a glance, his gaze drawn to the man's face. It was as pale as milk, all sharp bones and chiselled angles, coldly handsome. Silver hair was pulled tight into a warrior braid that curled across one shoulder. But it was the eyes that drew and held Corban– black as a forest pool at midnight, no iris, no pupil, just a pulsing malice. Something lurked beneath those eyes, something feral, a barely contained rage.\n\nHe regarded the woman and Corban with those black eyes. Corban felt a cold fist clench deep in his belly.\n\n\"On your knees,\" a voice said from behind him, and a blow hit the back of his legs. He dropped to the ground." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What have you brought me, faithful servant?\" the creature on the chair asked.\n\n\"A great prize, my lord,\" the lady said. She kept her eyes down. \"I believe I have found the enemy's avatar. The Seren Disglair. '\n\nThe creature leaned forward, eyes boring into Corban. He took a deep sniff, a black tongue flickering from his mouth, tasting the air.\n\n\"Yes. I recognize his stink.\" He laughed. \"Rhin, your reward will be great indeed for this.\"\n\n\"Who are you? What are you?\" Corban asked, the words coming out as a whisper. Deep down he knew, a name surfacing like a fist from water.\n\n\"We have met before. Do you not recognize me?\" the creature asked. It rose and stepped from the throne, sinuous and graceful, the ground rippling with each step. With the wave of a hand its shape changed, shimmering and blurring. Then a man was standing before Corban, the wings replaced by a travel-stained cloak. Old, handsome, a neat beard and lines of laughter about his eyes. Yellow eyes.\n\nCorban did remember him. \"I saw you, at the oathstone in the Baglun.\"\n\n\"Yes. I offered you my friendship once. My patronage. The chance to side with me. That chance has passed now. I have found another.\"\n\n\"I don't understand. '\n\n\"Yes, you do. You just do not want to. You humans are all the same. Willing to live a lie, any lie, as long as it is prettier than the truth. It's one of the few things that I love about your race. ' He held his sword loosely in one hand.\n\n\"Who are you?\" Corban repeated, more a last denial than a question." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am Asroth, Lightbearer, Fallen One, Death of Nations,\" the man said. \"Death of you.\"\n\nHe reached out and laid a broken-nailed hand upon Rhin. A shiver ran through her body.\n\n\"Stand,\" he said to her. \"You must go back to your world of flesh, and slay him. Cut his heart from his body. I shall keep his spirit here, and talk awhile until you do the deed.\"\n\n\"As you command, my lord,\" Rhin said.\n\nA noise filled the dome, along, eerie note, a horn blast.\n\n\"To arms,\" a voice rang out as the horn faded. There was a great cracking sound, as of a thousand whips struck at the same time, the wings of all the creatures in the hall spreading. The Kadoshim, thought Corban. The host of angels that fell with Asroth.\n\nA noise sounded above, high on the dome, a concussive boom, and a hole appeared, shards of whatever the building was made of exploding inwards. Figures poured through the hole, warriors with great white wings. One threw a spear and it pierced the ground between Corban and this creature that named himself Asroth. It stood quivering.\n\nThe man before Corban blurred again, his shape changing, cloak spreading, transforming into wings.\n\n\"You dare to come here,\" he snarled, pointing his black sword upwards, then with a scream of rage launched himself at the invading warriors. The sound of it hurt Corban's ears.\n\nBattle erupted all around as the new winged arrivals fell howling down upon Asroth's host. They were clearly outnumbered, but surprise and the advantage of height helped to drive them through the first waves that rose to meet them. Before Corban had time to move, a handful of them were alighting about him, forming a ring of shield, spear and sword." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He felt something tugging on his arm, turned to see Rhin trying to drag him back down the stairs by the red cord that was still attached to him. One of the warriors about him saw and struck the cord with a sword. There was a cracking noise and the cord detonated in a spray of blood. Rhin fell backwards, toppling down the stairs, disappearing amidst the conflict. Corban dragged in a juddering breath, felt new energy fill him. Before, he had felt terrified, frozen by that fear, but now the urge to fight rose up in him, coiling in his limbs. He saw a spear fallen on the ground, the white wings of its owner twitching as it lay there, a deep hole in its chest, something dark and slimy oozing from the wound.\n\nHe grabbed the spear. It was lighter than he expected, the shaft smooth and warm. Air beat down upon him and he looked up, saw one of Asroth's Kadoshim above him, wings beating hard. It reached out to pluck him from his circle of protectors. Corban stabbed up with the spear, pierced the outstretched hand, the blade carrying on, raking a line across the creature's ribs. It screeched at him and pumped its wings, rising quickly. Corban yanked the spear free, something wet splattering his face.\n\nScreams and battle-cries filled the room, echoing about the dome, so loud that Corban wanted just to curl upon the floor and cover his ears. Everywhere was furious battle. More of the white-winged warriors were streaming through the hole high above.\n\nThey are the Ben-Elim, the angels of Elyon. Am I dreaming all of this?\n\nFora dream it seemed real enough– he could touch, hear and smell the violence surrounding him. Figures filled the air, striking atone another, grappling, spinning, many falling to crash into the ground. The circle around him was hard pressed, blades clashing, limbs being severed, dark ichor that seemed to pass for blood spraying in great fountains." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Then a shadow was looming above, the air beating him down." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban looked up and saw white wings, a flash of pale skin and dark hair, then he was being hoisted upwards, so fast that he felt as if he'd left his guts on the ground. Other warriors swooped in close, forming a wedge that flew straight up, to the now clear hole in the dome's ceiling.\n\nBodies crashed against them. Corban caught a flash of leathery wings, heard screeching and hissing. One of the Ben-Elim close to Corban dropped away, a sword-point erupting through his chest, but they flew on, higher and higher, until with a roaring in Corban's ears they burst through the hole in the rooftop and into the sky above.\n\nThe white wings pumped, driving them away, higher, until Corban could almost touch the clouds. A handful of Ben-Elim flew about them, and further back Corban saw the dome, shrinking now. He could just make out white-winged figures emerging from the dome's peak, mixed with others. The Ben-Elim were retreating, pursued by their ancient enemy.\n\nCorban looked at the warrior who was carrying him. He was dark haired and pale skinned as all the rest, with a tracery of veins visible beneath his skin, high, sharp cheekbones, the hint of faded claw marks running down one side of his face. His eyes were dark, though not black like the Kadoshim; there was a purple tinge to them. Something about him stirred a memory, too faint to remember. \"Who are you?\" Corban asked.\n\nThe warrior regarded him for long moments. \"A friend in a dark place,\" he said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coralen glared through swirling snow at the walls of Dun Vaner.\n\nAfter the desperate chase yesterday, the fight in the woods and slopes, coming so close to reaching Corban, only to see him carried away through the fortress gates, she felt drained. Exhausted.\n\nAnd angry.\n\nShe had not wanted to run, so close were they to rescuing Corban. Most of the enemy were down, bleeding into the snow, when the riders appeared, a relief force hurrying from Dun Vaner. It would have been foolishness and fatal to stand and face them in the open. So they had run when the riders came at them, scattering into the woodland. Storm had killed one horse and rider, Dath picked off a couple with his bow, Gar another, and she had leaped onto one more, dragging him from his saddle and opening his throat with her wolven claws. She was wearing them still, blood crusting about the iron blades.\n\nWhy am I here? She had volunteered to guide them north as soon as Rath had told her of Corban's plan to go after his sister. Why? Even now she felt herself avoiding that question. Others were moving about her, Gwenith and Brina whispering together, Farrell and Dath talking quietly. Gar stood beside her, staring at the walls. She could feel the worry leaking from him, through the cracks in his cold face. Storm was pacing amongst them, like a wounded bear, restless, crouched, the occasional growl rumbling deep from her belly. Coralen empathized with her– she felt frustrated, scared, angry. There was something about this group of people, similar to the camaraderie she had felt amongst Rath and his giant-killers, but more, somehow. Something deeper. She just knew that each and everyone of them would die for the other, and Corban was somehow at the centre of that. She felt his absence keenly, as she knew they all did. And he was gone, inside those thick walls, perhaps even already dead. She felt a wave of feeling, white-hot rage, and she clenched a fist, her wolven claws chinking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It had all happened so fast, waking to find Corban gone, then hearing Storm howling, all of them running from the camp to find the wolven dripping wet, standing over Ventos' corpse. They had searched the area and Coralen had found the tracks of those who had taken Corban. The rest had been one long run, blood in the snow at the end of it.\n\nAnd what now?\n\nSomething fluttered above her; a dark smudge emerged from the swirling whiteness. Craf, the healer's crow.\n\nIt landed on a tree branch and began hopping about.\n\n\"Cor-ban,\" it squawked. \"Found him, found him, found him.\"\n\n\"Where? How is he?\" Gwenith blurted.\n\n\"Alive,\" the crow said. \"Craf take you.\"\n\n\"How are we going to get over those walls?\" Farrell said.\n\n\"This might help,\" Dath said, lifting along rope that was tied to the saddle of a horse they'd found wandering the wooded slopes.\n\nGar smiled, a grim flash of his teeth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tukul was dozing when Meical awoke. It was still dark about him, though a grey light framed the slopes above their dell. The brunt of the snowstorm seemed to have blown over. Orange flames from the fire sent shadows dancing around the bowl they were camped in.\n\nHe heard Meical gasp, saw him lurch up onto an elbow. The firelight washed across his face, highlighting the sharp angles, making the lines around his eyes and mouth deep crags of shadow. For the first time Tukul thought he looked old.\n\nTukul sat up, blinking. \"What is it?\"\n\nMeical leaped to his feet. \"I know where he is. Corban. We must leave now; it may already be too late.\"\n\n\"What do you mean? Where is he?\" Tukul asked as he climbed to his feet, signalling for his Jehar to move about him.\n\n\"He is in there,\" said Meical, pointing to the dark blur of walls and towers nestling amongst the white slopes of the mountain. \"Dun Vaner. Rhin has him. And she knows who he is. He will not be drawing breath for much longer. If he still does.\"\n\nThe camp moved into action, silent and efficient.\n\nBy the time the sun had fully crested the horizon they were riding across a featureless white plain, approaching the slope and road that led to the gates of Dun Vaner.\n\n\"Those walls are thick, and the gates are shut,\" Tukul observed.\n\n\"Yes,\" Meical said. His earlier sense of franticness had receded, although Tukul could sense it, lurking beneath a veneer of calm.\n\n\"So how are we going to get in there?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We know that the Jehar ride with Nathair, and that they came north with Rhin. The men who are standing on that wall will know that, too.\"\n\nTukul thought about that. \"So they will think we are their allies.\"\n\n\"Exactly. To be safer still, as I standout a little from the rest of you, I am now your prisoner, sent back to Rhin for questioning.\"\n\n\"But what if Nathair and Sumur are in there?\"\n\n\"They are not. They are heading north, and I have a good idea why, but we shall think on that after.\"\n\n\"Excellent. So that's getting in. What then? '\n\n\"Let's cross that bridge when we get to it. '\n\n\"With our swords in our hands?\"\n\n\"If needs be.\"\n\n\"Best you try and look as if you're a prisoner, then, ' Tukul said.\n\nMeical clasped his hands behind his back, underneath his cloak, as if they were bound. Tukul and a few of his warriors moved around Meical, giving the appearance of guarding him. They rode up the road that led to Dun Vaner's gates, identifiable only because the snow lay more flat and even across it.\n\n\"Remember,\" Meical said as they drew closer. \"The Seren Disglair is in there. He is a captive and will soon be killed. We cannot fail in this.\"\n\nTukul felt a shiver at those words, knew that it was passing back through the column of his sword-kin.\n\nThis is it. The moment I've waited for. All-Father, I will not fail you.\n\nThe world was quiet and still, a beautiful white as far as he could see. Even the clouds up above him seemed to glow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A perfect moment. He drew a deep breath, as he did before he began the sword dance, then he rode ahead of the column, looking up at the walls above the stronghold's gates. Heads peered over.\n\n\"Name your business,\" a voice called down to him.\n\n\"I bring a gift from King Nathair– a spy found on the road north. He thought your Queen was better equipped to extract some truth from him.\" He turned and beckoned for Meical to be brought forward. Enkara led Meical's horse, a few others riding close about him.\n\nA silence lengthened. Tukul saw more heads peering over the battlements, heard muted words.\n\n\"Open your gates,\" he yelled. \"It is cold down here.\"\n\nThere was still no answer.\n\n\"Would you have me ride back to Nathair to tell him we crossed fifty leagues only to be turned away at his ally's gates? '\n\nThere was another silence. Tukul felt his pulse beating faster, had to concentrate to control it as the huge gates creaked open.\n\nHe rode in calmly, nodding to the guards who stood by the gates.\n\nFour of them. A courtyard lay beyond the gates. More warriors were milling about, performing various tasks– sweeping drifts of snow from the flagstones, piling it in deep banks with shovels, breaking ice in water buckets. A dozen. As Tukul rode deeper he glanced back, and up, scanning the battlements. Another eight, maybe ten. A great keep loomed straight ahead, doors of oak closed against the cold. Other buildings spread about the courtyard, a handful of doors. Shadows moved inside. Maybe barracks. More warriors, Tukul thought. There could be anywhere between one and two hundred inside." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They dismounted on the far side of the courtyard; doors opened to a huge stableblock from which issued a dozen stable boys. Tukul and his warriors were led into a feast-hall by two of the guards who had stood at the gates.\n\nThe feast-hall was almost empty; a score or so of men sat close to the firepit, breaking their fast, a few others scattered about the room.\n\n\"Your men can eat and drink here,\" one of the guards said. \"Word has been sent to Queen Rhin. Bring your prisoner and we'll take you to the dungeons. '\n\n\"Where is everyone?\" Tukul asked as they walked through the hall. At a nod, five of his warriors followed with Meical, the rest spreading through the feast-hall, pouring drinks, taking food.\n\n\"Most are down south, fighting in Domhain.\"\n\n\"Of course,\" Tukul said. He drew his sword, heard his warriors do the same behind him, all about the hall.\n\nThe guards both reached for their blades. Tukul let them draw before he killed the first one.\n\nLet him cross the bridge of swords with his sword in his hand.\n\nThe man tried to block, but even fifty-eight years and the freezing cold snow of Cambren could not slow Tukul that much. They did not even touch blades.\n\nThe other guard opened his mouth to yell, at the same time stepping away and raising his sword.\n\n\"Don't kill him, ' Meical snapped.\n\nIna heartbeat Tukul's sword-point was at the guard's throat.\n\n\"Your choice,\" Tukul said. \"Make a noise: die now. Stay silent: live a little longer.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The guard's eyes darted about the room. Tukul didn't need to look: he knew all of Rhin's warriors in the room were dead.\n\nThe guard dropped his sword.\n\n\"Take us to the dungeon,\" Meical said.\n\nTukul left a score of his Jehar in the feast-hall to guard against any newcomers, and the rest followed Tukul. As they left the hall Tukul looked back, saw the main doors open and a handful of guards walk in. His warriors fell on them, but some of the enemy stumbled back into the courtyard. Instants later he heard the blaring of horns.\n\n\"Faster,\" he said to the guard leading the way.\n\n\"How many warriors are here?\" Meical asked the guard. He didn't answer, but then he felt Meical's sword-point at his back.\n\n\"Three, four hundred. Enough.\"\n\nHe's lying, thought Tukul. And even if he's telling the truth, we are Jehar.\n\nThe sound of combat drifted behind them. They strode through empty corridors, down along staircase, the steps wide and worn, then into another corridor. Tukul barked an order and some of his warriors peeled away from the back, groups of five positioning themselves at each new doorway. Soon fifty warriors became thirty.\n\n\"We're going to need away out, ' he said to Meical.\n\nHorn blasts echoed through the stronghold– the call to arms. Tukul heard the slap of running feet.\n\nGuards appeared at the far end of the corridor, more than Tukul could see to count– at least a score, more coming behind them. The first ones paused fora heartbeat, then ran at him. He drew his sword, heard the familiar sound behind him as Meical and the others followed suit." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The corridor was wide, built by giants. Three men could stand abreast and still swing a sword. Tukul cracked their guide on the head with his sword pommel, saw him slump unconscious, then stepped into summer storm from the sword dance, his left hand forwards, blade arched over his right shoulder. He felt Meical and Enkara move to either side of him.\n\nLet my heart be true and my sword be sharp.\n\nThen he stepped into battle.\n\nIt was like coming home. He swayed and spun, ducked and lunged, and then his whole world was filled with blood, with the sounds of men dying. Most didn't have a chance to make a sound, others just a surprised grunt or yelp, in an instant moving from life to death, to empty husks of meat and bone.\n\nThe battle swirled past him, the two groups filtering into each other. He carved a red path through all that stood before him. He turned an overhead blow and followed through with a short horizontal slash, saw the man stumble and fall, his blood draining from his throat and his life from his eyes.\n\nThen it was over.\n\nMeical and Enkara still stood either side of him; both were covered with blood. None of it seemed to be their own. The corridor was littered with the dead. At a swift glance he did not think any of his sword-kin had fallen. Then a sound drifted into the corridor. The clash of iron. Yelling, but it came from ahead, not behind.\n\nTukul and Meical shared a glance and moved on, their pace fast but not reckless. The sounds of combat ahead grew. They turned a corridor, followed the sound down a staircase, then Tukul pulled up short." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Before him he saw the backs of at least a dozen of Rhin's warriors. Tukul heard the clash of weapons, shouting, a scream. Something was holding the warriors here. He glimpsed a format the far end, a movement, the trail of a sword, a body moving fast, gracefully. Meical moved past him, sword high, and launched himself into the enemy. Tukul followed, chopping ahead from its body with his first blow.\n\nPanic ripped through Rhin's men as they tried to turn and face this new enemy. In moments twelve men fell, bleeding out their lives into the cold stone.\n\nJust one man had been holding the corridor against them. He fought still, against the last of Rhin's warriors. He parried a frantic lunge, spun on his heel, reversed his sword and drove it into his opponent's belly. They stood there briefly, close as lovers, then the victor pulled his sword clear and turned to face Tukul.\n\nHe was clothed in leather and fur and wool, along, curved sword held loosely. But Tukul's eyes were drawn to the warrior's face. Weathered skin, dark, earnest eyes, a ridged nose.\n\nGarisan. My son.\n\nTukul saw recognition dawn in Gar's face, first a question in the eyes, then a twitch of the mouth. A hesitant smile.\n\nWithout a word Tukul strode forward and wrapped his son in his arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban opened his eyes. He was hanging suspended, his arms stretched above him.\n\n\"He's waking up, ' a voice said.\n\nHe lifted his head, the effort launching a pain in the back of his head, a white-hot needle twisting inside his skull. He groaned and saw Conall and Braith staring at him.\n\nA figure sat slumped in a chair close by. Rhin. Her head was resting on her chest, her breathing deep and slow.\n\nRhin. He closed his eyes, trying to contain the stabbing pain in his head. The Otherworld. Had it been a dream? Then it all came back, a flood, a kaleidoscope of fractured images– a domed building, a host of winged creatures, battle.\n\nAsroth. Asroth had spoken to him, and to Rhin. Slay him, Asroth had told Rhin. Cut his heart from his body.\n\nFear rippled through him. His head snapped up and he pulled himself upright, ignoring the pain in wrists and head. Rhin still slept. Braith and Conall were moving closer, expressions of concern on their faces. Braith knelt beside Rhin and touched his fingers to her wrist.\n\nDon't wake her. The thought filled Corban like a silent scream.\n\n\"I'd not do that if I were you, \"Conall said.\"She said not to wake her, and I've seen what happens to those that disobey her.\"\n\n\"So have I.\" Braith pulled his hand away.\n\nCorban breathed a sigh of relief. Rhin, stay sleeping, he willed. How am I going to get out of these shackles?\n\n\"What happened?\" Braith said to Corban. \"Why are you awake and she is not?\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Keep the narrative going for the author.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, war\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Valour\nChapter: 96" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban opened his eyes. He was hanging suspended, his arms stretched above him.\n\n\"He's waking up, ' a voice said.\n\nHe lifted his head, the effort launching a pain in the back of his head, a white-hot needle twisting inside his skull. He groaned and saw Conall and Braith staring at him.\n\nA figure sat slumped in a chair close by. Rhin. Her head was resting on her chest, her breathing deep and slow.\n\nRhin. He closed his eyes, trying to contain the stabbing pain in his head. The Otherworld. Had it been a dream? Then it all came back, a flood, a kaleidoscope of fractured images– a domed building, a host of winged creatures, battle.\n\nAsroth. Asroth had spoken to him, and to Rhin. Slay him, Asroth had told Rhin. Cut his heart from his body.\n\nFear rippled through him. His head snapped up and he pulled himself upright, ignoring the pain in wrists and head. Rhin still slept. Braith and Conall were moving closer, expressions of concern on their faces. Braith knelt beside Rhin and touched his fingers to her wrist.\n\nDon't wake her. The thought filled Corban like a silent scream.\n\n\"I'd not do that if I were you, \"Conall said.\"She said not to wake her, and I've seen what happens to those that disobey her.\"\n\n\"So have I.\" Braith pulled his hand away.\n\nCorban breathed a sigh of relief. Rhin, stay sleeping, he willed. How am I going to get out of these shackles?\n\n\"What happened?\" Braith said to Corban. \"Why are you awake and she is not?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then a noise rang out, distant but clear. Horns sounding the alarm.\n\nConall went to the door and looked out, then he closed the door. There were more horn blasts, louder, spreading through the fortress. \"I don't like the sound of that, ' Conall muttered, pacing now.\n\n\"Me neither,\" Braith said.\n\nRhin whispered something, little more than an exhalation.\n\nNo.\n\n\"Kill...\" she said; more sounds followed, but they were incomprehensible.\n\n\"Water, please,\" Corban said.\n\nBraith leaned closer to Rhin, trying to make out her whisperings.\n\nCorban rattled his chains. \"Please, a drink.\"\n\n\"Shut up,\" Braith snapped. Conall brought him a skin of water and held it to Corban's lips. It was warm, but tasted wonderful and soothing to him.\n\nCorban's mind was racing. He had to get out of his shackles before Rhin woke, but how? They were locked wrist and ankle, and he did not even know who had a key. He felt panic bubbling up like high tide in the rock pools of home.\n\nRhin's eyelids fluttered and she moved in her chair.\n\n\"My lady,\" Braith said, seizing her hand. \"You must wake.\"\n\nThe sound of booted feet running echoed from beyond the door, men shouting. A muffled scream. The sounds of battle rang clearer and Conall stuck his head out of the doorway, looking down the corridor.\n\n\"What's happening? ' Braith called.\n\n\"There are wolven in the corridor,\" Conall said. \"One of them is hitting people with a hammer.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Farrell.\n\n\"It's the boy's companions,\" Braith said. \"They're coming for him. '\n\n\"They're tearing strips out of a dozen men out there, ' Conall said. He took a last look down the corridor and slammed the door shut, throwing an iron bolt across it.\n\n\"We need to get Rhin out of here,\" Conall said, striding to the far wall. He reached into an alcove and then Corban heard a hiss, saw the outline of the secret door appear. It swung open.\n\nThere was a clash of weapons beyond the door Conall had just locked, a scream, something sliding down the door. Blood seeped beneath it, a dark pool spreading into the room. \"That'd be our guardsman, ' Braith said. A great blow struck the door, dust exploding from the frame. The iron bolt and hinges creaked.\n\n\"Bring Rhin,\" Conall snapped at Braith. He drew his sword and knife.\n\nBraith scooped Rhin into his arms. Her eyes opened then, and she looked around.\n\n\"The boy...\" she said.\n\nBraith strode to the secret doorway and Rhin began to struggle in his arms.\n\n\"We are under attack, my lady,\" Braith said. \"I am taking you to safety.\"\n\n\"The boy,\" Rhin snapped, still groggy. \"Kill him.\"\n\nAnother blow slammed into the door; one of the hinges tore from the wall.\n\nBraith and Conall shared a look, then Braith carried Rhin into the darkness beyond the hidden door, and Conall walked towards Corban.\n\nCorban threw himself about, slamming against the wall, tearing away from it, the chains rattling. Nothing happened, though." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sorry, lad. No hard feelings,\" Conall said as he raised his knife. He hesitated. \"Your sister's not going to thank me for this. '\n\nI'm going to die.\n\nAnother blow hit the door and it crashed into the room, a cloud of dust filling the doorway, billowing out. A figure burst through, a dark-furred wolven standing on two feet, wielding a huge war-hammer, other blurred forms behind.\n\nFarrell.\n\nHe saw Conall and with a burst of speed Farrell threw himself across the room, hammer raised high. Conall just had time to duck. The hammer crashed into the wall behind Conall, close to Corban's head, chips of rock flying.\n\nConall stabbed with his knife, but the blade turned on Farrell's coat of mail. There was a brief flurry as the two traded blows, Farrell gripping his hammer like a staff, striking with both ends. They grappled together, then abruptly Farrell was on his back, Conall's sword hovering over him, his knife at Corban's throat.\n\n\"Con, no!\" A scream.\n\nConall froze, eyes drawn to the voice.\n\nIt was Coralen, standing in her wolven pelt, streaks of blood and grime coating her.\n\n\"Cora?\" A whisper from Conall.\n\n\"Don't do it, Con. '\n\nTime stood still– a heartbeat that felt like a year to Corban.\n\n\"Please,\" Coralen said.\n\nA look of pain swept Conall's face. He lowered his weapon and ran for the hidden door. Briefly he paused at its entrance, standing half in light, half in darkness, and looked back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Con, wait.\"\n\nHe melted into the darkness.\n\nCoralen ran to the doorway and shouted after him. Only her echoes answered her. Then she turned and stared at Corban and Farrell. Corban saw tears like pale claw marks streaking her face. She crossed the room, stepped over Farrell and hugged Corban tight, burying her face in the arch of his neck and shoulder. He felt sobs shaking her.\n\nFarrell shifted on the ground and Coralen stepped away, eyes downcast. Then Corban's mam was there, clutching her spear. She filled Coralen's place, squeezing him tight, stroking his face. Farrell climbed to his feet, a frown on his face.\n\n\"The keys?\" his mam asked as she let goof him and began searching fora way to set him free.\n\n\"I don't know. ' Corban said.\n\nCoralen was back at the smashed doorway, her hands at the belt of the dead guardsman.\n\n\"Keys,\" she said, taking a bundle from his belt and jangling them.\n\nThey tried them, and the third key clicked in the lock, the shackles about his wrists opening. He slumped down and Farrell caught him. Another click and his feet were free.\n\n\"Where are the others?\" Corban asked.\n\n\"Brina and Dath are guarding the rope we climbed in on. Storm's with them, \"his mam said.\"Gar. We need to get back to him– we were chased. He dropped back. ' The fear in her eyes said more than her words.\n\n\"To Gar, then,\" Corban said.\n\n\"No need,\" a voice said from the doorway.\n\nGar stood there, amass of shapes filling the corridor behind. There was something strange about him, then Corban realized what it was." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He's smiling.\n\nA man stood beside him, of similar build, holding a sword the same as Gar's. The similarities did not end there. They shared the same nose, the same serious gaze, this man's dark hair streaked with grey at the temples.\n\n\"This is my father, Tukul, lord of the Jehar,\" Gar said.\n\nThey all stared at him. Tukul crossed the room to Corban and dropped to one knee, taking Corban's hand in his.\n\n\"I pledge my sword, my heart, my strength to you,\" he said.\n\nCorban gaped, too dumbfounded for words. Then another figure stepped past Gar into the room. He was taller, with black hair pulled tight from fine, chiselled features. Silver scars layered his face.\n\n\"I know you,\" Corban said. \"Who are you?\"\n\n\"A friend in a dark place,\" the man said, and smiled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos stood on the battlements of Jerolin, looking out over the lake, which glistened under a wan winter sun.\n\nThe lake bristled with ships. His ships. They were full of warriors, their families, slaves for rowing, merchants and traders from the Three Islands, all gathering to him.\n\nOver two thousand warriors. They had arrived slowly, over a matter of moons, so as not to arouse suspicion or panic. And during the same time he had ordered Fidele to sendoff the bulk of the eagle-guard that had been stationed at Jerolin to various distant locations in Tenebral, where they could be of little threat to his plans. Now only a few hundred remained here at Tenebral's capital, so his Vin Thalun warriors outnumbered them almost ten to one. And that was not all that he had brought to Tenebral.\n\nHoused on the ships in the lake were his pit-fighters, as well. On the plain between the fortress and the lake a wooden construct was taking shape, circular tiers rising high, supported by huge timber beams. Anew type of fighting pit. He smiled to himself.\n\nFinally, after so many years, it is happening. He turned to look over the dark stone buildings of Jerolin, the sharp spike of the tower overshadowing them all.\n\nThis is all mine now, he thought. Jerolin is the heart of Tenebral, and it belongs tome. By proxy. His fingers dipped inside his cloak, seeking the effigy of Fidele. He felt a moment of fear, a weightlessness in his gut as his fingers searched. Then he felt it, smooth clay and brittle hair. Such power. With Fidele a puppet in my hand I rule Jerolin, and with it, all of Tenebral." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Riders appeared on the road to the north, eight or ten of them. Lykos watched them draw closer, until he could seethe white eagles embossed on their cuirasses and shields.\n\nPeritus has returned, then. And the first thing he will do is seek an audience with Fidele.\n\nA chill wind blew out of the north along with them. He shivered and pulled his cloak tighter. It is warmer on the Islands. But I have Fidele to keep me warm here.\n\nHe felt a stirring in his blood, just at the thought of her. He closed his eyes and drew in along breath, could still smell her, a residue on his beard of rose petals and sweat. With the thought of her fresh in his mind he turned and made his way towards Jerolin's tower.\n\nPeople looked away as he passed them, none brave enough or stupid enough to give him the black looks he had once become accustomed to. At first, when Fidele had announced him forgiven of his crimes and welcomed into the heart of Jerolin he had still received those looks, but as the days had passed and with them demonstration after demonstration that he could do as he wished without consequence the angry glares had turned away. Initially a horde of people complaining too loudly had been dragged to the dungeons, and that no doubt had helped to silence the complainers, but Lykos could still sense the animosity. These people were not cowed, yet. A stronger lesson was needed.\n\nHe passed a roped-off courtyard with bloodstains still on the flagstones. He had already begun the pit-fighting, on a small scale. A few contests in makeshift rings in the lakeside town at first, then moving to the stronghold. There had been an outcry, of course. Petitions had been sent to Fidele by the wainload, but, under his control she had just ignored them. And people had come, had watched, had bet silver and gold. A trickle at first, furtive looking, trying to stand in the shadows, but more had turned up with each bout. Soon he would spread the entertainment throughout Tenebral, but not until the arena on the plain had been finished. We will need more slaves soon, else we'll run out of fighters." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The spoils of war would supply that need soon enough.\n\nHe found Fidele in her chambers high in Jerolin's tower. She stared at him with such a look of hatred and contempt that he smiled– he had seen that look before, on the recently conquered, warriors he had made his slaves. In time the look would pass, would merge into other things. First would come despair, then acceptance, then servitude. He reached a hand into his cloak and her expression changed, became fearful. That made him smile as well.\n\n\"Speak your mind,\" he said.\n\nShe opened her mouth, not trusting her voice. \"My son will kill you for this,\" she breathed, beginning little above a whisper. She looked surprised that her thoughts had aligned with her words.\n\n\"I don't think he will, ' Lykos said. Soon enough he will have more on his mind than the governance of Tenebral.\n\n\"Then I will kill you,\" she said, her voice rising, her back straightening, as if control of her vocal cords gave her actual strength.\n\n\"Enough,\" Lykos commanded. Or your guards will hear.\n\nA struggle took place within the confines of her face and behind her eyes. She was clinging to her freedom of speech, refusing to let it go. Her mouth opened, lips twisting, but nothing came out. A few more moments passed as Lykos watched, entertained. Then her shoulders slumped, her body sagging.\n\n\"You will have a visitor soon,\" he began...\n\nThere was a knock on the door.\n\n\"Enter,\" Fidele called.\n\nShe was satin a high-backed chair, wrapped in a cloak of darkest sable contrasting with her milky skin, her lips a deep red." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I shall have her when this is done, thought Lykos." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was standing further back, half in shadow. Deinon stood the other side of Fidele's chair. Other Vin Thalun were hidden about the dark edges of the room.\n\nTwo men walked into the chamber: Peritus, the old battlechief, and Armatus, his childhood friend and also first-sword of the dead king, Aquilus. They were both older men, the wrong side of forty, Lykos guessed. Both had deep lines in their faces and more grey than black in their hair. They both had a reputation with their blades, though, and Lykos was not one to underestimate an enemy.\n\n\"My lady,\" Peritus said, bowing to Fidele. Then he saw Lykos. A look passed between him and Armatus.\n\n\"Welcome back to Jerolin,\" Fidele said to them both. There was little warmth in her voice. \"How are things in the north?\"\n\n\"Quiet,\" Peritus said. \"The giants\" raids have all but stopped. It was good to be home. I have returned early, though, because I am hearing strange things. About Jerolin. ' He paused, looking uncomfortable.\n\n\"What things?\" Fidele said.\n\n\"Where is Orcus?\" Armatus asked. His eyes had seen Deinon standing in the shadows.\n\n\"I gave Orcus a leave of absence. There was illness in his family.\"\n\nHe does not believe her, Lykos thought, watching Armatus.\n\n\"What strange things do you speak of, Peritus?\" Fidele continued.\n\n\"May we speak alone?\" Peritus asked, eyes flickering to Lykos.\n\n\"No, we may not,\" Fidele said. \"My son, your King, trusts Lykos, and so do I.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You had a different opinion the last time that I saw you.\"\n\n\"Opinions change.\"\n\n\"But, the fighting pits. The dead, the boy dragged up from the lake– Jace. They were facts, not opinions. Lykos and his kind are murderers. You know this.\"\n\nFidele stared at Peritus. Muscles in her face twitched. She opened her mouth but only a breath hissed out.\n\nLykos squeezed the effigy concealed in his hand and Fidele groaned.\n\n\"Are you well, my lady?\" Peritus said to her, stepping forwards.\n\n\"Stay where you are,\" Lykos said, moving out of the shadows.\n\nPeritus froze, but Armatus moved forwards now. \"The last time I was in Jerolin, the Vin Thalun didn't give orders to the battlechief of Tenebral, ' he said.\n\n\"Things have changed,\" Lykos replied. He smiled at the two men.\n\n\"How so?\" Peritus said. There was an edge in his voice now, one that Lykos recognized. Of violence restrained.\n\n\"Because I have willed it,\" Fidele said, breaking a taut silence. \"We must move forwards, not backwards, and grudges and outdated rules cannot hold us back. The alliance with the Vin Thalun is vital to our cause. Lykos has given us great aid.\"\n\n\"Outdated rules?\" Peritus breathed. \"Since when has the punishment of murder become an outdated rule?\"\n\n\"I have decided to forgive and move on,\" Fidele said. Her tone was angry now. Only Lykos knew that that anger was not roused by Peritus' questions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Fidele,\" Peritus said, \"you are not in your right mind. How can you say such things? You saw the pit at Balara– the dead heaped in piles.\"\n\n\"Enough,\" Lykos barked. He was losing patience with this now. \"Tell him all of it,\" he said to Fidele.\n\n\"To honour this new beginning, games are to beheld. A celebration. I have commissioned an arena to be built. Tenebral shall watch our enemies fight to the death.\"\n\n\"Pit-fighting, in Jerolin,\" Peritus hissed. \"You are out of your mind, or under a spell.\"\n\nFidele's body jerked at that, her eyes screwing shut.\n\n\"What is wrong with you?\"\n\nStrong-minded bitch, thought Lykos. How can she fight this? He gripped the effigy tighter, and willed her to obey.\n\n\"Nothing,\" Fidele said with a shudder.\n\n\"Something ails you,\" Peritus said. He looked at Armatus, something passing between them. \"You are not in your right mind, notable to rule, at present.\"\n\nIna blur of motion, faster than anything Lykos had anticipated, Armatus had drawn his sword and was holding it levelled at Lykos' chest.\n\n\"As battlechief of Tenebral I claim the regency while you recover,\" Peritus said. He was watching Deinon, who had taken astride closer, his sword half-drawn, but had frozen now.\n\nFidele's gaze drifted over Peritus\" shoulder, just a flicker of her eyes.\n\nPeritus whirled, drawing his own blade; the Vin Thalun who had stood hidden in the shadows fell on him. Peritus managed to stab one in the shoulder, but there were six Vin Thalun, four of them pit-trained. Within moments Peritus was on his knees, half stunned. He was dragged to his feet and a blade held across his throat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Put your sword down,\" Lykos said to Armatus.\n\nThe warrior had hesitated, just fora heartbeat, and that was all it had taken for Peritus to be overwhelmed. Lykos had not moved.\n\n\"Put it down,\" he repeated.\n\n\"Kill him,\" Peritus slurred. Blood ran down his face from a blow to the head.\n\nThe dilemma warred across Armatus'features. Lykos saw the decision in the man's eyes before it reached his limbs. He lowered his sword.\n\nImmediately Deinon surged forwards, holding his own blade at Armatus' chest.\n\n\"Weak fool,\" Lykos said. He stepped forwards and punched Armatus in the throat, the old warrior dropping to one knee, gasping for breath.\n\n\"He should have killed me,\" Lykos said conversationally to Peritus. \"My Queen,\" he said to Fidele. \"If I am not mistaken, I think we have just witnessed an act of treason. What is the punishment for such a crime in Tenebral?\"\n\nFidele struggled, paused and then answered through clenched teeth. \"Execution.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban ran through the corridors of Dun Vaner, pasta trail of the dead. He hurt in a dozen places– his wrists, ankles, ribs, jaw, too many pains to recognize– but it felt so good to be free, to be reunited with his mam and friends. And more. He had been certain his death was at hand, bound, with a knife at his throat and noway to fight it off. To be saved from that, to still live and draw breath. He felt euphoric. He felt reborn.\n\nAnd so much had happened. Not least Gar's father joining them. Even as they ran through the halls and stairwells, more of these strange warriors were joining them. The Jehar. Four at the entrance to the first stairwell, corpses piled about them, then another three, then five, another two, until Corban felt as if he was part of a small warband rather than an escaping prisoner.\n\nThe sound of combat drifted from ahead, growing louder. Then they were in a feast-hall, a pitched battle raging through it.\n\nThere were at least a hundred warriors in the room, most of them Rhin's men. Amongst them swirled the dark shapes of Jehar warriors, fast, graceful and deadly, leaving only the dead or dying in their wake. Force of numbers threatened to overwhelm them, though. Corban could see a pile of corpses in a half-circle about the doorway, but the battle had been pushed back from there, with more of Rhin's men crowding the entrance.\n\nAll about Corban warriors surged forwards, Tukul and Meical at their head. They crashed into the battle, an unstoppable force. Gar hesitated, lingering close to Corban, his familiar position. His mam, Farrell and Coralen did the same, pulling close about him, an unbidden, instinctive reaction in them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "In moments the battle was all but done in the hall." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Meical, Tukul and forty or so Jehar warriors at his back turned the conflict in heartbeats. The remnants of Rhin's warriors fled through the doors, the Jehar following them, their battle spilling out into the courtyard.\n\nCorban and the others followed.\n\nAll was chaos out here. Fresh snow had fallen, coating the flagstones, more was swirling down. As Corban looked, he saw Tukul storming into a knot of warriors. A severed arm spun through the air, jetting a trail of blood, startlingly red on the fresh snow.\n\nGar was dancing on his toes, desperate to join the battle, then the battle joined them, a handful of men rushing them.\n\nGar took the first one's head; the warrior's body ran on a few paces before the legs gave way. Another fell with one of Gwenith's knives in his chest, then Farrell and Coralen were wading in. Corban hefted the sword which had been returned to him by Gar in the dungeon and joined the fray.\n\nHe blocked a wild swing, twisted his wrist and stabbed the man through the throat, blood spraying his face as he ripped his blade free. He moved forwards, ducked another slash, chopped three, four blows in retaliation, the fifth breaking through a weakening defence, crashing into an iron helm, denting it, the warrior staggering. Corban kicked the dazed man's legs away and stabbed down hard as he stepped over him. He found a release in this battle: a simplicity that focused his mind, feeling both a sense of calm and a wild joy, barely contained. He concentrated on each breath, the shift of weight on his feet, his balance, the flow of muscle in hip and back, shoulder and arm, and faceless warriors fell like wheat as he cut through their ranks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then there was no one left before him. He looked about, slashed the shoulder of a man who was attacking Coralen. She finished him with her wolven claws. His mam was retreating before a sustained assault, turning a blade with her spear shaft. Corban and Gar saw at the same time. The man fell with two swords piercing him.\n\nThere was a clatter of hooves from the stableblock, shouting and yelling, and horses exploded from the stable's gates. Rhin was at their head, Braith and Conall close behind, a dozen other warriors following. They rode hard across the courtyard, trampling friend and enemy alike.\n\nCoralen ran forwards, calling Conall's name. He must have heard, even over the din of battle, for at the open gateway he reined in and looked back. He saw Coralen, just stared fora heartbeat, then kicked his horse on.\n\nCoralen ran after him, Corban and his companions following her. They stopped in the archway of the gates, watching as Rhin and her shieldmen galloped down the snow-covered slopes of Dun Vaner.\n\nA rider stiffened in his saddle, a black arrow sprouting from his back. He toppled from his mount and was dragged through the snow.\n\nA streak of movement caught Corban's eye, a blur moving after the galloping shapes, speeding across the snow much faster than the labouring horses.\n\nStorm.\n\nSilent as smoke, she caught up with the escaping riders and launched herself into the air. With a crunch that Corban felt as well as heard, the last horse and rider tumbled to the ground, an explosion of snow concealing them all. As it cleared, Corban saw a man rise from the ground and begin running. The horse didn't move. Storm shook herself and leaped after the man, crashing into his back, jaws sinking into his head. She gave a savage wrench of her neck and there was a spray of blood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Storm,\" Corban called.\n\nShe looked up at the sound, ears twitching, saw him and ran at them. She skidded before Corban, jumped on him, her hot breath washing his face, rough tongue scratching his skin. He staggered under her weight, hugged her tight, burying his face in her bloodied fur.\n\nHe realized a silence had fallen and he pulled away from Storm, turned and looked into the courtyard.\n\nThe battle was done, all of Rhin's remaining warriors dead. A few score of these strange Jehar warriors stood staring at him, the place eerily silent and still, the only movement the gently falling snow. Tukul stepped forward, drew his sword and pointed it at the sky.\"The Seren Disglair. '\n\nWith a cry, the other warriors did the same, then together they all dropped to one knee and bowed their heads before him.\n\nThey searched the fortress and found it to be deserted. Only a small company had been garrisoned there; the bulk of Rhin's warriors and their kin were on the move in the south, invading Domhain. Tukul patrolled the entire stronghold personally, and only then did he declare it safe. They collected their dead– eight Jehar warriors– and made a pyre in the courtyard, Tukul singing a solemn lament as the fires burned. Snow was falling heavier again, and the light was already failing, so they barred the gates and made camp in the feast-hall that night with Jehar patrolling the walls.\n\n\"Ventos,\" Corban said to himself, thinking of how he had ended up in this place. \"Where is Ventos?\" He was exhausted now, sitting close to the fire-pit and chewing on a leg of mutton, one of many discovered in a huge cold-room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dead,\" Dath said. \"We found him with your knife in his belly. You should have seen your mam– she would have liked to bring him back to life, just so she could kill him again.\"\n\nHe smiled at that. It saddened him, thinking of Ventos. He had liked the man, had thought him a friend. But he had betrayed him.\n\n\"How did you get in?\"\n\n\"We climbed the wall to the north,\" said Dath. \"It's a sheer drop, but they weren't very vigilant. I guess they didn't have enough men hereto man every wall, and they weren't exactly expecting an attack. Brina tied a loop in some rope and Craf flew it up to the battlements and dropped it over something solid.\"\n\n\"But how did you find me? How did you know whereto look?\"\n\n\"Craf again,\" said Dath. \"He looked in every hole in this fortress until he found you. He's handy to have around, that bird, even if his eating habits would make the dead vomit up their last meal. '\n\n\"He is indeed,\" Corban agreed. He tore off a strip of meat and threw it to Craf, who was perched contentedly on the back of Brina's chair. He caught the meat in the air and gulped it down.\n\nBrina had hugged Corban tight when she had seen him, then berated him sharply for having let himself be captured. Corban had not minded, though. He had felt a swell of emotion at seeing the old woman, at seeing all of his friends. And what they had done for him.\n\nHe felt it again now, looking about the room at them– his mam sitting quiet beside Brina, Gar talking to Tukul– his da, Corban could still not get over that– Dath and Farrell sitting either side of him, Coralen, further apart, brooding, silently scouring crusted blood from her wolven claws." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Such friends. Following me through the mountains, attacking Braith. Storming a fortress. Rhin's fortress. Just looking at them, he felt a pressure building in his chest. This world maybe full of greed and tragedy and darkness, but I am fortunate beyond measure to have such people about me.\n\nHis eyes drifted deeper around the room, at the scores of Jehar warriors. Most were quietly going about small tasks– repairing torn leather with thread and needle, replacing rings in a chainmail shirt, using a whetstone to workout a notch in a blade, cleaning and binding a wound.\n\nEvery now and then he would feel eyes upon him, would catch some of the Jehar looking at him, just staring. It made him feel uncomfortable. There was something in their eyes, almost adoration.\n\nThen he saw Meical. He was sitting in the shadows beyond the firelight, long legs stretched out before him, his face a dark pool, but something told Corban he was staring straight back at him.\n\nHe remembered his dream– not a dream, something more, something real– and Meical's part in it. He was the Ben-Elim who had saved him, who had carried him from Asroth's palace.\n\nThey had hardly talked in the dungeon, Corban struggling to take in what he was seeing, but they would have to, soon. He knew that.\n\nHe looked away from the shadows, his gaze settling upon his mam. She was watching him, too. She rose and sat beside him.\n\n\"So,\" she said.\n\n\"Thank you, Mam.\"\n\n\"What for?\"\n\n\"For coming to get me.\"\n\nShe hugged him fiercely.\n\n\"I knew him. He was in Dun Carreg, briefly. But I recognize him from my dreams,\" Corban said, looking back to Meical." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I saw, in the dungeon. So, do you believe, now?\"\n\nHe was dimly aware that Dath and Farrell were leaning forward, listening intently.\n\n\"I... my dreams, Mam. They weren't dreams, really, I was somewhere else. In the Otherworld. '\n\n\"Yes. You've been having them for years. They stopped fora while. '\n\n\"Rhin was in the last one. She took me to Asroth.\"\n\nHis mam tensed, her hand squeezing his leg.\n\n\"I was terrified. Asroth, he wants to kill me– you were right.\"\n\n\"So you do believe, then?\"\n\nHe had not wanted to think about this, to face it. All the while he was busy it was just a shadow hovering somewhere behind him, but now he could no longer avoid this subject. He had walked in the Otherworld, come face to face with Asroth and his Kadoshim, and with the Ben-Elim. How could he deny the truth of it? Clearly it was no lie, so either he was mad, as he had thought Gar was, fora while, or it was the truth. There was no longer any option for an alternative explanation. He sighed.\n\n\"How could I not, now? I'm sorry for not trusting you. '\n\nShe smiled. \"I have found it hard to believe, myself, at times.\"\n\n\"I don't want to believe it, though. I'd rather not think about it. And when I do think about it I end up with a lot of questions,\" Corban said.\n\n\"Of course you do.\"\n\nA voice rang out, then. Corban looked up and saw that Meical was standing close to the fire-pit, almost before him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What would you do from here?\" Meical said, looking straight at him.\n\n\"You're asking me? ' Corban said.\n\n\"Everyone in this room is here because of you, Corban. You are the Seren Disglair, the Bright Star.\"\n\nCorban cringed inwardly at that. He caught a glimpse of Dath and Farrell staring at him– Dath wide eyed, Farrell nodding thoughtfully. Coralen regarded him with a raised eyebrow.\n\n\"We will follow your lead,\" Meical continued. \"I will offer you my counsel, and you can do with it what you will. For myself, I would advise that we should go to Drassil, deep within Forn Forest.\"\n\n\"Why?\" Corban asked. He heard Brina chuckle.\n\n\"Because Halvor's prophecy says that is where you will go, where the resistance against Asroth and his Black Sun will gather. '\n\nWho is Halvor? What prophecy? A hundred other questions lined up in his mind, fighting to be asked first.\n\nI'm going to Murias to get my sister,\" he said instead.\n\n\"Murias. Where Nathair is going?\" Meical said.\n\n\"That's right. My sister Cywen is his prisoner. '\n\n\"She is his prisoner to lure you to him, surely you must know that?\"\n\n\"I was starting to guess as much,\" Corban said. \"But it makes no difference. I cannot abandon her.\"\n\n\"No, we cannot,\" his mam echoed.\n\nMeical just looked at him fora long drawn-out moment. Corban returned his gaze.\n\n\"All right then,\" Meical said. \"We shall go to Murias.\"\n\n\"You don't have to come, ' Corban said. He did not want the lives of so many on his conscience." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is our choice,\" Meical said. \"And as you feel about your sister, so we feel about you.\"\n\nCorban thought about that, thought about standing before Asroth and seeing a band of the Ben-Elim brave the hosts of Kadoshim to save him. He nodded.\n\n\"And Sumur is with Nathair,\" Tukul said from the fireside. \"I would like to see him. We have things to discuss.\"\n\nI can imagine what they are.\n\n\"What is at Murias?\" Corban asked.\n\n\"Giants,\" Coralen said.\n\n\"She's right, \"Meical said.\"The Benothi giants. And one of the Seven Treasures. The cauldron. '\n\nThe Seven Treasures? Now those were tales I used to love hearing old Heb tell.\n\n\"The cauldron?\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Meical said with a sigh. \"Asroth used it before, in the War of Treasures. It was made for good but, like most things, can be put to a different use depending on the hand that holds it. It has the potential to be a powerful weapon.\"\n\n\"What did Asroth want it for?\" asked Corban.\n\n\"To slaughter every living soul that Elyon has created.\"\n\n\"That doesn't sound good, ' whispered Dath to Farrell.\n\n\"Well it obviously didn't work, did it? \"Farrell whispered back.\"Else none of us would be here. '\n\n\"That is because Elyon unleashed his Scourging,\" Meical said. \"That was bad enough, and Elyon is unlikely to intervene this time.\"\n\n\"So we need to stop Nathair getting to this cauldron, then,\" said Farrell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Perhaps. I do not know if we can. It is protected, though. There are some of the Benothi that live still who saw the destruction wrought by the War of Treasures. Nemain, the Benothi Queen, was there. She saw. She will not willingly allow the cauldron to be used to wage war again.\"\n\n\"But Nathair has the Jehar with him. If any are capable of taking it, it is them,\" said Tukul.\n\n\"Aye. So, to Murias it is,\" said Meical. North of here, a hundred leagues through Cambren and then into Benoth. '\n\n\"It will be hard going, fighting all the way through Cambren,\" said Coralen. \"The bulk of Rhin's warriors maybe to the south invading Domhain, but that does not mean the entire north is empty of enemies. And the best roads are littered with settlements– they will not look on you kindly. You maybe forced to travel leagues out of your way, through difficult terrain. You would be better off travelling back into Domhain and then heading north on a clear path. You may even catch them. '\n\n\"I do not know the way through Domhain,\" Meical said.\n\n\"I do,\" said Coralen. \"I've lived half my life patrolling the borderlands, I know every path and fox's trail fora hundred leagues, and I've been insight of Murias before. I'll take you.\"\n\nMeical looked between Corban and Tukul.\n\n\"Thank you,\" said Corban. She nodded at him, as if something long considered had just been decided, then leaned back on her bench and crossed her arms.\n\n\"So then, we should gather supplies fora mountain crossing,\" said Meical. \"We'll leave at dawn. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They settled down for sleep soon after, the fire-pit still crackling. Storm stretched close to Corban. The murmur of Gar and Tukul's voices blended as they talked into the night.\n\nCorban's mind was whirling, but he was exhausted and sleep rose up like a tide to wash over him. Strangely, after all that had happened to him today, the most prominent thought in his mind as he drifted off wasn't that he had come face to face with Asroth, or seen one of the Ben-Elim walk into his dungeon, or seen Rhin evicted from her own stronghold. It was the embrace that Coralen had given him whilst he was hanging from his shackles. He could still feel her hair in his face, smell her skin, feel the beating of her heart and the heave of her suppressed sobs against his manacled body." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis gazed at the mist-shrouded walls of Dun Taras. He had looked at the same walls everyday for more than a moon now, through snow, rain and winter sun.\n\nHis and Geraint's warbands ringed the fortress, allowing no passage in or out.\n\n\"They must be hungry by now,\" Bos said beside him.\n\n\"I would think so.\"\n\nGeraint had wanted to assault the walls as soon as they had reached Dun Taras, not far behind the last stragglers of Domhain's fleeing warband. Veradis had refused to commit his men, not wanting to throw lives away for uncertain gain. He had counselled patience, to lay siege to the fortress, despite how he hated the thought of waiting here through the heart of winter.\n\n\"We have the upper hand now,\" Veradis had said when Geraint asked him to join in the assault. \"They are beaten, disheartened. If you assault the walls you will lose hundreds, and in likelihood fail, at least at first. Why lose good men and boost your enemy's morale when we can just sit here, eat good food and watch them starve? '\n\nGeraint had gone ahead without him, taking a day to build ladders and battering rams. Over a thousand men had died in the assault; they gained the walls once, but were beaten back. Geraint did not attack again.\n\nSo they had setup camp, encircled the fortress and waited. Midwinter's Day came and went. The days started to grow longer. Veradis hated it; the inactivity frustrated him. Each day he set his men to training– first the shield wall, then individual sparring. And he had been meeting with weapon-smiths, the battle at Domhain's border having planted the seeds of ideas in his mind. And always in his mind the same recurrent thoughts crept to the surface. Nathair. Where is he? Has he reached Murias? Is the cauldron his? Is Cywen safe?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How much longer of this?\" Bos asked him.\n\n\"Depends what they choose to do. They could surrender. Or they could decide they've had enough of not eating and march out and take us on. \"Veradis shrugged.\"What would you do? '\n\nBos scowled. \"I don't like being hungry– makes me mad. I'd probably come looking for someone to kill.\"\n\nVeradis smiled at that. He could almost picture it.\n\n\"Also, much rests on their king. This Eremon, he's old, and not so well liked as he could be by his people, I've heard. Makes me think he's more likely to order an attack sooner than later, before his people decide they've had enough of him.\"\n\n\"So why haven't they come looking fora fight already? ' Bos mused.\n\n\"My guess is us,\" Veradis said. \"The shield wall. They know what we can do now, and this ground is perfect for us. Would you march out to face us again?\"\n\n\"Probably not. At least, not without an idea of how to win.\"\n\n\"Exactly. So they sit behind their walls, and starve.\"\n\nThe sound of riders drew their attention, from behind, along the giants'road. Veradis saw a small group, perhaps fifty, moving at a canter. Rhin's banner rippled above them, a broken branch.\n\nVeradis was ushered into a tent; furs were scattered liberally, afire burning brightly in an iron basket. Rhin sat close to it, warming her hands. She looked older, somehow, or perhaps just exhausted. Blue veins traced a map beneath her papery skin. She looked up at Veradis as he entered and ushered him to a seat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Something is wrong.\n\nGeraint was already there, sitting and sipping from a cup. Conall stood behind Rhin, a bearskin cloak draped over his shoulders.\n\n\"Where is Nathair?\" Veradis said. \"My lady,\" he added as he remembered who he was talking to.\n\n\"Nathair is on his way to Murias. Or was when I left him at Dun Vaner.\"\n\n\"He was well?\"\n\n\"Yes, yes.\"\n\nVeradis breathed out a sigh and felt a measure of tension melt away.\n\n\"May I ask, what troubles you, my lady?\" he said.\n\n\"Is it that obvious?\" She frowned.\n\nVeradis shrugged.\n\n\"At Dun Vaner I had a prisoner brought tome, caught as he was crossing the mountains into Cambren. It was this Corban, the one that your King seeks.\"\n\n\"What was he doing there?\"\n\n\"He was chasing after his sister. Somehow he knew she was with Nathair.\"\n\nCywen. Unbidden, her face flashed into his mind. She was always tear-stained in his memory, always so sad.\n\n\"What did you do with him? Nathair will be grateful for your help.\"\n\n\"I don't think so, \"Rhin said with a twist of her lips.\"He was rescued. I only just escaped with my life. '\n\n\"How? What happened?\"\n\nA look crossed her face, harrowed, scared even. \"That doesn't matter now. I have sent a large force north to deal with them. \"Her eyes became unfocused, then she shivered and sat straighter.\"There is nothing more to be done about that now. Let us get on with the business of conquering Domhain. So... \"She smiled at him, something of her usual spark returning.\"Geraint tells me you broke the back of Domhain's warband and sent them scurrying back here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He didn't answer that, just took a sip from the drink in front of him.\n\n\"I shall have to think of away to reward you.\" Rhin's smile deepened.\n\nDear Elyon in heaven, no.\n\n\"So now we have all the rats in this trap, how are we going to finish them?\" Rhin said. \"Eremon is the key, I think. I am told he is generally kept in hand by his wife, Roisin, and she is less popular amongst the people than Eremon. Perhaps it is time to go and talk to them, see if a few moons of empty bellies have made them more receptive to negotiation.\"\n\n\"What have you in mind?\" Veradis asked.\n\n\"Him,\" she said, pointing a bony finger at Conall. \"He is Eremon's bastard– the blood of a king flows in his veins. Why not make him a king– one who will bend the knee tome, of course, High Queen of the West. He is young, handsome, strong, full of... vigour. \"She paused, a sly smile twitching her lips.\"Eremon is in the twilight of his reign and his heir is only a boy– fourteen, fifteen summers? '\n\n\"He will be fifteen now,\" Conall said.\n\n\"I think our offer will be quite tempting to those inside the walls of Dun Taras. Not to Roisin or her brat, of course, but to most of the rest. Especially if food is part of the bargain. And peace, of course.\"\n\nNever underestimate this one. Her mind's as sharp as any of us in this tent, probably sharper." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Vin Thalun warriors walked before Maquin, the crowds parting around them. Dimly he was aware of them, of the iron-grey clouds overhead, the cold air snatching at his skin. It all merged, a semi-conscious blur as his eyes focused on the space opening before him, a ring of turf churned to mud, tiered rows rising about it, crammed with shouting people. At the ring's centre stood a tall post, iron chains hanging from it. Beside it was a basket with weapons poking from it: a spear, a sword, maybe more.\n\nHe saw a huddle of men emerge from the far side, herded by Vin Thalun behind them.\n\nMaquin sprinted for the basket.\n\nThere were three at least, maybe more. They saw Maquin charging towards them; he registered the confusion in their eyes before they realized he was heading for the basket of weapons, not them. One started running for it, others behind him were slower.\n\nMaquin reached the basket first. He grabbed the spear and hurled it into the baying crowd; before its flight was completed he was reaching back into the basket, pulling out the remaining sword and knife. Then he stepped past it to meet his attackers.\n\nThe first one saw he was too late and tried to slow, twisting away, his feet slithering on the muddy ground. Maquin's sword caught him in the head as he dropped, just above the ear. The blade stuck, the weight of the lifeless body dragging it out of Maquin's hands. He stepped over the twitching corpse, switching the knife from left hand to right.\n\nThere were three more. They spread about him cautiously. Maquin could seethe raw rope wounds on their wrists– his own had healed to silver scars– recent captives, then, not long come to the Vin Thalun fighting pits." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He surged at the central man, not wanting to give the group a chance to circle him. He ducked swooping arms, a blow glanced off his shoulder; he collided with his opponent, his momentum burying his knife to the hilt in the man's belly. He ripped up, at the same time spun away, turning to face the sound of approaching feet.\n\nThis one was almost upon him. He saw a blur of movement, dropped to his knees, a hooked punch whistling over his head. Then he rolled forwards, slashed with his knife as he passed the man. He felt it bite, came out of his roll on the balls of his feet and stood.\n\nA thin line scored the man's calf, blood sheeting down. Maquin advanced, the man retreating, hands held high, backing past the man whom Maquin had just gutted, lying in a pool of glistening entrails. Behind him Maquin saw another figure, stooping over the corpse that had a sword lodged in its skull.\n\nThe man before him lunged forwards, perhaps seeing Maquin's distraction. One hand clamped around Maquin's wrist, pinning the knife, the other reached for his throat.\n\nMaquin pulled backwards, using the weight of his enemy's desperate rush to send them both crashing to the ground. The man flew over Maquin's head, helped along by his boot. With a twist of his body Maquin was rising, surging forwards. He punched his knife into the man's chest as he slipped in the churned ground.\n\nThe last survivor was still tugging at the sword stuck in the dead man's skull as Maquin approached him.\n\nHe was young, surely not much past his Long Night, downy wisps on his chin where a beard should be. He tugged harder as Maquin drew closer, putting afoot on the dead man's face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A spear thudded into the ground close to the lad's feet, laughter rippling the pit. It was the spear Maquin had hurled away. The lad gave up his tugging at the sword and desperately grabbed the spear shaft, pointing it at Maquin. It shook.\n\nMaquin refused to care, just kept advancing. The lad lunged and Maquin twisted, the spear-blade scoring a thin line along his upper chest and shoulder. Then with one hand he gripped the spear shaft and he powered forwards. The lad pulled on the spear, then collapsed with Maquin's knife in his eye.\n\nMaquin watched the boy drop to the ground, his eyes drawn to him, a collapsed heap, limbs twisted. Whatever the spark of life was, it was instantly snuffed out; now he was just an empty bag of meat and bones.\n\nWhat have I become?\n\nHe sat on a bench beside Javed, the small pit-fighter from Tarbesh. They were grouped with a handful of other pit-fighters– the elite, as Herak had started calling them– looking through iron bars into the ring where Maquin had just fought. He wiped something from his face, mud or blood, he did not know.\n\nHe looked through the broad timber struts at the plain and fortress of Jerolin on its hill. I have been here before. The council of King Aquilus. It didn't look like this then. He had been here awhile now; after the sea journey it was another ten-night of hard rowing up a river before they had reached Jerolin's lake. They had not been the first ship to arrive, nor the last. A small fleet of Vin Thalun war-galleys now spread across the horizon and their warriors were thick around the fortress and town.\n\nHe did not know what Lykos' plans were, but they clearly involved Jerolin and probably all of Tenebral." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not that I care, he told himself. My task is to kill any put before me. Earn my freedom. Find Jael and kill him.\n\nHow Lykos had managed it, though, this shift in relations and power in Tenebral– that did intrigue him, no matter how hard he tried not to think on it. The Vin Thalun were not so popular the last time I was here. And now they all but rule the place.\n\nAt first the anger and resentment had been clear. Almost as soon as Maquin had arrived, he and his fellow slaves had been ushered into fighting pits, little more than makeshift rings bound with rope. First in the lake town, with mostly Vin Thalun as spectators, some others huddled together, watching from the anonymous shadows, then soon after moving to the fortress, fighting in courtyards. Soon the crowds had grown and become louder, braver. Life had become almost a mirror image of that back on the Island of Nerin, where they were trained each day, then put on display in open cages, like prize cattle. Many from the town and fortress came and now people were travelling to visit this new arena. Looking about, Maquin saw all manner of people: fishermen, traders, trappers, warriors, women, even children.\n\nIs the human heart so fickle? So ready to embrace such evil? He snorted at himself. Listen tome. I am the heart of this wickedness, its root.\n\nThe crowds hushed as the next entertainment entered the ring. Lykos led the way.\n\nNo, he is the root of all this. I am just afoot soldier in it all. A willing participant.\n\nBehind Lykos walked a woman, Fidele, the dead king's widow, mother of Nathair. Perhaps she was in league with Lykos; Nathair certainly had taken the Vin Thalun into his confidence. Something about her, though, told Maquin that wasn't the case– the stoop of her shoulders, the way her gaze swept the crowd, something in it speaking of desperation and a fierce anger." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But she must be in league with him. Why welcome the Vin Thalun to your realm, allow them to do this, if you did not want to?\n\nIt was not as if she did not have the means to keep him out. Maquin had seen eagle-guard about the place, dressed in their black and silver, although there had been fewer of them about of late. Behind Lykos and Fidele two men walked, hands in chains, a handful of Vin Thalun about them. Maquin saw Deinon, Lykos' shieldman, amongst them.\n\nLast of all, following this group, walked Orgull, standing ahead taller than anyone else. Beside him was another pit-fighter, shorter, leaner, still with a warrior's confidence and grace. Pallas, Maquin had heard him called. He was pit-fighter who had survived countless contests, was close to earning his freedom, or so Javed had said. Orgull was to fight him, the last bout of this day's contests.\n\nThe two men in chains were shackled to the post at the centre of the ring, the Vin Thalun guards drifting to the edges. Orgull and Pallas stood close by, patiently waiting.\n\nFidele raised her head, turning in a circle to take in the crowd. A hush fell.\n\n\"These men are traitors. They tried to assassinate me and take the crown of Tenebral. The punishment for treason is death.\"\n\nShouting rippled through the crowd, insults were hurled, as well as food. Amongst the baying for their blood Maquin heard some shouting for the men to be released, heard words such as injustice.\n\nThey are well known, then, these two. And liked by more than a few." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fidele held up a hand.\n\n\"First we shall witness a display of skill at arms. The victor shall have the honour of carrying out the death sentence on these two traitors.\"\n\nLykos led her from the ring and they walked up through the tiered benches of the arena to a viewing platform, where they sat.\n\nThe crowd became silent and still as Orgull and Pallas walked to the centre of the ring. Some Vin Thalun warriors entered the ring, carrying a table between them. Upon it were weapons. They put the table down between Orgull and Pallas and left.\n\nThere were three weapons: two short curved swords and one war-axe. A big one.\n\nI recognize that axe.\n\nPallas took the two swords and Orgull took the axe.\n\nIt is his axe, from the tombs in Haldis. Deinon must have kept it.\n\nPallas sliced the air with his two swords, muscles rolling like rope.\n\n\"I've not seen swords like that before, ' Maquin said.\n\n\"He is from my country– Tarbesh. It is our weapon.\"\n\n\"Not very good for stabbing,\" Maquin observed.\n\n\"Better for slashing, especially from horseback,\" Javed said.\n\n\"Good thing he's not on a horse, then. '\n\nMaquin felt a knot of tension settle in his gut, like a sinking stone. He was surprised at himself, thought he had killed off any sentimentality or concern for others. He realized he did not want to see Orgull die– the last of his Gadrai brothers, his last link to honour and his world before slavery. Instinctively he shifted on his bench, looked about, but there was noway down to the ring from here. Iron bars caged him in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even after all this time, some bonds must run deep. Orgull gave a great two-handed swing of his axe, the air whistling as it swept around him. Whistles and cheers drifted from the crowd.\n\nWithout any announcement or warning, the contest began, Pallas lunging across the table with one of his swords. Orgull had been ready and just stepped away, the sword slicing thin air. Orgull moved around the table, holding his axe two-handed across his chest, like a staff. Then they were at each other. The sound of iron on iron rang out as Pallas' swords slashed at Orgull, clashing on the axe as it blocked and struck. The two men were a blur, Maquin straining to follow as they swirled about each other, in and out, slash, block, strike, lunge, and then drifting apart.\n\nPallas crowded Orgull, knowing the big man needed space to use the axe well, and for frozen heartbeats Maquin could not see how his friend could survive the snake-quick strikes of the smaller man. Without realizing it he was standing, holding the bars that caged him.\n\nThen Pallas was reeling back, blood running down his forehead where Orgull had caught him with the iron-bossed butt of the axe.\n\nOrgull was not unharmed, though. Blood ran in a dozen places, tracing a web of injury across his body. Nevertheless he followed Pallas, swinging his axe now in great looping strokes.\n\nPallas ducked one slash, rolled from another and turned a third with his two swords crossed above him. Orgull kicked him as he tried to spin away, knocking the man off balance; at the same time the axe swung around, catching Pallas a glancing blow across the shoulder. Blood spurted. One sword went spinning away, Pallas' arm hanging limp, and then the axe took his head from his shoulders." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a breathless silence, then the crowd erupted, Maquin yelling as loudly as anyone of them.\n\nOrgull turned and without any preamble walked to the two men shackled to the post. He raised his axe and swung, sparks flying. The man dropped to his knees, his chains sundered. Before there was any reaction, Orgull did the same for the second man, chopping his chains with the axe-blade.\n\nMaquin gazed open-mouthed.\n\nThen men were jumping from the crowd, cloaked men drawing weapons, grabbing the two men in the ring, hustling them to the far exit. Orgull strode with them. A group of Vin Thalun appeared before them and Orgull swung his axe, blood spurting across the benches. Vin Thalun poured from the sides, some leaping across rows of benches, trying to get into the ring. Lykos was screaming commands, his voice merging with the cacophony of the crowd.\n\nOrgull and the others were at the exit now, the harsh ring of iron punctuating the bass roar of the crowd. Their way looked clear.\n\nFly, my sword-brother. Maquin smiled.\n\nThen the Vin Thalun closed in, like iron filings to a lodestone. All became chaos, the crowd's roaring deafening, benches torn up, ripped from their fixings and hurled into the ring, more and more bodies piling into the battle that was raging near the arena's far exit. Maquin shook the bars of their cage, Javed joined him, but there wasn't even the slightest give in them.\n\nHe saw Orgull's bald head in the crowd, looking as if he was acting as a rearguard now, his back to the exit, facing into the arena. Every time he swung his axe blood followed, limbs and heads spinning. A few others stood alongside him, holding back the tide of Vin Thalun, but it was not long before the numbers were overwhelming and the corsairs flowed over them like a great wave." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It took sometime to restore order, the crowds dispersed by Vin Thalun with clubs and swords and spears. The dead in the ring were dragged into two heaps; Vin Thalun and the others. The pile of Vin Thalun was much bigger.\n\nMaquin watched with a sense of dread, waiting to see Orgull's corpse dragged to the pile of the dead. Eventually he did see Orgull, but he was carried away from the others and laid out on the ground. Another was put beside him, one of the two prisoners who had been chained to the post.\n\nLykos appeared then. He marched up to them, without a word drawing his sword and hacking at the neck of the man beside Orgull. It took three blows to sever his head. He raised his arm to do the same to Orgull, then Deinon was there, speaking quickly. Lykos listened, then he lowered his sword and wiped it clean on the dead man's body. Two men came forward and carried Orgull from the ring, his boots dragging in the mud." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen dipped her head against the wind. It carried with it an edge of ice that set her skin prickling. Over the last few days they had travelled through a mountain pass, tall peaks so high they blotted the sky, and now they were moving into a rolling featureless moorland with patches of heather peeking through the snow. A hundred glittering streams dissected the land.\n\nAs always, Alcyon accompanied her. Not far ahead Nathair rode his draig, Calidus and Sumur riding with him. The Jehar warriors stretched in a wide column behind, trailing into the mountain pass. The sound of wolven howling floated on the wind, a noise Cywen had become accustomed to. The further north they travelled, so the wolven population seemed to grow, although she never saw one. Obviously two thousand Jehar were too big a meal for even a wolven pack to chew on.\n\nBuddai padded the other side of her, nose low to the ground. The wolven didn't seem to bother him, either. At least, not since the first time they had heard them, howling like a mournful farewell the day she had left Dun Vaner. Buddai had been restless all that day, often pausing to look back at the mountains. For long heartbeats Cywen had harboured the hope that it had been Storm, come with her kin to rescue her.\n\nIdiot, she scolded herself. No one's going to rescue me, except me. I should have gone south with Pendathran when I had the chance.\n\nNo point fretting over that, now. She would just have to bide her time and wait for an opportunity.\n\nI wish I had my knives.\n\nThey camped in a dip in the land that night. It did little to ease the constant cut of the wind; icy fingers crept through layers of fur and leather. Cywen shivered and tried to shuffle closer to Alcyon's small fire. She had already finished the porridge he had made, its warm glow spreading through her like a hot coal thawing the frost. But that small heat had long since evaporated." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I can't feel my toes, ' she said.\n\n\"Try wiggling them,\" Alcyon said. He was full of helpful advice like that.\n\nA figure came striding out of the darkness, a great hawk perched on his arm. Calidus. He saw them and came over.\n\nCalidus gave the bird apiece of meat from a pouch at his belt, then raised his arm. With a flap of its wings the bird flew away, the sound of its passing little more than a whisper in the night.\n\nCalidus held a thin strip of parchment in his hand.\n\n\"This is the last night that we can risk afire,\" he said as he held the parchment over the flames, reading silently.\n\nWonderful, thought Cywen. I'm going to freeze to death.\n\n\"What news?\" Alcyon said.\n\n\"There you are,\" a voice called out. It was Nathair, with Sumur and the giant, Uthas, behind him.\n\n\"I'll tell you after, ' Calidus said quietly.\n\nNathair, Sumur and Uthas joined them about the fire.\n\nCywen drew back from the flames, shuffling into the shadows so that she wouldn't be forced to talk to them. Alcyon had changed, sitting straighter, a stiffness in his shoulders that spoke of his discomfort.\n\n\"I must leave soon,\" Uthas said. \"Murias is little more than a ten-night away for you, at your pace.\"\n\n\"All is set. You know what to do?\" Calidus said.\n\n\"Of course. The gates of Murias will be open to you. I can do little more than that. You will have to defeat the Benothi that stand against you.\" He looked at Calidus. \"And you will honour our agreement. You will spare the Benothi that stand with me. They shall not be harmed.\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Carry on with the narrative as the plot partner.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, war\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Valour\nChapter: 116" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They moved past the concentration of bodies, the open gates looming closer. Corban saw movement to the left of the gates, amongst the rocks. It was a big black raven on a granite boulder, hunched by a corpse and pecking at itself, muttering.\n\n\"Fech, is that you?\"\n\n\"Y es, I am Fech. Fech Fech Fech. I am a selfish, disloyal bird. Selfish, selfish.\" The raven resumed pecking himself. Corban saw blood welling through his charcoal feathers.\n\n\"Stop that,\" Brina snapped as she slid from her horse and picked her way through rocks to the raven. Craf fluttered out of the sky and alighted on a boulder close by.\n\nTukul and the Jehar fanned out before them, protecting against any attack.\n\n\"Don't do that to yourself, ' Brina said, grasping the raven.\n\n\"Deserve it, deserve it, deserve it,\" the bird muttered.\n\nIf it is possible fora bird's voice to express an emotion then I am hearing abject misery, thought Corban.\n\nMeical followed Brina and stared at the body on the ground. From its size it was clearly a giant, probably female from the long black hair, though otherwise it was hard to tell. It was lying with limbs splayed at unnatural angles, most of its features a pulped ruin.\n\n\"Is that Nemain?\" Meical said.\n\n\"Yes,\" wailed the bird. \"Nemain, Nemain, Nemain.\"\n\nMeical looked up. Corban followed his eyes and saw a balcony high above, the curved shadow of a doorway or window behind it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Nemain would not just fall,\" Meical said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And someone opened the gates of Murias.\"\n\n\"Uthas,\" Fech spat. \"Uthas killed her. Uthas the betrayer. Peck his eyes out and eat them. Should have returned sooner. Sooner, sooner.\" He tried to peck himself again, but Brina gripped his beak. Craf flew over, landing on the same boulder as Fech. He peered at the raven, then shuffled closer and began running his beak through Fech's ruffled feathers.\n\nIs Craf grooming him? Is he being nice?\n\n\"Will you help us?\" Corban said.\n\n\"How?\" Fech asked when Brina let go, cocking his head to one side.\n\n\"We need to find the cauldron,\" he said. \"Take us to it.\"\n\n\"Cauldron is bad,\" Fech said. \"Why go there?\"\n\n\"Because that is where Nathair will be, and he has my sister. We have come to save her.\"\n\n\"I know,\" Fech muttered. \"Save Cywen. Fech remembers.\"\n\n\"Yes, that's right. Will you help us? '\n\n\"Help me kill Uthas.\"\n\n\"He will probably be with Nathair,\" Meical said.\n\n\"Nathair's at cauldron, \"Fech croaked.\" I take you to cauldron, you find sister, we kill Uthas. '\n\n\"Agreed,\" said Corban. He didn't want to become embroiled in hunting and killing anyone right now, but if it meant finding Cywen quickly, then it was worth doing.\n\n\"Come,\" Fech squawked and flapped into the air, flying towards the open gates of Murias." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They followed Fech through the open gateway." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A wall of sound hit them. Battle was raging, though mostly at the far end of a cavernous chamber. Clearly many had fallen. Closer to them, bodies littered the floor, men and giants and horses, all bleeding into the dark stone. Corban saw Gar and Tukul tense as they saw Jehar locked in battle with giants.\n\n\"Too many. Can't go that way, \"squawked Fech as he flew back from the far end of the hall. Follow me, come, come,\" and he winged away towards the edges of the room. He took them to a wide stairwell that spiralled up. No one made a move towards them; if any saw Corban and his followers they were too busy to do anything about it. In seconds they were all dismounted and running up the stairs, trying to keep up with the bird. Corban drew his sword and flexed the wolven claws strapped to his other arm.\n\nCywen, we are coming." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin reined in his horse.\n\n\"There it is,\" Roisin cried, pointing.\n\nThe sail of a ship had come into view, poking above a ridge in the road. The sea churned behind it, an undulating blanket melting into the horizon. Camlin was glad to see it; a ten-night of hard riding south-west to the coast had set muscles aching that he didn't know he had. Their column set off again, fifty or so riders. Camlin hung back a little, saw Edana's fair hair up ahead, flanked by Marrock and Vonn. Though this is no end. Just the beginning of the next race. At least it will give us some breathing space, though. He glanced over his shoulder, looking for the tell-tale signs of their pursuers.\n\nFor three days now he had glimpsed riders following them, a cloud of dust marking them that suggested many more than their fifty horses. Now though, green hills behind hid anyone from view, and the clouds were low and thick, masking any dust trail.\n\nThey're back there somewhere, but we just need long enough to jump onto a ship and row away. He dipped his body low against his horse's neck and willed it to gallop faster.\n\nHe had told Marrock and Halion of the pursuit, and they had in turn told Edana and Roisin, the word spreading through the warriors. A bleakness had settled over them that night, the knowledge of pursuit suggesting that Dun Taras had fallen. Baird had picked a fight with one of Quinn's men, knocking the man cold for little more than a lingering glance. Halion had had to step in before Baird had taken on a dozen others. Quinn had challenged Baird, of course, but Halion had forbidden it, saying they were all on the same side, and to save their anger for the enemy, if they ever caught up. Camlin suspected that Quinn had not really meant the challenge, anyway; he had backed down too easily, although he had glowered at Halion's back afterwards. Camlin had not liked that. He'd heard the man was proud and arrogant, and nothing he'd witnessed during their journey had dissuaded him of the notion. Besides that, anyone with the title of first-sword didn't take well to being told what to do by another warrior." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Later that night Camlin had watched Quinn as he'd cleaned and sharpened his blades– a longsword and two knives laid out before him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the end he had poured a dark liquid over them, working it into the iron.\n\n\"What's that? ' Camlin had asked.\n\n\"Just an extra bite,\" Quinn had said. \"Something to slow a man down a little.\" He'd smiled.\n\nCamlin hadn't liked that either. A memory rose in his mind of the night Farrell had arm-wrestled Quinn in the feast-hall, a cut on the back of Farrell's hand. \"Best be careful not to cut yourself by accident, then,\" he'd said.\n\n\"I never cut anyone by accident.\"\n\n\"Doesn't look exactly honourable, ' Vonn said, who had been sitting close by, silent as usual.\n\n\"Honourable's for bairns'bedtime tales,\" Quinn said. \"Me, I'm all for winning and living. '\n\n\"My da used to say something similar,\" Vonn said. \"I used to think he was wrong. That people were honourable, that good should stand against wrong.\"\n\n\"And you're right to think so, ' Marrock had said.\n\n\"Am I? I'm not so sure anymore. '\n\nThey powered over a ridge and the ocean opened up before them, the trail they were following winding down a lush green slope. They were upon the crest of a hill, beneath them a sharp rocky drop leading to a quay that jutted out into the water, a larger ship moored to it.\n\nOur ship. Our safety.\n\nThe road they were on wound down the slope, curling away from the quay and then looping back, turning to sand as it spilt onto a narrow strip of beach. A few huts were scattered about, nets hanging along the beach, ridges in the sand where fisher-boats had been beached. They rode onto the beach, sand and surf spraying, and after a last gallop were finally at the quay, a milling chaos of people dismounting, pulling provisions from saddles, climbing narrow wooden stairs to reach the quay." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Camlin shouldered a bag, mostly full of arrows, his bow gripped in his other hand, and then he was running along the quay, past Halion, who stood rearguard by the stairs, sword in hand, eyes fixed on the approach to the beach." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Half a dozen warriors stood with him, the rest hastening to the ship. Waves churned beneath the timber boards as Camlin ran fast, the waiting vessel further along than he'd realized, fifty, sixty paces.\n\nRoisin had already boarded, holding her hands out for Lorcan. Edana was aboard, Vonn and Marrock beside her. Marrock saw Camlin and waved him on. Quinn stood close to Lorcan on the quay, waiting his turn to climb aboard. Other warriors were milling about, only a few being able to board at a time. To Camlin's eye there was noway they were all going to fit on this ship; there were just too many of them.\n\nThen a cry was rising up behind them, a warning.\n\nCamlin looked back and saw a row of dark silhouettes lining the slope above the quay, more and more swelling the line as every moment passed. One of them kicked his horse closer, moving to the edge of the slope, stones skittering down to rattle on the quay.\n\nConall.\n\n\"Give the boy up,\" he yelled.\n\n\"Never,\" screeched Roisin.\n\n\"Give up the boy and Eremon's bitch, and I will grant you pardon. More– I'll reward you. I'm regent of Domhain now, and I have power and riches to spare. You'll not have this chance again. Join me now, or I'm coming down thereto kill every last one of you. '\n\nAbuzz of muttering spread through the warriors massed on the quay. That bothered Camlin– if he could workout that the ship was too small to take them all, then so could others. Men faced with being left behind and dying made rash choices. Roisin screamed for Lorcan to board the ship. Camlin took a few steps away from the crowd, back towards the beach. He saw a figure climb the stairs on the quay and step into Conall's view." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Halion.\n\nConall saw him. The colour drained from his face.\n\n\"I thought you were dead, Con,\" Halion called up to him.\n\n\"Me? I'm hard to kill, you should know that. '\n\n\"What are you doing, Con?\" Halion said.\n\n\"What we should have done together, years ago. I'm righting the wrongs of our father, and of that murdering bitch. \"He jabbed a finger towards Roisin.\"The question is what are you doing, Hal? Protecting her and her spawn, when our mam died because of them, and we've lived a life on the run longer than I can remember because of them. Join me; together we can have our vengeance and rule Domhain into the bargain.\" He grinned. \"A good day's work, if you ask me. ' He held a handout to his brother, his eyes pleading.\n\nCamlin froze, waiting on Halion's answer. It felt as if everyone was doing the same; even the wind and waves were momentarily calm.\n\n\"I swore an oath to Brenin. I'll not be breaking it, Con. Not for you, not for anyone. But you don't have to do this. Just let us go. We'll sail away, never to trouble you again. For Elyon's sake, man, they're women and children. '\n\n\"That's not going to happen, Hal. You're either with me or against me.\"\n\n\"Then I'm against you, ' Halion said and raised his sword.\n\nConall snarled and yanked on his reins. He rode away, following the trail towards the entrance to the beach, his warband moving behind him.\n\nShouts and screams rang out behind Camlin, close to the ship. He turned to see Quinn surrounded by a knot of warriors pushing back along the quay, towards the beach. Quinn was carrying Lorcan over his shoulder, the lad flopping senseless. Roisin was screaming, trying to climb from the ship, hands pulling her back. Weapons were drawn, clashing. Camlin saw Baird chop one man down, then set upon another. He glimpsed Marrock leaping from the ship's rails back onto the quay. Quinn was running now, away from the main huddle of bodies, four or five warriors with him, another score at least forming a crude barrier holding Marrock, Baird and his men at bay." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin reached for an arrow, nocked it, let fly; one of the warriors with Quinn staggered and fell, rolling off the quay into the churning sea. He fired again, another man dropping to the ground.\n\nThen Halion and the men with him were mixed with them, iron sparking. Quinn dropped Lorcan, drawing both sword and knife. Camlin saw him open a wound on a warrior's bicep. Their weapons clashed again in along flurry of blows, then the man was staggering away, legs unsteady, as if he were drunk.\n\nPoison on Quinn's blade.\n\nQuinn stepped after him and with a slash of his sword opened the man's guts.\n\nCamlin shouldered his bow and ran, drawing his sword.\n\nIn slow motion he saw Halion step in front of Quinn. Camlin opened his mouth to scream, to warn Halion of the poisoned blades, but then they were at each other, the harsh ring of iron drowning out all other sound. There was a succession of blows, Halion shuffling forwards, then Quinn's knife was spinning through the air, landing with a thunk in the wooden boards, just a few handspans from Lorcan's prostrate body.\n\nCamlin was closer now, twenty paces, fifteen. He hurdled over Lorcan, part of him noticing that the lad was still breathing. Ten paces. He saw Halion duck a sword swing, step in close and smash his sword hilt into Quinn's mouth, blood and teeth spraying. Quinn staggered back, arms flailing, then the tip of Halion's sword exploded through his back, blood showering Camlin as he reached them.\n\nHalion ripped his blade free and Quinn sank to his knees, then toppled forwards onto his face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Relief swept Camlin and he called to Halion. \"Come on, time to leave.\"\n\nThen he saw the red gash across Halion's shoulder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen dismounted from Shield and was almost dragged into the chamber behind Alcyon.\n\nAt first she could not understand what was going on; images were swarming her in a fragmented rush. The chamber was vast, at its centre a stepped dais– a cauldron hulking upon it. It seemed to pulse, somehow, a black halo radiating from it. And all around were giants, horses, men, all clashing, with blood streaming in great crimson arcs. But there was more, something else, another presence in the room. Huge coils rippled around the floor, grey skinned like a corpse, but scaled. Then Cywen saw one rear up, a massive flat-snouted face, small eyes, a flickering tongue. Teeth– huge, long, curved.\n\nWyrms.\n\nEven as Cywen stared with a mixture of fascination and revulsion, the serpent lunged forwards, its jaws simply engulfing a warrior's head and shoulders, with a contraction of its coiled muscles tearing him from his saddle and slamming him to the ground. Then in great muscular ripples it started to swallow him. She felt her stomach lurch and vomited.\n\nThe wyrms were everywhere, quartering the floor with their undulating movements. She saw three of them attacking Nathair's draig– one the draig had managed to pin down with a taloned claw and was biting great chunks out of the snake's head and torso. Two others were striking at it, though, one's teeth fastened at the top of the draig's rear leg, the other twisting about a foreleg, great loops of its body swirling under the draig's neck, trying to get purchase. Nathair was hacking at that one with his longsword, cutting red gouges into its flesh. Somehow it managed to loop its tail around the draig's neck, and with one fluid move contracted, pulling the neck and foreleg sharply together. The draig roared and toppled over, Nathair's arms flailing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The serpent's head reared up now, pulling back to strike, then Calidus was there, his sword slashing in great two-handed blows. The snake's head flopped, almost severed, only a fragment of flesh connecting it to its body. With a crash it fell to the ground, its grip about the draig loosening. The draig scrambled backup, turning to grip the body of the wyrm still latched to its back leg. The draig's jaws dragged it from the ground and Nathair chopped into it, Calidus joining him, and together in a flurry of blows they cut the wyrm in two. The draig moved on, the decapitated wyrm's teeth still sunk into its hindquarters, its neck dragging on the ground, leaving a red trail.\n\nCywen watched transfixed. Then she was hurtling through the air as Alcyon barrelled forwards, ducking under a snake's striking head. He managed to regain his balance, swinging his axe to chop into the snake's skull. Its body rippled in a death spasm and it collapsed. Alcyon wrenched his axe free.\n\nCywen staggered to her feet, only to see a blur of movement; instinctively she ducked, a wyrm's jaws snapping shut where her head had just been. Its body slithered forwards, colliding with her, hurling her through the air, only for the rope about her to pull tight and stop her flight dead. She dropped to the ground with a thud, felt the snake's torso brush against her, one great coil looping about her, pinning her arms to her side. Then it squeezed. She heard her bones creaking, felt every last drop of air expelled from her lungs in one great rush as the beast heaved her upright. She saw its long curved fangs, smaller teeth rowed inside its mouth as its jaws opened wide. There was a wild neighing behind her and a horse's hooves were lashing over her head, slamming into the snake's head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The snake shook its head, like a man in the pugil ring recovering from a heavy blow, then fixed its eyes on Shield, who was standing beside Cywen, nostrils flaring.\n\nGet out, Shield, run; runaway, as fast and far as you can. Black dots were floating in her vision. She saw the snake's head pullback for another strike, this time angled at Shield; then its head exploded, an axe chopping into it. Blood, brains and bone splattered her, the coils about her collapsing heavily to the floor. She fell to her knees, dragging in heaving gulps of air, her throat burning like she was breathing in fire.\n\nAlcyon lifted her up, frowning as he checked her over.\n\n\"Can you speak?\" he asked her.\n\n\"Cut this blasted rope,\" she croaked, her throat raw.\n\nHe grinned at her. \"You're fine. \"He patted her shoulder with a big hand, nearly knocking her over again.\"You have a good horse there. '\n\nThe battle in the chamber was moving away, Nathair and the Jehar pushing steadily towards the dais where a handful of giants had gathered, intertwined with hissing serpents– a last stand. Cywen was shocked to seethe giants and wyrms side by side; there was something about the way they were grouped together, bodies touching, weapons and teeth bristling outwards, as if they were allies, brothers-in-arms. What was so important about that cauldron that they were all willing to die protecting it?\n\nWith a roar that made the ground tremble the draig surged up the steps of the dais, sending one giant hurtling through the air, its claws raking a serpent's torso while its jaws clamped on another giant. Nathair slashed either side at wyrm and giant. Calidus and Sumur rode behind him, swords swinging in bloody arcs, hundreds of Jehar following their lead. Giants and wyrms surged forwards to meet them, bodies slamming into horses and riders, axes and hammers swinging in this last great defence of their guarded treasure." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uthas was there, Salach his shieldman close by, attacking the last protectors of the cauldron. A giant saw Uthas. An expression of utter rage swept its face and it threw itself at Uthas, both of them falling to the ground, rolling down the steps, the other giant wrapping fingers around Uthas' throat.\n\nThey tumbled across the floor, grappling, then Salach was above them, his axe hovering. He hesitated in striking– the two giants were too closely locked– so he reversed his axe and struck down sharply; Uthas' attacker went limp. Uthas climbed to his feet, Salach helping him, his victim lay motionless on the ground.\n\n\"I am sorry, Morc,\" Cywen heard Uthas say.\n\nShe suddenly realized that silence had fallen on the chamber. The battle was over.\n\nThe Jehar moved amongst the fallen, here and there stilling the twitching of a wyrm's tailor holding the hand of a wounded comrade or ending their pain with a sharp blade, speeding them on their journey across the bridge of swords. Nathair had dismounted from his draig and was now standing before the cauldron. It stood almost as tall as him, a squat, malignant presence. Nathair stared at it with a look of ecstasy upon his face. Calidus moved up beside him, reaching out a hand towards the cauldron. There was something hesitant in the gesture. As his fingertips touched the black metal a spasm passed through him. He stayed like that fora while, head bowed, hand pressed against the cauldron's belly. Then he turned, a sudden energy filling him.\n\n\"We will not delay. We will perform the ceremony now.\"\n\n\"Is that wise? We are not secure here,\" Nathair said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The cauldron is a weapon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Let us use it. We can open a gateway to the Otherworld right now.\"\n\n\"Not alone. The other Treasures are needed for that to be possible,\" said Uthas.\n\n\"We have the starstone axe,\" Calidus said, pointing at Alcyon. \"The gateway will be narrow, but it will be enough.\"\n\n\"A gateway for the Ben-Elim?\" Nathair asked. He looked unsure, suddenly.\n\n\"Yes, the Ben-Elim. With a host of angels at your back the Dark Sun will soon be crushed. Victory will be certain.\"\n\nNathair stared at him; a silence lengthened, then he gave a curt nod.\n\n\"Good. I need blood, from a heart that still beats.\" Calidus' gaze swept the room.\n\nAlcyon moved slightly, stepping in between Calidus and Cywen. She saw the giant's hand reach to his belt and draw a knife from its sheath, cutting the rope that bound them together. Fora moment their eyes locked.\n\nSomeone groaned, the giant who had fought Uthas. He moved.\n\n\"He'll do, \"Calidus said.\"Uthas, bring him tome. '\n\n\"Not him,\" Uthas said.\n\n\"I need a sacrifice, now. It could be you, or your shieldman.\" Calidus took a step towards Uthas, who stood frozen fora moment, then Cywen saw something crumble within him.\n\nUthas and Salach lifted the semi-conscious giant and carried him up the steps.\n\nCywen peered around the bulk of Alcyon, her curiosity getting the better of her.\n\nCalidus slit the giant's throat.\n\n\"What are you doing?\" Nathair cried." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Throw him in,\" Calidus ordered, ignoring Nathair. Uthas and Salach heaved the giant's body into the cauldron, blood pumping from its throat.\n\nCalidus' voice rang out, loud and harsh.\n\n\"Fuil de beatha gen oscail an bealach, dorcha aingeal eirifeoil.\"\n\nSilence fell, heavier than the mountain about them. Calidus' voice rose again, more fiercely.\n\nCywen felt a vibration, a deep base hum, in her feet, spreading through her body. The pressure grew in her ears; she found it hard to draw breath, as though the air was being sucked from the room, and the cauldron blurred, the air around it growing dark, as if it were leaking night.\n\n\"Gather before the firstborn,\" Calidus cried out, his voice almost shrill against the deep rumble that pulsed through the chamber. \"Welcome them to this world of flesh.\" He gestured for the Jehar to step forwards, and uncertainly they approached the dais, hundreds of them, their numbers greatly reduced from the host of two thousand that had ridden through the gates of Murias.\n\nSumur stood with them, facing the cauldron, a look of rapt wonder on his face.\n\nA darkness formed at the rim of the cauldron, overflowing as if a black liquid were boiling within. It streamed into the air, a dark roiling cloud, expanding before their eyes, churning, alighting storm within it.\n\n\"Bow before the Ben-Elim,\" Calidus said. Sumur fell to his knees, followed by the rest of the Jehar.\n\nA shaft of darkness from the cloud lanced out, piercing Sumur's chest. His arms spread wide, his body convulsing. Other shafts, hundreds of them, simultaneously impaled the remaining Jehar, until every single one of them writhed transfixed upon a spear of darkness. They started to scream." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cywen was terrified; a wave of crippling, all-consuming terror numbed her mind and filled her veins with ice." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Beside her Shield whinnied and stamped the ground, his ears flat to his skull.\n\nCywen saw a flicker of movement, up and to her left. She blinked.\n\nIs that a bird? A black smudge fluttered high in the chamber, on the edge of shadow. No– two black smudges. They circled, then plummeted straight down, swooping upon Uthas, their talons outstretched.\n\nTheir attack took Uthas by surprise. One crashed into his face, talons raking, the other gripped his back and pecked at his head. Uthas flailed wildly with his arms, a scream of shock and pain bursting from his lips. The birds rose higher, out of range, hovering, looking for an opportunity to plunge down again. Then Cywen heard it, a croaking torrent of speech flowing from one of them.\n\n\"Betrayer,\" it squawked, time and time again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin dropped his weapons to the ground. A hush fell upon the crowd, then they were yelling, hissing and booing. Maquin satin the mud beside Orgull.\n\n\"I'm sorry, \"he said.\"I cannot do it. '\n\nThen Vin Thalun were running across the arena, big Emad ahead of them all, reaching him first.\n\n\"Get up, finish him,\" the guard ordered.\n\nMaquin just glared at him.\n\nEmad aimed a kick at him; Maquin rolled to the side, came upon his feet, ducked a hook aimed at his jaw, slapped another kick away.\n\n\"Finish him,\" Emad yelled. The crowd were roaring now, the sound deafening. Maquin's eyes flickered left and right, saw more Vin Thalun bearing down on him. A blow struck his chest– Emad, seeing his distraction. He collapsed to the ground, fighting for breath. Emad stood over him and drew a knife from his belt.\n\n\"Last chance,\" the guard said. \"You live or die in the pit; you know that.\"\n\n\"Go eat shit,\" Maquin said.\n\nThen Emad exploded.\n\nA great tear in his flesh opened up from his shoulder to his belly, blood and bone showering Maquin. An axe-blade ripped clear of the wound as Emad collapsed. Orgull stood framed behind him.\n\nHe reached out a hand and Maquin took it, snatching up Emad's knife as he rose. Guards were descending on them now, more pouring from the tiers. Maquin glimpsed Lykos, his face contorted with rage.\n\n\"This end will dome just fine,\" Maquin said, grinning at Orgull." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let's see how many we can take across the bridge with us. ' He hefted his axe.\n\nThey stood back to back, braced for the rush. Maquin caught a man's wrist and punched his knife through leather into flesh, stabbed again, then threw the dying man backwards, tearing a sword from his weakened grip and snarling as another Vin Thalun filled his vision. He felt Orgull moving behind him, felt the whistle of the axe, heard the meaty sound of its blade cleaving muscle and bone, a scream cut short.\n\nThen time fell into dissected moments– blocking a sword blow, stabbing, muscles stretching, hot breath in his face. He expected every next instant to be his last.\n\nA sound filtered through his consciousness: a murmur, vast, surrounding him, like the sea when he had been a slave oarsman. Then louder as the crowd started shouting, not their usual cries for blood, but panicked, discordant, and behind it horn blasts, frantic, not celebratory. Then the clash of iron.\n\nFighting. They are fighting.\n\nAbruptly there were no more Vin Thalun rushing at him. He saw his attackers running towards the arena's edge. Even as he watched, a section of bench crashed into the pit, smashing two Vin Thalun to the ground. Everywhere he looked was chaos, upheaval. In the stands men were fighting, all the way up to the tiered heights. Lower down, men in dark cloaks with white eagles on their breastplates were leaping the barriers, engaging the Vin Thalun warriors in battle.\n\nEagle-guard– some, at least.\n\nBut the Vin Thalun were not unprepared this time. Everywhere Maquin looked he saw more of the corsair warriors appearing, throwing off cloaks, pouring from the tunnels that led into the arena." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This way,\" a voice said in his ear– Orgull, tugging him. He followed the big man, saw he was limping, one arm pulled tight to his waist, as if staunching a wound. He was covered in blood, some of it his own.\n\nThey reached the cages where the pit-fighters were watching and Orgull raised his axe and swung it, the blade biting into a thick chain, sparks flying as it severed. The barred door swung open, Javed appeared in the doorway.\n\n\"My chest of gold,\" Javed said.\n\n\"Better to take freedom than have it thrown to you as a scrap by your master,\" Maquin said. He put an arm under Orgull and helped him stand.\n\nJaved grinned and stepped out of the cage. A handful of others followed him.\n\nMaquin scanned the crowd. Everywhere people were fighting. He glimpsed Lykos and Fidele, a huddle of men about them, trying to carve away through the crowds to an exit.\n\n\"Won't get a chance like this again, ' Maquin said and headed after them, breaking into a run.\n\nAshe powered through the crowd he hamstrung one Vin Thalun, hacked another's head, knifed one in the belly, shouldered others flying, then he was scrambling amongst the benches, almost upon Lykos\" shieldmen.\n\nHerak saw him first and turned, fluidly drawing along curved knife. Maquin was trying to slow his momentum, skidding on the mud. He twisted his body, feet sliding forwards, torso dipping backwards. Herak's knife whistled through space, scoring a red line across the top of Maquin's chest.\n\nThey collided, Maquin's feet ploughing into Herak's, their bodies coming together, crashing to the ground in a grappling roll. Maquin's sword spun from his grip. He headbutted Herak, felt cartilage break, felt a knee crunching into his gut. Dimly above them Maquin was aware of the other pit-fighters appearing, slipping into combat with Lykos\" shieldmen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pain focused him back onto Herak; the man was biting into his shoulder. With a curse, Maquin rammed his shoulder forward, forcing it into Herak's mouth, pushing his jaws apart. There was a momentary loosening of Herak's grip as the man gagged. Maquin twisted his torso and flipped over, spinning Herak, grabbed a handful of his hair and dragged his knife across the man's throat.\n\nHe rose fluidly, saw Javed kick a Vin Thalun's legs out from under him and stab him. Orgull was labouring against another. Ina bound Maquin was at his side, punching his knife into the Vin Thalun's back. Orgull nodded a breathless thanks.\n\nMaquin turned to see Lykos looming in his vision, Deinon at his side. He glimpsed Fidele behind, sat meekly, her hands folded across her lap. Then Lykos was at him. Their weapons clashed, Maquin's knife against Lykos\" short sword, trading a flurry of blows. Maquin staggered back. There was a concentrated fury in Lykos' assault that was hard to contain. Lykos was still clutching something in his other hand. Deinon swept past him, Maquin knowing instinctively that he was headed for Orgull.\n\nHe launched into an attack of his own, the resentment and pain of the last few months focusing on the man in front of him. Lykos' advance was halted– he was shuffling back. Maquin stepped away, risked a glance to Orgull, saw his friend stumble over a bench and topple backwards, Deinon following. Javed appeared from nowhere, throwing himself at Deinon, the two of them tumbling into the benches." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then Maquin was ducking, slashing, blocking as Lykos was at him again. The corsair King was quick, moving fluidly from one attack to another. Pain seared along one of Maquin's thighs, then across the opposite shoulder as Lykos managed to get past his defence.\n\nI'd rather fight a giant than someone this fast. Mustn't give him space, or I'm a dead man. Maquin barrelled forwards, crashing through Lykos\" guard, slashed, scoring a gash across Lykos'ribs, crouched and smashed a fist into the man's knee, rocking him, then stabbed at Lykos' throat.\n\nThe Vin Thalun wobbled, just managing to turn Maquin's blade as Maquin grabbed his sword wrist. Lykos gripped his forearm, whatever he'd been clinging to in his other hand fell to the floor and Maquin felt it crunch underfoot.\n\nJust heartbeats later Fidele rushed at them, a look of utter hatred contorting her face.\n\nMaquin flinched, thinking she was attacking him, but she crashed into Lykos, screaming incoherently at the Vin Thalun.\n\nThought this washer wedding day.\n\nThe three of them fell to the ground, weapons spinning away, Fidele's fingers tearing at Lykos\" face, ripping bloody streaks across his cheeks.\n\n\"You control me no longer,\" she spat at him.\n\nNot a happy marriage, then.\n\nMaquin scrabbled fora weapon, just as Fidele snatched his knife and plunged it into Lykos' back, below the ribs. Lykos was only wearing a silk shirt– this is his wedding day– and the knife sank to the hilt into his flesh. He screamed, an animal cry of pain, and sank to one knee." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin shoved Fidele behind him, saw Lykos struggling to rise, Deinon standing over a motionless Javed while Orgull started to drag himself upright from behind a bench. Deinon stepped over Javed's body and sank his sword into Orgull's chest.\n\nMaquin screamed a wordless howl, launching himself through the air and colliding with Deinon, his sword puncturing the Vin Thalun's back, its tip bursting out of the killer's chest. His friend was still breathing, his chest rising in short, ragged bursts. Blood and froth bubbled at his mouth. Maquin cradled his head.\n\n\"I'm sorry, my brother. I'm sorry, I was too slow.\" Maquin's vision blurred, tears streaming down his cheeks, dripping from his nose.\n\nOrgull's eyes fixed on him. His mouth moved but only a bubbling hiss came out. He reached for Maquin's hand and squeezed it, then gave out along, fading breath.\n\nTime dissolved for Maquin, becoming an arbitrary thing, moments or days passing– he did not know. He felt a hand on his shoulder pulling the world back into focus. Fidele.\n\nThe battle still raged around them, though it had moved further away. Lykos was nowhere to be seen, only a bloody handprint on the ground. Vin Thalun were everywhere, though, fighting the crowd, as well as warriors in the black and white of the eagle-guard here and there.\n\n\"Where is he?\" Fidele gasped. Terror and loathing swept her face. \"He still lives,\" she said.\n\n\"Aye, maybe.\" She did not look as if she wanted to be found by Lykos. \"Best get you out of here,\" Maquin said. He pulled on Orgull's axe and placed it on his friend's chest, fixing it in his grip." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Take that across the bridge of swords with you. And walk tall, brother. You've earned it. '\n\nThen he was leading Fidele by the hand, being swept by the crowd as they flowed towards the exits, out into the meadow. Once there, Maquin saw the extent of the uprising that was taking place. Nowhere was safe, battle spreading across the field. More Vin Thalun were pouring from the gates of Jerolin, others from the lake town, still more boats rowing towards shore from the ships on the lake. Maquin paused and sucked in a great lungful of air.\n\nFree air. I am free, a slave no longer. The thought made him dizzy. He grinned fiercely, then turned and led Fidele away, the two of them heading towards the trees that bordered the meadow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin stared at Halion, then at the red gash across his shoulder. A handful of warriors stood with them, men Rath had entrusted to escort Roisin and Lorcan.\n\nQuinn's blade was poisoned. I saw what it did to the man he fought. At the very least it's going to put him on his back, and soon. At worst it may kill him.\n\n\"Get back to the ship,\" Camlin said. They looked along the quay. Lorcan was sprawled unconscious where Quinn had dropped him; beyond the lad the last of Quinn's men were still fighting, separating Camlin from his comrades. He glimpsed Baird and Marrock. He heard his friend call his name.\n\nThe drumming of hooves grew. Conall and his men were reaching the beach, galloping hard, sand spraying.\n\n\"You go, Cam, get Lorcan back to the ship, take a few from hereto finish Quinn's men. The rest of us will stay and hold Con awhile, give you a chance to getaway. ' Halion looked at the men with him, each one nodding.\n\n\"Don't think I'll be leaving you in a fix like this,\" Camlin said, reaching into his quiver and grabbing a fistful of arrows. One by one he stabbed them into the soft timber of the quay.\n\nA tremor shook Halion and he swayed, resting his sword-point against the floor, leaning on it.\n\n\"Quinn's blade was poisoned; it may just have been a drug, a sedative that may pass. If not... \"Camlin shrugged.\"Either way you're no good here– go back to the ship.\"\n\n\"I'll not run from Conall. He'll never let me forget it.\" Halion attempted a smile." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin just stared at him.\n\n\"I need to look him in the eye,\" Halion said. \"He's my brother, and there's good in him yet.\"\n\n\"If there is he's buried it good \"n\" deep. '\n\n\"I have to try.\"\n\nCamlin shrugged. \"You won't have long to wait. '\n\nConall was only a few hundred paces away now, galloping along the beach, at least a hundred warriors trailing behind him. Halion shuffled closer to the stairs that led down from the quay to the beach, the warriors with him spreading in a half-circle.\n\nOnly tenor twelve steps, but it's a good place to hold them, anyway. Camlin plucked an arrow from the timber, nocked it and drew it back to his ear.\n\nChop off the head, kill the body. He aimed for Conall's chest, held his breath and released.\n\nConall's horse dipped down a ridge in the sand, the arrow flying high, taking someone behind in the throat. The warrior was hurled backwards over his saddle in a spray of blood.\n\nDamn.\n\nConall was less than two hundred paces away now, the sound of his approach drowning out the sea and sounds of battle along the quay. Camlin reached for another arrow, went through the same automatic ritual, centring the arrowhead on Conall's chest again, holding his breath, releasing.\n\nThis time Conall rode up a sandbank, the arrow sinking with a wet slap into his horse's chest. It screamed, reared and toppled backwards in an explosion of sand.\n\nHope it crushed him. Camlin reached for another arrow, drew it back, held his breath, released. This time it punched through a warrior's cuirass and flung him from his saddle. Then warriors were at the quay, yanking on reins, jumping from saddles, drawing swords, running at the steps. The first one climbing up got Halion's sword in the neck, a blow that almost severed the man's head. Halion put a boot on the man's shoulder and pushed, sending him flying back into those below." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin fired an arrow into the milling warriors, drew and fired again.\n\nIt's like fish in a barrel.\n\nOut of the corner of his eye he saw Halion sway, men either side of him reaching out to steady him.\n\nHe glanced back towards the ship, saw Marrock frantically fighting, trying to cut through the warriors that barred the way.\n\nMore men were climbing the stairs now, trying by force of numbers to push through. There was a lot of sword swinging and screaming, men or parts of men falling back into the crowd gathering at the bottom of the steps. Others were spreading either side, jumping to hang on the timber and pull themselves up. Halion's men chopped at fingers, stamped on hands.\n\nHalion stabbed a man through the chest. The dead man toppled backwards, Halion pulling on his sword. Fora moment his strength seemed to leave him and he stumbled, then fell off the quay. Some of his comrades leaped after him, hacking wildly. Camlin drew and fired, drew and fired, the consistency of his shots forcing warriors to retreat. Then he saw Halion, standing, swinging his sword in two-handed blows, a few men about him, fanning out from the steps. Others jumped down from the quay, until a group of five or six stood about Halion. Their attackers hung back, gathering their courage fora final rush, then Conall forced his way through them.\n\nThird time lucky, thought Camlin, nocking another arrow and taking aim.\n\nI've got you now.\n\nA force slammed into Camlin's left shoulder, spinning him, sending his arrow skittering away. He staggered, almost fell, looked at his shoulder.\n\nAn arrow shaft protruded from it. As if brought on by the sight of it, pain suddenly bloomed, radiating outwards in great waves. He looked up, working out the direction of the arrow's flight. Up the slope before the quay, onto the hill. A figure stood at its top, part sliding down the slope, a bow in one hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Braith.\n\n\"Good t'see you, Cam, you traitorous runt. '\n\n\"Always knew you couldn't shoot an arrow worth a damn, ' Camlin shouted.\n\n\"Be fair now– I'm sliding down a mountain. '\n\nCamlin lifted an arrow and tried to draw his bow but pain spiked in his shoulder, black dots dancing before his eyes. He dropped his bow and drew his sword instead. Dimly he was aware of combat below him, on the sand. He shot a quick glance, saw Conall trading blows with one of Halion's men, Halion himself standing before the steps, hacking someone down.\n\nBraith was halfway down now. Camlin was already moving forwards; he knew better than to let Braith get his balance, the best swordsman he'd seen in the Darkwood in a score of years, the man who'd bested Rhagor, battlechief of Ardan.\n\nAnd now I'm crossing swords with him, and me with an arrow in my shoulder. Not the best odds.\n\nTheir swords met in a harsh percussion of blows, Braith pressing forwards, an overwhelming force, six blows, ten, twelve, his attack not faltering. Camlin retreated, pain shooting in spasms from his injured shoulder as he twisted and turned, using everything he knew to keep himself alive a few heartbeats longer. He tried to push forwards, get inside Braith's guard, but Braith just smiled at him– that knowing smile– stepped into meet him and grabbed the arrow shaft in Camlin's shoulder, twisting it.\n\nCamlin screamed, almost fainted, lost the grip on his sword and heard it clatter to the ground. Braith gave him a scornful shove, sending him stumbling backwards. A handspan from him was Lorcan, Roisin's lad. He groaned and stirred, his eyelids fluttering. Something else was between them, a knife, stuck in the timber." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Quinn's knife. Poisoned.\n\n\"Get up, Cam. At least die on your feet, not grovelling on your arse.\"\n\nWith an act of will more than muscle Camlin lunged for the knife, grabbed its hilt, wrenched it from the timber and threw it at Braith, aimed straight at his heart.\n\nThe woodsman was quick, his sword moving on a reflex. Camlin heard the sound of metal connecting, the knife deflected.\n\nIt's over. He closed his eyes a moment, tried to struggle to his feet, but only got one knee under him.\n\nBraith strode towards him, then Camlin saw the knife hilt sticking from the woodsman's shoulder.\n\n\"Take more'n that t'stop me,\" Braith said. He gripped the knife and pulled it out, threw it into the sea, then levelled his sword at Camlin.\n\n\"Any last words?\" Braith said.\n\n\"Rot in hell.\"\n\n\"Told you to stick with me, didn't I, Cam? '\n\n\"You did. Told me a lot of other things, too, most of'em lies. '\n\nBraith paused, a ripple passing through his body.\n\nIt's affecting him already, quicker than Halion– because the wound was so deep? Halion's wound was only a scratch. Camlin climbed to his feet and took a step backwards.\n\n\"Not feeling so good?\" he asked Braith.\n\n\"What?\" Braith blinked and shook his head, his eyes becoming unfocused.\n\nCamlin darted forwards, stooping to pickup his sword. Braith lunged at him, the blow going wide. Camlin struck at Braith then, but the woodsman seemed to rally, his eyes sharpening, and they traded blows, Camlin steadily retreating towards the steps. Even poisoned, Braith was a better swordsman than he was. They slammed in close, Braith scoring a gash along Camlin's ribs that burned like a line of fire. Camlin managed to punch Braith in the gut and step away, then Braith swayed again, his sword-point wavering. Camlin smashed his own sword down, knocking Braith's blade from his grip. The woodsman just stared at him, confused. Camlin swung hard, with all his strength, his blade biting into Braith's neck. There was a spray of blood and Braith toppled backwards, off the quay into the lapping waves below." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fora moment Camlin just stood there, not quite believing he was still alive. Halion.\n\nHe turned to see Halion on his knees, leaning on his sword.\n\nHow is he still conscious?\n\nHe was circled by a ring of the dead, beyond them a crowd of warriors. Conall stood before them.\n\n\"Give it up, Hal. You've lost. '\n\nWith an effort that set his limbs quivering, Halion climbed to his feet. Camlin could hear his laboured breathing.\n\n\"Come back tome, Con. Bethe man you were– my brother. Not this oathbreaker, obsessed with what? Yourself? Revenge?\"\n\nConall sneered. \"I was pathetic– your puppet. No longer. I've risen far without your help. Evnis was right: it was you who has always kept me down. Now get out of my way. I'm wanting a chat with young Lorcan.\"\n\n\"Con, listen to yourself. I know you– you're better than this. Please... '\n\nConall hesitated, staring at Halion, a softness creeping into his eyes. He blinked, then a cold expression passed across his face. He took a step forwards and Halion raised his sword, the tip hovering in front of Conall's chest. Conall laughed.\n\n\"If you'll not see reason, Con, I'll have to stop you another way.\"\n\n\"Don't be a fool, Hal. Look at you, you can hardly stand. '\n\n\"I'd rather stand and die than see you become the thing we've both hated.\"\n\n\"Careful what you wish for, brother.\"\n\nHalion swung his blade; Conall, parrying, swept it away and down, Halion's sword-point digging into the sand. Halion staggered forwards apace, then punched Conall in the face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The warrior stumbled back, wiped blood from his mouth.\n\n\"I'll not warn you again, Hal. Get out of my way. '\n\nFootsteps drummed behind Camlin, a handful of warriors running along the quay, Marrock at their head. Quinn's men are all dead, then.\n\nConall saw them too.\n\nHalion staggered back against the steps, one hand reaching out to grip them, holding him upright.\n\n\"You'll not be climbing these stairs while I draw breath, \"Halion said.\"I swore an oath. '\n\n\"This is madness. Out of my way.\" Conall strode forwards and Halion swung his blade again. Conall blocked and lunged, punching his sword hilt into Halion's face.\n\nConall froze, looked shocked, surprised at what he had done.\n\nHalion slumped to the ground, motionless before the steps.\n\n\"Get him out of my way,\" Conall said.\n\nWarriors rushed forwards and dragged Halion's body away, laying him out in the sand. Conall climbed the steps, others following.\n\n\"Help me.\" Camlin heard a voice– Lorcan, trying to stand.\n\nCamlin retrieved his bow and put an arm under Lorcan, helped him upright and together they staggered along the quay. Men reached them– Marrock and Baird.\n\n\"Halion?\" Marrock hissed.\n\n\"Back there. Conall has him.\" He saw the look in Marrock's eye.\"It's too late– there's no saving him. Too many of Conall's men.\"\n\n\"Drop the boy,\" a voice cried– Conall, powering along the quay.\n\n\"Get him out of here,\" Marrock snarled, shoving Camlin into Baird's arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The scar-faced warrior grabbed Camlin and Lorcan and half dragged them back along the quay.\n\nBoots thudded behind, warriors sprinting after them. Camlin heard the clash of weapons as he reached the ship; the boarding ramp was already pulled up. Baird hoisted the still-groggy Lorcan onto his shoulder and jumped across, then Camlin was being heaved over, Vonn grasping his arm and pulling him aboard.\n\nA deep voice was shouting orders, poles pushing the ship away from the quay, oars splashing into the water and pulling.\n\n\"Halion? Where is Halion?\" It was Edana, holding his face in her hands, almost yelling.\n\n\"Conall has him,\" Camlin breathed.\n\nHorror swept Edana's face.\"And Marrock? Where is Marrock? '\n\nCamlin didn't answer, just stared back down the quay as the ship moved away. A crush of men was gathered away back, shouts drifting across to the ship. A man screamed and toppled into the water.\n\nMarrock held them off. Gave us time.\n\nThen Conall was marching clear, dragging a man with him: Marrock, battered and bleeding.\n\n\"Give me Lorcan,\" Conall yelled across the waves.\n\n\"Never,\" Roisin screeched at him.\n\nConall pulled Marrock close, putting a knife blade to his throat.\n\n\"Edana, is that you, with your pretty fair hair? Bring me Lorcan. I'll trade you. '\n\nEdana did not answer, but Camlin saw her eyes darting about the ship, weighing the odds.\n\nOnly me \"n\" Vonn with you for sure, probably Baird and a few others loyal to Eremon. The rest by far are Roisin's men. Nearly two score of them. He saw by Edana's face that she'd come to the same conclusion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Last chance,\" Conall yelled, his voice fainter. \"Marrock's your only kin. And I like him. Don't make me kill him.\"\n\n\"Camlin, put an arrow in Conall's eye, ' Edana hissed fiercely.\n\nCamlin looked at the arrow shaft sprouting from his shoulder.\n\n\"I've a hole in my shoulder, can't draw a bow worth a damn.\" He grimaced. I'm sorry, Marrock. You've been a good friend tome. The first. He glared balefully at Conall.\n\n\"This is on your head,\" Conall cried. He drew his knife across Marrock's throat and let him topple into the waves.\n\nEdana screamed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban ran through the corridors of Murias, Fech and Craf fluttering ahead, staying just within sight.\n\nThey had encountered no one, the halls seemingly abandoned.\n\nEveryone that lives in this place is fighting for it now.\n\nThe stairwell they were climbing spilt out into a chamber, a single fire-pit flickering near its centre. Fech led them unerringly towards an archway on the far side. They were almost there when shouting broke out from behind. Corban spun around, saw giants appearing from another opening– a dozen, perhaps more. At their head stood a white-haired giant, blood caking his face. He held a war-hammer, the entirety of his muscled arms a swirl of tattooed thorns. He saw Corban and his companions and bellowed a battle-cry, his comrades echoing him. They began running towards them.\n\nThe Jehar drew their swords, Tukul taking the lead, moving to meet the attack, holding his sword in one hand, axe in the other.\n\nBrina stepped into Corban's vision, holding a sword in her hand, long and thin.\n\nWhere did she get that?\n\nCorban heard her muttering, the words sounding strange and guttural, then the blade of her sword burst into flame. She winked at Corban.\n\nThe giants eyed her warily.\n\nThen Meical was in front of him, standing between the two groups.\n\n\"I know you, Balur One-Eye,\" Meical said.\n\nBalur One-Eye. Even I have heard of him, thought Corban.\n\n\"Balur One-Eye,\" Dath whispered. \"He's ancient. Even older than Brina. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I heard that,\" Brina snapped.\n\nThe giant's strides faltered as he stared at Meical. He took another few hesitant steps.\n\n\"That was along time ago,\" the giant said.\n\n\"It was. The time of fire and water.\"\n\n\"Aye. And why are you here now? Fighting alongside the Dark Sun. Have you Fallen?\"\n\n\"No. I made my choice. The Dark Sun has a captive, someone dear to us. Dear to the Bright Star.\" Meical pointed at Corban.\n\nI wish he wouldn't do that.\n\nBalur and the other giants peered at him.\n\n\"He has my sister. I mean to take her back,\" Corban heard himself say.\n\n\"We are not your enemy,\" Meical said.\n\n\"Hurry, hurry, hurry,\" Fech squawked. Balur stared at the bird.\n\n\"Fech?\" He shook his head.\n\n\"He is taking us to the cauldron. That is where Nathair will be, the Black Sun,\" Meical said.\n\n\"And these others?\" Balur asked, looking suspiciously at the Jehar. \"We have just fought their kin in the great hall.\"\n\n\"It's complicated, \"Tukul said,\"and time does not allow its full telling. The short version is that the ones you have fought have been deceived. '\n\n\"Join us,\" Meical said. \"If we wanted you dead we would be killing you now.\"\n\nThe giants bristled at that.\n\nTrue, but not very tactful.\n\nSlowly Balur nodded. \"We shall join you. But you go first.\" He smiled.\n\n\"Agreed. Lead on, Fech.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then they were running through corridors again. Slowly Corban became aware of a sound, a deep humming, more a feeling than a sound, vibrating up through his feet, out of the rock walls about him. It grew until it was all he could hear, filling his senses.\n\n\"We are here,\" Fech said.\n\nThe doorway was wide, like everything in this underground stronghold, room fora score of them to stand across.\n\nIt took a few heartbeats for his eyes to adjust, the light in the room lurching from shades of darkness to bursts of incandescent light, leaving after-images seared into his mind. Slowly the scene before him coalesced into a wholeness. First he saw the bodies. They were everywhere, men, horses, giants– wyrms. Most of them had been hacked to pieces.\n\nIn the centre of the room stood a cauldron. It was elevated, sitting high upon a dais. Above it hovered a black roiling cloud, bolts of darkness radiating from it, joined to people, hundreds of people, kneeling on the ground before the cauldron.\n\nThe Jehar.\n\nThey didn't appear to be enjoying the sensation. Most were writhing, groaning, arms outstretched. And it looked as if something was pulsing through the dark columns, like when a snake swallows an egg, but faster, moving from the cloud into the bodies of the Jehar.\n\n\"No,\" Meical hissed.\n\nCorban hardly heard. Upon the dais he saw two men, one old, silver-haired, a look of rapt awe upon his face. The other he recognized. Nathair, the slayer of his da. He was staring at the cauldron, something close to shock on his face. Corban closed his eyes, for an instant was back in the feast-hall of Dun Carreg watching Nathair stab his da through the heart." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I told him I will kill him.\n\nHe scanned the room. Then he saw her. Cywen. She was standing to the left, between Corban and the kneeling Jehar. Next to her a horse stood, pawing the ground.\n\nShield. It is Shield.\n\nHe forgot about Nathair, the sight of his sister filling him with hope, and a great fear. So close, we have come so close. Dear All-Father, do not let us fail now.\n\nHe felt a hand grip his arm, squeezing. His mam. She was grinning, tears streaming down her cheeks.\n\n\"What do we do?\" Corban whispered to Meical.\n\nThen there was squawking, yelling, shouting; a giant that Corban hadn't noticed was waving his arms in the air as Fech and Craf attacked him.\n\n\"Uthas,\" Balur growled from behind him.\n\nWithout thinking, Corban ran into the chamber, veering left, heading straight for Cywen.\n\nHe heard footsteps next to him, glanced to see his mam, her face determined, gripping her spear in one hand, a knife in the other. Storm and Buddai flanked them, overtaking, bounding low and silent towards Cywen. Somehow he knew that behind him others were following.\n\nSomeone passed him, taking great bounding strides– Balur, fixed on Uthas.\n\nThe giant in front of Cywen turned then. He saw them all pouring into the chamber, his eyes widening, and lifted an axe before him, its blades a black metal that seemed to shimmer and pulse, like the cauldron.\n\n\"Balur– he has the starstone axe,\" Meical called from behind him. The giant shifted his course slightly, barrelling straight at the axe-wielder. Other giants were close behind him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The one with the axe bellowed, shoving Cywen to one side and swinging his axe above his head. Cywen flew through the air, hit the ground and rolled, coming up to stare back at the giant. She hadn't seen Corban or her mam. Shield had, though. The stallion clattered over to Corban, swung his head into him and almost knocked him from his feet.\n\n\"It's good to see you too, ' Corban said, patting his neck.\n\n\"Get the axe,\" Meical was yelling. \"It will break the spell.\"\n\nOne of Balur's kin reached the axe-wielding giant– a female. She lifted a war-hammer to block the axe as it came swinging towards her head. Sparks exploded as the dark blade sliced through the thick handle, carrying onto crunch into the giant's face and upper chest. She collapsed in a boneless heap, the axe-wielder ripping his weapon free, turning to face the next attacker.\n\nIt was Balur.\n\nHe ducked the axe, blades hissing over his head, slammed his hammer into the giant's gut, doubling him over, then swung the hammer-head up, catching his foe full in the face. The blow lifted him from the ground, hurled him backwards, where he crashed to the ground and slid into the corpse of a wyrm. He did not move.\n\nBalur rushed after him and grabbed the black axe, looking back to Meical.\n\n\"Get it out of here, as faraway as you can. That will break the spell.\"\n\nBalur didn't need telling twice. He ran for the doorway, disappearing amongst those coming the other way.\n\nCywen jumped up and ran. Away from Corban, back towards the giant that had thrown her. She crouched down beside his still form, a hand reaching out to probe his neck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She's checking fora pulse.\n\nThen Buddai and Storm reached her. Corban saw her throw her arms around Buddai, then tense as she saw Storm, her first reaction to leap backwards. Then she must have realized. She tentatively reached out to Storm, the wolven sniffing her hand, pushing close to lick her face and rub against her, knocking her over. Cywen leaped to her feet, looked around, and saw him and his mam." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I must be dreaming.\n\nFigures were pouring into the chamber, swift and silent, any sound of their movement masked by the throbbing hum emanating from the cauldron. At their head were a man and woman. She stared at them, knowing them instantly, despite the changes. Older, leaner, a grimness about them, in their eyes. And a joy as well.\n\nMam. Corban.\n\nShe felt her heart lurch, as if a fist had grabbed and twisted it.\n\nThen she was running to them and they were together, the three of them, hugging, crying, no words, just a deep heart-swelling euphoria.\n\nHer mam was holding her face, kissing her. \"I'm sorry, ' she was saying, over and over again.\n\n\"You left me,\" Cywen said, remembering in a flood how she'd woken up in Dun Carreg, finding herself alone and abandoned, and all she had been through since then. A swell of fresh emotion welled up in her.\"You left me, ' she repeated.\n\n\"We thought you were dead; we were told you were dead,\" her mam said. Corban just looked at her with his sad, tear-filled eyes.\n\n\"Why are you here?\" Cywen asked then.\n\n\"For you, Cy. We came to get you,\" Corban said.\n\nShe felt hot tears flood her eyes again at that and she hugged them both, so tight, squeezing as if she'd never let them go.\n\n\"No!\" a voice screamed, shrill above the deep reverberations.\n\nCywen looked up and saw Calidus close to the cauldron. His eyes were wide, rage twisting his features.\n\nSomething was changing in the room; the throbbing hum was dying. The black lances of non-light were shrinking, folding back upon themselves towards the cloud above the cauldron. The cloud boiled, expanding then contracting, streaks of lightning sparking inside it. Then with an ear-splitting crack it burst apart, shreds of dark vapour exploding outwards, slamming those about it onto their backs. The constant droning hum was gone, replaced with a sudden silence, leaving an emptiness falling in its place. The sense of fear that she had felt earlier returned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Something bad is about to happen.\n\n\"We need to get out of here,\" Cywen said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban gazed at Cywen's face a moment longer, saw emotions sweeping her like ragged clouds across the moon.\n\nWe've done it. We've found you. It did not feel quite real.\n\nNow we just have to get out of here. He looked away, saw that his friends and companions had formed a loose line before them. Gar was closest, Dath and Farrell and Coralen beside him.\n\nGar turned to Cywen and gently cupped her cheek, his smile gentle, surrounded by the dead.\n\n\"Time to get you out of here,\" he said.\n\n\"That's the best idea I've heard all day,\" Dath hissed.\n\n\"Am I dreaming?\" Cywen said through a grin, tears staining her cheeks.\n\nA noise from deeper in the chamber drew all their eyes.\n\n\"It might be too late for leaving,\" Farrell said.\n\nFigures were rising, pulling themselves upright: the Jehar, those closest to the cauldron first. There was something different about them. Though they stood the same height and build there was a presence about them, as if their frames were filled with anew power, greater than the eye could comprehend.\n\nOne turned to face Corban and he heard Gar whisper a name.\n\n\"Sumur.\"\n\nThe man stretched, a ripple that flowed from head to foot, like a cat. Something was wrong with his face. It was moving, as if insects were crawling under his skin, or fingers were clawing for escape. He gripped his clothing with both hands– a leather cuirass of boiled leather, beneath it a coat of mail, and tore it off as easily as Corban would tear a loaf of bread.\n\nOthers were rising about him, performing similar rituals." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Partner with the author and carry on with the tale.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, war\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Valour\nChapter: 123" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban gazed at Cywen's face a moment longer, saw emotions sweeping her like ragged clouds across the moon.\n\nWe've done it. We've found you. It did not feel quite real.\n\nNow we just have to get out of here. He looked away, saw that his friends and companions had formed a loose line before them. Gar was closest, Dath and Farrell and Coralen beside him.\n\nGar turned to Cywen and gently cupped her cheek, his smile gentle, surrounded by the dead.\n\n\"Time to get you out of here,\" he said.\n\n\"That's the best idea I've heard all day,\" Dath hissed.\n\n\"Am I dreaming?\" Cywen said through a grin, tears staining her cheeks.\n\nA noise from deeper in the chamber drew all their eyes.\n\n\"It might be too late for leaving,\" Farrell said.\n\nFigures were rising, pulling themselves upright: the Jehar, those closest to the cauldron first. There was something different about them. Though they stood the same height and build there was a presence about them, as if their frames were filled with anew power, greater than the eye could comprehend.\n\nOne turned to face Corban and he heard Gar whisper a name.\n\n\"Sumur.\"\n\nThe man stretched, a ripple that flowed from head to foot, like a cat. Something was wrong with his face. It was moving, as if insects were crawling under his skin, or fingers were clawing for escape. He gripped his clothing with both hands– a leather cuirass of boiled leather, beneath it a coat of mail, and tore it off as easily as Corban would tear a loaf of bread.\n\nOthers were rising about him, performing similar rituals." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The one called Sumur smiled as his hands travelled his body, fingers stroking, probing, the skin pale, translucent, dark veins threading it, pulsing. Then Corban saw his eyes: they were black, no iris, no pupil. Sumur threw his head back and howled.\n\nThe whole room filled with the sound as others joined him. Hundreds of them. Corban put his hands over his ears, trying to keep the sound out; it felt like a vapour, filling his senses, creeping into every part of him, drowning him in anguish.\n\nOthers were rising now, the Jehar on the outskirts of the room. They looked different to the first– ordinary, appearing dazed, wearing expressions of confusion. One close by looked at Gar and frowned.\n\n\"Garisan?\" he said.\n\nGar stared at him.\n\n\"Akar?\"\n\nThe Jehar drew his sword and took a step towards Gar. \"I'm guessing you still follow your mad fool of a father. '\n\n\"Who's the mad fool? Look who you've followed.\"\n\nAkar paused and glanced towards the cauldron, saw his sword-brothers and sisters transformed. Colour drained from his face.\n\n\"You've become the servants of the Black Sun. '\n\n\"No, it cannot be...\"\n\n\"Out of here, now,\" a voice shouted. Meical. He was standing, sword in hand, staring at the thing that had once been Sumur. About the creature more of its kind turned to face Meical.\n\nThen they began to run. They moved awkwardly at first, lurching across the floor, quickly becoming smoother, like newborn animals, the process condensed into a few heartbeats.\n\nOther Jehar were in their way. The first one that Sumur met was sent spinning through the air. At the second one Sumur slowed for an instant, lifting the man from the ground with a strength that did not seem even closely approximate to a man's capabilities. With a savage wrench, a cracking and tearing sound, Sumur tore the man in two. Blood and gore drenched him and he hurled the two parts of the man in separate directions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"They are demon possessed!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Meical yelled. \"The Kadoshim are amongst you.\"\n\nThat seemed to break the spell that Sumur's grisly act had cast. All about, the untainted Jehar drew their swords, joined by Tukul and his company, uniting to face this new enemy.\n\nCorban saw Tukul grin.\n\nThis is a fight they've waited for all their lives.\n\nThe two sides met, a thunderclap of sound, the Kadoshim powerhouses of destruction, the Jehar swirling about them in their skilful dance of death. Corban saw Tukul chop into ribs with his axe, in the same breath drive his sword into the creature's chest, straight through its heart. It sagged a moment, shuddered, then backhanded Tukul, sending him spinning through the air. Corban stared open mouthed as the creature pulled the sword from its chest and tossed it away.\n\nThey cannot die.\n\nA roar filled the room, echoing, and Corban saw a draig from faery tales stamping into the fray.\n\nWe cannot win this battle. We must get out.\n\nHe spun to look at his mam and Cywen, his friends about them.\n\n\"Out,\" he said.\n\nThen something crashed into them, sending them flying indifferent directions.\n\nCorban rolled, staggered back to his feet. One of the Kadoshim had fallen into them, surrounded by a handful of Jehar, chopping, slicing, stabbing, then spinning away. It had a dozen wounds, all leaking blood, though even that was different. It was dark and thick, as if part congealed. And it was angry: enraged, lashing out, trying to catch the swift forms about it. Lifting its head, it bellowed, flailing its arms, a fist striking one of the Jehar, hurling him from his feet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "An arrow sank into its chest, making it stagger.\n\nDath. He was standing a dozen paces behind Corban, drawing another arrow to his ear, letting fly. It hit the possessed Jehar in the throat. It grabbed the shaft and tore it out.\n\nCorban saw Farrell and Coralen attack it, Farrell smashing his hammer into its knee, Coralen darting in and sinking her wolven claws into its back. It just seemed to make it more angry, a white foam frothing from its jaws. Then Gar was there, his sword a blur, beside him Akar, the two of them working together now.\n\nCorban snatched his sword from the ground, flexed his wolven claws and ran at the beast. Ashe did, he saw a flash of white to his side, Storm loping in close, then bounding away. With a burst of speed she hurled herself at the Kadoshim, slammed into his chest, jaws clamping around his head, teeth sinking deep. They both crashed to the ground. The creature writhed, great muscular spasms, Storm refusing to let go. Its hands sank into her fur, deeper, spots of blood welling about each finger. She whined, but still she would not let go.\n\nBuddai appeared, bit into the creature's knee, shaking it.\n\nCorban saw the creature's muscles standing taught, veins rigid. He screamed, remembering the man torn in two, and hurled himself forward, slashing wildly, hacking into its belly, its thigh.\n\nStorm's body spasmed and she shook her head, violently. There was a popping sound, then a wet ripping and she staggered away, spitting the beast's head from her jaws.\n\nIts body convulsed violently, feet kicking, arms flailing, blood leaking like oil from its neck. It stiffened, a black vapour boiling out from it, issuing from every pore, converging above the spasming body. It took shape, human-like, but with great leathery wings upon its back, glowing amber eyes like hot coals sweeping them. The mist figure screeched, a frustrated rage, then evaporated, melting into the air. The body on the ground collapsed, abruptly limp." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So that's how you kill them, ' said Farrell.\n\n\"Their heads,\" Gar yelled. \"Take their heads.\" The cry went up about them, spreading through the chamber.\n\n\"Ban, with me,\" Gar said to him, then turned to Cywen and Gwenith, standing close together again. He pushed them towards the exit, calling to Farrell, Dath and Coralen. They all ran, Storm limping after them, Buddai beside her. Corban saw more of the mist figures appearing about the room, swirling in the air– only a few, here and there.\n\nThe Jehar are taking their heads. The shapes screeched their fury as they evaporated, banished back to the Otherworld after only brief moments in the world of flesh.\n\nCorban and his companions wove through the battle, calling to comrades as they passed them, gathering them, rushing towards the archway and safety. He saw Brina, still wielding her flaming sword, stabbing it into the arm of a Kadoshim that was busily pulling the limbs from a Jehar warrior. Flames rushed from the blade, engulfing the Kadoshim. It dropped the remains of the warrior in its arms and stumbled away, shrieking, a torch of flesh.\n\nThe clash of arms grew in pitch behind him. He risked a glance back and saw a man appear from the crowd– tall and silver haired, a red sword in his hand. Shadows danced behind him, a dark cloak that floated like wings. His eyes fixed on Corban. One of the Jehar swirled in front of him, sword chopping downwards. With an effortless shrug the old man blocked the blow, his sword blurring in fluid movement and then the Jehar was falling away, blood spurting from his throat. The old man stalked forwards, straight towards Corban." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Run." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I must run. But something held Corban in place, kept him from fleeing. Instead, he found himself turning, lifting his sword, flexing his wolven claws, shifting his balance to face this man.\n\nOther Jehar attacked the old man, all sent reeling away, blood spurting.\n\nCorban moved forwards, raising his sword. It felt as if time had slowed around him. One of the Kadoshim came roaring at him and he swerved out of its path, swung his sword two-handed and saw its head fly spinning through the air. The creature's body stumbled on, then crumpled to the floor, mist congealing into a winged form above it, quickly melting into ragged tatters.\n\nThen they were standing before each other. The old man regarded him with amber eyes.\n\n\"Bright Star,\" the man said, lifting his sword and dipping his head; a recognition.\n\n\"Who are you?\" Corban said.\n\n\"Your death.\"\n\nCorban heard voices behind him, calling his name, then his blade was moving, blocking a blow that moved faster than he thought possible. He pushed his enemy's sword high, over his head, and stepped in fast, raking his wolven claws across the old man's belly. They sparked on chainmail, breaking links but nothing else. The old man smiled at him. Then Corban was retreating, their swords clashing, incandescent arcs tracing the flow of exchanges, a discordant melody of violence.\n\nCorban stumbled and the man was on him, pushing his guard away, a hand gripping Corban by the throat, pulling him close.\n\n\"I knew you would come,\" the man said. \"You pathetic creatures, risking all for love.\"\n\nCorban heaved a knee into the man's groin and his grip loosened. Corban staggered back, stumbling and falling onto his back. The old man followed, but something slammed into his shoulder, making him stagger back apace. An arrow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dath.\n\nThen Gar was leaping over Corban, standing before him, sword raised. The old man snarled at him, an annoyance, and launched into a blistering combination of blows, the arrow in his shoulder seeming to have little effect on him. Gar swerved to the left, trying to lead the old man away from Corban. He blocked a dozen blows, then stepped into an attack of his own; Corban heard their blades clash, six, seven times, more. When they separated, the old man was bleeding from a thin cut along his forehead; blood dripped from Gar's elbow.\n\nThe old man touched a hand to his wound, then licked his fingertips. With shocking speed he powered forwards. Gar took an overhead blow on his blade, his legs spread, braced against the force of the attack. For heartbeats both stood there, the old man looking as if he was trying to grind Gar into the ground, Gar standing like an oak in a storm. Then Farrell suddenly appeared, ploughing into them. They went down in amass, rolling together. The old man rose first, Gar spinning free. Farrell clambered to one knee and the old man struck out, punching him in the chest, sending him crashing to the floor. Gar rushed in, but the old man kicked out, a boot connecting full with Gar's gut, hurling him away. The old man's eyes swung back to Corban.\n\nCorban realized he was still on the ground. He staggered to his feet as the old man strode towards him. Their swords clashed, a brief flurry, then Corban was tripping over a body, dropping to one knee. The old man snarled, a victory grin, raising his sword. Abruptly he stopped, frowning, gazing at his chest. A knife hilt protruded from it. There was another impact and he reeled back a step, another knife hilt poking from his shoulder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mam.\n\nShe ran past Corban, spear levelled at the old man. Cywen and Coralen appeared either side of Corban, hooking arms under him and hoisting him to his feet.\n\n\"Very touching,\" Corban heard the old man say.\n\nGwenith stood before him, her spear raised. She thrust with all her strength as the old man surged forwards, but he slashed once, splintering the spear shaft, then again, Corban hearing the sound of iron impacting on flesh, a solid blow. He stared at his mam, saw her sway, then she collapsed in front of him.\n\nHe screamed, yanking his arms free from Cywen and Coralen, but before he could charge at the old man another figure was there, Meical.\n\n\"Calidus,\" Meical said.\n\n\"Meddler,\" the old man responded, his lips twisted in sneer or snarl. They set at each other then, a concussive power in their blows that Corban had never witnessed before.\n\n\"Get Corban out of here,\" Meical yelled just before he and his enemy disappeared amongst the crowd.\n\nCorban scrambled over to his mam, Cywen at his shoulder, and together they lifted her. She cried out, eyes fluttering, spots of blood on her lips. And she was pale, deathly pale. A bloody wound stretched from shoulder to chest, chips of white bone amongst the bubbling blood.\n\n\"Mam,\" Corban breathed, the word a sob.\n\nCywen was crying beside him.\n\nCorban stroked his mam's face, tried to wipe the blood from her lips, but more kept appearing.\n\nHer eyes were open, looking at them both. \"My darlings,\" she whispered with her last breath." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban howled, a raw, feral thing as grief erupted inside him, an unending torrent. Dimly he was aware of Cywen sobbing beside him, gripping his mam's hand, as if she were trying to squeeze life back into her.\n\n\"Don't leave me; please Mam, please Mam, ' he heard her saying, over and over.\n\nHe wrapped an arm around her and she hugged him back.\n\n\"Quickly,\" a voice yelled, the sound of hooves suddenly loud. Corban felt hands tugging at him– Brina– saw Cywen hoisted by Farrell across Shield, Coralen sitting in his saddle, and then spurring away.\n\nGar bent down and lifted Gwenith in his arms, cradling her to his chest, tears streaming down his face. Then they were running towards the exit again, a crowd gathering about them. At the doorway Corban paused and looked back.\n\nBattle was still raging between the Kadoshim and Jehar; many of the untainted warriors were forming a rearguard now, beginning a retreat. The cauldron was still visible upon its dais, a figure sitting on the steps close to it. Nathair. He was just watching the battle before him, a look of shock upon his face. Then others were pushing towards the exit, a knot of Jehar warriors sweeping him through the doors and away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Everything passed in a blur to Corban as they hurtled through the shadowed corridors of Murias, the sounds of violence fading behind, people all around, the clatter of hooves ahead. Time drifted from its moorings, losing its meaning. Then Corban was in the chamber before Murias' great gates, the dead everywhere. The giant with the white hair was there– Balur– a handful of his kin with him, including a pale giantess who stared at him intensely, a cluster of giant bairns about her. They had gathered horses for them, found them wandering out on the slopes. Corban felt hands upon him, helping him into a saddle, thrusting reins into his hands. He was dimly aware of more people pouring into the chamber– he saw Tukul and Meical, more of the Jehar.\n\nThen they were outside. It was close to highsun, the air fresh and clean after the stifling damp of the underground caverns.\n\nCorban rode from Murias, a small host about him, thundering down the slope and onto purple moorland, scattered giants running amongst them. Two birds flew low in the air above.\n\nFor the moment they did not know where they were going, just away, spurring their horses to a gallop, the wind whipping Corban's face. Beside him rode Gar, his mam's body slumped upon the warrior's saddle. At a glance it seemed that she was siting up, leaning into Gar, asleep. The man was still weeping. Cywen rode close by, still sitting behind Coralen on Shield's back, her arms wrapped around Coralen's waist. Their gazes met, a grief shared.\n\nMeical drew ahead and veered left, guiding them towards a line of hills that rolled eastwards. Corban looked down and saw Storm loping beside him, Buddai keeping pace. He bent forward over his mount's neck and gave himself to the rhythm of the gallop." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sun was dipping towards the horizon, sending shadows lancing ahead of them when they stopped. They had reached the foothills that Meical had led them towards and travelled a league or so into their embrace. Corban could still see Murias behind him, a dark spike on the horizon. Birds swirled above it, a black halo.\n\nTukul organized the making of camp, setting guards who fanned out from their small host, others constructing a makeshift paddock beside a fast-flowing stream, while some set to digging afire-pit. Corban looked about and saw they numbered in the hundreds: the Jehar who had travelled with him from Dun Vaner, plus the ones who had escaped the cauldron's grip– at least another two hundred warriors, probably more. And giants– over a dozen were gathered about Balur, who was holding the black axe he had taken in combat, showing it to his kin. The giantess looked along with the rest, as did the giant bairns, as many at least as the adults. Corban shook his head.\n\nGar slipped from his saddle, cradling Gwenith's body. He carried her to the stream's bank and laid her gently upon the grass. Corban followed and stood over his mam. Her eyes were closed, her skin pale, translucent as wax. Her wound ran from shoulder to chest, blood crusted black about it. Corban felt a presence at his shoulder, knew it was Cywen. The three of them stood in silence, gazing down at Gwenith. Storm sniffed her hand, let out a high-pitched whine and Buddai curled at her feet. Then Cywen scrambled down to the stream, soaked the hem of her cloak in the icy water and came back to dab her mam's face, washing the blood from her lips. Corban and Gar did the same, the three of them silently washing Gwenith, preparing her for burial. When she was wrapped in Corban's cloak they began to pull stones from the stream, piling them about Gwenith's body, building a cairn over her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Time drifted, Corban slowly becoming aware that others were moving around him, helping to gather stones– first his friends, Dath, Coralen, Farrell, Brina, then others, Tukul and Meical amongst them. Last of all Balur joined them. He pulled a boulder the size of a child from the stream bed, and they set it at the head of Gwenith's cairn. When they were done, the host stood about the grave, heads bowed. There was a flapping in Corban's ear and Craf alighted on his shoulder, the crow's claws pinching.\n\n\"Sad,\" the bird croaked.\n\n\"Yes,\" Corban whispered. A tear rolled down his cheek, and he heard Cywen sniff beside him.\n\nA silence fell, the sound of the stream and wind amongst the heather framing the moment.\n\nA voice broke the silence– old and harsh against the quiet. Brina. Alone she sang the opening lines of the lament. Gar was the first to add his voice, others joining until the hills rang. Even Balur and the giants sang.\n\nThey are not just singing for my mam; they all mourn those they have lost.\n\nMemories bubbled up inside Corban of his mam, a thousand tender moments, sealed with her dying words, blood spattering her lips. My darlings, she had said. Grief welled sudden and powerful, consuming him, blotting out everything but his mam's face. He felt an impact on his knees, realized dimly that he'd fallen, hands about him steadying, comforting. He let out a great sob, his body racked by it, tremors coursing through him, all the pain and torment that he had endured since the night of his da's death surging up in one overwhelming moment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He did not know how long he stayed there, kneeling in the dirt before his mam's cairn. Eventually he looked up, swiping tears from his eyes. A few were still gathered about him– Cywen and Gar, their eyes red and raw. His friends, Dath and Farrell, Coralen regarding him with a rare compassion. He rose slowly and looked back across the leagues they had ridden, saw the last rays of the setting sun shining off the cliffs and towers of Murias, the image fracturing in his tear-filled eyes.\n\nHe thought of the cauldron, the black cloud rising from it, the tainted Jehar ripping men limb from limb, Nathair sitting on the dais steps, and finally the old man that he had fought, who had killed his mam. Calidus, Meical had called him. One thought circled in his head like the blackbirds swirling about the mountain peaks.\n\nThey must be stopped." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Assist the writer, move the story forward.\nTags: fantasy, dragonlance, war\nAuthor: Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman\nTitle: War of the Twins\nChapter: 19" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Caramon's horse shifted restlessly beneath him as the big man leaned forward in the saddle, staring down into the valley at the village. Frowning darkly, he glanced at his brother. Raistlin s face was hidden behind his black hood. A steady rain had started about dawn and now dripped dull and monotonously around them. Heavy gray clouds sagged above them, seemingly upheld by the dark, towering trees. Other than the drip of water from the leaves, there was no sound at all.\n\nRaistlin shook his head. Then, speaking gently to his horse, he rode forward. Caramon followed, hurrying to catch up, and there was the sound of steel sliding from a scabbard.\n\n\"You will not need your sword, my brother,\" Raistlin said without turning.\n\nThe horses'hooves clopped through the mud of the road, their sound thudding too loudly in the thick, rain-soaked air. Despite Raistlin's words, Caramon kept his hand upon the hilt of his sword until they rode into the outskirts of the small village. Dismounting, he handed the reins of his horse to his brother, then, cautiously, approached the same small inn Crysania had first seen.\n\nPeering inside, he saw the table set for dinner, the broken crockery. A dog came dashing up to him hopefully, licking his hand and whimpering. Cats slunk beneath the chairs, vanishing into the shadows with a guilty, furtive air. Absently patting the dog, Caramon was about to walk inside when Raistlin called.\n\n\"I heard a horse. Over there.\"\n\nSword drawn, Caramon walked around the corner of the building. After a few moments, he returned, his weapon sheathed, his brow furrowed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's hers,\" he reported. \"Unsaddled, fed, and watered.\"\n\nNodding his hooded head as though he had expected this information, Raistlin pulled his cloak more tightly about him.\n\nCaramon glanced uneasily about the village. Water dripped from the eaves, the door to the inn swung on rusty hinges, making a shrill squeaking sound. No light came from any of the houses, no sounds of children's laughter or women calling to each other or men complaining about the weather as they went to their work. \"What is it, Raist?\"\n\n\"Plague,\" said Raistlin.\n\nCaramon choked and instantly covered his mouth and nose with his cloak. From within the shadows of the cowl, Raistlin's mouth twisted in an ironic smile.\n\n\"Do not fear, my brother,\" he said, dismounting from his horse. Taking the reins, Caramon tied both animals to a post, then came to stand beside his twin. \"We have a true cleric with us, have you forgotten?\"\n\n\"Then where is she?\" Caramon growled in a muffled voice, still keeping his face covered.\n\nThe mage's head turned, staring down the rows of silent, empty houses. \"There, I should guess,\" he remarked finally. Caramon followed his gaze and saw a single light flickering in the window of a small house at the other end of the village.\n\n\"I'd rather be walking into a camp of ogres,\" Caramon muttered as he and his brother slogged through the muddy, deserted streets. His voice was gruff with a fear he could not hide. He could face with equanimity the prospect of dying with six inches of cold steel in his gut. But the thought of dying helplessly, wasted by something that could not be fought, that floated unseen upon the air, filled the big man with horror." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Raistlin did not reply. His face remained hidden. What his thoughts might have been, his brother could not guess. The two reached the end of the row of houses, the rain spattering all around them with thudding plops. They were nearing the light when Caramon happened to glance to his left.\n\n\"Name of the gods!\" he whispered as he stopped abruptly and grasped his brother by the arm.\n\nHe pointed to the mass grave.\n\nNeither spoke. With croaks of anger at their approach, the carrion birds rose into the air, black wings flapping. Caramon gagged. His face pale, he turned hurriedly away. Raistlin continued to stare at the sight a moment, his thin lips tightening into a straight line.\n\n\"Come, my brother,\" he said coldly, walking toward the small house again.\n\nGlancing in at the window, hand on the hilt of his sword, Caramon sighed and, nodding his head, gave his brother a sign. Raistlin pushed gently upon the door, and it opened at his touch.\n\nA young man lay upon a rumpled bed. His eyes were closed, his hands folded across his chest. There was a look of peace upon the still, ashen face, though the closed eyes were sunken into gaunt cheekbones and the lips were blue with the chill of death. A cleric dressed in robes that might once have been white knelt on the floor beside him, her head bowed on her folded hands. Caramon started to say something, but Raistlin checked him with a hand on his arm, shaking his hooded head, unwilling to interrupt her.\n\nSilently, the twins stood together in the doorway, the rain dripping around them.\n\nCrysania was with her god. Intent upon her prayers, she was unaware of the twins'entrance until, finally, the jingle and creak of Caramon's armor brought her back to reality. Lifting her head, her dark, tousled hair falling about her shoulders, she regarded them without surprise." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her face, though pale with weariness and sorrow, was composed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Though she had not prayed to Paladine to send them, she knew the god answered prayers of the heart as well as those spoken openly. Bowing her head once more, giving thanks, she sighed, then rose to her feet and turned to face them.\n\nHer eyes met Raistlin s eyes, the light of the failing fire causing them to gleam even in the depths of his hood. When she spoke, her voice seemed to her to blend with the sound of the falling raindrops.\n\n\"I failed,\" she said.\n\nRaistlin appeared undisturbed. He glanced at the body of the young man. \"He would not believe?\"\n\n\"Oh, he believed.\" She, too, looked down at the body. \"He refused to let me heal him. His anger was... very great.\" Reaching down, she drew the sheet up over the still form. \"Paladine has taken him. Now he understands, I am certain.\"\n\n\"He does,\" Raistlin remarked. \"Do you?\"\n\nCrysania's head bowed, her dark hair fell around her face. She stood so still for so long that Caramon, not understanding, cleared his throat and shifted uneasily.\n\n\"Uh, Raist-\" he began softly.\n\n\"Shh!\" Raistlin whispered.\n\nCrysania raised her head. She had not even heard Caramon. Her eyes were a deep gray now, so dark they seemed to reflect the archmage's black robes. \"I understand,\" she said in a firm voice. \" For the first time, I understand and I see what I must do. In Istar, I saw belief in the gods lost. Paladine granted my prayer and showed me the Kingpriest's fatal weakness-pride. The god gave me to know how I might avoid that mistake. He gave me to know that, if I asked, he would answer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But Paladine also showed me, in Istar, how weak I was." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When I left the wretched city and came herewith you, I was little more than a frightened child, clinging to you in the terrible night. Now, I have regained my strength. The vision of this tragic sight has burned into my soul.\"\n\nAs Crysania spoke, she drew nearer Raistlin. His eyes held hers in an unblinking gaze. She saw herself in their flat surface. The medallion of Paladine she wore around her neck shone with a cold, white light. Her voice grew fervent, her hands clasped together tightly.\n\n\"That sight will be before my eyes,\" she said softly, coming to stand before the archmage, \"as I walk with you through the Portal, armed with my faith, strong in my belief that together you and I will banish darkness from the world forever!\"\n\nReaching out, Raistlin took hold of her hands. They were numb with cold. He enclosed them in his own slender hands, warming them with his burning touch.\n\n\"We have no need to alter time!\" Crysania said. \"Fistandantilus was an evil man. What he did, he did for his own personal glory. But we care, you and I. That alone will be sufficient to change the ending. I know-my god has spoken tome!\"\n\nSlowly, smiling his thin-lipped smile, Raistlin brought Crysania's hands to his mouth and kissed them, never taking his eyes from her.\n\nCrysania felt her cheeks flush, then caught her breath. With a choked, half-strangled sound, Caramon turned abruptly and walked out the door.\n\nStanding in the oppressive silence, the rain beating down upon his head, Caramon heard a voice thudding at his brain with the same monotonous, dull tone as the drops spattering about him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He seeks to become a god. He seeks to become a god!\n\nSick and afraid, Caramon shook his head in anguish. His interest in the army, his fascination with being a'general,\" his attraction to Crysania, and all the other, thousand worries had driven from his mind the real reason he had comeback. Now with Crysania's words-it returned to him, hitting him like a wave of chill seawater.\n\nYet all he could think of was Raistlin as he was last night. How long had it been since he'd heard his brother laugh like that? How long had it been since they'd shared that warmth, that closeness? Vividly, he remembered watching Raistlin s face as he guarded his twin's sleep. He saw the harsh lines of cunning smooth, the bitter creases around the mouth fade. The archmage looked almost young again, and Caramon remembered their childhood and young manhood together-those days that had been the happiest of his life.\n\nBut then came, unbidden, a hideous memory, as though his soul were taking a perverse delight in torturing and confusing him. He saw himself once more in that dark cell in Istar, seeing clearly, for the first time, his brothers vast capability for evil. He remembered his firm determination that his brother must die. He thought of Tasslehoff....\n\nBut Raistlin had explained all that! He had explained things at Istar. Once again, Caramon felt himself foundering.\n\nWhat if Par-Salian is wrong, what if they are all wrong? What if Raist and Crysania could save the world from horror and suffering like this?\n\n\"I'm just a jealous, bumbling fool,\" Caramon mumbled, wiping the rainwater from his face with a trembling hand. \"Maybe those old wizards are all like me, all jealous of him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The darkness deepened about him, the clouds above grew denser, changing from gray to black. The rain beat down more heavily.\n\nRaistlin came out the door, Crysania with him, her hand on his arm. She was wrapped in her thick cloak, her grayish-white hood drawn up over her head. Caramon cleared his throat.\n\n\"I'll go bring him out and put him with the others,\" he said gruffly, starting for the door. \"Then I'll fill in the grave-\"\n\n\"No, my brother,\" Raistlin said. \"No. This sight will not be hidden in the ground.\" He cast back his hood, letting the rain wash over his face as he lifted his gaze to the clouds. \"This sight will flare in the eyes of the gods! The smoke of their destruction will rise to heaven! The sound will resound in their ears!\"\n\nCaramon, startled at this unusual outburst, turned to look at his twin. Raistlin's thin face was nearly as gaunt and pale as the corpse's inside the small house, his voice tense with anger.\n\n\"Come with me,\" he said, abruptly breaking free of Crysania's hold and striding toward the center of the small village. Crysania followed, holding her hood to keep the slashing wind and rain from blowing it off. Caramon came after, more slowly.\n\nStopping in the middle of the muddy, rain-soaked street, Raistlin turned to face Crysania and his brother as they came up to him.\n\n\"Get the horses, Caramon-ours and Crysania's. Lead them to those woods outside of town\"-the mage pointed'blindfold them, then return tome.\"\n\nCaramon stared at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do it!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Raistlin commanded, his voice rasping.\n\nCaramon did as he was told, leading the horses away.\n\n\"Now, stand there,\" Raistlin continued when his twin returned. \"Do not move from that spot. Do not come close tome, my brother, no matter what happens.\" His gaze went to Crysania, who was standing near him, then back to his brother. \"You understand, Caramon.\"\n\nCaramon nodded wordlessly and, reaching out, gently took Crysania's hand.\n\n\"What is it?\" she asked, holding back.\n\n\"His magic,\" Caramon replied.\n\nHe fell silent as Raistlin cast a sharp, imperious glance at him. Alarmed by the strange, fiercely eager expression on Raistlin's face, Crysania suddenly drew nearer Caramon, shivering. The big man, his eyes on his frail twin, put his arm around her. Standing together in the pounding rain, almost not daring to breathe lest they disturb him, they watched the archmage.\n\nRaistlin's eyes closed. Lifting his face to the heavens, he raised his arms, palms outward, toward the lowering skies. His lips moved, but-fora moment-they could not hear him. Then, though he did not seem to raise his voice, each could begin to make out words-the spidery language of magic. He repeated the same words over and over, his soft voice rising and falling in a chant. The words never changed, but the way he spoke them, the inflection of each, varied every time he repeated the phrase.\n\nA hush settled over the valley. Even the sound of the falling rain died in Caramon's ears. All he could hear was the soft chanting, the strange and eerie music of his brother's voice. Crysania pressed closer still, her dark eyes wide, and Caramon patted her reassuringly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As the chanting continued, a feeling of awe crept over Caramon. He had the distinct impression that he was being drawn irresistibly toward Raistlin, that everything in the world was being drawn toward the archmage, though-in looking fearfully around-Caramon saw that he hadn't moved from the spot. But, turning back to stare at his brother, the feeling returned even more forcibly.\n\nRaistlin stood in the center of the world, his hands outstretched, and all sound, all light, even the air itself, seemed to rush eagerly into his grasp. The ground beneath Caramon's feet began to pulse in waves that flowed toward the archmage.\n\nRaistlin lifted his hands higher, his voice rising ever so slightly. He paused, then he spoke each word in the chant slowly, firmly. The winds rose, the ground heaved. Caramon had the wild impression that the world was rushing in upon his brother, and he braced his feet, fearful that he, too, would be sucked into Raistlin's dark vortex.\n\nRaistlin's fingers stabbed toward the gray, boiling heavens. The energy that he had drawn from ground and air surged through him. Silver lightning flashed from his fingers, striking the clouds. Brilliant, jagged light forked down in answer, touching the small house where the body of the young cleric lay. With a shattering explosion, a ball of blue-white flame engulfed the building.\n\nAgain Raistlin spoke and again the silver lightning shot from his fingers. Again another streak of light answered, striking the mage! This time it was Raistlin who was engulfed in red-green flame.\n\nCrysania screamed. Struggling in Caramon's grasp, she sought to free herself. But, remembering his brothers words, Caramon held her fast, preventing her from rushing to Raistlin's side." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Look!\" he whispered hoarsely, gripping her tightly. \"The flames do not touch him!\"\n\nStanding amidst the blaze, Raistlin lifted his thin arms higher, and the black robes blew around him as though he were in the center of a violent windstorm. He spoke again. Fiery fingers of flame spread out from him, lighting the darkness, racing through the wet grass, dancing on top of the water as though it were covered with oil. Raistlin stood in the center, the hub of avast, spoked wheel of flame.\n\nCrysania could not move. Awe and terror such as she had never before experienced paralyzed her. She held onto Caramon, but he offered her no comfort. The two clung together like frightened children as the flames surged around them. Traveling through the streets, the fire reached the buildings and ignited them with one bursting explosion after another.\n\nPurple, red, blue, and green, the magical fire blazed upward, lighting the heavens, taking the place of the cloud-shrouded sun. The carrion birds wheeled in fear as the tree they had occupied became a living torch.\n\nRaistlin spoke again, one last time. With a burst of pure, white light, fire leaped down from the heavens, consuming the bodies in the mass grave.\n\nWind from the flames gusted about Crysania, blowing the hood from her head. The heat was intense, beating upon her face. The smoke choked her, she could not breathe. Sparks showered around her, flames flickered at her feet until it seemed that she, too, must end up part of the conflagration. But nothing touched her. She and Caramon stood safely in the midst of the blaze. And then Crysania became aware of Raistlin's gaze upon her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From the fiery inferno in which he stood, the mage beckoned.\n\nCrysania gasped, shrinking back against Caramon.\n\nRaistlin beckoned again, his black robes flowing about his body, rippling with the wind of the firestorm he had created. Standing within the center of the flames, he held out his hands to Crysania.\n\n\"No!\" Caramon cried, holding fast to her. But Crysania, never taking her eyes from Raistlin, gently loosened the big man's grip and walked forward.\n\n\"Come tome, Revered Daughter!\" Raistlin's soft voice touched her through the chaos and she knew she was hearing it in her heart. \"Come tome through the flame. Come taste the power of the gods....\"\n\nThe heat of the blazing fire that enveloped the archmage burned and scorched her soul. It seemed her skin must blacken and shrivel. She heard her hair crackling. Her breath was sucked from her lungs, searing them painfully. But the fire's light entranced her, the flames danced, luring her forward, even as Raistlin's soft voice urged her toward him.\n\n\"No!\" Behind her, she could hear Caramon cry out, but he was nothing to her, less than the sound of her own heart beating. She reached the curtain of flame. Raistlin extended his hand, but, for an instant, she faltered, hesitating.\n\nHis hand burned! She saw it withering, the flesh black and charred.\n\n\"Come tome, Crysania....\" whispered his voice.\n\nReaching out her hand, trembling, she thrust it into the flame. For an instant, there was searing, heart-stopping pain. She cried out in horror and anguish, then Raistlin's hand closed over hers, drawing her through the blazing curtain. Involuntarily, she closed her eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cool wind soothed her. She could breathe sweet air. The only heat she felt was the warm, familiar heat from the mages body. Opening her eyes, she saw that she stood close to him. Raising her head, she gazed up into his face... and felt a swift, sharp ache in her heart.\n\nRaistlin's thin face glistened with sweat, his eyes reflected the pure, white flame of the burning bodies, his breath came fast and shallow. He seemed lost, unaware of his surroundings. And there was a look of ecstasy on his face, a look of exultation, of triumph.\n\n\"I understand,\" Crysania said to herself, holding onto his hands. \"I understand. This is why he cannot love me. He has only one love in this life and that is his magic. To this love he will give everything, for this love he will risk everything!\"\n\nThe thought was painful, but it was a pleasant kind of melancholy pain.\n\n\"Once again,\" she said to herself, her eyes dimming with tears, \"he is my example. Too long have I let myself be preoccupied with petty thoughts of this world, of myself. He is right. Now I taste the power of the gods. I must be worthy-of them and of him!\"\n\nRaistlin closed his eyes. Crysania, holding onto him, felt the magic drain from him as though his life's blood were flowing from a wound. His arms fell to his sides. The ball of flame that had enveloped them flickered and died.\n\nWith a sigh that was little more than a whisper, Raistlin sank to his knees upon the scorched ground. The rain resumed. Crysania could hear it hiss as it struck the charred remains of the still-smoldering village. Steam rose into the air, flitting among the skeletons of the buildings, drifting down the street like ghosts of the former inhabitants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kneeling beside the archmage, Crysania smoothed back his brown hair with her hand. Raistlin opened his eyes, looking at her without recognition. And in them she saw deep, undying sorrow-the look of one who has been permitted to enter a realm of deadly, perilous beauty and who now finds himself, once more, cast down into the gray, rain-swept world.\n\nThe mage slumped forward, his head bowed, his arms hanging limply. Crysania looked up at Caramon as the big man hurried over.\n\n\"Are you all right?\" he asked her.\n\n\"I'm all right,\" she whispered. \"How is he?\"\n\nTogether, they helped Raistlin rise to his feet. He seemed completely unaware of their very existence. Tottering with exhaustion, he sagged against his brother.\n\n\"He'll be fine. This always happens.\" Caramon's voice died, then he muttered, \"Always happens! What I am saying? I've never seen anything like that in my life! Name of the gods\"-he stared at his twin in awe-\"I've never seen power like that! I didn't know! I didn't know....\"\n\nSupported by Caramon's strong arm, Raistlin leaned against his twin. He began to cough, gasping for air, choking until he could barely stand. Caramon held onto him tightly. Fog and smoke swirled about their feet, the rain splashed down around them. Here and there came the crash of burning wood, the hiss of water upon flame. When the coughing fit passed, Raistlin raised his head, life and recognition returning to his eyes.\n\n\"Crysania,\" he said softly, \"I asked you to do that because you must have implicit faith in me and in my power. If we succeed in our quest, Revered Daughter, then we will enter the Portal and we will walk with our eyes open into the Abyss-a place of horror unimaginable.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crysania began to shiver uncontrollably as she stood before him, held mesmerized by his glittering eyes.\n\n\"You must be strong, Revered Daughter,\" he continued intently. \"And that is the reason I brought you on this journey. I have gone through my own trials. You had to go through yours. In Istar, you faced the trials of wind and water. You came through the trial of darkness within the Tower, and now you have withstood the trial by fire. But one more trial awaits you, Crysania! One more, and you must prepare for it, as must we all.\"\n\nHis eyes closed wearily, he staggered. Caramon, his face grim and suddenly haggard, caught hold of his twin and, lifting him, carried him to the waiting horses.\n\nCrysania hurried after them, her concerned gaze on Raistlin. Despite his weakness, there was a look of sublime peace and exultation on his face.\n\n\"What's wrong?\" she asked.\n\n\"He sleeps,\" Caramon said, his voice deep and gruff, concealing some emotion she could not guess at.\n\nReaching the horses, Crysania stopped a moment, turning to look behind her.\n\nSmoke rose from the charred ruins of the village. The skeletons of the buildings had collapsed into heaps of pure white ash, the trees were nothing but branched smoke drifting up to the heavens. Even as she watched, the rain beat down upon the ash, changing it to mud, washing it away. The fog blew to shreds, the smoke was swept away on the winds of the storm.\n\nThe village was gone as though it had never been.\n\nShivering, Crysania clutched her cloak about her and turned to Caramon, who was placing Raistlin into his saddle, shaking him, forcing him to wake up enough to ride." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Caramon,\" Crysania said as the warrior came over to help her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What did Raistlin mean-\"another trial.\" I saw the look on your face when he said it. You know, don't you? You understand?\"\n\nCaramon did not answer immediately. Next to them, Raistlin swayed groggily in his saddle. Finally, his head bowed, the mage lapsed once more into sleep. After assisting Crysania, Caramon walked over to his own horse and mounted. Then, reaching over, he took the reins from the limp hands of his slumbering brother. They rode backup the mountain, through the rain, Caramon never once looking behind at the village.\n\nIn silence, he guided the horses up the trail. Next to him, Raistlin slumped over his mount's neck. Caramon steadied his brother with a firm, gentle hand.\n\n\"Caramon?\" Crysania asked softly as they reached the summit of the mountain.\n\nThe warrior turned to look at Crysania. Then, with a sigh, his gaze went to the south, where, far from them, lay Thorbardin. The storm clouds massed thick and dark upon the distant horizon.\n\n\"It is an old legend that, before he faced the Queen of Darkness, Huma was tested by the gods. He went through the trial of wind, the trial of fire, the trial of water. And his last test,\" Caramon said quietly, \"was the trial of blood.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Through cinders and blood, the harvest of dragons,\n\nTraveled Huma, cradled by dreams of the Silver Dragon,\n\nThe Stag perpetual, a signal before him.\n\nAt last the eventual harbor, a temple so far to the east\n\nThat it lay where the east was ending.\n\nThere Paladine appeared\n\nIna pool of stars and glory, announcing\n\nThat of all choices, one most terrible had fallen to Huma.\n\nFor Paladine knew that the heart is a nest of yearnings,\n\nThat we can travel forever toward the light, becoming\n\nWhat we can never be." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Footsteps In The Sand...\n\nThe Army of Fistandantilus surged southward, reaching Caergoth just as the last of the leaves were blowing from the tree limbs and the chill hand of winter was getting a firm grip upon the land.\n\nThe banks of New Sea brought the army to a halt. But Caramon, knowing he was going to have to cross it, had long had his preparations underway. Turning over command of the main part of the army to his brother and the most trusted of his subordinates, Caramon led a group of his best-trained men to the shores of New Sea. Also with him were all the blacksmiths, woodwrights, and carpenters who had joined the army.\n\nCaramon made his command post in the city of Caergoth. He had heard of the famous port city all his life-his former life. Three hundred years after the Cataclysm would find it a bustling, thriving harbor town. But now, one hundred years after the fiery mountain had struck Krynn, Caergoth was a town in confusion. Once a small farming community in the middle of the Solamnic Plain, Caergoth was still struggling with the sudden appearance of a sea at it's doorstep.\n\nLooking down from his quarters where the roads in town ended-suddenly-in a precarious drop down steep cliffs to the beaches below, Caramon thought incongruously of Tarsis. The Cataclysm had robbed that town of its sea, leaving its boats stranded upon the sands like dying seabirds, while here, in Caergoth, New Sea lapped on what was once plowed ground.\n\nCaramon thought with longing of those stranded ships in Tarsis. Here, in Caergoth, there were a few boats but not nearly enough for his needs. He sent his men ranging up and down the coast for hundreds of miles, with orders to either purchase or commandeer sea-going vessels of any type, their crews with them, if possible. These they sailed to Caergoth, where the smiths and the craftsmen re-outfitted them to carry as great a load as possible for the short journey across the Straits of Schallsea to Abanasinia." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Daily, Caramon received reports on the build-up of the dwarven armies-how Pax Tharkas was being fortified; how the dwarves had imported slave labor (gully dwarves) to work the mines and the steel forges day and night, turning out weapons and armor; how these were being carted to Thorbardin and taken inside the mountain.\n\nHe also received reports from the emissaries of the hill dwarves and the Plainsmen. He heard about the great gathering of the tribes in Abanasinia, putting aside blood feuds to fight together for survival. He heard about the preparations of the hill dwarves, who were also forging weapons, using the same gully-dwarf slave labor as their cousins, the mountain dwarves.\n\nHe had even made discreet advances to the elves in Qualinesti. This gave Caramon an eerie feeling, for the man to whom he sent his message was none other than Solostaran, Speaker of the Suns, who had-just weeks ago-died in Caramon's own time. Raistlin had sneered at hearing of this attempt to draw the elves into the war, knowing full well what their answer would be. The archmage had, however, not been without a secret hope, nurtured in the dark hours of the night, that this time it might prove different....\n\nIt didn't.\n\nCaramon's men never even had a chance to speak to Solostaran. Before they could dismount from their horses arrows zinged through the air, thudding into the ground, forming a deadly ring around each of them. Looking into the aspen woods, they could see literally hundreds of archers, each with an arrow socked and ready. No words were spoken. The messengers left, carrying an elven arrow to Caramon in answer." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The war itself, in fact, was beginning to give Caramon an eerie feeling. Piecing together what he had heard Raistlin and Crysania discussing, it suddenly occurred to Caramon that everything he was doing had all been done before. The thought was almost as nightmarish to him as to his brother, though for vastly different reasons.\n\n\"I feel as though that iron ring I wore round my neck in Istar had been bolted back on,\" Caramon muttered to himself one night as he satin the inn at Caergoth that he had taken over for his command post. \"I'm a slave again, same as I was then. Only this time it's worse, because-even when I was a slave-at least I had freedom to choose whether I was going to draw breath or not that day. I mean, if I'd wanted to die, I could have fallen on my sword and died! But now I'm not even given that choice, apparantly.\"\n\nIt was a strange and horrifying concept for Caramon, one he dwelt on and mulled over many nights, one he knew he didn't understand. He would like to have talked it over with his brother, but Raistlin was back at the inland camp with the army and even if they had been together, Caramon was certain his twin would have refused to discuss it.\n\nRaistlin, during this time, had been gaining in strength almost daily. Following the use of his magical spells that consumed the dead village in a blazing funeral pyre, the archmage had laid almost dead to the world for two days. Upon waking from his feverish sleep, he had announced that he was hungry. Within the next few days, he ate more solid food than he had been able to tolerate in months. The cough vanished. He rapidly regained strength and added flesh to his bones." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But he was still tormented by nightmares that not even the strongest of sleeping potions could banish.\n\nDay and night, Raistlin pondered his problem. If only he could learn Fistandantilus's fatal mistake, he might be able to correct it!\n\nWild schemes came to mind. The archmage even toyed with the idea of traveling forward to his own time to research, but abandoned the idea almost immediately. If consuming a village inflame had plunged him into exhaustion for two days, the time-travel spell would prove even more wearing. And, though only a day or two might pass in the present while he recuperated, eons would flit by in the past. Finally, if he did make it back, he wouldn't have the strength needed to battle the Dark Queen.\n\nAnd then, just when he had almost given up in despair, the answer came to him...." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Raistlin lifted the tent flap and walked out. The guard on duty started and shuffled uncomfortably. The appearance of the archmage was always unnerving, even to those of his own personal guard. No one ever heard him coming. He always seemed to materialize out of the air. The first indication of his presence was the touch of burning fingers upon a bare arm, or soft, whispered words, or the rustle of black robes.\n\nThe wizard's tent was regarded with wonder and awe, though no one had ever seen anything strange emanating from it. Many, of course, watched-especially the children, who secretly hoped to see a horrible monster break free of the archmage's control and go thundering through the camp, devouring everyone insight until they were able to tame it with a bit of gingerbread.\n\nBut nothing of the kind ever happened. The archmage carefully nurtured and conserved his strength. Tonight would be different, Raistlin reflected with a sigh and scowl. But it couldn't be helped.\n\n\"Guard,\" he murmured.\n\n\"M-my lord?\" the guard stammered in some confusion. The archmage rarely spoke to anyone, let alone a mere guard.\n\n\"Where is Lady Crysania?\"\n\nThe guard could not suppress a curl of his lip as he answered that the'witch\" was, he believed, in General Caramon's tent, having retired for the evening.\n\n\"Shall I send someone for her, my lord?\" he asked Raistlin with such obvious reluctance that the mage could not help but smile, though it was hidden in the shadows of his black hood.\n\n\"No,\" Raistlin replied, nodding as if pleased at this information. \"And my brother, have you word of him? When is his return expected?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"General Caramon sent word that he arrives tomorrow, my lord,\" the guard continued in a mystified tone, certain that the mage knew this already. \"We are to await his arrival here and let the supply train catch up with us at the same time. The first wagons rolled in this afternoon, my lord.\" A sudden thought struck the guard. \"If-if you're thinking of changing these orders, my lord, I should call the Captain of the Watch-\"\n\n\"No, no, nothing of the sort,\" Raistlin replied soothingly. \"I merely wanted to make certain that I would not be disturbed this night-for anything or by anyone. Is that clear, uh-what is your name?\"\n\n\"M-michael, lordship,\" the guard answered. \"Certainly, my lord. If such are your orders, I will carry them out.\"\n\n\"Good,\" Raistlin said. The archmage was silent fora moment, staring out into the night which was cold but bright with the light from Lunitari and the stars. Solinari, waning, was nothing but a silver scratch across the sky. More important, to Raistlin's eyes, was the moon he alone could see. Nuitari, the Black Moon, was full and round, a hole of darkness amid the stars.\n\nRaistlin took a step nearer the guard. Casting his hood back slightly from his face, he let the light of the red moon strike his eyes. The guard, startled, involuntarily stepped backward, but his strict training as a Knight of Solamnia made him catch himself.\n\nRaistlin felt the man's body stiffen. He saw the reaction and smiled again. Raising a slender hand, he laid it upon the guard's armored chest.\n\n\"No one is to enter my tent for any reason,\" the archmage repeated in the soft, sibilant whisper he knew how to use so effectively. \"No matter what happens! No one-Lady Crysania, my brother, you yourself... no one!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I-I understand, my lord,\" Michael stammered.\n\n\"You may hear or see strange things this night,\" Raistlin continued, his eyes holding the guard's in their entrancing gaze. \"Ignore them. Any who enters this tent does so at the risk of his own life... and mine!\"\n\n\"Y-yes, lord!\" Michael said, swallowing. A trickle of sweat rolled down his face, though the night air was exceedingly cool for autumn.\n\n\"You are-or were-a Knight of Solamnia?\" Raistlin asked abruptly.\n\nMichael seemed uncomfortable, his gaze wavered. His mouth opened, but Raistlin shook his head. \"Never mind. You do not have to tell me. Though you have shaved your moustaches, I can tell it by your face. I knew a Knight once, you see. Therefore, swear tome, by the Code and the Measure, that you will do as I ask.\"\n\n\"I swear, by the Code and... the Measure...\" Michael whispered.\n\nThe mage nodded, apparently satisfied, and turned to reenter his tent. Michael, free of those eyes in which he saw only himself reflected, returned to his post, shivering beneath his heavy, woolen cloak. At the last moment, however, Raistlin paused, his robes rustling softly around him.\n\n\"Sir Knight,\" he whispered.\n\nMichael turned.\n\n\"If anyone enters this tent,\" the mage said in a gentle, pleasant voice, \"and disturbs my spellcasting and-if I survive-I will expect to find nothing but your corpse upon the ground. That is the only excuse I will accept for failure.\"\n\n\"Yes, my lord,\" Michael said, more firmly, though he kept his voice low. \"Est Sularas oth Mithas. My Honor is My Life.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes.\" Raistlin shrugged. \"So it generally ends.\"\n\nThe archmage entered his tent, leaving Michael to stand in the darkness, waiting for the new-gods-knew-what to happen in the tent behind him. He wished his cousin, Garic, were hereto share this strange and forbidding duty. But Garic was with Caramon. Michael hunched his shoulders deeper into his cloak and looked longingly out into the camp. There were bonfires, warm spiced wine, good fellowship, the sounds of laughter. Here, all was wrapped in thick, red-tinged, starlit darkness. The only sound Michael could hear was the sound of his armor jingling as he began to shake uncontrollably.\n\nCrossing the tent floor, Raistlin came to a large, wooden chest that sat upon the floor beside his bed. Carved with magical runes, the chest was the only one of Raistlin's possessions beside the Staff of Magius-that the mage allowed no one but himself to touch. Not that any sought to try. Not after the report of one of the guards, who had mistakenly attempted to lift it.\n\nRaistlin had not said a word, he simply watched as the guard dropped it with a gasp.\n\nThe chest was bitterly cold to the touch, the guard reported in a shaken voice to his friends around the fire that night. Not only that, but he was overcome by a feeling of horror so great it was a wonder he didn't go mad.\n\nSince that time, only Raistlin himself moved it, though how, no one could say. It was always present in his tent, yet no one could ever recall seeing it on any of the pack horses.\n\nLifting the lid of the chest, Raistlin calmly studied the contents-the nightblue-bound spellbooks, the jars and bottles and pouches of spell components, his own black-bound spellbooks, an assortment of scrolls, and several black robes folded at the bottom. There were no magical rings or pendants, such as might have been found in the possession of lesser mages. These Raistlin scorned as being fit only for weaklings." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His gaze passed quickly overall the items, including one slim, well-worn book that might have made the casual observer pause and stare, wondering that such a mundane item was kept with objects of arcane value. The title-written in flamboyant letters to attract the attention of the buyer-was Sleight-ofHand Techniques Designed to Amaze and Delight! Below that was written Astound Your Friends! Trick the Gullible! There might have been more but the rest had been worn away long ago by young, eager, loving hands.\n\nPassing over this book that, even now, brought a thin smile of remembrance to the mage's lips, Raistlin reached down among his robes, uncovered a small box, and drew it forth. This, too, was guarded by runes carved upon its surface. Muttering magical words to nullify their effects, the mage opened the box reverently. There was only one thing inside-an ornate, silver stand. Carefully, Raistlin removed the stand and rising to his feet, carried it to the table he had placed in the center of the tent.\n\nSettling himself into a chair, the mage put his hand into one of the secret pockets of his robes and pulled forth a small crystal object. Swirling with colors, it resembled at first glance nothing more sinister than a child's marble. Yet, looking at the object closely, one saw that the colors trapped within were alive. They could be seen constantly moving and shifting, as though seeking escape.\n\nRaistlin placed the marble upon the stand. It looked ludicrous perched there, much too small. And then, suddenly, as always, it was perfectly right. The marble had grown, the stand had shrunk... perhaps Raistlin himself had shrunk, for now the mage felt himself to be the one that appeared ludicrous." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a common feeling and he was accustomed to it, knowing that the dragon orb-for such was the shimmering, swirling-colored crystal globe-sought always to put its user at a disadvantage. But, long ago (no-in time to come!), Raistlin had mastered the dragon orb. He had learned to control the essence of dragonkind that inhabited it.\n\nRelaxing his body, Raistlin closed his eyes and gave himself up to his magic. Reaching out, he placed his fingers upon the cold crystal of the dragon orb and spoke the ancient words.\n\n\"Ast bilak moiparalan/Suh akvlar tantangusar.\"\n\nThe chill of the orb began to spread through his fingers, causing his very bones to ache. Gritting his teeth, Raistlin repeated the words.\n\n\"Ast bilak moiparalan/Suh akvlar tantangusar.\"\n\nThe swirling colors within the orb ceased their lazy meandering and began to spin madly. Raistlin stared within the dazzling vortex, fighting the dizziness that assailed him, keeping his hands placed firmly upon the orb.\n\nSlowly, he whispered the words again.\n\nThe colors ceased to swirl and alight glowed in the center. Raistlin blinked, then frowned. The light should have been neither black nor white, all colors yet none, symbolizing the mixture of good and evil and neutrality that bound the essence of the dragons within the orb. Such it had always been, ever since the first time he had looked within the orb and fought for its control.\n\nBut the light he saw now, though much the same as he had seen before, seemed ringed round by dark shadows. He stared at it closely, coldly, banishing any fanciful flights of imagination. His frown deepened. There were shadows hovering about the edges... shadows of... wings!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Out of the light came two hands. Raistlin caught hold of them-and gasped.\n\nThe hands pulled him with such strength that, totally unprepared, Raistlin nearly lost control. It was only when he felt himself being drawn into the orb by the hands within the shadowy light that he exerted his own force of will and yanked the hands back toward him.\n\n\"What is the meaning of this?\" Raistlin demanded sternly. \"Why do you challenge me? Long ago, I became your master.\"\n\nShe calls.... She calls and we must obey!\n\n\"Who calls who is more important than I?\" Raistlin asked with a sneer, though his blood suddenly ran colder than the touch of the orb.\n\nOur Queen! We hear her voice, moving in our dreams, disturbing our sleep. Come, master, we will take you! Come, quickly!\n\nThe Queen! Raistlin shuddered involuntarily, unable to stop himself. The hands, sensing him weakening, began to draw him in once more. Angrily, Raistlin tightened his grip on them and paused to try to sort his thoughts that swirled as madly as the colors within the orb.\n\nThe Queen! Of course, he should have foreseen this. She had entered the world-partially-and now she moved among the evil dragons. Banished from Krynn long ago by the sacrifice of the Solamnic Knight, Huma, the dragons, both good and evil, slept in deep and secret places.\n\nLeaving the good dragons to sleep on undisturbed, the Dark Queen, Takhisis, the Five-Headed Dragon, was awaking the evil dragons, rallying them to her cause as she fought to gain control of the world.\n\nThe dragon orb, though composed of the essences of all dragons-good, evil, and neutral-would, of course, react strongly to the Queen's commands, especially as-for the present-its evil side was predominant, enhanced by the nature of its master." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Are those shadows I seethe wings of dragons, or shadows of my own soul? Raistlin wondered, staring into the orb.\n\nHe did not have leisure for reflection, however. All of these thoughts flitted through his mind so rapidly that between the drawing of one breath and the releasing of it, the archmage saw his grave danger. Let him lose control for an instant, and Takhisis would claim him.\n\n\"No, my Queen,\" he murmured, keeping a tight grip upon the hands within the orb. \"No, it will not be so easy as this.\"\n\nTo the orb he spoke softly but firmly, \"I am your master still. I was the one who rescued you from Silvanesti and Lorac, the mad elven king. I was the one who carried you safely from the Blood Sea of Istar. I am Rai-\" He hesitated, swallowed the suddenly bitter taste in his mouth, then said through clenched teeth, \"I am... Fistandantilus-Master of Past and of Present-and I command you to obey me!\"\n\nThe orb's light dimmed. Raistlin felt the hands holding his own tremble and start to slip away. Anger and fear shot through him, but he suppressed these emotions instantly and kept his clasp firmly upon the hands. The trembling ceased, the hands relaxed.\n\nWe obey, master.\n\nRaistlin dared not breathe a sigh of relief.\n\n\"Very well,\" he said, keeping his voice stern, a parent speaking to a chastened child (but what a dangerous child! he thought). Coldly, he continued, \"I must contact my apprentice in the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas. Heed my command. Carry my voice through the ethers of time. Bring my words to Dalamar.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Speak the words, master." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He shall hear them as he hears the beating of his own heart, and so shall you hear his response.\n\nRaistlin nodded...." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dalamar shut the spellbook, clenching his fist in frustration. He was certain he was doing everything right, pronouncing the words with the proper inflection, repeating the chant the prescribed number of times. The components were those called for. He had seen Raistlin cast this spell a hundred times. Yet, he could not do it.\n\nPutting his head wearily in his hands, he closed his eyes and brought memories of his Shalafi to mind, hearing Raistlin's soft voice, trying to remember the exact tone and rhythm, trying to think of anything he might be doing wrong.\n\nIt didn't help. Everything seemed the same! Well, thought Dalamar with a tired sigh, I must simply wait until he returns.\n\nStanding up, the dark elf spoke a word of magic and the continual light spell he had cast upon a crystal globe standing on the desk of Raistlin's library winked out. No fire burned in the grate. The late spring night in Palanthas was warm and fine. Dalamar had even dared open the window a crack.\n\nRaistlin's health at the best of times was fragile. He abhorred fresh air, preferring to sit in his study wrapped in warmth and the smells of roses and spice and decay. Ordinarily, Dalamar did not mind. But there were times, particularly in the spring, when his elven soul longed for the woodland home he had left forever.\n\nStanding by the window, smelling the perfume of renewed life that not even the horrors of the Shoikan Grove could keep from reaching the Tower, Dalamar let himself think, just fora moment, of Silvanesti.\n\nA dark elf-one who is cast from the light. Such was Dalamar to his people. When they'd caught him wearing the Black Robes that no elf could even look upon without flinching, practicing arcane arts forbidden to one of his low rank and station, the elven lords had bound Dalamar hand and foot, gagged his mouth, and blindfolded his eyes. Then he had been thrown in a cart and driven to the borders of his land." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Deprived of his sight, Dalamar's last memories of Silvanesti were the smells of aspen trees, blooming flowers, rich loam. It had been spring then, too, he recalled.\n\nWould he go back if he could? Would he give up this to return? Did he feel any sorrow, regret? Without conscious volition, Dalamar's hand went to his breast. Beneath the black robes, he could feel the wounds in his chest. Though it had been a week since Raistlin's hand had touched him, burning five holes into his flesh, the wounds had not healed. Nor would they ever heal, Dalamar knew with bitter certainty.\n\nAlways, the rest of his life, he would feel their pain. Whenever he stood naked, he would see them, festering scabs that no skin would cover. Such was the penalty he had paid for his treachery against his Shalafi.\n\nAshe had told the great Par-Salian, Head of the Order, master of the Tower of High Sorcery in Wayreth-and Dalamar's master, too, of a sort, since the dark elf mage had, in reality, been a spy for the Order of Mages who feared and distrusted Raistlin as they had feared no mortal in their history-\"It was no more than I deserved.\"\n\nWould he leave this dangerous place? Go back home, go back to Silvanesti?\n\nDalamar stared out the window with a grim, twisted smile, reminiscent of Raistlin, the Shalafi. Almost unwillingly, Dalamar's gaze went from the peaceful, starlit night sky back indoors, to the rows and rows of nightblue-bound spellbooks that lined the walls of the library. In his memory, he saw the wonderful, awful, beautiful, dreadful sights he had been privileged to witness as Raistlin's apprentice. He felt the stirrings of power within his soul, a pleasure that outweighed the pain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No, he would never return. Never leave....\n\nDalamar's musings were cut short by the sound of a silver bell. It rang only once, with a sweet, low sound. But to those living (and dead) within the Tower, it had the effect of a shattering gong splitting the air. Someone was attempting to enter! Someone had won through the perilous Shoikan Grove and was at the gates of the Tower itself!\n\nHis mind having already conjured up memories of ParSalian, Dalamar had sudden unwelcome visions of the powerful, white-robed wizard standing on his doorstep. He could also hear in his mind what he had told the Council only nights earlier-\"If any of you came and tried to enter the Tower while he was gone, I would kill you.\"\n\nOn the words of a spell, Dalamar disappeared from the library to reappear, within the drawing of a breath, at the Tower entrance.\n\nBut it was not a conclave of flashing-eyed wizards he faced. It was a figure dressed in blue dragonscale armor, wearing the hideous, horned mask of a Dragon Highlord. In its gloved hand, the figure held a black jewel-a nightjewel, Dalamar saw-and behind the figure he could sense, though he could not see, the presence of a being of awesome power-a death knight.\n\nThe Dragon Highlord was using the jewel to hold at bay several of the Tower's Guardians; their pale visages could be seen in the dark light of the nightjewel, thirsting for her living blood. Though Dalamar could not seethe Highlord's face beneath the helm, he could feel the heat of her anger.\n\n\"Lord Kitiara,\" Dalamar said gravely, bowing. \"Forgive this rude welcome. If you had but let us know you were coming-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yanking off the helm, Kitiara glared at Dalamar with cold, brown eyes that reminded the apprentice forcibly of her kinship to the Shalafi.\n\n\"-you would have had an even more interesting reception planned for me, no doubt!\" she snarled with an angry toss of her dark, curly hair. \"I come and go where I please, especially to pay a visit to my brother!\" Her voice literally shook with rage. \"I made my way through those god-cursed trees of yours out there,, then I'm attacked at his front door!\" Her hand drew her sword. She took a step forward. \"By the gods, I should teach you a lesson, elven slime--\"\n\n\"I repeat my apologies,\" Dalamar said calmly, but there was a glint in his slanted eyes that made Kit hesitate in her reckless act.\n\nLike most warriors, Kitiara tended to regard magic-users as weaklings who spent time reading books that could be put to better use wielding cold steel. Oh, they could produce some flashy results, no doubt, but when put to the test, she would much rather rely on her sword and her skill than weird words and bat dung.\n\nThus she pictured Raistlin, her half-brother, in her mind, and this was how she pictured his apprentice-with the added mark against Dalamar that he was only an elf-a race noted for its weakness.\n\nBut Kitiara was, in another respect, different from most warriors-the main reason she had outlived all who opposed her. She was skilled at assessing her opponents. One look at Dalamar's cool eyes and composed stature-in the face of her anger-and Kitiara wondered if she might not have encountered a foe worthy of her.\n\nShe didn't understand him, not yet-not by any means. But she saw and recognized the danger in this man and, even as she made a note to be wary of it and to use it, if possible, she found herself attracted to it. The fact that it went with such handsome features (he didn't look at all elvish, now that she thought of it) and such a strong, muscular body (whose frame admirably filled out the black robes), made it suddenly occur to her that she might accomplish more by being friendly than intimidating. Certainly, she thought, her eyes lingering on the elf's chest, where the black robes had parted slightly and she could see bronze skin beneath, it might be much more entertaining." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thrusting her sword back in its sheath, Kitiara continued her step forward, only now the light that had flashed on the blade flashed in her eyes.\n\n\"Forgive me, Dalamar-that's your name, isn't it?\" Her scowl melted into the crooked, charming smile that had won so many. \"That damned Grove unnerves me. You are right. I should have notified my brother I was coming, but I acted on impulse.\" She stood close to Dalamar now, very close. Looking up into his face, hidden as it was by the shadows of his hood, she added, \"I... often act on impulse.\"\n\nWith a gesture, Dalamar dismissed the Guardians. Then the young elf regarded the woman before him with a smile of charm that rivaled her own.\n\nSeeing his smile, Kitiara held out her gloved hand. \"Forgiven?\"\n\nDalamar's smile deepened, but he only said, \"Remove your glove, lord.\"\n\nKitiara started and, for an instant, the brown eyes dilated dangerously. But Dalamar continued to smile at her. Shrugging, Kitiara jerked one by one at the fingers of the leather glove, baring her hand.\n\n\"There,\" she said, her voice tinged with scorn, \"you see that I hold no concealed weapon.\"\n\n\"Oh, I already knew that,\" Dalamar replied, now taking the hand in his own. His eyes still on hers, the dark elf drew her hand up to his lips and kissed it lingeringly. \"Would you have had me deny myself this pleasure?\"\n\nHis lips were warm, his hands strong, and Kitiara felt the blood surge through her body at his touch. But she saw in his eyes that he knew her game and she saw, too, that it was one he played himself. Her respect rose, as did her guard. Truly a foe worthy of her attention-her undivided attention." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Slipping her hand from his grasp, Kitiara put it behind her back with a playful female gesture that contrasted oddly with her armor and her manlike, warrior stance. It was a gesture designed to attract and confuse, and she saw from the elf's slightly flushed features that it had succeeded.\n\n\"Perhaps I have concealed weapons beneath my armor you should search for sometime,\" she said with a mocking grin.\n\n\"On the contrary,\" Dalamar returned, folding his hands in his black robes, \"your weapons seem tome to be in plain sight. Were Ito search you, lord, I would seek out that which the armor guards and which, though many men have penetrated, none has yet touched.\" The elven eyes laughed.\n\nKitiara caught her breath. Tantalized by his words, remembering still the feel of those warm lips upon her skin, she took another step forward, tilting her face to the man's.\n\nCoolly, without seeming aware of his action, Dalamar made a graceful move to one side, slightly turning away from Kitiara. Expecting to be caught up in the man's arms, Kit was, instead, thrown off balance. Awkwardly, she stumbled.\n\nRecovering her balance with feline skill, she whirled to face him, her face flushed with embarrassment and fury. Kitiara had killed men for less than mocking her like this. But she was disconcerted to see that he was, apparently, totally unaware of what he had done. Or was he? His face was carefully devoid of all expression. He was talking about her brother. No, he had done that on purpose. He would pay....\n\nKit knew her opponent now, conceded his skill. Characteristically, she did not waste time berating herself for her mistake. She had left herself open, she had taken a wound. Now, she was prepared." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"-I deeply regret that the Shalafi is not here,\" Dalamar was saying. \"I am certain that your brother will be sorry to learn he has missed you.\"\n\n\"Not here?\" Kit demanded, her attention caught instantly. \"Why, where is he? Where would he go?\"\n\n\"I am certain he told you,\" Dalamar said with feigned surprise. \"He has gone back to the past to seek the wisdom of Fistandantilus and from thence to discover the Portal through which he will-\"\n\n\"You mean-he went anyway! Without the cleric?\" Suddenly Kit remembered that no one was supposed to have known that she had sent Lord Soth to kill Crysania in order to stop her brother's insane notion of challenging the Dark Queen. Biting her lip, she glanced behind her at the death knight.\n\nDalamar followed her gaze, smiling, seeing every thought beneath that lovely, curling hair. \"Oh, you knew about the attack on Lady Crysania?\" he asked innocently.\n\nKit scowled. \"You know damn well I knew about the attack! And so does my brother. He's not an idiot, if he is a fool.\"\n\nShe spun around on her heel. \"You told me the woman was dead!\"\n\n\"She was,\" intoned Lord Soth, the death knight, materializing out of the shadows to stand before her, his orange eyes flaring in their invisible sockets. \"No human could survive my assault.\" The orange eyes turned their undying gaze to the dark elf. \"And your master could not have saved her.\"\n\n\"No,\" Dalamar agreed, \"but her master could and did. Paladine cast a counter-spell upon his cleric, drawing her soul to him, though he left the shell of her body behind. The Shalafi's twin, your half-brother, Caramon, lord\"-Dalamar bowed to the infuriated Kitiara-\"took the woman to the Tower of High Sorcery where the mages sent her back to the only cleric powerful enough to save her-the Kingpriest of Istar.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Imbeciles!\" Kitiara snarled, her face going livid. \"They sent her back to him! That's just what Raistlin wanted!\"\n\n\"They knew that,\" Dalamar said softly. \"I told them-\"\n\n\"You told them?\" Kitiara gasped.\n\n\"There are matters I should explain to you,\" Dalamar said. \"This may take sometime. At least let us be comfortable. Will you come to my chambers?\"\n\nHe extended his arm. Kitiara hesitated, then laid her hand upon his forearm. Catching hold of her around her waist, he pulled her close to his body. Startled, Kitiara tried to pull away, but she didn't try very hard. Dalamar held her with a grip both strong and firm.\n\n\"In order for the spell to transport us,\" he said coolly, \"you need to stand as close tome as possible.\"\n\n\"I'm quite capable of walking,\" Kit returned. \"I have little use for magic!\"\n\nBut, even as she spoke, her eyes looked into his, her body pressed against his hard, well-muscled body with sensuous abandon.\n\n\"Very well.\" Dalamar shrugged and suddenly vanished.\n\nLooking around, startled, Kit heard his voice. \"Up the spiral staircase, lord. After the five hundred and thirty-ninth step, turn left.\"\n\n\"And so you see,\" Dalamar said, \"I have as great a stake in this as do you. I have been sent, by the Conclave of all three Orders-the Black, the White, and the Red-to stop this appalling thing from happening.\"\n\nThe two relaxed in the dark elf's private, sumptuously appointed quarters within the Tower. The remains of an elegant repast had been whisked away by a graceful gesture of the elf's hand. Now, they sat before afire that had been lit more for the sake of its light than its warmth on this spring night. The dancing flames seemed more conducive to conversation...." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then why didn't you stop him?\" Kit demanded angrily, setting her golden goblet down with a sharp clinking sound. \"What's so difficult about that?\" Making a gesture with her hand, she added words to suit her action. \"A knife in the back. Quick, simple.\" Giving Dalamar a look of scorn, she sneered. \"Or are you above that, you mages?\"\n\n\"Not, above it,\" Dalamar said, regarding Kitiara intently. \"There are subtler means we of the Black Robes generally use to rid ourselves of our enemies. But not against him, lord. Not your brother.\"\n\nDalamar shivered slightly and drank his wine with undue haste.\n\n\"Bah!\" Kitiara snorted.\n\n\"No, listen tome and understand, Kitiara,\" Dalamar said softly. \"You do not know your brother. You do not know him and, what is worse, you do not fear him! That will lead to your doom.\"\n\n\"Fear him? That skinny, hacking wretch? You're not serious-\" Kitiara began, laughing. But her laughter died. She leaned forward. \"You are serious. I can see it in your eyes!\"\n\nDalamar smiled grimly. \"I fear him as I fear nothing in this world-including death.\" Reaching up, the dark elf grasped the seam of his black robes and ripped it open, revealing the wounds on his chest.\n\nKitiara, mystified, looked at the wounds, then looked up at the dark elf's paleface.\"What weapon made those? I don't recog-\"\n\n\"His hand,\" Dalamar said without emotion. \"The mark of his five fingers. This was his message to Par-Salian and the Conclave when he commanded me to give them his regards.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kit had seen many terrible sights-men disemboweled before her eyes, heads hacked off, torture sessions in the dungeons beneath the mountains known as the Lords of Doom. But, seeing those oozing sores and seeing, in her mind, her brother's slender fingers burning into the dark elf's flesh, she could not repress a shudder.\n\nSinking back in her chair, Kit went over carefully in her mind everything Dalamar had told her, and she began to think that, perhaps, she had underestimated Raistlin. Her face grave, she sipped her wine.\n\n\"And so he plans to enter the Portal,\" she said to Dalamar slowly, trying to readjust her thinking along these new and startling lines. \"He will enter the Portal with the cleric. He will find himself in the Abyss. Then what? Surely he knows he cannot fight the Dark Queen on her own plane!\"\n\n\"Of course he knows,\" Dalamar said. \"He is strong, but-there-she is stronger. And so he intends to lure her out, to force her to enter this world. Here, he believes, he can destroy her.\"\n\n\"Mad!\" Kitiara whispered with barely enough breath to say the word. \"He is mad!\" She hastily set her wine goblet down, seeing the liquid slopping over her shaking hand. \"He has seen her in this plane when she was but a shadow, when she was blocked from entering completely. He cannot imagine what she would be like-!\"\n\nRising to her feet, Kit nervously crossed the soft carpet with its muted images of trees and flowers so beloved of the elves. Feeling suddenly chilled, she stood before the fire. Dalamar came to stand beside her, his black robes rustling. Even as Kit spoke, absorbed in her own thoughts and fears, she was conscious of the elf's warm body near hers." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Keep the narrative going for the author.\nTags: fantasy, dragonlance, war\nAuthor: Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman\nTitle: War of the Twins\nChapter: 37" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Come home... come home....\n\nRaistlin closed his eyes, the ache in his heart almost unendurable. His left hand stirred, lifted. Its delicate fingers hovered near his brother's hand, touching it for an instant with a touch as soft as the feet of a spider. On the edges of reality, he could hear Crysania's soft voice, praying to Paladine. The lovely white light flickered upon his eyelids.\n\nCome home....\n\nWhen Raistlin spoke next, his voice was soft as his touch.\n\n\"The dark crimes that stain my soul, brother, you cannot begin to imagine. If you knew, you would turn from me in horror and in loathing.\" He sighed, shivering slightly. \"And, you are right. Sometimes, in the night, even I turn from myself.\"\n\nOpening his eyes, Raistlin stared fixedly into his brother's. \"But, know this, Caramon-I committed those crimes intentionally, willingly. Know this, too-there are darker crimes before me, and I will commit them, intentionally, willingly....\" His gaze went to Crysania, standing unseeing in the Portal, lost in her prayers, shimmering with beauty and power.\n\nCaramon looked at her and his face grew grim.\n\nRaistlin, watching, smiled. \" Yes, my brother. She will enter the Abyss with me. She will go before me and fight my battles. She will face dark clerics, dark magic-users, spirits of the dead doomed to wander in that cursed land, plus the unbelievable torments that my Queen can devise. All these will wound her in body, devour her mind, and shred her soul. Finally, when she can endure no more, she will slump to the ground to lie at my feet... bleeding, wretched, dying." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She will, with her last strength, holdout her hand tome for comfort. She will not ask me to save her. She is too strong for that. She will give her life for me willingly, gladly. All she will ask is that I stay with her as she dies.\"\n\nRaistlin drew a deep breath, then shrugged. \"But I will walk past her, Caramon. I will walk past her without a look, without a word. Why? Because I will need her no longer. I will continue forward toward my goal, and my strength will grow even as the blood flows from her pierced heart.\"\n\nHalf-turning, once again he raised his left hand, palm outward. Looking at the head of the dragon upon the top of the Portal, he softly said the second chant. \"White Dragon. From this world to the next/My voice cries with life.\"\n\nCaramon's gaze was on the Portal, on Crysania, his mind swamped by horror and revulsion. Still he held onto his brother. Still he thought to make one last plea. Then he felt the thin arm beneath his hand make a sharp, twisting motion. There was a flash, a swift movement, and the gleaming blade of a silver dagger pressed against the flesh of his throat, right where his life's blood pulsed in his neck.\n\n\"Let goof me, my brother,\" Raistlin said.\n\nAnd though he did not strike with the dagger, it drew blood anyway; drew blood not from flesh but from soul. Quickly and cleanly, it sliced through the last spiritual tie between the twins. Caramon winced slightly at the swift, sharp pain in his heart. But the pain did not endure. The tie was severed. Free at last, Caramon released his twin's arm without a word." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Turning, he started to limp back to where Tas waited, still hidden behind the pillar.\n\n\"One final hint of caution, my brother,\" Raistlin said coldly, returning the dagger to the thong he wore on his wrist.\n\nCaramon did not respond, he neither stopped walking nor turned around.\n\n\"Be wary of that magical time device,\" Raistlin continued with a sneer. \"Her Dark Majesty repaired it. It was she who sent the kender back. If you use it, you could find yourselves in a most unpleasant place!\"\n\n\"Oh, but she didn't fix it!\" Tas cried, popping out from behind the pillar. \"Gnimsh did. Gnimsh fixed it! Gnimsh, my friend. The gnome that you murdered! I-\"\n\n\"Use it then,\" Raistlin said coldly. \"Take him and yourself out of here, Caramon. But remember I warned you.\"\n\nCaramon caught hold of the angry kender. \"Easy, Tas. That's enough. It doesn't matter now.\"\n\nTurning around, Caramon faced his twin. Though the warrior's face was drawn with pain and weariness, his expression was one of peace and calm, one who knows himself at last. Stroking Tas's topknot of hair soothingly with his hand, he said, \"Come on, Tas. Let's go home. Farewell, my brother.\"\n\nRaistlin didn't hear. Facing the Portal, he was once again lost in his magic. But, out of the corner of his eye, even as he began the third chant, Raistlin saw his twin take the pendant from Tas and began the manipulations that would transfer its shape from pendant to the magical time-travel device." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Let them go." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Good riddance! Raistlin thought. Finally, I am free of that great hulking idiot!\n\nLooking back at the Portal, Raistlin smiled. A circle of cold light, like the harsh glare of the sun upon snow, surrounded Crysania. The archmage's behest to the White Dragon had been heard.\n\nRaising his hand, facing the third dragon's head in the lower left part of the Portal, Raistlin recited its chant.\n\n\"Red Dragon. From darkness to darkness I shout/Beneath my feet, all is made firm.\"\n\nRed lines shot from Crysania's body through the white light, through the black aura. Red and burning as blood, they spanned the gap from Raistlin to the Portal-abridge to beyond.\n\nRaistlin raised his voice. Turning to the right, he called to the fourth dragon. \"Blue Dragon. Time that flows/Hold in your course.\"\n\nBlue streams of light flowed over Crysania, then began to swirl. As though floating in water, she leaned her head back, her arms extended, her robes drifting about her in the whirling flashes of light, her hair drifting black upon the currents of time.\n\nRaistlin felt the Portal shiver. The magical field was starting to activate and respond to his commands! His soul quivered in a joy that Crysania shared. Her eyes glistened with rapturous tears, her lips parted in a sweet sigh. Her hands spread and, at her touch, the Portal opened!\n\nRaistlin's breath caught in his throat. The surge of power and ecstasy that coursed through his body nearly choked him. He could see through the Portal now. He could see glimpses of the plane beyond, the plane forbidden to mortal men." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "From somewhere, dimly heard, came his brother's voice activating the magical device-\" Thy time is thy own, though across it you travel... Grasp firmly the beginning and the end... destiny be over your head......\n\nHome. Come home....\n\nRaistlin began the fifth chant. \"Green Dragon. Because by fate even the gods are cast down/Weep ye all with me.\"\n\nRaistlin's voice cracked, faltered. Something was wrong! The magic pulsing through his body slowed, turned sluggish. He stammered out the last few words, but each breath was an effort. His heart ceased to beat for an instant, then started again with a great leap that shook his frail frame.\n\nShocked and confused, Raistlin stared frantically at the Portal. Had the final spell worked? No! The light around Crysania was beginning to waver. The field was shifting!\n\nDesperately, Raistlin cried the words of the last chant again. But his voice cracked, snapping back on him like a whip, stinging him. What was happening? He could feel the magic slither from his grasp. He was losing control....\n\nCome home....\n\nHis Queen's voice laughing, mocking. His brothers voice, pleading, sorrowful.... And then, another voice-a shrill, kender voice-only half-heard, lost in his greater affairs. Now it flashed through his brain with a blinding light.\n\nGnimsh fixed it.... The gnome, my friend...-\n\nAs the dwarf's blade had penetrated Raistlin's shrinking flesh, so now the remembered words of Astinus's Chronicles stabbed his soul:\n\nAt the same instant a gnome, being held prisoner by the dwarves of Thorbardin, activated a time-traveling device.... The gnome's device interacted somehow with the delicate and powerful magical spells being woven by Fistandantilus.... A blast occurred of such magnitude that the Plains of Dergoth were utterly destroyed...." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Raistlin clenched his fists in anger." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Killing the gnome had been useless! The wretched creature had tampered with the device before his death. History would repeat itself! Footsteps in the sand....\n\nLooking into the Portal, Raistlin saw the executioner step out from it. He saw his own hand lift his own black hood, he saw the flash of the axe blade descending, his own hands bringing it down upon his own neck!\n\nThe magical field began to shift violently. The dragon heads surrounding the Portal shrieked in triumph. A spasm of pain and terror twisted Crysania's face. Looking into her eyes, Raistlin saw the same look he had seen in his mothers eyes as they stared unseeing into afar-distant plane.\n\nCome home....\n\nWithin the Portal itself, the swirling lights began to whirl madly. Spinning out of control, they rose up around the limp body of the cleric as the magical flames had risen around her in the plague town. Crysania cried out in pain. Her flesh began to wither in the beautiful, deadly fire of uncontrolled magic.\n\nHalf-blinded by the brilliance, tears ran from Raistlin's eyes as he stared into the swirling vortex. And then he saw-the Portal was closing.\n\nHurling his magical staff to the floor, Raistlin unleashed his rage in a bitter, incoherent scream of fury.\n\nOut of the Portal, in answer, came lilting, mocking laughter.\n\nCome home....\n\nA feeling of calmness stole over Raistlin-the cold calm of despair. He had failed. But She would never see him grovel. If he must die, he would die within his magic....\n\nHe lifted his head. He rose to his feet. Using all of his great powers-powers of the ancients, powers of his own, powers he had no idea he possessed, powers that rose from somewhere dark and hidden even from himself-Raistlin raised his arms and his voice screamed out once again. But this time it was not an incoherent shriek of frustrated helplessness. This time, his words were clear. This time he shouted words of command-words of command that had never been uttered upon this world before." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This time his words were heard and understood.\n\nThe field held. He held it! He could feel himself holding onto it. At his command, the Portal shivered and ceased to close.\n\nRaistlin drew a deep, shuddering breath. Then, out of the corner of his eye, somewhere to his right, he saw a flash. The magical time-travel device had been activated!\n\nThe field jumped and surged wildly. As the device's magic grew and spread, its powerful vibrations caused the very rocks of the fortress to begin to sing. Ina devastating wave their songs surged around Raistlin. The dragons\" shrieking answered in anger. The ageless voices of the rocks and their timeless voices of the dragons fought, flowed together, and finally combined in a discordant, mind-shattering cacophony.\n\nThe sound was deafening, earsplitting. The force of the two powerful spells sundered the ground. The earth beneath Raistlin's feet shuddered. The singing rocks split wide open. The metallic dragons\" heads cracked....\n\nThe Portal itself began to crumble.\n\nRaistlin fell to his knees. The magical field was tearing loose, splitting apart like the bones of the world itself. It was breaking, splintering and, because Raistlin still held onto it, it began to tear him apart as well.\n\nPain shot through his head. His body convulsed. He writhed in agony.\n\nIt was a terrible choice he faced. Let go, and he would fall, fall to his doom, fall into a nothingness to which the most abject darkness was preferable. And yet, if he held it, he knew he would be ripped apart, his body dismembered by the forces of magic he could no longer control." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His muscles ripped from his bones, sinews shredding, tendons snapping.\n\n\"Caramon!\" Raistlin moaned, but Caramon and Tas had vanished. The magical device, repaired by the one gnome whose inventions worked, had, indeed, worked. They were gone. There was no help.\n\nRaistlin had seconds to live, moments to act. Yet the pain was so excruciating that he could not think.\n\nHis joints were being wrested from their sockets, his eyes plucked from his face, his heart torn from his body, his brain sucked from his skull.\n\nHe could hear himself screaming and he knew it was his death cry. Still he fought on, as he had fought all his life.\n\nI... will... control....\n\nThe words came from his mouth, stained with his blood....\n\nI will control....\n\nReaching out, his hand closed over the Staff of Magius.\n\nI will!\n\nAnd then he was hurtling forward into a blinding, swirling, crashing wave of many-colored lights-\n\nCome home... come home...." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Support the writer, proceed with the storyline.\nTags: fantasy, progression fantasy, tournament\nAuthor: Will Wight\nTitle: Wintersteel\nChapter: 10" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Gratitude,\" Lindon said. \"I can make it from here.\" He sensed a large collection of sacred artists at the edge of town opposite the Dreadgod's hand, behind a large stonewall.\n\n\"I will accompany you,\" Charity said. \"I have to speak with the Overlord in charge.\"\n\nThe Sage seemed to be waiting for him to take the lead, so he hopped over the edge. Only while falling did he notice the nature of the ball they had been standing on.\n\nIt was the pommel of a sword. He fell past the hilt, guard, and gleaming white blade, which had been driven into the earth.\n\nExtending his perception, he saw that what looked like metal was actually unbelievably dense madra. This was a Forger technique.\n\nWhy had it been Forged with a hilt and guard? Why not just a sharp blade?\n\nIt reminded him of Yerin's Final Sword. She and her master had Forged the technique into the shape of the full weapon.\n\nThere had to be a reason.\n\nWhen they landed-Charity lightly, as though she weighed only a feather, and Lindon surrounded by the blue-white Soul Cloak-he asked about the sword.\n\n\"This town was once the site of a battle between the Winter Sage and the Herald of the Tidewalker Sect,\" she explained. \"The final attack that drove him off remains to this day, and is one of the reasons we're here.\"\n\nAt the base of the blade, the locals had raised a stronghold of wood and stone against the flat blade. An iron-banded wooden gate kept the fort shut, but he sensed powerful earth aura inside.\n\n\"The introduction of such powerful madra from the Winter Sage had a unique reaction. The sword formed a certain synergy with a strong vein of earth aura, and this became one of the few places in our territory where it is possible to mine wintersteel.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She gestured back to the shore. \"It is why we're here, and why he is here too. The Wandering Titan feeds on powerful materials, especially minerals. Aside from evacuation and protection, we are also hereto remove as much of the mine's product as possible.\"\n\nLindon didn't see how anyone could be left to evacuate, because every inch of the town swarmed with dreadbeasts.\n\nThe creatures filled the streets of the dead town with a putrid stink, but they stayed faraway from Charity as she and Lindon dashed to the fortress wall at the edge of town.\n\nThe wall was forty feet high, made of stone that had clearly been pulled from the earth and sealed together by a Ruler technique. Blood and scorch marks stained the bottom third of the wall, and dreadbeast corpses were piled at the bottom.\n\nEven more creatures scrambled over those.\n\nEvery animal within miles had to have been warped by hunger madra to form the army of dreadbeasts that Lindon had seen already, and sacred artists at the top of the wall swept the monsters with Striker techniques.\n\nThe guards were Golds with the occasional Lord or Lady, almost all of them wearing full armor. Over their heads, flags of the Seishen Kingdom flew proudly.\n\nThe creatures beneath them must have been Truegold or lower, but the impression they gave off as a group was far more dangerous. Though Lindon could destroy any number of them from a distance, if he fell into such a group, they would tear him limb from limb.\n\nDreadbeasts flitted through the skies as well, though fortunately fewer than those on the ground, but they kept largely clear of the Kingdom encampment.\n\nIn the skies over the fortress, the Seishen King Dakata did battle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was a hulking, broad-shouldered bear of a man, especially in his bulky gray armor, but he faced a creature that dwarfed him.\n\nLindon would call it a dreadbeast, but it had the figure of a human with long, grotesquely twisted limbs. Its pale skin was broken and rotting, its jaw hung loose, and the beast gave off the impression of a horrific puppet made of corpses rather than any sort of living thing.\n\nIt flew on wind madra, sending Striker and Ruler techniques after the King in such a furious barrage that Lindon suspected it would tear its own madra channels apart. King Dakata weathered the assault like a boulder in a stream, but the Thousand-Mile Cloud on which he stood wavered with every hit.\n\nThis was a dreadbeast with the power of an Overlord. Fear shivered through Lindon's heart. How powerful could these become?\n\n[Uh, well, the one in the ocean can literally eat Monarchs, so... that powerful.]\n\nCharity drew her hand back, then flicked her fingers forward.\n\nClouds of silver-and-purple madra swept forward like a bank of fog, and Lindon was certain that he was watching the Striker technique of a Sage. Then the madra formed into distinct figures, hundreds of ghostly specters condensing from madra.\n\nThe phantoms raised their swords, reaping dreadbeasts like wheat. Each figure struck once and then dispersed, puffing into essence. One specter, larger and more distinct than the others, skewered the Overlord dreadbeast through the back with a spear.\n\nThe humanoid creature stiffened and screamed in what sounded like terror before King Dakata's sword took off its head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Every other dreadbeast that had been struck by Charity's technique died." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "In seconds, the army besieging the fortress had been reduced by half.\n\nLindon had seen living techniques before, but now he had to know the secret. Was that a Forger technique, or a Striker technique come to life?\n\nAs the Seishen soldiers sent up a cheer, Charity glanced over to Lindon. \"Striker technique,\" she said. \"Imbuing a living will into techniques is very advanced, but you will learn someday.\"\n\nLindon wondered how she had read his mind, but he didn't really care. He wanted that power.\n\nThe Seishen King descended before them, going to one knee in front of Charity as he removed his helm. His graybeard and hair were matted with sweat, and he spoke with both exhaustion and respect. \"I thank you, Sage. I would have felled that beast sooner or later, but I fear what damage it may have done in the meantime.\"\n\n\"What is the situation?\" Charity asked calmly.\n\n\"I have no doubt the Sage understands it already. We hastened here, to obey the Akura summons as quickly as possible, and arrived only the day before yesterday. The place was... a slaughterhouse. We gathered everyone we could, but that was only two in ten of the town's residents. We suspect there areas many again still alive and in hiding, but that is entirely a guess. We have barely been able to secure our own position.\"\n\nAshe spoke, his eyes flicked to Lindon more than once.\n\nHe showed no surprise. He'd noticed Lindon already and remembered him.\n\n[Do you think he knows we killed his son? I say we because I want him to know that I deserve half the credit.]\n\nLindon bowed respectfully, hoping that manners might somehow help." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I see. Good work, Your Highness.\" She spread a hand to her side. \"I'm certain you remember Wei Shi Lindon Arelius, my selection for the tournament. You may not have heard yet, but he earned his way to the top sixteen.\"\n\nDakata's jaw stiffened. \"I... see. He must be a valuable asset to the Akura clan, then.\"\n\n\"He is. And he will be joining up with my father's forces when they arrive in a day or two. Until then, I will leave him in your care.\"\n\nLindon whipped his head around to stare at the Sage. If she left him under Dakata's supervision, he'd be dead within the hour.\n\nCharity went on, serene and unconcerned with Lindon's panic. \"My father is looking forward to meeting with this Underlord. If for whatever reason he cannot, he will be very disappointed. In you.\"\n\nDakata bowed his head. \"I will protect him as if he were my own son.\" There was gruff anger in the last word.\n\nLindon knew that the Sage was protecting him, but he still didn't trust the Overlord's restraint. \"Apologies, honored Sage, but may I-\"\n\n\"You will be busy before my father arrives,\" Charity interrupted. \"We will pay a bounty for dreadbeast bindings. And you should be prepared to do battle against enemy Underlords when Abyssal Palace arrives.\"\n\n\"If I may ask, can I stay... elsewhere... today?\" He was painfully aware of the king kneeling behind him, listening to every word.\n\n\"I have every faith in your ingenuity and resilience. As well as Dakata's self-control. Farewell, both of you. I will see you soon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then she vanished into a pool of shadow.\n\nLeaving Lindon alone with King Dakata.\n\nThe Overlord straightened up, pulling out his Thousand-Mile Cloud and placing his helm back on. \"Stay away from Daji,\" the King said roughly. \"He'll kill you. Now get behind the wall and we'll find you a room.\"\n\nLindon had no intention of staying in any room the Seishen Kingdom prepared for him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "During his first night in Sky's Edge, Lindon didn't sleep at all.\n\nAs an Underlord, he needed less sleep than he ever had before... unless he exerted himself. He still recovered faster while sleeping, so he preferred to get five or six hours of sleep a night to maintain top condition. But a night without sleep wouldn't kill him.\n\nFalling asleep inside the Seishen Kingdom's walls just might.\n\nHe had stayed long enough to at least seethe room they had given him, but on his way he had glimpsed both Meira and Prince Daji.\n\nDaji, younger brother to the Prince Kiro that Lindon had left dead in Charity's treasure vault, was a wolf-like young man with a savage air. He was as tall as his father, but not as broad, and he carried two swords as he prowled the wall, shouting at his men.\n\nThe Underlady Meira had almost been chosen to participate in the Uncrowned King tournament as part of the Akura vassal team, and that was the lesser reason why she frightened Lindon.\n\nHer hair and eyes were both gray, though she was a young woman, and a pink flower over one ear seemed to be her Goldsign. She was a life artist and carried a tall scythe with a blade made of green flame. Lindon had seen her fight with armor before, but in the fortress she wore simple sacred artist robes.\n\nThe robes were stained in blood, which was especially concerning because her techniques were bloodless.\n\nHe saw her as she leaped into the sky, pulled a winged dreadbeast apart with her bare hands, and then fell onto the back of another. Only when she was on the ground and surrounded did she pullout her scythe and swing it around her, cutting through the ranks of the enemy in a furious rage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had been the one responsible for almost killing Yerin, and Lindon still felt a tight anger toward her for that.\n\nBut in the end, Yerin and Lindon had been the ones to walkaway victorious. He was content to leave her alone.\n\nThe Seishen Kingdom had plenty of other Underlords after their time in the Night Wheel Valley, such that Lindon felt like he was surrounded by them until he escaped the fortress, but none seemed to notice him through his pure madra veil.\n\nAnd no one cared when he jumped down from the top of the wall and ran into the rocky wilderness.\n\nLindon didn't know how seriously the Seishen King would take Charity's warning-would he hunt Lindon down to protect him, in order to avoid punishment from Fury?-but he had made his choice quickly. A dreadbeast-haunted wilderness was safer than abase of the Seishen Kingdom.\n\nLindon had survived dreadbeasts in the wild before, though those had been far weaker. Still, a script-circle and a network of hastily improvised security constructs kept him safe as he scooped a cave out of a cliff face with dragon's breath.\n\nOf course, he made sure to spend a moment stripping the binding from any dreadbeast he killed.\n\nAny bounty was profit.\n\nInstead of sleeping, he spent the night in the cave developing his techniques. The sooner he could get the Consume technique working, the better.\n\nHe sat cross-legged on the dusty stone floor as dreadbeasts prowled outside. His attention was focused inward as he tried to incorporate the principle of Emptiness into his Heart of Twin Stars.\n\nEithan's cycling techniques were helpful for inspiration, but he didn't have a spirit Enforcer technique in his Path, so there was nothing directly applicable. Lindon was forced to sit and checkoff variations as Dross simulated more." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[Oh wait, oh wait, I've got it! That's it, that's the key! Just try the last cycling pattern... in reverse.]\n\nInspired by the enthusiasm in Dross' voice, Lindon reversed the course of his madra, matching it up to his breath.\n\nIn about ten seconds, he had to stop. Every inch of his madra channels was in searing pain.\n\n[Perfect!] Dross shouted. [I couldn't quite visualize what would happen if you tried that. Now we can absolutely, definitively, cross that off the list.]\n\nLittle Blue whizzed around Lindon's head on a tiny Thousand-Mile Cloud, laughing like a silver bell.\n\nOcean-blue hair streamed behind her, as she had gained detail and substance overtime. He could even see little feet kicking at the hem of her sapphire dress.\n\nThe cloud he'd made her wouldn't last an entire day, and he had made her promise not to cross the script-circle that kept dreadbeasts out, but she loved flying.\n\nAt least one of them was having fun.\n\nTrying new patterns for the Heart of Twin Stars over and over again required his entire attention but had produced no results, so frustration grated on him. He and Dross both agreed that separating madra with it should be theoretically possible-the technique was made to separate part of his soul from itself, after all-but his madra just didn't seem to move like it should.\n\nTheir progress on his new boundary technique had stalled for the same reason. Not only could they not hold it stable for more than a breath, but it wouldn't block even a Highgold Striker technique. The pure madra he was pouring into it didn't cleanse foreign elements aggressively enough." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Little Blue stopped her cloud in front of his eyes and piped a question.\n\nShe wanted to help.\n\nHe smiled, trying not to worry her. \"You already help. How could I have made it without you?\"\n\nThe Path of Black Flame still scorched his madra channels, and without Little Blue's help, he would have to use it much more sparingly. The Dragon Descends would damage his spirit every time he practiced.\n\nShe cheeped more insistently, and Lindon gave her proposal more thought.\n\nThen an idea clicked into place.\n\nLittle Blue was a naturally formed spirit of pure madra. Her power worked by cleansing and pacifying hostile elements in the spirit. He couldn't be certain, but that might be exactly what he needed.\n\n\"Dross, what would happen if we added Little Blue's madra to the Heart of Twin Stars.\"\n\n[Eh, um, ah, that... no, that absolutely wouldn't work. Not with the version you're using now. And even if I came up with a variation that would be compatible, you would need her help every time you used the technique. Not worth trying. Should we try it anyway? Let's try it.]\n\nDross played the simulation in Lindon's mind, and it worked largely as Lindon had hoped. Blood and life essence from his hunger arm went to feed his body and lifeline respectively, and any drained madra was purified.\n\nThe efficiency of the madra was poor, as not all madra could be purified, and it required great concentration on Lindon's part to control.\n\nBut it seemed to work.\n\nHurriedly, Lindon rushed out to the front of the cave. A script-circle blocking the entrance kept slathering beasts of every description at bay; the last time he'd looked, there were five of them, but now that number had doubled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon saw them as walking stacks of scales.\n\nThree security constructs buzzed around him as they aimed their launchers outward. They would attack anything that broke the circle, and none of them would last any longer than Little Blue's cloud, but they gave him peace of mind.\n\nAward-key at his belt made him the exception to the script as he reached outwith his white arm, seizing a dreadbeast of about Truegold level and draining it.\n\nThe others pounced on him, but he pulled his hand back in an instant. He only needed a little power to test.\n\nHurriedly he dashed back into the cave and began cycling. The blood and life essence were already fading away, but the madra-a muddy brown mess of conflicting aspects-raged up his arm and into his channels. If it had been Lord quality, he might have already suffered damage.\n\n\"Little Blue,\" he asked, \"would you mind helping me fora moment?\"\n\nShe glowed with delight and raced over on her cloud. A second later, she poured her soothing madra into him.\n\nHe took it, matching the blue sparks of her power to the rhythm of the modified Heart of Twin Stars. It was difficult splitting his attention so many ways, as he had to incorporate Little Blue's madra, control his own in an unfamiliar pattern, and maintain a grip on the energy he'd drained from the dreadbeast.\n\nIt took so much of his concentration that he didn't realize it had worked until all the power was gone.\n\nThe blood essence went to his body, the life essence to his lifeline, and a trickle of pure madra back into his core. Even his channels felt slightly healthier.\n\n[Blech!] Dross spat. [Ew, I got some of its thoughts. It's so... hungry. And it's inconstant pain. I don't like pain, don't make me feel it again.]" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lindon couldn't contain his excitement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This was the breakthrough he'd been waiting for.\n\nNow the Consume technique was in his reach.\n\nWhen it was finished, every enemy would be nothing more than a spiritual elixir for him to consume. The dreadbeasts didn't just look like piles of walking scales, but like walking miracle pills.\n\nHe swept Little Blue up in his hands, holding her over his head. \"We did it! You were the key!\"\n\nShe looked surprised, and she burbled a question.\n\n\"You! You were what we were missing!\"\n\nShe cheered like a chorus of whistles, running around in circles on his hand.\n\nThen she plopped down and said something else, and he hesitated.\n\n\"I... we need to come up with a different version before we try it again. We'll need to know if it strains you first.\"\n\nThere were a number of areas that could be improved. The cycling path was less efficient than it could be, and it took him too much concentration to channel three things at once. Dross was simulating new versions already.\n\nMore importantly, he didn't want to work Blue too hard. All it would take was one accident, and he might crush her with the power of his spirit.\n\nImpatiently, she patted his hand and whistled a low flute note.\n\n\"... there is one more thing we could try,\" he said reluctantly. \"But that's all, okay?\"\n\nShe cheeped at him to get on with it.\n\nClosing his eyes, Lindon concentrated on the latest version of the Empty Field.\n\n[Hollow Domain,] Dross corrected.\n\nWe'll name it later.\n\nThey hadn't agreed on a name for their new technique yet. Lindon wanted it to sound like it belonged with his Empty Palm, but Dross thought Hollow Domain sounded better. Lindon thought the name fit Eithan's Path more than his own." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He setup the Highgold launcher construct they'd been using for practice, then triggered it.\n\nAnd used his new technique.\n\nMadra flooded out of him... and with Little Blue's support, it was tinged more blue than white. The wave of madra filled the room, cleansing everything except pure madra.\n\nThe launcher shot a Striker technique of light and force, abeam that entered the zone of blue light... and fizzled out instantly like a candle dunked in water.\n\nThe field of pure madra dispersed, flowing away. It was supposed to stay in place, stable, rather than washing over the room like a wave. And it wasn't supposed to take an entire quarter of his pure core's contents.\n\nIt was supposed to cancel out enemy techniques. Which it had.\n\nLittle Blue gave a cheer, but she swayed and fell over on his hand. She pushed back to her feet in a moment, insisting that they keep going, but he was already placing her onto her cloud.\n\n\"Apologies, Little Blue, but I need to take notes.\"\n\nShe seemed to accept that, but she kept her cloud hovering close to his head.\n\nHe wrote down his experiences and observations, as well as the problems that still needed ironing out, but all his previous frustrations were wiped away. This was areal start, and now he was close to having more weapons in his arsenal.\n\nHis Path was almost complete.\n\nThe main problem still facing him was Blue's safety. Maybe he could imitate her madra on his own, or get her to Forge scales for him to consume in battle.\n\nShe whistled when she grew impatient with his notes, and he gave her a smile of apology. \"You know I can't put you in danger. Even if I keep you in my core, one good hit to my spirit and you could die. Apologies.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Little Blue scowled at him, then flew her cloud up to the ceiling to sulk.\n\n---\n\nLindon spent an entire night and most of the next day working on his new techniques and pushing through the Heaven and Earth Purification Wheel.\n\nThen the Akura cloudship arrived.\n\nHe sensed the ship approach Sky's Edge, as Akura Fury was doing nothing to disguise his presence. Lindon flew on his Skysworn Thousand-Mile Cloud back to the wall of the Seishen encampment, killing flying dreadbeasts and tucking their bindings away as he traveled.\n\nThe ship on its dark cloud hung between the fortress and the giant, white sword embedded in the terrain. King Dakata and several Overlords flew out to meet the Akura family as they arrived.\n\nLindon stayed well back.\n\nAkura Fury drifted up, over his ship, and took a deep breath.\n\nA moment later, his voice boomed out over the entire town.\n\n\"Hey everybody! Welcome to Sky's Edge! Let's remember why we're here: we need to protect the survivors, clear out the dreadbeasts, secure the mine, and evacuate the citizens before the Titan wakes up.\" He ticked off every point on his fingers.\n\n\"Ina few days, we'll be joined by Abyssal Palace, so then we'll get to fight them too! Until then, the bounty system works like we discussed. It's setup on the ship. If you don't know your teams, find...\"\n\nThe Herald scratched the back of his head. \"... Justice? No, Justice is still at home. Well, you can find somebody to tell you. Oh, and don't hurt your allies, okay? You can fight if you really want to, but make it an official duel with rules and everything. Abandoning a mission, fighting over bounties, or permanently injuring someone is a punishment. Kill anybody on our side or betray us, and I'll kill you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He didn't sound too upset about the idea. Fury crossed his arms and furrowed his brow, thinking fora moment. \"Hmmm... I think that's about it. Have fun!\"\n\nThe tiny cloudship of the Seishen Kingdom stopped halfway as figures burst into flight around the Akura ship like bees fleeing a hive. Clouds, sacred beasts, Remnants, constructs, and techniques shot away from the large cloudship and headed to the ground, all carrying teams of sacred artists.\n\nAfter enduring the wave of traffic, the Seishen king and his entourage continued toward the Herald.\n\nBut Fury vanished in a blur of motion.\n\nLindon only had time fora spike of alarm to go through his spirit before Akura Fury came to a stop in front of him, grinning, his red eyes bright.\n\nThe wind of his passage blew against Lindon in a powerful gust, carrying the stink of dreadbeasts and making the Herald's shadowy hair whip wildly.\n\n\"Hey, Lindon! Did Charity bring you?\"\n\nLindon pressed his fists together and bowed. \"She did, and she suggested that she would be back to meet with you soon.\"\n\n\"Oh, okay.\" He didn't sound like he cared whether Charity checked upon him or not. \"Glad you could make it! We need to get you a team, let's see... aha!\"\n\nThere was a small cloudship nearby, designed for about ten people, with a purple cloud that was about to touchdown to the ground.\n\nFury made a grasping motion, and a hand of shadow seized the ship and started dragging it backwards.\n\nAs it grew closer, Lindon's heart sank.\n\nAt the control panel of the ship, with his head in his hands, was Akura Pride." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Six other Underlords rode the ship with him, and Lindon recognized them all." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Akura Grace, like a younger version of Malice herself, stood behind Pride and held a hand on her curving single-edged sword. Two of her relatives waited in the back, the other members of the Akura backup team, as did the two women from the Frozen Blade School.\n\nThey both had tan skin, white-streaked black hair, and blue-and-white robes, and he couldn't tell them apart. Their names were Maten Teia and Maten Kei, though Lindon had never really had a conversation with either of them, and he didn't know if they were sisters or distant relatives that happened to lookalike.\n\nThe final passenger was Naru Saeya, who would have been able to see over the heads of everyone else if she hadn't sat herself on a bench at the very back of the deck. Her wings were retracted, she kept her eyes on the ground, and the peacock feathers over her ear drooped.\n\nThese were the participants from the Uncrowned King tournament.\n\n\"This is our best Underlord team!\" Fury said proudly. \"You guys are better than everybody else, but we need you for harder assignments, so it evens out. Lindon, you made it the farthest in the tournament, so you're in charge now. Pride, you're number two. Everybody else, just figure it out.\"\n\nPride looked like he was trying to launch a Striker technique with his eyes.\n\nGrace frowned slightly, the other two Akura family members seemed uncomfortable, the Frozen Blades muttered to one another, and Naru Saeya looked up from the deck.\n\nAll of them watched him.\n\n[Would you like a reminder of how many times you've fought each person on that ship?] Dross asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I haven't fought the Matens or Naru Saeya at all, Lindon responded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was resolved to look on the positive side.\n\n\"Good luck, kids!\" Fury said cheerfully. \"Work hard!\"\n\nHe left a miniature hurricane behind him as he leaped away again.\n\n\"Apologies,\" Lindon said as soon as the Herald was gone.\n\n\"Get on the ship,\" Pride snapped. \"We're wasting time.\"\n\nLindon hopped on, and Pride immediately started piloting away. Lindon didn't even know where they were going. \"Pardon, everyone. I would never wish to contradict a Herald, but I don't know that it's appropriate for me to be in charge. I don't even know what's going on.\"\n\nThough he was very interested in the idea of bounties.\n\nPride looked to him in disgust. \"What attitude is that? Raise your chin. Leading this team is an honor, and you should work to be worthy of it.\"\n\nHe tossed something to Lindon. A viewing tablet with text written on it in light projected by internal constructs.\n\nLindon's eyes widened when he read the words'Bounty Board.\"\n\n\"Uncle Fury likes to make it a game,\" Pride said. \"Teams get contribution points for contributing to our cause here. There are no individual points. The team's score is pooled together and the distribution of prizes is decided by the team's leader.\"\n\nThe stares from the rest of the team prickled him, but he didn't lookup.\n\nThe tablet recorded a list of bounties that could be claimed by each team.\n\nDreadbeast binding below Lord: 1 point\n\nDreadbeast binding, Lord-rank: 5 points\n\nAssignment completion: 20 points" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Natural treasures: 5 points minimum, subject to appraisal\n\nSpoils of war: 10 points minimum, subject to appraisal\n\nThat explained the teams all around him, who were already flying around and hunting dreadbeasts. Lindon was even more pleased by the collection of hunger bindings he'd earned over the last day.\n\nThen he saw the list of rewards.\n\nNatural treasures ranged from four points to sixteen, depending on strength, and you could use points to purchase materials like scales, dead matter, simple constructs, and weapons. So far, so expected.\n\nWhen he reached the end of the list, his heart started to pound.\n\nLimited Stock:\n\nTears of the Mother Tree: 1500 points\n\nInterior Command elixir: 1000\n\nGold Lion's Heart pill: 1400\n\nLow-grade void key (two available): 1250\n\nHigh-grade void key: 1750\n\nDiamond Veins: 2000\n\nDivine Treasure– Thousand Swords of Binding Light: 2250\n\n\"... spent the last two weeks training together,\" Pride was saying. \"We saw your performance in the tournament, but whatever my uncle says, that's no basis for command.\"\n\nStriker techniques were lighting up the rocky ground around Lindon. Every second, dreadbeasts died.\n\nPoints were being taken from his pocket. He had dreadbeast bindings in his void key, but not enough.\n\nIf he played this right, he could get these prizes.\n\nHe could get them all.\n\n\"Pride. One moment.\"\n\nThe short Akura Underlord bristled, then took a step closer to Lindon. \"You seem to have forgotten that I'm the one who-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon seized him, terror filling his words. \"Every second we waste is another point gone. You understand? We're losing points.\"\n\nThis could be the greatest harvest he'd ever reaped in his life, and he had started late.\n\nPride tried to respond, but Lindon released him. \"How many of you have Thousand-Mile Clouds?\" They didn't respond immediately, and desperate impatience clawed at his chest. \"Your hands! Raise them!\"\n\n[I wish you could see how crazy you look right now,] Dross said. [I wish I could see it.]\n\nHesitantly, everyone but Naru Saeya and the two Frozen Blade women raised their hands.\n\nNaru Saeya didn't need one, but the other two would need to be able to fly to keep up. Lindon opened his void key, used wind aura to grab the bag of dreadbeast bindings, and tossed the sack to one of the Frozen Blades.\n\n\"Turn those in for points. There should be forty-six in there, and the lowest level clouds are twenty. Buy yourselves one each, then go hunting dreadbeasts with everyone else.\"\n\nGrace spoke up. \"We need everyone for our current assignment.\"\n\n\"No, we don't.\" There had been a memory embedded in the tablet explaining the details of their mission; Lindon was viewing it already. \"Separate into teams of two, and... you two, please leave. Please. I'm begging you.\"\n\nThe Frozen Blades looked at each other, shrugged, and hopped off the cloudship. Not nearly fast enough for Lindon's taste. He wished he could loan them madra.\n\n\"Teams of two,\" Lindon continued. \"Pride, take Courage. Grace, take Douji. Go get another assignment each.\" Akura Courage controlled a formation of six flying swords, so he should cover for Pride, who used only Enforcer techniques. Akura Douji was a lightning artist who had practiced extensively with Grace." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon had fought them both several times apiece. In his head, he'd faced them hundreds of times. He knew exactly what they could do.\n\n\"If they won't let you take one until our current mission is finished, then hunt dreadbeasts or Forge scales.\" Scales couldn't be exchanged for points, but they might be able to buy things that could be. \"Naru Saeya and I will handle the assignment.\"\n\nPride straightened. \"This is a task they would normally assign to an Overlord. Don't let your pride drag us down with you.\"\n\nLindon seized him by the shoulders and shook him. \"This is about points.\"\n\nPride looked furious, but he left.\n\nLindon had already taken over the control panel, shoving his pure madra into the scripts until the cloudship blasted forward. Pride had been taking them closer to their mission, where he had surely intended to land and approach on foot, collecting dreadbeast bindings as they went.\n\nThe ship shot over treetops in a blur.\n\n\"They won't like that,\" Saeya predicted sourly. \"Pride is well-named.\"\n\nLindon's void key had opened again, and he manipulated aura and extended strands of madra to flip open scripted boxes and pullout bindings and dead matter. \"I know what they're like. I'm sure they didn't listen to a word you said the entire time you were with them, and that's why you're with me.\"\n\nDross was working to supplement his concentration and his pure core was emptying like it had developed a leak as he assembled a construct and piloted the cloudship at the same time, so his attention was barely on his words as he spoke. \"You also have the skills I need right now. You're faster than they are, your perception extends farther, and your Path is perfect for rescue.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was as tightly focused as if his life was on the line, his objective all he could see.\n\nSaeya blinked as she looked from him to the construct assembling itself behind him and back.\n\n\"You know, you should act like this more often,\" she said. \"Yerin would love it.\"\n\nLindon wasn't listening.\n\nSoulsmith products could be purchased for points, which meant that they had Soulsmiths doing that work who must get paid, so he could take on Soulsmithing jobs as well. How many missions could his team complete per day? Two? How many dreadbeasts could they defeat? How many were there?\n\nSaeya pointed him in the right direction, and soon he could see a red flame blazing from the side of another rocky fortress. This one didn't have the hastily built look of the Seishen Kingdom's construction, but was as big as a small town, and rose in layers like a cake. The red fire covered half of the structure without going out.\n\nOver a hundred Gold dreadbeasts tore at the sides of the fortress, opposed by sacred artists inside, but it was another humanoid dreadbeast that provided the real threat.\n\nThis fat, rotting, man-like creature opened its jaws and spewed red flames across the fortress wall. They splattered like liquid, some fires extinguishing but others burning on.\n\nThis creature gave off the pressure of an Underlord. At least. It was hard to rate dreadbeasts like sacred artists, but Lindon wouldn't be surprised if someone were to compare this specimen to a weak Overlord.\n\nThe mission parameters were to rescue a few key members of the sect who had made this fortress their home. Any further sacred artists rescued would mean bonus points, but the situation was more complicated than it seemed on the surface." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A protective script covered the outer wall of the fortress, which was why the Overlord dreadbeast hadn't killed everyone yet. Neither the fire nor the army of monsters had penetrated the outer wall of the fortress yet, but they would soon.\n\nIf he engaged the Overlord in battle, the Golds would make it impossible to win quickly. Already flying dreadbeasts were diving to attack their ship.\n\nTheir full team of eight would have surely swept this battlefield clean with minimal risk, but their safest options would have also taken the longest.\n\nLindon's dead matter was all in place, and he let the cloudship's speed fall, devoting himself to Soulsmithing. Every piece of the construct floated in his pure madra, and he Forged them without tools, shaping them according to the image in his mind.\n\nEach binding shone in his spirit like a star, and Dross' calculations prevented the slightest mistake.\n\nThe Spear of the Summer King went opposite the red dragon's breath.\n\nThe Storm Lotus opposed the Titan-Slayer Axe, and the Grave's Last Word matched against the Bloodwash Wave.\n\nAll six Striker techniques reacted with one another, sending off sparks of many colors, settling into an equilibrium with the other bindings, the dead matter, and his own madra. It was Soulsmithing that should have taken weeks of testing, measuring, and planning.\n\nThe launcher construct settled into his hands as the fat dreadbeast turned to face him, roaring. Red flame gathered at the back of its throat.\n\nLindon leveled his newborn cannon and fired.\n\nA lance of blinding light slammed into the creature's belly, carving out a chunk of flesh. The giant gave a pained roar, and this time its hands glowed red as well. A more complicated technique, easily powerful enough to reduce their cloudship to splinters." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bat-like dreadbeasts screeched as they dove for him, but he gave them no attention. Naru Saeya met them with wind in one hand and a rainbow sword in the other.\n\nLindon forced his spirit through the cannon, pushing out another shot before the weapon had been given a chance to recover from the last one.\n\nThe giant's head exploded. Burning, rotten flesh sprayed across the stony landscape as the dreadbeast toppled.\n\nLindon's construct broke apart, and he tossed it aside, trying not to calculate how many points its materials would have been worth.\n\nSaeya had rid herself of two flying dreadbeasts, but was flying circles around two more, harrying them with her weapon and techniques.\n\nLindon took them outwith dragon's breath.\n\nThe Naru woman hovered down to him as his cloudship slowly came to a stopover the fortress. She looked shocked as she surveyed the dead Lord-stage beast. Rotten blood had splattered across her outer robe.\n\nBut she roused herself quickly. \"I'm heading inside.\"\n\nLindon tossed her another construct, one that he'd prepared beforehand. \"Break this if you need help. I'll cleanup out here.\"\n\nShe nodded and shot down, stopping to identify herself to the defenders on the wall and convince them to let her through their protective script.\n\nLindon dropped to the ground himself, switching to Blackflame as he fell. The Burning Cloak ignited, dragon's breath formed in his hand, and Wavedancer flew from his void key.\n\nThe flying sword, beautifully crafted from the blues and greens of wind and waves, responded eagerly to his will.\n\nHe landed with a squelch on the ruined dreadbeast and laid waste to the army around him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Archlord flying sword sliced Truegold dreadbeasts in half with a single swing, as did the thin bars of Blackflame he sent slashing out.\n\nAt the same time, he tapped into his soulfire, using the blood aura in the giant's body to pull apart the flesh in its chest. Meat and tendons tore away from the binding he sensed near its heart.\n\nHurry, Lindon thought. I have to hurry.\n\nIf even one prize escaped his grasp, he was going to weep blood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eithan waded through an ashen maze of jagged walls that were all that remained of his homeland.\n\nHe doubted he had ever stood in this particular building before, but even if he had, there would be noway to tell now. The earth had shifted and the sky rained living lightning, until what was left was unrecognizable.\n\nThe layer of ash only remained now, eight years later, because of the endless destruction aura that enveloped the whole continent. If he were to open his aura sight, he would see a black shadow clinging to every other color. His outer robes and the tips of his hair would slowly dissolve, if he let them.\n\nHe stopped in the shadow of the largest chunk of wall still standing, gazing through an empty window down a row of shattered homes. He tried to use that image, to let it remind him of the consequences of his own bad decisions, but it was too late. That wound was too old and too deep. Nothing he could do today would bring feeling back to that scar.\n\nThe people who had died here had belonged to House Arelius. Once, losing family had evoked great passion in him.\n\nTime had dulled that edge. So had knowledge. He didn't need vengeance, he needed the power to change a system that had broken long before he was born.\n\nThough he was oddly pleased to feel an ember of fury stoke to life as he saw the man approaching him from behind.\n\nReigan Shen's steps crunched in ash that he had made himself. \"Eithan Arelius. I expected to find you in Tiberian's palace.\"\n\nHe prowled with great confidence, his white-gold mane glossy, and in Eithan's opinion he would not lookout of place with a tufted tail swinging behind him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Monarch was thoroughly veiled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Herein secret, then. As expected.\n\nEithan turned and gave him a blinding smile. \"What's left of it, you mean? You expected to see me weeping in the ruined foundation?\"\n\n\"So you haven't returned. I left it mostly intact, out of respect.\"\n\nReturned.\n\n\"Ah, you remember me.\" Eithan swept a bow. \"I'm honored.\"\n\nThe Lion Emperor nodded. \"It is not often that understanding so exceeds age and advancement. If Tiberian had used you more carefully, perhaps it is I who would have fallen.\"\n\n\"Tiberian trusted you to act in your own self-interest,\" Eithan said. He was pleased that he still sounded unfazed, though he was growing closer and closer to angry every moment. \"As, I admit, did I.\"\n\n\"None of you understand my interests, which always surprises me. I feel I have been very consistent.\"\n\n\"You could have ascended like a king. Who is Kiuran of the Hounds? You know as well as I do those like him would have licked your boots the moment you ascended with a Dreadgod weapon in your hands. You would have dwarfed Northstrider's most ambitious dream.\"\n\nReigan Shen laced his fingers together, and his jeweled rings flashed in the dying sunlight. \"My desires have only ever extended to this world, not beyond it.\"\n\nThat was almost enough to start Eithan shouting, but Shen continued in a melancholy tone.\n\n\"I have heard your arguments from Tiberian's mouth. Perhaps my people would be safer and happier if we had destroyed the Dreadgods. But they are safe, and they are happy, and I am hereto guide them. And the heavens have offered me the means to achieve our goal, your goal, without abandoning my people.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eithan focused on his cycling madra, controlling his emotions. Equilibrium returned soon enough, and his smile was more genuine. \"We both know that won't work. If you don't ascend, it will be for nothing.\"\n\n\"It will buy us time to put new systems in place. You are not the only one who understands the nature of things, Arelius.\"\n\nShen's words sunk Eithan's spirits. It will buy us time. That was all they ever wanted. Stall tactics. No real solutions.\n\nYes, millions of people will die, but still an acceptable number. It's not as if we're doing nothing. Perhaps we could reduce that number to zero, but it's too much risk. Too much personal sacrifice.\n\nHow could anyone justify leaving the Dreadgods alive, even to themselves? Just because he would have to leave this world behind.\n\n\"I do,\" Eithan said heavily. \"I understand. But it seems that soon, I will be in the position to decide.\" His smile returned. \"So why has the lone Monarch of the Rosegold continent deigned to visit me today?\"\n\nReigan Shen gave awry smile. \"I have come to buy you out of the tournament.\"\n\n\"That's impressive, considering that the grand prize is priceless.\"\n\n\"Do you know how many priceless things I own? Penance is not in your hands yet, and even as an Overlord, you are not guaranteed to defeat Shoumei or Sophara. You can return to Blackflame City with all your wishes granted.\"\n\nEithan gestured to the ash and ruin all around them. \"This is not the most conducive environment to a negotiation.\"\n\nReigan Shen waved a hand and the ruins of the shattered house were erased. They simply vanished with no more than a slight puff of wind to mark their passing. Another flick of his fingers, and the Monarch opened a swirling portal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The space was protected, so Eithan could see only a swirl of color before a golden disc emerged. He had to take a few steps back to give it room; the disc was as large as a barn floor, though only as thick as two hands.\n\nIt came to a stop, hovering at waist height. The golden disc was a platform supporting a table and two contoured chairs. Eithan hopped up, as did Reigan Shen, and Eithan noticed the difference immediately as he crossed the scripted barrier.\n\nInside, the air was cool and sweet rather than choked with ash. Though there were no walls and he could look uninterrupted at the ruined city around him, they were far more comfortable. A ceiling hovered above them, blocking some falling ash, though the script would have done that just as well.\n\nThey took their seats, and Eithan plucked a flower from a decorative vase at the center of the table. \"Before we begin, I would like avoid key to contain the cloudship you gave me. It's inconvenient not being able to carry it around.\"\n\n\"Of course. An oversight on my part.\"\n\nEithan doubted that. The ship Reigan Shen had gifted him was stored in one of the Ninecloud City's hangars, but Eithan had been unable to remove it until after the tournament because of city air travel regulations. He was certain that had been part of the plan for his'prize.\"\n\nShen casually tossed him an ornately carved and scripted golden ring, which Eithan tucked away.\n\nThat set the tone for the negotiation. Shen was willing to throw in atop-grade void key, which many Sages couldn't afford, as an afterthought. Then again, he was perhaps the only one in the world who could treat spatial storage so lightly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This need not be along process,\" the Monarch said. \"Tell me what you want so that I may give it to you.\"\n\nEithan stopped himself short of saying'Your head on a platter.\" Not only would it set the wrong tone, it wasn't what he wanted.\n\nIf Reigan Shen didn't die to anew generation of Monarchs raised by Eithan, that would be the real tragedy.\n\n\"Financial support and protection for House Arelius.\"\n\n\"A wise choice. My grudge was never against House Arelius. They are now under my protection, free to operate independent of my rule, and I will honor their borders. I will give them support equal to any of my vassal states, including a restoration package of a billion scales, and Yushi will beat the service of your Sage for one year beginning tonight.\"\n\nYushi was a Herald on a lightning Path, and one of Reigan Shen's closest companions. She was colloquially known as the Thunder Fairy, a name she hated. There were children's rhymes about her.\n\nEithan had written one himself.\n\nThat was generous support for House Arelius-more generous than Eithan had expected. Shen had come prepared, and he had obviously anticipated Eithan's first demand.\n\nShen leaned on his hand, elbow on the table. \"Now, surely you want something for yourself as well.\"\n\n\"Certainly I do, but first I have another request on behalf of my House. Your fairy is wonderful, but the condition of my homeland is as you see it. We require the attention of the Rootfather.\"\n\n\"I do not command the dragons.\"\n\n\"Garrylondryth's full attention and a guarantee of behavior from him. You may keep Yushi while he is here, if you like.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Herald of the green dragons was the right hand of the Dragon King, and rather than destroying human civilization, he preferred to enhance the power of nature. He practiced a Path of water and life, and he had made it his mission to restore the natural world after a clash of great powers.\n\nDespite his generally peaceful temperament, he nursed centuries-old grudges against Akura Fury and Northstrider. Something about a relentless campaign against his family and the death of his children in battle; Eithan wasn't entirely clear on the details.\n\nRather than continuing to pretend he had no influence over the Dragon Monarch, Reigan Shen said, \"Agreed.\" He leaned back and twisted one of his rings. \"And for yourself?\"\n\n\"I would like to ensure that the Blackflame Empire is evacuated before the danger of the Dreadgods.\"\n\nFor once, Reigan Shen expressed mild surprise. \"You don't trust Malice to handle such a task?\"\n\n\"She will be fighting against the cults. Who are now gathered under your banner.\"\n\nThe Monarch drummed sharp fingernails on the table. \"I can issue a standing order to allow evacuating civilians to continue unmolested, and I can respect whatever shelters Malice creates. I expect any of this to be included in whatever agreement I reach with the other Monarchs. It is not your concern.\"\n\n\"Just being thorough. Now, to finally answer your question: neither House Arelius nor the Blackflame Empire can appropriately subsidize my advancement.\"\n\n\"I will sponsor you all the way to Herald once the tournament ends, assuming you can overcome the other barriers yourself.\"\n\nThat was another truly generous offer. Advancing through Overlord and Archlord could be astronomically expensive, and even Monarch factions did not spend such sums lightly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was no guarantee of return on such an investment; most would-be Overlords or Archlords stalled out atone of the other bottlenecks that could not be broken through with advancement resources.\n\nIf you could simply spend a fortune to power through the Lord realm, as you could through Gold, then every rich merchant would be Archlord.\n\nEithan gave a beaming smile. \"Let's assume that I can. Now, it also seems tome that I'm giving up the most powerful weapon in the world, so I should end up with some weapons of my own in recompense, don't you think?\"\n\n\"You're giving up your chance at the most powerful weapon in the world,\" Shen corrected, but a spark of interest had kindled in his eyes. \"But if one of my collection has captured your imagination, it's possible we can come to an arrangement.\"\n\nOnce again, Eithan was sorely tempted to demand something unreasonable, like Shen's entire arsenal.\n\nIf he waited until the final match, he might have enough leverage to force Shen to agree. Now that was a fortune that could reshape the entire situation on the planet.\n\nBut there was too much risk involved. What if Sophara and Yan Shoumei were both eliminated early, and Eithan was left in the finals against Mercy? What a missed opportunity that would be.\n\nOf course, he could use Penance to blackmail Reigan Shen into giving him what he wanted anyway.\n\nEithan was aiming for the best of both worlds.\n\nYou didn't make it to Monarch by being easy to fool, so Shen wouldn't give Eithan anything that might affect the tournament. Eithan could funnel any advancement resources to Yerin, Mercy, or Ziel, even if he himself dropped out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But if Reigan Shen bought him off and Yerin or Mercy won, Eithan would profit twice.\n\nAnd if they didn't... well, it was possible that Eithan would have lost anyway, and at least he had a luxurious consolation prize.\n\n\"Why would I breakup the world's greatest collection?\" Eithan asked, with exaggerated horror. \"No, I prefer my weapons made to order. Give me the Soulforge.\"\n\nHe held a flower up to his nose and inhaled while the Monarch's jaw worked. \"... you're not even in the top four.\"\n\n\"Oh, would you prefer to have this conversation after I've knocked out one of your fighters?\"\n\nEven Eithan didn't know the distribution of the next round, but given that it was reached by the agreement of the Monarchs, he could guess. Eithan wouldn't be fighting any allies. Which meant a three out of four chance he was matched against one of Shen's team.\n\nUnless it was Yan Shoumei and she managed to defeat him, his position would only be stronger after this round ended. They both knew it.\n\nThere came a growl from deep in Shen's chest that rumbled out and shook the table. Shen was perhaps the only Monarch who could make a replacement for the Soulforge, which was the only reason he was considering Eithan's request at all.\n\nEithan respected that Shen didn't try anything foolish, like pretending the artifact was irreplaceable. Any false position he took would only make Eithan more determined.\n\n\"This is the last concession I will make,\" Shen warned.\n\n\"You agree to this and my other conditions, and I will swear on my soul to throw the next match,\" Eithan promised. \"Except... there is one final thing I do require.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Speak, but I will bend no further.\"\n\n\"Clothes,\" Eithan said. \"I need new clothes.\"\n\n---\n\nInformation requested: Tiberian Arelius, the Storm King, Patriarch of House Arelius and the fallen ruler over half of the Rosegold continent.\n\nBeginning report...\n\nPath: Raging Sky. Most'storm\" Paths are really only lightning Paths, but the Path of the Raging Sky harvests water, wind, and lightning aura in balance with one another. As an interesting side effect, practitioners can adjust their madra to bring one aspect or another to the forefront, so that it can often feel like facing three different Paths-one of water, one of wind, and one of lightning-rather than a single, unified set of techniques.\n\nWhen Tiberian Arelius was young, he was often called a'perfect sacred artist.\"\n\nNot only did he have unsurpassed talent in the sacred arts, mastering each technique with grace and skill, but he never stopped working. He was honest and straightforward to a fault, keeping his power under control, showing perfect deference to his superiors and gracious mercy to those beneath him.\n\nThe previous Arelius Monarch was only a distant relative of his, but she ascended with peace in her heart when she realized she could leave their House in Tiberian's hands.\n\nHe brought House Arelius to anew era of prosperity, maintaining a tense balance of peace with their rival and neighbor, House Shen.\n\nUntil his youngest advisor, a prodigy of their House, came forward to propose something more than an alliance. This advisor had violated family tradition and protocol to raid the tomb of their founding Patriarch, the original Arelius.\n\nFrom this tomb, he brought relics of an unknown nature." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[WARNING: information incomplete. Continuing report.]\n\nWith these relics, the advisor was able to convince Tiberian to embark on an ambitious project: the elimination of the Dreadgods. The same task that resulted in the Dread War and the death of the previous generation of Monarchs.\n\nAs a first step, Tiberian approached his neighbor, Reigan Shen and proposed an alliance.\n\nShen responded with violence.\n\nTrue battles between Monarchs are rare, and this one destroyed much of the Rosegold continent. In the end, even the Weeping Dragon was drawn in, and Tiberian was struck down.\n\nLeaving House Arelius leaderless and in ashes.\n\nSuggested topic: the fate of House Arelius.\n\nERROR: topic unavailable. Report complete.\n\n---\n\nIna snowy village protected by the Frozen Blade School, Yerin did battle with a demon.\n\nThe spirit was originally the Remnant of a man on a Path that combined sword, blood, and destruction madra. He had caused such havoc a hundred years ago that his Remnant had been sealed. Originally, it was as a sort of posthumous punishment.\n\nBut, as the Winter Sage had told her, it had become something else overtime. The family in charge of the Remnant had fed the Remnant-which was originally Truegold-scales and spirits, and equipped it with a pair of long, sickle-like curved swords.\n\nNow, it exhibited a power not unlike an Underlord, and they had used it to threaten their business rivals for several years. Under the protection of this creature, dubbed the Demon of Twin Blades, their business had prospered.\n\nThe Frozen Blade School hadn't intervened as the spirit hadn't harmed any innocents or even killed very many people. Until recently." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Yerin stood on the edge of a flat rooftop, which had been mostly ravaged under the impact of the Demon's madra." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moonlight gleamed down over its long, silvery scripted blades, each of which contained cold power that weighed on her senses.\n\nThe Demon itself resembled a gorilla, painted in a complex color like a deep blue mixed with ashes. Its eyes blazed yellow and hot from within ahead like an inhuman skull, and its knuckles scraped the ground. It was as dense as any other Remnant she'd ever seen, so that if she'd been forced to rely only on her bare eyes, she might not have known it was a Remnant at all.\n\nIt threw its head back and howled, and the world around it drained of color as it called all the aura from nearby to obey its Ruler technique. Sharp, jagged blades-like obsidian knives-began to Forge themselves into the air around her, and the two techniques pressed in on Yerin from every direction.\n\nYerin wasn't really paying attention.\n\nHer spirit screamed danger, and she listened to that instead, pushing her perception deeper. She had fought part of this fight with her eyes closed, trying to hear the elusive tune that had guided her in her fight against Altavian Arelius.\n\nThe Winter Sage insisted that she could chase it down through combat, and Yerin was trying, but it was like trying her hardest to remember something she'd forgotten.\n\nShe needed to becalm. To stop trying so hard and let it come to her.\n\nWhen blades of aura and madra surrounded her, pressing in on her as though she were wrapped in razors, the sense of danger grew too much to endure.\n\nAnd then she felt it.\n\nA spark of madra passed from her hand down to her sheathed sword, and her blade rang like a bell.\n\nThe Demon of Twin Blades lost its hands at the wrists. When its swords hit the roof, it looked down as though trying to process what was happening. Its techniques destabilized, and then she lazily swung her blade through the air without looking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A Rippling Sword slashed like a crescent through the night. A flat shield of madra appeared in front of the demon and it leaped backwards, but Yerin's Striker technique had felt more... right... than her techniques usually did.\n\nHis defense might have been enough to deflect one of her normal attacks, but this time it passed through with no resistance and sliced him in half.\n\nThe Demon fell to pieces, and Yerin stood with her eyes closed, spiritual perception drilling deeper, trying to remember this sensation even as it drifted off.\n\nThis washer way forward. As she advanced, it would become easier and easier to sense.\n\nHer Blood Shadow squirmed inside her, restless, hungry for both action and power, but Yerin forced it down. Soon, she wouldn't need the Shadow at all.\n\nNoise penetrated Yerin's trance, and for the first time she paid attention to her audience. Down on the snowy streets beneath the building, several dozen people had gathered. They raised torches or rune-lights or techniques against the darkness.\n\nAnd when the Demon of Twin Blades fell, their voices rose in a shout of excitement. It wasn't quite a cheer, but a wave of cries that broke into chatter and a few individual calls.\n\nYerin wasn't quite sure how to respond, but she felt like she was supposed to do something. She waved her white blade down to them.\n\nThe sound from the crowd redoubled, and this time it was definitely a cheer.\n\nWell, that didn't feel too bad.\n\nThe Winter Sage had been sending her out to fight with her sword, insisting that this would help her become a'symbol\" of swordsmanship and thus get closer to the Sword Icon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She wasn't sure if popularity or fame would help with that. Did Icons care how well-known you were?\n\nYerin picked up the two weapons the Remnant had been carrying-no sense in leaving them for anyone else-and hopped down to the street. The people cheered and shouted out questions, but they also backed away from her. So they liked her, but they didn't want her to get too close.\n\nThat was how people had treated her master, so she wasn't too bothered. She used the bubble of space around her to make it to the end of the street, but her good mood faded quickly when she noticed another group that the people of the town were avoiding.\n\nThe Sage of Red Faith and his students.\n\nThe Blood Sage crouched on the street like a frog, looking up at her from his hunched position. Red paint tracked down from his eyes like bloody tears.\n\nA wave of revulsion ran through her, and even her Blood Shadow surged up in willingness to fight.\n\nBeside him was another figure that looked like they haunted children every night at midnight: Yan Shoumei. Her black hair hid half her face, and her one visible eye was too wide. Her sacred arts robes hung loose around her.\n\nTheir third companion, Calan Archer, was the only one who wasn't likely to frighten anyone away. In fact, he had a fine figure, with broad shoulders, muscular arms, and a handsome face. His Goldsign ruined it all, in Yerin's estimation, because the scripted rings of living lightning marked him as a member of the Stormcallers.\n\nPutting a good-looking man in a Dreadgod cult was putting a dress on a hog. Didn't make it any less a pig.\n\nJust seeing the three of them was enough to ruin Yerin's excitement over her progress. She almost wished they would make a move on her; not only would the Winter Sage not rest until she had her revenge, but if they attacked one of the Uncrowned in Akura territory, they'd have a Monarch and a heavenly messenger to contend with." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But she still wasn't looking to die, so she dropped the Remnant's swords and cycled her madra." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The crowd took another few steps back.\n\nYan Shoumei scowled at her and let out a furious whisper. \"Didn't your master teach you better than to fight in a town? Someone could have been hurt.\"\n\nThe words threw Yerin's brain into a spin. Was a member of Redmoon Hall lecturing her about collateral damage?\n\nShoumei walked up to a trio of little girls in the crowd nearby, going to her knees and speaking in a soothing tone. \"It's going to be okay. The demon is gone, and we won't let anything happen to you.\"\n\nShe still sounded like a witch trying to lure them to their deaths.\n\nThe girls stammered something and scurried back, scrambling to put some adults between themselves and the evil-looking Underlady. The adults didn't look anymore at ease than the children did.\n\nYan Shoumei hung her head, and Yerin could seethe depression and disappointment radiating from her back.\n\nYerin reminded herself to stay on her guard. She couldn't feel any sympathy.\n\n\"You all found a spine and a half if you're after me here,\" Yerin said, hoping the crowd would sense an incoming fight and leave. \"The Sage won't lie down easy when she finds out you're hereto hook me.\"\n\nYerin wasn't sure if they were hereto hurt her or to persuade her to their side, but either way the Sage of the Frozen Blade would be furious.\n\nThe Blood Sage wet his lips. \"Min Shuei drove me off when I first arrived, and then she appealed to the Monarchs several times to have me removed. She went to Northstrider, to Akura Malice, and to Reigan Shen. They are all aware that I am here, and they will allow me to remain as long as I behave myself. Your Winter Sage is not so tolerant, but she is distracted at the moment.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He took a little hop closer to her, and that seemed like it was enough for the crowd. They started filtering away, which Yerin thought was unusually perceptive fora bunch of Lowgolds.\n\n\"I have tried to speak with you face to face several times, but I was always delayed by the ignorance and stubbornness of others. Clearly, you have good judgment of your own, as you have cultivated your Blood Shadow according to my technique. With my help, you can take it to new heights. Even Monarch is not a dream. I am certain that, under these conditions, we can have a civilized discussion.\"\n\nYerin drew her weapon back and began cycling for the Final Sword.\n\nShe had contained herself at the sight of the Sage, because after all, there was nothing she could do to him. But every word out of his pale lips made her angrier and angrier.\n\n\"I used to have a wish,\" Yerin told him, as madra and aura and soulfire poured into her sword. \"I wished that there was one waste of breath handing out Blood Shadows, and if I killed him, mine would go away. All of them would. And everybody...\"\n\nShe heaved in a breath to stop herself from saying\".. and everybody the Shadow killed would comeback.\" She didn't need to share that part of it, because it made her sound like a child. She was finding it hard to speak now anyway.\n\nThe Sage blinked, looking confused. His two students were alarmed, distancing themselves from him and beginning defensive techniques.\n\n\"I have no influence over what the Bleeding Phoenix does,\" the Blood Sage said, \"and even if you could somehow kill me, it would have no impact on your Blood Shadow.\"\n\nYerin knew that better than she knew her own name." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Assist in storytelling and proceed with the tale.\nTags: fantasy, progression fantasy, tournament\nAuthor: Will Wight\nTitle: Wintersteel\nChapter: 14" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[Were... were you playing to lose before?]\n\nBlackflame gushed through him, and he tore away from the Ruler technique with the explosive strength of the Burning Cloak.\n\nStone exploded behind him as a strange field of light covered the high priest. It resembled a golden Remnant of the Wandering Titan that covered the enemy Underlord's body like armor. Lindon's spiritual sense was overwhelmed by a sense of solidity and furious, ancient hunger.\n\nThe dagger in the high priest's hand swept toward Lindon, and Lindon pulled a shield from his soulspace.\n\nThis was his sixth version of the impact shield he'd used in the tournament, and while it was atypical round shield with a force binding in it, he'd made some improvements.\n\nInspired by the Seishen armor, he'd given it several layers, including a layer of water madra and a layer of wind. It could take quite a blow without buckling, now, and the binding was an Enforcer technique that made it all but indestructible to Underlord attacks.\n\nThe dagger slammed into it, chipping the material of the shield and sending Lindon flying backwards.\n\nDross, how does that Enforcer technique work? Lindon demanded. The members of Abyssal Palace he'd seen had full-body Enforcer techniques, but it hadn't covered them in transparent madra that looked like a Dreadgod.\n\n[I don't know, but run! Run from it! And while you're running, try to observe it more, because I'm very curious myself!]\n\nThe two Gold acolytes on the roof had formed more Chaos Fields the size of their heads, which they threw at Lindon.\n\nBalls of yellow, filled with writhing storms of razor-sharp stones and crushing earth aura, flew toward him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That was easily dealt with, but the high priest was dashing at him like a bull, his eyes glowing. At least his overwhelming Enforcer technique didn't help his mobility much.\n\n[Above you!] Dross shouted, and Lindon returned his attention to the Truegold priestess.\n\nShe hovered above him, standing on the flat of a flying sword, and the palm of her hand faced downward.\n\nOne eye of her mask flashed yellow.\n\nLindon opened his void key.\n\nIt didn't open fast enough to help him, because a rush of earth and force madra slammed him down, shoving him out of the air and into the ground. The two Chaos Fields arrived a second later, crashing into his hastily upraised shield.\n\nLittle Blue screamed at him like breaking glass, but he wasn't opening the key for her.\n\nWavedancer flew out, and Dross took over its control.\n\nThe Archlord weapon rushed up at the priestess, entangling her while Lindon focused dragon's breath on the Underlord rushing him.\n\nThe high priest had already pulled out a shield of his own. His was smaller, tipped with spikes, and it gave off a venomous aura. Blackflame splashed into him and the shield began to smolder, making the other Underlord falter.\n\nMeanwhile, the Golds on the roof had pulled out bows. A pair of arrows arced through the air. Rather than simple Forger techniques, these arrows were constructs made from Underlord parts.\n\nIf this had been a fight in the Uncrowned King tournament, Lindon would have had to run.\n\nBut it wasn't a tournament, and it wasn't a game, no matter how it had felt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There were no rules here.\n\nHe pushed Little Blue back when she tried to leave, and he willed his armor to him.\n\nThe breastplate rushed into his hand, and he raised it into the air like a second shield, activating the emergency binding within.\n\nThe armor wasn't complete. He'd cobbled it together from his Skysworn armor and the scavenged plates he'd taken from the Seishen Kingdom. He didn't even want to call it a first attempt; this was more of a functional prototype.\n\nHis Skysworn armor had once contained an emergency binding of Grasping Sky madra that pushed everything back. He had installed that again, but he'd made some upgrades.\n\nA pulse of wind, force, and destruction madra tore out from the breastplate, pushing away everyone but Lindon.\n\nThe damage was too much for the high priest's shield, and he tossed it aside, coming to a complete halt. The priestess above Lindon lost control of the technique she was going to use, and the two arrows from the acolytes exploded in midair.\n\nThere was venom madra in those too, so Lindon was doubly glad he hadn't been hit. He shoved his head through the breastplate, tucking it onto him in the lull in the battle. The binding was expended for now, but its scripts and layers of madra would still protect him.\n\nThen he let the void key close and dashed away as more techniques tore up the space where he had been standing.\n\nHe slashed dragon's breath behind him, leaping up the canyon wall from one outcropping to the next until he reached the top. He reached back into the void key, once again keeping Little Blue inside, and touched the rest of his armor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But he wasn't far ahead of the priestess. Under Dross\" control, Wavedancer kept her occupied, but she managed to follow him on a flying sword of her own. It took three weapons of hers to counter his one, but she was gathering a ball of golden earth-aspect chaos between her palms.\n\nWhile plates flew onto his body, guided by madra and the aura controlled by his soulfire, Lindon spoke to Dross. Give me control.\n\n[Oh good, I was getting tired anyway.]\n\nLindon let Blackflame drop, taking control over his flying sword with a thread of pure madra.\n\nThen he poured power into it.\n\nThe three Gold swords shattered before Wavedancer, and the priestess had to drop her half-formed Striker technique and switch to Enforcing herself. Even so, she was thrown to the ground.\n\nHe drove Wavedancer down on her, but he couldn't finish her, having to spin and focus on the Underlord coming up behind him.\n\nThe high priest used the last of his dissolving shield to block the attack, and from somewhere-Lindon couldn't tell if it was from the man's soulspace or not-he pulled along stone staff.\n\nIt didn't look like anything special, but the pressure it emanated was beyond normal. It was more than an Underlord weapon.\n\nHe swung it down with the force of that Dreadgod Enforcer technique, and Lindon brought up his shield on an armored forearm, with the Soul Cloak running through him. He even activated the Enforcer binding in the shield itself.\n\nThe blow from the staff landed like a collapsing castle. The Enforced shield cracked, as did the outer shell of Lindon's armor. Pain flooded through his body, he was forced to one knee, and dust blasted away from him as the ground around his feet splintered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "More than anything else, it reminded him of taking a direct hit from Yerin at her full power. He shouldn't have blocked it.\n\nBut finally, his helmet settled around him, and his prototype armor came to life.\n\n[Do you want me on the armor or the sword?] Dross asked. [I would suggest the armor, since it's more complicated, but if you wanted to--]\n\nThe sword!\n\n[Right then!]\n\nLindon's pure core started to drain rapidly. More quickly even than when he used the Hollow Domain. He couldn't use either of his new pure techniques while wearing the armor, as the pure madra empowered by Little Blue would interfere with the armor.\n\nIt was that interference that had almost made him discard the idea of the armor entirely, but after a number of experiments, Lindon had finally had an epiphany.\n\nHe'd been thinking about the suit of armor all wrong. Like it was a system that unified many constructs with different functions.\n\nThat was a dead end. There was a reason why not every sacred artist fought with fifteen constructs at all times, beyond the obvious difficulty and expense. A weapon with the full force of the spirit behind it was always more powerful than one operating independently or with just a trickle of madra.\n\nLindon's armor wasn't a collection of weapons.\n\nIt was one weapon.\n\nMadra flowed through every piece of the armor in an uninterrupted network, and when it completed its circuit, six full-body Enforcer techniques activated at once. All compatible with one another. All resonating.\n\nHe and Dross had tested hundreds of defensive Enforcer techniques before coming up with this combination.\n\nIt would put great strain on his body and spirit, and it would drain his madra dry. But fora few minutes, Lindon would be invincible." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gold light poured from black armored plates, and Lindon leaped forward." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maraan, High Priest of Abyssal Palace, was approaching one hundred years old. He had given up all hope of reaching Overlord decades earlier, thanks to a spiritual injury when he was a young man, and had dedicated his life to training future generations.\n\nEven so, it was a point of pride that he hadn't lost a duel against anyone else at his own stage in twenty years.\n\nWhen he'd landed a clean blow with his staff on Lindon Arelius, he had enough experience to know it was over. He wouldn't need a second strike. His Staff of Condemnation added great weight to his attacks, and he had complete mastery over his Embrace of the Titan Enforcer technique. New Overlords were often surprised that they couldn't endure one of his swings.\n\nUntil the young man had blocked it.\n\nThen a black helmet covered his face, and Maraan felt something he never felt from an Underlord: danger.\n\nMaraan had seen to the early parts of Brother Aekin's training. He kept up with news from the Uncrowned King tournament, so he knew who Lindon was. He just hadn't paid the boy any special attention.\n\nThat was starting to feel like a mistake.\n\nHe swept the Staff of Condemnation in from the side, but an Archlord flying sword deflected him. He hadn't had the time or attention to spare to activate the binding in the staff, so the sword was enough to stop him.\n\nBy that time, gold light was rising from the seams of the young Underlord's armor. It felt like half a dozen sacred artists all Enforcing themselves at once.\n\nMaraan's wariness grew to full-blown alarm.\n\nThis was obviously a suicidal technique. No Underlord's body, spirit, or mind could afford the burden of so many powerful techniques at once. If most of them were bindings embedded in the armor, that would only make the burden worse." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Era, the Truegold priestess and his second-in-command for this post, brought out a simple construct like a writhing birdcage the size of her two hands." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She hurled it down, and he quickly recognized her good judgment.\n\nJustin case, he pulled the same construct from his own soulspace, throwing it down at the Underlord's feet and jumping back out of the way.\n\nPillars rose from all around the armored Underlord as the Ruler technique in the construct pulled the rocks and loose grit and hardened them into a stone cage. At the same time, bands of earth madra were Forged around the outside, and the pillars themselves were Enforced.\n\nMaraan breathed more easily when he saw that the young Underlord was still standing there, gushing madra from his armor. The power for which he'd damaged his own soul had been too much for him, and now it was all he could do to control it while standing still.\n\nTheir Deep-Fathom Prison constructs were quite complex, not to mention expensive and difficult to produce. They were designed to trap Underlords, and with two of them layered on top of one another, the pillars formed an almost solid wall.\n\n\"Good work,\" Maraan called, but Era was doubled over and panting. The Deep-Fathom Prison was an Underlord construct and would be difficult for her to activate.\n\nMaraan circled around so he stood between the prisoner and Era, lazily cycling his next technique. He had intended to kill this young man from the beginning, both to teach the Akura clan a lesson about taking Abyssal Palace lightly and to study his arm, which appeared to be made from pure hunger madra.\n\nNow he could finish Lindon off at his leisure, or just wait until the suicidal techniques took their toll.\n\n\"Acolytes retreat!\" Era called back down into the canyon.\n\n\"No need for that,\" Maraan said, though he didn't say it loud enough for the acolytes to hear. He couldn't contradict his second in front of them. \"He's quite-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The armored Underlord punched through both prisons with one blow.\n\nStone and madra blasted forward for hundreds of feet. If Era had been standing in their way, she would have been shredded.\n\nMaraan's years of experience did not go to waste. He spun, activating his Staff of Condemnation and fueling the Embrace of the Titan with soulfire. The butt of his staff slammed into the black breastplate in a blow that would have collapsed a castle wall.\n\nIt was like throwing a fistful of straw at a bull.\n\nLindon crashed into him, but Maraan stood his ground. His soulfire-fueled Enforcer technique blazed around him, the yellow image of the Wandering Titan solidifying as the will of the Dreadgod itself lent him its strength.\n\nHe stood with the solidity of mountains as he pushed against this young Underlord.\n\nPushed... and was shoved back.\n\nHis shoes slid across the stone, and as he dug in, drawing on his earth madra to make himself heavier and more solid, he continued to move. Even the stone beneath his feet began to crack.\n\nThe boy had given up the nimble movements he'd shown before, and he hadn't launched a single Striker technique.\n\nBut he didn't need to. Maraan's muscles strained.\n\nThat flying sword of his flashed at Maraan's back, and Era managed to deflect it with a Striker technique, but it only banked around for another attack.\n\nLindon drew his fist back, and Maraan felt his own death approaching.\n\nAt the risk of damaging his own channels, he poured all the madra he could into another Striker technique.\n\nThe Eruption Ring technique had been modeled on one of the Dreadgod's powers. It released a wall of madra all around, shoving enemies back, and with great control it could be focused in one direction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maraan blasted a solid wall of force and earth madra in front of him to give him some space.\n\nThe wave of yellow power splashed over the armored manlike water.\n\nHe crashed through the Eruption Ring with his fist swinging.\n\nMaraan held up the Staff of Condemnation and focused all his effort on his Enforcer technique, but when the punch landed, his vision whited out for an instant.\n\nHis back crashed into the side of a plateau. He made a crater in the rock.\n\nHis Embrace of the Titan faded.\n\nHis mask cracked in half.\n\nHe stared blankly forward, too dazed to feel pain or much of anything. A black visor turned to him, and then Era was there.\n\nHer expression was hidden by her priest's mask, but he could feel the desperation in her spirit as she leaped up and wrapped her body around him.\n\nA black figure loomed over them, shining gold, as Era crushed a blue ball. A gatestone.\n\nAn instant later, they were back in the Abyssal Palace itself, the fortress that now hovered over Sky's Edge. He and Era rolled to a halt on the polished floor, and only then did the pain penetrate.\n\nHis ribs were fractured, his arms useless, and he couldn't feel his legs. Era struggled to her feet, groaning, and then he saw that her sleeve was a ragged, bloody, empty mess where her left arm used to be.\n\nAn acolyte cried their names and ran for help.\n\nMaraan let his pain wash over him. With trembling effort, he turned to look at the Staff of Condemnation, which had snapped into two pieces. An Overlord weapon he had been given along with his position." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His head fell back down to the tile.\n\nThis was his own fault for not paying more attention to the Uncrowned King tournament.\n\nHe had thought of the competition only as away to prove their value to Reigan Shen and for his apprentice to gain experience. But Maraan knew Brother Aekin's strength better than anyone; he had practically raised the boy.\n\nAekin could not handle opponents like this. And this boy hadn't even made it into the top eight.\n\nNo... Lindon hadn't beaten him under tournament conditions. In fact, he'd given his life for this temporary power.\n\nIf he wasn't dead now, he'd be crippled for life.\n\nMaraan consoled himself with that knowledge as he allowed the acolytes to carry him to medical care.\n\nHe spoke with great effort to Era as they were both gathered up. \"What... was his name?\"\n\n\"Lindon Arelius,\" Era responded grimly.\n\n\"We struck... a great blow... killing him. They will... want... revenge.\"\n\nThe fights had been mostly bloodless so far, but this was worthwhile. Maraan maybe in recovery fora few weeks, but the Akura had lost one of their rising stars forever.\n\n---\n\nLindon peeled himself out of the armor, letting Little Blue berate him as he fed each plate back into the void key.\n\nHe deserved her lecture. Not for the reasons she was upset, but he deserved it nonetheless.\n\nShe was angry that he hadn't accepted her help, and insisted that he could have made quick work of the enemies using her power.\n\nHe didn't regret leaving her in storage, but with every piece of armor he loaded back into the void key, he couldn't help calculating how much repairs would cost." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fifty or sixty points, he suspected. And the fight had earned him zero more.\n\nWell, the twenty from completing the assignment of clearing out an Abyssal Palace tower, but he was always going to get those.\n\n[We have information on how the prototype performed in real, live combat!] Dross said cheerily. [That will cut down on costs in the long run, since instead of performing more tests in the boring world of flesh, we can perform them inside my amazing mind.]\n\n\"It's too fragile,\" Lindon said.\n\n[You were like a rock covered in steel and wrapped in more rocks.]\n\n\"Not me, I mean the madra layers in the armor. They can't handle the resonance, so the armor tears itself apart. Instead of a sacred instrument, it's like strapping simple constructs allover my body.\"\n\n[What's so wrong with that? You could be the construct man! That would certainly be memorable!]\n\n\"If I want to fight once for five minutes a week. Even if we could solve that, I didn't... like it.\"\n\nThe armor was too bulky. Not just physically, but spiritually, as though he had to lift heavyweights with both his body and his madra.\n\n\"I can't help but think there's one technique that would provide the same benefits without being so... complicated.\"\n\n[Look at it this way: it only cost you points to make an entire team retreat!]\n\nHis pure core was still almost half-full, his Blackflame core virtually untouched. His madra channels were sore, but no more so than after a day of hard exercise, and his body had handled the strain of all those Enforcer techniques unscathed. He could fight another battle immediately, if he had to, thanks to the effects of the Heaven and Earth Purification Wheel." }, { "from": "human", "value": "But the thought only depressed him further, and he gave a heavy sigh." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We still don't know what happened to Pride. If he...\"\n\nHe trailed off, but if Mercy's brother died under his orders, it would be his fault. And the Akura clan had taken him to task over Harmony. If Fury's nephew was killed, what would his response be?\n\nCharity was supposed to take Lindon back to the tournament in only two days. He couldn't hide from her. What would she do to him?\n\nLindon had sent messages requesting updates on Pride's condition, but no one so far had responded.\n\nSo it was with a heavy heart that he stood on his Thousand-Mile Cloud and began drifting back to the camp.\n\nHe was surprised to run into Pride halfway there.\n\nHe was standing behind the control panel of the small Akura cloudship, racing across the dusty plains. His collar was still smeared with blood, and there was a scar across the side of his throat that looked like it had been healing for weeks.\n\nWhen he saw Lindon, he pulled the cloudship up alongside him in an instant. \"You got away!\" Pride said in evident surprise.\n\n\"Apologies.\" He bowed over fists pressed together.\n\nPride scowled. \"I didn't think I'd have to tell you not to waste gatestones. What were you thinking?\"\n\nThat was not what Lindon had meant to apologize for.\n\n\"I was trying to save your life.\"\n\nPride gave him a blank look. \"Why would my life have been in danger?\"\n\n\"He had his knife to your neck!\"\n\n\"And did you see me use my armor?\"\n\n\"He drew blood!\"\n\nPride stared at him for another moment and then opened avoid key. Like some other Akura void keys Lindon had seen before, it was blocked with shadow madra so he couldn't see within." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A moment later, he emerged with a dagger and stabbed it into the side of his own neck, pulling it out as blood gushed onto the console in front of him.\n\nAll the while, he wore a reproachful look.\n\nThe blood stopped flowing almost immediately, and Pride wiped the knife clean.\n\nHe tried to speak, coughed, spat up some blood, and continued. \"A dagger to the neck is only threatening blood loss. Between my Iron body and one of my Enforcer techniques, it is almost literally impossible for me to bleed to death.\"\n\n\"Well, I... did not think of that.\"\n\nLindon had seen Pride's abilities before. He should have put that together.\n\nIf the Underlord had activated a binding in the dagger that might have cut Pride's head off, Pride would certainly have sensed that and used his bloodline armor.\n\nSo he had been in no danger at all.\n\n[If it helps at all, I remembered all that, but even I didn't know he could brushoff a knife to the throat. It's good to remember when we end up killing him.]\n\nPride's eye twitched. \"You don't have to save me. Remember that. Just worry about yourself.\"\n\nLindon's own irritation with Pride returned, and he gave an even deeper bow than he had before. \"Pardon, but would you mind letting your aunt know? I don't want to owe her another debt if you die.\"\n\nPride ground his jaw. \"Get on the ship.\"\n\n---\n\nWhen Charity appeared in front of Lindon to take him back to the Uncrowned King tournament, he felt like she was tearing points away from him.\n\nHe wanted to see Yerin again, and of course he needed to witness the rest of the tournament, but how much would his team slowdown without him around? What would happen to his points?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Charity noticed his hesitation, raising one eyebrow." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Did you enjoy it here that much?\"\n\n\"Apologies, no, I'm... I'm ready to go.\"\n\n\"When my father was younger, he would have stayed in battle rather than returning home. Sometimes for months.\"\n\n\"It's not battle that concerns me. I just can't afford to stay where I am.\"\n\nAnd everyday he was gone, the Uncrowned would be growing stronger. He would be left further behind than he was already.\n\nThe tournament would only remind him how far he had to go.\n\n\"I had to visit for my own reasons in any case. If you would like me to leave you here-\"\n\n\"No. No, my mind is made up.\"\n\nIf for no other reason, he hadn't seen Yerin in a month.\n\nCharity nodded, giving him an hour to speak with his team and pack. Only when he was certain that they would all dedicate themselves to earning points while he was gone did he feel any sort of comfort about leaving.\n\nJust like their trip to Sky's Edge, their trip back took half a day of transporting through seemingly random locations. This time, Charity was in a more talkative mood, asking both Dross and Lindon about their experiences in Sky's Edge.\n\n\"And you haven't seen any hint of the other Dreadgod cults?\"\n\n\"Only Abyssal Palace, although other teams may have seen what I haven't.\"\n\nShe waved a hand. \"No, that lines up with what my father said. It simply concerns me. But how about you? You were placed at the head of a team with no time to prepare.\"\n\nLindon wasn't sure what kind of answer she was looking for, so he gave a noncommittal answer. \"It has been a valuable learning opportunity for me, and a good chance to earn contribution points.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I see.\" Purple eyes watched him, and he couldn't read them. \"And your team members? Have you grown to know them better?\"\n\n\"We often work separately, but I have spent time with each of them.\"\n\nLess so with the Maten sisters, who seemed not to talk anymore than necessary to anyone but each other, or the two lowest-ranking Akura Underlords. Douji and Courage went out of their way to avoid Lindon whenever possible, no doubt worried that he might take revenge for their treatment of him in Moongrave.\n\nTheir fear was not improved by Dross, who kept whispering threats into their minds as they tried to sleep.\n\n\"Hm.\" She raised an arm, and an owl of living madra came down to perch on it. She scratched it behind the head as she asked, \"What do you think of Grace?\"\n\nLindon sensed danger, but since he still didn't know where the Sage was headed, he continued to answer safely. \"She has performed admirably, both in and out of combat. I can trust her judgment more than... others.\"\n\nHe had almost given into his temptation to insult Pride.\n\nThe Sage of the Silver Heart turned and speared him with a gaze that examined him far beyond the point of comfort. \"What if we allowed you to marry her?\"\n\nThey had stopped in a beautiful glade, where Lindon sat on a plush cushion of moss, but suddenly he couldn't find a comfortable position.\n\n\"I... would be... flattered by the offer, but certainly she has better prospects than me.\"\n\nCharity continued examining him as she rested her hand on the owl. The owl, too, stared fixedly at him.\n\n\"How many better prospects do you imagine there are?\" the Sage asked. \"You must know that you caught my grandmother's attention. She instructed us to tie you to the family, and this would be the easiest way.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[Wow, marriage is easy! I had always imagined a lot of nonsense building up to it, but this is nice and fast. You should do it.]\n\nLindon focused on watching dew bead at the end of a huge leaf so that he didn't have to keep staring into piercing purple eyes. He declined as graciously as he could. \"Apologies. I doubt I can live up to your expectations. I have never interacted with Grace as anything other than a teammate.\"\n\n\"You will become a significant power in the future,\" Charity said. \"It is in our best interests to tie you to our name as early as we can. As for Grace's personal feelings, while I intended to propose this issue to her, she brought it up first.\"\n\nFora moment, Lindon had a hard time believing that. But the Sage would have no reason to lie.\n\nThen he couldn't help but be flattered. More than he would have expected.\n\nHe understood the reality of Grace's position: she saw him as a good prospect that her family would accept and that she could get along with. He had no illusions about his own charm.\n\n\"I am honored,\" he said honestly.\n\n\"Good. We would also like to avoid the possibility of any... missteps... on your part. We are aware that the only young women you have spent significant time with are Yerin and Mercy, and we would like to act before you develop too much attachment to either of them.\"\n\nLindon studiously examined the dew-spotted leaf.\n\n\"Mercy cannot afford any distractions until she reaches at least the peak of Archlord, at which point she will make her own decisions. And Yerin is not a member of our family. Yet. But we will be doing what we canto change that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I appreciate your honesty,\" Lindon said automatically.\n\n\"Yes.\" Charity waved a hand, dismissing her owl. \"Now, I would appreciate some from you.\"\n\nWhile Lindon couldn't detect any clear change in her expression, somehow she seemed more relatable. Less like the Sage of the Silver Heart, and more like Mercy's aunt.\n\nOr, technically, Mercy's ancient niece.\n\n\"I am genuinely flattered by the offer,\" Lindon said, \"but I am interested only in Yerin.\" That was uncomfortable to say out loud, so he tried to soften the statement. \"Presuming she feels the same way. I would like to try, at least.\"\n\nCharity folded her arms. \"I knew we had waited too long when I saw your reservation at the Sundown Pavilion.\"\n\nHe gave an awkward laugh that he didn't feel. \"Ah. My apologies.\"\n\n\"None necessary. If you're serious, you should strike sooner rather than later. Yerin has become one of the most eligible young women in the world.\"\n\nLindon tried to imagine Yerin's reaction to a stranger asking her fora stroll in the moonlight.\n\nHe couldn't picture it going well.\n\n\"Pardon if this sounds too proud,\" Lindon said, \"but I don't think that's my greatest concern.\"\n\n---\n\nWhen Charity made the final jump to the Ninecloud Court, she told Lindon to expect that they would emerge at the end of the cloudship dock.\n\nSo when he ended up inside a familiar gray, simply decorated room with Northstrider standing in the corner, Lindon was caught off guard.\n\nAt first, Lindon thought Charity had brought him to Northstrider as the result of some secret deal, but the Sage spoke in a flat voice. \"Monarch. You could have summoned me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I did,\" Northstrider said. \"Now I dismiss you.\" His muscular arms were folded, and he stared into the walls as though watching something faraway.\n\n\"We are allies. We may as well be cordial to one another.\"\n\nHe slowly turned to regard her with his draconic gaze, but if he meant it to be intimidating, it didn't seem to work. Charity met him evenly, impassively, without any disruption in her madra that Lindon could sense.\n\n\"Very well,\" Northstrider said at last. \"Thank you for your assistance. You may go.\"\n\nThat didn't sound too cordial to Lindon, but Charity accepted it, as she bowed. \"Of course. Lindon, I will speak with you later. And I will relay your greetings to Mercy, Yerin, and Eithan.\"\n\nWith that, she stepped into shadow and disappeared.\n\nDross spun out onto Lindon's shoulder. [Sir! It's been too long! I mean, not too long, unless you think so.]\n\nThe black orb appeared in Northstrider's hand. \"This time, I would like you to attempt some simulations, to show me the true extent of your predictive capabilities.\"\n\n[Of course! Of course, delighted to. I remember exactly-]\n\n\"Begin.\"\n\nInstead of pushing his way in, this time Dross was absorbed straight into the center of the black sphere, leaving Northstrider and Lindon together.\n\nBefore Lindon could say a word, Northstrider spoke. \"You used my technique.\"\n\nLindon immediately worried that the Monarch might disapprove, but pride in his accomplishment won out. \"Gratitude for your guidance. It took me great effort to separate the powers from one another.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Has Dross helped you overcome the effects?\"\n\nLindon quickly realized he must be referring to the burden that absorbing power put on his body and spirit. \"Dross has been invaluable in helping me to separate memories, but my madra channels are still not quite as resilient as I would like.\"\n\nHe studied the Monarch, hoping that Northstrider would take the hint and gift him with a set of Diamond Veins. Then Lindon wouldn't have to use the treasure he'd bought from the Sky's Edge battlefield.\n\n\"Your madra channels. Good. If you continue to use it on the battlefield, you could reach Overlord in a matter of weeks.\"\n\n\"Gratitude, but I am not certain I have the insight to advance to Overlord. I have much yet to learn.\"\n\n\"But you have investigated the Overlord revelation yourself.\"\n\nIt wasn't really a question, but Lindon nodded anyway. \"It seems to be based on seeing yourself clearly, as the Underlord revelation was. I read a theory that Underlord requires meditating on the past, Overlord on the present, and Archlord on the future. But pardon me if I am incorrect.\"\n\nNorthstrider ran his spiritual sense through him, keeping it on him until Lindon found it hard to breathe. \"That is the path for you,\" he said at last, and Lindon took a deep breath when his perception lifted. \"Consider yourself as you are now. What is the nature of the will that drives you? What principles guide your madra?\"\n\nHe tapped the black orb, in which Dross still swam, and then nodded to himself. \"Yes. That is the way.\"\n\nLindon bowed as he committed the words to memory. \"Gratitude, Monarch. I hope to one day repay you for your wisdom.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You may soon have the chance.\" Northstrider darkened, scowling but not at Lindon. \"The Ninecloud Court has announced their support for Reigan Shen. Leiala would never have allowed it. She hated him almost as much as he deserves.\"\n\nLindon thought back to Eithan's fight and wondered if it was appropriate for him to speculate. \"Is... is that Eithan's fault?\"\n\n\"It could be Miara's immaturity, but the Ninecloud Court is far from the Blackflame continent. They have nothing to risk from this experiment, but they will provide little support to Shen either. The more pressing issue is the Eight-Man Empire. They are looking for an excuse to throw their weight behind one side or the other.\"\n\n\"I thank you for sharing your wisdom.\"\n\n\"I'm sharing so that you may understand,\" Northstrider said sharply. \"You will return to the Dreadgod battlefield, so you should know. Right now, a flight of dragons is poised to cross the continent and head to Sky's Edge. They are held back by Heralds in the Wasteland, but those Heralds have no allegiance, even tome. They will bend with the wind. And they look to the Uncrowned King tournament to gauge the direction of the wind.\"\n\nLindon thought he understood, and his stomach clenched. Depending on who had the best showing in the tournament, Abyssal Palace could receive reinforcements. The Eight-Man Empire could tip the balance in war zones allover the world.\n\nAnd depending on who ultimately won, it could shift again.\n\n\"I only wish I could still influence the tournament,\" Lindon said. He still hadn't quite gotten over his disappointment with Northstrider at matching him against Yerin.\n\n\"Do not pretend you don't understand that situation. The placements were a game among all eight factions.\" Northstrider unfolded his arms and stepped over to Lindon, standing so close that Lindon started to sweat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The world will not end with this tournament, nor even with the awakening of the Dreadgods. One day, you may become an asset.\"\n\nThis made the second time in quick succession that Lindon had heard something about how influential he would someday be. Evidently Charity, Northstrider, and even Akura Malice had expectations of him in the future.\n\nRather than honored, he was growing suspicious. What had he done recently to attract their attention? Or did they treat him this way just because he earned top sixteen in the tournament?\n\nDross emerged, gasping, from the black orb. His purple arms drooped, and he shivered. [You lied tome! That was so much harder than last time!]\n\nWhen Northstrider turned his gaze to Dross, the spirit coughed. [Ah, you know what, I misinterpreted what you said. Don't blame me. It's his dream aura that I run on.]\n\n\"Both of you, continue your training,\" Northstrider said. \"You should have new insights to pursue.\"\n\nDross and Lindon both thanked him, and the Monarch waved a hand. As usual, he dismissed him the instant he was done with them.\n\nAs they appeared in Lindon's room in the Ninecloud Court for the first time in a month, Lindon sent a thought to Dross: Did you get anymore memories\n\n[Not from him,] Dross said dismissively. [He's locked those up now. Most of his'tests\" involve sorting facts, and of course I remember them. I was hoping he'd give me some kind of memory erasing technique. But hey! I did get some records from the tournament! Straight from the recording constructs, fresh and delicious.]\n\nLindon wasn't one to dismiss the value of information-anything the Monarch could give Dross would be as valuable as any technique library-but he did admit a little disappointment. He had been hoping for more Monarch sacred arts he could steal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That disappointment was nothing next to what he felt when he tried to visit Yerin.\n\n\"Due to increased security measures, the Uncrowned have been separated for the duration of the fifth round,\" the Ninecloud Soul said apologetically from outside the empty room that had once belonged to Yerin. \"You may apply fora visit when the fights are complete, and in the meantime, you may avail yourself of Ninecloud City's many world-renowned entertainment venues!\"\n\nLindon went back to his room to Forge scales.\n\n---\n\nInformation requested: the Eight-Man Empire, wandering conquerors and collective Monarch.\n\nBeginning report...\n\nPath: the Eightfold Spear. What the Empire calls'the Path of the Eightfold Spear\" is not a Path in the traditional sense. It is a complex bond of mind and spirit woven through a network of Divine Treasures that allow the eight members of the Empire to access the powers of the other seven. In reality, each member of the Eight-Man Empire is on a separate Path.\n\nWhen Sages and Heralds refuse to ascend, it is almost always because they dream of becoming a Monarch and ruling over the world of their birth. Over the course of history, therefore, there have been many attempts to create a reliable way to advance to Monarch.\n\nAll those who pursue such research eventually have the same idea: if Monarchs are those who have advanced both to Herald and to Sage, why not link a Sage with a Herald? Surely they would then, together, exert the power of a Monarch.\n\nIf this research reaches the stage of experimentation, it almost always ends in tragedy. The strain is too great for both the Herald and the Sage, as neither has the insight required to control the power of the other.\n\nAll who tried this technique have been torn apart by their own spirits... with a single exception." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The founding members of the Eight-Man Empire, four Heralds and four Sages, suspected that spreading their power more widely could lessen the burden on anyone member. They crafted eight Divine Treasures, suits of golden armor, that linked their wills together.\n\nIt is unknown how sacred artists who never ventured beyond Cradle understood such principles so thoroughly, but Abidan intervention is suspected.\n\nThe Path of the Eightfold Spear is unique in all the world, and the Eight-Man Empire is always on the lookout for heirs to inherit their positions in the event of death or ascension. Their suits of armor can be passed down and repaired, but not replaced.\n\nTheir experiment has never been successfully repeated.\n\nSuggested topic: squires of the Eight-Man Empire. Continue?\n\nDenied, report complete." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yerin satin a plush seat in the audience hall of a floating castle covered in shadow: the Akura family Monarch platform. Constructs of light projected the contents of the arena so that she could see everything in perfect detail, and she had a personal servant to cater to her every whim.\n\nIf she could have cut her way out, she would have.\n\n\"It's for your own security,\" the Winter Sage reminded her for the tenth time. \"The Ninecloud Court couldn't afford it if anything happened to the Uncrowned under their watch, and our political relations are more strained than ever.\"\n\nYerin still seethed. \"Show me the face of the killer with so much courage that they'll attack while I'm protected by the heavens.\"\n\n\"It's not courage we're concerned about,\" the Sage snapped. \"Who can count on the Abidan?\"\n\nMercy leaned forward and laced her black-gloved fingers together. \"It's about to start,\" she said quietly.\n\nYerin eyed her. Mercy wasn't acting like her usual self. She was on the edge of her seat, tapping her foot, and she hadn't tried to make Yerin feel better.\n\nMercy's match was in two days, and it was enough to put anyone on the edge.\n\nWhich meant it was Yerin's turn to try cheering someone up.\n\n\"Look at it with new eyes,\" Yerin suggested. \"When you win, she won't make it any further.\"\n\nMercy let out along, heavy breath and slumped down further in her chair. \"Yeah, but I have to win,\" she muttered. \"That takes all the fun out of it.\"\n\nWell, I tried, Yerin thought.\n\nThe Ninecloud Soul introduced Yan Shoumei, and Yerin paid more attention to the projection. After all the dream tablets and recordings Yerin had seen of the Redmoon girl, she recognized the signs of nerves in her fixed expression and the way she let her hair hangover the sides of her face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yerin was particularly interested in this match because she had never actually seen Yan Shoumei use her Blood Shadow. She had only summoned it in the match against Blacksword. To Yerin, it seemed like the woman was on a standard blood Path.\n\nAnd while Yerin knew that she hadn't seen everything Shoumei was capable of, she suspected she hadn't seen everything the other fighter had to offer either.\n\nYan Shoumei stood in the middle of afield full of obstacles that resembled ancient ruins. Dark stains spattered everything, and since the projection of these high-quality constructs even conveyed spiritual impressions, Yerin could sense that the stains gave off blood aura.\n\nSo the aura would allow Shoumei to use the full extent of her Path, but the obstacles would break sight and force both participants to rely on their spiritual senses.\n\nWhich would greatly favor Yan Shoumei's opponent.\n\nThe Ninecloud Soul was wrapping up her introduction. \"... and facing the prodigy of Redmoon Hall, we have a prodigy in his own right: the exile separated from his homeland and fighting for the glory of anew Monarch. Eithan Arelius!\"\n\nThere came the faint sound of applause, though Yerin could only hear it because of the projection. The Monarch platform blocked all outside sound.\n\nA stone door lifted, and out came... not Eithan.\n\nTwo Remnants, like chubby golden phoenixes, soared out of the waiting room. Rainbows streamed behind them, and they cried in a chorus that seemed like it couldn't possibly come from any less than a hundred throats.\n\nEithan drifted out, floating not on a Thousand-Mile Cloud but on a platform of shimmering light generated from diamond shoes. His robes were five shades of gold, sewn with images of dragons and phoenixes and tigers in even more gold. The robes glowed, too." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He held an ivory pipe encrusted in jewels, and it must have been two entire feet long. When he held the pipe out to the side, the smoke drifting up from the bowl spelled out letters in the air.\n\n\"... do I want to know what that says?\" Yerin asked.\n\n\"It's his name,\" the Winter Sage said icily.\n\nMercy choked down a laugh.\n\nA gold-rimmed glass lens sat over one of Eithan's eyes, and a crown of shining crystals hovered over his head. Ashe came to a stop, shimmering white wings of light spread from behind him.\n\nIt was the ugliest, most unnecessary thing Yerin had ever seen.\n\nNorthstrider stood with his arms crossed between both fighters, and while Yan Shoumei looked confused, the Monarch gave Eithan a sharp glare.\n\n\"I did not call fora clown,\" he said.\n\n\"Really? I could have sworn I heard my name.\" Eithan took a puff of the pipe and blew out the smoke, which formed the shape of a star in midair. \"It's an important occasion, so I thought I'd dress my best.\"\n\nNorthstrider turned to Yan Shoumei. \"Will this distract you?\"\n\nShoumei was still examining Eithan the way she would a mysterious creature of unknown origin, but she shook her head.\n\n\"Very well,\" the Monarch said. \"Then... begin.\"\n\nHe vanished, and so did the barrier separating them.\n\nEithan adjusted the lens over his eye. \"I say, I hope you're prepared fora real tussle. Yes, a knuckle-scraper. Put up your-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shoumei threw one Striker technique, a simple nest of bloody whips that struck Eithan in the chest.\n\nEithan didn't defend himself at all. The madra tore through him, and Yerin knew what the technique would do. It was easy enough to block or avoid, but blood madra affected bodies directly; undefended, the Striker technique tore his heart in half.\n\nHe and all his clothes dissolved into white light.\n\nThere was a moment of silence from the crowd, and then jeers that grew louder and louder.\n\n\"... victory in fight number one goes to Yan Shoumei,\" the Ninecloud Soul announced. \"Has Eithan Arelius underestimated his opponent, or did he intend to give up the first fight fora more stunning victory later?\"\n\nYerin turned to the Winter Sage for an explanation, but she was grinding her teeth together so hard that it looked like she was chewing strips of invisible leather. Frost had begun growing on her chair, and wild sword aura slowly tore rips into the fabric.\n\nYerin turned to Mercy instead.\n\n\"They bought him off,\" Mercy said with a sigh. \"The Abidan specifically mentioned it as an option. I still don't understand why. Are they hoping the richest faction will win?\"\n\n\"They're not looking fora recruit with no spine,\" Yerin said. \"If you can be bought, why would they want you?\"\n\nThat felt right to Yerin, if maybe incomplete. It wasn't as though she knew what motives drove the heavens.\n\n\"Well then, we know he'll allow it. But I hope...\"\n\nShe glanced up to the top of the room, where amass of darkness and dense spiritual power waited.\n\nThat was the seat of Akura Malice, and while none of them could tell if the Monarch was actually inside that cloud of shadow or not, she would certainly be watching from somewhere." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If Eithan had thrown the match while fighting in Malice's name without warning her, the Monarch wouldn't be happy.\n\nThe heavenly messenger might personally intervene to stop reprisals, but Malice could still find a thousand ways to make Eithan's life miserable.\n\nTo Yerin's own surprise, she found herself hoping that Eithan had gotten permission for this. Normally she would say that Eithan had earned whatever he got by acting like a fool, but this time she was afraid for him.\n\nA few minutes passed before Northstrider announced the rematch.\n\nThe fourth round had been single-elimination duels, according to Northstrider's preference, but the fifth round gave each competitor the chance to show more of what they were capable of. The winner of each match would be the first to win two fights out of three, with half an hour in between each fight for the fighter to adjust their strategy.\n\nWhen that half an hour ended, Yan Shoumei walked out to the center of the arena as before. The battlefield had changed slightly, with the obstacles rearranged. Some of them moved along tracks, while others looked insubstantial or like blobs of shifting liquid.\n\nEithan rode out of his waiting room on the back of a blazing white Remnant that resembled a skull-headed horse.\n\nHe galloped out, leaped off, and flipped in the air as the Remnant trotted back to the room behind him. When he landed, he spread both his hands wide.\n\n\"Well, my worthy opponent, you may have caught me off my guard once. But I assure you that this time, you will face my full fury!\"\n\n\"Begin,\" Northstrider said.\n\nYan Shoumei lashed outwith a Striker technique again, but this time she didn't go fora quick kill. Whether she was trying to make Eithan suffer or to avoid the potential of falling into a trap, she lashed her blood madra at his legs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As soon as the technique made contact, Eithan exploded.\n\nSimple constructs strapped beneath his clothes detonated at the touch of blood madra, annihilating him in an instant.\n\n\"Victory to Yan Shoumei,\" the Ninecloud Soul said with a sigh.\n\n---\n\nEithan re-formed in his waiting room laughing.\n\nReigan Shen would have preferred it if he hadn't flaunted his bribery, but that was all the more reason to do it. Malice wouldn't like it either, but Eithan had pacified her before the match began.\n\nHe wasn't entirely happy about his deal with Malice. He now owed her a favor, paid at a time of her choosing, which was too much of a potential liability for his liking. What if she held onto that token until he advanced to Monarch?\n\nBut some jokes were worth it.\n\nIt was at that moment that he realized how cold it was in his waiting room. He had been brought back to life without a stitch of his clothing.\n\n\"This doesn't seem fair!\" Eithan called. \"Northstrider!\"\n\nHe knew the Monarch could hear him.\n\nOh, well. The clothes had been expensive, but Reigan Shen had paid for it all. He reached into a cubby for his void key, only to find it missing.\n\nIt would be back in his room, he was certain-it was beneath a Monarch to steal from an Overlord. Then again, it was also beneath a Monarch to strip an Overlord naked.\n\nEithan looked toward the door and sighed. \"On the bright side,\" he said aloud, \"at least I look fantastic.\"\n\n---\n\nYan Shoumei marched toward the Akura waiting room, seething." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She had been told to expect that Eithan would throw the match, and she would take any victory she could get." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She wasn't here for honorable combat.\n\nEven so, Eithan had been supposed to make it look like areal fight. This brought her no respect at all, and it made her look like he could have destroyed her and had chosen not to. She was certain she could have won the fight even if he had given it his all, and part of her still resented that the Monarch had no faith in her.\n\nHer anger only faded when she thought of the prizes she would soon receive. Respect or not, a win was a win. This was one step closer to overall victory, when neither she nor her homeland could be ignored ever again.\n\nShe was debating with herself when she came to the Akura waiting room. The Uncrowned were still allowed to interact with one another outside the matches, which she had thought was strange. Surely the eight of them were the most likely to attack one another.\n\nWho could try anything under the observation of both the Ninecloud Soul and the Monarchs?\n\nThe door swung open, and Eithan Arelius emerged.\n\nShe wondered if he was deliberately trying to provoke her.\n\nA cloud, which he'd clearly condensed out of aura, wrapped around his waist. Otherwise, he was completely naked. His ostentatious clothes had vanished as though they'd been dissolved with destruction aura.\n\nWhen he saw her, he smiled brightly and put both hands on his hips.\n\n\"Yan Shoumei! Wonderful to see you. Would you mind if we spoke later? I'd love to have a heart-to-heart, but I can't keep this cloud up forever.\"\n\nShoumei pulled an outer robe from her void key and tossed it to him.\n\n\"Ah! Thank you.\" He wrapped it around his waist and let the cloud puff apart. \"Now, what can I do for you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Why?\" Her voice came out more puzzled than angry. \"Are you trying to embarrass me? Or make an enemy of the Monarch?\"\n\n\"I apologize for the lack of respect toward you,\" Eithan said. \"But I apologize not at all for the lack of respect toward your master.\"\n\nThat phrasing grated on her. \"He is not my master. And he should have let me beat you myself.\"\n\n\"Ah, that is a disappointment. We'll have to see about that some other time. Until then, enjoy your prizes. And I will repay you for the robe! Unless you would rather I wash it and send it back?\"\n\nYan Shoumei couldn't take him anymore, so she turned and marched away.\n\nOn a whim, she reached back with her spiritual perception. It was hard to get a passive sense of his spirit, since pure madra was naturally subtle, but she probed his spirit accurately. It was rude, but not as rude as what he'd done already.\n\nWhen she felt his spirit, she stopped in her steps.\n\nOverlord.\n\nYan Shoumei spun around to see him wave lazily to her as he walked away.\n\n---\n\nThe Forest Sage had given upon Ziel halfway through their training, but that was understandable. Ziel had given upon himself long before.\n\nHe stood in the center of the Uncrowned King arena, letting the cheers and shouts of the audience wash over him. The arena was an elaborate machine of crashing steel and falling stones, a three-dimensional maze ripe with aura of force and earth.\n\nHe would have to navigate it carefully, and he was certain the shape of the arena had been designed to encourage mobility. On its own, this fight was likely to be nothing more than two sacred artists crashing hammers into one another until one fell over, and the Ninecloud Court wanted a more interesting fight. Especially after the last round." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Northstrider was here, and his opponent was on his way." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Brother Aekin wore a dark stone mask carved to resemble some kind of snarling monster, the right eye of which glowed with a bright yellow light. His robes were black and brown, representing the Wandering Titan's cult: the Abyssal Palace.\n\nWhen Ziel had learned they weren't matching him up against the last remaining Stormcaller, that had sapped even more of his motivation.\n\nEven now, he wondered why he bothered. It would take the attention of multiple Monarchs to restore him to his former power, which he would only get if he won the tournament. Not only were the odds too low to bet on, what would he do with the power of an Archlord?\n\nHe just wanted his own spirit to stop hurting. Emriss Silentborn's treatment had helped, but it needed along time to do its work. Rather than fight, he wanted to go home and wait for that elixir to slowly heal him.\n\nEven if it would only ever make him an Underlord.\n\nBut he did have one more hope.\n\nHe glanced at the Arelius tower, with its blocks of white stone held up by fluted columns. Tiberian Arelius had been known for his spiritual attacks, and in fact the Sage of Calling Storms had abused some of the Arelius Monarch's research to damage Ziel's soul in the first place.\n\nTiberian had created a spiritual restoration process to undo long-term soul damage: the Pure Storm Baptism. Once, Ziel had hunted for it, until he had learned that the Arelius Monarch was dead.\n\nOnly days ago, the Arelius family had contacted him. If he defeated Brother Aekin, they would ensure that their prize in the next round was one of the few remaining Pure Storm Baptism courses.\n\nWithout Tiberian alive, they couldn't replace those. Any they used would begone forever." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And it wouldn't restore his power as an Archlord, but it would allow him to live as a perfectly healthy Underlord far faster than Emriss\" elixir.\n\nWith the two combined, he might even be able to advance again.\n\nHe had already passed his soulfire revelations, so his body would be even stronger than any other Underlord's. And now the revelations couldn't bottleneck his progress if he did manage to advance again. It was a great offer.\n\nToo great to pass up. He knew that in his head, but his heart wasn't convinced.\n\nHe'd been worthless for too long. Nothing could turn that around now. The belief was engraved in his bones.\n\nCylinders crashed to the ground around him, casting off force aura and kicking upwind that billowed his cloak. He leaned on his hammer, facing Brother Aekin.\n\nNorthstrider asked them both if they were prepared, and Ziel wondered if anyone got to this point in the competition and required another minute for preparation.\n\nFinally, the Monarch ordered them to begin.\n\nThe Path of the Dawn Oath had only two techniques, and Ziel used them both.\n\nThe Stone Anchor, his full-body Enforcer technique, ran through him like iron bars reinforcing his skeleton. It bound him to the ground, so that with stable footing he could stand as though nailed in place.\n\nBut the cornerstone of his Path was the Oathsign technique. He Forged eleven green, shining runes in a circle that hung in the air in front of him.\n\nThis circle hardened force aura into a solid barrier that stopped physical impacts.\n\nBrother Aekin's hammer crashed into the barrier and cracked it, ruining the Forged symbols, but the blow was stopped." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ziel's own hammer, driven with the force of his Stone Anchor, slammed into Aekin an instant later.\n\nThe Dreadgod cultist blocked it with one upraised arm, sliding a few feet back instead of flying across the arena. A full-body Enforcer technique flowed through him as well, appearing outwardly as a yellow light covering him like armor.\n\nThey each gripped a hammer in both hands.\n\nAekin's weapon looked like it had been hewn from rough stone, and it gave off the pressure of an Archlord weapon. Ziel's steel hammer had been made for an Archlord as well, but there was noway he could activate its binding. His madra channels were already screaming at him after using only a handful of techniques.\n\nAshe expected, he should give up.\n\nBut while he was here, he might as well give the fight a token effort.\n\nNew scripts encircled his wrists and ankles, stimulating the blood aura in his body and strengthening him briefly. He kicked off from the ground, launching himself into the air and landing on a platform that drifted across the arena on a cushion of force aura.\n\nHe expected Aekin to follow him, but the Abyssal Palace priest pulled a second weapon out of his soulspace. It was shaped something like a crossbow made from polished wood, though if he was storing it in his soulspace it had to be very dense madra.\n\nA launcher construct made into a sacred instrument. That was rare, as launcher constructs typically didn't get any stronger when powered directly. A sword produced more power in accordance with its user, but launchers had static output.\n\nGlobs of a dark, oily liquid shot out of the construct. Ziel had already dropped the scripts around his limbs and switched back to the Stone Anchor, so it would be a moment before he could dodge again. He had no choice but to block." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Anew script-circle appeared in front of him, this one designed to seize madra rather than aura. The globs of oil struck the circle and were sprayed out the sides, away from him.\n\nBut a few droplets landed on the ends of his cloak and splattered onto his feet. They began to grow, drawing strength from his blood and sticking him to the flying surface.\n\nHe broke them quickly, but Aekin had already leaped onto the platform, and a rush of his yellow madra shoved Ziel backwards.\n\nThe duel took another minute or two, but Ziel never recovered.\n\nAekin kept him on the back foot as Ziel grew more and more exhausted, his own techniques burdening him too much to continue.\n\nEventually, he couldn't support his own madra and Aekin crushed his head.\n\nZiel was remade from white madra in his waiting room. Alone.\n\nShame and disappointment draped over him in a crushing weight.\n\nThat had been pathetic.\n\nWould the spectators think that was the limit of his abilities? His master would have disowned him if she'd witnessed that sort of behavior. What would the people who saw him think about the Dawnwing Sect?\n\nZiel rested his head in his hands. His horns were cool against his fingers.\n\nWhat was wrong with him?\n\nHe had gone into this match knowing he was going to lose. Expecting to lose. Fifteen minutes ago, he'd been fine with it.\n\nHe couldn't even count on his own heart to be consistent.\n\nNo matter how many times he was certain that the Archlord of the Dawnwing Sect was dead, he always found another scrap of that man clinging to life. Ziel should have no pride left to be hurt, and yet here he was." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The truth remained: he didn't want to lose.\n\nZiel reached out to the shield to his left. It looked like a steel castle wall, with elaborate designs that made it worthy of being carried into battle by an Archlord. The shield had been his prize from the second round, but he couldn't hold it in his damaged soulspace, and carrying it along with his hammer strained his Enforcer technique, so he hadn't bothered using it until now.\n\nMaybe he was a hypocrite to start caring about the fights this late in the tournament, but so what? Let him be hypocritical.\n\nHe strode out of his waiting room for the rematch against Brother Aekin, huge hammer propped upon his right shoulder and over-sized shield covering the left side of his body. He had to use the Stone Anchor just to carry them, so his soul already ached, but he set those concerns aside.\n\nIt was time to see how much of his former self still remained.\n\nNorthstrider looked him up and down. \"Welcome to the tournament.\"\n\nZiel nodded to the Monarch and faced his opponent. If Brother Aekin was areal enemy, how would Ziel face him?\n\nIt was easier to remember than Ziel had expected.\n\nNorthstrider waited until Aekin's full-body Enforcer technique covered him in translucent yellow madra like armor. Only then did he command them to begin.\n\nAgainst Ziel's expectations, Aekin leaped back, conjuring a ball of golden light and stone fragments in his left hand as he held his hammer in his right. A combination Striker and Ruler technique.\n\nZiel Forged six circles at once.\n\nOne wrapped around Aekin, choking off the energy coming from him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Two hungover Ziel's weapons like haloes, lightening them so they were easier to carry.\n\nTwo more appeared around Ziel, strengthening him.\n\nAnd the final script, the biggest of all, appeared over a pendulum the size of a house swinging nearby. Multiplying its force.\n\nZiel's spirit felt like it was tearing in half, but he pushed through.\n\nAekin's technique faltered before he broke the ring of script around him, but the pendulum tore free of the chain holding it up and crashed into him.\n\nThe Abyssal Palace cultist stood as firm as a fortress, denting the metal ball as it crashed into him.\n\nUntil Ziel arrived, slamming his hammer down onto the pendulum. Aekin was crushed to the ground beneath it, and Ziel Forged another script on the ball to shove it harder into the earth.\n\nA column of yellow light blasted up from beneath it, shoving the ball to the side, but Ziel had already moved. He stood in front of Aekin, shield raised to catch the cultist's wild swing.\n\nZiel's counterstroke landed with another green circle, multiplying its force.\n\nAekin crashed into a cylinder that pumped in and out of the ground, denting it so severely that it bent in half.\n\nSeveral of Ziel's circles had fallen apart-most only tended to last a few seconds-but here-Forged the ones around himself and added another circle to his feet. It launched him forward as though thrown by the hand of a Monarch, and he slammed into Aekin shield-first, knocking the Palace priest deeper into the metal column.\n\nHis body was mangled and bent, but members of Abyssal Palace modeled their Path after the Wandering Titan. They were all but indestructible." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But now he was trapped.\n\nZiel's spirit was fresh torture, but he felt alive. He felt like himself again.\n\nHis next hammer-blow tore the entire cylinder apart.\n\nIts top half crashed to the ground behind him with a sound like a collapsing house, and Brother Aekin's body tumbled across the arena leaking blood.\n\nThe crowd's cheers were deafening, and Ziel thought he heard people chanting his name. He remembered this feeling. Life crept back into him, as he hadn't felt in years. The exhilaration didn't cancel out the pain, but it made the agony more bearable.\n\nAekin's arms and legs were broken, his neck hung at a strange angle, and the light in his mask was flickering, but he hadn't died. His Path emphasized endurance, but Ziel would end it here. He may not have the power of an Archlord anymore, but there was no substitute for skill.\n\nHe raised his hammer, Forging a circle around it.\n\nThe green runes fuzzed to essence before they were half-complete, and the hammer fell from his numb fingers.\n\nHe stared at it fora long moment, uncomprehending, but then the Stone Anchor Enforcer technique dropped. His shield was too heavy for him, tugging him off-balance as he tried to keep it upright with his whole body weight.\n\nHis spirit had failed him.\n\nNo matter how much he endured the pain, his soul was still shattered. Determination alone didn't let you run on two broken legs.\n\nAekin's hand raised, and one last technique formed between his fingers.\n\nZiel closed his eyes.\n\nAs a ball of madra and flying rocks tore his head apart, Ziel chastised himself. He knew better than this." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Collaborating with the writer, advance the narrative.\nTags: fantasy, progression fantasy, tournament\nAuthor: Will Wight\nTitle: Wintersteel\nChapter: 20" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Winter Sage took a deep, relieved breath. \"They should have warned us!\"\n\n\"The Eight-Man Empire is not known for its meticulous attention to detail,\" Charity said. \"Still, this is exactly the sort of gift we were hoping for. It will allow your mind to keep up with the speed of your body and spirit. The effects are subtle, but you will begin noticing it in small ways.\"\n\n\"That sounds all shiny and sweet, but I'm not sure how thrilled I am about some construct tinkering with my mind.\"\n\n\"It will do nothing more than help you stay at peak concentration and reach decisions more quickly. It will have no effect on your judgment whatsoever.\"\n\n\"Even when your judgment could use some help,\" the Winter Sage put in.\n\nYerin ignored that, moving onto the next gift.\n\nWhich Min Shuei opened.\n\nIt was from the gold dragons, and it came in a thick wooden box carved heavily with sealing scripts, so she and Charity contained it in power first.\n\nThey didn't expect a trap. If the dragons gave an explosive construct disguised as a gift, then who would ever accept a gift from them again? The Dragon Monarch considered such tricks to be beneath his dignity.\n\nStill, there was no telling what he might try with Penance on the line.\n\nThe box revealed nothing harmful... and the feeling of power it gave off made Yerin's hopes rise even higher.\n\nThe prize within resembled a nest of tubes made out of crystalline pure madra, like the Diamond Veins she'd used already. But before she could reach for it, Min Shuei showed clear disappointment, and Charity a cold anger.\n\n\"It's a Madra Engine,\" Charity said, before Yerin could ask. \"A Divine Treasure of great value, using as it does dead matter of pure madra.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yerin understood the implications of that, and she felt her own disgust.\n\nThey had made this from the Remnants of human children.\n\nCharity wasn't finished. \"On top of which, it converts life and blood essence to madra faster, increasing the speed at which your spirit refills your core. Sophara has one of these, and it provides a beneficial effect, so they can claim that it was a gift in good faith. But she has the body of a gold dragon, and it is eating into even her lifespan. For you, it would kill you in ten years.\"\n\n\"And with the Blood Shadow?\" the Winter Sage pointed out. \"You'd be lucky to survive the year. It's worthless.\"\n\nYerin's anger reached new heights. \"And they can just do that? If they're allowed to send us garbage, what good are the prizes?\"\n\n\"As I said, it's technically a very valuable gift. And you didn't see what we sent Sophara.\" Charity gave a cold smile. \"I made it myself.\"\n\nThe Winter Sage was looking into a corner, where another container was veiled in hazy rainbow light. \"It's the responsibility of the host to ensure that the prizes aren't lacking.\"\n\nNaturally, that drew Yerin's attention to the Ninecloud Court's present next.\n\nAt the touch of her spirit, the voice of the Ninecloud Soul echoed throughout the room. \"Congratulations, Yerin!\" the construct said warmly. \"Reaching top four in the Uncrowned King tournament is an accomplishment reserved for the elite. We have prepared an appropriate prize for you, taking your other gifts into account, but first it is my pleasure to announce your opponent for the semifinal round!\"\n\nYerin leaned forward, and so did both of the Sages, though it wouldn't help them hear anymore clearly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They had known they were going to receive a message from the Court containing the identity of Yerin's next opponent, but who would have expected it to come with the prize?\n\n\"You face Yan Shoumei of Redmoon Hall, chosen of Reigan Shen,\" the Soul said, and Yerin felt an odd mix of relief and frustration.\n\nShe was glad not to be fighting Sophara, but at the same time, she wanted to get that battle over with.\n\nBut her fighting Shoumei meant that Sophara would be fighting Brother Aekin, and unless he was also a Monarch in disguise, Sophara would tear him apart like a pack of wolves on a lamb. So Yerin's match would determine who faced the dragon in the finals.\n\n\"... and we hope this rare and valuable treasure will assist you in your victory!\" the Soul finished, and the rainbow light fell away.\n\nA fruit sat on an ornate platter. It looked like a fat pear, there was apiece of the branch still attached with a single leaf, and its skin was an artistic swirl of red and green.\n\nMin Shuei laughed aloud, clapping her hands, and even Charity gave a small smile, but this time Yerin didn't need the Sages to tell her how valuable the prize was.\n\nShe could feel it. This was a powerful spirit-fruit of blood and life, and even her Blood Shadow stirred at its smell. The interior of their cabin was filled with the complex scent of a dozen rich, ripe fruits.\n\n\"The Heart-Piercer Fruit,\" Charity said, and Yerin imagined that was what the characters written in gold on the platter said. \"It comes from one tree that blooms once a year in a single garden in Ninecloud City. This is the last elixir for life or blood essence you will ever need.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Winter Sage knelt to admire it, as the platter hovered over the floor. \"With just this fruit, you would have the lifespan of an Archlord as an Underlord. Or... you could run the Madra Engine with no harm to yourself.\"\n\nYerin had thought she couldn't be more excited about the fruit, but her expectations shot through the roof. \"My heart won't stop if I take a bite right now?\"\n\n\"I might stop your heart if you don't,\" Min Shuei said.\n\nYerin devoured it. Its flavor seemed to change from one fruit to another every second, but she didn't take the time to savor it; she wanted its power.\n\nShe could feel the essence flooding her, filling her body, but it would take awhile to process it all. Maybe weeks.\n\n\"It's going to be await and a half before it soaks in,\" Yerin warned.\n\nThe two Sages exchanged glances.\n\n\"That is one issue facing us,\" Charity said. \"We need you to advance to face Sophara, but we risk destabilizing your spirit by pushing so fast. And you need time to adjust to these gifts, which will put an additional burden on your soul.\"\n\n\"How much time do we need?\" Yerin asked.\n\n\"By traditional wisdom, even a year is too fast to guarantee your safety and your future advancement. In terms of maturing your power and skill, it would be better to take ten years. Even if we accept a critical instability that will harm your future advancement, then we still need at least a month.\"\n\nThe last gift began to flash and pulse with madra.\n\nYerin had left it for last because it was the least exciting to look at. It came from Northstrider, and was just a plain ceramic tile with a script on it. It looked like he had pulled it off a roof." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A three-inch projection of Northstrider appeared above the tile. \"Use this device as a key to open a separated space.\"\n\nThe Winter Sage reached for the tile, but Charity snatched it up first. \"Why don't I handle this, Min Shuei?\"\n\n\"You think I can't do something so simple?\"\n\nCharity stood straight and focused on the empty air in front of her.\n\n\"Don't ignore me!\"\n\n\"Open,\" Charity said.\n\nA swirling green light appeared in the center of the room, widening into an emerald plane roughly the size of a doorway.\n\n\"There is no gift I can offer you more valuable than time,\" Northstrider said, and Yerin wondered if this was a recorded message or if he was communicating to them directly.\n\nEither way, it had incredibly good timing.\n\n\"The temporary pocket world before you has been untethered from the normal flow of time. It can support three to five people for one day, after which you will be ejected.\"\n\nYerin was about to ask what good that was, but the tiny image of Northstrider looked to her as though he could read her mind. \"In that time, thirty-six days will pass inside.\"\n\nThe Winter Sage, who had been reaching for the portal, jerked her hand back. \"You can't be serious.\"\n\nCharity dipped her head to Northstrider. \"On behalf of my family and my grandmother, I thank you.\"\n\n\"I cannot demonstrate any less than total commitment when my own life is on the line,\" Northstrider said. \"The decay of the world will begin when you enter, and I have prepared a full training course for her within. With two Sages to guide her, she will be as prepared as possible.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He turned back to Yerin. \"Work hard. Do not let us down.\"\n\nThen he vanished.\n\nAt least that answered the question of whether it was a recording.\n\nYerin looked at the portal. \"Well, that's an easy fix.\" At least there was a training course inside; she was looking forward to whatever the Monarch had left for her.\n\n\"I'm concerned you don't appreciate how rare this opportunity is,\" Charity said. \"There is nothing more valuable than time. He no doubt intended to use this himself.\"\n\nThe Winter Sage visibly steeled herself. \"We must be fully prepared before we enter. Which means we need the last prize.\"\n\nYerin had wondered about that. There were supposed to be seven prizes, but they'd only opened six. The one from Reigan Shen was missing.\n\nCharity waved the tile and the portal closed. \"We can't allow him to see this. Send up the signal.\"\n\nThe Winter Sage removed the veil around her spirit, and the temperature in the room dropped dramatically. She kept her power in check before ice began to form, but Yerin noticed icicles growing quickly outside the windows.\n\nOnly seconds later, a powerful presence landed outside with a thump. Snow blew away, and Yerin sensed the disgusting power that she associated with her Blood Shadow.\n\nThe Sage of Red Faith didn't knock. He pushed the door in, snapping the lock and causing a script-circle to fuzz out.\n\nHis feet were still bare, but he had drawn himself up to his full height, so that now he looked like a lanky skeleton with skin stretched over his bones. His white hair hung down to the backs of his knees, and he looked straight to Yerin. The red tracks down his face made him look like he had been weeping blood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yerin had to suppress anger and disgust every time she saw him. This was not only someone who reveled in the power of his Blood Shadow, but someone who encouraged others to do so. A ghoul who fed on carnage.\n\n\"It is my right to deliver this prize in person, as it was I who provided it in the name of the Monarch who sponsored me,\" Red Faith began. He had started lecturing the second the door opened, and he hadn't once glanced at either of the other two Sages in the room.\n\n\"You have enough wisdom to use my techniques, but not to seek my guidance. If I cannot force a fool to drink from the deep well of my insight, perhaps I can entice her.\"\n\nHe was calling her a fool right to her face, and he expected her to be grateful for it? She hoped the prize was trash so she could throw it back at him.\n\nThe other two Sages looked no happier. Charity had raised one eyebrow, and Min Shuei had a hand on her sword and her madra was cycling faster and faster.\n\nWithout a glance to them, Red Faith reached into a small hole in space and pulled a container from his void key. It was a glass cylinder large enough to contain a small dog, and it was covered in sealing scripts. At the center of the mostly empty cylinder floated a single drop of blood.\n\nBut it gushed blood aura. The building filled with it, so that the sensation of blood outweighed even the power from the Winter Sage's spirit.\n\n\"This is a Heart's Gem,\" the Blood Sage said, \"the ultimate source of blood aura. As Heaven's Torch is the pinnacle of fire aura and Titan's Bone is of earth, this is the greatest natural treasure of its type in the world. Furthermore, it is condensed from the blood of the Redmoon Herald, who was once my own Blood Shadow.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yerin's Shadow stirred at the feeling of the aura in the air, and it began pulling power to itself without Yerin's intervention.\n\nShe let it happen. Even Yerin knew the value of this gift, and she was surprised to see it come from Reigan Shen. Or from Yan Shoumei's master.\n\n\"You're giving this tome out of the sweetness in your soul, then,\" Yerin said dryly. \"So I can use it to beat your apprentice like a rented drum.\"\n\nRed Faith loomed over her so suddenly that her hand shot to her sword.\n\nAnother white blade was already pointed at his neck, and dream aura danced around his head, but he hadn't even touched his madra. He leaned down close to her, eyes wide.\n\n\"What is this tournament? What are the lives and deaths of Monarchs? In my youth, I devised a method to fuse with my Blood Shadow instead of my own Remnant to grant me the power of a Herald. When I became a Sage, as I knew I would, I could then ascend to Monarch as easily as slipping on anew robe.\"\n\nHis face contorted like it was being pulled in three different directions. \" But the treachery and selfishness of my Shadow knew no bounds. It fled from me until it had become a Herald in its own right, so we could no longer become one.\n\n\"Hear me, girl: feed your Shadow, but do not trust it. Use this aura for its nourishment that it may become a potent weapon, but your will must remain dominant. And do not fuse with it until you become a Sage. Your will is not developed enough, so the blending will result in an imperfect fusion when your Shadow fights you.\"\n\nHe stuck a finger in her face, and this time Yerin couldn't resist. She shoved it away from herself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Not that it stopped him from speaking." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No one else other than myself has reached your stage. They were devoured by their Shadows because their wills were weak, or they lacked the insight to become a Sage, or they fell in battle, or they succumbed to their own lack of discipline or talent. It is your duty to complete this process. Prove to the world that it can be done, and usher in anew generation of Monarchs born from the Bleeding Phoenix.\"\n\nA crazed fervor had grown in his eyes, and Yerin had finally had enough.\n\nShe snatched the cylinder from his hands. \"Your duty can go die and rot. The first chance I get to send my Shadow out on its own, I'm jumping right on it.\"\n\n\"No...\" the Blood Sage whispered, \"... you won't. The lure of power is too much for you, as it is for all of great ambition. You will soon manifest the Sword Icon, perhaps before Archlord, and you will know that your genius has given you a unique opportunity. You have a path to Monarch that none others have achieved, and you will give into-\"\n\n\"Do people dress up like you to scare children?\" Yerin interrupted.\n\nHis face twitched.\n\n\"You look like you sleep under someone else's bed. Do mirrors break when you walk by? I figured why your Shadow left: it couldn't stand looking at its own face everyday.\"\n\nShe lifted up the cylinder. \"Thanks for the jar. Now take a step back, then keep doing that until you freeze to death in the snow. Or else have mercy and cut my ears off so I don't have to listen to you talk.\"\n\nYerin knew it was dangerous to provoke a Sage, but she had two of her own for protection.\n\nAnd she hadn't been able to stop herself. Every word from his mouth made her sick." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Winter Sage shoved him back from Yerin with a smug look." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You heard her. You've delivered the prize, now get out of my home.\"\n\nHe didn't look as furious as Yerin had thought he would. He didn't try to strike her down or swear revenge. His face rippled again, like a puppeteer was pulling at his cheeks and couldn't figure out how to make a human expression, and Yerin sensed nothing in his spirit but dead calm.\n\nThen he turned and walked out the door. A moment later, he vanished.\n\n\"That was unwise,\" Charity said, picking up her cup of tea and taking a sip. \"And not nearly as harsh as he deserved. Before we begin your training, let me help you work on some better insults for next time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sophara held a ball of Forged madra in her palm. It would have been hard for an observer to notice, but the madra trembled ever so slightly.\n\nNow that she had reached Overlord, her spiritual imbalance was becoming more obvious by the day.\n\nIt wouldn't slow her in combat, but she could tell. Souls didn't age quite like bodies did, but her channels were starting to feel... worn. Old. As the Symbiote Veins wrung them out, they could only take so much more abuse.\n\nShe would last through the end of the tournament, but then she would begin falling apart. After that, she might only live... ten more years? It was hard to say.\n\nShe ran a handover Ekeri's Remnant to drive off her fear, as the glowing dragon-spirit nuzzled her side. This tournament was all she needed.\n\nIf she won, the Monarchs could fix her spirit.\n\nAnd by winning, she would be humiliating her enemies. Those who sought to humiliate her.\n\nAs her rage burned, she looked over her prizes.\n\nReigan Shen had given her a doll, seemingly made of clay, that made it easier to shift forms. It resembled a dragon when she was inhuman form and a human when she wore her dragon body. He appreciated how difficult it was to shift as an Overlord, and he knew that she had already received all the combat gifts she could handle. It washer favorite prize.\n\nThe Arelius family, poor and hostile to her cause as they were, had admittedly given her a pleasant gift as well. The Dawn Sky Palace was a tiny pocket world-smaller than some void keys-containing only an opulent home. It had once belonged to Tiberian Arelius' wife, and it was gorgeous." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She lounged in it now, and they had even redecorated for her, lining all the furniture in gold and planting trees that shone with a golden light. She would have to think of a gift to send them as thanks.\n\nThe Eight-Man Empire had given her a Tear of the Deep, the highest grade natural treasure that produced water aura, though it would be useless to her without the fire equivalent. Her Monarch should be able to track down a Heaven's Torch, so that was useful enough.\n\nIt was the gifts from her two enemies that grated on her.\n\nNorthstrider had given her a thumb-sized bottle containing a drop of luminous white liquid, and she had been shocked when she opened it. He must have sensed her mind-enhancing elixir and sent her another dose.\n\nThen she'd read the note accompanying it. \"This is called ghostwater. It is the prize your sister failed to win.\"\n\nIf it hadn't been such a powerful weapon, she would have shattered the bottle against the wall.\n\nNot only was he mocking her, but the mental elixir she had relied onto make it so far had been a product of Northstrider's.\n\nIf she had known that this'ghostwater\" came from Northstrider, she would never have taken it.\n\nHer King would say that pleasure could be found in taking the enemy's weapon and turning it against him, but she could only seethe shame that she'd needed help from their great enemy to succeed.\n\nOf course, that was nothing next to the Akura clan's gift.\n\nIt was a life-size statue of Ekeri made of goldsteel, crafted by the Heart Sage herself.\n\nSophara tore it apart with her bare hands." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "---\n\nAbout a week since the dragons had come to pen them inside their own fortress, Seishen Daji lost his patience.\n\nThe dragons and cultists outnumbered them at least four to one, and with Fury in the fortress they couldn't attack. According to the reports, they hadn't even attacked the shelters containing the evacuated civilians, which Daji thought was too good to be true.\n\nDragons had no compassion. Neither did Dreadgods or those who worshiped them. If they were sparing the evacuees now, it was for something worse later.\n\nWhen they couldn't attack the fortress, they had resorted to taunts. Volleys of insults peppered the fortress at all hours, along with bright lights and loud noises to stop them from sleeping. Corpses of dreadbeasts or of their own dead were hurled over their walls to be incinerated by defensive constructs, leaving a stench that hung in the air everywhere.\n\nThey had lost relatively few lives-only a dozen or two between all the Akura loyal factions, hardly worth mentioning-but being sealed up in the fortress had chafed Daji raw. He was restless, and he was sick of being disrespected.\n\nOnly a day or two ago, the enemy had started anew tactic: trying to lure them out.\n\nThey would slam a valuable weapon onto a hill visible from the fortress walls and dare the Akura sacred artists to come take it. Or they would send out a duelist who would swear to veil himself, or wear a blindfold, or tie one hand behind his back.\n\nNo one ever took them upon the offer. Not even when a Highgold Abyssal Palace acolyte challenged any Underlord. Daji himself had picked up his swords and started to leap out, but his father had grabbed him from the air." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "What kind offish knowingly bit a hook?\n\nDaji knew what was wise, but he hated how often what was wise and what was cowardly looked like the same thing.\n\nMeira reacted to the siege the same way she'd reacted to anything since Kiro's death: quietly. She trained everyday, performed tasks as assigned, and tended to a garden that she'd started inside the grounds.\n\nHis father had wanted to execute her, when he learned of Kiro's death. He'd held a blade against her neck.\n\nShe hadn't even tried to resist.\n\nThat had won Dakata's pity. And Daji understood.\n\nEven when he saw her out thereby herself, the glowing flower in her hair blending with those she'd planted, she didn't look happy. She looked like she'd given up.\n\nHe avoided her as much as possible. His own grief was hot and angry.\n\nThe Blackflame Empire had humiliated Kiro before they'd killed him. They had embarrassed him and Meira just as much... and then shamed him again only weeks ago.\n\nIt had done nothing but stoke his hatred hotter. He had seen the reports from the Uncrowned King tournament, but that opportunity should have been his. Or at least Meira's.\n\nKnowing that Akura Mercy and Lindon Arelius were in this fortress with him made the days of suffering unbearable. He'd even seen Mercy, who had the audacity to smile and wave at him when she saw him, but he hadn't sensed the Blackflame.\n\nStill, he had to get out. He would do anything to escape.\n\nThat was when he overheard the newest scout report: Abyssal Palace had grown complacent and had placed one of their pointless collection towers just out of sight of the fortress. Fury was looking fora team of volunteer Underlords to wipe it out and return, and had placed a bounty of contribution points." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Points were scarce since the battle had died down, and Daji leaped at the chance to persuade his father.\n\nIt was the lowest risk possible, being close enough that King Dakata could rescue them if something went wrong. And it would give Daji a chance to do something.\n\nDaji intended to take the assignment whether his father approved or not, but the king needed little persuading. He wanted to demonstrate the value of the Seishen Kingdom to Fury, and contribution points were valuable to anyone.\n\nSo Daji chose his team. Meira came with him almost by default, and he picked the other four youngest Underlords he could find. He wasn't eager to split the prize six ways, but he also wasn't an idiot. He knew he couldn't do this on his own.\n\nAs soon as night fell, he and his team snuck out.\n\nThe outer wall had been designed with several hidden entrances, so they essentially melted the wall and passed through it before it re-formed. He also carried a construct designed by the Seishen Kingdom Soulsmiths to hide them from observers in the air; it bent the light around them and assisted their spiritual veils, so they would be all but invisible unless someone scanned them directly.\n\nCreeping over the hill in the dead of night went without a hitch. The squat tower, made of packed earth pulled up from the ground with a Ruler technique and scripted in haste, stood there as though to mock them.\n\nThe script around the top of the tower prevented his perception from entering, but their scouts had reported no more than two Underlords and a handful of Golds. They could destroy it from here, if the scripts didn't stop them.\n\nBut the towers were made to take a beating, so the easiest way to destroy them was from the inside. They would go in, kill the inhabitants, take their masks, and then blowup the tower. Simple, easy, effective." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Although it concerned Daji that there didn't seem to be any guards or lookouts posted around the outside. Their reports were clear that six people had gone into the tower, and there was no other exit. Were they all just huddled up inside?\n\nThat ceased to matter when a line of script lit up beneath Daji's feet.\n\nHe shouted a warning and drew his swords, but he needn't have bothered. It was an alarm.\n\nNearby, a flock of dragons unveiled themselves and swooped closer. Underlords.\n\n\"Retreat!\" Meira shouted, but he cut her off.\n\n\"Not yet!\" There were four Lords with the dragons and two more in the tower. If they could deal with the group in the tower first, then they could accomplish the mission and still avoid fighting an equal group. The dragons would have to wait for backup, and by then Daji and the others could be back to the fortress.\n\nHe dashed for the tower as soon as the thought occurred to him, swords drawn. The others would have to follow him. They couldn't abandon their prince.\n\nThis plan required them to obliterate the two Lords inside the tower as soon as possible, so he began rousing the bindings in his swords. Lightning, light, and force crackled down the weapons.\n\nHe'd had them made with the same blueprints as his first pair, which had been stolen. By the Blackflame.\n\nHe was about to blast through the door when it opened, and he was so astonished at the face on the other side that he came to a stop.\n\nLindon Arelius filled the doorway, shuffling half a dozen Abyssal Palace masks in his hands. He tossed them into a closet-sized opening to his right, through which Daji caught a glimpse of metal and glowing dead matter. Pieces of his own armor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His spiritual sense couldn't pass into the tower, but he saw bodies piled behind Lindon, and the interior of the room was scorched. He couldn't tell if they were dead or alive.\n\nDaji remembered the ease with which Lindon had dispatched him before, and glee rose up as he realized that this time he had the advantage. And he had five allies backing him up, while Lindon was alone.\n\nSeishen Daji launched the two Striker attacks with all the force of his spirit, blasting two streams of bright, crackling madra as though he meant to blowup the entire tower.\n\nAt the same time, a great force slammed into the back of his head.\n\nHe landed face-first in the ground. There was heat nearby, like someone had lit afire, and panic seized him.\n\nHow had Lindon hit him in the back?\n\nHe scrambled to his feet, preparing a defensive technique, only to see Meira-in full armor-pressing her fists together before Lindon.\n\nMeira. Meira had hit him.\n\nHe ignited his swords, ready in his fury to turn them on her... and then he saw the deep groove burned into the ground in front of him. A bar of black dragon's breath had passed inches in front of his face.\n\n\"I apologize,\" Meira said quietly. \"Please let him go.\"\n\nLindon watched them both fora second or two. \"I expected you to be the one coming for my head.\"\n\nDaji couldn't see her expression, but she dipped her head deeper. \"We are not all idiots blinded by revenge.\"\n\nDaji bristled at that, but then Lindon stepped from the doorway. Blackflame raged through him, and the spiritual pressure stopped Daji in his tracks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When he'd tried to ambush Lindon before, he had sensed only his pure madra. His black dragon madra was far, far more frightening.\n\nIt felt like aflame with an endless hunger that would burn without stopping.\n\nDaji's fear was like a bucket of cold water over his anger, and Lindon wasn't even looking at him.\n\n\"Gratitude,\" the Blackflame said to Meira. \"Please keep him restrained. If he attacks me again, I will have no choice.\"\n\n\"I'll keep him on a tight leash,\" Meira promised, and under other circumstances Daji would have resented that.\n\n\"If you would allow us to deal with our pursuers, we will leave you alone,\" Meira continued. \"We have dragons coming in.\"\n\n\"Not anymore,\" Lindon said. He had already begun hiking backup the hill.\n\nSure enough, the sensation of the dragons was growing more distant in Daji's perception. He didn't understand it. Other enemies had unveiled themselves nearby, even Overlords, but none approached.\n\nLindon spoke over his shoulder. \"Those dragons were in the tournament.\"\n\nThen he waved behind him, and Daji realized for the first time that a vortex of fire and destruction madra had gathered over the tower. He hadn't sensed it before because it was still within the effect of the sense-dampening script, but he also hadn't seen it as they approached. Lindon had begun the Ruler technique while speaking with them.\n\nA column of dark, spinning fire consumed the tower.\n\nWhen it dissipated, Daji saw that only the walls had been destroyed by the Ruler technique. The interior of the tower was intact, including the pile of enemies. He'd left their bodies in one piece." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Daji ran his perception over them and realized they were all still alive... but barely. He didn't even know if you could call that living. They felt like husks.\n\nLindon hopped onto a green Thousand-Mile Cloud and flew away. Daji started to follow, but Meira held out a hand.\n\n\"He took our points,\" Daji muttered, but only once Lindon was out of earshot. \"And he made some deal with the dragons so they wouldn't attack him.\"\n\nMeira pulled off her helmet specifically so she could glare at him with withering fury. \"How did you survive to Underlord? How do you survive getting out of bed every morning? If you were the smallest fraction of the man your brother was, your father wouldn't have to cry himself to sleep every night.\"\n\nHer anger built with every word, and Daji's pain gave birth to a sudden ugly rage. He swung his sword, striking blindly. There was no plan behind it, and no Enforcement, just anger.\n\nThe end of her scythe was unlit, making it a staff, and she swept his feet out from under him before he could react. He caught himself on his palms, flipping in the air and beginning to cycle his madra.\n\nHe was in the right. Meira was a coward. She had given upon avenging Kiro, but he hadn't. He was strong.\n\n\"Someone carry him back,\" Meira ordered, and then her staff clipped him on the chin.\n\nIt wasn't the first hit that did it, but somewhere in the ensuing rain of blows, he lost consciousness.\n\n---\n\nMirror images of Yerin surrounded her, each showing different perspectives of her taken from her own memories." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She saw herself across the table from Lindon at the Sundown Pavilion, and her face looked unfamiliar to her as she was animated and laughing.\n\nShe watched as she knelt in the snow as a girl, shivering and covered in cuts, wanting to give up but terrified that if she did so she would be left alone again.\n\nYerin saw her own look of serenity from the outside as she opened her eyes facing Calan Archer, calmly crushing all his techniques at once.\n\nShe focused on her own connection to the aura around her. I am the next Sage of the Endless Sword, she said in her mind.\n\nThe aura remained calm.\n\nI am the champion of the Uncrowned King tournament.\n\nNo change.\n\nI am about to gouge out my own eyes.\n\nThat one produced a change, but not in the aura. It finally made her frustrated enough to stand up, breaking the boundary field in which Charity had trapped her.\n\nNorthstrider's pocket world looked like Ghostwater in miniature. She knelt on the sand surrounded by stalks of drifting seaweed as high as trees, and they were covered by a dome of aura that held back an ocean's worth of water.\n\nBut Lindon had described the water around him as utterly dark and swimming with creatures, while this was bright blue and clear. There were no monsters here that Yerin had found.\n\nThe entire space was only as big as what Yerin would calla large house. It was divided roughly into quarters: the sandy area where she was now, a forest of blades that was thick with sword aura, a cave containing two wells of glowing water, and a fenced-off living area.\n\nShe walked away from the boundary field Charity had setup, heading over to the cave." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lindon had mentioned three wells, but there was no life well here." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not that she needed one anyway; since she'd eaten the Heart-Piercer Fruit, her lifeline had become thicker by the day.\n\nHaving almost died of a severed lifeline once before, she felt that as a breath of fresh air.\n\nShe dipped a bowl into one sink-sized well, the one that shone purple. This water refreshed her like a night's sleep, sharpening her focus.\n\nShe didn't need it so much since she'd absorbed the thought construct from the Eight-Man Empire, and as an Underlady she could go without sleep longer than before, so as a result she'd slept an average of maybe one hour a day since she'd gotten here.\n\nCharity insisted she sleep a little. Apparently, no matter how effective an elixir was, there was no total substitute for true rest.\n\nWhen she felt awake again, she dipped into the blue well. Her veins were cleansed, her core replenished, her spirit refreshed...\n\nBut she still wasn't quite at the peak of Underlord.\n\nEven so, Charity and Min Shuei had both directed her to spend an hour or two a day hunting down her Overlord revelation. Any insight she could glean would make it easier once she really needed it.\n\nShe finished off the bowl of spirit well water while ignoring the battle thundering behind her.\n\nThe Winter Sage was using no techniques, only raw strength and sword skill, and the Blood Shadow was under the same restrictions.\n\nSo naturally, the Shadow was getting battered all the way around the sword training area. It was impaled on a thicket of sharp blades, screaming in pain as the Winter Sage danced past and lopped off its hand.\n\n\"Wrong!\" the Sage shouted, grabbing Yerin's Shadow with one hand and tossing it to the ground so hard that it sounded like thunder. \"You have no grace! No thought!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The spirit panted and shoved its severed hand back onto its stump. It looked so human now; its red hair was matted with sweat and stuck to the back of its neck, and it glared at the Winter Sage in furious frustration.\n\nThe Shadow snatched up its black blade and attacked, but the Winter Sage slapped the attack away contemptuously and then clubbed the spirit on the head.\n\n\"Mindless beast!\" She slapped it with the flat of the sword. \"Clumsy ape!\"\n\nYerin retrieved around circle of bread and began piling grilled meat and vegetables on top. She needed a snack to go with the show.\n\nCharity was making notes nearby, and after a moment she folded them up to join Yerin. Everyday inhere, she wore an outfit like what Yerin had first seen her in: plain gray clothes and a stained artist's smock, with her hair tied up and out of her way.\n\n\"Did you feel any progress?\" the Heart Sage asked.\n\nYerin spoke from around a mouthful of food. \"Right in the middle between zero and none.\"\n\n\"Thinking about yourself on a deeper level always brings some benefit,\" Charity said. \"Of those attempting to reach Overlord, most fail because they lack the talent, the foundation, or the resources. You, of course, are in none of those categories. Those who knowingly discovered their Underlord revelation are almost always capable of discovering their Overlord insight as well.\"\n\nThe Winter Sage kicked the Blood Shadow away, and a red blur crashed into the sandy beach. \"As I said, this thing has no sword authority at all. You will never touch the Sword Icon with it inside you.\"\n\n\"That seems hasty,\" Charity observed. \"It's rare to have any stable connection to the Sword Icon before Archlord.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Min Shuei slammed her sword back into its sheath. \"I'm taking a break,\" she announced, stalking off and leaving the Blood Shadow to clean itself of sand.\n\n\"Is it really going to keep me from the Sword Icon?\" Yerin asked, her voice low.\n\n\"The only thing stopping you now is that your willpower is unfocused, but your will is refined as you advance through the Lord realm. Bringing you to Overlord accomplishes both goals.\"\n\n\"Didn't think we'd made it that far yet,\" Yerin said. The Akura clan contribution to her training was an absolute trove of advancement resources; they were going to force her to advance to Overlord if they had to cram her to the gills with elixirs day and night.\n\nBut there was only so much she could process at anyone time.\n\nCharity reached into the black hole that washer void key and withdrew the blue crystal nest of tubes. The Madra Engine.\n\nThe Blood Shadow looked up sharply at the Divine Treasure's power.\n\n\"The power of the Heart-Piercer Fruit has matured inside you sufficiently,\" Charity said. \" We need to introduce the Engine now to give your spirit time to adjust, but I must warn you again: I would ordinarily advise you to stay an Underlady for at least another year to integrate all these changes and the sudden growth to your spirit.\n\n\"Pushing you to Overlord so quickly and with so many added powers will make it more difficult to reach Archlord. Then, even if you manage to manifest the Sword Icon, you will never become a full Sage. Unless you win, and the Monarchs reverse the injury.\"\n\nUndoing the damage she was about to do to her spirit would require not only spiritual surgery, but rewriting the fundamental principles of madra at a level only several Monarchs working together could achieve." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As long as she won the tournament, it would be no problem.\n\nYerin could easily see a future in which she couldn't keep up with Lindon. Her fear said that he would leave her behind, even if her head knew it wasn't true. He would spend the rest of his days looking fora solution before he abandoned her.\n\nThen there was the fear that they might go to all this trouble and expense and find out that she couldn't handle it. That they were wrong, that the Sword Sage had been wrong all those years ago. That she wasn't good enough to justify their faith.\n\n\"No point in stewing on it,\" Yerin said finally. \"There's no backing out now.\"\n\nThe dice had left her hands as soon as she'd beaten Lindon in the fourth round.\n\nCharity swept a spiritual scan through Yerin, checking her condition. \"While that's true, the Madra Engine will settle faster if you are at peace with this.\"\n\n\"I'm more at peace than a frozen corpse.\"\n\nSo Charity sank the Madra Engine into Yerin's midsection.\n\nThe process didn't feel like much. The construct settled into the center of her madra channels, surrounding and containing her core. While her core was full, it wouldn't do anything.\n\nCharity warned her to use as little madra as possible for at least a day or two, to allow the bond to settle with minimal chance of failure. So Yerin spent the rest of the day bored, cycling sword aura amid a forest of blades.\n\nShe usually spent two hours a day harvesting aura, but that didn't mean it wasn't boring. It just meant she'd gotten used to the boredom.\n\nShe didn't know how many hours had passed when she felt a disturbance next to her. Not much, nothing so sharp as danger, but just enough of an annoyance to break her out of the cycling trance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Finally, she looked over to see her red-haired twin in a cycling pose next to her.\n\nThat was startling enough on its own, but the Blood Shadow was also blindfolded, and balanced a dark, shimmering brick in its lap. The sword codex from Emriss Silentborn.\n\nYerin watched fora few minutes as the Blood Shadow cycled aura under its own power. Then it rose and-still blindfolded-pulled its black sword.\n\nIt went through the motions of several sword styles. One would be fast and aggressive, another had wide circular motions, and a third had sweeping patterns that were clearly meant to launch Striker techniques.\n\nEach one was visibly distinct, and the Shadow executed them well. Too well. Maybe as cleanly as Yerin could have done herself.\n\n\"You seeing if you can beat me to Sage?\" Yerin asked.\n\nThe Shadow tore off its blindfold to scowl.\n\n\"Heaven's luck to you. Maybe you can go off on your own. Then you can eat all the babies you want. Me, I'm going to win a tournament.\"\n\nShe closed her eyes before the Shadow could respond, reaching out for sword aura. Though she still kept her perception extended in case of an attack.\n\nBut her madra froze inside her when she heard a perfect echo of her own voice speak.\n\n\"Well,\" it said, \"cheers and celebrations for you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Northstrider resented anyone summoning him.\n\nEspecially if that'someone\" was a low-ranking Abidan who saw everyone still in Cradle as misguided infants.\n\nHe stepped through the Way into the audience chamber of the Ninecloud Court, where the Monarchs usually gathered. Shen was already there, for once without his golden stage or other ostentatious prop, though he still swirled wine in a jeweled goblet.\n\nSeshethkunaaz lounged against a pillar, glaring up into the center of the room. In his arrogance, he didn't even spare Northstrider a glance.\n\nHe was confident in his own invincibility. But one way or another, he wouldn't be for long.\n\nNorthstrider turned his attention to the white-armored, rat-faced Hound looking down on them like they were all his subjects. He longed to punch this sniveling messenger out of reality, but that would only invite someone higher upon the food chain.\n\nOne day, Northstrider would join them. Not the low ranks of Abidan drones, but the true world-striding champions.\n\n\"What is this about?\" Northstrider demanded, but Kiuran held up a finger.\n\n\"Patience. We're waiting on one more.\"\n\nThat tone brought Northstrider's patience one step closer to its limit, but he had assumed they were waiting on three more. If only one more Monarch had been summoned, then it had to be Malice.\n\nSure enough, the woman herself strode from the shadows a moment later. She had chosen to wear dark blue instead of the usual purple, her hair streaming behind her like cloth woven from the shadows themselves.\n\nHe sometimes wondered why the other Monarchs cared so much for their appearance. No one judged them on their dress when they could shatter fortresses with a word." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even the dragon cared about his physical image, or he wouldn't always runaround in the same form.\n\nWith Malice's arrival, Kiuran finally began to speak. \"It has come to my attention that you are hedging around the borders of my instruction not to interfere with the tournament. Positioning yourselves to take advantage of the outcome, moving your pieces around the board.\"\n\nOf course they had. It would have been idiotic not to, and the Abidan would certainly have seen that before he made his restrictions, especially as one of those with the power to read and direct the future.\n\nBut Northstrider didn't point out this hypocrisy, only waited.\n\n\"I've allowed it thus far because nothing has been too flagrant a violation, and because your games amuse me.\"\n\nNorthstrider could destroy this man. He could do it. He didn't know if Kiuran would stay dead, but he was willing to put that to the test.\n\n\"I'm becoming concerned that the temptation to interfere will be too great, and that you will continue to push my instructions until I am forced to punish you. Since I would rather not be so harsh, I've brought you all hereto discuss a mutually beneficial arrangement.\"\n\nNorthstrider sensed a chance.\n\nHe had expected the Hound to impose some extra restriction, or just to toy with them fora while, and he was prepared to tolerate it.\n\nBut this could be exactly what he and Malice needed. What they had planned to instigate.\n\nMaybe the Abidan could be useful after all.\n\nMalice played her part perfectly, drawing herself up and turning a venomous glare on the Hound. \"You forced us to obey you, and now you want to dictate our every action? Do the Abidan wish to move us like puppets?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They couldn't, Northstrider knew. It was one of their restrictions. They were limited in their ability to interfere somehow, though he hadn't successfully determined their laws yet.\n\n\"It can be hard for some of us to keep our impulses in check,\" Reigan Shen said, sipping his glass of wine.\n\nOn cue, Malice widened her eyes in anger. It was nice to have anally who could play a role well.\n\nKiuran scoffed. \"You should take your own lesson, Shen. You're the one moving your Heralds as though the tournament is already over.\"\n\nThe lion tilted his glass in acknowledgment. \"Very well, then, we require an equal restriction on the four of us. By mutual agreement, we can confine ourselves and our powers to this city. Unable to act until the conclusion of the tournament, when we will free each other together.\"\n\nA smile played on the dragon's childish face, and his eyes shone as he looked to his enemies.\n\nThey couldn't have played into Northstrider's hand more perfectly if they had tried.\n\n\"No,\" he said, because that was what was expected of him. Ina head-to-head confrontation, the dragon could defeat either of them, while the cat had a thousand weapons and could escape any trap. If it came to a fight between the four of them, Northstrider and Malice were clearly the weaker side.\n\nSo it was natural that he would resist.\n\nMalice played along. \"You want me to leave my children surrounded by enemies while I lock myself away?\"\n\nReigan Shen turned to Seshethkunaaz. \"I believe we can arrange an agreement between our Heralds, can't we? No aggressive action until the conclusion of the tournament.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That sounds civilized,\" the dragon agreed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I can't imagine the humans having any further objections.\"\n\n\"Good enough,\" the Abidan said impatiently. \"Do it now.\"\n\nNorthstrider and Malice both objected again, putting up a token resistance, but with the Abidan in support the issue was closed.\n\nTogether, they contacted their Heralds and Sages, limiting their actions until the conclusion of the tournament.\n\nWith that settled, they needed the permission of the Ninecloud Monarch to seal themselves in the city, which they received in a matter of seconds. Sha Miara was delighted by their arrangement.\n\nAs well she might be. Four of her rivals were locking themselves away from the world for another week.\n\nFinally, the four of them bound their wills together to one purpose.\n\nThere was little they could not accomplish with such unity, and the restriction settled in an invisible column surrounding Ninecloud City. The barrier was perceptible only to the four of them and affected them only, but now it was literally impossible for them to touch anyone outside without first removing the restriction.\n\nIt was perfect. Northstrider had already done all the work he needed in the world at large, and now his plans were falling into place.\n\nThough he was certain the other Monarchs were all thinking the same thing.\n\n---\n\n\"So go get them,\" Yerin demanded.\n\n\"I can't,\" Charity insisted. \"Do you understand? I am not capable. If I could go snatch my family from under the noses of hostile Heralds, I would be on my way right now. A Herald may not be able to travel through space directly, but they can stop me from doing so, so if I showed my face I would be trapped.\"\n\nIt was the most agitated Yerin had ever seen the Sage, but that was tough for Charity, because Yerin had plenty of her own agitation to work through." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Charity had received a message from her mother only the day before, when Northstrider's training world had finally collapsed, but it had been sent two days prior." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Malice said that Fury and the others were now pinned in Sky's Edge by the gold dragons and all the Dreadgod cults and that she couldn't help because she had somehow agreed to nail herself in place.\n\nYerin must be along way from understanding the ways of Monarchs, because that sounded like sheer idiocy.\n\nBut the rescue Charity described didn't sound impossible, it sounded very difficult. Which meant they were leaving Lindon, Mercy, and Eithan in a dangerous situation that could technically be solved.\n\n\"There's two of you,\" Yerin pointed out. \"How many does it take?\"\n\nCharity was really wrestling to keep up that icy mask of hers. \"How can I make you understand that you are not the only one with loved ones in danger?\"\n\n\"Difference is, you can do something about it.\"\n\nThe only reason the enemy Heralds hadn't attacked Fury already was the threat of Penance. Meaning that if Yerin left, she'd be signing over her friends' lives.\n\nIf she left... or if she lost.\n\nFor once, Min Shuei was the one to play peacemaker. \"We all know that Malice wouldn't have allowed this situation if Fury didn't have away out. She didn't tell you to go save him, did she? No. So we have a very simple situation.\"\n\nShe clapped her hands together. \"Yerin, you just have to win two fights.\"\n\nThat didn't calm Yerin down. Even her Blood Shadow was boiling.\n\nThe Sage noticed. \"You want to go save them? Perfect! That's what you're doing by fighting Yan Shoumei.\"\n\nThe statement didn't instantly solve all of Yerin's worries, but it was true. How often in her life had she wished she could fight her way out of a situation?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Tomorrow, she could.\n\nShe dipped her head to Min Shuei, but turned to Charity. The Heart Sage was taking deep breaths, visibly trying to master herself.\n\nShe needed something to do just like Yerin did.\n\n\"Run me through a course,\" Yerin demanded.\n\nThere was little chance of making any kind of breakthrough overnight, but a small chance was better than none, and it wasn't as though either of them would be resting.\n\nCharity silently agreed, leading the way to the training facilities inside the Akura guest tower.\n\nThe Winter Sage beamed.\n\n---\n\nYan Shoumei noticed that they had started putting her in a sealed-off arena for everyone of her fights.\n\nShe couldn't blame them. Crusher demonstrated power beyond what any Underlord Blood Shadow should be capable of.\n\nThe arena this time was like a huge cave with thickets of blood solidified into razor-sharp blades. Sword and blood aura were thicker than air here, which meant there would be no escaping from Yerin's Endless Sword.\n\nShoumei had a plan for that.\n\nAs usual, Northstrider stood in the center of the arena with an invisible wall dividing the space in half. With his shaggy hair and rugged, unshaven look, Shoumei had always thought he was the most handsome Monarch she'd had the privilege of seeing.\n\nNot that she would ever say so out loud. He might hear it.\n\nPowerful golden eyes fixed her. \"Are you prepared?\"\n\nShe nodded once, feeling Crusher's eagerness for battle. He was ready to be unleashed.\n\nNorthstrider looked to Yerin, who looked like she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep in days. She paced nervously, her hand clenching and unclenching, her hair was disheveled, and there were bags under her eyes. Even her black sacred arts robes were in disarray." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yerin had obviously never put much stock in her appearance, but this still struck Shoumei as strange. Had shebeen fighting already? Had someone threatened her?\n\nShoumei focused. Every win for her was safety, prosperity, and a bright future for her family.\n\nAnd while Yerin could beat Shoumei in anyone-on-one contest, this was two against two.\n\nYerin's Blood Shadow flowed out of her, carrying a black sword from Yerin's soulspace, and the spirit's state of existence had clearly improved. It barely had a pink tinge to its skin now, its crimson hair and eyes being the biggest difference from Yerin herself.\n\nThe Shadow looked just as unruly as Yerin did, prowling and snarling like a caged beast. Something had Yerin's soul in disarray.\n\nWhen her Blood Shadow was summoned, Yerin nodded.\n\nNorthstrider told them to begin.\n\nAs the command still hung in the air, Yan Shoumei unleashed Crusher.\n\nThere were three methods for cultivating a Blood Shadow... although since the clone technique always failed, there were really only two. The most common was raising the Shadow as a weapon, a shifting tool, and it was this method that Yan Shoumei had used through Truegold.\n\nBut when she'd been given the opportunity to enter the Ghostwater facility, as part of preparing her for this tournament, the Sage of Red Faith gave her special instructions.\n\nIn his pocket world, Northstrider kept samples of rare and powerful sacred beasts. Some were the only individuals remaining of their kind, while others were unique in their own right.\n\nWhen she retrieved blood samples from those ancient and powerful creatures, the Blood Sage showed her how to integrate them into her Shadow, creating a spirit whose power dwarfed her own." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She called him Crusher.\n\nA monstrously muscled humanoid body formed from the blood madra she usually wore as a cloak. The Shadow inherited its body from a Deepwalker Ape that had mutated its spirit to focus entirely on physical strength.\n\nCrusher's fur was thick and shaggy, taken from the blood of a bear dreadbeast that had inherited power from the Wandering Titan itself.\n\nThe spines that rose from his back and the claws on his long fingers came from the diamond dragon, who had been the only member of its species.\n\nThe wolf's muzzle and tall, rabbit-like ears must come from the other, more common blood samples that were mixed into the spirit for balance and tempering.\n\nCrusher's final, hulking form stood more than twice Shoumei's height, and its strength...\n\nAs sacred artists advanced, the line between sacred artist and sacred beast became more difficult to distinguish. While humans and beasts advanced differently, there were fewer and fewer differences at each stage until the differences disappeared at the peak of Archlord. Everyone reached Sage or Herald the same way.\n\nBut as a result, it could be hard to pinpoint a sacred beast's exact strength relative to a sacred artist. You had to measure the relative weight of the madra you felt.\n\nCrusher did not feel like an Underlord. She didn't know how to describe his power, but he gave off the spiritual impression of overwhelming, impossible physical power.\n\nThe moment Crusher manifested, he roared.\n\nThe ground shook. The aura quivered. The light in the cave-like arena trembled.\n\nYerin and her Blood Shadow, both of whom had rushed forward immediately, staggered as blood aura caused the roar to affect their bodies directly. Blood streamed from Yerin's ears-madra usually preserved a sacred artist's hearing during combat, but the roar was too powerful. Yerin should have focused her spirit to protect her ears. Now it was too late." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Crusher appeared next to her.\n\nHe didn't have a spatial artifact... or any sacred arts at all, really. He did have incredible leg strength and dexterity.\n\nYerin managed to spin and get her feet beneath her, raising her sword to block. The blade began to glow with an Enforcer technique.\n\nCrusher slapped her.\n\nYerin caught the blow with both hands on her sword.\n\nAnd stopped it.\n\nShoumei's shock froze her thoughts. Crusher's strength was so great that it worked on a conceptual level, according to the Blood Sage. It could bend the rules of the physical world with its strength, as Heralds or Monarchs could.\n\nCrusher couldn't do so to such a degree, of course, but no one below Herald should be able to stop his attacks. No one.\n\nThe ground shattered beneath Yerin's feet, and if ordinary laws still held sway, she would have been sent flying into the distance by the difference in their weight alone. But there was the clearly impossible scene of Yerin taking a blow the size of her entire body and not budging.\n\nUntil a moment later, when Crusher put more power into his hand.\n\nThen he hurled her entire body across the arena, and Shoumei could breathe again.\n\nA rippling crescent of sword and blood madra came at her like a wave, and she Forged a Red Crystal to protect herself.\n\nShoumei didn't practice a Path, exactly, but a collection of blood techniques intended to synergize well with a Shadow. This one created a multifaceted diamond of red madra around her, protecting her as Crusher did the fighting.\n\nThe Striker technique from Yerin's Blood Shadow hit the Crystal, shattered it, and crashed into Shoumei's unguarded body." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If she had met Yerin in an earlier round, this might have been the end. But she had made it to the top four, so she had earned her own gifts.\n\nThe technique hit Yan Shoumei and launched her backwards without penetrating her skin. It stung, but not a drop of blood was drawn.\n\nThe Silverscale Iron body was common for fishermen. Many sea creatures developed madra attacks when they grew old enough, so fishermen needed to be able to endure those techniques with their bodies. It fortified her spirit's natural control inside her own body, creating resistance to spiritual attacks.\n\nBut even that wouldn't have been enough against a Striker technique from Yerin, so the Dragon King had chosen his prize for Yan Shoumei carefully. He left her the Ancient Scale, a Divine Treasure that added further protection.\n\nTogether, that combination meant that she could wade through Striker techniques from a crowd of Underlords without a scratch, and as she advanced, it would show even more dramatic effects.\n\nHer enemies would have to use Ruler techniques against her, or they would have to get in close.\n\nWhich was where Crusher came in.\n\nYerin's copy didn't hesitate as Yan Shoumei weathered its technique. It had already covered the gap between them, sword aura gathering around its blade as it prepared the Endless Sword.\n\nCrusher leaped on the Shadow.\n\nYerin's Shadow twisted and swung its blade with both hands, slamming against the monster's plunging body. The air twisted with an explosive crack, wind blasting away from the blow, and Crusher was sent flying.\n\nBut the other Blood Shadow's head exploded too. Crusher had managed to release a kick as he was knocked away, and it popped the Shadow's skull like a grape." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Its body collapsed as blood madra sprayed allover the arena." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Shadow's head began to writhe and re-form immediately, but Yan Shoumei stood over it.\n\nA rain of bloody needles fell from her hand, shredding Yerin's clone.\n\nAs she stood there and waited for Yerin's Blood Shadow to lose its form completely, she casually turned to regard the blinding silver light gathering in one corner of the arena.\n\nYerin was gathering up madra and aura into her sword, growing in power and density as it threw off waves of silver-white energy. The technique was radiant to Shoumei's eyes, and her spiritual sense cried a warning.\n\nShoumei didn't move.\n\nCrusher charged into Yerin like a bull. She released her technique into him from close range, a deadly sword of madra that lanced all the way across the arena, carving up the ground and shattering the red blades that filled the battleground. The point of the technique shattered a crater in the wall, revealing the humming purple wall of the barrier beyond.\n\nHalf of Crusher's ribs had been carved out by the Forger technique, but he had accepted that hit.\n\nHis claws raked at Yerin.\n\nHer sword chimed, and invisible sword aura deflected Crusher's claws. Shoumei was surprised that Yerin was able to use another technique so quickly after such a massive blast, but mild surprise was all it was.\n\nWhile his slash was deflected, Crusher punched Yerin with the other hand.\n\nThis time, Yerin went flying.\n\nCrusher was on her in an instant, and while she struggled for another few seconds, Yan Shoumei returned her attention to the Blood Shadow at her feet.\n\nThe body no longer resembled Yerin, but rather amass of wriggling madra. As Shoumei continued pouring needles from her hand, the Blood Shadow could finally hold on no longer. It flowed back in Yerin's direction." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Until the arena rang with another blow from Crusher, and the Ninecloud Soul's voice echoed through their cave: \"Victory! Yan Shoumei, chosen of Reigan Shen, has defeated Yerin Arelius!\"\n\nShoumei waited to be transported away.\n\nShe had won easily, but that was how she always won these days. If she was ever forced to really exert herself, that would mean Crusher had been defeated.\n\nMost importantly, she had won without revealing the Archlord weapon in her soulspace. After she'd been forced to reveal Crusher to get into the Uncrowned, that weapon was now her one remaining hidden card.\n\nIn the finals, it would give Sophara a surprise.\n\n---\n\nBack in the waiting room, Yerin's Blood Shadow shouted at her.\n\n\"That's the power we could have, that's the power we should have, if your spine didn't shake when you looked at me!\" The Shadow's voice grew more hoarse and harsh by the word.\n\n\"Then stay on your leash,\" Yerin spat. \"Her dog doesn't bite back.\"\n\nYerin's anger was more than a match for the Shadow's, because hers was born from the fear that filled every inch of her spirit. One more loss. That was what stood between her and the death of everyone she cared about. One more mistake.\n\nThey had prepared against Yan Shoumei, based on the records of the previous rounds, but information on her Blood Shadow was sketchy at best. They had trained against Shoumei's techniques, taken her Iron body into account, and speculated on the sorts of prizes she might have gotten in the last round.\n\nThose prizes would be publicly announced... eventually. After the round was over." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Something to strengthen Shoumei's Iron body wasn't out of their expectations, but Crusher's power was wildly beyond their highest estimates.\n\nThen again, they knew almost nothing about Shoumei's Blood Shadow. They had only discovered its name thanks to Charity's investigation.\n\nThe Winter Sage had trained against Yerin and her Blood Shadow, adjusting her strength to the greatest level they estimated Shoumei's Shadow could reach. By pouring madra into her Steelborn Iron body, Yerin could keep up.\n\nThen, in the actual battle, she had only blocked one attack with the full strength she could muster. Just one.\n\nYerin had no idea how Shoumei was keeping such a beast from hollowing her out, but she had to assume the Blood Sage was involved.\n\nCharity cutoff their argument by speaking from the shadows of the waiting room. \"We don't have time for unproductive discussions. You will coordinate to kill Yan Shoumei before her Shadow kills you both, or you will lose.\"\n\nKilling Yan Shoumei quickly was easier said than done. All her techniques and abilities were designed to make that impossible.\n\nAnd even with everything at stake, Yerin still couldn't bring herself to back down before her Blood Shadow. She glared into a red-eyed mirror and neither retreated.\n\n\"I have a suggestion,\" the Winter Sage said. \"Burn it.\"\n\nYerin and her clone both turned to her.\n\n\"We had discussed it for an emergency,\" she said coolly. \"This is an emergency. Burn the Shadow.\"\n\nThere was a technique that Redmoon Hall could use that involved breaking down the Blood Shadow for power. It was more difficult the more complete the Shadow, as you had to overwhelm the Shadow's will with your own, so it was most often done by those who kept their Blood Shadow in the form of a weapon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But, using the dream tablets that Eithan had given her long ago, Yerin had pieced together how to do it. If she beat her Shadow in ahead-to-head clash of wills, she could add its power to her own.\n\nThat would win them this fight, almost certainly.\n\nBut it would permanently weaken the Shadow. They would be giving up a weapon against Sophara in the finals.\n\nHer Blood Shadow stalked closer to Min Shuei. \"You have had your-\"\n\n\"Silence,\" the Winter Sage commanded.\n\nThe Shadow's voice seized up, and she even stumbled in its step.\n\n\"I don't need advice from parasites. Yerin, it's win or die. And with the Shadow's influence in your soul weakened, you will find it even easier to sense the Sword Icon.\"\n\nYerin couldn't rid herself of the Blood Shadow entirely this way, at least not without injuring herself. It could only be drained so far.\n\nBut she could weaken it. Change the power dynamic between them forever, so that Yerin was always the one in charge.\n\nAnd it would win them this fight.\n\nShe walked up to the Shadow until they were almost nose-to-nose. She remembered all the times that it had tried to swallow her up. She still remembered the sticky, wet noise of her parents' blood hitting the walls.\n\nBut it had been along time since then.\n\nShe also remembered the spirit blindfolding itself and straining to reach the Sword Icon. Emerging from her spirit to save her from Meira's scythe. Fighting by her side to save Lindon. Drawing power from Yerin's life and spirit... only to leave her alive when it could have killed her. Slipping out of her spirit in the middle of the night to change a wounded animal's bandages." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Assist the writer, move the story forward.\nTags: fantasy, progression fantasy, tournament\nAuthor: Will Wight\nTitle: Wintersteel\nChapter: 28" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A Forged hand of shadow grabbed her by the scaled throat, and Fury pulled her close. He was only the size of one of her eyes. \"To see this look on your face.\"\n\nThen three other Heralds unveiled their power, and the true battle began." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Information requested: Akura Malice, Queen of Shadows and ruler of the western Ashwind continent.\n\nBeginning report...\n\nPath: Eternal Night. Though she is famous for the creation of the Path of Seven Pages, Malice herself has no Book. She is the practitioner of a pure shadow Path with an emphasis on Forger and Ruler techniques, and she sees her madra as a perfect blend of power and utility. However, her dissatisfaction with her own Path led her to create an idealized version: her Book of Eternal Night.\n\nEveryone in the Akura family is named after a virtue. Even Malice.\n\nWhen Malice was born, the Akura family was a tiny band of humans in a vicious wilderness. They were destroyed by a rival when she was only days old, their members dispersed.\n\nShe was named for the quality of ruthlessness, spite, focused hatred that her parents hoped would guide her to avenge them.\n\nMalice grew up among exiles working with vengeance as her only goal, but she slowly realized how hollow revenge really was.\n\nTo her, the only thing that matters is the good of the family.\n\nShe had a firm sense of justice, defending the weak and fighting the strong, but she learned that the world of vicious competition was unfair to those born human. The best way to protect the weak was to gather them under one banner.\n\nAnd to remove all threats at the roots.\n\nThe family is safest when its rivals are dead.\n\nSuggested topic: the birth of Akura Fury.\n\nDenied, report complete.\n\n---\n\nThe four Monarchs bound to Ninecloud City had come together in the Court's royal audience hall, allegedly to discuss the end of the tournament in peace." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Northstrider knew what was really going to happen." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was ready.\n\n\"I accept the results,\" Seshethkunaaz said coldly. \"Freak twists of fate are part of strength as well. If I must ascend, so be it.\"\n\nReigan Shen idly toyed with one of his rings. \"I would imagine she will exterminate the Bleeding Phoenix, as some portion of her link to it no doubt remains. But if I am forced to ascend, I suppose I will see you all sooner or later.\"\n\nThey were not as fatalistic as they pretended, Northstrider knew. The dragon, at least, was seething inside. He wasn't even doing a good job of hiding it.\n\nBut he was more interested in someone else's act.\n\nMalice's smirk widened into a smile. \"Sometimes I wonder if you know meat all, Sesh. Your people destroyed the Rising Earth sect and tried to destroy two more of my teams.\"\n\nNorthstrider sensed something in the great distance.\n\nThe dragon and the lion looked up at the same time.\n\n\"Did you think that I would let that go?\" Malice continued. \"Did you think I couldn't reach you?\" Her smile widened further into a fierce, maniacal grin. \"Did you forget my name?\"\n\nAs the power in the distance grew, Malice's laughter and her shadows boiled up to fill the hall.\n\nFury was advancing to Monarch.\n\nAt last.\n\nSeshethkunaaz rose upon a cloud of golden sand. \"You cannot stop me from interfering.\" His power exploded, tearing off the entire roof of the tower and dissolving it to sand in an instant. \"Use the arrow! I will take your son with me to the grave.\"\n\nWith the tournament over, and all four Monarchs ready to leave, the barrier trapping them in Ninecloud City fell apart." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A gust of sand in the shape of a snarling serpent, containing the full willpower of the Dragon King, struck at Malice.\n\nShe held up one hand to stop it.\n\nAn amethyst gauntlet bigger than the entire top of the tower formed in front of her, and the sand crashed into it like water into a boulder.\n\nMalice's eyes blazed, and she rose into the air. An instant later, she and the dragon were miles away, slowly ramping up to their full power.\n\nAllover Ninecloud City, alarms blared. Sha Miara's power covered them, rainbow light moving citizens to shelter or blocking stray bursts of power.\n\nNorthstrider kept his eyes on Reigan Shen.\n\nThe lion twisted his rings, looking disturbed. \"This really isn't necessary. We could have worked together to mutual benefit.\"\n\nNorthstrider stayed quiet. Those were words that Tiberian Arelius had used on Shen.\n\nThey hadn't worked then, and they certainly wouldn't work now.\n\n\"Well, Penance is beyond our reach,\" the lion continued.\n\nHe glanced up, and Northstrider knew he was looking at the blue bubble of the Way that contained Kiuran the Hound and Yerin Arelius, victor of the Uncrowned King tournament.\n\n\"... and I think we've already settled the hierarchy between us to our satisfaction.\"\n\nIn fact, Reigan Shen hadn't beaten Northstrider. The Weeping Dragon had. But Shen was no easy opponent himself, and his mastery over spatial travel meant he could escape anything.\n\n\"So let's just go about our business, shall we?\"\n\nSpace tore open behind Shen, revealing the blue of the Way." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Stop,\" Northstrider commanded.\n\nThe portal sealed itself.\n\nReigan Shen turned, and his own authority matched or even exceeded Northstrider's. \"Do not play games with me, human. If you want a battle, I will give you one.\"\n\nBlood madra began to rise from Northstrider.\n\nHe reached into his soulspace and tapped into his black orb. His oracle codex.\n\nHis experimental Presence.\n\nInformation requested: combat report on Reigan Shen.\n\nThe report began, but Northstrider pushed it to his subconscious.\n\nNorthstrider had clashed with Reigan Shen many times. He had gathered more information on the Emperor of Lions than anyone else alive, and his construct had analyzed the Path of the King's Key a million different ways.\n\nBut it had taken Dross to bring all that together.\n\nNow, his weapon was complete.\n\nKing's Key madra tore open space to Shen's left and right, but Northstrider knew what weapons were about to come out.\n\nHe Forged a crimson dragon from blood madra, filling it with the authority of the Dragon Icon. The serpent roared as it rushed at Shen, blocking the line of fire from both launchers that the lion had just summoned.\n\nShen was already traveling away, but Northstrider could see where.\n\nHe moved at the same time Reigan Shen did.\n\nThe Dragon was not the only Icon that Northstrider had manifested. He launched a punch, and the authority of the Strength Icon empowered him.\n\nReigan Shen appeared out of the Way, and Northstrider's black-scaled knuckles caught him in the white-gold mane.\n\nThe shockwave cracked the tower beneath them, and Shen was sent flying out of Ninecloud City." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With a brief effort of will, Northstrider followed.\n\n---\n\nSophara trembled more violently than the city cracking around her.\n\nShe'd failed... and it wasn't even her fault.\n\nAs the ceiling crumbled around her, she knelt on the floor and desperately tried to figure out how to salvage this situation.\n\nThe reality crashed in on her: her spirit was finished. Her future as a sacred artist was gone.\n\nShe'd borrowed too much from her future, and it hadn't even paid off. Even if her king was willing to invest more resources in her, he wouldn't survive the night.\n\nPenance. The arrow was going to kill her great-grandfather.\n\nHow could it go anywhere else?\n\nWhat could she do? There had to be something. There was always something.\n\nA pale human with bloody streaks down his face appeared in front of her.\n\nShe swept her sword at him, but he stopped it with one hand. \"Don't forget who you are. We're going to kill Akura Mercy and her brother, Pride. Come with us, and Reigan Shen can extend your life.\"\n\nShe recognized the Sage of Red Faith, as well as the half-dozen people behind him. Calan Archer, Yan Shoumei, and Brother Aekin had competed against her, and the other three were Overlords from Redmoon Hall that she didn't know.\n\nFor one reckless instant, she considered trying to kill them all.\n\nIf the Dragon King's Totem could stall the Sage, she could kill the rest, she was sure. Yerin might see it and appreciate that she'd saved Akura Mercy. Then she would use Penance on Reigan Shen instead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Despair stopped her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She had no reason to think that Yerin would see any of this. Even if she did, she might not even care.\n\nSophara's head drooped. The best she could do was cling to this thin thread of hope.\n\nAnd takeout her pain on her enemies.\n\nShe drew herself to her feet. \"I can handle Mercy,\" she said.\n\nThe Blood Sage chewed on his thumb. \"Then we await our summons.\"\n\n---\n\nWhen Fury advanced to Monarch, Lindon expected him to instantly wipe out all the enemies.\n\nInstead, a battle had begun that tore the sky and annihilated the city below. Chunks of the surrounding mountains hurled themselves at Fury, courtesy of the Abyssal Palace Herald. The Herald of Redmoon Hall struck with waves of bloody needles like crimson cloud banks, while the Herald of the Silent Servants cut at Fury with endless slashes of a white sword that lit up the sky.\n\nThe Stormcallers had no Herald, but one Sage. It was hard for Lindon to follow the exact details of the fight, but the Sage of Calling Storms seemed to be wrestling against Fury's authority, opposing whenever Fury made one of his echoing commands.\n\nLindon could feel the will pressing down on Fury, constraining him.\n\nThe newborn Monarch kept fighting.\n\nPalms of shadow struck at the side of the Abyssal Palace fortress, sending it careening to the side. A blazing ball of inky shadow crashed into the swordswoman Herald of the Silent Servants, and she had to focus all her power on keeping it from annihilating her.\n\nThroughout the battle, Fury's laughter echoed.\n\nThe remainder of the Akura faction had a war of their own to handle. Most of the enemies had retreated in the chaos, but not all, and it fell to the most advanced among them to stop the barrage of techniques from killing Golds as they tried to retreat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon himself struck down a cloud with dragon's breath, used the Hollow Domain for an instant to wipe out a barrage of weaker Striker techniques, and leaped to drive his Empty Palm into an enemy Underlord's core.\n\nThere were relatively few Archlords on the battlefield, and most were trying to help suppress Fury, but four focused on the fortress.\n\nThere were only three Archlords among the Akura, and those seven formed the loudest and most intense battle in Lindon's immediate vicinity. Akura Justice, the old man with the long beard who had examined Lindon's spirit in Moongrave, used his shadow madra to try and drag their fight away.\n\nIt had taken all of Lindon's power just to deflect some stray madra from that fight, so he was relieved when that flashing cage of madra moved away from them.\n\nHe glanced down the stairs to see that most of the Golds were gone. It would be the Underlords' turn to evacuate next, and Lindon would be happy to leave as long as Mercy and Pride left first.\n\nThough he did briefly wonder who would redeem his points if Fury didn't make it back.\n\nAt the thought of Mercy and Pride, Lindon looked across the roof of the fortress to see them engaging in battle. Pride was covered in crystalline armor, beating senseless an Abyssal Palace priest, and Mercy was keeping up a barrage of dark arrows.\n\nThey fought side-by-side with the Seishen Kingdom Underlords, but Malice's children were doing more than their share of the work.\n\nGrace wove through the few enemies that landed, her sword tracing a black line as she danced. Her cousins Douji and Courage watched over her, covering her with lightning and flying swords as she fought, and Naru Saeya was a green blur in the air overhead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "[Well, it would be rude not to join the gang,] Dross pointed out.\n\nLindon moved to join them.\n\nThen he saw Seishen Daji pull something out of a pocket and toss it at Mercy's feet.\n\nIt looked like a spike the size of his arm, covered in rings of script.\n\nAn instant later, a group of people appeared out of nowhere standing over the spike. A pale, lanky man with long, white hair and bare feet loomed over Mercy, and behind him...\n\nLindon's heart stopped.\n\nBehind him, all four enemy Uncrowned.\n\nThe Soul Cloak rose up in Lindon, Dross shouted a warning, and Lindon ran as fast as he could.\n\nHe didn't react as quickly as Eithan.\n\nThe Arelius Overlord dove and rolled close to the group.\n\nAn instant before they all disappeared.\n\n---\n\nEithan rolled to his feet and launched a Hollow King's Spear.\n\nNot the imitation Striker technique he'd been forced to use when he was only an Underlord. Areal one.\n\nIt resembled an actual spear of blue-white madra, lancing into the group of enemies surrounding Mercy and Pride. It was effectively the same technique as it had been, just a lance of pure madra, but in this form it conducted willpower much better.\n\nThe spear drove through the spirit of one of the Redmoon Overlords, instantly destroying his soul.\n\nThe Underlords ran out of the way, but they wouldn't have made it if the Sage hadn't interfered.\n\nRed Faith slapped the spearhead, blowing it into a cloud of pure madra essence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then he stopped to examine Eithan and chew on a knuckle.\n\nOnly then did Eithan pay attention to where they'd been taken.\n\nHe knew it couldn't have been too far, because the Blood Sage had carried too many people. The gatekey that had taken them here would work only in one direction, and that device had already done its job.\n\nThey stood in a wide-open room filled with dusty furniture. Stonewalls, stone floor; it was the base of a tower that you could find almost anywhere. They were far enough away that the battle between Heralds-well, one Monarch and four Heralds-didn't loom over them, but not so far that they couldn't hear the thunder or feel the ground shaking.\n\nMost importantly, Eithan's Spear had forced the group of enemies away from Mercy and Pride.\n\nThere were more people all throughout the tower, innocent bystanders caught up in the Blood Sage's reckless teleportation.\n\nAnd seven enemies left.\n\nThere was a staircase at Mercy's back, and in the moment of uncertainty after the transportation, Eithan was the first to speak.\n\n\"Up the stairs!\" he shouted.\n\nAkura Douji and Courage shot up, but Pride and Mercy waited for Grace and Naru Saeya.\n\nSaeya stopped at the bottom stair for an instant as though thinking she could help, but after a moment of agony she flew upwards.\n\nEithan sighed in relief as he strolled over to stand at the bottom stair. The enemies had fanned out instead of following, which was considerate of them. They focused on him.\n\nCalan Archer conjured a lightning dragon. Yan Shoumei gathered blood madra in her palms, but didn't summon Crusher. Brother Aekin covered himself in his Enforcer technique, taking on the vague aspect of the Wandering Titan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The two remaining Redmoon Overlords summoned their Blood Shadows around their weapons: a spear and an axe." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The one he'd downed had carried a sword.\n\nNice of them to have such a variety; it made them easy to tell apart.\n\nEithan pulled out his scissors. \"Well,\" he said, \"isn't this an interesting situation in which I find myself.\"\n\nSophara glowered at him. An Enforcer technique hummed through her, her shield drifted over her head, and her liquid whip pooled at her side.\n\nNone of them attacked him, which showed unusually keen instincts on their side. They couldn't have pierced his veil, but they still knew something was off.\n\nThe Sage of Red Faith took a bloody finger from his mouth. \"How did you advance so quickly? Even with our Monarch providing you with resources, it should have taken you much longer.\"\n\n\"Well, I wasn't competing, so I didn't have to adhere to tournament rules anymore,\" Eithan said. And then, since the proverbial cat was out of the bag, he released his veil.\n\nHis Archlord power covered the entire tower.\n\nAs the Sage of a Thousand Eyes had said, reaching Archlord had never been a problem for him. It had only been a question of resources.\n\nAnd Reigan Shen was a cat of his word. He'd promised to sponsor Eithan's advancement, and his deliveries had been prompt. Though no doubt he'd expected his first shipment to last Eithan for years.\n\nWell, Eithan hoped to surprise him many more times in the future.\n\nOf course, that would require him to survive.\n\nArchlord had been trivial, since he'd started with the requisite insight, but Sage was still a different matter entirely.\n\n\"I didn't ask you why,\" the Blood Sage said irritably, \"I asked you how. Children, go upstairs. Arelius, you move.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A great pressure squeezed Eithan from every direction as space itself tried to move him.\n\nBut he pushed back.\n\nIt was a harder task than he would have preferred.\n\n\"I... don't think... I will.\"\n\nThe Blood Sage's working peaked, then collapsed.\n\nEithan's outer robe fluttered before it fell back down. He remained right where he was.\n\nThe Blood Sage chewed on his knuckle fora moment, then spoke another command. \"Die.\"\n\nThis time, the working of will was accompanied by a Ruler technique. The blood aura in Eithan's body twisted up, seizing his heart.\n\nEithan crumpled, pushing with his soulfire and his madra, fighting the aura with every ounce of the willpower he'd trained everyday for as long as he could remember.\n\nBy the time the fit passed, he and the Blood Sage were alone, and battle was beginning upstairs.\n\n\"They probably could have gotten me,\" Eithan said, his breath still coming heavily. \"Thank you for holding them back.\"\n\nThe Blood Sage's head tilted all the way to one shoulder, then to the other. \"I'm going to study you.\"\n\n\"I'll sign a portrait for you,\" Eithan said pleasantly.\n\nThen their spirits clashed.\n\n---\n\nLindon stood, shaking, on the empty half of the roof.\n\nPeople shouted urgent questions, but Lindon stood and scooped up the scripted stone spike. It was just a teleportation anchor. It had guided them here; it hadn't taken them anywhere else.\n\nThe Blood Sage had done that.\n\n[Couldn't have been far!] Dross said desperately. [We can find them!]" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not with the chaos all around them. Lindon couldn't stretch his spiritual perception far enough to sense anything clearly.\n\n\"Tell Fury,\" Lindon instructed.\n\n[You, uh, you really want to distract him right now?]\n\n\"Do it!\"\n\nDross sent him a message, but they didn't hear anything back. With nothing else to do, Lindon swept the empty space with his perception. Maybe the Blood Sage had left a trail.\n\nHe didn't expect to find anything, so he was filled with surprise when he actually did.\n\nNot a trail, but a... bump... in the middle of the air.\n\nIt reminded him of the spatial cracks that had begun to appear when Ghostwater crumbled, but those had been visible to the naked eye. This one he could barely sense, even with his perception right on it.\n\nDesperately, he pushed against it. Just as he had when trying to resist Fury, or when he'd held onto Dross.\n\nSomething shifted, but he couldn't tell what. He pushed harder.\n\nThe invisible bump in the air collapsed, stretching into a crack. If he released the pressure, the crack disappeared, and the bump returned.\n\nSomeone grabbed him by the shoulder, but he shook them off, cycling pure madra and pushing with everything he had.\n\nPride was there, and the rest of his team. Eithan and Mercy were there.\n\nHe was going there too.\n\nIt felt like his spirit was going to tear in half, but finally the crack deepened. It widened into a rift the length of his hand, and the edges shone blue.\n\nBut with all his concentration, that was as far as he could get." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "---\n\nEithan's Hollow Armor formed an actual suit of armor. An observer could see a faint, transparent helmet over his head and plates covering his body.\n\nThe formless version, the layer of madra that covered his skin, wasn't even comparable to the performance of this complete technique.\n\nAnd even so, the Blood Sage slashed through it with a Forged claw.\n\nEithan deflected a flying hawk of blood with his Hollow King's Mantle, which now resembled a sweeping cloak the size of the room. It swept up the Striker technique, hurling it back.\n\nThough the hawk crashed into the Sage and did very little.\n\nA follow-up slash from Red Faith's claws breached the gap in Eithan's armor and split open the skin of his chest. Only Eithan's reflexes kept that from including his rib cage.\n\nHe Forged his armor again and continued adding another star to the crown over his head. When the Hollow King's Crown was complete, he would have a further weapon against the Sage.\n\nBut he was exhausted and bleeding, while the Sage looked fresh as a... well, the Sage always somewhat resembled a skeleton with skin, but he was uninjured.\n\nDespite the best efforts of Eithan's scissors.\n\n\"You know I'm not going to kill the children myself,\" the Blood Sage said. \"You will have worked that out because I transported them here instead of killing them on the rooftop.\"\n\n\"Unless my children beat yours,\" Eithan pointed out. \"You're herein case something goes wrong.\"\n\n\"That isn't what's happening.\"\n\nThat was true.\n\nOther than the Overlord Eithan had ruined with so much spiritual damage that even his Remnant had been destroyed, there were no deaths on the Blood Sage's team." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All the blood drawn had been on Eithan's side.\n\nThen Eithan saw something behind him. A flare of blue. The Blood Sage sensed it at the same time he did, but Eithan was closer.\n\nSomeone was trying to drill through.\n\nAnd Eithan knew who.\n\nAs the Blood Sage tried to force the rift shut, Eithan joined his will to Lindon's.\n\nThe hole in space tore open.\n\n---\n\nFrom the roof of the Sky's Edge fortress, Lindon suddenly stumbled into a wide, dusty basement.\n\nIt was filled with chaotic clashes of spirit, and Lindon didn't feel like he had gone through a portal. It felt like he alone had been drawn through.\n\nSure enough, there was no portal behind him. No exit.\n\nAnd the Blood Sage was standing opposite a bleeding, grinning Eithan. Who was an Archlord.\n\nSomehow, that was the least surprising part of all this.\n\nLindon cycled his madra to its limit and focused on the Blood Sage, but when he leaped, Eithan struck at him with his scissors.\n\nThe scissors inflated to ten times their size, trailing gray mist that felt almost like destruction aura.\n\nThe Sage flipped to avoid the attack, launching a Striker technique as he did, but Eithan swept it aside with the Hollow King's Mantle.\n\n\"Stop,\" the Blood Sage commanded, and Lindon froze.\n\nFora moment. Then Eithan threw a Hollow Spear at the Sage, who took a glancing blow. His concentration had been shaken enough that Lindon could push his way free.\n\nAnd up the stairs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He could tell what was going on, and Eithan could take care of himself.\n\n\"Good work!\" Eithan called. \"I'll just-\"\n\nHis voice was cutoff by an explosion of madra, but Lindon was already dashing upstairs.\n\nThere was a body on the stairs. Akura Courage, his swords spilled around him and mouth open in surprise.\n\nA black-and-silver Remnant lurked on the next stair, staring at Lindon with wide, accusing eyes, but Lindon didn't stop for it.\n\nLindon dashed past the spirit and into the wide, open room at the top of the staircase. There was more abandoned furniture here, covered in dust and many hidden behind sheets. The air was thick with dust, and most of the furniture had been crushed.\n\nA Seishen Kingdom Underlord that Lindon had never seen before lay in several pieces on the floor, blood soaking the floor. His face was twisted around to face upward. A dead gray Remnant slowly dissolved around him.\n\nNaru Saeya landed on the corpse, rolling over it, and she was so covered in injuries that Lindon couldn't tell how much of the blood washers and how much came from the corpse.\n\nHe ran over to her, sweeping his spiritual perception through her. She choked out a word, but he couldn't tell what it was.\n\n[She'll live,] Dross said. [At least, I think she will. But we have a slightly bigger problem.]\n\nLindon knew what he was referring to.\n\nThe man who had beaten everyone on this floor was therewith one eye in his mask glowing, pulling together shards of stone with earth madra into a destructive ball between his palms. He was preparing his technique to finish off Naru Saeya, and he wouldn't mind if Lindon was caught up in it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Brother Aekin, Uncrowned of Abyssal Palace, launched his Striker technique.\n\n[Yes sir, our slightly bigger problem is waiting upstairs.]\n\nLindon had trained against Brother Aekin's projection seventy-five times.\n\nInformation requested: destroying Brother Aekin in as little time as possible.\n\nBeginning report...\n\nIn the blue light of the Hollow Domain, Brother Aekin's technique falls apart. The Ruler component continues fora moment, spraying Lindon with pebbles.\n\nLindon dashes up with the Soul Cloak, carrying the Hollow Domain in an orb around him. When he gets close enough, even Aekin's Enforcer technique falters.\n\nThey clash hand-to-hand fora moment, but Aekin is no match for Lindon.\n\nLindon drops his Hollow Domain and drives dragon's breath through the cultist's chest, continuing up the stairs at a sprint.\n\nReport complete.\n\nAs Lindon saw the report, he acted.\n\nAekin was dead in seconds.\n\nIt was strangely easy to switch from pure madra to Blackflame and back. Easier than it ever had been before, as though he no longer had to cycle differently. As though the madra obeyed him directly.\n\nThat was a thought for later.\n\nHe intended to turnaround and annihilate the Remnant with another Striker technique, but he saw something around the bear-like yellow monster that rose from Aekin's body: a white ring.\n\nLindon stopped and ran back, grabbing the ring with his Remnant arm. It was hard to separate, but with a little touch of the Consume technique, he sucked away a measure of the Remnant's strength." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The ring came off, and Lindon casually annihilated the spirit before examining the ring.\n\nIt unfolded into a white crown.\n\nLindon would love to examine the Broken Crown construct closer, but Overlords were clashing upstairs, so he opened his void key and tossed the Divine Treasure inside, summoning his flying sword as he did so.\n\nThen he ran upwards.\n\nHe felt the situation before he saw it. Calan Archer's dragon was feeding on a crackling purple lightning spirit. Akura Douji's Remnant.\n\nAnother dead member of Lindon's team.\n\nThe dragon was growing fat, but Calan had sensed Lindon coming. His seven Jadeclaw Rings were arranged in the sky above him, and the muscular blond man waited for Lindon with a stony expression. As soon as Lindon appeared at the top of the stairs, blue-gold light rained down, the storm dragon turned on him, and Calan Archer's rings swarmed him.\n\nLindon had trained against Calan Archer's projection thirty-eight times.\n\nWith a generous portion of soulfire, the Hollow Domain wiped everything out.\n\nWavedancer soared out from behind Lindon. Before Calan Archer recovered from his astonishment, the flying sword had pierced him all the way through.\n\nHe looked down at himself, eyes wide in surprise, but Lindon didn't have time to waste waiting on a Remnant.\n\nHe seized the top of Calan's head in his right hand, Consuming his power.\n\nEnergy flooded into Lindon, and he sorted it with the Heart of Twin Stars. Most he vented, some he added back to his pure core, and the rest went into his body. It wasn't much to him now, but every bit helped. This was like receiving a little jolt of energy that fought his exhaustion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dross held onto any memories, but Lindon wrestled down Calan's remaining willpower. He received one brief impression of Calan's last moments.\n\nHe'd sensed the Hollow Domain. To him, it had felt like absolute emptiness. Like the death of the spirit.\n\nIn his case, he was correct.\n\nLindon stopped when there wasn't enough structure to Calan's madra left to form a Remnant, vented the rest of the storm madra, and hurried up.\n\nHe could feel Mercy.\n\nSomeone had comedown from two floors above to stop him on the next floor, and he could already tell who it was: the Uncrowned of Redmoon Hall, Yan Shoumei.\n\nWhen she summoned her Blood Shadow, Crusher, the entire tower shook.\n\nDross gasped in excitement.\n\nIt wasn't the time, and Lindon knew that, but he couldn't help a little excitement himself.\n\nHe activated the binding in his hunger arm, opening and closing his fingers as he emerged from the stairs and saw Crusher. The snarling monster of blood loomed over him, raising a claw.\n\nIt looked down to his white hand and hesitated.\n\nLindon had hoped to run into Crusher ever since he had realized what it was. Shoumei's Shadow was essentially amass of blood essence so ripe with physical power that it could still strengthen Lindon's body.\n\nUnderlord blood essence didn't do anything for him anymore, but Crusher was a different story.\n\nThe moment stretched between them as Crusher looked down on them. Dross and Lindon prepared to feed.\n\nThe Blood Shadow turned and ran.\n\nYan Shoumei looked more shocked than Lindon felt. He could only see his meal running away. He ignited the Burning Cloak, fired a burst of dragon's breath at the Redmoon girl, and leaped after Crusher." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He landed on the monster's back and began to Consume.\n\nRather than memories, Crusher had only bestial impressions. One of those was the instinct of a wild animal. In Lindon's arm, the spirit felt a predator.\n\nHe funneled everything from the Blood Shadow into his body, and when it tried to swipe back at him, he dodged and kept feasting.\n\nIn seconds, Crusher collapsed into a red stream and flowed back to Yan Shoumei, who was somewhere behind a collapsed wall.\n\nDross made a disappointed noise. [Quitter.]\n\nLindon intended to move back and finish off Yan Shoumei, but now he heard Mercy's scream. One last time, he dashed up the stairs. To the top of the tower.\n\nThe first sight that greeted him was Akura Grace's body.\n\nShe had been pinned to the wall by a Forged spear, her eyes glassed over and her hair hanging loose. Her Remnant, a glossy black and silver, slowly dissolved in pieces nearby.\n\nHer hand still clutched her sword.\n\nThis one stopped Lindon in his tracks. Courage and Douji's lives weighed on him more than he expected, and he hadn't even liked them.\n\nNow Grace was dead because he had been standing too faraway.\n\nBeyond her Remnant, Pride was in little better shape.\n\nHe swayed on his feet, covered in blood. His left arm was... not gone, but mangled. Wrung out like a dishrag.\n\nHe faced two Overlords from Redmoon Hall. One turned to Lindon, forming a ball of fire, and the other struck Pride with an axe.\n\nSomehow, Pride formed crystal armor on his shoulder that caught the blow. He was still knocked into the corner of the room, his armor broken." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But he climbed to his feet again and raised his fists.\n\nWeak words passed his lips. Lindon thought they were, \"I'm still here.\"\n\nIn Lindon's spiritual sense, Pride felt even worse than he looked.\n\n\"Dross!\" Lindon shouted.\n\nAnd Dross showed both Overlords a vision.\n\nIt was difficult to project something into someone else's mind unless they allowed you to. Your own madra reigned supreme inside your body. These Overlords would shake off Dross\" illusion.\n\nBut not soon enough.\n\nA ball of fire flew over Lindon's shoulder, blowing a hole in the wall, but it was thrown wide as Dross disrupted his concentration.\n\nThe Hollow Domain expanded between the two enemies, wiping out the rest of their madra. Wavedancer drove through one, but stuck on the second man as he used his Blood Shadow to Enforce himself.\n\nLindon dropped the Domain and drove dragon's breath through him.\n\nHe finished off the second man with another dragon's breath, then dashed over to Pride. He was still on his feet, but Lindon didn't need a thorough examination to know that he was in far worse shape than Naru Saeya had been.\n\nLindon's void key slid open.\n\nLittle Blue hurried out, exclaiming in worry, and Lindon sorted through his boxes. \"Do what you can for him,\" he instructed. He pulled out a pill and tossed it to the spirit; Little Blue caught it easily. \"Give him this.\"\n\nConsidering how many times a day he fought, he would be a fool not to carry medical elixirs with him.\n\nLittle Blue cheeped her agreement, and Lindon finally turned to the east wall. Or what was left of it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It had been blown out, wind whistling from outside, where Sophara and Mercy clashed on a narrow ridge of stone.\n\nThe Dragon King's Totem filled the sky, pushing down on a fully armored Mercy, who released a volley of violet arrows from her Archlord bow.\n\nSophara screamed as she annihilated them with dragon's breath.\n\nLindon barreled into her.\n\nHer tail intercepted him as her Imperial Aegis blocked an arrow from Mercy, but Lindon spun into a kick that knocked the dragon off the tower.\n\n[She'll be backup in about two seconds,] Dross warned, which didn't surprise Lindon at all.\n\nHe looked to Mercy. \"Go see about Pride.\"\n\n\"Finish her!\" Mercy cried, pulling back on her bow.\n\nLindon met her eyes. They were wild and panicked, filled with grief, and she was covered in wounds. Her spirit was exhausted.\n\nLindon gave her a weary smile. \"I'm hereto punch a hole in the sky.\"\n\nIt was another second before she nodded and hurried back to her brother.\n\nSophara leaped up to the ledge and stalked after him, golden eyes blazing. \"Thank you,\" she whispered. \"I'm so glad you're here.\"\n\nHow are we doing, Dross? Lindon asked.\n\n[No problems,] Dross assured him. [She can't concentrate enough to hold the Totem.]\n\nSure enough, the Dragon King's Totem had begun to dissolve in the sky overhead.\n\nGood, Lindon said, stretching his Remnant hand again.\n\nHe would hate to die here because he was overconfident, but he didn't expect that. He had already lost this fight. Over and over and over again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Until eventually, so gradually he almost didn't notice, he'd started to win more than he lost. Then she would gain some new power, and he would start the process over again.\n\nHe had trained against Sophara six hundred and forty-four times." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yerin hovered on an invisible platform next to Kiuran, watching Malice fight the Dragon King.\n\nIt was almost impossible to comprehend. Malice stood like a Dreadgod in her full armor, her amethyst helmet in the clouds. She strode along the ground outside the city, steps crushing homes and trees, launching a technique that filled half the world with flying skulls of shadow.\n\nYerin couldn't even see what Sesh was doing inside his monumental sandstorm, but she felt his power and made out flashes of golden light.\n\nThe entire countryside was being ravaged. She could see rainbow light as Sha Miara contained what she could, but even if she saved everyone in the city, people outside were dying.\n\n\"You're not aiming to keep civilians out of it?\" Yerin asked her companion.\n\nKiuran the Hound chuckled, looking over the world beneath him like a rat-faced king. \"You'll learn, when you leave this place. Whatever happens to the people down there, it won't affect anything real.\"\n\nYerin wished she could have met Lindon's heavenly messenger instead. She wanted to put a sword through this one.\n\nCasually, the Abidan handed her Penance.\n\nJust like that, the silver-edged black arrowhead fell into her hands. It was heavier than she expected, and in more ways than just the physical. It felt like death. Finality. The end.\n\n\"There would normally be a ceremony,\" Kiuran said, \"but circumstances as they are, your decision is before you now. So! Who's it going to be?\"\n\nHe seemed perversely excited.\n\n\"The dragon is the obvious target, but then Reigan Shen is the one binding the Dreadgod factions together. Or you could be rid of the Bleeding Phoenix, which would free you from any influence it might have over you. And, of course, the Wandering Titan is about to awaken.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Malice drew a bow the size of a tower that shone deep blue, purple, and green, like sunlight through a glacier." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She launched an arrow that blasted the sandstorm apart.\n\nIn the distance, a mountain was reduced to a spray of rubble.\n\n\"Or you could use it on the other Monarchs, if you like,\" Kiuran suggested. \"I do have a personal request. If you would like to execute Northstrider, please give him a chance to ascend first. He would hate that more than death. If you do, I can offer you a weapon from my personal collection to sweeten the deal.\"\n\nShe was starting to wonder if she could use it on him.\n\n\"Oh, and if you'd rather kill the Eight-Man Empire, that's fine too. I don't like how they assumed it couldn't be used against them. You remove one, and I'll take care of the rest. What do you think?\"\n\n\"I'm thinking I'd rather sit on it,\" she said. \"The threat seems sharper than the arrow.\"\n\n\"Good judgment! You're correct, but I'm afraid I can't allow it. Sorry. Letting it sit in Cradle is too much of a disruption of the balance.\"\n\nYerin was sure he'd withheld that particular rule on purpose. Everyone had assumed they could hold onto the arrow and use it when they wished.\n\nMaybe he'd changed his mind just to mess with her.\n\nTheir protective bubble seemed to move itself, and then they were hovering over the Monarch battle.\n\nThe sandstorm was shredding Malice's armor now, tearing it apart in streaming sparks.\n\nShe was so much bigger, Sesh only a tiny speck of sand inside the storm, but he felt stronger.\n\nIt was obvious to use it on him, and there was nothing wrong with doing the obvious thing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can you show me Sophara?\"\n\nHe smiled. \"Easily.\"\n\nThey moved again.\n\n---\n\nSophara tried to end the battle quickly, but the nightmare only continued.\n\nA blue dome of pure madra surrounded Lindon, catching her, and her dragon's breath came out in apathetic stream. As though something devoured her madra as it tried to leave her body.\n\nWhile he maintained the field, his eyes looked like deep blue gems.\n\nShe swung her sword at him, but he ducked as though he could see it coming. She didn't have any drops of ghostwater left, but he was still an Underlord. He couldn't do anything to her, especially with this pure madra dome up, so he couldn't use dragon's breath of his own.\n\nHis white hand brushed her, and he consumed a sip of her power.\n\nShe jerked back, slapping at him with her tail, but a flying sword deflected her tail.\n\n\"Devoured,\" he muttered. \"Pure madra devouring...\"\n\nShe tried to escape his field, but his Enforcer technique worked better than hers, and even without it he was stronger than an Underlord had any right to be. His body gave her the faint impression of more-than-physical strength, like Yan Shoumei's Blood Shadow.\n\nWhich was a horrifying prospect.\n\nHe knocked her down before she could leave the roof, and though she came within a hair of slitting his throat, he slipped aside again.\n\nAnd he drew more of her power into himself. He was like a whirlpool she couldn't escape.\n\n\"Whirlpool. I am... a whirlpool.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Was he trying to advance to Overlord?\n\nShe raised Quickriver, pouring her madra into the binding. Whatever he was doing, he wasn't an Archlord, so she could cut him in two.\n\nSomething intruded into her mind, and her senses blanked out.\n\nShe saw, heard, and felt only whiteness and silence.\n\nSophara pushed the dream aura out of herself, but she saw Lindon beneath her, slamming a palm technique into her stomach. A Forged palm of pure madra overlaid his own, wiping out her spirit.\n\nThe Archlord technique around her weapon flickered and died.\n\nShe looked into his eyes, which had transformed into blue crystal. He was the end of her every technique, and as she stared into that merciless gaze, she realized he washer end.\n\nWhite fingers brushed across her, and the blue crystal faded to ordinary human black.\n\nHe jumped back, suddenly looking brighter. \"That's it! A bottomless pit, emptiness, endless... that's it.\"\n\nHe pressed his fists together to her. \"Gratitude.\"\n\nShe snarled and ran at him.\n\n\"I am the end,\" Lindon said.\n\nSomething trembled around her. Not the aura.\n\nHe'd triggered something, but it wasn't Overlord.\n\n---\n\nNorthstrider unleashed a shield of his own, and its binding covered a square mile.\n\nA barrage of deadly rain fell from one of Shen's city-destroying weapons. As Northstrider searched his projection for the prediction of where Shen would end up next, he sensed something in the distance.\n\nA few miles away from Sky's Edge, someone had manifested another Icon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Fury?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Had Fury really been sitting on not one, but two different sources of authority?\n\nNo, he realized in a moment. Not Fury.\n\n---\n\nThe Blood Sage looked up. \"This isn't you. Who is this?\"\n\nEithan dragged himself to his feet and gave him a bloody smile. \"My apprentice.\"\n\n---\n\nYerin turned to Kiuran.\n\n\"I'm burying that dragon,\" she said.\n\nSophara must have gone straight from the arena to an assassination attempt on Mercy and Lindon. Yerin could show her what that cost.\n\nAnd the sooner she used Penance, the sooner she could take the Moonlight Bridge and join the fight herself.\n\nNot that Lindon seemed to need help.\n\nThe Hound sighed. \"I suppose the Dragon King doesn't intend to advance. There was a chance he would, given the threat. Give me a moment.\"\n\nHis eyes spun with violet script. Lindon would try to remember each of the runes, she was sure.\n\n\"Oh... oh, I see. No, this is even better.\"\n\nYerin didn't know what he was seeing, but she tapped her foot impatiently, hoping he would notice.\n\n\"Yes, you can go ahead. This will work quite nicely. A whole batch of recruits.\"\n\n\"How do I use it?\" Yerin demanded.\n\n\"How?\" He chuckled. \"You'll learn that'how' is a useless question. Just use it.\"\n\nFora second time, she wondered if she could use it on him.\n\nTheir bubble shifted back to the battle between Malice and the Dragon King, and Yerin pointed the arrowhead at the dragon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Kill him,\" she said aloud.\n\nThe arrow vanished.\n\nAt the same instant, the power behind the sandstorm disappeared. A single, small body fell through the cloud of sand.\n\nJust like that, a Monarch was dead.\n\nYerin had seen a lot of unceremonious deaths in her life, but this was maybe the most boring. One second, he was alive. The next, he was dead. No battle, no Remnant, not even a flash of light.\n\nIt scared her.\n\n\"Well, I look forward to meeting you on the other side,\" the Abidan said. \"No doubt you'll be a Wolf yourself someday. And tell Judge Suriel's favorite I hope to see him too.\"\n\nSo it was common knowledge up there that this Suriel had comedown to see Lindon. Yerin had wondered.\n\n\"If my memory's true, I'm supposed to get another grand prize,\" Yerin said.\n\nHe spread his hands. \"The Monarchs are bound by oath to give it to you, so they will, but that isn't my role. Good luck. When things settle, you'll get it.\"\n\nHe vanished, and Yerin reappeared in the center of the arena.\n\nOr the rubble where the arena had been. The audience towers and most of the surrounding towers were nothing but debris now.\n\n\"Could have put me down somewhere better,\" she muttered.\n\nThen again, she could be wherever she wanted.\n\nShe focused on Lindon, and the Moonlight Bridge flashed.\n\n---\n\nFrom a hundred miles away, Northstrider felt Seshethkunaaz die.\n\nThey had along history, spanning centuries, complete with blood spilled and reluctant alliances aplenty. Northstrider had planned the dragon's death dozens of times." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He had expected a simple death to be too good for someone like Sesh.\n\nHe was wrong. This was very satisfying.\n\nReigan Shen, from the heart of the mountain where he was planning an ambush, began to tear open a portal.\n\n\"Stay,\" Northstrider commanded, and his will opposed the opening of the portal.\n\nShen wrestled it open, and combined with his mastery of space, he would surely win the contest.\n\nAn ice-blue arrow the size of a lighthouse crashed through the mountain and crushed the King of Lions.\n\nMalice's attack would belittle more than an inconvenience for Reigan Shen, but it would slow him down. Northstrider had a chance.\n\nBut rather than pursuing the lion, Northstrider flew over to collect Seshethkunaaz's body. The dragon hadn't become a Remnant thanks to Penance, and the corpse of a Monarch was a valuable material. Especially to him.\n\nWith the dragon's body tucked away, Northstrider was prepared to chase after Reigan Shen. The cat could run, but the more he depleted his arsenal now, the better.\n\nBut his Presence sounded an alert, and Northstrider stopped.\n\nFinally, the battle around the Dreadgod had become too much. The Wandering Titan was waking early.\n\nNorthstrider felt Reigan Shen escape and allowed it. There was more important work to do.\n\nHe stepped into the Way, leaving Malice's triumphant laughter to ring out over the countryside.\n\n---\n\n[Lindon...] Dross said. [You're not an Overlord.]\n\nA black hole swallowed the sky. Directly over Lindon's head.\n\nThe void wasn't dangerous. It was a reflection of Lindon, linked to him somehow. Or he was linked to it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon wasn't exactly sure what he'd done. But he had his guess. Somethings that were hidden before felt clearer now, as though his spiritual sense had evolved to another level.\n\nHe stood over a hopeless Sophara. In simulations, he had mostly beaten her by finding a chance to use The Dragon Descends, but now he didn't want to obliterate her body. He was hereto Consume her power... and besides, if he incinerated her void key, he couldn't take it himself.\n\nSophara lifted her chin proudly and clutched her sword.\n\n\"Kill me,\" she challenged, \"like you killed my-\"\n\nLindon blasted dragon's breath through her chest, exactly like he'd killed Ekeri.\n\nShe sagged, but he was thereto catch her... and to drain the remaining power from her body. The last thing he wanted was to fight her Remnant.\n\nSophara was even stronger than he'd expected. The madra he vented from the purification process melted the tiles and stones of the crumbling roof.\n\nWhen her Remnant was in no danger of rising, Lindon plucked the void key from around her neck and slipped it into his pocket. Then he moved to the edge of the roof and jumped down.\n\nHe landed on half of another crumbled wall, then hopped inside.\n\nEithan lay on the floor, bleeding with his breathing ragged. \"I'm fine,\" he said as soon as Lindon showed himself. \"No tears for me, please. I'll be...\" He coughed loudly. \"... as good as new any sec...\"\n\nThe word trailed off. He gave a clear death rattle.\n\nLindon stood over him. \"What did I do?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eithan opened one eye. \"You have to have some guess.\"\n\n\"I want you to tell me.\"\n\nEithan groaned as he sat up. The Blood Sage had obviously runoff; Lindon felt a slowly healing tear in space nearby.\n\n\"I did tell you that our cycling technique had along and fascinating history,\" Eithan said pointedly.\n\nLindon gave a hollow laugh. \"I thought you were trying not to keep secrets.\"\n\n\"Honestly, I thought of this one as more of a surprise.\"\n\nA white glow filled the space, and then Yerin appeared. She looked over them both, and fora moment Lindon was as alarmed as he'd been before.\n\nHer Goldsigns, her eyes, and a lock of her hair had turned crimson. Dross had overheard the report Fury received about Yerin becoming some kind of half-Herald, but he hadn't known what to make of it. Who was this?\n\n\"Yerin or Ruby?\" he asked warily.\n\nShe gave him a grin. \"Take a guess.\"\n\nHe let out a sigh of relief. \"Glad to see you.\"\n\n\"Same to you.\" She looked up the stairs. \"We need to get them to a healer two days ago. Eithan, you have that cloudship?\"\n\n\"Better! I have Lindon.\"\n\nLindon recognized a cue when he heard one. He focused on the older of the two spatial tears in the room, locking his spiritual perception on it and gathering his concentration.\n\nIt was just as hard as it had been earlier, and it took him an embarrassingly long amount of time. He was afraid sweat was starting to bead on his head before he finally managed to say, \"Open.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The portal opened.\n\n---\n\nPride and Naru Saeya survived.\n\nBarely.\n\nLindon and the others reappeared on the fortress, where Akura Justice defended the portal alone. They dove through together, emerging back in Ninecloud City.\n\nWhich didn't look much better than the battlefield they'd just left, but at least it wasn't an active warzone.\n\nThe entire Akura faction was a buzzing mess of people, but they found healers quickly. When Mercy really demanded something in the Akura clan, it got done.\n\nSaeya and Pride received medical attention, but Pride would have died if not for the immediate treatment Lindon had given him. The healers were skeptical that either would ever recover completely.\n\nSo, in away, his entire team was gone.\n\nThat wasn't strictly true. The Maten sisters had avoided capture and were perfectly safe. When the Akura clan settled down, Lindon intended to find out how many contribution points the team had earned. Assuming the clan was still honoring points at all.\n\nThey wouldn't go to him. The thought almost surprised him, but he felt the others needed more support than he did. The Maten twins and Naru Saeya, at the very least, could use all the help they could get.\n\nNow Mercy was glued to her brother's side, and Yerin was pinned in place by the Heart and Winter Sages.\n\nWhile he had a moment to himself, Lindon managed to corner Eithan.\n\nThe Arelius Archlord had accepted quick bandaging and some elixirs before sneaking out to the docks, where crewmen were loading crates onto cloudships to head back to Akura territory." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Most of the crates contained what they'd taken from Sky's Edge, either from the mine or from their enemies.\n\nEithan's entire body was wrapped in bloody bandages, but he seemed content as he watched the packing process. He leaned back, elbows propped against the railing, as people passed him by.\n\nLindon joined him. \"I'm glad you survived.\"\n\n\"It was closer than you might think. I might remind you that I am not a Sage.\"\n\n\"Am I?\" Lindon asked. It was the question he had been afraid to ask Dross.\n\nNo matter how many times Dross had slipped in his own opinion.\n\n\"That is a matter for scholarly debate,\" Eithan answered. \"In the past, the concept of a Sage was much more... fluid... than it is today. When manifesting an Icon, it is very important to understand the significance of your madra and to sense it deeply. Equally important is some kind of technique to regularly train your willpower. For years. An exercise that pushes your focus and concentration ever further, and that most people would give up or abandon for easier trails.\"\n\nThe Heaven and Earth Purification Wheel.\n\nEithan's head was sweeping back and forth, though Lindon was certain he didn't need to watch anything with his eyes, and Lindon followed Eithan's bloodline power with his own spiritual sense. He was searching inside the chests that flowed by in the crowd.\n\n\"Now, the specific Icon you manifest depends not only on the nature of your madra currently, but on a concept that has always been core to your identity. Even in childhood. Ah, here we are.\"\n\nEithan slipped into the crowd, had a quick exchange with a startled-looking woman who had a bird nesting on her shoulder, and then came back to Lindon with a box a little bigger than his hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lindon was uncertain whether he had asked the woman for this box or distracted her and then stolen it.\n\nThe chest cracked and revealed that it was filled with a smooth, white, lumpy rock.\n\nWintersteel ore.\n\nIt flew into Eithan's palm and began slowly melting.\n\n\"Some ancient cultures, as you are aware, had a custom of wearing badges with symbols carved into them. Originally, those symbols represented the Icon that the wearer aimed to embody.\"\n\nLindon's real fingers ran across the halfsilver hammer badge on his chest, his fingertips tingling at the touch of the madra-disrupting metal.\n\n\"In those days,\" Eithan went on, \"Sage was not considered its own rank, but rather a separate mark of distinction that some Lords and Ladies achieved. Different materials were used for different cultures, but often Heralds wore badges of red and Monarchs of blue.\"\n\nLindon thought back to his collection of badges. At least that was one minor mystery solved.\n\n\"Later, when the concept of a Sage became popularized as a stage of advancement in its own right, they began to make badges from a material that could only be worked by will.\"\n\nHe held up the ore, which he had finished molding.\n\nIt was now around, palm-sized wintersteel badge. A duplicate of the one on Lindon's chest, only with no hammer.\n\nLindon took the badge. \"I manifested the Void Icon.\"\n\nEithan nodded to him. \"Ah, but what symbolizes nothingness? A blank badge looks the same as one with no Icon at all, so rather than a picture, the ancients chose to write one character.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At Eithan's will, lines appeared on the wintersteel badge, etching out one familiar word in the old language: Empty.\n\nOr, as they would say in Sacred Valley: Unsouled.\n\n---\n\nWith one foreleg, Orthos shoved a severed wooden beam out of his way.\n\nA fragment of pale light madra shone on the ground, the remains of a broken Forger technique. It had mostly dissolved to essence in the hours that had passed since the battle here, but apiece no bigger than the tip of his teeth had survived.\n\nThe splinter of madra slithered toward him like a glowing white snake before it, too, melted into particles and disappeared.\n\nSometimes he thought that everyone here practiced alight Path. What a waste. Light was pathetic next to fire.\n\nOnly that morning, this building had been an outpost of the Wei clan. In its basement was a training ground for light and dream aura, which was why Orthos had been keeping an eye on it. It was the perfect place for Kelsa to advance.\n\nHe had been considering burning the place down himself to claim the basement, but in the end someone else had done it for him.\n\nThe outpost was reduced to a pile of kindling, leaving the basement undefended. Orthos had come as soon as he'd felt the battle, but by the time he'd arrived, the attackers had left.\n\nHe didn't know who had attacked the Wei clan or why, but he had his guess.\n\nIt was one of the invaders.\n\nShortly before his arrival in Sacred Valley, two other outsiders had punched through the defenses of Heaven's Glory and gone into hiding. They hid from the three clans and four schools, just as Orthos and Kelsa did, so he'd never met the invaders himself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But he was starting to suspect he knew them.\n\nThis was the closest he'd ever come to them, and the feeling of this leftover madra stoked his suspicions. He couldn't be certain, but this felt like Stellar Spear madra.\n\nSomeone from the Jai clan was herein Sacred Valley.\n\nBefore he could continue poking around the ruined building, he felt anew surge of power from underground. Orthos grunted in satisfaction. The Path of the White Fox had anew Jade.\n\nIt was about time. He had spent months helping Kelsa attain areal Iron body, which would have been infinitely easier if she hadn't advanced to Iron already. Retraining was always harder than learning the right way the first time.\n\nCompared to getting her the Skyhunter Iron body, pushing Kelsa to Jade had been easy.\n\nThe trapdoor to the basement slammed open, releasing a gust of dream and light aura that traced phantom images in the air.\n\nKelsa emerged from downstairs, wearing afresh robe. Her black hair was soaking wet, plastered to her head and neck.\n\nHe had left her with spare clothes and several buckets of warm water. Advancing to Jade was usually a mess.\n\nShe radiated satisfaction as she reached the top of the stairs. \"Apologies for the wait, Orthos. Now we can begin.\"\n\nOrthos hated waiting around for no reason, but he wondered if impatience ran in this family.\n\n\"You just earned your eyes, and now you want to stare into the sun.\" Orthos chomped into the end of the fallen timber. It had a nice singe to it that gave it a pleasant charred flavor.\n\nA shiver passed through his spirit as Kelsa clumsily scanned him with her newborn spiritual sense. \"I'll need to practice, of course, but now I won't slow you down if it comes to a fight.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No matter how many times Orthos explained the difference in sacred arts outside the Valley, Kelsa didn't truly understand.\n\nShe couldn't, really. Not until she left and saw for herself.\n\n\"That's the first step,\" Orthos grumbled. \"We still need help.\"\n\nShe looked to him with astern expression. \"I've left my mother to suffer for too long already.\"\n\nShe really had been patient all these months, training under his direction and preparing herself to reach Jade. But now that she had, he would have to sit on her to stop her from running off to rescue her mother from Heaven's Glory.\n\nBut she learned a few new techniques and advanced one stage and thought herself invincible. Orthos knew better; it would be easier to burn the Heaven's Glory school to the ground than it would be to safely free a prisoner.\n\nThey needed help.\n\nAs they left the ruined outpost, they continued bickering. Kelsa's father couldn't help, and no one else in camp met Orthos' standards. Almost no one in the Valley did.\n\nAs they walked, he kept his spiritual perception extended, hunting for the Jai clan invader. He would be nearby, most likely under a veil, but Orthos hoped to feel him slip. Kelsa did the same, though her perception was wobbly and inconsistent with her lack of experience.\n\nIf they couldn't find help, Orthos was certain Kelsa would try to slip into the Heaven's Glory school with or without him, which would end in disaster. Even if she could slip in unnoticed with her illusion techniques, it would be much harder to leave with her mother in tow. They didn't even know where Wei Shi Seisha was being kept, or what condition she was in. The best they could tell was that the Soulsmith was alive." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kelsa would be sneaking off to her death, which frustrated Orthos to no end." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He couldn't watch her all day, everyday.\n\nWhile he demanded that she listen to reason and she appealed to his sympathy, he felt something growing in the air.\n\nIt felt like a distant wave approaching from the west.\n\nThen the ground started to shake, and he shouted to Kelsa. \"Pull your spirit back!\"\n\nThough she didn't understand, she had trained under him fora longtime now. She obeyed immediately, reeling her perception back.\n\nJustin time for the spiritual pressure of the Dreadgod to crash over the Valley.\n\nThe impression was weakened by the same curse that limited Orthos' power, but still the air shook and the ground quaked. Earth aura brightened in golden veins beneath his feet, leaves fell from shaken trees, and startled birds took wing.\n\nThe symptoms passed quickly, but Orthos cycled his madra in panic, ready to defend Kelsa. He'd never sensed the Wandering Titan before, but it could be nothing else.\n\nThe Titan had awakened, and it was close.\n\nKelsa patted him on the neck. \"It's just an earthquake.\"\n\nOrthos didn't have the words to explain how wrong she was. \"We're out of time. Anyone who can feel that is too close.\"\n\nCautiously, he extended his spiritual perception, ready to withdraw it again if the power in the air was too strong.\n\nAnd he felt someone else doing the same. Someone on a sword and light Path.\n\nKelsa asked him another question, but a black-and-red haze had already sprung up over his body as he used his Enforcer technique.\n\nHe'd found his prey.\n\nThe invader's presence vanished as he put his veil back into place, but it was too late. Orthos had his location." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He blasted into the trees, leaving Kelsa behind. With her Skyhunter Iron body, she should be able to follow him with her eyes, but she would never catch up. His every step was a leap, and he even withdrew his head into his shell to crash through trees when he didn't feel like dodging out of the way.\n\nIn less than a minute, he arrived at the last location where he'd sensed the Stellar Spear madra.\n\nIt was an unremarkable nook near a stream, nestled between some foothills behind a thicket of trees. If he hadn't been drawn here, he would have passed it without thought.\n\nOnly when he scanned the ground thoroughly did he find the buried script-circle.\n\nHe crossed it easily, though it pressed against his spirit. It was a simple repelling script, meant to keep out weak Remnants.\n\n\"Stop hiding!\" Orthos shouted. \"It's beneath you.\"\n\nNo one responded, so Orthos slowly began cycling madra into dragon's breath. His prey would feel it and respond, he was sure.\n\nIf not, Orthos could always smoke him out.\n\nA cold voice echoed through the trees. \"You would chase us this far?\"\n\nOrthos snorted. \"You think too much of yourself.\"\n\nA lean man stepped into view. He wore simple brown clothes and carried along, ornate spear with a blue haft. His head was wrapped in red, scripted bandages so that nothing was visible of his face except gleaming eyes.\n\n\"Did Underlord Arelius send you to find me?\" Jai Long asked.\n\n\"He doesn't need me to do his hunting for him. I'm here for my own reasons.\" Orthos glanced west. \"And it doesn't look like I'll be staying much longer.\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "As the writer's narrative assistant, advance the story.\nTags: fantasy, progression fantasy, tournament\nAuthor: Will Wight\nTitle: Wintersteel\nChapter: 29" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He blasted into the trees, leaving Kelsa behind. With her Skyhunter Iron body, she should be able to follow him with her eyes, but she would never catch up. His every step was a leap, and he even withdrew his head into his shell to crash through trees when he didn't feel like dodging out of the way.\n\nIn less than a minute, he arrived at the last location where he'd sensed the Stellar Spear madra.\n\nIt was an unremarkable nook near a stream, nestled between some foothills behind a thicket of trees. If he hadn't been drawn here, he would have passed it without thought.\n\nOnly when he scanned the ground thoroughly did he find the buried script-circle.\n\nHe crossed it easily, though it pressed against his spirit. It was a simple repelling script, meant to keep out weak Remnants.\n\n\"Stop hiding!\" Orthos shouted. \"It's beneath you.\"\n\nNo one responded, so Orthos slowly began cycling madra into dragon's breath. His prey would feel it and respond, he was sure.\n\nIf not, Orthos could always smoke him out.\n\nA cold voice echoed through the trees. \"You would chase us this far?\"\n\nOrthos snorted. \"You think too much of yourself.\"\n\nA lean man stepped into view. He wore simple brown clothes and carried along, ornate spear with a blue haft. His head was wrapped in red, scripted bandages so that nothing was visible of his face except gleaming eyes.\n\n\"Did Underlord Arelius send you to find me?\" Jai Long asked.\n\n\"He doesn't need me to do his hunting for him. I'm here for my own reasons.\" Orthos glanced west. \"And it doesn't look like I'll be staying much longer.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then we should travel separate paths.\"\n\nJai Long was still holding his spear ready, his madra cycling steadily. It wasn't a threatening posture, but it wasn't quite friendly either.\n\nOrthos let his own madra settle. He didn't feel a threat from this pup.\n\n\"I have one last thing to do before I leave. And here you are to help me.\"\n\n---\n\nYerin finally pried herself away from the questions of the Sages, only to find Lindon and Eithan on the cloudship dock.\n\nLindon wore a wintersteel badge with his old Unsouled symbol on it. She wondered what that was about.\n\nBut that thought fled from her when she truly saw him. Now that they weren't in danger, the fact of his presence really sank in.\n\nHe was safe. So was she.\n\nEverything was okay.\n\nShe remembered running up to him as Ruby, throwing her arms and legs around him, and she braced herself for embarrassment.\n\nIt never came. Why did she care what a bunch of outsiders thought?\n\nBy the time she realized where her thoughts had gone, she was standing against him, looking up, her chin on his chest.\n\nHe looked down on her, eyes clouded. \"Ruby?\"\n\n\"Only a little,\" she responded.\n\nHe thought about that, and his expression grew complicated. She understood; she didn't know how she'd feel about it either, if she were in his position.\n\nEithan's head slowly slid up over Lindon's shoulder.\n\n\"The Ninecloud Soul is quite busy,\" he said brightly, \"but I know we're in a situation of some urgency, so I took the liberty of having your first-round prizes delivered... now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He grabbed Lindon and turned him to look to the side of the dock, where a cloudship was coming to a halt.\n\nIt was the size of two homes together, and only half of it was covered in a two-story house with dark blue tiles. The cloud base was dark blue as well, which she guessed represented the Arelius family.\n\nAs that house covered the right side of the cloud, the left half was covered by a pond, alone tree, and a miniature mountain. It spewed dark fire from the top, and within a cave she could sense dense sword aura.\n\nJust as they'd requested after the first round of the tournament, this would be a perfect home for her.\n\nNot just her home. Their home.\n\nA comforting warmth settled into her stomach.\n\nThen another cloudship descended from the sky.\n\nThis one was a perfect rectangle, as though it was made to fill out exactly the maximum amount of space allowed. Its cloud base was the same dark blue as theirs, and as it settled into the back, its plot of landslid exactly into place.\n\nAs though it had been designed to fit there all along.\n\nThree-quarters of the space was covered in what looked like a garden, or maybe a section of farmland. The remaining quarter was taken up by a tiny hut.\n\nYerin knew who the owner was without even asking.\n\n\"It's a meager living space,\" Eithan said, \"but I was excited to maximize the amount of land to grow crops.\"\n\nLindon glared at him. \"You could have flown alongside us. You didn't have to attach yourself.\"\n\n\"As you can see, mine only makes up half the size of yours. We have a whole quarter of our floating island left to fill in.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yet a third cloudship descended.\n\nThis one didn't lock into place as Eithan's had. It drifted alongside the others, and it was the exact image that came to Yerin's mind when she heard the words'cloud fortress\": a blank stone fort sitting on a cloud. It looked as though its owner hadn't bothered to make any customization requests of their own.\n\nA moment after the cloud docked, Ziel walked out of the front, his emerald horns glistening in the sun and his cloak flapping. He raised a hand.\n\n\"Did you kidnap his oldest son, or what?\" Yerin asked.\n\n\"I negotiated his company fora year. At a reasonable rate.\"\n\nShe was still leaning against Lindon, and Eithan noticed. \"You'll have plenty of time to spend together once we're on our way.\"\n\nLindon seemed to realize their situation himself. \"Apologies, you're right. We need to be on our way.\" He gently tried to separate from Yerin.\n\nShe didn't let him go.\n\nThere were dozens of strangers around, not to mention people that actually knew them, but Yerin no longer cared.\n\nShe grabbed him by the back of the head, stood upon her tiptoes, and kissed him.\n\nHe reacted in stunned surprise fora moment, and a fear rose up from a deep part of her that he was going to push her away again.\n\nThen he leaned in, wrapping his arms around her, and kissed her back.\n\nWhen they separated and she caught her breath, Ziel was standing next to them. He didn't look like he cared what they did, and he would probably wear that expression if the sky collapsed.\n\n\"So,\" he said, \"where are we going?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yerin was gratified to see that Lindon was red-faced and focused on his own cycling. After a moment collecting himself, he looked away from her and toward Ziel.\n\n\"Home,\" he said.\n\nTHE END\n\nCradle: Volume Eight\n\nWintersteel" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yerin hefted Penance. \"How do I use it?\" she demanded.\n\nKiuran chuckled. \"Oh, it's quite simple. Just say the name of the person you wish to kill.\"\n\nTheir bubble shifted back to the battle between Malice and the Dragon King, and Yerin pointed the arrowhead at the dragon.\n\n\"Kill him,\" she said aloud.\n\nNothing happened.\n\n\"Say his name, I said. His name.\"\n\n\"Kill... Seshthkaz. Shethkanaz. Seshethsusheth.\"\n\nThe arrow vanished.\n\nThe Monarch didn't.\n\nYerin seized the Abidan by his armor. \"What happened?\"\n\n\"I believe someone named Seshethsusheth has just had a very bad afternoon.\"\n\n---\n\n[Lindon...] Dross said. [You're not an Overlord.]\n\nAn image had swallowed the sky, directly over Lindon's head: a collection of numbers.\n\n[I don't quite understand it. It looks like an Icon, but I can't tell what it's supposed to be.]\n\n\"I can,\" Lindon responded.\n\nPower filled him, and he could feel his newfound authority radiating out, connecting him to a concept greater than humanity. A concept he knew well.\n\n\"I am... the Points Sage.\"\n\n---\n\nYerin couldn't even see what Sesh was doing inside his monumental sandstorm, but she felt his power and made out flashes of golden light. Light that pulsed to a rhythmic, regular beat.\n\nShe thought she could even hear music along with it... and then a moment later, she could hear music, a series of repetitive fast-paced notes that sounded like they came from otherworldly instruments." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What do you call that song?\" she shouted to Kiuran.\n\nThe Abidan looked grave. \"That's the Dragon King's most feared technique. The dreaded Darude Sandstorm.\"\n\n---\n\nThe elders of Heaven's Glory walked Adama to the doorstep, and the woman cleared her throat.\n\n\"It was an honor to serve you today, Sage of Swords.\"\n\nThat wasn't exactly his title, but Adama had never cared much for titles anyway.\n\nHe waved a hand. \"Oh, you don't have to call me that. My full name is Timaias Adama, but that can be a mouthful. Most people prefer it shorter. There are some who call me... Tim.\"\n\n---\n\nCharity raised an arm, and an owl of living madra came down to perch on it. She scratched it behind the head as she asked, \"What do you think of Grace?\"\n\nLindon continued to answer safely. \"I can trust her judgment more than... others.\"\n\n\"And what if we allowed you to marry her?\"\n\nLindon couldn't believe his luck.\n\n\"Are you serious? Of course!\"\n\nCharity rested her hand on the owl. \"I thought I would have to persuade you.\"\n\n\"Why? Grace is rich, she's hot, and she's good at the sacred arts. I'd be a fool to turn her down. So am I supposed to buy a ring, or what?\"\n\n---\n\nOne of Dross'stubby, flexible arms touched the surface of the black orb. Light rippled on Northstrider's construct, but otherwise nothing happened.\n\n[Just a moment, this is... hmmm. This is tougher than it looks.] Dross furrowed his purple brow and pushed harder. Until, as though he'd broken through a barrier, Dross finally pushed through." }, { "from": "human", "value": "[Oooohhh, it's amazing!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So much space! Now, how do I get out?]\n\nLindon looked to Northstrider in a panic, but the Monarch's arms were folded and his face was impassive as always.\n\n\"He'll figure it out,\" Northstrider said.\n\n[While I'm inhere, I might as well touch somethings. Hey, what's that? AAAHHHH!]\n\nThe surface of the orb flashed purple fora moment and then went dark.\n\nThe Monarch shook the construct, then peered inside. \"Never mind, I was wrong. He's dead.\"\n\n---\n\nSuriel felt the cool wood of the table against her forehead.\n\n\"I don't know what I did wrong,\" she said. \"I've been around from the very beginning.\"\n\nMakiel gave her a sympathetic pat on the back. \"Don't worry, they all like you better than me.\"\n\n\"Then why am I not in the book?\"\n\n\"It's along book as it is,\" Makiel said. \"I'm sure you would have been included if there was more space.\"\n\n\"I don't take up much space! It could have been a few pages longer. Cut some of the fights! Takeout some Eithan scenes!\"\n\n\"Whoa now. Let's not go crazy.\"\n\nSuriel sobbed into the tabletop." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Collaborating with the writer, advance the narrative.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, heist\nAuthor: Michael J. Sullivan\nTitle: Wintertide\nChapter: 11" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Amilia noticed that Viscount Winslow was less formal when away from the duchess. He greeted each performer warmly, and those not selected were dismissed with respect and good humor. He knew exactly what was required, and the auditions proceeded quickly under his guidance. All told, they selected twenty acts: one for each of the pre-wedding feasts, three for the Eve's Eve banquet, and five for the wedding reception. The viscount even picked four more, just in case of illness or injury.\n\nAmilia was grateful for the viscount's help. As much as she had grown to rely on Nimbus, he had no experience with event planning. Originally, the courtier had been hired as the empress's tutor, but it had been quite sometime since he educated Modina on poise or protocol. Such skills were not required, as Modina never left her room. Instead, Nimbus became the secretary to the secretary, Amilia's right hand. He knew how to get things done in a royal court whereas Amilia had no clue.\n\nFrom his years of service for the nobles in Rhenydd, Nimbus mastered the subtle language of manipulation. He tried to explain the nuances of this skill to Amilia, but she was a poor student. From time to time he corrected her for doing foolish things, such as bowing to the chamberlain, thanking a steward, or standing in the presence of others, which forced them to remain on their feet. Almost every success she had in the palace was because of Nimbus's coaching. A more ambitious man would resent her taking the credit, but Nimbus always offered his counsel in a kind and helpful manner.\n\nSometimes, when Amilia caught herself doing something particularly stupid, or when she blushed from embarrassment, she noticed Nimbus would invariably spill something on himself or trip on a carpet. Once he even fell halfway down a flight of stairs. Fora long while, Amilia thought he was extremely clumsy, but recently she had begun to suspect Nimbus might be the most agile person she had ever met." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The hour was late and Amilia hurried toward the empress's chamber. Gone were the days when she spent nearly every minute in Modina's company. Her responsibilities kept her busy, but she never retired without checking in on the empress, who was still her closest friend.\n\nRounding a corner, she bumped headlong into a man.\n\n\"I'm sorry!\" she exclaimed, feeling more than a little foolish for walking with her head down.\n\n\"Oh no, My Lady,\" the man replied. \"It is I who must apologize for standing as a roadblock. Please, forgive me.\"\n\nAmilia did not recognize him, but there were so many new faces at the palace these days. He was tall and stood straight with his shoulders squared. His face was closely shaved and his hair neatly trimmed. Based on his bearing and clothing, he was undoubtedly a noble. He was dressed well, but unlike many of the Wintertide guests, his outfit was subdued.\n\n\"It's just that I am a bit confused,\" he said, looking around.\n\n\"Are you lost?\" she asked.\n\nHe nodded. \"I know my way in forests and fields. I can pinpoint my whereabouts by the use of moon and stars, but for the life of me, I am a total imbecile when trapped within walls of stone.\"\n\n\"That's okay; I used to get lost inhere all the time. Where are you going?\"\n\n\"I've been staying in the knights\" wing at my lord's request, but I stepped outside fora walk and can't find my way back to my quarters.\"\n\n\"You're a soldier then?\"\n\n\"Yes, forgive me. My stupidity is without end.\" He stepped back and bowed formally. \"Sir Breckton of Chadwick, son of Lord Belstrad, at your service, My Lady.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh! You're Sir Breckton?\"\n\nAppearances never impressed Amilia, but Breckton was perfect. He was exactly what she expected a knight should be: handsome, refined, strong, and just as Lady Genevieve had described-dashing. For the first time since coming to the palace, she wished she were pretty.\n\n\"Indeed, I am. You've heard of me then... For good or ill?\"\n\n\"Good, most certainly. Why just-\" She stopped herself and felt her face blush.\n\nConcern furrowed his brow. \"Have I done something to make you uncomfortable? I am terribly sorry if I-\"\n\n\"No, no, not at all. I'm just being silly. To be honest, I never heard of you until today, and then...\"\n\n\"Then?\"\n\n\"It's embarrassing,\" she admitted, feeling even more flustered by his attention.\n\nThe knight's expression turned serious. \"My Lady, if someone has dishonored me, or harmed you through the use of my name-\"\n\n\"Oh, no! Nothing as terrible as all that. It was the Duchess of Rochelle, and she said...\"\n\n\"Yes?\"\n\nAmilia cringed. \"She said I should ask you to carry my favor in the joust.\"\n\n\"Oh, I see.\" He looked relieved. \"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am not-\"\n\n\"I know. I know,\" she interrupted, preferring not to hear the words. \"I would have told her so myself if she ever stopped talking-the woman is a whirlwind. The idea of a knight-any knight-carrying my favor is absurd.\"\n\nSir Breckton appeared puzzled. \"Why is that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Look at me!\" She took a step back, so he could get a full view. \"I'm not pretty, and as we both now know, I'm the opposite of graceful. I'm not of noble blood, having been born a poor carriage-maker's daughter. I don't think I could hope for the huntsman's dog to sit beside meat the feast, much less have a renowned knight such as you riding on my behalf.\"\n\nBreckton's eyebrows rose abruptly. \"Carriage-maker's daughter? You are her? The Lady Amilia of Tarin Vale?\"\n\n\"Oh yes, I'm sorry.\" She placed her hand to her forehead and rolled her eyes. \"See, I have all the etiquette of a mule. Yes, I am Amilia.\"\n\nBreckton studied her fora long moment. At last he spoke, \"You're the maid who saved the empress?\"\n\n\"Disappointing, I know.\" She waited for him to laugh and insist she could not possibly be the Chosen of Maribor. While Modina's public declaration helped protect Amilia, it also made her uncomfortable. Fora girl who had spent her whole life trying to hide from attention, being famous was difficult. Worse yet, she was a fraud. The story about a divine intervention selecting her to save the empress was a lie, apolitical fabrication-Saldur's way of manipulating the situation to his advantage.\n\nTo her surprise, the knight did not laugh. He merely asked, \"And you think no knight will carry your favor because you are of common blood?\"\n\n\"Well, that and about a dozen other reasons. I hear the whispers sometimes.\"\n\nSir Breckton dropped to one knee and bowed his head. \"Please, Lady Amilia, I beseech you. Give me the honor of carrying your token in the joust.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She just stood there.\n\nThe knight looked up. \"I've offended you, haven't I? I am too bold! Forgive my impudence. I had no intention to participate, as I deem such contests the unnecessary endangerment of good men's lives for vanity and foolish entertainment. Now, however, after meeting you, I realize I must compete, for more is at stake. The honor of any lady should be defended and you are no ordinary lady, but rather the Chosen of Maribor. For you, I would slay a thousand men to bring justice to those blackguards who would soil your good name! My sword and lance are yours, dear lady, if you will but grant me your favor.\"\n\nDumbstruck, Amilia did not realize she had agreed until after walking away. She was numb and could not stop smiling for the rest of her trip up the stairs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Reaching Modina's room, Amilia's spirits were still soaring. It had been a good day, perhaps the best of her life. She had discovered her family was alive and thriving. The wedding was proceeding under the command of an experienced and gracious man. And a handsome knight had knelt before her and asked for her token. Amilia grasped the latch, excited to share the good news with Modina, but all was forgotten the moment the door swung open.\n\nAs usual, Modina sat before the window, dressed in her thin, white nightgown, staring out at the brilliance of the snow in the moonlight. Next to her was a full-length, intricately-carved oval mirror mounted with brass fittings on a beautiful wooden swivel.\n\n\"Where did that come from?\" Amilia asked, shocked.\n\nThe empress did not answer.\n\n\"How did it get here?\"\n\nModina glanced at the mirror. \"It's pretty, isn't it? A pity they brought such a nice one. I suppose they wanted to please me.\"\n\nAmilia approached the mirror and ran her fingers along the polished edge. \"How long have you had it?\"\n\n\"They brought it in this morning.\"\n\n\"I'm surprised it survived the day.\" Amilia turned her back on the mirror to face the empress.\n\n\"I'm in no hurry, Amilia. I still have some weeks yet.\"\n\n\"So you've decided to wait for your wedding?\"\n\n\"Yes. At first I didn't think it would matter, but then I realized it could reflect badly on you. If I wait, it will appear to be Ethelred's fault. Everyone will assume I couldn't stand the thought of him touching me.\"\n\n\"Is that the reason?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, I have no feelings about him or anything. Well, except for you. But you'll be all right.\" Modina turned to look at Amilia. \"I can't even cry anymore. I never even wept when they captured Arista... not a single tear. I watched the whole thing from this window. I saw Saldur and the seret go in and knew what that meant. They came back out, but she never has. She's down there right now in that horrible dark place. Just like I once was. When she was here, I had a purpose, but now there is nothing left. It's time for this ghost to fade away. I have served the regents'purpose by helping them build the Empire. I've given you a better life, and not even Saldur will harm you now. I tried to help Arista, but I failed. Now it's time for me to leave.\"\n\nAmilia knelt down next to Modina, gently drew back the hair from her face, and kissed her cheek. \"Don't speak that way. You were happy once, weren't you? You can be again.\"\n\nModina shook her head. \"A girl named Thrace was happy. She lived with the family she loved in a small village near a river. Surrounded by friends, she played in the woods and fields. That girl believed in a better tomorrow. She looked forward to gifts Maribor would bring. Only instead of gifts, He sent darkness and horror.\"\n\n\"Modina, there is always room for hope. Please, you must believe.\"\n\n\"There was one day, when you were getting the clerk to order some cloth, that I saw a man from my past. He was hope. He saved Thrace once. Fora moment, one very brief moment, I thought he had come to save me, too, only he didn't. When he walked away, I knew he was just a memory from a time when I was alive.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Amilia's hands found Modina's and cradled them as she might hold a dying bird. Amilia was having trouble breathing. As her lower lip began to tremble, she looked back at the mirror. \"You're right. It is a shame they brought such a pretty one.\" She put her arms around Modina and began to cry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Several miles from Medford, Royce saw the smoke and prepared himself for the worst. Crossing the Galewyr used to mean entering the bustling streets of the capital, but on that day, as he raced across the bridge, he found only a charred expanse of blackened posts and scorched stone. The city he had known was gone.\n\nRoyce never called anywhere home. To him the word meant a mythical place like paradise or fairyland, but Wayward Street had been the closest thing he ever found. A recent snowfall covered the city like a sheet that nature had drawn over a corpse. Not a building remained undamaged, and many were nothing but charcoal and ash. The castle's gates were shattered, portions of the walls collapsed. Even the trees in Gentry Square were gone.\n\nMedford House, in the Lower Quarter, was a pile of smoldering beams. Nothing remained across the street except a gutted foundation and a burned sign displaying the hint of arose in blistered paint.\n\nHe dismounted and moved to the rubble of the House. Where Gwen's office used to be, he caught a glimpse of pale fingers beneath a collapsed wall. His legs turned weak and his feet foolish as he stumbled over the wreckage. Smoke caught in his throat, and he drew up the scarf to cover his nose and mouth. Reaching the edge of the wall, he bent and tried to lift it. The edge broke away, but it was enough to reveal what was underneath.\n\nA cream-colored glove.\n\nRoyce stepped back from the smoke. Sitting on the blackened porch, he noticed he was shaking. He was unaccustomed to being scared. Over the years, he had given up caring if he lived or died, figuring that a quick demise spared him the pain of living in a world so miserly that it begrudged an orphan boy a life. He had always been ready for death, gambling with it, waging bets against it. Royce had been satisfied in the knowledge that his risks were sound because he had nothing of value to lose-nothing to fear." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gwen changed everything.\n\nHe was an idiot and never should have left her alone.\n\nWhy did I wait?\n\nThey could have been safe in Avempartha, where only he held the key. The New Empire could beat themselves senseless against its walls and never reach him or his family.\n\nA block away, a noisy flock of crows took flight. Royce stood and listened, hearing voices on the wind. Noticing his horse wandering down the street, he cursed himself for not tying her up. By the time he caught the reins, he spotted a patrol of imperial soldiers passing the charred ruins of Mason Grumon's place.\n\n\"Halt!\" the leader shouted.\n\nRoyce leapt on his mare and kicked her just as he heard a dull thwack. His horse lurched then collapsed with a bolt lodged deep in her flank. Royce jumped free before being crushed. He tumbled in the snow and came upon his feet, his dagger, Alverstone, drawn. Six soldiers hurried toward him. Only one had a crossbow, and he was busy ratcheting the string for his next shot.\n\nRoyce turned and ran.\n\nHe slipped into an alley filled with debris and vaulted over the shattered remains of the Rose and Thorn. Crossing the sewer near the inn's stable, he was surprised to find the plank bridge still there. Shouts rose behind him, but they were distant and muffled by the snow. The old feed store was still standing, and with a leap, he caught the lower windowsill on the second story. If they tracked him through the alley, the soldiers would be briefly baffled at his disappearance. That was all the head start Royce needed. Pulling himself to the roof, he crossed it and climbed down the far side. He took one last moment to obscure his tracks before heading west." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Royce stood at the edge of the forest trying to decide between the road and the more direct route through the trees. Snow started to fall again, and the windswept the flakes at an angle. The white curtain muted colors, turning the world a hazy gray. The thief flexed his hands. He had lost feeling in his fingers again. In his haste to find Gwen, he had once more neglected to purchase winter gloves. He pulled his hood tight and wrapped the scarf around his face. The northwest gale tore at his cloak, cracking the edges like a whip. He hooked it in his belt several times but eventually gave up-the wind insisted.\n\nThe distance to the Winds Abbey was along day's ride in summer, a day and a half in winter, but Royce had no idea how long it would take him on foot through snow. Without proper gear, it was likely he would not make it at all. Almost everything he had was lost with his horse including his blanket, food, and water. He did not even have the means to start afire. The prudent choice would be the road. The walking would be easier, and he would at least have the chance of encountering other travelers. Still, it was the longer route. He chose the shortcut through the forest. He hoped Gwen had kept her promise and gone to the monastery, but there was only one way to be certain, and his need to see her had grown desperate.\n\nAs night fell, the stars shone brightly above a glistening world of white. Struggling to navigate around logs and rocks hidden beneath the snow, Royce halted when he came upon afresh line of tracks-footprints. He listened but heard only the wind blowing through the snow-burdened trees.\n\nWith an agile jump he leapt on a partially fallen tree and nimbly sprinted up its length until he was several feet off the ground. Royce scanned the tracks in the snow below him. They were only as deep as his own, too shallow fora man weighed down by even light armor." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Who can possibly be traveling on foot here tonight besides me?\n\nGiven that the footprints were headed the direction he was going, and Royce wanted to keep the owner in front of him, he followed. The going was less difficult and Royce was thankful for the ease in his route.\n\nWhen he reached the top of a ridge, the tracks veered right, apparently circling back the way he had come.\n\n\"Sorry to see you go,\" Royce muttered. His breath puffed out in a moonlit fog.\n\nAshe climbed down the slope, he recalled this ravine from the trip he had taken three years earlier with Hadrian and Prince Alric. Then, as now, he had difficulty finding a decent route and struggled to work his way to the valley below. The snow made travel a challenge, and once he reached level ground he found it deep with drifts. He had not made more than a hundred feet of headway before encountering the footprints once more. Again he followed them, and found the way easier.\n\nReaching the far side of the valley, he faced the steep slope backup. The footprints turned to the right. This time Royce paused. Slightly to the left he could see an easy route. AV-shaped ravine, cleared and leveled by runoff, was inviting. He considered going that way but noticed that directly in front of him, carved in the bark of a spruce tree, was an arrow-shaped marker pointing to the right. The trailblazer's footprints were sprinkled with woodchips.\n\n\"So you want me to keep following you,\" Royce whispered to himself. \"That's only marginally more disturbing than you knowing I'm following you at all.\"\n\nHe glanced around. There was no one he could see. The only movement was the falling snow. The stillness felt both eerie and peaceful, as if the wood waited for him to decide." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "His legs were weak, his feet and hands numb. Royce never liked invitations, but he guessed following the prints would once again be the easier route. He looked up at the slope and sighed. After following the tracks only a few hundred feet more, he spotted a pair of fur mittens dangling from the branch of a tree. Royce slipped them on and found they were still warm.\n\n\"Okay, that's creepy,\" Royce said aloud. He raised his voice and added, \"I'd love a skin of water, a hot steak with onions, and perhaps some fresh baked bread with butter.\"\n\nAll around him was the tranquil silence of a dark wood in falling snow. Royce shrugged and continued onward. The trail eventually hooked left, but by then the steep bluff was little more than a mild incline. Royce half expected to find a dinner waiting for him when he reached the crest, but the hilltop was bare. In the distance was alight, and the footprints headed straight toward it.\n\nRoyce ticked through the possibilities and concluded nothing. There was no chance imperial soldiers were leading him through the forest, and he was too far from Windermere for it to be monks. Dozens of legends spoke of fairies and ghosts inhabiting the woods of western Melengar, but none mentioned denizens that left footprints and warm mittens.\n\nNo matter how he ran the scenarios, he could find noway to justify an impending trap. Still, Royce gripped the handle of Alverstone and trudged forward. Ashe closed the distance, he saw that the light came from a small house built high in the limbs of a large oak tree. Below the tree house a livestock pen was surrounded by a ring of thick evergreens, where a dark horse pawed the snow beside a wooden lean-to." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hello?\" Royce called.\n\n\"Climb up,\" a voice yelled down. \"If you're not too tired.\"\n\n\"Who are you?\"\n\n\"I'm a friend. An old friend-or rather, you're mine.\"\n\n\"What's your name... friend?\" Royce stared up at the opening on the underside of the tree house.\n\n\"Ryn.\"\n\n\"Now see, that's a bit odd as I have few friends, and none of them is called Ryn.\"\n\n\"I never told you my name. Now, are you going to come up and have some food or simply steal my horse and ride off? Personally, I suggest a bite to eat first.\"\n\nRoyce looked at the horse fora long moment before grabbing the knotted rope dangling along the side of the tree trunk and pulled himself up. Reaching the floor of the house, he peeked inside. The space was larger than he expected, oven warm, and smelled of meat stew. Branches reached out in all directions, each one rubbed smooth as a banister. Pots and scarves hung from the limbs, and several layers of mats and blankets hid the wooden floor.\n\nIna chair crafted from branches, a slim figure smoked a pipe. \"Welcome, Mr. Royce,\" Ryn said with a smile.\n\nHe wore crudely stitched clothes made from rough, treated hides. On his head was a hat that looked like an old, flopped sack. Even with his ears hidden, his slanted eyes and high cheekbones betrayed his elven heritage.\n\nOn the other side of the room, a woman and small boy chopped mushrooms and placed them in a battered pot suspended in a small fireplace made of what looked to be river stones. They, too, were mir-a half-breed mix of human and elf-like Royce himself. Neither said a word, but they glanced over at him from time to time while adding vegetables to the pot." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You know my name?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"Of course. It isn't a name I could easily forget. Please, come in. My home is yours.\"\n\n\"How do you know me?\" Royce pulled up his legs and closed the door.\n\n\"Three autumns ago, just after Amrath's murder, you were at the Silver Pitcher.\"\n\nRoyce thought back. The hat!\n\n\"They were sick.\" Ryn tilted his head toward his family. \"Fever-the both of them. We were out of food and I spent my last coin on some old bread and a turnip from Mr. Hall. I knew it wouldn't be enough, but there was nothing else I could do.\"\n\n\"You were the elf that they accused of thieving. They pulled your hat off.\"\n\nRyn nodded. He puffed on his pipe and said, \"You and your friend were organizing a group of men to save the Prince of Melengar. You asked me to join. You promised a reward-a fair share.\"\n\nRoyce shrugged. \"We needed anyone willing to help.\"\n\n\"I didn't believe you. Who of my kind would? No one ever gave fair shares of anything to an elf, but I was desperate. When it was over, Drake refused to pay me just as I expected. But you kept your word and forced him to give mean equal share-and a horse. You threatened to kill the whole lot of them if they didn't.\" He allowed himself a little smile. \"Drake handed over the gelding with full tack and never even checked it. I think he just wanted to get rid of me. I left before they could change their minds. I was miles away before I finally got a chance to look in the saddlebags. Fruits, nuts, meat, cheese, a pint of whiskey, a skin of cider, those would've been treasure enough. But I also found warm blankets, fine clothes, a hand axe, flint and steel, a knife-and the purse. There were gold tenants in that bag-twenty-two of them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Gold tenants?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "You got Baron Trumbul's horse?\"\n\nRyn nodded. \"There was more than enough gold to buy medicine, and with the horse I got back in time. I prayed I would be able to thank you before I died, and today I got my chance. I saw you in the city but could do nothing there. I am so glad I persuaded you to visit.\"\n\n\"The mittens were a nice touch.\"\n\n\"Please sit and be my guest for dinner.\"\n\nRoyce hung his scarf alongside his cloak on one of the branches and set his boots to warm near the fire. The four ate together with little conversation.\n\nAfter she had taken his empty bowl, Ryn's wife spoke for the first time. \"You look tired, Mr. Royce. Can we make you abed for the night?\"\n\n\"No. Sorry. I can't stay.\" Royce said while getting up, pleased to feel his feet again.\n\n\"You're in a hurry?\" Ryn asked.\n\n\"You could say that.\"\n\n\"In that case, you will take my horse, Hivenlyn,\" Ryn said.\n\nAn hour earlier, Royce would have stolen a horse from anyone he happened upon, so he was surprised to hear himself say, \"No. I mean, thanks, but no.\"\n\n\"I insist. I named him Hivenlyn because of you. It means unexpected gift in Elvish. So you see, you must take him. He knows every path in this wood and will get you safely wherever you need to go.\" Ryn nodded toward the boy, who nimbly slipped out the trapdoor.\n\n\"You need that horse,\" Royce said.\n\n\"I'm not the one trudging through the forest in the middle of the night without a pack. I lived without a horse for many years. Right now, you need him more than I do. Or can you honestly say you have no use fora mount?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Okay, I'll borrow him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am riding to the Winds Abbey. I'll let them know he is your animal. You can claim him there.\" Royce bundled up and descended the rope. At the bottom, Ryn's son stood with the readied horse.\n\nRyn climbed down as well. \"Hivenlyn is yours now. If you have no further need, give him to someone who does.\"\n\n\"You're crazy,\" Royce said, shaking his head in disbelief. \"But I don't have time to argue.\" He mounted and looked back at Ryn standing in the snow beneath his little home. \"Listen... I'm not... I'm just not used to people... you know...\"\n\n\"Ride safe and be well, my friend.\"\n\nRoyce nodded and turned Hivenlyn toward the road." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He traveled all night, following the road and fighting afresh storm that rose against him. The wind blew bitter, pulling his cloak away and causing him to shiver. He pushed the horse hard, but Hivenlyn was a fine animal and did not falter.\n\nAt sunrise they took a short rest in the shelter of fir trees. Royce ate the hard round of mushroom-stuffed bread Ryn's wife had provided and gave Hivenlyn a bit of one end. \"Sorry about the pace,\" he told the horse. \"But I'll make sure you get a warm stall and plenty to eat when we arrive.\" Royce failed to mention that the deal depended on finding Gwen safe. Anything less, and he would not care about the needs of the horse. He would not care about anything.\n\nThe storm continued to rage all through that day. Gale-swept snow blew across the road, forming patterns that resembled ghostly snakes. During the entire trip, Royce did not come across a single traveler, and the day passed by in a blinding haze of white.\n\nAs darkness fell, the two finally reached the summit of Monastery Hill. The abbey appeared from behind a veil of falling snow, silent and still. The quiet of the compound was disturbing, too similar to that visit he had made three years ago after the Imperialists had burned the church to the ground with dozens of monks locked inside. Panic threatened to overtake Royce as he raced up the stone steps and pulled on the expansive doors. He entered, moving quickly down the length of the east range. He just needed a face, any face, someone he could ask about Gwen. Not a single monk in the abbey could have missed the arrival of a band of prostitutes.\n\nThe corridor was dark, as was the hall leading to the cloister. He opened the door to the refectory and found it vacant. The empty dining tables were matched by empty benches. Listening to the hollow echo of his own footsteps, the sense of doom that drove Royce through the snow caused him to sprint to the church. Reaching the two-story double doors, he feared that, just as once before, he would find them chained shut. Taking hold of the latches he pulled hard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The soft sound of singing washed over him as Royce gazed down along nave filled with monks. The massive doors boomed as they slammed against the walls. The singing halted and dozens of heads turned.\n\n\"Royce?\" a voice said. A woman's voice-her voice.\n\nThe forest of brown-clad monks shifted, and he spotted Gwen among them, dressed in an emerald gown. By the time she reached the aisle, he was throwing his arms around her and squeezing until she gasped.\n\n\"Master Melborn, please,\" the abbot said. \"We are in the middle of vespers.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hadrian drew the drapes and lit a candle on the small table before asking Albert, \"What have you discovered?\" In the past Royce had always run the meetings, and Hadrian found himself trying to remember all the little things his partner would do to ensure secrecy.\n\nThey were in Hadrian's room at the Bailey, and this was their first meeting since Royce left. Albert was staying at the palace now, and Hadrian wanted to keep Albert's visits infrequent. A guest of the empress might patronize a seedy inn for entertainment, but too many visits could appear suspicious.\n\n\"Genny introduced me to the empress's secretary,\" Albert said. He was dressed in a heavy cloak, which hid his lavish attire beneath simple wool. \"The girl cried tears of joy when Genny told her the news about her family. I think it's safe to say that Lady Amilia loves the duchess and at least trusts me. You should have seen Genny. She was marvelous. And her chambers are exquisite!\"\n\n\"What about Leo?\" Hadrian asked.\n\n\"He's quiet as always but playing along. If Genny is all right with it, so is he. Besides, he's always hated Ethelred.\"\n\nThe two sat at the table. The dim, flickering light revealed not much more than their faces. For over a week Hadrian had tried to find out what he could in town, but he was not getting very far. He did not have the head for planning that Royce did.\n\n\"And you know how Genny loves intrigue,\" Albert added. \"Anyway, she got me appointed as the official wedding planner.\"\n\n\"That's perfect. Have you learned anything useful?\"\n\n\"I asked Lady Amilia about places that could be used to temporarily house performers. I told her it's common practice to utilize empty cells since tavern space is hard to come by.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nice.\"\n\n\"Thanks, but it didn't help. According to her, the palace doesn't have a dungeon, just a prison tower.\"\n\n\"Prison tower sounds good.\"\n\n\"It's empty.\"\n\n\"Empty? Are you sure? Have you checked?\"\n\nAlbert shook his head. \"Off limits.\"\n\n\"Why would it be off limits if it's empty?\"\n\nThe viscount shrugged. \"No idea, but Lady Amilia assures me it is. Said she was up there herself. Besides, I've watched it the last few nights, and I'm pretty sure she's right. I've never seen alight. Although, I did see a seret knight go in once.\"\n\n\"Any other ideas?\"\n\nAlbert drummed his fingers on the tabletop, thinking fora moment. \"The only other restricted area is the fifth floor, which I've determined is where the empress resides.\"\n\n\"Have you seen her?\" Hadrian leaned forward. \"Have you managed to speak with her?\"\n\n\"No. As far as I can tell, Modina never leaves her room. She has all her meals brought to her. Amilia insists the empress is busy administrating the Empire and is still weak. Apparently, the combination leaves her unable to receive guests. This has been a source of irritation recently. All the visiting dignitaries want an audience with the empress-but all are denied.\"\n\n\"Someone has to see her.\"\n\n\"Lady Amilia certainly does. There is also a chambermaid...\" Albert fished inside his tunic pulling out a wadded bundle of parchments, which he unfolded on the table. \"Yes, here it is. The chambermaid is named Anne, and the door guard is...\" He shuffled through his notes. \"Gerald. Anne is the daughter of a mercer from Colnora. As for Gerald, his full name is Gerald Baniff. He's from Chadwick. Family friend of the Belstrads.\" Albert took a moment to flip through a few more pages. \"Was once personal aide to Sir Breckton. A commendation for bravery won him the position of honor guard to the empress.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What about the regents?\"\n\n\"I assume they could see her, but as far as I can tell, they don't. At least no one I've talked to reports ever having seen them on the fifth floor.\"\n\n\"How can she govern if she never takes a meeting with Ethelred or Saldur?\" Hadrian asked.\n\n\"I think it's obvious. The regents are running the Empire.\"\n\nHadrian slumped back in his seat with a scowl. \"So she's a puppet.\"\n\nAlbert shrugged. \"Maybe. Is this significant?\"\n\n\"Royce and I knew her-before she became the empress. I thought maybe she might help us.\"\n\n\"Doesn't look like she has any real power.\"\n\n\"Does anyone know this?\"\n\n\"Some of the nobles may suspect, although most appear colossally unaware.\"\n\n\"They can't all be that gullible.\"\n\n\"You have to keep in mind that many of these people are extremely religious and dedicated Imperialists. They accept the story of her being the heir descended from Maribor. From what I've determined, the vast majority of the peasant class feels the same way. The servants and even palace guards view her with a kind of awe. The rarity of her appearances has only reinforced this notion. It's a politician's dream. Since she's hardly seen, no one attaches any mistake to her and instead blame the regents.\"\n\n\"So no one other than Amilia, the guard, and the chambermaid see her?\"\n\n\"Looks that way. Oh, wait.\" Albert paused. \"Nimbus also apparently has access.\"\n\n\"Nimbus?\" Hadrian asked.\n\n\"Yes, he is a courtier from Vernes. I met him several years ago at some gala or ball. No one of account as I remember but generally a decent fellow. He's actually the one that introduced Lord Daref and me to Ballentyne, which led to that pair of stolen letter jobs you did for the Earl of Chadwick and Alenda Lanaklin. Nimbus is a thin, funny guy, prone to wearing loud clothes and a powdered wig. Always carries a little leather satchel over his shoulder-rumor is he carries make-up in it. Smarter than he appears certainly. Very alert-he listens to everything. He was hired by Lady Amilia and works as her assistant.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So, what is the likelihood you could seethe empress?\"\n\n\"Slim, I suspect. Why? I just told you there's not much chance she can help, or do you think they're keeping Gaunt in Modina's room?\"\n\n\"No.\" Hadrian rubbed a handover the surface of the table amidst the flickering shadows. \"I'd just like to-I don't know-to see if she's all right, I guess. I sort of promised her father I'd watch out for her-make sure she was okay, you know?\"\n\n\"She's the empress,\" Albert stated. \"Or hasn't he heard?\"\n\n\"He's dead.\"\n\n\"Oh.\" Albert paused.\n\n\"I just would feel better if I could talk to her.\"\n\n\"Are we after Gaunt or the empress?\"\n\nHadrian scowled. \"Well, it doesn't look like we're very close to finding where Gaunt is being held.\"\n\n\"I think I've pushed things about as far as I can. I'm a wedding planner, not a guard, and people get suspicious if I start asking about prisoners.\"\n\n\"I really didn't think it would be this hard to find him.\"\n\nAlbert sighed. \"I'll try again,\" he said, standing and pulling the drawstrings on his cloak.\n\n\"Hold on a second. When we first arrived, didn't you mention that the palace was recruiting new guards?\"\n\n\"Yeah, they're expecting huge crowds. Why?\"\n\nHadrian didn't reply right away, staring into the single candle and massaging his calloused palms. \"I thought I might try my hand at being a man-at-arms again.\"\n\nAlbert smiled. \"I think you're a tad overqualified.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then I ought to get the job.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hadrian waited inline among the weak-shouldered, bent-backed, would-be soldiers. They shifted their weight from foot to foot and blew into cupped hands to warm their fingers. The line of men stretched from the main gate to the barrack's office within the palace courtyard. Being the only man with his own weapons and a decent cloak, Hadrian felt out of place and forced himself to stoop and shuffle when he walked.\n\nHeaps of snow packed the inner walls of the well-shoveled courtyard. Afire burned in a pit outside the barracks, where the yard guards would occasionally pause to warm their hands or get a cup of something steaming hot. Servant boys made routine trips back and forth to the well or the woodpile, hauling buckets of water or slings of split logs.\n\n\"Name?\" A gruff soldier asked as Hadrian entered the dim barracks and stood before a rickety desk.\n\nThree men in thick leather sat behind it. Beside them was a small clerk, whom Hadrian had seen once before in the palace. A disagreeable sort with a balding head and ink-stained fingers, he sat with a roll of parchment, pen, and ink.\n\n\"You have a name?\" the man in the center asked.\n\n\"Baldwin,\" Hadrian said. The clerk scratched the parchment. The end of his feathered quill whipping about like the tail of an irritated squirrel.\n\n\"Baldwin, eh? Where have you fought?\"\n\n\"Allover, really.\"\n\n\"Why aren't you in the Imperial Army? Ya a deserter?\"\n\nHadrian allowed himself a smile, which the soldier did not return. \"You could say that. I left the Nationalists.\"\n\nThis caught the ear of everyone at the table and a few men standing inline. The clerk stopped scribbling and looked up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"For some reason they stopped paying me,\" Hadrian added with a shrug.\n\nA slight smile pulled at the edges of the soldier's lips. \"Not terribly loyal are you?\"\n\n\"I'm as loyal as they come... as long as you pay me.\"\n\nThis brought a chuckle from the soldier, and he looked to the others. The older man to his right nodded. \"Put him on the line. It doesn't require much loyalty to work a crowd.\"\n\nThe clerk began writing again and Hadrian was handed a wooden token.\n\n\"Take that back outside and give it to Sergeant Millet near the fire. He'll get you setup. Name?\" he called to the next inline as Hadrian headed back out into the blinding white.\n\nUnable to see clearly fora moment, Hadrian blinked. As his eyes adjusted he saw Sentinel Luis Guy ride through the front gate leading five seret knights. The two men spotted each other at the same instant. Hadrian had not seen Guy since the death of Fanen Pickering in Dahlgren. While he hoped to one day repay Guy for Fanen's death, this was a terrible time to cross paths.\n\nFora heartbeat, neither moved. Then Guy slowly leaned and spoke to the man beside him, his eyes never straying from Hadrian.\n\n\"Now!\" Guy growled when the knight hesitated.\n\nHadrian could not think of a worse place to be caught. He had no easy exit-no window to leap through or door to close. Between him and the gate were twenty-six men still inline, who would jump at the chance to prove their mettle by helping the palace guard. Despite their numbers, Hadrian was the least concerned with the guard-hopefuls as none of them were armed. The bigger problem was the ten palace guards dressed for battle. At the sound of the first clash of swords, the barracks would empty, adding more men. Hadrian conservatively estimated he would need to kill or cripple at least eighteen people just to reach the exit. Guy and his five seret would beat the top of that list. The serets' horses would also need to be dispatched in order for him to have any chance of escaping through the city streets. The final obstacle would be the crossbowmen on the wall. Among the eight, he guessed at least two would be skilled enough to hit him in the back as he ran out through the gate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Just-don't-move,\" Guy said with his hands spread out in front of him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked as if he was trying to catch a wild horse and did not advance, dismount, or draw his sword.\n\nJust then the portcullis dropped.\n\n\"There's no escape,\" Guy assured him.\n\nFrom a nearby door, a handful of guards trotted toward Hadrian with their swords drawn.\n\n\"Stop!\" Guy ordered, raising his hand abruptly. \"Don't go near him. Just fan out.\"\n\nThe men waiting inline looked from the soldiers to Hadrian and then backed away.\n\n\"I know what you're thinking, Mr. Blackwater,\" Guy said in an almost-friendly tone. \"But we truly have you outnumbered this time.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hadrian stood in an elegantly furnished office on the fourth floor of the palace. Regent Saldur sat behind his desk fidgeting with a small, bejeweled letter opener shaped like a dagger. The ex-bishop looked slightly older and a bit heavier than the last time Hadrian had seen him. Luis Guy stood off to the right, his eyes locked on Hadrian. He was dressed in the traditional black armor and scarlet cape of his position, his sword hanging in its sheath. Guy's stance was straight and attentive, and he kept his hands gripped behind his back. Hadrian did not recognize the last man in the room. The stranger, dressed in an elegant garnache, sat near a chessboard, casually rolling one of the pieces back and forth between his fingers.\n\n\"Mr. Blackwater,\" Saldur addressed Hadrian, \"I've heard some pretty incredible things about you. Please, won't you sit?\"\n\n\"Will I really be staying that long?\"\n\n\"Yes, I am afraid so. No matter how this turns out, you'll be staying.\"\n\nHadrian looked at the chair but chose to remain standing.\n\nThe old man leaned back in his seat and placed the tips of his fingers together. \"You're probably wondering why you're here instead of locked in the north tower or at least why we haven't shackled your wrists and ankles. You can thank Sentinel Guy for that. He has told us an incredible story about you. Aside from murdering seret knights-\"\n\n\"The only murder that day was Fanen Pickering,\" Hadrian said. \"The seret attacked us.\"\n\n\"Well, who's to say who did what when? Still, the death of a seret demands a severe penalty. I'm afraid it's customarily an executable offense. However, Sentinel Guy insists that you area Teshlor-the only Teshlor-and that is an unusual extenuating circumstance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Now, if I recall my history lessons correctly, there was only one Teshlor to escape the destruction of the Old Empire-Jerish Grelad, who had taken the Heir of Novron into hiding." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Legend claims that the Teshlor skills were passed down from generation to generation to protect the bloodline of the emperor.\n\n\"The Pickerings and the Killdares are each said to have discovered just a single one of the Teshlor disciplines. These jealously guarded secrets have made those families renowned for their fighting skills. A fully trained Teshlor would be... well... invincible in anyone-on-one competition of arms. Am I correct?\"\n\nHadrian said nothing.\n\n\"In any case, let's assume for the moment that Guy is not mistaken. If this is so, your presence presents us with an interesting opportunity, which can provide a uniquely mutual benefit. Given this, we felt it might encourage you to listen if we treated you with a degree of respect. By leaving you free-\"\n\nThe door burst open and Regent Ethelred entered. The stocky, barrel-chested man was dressed in elaborate regal vestments of velvet and silk. He, too, looked older, and the former king's once-trim physique sported a bulge around the middle. Gray invaded his mustache and beard in patches, leaving white lines in his black hair. After pulling his cape inside, he slammed the door shut.\n\n\"So, this is the fellow, I take it?\" he said in a booming voice as he appraised Hadrian. \"Don't I know you?\"\n\nSeeing no reason to lie, Hadrian replied, \"I once served in your army.\"\n\n\"That's right!\" Ethelred said, throwing up his hands in a large animated gesture. \"You were a good fighter, too. You held the line at, at...\" He snapped his fingers repeatedly.\n\n\"At the Gravin River Ford.\"\n\n\"Of course!\" He slapped his thigh. \"Damn nice piece of work that was. I promoted you, didn't I? Made you a captain or something. What happened?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I left.\"\n\n\"Pity. You're a fine soldier.\" Ethelred clapped Hadrian on the shoulder.\n\n\"Of course he is, Lanis. That's the whole point,\" Saldur reminded him.\n\nEthelred chuckled then said, \"Too true, too true. So, has he accepted?\"\n\n\"We haven't asked him yet.\"\n\n\"Asked me what?\"\n\n\"Hadrian, we have a little problem,\" Ethelred began. Ashe spoke, he paced back and forth between Saldur's desk and the door. He kept the fingers of his left hand tucked in his belt behind his back while using his right to assist him in speaking like a conductor uses a baton. \"His name is Archibald Ballentyne. He's a sniveling little weasel. All of the Ballentynes have been worthless, pitiful excuses for men, but he's also the Earl of Chadwick. So, by virtue of his birth, he rules over a province that is worthless in all ways except one. Chadwick is the home to Lord Belstrad whose eldest son, Sir Breckton, is very likely the best knight in Avryn. When I say best, I mean that in every sense of the word. His skill at arms is unmatched as are his talent for tactics and his aptitude for leadership. Unfortunately, he's also loyal to a fault. He serves Archie Ballentyne and only Archie.\"\n\nEthelred crossed the room and took a seat by hopping on Saldur's desk, causing the old man to flinch.\n\n\"I wanted Breckton as my general, but he refuses to obey the chain of command and won't listen to anyone except Archie. I can't waste time filtering all my orders through that pissant. So we offered Breckton a prime bit of land and a title, to abandon Ballentyne, but the fool wasn't interested.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The war is over, or soon will be,\" Hadrian pointed out. \"You don't need Breckton anymore.\"\n\n\"That is exactly correct,\" Saldur said.\n\nThere was something in the detached way he spoke that chilled Hadrian.\n\n\"Even without a war we still need strongmen to enforce order,\" Ethelred explained. Picking up a glass figurine from Saldur's desk, he began passing it from hand to hand.\n\nSaldur's jaw clenched as his eyes tracked each toss.\n\n\"When Breckton turned us down, Archie threatened to use his knight and the Royalists against us. Can you believe that? He said he would march on Aquesta! He thinks he can challenge me! The little sod-\" Ethelred slammed the figurine down on the desk, shattering it. \"Oh-sorry, Sauly.\"\n\nSaldur sighed but said nothing.\n\n\"Anyway,\" Ethelred went on, dusting off his hands so that bits of glass rained on the desk. \"Who could have guessed a knight would turn down an offer to rise to the rank of marquis and command a whole kingdom as his fief? The piss-proud pillock! And what's he doing it for? Loyalty to Archie Ballentyne. Who hates him. Always has. It's ridiculous.\"\n\n\"Which brings us to why you're here, Mr. Blackwater,\" Saldur said. He used a lace handkerchief to gingerly sweep the broken glass off his desk into a wastebasket. \"As much as I would like to take credit for it, this is all Guy's idea.\" Saldur nodded toward the sentinel.\n\nGuy never changed his wooden stance, remaining at attention as if it was his natural state." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Finding you in our courtyard, Guy realized that you can solve our little problem with Sir Breckton.\"\n\n\"I'm not following,\" Hadrian said.\n\nSaldur rolled his eyes. \"We can't allow Breckton to reach his army at Drondil Fields. We would be forever at the mercy of Archie. He could dictate any terms so long as Breckton controlled the loyalty of the army.\"\n\nHadrian's confusion continued. \"And...?\"\n\nEthelred chuckled. \"Poor Sauly, you deal too much in subtlety. This man is a fighter, not a strategist. He needs it spelled out.\" Turning to Hadrian, he said, \"Breckton is a capable warrior and we had no hope of finding anyone who could defeat him until Guy pointed out that you are the perfect man for the job. To be blunt, we want you to kill Sir Breckton.\"\n\n\"The Wintertide tournament will start in just a few days,\" Saldur continued. \"Breckton is competing in the joust and we want you to battle him and win. His lance will be blunted while yours will have a war point hidden beneath a porcelain shell. When he dies, our problem will be solved.\"\n\n\"And exactly why would I agree?\"\n\n\"Like the good regent explained,\" Guy said, \"killing seret is an executable offense.\"\n\n\"Plus,\" Ethelred put in, \"as a token of our appreciation, we will sweeten the deal by paying you one hundred solid gold tenents. What do you say?\"\n\nHadrian knew he could never murder Breckton. While he had never met the man, he was familiar with Breckton's younger brother Wesley, who had served with Royce and Hadrian on the Emerald Storm. The young man died in battle, fighting beside them at the Palace of the Four Winds. His sacrificial charge had saved their lives. No man had ever proven himself more worthy of loyalty, and if Breckton was half the man his younger brother was, Hadrian owed him at least one life." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What can he say?\" Saldur answered for him. \"He has no choice.\"\n\n\"I wouldn't say that,\" Hadrian replied. \"You're right. I am a trained Teshlor, and while you've been talking, I've calculated eight different ways to kill everyone in this room. Three using nothing more than that little letter opener Regent Saldur has been playing with.\" He let his arms fall loose and shifted his stance. This immediately set Ethelred and Guy, the two fighters, on the defensive.\n\n\"Hold on now,\" Saldur's voice waivered and his face showed strain. \"Before you make any rash decisions, consider that the window is too small to fit through, and the men in the corridor will not let you leave. If you really areas good as you say, you might take a great many of them with you, but even you cannot defeat them all.\"\n\n\"You might be right. We'll soon find out.\"\n\n\"Are you insane? You're choosing death?\" Saldur erupted in frustration. \"We are offering you gold and a pardon. What benefit is therein refusing?\"\n\n\"Well, he does plan on killing all of you.\" The man with the chess piece spoke for the first time. \"A good trade really-forfeiting one knight to eliminate a knight, a bishop, and a king. But you offered the man the wrong incentive. Give him the princess.\"\n\n\"Give-what?\" Saldur looked puzzled. \"Who? Arista?\"\n\n\"You have another princess I'm not aware of?\"\n\n\"Arista?\" Hadrian asked. \"The Princess of Melengar is here?\"\n\n\"Yes, and they plan to execute heron Wintertide,\" the man answered.\n\nSaldur looked confused. \"Why would he care-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Because Hadrian Blackwater and his partner Royce Melborn, better known as Riyria, have been working as the Royal Protectors of Melengar." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They've been instrumental in nearly every success either Alric or his sister has had over the last few years. I suspect they might even befriends with the royal family now. Well-as much as nobles will permit friendship with commoners.\"\n\nHadrian tried to keep his face neutral and his breathing balanced.\n\nThey have Arista? How did they capture her? Was she hurt? How long have they been holding her? Who was this man?\n\n\"You see, Your Grace, Mr. Blackwater is a romantic at heart. He likes his honor upheld and his quests worthy. Killing an innocent knight, particularly one as distinguished as Breckton, would be... well... wrong. Saving a damsel in distress, on the other hand, is an entirely different proposition.\"\n\n\"Would that be a problem?\" Ethelred asked Saldur.\n\nThe regent thought a moment. \"The girl has proven herself to be resourceful and given us more than a fair share of trouble but... Medford is destroyed, the Nationalists are disbanded, and Drondil Fields won't last much longer. I can't see anyway she could pose a serious threat to the Empire.\"\n\n\"Well,\" Ethelred addressed Hadrian, \"do we have a deal?\"\n\nHadrian scrutinized the man at the chessboard. While he had never seen his face before, he felt as though he should recognize him.\n\n\"No,\" Hadrian said at length. \"I want Degan Gaunt, too.\"\n\n\"You see, he is the Guardian!\" Guy proclaimed. \"Or he wishes to be. Obviously Esrahaddon told him Gaunt is the heir.\"\n\nEthelred looked concerned. \"That's out of the question. We've been after the Heir of Novron for years. We can't let him go.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not just years, centuries,\" Saldur corrected. He stared at Hadrian, his mouth slightly open, the tip of his tongue playing with his front teeth. \"Esrahaddon is dead. You confirmed that, Guy?\"\n\nThe sentinel nodded. \"I had his body dug up and then burned.\"\n\n\"And how much does Gaunt know? I've heard you've had several little chats with him.\"\n\nGuy shook his head. \"Not much, from what I've been able to determine. It doesn't look like Esrahaddon has even told Gaunt he's the heir.\"\n\n\"But Hadrian will tell him,\" Ethelred protested.\n\n\"So?\" Saldur replied. \"What does that matter? The two of them can travel the countryside, proclaiming Gaunt's heritage from the mountaintops. Who will listen? Modina serves us well. The people love and accept her as the unquestionable true Heir of Novron. She slew the Gilarabrywn, after all. If they try to convince people that Gaunt is the heir, they'll find no supporters from peasants or nobles. The concern was never Degan, per se, but rather what Esrahaddon could do by using him as a puppet. Right? With the wizard gone, Gaunt is no real threat.\"\n\n\"I'm not certain the Patriarch will approve,\" Guy said.\n\n\"The Patriarch isn't here having a standoff with a Teshlor, is he?\"\n\n\"And what about Gaunt's children, or grandchildren? Decades from now, they may attempt to regain their birthright. We have to concern ourselves with that.\"\n\n\"Why worry about problems that may never occur? We're at a bit of an impasse, gentlemen. Why don't we deal with our present issues and let the future take care of itself? What do you say, Lanis?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ethelred nodded.\n\nSaldur turned to Hadrian. \"If you succeed in killing Sir Breckton in the joust, we will release Degan Gaunt and Princess Arista into your custody on the condition that you leave Avryn and promise not to return. Do we have a deal?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Excellent.\"\n\n\"So I'm free to go?\"\n\n\"Actually, no,\" Saldur said. \" You must understand our desire to keep this little arrangement between us. I'm afraid we're going to have to insist that you stay in the palace until after your joust with Breckton. While you're here, you will be under constant observation. If you attempt to escape or pass information, we will interpret that as a refusal on your part, and Princess Arista and Degan Gaunt will be burned at the stake.\n\n\"Breckton's death has to be seen as a Wintertide accident at best or the actions of an overambitious knight at worst. There can be no suspicions of a conspiracy. Commoners aren't permitted to participate in the tournament, so we'll need to transform you into a knight. You will stay in the knights\" quarters, participate in the games, attend feasts, and mingle with the aristocracy as all knights do this time of year. We will assign a tutor to help you convince everyone that you're noble, so there will be no suspicions of wrongdoing. As of this moment, your only way out of this palace is to kill Sir Breckton.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Drip, drip, drip.\n\nArista scratched her wrists, feeling the marks raised by the heavy iron during the regent's interrogation. The itching had only recently started. With what little they fed her, she was surprised her body could heal itself at all. Lying about Edith Mon had been a gamble, and she had worried Saldur would return to her cell with the inquisitor, but three bowls of gruel had arrived since his visit, which led her to conclude he had believed her story.\n\nWhirl... splash!\n\nThere it was again.\n\nThe sound was faint and distant, echoing as if heard through along, hollow tube.\n\nCreak, click, creak, click, creak, click.\n\nThe noise certainly came from a machine, a torture device of some kind. Perhaps it was a mechanical winch used to tear people to pieces or a turning wheel that submerged victims in putrid waters. Saldur had been wrong about her courage. Arista never had any doubt she would break if subjected to torture.\n\nThe stone door to the prison rumbled as it opened. Footsteps echoed through the corridors. Once more, someone was coming when it was not time for food.\n\nClip-clap, clip-clap.\n\nThe shoes were different and not as rich as Saldur's, but they were not poor either. The gait was decidedly military, but these feet were not shod in metal. They did not come for her. Instead, the footfalls stopped just past her cell. Keys jangled and a cell door opened.\n\n\"Morning, Gaunt,\" said a voice she found distantly familiar and vaguely unpleasant, like the memory of a bad dream.\n\n\"What do you want, Guy?\" Gaunt said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's him!\n\n\"You and I need to have another talk,\" Guy said.\n\n\"I barely survived our last one.\"\n\n\"What did Esrahaddon tell you about the Horn of Gylindora?\"\n\nArista lifted her head and inched nearer the door.\n\n\"I don't know how many ways I can say it. He told me nothing.\"\n\n\"See, this is why you suffer in our little meetings. You need to be more cooperative. I can't help you if you won't help us. We need to find that horn and we need it now!\"\n\n\"Why don't you just ask Esrahaddon?\"\n\n\"He's dead.\"\n\nThere was along pause.\n\n\"Think. Surely, he mentioned it to you. Time is running out. We had a team, but they are long overdue, and I doubt they're coming back. We need that horn. In all your time together, do you really expect me to believe he never mentioned it?\"\n\n\"No, he never said anything about a damn horn!\"\n\n\"Either you're becoming better at lying, or you've been telling the truth all along. I just can't imagine he wouldn't tell you anything unless... Everyone is so certain, but I've had a nagging suspicion for sometime now.\"\n\n\"What's that for?\" Gaunt asked. His voice nervous-frightened.\n\n\"Let's call it a hunch. Now hold still.\"\n\nGaunt grunted then cried out. \"What are you doing?\"\n\n\"You wouldn't understand even if I told you.\"\n\nThere was another pause.\n\n\"I knew it!\" Guy exclaimed. \"This explains so much. While it doesn't help either of us, at least it makes sense. The regents were fools to kill Esrahaddon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I don't understand. What are you talking about?\"\n\n\"Nothing, Gaunt. I believe you. He didn't tell you anything. Why would he? The Patriarch will not be pleased. You won't be questioned anymore. You can await your execution in peace.\"\n\nThe door closed again and the footsteps left the dungeon.\n\nEsrahaddon's dying words came back to Arista.\n\n\"Find the Horn of Gylindora-Need the heir to find it-buried with Novron in Percepliquis. Hurry-at Wintertide the Uli Vermar ends. They will come-without the horn everyone dies.\"\n\nThese words had brought Arista to Aquesta in the first place and were the reason she risked hers and Hilfred's lives trying to save Gaunt. Now she once more tried to understand just what Esrahaddon had meant by them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Drip, drip, drip.\n\nThe protruding bones of Arista's hips, knees, and shoulders ached from bearing her weight on the stone. Her fingernails had become brittle and broken. Too exhausted to stand or sit upright, Arista struggled to even turnover. Despite her weakness, she found it difficult to sleep and lay awake for hours, glaring into the dark. The stone Arista lay on sucked the warmth from her body. Shivering in a ball, she pushed herself up in the dark and struggled to gather the scattered bits of straw. Running her fingers over the rough-hewn granite, she swept together the old, brittle thatch and mounded it as best she could into a lumpy bed.\n\nArista lay there imagining food. Not simply eating or touching it, but immersing herself. In her daydreams, she bathed in cream and swam in apple juice. All of her senses contributed and she longed for even the smell of bread or the feel of butter on her tongue. Arista was tortured with thoughts of roasted pig dripping with fruit glaze, beef served in a thick, dark gravy, and mountains of chicken, quail, and duck. Envisioning feasts stretching across long tables made her mouth water. Arista ate several meals a day in her mind. Even the vegetables, the common diet of peasants, were welcomed. Carrots, onions, and parsnips hovered in her mind like unappreciated treasures-and what she would give fora turnip.\n\nDrip, drip, drip.\n\nIn the dark there was so much to regret and so much time to do so.\n\nWhat a mess she had made of a life that started out filled with so much happiness. She recalled the days when her mother had been Queen of Melengar and music filled the halls. There had been the beautiful dress stitched from expensive Calian silk that she had received on her twelfth birthday. How the light had shimmered across its surface as she twirled before her mother's swan mirror. That same year, her father had given her a Maranon-bred pony. Lenare had been so jealous as she had watched Arista chase Alric and Mauvin over the Galilin hills on horseback. She loved riding and feeling the wind in her hair. Those were such good days. In her memory, they were always sunny and warm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her world changed forever the night the castle caught on fire. Her father had just appointed her Uncle Braga as the Lord Chancellor of Melengar and celebrations ran late. Her mother tucked her into bed that night. Arista did not sleep in the tower then. She had a room across the hall from her parents, but she would never sleep in the royal wing again.\n\nIn the middle of that night, she had awoken to a boy pulling her from bed. Frightened and confused, she jerked away, kicking and scratching as he tried to grab hold.\n\n\"Please, Your Highness, you must come with me,\" the boy begged.\n\nOutside her window, the elm tree burned like a torch and her room flickered with its light. From somewhere deep in the castle, she heard a muffled roar, and Arista found herself coughing from smoke.\n\nFire!\n\nScreaming in terror, she cowered back to the imagined safety of her bed. The boy gripped her hard and dragged her toward him.\n\n\"The castle is burning. We have to get out of here,\" he said.\n\nWhere is my mother? Where are Father and Alric? And who is this boy?\n\nWhile she fought against him, the boy lifted her in his arms and rushed from the room. The corridor was a tunnel of flames formed by the burning tapestries. Carrying her down the stairs and through several doors, he stumbled and finally collapsed in the courtyard. The cool evening air filled Arista's lungs as she gasped for breath.\n\nHer father was not in the castle that night. After settling a dispute between two drunken friends, he had escorted them home. By sheer luck, Alric was also not there. He and Mauvin Pickering had secretly slipped out to go night hunting, what they used to call frog catching. Arista's mother was the only royal who failed to escape." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Partner with the author and carry on with the tale.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, heist\nAuthor: Michael J. Sullivan\nTitle: Wintertide\nChapter: 20" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her world changed forever the night the castle caught on fire. Her father had just appointed her Uncle Braga as the Lord Chancellor of Melengar and celebrations ran late. Her mother tucked her into bed that night. Arista did not sleep in the tower then. She had a room across the hall from her parents, but she would never sleep in the royal wing again.\n\nIn the middle of that night, she had awoken to a boy pulling her from bed. Frightened and confused, she jerked away, kicking and scratching as he tried to grab hold.\n\n\"Please, Your Highness, you must come with me,\" the boy begged.\n\nOutside her window, the elm tree burned like a torch and her room flickered with its light. From somewhere deep in the castle, she heard a muffled roar, and Arista found herself coughing from smoke.\n\nFire!\n\nScreaming in terror, she cowered back to the imagined safety of her bed. The boy gripped her hard and dragged her toward him.\n\n\"The castle is burning. We have to get out of here,\" he said.\n\nWhere is my mother? Where are Father and Alric? And who is this boy?\n\nWhile she fought against him, the boy lifted her in his arms and rushed from the room. The corridor was a tunnel of flames formed by the burning tapestries. Carrying her down the stairs and through several doors, he stumbled and finally collapsed in the courtyard. The cool evening air filled Arista's lungs as she gasped for breath.\n\nHer father was not in the castle that night. After settling a dispute between two drunken friends, he had escorted them home. By sheer luck, Alric was also not there. He and Mauvin Pickering had secretly slipped out to go night hunting, what they used to call frog catching. Arista's mother was the only royal who failed to escape." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hilfred, the boy who had saved Arista, had tried to rescue the queen as well. After seeing the princess to safety, he went back into the flames and nearly died in the attempt. For months following the fire, Hilfred suffered the effects of burns, was beset by nightmares, and had coughing fits so intense that he spat blood. Despite all the agony he endured on her behalf, Arista never thanked him. All she knew was that her mother was dead, and from that day on everything had changed.\n\nIn the wake of the fire, Arista moved to the tower, as it was the only part of the castle that did not smell of smoke. Her father ordered her mother's furniture-those few items that survived the fire-to be moved there. Arista would often cry while sitting before the swan mirror remembering how her mother used to brush her hair. One day her father saw her and asked what was wrong. She blurted out, \"All the brushes are gone.\" From that day forward, her father brought her anew brush after each trip he took. No two were ever alike. They were all gone now, the brushes, her father, even the dressing table with the swan mirror.\n\nDrip, drip, drip.\n\nArista wondered if Maribor decreed she should be alone. Why else did she, a princess nearly twenty-eight years old, never have a proper suitor. Even poor, ugly daughters of fishmongers fared better. Perhaps her loneliness washer own fault, the result of her deplorable nature. In the dark, the answer was clearly visible-no one wanted her.\n\nEmery had thought he loved Arista, but he never really knew her. Impressed by her wild ideas of taking Ratibor from the Imperialists, he had been swayed by the romantic notion of a noble fighting alongside a band of commoners. What Emery fell in love with was a myth. As for Hilfred, he had worshiped Arista as his princess. She was not a person but an icon on a pedestal. That they died before learning the truth was a mercy to both men." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Only Hadrian escaped being deceived. Arista was certain he saw her merely as a source of income. He likely hated her for being a privileged aristocrat living in a castle while he scraped by. All commoners were nice to nobility-when in their presence-but when in private their true feelings showed. Hadrian probably snickered, proclaiming her too repulsive for even her own kind to love. With or without magic, she was still a witch. She deserved being alone. She deserved to die. She deserved to burn.\n\nDrip, drip, drip.\n\nA pain in her side caused her to slowly turnover. Sometimes she lost feeling in her feet for hours, and her fingers often tingled. After settling onto her back, she heard a skittering sound.\n\nThe rat had returned. Arista did not know where it came from or where it went to in the darkness, but she always knew when it was near. She could not understand why it came around as she ate all the food delivered. After consuming every drop of soup, she licked and even chewed on the bowl. Still, the rat visited frequently. Sometimes his nose touched her feet and kicking would send it scurrying away. In the past, she had tried to catch it, but it was smart and fast. Now she was too weak to even make an attempt.\n\nArista heard the rat moving along the wall of the cell. Its nose and whiskers lightly touched her exposed foot. She no longer had the energy to kick, so she let it smell her. After sniffing a few more times, the rat bit her toe.\n\nArista screamed in pain. She kicked but missed. Still, the rat scurried off. Lying in the darkness, she shivered and cried in fear and misery.\n\n\"A-ris-ta?\" Degan asked sounding horse. \"What is it?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A rat bit me,\" she said, once again shocked by her own rasping voice.\n\n\"Jasper does that if-\" Gaunt coughed and hacked. After a moment, he spoke again, \"If he thinks you're dead or too weak to fight.\"\n\n\"Jasper?\"\n\n\"I call him that, but I've also named the stones in my cell.\"\n\n\"I only counted mine,\" Arista said.\n\n\"Two hundred and thirty-four,\" Degan replied instantly.\n\n\"I have two hundred and twenty-eight.\"\n\n\"Did you count the cracked ones as two?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\nThe princess lay there, listening to her own breathing, and felt the weight of her hands on her chest as it rose and fell. She started to drift in and out of sleep when Degan spoke again.\n\n\"Arista? Are you really a witch? Can you do magic?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she said. \"But not inhere.\"\n\nArista did not expect him to believe her and had doubted her own powers after being cutoff from them for so long. Runes lined the walls of the prison. They were the same markings that had prevented Esrahaddon from casting spells while incarcerated in Gutaria, but her stay would not last a thousand years as his had. Gutaria's runes halted the passage of time as well as preventing the practice of magic, and the ache in her stomach reminded Arista all too often that time was not suspended here.\n\nOnly since the Battle of Ratibor had Arista begun to understand the true nature of magic, or The Art as Esrahaddon had called it. When touching the strings of reality, she felt no sense of boundaries-only complexity. With time and understanding, anything might be possible and everything achievable. Were it not for the runes disconnecting her from the natural world, she was certain she could break open the ground and rip the palace apart." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Were you born a witch?\"\n\n\"I learned magic from Esrahaddon.\"\n\n\"You knew him?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Do you know how he died?\"\n\n\"He was murdered by an assassin.\"\n\n\"Oh. Did he ever talk about me? Did he tell you why he was helping me?\" he asked anxiously.\n\n\"He never told you?\"\n\n\"No. I didn't-\" he broke into another fit of coughs. \"I didn't have much of an army when we met, but then everything changed. He got men to join and follow me. I never had to do much of anything. Esrahaddon did all the planning and told me what to say. It was nice while it lasted. I had plenty to eat, and folks saluted and called me sir. I even had a horse and a tent the size of a house. I should have known all that was too good to last. I should have realized he was setting me up. I'm just curious why. What did I ever do to him?\" His voice was weak, coming in gasps by the end of his speech.\n\n\"Degan, do you have a necklace? A small silver medallion?\"\n\n\"Yeah-well, I did.\" He paused along while, and when he spoke again his voice was better. \"My mother gave it tome before I left home-my good luck charm. They took it when they put me inhere. Why do you ask?\"\n\n\"Because you are the Heir of Novron. That necklace was created by Esrahaddon nearly nine hundred years ago. There were two of them, one for the heir and one for the guardian trained to defend him. For generations they protected the wearers from magic and hid their identities. Esrahaddon taught me a spell that could find who wore them. I was the one who helped him find you. He's been trying to restore you to the throne.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Degan was quiet for sometime. \"If I have a guardian, where is he? I could use one right now.\"\n\nThe waves of self-loathing washed over her again. \"His name is Hadrian. Oh, Degan, it's all my fault. He doesn't know where you are. Esrahaddon and I were going to find you and tell him, but I messed it all up. After Esrahaddon's death, I thought I could get you out on my own. I failed.\"\n\n\"Yeah, well, it's only my life-nothing important.\" There was a pause then, \"Arista?\"\n\n\"Yes?\"\n\n\"What about that thing Guy mentioned? That horn? Did Esrahaddon ever mention it to you? If we can tell them something about it, maybe they won't kill us.\"\n\nArista felt the hair on her arms stand up.\n\nIs this a trick? Is he working for them?\n\nWeak and exhausted, she could not think clearly. In the darkness she felt vulnerable and disoriented-exactly what they wanted.\n\nIs it even Gaunt at all? Or did they discover I was coming and plant someone from the start? Or did they switch the real Gaunt while I slept? Is it the same voice?\n\nShe tried to remember.\n\n\"Arista?\" he called out again.\n\nShe opened her mouth to reply but paused and thought of something else to say. \"It's hard to recall. My head's fuzzy, and I'm trying to piece the conversation together. He talked about the horn the same day I met your sister. I remember he introduced her... and then... oh, how did it go again? He said,\"Arista this is... this is... oh, it's just beyond my memory. Help me out, Degan. I feel like a fool. Can you remind me what your sister's name is?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Silence.\n\nArista waited. She listened and thought she heard movement somewhere beyond her cell, but she was not sure.\n\n\"Degan?\" she ventured after several minutes passed. \"Don't you know your own sister's name?\"\n\n\"Why do you want to know her name?\" Degan asked. His tone was lower, colder.\n\n\"I just forgot it is all. I thought you could help me remember the conversation.\"\n\nHe was quiet for so long that she thought he might not speak again. Finally he said, \"What did they offer you to find out about her?\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"Maybe you're Arista Essendon, or maybe you're an Imperialist trying to get secrets from me.\"\n\n\"How do I know any different about you?\" she asked.\n\n\"You supposedly came to free me, and now you doubt who I am?\"\n\n\"I came to free Degan Gaunt, but who are you?\"\n\n\"I won't tell you the name of my sister.\"\n\n\"In that case, I think I will sleep.\" She meant it as a bluff, but as the silence continued, she dozed off." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hadrian sat on the edge of his bunk, perplexed by the tabard. A single red, diagonal strip decorated each side. Depending on how he wore it, the stripe either started from his right or left shoulder, and he could not figure out which was correct.\n\nAshe finally made a decision and placed it over his head, there was a quiet knock followed by the timid opening of his door. A man's face, accentuated by a beaklike nose and topped by a foppish powdered wig, peered inside. \"Excuse me, I'm looking for Sir Hadrian.\"\n\n\"Congratulations, you found him,\" Hadrian replied.\n\nThe man entered, followed closely by a boy who remained near the door. Thin and brittle-looking, the man was dressed in bright satin knee breeches and an elaborate, ruffled tunic. Even without the outlandish clothing, he would still be comical. Encased in buckled shoes, his feet seemed disproportionally large, and all his limbs were gangly. The teenage lad behind him wore the more conventional attire of a simple brown tunic and hose.\n\n\"My name is Nimbus of Vernes, and I am Imperial Tutor to the Empress. Regent Saldur thought you might need some guidance on court protocol and instruction in knightly virtues, so he asked me to assist you.\"\n\n\"Pleased to meet you,\" Hadrian said. He stood and offered his hand. At first Nimbus appeared confused, but then he reached out and shook.\n\nMotioning toward the tabard Hadrian wore, he nodded. \"I can see why I was called upon.\"\n\nHadrian glanced down and shrugged. \"Well, I figured I had a fifty-fifty chance.\" Removing the garment, he turned the tunic around. \"Is that better?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nimbus struggled to suppress a laugh, holding a lace handkerchief to his lips. The boy was not so restrained and snorted, then laughed out loud. This made Nimbus lose his own battle, and finally Hadrian found himself laughing as well.\n\n\"I'm sorry. That was most inappropriate of me,\" Nimbus apologized, getting a hold of himself. \"I beg your forgiveness.\"\n\n\"It's no problem. Just tell me what I'm doing wrong.\"\n\n\"Well, to start with, that particular garment is used only for sparring, and no self-respecting knight would wear such a thing at court.\"\n\nHadrian shrugged. \"Oh, okay, good to know. It was the only thing I saw. Any ideas?\"\n\nNimbus walked to a drape behind the bunk, and flung it aside, revealing an open wardrobe filled with tunics, jackets, coats, capes, jerkins, gambesons, vests, doublets, baldrics, belts, breeches, shirts, hose, boots, and shoes.\n\nHadrian looked at the wardrobe and frowned. \"So how was I supposed to know all that was there?\"\n\n\"Why don't we begin by getting you properly dressed?\" Nimbus suggested and motioned for Hadrian to pick something.\n\nHe reached toward a pair of wool pants, but a cough from Nimbus stopped him.\n\n\"No?\" Hadrian asked.\n\nNimbus shook his head.\n\n\"Okay, what do you think I should be wearing?\"\n\nNimbus considered the wardrobe for several minutes, picking out various pieces, comparing them, putting one back, and then choosing another. He finally selected a white shirt, gold doublet, purple hose, and shiny black shoes with brass buckles. He laid them out on the bunk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You're joking,\" Hadrian said, staring at the array." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's your best choice? I'm not sure gold and purple are for me. Besides, what's wrong with the wool pants?\"\n\n\"Those are for hunting and, like the tabard, not appropriate for dress at court. Gold and purple complement each other. They announce you area man that makes no excuses.\"\n\nHadrian held up the clothes with a grimace. \"They're loud. Disturbingly loud.\"\n\n\"They exude refinement and grace,\" Nimbus corrected. \"Qualities, if you don't mind me saying, from which you could benefit. I know knights in the field dress in order to bully rabble-rousers and brigands, and under such circumstances, it's appropriate to select garments based on certain utilitarian qualities.\" He took an appraising look at Hadrian's attire. \" But you are at the palace now, competing with a higher class of... thug. A strong arm and loud voice will not be enough. You need to sell yourself to the knights you wish to intimidate, to the ladies you wish to bed, to the lords you wish to impress, and to the commoners who will chant your name during the competitions. This last group is particularly important, as it will raise your stature with the others.\n\n\"A knight skilled in combat may stay alive, but it is the one skilled in persuasion that wins the king's daughter for his wife and retires to avast estate. Truly successful knights can obtain multiple fiefs and enter their twilight years as wealthy as any count or earl.\"\n\nNimbus lowered his voice. \"Regent Saldur mentioned that you might be a bit rough around the edges.\" He paused briefly. \"I think we can both agree I've not been misled. It may take some doing to refine your mannerisms. So, in the meantime, I plan to overcompensate with clothing. We'll blind everyone with dazzle, so they won't seethe dirt on your face.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hadrian reached for his cheek.\n\n\"That was a metaphor,\" Nimbus informed him. \"Although now that I look at you, a bath is certainly in order.\"\n\n\"Bath? It's freezing outside. You're supposed to groom me, not kill me.\"\n\n\"You maybe surprised to discover that in civilized society we bathe indoors with heated water. You might even find it enjoyable.\" Turning to the boy, Nimbus ordered, \"Renwick, run and fetch the tub and get some others to help carry buckets. We'll also need a bristle brush, soap, oils, and-oh yes-scissors.\"\n\nThe lad ran off and quickly returned with a small army of boys carrying a wooden tub. They left and returned with buckets of hot water. After preparing the bath, all the boys left except Renwick. He dutifully stood beside the door, ready for further requests.\n\nHadrian undressed and tested the water with a hesitant foot.\n\n\"Are you versed in the basic concept of bathing? Or do you need me to instruct you?\" Nimbus asked.\n\nHadrian scowled at him. \"I think I can handle it,\" he said, settling into the water. The tub overflowed and created a soapy mess. He grimaced. \"Sorry about that.\"\n\nNimbus said nothing and turned away to give Hadrian a modicum of privacy.\n\nThe hot bath was wonderful. Hadrian had been assigned an interior chamber selected, no doubt, for its lack of windows. There was a simple bed, two wooden stools, a modest table, but no fireplace, which left the chamber chilly. If desperate, there was a large hearth in the common room at the end of the hall that also sported carpets and a chess set, but despite the cold Hadrian preferred to remain in the isolation of his private room. Having not felt comfortably warm in days, Hadrian sank lower to submerge as much of himself as possible." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are these yours?\" Nimbus asked, noticing Hadrian's weapons resting in the corner of the room.\n\n\"Yes, and I know they're worn and dirty just like me.\"\n\nNimbus lifted the spadone still encased in the leather baldric with a noticeable degree of reverence. Turning it over gingerly, he ran his fingertips along the hilt, grip, and pommel. \"This is very old,\" he said almost to himself. \"Wrong sheath though.\" He laid the sword across the foot of the bed.\n\n\"I thought you were a courtier. What do you know about swords?\"\n\n\"You'll learn that there are many weapons at court. Survival in the maelstrom of the body politic requires being able to size up another by what little they reveal to you.\"\n\nHadrian shrugged. \"It's the same in combat.\"\n\n\"Court is combat,\" Nimbus said. \"Only the skills and setting differ.\"\n\n\"So, how would you size me up?\"\n\n\"Regent Saldur told me your background is completely confidential and that divulging anything would result in my-not too painless-demise. The only information he provided was that you were recently knighted. He refrained from any detail about your station or ancestry. The regent merely mentioned you were lacking refinement and instructed me to ensure you fit seamlessly into the Wintertide festivities.\"\n\nHadrian kept an unwavering stare on the tutor. \"You didn't answer the question.\"\n\nNimbus smiled at him. \"You really want to know, don't you? You aren't toying with me?\"\n\nHadrian nodded.\n\nThe tutor turned to the page. \"Renwick?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir?\"\n\n\"Fetch Sir Hadrian a cup of wine from the steward in the kitchen.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There's wine in the common room, sir, and it's closer.\"\n\nNimbus gave him astern look. \"I want some privacy, Renwick.\"\n\n\"Oh, I see. Of course, sir.\"\n\n\"Very well then,\" Nimbus said after the boy left. He pursed his lips and tapped them several times with his index finger before continuing. \"The truth of the matter is that you are not a knight. You haven't even served as a squire, groom, or page. I doubt you've ever set foot in a proper castle for more than a few minutes at a time. However, and this is the important point-you are indeed noble.\"\n\nHadrian paused in his scrubbing. \"And what makes you think that?\"\n\n\"You didn't know where the wardrobe was, you've never taken a bath in winter, you shook my hand when we met, and apologized for spilling your bathwater. These are most certainly not the actions of a knight raised from birth to feel and act superior to others.\"\n\nHadrian sniffed the scented soap and discarded it.\n\n\"Most telling, however, was the handshake itself. You offered it as a simple gesture of greeting. There was no agenda, no flattery, no insincerity. There also was no insecurity or sense that, by virtue of my clothes and mannerisms, I was your better. How odd, considering, as I now know, you were not raised a noble.\" Nimbus looked back at the sword resting on the bed. \"It's an heirloom, isn't it?\"\n\nPicking up a bottle of oil, Hadrian pulled the cork and deemed it acceptable. He added a bit to the bristles of the brush. \"I got it from my father.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The tutor ran his hand along the sheathed blade. \"This is a remarkable weapon-a knight's sword-tarnished with time and travel. You don't use it as often as the others. The bastard and short sword are tools to you, but this-ah-this is something else-something revered. It lies concealed in a paltry sheath, covered in clothes not its own. It doesn't belong there. This sword belongs to another time and place. It is part of a grand and glorious world where knights were different, loftier-virtuous. It rests in this false scabbard because the proper one has been lost, or perhaps, it waits fora quest yet to be finished. It longs for that single moment when it can shine forth in all its brilliance. When dream and destiny meet on a clear field, then and only then will it find its purpose. When it faces that honorable cause-that one worthy and desperate challenge for which it was forged and on which so much depends-it will find peace in the crucible of struggle. For good or ill, it will ring true or break. But the wandering, the waiting, the hiding will at last be over. This sword waits for the day when it can save the kingdom and win the lady.\"\n\nHadrian sat staring, not realizing that he had dropped his brush.\n\nNimbus appeared to take no notice of Hadrian's reaction and took a seat on the bunk with a satisfied smile across his face. \"Now, while I have your attention, shall we address the task to which I was assigned?\"\n\nHadrian nodded.\n\n\"To help me judge whereto start, can you tell me what you already know about chivalry?\" Nimbus asked.\n\n\"It's a code of conduct for knights,\" Hadrian replied, searching the bottom of the tub for the lost brush." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes-well you are essentially correct. What do you know of its principles?\"\n\n\"Be honorable, be brave, that sort of thing.\"\n\n\"That sort of thing? Oh, I'm afraid we'll have to start with the basics. Very well, please pay attention, and don't forget to scrub the bottoms of your feet.\"\n\nHadrian frowned but lifted afoot.\n\n\"The knightly virtues derive themselves from a standard of ethics passed down from the original Empire. There are eight such virtues. The first is proficiency. It is the easiest to achieve as it merely means skill at arms and can be obtained through practice and observation. Judging from the wear on your weapons, I trust you have a solid understanding of this virtue?\"\n\n\"I'm able to hold my own.\"\n\nNimbus nodded. \" Excellent. Next is courage, one of the most important virtues. Courage, however, is not so cheaply bought as by charging against overwhelming odds. It can take many forms. For instance, the bravery to choose life over death, especially if that means living with loss. Or the will to risk all fora cause too noble to let perish. Courage can even be found in surrender-if doing so will mean the survival of something too valuable to lose.\n\n\"The third virtue of a knight is honesty. To possess honor, a man must first strive to be honest to men, to women, to children, to great and to small, to the good and to the villainous but mostly to himself. A knight does not make excuses.\"\n\nHadrian made an extra effort to keep his eyes focused on scrubbing his feet.\n\n\"Integrity is a virtue that comprises both loyalty and honor. Possessing integrity often means adhering to a pledge or principle. Loyalty to a sovereign is the mark of a goodly knight. However, integrity can also mean defending those in need who cannot help themselves. A knight should always work for the good of the king third, the betterment of the kingdom second, but always place what is right first.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How does a knight know what is right?\" Hadrian interrupted. He put down the brush, letting his foot slip back to the bottom of the tub. \"I mean... What if I'm forced to choose between two evils. Someone could get hurt no matter what I do. How do I decide?\"\n\n\"True nobility lies in the heart. You must do what you know to be right.\"\n\n\"How do I know I'm not being selfish?\"\n\n\"Ah, that brings us to the next virtue-faith. Faith is not simply a belief in the tenets of the church but a belief in virtue itself. A knight does not find fault. As mentioned, a knight believes in the good of all men, including himself. He trusts in this belief. A knight is confident in the word of others, in the merits of his lord, the worth of his commands, and in his own worth.\"\n\nHadrian nodded, though the words did not help ease his conscience.\n\n\"Generosity is the sixth virtue. A knight should show bounteousness to all, noble and commoner alike. More important than generosity of wares is a generosity of spirit. A knight believes the best of others and always extends the benefit of doubt. A knight does not accuse. He does not assume wrongdoing. Still, a knight grants no benefit to himself and always questions if he is at fault.\n\n\"Respect is the virtue concerning the good treatment of others. A knight is not thoughtless. He does not harm through recklessness. He seeks not to injure by lazy words or foolishness. A knight does not mimic the bad behavior of others. Instead, he sees it as an opportunity to demonstrate virtue by contrast.\"\n\nNimbus paused. \"I don't think you need worry too much about this one either.\" He offered a smile before continuing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The final virtue is sincerity, which is elusive at best. Nobility by birthright is clear, but what is in question here is noblesse of heart and cannot be taught or learned. It must be accepted and allowed to grow. This virtue is demonstrated through bearing not swagger, confidence not arrogance, kindness not pity, belief not patronage, authenticity not pretension.\n\n\"Thus are the virtues that comprise the Code of Chivalry,\" Nimbus concluded. \"The path of goodness and truth to which men of high honor aspire. The reality, however, is often quite different.\"\n\nAs if on cue, the door burst open and three men tumbled inside. They were large, stocky brutes dressed in fine doublets with silk trim. The lead man sported a goatee and stood near the door, pointing at Hadrian.\n\n\"There he is!\" he announced.\n\n\"Well, he certainly isn't this little sod,\" roared a second man, who pushed Nimbus hard in the chest and knocked the tutor back against the bunk. This man was the largest of the three and wore several days of beard growth. The insult, as well as the terrified expression on the courtier's face, brought the new arrivals to laughter.\n\n\"What's your name, Twig?\" the man with the goatee asked.\n\n\"I am Nimbus of Vernes,\" he said while attempting to stand and regain some level of dignity. \"I am Imperial Tutor to-\"\n\n\"Tutor? He's got a tutor!\"\n\nThey howled in laughter again.\n\n\"Tell us, Twig, what are you teaching Sir Bumpkin here? How to wash his arse? Is that your job? Have you taught him to use the chamber pot yet?\"\n\nNimbus did not answer. He clenched his teeth and fixed his eyes on the unkempt man before him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I think you're getting under that ruffled collar of his,\" the last of them observed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was clean-shaven and sipped wine from a goblet. \"Careful, Elgar, he's made fists.\"\n\n\"Is that true?\" Elgar looked at the tutor's hands, which were indeed tightly clenched. \"Oh dear! Am I impinging on your sacred pedagogical honor? Would you like to throw a punch at me, little Twig? Put me in my proper place, as it were?\"\n\n\"If he takes a big enough swing, it's possible you might actually feel it,\" the shaved one said.\n\n\"I asked you a question, Twig,\" Elgar pressed.\n\n\"If you don't mind, we'll continue this another time,\" Nimbus said to Hadrian. \"It would seem you have guests.\"\n\nElgar blocked the tutor's path as he tried to leave and shoved him again. Staggering backward, Nimbus fell onto the bed.\n\n\"Leave him alone,\" Hadrian ordered as he stood and grabbed a towel.\n\n\"Ah, Sir Bumpkin, in all his regal glory!\" proclaimed the man with the goatee, pointing. \"Well, not that regal and certainly not that glorious!\"\n\n\"Who are you?\" Hadrian demanded, stepping out of the tub and wrapping a towel around himself.\n\n\"I am Sir Murthas and the gent with the handsome face beside me here is Sir Gilbert. Over there, that dashing fellow holding the pleasant conversation with the twig is none other than Sir Elgar. We are the three finest knights of the realm, as you will soon discover. We wanted to welcome you to the palace, deliver you a fond tiding, and wish you luck on the field-as luck is all you'll have.\"\n\nNimbus snorted. \"They're here because they heard a bath was ordered and wanted to see your scars. Knowing nothing about you, they came to see if you have any fresh bruises or recent wounds they might take advantage of on the field. Also, they are trying to intimidate you, as a man in a tub is at a disadvantage. Intimidation can frequently win a contest before it starts.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sir Elgar grabbed hold of Nimbus, pulling him up by his tunic. \"Talkative little bastard, aren't you?\" He raised a fist just as a sopping towel slammed into his face.\n\n\"Sorry. Elgar, is it?\" Hadrian asked. \"Just got done drying my ass and noticed a smudge on your cheek.\"\n\nElgar threw off the towel and drew his sword. In just two steps, the knight cut the distance to Hadrian who stood naked and unflinching even as Elgar raised the blade's tip toward his throat.\n\n\"Brave bugger, I'll give you that much,\" Elgar said. \"But that just means you'll bean easier target along the fence. You might want to save that water. You'll need it after I put you in the mud.\" Sheathing his sword, he led his friends from the room, nearly colliding with Renwick, who stood outside the door holding a goblet of wine.\n\n\"You all right?\" Hadrian asked, grabbing afresh towel.\n\n\"Yes, of course,\" Nimbus replied in an unsteady voice. He smoothed the material of his tunic.\n\n\"Your wine, sir,\" Renwick said to Hadrian.\n\nWithout pause, Nimbus took the cup and drained it. \"As I was saying, the reality can be quite different.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Royce stood before the window of the bedroom, watching Gwen sleep and thinking about their future. He pushed the thought away and suppressed the urge to smile. Just imagining it would bring disaster. The gods-if they existed-detested happiness. Instead, he turned and looked out over the cloistered courtyard.\n\nThe previous night's storm left everything covered in anew dress of unblemished white. The only exception was a single line of footprints that led from the dormitory to a stone bench where a familiar figure sat wrapped in a monk's habit. He was alone, yet the movement of his hands and the bob of his head revealed he was speaking with great earnest. Across from the monk was a small tree. Planting it was one of the first things Myron did when he returned to the abbey after the fire. It now stood a proud eight feet tall but was so slender it drooped under the snow's weight. Royce knew there was great resiliency in a tree accustomed to bending in the wind, but he wondered if the strain could be endured. There was a breaking point for everything, after all. As if reading his thoughts, Myron rose and gave the tree alight shake. He had to stand close to do so, and much of the snow fell on his head. The tree sprang back, and without the burden of snow, it appeared more like its former self. Myron returned to his seat and his conversation. Royce knew he was not speaking to the tree but to his boyhood friend who was buried there.\n\n\"You're up early,\" Gwen said from where she lay with her head on a clutched pillow. He could make out the elegant slope of her waist and rise of her hip beneath the covers. \"After last night I would have thought you'd be sleeping late.\"\n\n\"We went to bed early.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But we didn't sleep,\" she teased.\n\n\"It was better than sleep. Besides, around here, after first light is sleeping in. Myron is already outside.\"\n\n\"He does that so he can talk privately.\" She smiled and drew back the covers invitingly. \"Isn't it cold next to that window?\"\n\n\"You're a bad influence,\" he said, lying down and wrapping his arms around her. He marveled at the softness of her skin. She drew the quilt over both of them and laid her head on his chest.\n\nTheir room was one of the bigger guest chambers, which was three times larger than any of the monks'cells. Gwen, who left Medford a week before Breckton's invasion, had arranged to bring everything with her, even her canopied bed, carpets, and wall hangings. Looking around the room, Royce could easily imagine he was back on Wayward Street. He felt at home but not because of the decorations. All he needed was Gwen.\n\n\"Am I corrupting you?\" she asked playfully.\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\nHis fingers caressed her bare shoulder and ran along the swirled tattoo. \"This last trip Hadrian and I went on, we went to Calis... into the jungles. We stayed in a Tenkin village where I met an unusual woman.\"\n\n\"Did you? Was she beautiful?\"\n\n\"Yes, very.\"\n\n\"Tenkin women can be exceptionally attractive.\"\n\n\"Yes, they can. And this one had a tattoo that-\"\n\n\"Did Hadrian find the heir?\"\n\n\"No-well, yes, but not how we expected. We stumbled on the news the Empire is holding him in Aquesta. They're going to execute him on Wintertide. But this tattoo-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Execute him?\" Gwen pushed herself upon one elbow, looking surprised-too surprised to just be avoiding questions. \"Shouldn't you be helping Hadrian?\"\n\n\"I will, although I'm not sure why. I was hardly any help on the last trip, and I didn't need to save him. So your little prophesy was wrong.\"\n\nHe thought it would put Gwen at ease to know her prediction of disaster had not come to pass. Instead, she pushed him away-the familiar sadness returned.\n\n\"You need to go help him,\" she said firmly. \"I might be wrong about the timing, but I'm not wrong about Hadrian dying unless you are thereto save him.\"\n\n\"Hadrian will be fine until I get back.\"\n\nShe hesitated, took a deep breath, and laid her head back down. Hiding her face against his chest, she became quiet.\n\n\"What's the matter?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"I am a corrupting influence.\"\n\n\"I wouldn't worry about that,\" he told her. \"Personally, I've always rather liked corruption.\"\n\nThere was along pause, and he watched her head riding on the swells of his breath. Running his fingers through her hair, he marveled at it-at her. He touched the tattoo again.\n\n\"Royce, can we just lie here a little while?\" She squeezed him, rubbing her cheek against his chest. \"Can we just be still and listen to the wind and make-believe it is blowing past us?\"\n\n\"Isn't it?\"\n\n\"No,\" she said, \"but I want to pretend.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"There wasn't much of a fight,\" Magnus said.\n\nRoyce always thought the dwarf's voice sounded louder and deeper than it should for someone his size. They sat at along table in the refectory. Now that he knew Gwen was safe, Royce's appetite returned. The monks prepared an excellent meal accompanied by the first good wine he had tasted in ages.\n\n\"Alric just ran,\" Magnus said while mopping up the last of an egg. For someone so small, he ate a lot and never passed up an opportunity for food. \"So Breckton's army took over everything except Drondil Fields, but they'll have that soon.\"\n\n\"Who burned Medford?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"Medford was burned?\"\n\n\"When I came through there a couple days ago, it was.\"\n\nThe dwarf shrugged. \"If I had to guess, I'd say church-led fanatics out of Chadwick or maybe Dunmore. They've been pillaging homes and hunting elves since the invasion.\"\n\nMagnus finished eating and leaned back with his feet on an empty stool. Gwen sat beside Royce, clutching his arm as if she owned him. The very idea of belonging to her was so strange that he found it distracting but, he was surprised to discover he enjoyed the sensation.\n\n\"So how long are you back for?\" the dwarf asked. \"Got time to let me see Alver-\"\n\n\"I'm leaving as soon as Myron gets done.\" Royce noticed a look from Gwen. \"I'm sure it won't take him more than a few days.\"\n\n\"What's he doing?\"\n\n\"Drawing a map. Myron saw a floor plan of the palace once, so he's off reproducing it. He said it's old... real old... dates back to Glenmorgan apparently.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"When you leave,\" Gwen said, \"take Mouse." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Give Ryn's horse to Myron.\"\n\n\"What does Myron need with a horse?\" he asked. Gwen just smiled, and Royce knew better than to question further. \"Okay, but I'm warning you now. He'll spoil it rotten.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Myron sat at his desk in the scriptorium carrell, arguably his favorite place in the world. The peaked desk and small stool took upmost of the cramped space between the stone columns. To his left, a half-moon window overlooked the courtyard.\n\nOutside, the world appeared frightfully cold. The wind howled past the window, leaving traces of snow in the corners of the leading. The hilltop scrub shook with winter's fury. Peering out, Myron appreciated the coziness of his tiny study. The niche in the room enveloped him like a rodent's burrow. Ofttimes Myron considered how he might like to be a mole or shrew, not a Dusky or Greater White-tooth, or even a Lesser White-tooth Shrew, but just a common shrew, or perhaps a mole. How pleasant an existence it would be to live underground safe and warm in small, hidden chambers. He could lookout at the vast world with a sense of awe and delight in knowing there was no reason to venture forth.\n\nHe put the finishing touches on the drawing for Royce and returned to working on the final pages of Elquin. This was the masterwork of the fifth dynastic poet Orintine Fallon, a massive tome of personal reflections on how the patterns of nature related to the patterns in life. When completed, it would be the twentieth book in Myron's quest to restore the Winds Abbey library, with a mere three hundred and fifty-two remaining-not including the five hundred and twenty-four scrolls and one thousand two hundred and thirteen individual parchments. For more than two years\" work, that accomplishment might not seem impressive, but Myron only scribed full-time in the winter, as the warmer months were devoted to helping put the finishing touches on the monastery.\n\nThe new Winds Abbey was nearly completed. To most, it would appear exactly as it once was, but Myron knew better. It had the same type of windows, doors, desks, and beds, but they were not the same ones. The roof was exactly as he remembered, yet it was different-just like the people. He missed Brothers Ginlin, Heslon, and the rest. Not that Myron was unhappy with his new family. He liked the new abbot, Harkon. Brother Bendlton was a very fine cook, and Brother Zephyr was marvelous at drawing and helped Myron with many of his illuminations. They were all wonderful, but like the windows, doors, and beds, they were not the same." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, for the last time, no!\" Royce shouted as he entered the small scriptorium, pursued by Magnus.\n\n\"Just fora day or two,\" Magnus pleaded. \"You can spare the dagger for that long. I only want to look at it-study it. I won't damage it.\"\n\n\"Leave me alone.\"\n\nThe two made their way toward Myron, weaving between the other desks. There were two dozen in the room, but only Myron's was used with any regularity.\n\n\"Oh, Royce, I've just finished. But you might want to wait for the ink to dry.\"\n\nRoyce held the map to the light, scanning it critically for several minutes.\n\nMyron became concerned. \"Something wrong?\"\n\n\"I can't believe how things like this are just sitting in your head. It's incredible. And you say this is a map of the palace?\"\n\n\"The notation reads: \"Warric Castle,\"\" Myron pointed out.\n\n\"That's no map,\" Magnus said with a scowl, looking at the parchment Royce held out of his reach.\n\n\"How would you know?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"Because what you have there are construction plans. You can seethe builder's marks.\"\n\nRoyce lowered the scroll and Magnus pointed. \"See here, the builder jotted down the amount of stone needed.\"\n\nRoyce looked at the dwarf and then at Myron. \"Is that right?\"\n\nMyron shrugged. \"Could be. I only know what I saw. I have no idea what it means.\"\n\nRoyce turned back to Magnus. \"So you understand these markings, these symbols.\"\n\n\"Sure, it's just basic engineering.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can you tell me where the dungeon is by looking at this?\"\n\nThe dwarf took the plans and laid them on the floor, as the desks were too high to reach. He motioned fora candle and Royce brought it over. Magnus studied the map for several minutes before declaring, \"Nope. No dungeon.\"\n\nRoyce frowned. \"That doesn't make sense. I've never heard of a palace or castle that didn't have some kind of dungeon.\"\n\n\"Well, that's not the only strange thing about this place,\" Magnus said.\n\n\"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"Well, there's nothing, and I mean nothing at all, below ground level. Not so much as a root cellar.\"\n\n\"So?\"\n\n\"So you can't stack tons of stone on just dirt. It will sink. Rain will erode it. The walls will shift and collapse.\"\n\n\"But it hasn't,\" Myron said. \"The records I reproduced date back hundreds of years.\"\n\n\"Which makes no sense. These plans show no supporting structure. No piles driven down to bedrock, no columns. There's nothing holding this place up. At least nothing drawn here.\"\n\n\"So what does that mean?\"\n\n\"Not sure, but if I were to guess, it's\"cuz it's built on top of something else. They must have used an existing foundation.\"\n\n\"Knowing that and looking at this... Could you give mean idea of where a dungeon is, if you were there?\"\n\n\"Sure. Just need to see what it's sitting on and give a good listen to the ground around it. I found you that tunnel to Avempartha, after all.\"\n\n\"All right, get packed. You're coming with me to Aquesta.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What about the dagger?\"\n\n\"I promise to bequeath it to you when I die.\"\n\n\"I can't wait until then.\"\n\n\"Don't worry. At this rate, it won't be too long.\" Royce turned back to Myron. \"Thanks for the help.\"\n\n\"Royce?\" Myron stopped the thief as they started to leave.\n\n\"Yeah?\"\n\nMyron waited until Magnus left. \"Can I ask you something about Miss DeLancy?\"\n\nRoyce raised an eyebrow. \"Is something wrong? Is the abbot upset with her and the girls being here?\"\n\n\"Oh no, nothing like that. They have been wonderful. It's nice having sisters as well as brothers. And Miss DeLancy has a very nice voice.\"\n\n\"Nice voice?\"\n\n\"The abbot keeps us segregated from the women, so we don't see them much. They eat at different times and sleep in separate dormitories, but the abbot invites the ladies to join in vespers. A few come, including Miss DeLancy. She always arrives with her head covered and face veiled. She's quiet, but from time to time, I notice her whispering a prayer. Each service begins with a hymn and Miss DeLancy joins in. She sings softly but I can hear her. She has a wonderful voice, haunting, beautiful but also sad like the song of a nightingale.\"\n\n\"Oh.\" Royce nodded. \"Well, good. I'm glad there isn't a problem.\"\n\n\"I wouldn't call it a problem, but...\"\n\n\"But?\"\n\n\"I often see her in the mornings when I go to the Squirrel Tree to talk with Renian. Miss DeLancy sometimes takes walks in the cloister, and she always stops by to pay her respects to us when she does.\" Myron paused." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And?\" Royce prompted.\n\n\"Well, it's just that one morning she took my hand and looked at my palm for several minutes.\"\n\n\"Uh-oh,\" Royce muttered.\n\n\"Yes,\" Myron said with wide eyes.\n\n\"What did she say?\"\n\n\"She told me I would betaking two trips-both sudden and unexpected. She said I would not feel up to it, but I should not be afraid.\"\n\n\"Of what?\"\n\n\"She didn't say.\"\n\n\"Typical.\"\n\n\"Then she told me something else and was sad like when she sings.\"\n\n\"What was it?\" Royce asked.\n\n\"She said she wanted to thank me in advance and tell me it wasn't my fault.\"\n\n\"She didn't explain that either, did she?\"\n\nMyron shook his head. \"But it was very disturbing-the way she said it-so serious and all. Do you know what I mean?\"\n\n\"All too well.\"\n\nMyron sat upon his stool and took a breath. \"You know her. Should I be concerned?\"\n\n\"I always am.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Royce walked the courtyard in the early-morning light. He had a habit of getting up before dawn. To avoid waking Gwen, he slipped out to wander the abbey's grounds. Scaffolding remained here and there, but the majority of the monastery was finished. Alric had financed the reconstruction as a payment to Riyria for saving Arista when their Uncle Braga tried to kill her. Magnus oversaw its construction and seemed genuinely happy to be restoring the buildings to their former splendor, even though working with Myron frustrated the dwarf. Myron provided detailed, although unorthodox, specifications describing dimensions in the height of several butter churns, the width of a specific book, or the length of a spoon. Despite this, the buildings went up and Royce had to admit the monk and the dwarf had done an excellent job.\n\nThat day, the ground was covered in a thick frost and the sky lightened to a bright, clear blue as Royce made his morning rounds. Myron had finished the map, and he knew he should be leaving soon, but Royce was stalling. He enjoyed lingering in bed with Gwen and taking walks with her in the courtyard. Noticing the sun rising above the buildings, he headed back inside. Gwen would be up and having breakfast together was always the best part of their day. When he reached their room, Gwen was still in bed, her back to the door.\n\n\"Gwen? Are you feeling all right?\"\n\nShe rolled over to face him and he saw the tears in her eyes.\n\nRoyce rushed to her side. \"What is it, what's wrong?\"\n\nShe reached out and hugged him. \"Royce, I'm sorry. I wish there was more time. I wish...\"\n\n\"Gwen? What-\"\n\nSomeone knocked at the door and the force pushed it open. The portly abbot and a stranger stood awkwardly on the other side." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What is it?\" Royce snapped as he studied the stranger.\n\nHe was young and dressed in filthy clothes. His face showed signs of windburn and the tip of his nose looked frostbitten.\n\n\"Begging you pardon, Master Melborn,\" the abbot said. \"This man rode in great haste from Aquesta to deliver a message to you.\"\n\nRoyce glanced at Gwen and stood up even as her fingers struggled to hold him. \"What's the message?\"\n\n\"Albert Winslow told me you would pay an extra gold tenent if I arrived quickly. I rode straight through.\"\n\n\"What's the message?\" Royce's voice took on a cold chill.\n\n\"Hadrian Blackwater has been captured and is imprisoned in the Imperial Palace.\"\n\nRoyce ran a hand through his hair, barely hearing Gwen thank the man as she paid him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Brilliant sunlight illuminated the interior of the stable as Royce entered. The planks comprising the stalls were still pale yellow, not yet having aged to gray. The smell of sawdust mingled pleasantly with the scents of manure, straw, and hay.\n\n\"I should have guessed you'd be here,\" Royce said, startling Myron who stood inside the stall between the two horses.\n\n\"Good morning. I was blessing your horse. Not knowing which you would take, I blessed them both. Besides, someone has to do the petting. Brother Hinkle cleans the stalls very well, but he never takes time to scratch their necks or rub their noses. In the Song of Beringer, Sir Adwhite wrote: Everyone deserves a little happiness. It's true don't you think?\" Myron stroked the dark horse's nose. \"I know Mouse, but who is this?\"\n\n\"His name is Hivenlyn.\"\n\nMyron tilted his head, working something out while moving his lips. \"And was he?\" the monk asked.\n\n\"Was he what?\"\n\n\"An unexpected gift.\"\n\nRoyce smiled. \"Yes-yes he was. Oh, and he's yours now.\"\n\n\"Mine?\"\n\n\"Yes, compliments of Gwen.\"\n\nRoyce saddled Mouse and attached the bags of food the abbot had prepared while Royce was saying his goodbyes to Gwen. There had been too many partings over the years, each harder than the one before.\n\n\"So you are off to help Hadrian?\"\n\n\"And when I get back, I'm taking Gwen and we're leaving, going away from everyone and everything. Like you said, \"Everyone deserves a little happiness,\" right?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Myron smiled. \"Absolutely. Only...\"\n\n\"Only what?\"\n\nThe monk paused before speaking again, rubbing Mouse's neck one last time. \"Happiness comes from moving toward something. When you runaway, ofttimes you bring your misery with you.\"\n\n\"Who are you quoting now?\"\n\n\"No one,\" Myron said. \"I learned that one firsthand.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The fourteen-day-long Wintertide festival officially began with the Feast of Nobles in the palace's Great Hall. Twenty-seven colorful banners hung from the ceiling, each with the emblem of a noble house of Avryn. Five were noticeably absent, leaving gaps in the procession, including the blue tower on the white field of House Lanaklin of Glouston, the red diamond on the black field of House Hestle of Bernum, the white lily on the greenfield of House Exeter of Hanlin, the gold sword on the greenfield of House Pickering of Galilin, and the gold-crowned falcon on the red field of House Essendon of Melengar. In times of peace, the hall welcomed all thirty-two families in celebration. The gaps in the line of banners were a reminder of the costs of war.\n\nThe palace shimmered with the decorations of the holiday season. Wreaths and strings of garland festooned the walls and framed the windows. Elaborate chandeliers, draped in red and gold streamers, spilled light across polished marble floors. Four large stone hearths filled the Great Hall with a warm orange glow. And rows of tall arched windows gowned in snowflake-embroidered curtains let in the last light of the setting sun.\n\nOn a dais at the far end of the room, the head table ran along the interior wall. Like rays from the sun, three longer tables extended out from it, trimmed with fanciful centerpieces woven from holly branches and accentuated with pinecones.\n\nAs many as fifty nobles already filled the hall, each dressed in his or her finest garments. Some stood in groups speaking in lordly voices, others gathered in shadowed corners whispering in hushed tones, but the majority sat conversing at the tables." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They look pretty, don't they?\" Nimbus whispered to Hadrian. \"So do snakes in the right light. Treat them the same way. Keep your distance, watch their eyes, and back away if you rattle them. Do that, and you might survive.\"\n\nNimbus looked him over one last time and brushed something off Hadrian's shoulder. He wore the gold and purple outfit-and felt ridiculous.\n\n\"I wish I had my swords. Not only do I look silly, but I feel naked.\"\n\n\"You have your pretty jeweled dagger,\" Nimbus said, smiling. \"This is a feast, not a tavern. A knight does not go armed before his liege. It's not only considered rude, it also suggests treason. We don't want that now, do we? Just keep your wits about you and try not to say much. The more you talk, the more ammunition you provide. And remember what I told you about table manners.\"\n\n\"You're not coming?\" Hadrian asked, suddenly concerned.\n\n\"I will be seated with Lady Amilia at the head table. If you get in trouble, look for me. I'll do what I can. Now remember, you're at the third table, left side, fourth chair from the end. Good luck.\"\n\nNimbus slipped away and Hadrian stepped into the hall. The instant he did he regretted it, realizing he was not certain which side was left, what table was third, or which end he should count from. Heads turned at his entrance, and the looks on their faces brought back memories of the aftermath of the Battle of Ramar. On that day, carrion birds had feasted on the bodies as Hadrian walked through the battlefield. Hoping to drive the vultures off, he had shot and killed one of them with an arrow. To his revulsion, the other birds descended on the fresher remains of their fallen comrade. The birds had cocked their heads and looked at him as if to say he had no business being there. Hadrian saw the same look in the eyes of the nobles around him now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And who might you be, good sir?\" a lady said from somewhere off to Hadrian's right.\n\nIn his single-minded effort to find his seat, and with all the chatter in the room, he paid no attention.\n\n\"It is rude to ignore a lady when she speaks to you,\" a man said. His voice was sharp and impossible to ignore.\n\nHadrian turned to see a young man and woman glaring at him. They looked to be twins, as each had blond hair and dazzling blue eyes.\n\n\"It is also dangerous,\" the man went on, \"when she is a princess of the honorable Kingdom of Alburn.\"\n\n\"Um... ah... forgiv-\" Hadrian started to say when the man cut him off.\n\n\"There you have it. The cause for the slight is that the knight has no tongue! You area knight, are you not? Please tell me you are. Please tell me you were some bucolic farmer that a drunken lord jokingly dubbed after you chased a squirrel from his manor. I couldn't stand it if you were another illegitimate son of an earl or duke, who crawled from an alehouse attempting to claim true nobility.\"\n\n\"Let the man try to speak,\" the lady said. \"Surely he suffers from a malady that prevents his mind from forming words properly. It's nothing to make light of, dear brother. It is a true sickness. Perhaps he contracted it from suffering on the battlefield. I am told that placing pebbles in the mouth often helps. Would you care for some, good sir?\"\n\n\"I don't need any pebbles, thank you,\" Hadrian replied coolly.\n\n\"Well, you certainly need something. I mean you are afflicted, aren't you? Why else would you completely ignore me like that? Or do you delight in insulting a lady, whose only offense is to ask your name?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I didn't-I mean I wasn't-\"\n\n\"Oh dear, there he goes again,\" she said with a pitiful look. \"Please send a servant to fetch some pebbles at once.\"\n\n\"I daresay,\" her brother began, \"I don't think we have time for the pebbles. Perhaps he can simply suck on one or two of these pinecones. Would that help, do you think?\"\n\n\"He doesn't have a speech problem,\" Sir Murthas said as he approached, thumbs hooked in his belt and a wide grin on his face.\n\n\"No?\" the prince and princess asked together.\n\n\"No, indeed, he's merely ignorant. He has his own tutor, you know. When I first met Sir Hadrian-that is the lout's name, by the way-he was in the middle of a bathing lesson. Can you imagine? The poor clod doesn't even know how to wash.\"\n\n\"Oh, now that is troubling.\" The princess began cooling herself with a collapsible fan.\n\n\"Indeed. So at a loss was heat the complexities of bathing that he threw his washcloth at Sir Elgar!\"\n\n\"Such rude behavior is inherent in him, then?\" she asked.\n\n\"Listen I-\" Hadrian started, only to be cutoff again.\n\n\"Careful, Beatrice,\" Murthas said. \"You're agitating him. He might spit or drool on you. If he's that uncouth, who knows what degradations he's capable of. I'll lay money that he'll wet himself next.\"\n\nHadrian was taking a step toward Murthas when he saw Nimbus rushing toward them.\n\n\"Princess Beatrice, Prince Rudolf, and Sir Murthas, a wonderful Wintertide to you all!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They turned to seethe tutor, his arms were spread wide, a joyous smile beamed across his face. \"I see you've met our distinguished guest, Sir Hadrian. I am certain he is far too modest to tell the tale of his recent knighting on the field of battle. A shame, as it is a wonderful and exciting story. Prince Rudolf, I know you'd enjoy hearing it, and in return you can tell of your own heroic battles. Oh, I am sorry, I forgot-you've never actually seen areal battle, have you?\"\n\nThe prince stiffened.\n\n\"And you, Sir Murthas, I can't recall-please tell us-where you were while the empress's armies fought for their lives? Surely, you can relate your exploits of the last year and how you fared while other goodly knights died for the cause of Her Eminence's honor?\"\n\nMurthas opened his mouth, but Nimbus was quicker. Turning to the woman he went on, \"And, My Lady, I want to assure you that you needn't take offense at Sir Hadrian's slight. It is little wonder that he ignored you. For he knows, as we all do, that no honorable lady would ever be so bold as to speak first to a strange man in the same manner as a common whore selling her wares on the street.\"\n\nAll three of them stared speechless at the tutor.\n\n\"If you're still looking for your seat, Sir Hadrian, it's this way,\" Nimbus said, hauling him along. \"Once again, a glorious Wintertide to you all!\"\n\nNimbus directed him to a chair at the end of a table, which so far remained empty.\n\n\"Whoa,\" Hadrian said in awe. \"You just called those men cowards and the princess a whore.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes,\" he said, \"but I did so very politely.\" He winked. \"Now, please do try to stay out of trouble. Sit here and smile. I have to go.\" Nimbus slipped back through the crowd, waving to people as he went.\n\nOnce more, Hadrian felt adrift amidst a sea of eggshells. He looked back and saw the princess and Murthas pointing in his direction and laughing. Not faraway he noted two men watching him. Arms folded, they leaned against a pillar wrapped in red ribbons. The men were conspicuous in that they were the only guests wearing swords. Hadrian recognized the pair, as he had seen them often. They were always standing in the dark, across a room, or just outside a doorway-his own personal shadows.\n\nHadrian turned away and carefully took his seat. Tugging at his clothes, he tried to remember everything Nimbus had taught him: sit up straight, do not fidget, always smile, never start a conversation, do not try anything you are unfamiliar with, and avoid eye contact unless cornered into a conversation. If forced into an introduction, he was supposed to bow rather than shake hands with men. If a lady held out her hand, he should take it and gently kiss its back. Nimbus had advised him to keep several excuses at the ready to escape conversations and to avoid groups of three or more. The most important thing was to appear relaxed and never draw attention to himself.\n\nMinstrels played lutes somewhere near the front of the room, but he could not see them through the sea of people who moved and shifted as if caught in an unseen current. Every so often, insincere laughter burst out. Snide conversations drifted to and fro. The ladies were much better at it than the men. \"Oh, my dear, I simply love that dress!\" A woman's high lilting voice floated from somewhere in the crowd. \"I imagine it is insanely comfortable, given that it is so simple. Mine, on the other hand, with all this elaborate embroidery is nearly impossible to sit in.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm sure you are correct,\" another lady replied. \"But discomfort is such a small sacrifice fora dress that so masterfully masks a lady's physical flaws and imperfections by the sheer complexity of its spacious design.\"\n\nTrying to follow the feints and parries in the conversations around him gave Hadrian a headache. If he closed his eyes, he could almost hear the clash of steel. He was pleased to see that Princess Beatrice, Prince Rudolf, and Sir Murthas took seats at another table. Across from Hadrian, a man wearing a simple monk's robe took a seat. He looked even more out of place than Hadrian. They nodded silently to one another. Still, the chairs flanking him remained vacant.\n\nAt the head table, Ethelred sat beside a massive, empty throne. Kings and their queens filled out the rest of the table, and atone end Nimbus was seated next to Lady Amilia. She sat quietly in a stunning blue dress, her head slightly bowed.\n\nThe music stopped.\n\n\"Your attention, please!\" shouted a fat man in a bright-yellow robe. He held a brass-tipped staff, which he hammered on the stone floor. The sound penetrated the crowd like cracks of thunder and stifled the drone of conversations. \"Please take your seats, the feast is about to begin.\"\n\nThe room filled with the sounds of dragging chairs as the nobility of Avryn settled at their tables. A large man with a graybeard was to the monk's left. To his right, dressed in a pale blue doublet, sat none other than Sir Breckton. The resemblance to Wesley was unmistakable. The knight stood and bowed as a large woman with a massive smile sat down on Hadrian's left. The sight of Genevieve Hargrave of Rochelle was a welcome one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Forgive me, good sir,\" she implored as she struggled into her chair." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Clearly they were expecting a dainty princess to sit here rather than a full-grown duchess! No doubt you were hoping for the same.\" She winked at him.\n\nHadrian knew a response was expected and decided to take a safe approach.\n\n\"I was hoping not to spill anything on myself. I didn't think beyond that.\"\n\n\"Oh dear, now that is a first.\" She looked across the table at the knight. \"I daresay, Sir Breckton, you may have competition this evening.\"\n\n\"How is that, My Lady?\" he asked.\n\n\"This fellow beside me shows all the signs of matching your humble virtue.\"\n\n\"Then I am honored to sit at the same table as he and even more pleased to have you as my view.\"\n\n\"I pity all princesses this evening, for surely I am the luckiest of ladies to be seated with the two of you. What is your name, goodly sir?\" she asked Hadrian.\n\nStill seated, Hadrian realized his error. Like Breckton, he should have stood at Genny's approach. Rising awkwardly, he fumbled a bow. \"I am-Sir Hadrian,\" he said, watching fora raised hand. When she lifted it, he felt foolish but placed alight kiss on its back before sitting down. He expected laughter from the others but no one seemed to notice.\n\n\"I am Genevieve, the Duchess of Rochelle.\"\n\n\"Pleased to meet you,\" Hadrian replied.\n\n\"Surely you know Sir Breckton?\" the duchess asked.\n\n\"Not personally.\"\n\n\"He is the General of the Northern Imperial Army and favored champion of this week's tournament.\"\n\n\"Favored by whom, My Lady?\" Sir Elgar asked, dragging out the seat next to Breckton and sitting with all the elegance of an elephant. \"I believe Maribor favors my talents in this year's competition.\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Partner with the author and carry on with the tale.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, heist\nAuthor: Michael J. Sullivan\nTitle: Wintertide\nChapter: 67" }, { "from": "human", "value": "After glancing up again and checking the location of the moon, Royce lit a lantern and stepped into the street." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Two nerve-wracking moments later, another light appeared in reply from the far end of the bridge. Merrick was there. And Gwen was with him.\n\nShe's alive!\n\nRoyce's heart leapt. Relief mixed with anxiety. She was so close, yet not close enough. No one else was visible-the Black Diamond was conspicuously absent. Royce had expected members of the thieves\" guild to descend the instant he entered the city. Either Merrick had arranged for safe passage, or they decided they did not want any part of this transaction.\n\n\"Show them,\" Merrick's voice carried on the cool, crisp air.\n\nRoyce motioned and Modina and Saldur stepped from the shadows next to him.\n\n\"I'll double your reward for this, Marius,\" Saldur shouted. \"You'll be Marquis of Melengar. I'll-\" He cried out in pain as Royce dragged Alverstone along his shoulder blade. The gleaming knife sliced through the regent's robes and into his skin.\n\n\"Did we forget our agreement?\" Royce hissed.\n\nRoyce looked at Modina, who stood quiet and still. The empress displayed no fear, anger, or malice. She did not struggle. She merely waited.\n\n\"Send them across,\" Merrick ordered.\n\n\"Don't run, Saldur,\" Royce said. \"You need to match Gwen's pace. I'm good at throwing a dagger, and you won't be out of my range until you reach the bridge's midpoint. If you pass it before she does, it will be the last step you ever take.\"\n\nThe captives stepped forward at the same time as Gwen. She wore a heavy wool cloak and boots that were not her own. Tears streamed down her cheeks. With her arms tied behind her back, she could not push away her tangled hair or free her mouth from the gag. They each walked toward one another at an agonizingly slow pace." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "For Royce, nothing on the face of the world stirred except for the three hostages on the bridge. The prisoners passed at the bridge's center, exchanging only brief glances. The wind blew harder, throwing the snow and Gwen's hair askew. Royce's heart thundered in his chest as she broke into a run. He no longer cared about the others. Saldur could rule all of Elan, so long as he could have Gwen. They would go to Avempartha-leave that very night. The wagon was already filled with supplies and hitched to a strong team. He would take her beyond everyone's reach. Royce would finally have a place to call home and have a life worth living. Every night he would sleep with Gwen in his arms, knowing he would never need to leave her again. Together they would walk through open fields without Royce having to look over his shoulder. They would have children, and he would delight in providing them a childhood he never had. Royce would grow old, content with Gwen at his side.\n\nHe was sprinting to her. He did not recall telling his feet to move, yet they raced toward her. As the distance between them closed, Royce threw out his arms to embrace Gwen. Suddenly her eyes widened with shock, then shut tight with anguish. She stiffened and arched her back as the crossbow bolt exited the front of her body. Royce felt a spray of blood.\n\nShe fell.\n\n\"GWEN!\" he screamed.\n\nHe slid to his knees and turned her over so they could see each other. Dark blood pooled around her, staining the snow. He cradled Gwen in his arms, pulled her to him, and brushed the hair from her face. Royce's hands shook as he cut her restraints. He pulled away the gag, which was soaked in blood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She coughed. \"Roy-Roy-ce,\" she struggled. \"Roy-ce... my love...\"\n\n\"Shh,\" he told her. \"It will be all right. I'll find a doctor. I'll take care of you. We're going to get married right away. No more waiting. I swear it!\"\n\n\"No.\" She shook her head in his hands. \"I don't... need a doctor.\"\n\nRoyce wiped the blood from her mouth and supported her head as her eyes fought for focus.\n\nHer hand twitched as she tried to lift it toward his face. \"Don't cry,\" she said.\n\nRoyce had not been aware that he was until that moment. Tears ran down his cheeks and fell to her face, mixing with the thin line of blood that trickled from the side of her mouth.\n\nThis cannot be happening, his mind screamed. We are going away together. The wagon is ready!\n\nHe shook and shuddered as if he might break in two.\n\n\"Don't leave me Gwen. I love you. Please don't leave me.\"\n\n\"It's okay, R-Royce... Don't you see?\"\n\n\"No, no-it's not. It's not okay! It's-\" his voice broke. He swallowed. \"How can this be okay? How can you leaving me alone be all right?\"\n\nShe jerked in his arms. Her eyes closed and she coughed once more. When her eyes opened again, her chest heaved for breath. A thick gurgling sound came from her throat.\n\n\"It's the fork in your lifeline,\" she managed to say, her voice weaker now-only a coarse whisper. \"You reached it... The death of the one you love most. Only I was wrong... I was wrong. It wasn't Hadrian... It was me... It was me all along.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes,\" he cried, kissing her forehead.\n\n\"And what did I tell you about that? What did I say? Do you remember?\"\n\n\"You said... You said that you could die a happy woman if only that were true.\"\n\nShe looked up at him tenderly, but her eyes lost focus and began to wander. \"I can't see you, Royce. It's dark. I can't see in the dark like you can. I'm scared.\"\n\nHe clenched her hand. \"I'm here, Gwen. I'm right beside you.\"\n\n\"Royce, listen tome. You have to hang on,\" she said, her voice suddenly urgent. \"Don't let go. Don't you dare let go. Do you hear me? Are you listening tome, Royce Melborn? You have to hang on, Royce. Please... give me your hand. Give me your hand!\"\n\nHe squeezed her hand tighter. \"I'm here, Gwen. I have you. I'm not letting go. I'll never let go.\"\n\n\"Promise me. You must promise. Please, Royce.\"\n\n\"I promise,\" he told her.\n\n\"I love you, Royce. Don't forget... Don't let go...\"\n\n\"I love you.\"\n\n\"Don't... let...\"\n\nHer body hitched again. She struggled to breathe, stiffened in his arms, and then slowly... gradually... fell limp. Her head tilted backward. Clutching her tightly to his chest, he kissed her face. Gwen was gone and Royce was alone." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Amilia, Breckton, Hadrian, and Arista led thirty horsemen to the gates of Colnora. The cavalry detachment was selected from the Northern Imperial Army and included Breckton's best soldiers. Most of them had been at the siege of Drondil Fields only weeks before. These were not the sons of counts and dukes. They did not wear elaborately decorated armor of full plate. They were grim, battle-hardened men who honed their skills on bloody fields.\n\nIn the wake of Modina's abduction, Amilia found herself in the surreal position of imperial steward. The former scullery maid now ruled the Empire. She tried not to think about it. Unlike Modina, she was not descended from Novron and held no pedigree to protect her. And she had no idea how long she had before her power, her station, and perhaps her very life, ended.\n\nShe had no idea what to do, but to her great relief, Sir Breckton mobilized his men and vowed to find the empress. When Sir Hadrian and Arista volunteered to join them, Amilia decided to ride as well. She could not sit in the palace. She did not know how to administrate, so she left Nimbus in charge until her return. If she could not find Modina, there might be no point in returning at all. They had to find her.\n\n\"Open the gate!\" Sir Breckton shouted toward the watchtower that sat atop the wall in Colnora.\n\n\"City gate opens at dawn,\" someone replied from above.\n\n\"I am Sir Breckton, Commander of the Imperial Hosts, on a mission of grave importance to Her Eminence. I demand that you open at once!\"\n\n\"And I am the gatekeeper with strict orders to keep this gate sealed between dusk and dawn. Comeback at first light.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What are we going to do?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Amilia asked as panic threatened to consume her. The absurdity of the situation was overwhelming. The empress's life was at stake, and they were at the mercy of a foolish man and a wooden gate.\n\nBreckton dismounted. \"We can lash tree branches together to make ladders and go over the walls. Or we can build a ram-\"\n\n\"We don't have time for that,\" Hadrian interrupted. \"The full moon's high. Royce is doing the exchange at the Langdon Bridge. We have to get inside and down to that bridge-now!\"\n\n\"This is all your fault!\" Amilia burst out and shook with fury. \"You and your friend. First you attempt to kill Sir Breckton, and now he's taken Modina.\"\n\nBreckton reached up and took her hand. \"Although he had the power to do so, Sir Hadrian did not kill me. He is not responsible for the actions of his associate. He is trying to help.\"\n\nAmilia wiped tears from her eyes and nodded. She did not know what to do. She was no general. She was just a stupid peasant girl who the nobility would soon execute. Everything was so hopeless. The only one who did not seem upset was Arista.\n\nThe princess was humming.\n\nAlready off her horse, she stood with her eyes closed and her hands outstretched. Her fingers moved delicately through the air and a low vibration echoed from deep in her throat. The sound was not a tune or a song of any kind. There was no discernable melody, and as Arista's voice grew louder, the air seemed to grow thick and heavy. Then there was another hum. An echo resonated from the gate. The wooden beams moved like a man quivering in the cold. They cracked and buckled. The great hinges rattled, and bits of stone fractured where they met the walls. Arista stopped humming. The gate ceased its trembling. Then, in one burst of voice, she uttered an unrecognizable word, and the gate exploded in flying bits of splintered wood and scattered snow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Modina tested the ropes on her wrists, but the movement only caused them to bite deeper. Merrick Marius and two men she did not know had dragged her off the bridge and into a nearby warehouse. Saldur was allowed to walk freely. The building was cavernous, abandoned, and in need of repair. Broken windows let in snow, which drifted across the bare floorboards. Torn sacks and broken glass littered the floor.\n\n\"Excellent, my boy. Excellent.\" Saldur addressed Merrick Marius as another man cut his hands free. \"I will honor my offer to reward you handsomely. You will-\"\n\n\"Shut up!\" Merrick ordered harshly. \"Get them both upstairs.\"\n\nOne of the men threw Modina over his shoulder like a sack of flour and carried her up the steps.\n\n\"I don't understand,\" Saldur said, even as the other stranger steered him upstairs, too.\n\n\"This isn't over,\" Merrick replied. \"DeLancy is dead. You have no idea what that means. The scales are balanced. The demon is unleashed.\"\n\nHe said more, but his voice faded as she was carried up several flights. The man carrying Modina dropped her in an empty room on the third floor. He pulled a wad of twine from his pocket and bound her ankles tight. When he was done, he moved to the broken window and peered out.\n\nMoonlight fell across his face. He was a short, husky brute with a rough beard and flat nose. He wore a dark cowl over a coarse woolen garnache, but Modina's eyes were focused on the leather girdle from which two long daggers hung. He crouched on one knee, looking at the street below.\n\n\"Be very quiet, miss,\" he murmured, \"or I'll have to slit your throat.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With trembling hands, Royce laid Gwen's lifeless body near the side of the bridge. He closed her eyes and kissed her lips one last time. Folding her arms gently across her chest, he covered her as best he could with the rough, oversized cloak as if putting her to bed. He could not bring himself to cover her face and stared at it fora long while, noting the smile she wore even in death.\n\nTurning from her, he got up and, without conscious thought, found himself crossing the bridge.\n\n\"Stop right there, Royce!\" Merrick shouted when he had reached the far side.\n\nFrom the sound and angle of his voice, Royce knew Merrick was on the second floor of the warehouse.\n\n\"All of the lower doors and windows are sealed. I have a man with a dagger to the empress's throat.\"\n\nRoyce ignored him. He deftly climbed up the closest lamppost, shattered the lantern, and snuffed out the flame. He repeated this twice more, darkening the area.\n\n\"I mean it, Royce,\" Merrick shouted again. The tinge of panic in his voice betrayed that his old partner could no longer see him. \"Don't make the mistake of killing another innocent woman tonight.\"\n\nRoyce tore the bottom of his cloak and soaked the scrap in the lamppost reservoir. Then he walked to the warehouse.\n\n\"You can't get tome without killing her!\" Merrick shouted again. \"Get back where I can see you.\"\n\nRoyce began coating the base of the walls with oil.\n\n\"Damn it, Royce. I didn't do it. I didn't kill her. It wasn't me.\"\n\nRoyce struck alight, catching the oiled cloth on fire and pushed it under the door. The wood was old and dry, and the flames hungrily took hold. The brisk winter wind did its part, spreading flames to the clapboard sides." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What are you doing?\" asked Saldur's voice, rising in terror. \"Marius, do something. Threaten to cut Modina's throat if he doesn't-\"\n\n\"I did, you idiot! He doesn't care about the empress. He's going to kill us all!\" Marius shouted.\n\nThe flames spread quickly. Royce went back for more oil to lure the fire across the timbers. The exterior of the storehouse blazed, and sheets of flame raced upward. Royce stepped back and watched the building burn. He felt the heat on his face as the flaming building lit up the street.\n\nShouts came from inside, fighting to be heard over the crackling of the fire. Royce waited, watching the cloverleaf insignia burn away.\n\nIt was not long before the first man jumped from a second-story window. He managed to land well enough, but Royce was on him in an instant. Alverstone flickered in the firelight. The man screamed, but Royce was in no hurry and took his time. He cut the tendons of the man's legs, making it impossible for him to run. Then, sitting on his chest, he severed the man's fingers. It had been along time since Royce had used Alverstone to dismember someone. He marveled at how well the white dagger cut through the toughest cartilage and even through bone. Royce left the first man to bleed when he noticed another one jump. This one came from a third-story window. He landed awkwardly, and Royce heard a bone break.\n\n\"No!\" the man cried, struggling to crawl away as Royce's dark form flew toward him. The man scraped desperately at the snow. Once more, Royce was slow and methodical. The man howled with each cut. When he stopped moving, Royce removed his heart. He stood up, drenched in blood, his right arm soaked to the elbow, and threw the organ through the window the man had leapt from." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're next, Saldur,\" he taunted. \"I can't wait to see if you actually have one or not.\"\n\nThere was no response.\n\nOut of the corner of his eye, Royce saw a dark figure moving from the back of the building. Merrick was barely noticeable as he slipped through the dancing shadows. Royce guessed he was planning to hide on the lip under the Langdon Bridge, which the Black Diamond used to ambush targets. Royce left Saldur to burn. The fire completely engulfed the second floor. It would just be a matter of time. The only way out was for the regent to jump, and a man his age would fare poorly in a three-story drop to frozen ground.\n\nRoyce chased after Merrick, who abandoned stealth to make an open run for it. Royce caught up quickly, and Merrick gave up near the middle of the bridge. He turned, his dagger drawn, his face covered in sweat and soot.\n\n\"I didn't kill her,\" he shouted.\n\nRoyce did not respond. He rapidly closed the remaining distance and attacked. The white dagger lashed out like a snake. Merrick dodged. He avoided the first swipe but Royce caught him on the return stroke, slicing across his chest.\n\n\"Listen tome,\" Merrick said, still trying to back away. \"Why would I kill her? You know me! Don't you think I knew she was my protection? Have you ever seen me do anything as stupid as that? Just ask yourself-why would I do such a thing? What would I gain? Think, Royce, think. What reason would I have to kill her?\"\n\n\"The same reason that I'm going to kill you-revenge.\"\n\nRoyce lunged. Merrick tried to move, but he was too slow. He would have died instantly if Royce had aimed for his heart or throat. Instead, Alverstone caught Merrick in the right shoulder." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It plunged deep and Merrick dropped his weapon.\n\n\"IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!\" Merrick screamed at him. \"This has nothing to do with Jade. If I wanted revenge, I could have killed you years ago. I only wanted Saldur and the empress. I was never going to hurt her. We've made our peace with one another, Royce. I was serious about that offer to work together again. We are not enemies. Don't make the same mistake I did. You were setup when Jade died, but I couldn't see that-I didn't want to. Now someone is doing the same thing tome. I've been setup, don't you see? Just like you were. Use your brain! If I had a bow, would I have let you burn the warehouse? It wasn't me. It was someone else!\"\n\nRoyce made a show of looking around. \"Funny, I don't see anyone else here.\"\n\nHe pounced again. Merrick retreated and his heel hit the short curb of the bridge.\n\n\"You're running out of room.\"\n\n\"Damn it Royce, you have to believe me. I would never kill Gwen. I swear to you-I didn't do it!\"\n\n\"I believe you,\" Royce said. \"I just don't care.\"\n\nWith one final thrust, he stabbed Alverstone into Merrick's chest.\n\nMerrick toppled backward. He reached out for the only thing he could grab, and together he and Royce fell over the edge." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When the gate had burst open, Hadrian did not wait for the others. Instead, he spurred his horse and raced toward the river. Malevolent slipped on the snow and nearly fellas he rounded the corner to Landon Bridge. On the far side, the warehouse burned like a giant pyre. The streetlamps on that side of the bridge were dark. On his side, the iron swans, dusted with snow, flickered with an eerie orange light. The tall lampposts cast wavering shadows-thin, dark, dancing spears that fluttered and jabbed.\n\nHadrian saw her lying near the side of the bridge.\n\n\"Oh, dear Maribor, no!\" He ran to Gwen's side. Flakes of snow gathered on her closed eyes and clung to her dark lashes. He put his head to her chest. There was no heartbeat-she was dead.\n\n\"IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!\" Hadrian heard someone cry out. Looking down the bridge, he saw them at the very apex of the span. Royce had Merrick backed up along the edge. Merrick was hurt, unarmed, and screaming. Jumping to his feet, Hadrian sprinted forward, his boots slipping on the slick snow. From only a few strides away, Hadrian saw Royce stab Merrick and watched as both of them tumbled over the side.\n\nHe slid, caught himself against the lip, and looked over. His heart pounded in his chest. Far below, the churning water of the Bernum River revealed itself as a dark line broken by moonlit explosions where water crashed against rocks. He saw something dark still falling. A moment later, it hit the surface with a brief flash of white." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Arista flexed her fingers and climbed back on her horse. Breckton remounted as well and rode forward to speak with the shouting gate guards. Hadrian had already disappeared into the twisting streets.\n\nNo one mentioned anything about the exploding gate.\n\nWithout Hadrian to guide them, Sir Breckton led the detachment through Colnora. They crossed the Bernum using the Warpole Bridge and were midway across when they saw the warehouse ablaze near abridge farther down the river, signaling their destination. Rather than backtrack, Breckton continued across the Warpole and arrived at the Langdon Bridge on the warehouse side, causing them to pass in front of the monstrous blaze.\n\nThe building was an inferno. The burning hulk mesmerized Arista. Huge spirals of flames reached to the sky. All four stories were on fire. The north wall blistered and snapped. The east wall curled and partially collapsed, releasing a burst of sparks and a rain of burning debris that hissed when it struck snow. White smoke billowed out from shattered windows and a nearby oak tree blazed, its naked limbs turned into a giant torch.\n\nArista heard a woman cry out.\n\n\"That's Modina!\" Amilia shrieked, pulling back so hard on her horse's reins that the beast shook its head and backed up a step. \"SHE'S INSIDE!\"\n\nSir Breckton and several of his men dismounted and rushed to the doorway. They broke down the bolted door, but the heat forced them back. Breckton pulled his cloak over his head and started to enter.\n\n\"Stop!\" Arista shouted as she slid from her horse.\n\nThe knight hesitated.\n\n\"You'll die before you reach her. I'll go.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But-\" Breckton started to say then stopped. Rubbing his jaw, he looked at the fire and then back at Arista. \"Can you save her?\"\n\nArista shook her head. \"I don't know. I've never done this before, but I stand a better chance than you do. Just keep everyone else back.\"\n\nShe pulled the sleeves of Esrahaddon's robe over her hands and the hood up around her head and then approached the crumbling warehouse. Realizing she could sense the fire's movements was exhilarating. The blaze moved and acted like a living thing. It withered, snapped, and fed on the old wood like a ravenous beast. It was hungry, starved for nourishment, a never ending want, boundless greed. Approaching the inferno, she sensed it noticing her, and the fire regarded Arista with desire.\n\nNo, she told it. Eat the wood. Ignore me.\n\nThe fire hissed.\n\nLeave me alone or I will snuff you out.\n\nArista knew she could conjure a rainstorm, or even a whirlwind, but rain would take too long, and wind would collapse the fragile building. Perhaps there was away to eliminate the fire altogether, but she was not certain how to go about it and Modina could not wait for her to figure it out.\n\nThe fire snapped. She felt its elemental eye turn away and Arista entered the blackened doorway. She walked into an inferno of smoke and fire. Everything around her was burning. Hot currents of air whipped and gusted, blasting through the building's interior. She moved through a raging river of smoky air that parted around her.\n\nAfter finding the scorched wooden stairs, she carefully began to climb. Beneath her feet the planks fractured, splintered, and popped. With the protection of Esrahaddon's robe, she felt warmth but nothing more. Breathing through the material, Arista found fresh, cool air." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thanks Esra,\" she muttered, pushing forward into the thick, surging smoke.\n\nShe heard a muffled cry from above and climbed. On the third floor, she found Modina. The empress was in the center of a small room, hands and feet bound. The fire was busy enjoying the older, drier timber of the main brace on the far side of the room and ignored the greener floorboards where Modina lay. Running along the rafters it ate into the supporting beams with wolfish delight.\n\n\"Not much time,\" the princess said, glancing up. \"Can you walk?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Modina answered.\n\nArista cursed herself for not wearing a dagger as her fingers struggled to untie the empress's hands. Once loose, they worked to free her feet.\n\nModina coughed and gagged. Arista removed the robe. Instantly the intense heat slammed into her. She wrapped the garment over their shoulders like a blanket and held one of the sleeves to her mouth.\n\n\"Breathe through the robe,\" she told Modina over the roaring blaze.\n\nThe two women moved down the stairs together. Arista kept her focus on the fire's intentions and warned it away when it came too close. A timber cracked overhead and crashed with the sound of thunder. The building shuddered with the blow. A step snapped under Arista, and Modina pulled her forward in time to save the princess from a two-story fall.\n\n\"We can thank the dungeon for you not weighing much,\" Modina said through the sleeve pressed against her mouth.\n\nThey reached the ground floor and raced out together. The moment Modina emerged, Amilia threw her arms around her.\n\n\"There's someone else up there,\" Sir Breckton announced. \"In that upper window near the end.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Help!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Saldur cried. \"Someone help me!\"\n\nA few looked to Arista, but she made no move tore-enter the building.\n\n\"HELP ME!\" he screamed.\n\nArista stepped back to get a better view. The old man was in tears. His face transfigured with horror.\n\n\"Arista!\" he pleaded, spotting her. \"In the name of Novron... help me child.\"\n\n\"It's a shame,\" she shouted back, her voice rising above the roar of the fire, \"that Hilfred isn't hereto save you.\"\n\nThere was another loud crack and Saldur's eyes filled with panic. He grabbed the windowsill and clung to it as the floor gave way beneath him. With a final scream, his fingers slipped and Maurice Saldur, former Bishop of the Nyphron Church, co-regent and architect of the New Empire, vanished from view into the inferno." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hadrian was bent over the bridge's edge, looking over the side. His eyes fixated on the spot far below where the body hit the river. A gust of wind revealed a familiar cloak that flapped out from below the skirt of the bridge.\n\nHis heartbeat faster as he spotted four fingers clinging to a hidden lip that ran beneath the span. He hurriedly wrapped his feet around a lamppost and lowered himself farther. Royce was there, just out of reach. His partner's left handheld the underside of the Langdon, his feet dangling free.\n\n\"Royce!\" Hadrian called.\n\nHis partner did not lookup.\n\n\"Royce-damn you, look at me!\"\n\nRoyce continued to stare down into the foaming waters as the wind whipped his black cape like the broken wings of a bird.\n\n\"Royce, I can't reach you,\" Hadrian shouted, extending his arm toward his friend. \"You have to help me. You need to reach with your other hand so I can pull you up.\"\n\nThere was a pause.\n\n\"Merrick is dead,\" Royce said softly.\n\n\"I know.\"\n\n\"Gwen is dead.\"\n\nHadrian paused, \"Yes.\"\n\n\"I-I burned Modina alive.\"\n\n\"Royce, goddamn it! That doesn't matter. Please, look at me.\"\n\nSlowly, Royce tilted his head up. His hood fell away and tears streaked his cheeks. He refused to meet Hadrian's eyes.\n\n\"DON'T DO IT!\" Hadrian yelled.\n\n\"I-I don't have anything left,\" Royce muttered, his words almost stolen by the wind. \"I don't-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Royce, listen tome. You have to hang on. Don't let go. Don't you dare let go. Do you hear me? Are you listening tome, Royce Melborn? You have to hang on, Royce. Please... Give me your hand. Give me your hand!\"\n\nRoyce's head snapped up. He focused on Hadrian and there was a curious look in his eyes. \"What-What did you say?\"\n\n\"I said I can't reach you. I need your help.\"\n\nHadrian extended his arm farther.\n\nRoyce sheathed Alverstone and swung his body. The momentum thrust his right hand upward. Hadrian grabbed it and lifted." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Partnering with the author, carry on with the tale.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, knights radiant\nAuthor: Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Words of Radiance\nChapter: 16" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ha!\" Rock said, squatting down beside him. \"You look like you have eaten bad eggs. What is problem?\"\n\n\"I don't know what I'm doing, Rock,\" Sigzil said. \"My master taught me to ask questions and find precise answers. But how can I be precise? I would need a clock for the timing, but they are too expensive. Even if we had one, I don't know how to measure Stormlight!\"\n\n\"With chips,\" Kaladin said. \"The gemstones are precisely weighed before being encased in glass.\"\n\n\"And can they all hold the same amount?\" Sigzil asked. \"We know that uncut gems hold less than cut ones. So is one that was cut better going to hold more? Plus, Stormlight fades from a sphere overtime. How many days has it been since that chip was infused, and how much Light has it lost since then? Do they all lose the same amount at the same rate? We know too little. I think perhaps I am wasting your time, sir.\"\n\n\"It's not a waste,\" Lopen said, joining them. The one-armed Herdazian yawned, sitting down on the rock by Sigzil, forcing the other man over a little. \"We just need to be testing other things, eh?\"\n\n\"Like what?\" Kaladin said.\n\n\"Well, gancho,\" Lopen said. \"Can you stick me to the wall?\"\n\n\"I... I don't know,\" Kaladin said.\n\n\"Seems like it would be good to know, eh?\" Lopen stood up. \"Shall we try?\"\n\nKaladin glanced at Sigzil, who shrugged.\n\nKaladin drew in more Stormlight. The raging tempest filled him, as if it were battering against his skin, a captive trying to find away out. He drew the Stormlight into his hand and pressed it against the wall, painting the stones with luminescence." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taking a deep breath, he picked up Lopen-the slender man was startlingly easy to lift, particularly with a measure of Stormlight still inside Kaladin's veins. He pressed Lopen against the wall.\n\nWhen Kaladin dubiously stepped back, the Herdazian remained there, stuck to the stone by his uniform, which bunched up under his armpits.\n\nLopen grinned. \"It worked!\"\n\n\"This thing could be useful,\" Rock said, rubbing at his strangely cut Horneater beard. \"Yes, this is what we need to test. You area soldier, Kaladin. Can you use this in combat?\"\n\nKaladin nodded slowly, a dozen possibilities popping into his head. What if his enemies ran across a pool of Light he had put on the floor? Could he stop a wagon from rolling? Stick his spear to an enemy shield, then yank it from their hands?\n\n\"How does it feel, Lopen?\" Rock asked. \"Does this thing hurt?\"\n\n\"Nah,\" Lopen said, wiggling. \"I'm worried my coat will rip, or the buttons will snap. Oh. Oh. Question for you! What did the one-armed Herdazian do to the man who stuck him to the wall?\"\n\nKaladin frowned. \"I... I don't know.\"\n\n\"Nothing,\" Lopen said. \"The Herdazian was 'armless.\" The slender man burst into laughter.\n\nSigzil groaned, though Rock laughed. Syl had cocked her head, zipping over to Kaladin. \"Was that a joke?\" she asked softly.\n\n\"Yes,\" Kaladin said. \"A distinctly bad one.\"\n\n\"Ah, don't say that!\" Lopen said, still chuckling. \"It's the best one I know-and trust me, I'm an expert on one-armed Herdazian jokes.\"Lopen, \"my mother always says,\"you must learn these to laugh before others do. Then you steal the laughter from them, and have it all for yourself. ' She is a very wise woman. I once brought her the head of a chull.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kaladin blinked." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You... What?\"\n\n\"Chull head,\" Lopen said. \"Very good to eat.\"\n\n\"You area strange man, Lopen,\" Kaladin said.\n\n\"No,\" Rock said. \"They really are good. The head, he is best part of chull.\"\n\n\"I will trust you two on that,\" Kaladin said. \"Marginally.\" He reached up, taking Lopen by the arm as the Stormlight holding him in place began to fade. Rock grabbed the man's waist, and they helped him down.\n\n\"All right,\" Kaladin said, instinctively checking the sky for the time, though he couldn't seethe sun through the narrow chasm opening above. \"Let's experiment.\"\n\n---\n\nTempest stoked within him, Kaladin dashed across the chasm floor. His movement startled a group of frillblooms, which pulled in frantically, like hands closing. Vines trembled on the walls and began to curl upward.\n\nKaladin's feet splashed in stagnant water. He leaped over a mound of debris, trailing Stormlight. He was filled with it, pounding with it. That made it easier to use; it wanted to flow. He pushed it into his spear.\n\nAhead, Lopen, Rock, and Sigzil waited with practice spears. Though Lopen wasn't very good-the missing arm was a huge disadvantage-Rock made up for it. The large Horneater would not fight Parshendi and would not kill, but had agreed to spar today, in the name of'experimentation.\"\n\nHe fought very well, and Sigzil was acceptable with the spear. Together on the battlefield, the three bridgemen might once have given Kaladin trouble.\n\nTimes changed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kaladin tossed his spear sideways at Rock, surprising the Horneater, who had raised his weapon to block." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Stormlight made Kaladin's spear stick to Rock's, forming across. Rock cursed, trying to turn his spear around to strike, but in doing so smacked himself on the side with Kaladin's spear.\n\nAs Lopen's spear struck, Kaladin pushed it down easily with one hand, filling the tip with Stormlight. The weapon hit the pile of refuse and stuck to the wood and bones.\n\nSigzil's weapon came in, missing Kaladin's chest by a wide margin as he stepped aside. Kaladin nudged and infused the weapon with the flat of his hand, shoving it into Lopen's, which he'd just pulled out of the refuse, plastered with moss and bone. The two spears stuck together.\n\nKaladin slipped between Rock and Sigzil, leaving the three of them in a jumbled mess, off balance and trying to disentangle their weapons. Kaladin smiled grimly, jogging down to the other end of the chasm. He picked up a spear, then turned, dancing from one foot to the other. The Stormlight encouraged him to move. Standing still was practically impossible while holding so much.\n\nCome on, come on, he thought. The three others finally got their weapons apart as the Stormlight ran out. They formed up to face him again.\n\nKaladin dashed forward. In the dim light of the chasm, the glow of the smoke rising from him was strong enough to cast shadows that leaped and spun. He crashed through pools, the water cold on his unshod feet. He'd removed his boots; he wanted to feel the stone underneath him.\n\nThis time, the three bridgemen set the butts of their spears on the ground as if against a charge. Kaladin smiled, then grabbed the top of his spear-like theirs, it was a practice one, without areal spearhead-and infused it with Stormlight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He slapped it against Rock's, intending to yank it out of the Horneater's hands. Rock had other plans, and hauled his spear back with a strength that took Kaladin by surprise. He nearly lost his grip.\n\nLopen and Sigzil quickly moved to come at him from either side. Nice, Kaladin thought, proud. He'd taught them formations like that, showing them how to work together on the battlefield.\n\nAs they drew close, Kaladin let goof his spear and stuck out his leg. The Stormlight flowed out of his barefoot as easily as it did his hands, and he was able to swipe a large glowing arc on the ground. Sigzil stepped in it and tripped, his foot sticking to the Light. He tried to stab as he fell, but there was no force behind the blow.\n\nKaladin slammed his weight against Lopen, whose strike was off-center. He shoved Lopen against the wall, then pulled back, leaving the Herdazian stuck to the stone, which Kaladin had infused in the heartbeat they'd been pressed together.\n\n\"Ah, not again,\" Lopen said with a groan.\n\nSigzil had fallen face-first in the water. Kaladin barely had time to smile before he noticed Rock swinging a log at his head.\n\nAn entire log. How had Rock lifted that thing? Kaladin threw himself out of the way, rolling on the ground and scraping his hand as the log crashed against the floor of the chasm.\n\nKaladin growled, Stormlight passing between his teeth and rising into the air in front of him. He jumped onto Rock's log as the Horneater tried to lift it again.\n\nKaladin's landing slammed the wood back against the ground. He leaped toward Rock, and part of him wondered just what he was thinking, getting into a hand-to-hand fight with someone twice his weight. He slammed into the Horneater, hurling them both to the ground. They rolled in the moss, Rock twisting to pin Kaladin's arms. The Horneater obviously had training as a wrestler." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kaladin poured Stormlight into the ground. It wouldn't affect or hamper him, he'd found. So, as they rolled, first Rock's arm stuck to the ground, then his side.\n\nThe Horneater kept fighting to get Kaladin into a hold. He almost had it, till Kaladin pushed with his legs, rolling both of them so Rock's other elbow touched the ground, where it stuck.\n\nKaladin tore away, gasping and puffing, losing most of his remaining Stormlight as he coughed. He leaned up against the wall, mopping sweat from his face.\n\n\"Ha!\" Rock said, stuck to the ground, splayed with arms to the sides. \"I almost had you. Slippery as a fifth son, you are!\"\n\n\"Storms, Rock,\" Kaladin said. \"What I wouldn't do to get you on the battlefield. You are wasted as a cook.\"\n\n\"You don't like the food?\" Rock asked, laughing. \"I will have to try something with more grease. This thing will fit you! Grabbing you was like trying to keep my hands on alive lakefish! One that has been covered in butter! Ha!\"\n\nKaladin stepped up to him, squatting down. \"You're a warrior, Rock. I saw it in Teft, and you can say whatever you want, but I see it in you.\"\n\n\"I am wrong son to be soldier,\" Rock said stubbornly. \"It is a thing of the tuanalikina, the fourth son or below. Third son cannot be wasted in battle.\"\n\n\"Didn't stop you from throwing a tree at my head.\"\n\n\"Was small tree,\" Rock said. \"And very hard head.\"\n\nKaladin smiled, then reached down, touching the Stormlight infused into the stone beneath Rock. He hadn't ever tried to take it back after using it in this way. Could he? He closed his eyes and breathed in, trying... yes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Some of the tempest within him stoked again. When he opened his eyes, Rock was free. Kaladin hadn't been able to take it all back, but some. The rest was evaporating into the air.\n\nHe took Rock by the hand, helping the larger man to his feet. Rock dusted himself off.\n\n\"That was embarrassing,\" Sigzil said as Kaladin walked over to free him too. \"It's like we're children. The Prime's own eyes have not seen such a shameful show.\"\n\n\"I have a very unfair advantage,\" Kaladin said, helping Sigzil to his feet. \"Years of training as a soldier, a larger build than you. Oh, and the ability to emit Stormlight from my fingers.\" He patted Sigzil on the shoulder. \"You did well. This is just a test, like you wanted.\"\n\nA more useful type of test, Kaladin thought.\n\n\"Sure,\" Lopen said from behind them. \"Just go ahead and leave the Herdazian stuck to the wall. The view here is wonderful. Oh, and is that slime running down my cheek? Afresh new look for the Lopen, who cannot brush it away, because-have I mentioned?-his hand is stuck to the wall.\"\n\nKaladin smiled, walking over. \"You were the one who asked me to stick you to a wall in the first place, Lopen.\"\n\n\"My other hand?\" Lopen said. \"The one that was cutoff long ago, eaten by a fearsome beast? It is making a rude gesture toward you right now. I thought you would wish to know, so that you can prepare to be insulted.\" He said it with the same lightheartedness with which he seemed to approach everything. He had even joined the bridge crew with a certain crazy eagerness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kaladin let him down.\n\n\"This thing,\" Rock said, \"it worked well.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Kaladin said. Though honestly, he probably could have dispatched the three men more easily just by using a spear and the extra speed and strength the Stormlight lent. He didn't know yet whether that was because he was unfamiliar with these new powers, but he did think that forcing himself to use them had put him in some awkward positions.\n\nFamiliarity, he thought. I need to know these abilities as well as I know my spear.\n\nThat meant practice. Lots of practice. Unfortunately, the best way to practice was to find someone who matched or bested you in skill, strength, and capacity. Considering what he could now do, that was going to be a tall order.\n\nThe three others walked over to dig waterskins from their packs, and Kaladin noticed a figure standing in the shadows a little ways down the chasm. Kaladin stood up, alarmed until Teft emerged into the light of their spheres.\n\n\"I thought you were going to be on watch,\" Teft growled at Lopen.\n\n\"Too busy being stuck to walls,\" Lopen said, raising his waterskin. \"I thought you had a bunch of greenvines to train?\"\n\n\"Drehy has them in hand,\" Teft said, picking his way around some debris, joining Kaladin beside the chasm wall. \"I don't know if the lads told you, Kaladin, but bringing that lot down here broke them out of their shells somehow.\"\n\nKaladin nodded.\n\n\"How did you get to know people so well?\" Teft asked.\n\n\"It involves a lot of cutting them apart,\" Kaladin said, looking down at his hand, which he'd scraped while fighting Rock. The scrape was gone, Stormlight having healed the tears in his skin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Teft grunted, glancing back at Rock and the other two, who had broken out rations. \"You ought to put Rock in charge of the new recruits.\"\n\n\"He won't fight.\"\n\n\"He just sparred with you,\" Teft said. \"So maybe he will with them. People like him more than me. I'm just going to screw this up.\"\n\n\"You'll do a fine job, Teft, I won't have you saying otherwise. We have resources now. No more scrimping for every last sphere. You'll train those lads, and you'll do it right.\"\n\nTeft sighed, but said no more.\n\n\"You saw what I did.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Teft said. \"We'll need to bring down the entire group of twenty if we want to give you a proper challenge.\"\n\n\"That or find another person like myself,\" Kaladin said. \"Someone to spar with.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Teft said again, nodding, as if he hadn't considered that.\n\n\"There were ten orders of knights, right?\" Kaladin asked. \"Do you know much of the others?\" Teft had been the first one to figure out what Kaladin could do. He'd known before Kaladin himself had.\n\n\"Not much,\" Teft said with a grimace. \"I know the orders didn't always get along, despite what the official stories say. We'll need to see if we can find someone who knows more than I do. I... I kept away. And the people I knew who could tell us, they aren't around any longer.\"\n\nIf Teft had been in a dour mood before, this drove him down even further. He looked at the ground. He spoke of his past infrequently, but Kaladin was more and more certain that whoever these people had been, they were dead because of something Teft himself had done." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What would you think if you heard that somebody wanted to refound the Knights Radiant?\" Kaladin said softly to Teft.\n\nTeft looked up sharply. \"You-\"\n\n\"Not me,\" Kaladin said, speaking carefully. Dalinar Kholin had let him listen in on the conference, and while Kaladin trusted Teft, there were certain expectations of silence that an officer was required to uphold.\n\nDalinar is a lighteyes, part of him whispered. He wouldn't think twice if he were revealing a secret you'd shared with him.\n\n\"Not me,\" Kaladin repeated. \"What if a king somewhere decided he wanted to gather a group of people and name them Knights Radiant?\"\n\n\"I'd call him an idiot,\" Teft said. \"Now, the Radiants weren't what people say. They weren't traitors. They just weren't. But everyone is sure they betrayed us, and you're not going to change minds quickly. Not unless you can Surgebind to quiet them.\" Teft looked Kaladin up and down. \"Are you going to do it, lad?\"\n\n\"They'd hate me, wouldn't they?\" Kaladin said. He couldn't help noticing Syl, who walked through the air until she was close, studying him. \"For what the old Radiants did.\" He held up a hand to stop Teft's objection. \"What people think they did.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Teft said.\n\nSyl folded her arms, giving Kaladin a look. You promised, that look said.\n\n\"We'll have to be careful about how we do it, then,\" Kaladin said. \"Go gather the new recruits. They've had enough practice down here for one day.\"\n\nTeft nodded, then jogged off to do as ordered. Kaladin gathered his spear and the spheres he'd set out to light the sparring, then waved to the other three. They packed up their things and began the hike back out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So you're going to do it,\" Syl said, landing on his shoulder.\n\n\"I want to practice more first,\" Kaladin said. And get used to the idea.\n\n\"It will be fine, Kaladin.\"\n\n\"No. It will be hard. People will hate me, and even if they don't, I'll beset apart from them. Separated. I've accepted that as my lot, though. I'll deal with it.\" Even in Bridge Four, Moash was the only one who didn't treat Kaladin like some mythological savior Herald. Him and maybe Rock.\n\nStill, the other bridgemen hadn't reacted with the fear he'd once worried about. They might idolize him, but they did not isolate him. It was good enough.\n\nThey reached the rope ladder before Teft and the greenvines, but there was no reason to wait. Kaladin climbed up out of the muggy chasm onto the plateau just east of the warcamps. It felt so strange to be able to carry his spear and money out of the chasm. Indeed, the soldiers guarding the approach to Dalinar's warcamp didn't pester him-instead, they saluted and stood up straight. It was as crisp a salute as he'd ever gotten, as crisp as the ones given to a general.\n\n\"They seem proud of you,\" Syl said. \"They don't even know you, but they're proud of you.\"\n\n\"They're darkeyes,\" Kaladin said, saluting back. \"Probably men who were fighting on the Tower when Sadeas betrayed them.\"\n\n\"Stormblessed,\" one of them called. \"Have you heard the news?\"\n\nCurse the one who told them that nickname, Kaladin thought as Rock and the other two caught up to him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No,\" Kaladin called. \"What news?\"\n\n\"A hero has come to the Shattered Plains!\" the soldier yelled back. \"He's going to meet with Brightlord Kholin, perhaps support him! It's a good sign. Might help calm things down around here.\"\n\n\"What's this?\" Rock called back. \"Who?\"\n\nThe soldier said a name.\n\nKaladin's heart became ice.\n\nHe nearly lost his spear from numb fingers. And then, he took off running. He didn't heed Rock's cry behind him, didn't stop to let the others catch up with him. He dashed through the camp, running toward Dalinar's command complex at its center.\n\nHe didn't want to believe when he saw the banner hanging in the air above a group of soldiers, probably matched by a much larger group outside the warcamp. Kaladin passed them, drawing cries and stares, questions if something was wrong.\n\nHe finally stumbled to a stop outside the short set of steps into Dalinar's bunkered complex of stone buildings. There, standing in front, the Blackthorn clasped hands with a tall man.\n\nSquare-faced and dignified, the newcomer wore a pristine uniform. He laughed, then embraced Dalinar. \"Old friend,\" he said. \"It's been too long.\"\n\n\"Too long by far,\" Dalinar agreed. \"I'm glad you finally made your way here, after years of promises. I heard you've even found yourself a Shardblade!\"\n\n\"Yes,\" the newcomer said, pulling back and holding his hand to the side. \"Taken from an assassin who dared try to kill me on the field of battle.\"\n\nThe Blade appeared. Kaladin stared at the silvery weapon. Etched along its length, the Blade was shaped to look like flames in motion, and to Kaladin it seemed that the weapon was stained red. Names flooded his mind: Dallet, Coreb, Reesh... a squad before time, from another life. Men Kaladin had loved." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked up and forced himself to seethe face of the newcomer. A man Kaladin hated, hated beyond any other. A man he had once worshipped.\n\nHighlord Amaram. The man who had stolen Kaladin's Shardblade, branded his forehead, and sold him into slavery.\n\nTHE END OF\n\nPart One" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Rhythm of Resolve thrummed softly in the back of Eshonai's mind as she reached the plateau at the center of the Shattered Plains.\n\nThe central plateau. Narak. Exile.\n\nHome.\n\nShe ripped the helm of the Shardplate from her head, taking a deep breath of cool air. Plate ventilated wonderfully, but even it grew stuffy after extended exertions. Other soldiers landed behind her-she had taken some fifteen hundred this run. Fortunately, this time they'd arrived well before the humans, and had harvested the gemheart with minimal fighting. Devi carried it; he had earned the privilege by being the one to spot the chrysalis from afar.\n\nAlmost she wished it had not been so easy a run. Almost.\n\nWhere are you, Blackthorn? she thought, looking westward. Why have you not come to face me again?\n\nShe thought she'd seen him on that run a week or so back, when they'd been forced off the plateau by his son. Eshonai had not participated in that fight; her wounded leg ached, and the jumping from plateau to plateau had stressed it, even in Shardplate. Perhaps she should not be going on these runs in the first place.\n\nShe'd wanted to be therein case her strike force grew surrounded, and needed a Shardbearer-even a wounded one-to break them free. Her leg still hurt, but Plate cushioned it enough. Soon she would have to return to the fighting. Perhaps if she participated directly, the Blackthorn would appear again.\n\nShe needed to speak with him. She felt an urgency to do so blowing upon the winds themselves.\n\nHer soldiers raised hands in farewell as they went their separate ways. Many softly sang or hummed a song to the Rhythm of Mourning. These days, few sang to Excitement, or even to Resolve. Step by step, storm by storm, depression claimed her people-the listeners, as they called their race. \"Parshendi\" was a human term." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Eshonai strode toward the ruins that dominated Narak." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "After so many years, there wasn't much left. Ruins of ruins, one might call them. The works of men and listeners alike did not last long before the might of the highstorms.\n\nThat stone spire ahead, that had probably once been a tower. Over the centuries, it had grown a thick coating of crem from the raging storms. The soft crem had seeped into cracks and filled windows, then slowly hardened. The tower now looked like an enormous stalagmite, rounded point toward the sky, side knobbed with rock that looked as if it had been melted.\n\nThe spire must have had a strong core to survive the winds so long. Other examples of ancient engineering had not fared so well. Eshonai passed lumps and mounds, remnants of fallen buildings that had slowly been consumed by the Shattered Plains. The storms were unpredictable. Sometimes huge sections of rock would break free from formations, leaving gouges and jagged edges. Other times, spires would stand for centuries, growing-not shrinking-as the winds both weathered and augmented them.\n\nEshonai had discovered similar ruins in her explorations, such as the one she'd been on when her people had first encountered humans. Only seven years ago, but also an eternity. She had loved those days, exploring a wide world that felt infinite. And now...\n\nNow she spent her life trapped on this one plateau. The wilderness called to her, sang that she should gather up what things she could carry and strikeout. Unfortunately, that was no longer her destiny.\n\nShe passed into the shadow of a big lump of rock that she always imagined might have been a city gate. From what little they'd learned from their spies over the years, she knew that the Alethi did not understand. They marched over the uneven surface of the plateaus and saw only natural rock, never knowing that they traversed the bones of a city long dead." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Eshonai shivered, and attuned the Rhythm of the Lost." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was a soft beat, yet still violent, with sharp, separated notes. She did not attune it for long. Remembering the fallen was important, but working to protect the living was more so.\n\nShe attuned Resolve again and entered Narak. Here, the listeners had built the best home they could during the years of war. Rocky shelves had become barracks, carapace from greatshells forming the walls and roofs. Mounds that had once been buildings now grew rockbuds for food on their leeward sides. Much of the Shattered Plains had once been populated, but the largest city had been here at the center. So now the ruins of her people made their home in the ruins of a dead city.\n\nThey had named it Narak-exile-for it was where they had come to be separated from their gods.\n\nListeners, both malen and femalen, raised hands to her as she passed. So few remained. The humans were relentless in their pursuit of vengeance.\n\nShe didn't blame them.\n\nShe turned toward the Hall of Art. It was nearby, and she hadn't put in an appearance therefor days. Inside, soldiers did a laughable job of painting.\n\nEshonai strode among them, still wearing her Shardplate, helm under her arm. The long building had no roof-allowing in plenty of light to paint by-and the walls were thick with long-hardened crem. Holding thick-bristled brushes, the soldiers tried their best to depict the arrangement of rockbud flowers on a pedestal at the center. Eshonai did around of the artists, looking at their work. Paper was precious and canvas nonexistent, so they painted on shell.\n\nThe paintings were awful. Splotches of garish color, off-center petals... Eshonai paused beside Varanis, one of her lieutenants. He held the brush delicately between armored fingers, a hulking form before an easel. Plates of chitin armor grew from his arms, shoulders, chest, even head. They were matched by her own, under her Plate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You are getting better,\" Eshonai said to him, speaking to the Rhythm of Praise.\n\nHe looked to her, and hummed softly to Skepticism.\n\nEshonai chuckled, resting a hand on his shoulder. \"It actually looks like flowers, Varanis. I mean it.\"\n\n\"It looks like muddy water on a brown plateau,\" he said. \"Maybe with some brown leaves floating in it. Why do colors turn brown when they mix? Three beautiful colors put together, and they become the least beautiful color. It makes no sense, General.\"\n\nGeneral. At times, she felt as awkward in the position as these men did trying to paint pictures. She wore warform, as she needed the armor for battle, but she preferred workform. More limber, more rugged. It wasn't that she disliked leading these men, but doing the same thing everyday-drills, plateau runs-numbed her mind. She wanted to be seeing new things, going new places. Instead, she joined her people in along funeral vigil as, one by one, they died.\n\nNo. We will find away out of it.\n\nThe art was part of that, she hoped. By her order, each manor woman took a turn in the Hall of Art at their appointed time. And they tried; they tried hard. So far, it had been about as successful as trying to leap a chasm with the other side out of sight. \"No spren?\" she asked.\n\n\"Not a one.\" He said it to the Rhythm of Mourning. She heard that rhythm far too often these days.\n\n\"Keep trying,\" she said. \"We will not lose this battle for lack of effort.\"\n\n\"But General,\" Varanis said, \"what is the point? Having artists won't save us from the swords of humans.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nearby, other soldiers turned to hear her answer.\n\n\"Artists won't help,\" she said to the Rhythm of Peace. \"But my sister is confident that she is close to discovering new forms. If we can discover how to create artists, then it might teach her more about the process of change-and that might help her with her research. Help her discover forms stronger, even, than warform. Artists won't get us out of this, but some other form might.\"\n\nVaranis nodded. He was a good soldier. Not all of them were-warform did not intrinsically make one more disciplined. Unfortunately, it did hamper one's artistic skill.\n\nEshonai had tried painting. She couldn't think the right way, couldn't grasp the abstraction needed to create art. Warform was a good form, versatile. It didn't impede thought, like mateform did. As with workform, you were yourself when you were warform. But each had its quirks. A worker had difficulty committing violence-there was a block in the mind somewhere. That was one of the reasons she liked the form. It forced her to think differently to get around problems.\n\nNeither form could create art. Not well, at least. Mateform was better, but came with a whole host of other problems. Keeping those types focused on anything productive was almost impossible. There were two other forms, though the first-dullform-was one they rarely used. It was a relic of the past, before they'd rediscovered something better.\n\nThat left only nimbleform, a general form that was lithe and careful. They used it for nurturing young and doing the kind of work that required more dexterity than brawn. Few could be spared for that form, though it was more skilled at art." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The old songs spoke of hundreds of forms. Now they knew of only five. Well, six if one counted slaveform, the form with no spren, no soul, and no song. The form the humans were accustomed to, the ones they called parshmen. It wasn't really a format all, however, but alack of any form.\n\nEshonai left the Hall of Art, helm under her arm, leg aching. She passed through the watering square, where nimbles had crafted a large pool from sculpted crem. It caught rain during the riddens of a storm, thick with nourishment. Here, workers carried buckets to fetch water. Their forms were strong, almost like that of warform, though with thinner fingers and no armor. Many nodded to her, though as a general she had no authority over them. She was their last Shardbearer.\n\nA group of three mateforms-two female, one male-played in the water, splashing atone another. Barely clothed, they dripped with what others would be drinking.\n\n\"You three,\" Eshonai snapped at them. \"Shouldn't you be doing something?\"\n\nPlump and vapid, they grinned at Eshonai. \"Come in!\" one called. \"It's fun!\"\n\n\"Out,\" Eshonai said, pointing.\n\nThe three muttered to the Rhythm of Irritation as they climbed from the water. Nearby, several workers shook their heads as they passed, one singing to Praise in appreciation of Eshonai. Workers did not like confrontation.\n\nIt was an excuse. Just as those who took on mateform used their form as an excuse for their inane activities. When a worker, Eshonai had trained herself to confront when necessary. She'd even been a mate once, and had proven to herself firsthand that one could indeed be productive as a mate, despite... distractions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Of course, the rest of her experiences as a mate had been an utter disaster.\n\nShe spoke to Reprimand to the mateforms, her words so passionate that she actually attracted angerspren. She saw them coming from a ways off, drawn by her emotion, moving with an incredible speed-like lightning dancing toward her across the distant stone. The lightning pooled at her feet, turning the stones red.\n\nThat put the fear of the gods into the mateforms, and they ran off to report to the Hall of Art. Hopefully, they wouldn't end up in an alcove along the way, mating. Her stomach churned at the thought. She had never been able to fathom people who wanted to remain in mateform. Most couples, in order to have a child, would enter the form and sequester themselves away fora year-then would be out of the form as soon after the child's birth as possible. After all, who would want to go out in public like that?\n\nThe humans did it. That had baffled her during those early days, when she'd spent time learning their language, trading with them. Not only did humans not change forms, they were always ready to mate, always distracted by sexual urges.\n\nWhat she wouldn't have given to be able to go among them unnoticed, to adopt their monochrome skin fora year and walk their highways, see their grand cities. Instead, she and the others had ordered the murder of the Alethi king in a desperate gambit to stop the listener gods from returning.\n\nWell, that had worked-the Alethi king hadn't been able to put his plan into action. But now, her people were slowly being destroyed as a result.\n\nShe finally reached the rock formation she called home: a small, collapsed dome. It reminded her of the ones on the edge of the Shattered Plains, actually-the enormous ones that the humans called warcamps. Her people had lived in those, before abandoning them for the security of the Shattered Plains, with its chasms the humans couldn't jump." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Her home was much, much smaller, of course." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "During the early days of living here, Venli had crafted a roof of greatshell carapace and built walls to divide the space into chambers. She'd covered it allover with crem, which had hardened with time, creating something that actually felt like a home instead of a shanty.\n\nEshonai set her helm on a table just inside, but left the rest of her armor on. Shardplate just felt right to her. She liked the sensation of strength. It let her know that something was still reliable in the world. And with the power of Shardplate, she could mostly ignore the wound to her leg.\n\nShe ducked through a few rooms, nodding to the people she passed. Venli's associates were scholars, though no one knew the proper form for true scholarship. Nimbleform was their makeshift substitute for now. Eshonai found her sister beside the window of the farthest chamber. Demid, Venli's once-mate, sat next to her. Venli had held nimbleform for three years, as long as they'd known of the form, though in Eshonai's mind's eye she still saw her sister as a worker, with thicker arms and a stouter torso.\n\nThat was the past. Now, Venli was a slender woman with a thin face, her marblings delicate swirling patterns of red and white. Nimbleform grew long hairstrands, with no carapace helm to block them. Venli's, a deep red, flowed down to her waist, where they were tied in three places. She wore a robe, drawn tight at the waist and showing a hint of breasts at the chest. This was not mateform, so they were small.\n\nVenli and her once-mate were close, though their time as mates had produced no children. If they'd gone to the battlefield, they'd have been a warpair. Instead, they were a researchpair, or something. The things they spent their days doing were very un-listener. That was the point. Eshonai's people could not afford to be what they had been in the past. The days of lounging isolated on these plateaus-singing songs to one another, only occasionally fighting-were over." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"So?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Venli asked to Curiosity.\n\n\"We won,\" Eshonai said, leaning back against the wall and folding her arms with a clink of Shardplate. \"The gemheart is ours. We will continue to eat.\"\n\n\"That is well,\" Venli said. \"And your human?\"\n\n\"Dalinar Kholin. He did not come to this battle.\"\n\n\"He will not face you again,\" Venli said. \"You nearly killed him last time.\" She said it to the Rhythm of Amusement as she rose, picking up apiece of paper-they made it from dried rockbud pulp following a harvest-which she handed to her once-mate. Looking it over, he nodded and began making notes on his own sheet.\n\nThat paper required precious time and resources to make, but Venli insisted the reward would be worth the effort. She'd better be right.\n\nVenli regarded Eshonai. She had keen eyes-glassy and dark, like those of all listeners. Venli's always seemed to have an extra depth of secret knowledge to them. In the right light, they had a violet cast.\n\n\"What would you do, Sister?\" Venli asked. \"If you and this Kholin were actually able to stop trying to kill each other long enough to have a conversation?\"\n\n\"I'd sue for peace.\"\n\n\"We murdered his brother,\" Venli said. \"We slaughtered King Gavilar on a night when he'd invited us into his home. That is not something the Alethi will forget, or forgive.\"\n\nEshonai unfolded her arms and flexed a gauntleted hand. That night. A desperate plan, made between herself and five others. She had been part of it despite her youth, because of her knowledge of the humans. All had voted the same." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kill the man." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kill him, and risk destruction. For if he had lived to do what he told them that night, all would have been lost. The others who had made that decision with her were dead now.\n\n\"I have discovered the secret of stormform,\" Venli said.\n\n\"What?\" Eshonai stood up straight. \"You were to be working on a form to help! A form for diplomats, or for scholars.\"\n\n\"Those will not save us,\" Venli said to Amusement. \"If we wish to deal with the humans, we will need the ancient powers.\"\n\n\"Venli,\" Eshonai said, grabbing her sister by the arm. \"Our gods!\"\n\nVenli didn't flinch. \"The humans have Surgebinders.\"\n\n\"Perhaps not. It could have been an Honorblade.\"\n\n\"You fought him. Was it an Honorblade that struck you, wounded your leg, sent you limping?\"\n\n\"I...\" Her leg ached.\n\n\"We don't know which of the songs are true,\" Venli said. Though she said it to Resolve, she sounded tired, and she drew exhaustionspren. They came with a sound like wind, blowing in through the windows and doors like jets of translucent vapor before becoming stronger, more visible, and spinning around her head like swirls of steam.\n\nMy poor sister. She works herself as hard as the soldiers do.\n\n\"If the Surgebinders have returned,\" Venli continued, \"we must strive for something meaningful, something that can ensure our freedom. The forms of power, Eshonai...\" She glanced at Eshonai's hand, still on her arm. \"At least sit and listen. And stop looming like a mountain.\"\n\nEshonai removed her fingers, but did not sit. Her Shardplate's weight would break a chair. Instead, she leaned forward, inspecting the table full of papers." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Venli had invented the script herself. They'd learned that concept from the humans-memorizing songs was good, but not perfect, even when you had the rhythms to guide you. Information stored on pages was more practical, especially for research.\n\nEshonai had taught herself the script, but reading was still difficult for her. She did not have much time to practice.\n\n\"So... stormform?\" Eshonai said.\n\n\"Enough people of that form,\" Venli said, \"could control a highstorm, or even summon one.\"\n\n\"I remember the song that speaks of this form,\" Eshonai said. \"It was a thing of the gods.\"\n\n\"Most of the forms are related to them in someway,\" Venli said. \"Can we really trust the accuracy of words first sung so long ago? When those songs were memorized, our people were mostly dullform.\"\n\nIt was a form of low intelligence, low capacity. They used it now to spy on the humans. Once, it and mateform had been the only forms her people had known.\n\nDemid shuffled some of the pages, moving a stack. \"Venli is right, Eshonai. This is a risk we must take.\"\n\n\"We could negotiate with the Alethi,\" Eshonai said.\n\n\"To what end?\" Venli said, again to Skepticism, her exhaustionspren finally fading, the spren spinning away to search out more fresh sources of emotion. \"Eshonai, you keep saying you want to negotiate. I think it is because you are fascinated by humans. You think they'll let you go freely among them? A person they see as having the form of a rebellious slave?\"\n\n\"Centuries ago,\" Demid said, \"we escaped both our gods and the humans. Our ancestors left behind civilization, power, and might in order to secure freedom. I would not give that up, Eshonai. Stormform. With it, we can destroy the Alethi army.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"With them gone,\" Venli said, \"you can return to exploration. No responsibility-you could travel, make your maps, discover places no person has ever seen.\"\n\n\"What I want for myself is meaningless,\" Eshonai said to Reprimand, \"so long as we are all in danger of destruction.\" She scanned the specks on the page, scribbles of songs. Songs without music, written out as they were. Their souls stripped away.\n\nCould the listeners' salvation really be in something so terrible? Venli and her team had spent five years recording all of the songs, learning the nuances from the elderly, capturing them in these pages. Through collaboration, research, and deep thought, they had discovered nimbleform.\n\n\"It is the only way,\" Venli said to Peace. \"We will bring this to the Five, Eshonai. I would have you on our side.\"\n\n\"I... I will consider.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ym carefully trimmed the wood from the side of the small block. He held it up to the spherelight beside his bench, pinching his spectacles by the rim and holding them closer to his eyes.\n\nSuch delightful inventions, spectacles. To live was to be a fragment of the cosmere that was experiencing itself. How could he properly experience if he couldn't see? The Azish man who had first created these devices was long deceased, and Ym had submitted a proposal that he be considered one of the Honored Dead.\n\nYm lowered the piece of wood and continued to carve it, carefully whittling off the front to form a curve. Some of his colleagues bought their lasts-the wooden forms around which a cobbler built his shoes-from carpenters, but Ym had been taught to make his own. That was the old way, the way it had been done for centuries. If something had been done one way for such along time, he figured there was probably a good reason.\n\nBehind him stood the shadowed cubbies of a cobbler's shop, the toes of dozens of shoes peeking out like the noses of eels in their holes. These were test shoes, used to judge size, choose materials, and decide styles so he could construct the perfect shoe to fit the foot and character of the individual. A fitting could take quite awhile, assuming you did it properly.\n\nSomething moved in the dimness to his right. Ym glanced in that direction, but didn't change his posture. The spren had been coming more often lately-specks of light, like those from apiece of crystal suspended in a sunbeam. He did not know its type, as he had never seen one like it before.\n\nIt moved across the surface of the workbench, slinking closer. When it stopped, light crept upward from it, like small plants growing or climbing from their burrows. When it moved again, those withdrew." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ym returned to his sculpting." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It will be for making a shoe.\"\n\nThe evening shop was quiet save for the scraping of his knife on wood.\n\n\"Sh-shoe...?\" a voice asked. Like that of a young woman, soft, with a kind of chiming musicality to it.\n\n\"Yes, my friend,\" he said. \"A shoe for young children. I find myself in need of those more and more these days.\"\n\n\"Shoe,\" the spren said. \"For ch-children. Little people.\"\n\nYm brushed wooden scraps off the bench for later sweeping, then set the last on the bench near the spren. It shied away, like a reflection off a mirror-translucent, really just a shimmer of light.\n\nHe withdrew his hand and waited. The spren inched forward-tentative, like a cremling creeping out of its crack after a storm. It stopped, and light grew upward from it in the shape of tiny sprouts. Such an odd sight.\n\n\"You are an interesting experience, my friend,\" Ym said as the shimmer of light moved onto the last itself. \"One in which I am honored to participate.\"\n\n\"I...\" the spren said. \"I...\" The spren's form shook suddenly, then grew more intense, like light being focused. \"He comes.\"\n\nYm stood up, suddenly anxious. Something moved on the street outside. Was it that one? That watcher, in the military coat?\n\nBut no, it was just a child, peering in through the open door. Ym smiled, opening his drawer of spheres and letting more light into the room. The child shied back, just as the spren had.\n\nThe spren had vanished somewhere. It did that when others drew near." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No need to fear,\" Ym said, settling back down on his stool." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Come in. Let me get a look at you.\"\n\nThe dirty young urchin peered back in. He wore only a ragged pair of trousers, no shirt, though that was common herein Iri, where both days and nights were usually warm.\n\nThe poor child's feet were dirty and scraped.\n\n\"Now,\" Ym said, \"that won't do. Come, young one, settle down. Let's get something on those feet.\" He moved out one of his smaller stools.\n\n\"They say you don't charge nothin\",\" the boy said, not moving.\n\n\"They are quite wrong,\" Ym said. \"But I think you will find my cost bearable.\"\n\n\"Don't have no spheres.\"\n\n\"No spheres are needed. Your payment will be your story. Your experiences. I would hear them.\"\n\n\"They said you was strange,\" the boy said, finally walking into the shop.\n\n\"They were right,\" Ym said, patting the stool.\n\nThe urchin stepped timidly up to the stool, walking with a limp he tried to hide. He was Iriali, though the grime darkened his skin and hair, both of which were golden. The skinless so-you needed the light to see it right-but the hair certainly. It was the mark of their people.\n\nYm motioned for the child to raise his good foot, then got out a washcloth, wetted it, and cleaned away the grime. He wasn't about to do a fitting on feet so dirty. Noticeably, the boy tucked back the foot he'd limped on, as if trying to hide that it had a rag wrapped around it.\n\n\"So,\" Ym said, \"your story?\"\n\n\"You're old,\" the boy said. \"Older than anyone I know. Grandpa old. You must know everythin\" already. Why do you want to hear from me?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is one of my quirks,\" Ym said. \"Come now. Let's hear it.\"\n\nThe boy huffed, but talked. Briefly. That wasn't uncommon. He wanted to hold his story to himself. Slowly, with careful questions, Ym pried the story free. The boy was the son of a whore, and had been kicked out as soon as he could fend for himself. That had been three years ago, the boy thought. He was probably eight now.\n\nAshe listened, Ym cleaned the first foot, then clipped and filed the nails. Once done, he motioned for the other foot.\n\nThe boy reluctantly lifted it up. Ym undid the rag, and found a nasty cut on the bottom of that foot. It was already infected, crawling with rotspren, tiny motes of red.\n\nYm hesitated.\n\n\"Needed to get some shoes,\" the urchin said, looking the other way. \"Can't keep on without'em.\"\n\nThe rip in the skin was jagged. Done climbing over a fence, perhaps? Ym thought.\n\nThe boy looked at him, feigning nonchalance. A wound like this would slow an urchin down terribly, which on the streets could easily mean death. Ym knew that all too well.\n\nHe looked up at the boy, noting the shadow of worry in those little eyes. The infection had spread up the leg.\n\n\"My friend,\" Ym whispered, \"I believe I am going to need your help.\"\n\n\"What?\" the urchin said.\n\n\"Nothing,\" Ym replied, reaching into the drawer of his table. The light spilling out was just from five diamond chips. Every urchin who had come to him had seen those. So far, Ym had been robbed of them only twice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He dug more deeply, unfolding a hidden compartment in the drawer and taking a more powerful sphere-a broam-from there, covering its light quickly in his hand while reaching for some antiseptic with the other hand.\n\nThe medicine wasn't going to be enough, not with the boy unable to stay off his feet. Lying in bed for weeks to heal, constantly applying expensive medication? Impossible for an urchin fighting for food each day.\n\nYm brought his hands back, sphere tucked inside of one. Poor child. It must hurt something fierce. The boy probably ought to have been laid out in bed, feverish, but every urchin knew to chew ridgebark to stay alert and awake longer than they should.\n\nNearby, the sparkling light spren peeked out from underneath a stack of leather squares. Ym applied the medication, then set it aside and lifted the boy's foot, humming softly.\n\nThe glow in Ym's other hand vanished.\n\nThe rotspren fled from the wound.\n\nWhen Ym removed his hand, the cut had scabbed over, the color returning to normal, the signs of infection gone. So far, Ym had used this ability only a handful of times, and had always disguised it as medicine. It was unlike anything he had ever heard of. Perhaps that was why he had been given it-so the cosmere could experience it.\n\n\"Hey,\" the boy said, \"that feels a lot better.\"\n\n\"I'm glad,\" Ym said, returning the sphere and the medicine to his drawer. The spren had retreated. \"Let us see if I have something that fits you.\"\n\nHe began fitting shoes. Normally, after fitting, he'd send the patron away and craft a perfect set of shoes just for them. For this child, unfortunately, he'd have to use shoes he'd already made. He'd had too many urchins never return for their pair of shoes, leaving him to fret and wonder. Had something happened to them? Had they simply forgotten? Or had their natural suspicion gotten the better of them?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fortunately, he had several good, sturdy pairs that might fit this boy. I need more treated hogshide, he thought, making a note. Children would not properly care for shoes. He needed leather that would age well even if unattended.\n\n\"You're really gonna give me a pair of shoes,\" the urchin said. \"For nothin\"?\"\n\n\"Nothing but your story,\" Ym said, slipping another testing shoe onto the boy's foot. He'd given upon trying to train urchins to wear socks.\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\"Because,\" Ym said, \"you and I are One.\"\n\n\"One what?\"\n\n\"One being,\" Ym said. He set aside that shoe and got out another. \"Long ago, there was only One. One knew everything, but had experienced nothing. And so, One became many-us, people. The One, who is both male and female, did so to experience all things.\"\n\n\"One. You mean God?\"\n\n\"If you wish to say it that way,\" Ym said. \"But it is not completely true. I accept no god. You should accept no god. We are Iriali, and part of the Long Trail, of which this is the Fourth Land.\"\n\n\"You sound like a priest.\"\n\n\"Accept no priests either,\" Ym said. \"Those are from other lands, come to preach to us. Iriali need no preaching, only experience. As each experience is different, it brings completeness. Eventually, all will be gathered back in-when the Seventh Land is attained-and we will once again become One.\"\n\n\"So you an' me...\" the urchin said. \"Are the same?\"\n\n\"Yes. Two minds of a single being experiencing different lives.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's stupid.\"\n\n\"It is simply a matter of perspective,\" Ym said, dusting the boy's feet with powder and slipping back on a pair of the test shoes. \"Please walk on those fora moment.\"\n\nThe boy gave him a strange look, but obeyed, trying a few steps. He didn't limp any longer.\n\n\"Perspective,\" Ym said, holding up his hand and wiggling his fingers. \"From very closeup, the fingers on a hand might seem individual and alone. Indeed, the thumb might think it has very little in common with the pinky. But with proper perspective, it is realized that the fingers are part of something much larger. That, indeed, they are One.\"\n\nThe urchin frowned. Some of that had probably been beyond him. I need to speak more simply, and-\n\n\"Why do you get to be the finger with the expensive ring,\" the boy said, pacing back the other direction, \"while I gotta be the pinky with the broken fingernail?\"\n\nYm smiled. \"I know it sounds unfair, but there can be no unfairness, as we are all the same in the end. Besides, I didn't always have this shop.\"\n\n\"You didn't?\"\n\n\"No. I think you'd be surprised at where I came from. Please sit back down.\"\n\nThe boy settled down. \"That medicine works real well. Real, real well.\"\n\nYm slipped off the shoes, using the powder-which had rubbed off in places-to judge how the shoe fit. He fished out a pair of premade shoes, then worked at them fora moment, flexing them in his hands. He'd want a cushion on the bottom for the wounded foot, but something that would tear off after a few weeks, once the wound was healed...." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The things you're talking about,\" the boy said. \"They sound dumb tome. I mean, if we're all the same person, shouldn't everyone know this already?\"\n\n\"As One, we knew truth,\" Ym said, \"but as many, we need ignorance. We exist in variety to experience all kinds of thought. That means some of us must know and others must not-just like some must be rich, and others must be poor.\" He worked the shoe a moment longer. \"More people did know this, once. It's not talked about as much as it should be. Here, let's see if these fit right.\"\n\nHe handed the boy the shoes, who put them on and tied the laces.\n\n\"Your life might be unpleasant-\" Ym began.\n\n\"Unpleasant?\"\n\n\"All right. Downright awful. But it will get better, young one. I promise it.\"\n\n\"I thought,\" the boy said, stamping his good foot to test the shoes, \"that you were gonna tell me that life is awful, but it all don't matter in the end,\"cuz we're going the same place.\"\n\n\"That's true,\" Ym said, \"but isn't very comforting right now, is it?\"\n\n\"Nope.\"\n\nYm turned back to his worktable. \"Try not to walk on that wounded foot too much, if you can help it.\"\n\nThe urchin strode to the door with a sudden urgency, as if eager to getaway before Ym changed his mind and took back the shoes. He did stop at the doorway, though.\n\n\"If we're all just the same person trying out different lives,\" the boy said, \"you don't need to giveaway shoes. \"Cuz it don't matter.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You wouldn't hit yourself in the face, would you? If I make your life better, I make my own better.\"\n\n\"That's crazy talk,\" the boy said. \"I think you're just a nice person.\" He ducked out, not speaking another word.\n\nYm smiled, shaking his head. Eventually, he went back to work on his last. The spren peeked out again.\n\n\"Thank you,\" Ym said. \"For your help.\" He didn't know why he could do what he did, but he knew the spren was involved.\n\n\"He's still here,\" the spren whispered.\n\nYm looked up toward the doorway out onto the night street. The urchin was there?\n\nSomething rustled behind Ym.\n\nHe jumped, spinning. The workroom was a place of dark corners and cubbies. Had he perhaps heard a rat?\n\nWhy was the door into the backroom-where Ym slept-open? He usually left that closed.\n\nA shadow moved in the blackness back there.\n\n\"If you've come for the spheres,\" Ym said, trembling, \"I have only the five chips here.\"\n\nMore rustling. The shadow separated itself from the darkness, resolving into a man with dark, Makabaki skin-all save fora pale crescent on his cheek. He wore black and silver, a uniform, but not one from any military that Ym recognized. Thick gloves, with stiff cuffs at the back.\n\n\"I had to look very hard,\" the man said, \"to discover your indiscretion.\"\n\n\"I...\" Ym stammered. \"Just... five chips...\"\n\n\"You have lived a clean life, since your youth as a carouser,\" the man said, his voice even. \"A young man of means who drank and partied away what his parents left him. That is not illegal. Murder, however, is.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ym sank down onto his stool. \"I didn't know. I didn't know it would kill her.\"\n\n\"Poison delivered,\" the man said, stepping into the room, \"in the form of a bottle of wine.\"\n\n\"They told me the vintage itself was the sign!\" Ym said. \"That she'd know the message was from them, and that it meant she would need to pay! I was desperate for money. To eat, you see. Those on the streets are not kind...\"\n\n\"You were an accomplice to murder,\" the man said, pulling his gloves on more tightly, first one hand, then the other. He spoke with such a stark lack of emotion, he could have been conversing about the weather.\n\n\"I didn't know...\" Ym pled.\n\n\"You are guilty nonetheless.\" The man reached his hand to the side, and a weapon formed from mist there, then fell into his hand.\n\nA Shardblade? What kind of constable of the law was this? Ym stared at that wondrous, silvery Blade.\n\nThen he ran.\n\nIt appeared that he still had useful instincts from his time on the streets. He managed to fling a stack of leather toward the man and duck the Blade as it swung for him. Ym scrambled out onto the dark street and charged away, shouting. Perhaps someone would hear. Perhaps someone would help.\n\nNobody heard.\n\nNobody helped.\n\nYm was an old man now. By the time he reached the first cross street, he was gasping for air. He stopped beside the old barbershop, dark inside, door locked. The little spren moved along beside him, a shimmering light that sprayed outward in a circle. Beautiful." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I guess,\" Ym said, panting, \"it is... my time. May One... find this memory... pleasing.\"\n\nFootsteps slapped on the street behind, getting closer.\n\n\"No,\" the spren whispered. \"Light!\"\n\nYm dug in his pocket and pulled out a sphere. Could he use it, somehow, to-\n\nThe constable's shoulder slammed Ym against the wall of the barbershop. Ym groaned, dropping the sphere.\n\nThe man in silver spun him around. He looked like a shade in the night, a silhouette against the black sky.\n\n\"It was forty years ago,\" Ym whispered.\n\n\"Justice does not expire.\"\n\nThe man shoved the Shardblade through Ym's chest.\n\nExperience ended." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rysn liked to pretend that her pot of Shin grass was not stupid, but merely contemplative. She sat near the prow of her catamaran, holding the pot in her lap. The otherwise still surface of the Reshi Sea rippled from the paddling of the guide behind her. The warm, damp air made beads of sweat form on Rysn's brow and neck.\n\nIt was probably going to rain again. Precipitation hereon the sea was the worst kind-not mighty or impressive like a highstorm, not even insistent like an ordinary shower. Here, it was just a misting haze, more than a fog but less than a drizzle. Enough to ruin hair, makeup, clothing-indeed, every element of a careful young woman's efforts to present a suitable face for trading.\n\nRysn shifted the pot in her lap. She'd named the grass Tyvnk. Sullen. Her babsk had laughed at the name. He understood. In naming the grass, she acknowledged that he was right and she had been wrong; his trade with the Shin people last year had been exceptionally profitable.\n\nRysn chose not to be sullen at being proven so clearly wrong. She'd let her plant be sullen instead.\n\nThey'd traversed these waters for two days now, and then only after waiting at port for weeks until the right time between highstorms fora trip onto the nearly enclosed sea. Today, the waters were shockingly still. Almost as serene as those of the Purelake.\n\nVstim himself rode two boats over in their irregular flotilla. Paddled by new parshmen, the sixteen sleek catamarans were laden with goods that had been purchased with the profits of their last expedition. Vstim was still resting in the back of his boat. He looked like little more than another bundle of cloth, almost indistinguishable from the sacks of goods." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He would be fine. People got sick. It happened, but he would become well again.\n\nAnd the blood you saw on his handkerchief?\n\nShe suppressed the thought and pointedly turned around in her seat, shifting Tyvnk to the crook of her left arm. She kept the pot very clean. That soil stuff the grass needed in order to live was even worse than crem, and it had a proclivity for ruining clothing.\n\nGu, the flotilla's guide, rode in her own boat, just behind her. He looked a lot like a Purelaker with those long limbs, the leathery skin, and dark hair. Every Purelaker she'd met, however, had cared deeply about those gods of theirs. She doubted Gu had ever cared about anything.\n\nThat included getting them to their destination in a timely manner.\n\n\"You said we were near,\" she said to him.\n\n\"Oh, we are,\" he said, lifting his oar and then slipping it back down into the water. \"Soon, now.\" He spoke Thaylen rather well, which was why he'd been hired. It certainly wasn't for his punctuality.\n\n\"Define \"soon,\"\" Rysn said.\n\n\"Define...\"\n\n\"What do you mean by \"soon\"?\"\n\n\"Soon. Today, maybe.\"\n\nMaybe. Delightful.\n\nGu continued to paddle, only doing soon one side of the boat, yet somehow keeping them from going in circles. At the rear of Rysn's boat, Kylrm-head of their guards-played with her parasol, opening it and closing it again. He seemed to consider it a wondrous invention, though they'd been popular in Thaylenah forages now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shows how rarely Vstim's workers get back to civilization." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Another cheerful thought. Well, she'd apprenticed under Vstim wanting to travel to exotic places, and exotic this was. True, she'd expected cosmopolitan and exotic to go hand in hand. If she'd had half a wit-which she wasn't sure she did, these days-she'd have realized that the really successful traders weren't the ones who went where everyone else wanted to go.\n\n\"Hard,\" Gu said, still paddling with his lethargic pace. \"Patterns are off, these days. The gods do not walk where they always should. We shall find her. Yes, we shall.\"\n\nRysn stifled a sigh and turned forward. With Vstim incapacitated again, she was in charge of leading the flotilla. She wished she knew where she was leading it-or even knew how to find their destination.\n\nThat was the trouble with islands that moved.\n\nThe boats glided pasta shoal of branches breaking the sea's surface. Encouraged by the wind, gentle waves lapped against the stiff branches, which reached out of the waters like the fingers of drowning men. The sea was deeper than the Purelake, with its bafflingly shallow waters. Those trees would be dozens of feet tall at the very least, with bark of stone. Gu called them i-nah, which apparently meant bad. They could slice up a boat's hull.\n\nSometimes they'd pass branches hiding just beneath the glassy surface, almost invisible. She didn't know how Gu knew to steer clear of them. In this, as in so much else, they just had to trust him. What would they do if he led them into an ambush out hereon these silent waters? Suddenly, she felt very glad that Vstim had ordered their guards to monitor his fabrial that showed if people were drawing near. It-" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "In your capacity as the author's assistant, extend the narrative.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, knights radiant\nAuthor: Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Words of Radiance\nChapter: 24" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hmm?\"\n\n\"You didn't use an honorific for the king,\" Moash said. \"Then you implied that the lighteyes coming to practice were lazy and needed to be tricked into it. I thought we were supposed to avoid antagonizing the lighteyes?\"\n\nKaladin looked away from the Shardbearers. Distracted, he'd spoken thoughtlessly. \"You're right,\" he said. \"Thanks for the reminder.\"\n\nMoash nodded.\n\n\"I want you by the gate,\" Kaladin said, pointing. A group of parshmen came in, bearing boxes, probably foodstuffs. Those wouldn't be dangerous. Would they? \"Pay particularly close attention to servants, sword runners, or anyone else seemingly innocuous who approaches Highprince Dalinar's sons. A knife to the side from someone like that would be one of the best ways to pull off an assassination.\"\n\n\"Fine. But tell me something, Kal. Who is this Amaram fellow?\"\n\nKaladin turned sharply toward Moash.\n\n\"I see how you look at him,\" Moash said. \"I see how your face gets when the other bridgemen mention him. What did he do to you?\"\n\n\"I was in his army,\" Kaladin said. \"The last place I fought, before...\"\n\nMoash gestured to Kaladin's forehead. \"That's his work, then?\"\n\n\"Yeah.\"\n\n\"So he's not the hero people say he is,\" Moash said. He seemed pleased by that fact.\n\n\"His soul is as dark as any I've ever known.\"\n\nMoash took Kaladin by the arm. \"We are going to get back at them somehow. Sadeas, Amaram. The ones who have done these things to us?\" Angerspren boiled up around him, like pools of blood in the sand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kaladin met Moash's eyes, then nodded.\n\n\"Good enough for me,\" Moash said, shouldering his spear and jogging off toward the position Kaladin had indicated, the spren vanishing.\n\n\"He's another who needs to learn to smile more,\" Syl whispered. Kaladin hadn't noticed her flitting nearby, and now she settled down on his shoulder.\n\nKaladin turned to walk around the perimeter of the practice grounds, noting each entrance. Perhaps he was being overly cautious. He just liked doing jobs well, and it had been a lifetime since he'd had a job other than saving Bridge Four.\n\nSometimes, though, it seemed like his job was impossible to do well. During the highstorm last week, someone had again sneaked into Dalinar's rooms, scrawling a second number on the wall. Counting it down, it pointed at the same date a little over a month away.\n\nThe highprince didn't seem worried, and wanted the event kept quiet. Storms... was he writing the glyphs himself while he had fits? Or was it some kind of spren? Kaladin was sure nobody could have gotten past him this time to get in.\n\n\"Do you want to talk about the thing that is bothering you?\" Syl asked from her perch.\n\n\"I'm worried about what's happening during the highstorms with Dalinar,\" Kaladin said. \"Those numbers... something is wrong. You still seeing those spren about?\"\n\n\"Red lightning?\" she asked. \"I think so. They're hard to spot. You haven't seen them?\"\n\nKaladin shook his head, hefting his spear and walking over onto the walkway around the sands. Here, he peeked into a storage room. Wooden practice swords, some the size of Shardblades, and sparring leathers lined the wall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is that all that's bothering you?\" Syl asked.\n\n\"What else would be?\"\n\n\"Amaram and Dalinar.\"\n\n\"It's not a big deal. Dalinar Kholin is friends with one of the worst murderers I've ever met. So? Dalinar is lighteyed. He's probably friends with a lot of murderers.\"\n\n\"Kaladin...\" Syl said.\n\n\"Amaram's worse than Sadeas, you know,\" Kaladin said, walking around the storage room, checking for doorways. \"Everyone knows that Sadeas is a rat. He's straight with you. \"You're a bridgeman, \"he told me,\"and I'm going to use you up until you die.\" Amaram, though... He promised to be more, a brightlord like those in the stories. He told me he'd protect Tien. He feigned honor. That's worse than any depth Sadeas could ever reach.\"\n\n\"Dalinar's not like Amaram,\" Syl said. \"You know he's not.\"\n\n\"People say the same things about him that they did of Amaram. That they still do of Amaram.\" Kaladin stepped back out into the sunlight and continued his circuit of the grounds, passing dueling lighteyes who kicked up sand as they grunted, sweated, and clacked wooden swords against one another.\n\nEach pair was attended by a half-dozen darkeyed servants carrying towels and canteens-and many had a parshman or two bring them chairs to sit on when they rested. Stormfather. Even in something routine like this, the lighteyes had to be pampered.\n\nSyl zipped out into the air in front of Kaladin, coming down like a storm. Literally like a storm. She stopped in the air right in front of him, a cloud boiling from beneath her feet, flashing with lightning. \"You can honestly say,\" she demanded, \"that you think Dalinar Kholin is only pretending to be honorable?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I-\"\n\n\"Don't you lie tome, Kaladin,\" she said, stepping forward, pointing. Diminutive though she was, in that moment, she seemed as vast as a highstorm. \"No lies. Ever.\"\n\nHe took a deep breath. \"No,\" he finally said. \"No, Dalinar gave up his Blade for us. He's a good man. I accept that. Amaram has him fooled. He had me fooled too, so I suppose I can't blame Kholin too much.\"\n\nSyl nodded curtly, the cloud dissipating. \"You should talk to him about Amaram,\" she said, walking in the air beside Kaladin's head as he continued scouting the structure. Her steps were small, and she should have fallen behind, but she didn't.\n\n\"And what should I say?\" Kaladin asked. \"Should I go to him and accuse a lighteyes of the third dahn of murdering his own troops? Of stealing my Shardblade? I'll sound like either a fool or a madman.\"\n\n\"But-\"\n\n\"He won't listen, Syl,\" Kaladin said. \"Dalinar Kholin might be a good man, but he won't let me speak ill of a powerful lighteyes. It's the way of the world. And that is truth.\"\n\nHe continued his inspection, wanting to know what was in the rooms where people could watch people spar. Some were for storage, others for bathing and resting. Several of those were locked, with lighteyes inside recovering from their daily sparring. Lighteyes liked baths.\n\nThe backside of the structure, opposite the entrance gate, held the living quarters for the ardents. Kaladin had never seen so many shaved heads and robed bodies scurrying about. Back in Hearthstone, the citylord had kept only a few wizened old ardents for tutoring his son. Those had also comedown to the town periodically to burn prayers and elevate darkeyes' Callings." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "These ardents didn't seem to be the same type. They had the physiques of warriors, and would often step into practice with lighteyes who needed a sparring partner. Some of the ardents had dark eyes, but still used the sword-they weren't considered lighteyed or darkeyed. They were just ardents.\n\nAnd what do I do if one of them decides to try killing the princelings? Storms, but he hated some aspects of bodyguard duty. If nothing happened, then you were never sure if it was because nothing was wrong, or because you had deterred potential assassins.\n\nAdolin and his brother finally arrived, both fully armored in their Shardplate, helms under their arms. They were accompanied by Skar and a handful of former members of the Cobalt Guard. Those saluted Kaladin as he walked up and gestured that they were dismissed, the shift officially changed. Skar would be off to join Teft and the group protecting Dalinar and Navani.\n\n\"The area is as secure as I can make it without disrupting training, Brightlord,\" Kaladin said, walking up to Adolin. \"My men and I will keep an eye out while you spar, but don't hesitate to give a holler if something seems amiss.\"\n\nAdolin grunted, surveying the place, barely paying Kaladin any heed. He was a tall man, his few black Alethi hairs overwhelmed by quite a bit of golden blond. His father didn't have that. Adolin's mother had been from Rira, perhaps?\n\nKaladin turned to walk toward the northern side of the courtyard, where he'd have a different view from Moash.\n\n\"Bridgeman,\" Adolin called. \"You've decided to start using proper titles for people? Didn't you call my father \"sir\"?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He's in my chain of command,\" Kaladin said, turning back. The simple answer seemed the best.\n\n\"And I'm not?\" Adolin asked, frowning.\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"And if I give you an order?\"\n\n\"I'll comply with any reasonable requests, Brightlord. But if you wish for someone to fetch you tea between bouts, you'll have to send someone else. There should be plenty here willing to lick your heels.\"\n\nAdolin stepped up to him. Though the deep blue Shardplate added only a few inches to his height, he seemed to tower because of it. Perhaps that line about licking heels had been brash.\n\nAdolin represented something, though. The privilege of the lighteyes. He wasn't like Amaram or Sadeas, who brought out Kaladin's hatred. Men like Adolin just annoyed him, reminding him that in this world, some sipped wine and wore fancy clothing while others were made slaves almost on a whim.\n\n\"I owe you my life,\" Adolin growled, as if it hurt to say the words. \"That's the only reason I haven't yet thrown you through a window.\" He reached up with a gauntleted finger and tapped at Kaladin's chest. \"But my patience with you won't extend as far as my father's, little bridgeman. There's something off about you, something I can't put my finger on. I'm watching you. Remember your place.\"\n\nGreat. \"I'll keep you alive, Brightlord,\" Kaladin said, pushing aside the finger. \"That's my place.\"\n\n\"I can keep myself alive,\" Adolin said, turning away and tromping across the sand with a clink of Plate. \"Your job is to watch over my brother.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kaladin was more than happy to let him leave. \"Spoiled child,\" he muttered. Kaladin supposed that Adolin was a few years older than him. Just recently, Kaladin had realized that he'd passed his twentieth birthday while a bridgeman, and never known it. Adolin was in his early twenties. But being a child had little to do with age.\n\nRenarin still stood awkwardly near the front gate, wearing Dalinar's former Shardplate, carrying his newly won Shardblade. Adolin's quick duel from yesterday was the talk of the warcamps, and it would take Renarin five days to fully bond his Blade before he could dismiss it.\n\nThe young man's Shardplate was the color of dark steel, unpainted. That was how Dalinar had preferred it. By giving his Plate away, Dalinar suggested that he felt he needed to win his next victories as a politician. It was a laudable move; you couldn't always have men following you because they feared you could beat them up-or even because you were the best soldier among them. You needed more, far more, to be a true leader.\n\nYet Kaladin did wish Dalinar had kept the Plate. Anything that helped the man stay alive would have been a boon for Bridge Four.\n\nKaladin leaned back against a column, folding his arms, spear in the crook of his arm, watching the area for trouble and inspecting everyone that got too close to the princelings. Adolin walked over and grabbed his brother by the shoulder, towing him across the courtyard. Various people sparring in the square stopped and bowed-if not in uniform-or saluted the princelings as they passed. A group of grey-clothed ardents had gathered at the back of the courtyard, and the woman from earlier stepped forward to chat with the brothers. Adolin and Renarin both bowed formally to her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It had been three weeks now since Renarin had been given his Plate." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Why had Adolin waited so long to bring him here for training? Had he been waiting until the duel, so he could win the lad a Blade too?\n\nSyl landed on Kaladin's shoulder. \"Adolin and Renarin are both bowing to her.\"\n\n\"Yeah,\" Kaladin said.\n\n\"But isn't the ardent a slave? One their father owns?\"\n\nKaladin nodded.\n\n\"Humans don't make sense.\"\n\n\"If you're only now learning that,\" Kaladin said, \"then you haven't been paying attention.\"\n\nSyl tossed her hair, which moved realistically. The gesture itself was very human. Perhaps she'd been paying attention after all. \"I don't like them,\" she said airily. \"Either one. Adolin or Renarin.\"\n\n\"You don't like anyone who carries Shards.\"\n\n\"Exactly.\"\n\n\"You called the Blades abominations before,\" Kaladin said. \"But the Radiants carried them. So were the Radiants wrong to do so?\"\n\n\"Of course not,\" she said, sounding like he was saying something completely stupid. \"The Shards weren't abominations back then.\"\n\n\"What changed?\"\n\n\"The knights,\" Syl said, growing quiet. \"The knights changed.\"\n\n\"So it's not that the weapons are abominations specifically,\" Kaladin said. \"It's that the wrong people are carrying them.\"\n\n\"There are no right people anymore,\" Syl whispered. \"Maybe there never were....\"\n\n\"And where did they come from in the first place?\" Kaladin asked. \"Shardblades. Shardplate. Even modern fabrials are nowhere near as good. So where did the ancients get weapons so amazing?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Syl fell silent. She had a frustrating habit of doing that when his questions got too specific.\n\n\"Well?\" he prompted.\n\n\"I wish I could tell you.\"\n\n\"Then do.\"\n\n\"I wish it worked that way. It doesn't.\"\n\nKaladin sighed, turning his attention back to Adolin and Renarin, where it was supposed to be. The senior ardent had led them to the very back of the courtyard, where another group of people sat on the ground. They were ardents too, but something was different about them. Teachers of some sort?\n\nAs Adolin spoke to them, Kaladin did another quick scan around the courtyard, then frowned.\n\n\"Kaladin?\" Syl asked.\n\n\"Man in the shadows over there,\" Kaladin said, gesturing with his spear toward a place under the eaves. A man stood there, leaning cross-armed against a waist-high wooden railing. \"He's watching the princelings.\"\n\n\"Um, so is everyone else.\"\n\n\"He's different,\" Kaladin said. \"Come on.\"\n\nKaladin wandered over casually, unthreatening. The man was probably just a servant. Long-haired, with a short but scruffy black beard, he wore loose tan clothing tied with ropes. He looked out of place in the sparring yard, and that itself was probably enough to indicate he wasn't an assassin. The best assassins never stood out.\n\nStill, the man had a robust build and a scar on his cheek. So he'd seen fighting. Best to check on him. The man watched Renarin and Adolin intently and, from this angle, Kaladin couldn't see if his eyes were light or dark.\n\nAs Kaladin got close, his foot audibly scraped the sand. The man spun immediately, and Kaladin leveled his spear by instinct. He could seethe man's eyes now-they were brown-but Kaladin had trouble placing his age. Those eyes seemed old somehow, but the man's skin didn't seem wrinkled enough to match them. He could have been thirty-five. Or he could have been seventy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Too young, Kaladin thought, though he couldn't say why.\n\nKaladin lowered his spear. \"Sorry, I'm a little jumpy. First few weeks on the job.\" He tried to say it disarmingly.\n\nIt didn't work. The man looked him up and down, still showing the chained menace of a warrior deciding whether or not to strike. Finally, he turned away from Kaladin and relaxed, watching Adolin and Renarin.\n\n\"Who are you?\" Kaladin asked, stepping up beside the man. \"I'm new, as I said. I'm trying to learn everyone's names.\"\n\n\"You're the bridgeman. The one who saved the highprince.\"\n\n\"I am,\" Kaladin said.\n\n\"You don't need to keep prying,\" the man said. \"I'm not going to hurt your Damnation prince.\" He had a low, grinding voice. Scratchy. Strange accent too.\n\n\"He's not my prince,\" Kaladin said. \"Just my responsibility.\" He looked the man over again, noticing something. The light clothing, tied with ropes, was very similar to what some of the ardents were wearing. The full head of hair had thrown Kaladin off.\n\n\"You're a soldier,\" Kaladin guessed. \"Ex-soldier, I mean.\"\n\n\"Yeah,\" the man said. \"They call me Zahel.\"\n\nKaladin nodded, the irregularities clicking into place. Occasionally, a soldier retired to the ardentia, if he had no other life to return to. Kaladin would have expected them to require the man to at least shave his head.\n\nI wonder if Hav is in one of these monasteries somewhere, Kaladin thought idly. What would he think of me now? He'd probably be proud. He always had seen guard duty as the most respectable of a soldier's assignments." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What are they doing?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kaladin asked Zahel, nodding toward Renarin and Adolin-who, despite the encumbrance of their Shardplate, had seated themselves on the ground before the elder ardents.\n\nZahel grunted. \"The younger Kholin has to be chosen by a master. For training.\"\n\n\"Can't they just pick whichever one they want?\"\n\n\"Doesn't work that way. It's kind of an awkward situation, though. Prince Renarin, he's never practiced much with a sword.\" Zahel paused. \"Being chosen by a master is a step that most lighteyed boys of suitable rank take by the time they're ten.\"\n\nKaladin frowned. \"Why didn't he ever train?\"\n\n\"Health problems of some sort.\"\n\n\"And they'd really turn him down?\" Kaladin asked. \"The highprince's own son?\"\n\n\"They could, but they probably won't. Not brave enough.\" The man narrowed his eyes as Adolin stood up and gestured. \"Damnation. I knew it was suspicious that he waited for this until I got back.\"\n\n\"Swordmaster Zahel!\" Adolin called. \"You aren't sitting with the others!\"\n\nZahel sighed, then gave Kaladin a resigned glance. \"I'm probably not brave enough either. I'll try not to hurt him too much.\" He walked around the railing and jogged over. Adolin clasped Zahel's hand eagerly, then pointed to Renarin. Zahel looked distinctly out of place among the other ardents with their bald heads, neatly trimmed beards, and cleaner clothing.\n\n\"Huh,\" Kaladin said. \"Did he seem odd to you?\"\n\n\"You all seem odd tome,\" Syl said lightly. \"Everyone but Rock, who is a complete gentleman.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He thinks you're a god. You shouldn't encourage him.\"\n\n\"Why not? I am a god.\"\n\nHe turned his head, looking at her flatly as she sat on his shoulder. \"Syl...\"\n\n\"What? I am!\" She grinned and held up her fingers, as if pinching something very small. \"A little piece of one. Very, very little. You have permission to bow tome now.\"\n\n\"Kind of hard to do when you're sitting on my shoulder,\" he mumbled. He noticed Lopen and Shen arriving at the gate, likely bearing the daily reports from Teft. \"Come on. Let's see if Teft has anything he needs from me, then we'll do a circuit and check on Drehy and Moash.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dullform dread, with the mind most lost.\n\nThe lowest, and one not bright.\n\nTo find this form, one need banish the cost.\n\nIt finds you and brings you to blight.\n\n-From the Listener Song of Listing, final stanza\n\nRiding on her wagon, Shallan covered her anxiety with scholarship. There was noway to tell if the deserters had spotted the trails of crushed rockbuds made by the caravan. They might be following. They might not be.\n\nNo use dwelling on it, she told herself. And so she found a distraction. \"The leaves can start their own shoots,\" she said, holding up one of the small, round leaves on the tip of her finger. She turned it toward the sunlight.\n\nBluth sat beside her, hulking like a boulder. Today, he wore a hat that was entirely too stylish for him-dusty white, with a brim that folded upward at the sides. He would occasionally flick his guiding reed-it was at least as long as Shallan was tall-on the shell of the chull ahead.\n\nShallan had made a small list of the beats he used in the back of her book. Bluth hit twice, paused, and hit again. That made the animal slow as the wagon in front of them-driven by Tvlakv-began moving up a hillside covered in tiny rockbuds.\n\n\"You see?\" Shallan said, showing him the leaf. \"That's why the plant's limbs are so fragile. When the storm comes, it will shatter these branches and break off the leaves. They will blow away and start new shoots, building their own shell. They grow so quickly. Faster than I'd have expected out here, in these infertile lands.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bluth grunted.\n\nShallan sighed, lowering her finger and putting the tiny plant back in the cup she'd been using to nurture it. She glanced over her shoulder.\n\nNo sign of pursuit. She really should just stop worrying.\n\nShe turned back to her new sketchbook-one of Jasnah's notebooks that didn't have many pages filled-then began a quick sketch of the small leaf. She didn't have very good materials, only a single charcoal pencil, some pens, and a little ink, but Pattern had been right. She could not stop.\n\nShe had begun with a replacement sketch of the santhid as she remembered it from her dip in the sea. The picture wasn't equal to the one she'd crafted right after the event, but having it again-in any form-had started healing the wounds inside.\n\nShe finished the leaf, then turned the page and began a sketch of Bluth. She didn't particularly want to restart her collection of people with him, but her options were limited. Unfortunately, that hat really did look silly-it was far too small for his head. The image of him huddled forward like a crab, back to the sky and hat on his head... well, at least it would bean interesting composition.\n\n\"Where did you get the hat?\" she asked as she sketched.\n\n\"Traded for it,\" Bluth mumbled, not looking at her.\n\n\"Did it cost much?\"\n\nHe shrugged. Shallan had lost her own hats in the sinking, but had persuaded Tvlakv to give her one of the ones woven by the parshmen. It wasn't particularly attractive, but it kept the sun off her face.\n\nDespite the bumping wagon, Shallan eventually managed to finish her sketch of Bluth. She inspected it, dissatisfied. It was a poor way to start her collection, particularly as she felt she'd caricatured him somewhat. She pursed her lips. What would Bluth look like if he weren't always scowling at her? If his clothing were neater, if he carried a proper weapon instead of that old cudgel?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She flipped the page and started again. A different composition-idealized, perhaps, but somehow also right. He could actually look dashing, once you dressed him up properly. A uniform. A spear, planted to his side. Eyes toward the horizon. By the time she'd finished, she was feeling much better about the day. She smiled at the product, then held it up to Bluth as Tvlakv called the midday halt.\n\nBluth glanced at the picture, but said nothing. He gave the chull a few whacks to stop it alongside the one pulling Tvlakv's wagon. Tag rolled up his wagon-he carried the slaves, this time.\n\n\"Knobweed!\" Shallan said, lowering her sketch and pointing at a patch of thin reeds growing behind a nearby rock.\n\nBluth groaned. \"More of that plant?\"\n\n\"Yes. Would you kindly fetch them for me?\"\n\n\"Can't the parshmen do it? I'm supposed to feed the chulls....\"\n\n\"Which would you rather make wait, guardsman Bluth? The chulls, or the lighteyed woman?\"\n\nBluth scratched his head underneath the hat, then sullenly climbed down from the wagon and walked toward the reeds. Nearby, Tvlakv stood on his wagon, watching the horizon to the south.\n\nA thin trail of smoke rose in that direction.\n\nShallan felt an immediate chill. She scrambled from the wagon and hurried to Tvlakv. \"Storms!\" Shallan said. \"Is it the deserters? They are following us?\"\n\n\"Yes. They have stopped to cook for midday, it seems,\" Tvlakv said from his perch atop his wagon. \"They do not care about us seeing their fire.\" He forced out a laugh. \"That is a good sign. They probably know we are only three wagons, and are barely worth chasing. So long as we keep moving and don't stop often, they will give up the chase. Yes. I'm certain.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He hopped down from his wagon, then hurriedly began to water the slaves. He didn't bother to make the parshmen do it-he did the work himself. That, more than anything, testified to his nervousness. He wanted to be moving again quickly.\n\nThat left the parshmen to continue weaving in their cage behind Tvlakv's wagon. Anxious, Shallan stood there watching. The deserters had spotted the wagons\" trail of broken rockbuds.\n\nShe found herself sweating, but what could she do? She couldn't hurry the caravan. She had to simply hope, as Tvlakv said, that they could stay ahead of pursuit.\n\nThat didn't seem likely. The chull wagons couldn't be faster than marching men.\n\nDistract yourself, Shallan thought as she started to panic. Find something to take your mind off the pursuit.\n\nWhat about Tvlakv's parshmen? Shallan eyed them. Perhaps a drawing of the two of them in their cage?\n\nNo. She was too nervous for drawing, but perhaps she could find something out. She walked to the parshmen. Her feet complained, but the pain was manageable. In fact, in contrast to how she'd covered it upon previous days, now she exaggerated her winces. Better to make Tvlakv think she was less well than she was.\n\nShe stopped at the cage's bars. The back was unlocked-parshmen never ran. Buying these two must have been quite an investment for Tvlakv. Parshmen weren't cheap, and many monarchs and powerful lighteyes hoarded them.\n\nOne of the two glanced at Shallan, then turned back to his work. Her work? It was difficult to tell the males from the females without undressing them. Both of these two had red on white marbled skin. They had squat bodies, perhaps five feet tall, and were bald." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was so difficult to see these two humble workers as a threat." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What are your names?\" Shallan asked.\n\nOne looked up. The other kept working.\n\n\"Your name,\" Shallan prodded.\n\n\"One,\" the parshman said. He pointed at his companion. \"Two.\" He put his head down and kept working.\n\n\"Are you happy with your life?\" Shallan asked. \"Would you rather be free, given the chance?\"\n\nThe parshman looked up at her and frowned. He scrunched up his brow, mouthing a few of the words, then shook his head. He didn't understand.\n\n\"Freedom?\" Shallan prodded.\n\nHe hunched down to work.\n\nHe actually looks uncomfortable, Shallan thought. Embarrassed for not understanding. His posture seemed to say, \"Please stop asking me questions.\" Shallan tucked her sketchbook under her arm and took a Memory of the two of them working there.\n\nThese are evil monsters, she told herself forcefully, creatures of legend who will soon be bent on destroying everyone and everything around them. Standing here, looking in at them, she found it difficult to believe, even though she had accepted the evidence.\n\nStorms. Jasnah was right. Persuading the lighteyes to rid themselves of their parshmen was going to be nearly impossible. She would need very, very solid proof. Troubled, she walked back to her seat and climbed up, making sure to wince. Bluth had left her a bundle of knobweed, and was now caring for the chulls. Tvlakv was digging out some food fora quick lunch, which they'd probably eat while moving.\n\nShe quieted her nerves and forced herself to do some sketches of nearby plants. She soon moved onto a sketch of the horizon and the rock formations nearby. The air didn't feel as cold as it had during her first days with the slavers, though her breath still steamed before her in the mornings." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "As Tvlakv passed by, he gave her an uncomfortable glance. He had treated her differently since their confrontation at the fire last night.\n\nShallan continued sketching. It was certainly a lot flatter out here than back home. And there were far fewer plants, though they were more robust. And...\n\n... And was that another column of smoke up ahead? She stood up and raised a hand to shade her eyes. Yes. More smoke. She looked southward, toward the pursuing mercenaries.\n\nNearby, Tag stopped, noticing what she had. He hustled over to Tvlakv, and the two started arguing softly.\n\n\"Tradesman Tvlakv\"-Shallan refused to call him'Trademaster,\" as would be his proper title as a full merchant-\"I would hear your discussion.\"\n\n\"Of course, Brightness, of course.\" He waddled over, wringing his hands. \"You have seen the smoke ahead. We have entered a corridor running between the Shattered Plains and the Shallow Crypts and its sister villages. There is more traffic here than in other parts of the Frostlands, you see. So it is not unexpected that we should encounter others...\"\n\n\"Those ahead?\"\n\n\"Another caravan, if we are lucky.\"\n\nAnd if we're unlucky... She didn't need to ask. It would mean more deserters or bandits.\n\n\"We can avoid them,\" Tvlakv said. \"Only a large group would dare make smoke for midday meals, as it is an invitation-or a warning. The small caravans, like ourselves, do not risk it.\"\n\n\"If it's a large caravan,\" Tag said, rubbing his brow with a thick finger, \"they'll have guards. Good protection.\" He looked southward." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes,\" Tvlakv said. \"But we could also be placing ourselves between two enemies. Danger on all sides...\"\n\n\"Those behind will catch us, Tvlakv,\" Shallan said.\n\n\"I-\"\n\n\"A man hunting game will return with a mink if there are no telm to be found,\" she said. \"Those deserters have to kill to survive out here. Didn't you say there was probably going to be a highstorm tonight?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Tvlakv said, reluctant. \"Two hours after sunset, if the list I bought is correct.\"\n\n\"I don't know how bandits normally weather the storms,\" Shallan said, \"but they've obviously committed to chasing us down. I'd bet they plan to use the wagons as shelter after killing us. They're not going to let us go.\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Tvlakv said. \"Yes, perhaps. But Brightness, if we see that second column of smoke ahead, so might the deserters....\"\n\n\"Yeah,\" Tag said, nodding, as if he'd only just realized it. \"We cut east. The killers might go after the group ahead.\"\n\n\"We let them attack someone else instead of us?\" Shallan said, folding her arms.\n\n\"What else would you expect us to do, Brightness?\" Tvlakv said, exasperated. \"We are small cremlings, you see. Our only choice is to keep away from larger creatures and hope for them to hunt one another.\"\n\nShallan narrowed her eyes, inspecting that small column of smoke ahead. Was it her eyes, or was it growing thicker? She looked backward. Actually, the columns looked to be about the same size.\n\nThey won't hunt prey their own size, Shallan thought. They left the army, ran away. They're cowards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nearby, she could see Bluth looking backward as well, watching that smoke with an expression she couldn't read. Disgust? Longing? Fear? No spren to give her a clue.\n\nCowards, she thought again, or just men disillusioned? Rocks who started rolling down a hillside, only to start going so quickly they don't know how to stop?\n\nIt didn't matter. Those rocks would crush Shallan and the others, if given the chance. Cutting eastward wouldn't work. The deserters would take the easy kill-slow-moving wagons-instead of the potentially harder kill straight ahead.\n\n\"We make for the second column of smoke,\" Shallan said, sitting down.\n\nTvlakv looked at her. \"You don't get to-\" He broke off as she met his eyes.\n\n\"You...\" Tvlakv said, licking his lips. \"You won't get... to the Shattered Plains as quickly, Brightness, if we get tied up with a larger caravan, you see. It could be bad.\"\n\n\"I will deal with that if the problem arises, tradesman Tvlakv.\"\n\n\"Those ahead will keep moving,\" Tvlakv warned. \"We may arrive at that camp and find them gone.\"\n\n\"In which case,\" Shallan said, \"they will either be moving toward the Shattered Plains or coming this way, along the corridor toward the port cities. We will intersect them eventually one way or another.\"\n\nTvlakv sighed, then nodded, calling to Tag to hurry.\n\nShallan sat down, feeling a thrill. Bluth returned and took his seat, then shoved a few wizened roots in her direction. Lunch, apparently. Shortly, the wagons began rolling northward, Shallan's wagon falling into place third inline this time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shallan settled into her seat for the trip-they were hours away from that second group, even if they did manage to catch up to it. To keep from worrying, she finished her sketches of the landscape. She then turned to idle sketches, simply letting her pencil go where it willed.\n\nShe drew skyeels dancing in the air. She drew the docks of Kharbranth. She did a sketch of Yalb, though the face felt off to her, and she didn't quite capture the mischievous spark in his eyes. Perhaps the errors related to how sad she became, thinking of what had probably happened to him.\n\nShe flipped the page and started a random sketch, whatever came into her mind. Her pencil moved into a depiction of an elegant woman in a stately gown. Loose but sleek below the waist, tight across the chest and stomach. Long, open sleeves, one hiding the safehand, the other cut at the elbow exposing the forearm and draping down below.\n\nA bold, poised woman. In control. Still drawing unconsciously, Shallan added her own face to the elegant woman's head.\n\nShe hesitated, pencil hovering above the image. That wasn't her. Was it? Could it be?\n\nShe stared at that image as the wagon bumped over rocks and plants. She flipped to the next page and started another drawing. A ballgown, a woman at court, surrounded by the elite of Alethkar as she imagined them. Tall, strong. The woman belonged among them.\n\nShallan added her face to the figure.\n\nShe flipped the page and did another one. And then another.\n\nThe last one was a sketch of her standing at the edge of the Shattered Plains as she imagined them. Looking eastward, toward the secrets that Jasnah had sought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shallan flipped the page and drew again." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A picture of Jasnah on the ship, seated at her desk, papers and books sprawled around her. It wasn't the setting that mattered, but the face. That worried, terrified face. Exhausted, pushed to her limits.\n\nShallan got this one right. The first drawing since the disaster that captured perfectly what she'd seen. Jasnah's burden.\n\n\"Stop the wagon,\" Shallan said, not looking up.\n\nBluth glanced at her. She resisted the urge to say it again. He didn't, unfortunately, obey immediately.\n\n\"Why?\" he demanded.\n\nShallan looked up. The smoke column was still distant, but she'd been right, it was growing thicker. The group ahead had stopped and built a sizable fire for the midday meal. Judging by that smoke, they were a much larger group than the one behind.\n\n\"I'm going to get into the back,\" Shallan said. \"I need to look something up. You can continue when I'm settled, but please stop and call tome once we're near to the group ahead.\"\n\nHe sighed, but stopped the chull with a few whacks on the shell. Shallan climbed down, then took the knobweed and notebook, moved to the back of the wagon. Once she was in, Bluth started up again immediately, shouting back to Tvlakv, who had demanded to know the meaning of the delay.\n\nWith the walls up her wagon was shaded and private, particularly with it being last inline so nobody could look in the backdoor at her. Unfortunately, riding in the back wasn't as comfortable as riding in the front. Those tiny rockbuds caused a surprising amount of jarring and jolting.\n\nJasnah's trunk was tied in place near the front wall. She opened the lid-letting the spheres inside provide dusky illumination-then settled back on her improvised cushion, a pile of the cloths Jasnah had used to wrap her books. The blanket she used at night-as Tvlakv had been unable to produce one for her-was the velvet lining she had ripped out of the trunk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Settling back, she unwrapped her feet to apply the new knobweed. They were scabbed over and much improved from their condition just a day before. \"Pattern?\"\n\nHe vibrated from somewhere nearby. She'd asked him to remain in the back so as to not alarm Tvlakv and the guards.\n\n\"My feet are healing,\" she said. \"Did you do this?\"\n\n\"Mmmm... I know almost nothing of why people break. I know less of why they... unbreak.\"\n\n\"Your kind don't get wounded?\" she asked, snapping off a knobweed stem and squeezing the drops onto her left foot.\n\n\"We break. We just do it... differently than men do. And we do not unbreak without aid. I do not know why you unbreak. Why?\"\n\n\"It is a natural function of our bodies,\" she said. \"Living things repair themselves automatically.\" She held one of her spheres close, searching for signs of little red rotspren. Where she found a few of them along one cut, she was quick to apply sap and chase them off.\n\n\"I would like to know why things work,\" Pattern said.\n\n\"So would many of us,\" Shallan said, bent over. She grimaced as the wagon hit a particularly large rock. \"I made myself glow last night, by the fire with Tvlakv.\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Do you know why?\"\n\n\"Lies.\"\n\n\"My dress changed,\" Shallan said. \"I swear the scuffs and rips were gone last night. They've returned now, though.\"\n\n\"Mmm. Yes.\"\n\n\"I have to be able to control this thing we can do. Jasnah called it Lightweaving. She implied it was far safer to practice than Soulcasting.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The book?\"\n\nShallan frowned, sitting back against the bars on the side of the wagon. Beside her, along line of scratches on the floor looked like they'd been made by fingernails. As if one of the slaves had tried, in a fit of madness, to claw his way to freedom.\n\nThe book Jasnah had given her, Words of Radiance, had been swallowed by the ocean. It seemed a greater loss than the other one Jasnah had given her, the Book of Endless Pages, which had strangely been blank. She didn't understand the full significance of that yet.\n\n\"I never got a chance to actually read that book,\" Shallan said. \"We'll need to see if we can find another copy once we reach the Shattered Plains.\" Their destination being a warcamp, though, she doubted that many books would be for sale.\n\nShallan held one of her spheres up before herself. It was growing dim, and needed to be reinfused. What would happen if the highstorm came, and they hadn't caught up to the group ahead? Would the deserters push through the storm itself to reach them? And, potentially, the safety of their wagons?\n\nStorms, what a mess. She needed an edge. \"The Knights Radiant formed a bond with spren,\" Shallan said, more to herself than to Pattern. \"It was a symbiotic relationship, like a little cremling who lives in the shalebark. The cremling cleans off the lichen, getting food, but also keeping the shalebark clean.\"\n\nPattern buzzed in confusion. \"Am I... the shalebark or the cremling?\"\n\n\"Either,\" Shallan said, turning the diamond sphere in her fingers-the tiny gemstone trapped inside glowed with a vigilant light, suspended in glass. \"The Surges-the forces that run the world-are more pliable to spren. Or... well... since spren are pieces of those Surges, maybe it's that the spren are better at influencing one another. Our bond gives me the ability to manipulate one of the Surges. In this case, light, the power of Illumination.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lies,\" Pattern whispered. \"And truths.\"\n\nShallan gripped the sphere in her fist, the light shining through her skin making her hand glow red. She willed the Light to enter her, but nothing happened. \"So, how do I make it work?\"\n\n\"Perhaps eat it?\" Pattern said, moving over onto the wall beside her head.\n\n\"Eat it?\" Shallan asked, skeptical. \"I didn't need to eat it before to get the Stormlight.\"\n\n\"Might work, though. Try?\"\n\n\"I doubt I could swallow an entire sphere,\" Shallan said. \"Even if I wanted to, which I distinctly do not.\"\n\n\"Mmmm,\" Pattern said, his vibrations making the wood shake. \"This... is not one of the things humans like to eat, then?\"\n\n\"Storms, no. Haven't you been paying attention?\"\n\n\"I have,\" he said with an annoyed zip of a vibration. \"But it is difficult to tell! You consume somethings, and turn them into other things... Very curious things that you hide. They have value? But you leave them. Why?\"\n\n\"We are done with that conversation,\" Shallan said, opening her fist and holding up the sphere again. Though, admittedly, something about what he said felt right. She hadn't eaten any spheres before, but she had somehow... consumed the Light. Like drinking it.\n\nShe'd breathed it in, right? She stared at the sphere fora moment, then sucked in a sharp breath.\n\nIt worked. The Light left the sphere, quick as a heartbeat, a bright line streaming into her chest. From there it spread, filling her. The unusual sensation made her feel anxious, alert, ready. Eager to be about... something. Her muscles tensed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It worked,\" she said, though when she spoke, Stormlight-glowing faintly-puffed out in front of her. It rose from her skin, too. She had to practice before it all left. Lightweaving... She needed to create something. She decided to go with what she'd done before, improving the look of her dress.\n\nAgain, nothing happened. She didn't know what to do, what muscles to use, or even if muscles mattered. Frustrated, she sat there trying to find away to make the Stormlight work, feeling inept as it escaped through her skin.\n\nIt took several minutes for it to dissipate completely. \"Well, that was distinctly unimpressive,\" she said, moving to get more stalks of knobweed. \"Maybe I should practice Soulcasting instead.\"\n\nPattern buzzed. \"Dangerous.\"\n\n\"So Jasnah told me,\" Shallan said. \"But I don't have her to teach me anymore, and so far as I know, she's the only one who could have done so. It's either practice on my own or never learn to use the ability.\" She squeezed out another few drops of knobweed sap, moved to massage it into a cut on her foot, then stopped. The wound was noticeably smaller than it had been just moments ago.\n\n\"The Stormlight is healing me,\" Shallan said.\n\n\"It makes you unbreak?\"\n\n\"Yes. Stormfather! I'm doing things almost by accident.\"\n\n\"Can something be \"almost\" an accident?\" Pattern asked, genuinely curious. \"This phrase, I do not know what it means.\"\n\n\"I... Well, it's mostly a figure of speech.\" Then, before he could ask further, she continued, \"And by that I mean something we say to convey an idea or a feeling, but not a literal fact.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pattern buzzed.\n\n\"What does that mean?\" Shallan asked, massaging the knobweed in anyway. \"When you buzz like that. What are you feeling?\"\n\n\"Hmmm... Excited. Yes. It has been so long since anyone has learned of you and your kind.\"\n\nShallan squeezed some more sap onto her toes. \"You came to learn? Wait... you're a scholar?\"\n\n\"Of course. Hmmm. Why else would I come? I will learn so much before-\"\n\nHe stopped abruptly.\n\n\"Pattern?\" she asked. \"Before what?\"\n\n\"A figure of speech.\" He said it perfectly flatly, absent of tone. He was growing better and better at speaking like a person, and at times he sounded just like one. But now all of the color had gone from his voice.\n\n\"You're lying,\" she accused him, glancing at his pattern on the wall. He had shrunk, growing as small as a fist, half his usual size.\n\n\"Yes,\" he said reluctantly.\n\n\"You're a terrible liar,\" Shallan said, surprised at the realization.\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"But you lovelies!\"\n\n\"So fascinating,\" he said. \"You are all so fascinating.\"\n\n\"Tell me what you were going to say,\" Shallan ordered. \"Before you stopped yourself. I'll know if you lie.\"\n\n\"Hmmmm. You sound like her. More and more like her.\"\n\n\"Tell me.\"\n\nHe buzzed with an annoyed sound, quick and high pitched. \"I will learn what I can of you before you kill me.\"\n\n\"You think... You think I'm going to kill you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It happened to the others,\" Pattern said, his voice softer now. \"It will happen tome. It is... a pattern.\"\n\n\"This has to do with the Knights Radiant,\" Shallan said, raising her hands to start braiding her hair. That would be better than leaving it wild-though without a comb and brush, even braiding it was hard. Storms, she thought, I need a bath. And soap. And a dozen other things.\n\n\"Yes,\" Pattern said. \"The knights killed their spren.\"\n\n\"How? Why?\"\n\n\"Their oaths,\" Pattern said. \"It is all I know. My kind, those who were unbonded, we retreated, and many kept our minds. Even still, it is hard to think apart from my kind, unless...\"\n\n\"Unless?\"\n\n\"Unless we have a person.\"\n\n\"So that's what you get out of it,\" Shallan said, untangling her hair with her fingers. \"Symbiosis. I get access to Surgebinding, you get thought.\"\n\n\"Sapience,\" Pattern said. \"Thought. Life. These are of humans. We are ideas. Ideas that wish to live.\"\n\nShallan continued working on her hair. \"I'm not going to kill you,\" she said firmly. \"I won't do it.\"\n\n\"I don't suppose the others intended to either,\" he said. \"But it is no matter.\"\n\n\"It is an important matter,\" Shallan said. \"I won't do it. I'm not one of the Knights Radiant. Jasnah made that clear. A man who can use a sword isn't necessarily a soldier. Just because I can do what I do doesn't make me one of them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You spoke oaths.\"\n\nShallan froze.\n\nLife before death... The words drifted toward her from the shadows of her past. A past she would not think of.\n\n\"You live lies,\" Pattern said. \"It gives you strength. But the truth... Without speaking truths you will not be able to grow, Shallan. I know this somehow.\"\n\nShe finished with her hair and moved to rewrap her feet. Pattern had moved to the other side of the rattling wagon chamber, settling onto the wall, only faintly visible in the dim light. She had a handful of infused spheres left. Not much Stormlight, considering how quickly that other had left her. Should she use what she had to further heal her feet? Could she even do that intentionally, or would the ability elude her, as Lightweaving had?\n\nShe tucked the spheres into her safepouch. She would save them, just in case. For now, these spheres and their Light might be the only weapon available to her.\n\nBandages redone, she stood up in the rattling wagon and found that her foot pain was nearly gone. She could walk almost normally, though she still wouldn't want to go far without shoes. Pleased, she knocked on the wood nearest to Bluth. \"Stop the wagon!\"\n\nThis time, she didn't have to repeat herself. She rounded the wagon and, taking her seat beside Bluth, immediately noticed the smoke column ahead. It had grown darker, larger, roiling violently.\n\n\"That's no cook fire,\" Shallan said.\n\n\"Aye,\" Bluth said, expression dark. \"Something big is burning. Probably wagons.\" He glanced at her. \"Whoever is up there, it doesn't look like things went well for them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Scholarform shown for patience and thought.\n\nBeware its ambitions innate.\n\nThough study and diligence bring the reward,\n\nLoss of innocence maybe one's fate.\n\n-From the Listener Song of Listing, 69th stanza\n\n\"New guys are coming along, gancho,\" Lopen said, taking a bite of the paper-wrapped something he was eating. \"Wearing their uniforms, talking like real men. Funny. It only took them a few days. Took us weeks.\"\n\n\"It took the rest of the men weeks, but not you,\" Kaladin said, shading his eyes from the sun and leaning on his spear. He was still on the lighteyes' practice grounds, watching over Adolin and Renarin-the latter of whom was receiving his first instructions from Zahel the swordmaster. \"You had a good attitude from the first day we found you, Lopen.\"\n\n\"Well, life was pretty good, you know?\"\n\n\"Pretty good? You'd just been assigned to carry siege bridges until you died on the plateaus.\"\n\n\"Eh,\" Lopen said, taking a bite of his food. It looked like a thick piece of flatbread wrapped around something goopy. He licked his lips, then handed it to Kaladin to free his single hand so he could dig in his pocket fora moment. \"You have bad days. You have good days. Evens out eventually.\"\n\n\"You're a strange man, Lopen,\" Kaladin said, inspecting the'food\" Lopen had been eating. \"What is this?\"\n\n\"Chouta.\"\n\n\"Chowder?\"\n\n\"Cha-ou-ta. Herdazian food, gon. Good stuff. You can have a bite, if you want.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It seemed to be chunks of undefinable meat slathered in some dark liquid, all wrapped in overly thick bread. \"Disgusting,\" Kaladin said, handing it back as Lopen gave him the thing he'd dugout of his pocket, a shell with glyphs written on both sides.\n\n\"Your loss,\" Lopen said, taking another bite.\n\n\"You shouldn't be walking around eating like that,\" Kaladin noted. \"It's rude.\"\n\n\"Nah, it's convenient. See, it's wrapped up good. You can walkabout, get stuff done, eat at the same time...\"\n\n\"Slovenly,\" Kaladin said, inspecting the shell. It listed Sigzil's tallies of how many troops they had, how much food Rock thought they'd need, and Teft's assessments of how many of the former bridgemen were fit for training.\n\nThat last number was pretty high. If bridgemen lived, they got strong carrying bridges. As Kaladin had proven firsthand, that translated to their making fine soldiers, assuming they could be motivated.\n\nOn the reverse side of the shell, Sigzil had outlined a path for Kaladin to take on patrol outside the warcamps. He'd soon have enough of the greenvines ready to begin patrolling the region outside of the warcamps, as he'd told Dalinar he would do. Teft thought it would be good for Kaladin to go himself, as it would let the new men spend time with Kaladin.\n\n\"Highstorm tonight,\" Lopen noted. \"Sig says it will come two hours after sunset. He thought you'd want to make preparations.\"\n\nKaladin nodded. Another chance for those mysterious numbers to appear-both times before, they'd come during storms. He'd make extra certain Dalinar and his family were being watched." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thanks for the report,\" Kaladin said, tucking the shell into his pocket. \"Send back and tell Sigzil his proposed route takes me too far from the warcamps. Have him draw up another one. Also, tell Teft I need a few more men to come here today and relieve Moash and Drehy. They've both been pulling too many hours lately. I'll guard Dalinar tonight myself-suggest to the highprince it would be convenient if his entire family would be together for the highstorm.\"\n\n\"If the winds will, gon,\" Lopen said, finishing his last bite of chouta. He whistled then, looking in at the practice grounds. \"That is something, isn't it?\"\n\nKaladin followed Lopen's gaze. Adolin, having left his brother with Zahel, was now executing a training sequence with his Shardblade. Gracefully, he spun and twisted on the sands, sweeping his sword in broad, flowing patterns.\n\nOn a practiced Shardbearer, Plate never looked clumsy. Imposing, resplendent, it fit to the form of the wearer. Adolin's reflected sunlight like a mirror as he made sweeps of the sword, moving from one posture to the next. Kaladin knew it was just a warm-up sequence, more impressive than functional. You'd never do something like this on the battlefield, though many of the individual postures and cuts represented practical movements.\n\nEven knowing that, Kaladin had to shake off a feeling of awe. Shardbearers in Plate looked inhuman when they fought, more like Heralds than men.\n\nHe caught Syl sitting on the edge of the roof overhang near Adolin, watching the young man. She was too distant for Kaladin to make out her expression." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Adolin finished his warm-up in a move where he fell to one knee and slammed his Shardblade into the ground. It sank up to mid-blade, then vanished when he released it.\n\n\"I've seen him summon that weapon before,\" Kaladin said.\n\n\"Yeah, gancho, on the battlefield, when we saved his sorry ass from Sadeas.\"\n\n\"No, before that,\" Kaladin said, remembering an incident with a whore in Sadeas's camp. \"He saved someone who was being bullied.\"\n\n\"Huh,\" Lopen said. \"He can't be too bad then, you know?\"\n\n\"I suppose. Anyway, off with you. Make sure to send that replacement team.\"\n\nLopen saluted, collecting Shen, who had been poking at practice swords along the side of the courtyard. Together, they jogged off on the errand.\n\nKaladin did his rounds, checking on Moash and the others before walking over to where Renarin sat-still armored-on the ground before his new master.\n\nZahel, the ardent with the ancient eyes, satin a solemn posture that belied his ragged beard. \"You will need to relearn how to fight, wearing that Plate. It changes the way a man steps, grips, moves.\"\n\n\"I...\" Renarin looked down. It was very odd to see a man wearing spectacles in the magnificent armor. \"I will not need to relearn how to fight, master. I never learned in the first place.\"\n\nZahel grunted. \"That's good. It means I don't have to breakdown any old, bad habits.\"\n\n\"Yes, master.\"\n\n\"We'll start you off easily, then,\" Zahel said. \"There are some steps at the corner over there. Climb up onto the roof of the dueling grounds. Then jump off.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Renarin looked up sharply. \"... Jump?\"\n\n\"I'm old, son,\" Zahel said. \"Repeating myself makes me eat the wrong flower.\"\n\nKaladin frowned, and Renarin cocked his head, then looked at Kaladin questioningly. Kaladin shrugged.\n\n\"Eat... what...?\" Renarin asked.\n\n\"It means I get angry,\" Zahel snapped. \"You people don't have proper idioms for anything. Go!\"\n\nRenarin sprang to his feet, kicking up sand, and hustled away.\n\n\"Your helmet, son!\" Zahel called.\n\nRenarin stopped, then scrambled back and snatched his helmet off the ground, nearly slipping onto his face as he did so. He spun, off balance, and ran awkwardly toward the stairs. He nearly plowed into a pillar on the way.\n\nKaladin snorted softly.\n\n\"Oh,\" Zahel said, \"and you assume you'd do better your first time wearing Shardplate, bodyguard?\"\n\n\"I doubt I'd forget my helmet,\" Kaladin said, shouldering his spear and stretching. \"If Dalinar Kholin intends to force the other highprinces into line, I think he's going to need better Shardbearers than this. He should have picked someone else for that Plate.\"\n\n\"Like you?\"\n\n\"Storms no,\" Kaladin said, perhaps too vehemently. \"I'm a soldier, Zahel. I want nothing to do with Shards. The boy is likable enough, but I wouldn't trust men to his command-let alone armor that could keep a much better soldier alive on the field-and that's it.\"\n\n\"He'll surprise you,\" Zahel replied. \"I gave him the whole'I\"m your master and you do what I say\" talk, and he actually listened.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Every soldier hears that on their first day,\" Kaladin said. \"Sometimes they listen. That the boy did is hardly noteworthy.\"\n\n\"If you knew how many spoiled ten-year-old lighteyed brats came through here,\" Zahel said, \"you'd think it worth noting. I thought a nineteen-year-old like him would be insufferable. And don't call him a boy, boy. He's probably close to your own age, and is the son of the most powerful human on this-\"\n\nHe cutoff as scraping from atop the building announced Renarin Kholin charging and throwing himself off into the air, boots grinding against the stone coping of the roof. He sailed a good tenor twelve feet out over the courtyard-practiced Shardbearers could do far better-before floundering like a dying skyeel and crashing down into the sand.\n\nZahel looked toward Kaladin, raising an eyebrow.\n\n\"What?\" Kaladin asked.\n\n\"Enthusiasm, obedience, no fear of looking foolish,\" Zahel said. \"I can teach him how to fight, but those qualities are innate. This lad is going to do just fine.\"\n\n\"Assuming he doesn't fall on anyone,\" Kaladin said.\n\nRenarin climbed to his feet. He looked down, as if surprised that he hadn't broken anything.\n\n\"Go up and do it again!\" Zahel called to Renarin. \"This time, fall headfirst!\"\n\nRenarin nodded, then turned and trotted off toward the stairwell.\n\n\"You want him to be confident in how the Plate protects him,\" Kaladin said.\n\n\"Part of using Plate is knowing its limits,\" Zahel said, turning back to Kaladin. \"Plus, I just want him moving in it. Either way he's listening, and that's good. Teaching him is going to be areal pleasure. You, on the other hand, are another story.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kaladin raised his hand. \"Thanks, but no.\"\n\n\"You'd turn down an offer to train with a full weapons master?\" Zahel asked. \"I can count on one hand the number of darkeyes I've seen given that chance.\"\n\n\"Yes, well, I've already done the'new recruit'thing. Yelled at by sergeants, worked to the bone, marched for hours on end. Really, I'm fine.\"\n\n\"This isn't the same at all,\" Zahel said, waving down one of the ardents walking past. The man was carrying a Shardblade with metal guards over the sharp edges, one of the ones the king provided for training use.\n\nZahel took the Shardblade from the ardent, holding it up.\n\nKaladin nodded his chin at it. \"What's that on the Blade?\"\n\n\"Nobody's sure,\" Zahel said, swiping with the Blade. \"Fit it to the edges of a Blade, and it will adapt to the shape of the weapon and make it safely blunt. Off the weapons, they break surprisingly easily. Useless in a fight on their own. Perfect for training, though.\"\n\nKaladin grunted. Something created long ago, for use in training? Zahel inspected the Shardblade fora moment, then pointed it directly toward Kaladin.\n\nEven with it blunted-even knowing the man wasn't going to really attack him-Kaladin felt an immediate moment of panic. A Shardblade. This one had a slender, sleek form with a large crossguard. The flat sides of the blade were etched with the ten fundamental glyphs. It was a handspan wide and easily six feet long, yet Zahel held it with one hand and didn't seem off balance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Niter,\" Zahel said.\n\n\"What?\" Kaladin asked, frowning.\n\n\"He was head of the Cobalt Guard before you,\" Zahel said. \"He was a good man, and a friend. He died keeping the men of the Kholin house alive. Now you've got the same Damnation job, and you're going to have a tough time doing it half as well as he did.\"\n\n\"I don't see what that has to do with you waving a Shardblade at me.\"\n\n\"Anyone who sends assassins after Dalinar or his sons is going to be powerful,\" Zahel said. \"They'll have access to Shardbearers. That's what you're up against, son. You're going to need far more training than a battlefield gives a spearman. Have you ever fought a man holding one of these?\"\n\n\"Once or twice,\" Kaladin said, relaxing against the nearby pillar.\n\n\"Don't lie tome.\"\n\n\"I'm not lying,\" Kaladin said, meeting Zahel's eyes. \"Ask Adolin what I pulled his father out of a few weeks back.\"\n\nZahel lowered the sword. Behind him, Renarin dove face-first off the roof and crashed into the ground. He groaned inside his helm, rolling over. His helm leaked Light but he seemed otherwise unharmed.\n\n\"Well done, Prince Renarin,\" Zahel called without looking. \"Now do a few more jumps and see if you can land on your feet.\"\n\nRenarin rose and clinked off.\n\n\"All right then,\" Zahel said, sweeping the Shardblade in the air. \"Let's see what you can do, kid. Convince me to leave you alone.\"\n\nKaladin didn't respond other than to heft his spear and settle into a defensive posture, one foot behind, one out front. He held his weapon with the butt forward instead of the point. Nearby, Adolin sparred with another one of the masters, who had the second King's Blade and a suit of Plate." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "How would this work? If Zahel scored a hit on Kaladin's spear, would they pretend it had cut through?\n\nThe ardent approached in a rush, raising the Blade in a two-handed grip. The familiar calmness and focus of battle enveloped Kaladin. He did not draw in Stormlight. He needed to be certain not to come to rely on it too much.\n\nWatch that Shardblade, Kaladin thought, stepping forward, trying to get inside the weapon's reach. Infighting a Shardbearer, everything became about that Blade. The Blade that nothing could stop, the Blade that didn't just kill the body-but severed the soul itself. The Blade-\n\nZahel dropped the Blade.\n\nIt hit the ground as Zahel got inside Kaladin's reach. Kaladin had been too focused on the weapon, and though he tried to get his spear in position to strike, Zahel twisted and buried his fist into Kaladin's stomach. The next punch-to the face-slammed Kaladin to the floor of the practice grounds.\n\nKaladin immediately rolled, ignoring the painspren wiggling in the sand. He found his feet as his vision swam. He grinned. \"Nice move, that.\"\n\nZahel was already turning back to Kaladin, Blade recovered. Kaladin scuttled backward on the sand, spear still forward, staying away. Zahel knew his way around a Blade. He didn't fight like Adolin; fewer sweeping blows, more overhand chops. Quick and furious. He backed Kaladin around the side of the practice ground.\n\nHe'll get tired keeping this up, Kaladin's instincts said. Keep him moving.\n\nAfter an almost complete circuit of the grounds, Zahel slowed his offense and instead rounded on Kaladin, watching for an opening. \"You'd be in trouble if I had Plate,\" Zahel said. \"I'd be faster, wouldn't tire.\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Carry on with the narrative as the plot partner.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, knights radiant\nAuthor: Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Words of Radiance\nChapter: 30" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All of the full Shardbearers have refused me,\" Adolin said with a shrug. \"Those two are eager, thirsty for notoriety. One of them might agree where others haven't.\"\n\nKaladin folded his arms, leaning back against the wall. \"And if you defeat them, won't it scare off others from fighting you?\"\n\n\"When I beat them,\" Adolin said, glancing at Kaladin's relaxed posture and frowning, \"Father will maneuver others into agreeing to duels.\"\n\n\"But it will have to stop sometime, right?\" Kaladin asked. \"Eventually the other highprinces will realize what's happening. They'll refuse to be goaded into further duels. It might be happening already. That's why they don't accept.\"\n\n\"Someone will,\" Adolin said, standing. \"And once I start winning, others will begin to see meas areal challenge. They'll want to test themselves.\"\n\nThat seemed optimistic to Kaladin.\n\n\"Captain Kaladin is right,\" Dalinar said.\n\nAdolin turned toward his father.\n\n\"There's no need to fight every Shardbearer in camp,\" Dalinar said softly. \"We need to narrow our attack, choose duels for you that point us toward the ultimate goal.\"\n\n\"Which is?\" Adolin asked.\n\n\"Undermining Sadeas.\" Dalinar almost sounded regretful. \"Killing him in a duel, if we have to. Everyone in camp knows the sides in this power struggle. This won't work if we punish everyone equally. We need to show those in the middle, those deciding whom to follow, the advantages of trust. Cooperation on plateau runs. Help from one another's Shardbearers. We show them what it's like to be part of areal kingdom.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "The others grew quiet." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The king turned away with a shake of his head. He didn't believe, at least not fully, in what Dalinar wished to achieve.\n\nKaladin found himself annoyed. Why should he be? Dalinar had agreed with him. He stewed fora moment, and realized that he was probably still upset because someone had mentioned Amaram.\n\nEven hearing the man's name put Kaladin out of sorts. He kept thinking something should happen, something should change, now that such a murderer was in camp. Yet everything just kept ongoing. It was frustrating. Made him want to lash out.\n\nHe needed to do something about it.\n\n\"I assume we've waited long enough?\" Adolin said to his father. \"I can go?\"\n\nDalinar sighed, nodding. Adolin pulled open the door and strode away; Renarin followed at a slower pace, hauling that Shardblade he was still bonding, sheathed in its protective strips. As they passed the group of guards Kaladin had put outside, Skar and three others broke off to follow them.\n\nKaladin walked to the door, doing a quick count of who was left. Four men total. \"Moash,\" Kaladin said, noticing the man yawning. \"How long have you been on duty today?\"\n\nMoash shrugged. \"One shift guarding Brightness Navani. One shift with the King's Guard.\"\n\nI'm working them too hard, Kaladin thought. Stormfather. I don't have enough men. Even with the leftover Cobalt Guard that Dalinar is sending tome. \"Head back and get some sleep,\" Kaladin said. \"You too, Bisig. I saw you on shift this morning.\"\n\n\"And you?\" Moash asked Kaladin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm fine.\" He had Stormlight to keep him alert. True, using Stormlight that way could be dangerous-it provoked him to act, to be more impulsive. He wasn't sure he liked what it did to him when he used it outside of battle.\n\nMoash raised an eyebrow. \"You've got to beat least as tired as I am, Kal.\"\n\n\"I'll go back in a bit,\" Kaladin said. \"You need sometime off, Moash. You'll get sloppy if you don't take it.\"\n\n\"I have to pull two shifts,\" Moash said, shrugging. \"At least, if you want me to train with the King's Guard as well as doing my regular guard duty.\"\n\nKaladin drew his lips to a line. That was important. Moash needed to think like a bodyguard, and there was no better way than serving on an already-established crew.\n\n\"My shift herewith the King's Guard is almost over,\" Moash noted. \"I'll head back after.\"\n\n\"Fine,\" Kaladin said. \"Keep Leyten with you. Natam, you and Mart guard Brightness Navani. I'll see Dalinar back to camp and post guards at his door.\"\n\n\"Then you'll get some sleep?\" Moash asked. The others glanced at Kaladin. They were worried as well.\n\n\"Yes, fine.\" Kaladin turned back to the room, where Dalinar was helping Navani to her feet. He'd walk her to her door, as he did most evenings.\n\nKaladin debated fora moment, then stepped up to the highprince. \"Sir, there's something I need to talk to you about.\"\n\n\"Can it wait until I'm done here?\" Dalinar said.\n\n\"Yes, sir,\" Kaladin said. \"I'll wait at the palace's front doors, then will be your guard on the way back to camp.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Dalinar led Navani away, joined by two bridgeman guards." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kaladin made his own way down the corridor, thinking. Servants had already come by to open the corridor windows, and Syl floated in through one as a spinning swirl of mist. Giggling, she spun around him a few times before going out another window. She always got more sprenlike during a highstorm.\n\nThe air smelled wet and fresh. The whole world felt clean after a highstorm, scrubbed by nature's abrasive.\n\nHe reached the front of the palace, where a pair of the King's Guard stood on watch. Kaladin nodded to them and got crisp salutes in return, then he fetched a sphere lantern from the guard post and filled it with his own spheres.\n\nFrom the front of the palace, Kaladin could lookout overall ten warcamps. As always after a storm, the Light of refreshed spheres sparkled everywhere, their gemstones ablaze with captured fragments of the tempest that had passed.\n\nStanding there, Kaladin confronted what he needed to say to Dalinar. He rehearsed it silently more than once, but still wasn't ready when the highprince emerged at last from the palace doors. Natam saluted from behind them, handing Dalinar off to Kaladin, then jogged back to join Mart outside Brightness Navani's door.\n\nThe highprince started down the switchbacks of the side route down from the Pinnacle to the stables below. Kaladin fell in beside him. Dalinar appeared deeply distracted by something.\n\nHe hasn't ever announced anything about his fits during highstorms, Kaladin thought. Shouldn't he say something?\n\nThey'd talked about visions, earlier. What was it Dalinar saw, or thought he saw?\n\n\"So, soldier,\" Dalinar said as they walked. \"What is it you wanted to discuss?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kaladin took a deep breath." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A year ago, I was a soldier in Amaram's army.\"\n\n\"So that's where you learned,\" Dalinar said. \"I should have guessed. Amaram is the only general in Sadeas's princedom with any real leadership ability.\"\n\n\"Sir,\" Kaladin said, stopping on the steps. \"He betrayed me and my men.\"\n\nDalinar stopped and turned to look at him. \"A poor battle decision, then? Nobody is perfect, soldier. If he sent your men into a bad situation, I doubt he intended to do so.\"\n\nJust push through it, Kaladin told himself, noticing Syl sitting on a shalebark ridge just to the right. She nodded at him. He has to know. It was just...\n\nHe'd never spoken of this, not in full. Not even to Rock, Teft, and the others.\n\n\"It wasn't that, sir,\" Kaladin said, meeting Dalinar's eyes by spherelight. \"I know where Amaram got his Shardblade. I was there. I killed the Shardbearer carrying it.\"\n\n\"That can't be the case,\" Dalinar said slowly. \"If you had, you'd hold the Plate and Blade.\"\n\n\"Amaram took it for himself, then slaughtered everyone who knew the truth,\" Kaladin said. \"Everyone but alone soldier who, in his guilt, Amaram branded a slave and sold rather than murdering.\"\n\nDalinar stood in silence. From this angle, the hillside behind him was completely dark, lit only by stars. A few spheres glowed in Dalinar's pocket, shining through the fabric of his uniform.\n\n\"Amaram is one of the best men I know,\" Dalinar said. \"His honor is spotless. I've never even known him to take undue advantage of an opponent in a duel, despite cases when it would have been acceptable.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kaladin didn't respond." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He'd believed that too, atone point.\n\n\"Do you have any proof?\" Dalinar asked. \"You understand that I can't take one man's word on something of this nature.\"\n\n\"One darkeyed man's word, you mean,\" Kaladin said, gritting his teeth.\n\n\"It's not the color of your eyes that is the problem,\" Dalinar said, \"but the severity of your accusation. The words you speak are dangerous. Do you have any proof, soldier?\"\n\n\"There were others there when he took the Shards. Men of his personal guard did the actual killing at his command. And there was a stormwarden there. Middle-aged, with a peaked face. He wore a beard like an ardent.\" He paused. \"They were all complicit in the act, but maybe...\"\n\nDalinar sighed softly in the night. \"Have you spoken this accusation to anyone else?\"\n\n\"No,\" Kaladin said.\n\n\"Continue to hold your tongue. I'll talk to Amaram. Thank you for telling me of this.\"\n\n\"Sir,\" Kaladin said, taking a step closer to Dalinar. \"If you really believe injustice, you-\"\n\n\"That's enough for the moment, son,\" Dalinar cut in, voice calm but cool. \"You've had your say, unless you can offer me anything else byway of evidence.\"\n\nKaladin forced down his immediate burst of anger. It was difficult.\n\n\"I appreciated your input when we were talking about my son's duels earlier,\" Dalinar said. \"This is the second time you've added something important to one of our conferences, I believe.\"\n\n\"Thank you, sir.\"\n\n\"But soldier,\" Dalinar said, \"you're walking quite a line between helpfulness and insubordination in the way you treat me and mine. You have a chip on your shoulder the size of a boulder. I ignore it, because I know what was done to you, and I can seethe soldier beneath. That's the man I hired for this job.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kaladin ground his teeth, and nodded." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, sir.\"\n\n\"Good. Now run along.\"\n\n\"Sir, but I must escort-\"\n\n\"I think I'll return to the palace,\" Dalinar said. \"I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight, so I might want to pester the dowager with my thoughts. Her guards can watch over me. I'll take one with me when I return to my camp.\"\n\nKaladin let out along breath. Then saluted. Fine, he thought, continuing down the dark, damp path. When he reached the bottom, Dalinar was still standing up above, now just a shadow. He seemed lost in thought.\n\nKaladin turned and walked back toward Dalinar's warcamp. Syl flitted up and landed on his shoulder. \"See,\" she said. \"He listened.\"\n\n\"No he didn't, Syl.\"\n\n\"What? He replied and said-\"\n\n\"I told him something he didn't want to hear,\" Kaladin said. \"Even if he does look into it, he'll find plenty of reasons to dismiss what I said. In the end, it will be my word against Amaram's. Stormfather! I shouldn't have said anything.\"\n\n\"You'd let it go, then?\"\n\n\"Storms, no,\" Kaladin said. \"I'd find my own justice.\"\n\n\"Oh...\" Syl settled on his shoulder.\n\nThey walked fora long while, eventually approaching the warcamp.\n\n\"You're not a Skybreaker, Kaladin,\" Syl finally said. \"You're not supposed to be like this.\"\n\n\"A what?\" he asked, stepping over scuttling cremlings in the dark. They came out in force after a storm, when plants unfolded to lap up the water. \"That was one of the orders, wasn't it?\" He did know some little of them. Everyone did, from the legends." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes,\" Syl said, voice soft. \"I'm worried about you, Kaladin. I thought things would be better, once you were free from the bridges.\"\n\n\"Things are better,\" he said. \"None of my men have been killed since we were freed.\"\n\n\"But you...\" She didn't seem to know what else to say. \"I thought you might be like the person you were before. I can remember a man on afield of battle... A man who fought...\"\n\n\"That man is dead, Syl,\" Kaladin said, waving to the guards as he entered the warcamp. Once again, light and motion surrounded him, people running quick errands, parshmen repairing buildings damaged by the storm. \"During my time as a bridgeman, all I had to worry about was my men. Now things are different. I have to become someone. I just don't know who yet.\"\n\nWhen he reached Bridge Four's barrack, Rock was dishing out the evening stew. Far later than usual, but some of the men were on odd shifts. The men weren't limited to stew any longer, but they still insisted on it for the evening meal. Kaladin took a bowl gratefully, nodding to Bisig, who was relaxing with several of the others and chatting about how they actually missed carrying their bridge. Kaladin had instilled in them a respect for it, much as a soldier respected his spear.\n\nStew. Bridges. They spoke so fondly of things that had once been emblems of their captivity. Kaladin took a bite, then stopped, noticing anew man leaning against a rock beside the fire.\n\n\"Do I know you?\" he asked, pointing at the bald, muscular man. He had tan skin, like an Alethi, but he didn't seem to have the right face shape. Herdazian?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, don't mind Punio,\" Lopen called from nearby. \"He's my cousin.\"\n\n\"You had a cousin on the bridge crews?\" Kaladin asked.\n\n\"Nah,\" Lopen said. \"He just heard my mother say we needed more guards, so he came to help. I got him a uniform and things.\"\n\nThe newcomer, Punio, smiled and raised his spoon. \"Bridge Four,\" he said with a thick Herdazian accent.\n\n\"Are you a soldier?\" Kaladin asked him.\n\n\"Yes,\" the man said. \"Brightlord Roion army. Not worry. I swore to Kholin instead, now. For my cousin.\" He smiled affably.\n\n\"You can't just leave your army, Punio,\" Kaladin said, rubbing his forehead. \"It's called desertion.\"\n\n\"Not for us,\" Lopen called. \"We're Herdazian-nobody can tell us apart anyway.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Punio said. \"I leave for the homeland once a year. When I comeback, nobody remembers me.\" He shrugged. \"This time, I come here.\"\n\nKaladin sighed, but the man looked like he knew his way around a spear, and Kaladin did need more men. \"Fine. Just pretend you were one of the bridgemen from the start, all right?\"\n\n\"Bridge Four!\" the man said enthusiastically.\n\nKaladin passed him and found his customary place by the fire to relax and think. He didn't get that chance, however, as someone stepped up and squatted down before him. A man with marbled skin and a Bridge Four uniform.\n\n\"Shen?\" Kaladin asked.\n\n\"Sir.\"\n\nShen continued to stare at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is there something you wanted?\" Kaladin asked.\n\n\"Am I really Bridge Four?\" Shen asked.\n\n\"Of course you are.\"\n\n\"Where is my spear?\"\n\nKaladin looked Shen in the eyes. \"What do you think?\"\n\n\"I think that I am not Bridge Four,\" Shen said, taking time to think with each word. \"I am Bridge Four's slave.\"\n\nIt was like a punch to Kaladin's gut. He'd hardly heard a dozen words out of the man during their time together, and now this?\n\nThe words smarted either way. Here was a man who, unlike the others, wasn't welcome to leave and make his way in the world. Dalinar had freed the rest of Bridge Four-but a parshman... he'd be a slave no matter where he went or what he did.\n\nWhat could Kaladin say? Storms.\n\n\"I appreciate your help when we were scavenging. I know it was difficult for you to see what we did down there sometimes.\"\n\nShen waited, still squatting, listening. He regarded Kaladin with those impenetrable, solid black parshman eyes of his.\n\n\"I can't start arming parshmen, Shen,\" Kaladin said. \"The lighteyes barely accept us as it is. If I gave you a spear, think of the storm it would cause.\"\n\nShen nodded, face displaying no hint of his emotions. He stood up straight. \"A slave I am, then.\"\n\nHe withdrew.\n\nKaladin knocked his head back against the stone behind him, staring up at the sky. Storming man. He had a good life, fora parshman. Certainly more freedom than any other of his kind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "And were you satisfied with that?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "a voice inside him asked. Were you happy to be a well-treated slave? Or did you try to run, fight your way to freedom?\n\nWhat a mess. He mulled over those thoughts, digging into his stew. He got two bites down before Natam-one of the men who'd been guarding at the palace-came stumbling into their camp, sweating, frantic, and red-cheeked from running.\n\n\"The king!\" Natam said, puffing. \"An assassin.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nightform predicting what will be,\n\nThe form of shadows, mind to foresee.\n\nAs the gods did leave, the nightform whispered.\n\nAnew storm will come, someday to break.\n\nAnew storm anew world to make.\n\nAnew storm anew path to take, the nightform listens.\n\n-From the Listener Song of Secrets, 17th stanza\n\nThe king was fine.\n\nOne hand on the doorframe, Kaladin stood gasping from his run back to the palace. Inside, Elhokar, Dalinar, Navani, and both of Dalinar's sons spoke together. Nobody was dead. Nobody was dead.\n\nStormfather, he thought, stepping into the room. Fora moment, I felt like I did on the plateaus, watching my men charge the Parshendi. He hardly knew these people, but they were his duty. He hadn't thought that his protectiveness could apply to lighteyes.\n\n\"Well, at least he ran here,\" the king said, waving off the attentions of a woman who was trying to bandage a gash on his forehead. \"You see, Idrin. This is what a good bodyguard looks like. I bet he wouldn't have let this happen.\"\n\nThe captain of the King's Guard stood near the door, red-faced. He looked away, then stalked out into the hallway. Kaladin raised a hand to his head, bewildered. Comments like that one from the king were not going to help his men get along with Dalinar's soldiers.\n\nInside the room, a mess of guards, servants, and members of Bridge Four stood around, looking confused or embarrassed. Natam was there-he'd been on duty with the King's Guard-as was Moash." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Moash,\" Kaladin called. \"You're supposed to be back in the camp asleep.\"\n\n\"So are you,\" Moash said.\n\nKaladin grunted, trotting over, speaking more softly. \"Were you here when it happened?\"\n\n\"I'd just left,\" Moash said. \"Finishing my shift with the King's Guard. I heard yelling, and came back as quickly as I could.\" He nodded toward the open balcony door. \"Come have a look.\"\n\nThey walked out onto the balcony, which was a circular stone pathway that ran around the peak rooms of the palace-a terrace cut into the stone itself. From such a height, the balcony offered an unparalleled view overlooking the warcamps and the Plains beyond. Some members of the King's Guard stood here, inspecting the balcony railing with sphere lamps. A section of the ironwork structure had twisted outward and hung precariously over the drop.\n\n\"From what we've figured,\" Moash said, pointing, \"the king came out hereto think, as he likes to do.\"\n\nKaladin nodded, walking with Moash. The stone floor beneath was still wet from highstorm rain. They reached the place where the railing was ripped, several guards making way for them. Kaladin looked down over the side. The drop was a good hundred feet onto the rocks below. Syl drifted through the air down there, making lazy glowing circles.\n\n\"Damnation, Kaladin!\" Moash said, taking his arm. \"Are you trying to make me panic?\"\n\nI wonder if I could survive that fall.... He'd dropped half that once before, filled with Stormlight, and had landed without trouble. He stepped back for Moash's sake, though even before gaining his special abilities, heights had fascinated him. It felt liberating to be up so high. Just you and the air itself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He knelt down, looking at the places where the footings of the iron railing had been mortared into holes in the stone. \"The railing pulled free of its mountings?\" he asked, poking his finger into a hole, then pulling it outwith mortar dust on his fingers.\n\n\"Yeah,\" Moash said, several of the men of the king's guard nodding.\n\n\"Could just be a flaw in the design,\" Kaladin said.\n\n\"Captain,\" said one of the guardsmen. \"I was here when it happened, watching him on the balcony. It fell right out. Barely a sound. I was standing here, looking out at the Plains and thinking to myself, and next I knew His Majesty was hanging right there, holding on for his life and cursing like a caravan worker.\" The guard blushed. \"Sir.\"\n\nKaladin stood, inspecting the metalwork. So the king had leaned against this section of the railing, and it had bent forward-the mountings at the bottom giving way. It had almost come free completely, but fortunately one bar had held tight. The king had grabbed hold and clung to it long enough to be rescued.\n\nThis should never have been possible. The thing looked as if it had been constructed of wood and rope first, then Soulcast into iron. Shaking another section, he found it incredibly secure. Even a few footings giving out shouldn't have let the whole thing falloff-the metal pieces would have had to come apart.\n\nHe moved to the right, inspecting some of those that had ripped free of one another. The two pieces of metal had been sheared at a joint. Smoothly, cleanly.\n\nThe doorway into the king's chamber darkened as Dalinar Kholin stepped out onto the balcony. \"In,\" he said to Moash and the other guards. \"Close the door. I'd like to speak to Captain Kaladin.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They obeyed, though Moash went reluctantly. Dalinar walked up to Kaladin as the windows closed, giving them privacy. Despite his age, the highprince's figure was an intimidating one, wide shouldered, built like a brick wall.\n\n\"Sir,\" Kaladin said. \"I should have-\"\n\n\"This wasn't your fault,\" Dalinar said. \"The king wasn't under your care. Even if he was, I wouldn't reprimand you-just as I won't reprimand Idrin. I wouldn't expect bodyguards to inspect architecture.\"\n\n\"Yes, sir,\" Kaladin said.\n\nDalinar knelt down to inspect the mountings. \"You like to take responsibility for things, don't you? A commendable attribute in an officer.\" Dalinar rose and looked at the place where the rail had been cut. \"What is your assessment?\"\n\n\"Someone definitely chipped at the mortar,\" Kaladin said, \"and sabotaged the railing.\"\n\nDalinar nodded. \"I agree. This was a deliberate attempt on the king's life.\"\n\n\"However... sir...\"\n\n\"Yes?\"\n\n\"Whoever tried this is an idiot.\"\n\nDalinar looked to him, raising an eyebrow in the lantern light.\n\n\"How could they know where the king would lean?\" Kaladin said. \"Or even that he would? This trap could easily have caught someone else, and then the would-be assassins would have exposed themselves for nothing. In fact, that is what happened. The king survived, and now we're aware of them.\"\n\n\"We've been expecting assassins,\" Dalinar said. \"And not just because of the incident with the king's armor. Half the powerful men in this camp are probably contemplating some kind of assassination attempt, so an attempt on Elhokar's life doesn't tell us as much as you'd think. As to how they knew to catch him here, he has a favorite spot for standing, leaning against the rail and looking out over the Shattered Plains. Anyone who watches his patterns would have known whereto apply their sabotage.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But sir,\" Kaladin said, \"it's just so convoluted. If they have access to the king's private chambers, then why not hide an assassin inside? Or use poison?\"\n\n\"Poison is as unlikely to work as this was,\" Dalinar said, waving toward the railing. \"The king's food and drink is tasted. As fora hidden assassin, one might run into guards.\" He stood up. \"But I agree that such methods would probably have had a greater chance at success. The fact that they didn't try it that way tells us something. Assuming these are the same people who planted those flawed gemstones in the king's armor, they prefer nonconfrontational methods. It's not that they're idiots, they're...\"\n\n\"They're cowards,\" Kaladin realized. \"They want to make the assassination look like an accident. They're timid. They may have waited this long so that suspicion would die down.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Dalinar said, rising, looking troubled.\n\n\"This time, though, they made a big mistake.\"\n\n\"How?\"\n\nKaladin walked to the cut section he had inspected earlier and knelt down to rub the smooth section. \"What cuts iron so cleanly?\"\n\nDalinar leaned down, inspecting the cut, then took out a sphere for more light. He grunted. \"It's supposed to look like the joint came apart, I'd guess.\"\n\n\"And does it?\" Kaladin asked.\n\n\"No. That was a Shardblade.\"\n\n\"Narrows down our suspects a tad, I'd think.\"\n\nDalinar nodded. \"Don't tell anyone else. We'll hide that we noticed the Shardblade cut, maybe gain an edge. It's too late to pretend that we think this was an accident, but we don't have to reveal everything.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, sir.\"\n\n\"The king is insisting that I put you in charge of guarding him,\" Dalinar said. \"We might have to move up our timetable for that.\"\n\n\"I'm not ready,\" Kaladin said. \"My men are stretched thin with the duties they already have.\"\n\n\"I know,\" Dalinar said softly. He seemed hesitant. \"This was done by someone on the inside, you realize.\"\n\nKaladin felt cold.\n\n\"The king's own chambers? That means a servant. Or one of his guards. Men in the King's Guard might have had access to his armor, too.\" Dalinar looked at Kaladin, face lit by the sphere in his hand. A strong face, with a nose that had once been broken. Blunt. Real. \"I don't know whom I can trust these days. Can I trust you, Kaladin Stormblessed?\"\n\n\"Yes. I swear it.\"\n\nDalinar nodded. \"I'm going to relieve Idrin of this post and assign him to a command in my army. It will sate the king, but I'll make certain Idrin knows he isn't being punished. I suspect he'll enjoy the new command more anyway.\"\n\n\"Yes, sir.\"\n\n\"I'll ask him for his best men,\" Dalinar said, \"and those will be under your command for now. Use them as little as possible. I eventually want the king being guarded only by men from the bridge crews-men you trust, men who have no part in warcamp politics. Choose carefully. I don't want to replace potential traitors with former thieves who can be easily bought.\"\n\n\"Yes, sir,\" Kaladin said, feeling a large weight settle on his shoulders.\n\nDalinar stood up. \"I don't know what else to do. A man needs to be able to trust his own guards.\" He walked back toward the door into the room. The tone of his voice sounded deeply troubled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sir?\" Kaladin asked. \"This wasn't the assassination attempt you were expecting, was it?\"\n\n\"No,\" Dalinar said, hand on the doorknob. \"I agree with your assessment. This wasn't the work of someone who knows what they're doing. Considering how contrived it was, I'm actually surprised at how close it came to working.\" He leveled his gaze at Kaladin. \"If Sadeas decides to strike-or, worse, the assassin who claimed my brother's life-it will not go so well for us. The storm is yet to come.\"\n\nHe pulled open the door, letting out the complaints of the king, which had been muffled behind it. Elhokar was ranting that nobody took his safety seriously, that nobody listened, that they should be looking for the things he saw over his shoulder in the mirror, whatever that meant. The tirade sounded like the whining of a spoiled child.\n\nKaladin looked at the twisted rail, imagining the king dangling from it. He had good reason to be out of sorts. But then, wasn't a king supposed to be better than that? Didn't his Calling demand that he be able to keep his composure under pressure? Kaladin found it difficult to imagine Dalinar reacting with such ranting, regardless of the situation.\n\nYour job isn't to judge, he told himself, waving to Syl and walking away from the balcony. Your job is to protect these people.\n\nSomehow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Decayform destroys the souls of dreams.\n\nA form of gods to avoid, it seems.\n\nSeek not its touch, nor beckon its screams, deny it.\n\nWatch where you walk, your toes to tread,\n\nO'er hill or rocky riverbed\n\nHold dear the fears that fill your head, defy it.\n\n-From the Listener Song of Secrets, 27th stanza\n\n\"Well, you see,\" Gaz said as he sanded the wood on Shallan's wagon. She sat nearby, listening as she worked. \"Most of us, we joined the fight at the Shattered Plains for revenge, you know? Those marbles killed the king. It was gonna be this grand thing and such. A fight for vengeance, away to show the world that the Alethi don't stand for betrayal.\"\n\n\"Yeah,\" Red agreed. The lanky, bearded soldier pulled free a bar from her wagon. With this one removed, it left only three at each corner to holdup the roof. He dropped the bar with satisfaction, then dusted off his work gloves. This would help transform the vehicle from a rolling cage into a conveyance more suitable fora lighteyed lady.\n\n\"I remember it,\" Red continued, sitting down on the wagon's bed, legs dangling. \"The call to arms came to us from Highprince Vamah himself, and it moved through Farcoast like a bad stench. Every second man of age joined the cause. People wondered if you were a coward if you went to the pub fora drink but didn't wear a recruit's patch. I joined up with five of my buddies. They're all dead now, rotting in those storm-cursed chasms.\"\n\n\"So you just... got tired of fighting?\" Shallan asked. She had a desk now. Well, a table-a small piece of travel furniture that could betaken apart easily. They'd moved it out of the wagon, and she was using it to review some of Jasnah's notes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The caravan was making camp as the day waned; they'd traveled well today, but Shallan wasn't pushing them hard, after what they'd all been through. After four days of travel, they were approaching the section of the corridor where bandit strikes were much less likely. They were getting close to the Shattered Plains, and the safety they offered.\n\n\"Tired of fighting?\" Gaz said, chuckling as he took a hinge and began nailing it in place. Occasionally, he would glance to the side, a kind of nervous tic. \"Damnation, no. It wasn't us, it was the storming lighteyes! No offense intended, Brightness. But storm them, and storm them good!\"\n\n\"They stopped fighting to win,\" Red softly added. \"And they started fighting for spheres.\"\n\n\"Everyday,\" Gaz said. \"Every storming day, we'd getup and fight on those plateaus. And we wouldn't make any progress. Who cared if we made progress? It was the gemhearts the highprinces were after. And there we were, locked into virtual slavery by our military oaths. No right of travel as good citizens should have, since we'd enlisted. We were dying, bleeding, and suffering so they could get rich! That was all. So we left. A bunch of us who drank together, though we served different highprinces. We left them and their war behind.\"\n\n\"Now, Gaz,\" Red said. \"That isn't everything. Be honest with the lady. Didn't you owe some spheres to the debtmongers too? What was that you told us about being one step from being turned into a bridgeman-\"\n\n\"Here now,\" Gaz said. \"That's my old life. Ain't nothing in that old life that matters anymore.\" He finished with the hammer. \"Besides. Brightness Shallan said our debts would betaken care of.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Everything will be forgiven,\" Shallan said.\n\n\"See?\"\n\n\"Except your breath,\" she added.\n\nGaz looked up, a blush rising on his scarred face, but Red just laughed. After a moment, Gaz gave into chuckling. There was something desperately affable about these soldiers. They had seized the chance to live a normal life again and were determined to hold to it. There hadn't been a single problem with discipline in the days they'd been together, and they were quick, even eager, to be of service to her.\n\nEvidence of that came as Gaz folded the side of her wagon backup-then opened a latch and lowered a small window to let the light in. He gestured with a smile at his new window. \"Maybe not nice enough to befit a lighteyed lady, but at least you'll be able to see out now.\"\n\n\"Not bad,\" Red said, clapping slowly. \"Why didn't you tell us you'd trained as a carpenter?\"\n\n\"I haven't trained as one,\" Gaz said, expression turning oddly solemn. \"I spent sometime around a lumberyard, that's all. You pickup a few things.\"\n\n\"It's very nice, Gaz,\" Shallan said. \"I appreciate it deeply.\"\n\n\"It's nothing. You should probably have one on the other side too. I'll see if I can scrounge another hinge off the merchants.\"\n\n\"Already kissing the feet of our new master, Gaz?\" Vathah stepped up to the group. Shallan hadn't noticed him approaching.\n\nThe leader of the former deserters held a small bowl of steaming curry from the dinner cauldron. Shallan could smell the pungent peppers. While it would have made a nice change from the stew she'd eaten with the slavers, the caravan had proper women's food, which she was obliged to eat. Maybe she could sneak a bite of the curry when nobody was looking." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You didn't ever offer to make things like this for me, Gaz,\" Vathah said, dipping his bread and tearing off a chunk with his teeth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He spoke while chewing. \"You seem happy to have been made a servant to the lighteyes again. It's a wonder your shirt isn't torn up from all the crawling and scraping you've been doing.\"\n\nGaz blushed again.\n\n\"So far as I know, Vathah,\" Shallan said, \"you didn't have a wagon. So what is it you'd have wanted Gaz to make a window in? Your head, perhaps? I'm certain we can arrange that.\"\n\nVathah smiled as he ate, though it wasn't a particularly pleasant smile. \"Did he tell you about the money he owes?\"\n\n\"We will handle that problem when the time comes.\"\n\n\"This lot is going to be more trouble than you think, little lighteyes,\" Vathah said, shaking his head as he dipped his bread again. \"Going right back to where they were before.\"\n\n\"This time they'll be heroes for rescuing me.\"\n\nHe snorted. \"This lot will never be heroes. They're crem, Brightness. Pure and simple.\"\n\nNearby Gaz looked down and Red turned away, but neither disagreed with the assessment.\n\n\"You're trying very hard to beat them down, Vathah,\" Shallan said, standing. \"Are you that afraid of being wrong? One would assume you'd be accustomed to it by now.\"\n\nHe grunted. \"Be careful, girl. You wouldn't want to accidentally insult a man.\"\n\n\"The last thing I'd want to do is accidentally insult you, Vathah,\" Shallan said. \"To think that I couldn't manage it on purpose if I wanted!\"\n\nHe looked at her, then flushed and took a moment, trying to come up with a response." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shallan cut in before he could do so. \"I'm not surprised you're at a loss for words, as it's also an experience I'm sure you're accustomed to. You must feel it every time someone asks you a challenging question-such as the color of your shirt.\"\n\n\"Cute,\" he said. \"But words aren't going to change these men or the troubles they are in.\"\n\n\"On the contrary,\" Shallan said, meeting his eyes, \"in my experience, words are where most change begins. I have promised them a second chance. I will keep my promise.\"\n\nVathah grunted, but wandered away without further comment. Shallan sighed, sitting down and returning to her work. \"That one always walks around acting like a chasmfiend ate his mother,\" she said with a grimace. \"Or perhaps the chasmfiend was his mother.\"\n\nRed laughed. \"If you don't mind me saying, Brightness. You have quite the clever tongue on you!\"\n\n\"I've never actually had someone's tongue on me,\" Shallan said, turning a page and not looking up, \"clever or not. I'd hazard to consider it an unpleasant experience.\"\n\n\"It ain't so bad,\" Gaz said.\n\nThey both looked at him.\n\nHe shrugged. \"Just saying. It ain't...\"\n\nRed laughed, slapping Gaz on the shoulder. \"I'm going to get some food. I'll help you hunt down that hinge afterward.\"\n\nGaz nodded, though he glanced to the side again-that same nervous tic-and didn't join Red as the taller man walked toward the dinner cauldron. Instead, he settled down to begin sanding the floor of her wagon where the wood had begun to splinter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She set aside the notebook in front of her, in which she had been attempting to devise ways to help her brothers. Those included everything from trying to buy one of the Soulcasters owned by the Alethi king to trying to track down the Ghostbloods and somehow deflect their attention. She couldn't do anything, however, until she reached the Shattered Plains-and then, most of her plans would require her to have powerful allies.\n\nShallan needed to make the betrothal to Adolin Kholin go forward. Not just for her family, but for the good of the world. Shallan would need the allies and resources that would give her. But what if she couldn't maintain the betrothal? What if she couldn't bring Brightness Navani to her side? She might need to proceed in finding Urithiru and preparing for the Voidbringers on her own. That terrified her, but she wanted to be ready.\n\nShe dugout a different book-one of the few from Jasnah's stash that didn't describe the Voidbringers or legendary Urithiru. Instead, it listed the current Alethi highprinces and discussed their political maneuvers and goals.\n\nShallan had to be ready. She had to know the political landscape of the Alethi court. She couldn't afford ignorance. She had to know who among these people might be potential allies, if all else failed her.\n\nWhat of this Sadeas? she thought, flipping to a page in the notebook. It listed him as conniving and dangerous, but noted that both he and his wife were sharp of wit. A man of intelligence might listen to Shallan's arguments and understand them.\n\nAladar was listed as another highprince that Jasnah respected. Powerful, known for his brilliant political maneuvers. He was also fond of games of chance. Perhaps he would risk an expedition to find Urithiru, if Shallan highlighted the potential riches to be found." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Hatham was listed as a man of delicate politics and careful planning. Another potential ally. Jasnah didn't think much of Thanadal, Bethab, or Sebarial. The first she called oily, the second a dullard, and the third outrageously rude.\n\nShe studied them and their motivations for sometime. Eventually, Gaz stood up and dusted sawdust from his trousers. He nodded in respect to her and moved to get himself some food.\n\n\"A moment, Master Gaz,\" she said.\n\n\"I'm no master,\" he said, walking up to her. \"Sixth nahn only, Brightness. Never could buy myself anything better.\"\n\n\"How bad, exactly, are these debts of yours?\" she asked, digging some spheres out of her safepouch to put in the goblet on her desk.\n\n\"Well, one of the fellows I owed was executed,\" Gaz said, rubbing his chin. \"But there is more.\" He hesitated. \"Eighty ruby broams, Brightness. Though they might not take them anymore. It's my head they may want, these days.\"\n\n\"Quite a debt fora man such as yourself. Are you a gambler, then?\"\n\n\"Ain't no difference,\" he said. \"Sure.\"\n\n\"And that's a lie,\" Shallan said, cocking her head. \"I would know the truth from you, Gaz.\"\n\n\"Just turn me over to them,\" he said, turning and walking toward the soup. \"Ain't no matter. I'd rather that than be out here, wondering when they'll find me, anyways.\"\n\nShallan watched him go, then shook her head, turning back to her studies. She says that Urithiru is not on the Shattered Plains, Shallan thought, turning a few pages. But how is she certain? The Plains were never fully explored, because of the chasms. Who knows what is out there?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fortunately, Jasnah was very complete in her notes. It appeared that most of the old records spoke of Urithiru as being in the mountains. The Shattered Plains filled a basin.\n\nNohadon could walk there, Shallan thought, flipping to a quote from The Way of Kings. Jasnah questioned the validity of that statement, though Jasnah questioned pretty much everything. After an hour of study as the sun sank down through the sky, Shallan found herself rubbing her temples.\n\n\"Are you well?\" Pattern's voice asked softly. He liked to come out when it was darker, and she did not forbid him. She searched and found him on the table, a complex formation of ridges in the wood.\n\n\"Historians,\" Shallan said, \"area bunch of liars.\"\n\n\"Mmmmm,\" Pattern said, sounding satisfied.\n\n\"That wasn't a compliment.\"\n\n\"Oh.\"\n\nShallan slammed her current book closed. \"These women were supposed to be scholars! Instead of recording facts, they wrote opinions and presented them as truth. They seem to take great pains to contradict one another, and they dance around topics of import like spren around afire-never providing heat themselves, just making a show of it.\"\n\nPattern hummed. \"Truth is individual.\"\n\n\"What? No it's not. Truth is... it's Truth. Reality.\"\n\n\"Your truth is what you see,\" Pattern said, sounding confused. \"What else could it be? That is the truth that you spoke tome, the truth that brings power.\"\n\nShe looked at him, his ridges casting shadows in the light of her spheres. She'd renewed those in the highstorm last night, while she was cooped up in her box of a wagon. Pattern had started buzzing in the middle of the storm-a strange, angry sound. After that, he'd ranted in a language she didn't understand, panicking Gaz and the other soldiers she'd invited into the shelter. Luckily, they took it for granted that terrible things happened during highstorms, and none had spoken of it since." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fool, she told herself, flipping to an empty page in the notes. Start acting like a scholar. Jasnah would be disappointed. She wrote down what Pattern had said just now.\n\n\"Pattern,\" she said, tapping her pencil-one she'd gotten from the merchants, along with paper. \"This table has four legs. Would you not say that is a truth, independent of my perspective?\"\n\nPattern buzzed uncertainly. \"What is a leg? Only as it is defined by you. Without a perspective, there is no such thing as a leg, or a table. There is only wood.\"\n\n\"You've told me the table perceives itself this way.\"\n\n\"Because people have considered it, long enough, as being a table,\" Pattern said. \"It becomes truth to the table because of the truth the people create for it.\"\n\nInteresting, Shallan thought, scribbling away at her notebook. She wasn't so interested in the nature of truth at the moment, but in how Pattern perceived it. Is this because he's from the Cognitive Realm? The books say that the Spiritual Realm is a place of pure truth, while the Cognitive is more fluid.\n\n\"Spren,\" Shallan said. \"If people weren't here, would spren have thought?\"\n\n\"Not here, in this realm,\" Pattern said. \"I do not know about the other realm.\"\n\n\"You don't sound concerned,\" Shallan said. \"Your entire existence might be dependent on people.\"\n\n\"It is,\" Pattern said, again unconcerned. \"But children are dependent upon parents.\" He hesitated. \"Besides, there are others who think.\"\n\n\"Voidbringers,\" Shallan said, cold.\n\n\"Yes. I do not think that my kind would live in a world with only them. They have their own spren.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shallan sat up sharply. \"Their own spren?\"\n\nPattern shrank on her table, scrunching up, his ridges growing less distinct as they mashed together.\n\n\"Well?\" Shallan asked.\n\n\"We do not speak of this.\"\n\n\"You might want to start,\" Shallan said. \"It's important.\"\n\nPattern buzzed. She thought he was going to insist on the point, but after a moment, he continued in a very small voice. \"Spren are... power... shattered power. Power given thought by the perceptions of men. Honor, Cultivation, and... and another. Fragments broken off.\"\n\n\"Another?\" Shallan prodded.\n\nPattern's buzz became a whine, going so high pitched she almost couldn't hear it. \"Odium.\" He spoke the word as if needing to force it out.\n\nShallan wrote furiously. Odium. Hatred. A type of spren? Perhaps a large unique one, like Cusicesh from Iri or the Nightwatcher. Hatredspren. She'd never heard of such a thing.\n\nAs she wrote, one of her slaves approached in the darkening night. The timid man wore a simple tunic and trousers, one of the sets given to Shallan by the merchants. The gift was welcome, as the last of Shallan's spheres were in the goblet before her, and wouldn't be enough to buy a meal at some of the finer restaurants in Kharbranth.\n\n\"Brightness?\" the man asked.\n\n\"Yes, Suna?\"\n\n\"I... um...\" He pointed. \"The other lady, she asked me to tell you...\"\n\nHe was pointing toward the tent used by Tyn, the tall woman who was leader of the few remaining caravan guards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She wants me to visit her?\" Shallan asked.\n\n\"Yes,\" Suna said, looking down. \"For food, I guess?\"\n\n\"Thank you, Suna,\" Shallan said, freeing him to go back toward the fire where he and the other slaves were helping with the cooking while parshmen gathered wood.\n\nShallan's slaves were a quiet group. They had tattoos on their foreheads, rather than brands. It was the kinder way to do it, and usually marked a person who had entered servitude willingly, as opposed to being forced into it as a punishment fora violent or terrible crime. They were men with debts or the children of slaves who still bore the debt of their parents.\n\nThese were accustomed to labor, and seemed frightened by the idea of what she was paying them. Pittance though it was, it would see most of them freed in under two years. They were obviously uncomfortable with that idea.\n\nShallan shook her head, packing away her things. As she walked toward Tyn's tent, Shallan paused at the fire and asked Red to lift her table back into the wagon and secure it there.\n\nShe did worry about her things, but she no longer kept any spheres in there, and had left it open so Red and Gaz could glimpse inside and see only books. Hopefully there would be no incentive for people to go rooting through them.\n\nYou dance around the truth too, she thought to herself as she walked away from the fire. Just like those historians you were ranting about. She pretended these men were heroes, but had no illusions about how quickly they could change coats in the wrong circumstances.\n\nTyn's tent was large and well lit. The woman didn't travel like a simple guard. In many ways, she was the most intriguing person here. One of the few lighteyes aside from the merchants themselves. A woman who wore a sword." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shallan peeked in through the open flaps and found several parshmen setting up a meal on a low travel table, meant for people to eat at while sitting on the floor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The parshmen hurried out, and Shallan watched them suspiciously.\n\nTyn herself stood by a window cut into the cloth. She wore her long, tan coat, buckled at the waist and almost closed. It had a dresslike feel to it, though it was far stiffer than any dress Shallan had worn, matched by the stiff trousers the woman wore underneath.\n\n\"I asked your men,\" Tyn said without turning, \"and they said you hadn't dined yet. I had the parshmen bring enough for two.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" Shallan said, entering and trying to keep the hesitation from her voice. Among these people, she wasn't a timid girl but a powerful woman. Theoretically.\n\n\"I've ordered my people to keep the perimeter clear,\" Tyn said. \"We can speak freely.\"\n\n\"That is well,\" Shallan said.\n\n\"It means,\" Tyn said, turning around, \"that you can tell me who you really are.\"\n\nStormfather! What did that mean? \"I'm Shallan Davar, as I have said.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Tyn said, walking over and sitting down at the table. \"Please,\" she said, gesturing.\n\nShallan seated herself carefully, using a ladylike posture, with legs bent to the side.\n\nTyn sat cross-legged after flipping her coat out behind her. She dug into her meal, dipping flatbread in a curry that seemed too dark-and smelled too peppery-to be feminine.\n\n\"Men's food?\" Shallan asked.\n\n\"I've always hated those definitions,\" Tyn said. \"I was raised in Tu Bayla by parents who worked as interpreters. I didn't realize certain foods were supposed to be for women or men until I visited my parents'homeland for the first time. Still seems stupid tome. I'll eat what I want, thank you very much.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shallan's own meal was more proper, smelling sweet rather than savory. She ate, only now realizing how hungry she was.\n\n\"I have a spanreed,\" Tyn said.\n\nShallan looked up, tip of her bread in her dipping bowl.\n\n\"It's connected to one over in Tashikk,\" Tyn continued, \"atone of their new information houses. You hire an intermediary there, and they can perform services for you. Research, make inquiries-even relay messages for you via spanreed to any major city in the world. Quite spectacular.\"\n\n\"That sounds useful,\" Shallan said carefully.\n\n\"Indeed. You can find out all kinds of things. For example, I had my contact find what they could on House Davar. It's apparently a small, out-of-the-way house with large debts and an erratic house leader who mayor may not still be alive. He has a daughter, Shallan, whom nobody seems to have met.\"\n\n\"I am that daughter,\" Shallan said. \"So I'd say that'nobody' is a stretch.\"\n\n\"And why,\" Tyn said, \"would an unknown scion of a minor Veden family be traveling the Frostlands with a group of slavers? All the while claiming she's expected at the Shattered Plains, and that her rescue will be celebrated? That she has powerful connections, enough to pay the salaries of a full mercenary troop?\"\n\n\"Truth is sometimes more surprising than a lie.\"\n\nTyn smiled, then leaned forward. \"It's all right; you don't need to keep up the front with me. You're actually doing a good job here. I've discarded my annoyance with you and have decided to be impressed instead. You're new to this, but talented.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This?\" Shallan asked.\n\n\"The art of the con, of course,\" Tyn said. \" The grand act of pretending to be someone you aren't, then running off with the goods. I like what you pulled with those deserters. It was a big gamble, and it paid off.\n\n\"But now you're in a predicament. You're pretending to be someone several steps above your station, and are promising a grand payoff. I've run that scam before, and the trickiest part is the end. If you don't handle this well, these \"heroes\" you've recruited will have no qualms stringing you up by the neck. I've noticed that you're dragging your feet moving us toward the Plains. You're uncertain, aren't you? In over your head?\"\n\n\"Most definitely,\" Shallan said softly.\n\n\"Well,\" Tyn said, digging into her food, \"I'm hereto help.\"\n\n\"At what cost?\" This woman certainly did like to talk. Shallan was inclined to let her continue.\n\n\"I want in on whatever you're planning,\" Tyn said, stabbing her bread down into the bowl like a sword into a greatshell. \"You came all the way hereto the Frostlands for something. Your plot is likely no small con, but I can't help but assume you don't have the experience to pull it off.\"\n\nShallan tapped her finger against the table. Who would she be for this woman? Who did she need to be?\n\nShe seems like a master con artist, Shallan thought, sweating. I can't fool someone like this.\n\nExcept that she already had. Accidentally.\n\n\"How did you end up here?\" Shallan asked. \"Leading guards on a caravan? Is that part of a con?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Tyn laughed." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This? No, it wouldn't be worth the trouble. I may have exaggerated my experience in talking to the caravan leaders, but I needed to get to the Shattered Plains and didn't have the resources to do it on my own. Not safely.\"\n\n\"How does a womanlike you end up without resources, though?\" Shallan asked, frowning. \"I'd think you would never be without.\"\n\n\"I'm not,\" Tyn said, gesturing. \"As you can plainly see. You're going to have to get used to rebuilding, if you want to join the profession. It comes, it goes. I got stuck down south without any spheres, and am finding my way to more civilized countries.\"\n\n\"To the Shattered Plains,\" Shallan said. \"You have a job thereof some sort as well? A... con you're intending to pull?\"\n\nTyn smiled. \"This isn't about me, kid. It's about you, and what I can do for you. I know people in the warcamps. It's practically the new capital of Alethkar; everything interesting in the country is happening there. Money is flowing like rivers after a storm, but everyone considers it a frontier, and so laws are lax. A woman can get ahead if she knows the right people.\"\n\nTyn leaned forward, and her expression darkened. \"But if she doesn't, she can make enemies really quickly. Trust me, you want to know who I know, and you want to work with them. Without their approval, nothing big happens at the Shattered Plains. So I ask you again. What are you hoping to accomplish there?\"\n\n\"I... know something about Dalinar Kholin.\"\n\n\"Old Blackthorn himself?\" Tyn said, surprised. \"He's been living a boring life lately, all superior, like he's some hero from the legends.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, well, what I know is going to be very important to him. Very.\"\n\n\"Well, what is this secret?\"\n\nShallan didn't answer.\n\n\"Not willing to divulge the goods yet,\" Tyn said. \"Well, that's understandable. Blackmail is a tricky one. You'll be glad you brought me on. You are bringing me on, aren't you?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Shallan said. \"I do believe I could learn somethings from you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Smokeform for hiding and slipping between men.\n\nA form of power, like human Surges.\n\nBring it 'round again.\n\nThough crafted of gods,\n\nIt was by Unmade hand.\n\nLeaves its force to be but one of foe or friend.\n\n-From the Listener Song of Histories, 127th stanza\n\nKaladin figured that it took a lotto put him in a situation he'd never before seen. He'd been a slave and a surgeon, served on a battlefield and in a lighteyes'dining room. He'd seen a lot for his twenty years. Too much, it felt at times. He had many memories he'd rather be without.\n\nRegardless, he had not expected this day to present him with something so utterly and disconcertingly unfamiliar. \"Sir?\" he asked, taking a step backward. \"You want me to do what?\"\n\n\"Get on that horse,\" Dalinar Kholin said, pointing toward an animal grazing nearby. The beast would stand perfectly still, waiting for grass to creep up out of its holes. Then it would pounce, taking a quick bite, which would cause the grass to shoot back down into its burrows. It got a mouthful each time, often pulling the grass out by its roots.\n\nIt was one of many such animals dawdling and prancing through the area. It never ceased to stun Kaladin just how rich people like Dalinar were; each horse was worth spheres in profusion. And Dalinar wanted him to climb on one of them.\n\n\"Soldier,\" Dalinar said, \"you need to know how to ride. The time might come when you need to guard my sons on the battlefield. Besides, how long did it take you to reach the palace the other night, when coming to hear about the king's accident?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Almost three-quarters of an hour,\" Kaladin admitted. It had been four days since that night, and Kaladin had frequently found himself on edge since then.\n\n\"I have stables near the barracks,\" Dalinar said. \"You could have made that trip in a fraction of the time if you could ride. Perhaps you won't spend much of your time in the saddle, but this is going to bean important skill for you and your men to know.\"\n\nKaladin looked back at the other members of Bridge Four. Shrugs all around-a few timid ones-except for Moash, who nodded eagerly. \"I suppose,\" Kaladin said, looking back at Dalinar. \"If you think it's important, sir, we'll give it a try.\"\n\n\"Goodman,\" Dalinar said. \"I'll send over Jenet, the stablemaster.\"\n\n\"We'll await him with eagerness, sir,\" Kaladin said, trying to sound like he meant it.\n\nTwo of Kaladin's men escorted Dalinar as he walked toward the stables, a set of large, sturdy stone buildings. From what Kaladin saw, when the horses weren't inside, they were allowed to roam freely inside this open area west of the warcamp. A low stonewall enclosed it, but surely the horses could jump that at will.\n\nThey didn't. The brutes wandered about, stalking grass or lying down, snorting and whinnying. The entire place smelled strange to Kaladin. Not of dung, just... of horse. Kaladin eyed one eating nearby, just inside the wall. He didn't trust it; there was something too smart about horses. Proper beasts of burden like chulls were slow and docile. He'd ride a chull. A creature like this, though... who knew what it was thinking?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Moash stepped up beside him, watching Dalinar go. \"You like him, don't you?\" he asked softly.\n\n\"He's a good commander,\" Kaladin said, as he instinctively sought out Adolin and Renarin, who were riding their horses nearby. Apparently, the things needed to be exercised periodically to keep them functioning properly. Devilish creatures.\n\n\"Don't get too close to him, Kal,\" Moash said, still watching Dalinar. \"And don't trust him too far. He's lighteyed, remember.\"\n\n\"I'm not likely to forget,\" Kaladin said dryly. \"Besides, you're the one who looked like you'd faint from joy the moment he offered to let us ride these monsters.\"\n\n\"Have you ever faced a lighteyes riding one of these things?\" Moash asked. \"On the battlefield, I mean?\"\n\nKaladin remembered thundering hooves, a man in silvery armor. Dead friends. \"Yes.\"\n\n\"Then you know the advantage it offers,\" Moash said. \"I'll take Dalinar's offer gladly.\"\n\nThe stablemaster turned out to be a she. Kaladin raised an eyebrow as the pretty, young lighteyed woman walked up to them, a pair of grooms in tow. She wore a traditional Vorin gown, though it wasn't silk but something coarser, and was slit up the front and back, ankle to thigh. Underneath, she wore a feminine pair of trousers.\n\nThe woman wore her dark hair in a tail, no ornaments, and had a tautness to her face that he didn't expect in a lighteyed woman. \"The highprince says I'm to let you ruffians touch my horses,\" Jenet said, folding her arms. \"I'm not pleased about it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Fortunately,\" Kaladin said, \"neither are we.\"\n\nShe looked him up and down. \"You're that one, aren't you? The one everyone is talking about?\"\n\n\"Maybe.\"\n\nShe sniffed. \"You need a haircut. All right, listen up, soldier boys! We're going to do this properly. I won't have you hurting my horses, all right? You listen, and you listen well.\"\n\nWhat proceeded was one of the dullest, most protracted lectures of Kaladin's life. The woman went on and on about posture-straight-backed, but not too tense. About getting the horses to move-nudges with the heels, nothing too sharp. About how to ride, how to respect the animal, how to hold the reins properly and how to balance. All before being allowed to even touch one of the creatures.\n\nEventually, the boredom was interrupted by the arrival of a man on horseback. Unfortunately, it was Adolin Kholin, riding that white monster of a horse of his. It was several hands taller than the one Jenet was showing them. Adolin's almost looked a completely different species, with those massive hooves, glistening white coat, and unfathomable eyes.\n\nAdolin looked the bridgemen over with a smirk, then caught the stablemaster's eye and smiled in a less condescending way. \"Jenet,\" he said. \"Looking fetching today, as always. Is that anew riding dress?\"\n\nThe woman bent down without looking-she was now talking about how to guide the horses-and selected a stone from the ground. Then she turned and threw it at Adolin.\n\nThe princeling flinched, raising an arm protectively over his face, though Jenet's aim was off." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh, come on now,\" Adolin said. \"You're not still sore that-\"\n\nAnother rock. This one clipped him on the arm.\n\n\"Right, then,\" Adolin said, jogging his horse away, hunched down to present a smaller target for rocks.\n\nEventually, after demonstrating saddling and bridling on her horse, Jenet finished the lecture and deemed them worthy of touching some horses. A flock of her grooms, both male and female, scurried out onto the field to select proper mounts for the six bridgemen.\n\n\"Lots of women on your staff,\" Kaladin noted to Jenet as the grooms worked.\n\n\"Horseback riding isn't mentioned in Arts and Majesty,\" she replied. \"Horses weren't terribly well known back then. Radiants had Ryshadium, but even kings had little access to ordinary horses.\" She wore her safehand in a sleeve, unlike most of the darkeyed groom women, who wore gloves.\n\n\"Which matters because...?\" Kaladin said.\n\nFrowning, she looked at him, baffled. \"Arts and Majesty...\" she prompted. \"Foundation of masculine and feminine arts... Of course. I keep looking at those captain's knots on your shoulder, but-\"\n\n\"But I'm just an ignorant darkeyes?\"\n\n\"Sure, if that's how you want to put it. Whatever. Look, I'm not going to give you a lecture on the arts-I'm tired of talking to you people already. Let's just say that anyone who wants can be a groom, all right?\"\n\nShe lacked a polished refinement that Kaladin had come to expect in lighteyed women, and he found it refreshing. Better a woman who was overtly condescending than the alternative. The grooms walked the horses out of their enclosure and to a riding ground, shaped like a ring. A group of parshmen with eyes downcast brought the saddles, saddle pads, and bridles-equipment that, following Jenet's lecture, Kaladin could name." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "As the writer's tale assistant, advance the plot.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, knights radiant\nAuthor: Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Words of Radiance\nChapter: 56" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's not exactly the same as killing them.\"\n\nMoash met Kaladin's eyes. \"You doubt that sending a seventy-five-year-old couple to the palace dungeons is a death sentence?\"\n\n\"I guess... well, I guess you're right.\"\n\nMoash nodded sharply, tossing the ladle into the barrel. \"Elhokar knew they'd die in there. That way, the hearing would never go before the magistrates, exposing his corruption. That bastard killed them-murdered them to keep his secret. I came home from my trip with the caravan to an empty house, and the neighbors told me my family was already two months dead.\"\n\n\"So now you're trying to assassinate King Elhokar,\" Kaladin said softly, feeling a chill to bespeaking it. Nobody was close enough to hear, not over the sounds of weapons and shouting common to sparring grounds. Still, the words seemed to hang in front of him, as loud as a trumpeter's call.\n\nMoash froze, looking him in the eye.\n\n\"That night on the balcony,\" Kaladin said, \"did you make it look like a Shardblade cut the railing?\"\n\nMoash took him by the arm in a tight grip, looking about. \"We shouldn't talk about this here.\"\n\n\"Stormfather, Moash!\" Kaladin said, the depth of it sinking in. \"We've been hired to protect the man!\"\n\n\"Our job,\" Moash said, \"is to keep Dalinar alive. I can agree with that. He doesn't seem too bad, fora lighteyes. Storms, this kingdom would be a lot better off if he were king instead. Don't tell me you think differently.\"\n\n\"But killing the king-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not here,\" Moash hissed through clenched teeth.\n\n\"I can't just let it go. Nalan's hand! I'm going to have to tell-\"\n\n\"You'd do that?\" Moash demanded. \"You'd turn on a member of Bridge Four?\"\n\nThey locked gazes.\n\nKaladin turned away. \"Damnation. No, I won't. At least, not if you'll agree to stop. You may have a grudge with the king, but you can't just try to... you know...\"\n\n\"And what else am I supposed to do?\" Moash asked softly. By now, he'd pulled right up to Kaladin. \"What kind of justice can a manlike me get on a king, Kaladin? Tell me.\"\n\nThis can't be happening.\n\n\"I'll stop for now,\" Moash said. \"If you'll agree to meet with someone.\"\n\n\"Who?\" Kaladin asked, looking back to him.\n\n\"This plan wasn't my idea. Some others are involved. All I had to do was throw them a rope. I want you to listen to them.\"\n\n\"Moash...\"\n\n\"Listen to what they have to say,\" Moash said, grip tightening on Kaladin's arm. \"Just listen, Kal. That's all. If you don't agree with what they tell you, I'll back out. Please.\"\n\n\"You promise not to do anything else against the king until we've had this meeting?\"\n\n\"On my grandparents' honor.\"\n\nKaladin sighed, but nodded. \"All right.\"\n\nMoash relaxed visibly. He nodded, scooping up his mock sword, then ran back to do some more practice with the Shardblade. Kaladin sighed, turning to grab his sword, and came face-to-face with Syl hovering behind him. Her tiny eyes had gone wide, hands as fists to her sides." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What did you just do?\" she demanded. \"I only heard the last part.\"\n\n\"Moash was involved,\" Kaladin whispered. \"I need to follow this through, Syl. If someone is trying to kill the king, it's my job to investigate them.\"\n\n\"Oh.\" She frowned. \"I felt something. Something else.\" She shook her head. \"Kaladin, this is dangerous. We should go to Dalinar.\"\n\n\"I promised Moash,\" he said, kneeling and untying his boots and removing his socks. \"I can't go to Dalinar until I know more.\"\n\nSyl followed him as a ribbon of light as he took the fake Shardblade and walked out into the sands of the dueling grounds. The sand was cold under his bare feet. He wanted to feel it.\n\nHe fell into Windstance and practiced a few of the swings that Ivis had taught them. Nearby, a group of lighteyed men nudged one another, nodding toward him. One said something soft, making the others laugh, though several others continued frowning. The image of a darkeyed man with even a practice Shardblade was not something they found amusing.\n\nThis is my right, Kaladin thought, swinging, ignoring them. I defeated a Shardbearer. I belong here.\n\nWhy weren't darkeyes encouraged to practice like this? The darkeyed men in history who had won Shardblades were praised in song and story. Evod Markmaker, Lanacin, Raninor of the Fields... These men were revered. But modern darkeyes, well, they were told not to think beyond their station. Or else.\n\nBut what was the purpose of the Vorin church? Of ardents and Callings and the arts? Improve yourself. Be better. Why shouldn't men like him be expected to dream big dreams? None of it seemed to fit. Society and religion, they just flat-out contradicted each other." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Soldiers are glorified in the Tranquiline Halls. But without farmers, soldiers can't eat-so being a farmer is probably all right too.\n\nBetter yourself with a Calling in life. But don't get too ambitious or we'll lock you away.\n\nDon't get revenge upon the king for ordering the death of your grandparents. But do get revenge on the Parshendi for ordering the death of someone you never met.\n\nKaladin stopped swinging, sweating but feeling unfulfilled. When he fought or trained, it wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be Kaladin and the weapon, as one, not all of these problems bouncing around in his head.\n\n\"Syl,\" he said, trying a thrust with the sword, \"you're honorspren. Does that mean you can tell me the right thing to do?\"\n\n\"Definitely,\" she said, hanging nearby in the form of a young woman, legs swinging off an invisible ledge. She wasn't zipping around him in a ribbon, as she often did when he sparred.\n\n\"Is it wrong for Moash to try to kill the king?\"\n\n\"Of course.\"\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\"Because killing is wrong.\"\n\n\"And the Parshendi I killed?\"\n\n\"We've talked about this. It had to be done.\"\n\n\"And what if one of them was a Surgebinder,\" Kaladin said. \"With his own honorspren?\"\n\n\"Parshendi can't become Surgebin-\"\n\n\"Just pretend,\" Kaladin said, grunting as he tried another thrust. He wasn't getting it right. \"I'd guess all the Parshendi want to do at this point is survive. Storms, the ones involved in Gavilar's death, they might not even still be alive. Their leaders were executed back in Alethkar, after all. So you tell me, if a common Parshendi who is protecting his people comes up against me, what would his honorspren say? That he's doing the right thing?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I...\" Syl hunched down. She hated questions like this. \"It doesn't matter. You said you won't kill the Parshendi anymore.\"\n\n\"And Amaram? Can I kill him?\"\n\n\"Is that justice?\" Syl asked.\n\n\"One form.\"\n\n\"There's a difference.\"\n\n\"What?\" Kaladin demanded, thrusting. Storm it! Why couldn't he make the stupid weapon go where it should?\n\n\"Because of what it does to you,\" Syl said softly. \"Thinking about him changes you. Twists you. You're supposed to protect, Kaladin. Not kill.\"\n\n\"You have to kill to protect,\" he snapped. \"Storms. You're starting to sound as bad as my father.\"\n\nHe tried a few more stances, until finally Ivis came over and gave him some corrections. She laughed at his frustration as he held the sword wrong again. \"You expected to pick this up in one day?\"\n\nHe kind of had. He knew the spear; he'd trained long and hard. He thought that maybe, this would all just click.\n\nIt didn't. He kept on anyway, going through the motions, kicking up cold sand, mixing among the lighteyes sparring and practicing their own forms. Eventually, Zahel wandered by.\n\n\"Keep at it,\" the man said without even inspecting Kaladin's forms.\n\n\"I was under the impression you'd be training me personally,\" Kaladin called after him.\n\n\"Too much work,\" Zahel called back, digging a canteen of something from a bundle of cloth beside one of the pillars. Another ardent had piled his colored rocks there, which made Zahel scowl.\n\nKaladin jogged up to him. \"I saw Dalinar Kholin, while unarmed and unarmored, catch a Shardblade in midair with the flats of his palms.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Zahel grunted." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Old Dalinar pulled off a lastclap, eh? Good for him.\"\n\n\"Can you teach me?\"\n\n\"It's a stupid maneuver,\" Zahel said. \"When it works, it's only because most Shardbearers learn to swing their weapons without as much force as they would a regular blade. And it doesn't usually work; it usually fails, and you're dead when it does. Better to focus your time practicing things that will actively help you.\"\n\nKaladin nodded.\n\n\"Not going to push me on it?\" Zahel asked.\n\n\"Your argument is good,\" Kaladin said. \"Solid soldier's logic. Makes sense.\"\n\n\"Huh. Might be hope for you after all.\" Zahel took a swig from his canteen. \"Now go get back to practicing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "THREE AND A HALF YEARS AGO\n\nShallan poked at the cage, and the colorful creature inside shifted on its perch, cocking its head at her.\n\nIt was the most bizarre thing she'd ever seen. It stood on two feet like a person, though its feet were clawed. It was only about as tall as two fists atop one another, but the way it turned its head as it looked at her showed unmistakable personality.\n\nThe thing only had a little bit of shell-on the nose and mouth-but the strangest part was its hair. It had bright green hair that covered its entire body. The hair lay flat, as if manicured. As she watched, the creature turned and began to pick at the hair-a large flap of it lifted up, and she could see it grew out of a central spine.\n\n\"What does the young lady think of my chicken?\" the merchant said proudly, standing with hands clasped behind his back, ample stomach thrust forward like the prow of a ship. Behind, people moved through the fair in a throng. There were so many. Five hundred, perhaps even more, people in the same place.\n\n\"Chicken,\" Shallan said, poking at the cage with a timid finger. \"I've eaten chicken before.\"\n\n\"Not this breed!\" the Thaylen man said with a laugh. \"Chickens for eating are stupid-this one is smart, almost as smart as a man! It can speak. Listen. Jeksonofnone! Say your name!\"\n\n\"Jeksonofnone,\" the creature said.\n\nShallan jumped back. The word was mangled by the creature's inhuman voice, but it was recognizable. \"A Voidbringer!\" she hissed, safehand to her chest. \"An animal that speaks! You'll bring the eyes of the Unmade upon us.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The merchant laughed. \"These things live allover Shinovar, young lady. If their speech drew the Unmade, the entire country would be cursed!\"\n\n\"Shallan!\" Father stood with his bodyguards where he had been speaking to another merchant across the way. She hurried toward him, looking over her shoulder at the strange animal. Deviant though the thing was, if it could talk, she felt sorry for its being trapped in that cage.\n\nThe Middlefest Fair was a highlight of the year. Set during the midpeace-a period opposite the Weeping when there were no storms-it drew people from hamlets and villages all around. Many of the people here were from lands her father oversaw, including lesser lighteyes from families who had ruled the same villages for centuries.\n\nThe darkeyes came too, of course, including merchants-citizens of the first and second nahns. Her father didn't speak of it often, but she knew he found their wealth and station inappropriate. The Almighty had chosen the lighteyes to rule, not these merchants.\n\n\"Come along,\" Father said to her.\n\nShallan followed him and his bodyguards through the busy fair, which was laid out on her father's estates about a half day's travel from the mansion. The basin was fairly well sheltered, the slopes nearby covered in jella trees. Their strong branches grew spindly leaves-long spikes of pink, yellow, and orange, and so the trees looked like explosions of color. Shallan had read in one of her father's books that the trees drew in crem, then used it to make their wood hard, like rock.\n\nIn the basin itself, most of the trees had been broken down, though some were instead used to holdup canopies dozens of yards wide, tied in place high above. They passed a merchant cursing as a windspren darted through his enclosure, making objects stick together. Shallan smiled, pulling her satchel out from under her arm. There wasn't time to sketch, however, as her father barreled on toward the dueling grounds where-if this was like previous years-she would spend most of the fair." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Shallan,\" he said, causing her to scurry to catch up. At fourteen, she felt horribly gangly and far too boyish in figure. As womanhood had begun to come upon her, she had learned that she should be embarrassed by her red hair and freckled skin, as they were a mark of an impure heritage. They were traditional Veden colorings, but that was because-in their past-their lines had mixed with the Horneaters up in the peaks.\n\nSome people were proud of the coloring. Not her father, so neither was Shallan.\n\n\"You are coming to an age where you must act more like a lady,\" Father said. The darkeyes gave them plenty of room, bowing as her father passed. Two of Father's ardents trailed after them, hands behind their backs, contemplative. \"You will need to stop gawking so often. It will not belong before we will want to find a husband for you.\"\n\n\"Yes, Father,\" she said.\n\n\"I may need to stop bringing you to events like these,\" he said. \"All you do is runaround and act like a child. You need anew tutor, at the very least.\"\n\nHe'd scared off the last tutor. The woman had been an expert in languages, and Shallan had been picking up Azish quite well-but she'd left soon after one of Father's... episodes. Shallan's stepmother had appeared the next day with bruises on her face. Brightness Hasheh, the tutor, had packed her things and fled without giving notice.\n\nShallan nodded to her father's words, but secretly hoped that she'd be able to sneak away and find her brothers. Today she had work to do. She and her father approached the'dueling arena,\" which was a grandiose term fora section of roped-off ground where parshmen had dumped half a beach's worth of sand. Canopied tables had been erected for the lighteyes to sit at, dine, and converse." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Shallan's stepmother, Malise, was a young woman less than ten years older than Shallan herself." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Short of stature with buttonlike features, she sat straight-backed, her black hair brightened by a few streaks of blond. Father settled in beside her in their box; he was one of four men of his rank, fourth dahn, who would be attending the fair. The duelists would be the lesser lighteyes from the surrounding region. Many of them would be landless, and duels would be one of their only ways to gain notoriety.\n\nShallan satin the seat reserved for her, and a servant handed her chilled water in a glass. She had barely taken a single sip before someone approached the box.\n\nBrightlord Revilar might have been handsome, if his nose hadn't been removed in a youthful duel. He wore a wooden replacement, painted black-a strange mixture of covering up the blemish and drawing attention to it at the same time. Silver-haired, well-dressed in a suit of a modern design, he had the distracted look of someone who had left his hearth burning untended back at home. His lands bordered Father's; they were two of the ten men of similar rank who served under the highprince.\n\nRevilar approached with not one, but two master-servants at his side. Their black-and-white uniforms were a distinction that ordinary servants were denied, and Father eyed them hungrily. He'd tried to hire master-servants. Each had cited his'reputation\" and had refused.\n\n\"Brightlord Davar,\" Revilar said. He did not wait for permission before climbing up the steps into the box. Father and he were the same rank, but everyone knew the allegations against Father-and that the highprince saw them as credible.\n\n\"Revilar,\" Father said, eyes forward.\n\n\"May I sit?\" He took a seat beside Father-the one that Helaran, as heir, would have used if he'd been there. Revilar's two servants took up places behind him. They somehow managed to convey a sense of disapproval of Father without saying anything." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is your son going to duel today?\" Father asked.\n\n\"Actually, yes.\"\n\n\"Hopefully he can keep all of his parts. We wouldn't want your experience to become a tradition.\"\n\n\"Now, now, Lin,\" Revilar said. \"That is noway to speak to a business associate.\"\n\n\"Business associate? We have dealings of which I am not aware?\"\n\nOne of Revilar's servants, the woman, set a small sheaf of pages on the table before Father. Shallan's stepmother took them hesitantly, then began to read them out loud. The terms were for an exchange of goods, Father trading some of his breechtree cotton and raw shum to Revilar in exchange fora small payment. Revilar would then take the goods to market for sale.\n\nFather stopped the reading three-quarters of the way through. \"Are you delusional? One clearmark a bag? A tenth of what that shum is worth! Considering patrols of roadways and maintenance fees paid back to the villages where the materials are harvested, I would lose spheres on this deal.\"\n\n\"Oh, it is not so bad,\" Revilar said. \"I think you will find the arrangement quite agreeable.\"\n\n\"You're insane.\"\n\n\"I'm popular.\"\n\nFather frowned, growing red-faced. Shallan could remember a time when she'd rarely, if ever, seen him angry. Those days were long, long dead. \"Popular?\" Father demanded. \"What does-\"\n\n\"You mayor may not know,\" Revilar said, \"that the highprince himself recently visited my estates. It seems he likes what I have been doing for this princedom's textiles. That, added to my son's dueling prowess, has drawn attention to my house. I have been invited to visit the highprince in Vedenar one week out often, starting next month.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At times, Father was not the cleverest of men, but he did have a mind for politics. So Shallan thought, at least, though she did so want to believe the best about him. Either way, he saw this implication immediately.\n\n\"You rat,\" Father whispered.\n\n\"You have very few options open to you, Lin,\" Revilar said, leaning toward him. \"Your house is on the decline, your reputation in shambles. You need allies. I need to look the part of a financial genius to the highprince. We can assist one another.\"\n\nFather bowed his head. Outside the box, the first duelists were announced, an inconsequential bout.\n\n\"Everywhere I step, I find only corners,\" Father whispered. \"Slowly, they trap me.\"\n\nRevilar pushed the papers toward Shallan's stepmother once more. \"Would you start again? I suspect your husband was not listening carefully the last time.\" He glanced at Shallan. \"And does the child need to be here?\"\n\nShallan left without a word. It was what she'd wanted anyway, though she did feel bad leaving Father. He didn't often speak with her, let alone ask for her opinion, but he did seem to be stronger when she was near.\n\nHe was so disconcerted that he didn't even send one of the guards with her. She slipped out of the box, satchel under her arm, and passed through the Davar servants who were preparing her father's meal.\n\nFreedom.\n\nFreedom was as valuable as an emerald broam to Shallan, and as rare as a larkin. She hurried away, lest her father realize he had given no orders for her to be accompanied. One of the guards at the perimeter-Jix-stepped toward her anyway, but then looked back at the box. He went that way instead, perhaps intending to ask if he should follow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Best to not be easily found when he returned. Shallan took a step toward the fair, with its exotic merchants and wonderful sights. There would be guessing games and perhaps a Worldsinger telling tales of distant kingdoms. Over the polite clapping of the lighteyes watching the duel behind her, she could hear drums from the common darkeyes along with singing and merriment.\n\nWork first. Darkness layover her house like a storm's shadow. She would find the sun. She would.\n\nThat meant turning back to the dueling grounds, for now. She rounded the back of the boxes, weaving between parshmen who bowed and darkeyes who gave her nods or bows, depending on their rank. She eventually found a box where several lesser lighteyed families shared space in the shade.\n\nEylita, daughter of Brightlord Tavinar, sat on the end, just within the sunlight shining through the side of the box. She stared at the duelists with a vapid expression, head slightly cocked, a whimsical smile on her face. Her longhair was a pure black.\n\nShallan stepped up beside the box and hissed at her. The older girl turned, frowning, then raised hands to her lips. She glanced at her parents, then leaned down. \"Shallan!\"\n\n\"I told you to expect me,\" Shallan whispered back. \"Did you think about what I wrote you?\"\n\nEylita reached into the pocket of her dress, then slipped out a small note. She grinned mischievously and nodded.\n\nShallan took the note. \"You'll be able to getaway?\"\n\n\"I'll need to take my handmaid, but otherwise I can go where I want.\"\n\nWhat would that be like?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shallan ducked away quickly. Technically, she outranked Eylita's parents, but age was a funny thing among the lighteyes. Sometimes, the higher-ranked child didn't seem nearly as important when speaking to adults of a lower dahn. Besides, Brightlord and Brightness Tavinar had been thereon that day, when the bastard had come. They were not fond of Father, or his children.\n\nShallan backed away from the boxes, then turned toward the fair itself. Here, she paused nervously. The Middlefest Fair was an intimidating collage of people and places. Nearby, a group of tenners drank at long tables and placed bets on the matches. The lowest rank of lighteyes, they were barely above darkeyes. They not only had to work for their living, they weren't even merchants or master craftsmen. They were just... people. Helaran had said there were many of them in the cities. As many as there were darkeyes. That seemed very odd to her.\n\nOdd and fascinating at the same time. She itched to find a corner to watch where she would not be noticed, her sketchpad out and her imagination boiling. Instead, she forced herself to move around the edge of the fair. The tent that her brothers had spoken of would be on the outer perimeter, wouldn't it?\n\nDarkeyed fairgoers gave her a wide berth, and she found herself afraid. Her father spoke of how a young lighteyed girl could be a target for the brutish people of the lower classes. Surely nobody would harm her herein the open, with so many people about. Still, she clutched her satchel to her chest and found herself trembling as she walked.\n\nWhat would it be like, to be brave like Helaran? As her mother had been." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her mother...\n\n\"Brightness?\"\n\nShallan shook herself. How long had shebeen standing there, on the path? The sun had moved. She turned sheepishly to find Jix the guard standing behind her. Though he had a gut and rarely kept his hair combed, Jix was strong-she had once seen him pull a cart out of the way when the chull's hitch broke. He'd been one of her father's guards for as long as she could remember.\n\n\"Ah,\" she said, trying to cover her nervousness, \"you're hereto accompany me?\"\n\n\"Well, I was gonna bring you back....\"\n\n\"Did my father order you to?\"\n\nJix chewed on the yamma root, called cussweed by some, in his cheek. \"He was busy.\"\n\n\"Then you will accompany me?\" She shook from the nervousness of saying it.\n\n\"I suppose.\"\n\nShe breathed out a sigh of relief and turned around on the pathway, stone where rockbuds and shalebark had been scraped away. She turned one way, then the other. \"Um... We need to find the gambling pavilion.\"\n\n\"That's not a place fora lady.\" Jix eyed her. \"Particularly not one of your age, Brightness.\"\n\n\"Well, I suppose you can go tell my father what I'm doing.\" She shuffled from one foot to the other.\n\n\"And in the meantime,\" Jix said, \"you'll try to find it on your own, won't you? Go in by yourself if you find it?\"\n\nShe shrugged, blushing. That was exactly what she'd do.\n\n\"Which means I'd have left you wandering around in a place like that without protection.\" He groaned softly. \"Why do you defy him like this, Brightness? You're just going to make him angry.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I think... I think he will anger no matter what I or anyone does,\" she said. \"The sun will shine. The highstorms will blow. And Father will yell. That's just how life is.\" She bit her lip. \"The gambling pavilion? I promise that I will be brief.\"\n\n\"This way,\" Jix said. He didn't walk particularly quickly as he led her, and he frequently glared at darkeyed fairgoers who passed. Jix was lighteyed, but only of the eighth dahn.\n\n\"Pavilion\" turned out to be too grand a term for the patched and ripped tarp strung up at the edge of the fairgrounds. She'd have found it on her own soon enough. The thick canvas, with sides that hung down a few feet, made it surprisingly dark inside.\n\nMen crowded together in there. The few women that Shallan saw had the fingers cutout of the gloves on their safehands. Scandalous. She found herself blushing as she stopped at the perimeter, looking in at the dark, shifting forms. Men shouted inside with raw voices, any sense of Vorin decorum left out in the sunlight. This was, indeed, not a place for someone like her. She had trouble believing it was a place for anyone.\n\n\"How about I go in for you,\" Jix said. \"Is it abet you're wanting to-\"\n\nShallan pushed forward. Ignoring her own panic, her discomfort, she moved into the darkness. Because if she did not, then it meant that none of them were resisting, that nothing would change.\n\nJix stayed at her side, shoving her some space. She had trouble breathing inside; the air was dank with sweat and curses. Men turned and glanced at her. Bows-even nods-were slow incoming, if they were offered at all. The implication was clear. If she wouldn't obey social conventions by staying out, they didn't have to obey them by showing her deference." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is there something specific you're searching for?\" Jix asked. \"Cards? Guessing games?\"\n\n\"Axehound fights.\"\n\nJix groaned. \"You're gonna end up stabbed, and I'm gonna end upon a roasting spit. This is crazy....\"\n\nShe turned, noting a group of men cheering. That sounded promising. She ignored the increasing trembling in her hands, and also tried to ignore a group of drunk men sitting in a ring on the ground, staring at what appeared to be vomit.\n\nThe cheering men sat on crude benches with others crowded around. A glimpse between bodies showed two small axehounds. There were no spren. When people crowded about like this, spren were rare, even though the emotions seemed to be very high.\n\nOne set of benches was not crowded. Balat sat here, coat unbuttoned, leaning on a post in front of him with arms crossed. His disheveled hair and stooped posture gave him an uncaring look, but his eyes... his eyes lusted. He watched the poor animals killing one another, fixated on them with the intensity of a woman reading a powerful novel.\n\nShallan stepped up to him, Jix remaining a little ways behind. Now that he'd seen Balat, the guard relaxed.\n\n\"Balat?\" Shallan asked timidly. \"Balat!\"\n\nHe glanced at her, then nearly toppled off his bench. He scrambled up to his feet. \"What in the... Shallan! Get out of here. What are you doing?\" He reached for her.\n\nShe cringed down despite herself. He sounded like Father. Ashe took her by the shoulder, she held up the note from Eylita. The lavender paper, dusted with perfume, seemed to glow." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Balat hesitated. To the side, one axehound bit deeply into the leg of the other. Blood sprayed the ground, deep violet.\n\n\"What is it?\" Balat asked. \"That is the glyphpair of House Tavinar.\"\n\n\"It's from Eylita.\"\n\n\"Eylita? The daughter? Why... what...\"\n\nShallan broke the seal, opening the letter to read for him. \"She wishes to walk with you along the fairgrounds stream. She says she'll be waiting there, with her handmaid, if you want to come.\"\n\nBalat ran a hand through his curling hair. \"Eylita? She's here. Of course she's here. Everyone is here. You talked to her? Why-But-\"\n\n\"I know how you've looked at her,\" Shallan said. \"The few times you've been near.\"\n\n\"So you talked to her?\" Balat demanded. \"Without my permission? You said I'd be interested in something like\"-he took the letter-\"like this?\"\n\nShallan nodded, wrapping her arms around herself.\n\nBalat looked back toward the fighting axehounds. He bet because it was expected of him, but he didn't come here for the money-unlike Jushu would.\n\nBalat ran his hand through his hair again, then looked back at the letter. He wasn't a cruel man. She knew it was a strange thing to think, considering what he sometimes did. Shallan knew the kindness he showed, the strength that hid within him. He hadn't acquired this fascination with death until Mother had left them. He could comeback, stop being like that. He could.\n\n\"I need...\" Balat looked out of the tent. \"I need to go! She'll be waiting for me. I shouldn't make her wait.\" He buttoned up his coat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shallan nodded eagerly, following him from the pavilion. Jix trailed along behind, though a couple of men called out to him. He must be known in the pavilion.\n\nBalat stepped out into the sunlight. He seemed a changed man, just like that.\n\n\"Balat?\" Shallan asked. \"I didn't see Jushu in therewith you.\"\n\n\"He didn't come to the pavilion.\"\n\n\"What? I thought-\"\n\n\"I don't know where he went,\" Balat said. \"He met some people right after we arrived.\" He looked toward the distant stream that ran down from the heights and through a channel around the fairgrounds. \"What do I say to her?\"\n\n\"How should I know?\"\n\n\"You're a woman too.\"\n\n\"I'm fourteen!\" She wouldn't spend time courting, anyway. Father would choose her a husband. His only daughter was too precious to be wasted on something fickle, like her own powers of decision.\n\n\"I guess... I guess I'll just talk to her,\" Balat said. He jogged off without another word.\n\nShallan watched him go, then sat down on a rock and trembled, arms around herself. That place... the tent... it had been horrible.\n\nShe sat therefor an extended time, feeling ashamed of her weakness, but also proud. She'd done it. It was small, but she'd done something.\n\nEventually, she rose and nodded to Jix, letting him lead the way back toward their box. Father should be finished with his meeting by now.\n\nIt turned out that he had finished that meeting only to start another. A man she did not know sat next to Father with a cup of chilled water in one hand. Tall, slender, and blue-eyed, he had deep black hair without a hint of impurity and wore clothing the same shade. He glanced at Shallan as she stepped up into the box." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The man started, dropping his cup to the table. He caught it with a swift lunge, keeping it from tipping over, then turned to stare at her with a slack jaw.\n\nIt was gone in a second, replaced with an expression of practiced indifference.\n\n\"Clumsy fool!\" Father said.\n\nThe newcomer turned away from Shallan, speaking softly to Father. Shallan's stepmother stood to the side, with the cooks. Shallan slipped over to her. \"Who is that?\"\n\n\"Nobody of consequence,\" Malise said. \"He claims to have brought word from your brother, but is of low enough dahn that he can't even produce a writ of lineage.\"\n\n\"My brother? Helaran?\"\n\nMalise nodded.\n\nShallan turned back to the newcomer. She caught, with a subtle movement, the man slipping something from his coat pocket and moving it up toward the drinks. A shock coursed through Shallan. She raised a hand. Poison-\n\nThe newcomer covertly dumped the pouch's contents into his own drink, then raised it to his lips, gulping down the powder. What had it been?\n\nShallan lowered her hand. The newcomer stood up a moment later. He didn't bow to Father as he left. He gave Shallan a smile, then was down the steps and out of the box.\n\nWord from Helaran. What had it been? Shallan timidly moved to the table. \"Father?\"\n\nFather's eyes were on the duel in the center of the ring. Two men with swords, no shields, harking back to classical ideals. Their sweeping methods of fighting were said to bean imitation of fighting with a Shardblade." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Word from Nan Helaran?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shallan prodded.\n\n\"You will not speak his name,\" Father said.\n\n\"I-\"\n\n\"You will not speak of that one,\" Father said, looking to her, thunder in his expression. \"Today I declare him disinherited. Tet Balat is officially now Nan Balat, Wikim becomes Tet, Jushu becomes Asha. I have only three sons.\"\n\nShe knew better than to push him when he was like this. But how would she discover what the messenger had said? She sank into her chair, shaken again.\n\n\"Your brothers avoid me,\" Father said, watching the duel. \"Not one chooses to dine with their father as would be proper.\"\n\nShallan folded her hands in her lap.\n\n\"Jushu is probably drinking somewhere,\" Father said. \"The Stormfather only knows where Balat has runoff to. Wikim refuses to leave the carriage.\" He downed the wine in his cup. \"Will you speak with him? This has not been a good day. If I went to him, I... worry what I would do.\"\n\nShallan rose, then rested a hand on her father's shoulder. He slumped, leaning forward, one hand around the empty wine flagon. He raised his other hand and patted hers on his shoulder, his eyes distant. He did try. They all did.\n\nShallan sought out their carriage, which stood parked with a number of others near the western slope of the fairgrounds. Jella trees here rose high, their hardened trunks colored the light brown of crem. The needles sprouted like a thousand tongues of fire from each limb, though the nearest ones pulled in as she approached.\n\nShe was surprised to see a mink slinking in the shadows; she'd expected all those in the area to have been trapped by now. The coachmen played cards in a ring nearby; some of them had to stay and watch the carriages, though Shallan had heard Ren speaking of some kind of rotation so that they all got a chance at the fair. In fact, Ren wasn't thereat the moment, though the other coachmen bowed as she passed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Wikim satin their carriage. The slender, pale youth was only fifteen months older than Shallan. He shared some resemblance to his twin, but few people mistook them for one another. Jushu looked older, and Wikim was so thin he looked sickly.\n\nShallan climbed into sit across from Wikim, setting her satchel on the seat beside her.\n\n\"Did Father send you,\" Wikim asked, \"or did you come on one of your new little missions of mercy?\"\n\n\"Both?\"\n\nWikim turned away from her, looking out the window toward the trees, away from the fair. \"You can't fix us, Shallan. Jushu will destroy himself. It's only a matter of time. Balat is becoming Father, step by step. Malise spends one night in two weeping. Father will kill her one of these days, like he did Mother.\"\n\n\"And you?\" Shallan asked. It was the wrong thing to say, and she knew it the moment it came out of her mouth.\n\n\"Me? I won't be around to see any of it. I'll be dead by then.\"\n\nShallan wrapped her arms around herself, pulling her legs up beneath heron the seat. Brightness Hasheh would have chided her for the unladylike posture.\n\nWhat did she do? What did she say? He's right, she thought. I can't fix this. Helaran could have. I can't.\n\nThey were all slowly unraveling.\n\n\"So what was it?\" Wikim said. \"Out of curiosity, what did you come up with to \"save\" me? I'm guessing you used the girl on Balat.\"\n\nShe nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You were obvious about that,\" Wikim said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"With the letters you sent her. Jushu? What of him?\"\n\n\"I have a list of the day's duels,\" Shallan whispered. \"He so wishes he could duel. If I show him the fights, maybe he'll want to come watch them.\"\n\n\"You'll have to find him first,\" Wikim said with a snort. \"And what about me? You have to know that neither swords nor pretty faces will work for me.\"\n\nFeeling a fool, Shallan dug in her satchel and came outwith several sheets of paper.\n\n\"Drawings?\"\n\n\"Math problems.\"\n\nWikim frowned and took them from her, absently scratching the side of his face as he looked them over. \"I'm no ardent. I'll not be boxed up and forced to spend my days convincing people to listen to the Almighty-who suspiciously has nothing to say for himself.\"\n\n\"That doesn't mean you can't study,\" Shallan said. \"I gathered those from Father's books, equations for determining highstorm timing. I translated and simplified the writing to glyphs, so you could read them. I figured you could try to guess when the next ones would come....\"\n\nHe shuffled through the papers. \"You copied and translated it all, even the drawings. Storms, Shallan. How long did this take you?\"\n\nShe shrugged. It had taken weeks, but she had nothing but time. Days sitting in the gardens, evenings sitting in her room, the occasional visit to the ardents for some peaceful tutoring about the Almighty. It was good to have things to do.\n\n\"This is stupid,\" Wikim said, lowering the papers. \"What do you think you'll accomplish? I can't believe you wasted so much time on this.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shallan bowed her head and then, blinking tears, scrambled out of the carriage. It felt horrible-not just Wikim's words, but the way her emotions betrayed her. She couldn't hold them in.\n\nShe hastened away from the carriages, hoping the coachmen wouldn't see her wiping her eyes with her safehand. She sat down on a stone and tried to compose herself, but failed, tears flowing freely. She turned her head aside as a few parshmen trotted past, running their master's axehounds. There would be several hunts as part of the festivities.\n\n\"Axehound,\" a voice said from behind her.\n\nShallan jumped, safehand to breast, and spun.\n\nHe rested upon a tree limb, wearing his black outfit. He moved as she saw him, and the spiky leaves around him retreated in a wave of vanishing red and orange. It was the messenger who had spoken to Father earlier.\n\n\"I have wondered,\" the messenger said, \"if any of you find the term odd. You know what an axe is. But what is a hound?\"\n\n\"Why does that matter?\" Shallan asked.\n\n\"Because it is a word,\" the messenger replied. \"A simple word with a world embedded inside, like a bud waiting to open.\" He studied her. \"I did not expect to find you here.\"\n\n\"I...\" Her instincts told her to back away from this strange man. And yet, he had news of Helaran-news her father would never share. \"Where did you expect to find me? At the dueling grounds?\"\n\nThe man swung around the branch and dropped to the ground.\n\nShallan stepped backward.\n\n\"No need for that,\" the man said, settling onto a rock. \"You needn't fear me. I'm terribly ineffective at hurting people. I blame my upbringing.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You have news of my brother Helaran.\"\n\nThe messenger nodded. \"He is a very determined young man.\"\n\n\"Where is he?\"\n\n\"Doing things he finds very important. I would fault him for it, as I find nothing more frightening than a man trying to do what he has decided is important. Very little in the world has ever gone astray-at least on a grand scale-because a person decided to be frivolous.\"\n\n\"He is well, though?\" she asked.\n\n\"Well enough. The message for your father was that he has eyes nearby, and is watching.\"\n\nNo wonder it had put Father in a bad mood. \"Where is he?\" Shallan said, timidly stepping forward. \"Did he tell you to speak tome?\"\n\n\"I'm sorry, young one,\" the man said, expression softening. \"He gave me only that brief message for your father, and that only because I mentioned I would be traveling this direction.\"\n\n\"Oh! I assumed he'd sent you here. I mean, that coming to us was your primary purpose.\"\n\n\"Turns out that it was. Tell me, young one. Do spren speak to you?\"\n\nThe lights going out, life drained from them.\n\nTwisted symbols the eye should not see.\n\nHer mother's soul in a box.\n\n\"I...\" she said. \"No. Why would a spren speak tome?\"\n\n\"No voices?\" the man said, leaning forward. \"Do spheres go dark when you are near?\"\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" Shallan said, \"but I should begetting back to my father. He will be missing me.\"\n\n\"Your father is slowly destroying your family,\" the messenger said. \"Your brother was right on that count. He was wrong about everything else.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Such as?\"\n\n\"Look.\" The man nodded back toward the carriages. She was at the right angle to see into the window of her father's carriage. She squinted.\n\nInside, Wikim leaned forward, using a pencil taken from her satchel-which she'd left behind. He scribbled at the mathematical problems she'd left.\n\nHe was smiling.\n\nWarmth. That warmth she felt, a deep glow, was like the joy she had known before. Long ago. Before everything had gone wrong. Before Mother.\n\nThe messenger whispered. \"Two blind men waited at the end of an era, contemplating beauty. They sat atop the world's highest cliff, overlooking the land and seeing nothing.\"\n\n\"Huh?\" She looked to him.\n\n\"\"Can beauty betaken from a man?\" the first asked the second.\n\n\"\"It was taken from me,\" the second replied. \"For I cannot remember it.\" This man was blinded in a childhood accident. \"I pray to the God Beyond each night to restore my sight, so that I may find beauty again.\"\n\n\"\"Is beauty something one must see, then?\" the first asked.\n\n\"\"Of course. That is its nature. How can you appreciate a work of art without seeing it?\"\n\n\"\"I can hear a work of music,\" the first said.\n\n\"\"Very well, you can hear some kinds of beauty-but you cannot know full beauty without sight. You can know only a small portion of beauty.\"\n\n\"\"A sculpture,\" the first said. \"Can I not feel its curves and slopes, the touch of the chisel that transformed common rock into uncommon wonder?\"\n\n\"\"I suppose,\" said the second, \"that you can know the beauty of a sculpture.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"\"And what of the beauty of food? Is it not a work of art when a chef crafts a masterpiece to delight the tastes?\"\n\n\"\"I suppose,\" said the second, \"that you can know the beauty of a chef's art. '\n\n\"\"And what of the beauty of a woman,\" the first said. \"Can I not know her beauty in the softness of her caress, the kindness of her voice, the keenness of her mind as she reads philosophy tome? Can I not know this beauty? Can I not know most kinds of beauty, even without my eyes?\"\n\n\"\"Very well,\" said the second. \"But what if your ears were removed, your hearing taken away? Your tongue taken out, your mouth forced shut, your sense of smell destroyed? What if your skin were burned so that you could no longer feel? What if all that remained to you was pain? You could not know beauty then. It can betaken from a man.\"\"\n\nThe messenger stopped, cocking his head at Shallan.\n\n\"What?\" she asked.\n\n\"What think you? Can beauty betaken from a man? If he could not touch, taste, smell, hear, see... what if all he knew was pain? Has that man had beauty taken from him?\"\n\n\"I...\" What did this have to do with anything? \"Does the pain change day by day?\"\n\n\"Let us say it does,\" the messenger said.\n\n\"Then beauty, to that person, would be the times when the pain lessens. Why are you telling me this story?\"\n\nThe messenger smiled. \"To be human is to seek beauty, Shallan. Do not despair, do not end the hunt because thorns grow in your way. Tell me, what is the most beautiful thing you can imagine?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Father is probably wondering where I am....\"\n\n\"Indulge me,\" the messenger said. \"I will tell you where your brother is.\"\n\n\"A wonderful painting, then. That is the most beautiful thing.\"\n\n\"Lies,\" the messenger said. \"Tell me the truth. What is it, child? Beauty, to you.\"\n\n\"I...\" What was it? \"Mother still lives,\" she found herself whispering, meeting his eyes.\n\n\"And?\"\n\n\"And we are in the gardens,\" Shallan continued. \"She is speaking to my father, and he is laughing. Laughing and holding her. We are all there, including Helaran. He never left. The people my mother knew... Dreder... never came to our home. Mother loves me. She teaches me philosophy, and she shows me how to draw.\"\n\n\"Good,\" the messenger said. \"But you can do better than that. What is that place? What does it feel like?\"\n\n\"It's spring,\" Shallan shot back, growing annoyed. \" And the mossvines bloom a vigorous red. They smell sweet, and the air is moist from the morning's highstorm. Mother whispers, but there is music to her tone, and Father's laugh doesn't echo-it rises high into the air, bathing us all.\n\n\"Helaran is teaching Jushu swords, and they spar nearby. Wikim laughs as Helaran is struck on the side of the leg. He is studying to bean ardent, as Mother wanted. I am sketching them all, charcoal scratching paper. I feel warm, despite the slight chill to the air. I have a steaming cup of cider beside me, and I taste the sweetness in my mouth from the sip I just took. It is beautiful because it could have been. It should have been. I...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She blinked tears. She saw it. Stormfather, but she saw it. She heard her mother's voice, saw Jushu giving up spheres to Balat as he lost the duel, but laughing as he paid, uncaring of the loss. She could feel the air, smell the scents, hear the sounds of songlings in the brush. Almost, it became real.\n\nWisps of Light rose before her. The messenger had gotten out a handful of spheres and held them toward her while staring into her eyes. The steamy Stormlight rose between them. Shallan lifted her fingers, the image of her ideal life wrapped around her like a comforter.\n\nNo.\n\nShe drew back. The misty light faded.\n\n\"I see,\" the messenger said softly. \"You do not yet understand the nature of lies. I had that trouble myself, long ago. The Shards here are very strict. You will have to seethe truth, child, before you can expand upon it. Just as a man should know the law before he breaks it.\"\n\nShadows from her past shifted in the depths, surfacing just briefly toward the light. \"Could you help?\"\n\n\"No. Not now. You aren't ready, for one, and I have work to be about. Another day. Keep cutting at those thorns, strong one, and make a path for the light. The things you fight aren't completely natural.\" He stood up, then bowed to her.\n\n\"My brother,\" she said.\n\n\"He is in Alethkar.\"\n\nAlethkar? \"Why?\"\n\n\"Because that is where he feels he is needed, of course. If I see him again, I will give him word of you.\" The messenger walked away on light feet, his steps smooth, almost like moves in a dance." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shallan watched him go, the deep things within her settling again, returning to the forgotten parts of her mind. She realized she had not even asked the man his name." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "When Simol was informed of the arrival of the Edgedancers, a concealed consternation and terror, as is common in such cases, fell upon him; although they were not the most demanding of orders, their graceful, limber movements hid a deadliness that was, by this time, quite renowned; also, they were the most articulate and refined of the Radiants.\n\n-From Words of Radiance, chapter 20, page 12\n\nKaladin reached the end of the line of bridgemen. They stood at attention, spears to shoulders, eyes forward. The transformation was marvelous. He nodded under the darkening sky.\n\n\"Impressive,\" he said to Pitt, the sergeant of Bridge Seventeen. \"I've rarely seen such a fine platoon of spearmen.\"\n\nIt was the kind of lie that commanders learned to give. Kaladin didn't mention how some of the bridgemen shuffled while they stood, or how their maneuvers information were sloppy. They were trying. He could sense it in their earnest expressions, and in the way they had begun taking pride in their uniforms, their identity. They were ready to patrol, at least close to the warcamps. He made a mental note to have Teft start taking them out in a rotation with the other two crews that were ready.\n\nKaladin was proud of them, and he let them know it as the hour stretched long and night arrived. He then dismissed them to their evening meal, which smelled quite different from Rock's Horneater stew. Bridge Seventeen considered their nightly bean curry to be part of their identity. Individuality through meal choice; Kaladin found that amusing as he moved off into the night, shouldering his spear. He had three more crews to look in on.\n\nThe next, Bridge Eighteen, was one of those having problems. Their sergeant, though earnest, didn't have the presence necessary fora good officer. Or, well, none of the bridgemen had that. He was just particularly weak. Prone to begging instead of ordering, awkward in social situations." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It couldn't all be blamed on Vet, however. He'd also been given a particularly discordant group of men. Kaladin found the soldiers of Eighteen sitting in isolated bunches, eating their evening meal. No laughter, no camaraderie. They weren't as solitary as they'd been as bridgemen. Instead, they'd splintered into little cliques who didn't mingle.\n\nSergeant Vet called them to order and they rose sluggishly, not bothering to stand in a straight line or salute. Kaladin saw the truth in their eyes. What could he do to them? Surely nothing as bad as their lives had been as bridgemen. So why make an effort?\n\nKaladin spoke to them of motivation and unity fora time. I'll need to do another training session in the chasms with this lot, he thought. And if that didn't work either... well, he'd probably have to break them up, stick them in other platoons that were working.\n\nHe eventually left Eighteen, shaking his head. They didn't seem to want to be soldiers. Why had they taken Dalinar's offer then, instead of leaving?\n\nBecause they don't want to make choices anymore, he thought. Choices can be hard.\n\nHe knew how that felt. Storms, but he did. He remembered sitting and staring at a blank wall, too morose to even getup and go kill himself.\n\nHe shivered. Those were not days he wanted to remember.\n\nAshe made his way toward Bridge Nineteen, Syl floated past on a current of wind in the form of a small patch of mist. She melded into a ribbon of light and zipped around him in circles before coming to rest on his shoulder.\n\n\"Everyone else is eating their dinners,\" Syl said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good,\" Kaladin said.\n\n\"That wasn't a status report, Kaladin,\" she said. \"It was a point of contention.\"\n\n\"Contention?\" He stopped in the darkness near the barrack of Bridge Nineteen, whose men were doing well, eating around their fire as a group.\n\n\"You're working,\" Syl said. \"Still.\"\n\n\"I need to get these men ready.\" He turned his head to look at her. \"You know something is coming. Those countdowns on the walls... Have you seen more of those red spren?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she admitted. \"I think so, at least. In the corners of my eyes, watching me. Very infrequently, but there.\"\n\n\"Something is coming,\" Kaladin said. \"That countdown points right toward the Weeping. Whatever happens then, I'll have the bridgemen ready to weather it.\"\n\n\"Well, you won't if you drop dead from exhaustion first!\" Syl hesitated. \"People really can do that, right? I heard Teft saying he felt like he was going to do so.\"\n\n\"Teft likes to exaggerate,\" Kaladin said. \"It's one mark of a good sergeant.\"\n\nSyl frowned. \"And that last part... was a joke?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Ah.\" She looked into his eyes. \"Rest anyway, Kaladin. Please.\"\n\nKaladin looked toward Bridge Four's barrack. It was a distance away, down the rows, but he thought he could hear Rock's laughter echoing through the night.\n\nFinally, he sighed, acknowledging his exhaustion. He could check on the last two platoons tomorrow. Spear in hand, he turned and hiked back. The advent of darkness meant it would be about two hours before men started turning in for the night. Kaladin arrived to the familiar scent of Rock's stew, though Hobber-sitting on a tall stump the men had fashioned for him, a blanket across his grey, useless legs-was doing the serving. Rock stood nearby, arms folded, looking proud." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Renarin was there, taking and washing the dishes of those who'd finished. He did that every night, kneeling quietly beside the washbasin in his bridgeman uniform. The lad certainly was earnest. He didn't display any of the spoiled temperament of his brother. Though he had insisted on joining them, he often sat at the edges of the group, near the back of the bridgemen at night. Such an odd young man.\n\nKaladin passed Hobber and gripped the man's shoulder. He nodded, meeting Hobber's eyes, raising a fist. Fight on. Kaladin reached for some stew, then froze.\n\nSitting nearby on a log were not one, but three beefy, thick-armed Herdazians. All wore Bridge Four uniforms, and Kaladin only recognized Punio out of the three.\n\nKaladin found Lopen nearby, staring at his hand-which he held before himself in a fist for some reason. Kaladin had long since given upon understanding Lopen.\n\n\"Three?\" Kaladin demanded.\n\n\"Cousins!\" Lopen replied, looking up.\n\n\"You have too many of those,\" Kaladin said.\n\n\"That's impossible! Rod, Huio, say hello!\"\n\n\"Bridge Four,\" the two men said, raising their bowls.\n\nKaladin shook his head, accepting his own stew and then walking past the cauldron into the darker area beside the barrack. He peeked into the storage room, and found Shen stacking sacks of tallew grain there, lit only by a single diamond chip.\n\n\"Shen?\" Kaladin said.\n\nThe parshman continued stacking bags.\n\n\"Fall in and attention!\" Kaladin barked.\n\nShen froze, then stood up, back straight, at attention." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"At ease, soldier,\" Kaladin said softly, stepping up to him. \"I spoke to Dalinar Kholin earlier today and asked if I could arm you. He asked if I trusted you. I told him the truth.\" Kaladin held out his spear to the parshman. \"I do.\"\n\nShen looked from the spear to Kaladin, dark eyes hesitant.\n\n\"Bridge Four doesn't have slaves,\" Kaladin said. \"I'm sorry for being frightened before.\" He urged the man to take the spear, and Shen finally did so. \"Leyten and Natam practice in the mornings with a few men. They're willing to help you learn so that you don't have to train with the greenvines.\"\n\nShen held the spear with what seemed to be reverence. Kaladin turned to leave the storage room.\n\n\"Sir,\" Shen said.\n\nKaladin paused.\n\n\"You are,\" Shen said, speaking in his slow way, \"a good man.\"\n\n\"I've spent my life being judged for my eyes, Shen. I won't do something similar to you because of your skin.\"\n\n\"Sir, I-\" The parshman seemed troubled by something.\n\n\"Kaladin!\" Moash's voice came from outside.\n\n\"Was there something you wanted to say?\" Kaladin asked Shen.\n\n\"Later,\" the parshman said. \"Later.\"\n\nKaladin nodded, then stepped out to see what the disturbance was. He found Moash looking for him near the cauldron.\n\n\"Kaladin!\" Moash said, spotting him. \"Come on. We're going out, and you're coming with us. Even Rock is coming tonight.\"\n\n\"Ha! Stew is in good hands,\" Rock said. \"I will go do this thing. Will be good to getaway from stink of little bridgemen.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hey!\" Drehy said.\n\n\"Ah. And stink of big bridgemen too.\"\n\n\"Come on,\" Moash said, waving to Kaladin. \"You promised.\"\n\nHe'd done no such thing. He just wanted to settle down by the fire, eat his stew, and watch the flamespren. Everyone was looking at him, though. Even the ones who weren't going with Moash tonight.\n\n\"I...\" Kaladin said. \"Fine. Let's go.\"\n\nThey cheered and clapped. Storming fools. They cheered to see their commander go out drinking? Kaladin slurped down a few bites of stew, then handed the rest to Hobber. With reluctance, he then walked over to join Moash, as did Lopen, Peet, and Sigzil.\n\n\"You know,\" Kaladin growled under his breath to Syl, \"if this had been one of my old spearman crews, I'd assume they wanted me out of the camp so they could getaway with something while I'm gone.\"\n\n\"I doubt it's that,\" Syl said, frowning.\n\n\"No,\" Kaladin said. \"These men just want to see meas human.\" He did need to go, for that reason. He was already too separate from the men. He didn't want them thinking of him as they would a lighteyes.\n\n\"Ha!\" Rock said, jogging up to join them. \"These men, they claim they can drink more than Horneater. Airsick lowlanders. Is not possible.\"\n\n\"A drinking contest?\" Kaladin said, groaning inwardly. What was he getting into?\n\n\"None of us are on duty until the late morning,\" Sigzil said with a shrug. Teft was watching the Kholins overnight, along with Leyten's team." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Tonight,\" Lopen said, finger to the air, \"I will be victorious." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It is said you should never bet against the one-armed Herdazian in a drinking contest!\"\n\n\"It is?\" Moash asked.\n\n\"It will be said,\" Lopen continued, \"you should never bet against the one-armed Herdazian in a drinking contest!\"\n\n\"You weigh about as much as a starved axehound, Lopen,\" Moash said skeptically.\n\n\"Ah, but I have focus.\"\n\nThey continued, turning down a pathway that led toward the market. The warcamp was laid outwith blocks of barracks forming a large circle around the lighteyed buildings closer to the center. On the way out toward the market, which was in the outer ring of camp followers beyond the soldiers, they passed plenty of other barracks manned by ordinary soldiers-and the men there were busy in tasks that Kaladin had rarely seen in Sadeas's army. Sharpening spears, oiling breastplates, before their dinner call came.\n\nKaladin's men weren't the only ones going out for the night, though. Other groups of soldiers had already eaten, and these strolled toward the market, laughing. They were recovering, slowly, from the slaughter that had left Dalinar's army crippled.\n\nThe market was aglow with life, torches and oil lanterns shining from most buildings. Kaladin wasn't surprised. An ordinary army would have had camp followers aplenty, and that was fora moving army. Here, merchants showed off wares. Criers sold news they claimed had come via spanreed, reporting events in the world. What was that about a war in Jah Keved? And anew emperor in Azir? Kaladin had only a vague idea of where that was.\n\nSigzil jogged over to get an earful of news, paying the crier a sphere while Lopen and Rock argued which tavern was the best to visit for the night. Kaladin watched the flow of life. Soldiers passing on the night watch. A group of chatting darkeyed women moving from spice merchant to spice merchant. A lighteyed courier posting projected highstorm dates and times on aboard, her husband yawning nearby and looking bored-as if he'd been forced to come along to keep her company. The Weeping was coming up soon, the time of constant rain with no highstorms-the only break was Lightday, right in the middle. It was an off year in the thousand-day cycle of two years, which meant the Weeping would be a calm one this time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Enough arguing,\" Moash said to Rock, Lopen, and Peet. \"We're going to the Ornery Chull.\"\n\n\"Aw!\" Rock said. \"But they do not have Horneater lagers!\"\n\n\"That's because Horneater lagers melt your teeth,\" Moash said. \"Anyway, it's my pick tonight.\" Peet nodded eagerly. That tavern had been his choice as well.\n\nSigzil got back from hearing the news, and he'd apparently stopped somewhere else as well, as he carried something steaming and wrapped in paper.\n\n\"Not you too,\" Kaladin said, groaning.\n\n\"It's good,\" Sigzil said defensively, then took a bite of the chouta.\n\n\"You don't even know what it is.\"\n\n\"Of course I do.\" Sigzil hesitated. \"Hey, Lopen. What's in this stuff?\"\n\n\"Flangria,\" Lopen said happily as Rock ran off to the street vendor to get himself some chouta too.\n\n\"Which is?\" Kaladin asked.\n\n\"Meat.\"\n\n\"What kind of meat?\"\n\n\"The meaty kind.\"\n\n\"Soulcast,\" Kaladin said, looking at Sigzil.\n\n\"You ate Soulcast food every night as a bridgeman,\" Sigzil said, shrugging and taking a bite.\n\n\"Because I had no choice. Look. He's frying that bread.\"\n\n\"You fry the flangria too,\" Lopen said. \"Make little balls of it, mixed with ground lavis. Batter it up and fry it, then stuff it in fried bread and pour on gravy.\" He made a satisfied sound, licking his lips." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Advance the plot as the writer's tale assistant.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, knights radiant\nAuthor: Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Words of Radiance\nChapter: 71" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lift reached the end of the table and looked out at a banquet that had been set onto a smaller table at the other side of the room. This place was very Azish. Curls of embroidery everywhere. Carpets so fine, they probably drove some poor woman blind weaving them. Dark colors and dim lights. Paintings on the walls.\n\nHuh, Lift thought, someone scratched a face off of that one. Who'd ruin a painting like that, and such a fine one, the Heralds all in a row?\n\nWell, nobody seemed to be touching that feast. Her stomach growled, but she waited fora distraction.\n\nIt came soon after. The door opened. Likely the guards coming to report about the thief they'd found. Poor Gawx. She'd have to go break him out later.\n\nRight now, it was time for food. Lift shoved herself forward on her knees and used her awesomeness to Slick her legs. She slid across the floor and grabbed the corner leg of the food table. Her momentum smoothly pivoted her around and behind it. She crouched down, the tablecloth neatly hiding her from the people at the room's center, and unSlicked her legs.\n\nPerfect. She reached up a hand and plucked a dinner roll off the table. She took a bite, then hesitated.\n\nWhy had everyone grown quiet? She risked a glance over the tabletop.\n\nHe had arrived.\n\nThe tall Azish man with the white mark on his cheek, like a crescent. Black uniform with a double row of silver buttons down the coat's front, a stiff silver collar poking up from a shirt underneath. His thick gloves had collars of their own that extended halfway back around his forearms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dead eyes. This was Darkness himself.\n\nOh no.\n\n\"What is the meaning of this!\" demanded one of the viziers, a woman in one of their large coats with the too-big sleeves. Her cap was of a different pattern, and it clashed quite spectacularly with the coat.\n\n\"I am here,\" Darkness said, \"fora thief.\"\n\n\"Do you realize where you are? How dare you interrupt-\"\n\n\"I have,\" Darkness said, \"the proper forms.\" He spoke completely without emotion. No annoyance at being challenged, no arrogance or pomposity. Nothing at all. One of his minions entered behind him, a man in a black and silver uniform, less ornamented. He proffered a neat stack of papers to his master.\n\n\"Forms are all well and good,\" the vizier said. \"But this is not the time, constable, for-\"\n\nLift bolted.\n\nHer instincts finally battered down her surprise and she ran, leaping over a couch on her way to the room's backdoor. Wyndle moved beside her in a streak.\n\nShe tore a hunk off the roll with her teeth; she was going to need the food. Beyond that door would be a bedroom, and a bedroom would have a window. She slammed open the door, dashing through.\n\nSomething swung from the shadows on the other side.\n\nA cudgel took her in the chest. Ribs cracked. Lift gasped, dropping face-first to the floor.\n\nAnother of Darkness's minions stepped from the shadows inside the bedroom.\n\n\"Even the chaotic,\" Darkness said, \"can be predictable with proper study.\" His feet thumped across the floor behind her.\n\nLift gritted her teeth, curled upon the floor. Didn't get enough to eat... So hungry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The few bites she'd taken earlier worked within her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She felt the familiar feeling, like a storm in her veins. Liquid awesomeness. The pain faded from her chest as she healed.\n\nWyndle ran around her in a circle, a little lasso of vines sprouting leaves on the floor, looping her again and again. Darkness stepped up close.\n\nGo! She leaped to her hands and knees. He seized her by the shoulder, but she could escape that. She summoned her awesomeness.\n\nDarkness thrust something toward her.\n\nThe little animal was like a cremling, but with wings. Bound wings, tied-up legs. It had a strange little face, not crabbish like a cremling. More like a tiny axehound, with a snout, mouth, and eyes.\n\nIt seemed sickly, and its shimmering eyes were pained. How could she tell that?\n\nThe creature sucked the awesomeness from Lift. She actually saw it go, a glistening whiteness that streamed from her to the little animal. It opened its mouth, drinking it in.\n\nSuddenly, Lift felt very tired and very, very hungry.\n\nDarkness handed the animal to one of his minions, who made it vanish into a black sack he then tucked in his pocket. Lift was certain that the viziers-standing in an outraged cluster at the table-hadn't seen any of this, not with Darkness's back to them and the two minions crowding around.\n\n\"Keep all spheres from her,\" Darkness said. \"She must not be allowed to Invest.\"\n\nLift felt terror, panicked in away she hadn't known for years, ever since her days in Rall Elorim. She struggled, thrashing, biting at the hand that held her. Darkness didn't even grunt. He hauled her to her feet, and another minion took her by the arms, wrenching them backward until she gasped at the pain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "No. She'd freed herself! She couldn't betaken like this. Wyndle continued to spin around heron the ground, distressed. He was a good type, fora Voidbringer.\n\nDarkness turned to the viziers. \"I will trouble you no further.\"\n\n\"Mistress!\" Wyndle said. \"Here!\"\n\nThe half-eaten roll lay on the floor. She'd dropped it when the cudgel hit. Wyndle ran into it, but he couldn't do anything more than make it wobble. Lift thrashed, trying to pull free, but without that storm inside of her, she was just a child in the grip of a trained soldier.\n\n\"I am highly disturbed by the nature of this incursion, constable,\" the lead vizier said, shuffling through the stack of papers that Darkness had dropped. \"Your paperwork is in order, and I see you even included a plea-granted by the arbiters-to search the palace itself for this urchin. Surely you did not need to disturb a holy conclave. Fora common thief, no less.\"\n\n\"Justice waits upon no manor woman,\" Darkness said, completely calm. \"And this thief is anything but common. With your leave, we will cease disturbing you.\"\n\nHe didn't seem to care if they gave him leave or not. He strode toward the door, and his minion pulled Lift along after. She got her foot out to the roll, but only managed to kick it forward, under the long table by the viziers.\n\n\"This is a leave of execution,\" the vizier said with surprise, holding up the last sheet in the stack. \"You will kill the child? For mere thievery?\"\n\nKill? No. No!" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That, in addition to trespassing in the Prime's palace,\" Darkness said, reaching the door." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And for interrupting a holy conclave in session.\"\n\nThe vizier met his gaze. She held it, then wilted. \"I...\" she said. \"Ah, of course... er... constable.\"\n\nDarkness turned from her and pulled open the door. The vizier set one hand on the table and raised her other hand to her head.\n\nThe minion dragged Lift up to the door.\n\n\"Mistress!\" Wyndle said, twisting up nearby. \"Oh... oh dear. There is something very wrong with that man! He is not right, not right at all. You must use your powers.\"\n\n\"Trying,\" Lift said, grunting.\n\n\"You've let yourself grow too thin,\" Wyndle said. \"Not good. You always use up the excess.... Low body fat... That might be the problem. I don't know how this works!\"\n\nDarkness hesitated beside the door and looked at the low-hanging chandeliers in the hallway beyond, with their mirrors and sparkling gemstones. He raised his hand and gestured. The minion not holding Lift moved out into the hallway and found the chandelier ropes. He unwound those and pulled, raising the chandeliers.\n\nLift tried to summon her awesomeness. Just a little more. She just needed a little.\n\nHer body felt exhausted. Drained. She really had been overdoing it. She struggled, increasingly panicked. Increasingly desperate.\n\nIn the hallway, the minion tied off the chandeliers high in the air. Nearby, the vizier leader glanced from Darkness to Lift.\n\n\"Please,\" Lift mouthed.\n\nThe vizier pointedly shoved the table. It clipped the elbow of the minion holding Lift. He cursed, letting go with that hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lift dove for the floor, ripping out of his grip. She squirmed forward, getting underneath the table.\n\nThe minion seized her by the ankles.\n\n\"What was that?\" Darkness asked, his voice cold, emotionless.\n\n\"I slipped,\" the vizier said.\n\n\"Watch yourself.\"\n\n\"Is that a threat, constable? I am beyond your reach.\"\n\n\"Nobody is beyond my reach.\" Still no emotion.\n\nLift thrashed underneath the table, kicking at the minion. He cursed softly and hauled Lift out by her legs, then pulled her to her feet. Darkness watched, face emotionless.\n\nShe met his gaze, eye to eye, a half-eaten roll in her mouth. She stared him down, chewing quickly and swallowing.\n\nFor once, he showed an emotion. Bafflement. \"All that,\" he said, \"fora roll?\"\n\nLift said nothing.\n\nCome on...\n\nThey walked her down the hallway, then around the corner. One of the minions ran ahead and purposefully removed the spheres from the lamps on the walls. Were they robbing the place? No, after she passed, the minion ran back and restored the spheres.\n\nCome on...\n\nThey passed a palace guard in the larger hallway beyond. He noted something about Darkness-perhaps that rope tied around his upper arm, which was threaded with an Azish sequence of colors-and saluted. \"Constable, sir? You found another one?\"\n\nDarkness stopped, looking as the guard opened the door beside him. Inside, Gawx sat on a chair, slumped between two other guards.\n\n\"So you did have accomplices!\" shouted one of the guards in the room. He slapped Gawx across the face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Wyndle gasped from just behind her. \"That was certainly uncalled for!\"\n\nCome on...\n\n\"This one is not your concern,\" Darkness said to the guards, waiting as one of his minions did the strange gemstone-moving sequence. Why did they worry about that?\n\nSomething stirred inside of Lift. Like the little swirls of wind at the advent of a storm.\n\nDarkness looked at her with a sharp motion. \"Something is-\"\n\nAwesomeness returned.\n\nLift became Slick, every part of her but her feet and the palms of her hands. She yanked her arm-it slipped from the minion's fingers-then kicked herself forward and fell to her knees, sliding under Darkness's hand as he reached for her.\n\nWyndle let out a whoop, zipping along beside her as she began slapping the floor like she was swimming, using each swing of her arms to push herself forward. She skimmed the floor of the palace hallway, knees sliding across it as if it were greased.\n\nThe posture wasn't particularly dignified. Dignity was for rich folk who had time to makeup games to play with one another.\n\nShe got going real fast real quick-so fast it was hard to control herself as she relaxed her awesomeness and tried to leap to her feet. She crashed into the wall at the end of the hallway instead, a sprawling heap of limbs.\n\nShe came out of it with a grin. That had gone way better than the last few times she'd tried this. Her first attempt had been super embarrassing. She'd been so Slick, she hadn't even been able to stay on her knees.\n\n\"Lift!\" Wyndle said. \"Behind.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She glanced down the hallway. She could swear he was glowing faintly, and he was certainly running too quickly.\n\nDarkness was awesome too.\n\n\"That is not fair!\" Lift shouted, scrambling to her feet and dashing down aside hallway-the way she'd come when sneaking with Gawx. Her body had already started to feel tired again. One roll didn't get it far.\n\nShe sprinted down the lavish hallway, causing a maid to jump back, shrieking as if she'd seen a rat. Lift skidded around a corner, dashed toward the nice scents, and burst into the kitchens.\n\nShe ran through the mess of people inside. The door slammed open behind her a second later. Darkness.\n\nIgnoring startled cooks, Lift leaped up onto along counter, Slicking her leg and riding on it sideways, knocking off bowls and pans, causing a clatter. She came down off the other end of the counter as Darkness shoved his way past cooks in a clump, his Shardblade held up high.\n\nHe didn't curse in annoyance. A fellow should curse. Made people feel real when they did that.\n\nBut of course, Darkness wasn't areal person. Of that, though little else, she was sure.\n\nLift snatched a sausage off a steaming plate, then pushed into the servant hallways. She chewed as she ran, Wyndle growing along the wall beside her, leaving a streak of dark green vines.\n\n\"Where are we going?\" he asked.\n\n\"Away.\"\n\nThe door into the servant hallways slammed open behind her. Lift turned a corner, surprising an equerry. She went awesome, and threw herself to the side, easily slipping past him in the narrow hallway." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What has become of me?\" Wyndle asked. \"Thieving in the night, chased by abominations. I was a gardener. A wonderful gardener! Cryptics and honorspren alike came to seethe crystals I grew from the minds of your world. Now this. What have I become?\"\n\n\"A whiner,\" Lift said, puffing.\n\n\"Nonsense.\"\n\n\"So you were always one of those, then?\" She looked over her shoulder. Darkness casually shoved down the equerry, barely breaking stride as he charged over the man.\n\nLift reached a doorway and slammed her shoulder against it, scrambling out into the rich hallways again.\n\nShe needed an exit. A window. Her flight had just looped her around back near the Prime's quarters. She picked a direction by instinct and started running, but one of Darkness's minions appeared around a corner that way. He also carried a Shardblade. Some starvin' luck, she had.\n\nLift turned the other way and passed by Darkness striding out of the servant hallways. She barely dodged a swing of his Blade by diving, Slicking herself, and sliding along the floor. She made it to her feet without stumbling this time. That was something, at least.\n\n\"Who are these men?\" Wyndle asked from beside her.\n\nLift grunted.\n\n\"Why do they care so much about you? There's something about those weapons they carry...\"\n\n\"Shardblades,\" Lift said. \"Worth a whole kingdom. Built to kill Voidbringers.\" And they had two of the things. Crazy.\n\nBuilt to kill Voidbringers...\n\n\"You!\" she said, still running. \"They're after you!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What? Of course they aren't!\"\n\n\"They are. Don't worry. You're mine. I won't lettem have you.\"\n\n\"That's endearingly loyal,\" Wyndle said. \"And not a little insulting. But they are not after-\"\n\nThe second of Darkness's minions stepped out into the hallway ahead of her. He held Gawx.\n\nHe had a knife to the young man's throat.\n\nLift stumbled to a halt. Gawx, in far over his head, whimpered in the man's hands.\n\n\"Don't move,\" the minion said, \"or I will kill him.\"\n\n\"Starvin'bastard,\" Lift said. She spat to the side. \"That's dirty.\"\n\nDarkness thumped up behind her, the other minion joining him. They penned her in. The entrance to the Prime's quarters was actually just ahead, and the viziers and scions had flooded out into the hallway, where they jabbered to one another in outraged tones.\n\nGawx was crying. Poor fool.\n\nWell. This sorta thing never ended well. Lift went with her gut-which was basically what she always did-and called the minion's bluff by dashing forward. He was a lawman type. Wouldn't kill a captive in cold-\n\nThe minion slit Gawx's throat.\n\nCrimson blood poured out and stained Gawx's clothing. The minion dropped him, then stumbled back, as if startled by what he'd done.\n\nLift froze. He couldn't-He didn't-\n\nDarkness grabbed her from behind.\n\n\"That was poorly done,\" Darkness said to the minion, tone emotionless. Lift barely heard him. So much blood. \"You will be punished.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But...\" the minion said. \"I had to do as I threatened...\"\n\n\"You have not done the proper paperwork in this kingdom to kill that child,\" Darkness said.\n\n\"Aren't we above their laws?\"\n\nDarkness actually let goof her, striding over to slap the minion across the face. \"Without the law, there is nothing. You will subject yourself to their rules, and accept the dictates of justice. It is all we have, the only sure thing in this world.\"\n\nLift stared at the dying boy, who held his hands to his neck, as if to stop the blood flow. Those tears...\n\nThe other minion came up behind her.\n\n\"Run!\" Wyndle said.\n\nShe started.\n\n\"Run!\"\n\nLift ran.\n\nShe passed Darkness and pushed through the viziers, who gasped and yelled at the death. She barreled into the Prime's quarters, slid across the table, snatched another roll off the platter, and burst into the bedroom. She was out the window a second later.\n\n\"Up,\" she said to Wyndle, then stuffed the roll in her mouth. He streaked up the side of the wall, and Lift climbed, sweating. A second later, one of the minions leaped out the window beneath her.\n\nHe didn't lookup. He charged out onto the grounds, twisting about, searching, his Shardblade flashing in the darkness as it reflected starlight.\n\nLift safely reached the upper reaches of the palace, hidden in the shadows there. She squatted down, hands around her knees, feeling cold.\n\n\"You barely knew him,\" Wyndle said. \"Yet you mourn.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She nodded.\n\n\"You've seen much death,\" Wyndle said. \"I know it. Aren't you accustomed to it?\"\n\nShe shook her head.\n\nBelow, the minion moved off, hunting farther and farther for her. She was free. Climb across the roof, slip down on the other side, disappear.\n\nWas that motion on the wall at the edge of the grounds? Yes, those moving shadows were men. The other thieves were climbing their wall and disappearing into the night. Huqin had left his nephew, as expected.\n\nWho would cry for Gawx? Nobody. He'd be forgotten, abandoned.\n\nLift released her legs and crawled across the curved bulb of the roof toward the window she'd entered earlier. Her vines from the seeds, unlike the ones Wyndle grew, were still alive. They'd overgrown the window, leaves quivering in the wind.\n\nRun, her instincts said. Go.\n\n\"You spoke of something earlier,\" she whispered. \"Re...\"\n\n\"Regrowth,\" he said. \"Each bond grants power over two Surges. You can influence how things grow.\"\n\n\"Can I use this to help Gawx?\"\n\n\"If you were better trained? Yes. As it stands, I doubt it. You aren't very strong, aren't very practiced. And he might be dead already.\"\n\nShe touched one of the vines.\n\n\"Why do you care?\" Wyndle asked again. He sounded curious. Not a challenge. An attempt to understand.\n\n\"Because someone has to.\"\n\nFor once, Lift ignored what her gut was telling her and, instead, climbed through the window. She crossed the room in a dash." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Out into the upstairs hallway. Onto the steps. She soared down them, leaping most of the distance. Through a doorway. Turn left. Down the hallway. Left again.\n\nA crowd in the rich corridor. Lift reached them, then wiggled through. She didn't need her awesomeness for that. She'd been slipping through cracks in crowds since she started walking.\n\nGawx lay in a pool of blood that had darkened the fine carpet. The viziers and guards surrounded him, speaking in hushed tones.\n\nLift crawled up to him. His body was still warm, but the blood seemed to have stopped flowing. His eyes were closed.\n\n\"Too late?\" she whispered.\n\n\"I don't know,\" Wyndle said, curling up beside her.\n\n\"What do I do?\"\n\n\"I... I'm not sure. Mistress, the transition to your side was difficult and left holes in my memory, even with the precautions my people took. I...\"\n\nShe set Gawx on his back, face toward the sky. He wasn't really anything to her, that was true. They'd barely just met, and he'd been a fool. She'd told him to go back.\n\nBut this was who she was, who she had to be.\n\nI will remember those who have been forgotten.\n\nLift leaned forward, touched her forehead to his, and breathed out. A shimmering something left her lips, a little cloud of glowing light. It hung in front of Gawx's lips.\n\nCome on...\n\nIt stirred, then drew in through his mouth.\n\nA hand took Lift by the shoulder, pulling her away from Gawx. She sagged, suddenly exhausted. Real exhausted, so much so that even standing was difficult." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Darkness pulled her by the shoulder away from the crowd. \"Come,\" he said.\n\nGawx stirred. The viziers gasped, their attention turning toward the youth as he groaned, then sat up.\n\n\"It appears that you are an Edgedancer,\" Darkness said, steering her down the corridor as the crowd moved in around Gawx, chattering. She stumbled, but he held her upright. \"I had wondered which of the two you would be.\"\n\n\"Miracle!\" one vizier said.\n\n\"Yaezir has spoken!\" said one of the scions.\n\n\"Edgedancer,\" Lift said. \"I don't know what that is.\"\n\n\"They were once a glorious order,\" Darkness said, walking her down the hallway. Everyone ignored them, focused instead on Gawx. \"Where you blunder, they were elegant things of beauty. They could ride the thinnest rope at speed, dance across rooftops, move through a battlefield like a ribbon on the wind.\"\n\n\"That sounds... amazing.\"\n\n\"Yes. It is unfortunate they were always so concerned with small-minded things, while ignoring those of greater import. It appears you share their temperament. You have become one of them.\"\n\n\"I didn't mean to,\" Lift said.\n\n\"I realize this.\"\n\n\"Why... why do you hunt me?\"\n\n\"In the name of justice.\"\n\n\"There are tons of people who do wrong things,\" she said. She had to force out every word. Talking was hard. Thinking was hard. So tired. \"You... you coulda hunted big crime bosses, murderers. You chose me instead. Why?\"\n\n\"Others maybe detestable, but they do not dabble in arts that could return Desolation to this world.\" His words were so cold. \"What you are must be stopped.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lift felt numb. She tried to summon her awesomeness, but she'd used it all up. And then some, probably.\n\nDarkness turned her and pushed her against the wall. She couldn't stand, and slumped down, sitting. Wyndle moved up beside her, spreading out a starburst of creeping vines.\n\nDarkness knelt next to her. He held out his hand.\n\n\"I saved him,\" Lift said. \"I did something good, didn't I?\"\n\n\"Goodness is irrelevant,\" Darkness said. His Shardblade dropped into his fingers.\n\n\"You don't even care, do you?\"\n\n\"No,\" he said. \"I don't.\"\n\n\"You should,\" she said, exhausted. \"You should... should try it, I mean. I wanted to be like you, once. Didn't workout. Wasn't... even like being alive...\"\n\nDarkness raised his Blade.\n\nLift closed her eyes.\n\n\"She is pardoned!\"\n\nDarkness's grip on her shoulder tightened.\n\nFeeling completely drained-like somebody had held her up by the toes and squeezed everything out of her-Lift forced her eyes to open. Gawx stumbled to a stop beside them, breathing heavily. Behind, the viziers and scions moved up as well.\n\nClothing bloodied, his eyes wide, Gawx clutched apiece of paper in his hand. He thrust this at Darkness. \"I pardon this girl. Release her, constable!\"\n\n\"Who are you,\" Darkness said, \"to do such a thing?\"\n\n\"I am the Prime Aqasix,\" Gawx declared. \"Ruler of Azir!\"\n\n\"Ridiculous.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The Kadasixes have spoken,\" said one of the scions.\n\n\"The Heralds?\" Darkness said. \"They have done no such thing. You are mistaken.\"\n\n\"We have voted,\" said a vizier. \"This young man's application was the best.\"\n\n\"What application?\" Darkness said. \"He is a thief!\"\n\n\"He performed the miracle of Regrowth,\" said one of the older scions. \"He was dead and he returned. What better application could we ask for?\"\n\n\"A sign has been given,\" said the lead vizier. \"We have a Prime who can survive the attacks of the One All White. Praise to Yaezir, Kadasix of Kings, may he lead in wisdom. This youth is Prime. He has been Prime always. We have only now realized it, and beg his forgiveness for not seeing the truth sooner.\"\n\n\"As it always has been done,\" the elderly scion said. \"As it will be done again. Stand down, constable. You have been given an order.\"\n\nDarkness studied Lift.\n\nShe smiled tiredly. Show the starvin' man some teeth. That was the right of it.\n\nHis Shardblade vanished to mist. He'd been bested, but he didn't seem to care. Not a curse, not even a tightening of the eyes. He stood up and pulled on his gloves by the cuffs, first one, then the other. \"Praise Yaezir,\" he said. \"Herald of Kings. May he lead in wisdom. If he ever stops drooling.\"\n\nDarkness bowed to the new Prime, then left with a sure step.\n\n\"Does anyone know the name of that constable?\" one of the viziers asked. \"When did we start letting officers of the law requisition Shardblades?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gawx knelt beside Lift.\n\n\"So you're an emperor or something now,\" she said, closing her eyes, settling back.\n\n\"Yeah. I'm still confused. It seems I performed a miracle or something.\"\n\n\"Good for you,\" Lift said. \"Can I eat your dinner?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, sat atop the highest tower in the world and contemplated the End of All Things.\n\nThe souls of the people he had murdered lurked in the shadows. They whispered to him. If he drew close, they screamed.\n\nThey also screamed when he shut his eyes. He had taken to blinking as little as possible. His eyes felt dry in his skull. It was what any... sane man would do.\n\nThe highest tower in the world, hidden in the tops of the mountains, was perfect for his contemplation. If he had not been bound to an Oathstone, if he had been another man entirely, he would have stayed here. The only place in the East where the stones were not cursed, where walking on them was allowed. This place was holy.\n\nBright sunlight shone down to banish the shadows, which kept those screams to a minimum. The screamers deserved their deaths, of course. They should have killed Szeth. I hate you. I hate... everyone. Glories within, what a strange emotion.\n\nHe did not lookup. He would not meet the gaze of the God of Gods. But it was good to be in the sunlight. There were no clouds hereto bring the darkness. This place was above them all. Urithiru ruled even the clouds.\n\nThe massive tower was also empty; that was another reason he liked it. A hundred levels, builtin ring shapes, each one beneath larger than the one above it to provide a sunlit balcony. The eastern side, however, was a sheer, flat edge that made the tower look from a distance as if that side had been sliced off by an enormous Shardblade. What a strange shape.\n\nHe sat on that edge, right at the top, feet swinging over a drop of a hundred massive stories and a plummet down the mountainside below. Glass sparkled on the smooth surface of the flat side there." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Glass windows." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Facing east, toward the Origin. The first time he had visited this place-just after being exiled from his homeland-he hadn't understood just how odd those windows were. Back then, he'd still been accustomed to gentle highstorms. Rain, wind, and meditation.\n\nThings were different in these cursed lands of the stonewalkers. These hateful lands. These lands flowing with blood, death, and screams. And... And...\n\nBreathe. He forced the air in and out and stood upon the rim of the parapet atop the tower.\n\nHe had fought an impossibility. A man with Stormlight, a man who knew the storm within. That meant... problems. Years ago, Szeth had been banished for raising the alarm. The false alarm, it had been said.\n\nThe Voidbringers are no more, they had told him.\n\nThe spirits of the stones themselves promised it.\n\nThe powers of old are no more.\n\nThe Knights Radiant are fallen.\n\nWe are all that remains.\n\nAll that remains.... Truthless.\n\n\"Have I not been faithful?\" Szeth shouted, finally looking up to face the sun. His voice echoed against the mountains and their spirit-souls. \"Have I not obeyed, kept my oath? Have I not done as you demanded of me?\"\n\nThe killing, the murder. He blinked tired eyes.\n\nSCREAMS.\n\n\"What does it mean if the Shamanate are wrong? What does it mean if they banished me in error?\"\n\nIt meant the End of All Things. The end of truth. It would mean that nothing made sense, and that his oath was meaningless.\n\nIt would mean he had killed for no reason." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He dropped off the side of the tower, white clothing-now a symbol to him of many things-flapping in the wind." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He filled himself with Stormlight and Lashed himself southward. His body lurched in that direction, falling across the sky. He could only travel this way fora short time; his Stormlight did not last long.\n\nToo imperfect a body. The Knights Radiant... they'd been said... they'd been said to be better at this... like the Voidbringers.\n\nHe had just enough Light to free himself from the mountains and land in a village in the foothills. They often set out spheres for him there as an offering, considering him some kind of god. He would feed upon that Light, and it would let him go a farther distance until he found another city and more Stormlight.\n\nIt would take days to get where he was going, but he would find answers. Or, barring that, someone to kill.\n\nOf his own choice, this time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Eshonai waved her hand as she climbed the central spire of Narak, trying to shoo away the tiny spren. It danced around her head, shedding rings of light from its cometlike form. Horrid thing. Why would it not leave her alone?\n\nPerhaps it could not stay away. She was experiencing something wonderfully new, after all. Something that had not been seen in centuries. Stormform. A form of true power.\n\nA form given of the gods.\n\nShe continued up the steps, feet clinking in her Shardplate. It felt good on her.\n\nShe had held this form for fifteen days now, fifteen days of hearing new rhythms. At first, she had attuned those often, but this had made some people very nervous. She had backed off, and forced herself to attune the old, familiar ones when speaking.\n\nIt was difficult, for those old rhythms were so dull. Buried within those new rhythms, the names of which she intuited somehow, she could almost hear voices speaking to her. Advising her. If her people had received such guidance over the centuries, they surely would not have fallen so far.\n\nEshonai reached the top of the spire, where the other four awaited her. Again, her sister Venli was also there, and she wore the new form as well-with its spiking armor plates, its red eyes, its lithe danger. This meeting would proceed very differently from the previous one. Eshonai cycled through the new rhythms, careful not to hum them. The others weren't ready yet.\n\nShe sat down, then gasped.\n\nThat rhythm! It sounded like... like her own voice yelling at her. Screaming in pain. What was that? She shook her head, and found that she had reflexively pulled her hand to her chest in anxiety. When she opened it, the cometlike spren shot out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She attuned Irritation. The others of the Five regarded her with heads cocked, a couple humming to Curiosity. Why did she act as she did?\n\nEshonai settled herself, Shardplate grinding against stone. This close to the lull-the time called the Weeping by the humans-highstorms were growing more rare. That had created a small impediment in her march to see every listener given stormform. There had only been one storm since Eshonai's own transformation, and during it, Venli and her scholars had taken stormform along with two hundred soldiers chosen by Eshonai. Not officers. Common soldiers. The type she was sure would obey.\n\nThe next highstorm was mere days away, and Venli had been gathering her spren. They had thousands ready. It was time.\n\nEshonai regarded the others of the Five. Today's clear sky rained down white sunlight, and a few windspren approached on a breeze. They stopped when they grew near, then zipped away in the opposite direction.\n\n\"Why have you called this meeting?\" Eshonai asked the others.\n\n\"You've been speaking of a plan,\" Davim said, broad worker's hands clasped before him. \"You've been telling everyone of it. Shouldn't you have brought it to the Five first?\"\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" Eshonai said. \"I am merely excited. I believe, however, we should now be the Six.\"\n\n\"That has not been decided,\" Abronai said, weak and plump. Mateform was disgusting. \"This moves too quickly.\"\n\n\"We must move quickly,\" Eshonai replied to Resolve. \"We have only two highstorms before the lull. You know what the spies report. The humans are planning a final push toward us, toward Narak.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is a pity,\" Abronai said to Consideration, \"that your meeting with them went so poorly.\"\n\n\"They wanted to tell me of the destruction they planned to bring,\" Eshonai lied. \"They wanted to gloat. That was the only reason they met with me.\"\n\n\"We need to be ready to fight them,\" Davim said to Anxiety.\n\nEshonai laughed. A blatant use of emotion, but she truly felt it. \"Fight them? Haven't you been listening? I can summon a highstorm.\"\n\n\"With help,\" Chivi said to Curiosity. Nimbleform. Another weak form. They should expunge that one from their ranks. \"You have said you cannot do it alone. How many others would you need? Certainly the two hundred you have now are enough.\"\n\n\"No, that is not nearly enough,\" Eshonai replied. \"I feel that the more people we have in this form, the more likely we are to succeed. I would like, therefore, to move that we transform.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Chivi said. \"But how many of us?\"\n\n\"All of us.\"\n\nDavim hummed to Amusement, thinking it must be a joke. He trailed off as the rest satin silence.\n\n\"We will have just one chance,\" Eshonai said to Resolve. \"The humans will leave their warcamps together, in one large army that intends to reach Narak during the lull. They will be completely exposed on the plateaus, with no shelter. A highstorm at that time would destroy them.\"\n\n\"We don't even truly know if you can summon one,\" Abronai said to Skepticism.\n\n\"That is why we need as many of us in stormform as possible,\" Eshonai said. \"If we miss this opportunity, our children will sing us the songs of Cursing, assuming they even livelong enough to do so. This is our chance, our one chance. Imagine the ten armies of men, isolated on the plateaus, buffeted and overwhelmed by a tempest they could never have expected! With stormform, we would be immune to its effects. If any survive, we could destroy them easily.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is tempting,\" Davim said.\n\n\"I do not like the look of those who have taken this form,\" Chivi said. \"I do not like how people clamor to be given it. Perhaps two hundred are enough.\"\n\n\"Eshonai,\" Davim said, \"how does this form feel?\"\n\nHe was asking more than he actually said. Each form changed a person in someways. Warform made you more aggressive, mateform made you easy to distract, nimbleform encouraged focus, and workform made you obedient.\n\nEshonai attuned Peace.\n\nNo. That was the screaming voice. How had she spent weeks in this form and not noticed?\n\n\"I feel alive,\" Eshonai said to Joy. \"I feel strong, and I feel powerful. I feel a connection to the world that I should have always known. Davim, this is like the change from dullform to one of the other forms-it is that much of an upgrade. Now that I hold this strength, I realize I wasn't fully alive before.\"\n\nShe lifted her hand and made a fist. She could feel the energy coursing down her arm as the muscles flexed, though it was hidden beneath the Shardplate.\n\n\"Red eyes,\" Abronai whispered. \"Have we come to this?\"\n\n\"If we decide to do this,\" Chivi said. \"Perhaps we four should assess it first, then say if the others should join us.\" Venli opened her mouth to speak, but Chivi waved her hand, interrupting her. \"You have had your say, Venli. We know what you wish.\"\n\n\"We cannot wait, unfortunately,\" Eshonai said. \"If we want to trap the Alethi armies, we will need time to transform everyone before the Alethi leave to search for Narak.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm willing to try it,\" Abronai said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Perhaps we should propose amass transformation to our people.\"\n\n\"No.\" Zuln spoke to Peace.\n\nThe dullform member of the Five sat slouched, looking at the ground before her. She almost never said anything.\n\nEshonai attuned Annoyance. \"What was that?\"\n\n\"No,\" Zuln repeated. \"It is not right.\"\n\n\"I would have us all be in agreement,\" Davim said. \"Zuln, can you not listen to reason?\"\n\n\"It is not right,\" the dullform said again.\n\n\"She is dull,\" Eshonai said. \"We should ignore her.\"\n\nDavim hummed to Anxiety. \"Zuln represents the past, Eshonai. You shouldn't say such things of her.\"\n\n\"The past is dead.\"\n\nAbronai joined Davim in humming to Anxiety. \"Perhaps this is worth more thought. Eshonai, you... do not speak as you used to. I hadn't realized the changes were so stark.\"\n\nEshonai attuned one of the new rhythms, the Rhythm of Fury. She held the song inside, and found herself humming. These were so cautious, so weak! They would see her people destroyed.\n\n\"We will meet again later today,\" Davim said. \"Let us spend time considering. Eshonai, I would speak with you alone during that period, if you are willing.\"\n\n\"Of course.\"\n\nThey rose from their places atop the pillar. Eshonai stepped to the edge and looked down as the others filed down. The spire was too high to jump from, even in Shardplate. She so wanted to try.\n\nIt seemed that every person in the city had gathered around the base to await the decision. In the weeks since Eshonai's transformation, talk of what had happened to her-then the others-had infused the city with a certain mixture of anxiety and hope. Many had come to her, begging to be given the form. They saw the chance it offered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They're not going to agree to it,\" Venli said from behind once the others were down. She spoke to Spite, one of the new rhythms. \"You spoke too aggressively, Eshonai.\"\n\n\"Davim is with us,\" Eshonai said to Confidence. \"Chivi will come too, with persuasion.\"\n\n\"That isn't enough. If the Five do not come to a consensus-\"\n\n\"Don't worry.\"\n\n\"Our people must take that form, Eshonai,\" Venli said. \"It is inevitable.\"\n\nEshonai found herself attuning the new version of Amusement... Ridicule, it was. She turned to her sister. \"You knew, didn't you? You knew exactly what this form would do tome. You knew this before you took the form yourself.\"\n\n\"I... Yes.\"\n\nEshonai grabbed her sister by the front of her robe, then yanked her forward, holding her tightly. With Shardplate it was easy, though Venli resisted more than she should have been able to, and a small spark of red lightning ran across the woman's arms and face. Eshonai was not accustomed to such strength from her scholar of a sister.\n\n\"You could have destroyed us,\" Eshonai said. \"What if this form had done something terrible?\"\n\nScreaming. In her head. Venli smiled.\n\n\"How did you discover this?\" Eshonai asked. \"It didn't come from the songs. There is more.\"\n\nVenli did not speak. She met Eshonai's eyes and hummed to Confidence. \"We must make certain the Five agree to this plan,\" she said. \"If we are to survive, and if we are to defeat the humans, we must be in this form-all of us. We must summon that storm. It has been... waiting, Eshonai. Waiting and building.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I will see to it,\" Eshonai said, dropping Venli. \"You can gather enough spren for us to transform all of our people?\"\n\n\"My staff have been working on it these three weeks. We will be ready to transform thousands upon thousands over the course of the final two highstorms before the lull.\"\n\n\"Good.\" Eshonai started down the steps.\n\n\"Sister?\" Venli asked. \"You are planning something. What is it? How will you persuade the Five?\"\n\nEshonai continued down the steps. With the added balance and strength of Shardplate, she didn't need to bother with the chains to steady herself. As she neared the bottom, where the others of the Five were speaking to the people, she stopped a short distance above the crowd and drew in a deep breath.\n\nThen, as loudly as she could, Eshonai shouted, \"In two days, I will take any who wish to go into the storm and give them this new form.\"\n\nThe crowd stilled, their humming dropping off.\n\n\"The Five seek to deny you this right,\" Eshonai bellowed. \"They don't want you to have this form of power. They are frightened, like cremlings hiding in cracks. They cannot deny you! It is the right of every person to choose their own form.\"\n\nShe raised her hands above her head, humming to Resolve, and summoned a storm.\n\nA tiny one, a mere trickle compared to what waited. It grew between her hands, a wind coursing with lightning. A miniature tempest in her palms, light and power, wind spinning in a vortex. It had been centuries since this power had been used, and so-like a river that had been dammed-the energy waited impatiently to be freed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The tempest grew so that it whipped at her clothing, spinning around her in a swirl of wind, crackling red lightning, and dark mist. Finally, it dissipated. She heard Awe being sung throughout the crowd-full songs, not humming. Their emotions were strong.\n\n\"With this power,\" Eshonai declared, \"we can destroy the Alethi and protect our people. I have seen your despair. I have heard you sing to Mourning. It need not be so! Come with me into the storms. It is your right, your duty, to join with me.\"\n\nBehind heron the steps, Venli hummed to Tension. \"This will divide us, Eshonai. Too aggressive, too abrupt!\"\n\n\"It will work,\" Eshonai said to Confidence. \"You do not know them as I do.\"\n\nBelow, the other members of the Five were glaring up at her, looking betrayed, though she could not hear their songs.\n\nEshonai marched to the bottom of the spire, then pushed her way through the crowd, being joined by her soldiers in stormform. The people made way for her, many humming to Anxiety. Most who had come were workers or nimbleforms. That made sense. The warforms were too pragmatic for gawking.\n\nEshonai and her stormform warriors left the town's center ring. She allowed Venli to tag along behind, but paid the woman no heed. Eshonai eventually approached the barracks on the leeward side of the city, a large group of buildings built together to form a community for the soldiers. Though her troops were not required to sleep here, many did so.\n\nThe practice grounds one plateau over were busy with the sounds of warriors honing their skills, or-more likely-newly transformed soldiers being trained. The second division, a hundred and twenty-eight in number, were away watching for humans entering the middle plateaus. Scouts in warpairs roamed the Plains. She'd set them on this task soon after obtaining her form, as she had known even then that she would need to change the way this battle worked. She wanted every bit of information about the Alethi and their current tactics that she could get." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Her soldiers would ignore chrysalises for the time being. She would not lose soldiers to that petty game any longer, not when each man and woman under her command represented the potential of stormform.\n\nThe other divisions were all here, however. Seventeen thousand soldiers total. A mighty force in someways, but also so few, compared to what they had once been. She raised her hand in a fist, and her stormform division raised the call for all soldiers in the listener army to gather. Those practicing set down their weapons and jogged over. Others left the barracks. Ina short time, all had joined her.\n\n\"It is time to end the fight against the Alethi,\" Eshonai announced in aloud voice. \"Which of you are willing to follow me in doing so?\"\n\nHumming to Resolve moved through the crowd. So far as she could hear, not a one hummed to Skepticism. Excellent.\n\n\"This will require each soldier to join me in this form,\" Eshonai shouted, her words being relayed through the ranks.\n\nMore humming to Resolve.\n\n\"I am proud of you,\" Eshonai said. \"I am going to have the Storm Division go among you and take your word, each of you, on this transformation. If there are any here who do not wish to change, I would know of it personally. It is your decision, by right, and I will not force you-but I must know.\"\n\nShe looked to her stormforms, who saluted and broke apart, moving in warpairs. Eshonai stepped back, folding her arms, watching as these visited each other division in turn. The new rhythms thrummed in her skull, though she stayed away from the Rhythm of Peace, with its strange screams. There was no fighting against what she had become. The eyes of the gods were too strongly upon her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nearby, some soldiers gathered, familiar faces beneath hardened skullplates, the men bearing bits of gemstone tied to their beards. Her own division, once her friends.\n\nShe could not quite explain why she had not chosen them at first for the transformation, instead picking two hundred soldiers from across many divisions. She'd needed soldiers who were obedient, but not known for their brightness.\n\nThude and the soldiers of Eshonai's former division... they knew her too well. They would have questioned.\n\nSoon, she had gotten word. Of her seventeen thousand troops, only a handful refused the required transformation. Those who had declined were gathered on the practice grounds.\n\nAs she contemplated her next move, Thude approached. Tall and thick-limbed, he had always worn warform save for two weeks as a mate to Bila. He hummed to Resolve-the way fora soldier to indicate a willingness to obey orders.\n\n\"I am worried about this, Eshonai,\" he said. \"Do so many need to change?\"\n\n\"If we do not transform,\" Eshonai said, \"we are dead. The humans will ruin us.\"\n\nHe continued to hum to Resolve, to indicate he trusted her. His eyes seemed to tell another story.\n\nMelu, of her stormforms, returned and saluted. \"The counting is finished, sir.\"\n\n\"Excellent,\" Eshonai said. \"Password to the troops. We're going to do the same thing for everyone in the city.\"\n\n\"Everyone?\" Thude said to Anxiety.\n\n\"Our time is short,\" Eshonai said. \"If we do not act, we will miss our opportunity to move against the humans. We have two storms left; I want every willing person in this city ready to take up stormform before those have passed us. Those who will not are given that right, but I want them gathered so we may know where we stand.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes, General,\" Melu said.\n\n\"Use a tight scouting formation,\" Eshonai said, pointing toward parts of the city. \"Move through the streets, counting every person. Use the non-stormform divisions too, for speed. Tell the common people that we're trying to determine how many soldiers we will have for the coming battle, and have our soldiers becalm and sing to Peace. Put those people who are willing to transform into the central ring. Send those who are unwilling out here. Give them an escort so that they do not get lost.\"\n\nVenli stepped up to her as Melu passed the word, sending ranks out to obey. Thude rejoined his division.\n\nEvery half year, they did an accounting to determine their numbers and see if the forms were properly balanced. Once in awhile, they would need more volunteers to become mates or workers. Most often, they needed more warforms.\n\nThat meant this exercise was familiar to the soldiers, and they took easily to the orders. After years of war, they were accustomed to doing as she said. Many had the same depression that the regular people expressed-only for the troops, it manifested as bloodlust. They just wanted to fight. They would probably have charged head-on against the human encampments, and ten times their own numbers, if Eshonai ordered.\n\nThe Five all but handed this tome, she thought as the first of the unwilling began to trickle out of the city, guarded by her soldiers. For years I've been absolute leader of our armies, and every person among us with a hint of aggression has been given tome as a soldier.\n\nWorkers would obey; it was their nature. Many of the nimbles who hadn't transformed yet were loyal to Venli, as the majority of them aspired to be scholars. The mates wouldn't care, and the few dulls would be too numb of brain to object." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The city washers.\n\n\"We'll have to kill them, unfortunately,\" Venli said, watching the unwilling be gathered. They huddled together, afraid, despite the soft songs of the soldiers. \"Will your troops be able to do it?\"\n\n\"No,\" Eshonai said, shaking her head. \"Many would resist us if we did this now. We will have to wait for all of my soldiers to be transformed. They will not object then.\"\n\n\"That's sloppy,\" Venli said to Spite. \"I thought you commanded their loyalty.\"\n\n\"Do not question me,\" Eshonai said. \"I control this city, not you.\"\n\nVenli quieted, though her humming to Spite continued. She would attempt to seize control from Eshonai. It was an uncomfortable realization, as was the realization of how deeply Eshonai herself wanted to be in control. That didn't feel like her. Not at all.\n\nNone of this feels like me. I...\n\nThe new rhythms'beats surged in her mind. She turned from such thoughts as a group of soldiers approached, towing a shouting figure. Abronai, of the Five. She should have realized that he'd be trouble; he maintained mateform too easily, avoiding its distractions.\n\nTransforming him would have been dangerous, she thought. He has too much control over himself.\n\nAs the stormform soldiers pulled him to Eshonai, his shouts beat against her. \"This is outrageous! The dictates of the Five rule us, not the will of a single person! Can't you see that the form, the new form is overriding her! You've all lost your minds! Or... or worse.\"\n\nIt was discomfortingly close to the truth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Put him with the others,\" Eshonai said, gesturing toward the group of dissidents." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What of the rest of the Five?\"\n\n\"They agreed,\" Melu said. \"Some were reluctant, but they agreed.\"\n\n\"Go and fetch Zuln. Put her with the dissenters. I don't trust her to do what is needed.\"\n\nThe soldier didn't question as she towed Abronai away. There were perhaps a thousand dissenters thereon the large plateau that made up the practice grounds. An acceptably small number.\n\n\"Eshonai...\" The song was sung to Anxiety. She turned as Thude approached. \"I don't like this, what we're doing here.\"\n\nBother. She had worried that he would be difficult. She took him by the arm, leading him a ways off. The new rhythms cycled through her mind as her armored feet crunched on the stones. Once they were far enough away from Venli and the others for some privacy, she turned Thude to look him in the eyes.\n\n\"Outwith it,\" she said to Irritation, picking one of the old, familiar rhythms for him.\n\n\"Eshonai,\" he said quietly. \"This isn't right. You know it's not right. I agreed to change-every soldier did-but it's not right.\"\n\n\"Do you disagree that we needed new tactics in this war?\" Eshonai said to Resolve. \"We were dying slowly, Thude.\"\n\n\"We did need new tactics,\" Thude said. \"But this... Something's wrong with you, Eshonai.\"\n\n\"No, I just needed an excuse for such extreme action. Thude, I've been considering something like this for months.\"\n\n\"A coup?\"\n\n\"Not a coup. A refocusing. We are doomed if we don't change our methods! My only hope was Venli's research. The only thing she turned up was this form. Well, I've got to try and use it, make one last attempt to save our people. The Five tried to stop me. I've heard you yourself complain about how much they talk instead of acting.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He hummed to Consideration. She knew him well enough, however, to sense when he was forcing a rhythm. The beat was too obvious, too strong.\n\nI almost convinced him, she thought. It's the red eyes. I've instilled in him, and some of the others of my own division, too much of a fear of our gods.\n\nIt was a shame, but she'd probably have to see him, and her other former friends, executed.\n\n\"I see you're not convinced,\" Eshonai said.\n\n\"I just... I don't know, Eshonai. This seems bad.\"\n\n\"I'll talk you through it later,\" Eshonai said. \"I don't have time right now.\"\n\n\"And what are you going to do to those?\" Thude asked, nodding toward the dissenters. \"This looks an awful lot like a roundup of people who don't agree with you. Eshonai... did you realize your own mother was among them?\"\n\nShe started, looking and seeing her aging mother being guided to the group by two stormforms. They hadn't even come to her with the question. Did that mean they were extra obedient, following her orders no matter what, or were they worried she would weaken because her mother refused to change?\n\nShe could hear her mother singing. One of the old songs, as she was guided.\n\n\"You can watch over that group,\" Eshonai said to Thude. \"You and soldiers you trust. I'll put my own division in charge of the people there, you at their head. That way, nothing will happen to them without your agreement.\"\n\nHe hesitated, then nodded, humming to Consideration for real this time. She let him go and he jogged over to Bila and a few others of Eshonai's former division." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Poor, trusting Thude, she thought as he took command of guarding the dissenters." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thank you for rounding yourself up so neatly.\n\n\"This was handled well,\" Venli said as Eshonai walked back to her. \"Can you control the city long enough for the transformation?\"\n\n\"Easily,\" Eshonai said, nodding to the soldiers who came to give her a report. \"Just make certain you can deliver the proper spren and in the proper quantities.\"\n\n\"I will,\" Venli said to Satisfaction.\n\nEshonai took the reports. Everyone who had agreed was gathered in the center of the city. It was time to speak to them and deliver the lies she'd prepared. That the Five would be reinstated once the humans were dealt with, that there was no reason to worry. That everything was just fine.\n\nEshonai strode into a city that was now hers, flanked by soldiers in the new form. She summoned her Blade for effect, the last one her people owned, resting it on her shoulder.\n\nShe made her way to the center of the city, passing melted buildings and shacks built from carapace. It was a wonder that those things survived the storms. Her people deserved better. With the return of the gods, they would have better.\n\nIrritatingly, it took sometime to get the people ready for her speech. Some twenty thousand non-warforms gathered together was quite a sight; looking upon them, the city's population did not seem nearly so small. Still, this was a fraction of their original numbers.\n\nHer soldiers seated them all, prepared messengers to deliver her words to those not near enough to hear. As she waited for the preparations, she listened to reports regarding the population. Surprisingly, the majority of those who had dissented were workers. They were supposed to be obedient. Well, the greater number of them were elderly, the ones who had not fought in the war against the Alethi. Those who had not been forced to watch their friends be killed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She waited by the base of the pillar until everything was ready." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She climbed the steps to begin her speech, but stopped as she noticed Varanis, one of her lieutenants, running toward her. He was one she had chosen for stormform.\n\nSuddenly alert, Eshonai attuned the Rhythm of Destruction.\n\n\"General,\" he said to Anxiety. \"They've escaped!\"\n\n\"Who?\"\n\n\"The ones you had us set apart, the ones who did not want to transform. They've fled.\"\n\n\"Well, chase them down,\" Eshonai said to Spite. \"They can't get far. The workers won't be able to jump chasms; they can only go as far as the bridges allow.\"\n\n\"General! They cut down one of the bridges, then used the ropes to climb down into the chasm itself. They've fled through those.\"\n\n\"Then they're dead anyway,\" Eshonai said. \"There is a storm in two days. They'll be caught in the chasms and killed. Ignore them.\"\n\n\"What of their guards?\" Venli demanded to Spite, shoving her way up beside Eshonai. \"Why weren't they being watched?\"\n\n\"The guards went with them,\" Varanis said. \"Eshonai, Thude was leading those-\"\n\n\"No matter,\" Eshonai said. \"You are dismissed.\"\n\nVaranis retreated.\n\n\"You aren't surprised,\" Venli said to Destruction. \"Who are these guards that are willing to help their prisoners escape? What have you done, Eshonai?\"\n\n\"Do not challenge me.\"\n\n\"I-\"\n\n\"Do not challenge me,\" Eshonai said, grabbing her sister by the neck with a gauntleted hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Kill me, and you'll ruin everything,\" Venli said, not a hint of fear in her voice. \"They'll never follow a woman who murdered her own sister in public, and only I can provide the spren you need for this transformation.\"\n\nEshonai hummed to the Rhythm of Derision, but let go. \"I'm going to make my speech.\" She turned her back on Venli and stepped up to address the people." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'll address this letter to my'old friend,\" as I have no idea what name you're using currently.\n\nKaladin had never been in prison before.\n\nCages, yes. Pits. Pens. Under guard in a room. Never a proper prison.\n\nPerhaps that was because prisons were too nice. He had two blankets, a pillow, and a chamber pot that was changed regularly. They fed him far better than he'd ever been fed as a slave. The stone shelf wasn't the most comfortable bed, but with the blankets, it wasn't too bad. He didn't have any windows, but at least he wasn't out in the storms.\n\nAll in all, the room was very nice. And he hated it.\n\nIn the past, the only times he'd been stuck in a small space had been to weather a highstorm. Now, being enclosed here for hours on end, with nothing to do but lie on his back and think... Now he found himself restless, sweating, missing the open spaces. Missing the wind. The solitude didn't bother him. Those walls, though. They felt like they were crushing him.\n\nOn the third day of his imprisonment, he heard a disturbance from farther inside the prison, beyond his chamber. He stood up, ignoring Syl, who sat on an invisible bench on his wall. What was that shouting? It echoed in from the hallway.\n\nHis little cell was in its own room. The only people he'd seen since being locked up were the guards and the servants. Spheres glowed on the walls, keeping the place well lit. Spheres in a room meant for criminals. Were they thereto taunt the men locked away? Riches just beyond reach.\n\nHe pressed against the cold bars, listening to the indistinct shouts. He imagined Bridge Four having come to break him out. Stormfather send they didn't try something so foolish." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He eyed one of the spheres in its setting on the wall.\n\n\"What?\" Syl asked him.\n\n\"I might be able to get close enough to suck that Light out. It's only a little farther than the Parshendi were when I drew the Light from their gemstones.\"\n\n\"Then what?\" Syl asked, voice small.\n\nGood question. \"Would you help me breakout, if I wanted to?\"\n\n\"Do you want to?\"\n\n\"I'm not sure.\" He turned around, still standing, and rested his back against the bars. \"I might need to. Breaking out would be against the law, though.\"\n\nShe lifted her chin. \"I'm no highspren. Laws don't matter; what's right matters.\"\n\n\"On that point, we agree.\"\n\n\"But you came willingly,\" Syl said. \"Why would you leave now?\"\n\n\"I won't let them execute me.\"\n\n\"They're not going to,\" Syl said. \"You heard Dalinar.\"\n\n\"Dalinar can go rot. He let this happen.\"\n\n\"He tried to-\"\n\n\"He let it happen!\" Kaladin snapped, turning and slamming his hands against the bars. Another storming cage. He was right back where he'd begun! \"He's the same as the others,\" Kaladin growled.\n\nSyl zipped over to him, coming to rest between the bars, hands on hips. \"Say that again.\"\n\n\"He...\" Kaladin turned away. Lying to her was hard. \"All right, fine. He's not. But the king is. Admit it, Syl. Elhokar is a terrible king. At first he lauded me for trying to protect him. Now, at the snap of his fingers, he's willing to execute me. He's a child.\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Extend the plot as the writer's co-author.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, knights radiant\nAuthor: Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Words of Radiance\nChapter: 90" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Less than that,\" Pattern said. \"I was... everything. In everything. I cannot explain it. Language is insufficient. I would need numbers.\"\n\n\"Surely there are others among you, though,\" Shallan said. \"Older Cryptics? Who were alive back then?\"\n\n\"No,\" Pattern said softly. \"None who experienced the bond.\"\n\n\"Not a single one?\"\n\n\"All dead,\" Pattern said. \"To us, this means they are mindless-as a force cannot truly be destroyed. These old ones are patterns in nature now, like Cryptics unborn. We have tried to restore them. It does notwork. Mmmm. Perhaps if their knights still lived, something could be done...\"\n\nStormfather. Shallan pulled the blanket around her closer. \"An entire people, all killed?\"\n\n\"Not just one people,\" Pattern said, solemn. \"Many. Spren with minds were less plentiful then, and the majorities of several spren peoples were all bonded. There were very few survivors. The one you call Stormfather lived. Some others. The rest, thousands of us, were killed when the event happened. You call it the Recreance.\"\n\n\"No wonder you're certain I will kill you.\"\n\n\"It is inevitable,\" Pattern said. \"You will eventually betray your oaths, breaking my mind, leaving me dead-but the opportunity is worth the cost. My kind is too static. We always change, yes, but we change in the same way. Over and over. It is difficult to explain. You, though, you are vibrant. Coming to this place, this world of yours, I had to give up many things. The transition was... traumatic. My memory returns slowly, but I am pleased at the chance. Yes. Mmm.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Only a Radiant can open the pathway,\" Shallan said, then took a sip of her wine." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She liked the warmth it built inside of her. \"But we don't know why, or how. Maybe I'll count as enough of a Radiant to make it work.\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Pattern said. \"Or you could progress. Become more. There is something more you must do.\"\n\n\"Words?\" Shallan said.\n\n\"You have said the Words,\" Pattern said. \"You said them long ago. No... it is not words that you lack. It is truth.\"\n\n\"You prefer lies.\"\n\n\"Mmm. Yes, and you area lie. A powerful one. However, what you do is not just lie. It is truth and lie mixed. You must understand both.\"\n\nShallan satin thought, finishing her wine, until the door to the sitting room burst open, letting in Adolin. He stopped, wild-eyed, regarding her.\n\nShallan stood up, smiling. \"It appears that I have failed at properly-\"\n\nShe cutoff as he grabbed her in an embrace. Drat. She'd had a perfectly clever quip prepared too. She'd worked on it during the entire bath.\n\nStill, it was nice to beheld. This was the most physically forward he'd ever been. Surviving an impossible journey did have its benefits. She let herself wrap her arms around him, feel the muscles on his back through his uniform, breathe in his cologne. He held her for several heartbeats. Not enough. She twisted her head and forced a kiss, her mouth enclosing his, firm in his embrace.\n\nAdolin melted into the kiss, and did not pullback. Eventually, though, the perfect moment ended. Adolin took her head in his hands, looking into her eyes, and smiled. Then he grabbed her in another hug and laughed that barking, exuberant laugh of his. Areal laugh, the one of which she was so fond." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where were you?\" she asked.\n\n\"Visiting the other highprinces,\" Adolin said, \"one at a time and delivering Father's final ultimatum-to join us in this assault, or forever be known as those who refused to seethe Vengeance Pact fulfilled. Father thought giving me something to do would help distract me from... well, you.\"\n\nHe leaned back, holding her by the arms, and gave her a silly grin.\n\n\"I have pictures to draw for you,\" Shallan said, grinning back. \"I saw a chasmfiend.\"\n\n\"A dead one, right?\"\n\n\"Poor thing.\"\n\n\"Poor thing?\" Adolin said, laughing. \"Shallan, if you'd seen alive one, you'd have surely been killed!\"\n\n\"Almost surely.\"\n\n\"I still can't believe... I mean, you fell. I should have saved you. Shallan, I'm sorry. Iran for Father first-\"\n\n\"You did what you should have,\" she said. \"No person on that bridge would have had you rescue one of us instead of your father.\"\n\nHe embraced her once more. \"Well, I won't let it happen again. Nothing like it. I'll protect you, Shallan.\"\n\nShe stiffened.\n\n\"I will make sure you aren't ever hurt,\" Adolin said fiercely. \"I should have realized that you could be caught in an assassination attempt intended for Father. We'll have to make it so that you aren't ever in that kind of position again.\"\n\nShe pulled away from him.\n\n\"Shallan?\" Adolin said. \"Don't worry, they won't get to you. I'll protect you. I-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Don't say things like that,\" she hissed.\n\n\"What?\" He ran his hand through his hair.\n\n\"Just don't,\" Shallan said, shivering.\n\n\"The man who did this, who threw that lever, is dead now,\" Adolin said. \"Is that what you're worried about? He was poisoned before we could get answers-though we're sure he belonged to Sadeas-but you don't need to worry about him.\"\n\n\"I will worry about what I wish to worry about,\" Shallan said. \"I don't need to be protected.\"\n\n\"But-\"\n\n\"I don't!\" Shallan said. She breathed in and out, calming herself. She reached out and took him by the hand. \"I won't be locked away again, Adolin.\"\n\n\"Again?\"\n\n\"It's not important.\" Shallan raised his hand and wove his fingers between her own. \"I appreciate the concern. That's all that matters.\"\n\nBut I won't let you, or anyone else, treat me like a thing to be hidden away. Never, never again.\n\nDalinar opened the door into his study, letting Navani pass through first, then followed her into the room. Navani looked serene, her face a mask.\n\n\"Child,\" Dalinar said to Shallan, \"I have a somewhat difficult request to make of you.\"\n\n\"Anything you wish, Brightlord,\" Shallan said, bowing. \"But I do wish to make a request of you in turn.\"\n\n\"What is it?\"\n\n\"I need to accompany you on your expedition.\"\n\nDalinar smiled, shooting a glance at Navani. The older woman did not react. She can be so good with her emotions, Shallan thought. I can't even read what she's thinking. That would be a useful skill to learn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I believe,\" Shallan said, looking back to Dalinar, \"that the ruins of an ancient city are hidden on the Shattered Plains." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jasnah was searching for them. So, then, must I.\"\n\n\"This expedition will be dangerous,\" Navani said. \"You understand the risks, child?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"One would think,\" Navani continued, \"that considering your recent ordeal, you would wish fora time of shelter.\"\n\n\"Uh, I wouldn't say things like that to her, Aunt,\" Adolin said, scratching at his head. \"She's kind of funny about them.\"\n\n\"It is not a matter of humor,\" Shallan said, lifting her head high. \"I have a duty.\"\n\n\"Then I shall allow it,\" Dalinar said. He liked anything having to do with duty.\n\n\"And your request of me?\" Shallan asked him.\n\n\"This map,\" Dalinar said, crossing the room and holding up the crinkled map detailing her path back through the chasms. \"Navani's scholars say this is as accurate as any map we have. You can truly expand this? Deliver a map of the entire Shattered Plains?\"\n\n\"Yes.\" Particularly if she used what she remembered of Amaram's map to fill in some details. \"But Brightlord, might I make a suggestion?\"\n\n\"Speak.\"\n\n\"Leave your parshmen behind in the warcamp,\" she said.\n\nHe frowned.\n\n\"I cannot accurately explain why,\" Shallan said, \"but Jasnah felt that they were dangerous. Particularly to bring out onto the Plains. If you wish my help, if you trust me to create this map for you, then trust me on this one single point. Leave the parshmen. Conduct this expedition without them.\"\n\nDalinar looked to Navani, who shrugged. \"Once our things are packed, they won't be needed really. The only ones inconvenienced will be the officers, who will have to setup their own tents.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dalinar considered, chewing on her request. \"This comes from Jasnah's notes?\" Dalinar asked.\n\nShallan nodded. To the side, blessedly, Adolin piped in. \"She's told me some of it, Father. You should listen to her.\"\n\nShallan shot him a grateful smile.\n\n\"Then it shall be done,\" Dalinar said. \"Gather your things and send word to your uncle Sebarial, Brightness. We're leaving within the hour. Without parshmen.\"\n\nTHE END OF\n\nPart Four" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Congratulations,\" Brother Lhan said. \"You have found your way to the easiest job in the world.\"\n\nThe young ardent pursed her lips, looking him up and down. She had obviously not expected her new mentor to be rotund, slightly drunk, and yawning.\n\n\"You are the... senior ardent I've been assigned to?\"\n\n\"\"To whom I've been assigned, \"\" Brother Lhan corrected, putting an arm around the young woman's shoulders. \"You're going to have to learn how to speak punctiliously. Queen Aesudan likes to feel that those around her are refined. It makes her feel refined by association. My job is to mentor you on these items.\"\n\n\"I have been an ardent herein Kholinar for over a year,\" the woman said. \"I hardly think that I need mentoring at all-\"\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" Brother Lhan said, guiding her out of the monastery's entryway. \"It's just that, you see, your superiors say you might need a little extra direction. Being assigned to the queen's own retinue is a marvelous privilege! One, I understand, you have requested with some measure of... ah... persistence.\"\n\nShe walked with him, and each step revealed her reluctance. Or perhaps confusion. They passed into the Circle of Memories, around room with ten lamps on the walls, one for each of the ancient Epoch Kingdoms. An eleventh lamp represented the Tranquiline Halls, and a large ceremonial keyhole set into the wall represented the need for ardents to ignore borders, and look only at the hearts of men... or something like that. He wasn't sure, honestly.\n\nOutside the Circle of Memories, they entered one of the covered walkways between monastery buildings, alight rain sprinkling the rooftops. The last leg of the walkways, the sunwalk, gave a wonderful view of Kholinar-at least on a clear day. Even today, Lhan could see much of the city, as both the temple and the high palace occupied a flat-topped hill." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Some said that the Almighty himself had drawn Kholinar in rock, scooping out sections of ground with a fluent finger. Lhan wondered how drunk he'd been at the time. Oh, the city was beautiful, but it was the beauty of an artist who wasn't quite right in the mind. The rock took the shape of rolling hills and steeply sloping valleys, and when the stone was cut into, it exposed thousands of brilliant strata of red, white, yellow, and orange.\n\nThe most majestic formations were the windblades-enormous, curving spines of rock that cut through the city. Beautifully lined with colorful strata on the sides, they curved, curled, rose, and fell unpredictably, like fish leaping from the ocean. Supposedly, this all had to do with how the winds blew through the area. He did mean to get around to studying why that was. One of these days.\n\nSlippered feet fell softly on glossy marble, accompanying the sound of the rains, as Lhan escorted the girl-what washer name again? \"Look at that city,\" he said. \"Everyone out there has to work, even the lighteyes. Bread to bake, lands to oversee, cobblestones to... ah... cobble? No, that's shoes. Damnation. What do you call people who cobble, but don't actually cobble?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" the young woman said softly.\n\n\"Well, it's no matter to us. You see, we have only one job, and it's an easy one. To serve the queen.\"\n\n\"That is not easy work.\"\n\n\"But it is!\" Lhan said. \"So long as we're all serving the same way. Ina very... ah... careful way.\"\n\n\"We are sycophants,\" the young woman said, staring out over the city. \"The queen's ardents tell her only what she wants to hear.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ah, and here we are, at the point of the matter.\" Lhan patted heron the arm. What washer name again? They'd told it to him....\n\nPai. Not a very Alethi name; she'd probably chosen it upon being made an ardent. It happened. Anew life, anew name, often a simple one.\n\n\"You see, Pai,\" he said, watching to notice if she reacted. Yes, it did seem he'd gotten the name right. His memory must be improving. \"This is what your superiors wanted me to talk to you about. They fear that if you're not properly instructed, you might cause a bit of a storm herein Kholinar. Nobody wants that.\"\n\nHe and Pai passed other ardents along the sunwalk, and Lhan nodded to them. The queen had a lot of ardents. A lot of ardents.\n\n\"Here's the thing,\" Lhan said. \"The queen... she sometimes worries that maybe the Almighty isn't pleased with her.\"\n\n\"Rightly so,\" Pai said. \"She-\"\n\n\"Hush, now,\" Lhan said, wincing. \"Just... hush. Listen. The queen figures that if she treats her ardents well, it will buy her favor with the One who makes the storms, so to speak. Nice food. Nice robes. Fantastic quarters. Lots of free time to do whatever we want. We get these things as long as she thinks she's on the right path.\"\n\n\"Our duty is to give her the truth.\"\n\n\"We do!\" Lhan said. \"She's the Almighty's chosen, isn't she? Wife of King Elhokar, ruler while he's off fighting a holy war of retribution against the regicides on the Shattered Plains. Her life is very hard.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"She throws feasts every night,\" Pai whispered." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She engages in debauchery and excess. She wastes money while Alethkar languishes. People in outer towns starve as they send food here, with the understanding that it will be passed onto soldiers who need it. It rots because the queen can't be bothered.\"\n\n\"They have plenty of food on the Shattered Plains,\" Lhan said. \"They've got gemstones coming out of their ears there. And nobody is starving here either. You're exaggerating. Life is good.\"\n\n\"It is if you're the queen or one of her lackeys. She even canceled the Beggars\" Feasts. It is reprehensible.\"\n\nLhan groaned inside. This one... this one was going to be hard. How to persuade her? He wouldn't want the child to do anything that endangered her. Or, well, him. Mostly him.\n\nThey entered the palace's grand eastern hall. The carved pillars here were considered one of the greatest artworks of all time, and one could trace their history back to before the shadowdays. The gilding on the floor was ingenious-a lustrous gold that had been placed beneath Soulcast ribbons of crystal. It ran like rivulets between floor mosaics. The ceiling had been decorated by Oolelen himself, the great ardent painter, and depicted a storm blowing in from the east.\n\nAll of this could have been crem in the gutter for the reverence Pai gave it. She seemed to see only the ardents strolling about, contemplating the beauty. And eating. And composing new poems for Her Majesty-though honestly, Lhan avoided that sort of thing. It seemed like work.\n\nPerhaps Pai's attitude came from a residual jealousy. Some ardents were envious of the queen's personal chosen. He tried to explain some of the luxuries that were now hers: warm baths, horseback riding using the queen's personal stables, music and art..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Pai's expression grew darker with each item." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Bother. This wasn't working. New plan.\n\n\"Here,\" Lhan said, steering her toward the steps. \"There's something I want to show you.\"\n\nThe steps twisted down through the palace complex. He loved this place, every bit of it. White stonewalls, golden sphere lamps, and an age. Kholinar had never been sacked. It was one of the few eastern cities that hadn't suffered that fate in the chaos after the Hierocracy's fall. The palace had burned once, but that fire had died out after consuming the eastern wing. Rener's miracle, it was called. The arrival of a highstorm to putout the fire. Lhan swore the place still smelled of smoke, three hundred years later. And...\n\nOh, right. The girl. They continued down the steps and eventually entered the palace kitchens. Lunch had ended, though that didn't stop Lhan from snatching a plate of fried bread, Herdazian style, from the counter as they passed. Plenty was laid out for the queen's favorites, who might find themselves peckish at anytime. Being a proper sycophant could workup an appetite.\n\n\"Trying to lure me with exotic foods?\" Pai asked. \"For the past five years, I have eaten only a bowl of boiled tallew for each meal, with apiece of fruit on special occasions. This will not tempt me.\"\n\nLhan stopped in place. \"You're not serious, are you?\"\n\nShe nodded.\n\n\"What is wrong with you?\"\n\nShe blushed. \"I am of the Devotary of Denial. I wished to experience separation from the physical needs of my-\"\n\n\"This is worse than I thought,\" Lhan said, taking her by the hand and pulling her through the kitchens. Near the back, they found the door leading out to the service yard, where supplies were delivered and refuse taken away. There, shaded from the rain by an awning, they found piles of uneaten food." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pai gasped. \"Such waste! You bring me hereto convince me not to make a storm? You are doing quite the opposite!\"\n\n\"There used to bean ardent who took all of this and distributed it to the poor,\" Lhan said. \"She died a few years back. Since then, the others have made some effort to take care of it. Not much, but some. The food does get taken away eventually, usually dumped into the square to be picked through by beggars. It's mostly rotten by then.\"\n\nStorms. He could almost feel the heat of her anger.\n\n\"Now,\" Lhan said, \"if there were an ardent among us whose only hunger was to do good, think how much she could accomplish. Why, she could feed hundreds just from what is wasted.\"\n\nPai eyed the piles of rotting fruit, the sacks of open grain, now ruined in the rain.\n\n\"Now,\" Lhan said, \"let us contemplate the opposite. If some ardent tried to takeaway that which we have... well, what might happen to her?\"\n\n\"Is that a threat?\" she asked softly. \"I do not fear physical harm.\"\n\n\"Storms,\" Lhan said. \"You think we'd-Girl, I have someone else put my slippers on for me in the morning. Don't be dense. We're not going to hurt you. Too much work.\" He shivered. \"You'd get sent away, quickly and quietly.\"\n\n\"I do not fear that either.\"\n\n\"I doubt you fear anything,\" Lhan said, \"except maybe having a little fun. But what good would it do anyone if you were sent away? Our lives wouldn't change, the queen would remain the same, and that food out there would still spoil. But if you stay, you can do good. Who knows, maybe your example will help all of us reform, eh?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He patted heron the shoulder." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Think about it fora few minutes. I want to go finish my bread.\" He wandered off, checking over his shoulder a few times. Pai settled down beside the heaps of rotting food and stared at them. She didn't seem bothered by the ripe odor.\n\nLhan watched her from inside until he got bored. When he got back from his afternoon massage, she was still there. He ate dinner in the kitchen, which wasn't terribly luxurious. The girl was entirely too interested in those heaps of garbage.\n\nFinally, as evening fell, he ambled back to her.\n\n\"Don't you even wonder?\" she asked, staring at those piles of refuse, rain pattering just beyond. \"Don't you stop to think about the cost of your gluttony?\"\n\n\"Cost?\" he asked. \"I told you nobody starves because we-\"\n\n\"I don't mean the monetary cost,\" she whispered. \"I mean the spiritual cost. To you, to those around you. Everything's wrong.\"\n\n\"Oh, it's not that bad,\" he said, settling down.\n\n\"It is. Lhan, it's bigger than the queen, and her wasteful feasts. It wasn't much better before that, with King Gavilar's hunts and the wars, princedom against princedom. The people hear of the glory of the battle on the Shattered Plains, of the riches there, but none of it ever materializes here.\n\n\"Does anyone among the Alethi elite care about the Almighty anymore? Sure, they curse by his name. Sure, they talk about the Heralds, burn glyphwards. But what do they do? Do they change their lives? Do they listen to the Arguments? Do they transform, recasting their souls into something greater, something better?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They have Callings,\" Lhan said, fidgeting with his fingers. Digiting, then? \"The devotaries help.\"\n\nShe shook her head. \"Why don't we hear from Him, Lhan? The Heralds said we defeated the Voidbringers, that Aharietiam was the great victory for mankind. But shouldn't He have sent them to speak with us, to counsel us? Why didn't they come during the Hierocracy and denounce us? If what the Church had been doing was so evil, where was the word of the Almighty against it?\"\n\n\"I... Surely you're not suggesting we return to that?\" He pulled out his handkerchief and dabbed at his neck and head. This conversation was getting worse and worse.\n\n\"I don't know what I'm suggesting,\" she whispered. \"Only that something is wrong. All of this is just so very wrong.\" She looked to him, then climbed to her feet. \"I have accepted your proposal.\"\n\n\"You have?\"\n\n\"I will not leave Kholinar,\" she said. \"I will stay here and do what good I can.\"\n\n\"You won't get the other ardents into trouble?\"\n\n\"My problem is not with the ardents,\" she said, offering a hand to help him to his feet. \"I will simply try to be a good example for all to follow.\"\n\n\"Well, then. That seems like a fine choice.\"\n\nShe walked off, and he dabbed his head. She hadn't promised, not exactly. He wasn't certain how worried he should be about that.\n\nTurned out, he should have been very worried.\n\nThe next morning, he stumbled into the People's Hall-a large, open building in the shadow of the palace where the king or queen addressed the concerns of the masses. A murmuring crowd of horrified ardents stood just inside the perimeter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lhan had already heard, but he had to see for himself. He forced his way to the front. Pai knelt on the floor here, head bowed. She'd painted all night, apparently, writing glyphs on the floor by spherelight. Nobody had noticed. The place was usually locked uptight when not in use, and she'd started working well after everyone was either asleep or drunk.\n\nTen large glyphs, written directly on the stone of the floor running up to the dais with the king's Common Throne. The glyphs listed the ten foolish attributes, as represented by the ten fools. Beside each glyph was a written paragraph in women's script explaining how the queen exemplified each of the fools.\n\nLhan read with horror. This... this didn't just chastise. It was a condemnation of the entire government, of the lighteyes, and of the Throne itself!\n\nPai was executed the very next morning.\n\nThe riots started that evening." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That voice deep within Eshonai still screamed. Even when she didn't attune the old Rhythm of Peace. She kept herself busy to quiet it, walking the perfectly circular plateau just outside of Narak, the one where her soldiers often practiced.\n\nHer people had become something old, yet something new. Something powerful. They stood in lines on this plateau, humming to Fury. She divided them by combat experience. Anew form would not a soldier make; many of these had been workers all their lives.\n\nThey would have apart to play. They would bring about something grand.\n\n\"The Alethi will come,\" Venli said, strolling at Eshonai's side and absently bringing energy to her fingers and letting it play between two of them. Venli smiled often while wearing this new form. Otherwise, it didn't seem to have changed her at all.\n\nEshonai knew that she herself had changed. But Venli... Venli acted the same.\n\nSomething felt wrong about that.\n\n\"The agent who sent this report is certain of it,\" Venli continued. \"Your visit to the Blackthorn seems to have encouraged them to action, and the humans intend to strike toward Narak in force. Of course, this could still turn into a disaster.\"\n\n\"No,\" Eshonai said. \"No. It is perfect.\"\n\nVenli looked to her, stopping on the rock field. \"We need no more training. We should act, right now, to bring a highstorm.\"\n\n\"We will do it when the humans near,\" Eshonai said.\n\n\"Why? Let us do it tonight.\"\n\n\"Foolishness,\" Eshonai said. \"This is a tool to use in battle. If we produce an unexpected storm now, the Alethi won't come, and we won't win this war. We must wait.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Venli seemed thoughtful. Finally, she smiled, then nodded.\n\n\"What do you know that you aren't telling me?\" Eshonai demanded, taking her sister by the shoulder.\n\nVenli smiled more broadly. \"I'm simply persuaded. We must wait. The storm will blow the wrong way, after all. Or is it all other storms that have blown the wrong way, and this one will be the first to blow the right way?\"\n\nThe wrong way? \"How do you know? About the direction?\"\n\n\"The songs.\"\n\nThe songs. But... they said nothing about...\n\nSomething deep within Eshonai nudged her to move on. \"If that is true,\" she said, \"we'll have to wait until the humans are practically on top of us to catch them in it.\"\n\n\"Then that is what we do,\" Venli said. \"I will set to the teaching. Our weapon will be ready.\"\n\nShe spoke to the Rhythm of Craving, a rhythm like the old Rhythm of Anticipation, but more violent.\n\nVenli walked away, joined by her once-mate and many of her scholars. They seemed comfortable in these forms. Too comfortable. They couldn't have held these forms before... could they?\n\nEshonai shoved down the screams and went to prepare another battalion of new soldiers. She had always hated being a general. How ironic, then, that she would be recorded in their songs as the warleader who had finally crushed the Alethi." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taravangian, king of Kharbranth, awoke to stiff muscles and an ache in his back. He didn't feel stupid. That was a good sign.\n\nHe sat up with a groan. Those aches were perpetual now, and his best healers could only shake their heads and promise him that he was fit for his age. Fit. His joints cracked like logs on the fire and he couldn't stand quickly, lest he lose his balance and topple to the floor. To age truly was to suffer the ultimate treason, that of one's body against oneself.\n\nHe sat up in his cot. Water lapped quietly against the hull of his cabin, and the air smelled of salt. He heard shouts in the near distance, however. The ship had arrived on schedule. Excellent.\n\nAshe settled himself, one servant approached with a table and another with a warm, wet cloth for wiping his eyes and hands. Behind them waited the King's Testers. How long had it been since Taravangian had been alone, truly alone? Not since before the aches had come upon him.\n\nMaben knocked on the open door, bearing his morning meal on a tray, stewed and spiced grain mush. It was supposed to be good for his constitution. Tasted like dishwater. Bland dishwater. Maben stepped forward to set out the meal, but Mrall-a Thaylen man in a black leather cuirass who wore both his head and eyebrows shaved-stopped her with a hand to the arm.\n\n\"Tests first,\" Mrall said.\n\nTaravangian looked up, meeting the large man's gaze. Mrall could loom over a mountain and intimidate the wind itself. Everyone assumed he was Taravangian's head bodyguard. The truth was more disturbing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mrall was the one who got to decide whether Taravangian would spend the day asking or as a prisoner.\n\n\"Surely you can let him eat first!\" Maben said.\n\n\"This is an important day,\" Mrall said, voice low. \"I would know the result of the testing.\"\n\n\"But-\"\n\n\"It is his right to demand this, Maben,\" Taravangian said. \"Let us be on with it.\"\n\nMrall stepped back, and the testers approached, a group of three stormwardens in deliberately esoteric robes and caps. They presented a series of pages covered in figures and glyphs. They were today's variation on a sequence of increasingly challenging mathematical problems devised by Taravangian himself on one of his better days.\n\nHe picked up his pen with hesitant fingers. He did not feel stupid, but he rarely did. Only on the worst of days did he immediately recognize the difference. On those days, his mind was thick as tar, and he felt like a prisoner in his own mind, aware that something was profoundly wrong.\n\nToday wasn't one of those, fortunately. He wasn't a complete idiot. At worst, he'd just be very stupid.\n\nHe set to his task, solving what mathematical problems he could. It took the better part of an hour, but during the process, he was able to gauge his capacity. Ashe had suspected, he was not terribly smart-but he was not stupid, either. Today... he was average.\n\nThat would do.\n\nHe turned over the problems to the stormwardens, who consulted in low voices. They turned to Mrall. \"He is fit to serve,\" one proclaimed. \"He may not offer binding commentary on the Diagram, but he may interact outside of supervision. He may change government policy so long as there is a three-day delay before the changes take effect, and he may also freely pass judgment in trials.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mrall nodded, looking to Taravangian. \"Do you accept this assessment and these restrictions, Your Majesty?\"\n\n\"I do.\"\n\nMrall nodded, then stepped back, allowing Maben to set out Taravangian's morning meal.\n\nThe trio of stormwardens tucked away the papers he'd filled out, then they retreated to their own cabins. The testing was an extravagant procedure, and consumed valuable time each morning. Still, it was the best way he had found to deal with his condition.\n\nLife could be tricky fora man who awoke each morning with a different level of intelligence. Particularly when the entire world might depend upon his genius, or might come crashing down upon his idiocy.\n\n\"How is it out there?\" Taravangian asked softly, picking at his meal, which had gone cold during the testing.\n\n\"Horrible,\" Mrall said with a grin. \"Just as we wanted it.\"\n\n\"Do not take pleasure in suffering,\" Taravangian replied. \"Even when it is a work of our hands.\" He took a bite of the mush. \"Particularly when it is a work of our hands.\"\n\n\"As you wish. I will do so no more.\"\n\n\"Can you really change that easily?\" Taravangian asked. \"Turnoff your emotions on a whim?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" Mrall said.\n\nSomething about that tickled at Taravangian, some thread of interest. If he had been in one of his more brilliant states, he might have seized upon it-but today, he sensed thought seeping away like water between fingers. Once, he had fretted about these missed opportunities, but he had eventually made his peace. Days of brilliance-he had come to learn-brought their own problems." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let me seethe Diagram,\" he said. Anything to distract from this slop they insisted on feeding him.\n\nMrall stepped aside, allowing Adrotagia-head of Taravangian's scholars-to approach, bearing a thick, leatherbound volume. She set it onto the table before Taravangian, then bowed.\n\nTaravangian rested his fingers upon the leatherbound cover, feeling a moment of... reverence? Was that right? Did he revere anything anymore? God was dead, after all, and Vorinism therefore a sham.\n\nThis book, though, was holy. He opened it to one of the pages marked with a reed. Inside were scribbles.\n\nFrenetic, bombastic, majestic scribbles that had been painstakingly copied from the walls of his former bedroom. Sketches laid atop one another, lists of numbers that seemed to make no sense, lines upon lines upon lines of script written in a cramped hand.\n\nMadness. And genius.\n\nHere and there, Taravangian could find hints that this writing was his own. The way he wiggled a line, the way he wrote along the edge of a wall, much like how he would write along the side of a page when he was running out of room. He didn't remember any of this. It was the product of twenty hours of lucid insanity, the most brilliant he had ever been.\n\n\"Does it strike you as odd, Adro,\" Taravangian asked the scholar, \"that genius and idiocy are so similar?\"\n\n\"Similar?\" Adrotagia asked. \"Vargo, I do not see them as similar at all.\" He and Adrotagia had grownup together, and she still used Taravangian's boyhood nickname. He liked that. It reminded him of days before all of this." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"On both my most stupid days and my most incredible,\" Taravangian said, \"I am unable to interact with those around me in a meaningful way. It is like... like I become a gear that cannot fit those turning beside it. Too small or too large, it does not matter. The clock will notwork.\"\n\n\"I had not considered that,\" Adrotagia said.\n\nWhen Taravangian was at his stupidest, he was not allowed from his room. Those were the days he spent drooling in a corner. When he was merely dull-minded, he was allowed out under supervision. He spent those nights crying for what he had done, knowing that the atrocities he committed were important, but not understanding why.\n\nWhen he was dull, he could not change policy. Interestingly, he had decided that when he was too brilliant, he was also not allowed to change policy. He'd made this decision after a day of genius where he'd thought to fix all of Kharbranth's problems with a series of very rational edicts-such as requiring people to take an intelligence test of his own devising before being allowed to breed.\n\nSo brilliant on one hand. So stupid on another. Is that your joke here, Nightwatcher? he wondered. Is that the lesson I'm to learn? Do you even care about lessons, or is what you do to us merely for your own amusement?\n\nHe turned his attention back to the book, the Diagram. That grand plan he had devised on his singular day of unparalleled brilliance. Then, too, he'd spent the day staring at a wall. He'd written on it. Babbling the whole time, making connections no man had ever before made, he had scribbled allover his walls, floor, even parts of the ceiling he could reach. Most of it had been written in an alien script-a language he himself had devised, for the scripts he had known had been unable to convey ideas precisely enough. Fortunately, he'd thought to carve a key on the top of his bedside table, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to make sense of his masterpiece." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They could barely make sense of it anyway. He flipped through several pages, copied exactly from his room. Adrotagia and her scholars had made notations here and there, offering theories on what various drawings and lists might mean. They wrote those in the women's script, which Taravangian had learned years ago.\n\nAdrotagia's notes on one page indicated that a picture there appeared to be a sketch of the mosaic on the floor of the Veden palace. He paused on that page. It might have relevance to this day's activities. Unfortunately, he wasn't smart enough today to make much sense of the book or its secrets. He had to trust that his smarter self was correct in his interpretations of his even smarter self's genius.\n\nHe shut the book and put down his spoon. \"Let us be on with it.\" He stood up and left the cabin, Mrall on one side of him and Adrotagia on the other. He emerged into sunlight and to the sight of a smoldering coastal city, complete with enormous terraced formations-like plates, or sections of shalebark, the remnants of city covering them and practically spilling over the sides. Once, this sight had been wondrous. Now, it was black, the buildings-even the palace-destroyed.\n\nVedenar, one of the great cities of the world, was now little more than a heap of rubble and ash.\n\nTaravangian idled by the rail. When his ship had sailed into the harbor the night before, the city had been dotted with the red glow of burning buildings. Those had seemed alive. More alive than this. The wind was blowing in off the ocean, pushing at him from behind. It swept the smoke inland, away from the ship, so that Taravangian could barely smell it. An entire city burned just beyond his fingertips, and yet the stench vanished into the wind." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The Weeping would come soon." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perhaps it would wash away some of this destruction.\n\n\"Come, Vargo,\" Adrotagia said. \"They are waiting.\"\n\nHe nodded, joining her in climbing into the rowboat for tendering to shore. There had once been grand docks for this city. No more. One faction had destroyed them in an attempt to keep out the others.\n\n\"It's amazing,\" Mrall said, settling down into the tender beside him.\n\n\"I thought you said you weren't going to be pleased any longer,\" Taravangian said, stomach turning as he saw one of the heaps at the edge of the city. Bodies.\n\n\"I am not pleased,\" Mrall said, \"but in awe. Do you realize that the Eighty's War between Emul and Tukar has lasted six years, and hasn't produced nearly this level of desolation? Jah Keved ate itself in a matter of months!\"\n\n\"Soulcasters,\" Adrotagia whispered.\n\nIt was more than that. Even in his painfully normal state, Taravangian could see it was so. Yes, with Soulcasters to provide food and water, armies could march at speed-no carts or supply lines to slow them-and commence a slaughter in almost no time at all. But Emul and Tukar had their share of Soulcasters as well.\n\nSailors started rowing them toward shore.\n\n\"There was more,\" Mrall said. \"Each highprince sought to seize the capital. That made them converge. It was almost like the wars of some Northern savages, with a time and place appointed for the shaking of spears and chanting of threats. Only here, it depopulated a kingdom.\"\n\n\"Let us hope, Mrall, that you make an overstatement,\" Taravangian said. \"We will need this kingdom's people.\" He turned away, stifling a moment of emotion as he saw bodies upon the rocks of the shore, men who had died by being shoved over the side of a nearby cliff into the ocean. That ridge normally sheltered the dock from highstorms. In war, it had been used to kill, one army pressing the other back off the drop." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Adrotagia saw his tears, and though she said nothing, she pursed her lips in disapproval." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She did not like how emotional he became when he was low of intellect. And yet, he knew fora fact that the old woman still burned a glyphward each morning as a prayer for her deceased husband. A strangely devout action for blasphemers such as they.\n\n\"What is the day's news from home?\" Taravangian asked to draw attention from the tears he wiped away.\n\n\"Dova reports that the number of Death Rattles we're finding has dropped even further. She didn't find a single one yesterday, and only two the day before.\"\n\n\"Moelach moves, then,\" Taravangian said. \"It is certain now. The creature must have been drawn by something westward.\" What now? Did Taravangian suspend the murders? His heart yearned to-but if they could discover even one more glimmer about the future, one fact that could save hundreds of thousands, would it not be worth the lives of the few now?\n\n\"Tell Dova to continue the work,\" he said. He had not anticipated that their covenant would attract the loyalty of an ardent, of all things. The Diagram, and its members, knew no boundaries. Dova had discovered their work on her own, and they'd needed to either induct her or assassinate her.\n\n\"It will be done,\" Adrotagia said.\n\nThe boatmen moved them up alongside some smoother rocks at the harbor's edge, then hopped out into the water. The men were servants of his, and were part of the Diagram. He trusted them, for he needed to trust some people.\n\n\"Have you researched that other matter I requested?\" Taravangian asked.\n\n\"It is a difficult matter to answer,\" Adrotagia said. \"The exact intelligence of a man is impossible to measure; even your tests only give us an approximation. The speed at which you answer questions and the way you answer them... well, it lets us make a judgment, but it is a crude one.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The boatmen hauled them up onto the stony beach with ropes. Wood scraped stone with an awful sound. At least it covered up the moans in the near distance.\n\nAdrotagia took a sheet from her pocket and unfolded it. Upon it was a graph, with dots plotted in a kind of hump shape, a small trail to the left rising to a mountain in the center, then falling off in a similar curve to the right.\n\n\"I took your last five hundred days' test results and assigned each one a number between zero and ten,\" Adrotagia said. \"A representation of how intelligent you were that day, though as I said, it is not exact.\"\n\n\"The hump near the middle?\" Taravangian asked, pointing.\n\n\"When you were average intelligence,\" Adrotagia said. \"You spend most of your time near there, as you can see. Days of pure intelligence and days of ultimate stupidity are both rare. I had to extrapolate from what we had, but I think this graph is somewhat accurate.\"\n\nTaravangian nodded, then allowed one of the boatmen to help him debark. He had known that he spent more days average than he did otherwise. What he had asked her to figure out, however, was when he could expect another day like the one during which he'd created the Diagram. It had been years now since that day of transcendent mastery.\n\nShe climbed out of the boat and Mrall followed. She stepped up to him with her sheet.\n\n\"So this is where I was most intelligent,\" Taravangian said, pointing at the last point on the chart. It was far to the right, and very close to the bottom. A representation of high intelligence and a low frequency of occurrence. \"This was that day, that day of perfection.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No,\" Adrotagia said.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"That was the time you were the most intelligent during the last five hundred days,\" Adrotagia explained. \"This point represents the day you finished the most complex problems you'd left for yourself, and the day you devised new ones for use in future tests.\"\n\n\"I remember that day,\" he said. \"It was when I solved Fabrisan's Conundrum.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she said. \"The world may thank you for that, someday, if it survives.\"\n\n\"I was smart on that day,\" he said. Smart enough that Mrall had declared he needed to be locked in the palace, lest he reveal his nature. He'd been convinced that if he could just explain his condition to the city, they would all listen to reason and let him control their lives perfectly. He'd drafted a law requiring that all people of less than average intellect be required to commit suicide for the good of the city. It had seemed reasonable. He had considered they might resist, but thought that the brilliance of the argument would sway them.\n\nYes, he had been smart on that day. But not nearly as smart as the day of the Diagram. He frowned, inspecting the paper.\n\n\"This is why I can't answer your question, Vargo,\" Adrotagia said. \"That graph, it's what we calla logarithmic scale. Each step from that center point is not equal-they compound on one another the farther out you get. How smart were you on the day of the Diagram? Ten times smarter than your smartest otherwise?\"\n\n\"A hundred,\" Taravangian said, looking at the graph. \"Maybe more. Let me do the calculations....\"\n\n\"Aren't you stupid today?\"\n\n\"Not stupid. Average. I can figure this much. Each step to the side is...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A measureable change in intelligence,\" she said. \"You might say that each step sideways is a doubling of your intelligence, though that is hard to quantify. The steps upward are easier; they measure how frequently you have days of the given intelligence. So if you start at the center of the peak, you can see that for every five days you spend being average, you spend one day being mildly stupid and one day mildly smart. For every five of those, you spend one day moderately stupid and one day moderately genius. For every five days like that...\"\n\nTaravangian stood on the rocks, his soldiers waiting above, as he counted on the graph. He moved sideways off the graph until he reached the point where he guessed the day of the Diagram might have been. Even that seemed conservative to him.\n\n\"Almighty above...\" he whispered. Thousands of days. Thousands upon thousands. \"It should never have happened.\"\n\n\"Of course it should have,\" she said.\n\n\"But it's so unlikely as to be impossible!\"\n\n\"It's perfectly possible,\" she said. \"The likelihood of it having happened is one, as it already occurred. That is the oddity of outliers and probability, Taravangian. A day like that could happen again tomorrow. Nothing forbids it. It's all pure chance, so far as I can determine. But if you want to know the likelihood of it happening again...\"\n\nHe nodded.\n\n\"If you were to live another two thousand years, Vargo,\" she said, \"you'd maybe have one single day like this among them. Maybe. Even odds, I'd say.\"\n\nMrall snorted. \"So it was luck.\"\n\n\"No, it was simple probability.\"\n\n\"Either way,\" Taravangian said, folding the paper. \"This was not the answer I wanted.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Since when has it mattered what we want?\"\n\n\"Never,\" he said. \"And it never will.\" He tucked the sheet into his pocket.\n\nThey picked their way up the rocks, passing corpses bloated from too long in the sun, and joined a small group of soldiers at the top of the beach. They wore the burnt-orange crest of Kharbranth. He had few soldiers to his name. The Diagram called for his nation to be unthreatening.\n\nThe Diagram was not perfect, however. They caught errors in it now and then. Or... not truly errors, just missed guesses. Taravangian had been supremely brilliant that day, but he had not been able to seethe future. He had made educated guesses-very educated-and had been right an eerie amount of the time. But the farther they went from that day and the knowledge he'd had then, the more the Diagram needed tending and cultivation to stay on course.\n\nThat was why he'd hoped for another such day soon, a day to revamp the Diagram. That would not come, most likely. They would have to continue, trusting in that man that he had once been, trusting his vision and understanding.\n\nBetter that than anything else in this world. Gods and religion had failed them. Kings and highlords were selfish, petty things. If he was going to trust one thing to believe in, it would be himself and the raw genius of a human mind unfettered.\n\nIt was difficult at times, though, to stay the course. Particularly when he faced the consequences of his actions.\n\nThey entered the battlefield.\n\nMost of the fighting had apparently moved outside of the city, once the fire began. The men had continued warring even as their capital burned. Seven factions. The Diagram had guessed six. Would that matter?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A soldier handed him a scented handkerchief to holdover his face as they passed the dead and dying. Blood and smoke. Scents he would come to know all too well before this was through.\n\nMen and women in the burnt-orange livery of Kharbranth picked through the dead and wounded. Throughout the East, the color had become synonymous with healing. Indeed, tents flying his banner-the banner of the surgeon-dotted the battlefield. Taravangian's healers had arrived just before the battle, and had started ministering to the wounded immediately.\n\nAshe left the fields of the dead, Veden soldiers began to stand up from where they satin a dull-eyed stupor at the edges of the battlefield. Then they started to cheer him.\n\n\"Pali's mind,\" Adrotagia said, watching them rise. \"I don't believe it.\"\n\nThe soldiers sat separated in groups by banner, being tended to by Taravangian's surgeons, water-bearers, and comforters. Wounded and unwounded alike, any who could stand rose for the king of Kharbranth and cheered him.\n\n\"The Diagram said it would happen,\" Taravangian said.\n\n\"I thought for certain that was an error,\" she replied, shaking her head.\n\n\"They know,\" Mrall said. \"We are the only victors this day. Our healers, who earned the respect of all sides. Our comforters who helped the dying pass. Their highlords brought them only misery. You brought them life and hope.\"\n\n\"I brought them death,\" Taravangian whispered.\n\nHe had ordered the execution of their king, along with specific highprinces the Diagram indicated. In doing so, he had pushed the various factions into war with one another. He had brought this kingdom to its knees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Now they cheered him for it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He forced himself to stop with one of the groups, asking after their health, seeing if there was anything he could do for them. It was important to be seen by the people as a compassionate man. The Diagram explained this in casual sterility, as if compassion were something one could measure in a cup next to a pint of blood.\n\nHe visited another group of soldiers, then a third. Many stepped up to him, touching his arms or his robe, weeping tears of thanks and joy. Many more of the Veden soldiers remained sitting in the tents, however, staring out over the fields of dead. Numb of mind.\n\n\"The Thrill?\" he whispered to Adrotagia as they left the latest group of men. \"They fought through the night as their capital burned. It must have been in force.\"\n\n\"I agree,\" she said. \"It gives us a further reference point. The Thrill is at least as strong here as it is in Alethkar. Maybe stronger. I will speak to our scholars. Perhaps this will help pinpoint Nergaoul.\"\n\n\"Do not spend too much effort on that,\" Taravangian said, approaching another group of Veden soldiers. \"I'm not sure what we would even do if we found the thing.\" An ancient, evil spren was not something he had the resources to tackle. Not yet at least. \"I would rather know where Moelach is moving.\"\n\nHopefully, Moelach hadn't decided to slumber again. The Death Rattles had, so far, offered them the best way that they'd found to augment the Diagram.\n\nThere was one answer, however, he'd never been able to determine. One he'd give almost anything to know.\n\nWould all of this be enough?\n\nHe met with the soldiers, and adopted the air of a kindly-if not bright-old man. Caring and helpful. He was almost that man in truth, today. He tried to do an imitation of himself when he was a little dumber. People accepted that man, and when he was of that intellect, he did not need to feign compassion nearly as much as he did when smarter." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Blessed with intelligence, cursed with compassion to feel pain for what he had done. They came inversely. Why couldn't he have both at once? He did not think that in other people, intelligence and compassion were tied in such away. The Nightwatcher's motives behind her boons and curses were unfathomable.\n\nTaravangian moved through the crowd of men, listening to them beg for more relief and for drugs to ease their pain. Listening to their thanks. These soldiers had suffered a fight that-even yet-seemed to have no victor. They wanted something to hold to, and Taravangian was neutral, supposedly. It was shocking how easily they bared their souls to him.\n\nHe came to the next soldier inline, a cloaked man clutching an apparently broken arm. Taravangian looked into the man's hooded eyes.\n\nIt was Szeth-son-son-Vallano.\n\nTaravangian felt a moment of sheer panic.\n\n\"We need to speak,\" the Shin man said.\n\nTaravangian grabbed the assassin by the arm, hauling him away from the crowd of Veden soldiers. With his other hand, Taravangian felt in his pocket for the Oathstone he carried on his person at all times. He pulled it out just to see. Yes, it was no fake. Damnation, seeing Szeth there had made him think that he'd been bested somehow, the stone stolen and Szeth sent to kill him.\n\nSzeth let himself be pulled away. What had he said? That he needed to talk, you fool, Taravangian thought to himself. If he'd come to kill you, you would be dead.\n\nHad Szeth been seen here? What would people say if they saw Taravangian interacting with a bald Shin man? Rumors had started from less. If anyone got even a hint that Taravangian had been involved with the infamous Assassin in White..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Mrall noticed immediately that something was wrong." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He barked orders to the guards, separating Taravangian from the Veden soldiers. Adrotagia-who had been sitting with crossed arms nearby, watching and tapping her foot-leaped to stride over. She peeked at the person under the hood, then gasped, the color draining from her face.\n\n\"How dare you come here?\" Taravangian said to Szeth, speaking under his breath while maintaining a cheerful pose and expression. He was of only average intelligence today, but he was still a king, raised and trained to the court. He could maintain his composure.\n\n\"A problem has arisen,\" Szeth said, face hooded, voice emotionless. Speaking to this creature was like speaking to one of the dead themselves.\n\n\"Why have you failed to kill Dalinar Kholin?\" Adrotagia demanded with quiet urgency. \"We know you fled. Return and do the job!\"\n\nSzeth glanced at her, but did not reply. She did not hold his Oathstone. He did seem to note her, however, with those too-blank eyes of his.\n\nDamnation. Their plan had been to keep Szeth from meeting or knowing of Adrotagia, just in case he decided to turn against Taravangian and kill him. The Diagram hypothesized this possibility.\n\n\"Kholin has a Surgebinder,\" Szeth said.\n\nSo, Szeth knew about Jasnah. Had she faked her death, then, as he'd suspected? Damnation.\n\nThe battlefield seemed to grow still. To Taravangian, the moans of the wounded faded away. Everything narrowed to just him and Szeth. Those eyes. The tone of the man's voice. A dangerous tone. What-\n\nHe spoke with emotion, Taravangian realized. That last sentence was said with passion. It had sounded like a plea. As if Szeth's voice were being squeezed on the sides." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "This man was not sane. Szeth-son-son-Vallano was the most dangerous weapon on all of Roshar, and he was broken.\n\nStorms, why couldn't this have happened on a day when Taravangian had more than half a wit?\n\n\"What makes you say this?\" Taravangian said, trying to buy time for his mind to lumber through the implications. He held Szeth's Oathstone before him, almost as if it could chase away problems like a superstitious woman's glyphward.\n\n\"I fought him,\" Szeth said. \"He protected Kholin.\"\n\n\"Ah, yes,\" Taravangian said, thinking furiously. Szeth had been banished from Shinovar, made Truthless for something relating to a claim that the Voidbringers had returned. If he discovered that he wasn't wrong about that claim, then what-\n\nHim?\n\n\"You fought a Surgebinder?\" Adrotagia said, glancing at Taravangian.\n\n\"Yes,\" Szeth said. \"An Alethi man who fed upon Stormlight. He healed a Blade-severed arm. He is... Radiant...\" That strain in his voice did not sound safe. Taravangian glanced at Szeth's hands. They were clenching into fists time and time again, like hearts beating.\n\n\"No, no,\" Taravangian said. \"I have learned this only recently. Yes, it makes sense now. One of the Honorblades has vanished.\"\n\nSzeth blinked, and he focused on Taravangian, as if returning from a distant place. \"One of the other seven?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Taravangian said. \"I have heard only hints. Your people are secretive. But yes... I see, it is one of the two that allow Regrowth. Kholin must have it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Szeth swayed back and forth, though he did not seem conscious of the motion." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even now, he moved with a fighter's grace. Storms.\n\n\"This man I fought,\" Szeth said, \"he summoned no Blade.\"\n\n\"But he used Stormlight,\" Taravangian said.\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"So he must have an Honorblade.\"\n\n\"I...\"\n\n\"It is the only explanation.\"\n\n\"It...\" Szeth's voice grew colder. \"Yes, the only explanation. I will kill him and retrieve it.\"\n\n\"No,\" Taravangian said firmly. \"You are to return to Dalinar Kholin and do the task assigned you. Do not fight this other man. Attack when he is not present.\"\n\n\"But-\"\n\n\"Have I your Oathstone?\" Taravangian demanded. \"Is my word to be questioned?\"\n\nSzeth stopped swaying. His gaze locked with Taravangian's. \"I am Truthless. I do as my master requires, and I do not ask for an explanation.\"\n\n\"Stay away from the man with the Honorblade,\" Taravangian repeated. \"Kill Dalinar.\"\n\n\"It will be done.\" Szeth turned and strode away. Taravangian wanted to yell further instructions. Don't be seen! Don't ever come tome in public again!\n\nInstead, he sat right thereon the path, composure crumbling. He gasped, trembling, sweat streaming down his brow.\n\n\"Stormfather,\" Adrotagia said, settling on the ground beside him. \"I thought we were dead.\"\n\nServants brought Taravangian a chair while Mrall made excuses for him. The king is overcome with grief at the deaths of so many. He is old, you know. And so caring..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Taravangian breathed in and out, struggling to regain control. He looked to Adrotagia, who satin the middle of a circle of servants and soldiers, all sworn to the Diagram. \"Who is it?\" he asked softly. \"Who is this Surgebinder?\"\n\n\"Jasnah's ward?\" Adrotagia said.\n\nThey had been startled when that one arrived on the Shattered Plains. Already they hypothesized that the girl had been trained. If not by Jasnah, then by the girl's brother, before his death.\n\n\"No,\" Taravangian said. \"A male. One of Dalinar's family members?\" He thought fora time. \"We need the Diagram itself.\"\n\nShe went to fetch it from the ship. Nothing else-his visits to the soldiers, more important meetings with Veden leaders-mattered right now. The Diagram was off. They strayed into dangerous territory.\n\nShe returned with it, and with the stormwardens, who setup a tent around Taravangian right thereon the path. Excuses continued. The king is weak from the sun. He must rest and burn glyphwards to the Almighty for the preservation of your nation. Taravangian cares while your own lighteyes sent you to the slaughter...\n\nBy the light of spheres, Taravangian picked through the tome, poring over translations of his own words written in a language he had invented and then forgotten. Answers. He needed answers.\n\n\"Did ever I tell you, Adro, what I asked for?\" he whispered as he read.\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\nHe was barely listening. \"Capacity,\" he whispered, turning a page. \"Capacity to stop what was coming. The capacity to save humankind.\"\n\nHe searched. He was not brilliant today, but he had spent many days reading these pages, going over, and over, and over passages. He knew them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The answers would be here." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They would. Taravangian worshipped only one god now. It was the man he had been on that day.\n\nThere.\n\nHe found it on a reproduction of one corner of his room, where he'd written in tiny script sentences over the top of one another because he'd run out of space. In his clarity of genius, the sentences had looked easy to separate, but it had taken his scholars years to piece together what this said.\n\nThey will come. You cannot stop their oaths. Look for those who survive when they should not. That pattern will be your clue.\n\n\"The bridgemen,\" Taravangian whispered.\n\n\"What?\" Adrotagia asked.\n\nTaravangian looked up, blinking bleary eyes. \"Dalinar's bridgemen, the ones he took from Sadeas. Did you read the account of their survival?\"\n\n\"I didn't think it important. Just another game of power between Sadeas and Dalinar.\"\n\n\"No. It's more.\" They had survived. Taravangian stood up. \"Wake every Alethi sleeper we have; send every agent in the area. There will be stories told of one of these bridgemen. Miraculous survival. Favored of the winds. One is among them. He might not know yet exactly what he's doing, but he has bonded a spren and sworn at least the First Ideal.\"\n\n\"If we find him?\" Adrotagia asked.\n\n\"We keep him away from Szeth at all costs.\" Taravangian handed her the Diagram. \"Our lives depend upon it. Szeth is a beast who gnaws at his leg to escape his bonds. If he gets free...\"\n\nShe nodded, moving off to do as he commanded. She hesitated at the flaps to their temporary tent. \"We might have to reassess our methods of determining your intelligence. What I have seen in the last hour makes me question whether \"average\" can be applied to you today.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The assessments are not inaccurate,\" he said. \"You simply underestimate the average man.\"\n\nBesides, in dealing with the Diagram, he might not remember what he had written or why-but there were echoes sometimes.\n\nShe left, making way as Mrall stepped in. \"Your Majesty,\" he said. \"Time runs short. The highprince is dying.\"\n\n\"He's been dying for years.\" Still, Taravangian did hasten his step-as much as he was capable of doing these days-as he resumed his hike. He didn't stop with anymore of the soldiers, and gave only brief waves toward the cheers he received.\n\nEventually, Mrall led him over a hillside away from the immediate stench of the battle and the smoldering city. A series of stormwagons here flew an optimistic flag, that of the king of Jah Keved. The guards there let Taravangian enter their ring of wagons, and he approached the largest one, an enormous vehicle almost like a mobile building on wheels.\n\nThey found Highprince Valam... King Valam... in bed coughing. His hair had fallen out since Taravangian had last seen him, and his cheeks were so sunken that rainwater would have pooled in them. Redin, the king's bastard son, stood at the foot of the bed, head bowed. With the three guards who stood in the room, there wasn't room for Taravangian, so he stopped in the doorway.\n\n\"Taravangian,\" Valam said, then coughed into his handkerchief. The cloth came back bloodied. \"You've come for my kingdom, have you?\"\n\n\"I don't know what you mean, Your Majesty,\" Taravangian said.\n\n\"Don't play coy,\" Valam snapped. \"I can't stand it in women or in rivals. Stormfather... I don't know what they're going to make of you. I half think they'll have you assassinated by the end of the week.\" He waved with a sickly hand, all draped in cloth, and the guards made way for Taravangian to enter the small bedchamber." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Move the story forward in your role as narrative aide.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, knights radiant\nAuthor: Brandon Sanderson\nTitle: Words of Radiance\nChapter: 99" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dalinar licked wet lips. He had given many battlefield speeches in his life, but never had he said anything like what came to him now. \"I,\" he shouted, \" have been sent by the Almighty himself to save this land from another Desolation. I have seen what those things can do; I have lived lives broken by the Voidbringers. I've seen kingdoms shattered, peoples ruined, technology forgotten. I've seen civilization itself brought to the trembling edge of collapse.\n\n\"We will prevent this! Today you fight not for the wealth of a lighteyes, or even for the honor of your king. Today, you fight for the good of all men. You will not fight alone! Trust in what I have seen, trust in my words. If those things have returned, then so must the forces that once defeated them. We will see miracles before this day is out, men! We merely have to be strong enough to deserve them.\"\n\nHe looked across a sea of hopeful eyes. Storms. Were those gloryspren about his head, spinning like golden spheres in the rain? His scribes finished writing down the short speech, then hurriedly started making copies to send with runners. Dalinar watched them go, hoping to the Tranquiline Halls that he hadn't just lied to everyone.\n\nHis force seemed small in this darkness, surrounded by enemies. Soon, he heard his own words being spoken in the distance, readout to the troops. Dalinar remained seated, Shallan beside his horse, though Navani moved off to see to several of her contraptions.\n\nThe battle plan called for them to wait a little longer, and Dalinar was content to do so. With these chasms to cross, it was far better to be assaulted than to assault. Perhaps the separate armies forming up would encourage the Parshendi to start the battle by coming to him. Fortunately, the rain meant no arrows. The bowstrings wouldn't stand the dampness, nor would the animal glue in the Parshendi recurve bows." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Parshendi started singing.\n\nIt came in a sudden roar over the rains, startling his men, making them shy backward in a wave. The song wasn't one Dalinar had ever heard during plateau runs. This was more staccato, more frenetic. It rose all around, coming from the three surrounding plateaus, shouted like thrown axes at the Alethi in the center.\n\nDalinar shivered. Wind blew against him, stronger than was normal during the Weeping. The gust drove raindrops against the side of his face. Cold bit his skin.\n\n\"Brightlord!\"\n\nDalinar turned in his saddle, noting four bridgemen approaching along with Rlain-he still had the man under guard at all times. He waved for his guards to part, allowing the Parshendi bridgeman to scramble up to his horse.\n\n\"That song!\" Rlain said. \"That song.\"\n\n\"What is it, man?\"\n\n\"It is death,\" Rlain whispered. \"Brightlord, I have never heard it before, but the rhythm is one of destruction. Of power.\"\n\nAcross the chasm, the Parshendi started to glow. Tiny lines of red sparked around their arms, blinking and shaking, like lightning.\n\n\"What is that?\" Shallan asked.\n\nDalinar narrowed his eyes, and another burst of wind washed over him.\n\n\"You have to stop it,\" Rlain said. \"Please. Even if you have to kill them. Do not let them finish that song.\"\n\nIt was the day of the countdown he had scribbled on the walls without knowing. The last day.\n\nDalinar made his decision based on instinct. He called fora messenger, and one jogged up-Teshav's ward, a girl in her fifteenth year. \"Pass the word,\" he commanded her. \"Send to General Khal at the command tent, the battalionlords, my son, Teleb, and the other highprinces. We're changing strategies.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Brightlord?\" the messenger asked. \"What change?\"\n\n\"We attack. Now!\"\n\n---\n\nKaladin stopped at the entrance to the lighteyed training grounds, rainwater streaming off his umbrella's waxed cloth, surprised at what he saw. In preparation fora storm, the ardents normally swept and shoveled the sand into covered trenches at the edges of the ground to keep it from being blown away.\n\nHe had expected to see something similar during the Weeping. Instead, they had left the sand out, but had then placed a short wooden barrier across the gateway in. It plugged the front of the sparring grounds, allowing them to fill up with water. A small cascade of rainwater poured over the lip of the barrier and into the roadway.\n\nKaladin regarded the small lake that now filled the courtyard, then sighed and reached down, undoing his laces, then pulling off both boots and socks. When he stepped in, the cold water came up to his calves.\n\nSoft sand squished between his toes. What was the purpose of this? He crossed the courtyard, crutch under his arm, boots joined by the laces and slung over his shoulder. The chill water numbed his wounded foot, which actually felt nice, though his leg still hurt with each step. It seemed that the two weeks of healing hadn't done much for his wounds. His continued insistence that he walk so much probably wasn't helping.\n\nHe'd been spoiled by his abilities; a soldier with such a wound normally would take months to recover. Without Stormlight, he'd just have to be patient and heal like everyone else.\n\nHe had expected to find the training grounds as abandoned as most of the camp. Even the markets were relatively empty, people preferring to remain indoors during the Weeping. Here, however, he found the ardents laughing and chatting as they satin chairs in the raised arcades framing the sparring grounds. They sewed leather practice jerkins, cups of auburn wine on tables at their sides. That area rose enough above the yard floor to stay dry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Kaladin walked along, searching among them, but didn't find Zahel." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He even peeked in the man's room, but it was empty.\n\n\"Up above, bridgeman!\" one of the ardents called. The bald woman pointed toward the stairwell at the corner, where Kaladin had often sent guards to secure the roof when Adolin and Renarin practiced.\n\nKaladin waved in thanks, then hobbled over and awkwardly made his way up the steps. He had to close his umbrella to fit. Rain fell on his head as he poked it out of the opening in the roof, where the stairwell ended. The roof was made of tile set into hardened crem, and Zahel lay therein a hammock he'd strung between two poles. Kaladin thought they might be lightning rods, which didn't strike him as safe. A tarp hung above the hammock and kept Zahel almost dry.\n\nThe ardent swung gently, eyes closed, holding a square bottle of hard honu, a type of lavis grain liquor. Kaladin inspected the rooftop, judging his ability to cross those sloped tiles without toppling off and breaking his neck.\n\n\"Ever been to the Purelake, bridgeman?\" Zahel asked.\n\n\"No,\" Kaladin said. \"One of my men talks about it, though.\"\n\n\"What have you heard?\"\n\n\"It's an ocean that's so shallow, you can wade across it.\"\n\n\"It's ridiculously shallow,\" Zahel said. \"Like an endless bay, mere feet deep. Warm water. Calm breezes. Reminds me of home. Not like this cold, damp, godsforsaken place.\"\n\n\"So why aren't you there instead of here?\"\n\n\"Because I can't stand being reminded of home, idiot.\"\n\nOh. \"Why are we talking about it, then?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Because you were wondering why we made our own little Purelake down below.\"\n\n\"I was?\"\n\n\"Of course you were. Damnation boy. I know you well enough by now to know that questions bother you. You don't think like a spearman.\"\n\n\"Spearmen can't be curious?\"\n\n\"No. Because if they are, they either get killed or they end up showing someone in charge how smart they are. Then they get put somewhere more useful.\"\n\nKaladin raised an eyebrow, waiting for more explanation. Finally, he sighed, and asked, \"Why have you blocked off the courtyard below?\"\n\n\"Why do you think?\"\n\n\"You area really annoying person, Zahel. Do you realize that?\"\n\n\"Sure do.\" He took a drink of his honu.\n\n\"I assume,\" Kaladin said, \"that you blocked off the front of the practice grounds so that the rain wouldn't wash the sand away.\"\n\n\"Excellent deduction,\" Zahel said. \"Like fresh blue paint on a wall.\"\n\n\"Whatever that means. The problem is, why is it necessary to keep the sand in the courtyard? Why not just put it away, like you do before highstorms?\"\n\n\"Did you know,\" Zahel said, \"that rains during the Weeping don't drop crem?\"\n\n\"I...\" Did he know that? Did it matter?\n\n\"Good thing too,\" Zahel said, \"or our entire camp here would end up clogged with the stuff. Anyway, rain like this, it's great for washing.\"\n\n\"You're telling me that you've turned the floor of the dueling grounds into a bath?\"\n\n\"Sure did.\"\n\n\"You wash in that?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Sure do. Not ourselves, of course.\"\n\n\"Then what?\"\n\n\"Sand.\"\n\nKaladin frowned, then peered over the side, looking at the pool below.\n\n\"Everyday,\" Zahel said, \"we go in there and stir it up. The sand settles back down to the bottom, and all the yuck floats away, carried by the rain in little streams out of the camp. Did you ever consider that sand might need washing?\"\n\n\"No, actually.\"\n\n\"Well it does. After a year's worth of being kicked by stinky bridgeman feet and equally stinky-but far more refined-lighteyes feet, after a year of having people like me spill food on it, or having animals find their way inhere to do business, the sand needs cleaning.\"\n\n\"Why are we talking about this?\"\n\n\"Because it's important,\" Zahel said, taking a drink. \"Or something. I don't know. You came tome, kid, interrupting my vacation. That means you have to listen tome blab.\"\n\n\"You're supposed to say something profound.\"\n\n\"Did you miss the part about me being on vacation?\"\n\nKaladin stood in the rain. \"Do you know where the King's Wit is?\"\n\n\"That fool, Dust? Not here, blessedly. Why?\"\n\nKaladin needed someone to talk to, and had spent the better part of the day searching for Wit. He hadn't found the man, though he had broken down and bought some chouta from a lonely street vendor.\n\nIt had tasted good. That hadn't helped his mood.\n\nSo, he'd given upon finding Wit and had come to Zahel instead. That appeared to have been a mistake. Kaladin sighed, turning back down the stairs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What was it you wanted?\" Zahel called to him. The man had cracked an eye, looking toward Kaladin.\n\n\"Have you ever had to choose between two equally distasteful choices?\"\n\n\"Everyday I choose to keep breathing.\"\n\n\"I worry something awful is going to happen,\" Kaladin said. \"I can prevent it, but the awful thing... it might be best for everyone if it does happen.\"\n\n\"Huh,\" Zahel said.\n\n\"No advice?\" Kaladin asked.\n\n\"Choose the option,\" Zahel said, rearranging his pillow, \"that makes it easiest for you to sleep at night.\" The old ardent closed his eyes and settled back. \"That's what I wish I'd done.\"\n\nKaladin continued down the steps. Below, he didn't get out his umbrella. He was already soaked anyway. Instead, he poked through the racks at the side of the practice grounds until he found a spear-real, not practice. Then he set down his crutch and hobbled out into the water.\n\nThere, he fell into a spearman's stance and closed his eyes. Rain fell around him. It splattered in the water of the pool, sprinkled the rooftop, pattered the streets outside. Kaladin felt drained, like his blood had been sucked from him. The gloom made him want to sit still.\n\nInstead, he started dancing with the rain. He went through spear forms, doing his best to avoid putting weight on his wounded leg. He splashed in the waters. He sought peace and purpose in the comfortable forms.\n\nHe didn't find either.\n\nHis balance was off, and his leg screamed. The rain didn't accompany him; it just annoyed him. Worse, the wind didn't blow. The air felt stale." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kaladin stumbled over his own feet. He twisted the spear about him, then dropped it clumsily. It spun away to splash into the pool. Ashe fetched it, he noticed the ardents watching him with looks ranging from befuddled to amused.\n\nHe tried again. Simple spear forms. No spinning the weapon, no showing off. Step step thrust.\n\nThe spear's shaft felt wrong in his fingers. Off balance. Storms. He'd come here seeking solace, but he only grew more and more frustrated as he tried to practice.\n\nHow much of his ability with the spear had come from his powers? Was he nothing without them?\n\nHe dropped the spear again after trying a simple twist and thrust. He reached for it, and found a rainspren sitting next to it in the water, looking upward, unblinking.\n\nHe snatched the spear with a growl, then looked up toward the sky. \"He deserves it!\" he bellowed at those clouds.\n\nRain pelted him.\n\n\"Give me a reason why he doesn't!\" Kaladin yelled, uncaring if the ardents heard. \"It might not be his fault, and he might be trying, but he's still failing.\"\n\nSilence.\n\n\"It's right to remove the wounded limb,\" Kaladin whispered. \"This is what we have to do. To... To...\"\n\nTo stay alive.\n\nWhere had those words come from?\n\nGotta do what you canto stay alive, son. Turn a liability into an advantage whenever you can.\n\nTien's death.\n\nThat moment, that horrible moment, when he watched unable to do anything as his brother died. Tien's own squadleader had sacrificed the untrained to gain a moment's advantage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "That squadleader had spoken to Kaladin after it was allover." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gotta do what you canto stay alive....\n\nIt made a twisted, horrible kind of sense.\n\nIt hadn't been Tien's fault. Tien had tried. He'd still failed. So they'd killed him.\n\nKaladin fell to his knees in the water. \"Almighty, oh Almighty.\"\n\nThe king...\n\nThe king was Dalinar's Tien.\n\n---\n\n\"Attack?\" Adolin asked. \"Are you certain that is what my father said?\"\n\nThe young woman who had run the message nodded a rain-slicked head, looking miserable in her slitted dress and runner's sash. \"You're to stop that singing, if you can, Brightlord. Your father indicated it was important.\"\n\nAdolin looked over his battalions, which held the southern flank. Just beyond them, on one of the three plateaus that surrounded their army, the Parshendi sang a horrible song. Sureblood danced, snorting.\n\n\"I don't like it either,\" Adolin said softly, patting the horse on the neck. That song put him on edge. And those threads of red light on their arms, in their hands. What were those?\n\n\"Perel,\" he said to one of his field commanders, \"tell the men to get ready for the mark. We're going to charge across those bridges onto the southern plateau. Heavy infantry first, shortspears behind, longspears at the ready in case we're overrun. I want the men ready to form blocks on the other side until we're sure where the Parshendi lines will fall. Storms, I wish we had archers. Go!\"\n\nThe word spread, and Adolin nudged Sureblood up beside one of the bridges, which had already been set. His bridgeman guards for the day followed, a pair named Skar and Drehy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You two going to sit out?\" Adolin asked the bridgemen, his eyes forward. \"Your captain doesn't like you going into battle against Parshendi.\"\n\n\"To Damnation with that!\" Drehy said. \"We'll fight, sir. Those aren't Parshendi anyway. Not anymore.\"\n\n\"Good answer. They'll advance once we start our assault. We need to hold the bridgehead for the rest of our army. Try to keep up with me, if you can.\" He glanced over his shoulder, waiting. Watching until...\n\nA large blue gemstone rose into the air, hoisted high on a distant pole near the command tent.\n\n\"Go!\" Adolin kicked Sureblood into motion, thundering across the bridge and splashing through a pool on the other side. Rainspren wavered. His two bridgemen followed at a run. Behind them, the heavy infantry in thick armor with hammers and axes-perfect for splitting Parshendi carapace-surged into motion.\n\nThe bulk of the Parshendi continued their chanting. A smaller group broke off, perhaps two thousand in number, and moved to intercept Adolin. He growled, leaning low, Shardblade appearing in his hand. If they-\n\nA flash of light.\n\nThe world lurched, and Adolin found himself skidding on the ground, his Shardplate grinding against stones. The armor absorbed the blow of the fall, but could do nothing for Adolin's own shock. The world spun, and a spray of water spurted in through the slits in his helm, washing over his face.\n\nAshe came to rest, he heaved himself backward, up to his feet. He stumbled, clanking, thrashing about in case any Parshendi had gotten close. He blinked away water inside his helm, then oriented himself on a change in the landscape in front of him. White amid the brown and grey. What was that..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He finally blinked his eyes clear enough to get a good look." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The whiteness was a horse, fallen to the ground.\n\nAdolin screamed something raw, a sound that echoed in his helm. He ignored the shouts of soldiers, the sound of rain, the sudden and unnatural crack behind him. He ran to the body on the ground. Sureblood.\n\n\"No, no, no,\" Adolin said, skidding to his knees beside the horse. The animal bore a strange, branching burn all down the side of his white coat. Wide, jagged. Sureblood's dark eyes, open to the rain, did not blink.\n\nAdolin raised his hands, suddenly hesitant to touch the animal.\n\nA youth on an unfamiliar field.\n\nSureblood wasn't moving.\n\nMore nervous that day than during the duel that won his Blade.\n\nShouts. Another crack in the air, sharp, immediate.\n\nThey pick their rider, son. We fixate on Shards, but any man-courageous or coward-can bond a Blade. Not so here, on this ground. Only the worthy win here...\n\nMove.\n\nGrieve later.\n\nMove!\n\nAdolin roared, leaping to his feet and charging past the two bridgemen who nervously stood guard over him with spears. He started the process of summoning his Blade and ran toward the fighting up ahead. Only moments had passed, but already the Alethi lines were collapsing. Some infantry advanced in clusters while others had hunkered down, stunned and confused.\n\nAnother flash, accompanied by a cracking of the air. Lightning. Red lightning. It appeared in flashes from groups of Parshendi, then was gone in the blink of an eye. It left a bright afterimage-glowing, forked-that briefly obscured Adolin's sight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Ahead of him, men dropped, fried in their armor." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Adolin shouted as he charged, bellowing for the men to hold their lines.\n\nMore cracks sounded, but the strikes didn't seem well aimed. They'd sometimes flash backward or would follow strange paths, rarely going straight toward the Alethi. Ashe ran, he saw a blast come from a pair of Parshendi, but it arced immediately down into the ground.\n\nThe Parshendi stared downward, befuddled. It was as if the lightning worked... well, like lightning from the sky, not following any sort of predictable path.\n\n\"Charge them, you cremlings!\" Adolin shouted, running through the middle of the soldiers. \"Back into your lines! It's just like advancing on archers! Keep your heads. Tighten up. If we break, we're dead!\"\n\nHe wasn't certain how much of that they heard, but the image of him yelling, crashing into the line of Parshendi, did something. Shouts rose from officers, lines re-formed.\n\nLightning flashed right at Adolin.\n\nThe sound was incredible, and the light. He stood in place, blinded. When it faded, he found himself completely unharmed. He looked down at the armor, which was vibrating softly-a hum that rattled his skin in a strangely comforting way. Nearby, another crack of lightning left a small group of Parshendi, but it didn't blind him. His helm-which as always was partially translucent from the inside-darkened in a jagged streak, perfectly overlaying the lightning.\n\nAdolin grinned with clenched teeth, feeling a savage satisfaction as he pushed into the Parshendi and swung his Shardblade through their necks. By the old stories, the suit he wore had been created to fight these very monsters." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Though these Parshendi soldiers were sleeker and more ferocious-looking than the ones he'd previously fought, their eyes burned just as easily. Then they dropped dead and something wiggled out of their chests-small red spren, like tiny lightning, that zipped into the air and vanished.\n\n\"They can be killed!\" one of the soldiers yelled nearby. \"They can die!\"\n\nOthers raised the call, passing it down the lines. Obvious though the revelation seemed, it bolstered his troops, and they surged forward.\n\nThey can die.\n\n---\n\nShallan drew. Frantic.\n\nA map in ink. Each line precise. The large sheet, crafted at her order, covered a wide board on the floor. It was the largest drawing she'd ever done; she'd filled it in, section by section, as they traveled.\n\nShe listened with half an ear to the other scholars in the tent. They were a distraction, but an important one.\n\nAnother line, rippled on the sides, forming a thin plateau. It was a copy of the one she'd drawn in seven other places on the map. The Plains were a fourfold radial pattern mirrored down the center of each quadrant, and so anything she drew in one quadrant she could repeat in the others, mirrored as appropriate. The eastern side was worn down, yes, so her map wouldn't be accurate in that area-but for cohesion, she needed to finish those parts. So she could seethe whole pattern.\n\n\"Scout reporting in,\" a messenger woman said, bursting into the tent, letting in a gust of the wet wind. This unexpected wind... it almost felt like the wind before a highstorm.\n\n\"What is the report?\" Inadara asked. The severe woman was supposed to be a great scholar. She reminded Shallan of her father's ardents. In the corner of the room, Prince Renarin stood in his Shardplate, arms folded. He had orders to protect them all, should the Parshendi try to break onto the command plateau." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The large center plateau is just as the parshman told us,\" the scout said, breathless." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's only one plateau over, to the east.\" Lyn was a solid-looking woman with long black hair and keen eyes. \"It's obviously inhabited, though there doesn't seem to be anyone there right now.\"\n\n\"And the plateaus surrounding it?\" Inadara asked.\n\n\"Shim and Felt are scouting those,\" Lyn said. \"Felt should be back soon. I can do a rough drawing of what I saw of the center plateau for you.\"\n\n\"Do it,\" Inadara said. \"We need to find that Oathgate.\"\n\nShallan wiped astray drop of water-fallen from Lyn's coat-off her map, then continued drawing. The army's path from the warcamps inward had allowed her to extrapolate and draw eight chains of plateaus, two each-mirrored-starting from the four'sides\" of the Plains and working inward.\n\nShe had almost completed the last of the eight arms reaching toward the center. This close, earlier scout reports-and what Shallan had seen herself-allowed her to fill in everything around the center. Rlain's explanations had helped, but he hadn't been able to draw out the center plateaus for her. He'd never paid attention to their shapes, and Shallan needed precision.\n\nFortunately, earlier reports had almost been enough. She didn't need much more. She was almost done.\n\n\"What do you think?\" Lyn asked.\n\n\"Show it to Brightness Shallan.\" Inadara sounded displeased, which seemed her normal state.\n\nShallan glanced over Lyn's hastily sketched map, then nodded, turning back to her drawing. It would be better if she could seethe center plateau herself, but the corner this woman had drawn gave Shallan an idea." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Not going to say anything?\" Inadara asked.\n\n\"Not done yet,\" Shallan said, dipping her pen in the ink.\n\n\"We have been given an order by the highprince himself to find the Oathgate.\"\n\n\"I will.\"\n\nSomething crashed outside, like distant lightning.\n\n\"Mmm...\" Pattern said. \"Bad. Very bad.\"\n\nInadara looked at Pattern, who dimpled the floor near Shallan. \"I do not like this thing. Spren should not speak. It maybe of them, a Voidbringer.\"\n\n\"I am not a Voidspren,\" Pattern said.\n\n\"Brightness Shallan-\"\n\n\"He's not a Voidspren,\" Shallan said absently.\n\n\"We should study it,\" Inadara said. \"How long did you say it has been following you?\"\n\nA heavy footstep sounded on the floor, Renarin stepping forward. Shallan would have preferred to keep Pattern secret, but when the winds had started picking up, he'd started buzzing loudly. There was no avoiding it now that he'd drawn the scholars' attention. Renarin leaned down. He seemed fascinated by Pattern.\n\nHe wasn't the only one. \"It is likely involved,\" Inadara said. \"You should not dismiss one of my theories so quickly. I still think it might be related to the Voidbringers.\"\n\n\"Know you nothing of Patterns, old human?\" Pattern said, huffing. When had he picked up how to huff? \"Voidbringers have no pattern. Besides, I have read of them in your lore. They speak of spindly arms like bone, and horrific faces. I should think, if you wish to find one, the mirror might be a location where you can begin your search.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Inadara recoiled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then she stomped away, moving to chat with Brightness Velat and the ardent Isasik about their interpretation of Shallan's map.\n\nShallan smiled as she drew. \"That was clever.\"\n\n\"I am trying to learn,\" Pattern replied. \"Insults in particular will be of great use to my people, as they are truths and lies combined in a quite interesting manner.\"\n\nThe pops continued outside. \"What is that?\" she asked softly, finishing another plateau.\n\n\"Stormspren,\" Pattern said. \"They area variety of Voidspren. It is not good. I feel something very dangerous brewing. Draw more quickly.\"\n\n\"The Oathgate must be in that center plateau somewhere,\" Inadara said to her group of scholars.\n\n\"We will never search the entire thing in time,\" said one of the ardents, a man who seemed to be constantly removing his spectacles and wiping them down. He put them back on. \"That plateau is by far the largest we've found on the Plains.\"\n\nIt was a problem. How to find the Oathgate? It could be anywhere. No, Shallan thought, drawing with precise motions, the old maps placed what Jasnah thought was the Oathgate southwest of the city center. Unfortunately, she still didn't have a scale for reference. The city was too ancient, and all the maps were copies of copies of copies or re-creations from descriptions. She was certain by now that Stormseat hadn't made up the entire Shattered Plains-the city hadn't been nearly so huge. Structures like the warcamps had been outbuildings, or satellite cities.\n\nBut that was just a guess. She needed something concrete. Some sign.\n\nThe tent flaps opened again. It had grown cold outside. Was the rain harder than it had been?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Damnation!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "the newcomer swore, a thin man in a scout's uniform. \"Have you seen what is happening out there? Why are we split across the plateaus? Wasn't the plan to fight a defensive battle?\"\n\n\"Your report?\" Inadara asked.\n\n\"Get me a towel and some paper,\" the scout said. \"I rounded the southern side of the central plateau. I'll draw what I saw... but Damnation! They're throwing lightning, Brightness. Throwing it! It's insane. How do we fight such things?\"\n\nShallan finished the last plateau on her drawing. She settled back on her heels, lowering her pen. The Shattered Plains, drawn almost in their entirety. But what was she doing? What was the point?\n\n\"We will make an expedition into the central plateau,\" Inadara said. \"Brightlord Renarin, we will need your protection. Perhaps in the Parshendi city we will find the elderly or the workers, and we can protect them, as Brightlord Dalinar has instructed. They might know about the Oathgate. If not, we can begin breaking into buildings and searching for clues.\"\n\nToo slow, Shallan thought.\n\nThe newly arrived scout stepped up to Shallan's large map. He leaned over, inspecting it as he dried himself off with a towel. Shallan gave him a glare. If he dripped water on this after all she'd done...\n\n\"That's wrong,\" he said.\n\nWrong? Her art? Of course it wasn't wrong. \"Where?\" she asked, exhausted.\n\n\"That plateau there,\" the man said, pointing. \"It's not long and thin, as you drew it. It's a perfect circle, with big gaps between it and the plateaus on its east and west.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's unlikely,\" Shallan said. \"If it were that way-\" She blinked.\n\nIf it were that way, it wouldn't match the pattern.\n\n---\n\n\"Well then, find Brightness Shallan a squad of soldiers and do as she says!\" Dalinar said, turning and raising his arm against the wind.\n\nRenarin nodded. Blessedly, he'd agreed to put on his Plate for the battle, rather than continuing on with Bridge Four. Dalinar barely understood the lad these days.... Storms. Dalinar had never known a man who could look awkward in Shardplate, but his son managed it. The sheet of wind-driven rain passed. Light from blue lanterns reflected from Renarin's wet armor.\n\n\"Go,\" Dalinar said. \"Protect the scholars on their mission.\"\n\n\"I...\" Renarin said. \"Father, I don't know...\"\n\n\"It wasn't a request, Renarin!\" Dalinar shouted. \"Do as you're told, or give that storming Plate to someone who will!\"\n\nThe boy stumbled back, then saluted with a metallic slap. Dalinar pointed at Gaval, who barked orders, gathering a squad of soldiers. Renarin followed Gaval as the two of them moved off.\n\nStormfather. The sky had grown darker and darker. They'd need Navani's fabrials soon. That wind came in bursts, blowing rain that was entirely too strong for the Weeping. \"We have to interrupt that singing!\" Dalinar shouted against the rain, making his way to the edge of the plateau, joined by officers and messengers, including Rlain and several members of Bridge Four. \"Parshman. Is this storm their doing?\"\n\n\"I believe so, Brightlord Dalinar!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "On the other side of the chasm, Aladar's army fought a desperate battle against the Parshendi." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Red lightning came in bursts, but according to field reports, the Parshendi didn't know how to control it. It could be very dangerous to those who stood close by, but was not the terrible weapon it had first seemed.\n\nIndirect combat, unfortunately, these new Parshendi were another thing entirely. A group of them prowled close to the chasm, where they ripped through a squad of spearmen like a whitespine through a patch of ferns. They fought with a ferocity beyond what the Parshendi had ever shown on the plateau runs, and their weapons connected with flashes of red.\n\nIt was difficult to watch, but Dalinar's place was not out there fighting. Not today.\n\n\"Aladar's eastern flank needs reinforcement,\" Dalinar said. \"What do we have?\"\n\n\"Light infantry reserves,\" General Khal said, wearing only his uniform. His son wore his Shards, fighting with Roion's army. \"Fifteenth spear division from Sebarial's army. But those were supposed to support Brightlord Adolin....\"\n\n\"He'll survive without them. Get those men over here and see Aladar reinforced. Tell him to punch through to those Parshendi in the back, engage the ones singing at all costs. What's Navani's status?\"\n\n\"She is ready with the devices, Brightlord,\" a messenger said. \"She wants to know where she should begin.\"\n\n\"Roion's flank,\" Dalinar said immediately. He sensed a disaster brewing there. Speeches were all well and good, but even with Khal's son fighting on that front, Roion's troops were the worst he had. Teleb was supporting them with some of Sebarial's troops, who were surprisingly good. The man himself was practically useless in a battle, but he knew how to hire the right people-and that had always been his genius. Sebarial probably assumed that Dalinar didn't know that." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He'd kept many of Sebarial's troops as a reserve up until now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With them on the field, they'd committed almost every soldier they had.\n\nDalinar hiked back toward the command tent, passing Shallan, Inadara, some bridgemen, and a squad of soldiers-Renarin included-crossing the plateau at a trot, heading out on their mission. They'd have to skirt across the southern plateau, near the fighting, to get where they were going. Kelek speed their way.\n\nDalinar himself pushed through the rain, soaked to the very bones, reading the battle through what he could see of the flanks. His force had the size advantage, as anticipated. But now, this red lightning, this wind... The Parshendi moved through the darkness and the gusts of wind with ease while the humans slipped, squinted, and were battered.\n\nStill, the Alethi were holding their own. The problem was that this was only half of the Parshendi. If the other half attacked, his people would be in serious trouble-but they didn't attack, so they must consider that singing to be important. They saw the wind they were creating as more damaging, more deadly to the humans, than simply joining the battle.\n\nThat terrified him. What was coming would be worse.\n\n\"I am sorry that you have to die this way.\"\n\nDalinar stood still. Rain streamed down. He looked to the flock of messengers, aides, bodyguards, and officers who attended him. \"Who spoke?\"\n\nThey looked atone another.\n\nWait... He recognized that voice, didn't he? It was familiar to him.\n\nYes. He'd heard it many times. In his visions.\n\nIt was the voice of the Almighty." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There is one you will watch. Though all of them have some relevance to precognition, Moelach is one of the most powerful in this regard. His touch seeps into a soul as it breaks apart from the body, creating manifestations powered by the spark of death itself. But no, this is a distraction. Deviation. Kingship. We must discuss the nature of kingship.\n\n-From the Diagram, Book of the 2nd Desk Drawer: paragraph 15\n\nKaladin limped up the switchbacks to the palace, his leg a knotted mass of pain. Almost falling as he reached the doors, he slumped against them, gasping, his crutch under one arm, spear in the other hand. As if he could do anything with that.\n\nHave... to get... to the king....\n\nHow would he get Elhokar away? Moash would be watching. Storms. The assassination could happen any day... any hour now. Surely Dalinar was already far enough from the warcamps.\n\nKeep. Moving.\n\nKaladin stumbled into the entryway. No guards at the doors. Bad sign. Should he have raised the alarm? There weren't any soldiers in camp to help, and if he'd come in force, Graves and his men would know something was wrong. Alone, Kaladin might be able to seethe king. His best hope was to get Elhokar to safety quietly.\n\nFool, Kaladin thought to himself. You change your mind now? After all of this? What are you doing?\n\nBut storm it... the king tried. He actually tried. The man was arrogant, perhaps incapable, but he tried. He was sincere.\n\nKaladin stopped, exhausted, leg screaming, and leaned against the wall. Shouldn't this be easier? Now that he'd made the decision, shouldn't he be focused, confident, energized? He felt none of that. He felt wrung out, confused, and uncertain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He pushed himself forward. Keep going. Almighty send that he wasn't too late.\n\nWas he back to praying now?\n\nHe picked through darkened corridors. Shouldn't there be more light? With some difficulty, he reached the king's upper rooms, with the conference chamber and its balcony to the side. Two men in Bridge Four uniforms guarded the door, but Kaladin didn't recognize either of them. They weren't Bridge Four-they weren't even members of the old King's Guard. Storms.\n\nKaladin hobbled up to them, knowing he must look a sight, soaked through and through, limping on a leg that-he noticed-was trailing blood. He'd split the sutures on his wounds.\n\n\"Stop,\" said one of the men. The fellow had a chin so cleft, it looked like he'd taken an axe to the face as a baby. He looked Kaladin up and down. \"You're the one they call Stormblessed.\"\n\n\"You're Graves's men.\"\n\nThe two looked at each other.\n\n\"It's all right,\" Kaladin said. \"I'm with you. Is Moash here?\"\n\n\"He's off for the moment,\" the soldier said. \"Getting some sleep. It's an important day.\"\n\nI'm not too late, Kaladin thought. Luck was with him. \"I want to be part of what you're doing.\"\n\n\"It's taken care of, bridgeman,\" the guard said. \"Go back to your barrack and pretend nothing is happening.\"\n\nKaladin leaned in close, as if to whisper something. The guard leaned forward.\n\nSo Kaladin dropped his crutch and slammed his spear up between the man's legs. Kaladin immediately turned, spinning on his good leg and dragging the other one, whipping his spear toward the other man." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The man got his spear up to block, and tried to shout. \"To arms! To-\"\n\nKaladin slammed against him, knocking aside his spear. Kaladin dropped his own spear and grabbed the man by the neck with numb, wet fingers and cracked his head against the wall. Then he twisted and dropped, bringing his elbow down onto Cleft-chin's head, driving it down into the floor.\n\nBoth men fell still. Light-headed from the sudden exertion, Kaladin slammed himself back against the door. The world spun. At least he knew he could still fight without Stormlight.\n\nHe found himself laughing, though it turned into a cough. Had he really just attacked those men? He was committed now. Storms, he didn't even really know why he was doing this. The king's sincerity was part of it, but that wasn't the true reason, not deep down. He knew this was what he should do, but why? The thought of the king dying for no good reason made him sick. It reminded him of what had been done to Tien.\n\nBut that wasn't the full reason either. Storms, he wasn't making any sense, not even to himself.\n\nNeither guard moved save fora few twitches. Kaladin coughed and coughed, gasping for breath. No time for weakness. He reached up a clawlike hand and twisted the door handle, forcing it open. He half fell into the room, then stumbled to his feet.\n\n\"Your Majesty?\" he called, propping himself upon his spear and dragging his bad leg. He reached the back of a couch and used it to pull himself fully upright. Where was the-\n\nThe king lay on the couch, unmoving.\n\n---\n\nAdolin swept broadly with his Blade, maintaining perfect Windstance, the sword's point spraying water as he sheared through the neck of a Parshendi soldier. Red lightning crackled from the corpse in a bright flare, connecting the soldier to the ground as he died. Nearby Alethi were careful not to step in puddles beside the corpse. They had learned the hard way that this strange lightning could kill quickly via water." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Raising his sword and charging, Adolin led a rush against the nearest Parshendi group. Curse this storm and the winds that had brought it! Fortunately, the darkness had been pushed back somewhat, as Navani had sent fabrials to bathe the battlefield in an extraordinarily even white light.\n\nAdolin and his team clashed again with the Parshendi. However, as soon as he got among the enemy, he felt something tug on his left arm. A loop of rope? He jerked back. No rope could hold Shardplate. He growled and yanked the rope free of the hands holding it. Then he jerked as another rope looped his neck and pulled him backward.\n\nHe shouted, spinning and sweeping his Blade through the rope, severing it. Three more loops leaped from the darkness for him; the Parshendi had sent an entire team. Adolin turned to defensive sweeps, as he'd been trained by Zahel to resist a dedicated rope strike. They'd have strung other ropes across the ground in front of him, expecting that he'd charge them... Yes, there they were.\n\nAdolin backed away, slicing free the ropes that reached him. Unfortunately, his men had been depending on him to break the Parshendi line. Ashe backed away instead, the enemy pressed against the Alethi line in force. As always, they didn't use traditional battle formations, instead attacking in squads and pairs. That was frightfully effective on this chaotic, rain-soaked battlefield, with cracks of lightning and bursts of wind.\n\nPerel, the field commander that he'd put in charge near the lights, called the retreat for Adolin's flank. Adolin let out a series of curses, cutting loose one final rope and stepping backward, sword out in case the Parshendi pursued." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They didn't. Two figures, however, shadowed him as he joined the retreat.\n\n\"Still alive, bridgemen?\" Adolin asked.\n\n\"Still alive,\" Skar said.\n\n\"You've got some loops of rope stuck to you still, sir,\" Drehy said.\n\nAdolin held out his arm and let Drehy cut them free with his side knife. Over his shoulder, Adolin watched the Parshendi re-form their lines. From farther back, the sound of that harsh chanting reached him between crashes of lightning and bursts of wind.\n\n\"They keep sending teams to engage and distract me,\" Adolin said. \"They don't intend to defeat me; they just want to keep me out of the battle.\"\n\n\"They'll have to really fight you sooner or later,\" Drehy said, cutting off another of the ropes. Drehy reached up and ran his handover his bald head, wiping the rain off. \"They can't just leave a Shardbearer alone.\"\n\n\"Actually,\" Adolin said, narrowing his eyes, listening to that chanting. \"That's exactly what they're doing.\"\n\nThrough sheets of windborne rain, Adolin jogged in a clanking run up to the command position, near the lights. Perel-wrapped in a large stormcoat-stood there bellowing orders. He gave Adolin a quick salute.\n\n\"Status?\" Adolin asked.\n\n\"Treading water, Brightlord.\"\n\n\"I have no idea what that means,\" Adolin said.\n\n\"Swimming term, sir,\" Perel said. \"We're fighting back and forth, but we're not making any headway. We're fairly evenly matched; each side is looking for an edge. I'm most worried about those Parshendi reserves. They should have committed those by now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"The reserves?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Adolin asked, peering across the dim plateau. \"You mean the singers.\" To both right and left, Alethi troops engaged other Parshendi units. Men shouted and screamed, weapons clashed, the familiar deadly sounds of a battlefield.\n\n\"Yes, sir,\" Perel said. \"They're up against that rock formation at the middle of the plateau, singing their storming hearts out.\"\n\nAdolin remembered that rock outcropping, looming in the dim light. It was easily large enough fora battalion on top. \"Could we climb it from behind?\"\n\n\"In this rain, Brightlord?\" Perel asked. \"Not likely. Maybe you could, but would you really want to go alone?\"\n\nAdolin waited for the familiar eagerness to urge him forward, the desire to rush into the fight without concern for the consequences. He'd trained himself to resist that urge, and was surprised to find it... gone. Nothing.\n\nHe frowned. He was tired. Was that the reason? He considered the situation, thinking to the sound of rain on his helmet.\n\nWe need to get to those Parshendi at the back, he thought. Father wants the reserves engaged, the song broken off...\n\nWhat had Shallan said about these inner plateaus? And the rock formations on them?\n\n\"Gather me a battalion,\" Adolin said. \"A thousand men, heavy infantry. Once I've been gone with them fora half hour, send the rest of the men in a full assault against the Parshendi. I'm going to try something, and I want you to provide a distraction.\"\n\n---\n\n\"You're dead,\" Dalinar shouted toward the sky. He spun about, still on the central plateau between the three battlefields, startling the aides and attendants near him. \"You told me you had been killed!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rain pelted his face. Were his ears playing tricks on him in this havoc of rain and shouting?\n\n\"I am not the Almighty,\" the voice said. Dalinar turned, searching among his startled companions. Four bridgemen in stormcoats stepped back, as if frightened. His captains watched the clouds unsteadily, holding hands on swords.\n\n\"Did any of you hear that voice?\" Dalinar asked.\n\nWomen and men alike shook heads.\n\n\"Are you... hearing the Almighty?\" asked one of the messenger women.\n\n\"Yes.\" It was the simplest answer, though he wasn't sure what was happening. He continued to cross the central plateau, intending to check on Adolin's battlefront.\n\n\"I am sorry,\" the voice repeated. Unlike in the visions, Dalinar could find no avatar speaking the words. They came out of nowhere. \"You have striven hard. But I can do nothing for you.\"\n\n\"Who are you?\" Dalinar hissed.\n\n\"I am the one left behind,\" the voice said. It wasn't exactly as he'd heard it in the visions; this voice had a depth to it. A density. \"I am the sliver of Him that remains. I saw His corpse, saw Him die when Odium murdered Him. And I... I fled. To continue as I always have. The piece of God left in this world, the winds that men must feel.\"\n\nWas he responding to Dalinar's question, or speaking a mere monologue? In the visions, Dalinar had originally assumed he was having conversations with this voice, only to find that its half of the seeming dialogue had been preset. He could not tell if this was the same or not.\n\nStorms... was he in the middle of a vision now? He froze in place, suddenly imagining a horrible picture of himself, sprawled on the floor of the palace, having imagined everything leading up to this battle in the rain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No, he thought forcefully." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I will not travel down that path. He had always recognized when he was in a vision before; he had no reason to believe that had changed.\n\nThe reserves he'd ordered for Aladar trotted past, spearmen with points toward the sky. That would be storming dangerous if real lightning came, but they didn't have much choice.\n\nDalinar waited for the voice to say more, but nothing happened. He proceeded, and soon approached Adolin's plateau.\n\nWas that thunder?\n\nNo. Dalinar turned and picked out a horse galloping across the plateau toward him, a messenger on its back. He held up a hand, interrupting a tactical report by Captain Javih.\n\n\"Brightlord!\" the messenger shouted. She reared the horse. \"Brightlord Teleb has fallen! Highprince Roion has been routed. His lines are broken, his remaining men surrounded by Parshendi! He's trapped on the northern plateau!\"\n\n\"Damnation! Captain Khal?\"\n\n\"Still up, fighting toward where Roion was last seen. He's nearly overwhelmed.\"\n\nDalinar spun to Javih. \"Reserves?\"\n\n\"I don't know what we have left,\" the man said, face pale in the dim light. \"Depends on if any have rotated out.\"\n\n\"Find out and bring them here!\" Dalinar said, running to the messenger. \"Off,\" he told her.\n\n\"Sir?\"\n\n\"Off!\"\n\nThe woman scrambled from the saddle as Dalinar placed foot into stirrup and swung into position. He turned the horse-thankful, for once, he didn't have on any Shardplate. This light horse wouldn't have been able to carry him.\n\n\"Gather whatever you can and follow!\" he shouted. \"I need men, even if you have to pull that battalion of spearmen back from Aladar.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Captain Javih's reply was lost in the rain as Dalinar leaned low and cued the horse with his heels. The animal snorted, and Dalinar had to fight it before getting it to move. The pops of lightning in the distance had the creature skittish.\n\nOnce pointed the right direction, he gave the horse its head, and it galloped eagerly. Dalinar crossed the plateau in a rush, triage tents, command posts, and food stations passing in a blur. Ashe neared the northern plateau, he reined in the horse and scanned the area for Navani.\n\nNo sign of her, though he did see several large tarps laid on the ground here-expansive squares of black cloth. She'd been at work. He called a question to an engineer, and she pointed, so Dalinar rode along the chasm in that direction. He passed a succession of other tarps that had been arranged on the stone.\n\nAcross the chasm to his left, men died with shouts and screams. He saw firsthand how terribly Roion's battle was progressing. The danger was manifest in broken groups of men flying beleaguered banners, split into vulnerable small bunches by red-eyed enemies. The Alethi would fight on, but with their line fragmenting, their prospects were grim.\n\nDalinar remembered fighting like that himself two months ago, surrounded by a sea of enemies, without hope for salvation. Dalinar pushed his horse faster, and soon spotted Navani. She stood beneath an umbrella directing a group of workers with another large tarp.\n\n\"Navani!\" Dalinar shouted, pulling his horse to a slippery stop across the tarp from her. \"I need a miracle!\"\n\n\"Working on it,\" she shouted back.\n\n\"No time for working. Execute your plan. Now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He was too distant to see her glare, but he felt it." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fortunately, she waved workers away from her current tarp and began shouting orders to her engineers. The women ran up to the chasm, where a line of rocks was arrayed. They were attached to ropes, Dalinar thought, though he wasn't sure how this process worked. Navani shouted instructions.\n\nToo much time, Dalinar thought, anxious, watching across the chasm. Had they recovered Teleb's Shards? He couldn't spare grief for the man, not now. They needed those Shards.\n\nBehind Dalinar, soldiers gathered. Roion's archers, finest in the warcamps, had been useless in this rain. The engineers backed up at a barked order from Navani, and the workers shoved the line of some forty rocks into the chasm.\n\nAs the rocks fell, tarps jumped fifty feet into the air, pulled at the front corners and centers. In an instant, along line of improvised pavilions flanked the chasm.\n\n\"Move!\" Dalinar said, urging his horse between two of the pavilions. \"Archers forward!\"\n\nMen dashed into the protected areas under the tarps, some muttering at the lack of any visible poles holding them in the air. Navani had pulled up only the fronts, so the tarps slanted backward, away from the chasm. The rain streamed down in that direction. They also had sides, like tents, so only the open faces were toward Roion's battlefront.\n\nDalinar swung from the horse and handed the reins to a worker. He jogged under one of the pavilions to where archers were forming ranks. Navani entered, carrying a large sack over her shoulder. She opened it to reveal a large glowing garnet suspended within a delicate wire lacework fabrial." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She fiddled with it fora moment, then stepped back.\n\n\"We really should have had more time to test this,\" she warned to Dalinar, folding her arms. \"Attractors are new inventions. I'm still half afraid this thing will suck the blood out of anyone who touches it.\"\n\nIt didn't. Instead, water quickly started to pool around the thing. Storms, it worked! The fabrial was pulling moisture from the air. Roion's archers removed bowstrings from protected pockets, bending bows and stringing them at the orders of their lieutenants. Many of the men here were lighteyes-archery was seen as an acceptable Calling fora lighteyed man of modest means. Not everyone could bean officer.\n\nThe archers began loosing waves of arrows across the chasm into the Parshendi who had surrounded Roion's forces. \"Good,\" Dalinar said, watching the arrows fly. \"Very good.\"\n\n\"The rain and wind are still going to make aiming the arrows difficult,\" Navani said. \"And I don't know how well the fabrials will work; with the front of the pavilions open, humidity is going to flood inconstantly. We might run out of Stormlight after just a short time.\"\n\n\"It's enough,\" Dalinar said. The arrows made an almost immediate difference, drawing Parshendi attention away from the beleaguered men. It wasn't a maneuver to try unless you were desperate-the risk of hitting allies was great-but Roion's archers proved deserving of their reputation.\n\nHe pulled Navani close with one arm. \"You did well.\" Then he called for his horse-his horse, not that wild messenger beast-as he charged out of the pavilion. Those archers would give him an opening. Hopefully it wasn't too late for Roion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "---\n\nNo! Kaladin thought, rounding the couch to the king's side. Was he dead? There was no obvious wound.\n\nThe king shifted, then groaned in a lazy way and sat upright. Kaladin let out a deep breath. An empty wine bottle rested on the end table, and Kaladin could smell the spilled wine now that he was closer.\n\n\"Bridgeman?\" Elhokar's speech was slurred. \"Have you come to gloat over me?\"\n\n\"Storms, Elhokar,\" Kaladin said. \"How much have you had?\"\n\n\"They all... they all talk about me,\" Elhokar said, flopping down on the couch. \"My own guards... everyone. Bad king, they say. Everyone hates him, they say.\"\n\nKaladin felt a chill. \"They wanted you to drink, Elhokar. Makes their job easier.\"\n\n\"Huh?\"\n\nStorms. The man was barely conscious.\n\n\"Come on,\" Kaladin said. \"Assassins are coming for you. We're getting out of here.\"\n\n\"Assassins?\" Elhokar leapt to his feet, then wobbled. \"He wears white. I knew he'd come... but then... he only cared about Dalinar... Not even the assassin thinks I'm worthy of the throne....\"\n\nKaladin managed to get under Elhokar's arm, holding his spear for support with one hand. The king slumped against him, and Kaladin's leg cried out. \"Please, Your Majesty,\" Kaladin said, almost collapsing, \"I need you to try to walk.\"\n\n\"Assassins probably want you, bridgeman,\" the king muttered. \"You're more a leader than I am. I wish... wish you'd teach me...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Thankfully, Elhokar then did support himself to an extent. It was a struggle to walk the two of them to the doorway, where the guard's body still lay-\n\nBody? Where was the other one?\n\nKaladin twisted out of the king's grip as a blur with a knife lunged at him. By instinct, Kaladin snapped his spear haft back-bringing his hands up near to the head fora close-quarters fight-then thrust. The spearhead sank in deep into Cleft-chin's stomach. The man grunted.\n\nBut he hadn't been lunging for Kaladin.\n\nHe'd plunged his knife into the king's side.\n\nCleft-chin flopped to the floor, falling off Kaladin's spear and dropping his knife. Elhokar reached-a stunned expression on his face-to his side. The hand came away bloody. \"I'm dead,\" Elhokar whispered, regarding the blood.\n\nIn that moment, Kaladin's pain and weakness seemed to fade. The moment of panic was a moment of strength, and he used it to rip at Elhokar's clothing while kneeling on his good leg. The knife had glanced off a rib. The king was bleeding heavily, but it was a very survivable wound, with medical attention.\n\n\"Keep pressure on that,\" Kaladin said, pushing a cut section of the king's shirt against the wound, then placing the king's handover it. \"We need to get out of the palace. Find safety somewhere.\" The dueling grounds, maybe? The ardents could be relied upon, and they could fight too. But would that be too obvious?\n\nWell, first they had to actually get out of the palace. Kaladin grabbed his spear and turned to lead the way out, but his leg nearly betrayed him. He managed to catch himself, but it left him gasping in pain, clinging to his spear to keep from falling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Storms. Was that pool of blood at his feet his? He'd ripped his sutures out, and then some.\n\n\"I was wrong,\" the king said. \"We're both dead.\"\n\n\"Fleet kept running,\" Kaladin growled, getting back under Elhokar's arm.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"He couldn't win, but he kept running. And when the storm caught him, it didn't matter that he'd died, because he'd run for all he had.\"\n\n\"Sure. All right.\" The king sounded groggy, though Kaladin couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or the blood loss.\n\n\"We all die in the end, you see,\" Kaladin said. The two of them walked down the corridor, Kaladin leaning on his spear to keep them upright. \"So I guess what truly matters is just how well you've run. And Elhokar, you've kept running since your father was killed, even if you screw up all the storming time.\"\n\n\"Thank you?\" the king said, drowsy.\n\nThey reached an intersection, and Kaladin decided on escaping through the bowels of the palace complex, rather than the front gates. It was equally fast, but might not be the first place the plotters would look.\n\nThe palace was empty. Moash had done as he'd said, sending the servants away into hiding, using the precedent of the Assassin in White's attack. It was a perfect plan.\n\n\"Why?\" the king whispered. \"Shouldn't you hate me?\"\n\n\"I don't like you, Elhokar,\" Kaladin said. \"But that doesn't mean it's right to let you die.\"\n\n\"You said I should step down. Why, bridgeman? Why help me?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I don't know.\n\nThey turned down a hallway, but only made it about halfway before the king stopped walking and slumped to the ground. Kaladin cursed, kneeling beside Elhokar, checking his pulse and the wound.\n\nThis is the wine, Kaladin decided. That, plus the blood loss, left the king too light-headed.\n\nBad. Kaladin worked to rebind the wound as best he could, but then what? Try to pull the king out on a litter? Go for help, and risk leaving him alone?\n\n\"Kaladin?\"\n\nKaladin froze, still kneeling over the king.\n\n\"Kaladin, what are you doing?\" Moash's voice demanded from behind. \"We found the men at the door to the king's room. Storms, did you kill them?\"\n\nKaladin rose and turned, putting his weight on his good leg. Moash stood at the other end of the corridor, resplendent in his blue and red Shardplate. Another Shardbearer accompanied him, Blade upon the shoulder of his Plate, faceplate down. Graves.\n\nThe assassins had arrived." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Obviously they are fools The Desolation needs no usher It can and will sit where it wishes and the signs are obvious that the spren anticipate it doing so soon The Ancient of Stones must finally begin to crack It is a wonder that upon his will rested the prosperity and peace of a world for over four millennia\n\n-From the Diagram, Book of the 2nd Ceiling Rotation: pattern 1\n\nShallan stepped off the bridge onto a deserted plateau.\n\nThe rain muffled the sounds of warfare, making the area feel even more isolated. Darkness like dusk. Rainfall like hushed whispers.\n\nThis plateau was higher than most, so she could see Stormseat's center arrayed around her. Pillars with crem accreting at their bases, transforming them to stalagmites. Buildings that had become mounds, overgrown with stone like snow covering a fallen log. In the darkness and rain, the ancient city presented a sketch of skyline for the imagination to fill in.\n\nThis city hid beneath time's own illusion.\n\nThe others followed her across the bridge. They'd skirted the fighting on Aladar's battlefront, slipping along the Alethi lines to attain this farther plateau. Getting up here had taken time, as the bridgemen had needed to locate a usable landing. They'd had to climb a slope on the adjoining plateau and place their bridge thereto get across the chasm.\n\n\"How can you be sure this is the right place?\" Renarin asked, clinking down onto the plateau beside her. Shallan had opted for an umbrella, but Renarin stood in the rain, helm under his arm, letting the water stream down his face. Didn't he wear spectacles? She hadn't seen them on him much lately.\n\n\"It is the right place,\" Shallan said, \"because it's deviant.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"That's hardly a logical conclusion,\" Inadara said, joining the two of them as soldiers and bridgemen crossed to the empty plateau." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A portal of this nature would be kept hidden; it would not be deviant.\"\n\n\"The Oathgates were not hidden,\" Shallan said. \"That is beside the point, however. This plateau is a circle.\"\n\n\"Many are circular.\"\n\n\"Not this circular,\" Shallan said, striding forward. Now that she was here, she could see just how irregularly... well, regular the plateau was. \" I was looking fora dais on a plateau, but didn't realize the scale of what I was searching for. This entire plateau is the dais upon which the Oathgate sat.\n\n\"Don't you see? The other plateaus were created by some kind of disaster-they are jagged, broken. This place is not. That's because it was already here when the shattering happened. On the old maps it was a raised section, like a giant pedestal. When the Plains were broken, it remained this way.\"\n\n\"Yes...\" Renarin said, nodding. \"Imagine a plate with a circle etched into the center... if a force shattered the plate, it might break along the already weakened lines.\"\n\n\"Leaving you with a bunch of irregular pieces,\" Shallan agreed, \"and one shaped like a circle.\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Inadara said. \"But I find it odd that something so tactically important would be exposed.\"\n\n\"The Oathgates were a symbol,\" Shallan said, continuing to walk. \"The Vorin Right of Travel, given to all citizens of sufficient rank, is based on the Heralds' declaration that all borders should be open. If you were going to create a symbol of that unity-a portal that connected all of the Silver Kingdoms together-where would you put it? Hidden in a locked room? Or on a stage that rose above the city? It was out here because they were proud of it.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They continued through the blowing rain. There was a hallowed quality to this place, and honestly, that was part of how she knew she was right.\n\n\"Mmmm,\" Pattern said softly. \"They are raising a storm.\"\n\n\"The Voidspren?\" Shallan whispered.\n\n\"The bonded ones. They craft a storm.\"\n\nRight. Her task was urgent; she didn't have time to stand around thinking. She was about to order the search begun, but paused as she noticed Renarin staring westward, his eyes distant.\n\n\"Prince Renarin?\" she asked.\n\n\"The wrong way,\" he whispered. \"The wind is blowing from the wrong direction. West to east... Oh, Almighty above. It's terrible.\"\n\nShe followed his gaze, but could see nothing.\n\n\"It's actually real,\" Renarin said. \"The Everstorm.\"\n\n\"What are you talking about?\" Shallan asked, feeling a chill at the tone of his voice.\n\n\"I...\" He looked to her and wiped the water from his eyes, gauntlet hanging from his waist. \"I should be with my father. I should be able to fight. Only I'm useless.\"\n\nGreat. He was creepy and whiny. \"Well, your father ordered you to help me, so deal with your issues. Everyone, let's search this place.\"\n\n\"What are we looking for, cousin?\" asked Rock, one of the bridgemen.\n\nCousin, she thought. Cute. Because of the red hair. \"I don't know,\" she said. \"Anything strange, out of the ordinary.\"\n\nThey split up and spread out across the plateau. Along with Inadara, Shallan had a small group of ardents and scholars to help her, including one of Dalinar's stormwardens. She sent teams of several scholars, one bridgeman, and one soldier each indifferent directions." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Help keep the tale going for the author.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 25" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Haelan stared at Cywen as moonlight silvered her face. He was terrified, being out, as he had grown so accustomed to hiding, but Buddai had been uncontrollable after he'd got a sniff of Pots, snapping his leash and heading off into the darkness, and Pots had run with him. For one elongated moment Haelan had watched them go, then he'd been scrambling after them, cursing them both the entire time it had taken him to catch up with Buddai and wrap the remains of the torn leash about his arm.\n\nBuddai had calmed fora while when they reached this courtyard; maybe the sounds of guardsmen and the crackling fire reminded him that death lurked around every corner in this place. That was until the figure had appeared at the window. Buddai had taken a few deep sniffs through his broad muzzle, whined and then he was off again, Haelan standing no chance of even slowing him, let alone stopping him.\n\n\"Haelan, what are you doing here?\" Cywen whispered.\n\n\"Chasing the dogs,\" he whispered back, eyes flitting between Cywen and the firelight flickering at the building's corner.\n\nCywen smiled, ruffling Buddai's fur.\n\n\"I mean, how are you still alive? Where are you hiding? Are you alone? How do you have Buddai with you?\" She took a breath, clearly framing more questions.\n\n\"It's not safe here, \"Haelan said.\"Come with me. ' He went to move away but Cywen gripped his wrist.\n\n\"I'll tell you everything, I promise, ' he said. He looked up, the open sky, moon and stars feeling like it went on forever. He shuddered.\n\nCywen stared at him, then nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Follow me,\" he whispered and ran.\n\nThey passed through wide streets, always keeping to the edges, to the shadows. Soon they were entering a courtyard with an old oak at its centre, its trunk wide and thick, roots churning up the flagstoned floor. Haelan headed to a deeper shadow in its midst, and then he was scrambling into it, climbing into the hole that led to his den– his sense of safety grew palpably with each step deeper into his underground hiding place.\n\n\"This way,\" Haelan whispered as they slithered down a slope about the length of a man and reached the spot where you could turn left or right. The familiar stench from the left drifted up to him, but by now Haelan hardly noticed. Cywen clearly did, though, wrinkling her nose and then putting a handover her mouth.\n\n\"That's disgusting, ' she whispered.\n\nHaelan grunted and turned right. They shuffled along a dark narrowing space, forced onto hands and knees as the tunnel they were in followed a twisting root, then Haelan heard a welcoming whine and saw a flicker of light. He smiled.\n\nA space opened up before him, wide enough for about six men to stand abreast, and about a dozen paces long. Beyond that the tunnel narrowed again, twisting off about the root it followed. The small chamber was lit by a bowl of oil on a knot in the thick root, flame dancing upon its surface.\n\nTwo faces greeted him, Swain and Sif– Wulf's son and daughter– and six bundles of fur, Buddai's and Storm's cubs bouncing and leaping in their excitement at his return. Seeing them like this, he realized how they'd grown. They were only five or six moons old, but already they were all taller than Pots, their necks and broad chests thickening with muscle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Like Buddai. They'll not grow as big as Storm, but big enough, and they'll be wide and strong, I don't doubt.\n\n\"Calm down,\" Sif scolded the cubs as they bounced into her. She was on her hands and knees, playing with her bag of stones and nuts, rolling them into each other. Some of them Sif had chalked white.\n\nI still don't understand that game, but it's kept Sif quiet for over a moon.\n\nBuddai and Pots burst into the chamber, making the cubs even more excited. One of them froze, black-faced and brindle-coated, and stared at the darkness of the tunnel. It growled, revealing a row of razor-sharp puppy teeth.\n\n\"Shadow,\" Haelan said, reaching out a hand to the cub, but she didn't stop growling.\n\nThe other cubs stopped their frolicking and stared too, cocking heads, and then they were all growling as Cywen emerged from the darkness.\n\nShadow, the black-faced cub, took a snarling step forwards, legs bunching, about to leap, the others moving tight about her, all growling, hackles up. Haelan felt areal moment of panic, snapping a command at them that was completely ignored. Then Buddai was standing between the cubs and Cywen, baring his teeth, daring them. The cubs stopped, tails dropping, submitting. Shadow gave a last little growl of protest, and then she too was quiet.\n\nThank Elyon.\n\n\"I thought they were going to attack me,\" Cywen said, looking relieved as she stroked Buddai's broad head. Then she threw her head back and laughed, long and sounding slightly mad." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I can't believe you are all here, \"Cywen said, sitting down and cuddling Buddai. Pots put his forelegs on Cywen's shoulder and licked one of her ears; the cubs tentatively approached her, sniffing. Cywen held her arms out and beckoned to Sif, who walked over and hesitantly allowed Cywen to hug her. After about a count often Sif was sitting in Cywen's lap, hugging her tightly in return.\n\n\"How has this happened?\" Cywen asked.\n\n\"The battle,\" Swain started, \"when it happened, we were here, with the cubs-\"\n\n\"Because Corban had asked us to look after them,\" Sif said with big, serious eyes.\n\n\"He did, I remember,\" Cywen agreed.\n\n\"We didn't know what to do, ' Swain continued.\n\nI was terrified, Haelan thought, remembering the distant din of battle, the screams and battle-cries, flames, smoke. He'd been in the courtyard above, playing tug with Shadow. She'd heard it first, stopping and staring, ears going flat to her head.\n\n\"Buddai was here, with the cubs,\" Swain continued, but he ran off when the fighting started, and then all the cubs were off as well, following him. We chased them, and then, a man appeared in front of us-'\n\n\"He had rings in his beard,\" Sif said.\n\n\"Aye,\" Swain said, eyes distant, remembering. \"He was going to kill us, tried to, but Buddai killed him.\"\n\n\"Ripped his throat out,\" Sif added matter-of-factly.\n\n\"We picked up all the cubs between us and tricked Buddai into following us back here.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How did you manage that?\" Cywen asked.\n\nThey were silent a few moments.\n\n\"I pinched one of the cubs– twisted her ear and made her cry,\" Haelan said. He still felt guilty about that. \"Buddai followed us back here, and then we tied him up.\"\n\n\"We were scared he'd get killed, ' Sif said.\n\n\"You were right to do it,\" Cywen said, stroking Sif's hair.\"Buddai would have been killed. I think you saved his life. '\n\nSif smiled at that, nodding. By now all six cubs were rubbing up against Cywen, sniffing, nibbling her clothing; one was tugging at her hair and she absently pushed it off.\n\n\"And since then,\" Swain went on, \"we've just... stayed hidden. Every now and then me or Haelan sneak out for food and water. Pots is good at foraging for the cubs– he's always disappearing and coming back with something for them.\"\n\nSif screwed her face up at that, and Haelan remembered some of the things Pots had returned with– an arm once.\n\nThe cubs hadn't complained.\n\n\"What's happening, up there? ' Swain asked Cywen.\n\n\"I'm a prisoner, \"Cywen said.\"I tend to the sick– wounded from the battle. Most have recovered, or died, but there are still a few to tend to. '\n\n\"I meant Corban,\" Swain said. \"And Da?\"\n\n\"Wulf? I think he escaped,\" Cywen said, and Swain and Sif physically drooped with relief.\n\nTahir? What of my shieldman? And my friend. Tahir had driven Haelan mad, with his strict rules about where Haelan could and couldn't go, what he could and couldn't do." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And his mam's old sayings. I wish I could see him and hear one of those sayings now.\n\n\"Tahir?\" he asked.\n\n\"Your shieldman? I don't know, \"Cywen shrugged.\"There was a lot of confusion. Many escaped, \"she said hopefully,\"and they're in Forn, still fighting.\"\n\n\"How do you know, if you're a prisoner? \"Haelan asked suspiciously. He wanted good news, but he didn't want to belied to, treated like a child.\n\n\"A patrol of Vin Thalun came back this morning. I saw them. There were more dead and wounded than the living amongst them.\"\n\n\"Ha,\" Swain barked a laugh. \"My da's work, for sure. '\n\n\"No doubt,\" Cywen said.\n\n\"So, what now?\" Haelan asked.\n\n\"You could stay with us,\" Sif said.\n\n\"I wish I could,\" Cywen replied, \"but I can't. I tend the sick and cannot abandon them. Besides, if Calidus found me gone, he'd tear Drassil apart looking for me. He might find you...\"\n\n\"Why would he do that?\" Sif asked.\n\n\"Because I am Corban's kin, and he thinks Corban will come for me. I am bait in a trap. '\n\n\"Will Corban come?\" Haelan, Swain and Sif asked together.\n\n\"I don't know. \"Cywen shook her head.\"He did the last time, when I was Calidus'prisoner.\"\n\n\"But if it's a trap... ' Haelan said.\n\nThen Corban cannot come. He is our hope. Haelan loved Corban, admired him as the greatest warrior and leader the world had ever seen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then you have to escape, get out of here, before Corban comes for you.\"\n\nA smile twitched Cywen's mouth, not light-hearted, but serious and determined.\"My thoughts exactly, \"she said.\"It's just the how that I'm struggling with. And now that I know you're here.\" She smiled. \"You'll have to come with me, else Calidus may find you in his search for me. '\n\nThat thought both excited and scared Haelan.\n\nTo be away from this danger, the daily fear of being discovered and caught. But being away from our den, which has kept us safe and hidden a whole moon.\n\n\"And, talking of being discovered, I should go back to the hospice, else the sun will be rising.\"\n\nSif squeezed her harder and Cywen squeezed her in return.\n\n\"I cannot tell you how happy I am to know that you are alive and here,\" Cywen said. \"And my Buddai...\" She hugged the hound's neck, kissing him.\n\n\"I'll return soon, \"she said, then made her goodbyes, ruffling the cubs\" heads and hugging Sif again. She gave Buddai astern order to stay and then backed into the darkness of the tunnel. Buddai whined but he did not follow her. Haelan did, though, and soon they were at the slope that led up to the courtyard. Moonlight showed them the way.\n\n\"That smell,\" Cywen said, wrinkling her nose as they stood in the darkness at the base of the slope. She was staring into the darkness of the tunnel where the smell was drifting from. \"I recognize it,\" she said quietly, her expression changing. She looked scared. \"Is that another tunnel?\" she asked him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is,\" he said, remembering the first time he'd found this place, how he'd crawled that way first, eventually stopping and coming back. \"It gets too narrow.\" Strangely, the cubs never went that way.\n\n\"Good,\" Cywen said, her expression relaxing.\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\"Because I know that smell, and I think there are draigs down there.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban sat upon a giant bear, hands gripping the high pommel of a saddle as it shambled along afresh-built road that cut like a spear through the trees and undergrowth of Forn.\n\nJael's road, which he built almost from the boundaries of Gramm's hold to see him and his warband to the walls of Drassil.\n\nThe bear's pace was surprisingly fast, eating up the leagues at a relentless pace throughout each day's travel. His legs were aching; the girth of a bear was unsuitable for his human legs.\n\nI miss Shield, he thought, not for the first time.\n\nThe trees were thinning, now, the terrain changing and more sunlight breaking through the canopy above. There was less vine and thorn on the ground, more grass and wildflowers. And then Corban saw the stumps of trees, a whole vale harvested of timber.\n\nWe are close to Gramm's hold.\n\nWith every league that he had travelled, everyday that had passed, he had felt his spirits sink. After Meical's revelation about the prophecy, Corban had been in the deepest depths of despair, but focusing on the hope of being reunited with Cywen and his friends had given him the strength to endure. It had been something to live for. To fight for. Now he knew that, with every breath that he drew, he was being taken further away from them, if they still lived, and despondency had morphed into anger. Hated faces appeared in his mind.\n\nCalidus. Nathair. Ildaer. Rhin. Meical.\n\nHe had thought about escape, but the simple truth was that, even if he could somehow break his bonds and slip away from his giant captors, he would not have been able to walk half a league because of his injuries." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Even now, over a moon from when he'd been captured, they were still not fully recovered.\n\nSoon, though, perhaps.\n\nHis ribs now were little more than a dull ache, occasionally a twinge of pain if he over-stretched or twisted suddenly. His leg, though, was taking longer to heal. He could put weight on it, now, and walk if he favoured it, but it was still a considerable way from normal.\n\nSurrounding him was a loose line of giants, a score of them, riding their huge bears, Ildaer at their centre. After his first interrogation by Ildaer, Corban had spoken little to the Jotun Warlord. The only people that Corban conversed with were Hala, the giantess healer, and Varan, the blond-haired giant who seemed in someway apprenticed to her.\n\n\"Do you recognize this place?\" Varan rumbled in his ear. The giant's bulk was in the saddle behind him, his travelling companion and gaoler in one.\n\nCorban didn't answer.\n\nWill I ever see my kin and friends again?\n\nThe sun was sinking as the hill of Gramm's hold appeared. Ildaer paused to let the bears drink from a stream, Corban staring at the familiar outline of the hill, silhouetted by the red sun. It was hard to see details, but the memory of the place settled upon Corban like a shroud.\n\nTukul's death. Gar's grief and duel with Ildaer, his subsequent defeat by the giant, rage had made Gar reckless.\n\n\"Anger is the enemy,\" Corban murmured, a mantra that Gar had drummed into him a thousand times as they had trained and sparred together." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Please, Elyon above, let Gar be alive, he prayed. He'd not considered other scenarios, the thought of Gar being gone, slain, was almost too much to bear.\n\nHe lives still. He must live still.\n\nIldaer called out a command and with a jolt Varan's bear lumbered into motion. Corban noted with some satisfaction the lack of pain in his chest and knee.\n\nHala's brot has worked wonders; I'll have to remember to tell Brina about adding goldenseal to it.\n\nThey covered the ground quickly, and soon Corban was passing the paddocks and meadows that Gramm's herds of horses had roamed in, empty now, the fences broken and grass long and swaying in a cold wind from the north. Steadily they climbed the gentle hill that led to the hold. New gates had been built, taller and wider, two squat towers with an arch of stone framing them. Corban passed through into what had been the courtyard.\n\nA wall of sound greeted them as they rode through the broad gates, giants calling out Ildaer's name, stamping their feet and banging weapons on wood and stone. Ildaer lifted a fist in the air, like a champion, his face set in proud lines.\n\nCorban blinked at the number of giants. There were more than he had seen in one place since he had entered the halls of Murias. Two hundred at least, probably more, moving on the hill and amongst the buildings. Of greater impact on him was the sight of Gramm's hall. Or the lack of it. The hall was gone, completely. Burned to the ground or torn down, Corban did not know. Jotun giants were gathered around the foundations of the old hall, laying new groundworks fora much larger building. Corban could seethe top of a huge foundation stone sunk into the ground, and behind it a timber framework marking out the dimensions of the new hall, stretching backup the hill like the skeleton of some huge long-dead behemoth. Elsewhere, the same was happening: the myriad of smaller human-built wooden buildings– stables and barns and boathouses and dwelling places– all gone, slowly being replaced by larger stone buildings." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What are you doing here?\" Corban said to Varan as the giant slipped from the saddle behind him and dropped to the ground with a hefty thump.\n\nVaran grinned at him as he helped Corban dismount.\n\n\"Moving in,\" the giant said.\n\nThe next morning Corban awoke in a stone room. A dream lingered, of Coralen. She had been kissing him– or was he kissing her? No, she was definitely kissing me. He closed his eyes, trying to hold onto the memory of her, of her lips against his. Fora moment he fancied that he could even smell her, the scent of apples on her breath.\n\nI should have spoken to her, after she kissed me that day in Drassil. Not been such a bumbling idiot. What I would give to see her again, to talk to her...\n\nThe dream was gone, no point moping, as Brina would have said, so he swung out of bed. He had slept in a stone cot with a mattress stuffed with straw, and yet he felt stiff and cold– worse than he'd felt sleeping on tree roots in Forn. He sat on the side of his bed, fingers probing at his ribs, pleased with the results, and then he tested his injured leg upon the ground.\n\nNot so bad, he thought, slowly allowing it to bear more weight. It was stiff, a dull throb, but no spikes of pain.\n\nSo. Good, then. If I am ever to get back to my kin and friends, and fight again, then I will need my leg back. He felt a glimmer of hope flicker in the darkness that his world had become.\n\nGingerly he walked to the doorway, opened the big oak door and peered out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The hold was as busy as the night before, giants going about the business of rebuilding the settlement." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The timber wall was being taken down, section by section: anew wall was going up, made of great stone blocks. At the moment it was only a man high, but even as Corban watched, more rocks were being drawn up in a huge wain, rolled from the back with a deep thud, clouds of dust roiling up about them.\n\nThey mean to be here along time. This is no raiding party or foray. They are settling, building anew home.\n\nA shadow fell across him. Varan appeared, Hala at her side.\n\n\"How is your leg?\" Hala grunted at him as she shooed him back inside.\n\n\"Better, again,\" he said, \"though I don't think I'm ready to start running around the paddock, yet.\"\n\n\"Hold your arms wide, shoulder high,\" Hala ordered, and when he did, she made him twist slowly either way. Again, he was pleasantly surprised at the lack of pain.\n\n\"Sit,\" she said, and set about examining his knee. While she was about her work, the door opened and Ildaer entered; a red-haired giant followed him, with an axe-blade jutting over his back.\n\n\"Is ga dom a labhairt leis an priosunach,\" Ildaer said.\n\n\"Fan do sheal,\" Hala muttered.\n\nIldaer scowled and folded his arms, standing waiting and glowering at Corban. The red-haired giant stared at Corban with barely concealed hatred.\n\n\"It's doing well, \"Hala said to him.\"I agree; no running. More brot, though. '\n\nCorban pulled a face but nodded.\n\nHala grunted and left, Varan went with her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is time for us to talk again,\" Ildaer said to Corban, who was still sitting on his bed. Ildaer dragged over a stool and sat on it. He unslung the war-hammer from across his back and rested it upon his lap.\n\nVaran came back into stand leaning against a wall near the doorway.\n\n\"You are my prisoner,\" Ildaer began, \"but also my guest. I will not keep you chained to a wall or throw you in a hole. You will live amongst us, and you may go where you please within the boundaries of this hold.\"\n\nCorban must have shown the shock he felt, because Ildaer paused and raised an eyebrow.\n\n\"What?\" the giant asked.\n\n\"I am just surprised,\" Corban said.\n\n\"We are not savages.\" Ildaer shrugged. \"And besides, you area worthy enemy. You slew men of repute amongst us, fine warriors. You have earned our respect.\"\n\nGiants are often not what they seem. More complicated.\n\n\"Thank you,\" Corban said.\n\n\"Huh,\" Ildaer grunted. \"Do not think that I will not break both your legs if you try to escape. And either Mort or Varan will stay with you, wherever you go.\"\n\nThe red-haired giant gave Corban a stony stare.\n\nNot such good news.\n\n\"Now, we will continue with the questions I began back in Forn.\"\n\n\"Still something for something?\" Corban asked.\n\n\"You can ask your questions. I'll answer if I see fit. I came to Drassil expecting to see Jael's banner assaulting the walls, or raised in victory from the towers, but instead I saw a silver eagle upon a black field.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Aye,\" Corban sighed, feeling sick that he had not been thereto help." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To fight. To stand with his kin and friends. \"The silver eagle. That is the banner of Nathair, King of Tenebral,\" Corban said flatly.\n\n\"And Jael. What of him?\"\n\n\"His warband was defeated a ten-night earlier. He fled into Forn with a few shieldmen. He is most likely dead.\"\n\nIldaer sat back at that, frowning.\n\n\"My question?\"\n\nIldaer waved a hand, inviting.\n\n\"Balur One-Eye. You saw him here, at the battle for Gramm's hold. You exchanged words. You knew him? '\n\nIldaer's eyes narrowed, and fora long moment Corban thought he wasn't going to answer.\n\n\"Aye. I know Balur One-Eye; or did. I was young and he was already old, I was a giantling to him.\" Ildaer's eyes narrowed and he leaned forwards in his chair.\"Balur is no friend to men. How was he in your company? '\n\nCorban thought of his first meeting with Balur, in the depths of Murias, of their long journey to Drassil, of sparring with the huge warrior in the weapons court, of his rumbling laughter. Of how Balur had charged from the gates of Drassil to come to Corban's rescue against Jael's host. And of the last time he had seen Balur, the two of them talking, alone before Skald's skeleton in the throne of Drassil. Balur had told of how he had been first-sword of the giant High King Skald, and had confessed that he had slain Skald rather than follow his order and strangle Queen Nemain. She had been pregnant with Balur's child, Ethlinn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I met Balur in Murias, in the far north of Benoth." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We had a common enemy, and so became allies, and companions,\" Corban said.\n\n\"Balur slew many of your kind,\" Ildaer said. \"The tales of his deeds during what you call the Giant Wars, when the Benothi were driven from their fortresses, forced to flee into the north, they show he hates the race of men.\"\n\n\"I can only tell you what I saw,\" Corban replied. \"And life's not so simple, is it? One man is not the same as another, and I have come to see that the same is true of you giants. We are all capable of good and evil, kindness and cruelty. \"He shrugged.\"Balur One-Eye is my friend. '\n\n\"Balur One-Eye is an oathbreaker. He slew Skald, the High King, murdered him when he was supposed to protect him. I spit on Balur One-Eye.\"\n\nMort grunted an agreement.\n\n\"When you saw him here, you did not spit on him,\" Corban said. \"You ran from him.\"\n\nIldaer snarled and lifted a hand, fist bunching.\n\n\"Coinnigh,\" Varan said, \"Hala ni bheadh a chadu.\" Ildaer froze.\n\n\"You know little of giants,\" Ildaer growled at Corban, \"if you think you know us so well.\"\n\n\"I don't claim to know you, \"Corban said,\"but I do know Balur and some of his kin. Ethlinn... \"The name had an effect: all three of the giants stared at him as if he'd said he'd broken his fast with Elyon the Maker.\n\n\"She lives, then?\" Ildaer said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aye, she lives. And she, too, is my friend.\"\n\nIldaer sat and considered Corban awhile, and silence settled upon them. Eventually he shifted in his chair.\n\n\"Tell me of this Nathair. Is he your friend, too?\"\n\nCorban felt his face twitch at Nathair's name.\n\n\"No,\" he said through gritted teeth, \"he is not. He is the ally of Calidus, who is a Kadoshim made flesh. They are both my enemies.\"\n\n\"Yet they sit in Drassil. Did you run?\" Ildaer sneered.\n\n\"Why am I here?\" Corban asked. \"Why am I still alive?\"\n\n\"Because my heart tells me that you are someone of worth. Someone with friends, and with enemies,\" Ildaer shrugged. \"Perhaps I will offer you to this Nathair, see what that may bring me. He would be in my debt, maybe?\"\n\n\"Why did you not do it, then? We were at Drassil, Nathair before us.\" Corban felt a spike of fear at the thought of being handed over to Nathair and Calidus like a trussed bird. And anger, the image of their faces...\n\n\"I was injured.\" Ildaer touched his shoulder, where Atilius'spear had pierced him.\"You do not show any weakness to men such as Jael or Nathair, \"he said, an admonishment.\"And I do not know this Nathair. I knew Jael, had bargained with him. We had an agreement, and I knew his measure. But Jael is dead, you say. And this Nathair... I do not trust strangers so easily. '\n\nSo he is cautious and mistrustful. Good." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You cannot deal with Nathair, or Calidus. They have no honour; they are liars who will smile and stab you as they do.\"\n\n\"So speaks their enemy,\" Ildaer snorted.\n\n\"You cannot ally yourself to Nathair and Calidus. Cannot join their side.\"\n\n\"We Jotun are not on any side, except our own.\"\n\nCorban shook his head. \"This is the God-War; it does notwork like that. All choose aside,\" he said. \"If you choose not to fight against Asroth, then you have already chosen him. Doing nothing does not absolve you of choice. Doing nothing puts you firmly on Asroth's side and makes you a coward, as well, for not having the stones to admit it. '\n\nIldaer stood abruptly, his chair falling over behind him. He gripped his hammer and loomed over Corban.\n\n\"Ach, little man,\" he snarled, \"it would be so easy to kill you, just for the joy of it, and any advantage you may bring tome be damned.\"\n\n\"Do it, then,\" Corban said, glaring up at Ildaer.\n\nIldaer glowered back, his moustache twitching in anger, then he slung his war-hammer over his shoulder. \"Perhaps later,\" he said. \"So you have chosen Elyon, then.\"\n\n\"The enemy of my enemy,\" Corban shrugged, remembering Balur had said those same words to him in Murias.\n\n\"That's no answer, \"Ildaer rumbled.\"What do you fight for, if not Elyon? '\n\n\"For my kin and loved ones. So that we will not be enslaved or murdered. I've seen the Kadoshim, seen only a brief glimpse of what they would do, and it is terrible. I fight against that. I fight for my freedom. ' He felt some of his anger drain. Even though he despised Ildaer, could not remove the memory of him striking down Tukul, he also saw in him a leader trying to steer his people through murky danger-filled waters." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He's scared." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Scared of making the wrong choice and thus damning his people; instead he makes no choice and so damns them all the same.\n\n\"I tried running from it,\" Corban said. \"From Nathair, from Calidus, but it is the God-War. It caught up with me, forced me to fight. It will do the same with you. The whole of the Banished Lands is the battleground.\"\n\n\"I am not running; I am preparing,\" Ildaer said. \"We will talk again.\" Then he was striding from the room. Varan just stood and stared at Corban along moment, the angles of his face alien and unreadable, then he followed Ildaer from the room. Mort picked up the chair and sat with his long legs out straight, eyes fixed on Corban.\n\nCorban stood up and walked to the door.\n\n\"What are you doing?\" Mort asked him in rusty common tongue, each word sounding as if he was tasting something disgusting.\n\n\"Going fora walk,\" Corban said and opened the door.\n\nBright sunlight greeted him, the sounds of hammering, harsh voices raised in instruction. Corban stood there, then stepped out into the sunlight.\n\nHe walked around the courtyard first, taking it slowly, testing his leg with each step, careful not to over-extend, always mindful of the ground he was walking on. From the top of the hill he had a wide view. He walked on, thoughts slipping back to his conversation with Ildaer, the shadow of Mort following along behind him.\n\nSo, I am a bargaining tool, he thought. Will likely be handed to Nathair and Calidus on a platter. I have no choice. I must escape.\n\nNoises pulled his attention back, and he looked up. He saw giants shouting, pointing and waving across the river to where a host was gathered on the far side of the river, a great dust cloud above it. In time he could make out individual shapes: bears, hundreds of them, each with a rider on its back, sunlight glinting on spear-heads and mail, and behind the bears a sprawling mass of wagons and giants on foot." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Who are they?\" Corban breathed.\n\n\"The Jotun,\" Mort replied, pride and something else in his voice.\n\nExcitement?\n\n\"With our King at their head.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin stepped out of the tunnel and blinked, half-blinded fora moment, even though he had only emerged into the quiet gloom of Forn Forest. After the tunnel's darkness it felt like the brightest of days.\n\nAfter the defeat of Gundul's warband, they had gathered wains full of provisions from Gundul's camp. With the help of the men Fidele had found from Drassil and Alben's scouts, they located the old giant tunnel that led to Drassil. It had been along, dank journey, over a moon of living in near-total darkness until they emerged from aside tunnel– not wanting to emerge too close to Drassil.\n\nBehind him more figures surfaced– the warband of Ripa.\n\nVeradis appeared with the warriors who had stood with him upon the road, as well as Alcyon, Raina and Tain. Maquin had heard how the shield wall had stood against at least three times as many and broken them, and then of how Veradis had rallied his men against the Kadoshim when they were close to being torn apart.\n\nThat was some feat. Gundul's warband numbered in the thousands, and we only lost a hundred men. Gundul is slain, the warband of Carnutan broken.\n\nAnd Jael is dead.\n\nEvery time Maquin thought of that moment, and thought of his oath to Kastell fulfilled, he felt a lightness in his chest, like a child awaking on his nameday.\n\nI have fulfilled my oath. He felt himself grinning, though he still felt the distant ache of losing Kastell.\n\nI miss you, my friend.\n\nAlben emerged from the tunnel, in conversation with the men they had found in the forest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Glad to have them– they can help us find this warband of the Bright Star. Maquin fell in behind the old warrior, along with a score of other men, and together they scouted the land, setting a perimeter around the emerging warband.\n\nIt would not be a good time to be attacked.\n\nIt took awhile for the warband to setup camp: clearing the ground, digging fire-pits and stacking weapons.\n\nFidele saw him standing on the fringes of their camp and approached, a handful of her new shieldmen at her shoulder. He felt his breath catch in his chest at the sight of her, and enjoyed watching her walk towards him. She saw the look he gave her and smiled shyly back at him.\n\nHow has this come to be? Me and Fidele! He barked a laugh at the treetops.\n\nIn the heart of Forn Forest, an enemy in league with the Kadoshim ahead of us. Outnumbered and heading into more pain and death, and yet I am the happiest I can ever remember being.\n\nWhen she reached him he took her hand and kissed it. She smiled and stroked his cheek, pulling him into an embrace, and from the corner of his eye Maquin saw Fidele's new shieldmen look uncomfortable.\n\nThey can go spit, Maquin thought. If Fidele doesn't care, then I sure as hell don't.\n\n\"So, my lady,\" he said when they parted, \"it seems the sun still shines.\"\n\n\"Good riddance to that tunnel,\" she said with a shudder.\n\n\"Aye. And now onto Drassil.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she said, her expression turning pensive. He saw the pain and worry in her eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And Nathair is at Drassil,\" he voiced her thoughts.\n\n\"He is,\" she agreed. A pause. \"As is Lykos.\" She couldn't keep the loathing from her voice.\n\nNor should she. He felt a hot wave of anger at the thought of the Vin Thalun Lord, anger at the little that Fidele had told him of her experience with Lykos, a flash of his own memories, of torture, of flame, of the branding-iron and the knife's edge. His hand reached up to touch the brand Lykos had seared into Maquin's shoulder.\n\nLykos. Another bastard I mean to kill before this war is done.\n\nMaquin peered through a gap in the undergrowth and felt the air hiss from his lungs.\n\n\"So that's Drassil, ' he muttered.\n\nFor so many years he had heard it only mentioned as a faery tale, a story told on cold nights beside a roaring fire, with a skin of mead being passed around. But to see it, somehow it was more than the tales ever led him to expect.\n\nA wide plain rolled out before him, cleared of trees and undergrowth.\n\nA killing ground, and purpose built.\n\nAnd beyond the plain a huge fortress stood. Its walls were high, its oak gate wide and thick. Towers rose from within the walls, but behind and above it, overwhelming all else, the enormous trunk of a giant tree soared. Its bulk was so vast that Maquin did not realize at first what it was, its trunk broader than any great hall Maquin had seen, its branches arching above and over the fortress like some ancient giant protector.\n\nDrassil, and the great tree. Well, that's a sight, and no denying." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Maquin looked at those lined beside him: Alben, their scouts and the giant Alcyon, who had joined them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "All looked awestruck, even Alcyon. The only ones who were not were the warriors that they had found in the forest.\n\nThey've seen it before. Lived in it.\n\nThey had led Maquin and the others to Drassil, telling them that their own warband moved camp regularly, so the best way to find them was to go to Drassil and then hunt for scouting parties.\n\nMaquin looked back to the fortress, saw a banner ripple above the gate tower, a silver eagle upon a black field.\n\nSo it is as we feared. Nathair has taken the fortress. Is there even anyone left here for us to fight alongside? If not, then we've walked a damn long way for nothing.\n\nAshe watched, the gates of Drassil opened, a slow, ponderous movement, the creak of oak andiron rumbling across the open plain. Figures appeared, marching onto the plain. There were a hundred men at least, heading off to the south, towards the forest. As the distance between them narrowed Maquin saw they were a combination of men, some clothed in the black and silver of Tenebral, long shields on their arms, intermingled with a more disorganized mass, men in leather andiron, bucklers instead of shields, short swords at their hips.\n\nThe Vin Thalun, Maquin realized, feeling his lip curl in a snarl.\n\nWhat if Lykos leads them?\n\nBefore he even knew it, he was slipping into the undergrowth and padding silently through the trees, shadowing the men on the plain. The sound of footsteps behind him told that some, at least, were following him.\n\nThe enemy patrol entered the forest to the south, moving along a well-worn path, winding through the maze of thick-boled trees." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What are you doing?\" Alben whispered in his ear as Maquin shadowed the patrol, careful to stay hidden. Alcyon was a few steps behind them. \"They are too many for us.\"\n\n\"I know, but what are they doing?\" Maquin whispered. \"Why are they out here?\"\n\n\"Good question,\" Alben muttered.\n\nThey followed them fora while, saw that more paths were being cut through the forest; areas cleared, stripped of foliage, and every now and then the patrol would stop, the men of Tenebral would setup a perimeter with their shields, while the Vin Thalun laboured within to clear anew stretch of ground.\n\n\"Perhaps they are attempting to make anew road from Drassil, like Gundul's? ' Alben whispered as they lay on a bank behind the patrol and watched.\n\nMaquin grunted. He was staring hard at the Vin Thalun, trying to pick out details. So far he had not seen Lykos amongst their ranks. Still though his fingers twitched for his knife. How he hated the Vin Thalun.\n\n\"I think it is time to leave,\" Alben said with a pat on Maquin's shoulder.\n\n\"Wait,\" Alcyon said beside them, a low rumble. \"Something's out there. '\n\nAbruptly there was a tension in the air, a silence, then a whistling sound, the wet thunk of flesh being cleaved. Screams from Vin Thalun and eagle-guard. Maquin stared harder and saw the hilt of a single-bladed axe protruding from a Vin Thalun skull. Then axe-wielding men were swarming from the undergrowth: warriors wrapped in fur and leather, longhair and beards braided, their appearance similar to those whom Fidele had found. From the far side different warriors attacked: some clad in mail and red cloaks hefting spears, others clothed more lightly, just leather and sharp iron. There was something familiar about them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then a great bellow rang out, war-cries, and out from the gloom of the forest larger shapes appeared, man-like, but bigger, wielding war-hammers and battle-axes.\n\nGiants! What is going on here? Maquin counted at least ten of them charging at the enemy patrol like an avalanche.\n\nThe attackers struck into the patrol from three sides, breaking into their ranks even as the eagle-guard were lifting their shields and desperately trying to form their wall.\n\nDon't let them, Maquin willed, knowing how deadly the wall of shields was. He had seen it first-hand in Haldis, when Veradis had used the shield wall to breakthrough the might of the Hunen giants. Even as he watched he saw some of the black-painted shields snapping together, a dozen men forming up, others fighting through to join them, making a small square. Swords stabbed from behind the shield wall; the attackers were pierced, falling.\n\n\"Not going to just sit and watch this,\" Maquin grunted, scrambling to his feet and breaking into a loping run. He knew that Alben and the rest would follow.\n\nHe reached over his shoulders, gripped the hilts of his two short swords and drew them as he ran. Behind him he heard Alcyon bellow his war-cry, \"KURGAN, KURGAN,\" and in front of them the battle seemed to still fora moment, many pausing to look their way.\n\nGot their attention now.\n\nMaquin grinned, a feral thing, and then he was amongst them.\n\nHe veered around the flank of eagle-guard in their shield wall, swung at an ankle beneath a shield rim, felt his sword scrape along iron-banded greaves, saw a sword jabbing out at him and swerved away. Then he was amongst the Vin Thalun. In half a dozen strokes of his sword four men were dead or bleeding out on the floor. Maquin screamed wordless joy as the battle-rage took him and he strode through them like death itself, parrying, chopping, stabbing. He left one of his swords stuck in an enemy's spine, drew a knife and fought on." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Behind him he glimpsed Alcyon hacking at the shield wall with the two long axes he'd taken from Gundul's woodsmen. He was standing back, not getting close enough for their short swords to reach him. He hooked an axe over the rim of a shield and dragged the warrior holding it stumbling forwards, his other axe chopping into the man, between neck and shoulder. He dropped with a gurgling scream, blood spraying as Alcyon wrenched the blade free, but before he could take advantage of the crack in the shield wall another man had filled the gap.\n\nFour snarling Vin Thalun came at him. Maquin hesitated a moment, then he was running, spinning close amongst them. His knife opened a throat with his first strike, his sword hacking through a forearm with his second, leaving both arm and buckler on the ground. He blocked an overhead blow from the third Vin Thalun, lunging in, swayed away from a sword thrust, hooked his ankle and sent his opponent crashing to the ground. A sharp thrust of his sword finished the man, and Maquin was stepping over the dead warrior to get at the last man.\n\nThey circled one another, Maquin crouched low, sword and knife bloody, hands and arms slick with gore. He grinned at the young Vin Thalun warrior, who was staring hard at Maquin; as recognition dawned, he staggered back a step.\n\n\"It's the Old Wolf, \"the Vin Thalun stammered, then louder.\"It's the OLD WOLF!\" he cried, then turned and ran.\n\nMaquin looked around for someone else to fight, saw that most of the battle was done, only a small knot of Vin Thalun still standing.\n\nA glance over his shoulder showed Alben, Alcyon and their scouts still harrying the shield wall, which was marching steadily northwards, trying to break for Drassil." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alcyon hammered another axe-blow into a shield, sending a shudder rippling through the wall, but doing no other damage. Suddenly the other giants were there and instead of attacking the shield wall, turned their attention to Alcyon, circling him, war-hammers and axes waving threateningly at him. One of the giants took a swing at Alcyon with a war-hammer. Alcyon deflected it with a blow from one axe. The warriors from Drassil who had travelled with them were shouting, \"Peace, they are allies,\" at the giants, but to no avail.\n\nIn the distance Maquin glimpsed the eagle-guard shield wall disappearing into the forest. Furious at their escape, Maquin turned his attention back to the giants and ran straight at Alcyon's attacker. He threw himself into the back of the giant's knees, dropping him to the ground, rolled over the giant's torso and knelt upon his chest, sword-tip resting against the giant's throat.\n\n\"This isn't exactly the thanks we were expecting, ' Maquin growled.\n\nThen a young man was stepping out from the midst of the giants, in mail shirt and red cloak, thick-necked and long-armed. He was staring as if he couldn't believe his eyes.\n\n\"Maquin?\" he whispered.\n\nMaquin lifted his blade, climbing off of the giant, and gave a snort of laughter.\n\n\"Tahir?\"\n\nThe man in front of him was grinning now, arms opening wide and then they were hugging each other tight, slapping backs, laughing.\n\n\"I thought you fell,\" Tahir said, \"with Orgull. The two of you were holding the door beneath Dun Kellen...\" Tears were streaming from his eyes, and Maquin realized he was crying, too, and laughing. Tahir, his last living sword-brother from the Gadrai. A friend from another lifetime." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We were taken, made slaves by the Vin Thalun,\" Maquin murmured.\n\n\"Orgull?\" Tahir asked.\n\nMaquin shook his head. \"He fell. Haelan?\" he asked.\n\nTahir lowered his head. \"He survived; we made it to Orgull's kin. But in the battle of Drassil we were separated. I hope that he lives still... '\n\nAnother man stepped from the crowd, one of the axe-throwers. He was tall and muscled, a knotted braid in his thick beard.\n\n\"You knew my brother?\" he said.\n\n\"This is Wulf,\" Tahir introduced. \"Orgull's brother. '\n\nMaquin could seethe resemblance now.\n\n\"Aye,\" Maquin said. \"A better man I never knew.\"\n\nWulf nodded grimly.\n\n\"But how are you here?\" Tahir blurted.\n\n\"It's along story, ' Maquin smiled.\n\n\"What's all the fuss about? It's not like he's the only pit-fighter to make it this far north, ' another voice said, a small, wiry man stepping forwards with a sharp grin. He was dressed similarly to Maquin, favouring a leather jerkin and breeches over heavy mail. He was shaven-haired, his skin burned dark by the sun.\n\n\"Javed?\" Maquin said. \"Have I died and crossed the bridge of swords?\"\n\n\"Not yet,\" Javed said, coming closer and punching Maquin in the gut, doubling him over.\n\n\"That's for leaving me behind in a Vin Thalun arena, \"Javed said,\"while you ran off with a pretty lady! \"Then Javed was laughing, slapping Maquin on the shoulder and helping him straighten; Maquin was coughing, still searching for breath.\"Damn, but it's good to see you, Old Wolf,\" Javed grinned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It's good to see you, too, \"Maquin said when he had his voice under control.\"Looks like mine isn't the only story to tell.\"\n\n\"There is much to say,\" Alben said from behind them, \"but perhaps after we have stopped anew giant feud.\"\n\nThe giant whom Maquin had knocked to the ground had risen and was still glowering at Alcyon, who was frowning back.\n\n\"Fachen,\" Tahir called up to the giant. \"These are our allies, come to help us.\"\n\n\"He is Kurgan,\" Fachen said, as if the two things were incompatible, and Alcyon gave a half-smile, half-snarl.\n\n\"Aye, and I am Tahir of the Gadrai, giant-slayer. But that was my old life; in this new one we're sword-brothers, and if he's come to fight alongside us, then so is he.\"\n\nFachen and the other Benothi shared a look.\n\n\"You will put the old grievance aside?\" Fachen rumbled.\n\n\"Aye,\" Alcyon answered, lowering his twin axes.\n\n\"All right then, as will I,\" Fachen said. \"Welcome to Drassil.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis marched through Forn Forest, Krelis beside him, Fidele, Maquin and Alben just ahead. Alcyon, Raina and Tain were visible in front of them, walking with a handful of the new giants, as well as some of the others that Alben and Maquin had encountered in the forest.\n\nThe Benothi giant clan, so Alben said. It was a Benothi giant I met in Domhain, allied to Queen Rhin. Uthas...\n\nTheir warband marched behind them, a thick, winding column that disappeared amongst the trees. Twilight was a thick fog about them, limiting Veradis' vision. Alben had filled them in on the situation at Drassil: Nathair was holding the fortress, the warband of Corban had been broken and scattered, but the survivors were now reunited and fighting on, waging a war of stealth and attrition on their enemy. They were walking now to join these survivors.\n\n\"Been walking along time,\" Krelis said to Veradis.\n\n\"Aye,\" Veradis agreed. He looked up at Krelis, tall and broad, not much difference between him and one of the giants who were leading them through Forn. \"Sore feet, big brother?\" he said to Krelis.\n\nKrelis looked down at him. \"I've had worse. '\n\n\"I'm glad to beat your side, \"Veradis said. There had been years of tension between them, never actually coming to blows, but near enough on occasion. It had been caused by Veradis\" conflict with their father.\n\nAnd because of Father's treatment of Nathair. Perhaps he never trusted Nathair.\n\nSeems he was right.\n\nBut surely there is still good in Nathair. It is Calidus who has misled him, lured him down a path that he now feels he cannot turn from." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aye,\" Krelis grunted. \"Me too.\"\n\nIt felt good to be on the same side again.\n\nThose ahead of them stopped; shadowy figures emerged from the gloom around them. Veradis had a moment of panic, reaching for his sword and shrugging the shield from his back. The people appearing out of the forest were Kadoshim.\n\nNo, he realized, they are Jehar warriors, untainted by the Kadoshim.\n\nOthers appeared from the trees; Veradis recognized the men introduced to him as Tahir and Wulf.\n\nSoon they were climbing a gentle hill, at its crown a plateau upon which a warband was camped, woven branches and hides making screens and tents, fire-pits were even crackling, well covered from view.\n\n\"Welcome to our camp,\" Tahir said as he approached Veradis, abroad smile upon his face. He was young, a strong jaw, his face open and honest. Veradis liked him straightaway.\n\nVeradis looked around, gauging numbers by the tents and beds, by cook-fires and weapons racks. We number seven hundred swords. There are perhaps another four hundred, maybe a little more here. Not the largest warband the Banished Lands have ever seen.\n\nAs the men of Ripa settled in, digging more fire-pits, racking weapons, many approached them and began to help, whether they were Jehar, Benothi giants or men of Isiltir. Veradis noticed the relaxed camaraderie amongst them, regardless of race or gender.\n\nWhen they were done, and Veradis had ensured that all of his men were settled with food in their bellies and drinks in their hands, Tahir and Wulf called fora meeting.\n\n\"Where are we going?\" Veradis asked as they walked down the hill and were led into the forest where the trees grew thick and tall above them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"To meet with our leaders,\" Tahir replied over his shoulder.\n\nSo, finally the time that I will meet Corban. For so long I thought him my enemy, thought him the Black Sun of prophecy. And now he is to be my ally. The Bright Star. He shook his head. These are strange days. Nathair, what have you done?\n\nThey marched on, winding along a path that had been trampled through dense vegetation. Veradis heard the sound of running water and they spilt into a flat, open glade, on its far side a sheer drop leading to what sounded like a river. Fora moment he thought he heard another sound– growling? But the noise of the river was loud, drowning all else out. Standing at the far edge of the glade above where the river must be was a grey-haired, thin, old woman. Her head snapped around at their entrance, a sharp intelligence in her gaze.\n\nMany others were there: Jehar warriors patrolling the perimeter– the sight of them still made Veradis feel uncomfortable– and there were giants, two of them sitting near the fire-pit. One white-haired with age, his muscles thick and knotted as an ancient tree, a scar-latticed hole where one of his eyes had been. His good eye fixed razor-sharp upon Alcyon. Kneeling beside him was a giantess, long-limbed and muscled, though appearing slender beside the other. Her hair was sleek and dark, and she gripped a spear in her hand, watching as Veradis and the others entered the glade.\n\nA Jehar warrior came to greet them, each movement graceful and economical. Veradis recognized him. Akar had been one of Sumur's captains. He had helped Cywen by removing an arrow from her stallion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And Cywen. Where is she? No doubt I will hear an'I told you so\" from her. He smiled at the thought of it.\n\n\"Akar?\" he said.\n\nThe Jehar paused in his stride, eyes narrowing. His eyes flickered from Veradis to his companions, pausing on Alcyon, then finally back to Veradis.\n\n\"You are the Black Sun's first-sword, \"he said calmly.\"Are you here as a challenge, or a treachery? '\n\n\"Neither,\" Veradis said. \"My eyes have been opened. I am Nathair's first-sword no longer. '\n\nAkar stood in front of Veradis, just staring at him.\n\n\"And you,\" the white-haired giant rumbled as he stood. Veradis noted he favoured his right side, his huge-knuckled hand moving to his ribs.\n\nA wound, not yet fully healed.\n\n\"I fought you at Murias.\" The white-haired giant strode towards Alycon. \"You held the starstone axe.\"\n\n\"Well met, Balur One-Eye,\" Alcyon said.\n\n\"Is it?\" the giant said, stopping astride from Alcyon. \"You served the Black Sun and his aingeal dubh.\" He paused, spat. \"His black angel.\"\n\n\"I was under an enchantment, controlled. A slave. I am bewitched no more. I would fight against that same Dark Angel, now.\"\n\n\"So,\" Akar said, \"a servant of Nathair, and a servant of Calidus. And we are just to accept you as allies?\"\n\n\"They speak the truth,\" Fidele said, stepping forwards. \"I am Fidele, widow of Aquilus, High King of Tenebral.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I know you,\" Akar said. \"I saw you stand beside Nathair.\"\n\n\"He is my son,\" Fidele said, \"but I do not stand with him now.\" She returned Akar's gaze, proud and defiant.\"And I saw you in Jerolin, \"she said.\"A captain of Sumur, who followed Nathair. '\n\nAkar nodded, Fidele's point made.\n\n\"Our enemy has already won,\" Alben said, \"if those that would stand against him will not trust one another.\"\n\n\"And you are?\" Akar asked.\n\n\"Alben, swordsmaster of Ripa. I am a friend to Meical, have belonged to his cause for many years, now. Where is he?\"\n\nAkar looked grim.\n\n\"Meical is slain. He sacrificed his life in Drassil, so that many of us could escape.\"\n\n\"What? Dead! That cannot be!\"\n\n\"His head is on a spear in the courtyard of Drassil,\" Akar said. \"It is a great blow to the cause.\"\n\nAlben put a hand to his eyes, shaking his head.\n\nMaquin spoke up. He'd been standing silent.\n\n\"These are good people, and they have come hereto offer their help.\" He looked at them all. \"And I speak for us all when I say we are hereto fight against Asroth and his servants. We have all been done wrong by them, suffered great loss because of them. Just to get here we have fought many a battle, destroyed the warband of Gundul, King of Carnutan, and slain Jael, King of Isiltir.\" He paused there, with something flashing across his face. \"Near enough four thousand men who were cutting away through this forest to come and fight you. They are slain or scattered now, because of us. And we bring with us a great stock of supplies, plundered from Gundul's camp. Food, water, fuel, war gear. \"Maquin shrugged.\"If you do not trust us, do not want our help, then say the word and we will leave, go back to Tenebral, or somewhere else, perhaps, and Nathair can pick us all off, divided and weak. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A silence filled the glade.\n\n\"At last,\" a sharp voice said from the fire, \"someone who speaks some sense.\"\n\nIt was the grey-haired old woman.\n\n\"Now stop this bickering,\" she added, giving Akar a fierce look.\n\n\"I have been deceived once. I would not see it happen again. And Gar left meas lord of this warband, while he is gone,\" Akar said defensively.\n\n\"True enough,\" the old woman said. \"There is a place for caution. But these people are genuine. Or so I judge them to be. They are telling the truth. And as for Gar– yes, he did leave you in charge, and I'm sure he made the right choice. You're very good when it comes to chopping heads from Kadoshim. But there is more to winning than that. Allies, for example. Men, and women,\" she nodded to Fidele, \"who have travelled far and endured many a hardship to reach us and offer their help. Besides, if that isn't good enough for you and you want to pull rank, then I can play that, too. I am Brina, counsellor to Corban, your Bright Star, remember. So what I say should be heeded. \"She poked a bony finger in Akar's chest, and he flinched.\n\nAkar finally nodded, convinced or just giving in, Veradis could not tell. Probably a little of both. This Brina inspires fear.\n\nThe giant Balur nodded, too. He walked around Alcyon, staring hard. \"You are Kurgan. There is no love between our clans.\"\n\n\"Aye. That is a truth,\" Alcyon answered.\n\n\"That was another age,\" anew voice said, the giantess, moving to stand beside Balur. \"A broken age. I am Ethlinn, daughter of Nemain, and I say it is time now to build anew one. Instead of the five giant clans there need only be two: those that fight for Asroth, and those that fight against him.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ethlinn?\" Alcyon hissed. Something crossed his face: shock, hope? He dropped to his knees in the grass before Ethlinn.\n\n\"Aye,\" Alcyon grunted, looking up at her. \"A new age. Anew clan. I am for that.\"\n\nShe smiled at him.\n\n\"Well then,\" Balur said, looking between the two. He nodded to himself and held his handout.\n\nAlcyon grabbed his arm in the warrior grip and pulled himself upright.\n\n\"Well met, Alcyon of the Kurgan.\"\n\n\"Well, I'm glad to see we're all getting along,\" Krelis said. \"But there's one thing I'd like to ask.\"\n\nThey all looked at him.\n\n\"Where's this Corban I've heard so much about?\"\n\nAnother silence. Brina bowed her head. She sucked in a deep breath and straightened.\n\n\"He has been captured, taken prisoner.\"\n\n\"Nathair has him?\" Veradis gasped.\n\n\"No, not Nathair,\" Akar said.\n\n\"The Jotun giants,\" Balur rumbled.\n\n\"Some have gone after him,\" Brina added.\n\nAbruptly there was a savage snarling from beyond the glade, the distinct sound of wood crunching, splintering, followed closely by aloud crack, as of metal breaking, then a scrabbling sound and a dark shape was surging up from the darkness at the glade's edge.\n\nSuddenly everyone was scattering and Veradis and his companions were drawing weapons, spreading into a line, Alcyon leaping to his feet. Maquin stepped in front of Fidele, sword and knife in his hands." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A huge wolven stood in the gloom, muzzle and head emerging from the darkness first, the rest of it a dense shadow behind it.\n\nVeradis took an involuntary step backwards.\n\nThe wolven padded into the glade, a slavering, solid mass of muscle and fur. Huge fangs dripped saliva, lips drawn back in a snarl, its bone-white fur streaked with scars. A collar of iron links hung from about its neck, with the splintered remains of a thick wooden stake hanging from it.\n\nVeradis felt his courage waver, just fora moment. He gripped his sword tighter, wishing he'd brought his shield.\n\nAnd a shield wall, for that matter. That's no ordinary wolven. She's too big, too broad.\n\nThen Brina was stepping between them, moving towards the fearsome beast.\n\nShe's insane, a dead woman.\n\n\"There, there, my darling,\" Brina said as she strode over to the wolven, reaching a hand up to it.\n\nThe wolven padded to her and pressed its head into the palm of her hand, then rubbed its muzzle against her chest, making Brina stagger back a step.\n\nI must be dreaming!\n\n\"Meet Storm,\" Brina said, with something like deep affection in her voice, as she turned to seethe shocked faces of Veradis and his companions.\n\nVeradis blinked, finally breathing.\n\n\"Storm. Corban's wolven? '\n\n\"I wouldn't say she's his, exactly,\" Brina said. \"More that they belong to each other.\"\n\n\"Pack,\" Tahir said. \"They are pack.\"\n\n\"But it's got a big iron chain and stake about its neck, ' Krelis pointed out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She,\" Brina corrected, scratching the wolven under the chin. Storm seemed to like it. \"And she's been unwell. War-wounded. \"Brina's hand went up to a scar at the top of Storm's shoulder, furless now.\"When Corban was taken, Storm fell defending him. She nearly died, hovered at death's doorway along time. But she is better now. Better than she's ever been. '\n\n\"Then why was she chained and staked?\" Maquin asked.\n\n\"Because from the moment she could stand she's been trying to go after Corban. I couldn't let her do that, it would have been too much for her.\" Brina unhooked the chain about the wolven's neck, slipping it from her.\n\n\"Is she all right now, though?\" Krelis asked.\n\n\"She's just broken a wooden stake as thick as your leg, \"Brina said.\"Balur pounded it into the ground himself. And she's bitten through an iron chain. I'd say she's well enough.\"\n\nStorm looked about at them all, took a few deep sniffs of the air, then lifted her head and howled.\n\nThe sound echoed through the glade, long and mournful. Storm's muscles bunched and then she was leaping away; there was the crash of undergrowth as she ploughed through it and then she was gone, only her howl lingering in the air.\n\n\"Where's she gone? ' Krelis asked.\n\n\"I think that's clear enough, \"Brina said.\"She gone after Corban. '" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Help to continue the narrative for the writer.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 29" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She,\" Brina corrected, scratching the wolven under the chin. Storm seemed to like it. \"And she's been unwell. War-wounded. \"Brina's hand went up to a scar at the top of Storm's shoulder, furless now.\"When Corban was taken, Storm fell defending him. She nearly died, hovered at death's doorway along time. But she is better now. Better than she's ever been. '\n\n\"Then why was she chained and staked?\" Maquin asked.\n\n\"Because from the moment she could stand she's been trying to go after Corban. I couldn't let her do that, it would have been too much for her.\" Brina unhooked the chain about the wolven's neck, slipping it from her.\n\n\"Is she all right now, though?\" Krelis asked.\n\n\"She's just broken a wooden stake as thick as your leg, \"Brina said.\"Balur pounded it into the ground himself. And she's bitten through an iron chain. I'd say she's well enough.\"\n\nStorm looked about at them all, took a few deep sniffs of the air, then lifted her head and howled.\n\nThe sound echoed through the glade, long and mournful. Storm's muscles bunched and then she was leaping away; there was the crash of undergrowth as she ploughed through it and then she was gone, only her howl lingering in the air.\n\n\"Where's she gone? ' Krelis asked.\n\n\"I think that's clear enough, \"Brina said.\"She gone after Corban. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos leaned back in his chair and drank deeply from his cup, spilling mead into his beard. He belched and looked around.\n\nHe was sitting in a stone-built hall with Vin Thalun all about him eating and drinking, rolling dice on throw-boards, fighting, without using anything sharp, of course, except perhaps their teeth.\n\nTo one side of him lay a pile of silver and gold, cups and plates, torcs and brooches, necklaces, fine-made swords and scabbards– a mountain of plunder taken from the dead and pillaged from this ancient, long-empty fortress. His men looked to him with respect, called him gift-giver and gold-friend. In short he was lord of all he saw, had strongmen about him. Had achieved his dreams.\n\nThen why am I so bored?\n\nHe puffed his cheeks out and belched again.\n\nThe gates to his hall opened and an eagle-guard entered, looked about, then wound his way through the revelry to stand at Lykos' feet.\n\n\"What?\" Lykos asked.\n\n\"King Nathair and the Lord Calidus wish to see you, my lord,\" the warrior said. He was a young man, dressed in gleaming mail shirt and a polished cuirass of black leather.\n\nLykos sighed.\n\n\"Now, I suppose,\" he said as he rose from his chair, taking it slowly, but swaying nevertheless.\n\n\"Aye, my lord. They asked you to hurry.\"\n\n\"Why? More prisoners to execute? Surely that can wait until the morning.\"\n\n\"No, my lord. There is a patrol returning. They have been seen crossing the plain.\"\n\n\"Ah, better,\" Lykos grunted, grabbing his sword-belt from where it was hanging over the back of his chair and slinging it over his shoulder. He marched quickly through the hall after the eagle-guardsman and out into the night, with ten of his sworn men following him. Drassil was theirs, but it never hurt to be too careful, and Lykos had heard strange tales of men found dead, or going missing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That won't be me.\n\nSo, the day's patrol is returning. Some good news, then.\n\nIt was unusual fora patrol to return at night; all were ordered to be back within the walls of Drassil by sunset. But when the patrol sent out that day had not returned at all, they had been assumed dead.\n\nSixty of my men. Lykos had been angry, for this was not the first time he had lost men on these patrols. He marched on; the eagle-guard ahead of him was setting quite apace. He was happy to match it, pleased that there was something to do.\n\nWho would have thought that I would be here, in fabled Drassil, having won a great victory, on the brink of achieving my wildest dreams, and yet I am bored. He looked about, up at the stone towers and twisting branches of the great tree and pulled a sour face.\n\nI hate this place. I am a seafarer, a man of salt and sail, I should not be confined herein this... walled prison!\n\nThey turned a corner and entered the wide street that led to the gates. As Lykos entered the courtyard he was assaulted by the stench.\n\nDraig dung and rotting flesh. Torches flickered from iron sconces set high in the courtyard walls, turning the rows of severed heads adorning the spikes into grisly creatures with maniacal grins. On the battlement he saw Calidus and Nathair standing together, looking out over the plain.\n\n\"Glad you could join us,\" Calidus muttered in the firelight as Lykos joined them.\n\nCalidus had ordered the building of fire-pits around the walls of Drassil, a few hundred paces out from the wall. A ring of them, so that it appeared that Drassil was guarded by a circle of fire. The intention was to put a stop tonight-time raids that had been occurring randomly: Jehar warriors sneaking close to the walls, scaling a wall with a grapple-hook and then running amok amongst the wall guards, cutting down as many as they could before word spread or they came face to face with a few Kadoshim. So far the fire-pits seemed to have worked, and by the flickering light Lykos instantly saw a huddle of men moving across the plain, flames glinting on mail. He saw a lot of shields, marking the eagle-guard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And not so many Vin Thalun.\n\n\"They do not look so many as when they went out,\" Lykos observed.\n\n\"Thank you for pointing out the obvious,\" Calidus snapped.\n\nHe doesn't seem so happy here, either. Certainly not as happy as he should be, considering he's close to conquering the world.\n\nThe men on the plain drew near to the gates. Calidus shouted for the gates to be opened, then he turned and swept down the stairs, his cloak a trailing shadow behind him.\n\nLykos shared a look with Nathair.\n\n\"Some people are never happy,\" he said to the King of Tenebral, offering him awry smile when Nathair only gave him a stony stare in response.\n\nNo one has a sense of humour in this forest.\n\nWhen Lykos reached the courtyard, the gates were already closing. He saw a few of his men, collapsed on the flagstones, exhausted, leaning against one another. Calidus was talking to a captain of the eagle-guard.\n\n\"Ambushed,\" the young warrior was saying. \"There were giants, axe-throwers, some others.\" He looked exhausted. \"We only escaped because of the shield wall.\"\n\n\"And left my Vin Thalun behind,\" Lykos said, notable to help himself. Nathair gave him afoul look.\n\n\"We tried, my lord,\" the eagle-guard said. \"Tried to pull them into our square, but the enemy were upon us so quickly, there was no time. Many of my eagle-guard fell, too.\"\n\nAs if that's a compensation.\n\n\"So you saw no sign of Gundul or Lothar's scouts? ' Calidus asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"None, my lord, but we left markers." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The next patrol will be able to move deeper-\"\n\n\"Not my men,\" Lykos growled and walked away before Calidus had a chance to respond. He strode to his handful of warriors, just six Vin Thalun left from the sixty who had marched through the gates that morning.\n\nI have lost almost as many men on patrol as I did during the battle for this stinking dung-hole.\n\n\"Well?\" he said wearily.\n\n\"I saw the Old Wolf,\" one of the Vin Thalun said, looking up at him.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"The Old Wolf, he was out there, with his knives, covered in blood. It was like being in the arena against him.\" The Vin Thalun shivered.\n\nThe words sent a jolt of fear through Lykos.\n\n\"You are mistaken,\" he said. \"If it was the Old Wolf, you would not be here.\"\n\n\"Four of us attacked him,\" the warrior said. \"He cut them down as if they were nothing. I only escaped by holding him off awhile, then the giants started fighting and he was distracted...\"\n\nLykos grabbed the young warrior by his leather vest and jerked him up onto his feet. \"Don't lie tome; tell me true. If I find out you're lying...\"\n\n\"It was him, I swear on all I hold dear,\" the warrior assured him. \"I saw him fight on Panos, put coin on him, and in Jerolin. It was him.\"\n\n\"I saw him, too,\" one of the others said. \"I wasn't so close, but I saw him. It was the Old Wolf. '\n\nLykos turned away, his mind reeling.\n\nHe was at the tower of Brikan, on the edge of Forn, and escaped from there. So it is possible that Maquin is out there. And if he is out there, then maybe so is Fidele..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And now he no longer felt bored. He felt scared, and excited.\n\nAlive.\n\nLykos frowned at the screams. He was back in the great courtyard, listening to a man as he was slowly impaled upon a spear.\n\nMovement drew his eye and he saw Nathair striding from the courtyard, a few of his eagle-guard about him.\n\nDoesn't have the stomach for this kind of thing. Some men are just not equipped to rule. I wonder what Calidus promised him to convince him to stay.\n\nCalidus was still there, though, standing by the stable-blocks, staring at the remaining prisoners as they were led from the courtyard, still over two hundred of them left.\n\nLykos saw Cywen amidst all of the prisoners, dark-haired, face pinched and eyes grey with the horror of it all.\n\nIt can't be a pleasant way to start your day, watching a comrade skewered, and listening to them beg and wail and plead. Not a lot of dignity in that death.\n\nCywen walked past Lykos, her head bowed, and then Calidus was stepping out towards her, grabbing the scruff of her shirt and dragging her across the courtyard. Lykos hurried after them, intrigued by this display of emotion.\n\nA chance at some entertainment, at least.\n\nHe caught up with them in the shadows of a stable door.\n\n\"Where is your brother?\" Calidus was hissing in Cywen's face, bending her backwards with his grip on the back of her neck.\n\n\"Where is he? Why does he not come for you? For them?\" He waved a hand in the general direction of the screams. \"He is supposed to be the Bright Star! Saviour of the world, defender of the innocent!\" He was spluttering now, voice rising." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen just stared at him with hate-filled eyes.\n\nCalidus seemed to run out of energy and released Cywen with a disdainful flick of his wrist, sending her stumbling. She righted herself and began to walk after the other prisoners. After a couple of steps she stopped.\n\n\"You should be glad Corban has waited so long,\" she said. \"It means you've had a few extra days of life. '\n\n\"Huh, please,\" snorted Calidus.\n\n\"Be sure of this: when he does come, it is you he will seek out. You slew our mam. He won't forget that. '\n\n\"I am counting on it,\" Calidus said. He reached inside his cloak and pulled something out, an old flower, purple and prickly.\n\nA thistle?\n\nCalidus twirled it slowly between finger and thumb, something of his old mocking smile returning.\n\nCywen looked at the flower, confused and frowning, then her expression changed. To fury. She launched herself at Calidus, but he lashed outwith a hand, connected with her cheek, sending her to the floor. As she tried to scramble to her feet Calidus nodded at a Kadoshim in the shadows, who sprang agilely forwards and dragged Cywen from the courtyard. She was spitting and snarling like an alley-cat as she disappeared around a corner.\n\nLykos walked out of the sunshine into the cool of Drassil's great hall.\n\nThe steps were wide, arched in a gentle half-circle around the hall, so big they were more like tiered seats that led down to the sunken floor of the chamber. Above him was a curving stonewall, with staircases spiralling upwards around it to disappear into cunningly fashioned towers. The floor of the chamber was sunken into the earth, wide and flat, periodically dotted with fire-pits." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At the chamber's centre was the trunk of the great tree, mottled and dark, wider than Jerolin's feast-hall. Huge knots studded the trunk, bark peeling, trails of leaking sap dried hard. Here and there were black holes, indentations bored into the tree by bird or creature, squirrel or owl. Even as Lykos looked, he saw a brightly coloured chaffinch swoop down from the chamber and alight on a hole's rim, pause fora moment, its beak full with straw and moss, and then hop into the darkness.\n\nAt the trunk's base, growing out of it, or so it seemed, was a carven chair, filled with the skeleton of a giant, held there still by the spear that had struck the deathblow.\n\nSkald, the giant High King. Skewered like a slaughtered pig. How the mighty can fall.\n\nEither side of the chair, skeleton and the spear, two new objects had been placed. On one side the starstone axe was now hanging from a hook that had been hammered into the trunk, a heavy chain wrapped around it. And on the other side was the cauldron, huge and black, taller and broader than a giant, squatting like some great bloated toad.\n\nBefore the gathered Treasures there was a table, long and wide. A meeting table, and standing leaning against it was Calidus.\n\nLykos walked down the stairs and across the flagstoned floor.\n\nCalidus ignored him and Lykos poured himself a drink from a jug on the table, dark red wine. He took a sip, slurping loudly and then smacking his lips. Calidus looked at him as if he were an annoying insect.\n\nWhich I probably am to him, with his great plans." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos took another drink, smacked his lips louder.\n\nCalidus tutted. \"You should stop doing that,\" he said. \"It may get you killed one day.\"\n\n\"Stop what? Drinking wine. That's a little harsh, I have few pleasures in life and-'\n\n\"Not drinking wine.\" Calidus looked at him; the intensity of his attention made Lykos uncomfortable. His face was scarred from the burning Veradis and Alcyon had treated him to, half his face blackened and melted like wax, his silver hair reduced mostly to stubble now. He was no longer handsome, as he once had been.\n\n\"I speak of your tendency towards deliberate provocation and goading,\" Calidus continued. \"It is a bad habit of yours.\"\n\nLykos raised an eyebrow at that, then shrugged.\n\nHe's probably right.\n\n\"I'll drink quieter, \"he said with a smile, then drained his cup.\"What are you looking at? '\n\n\"Skald, the starstone spear, the axe and cauldron, the great tree. So much history, and yet this same war is being fought.\"\n\n\"Aye. A little closer to being over now, though, eh?\"\n\nCalidus ground his teeth. \"Closer, but still so much to do.\"\n\n\"That's not what I wanted to hear, \"Lykos said sullenly.\"I don't like this place. My men don't like this place. They are dying, whether out on your patrols, or gutting each other over a game of throwboard. '\n\nWithout Lykos really seeing Calidus move, the Kadoshim was nose to nose with him, a hand about Lykos' throat, and Lykos was stumbling back into the table." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You think I care what you want to hear?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Calidus hissed. \"What you or your men like?\" The grip around Lykos'throat tightened.\"I don't want to be here, either, amongst you vermin, consumed by your petty desires. Better for me if you and all your kind were slaughtered and hanging on hooks, ready for the feast.\"\n\nHe needs me. He will not kill me.\n\nWith an act of will Lykos stayed motionless, forced himself not to struggle or retaliate.\n\nThen Calidus was no longer there, the vice-like grip on his throat gone. Lykos slumped forwards, coughing.\n\n\"I did not mean to offend you,\" Lykos wheezed when he had enough breath in his body.\n\n\"I overreacted,\" Calidus said, not looking at him, but gazing back at the skeleton of Skald and the Treasures again.\n\nThe closest I'll get to an apology.\n\nCalidus looked up at the sound of footsteps; Lykos followed his gaze. Nathair was walking through the open doorway and down the steps towards them, his usual honour guard behind him, Legion at his side. Somehow the Kadoshim always looked bigger than the others– something about the way he walked, a barely contained power exuding from him.\n\nPerhaps because there are so many Kadoshim spirits crammed inside the one body.\n\nThe cloud of ever-present flies buzzed around the creature.\n\n\"Good, we can begin, then,\" Calidus said, waving for Lykos to sit, as if the violence he had threatened a few moments ago had not happened.\n\nLykos did sit, pouring himself another cup of wine and leaning back in his chair, resting one boot upon the wooden table." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So, let's see what revelations and delights this meeting will bring us. And you, Calidus, I will add your name to those I am looking forward to killing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wait for me here,\" Nathair ordered Caesus as he strode down the steps of the great hall, Legion beside him. His captain and the eagle-guard with him stopped on the stairs.\n\nSo, Lykos is here already. That makes a change. He's usually the last, and staggering.\n\nNathair reached the table and sat. He saw that a cup of wine had already been poured for him. Lykos gave him a grin and raised his cup. Nathair had to control himself so close to Lykos, resisting the urge to pullout his sword and gut him.\n\nHewed my mother. Just the sight of him makes me feel sick to my stomach.\n\nCalidus had explained that it had been apolitical move, away of strengthening the bonds between Vin Thalun and Tenebral.\n\nBut Lykos and my mother! And I saw the way he looked at her during the trial in Brikan.\n\n\"It's good wine, my friend, ' Lykos said to him, drinking from his own cup and spilling some wine into his beard. Nathair stopped his lip from curling.\n\nA small sip of wine. He did not want his wits clouded when he was around Calidus.\n\nNathair considered his allies. A drunken pirate. A demon-possessed attraction to flies and a half-burned Kadoshim. How have I sunk so low?\n\nIt was not the first time he'd asked himself this question; the feelings of shame and self-loathing bubbling up within him were old and familiar.\n\nHow I long for the days when Veradis and I were leading our warband on a great adventure, and Calidus was a mere counsellor. He felt a hot rage at the way he had been manipulated, manoeuvred." }, { "from": "human", "value": "No." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Stop. You must focus on the details, he told himself. You have made your choice, walked your path. Now focus on how you will win. Then, when this war is done...\n\n\"Welcome,\" Calidus said. \"I have some news.\"\n\n\"I hope it is about how we are going to destroy our enemy, camped out in the forest and doing considerable harm to my men every time they venture out of the gates of Drassil,\" Nathair said.\n\n\"And mine,\" Lykos murmured.\n\nCalidus frowned. \"The survivors of our enemy are proving difficult to root out, and becoming a distraction to our patrols, it is true.\"\n\n\"Distraction?\" Lykos said, quietly, under his breath. \"If you class death as a distraction, maybe.\"\n\nCalidus gave Lykos a lingering look, laced with malice.\n\n\"Whatever word you use to describe our enemy, they area problem that must be dealt with,\" Nathair said. \"We need more men; that is the answer. The only answer.\"\n\n\"Which is why we need our allies to arrive,\" Calidus said.\n\n\"You could send out the Kadoshim,\" Lykos said. \"I'm sure they would relish the opportunity of more battle. Is that not so, Legion? ' Lykos asked the Kadoshim.\n\n\"I would delight in the death of my enemies,\" Legion said, his voice deep and grating, a hint of many voices, a choir of the damned. \"In their destruction, the rending of their flesh and the breaking of their bones-\"\n\n\"Yes, yes, yes,\" Calidus interrupted. \"We understand your enthusiasm, Legion. But the answer is no. I will not send out the Kadoshim on this mission. There is more important work for them to do.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "More like their numbers are dwindling and you would not risk them, especially when you have warbands thousands strong full of Vin Thalun and my valiant men of Tenebral.\n\n\"But I would squeeze the eyeballs from their heads, suck the marrow from my enemies\" shattered bones, ' Legion grumbled.\n\nCalidus held up a flat palm and he stopped.\n\n\"Lothar and Gundul have been building roads for almost half a year, now,\" Nathair said. \"Why do they even persist, when we have the tunnels?\"\n\n\"Because most of the tunnels are blocked,\" Calidus said, \"and not just by rubble. There are creatures living beneath Forn that it would take a warband to destroy. Besides,\" he continued with a wave of his hand, \"the tunnels were builtin a different time. We need Lothar's road: it will connect us to the south, a straight road to Helveth and thus Tenebral. And Gundul's to the south-west, speeding us access to the great plains of Carnutan, with their herds of auroch for supply runs. We have Jael's road to the west almost complete. Once Lothar's and Gundul's roads reach us the Banished Lands will open up to Drassil. The roads are essential. '\n\nNathair nodded. \"How much longer will it take them to reach us?\"\n\n\"That is the news that I spoke of,\" Calidus said. \"A messenger arrived from Lothar soon after dawn. He has informed me that Lothar is thirty leagues south, making good progress, and with him he has a warband of approximately three thousand swords.\"\n\nNow this is better news.\n\n\"And what of Gundul?\" Nathair asked.\n\n\"There is no word from Gundul,\" Calidus said. \"I have sent messengers in search of him.\" He shrugged. \"He should be closer than Lothar.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have some news, too,\" Lykos said, still slouched in his chair. \"Maquin was involved in the strike against our patrol yesterday.\"\n\n\"Maquin?\" Calidus frowned.\n\n\"A prisoner escaped from Tenebral in the company of Veradis and the warband of Tenebral.\"\n\nMaquin, beyond these walls. Then that means...\n\nMother. And perhaps even Veradis.\n\nNathair felt his guts twist, gripped the table's edge, thought fora moment he was going to vomit. He took deep breaths.\n\nThey cannot be fighting against me.\n\nHe had been pleased when he'd heard of his mother's escape, had not liked at all the thought of her in Calidus' power.\n\nCalidus was staring at him.\n\n\"Maquin, you say?\" Nathair managed to stutter, trying to act normally, to control his feelings.\n\n\"Aye. The Old Wolf, as my men are fond of calling him.\"\n\n\"If that is true,\" Calidus said, \"then the warband of Ripa is most likely with him.\"\n\n\"Then we should do all that we canto speed Lothar and his warband to us,\" Nathair said.\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Calidus said. \"I can seethe benefit of him and his men being here, but let us not forget what our goal is.\"\n\n\"To find the Seven Treasures, Calidus. That is the endgame, is it not? Bringing Asroth into this world of flesh.\"\n\nBesides him Legion shifted in his chair, growling enthusiasm for Nathair's statement.\n\n\"That's correct, \"Calidus said fiercely.\"That is why we are here. Thus far we have three of the Treasures: cauldron, axe and spear. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Three of seven,\" Nathair snorted. \"What of the others?\"\n\nCalidus gave him a cold, heavy-lidded stare.\n\n\"I have reason to believe that the cup and necklace will be ours soon. Orin my agents\" hands, at least. '\n\nThat's better than I thought.\n\n\"And the final two– torc and dagger?\"\n\nCalidus scowled at that.\n\n\"That is the other reason that I have summoned you to this meeting.\" He was silent again, hesitating. Eventually he spoke. \"I have been searching fora room within Drassil. I believe it will contain clues as to the whereabouts of the last two Treasures.\"\n\n\"What room?\" Lykos asked.\n\n\"It is the smithy where the Seven Treasures were forged,\" Calidus sighed tiredly.\n\n\"Then we will help you search for it,\" Nathair said. \"The more eyes and hands searching, the sooner it will be found.\"\n\nCalidus frowned. \"Just so,\" he said.\n\n\"And what of the new arrivals beyond our walls,\" Lykos said. \"I suspect they will not just sit around doing nothing.\"\n\n\"What can they do?\" Calidus asked. He looked hard at Lykos, then sighed again, seemingly bored of talking over such mundane matters. \"All right, as I can see you will not let this issue go, I shall take steps to deal with our unwanted woodland guests.\" He cupped a hand to his mouth. \"Trigg,\" he called, \"come down here.\"\n\nTrigg appeared on the staircase, tall and gangly, the half-breed who had shown them the secret tunnel to Drassil. Nathair had not seen her since they'd arrived, but obviously she had stayed around." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She approached them, her face broad and angular, her limbs long and already knotted with sinuous muscle.\n\n\"Aye,\" she said hesitantly to Calidus.\n\n\"Trigg,\" Calidus replied. \"I seem to recall that you are very good at sneaking around in the forest, spying on people and not being seen.\"\n\nTrigg shrugged, an admission.\n\n\"We have some unwanted guests camping on our doorstep. Out in the forest, and we would like very much for you to find them for us, so that we can go and kill them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban stepped into the courtyard of Gramm's hold.\n\nI suppose it shouldn't be called that anymore. Instead it is the first settlement of the Jotun clan this side of the river since the Scourging. Or so Mort told me.\n\nFour nights had passed since Corban had watched the host of the Jotun crossing the stone bridge, leaving the Desolation behind them. The red-haired giant was standing behind him now, scowling at Corban as if he was a rat in his grain barrel. Mort did not talk much, not as much as Varan, anyway.\n\nCorban found that very frustrating.\n\nI need to find Varan, see if he's more forthcoming. First of all, though...\n\nHe looked around the courtyard and settlement, eventually seeing a stack of iron rods that would suit his purposes. Corban hefted one. It was heavy, the balance all wrong, but it was the closest he was going to find to what he needed.\n\nWhat are they forging with all this iron? I doubt it's ploughs for farming the land.\n\n\"What do you want with that?\" Mort asked him suspiciously.\n\n\"Well, I'm not going to try and bludgeon my way out of herewith it, if that's what you're thinking, \"Corban said.\"Come, I'll show you.\"\n\nHe walked up the hill, alongside the new hall that was being built. When he reached the peak he stopped and took in a deep lungful of air. It was early, the sun a fiery globe balanced upon the rim of the world. Mist curled lazily from the river below him. He closed his eyes, pushed a hundred clamouring thoughts and worries out of his mind, and stepped into the first position of the sword dance, raising the iron bar two-handed over his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Stooping falcon.\n\nThe iron bar was far from ideal, but as he moved through the dance, holding each stance until muscles burned and complained, he felt the world slipping away. He finished with the boar-snout, stabbing upwards two-handed, ripping his imaginary blade high, free, controlling it down, rolling his wrists, finished in mid-guard, feet planted wide, iron bar diagonal, across his body. Muscles ached, wrists and shoulders throbbing, his recovering leg pulsing with the effort. He closed his eyes and without pausing began again, this time flowing from first stance to the next, and then the next, and the next, finding the speed and rhythm that allowed him to control the movement, willing himself to master the dull iron in his hands, and not to be mastered by it. He moved through the dance that Gar had drilled into him so many times, over so many years, adding the forms that Halion had taught him and tested him with on the day of his warrior trial, and more, including all he had learned since leaving Dun Carreg: ankle-hooks and headbutts, elbows, knee to the groin, the shrugging off of a heavier blade, the minutest rolling shift of wrists, shoulders, feet, that would knock an opponent off balance, all taught to him by a host of trainers, Gar, Halion, Conall, Coralen, Tukul, Tahir, Balur One-Eye, linking them all together with hardly a pause, just one long, fluid dance, as if he were ringed and beset by a host of foes.\n\nWhen he stopped there was silence, just the rasp of breath in his throat, the thumping of his heart in his chest, distantly the murmur of the river. He wiped a forearm across his eyes and looked about, slowly coming back to the real world." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Giants were staring at him, scores of them, all paused in their work, some mid-hammer stroke, arms still poised. Mort was frowning at him, arms folded across his massive chest.\n\nCorban shuffled his feet, abruptly self-conscious, and took the iron bar back to the pile where he had found it. Mort was following him, if anything looking angrier and less happy about being Corban's guard than he had before.\n\n\"Do you not train or spar?\" Corban asked the giant.\n\nHe just received a stony look.\n\nCorban walked around the settlement, seeing signs of the greater number of giants now that the new arrivals had settled in. Smoke rose from smoke-holes in new buildings that had been empty, gangly-limbed giantlings were running around, chasing dogs, laughing, others beating wet clothes hung on racks, or sitting on chairs in front of doorways, sharpening axes, gutting fish, stitching linen and leather.\n\nThey are not so different to us.\n\nThe sound of hammering and a flush of heat rippling from an open gateway drew Corban's attention. He approached the building, the smell of hot iron calling him. Memories of his da flooded his mind, of so many days working in the forge, holding glowing iron with tongs for his da to hammer, dousing iron, changing the oil, banking the furnace, then being taught the art by his da: how to draw out impurities, with fire and oil and sweat. His da's big handover his, teaching him grip, how to keep his wrist loose, laughing when the furnace spat fire at them, singeing the hairs on both their arms. So many memories came all at once, they threatened to overwhelm him fora moment. When he looked up he saw a giant wearing a thick leather apron and holding a hammer in his hand. It took him a moment to realize it was Varan." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He has more than one job in this warband, then." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not just a healer's apprentice. I know the feeling.\n\nHe was tapping at something on the anvil, a smaller section of something huge, his movements controlled, almost delicate, then Corban realized what it was the giant was working upon.\n\nA coat of mail. It's an odd shape, though.\n\nVaran glanced up, saw Corban, his eyes almost instantly going back to his job. He was attaching wide leather straps to the coat of mail, fixing and clamping the iron rings that held it in place, riveting the leather.\n\n\"What is that?\" Corban said over the sound of hammer-blows and the constant crackle of the forge fire.\n\n\"A mail coat fora bear,\" Varan said, not taking his eyes from his handiwork.\n\nA bear!\n\n\"Come, I'll show you, ' Varan said, hanging his tools up meticulously. He shook the mail coat out and slung it over one shoulder. Ashe made to walkout of the forge Mort stepped in front of him, saying something in giantish. Varan answered. Fora moment they stood facing one another in silence then, with an all too familiar scowl, Mort moved out of the way. Soon the three of them were in along building, its vaulted ceiling held high by timber beams thick as trunks.\n\nBear pens.\n\nEach pen was huge, three or four times the size of the stables at Dun Carreg. Varan walked along them, Corban following, peering into see some empty, others housing bears.\n\nVaran stopped at agate and gave the coat of mail to Corban. He reached down into a tall barrel, pulling out a whole salmon, then slid the bolt across and opened the stable door wide." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dia duit mo fiacail fada stór,\" Varan said. The bear inside was huge, its fur a dark brown flecked with black. One long canine poked from beneath its upper lip, the opposite canine was broken about halfway down. Corban recognized it as Varan's bear, the one he had ridden on for most of the long journey from Drassil. Varan tossed the salmon in the air and the bear lunged forwards, startlingly fast, snatching the salmon into its wide mouth. With a crunch the salmon was gone, then the bear was nuzzling Varan with its broad head. Varan was smiling, rubbing its ears, the bear's lip curling to reveal more sharp yellowed teeth.\n\nThat doesn't look right, Corban thought, eyeing the bear suspiciously, but then I suppose people said the same thing about me and Storm.\n\nAt the thought of Storm Corban felt a twinge of pain in his belly, like a sliver-thin knife being twisted. He'd tried hard not to think of her– the pain of her loss was too hard to face.\n\nVaran shook out a blanket of fur and placed it over the bear's back, then beckoned for Corban to hand him the mail coat, which Varan slung over the bear, reaching under its belly. He indicated for Corban to help, and together they buckled and tightened the girth, then worked around the legs, threading buckles, with Varan finishing at the bear's neck, where the mail coat was riveted to a thick leather collar. When it was done Corban stood back and took along look.\n\nThe bear had looked formidable before; now it looked like a weapon, fashioned from tooth and claw, fur andiron.\n\n\"It's not too heavy? Won't shift with movement?\" Corban asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Varan slapped the bear's muscled shoulder and chest.\n\n\"Long Tooth could carry three of me,\" Varan said, rubbing the bear's neck affectionately.\"The mail is heavy, but not as heavy as me. He'll get used to it quickly enough. And no, if it's fitted and buckled right, it won't slip.\"\n\n\"I wish that I'd had one of those for Storm. ' Corban felt a lump in his throat at the memory of her. He blinked away tears, saw Varan regarding him with serious eyes.\n\n\"Life is loss,\" the giant said.\n\n\"Aye, that it is,\" Corban said. \"But I'd wager some of us have lost more than others. '\n\n\"In the end, it's all the same, \"Varan said.\"We all face death alone. '\n\nCorban nodded. \"To my thinking, though, it's what happens before death that's important. All of us die. How many really live?\"\n\nVaran cocked his head, eyes fixed intently on Corban.\n\n\"I find you... interesting,\" Varan said. \"Not what I expected.\"\n\n\"Well, we judge things we've never seen. I judged giants, believed them wicked monsters that lived in the shadows. Now that I've met some of your kind–\" he shrugged– \"I see you're just like us. Uthas slew Nemain, is a murderer; yet Balur and Ethlinn– I'd trust either one of them with my life. And even here, I've seen differences amongst you. Take you, for example. You're a lot more talkative than Mort,\" Corban said, gesturing to the red-haired giant behind him.\n\n\"I see no harm in talking to you,\" Varan said, \"I do not think you could escape.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We'll see about that.\n\n\"But as for Mort, well, you did kill his brother, in Drassil.\"\n\nThat would explain a lot.\n\n\"Agus beidh mé tú a mharú,\" Mort said from the shadows.\n\nIn my defence, his brother tried to kill me first, \"Corban said.\"And Mort is supposed to be my guard here. Is that wise? '\n\n\"Mort is Ildaer's captain. He is being prepared for leadership. Guarding you teaches himself-control. '\n\nCorban looked at Mort, who was glowering at him.\n\n\"I don't think it's working.\"\n\n\"You still live,\" Varan pointed out.\n\nGood point. But for how long?\n\n\"I saw you earlier, on the hill,\" Varan said, changing the subject. \"With a rod of iron.\"\n\n\"Oh aye. It helps,\" Corban said, tapping his head and heart. \"Being a captive here, knowing my kin and friends maybe fighting for their lives.\"\n\n\"You were quite the sight,\" Varan continued with a sidelong glance, almost a smile. \"And are all your enemies dead, now?\"\n\n\"Only in my head,\" Corban grunted. \"I've amassed more than my fair share, you see. So there are still a few to go. '\n\n\"What you said, to Ildaer,\" Varan rumbled, \"about choosing aside.\"\n\n\"Aye.\"\n\n\"It's made me think. '\n\nGood.\n\n\"Ildaer seems cautious,\" Corban said.\n\n\"The Jotun are cautious,\" Varan replied. \"For a Jotun, Ildaer is not cautious.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ildaer is the best of us,\" Mort said fiercely, studying them both with narrowed eyes.\n\n\"Ildaer has led us well, is a brave battle-leader. He has gained much for the Jotun,\" Varan agreed.\n\n\"And your king?\" Corban prompted.\n\n\"Eld, our king, has lived along life. He is cautious,\" Varan said.\n\nMort snorted in the shadows.\n\nEld, so that is his name.\n\n\"Eld witnessed the Scourging, saw the destruction it caused the giant clans,\" Varan explained. \"At that moment he withdrew from the fight, and instead he led the Jotun north, to safety. That is where my clan has dwelt, for nearly two thousand years. Caution has kept the clan alive, and helped it to grow. I doubt the other clans have prospered so well.\"\n\n\"How many of you are there?\" Corban asked, thinking of the host he had seen crossing the river. A thousand? Fifteen hundred?\n\n\"Enough,\" Varan said. \"More than any other clan can boast. Because our king has led us well.\"\n\n\"So why has he come south now? When the God-War is upon us again?\" Corban asked.\n\n\"There are, I do not know how to say it in your tongue– grúpaí, faicsin? We do not all think the same within the clan, especially the young, born after the Scourging. There are different opinions. Some long for honour and glory, for battle-fame, others still counsel caution, the safest path. Ildaer rose up amongst us, strong, proud. He wanted to come south and take back the land we had lost. The Desolation is not a fertile land, you understand. Life is hard there.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So Ildaer led a rebellion? An uprising that Eld crushed and banished south?\"\n\n\"Ach, no,\" Varan said, \"Eld clings to the old ways, the ways of tradition and honour, of blood-feud and guest-right, and he has ingrained those values upon all of us Jotun. That is why Ildaer treats you with respect, not as a prisoner. He remembers the guest-right that Eld taught him. Eld believes the old ways have kept the Jotun alive. And because many rallied to Ildaer's call, instead of treating Ildaer like a rival or an upstart, Eld named him Warlord of the Jotun and allowed him to take a warband south. No one thought he would achieve so much, and the cynical amongst us may whisper that Eld thought Ildaer would get himself killed, perhaps even hoped for that... \"He gave Corban a smile.\"But now Ildaer has land. \"Varan said the word like it was the greatest of Treasures.\"Ildaer has earned much honour amongst the Jotun, his name often upon everyone's lips, and so now people are saying, maybe Eld is too old, too cautious, it is anew time, anew age, time for the Jotun to rise up, to take back what they have lost. That is why Eld has come.\"\n\n\"And what do you say?\" Corban asked.\n\n\"Me? I came south with Ildaer, I was one of the young voices clamouring for battle-fame and glory. But I was apprenticed to Hala, and she is Eld's eyes and ears within Ildaer's warband. She is very wise, but also cautious. Sometimes caution is wisdom, but sometimes it is fear, and fear is not wise. Perhaps she has rubbed off on me a little.\" He shrugged and smiled. \"Truth be told, I do not know what I say, what I think. I believe the Jotun will fade in the north, and besides, there is no life in the Desolation. As you say, all will die, but not all live.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So, a cautious warrior, and yet you forge battle-mail for your bear.\"\n\n\"I do,\" Varan smiled. \"You see much.\" Again he shrugged. \"As you say, it is the God-War. Some battles find you, no matter how cautious you are.\"\n\nI fled across all the realms of the west, and the God-War still found me.\n\n\"Yes,\" Corban agreed. \"That has been my experience. And Eld, will he join the war? Fight against Asroth?\" He said it with a trace of hope, looking along the bear pens filled with the great beasts.\n\nA lot of bears, and giants who ride on them. A warband like this could turn a battle, could win a war...\n\n\"That is for him to say.\"\n\n\"I must speak to him,\" Corban said.\n\n\"You'll get that wish soon enough. Ildaer is with him now, and no doubt he will want you brought before Eld. '\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\"To decide your fate.\" He gave Corban a flat stare. \"Eld's word is law. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coralen ran between the trees, her feet a whisper across the forest litter. Unlike some of those behind her.\n\nFarrell and Laith are like two lumbering auroch!\n\nShe gritted her teeth and looked back at them. They were on Jael's road, a score or so paces behind her. Coralen didn't like running on the road, it felt too exposed, but she admitted that it was the quickest, most direct route out of Forn.\n\nThank you for that, Jael, though I doubt you built it as an aid to us.\n\nFarrell and Laith didn't share her misgivings about using the road. Farrell was first, red-faced, his hair dark and slick with sweat. His war-hammer jutted over the slabbed muscle of his back. He nodded at her, the most he could manage. Behind him Laith loomed, looking in slightly better condition than Farrell, but only just. She just stared at the ground in front of her, resolute. They were crushing anything in their path– logs and branches snapped, vine was torn from the ground, undergrowth barged through. Coralen resisted the urge to hiss some abuse at them.\n\nNo point, I've tried that, and it hasn't worked. To be fair, we've run all the way from Drassil to the edge of Forn Forest, and they've kept up.\n\nCoralen had set a fast pace, everyday rising before dawn, following the bear tracks through the forest until the last trace of light faded and they were forced to stop. Over a moon of it, mostly running, and still they had steadily slipped behind.\n\nThose bears are too damn fast.\n\nThe forest had been thinning about them fora while now, the river widening to their north as it flowed into more open plains." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Keep on like this and we'll be seeing Gramm's hold in a day or so.\n\nEven as Coralen considered that, she moved into an open space where tree trunks had been harvested like grain, only their stumps remaining. To her left she saw a flicker of movement; Gar appeared from the treeline, to her right Dath and Kulla were stepping into view.\n\nNow those three I don't need to worry about. They could probably sneak upon Storm. Her heart jumped at the thought of the wolven; she'd last seen her at the edge of death. Coralen whispered a prayer for her; not that she was normally the praying kind, but if anything would help...\n\nHer thoughts returned to Corban: how she'd felt so angry with him before the battle at Drassil.\n\nI kissed him, and what did he do! Nothing! Well, he did kiss me back, at the time, which was nice enough. But afterwards... Well, time enough to talk to him about that once we've pulled him out of his latest troubles.\n\nShe crested a slope and saw meadowland opening up before her. In the distance was a hill, to its north the river glistening darkly in the sunlight. She waved a signal and the others veered in towards her, all of them meeting a little below the slope's crest. Farrell spent awhile puffing, chest heaving as he caught his breath.\n\n\"Gramm's hold has some new tenants, \"Coralen observed, looking at the pillars of smoke rising from the hill. She looked sidelong at Gar, remembering the last time they had seen this place. She felt Tukul's loss anew.\n\nHis father was a rare man, and no mistake.\n\nGar's face was stony, betraying nothing of what was going on within." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Onwards,\" he said. \"Standing around here isn't going to get Corban back. '\n\nFarrell wheezed, and then they were off again, following the bear tracks that were clear for any to see, moving down the slope and across the meadows, heading unerringly towards the hill that had been Gramm's hold.\n\n\"He's in there, ' Coralen said to Gar.\n\nThey had made camp about two leagues from the hill, in a small copse, a suitable place to remain unseen while they planned.\n\nThe six of them stood staring at Gramm's hold as the sun sank into the west, making a black silhouette of the settlement on the hill. Figures small as ants occasionally went up the hill, and every now and then the deep rumbling bellow of a bear would drift down to them on a cold wind.\n\n\"You're certain? ' Gar asked.\n\nCoralen, Dath and Kulla had spent a day scouting the hill.\n\n\"Aye. Unless they've taken him across the river into the Desolation, ' Coralen said.\n\n\"But there are so many giants here, I can't believe there are any left north of the river, \"Dath said.\"So why would they want to take Ban north, when it looks like they've all come south?\"\n\n\"That's strange, \"Laith said thoughtfully.\"The Jotun do not normally leave the safety of their homeland. '\n\n\"Tell me of the Jotun,\" Gar asked.\n\n\"I am young,\" Laith said, \"but our lore always spoke of the Jotun as fleeing into the Desolation after the Scourging, hiding themselves away. Their king– Eld, I think– preferred to run instead of face conflict.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Perhaps he was just prudent,\" Gar murmured.\n\n\"He also had a reputation for adhering to the old ways: tradition, honour, our lore.\"\n\nGar rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful.\n\n\"How many of them at Gramm's? \"Farrell asked. He'd got his wind back from all the running now and looked much more fearsome for it.\n\n\"There's at least a thousand giants living on that hill, \"Dath said.\"Probably more. '\n\n\"So killing them all's out of the question, then, \"Farrell grunted.\"That's the end of the first plan.\"\n\n\"What was the second plan?\" Dath asked.\n\n\"I have an idea,\" Gar said.\n\nCoralen rose before dawn, standing and stretching, then making her way to the copse's border where Gar was staring into the darkness. Coralen came and stood silently beside him, both of them watching as the sun appeared on the edge of the world, washing Gramm's hold with rosy fire.\n\n\"All my life, it feels, that boy has been my sun. The centre of my world.\"\n\n\"He's not a boy anymore, ' Coralen said gently.\n\n\"To me he always will be,\" Gar replied quietly, little more than a whisper. \"More than that. He's my boy. The son I never had. '\n\n\"We'll see him, today. Have him back with us, ' Coralen said, feeling tears mist her eyes.\n\nGar had explained his plan to them last night. It was insane. They didn't stand a chance. But it was all they had.\n\n\"Aye,\" Gar grunted. \"And heaven help the man, woman or giant that tries to stop us.\" He smiled down at her, a sight that Coralen had rarely seen, then reached out and squeezed her hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The others were up now, Farrell examining the head of his war-hammer, Laith oiling her throwing knives. Dath was checking arrows, running his fingertips over fletchings.\n\nGar took a step out of the copse and then paused, looking back at them all.\n\n\"Let's go and get Corban, ' he said.\n\nOr die trying." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What have they done to my tower!\" Morcant screamed.\n\nIt had taken them a ten-night to extricate themselves from the marshes, half of Rhin's warband was disembarking just now and marching up onto the meadowland that circled Morcant's tower, or what was left of it.\n\nWhich isn't much.\n\nThe tower was a skeleton of charred timber, the palisade mostly collapsed; what was left of it looked like the blackened and rotting teeth of a hag.\n\nBehind him he heard a female voice standing out from the murmur of men, a rare thing in this warband. Part of him noted that not so long ago he wouldn't have heard such a subtle sound.\n\nI am changed, since I drank from that cup. Never felt more alive. I am stronger, faster, and I can hear things, smell things better than I could before.\n\nThe voice belonged to Roisin, the only living person they had found at the ruins of Dun Crin. She stepped out from a boat onto a wooden jetty, warriors lining up to help her.\n\nFora prisoner, she's mighty popular, Rafe thought, though he could understand why, as he stood and stared at her, enjoying the arch of her ankle, the curve of her hips, skin pale as cream, black hair somehow still lustrous, even after a journey through the marshes.\n\nNot that I think Rhin's very impressed with the attention Roisin's getting. She's lucky Rhin thinks her useful, else she'd most likely be face-down in a marsh stream by now.\n\n\"They've split up, \"Rafe reported.\"Three warbands went indifferent directions. East, west and north. '\n\n\"What's the little bitch playing at? ' Rhin spat. She was reclining in her chair, skin sweating and flushed, silver hair bedraggled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uthas the giant shifted behind her, made a sound in his throat.\n\n\"What?\" Rhin snapped. \"If you've something to say, come out and say it, instead of lurking behind me, sighing and swaying like a stuttering tree! '\n\nDefinitely not at her most patient, then.\n\n\"Evnis,\" Uthas said. Rafe detected a hint of something new in the giant's voice.\n\nAnger? Scorn?\n\n\"You may have forgotten, but we have just spent most of a moon wandering around that stinking swamp trying to find my missing regent. He is either slain or fled; whichever one, he is gone.\"\n\nIt was I who went wandering to find him, Rafe thought. You just sat on a boat, giving out your orders.\n\nRafe had spent a good long while going over a wide stretch of land that surrounded the northern half of Dun Crin's lake. There was one set of tracks that ended at the side of a stream; it looked as if they had been joined by another. Rafe could not be sure, but he suspected that something large had been rolled into the stream. He'd poked around in it with his spear, even jumped in, but had found nothing.\n\nNot that the eels and snakes and Asroth knows what else lurking in those marshes would have left much by then, anyway.\n\nHe'd had no evidence, no proof, but something in his gut told him that it was the place where Evnis had met his end.\n\n\"I think he died in the swamp, my Queen.\"\n\n\"Yes, I've heard your opinion on it– opinion, not fact. '\n\nRafe held his silence.\n\n\"You area gifted huntsman,\" Uthas the giant said, startling Rafe. The giant rarely deigned to speak to him. \"The first of Queen Rhin's scouts to return. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "I knew I would be." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I am the best amongst them.\n\n\"The way you led us to Dun Crin,\" Uthas continued. \"The way you saw that heron, on the far shore of the lake. The way you found the sets of tracks at Dun Crin, when all of the other huntsmen struggled.\"\n\n\"What's this got to do with Evnis? ' Rhin asked.\n\n\"Dead or not, Evnis might not have kept...\" Rafe didn't like the assessing way the giant was looking at him\" ... it, upon him, ' Uthas finished.\n\n\"I know that, but where else?\" Rhin asked. She looked at Rafe now. \"You grew up in Evnis\" hold, did you not? If Evnis had something of value, something that he treasured, where would he keep it? '\n\n\"Like a fine stallion, or a good hound?\" Rafe asked.\n\n\"No, nothing like that,\" Rhin snapped. \"Why do you woodsmen always have to think of something that's living? '\n\n\"Oh, like a sword, then? Or silver, or gold?\"\n\n\"Yes, more like it,\" Rhin said.\n\n\"His tower at Dun Carreg, I suppose,\" Rafe said. \"He spent a lot of time up there, in his chamber right at the top. Didn't like to be disturbed. '\n\nRhin and Uthas shared along look; a smile returned to Rhin's face.\n\nHaven't seen one of those from her in awhile.\n\n\"To Evnis\" tower, then, ' Uthas said.\n\n\"But what about Edana?\" Rhin said. \"I can't have her just wandering around the countryside, stirring up Asroth knows what trouble. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Send Morcant after her,\" Uthas said. \"Let us be on with the important task.\"\n\n\"But they've gone three ways! ' Rhin said.\n\n\"So split this warband,\" Uthas said. \"It's big enough. '\n\nHe's right. There are over a thousand men out there.\n\n\"If you're going back to Dun Carreg, \"Rafe said,\"one of the trails goes that way. Take enough with you to deal with them, and leave enough to let Morcant look after the other two. '\n\nRhin looked at him, thoughtful.\n\n\"For a huntsman, you do have the occasional idea of worth,\" she said. \"Why have I never noticed you before? You're starting to remind me of Braith. '\n\nRafe noticed Uthas leaning forwards and staring at him, bushy brows knotting together.\n\nRhin looked Rafe up and down, slowly. \"I wonder if the similarities stop there.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban woke early and rose, pacing his stone room. He tested his injured leg, stretched and loosened his limbs. His leg was better again than yesterday, almost felt normal.\n\nHe felt tense, his conversation with Varan from the previous day heavy upon his mind. He'd hoped that Ildaer and Eld would have sent for him last night, but that hadn't happened.\n\nToday. It will happen today. Or so he tried to convince himself. Five nights, now, since Eld arrived. He's certainly not one for rushing things. He sighed in exasperation.\n\nIf I could only convince him to side with us. To fight against Asroth.\n\nCorban opened his door and strode through the courtyard, heading straight to the pile of iron rods, the silent bulk of Mort shadowing him. Taking one of the rods, he marched to the top of the hill, where Mort assumed his customary position, leaning against a pile of building materials, a sneer fixed upon his face. A handful of giants with the swagger of young warriors joined him, exchanging greetings.\n\nFrom Ildaer's warband, then.\n\nHe breathed deeply and stepped into stooping falcon.\n\nBegin, Gar's voice said in his mind.\n\nWhen he was done he stood on the brow of the hill, sweating, aching, chest heaving, the peace that the sword dance brought him seeping through him, though unfortunately it felt as if it began leaking out of him almost immediately, drop by drop as the frustrations of the real world crowded their way back in.\n\nHe felt useless and at the same time infuriated. He looked around at all the giants: so many of them going about their daily routines, others building, labouring hard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Can they not see how meaningless this is? If Asroth becomes flesh no one will escape his wrath; all this will be dust and ruin. I must get out of here. I must find Cywen, Gar, Coralen, Farrell, Dath.\n\nHis gaze fell upon Mort.\n\n\"Would you spar with me?\" Corban asked the red-haired giant, who was standing a dozen paces away, leaning against a pile of timber.\n\nThe giant looked surprised, glanced at those gathered about him, all warriors with hammers and axes slung across their backs.\n\n\"Spar? No, little man. When I fight you, it will not be pretend.\" He reached up and patted his war-axe. The giants around him murmured their approval.\n\nShame. I need to hit someone.\n\n\"Any of you, then?\" Corban asked the others.\n\nThe thud of footsteps drew his attention. Ildaer was marching towards him, Varan at his shoulder.\n\n\"Follow me,\" Ildaer said to Corban. \"It is time for you to meet our king.\"\n\nThe new hall was vast, built over the old one, but wider, deeper, taller. Stone columns rose high, twisting spirals etched with runes. The roof was still unfinished, a skeleton of timber struts framing a pale blue sky.\n\nEld sat at the far end of the hall on a raised dais, tall as all giants, but as Corban drew nearer he thought that there was something vulnerable about him. His skin was pale, dotted with dark spots and looking paper thin; his hair was pale and tenuous, fine as old cobwebs, his moustache wisps that draped down to his chest. He was richly dressed in wool, polished leather and a cloak of white fur, with rings of gold upon his fingers. Corban saw that he bore no weapons, except fora dagger on his belt. The hilt was wrapped in sweat-stained leather, pommel and guard a dark iron that struck Corban as unusual. Eld studied Corban with small black eyes as he was marched along the length of the hall. Standing either side of the King were two giants. One was Hala the healer, dressed simply in wool and leather. The other was a female warrior, her fair hair bound in a single thick warrior braid that curled across one shoulder like a pale serpent, the hilt of a longsword jutting over her other shoulder. A tattoo of vine and thorn curled up from her wrist and disappeared into the sleeve of her mail shirt. She watched Corban with flat indifference." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So, this is your man-prize,\" Eld said, his voice old and cracked, a hiss like the wind upon shingle.\n\n\"It is, Great King,\" Ildaer said, bowing his head.\n\nCorban stood before Eld, King of the Jotun, staring like a bairn at the spring fair. Eld looked so old, as if his skin would float away like wisps of smoke if he moved too quickly.\n\nIldaer whispered something to Mort and the red-haired giant cuffed Corban across the back of the head, sending him staggering forwards onto one knee.\n\n\"Kneel before the Great King,\" he growled.\n\nCorban had been on the edge of doing just that, or at least bowing, but the anger that recently seemed a constant presence within him overflowed. He rose to his feet, glared first at Mort, and then stared at the giant king.\n\n\"Well met, Eld, King of the Jotun,\" he said, looking the giant in the eye.\n\nMort lifted his arm for another blow.\n\n\"Hold; he is our guest,\" Eld said, meeting Corban's gaze.\"Things will be done right, now that I am here. \"He gave a disapproving look to Ildaer, held Mort's gaze along moment, then finally looked at Corban. \"So, Ildaer tells me that you slew three of our kin.\"\n\n\"I had some help,\" Corban answered.\n\n\"Aye. I have heard tell of the wolven. Dead now.\" He chewed at a lip. \"Even so,\" he continued, \"three of our kin, and two of the death wounds were by blade, not tooth or claw.\"\n\n\"It was a hard fight,\" Corban said with a shrug, thinking of his broken ribs and shattered knee." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The shield-maiden snorted a laugh. Respect or derision, Corban wasn't quite sure.\n\n\"And Ildaer tells me that you are someone of note in the war that is happening.\" Eld's eyes fixed pointedly upon Corban's arm-ring. \"Tell me, who are you exactly, and what part do you play in this war?\"\n\nTime to play my hand, though whether it will save or condemn me, I know not.\n\n\"I am Corban ben Thannon. Some have called me the Bright Star, champion of Elyon. I lead the force that stands against Asroth, against his Kadoshim and all those that follow him.\"\n\nThere was a heavy silence as everyone stared at him. Hala leaned in close to Eld, whispering. Ildaer muttered something behind him.\n\nEld's face creased into a thing of fury, glaring at Ildaer. He gripped the hilt of his dagger, knuckles whitening, half-drew it; the iron of the blade was dull, almost black.\n\n\"It seems, Ildaer, you have snared more than you set out to trap. Did you stop to consider the danger you were putting your own neck into? And dragging the Jotun along with you?\"\n\nHe doesn't sound so frail, all of a sudden. He sounds angry.\n\n\"The greater the prize, the greater the reward,\" Ildaer said, jutting out his chin, though there was an edge of doubt in his voice.\n\n\"And the greater the risk,\" Eld said. \"What if Calidus or his champion come looking for the Bright Star? What if they find him here? With the Jotun? Ach...\" Eld shook his head, lips twisting with scorn. \"You will bring misfortune upon us.\"" } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Assist in storytelling and proceed with the tale.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 34" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The shield-maiden snorted a laugh. Respect or derision, Corban wasn't quite sure.\n\n\"And Ildaer tells me that you are someone of note in the war that is happening.\" Eld's eyes fixed pointedly upon Corban's arm-ring. \"Tell me, who are you exactly, and what part do you play in this war?\"\n\nTime to play my hand, though whether it will save or condemn me, I know not.\n\n\"I am Corban ben Thannon. Some have called me the Bright Star, champion of Elyon. I lead the force that stands against Asroth, against his Kadoshim and all those that follow him.\"\n\nThere was a heavy silence as everyone stared at him. Hala leaned in close to Eld, whispering. Ildaer muttered something behind him.\n\nEld's face creased into a thing of fury, glaring at Ildaer. He gripped the hilt of his dagger, knuckles whitening, half-drew it; the iron of the blade was dull, almost black.\n\n\"It seems, Ildaer, you have snared more than you set out to trap. Did you stop to consider the danger you were putting your own neck into? And dragging the Jotun along with you?\"\n\nHe doesn't sound so frail, all of a sudden. He sounds angry.\n\n\"The greater the prize, the greater the reward,\" Ildaer said, jutting out his chin, though there was an edge of doubt in his voice.\n\n\"And the greater the risk,\" Eld said. \"What if Calidus or his champion come looking for the Bright Star? What if they find him here? With the Jotun? Ach...\" Eld shook his head, lips twisting with scorn. \"You will bring misfortune upon us.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is as I said; as I planned,\" Ildaer said. \"We could make a gift of him to Asroth, to Calidus. It would win us great favour, a place in Asroth's new world order. And it would keep the clan safe. '\n\nIldaer seeks to play Eld's own fears against him.\n\n\"Calidus. Aye,\" Eld muttered. \"He is a thinker, that one. Perhaps, if we move quickly, we might put right your blunder and keep the clan safe...\" He looked down, seemed to realize that he'd half-drawn his dagger. With a rasp he sheathed it again.\n\n\"You cannot give me to Calidus,\" Corban said.\n\nEld turned his attention back upon Corban.\n\n\"You are not the one to tell me what I can and cannot do,\" Eld said. \"It is I who shall decide your fate.\" He shrugged, staring hard at Corban. \"The Bright Star,\" he murmured. \"How the days have passed.\" He sighed to himself. \"I must consider the fate of my clan, you understand. Must do what is best for their survival. But while you are with us you will be treated well, with respect. We area people of honour and will do things the right way. And know this: whatever fate I decide for you, it will be for the Jotun's good. It is nothing personal. '\n\nWell, that's a great comfort.\n\n\"You cannot side with Asroth,\" Corban said. \"You saw the Scourging, you know more of Asroth than any of us. He cannot be trusted.\"\n\n\"I saw Asroth set giant against giant,\"tis true, \"Eld said in a whisper. His hand went back to stroking the hilt of his long dagger.\"But I also saw the Ben-Elim fill the skies like a murder of crows, blotting out the sun, and where they flew, death flew with them. They had no mercy, no compassion, no forgiveness. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban shook his head. \"We can stop it from reaching that point. Together. You have the power to do something, to ensure that history does not repeat itself, or worse.\"\n\nEld looked at him, considering.\n\nHe's listening.\n\n\"If you do not stand against Asroth he will enter this world, become flesh, and then we are all dead. I have seen only a glimpse of what the Kadoshim will do, and it is terrible. There will be no hiding, no safe place, no living in peace. You will all be slaughtered. Join me, and together we can halt this tide of darkness.\"\n\nHe gazed about the room, saw them all staring at him, conflicting emotions warring upon each giant's face. He focused on Eld, sitting in his chair.\n\n\"And where is Meical in all of this?\"\n\n\"Meical is dead,\" Corban said without thinking. He saw Eld's mouth open in a gasp of shock.\n\n\"Dead!\" Eld echoed, a trace of fear in his voice. \"Then this war is already over.\"\n\nI should not have said that.\n\n\"No, it's not, \"Corban growled.\"While there is breath in my body, there is hope. There is more to this war than Meical. \"He felt his anger at his old counsellor course through him.\"There are the Jehar, the men of Isiltir, the survivors of this hold, the Benothi giants, so many others from throughout the realms of the Banished Lands. '\n\n\"The Jehar!\" Hala said. \"I thought that ancient order had disappeared an age ago.\"\n\n\"They rode out to make a stand against Asroth,\" Corban said.\n\n\"The Benothi?\" It was the shield-maiden who spoke this time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Balur One-Eye, his daughter Ethlinn, the other survivors of Murias.\"\n\n\"Balur,\" sneered Eld.\n\n\"Ethlinn,\" whispered the shield-maiden.\n\n\"It is too late for any of that, Sig,\" Eld snapped at the giantess. \"We live in the now, not the what-might-have-been.\" She frowned.\n\n\"We should gift Corban to this Calidus,\" Ildaer urged. \"It will buy us favour with the winning side.\"\n\n\"Aye, mayhaps it would,\" Eld mused, \"but it will also bring the Jotun much closer to this God-War than I like. I have spent a thousand years protecting my clan from this war, and yet now...\"\n\nEld sucked in deep, muttering under his breath.\n\n\"This is my judgement,\" he said, leaning back in his chair. \"Ildaer; you will take this Corban into the Desolation and there you will kill him and cast his body into some pit. He was never here.\"\n\nCorban felt a jolt of fear shiver through him.\n\n\"Why not kill him here?\" Mort frowned.\n\n\"The fewer eyes that see, the fewer tongues to wag,\" Eld snapped, \"and sooner or later Calidus will be searching for him.\"\n\nMort nodded.\n\nEld looked around, at the newly crafted building. \"And we must leave this place.\"\n\n\"What?\" Ildaer barked.\n\n\"We are too close to this war. We must be far from here when it happens. We must head back into the Desolation, travel further north, back to the Bonefells or even beyond.\"\n\n\"No,\" Mort cried. \"We cannot. We have achieved too much-\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Silence,\" Eld snarled, spittle spraying from his lips. \"Ildaer, keep your whelp under control, else Sig will reason with him.\"\n\n\"This is my judgement,\" Eld said, harsh as a winter wind. \"Corban is taken from here and executed, and he goes now. The sooner he is away from my clan, the better. Ildaer, I was soon to name you my heir, as reward for the good you have sought for the Jotun, but you have been rash, foolhardy, and I have been unwise to bring the clan south. I will think more on you, and the freedom I have permitted you.\" He shook his head, a parent scolding a wayward child.\n\nBeside Corban, Mort tensed, and he saw Ildaer's knuckles bunch white.\n\nAshe spoke, Eld's hand gripped the dagger again, fingertips tracing the hilt, across the dark iron of the cross-guard.\n\nCorban frowned.\n\n\"Your dagger,\" Corban said, \"the metal it is fashioned from...\"\n\nThen he knew.\n\n\"It is the starstone dagger,\" he whispered.\n\n\"Take him from here, Ildaer,\" Eld snapped, flicking his wrist towards the hall's entrance.\"Now. Carry him into the Desolation, as fast as your bear will carry you. '\n\nIldaer grabbed Corban by his collar, started pulling him backwards. Corban fought in his grip.\n\n\"It must be destroyed!\" Corban shouted, struggling in Ildaer's grip.\n\nEld shook his head, snarling. \"The dagger is mine.\"\n\n\"You cannot escape, cannot hide– nowhere will be far enough,\" Corban yelled. \"Calidus will come for you, hunt you to the ends of the earth for that dagger.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Be gone,\" Eld snarled, a wave of his pale flaking hand. \"The sooner he is dead the better.\"\n\n\"The first command that I do not dislike,\" Mort whispered to Ildaer, and then Corban was being dragged through the hall, fighting and shouting. Mort punched him in the gut; Corban retched bile. He gasped and spluttered, saw Mort grinning at him, Varan frowning as he followed behind. A last glimpse before he was dragged from the hall showed Eld sitting in his chair, staring at Corban.\n\nMort pulled Corban into the sunlight and across the courtyard. Corban managed to get his feet under him as he recovered from Mort's blow. Ildaer was a few strides ahead. Mort was talking in whispered hisses to giants gathering close about him, and then they were moving off indifferent directions. Corban saw giant faces staring at him as he was dragged towards the bear pens; he felt the heat rolling out from the doorway of the forge.\n\nThey're going to kill me!\n\n\"Hold him,\" Ildaer said and disappeared inside the bear pens.\n\nMort threw Corban onto his face, giving him a mouthful of mud.\n\n\"I'll not lie, \"Mort said, standing over him and flipping him with the toe of his boot.\"I'm going to enjoy this.\"\n\nHe reached down and grabbed Corban's tunic, hoisting him up from the ground.\n\nAshe did, Corban kicked out, his boot crunching into Mort's groin. The giant crumpled, Corban rolling free.\n\nCorban looked frantically about, saw giants everywhere; Mort was grimacing, rising unsteadily back to his feet.\n\nNoway out of here. Corban saw the pile of iron rods that he'd been using in his sword dance and snatched one up." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Good,\" the giant said, gripping the axe from his back. \"Now I can defend myself. If you die...\" He shrugged.\n\nIldaer's bulk filled the bear pen doors. A glare as he took it all in. Corban shuffled away from them both, trying to keep them in front of him. He glimpsed other giants moving in.\n\nThey're going to kill me anyway– better to make a fight of it.\n\nPanic had been racing through him, but with that last thought he felt a calmness descend.\n\nI'd rather have been standing with my loved ones, but if this is where I die... He looked around, everything suddenly felt sharper, brighter.\n\nThen so be it. And let's see who I can take with me.\n\nHe set his feet and lifted the iron rod into stooping falcon.\n\nBegin, he heard Gar's voice in his ear.\n\n\"Come on then, and I'll send you to meet your brother, ' he said to Mort.\n\nThe giant didn't seem to like that. He strode in at Corban, whirling his axe above his head, face twisted in rage.\n\nAnger is the enemy, Gar's voice whispered.\n\nCorban remained utterly still, remembering sparring with Balur on the weapons court at Drassil. The axe came out of its spin, began its descent, the intention of the blow to carve Corban in two from skull to groin. Still Corban did not move.\n\nThen he was sidestepping, just half afoot, at the same time swinging his iron bar, nudging Mort's axe-blade away, not meeting it full-on– that was the quickest way to shattered wrists– the blade careened wide and hacked into the ground with an explosion of dirt. Corban swung the bar and crunched it into Mort's knee. The giant howled in agony and dropped to the ground." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban saw Varan on his right and pointed his iron bar at him. Varan lifted his hands and retreated. Other giants were closing.\n\nThey're going to rush me.\n\nOne giant lunged in and Corban swung the iron bar, connected with a wrist, heard bones crunch, the giant falling away, another stepping in, grabbing Corban's arm, but the bar glanced off its head, the giant collapsing. A spear shaft darted in at Corban and he knocked it away, connected with another jaw, the giant spiralling to the ground. Corban edged towards the gates, giants circling him. Suddenly Ildaer was there. Corban waited for him, a circle of fallen giants about him. Ildaer lunged, Corban's bar connecting with his shoulder, sending the giant stumbling, but other hands were gripping Corban, pulling the iron bar from his hands. He punched, twisted, bit, but within moments he was caught tight. Panic had him then and he bucked and kicked like a wild thing, fora moment felt the grip upon him loosening, something crunched into his head and there was an explosion of stars, his vision blurring, the world lurching out of focus as he fell.\n\nThen, voices, shouting, from somewhere beyond.\n\nGiant voices, raised in command, in question. And another voice, somehow familiar.\n\n\"What the...\" Ildaer growled, and then Corban was being hoisted onto his feet.\n\nThe strangest sight greeted him.\n\nA man was walking through the gates, dressed in black chainmail and breeches, a scabbarded sword held high over his head. Giants were standing around him, weapons aimed at him, but they were letting him through, almost appeared to be escorting him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The man was shouting, the same phrase over and over again, but at first the words were incoherent to Corban, he was too busy staring at the man in black, a torrent of emotion sweeping him.\n\nShock, joy, fear, love.\n\nBecause it was Gar." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coralen paused behind an old fence post and looked up at the settlement on the hill. Ahead of her she saw Gar enter the new-built gates, giants surrounding him. To her immense surprise he wasn't dead.\n\nYet.\n\nSo far so good.\n\nTo her left, Coralen caught a flicker of movement: Dath and Kulla, doing the same as her, creeping through the long grass. Farrell and Laith had taken a different path, using the vegetation along the riverbank as cover. If their timing was right they should be near the settlement.\n\n\"No changing it now,\" Coralen muttered to herself. As she scanned the walls of the settlement the giants patrolling it disappeared from view.\n\nGetting a closer view of Gar's entertainment, no doubt. Unless they've decided just to execute him, that is.\n\nShe sucked in a deep breath and ran, breaking out of the long grass and sprinting for the wall. She glimpsed Dath and Kulla breaking from cover on the far side of the gate and doing the same. Kulla was faster than Dath, hitting the wall before even Coralen. Then they had disappeared from view around the curve of the wall. She crunched into stone, looked up and froze as she waited fora giant's face to appear. None did. She dragged in a few deep breaths, unhooked a rope from her belt, looped and knotted the end, then cast it. It caught first time, hooking around a stone piling. She leaned on it, testing how well it had caught, then started to climb, feet against the rock.\n\nA dozen heartbeats and she was at the top. Gar's voice was ringing out, giants shouting, clamouring.\n\nLet's do this, then." }, { "from": "human", "value": "She pulled herself over the top, rolling over, dropping to the roof of a building below, half-expecting to crash right into a giant." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She didn't; her feet thumped onto thatch and then she was crouching low and slipping onto her belly. A quick glance showed the wall was empty, a few giants halfway down a stairwell that led to the courtyard. Off to her left she saw Dath appear on the wall, dropping quickly down, crouching in the shadows and drawing an arrow from his belt-quiver. Kulla landed lightly on her feet beside him. Coralen crawled to the edge of the building she was on and looked over.\n\nAnew half-built hall towered at the peak of the hill, a wide courtyard before it, full with hundreds of giants, all gathered about Gar, who was standing with his scabbarded sword held high over his head and shouting out his challenge, time and time again.\n\nWhere the hell is Ban in all of this?\n\nHer eyes swept the enclosure, and then she saw him, her heart feeling like it had just leaped into her mouth. A rush of fierce joy.\n\nHe's still alive. For now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban stared, not quite believing his eyes.\n\nIt's Gar. He's here, standing fifty paces away from me.\n\nHe wanted to run to his friend, to embrace him, to yell at him to flee. Nothing good could come of him being here. Then he felt a rush of guilt.\n\nHe's come here for me, and he's going to get himself killed.\n\n\"I am Garisan ben Tukul, Lord of the Jehar,\" Gar was yelling, \"and I challenge Ildaer, Warlord of the Jotun, by right of blood-feud.\" He was repeating that sentence over and over, walking through the throng of giants. For some reason they hadn't killed him yet, were in fact parting for him, letting him through.\n\nIldaer was straightening, a deep frown etched on his face as he turned away from Corban.\n\n\"I know you,\" Ildaer said, marching towards Gar.\n\n\"Aye, you do,\" Gar said; the two of them were close now, Ildaer halting a dozen paces from Gar.\n\nThe crowd of giants parted and Sig appeared, behind her Eld and Hala.\n\n\"What is this new madness you bring upon us?\" Eld said to Ildaer.\n\n\"I am Garisan ben Tukul, Lord of the Jehar, and I challenge Ildaer, Warlord of the Jotun by right of blood-feud,\" Gar said.\n\n\"Yes, I think we've all heard you by now, \"Eld snapped.\"Explain why you are here. '\n\n\"Ildaer slew my father.\"\n\n\"Ahh.\" Eld's head turned to Ildaer.\"Is this so? '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is,\" Ildaer shrugged. \"I also fought this weakling, and defeated him. I would have finished the task, but that one–\" he pointed back at Corban– \"stood over him, summoned his warband.\"\n\n\"You ran from Balur One-Eye,\" Corban yelled.\n\n\"None of that is important,\" Gar said. \"All that matters is that you fight me. You must fight me. It is a blood-feud, and the Jotun hold to the honour of the old days.\"\n\nIldaer's eyes flickered to Eld and Hala, then returned to Gar.\n\n\"I am Ildaer, Warlord of the Jotun; I have taken this land for my clan. You area maggot, and will be squashed like one. Mort, take him from my sight and teach him the meaning of pain.\"\n\n\"Hold,\" Eld said, looking between Gar and Ildaer. \"We are the Jotun. All other clans may have turned from the old ways, but we have not; he claims the right of blood-feud.\"\n\n\"You are not serious,\" Ildaer sneered. \"He should be exterminated like the vermin he is.\"\n\n\"He speaks true,\" Hala said. \"You have confessed to killing his father. He has the right to claim trial by combat.\"\n\n\"This is madness, a waste of my time,\" Ildaer rumbled, glowering at Eld.\n\n\"You are Warlord of the Jotun,\" Eld said, \"do not lose your honour over him.\" Eld gestured at Gar.\n\nIldaer stood there along moment. His eyes flickered to Mort, who was in the crowd close to him. Ildaer nodded." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Very well,\" Ildaer said, hefting his war-hammer. \"Come, then, you that are eager for death.\"\n\n\"And if I win, I walkaway from here?\" Gar looked to Eld and Hala as he said it.\n\n\"Of course,\" Eld snapped. \"We are not murderers.\"\n\n\"And he comes with me,\" Gar said, pointing now to Corban.\n\nFor the first time Gar looked straight at Corban. Their eyes locked– so much communicated in a few heartbeats.\n\n\"I think not,\" Eld said. \"You go too far. You have claimed your right, under the old way of blood-feud, but there is nothing in the lore that says you have a claim to him, or any other prize.\"\n\nGar shrugged and looked at Ildaer. He unsheathed his curved sword and tossed the scabbard away.\n\nIldaer rolled his huge shoulders and set his feet in a wide stance, towering over Gar.\n\nGar lifted his sword two-handed above his head, set his feet, waited.\n\n\"Ha, I've seen that before, \"Ildaer laughed.\"Him, over there. \"He gestured at Corban.\"Your father did the same, though it did him little good. You all fight the same. No doubt you'll die the same.\"\n\n\"Begin,\" Eld said.\n\nGar and Ildaer swung at each other, Gar's blade ringing out as it struck a glancing blow on the iron bands of Ildaer's hammer-shaft, knocking it wide. Gar quickly stepped inside the giant's guard, following up with two short chopping strikes, and Ildaer was staggering backwards, blood dripping from cuts on his face and forearm. Gar pursued, striking high and low, his sword a blur, Ildaer's war-hammer blocking wildly as he gripped the shaft with both hands, using it more as a staff to defend himself. Slowly Ildaer got his feet under him, using both ends of his war-hammer, the spiked butt stabbing out, the hammer-head blocking, punching at Gar's head, his chest, feinting, testing. Gar swung and ducked, sidestepped, spun around blows; nothing landed on him. Ildaer retreated slowly, uphill towards Corban, sweat and blood dripping from his face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gar's speed seemed to increase, each attack flowing seamlessly into the next one, sparks exploding from Ildaer's hammer-haft. More wounds appeared on Ildaer, on the back of his hand, across his thigh, his shoulder, Gar was still untouched. He circled Ildaer; the giant was breathing heavily.\n\n\"Do you think of your da?\" Ildaer said.\n\n\"Every day,\" Gar said and attacked again, another blistering attack forcing Ildaer backwards.\n\n\"Was he in pain, at the end?\" Ildaer grunted as he fended off a strike to his throat, sidestepped and swung his hammer two-handed at Gar's midriff, the blow missing by a finger's width as Gar leaped away.\n\nCorban saw muscles twitch on Gar's face, the grip on his sword tighten.\n\nAnger is the enemy; control it. Anger is what defeated you last time, and Ildaer remembers.\n\nGar surged forwards, feinted high to the left, chopped low, but Ildaer caught Gar's sword on his hammer-head, turned it, lashed out and struck Gar across the head with the spike. Gar stumbled backwards, legs unsteady, blood sheeting into one eye. Instinctively Corban tried to leap forwards, but the giants held him fast, Corban and his captors were alone on the slope as the crowd followed Ildaer and Gar back down the hill and across the courtyard. Fora moment Corban could not see Gar– the crowd was blocking his view– a silent scream filled his head at the prospect of Gar dying only a handful of paces away, and him powerless to do anything.\n\nThere was a thud close by, a grunt, and then, suddenly, the grip upon Corban's wrists was gone. He held his hands up and stared at them, as if to check. The giant that had been holding them was crumpled on the ground, blood staining a patch on his leather jerkin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coralen saw Corban look in surprise at the giant's corpse, even as she was leaping on the second one's back and cutting his throat. Blood sprayed and he collapsed to his knees, toppling forwards onto his face.\n\n\"Cora?\" She heard Corban's voice, looked back at him. He had a purpling bruise on his temple, an angry-looking cut on his opposite cheek, deep hollows about his eyes, and in general looked as if he'd been to the Otherworld and back, but the smile spreading across his face became her world, just fora heartbeat or two.\n\n\"How?\" he said.\n\n\"No time for that,\" Coralen said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him back towards the buildings behind them, into their shadow.\n\n\"What-\"\n\n\"No time for that, either. Come on, got to get out of here before Gar's show is over. '\n\n\"Leave? Not without Gar.\"\n\nStill stubborn and difficult, then.\n\n\"It's his plan, \"Coralen grunted.\"We're just doing what we're told. Come on! '\n\nShe cupped her hands to give him a boost up to the forge roof; the plan was to go from thereto the wall and then over to the meadows beyond. After that running like hell was the general idea.\n\n\"Corban,\" a voice called out.\n\nA blond-haired giant was striding towards them. He saw the two dead giants, paused, eyes narrowing, then came straight at them. Coralen moved without thinking, leaping forwards with her sword rising, rolling under his arm as he tried to grab her, sliding on the dirt, one leg hooking behind his ankles, the other kicking his shins. He teetered fora moment, Coralen rolling and slamming her shoulder into his legs to make sure he went down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He did, with a thud and a cloud of dust exploding, then she was kneeling on his chest, sword-tip stabbing at the giant's throat.\n\nSuddenly she was yanked off him.\n\n\"Not him,\" Corban said. He looked from Coralen to the giant, then offered his hand to the giant.\n\n\"You are not what I expected at all,\" the giant rumbled.\n\nHe makes friends in the strangest of places.\n\nCorban looked at Coralen.\n\n\"Damn, but it's good to see you, ' he said, and grinned.\n\nThis is not the time or place for grinning. I think he must have had a blow to the head.\n\n\"The feeling's mutual, \"she grunted.\"Maybe better if we talk as we run, though. '\n\n\"I can't leave Gar here, ' Corban said.\n\n\"I've just told you; this is Gar's plan. We've come along way to get you, so don't go spoiling the plan. You'll upset Gar. '\n\n\"You should go,\" Varan said.\n\n\"Is nobody listening tome,\" Corban said, \"I'm not leaving without Gar. '\n\n\"If he defeats Ildaer, Eld will allow him to walkaway. It is his right,\" Varan said. \"If Ildaer wins, well, you won't be leaving with him then, anyway, because he'll be dead. You should go, now.\"\n\n\"You'd let me? ' Corban asked.\n\n\"You just saved my life,\" the giant said. \"I owe you. And you, little woman, are very fast. And stronger than you look.\"\n\nThis is the strangest rescue I've ever been involved in." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Can we?\" Coralen said, pointing at the wall.\n\nThe giant grabbed them both by the waist and lifted them up to the forge roof, Coralen and Corban pulling themselves up. Coralen had just leaped and grabbed the top of the wall when a huge roar from the crowd behind them rang out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban turned and stared.\n\nGar was down, on one knee, one hand on the ground, Ildaer striding towards him. Corban felt as if every joint in his body was suddenly frozen. Coralen had been scrambling up onto the wall but now she thudded down beside him. They both stood there, on the forge roof, staring at Gar.\n\nIldaer raised his hammer and swung overhead, like a man striking at a tent peg with all his might, the intention to crush Gar to a pulp. Gar seemed dazed, slow. At the last moment he rolled to the side as the hammer crashed into the ground he had just occupied, dirt spraying. On unsteady legs Gar rose to his feet and shuffled backwards. Ildaer rushed at him, war-hammer moving faster than a heavy lump of iron had aright to, Ildaer's strength and speed phenomenal. Gar blocked, ducked and swayed, always retreating; Ildaer finally slowed a fraction, then Gar's sword was striking at the giant, a combination of loops and thrusts, each one flowing into the other. All were blocked, except for Gar's last strike, which slashed low, the tip slicing through the leather of the giant's boot, droplets of blood sprinkling the ground in the wake of Gar's blade.\n\nIldaer paused then, the two warriors facing each other. Both of them wounded, breathing hard.\n\n\"I'll admit, you're better at this than your da,\" Ildaer said. \"But you're still going to die. '\n\nWith his freehand Gar reached behind his back and pulled at something strapped to the back of his belt, revealing a short-handled axe.\n\n\"This was my da's, \"Gar said,\"gifted to him by Wulf ben Gramm. He used it when he fought you here, left it in the skull of one of your bears. \"Gar rolled his wrist, the axe-blade tracing a circle in the air. Then Gar was closing in, sword and axe blurring, Ildaer blocking frantically, the clang of iron ringing out. The entire courtyard was quiet before the savagery and skill unleashed before them. Gar leaped out of range, danced back a few steps, then he was launching himself forwards, running at Ildaer. The giant snarled and swung his hammer, low and horizontal, aimed to connect with Gar's hip and sweep him away. Gar dived to the ground head-first, rolled beneath the hammer-swing, came out of the roll behind Ildaer, and the giant was bellowing in pain as Gar's axe was buried deep in the back of his leg, between knee and buttock. Ildaer stumbled on a step, then dropped to one knee." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Gar rose, walked a wide circle around the wounded giant as a shocked silence filled the courtyard. Ildaer gripped the axe-shaft in his leg and ripped it free, roaring like a wounded bear, flung the axe at Gar. The Jehar's sword flashed, the axe was knocked aside. Ildaer tried to rise but his leg would not take his weight and he crashed back to the ground again. Gar stood before him, gripped his sword two-handed and raised it high. Ildaer swung wildly with his war-hammer, missing Gar and almost dragging himself over. Gar slashed with his sword and the war-hammer fell to the ground, Ildaer's severed hand still gripping it. Blood jetted from Ildaer's wrist, the giant howling in shock and horror. Gar stepped forwards, sword slashing again, and Ildaer's cry was cut short, his head spinning through the air and thumping into the dirt. It rolled, coming to a stop at Eld's feet.\n\nGar stood there, bloody and battle-grim, his chest heaving, nostrils flaring. He bowed his head, closed his eyes.\n\nHe is thinking of his da.\n\nCorban blinked away tears, let out a hiss of suppressed emotion. His hand ached and he looked down to see Coralen's hand in his. He had no idea whether he had gripped her or she him.\n\nEld's voice rang out across the courtyard.\n\n\"Your blood-feud is done, Garisan ben Tukul. Leave us now; only remember that the Jotun dealt with you fairly, and with honour.\"\n\nGar looked up, eyes opening as if coming out of a deep sleep.\n\n\"NO,\" a voice cried out, ringing from the walls: Mort. He was close to Gar, staring at Ildaer's decapitated head with horror and rage. Ina burst of speed, Mort clubbed Gar across the shoulders with his axe-haft, sending the warrior crumpling to the ground." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Ildaer was our Warlord, our leader; he returned pride to the Jotun, washed away the shame of ages, amassed by Eld the coward,\" Mort yelled out. Angry murmurs rippled through the giants.\n\n\"Mort, enough,\" Sig said.\n\n\"And after all Ildaer has achieved, battle-fame and even winning us land beyond the Desolation, Eld is happy to watch Ildaer cut down, allow his killer to leave, and march us all back across the river into that desolate place again, never to return.\"\n\n\"I said, enough.\" Sig pushed through the crowd to reach Mort.\n\nEld just stared at him.\n\n\"Well, I for one will not go back to the Desolation. I have fought alongside Ildaer for our clan, spilt my blood, saw my brother slain. Under Ildaer's leadership we won renown and land, anew home, pride in ourselves, but now you say it is for naught! ' Mort held up a fist and clenched it at Eld.\n\n\"I say NO,\" Mort yelled. \"No to our cowardly King. Your time is done.\"\n\nHe spat towards Eld, eyes bulging, then launched himself at the ancient giant, his axe swinging. It connected with a warrior-giant standing before Eld, one of the King's guards; the giant was hurled through the air in a spray of blood.\n\nThere was a moment's shocked silence, then the courtyard erupted into madness, giant fighting giant, hammers and axes swinging. Corban recognized many of Ildaer's warband attacking Eld's guards or warriors loyal to the King. Even as he watched, Hala went down in amass of limbs, Eld staggering backwards, Sig's longsword flashing free of its scabbard and cutting giants down as she attempted to carve away to Mort." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban and Coralen looked atone another, then leaped back down into the courtyard.\n\nWithout thinking, he grabbed his iron bar and ran into the fray, Coralen on his left, both of them heading for Gar.\n\nCorban ran down the slope, heard roars and rumbles from the open gateway to the bear pens on his left.\n\nIf all of those bears have a bond with their riders, as Long Tooth did with Varan...\n\nHe veered into the stable-block and ran along the line of pens, releasing bolts and swinging doors wide. Together the bears burst out of the stables into the sunlight, a storm of angry fur, teeth and claws, turning the place into a seething mass of murder, crushing flesh and bone as they searched out their riders.\n\nThe courtyard was awash with violence, giants locked in combat with one another; some found their bears and mounted, to deal death out from their backs. Corban kept running, the need to reach Gar driving him; Coralen swung her sword at anything that threatened to slow them.\n\nCorban hurdled a pair of giants that were grappling on the ground, then something crunched into his side, sent him crashing to the dirt. His iron bar went skittering from his hand. He tried to rise but a giant's boot shoved him back down, a dark-haired giantess loomed over him. Corban recognized her as one of Mort's young companions, a blood-crusted axe in her hands.\n\nMove, roll, getup, or you're dead.\n\nThen the giantess was stumbling backwards, a dagger hilt protruding from her chest. She looked at the weapon, confused, staggered another step. There was a whirring sound and an arrow-point exploded from her throat. She plucked at the tip even as another dagger slammed into her shoulder, sending her staggering back another few paces before she toppled like a felled tree." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban scanned the wall beyond the courtyard, saw a small dark figure kneeling, bow in hand, another figure standing at its shoulder.\n\nDath and Kulla.\n\nIt didn't last long, though; another giant was coming at him.\n\n\"Duck,\" a voice shouted behind him, and instinctively he did. Something whistled over his head; there was a crunch and the giant in front of him was spinning and crashing to the ground.\n\nCorban turned to see Farrell and Laith standing behind him. Then Farrell was hugging him, crushing him in a fierce embrace.\n\n\"I've run across half the world for you, Corban ben Thannon, \"Farrell said.\"Cursed your name most of the way, but seeing you, by Asroth's teeth, I have to say it was worth it.\"\n\n\"Not half the world, just half of Forn Forest,\" Laith corrected as she collected her daggers back from giant corpses. \"He exaggerates.\" She shrugged.\n\n\"Touching as this is, how about we save the reunion until we're somewhere with less chance of dying, ' Coralen said as she joined them, yelling over the din of battle.\n\n\"Before you go running off, thought you might like this,\" Farrell said, nodding and gesturing enthusiastically to Laith. She shrugged something from her back, long and wrapped and tied in leather. She ripped the thong off and unwrapped it, revealing...\n\nMy sword. The sword my da made for me.\n\nAlmost reverently, Corban gripped the hilt, a hand and a half of sweat-stained leather; he stroked the wolven-head pommel. He lifted the cross-guard high and kissed it.\n\n\"You left it in a giant,\" Farrell said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"True friends.\" Corban looked up and saw them all smiling at him. \"The best of friends.\" He looked about at the battle and gritted his teeth. \"Let's find Gar and get out of here. '\n\n\"First sensible thing you've said, ' Coralen grinned.\n\nThey threaded their way through the melee, only engaging when they had to, heading ever closer to the steps that led up to the new hall, before which Gar had slain Ildaer. Right in front of Corban two bears slammed together, giants on their backs, the bears clawing, biting, raking each other with teeth and claws, the giants bellowing and swinging hammer and axe at each other.\n\nCorban looked about frantically; the fighting on the steps was fierce. He sighted Sig near the top step, wielding her longsword two-handed, swinging it in great bloody arcs. A handful of warriors were ranged behind her, standing in a loose curling line.\n\nEld's honour guard? Does the Jotun King even live still?\n\nGiants were hurling themselves up the steps at Sig– younger warriors, fierce and reckless in their rage.\n\n\"Gar? Where is Gar?\" Corban shouted to the others, all of them searching for their friend.\n\nVaran stepped into the clearing, carrying Gar in his arms, approaching Corban and holding Gar out. He was unconscious, battered and bruised, looked as if half the Jotun clan had trampled over him, but his chest rose and fell, for which Corban breathed out a silent prayer of thanks. Laith stepped forwards and took Gar from Varan; the Jotun giant's eyebrow rose at the sight of her.\n\n\"Thank you,\" Corban said simply." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Varan nodded, then he was wading into the battle, swinging his war-hammer in a bid to reach the stairs and Sig.\n\nCorban shared a look with his friends, and then they were running for the gate. A giant loomed before them, hammer rising, but an arrow sprouted from his eye and he crashed to the ground. Corban ran on, circled two bears that slammed into each other like two avalanches, and then he was at the gates.\n\nThey were open and clear, meadow grass rippling in the wind beyond." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coralen ran through the long grass, her heart thumping with exertion. Laith set their pace as she was carrying Gar, but even so they were running fast, probably faster than at anytime during the chase through Forn Forest.\n\nIt's amazing what knowing there's a warband of angry giants and bears at your back will do.\n\nGramm's hold was now a silhouette behind them, their shadows running ahead of them, elongated dark streaks in the bloody glow of sunset.\n\nGar groaned over Laith's shoulder, his eyelids fluttering.\n\nWe must stop soon. She glanced at Corban, saw he was favouring one leg, though he was keeping up well enough. Can't have an injury now, though. We may need to outrun bears in the not-too-distant future. Looking at him, she felt a rush of emotion; his dark hair was sweat-stuck to his neck, the gash on his face red. The thrill of victory and success filled her, making her feel that she could run all night.\n\nWe did it. Found him, got him out, and no one dead. Relief was sinking in; only now did Coralen realize that she'd been living under the shadow of dread for over a moon. She risked another sidelong glance at Corban, their eyes touching fora moment, and then she looked away.\n\nShe grinned at the high clouds, glowing pink with the sinking sun, and enjoyed the feeling and sensation coursing through her. Whatever it was, it stopped her thinking about the burning in her lungs and the soreness of her feet.\n\nIt was almost full dark when they reached the outermost fringes of the forest. They stopped beside an ice-cold stream, drinking thirstily and resting briefly beneath a stand of hawthorn, its branches full of sweet-smelling white flowers. Gar propped himself upon one elbow and winced." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Feel like I've been trampled by a herd of auroch, ' he grunted.\n\nThat's close enough to the truth.\n\nThe Jehar made to stand, hissing with pain, and Coralen hurried over to him.\n\n\"Let me check you over, first. Things maybe broken.\"\n\n\"Ban, where is Ban?\" Gar said, ignoring her and rising to his feet. She put an arm around his waist and helped him stand.\n\n\"I'm here, \"Corban said, emerging from the darkness. They stared at each other along moment, then Gar's arms were rising and Corban was stepping forwards, the two men embracing one another, hugging, both of them crying, laughing.\n\nCoralen felt that she should look away, that she was intruding on something deeply personal.\n\n\"Don't ever do that tome again, \"Gar said.\"You've led us a merry chase.\"\n\n\"I'll do my best, ' Corban laughed through his tears.\n\n\"You're back where you belong, now, \"Gar said, cupping Corban's cheek.\n\n\"I am. Are you hurt badly?\"\n\n\"I don't think so, \"Gar said, testing limbs and joints, flexing, twisting slowly. He grimaced, fingers probing his ribs and one of his hips.\"Well, it hurts, but doesn't feel like there's anything broken. '\n\n\"Ildaer,\" Corban said. \"Your dais avenged.\"\n\n\"Aye.\" A grim smile creased Gar's face.\"He is. '\n\nThe others were gathering round now, water skins filled.\n\n\"It was a fight, and no mistake,\" Dath said to Gar, \"you and Ildaer, I mean. A dozen times I nearly shot that big tree– every time I thought he was going to kill you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"My thanks for holding back,\" Gar said. \"I would not have appreciated that.\"\n\n\"I guessed that,\" Dath said. \"In fact, I said to Kulla, if I shoot that giant, Gar'll most likely stab me. Though you did drag it out a bit. I thought it'd be over quicker.\"\n\nCoralen shook her head. That's Dath, always speaking before he thinks on it.\n\nGar was staring at him.\n\n\"Sorry,\" Dath muttered.\n\n\"No, you're right, \"Gar said.\"I felt I had him, in the first rush, was almost ready for the killing blow, but then I remembered I needed to buy you time, to get Corban out. It struck me that a duel often blows or less wouldn't buy that much time.\"\n\n\"Good point,\" Dath commented.\n\n\"So I decided to prolong it a little. I thought I had his measure, could finish him when I was ready.\" He gave a sheepish smile. \"I made a mistake. I forgot about the endurance of giants.\"\n\n\"One of our strong points,\" Laith said.\n\n\"Aye, something I should have remembered,\" Gar said. \"So as my strength began to fade, Ildaer's didn't. It made things a little harder.\" He reached over his shoulder for his sword hilt, only then realizing that it wasn't there.\n\n\"My sword?\"\n\n\"There were a thousand giants trying to kill each other,\" Farrell said, \"your sword was hard to find.\"\n\nGar frowned.\n\n\"I'll tell you about the Jotun while I see to your wounds, ' Corban said, tearing a strip of linen from his shirt hem and soaking it in the stream, then ordering Coralen to sit beside Gar." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm fine, ' she said.\n\n\"You've just run a hundred leagues to rescue me, the least I can do is wash a wound or two. And Brina has taught me a little. I won't poison you.\"\n\nCoralen acquiesced and Corban began to wash their wounds. Coralen unlaced her leather vest to reveal a puncture wound from a giant's hammer-spike. It hadn't gone deep, but it had bled a lot. Corban dabbed the dried blood away and washed it clean, Kulla bringing over her pack and handing him honey for the wound and a roll of linen bandage. Coralen watched Corban work with interest, feeling his hand upon her wound, his expression completely focused. She liked the sensation, it made her feel safe.\n\nFora ham-fisted blacksmith's son he's remarkably good at this.\n\nCorban finished with her and moved onto the cut on Gar's forehead. Ashe did so he told them all that had happened at the hold, filling them in on the Jotun, their hierarchy and something of their background. Dath and Farrell kept asking more questions, so Corban went back almost to the beginning, telling of his battle in the glade, the injuries he and Storm had taken.\n\nNo wonder he favours one leg.\n\nCorban paused, reliving memories of that dark day, no doubt. After a few moments he continued, telling of being dragged from Storm and his journey through Forn.\n\nI wish I could tell him that Storm lives, but she was on the brink of death when I left her. Better to say nothing now than give him false hope.\n\nShe listened in silence until he came to the part where the giants had tried to kill him.\n\n\"I saw something that Eld did not want me to speak of,\" Corban said. \"He has one of the Seven Treasures. The starstone dagger.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "They all fell silent at that; talk of the Seven Treasures took them back to the attack on Drassil." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban wanted to know what had happened.\n\nGar spoke mostly, telling the tale in his matter-of-fact way, of the surprise attack, Nathair's draig smashing through the trapdoor in Drassil's great hall, of the legions of Kadoshim and Vin Thalun and eagle-guard, of the desperate fight and then retreat, and the deaths.\n\n\"Cywen?\" Corban asked when Gar had finished.\n\n\"We don't know, \"Dath said, reaching out and putting a hand on Corban's shoulder. \"Brina said Cywen was with her in the great hall, but there was some kind of explosion, fire and smoke. They were separated, Brina escaped down the tunnel. We waited, but Cywen never came.\"\n\n\"There were prisoners,\" Gar said. \"Within Drassil, we heard. Before we left after you. She could be one– she is brave, smart and resilient. If she survived the battle Calidus would likely keep her alive, use her as bait.\"\n\nCorban grunted, head bowed, face in darkness.\n\n\"And Meical maybe a prisoner, too,\" Dath added.\n\n\"No. Meical is dead,\" Corban said with grim certainty.\n\n\"How do you know?\" Gar asked him.\n\n\"I saw him, in the Otherworld. After I was taken by the Jotun. He told me of the battle at Drassil, of how he stood at the trapdoor and defended your escape. Calidus took him captive, had him executed.\" He looked up from the shadows, moonlight bathing his face. \"They took his head.\"\n\n\"The Otherworld, huh?\" Dath said, nudging Farrell and sounding a little awestruck. \"One of the advantages of being the Bright Star, I suppose.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban stared at Dath, something battling within him.\n\n\"I am not the Bright Star,\" Corban said.\n\nCoralen looked around the small group, at their faces, disbelieving, confused. Corban stern and sombre.\n\n\"It's true. There is no Bright Star, \"he repeated.\"Brina and Cywen came to see me, after your celebration, \"he said with a weak smile at Dath and Kulla.\"Brina had found something in the giant book. It was confusing, contradicted things that Meical had told us. \"He sat back, sighing deeply.\"I found Meical in the great hall, before Skald and the spear. I challenged him about it, and he told me... told me the prophecy is a ruse, a strategy devised by the Ben-Elim to force Asroth's hand, and to guide Asroth along a path where the Ben-Elim could defeat him.\"\n\n\"They're not doing a very good job, then, ' Farrell muttered.\n\n\"That's what I said, ' Corban agreed.\n\nGar was staring at him. \"Tell us again; everything that Meical said to you.\"\n\nSo Corban did. Coralen saw the muscles in his jaw bunching as he recounted parts of it, reliving his shock and anger, his devastation. He explained how Meical had asked for Corban's forgiveness, that the Ben-Elim viewed the race of men and giants as collectives, not individuals, and that the end goal was to defeat Asroth, once and for all. If a few hundred or few thousand men and giants died along the way, then so be it.\n\n\"I wish he were still alive so that I could kill him again,\" Farrell said through gritted teeth, his knuckles popping as he clenched his fists." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But, Storm and Shield,\" Dath said, frowning. \"How could Meical know about them?\"\n\n\"He didn't, \"Corban answered.\"I asked him the same question. He just shrugged and said maybe Elyon was stirring... \"He was silent, as if remembering.\"Meical said he didn't write all of the prophecy, only the core of it, and even that he whispered into Halvor's ear. He said over the generations it has grown and changed, become more. \"He shrugged.\"But he wrote it, set the whole thing in motion. '\n\n\"It cannot be true,\" Gar said, rubbing a hand across his face. \"Some mistake...\"\n\n\"It is no mistake,\" Corban said. \"I felt as you do now. Betrayed. Angry. I almost drew my sword on him. That is why I walked away, left Drassil fora time. To be alone, to think, to calm down.\"\n\nCoralen looked at Corban. His face was twisted with so many emotions.\n\n\"I am sorry,\" he said. \"Sorry to you all, and to all those at Drassil in the warband, those who fought, died.\" He looked away, his mouth a bitter line. \"All those who followed me, believing me to be something that I am not. You've pursued me here, risked life and limb to save me. To save the Bright Star. '\n\nCoralen could hardly take in what she was hearing. She wanted to believe that Corban had made a mistake, misunderstood, or that Meical had some madness upon him.\n\nBut no. I believe Corban. He's no idiot, much as I might tell him that he is. And look at him. It has broken his heart, more for us than for his own self." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She felt the sudden urge to reach out to him, to hold him and comfort him. It took an act of will to remain where she was.\n\n\"I believe you,\" she said, her voice quiet.\n\nCorban nodded at her, a thanks.\n\n\"And we came after you because you're our friend, Ban, \"Farrell said.\"Bright Star's got nothing to do with it.\"\n\n\"So, what do we do now?\" Dath said. \"If it's true, if it's all been a lie! What do we do now?\" There was an edge of panic in his voice.\n\nCorban put his head in his hands, rubbed his face hard, then looked up.\n\n\"We could leave,\" he said. \"Most of the people in this world that I still hold dear are here, before me. We could leave, walkaway from war and death. Find somewhere quiet. Build anew life for ourselves.\"\n\nThey all just stared at him, each thinking over his words, imagining. Coralen found herself thinking of a cottage by a stream, Corban working a plough in afield, her out hunting deer in green-dappled woodland.\n\n\"You don't mean that, ' Gar said.\n\n\"I did think on it,\" Corban said. \"Part of me would love nothing more than to walkaway, to start anew life, maybe build a hold somewhere together.\" Coralen saw Farrell and Laith look at each other, Dath nodding to himself.\n\n\"But I know that there is no hiding from Calidus, from Asroth,\" Corban continued. \"They would find us. They mean to destroy all life in these Banished Lands. That includes us, no matter how far or fast we run. And there's Cywen. I could never just walkaway not knowing if she were alive or dead. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So what does that leave?\" Gar asked. He looked as if he already knew the answer, but wanted to hear Corban say it.\n\n\"We fight,\" Corban said with a shrug. \"The prophecy maybe a ruse, but Calidus and his Kadoshim are real enough, and they are murdering their way through our lands, our kin. I may not be the Bright Star, but I can still hold a blade. I fought Sumur and took his head. I don't say that as boast, but as fact. One man, or woman– \"he nodded to Coralen, Kulla and Laith–\"can make a difference. Can do something. It may not change anything, but we won't know unless we try.\"\n\nHe sighed. \"It's taken me along time to come to this conclusion. I've thought long and hard on it, come through the darkness of Meical's deceit, and now I can see it for what it is, and what it isn't. But you've only had a few moments. Think about it, sleep on it, we can talk again on the morrow. '\n\n\"No need for that,\" Farrell said. \"Least, not for me. You're my friend, Ban. I'll go where you go. It's as simple as that. '\n\n\"Me too,\" Dath said. \"You were my friend before all this seven disgraces business came along. My only friend. You're good, Ban, inhere. \"Dath put two fingers over his heart, tapped his chest.\"And I'll follow you wherever you choose to go. You're my friend, and I trust you, Bright Star or no. And I'm still your shieldman, unto death.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Farrell rumbled his agreement." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban was looking at their faces, ranged in a half-circle before him. His eyes rested upon Gar, who was looking back at him, unreadable as always.\n\n\"Good advice. We'll talk more in the morning, \"Gar nodded.\"Decide which way we'll be running.\"\n\nFarrell groaned. \"Always the running!\" he muttered.\n\n\"I'll take first watch, \"Coralen said, and walked away, jumping across the stream and standing beneath a tree. She looked east and west, deciding whether Gramm's hold or Forn Forest was the greatest danger, then faced west, towards Gramm's hold.\n\nGiants and bears, and some of them tried to kill us today.\n\nWhat a day. A duel, a battle, an escape. And a revelation.\n\nHer head was spinning with it, but sitting alone in the darkness helped her think it through.\n\nIn truth Corban not being the Bright Star didn't matter to her. She'd met him and known his worth before she'd heard any mention of prophecies. And he was right, there was a war that still needed fighting, an enemy that still needed killing, regardless of the names and titles you gave the combatants. She knew what her choice would become sunrise. Had known all along.\n\nShe heard the murmur of conversation amongst her companions, even that slowly dying out, the rasp of a whetstone, Corban lovingly tending to his reunited blade, then silence. Finally, Laith's snoring. And awhile later, a soft footfall, the crackle of leaves underfoot. From the corner of her eye she saw Corban approaching through the hawthorns.\n\nA smile twitched her lips, her heart suddenly beating faster." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There she is.\n\n\"Ban, you're as loud as a lumbering bear, ' Coralen said, not even turning her head.\n\nI thought I was being my most skilfully quiet!\n\n\"I couldn't sleep, \"he said, his eyes picking out the shape of her in the darkness. Her shadow merged with the tree, a curve gilded by the moon. She looked at him, red hair dark in the starlight, face pale and dappled with freckles, her eyes deep shadows. His heart was beating hard in his chest, as fast as it had been during the battle and long run all the way here from Gramm's hold.\n\n\"I... It's good to see you, \"he mumbled,\"all of you. \"He waved a hand behind him.\"I'm grateful, to you all, for...\"\n\nWhat is wrong with me? I can fight Sumur, a Kadoshim demon from the Otherworld, yet now I've lost the ability to speak!\n\nShe stepped close to him, so close that he could smell the hint of apples on her breath.\n\nLike in my dreams.\n\n\"Unless you've come hereto finally return my kiss, \"she said,\"then you'd better turnaround and walkaway. I've been angry with you along while and may not be responsible for what I do to you. '\n\nHe leaned forwards, hesitantly brushed his lips against hers, his heart pounding louder than a Benothi war-drum, then harder and, suddenly, his arms were around her, pulling her close, and he felt as if he was drowning, spinning.\n\nTheir lips parted; a jolt passed through him, like thinking there was an extra step as you walked down a stairwell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, better late than never,\" Coralen murmured with satisfaction, and Corban realized she was smiling, saw the glint of teeth through her parted lips.\n\n\"Apples,\" he said.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"I dreamed of kissing you, and in my dream you tasted of apples.\"\n\n\"You dream about me?\" Coralen asked. She didn't sound so angry now. She grabbed his shirt and pulled his lips onto hers.\n\nWhy have we not done this sooner. It's wonderful.\n\nHis thoughts disintegrated. Time passed– how long, Corban could not tell.\n\nAbruptly Coralen pushed him away, her head turning, cocked to one side.\n\nWhat have I done now?\n\nThen he heard it. A rumble, like distant thunder, but rhythmic, growing louder.\n\nNot louder. Closer.\n\nI recognize that sound.\n\n\"Bears,\" he said.\n\nThey exploded into movement, running back through the trees, leaping the stream.\n\n\"Ware the Jotun,\" Corban cried, snatching up his sword from where he'd left it beside his cloak.\n\nAll were jumping to their feet, Coralen standing and calmly buckling her wolven claws onto her left fist. Corban went and helped her.\n\n\"Wish I still had mine,\" he said as he buckled the last strap for her.\n\n\"We'll have to go get it back for you, then, ' she grunted and drew her sword, staring back into the darkness. Dath sprinted away a score of paces, turned, started stabbing arrows into the earth around him, stringing his bow, Kulla at his shoulder as always.\n\nGar limped close to Corban; Laith drew one of her many daggers, flipping it and tossing it to Gar, then another one." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's better, ' Gar said, running the blades of the two daggers together. They were like short swords for him.\n\nFarrell hefted his hammer.\n\nCorban set his feet, shifted his weight from left to right, testing his knee. It was throbbing, a dull pulse, but felt good enough.\n\nIt'll be all right. It'll have to be.\n\nThen trees were splintering, cracking, and a bear was bursting out from the midnight dark in an explosion of leaves, a giant on its back.\n\nMort.\n\nThe giant saw Corban and bellowed a victory cry, raising his battle-axe over his head. Others were behind him, shadows huge as boulders– four, six, seven, Corban could not tell. Then the bears were amongst them.\n\nCorban jumped to his left, a bear leaping at him; he felt Mort's axe hiss by his ear. Corban gripped his sword two-handed and hacked with all his might, his blade-tip slicing into the bear's back leg as it hurtled past him. It bellowed. Corban pivoted and swung his sword over his head, moving into the dragonfly stance. Mort was yelling commands at the bear, trying to get it to turn as it slammed broadside into a tree, leaves erupting from above.\n\nCorban glimpsed Farrell swinging his hammer, deflecting an axe-blow, a shower of sparks cascading about him while Laith was hurling her daggers at a giant atop a bear. Then Mort and his bear were charging at him again.\n\nHe held his stance as the bear pounded towards him. At the last possible moment Corban spun away, his sword slashing at the animal's neck, ducking as Mort's axe swung at his head. Then Mort and the bear were beyond range." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Corban heard a rage-filled scream from Kulla and saw Dath swiped by a bear-paw slashing at his back, sending him flying, smashing face-first into a tree." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Kulla half severed the still-raised paw, her sword rising and falling in a frenzy, hacking, chopping, the bear dropping, rolling onto its side and pinning its giant rider. Kulla ran up the bear's broad chest, beheading the trapped giant, then stabbed two-handed down into the bear, her sword slipping through ribs and on, deeper and deeper, piercing its heart.\n\nA giant on foot came at Corban, looming out of the shadows, wielding a war-hammer. He feinted right with the hammer-head, struck with the end, the iron-shod butt catching Corban on the shoulder, sending him stumbling off balance. The giant followed, swinging his hammer, Corban ducking, slipping within the giant's guard, stabbing up into the giant's belly, through leather and fur, angling up, under the ribs.\n\nAshe ripped his sword free the giant crashed to its knees. Two more bear-riding giants burst through the hawthorns and leaped across the stream.\n\nHow many more? We will be crushed, have no chance.\n\nThe first bear had a coat of mail buckled about it, a thick leather collar around its neck, and on its back rode a familiar blond-haired giant.\n\nVaran. Has he come to kill me? Or to bring me back, on Eld's command?\n\nCorban watched as Varan leaned low in his saddle, whispering something to his mount, Long Tooth, who leaped forwards, Varan's war-hammer whirring above his head, crunching into a giant that was attacking Gar.\n\nHe's helping us!\n\nAt the same time Corban saw the rider behind Varan send her bear into the fray, striking at another giant. It was Sig." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a bellowing behind Corban, another bear was towering up, one of Laith's daggers sunk to the hilt in its eye. It reared high on its two hind legs, then it was toppling, thundering to the ground, trees shattering in its ruin.\n\nIts rider rose from the wreckage, searching the glade. She was a shield-maiden, who fixed her eyes on Laith and went striding for her. Farrell saw and intercepted, their hammers ringing out, a dozen heavy blows traded as Laith circled, looking fora dagger-opening. Then Farrell was hurled from his feet, crashing to the ground, Laith ducking as the giant switched her focus. She was too slow: the giant's hammer clubbed her to the ground before Farrell's prostrate form. Corban heard a bear roaring and crashing in the trees– Mort bearing down upon him again. The giant maiden was raising her war-hammer high over Laith and Farrell.\n\nToo far, I'm too faraway, Corban screamed internally as he ran towards them.\n\nThen Coralen was there. She barrelled into the giant, her sword and wolven claws slashing, sending sparks from the giant's mail shirt, staggering her foe. Coralen punched her wolven claws deep into a thigh, the giant roaring in pain. She dropped to one knee, hammer falling from her grip, but Coralen's claws were stuck in the giant's leg. A fist crashed into Coralen's face, hurling her through the air, crashing to the ground. She tried to rise, dazed, as the giant staggered to her feet, kicking Coralen in the ribs, lifting her from the ground. The giant raised an iron-shod boot over Coralen's head.\n\nCorban was screaming, and then he was there, sword swinging from on high, hacking down diagonally across the giant's chest, a spray of blood and bone, his face twisted in a snarl, striking again and again as the giant tumbled backwards, dead before she hit the ground." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Assist in storytelling, proceed with the tale.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 40" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a bellowing behind Corban, another bear was towering up, one of Laith's daggers sunk to the hilt in its eye. It reared high on its two hind legs, then it was toppling, thundering to the ground, trees shattering in its ruin.\n\nIts rider rose from the wreckage, searching the glade. She was a shield-maiden, who fixed her eyes on Laith and went striding for her. Farrell saw and intercepted, their hammers ringing out, a dozen heavy blows traded as Laith circled, looking fora dagger-opening. Then Farrell was hurled from his feet, crashing to the ground, Laith ducking as the giant switched her focus. She was too slow: the giant's hammer clubbed her to the ground before Farrell's prostrate form. Corban heard a bear roaring and crashing in the trees– Mort bearing down upon him again. The giant maiden was raising her war-hammer high over Laith and Farrell.\n\nToo far, I'm too faraway, Corban screamed internally as he ran towards them.\n\nThen Coralen was there. She barrelled into the giant, her sword and wolven claws slashing, sending sparks from the giant's mail shirt, staggering her foe. Coralen punched her wolven claws deep into a thigh, the giant roaring in pain. She dropped to one knee, hammer falling from her grip, but Coralen's claws were stuck in the giant's leg. A fist crashed into Coralen's face, hurling her through the air, crashing to the ground. She tried to rise, dazed, as the giant staggered to her feet, kicking Coralen in the ribs, lifting her from the ground. The giant raised an iron-shod boot over Coralen's head.\n\nCorban was screaming, and then he was there, sword swinging from on high, hacking down diagonally across the giant's chest, a spray of blood and bone, his face twisted in a snarl, striking again and again as the giant tumbled backwards, dead before she hit the ground." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban stood over her a moment, blood-spattered and nostrils flaring, then he spun on his heel and ran to Coralen.\n\nShe was dazed, grunted with pain when Corban put an arm about her, but she was alive.\n\nFew broken ribs, maybe. I know how that feels. Corban lifted her in his arms, carried her to a tree and placed her against it, then turned and stood before her.\n\nTheir small campsite had become a place of carnage, the stench of death filling the air, moonlight glimmering on iron and blood. Farrell and Laith lay still upon the ground– Corban had no idea if they were dead or alive– while Kulla was standing guard over Dath with her feet set and sword raised high, another giant dead at her feet. Gar was still standing, fighting against a riderless bear; Varan and Sig were battling two Jotun on bears.\n\nA bear lumbered in front of Corban, its rider glowering down at him.\n\nMort.\n\nCorban took a dozen paces forwards and raised his sword high.\n\nMort snarled and kicked his heels into the bear. The animal jumped forwards.\n\nI'll not be leaping out of its way this time, it'll have a clear run at Coralen. Need to draw it away from her.\n\nCorban lunged at the bear's head, his blade crunching into its skull, glancing off. The blow shivered up through Corban's wrists and arms, numbing his elbows and shoulders but left only a shallow gash upon the bear.\n\nThat's why Gramm and Wulf learned how to throw an axe.\n\nHe retreated apace, deflected a blow from Mort's axe as the giant tried to take his head. He backed up another step, stabbing at the bear's eye and missing and grazing its cheek, only seeming to enrage the beast further. A quick glance showed him that Coralen was a few steps behind him leaning against a tree and looking in no condition to fight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban hacked at Mort's leg, felt his blade bite and pulled back to stab into the bear's neck. Then its paw hit him. It must have been a backhanded blow or its claws would have eviscerated him, but it was still powerful enough to hurl him through the air. He hit the ground with bone-jarring force, the bear shambling after him, Mort's paleface grinning.\n\nThen from out of the trees came a monstrous howl, starting deep, finishing high and keening. The sound of undergrowth being torn up, crashed through, then, much closer, a terrifyingly deep snarling growl that set Corban's blood running cold.\n\nThe bear paused, looking beyond Corban to the edge of the clearing. Corban rolled on his back to see what new horror was entering the battle.\n\nA creature burst from a wall of undergrowth, huge fangs, snapping jaws, knotted muscle and pale fur.\n\nWhat monster from Forn is this?\n\nIt slammed into the bear, smaller in bulk, but the power and ferocity of its assault was enough to hurl the bear backwards, sending it crashing to the ground. Mort flew through the air and hit a tree– the crack of his spine breaking audible even above the battle. The bear and this new creature locked together: a maelstrom of snapping teeth, bone-rattling snarls, tearing at each other.\n\nThey rolled to a halt, the bear underneath, scrabbling to rise, the new creature a lump of bulging muscle and fur atop it. Huge jaws bit down, a tearing sound, the bear's roaring rose in pitch, and then abruptly cut short as its throat was torn out. The creature stood upon its victim, shoulders bunched with power, pale fur and dark stripes upon its torso. It carried on frenziedly ripping at the bear's throat fora few moments, then looked up, teeth bared in a snarl as it looked around the campsite." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Long fangs dripped red, its muzzle and head broad, fur matted with blood and scarred from old battles. Amber eyes regarded him, and suddenly Corban knew.\n\n\"But, you're dead, ' he whispered, rolling to one knee, standing.\n\nStorm.\n\nIna bound she was in front of him. She took a deep sniff, then lifted her head to the heavens and howled, a victory howl, of a hunt ended. She gave his face along, rasping lick with her rough tongue, nuzzling him, pushing her body against his, curling around him protectively, jumping away and back again, licking at his mouth, whining.\n\nCorban just stood therefor a few shocked moments, buffeted and battered by her greeting, grinning all the time like a fool, tears streaming down his cheeks.\n\nIt's really her. He felt as if his heart would burst. All that pain and heartbreak that threatened to overwhelm him every time he thought of Storm howling as he was carried away by giants, of when she had stopped howling– it was just gone, transformed suddenly and completely into a deep and overwhelming joy.\n\nAnd then he threw his arms around her neck and buried his face in her fur, weeping and laughing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coralen watched Storm turn into a scampering cub at her reunion with Corban and couldn't help but smile. She hobbled over to the pair; Storm, fora moment, raised a lip and bared her fangs at Coralen before she recognized her scent, then she was nuzzling her as well.\n\nCorban looked at her and smiled, tears streaking lines through the dirt and dried blood-spatter on his face.\n\n\"I thought she was dead,\" he said.\n\n\"I found her, on a riverbank,\" Coralen said smiling. Somehow it was important to her that Corban knew that. \"I thought she was dead, she had the faintest heartbeat. Brina was looking after her when we left to find you, though she said there was little hope.\"\n\n\"Well, whatever she did, it worked,\" Corban grinned, ruffling the thick fur around Storm's neck and tugging on one of her ears. She licked his face with a rough tongue, then licked Coralen for good measure, making her stagger. Coralen grunted in pain.\n\n\"I need to look at your wounds,\" Corban said.\n\n\"I think I may have to wait my turn,\" Coralen said. \"There're others in more need than me. '\n\nFarrell and Laith were still unmoving, Laith lay prone across Farrell. It was he who was groaning.\n\nLaith swore when they tried to lift her. Coralen breathed a sigh of relief at hearing her; she'd feared the giantling was dead.\n\n\"Concussion,\" Corban said, looking in Laith's eyes.\"No broken bones. '\n\nGar came to help them and the three of them rolled Laith off of Farrell, as gently as they could. The two giants that had joined them– Varan and Sig, as Corban introduced them to Coralen– helped. Sig had a vicious-looking cut along the length of one arm, but still she lifted Laith as if she were as light as a bairn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"You saved us,\" Corban said to the two Jotun giants." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We are in your debt.\"\n\n\"We'll talk later, \"Varan said.\"But now, take this and tend to your wounded. ' He offered Corban a bag. Corban opened it and sniffed.\n\n\"Comfrey, yarrow, peppermint,\" Varan said. \"Being apprenticed to a healer has its benefits.\"\n\n\"Hala,\" Corban said. \"How is she?\"\n\n\"Unconscious,\" Varan replied.\n\n\"Mort struck her,\" Sig snarled.\n\n\"She may never wake,\" Varan added.\n\n\"I am sorry for that.\" Corban shook his head.\n\nSig grunted.\n\n\"And take this,\" Varan said, offering a drinking skin to Corban.\n\n\"Brot?\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Varan smiled.\n\nCorban nodded and bent down beside Farrell.\n\n\"My thanks,\" Farrell breathed, \"much as I'm fond of her, Laith's not alight lass. I feel half-crushed to death.\"\n\n\"Might have something to do with the hammer-blow you took to your sternum,\" Corban said, pressing on Farrell's midriff. He yelped in pain.\n\n\"Aye, you might be right,\" Farrell said. \"I'm guessing, as we're still alive, we won.\" He blinked. \"Is that Storm?\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Corban and Coralen said together.\n\n\"She looks meaner,\" Farrell commented. \"Wilder.\"\n\nI thought that.\n\n\"Where's Dath? ' Farrell asked.\n\nA muffled sob drew all of their eyes. Kulla. She was still standing over Dath, who was lying face-down in the grass, a vicious set of claw-marks raked across his back. Gently Corban lifted his friend and turned him over. He made no sound, head flopping back in Corban's arms." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Please, no,\" Farrell whispered when he reached them. Coralen just stood and stared, hoping. Corban had his ear to Dath's chest, searching fora pulse.\n\n\"Thank Elyon,\" he said with along exhalation, \"he's alive. '\n\n\"He's alive? ' Kulla asked.\n\n\"Aye. For now, though that wound on his back needs cleaning, probably stitching.\"\n\nKulla dropped to her knees, lifted Dath onto her lap and stroked his face, tears rolling down her cheeks. \"When you wake up, we're going to have a serious talk, \"Kulla said quietly,\"getting yourself injured like that. '\n\nCoralen helped Corban and Gar tend to the others. Dath's wounds were the most serious, each claw-wound needing washing out then scraping clean with a knife, making them bleed again. When Corban was eventually happy that the wounds were dirt-free, he slathered them with honey and stitched them closed. While they were doing that, Varan and Sig gathered the giant corpses and laid them together, eight giants in all. The dead bears they left where they fell, Storm feasting on one of them.\n\nCoralen had her own collection of cuts and bruises, her jaw was tender and throbbing where the giant had punched her.\n\nLucky I don't have a broken jaw.\n\nShe cleaned and washed her cuts down by the stream, but her worst injury was to her ribs, where the giant had kicked her. Already a purple bruise the size of her head was blooming across her ribs. Eventually Coralen consented to Corban checking her over. He touched her ribs, fingers gentle, but still she winced.\n\nHe strapped her ribs and gave her a bowl of something he'd heated over a pot, telling her to wash it down with the brot Varan had given him. She did so without complaint." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was late by the time all was done, the moon fading in the sky.\n\nCorban sat beside Coralen as she lay on the grass, trying not to groan with the pain in her rib.\n\n\"Quite a day,\" he said quietly.\n\n\"And night,\" Coralen said. She felt a warm glow spreading through her, the relief that she always experienced after a battle survived. None of their crew had fallen. Battered to the shadow of death's doorway, maybe, but they were all still breathing. She knew the odds they'd faced this day and night had been overwhelming. It was verging upon a miracle that they had all survived.\n\nShe looked up at Corban and saw that he was watching and smiling at her.\n\n\"Come down here and get some sleep,\" she said to him.\n\nHe did, lying down beside her, then turning over to put an arm across her. He kissed her cheek.\n\n\"Good night,\" he whispered in her ear, and within about thirty heartbeats he was snoring softly. She lay there and smiled.\n\nJust before sleep took her she realized they'd not set a guard. Then she heard Storm shift, getup and pad over to them, curling down behind Corban, the smell of her fur wafting over them.\n\nDon't need to set a guard tonight. Storm's back, and she's pack." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos wandered the wide stone streets of Drassil, a score of Vin Thalun at his back, more of his men emerging from shadowed doorways, all of them shaking their heads.\n\nNothing.\n\nWhere the hell is this blacksmith's chamber where the starstone Treasures were fashioned?\n\nAt first Lykos had thought that searching for this mysterious room might bean interesting distraction from the boredom of being stuck in Drassil. Discovering that Maquin and probably Fidele were out in Forn not too far from him had perked him up fora while, but after giving a lot of thought to imagining how he would capture and kill Maquin, and capture and enjoy Fidele, he'd started to try and workout how he was actually going to make that happen. So far he'd not come up with anything. Marching his warband into Forn didn't seem to be the most sensible option, not least because Calidus would probably stick Lykos on one of the spears before the great gates for even suggesting such a wasteful use of manpower.\n\nHe seems very highly strung these days. He needs to learn to relax and enjoy the moment.\n\nLykos unstoppered afresh skin of mead with his teeth and took along swallow. Then he belched.\n\nLike me.\n\nHe grinned to himself.\n\nCalidus had given Lykos and Nathair different sections of the fortress to search. They were in the last street of Lykos' allocated area, now, opening up into yet another abandoned courtyard, a gnarled old tree at its centre, and still nothing.\n\nWe have searched every building. Every room, every tower, every barn and basement. And yet, nothing. I wonder if Nathair has had more luck?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He sat under the shade of the ancient oak, waiting for his men to finish their search. While he waited he drank some more from his skin of mead.\n\nWhat's that smell?\n\nHe looked about. The most terrible stench was drifting up his nose. He stood and looked around, saw only the empty courtyard, his men, the tree, its thick roots lifting flagstones.\n\nIs that a hole in the ground amidst the roots, in the shadows of the tree?\n\nFootsteps slapped on stone and a voice called his name. One of his runners, a young lad who he set to watch the gates and bring him news, if there ever was any. He was red-faced and sweating.\n\n\"Someone has arrived,\" the lad said. \"A Kadoshim.\"\n\nLykos raised an eyebrow. Calidus was very protective of his Kadoshim these days, rarely let them pass through the gates of Drassil.\n\n\"And he looks like he's scrapped his way through all the pits in the Three Islands to get here, ' the lad added.\n\n\"Where did he go?\"\n\n\"The great hall, looking for Wax-Face.\"\n\nWax-Face. Ha.\n\nLykos hastened through the gates of Drassil's great hall and saw Calidus sitting at the long table before Skald's throne, in deep conversation with Nathair. A dozen eagle-guard stood straight-backed close by, and Legion was lurking in the shadows.\n\nThe Kadoshim is not here yet. Good.\n\n\"What?\" Calidus said as Lykos approached.\n\nHis manners are failing him. When he was pretending to be nothing more than a counsellor he was so much more polite." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Lykos nodded a greeting at Nathair, who looked away." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Sometimes, the way Nathair looked at him, or didn't look at him, made Lykos convinced that the young King of Tenebral intended him genuine harm.\n\nHe needs to mask his feelings better. Like me.\n\n\"I have finished searching the section of this fortress that you set me. No old secret forge.\" He opened his hands wide, pulling a sad face.\n\nCalidus opened his mouth to say something, but then his eyes focused over Lykos' shoulder.\n\nOur Kadoshim has arrived, then.\n\n\"Mavet, why are you here? Has Gundul arrived?\" Calidus called out.\n\nAh, so he was one of the hundred Kadoshim gifted to Gundul.\n\nLykos turned to watch the Kadoshim. He was flanked by two more of his kind; seeing them together highlighted how shockingly different this Mavet appeared.\n\nFirst of all, he was missing a hand. He limped down the stairs, clothes and mail shirt torn and rent, his pale-veined flesh gashed and battered. One eye was gone from his head.\n\nI don't think he's bringing good news.\n\nWhen Mavet reached them he dropped into a chair at the table, scratching absently at the empty socket where his eye had been.\n\n\"Sustenance,\" the creature said, its voice a croak.\n\nCalidus poured him wine and the Kadoshim drank deeply, head arching back as it drained the cup.\n\n\"Well?\" Calidus said through thin-clenched lips.\n\n\"Gundul is dead,\" the Kadoshim said as aboard of meat, bread and cheese was brought for him. He began stuffing food into his mouth. \"And his warband slain or scattered.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How?\" Calidus said, voice cold and hard as iron.\n\n\"Men clothed like them,\" the Kadoshim said, pointing at Nathair's eagle-guard.\n\nVeradis and the warband of Ripa.\n\nLykos looked to Nathair, who appeared stunned by the news.\n\n\"But, there were fewer than a thousand men in the warband from Ripa,\" Nathair said. \"Gundul's warband numbered in the thousands– three, four thousand strong. '\n\n\"And a hundred Kadoshim,\" Lykos pointed out.\n\n\"It's Veradis and his damned shield wall, ' Nathair whispered.\n\n\"Yes, there was a wall of shields,\" Mavet rasped, \"and many skilled fighters. They knew to take Kadoshim heads. There was a giant.\"\n\n\"Alcyon,\" hissed Calidus.\n\n\"I wish I had been there,\" Legion muttered. \"I would have smashed their bodies and crushed their skulls, I would have broken their bones and fed from their flesh and danced on their dead and sucked out their souls and-\"\n\n\"Shut up, Legion,\" Calidus snapped.\n\n\"And now Veradis and the same warband are camped somewhere out there, beyond our gates.\" Nathair shook his head. \"We're going to need a bigger warband. '\n\nThere was along silence, then Calidus surged to his feet, hands beneath the table, grabbing it, hurling it into the air. Snarling and gnashing his teeth like a wild beast, Calidus stormed up the stairs, to the cauldron, and gripped its sides.\n\n\"Asroth,\" he yelled. \"The years I have worked and toiled and laboured to bring you here, and now we are so close. So close. How much longer before we see your glory? Until you are flesh before us?\" He grabbed the starstone spear and with a great wrench pulled it from where it was embedded deep in the great tree and the skeleton of Skald, hurling it at the table he'd just overthrown. It skewered the wood, the shaft vibrating. There was an almighty crash as the bones of the long-dead giant king fell to the floor. And there was another sound, aloud hissing, and a crack. Lykos looked on in disbelief, because there was now a door swinging open from the trunk of the great tree, high and wide as two giants abreast." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Calidus laughed hysterically and hurried into the darkness, reaching up to take a flickering torch from a sconce set into the tree; Nathair went after him, accompanied by Legion. Lykos made sure to retrieve the skin of mead from the floor where it had fallen in Calidus' outburst before following them.\n\nMustn't forget our priorities.\n\nFirelight from the torch revealed a stairwell carved into the tree spiralling down, the walls slick and sticky with resin. The steps opened out into a wide room, its edge filled with iron racks, weapons rowed within them– war-hammer, battle-axe and sword, as well as all manner of tools, tongs, pincers, chisels and working hammers. In the room's centre stood a huge anvil, and behind it loomed a massive bellows and forge, still banked with eons-old charcoal and cinder.\n\nLykos walked deeper into the room, hesitantly, reverently; the room felt thick with antiquity, almost sacred.\n\nIt was here that the Seven Treasures were forged. Axe and spear, cauldron, cup and dagger, necklace and torc. Here that the great war began.\n\nHe took a swig from his skin of mead.\n\nCalidus touched his torch to bowls full of oil set upon stands. They ignited with a sibilant hiss, blue-flickering light and shadow illuminating the room. Calidus grinned, for upon the wall were carved giantish runes and skilled engravings. At first Lykos could not understand what it was– almost the entirety of the wall that circled them was filled with the scribing. Then it fell into place in his mind.\n\nIt is a map!\n\nA huge map, rising high, filling the whole wall, encompassing the room." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Halvor did this,\" Calidus whispered. \"The Voice of Skald, survivor of the Scourging. The last giant to dwell here, in this fortress.\"\n\nThat was a very longtime ago.\n\nDrassil was clear upon it, at the centre of Forn Forest, which spread like a dark stain on the wall. The likeness of a spear was etched alongside Drassil.\n\nThe starstone spear.\n\nLykos looked closer, saw another marker within Forn, to the south of the forest.\n\n\"That is Haldis,\" Calidus said, \"burial ground of the Hunen, where we fought them, broke them. Where we found the starstone axe.\"\n\n\"And here is Mikil, Jael's seat of power in Isiltir, \"Nathair said,\"and it has an axe engraved besides it. '\n\n\"But you say the axe was found at Haldis,\" Lykos said, \"not Mikil. Is this map wrong, then?\"\n\n\"No, I would think it is a depiction of the Banished Lands when Halvor scribed this. Mikil was built by the Hunen giant clan,\" Calidus said. \"Dagda was their king, Mikil his seat of power and so it was at Mikil that the starstone axe was kept.\"\n\n\"How did it end up in Haldis, then?\" Lykos asked.\n\n\"We know that the starstone axe was still at Mikil until about five years ago, a great relic that King Romar of Isiltir exploited to great financial reward. Then it was stolen by mercenaries and in turn taken from them by the Hunen as they raided out of Forn. It was the Hunen that took the axe to Haldis, the last fortress of theirs not conquered by men.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So this is the Banished Lands as Halvor knew it then, ruled by the five giant clans. And the whereabouts of each starstone Treasure, at that time. Lykos blew out along breath, turning in a circle, the enormity of the map staggering him.\n\nThat was along time ago, though. Many things have changed since then.\n\n\"Look, here is Murias in the west,\" Calidus said, pointing to a carved mountain. Beside it the likeness of a cauldron, a cup, and a necklace, and above them, a word scribed in runes.\n\n\"Nemain. Queen of the Benothi,\" Calidus said. \"It is saying that she had control of the cauldron, cup and necklace.\"\n\n\"So three of the Treasures were at Murias, not just the cauldron?\" Nathair asked.\n\n\"No, not at Murias. See, it suggests that they were in Nemain's care, but not necessarily at Murias. The Benothi ruled all of the west– Dun Carreg, Dun Taras, Dun Crin, Dun Vaner, all were their strongholds. \"He was silent a moment, poring over the map.\"Uthas most likely spoke true, \"he muttered,\"the cup at Dun Taras and the necklace at Dun Carreg. '\n\n\"So what does this say, then?\" Lykos asked, pointing up high at a peninsula to the north-west of Forn Forest. There was a word scribed there, and a dagger etched beside it.\n\n\"That is the Desolation,\" Calidus said, \"and it says, Eld.\" He tugged at the peeling flesh on his chin, where his silver beard had once been.\n\n\"Eld was King of the Jotun giants when the Scourging took place,\" Calidus mused." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I remember the Scourging,\" Legion said wistfully. \"Death and destruction, battle with the Ben-Elim.\"\n\n\"I remember it, too,\" Calidus said sourly. \"We lost.\"\n\n\"Not this time, though,\" Legion said, a malicious grin creeping across his face.\n\n\"Eld, King of the Jotun?\" Nathair prompted.\n\n\"Yes. He was King of the Jotun, back at the time of the Scourging, and apparently he has, or at least had, the starstone dagger. He took his clan out of the war, marched them into the Desolation, never to be heard of again.\" Absently he rolled and flicked his dead flesh away.\n\n\"He is surely dead, now?\" Nathair asked.\n\n\"That would depend, on whether he drank from the starstone cup; it prolongs life. Substantially. But even so, he may still have died, perhaps slain by someone's hand since, or just a fool accident. But even if he is dead, we must think it likely that the dagger remains with the Jotun. '\n\n\"Jael of Isiltir had dealings with them,\" Nathair said. \"He told me of a warlord of the Jotun.\" He pinched his nose, trying to remember. \"Ildaer was his name. And what about this?\" Nathair pointed to one last place on the map. To the east of Forn. It was hard to tell, but it looked like a lake, or an inland sea, and within it, an island. And about that island was a broken circle. No, something else.\n\nA torc.\n\nThe starstone torc.\n\nCalidus smiled at Nathair and Lykos, looking more like his old self than he had since they had arrived at Drassil." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nothing like finding the whereabouts of a starstone Treasure to brighten up your day.\n\n\"Nathair, you will take a sizeable force of your eagle-guard, up to two thousand swords– large enough to comfortably defeat Veradis and his rabble, while leaving a thousand or so hereto guard the cauldron, axe and spear– and you will march outwith Mavet to find Lothar. You will warn him of our enemy lurking in the forest, protect him from attack and guide him herewith all possible speed. If you hear from our half-breed spy, then you shall act on her information. If you can destroy the rabble in the woods, then by all means do so.\"\n\n\"Aye, that sounds like a good plan tome,\" Nathair said. \"And what of you and your few hundred Kadoshim?\"\n\n\"I would like to seek out the dagger, in the north, but I am not happy to leave the cauldron, spear and axe with so few to guard them.\"\n\nHe stood with head bowed, leaning on the huge anvil at the centre of the room, fingers drumming, long nails click-clacking on the age-old iron.\n\n\"So,\" he said, looking up. \"I shall contact Rhin and tell her to muster the warband of the west and march with it to Drassil. Once she has arrived and the Treasures here are beyond all assault, then I shall go in search of Eld and the starstone dagger.\"\n\nHe is good at this. It's no wonder we're winning.\n\n\"And you, Lykos, I think it is time for you to leave Drassil fora time.\"\n\nI couldn't agree more.\n\n\"You are going to Arcona and the isle of Kletva to get the starstone torc. Take as many men as you see fit. And Legion will go with you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Yes,\" Legion muttered. \"Enemies to kill, bones to shatter, blood to spill and brains to splatter. Flesh to pound and hearts to tear from chests and-\"\n\n\"I do not care if you murder half the Banished Lands,\" Calidus snarled. \"Just bring me back the starstone torc.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban woke to the smell of Storm's dew-damp fur and Coralen's hair tickling his face. He didn't mind either sensation. In fact, they both made him smile, because they reminded him of the good things that had happened yesterday.\n\nCoralen. How is it that one kiss can have such a lasting effect? And Storm– when I'd thought her dead. I feel... happy. Should that even be possible under these circumstances, in these dark days? He didn't know what the answer should be to that, and in truth didn't really care.\n\nDawn washed the land in a clean glow, pale and crisp, the sky above sheer and blue, the land below dew-sparkled and still. Birds sang from their vantage in the hawthorn ring, though there were new additions to the usual chorus of blackbird and wren, of warblers and robin and thrush. A gathering of crows weighed down the branches, hunched and dour in their black-feathered cloaks, all eyeing the feast of corpses beneath them, once-proud giant and fierce bear, now just mounds of skin, meat and bone, a feast for crows.\n\nI wish Craf were one of them. Strange to say, but I miss that scruffy old crow. Dath, the others– I need to check on them.\n\nStorm shifted behind him, a deep breath and a rumble in her chest as she woke and climbed to her feet.\n\nCorban did the same, his body complaining as he did so, joints stiff, bruises aching and making themselves known.\n\nStorm followed him, rubbing her head against him, pushing into his chest.\n\nYou've grown! You're taller. He looked at her broad chest. And wider." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He scratched her muzzle, picked blood from a tooth, tugged on the fur of her cheeks, then saw the scar where she had been stabbed with a giant's spear: a pink patch of skin just above her right shoulder, about the size of Corban's fist. Ashe looked closer he saw that her body was a patchwork of scars, a blend of claw andiron, dealt by both man and beast.\n\nYou poor thing. What have I dragged you into? What have I dragged all of us into?\n\nHe stretched and gazed down at Coralen.\n\nI kissed her.\n\nHe blew out along breath and felt a lightness flutter in his chest. She opened her eyes and saw him, a smile of her own creeping across her face. It made him want to lie back down beside her, and maybe reacquaint himself with her lips.\n\n\"What're you gawping at? ' Coralen asked him, though she was still smiling.\n\n\"You,\" he said.\n\nSomeone groaned behind him and he shook his head, feeling as if it was filling with a warm and pleasant mist.\n\nThere are wounded who need tending.\n\n\"Help me up,\" Coralen said as she tried to rise, a grimace replacing her smile.\n\nHe did, and after taking a look at her bruised ribs and giving her some more brot they both set about checking on the others.\n\nGar was already up. He'd lit afire and had a pot boiling over it, Kulla and Varan were sitting with him. Sig was checking over the giants\" bodies, rummaging through packs, cloaks and belt pouches.\n\n\"I thought it was safe,\" Gar said, pointing at the small fire and curl of smoke. \"Don't think we've anymore enemies left alive. Within eyesight, at least.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban looked nervously at his oldest companion, who had said little to him since the previous night's revelations. Of everyone, he knew that it would hit Gar the hardest. He had devoted his whole life to the prophecy, to the belief that Corban was the Bright Star.\n\nBut now Gar knows I'm not the Bright Star. Has it changed what he thinks of me? Changed us? That thought scared Corban, made him feel that the ground was shifting beneath his feet. It made him angry at Meical allover again.\n\n\"I've checked Dath, \"Gar said as Corban strode over to his friend.\"His wounds look all right, not infected, anyway. I've left the others to sleep.\"\n\n\"I'm not asleep, \"Farrell's voice drifted up to them. \"Just in too much pain to move.\"\n\nCorban helped the groaning Farrell to his feet and over to the fire, then went back for Laith, who groaned a lot less, but still seemed unsteady on her feet, her eyes not always focused.\n\n\"I'm fine, ' she said, brushing him off and slurping some hot tea from a bowl that Gar gave her.\n\nCoralen was sitting on a log close to the fire, a row of weapons arrayed before her– sword, wolven claws and three knives. She was methodically cleaning them, scouring blood and dirt away, rasping nicks out, then oiling and scouring again. Corban liked the sound of it, there was something comforting about it.\n\nSig strode over to them, sitting down beside Varan, her face flat and cold. She gave Varan a curt shake of her head. Corban offered his arm to Varan.\n\n\"We'd have been dead without you, \"Corban said.\"We owe you our lives. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I'm not so sure about that, \"Varan said, eyeing Storm.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not with friends like that. I'll still take your arm, though, and be happy to call you friend.\" He took Corban's forearm in the warrior grip, his fist wrapping around Corban's. \"Though I'm not the first giant to call you friend, I think. ' He looked at Laith.\n\n\"You're not, \"Laith confirmed.\"Corban's a popular man.\"\n\n\"I'm understanding that, \"Varan said.\"In truth, we did not come just to save your skin, though I'm glad that we did.\"\n\n\"We came for Mort,\" Sig said, glowering into the pot over their fire.\n\n\"He slew Eld,\" Varan said. \"And many more of the Jotun.\"\n\n\"Well, we thank you all the same,\" Gar said, refilling Varan and Sig's bowls of tea from the pot.\n\n\"I have something for you,\" Varan said, reaching into a pack at his feet and pulling out a bundle wrapped in deerskin. He unrolled it to reveal Gar's sword, back in its scabbard, and his throwing axe.\"You look to be people who value their blades. '\n\nGar gave a rare grin at the sight of his sword and axe. He took them gratefully, turning them over in his hands, examining them.\n\n\"I am most thankful, and in your debt,\" he said.\n\n\"You slew Ildaer with them. That is thanks enough,\" Sig said grimly.\n\n\"It seems Ildaer was planning a coup,\" Varan said. \"He'd been plotting to assassinate Eld soon, but when Eld ordered the Jotun back into the Desolation– well, it brought his plans forward. '\n\n\"I thought you were part of his warband,\" Corban said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I was, but as I said to you, I think Hala rubbed off on me a little." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ildaer certainly did not trust me enough to speak tome of his plan. And he was right not to. I came south to win battle-fame and honour for the Jotun. Assassinating our King is not how I'd think to achieve that. '\n\nSig muttered something under her breath, more ways she'd like tore-kill Mort, no doubt.\n\n\"So,\" said Varan, \"what would you do, now? I would offer the Jotun's hospitality to you, if you want it. You are welcome to come with us; you would find shelter and healing at our hold. '\n\n\"Do you speak for all of the Jotun?\" Laith asked Varan.\n\n\"I do,\" Sig said.\n\nBethe guests of the Jotun? Of all the options, I did not think about that one.\n\nA rest is tempting, especially to heal. Look at us all. But in the end it would be no different to leaving, to building a hold somewhere faraway and trying to find some peace and happiness.\n\nHe glanced at Coralen. Which is very appealing. But in the end there is only Asroth, Calidus and the Kadoshim. We will have to fight them eventually, or kneel to them, and most likely be killed anyway.\n\n\"We spoke of this, last night,\" Corban said. \"I told you all my feelings on it, what I would do. But as for you all...\"\n\nHe did not want to speak for them, or put words in their mouths. Or persuade them to do something they didn't want to do.\n\nGar was staring at him, his face unreadable, as usual.\n\n\"Surely you know,\" Gar said. \"I'll not speak for the others, but as for me, prophecy or no, I go where you go. You are my life, Corban, my breath, the reason I wake and rise. When my da died... \"He paused then, looked away, a muscle clenching in his jaw.\"When my da died, the world became a dark place. It was only you that caused me to rise from my cot each day. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"But, now that you know...\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban said.\n\n\"Ach, that makes no difference tome,\" Gar said with a wave of his hand. \"No difference.\" He was silent a few moments, thoughtful. \"Once, yes, it was about the prophecy, but that was along time ago. So long ago. Now, I believe in you.\" He poked Corban's chest with his finger. I'll follow you wherever you go. To hell and back. '\n\n\"Haven't we just done that? \"a weak voice said– Dath, finally awake. Kulla ran over to him.\"Feels like it, at least, ' the bowman mumbled.\n\n\"Always so dramatic,\" Farrell muttered.\n\n\"I was hit by a bear,\" Dath pointed out. \"A giant bear.\"\n\n\"He's feeling much better, ' Kulla pronounced.\n\nCorban shook his head, smiling.\n\nThese people, my friends. I love them, would die for them, as they would for me, it seems.\n\n\"So,\" Varan said, \"what are you all going to do?\"\n\nGar looked at them all and gave a vicious, cold grin.\n\n\"We're going to fight, \"he said.\"It's what we do best. Asroth, Calidus and Nathair will all come for us soon, when they're stronger. Best fighting them now. Win or lose, it's the best chance we have. And besides, I think they deserve some pain.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Farrell agreed. \"Fair's fair, after all. '\n\nSig looked at Varan.\n\n\"I like these people,\" she said.\n\nBy highsun they were packed and as prepared as they could be. Varan had given them one of the saddles from a dead bear, and with some reworking it had been adjusted to fit Storm. She hadn't been very impressed, in fact had growled with enough malice to convince Corban she'd bite anyone except him who tried to fit it to her, and even then she'd flattened her ears and attempted to make a dignified retreat. He'd had to scold her to make her standstill, which he was aware must have looked ludicrous." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She killed a giant bear last night. Today she's scolded by me, and takes it.\n\nNow Dath was sitting in that saddle, looking as unhappy as Storm about the situation. \"Stop pulling faces,\" Kulla said. \"It's the only way. '\n\n\"You could always walk,\" Coralen pointed out.\n\nHe scowled.\n\nAll the others were ready. Gar checked his kit bag for the hundredth time, it seemed. Coralen strolled up to Corban and kissed him on the lips, hard. He was breathless when she pulled away.\n\n\"What was that for?\" Corban asked her.\n\n\"Just because,\" Coralen said, then turned her back on him and walked away.\n\n\"Finally,\" Kulla said, and Corban saw Farrell and Dath staring at him. He felt himself blushing and shrugged, decided he needed something to do and so he went looking for the Jotun giants; Sig was by their bears. She was tying a bag to her saddle, dried blood crusted the bag's bottom.\n\n\"It's Mort's head,\" Varan said. \"Proof to the clan that we caught up with him, and that he's received Jotun justice. Even if it was dispensed by a freakishly huge wolven. Is she the one you wanted a chainmail coat for? '\n\n\"Aye,\" Corban said. \"I thought she was dead.\"\n\n\"So did I,\" Varan said. \"It was I that pulled you away from her, that day by the river. She has a strong spirit, that one, to survive. Something she wanted to live for.\" He looked between Corban and Storm. \"Walk with me,\" he said and strode away, towards his bear, passing around to its far side. Corban followed, and suddenly he and Varan were alone, hidden from all others by the bulk of Varan's bear." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hello, Long Tooth,\" Corban said, patting the bear's flank. Varan had stripped it of its chainmail coat, which was now rolled and tied in a big pack that hung from buckles on the saddle.\n\nVaran looked at him a moment, then reached inside his pack and pulled out a package rolled in fur. He held it out to Corban, holding one big finger to his lips.\n\nCorban took it, unrolled the fur a little, then nearly dropped it.\n\nIt was the starstone dagger.\n\n\"What! Why?\" Corban hissed, Varan signalling for quiet.\n\n\"Mort had it,\" Varan whispered. \"Sig is searching for it, but I found it last night, fallen to the ground during the fight.\"\n\n\"Why are you giving it tome?\" Corban asked.\n\n\"That is a very good question,\" Varan said, but didn't answer immediately. Eventually he shrugged.\"Because you saved my life, even though it put yours at risk. Because you stayed for your friend, when you could have run. Because these people here ran through the length of Forn to find you, fought the Jotun, fought bears, risked death, all for you. That speaks a thousand words. Because there is something about you, Corban ben Thannon. \"He looked about him, at the dead giants and bears.\"As you said, conflict and war seem to be overtaking us. '\n\n\"You could come with us,\" Corban said.\n\n\"No. My clan is in chaos, our King dead. I cannot abandon them.\" He turned, put one huge foot into a stirrup and hoisted himself onto Long Tooth's back.\n\n\"Farewell, Corban ben Thannon,\" he said from what seemed a very long way up. \"I wish you well, and may your enemies feel the strength of your arm and the edge of your sword.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban covered the dagger and slipped it inside his cloak, just as Sig appeared upon her bear. She looked none too happy.\n\n\"Farewell, Varan of the Jotun,\" Corban said. \"And farewell to you, Sig the first-sword.\"\n\n\"I am first-sword no longer,\" Sig said, leaning in her saddle. \"My King is dead.\"\n\n\"Somehow I think you will always be a first-sword,\" Corban said.\n\nShe smiled bitterly, and then the two giants were spurring their bears away, towards Gramm's hold.\n\nCorban walked slowly back to his friends and they began a slow, limping gait into Forn– back to Drassil.\n\nBut we are together. Battered, but not beaten. And Calidus, Nathair– we are coming for you." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rafe ran ahead of the warband on a sun-dappled woodland path, the sounds and scents a constant barrage on his senses. In the world beyond the trees the sun was setting, sending eerie shadows dancing and flickering through the forested paths.\n\nTo either side of him ran Sniffer and Scratcher. They slipped through the undergrowth like grey wraiths, but to Rafe they sounded like a herd of auroch pounding through the woods.\n\nThey'd been travelling almost a ten-night, the journey back to Dun Carreg made quicker as they took the old giantsway that carved through the heart of the Baglun, the old woods that spread across the heart of Ardan like a blanket of russet and green. Not quickly enough for Rafe's liking, but considering they had a warband of five hundred swords and enough wains of provisions to feed a campaign into winter, it was never going to be a gallop all the way to the fortress by the sea.\n\nRafe was aching to seethe walls of dark stone, rising high above the bay.\n\nDun Carreg. Home.\n\nDarkness settled about him as he padded on. Then a horn blast was ringing out through the trees.\n\nThat'd be Rhin, with the call to make camp.\n\nHe found them spread along the giantsway: Rhin, the giant Uthas and his followers, fifty Benothi giants stomping along the road, loud enough to wake the dead. Next came along line of wains, pulled by lowing, shaggy-haired auroch, and behind them rode around five hundred warriors. A dozen fire-pits had been raised along the road, with pots of water boiling or meat turning on spits. A perimeter of sentries spread into the trees, though none feared any real attack, not against five hundred swords and fifty giants." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rafe saw Rhin in conversation with Uthas; she looked up when she saw him. Behind them stood Uthas' two guards, the male one with his axe, the female with two long knives, hilts jutting over her shoulder.\n\n\"Rafe,\" Rhin said, beckoning to him. He walked over, the hairs on his arm prickling.\n\nUthas nodded to the female giant, who drew one of her blades– it was as long as a short sword– then hurled the knife directly at Rafe.\n\nActing on instinct, he spun to one side, reached out and caught the knife by its hilt. He stood frozen a moment, staring at the leather-wrapped hilt in his hand, the blade of dark-mottled iron. Then looked up at Rhin.\n\n\"You see,\" Uthas said to her. She was staring at him as if she were seeing him for the first time.\n\n\"Where's the cup? ' Rhin asked coldly.\n\nHe took a step backwards.\n\nRhin sighed.\n\n\"Bring him here,\" she said and the two giants behind Uthas leaped for him. Rafe stumbled backwards, turned and ran.\n\nHe wasn't sure why he was running; he had reacted without thinking.\n\nI just don't want to give her the cup, he decided as he slithered down the embankment of the giantsway, heading towards the tree-line, then there was a whirring sound as something smacked him in the back of the legs, tangling with his ankles, sending him flying. He rolled over, saw that Uthas had hurled his spear sideways at him, like a stick. The female giant was bearing down on him, one arm reaching out for his throat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then two bundles of grey fur and snapping teeth slammed into her chest, toppling her back to the ground.\n\nScratcher and Sniffer!\n\nIna heartbeat Rafe was back on his feet and running.\n\nThere was growling and snapping behind him, then a high-pitched whine, more growling. Rafe skidded to a halt and looked back to see Scratcher standing over Sniffer's prone form; the other giant had arrived now and was raising his axe over them both.\n\n\"NO,\" Rafe screamed, arms reaching.\n\n\"Stop running,\" Uthas said, reaching the bottom of the embankment and retrieving his spear, \"and come here, or the hounds will feel Salach's axe-blade. '\n\nRafe stood, paused between flight and surrender, looked at Scratcher and Sniffer.\n\nDon't have many friends. Don't have any, really, and definitely not ones that'd take on a giant or two for me.\n\nHe blew out along breath and walked back to the giants.\n\nRhin appeared at the top of the embankment as Rafe was marched back to the camp, Sniffer limping along beside him.\n\n\"You should never, ever, run from me,\" she said calmly as he stood before her. \"No matter how special you are.\" She ran along-nailed finger down his cheek, along the line of his jaw, scratching at stubble.\n\n\"Now, where is the cup?\"\n\n\"I'll show you, ' he sighed.\n\nHe led them along the giantsway, then down the embankment, and before long was standing before an old oak. He jumped up to grab the first branch, swung himself up and reached into the knotted bole for his pack." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Again he was taken by an overwhelming urge not to handover the cup, the thought of sharing it, of giving it up, filling him with a sense of dread.\n\nI could run again.\n\nHe looked down, saw Rhin and the giants gazing up at him with their small, suspicious eyes. Scratcher and Sniffer were standing with them, watching him too.\n\nHe sighed and fished the pack out of a natural bowl in the trunk.\n\nSalach grabbed the pack from him and emptied out the contents onto the ground– a whole bundle of things he deemed useful falling out: rope, flint and tinder, a hemp bag of herbs, his eating knife, a spare wool tunic. And then the cup.\n\nIt fell to the mossy ground with a dull thump, as if heavier than it looked. It was crow-black and smooth, pale veins of silver running through the darkness, like lightning on a storm-ridden night. Around its rim old runes curled in a scrawling script. For long moments they all stood around it and stared. Scratcher took a sniff of it and whined. Uthas moved first, his hand twitching down for it, almost of its own accord, but then Rhin was snatching it up greedily.\n\n\"It's heavy, \"she gasped,\"and cool to the touch. '\n\nThe female giant lifted her hand towards it and Rhin pulled the cup away.\n\n\"Don't touch it, ' she hissed.\n\n\"It is the starstone cup,\" the other giant said, \"kept by the Benothi for two thousand years. I have more right than most to touch it.\"\n\n\"Eisa,\" Uthas breathed, a warning in his voice." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The starstone cup!" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One of the Seven Treasures! No wonder it's made me feel... different.\n\n\"You lost it over a thousand years ago,\" Rhin snarled. She looked about at the three giants glowering down at her. \"But that is the past. We have it now, and will share in its gifts soon enough.\"\n\n\"But first?\" Uthas said.\n\n\"First we must tell Calidus.\"\n\nRafe had been in Rhin's tent a number of times now, but it felt different this time. Torches of dried rushes crackled and smoked, the tent a place of vapour and fume, of flickering torchlight and baleful shadows, making Rafe feel sick and uneasy. He'd tried to slink off once they were back within the perimeter of the camp, but Rhin was having none of that.\n\n\"You are set apart, now, belonging to an elite group,\" she said to him as they entered her tent. \"You shall stay close tome, from now on.\"\n\nHe'd looked at her blankly, and she laughed.\n\n\"You really have no idea what you've done, do you? '\n\nHe just shrugged at that, too embarrassed to answer with the truth.\n\n\"Drinking from the cup. It prolongs life, and I am told it enhances everything: strength, vision, hearing, stamina...\" She gave him another lingering look that sent the sensation of spiders running across his skin.\n\n\"Long life?\" Rafe said uneasily.\n\n\"Uthas drank from that cup, over two thousand years ago,\" Rhin said, smiling. \"Close enough to immortal, wouldn't you say. ' She searched through a bunch of keys, old iron rattling, then opened a shadowed chest in the recesses of her tent." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Immortal!\n\n\"I don't feel immortal, now, \"Uthas rumbled.\"My bones creak and my body aches, my vision fails and my grip is weak. '\n\n\"Yes, that is why you wish to drink from the cup again,\" Rhin said, pulling things from the chest she'd opened, setting them upon a table. A wooden frame, velvet cloth, a small box, an iron bowl.\n\n\"Tell me how it feels,\" Rhin asked.\n\n\"And how you found it,\" Uthas said. \"I lost it in Domhain, along time ago.\"\n\n\"That's where I found it, \"Rafe began. He recounted how Sniffer had fallen into a bog beyond the walls of Dun Taras and how he'd gone in after the hound, ended up climbing out of the bog with a wooden chest under his arm. And he told of drinking from the cup, the wondrous sensation spreading through him, then the agony, and then... nothing. A ten-night he had slept while the cup had worked its magic upon him, and then he had woken. Transformed.\n\nRhin and the giants were staring at him with eyes glistening.\n\n\"How did you know?\" Rafe asked them.\n\n\"I suspected,\" Uthas said. \"Your speed, your vision, other things. And when you caught Eisa's knife... '\n\n\"It could have killed me,\" Rafe grumbled. He looked at Rhin, saw that she had put the iron bowl upon her table and set a small fire within it, had placed the wooden frame before it and was unfolding the velvet cloth and lifting something carefully from it. It looked like old parchment, thick and creased. Rhin was attaching it to each corner of the frame by small suspended hooks, stretching the parchment out. Rafe's eyes narrowed as he looked at it. There were holes in it, and as he stared, the sense of dread he'd experienced earlier returned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Is that...\" he began.\n\n\"A face, yes,\" Rhin said. \"Flayed from an enemy,\" she added, as if she were talking about making some hot tea.\n\nShe opened the small casket, drew out a vial full of dark liquid, unstoppering it and sprinkling a few droplets on the fire, making it spit and hiss. Rhin's voice rang out, a whisper that filled the tent.\n\n\"Thoghairm mé leat anois, Calidus, aingeal dubh, tríd an flesh agus fola ar mo namhaid,\" she said, time and time again. The torches set about the tent blazed and went out, darkness closing in about Rafe like dark wings, only the iron bowl on the table aglow, the flayed skin stretched before it illuminated with an orange fire.\n\nThen it moved, a ripple through the skin, like a sail filling with wind, and the flayed face of along-dead man was inhabited, the dead lips were moving, fire-glow through the eyes looking like something else entirely now.\n\n\"Rhin...\" the lips whispered, dry as the tomb, \"what providence, I wished to speak with you.\"\n\n\"Welcome, Calidus,\" Rhin said. \"I have excellent news.\" For the first time Rafe saw something vulnerable in her, even submissive. \"I have the starstone cup.\"\n\nThe face's lips moved, a stuttering hiss escaping from them. Rafe was slow to realize that it was laughter.\"A good day, \"the voice said.\"You must bring it tome. '\n\n\"We are searching for the necklace, too. We are close, will have it soon.\"\n\n\"Find it. Muster your warbands and then march to Drassil.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rhin took a step back, blinking, glanced at Uthas.\n\n\"The day is almost upon us,\" the lips hissed, a crackle of winter leaves, \"now is the time to fulfil your oath.\"\n\n\"I, of course...\" Rhin said. \"This is unexpected– sooner than I thought.\"\n\n\"We have prepared for this hour, spilt rivers of blood to ensure it arrives. Now you must act, send out your messengers, call upon all sworn to you. You know what to do.\"\n\n\"It will be done,\" Rhin said.\n\n\"Make sure that it is,\" the face of skin snarled, lips rippled and wrinkling. \"You do not want to fail me in this.\"\n\nThe skin stretched and moved, the firelight flicker in the eyes seemed to darken, become red, and fora moment they appeared to look around the room, fixing upon Rafe. He felt transfixed, wanted to run, to scream, to squeeze his eyes shut, but instead he just stared back, mesmerized, gazing into a fiery well of malice and despair and dark power. He felt his bladder loosen, warm liquid soaking into his breeches. The eyes released him and fastened back upon Rhin.\n\n\"Come tome,\" the voice hissed and then the skin was slack and empty, drooping like melted wax.\n\nOne of the dogs began to bark outside the tent and Rafe turned and stumbled away, fumbled through the opening, past Rhin's guards. He heard laughter behind him.\n\nTorches were burning along the roadside, making Rafe blink as his eyes adjusted. A movement drew his attention, in the treeline beyond the embankment. Something glinted.\n\nIron? It shone in firelight, glimmered in away that any warrior worth his salt would recognize." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Scratcher and Sniffer's barking grew louder, but they were not barking at something in the trees, they were jumping, looking up at something, on Rhin's tent.\n\n\"What are you doing, idiot dogs?\" Rafe muttered. He felt ashamed of himself as the wet stain in his breeches began to cool, but fragments of his terror still lingered. Looking up, he saw a darker shadow upon the tent pole. He squinted, and then the shadow moved. A huge black crow, wings unfurling. On instinct Rafe jumped and grabbed at it, one hand closing about a taloned claw, and with much squawking and protesting he dragged the crow down, with his other hand pinned its beating wings. I hate crows, he thought, fingers closing about its neck, still staring into its malignant, intelligent little eyes.\n\nHe heard something from beyond the treeline, the creak of wood.\n\nWhat was that?\n\n\"Get off, badman,\" the crow squawked at him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Quick!\" Meg hissed beside Camlin. \"He's going to kill Craf! '\n\nI know him. Rafe. He was with Braith, in the marshes, and Vonn knew him, too. Talked me into letting him live.\n\nEven as Camlin released his arrow he saw Rafe jerkin shock as Craf pecked furiously at his hand, then Camlin's arrow was slamming into his shoulder. Craf was thrown free in a burst of feathers, he swooped in at Rafe's face, talons raking, before he winged higher into the air, squawking insults as he went.\n\nThere were guardsmen around Rafe, and before Camlin could move the alarm was sounded.\n\nSo much for surprise, Camlin thought as he pulled an arrow from the turf in front of him and loosely nocked it.\n\n\"Now, Meg,\" he snapped, and light flared as she sparked her torch soaked in pitch.\n\nHe lit his arrow, drew and released, the hiss of flame an incandescent arc through the darkness. He'd aimed for Rafe, but somehow he twisted away, at the same time gripping the arrow in his shoulder and ripping it free.\n\nDid he see my second arrow coming for him? No, can't have.\n\nThe flaming arrow thudded into a pole, caught in the tent fabric, and fire crackled into hungry life. All along the treeline arrows flashed from the shadows, screams rang out from the giantsway, and to Camlin's satisfaction the sound of grain sacks igniting. Within heartbeats a handful of wains were roaring infernos.\n\n\"Another,\" Meg said, jabbing him in the ribs.\n\nHe ignited another arrow, aimed, saw figures emerging from the main tent– giants, and then behind them, Rhin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Well, if I could put an arrow through that old bitch's heart I'd make Edana's day.\n\nHe sighted and released, his arrow flying true, and he knew before it hit that it was heading straight at Rhin's chest, but just as it struck there was a flash of iron and his arrow was spinning away. In its place Rafe stood there, sword in hand, glaring straight at him.\n\nDid he just cut my arrow out of the air? Camlin felt some anger at that, and a small jolt of fear. He'd seen that kind of thing done, but not in a night fight, chaos and flames and death all about. His pack of raiders– archers everyone of them– were raining fiery hell down upon the extended camp on the giantsway. Camlin nocked and drew, not bothering to ignite this one, but Rhin was already moving as he loosed, his arrow punching into the meat of a giant's arm instead.\n\nBetter 'n nothing.\n\nThere was the sound of dirt and gravel sliding, and he saw Rafe charging at him, two huge hounds with slavering jaws either side, giants and warriors in black and gold behind him.\n\n\"Time to go,\" Meg said and dashed into the darkness.\n\n\"You're not wrong, lassie, but I think I'll stay for one more,\" he muttered, drew his bow, sighted and released; a warrior in black and gold stumbled and crashed down the embankment. He didn't get backup.\n\n\"Now it's time to go, ' Camlin said, snatched a handful of arrows, turned and sprinted into the undergrowth.\n\nThe plan had been to destroy as much of the baggage train as possible as well as killing as many men in black and gold as they could. Many of the wains were burning so as far as Camlin was concerned the job was done. He knew his crew could look after themselves, all twenty of them were woodsmen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was crashing and snarling behind him, closer than he'd hoped.\n\nHe sped through the dark woodland, heard the odd crackle of forest litter ahead of him as he caught up with Meg. They were following fox and hare trails that he'd found days earlier, walking them day and night to settle them into their heads. He'd been planning this ambush fora while now, and, truth be told, he'd hoped to do more damage, hadn't expected to be running quite so soon.\n\nIt's Rafe's fault. He must have seen the fire as I lit my arrows to know whereto run. That and his hounds. He swore under his breath. I'm going to wring Vonn's neck for making me let that bastard go.\n\nHe ran on, heard the faint sound of the river ahead of him, knew that once he reached it he could shake off the hounds and he'd be safe.\n\nNearly there.\n\nHorn blasts rang out behind him, distant, haunting.\n\nRhin's warband. A recall to those chasing through the woods? He hoped so.\n\nHe burst into an open glade that ran alongside the river, saw Meg standing on a fallen tree, beckoning to him. He skidded to a halt and sucked in a deep breath, muscles bunched to leap. Moonlight bathed the glade and river in pale light, glistened like scattered silver dust on the river-foam.\n\nThen something slammed into his back and he was spinning and rolling, his bow and arrows cast into the air, grass, moss, forest litter in his face. He came to a halt spluttering, searching for his weapon, saw a hound rolling a dozen paces away, scrabbling to get its feet under it." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Extend the plot as the writer's co-author.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 45" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was crashing and snarling behind him, closer than he'd hoped.\n\nHe sped through the dark woodland, heard the odd crackle of forest litter ahead of him as he caught up with Meg. They were following fox and hare trails that he'd found days earlier, walking them day and night to settle them into their heads. He'd been planning this ambush fora while now, and, truth be told, he'd hoped to do more damage, hadn't expected to be running quite so soon.\n\nIt's Rafe's fault. He must have seen the fire as I lit my arrows to know whereto run. That and his hounds. He swore under his breath. I'm going to wring Vonn's neck for making me let that bastard go.\n\nHe ran on, heard the faint sound of the river ahead of him, knew that once he reached it he could shake off the hounds and he'd be safe.\n\nNearly there.\n\nHorn blasts rang out behind him, distant, haunting.\n\nRhin's warband. A recall to those chasing through the woods? He hoped so.\n\nHe burst into an open glade that ran alongside the river, saw Meg standing on a fallen tree, beckoning to him. He skidded to a halt and sucked in a deep breath, muscles bunched to leap. Moonlight bathed the glade and river in pale light, glistened like scattered silver dust on the river-foam.\n\nThen something slammed into his back and he was spinning and rolling, his bow and arrows cast into the air, grass, moss, forest litter in his face. He came to a halt spluttering, searching for his weapon, saw a hound rolling a dozen paces away, scrabbling to get its feet under it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He saw his bow, arrows scattered about it. He lunged, grabbed wood, rolled and drew as he heard the thud of the hound's paws, turned to see it leap.\n\nOthers were bursting into the glade as he loosed: Rafe, another hound, a giant. His arrow punched into the leaping hound's chest. It yelped, crashing to the floor, floppy-limbed. Then Rafe was screaming, charging at him with bloody murder scrawled across his face.\n\nCamlin struggled to his feet, drew his sword, and turned swinging at Rafe, the lad swaying and ducking impossibly fast. Camlin flailed his bow at him and lucky timing knocked Rafe off balance, sending him sprawling face-first.\n\nCamlin glanced frantically about the glade. Meg was gone, nowhere to be seen. Rafe was on the ground, dazed. A giant, weapons in her hands, strode towards him, and another hound was sniffing and whining at the one he'd put an arrow into.\n\nA giant, a hound and Rafe, who's become someone to worry about. Not the kind of odds I like in a fight! He had his sword in one hand, his bow in another, though no arrows. They lay spread around the glade.\n\nHe heard the whistle of air, threw himself to the ground as one of the giant's knives slashed where his head had been. He came out of his roll with his sword connecting with the giant's boot, with a crack that he hoped was bone breaking.\n\nSomething hit him in the head and he was spinning, the ground rushing up to thud into his face.\n\nNo time for lying around, he told himself as he saw the giantess hobbling after him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He went to heft his sword, then realized it was no longer in his hand.\n\nDamn it!\n\nThen the giant had caught up with him and put her good foot on his chest, sending air rushing from his lungs.\n\n\"Stay still, you little ferret,\" the giant growled, raising one of her blades over him.\n\nThere was a crunch and she staggered back a step, blood leaking down her forehead.\n\nWhat?\n\nMeg was back on her log, throwing stones at the giant. Another one smacked into the giant's face, sending her crashing to one knee, swaying, bellowing in pain.\n\n\"Come on,\" Meg yelled at Camlin.\n\nGood advice.\n\nCamlin clambered to his feet, head spinning, staggering across the glade, then a dark figure grabbed him, slamming him into a tree: Rafe.\n\nWith no weapons Camlin fought dirty: a knee to the groin, headbutting Rafe in the nose but still the boy didn't let him go, his hands fastening around Camlin's throat and squeezing with more strength in them than Camlin would have expected.\n\n\"You. Killed. My. Hound,\" Rafe grunted as he squeezed, Camlin flailing, gouging his thumb into the boy's arrow wound, grabbing fingers, trying to prise them loose, break them, but nothing seemed to affect Rafe.\n\nHow is he doing this? He's... not... right.\n\nCamlin's vision started to blur and then there was a squawking and flapping of wings, talons and beak slashing at Rafe's face, clawing at his eyes. Abruptly the grip around Camlin's throat was gone and he was sliding down the tree, coughing and spluttering. Rafe staggered away, clutching his hands to his face." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Craf, I could kiss you.\n\nCamlin pushed himself up, away from the tree, and staggered to the glade's edge. The giant saw him and stumbled after, one arm reaching out and grabbing his jerkin.\n\nI'm getting away from this, not even a giant's going to stop me.\n\nCamlin hurled himself towards the glade's edge, the unsteady giant was dragged off balance and together they crashed into the dead tree, careened over it and fell, spinning head over heels into the river." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis walked along the line of his men, straightening a shield here, testing a grip there, pushing to ensure that the warrior was balanced, feet set right, shoulder into his shield. They stood before him, a hundred and forty men, twenty men wide, seven rows deep, shields raised, interlocked.\n\nBetter. This is better. The shields were solid, overlapped correctly, the flanks protected, and the manoeuvre had been carried out in a matter of seconds. Moving information was getting better, or at least the wall was not falling apart once the men began to march. And the best part of all was that they now believed. Before the battle against Gundul's warband those under Veradis\" authority had been unsure of the shield wall's capabilities, and worse, considered it unworthy of a warrior.\n\nStaying alive while your enemy dies is a great convincer.\n\nThey had seen first-hand the value and power of the shield wall, seen Gundul's ranks throw themselves against it and die.\n\nBut they are not my Draig's Teeth. Veterans of scores of battles, drilled in marching, rotating, protecting flank and rear, the array of horn blasts that I'd developed to maintain communication on the battlefield. How can these men take them on?\n\nLooking at them ranged in front of him, the answer was obvious.\n\nIf they do, they'll die.\n\nIf he were honest with himself, the thought of lining upon a battlefield against the Draig's Teeth made him feel sick to his stomach. How could he fight, kill, men he had trained, led, respected and fought alongside.\n\nSave that for another day. One day at a time. Train. Prepare.\n\nHe yelled out an order, the wall breaking up, men setting down shields and pairing up for individual sparring." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You work your men hard,\" a voice called out to him and he turned to see Javed, the leader of the Freedmen, as they'd become known, who had been liberated from Lykos\" slave galleys, walking towards him.\n\n\"No more than others,\" Veradis said to Javed, nodding to the Jehar warriors, whom he could see gathered under the trees, going through the forms of their sword dance. Elsewhere giants were sparring with the men of Isiltir, most of them warriors in cloaks of red and wielding sword and spear, but also others wrapped in thick furs and brandishing single-bladed axes. Veradis had learned that these were the survivors of a hold in the north, led by a warrior named Wulf. A serious man; Veradis liked him.\n\n\"Looks like a lot of heavy lifting tome,\" Javed said, still grinning.\n\n\"Not for you, then?\" Veradis asked.\n\n\"I've done a lifetime of training in the pits, ' Javed said.\n\n\"Some of your kind still train,\" Veradis said, pointing to Maquin, who had just returned from a dawn run and was now sparring against half a dozen of the men whom he had been given authority over in Ripa's warband.\n\n\"The Old Wolf,\" Javed said, \"he's a kind unto his own. '\n\n\"Doesn't look like it's doing him any harm. For me, training keeps me sharp,\" Veradis said, \"not just my body, but my mind.\"\n\n\"I believe in training,\" Javed said, \"but I'd rather do it against a foe that bleeds and dies. That's why I volunteer to join whatever team is raiding against our enemy. Every single day.\" His grin was gone now, fierce hatred burning in his eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Of one thing I am sure, and one thing alone,\" Veradis said. \"Battle is coming, and we will either be ready, or we will be dead.\"\n\n\"You're a very serious fellow, are you not, \"Javed said, his smile returning as he wandered away.\"But don't worry about me, it won't be me that's doing the dying.\"\n\nVeradis found a trio of men to train with. Afterwards, sweating and weary, he made his way to a stream and washed down. Fora moment he just sat resting against a tree.\n\nHe looked about and saw the bustle of normal camp life: foraging, collecting firewood, food and water, organizing meals, repairing garments and weapons. He saw Brina hurrying past, snapping orders to a dozen men, a giant following her. Elsewhere a row of figures were loosing arrows, a percussion of thuds as they hit their targets; a woman walked along their line checking them. Teca, her name was, a villager from the north of Narvon.\n\nWoodsmen, hunters, brigands, warriors, giants– what a disparate band!\n\nHe blew out along breath.\n\nBut do we actually have any hope of winning? We are outnumbered, out-positioned and not as experienced in battle. Calidus has played us all well. Prepared well for this war.\n\nWe cannot win.\n\nWe need more men. More women. More giants. More fighters.\n\nI hope this Corban comes back to us at the head of avast warband. That would be something.\n\nHe sighed.\n\n\"Am I intruding?\" a voice said. Fidele was standing a dozen paces away.\n\n\"Of course not, my lady,\" he said, making to rise." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"No, please don't, ' she said, stepping over and sitting beside him." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A handful of her guards stood back, alert and watching.\n\nShe was dressed like a woodsman, in woollen breeches and shirt, a stout leather vest. And she had knives on her belt. Two that Veradis could see, and a hilt poking out from her boot.\n\nShe saw his gaze and laughed, genuine and warm.\n\n\"You pickup the strangest habits when fleeing the Vin Thalun,\" she said with a shrug. \"And I've had a good teacher. \"She glanced through the trees at Maquin, smiling at the sight of him.\"Strange times we live in, ' she added.\n\n\"I'm no one to judge, my lady. And if I may say, you seem happy. '\n\n\"You may,\" she said with a dip of her head, \"and I am.\" She looked back to Maquin, watching him sway and duck, moving around his sparring assailants like forest mist, never being touched.\n\n\"And what the future holds, who knows?\" she said quietly, then looked back at Veradis. \"We know only that we are alive, now.\"\n\n\"Indeed,\" Veradis agreed. She had changed so much since he had first met her. A king's wife. The mother of his Prince, she had seemed born for that role, that high position beside Aquilus. Yet, now in the wilds of Forn Forest, she seemed more comfortable, more at ease than he had ever seen her before.\n\n\"I want to see my son,\" Fidele said into the silence.\n\nI want that, too. To speak to him, just to talk, me and him, as we used to. Without Calidus, or the Kadoshim hovering nearby.\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\"Because he is not evil.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"He is not,\" Veradis agreed.\n\n\"And because he has been fooled-\"\n\nVeradis shook his head regretfully. \"Maybe once, but he is fooled no longer. He knew exactly what was happening when I spoke to him in Brikan. You must trust me on this; I have been over it a thousand times in my head.\"\n\n\"He has been manipulated, then: forced onto a path that he now feels he cannot escape from. He is proud, would find it difficult to admit to such a mistake, but he can still choose...\"\n\n\"He has chosen,\" Veradis said angrily, the betrayal by his friend still a raw wound. \"He asked me to make the same choice and made it sound so logical, so natural.\" Veradis sighed angrily, remembering Nathair's argument to him in the tower room at Brikan, how history was written by the victors, that it was all a lie. That Elyon and Asroth, Kadoshim and Ben-Elim were just sides, warring realms or factions, like Ardan and Cambren. He had made it sound so reasonable.\n\nI've thought many times on what Fidele is saying. I want it to be true. To believe that Nathair would return to the right path, if only he had the right opportunity.\n\nBut would he?\n\n\"It is all just talk, anyway,\" Veradis said. \"Nathair is in Drassil with five thousand swords about him. Not just eagle-guard, but Vin Thalun and Kadoshim. And Calidus. It is impossible-\"\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Fidele said.\n\n\"Why are you telling me this, my lady?\"\n\n\"Because only you can understand how I feel. He is like a brother to you. I know what you say is truth and sense, but if away did present itself, for me to speak with Nathair.\" She stopped then, looked him in the eyes, and he saw a well of pain looking back at him. She reached out and squeezed his wrist." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Would you help me?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "If...\"\n\nHe just stared, not knowing what to say.\n\nNathair slew his own father. Would she still believe in him, knowing that? And yet, there was good in him, once, I know it.\n\n\"I-\"\n\nFootsteps sounded and Maquin appeared from amongst the trees, sweating and smiling.\n\n\"Found you,\" he said, reaching out and trailing his fingers across Fidele's shoulder as he made his way to the stream, discarded his clothes and jumped in. The water that splashed Veradis and Fidele was icy-cold, making them both gasp.\n\n\"Think on it,\" she said, giving his wrist one last squeeze.\n\n\"So that's Drassil, ' Veradis said.\n\nHe'd joined a scouting party led by Tahir, along with Maquin, Alcyon and Tain. They were all in a row, lying on their bellies, peering out from the undergrowth at the open plain ringing the fortress, the walls and gates rising tall and forbidding, beyond them towers and the tree mingling in a twisted snarl.\n\nIt's like nothing I've ever seen before.\n\nIt was still early in the day, the sun beyond the trees had along way to climb before highsun.\n\n\"Did you help build that?\" Tain whispered to Alcyon.\n\n\"No, my son,\" Alcyon chuckled, \"I was not born until a thousand years after those walls were raised.\"\n\nThey fell silent as figures appeared on the wall, above Drassil's wide gates. A voice rang out across the plain, challenging Corban to come and save his people.\n\nVeradis felt the blood freeze in his veins, then melt, become a molten torrent of rage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Calidus,\" he said. Beside him he felt Alcyon tense, and saw his son Tain look away.\n\nPiercing screams suddenly drifted across the plain.\n\n\"What is going on?\" Veradis asked.\n\n\"Prisoner being sacrificed,\" Tahir said grimly. \"It is the same, each day. Calidus challenges Corban. When he does not come, someone dies. Corban would fight him, if he were here.\"\n\n\"Calidus is hard to kill,\" Veradis said, and Alcyon grunted.\n\n\"So was Sumur, and yet Corban took his head, out there, in front of two warbands. It was quite the sight.\"\n\nVeradis felt his respect for Corban grow by a considerable leap.\n\nThe screams grew harder to bear, rising in pitch, a terror and agony contained within them that made Veradis wish it would stop. He thought of Cywen, his hope that she'd somehow survived Nathair's attack on Drassil. Now he was filled with concern that her voice was the one that was screaming.\n\nHow can Nathair bear this? Standby and do nothing?\n\n\"Calidus has prisoners, then. Survivors from the battle.\"\n\n\"Aye. He executes one each day,\" Tahir told him.\n\n\"He must have a considerable supply.\"\n\n\"He does. On the first day after the battle he set one free, a Jehar named Ilta. She said there were hundreds captive.\"\n\nHundreds.\n\n\"We must get them out,\" Veradis said.\n\n\"I'd love to, \"Tahir muttered,\"it's the how that I've had a problem with. '\n\n\"Well, let's think on it. Two heads are better than one. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That's what my old mam used to say. '\n\nThey began to crawl back from the treeline when the gates of Drassil creaked and opened. Out from their shadowed arch lumbered a monstrous shape, wide and squat, bowed legs and claws like curved daggers, ahead broad and reptilian. Upon its back sat a man, tall and proud, black hair, a polished cuirass of black leather, upon it a white eagle, his sable cloak fluttering in a breeze.\n\n\"Nathair,\" Veradis whispered, all of them frozen in the act of retreating back into the forest.\n\nHis draig walked out onto the plain, head casting from side to side, long tail inconstant motion, and behind it marched a warband; line upon line of long shields and silver helms. They turned south with immaculate precision, following Nathair and his draig.\n\nNathair's Draig's Teeth. My men.\n\n\"They all look like you,\" Tahir commented to Veradis, looking at his cuirass emblazoned with a white eagle. The warband of Ripa were clothed in the silver and black of Tenebral, but they wore the tower of Ripa on their chest, not the eagle.\n\n\"Not so long ago I led them. They were my men,\" Veradis said.\n\n\"Sure you know what side you're on? ' Tahir asked.\n\nHe's an honest one. Speaks his mind.\n\n\"Oh aye,\" said Veradis bleakly. \"They fight for Asroth, even if many of them do not realize it. I'll never walk that path, not for oath, love nor friendship. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin spluttered river-water, spinning in its grasp, the giant that was bobbing along beside him grabbed his head and shoved him beneath the surface.\n\nHe struggled, lungs burning, breathing in a mouthful of water and panicking. He struck out wildly, tearing free from her grasp momentarily, his head bursting through the surface and desperately sucking in a lungful of air.\n\nCurrent's taking me the right way, at least, back towards Edana and the warband. Might make it back alive, after all.\n\n\"Got you,\" a voice said in his ear, a huge hand clamping down on his shoulder.\n\nHe tried to kick her underwater, but his legs weren't as long as her reach, and even if he'd connected he doubted she'd have felt it, the river leaching any power from his blow.\n\nThe river swept them into a clearing, the moonlight abruptly bright. Camlin looked into dark eyes staring with murderous intent at him.\n\nThen she crunched into the branch of a fallen tree, hitting it so hard that the branch snapped off with aloud crack. Her grip on Camlin's shoulder was suddenly gone as she swirled away.\n\nIs she dead?\n\nCamlin grabbed the broken branch, instantly easing the strain of staying afloat. The giant came back into view, the current swirling her towards Camlin, a dark gash on her forehead, eyes dazed and vacant, a groan escaping her lips. As Camlin watched, she began to sink. For no reason that he could think of, he swam towards her and grabbed her, trying to lift her vast bulk above the surface. Using the broken branch, he managed to raise her a little higher, enough to keep her alive awhile longer.\n\nSomething dark blotted the moonlight fora moment, a whisper of air above him, and he looked up to seethe outline of Craf above him, wings spread." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I owe that bird.\n\nThen he heard splashing, a rhythm to it. Meg appeared behind, paddling hard in the little canoe they'd made together over the last few days, too small to take anymore weight than hers.\n\n\"What you doing?\" she asked him as she paddled alongside him.\n\n\"Trying not t'drown, ' he grunted.\n\n\"Why're you carrying a giant, then? ' she asked.\n\nFair question.\n\n\"Seemed like a good idea at the time.\"\n\nMeg raised an eyebrow. \"And now?\" she asked.\n\n\"She's getting heavy, ' he admitted.\n\n\"Let go, then.\"\n\nDon't want to do that, really. This giant walked out of Rhin's tent, reckon she might know a thing or two.\n\n\"Paddle ahead, tell Halion I've caught me a big fish, ' he grunted, catching a mouthful of water.\n\n\"Think I see me a river rat,\" a voice called out.\n\nBaird. Thank Elyon, I've had enough of this river.\n\nCamlin paddled hard with his free arm and then felt a hook snag his jerkin and he was being dragged unceremoniously towards the riverbank.\n\n\"Welcome back,\" Halion said, pulling Camlin onto dry land.\n\n\"You look more like a river rat than our Meg,\" Baird said from behind Halion. \"What've you brought us, then? '\n\n\"When Meg said you were carrying a giant,\" Halion said, \"I didn't think that you were actually carrying a giant. '\n\n\"Might need some help, here,\" Camlin said, trying to drag the unconscious giant onto the bank." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Figures splashed into the water to help– Halion and Baird, as well as Lorcan and his shieldman, Brogan.\n\nBaird was checking her for weapons, pulling knives from her belt, as well as one more, as long as a sword, that was sheathed on her back. The other scabbard was empty.\n\nLeft it in the glade.\n\n\"Best bind her quick,\" Camlin said, \"she's a strong \"un.\"\n\n\"Quite the gift you've brought us, ' Baird said.\n\n\"She's hereto answer questions for Edana, \"Camlin told him firmly knowing of Baird's hatred for the race.\n\n\"Fair enough,\" Baird said. \"She's your fish, you can have the pleasure of filleting her. Doubt you'll get anything out of her except lies, though.\" He hawked and spat in the river, then, none too gently, set about wrapping thick rope around the giant's wrists.\n\n\"She's heavier than my mam with a barrel of mead in her belly, ' Brogan No-Neck grunted as they dragged the giant ashore, with a lot of splashing and swearing.\n\nAs they were tying her securely to a tree the giant started to wake, jerking in shock, throwing herself feebly about, clearly still suffering from the blow to her head.\n\n\"It's all right, lass, \"Brogan said.\"Stay still now, or you'll hurt yourself.\"\n\n\"Lass!\" Baird said. \"She'd as soon eat your still-beating-heart as speak to you. She's a monster.\"\n\n\"Looks more like a woman tome,\" Brogan said. \"On the big side, sure enough, but so's my Aunt Berit. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Baird shook his head, a disgusted look on his face.\n\nThe sun was rising when Camlin met with Edana. He felt a little better, dried and dressed in anew set of clothes, though he was bruised and aching after his fight in the glade and dip in the river, trying not to limp as he walked. To make matters worse he was dismally aware that his scabbard was empty and that he'd lost his bow.\n\nWhat kind of leader am I? Organize an ambush, get myself beat up by a giant and a snot-nosed apprentice huntsman, and lose all my weapons.\n\nThe good news was that every single man on his crew had returned to their camp, and Rhin's warband had been hit hard, most of her wains turned to fiery bonfires, tents ablaze, horses scattered and a fair few dead soldiers into the bargain.\n\nHe found Edana sitting on a log, scooping some hot porridge into a bowl. Vonn was squatting by the fire, digging at the ash and embers. He nodded a greeting to Camlin.\n\n\"Sit,\" Edana said, blowing on her porridge, \"and eat something. You look like you're about to collapse. '\n\nCamlin's belly rumbled and he happily helped himself to a bowl of porridge, sitting down on the log beside Edana, though his throat hurt with each mouthful, a reminder of Rafe's fingers around his neck.\n\n\"Well done,\" Edana said. \"A successful mission, by all accounts, and most importantly, everyone's back and still breathing. Including you. ' She looked pointedly at him and smiled.\n\nSometimes we just get lucky.\n\n\"Where's your bow? ' she asked him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Lost it,\" he said glumly.\n\n\"You don't look right without it. '\n\nDon't feel right, either.\n\n\"And you've brought me a prisoner? '\n\n\"Aye.\" Between mouthfuls Camlin told Edana of the ambush.\n\n\"I saw Rhin, got a shot off at her, but hit a giant instead.\"\n\n\"Shame,\" Vonn said.\n\n\"Aye, it was.\" Camlin carried on. Ashe was coming to an end there was a fluttering up above, then Craf was there.\n\n\"Look what Craf found,\" the crow squawked.\n\nCamlin's bow fell into his lap. It was scratched, the gut string ruined, but after giving it a quick check-over, Camlin was sure the bow would be fine. He grinned at Craf, who was hopping about looking pleased with himself.\n\n\"Craf, I'm coming to realize that you area fine bird indeed, ' Camlin said, grinning.\n\n\"Camlin save Craf from the badman,\" the crow muttered.\n\n\"Rafe,\" Camlin told Edana. \"He tried to twist Craf's neck. '\n\n\"Bastard,\" muttered Craf.\n\n\"Rafe?\" Edana said. \"He just keeps coming back.\"\n\nLike a curse.\n\n\"Aye. Shame he's still breathing, is my thought on it, ' Camlin said, eyeing Vonn, who was making a good effort at looking the other way.\n\n\"He nearly put an end tome,\" Camlin added, rubbing his neck.\n\n\"He's... changed, somehow. '\n\n\"Drank from starstone cup,\" Craf said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They all looked at the crow.\n\n\"Craf heard them,\" Craf said. \"Rafe found cup, drank from it. Rhin, giants, all want some now. Make you strong. Fast. Livelong.\"\n\nThey were still staring, speechless.\n\n\"Rhin told Calidus. Badman. Very badman.\" The crow shivered from his talons to his beak, feathers ruffling.\n\n\"Calidus? Who's he? ' Edana asked.\n\n\"He is Kadoshim. He with Nathair. Kill Corban's mam. '\n\n\"He killed Gwenith?\" Edana asked.\n\n\"Craf told you, BADMAN. Calidus told Rhin find necklace, come to Drassil,\" Craf squawked, jumping up and down.\n\n\"Craf keep telling you, God-War, Seven Treasures, DANGER!\"\n\n\"See,\" Vonn hissed. \"We are lurking in the woods while the world is ending! This war is much bigger than Ardan.\"\n\n\"Craf keep telling you,\" the bird said. \"Nobody listen to Craf. Ask Camlin's giant. She was there. '\n\n\"That's not a bad idea, ' Edana said.\n\nBaird threw a bucket of water into the giant's face, making her head snap up, eyes open.\n\n\"Think we've got her attention, ' Baird said to Edana.\n\nThe giant's face was amass of wounds, a large gash across her forehead, blood dried and crusted in a trail down her face, as well as cuts and bruises. She squinted up at them with her small black eyes, focusing finally upon Edana." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I am Edana ap Brenin, Queen of Ardan,\" Edana said. \"Who are you?\"\n\n\"Téigh go dtí ifreann,\" the giant said. She sat up straighter against the tree she was bound to, jutted her jaw out defiantly.\n\nCraf fluttered down to land on a branch above Edana's head.\n\n\"Don't be rude, ' he squawked.\n\nSo Craf understands giantish.\n\nThe giant looked up at the crow, face creasing, eyes squinting.\n\n\"Fech?\" she said, her expression changing from defiance to dismay.\n\nFech! I remember that bird– the raven that Edana nursed in Domhain. She sent it north to Corban with a message. Craf said Fech reached them, but was later killed.\n\n\"Yes, this is Fech,\" Edana said. Craf hopped off of the branch and fluttered down to perch on Edana's arm.\n\n\"Yes, me Fech,\" Craf said. \"Talk nicely,\" he added.\n\nThe giant peered at him, blinked blood from one eye. \"Ní féidir liom a thuiscint,\" she whispered.\n\n\"In common tongue,\" Craf said.\n\n\"I don't understand, ' the giant said. She looked scared, all of a sudden.\n\nPerhaps Fech had an influence on the Benothi giants. He was a messenger of Nemain, their queen.\n\n\"You betrayed Nemain,\" Craf said.\n\nThe giant recoiled at that, as if struck.\n\nThink he's got the same idea. That twisted a nerve." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I, Nemain chose wrong-\"\n\nCraf flapped his wings, cawing and screeching. \"Nemain was good, Nemain was murdered.\"\n\n\"No, she fell. Uthas said she fell.\"\n\n\"She was pushed,\" Craf spat.\n\nHe's really embraced Fech. Glad he can remember all this.\n\n\"No,\" the giant said. \"Who...?\" She paused. \"Uthas.\"\n\n\"Uthas, Uthas, Uthas,\" Craf cawed. \"Bad giant.\"\n\n\"I... Fech?\" The giant looked at Craf, something pleading in her expression.\n\n\"Uthas, murderer,\" Craf muttered.\n\n\"Rhin's tent, last night, \"Edana said.\"What did you do? '\n\nThe giant looked away, lips clamping tight.\n\n\"Tell her, tell her,\" Craf squawked. \"About the cup, tell her all.\"\n\n\"Why would I do that?\" the giant said, quietly, to the ground.\n\n\"Make right your wrong,\" Craf said. \"For Nemain.\"\n\nThe giant stared at Craf, back and shoulders rigid and straight, jaw jutting, emotions flickering across the flat planes of her face: pride, loyalty, betrayal, despair. Slowly she slumped.\n\n\"Rhin contacted Calidus in Drassil, by the old way of blood and bone, told him we'd found the starstone cup, ' she said, a whisper.\n\n\"More,\" Craf squawked. \"Tell all.\"\n\nThe giant sighed.\n\n\"Calidus ordered Rhin to muster her warbands, to find the necklace at Dun Carreg, and to march for Drassil.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A silence settled upon them all, leaving only the ripple of the river and the sighing of wind in branches.\n\n\"Told you,\" whispered Vonn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uthas strode across the stone bridge that spanned the precipice between Dun Carreg and the mainland, the breeze tearing at his cloak. He looked back, saw Rhin mounted on a warhorse, Salach striding beside her, and behind them what was left of Rhin's beleaguered warband. Most of their baggage wains had been destroyed, which at least meant that they travelled faster. The might of the Benothi– what is left of us– strode behind the warband, fifty giants, clad in mail and leather.\n\nTo the north-west the sea sparkled and glittered beneath the setting sun, and to the north-east, Uthas could seethe dust cloud that marked Rhin's messengers as they galloped along the giantsway, taking word to her battlechief Geraint to muster the warband of the west.\n\nThe time is upon us. The God-War is reaching its end, moving towards its last great battle, which will decide the fate of this land, and all who dwell within it.\n\nAnd we have the cup. And perhaps the necklace.\n\nHe could not stop the smile that spread across his face.\n\nHe turned and strode through the arch of Stonegate, into the courtyard of Dun Carreg. Ahead of him he saw Rafe and his lone hound, the huntsman's head bowed and sullen. Even from here Uthas could seethe long scratches on Rafe's face, scabbed and red where he had been clawed. A bandage was wrapped around one shoulder, a red stain on it.\n\nAn arrow wound, deep into the muscle of his shoulder, yet it seems to be causing him little bother– another sign that he has drunk from the cup.\n\nUthas lengthened his stride to catch up with Rafe. Behind him hooves rang on stone, Rhin cantering up beside him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Take us to Evnis\" tower, ' she said to Rafe, who gave a surly nod and marched ahead.\n\nHe sulks because he lost a hound last night. I lost Eisa.\n\nUthas, Rhin and Salach marched through the streets of Dun Carreg, Rhin's honour guard of twenty warriors following behind. No people lined the streets to greet Rhin, though Uthas noticed that there were many warriors stationed throughout the fortress.\n\nThen Rafe was at a set of gates that creaked on rusted hinges as he pushed them open. They all passed through into a small courtyard, beyond it an abandoned squat tower, wide-based, no more than six or seven storeys high. Uthas saw a row of kennels along one side of the tower, Rafe's hound running over to sniff in them, but they were as empty as the tower. Further on, the outer wall rose above Evnis\" tower, dwarfing it. Uthas spied a stairwell climbing to the wall's battlements, the sound of sea and surf rising up from the sheer cliffs beyond.\n\n\"Here we are,\" Rafe said, gesturing to the steps that led up to the tower's wide doors.\n\n\"Evnis\" chamber, ' Rhin said, dismounting.\n\nCobwebs grew thick across the doorway, stretching and tearing as Rafe shouldered through them. They entered a wide entrance hall, ahead of them a spiral stairwell that Rafe led them up, leaving footprints in the dust-covered steps. At the top there was a landing, a single door into a shadowed chamber, sparsely furnished: abed, a table, one chair, some tapestries hanging across one wall.\n\n\"This is, was, Evnis\" chamber, ' Rafe said with a shrug." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Find it,\" Rhin told them.\n\nUthas and Salach began to search the room, Salach dragging the furniture away from the walls, Uthas running his fingertips across cold stone. He found the hidden door behind the tapestry, a depression and crack that looked like a fault in the stone. Uthas pushed into it, and then there was a breath of stale air and a click, the outline of a door appearing. Rhin clapped and laughed as Uthas pulled the door open. Inside was a small room, another table and chair, a wall sconce. On the table was a casket, big enough to hold a large book. Uthas opened it, feeling the throbbing pulse of power that emanated from it before he'd peered inside.\n\nThere was no book.\n\nBut there was a necklace.\n\nUthas sat at a table in a chamber of the great-keep. Rhin was with him, and Salach, and Rafe, who stood at an unshuttered window, staring out into the night.\n\nBeside a jug of wine and drinking cups Rhin's dread devices were set on the table. The iron bowl crackled with fire, the wooden frame had the flayed skin already hung and stretched upon it.\n\nAnd there were two other items upon the table, side by side. Uthas' eyes were drawn to them. The necklace: a dark stone the size of an egg wrapped in silver wire, bound and set within a silver chain. And a cup, larger than the other two on the table, carved from black stone, dull, unremarkable.\n\nThe starstone cup.\n\nUthas stared at it covetously, his eyes only drawn away by a sudden movement from Rhin as she opened a vial and sprinkled droplets of blood upon the flames, a hiss as they flared bright, and then Rhin's voice, harsh and brittle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Thoghairm mé leat anois, Conall, slayer agus bhfeallaire ghaoil, tríd an flesh agus fola ar mo namhaid,\" she said, repeating the phrase countless times until it filled Uthas' mind, the skin and flames all he could see, the dark words all that he could hear.\n\nDark words indeed, slayer and betrayer of kin, slayer and betrayer of kin.\n\nThe skin on the frame rippled and stretched, features forming, an animated parody of life. A spluttering wheeze escaped the desiccated lips, sounding like the crackle of flames, the flicking of dusty parchment.\n\n\"By Asroth's teeth, Rhin, but I'm not liking this,\" a voice said, fear-laced.\n\n\"You don't need to like it, Conall, ' Rhin replied, haggard in the firelight, the deep lines on her face filled with shadow.\n\n\"Aye, well, it feels... strange. Like there's a cold-fingered hand clutching my face. '\n\n\"Listen tome,\" Rhin said, commanding. \"Muster your warband. Not just an honour guard, or a few hundred swords. I mean the whole strength of Domhain, and I want you to lead it to Dun Carreg.\"\n\n\"What! But-\"\n\n\"Do it,\" Rhin hissed, \"and do it quickly, or there will be anew regent in Domhain.\"\n\n\"Ach, no need for temper,\" Conall said. \"Of course I'll do it, I'll not forget who put me here. But it's no easy task, is all I'm saying.\"\n\n\"If it was easy, anyone could do it,\" Rhin replied. \"I need you herein one moon.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'll be there, ' Conall said.\n\nI do not think that is what he was going to say.\n\n\"Good. I knew I could count on you. Then I shall see you in one moon's time. And, Conall, ' Rhin said.\n\n\"Aye?\"\n\n\"Sharpen your sword.\"\n\nRhin sat back, breaking the connection, and lifted a cup, drinking deeply, her hand unsteady.\n\nWhen she was calmed she took a sheaf of parchment, weighted its ends, dipped a quill in ink and began to scribe. Eventually she sat back, pinched some ground powder from a pot and sprinkled it over the ink and parchment. Then she beckoned to Rafe.\n\n\"This is to go to Morcant,\" Rhin said. \"I want him back here, not gallivanting around Ardan. Edana is of small matter in the lie of things, now. An inconvenience. You will take this to him, and bring him back tome.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Rafe grunted.\n\nRhin shifted in her seat and scowled at him.\n\n\"My Queen,\" Rafe added.\n\nRhin smiled coldly, running a finger down his face, along nail tracing the arc of his wound where a talon had scored him from temple to chin.\n\n\"You have a lot of potential, my young huntsman,\" she said. \"Great things lie ahead of you, and I shall help you achieve them, as you shall help me.\"\n\n\"Aye, my Queen,\" he gulped.\n\n\"Off with you, then,\" she said and Rafe hurried from the room.\n\nRhin put her sorcerous paraphernalia into her travelling chest, then the starstone necklace. She snapped the lock shut and turned the key. There was only the starstone cup left on the table, now, a jug beside it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Well, we have finally reached the moment,\" Rhin said, looking at Uthas. \"The one we have both longed for. Time to drink.\"\n\n\"It is,\" Uthas agreed, surprised at the tremor in his voice.\n\nShe poured wine into the cup, then took Uthas' hand and led him to a door in the chamber, opened it to reveal a wide bed.\n\n\"We shall be incapacitated awhile,\" Rhin said, \"so we shall remain here, under guard of your shieldman and mine. And when we awake...\" She smiled languorously at Uthas as she led him into the bedchamber and shut the door.\n\nShe sat on the bed, lifted the cup to her lips and drank along, deep draught. She smiled and passed him the cup; even as he lifted it to his mouth her eyes were widening, a gasp of pleasure escaping her parted lips, the wine upon them black as heart's blood.\n\nHe remembered what it was like the first time, pleasure and pain, and steeled himself for what was to come.\n\nHe drank greedily, emptying the cup, felt the wine hit his belly, a warm glow radiating outwards, creeping into his veins, spreading, an expanding wave of pleasure magnified. Rhin sank back onto the bed, writhing, a beatific smile upon her face, her hands gripping the woollen bed sheets, twisting them. His body felt like liquid gold, warm, melting, and he was unable to keep himself upright, felt himself sinking onto the bed, groaned with pleasure, laughed for the joy of it.\n\nThen Rhin began to scream." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Haelan slipped along the street, clinging to the deeper shadows, despite it being full dark. Pots ran in front, and he heard Cywen and Buddai behind.\n\nCywen had news for them all, so they were making their way back to Haelan's den together. He'd accompanied Pots on more midnight missions in search of food and provisions since that first reunion with Cywen.\n\nI've changed since Buddai broke loose and took me to Cywen, he thought. I don't feel quite as afraid all the time.\n\nIt was good to have a proper grown-up around, someone who could make the decisions and take responsibility. He had been so scared for so long, and even though Swain was older than him and a lot more capable, Haelan had somehow felt that the final decisions on their life in the den had fallen on him. Once he would have loved that, especially when Tahir was ordering him around, but now that he'd had a good taste of it, he'd decided he didn't like it so much.\n\nNot all it's rumoured to be.\n\n\"Haelan, stop,\" Cywen hissed behind him.\n\nHe slipped into a deep-shadowed doorway and Cywen paused, catching her breath. Buddai stared at her, big tongue lolling from his jaws.\n\n\"What?\" Haelan asked.\n\n\"I thought I heard something,\" she breathed. \"Behind us.\"\n\nHaelan stared back down the coal-black street, no light except that of a cloud-swept moon and stars pale and distant as home. A dozen heartbeats passed, fifty, a hundred.\n\n\"There's nothi-' he started, then Pots growled, Buddai joining him shortly after.\n\nNot a good sign." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Haelan shared a look with Cywen; she looked as terrified as he felt, and they both bolted, running hard down the street, Pots and Buddai following them.\n\nWho is it back there? Have we been followed, or is it a random patrol? A drunken Vin Thalun who's stumbled the wrong way and got lost?\n\nWhoever it was, Haelan knew he and Cywen could not afford to be seen. He ran as fast as he could, heart thumping in his mouth, twisting and skidding to turn downside streets that led deeper into the fortress.\n\nAnd then they were in the courtyard, sprinting across the uneven flagstones, Pots leaping into the dark hole beneath the oak as if it was a race that he was set on winning, Haelan tumbling after him into the darkness. Cywen fell on top of him, both of them scrambling out of the way as Buddai's bulk jumped in.\n\nHaelan started heading down the winding tunnel to his den, but Cywen's grip on his arm stopped him.\n\n\"Wait,\" she hissed. \"We have to know.\"\n\nHe understood. Quietly they positioned themselves below the entrance, Buddai with Cywen, Pots with Haelan. They settled into the darkness and waited.\n\nTime passed, marked by the beating of Haelan's heart, the panting of Pots. His eyes adjusted to the gloom. The smell from the other tunnel crawled up his nose, grew to the point of being unbearable. Then he heard something, from up beyond the entrance, which was just a grey patch against the darkness of the tunnel. A figure passed in front of it, blocking the moonlight, crouching, sniffing, ahead moving in. Cywen leaped, grabbing whoever it was, then they were both falling back into the hole. Buddai snarled and jumped, his growl deepening and teeth snapping; there was a muffled curse of pain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"No, stop. Haelan, help me,\" a panicked voice shouted. Not Cywen's.\n\nI know that voice.\n\nThey all froze, the newcomer's face becoming recognizable as a patch of moonlight filtered through the hole.\n\nTrigg.\n\nHaelan laughed and threw his arms around her neck.\n\n\"Welcome to our home,\" Haelan said, standing in his den with the cubs surrounding him, Swain and Sif behind him.\n\nHaelan was overjoyed to seethe half-breed girl. Back at Gramm's hold he had started a fragile friendship with Trigg, and she had helped him escape the hold when Jael's warband had come for him. To his great shame he had not thought of her since, but now he felt happy to see her familiar face, one that he linked to a happier time.\n\n\"Look who it is,\" Haelan said to Swain and Sif as Trigg fell into the small chamber, a tangle of limbs on the ground. As she unravelled herself, Swain's expression changed from confusion to horror, then anger.\n\n\"It's the half-breed traitor, ' he snarled, reaching fora knife at his belt as Haelan jumped to stop him.\n\n\"What's this all about? \"Cywen said.\"What's going on?\"\n\n\"Back at Gramm's hold, that filthy half-breed betrayed you, Haelan, \"Swain said,\"gave you up to Jael's man. Told him you were hidden in the basement.\"\n\n\"But that doesn't make sense, \"Haelan said.\"It was Trigg who got me out of the basement, she helped me escape the hold. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Trigg was sitting in a corner, knees pulled up to her chest, looking just about as miserable as it was possible to be.\n\n\"Then why did you betray Haelan and show Jael's lot where he was hidden? ' Swain said, frowning at Trigg.\n\n\"To stop them torturing your da, and Gramm,\" Trigg said, shrugging her massive shoulders. \"I knew Haelan wasn't down there, because I'd already pulled him out.\"\n\n\"Then after, why did you run?\" Swain asked, some of the anger missing from his voice now.\n\n\"Because Wulf was going to gut me,\" Trigg said venomously. \"He wouldn't believe me; I tried to tell him. And of course no one thought to defend me, the filthy half-breed. \"She looked down at the floor, a tremor in her voice, tears in her eyes.\"Wulf's men chased me, tried to kill me. Iran until my feet bled.\" She shook her head, lip curling in a snarl. \"Wulf, all of you, believed I would betray you like that. No doubt in your mind.\" She cuffed snot from her nose. \"Gramm took me in, gave me a home.\" She was almost shouting now, \"I would never have betrayed him.\"\n\n\"Shh,\" Cywen said, \"or you'll bring the Kadoshim down upon us. '\n\n\"Why didn't you come and find me? \"Haelan said, guilt creeping through him now, and making him react as it often did; defensively.\"Just showed yourself to us. I would have spoken for you, explained to Wulf. '\n\nI never gave her a second thought, after I was safe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I tried,\" Trigg said, quieter now." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I followed you all into Forn, tried to get close enough, but there were scouts all the time– good ones, a girl with red hair-\"\n\n\"Coralen,\" Cywen said.\n\n\"And Wulf's men. I knew if I revealed myself they would strike me down before I got close to you. ' Trigg looked at Haelan, a hidden accusation in her eyes.\n\n\"Well, you've found me now, \"Haelan said, trying to make his voice sound lighter than he felt.\"When we are back with Corban and the others, I will explain to them– to Corban, to Wulf. Everything will be all right. '\n\n\"Corban, the Bright Star?\"\n\n\"That's right, ' Haelan said.\n\n\"He's my brother, \"Cywen added, eyes narrowing as she studied Trigg.\"How did you get into Drassil? ' she asked Trigg.\n\n\"I followed you.\"\n\n\"We've been here over half a year, \"Cywen said.\"You've been living amongst us all that time? Hiding?\"\n\n\"No,\" Trigg grunted. \"In Forn, waiting, hoping to see Haelan.\" She was talking to her knees now. \"I never did,\" she added.\n\n\"That must have been hard, through the winter, with the creatures of the forest,\" Haelan said. Trigg nodded dejectedly and Haelan shuffled forwards and took her hand, though she pulled away at first.\n\n\"I am so sorry, Trigg. Truth be told I forgot about you, and I am ashamed. I was so scared when Gramm's hold was attacked, terrified. And you helped me, pulled me from the cellar. I would have died without you. And then it was safe, Corban came to our rescue-'" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He looked at Trigg, feeling a great wave of sympathy. \"But I won't forget you again. '\n\nTrigg squeezed his hand, returned his gaze a moment, then looked away.\n\n\"You think much of this Corban?\" she said.\n\n\"I do,\" Haelan replied. \"He is our leader. Brave. I trust him, would follow him... anywhere.\" He shrugged.\n\nTrigg eyed him thoughtfully.\n\n\"How have you not been caught in Drassil?\" Cywen asked her.\n\n\"I am careful,\" Trigg said with a shifting of her shoulders.\n\n\"Well, you can stay with us now,\" Haelan said, \"you need not fear being caught. No one will ever find us down here.\"\n\nTrigg looked at him through her heavy-lidded eyes.\n\n\"My thanks,\" she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis sat beside the fire-pit, methodically tending to his war gear with whetstone, oil and cloth.\n\nNathair, two thousand eagle-guard, Lothar, his road from Helveth to Drassil, a warband thousands strong. Maquin was right to suggest we attack Gundul before he reached Drassil, and we should do the same with Lothar. But how? We need more swords. The prisoners in Drassil, how can we get them out?\n\nIt was late, the flicker of firelight amongst the trees drawing moths and other things that lurked or hovered just beyond the touch of illumination in the forest. Alcyon and Tain were sitting with a handful of the Benothi, Balur and Brina amongst them. Abruptly, Veradis jumped up and marched over to them, calling to a dozen of his own men as he went.\n\n\"I've an idea, \"he said to Alcyon, looking around, grabbing branches and shaking them.\"Here, Alcyon, cut this branch down for me, ' he asked, holding a branch about as thick as his wrist.\n\nAlcyon raised a questioning eyebrow but stood to do it, swinging his axe and shearing the branch with one blow. Veradis drew a knife, stripped the off-shoots and trimmed it.\n\n\"Can I borrow one of your axes, please?\" he asked Alcyon, at the same time cutting a strip from his cloak then binding the axe-haft to the sapling branch, making something that looked like an axe on a spear shaft.\n\n\"Shield wall,\" he said, without looking at his own men gathered behind him, and was excessively pleased when he heard the thud of linden; just by the sound of it he knew that the shields had come together well and in fluid time." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You,\" Veradis said, pointing to a seated giant. \"What is your name?\"\n\n\"Fachen,\" the giant said.\n\n\"Well, Fachen, I have an idea, but to test it I need a demonstration. Would you dome the honour of helping me?\"\n\nThe giant's brows knitted.\"All right. ' He stood, as Veradis stepped behind the shield wall and took up a shield and a practice sword. He looked over the rim, saw that the giant Fachen had a war-hammer slung across his back.\n\n\"Attack me,\" Veradis said to him. \"Break this shield wall apart, if you can.\"\n\nFachen looked at the others, eyes gravitating to Balur, who was looking on with interest, leaning with his back to a tree, arms folded.\n\nFachen swung his war-hammer two-handed, stepping in and using his weight to add power to his blow, slamming the weapon into Veradis' shield. It was a mighty strike, rocking Veradis back a step, the shock of it shuddering up his arm, numbing it, but most of the force was dispersed through the interlocked shields.\n\nFachen's momentum pushed him on and his body crashed into the shields, rocking them again, but still the line held. Veradis\" harmless practice sword darted out, punching into Fachen's waist, the giant grunting in pain.\n\n\"You're dead, or dying, ' Veradis said, lowering his shield.\n\n\"Are you mocking me?\" Fachen asked, taking a step back and hefting his hammer.\n\n\"No,\" Veradis replied. \"I'm demonstrating how dangerous the shield wall is, even to giants. '\n\n\"I was not taking it seriously,\" Fachen shrugged." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Brina snorted and Alcyon smiled.\n\nVeradis looked at his shield, saw the wood dented and grooved.\n\n\"Looks serious enough,\" he said. He noticed others gathering around now, Wulf and Tahir, Krelis and Alben, Maquin, Fidele, a few of her shieldmen. \"We must treat the shield wall with respect,\" he continued. \"It is a widow-maker, a death-dealer, no one is safe before it– manor woman, the skill of the Jehar will not save them, nor the strength of a giant. Nathair marched outwith two thousand men, many of them veterans of the shield wall. They have fought many battles, and never lost.\"\n\n\"They have not fought against the Benothi,\" Fachen said.\n\n\"True enough,\" Veradis replied, \"though I think some of your kin clashed with them during the battle of Drassil. But Nathair's men did stand against the Shekam and their draigs in Tarbesh, and they stood against the Hunen at Haldis. Both clans were broken on the wall of shields. '\n\n\"You lie,\" Fachen said.\n\n\"He does not lie,\" Alcyon said.\n\n\"How do you know this?\" Balur One-Eye rumbled.\n\n\"I know, because I was there,\" Veradis said. \"I led the shield wall, stood in the front row, weathered the storm of iron, bore the brunt of their hammers and axes.\"\n\n\"The Hunen?\" Balur asked.\n\n\"Aye. Calidus pulled those strings. He was after the starstone axe.\"\n\n\"And the Shekam?\" Ethlinn said, standing and walking over to look at the damage done to Veradis' shield." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Calidus, again,\" Alcyon said. \"He had his reasons for wanting the Shekam gone.\"\n\n\"But they are the draig-riders,\" Balur said, as if that made them invincible.\n\n\"Admittedly, the draigs were a bit of a problem,\" Veradis conceded. \"But the Shekam were still destroyed, only a handful escaping the battlefield. Nathair is a strategist, an excellent general with an eye for the straight path to victory. The shield wall is his creation.\"\n\n\"It was the shield wall that felled Balur in the battle at Drassil,\" Ethlinn mused.\n\n\"Aye, that's so, \"Balur said.\"I smashed a dozen men down, but more kept filling the hole I hacked. \"He put a hand to his side, up to his shoulder.\"They gave me many wounds. '\n\n\"How do we beat that?\" asked Tahir. \"I led men against it in the great hall of Drassil.\" He shook his head. \"Many fell.\"\n\n\"It is not invincible,\" Maquin said.\n\n\"No, it is like any weapon, any tool,\" Veradis said. \"It has strengths and weaknesses.\"\n\n\"The Kadoshim did a good job of ripping it open,\" Maquin said.\n\n\"They did,\" Veradis agreed. \"Because they are happy to take a sword-wound in the belly, or anywhere else for that matter, and fight on regardless. Most of us would not. The Kadoshim's strengths are not our strengths. That is not how we will crack the shield wall open. '\n\n\"How, then?\" Maquin asked.\n\n\"If we fought them on a hill and we were at the top we could roll wains or trees down at them,\" Tahir said. He looked around. \"Not so many hills in Forn, though.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Terrain is correct,\" Veradis said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The shield wall works best on open spaces, flat ground. So if we could choose our battlefield, that would help.\"\n\n\"And what if we cannot?\" Maquin asked.\n\n\"There maybe other ways,\" Veradis said. \"But we would need a forge, and blacksmiths skilled at weapon-making.\"\n\n\"We could dig a forge,\" Balur said. \"I have seen it done. And Fachen is a weapons-smith.\"\n\n\"I can work a bellows and shape some iron,\" Wulf grunted, \"but what of tools and materials?\"\n\n\"We have a good supply of iron,\" Alben said. \"There were wains full of charcoal, iron rods and tools that we found amongst Gundul's supplies. '\n\n\"And what would you do with this forge?\" Brina asked Veradis. \"What would you make?\"\n\nVeradis lifted the axe and branch that he had bound together.\n\n\"I'll show you. Wall, ' he commanded. His men gathered tight and brought their shields up. Veradis advanced on them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin led his small band along a narrow trail, forty of the best woodsmen, hunters and archers that he had found in Edana's rag-tag warband. They wound single-file, so as to not giveaway their numbers if they were tracked, which Camlin thought all but impossible. Those who might have had half a mind to follow them they'd left dying on the giantsway.\n\nAnother supply train ruined, some grain burned, the rest stolen, and two score fewer of Rhin's warriors left to fight us. All in all, a good day. Besides, Craf will let me know if there's any trouble on my tail.\n\nOnly a ten-night had passed since Camlin had been fished out of the river with the giant, Eisa.\n\nHe'd not liked the discussions of God-Wars and the Seven Treasures, and Craf hadn't helped matters since. Every time Camlin had sat still the damn bird had come and perched on his shoulder and started muttering about Kadoshim, death and the end of the world. He shivered.\n\nAnd then there was Rafe. Camlin had thought about him a lot over the last few days, how he'd been transformed, become stronger and faster. That had added weight to Eisa and Craf's words, and Camlin didn't like that.\n\nGods. Angels and demons. What next? I prefer something I can face and kill. Not myths and stories.\n\nHe shivered at the thought of it, the concept that everything they were doing was a small part in a much grander scheme. He didn't like the idea, not one little bit.\n\nBest not to think of it at all, so keeping busy is a much better idea.\n\nAnd busy seemed to be working. Half a dozen raids by his crew alone on baggage trains, on warbands and warriors, even a merchant barge travelling up the river Tarin to Dun Carreg, all taking coin and food from the enemy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin passed the first checkpoint of their camp, saw a shadowed face and a drawn bow. He raised a hand in greeting, knew he was recognized, and that Meg had gone ahead, announcing his imminent return.\n\nNice to seethe guards are working.\n\nSoon afterwards he was emerging into their camp. It had grown. Word was spreading throughout Ardan of Edana's return, and fora while now new recruits had been trickling into the Baglun.\n\nCamlin was struggling to trust them, and the thought that just one could be a spy or an assassin was not helping him to sleep at night, but Edana was right. She was never going to raise a warband capable of overthrowing Rhin without Ardan's people.\n\nHe found Edana in her tent, which was a crude thing stitched from sails, but it did the job. Inside Edana was sitting with Baird and Halion. Camlin told them of his successful raid. The central tent pole creaked and Camlin looked up, saw the outline of a dark shape through the tent.\n\nCraf. That bird is a compulsive spy.\n\n\"More food for us, and less for them,\" Camlin said with a smile. \"Grain's on the way, left some of the lads to bring it in. '\n\n\"Rhin's holed up at Dun Carreg, \"he continued.\"Got eyes on the place. She went in, and definitely hasn't come out. Warriors are trickling in, though. It's early days, but looks like that giant might've been telling the truth. Over the last four days over two hundred swords have ridden through Stonegate. Looks like she's gathering some strong arms about her. '\n\n\"Mustering a warband to ride with her to Drassil,\" Edana mused." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"God-War,\" a voice croaked from above their heads, beyond the tent fabric.\n\nDamn that bird.\n\nVonn and Lorcan, returning from a meeting with Pendathran, entered the tent, the bulk of Brogan following Lorcan.\n\n\"Good news, my bride-to-be,\" Lorcan said enthusiastically.\n\nEdana winced. Camlin knew that the long-ago agreed betrothal between them was something that Edana had no intention of continuing with. It was just that no one had told Lorcan that yet.\n\nSomeone needs to tell the lad.\n\n\"Pendathran has swept through much of Ardan's east, \"Lorcan said,\"and he says the people are with you. Many have joined his warband– they were two hundred strong when we left him, all warriors. '\n\nWhen he marched away from the banks of Dun Crin's swamp Pendathran had fifty men with him.\n\n\"That is excellent news,\" Edana said. \"And Drust? Is there news from him?\"\n\n\"Messengers from Drust arrived while we were there,\" Vonn said, frowning at Lorcan and stepping shoulder to shoulder with him. \"Drust is camped in the Darkwood, has spread word of your return all through the west and is now doing the same in the north. And he has sent men into Narvon, declaring your return. He, too, has raised men. There are over a hundred with him now.\"\n\n\"We spoke to many travellers while upon the road,\" Lorcan said quickly, taking another step forwards. \"All had heard of your return, and many seemed...\" He searched for the right words. \"Cautiously pleased.\"\n\n\"It is going as we planned, then,\" Edana said, her eyes touching Camlin's." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Help the author by continuing the tale.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 59" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She's supposed t'be dead in Dun Crin's swamps!\n\n\"I forgive you, my darling,\" Roisin said to Lorcan. \"I understand. You were infatuated with Edana. But come, join me now. Make everything right again.\"\n\n\"You made me choose. And what you wanted to do– it was wrong. And what of Rhin?\" Lorcan said. \"You said she will kill us. You always said that.\"\n\n\"Things have changed,\" Roisin replied. \"Rhin has bigger enemies than us to deal with now. I have been talking with Morcant, and he is regent of Ardan, high in her favour. Rhin is unhappy with Conall's rule in Domhain, and she searches for someone who will rule Domhain in her name. That could be us. You. Morcant says if you bend the knee to her, swear fealty, Rhin will be merciful. '\n\n\"Serve her?\" Lorcan snapped. \"She killed my da.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Roisin admitted, \"a terrible deed, and a mistake. But this is war, bad things happen, and we must look to the future. Sometimes we need to forgive and move on. For all our sakes, and for the sake of our people in Domhain.\"\n\n\"And my companions?\" Lorcan said.\n\nHe's wavering. Sure enough, she might have made some bargain t'save her and Lorcan's skins, but I don't reckon Morcant's about t'let me and the others walkout of herewith our heads on our shoulders.\n\n\"Morcant's a liar, ' Camlin said to the boy.\n\n\"Enough,\" Roisin said. \"Lorcan, come tome.\" She held her handout. \"Please.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I have your oath, Mam? They'll live? '\n\n\"Of course, my darling,\" she said.\n\n\"On my life?\" Lorcan said.\n\n\"Yes, and mine, too.\"\n\n\"Don't do it, ' Camlin hissed at Lorcan.\n\n\"It's our only chance, \"he said quietly.\"She'll not harm me, she's my mam, and I've seen the effect she has on men. Once she has them they'll do anything for her. Look at the way Morcant's looking at her.\" He shrugged. \"I'll be a prisoner, but who knows, maybe you'll come and rescue me. But only if you get out of here alive.\"\n\nAnd then, before Camlin had a chance to grab him, Lorcan strode down the steps, towards Roisin.\n\n\"You and the necklace,\" Roisin said. \"I've begged and pleaded for your life, and the bargain only stands if you have the necklace. '\n\n\"It's here, \"Lorcan said, putting his hand inside his shirt of mail. He'd placed it around his neck while he fought. He sheathed his sword and lifted the necklace free, clutching it tight in his fist, and walked down the stairwell. He took Roisin's out-held hand.\n\n\"Set them free,\" Lorcan said to Morcant.\n\n\"Of course,\" the regent of Ardan said. Then he stepped forwards and punched a knife into Lorcan's throat.\n\nRoisin screamed as Lorcan began to crumple. With one last great surge of strength Lorcan heaved his arm upwards, launching the starstone necklace high into the air. Morcant stared at it, reaching out. There was the whisper of wings, a dark shape swooping down to pluck the necklace from the air, just before Morcant's fist snapped shut, and then Craf was swooping upwards, a shadow in the night." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Roisin wailed, wrapping her arms about Lorcan, falling to her knees as his body collapsed, one hand on his throat, trying to stem the pulsing blood.\n\nAnother cloak-wrapped figure strode up the stairwell. Rhin. She grabbed the wailing woman and effortlessly dragged her to her feet.\n\n\"Did you think that my Morcant was under your spell?\" Rhin snarled. \"That he was yours to use?\" She stabbed Roisin in the belly with a knife, twisted it and pulled it free. Roisin gasped, hands clutching at her wound. Her legs buckled and she fell to the steps.\n\n\"Foolish woman,\" Morcant smiled, kicking Roisin's body down the steps, limbs flopping.\n\nBrogan gave out a great bellow as he bunched his huge shoulders and charged down the stairwell like an enraged bull.\n\n\"No-Neck!\" Camlin yelled after Brogan, but the warrior was battle-mad and full of vengeance for Lorcan, deaf to words. He threw himself into the cluster of figures on the stairwell, all of them crashing to the ground, even the giants, figures unbalanced, tumbling down steps, some falling with a wail over the edge, Brogan rolling amongst them, still bellowing his fury.\n\nCamlin looked at Vonn, both of them knowing there was no getting Brogan back.\n\n\"Let's jump, ' Camlin shouted at Vonn.\n\n\"We'll die, ' Vonn said.\n\n\"Probably,\" Camlin shrugged, \"but some chance is better'n no chance in my book. ' He leaped onto the battlement, Vonn hesitating a moment, then climbing up beside him.\n\n\"I'll see you after, ' Camlin shouted, wind snatching his words as he jumped into the darkness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos hoisted his pack onto his back, pacing in front of his gathered men.\n\nMy ship-breakers.\n\nHis best men, the ones he used to storm a ship in a sea battle. Many of them were men who had been with him from the beginning, when he had united the Three Islands, and that meant wading through a sea of blood andiron to crush his rivals and take the islands for his own. Eighty killing machines, each one proven a hundred times over, with the scars to give testimony.\n\nHard men, one and all.\n\nHe glanced up at the sky; the full moon was painting the world in shades of blue-black, gossamer clouds shimmering as if they were gilt-edged.\n\nThe drum of footsteps, and Calidus was walking into the courtyard, Legion looming behind him, more Kadoshim following.\n\n\"All is ready?\" Calidus asked him.\n\n\"Aye.\"\n\n\"Many years we have laboured together, you and I, and now we are so close. I have been faithful, made you Lord of the Vin Thalun, the Three Islands united behind you. You remember, your heart's desire? '\n\n\"I do,\" Lykos whispered, his mind abruptly cast back to a windswept starry night on a hilltop, surrounded by the glistening velvet of the sea. Afire, a pot, knife and blood.\n\nAnd Asroth. He felt the scar across his palm.\n\n\"There will be more, so much more, if we win this war,\" Calidus said. \"Riches and rewards beyond your wildest dreams.\"\n\nMy dreams can be very wild, but I like the sound of that. Though when Calidus talked of dreams only one thing hovered in Lykos' mind. Fidele." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She could be my reward.\n\nBut what of Nathair? He would take a very dim view of how I would wish things to turnout.\n\nLykos licked his lips.\n\n\"We need the starstone torc. Bring it back tome, make the end of this war that much closer.\" Calidus'grip upon Lykos\" shoulder tightened, became painful, but Lykos did not shrink away.\n\n\"I will,\" Lykos said, \"or die in the trying.\"\n\n\"Good,\" Calidus smiled, teeth glinting in the moonlight. He released Lykos' shoulder.\n\n\"Onwards, then.\"\n\nAnd with that they were moving out, his men shouldering their five boats, the great gates opening. Calidus stopped at the gateway and Lykos passed beneath the deep stone archway, leading the way out onto the dark plain, Legion beside him, the other ten Kadoshim split between vanguard and rearguard.\n\nNinety-two of us, all told. Hardly the hugest warband the world has seen, but this is all I will need. Speed and stealth is the key, and good men at my back if it comes to a scrap.\n\nThey crossed the plain quickly enough, soon reaching the treeline, where they took advantage of Jael's road fora short while. They left it when the road curled north-west, and carved their way north into the forest. It was not long before Lykos heard the sound of running water.\n\nThe river was wide, sparkling with foam, the current strong.\n\nIt'll be hard going, rowing a hundred leagues up this beast, but it's better than walking through Forn.\n\nLykos oversaw the boats being set into the river, mooring them to trees, steering rudders set into their fixings, oars threaded through oarlocks, masts and sails tied tight, not enough wind to make them useful." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Lads, when you're done, have a breather, \"Lykos said.\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'll be back soon. Hesp, Damas, with me.\" He turned and paced along the riverbank, heading west, the two Vin Thalun setting off after their lord.\n\n\"Where are you going?\" a voice said behind him; Legion was joining them. The familiar buzzing of flies surrounded his voice.\n\n\"Going to see an old friend,\" Lykos said.\n\n\"The mission,\" Legion growled.\n\n\"Will be fine,\" Lykos grunted, \"I'll not go far. '\n\nLegion fell in beside him, the four of them passing through dense undergrowth, climbing over fallen trees, skirting around thickets with as little noise as possible, always keeping the river within hearing distance. They came across Jael's road, clambering up the embankment and down the other side, and then travelled on awhile longer.\n\nDid that half-breed bitch lie tome? Lykos thought, the sense that he should stop and turn back growing and building inside him.\n\nYou're being a fool, risking everything, and for what? Calidus would have my skin peeled if he knew. He glanced at Legion.\n\nJust a few more paces, then I'll turn back.\n\nYet still he walked on, his obsession drawing him like a lodestone.\n\nEventually Legion put a handout and grabbed Lykos'wrist. It wasn't a pleasant sensation, the Kadoshim's flesh cold and clammy, flies crawling over Lykos\" arm.\n\n\"We must be away before dawn,\" the Kadoshim said. \"No further.\"\n\nLykos felt a rush of anger. He didn't take too well to Calidus telling him what to do, and he was damned if another Kadoshim was going to suffer with delusions of grandeur and start pushing him around." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Legion's head snapped around, cocked to one side, listening, sniffing.\n\n\"What?\" Lykos whispered, hand on the hilt of his short sword.\n\n\"Something ahead,\" Legion said. He sniffed again, along indrawn breath. \"Something dead.\"\n\n\"Show me,\" Lykos said, excitement dancing in his belly.\n\nLegion padded ahead of him, Lykos following, the Kadoshim stopping before a dense shadow, big as a boulder. The whiff of rot hit Lykos' nose. He reached out, touched the boulder-like shadow before Legion, felt fur, a ridge of bone. Looking down, he saw a huge head, flesh from the muzzle gnawed away, revealing a set of long sharp teeth.\n\n\"What is it?\" Legion muttered.\n\n\"A giant bear,\" Lykos said. He was grinning and started to walk on.\n\n\"Just a little further,\" he whispered into the darkness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How will you get in?\" Fidele asked Veradis.\n\n\"I haven't quite figured that out, yet, \"Veradis said, frowning.\"We'll need a diversion so we won't be scrutinized too closely. '\n\nFidele was standing with the leaders of the resistance, all of them looking at Veradis and his hundred or so men, the warriors clothed in the black and silver of Tenebral. Veradis' cuirass was polished to a high shine, the white eagle bright upon his chest. The men behind them had blacked out the sigil on their breastplates, the tower of Ripa.\n\nFidele held a torch high and peered closer at the first row.\n\n\"It won't bear up to any kind of close inspection, ' she said, not for the first time.\n\n\"That's why I need to do it at night, and why some kind of diversion needs to be happening, ' Veradis shrugged.\n\n\"We could fake an attack on Drassil's walls, make some noise... ' Balur said.\n\n\"Are you sure this is wise?\" Fidele asked Veradis.\n\nVeradis tugged at his short beard. \"No,\" he said eventually, \"but there are prisoners being tortured to death in there, everyday. Our people.\"\n\nHe is a good man. In many ways the man I wish my son had grown into. Fidele felt a twist of pain at that thought, a pinch upon her heart.\n\n\"If we can get through the gates I can take you to the hospice where they are all kept,\" Ilta the Jehar said. She was standing in the ranks of Veradis' men, wearing one of their cuirasses, her long black hair bound up and pinned within an iron helm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Won't you be recognized? \"Krelis asked Veradis.\"Aside from the Draig's Teeth, which you hope have gone with Nathair, there are likely to be others who recognize you. Like Calidus. There are close to another two thousand eagle-guard wandering around inside those walls.\"\n\n\"I know,\" Veradis muttered. \"I thought to boil up some tree bark and dye my hair.\" He shrugged and smiled sheepishly. \"And it will be dark,\" he added.\n\n\"I could do it,\" Krelis said.\n\nHe fears for his brother, but would never say it, so he seeks to find another way.\n\n\"Don't be a fool, you're as tall as a giant,\" Brina said snorting her contempt. \"The idea is to be inconspicuous.\"\n\n\"We should wait, think on it some more,\" Alben said.\n\n\"Why?\" Veradis said. \"Every day more will die. This plan is as good as it's going to get. I would go tonight. ' His eyes flicked between Fidele and Brina, who out of this disparate council of captains seemed to have gravitated to the position of leaders.\n\nFidele looked at Veradis; the man was earnest, brave.\n\nI admire him for wanting to do this, but it could end in disaster.\n\n\"It would be a bold strike,\" Javed said, smiling. \"One that we'd singsongs about. I'd like to come.\"\n\n\"And trust you to keep your knives sheathed amongst all those Vin Thalun?\" Wulf said.\n\n\"No,\" Veradis said. \"Only me and my men. Discipline and a knowledge of the shield wall's formations are essential. Your strengths are best used elsewhere, ' he added to Javed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So?\" Veradis asked, looking again to Brina and Fidele.\n\nBrina gave a short nod.\n\n\"Go with our blessing,\" Fidele said, \"and comeback to us alive.\"\n\n\"I'll do my best, ' Veradis grinned.\n\nThere he is, Fidele thought, standing and watching the day's scouts returning. Maquin was amongst those coming back. She enjoyed the sense of relief that flowed through her body, the same as she always felt upon his safe return.\n\nThis is Forn; it is not just Kadoshim, Vin Thalun and eagle-guard that are our enemy out there.\n\nShe smiled, relishing the sight of him, all lean muscle and gracefulness, an economy in every step, nothing wasted or overdone. He saw her and returned her smile, his stern face of sharp lines, scars and shadows transformed fora few moments.\n\n\"What's going on? Looks like someone's kicked an ants\" nest, ' he asked as he reached her, sweeping her into a bone-crushing embrace, their lips meeting. She loved that he did that, no regard for status or standing, just the two of them, as if the world around them did not exist.\n\n\"Veradis is leading a rescue attempt on the prisoners inside Drassil,\" she said.\n\n\"What? I knew he'd been thinking about something, but tonight? I'd best go see where he wants to use me,\" Maquin said, taking a step away.\n\n\"I'll tell you the plan, \"she said, gripping his hand and pulling him away.\"After. '\n\n\"After what?\"\n\nShe smiled and led him away.\n\n\"What's the occasion? ' Maquin asked as Fidele gestured to the ground. A small patch of grass and wildflowers alongside a narrow stream, furs of bear and deer laid out upon it, with two cups and a skin of something, as well as fresh-cooked meat and vegetables." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I wanted to talk with you,\" Fidele said. \"It is rare, living as we are, to have any privacy.\"\n\n\"It is,\" Maquin agreed.\n\n\"So,\" she said, gesturing at the furs.\n\nMaquin reclined on them and Fidele poured him a cup of mead, some of the last from the supplies they'd taken from Gundul's camp. She watched him drink, Maquin's eyes never leaving Fidele's.\n\nThey ate in silence, slowly, enjoying each other's company, the fact that they didn't have to speak.\n\nFidele poured Maquin some more mead.\n\nWhen they had finished eating, Fidele sat straighter. \"I want to talk to you about... after,\" she said.\n\nMaquin blinked at her.\n\nNot what he was expecting, then. Even the champion of the pits can betaken by surprise sometimes.\n\n\"You're a queen; me– \"he paused, brows furrowing–\"I'm not sure what I am anymore. Was a shieldman, then one of the Gadrai, next a slave, then a pit-fighter. Now, I don't know what you'd call me. Except happy.\" He smiled at her, ashy, tentative shifting of his lips, almost out of place on the face of this death-dealer before her. \"But, whatever you feel you need to say, I understand. You've the responsibility of a realm upon your shoulders, I-'\n\n\"Quiet,\" Fidele ordered.\n\nMaquin looked as if he was going to argue fora moment, but then he shrugged, lay back on one elbow and waited for her to speak.\n\n\"I am a woman who sees things as they are, and I think this war will most likely be the end of us,\" she said. \"Not just you and me, but all of us. We are outnumbered, and our enemy are terrible. Kadoshim, a nation of Vin Thalun.\" She shook her head. \"My own son and his warband, most of the strength of Tenebral. But we fight on, because it is what we should do. But the chances of us surviving this...\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Are slim,\" Maquin finished for her.\n\n\"Aye. But if we manage those rarest of things, both to win and to survive, then I would have you know that tome at least, this, us, is for always. Not just now, or while this war lasts, but for as long as I draw breath.\" She had held his gaze throughout every word. \"You are precious tome,\" she finished, her courage fading at the last, her eyes dropping away.\n\nA silence settled on them. The chattering of the stream, the sounds of Veradis' warband making ready for their expedition, all faded around her.\n\nMaquin moved, suddenly close to her, a handspan between them, and her heart was racing. He leaned closer and kissed her lips, a soft caress.\n\n\"I came back from death for you,\" he said, his voice a whispered tremor. \"For me it was always forever, however long that maybe. And those words you just spoke, they are the greatest gift I've ever been given. They are written upon my heart and soul. '\n\n\"Then let me give you another gift,\" she said, smiling, her heart soaring, grabbing his leather jerkin and pulling him onto her.\n\nMaquin's gentle snoring tickled Fidele's ear. She'd been lying beside him, running a finger along the contour of his jaw, down his neck and across his chest, most of it criss-crossed by an abundance of scars. The two of them lay wrapped in fur, bodies entwined. Slowly, carefully, Fidele extricated herself, stood and dressed. When she was ready, she bent and kissed his cheek.\n\n\"Forgive me,\" she whispered, then stood and slipped to where Agost and her shieldmen were a few dozen paces away, waiting for her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All is ready,\" Agost said, handing Fidele her spear.\n\n\"Who is staying with Maquin?\" Fidele asked.\n\n\"Spyr,\" Agost said, and a warrior stepped forwards, a younger man, dark-haired.\n\n\"Give him this when he wakes,\" Fidele said, handing Spyr a rolled parchment scroll. \"It will likely not be before highsun.\"\n\nBrina's sleeping potion is powerful.\n\nFidele had asked Brina for it a few days ago, saying she had trouble sleeping and it had been simple enough to slip it into the skin of mead that Maquin had drunk from.\n\nMaquin would have tried to stop me, fearing for my safety. But I know what I am doing is right. It must be done.\n\n\"Come, then,\" Fidele said, and strode through the camp, her half-dozen shieldmen wrapping around her, Agost at their head. Veradis and his men were moving out, marching into the forest, torchlight and darkness revealing giants moving like shadowy trees. Fidele and her men attached themselves to the rearguard, marching with them out of the camp and into the forest. She stayed with them fora while, then Agost signalled to her and they dropped back a little, stopped beside the trunk of a huge tree and waited for Veradis' men to disappear into the darkness.\n\n\"This way, my lady,\" Agost said, and they turned away from the warband's path, heading east fora while.\n\nThe plan was to find Jael's road and take it south-east to the plain of Drassil. From there they would skirt the forest's edge and follow the path that Nathair's draig and warband had trampled through Forn." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I will find my son and speak to him. I will bring him back to us, if I can. And if not...\n\nHer hand rested fleetingly upon the knife hilt at her belt.\n\nShe felt a pang of regret at not telling Maquin, at not confiding in him. And worse, drugging him so that he would not stop her.\n\nA fly buzzed around her head. She swiped at it, only for more to appear, loud in the darkness. In front of her Agost slowed and stopped, staring into the darkness.\n\n\"Ware!\" Agost yelled, sword hissing from his scabbard.\n\nOne of Fidele's guards fell into her, blood spurting from his throat as he toppled to the ground.\n\nFidele gripped her spear two-handed, spread her feet, spear-tip pointing at the darkness. Iron clashed behind her and she spun around, saw her guards fighting furiously against a black-clad figure, curved sword in his hand.\n\nFear clutched a fist around her heart.\n\nKadoshim. What are they doing out here? My men! What have I done?\n\nShe heard Agost's grunts, and she turned back to him, saw him trading blows with a bearded man in leather vest and breeches, a short sword in his hand, flesh pale in the moonlight.\n\nA man. Better.\n\nShe gritted her teeth and stabbed her spear into his thigh. His face stared at her, shocked, as Agost finished him, hacking him down. She saw the glint of iron rings in his braided beard.\n\nVin Thalun.\n\nFidele turned, saw another of her men falling, an arc of black droplets." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A hand grabbed her wrist and she swung her spear like a staff, stopped when she saw it was Agost.\n\n\"This way,\" he snarled. There was blood on his face.\n\nFidele looked at her men locked in combat.\n\n\"Leave them; they fight for you to survive. They will come if they can,\" Agost grunted, dragging her a dozen paces, until a black shadow of a figure rose up in front of them, curved sword held high. Her vision was blurred; flies everywhere were drowning out other sound. She stabbed out half-blind, felt her blade bite into flesh.\n\nThe Kadoshim hacked at her spear shaft, splintering it.\n\nAgost was there, his sword stabbing into the Kadoshim's throat, but it grabbed the blade and ripped it from Agost's grip, hurling it away into the undergrowth. Fidele drew her knife and threw herself at the Kadoshim, hacking at its neck, determined to saw its head from its body. The Kadoshim ignored her, chopped down at Agost as he tried to rise, the curved sword denting Agost's helm, sending him crashing back to the ground.\n\nA fist snared in Fidele's hair, yanking her off the Kadoshim as she saw the creature grabbing Agost and lifting him up.\n\nThere was a wet ripping sound, Agost screaming sharp and loud, gurgling, the shieldman's arms flailing at the Kadoshim tearing at him. Then Agost was limp, silent, only the sounds of an animal feasting.\n\nFidele fought the urge to vomit, tried to spin in her attacker's grip; her knife still in her fist, she stabbed it at her assailant's waist, but a fist slammed into her jaw and she saw an explosion of stars, strength draining from her like water from a holed bucket and she slumped, only the fist still entwined in her hair keeping her upright." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hello Fidele,\" Lykos said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen lay in her cot, staring at the Vin Thalun guard by the door. It was dark, probably the other side of midnight by now, and still the guard sitting in the hospice was awake.\n\nYou're usually snoring by now.\n\nShe heard a creak behind her, someone shifting in their bed.\n\nHild. Maybe she senses something. Cywen had been desperate to tell her of the plans. She wanted to tell everyone, to run through the hospice and warn them that tonight was the night. Over two hundred prisoners were in the hospice, none really unwell or needing treatment, now. Two were without limbs– one on a crutch, the other missing an arm to the elbow– but all were in their right minds, capable of making a decision, capable of leaving.\n\nI have thought of this moment for so long, and now that it is here I am terrified. Only two options.\n\nEscape or death. She gulped, because she knew failure and capture did not just mean death, it meant impalement.\n\nDo not think on it. She knew that would lead to fear and indecision, and then it would be sunrise, and the time would begone.\n\nShe pulled her blanket high, up to her neck, and beneath it she very carefully and slowly took Corban's wolven claws out from her cloak and buckled them onto her wrist.\n\nShe waited, watching through half-closed lids. The Vin Thalun guard shifted, eyes drooping, then a hoot of laughter from beyond the doors jolted him fully awake.\n\nNow or never, Cywen thought and slipped from her cot.\n\nThe guard scowled at her and she pointed at the bucket in the room's corner, what passed fora latrine for them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He gave her a surly nod and she walked across the room, out of his line of sight. She kicked the latrine bucket over, gripped her stomach, groaning, doubled over.\n\n\"What is it?\" the Vin Thalun asked irritably as he strode over to Cywen, putting a hand on her back. She punched the wolven claws up, into his throat, pushing him stumbling backwards into the wall. He tried to scream, only a gurgling hiss escaping from his lips, then he was sliding down the wall, a bloody smear upon it, eyes rolling up into his head.\n\nCywen stood there, frozen, listening to her heart thumping in her skull, eyes fixed on the doors, expecting them to burst open and Vin Thalun to pour in.\n\n\"What are you doing?\" a voice hissed: Hild, rising from her bed. Others were sitting up, blinking, men and women from Gramm's hold, warriors who had been part of Jael's warband.\n\n\"Put these clothes on, quickly,\" Cywen hissed as she stripped the dead Vin Thalun of his leather vest and belt. She took the knife for herself, scowled as she felt its weight– all wrong for throwing– passing the rest to Yalric, a warrior from Gramm's hold. His beard grown long while he'd been unwell, he was the closest amongst them to a Vin Thalun. The grin on his face as he buckled a sword-belt around his waist said he was ready for this.\n\n\"Help me,\" Cywen grunted, dragging the dead Vin Thalun into the shadows. Hild hefted his ankles and they carried him into a corner, dropping him into darkness. Others were gathering around them, faces shocked, confused, blinking sleep away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What's going on?" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "' one asked.\n\n\"We are getting out of here, now,\" Cywen whispered.\n\n\"No– the stakes,\" someone said, too loudly for Cywen's liking.\n\n\"There's just as much chance of that tomorrow and every other day while we stay here just waiting to be picked off, \"hissed Cywen.\"I'm going, and I'll take as many as want to come with me. ' She looked at Hild.\n\nThe stern woman returned her gaze, then gave a stiff nod.\n\n\"How?\" Hild said.\n\n\"Out of the back window, across the herb gardens. There is a tunnel-\"\n\n\"How do you know this?\" Yalric asked her.\n\n\"I've seen it. No time to explain. We must go now. '\n\nThere was a moment's silence, then they were all moving, quietly waking any who were still asleep, whispering instructions, moving on. Cywen went to Brina's cupboard, selecting vials and pouches that she knew would come in useful. Soon they were all gathered at the foot of the wide stairwell that led to the balcony.\n\nA shout of victory and a burst of laughter drifted through the doors, someone obviously winning on the throw-board in the courtyard beyond.\n\n\"We could just rush the guards,\" Hild told her. \"We outnumber them.\"\n\n\"No,\" Cywen said, \"the noise. Others would come. We must get out, fast, silent, and begone from here before any of them know about it.\"\n\nCywen looked to Yalric, who was sitting in the guard's chair, dragged back a little from the fire so that he was more in shadow than light, a cloak pulled up around him. It would fool a cursory glance, nothing more. He held her gaze, nodded to her. He knew what would happen if any Vin Thalun walked through the door." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I'll get them all out.\n\nWith that she turned and sped up the stairs, twisted into her room, where bright moonlight was shining through the unshuttered window, ran to her cupboard, lifted the loose board and grabbed Brina's book, secreting it into a pocket in her cloak. By then others had followed her and Cywen started helping them climb through the window. Each one scurried into the herb garden and hid amongst the leaves, waiting in the shadows.\n\nTen out.\n\nHild went next, Cywen's heart thudding like a drum, and for an instant she smiled, thinking of Hild's reunion with Swain and Sif.\n\nA noise rippled through the fortress like distant thunder, constant, repetitive, like hammer-blows upon a wall. Then horn blasts were echoing from the stone and bark, men's voices shouting, yelling. The slap of feet on stone.\n\nWhat in the Otherworld's going on?\n\nEveryone froze, inside the room, on the balcony, out in the herb garden, the same thought filling all their minds.\n\nThey know.\n\nBut then Cywen realized it all seemed along way off. Yes, men were rallying from the streets around them, but they were heading away from the hospice, not towards it.\n\n\"Keep going,\" she said, pulling on the next person.\n\nThen the doors to the hospice were opening, an order barked. Shouting, the rasp of iron hissing from scabbards.\n\nCywen sprinted back to the balcony, saw Vin Thalun crowding through the doorway, Yalric on his feet, sword swinging, blood spraying. The first Vin Thalun fell back with his throat open, a dark jet. Yalric strode after the falling body, stabbing at the men crowding behind him, but in heartbeats too many men were surging through the door; Yalric was forced to step back. Another Vin Thalun fell, howling as he clutched his belly, then Yalric was spinning, stumbling back, swords chopping and stabbing at him. He tripped and disappeared as the guards closed about him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Other Vin Thalun swarmed through the door, eyes searching the shadowed room, many of them running to the stairwell. Someone was frantically blowing a horn.\n\nWe have no weapons. It will be a slaughter.\n\n\"Move,\" Cywen yelled, running back into the escape room. The window was crowded, too many trying to cram themselves through at the same time.\n\nNo, it cannot end here.\n\nSome panicked, bolting from the room back onto the inner balcony of the hospice, Vin Thalun yelling and giving chase. Cywen took a step back, flexed the wolven claws on her fist, her other hand disappearing into her cloak, searching, grasping.\n\n\"Escape or death,\" she muttered to herself, repeating it like a mantra.\n\nVin Thalun loomed in the doorway and she slashed at the first, sending him reeling with three red stripes across his face.\n\nOthers pushed past him, grabbing for her. She severed fingers with one swipe of the claws, raked across a thigh, stabbed into a throat, each time retreating a few steps, then she turned and ran, diving straight at the open window, even though there were still a handful of figures climbing through it. She slammed into them, sent them all hurtling through the opening, falling.\n\nCywen crashed into leaf and stem, moist earth exploding into her face, up her nose. She clambered to her feet, grunting with pain, saw Vin Thalun staring out of the window after her, some already clambering through.\n\nThe herb garden was chaos, her fellow prisoners, well over a hundred of them, milling and unsure what to do. Vin Thalun were appearing around the side of the building, coming from the main courtyard, the drum of many more feet behind them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen saw Hild and grabbed her hand.\n\n\"This way!\" she yelled, everyone following her across the herb garden. \"Stay with me.\"\n\nVin Thalun warriors blocked her path and Cywen skidded to a halt.\n\n\"Come quietly,\" one of them said, \"and we won't kill you. '\n\nCywen reached inside her cloak, found what she'd been searching for, an oddly shaped vial. She hurled it at the man who had spoken and it smashed against his chest, liquid soaking into his jerkin, spraying those about him.\n\n\"What are you trying to do, soak me to death?\" He grinned, his companions laughing.\n\nCywen threw another vial, this one dark, smashing and splattering.\n\n\"That's enough, now, \"the Vin Thalun said, stepping forwards.\"I won't kill you. Might hurt you a little, though,\" he added with a leer.\n\n\"Fuil agus tine, salann agus lasair,\" Cywen hissed. A spark rippled across the Vin Thalun's chest, blue flame igniting, engulfing him in heartbeats. He spun, arms windmilling, crashing into those behind him, and the flame eagerly leaped between them, the stench of charring flesh suddenly thick in the air.\n\nOn Cywen ran, Hild behind her, the slap of other feet, then another Vin Thalun was leaping at her from the shadows, barrelling her to the ground.\n\nCywen bucked and slashed at him, but he punched her in the face with the buckler strapped to his forearm.\n\n\"Saw what you did, you witch,\" he snarled, hatred and fear in his voice as he dragged Cywen to her feet. \"You set my lads on fire.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "He heaved her back towards the courtyard at the front of the hospice, where the Vin Thalun guards had been playing knuckle-bones around afire, but were now rounding up the escaped prisoners." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A glimpse over Cywen's shoulder showed Hild and a handful of others hovering in the shadows, watching her. Cywen tried to signal for them to go.\n\nGo where? They don't know where I was taking them.\n\nCywen's captor threw her to the ground before the main doors to the hospice and, snatching up a spear, rammed it into the ground between two flagstones.\n\nThey're going to impale me, here and now.\n\nShe found some strength, then, throwing herself between her captors, hissing and spitting, kicking, biting, but they held her tightly, clubbed her across the head, sending her dropping to her knees, vision swirling.\n\nShe was hauled back to her feet and they bound her to the spear, smashing up stools and scattering the shattered wood around her.\n\n\"Set fire to us, will you? Well, you'll see what kind of a death that is, ' her captor muttered as he stuck a wooden brand into the fire." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Open the gates!\" Veradis yelled as he ran towards the gates of Drassil, his hundred men in loose formation behind him, their shields up in a ragged wall. The sounds of a great tumult swept down from the northern edge of the fortress. Ashe glanced that way, Veradis saw a flaming branch spin high up over the battlements and fall inside the wall. Screams erupted.\n\nWhen Alcyon said they'd make a distraction, I did not expect this.\n\nHe looked at the gates as he approached them. They loomed before him, still closed. Shadows framed by torchlight peered over the battlements above them.\n\nBehind him battle-cries echoed from the forest and figures burst from the treeline: Balur and a dozen Benothi, all charging at him, brandishing hammer and axe, bellowing blood-curdling threats.\n\nRemember– they must seem to be our enemies and we're scared of them.\n\nInstinctively he picked up his pace, yelling again for the gates to open, praying that they would.\n\nCloser, two hundred paces, still the gates remained closed.\n\nOpen, damn you, open! Veradis yelled in his head.\n\nWith a creak, a sliver of light appeared down the centre of the gates and they opened, just in time for Veradis and his disguised men to pour through them, maintaining their formation, the gates slamming shut behind them. A dozen heartbeats later and there was a series of concussive thuds as Balur and his kin reached the gates.\n\nThe courtyard was lit by fires and braziers, heaving with warriors, eagle-guard, Vin Thalun, and Veradis thought he glimpsed a few Kadoshim prowling amongst them. Horses whinnied and screamed from stables lined around the courtyard. Smoke billowed through the courtyard, a sign of the chaos caused by Alcyon at the north wall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They think it's a full-on assault." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Have we kicked the hornets\" nest too hard? Will we ever get out of this pandemonium?\n\nAmidst the smoke he saw something else, amass of figures, standing information, he thought, then the smoke cleared a little and he realized what he was seeing. Men and women staked upon spears, looks of absolute terror and agony fixed in rigid lines upon their faces. The stench of decomposition wafted over Veradis, blending with the smoke.\n\nHe fought his first urge, which was to vomit, and his second, which was to draw his sword and start stabbing his enemy, those all around him who had committed or at the very least allowed this atrocity.\n\nFaces appeared in front of him and he sucked in a deep breath, with difficulty subduing the urge for indiscriminate slaughter that was bubbling up within him. He had his helm tied tight, hair blackened with bark juice and grime smeared across his face, but still his heart was pounding in his throat as he saw dozens of faces that he recognized, men from the eagle-guard, though thankfully none of them was from his Draig's Teeth.\n\n\"I bring word for Calidus from King Nathair,\" Veradis gasped to the first man who approached him. \"Where is he?\"\n\n\"The north wall, I think,\" the warrior said, a young man, all nervous energy, glancing beyond Veradis to the way the gates were shaking as Balur hurled things against them.\n\nVeradis glanced at Ilta the Jehar, dressed in the silver and black of Tenebral, long black hair bound and hidden beneath an iron helm. She stepped out of formation and strode ahead of him, Veradis and his hundred following.\n\n\"This has to be quick,\" Veradis said to Ilta as he caught up with her, \"else we're never getting out of here. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She nodded, leading them through empty stone streets, towers and walls rearing high about them, the shifting movement of branches far above sending shadow and light dancing in ever-changing patterns.\n\nI marvelled at Jerolin, the first time I saw it. Built by giants, but this...\n\nThe sound of shouting, raised voices, reached Veradis.\n\n\"Almost there,\" Ilta said, falling back to him. \"There's a courtyard at the end of this street, the building at its far end is the hospice. '\n\n\"Marching formation,\" he called. His men straightened their lines, Ilta merging with them, all of them slowing, looking more like eagle-guard. The darkness helped.\n\nThey swept into the courtyard, the building looming tall at its far end, before it a host of people. Veradis saw mostly Vin Thalun, fifty, sixty of them– it was hard to tell in the flickering light. They surrounded a huddle of people crushed close together, all on their knees. And before them, tied to a post, afire licking at her feet, catching in her cloak, a young woman he recognized, screaming, her head lashing wildly.\n\nCywen.\n\n\"Stop this!\" he yelled, striding forwards, drawing his short sword and banging it against his shield, his men behind him following suit. Heads turned, Vin Thalun and captives alike.\n\n\"Stop,\" he shouted, pushing through the first row of Vin Thalun. He made it so far, then a warrior stood before him, feet spread, barring his way.\n\n\"Cut her free,\" Veradis ordered, trying to push around the man.\n\n\"The witch burns,\" the Vin Thalun snarled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I said, cut her free. Calidus wants all the prisoners, now,\" Veradis barked, trying to get around the Vin Thalun, but the man moved to block him again.\n\n\"You can take the others, but she stays till she's cooked, ' the Vin Thalun growled.\n\nThe plan had been to tell any guards present that Calidus had sent for the prisoners, and Veradis was going to initiate a violence-freehand-over, escorting the prisoners out of the courtyard and onto freedom. No fuss, no fighting, no noise. The thought occurred to him that if he backed down now, he could take every other prisoner out of here without a drop of spilt blood. All he had to do was sacrifice Cywen.\n\nHe punched the Vin Thalun in the face with the boss of his shield, saw him stumble backwards, nose smashed, spitting teeth. Veradis followed him and hit him again, sent him crashing to the ground.\n\nAnother Vin Thalun came at him but Ilta charged forwards, her sword rising and falling, slipping past the Vin Thalun's fumbled block to slice into his skull. He collapsed and she ripped her blade free, stood there glaring at her enemy, challenging them.\n\n\"TRUTH AND COURAGE!\" she bellowed.\n\nA frozen moment of shock, and then the Vin Thalun were leaping at them, howling. Veradis'shield and sword sung, trailing bloody arcs as he carved away through to Cywen, where he saw prisoners struggling to free her. Behind him he was aware that the prisoners were joining the fray, leaping at their Vin Thalun guards. The flames flared, sent him reeling, and another Vin Thalun was swinging a sword at him. Veradis kicked the man in the chest, sent him hurtling into the flames. They flared brighter as the warrior screamed, Veradis leaping at the stake in the fire's heart. Lifting his shield high, he crashed into it, his momentum carrying him on, out the other side of the flames, rolling. He came to a halt on the flagstones, looked down." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "At a burned and blackened spear shaft.\n\nWhere is she? Has she collapsed in the flames? Did I miss her?\n\nHe jumped to his feet, scanned the fire, could see no shape within it but prepared himself to leap back in.\n\n\"Well met, Veradis,\" he heard a familiar voice say behind him.\n\nCywen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The sounds of battle and alarm echoed across the fortress as Haelan ran through the streets, Buddai and Pots either side of him.\n\nWhat's happening? Did Cywen's plan go wrong?\n\nHe'd left Swain and Sif guarding Trigg, the half-giant bound wrist and ankle as they didn't know what else to do with her. Cywen had gone earlier, saying she would be back with the rest of the prisoners, and that they should make ready to leave. That had felt like a very longtime ago, and when the sounds of uproar echoed down to them and there was no sign of Cywen, Haelan decided he'd had enough of waiting.\n\nHe skirted the street that led to the herb garden and hospice, then slowed, smelling smoke and fire, hearing the sounds of battle, but the dogs ran on and so after a moment's hesitation he followed and burst into a scene of madness.\n\nThe first thing he saw was dead bodies littering the ground, burned and blackened, some still smoking, then afire blazing in the courtyard, all about it people locked in battle. One of them was Cywen, rolling on the ground with a Vin Thalun warrior. Buddai leaped towards them but the Vin Thalun was dead before he reached them.\n\nCywen staggered to her feet, looked down at the dead man as Haelan ran to her.\n\n\"You're late, \"he said.\"I was worried. '\n\nHild saw him and gasped.\n\n\"Swain and Sif will be glad to see you,\" he said to her.\n\n\"What?\" she hissed.\n\n\"I didn't want to tell you, fora host of reasons. Stab me later if you think I was wrong, \"Cywen said to Hild as the older woman's expression transformed between shock, joy and hope." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What's going on? \"Haelan blurted, staring around. He saw prisoners fighting Vin Thalun, which he could understand, but there were also eagle-guard in the black and silver of Tenebral amongst the combatants, and they were also fighting Vin Thalun. Only a handful of paces away, one eagle-guard was in hand-to-hand combat with two Vin Thalun, though being outnumbered didn't seem to bean issue for him. Even as Haelan watched, one Vin Thalun collapsed with blood spurting from his groin, the other falling as a shield rim smashed him in the mouth, teeth spraying. A quick downwards stab and then the eagle-guard was looking around, eyes fixing upon Cywen. He strode over.\n\n\"We have to go,\" the eagle-guard said. \"Balur's diversion will be over soon, and we need to get to the gates before then. '\n\nHe's on our side, then. What's going on?\n\n\"How are you planning on getting us out of here, Veradis?\" Cywen asked.\n\nVeradis slipped a pack off of his bag, shook out a black cuirass and cloak, an iron helm, a scabbarded short sword and belt.\n\n\"Brought you all a change of clothes,\" he said with a brief smile. \"We'll be walking out the front door. '\n\n\"Swain and Sif,\" Hild said to them all, \"where are they?\"\n\n\"Back at the den,\" Cywen said. \"We were attempting an escape tonight, but not through the front gates,\" she told Veradis.\n\n\"We have to get them,\" Hild said. \"I'm going nowhere without my bairns. Tell me where this den is, I'll go get them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Too difficult. I'll show you, \"Cywen said.\"Veradis, we'll meet you at the gates.\"\n\nHe didn't look very happy with that, but was distracted as more Vin Thalun men poured into the courtyard. They yelled and charged.\n\n\"Shield wall!\" Veradis shouted, and beyond the fire Haelan saw warriors crunching shields together before the onrushing Vin Thalun.\n\n\"Come on,\" Cywen said, ruffling Buddai's head.\"Let's get out of here.\"\n\nAnd with that they were running east, Veradis gesturing for three of his men to follow Cywen and the others. Haelan heard the fresh sounds of battle erupting behind him.\n\nThen Haelan was pounding through the streets, for the first time giving no heed to hiding or hugging the shadows. Somehow they avoided being seen, warriors passing by on other streets as great swirling masses of shadows and flame, torches trailing incandescence. He turned into another street, sprinted hard, Pots yapping at his feet as if it was the greatest game in the world, and then they were spilling into the abandoned courtyard, the old oak at its centre.\n\nCywen accelerated past him and skidded into the hole.\n\n\"Wait here,\" she called over her shoulder, and Haelan came to a halt by one of the huge roots. Hild and the three warriors joined him, Hild gasping for breath, hands on her knees.\n\n\"Where... are... they...?\" she gasped.\n\n\"In there,\" Haelan pointed. Hild peered into the hole, then took a step towards it.\n\nA face appeared, small and pale, dirt-stained. Sif." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She climbed out almost fearfully. Haelan realized that this was the first time she'd been out of the den in over three moons. A large pack on her back made her look twice her real size. She saw Hild and then with a strangled sob the two of them were in each other's arms, hugging and squeezing, Hild lifting Sif into the air, kissing her cheeks.\n\n\"Mam?\" a voice said behind them; Swain was appearing from the hole, a few of Storm and Buddai's cubs about his legs, they were tall now, Haelan saw, standing almost as high as Swain's thighs.\n\nSwain was enveloped by Hild and Sif, the three of them crying, laughing, hugging.\n\nHe felt tears blur his vision and blinked them away.\n\nMore cubs emerged from the hole, then another face, broad, flat and angular, hoisted up and rolling out awkwardly, hands still tied at the wrist.\n\nTrigg.\n\nShe climbed to her knees and stood, eyes taking in Haelan, Hild, the eagle-guard. Cywen emerged behind her, the last of the cubs too. Shadow appeared, padding up to Haelan.\n\n\"We need to go,\" Cywen said.\n\n\"What about her?\" Swain said, looking at Trigg.\n\n\"Take me with you,\" Trigg said.\n\n\"How can we trust you?\" Cywen asked.\n\nTrigg just looked at her, eyes pleading.\n\n\"She could have betrayed us, but hasn't, \"Haelan said.\"We can't just ignore what she's done, but I don't think she means us harm. Let Corban be her judge. He's our lord. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A shout went up from the edge of the courtyard, a score of eagle-guard appearing from a darkened street.\n\n\"Ho there,\" a voice called. \"What goes here?\"\n\nHaelan looked to Cywen, waiting on her word.\n\nRun? Talk our way out? Can't fight, there's too many.\n\nCywen whispered frantically to one of the warriors who had accompanied them. After a few moments he turned and faced the new arrivals, raising an arm.\n\n\"Found some escaped prisoners,\" he said, walking towards the approaching eagle-guard.\n\nThe newcomer peered at Haelan and his companions, pausing on Trigg, moving on, then noticing some of the cubs.\n\nHis eyes narrowed.\n\nBuddai growled.\n\nHe looked back to the warrior in front of him, stared at his plain black cuirass.\n\n\"Where's your eagle? ' he asked, hand moving to rest upon his sword hilt.\n\nThe friendly eagle-guard stabbed him in the throat, ripped his sword free and launched himself at the warriors behind, his companions' blades hissing into their hands as they took a protective stance before Cywen and the others.\n\nThree against twenty. Don't like those odds.\n\nThere's no getting out of this, too many of them. Even if we run and get past them, they'll chase us, either catch us or follow us to the gates? What do we do?\n\n\"The tunnel,\" Cywen shouted, \"it's our only chance. Go. '\n\nThe tunnel! That had been the escape route they'd planned on taking, even though they'd all been uneasy and fearful about it.\n\nWhat's down there? Does it even lead out of this fortress?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Indecision dissolved as Haelan saw warriors charging at him. He turned and ran, pulling Shadow with him, straight back to the hole. He heard the clash of iron, knew Cywen and the others were locked in combat now, heard a terrible plurality of snarls and screaming, glanced over to see one of the enemy eagle-guard on the ground, most of the cubs swarming over him, biting and ripping, blood pooling.\n\nSif yelled at the cubs, Swain adding his voice as they both pulled Hild with them back towards the hole beneath the tree roots, diving in without a thought. Hild following a little more cautiously, cubs jumping in after them. Trigg was standing close to the den entrance, hands still tied behind her back, looking straight at Haelan, shouting.\n\nA hand grabbed the back of Haelan's cloak, yanking him backwards, off of his feet. He squawked, his cloak tight about his neck as he caught a flash of a surly face beneath an iron helm, then he was on his back, heard growling, saw Pots snapping at the shins of the warrior who had grabbed him, from the other side Shadow snarled and leaped. The warrior grunted in pain, shaking Pots free and raising his sword over Shadow, crunching the pommel onto her head. She fell, yelping, back to Haelan and crouched over him, still defiantly baring her teeth. The warrior cursed and strode at them both, sword rising.\n\n\"No!\" Haelan screamed, thinking that Corban would be so disappointed with him if any harm came to Storm's cubs.\n\nThen a figure was jumping over him: Trigg, charging at the eagle-guard. Even as she ran, she yanked her arms apart, breaking her bonds easily. Trigg ducked a sword swing, grabbed the warrior's wrist and gave it a savage twist. If the loud crack didn't tell Haelan that bones had broken, the following scream definitely did. Trigg punched him in the face, the man's nose exploded and he dropped to his knees. She grabbed his head with both hands, gave a savage twist and there was another louder crack, the warrior falling bonelessly to the ground. Trigg stood over him, legs splayed, chest heaving, face distorted in a snarl." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Haelan staggered to his feet, heard the clash of iron somewhere to his right, saw more eagle-guard running at them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Trigg saw it too and burst into motion, grabbing Haelan under her arms, lifting him and throwing him with more strength than Haelan had ever known she possessed. Fora few heartbeats he was weightless, then he was crunching into the ground, grunting, rolling, darkness closing about him, the dank smell of earth and root and he realized he was back in the hole that led to his den.\n\nA cub's tongue licked his face. He stood and looked out through the hole onto the courtyard, just in time to see Pots and Shadow racing after him, skidding and sliding into the hole. Beyond them Haelan saw Trigg fighting with half a dozen eagle-guard, swinging her long arms, keeping them at bay. Cywen was standing close to the remaining warrior that fought with them, many eagle-guard closing about them, Buddai a dark blur leaping at his foe.\n\n\"CYWEN!\" Haelan screamed and he saw her head turn, her wolven claws dripping red, one hand reaching inside her cloak.\n\nThen she was running, a burst of speed as she broke away from her attackers, yelling to the warrior fighting alongside her. He followed her as she leaped for the hole. Haelan jumped to one side as she fell in amongst them, the warrior was tumbling after, Buddai's bulk crashing through on top of them.\n\n\"Move,\" Cywen told them all, pointing into the darkness of the tunnel, down the fork that travelled away from the den, towards who knew where.\n\n\"And you,\" Cywen said to Haelan, who had pushed back to the hole, looking out at the courtyard. \"We've got to go, ' she said.\n\n\"But Trigg,\" Haelan said, leaning out of the hole and yelling the half-giant's name. Through the legs of the onrushing eagle-guard Haelan saw her lookup and see him. She smiled fiercely at him and then she threw herself into the melee. Her bulk scattered a few of the eagle-guard, but others were there, moving in, their swords stabbing. He saw the enemy closing on Trigg, heard her cry out, saw her fall." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"NO!\" Haelan screamed and began to scramble out of the hole as Cywen grabbed and shoved him stumbling after Swain and the others. He looked back, saw an eagle-guard's face appear at the hole, peer in, Cywen's wolven claws slashing at him. A scream and he fell back, but more crowded around him.\n\nCywen threw a small vial and yelled something, sounding strange, making Haelen stumble and shiver. Suddenly there was a whoosh of wind rushing past Haelan and then fire ignited as if from nowhere, fierce and hungry, curling out of the tunnel's entrance, men screaming, throwing themselves backwards as the flames engulfed them. Cywen hurled herself backwards, slamming into Haelan's back. Behind her flames raged, the smell of wood and sap mingling with burning flesh, screaming, a cracking as one of the roots gave way, and then the hole was disappearing, earth crumbling down.\n\n\"GO!\" Cywen shouted, shoving Haelan hard, sending him staggering on into the others.\n\nOn into the darkness." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis stamped his boot onto the Vin Thalun's chest, pinning him to the ground, and stabbed down, his attacker gasping, choking, dying. Looking up, he saw the shield wall his men had formed was still standing strong, a tide of dead Vin Thalun about it.\n\nIt appears that there are no more Vin Thalun left to fight.\n\nHe wiped his sword clean and sheathed it, listening to the crashing, thuds and screams that still echoed from the fortress' walls, a sign that Balur, Alcyon and their kin were still causing chaos.\n\nCan't last much longer.\n\n\"We are hereto get you out of Drassil,\" Veradis yelled, striding to the cuirass, cloak, helm and sword that he'd emptied earlier from his pack, lifting the disguise up for all to see.\n\n\"Every prisoner, find one of my men, they'll have one of these for you, and more. \"He looked around at the faces, shadowed and bloody.\"Quickly, ' he shouted, and the courtyard burst into motion. While he waited, his heartbeat counting time, he looked eastward, in the direction that Cywen had disappeared.\n\nCome on, girl, he willed.\n\n\"We're ready to go, ' Ilta told him.\n\nOnly five of Veradis' men had fallen in the melee, and there were one hundred and eighty-eight prisoners now standing with them.\n\nOne hundred and eighty-eight who will not die screaming on stakes. One hundred and eighty-eight who will fight alongside us in Forn.\n\nIf we can get out of here.\n\nVeradis marched in front of them.\n\n\"You'll be leaving here as eagle-guard. We are going through the gates to sally forth and fight off the enemy attacking Drassil's walls,\" Veradis said with a fierce grin. \"Keep your heads down and wits about you, and you'll soon be sitting around afire with your kin and comrades. \"There was a ragged cheer and then they were moving, forming a rough square, the prisoners enclosed at its heart, in the hope of hiding the fact that they didn't know how to march information." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The streets were less crowded than they had been on the journey to the hospice, Veradis seeing small bands of warriors, mostly Vin Thalun. He strode past them as if he had more right to be there than they did, all the while his heart in his mouth.\n\nWhere are you, Cywen? he thought, scanning the shadows of the buildings ahead of him, checking back over his shoulder, but there was no sign of her.\n\nThere were more warriors on the road now, a score of eagle-guard passing them, the crack of their shoes on stone a familiar, almost nostalgic sound to Veradis. Windows in buildings were lit, the fire of forges, a host of barracks, then the whinny of horses and the huge courtyard inside the gates of Drassil opened before them.\n\nVeradis held his fist up, barking an order, the warriors behind him stumbling to a halt. He paused there, on the edge of the courtyard, searching the shadows for Cywen and her companions.\n\nWhere is she? How can I leave without her?\n\n\"We can't just stand here, \"Ilta hissed at him.\"We are like a goose putting its head on the chopping block. '\n\nVeradis sucked in a deep breath, tugged on the chin-strap of his helm, then marched straight through the courtyard's heart, ordering any too slow to get out of his way.\n\nA man strode towards Veradis, one of the officers he'd seen earlier.\n\n\"Open the gates,\" Veradis said as they drew near to one another.\n\n\"For what purpose?\" the warrior asked, surprised.\n\n\"A sally against the enemy, to push them back from the walls.\"\n\n\"I've had no orders, ' the young captain frowned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm giving them to you, now, ' Veradis said, the habit of command rising up to help him along with his fear.\n\nThe captain hesitated, looking from Veradis to his men. \"This is unusual,\" he said. \"Orders to open the gates are always delivered by the Jehar.\"\n\nYou mean Kadoshim. You areas unwitting as I was. I wonder, if you knew the truth, what would you do?\n\n\"These are not usual circumstances,\" Veradis snapped, \"and if I don't get out there soon the enemy may well be breaching our walls. '\n\n\"You have only just returned to Drassil,\" the captain said, still frowning. \"Why would you be leading this sortie?\"\n\n\"I volunteered,\" Veradis said. He tapped his pack. \"And I have fresh orders for King Nathair. Darkness offers good cover, as the fortress is watched closely.\"\n\nVeradis' words were having an effect: he could seethe captain teetering, but still he hesitated.\n\n\"I do not have time for this,\" Veradis snapped. \"Send a runner for Calidus, let him explain to you the workings of his plans.\" He looked pointedly at the skewered corpses that lined the courtyard.\n\nOne last long stare and then the captain was turning on his heel, shouting for the gates to be opened.\n\n\"Onwards,\" Veradis yelled, stepping into the archway beneath the thick wall of Drassil. Half of his warband was through the gates now, Veradis standing in the archway's shadow, looking back into the courtyard, hoping to see Cywen appear.\n\nBut she did not come.\n\nThe last lines were passing him by now, and still he did not move." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A thought struck him.\n\nThe gates are open. I have warriors about me, giants out therein the darkness. Will we ever have an opportunity like this again?\n\nCould we win?\n\nA thousand against three, maybe four thousand?\n\nKadoshim appeared out of the half-lit darkness of a wide street and at their head strode Calidus, a dark cloak billowing behind him like smoke.\n\nHe was much changed, his long silver hair and short beard gone, his ageless skin and smile now cracked and ruined, the skin charred and peeling, hair burned away, only tufts here and there.\n\nYou maybe hard to kill, but at the very least you can be hurt, you bastard.\n\nAs if he heard his thoughts, Calidus' eyes fell upon Veradis. Recognition and hatred suddenly flared.\n\nCalidus snarled.\n\n\"Run,\" Veradis whispered. Then, louder. \"RUN.\"\n\nBehind him the Kadoshim bounded forwards on Calidus' orders, sprinting faster than Veradis thought possible, smashing people out of their way, leaping over them.\n\nVeradis'feet thudded, echoing in the archway of Drassil's walls, out onto the plain, urging his men on. Shouts were rising up from the courtyard, screeches from the Kadoshim, yells from the battlements of Drassil, and spears began to hiss down from above. Some of Veradis' people fell, skewered, but most ran on, the darkness enveloping them. Veradis looked back over his shoulder, saw the first line of the Kadoshim come hurtling through the gates. They sprinted across the open ground, dark blurs, curved swords glinting in moonlight as some drew their blades." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "As the author's co-writer, advance the plot.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 70" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"If he was dressed as you, then it is likely that I did,\" Gar said. \"I killed a few of your kind that night.\"\n\nCorban saw a flicker of movement in the fingertips of Veradis' sword hand.\n\n\"The only eagle-guard that Gar slew at Dun Carreg were in the feast-hall,\" Corban said, his voice measured and cold. It was the only way he could keep it from breaking. \"I was there too, and saw him do it. He was taking vengeance upon them. For they had just slain my da.\"\n\n\"Your da?\" Veradis said, eyes still fixed on Gar.\n\nCorban opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out, emotion like a great wave drowning his words.\n\n\"Nathair put a sword through Thannon's heart, \"Gar said.\"After your eagle-guard had attacked him. One man against many. Thannon was as a brother tome, \"Gar said.\"The finest man I've known, besides my own da, and Corban.\"\n\n\"Twelve of your eagle-guard stood against my da,\" Corban continued, monotone, reciting it like a lay. \"And he fought them because they were attacking our King Brenin, murdered him, under the eye of Nathair. Your King.\"\n\nVeradis ripped his eyes from Gar to look at Corban.\n\nThe moment stretched.\n\n\"I did not know,\" Veradis said, eyes finally dropping. \"He was a good man, my friend Rauca. He was not evil, had no malice in him. He was serving his King. He was obedient and loyal. He was deceived, as I was.\"\n\nGar stared at him, stony faced.\n\n\"Then I am sorry for his death,\" Gar said eventually. \"He is as much a victim of treachery and deceit as Thannon was. His death should be avenged.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Aye." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That was always my opinion,\" Veradis said. \"But now I see that the guilty man is not the one I thought. Nathair is the one responsible.\" His hand dropped away from his sword hilt and he sighed, along exhalation.\n\nThere was a hush around them. Corban realized that the whole warband was silent, watching. His heartbeat loud and fast.\n\n\"Well, I for one am glad that's over, \"Krelis said.\"I nearly wet my breeches. \"He nudged his brother.\"Don't go doing that again,\" he whispered, though all heard.\n\nVeradis stepped forwards and held his arm out to Corban.\n\nCorban hesitated a moment, and then took it.\n\n\"Well met, Corban,\" Veradis said. \"I am sorry for the grief that Nathair has brought upon you, and for any part that I have played in it. And I swear to you, here and now, before more than a thousand witnesses: I will do all that I canto right those wrongs, or else avenge them.\"\n\nCorban held Veradis' gaze, saw only honesty in his eyes, a genuine remorse and conviction. Despite the fact that they had just been heartbeats away from trying to kill one another, Corban decided that he liked the man.\n\n\"Can't say fairer than that, ' he said, and Veradis nodded.\n\nThen the third of the group, a silver-haired man, stepped forwards.\n\n\"My name is Alben, and I have the dubious honour of having been swordsmaster to these two reprobates.\" He gave Veradis and Krelis a hard stare. \"I have been waiting for this day for many years. I am a follower of Meical, as your King Brenin was, and am ready to give my life for you, the Bright Star.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban just stared at him a moment, felt a wave of sympathy for the man.\n\nSomeone else who has been deceived, used. Given his life to a manipulation.\n\nCorban drew in a deep breath.\n\nBest get this over with.\n\nHe turned and strode to the crown of the hill he was standing on.\n\n\"It is good to be back,\" Corban called out, and a roar rose up from the crowd.\n\n\"I'm happy to see so many of my sword-brothers and-sisters again. And to meet new ones. Many of you must wonder why I was not at the battle of Drassil, how it came about that I was taken prisoner by Jotun giants. '\n\nHe looked around the hill, saw many heads nodding.\n\n\"I was not in Drassil because I had argued with Meical, my Ben-Elim counsellor, and had gone into the forest to think. I had discovered that the prophecy that he had spoken of, used to steer me, was but a ruse, a strategy of war, manufactured by him and his Ben-Elim kin to lure Asroth and the Kadoshim into moving too soon.\"\n\nHe paused, allowing time for his words to sink in.\n\nSome faces were shocked, some appalled– like Alben, who had just spoken to him, and many of the Jehar. Others became angry, some confused.\n\n\"So what does this mean? What are you saying to us?\" a voice called out: Wulf.\n\n\"I am saying that many of you followed me thinking I am the Bright Star of prophecy. I believe it is right that you know the truth. Truth and courage, remember, is the code I strive to live by, that my da taught me. So if you do not wish to follow meany longer, that is your right, and your choice.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Meical lied to you?\" Akar said, many Jehar gathered behind him.\n\n\"Aye,\" Corban said. \"The Ben-Elim wish to win their war against Asroth and his Kadoshim. The prophecy was designed to lure Asroth from his fortress in the Otherworld, to manoeuvre him into a position of vulnerability. You, me, all of us, we are but pawns in that plan.\"\n\n\"The Ben-Elim have betrayed us,\" Akar said, shaking his head. \"Our whole lives we have believed a lie.\"\n\n\"They have used us,\" Corban said.\n\n\"Asroth is no lie,\" Gar called out, stepping forwards. \"Calidus, Nathair, the Vin Thalun. Our enemies. They are no lie. The Ben-Elim have used and deceived us, but our enemy remains the same. The fight remains the same. And prophecy or no, I follow Corban, unto death.\"\n\nCorban looked at Gar, words failing him.\n\n\"You are the Bright Star,\" a voice cried out, higher pitched than the others. It sounded angry. Corban suspected it was Haelan.\n\n\"Aye. You slew Sumur, when no man could have,\" Akar said, lifting his head. \"You are our Bright Star.\"\n\n\"The Bright Star,\" Dath called out, grinning at Corban.\n\n\"The Bright Star,\" Ethlinn boomed.\n\n\"The Bright Star,\" another yelled, and another, until it was being chanted by hundreds. Corban shook his head.\n\n\"But, the prophecy is a lie,\" Corban said when they quietened.\n\n\"So what?\" a voice shouted– a voice and face that Corban recognized. Javed of the Freedmen. \"I for one do not care. I never followed you because of a prophecy. I followed because you saved me, and because my enemies are here, and if I don't face them, they will kill me, or worse, make me a slave again. I still want to kill them. The prophecy changes nothing. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"For once, Javed, I agree with you,\" Corban shouted, and laughter rippled around the hill.\n\n\"Death to our enemies,\" Javed yelled, repeating it.\n\n\"Death to our enemies,\" Wulf joined him.\n\n\"Death to our enemies,\" the cry was taken up by them all, a wave of sound, a recognition of injustices endured, of kin murdered, homes burned, friends and loved ones slain.\n\nCorban looked around at them all, more than a thousand men and women raising their voices, and he thought of the long list of crimes committed by his enemy, the deaths of his mam and da, his King, so many throughout Ardan and Domhain, the slaughter at Gramm's hold.\n\n\"DEATH TO OUR ENEMIES,\" Corban cried out, joining his voice to theirs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"DEATH TO OUR ENEMIES,\" Cywen yelled, her mind and heart full of memories: of Ronan in the Darkwood, his blood running through her fingers, of her mam, dying in her arms, of the dead and wounded at Gramm's hold, of the daily screams of the impaled in Drassil.\n\nIt must come to an end, and the only way is death. Death to Calidus, death to the Kadoshim, death to Lykos and Nathair.\n\nSlowly the cries died down, the crowd falling quiet, a hush settling over the forest. Cywen looked up at Corban, saw the emotion running though him.\n\nShe felt an arm wraparound her shoulders and saw Brina's wizened face looking at her.\n\n\"Welcome back, my apprentice,\" Brina said, gazing at her with concerned eyes. \"I'm glad you're here, because I've had so much to do; I could do with some help, someone to do my bidding. '\n\nCywen laughed at that, though there was a cracked, manic edge to it. \"I never thought I'd be glad of the day I got to do chores for you, ' she said.\n\n\"Well, then, all I can say is that you're going to be very glad, indeed, \"Brina said with a twitch of lips.\"First, though, I think you could do with a cup of tea and some honey. '\n\nA commotion rose up from the edge of camp, someone was running through the trees and tents, up the hill. A woman, dressed in leather and furs, holding a bow in one hand. Cywen recognized her as one of the first that had joined them in Narvon, fleeing villages that were being devastated by the Kadoshim as they marched south from Murias." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Teca. Her name is Teca.\n\nTeca ran up the hill, pushing her way through the crowd, then saw Corban, her troubled expression giving way to shock, and then to a flash of joy.\n\n\"You're back, ' she said, a smile upon her face now.\n\n\"Aye. Well met, Teca,\" Corban called down to her. \"What's wrong? '\n\n\"Fidele,\" Teca said, her smile vanishing, \"she's been taken. '\n\nUproar broke out then, hundreds of voices calling out at once.\n\n\"QUIET,\" Balur boomed, and anew silence fell.\n\n\"What can you tell us, Teca?\" Brina asked grimly.\n\n\"Fidele left in the night, with Veradis\" rescue party. From what I understand, her intention was to go to Nathair, hoping to reason with him, to turn him from his dark path. '\n\nGrunts and murmurs rippled around the camp.\n\n\"But not far from here she was set upon, her shieldmen slain, and she was taken. Vin Thalun were amongst the dead. The strangest thing, though, is that their tracks led to the river, not back to Drassil. Maquin is searching along the riverbank now, but we need more hands and eyes.\"\n\nA hammer-blow of realization struck in Cywen's head.\n\nLykos!\n\nAlben was coming forwards now, calling out orders, organizing a group to go with Teca and widen the search.\n\n\"I know where she is,\" Cywen called out, striding forwards, repeating herself over the clamouring. Alben saw her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where?\" he asked her.\n\n\"Lykos has her, and he is bound for Arcona.\"\n\nAlben stared at her, horror-struck.\n\n\"Lykos,\" he whispered. Then, to Teca, \"Take a score of men. Fetch Maquin back here.\"\n\nBrina stepped forwards. \"A meeting of captains, I think,\" she said, clapping her hands together. \"Follow me.\"\n\nSoon Cywen was in a small clearing, sitting upon a tree stump with those whom Brina deemed should be in attendance. Storm was pacing the shadows. She seemed... bigger; more ferocious.\n\nNot a bad thing, in days such as these.\n\nCywen looked about the circle, at this gathering of captains: Jehar, giants, warriors and ex-slaves.\n\nWhat a strange and diverse group we are.\n\nBrina passed Cywen a small bowl of tea.\n\n\"Tell us what you know,\" Alben asked her.\n\n\"Wait,\" Brina said, holding a hand up to Alben. \"Wait for Maquin. He will be here soon, and Cywen will only have to repeat herself.\"\n\n\"Maquin?\" Corban asked.\n\n\"Fidele's shieldman, and her lover, ' Brina said. Cywen raised an eyebrow at that, and Krelis coughed into his hand. Veradis blushed.\n\nBrina will always say the truth as it is. Or as she sees it.\n\n\"He's one of the few men in this rabble I like, \"Brina said.\"Straight-talking. Single-minded. Some might call him rude. '\n\nA male version of you, then, Brina." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And he is a killer. Not a man that can kill, like the rest of you. Look in his eyes.\"\n\n\"She's not wrong, \"Javed muttered.\"He is the greatest pit-fighter that ever lived. And that means he's better than me.\" He wiggled a hand in the air and grinned. \"On his best day.\"\n\n\"Fidele is his life,\" Brina said. \"So I suspect that you will not see him at his best.\"\n\nThere was the sound of tramping feet, then Teca led a number of men into the circle. Amongst them stalked a man whom Cywen recognized from Brina's description. There was a stark elegance to his movements, his eyes scanning constantly for threats. He was not overly tall or muscular, but still he radiated strength, a power controlled in his every move. He was not young, his hair was iron-grey with streaks of black in, his face a lattice of scars, most of one ear missing.\n\nNo doubt that's Maquin, then. He looks like one of those granite crags that poke from the sea, off of Dun Carreg's cliffs, weathered and battered, but unbroken.\n\n\"Why am I here,\" he said to Alben, his words clipped short, as if he were having trouble breathing.\n\n\"Cywen thinks she has information about Fidele's capture, \"Alben said.\"She is Corban's sister, who has returned to us.\" He gestured to Corban, and Maquin gave him an absent nod.\n\n\"Tell me,\" Maquin said, turning his wolf gaze upon Cywen.\n\n\"Lykos has set out on a mission for Calidus,\" she said. \"Calidus is seeking to gather the Seven Treasures to himself. He needs them all to perform a ritual that will release Asroth and his Kadoshim, allow them to enter the Banished Lands and become flesh.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We know this,\" Brina said.\n\n\"Well, he has discovered their whereabouts, or at the least, clues to their likely whereabouts.\"\n\n\"How?\" Javed interrupted.\n\n\"He found a hidden room, a forge, carved within the heart of the great tree in Drassil's great hall. It is the room that the Treasures were forged in, and upon its walls is scribed a map by Halvor, the counsellor of Skald. On the map are the likely locations of the Treasures, or at least, where Halvor thought they were at the time of his scribing. '\n\nBalur One-Eye shared a look with Ethlinn. \"I heard rumours of such a place,\" he said, \"but I never knew.\"\n\n\"The map placed the cauldron, necklace and cup in Benoth with Nemain,\" Cywen recited them as Trigg had told her. \"The spear at Drassil. The dagger with the Jotun in the Desolation and the torc in Arcona. We know about the axe.\"\n\nAlcyon hissed. \"I dwelt in Arcona before Calidus took meas his prisoner,\" the giant said, \"and I never heard even a whisper of the Treasures.\"\n\n\"Well, the map says it is on some island, called Kletfar? Something like that. It is in the centre of a great lake.\"\n\n\"Kletva,\" Alcyon whispered. \"A place of shadow and death. None go there.\"\n\n\"That's it, \"Cywen said.\"Anyway, that is where Lykos is going. To get the starstone torc, ' she finished.\n\n\"Why the river?\" Maquin asked.\n\n\"It flows from Arcona,\" Alcyon growled. \"It is like a road carving through Forn for them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"How many swords went with him?\" Maquin asked Cywen.\n\n\"I did not see them leave,\" Cywen said, \"but they had five boats– rowing-boats they built for the task.\"\n\n\"How many oars did their boats have?\" Javed asked.\n\nCywen considered. \"Three on one side, three on the other. So six.\"\n\nJaved nodded. \"Six-oared rowing-boats. Five of them. A hundred men and they'd be overloaded, so probably less. Eighty to ninety men is my guess. '\n\n\"Not a great warband, then,\" Corban said.\n\n\"No. A raiding crew, designed to move fast and strike hard. Lykos\" ship-breakers, no doubt. ' Javed glanced at Maquin, who nodded a curt agreement.\n\n\"My thanks,\" Maquin said and turned to leave.\n\nAlben grabbed his arm.\n\n\"You cannot go alone,\" he said to Maquin. \"You will fail.\"\n\nCorban stood up. \"We need that torc,\" he said. \"Fidele must be rescued and Lykos stopped. So someone must go, and you're right, Alben. They cannot go alone. \"He strode to Maquin.\"Maquin, are you fit to lead? \"Corban asked him.\"Brina said you speak the truth, even if it is harsh. Would you turn that truth upon yourself? '\n\nMaquin regarded Corban, as if seeing him for the first time. \"I am fit to lead,\" he said grimly.\n\n\"You will have two tasks: rescue Fidele, and bring the starstone torc back to us.\"\n\n\"Fidele will come before the torc, always,\" Maquin said. He thought about it a few moments. \"Fidele said we are all dead, in the end, if we do not defeat Calidus and the Kadoshim. So if the torc is vital to that, then, yes. I will bring the torc back, if it is in my power.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Then choose who you will take with you,\" Corban said.\n\n\"I need hard men, men of endurance to hunt him down; men who can keep up with me,\" Maquin said, looking around the ring of captains. \"The Vin Thalun called me the Old Wolf,\" he growled. \"Now they will find out how true they spoke. We shall all be wolves, and Lykos will be our prey.\"\n\n\"I'll come with you, Old Wolf, \"Javed said.\"And I'd think a fair few of my Freedmen will be like-minded. A chance to kill Lykos and Vin Thalun– sounds like fun.\"\n\n\"How many?\" Maquin asked him.\n\n\"Fifty of us, if they all want to come.\"\n\n\"Good. But not enough.\"\n\nAlcyon, Teca and Alben all stepped forwards.\n\nMaquin nodded but looked at Alben.\n\n\"It'll be along run, \"Maquin muttered,\"and you're recently injured.\"\n\n\"I'm well enough, and if I can't keep up, then just leave me behind,\" Alben said. \"I'll pick some men from Ripa. Fidele is in their hearts and many will wish to come. '\n\n\"Good, then,\" Corban said. \"Without boats it'll be along, hard journey. You'd best make ready.\"\n\nMaquin didn't need telling twice, he marched off.\n\n\"How are you feeling?\" Brina asked Cywen.\n\n\"Better,\" Cywen said.\n\nCorban began to pace about the circle, looking at his remaining captains. \"We need to workout how we're going to win this war, \"he said.\"But I've been away too long. So first, tell me, where do we stand now?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They gave Corban a run-down of the warband's numbers and the new arrivals. They spoke of their tactics, orders left by Gar, to harass and disrupt wherever they could, but to avoid open engagement.\n\n\"At first there were daily patrols that ventured forth from Drassil,\" Akar said. \"Vin Thalun, eagle-guard, even Kadoshim. They thought us beaten and routed and wanted to keep us running. That strategy didn't work so well for them. '\n\nCywen remembered seeing the gates of Drassil opening, a ragged band of wounded Vin Thalun limping through it.\n\n\"So now they patrol no longer,\" Akar said.\n\n\"Nothing?\" Corban asked. \"Not even scouting parties? No reconnaissance at all?\"\n\n\"Nothing,\" Akar said, a touch of pride in his voice. \"Since Nathair left to join Lothar, the gates of Drassil have remained closed. Apart from when Veradis tricked his way inside. See! Another victory through guile.\"\n\n\"Much to be said for guile,\" Wulf said.\n\n\"I'm fond of a good ambush, myself, ' Coralen said beside Corban, her hand brushing his just fora moment, a gentle caress.\n\nLooks as if those two have sorted themselves out at last!\n\nKrelis informed Corban of how they had eradicated the threat of Gundul's warband from Isiltir, and told him of Lothar's warband cutting its way closer to Drassil, building a road with the protection of Nathair and two thousand eagle-guard.\n\n\"We should try and stop them reaching Drassil,\" Corban said. \"As with Gundul, they will be weaker apart than together.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aye,\" Veradis said.\n\n\"So we must find away for fifteen hundred to destroy six thousand, without losing many swords along the way.\"\n\n\"That won't be easy, \"Veradis said.\"Gundul was unprepared, taken totally by surprise. Also, Lothar is a different beast. I knew him when he was Braster's battlechief. What I saw of him was capable and efficient. He fought well at the battle of Haldis. Not innovative, though. A traditional man.\"\n\n\"What does that mean?\" Krelis said.\n\n\"It means he's like you, \"Veradis said.\"He doesn't like change.\"\n\n\"That's true, \"Krelis nodded.\"I don't.\"\n\n\"But he has Nathair and two thousand eagle-guard,\" Veradis said. \"Their shield wall will be very hard to beat.\"\n\n\"But beat them we must,\" Corban said.\n\n\"We are working on some ideas,\" Veradis said with a small smile.\n\n\"What about the earth power?\" Corban asked. He looked from Brina to Ethlinn. \"You giants are versed in it, are you not?\"\n\n\"Things are not as they were,\" Ethlinn said. \"When the clans split, all were powerful in the earth power, but as the years passed, faith dwindled. I do not know what you understand of the power, but faith is... important.\"\n\nCywen felt the weight of the book still inside her cloak.\n\nThere are different forms of the earth power, she thought. The way of faith, more powerful, but less reliable, or the other way– the way of blood and bone. But that has a price, and it is difficult, awkward. She glanced at Brina, saw that the healer was watching her like a hawk." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Some remained scattered throughout the clans who were versed in the power,\" Ethlinn continued. \"Nemain and Uthas were two such in our clan. But for the most part the power withered amongst us and died out.\"\n\n\"Each road feels as if it is blocked before it is even begun,\" Corban said. \"And what of Calidus and his Kadoshim? What is he up to now?\"\n\n\"He has not ventured from Drassil since the day they took it,\" Akar said.\n\n\"Nor will he,\" Cywen said. \"His every thought is of the Treasures– to protect the ones he has, and to gather the others to him.\"\n\n\"So we are back to the Treasures again,\" Corban observed.\n\n\"I've a feeling the Starstone Treasures will decide this war, one way or another, \"Brina said to them all.\"I have the beginnings of an idea, but it would be fraught with danger, the risks high. And it would only be possible if the Treasures were all together. '\n\nWhich is a danger in itself, if Calidus were involved.\n\n\"Three are accounted for in Drassil,\" said Ethlinn. \"And we have heard tonight about the others. The torc is in Arcona. The dagger with the Jotun in the Desolation. That still leaves the cup and necklace in Benoth.\"\n\n\"Rhin has them,\" Cywen said. \"Or says she will have them, before too long.\"\n\nAll in the circle looked at her.\n\n\"Rhin and Calidus communicate, somehow. By dark magic, I think.\" She glanced at Brina. \"Calidus has summoned Rhin here, ordered her to muster her warband and ride to Drassil with the other Treasures.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So Drassil is the heart of the web,\" Veradis muttered.\n\n\"It is,\" Ethlinn agreed.\n\n\"Only one Treasure would be left unaccounted for, if Cywen's information is right, \"Brina said, tapping along finger on her chin.\"The starstone dagger. '\n\n\"It is not unaccounted for,\" Corban said, standing and reaching beneath his cloak. He pulled a scabbard around that was hooked to his belt, hidden on his back. He grasped the hilt of what looked like a short sword, similar to the one that Veradis wore at his hip. Corban drew it, held it up, and Cywen saw that its blade was coal-black.\n\n\"The starstone dagger,\" Corban said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rafe rose from his cot and stretched tentatively, testing his wounded leg.\n\nBetter, he thought, putting some weight on it. The wound was healing well, scabbed up and itching. It had been a hell of a job to cut the arrowhead out of his leg, taking two giants to hold him down as someone dug around inside his leg with a knife.\n\nThat Camlin's got a lotto answer for.\n\nHe'd seen wounds like his before, a cut deep into the muscle of his thigh, and he'd known they could take well over a moon to heal, if ever, so he should be pleased, really. Who'd have thought drinking from an old stone cup would help me heal twice as fast as another man? Faster.\n\nOnly a ten-night had passed since Camlin had put an arrow into him and runoff with the starstone necklace.\n\nHorns sounded, coming from the direction of Stonegate.\n\nVisitors?\n\nThe fortress and village were already full to bursting. Geraint had brought four thousand to Dun Carreg over a ten-night ago, which had made Rhin's mood only slightly better after the loss of the starstone necklace.\n\nScratcher got up, stretched, and came over, licking Rafe's hand. Rafe pulled on his breeches, his new boots and a linen shirt and buckled his sword-belt, draped with silver, then set off in search of whatever had set off the horns.\n\nHe was staying in his old chambers in Evnis' tower, had swept out the room and brought in fresh linen for the bed, an armful of rushes for the dog to sleep on. Rafe was happier here, slept better.\n\nWhen he reached the courtyard of Stonegate a crowd was already gathering. He climbed the wide stairwell by the gate tower, the exercise helping to reduce the ache in his leg. Once on the wall he looked out over the rolling meadows to the north-east of the village, which were awash with tents, men and temporary paddocks. Beyond them the giantsway cut a dark swathe through the land, and as Rafe looked at the ancient road he saw anew warband upon it, well over a thousand strong." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The heavy thud of giants' boots drummed behind him: Uthas and his shieldman, Salach, striding into the courtyard, Eisa behind them." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rhin followed, walking with her battlechief Geraint and a score of shieldmen. The crowd parted for her and she climbed the stairwell, saw Rafe and joined him.\n\n\"Good morning, precious,\" she said, smiling at him and running one finger down the length of his spine, ending with a squeeze of his buttocks.\n\n\"My Queen,\" he dipped his head and blushed.\n\nRhin had come to visit him in his tower room twice now since she had woken from the starstone cup's sleep. Both times she had stayed all night, leaving him exhausted and unnerved when she padded from his chamber as the sun rose. It was all a bit of a shock, becoming a queen's lover, and it had happened so quickly.\n\nNot that it hasn't got its advantages, he thought, his hand resting upon the hilt of his fine new sword. On both occasions Rhin had brought him gifts, a silver torc one night, and this sword the other, complete with fine-tooled belt and scabbard.\n\n\"It's Conall, \"Rhin said beside him.\"And only twenty-six nights have passed since I summoned him. '\n\n\"He must have been riding through the night, my Queen,\" Rafe said.\n\n\"Indeed. He must really want to keep his position as my regent in Domhain.\" She smiled at Rafe. It wasn't a pleasant smile. Rafe remembered sitting with Rhin in a chamber in Dun Taras, Domhain's seat of power, watching through Rhin's sorcerous means as Conall had set his brother Halion free from her dungeons and helped him escape.\n\nRhin's not one to forget, or to forgive.\n\nRafe recognized Conall; he was leading a small band up to the fortress, sitting tall and proud on a roan stallion. He looked up to the battlements and saw Rhin as he clattered across the wide bridge, through the arch of Stonegate and into the courtyard, where he turned his stallion in a tight circle, slipping from its back and landing lightly on his feet." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He met Rhin by the gate tower, dropping to one knee before her, taking her hand and kissing herring.\n\n\"Up,\" Rhin said, and Conall rose with a wide grin on his face. He was dressed in travel gear but it still looked regal– wool and leather of the finest quality, anew gold torc about his neck, his warrior braid threaded with gold wire, his cloak the green and blue of Domhain. Rafe noticed more than one knife sheathed upon his sword-belt, both the belt, sword scabbard and knife sheaths finely wrought and studded with silver.\n\nLooks as if Conall's enjoying the life of a ruler, but I see that old habits die hard. I'd wager he has half a dozen more knives secreted about his body.\n\n\"Well, but I never thought I'd be riding through these gates again, ' he said, looking up at the brooding bulk of Stonegate. He turned back to Rhin.\n\n\"I must say, you're looking fine, ' he said.\n\nRhin smiled. \"I think this sea air agrees with me.\"\n\n\"That it does,\" he said, looking Rhin up and down. She seemed to like the attention.\n\n\"You are not dressed for war,\" Rhin observed.\n\n\"I'm dressed for fast travel, my Queen, \"Conall said.\"Brought my war gear with me, though, never fear. \"He flashed a smile.\"Thought there might be a fight at the end of the road. '\n\n\"You're right, \"Rhin said,\"there will be. Though there's still along road left to travel, and we'll be leaving on the morrow. Rest your men and your mounts today, Conall. '\n\n\"And where will this road betaking us, if you don't mind me asking? ' Conall enquired." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Drassil.\"\n\nRafe entered Rhin's chambers and saw that he was not the first to arrive. Conall was sitting with his boots upon a table. He greeted Rafe with a warm smile.\n\n\"Good to see you, lad,\" Conall said, sounding as if he meant it. He was like that, all warmth, like your oldest friend, or hard as frostbitten nails. There was no in-between or subtlety with Conall; he wore his emotions openly.\n\n\"You too,\" Rafe said. He actually liked Conall.\n\n\"So you're not coming to Drassil with us, then, \"Conall said.\"More's the pity. It'll be a rare sight, I'm thinking, and a good fight at the end of it.\"\n\n\"Rafe will join us there, won't you? ' Rhin said as she stepped out from her bedchamber, gold wire wrapped through her silver hair. She was dressed in riding gear: woollen breeches and long boots, a leather fur-trimmed jerkin. She looked as healthy and fit as a much younger woman, her skin all but glowing with vitality, her eyes sparkling.\n\n\"I will,\" Rafe said. \"Once I've completed a task. ' He shared a look with Rhin.\n\nOthers were entering the chamber now, Uthas and Salach, last of all Geraint.\n\nThey all sat around the table in Rhin's antechamber, apart from Salach, who assumed his customary place behind Uthas.\n\n\"Quite a day,\" Rhin said. \"At first light on the morrow we begin along journey, taking the might of the west to fabled Drassil.\"\n\n\"And what awaits us at Drassil, my Queen?\" Geraint asked." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Battle and blood,\" Rhin said. \"Victory and glory.\"\n\nConall slapped the table, grinning.\n\n\"Our allies are there,\" Rhin continued, \"Nathair and the lords of his alliance. He needs us. His enemies close on him, and so we must go.\"\n\n\"Over four thousand men are gathered on the meadows, not counting Conall's warband, and more will be travelling down the giantsway over the next ten-night, \"Geraint told her.\"It will be along journey, though, and some of it through winter, I would guess. '\n\n\"Aye,\" Rhin said, \"you are correct, Geraint, and practical as ever. We must travel fast. Spare horses for every man, and no wains. All our provisions must be carried by pack-horse. This will be no ponderous crawl through the Banished Lands. No, this will be a sprint to the finish line. A race to the greatest battle of our time. We must not fail.\"\n\n\"Sounds like my kind of war,\" Conall said. \"I hate all that waiting around for battle. This is much better. Run at them. Hah!\" He slapped the table enthusiastically again.\n\n\"We will be travelling through our allies\" lands, \"Rhin continued,\"and I have been assured that we will be welcomed at their fortresses along the way, and reprovisioned. As for winter, if we move fast, we will beat the outskirts of Forn Forest by winter's first kiss. Seasons are different within Forn, I am reliably informed. Stripped of their extremes. We must make good time, and then all will be well.\"\n\n\"When do we leave?\" Conall asked.\n\n\"First light on the morrow,\" Rhin said. \"Morcant, you will remain, as regent of Ardan.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"What about Edana?\" Morcant asked.\n\n\"That spoilt bitch not still causing you trouble?\" Conall asked.\n\n\"A little,\" Rhin said, watching Conall closely.\n\nDoes he know that his brother Halion is here, fighting for her? Surely he must.\n\n\"That is why you will stay, Morcant. I will leave you fifteen hundred men, more than enough to see her and her fledgling warband rooted out of their hole and put into a cairn. And when you are finished with her you shall lead those men to join me.\"\n\n\"It shall be done,\" Morcant said.\n\n\"Good, then all that is left is for us to make ready and go,\" Rhin said, clapping her hands. She stood, her chair rasping on stone, then paused and looked at them all. \"These Banished Lands will be a different place when we are done.\"\n\nRafe stood with Morcant above Stonegate, watching Rhin and her monstrous warband ride away, close to five thousand warriors riding out, the late summer sun turning them into a glittering wave sweeping eastwards.\n\n\"That is quite the sight,\" Rafe said.\n\n\"It is,\" Morcant agreed. \"And if you do your job well we shall soon be joining them.\"\n\n\"Don't need t'worry about that,\" Rafe muttered.\n\nMorcant sneered at him and walked down from the battlements, leaving Rafe to watch Rhin's warband fade into the east.\n\nWish I were with them now. Looks like something the songs'll tell of for many a cold night.\n\n\"I will go,\" he murmured to himself. \"I will see Corban again.\"\n\nAs soon as I have the starstone necklace in my keeping." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rhin had come to him last night and made it clear that he must bring her the starstone necklace before she reached Drassil, or he would lose his head. One or the other. And he knew she'd do it, because she was scared– no, terrified– of arriving in Drassil and not having the necklace to present to Calidus.\n\nI have to get that necklace back. It is life or death tome.\n\nAnd one other thing Rhin had said to him: \"This Camlin that I am hearing so much about. He killed my Braith, thwarted Morcant and Evnis in the swamps of Dun Crin, sneaked into my own fortress and stole from me. I want him dead.\"\n\nIt'll be my pleasure." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fidele groaned as she awoke.\n\nBetter to be asleep. Better not to know where I am. I cannot stand another day of hearing his voice, of seeing his face.\n\nNot for the first time, she thought of throwing herself over the side and into the river, of ending it all. But something kept her from that final act. Perhaps it was because she still dreamed of seeing Maquin again, and of seeing Lykos' death.\n\n\"Did you sleep well, my lady-wife?\" Lykos said from behind her.\n\nWhen Fidele didn't answer, he turned on his bench and looked down at her.\n\n\"Ah,\" he muttered, bending down amicably to wrap his arms around her and lift her onto the bench beside him. He pulled the cloth from her mouth. On the first day he'd removed the cloth first, and then lifted her, but she'd bitten a chunk out of his ear, and now he left her mouth bound until he was sitting a little further away from her.\n\nShe looked about her. Five boats rowing up the river, the one she was in leading the way, the others spread behind, like the blade of a spear. It was early, mist curling on the river, hiding the dark depths, and she regarded it suspiciously. On the first day of rowing one of the boats had grated on a submerged boulder and the collision had thrown a man into the water. He was being hauled back onboard when something had grabbed him from beneath the surface. Fidele had only had a glimpse of it: long and sinuous, a mouth full of razored teeth.\n\nMen were grunting, sweating as they pulled oars against the current, but the river was wide and sluggish here, and it felt as if they were making good time, water hissing against hulls." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Five nights we've been travelling." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "But where? The trees of Forn grew thick about them, the canopy above thin and frayed as branches stretched over the river, letting sunlight through in greater abundance than Fidele had seen for sometime.\n\n\"Where are we going?\" Fidele asked.\n\n\"We're on a quest, my wife, \"Lykos said good-naturedly. He looked as if he'd just finished pulling at an oar, his hair sweat-soaked, his leather jerkin loose. Fidele glimpsed the rippled flesh of his chest where Maquin had burned him.\n\n\"A quest where? For what?\" she asked.\n\n\"We are going to Arcona, searching for one of the Seven Treasures,\" Lykos said.\n\nArcona! The grass plains to the east of Forn Forest.\n\n\"Which Treasure?\" Fidele asked, hoping against hope that she would somehow become free and be able to share this information with her people.\n\nLykos gave her along, measuring look. \"No harm telling you,\" he said, smiling at her. \"Not like you'll ever leave my side again. '\n\nThat made her shudder, and she refused to dwell on it. When she had been captured she had been certain that her life would be measured in moments, Lykos dragging her through the darkness of the forest, bound, gagged and stumbling for what felt like a ten-night. She'd thought she was being hauled back to Drassil to be presented as a prize to Calidus, but instead she had soon heard the rush of the river and seen five boats sitting in the water, full it seemed with grim-looking men and a handful of black-eyed Kadoshim. Ninety-two bodies in total, it turned out, including her. Enough that three shifts of rowers could split the day, so even though the boats were heavy-laden and they were rowing upstream it seemed to Fidele that they moved incredibly fast. Lykos was skilled on the water, whatever else she thought of him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"The starstone torc,\" Lykos said. \"I am reliably informed that it is to be found in Arcona.\"\n\n\"And Calidus needs the Treasures to fulfil his plan,\" Fidele said. She looked at the Vin Thalun sitting in the boat, some rowing, a man at the back manning a steering oar, others resting. Two of the Kadoshim were also in the boat, their black eyes fixed on the path ahead. Thankfully the one surrounded by a swarm of flies was on another boat.\n\nI wonder if Lykos' men know what Calidus would do with the Seven Treasures. Would they be so eager to aid him if they did?\n\nFidele had spent much time in conversation with Brina, a woman she had come to respect, and she had told her what had come to light regarding Calidus and his schemes.\n\n\"To open a portal between the Banished Lands and the Otherworld,\" Fidele said loudly, \"so that Asroth and his Kadoshim may crossover and become flesh.\"\n\nA few heads twitched to look at her.\n\n\"Exactly!\" Lykos said, beaming at her. \"A woman of intellect,\" he said. \"I admire that, and find it attractive. Far more than just a fine shape to you.\"\n\nShe shuddered.\n\nSo far Lykos had not touched her in that way. It was something that she had been both immeasurably grateful for and also the thing of which she lived in perpetual fear.\n\nBut it will happen, if I remain in his power. I seethe way he looks at me. Hungry.\n\nShe willed herself to think about something else.\n\nThe starstone torc. If it is important to the enemy, then it is important to us. If by some miraculous twist of fate I escape Lykos and get back to my people, this knowledge could be valuable." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And Lykos says it is in Arcona. What do I know of that land? The whole realm is mostly grassland; vast, rolling plains, and it lies to the east of this great forest. No doubt at the end of this river. The Sirak dwell there, I remember them from Aquilus' council. Strange-looking men, shaven-haired, scar-latticed. Small, fierce and war-like. They were not unified. A realm of many clans and kings, or whatever they call them, forever in some conflict or dispute with one another. And they rode shaggy-haired ponies, rather than warhorses. Even their kings.\n\nFidele racked her mind for any other shred of memory, but could think of nothing else.\n\nIf I don't getaway from this boat I will seethe plains of Arcona soon enough.\n\nShe sat and stared behind them, eyes scouring the riverbank, wishing, willing, that she saw movement. Wishing that she saw Maquin.\n\nRain dappled the river, darkness a cloak over them as Fidele's boat moved slowly through the night.\n\nTorches had been lit, fore and aft, and the two Kadoshim bent their backs relentlessly to rowing, a Vin Thalun leaning over the prow, scanning for rocks or anything else that could give them a nasty surprise.\n\n\"We'll not stop, \"Lykos\" voice said behind Fidele, a bodiless whisper on the night. \"Day and night we'll row, because I mean to be back in Drassil before Midwinter's Day. A fitting time to renew our wedding vows, don't you think? '\n\n\"That will never happen,\" Fidele said, her voice cold and hate-wreathed. \"I will die, first.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Oh aye, no doubt that would be true, if I tried to take you now.\" Lykos twisted his fingers into her hair, jerked her hard so that he could whisper into her ear, his breath foul. \"I imagine you'd throw yourself into the river, let the things of tooth and slime have your flesh, rather than me. '\n\n\"That's right. '\n\n\"But Calidus is back in Drassil. It's amazing what he can do with only a lock of hair. '\n\nRevulsion goose-bumped her flesh, a thousand spider-legs skittering across her skin. She remembered a clay effigy with a lock of her hair set within it, remembered the control it had given Lykos over her. Made her a slave-puppet to his every wish and whim. But inside, she had been screaming.\n\n\"So I shall wait,\" Lykos said, \"and you can dream of escape, and I shall dream of Drassil, and we shall see whose dream comes true.\" He licked her ear and she jerked away.\n\nHe moved away, chuckling softly, and Fidele lay on the boat's floor, her mind filled with horror. Slowly she controlled it, thought of better things.\n\nShe thought of Maquin, of her last night with him, their bodies intertwined. Thought of stroking his face before she'd left, watching him sleep. Tears bloomed and she blinked them away.\n\nI will see you again." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rafe kicked at his mare, urging more from her gallop along the giantsway. Wind snatched at his hair, pulling it out wild as a mane behind him as he bent over her arched neck, sweat staining her coat, Scratcher pounding along on the meadow parallel to them.\n\n\"Almost there,\" he yelled as he pulled on the reins, sending her skidding down the giantsway's embankment and onto a hard-packed road, galloping like the north wind through the outskirts of Havan village and then pounding up the track that led to Dun Carreg.\n\nRafe had to rein in hard once in the courtyard, as it was crowded with warriors, all with mounts, clad in Rhin's black and gold. A quick glance showed mud-stained boots and cloaks, dust-caked horses.\n\nProbably more latecomers answering Geraint's muster. Other warriors had passed through Dun Carreg's gates for the same reason, and Morcant had sent them on their way after Rhin's warband, over a ten-night gone already.\n\nRafe rode onto the courtyard before Dun Carreg's keep, leaped from his horse's back and sprinted up wide steps into the feast-hall.\n\nIt was dark, a low fire crackling in the fire-pit, Morcant sitting at a table upon a dais; a warrior in black and gold stood before him.\n\n\"... food, rest, provisions for your journey from our kitchens,\" Morcant was saying to the warrior, the captain of those in the courtyard, Rafe guessed. He was broad-shouldered, with red hair streaked with silver, a scar dissecting his braided beard.\n\n\"How many of you?\" Morcant asked.\n\n\"Two hundred and fifty swords, my lord,\" the warrior replied." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I've found them, ' Rafe blurted, skidding to a halt before Morcant.\n\n\"What?\" Morcant said, turning a bored expression upon Rafe.\n\n\"Edana and the rebels, in the Baglun,\" Rafe all but yelled. \"I've found them! '\n\nMorcant stared at him a few moments, then slowly stood.\n\n\"Sound the call to arms,\" he said to a guard standing close by. \"Prepare my war gear.\"\n\nThe guard hurried to the feast-hall doors, put his horn to his lips and blew.\n\n\"Sounds as if it's about to get busy round here, \"the red-haired warrior said to Morcant.\"If we can just restock our provisions, we'll be on our way.\"\n\n\"To hell with that,\" Morcant said. \"You're Rhin's warriors, you can ride with my warband and fight her enemies. You can damn well earn your food.\"\n\nRafe sat impatiently upon his horse as Morcant rode into the courtyard, followed by a score more mounted warriors, all in gleaming mail andiron helms, clutching spears, shields slung across backs or strapped to saddles.\n\nMorcant pulled his black stallion in a tight circle.\n\n\"Time to clear this land of some vermin,\" he yelled. \"They've been raiding and burning, striking and running away, the cowards. But now we know where they are. \"Men rattled spears on shields.\"Time to show them how real warriors behave. We'll return to these walls when our enemy lie dead at our feet.\"\n\nLouder cheering, and then Morcant was kicking at his horse's ribs and cantering out through the arch of Stonegate, Rafe falling in beside him. Together they rode across the bridge and down the hill, an endless double column of riders flowing from the fortress, seven hundred men. At the base of the hill more men gathered, a larger force, falling in as Morcant rode past them, surging up to the giantsway and heading south, towards the Baglun." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Rafe had found Edana's camp in the trees close to the Oathstone glade and the giantsway." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They'd even cut trees down from the glade, making it more habitable. Rafe had caught a glimpse of Edana, thought about trying to sneak in and put a knife through her eye, but thought it more risky than storming the camp with fifteen hundred swords.\n\nOver seventeen hundred now. He smiled, glancing back at the mass of warriors behind him.\n\n\"Let me take a hundred men east,\" Rafe said, \"and flank them. I'll flush them out into the open glade, and then... ' He grinned.\n\n\"Vengeance,\" said Morcant. \"For my silver, my tower, the humiliation at Dun Crin. And the score of arrows that Camlin has put into you.\" He looked at Rafe and smiled back.\n\n\"Time for Camlin to die,\" Rafe agreed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin sat on a stolen horse, trotting down the giantsway, sun dappling the flagstoned road.\n\nRegardless of the sun and blue sky, there was a crisp chill to the air, and about them the leaves were shifting from green to russet and gold.\n\nAutumn's coming, and winter won't be far behind. Not a good time to be living rough in the forest.\n\nBehind him fifteen more men and women rode, Baird one of them, humming a tune as he itched absently at his eyeless socket. Baird had insisted oncoming along because he was bored; he was the only one of Camlin's crew with a shield slung over his back. The rest of them were mostly woodsmen and hunters, happier with bow and spear than sword and shield.\n\nThe trees of the Baglun thinned and Camlin heard the chatter of water over shingle as they neared the ford across the river Tarin, then the trees were gone and they were in open ground, the river before them, meadows rolling towards Dun Carreg.\n\nA dark shadow came plummeting down from the sky, screeching and squawking.\n\n\"WARE THE ENEMY,\" Craf was crying, over and over again.\n\nThen Camlin heard them– a rumble that grew quickly, setting stones rattling and dirt sliding down the giantsway's embankment. Mounted warriors appeared from behind the curve of a gentle hill. A great wave of Rhin's black and gold, no end to them.\n\n\"By Elyon above and Asroth below,\" Baird breathed.\n\nFor timeless moments Camlin and his raiders just sat on their horses and stared, open-mouthed." }, { "from": "human", "value": "From the head of the warband a rider drew his sword, pointed it at Camlin and his crew and shouted some battle-cry." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A wordless roar rose up from the warband as they spurred their horses on.\n\nAs if a spell had broken, Camlin lurched into motion, tugging at his reins, kicking, swearing at his mount, everyone doing the same, back towards the Baglun.\n\nCamlin felt panic spreading as he struggled to get his horse moving in the right direction, others jostling into him, then he was away, reaching a gallop as he passed under the eaves of the Baglun's first trees.\n\nAnd then everything was sound and motion. The thunder of hooves about and behind him as a storm crashed across the old river ford, Camlin clinging to his horse, Baird in front of him, whooping like it was a Midsummer's Day race.\n\nCamlin's crew clustered about him, faces set in hard, frightened lines, all knowing that death resided in heartbeats, the road speeding by beneath pounding hooves, branches above growing thicker, all the while the thunderous avalanche of horseflesh and screaming warriors behind them growing ever closer.\n\nI'm a dead man.\n\nAnd then they were bursting into a glade of bright sunlight, the Oathstone standing dark and tall to Camlin's left. He reined in hard, others about him doing the same, a few galloping on, ducking low in their saddles so that heads and bodies lay tight against their mounts\" necks.\n\nCamlin scrambled from his saddle, slapping his mount's rump, and the mare was flying off down the giantsway again. He heard Baird yelling for him to hurry as he slithered down the embankment, broke into a run, heart pounding in his mouth, legs pumping as he sprinted with a dozen others towards the treeline, leaping into its shadows as their pursuers hurtled into the glade." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shadowed figures appeared around Camlin, a short one thrusting his new-made bow of elm into his hand, waving a quiver of arrows at him. Then he was turning, crouching behind a bush and gasping in gulps of air.\n\n\"Well, that worked a treat, eh?\" Baird said to him, grinning wildly.\n\n\"Bit too well,\" Camlin said. \"Think I've soiled my breeches. '\n\nThat made Baird laugh like a madman." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rafe squinted at the sudden brightness of the sun as they burst into the Oathstone glade, dazzlingly bright after their gallop through the twilight of the Baglun.\n\nHorses galloped ahead, their enemy disappearing into shadow as they sped through the glade and back into the Baglun's gloom.\n\nCamlin's leading them.\n\nSeeing him had incensed Rafe, and the plan of sneaking and flushing the enemy out of hiding was suddenly so much wasted breath.\n\nNo matter. We have Camlin now, he cannot escape from this, and we are too many for Edana's rabble, whether we take them by surprise or not.\n\nThe Oathstone reared dark and rune-written to Rafe's left, the glade around them wide and sunlit.\n\nDifferent from how I remember it. Wider. Not a glade now, more a meadow. Then Rafe saw the stumps of fresh-cut trees.\n\n\"MORCANT,\" Rafe yelled over the din of their charge, \"STOP!\"\n\nMorcant glanced at him as Rafe leaned back in his saddle and dragged on his reins.\n\nMorcant followed suit, sawed on his reins, his horse tossing its head, hooves skidding. Riders about them sped on through the glade and into the shadows as the forest closed above them. A heartbeat later those same warriors were thrown from their saddles, as if some invisible god had just flicked them hard in the chest, sending them hurtling through the air. The horses galloped on. In moments a dozen men were down, rolling on the giantsway and trampled by those behind, more men falling with every heartbeat." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then Rafe saw it, a glint in the dappled light.\n\nRopes.\n\n\"They've strung ropes across the giantsway, ' he bellowed to Morcant.\n\nMorcant and Rafe were yelling, waving arms at the riders behind, horses skidding on the flagstones, down either side of the embankment, spilling onto the meadow grass as the bulk of the warband came galloping into the glade. More men fell to the ropes across the road, but the rest were slowing now and milling on the giantsway, spreading deeper into the glade. A great groaning creak rose up behind them and Rafe twisted in his saddle to see a tree toppling across the giantsway, a great booming crash as it slammed into the road.\n\nIt's a trap.\n\nFear raced down Rafe's spine.\n\nA moment's silence, dust settling. A bee buzzed industriously about a cluster of purple foxglove, oblivious of the warband it was sharing the glade with.\n\nThen figures were stepping out of the shadows: men and women, all with longbows in their hands. Thirty, forty of them. They formed a ragged line, pulled arrows from quivers, nocked and drew their bows.\n\nLoosed.\n\nBlood in the sunlight, men and horses toppling, screaming, death throes churning the turf. Another flight of arrows thumping into flesh, muscle, mail, Rafe swinging out of his saddle, running behind his horse, using it as cover, heading down the embankment. Morcant yelling orders, mostly ignored. Then battle-cries from the far side of the giantsway, hidden from Rafe's view. The clash of iron rising up from that direction, more screams. Rafe saw horsemen spur their mounts at the archers– forty, fifty riders together, maybe more, led by a quick-thinking captain– a wall of flesh and hooves andiron, spraying grass and earth as they leaped into motion." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The archers didn't move, just kept on drawing, loosing, a handful of riders toppling back in their saddles, a horse's front legs collapsing, ploughing into the ground, but the rest continued their charge. Fifty paces from the archers, and still they didn't move. Another volley of arrows saw more men thrown from their saddles, but the wave of horsemen held their line, only twenty paces from the archers now.\n\nRafe grinned.\n\nThey're dead. They'll never get out of the way in time.\n\nAnd then the wall of riders disappeared, as if swallowed by the earth itself." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Men and horses screamed.\n\nCamlin drew and loosed, again and again and again, firing down into the trench that had taken back-breaking days to dig, then been covered and hidden with a lattice framework of willow branches overlaid with a layer of turf and scattered with autumn leaves. Now the trench was full of men and horses, some screaming with broken bones or pierced with arrows, others desperately scrambling to get out. Two warriors right in front of Camlin were close to climbing out, forsaking their mounts and using sword and spear as spikes to pierce the earth and pull themselves up the steep slope. Baird lunged forwards with his sword and one warrior fell back, gurgling blood. The other one collapsed twitching with one of Camlin's arrows through his eye.\n\n\"Like mice in a grain barrel,\" Baird said as he stabbed a warrior, then kicked another in the head.\n\nThose who had charged them were mostly dead, a pile of butchered meat in a ready-made grave. Camlin looked up, saw more of Morcant's warband coming their way, further back amass of horsemen clustered around the tree that had blocked any retreat down the giantsway. From the far side of the giantsway the din of battle echoed, where Pendathran and his men fought.\n\nThe gruff battlechief had arrived two days ago, bringing three hundred and forty men with him.\n\nThe time for us to roll our knuckle-bones is here, Edana had said. It's door die.\n\nThat it is, Camlin thought, looking from the ditch before him, full of blood and guts and slime, then up to the giantsway, clogged with raucous battle. And so far the plan had worked well.\n\nAlmost too well. That race before Morcant's warband was too close for comfort." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin had seen Rafe enter the Baglun two days gone, had been waiting for him, and had left a trail for him to follow. Not too obvious; he'd been trained by Braith, and so Camlin knew Rafe would be good. No, just enough to ensure that Rafe would get a glimpse of Edana's camp. Once Camlin saw Rafe slinking away he knew he'd be back with Morcant and a warband. All that was left to do was lure them into Camlin's killing ground.\n\nOther riders were gathering on the meadow and giantsway, orders flying, organizing, swords and spears pointing at Camlin and his crew.\n\n\"Ready, lads and lasses?\" Camlin shouted, drawing, nocking, choosing his target. His arrow took a man through the throat, sent him tumbling sideways from his saddle, one foot stuck in his stirrup, his horse running off. Others fellas Camlin's archers released their deadly hail.\n\nThen the riders were moving, not bounding into a gallop, but a more controlled canter that ate up the distance between them and Camlin's crew.\n\n\"Ready!\" Camlin yelled again, another arrow nocked and loosed. He saw it skitter away, a glancing blow across an iron helm.\n\n\"Back,\" he shouted as the riders swept around the edges of the long pit, bearing down on Camlin's forty from their flanks, but Camlin and his crew were stepping back into the treeline, melting into the shadows, the horses crashing into the undergrowth after them, men ducking beneath low branches, weapons snaring.\n\nAnd then new figures were appearing: a host of warriors rising up from the undergrowth and roaring out of the shadows, led by a blonde-haired woman, clothed in chainmail shirt and leather surcoat, hair knotted in a thick warrior braid that curled beneath her iron cap." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Edana, spear in her hands, Halion at her side.\n\nThey carved into the riders with a deafening roar.\n\nA crashing of hooves to his left, and Camlin was spinning, a horse bearing down on him, iron glinting as a sword rushed towards his head.\n\nSometimes you can be too busy watching someone else's back to take care of your own.\n\nCamlin threw himself backwards, tripped and fellas a sword hissed through the air where his neck had been. He rolled to the side, as hooves sought to trample him.\n\nAnother figure appeared, moving in close to the rider, iron clashing, then the figure was jumping away, the rider's saddle girth cut and he was slipping, crashing to the ground.\n\n\"He's all yours, ' Baird grinned at him and swept off amongst the trees.\n\nCamlin rushed forwards and kicked the rising warrior in the face, stabbed down into his mouth, sprayed teeth as he ripped his blade free. The man's boots drummed on the turf, then were still.\n\nCamlin stood over him, breathing heavily, then he wiped his sword clean on the dead man's cloak and retrieved his bow. The enemy within the trees were dead or retreating, Edana leading her warriors out onto the meadow. They ran after the retreating horsemen and charged at the milling crowds upon the meadow. Pendathran and his warriors were spread amongst them, visible upon the giantsway. Camlin gathered his archers about him, seeking a spot from where they could wreak the most ruin.\n\n\"Good fight,\" Baird grunted at Camlin as he pulled his sword from a dead man's ribs.\n\n\"Aye,\" Camlin said, pausing to survey the field. They were still vastly outnumbered, but the enemy were fighting in milling confusion. Edana's and Pendathran's men on foot were slipping amongst the too-close horsemen, swords and spears slashing at thighs and horses' bellies." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We maybe outnumbered still, but the odds area damn sight more even than when I came galloping into this glade.\n\nBaird ran at a rider, leaped, one hand grabbing the back of the saddle and heaving himself up, sword raking across the warrior's throat, then Baird was jumping away, the dying warrior spraying blood between fingers.\n\nCamlin saw Morcant; his sword was red to the hilt. Warriors were gathering behind him, hundreds, more rallying to him, forming up into a wedge and pushing into Edana's men. Morcant chopped savagely to either side, face twisted in a snarl, men falling before him, his followers widening the gap that he was making. He was heading straight towards Edana.\n\n\"Meg,\" Camlin shouted, \"you up there?\"\n\n\"Course I am,\" a squeaky voice drifted down.\n\n\"Think you'd better blow that horn. '\n\nMorcant was closer to Edana, dead warriors left in a bloody wake behind him. Camlin pulled an arrow from his quiver, nocked it and drew, aiming at Morcant's chest. A knot of riders passed in front of him, obscuring him momentarily from view.\n\nCome on. Got you now." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Assist the writer, move the story forward.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 78" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We maybe outnumbered still, but the odds area damn sight more even than when I came galloping into this glade.\n\nBaird ran at a rider, leaped, one hand grabbing the back of the saddle and heaving himself up, sword raking across the warrior's throat, then Baird was jumping away, the dying warrior spraying blood between fingers.\n\nCamlin saw Morcant; his sword was red to the hilt. Warriors were gathering behind him, hundreds, more rallying to him, forming up into a wedge and pushing into Edana's men. Morcant chopped savagely to either side, face twisted in a snarl, men falling before him, his followers widening the gap that he was making. He was heading straight towards Edana.\n\n\"Meg,\" Camlin shouted, \"you up there?\"\n\n\"Course I am,\" a squeaky voice drifted down.\n\n\"Think you'd better blow that horn. '\n\nMorcant was closer to Edana, dead warriors left in a bloody wake behind him. Camlin pulled an arrow from his quiver, nocked it and drew, aiming at Morcant's chest. A knot of riders passed in front of him, obscuring him momentarily from view.\n\nCome on. Got you now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Got you now, Rafe thought as he crept upon Camlin.\n\nHe saw him pull an arrow from his quiver and aim into the battle.\n\nAt Morcant.\n\nRafe drew his knife and gathered his legs under him.\n\nThen a horn blew out, long and loud. It startled Rafe because it came from almost directly above. He craned his neck, saw a small figure standing on a branch, a horn to its lips.\n\nThen something happened in the battle.\n\nThe warriors at the far end of the giantsway– at least two hundred men, all mounted and clustered by the fallen tree– were tearing off their cloaks of black and gold and charging into their comrades. Men were screaming, horses rearing, hooves lashing, swords rising and falling.\n\nWhat! Who? Then Rafe realized. The warriors who had just arrived at Dun Carreg this morning. He spied their red-haired captain, stabbing and hacking his way along the road.\n\nBetrayed. Rafe felt a rush of fear, for the first time truly considered the possibility of losing this battle.\n\nAnd I'd wager you've played your part in it all, you sneaky bastard, Rafe thought, glaring at Camlin's back. There was a tremor in the archer's arm as he waited fora clear shot at Morcant.\n\nWith a snarl Rafe leaped at Camlin.\n\nThe collision sent Camlin's arrow skittering high, his bow flying from his grip, Rafe stabbing at Camlin's back. The blade scraped off mail, the coat hidden under a jerkin and tunic. They rolled on the ground together, Rafe with one arm tightening around Camlin's throat. Then stars exploded in Rafe's vision and he tasted blood, was rolling, felt grass on his face. The world lurched back into focus and he was on his hands and knees, knife still in his grip, blood gushing from his nose." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin had butted Rafe in the face with the back of his head. The ageing huntsman was climbing to his feet now, sword in his hand.\n\n\"I was hoping I'd run into you, ' Camlin said.\n\nRafe jumped to his feet and hurled himself at Camlin, consumed with the urge to smash, stab and beat the life from him.\n\nCamlin swung away, but too slowly, Rafe clipping Camlin's hip with his shoulder, sending the older man spinning, Rafe slashing with his knife but only cutting through air. Camlin's sword hissed over his head but Rafe was skidding, turning and leaping at Camlin again.\n\nJust get close, let my knife do the rest.\n\nThey crashed together, tumbling to the turf, Rafe's knife pinned between Camlin and the ground. Pain exploded in Rafe's head as Camlin pounded him with the hilt of his sword. He bit Camlin's shoulder, swung his head up, connected with Camlin's chin, felt him go limp fora moment and put his freehand over Camlin's face, started grinding it into the ground, fingers searching for his eyes, nose, anything to rip or gouge. He felt panic in the old man as Rafe's fingers inched closer to Camlin's eyes.\n\nThen another explosion in his head, the world spinning, and he was flat on his back, looking up at branches and blue sky. He rolled, felt his stomach lurch.\n\nA girl was standing over Camlin. Her arm drew back and she threw something; fresh pain erupted in his shoulder.\n\n\"Little bitch,\" he snarled, stumbling towards her and Camlin, backhanding her, sending her flying through the air, rolling to a stop. She didn't move." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He stood over Camlin, who was on his hands and knees now, hand searching for his sword hilt. Rafe kicked him in the ribs, lifted Camlin from the ground, sent him tumbling towards the ditch full of dead riders and horses.\n\n\"Best stop that,\" a voice said behind him, \"that's my friend you're kicking.\"\n\nRafe turned to see an ageing warrior, small and slim, his sword red to the hilt, only one eye in his head, the other socket a scar-latticed hole.\n\nRafe switched his knife to his left hand and drew his sword." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin spat blood.\n\nHe heard a voice, Baird? then the clash and grunt of blows. He rose unsteadily, a sharp pain in his ribs.\n\nPain's good, he told himself. Tells me I'm not dead.\n\nRafe...\n\nHe was a dozen paces away, trading blows with Baird, who was retreating before a savage onslaught, Rafe's attack not so much skilful, but relentless and adder-fast. Camlin took a step towards them, then he saw a small, crumpled shape in the grass.\n\n\"Meg?\"\n\nHe stumbled to her side, fear spiralling within him, dropped to one knee and lifted her head.\n\nShe groaned, which helped him to breathe. Her jaw was broken, bruised and slack.\n\nRafe.\n\nCamlin lay Meg down gently and advanced on Rafe and Baird.\n\nThey were both breathing hard, both bleeding, Baird along the length of one forearm, Rafe a gash across his cheek.\n\nBoots drummed; Brogan joined them.\n\n\"This the one you told me about?\" he asked Camlin, eyeing Rafe. \"The one you keep putting arrows into that won't die? '\n\n\"Aye, that's him, ' Camlin said.\n\nThe two of them circled Rafe, who was edging back towards the treeline, Baird making feints and lunges. Camlin's knuckles whitened as he gripped his sword, awaited an opening. Brogan was on Rafe's far side now. He raised his sword.\n\nThen Rafe was throwing his weapons down, dropping to his knees, arms raised behind his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Mercy,\" he cried, \"mercy.\"\n\nCamlin blinked, stared at Baird and Brogan, both of them looking as shocked as Camlin felt.\n\nBaird laughed.\n\nCamlin took a limping pace closer, sword-point hovering over Rafe's chest.\n\nJust kill him, put your sword through his heart. He's trouble. Put an end to it, put an end to him.\n\nCamlin's blade hovered, trembling. Rafe was weeping, snot running from his nose.\n\n\"Mercy,\" he begged.\n\nCamlin lowered his sword.\n\nThen a horn was blowing, ringing through the clearing.\n\nIt was Vonn. He'd climbed the Oathstone and was sending blast after blast reverberating around the great glade. Camlin felt the battle ebb, men pausing to stare at Vonn.\n\n\"Edana is merciful,\" Vonn cried as the last horn blast still hung in the air. \"Men of Ardan, if you fight for Rhin, lay down your arms. Edana is merciful, so lay down your arms and live.\"\n\n\"Never,\" a voice cried out– Morcant. He was on foot before the Oathstone, still a score or so of his men about him, Edana and her shieldmen close. \"Edana leads this rabble and nothing else, Rhin is Queen of the West.\"\n\n\"Morcant is Rhin's whore, \"Vonn cried out,\"a puppet of Cambren. If there are men of Ardan or Narvon amongst you, lay down your arms and save yourselves. The battle is lost for you, but Edana is merciful. '\n\nAnd slowly, from only a few men at first, Camlin heard the clatter of weapons dropping to the ground, the sound growing, rippling about the field." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Morcant screeched with rage and hurled himself towards Edana, a handful of warriors following him, the sounds of battle ringing out again, but only there. Elsewhere about the field men were falling to their knees and raising their hands in surrender. Morcant cut a man down, almost within reach of Edana. Camlin saw his bow and retrieved it, took a few paces towards the battle.\n\nBehind Camlin there was a thud, a grunt, the sounds of a scuffle. He turned and blinked, confused at first.\n\nBaird was standing, swaying, his hands pressed tight to his stomach, looking down at Brogan and Rafe as they rolled on the grass. Even as Camlin took a step towards them he heard a crunch, saw Rafe club Brogan's skull with the pommel of his dagger, once, twice, Brogan slumping. A third time. Rafe wriggled out from beneath the bulk of the big warrior and jumped to his feet.\n\nCamlin drew an arrow, aimed it at Rafe's heart.\n\nBaird took a staggering step, lifted his hands from his stomach, blood-drenched. He sighed and dropped to the ground.\n\nCamlin's arm wavered and Rafe ran, ducking, twisting, towards the treeline. Camlin loosed, his arrow thumping into a trunk, Rafe spinning away, a shadow amongst the trees. With a snarl, Camlin ran to Baird, dropped and cradled him, saw the warrior's one eye staring lifelessly back at him.\n\nMercy, Rafe said, shed a few tears, and I lowered my sword. And now Baird's dead. I've gone soft. Braith would have exiled me from the Darkwood for such foolishness. He shook his head, mouth a thin line." }, { "from": "human", "value": "He moved to Brogan." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Blood was matting the big man's hair. A pulse beat faintly at his neck.\n\nCamlin stared into the forest, searching for Rafe, but there was no sign of him. He stood and took apace towards the trees.\n\n\"Camlin,\" a voice whispered. It was Meg, groaning as she moved. Camlin limped over to her, carried her to a tree and laid her against it. He stroked hair from her eyes.\n\n\"My thaw urts,\" she mumbled.\n\n\"I know, lass,\" Camlin whispered. \"It's going t'hurt fora while longer.\"\n\nHe stared after Rafe for long moments– no sign of him within the forest gloom– then looked towards the sound of battle where Morcant fought on.\n\nAnother time, Rafe, Camlin vowed. I will hunt you down.\n\n\"You rest here, now, girlie, where you're safe, and I'll be back soon enough,\" Camlin said to Meg, then he stood and hurried towards Edana, threading his way through afield of slaughter.\n\nOnly Morcant was still fighting. Even as Camlin watched, he cut his way through two more men in a last attempt to reach Edana. But a ring of warriors stood before her. Pendathran was bellowing orders on the giantsway, organizing the rounding-up of those who had surrendered, and Drust came cantering towards Morcant and Edana with a score of riders at his back.\n\nWe've done it. I can't believe we've actually done it. All the planning, the tricks and traps and deceptions, I never dared think we'd actually win. Not when I saw Morcant galloping down the giantsway, over a thousand men at his back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Morcant threw himself at the wall of men gathered before Edana, near enough bounced from their shields, chopped with his sword, splinters spraying, screamed in his fury, spittle flying. Then the wall parted and Halion stepped through it, dark hair tied back into his warrior braid, mail shirt red with gore, Edana behind him. She was blood-spattered, a sword in her hand now, spear gone. The blade was red. She walked tall, face fierce and exultant.\n\n\"It's over, Morcant, ' Edana said.\n\n\"You foolish girl!\" Morcant snarled. \"This means nothing. Rhin will return, and when she does...\" He looked at the warriors gathered silently about him. \"Rhin will decorate this land with your innards. You'll all be food for crows. '\n\n\"If Rhin comes back, I'll have a fine reception awaiting her, \"Edana said, voice proud and clear,\"but that's for another day. This day, we will be celebrating the freedom of Ardan.\"\n\nA cheer rose up, louder than the horn blasts.\n\nA large ring had formed around Morcant, men stepping aside to let Camlin through, nodding at him, patting him on the back.\n\n\"And now for you,\" Edana said, \"Morcant, puppet of Rhin, slayer of women and bairns.\"\n\nA hand slipped into Camlin's and he looked down to see Meg standing there, glaring at Morcant with a ferocious look upon her face.\n\nMorcant just stared at Edana, proud and haughty.\n\n\"This glade stirs memories within me,\" Edana continued, \"of a glade in the Darkwood, where I was riding with my mother, Queen Alona. You led that ambush. My mam...\" She looked around at the glade. \"Ironic, that your end should happen here, in this way. Tricked, taken by surprise in a forest glade. My mother died soon after, you know.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"I remember,\" Morcant said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I remember hearing that news, and I was glad.\"\n\n\"And I shall be glad to watch you die, now,\" she replied.\n\nMorcant spat on the floor, then lunged at her, fast as anything Camlin had ever seen. Morcant had been a half-dozen strides from Edana, but he covered them in a heartbeat, sword whipping out as fast as a snake, aiming straight at her heart. Camlin tried to move, reached for an arrow, but it was as if he were moving through water compared to Morcant's speed.\n\nThen Halion was knocking Morcant's sword aside, punching Morcant on the jaw, sending him sprawling, stepping into the space between Morcant and Edana.\n\n\"Get up,\" Halion said.\n\nMorcant didn't need telling twice; he leaped up, circled to Halion's left, sword extended, hovering low.\n\n\"You're not even from Ardan, ' Morcant said to him.\n\n\"That is of no ma-\" Halion began, then Morcant was lunging at him, sword-point darting high. Halion knocked it away, parried a sideways slash from Morcant. A roll of Morcant's wrist and he stabbed at Halion's throat. Again the blow was slapped away, Halion's gaze fixed on Morcant's eyes. Then Halion took a shuffling step forwards, feinted low and struck high, stepped back with blood on his sword-tip, a thin line trickling down Morcant's cheek.\n\n\"I've seen you fight, \"Halion shrugged, then he was walking forwards slowly, Morcant darting blows at him, lunges, short savage chops, looping two-handed strokes, but Halion seemed to walk through them, parrying, counter-striking, Morcant retreating, circling left and right, probing for weaknesses in Halion's defence. His blows came faster, fluid combinations that rained down upon Halion from all angles and his advance stopped, Halion setting his feet and weathering Morcant's barrage. Slowly Halion began to counter, first a single blow here, a parry turned into a strike there, then striking again and again, until they were trading back and forth at each other, blow for blow, the speed a blinding blur. Camlin watched, entranced by their skill." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then Morcant took a step back, breaking the hypnotic power of their contest.\n\nHalion watched him, still fixed on Morcant's eyes.\n\nMorcant was breathing heavily now, sucking in deep breaths, one hand on his knee, sword-point dug in the earth. Morcant leaned on his weapon as if it was a walking stick.\n\n\"You don't fight, like your brother, ' Morcant breathed.\n\n\"I could have told you that,\" Halion said.\n\n\"Rhin knows, you know. About your brother,\" Morcant said.\n\n\"Knows what?\"\n\n\"That Conall set you free, from Dun Taras\" dungeon. '\n\nHalion's eyes narrowed.\n\n\"She'll kill him for it, when she's ready. Use him first, of course. But then...\"\n\n\"You're lying, ' Halion snarled.\n\n\"Really? Then how did I know who set you free?\"\n\nHalion frowned.\n\nMorcant jerked his wrist, flicking earth from his sword-point at Halion's face. Halion swayed away, but Morcant was attacking. His sword, stabbing at Halion's throat, grated off Halion's torc, left a red line. He pressed on, chopped down at Halion's thigh, Halion blocking frantically, Morcant relentlessly pressing Halion back, towards Edana. Their blades clashed, grated, clashed again, then Morcant was in close, slipping his foot behind Halion's and shoving him hard in the chest. Halion spun gracefully away.\n\n\"See you've been learning from Conall, \"Halion said.\"Unlikely to work on me, though. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Depends what result you're after, \"Morcant smiled. Watching, Camlin realized that as Halion and Morcant had fought, Halion had remained between Morcant and Edana, but now, to avoid Morcant's trip, Halion had spun away from the young Queen and Morcant was standing only two paces away from her, nothing between them but air.\n\nMorcant grinned, moving in a blur, his sword snaking out, slicing towards Edana's throat.\n\nAn arrow punched into Morcant's side, staggering him half a dozen paces.\n\nCamlin stepped into the circle, another arrow already nocked and drawn. He loosed as Morcant gathered himself and took an unsteady step towards Edana, the arrow slamming into Morcant's belly, piercing leather and mail, sinking deep. Morcant grunted, sank to one knee, his sword dropping from his fist. He looked up at Camlin.\n\n\"Should have killed you, back in the Darkwood,\" Morcant whispered. He swayed and coughed blood, speckling his chin.\n\n\"Aye,\" grunted Camlin, striding closer, another arrow on his bow, nocked and aimed at Morcant's heart.\"But you didn't. Instead it's me killing you. '\n\nHe stopped apace or two away from Morcant and looked to Edana. She gave him a curt nod.\n\nCamlin's arrow flew from his bow, plunging into Morcant's chest, half the shaft disappearing, the force of it slamming Morcant onto his back. He looked up at Camlin, whispered something and then his eyes glazed, sightless.\n\nA silence settled over the glade." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hang his body from a tree,\" Edana snarled. \"Let Craf have what's left of him. '\n\n\"Thank you,\" a voice cawed from the branches.\n\nCamlin walked through the streets of Dun Carreg. It was sunset, with long shadows. The sun was warm upon his back but a chill was filling the world.\n\nDespite the day's victory, Camlin's mood was melancholy. Despite how easy it had been to walk into Dun Carreg, the people overwhelming the handful of guards manning the gates before Edana's warband had even crossed the bridge to Stonegate, despite the celebrations that had welcomed them into the streets, and despite the feast that was even now going on in the feast-hall.\n\nIt was Baird's death more than anything that had stayed with him. A good man. A brave man. One whom Camlin had trusted.\n\nA friend.\n\nNot so many of them about. And one less, now.\n\nHis feet took him to the courtyard before Stonegate, the doors closed and barred now. A few men milled by the gatehouse. Camlin angled away from them, raising a hand to their cheerful greetings, and climbed the stairwell.\n\nGuardsmen stood on the wall, spears in one hand, skins of mead in the other.\n\nAnd why not? It's a night to celebrate, if ever there was one. I remember the night this fortress fell, the night we ran, fled, across a sea, two realms. And here I am back again.\n\nA solitary figure stood apart on the battlements, gazing out over the land. A big man, neck muscled like a bull. Camlin stood beside him. Beyond the steep drop of the wall the world spread before him, the sinking sun painting the meadows and coves, woodland and pastures in hues of amber and pink." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I'm surprised you're not dead, No-Neck,\" Camlin said. \"Glad you're not, is what I mean. '\n\n\"Got a hard head,\" Brogan grunted, a bandage wrapped around his skull.\n\n\"For sure.\"\n\nThey stood in companionable silence for several minutes, watching the grey of dusk seep into the world.\n\n\"I'm going after Rafe, on the morrow, \"Camlin said.\"Leaving at first light. '\n\nBrogan glanced at him. \"Thought you'd be staying here awhile, ' he said.\n\n\"Job's done here, \"Camlin muttered.\"And we have the necklace. It's not much use here, and I'm thinking Corban and the others could do with it. '\n\n\"That the only reason you're going? ' Brogan asked.\n\n\"No. Thought Baird deserved better'n that, today. Doesn't sit well with me, celebrating, when Rafe's out there, and my guess is he's headed after Rhin. Least I can do is send him after Baird.\"\n\nBrogan grunted and looked back out over the landscape. \"I'll come, ' he said after awhile.\n\nThe shadows deepened and torches were lit. Camlin thought he saw movement beyond the bridge, a denser shape in the shadows. He stared hard, but saw no more sign of movement. Then he heard footsteps entering the courtyard. He looked back and saw Edana there, changed from her blooded war gear, but still in breeches, shirt and leather jerkin, a sword hanging at her hip. Her cloak was a little finer, dyed the grey of Ardan, edged in ermine. Halion and Vonn were with her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a whisper of wings in the darkness, the scrape of talons on stone.\n\n\"Here you are, then,\" Edana said, climbing the steps. \"I've been looking everywhere for you. '\n\n\"Why's that, my Queen, ' Camlin said, giving her a bow. He had to admit, it did feelgood to see her home, after years of running, living on the road. He smiled at her.\n\n\"What?\" she asked.\n\n\"The cloak suits you.\"\n\n\"Thank you,\" she said, smiling in return.\n\n\"Now, my lady, what is it that I can do for you on this night of nights, when you should be feasting and basking in the glory of your victory.\"\n\n\"I just wanted to tell you not to drink too much tonight,\" Edana said, \"because we've an early start on the morrow and along journey ahead of us. '\n\nCamlin frowned. \"What journey?\"\n\n\"I'm going to take the starstone necklace to Corban, and I'm taking as many men as Pendathran can spare me,\" she said. \"No doubt Rhin will have every intention of coming back and trying to take my realm away from me, so I thought, I might as well kill the old bitch now, and do us and the world a favour.\"\n\n\"FINALLY,\" Craf squawked triumphantly, hopping into the torchlight.\n\nVonn blinked at Edana's language, a smile twitching Halion's lips.\n\n\"I think you've been spending too much time with a Darkwood brigand, \"Camlin said.\"You're starting to think and talk like one.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coralen was positioned on a ridge, her strung bow propped against a tree beside her as she stared through a gap in thick foliage at the western perimeter of Lothar's warband. She listened to the wet slap of axes meeting wood, rhythmic and constant as teams of woodcutters felled trees, orders shouted to a myriad of workers, the creak of wains as they rolled heavily laden along fresh-laid wooden tracks, the whinny and neigh of horses and rattle of chains as they dragged logs. And in the distance, behind them all, the slow creep of Lothar's warriors.\n\nFor half a moon now Coralen had commanded the attack on Nathair and Lothar's warbands, a war of attrition that was proving frustratingly slow. Her network of scouts tracking and mapping the progress of the warband as it edged remorselessly towards Drassil estimated that it, and its road, would beat Drassil within two moons.\n\nHow are we going to stop them?\n\nIt was proving to be extremely difficult to disrupt or obstruct the road-building in any significant way, and Elyon knew that Coralen had tried, because those had been Corban's last words to her.\n\nUntil I arrive, just slow that warband down, he'd said. Harass them, unnerve, demoralize them. And kill as many as you can.\n\nCoralen had planned and led more than a score of raids now. She had over a hundred hand-picked men, women and giants in her crew, and they had struck at workers, paddocks, latrines, grain stores in the camp itself, and while they had always come away with few casualties and a handful of kills between them, the strikes were never as successful as Coralen had envisaged they would be. The most effective of the raids had been on the supply train that wound the long road behind the warband, stretching all the way to Helveth in the south, but even that had not seemed to have much of an effect on the constant roll of the warband towards Drassil." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's because of those damn eagle-guard and their wall of shields.\n\nNo matter what her tactics, the eagle-guard were incredibly disciplined, and whether the raids took place in night or day, at dawn or dusk, within heartbeats Coralen would hear that now-hated sound of shields thudding together as Nathair's eagle-guard formed protective walls about whoever was being attacked.\n\nIt was beyond frustrating.\n\nCorban will be here soon with more swords. We need to sow fear. To whittle down numbers, make them miserable and scared before they meet us in battle.\n\nShe shifted, felt the damp of the earth she was lying upon seeping into her breeches. Behind her she heard the pad of Storm, quiet yet heavy, and the scuffle of smaller paws as three of her cubs followed her. Storm's muzzle sniffed Coralen's cheek, then licked her.\n\n\"Yuk,\" Coralen muttered absently. Movement caught her eye, a few hundred paces to her right, and she saw Dath, just fora heartbeat, as he settled into his position. There were more of her people out there, she knew. Over a score of them spread around this section of the camp.\n\nThen she heard the creak of a wain as the guard-line parted and more eagle-guard appeared, stepping out of the protection of the camp and into the twilight of Forn.\n\nHere they come.\n\nSix men walking in a tight line, shields overlapping, behind them a shaggy-coated auroch pulling a wain, then another. Eagle-guard marched in column either side of the wains, and another six brought up the rear. A handful of men walked behind each wain, shovels over their shoulders, eyeing the forest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Twenty-four eagle-guard, ten labourers.\n\nThe wains were piled full of night-soil, taking it to be dumped in the forest away from the camp– a sensible measure to reduce the chances of sickness and infection.\n\nCoralen rose into a crouch and followed them, Storm and her cubs slipping into the shadows.\n\nThe small convoy wound its way into the forest, picking away between high-branched trees. It stopped no more than six or seven hundred paces from the camp. Coralen crouched behind a thorn bush, drew an arrow from the quiver at her belt, nocked it, and waited.\n\nThe eagle-guard formed a loose ring as the labourers began emptying the wains.\n\nCoralen counted fifty heartbeats, then drew her bow and aimed, finding a guard with his shield held too low.\n\nHer arrow took him in the throat. He dropped, choking on his own blood.\n\nThen arrows were flitting from the forest, abuzz of angry wasps. Two more guardsmen and four labourers fell before the shields were up and horns were sounded. Answering horns rang out from the camp. A huge spear slammed into a shield, piercing it, throwing the eagle-guard to the ground.\n\nThey have too few men, only enough for one row of men around the wains. They cannot reinforce any gaps– if a man falls they will become impossibly stretched.\n\nAnother spear hissed out of the forest, one of the auroch was bellowing.\n\nOnly heartbeats left before reinforcements from the camp come running. It's now or never.\n\nCoralen burst from her cover, running at the wall of shields.\n\n\"Storm,\" she called, even as she saw others of her crew closing in around the wains, a shuffle of shields as the eagle-guard saw Coralen coming, and other forms emerging from the forest, mostly archers, men and women, three giants with hammer and axe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coralen stopped a dozen paces from the shield wall, respecting their blades, an arrow drawn and aimed. Dath stood beside her.\n\nEagle-guard stood staring at Coralen, quietly confident that they could withstand any hail of arrows or blows for the small amount of time it would take for their sword-brothers to arrive.\n\nThen Storm was leaping past Coralen, high, over the eagle-guard with their shields, landing behind them with a roaring snarl beside a wain, a swipe of her claws disembowelling one of the labourers, then she was spinning, throwing herself at the eagle-guard from behind.\n\nScreams rang out, blood spurting in fountains, and Coralen and Dath were loosing arrows into the gaps appearing as men in the wall turned, died. A giant skewered a man with a spear and lifted him bodily into the air, hurling him into the forest.\n\nThe shield wall disintegrated; men were running in all directions, Coralen's crew slaughtering them as they ran, even as more eagle-guard from the camp appeared a few hundred paces behind them.\n\nYou are too late, Coralen grinned fiercely as she loosed one more arrow, saw an eagle-guard stumble and fall, feathers sprouting from his back, then she was running too, chasing two fleeing guardsmen as they ran the wrong way in their panic to getaway from Storm, charging deeper into Forn, away from the camp.\n\nFora while they crashed heedlessly through the forest, unaware of Coralen behind them, moving steadily away from the camp, one of them dropping his shield as they twisted around obstructions. Eventually they stopped. The one without his shield was a young warrior with straggly wisps fora beard, the other an older man, grey sprinkling his black hair. They looked around, bewildered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coralen nocked an arrow.\n\n\"Which way's the camp? ' the younger one asked.\n\nThe older one just turned a circle.\n\n\"This way,\" he said, marching off in the wrong direction.\n\nThere was a wet slap as Coralen's arrow slammed into his shoulder, sending him staggering into a tree, shield falling from his grip. He grunted, the other man spinning wildly, holding his sword two-handed.\n\nThere was a rustle of undergrowth as Storm leaped and crunched into the older warrior, both of them crashing to the ground. The younger warrior took a look at Storm and sped off. Coralen saw Storm on top of the man she'd attacked, her jaws clamped about his forearm, sending his sword spinning through the air, disappearing into the undergrowth.\n\nThen she stepped off him.\n\nWhat's she doing? Usually has their throat out by now.\n\nAnd then the cubs were emerging from the shadows. The one with the blackface first, that Haelan called Shadow, and then two others.\n\nStorm yipped at her cubs and Shadow padded forwards, hackles up, growling at the old warrior.\n\nHe turned and ran. The cubs burst into a loping run after the fleeing man.\n\nShe's teaching her cubs to hunt.\n\nCoralen left them to it, setting off after the other warrior, whose sounds of flight were fading but still audible. She caught up with him in less than fifty paces, just as a chilling scream rang out through the forest.\n\nStorm's first lesson.\n\nThe forest changed around them, subtly, until something struck Coralen as being wrong. There was no birdsong. Then the warrior in front of her ran into a glade, his footsteps crunching, making him slow and stop. All about the clearing were mounds of earth and forest litter, at least ten of them, maybe more. They were as wide at their base as one of the wains Coralen had just ambushed, rising in a conical shape to the height of two men. Coralen paused on the glade's edge, her skin prickling. Something under her feet crackled and she looked down to see tiny bones underfoot. Birds, rats, shrews, larger bones of foxes, badger, deer. She blinked, realized the whole glade was covered in them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She took a faltering step away.\n\nThe warrior in the glade stared at her, holding his sword up, retreating towards the mounds.\n\n\"Stay back,\" he snarled at her.\n\nDon't have to tell me twice.\n\nThe mound closest to him began to move.\n\nCoralen thought it washer eyes, but the surface of the mound seethed, a dark shadow spilling from its base, spreading towards the young warrior, covering the ground in heartbeats, reaching his heels, pooling around his feet, a black stain that climbed up his ankles, higher, to his knees.\n\nHe began to scream.\n\nHe swatted at his legs, his hand coming away black, covered in something that squirmed and writhed about his fingers and palm, began swirling up his wrist. Droplets of blood fell from his fingertips, spattering the ground.\n\nHe lurched into motion, stumbling towards Coralen, still screaming, dropped his sword and ripped at the stain as it reached his groin, climbed higher, ever up, like ink soaking into parchment. A dozen paces from Coralen he fell to his knees, fingers clawing at his face as the darkness crawled into his mouth, up his nose, into his eyes. He toppled forwards onto his face, feet drumming on the earth.\n\nCoralen recoiled, understanding what it was that she saw.\n\nAnts.\n\nThousands of them, tens of thousands, each one as big as one of her fingers, razored mandibles snapping and tearing at his flesh, swarming over the fallen warrior.\n\nEven as Coralen watched, the ants began to move towards her, a great dark mass of them, like water overflowing a bowl, unstoppable. She stamped on the forerunners, felt something nip at her calf, then she was spinning around and running, heart in her throat, faster than she had ever run before." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen found Brina sitting on a tree stump with the giant book open upon her lap. She looked up as Cywen approached and smiled, her face drawn with deep lines.\n\n\"This book,\" Brina said, tapping the ancient pages, \"may have the answer.\"\n\n\"Answer?\" said Cywen. She had given the book to Brina upon her return to the camp, and Brina had shown a rare display of excitement at having it back. Since then, though, Brina had become more and more irritable. Until now.\n\n\"Yes. To the war. It hints at something. Aspell...\" She closed the book with a snap. \"Where's Corban? '\n\n\"He's just returned to camp, back from a raid on Nathair and Lothar. '\n\n\"Come on,\" Brina said, jumping to her feet, and marching off through the camp, which was full of activity, a band of a hundred or so leaving to begin afresh raid on Nathair and Lothar's warbands. Coralen had split the camp so that there was always some kind of assault on the enemy, giving them no respite. Even so, Cywen had heard that the road was still moving steadily towards Drassil.\n\nThey found Corban pulling on his breeches after washing in a stream. He was bare-chested, bruises mottling his ribs, along gash down one forearm. Gar and Farrell were with him, tending to their own collection of wounds.\n\n\"I'll look at that, \"Cywen said, moving to inspect Corban's arm.\n\n\"Can we destroy the starstone dagger?\" Brina asked as she marched up.\n\n\"No,\" he said.\n\n\"How do you know?\"\n\n\"Well,\" Corban blinked, brow furrowing. \"Meical told me.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "Brina gave him along hard stare and waited for that response to sink in." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban reached to his belt and pulled the dagger from its sheath, turning it in his grip. They all bent close to stare at it, the blade dull and black.\n\n\"We need someone big and strong to hit it,\" Cywen said.\n\n\"Balur,\" Corban called out.\n\nThe giant didn't answer or appear.\n\n\"I'll have ago, \"Farrell said, sliding his war-hammer from his back.\"Put it on that rock. '\n\nCorban did, and Farrell swung his hammer high, bringing it down with all of his prodigious strength. There was a concussive boom and Farrell's war-hammer bucked high into the air, dragging Farrell staggering backwards. The starstone dagger remained upon the rock, completely unmarked.\n\n\"Maybe you didn't hit it hard enough, ' Cywen said.\n\nFarrell scowled at her. \"Tell that to my wrists.\"\n\n\"A forge?\" Gar suggested. \"Perhaps we could melt it.\"\n\nFootsteps sounded and Balur One-Eye emerged through the trees, Veradis with him. Balur looked from Farrell to the starstone dagger.\n\n\"You can't destroy the Treasures while they are apart, ' he said.\n\n\"How do you know?\" Brina asked him.\n\n\"We tried hard enough with the cauldron in Murias,\" Balur answered. \"I spent along time pounding it with my war-hammer. No. The Treasures must be together, and even then Nemain told me that only words of power would unmake them.\"\n\n\"Unmaking,\" Brina whispered.\n\n\"Aye, that is what Nemain called it,\" Balur replied.\n\n\"Looks like Meical told you the truth, then,\" Brina said to Corban." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"This time,\" Corban agreed, a hint of bitterness edging his voice.\n\nMeical's betrayal cut you deep, my brother, Cywen thought.\n\n\"Well, my thanks,\" Brina said, picking up the dagger and passing it back to Corban. \"This has been most helpful. One more question, Ban.\"\n\n\"Aye.\"\n\n\"Your visits to the Otherworld. How do you get there?\"\n\nCorban shrugged. \"Meical has called me, somehow. Like a summons, I think. And sometimes I just...\" He frowned. \"I don't know. There have definitely been times when I have been there without Meical's call. But how? The last time I was there, Meical told me that I am drawn to the Otherworld.\"\n\n\"Could you go there, at will?\" Brina asked.\n\nCorban shrugged.\n\n\"Think, because that could prove very helpful,\" Brina said.\n\n\"I will think on it,\" Corban murmured, looking as if he already was.\n\nBrina walked away, calling Cywen after her. She followed, then heard Veradis say something to Corban and hesitated.\n\n\"I would speak to you, of Nathair,\" Veradis said.\n\n\"Aye,\" Corban answered slowly. \"Go on, then.\"\n\n\"Fidele left to try and reason with him. She believed he could be reasoned with.\"\n\n\"Didn't you already try that? ' Corban asked coldly.\n\n\"I did, but I was too shocked, and Calidus was close. He is the true villain here, the deceiver and manipulator. And Nathair is far from him, now, away from his influence.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Calidus is the head of the snake,\" Gar said, \"and it was Calidus who slew Gwenith.\"\n\n\"I know that well,\" Corban growled. \"Calidus is the true enemy here, but every king has his battlechief, and that is what Nathair is to him.\"\n\n\"Nathair has been deceived and manipulated,\" Veradis repeated.\n\n\"As were you,\" Corban said. \"But now you and Nathair both know the truth, and yet you are here, and Nathair is not.\"\n\nVeradis hung his head, Cywen seeing the pain in the warrior's eyes.\n\n\"Nathair knows the truth, and has made his choice,\" Corban continued.\n\n\"And if Nathair chose to renounce the path he's on? Chose to stand here, before you, and ask your forgiveness? ' Veradis whispered.\n\nCorban stared at Veradis in silence.\n\n\"Would you forgive him?\"\n\n\"He slew my da.\"\n\n\"He did. As I have slain many while I was deceived. Deaths that I deeply regret. You speak of truth and courage. Forgiveness can be the greatest act of courage.\"\n\nThe silence lengthened.\n\n\"Cywen!\" Brina called, making Cywen jump and sending her running after the healer. She caught up with her in the shadow of a great oak, afire-pit dug before it, a pot hanging suspended over the flames. Brina was prodding at the embers, the giant book open on the ground. As Cywen skidded to a stop, Brina stood and drew a knife from her belt, a look on her face Cywen had never seen before: dread and determination mingled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Brina put the knife to her thumb and cut a red line, blood dripping into the pot.\n\n\"What are you doing?\" Cywen whispered, something about the scene sending ice down her spine.\n\n\"Learning,\" Brina said. \"Starting small, with just the pricking of my thumb. But if we are going to do this, we will need a lot more blood.\"\n\n\"Do what?\" Cywen asked.\n\nBrina gave her along, sad look.\n\n\"Master the spell of Unmaking,\" she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin ran alongside the river, and about him, as always, it seemed, Forn Forest reared, the world an ocean of oak and linden and ash. He was sweat-soaked, salt stinging a hundred scratches from thorn and branch, each breath and heartbeat a drumbeat that marked time.\n\nTime until he caught them. Time until he saw her.\n\nFidele.\n\nA thousand thousand times he had been over the last night they had had together, replayed every moment, sifting through it for clues, signs that he could have read, should have read, that might have alerted him to her plan.\n\nAnd avoided this.\n\nAvoided her being taken by Lykos.\n\nBehind him he heard the tell-tale splintering of undergrowth that marked the passage of Alcyon and his son, Tain. They had kept up with him, through rain and sun, day and night, without complaint. As had the others, even Alben.\n\nFrom across the river Maquin glimpsed a shadow, knew it was Teca, a dozen strides behind her Javed and his crew of Freedmen strung along the riverbank. His small band of hunters had split into two groups, one on each side of the river, in case Lykos and his men had decided to leave the river for some reason and travel on foot. A moon into their journey and there had been no signs that they had left the river. Every once in awhile they'd come across a footprint and evidence of an emptied bowel, but even that was rare.\n\nLykos is in a hurry, and I fear they are rowing faster than we are running. Everyday he is with her, every night, and I am not. What he did to her before..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He forced himself to stop.\n\nJust keep running. This river has an end. I will find them. And when I do, I will kill Lykos.\n\nMaquin broke up a hard biscuit and chewed on it. He was sitting beside the river– no fire, only a little clouded moonlight edging the darkness. He was going through his nightly ritual, checking his two short swords and his multitude of knives, sharpening, greasing. It took along time. Alben, Alcyon and Tain sat with him.\n\nAlcyon passed his son a water skin, his two woodsman's axes that he had taken from Gundul's camp jutting over his back. His son had one, and a spear as well. It was thick-shafted, with a heavy wide blade and an iron spike on its butt end.\n\n\"A good spear, that,\" Maquin commented.\n\n\"Balur One-Eye gifted it tome,\" Tain said proudly. \"I will blood it on our enemy soon.\"\n\nAlcyon grunted approvingly.\n\n\"You are of the Kurgan, and they dwelt in Arcona, yes?\" Maquin asked Alcyon.\n\n\"Aye,\" Alcyon grunted.\n\n\"Tell me of Arcona,\" Maquin asked the giant.\n\n\"It is flat,\" Alcyon said. \"A realm of long grass, gentle hills and great plains.\"\n\n\"Do you know where they are going? For the treasure.\"\n\n\"Cywen said the island of Kletva, set within a lake. I know of this place. This river runs from the same lake. I saw it once, when I was little older than Tain.\" He ruffled his boy's hair, Tain pulling a face at the gesture." }, { "from": "human", "value": "They are not so different to us." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A youth, wishing to be treated like a man.\n\n\"You saw it once?\" Maquin prompted.\n\n\"Aye. The isle of Kletva. No one went there. I was told it was cursed, that a great evil dwelt there and that any that ventured there never came back.\" He shrugged. \"It was a place of death. I saw dead fish floating in the lake, down the rivers. Dead horses– there are great herds of them in Arcona, small, shaggy-haired beasts that your people rode.\"\n\n\"So none of your clan tried to go there?\" Alben asked. \"That sounds like a challenge to the young.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Alcyon said. He chuckled. \"Some did try. I tried. Went with two of my kin, all of us young, and full of pride. Delg and Cota were their names.\" He nodded to himself, moustache twitching in a smile. \"We reached the island, swam through the dead fish, but something leaped upon us from rocks. I hit my head. When I awoke I was back onshore, my friends were gone, and there was blood and guts everywhere. I am ashamed to say Iran. All the way home, about thirty leagues.\" He shrugged.\n\n\"I never knew that!\" Tain exclaimed.\n\n\"Don't tell your mam I told you, \"Alcyon said.\"After that, no one went. When younglings are born to you so rarely, and then many of them sneak off on a quest that they never return from, well... \"He shrugged.\"You take better care of the ones you have left. Over the years that island took many of the clan. Fifty of us, at least. '\n\n\"How long, until we reach Arcona?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Another twelve, fifteen nights to the borderlands, if we can keep to this pace.\" Alcyon pulled a face. \"Maybe. It has been along time.\"\n\nWe must be faster.\n\n\"What of your clan?\" Alben asked him. \"Where are they now in Arcona? Perhaps they would wish to join our fight, if you tell them of Ethlinn.\"\n\n\"They would, if any of them still drew breath,\" Alcyon growled. He stared into nothing.\n\n\"Calidus,\" Tain whispered when Alcyon did not speak. \"He fell upon our camp one night, a horde of the Vin Thalun at his back. The clan fought valiantly, but there were too many.\"\n\n\"How did you survive?\" Alben asked.\n\n\"He wanted a giant,\" Alcyon shrugged. \"As his servant. To aid him in his great quest.\"\n\n\"Why did he choose you?\" Maquin asked.\n\n\"My father was clan chief,\" Tain said with pride, \"and Calidus took me and my mother as surety, if ever his sorcerous manipulation of my father failed.\"\n\n\"My son. My wife. The last of my clan,\" Alcyon murmured.\n\n\"Calidus has much to answer for,\" Maquin said.\n\n\"And Lykos, too,\" Alcyon replied. \"He was there. Had just become Lord of the Vin Thalun. He led them as they fell upon my people in the dead of night. It was a massacre.\"\n\nThis war has been decades in the making. But it will end soon.\n\nIt was daylight, and Maquin was running again. A ten-night had passed since Alcyon had told them of his past, the tale of it sitting heavy upon Maquin. Once he had thought of giants as the enemy, as savage and cruel. Inhuman. He thought differently now." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Perhaps, when this is allover, the old hatreds will begone. The giant clans might become one and live in peace with men.\n\nIt was a good thought, but one he had little room in his head for right now.\n\nFidele first. And Lykos.\n\nThe river showed flecks of foam, which had set afire beneath Maquin's feet.\n\nStill deep enough for rowing on, but it would be slower going. Which means we might be gaining, at long last.\n\nHighsun came, and Maquin realized it was brighter in the forest, the trees were thinner, more sunlight breaking through from above.\n\nWe are on the outskirts of the forest.\n\nHe ran faster.\n\nSoon after, he broke from the trees into open ground. There were patches of woodland around him, but open meadow as well. The sky was blue and clear of cloud, a pale, cold sun looking down on Maquin. And ahead of him the land rose into a steep hill, the river foaming and tumbling down slick-black rocks, not quite a waterfall. They all stopped, looking at the hill and cascading river.\n\n\"They won't have rowed up that, ' Teca called out from the far bank, hands cupped to her mouth.\n\n\"Not likely,\" Maquin grunted.\n\nSoon they found tracks. The scrape of hulls on mud. Boot-prints. Maquin found a set that were much smaller, and his heart raced.\n\nFidele's prints. They must be.\n\nThe tracks led up the hill, following a rock-strewn winding path that twisted its way alongside the fast-flowing river.\n\nNew energy fired Maquin, the idea of being closer driving him, fear and rage swirling in his gut at the thought of what he might find when he finally caught up with Lykos." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He was the first to reach the top, just as the sun was setting over Forn behind him. He climbed onto a granite boulder beside the river and stared into the realm of Arcona as the others puffed their way onto flat ground.\n\nAn ocean of grass opened out before him, undulating and sighing into the horizon, a cold wind rolling off it. The river cut a dark line through the ocean of green, and as Maquin tracked it he saw a lake unfold in the distance, a dark stain upon the land. An island of tree and rock stood at its centre.\n\nAnd on a stretch of the river, just before the lake, were five darker dots, moving slowly, spilling into the lake.\n\nLykos– I'm coming for you." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban stood on a mountain ledge, oil-black clouds boiling above him, wreathing the peak. He whispered a word.\n\nMeical.\n\nWind streamed around him, tugging at his hair, his cloak. Below him avast land stretched, colour leached from it, valleys and plains, rivers and lakes painted in shades of grey. In the distance a great mountain reared, in the air about it a host of dark shapes swirled, like crows or bats. The air was thick with them, a black halo.\n\nBut it is too faraway; those shapes cannot be birds.\n\nKadoshim.\n\nThere was a rushing of air behind him, a gentle impact.\n\n\"That is the host of the Kadoshim,\" a voice said.\n\nMeical.\n\nTwo more Ben-Elim were with him, white-feathered and gleaming in their mail shirts and silver greaves.\n\n\"You look better than the last time I saw you,\" Corban said, and Meical did. He looked strong again, and the red weal around his neck was healed, only a thin silver scar remained. Meical was dressed in scaled mail, along spear in his hand, sword at his hip, jet hair bound and tied with silver wire. He looked like a god. A memory of lies and tears flashed through Corban's mind.\n\n\"I heard you call me,\" Meical said, his expression troubled. \"Why are you here?\"\n\n\"To observe my enemies.\"\n\n\"I am glad you have come. I've long wished to speak with you again. '\n\nCorban looked at him, felt a stirring of his anger, but it faded, replaced by something else.\n\n\"I hated you,\" he said sadly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Meical regarded him with his purple-tinged eyes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And do you still?\"\n\nCorban shrugged. \"No. Now when I think of you I mostly feel... grief.\"\n\n\"I am sorry,\" Meical whispered, and the Ben-Elim behind him stiffened.\n\n\"I know you are,\" Corban said. \"What did you wish to speak of with me?\"\n\n\"You found your friends?\"\n\n\"Some. The ones that still live.\"\n\n\"And you fight on. Against Calidus. How goes it?\"\n\n\"Why would I tell you?\" Corban frowned.\n\nAgain, the two Ben-Elim behind Meical bridled at that, one of them hissing.\n\n\"Because, regardless of how things stand between us, we share a common enemy. We both want the same thing.\"\n\n\"Do we?\" Corban asked. \"I do not think we do, entirely.\"\n\n\"Elyon's creation protected. Asroth destroyed, ' Meical said, staring at the demon-wreathed peak in the distance.\n\n\"I want my loved ones safe. Alive. I want my mam and da avenged. I want to protect the people of the Banished Lands,\" Corban said. \"Asroth does not have to be destroyed for that. Calidus and Nathair– now they are another question...\"\n\nMeical gave him a quizzical look. \"Asroth is the author of every evil that has befallen you,\" he said.\n\n\"Not every evil,\" Corban said. \"But I take your point. Many of them, and yes, he is our common enemy.\"\n\n\"We could still fight him together.\"\n\n\"That would be hard, when I no longer trust you,\" Corban said. He was not speaking from rage or malice, but the truth as he felt it. It was strange, because he saw that his words hurt Meical far more than anything he could have said in the grip of spiteful rage." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I give you my oath, I will not deceive you again.\"\n\nCorban nodded at that. \"Trust must be built.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Meical said. \"That is all I ask.\"\n\n\"Why do you not just attack him, here?\"\n\n\"We are... taking steps,\" Meical said. \"You glimpsed the Ben-Elim preparing for war, the last time you were here.\"\n\nCorban remembered the sounds of combat in that high mountain fortress, the sight of winged warriors sparring, thousands of them. He nodded.\n\n\"But Asroth is protected here. Has spent many an age building his defences about the peaks of Ufernol.\"\n\n\"Nothing's ever simple, ' Corban remarked.\n\n\"Hah, that is a truth,\" Meical barked, a smile ghosting his lips. \"I have missed you, Corban, and the company of your kind. I did not realize how attached I had become to you all.\" He looked intently at Corban. \"Does Calidus have all of the Treasures?\"\n\nCorban looked at Meical, was silent awhile.\n\n\"No, not yet,\" he finally said.\n\n\"They are vital to your cause,\" Meical said.\n\n\"We have come to the same conclusion,\" Corban agreed.\n\n\"You should let me help you. At the very least, I can give you good counsel.\"\n\nCorban frowned at that. \"Brina is my counsellor, and we already have a plan,\" he said.\n\n\"Asroth means to become flesh,\" Meical said, his tone shifting, more forceful. \"Let me help you.\"\n\n\"Calidus needs all of the Treasures for that to happen.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You cannot hide the Treasures from Calidus,\" Meical said. \"He will find them, eventually. It may take him years, but in the end he will have them all. He is inexorable. I could help you find the Treasures...\"\n\n\"I think they are all found,\" Corban said. \"Rhin has the cup and necklace. There is a race for the torc. And the dagger...\" He stopped talking, felt that he'd said too much.\n\n\"The dagger?\" Meical asked him. \"Do you have it?\"\n\n\"I told you,\" Corban said. \"We have a plan.\"\n\n\"You do not mean to destroy the Treasures?\" Meical said, a look of horror sweeping his face.\n\nCorban stared at the distant mountain. He shifted his gaze to Meical. \"You told me they cannot be destroyed.\"\n\n\"They cannot, unless they are gathered together...\" Meical's eyes narrowed.\"You must tell me your plan. '\n\n\"As you have told me yours?\" Corban said.\n\nWith a growl, one of the Ben-Elim strode forwards and grabbed Corban by his shirt and jerkin. \"Who are you to question the Ben-Elim, you foolish mortal,\" he hissed, lifting Corban from his feet, holding him over the ledge, dangling thousands of feet above the valley floor. \"We are the Sons of the Mighty, the Firstborn, Guardians and Watchers. Immortal. And you...\" The Ben-Elim snarled, grabbing Corban's chin and pointing him at the swirl of Kadoshim in the distance.\"You see them? They would storm your world. They would feast on your flesh, gnaw on your bones, turn your rivers and oceans to blood. We saw it once, and it was but a glimmer of their full intent, yet even so it was terrible. Elyon was thereto stop it, then. He will not be there this time. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Take your hands off me,\" Corban said, meeting the Ben-Elim's baleful glare and returning it a thousandfold.\n\nThe Ben-Elim hissed.\n\nMeical grabbed the Ben-Elim's wrist.\"Release him, Adriel, ' he commanded.\n\nAdriel held Corban's gaze a moment longer, then hurled him onto the ledge, Corban rolling and slamming against solid rock. He stood slowly, Adriel advancing on him, and Corban reached for his sword.\n\n\"You must do as Meical tells you,\" the Ben-Elim growled, eyes blazing. \"Only then will we have any hope-\"\n\n\"ENOUGH!\" Meical yelled, the sound of his voice buffeting Corban like the north wind.\n\n\"Go back to your world of flesh, Corban, we will speak again,\" Meical said, then began whispering and Corban's vision was blurring, the world around him fading. He heard Meical's and Adriel's voices, harsh, arguing, then nothing.\n\nCorban awoke, dizzy, his mind full of the Otherworld, a memory of his feet dangling above endless cliffs. He groaned and sat up, Meical's words ringing in his ears.\n\nI need to tell Brina.\n\nHe stretched, slung his sword-belt over his shoulder, two scabbards on it, and made his way through their camp to a stream. People were stirring, fetching wood, boiling water, a thousand tasks happening methodically around him. He splashed water on his face, his skin goose-bumped.\n\nIt's getting cold, sure enough, he thought, looking up at branches naked and stark, grey sky visible beyond the canopy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Hunter's Moon already." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A moon away from winter. He stamped on the ground to warm his feet, leaves crunching underfoot, and heard footsteps behind him.\n\n\"I know we're friends, \"Corban said,\"but you don't have to shadow my every move.\"\n\n\"Think I do,\" Farrell said. \"I'm your shieldman, remember, and I take that seriously. I can't risk you wandering off and being abducted by giants again. I could never stand all that running.\" He shivered. \"And besides, with Dath not here, I'd get all the blame. He'd never let me hear the end of it.\"\n\nCorban flicked water in his face. \"All right, then. Come on.\"\n\nThe camp was heaving with activity now. Corban could smell food cooking, behind it the sound and smell of the forge as bellows were pumped and the hammer began its work. Jehar were gathering for the sword dance, Gar beckoning to Corban to join in. Elsewhere he could hear the thud and crack of shields as Veradis drilled his men in the shield wall, orders bellowed, the wall rippling into different formations, extra shields on the flanks, raised above, marching.\n\n\"It does look impressive,\" Corban said, and Farrell gave a grudging grunt.\n\nIn another part of the camp Wulf had his men from Gramm's hold hurling their vicious throwing axes at targets– a succession of thuds as they all sank into wood. Laith was with them, throwing her daggers. She grinned at Farrell.\n\n\"You and Laith?\" Corban said, raising an eyebrow.\n\n\"Aye, me and Laith,\" Farrell grinned. \"Who'd have thought, eh? '\n\nCorban just patted his back." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You know what,\" Farrell said, eyes taking in the camp, \"I think we might just be a force to be reckoned with.\"\n\n\"You're not wrong, ' Corban said.\n\nThough we are too few. Just too few.\n\nGar beckoned insistently to Corban.\n\n\"Do I ever get a day off?\" Corban muttered, not that he really minded; he loved the sword dance. A day would not feel complete without it. Ashe was approaching Gar he heard the familiar sound of Storm's padding gait, the drum of her cubs about her. She loped up to him, pushing her head against his chest as he leaned into her, tugged an ear.\n\n\"What have you got for me, girl?\" Corban said, checking the leather thong around her neck; a scroll of parchment was tied to it. He unfurled it and read Coralen's spidery script.\n\nWhen he looked up he saw Veradis had joined him, as well as Gar, Brina, Balur and Ethlinn.\n\n\"Two ten-nights before Nathair and Lothar's warbands are at the gates of Drassil, \"Corban said, blowing his cheeks out.\"We must make our move soon. ' He looked at Veradis.\n\n\"They will be ready soon,\" Veradis said. \"And then a few more days for some training.\"\n\n\"Training will not take long,\" Ethlinn said. \"I suspect Balur and the others will take to it speedily.\"\n\nThere was a commotion at the northern end of the camp and Akar emerged from the trees, a handful of Jehar with him, more of the camp guards appearing beside him.\n\nWhy so many?\n\nBehind them there was the sound of branches snapping, and then a great bear was emerging from the foliage, a giant sitting calmly upon its back. Akar and his guards were warily escorting them into camp as the bear's great head swayed from side to side, its lip curled in a contemptuous snarl." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The giant rider gazed at them with a similar expression, her blonde hair bound in a thick warrior braid, tattooed thorns swirling up one arm, the hilt of a longsword jutting over one shoulder.\n\n\"My scouts found her close to Jael's road, \"Akar said as he drew near.\"She claims to know you, Corban. '\n\n\"Aye. She saved my life,\" Corban said. \"Well met, Sig,\" he continued as her bear stopped before him. He shifted his sword-belt, sliding the starstone dagger round to the small of his back. Storm padded to stand beside Corban, looking up at the bear, a silent growl vibrating in her chest. Beside her, the cubs growled and snapped. The bear ignored them.\n\nSig looked about at all those gathered around her, eyes hovering on the giants, especially Balur and Ethlinn, finally resting upon Corban.\n\n\"This is Sig of the Jotun, first-sword of Eld,\" Corban said loudly.\n\n\"Well met,\" Balur said to her. She looked down at him.\n\n\"I know who you are, Balur One-Eye. Balur, slayer of Skald. And I guess that you are Ethlinn, seed of Balur and Nemain.\"\n\n\"I am,\" Ethlinn said, raising her chin. \"And I am glad this day has come, the day I meet one of the mighty Jotun. You are welcome here.\"\n\nSig gave her a stony stare, then shifted her gaze back to Corban.\n\n\"I have something for you, Corban Bear-Slayer,\" she said, and unbuckled the fur-wrapped bundle strapped to the side of her saddle. It fell to the ground with a heavy thud; Corban knelt to unwrap it. It was a collection of chainmail, leather straps andiron buckles." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Serve as the author's scribe, continue the tale.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 84" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The giant rider gazed at them with a similar expression, her blonde hair bound in a thick warrior braid, tattooed thorns swirling up one arm, the hilt of a longsword jutting over one shoulder.\n\n\"My scouts found her close to Jael's road, \"Akar said as he drew near.\"She claims to know you, Corban. '\n\n\"Aye. She saved my life,\" Corban said. \"Well met, Sig,\" he continued as her bear stopped before him. He shifted his sword-belt, sliding the starstone dagger round to the small of his back. Storm padded to stand beside Corban, looking up at the bear, a silent growl vibrating in her chest. Beside her, the cubs growled and snapped. The bear ignored them.\n\nSig looked about at all those gathered around her, eyes hovering on the giants, especially Balur and Ethlinn, finally resting upon Corban.\n\n\"This is Sig of the Jotun, first-sword of Eld,\" Corban said loudly.\n\n\"Well met,\" Balur said to her. She looked down at him.\n\n\"I know who you are, Balur One-Eye. Balur, slayer of Skald. And I guess that you are Ethlinn, seed of Balur and Nemain.\"\n\n\"I am,\" Ethlinn said, raising her chin. \"And I am glad this day has come, the day I meet one of the mighty Jotun. You are welcome here.\"\n\nSig gave her a stony stare, then shifted her gaze back to Corban.\n\n\"I have something for you, Corban Bear-Slayer,\" she said, and unbuckled the fur-wrapped bundle strapped to the side of her saddle. It fell to the ground with a heavy thud; Corban knelt to unwrap it. It was a collection of chainmail, leather straps andiron buckles." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A gift from Varan, for your wolven,\" Sig said.\n\nCorban ran his hands over the iron links and tooled leather etched with runes and whorls.\n\n\"This is a fine gift,\" Corban marvelled, looking up at Sig.\n\n\"I'll tell him you're grateful, then,\" Sig said, and with a whispered word and alight touch to her reins the bear was turning.\n\n\"Wait,\" Corban called after her. \"Stay, be welcome, eat with us.\"\n\nSig ignored him, her bear lumbering through the camp and disappearing into the trees.\n\nCorban looked at his friends and captains, then at the mail, finally at Storm.\n\n\"Storm, lass, you are going to look fine when you go to war.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uthas ran through the meadow in a loping gait, one he could maintain for days without end, feeling a cold wind blowing out of the north. He would have struggled to do this not so long ago, but not now.\n\nI have drunk from the starstone cup, he exulted, basking in the strength and energy that coursed through his veins, the scents and sounds that clamoured for his attention, the knowledge that he would live another thousand years and more.\n\nAs long as I avoid an iron-tipped death.\n\nAlongside him ran Salach, and behind was Eisa and the rest of the Benothi, fifty giants. They ran with a warband as big as any Uthas had seen from the Giant Wars. Over five thousand men, all a-horse, riding across the rolling meadows of Isiltir, the sound of their passage like constant thunder.\n\nBehind them Dun Kellen had long since disappeared. They had stopped thereto re-provision. Now they were headed north-east, the cold wind against Uthas'face a bitter fist greeting them from out of the Desolation, and to the east the brooding green of Forn Forest grew larger with every league travelled. They could have been in Forn already, close to Drassil, but Calidus had commanded that they take a different route. He wanted them to pass the Desolation, to visit a place named Gramm's hold, and see if there was sign of the Jotun.\n\nIn the distance a hill appeared, upon its brown the dull gleam of stonewalls.\n\n\"This is giant-built,\" Salach said to Uthas as they strode through the stone-arched gateway into a courtyard of hard-packed earth at Gramm's hold, a half-built keep of stone and wood looming over them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And it is empty,\" Eisa called out as she appeared from one end of the courtyard, other scouts filtering through the hold echoing her call.\n\n\"It will do for tonight,\" Rhin said as she rode through the gates behind Uthas, her warband spread across the great meadows about the hill and deserted hold like a rippled cloak of leather andiron, flesh and blood.\n\nUthas strode around the deserted hold. Everywhere were signs that this place had been inhabited once, and recently. Salach called him into along building, a stable-block, separated into many pens and scattered with straw and hay. Uthas wrinkled his nose.\n\n\"It was not horses that were kept here,\" Salach said, sifting through the straw with his axe-shaft, uncovering a pile of dung. \"The creatures penned here were meat-eaters.\"\n\n\"Bears,\" Uthas murmured, and shared a look with Salach.\n\n\"The Jotun,\" they said together.\n\nUthas called the clan about him and set them to searching the hold and surrounding area for any indication of where the Jotun were now. He marched with Salach and Eisa over the peak of the hill and saw a wide river curling across the land, a stone bridge arching across it, a road running from the bridge into a barren wasteland of rock and ash.\n\n\"The Desolation,\" he whispered, twisting one of the wyrm teeth set in his necklace. Salach and Eisa just stared.\n\nThey marched down to the bridge, saw the signs of a great migration, rutted tracks in the road before and after the bridge, boot-prints and huge paw-prints leading into the Desolation. They crossed over the bridge, walked only a little further." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They left this way, it is clear,\" Salach said.\n\n\"Aye. What happened, that brought them here, and then sent them back again?\"\n\nOther scouts were returning as they marched back towards the feast-hall on the hill. Uthas conferred with them briefly.\n\nHe found Rhin in chambers beyond the feast-hall of the new keep, black and gold-cloaked warriors parting for him. She was in a shadowed chamber, the roof a skeleton of dark-timbered bones, and she was bent before her sorcerous frame of flayed skin, fire crackling in the iron bowl, sending shadows dancing, the skin rippling with a twisted parody of life. At his entrance both Rhin and the flayed face stared at him, a red-eyed spark of intelligence flickering in its eyes.\n\nCalidus.\n\n\"What news?\" the flayed face hissed.\n\n\"The Jotun were here,\" Uthas said. \"My guess is that they built this–\" he waved one arm in a wide circle– \"but then they left. There are tracks crossing the bridge and travelling back into the Desolation. What made them leave...\" He shrugged, a rippling of his slab-like shoulders.\n\nThe flayed face cursed.\n\n\"What would you have me do?\" Rhin asked.\n\n\"Send scouts after the Jotun, track them, find them, but nothing else. You must come tome now, bring me the necklace and cup. They must be made safe in Drassil, protected. And I suspect our enemy are preparing for battle, the fools. I need your swords about me. After, I will go to the Jotun myself. But for now, come tome. There is a great road built by Jael that carves into Forn. Travel east and you will find it. Once in Forn I will send some of my Kadoshim kin to guide you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"How long, before we are with you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rhin asked.\n\n\"A moon, if you ride hard. The road is good.\"\n\nThen the skin sagged in its frame, the distortion of life gone.\n\nRhin stared at the flames in the iron bowl.\n\n\"A moon,\" she whispered.\n\nUthas knew what she was thinking. One moon until she was face to face with Calidus. One moon until he discovered that she had lost the starstone necklace.\n\nUthas and his Benothi were ready to march at dawn, but Rhin's warband were not. It was a task, it seemed, for five thousand men to breakfast and camp. The hill and meadows were awash with the rattle, creak and jingle of leather andiron, horses stamping hooves, neighing, men shouting orders and insults. Uthas stood upon the brow of the hold's hill and stared at Forn. The world felt new to him, this morn, scoured clean by a harsh wind. The sky above was heavy with rain-bloated cloud. He felt the weight of destiny upon him, as if he stood upon the brink of a precipice. One half-step and he would be over, could not return.\n\nHe felt scared.\n\nThis is what I wanted. I have fulfilled my promise to Asroth, found the cup and necklace, no matter what Rhin has done with them since. My part of the bargain is complete. And in return I shall be made lord of the giants. King of them.\n\nThe thought filled him with joy.\n\nHe turned his gaze southwards, wishing Rhin's warband more speed.\n\nI would be on my way.\n\nIn the distance, beyond the warband, he saw alone rider on the southern horizon." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rhin was mounted on her grey mare, sable furs about her shoulders when the rider drew near to them, galloping along a road of hard-packed earth that led to the massing warband.\n\nA hound ran at the horse's side, and Rhin guessed what Uthas had already seen.\n\nIt was Rafe.\n\nRhin rode out to meet him, Uthas striding one side of her, Geraint and Conall the other. They met upon the meadows beyond the hill.\n\n\"Why are you here?\" Rhin asked, her voice tense, a tremor to it.\n\nNo lover's greeting here, then.\n\n\"I bring news,\" Rafe said, his horse blowing great bouts of air, its sweat-soaked ribs and flanks heaving, \"news both great and dire.\"\n\n\"What news?\" Rhin snapped.\n\nRafe slipped from his saddle and dropped to his knees in the dirt before Rhin, head bowed.\n\nNot a good sign.\n\n\"Morcant is slain; Ardan fallen. Taken by Edana.\"\n\nRhin's lips twitched, the colour draining from her face.\n\n\"And what of the starstone necklace?\" Rhin asked, voice heavy with venom and tinged with fear.\n\n\"Edana still has it, my Queen.\"\n\n\"Then why are you here?\" Rhin snarled. \"Answer well, if you would keep your head upon your shoulders.\"\n\n\"Edana is riding to Drassil, and she is bringing the necklace with her.\"\n\n\"How do you know this?\"\n\n\"I heard her say it, my Queen, upon the walls of Dun Carreg.\" Rafe looked away, licked his lips. \"I thought of fleeing,\" he whispered, \"of running away, as far from you as my legs would carry me, but when it came to it, I could not do it. I have failed the task you set me, but I would serve you still, if you would have me.\" He looked up at her then. \"And that is why I sneaked back to Dun Carreg, how I managed to overhear Edana talking of her plans.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rhin stared down at him, her face a cold mask.\n\n\"You can keep your head, for now,\" she said. \"Ride with me, and tell me more of Edana's plan. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban danced out of reach of Gar's sword but the Jehar warrior gave Corban no respite, stepping nimbly in, forcing Corban to block a savage combination of three, four, five blows that targeted his skull, eyes, throat and chest, a sweeping loop that would have taken his leg off below the knee and ended with a short, straight lunge to Corban's belly. Corban parried and countered, pushing Gar onto his back foot, striking high and low, steering him towards a twisted root poking from the ground. At the last moment Gar spun away, a half-circle that brought him round to Corban's left flank, Corban swaying and blocking a horizontal blow aimed at his waist. Corban rolled his wrist to stab at Gar's armpit, but he ducked somehow, and nodded his head at Corban, a recognition that Corban had never received from Gar before.\n\nForms swirled around them, men, women, giants sparring, training, but Corban's only focus was on Gar and his sword.\n\nThen Gar was closing again, blows a maelstrom about Corban, chopping, stabbing, spinning, striking, feinting, lunging, but Corban blocked them all and slowly began to counter. Ashe came out of a combination attack he saw Gar hesitate fora heartbeat and punched a short lunging stab at Gar's gut. Gar swayed but the blow still caught him, the blunt wrapped tip of Corban's blade stabbing into Gar, just above his hip.\n\nCorban was so stunned to have touched his blade to Gar that he just stopped, grinning foolishly.\n\n\"I think I just killed you,\" Corban said.\n\n\"Perhaps,\" Gar grunted. \"Or perhaps not, if you missed my intestines.\" He looked down at the tip of Corban's sword, frozen where it had struck, then nodded.\"I think you would have missed them. Just. \"He shrugged.\"You may have nicked them, in which case I'd likely have died in agony, screaming, a ten-night later.\" He looked up at Corban and smiled humourlessly. \"You, however, are dead right now.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wha-?\"\n\nCorban realized that Gar's sword was resting against his throat, a pressure over his artery.\n\n\"But, I killed you first,\" Corban said.\n\n\"No. You gave me a wound which mayor may not have killed me in some days\" time. '\n\n\"You let me stab you, so that you could stab me back?\"\n\n\"I did,\" Gar said, smiling, which was disconcerting in itself. \"Sometimes you have to take a wound to give a wound.\" He stood straight and brushed Corban's training sword away.\"A good blow. You have come so far, Corban. We have reached the point whereto kill you I have to risk death myself. '\n\nCorban let that sink in as Gar walked away. He followed, threading through the training warriors around him, on into their new camp. They'd moved south, closer to Nathair and Lorcan's encroaching warbands. The last moon had seen a myriad of skirmishes and assaults on their enemy, growing evermore desperate as Drassil loomed closer. Although many of Nathair and Lothar's warbands had fallen, and their progress slowed, they had not been stopped. They would reach Drassil soon.\n\nAnd so we must attack them soon, an all-out assault, seek to finish them before they reach Calidus, whether Veradis' stratagem is ready or not.\n\nLate last night Dath had returned to the camp, part of the constant rotation of warriors that were stalking the forest around Lothar and Nathair. He'd brought word of a plan that Coralen had devised. Corban shuddered as he thought of it, acknowledging its potential, but still...\n\nHe saw Brina and made his way over to her." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Brina– I wanted to ask you about Coralen's idea. '\n\nThe sound of wings beating drifted down to them, and the raucous cawing of a crow high above. Corban and Brina both looked up and watched it spiral down through the trees, the bird squawking more and more excitedly.\n\n\"Is that...?\" Corban said.\n\n\"It can't be, ' Brina breathed.\n\nAnd then the crow was flapping its wings, slowing its descent, heading straight for them.\n\n\"BRINA,\" it squawked, \"CORBAN.\"\n\n\"Brina, Brina, Brina, Corban, Corban, Corban,\" Craf was crowing jubilantly as he landed on Brina's shoulder, hopping from foot to foot, cawing, flapping, running his beak through Brina's hair, rubbing his head against hers.\n\nCorban was grinning as if it was his nameday, and Brina was blinking away tears.\n\n\"Where have you been, you stupid crow?\" Brina asked Craf.\n\n\"Edana,\" Craf squawked. \"Bossy,\" he muttered. \"Craf do this, Craf spy there, Craf find that, Craf fly here.\"\n\nCorban and Brina stared at each other, incredulous.\n\n\"How did you find us, you marvellous bird?\" Corban asked, scratching Craf's neck through his ruffled feathers.\n\n\"Craf clever,\" the bird squawked indignantly. \"Craf search for Drassil. Find you.\"\n\nA huge crowd had gathered around them now: Veradis and Balur, many others. Cywen appeared." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Craf!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "she said, \"Welcome back. Have you come from Edana?\"\n\n\"Ahh, message, message,\" Craf said.\n\n\"You've a message from Edana? Well, why didn't you say so, you fool crow!\" Brina scolded. She was still smiling, though. Craf hopped from her shoulder to Corban's, giving Brina a sulky look.\n\n\"Edana coming,\" he said.\n\n\"Edana? Coming here?\"\n\n\"That's what Craf said. Here. Warband. Two thousand men. '\n\nThere was uproar fora while then as they all tried to get as much information out of Craf as possible.\n\nIn the end Corban was certain that Edana was coming to Drassil, after a great battle where she'd won Ardan's freedom. However, it sounded as if Rhin was bound for Drassil too.\n\n\"Edana must be guided in, shown the fastest way,\" Veradis said. \"We could surely do with another two thousand swords.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Corban agreed.\n\n\"Brikan would be the quickest way,\" Veradis continued. \"It is a tower in the south-west of Forn,\" he clarified in response to a blank look from Corban.\n\n\"Craf knows it, flew over it,\" Craw squawked. \"By river. Stone bridge.\"\n\n\"That's the one, ' Veradis said, pleased.\n\n\"Tell Edana to ride there, and we shall send a guide for her,\" Corban said to Craf. \"There'll be a road after that, and then a tunnel. '\n\n\"Tunnel,\" Craf shuddered, one of his feathers falling out." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You don't need to go into the tunnel, just help Edana get to it. This is very important, Craf. All of our lives may depend on it, ' Corban said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Get out of the boat,\" Lykos said to Fidele. He'd cut the rope that tied her to one of the benches, and also the rope binding her ankles– only her wrists were still bound. She rose and clambered ashore.\n\nThey were standing on a rocky beach, an island of grass, scrubby trees and dark rock rearing above her, behind her the lake, lapping at the shore. Fidele pulled a face at the thought of it. As the Vin Thalun had rowed across it she'd seen dead fish floating on the surface; the stink of death and rot wafted off the water along with the fog that curled lazily upon it. She looked back at the lakeshore now, beyond it saw endless rolling grass plains. They'd camped on the lakeshore last night; the grass taller than she'd expected, much of it as tall as a man. As she looked at it now she thought she saw a ripple within it, moving against the wind, then a splash in the lake. She stared, but there was nothing else.\n\n\"No point looking backwards,\" Lykos said as he tied a longer strip of rope to the bonds at her wrist, then knotted it to his belt. \"Especially when our future is so bright.\" He grinned, tugging on the knot to make sure it was good. \"Wouldn't want you to get lost on this island, now. '\n\nAs soon as he'd set foot on the island Lykos had sent out a scouting party. Now, while they waited for word, Lykos\" other men were hauling the five boats further up the beach, roping them to wind-battered branches. The Kadoshim, led by the one perpetually surrounded by flies, were marching confidently further ahead, up to a strip of jagged rocks set like a natural barrier between the beach and the island proper. He turned and called impatiently to Lykos." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Wait awhile, some of my lads are scouting it out,\" Lykos called back.\n\n\"I've waited long enough on those boats, \"the Kadoshim growled, his voice strange, multiplied, as if there were an echo within his own throat.\"It's time to kill something.\"\n\n\"His name's Legion, \"Lykos whispered conspiratorially to Fidele as he strapped a leather andiron buckler to his left arm.\"Not the most patient creature. And angry, most of the time. '\n\n\"He ate Agost's face, ' Fidele said, shuddering.\n\n\"Aye. He has issues. Handy in a scrap, though.\"\n\nFigures appeared from a treeline on the island: Vin Thalun moving fleet-footed as they reached the sharp rocks of the beach.\n\n\"News?\" Lykos shouted.\n\n\"We found a cave, think it might be something,\" one of the Vin Thalun called. \"Left some of the other lads to keep an eye out.\"\n\n\"Right, time to go and find us some treasure,\" Lykos smiled, pulling on Fidele's rope as he strode up the beach.\n\nThe sun was halfway to highsun, bright in a sheer sky, though there was little warmth in it. A wind blew off the lake, tugging and making tendrils of the mist, sending it rolling up the island's beach like the tide.\n\nLykos dragged Fidele up onto the jagged rocks at the beach's end, Fidele slipping and gashing a knee, Lykos just hauling heron. She yanked on the rope in frustration and he turned and strode back to her, backhanded her across the cheek, sending her reeling to her knees, receiving another gash on the rocks. Then he bent and half-lifted, half-carried her to more even ground." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Do not do that again,\" he snarled." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "She tasted blood trickling from her nose. Glared back at him.\n\n\"Ach, but there's afire in you, \"he said, suddenly grinning.\"Come on, don't want to miss the fun.\" He hurried off after his disappearing men.\n\nThe ground sloped upwards; the island seemed to climb steadily towards dark-faced crags. They stepped beneath a copse of trees where the undergrowth grew thick, long thorns snagged at Fidele, ripping a hole in her breeches.\n\nLykos strode ahead, catching up with his men. As they climbed higher Fidele felt something change around them. She could not explain what it was, but abruptly her skin was prickling, the air feeling heavy, oppressive, and the men around her were walking slower, glancing at the shadows.\n\n\"Aegus, where's this cave? ' Lykos called out.\n\n\"Just ahead,\" a Vin Thalun said, a dark-haired man with a large part of his upper lip cutaway, showing rotting teeth.\n\nA shadow loomed out of the trees, Fidele jumped, but it was Legion, the Kadoshim.\n\n\"Anything?\" Lykos asked.\n\n\"Something,\" the Kadoshim muttered, sounding confused. It sniffed. \"Blood.\"\n\nLykos drew his sword.\n\nThey emerged from the trees, bright sunlight making Fidele blink, a metallic stench hitting her nose.\n\nThe ground levelled before them into a grassy glade, one side of it overlooking a steep drop to the lake, punctuated by ledges with wind-blasted trees, jagged rocks at the bottom. The other way led to a sheer cliff face about fifty paces away. It rose high in staggered slabs, a cave mouth gaping wide at its base, but it was not the cave that Fidele was looking at." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Bodies were strewn everywhere, or parts of bodies– arms, legs, heads, piles of intestines heaped in great steaming mounds." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One head sat upon a boulder staring at them with tongue lolling, a hole in its skull, brains oozing out. A wide bloody track lined the grass, disappearing into the darkness of the cave.\n\n\"Asroth's stones, ' a Vin Thalun whispered.\n\nAbove the cave's mouth were ancient runes, dug deep into the rock.\n\n\"Gach fir bás,\" Lykos read.\n\nAll men die.\n\nThen things were leaping at them, bigger than men, on two legs but fur-covered. Fidele glimpsed long muzzles and curved, yellowing teeth. They howled as they came. One crashed into a Vin Thalun and he tumbled across the glade, a great rent in his belly, guts spilling.\n\nThen all was blood and screams and madness.\n\nLykos sidestepped and slashed at a huge form, something clanging off of his buckler. He stumbled, ducked, an arm smashed into his shoulder, hurling him through the air, yanking Fidele off her feet, sending her rolling on the bloodstained grass. A heavy foot thudded by her head, shaggy-furred, and Fidele looked up at a huge figure towering over her. She caught a rushed image of teeth and claws before it surged at a Vin Thalun, lifting him from his feet and dropping him onto its bent leg, bending him like a twig. Fidele heard the Vin Thalun's spine crack like a frost-hard branch, the warrior screaming, sword dropping from his fingers, then his throat was a red gash, blood spurting, the beast hurling him tumbling across the ground, searching for its next victim.\n\nThe cord around Fidele's wrists pulled taut and she was dragged a short way, closer to the sword she'd just seen dropped. She snatched it up as the cord went slack, Lykos leaping back towards her, something huge bearing down upon him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He threw himself to the ground, rolled, came up facing the creature that chased him, ducked inside a wild swing and punched his short sword up into its belly.\n\nFidele heard a grunt, saw Lykos hammer on the pommel of his blade, pushing it deep, to the hilt, then rip it free, an eruption of blood. The creature dropped to its knees and Lykos grabbed its fur-covered head and ripped.\n\nA mouth full of bristling teeth opened wide, then tore loose.\n\nIt's a cloak of fur! An animal skin, a bear?\n\nLykos pulled it free, revealing a human face and shoulders, though its features and muscles were slab-like, small dark eyes in a flat, angular face.\n\nGiants.\n\n\"They're GIANTS! ' Lykos yelled.\n\nThe Vin Thalun rallied. Fidele realized that they outnumbered their attackers, and in a dozen heartbeats more of the fur-cloaked giants had fallen, the rest being pushed back towards the cave.\n\nFidele gripped the sword she'd taken and hacked down on the rope binding her to Lykos. He felt the jerk on his waist, turned and saw Fidele with the sword. She swung it at him as he rushed at her, but she could get no strength into the blow with her hands bound and he contemptuously slapped the blade away, punched her in the gut, doubling her over, then again on the temple. There was an explosion of white light in her head as her vision blurred, the world dimming, swaying, the ground rushing up to slam into her face.\n\nShe lay there, dazed, clinging onto consciousness, rolled over. Lykos shuffled forwards, dragging Fidele by the part-frayed rope. He darted in viper-fast to stab at a fur-cloaked giant, then leaped back. Legion slammed into the giant Lykos had just stabbed, grabbed it by throat and groin and hoisted it into the air, impossibly strong for his size, hurling it at a boulder. The giant tried to rise but Legion was upon it in abound, grabbing its head, slamming the back of its skull into the boulder, again and again, laughing as he did it, flies swarming, buzzing, crawling around, over, into, the shattered skull." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A haunting sound echoed out of the cave mouth and the other giants retreated into the darkness.\n\nLykos shouted a command, halting his men from pursuing, then torches were dragged from packs, flints sparked and dried grass and rushes lit. A few torches were hurled into the cave, flaring bright, revealing no giants lurking to ambush them again.\n\n\"Up, you bitch,\" Lykos snarled, dragging Fidele to her feet by her hair. \"Aegus, Hesp,\" he shouted, and two Vin Thalun strode over, one of them the man with only half a lip. \"Watch this woman for me,\" Lykos said as he sliced away the rope Fidele had frayed, re-bound her wrists with new rope and handed it to No-Lip.\n\nLykos twisted his fingers in Fidele's hair, dragged her close and kissed her hard on the lips; she squirmed but his grip was iron.\n\n\"I'll see you soon, ' he said, part smile, part snarl.\n\n\"With me,\" Lykos yelled as he strode into the cave's jaws, Legion and the Kadoshim prowling after him, the Vin Thalun following more cautiously.\n\nFidele looked between the two Vin Thalun. Aegus sneered at her; the other one, Hesp, young, fair-haired, with scars latticing his face and arms, was ignoring her, focused on cleaning blood from his short sword.\n\nShouts and screams echoed out from the cave, No-Lip and Hesp were instantly alert.\n\n\"They could all die in there,\" Fidele said. \"Think on that.\"\n\nAegus yanked on the rope, pulling it tight, burning Fidele's wrists and making her grunt with pain." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Just a warning,\" he said. \"No funny business.\"\n\nFidele gave him a scornful glance and looked about the glade. It was littered with the dead, crows squawking above, a few of the braver ones already landing for their feast. She looked beyond them, amongst the shadowed trees, thought she saw a movement. Squinting, she strained her eyes. Definitely something moving far down the slope, deep within the trees. Shadows, many of them, though one was closer, far ahead of the others. It coalesced into a man, and he was running up the slope and her heart leaped.\n\nMaquin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin ran, not really feeling the pain in his legs that he knew must be there, or the burning sensation in his lungs as they laboured for air, his body pushed to its limits. He did not feel the ache in his shoulders and back, arms and legs, from the swim from lakeshore to island, nor did he notice the weight of his dripping clothes.\n\nAll he knew was Fidele.\n\nHe could see her, bathed in sunlight, hands bound, one side of her face red and starting to bruise. As his eyes shifted to the two Vin Thalun with her he felt his lips curl in a snarl. They hadn't seen him yet. He pulled a knife from his belt, another from a sheath buckled across his ribs, then he was bursting from the trees into a scene of slaughter, the piled meat of the dead all about.\n\nThe Vin Thalun heard him now, both twisting and staring, a moment of disbelief. A strangled cry of fear.\n\n\"The Old Wolf!\"\n\nHe leaped a body, had a frozen moment to see his enemies clearly, one fair-haired, one with a scarred face, then he was on them. Fair-Hair swung his sword, a short horizontal chop at Maquin's waist, a wise blow, unlikely to miss, except that it did because he was too slow, had not gauged Maquin's speed. He was running at full sprint, no slowing, no hesitation, and before Fair-Hair's blow was halfway to Maquin's waist there was a knife hilt buried in his groin, ripping up as Maquin crashed into him, rolled around him, spinning away.\n\n\"I'll kill her, \"Scar-Face shouted, unable to hide the tremor in his voice, and lifted the rope attached to Fidele, only to find a severed end dangling in his hand. Maquin had slashed at it as he'd collided with Fair-Hair." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Come on then,\" Scar-Face snarled, did not wait for Maquin but lunged forwards, stabbing at Maquin's gut.\n\nMaquin parried, sword grating as he swept Scar-Face's blade wide, Scar-Face's buckler punching at his face, Maquin ducking the blow as if it were all in slow motion, the blooded knife hooking behind his attacker's knee, stabbing deep, slicing up through muscle. The warrior was falling backwards, Maquin's knee dropping onto his enemy's chest, his other knife at the man's throat, slashing through flesh, cartilage, vertebrae.\n\nHe stood over his enemy, blood-spattered, nostrils flaring, chest heaving.\n\nThen Fidele was in his arms, their bodies tightly pressed, moulding into each other, Maquin wiping hair from her face, Fidele whispering words in his ear, and they were fiercely kissing.\n\n\"You found her, then,\" a deep voice said behind them. It was Alcyon, smiling, breathing hard.\n\nMaquin saw his expression change as he looked around the glade and saw giants amongst the dead.\n\n\"What?\" He crouched beside one, staring into his face.\n\n\"Are they your clan? Are they Kurgan?\" Maquin asked him.\n\nAlcyon shook his head. \"I do not know. I don't understand. '\n\nOthers were emerging from the trees, now– Teca, Javed and a handful of pit-fighters, Alben, Spyr and the men of Ripa– all staring around at the blood-soaked glade.\n\nMaquin looked into Fidele's eyes, held her cheeks gently.\n\n\"Did he hurt you?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nothing worse than this,\" Fidele said, touching the side of her face that was swollen and bruised from Lykos' punch. She swayed, eyes fluttering and Maquin caught her, lowered her to the ground, crouching beside her.\n\n\"It's nothing, ' Fidele said, trying to rise and failing, then leaning over and vomiting onto the grass.\n\n\"Some water,\" Alben said, crouching beside Maquin. \"Hello, my lady.\" He smiled as he helped her drink from a skin, looked into her eyes, asked her to track his finger. \"Rest a short while, you've had a blow to the head. It will pass. '\n\n\"Is this real?\" Fidele said, touching Maquin's face, squeezing Alben's hand.\n\nShouts, screams, the din of battle echoed from the cave mouth.\n\n\"Lykos,\" Maquin snarled.\n\n\"The starstone torc,\" Alben said.\n\nMaquin stood. \"Spyr, pick a few lads, guard Fidele. When she's able, get her down to the boats. We'll betaking them home. Lykos won't be needing them where he's going.\"\n\nFidele grabbed Maquin's hand.\"Kill him, ' she said fiercely.\n\n\"I intend to,\" Maquin growled.\n\n\"And be careful,\" she added. \"There are Kadoshim with him.\"\n\nMaquin sheathed his knives, drew his two short swords. \"You hear that?\" he said to the small warband. \"Kadoshim. You have to take their heads.\"\n\nAlcyon drew his two axes, other men their swords, Teca looked at her bow. \"I'll settle for Vin Thalun, ' she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin bent and brushed his lips against Fidele's cheek.\"I'll see you after,\" he said, and then he was stalking into the tunnel, Teca a half-step behind him, bow loosely nocked. Alcyon and Tain followed, Javed, Alben and their men spreading behind them.\n\nJust beyond the entrance, torches were guttering on the ground, sending shadows dancing wildly as Maquin strode past them. He was on a wide path, sloping and spiralling downwards. After the first bend there were iron sconces hammered into the rock walls, flames flickering, shedding light on still forms scattered on the slope: Vin Thalun, two more giants in their bear-skins. The din of battle grew louder as the tunnel opened up into a great chamber below them. And in the chamber battle raged, flames in great bowls of oil illuminating the violence between men and giants.\n\nAt the far end of the chamber wide steps led up to a raised dais, and upon it was a stone chair, a giant sitting on it. Even at a glance, though, this did not look like an ordinary giant. He was tall, but had little of the bulk of the other giants in the room, his frame withered, skin hanging from his arms and cheeks in wrinkled folds, his scalp all but visible through wispy white hair. A thick torc of dark iron was draped about his neck, looking too heavy for the giant to bear. A handful of giants stood protectively in a half-circle about him, swinging at any approaching Vin Thalun.\n\nEven as Maquin saw this, a Kadoshim charged the group around the throne, sword high, a flurry of blows clanging off a hammer-shaft, a giant reeling as a blow cut through his defence. At a glance it was clear to Maquin that Lykos and his Vin Thalun were going to win this fight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Not while I'm still breathing.\n\nHe launched into a loping run, spiralling down into the maelstrom. Behind him he heard the thud of feet, the thrum of Teca's bow, saw a Vin Thalun drop with a feathered shaft in his neck.\n\nA great roaring cry filled the room, echoing, filling Maquin's ears.\n\nIt was Alcyon. He had paused, twin axes raised over his head, and he was yelling, \"KURGAN!\"\n\nMany in the chamber stopped, stared up at him. Some of the giants called back to him in guttural voices. Alcyon grinned, a fierce thing, and then he leaped from the path, down into the chamber, scattering a dozen Vin Thalun that were hacking at a giant fallen to one knee. A Kadoshim rushed at Alcyon as he rose from the ground and Alcyon's axes swung, great looping circles, the Kadoshim's head soaring through the air in a welter of blood. Its body crashed to the ground, a gush of black vapour pouring from its neck, forming night-black wings, two red eyes, screaming hatred, then it was fading, smoke in the wind.\n\nThat's how you do it, Maquin thought, feeling the battle-joy rising up within him. He burst onto the chamber's floor, gutted one Vin Thalun, buried his blade deep into the armpit of the next, spun, ripping his blades free, chopped into another between neck and shoulder, dropping him.\n\n\"It's the Old Wolf, ' a Vin Thalun shouted; the cry was taken up, rippling around the room. Then Javed was flying into the chamber, his Freedmen behind him, a swirling wave of muscle andiron flowing into the battle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The world slowed for Maquin, reduced to the next face, the glint of iron, the spray of blood. He swayed and twisted his way pasta dozen blades that were intent on opening his veins, eddying past each blow, Maquin striking back unerringly, opening throats and bellies, cutting hamstrings, stabbing groins, slicing tendons, men falling in awake of the dead behind him, and all the time he was searching for one thing. One man.\n\nLykos.\n\nMaquin paused, the calm at the centre of his own storm.\n\nThen he saw him.\n\nLykos, on the steps to the dais, his buckler dented, short sword dripping blood, a snarl on his face. He had Vin Thalun about him, Kadoshim as well, and they were storming the few giants left upon the dais, protecting the ancient one.\n\n\"LYKOS,\" Maquin bellowed, and the Vin Thalun turned and saw him.\n\nHatred and fear chased across his face.\n\nMaquin ran at him, swung at a Vin Thalun in his way, cut deep into his thigh, kicked him to the ground, then a Kadoshim was running at him, a woman, curved sword high in a two-handed grip. Maquin spun as the blow descended, chopped a backswing at the Kadoshim's neck, bit deep, her head tilting at an unnatural angle. A manic grin twisted her face, black eyes boring into Maquin as she came at him again. Maquin swayed away, too slowly, a red line opening from shoulder to elbow, then hands were grasping the Kadoshim, across her forehead, yanking her head back, and a curved knife was sawing at her throat, the head falling away, demon-mist hissing from its neck, raging its malice fora moment before it was evaporating." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Javed kicked the headless body to the ground, grinned at Maquin, who nodded his thanks, then Javed disappeared into the carnage.\n\nMaquin searched for Lykos, saw him and a Kadoshim on the top step, hacking one of the last giants to pieces.\n\nA horn blast rang out in the hall, echoing, vibrating, growing louder. The ancient giant had risen from his chair and had a horn to his lips. Maquin shuddered to a halt, clasped his hands over his ears, saw all about him doing the same thing.\n\nThe horn sound faded, though still echoing in Maquin's ears, and he struggled to move, to do anything except keep his hands clasped to his ears. The ancient giant looked around at them all, a mixture of horror, grief, disgust upon his face.\n\n\"It was not supposed to be like this,\" the giant said, his voice like parchment scraping together, yet carrying through the chamber. \"Has nothing changed in all the long years? Who are you all? Where is Ethlinn ap Balur?\"\n\n\"What are you talking about, old man?\" Lykos grated, hands still at his ears.\n\nThe giant regarded Lykos as Maquin would an annoying fly. \"I am talking of Ethlinn, child of Nemain, heir to the giant throne, who else? She should have claimed the spear, opened the door. Then come tome here. Where is she?\"\n\n\"She is fighting these Kadoshim that hold Drassil,\" Alcyon said, taking a step forwards.\n\n\"Kadoshim.\" The giant looked at them all, stared at the one close to Lykos, the one with a swarm of flies swirling around him. \"Ach, when will it end?\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Who are you?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Alcyon asked.\n\n\"I am Halvor, Voice of Skald,\" the old giant said. \"Who are you?\"\n\n\"I am Alcyon, last of the Kurgan.\"\n\n\"Alcyon?\" another voice said. One of the giants in bear-skins took a step forwards. \"Alcyon ben Dayir? Alcyon who ran?\"\n\nAlcyon stared, frowned, \"Cota?\"\n\nThe Kadoshim surrounded by flies lurched forwards, staggered up the steps to the dais.\n\n\"You talk too much, old man,\" he said, and rammed his sword into Halvor's belly, up to the hilt. With his other hand he grabbed the torc around Halvor's neck and ripped it off, holding it high." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos ran for the slope leading from the chamber, calling Vin Thalun to him. He heard Legion laughing behind him and a quick glance over his shoulder showed the Kadoshim looking as if he was enjoying himself. He'd thrown Halvor to the ground, still alive by the look of his feebly moving limbs, and Legion was beating him to death with the iron torc.\n\nThey were surrounded by enemies. He glimpsed the Old Wolf, trying to head him off, saw men in black and silver, others clothed like pit-fighters, a handful of them leaping in front of him.\n\nHow the hell did they get here?\n\nHe kicked the rim of afire-bowl as big as a shield, spilt oil and flame over a warrior charging towards him, saw him ignite like a torch. The man's screams were terrible as Lykos swerved around the flames, leaped at the rock wall of the chamber and started hauling himself up. Then hands were grabbing his ankle, pulling him back down. He felt a hot line slash across his belly, saw a face grinning viciously at him, knife in hand.\n\nIt was Javed.\n\n\"How does it feel to be in the pit with the rest of us?\" Javed snarled, stabbing at him. Lykos rolled, threw his buckler at Javed's face, making him sway to avoid it, then Lykos was back on his feet, slashing at Javed.\n\nThe pit-fighter spun around his sword, somehow, and then he was inside Lykos'guard, punching him in the face, stabbing again, but Lykos managed to twist out of the knife's way, grip Javed's arm, tried to bring his sword round." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Pain exploded in his nose, an explosion of white light as Javed headbutted him. He staggered, saw Javed's knife pulling back, knew he could not stop it.\n\nThen an arm snaked around Javed's neck. Legion's grinning face appeared, yanking Javed back, biting into his neck. Javed screamed as the Kadoshim ripped a chunk of flesh from Javed's body.\n\n\"Guess you lose,\" Lykos said as he plunged his short sword into Javed's belly, twisted it, sawed it upwards.\n\nJaved's scream rose in pitch, trailed off to a gurgle.\n\nThe chamber was heaving with battle again. Lykos ran back to the rock wall, leaping and scrambling for purchase. He dragged himself up onto the slope, hauled up the Vin Thalun behind him, and yelled for Legion, who had become distracted with killing again.\n\nLegion finally saw him and hurled the torc to him. It spun through the chamber, flames glinting on it, and Lykos plucked it out of the air. It was cold to the touch and heavy, far heavier than it looked. He placed it around his neck, thought fora moment he heard the whisper of voices in his ear, then they were gone. Crouching, he pulled another of his men up the chamber wall onto the slope, felt air whistle over his head, heard a gurgled yell behind him, and one of his men was dropping with a knife in his throat.\n\nHe looked back into the chamber, saw Maquin pulling another knife from a sheath.\n\nTime to go.\n\nHe turned and ran, a handful of survivors with him. They pounded up the slope, spiralling higher, then one of his lads stumbled and fell, an arrow sprouting from his chest. Up ahead a woman was pulling another arrow from a quiver, nocking it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He gritted his teeth and ran at her, but she stayed calm, loosed, the arrow sending the man beside him spinning to the ground, rolling back down the slope. Before she had another arrow ready, Lykos was upon her, slashing with his sword, but she ducked, hit him in the side of the head with her bow, sending him stumbling. He kicked out, caught her hip and she staggered back, one foot slipping over the edge of the slope. Fora moment she teetered there, as if suspended, arms windmilling, then with a cry she fell. Lykos wasn't sure how far the fall was, didn't care, as long as she was out of the way. He ran on, only three men with him now.\n\nIt's going to be a race for the boats. Could do with more than this to help me row all the way back to Drassil.\n\nHe paused, looking back down into the chaos below.\n\nFire had spread, engulfing almost half of the chamber, the other half filled with battling bodies. He couldn't see many of his men left; a handful were trying to get to the slope. Of the ten Kadoshim that had walked into the cave, Lykos could only see three– one of them Legion, who was still slaying with a joyous abandon. They seemed to be keeping the enemy more than busy.\n\nThey'll come if they can.\n\nLykos shrugged and continued up. Soon, seeing daylight ahead, he ran faster, wanting to be away from here, though there was one other treasure he wished to find before he left.\n\nFidele.\n\nHe burst into pale sunlight, blinked as his eyes adjusted, saw the backs of three men heading into the trees and smiled, because between them was a figure he'd recognize anywhere." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Pick your man,\" Lykos said to the men with him, focused on a grey-haired warrior to Fidele's right, and charged.\n\nLykos gave no battle-cry but the group heard him coming and spun to face him. He glimpsed Fidele's face, pale-skinned, eyes wide, then Grey-Hair was moving at him, striding out of the trees back into the glade, a spear held low, two-handed, levelling at Lykos\" belly.\n\nLykos saw the warrior's muscles bunch, begin the thrust intended to skewer him. He twisted right, swung at the same time, felt a line of hot fire rake his ribs, hacked down at the spear shaft, splintering it, and slashed his sword deep into the warrior's neck.\n\nLykos kicked the body off his blade.\n\nOne of his men was down, two were circling around Fidele's remaining guard, but she was nowhere to be seen. Then Lykos heard footsteps behind him, leaped without thinking, saw a sword lunge into the space he'd just occupied, Fidele on the end of it.\n\nHe grinned at her.\n\n\"Thought you'd seen the last of me? \"He swatted her sword away, and she back-stepped into the glade, holding the sword in front of her, its tip trembling. Lykos advanced, smiling, and she stabbed at his belly, but there was little strength in the thrust. He knocked it away and continued advancing as she shuffled further back, towards the glade's edge. She looked unsteady on her feet, her eyes unfocused.\n\nStill feeling the punch I gave her?\n\nShe stopped at the edge of the cliff, stones rattling down to the lake far below." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Nice view,\" Lykos said conversationally, still moving closer. His sword slammed onto hers, a twist of his wrist and Fidele gasped, a cut appeared on her forearm, her sword dropping to the grass. Behind him Lykos heard the clash of blades, a man grunt in pain, a thud as his lads finished off Fidele's last guard.\n\n\"Enough of this,\" Lykos said, holding his handout to Fidele. She glanced behind her, down at the long drop to the rocks below.\n\n\"Don't be foolish, \"Lykos said.\"Come with me, live. Who knows, you may escape again. '\n\nFidele threw herself at him, spitting and snarling and they reeled close to the edge, Fidele punching him in the head a dozen times and raking bloody grooves in his face with her nails before Lykos had caught her wrists. He slapped her across the cheek, hard, shook her, and her eyes spun, her colour draining.\n\nShe's still concussed. Good. Should make her more manageable.\n\n\"Stop this foolishness. You're coming with me, ' he growled at her.\n\nHe heard the thud of feet behind him.\n\n\"Let her go,\" a voice snarled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin froze fora moment as he emerged from the cave tunnel, eyes adjusting to the sunlight. He gripped his two short swords, both red to the hilt; he was splattered from head to toe in his own blood and the blood of his enemies.\n\nHe scanned the glade, filled only with the dead. Then he saw them.\n\nTwo figures at the rim of the glade.\n\nLykos, holding Fidele by one hand, dangling her over the cliff edge.\n\n\"Let her go,\" Maquin snarled, stalking towards them.\n\n\"That's a poor choice of words, \"Lykos observed.\"Are you sure? ' He jerked a wrist, setting Fidele wobbling, only her toes on the cliff edge, back arching over into thin air.\n\n\"Pull her back,\" Maquin said, closing the distance between them.\n\n\"Maybe I will, and maybe I won't, \"Lykos said.\"But what is going to happen here is this. You're going to STOP!\" He screamed the last word, spittle flying. Fidele swayed and Maquin froze.\n\n\"Good,\" Lykos muttered. \"That is good. We need some rules here. The most important one is that I will be telling you what to do, not the other way around.\"\n\n\"You are trapped,\" Maquin said. \"Finished. If you stay there, more of my friends will be joining us, any moment now. If you let her fall, I will kill you.\" He shrugged. \"Let her go.\"\n\n\"That one's not going to work on me, \"Lykos said, grinning and shaking his head.\"I've tasted something of her charms, know the effect she has on a man. Please don't insult me by pretending she doesn't matter to you.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Shouts and screams echoed from the cave mouth, sounding close. Lykos glanced that way, then back to Maquin.\n\n\"I think I need to be going, so this is what's going to happen. You're going to take one of your many knives and cut your own wrist, right here, right now. I'm going to watch you bleed out and die, and then I'm going to leave, taking Fidele with me. If you don't do that, then I'm going to throw Fidele over this cliff and take my chances with you and whoever comes out of that cave mouth.\"\n\n\"No,\" Fidele gasped.\n\n\"One of you is going to die here. You get to choose, Old Wolf.\"\n\nMaquin stared at Fidele, along, timeless moment.\n\nThe clamour of battle rang from the cave, closer again. Lykos' head snapped around.\n\n\"If I'm going to die, sure as Asroth lives, she's going to die too,\" Lykos snarled. \"You think I won't? \"His face twisted, a mask of rage.\"No. If I cannot have her, then no one will. ' He shifted his weight, face set in determined, hate-filled lines.\n\n\"No,\" Maquin cried. He dropped his swords, drew a knife from his belt, rested it against the vein in his wrist.\n\n\"Maquin, please, no,\" Fidele said to him. She was crying. \"If you die, he wins, and I am worse than dead. You know what he will do tome...\"\n\n\"I...\" Maquin said, knife blade trembling at his wrist, a trickle of blood where it had broken the skin. The thought of her dying was unthinkable, unbearable." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"It is you that has to live,\" Fidele said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You have to kill him.\"\n\n\"Get on with it,\" Lykos snarled, eyes flitting from Maquin to the cave mouth. \"She's getting heavy. '\n\nAs long as she lives, there is hope for her. Alben, Alcyon, they are coming...\n\n\"Maquin,\" Fidele cried. Again, desperately. \"Maquin, look at me.\"\n\nHe met her eyes. Tears ran down both their cheeks.\n\n\"If one of us lives, then so does something of the other,\" Fidele said. \"I love you,\" she whispered, and jerked her hand free of Lykos' grip.\n\nFora long moment she seemed to hang suspended in the air, eyes locked fiercely with Maquin's. Then she was gone. Lykos lunged at her, but his hand clasped nothing but air.\n\nMaquin opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. He felt as if a fist had clamped around his throat, a vice drawn tight about his chest. He stumbled forwards, arms outstretched, dropped to his knees, gave a great wracking sob, his vision blurred with his tears.\n\n\"Well, that was a waste,\" Lykos said, staring over the ledge.\n\nMaquin stood, blinking tears from his eyes. \"Now you die.\"\n\nFear danced across Lykos' face, but it settled into anger. He stepped away from the edge and drew his own sword.\n\n\"We've all got to die sometime, ' he growled.\n\nMaquin heard the thud of feet, began to turn, but something slammed into his back, sending him flying through the air, crunching to the ground, swords gone as he rolled. His vision blurred, came back into focus and he saw a black-clothed warrior, maggot-white face, dark veins threading the skin, black eyes regarding him through a cloud of flies." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Legion!\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos called. \"I have never been happier to see you!\"\n\nOther figures were emerging from the smoke-filled cave: more Kadoshim, a handful of Vin Thalun, then Javed's Freedmen, the black and silver of Ripa. A giant in bear-skins. Another giant ran from the cave, screaming, his body engulfed inflames. He stumbled and fell. Was silent.\n\nMaquin pushed himself up, felt the world spinning, looked for Lykos.\n\nKill him. She asked me to kill him. Kill him. Kill Lykos.\n\nHis hand found the hilt of a sword, the other gripping a knife hilt at his belt.\n\n\"To the boats,\" Lykos yelled at the creature he called Legion.\n\n\"Soon. After I've tasted the jelly of this one's eyes,\" the Kadoshim called, striding after Maquin.\n\nLykos shrugged and ran as more men and giants spilt from the cave, a running battle.\n\nMaquin launched himself at Legion and buried his knife hilt in the Kadoshim's jaw, punching up until the tip scraped against bone.\n\nThe Kadoshim grinned and grabbed Maquin by the jerkin, backhanded him, sending him spinning through the air, tumbling across the ground, losing the grip on his sword again. Ashe came to his feet he saw Legion grab the knife that was rammed up through his jaw and slowly pull it free. Maquin heard bone grating.\n\n\"It's always better when you put up a fight, ' Legion said as he stalked after Maquin. Maquin danced backwards, knives hissing into each hand, one slashing at the outstretched fist, and severed fingers spun away." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Come here,\" Legion snarled, leaping at Maquin.\n\nMaquin ducked, flies filling his vision, and pivoted away.\n\nStop fighting on instinct– that's a Kadoshim. I have to take his head, and knives aren't the tool for that job. And those flies aren't helping.\n\nMaquin turned and ran, jumped over the flaming body of a dead giant, fist closing about an edge of cloak that wasn't on fire. He swung it about his head and hurled it at Legion like a flaming net. Flies buzzed as they were seared into charred ash.\n\n\"Better; I can see you now,\" Maquin said, reaching down and plucking a sword from the grass. \"And I'll need to see you if I'm going to take your head.\"\n\n\"That's the spirit, \"Legion said, charging at Maquin,\"though I doubt you'll be so bold when I'm sucking the marrow from your bones. '\n\nMaquin swung a savage overhead blow, the Kadoshim's left hand went spinning through the air.\n\n\"I'll take you down apiece at a time if I have to, ' Maquin growled, bent and snatched up one of his short swords.\n\n\"You've made me angry, now, ' Legion growled, and reached his remaining handover his shoulder to draw his Jehar sword.\n\nTheir blades met, a harsh clash of sparks, a score of blows as Legion struck at Maquin, faster than eyes could track. Legion's onslaught forced Maquin back, the speed and savagery of it overwhelming, until Maquin had his back to a tree.\n\n\"I will feast on your flesh, rip your guts from your belly while you still breathe,\" the Kadoshim grunted as he swung his sword. Maquin ducked low, Legion's sword thrumming deep into the tree as Maquin dived and rolled, saw a spear-blade in the grass, grabbed it and hurled it at Legion as the Kadoshim ripped his sword free and turned." }, { "from": "human", "value": "The spear pierced Legion's belly, punching through iron rings, leather and flesh and pinning him to the tree." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Kadoshim began to pull himself bodily along its length, then Maquin was running at him, screaming a wordless battle-cry, swinging his sword two-handed, chopping into the Kadoshim's neck, slicing through flesh, cartilage and bone into bark, splinters spraying. Legion's head toppled to the ground, his body held upright by the spear.\n\nA torrent of black mist poured from the Kadoshim's neck, swirling into the air above Maquin. It boiled above him, separating into a host of winged forms, spreading through the glade, blotting out the sun, myriad coal-red eyes glaring down at him. A multitude of wings beat their fury, a great pulse of air buffeting Maquin. As one, the winged demons shrieked, Maquin and all else in the glade clutching their ears, rocking as if they had been blasted with a great wind.\n\nAnd then the black cloud was melting, a ragged, tattered banner pulled apart by a cold wind blowing up the cliffs from the lake below.\n\nMaquin felt a hand on his shoulder, looked up to see Alcyon standing over him, Tain behind him, with another giant in bearskins. Maquin grabbed a fistful of Legion's hair and lifted the decapitated head, then staggered to the cliff edge and looked down. Upon jagged rocks lapped by water Maquin could see a body, limbs twisted at impossible angles. A spray of black hair spread across the rock, the bright splash of blood about it.\n\nMaquin swayed, eyes fixed on Fidele, feeling a wave of grief so huge and raw that he thought his heart would surely stop beating. Wished it would. Time passed and he realized he was weeping, his body shaking, wracked with great sobs. He felt men gather behind him, Alcyon, Alben limping to his side, many others. All stood in silence and stared at the body broken on the rocks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Beyond the rocks the lake spread, and upon it Maquin saw a single boat appear, pinprick figures in it rowing frantically, heading towards the river that flowed through grasslands and further, barely visible, into the green bulk of Forn.\n\n\"LYKOS,\" Maquin screamed, his voice ringing out, and a body in the rowing-boat turned, looking up at them. Maquin took a step back, swung the decapitated head in his fist and hurled it arcing into the air. It spun high, dipped and fell, eventually hitting the lake far below with a tiny splash, only what looked like a few strides from the boat. Maquin could seethe head, bobbing on gentle waves.\n\n\"I'm coming for you, Lykos, \"Maquin bellowed through cupped hands,\"and neither demons from the Otherworld nor flesh and blood will stop me. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin rode out of the tunnel into a world of wonder. There were trees everywhere, which he had expected, but such trees! Wide-trunked, high-branched, and they climbed so high, the canopy above thinning with winter's onset, light trickling through splayed fingers, diffuse and distant. It was hard to tell, but Camlin guessed that it was somewhere between dawn and highsun. In the Darkwood he'd always loved that sense of space and yet of cover, both above and around him. Here that was magnified a thousandfold. He felt he'd come home.\n\nHe looked down at Meg, who was riding a pony behind him. He smiled at her now, but saw she was too wide-eyed at the forest to pay much attention to him.\n\nThe rest of them were all the same, even Edana, who rode beside him, following their two guides, men clothed in the black and silver of Tenebral. Camlin had almost put an arrow through one of them before Craf had squawked that the men were allies fighting against Nathair and not enemies.\n\nSays a lot when you've come to trust a crow on matters of life and death.\n\nThey rode on a short way and six figures emerged out of the forest gloom before them. Edana lifted a hand and reined in, her warband spilling from the tunnel mouth, two thousand men spreading into the forest behind her.\n\nA young warrior walked towards them, graceful and confident. He was clothed in forest leather and wool, dark-haired, serious-faced, a stubbly beard, broad at chest and shoulder, like a blacksmith. A silver arm-ring curled around one of his biceps, catching Camlin's eye, and he had two swords hanging from his belt, one long, one short." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Extend the narrative as the author's co-writer.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 90" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin rode out of the tunnel into a world of wonder. There were trees everywhere, which he had expected, but such trees! Wide-trunked, high-branched, and they climbed so high, the canopy above thinning with winter's onset, light trickling through splayed fingers, diffuse and distant. It was hard to tell, but Camlin guessed that it was somewhere between dawn and highsun. In the Darkwood he'd always loved that sense of space and yet of cover, both above and around him. Here that was magnified a thousandfold. He felt he'd come home.\n\nHe looked down at Meg, who was riding a pony behind him. He smiled at her now, but saw she was too wide-eyed at the forest to pay much attention to him.\n\nThe rest of them were all the same, even Edana, who rode beside him, following their two guides, men clothed in the black and silver of Tenebral. Camlin had almost put an arrow through one of them before Craf had squawked that the men were allies fighting against Nathair and not enemies.\n\nSays a lot when you've come to trust a crow on matters of life and death.\n\nThey rode on a short way and six figures emerged out of the forest gloom before them. Edana lifted a hand and reined in, her warband spilling from the tunnel mouth, two thousand men spreading into the forest behind her.\n\nA young warrior walked towards them, graceful and confident. He was clothed in forest leather and wool, dark-haired, serious-faced, a stubbly beard, broad at chest and shoulder, like a blacksmith. A silver arm-ring curled around one of his biceps, catching Camlin's eye, and he had two swords hanging from his belt, one long, one short." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A smile spread across Camlin's face.\n\nA wolven emerged from the undergrowth, bounding out of the shadows and loping alongside the warrior as he stopped before them, looked up at Edana and Camlin and smiled at them.\n\n\"By Elyon, but it's good to see you, lad, ' Camlin said.\n\nHis horse snorted and shied at the smell and presence of a wolven, but he whispered soothing words, stroked its neck and tugged on the reins and it settled.\n\n\"Welcome to Forn Forrest, my Queen,\" Corban said, and then he dropped to one knee.\n\nEdana slipped from her saddle and strode to him. \"Corban, there'll be no kneeling between us, \"she said,\"and as you're the Bright Star of prophecy, perhaps I should be kneeling before you.\"\n\n\"But, I swore an oath,\" he said.\n\n\"I release you from it,\" Edana said, waving her hand.\n\nCorban started to say something but then the other figures came forwards.\n\n\"Do what you're told for once in your life, \"a red-haired warrior said, hauling Corban to his feet. Camlin remembered her from Rath's crew in Domhain. Sullen and argumentative, she had been, and very handy in a scrap.\n\nCamlin felt a swell of emotion as he recognized all of those who had fled Dun Carreg on a windswept night, crossing a sea, then travelling through Cambren and Domhain together. Gar with his curved sword across his back, Farrell beside him, still clutching a war-hammer in his ham-fists.\n\n\"Hello, Camlin,\" a voice said, and Camlin looked down to see Dath staring up at him, clothed in brown and green wool, a leather jerkin, a cheeky grin splitting his face. He held an unstrung bow in one hand, a quiver of arrows hanging from his belt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Dath!\" Camlin cried out as he jumped from his horse and embraced the young man, squeezing him tight. \"Dath, my lad!\" And then they were all scrambling out of their saddles, greeting their friends and companions of old. Even Brogan had joined the reunion, lifting red-haired Coralen up off the ground and swinging her round.\n\nCamlin noticed a small woman standing a little behind Dath, dark-haired and with a curved sword like Gar's across her back. Dath reached out and took her hand.\n\n\"Camlin,\" Dath said, \"I'd like you to meet my wife, Kulla ap Barin. She's a Jehar warrior.\"\n\n\"Wife! Good grief, lad, what else have you been up to while I've been away? Any bairns? '\n\n\"We are working on that,\" Kulla said matter-of-factly, Dath blushing like a ripe red apple. Camlin laughed.\n\n\"Talking of bairns, who's this? ' Dath asked, and Camlin saw Meg peering around his leg at Kulla.\n\n\"Ah, this is just a small stray waif I can't seem t'get rid of. Her name's Meg, ' Camlin said, still smiling.\n\n\"I've saved your life more times than I can count, \"Meg said indignantly.\"The last time I threw stones at that Rafe, and before that, a giant! But fine! Save your own life next time. '\n\n\"Fierce little thing, aren't you? \"Dath said.\"I'm very pleased to meet you.\" He held his arm out in the warrior grip, which Meg seemed to like, because she took it.\n\n\"Throwing stones?\" Kulla said. \"That's no good. Has anyone taught you how to use a sword? '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She's nine summers old, ' Camlin said.\n\n\"I had a sword in my hand from my third nameday,\" Kulla snapped.\n\n\"That explains a lot,\" Dath muttered.\n\n\"So, Meg, when we get back to our camp, I shall teach you how to use a sword.\" Kulla looked Meg up and down. \"Maybe a small one, to start with.\"\n\nMeg grinned.\n\n\"Rafe?\" Dath said, looking at Camlin.\n\n\"Aye,\" Camlin replied, his mood changing. \"He's got a lot t'answer for, that lad. Last thing he did was murder Baird.\"\n\n\"What!\" a voice cried– Coralen. She strode over to them, Brogan following.\n\n\"Aye, lass,\" Camlin said. \"He put a knife in Baird's belly. Then he ran off after Rhin, who's headed to Drassil herself. Brogan and me, we were coming after him alone fora dose of vengeance, before Edana joined the party.\"\n\n\"Baird was one of the finest, meanest fighters I've ever seen, ' Coralen said, looking as if she might have a tear in her eye, though she seemed angry enough to fight a bear, as well.\n\n\"That's a truth, ' Brogan grunted.\n\n\"I don't doubt it, \"Camlin said,\"but Rafe's... changed.\" He looked at them all. \"He's drunk from the starstone cup. Apparently that does things to a body. Makes \"em stronger, faster. And gives you a longer life, as well.\"\n\n\"We'll see what I can do about that, ' Coralen growled.\n\n\"Seems that we're in the company of like-minded people, ' Camlin said to Brogan, slapping his arm." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aye,\" Brogan said. \"I owe him fora sorehead as well as for Baird, but as long as he dies, there'll be no arguing from me. '\n\nThe camp was busy, everywhere Camlin looked, men, women and giants were industriously carrying out tasks, tending to weapons and a hundred other things. Edana and her warband were greeted warmly and with much enthusiasm.\n\nNot that I'm surprised. An extra two thousand swords is never a bad thing.\n\nCamlin heard the thrum of arrows leaving bows, the thud as they pierced wood.\n\nA fine sound.\n\nHe looked to see a line of archers, over thirty strong, all aiming and firing together.\n\nDath tapped his arm.\n\n\"My idea, that,\" Dath said with a grin. \"Thought of you and your ambushes, and the damage done by just you and me when we'd shoot together. Thought, what if thirty or forty were doing the same thing... '\n\n\"Well, there you are, great minds think alike,\" Camlin said with a smile. \"The same thing has crossed my mind. I've got my own crew of over forty lads and lasses that can draw a bow. Did a fine job in the battle of the Baglun. '\n\n\"Maybe we should introduce our crews,\" Dath said.\n\n\"Now that's a fine idea. '\n\n\"And I'll need to hear about this battle of the Baglun. '\n\n\"Aye, you will, lad.\"\n\nAs Corban and others helped settle Edana's warband, a group of men and women approached them. Camlin recognized Brina and Cywen walking with them, and blinked at the sight of two giants striding amongst them. One a woman, one white-haired and ancient as a knotted oak, only one eye in his head." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban introduced the group to Edana as Camlin joined them, then they were being led through the camp, into a small glade where afire-pit burned, with logs and tree stumps scattered around to sit upon. Corban sat, and Camlin noticed that wherever he went, Farrell and Gar were as shadows behind him.\n\n\"Well, lass, you've either the best timing in the world, or the worst, turning up the day before this fight, ' Krelis said.\n\n\"Well, I'm hereto help, ' Edana said, smiling at the big man.\n\n\"I must tell you, Edana, the odds are not good,\" Corban said.\n\n\"We are used to poor odds,\" Edana said, and behind her Vonn snorted.\n\n\"We are choosing to fight on the morrow only because we have to,\" Corban continued. \"Nathair leads a warband, some four or five thousand strong. If we do not stop them on the morrow they will reach Drassil and combine forces with the warband there.\"\n\n\"Would have been best to pick them off in the forest,\" Camlin said.\n\n\"We've been trying, ' Coralen snapped.\n\n\"Two thousand eagle-guard have been defending the warband as it moves,\" said Veradis, the brother of Krelis. \"There are fewer of them, now.\"\n\n\"We have been nipping and biting at them through twenty leagues of forest,\" Corban said, \"and I think it's fair to say that we've taught them to fear the night, and not to leave their camp less than a hundred at a time. But they are too large a force to have broken them.\"\n\n\"So you have to fight them, before it's too late, ' Edana said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aye,\" Corban said. \"So, we fight on the morrow. I cannot tell you how great an encouragement your arrival is to us.\"\n\n\"The odds are steep, but we do have a trick or two up our sleeves,\" another warrior said, a man draped in furs, longhair bound into thick warrior braids. A single-bladed axe hung at his belt, another was slung across his back.\n\nWulf, Camlin reminded himself.\n\n\"A well-planned trick can turn a battle,\" Edana said, glancing at Camlin.\n\n\"So, a warband in the forest, and one in the fortress. And us in between?\" Halion asked. He'd been quiet, as usual, listening rather than talking.\n\nBut he misses nothing.\n\n\"We are, of course, expecting a counter-attack from the fortress,\" Veradis said.\n\n\"Calidus and his lot don't usually venture out of Drassil these days, \"Wulf said.\"They've been stung too many times. But the noise we're going to make on the morrow would likely be too much to resist. '\n\n\"And how will you meet this counter-attack, if you're engaged with Nathair's warband in the forest?\" Edana asked.\n\n\"That's a good question, there, \"another of Corban's captains said– Tahir, a young warrior with long, thick-muscled arms. \"We haven't answered it to our satisfaction, yet. \"He caught Camlin's eye and smiled.\n\n\"We have to break Nathair and Lothar swiftly,\" Corban said. \"No more harrying their heels. We hit them hard, break them and scatter them in the forest, before they reach the plain, and before any relief force sent by Calidus can reach them.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A charge of horse on the plain of Drassil may help there,\" Veradis said thoughtfully.\n\n\"We are hereto help you, and in the helping, kill our enemies,\" Edana said, her expression serious. \"I fear I have some grim news for you. Rhin, Queen of Cambren, is also in Drassil.\"\n\n\"Scouts reported a force to the north,\" Gar said. \"I've sent out more scouts, but heard nothing more. '\n\n\"It's Rhin, \"Edana said.\"She travelled by a different road to us, heading north first, but she had over a ten-night's start onus. She has brought the starstone cup to Calidus.\"\n\n\"The starstone cup,\" Corban said. \"Then that only leaves the necklace and torc unaccounted for.\" He shared a look with Brina.\n\n\"Not the necklace,\" Edana said and gestured to Halion. He reached inside his cloak and pulled out a leather-wrapped package. Unbuckling it, he lifted out the starstone necklace. Its black stone leaked shadow.\n\nGasps rippled around their circle.\n\n\"We took it from Rhin,\" Edana said.\n\n\"Bet she wasn't happy about that, ' Dath whistled.\n\n\"So, all of the Seven Treasures are here, except for the torc,\" Corban breathed, eyes fixed on Brina.\n\n\"And Maquin and Alben may well return with that at anytime,\" Veradis said.\n\nBrina shared a meaningful look with Corban. He nodded.\n\n\"Craf,\" Brina called, looking up at the branches above them.\n\n\"Yes,\" a squawk drifted down.\n\n\"Go and have a look at Drassil, see if Rhin and her warband of miscreants are lurking in there somewhere.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ah, it's good to see you, Brina. See you haven't lost any of your bite.\n\n\"Edana asks nicer,\" Craf cawed down at them, but a branch creaked and wings flapped.\n\n\"Rhin has a great warband about her: all of the west, including Conall and the swords of Domhain, as well as Uthas and the Benothi giants,\" Camlin said.\n\n\"Uthas!\" Balur One-Eye said, his voice sounding like hammered iron.\n\n\"Aye.\"\n\n\"Ach, but the morrow is looking to be a bloody day,\" One-Eye growled. And smiled.\n\n\"Best see if we can find away for it to be our enemies\" blood, and not ours, ' Corban said.\n\n\"Four or five thousand in Forn and, now Rhin has arrived, at least that again in Drassil,\" Krelis said. \"I'm all for slaughtering my enemies, but that's a lot of men to kill.\"\n\nA silence fellas they all thought about that.\n\n\"Well, you make the road by walking it, as my old mam used to say,\" muttered Tahir.\n\nAnd so they set to planning the greatest battle since the Scourging.\n\nCamlin stood up and paced around the clearing. Everyone else was deep in the discussion of how their forces would be organized on the morrow. He was happy with the part he'd be playing, so he made his way around to Cywen and sat beside her.\n\n\"It's good to see you, lassie. '\n\n\"You, too, Camlin.\" She smiled up at him, and he remembered a girl standing in the Darkwood, fierce and defiant as her death was ordered by Morcant." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"I thought you'd like t'know,\" Camlin said quietly in her ear. \"Morcant is no longer in this land of the living.\"\n\nHe saw a twitch of anger at Morcant's name, eyes widening as realization followed, the faraway look a rush of memory gives, then a tear or two.\n\n\"He slew my Ronan,\" she whispered. \"Ah, but he was fine. We'd kissed for the first time, that day, you know. \"She smiled, a fragile, vulnerable thing that twisted into something bitter.\"And Morcant stole all that could have been. \"She looked down at her hands, and Camlin remembered her holding them to a warrior's throat, trying to stem the tide of life as he bled out in a dozen heartbeats.\n\nWings fluttered above them and Craf circled down, landing on Brina's knee.\n\n\"Rhin there,\" the crow muttered glumly. \"Many new spears.\"\n\nA silence settled over them.\n\n\"And on the morrow we'll kill the bastards, ' Krelis said.\n\n\"Aye,\" Corban said. \"We've done all that we could to stop Nathair and Lothar, and we've picked off a lot of their warriors, but they will still reach Drassil on the morrow. We cannot let that happen. So, Nathair and Lothar first...\" Corban paused, looking around at them all. \"If we can break them quickly, if we can keep our enemies from uniting, and if we avoid Calidus and Rhin's warbands unless we can lure them into the forest and fight on our terms... '\n\n\"And if Maquin returns with the last of the Seven Treasures,\" Brina whispered.\n\nA lot of ifs there, thought Camlin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"What does that mean?\"" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Edana asked. \"If Maquin returns with the last of the Treasures?\"\n\nCorban and Brina shared a look.\n\n\"Brina has a plan,\" Corban said. \"A way to end this war. Not just to defeat the warbands arrayed against us, but to defeat Asroth, the Kadoshim, all of them.\"\n\n\"How?\" Edana said.\n\nCorban opened his mouth and began to speak.\n\nWhen he had finished, a silence filled the glade. Eventually Edana stood.\n\n\"Well, I think it's about time I saw this fabled Drassil, ' she said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rafe dug his heels into his mount's ribs, urging her to climb the slope towards the bright light. Scratcher barked as he loped beside him.\n\nHe's as happy as I am at the thought of getting out of here.\n\nThey were in a huge tunnel, had been fora ten-night, now, riding hard with Rhin and her five thousand-strong warband.\n\nRhin cantered up the slope ahead of him, Geraint and Conall with her, as well as Uthas and his shieldman, Salach. The other Benothi giants were further down the column, acting as rearguard.\n\nRafe's horse clattered out from the slope into a huge chamber, bigger than anything Rafe had ever seen before. He let goof the reins, just let the mare take him forwards as he gazed around, awestruck. The chamber seemed circular, a great flagstoned floor curling around something that looked like the trunk of a tree, only it couldn't possibly be, because it was about a thousand times too big for that.\n\nIt can't be a tree. Must be something carved to look like a tree. Some giant magic.\n\nThe stone floor was bordered on his right by steps that followed the curve of the chamber, rising up to a set of huge doors that were wide open, light pouring through them.\n\nI don't even know what time of day it is, after being in that tunnel so long.\n\nIt felt like highsun, though, and judging by the angle of the light coming in through the doorway he was about right.\n\nHighsun on Midwinter's Eve. The day I arrived at Drassil.\n\nPale light also leaked into the room from velum-like windows high above, as walls arched and curled overhead, stairwells carved into them. Just looking up at them made Rafe feel dizzy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rhin reined in her horse before an old man with patchy silver hair on a peeling head. He looked as if he'd seen better days. Rafe recognized him though, had seen something of his features before, although then they had been framed within the flayed skin of a dead man.\n\nSo that's Calidus. Doesn't look half as scary in real life.\n\nSurrounding him were the pale-skinned Jehar warriors who had been their guides through Forn, maybe two hundred of them. Clothed in black chainmail, curved swords strapped across their backs, skin pale as death. But it was their eyes that bothered Rafe most of all, like dark wells that bored into your soul. They gave Rafe gooseflesh.\n\nBehind them were more warriors, but these were normal men, clothed in a uniform that Rafe recognized: the black and silver of King Nathair. They were rowed in neat ranks, forming a protective square around along table and dais that backed onto the trunk of the giant tree. On the dais was a huge black cauldron, behind it a big throne-like chair, a pile of heaped bones upon it. Either side of the throne a weapon stood. On one side there was a double-bladed battle-axe, the blades made of black iron, like the cauldron, and on the other side of the chair along spear leaned. Its leaf-shaped blade was fashioned from dark iron, too.\n\nRhin dismounted and walked forwards, Uthas joining her, and together they dropped to one knee before Calidus.\n\n\"Well met,\" Rafe heard Calidus say, gesturing for them to rise. \"Where are they?\" he asked of Rhin, sounding impatient. Rhin turned her head, and Rafe slid from his horse, unbuckling a small wooden chest from his saddle and hurrying forwards." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rafe dropped to one knee as Rhin had instructed him and held the chest up to Calidus.\n\n\"The starstone cup,\" he said, opening the lid.\n\n\"And the necklace?\" Calidus asked, a frown menacing his face. He looked to Rhin.\n\n\"Edana has it,\" Rafe said.\n\nCalidus'hand whipped out and fastened around Rafe's throat, squeezing, dragging him to his feet. Rafe spluttered, tried to talk, but Calidus was choking the life from him. Black spots appeared before his eyes.\n\n\"Edana is coming here, a warband at her back. She will have the necklace with her,\" Rhin blurted.\n\nThe grip around Rafe's throat loosened. He was dropping, felt cold stone slam into his face. Gasping, he lay there and looked up at Calidus, saw the old man was smiling.\n\nWhat a place, Rafe marvelled as he rode through the streets of Drassil, gazing up and all around, looking at the huge tree trunk rising out of the great hall, branches spreading wide over the fortress.\n\nI am walking in the land of faery tales.\n\nStone buildings reared tall everywhere he looked, and amidst them, filling every street, was an endless host of warriors. The street Rafe was riding down was busy with Rhin's warband being directed to stables and paddocks, but all about them, bustling industriously through side streets and courtyards, were men from other warbands, some clothed in the black and silver of Tenebral, others in weathered leather vests and jerkins with bucklers on their arms, rings bound in oiled beards. And scattered amongst them the black-eyed Jehar prowled, only a few, but wherever they went, men parted for them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Scratcher seemed to betaking it all in his stride, though, bounding around, sniffing as if it was all anew adventure.\n\nRafe settled his mount into its stable, cleaning his tack, rubbing the horse down, checking hooves, trimming them with a sharp knife. When he was done he walked along the stable-block, along row of pens.\n\nSomething crashed into the stable door to his left and he threw himself away, slamming into the wall. A stallion's head was looking at him over a stable door, had reared and kicked out as Rafe passed by.\n\nIt was a fine-looking animal, skewbald, white and tan patches. Rafe reached into his pocket and pulled out half an old apple and held it out. The horse snorted, then sniffed, then nibbled.\n\n\"There y'a go, lad, ' Rafe said, rubbing its forehead. He unlocked the door and stepped inside and had a good look at the animal. It was tall and powerfully built, all muscle and spirit.\n\n\"You're a warhorse, sure enough, built for battle, \"he said, patting the stallion's flank. \"Not like the mare I've ridden half to death coming here. ' There was something familiar about him...\n\n\"Nice animal,\" a voice said from over the stable door. It was Geraint, Rhin's battlechief.\n\n\"Have him saddled as a second mount for me on the morrow,\" Geraint said and strode off.\n\n\"I might just forget to do that,\" Rafe whispered into the stallion's ear, making it twitch.\"Might be you end up as my horse, instead. '\n\nRafe walked out into the courtyard and climbed a stairwell to stand on the battlements above Drassil's great gates. He whistled to himself as he looked west over a wide plain that rolled up to a wall of trees. The trees encircled the fortress, climbing high, a menacing ocean that rolled into the horizon, the red ball of the sun sinking into them, relinquishing the world tonight. Above him the branches of Drassil's great tree swayed, gusts of wind blew cold around him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ashe stared he saw movement in the treeline, shadowed figures, on the edge of dusk.\n\nBehind him he heard footsteps, the slap of leather on stone, and a hand clapped him on the shoulder. It was Conall. Rafe pointed as the shadows from the treeline stepped into the light. There were a dozen figures, some mounted. Three giants. Two warriors on foot, one a woman with a shock of red hair that caught the sunlight. The other a man, standing beside abroad-chested wolven almost as big as a horse, its bone-white fur streaked with scars.\n\nRafe felt the breath catch in his chest, a rush of hatred.\n\nCorban and Storm.\n\n\"Cora, Hal?\" Conall whispered.\n\nThey both stared in silence.\n\nThen Rafe's eyes took in the riders, saw a blonde-haired woman cloaked in grey.\n\n\"That's Edana, ' Rafe said.\n\n\"I think it is,\" Conall agreed.\n\n\"How'd they get here so fast? '\n\n\"Where there's a will, there's away,\" Conall muttered.\n\nThey stared awhile longer.\n\n\"We're wanted, ' Conall eventually said.\n\n\"Who?\"\n\n\"Our masters, who else?\" Conall said with a twist of his lips. \"For a council of war.\"\n\nRafe satin the great hall, stiff and uncomfortable in a straight-backed chair, the long table in front of the cauldron and Treasures stretching before him. It wasn't only the chair that made him feel uncomfortable. Calidus unsettled him. Not only his appearance, but something else. There was something terrifying about him, a sense that he could slit your throat at any moment, and smile while he was doing it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "It was dark now, night coming early on Midwinter's Eve, and torches had been lit, crackling in the cold draught that swirled around the chamber." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Jehar warriors guarded them, over two score of them that Rafe could see prowling the torchlit room.\n\nAnd probably more of them lurking in the shadows.\n\nHe shivered, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.\n\nWhy do they want me here? A huntsman from Ardan at this, a council for war concerning the future of the Banished Lands?\n\nHis eyes wandered the room, drawn to the Treasures. Cauldron, axe, spear and cup.\n\nFour of them. Maybe that's why I'm here– because I found the cup, and have drunk from it.\n\n\"They will attack soon,\" Calidus said, breaking the silence. \"On the morrow, or the day after.\" He shrugged. \"Soon.\"\n\nRafe found Calidus hard to look at: much of his scalp was hairless, looking more like a melted candle than ahead, and his face was the same, parts of his lip and cheek charred, his beard only growing in scraggly silver tufts.\n\n\"Why would they attack us here?\" Geraint asked. \"I've walked the walls– this fortress is strong. It would take many thousands to breach these walls, and then only if they were poorly defended. And between our swords and your warbands of eagle-guard and Vin Thalun we must be close to seven thousand strong. Only a fool would attack us. '\n\n\"The world's full of fools, \"Conall observed.\"Perhaps a few of them are gathered out there. ' He waved a hand.\n\n\"They're not fools, \"Calidus said.\"Do not underestimate them. They will attack Nathair and Lothar soon, because the road they are building is only a few days from the plain of Drassil. They will not want Nathair and Lothar's warbands to unite with us.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Geraint snorted. \"Has the world ever seen such a warband? We are undefeatable.\"\n\n\"Once before, such a force was gathered,\" Calidus mused, \"but it's been awhile. Undefeatable? Maybe, when we are together. But separate? \"He shrugged.\"They know they cannot allow those warbands to enter these gates, so they will seek to stop them, will attack them, on the morrow, or the next day. '\n\n\"And what would you have us do?\" Rhin asked.\n\n\"It will be too good an opportunity to miss,\" Calidus said. \"They cannot number more than fifteen hundred swords, so they will throw everything they have at Nathair.\"\n\n\"Edana's with them already, ' Conall said casually.\n\n\"What?\" Rhin gasped.\n\n\"It's true, \"Rafe said.\"We just saw her, at the edge of the plain, looking up at us. '\n\n\"The bitch,\" Rhin spat. \"I still cannot comprehend how she dares to chase after me. I'll squash her, hang her from the highest branch, let the crows feast on-'\n\n\"Enough,\" Calidus said. \"You're starting to sound like Legion. And besides, it is in your favour that she has followed you here, bringing the necklace with her. Otherwise you would not be sitting so comfortably... '\n\n\"But how did she get here so fast?\" Geraint muttered as Rhin looked away.\n\n\"We are not the only ones that can ride hard, I'm guessing, ' Conall said.\n\n\"It makes little difference,\" Calidus said. \"Unless she has brought four or five thousand swords with her.\" He looked questioningly at Rhin and the others.\n\n\"Not possible,\" Rafe said. He thought about it a little. \"Maybe fifteen hundred, two thousand at most, definitely no more than that.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So, our enemy could number at worst three and a half thousand.\" Calidus tugged at the wisps of beard on his chin. \"That could be a danger to Nathair and Lothar.\"\n\n\"Surely not,\" Geraint said.\n\n\"Our enemy are well practised infighting in that forest. And they are no rabble. Do not underestimate them.\" Calidus flicked some skin from his fingertips and frowned. \"Well, then, the plan must remain the same. When our enemy assaults Nathair and Lothar we shall ride out and attack their rear. We will crush them, Nathair the anvil, and us the hammer.\"\n\n\"In the forest?\" Rafe asked, not liking the thought of that. He remembered the last forest battle that he'd been involved in.\n\n\"No, not in the forest. When Nathair and Lothar push through to the plain around Drassil,\" Calidus said.\n\nIf they get that far, Rafe thought.\n\n\"Will you lead the attack, Lord Calidus?\" Geraint questioned.\n\n\"I will not be leaving Drassil,\" Calidus said, \"and I will keep much of my warband around me. Around the Treasures.\"\n\nGeraint frowned. \"Would the best plan not be to lead out the full might gathered here and crush our enemy? A decisive strike that would be overwhelming and make victory inevitable.\"\n\n\"And leave the Treasures unguarded?\" Calidus hissed, staring at Geraint as if he had lost his wits.\n\n\"Not unguarded,\" Geraint said, \"but surely the walls of Drassil and a few hundred swords would be enough to-\"\n\n\"No,\" Calidus snarled. \"The Treasures are all. They must be protected.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Let my warband lead the attack,\" Rhin said eagerly.\n\n\"You have been a faithful ally, though you have failed me,\" Calidus said, tapping a finger against his chin. \"And a charge of horse maybe the best way to fall upon our enemies\" backs. \"He smiled at her.\"If you wish for that honour, then I will not deny you. '\n\n\"My thanks,\" Rhin said. \"Conall, you shall lead my vanguard.\"\n\nConall looked at her, then raised his cup. \"You dome a great honour, my Queen.\"\n\nWhat she meant to say, Rafe thought, is that you will die first, Conall. You may win glory on the battlefield, but I imagine you'll also be dying on it. Rhin does not forget a betrayal.\n\n\"Geraint, Conall, I thank you for your counsel and your service,\" Calidus said. \"If you would go now and ready your men for battle.\"\n\nThe two men looked at Calidus a moment, slowly realizing Calidus was dismissing them. They looked to Rhin.\n\nRhin nodded curtly at her two battlechiefs and they rose and left. When she was sure they had gone Rhin leaned over to Rafe and whispered in his ear.\n\nHe listened intently, then nodded.\n\nNew tasks to complete, and a chance to redeem myself in Rhin's favours.\n\n\"So,\" Calidus said, looking from Rhin to Uthas, \"you have both done well, have earned great rewards. We stand on the brink, now, so close.\"\n\n\"It will be a great step, defeating the Bright Star and all those who oppose us in one decisive battle,\" Rhin said.\n\n\"Aye,\" Uthas agreed. \"Balur and Ethlinn, as well.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Yes,\" Calidus said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"But that is not all that will happen on the morrow.\"\n\nHe leaned conspiratorially forwards, his face in darkness.\n\n\"Asroth will become flesh,\" he whispered.\n\nRafe felt shivers dance down his spine.\n\n\"But we only have four of the Treasures,\" Rhin said. \"What of the necklace, torc and the dagger?\"\n\n\"Edana has the necklace, and she is out there. You have only to take it from her,\" Calidus said, a threat in his voice. \"Redeem your past failures.\"\n\n\"I will,\" Rhin said. \"But that still leaves the torc and dagger...\"\n\nCalidus clapped his hands, and three figures appeared from the shadows– two Jehar, either side of an older man, black-haired with streaks of grey. He looked exhausted, eyes black hollows, and his clothes were sweat-stained and tattered; blood crusted on dozens of wounds, a short sword hung at his hip. Even so he walked towards them with a confidence and charisma that Rafe had seen in very few men, a controlled anger in his eyes and the hawk-like twitch of his head. A heavy oversized torc of black iron hung around his neck. It seemed to weigh him down.\n\n\"All of you, may I introduce my oldest ally in these Banished Lands: Lykos, Lord of the Vin Thalun.\"\n\nLykos threw himself into a chair, poured himself a drink of something dark and leaned back, one boot upon the table. He drank deeply, wiped his mouth, and then took the torc from around his neck and threw it disdainfully onto the table. It rolled in a circle, all eyes upon it, thudded to a stop." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You have no idea what I've been through to bring you this, ' Lykos said, then poured himself another cup.\n\nCalidus laughed, long and loud, a maniacal edge to it.\n\n\"And what of the starstone dagger?\" Uthas asked. \"Do the Jotun not have it?\"\n\n\"The Jotun? They did have the starstone dagger,\" Calidus said, sipping from his own cup of wine. \"But no longer. Asroth is not idle in the Otherworld. He has captured a prisoner.\" He smiled, a gloating, satisfied thing. \"Now Corban, the so-called Bright Star, has the starstone dagger, and on the morrow I shall take it from his mangled corpse.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban was in a grey world, standing in an empty corridor, somehow knowing that he was deep underground, with the weight of a mountain above his head. He looked both ways, saw no one, and for some reason felt compelled to walk down the corridor.\n\nDoors were set along both walls, thick oak doors with iron-barred view holes. Corban peered through every door, seeing the small chambers within. They were all empty, until he came to the last one.\n\nA figure, its back to him. Dark-haired, tall. Great wings of white feather furled across its back. It must have heard Corban because it turned, a tear-stained face stared at him, a thick cord of cloth tied around its mouth, gagging it.\n\nIt was Meical.\n\n\"How? Who has done this to you?\" Corban asked.\n\nMeical took a step towards him, but a thick chain rattled on the floor and Corban saw that a manacle was shackled to Meical's ankle, the chain bound to a great pin that was sunk into the stone floor.\n\nMeical stared at him with grief-filled eyes.\n\nCorban woke to the grey of dawn.\n\nWhat was that? Meical, imprisoned? Has he been captured by Asroth and the Kadoshim? Shadows were all around, Coralen's body curled against him. He shifted and her eyes opened, along sigh. Corban stroked her cheek. He remembered what today was.\n\nI cannot do anything about Meical now.\n\n\"It's time, ' he said.\n\nIn silence they rose, crouched by the stream they'd slept beside and washed in, banishing the last remnants of sleep. The day was cold, the water icy, making Corban gasp. They dressed for war, still in silence, helping each other, tightening buckles and straps. Corban tugged on his boots, then pulled his mail shirt on over a thick woollen undershirt. It was heavy but felt good, a fine fit. He shifted his shoulders, letting it settle. Coralen lifted a leather surcoat over his head, a four-pointed star on its chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nothing to do with any false prophecies. I choose to stand against Asroth, against Calidus and Nathair. If that makes me the Bright Star, then so be it– I choose to be the Bright Star.\n\nHe helped Coralen put on her own mail shirt, taken from a dead eagle-guard that had no more need of it, and then cinched tight the straps and buckles of her leather jerkin. Sword-belts were buckled, two swords on Corban's, a sword and three knives on Coralen's. And their wolven claws, tied with a thong to their belts, for now. Coralen adjusted Corban's wolf's-head torc, and his arm-ring of silver.\n\nCorban took Coralen's hand, looked into her eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but she put two fingers upon his lips.\n\n\"No words can say what I feel,\" she whispered.\n\n\"Only this, then,\" Corban said. \"I love you.\"\n\n\"I know.\" She grinned, and kissed him.\n\nCorban heard footsteps, the darkness was lifting now, everything a shade of grey. He knew the steps were Gar's before he saw him. His old friend was dressed for war, a shirt of dark mail, hair tied back tight to the nape of his head, sword hilt jutting over one shoulder, his father's axe at his belt. He just looked Corban up and down and nodded. Then the others began to arrive. Brina and Cywen together, then Farrell, grim-faced, hair and beard bound with warrior braids, war-hammer rearing over one shoulder, longsword at his hip. Finally Dath and Kulla.\n\n\"Where's Laith? ' Dath asked Farrell.\n\n\"Still asleep. Snoring, truth be told, though don't tell her I said that, \"Farrell said with a shrug.\"She's not one for mornings. She'll be along after. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Long as she doesn't miss all of the excitement. '\n\n\"Not likely,\" Farrell said. \"I don't think this one will be over by highsun. '\n\nThat's for sure.\n\n\"You could have waited for her,\" Corban said.\n\n\"Ban, I'm your shieldman. Of all days, she'll know whereto find me today. By your side. Wherever you are, that's where I'll be. Guarding your back.\"\n\nCorban smiled at his old friend, went to say something but found there was a lump in his throat that wouldn't allow any words out.\n\nA flapping of wings announced Craf's arrival. He alighted on Brina's shoulder.\n\n\"News,\" he squawked.\n\n\"Go on, then,\" Brina said, scratching the bird's neck.\n\n\"Starstone torc in Drassil.\"\n\nA flurry of questions, Brina cutting over them.\n\n\"You're sure? ' she asked.\n\n\"Yes, sure,\" Craf croaked. \"Saw it, with axe, spear, cup and cauldron.\"\n\nAlong silence followed as the weight of that knowledge settled into Corban and his companions.\n\n\"This is it, then,\" Dath said. Corban could hear the tension in his voice, felt it in his own chest– a stirring of fear, excitement, anger, back to fear. Kulla squeezed Dath's hand.\n\n\"Aye,\" Farrell agreed.\n\n\"It is,\" Corban breathed out.\n\nThey stood in a circle, hands slipping into hands, and just looked at each other, smiles creasing faces, tears rolling down cheeks. It lasted along, timeless moment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"One way or another, now, this war will be over by tonight,\" Corban said.\n\nThey all knew what that meant. Victorious and alive. Defeated and dead.\n\n\"I'm scared, ' Corban said into the silence.\n\n\"I'm scared, too, ' Gar said. Murmurs of agreement rippled amongst them.\n\n\"But all feel fear, both the coward and the hero, and all those in between,\" Farrell said.\n\n\"Aye. It's what we do about it that counts, ' Dath muttered.\n\n\"And what are we going to do about it?\" Coralen asked, though Corban already knew the answer.\n\n\"We're going to fight, ' he said.\n\nA stillness as they squeezed each other's hands and found their courage in that silent place.\n\n\"We all ready, then?\" Brina asked.\n\n\"Not quite,\" Corban said. \"Storm,\" he called, and the wolven emerged from the gloom. \"Time for you to get dressed.\"\n\nCorban made his way into their camp. His friends were lined behind him, Storm's mail coat rippling as she moved. It fitted her perfectly, leather-studded collar snug about her neck, buckles and straps under her chest and belly pulled tight so that the mail coat looked like another skin, flowing and undulating with each muscular contraction and extension. Corban had given Storm an opportunity to become accustomed to it during raids on Nathair and Lothar's warband. She'd scratched at it at first, but Corban had adapted it with an under-rug of wool so that it did not rub, and now she looked like a sleek statue carved from iron, fluid and molten metal. Corban could feel the weight of her steps beside him shivering up the soles of his boots." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You're making everyone stare, ' Corban told her, and she was.\n\nBrina walked beside him.\n\nThey had met with Corban's captains, told them Craf's news. All of them knew now how that would change the plan of battle. The strike against Nathair and Lothar would remain the same, but now, instead of avoiding Calidus, they wanted to keep his eyes fixed on the plain, and if possible draw him and his thousands from Drassil. Much could go wrong.\n\n\"We could go now,\" Brina said to Corban.\n\n\"No. I must be seen on the battlefield.\"\n\nBrina grunted, but gave up as they'd discussed this already.\n\n\"When we go, we will need to move fast,\" she said to him.\n\n\"Aye,\" Corban replied. \"We need to stay close to each other.\"\n\n\"Yes. So don't go getting carried away and running off to stab people. '\n\n\"This is a day for stabbing people.\"\n\n\"I know that,\" she said. \"But just be selective.\" He felt her hand slip into his. \"And stay safe, Ban. There are very few people on this earth that I care about, but you're one of them. '\n\n\"Love you, too, Brina.\"\n\nHe squeezed her hand and she humphed at him but there was a smile tugging the corner of her mouth.\n\nCorban stopped at the crest of a shallow hill at the southern end of the camp. He stood there a few moments, eyes closed, the enormity of this day filling his head, falling upon him like an avalanche. It almost took his breath away.\n\nHe opened his eyes.\n\nThe warband was massed before him. Amongst the crowd he saw Jehar, giants, men and women from so many realms: Ardan, Narvon, Domhain, Isiltir, Tenebral. Everywhere he looked he saw the emblem of the Bright Star, upon banners, shields, surcoats, cuirasses, the sigil uniting such a diverse gathering, the symbol of what bound them all together. Three and a half thousand swords, all looking to him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He took a deep breath.\n\n\"Today we fight,\" he said, the crowd before him still as a windless lake.\n\n\"We've suffered, lost much, had much taken from us. But today is the day we say, NO MORE. ' He saw nods and grunts ripple around the warband. His eyes flickering across so many, giants, men and women, Haelan looking at him with shining eyes, Camlin, awry smile upon his face, Vonn and Halion, many others, finally Gar.\n\n\"I am proud to stand beside you. I know that none of you fights for riches, nor for glory or for fame. We fight for something simpler and more powerful.\" He tapped his chest. \"We fight for those we love.\" He felt a lump in his throat, his mam and da filling his mind, saw many about him with silvered eyes.\n\n\"And that truth shall give us the courage we need,\" he cried out. \"On this day we will march out to meet our enemies, those that have slain our kin, stolen our homes and would take our lives, and we shall show them what drives us. TRUTH AND COURAGE.\"\n\nVoices shouted out then, a wall of sound, echoing his cry of TRUTH AND COURAGE. He felt a surge of passion as he looked about at them all, pride in them, a fierce bond of love and brotherhood for this warband, full of so many who were just like him, scared, angry, pushed too far, ready to stand against evil in defence of their kin and loved ones.\n\n\"This day,\" he cried, shouting now, \"we will live or die, but whatever the outcome, this will still be the day we avenge ourselves for those we've lost, the day we right the wrongs done to us, or die in the trying. It will be a dark day, a bloody day, a proud day, for this is the day of our wrath. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"WRATH,\" the cry went up, ringing and echoing through the branches.\n\n\"WRATH.\"\n\nThe roar was deafening, all yelling with a fierce passion, banging weapons on shields, stamping feet, echoing on and on.\n\n\"Well, if Laith's not awake now, she must be deaf, ' Dath whispered to Farrell.\n\n\"Are they ready?\" Corban asked Veradis. They both looked across the camp, heard the clang of iron, Balur swearing loud enough to scare birds from trees.\n\n\"They'll have to be, ' Veradis said.\n\n\"Veradis,\" Corban said, gripping the warrior's arm as he turned away.\"You asked me a question once, about forgiveness... '\n\n\"Aye,\" Veradis said, still as stone now.\n\n\"My answer is, yes,\" Corban said.\n\nVeradis exhaled.\n\n\"My thanks,\" he said.\n\nBeside him Corban saw Halion talking to Craf, who was perched on Brina's shoulder. The warrior leaned close to the bird's head and spoke quickly and quietly. When he was done, Craf squawked a complaint, but bobbed his head. Halion walked away.\n\n\"Keep an eye over us, make sure there are no nasty surprises out there,\" Corban heard Brina say.\n\n\"Win and live, or Craf be lonely and sad,\" the crow said, riffling its beak through Brina's hair, then flapping into the sky.\n\n\"And you fly safe, you scruffy old crow,\" Brina muttered.\n\nCorban felt a wave of fear wash over him as he looked at Brina and the others." }, { "from": "human", "value": "I have tried, planned for every eventuality and outcome, but now we are on the brink." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "March into this battle and we could be marching to our deaths. Coralen, Cywen, Gar, Brina, Dath, Farrell...\n\nThe thought of them dying– it threatened to take his very breath away.\n\nAnd yet, it must be done. Calidus must be fought, and who else is there but us?\n\nHe untied his wolven claws from his belt and strapped them onto his left fist, pulling the buckles with his teeth to cinch them tight, then he strode from the hill, his captains falling in behind him, horses neighing and stamping as riders mounted up. Like a great beast waking from sleep the warband lurched into motion and moved into the forest, and behind them Storm lifted her head to the sky and howled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nathair heard a wolven howl, loud and long, the sound of it echoing through the forest, setting birds to flight. It chilled his blood, a note within it that resonated with spine-tingling malice, and he knew that it was not only he who felt it. All about him his eagle-guard paused, a ripple passing through them. Even his draig sensed it, head cocking to one side, its lumbering gait stuttering fora moment before it carried on.\n\nIt is Corban's wolven, Storm. I know it.\n\nThe beast had been seen enough times over the last few moons, flitting through the shadows of Forn, stalking them, picking off any who strayed too far into the forest. Nathair had heard men talking about the wolven at night while sitting around their fires, how it was not mortal, that it was deathless.\n\nI'll show them how deathless it is, if only my draig could get a hold of it.\n\nNathair was situated at the head of the column, before him a few hundred eagle-guard in loose formation, their wall eight rows deep, spreading back around him, narrowing into a three-row column that carried on back along either side of the road and workforce that was labouring frenziedly to get this road built and onto the plain of Drassil for wains, horses, auroch and four thousand feet to tramp across.\n\nWhen I found Gundul we had six thousand swords between us. Now Lothar has three thousand left, and my eagle-guard number little more than a thousand. But after three moons of constant raids and attacks you have to expect to lose a few men. Two thousand, to be exact, though over a hundred were men caught trying to desert. Lothar made quite the example of them. A ruthless man. I admire him, even though he isn't so easy to manipulate as Gundul." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ashe looked back he saw Lothar riding up the line towards him, his warband a crush of men beyond the few hundred labourers working on the road. He had ordered his warband into their best gear today, as they expected either to reach Drassil or to be given battle.\n\nProbably both. Corban and his rabble cannot hope to stop us, but surely they will not allow us to reach Drassil uncontested.\n\nThe sound of hooves drumming. Lothar did look impressive as he cantered upon his black stallion, mail shirt gleaming and freshly scrubbed with sand, white cuirass polished, the black hammer of Helveth embossed upon it, a cloak of white wool with ermine trim about his shoulders and a silver torc around his neck, warrior braid bound with silver wire. Ten Kadoshim ran alongside him, falling in around Lothar and Nathair to walk with them.\n\nLothar nodded to Nathair curtly, as an equal, which never failed to annoy Nathair, and then spent a few moments controlling his mount as it shied away from Nathair's draig, which secretly pleased Nathair.\n\n\"How long?\" Lothar asked, peering into the gloom of the forest ahead. Only tree and shadow filled their horizon.\n\n\"If we rode hard we'd see Drassil before the sun was halfway to highsun, \"Nathair said.\"But at this pace– \"he shrugged–\"sunset. '\n\n\"And the enemy?\" Lothar muttered, eyes scanning the gloom to left and right.\n\n\"No sign, yet,\" Nathair replied.\n\n\"I heard that beast howling. Everyone did. They're out there. They will attack. '\n\nI know. I would if I were them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"They area rag-tag warband, made up of a dozen different factions, all with different leaders,\" Nathair said. He paused, catching ascent on the air, off to the north.\n\n\"Do you smell that?\" Nathair asked Lothar.\n\n\"A fire? Perhaps we are close to their camp?\"\n\nThen it was gone.\n\n\"This Corban is supposed to lead them,\" Nathair continued, \"but who really knows? And with the size of our warband, Corban and his rabble may not even have the stomach fora contest with us. The outcome would be inevitable.\"\n\nAnd then, as if naming called, there were figures solidifying out of the shadows on the path ahead.\n\nNathair felt a jolt of surprise, and then fear, because they were dressed in the black and silver of Tenebral, a line of thirty men blocking the path, trees thick on their flanks. Their shields formed a loose wall, and from Nathair's height on his drag he could see they were at least six rows deep. The only difference in their appearance from his own warriors was a white star upon their shields. That made him angry.\n\nThe warband of Ripa. Krelis'men. They are no match for my Draig's Teeth.\n\nTo prove his contempt, Nathair allowed his eagle-guard to march another few score paces. His eagle-guard stopped with well-oiled practice, shields coming together in aloud crack, the flanks rippling together to face outwards along both sides of Lothar's workforce.\n\nA figure stepped out from the enemy warband, not Krelis, as Nathair was expecting, but someone even more familiar.\n\nIt was Veradis.\n\nFora moment Nathair felt a smile tugging at his mouth and had to stop himself from leaping from his draig and embracing his old friend." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis was looking straight at him, and Nathair saw that he was stroking the palm of his hand, the scar from that night when they had sworn an oath to each other, become blood-brothers.\n\n\"Well met, Nathair,\" Veradis called out.\n\n\"My friend,\" Nathair said. \"Why are you stood against me?\"\n\nVeradis took a few steps forwards, stopped only a dozen paces from Nathair's shield wall.\n\n\"Because you are wrong,\" his friend said simply.\n\nAnd in that sentence, just fora moment, Nathair felt all of his arguments, his politics, strategies and oh-so-rational excuses fade away, and he knew Veradis was right. He bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut tight.\n\nHow have I ended up in this place. A pawn of Asroth?\n\nHe already knew the answer.\n\nAmbition. Greed. Power. And cowardice. I am a coward. I chose to live and swear an allegiance to my enemy, rather than die with my head held high and my conscience clear.\n\nAt that moment, pure as white-hot flame, he despised himself.\n\nHe realized there was a great silence around him, looked up and saw Veradis staring at him, eyes pleading with him to do the right thing.\n\nI could turn, even now. Join Veradis, destroy Lothar's warband. It would make such a difference to their campaign that I would be forgiven my past mistakes, and with Veradis I could lead them to victory.\n\nA blur of motion drew his eye: on the right flank, amongst the trees, bone-white, moving fast, in and out of view. A wolven leaped out of the trees and stalked along their line, head low, amber eyes seeming to glow as it eyed the rows of eagle-guard. It looked up, at Nathair's draig, and Nathair heard it growl, its coat shimmering and rippling like molten silver in the twilight, long curved teeth in slavering jaws." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "So this is Storm.\n\nNathair felt a rumble in his draig's belly, an answer to the wolven's challenge.\n\nStorm prowled onto the path close to Veradis, and another figure stepped out of the shadows, the wolven padding to him. A young man, black-haired, broad-chested, dressed simply in chainmail shirt and leather surcoat. A four-pointed star emblazoned his chest.\n\n\"You are Corban?\" Nathair asked him.\n\n\"We have met before,\" the young warrior said. \"Do you not remember?\"\n\n\"I do,\" Nathair said. He remembered a young lad, more a boy, staring up at him from a blood-soaked floor, crouched over a dead man, telling Nathair that he would kill him.\n\n\"You swore you would kill me.\"\n\n\"I did,\" Corban said.\n\n\"You may try, if you are brave enough.\"\n\nA look of pure hatred flickered across Corban's face, slowly marshalled, smoothed away.\n\nHe has some self-control.\n\nCorban took along, frayed breath and looked at Veradis. Finally he turned his gaze back to Nathair. \"And you may join us, if you are brave enough.\"\n\n\"Wha-?\"\n\n\"You could join us,\" Corban repeated. \"Calidus is our enemy here, the enemy of all mankind. He has lied, murdered and manipulated his way to Drassil. He has used you, but you can end that now.\"\n\n\"Join us, Nathair,\" Veradis urged him. \"Corban is offering you a chance. Turn away from the path you've chosen, remember who you are, remember our dream. Our oaths. Our friendship. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nathair stared at Veradis, felt a moment of longing for the simplicity of those times.\n\n\"And Corban?\" Nathair asked.\n\n\"He will forgive you. He is the Bright Star. We should have followed him from the beginning.\"\n\nAnew emotion reared up in Nathair, then. Jealousy.\n\nForgive me! The Bright Star! I bore that title for so long, and now you are so quick to give it to another. Do you think him a better man than me?\n\nNathair felt something cold slam shut within him and drew himself up straight in his saddle.\n\n\"I offer you the same choice, Veradis. Join me. I will forgive you, and your men. Come, be my first-sword, my battlechief again, be the man you were supposed to be. You swore an oath tome, and you are not an oathbreaker. Or are you?\"\n\nVeradis stared up at him, mouth twisting.\n\n\"It was all a lie,\" Veradis whispered.\n\n\"Join me,\" Nathair commanded. Then quieter, \"I can make this right.\"\n\n\"No,\" Veradis shook his head. \"You can't. You don't even know what right is anymore.\" Silent tears streaked his cheeks.\n\n\"Are you going to listen to these fools much longer?\" Lothar asked him.\n\nNo.\n\nHe smelt smoke again, but ignored it, eyes fixed on Veradis and Corban.\n\n\"Sound the advance,\" Nathair said to the horn-man beside him. \"Caesus, wipe this mob from our path,\" he called out, horn blasts ringing.\n\n\"So be it,\" Veradis said sadly, the whipcrack of eagle-guard slamming shields together and advancing drowning out his words." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban and Storm melted back into the darkness and Veradis marched back towards his shield wall, yelling as he went. To Nathair's great surprise they started to retreat. It was organized, even quite impressive, not turning their backs on Nathair and his advancing shield wall, but nevertheless, they were retreating.\n\nThis is going to be easier than I thought." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis bellowed his orders, felt a rush of pride at the way his men were retreating in disciplined ranks, ten paces, twenty paces. Thirty, more. He followed after them, moving to the side of the trampled path, in amongst the trees.\n\nNearly there.\n\nThere was a pain in his chest, a physical manifestation of how he felt at Nathair's rejection of peace.\n\nOf redemption.\n\nSo much could have been saved, so many lives. And our friendship.\n\nHe stepped over a shallow ditch that cut across the trampled track, strode another score of paces and sucked in a deep breath.\n\nHe's made his choice, and I have made mine. Nothing else to be done but see it through.\n\n\"BALUR,\" he yelled.\n\nImmense shapes emerged from either side of the path that the shield wall had just vacated: giants, lumbering under a great weight. Veradis saw Balur first, a thick plate of iron strapped across his torso, hammered and shaped to cover the giant from neck to hips, like a leather cuirass; more moulded plates were strapped and buckled about his shoulders and arms, iron bracers wrapping tight about his wrists and forearms, and the same with his legs, iron greaves enfolding ankles and legs. Upon his head he even wore a helmet of iron, a nose-piece and cheekplates making his face a shadowed thing. He looked like a walking forge. In his arms he held a wooden shaft longer than a spear, banded and butted with iron, at its head a single, wicked-looking axe-blade with along curved point tapering like a beard. Another nine giants emerged from the shadows clad like Balur in plates of iron and gripping the spear-long axes, and then another score clothed in their leather and fur, all wielding their traditional weapons of hammer and double-bladed axe." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Balur strode towards the oncoming shield wall, those armoured like him falling in either side, forming a wall across the path, flanked by the other giants.\n\nVeradis saw Lothar cantering back down the line to his massing warband, the Kadoshim that had accompanied Lothar staying with Nathair. At the sight of Balur and his giants Nathair frowned from his vantage point upon his draig, but he allowed his shield wall of eagle-guard to proceed. Veradis shifted his gaze to them, thought he saw Caesus at the centre of the front row.\n\nMy position, where I would stand amidst my Draig's Teeth. And now I would call the halt before these giants, lock shields, brace my feet, and allow my enemy to throw themselves to their deaths.\n\nHe blew out along breath as the shield wall rippled to a halt, muffled orders shouted, shields locking high.\n\n\"Giants will not save you,\" Nathair called from behind the shield wall, \"we have faced them before and triumphed.\"\n\nNot these giants, you haven't, Veradis thought.\n\n\"SHIELD-BREAKERS, FORWARDS,\" Veradis bellowed, and Balur and his comrades lumbered forwards, slowly, each step a ponderous thundering drumbeat. Before them the shield wall stood, silent and implacable.\n\nThey will be waiting for the roar of warriors, the thunder of their charge, the first avalanche-like impact. Veradis' fingers twitched to the hilt of his short sword, feeling almost as if he was there, alongside them, his one-time sword-brothers. Now his enemy.\n\n\"NOW,\" Veradis yelled, Balur and his Shield-Breakers rippling to a halt, well out of range of the shield wall and its short stabbing swords." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They need the crush of flesh upon their shields to reap their harvest of blood.\n\nAs one, the giants' axe-shafts shot out, arcing high, slammed down onto the heads of the first row of eagle-guard and were explosively yanked back, the tapering points of the axes hooking behind shield rims, dragging them and the warriors gripping them tumbling into the space between giant and eagle-guard, some sprawling on the ground, others stumbling on unsteady feet. The axes rose and fell, hacking down into iron helms and leather-covered shoulders and backs.\n\nEagle-guard screamed and died, an explosion of blood as half of the first row were dragged to their deaths, huge gaps suddenly appearing in the shield wall. Veradis heard Caesus yelling orders, men shuffling forwards to fill the gaps.\n\nGiants from the flanks of Balur's row ran forwards and finished any eagle-guard still breathing in the killing ground, crushing or splitting skulls with hammer and axe, then leaped back to the flanks as Balur's axe-men raised and slammed their weapons down into the shield wall a second time, repeating their grisly attack, men screaming, shields splintering, blood spraying as more men were dragged tumbling to their deaths. The Shield-Breakers ripped another half-score of men from their formation, and Veradis saw men in the wall hesitate, slow in their movement forwards where before they had moved like a machine, thoughtless habit and instinct guiding them.\n\nFear is swaying them now.\n\nThe gaps closed, though, the line reforming, shields crunching together.\n\nFootsteps behind him and Krelis appeared. He was holding a flaming torch.\n\n\"How goes it, little brother?\" he said, watching as Balur and his kin continued their bloody work dragging more men screaming to their deaths. Krelis whistled. \"I'm glad we're on the same side,\" he muttered." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Advance the storyline as the writer's tale partner.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 94" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They need the crush of flesh upon their shields to reap their harvest of blood.\n\nAs one, the giants' axe-shafts shot out, arcing high, slammed down onto the heads of the first row of eagle-guard and were explosively yanked back, the tapering points of the axes hooking behind shield rims, dragging them and the warriors gripping them tumbling into the space between giant and eagle-guard, some sprawling on the ground, others stumbling on unsteady feet. The axes rose and fell, hacking down into iron helms and leather-covered shoulders and backs.\n\nEagle-guard screamed and died, an explosion of blood as half of the first row were dragged to their deaths, huge gaps suddenly appearing in the shield wall. Veradis heard Caesus yelling orders, men shuffling forwards to fill the gaps.\n\nGiants from the flanks of Balur's row ran forwards and finished any eagle-guard still breathing in the killing ground, crushing or splitting skulls with hammer and axe, then leaped back to the flanks as Balur's axe-men raised and slammed their weapons down into the shield wall a second time, repeating their grisly attack, men screaming, shields splintering, blood spraying as more men were dragged tumbling to their deaths. The Shield-Breakers ripped another half-score of men from their formation, and Veradis saw men in the wall hesitate, slow in their movement forwards where before they had moved like a machine, thoughtless habit and instinct guiding them.\n\nFear is swaying them now.\n\nThe gaps closed, though, the line reforming, shields crunching together.\n\nFootsteps behind him and Krelis appeared. He was holding a flaming torch.\n\n\"How goes it, little brother?\" he said, watching as Balur and his kin continued their bloody work dragging more men screaming to their deaths. Krelis whistled. \"I'm glad we're on the same side,\" he muttered." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"All's ready, \"Veradis told him.\"We just need to hold them here a little longer. '\n\n\"Shall I?\" Krelis said, waving his torch at the shallow, narrow ditch before Veradis' feet that cut across the path. It glistened with fluid– tree sap and other combustibles that Brina had helped them gather.\n\nMust hold them here, let the whole of Lothar's warband gather behind them into one large maul.\n\n\"Wait till we seethe flames, that's what Corban said. Else we'll give them warning. Patience, brother.\"\n\n\"Not my best quality,\" Krelis growled.\n\nThe killing ground was piled with the dead, the earth blood-soaked, and still the giants continued to hook, drag and kill, the shield wall as yet having no answer for this deadly stratagem.\n\nI would move, march forwards, try and close with them, rather than stand and wait for my death to descend upon me. That is the weakness in this attack. A sudden charge and the giants would be vulnerable. They maybe wrapped in iron, but there are still gaps, knee and hip joints, gut and elbow. But it is hard fora battlechief to see that in the heat of the moment, when his men are dying to left and right, when his own death looms large, as close as a breath upon the neck.\n\nAnd even as Veradis thought it, he heard Nathair's horn-man blowing the signal fora fast advance, shouted commands echoing from the front line of the shield wall.\n\nSo Nathair still has something of his tactical skill, then. I must not forget that it was his plan that gave us victory over the draig-riding Shekam.\n\nThe shield wall lurched into motion, not as fluid as Veradis would have expected, but it kept the shields tight, the wall solid, rows behind packed close and firm. Even when they marched over the bodies of their fallen sword-brothers the line did not break. Veradis grunted approvingly. He pulled a horn to his lips and blew on it, one long note. Balur's head tilted his way, and then the giant's voice was booming and he and his Shield-Breakers were retreating, moving back and towards the forest, sinking into the trees and shadows, revealing behind them on the track the shield wall of Veradis' men, silent and still." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Remember, big brother, wait until you seethe flames,\" Veradis said, and then he was running, back towards his men, tugging on his helm, taking the shield offered him and slipping it onto his arm." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He fell in at the centre of the first row, looked at the men either side of him and gave them a fierce grin.\n\n\"SHIELD WALL,\" he yelled, and their shields slammed together with a concussive thud.\n\nVeradis willed his men to hold." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nathair sat and stared at the mangled carnage that had been the front rows of his shield wall. Shock had frozen him for too long as the deadly genius of Veradis'Shield-Breakers had unleashed their fury upon his Draig's Teeth.\n\nNow, though, he was back in control of his wits.\n\nOver a hundred men dead, in less time than it would take to count them, but I have a thousand of my eagle-guard about me still, give or take. This is not defeat, Veradis, merely a blooded lip.\n\n\"Let us deal with them,\" one of the Kadoshim close by said to Nathair.\n\n\"Soon,\" Nathair replied.\n\nHe held his draig back as the shield wall marched forwards, allowing more men from the surrounding flanks that stretched all the way back to encompass Lothar's warriors to hurry forwards and fill the gaps of the fallen, thickening the wall upon the track until it was fifteen, twenty rows deep, and more joining it all the time.\n\nThe iron-covered giants with their axes had fallen back, disappearing into the gloom of the forest, and now blocking the way on the path ahead was the original shield wall that had stood behind Veradis.\n\nHe felt a rush of anger, that his old friend would betray him like this. Would stand against him.\n\nHe has chosen his death. They are men, and they are not my Draig's Teeth.\n\nEven as Nathair watched, the front row of his shield wall slammed into Veradis'line. There was a concussive crash that seemed to ripple outwards, shaking leaves from branches, and Veradis\" shield wall bent at the edges, like a pulled bow. Nathair held his breath, thinking with every heartbeat to seethe enemy line shatter and break apart. A cloud of smoke rolled across the path, fora few moments obscuring the locked shield walls. Nathair heard the screams of men, heard the dull thud of iron on wood, the pushing and heaving of hundreds of men." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Veradis'line held but the sheer weight of Nathair's eagle-guard began to tell." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was twice as many rows deep, and more men were joining it, at least four or five hundred men packed into the track before Nathair. Then men from the flanks began to scream.\n\nThey were being dragged from the wall, the giants in the forest had returned to strike from the shadows, tugging men out of formation and hacking them to pieces.\n\nI need to scour those giants from the trees, else my men on the track will be like rats in a barrel to them. Perhaps that is a task best suited to the Kadoshim.\n\nAnother billow of smoke rolled across his vision.\n\nThat is not from campfires.\n\nNathair looked to his left, and fora moment did not believe what he was seeing.\n\nThe forest gloom was thicker all along their western flank, a wall of roiling darkness. But within it flickered orange light, blooming and spreading.\n\nFire and smoke.\n\nEven as he saw it, there were shouts along the flank, and then from the front a wall of flame suddenly arose, searing across the track and carrying on into the forest, carving a line through his eagle-guard, cutting the track in two, separating his shield wall from the main body of Lothar's warband and the remaining eagle-guard that were protecting it. Hundreds were on the far side, fighting on against Veradis\" wall, oblivious to the flames.\n\nThat will not stop us. A brave man may jump those flames, if he has room. I remember a young eagle-guard doing just that in defence of his prince.\n\nMore shouts of warning rose up from the left flank as clouds of smoke began to billow over them, the flames behind the rolling smoke growing clearer, the whole forest to the west seeming awash with them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Do they hope to trap us here against Veradis' bottle-neck and burn the rest of us to death?\n\nThen Nathair heard something else, a scuttling sound that grew louder, and as he looked the very forest floor appeared to... move.\n\nHe peered harder, trying to pierce the gloom of the forest, saw undergrowth swaying, collapsing under the weight of some invisible force, a wavelike a great slick of oil spreading over the forest, black and scuttling. Getting closer and closer.\n\nNathair felt a fist of fear clench around his heart. He did not know what it was, but instinctively he knew that it wasn't anything good. Beneath him his draig rumbled uneasily, shifting from foot to foot.\n\nAnd then the first row of his eagle-guard that edged the western flank just... disappeared.\n\nThey collapsed beneath a black tide that surged towards the main bulk of Lothar's warband, engulfing hundreds of men in a few heartbeats, arms flailing, feet kicking as they fell to the floor, screams rising and cutting off, wails, bodies twitching. The next row behind them turned and ran, back into the row behind them, and then the whole western perimeter of Nathair's defensive line was gone, either swallowed by the black tide or running frantically from it, up the embankment and into Lothar's massed warband.\n\nThe eagle-guard fighting Veradis were oblivious, cutoff from this new threat by the wall of flames that dissected the road.\n\n\"What the hell?\" Nathair cursed, and the Kadoshim about him drew their swords, three of them stalking through the crowd that was pressing towards them. Blood spurted as one of them hacked at men, and then a space was parting before them and they were standing alone at the base of the embankment, the black tide swirling towards them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The first Kadoshim slashed at it with his sword, then the darkness was at his boots. It spread over his feet, up the boots, onto his breeches, the Kadoshim swatting at his legs, knocking clumps of whatever it was off of him, but the darkness continued climbing, and then Nathair saw shreds appearing in the Kadoshim's clothing, blood welling from its legs.\n\nThen Nathair realized what it was he was seeing.\n\nAnts. Like the ones near Jerolin, all those years ago. They were unstoppable, and shredded the flesh from anything that got in their way. They were my inspiration for the shield wall.\n\nFora few terrifying moments he just satin his saddle and stared, frozen with fear.\n\nThe first Kadoshim turned, took a few staggering steps up the embankment, then dropped to its knees, looking confused as to why its body was not working properly. It reached out to the two behind it, who were already stamping on the never-ending wave of insects, one of them dark to the knees. The first one fell face-first to the ground, rolling and thrashing as the ants swarmed over its torso, up its neck, filling its mouth, crawling out of its nose, shredding and ripping its flesh, its body spasming fora few moments, before it shuddered and was still, black vapour gushing from a score of wounds, forming into a mist-wraith in the air, screeching its rage before it evaporated into the gloom.\n\nSo taking their heads is not the only way to kill them.\n\nThen the ants were sweeping up the embankment, a tide of them as far along the road as Nathair could see, smoke and flame behind them, engulfing eagle-guard, labourers and warriors from Lothar's warband, everyone scrambling away from them in a panicked frenzy, bodies crushed, pushed flying, trampled as close to four thousand men tried to run south, down the road's embankment and into the forest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The first ants reached his draig's feet and it lifted one foot, squashing many with a crackling splat, but hundreds more were already there, swirling up the draig's talons and onto its foot, mandibles ripping at the flesh beyond the curved claws.\n\nThe draig bellowed.\n\nNathair yanked on his reins, shouting in the draig's ear, the command to turn, to run, and it was happy to obey, lumbering into a shambling gait, turning right, down the embankment, crushing any eagle-guard before it as it headed eastwards into the forest.\n\n\"With me,\" Nathair cried. \"With me.\" He tried to gather eagle-guard behind him, desperate to lead as many as he could through the forest and to safety. Warriors fell in behind the draig, following the path it made through the undergrowth, and soon they had outdistanced the flow of ants, though behind him Nathair still heard the screams of men being eaten alive.\n\nGlancing back, he saw at least a few hundred of his men running in his wake, some of Lothar's warriors in their white cloaks amongst them, more gathering to him as his draig ploughed into the forest.\n\nI'm going to need every last man, because even if we make it to the plain before Drassil, I'm betting there will still be a fight ahead of us to make it to the gates.\n\nHe cursed Corban and Veradis, and guided his draig looping east and then north into the forest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin heard screams drifting through the forest, along with the stench of woodsmoke.\n\nSounds as if they're being flayed with a hot knife, and not just a few of them, either.\"Think someone's having a bad day,\" he muttered to Dath, who was crouched only a few paces away.\n\n\"Should find out who soon enough,\" Dath replied, running the flat of his palm over the score of arrows that he'd stabbed into the cold black earth of the forest.\n\nMen and women were spread in along line either side of them, almost eighty archers in total, all of them with bows strung and quivers full. Behind them stood a hundred or so Jehar warriors, Kulla, Dath's wife, one of them. They were led by a man named Akar, grim-faced and dour.\n\n\"Here they come,\" Dath said.\n\nCamlin stared into the forest, saw clouds of smoke billowing amongst the trees, and heard a low rumbling thunder, growing closer, and behind it those piercing, continuous screams.\n\n\"Be ready,\" Camlin called out, standing and rolling his shoulders. \"And remember, first arrow together, then in your own time, fast as you can.\"\n\nHe plucked an arrow poking from the soil in front of him and loosely nocked it, waiting.\n\nHe didn't have to wait long.\n\nThe shouting and screaming grew, louder and louder, and then shadows were moving through the trees. Individual forms began to solidify within the stampeding mass, a horde of men running in Camlin's direction, more than Camlin could begin to count, many in the black and silver of Tenebral, more clad in Helveth's white cloaks." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Tell us when,\" Camlin muttered to Dath.\n\nThe enemy were within range, now, but Dath waited.\n\nGood lad. They need t'be close enough for an arrowhead to punch through leather and mail.\n\nAnother twenty paces, covered in four or five heartbeats.\n\n\"READY,\" Dath yelled, and eighty archers drew their arrows, sighting a target within the onrushing wave of men.\n\n\"LOOSE,\" Dath cried and Camlin's arrow was thrumming from his bow, sinking into an eagle-guard's throat, sending him crashing to the ground, a handful of men behind him snared by his fall, tumbling with him.\n\nAll along the front of this wave of flesh and blood men fell, legs crumpling beneath them, but the wave kept coming.\n\nBefore the first man had stopped rolling, Camlin's second arrow was on the string, drawn and loosed, another man spinning and falling; again, another down; another, every time a knot of men going down as one, so tightly were they running together. And beside him Camlin heard Dath's bowstring thrumming, a constant rhythm.\n\nThe plan wasn't just to kill indiscriminately, though of course taking down the numbers of the enemy was vital.\n\nEspecially when they outnumber us so heavily.\n\nThe plan was also to keep the survivors of this warband running blindly into the forest, and, if possible, to steer them east or south, away from Drassil. Because, once the panic was over, there would still be a lot of men wandering around Forn Forest with allegiances to their enemy, so the more that were lost and unable to find their way to Drassil, the better." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Of course, the more that's dead, the better.\n\nTo his left Camlin glimpsed a man mounted on a white stallion, other riders about him, galloping hard past the line of archers. Shadowy shapes were running alongside them, dark blurs, and it took a moment for Camlin to realize they were Kadoshim.\n\nLothar and his shieldmen, with a Kadoshim bodyguard.\n\nHe thought about trying to put an arrow into Lothar, but the horses were past him before he'd had a chance for the thought to reach his fingertips. He shrugged and carried on.\n\nAnother arrow nocked and loosed, the enemy close enough now that Camlin was confident his arrows would pierce a cuirass and mail beneath, no longer taking his time, just nocking and loosing as fast as he could.\n\nWhen he could seethe whites of men's eyes he realized that they weren't going to swerve away.\n\nAnother arrow loosed and he was thinking about moving, even though the plan had been to stand their ground; being trampled to death by a horde of terror-stricken men didn't feel like the best end to the day.\n\n\"Dath,\" he shouted over the din.\n\n\"Trust the Jehar,\" Dath shouted back.\n\nYou'd have to say that, you're wed to one.\n\nOne more arrow plucked from the soil, nocked and loosed, a man falling only forty or fifty paces away, and Camlin was reaching into his quiver for his next arrow.\n\nThough I might be flat on my back with someone's boot on my face before I've loosed this one.\n\nThen behind him Camlin heard the hiss of swords drawn, the drum of feet, and over a hundred Jehar were running through the gaps between the archers' line, swords held high in two-fisted grips, all screaming the same battle-cry." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"TRUTH AND COURAGE.\" The shout echoed off the wall of warriors running at them, and then the Jehar were carving into the enemy, blood spraying in a hundred arcs, heads and limbs flying, men falling before them like scythed wheat.\n\nThe archers drew in tighter formation and began loosing higher, arrows arcing over the Jehar's heads before they descended into the bulk of the enemy warband. It was tricky shooting, avoiding low branches while still getting enough height to drop down upon the enemy.\n\nThen came a pounding vibration through the ground and a roar that made Camlin pause and stare in disbelief at the massive shape punching through the fleeing warband. A creature with long teeth and scythe-like claws, bellowing its fury, a man clad in silver and black sitting upon its back, striking about him with along sword.\n\nCamlin stood frozen fora dozen heartbeats as this beast smashed away through all before it like a battering ram, then powered on into open space, straight at Camlin.\n\nSuddenly Dath was leaping, crashing into him, throwing him out of the way of the onrushing creature and its rider and they were both tumbling across forest litter, other men and women jumping and scrambling out of the way, some too late, hurled through the air with bone-crunching force.\n\nThe beast hurtled past them and disappeared into the forest, hundreds of surviving warriors following in its wake, most dressed in the black and silver of Tenebral, but with a scattering of white-cloaks amongst them.\n\n\"What the hell was that?\" Camlin said as he climbed to his feet.\n\n\"That was Nathair and his draig,\" Dath said, spitting leaves from his mouth.\n\nThe surviving Jehar were coming back to them now, most of the remnants of the enemy warband gone. Kulla found Dath; she had along scratch over one of her eyes." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Akar joined them, looking as if he hadn't been touched in the battle. He was gazing after the bulk of men who were fleeing raggedly into the forest, far fewer of them than there had been running at them not so long ago. It was hard to tell in the gloom and trees, but Camlin was certain that there were a lot less than four thousand men left in that warband.\n\nSmoke rolled over them, the crackle of flames in the distance, and then Camlin saw the ants sweeping towards them, a black scuttling carpet of mandibles and legs, a good few hundred paces away. They clustered on the dead that had fallen to the Jehar or lay with arrows protruding from their bodies.\n\nI was planning on cutting a few of those arrows out and taking them back, but I don't think I will now.\n\nThe ants were slowing, feasting on the recently dead, but they were still too close for Camlin's liking.\n\n\"We need to go,\" he said.\n\n\"Which way?\" Akar said, looking between the fleeing warbands. The larger one, led by Lothar, was still running wildly into the forest, the smaller one was following the draig.\n\nCamlin and Dath looked at each other, then at the carnage the draig's passage had caused.\n\n\"Best get after Nathair and his beast,\" Camlin said.\n\n\"Aye,\" Dath agreed.\n\nBecause they both knew that it was heading straight for Drassil." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis leaned into his shield, felt the scrape of short swords against it. A low blow glanced off the iron strips on his boot and he stamped on the blade, chopped down to hear a muffled scream.\n\nThe man beside Veradis fell, a short sword slicing high over the top rim of his shield, into the man's mouth. He was the third warrior to die that side of Veradis; another quickly filled the void.\n\nHardest shield wall battle I've ever fought. It was easier against giants.\n\nHe'd put three men down that he was sure of, and hobbled another, severing tendons in his enemy's ankle, but beyond that he did not know how the battle was going, only that a ripple of flame had washed over him sometime ago, signalling the coming of the ants. And he'd thought he'd heard screaming, further away, but he couldn't be sure, the din of battle a fog about him.\n\nThe only other thing he knew, and the most important, was that he hadn't moved, and nor had his men about him.\n\nWe've held them. Held the Draig's Teeth. Feels like we've been here for three days, but we've held them.\n\nVeradis glanced over his own shield, saw a face he recognized wielding the sword that had just put the man on his left down, his face bloodied and pale behind the linden andiron.\n\nCaesus.\n\nVeradis snarled at him and slammed shields with the young warrior, stabbed below the rim of his shield, seeking to slice through leather and tendon, but felt his blade grate on iron-stitched boots like his own. He pulled back just as a sword stabbed at his hand, and instead went quickly over the top of his own shield, stabbing at Caesus' eye, catching his cheek instead, leaving a red weal of blood." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There were screams, growing louder, a ripple through the shield wall, and abruptly he was stumbling forwards. He fell to one knee, saw that Caesus was falling away, running, the wall about him disintegrating. Veradis glimpsed Balur to one side, other iron-wrapped giants with their long axes hacking into the flanks of the eagle-guard, and behind them a wall of flame.\n\nThe Draig's Teeth have broken. Held at the front, giants on their flanks, flames at their backs.\n\nHard men. But still only men.\n\nHe glimpsed eagle-guard fleeing through the trees to both sides, saw Storm leap on one, rolling, blood spraying as she came to a halt and stood upon her prey. Corban emerged from the treeline, his sword bloody, Farrell with him, his war-hammer matted with bone and hair. Corban offered Veradis his hand and pulled him back to his feet.\n\n\"Nathair?\" Veradis asked.\n\n\"He fled east, on his draig.\"\n\n\"It worked, then? The fire, the ants?\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Krelis said, emerging from the trees, dragging an eagle-guard by the scruff of his mail shirt and throwing him at Veradis' feet.\n\nIt was Caesus.\n\n\"You ready to fight for us, lad?\" Krelis asked him.\n\n\"I serve only Nathair,\" Caesus said, glaring up at Veradis.\n\n\"Say one thing for Nathair,\" Krelis said, \"he does inspire some loyalty in his lads.\" He gave Veradis a knowing look. \"Got more than a few like him running around in the woods,\" Krelis continued, looking back to Caesus. \"Doesn't feel right putting a sword in them when they're not fighting back; they're men of Tenebral, after all, but we can't have them wandering around behind us, and we can't spare the men to watch them. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Break some bones,\" Corban said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"A good man gave me that advice once. Break the bones in their sword hand. They'll not take the field against us again today. '\n\n\"Good idea,\" Krelis said, nodding. \"I like it.\" He looked down at Caesus and grinned.\n\nCoralen emerged from the trees, three eagle-guard walking before her sword-point, and she deposited them alongside Caesus. Wulf stepped from the gloom, and his men about him. It had been they who had lit the fires behind the ant colonies and guided them east into Nathair and Lothar.\n\n\"Worked a treat,\" Krelis said to them, grinning broadly. \"But that was the easy part.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Corban agreed. \"Now for Drassil, for Rhin and for Calidus.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uthas stood upon the battlements of Drassil. Up above him the leafless branches of the great tree clawed at the sky, and above them heavy clouds shrouded the world, slate-dark and oppressive. The gates of Drassil faced west onto the wide plain, beyond it the trees of Forn a wall of shadow. A cold wind tugged at his cloak and warrior braid, sending a shiver through him.\n\nSalach stood to one side of him, battle-axe sharp and ready, his face as sullen as the sky.\n\nTo Uthas'other side stood Rhin, regal in her black and gold, a thick sable cloak about her, silver hair gleaming. And beside her Calidus and Lykos, both clad in shirts of mail, leather-bound, grim-faced. Stretching either side of them all were a line of black-eyed Kadoshim, and beyond them, lining the walls of Drassil, were his Benothi kin: a grim line of giants, their thick-muscled torsos swathed in leather and chainmail, tattoos of thorn and vine swirling up from their wrists, each one their own sgeul, the Telling, testament to the lives they'd sent across the bridge of swords.\n\nThey are an impressive sight, and their sgeuls will grow this day, Uthas thought with pride.\n\nAll of them stared southwards in silence, at the plain of Drassil and dour Forn beyond.\n\nWhere are they?\n\nIt was halfway to highsun now, a pale gleam marking the sun's journey, and for sometime a mixture of sounds had been drifting out from the murky green of the forest. Screams, and more recently clouds of smoke filtering up through the canopy to be frayed by the cold wind. Uthas saw a blush of orange and red as flames bloomed, deep within Forn, at least a league away, maybe further." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And the screams were spreading, expanding through the forest.\n\nNot a good sign. They should begetting closer, moving along the line of the road. That is what we expected, for Nathair and Lothar to push Corban and his rabble back.\n\nUthas looked back at the courtyard, which was full to overflowing with Conall and his warband, close to fifteen hundred men, horses and riders, most of them standing with their mounts. Rammed into the streets behind them was Geraint and his warband of four thousand men. All waiting.\n\nThey should have ridden out long ago. All is clearly not going well for Nathair and Lothar; they need our help.\n\nBut when Uthas had suggested this to Calidus he had snarled a refusal: And send more men into ambush and death within those trees. No. We will wait until we can see our enemy.\n\n\"Any sign?\" A voice shouted up to them– Conall, close to the gates of Drassil, stamping his feet and blowing into his hands.\n\n\"No,\" Rhin called down to him.\n\n\"We could ride out onto the field, prepare a line.\"\n\n\"You cannot ride out to fight a foe that isn't there, \"Rhin snapped.\"Wait. '\n\n\"I hate waiting,\" Conall muttered, though he said no more, just went back to blowing into his cupped hands. Uthas noticed that Rafe the huntsman was standing near him, holding the reins of a horse.\n\nA hiss from Rhin drew his attention back to the horizon.\n\nShadows were shifting in the treeline to the west, directly before Drassil's gates, and then figures were emerging. First came alone warrior and a wolven, big as a horse, padding at his side. Its coat rippled and shimmered like molten silver. Then more came: a handful of men, a trio mounted on horseback, more and more spilling from the forest, an array of warriors. Uthas saw many in the black and silver of Ripa, but there were many others, red-cloaks of Isiltir, a knotted clump of men wrapped in leather and fur, clothed like miniature giants, and then behind them real giants, forty, fifty, still more coming." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Most of the rabble halted a dozen or so paces from the forest, clinging to the treeline.\n\n\"Where is Nathair?\" Uthas heard Calidus mutter. \"Where is Lothar?\"\n\nA handful of the new arrivals carried on, approaching the gates of Drassil.\n\nThe warrior and wolven walked at their head. Uthas remembered them from Murias, though he had had only scattered glimpses. He had been fighting for his life, after all. They had both grown, that was clear enough, Corban– for that was who it must be– though young, strode with a warrior's grace and confidence. He was dressed simply, in mail shirt and leather surcoat, a four-pointed star on his chest. The wolven beside him was huge, even for its species, and its coat rippled like liquid. Uthas looked closer and saw it was wrapped in chainmail. Ashe stared at it, the beast looked up at him and he saw its lip curl back in a snarl, amber eyes and dripping fangs full of malice. He had to stop himself from taking a step back.\n\nBehind them he saw a diverse collection. A man clothed in the black and silver of Tenebral, a bright eagle on his cuirass. A Jehar warrior, sword hilt jutting over his back; beside him a warrior as broad as a bull, hefting a war-hammer as if he were a young giant; one rider upon a horse– Edana, wrapped in mail and a grey cloak, her fair hair braided into a thick warrior braid, a circlet of gold entwined about her head.\n\nA crown! Rhin won't like that. She won't like that at all.\n\nAnd three giants. His breath caught fora moment as he focused on them, and he felt Salach stiffen beside him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Ethlinn walked at their head, and no longer did she look like the frail dreamer that he remembered. She was straight-backed, dressed for war in leather, fur andiron, a spear in her hands. Behind her strode another giantess, muscular and strong. She was not Benothi, the sides of her skull were shaved clean, a thick mass of dark hair limed and braided down the centre of her hair.\n\n\"Kurgan?\" Uthas murmured, a memory from the lore stirring in his mind. Beside her walked Balur One-Eye, wrapped in thick iron. His white hair spilt from beneath his helm, the lattice of his scarred empty eye socket staring straight up at Uthas.\n\nFear and rage coursed through Uthas' veins. He had drunk from the cup and felt young, strong. How dare this ancient old fool stand against him?\n\nToday you die, old man.\n\nCorban and his wolven padded to within fifty paces of the gates, then stopped, his unlikely band of allies arrayed behind them.\n\n\"If you are hereto surrender, we accept,\" Lykos shouted down to them. \"Lay down your arms, muzzle your pet, and we'll open the gates for you. '\n\nCorban and the others just stared up at them.\n\n\"No?\"\n\nAnother silent response.\n\nLykos leaned over to Calidus and whispered loudly. \"Foreigners, eh! No sense of humour.\"\n\nEven Salach chuckled, shoulders rippling.\n\nCorban cupped his hands to his mouth and called up to them.\n\n\"No surrender. No bargaining, no offer of peace or treaty. I came to tell you one thing, Calidus.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"And what is that, you arrogant cub?\" Calidus yelled down to him.\n\n\"Your death is coming.\"\n\nCorban turned and walked away, the wolven stalking beside him.\n\n\"Rhin?\" Edana shouted from horseback.\n\n\"I see you, you thieving bitch,\" Rhin called down, \"and before this day is done I shall rip that trinket of gold from your cold, dead skull.\"\n\nI thought the crown would anger her.\n\n\"You will never return to the west,\" Edana shouted up to her. \"You have run, and now you have nowhere left to hide.\" Before Rhin could answer, Edana turned her horse and cantered after the others.\n\nRhin turned a darker shade of scarlet, a string of curses flowing from her mouth.\n\nI would not wish to be Edana if Rhin gets her hands on her today.\n\n\"UTHAS,\" Balur One-Eye cried out, \"Betrayer, murderer of Nemain; today justice will find you.\"\n\nUthas felt his own rage bubble up, barely contained. \"Fine words,\" he bellowed, \"from one who slew his own king.\"\n\nEthlinn rested a hand on Balur's arm and stepped forwards.\n\n\"Warriors of the Benothi,\" she cried. \"Today I claim my birthright. I am Ethlinn ap Balur, and I am Queen of the Clans.\"\n\nWhat?\n\nUthas had expected her to stake her claim as the Benothi's rightful leader– but all of the Giant clans?\n\nThat is my place!\n\n\"Behind me stand Benothi and Kurgan,\" Ethlinn cried. \"It is time to become one clan again. Uthas has led you wrong, but I will forgive you and welcome you, if you leave him now. Spill the blood of your kin no more.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And then she was turning, striding after Corban, the other giants with her.\n\nUthas' lips quivered with rage, his moustache twitching.\n\nIt is I who will be Lord of the Clans after this day.\n\n\"Salach, take her head,\" he hissed.\n\n\"I swear it,\" his shieldman growled.\n\nWhere are Nathair and Lothar? Even without them we are unbeatable within these walls, but there were over six thousand swords in Forn. Surely they cannot have been defeated?\n\nDeep within Forn smoke roiled above the canopy, flickers and flashes of flame now, spreading wider.\n\nA great fire must be blazing within the forest. Have Nathair and Lothar been trapped and burned?\n\nUthas glanced at Calidus, saw doubt gnawing at him.\n\nThen there was a crashing and roaring to Uthas' left, to the south of the plain.\n\nA shape emerged from the southern treeline, a beast upon four legs, low to the ground, wide-chested and muscular, razor-sharp talons on its bowed legs. A draig. And a man satin a saddle upon its back.\n\nNathair.\n\nThe draig lumbered forwards and then paused, gave a booming roar, and behind it warriors spilt from the forest, hundreds of them, both eagle-guard in their black and silver, and Lothar's white-cloaks.\n\nThe eagle-guard were moving into formation, forming a shield wall in orderly, disciplined lines. Nathair was yelling and gesturing to the white-cloaks, and Uthas saw them gathering into two groups, massing about the shield wall's flanks like white wings." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban and his companions were running now, veering towards Nathair, their warriors along the western treeline moving with them, making to bar Nathair's path to the gates of Drassil.\n\nThen more figures were pouring onto the southern plain, spread in a scattered line behind Nathair and his troops. These newcomers were mounted on horseback, a dozen, more, their riders trailing white cloaks. Black figures on foot followed not far behind them.\n\n\"Lothar and his Kadoshim,\" Calidus said.\n\nThe King of Helveth galloped to Nathair, his mounted honour guard about him, all the while more warriors on foot emerging from the forest, staggering and disordered, but soon massing together.\n\nThere must be a thousand of them, at least, and more are still coming.\n\nSo Corban attacked them, routed them from the road, but the survivors have managed to make it through the forest.\n\nCorban and his warband were sweeping south across the plain towards Nathair and Lothar, the numbers appearing to be roughly even, though with every heartbeat more eagle-guard and white-cloaks were stumbling out from the forest.\n\n\"They will need our help,\" Uthas said.\n\nRhin looked to Calidus, who nodded, and she turned to look down into the courtyard and shouted.\n\n\"Conall, your waiting is over.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban ran across the plain, men shouting battle-cries, bellowed orders swirling behind him, the thunder of thousands of feet, Balur's voice rising above all else, but all Corban could focus on was Nathair, sitting on his draig, a longsword in his hand, twisting in his saddle and yelling orders to his warriors. The eagle-guard behind him were locking into a shield wall, already wide and deep, many of Lothar's white-cloaks forming upon his flanks. But Nathair was out in front of them, vulnerable.\n\nWell, not exactly vulnerable– he has a draig.\n\nAn image flashed through his mind, of his da, fallen to his knees in the feast-hall of Dun Carreg, Nathair standing before him, plunging a sword into his chest.\n\nHe grabbed hold of Storm's collar and urged heron.\n\nStorm opened her gait, moving from lope to run. Corban was pulled from his feet, one fist gripping the leather collar around Storm's neck. He swung his legs and ended upon Storm's back, felt the wind whipping his hair, dragging tears from his eyes. Behind him the sound of his followers lessened, Storm opening a gap between them as she flew towards Nathair. They were two hundred paces away, a hundred and fifty, Storm almost flying.\n\nThen white-cloaked riders suddenly filled his vision. They had broken away from the black-clothed Kadoshim that were following them, all of them coming between him and Nathair. A man with black hair and a golden circlet in his hair was riding straight at him.\n\nLothar, King of Helveth.\n\nCorban snarled in frustration.\n\nCome between me and my vengeance.\n\nStorm crunched into Lothar's stallion, her jaws fastening about its muscular neck and her body swinging to crash side-on into the horse's flank. Corban used Storm's momentum to throw himself into Lothar, ripping the man from his saddle before they both slammed into the ground, rolling and tumbling in a spray of turf." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban rolled away from Lothar, rising to his feet and dragging his sword free, and ran at the King of Helveth, who was desperately trying to draw his own weapon.\n\nA horse and rider rode between them, the warrior stabbing a spear at Corban. He swayed away, caught the shaft in his wolven claws, with a twist of his wrist locked it and dragged the warrior forwards, stabbed his sword up into the man's armpit, raked his claws along the horse's flank, sending it leaping forwards, the rider toppling backwards from his saddle.\n\nLothar was still standing the other side, one of his shieldmen dismounting to give his King his horse.\n\nCorban surged forwards, ducked the shieldman's sword swing and slashed at the man's face with his wolven claws, sending him stumbling to one knee. Corban stabbed him in the throat, then grabbed Lothar's belt as he tried to swing into the saddle. Lothar snarled and attacked him.\n\nHe was good, his attacks solid, economical, well balanced, but Corban was better, and a cold rage fuelled him. Corban harnessed it, letting it fill him, not control him. He blocked four blows from Lothar, deflected the fifth wide and back-swung his blade across Lothar's chest, making him stagger. Corban strode after him, stepped inside a desperate lunge at his head, punched Lothar in the face with his hilt, sending him crashing to the ground, and stabbed him two-handed through the chest, his blade bursting out through Lothar's back and into the earth behind him.\n\nA yell of fury made him spin and he saw one of Lothar's mounted shieldmen bearing down on him, sword raised, only to see him sent flying from his saddle, a hammer-blow slamming into his chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You've got to stop running off like that, \"Farrell grunted at him, breathing hard, then Gar swirled past them, iron clashing as he grabbed a warrior's reins and chopped at the man's head. Another white-cloak fell to the ground before Corban, one of Laith's daggers sticking from his belly.\n\nCorban grabbed Lothar's circlet from his brow and mounted the nearest riderless horse. It danced on the spot a moment but Corban leaned low, patting its neck and whispering in its ear, and it calmed.\n\nMost of Lothar's shieldmen were down, Gar, Farrell and Coralen making short work of the few still alive. Nathair was still rallying his warband, waiting to gather as many stragglers from the forest to him as possible. They had grown formidably, eagle-guard and white-cloaks combined together numbering perhaps over a thousand strong already.\n\nHe could see Veradis bellowing at his warband, his men gathering into a shield wall of their own, Balur and his iron giants with their long axes looming to either flank. On this side of Veradis'shield wall Krelis was breaking into a loping run, with his warband of black and silver amass behind him, and behind them were Tahir's men of Isiltir. They were running at the Kadoshim that had arrived with Lothar, at least threescore of the black-eyed warriors hurling themselves towards Krelis and his men.\n\nMen and women burst from the treeline, a hundred or so in dark chainmail, swords drawn, raised high over their heads, running into the plain. Fora heart-stopping moment Corban thought it was more Kadoshim running straight at him, but then he recognized Akar, Kulla behind him, and saw that they were angling across the field to engage with the Kadoshim." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban kicked his mount into a canter, pounding the turf between the two massing warbands.\n\n\"Your King is dead,\" he yelled, kicking his horse into a gallop to surge past Nathair's draig and the shield wall, showing them the blood-splattered circlet, repeating his proclamation, yelling it at the top of his voice, then hurling the crown into their massed ranks.\n\nArrows whistled and flitted from the treeline, and white-cloaks started to fall.\n\nCorban was about to turn and ride back to Krelis'flank and lend his sword to the battle against the Kadoshim when a hand closed on Corban's arm. It was Gar, sitting on a dun mare.\n\n\"It's time, \"the warrior said.\"The plan has worked. '\n\nCorban looked at the battle spreading upon the field, saw faces that had followed him, felt a weight of responsibility for them, and a surging desire to fight, to kill his enemy and lose himself in the simplicity of battle. His eyes fixed on Nathair, and an overwhelming urge to kill him flared bright in his belly.\n\n\"Look, the plan's worked, ' Gar repeated, pointing at the gates of Drassil, which were swinging ponderously open, riders pouring out from the fortress in a flood.\n\nCalidus has taken the bait!\n\n\"Come,\" Gar said. \"We can end this, but we have to go. Now.\"\n\nCorban's eyes found Nathair.\n\nHe is not the real enemy, just another pawn in this game of angels and demons. Calidus is the one that needs to die.\n\n\"Ban,\" Gar said, tugging his arm.\n\n\"You're right, ' Corban said, and together they rode from the field." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Corban met Brina in the forest north of Drassil's gates, at a makeshift hospice she had built." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Many were there, ready to tend the wounded; injured warriors were already filtering in. Brina was standing with a handful of men, three of them giants. Corban recognized Alcyon and his son Tain, but there was anew one, bigger and bulkier than Alcyon, his head shaved in the same way as Alcyon and Tain, a thick strip of hair running down the centre of his head.\n\nBrina was tending a man, her fingers resting on his throat. It was Maquin, standing with a few of Javed's Freedmen. All of them looked exhausted, sweat-stained and close to collapse, but Maquin was worse. His eyes were dark hollows, his mouth twisted in a bitter snarl, as if he mocked and hated death, but yearned for it at the same time.\n\n\"Fidele's dead, ' Brina said quietly as Corban and Gar reached her.\n\n\"Let me go,\" Maquin said. \"I am going after Lykos.\"\n\nCorban looked at Maquin. His voice was a monotone, and there was a tremor in his hand. He swayed slightly, as if the effort of remaining still and upright were too much.\n\nFatigue.\n\n\"I suspect if you wait a little while he might come out onto the plain and fight,\" Brina said. \"If the battle goes as we hope. Might be easier than trying to get through those gates. Perhaps use the time to eat and drink. You don't want to find him and then fall flat on your face. '\n\n\"That won't happen, \"Maquin mumbled,\"but some water would be good. '\n\nBrina nodded to Alcyon, and the giant led Maquin to a log, sat him down and went in search of water and food." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"So,\" Brina said, looking at Corban. \"We need to go.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Corban replied.\n\nFootsteps drummed and Coralen came running into the glade. Dath was with her, Kulla as well, then Farrell and Laith a dozen paces behind.\n\n\"Corban, this... really is... getting... ridiculous,\" Farrell panted, leaning against a tree. \"It's making me angry. Can't you just stay in one damned place and fight?\"\n\n\"It's a busy day, ' Corban said with a shrug.\n\n\"Is this it, then?\" Dath asked. \"The plan?\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Corban said. He looked at them all, a still moment in the midst of carnage and blood and fear. \"You don't have to come with me. '\n\n\"Oh, shut up, Ban,\" Dath breathed.\n\n\"Aye,\" Farrell grunted. \"As if we would do anything other.\"\n\n\"But-\"\n\n\"Listen to your friends,\" Coralen said. \"And shut up. We're coming. '\n\nCorban nodded. \"All right, best be doing it, then, before the battle's over. '\n\n\"Is it far to go?\" Farrell asked.\n\n\"A little short of half a day on foot,\" Coralen said.\n\nFarrell looked miserable, even about to cry.\n\n\"Which is why I've borrowed some horses from Edana, \"Brina said.\"Now let's be off.\"\n\nFarrell's relief was palpable.\n\n\"Small mercies,\" he whispered.\n\n\"Do your good work,\" Brina said to Craf, who had been watching the exchange silently from a log beside them. Brina scratched his neck and threw him something slimy. He caught it and gulped it down. \"And we'll see you at the meeting point. '" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"On the old oak tree,\" Craf squawked as he took to flight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The gates of Drassil opened and Rafe followed Conall and a hundred other warriors that rode before him, along with close to fourteen hundred others. He glanced back once at the stables where he'd left Scratcher tied up. Didn't want his hound caught up in this. He had enough to worry about.\n\nThe din of battle was faint, a swirling eddy drowned out by horses'hooves as they clattered into the tunnel that led through the gates and out into the open of Drassil's plain.\n\nConall rode away ahead, then reined in and looked backup at the walls, at Rhin, no doubt, as riders spread to either side of him, gathering into a line over a hundred horses wide. Rafe guided his mount into line a few rows almost directly behind Conall. He patted his horse's neck as they waited for the full strength of the warband to pour out through Drassil's gates and gather behind Conall.\n\n\"You're a beauty, \"Rafe whispered in his new horse's ear, leaning forwards. \"Too good for Geraint. Glad I found you, and I'll make you a deal. I'll try and keep you alive as long as you return the favour.\"\n\nThe skewbald stallion arched his neck and stamped the ground.\n\nCan probably smell blood and battle. Doesn't look as if he's scared of it, though. Looks more as if he wants to get stuck in.\n\nRafe sat up straight and tried to see what was happening.\n\nBattle was raging, that was clear, a mighty din rippling up from the south of the plains. He could see giants, and hear the roar of Nathair's draig every now and then, which set his stallion to snorting and its ears flicking back tight to its head, but if anyone was close to victory or had the upper hand, he could not tell." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "We should change that soon enough, though, Rafe thought. Fifteen hundred of us charging onto their rear should set them to running quickly enough. He looked up at the sky, saw the pale gleam of sun through thick cloud. Battle'll be over by highsun.\n\nHorns blew then and Conall drew his sword, saluted to Rhin on the battlements and kicked his horse on, into a trot, turning at an angle to head south.\n\nThe host moved after Conall, there was a lurching moment when Rafe was jostled by mounts either side of him. Dry-throated fear reared in him and he wished he'd had a last drink from the water skin hanging on his saddle.\n\nToo late now, Rafe thought as they moved across the plain, aimed straight at the rear of the enemy warband, the drum of hooves a constant thunder, the creak and rattle of harness and mail combining into an all-consuming fog of sound. Rafe thought of Rhin's words to him, last night during the council of war.\n\nA chance to redeem myself, after failing Rhin over the necklace.\n\nHe jostled with riders either side of him, kept his eyes on Conall's back.\n\nThen horns sounded from behind, from Drassil's battlements, a discordant sound, a clamour of warning.\n\nThe advance stuttered, Conall and fifteen hundred other men craning their necks to see what was wrong. Figures on Drassil's battlements were pointing, towards the treeline directly west of Drassil's gates. Rafe stared that way and saw along line of riders emerge from the forest, a hundred horses long, at least, warriors in the grey of Ardan, Edana at their head, looking like a warrior-queen from the old tales, mail shirt gleaming, a naked sword in her hand. On one side of her rode Vonn, on the other, Halion. And behind them, more and more riders spilling from the gloom, spears and swords glinting in the pale light, hundreds of them, easily a thousand, with still more appearing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Along silence settled as the two warbands considered each other, misted breath from horses' nostrils rose in the cold air, a hoof stamping, a whinny, and then Edana was shouting a command, pointing her sword and kicking her mount into a canter, the host of riders behind her spurring into motion, a great wave.\n\nConall was shouting, urging his horse on, dragging on his reins to turn towards them, Rafe and the whole warband doing the same, stuttering into a canter towards Edana, who was gaining speed, her mount leaping into a gallop, and behind her a great roar went up from her warband as they joined her, the thunder of it filling Rafe's ears, and Rafe felt his stomach clench in fear, suddenly not wanting to be here.\n\nCharging an enemy that were on foot and from behind was one thing, certain victory virtually guaranteed, but this– this was something else entirely, this was much more like actual battle.\n\nRafe felt his horse's muscles bunching and flexing, felt his need to run, excitement quivering through the animal.\n\nHe's a warhorse, all right, he actually likes this.\n\nConall was pulling ahead, outpacing his fastest warriors, bent low over his saddle, sword drawn, hurtling towards Edana and Halion, who likewise were pounding ahead of their own warband, a gap widening. Conall screamed wordlessly, laughing, and Rafe understood, fora moment, what men called the joy of battle as a great jolt of exhilaration flooded through him and he yelled in sheer exultation.\n\nAnd then, inexplicably, Conall was leaning back into his saddle, sheathing his sword, dragging at his reins, blowing on a horn at his belt, yelling for his riders behind him to pull up. His mount was skidding, slowing, behind him hundreds doing the same, Rafe yanked on his reins in horror, desperately trying to avoid going down in a tumbling heap, because that would surely mean a trampled death. All about him riders pulled their mounts back under control, slowing from the gallop, horses neighing wildly. Ahead of him Rafe saw Conall leaping from his saddle, even while his horse was still moving, turf spraying. The regent of Domhain was striding forwards. Rafe saw Edana and Halion slow, the warband behind rippling, and Halion was jumping from his saddle, too, marching towards Conall, and then they were slamming into each other, embracing, laughing, hugging, the two warbands coming to a halt only a handful of strides apart. Rafe saw Edana smiling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Halion and Conall parted. Rafe spied tears on the two brothers' cheeks.\n\nEdana spurred her horse forwards.\n\n\"Conall ben Eremon, is this your way of surrendering?\" she asked Conall, voice loud and crisp, spreading over the battlefield.\n\n\"Let's call it a last-minute alliance, \"Conall said, waving an arm in the air.\"We can sort out the details later. \"He hugged Halion again, slapping his back and kissing his cheek.\"Ach, but it's good t'be friends again. I've missed you and your serious face.\"\n\n\"And I've missed your madness, you lunatic, ' Halion laughed.\n\nConall looked backup at the walls of Drassil.\n\n\"As if I'm going to be riding my own brother down! She never had the measure of me. ' And with that he was ripping his cloak of black and gold from his shoulders, waving it around his head and hurling it aside. All around Rafe men were doing the same. He looked at them aghast, then realized he had better follow suit.\n\nLooking at the faces of the warriors about him, all men of Domhain, he saw no shock or surprise in their eyes. A glance at Edana's warriors showed the same expressions, satisfaction and joy in a plan well executed.\n\nOf course they knew. Rhin, it looks as if you've been out-betrayed! That is not going to go down well with her, not at all. Though she does have one last die to roll. Me.\n\nRafe ducked his head down, suddenly finding himself in the middle of his enemy's warband. The last thing he wanted was for Edana or Halion or Vonn to see him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Conall was looking up at the walls of Drassil, and Rafe turned and stared. He could clearly see Rhin standing beside Calidus and Uthas, could just about feel the rage that was contorting her features.\n\n\"Do you think Rhin's got the message? ' Conall said to Halion and Edana.\n\n\"I would imagine so,\" Edana said.\n\n\"Just to make sure,\" Conall said, and he cupped his hands to his mouth.\n\n\"Rhin, you're Queen of Domhain NO MORE, \"he cried.\"So you can KISS MY ARSE. \"He dropped his breeches and bared his backside to Drassil's wall, waved it around a little, whooping and laughing, more guffaws rippling through both warbands. Even Rafe chuckled.\n\n\"Do you think she understands now?\" Conall asked, still waving his backside in the general direction of Drassil.\n\nA high-pitched, rage-filled screech rang out from the walls, drifting across the plain to them.\n\n\"I suspect she does,\" Edana said with a grin.\n\nThen horn blasts were ringing out from the fortress, riders spilling out from the gates, forming upon the plain before the walls.\n\n\"Geraint,\" Conall said. \"He's a good man. I like him. And a good battlechief. Loyal. It'll be a hard fight.\"\n\nThey watched as more and more riders poured through the gates, as many as Conall's warband, then more, many more, and still more flooding from the gates.\n\nConall pulled up his breeches and climbed back into his horse's saddle.\n\n\"Time to spill some blood,\" he snarled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Coralen rode beneath high-branched trees up the slope of a gentle hill, threading through the fringes of Forn; Corban and the others were behind her, Storm a shadow ahead of her. The noise of fighting swirled up to them from the battlefield. Riding away from it was one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do, and she knew she was not the only one feeling its pull. At the crest of the hill her horse's hooves cracked on ancient flagstones, remnants of the giants' road that Jael of Isiltir had discovered and rebuilt.\n\nCoralen reined in and waited for the others to catch up with her. Corban and Gar, Farrell, Laith, Dath, Kulla, Cywen and Brina. They joined heron the road and fora moment they all hesitated, looking back onto Drassil and the battlefield.\n\nTo the south Nathair's and Veradis\" shield walls were locked together, like two competing bulls, and they seemed to form the core about which other warbands swirled and fought, Coralen glimpsing giants, a draig, red-cloaks and white. Closer still were a host of mounted warriors arrayed along the treeline of Forn, thousands strong, a blonde-haired figure riding along its line, shaking her sword in the air.\n\nEdana. Not the princess I remember, struggling to be heard in Eremon's court.\n\nCoralen's breath caught in her chest as her eyes found Halion, and beside him, Conall. Her brothers.\n\nHalion was right, then. Conall has joined them.\n\nShe grinned.\n\nEdana's combined warband was facing another host of horsemen, drawn up before the walls of Drassil, a sea of black and gold. From Coralen's vantage point she could see that, even with Conall's warband swelling Edana's ranks, they were still outnumbered by the enemy massing before them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Yet it was the host in grey that charged first.\n\nIt reached them as a distant rumble; the warband moved forwards slowly, gaining speed and bursting into a gallop, a huge roar of battle-cries ringing out over the plain, and then Rhin's warband of black and gold was moving too, slower to the gallop, but gaining momentum eventually, and their line was wider and thicker.\n\nThe two charging warbands came together, a percussive thunderclap of sound booming outwards, rippling up to them on the slope as six or seven thousand men and mounts slammed into each other. The flanks of the larger host curled around the edges of Edana's warband.\n\nThey sat on their mounts along moment, on the brink of riding back down, watching the battle unfold. Watching friends and comrades fighting for the future of the Banished Lands, fighting for their lives, and maybe dying, right before their eyes.\n\n\"We can't help them, \"Brina snapped.\"If we stay, all will die. We have to go. Now. '\n\n\"Let's go, \"Corban snarled.\"Let's end this.\"\n\nAnd he yanked on his reins, kicked his horse on, and then they were all riding hard down the giants' road, into Forn and away from the battlefield." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uthas stared out onto the battlefield, his knuckles white around his spear shaft. The cries and screams of battle were close and immediate now, before the gates of Drassil was a great heaving maelstrom of bloodshed. The charge of Edana's cavalry had carved deep into Geraint's larger force, carrying many grey-cloaked warriors close to the fortress' walls. The field before Uthas was a bucking, heaving mass of warriors, horses screaming, rearing, kicking, men slashing and stabbing and dying.\n\nThis is no simple victory, the sweeping away of a desperate rabble forced to fight. Numbers are still in our favour, and we have reserves behind us that our enemy cannot counter, but this will be no easy triumph. If we win at all it will be a close and hard-fought affair. Now is the time to send us out, to strike and crush our enemy while they are engaged and pinned down.\n\nUthas shared a look with Salach, knew that he was thinking the same thoughts. They both looked to Calidus.\n\nThe Kadoshim was staring out at the battlefield with an expression that shifted between fury, concern and disgust. Beside him Rhin was caught up in some bout of twisted rage, her fingers curling, lips twisting as half-whispered curses bubbled from her mouth.\n\nConall's betrayal has hither hard.\n\nCalidus took along, shuddering breath, barely controlling his rage, then he turned and called down into the courtyard, ordering the remaining eagle-guard within the fortress to prepare for battle. Men ran from the courtyard, yelling orders.\n\n\"Lykos, gather your men,\" Calidus said, turning to the Lord of the Vin Thalun. \"Every last Vin Thalun warrior except those guarding the Treasures– take them now and turn this battle.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aye,\" Lykos grunted. He turned and stalked down the stairwell, bellowing to his men.\n\nGood, with the Vin Thalun and the eagle-guard that will be another three thousand men into the field. If nothing else, we will overwhelm our foe.\n\n\"And you, Uthas. Take your people and crush your enemies. Stain the ground red with Ethlinn's and Balur's blood.\"\n\nUthas felt a ripple of excitement, part fear, part longing. His dream was so close to fruition, a spear-thrust away.\n\n\"Drassil shall be emptied and our warband will rollover my enemy like a great flood,\" Calidus growled.\n\nGood. As we should have done earlier. Calidus'anxiety to protect the Treasures has overwhelmed his judgement, and he has underestimated this Corban's abilities as a strategist.\n\n\"What of the Treasures?\" Rhin asked, seeming to have mastered her rage. There was worry in her voice.\n\n\"Indeed,\" Calidus snarled. \"Now they will only be guarded by me and my Kadoshim, thanks to your man's betrayal. You have much to atone for. \"Calidus gave her a humourless smile.\"You will stay at my side and pray that the Treasures remain safe. '\n\n\"Salach,\" Uthas said– his shieldman grunted a response– then louder, \"Benothi, with me.\"\n\nAnd Uthas strode from the battlements, the footfall of his clans-people drumming on stone behind him.\n\nUthas was the first through Drassil's gates, Salach and Eisa behind him like wings, the Benothi stomping out onto the battlefield in their iron-shod boots, war-hammers and battle-axes unslung from backs, gripped by grim-faced warriors." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was very different down here from watching the battle unfurl from Drassil's high walls. The stench of blood and faeces hit Uthas first, then screams, battle-cries, iron on iron, the thud of flesh slamming against flesh, shield against shield, all mixing into one deafening din, swirling and eddying, rising and falling as Uthas strode through the carnage.\n\nHe led his clan, skirting the struggle between Geraint's and Edana's mounted warbands, aiming at the battle-storm that was raging between the two shield walls, for it was there that he saw giants. He glanced back one more time, reassured himself that he was not alone, and glimpsed Lykos leading his Vin Thalun, running out through Drassil's gates. There were no organized ranks amongst them like the eagle-guard– more like a tempestuous flood, and they swirled south, following Uthas.\n\nLykos thinks the same as me, better pickings amongst the enemy on foot.\n\nUthas set his eyes on a giant to the south, surrounded by white-cloaked enemies, sheathed in iron. He started to run, great loping strides." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue the story as the author's writing assistant.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 103" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was very different down here from watching the battle unfurl from Drassil's high walls. The stench of blood and faeces hit Uthas first, then screams, battle-cries, iron on iron, the thud of flesh slamming against flesh, shield against shield, all mixing into one deafening din, swirling and eddying, rising and falling as Uthas strode through the carnage.\n\nHe led his clan, skirting the struggle between Geraint's and Edana's mounted warbands, aiming at the battle-storm that was raging between the two shield walls, for it was there that he saw giants. He glanced back one more time, reassured himself that he was not alone, and glimpsed Lykos leading his Vin Thalun, running out through Drassil's gates. There were no organized ranks amongst them like the eagle-guard– more like a tempestuous flood, and they swirled south, following Uthas.\n\nLykos thinks the same as me, better pickings amongst the enemy on foot.\n\nUthas set his eyes on a giant to the south, surrounded by white-cloaked enemies, sheathed in iron. He started to run, great loping strides." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen suppressed a shiver of fear as they rode pasta huge carcass, its flesh mostly gone, picked clean by the forest's myriad predators. As she looked at it she could still see its flat-muzzled skull and long teeth bearing down on her, scythed claws raking the earth.\n\nFor an instant she wished that Buddai were with her, but he was still limping from his last encounter with a draig. So she'd left him tied up at their camp hospice, with Sif and Swain keeping an eye on him. Buddai had not been happy about it, but the bone of a large boar had helped to soften the blow.\n\nHaelan was sitting in front of her, her arms around him holding the reins. He'd followed them into the forest, Pots and Shadow with him, and the trio had quickly been discovered by Coralen and Storm. Brina had interrogated him and to Cywen's surprise Haelan had stood his ground. He'd guessed where they were headed and was adamant that he could help. So Brina had let him stay.\n\nAnd then the smell hither.\n\nDraig dung.\n\nThe horses started to whinny and snort, ears twitching fearfully.\n\n\"We'll have to walk from here, ' Coralen said. Cywen and Coralen led the way.\n\nThe smell became progressively worse, and then Cywen saw the dunghills. The group crept forwards until they saw the rim of the slope that went down to the draig mound and the tunnel that led to their lair. All of them fell to their bellies and crawled the final part of the way until they lay in a row along the slope's rim, peering over.\n\n\"Well, I'd best get on with it, then, ' Kulla said matter-of-factly." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Dath caught hold of her hand.\n\n\"I don't want you to do this, ' he said.\n\n\"I know, but this is one of those things that has to be done, and I'm the best one for it. '\n\n\"I can run fast,\" Dath said.\n\n\"Aye, but not as fast as me.\"\n\nDath stood and stared at her, face twisting and knotting with worry.\n\nKulla stroked his face and smiled.\n\n\"I love you, my Dath,\" she said, then wrapped a strip of cloth around her mouth and one around her eyes. She reached out, hand touching one of the dung mounds, and then she threw herself into it.\n\nThe stench was overwhelming, an explosion that assaulted Cywen's senses, even from where she was lying on the slope's rim. She saw Dath sway as the smell hit him.\n\nKulla rose from the ground smothered from head to toe in draig dung. She pulled the two strips of cloth off, blinked at Dath and then strode down the slope to the draig lair. She looked back once, at the cave-like entrance, and then she was gone.\n\nDath came and lay down beside the rest of them, looking about as miserable as it was humanly possible. Corban reached out and squeezed his arm.\n\nThey all lay there and waited, then Cywen heard a noise. A rumbling roar, deep underground, echoing out through the tunnel entrance. More roaring, louder, overlapping, and then Kulla exploded from the passage entrance, a draig egg tucked under one arm, speeding straight up the slope and onto the flat forest floor, still running as fast as she could in the opposite direction from her companions." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then the draigs were coming: one, two, three of them bursting from the passage that led into their lair. The three of them fanned into a line on the slope, pausing to flicker and taste the air with their tongues, then their huge-taloned claws were hurling them up the slope and into the forest after Kulla, even though she had run so fast that Cywen could see no sign of her.\n\nThey can smell their eggs better than they can see.\n\nAnd that was entirely the point.\n\nCorban and Brina had gone over the plan with the others a thousand times. The fastest runner, covered in dung, snatched an egg and then ran, leading the draigs out and away from their lair for as long as the runner could manage. Meanwhile, the others would take advantage of the draigs' absence and head into the tunnels. When Kulla was at her limit the plan was for her to hurl the egg away and freeze. Cywen was certain that being covered with draig dung and remaining motionless would make anyone undetectable to the draigs. It had worked for her.\n\n\"Come on,\" Corban hissed, and then all of them were running down the slope, hurrying into the darkness of the tunnel. Storm, Shadow and Pots followed last.\n\nCywen ran behind Corban and Coralen. Haelan sped ahead of them, his torch leading them through along passage. It opened up into the chamber that contained the nest. Haelan slowed to look at the eggs, piled in the middle like charcoal-stones in a forge. He ran on, taking an exit almost directly opposite the one they'd entered the chamber by, leading them on, deeper and deeper into the labyrinth.\n\nAt the next turning Corban called fora stop and Haelan paused. Corban counted, making sure they were all still together, Storm and Shadow's eyes glowed in the torchlight." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen looked at the fork in the tunnel before them, and for the life of her could not remember which way led to the roots and crack in the roof that burrowed into Drassil.\n\n\"Haelan,\" she hissed, \"do you know which way to go?\"\n\n\"Of course,\" Haelan said, holding his torch high. \"It's that way, ' and he pointed to the right-hand fork.\n\n\"How do you know?\" Cywen asked.\n\nHaelan waved the torch lower to the ground. Cywen saw something on the ground flash white. Then she remembered.\n\n\"Sif's stones, ' Haelan said with a grin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin stood in the treeline and tracked a white-cloaked warrior who was behind Wulf with his sword raised high. Camlin loosed, his arrow punching through the warrior's throat; the man's legs buckled and he tumbled into Wulf.\n\nWulf spun around, axe pulled back to strike, face twisted in a snarl, and then he saw the arrow, realized his enemy was dead. He shoved the corpse away, looked to the trees and saw Camlin grinning at him, dipped his head in thanks and then returned to the fray, smashing a white-cloak in the face with the boss of his shield, swinging at his head with his axe.\n\nCamlin searched for another target.\n\nAt first he had loosed arrow after arrow at the white-cloaked warriors massed on the left flank of Nathair's shield wall. It had been too good an opportunity to miss and the combined forces of his and Dath's archers had inflicted vicious damage upon the survivors of Lothar's warband.\n\nIt was harder to get a clean shot now, as the hand-to-hand fighting was a furious whirlwind, white-cloaks were interspersed with Wulf and his crew, Kadoshim and Jehar, as well as a handful of giants. Balur One-Eye was hacking at white-cloaks and Kadoshim alike with terrifying fury, sending heads and limbs flying, mist-wraiths forming in the air all about him as he tried to carve away to Nathair's shield wall, which was wider and deeper than Veradis\" and looked to be hammering ten hells out of the smaller wall of shields.\n\nA cloud of smoke engulfed Camlin and his crew, rolling out onto the plain, and a wave of heat warmed Camlin's back, the sound of crackling and wood splitting too close for his liking. He glanced back, saw smoke and flame hungrily spreading through the forest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Time to join the party, he thought and shouldered his bow.\n\n\"Enough tickling them,\" Camlin shouted, drawing his sword. \"Time to show them we're more than elm and feathers. \"With that he was running out from the treeline and shouting,\"FOR ARDAN AND EDANA, ' as his battle-cry, which took him by surprise.\n\nHe slammed into a white-cloak, hacking down between shoulder and neck. The man's chainmail held, but Camlin felt the warrior's collarbone snap, kicked his legs from under him and stabbed down into his throat as his momentum carried him on, swinging two-handed at the next warrior in front of him, sword taking the enemy high in the head. Camlin kicked him to the ground and looked for someone else to kill.\n\nBut what was left of the white-cloaks on this flank were gone, either dead, dying or swallowed into the ranks of Nathair's shield wall.\n\nThat still left a handful of Kadoshim, but Akar and his Jehar were amongst this flank in all their righteous fury, teamed with Wulf's axe-wielders and Balur and a dozen other giants. Mist-wraiths were forming in the sky with great swiftness.\n\nThen it was just Nathair's shield wall that was facing them.\n\nCamlin stood and stared at it as he gathered his breath and watched Balur lay into it with his long axe.\n\nThat wall's an amazing beast, put together like a chainmail shirt, weapons bouncing off it.\n\nCamlin watched in horror as he saw a handful of Wulf's men attack it, their axes bouncing off the interlocked shields, short swords stabbing out as the axe-wielders moved too close, falling away with stab wounds in bellies, legs, throats. Camlin saw five men fall in as many heartbeats." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Don't want to get too close to that, the beast has got a bite on it.\n\nBalur and his kin were doing a fine job, though, slamming axes into the flank-men of the wall, hooking and skewering shields, dragging men out of formation and into the open, hacking them to death in a matter of moments.\n\nDon't think I'm much use against that– can't see too many arrows getting through all that wood andiron. Think I'll see if I'm needed elsewhere.\n\nHe scanned the battlefield, but nothing was clear apart from a lot of death and dying, with smoke starting to roll thick across it from out of the forest. Fora moment the enormity of it struck him, a scene like nothing he'd ever witnessed before, so many disparate peoples from across the Banished Lands, all trying to end each other.\n\nHe glimpsed a knot of Ardan's grey, to the north, mounted, battling against men in black and gold.\n\nEdana's where I should be, and killing Rhin's men seems like a good idea tome, he thought, and set off at a loping run, the crew of archers following him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"ONE-EYE,\" Uthas heard Salach bellow, as he rammed his spear into a warrior clothed in black and silver.\n\nMy sgeul is growing this day.\n\nUthas had led his Benothi into the flank of amass of warriors, most of them clothed in black and silver, some red-cloaks amongst them. But he was not interested infighting them. He was trying to reach a handful of giants beyond this swirling mass of black and silver, giants of his clan, the Benothi, some of them clothed strangely in great plates of iron, and wielding single-bladed axes on shafts as long as saplings. Amongst them other giants ranged.\n\nThey are my people. I do not wish to slay them. Only Balur and Ethlinn; then the rest will bow tome. I'll let Salach have One-Eye, it's Ethlinn I will see bleeding into the cold earth.\n\nAnd then he saw her, stabbing her spear at a white-cloaked warrior, defending the back of one of the iron-wreathed giants.\n\nOne-Eye fears you, Uthas had said to his shieldman earlier, and perhaps he did, for Salach was a great and renowned warrior amongst the Benothi, a hundred raids to his name, his sgeul many-thorned, and he had slain Sreng, Nemain's shield-maiden, accounted the greatest blade amongst the Benothi, apart from Balur. But One-Eye's reputation was a thousand years old, and he was ancient now. Old and slow.\n\nStill, I doubt that One-Eye fears anyone. And I would rather face Nemain's get than Balur." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Uthas waded through the black and silver towards Ethlinn, his spear jabbing, smashing the butt-spike into a face, spinning the weapon and stabbing through a chest, lifting the warrior bodily from the ground and hurling him through the air, onto the next man in his way. His Benothi followed behind him, carving away through their enemy, Salach screaming Balur's name with every blow, the battle-rage coming upon him.\n\nThen Ethlinn saw him.\n\nShe was frozen, staring at him, and then was striding towards him, smiting white-cloaks out of her path to get at him, and he doing the same to those in black and silver foolish enough not to run from his wrath.\n\nAnd then space was opening between them, warriors scrambling away from him, and Ethlinn was so close. Behind her he saw a horde of men appear, running along the flank of Nathair's shield wall, axe-wielding warriors clothed in leather and fur, and the dark-clothed Jehar, swords raised high.\n\nThe few that escaped Murias and the cauldron's touch.\n\nJehar and axe-wielders alike were hurling themselves at the white-cloaks.\n\nBut other figures were appearing behind them. Giants, some wrapped in iron, others clothed as giants in fur and leather. They were all running towards him and his Benothi, and Balur was at their head.\n\nUthas felt a jolt of fear, a snake uncoiling in his belly.\n\nI have drunk from the cup, I am stronger, faster than I have been for five hundred years.\n\nAye, but is that strong and fast enough to defeat Balur One-Eye?" }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"Salach,\" Uthas yelled, \"your foe comes." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Seize your glory, make your name, become the legend who slew Balur One-Eye.\"\n\nHe saw Salach running past him, snarling, his battle-axe raised high, and Uthas charged at Ethlinn.\n\nThey will both die now, then the clans are mine.\n\nHe screamed a wordless battle-cry and stabbed his spear at Ethlinn, a two-handed lunge, low to high that would have punched into her gut and taken her from her feet, but she rolled her shoulders and her spear tapped his spearhead wide, slid down the shaft and raked his knuckles, she made her own lunge, which he swayed away from, and instead of piercing his eye it slashed his cheek, blood sluicing into his beard.\n\nTo his left he saw Salach attack Balur, the black-haired giant hacking at Balur's longer-reaching axe, splintering the shaft and charging in close.\n\nBalur's finished.\n\nHe backed away from Ethlinn, swaying left and right as she made short stabs at his chest and throat, knocked her spearhead high and slammed the butt of his shaft into her gut, making her grunt. There was a percussive whirl of slaps and sparks as their spears clattered and chimed together, and then Ethlinn was stepping out of range and they began circling one another, the grating clang of iron connecting with iron as Salach chopped at Balur's chest, sparks exploding from the iron plate that One-Eye wore, sending him stumbling backwards.\n\nGiants were forming a ring around them, his Benothi, Ethlinn's followers– Benothi and Kurgan– all grim and silent as they watched Salach and Balur, Ethlinn and him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Good. They can watch them both die.\n\nUthas feinted a lunge at Ethlinn's belly, jabbed lower, at a thigh, but she danced around it, stepped in close, holding her spear like a staff and slammed it onto his foot, slashed the blade horizontally at his belly but he jumped back, her spear-tip sparking as it raked his chainmail, tearing a line of links.\n\nEthlinn was smiling.\n\nUthas felt his neck flush with anger. How dare the frail dreamer mock him? Sweat dripped into the cut on his cheek, stinging. He snarled and stabbed, stepping around Ethlinn's block and counter, gripped her spear shaft and pulled her off balance, towards him and his spear point, angled at her throat. Somehow she rolled around it and then her fist was slamming into his cheek, rattling his skull, staggering him, and he tasted blood. He stumbled back, swinging his spear wildly to keep her away, but she was just standing a few paces out of reach, watching him.\n\n\"Thought mean easy victory?\" she sneered at him. \"You forget whose blood runs in my veins.\"\n\nThey both glanced at Balur and Salach, saw that with one fist Balur had gripped Salach's axe-haft, stopping it mid-blow, and with his other hand Balur had torn his iron helm from his head and was bludgeoning Salach with it. Uthas saw a spray of blood and teeth.\n\nUthas felt a flicker of panic.\n\n\"Lasair,\" he commanded, and flame burst up from the ground around Ethlinn's feet, Uthas lunging forwards at the same time.\n\n\"Sioc,\" Ethlinn said contemptuously and the flames crackled into glittering frost. She spun away from Uthas' lunge, her spear whipping around, the butt cracking Uthas in the back of the head. He staggered forwards, turned, desperately fending off the blows as Ethlinn attacked in a constant assault." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a hot pain in his hand, a strange numbness, and he looked down to see his fingers scattered upon the grass. His spear fell from his grasp just as Ethlinn's spear-butt crunched into his jaw, sending him stumbling backwards. He felt hands hoisting him up, saw that it was Eisa behind him.\n\n\"Help me,\" he croaked, but she only stared at him in stony silence.\n\nShe shook her head. \"You murdered Nemain.\"\n\nThen hands were pushing him back into the circle to drop on his knees before Ethlinn.\n\nSomething thudded onto the ground beside him. Salach's head, dark hair matted with blood, one side of its face a bloody pulp.\n\nBalur came to stand at Ethlinn's shoulder.\n\nHow can it come to this? It cannot be ending like this. I have drunk from the cup.\n\n\"Mercy,\" he cried.\n\nEthlinn's eyes narrowed.\"You don't deserve it.\"\n\nThen her spear-blade lunged forwards, and he saw it sink deep, dark heart's-blood welling. He took a rattling breath that didn't seem to work, and then the world was growing dim, narrowing to a tunnel of light, Ethlinn's grim face at the end of it, and he was falling..." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban looked up at the hole in the tunnel's roof. A thick root had bored through, earth falling away to form a ledge and, from there, a twisting passage to Drassil.\n\nThey were gathered in a huddle, drinking from a water skin, gasping and sweating from the long run through the stifling tunnels. Haelan had led them unerringly through the maze of passages, though Corban had lost all track of time.\n\n\"Well, that was quicker than before,\" Cywen said.\n\n\"We didn't get lost this time, \"Haelan said.\"Just had to follow the stones, and stay away from the tunnels with two stones before them. And we ran all the way instead of creeping. '\n\nFarrell grunted in disgust.\n\n\"Are we waiting here fora reason?\" Brina snapped. \"Hoping some draigs might join us, perhaps?\"\n\nAnd with that they were climbing up into the hole. Coralen clambered up first, helping to lift Haelan and Pots and Shadow, the rest of them hauling themselves up, climbing towards the grey light that glowed above. Storm was the last one up, her bulk squeezing through the hole, dislodging a cascade of dirt.\n\n\"This is it,\" Cywen said, pointing as they joined her. \"That light leads to the courtyard.\"\n\n\"Haelan, you wait for us herewith Pots and Shadow,\" Corban said. He held Haelan's gaze.\"No following, on your oath. '\n\nHaelan frowned. \"My oath,\" he grudgingly said.\n\n\"Right then,\" Brina said. \"Let's do this. '\n\nCywen thought the healer looked scared, just fora moment." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Cywen climbed from the hole into the courtyard first, Corban after her." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It was still daylight, and the sun beginning its twilight descent. The courtyard was deserted, the sounds of battle a distant boom and thunder, like the sea battering upon the cliffs of Dun Carreg. Quietly the others emerged into the still courtyard. Haelan's paleface stared out at them from the hole beneath the oak tree, Pots and Shadow with him.\n\n\"Thank you,\" Corban said to him, crouching down. \"We are here so quickly because of you.\"\n\nHaelan grinned.\n\n\"One of us will come and get you when we're done, ' Corban said and rose.\n\nIf any of us can.\n\nThere was aflutter of wings from above.\n\n\"All Treasures in big room with tree,\" Craf squawked, flapping down to them.\n\n\"Even the starstone torc?\" Corban asked.\n\n\"Yes, torc there,\" Craf confirmed. \"And cauldron, spear, axe and cup.\"\n\nCorban touched the dagger sheathed at his waist and the necklace in his pocket.\n\nThey shared a grim, silent look, and then moved swiftly and silently through a deserted Drassil." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos jogged across the battlefield towards the two shield walls, short sword in his fist, buckler strapped to his forearm, the remnants of his Vin Thalun spread behind him like a tattered cloak.\n\nFifteen hundred men left from over four thousand. So many have fallen.\n\nThat made him angry.\n\nHis first kill was a man of Ripa.\n\nMy ancient foe.\n\nLykos ran on, a blood-splattered grin upon his face.\n\nHis Vin Thalun hit the battle like a plague-filled wind, spreading death, taking near a hundred lives before the enemy even knew they were there. Eventually, their progress slowed, especially when a score of Jehar decided to engage them with their curved swords. Lykos swerved away from them, looking for easier blood, leaving the screams of his Vin Thalun behind him.\n\nRowing two hundred leagues in less than two moons and fighting a battle in between has left me a little tired. Even my bones are aching. I'll take the easier fight if I can.\n\nThe pain of that long row home was fading now, though, and it had been worth it to put some distance between him and damn Maquin. Seeing him standing on that clifftop, swearing vengeance and hurling Kadoshim heads at him– well, it had chilled even his blood fora few moments.\n\nHe blinked as an axe came hissing towards his head, swayed out of its way by a hair's breadth, punched the fur-wrapped axe-man in the face with his buckler and stabbed deep into the man's thigh with his short sword.\n\nThe axe-man dropped to his knees, face ashen-pale as his lifeblood gushed like a river down his thigh. Lykos stabbed him in the throat, just for the joy of it, then kicked him off his blade." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He let out a great battle-cry and saw Nathair upon his draig, the beast stamping on a red-cloaked warrior, its jaws lunging down to tear the man's head from his shoulders. Then Lykos spotted another familiar man, dressed in the black and silver of Ripa, big as a bull with a great black beard. He was beating a white-cloak to the ground, hammering a longsword into the man's upraised shield.\n\nKrelis of Ripa. How many times have you chased my war-galleys? Thwarted my raids? Killed my men? Spoilt my fun?\n\nHe grinned and ran at him, knew that at least some of his men were not far behind.\n\nAngling through the crowd of warriors, Lykos approached Krelis from behind, pulled his sword back to hamstring the big man, but Krelis spun around, shield tight to his body, longsword hissing in a horizontal arc, nearly gutting Lykos. He skidded to a halt, leaped in after the blow had swung wide, but Krelis' big round shield slammed into him before he had a chance to dart in and stab somewhere unprotected.\n\n\"Slippery little snake,\" Krelis said, then his eyes narrowed as he recognized Lykos. \"Ah, travelling three hundred leagues from home is about to become so very worthwhile,\" he growled and strode at Lykos.\n\nKrelis was a skilled warrior. He assaulted Lykos with sword and shield, never over-extending, keeping his defence tight, his sword sweeping, looping, stabbing, and Lykos steadily retreated, searching fora weakness, hoping to counter-strike, but all he did was notch his sword and buckler and retreat over two score paces." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That had been part of his plan, though, and suddenly Krelis found himself amidst a sea of Vin Thalun, few of his own men about him.\n\n\"TO ME,\" Krelis cried in his booming voice, and Lykos saw a surge of black and silver coming his way.\n\nNeed to finish him now.\n\nHe saw his Vin Thalun closing on Krelis, closer than the black and silver.\n\nThen Krelis surged forwards, taking Lykos by surprise, his shield slamming him backwards, sword looping low. Lykos took the blow on his buckler, the iron twisting, his arm going numb from wrist to shoulder.\n\n\"LADS,\" Lykos bellowed as he tripped over a dead man, rolled behind him, lifted the corpse to catch Krelis' sword in its belly.\n\nThe Vin Thalun closed with Krelis'men, a score forming a barrier between Krelis and his warriors, a trio of Vin Thalun turning on Krelis, chopping at him from behind, sending him crashing to his knees, Lykos gripping his wrist, holding Krelis\" blade snared in the corpse's body as his lads hacked at Krelis\" back, blood spraying in gouts now.\n\nThe men of Ripa let out a great howl, hammered ferociously at the Vin Thalun.\n\nLykos let goof Krelis' hand, stabbed his short sword into his armpit, pulled it out slowly, smiling at the Lord of Ripa. Krelis, still on his knees, swayed and toppled backwards, staring up at Lykos.\n\n\"No honour, in that,\" Krelis whispered, blood gurgling over his lips." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Honour is overrated,\" Lykos sneered at him and smiled as he died." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban saw the great hall of Drassil before him.\n\nThey had taken a deep looping route through the fortress, avoiding the area where Cywen had told them most of the warbands barracked, always clinging to the shadowed ways, Craf scouting above, warning them when to hide. For most of the desperate, heart-in-his mouth run through the streets it had felt as if they were in a deserted place and nowhere they were, in the courtyard before the great hall.\n\nThe huge gates were open, as they had always been when Corban was a resident of Drassil. A dozen Vin Thalun guards lounged on the steps leading up to the gates, gathered in a half-circle, bone dice rattling on a throw-board between them.\n\nDo they not realize the battle for the future of the Banished Lands is taking place beyond those walls?\n\nHe took a deep breath, looked at his friends, saw grim, determined faces staring back at him. Then Gar was marching across the courtyard, straight towards the open gateway and the Vin Thalun guards. At the same time Corban and the others slipped around the shadowed alcoves of the courtyard.\n\nA few of the Vin Thalun looked up at Gar, seeing nothing more than a Kadoshim walking towards them, a sight they were no doubt used to. A closer inspection would show alack of black eyes and veins threading Gar's body, but for the moment they were relying on the laxity in the guards.\n\nIt worked to a point.\n\n\"Oi,\" one of the Vin Thalun said as Gar reached the first step to the gates, and then Gar's sword was in his hands, two Vin Thalun collapsed on the steps, choking on their own blood. The rest of them were scrambling backwards, drawing swords, spreading into a half-circle around Gar, though another man had already fallen before the first Vin Thalun struck at Gar." }, { "from": "human", "value": "Two others crashed to the ground and rolled down the steps, one with an arrow through his neck, the other with along dagger lodged between his shoulder blades." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Then Storm was amongst them, men screaming, blood spraying.\n\nIt was almost over before it had begun.\n\n\"No point in tiptoeing now; I'd imagine we've announced ourselves,\" Farrell said, as they ran through the gates.\n\nCorban paused, looking down into the great hall; the trunk of the great tree where the chair of Skald was situated filling the hall's core. About it the Starstone Treasures were arranged: cauldron, axe, spear, torc and cup, all in a circle, two spaces left empty. Strange designs and runes had been etched upon the ground around and between the Treasures.\n\nAnd before them were ten Kadoshim, staring at Corban and his companions with their dead black eyes.\n\nFarrell slung his war-hammer across his back and drew a longsword.\n\nCorban charged into the hall, leather boots slapping on stone, raising his sword high, a mirror image of Gar, who ran beside him, the thud of feet behind them.\n\nThe Kadoshim sprinted to meet them, curved swords hissing into their hands, their palefaces twisted with hatred.\n\nOne grunted with an arrow through the eye, took a faltering step and ran on, another one staggered and halted fora moment as one of Laith's daggers slammed into its chest.\n\nThe two groups met upon the lowest steps, iron and flesh meeting, Storm leaping to crash and roll with a Kadoshim between her claws. Her jaws clamped about its head, teeth sinking deep into its neck, ripping, shaking, sawing until the head was torn free; the first mist-wraith formed in the air above them, screeching even as it was fading.\n\nFarrell took the head of the Kadoshim that had Laith's dagger in its chest, and Gar took another a few heartbeats later: two more mist-wraiths hissed into the air. Corban exchanged a flurry of blows with what was once a female Jehar, locked her blade wide with his wolven claws and sent her head spinning before turning to help Coralen." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Kadoshim attacking her was gashed from Coralen's attack, across shoulder and thigh, throat ragged, but it came on at her regardless. Corban ran at it, staggering it fora moment, and then Coralen's sword whistled through flesh, cartilage and vertebrae, the head bouncing down the stairs.\n\nA brief shared look and then they were back to fighting for their lives.\n\nCorban heard giantish shouting, and turned to see Brina and Cywen hurl vials atone of the Kadoshim. There was a whumph of air as the Kadoshim was engulfed in smoke and flame, wreathing it like a human torch; it dropped to one knee, where Laith decapitated it with one of her daggers.\n\nCorban saw Gar fighting two Kadoshim, one of them circling him viper-fast, a blow catching him on the hip, sending him stumbling, his guard too low fora moment.\n\nNO, Corban screamed wordlessly, running, but Storm was there before him, slamming into both Kadoshim, sending one hurtling through the air, jaws clamping around the other's arm, shaking it. The Kadoshim struck at Storm with its curved sword, a slash that crunched into Storm's shoulder, would have carved through flesh and ribs, but her coat of mail deflected the blow, and then Gar had taken the Kadoshim's head.\n\nTwo more Kadoshim fell and then Corban saw the last survivor, chasing after Dath as he put arrow after arrow into it. Dath dropped his bow, drew his sword, parried the first rush of blows, stumbled as he retreated, and the Kadoshim was standing over him, sword raised. Then Coralen was there, Corban two spaces behind and the Kado-shim was being slashed and battered, reeling from a dozen blows before its head was sent flying through the air." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Where's Kulla when you need her? \"Dath breathed. Then,\"Don't tell her I said that.\"\n\n\"I promised her I'd look after you, ' Coralen said, helping Dath up.\n\n\"Well, that's embarrassing, ' he muttered.\n\n\"We all have different strengths,\" Coralen smiled, passing him his discarded bow.\n\n\"Corban!\" Brina hissed, standing before the Starstone Cauldron. \"The Treasures.\"\n\nHe hurried over to her and handed the starstone dagger and necklace to her.\n\n\"Now, be ready,\" Brina said, \"each of you. Cywen and I will perform the incantation, and then all of the Treasures will be hurled inside the cauldron; only together can they be destroyed.\"\n\n\"Get it done,\" Gar growled, turning to face the stairs and open doors, sword drawn. The room was scattered with the headless corpses of Kadoshim. Corban and the others formed a half-circle around Brina and Cywen, the trunk of the great tree protecting their rear. Brina stepped inside the circle of Treasures and approached the cauldron.\n\nThere was a pause and then Corban heard Brina's and Cywen's voices ringing out.\n\n\"Seoda cloch réalta, ó deannaigh tháinig tú, agus deannaigh beidh tú ar ais...\"\n\nCorban, a familiar voice whispered in his head and he looked around. No one was there. Corban, the voice said again, and this time Corban knew it.\n\nMeical.\n\nHe felt strange. Suddenly the world was dimming about him and he blinked, heard Meical's voice again, felt a tugging sensation, deep within." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He is calling me to the Otherworld, summoning me.\n\nNo. I am your puppet no more.\n\nCorban fought the sensation, gritting his teeth, setting his will to staying, focusing on his surroundings. Meical's voice faded and disappeared.\n\nCorban shook his head and looked at a Kadoshim corpse close by, anything to keep him anchored here, in this chamber. The colour of the Kadoshim's arm had changed from the pale, black-veined appearance to something resembling normal.\n\nNow that the demon has been evicted from his flesh. He looked at other corpses, saw it was true for them, too. A thought nagged at him.\n\nOnly ten Kadoshim, left hereto guard the Seven Treasures...\n\nBrina and Cywen's voices were echoing behind him, something soothing and hypnotic about their words, even though Corban did not understand them. He looked at the empty spaces in the circle, now filled with the starstone dagger and necklace. That he had brought here.\n\nIce trickled down his spine.\n\n\"They know,\" he whispered. Then, louder, \"It's a trap. '\n\n\"What?\" Gar snapped at him, then the trapdoor to the tunnel was opening, Kadoshim pouring out, two score, threescore, more figures appearing through the great doors, marching down the stone steps, Calidus and Rhin, a score of her shieldmen about her, more Kadoshim at their backs, a hundred at least.\n\nCalidus was smiling at Corban." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin prowled through the battlefield, skirting the mounted warriors still clashing at the northern half of the field, working his way along to the south, where the fighting seemed to revolve around two shield walls, a storm of men of various allegiances swirling about their flanks, giants striding amongst them. The bulk of these men were Vin Thalun and the men of Ripa, engaged in battle with a savage ferocity that made Maquin snarl with respect.\n\nOnly a short while ago he had felt close to collapse, had satin the hospice with his hands trembling, but then he had heard the din of battle, and he had thought of Lykos. And now he held a sword in his right fist, a knife in his left, and both were already bloody to their hilts.\n\nA handful of Vin Thalun appeared before him, bearing down upon two men of Ripa who were shoulder to shoulder, frantically defending themselves. Maquin strode into their midst, his sword opening a Vin Thalun throat, knife slicing a hamstring, sword stabbing down, kicking an ankle out, feeling bone break, parried a wild blow, ducked under it and slammed his knife into a belly.\n\nOne of the Vin Thalun ran, staring at Maquin's face, screaming'OLD WOLF, ' over and over. The two men of Ripa nodded their thanks and fell in behind Maquin, picking up the chant and following the Old Wolf as he waded into the battle.\n\nMaquin grinned as he killed, the battle-joy rushing through his veins, all who came against him seeming slow, as if wading through water, and Maquin slew them all. He knew what was different now, what had changed. Fora while he had noticed that anew hesitancy had crept into him, into the way he fought, allowing on occasion some men to escape his blades." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That was gone now.\n\nIt had been Fidele, it had been the desire to live, to taste life with her. But now she was gone, and he did not care, and that made all the difference. All whom he fought, no matter how strong, how skilled, how fast, all of them had that desire at their core. To survive. To live.\n\nHe did not. And so he fought as one that did not fear death, he embraced its coming, knew it was close, and welcomed it.\n\nMen fell before him, a wedge of men from Ripa gathered behind him. Maquin glanced back once and saw that the Freedmen, Alcyon, Tain and Cota were with him too, striding at his flanks, slaying, blood-drenched and battle-grim.\n\nAnd on he marched, into the storm of iron, killing, searching, the cry of OLD WOLF circling around him like a murder of crows, his banner a battle-cry that spread dread as men heard it.\n\nAnd then Maquin saw him, a few score men between them.\n\nA Vin Thalun, a half-crushed buckler upon one arm, short sword bloody and notched, a savage glee upon his ring-bearded face as he hacked a man of Ripa to death.\n\nLykos. Your death is here." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Hurry,\" Corban barked at Brina, hefting his sword.\n\nWe are going to die here. He knew it as fact, a cold fist around his heart.\n\nThere are too many: Calidus, Rhin, near two hundred Kadoshim. He felt a wave of fear, debilitating, draining his strength.\n\nNo. Fear is the enemy. Control it, use it. He thought of Gar on a spring meadow beside the sea, the call of gulls in the background, so long ago, and Gar offering to teach him, to train him, to help him control his fear.\n\nAnd Corban did. Perhaps it was his greatest act of valour this day. He set his will to mastering the uncoiling wyrm that slithered through his belly, spreading into his veins, trying to steal his strength and resolve, to make him less. He breathed deep, focused his thoughts on why he was here, why it mattered, what he could still do. On his loved ones. He mastered his fear.\n\nI can give Brina a little more time, even if it is only heartbeats, to let her finish whatever it is she's doing. Let her destroy these Treasures, and with them any chance of Asroth crossing over to this world of flesh.\n\nThat's worth dying for.\n\nCalidus and Rhin were at the foot of the stairs now, crossing the flagstoned floor to them, Rhin stepping over the corpse of a headless Kadoshim. Their living brethren trailed behind Calidus and Rhin like a shadowed cloak, and more Kadoshim from the trapdoor spread around them.\n\nStorm growled.\n\nBrina and Cywen's voices still rang on.\n\nLaith was the first to move, hurling one of her daggers at a Kadoshim that stepped menacingly towards Farrell, and then all was motion: Farrell hacking off the Kadoshim's head, Storm leaping, Corban, Coralen and Gar stepping forwards together." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Mist-wraiths formed in the air, a hissing, screeching audience that pulsed with the rhythm of battle, more appearing as the first ones faded.\n\nCorban heard Storm snarl and then whine, his sword arm taking on anew frenzy as he tried to cut his way to her, and beside him Gar fought, swirling around the Kadoshim in a dance of death that left heads and limbs spinning in its wake.\n\n\"ENOUGH,\" Calidus cried out, a ripple through the fight as the Kadoshim backed away, leaving Corban and his companions breathless, bloody. Dath was on his back, sword raised in defence against a Kadoshim that stood over him, but the black-eyed creature stepped away.\n\nA howl echoed through the chamber, human, filled with grief and pain, transforming to rage.\n\nFarrell.\n\nHe was standing over Laith. Her body was twisted, a great pool of blood spreading about her, lifeless eyes staring. Farrell was bleeding from a dozen wounds, weeping, one side of his face slick with blood, his longsword dripping black clots of Kadoshim gore, their bodies heaped about him, and at his side crouched Storm.\n\nShe growled at Calidus, made to leap again.\n\n\"I said, enough,\" Calidus snapped, and as he spoke a black cloud of smoke swirled from his mouth, a great poisonous breath that split into many tendrils, swirling across the stone floor, spreading out, seeking. One wrapped around Storm, coiling about her legs, threading around her body like a fast-growing vine, and she growled, ears flat to her head. The black smoke pulled tight and Storm was yanked from her feet, paws held in an unbreakable grip. Corban made to move but a tendril of the smoke was already coiling about his ankles, pulling tight, rising higher, wrapping him in a cold embrace, the smell of rancid breath washing over him as it pinned his arms and caressed his neck." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Within moments all of them were trussed and writhing on the ground.\n\n\"You see,\" Calidus said conversationally to Rhin, \"my power grows now that the Treasures are together, their bond to the Otherworld so much stronger.\"\n\nBrina and Cywen's voices still continued, and Corban felt a pulse of power ripple between the cauldron and Treasures, a ringing in his ears.\n\n\"Stop that,\" Calidus snarled. More of the black vapour billowed from his mouth, surging towards Brina and Cywen, dragging them away from the cauldron and throwing them to the ground.\n\nCalidus picked his way through the dead, past Corban and his companions, and stood over Brina.\n\n\"So, you're the witch that would have ruined my grand designs, foiled the plans and schemes of Asroth that have taken eons to come to fruition. '\n\n\"Sounds about right,\" Brina said, glaring up at Calidus.\n\n\"Oh, some spirit. Good. It will make your screams all the more beautiful.\"\n\n\"Oh, please, spare me your melodramatic threats,\" Brina snorted. \"You don't scare me. You're nothing but a lot of hatred, hot wind and bitterness tied up in a bag of over-cooked flesh.\"\n\n\"On second thoughts, I don't think I'll wait for the screaming,\" Calidus said. \"I can't see you begging, which would spoil much of the fun. \"He drew his sword and stabbed it into Brina's chest, a sharp gasp of pain escaping her lips as Calidus leaned into the blow, forcing it ever deeper, until its tip grated on stone.\n\nNO!\n\nA silent scream inside Corban's head, hot tears flooding his eyes. He kicked and bucked, but the tendrils of smoke held him tight. He stared at Brina, saw her gasp and writhe as Calidus stood over her, a smile upon his lips." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Brina,\" Corban grunted through his straining, and her head turned towards him. Their eyes locked, just fora moment, a whisper escaping her lips, and then she was still. Blood spread in a slow pool beneath her, running into the flagstone grooves.\n\nCorban let out a scream of rage, pure and primal, his eyes bulging in his face, veins in his head and neck looking as if they would burst as he tried to break his bonds, grief and fury filling him, fuelled by his helplessness.\n\nHow many loved ones must I watch as they are murdered?\n\nTears blurred his eyes and he turned his gaze upon Calidus. He heard the squawking of a crow, far above.\n\nPlease, Craf, stay away. Please.\n\nCalidus came to stand over Corban, peering down at him as if he was an insect he was considering squashing.\n\n\"You maybe wondering why you're all still alive, \"Calidus said.\"You are the sum of my foe in this world, and a sorry, pathetic lot you are, but still, my Lord Asroth will find it entertaining to be presented with you. A gift for him to destroy at his leisure. '\n\n\"I am going... to... kill you,\" Corban grunted, muscles bulging as he strained against his bonds, eventually collapsing with the effort. Calidus just studied him.\n\n\"How pathetic you humans are. So much emotion wrapped up in weakness, leading you to attempt the impossible, lying to yourself, time and time again. Hope, I think you call it. And yet always you fail. Your whole experience has been death and misery, failure and yet more death, and still you refuse to face the truth. A breed with such a talent for blind delusion and denial deserves to be exterminated.\" He shook his head, then smiled, crouching down beside Corban and reaching out along-nailed finger to trace Corban's cheek." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"It is just all too easy,\" Calidus nodded to himself, smiling. \"Well, as much as I'm enjoying this, I do have work to do. '\n\nHe strode into the circle of Treasures.\n\n\"Rhin,\" Calidus said, \"with me now.\" They approached the cauldron, Calidus muttering under his breath, a whisper of words that spread through the chamber like a breeze.\n\nThe cauldron pulsed.\n\n\"Dark doras, idir saol na fola agus cnámh, agus saol na spiorad, beidh tú ag oscailt anois,\" Calidus chanted, Rhin adding her voice to his. Calidus bent over Brina's corpse, the endless words pouring from his mouth as he snatched up Brina's body and heaved her into the cauldron. It swelled, a rippling of iron, seemed to expand as dark tendrils of light leaked from it and glided across the floor like mist, each one touching one of the other Treasures, and each of the Treasures twitched, seemed to grow darker, night-black, sucking light into itself. The shadows in the room deepened, the mist-like tendrils growing thicker, more solid, pulsing like an artery, rippling back towards the cauldron.\n\n\"More flesh,\" Calidus said, \"it needs more.\" He strode to Laith's body, Farrell screaming curses as Calidus heaved her up into his arms and half dragged the giant's corpse to the cauldron; Kadoshim moved to help him throw her body into the dark open maw.\n\nAnd then there was an explosion of darkness, a great cloud of night boiling out of the cauldron, flooding the chamber, a crack that set Corban's ears ringing." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And then another sound.\n\nThe beating of wings. A host of them, the noise of them filling the chamber, the whole world, a great cry of victory following it, drowning all else out.\n\nThen the darkness was retreating, as if it were being sucked back into the cauldron. And figures were exploding from the cauldron's mouth: the Kadoshim in their true forms, leather-winged, pale as milk, wrapped in mail and carrying shield, sword and spear. An endless fountain of them pouring out from the cauldron, up into the chamber's highest reaches, spreading, some touching down on the stone floor, gazing at their flesh-wreathed bodies, some laughing, braying with delight, others snarling, hatred made flesh.\n\nOne figure floated down to Calidus, dark wings slowing his descent, stirring up a cloud of dust, appearing as if he glided to the earth. The ground steamed and hissed when his booted feet touched the stone. His skin was pale as death, black-veined like a rotting leaf, though his face was handsome, chiselled in sharp lines, blue-black lips smiling, silver hair bound in a warrior braid that coiled about his shoulders. He held a naked sword in his fist.\n\nAsroth.\n\nHe raised a fist before his eyes and slowly clenched it, a look of pleasure upon his face, as if he savoured the sensation of knuckle and bone, of flesh and skin stretching and contracting, of blood pulsing in his veins.\n\n\"Ah, Calidus, my beloved captain,\" he said, reaching out the same hand to cup Calidus'cheek.\"You have served me well, will be rewarded beyond all others for this great deed. '\n\n\"All is for you and your glory, my King,\" Calidus said, and sank to one knee before Asroth, Rhin knelt too." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Asroth looked about him, at the great hall, at Calidus and those prostrating themselves before him, up at his dread legions spread above him like a dark halo, more of them still flowing from the cauldron in an endless outpouring, and finally at Corban and the others shackled in bonds of smoke at his feet.\n\n\"My gift to you,\" Calidus said, rising from the ground. \"Your enemy the Bright Star and his captains.\"\n\nAsroth's lips stretched, an oil-black smile.\n\n\"Is the battle over before we have arrived?\" he asked.\n\n\"No, my King,\" Calidus said. \"The fields of Drassil are thick with those that fight against you, ready to be slain. I thought that these here before you would be best saved for your victory celebration, when the battle is done, where you could savour their screams and torment.\"\n\nAsroth's smile grew broader.\n\n\"A fine plan,\" he said, crouching down and leaning close to Corban.\n\n\"And I will savour every scream,\" Asroth said, breath washing over Corban, damp and cold, \"you who have stood against me, raised a warband against me.\" A glimmer of rage twisted Asroth's features, his black eyes endless pits of cruelty and malice, and Corban felt the blood in his veins turn to ice.\n\n\"Later,\" Asroth growled as he stood, then turned his eyes to his Kadoshim.\n\n\"We shall celebrate this moment later,\" he cried out, \"but first, let us accomplish what we have come hereto do. Let us take our revenge upon Elyon the Great Deceiver. Let us go forth and slay.\"\n\nA great roar filled the chamber, Kadoshim screaming their agreement, and with that the muscles in Asroth's legs bunched and he leaped into the air, great wings beating and taking him effortlessly higher, gaining speed, ever faster as he climbed, towards one of the great windows in the high roof." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Asroth burst through the window's thin fabric. Light blazed in, then was just as quickly blocked out as his demon horde followed him, smashing the hole ever wider, crumbling stone and shattered wood crashing to the ground as countless wings took the Kadoshim-made flesh out into the skies of the Banished Lands." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin stood beneath the fringes of the forest, his archers about him, and loosed another arrow at a black and gold-cloaked rider, saw the warrior topple backwards in a spray of blood.\n\nBehind him, through the trees, he could seethe healers and wounded gathered in a makeshift hospice. He had decided that he and his crew were best placed in front of them, a last line of defence to try and keep the battle from engulfing them, and at the same time he was close enough to Edana and her warband to thin the ranks of Rhin and Geraint's horde of black and gold.\n\nThough that's not so easy, with the whole mass of'em inconstant motion.\n\nEverywhere was madness, the plain flooded with corpses. Half of the battlefield surged with mounted warriors, the men of Ardan and Domhain fighting valiantly, but it was clear to Camlin that they were losing, as Geraint's warband steadily gained ground.\n\nTo the south it looked much the same, a tale of steady attrition grinding slowly towards defeat, though from Camlin's position it was impossible to be sure.\n\nDirectly ahead and between Camlin and the gates of Drassil were a host of eagle-guard in their disciplined rows, a sea of black and silver with their big shields held in front of them.\n\nA thousand at least– more, most likely.\n\nHe felt his heart sink, for the first time the possibility of defeat seeping through him. So far it had been tactics, tricks and a whole lot of heart that had seemed to keep the enemy reeling, regardless of their huge advantage of numbers. But now, it was just sword against sword, man against man, out on a flat plain, no more strategies or tricks left to play." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Must admit, it doesn't look good.\n\nHe sucked in a deep breath, fora moment considered grabbing Meg and getting the hell out of there. She was close by, helping in the hospice, and under strict orders from Camlin to stay there. The only reason he thought she might listen was that she'd grown attached to Cywen's hound, Buddai, and his vicious-looking brood of pups.\n\nI could leave. No point dying fora lost cause.\n\nThen he caught a glimpse of Edana, blood-spattered, sword held high, meeting a hard-swung blade. Even as his hand reached for another arrow, Camlin thought of Edana's faith in him, the words she had said back in Ardan.\n\nI'd die for you, for all of you. It looked as if she was living up to that promise, out thereon her horse, swinging a sword at her enemy, at warriors trained for battle.\n\nTakes some stones to do that.\n\nAnd you told her you'd die for her, too...\n\nHis arrow punched into Edana's opponent, deep into his armpit. Camlin heard the man's scream over the din of battle, then Edana's sword crunched into his helm and he was toppling from his saddle.\n\nCamlin felt in his quiver for another arrow, painfully aware that he was running low.\n\nPick your targets, make everyone count.\n\nA sound rippled across the battlefield. It began as a distant roar and Camlin froze with his arrow half out of its quiver, staring at Drassil.\n\nA great spiralling plume of what looked like smoke was rising from deep within the fortress, heading towards the battlefield. As Camlin watched, it spread into the sky like an expanding cloud, swirling towards the battlefield." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "That's no fire smoke.\n\nAs the cloud grew closer Camlin could make out shapes, becoming clear. Great wings beating, the glint of iron, sunlight on sword and spear and mail. A shiver of fear ran through him, his blood freezing in his veins.\n\nDemons of the Otherworld. So it's true, then, what Craf said we've been fighting against. Didn't really believe it until this very moment.\n\nEven as he watched, Camlin saw the cloud swooping lower, spreading over the battlefield, blotting out the sun, and then he heard them, screeching hideous battle-cries as they swooped down, flying low over Edana's warband, striking outwith their weapons, hauling riders from saddles, lifting them high and hurling them spinning to their deaths. At their head a silver-haired figure led them, a mighty, glorious figure, longsword slashing, cutting a rider in two as he swept low over Edana's warband.\n\nIs that Asroth, himself?\n\nCamlin fought the urge to turn and run.\n\nOne winged creature slammed into a rider close to Edana and beat its wings harder, dragging the warrior flailing from his saddle and up into the air. With more instinct than thought, Camlin had his arrow nocked and was drawing, aiming, accounting automatically for wind, speed, angle and he was loosing.\n\nIt pierced the Kadoshim through its side, angling upwards, through ribs and deeper. The Kadoshim let out a strangled cry as it dropped the warrior in its arms, its wings faltering, and fora timeless moment it hovered in the air, then it began to fall, picking up speed until it was plummeting to the earth." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Kadoshim crashed to the ground before Camlin, an explosion of turf as it rolled and skidded, a snarl of twisted limbs and wings, turning until finally it came to a halt. As it tried to rise, Camlin stepped from the trees, kicked it, then drew his sword and stabbed it through the throat.\n\nDon't want that thing getting up.\n\nOther archers emerged from the treeline, staring at this creature from another world.\n\n\"Ugly-looking thing, but flesh and blood, like the rest of us,\" Camlin muttered. He looked up at the warriors around him.\n\n\"If they bleed, we can kill them.\"\n\nHe stood and stared at the battlefield, the winged Kadoshim scattered over the whole field, spreading fear and mayhem as they went.\n\n\"What shall we do?\" one of the archers asked.\n\n\"Get back into some cover and keep shooting those bastards out of the sky.\"\n\nBack in the trees Camlin stopped and stared into the mass of horseflesh that was jostling around Edana's banner, ready to pick off anymore of the enemy that fancied itself as a queen-killer, as well as demons swooping down from above. And then he saw a face he recognized.\n\nThat can't be right.\n\nHe narrowed his eyes, took a few paces closer, out of the forest, and focused on the few riders to the right of Edana. He saw Halion, Vonn and Conall close by, Conall laying about him with his sword, obviously enjoying himself. And, there, a rider behind them, on a magnificent skewbald stallion that looked as if it was enjoying the fight as much as Conall, biting at horses in front of it, hooves lashing out at the enemy. Upon it, a figure he'd know anywhere." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rafe! That bastard.\n\nCamlin saw Rafe kick at his horse, guiding it closer to Conall, who glanced back at Rafe and flashed him a smile.\n\nRafe grinned back, and then Conall's attention was back on the warrior in front of him. Rafe drew closer still, their horses pressed tight together, and then he pulled his sword back and with all his strength stabbed Conall in the back.\n\n\"NO!\" Camlin screamed, but no one heard him over the clash of arms.\n\nRafe's sword-tip pierced low, through leather and mail, angled upwards, went deep and Conall stiffened, arching backwards, crying out.\n\nCamlin's arrow was drawn and loosed, grazing Rafe's shoulder as he ripped his blade free. He glanced at his wound, then twisted in his saddle and saw Camlin.\n\nStay still, just a moment.\n\nRafe frantically kicked his horse in the ribs, urging it deeper into the mass of combat.\n\nTowards Edana.\n\nConall swayed in his saddle and began to topple.\n\nCamlin ran out from the cover of the trees, weaving through the combat, ducking a sword swing, punching his bow into a face. He saw Conall slip from his saddle, falling, down into the mud and blood, Halion yelling, leaping from his horse after his brother. They disappeared from view. A glimpse of Rafe plunging and rearing through the crush, ever closer to the unsuspecting Edana.\n\nCamlin grabbed the reins of a riderless horse and dragged himself into the saddle, shouting and yelling, spurring it into motion. He ducked low as a Kadoshim swept close overhead, grabbing a man of Ardan and ripping him from his saddle, hauling him high into the air." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin glimpsed Halion standing over Conall's body, wielding his blade two-handed as horses reared around him, swords and spears stabbing down at him.\n\nRafe was right behind Edana now, a wicked grin upon his face as he drew his sword arm back.\n\nCamlin closed fingers around his last arrow, cursed at his horse to stay still, drew his bow, took a deep breath, and loosed.\n\nThe arrow slammed into Rafe's back, high, into his right shoulder-blade. Rafe cried out, swaying, falling low over his horse's neck. He looked back, eyes fixing on Camlin.\n\nVonn turned in his saddle and saw Rafe behind Edana, shouted a curse at the traitor, a warning to Edana. Rafe pulled on his reins, his mount taking him out of range as Camlin rode towards them, shouldering his bow and drawing his sword, burning with the desire to kill Rafe. Then he saw Halion, still standing over Conall, blood-matted, sword raised against a storm of blades. Camlin's horse veered towards him, crashing through friend and foe, and then Camlin was chopping into aback, hacking at a wrist, calling for Halion to reach out.\n\n\"I'll not leave him, ' Halion shouted back, stabbing at a rider as Camlin desperately tried to carve away through to him.\n\nAnd then a spear stabbed down into Halion's back and there was blood on his lips, a cough, more blood matting into his beard. He looked up at Camlin, swayed and fell onto his brother.\n\nCamlin screamed a wordless battle-cry, hacked frenziedly at the enemy before him, but he could not reach Halion and slowly he was swept away. Eventually, exhausted and grief-stricken, he broke out of the press and sat upon his horse, breathing hard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "One person filled his mind and he scanned the battlefield, then spurred his horse on, towards the walls of Drassil.\n\nGot me some hunting to do." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos stared into the skies, his guts turning to water fora moment as he saw the Kadoshim descending from above on wings of death.\n\nSo Calidus has done it, then.\n\nLykos briefly wondered about the wisdom of opening a doorway to the Otherworld.\n\nLittle too late for that. You've rolled your knuckle-bones. Just have to hope the Kadoshim are happy to share the world.\n\nOne of the Kadoshim flew perilously close, swooping overhead, the wind of its passing staggering him. Lykos ducked, raising his arms to protect himself, but it passed over him, screeching, and grabbed a red-cloaked warrior of Isiltir, hauling him screaming into the air. Its wings beat powerfully, higher and higher, until with a maniacal screech it let the mango. Its victim spun to earth, tumbling and thrashing through the air, then smashed to the ground, abruptly still, his body twisted and broken.\n\nDo they know I am their ally? Or was that just luck?\n\nWith the coming of the Kadoshim the battleground had become a place of total chaos: fear, slaughter, panic, death and pandemonium from both enemy and ally alike.\n\nHe winced as another of them swooped overhead, skewering one of Ripa's warriors with its spear. As it began to rise, a white-haired giant ran through the crowd and jumped, swinging a double-bladed battle-axe. It caught the Kadoshim in the chest, cleaving it almost in two. A spray of blood fountained over those below as it plummeted to the ground. A roar went up amongst the surrounding warriors.\n\nSo they can be killed more easily than the possessed Jehar. Becoming flesh is a double-edged sword: it brings all the pleasures, but also the dangers. Maybe it's time I made a tactical withdrawal." } ]
[ { "from": "system", "value": "Continue the tale as the plot helper for the writer.\nTags: fantasy, epic fantasy, conclusion\nAuthor: John Gwynne\nTitle: Wrath\nChapter: 112" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos stared into the skies, his guts turning to water fora moment as he saw the Kadoshim descending from above on wings of death.\n\nSo Calidus has done it, then.\n\nLykos briefly wondered about the wisdom of opening a doorway to the Otherworld.\n\nLittle too late for that. You've rolled your knuckle-bones. Just have to hope the Kadoshim are happy to share the world.\n\nOne of the Kadoshim flew perilously close, swooping overhead, the wind of its passing staggering him. Lykos ducked, raising his arms to protect himself, but it passed over him, screeching, and grabbed a red-cloaked warrior of Isiltir, hauling him screaming into the air. Its wings beat powerfully, higher and higher, until with a maniacal screech it let the mango. Its victim spun to earth, tumbling and thrashing through the air, then smashed to the ground, abruptly still, his body twisted and broken.\n\nDo they know I am their ally? Or was that just luck?\n\nWith the coming of the Kadoshim the battleground had become a place of total chaos: fear, slaughter, panic, death and pandemonium from both enemy and ally alike.\n\nHe winced as another of them swooped overhead, skewering one of Ripa's warriors with its spear. As it began to rise, a white-haired giant ran through the crowd and jumped, swinging a double-bladed battle-axe. It caught the Kadoshim in the chest, cleaving it almost in two. A spray of blood fountained over those below as it plummeted to the ground. A roar went up amongst the surrounding warriors.\n\nSo they can be killed more easily than the possessed Jehar. Becoming flesh is a double-edged sword: it brings all the pleasures, but also the dangers. Maybe it's time I made a tactical withdrawal." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "With the coming of the Kadoshim the battle was obviously won, and Lykos was feeling weary to the bone. After he'd slain Krelis the men of Ripa had gone berserk. They'd attacked him and his Vin Thalun with a savagery he'd only seen in the fighting-pits. It had been hard, grim work, and for every man of Ripa that fell, Lykos suspected he'd lost two, maybe three of his own men.\n\nMight be time to save the lads I have left, and go find something tasty for the victory drink that's surely coming.\n\nThen he heard a chant, words drifting on the wind that chilled his blood more than any Otherworld-spawned demon ever had.\n\nOld Wolf. Old Wolf.\n\nLykos looked in the direction it was coming from, watching a wedge of men heading his way, a few giants amongst them, cutting his Vin Thalun down at an alarming rate. He saw Maquin, only a dozen paces away, running straight for him. His eyes were fixed on Lykos and they were blazing, with madness, with bloodlust-joy. Lykos took an involuntary step back.\n\nI should have let Jael kill him, never taken him as my slave, never thrown him into the pits. I've created a monster.\n\nHe saw a Vin Thalun fall away in a spray of blood, throat spurting, another man fold over, a sword through the gut, the next one spinning with his skull crushed by Maquin's sword-pommel. Then the Old Wolf was four or five paces away, just one more man between them.\n\nLykos sighed, looked at his twisted buckler, hefted his notched and bloody short sword and snarled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The Old Wolf needs putting down, and if you want a job done properly...\n\nHe set his feet as Maquin slammed into the Vin Thalun between them. Lykos didn't wait, but ran in, kicked his man in the back, sending Maquin staggering, and swung his short sword. It clipped Maquin's shoulder, but the Old Wolf had somehow guessed where Lykos would strike and had placed his Vin Thalun attacker between them; Lykos' blow killed his own man.\n\nMaquin shoved the body back at Lykos, causing him to stumble back just as Maquin's sword came at him. He threw himself under the sword blow, knocking Maquin's knife away with his buckler, smashing his sword hilt into Maquin's face, sending the Old Wolf staggering, blood running from his nose.\n\n\"So you bleed, too,\" Lykos growled.\n\nMaquin cuffed the blood, gave a feral grin and came at him again.\n\nA flurry of blows, sword and knife, stabbing, chopping, coming fast and furious, from every angle possible, Lykos shuffling backwards, frantically blocking and always steadily retreating before the unrelenting fury of Maquin's assault.\n\nHe looked desperately for support from his men but saw three giants, all with their heads shaved apart from a thick strip down the middle, finishing off the last of his guard.\n\nI hate it when a plan goes wrong.\n\nMaquin stalked towards him, sword and knife twitching.\n\n\"To be fair, I didn't push her over the cliff. She just... let go, ' Lykos said.\n\n\"Don't mention her, ' Maquin growled, a vein pulsing in his temple." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"She wasn't as pure as you might think, \"Lykos smiled, and Maquin leaped at him. He was expecting it, but still it came almost too fast for him to see or react to. A pain lanced along his hip, Maquin's knife slicing a red line, and then his left arm with the buckler was in a lock, somehow, Maquin's arm over it. The Old Wolf shifted his weight, a sudden movement and Lykos was screaming, an explosion of pain in his now dislocated shoulder, his buckler ripping free as he fellas if he were a puppet with his strings cut.\n\nHe lay on his back, saw Maquin's face twist, smile or snarl, and his arm pullback for the deathblow.\n\nThen Maquin was hoisted into the sky, a Kadoshim's wings framing him, a serpent-like face laughing.\n\nGood riddance. I can even live with not killing you as long as this time you stay dead.\n\nLykos staggered to his feet, swayed with nausea as pain jolted through his shoulder and curled his arm protectively into his chest. He began to stagger towards the safety of Drassil, felt blood trickling down his hip, a burning pain, and his shoulder throbbed rhythmically with every step.\n\nBastard almost had me. Guess the Kadoshim do have their uses.\n\nHe heard a furious screech from somewhere above. Stumbling to a halt, he looked up to see that Maquin had twisted in his captor's grip and was furiously knifing the beast's belly, opening its guts. Then the Kadoshim was falling, dead in the air, Maquin holding it tight.\n\nThe fall must kill him. They are too high. Please, the fall must kill him. Asroth below, I have sold you my soul, conquered half the Banished Lands for you. Do this one thing for me. Kill that lunatic." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos watched horror-struck as he saw Maquin climb around the Kadoshim's body, even as they were plummeting, somehow dragging himself up onto its back, wrapping one flapping leathery wing around himself.\n\nThey slammed into the ground, a few hundred paces away, earth and grass exploding around the body, a cloud of dust, slowly settling.\n\nLykos breathed out along sigh of relief.\n\nThen awing twitched, was thrown off, and Maquin rose from the Kadoshim's ruin, along cut across his forehead, a limp in his left leg, but other than that he appeared to be infuriatingly healthy.\n\n\"Elyon above and Asroth below,\" Lykos whispered, feeling a cold breath upon his neck.\n\n\"LYKOS,\" he heard Maquin scream.\n\nLykos began to run." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban lay upon the cold stone floor, wrapped in coils of unbreakable smoke, and watched as the torrent of Kadoshim continued to pour from the cauldron. His friends layabout him, just as helpless.\n\nI've led us to this. Brina dead. Laith dead. All for nothing.\n\nHe felt as if his heart was stopping in his chest at the thought of Brina. He remembered that first night when he'd crept into her cottage and tried to steal something to prove his courage to Rafe, Edana and the others; Brina had caught him, scolded him, but even then been kind to him, allowed him to take a bone comb of hers to show the others that he was no coward. From that night on she had become apart of his life. Terrifying, abrasive, downright rude most of the time, but he had come to love her like kin.\n\nAnd now she's dead. Thrown into the cauldron like apiece of meat.\n\nHow did Calidus know I was coming here? Bringing the last two Treasures?\n\nHe remembered the voice in his head, just before the trap had been sprung, calling him to the Otherworld.\n\nMeical.\n\nCorban closed his eyes and thought of the Otherworld, focusing on the fortress he had been taken to, where Meical had been, the throne room carved into high mountains amongst the clouds, and then he felt himself spinning, faster and faster, falling into darkness.\n\nHe opened his eyes to find he was standing at the top of a stairwell, the world around him made up of shades of grey. He reached for his sword and was reassured to feel it sheathed at his hip. Great arched windows opened onto a clouded world, mountain cliffs rearing high. A sound grew, louder with each passing moment, like approaching thunder. Corban stared out of the windows and saw avast host appear, wings beating in steady unison, propelling warriors through the sky, sweeping through the clouds and mountain heights like a great white-winged avalanche; they were not Kadoshim, but the Ben-Elim, hundreds, no, thousands of them, winging through the air in gleaming shirts of scale-mail, bright spears and swords in their fists, eyes blazing with fury." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Like a hurricane the host swept past him, hurtling like a cast spear, and then they were fading into the distance.\n\nCorban looked back to the staircase and strode down it, hesitantly at first, then faster, until he was running into darkness and torchlight. He paused at the bottom, recognizing the corridor before him, and then strode on, not stopping until he was standing before the chamber that held Meical. This time he kicked the door open, shattering the lock, and strode in. Meical was still there, chained and shackled, mouth gagged. Corban tore the cloth from the Ben-Elim's mouth and drew his sword.\n\n\"How did Calidus know I was going to try and destroy the Treasures?\"\n\nMeical could not meet his gaze.\n\n\"Did you betray me?\" Corban snarled. \"Again.\"\n\n\"Not I,\" Meical whispered.\n\n\"It could only have been you.\"\n\n\"Not I, but my kin,\" Meical said. \"Why do you think I am here, condemned by my own people.\"\n\nMeical raised his eyes and met Corban's gaze.\n\n\"I stood for you,\" the Ben-Elim said, \"I refused to betray you again, but they do not understand, would not listen.\"\n\n\"What did they do?\"\n\n\"One of my kin allowed himself to be captured, knew he would be tortured, and told Asroth of your plan during that torture.\"\n\n\"I... don't understand, \"Corban said.\"Why would they do that? Don't they want me to defeat Asroth?\"\n\n\"What they want, Corban, is the portal opened, a pathway to your world of flesh.\"\n\n\"What!\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"That has been the plan, always, thousands of years in the making. For the Ben-Elim to become flesh, to enter your world, to protect Elyon's creation. To become your guardians. '\n\nCorban staggered back a step, his sword-point wavering.\n\n\"So that is where the Ben-Elim host was going?\" he said. \"How can I stop this?\"\n\n\"You cannot stop it, now. But maybe the cauldron and Treasures could still be destroyed, keeping all from crossing over.\"\n\n\"And what of those left in my world?\"\n\n\"They will be trapped there. Unless they are slain.\"\n\n\"Will that send their spirits back here, like the Jehar? Like you?\"\n\n\"No, Corban. Once my kind and the Kadoshim become flesh, truly, not just their spirits invading and controlling another's body, like a puppet, then they can die. Not of age or sickness– to that we are immune– but we will be vulnerable to sharp iron. Dead is dead. They will cross the bridge of swords, just as your kind do. '\n\n\"Then why come? Why do this, risking death.\"\n\n\"Sometimes the prize is worth the risk. Asroth and his Kadoshim seek to annihilate all humankind, to wipe your memory from the earth. The joy of slaughter and the victory over Elyon, those are what drive Asroth and the Kadoshim. As for the Ben-Elim–\" Meical shrugged– \"duty drives us. We have seen this path as the greatest service to our King, the greatest way to prove our devotion to him.\"\n\nA silence settled between them.\n\n\"So Asroth can be slain?\" Corban said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Aye,\" Meical smiled. There was no humour in it.\n\n\"I must go back and break my bonds,\" Corban muttered.\n\n\"Where is your body of flesh?\" Meical asked him.\n\n\"In Drassil's great chamber, bound with bonds of smoke by Calidus, ' Corban answered.\n\n\"Set me free, that I may help you,\" Meical said.\n\n\"You? I have tasted your help,\" Corban said bitterly.\n\n\"I swear to you, with all that I am, I will never betray you again.\" He held his shackled wrists out. \"Set me free.\"\n\nCorban raised his sword.\n\nCorban opened his eyes, his cheek was pressed against cold flagstones, and he lifted his head. Calidus was standing close to the cauldron, Kadoshim still pouring from it.\n\nThen anew sound drifted out of the swirling vortex that was the cauldron, not just the beating of wings and the joy of the Kadoshim horde. Now there were distant shouts, screams, faint as a fading dream, but growing. Then the clash of weapons.\n\nCalidus froze, head cocked to one side.\n\nCorban smiled.\n\nWhite wings suddenly began to pour out through the cauldron, coats of gleaming mail and bright blades, Ben-Elim locked in combat with Kadoshim, swirling up high, swooping around the chamber, weapons clashing, voices shouting out battle-cries, bodies crashing into the curved walls or slamming to the floor in death and ruin, others tangled together, still fighting, stabbing, snarling, biting. More and more Ben-Elim appeared as Corban stared at the cauldron, the balance between Kadoshim and Ben-Elim changing in heartbeats, and soon more white-feathered wings than Kadoshim were pouring out through the cauldron as Calidus looked on ingrowing horror." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "It's a gateway, Calidus, and it's not just the Kadoshim you've let through. Anything from the Otherworld can enter now, and that means the Ben-Elim too.\n\nThe wingless Kadoshim that had once been Jehar also leaped to the attack, their swords slicing at the angelic-looking warriors, severing wings, blood spraying, but still the Ben-Elim swooped down on them from above in greater and greater numbers, and soon wraiths of vapour were filling the chamber as the Jehar-possessed screamed futilely and perished.\n\n\"What's going on? ' Cywen called to Corban.\n\nThe turning of the tide, thought Corban. If Meical keeps his word.\n\nFor what felt like days Corban lay and stared at the host of winged warriors emerging from the cauldron, swamped by the almost deafening din of battle in the chamber, hoping against hope to see Meical appear.\n\nCalidus and the remnants of his Jehar Kadoshim were swept away in the battle. Rhin retreated into the shadows, her shieldmen drawing tight about her, staring in awestruck horror at the fury of the combat around them, at the Kadoshim and Ben-Elim slaying one another with feral rage.\n\nAnd then Meical was there, exploding from the cauldron, a different being from the shackled, broken figure Corban had seen only recently. Now he was glorious in his war gear, black hair tied back tight to his nape, bright scale-mail rippling like another skin, his eyes ablaze with fury. He hurtled from the cauldron and shot up high into the chamber, hovered a moment, great wings beating as he exchanged a flurry of blows with a hissing Kadoshim. Corban saw him slice through one of the demon's wings, sent it spinning back down to the ground, crashing to the stone floor a few paces away from Corban." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Meical fell upon it, booted foot upon the Kadoshim's chest, his sword crunching into its skull, shattering it, an explosion of bone and brains. He hissed at the dead Kadoshim, a primal thing, and then looked about the chamber, seeing his ancient enemy all about him. His white wings beat, lifting him from the ground, hovering in place as he appeared to be choosing his next foe.\n\nHe's going to leave us here. Break his oath tome and return to his kin.\n\nThen Meical's eyes fell upon Corban, taking in his friends and Storm. He hovered fora few heartbeats, eyes flickering across the many Kadoshim about the chamber, then he touched his feet back to the floor, wings folding behind him, the fire in his eyes dimming.\n\nMuttering, he waved his hand, and the smoke binding Corban and his friends evaporated, like mist in the sun.\n\nMeical held his arm out to Corban, who lay on the ground, staring up at the Ben-Elim. Corban took his hand.\n\nThe room was a maelstrom of battle around Corban as he climbed unsteadily to his feet and ran to his friends, helping Coralen stand, the others gathering around: Gar, Dath and Cywen, Storm limping, Farrell with his red-rimmed eyes. The Ben-Elim were still flooding from the cauldron and many were now soaring out through the huge rent in the chamber's roof to engage their ancient foe in the skies above Drassil. Corban saw one Ben-Elim stare at Meical fora moment before it flew out of the chamber.\n\n\"What's going on? ' Dath asked.\n\n\"And what do we do now?\" Coralen asked, looking at Corban." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"We kill Kadoshim,\" Farrell growled.\n\nCorban looked at Meical.\n\n\"We finish what we set out to do,\" Corban said, holding Meical's gaze. The Ben-Elim nodded.\n\n\"Cywen, can you perform Brina's ritual, and destroy the Treasures? ' Corban asked her.\n\nWith a beat of his wings Meical swirled away from them, chopped two-handed at a Kadoshim that flew screeching at them from above. It crashed to the ground.\n\n\"I... yes... I think I can,\" Cywen said, looking at the cauldron– there was still a steady flow of Ben-Elim rushing through it.\n\nMeical alighted back beside them.\n\n\"Don't you need to go and fight Asroth? ' Dath asked him.\n\n\"I will not need to go in search of Asroth. He will soon hear that we Ben-Elim have control of the gateway. He cannot allow that. He will return here.\"\n\nDath looked around at the others and gulped.\n\n\"We'd best get a move on, then, ' Farrell said." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin saw Lykos.\n\nTrying to escape, again. Not this time, thought Maquin.\n\nHe followed his prey.\n\nHis whole body hurt, a gash from his fall leaking blood into one eye, his knee pulsing with pain, but he could run well enough.\n\nTime for pain later.\n\nHe picked up speed, veering around men fighting for their lives, one eye checking the skies above him as Kadoshim swept low, slashing and stabbing, grabbing to drag people screaming into the air. Maquin swung at enemies as he passed them, even if it was just a shove that knocked them off balance and gave their opponent an opening. Once he turned and struck at a swooping Kadoshim, hacked off a grasping hand and scoured a line through a leathery wing, then turned and ran on, his eyes fixed on the Vin Thalun Lord limping ahead.\n\nThe gap closed.\n\nMaquin could seethe forest looming now, smoke billowing from it, the crackle of fire that had been a distant thing now bright, animals and birds taking flight from it.\n\nLykos had paused and was staring towards Drassil. As Maquin followed his gaze he saw white-feathered men in gleaming mail soaring from the fortress and spreading over the whole battlefield. Wielding sword and spear, they attacked the Kadoshim with a fury Maquin had never witnessed before, not even in the fighting-pits, where men were reduced to tooth, nail and animal instinct. As Maquin watched he saw two forms locked together spin low over the battlefield, crashing and skidding only a few score paces ahead of him, warriors smashed out of their way or leaping, earth spraying in a fountain-like wake behind them." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "They rolled to a halt, wings still beating, limbs moving, the white-feathered Ben-Elim rising, only to plunge its sword into the Kadoshim's chest, punching through, pinning it to the earth.\n\nThe Kadoshim shrieked, twitched and was still. The Ben-Elim leaned upon its sword fora moment, breathing heavily, then ripped its blade free, bellowing a victory cry and leaping back into the air, wide wings powering it back into the airborne melee.\n\nMaquin saw Lykos glance his way, his eyes widen, a flash of fear, and then the Vin Thalun was running again, turning west, towards the forest.\n\nAngels. Demons. I care not. It's time for you to die, Lykos.\n\nTrees closed around Maquin as he stepped into a world of instant twilight, shadows shifting around him, the murky gloom an ideal place for hiding. Maquin bent to one knee, listening, fingers touching the forest litter. When he lifted them, his fingertips were tinged red, before him a broken twig showed more blood, fresh and glistening.\n\nHe ran on, deeper into the forest, and then he heard him. Maquin smiled mirthlessly to hear panic in his prey's passage, an attempt at stealth overruled by the breath of death upon his neck. Maquin moved into a small glade, the trees opening up a little, changing from dense scrub to high-branched oaks, the forest litter thick and flat. Maquin paused, heard only the crackle of the forest fire growing ever closer. A cloud of smoke rolled across the glade.\n\nMaquin walked on, heard the rustle of leaves on the ground, spun round to see Lykos leaping at him, sword stabbing up at him, aimed at his gut. With a contemptuous snarl, Maquin slapped the sword away, sidestepped, slashed his knife at Lykos as he stumbled past, opening a red line above the back of the Vin Thalun's knee. Lykos staggered on a few steps, fell to one knee, stabbing his sword into the ground, leaning on it to stop himself from falling." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Maquin circled him, keeping wide, a wolf circling a dying snake, until he was standing directly in front of Lykos.\n\nThere may still be poison in his fangs.\n\nOne side of Lykos' breeches was blood-soaked to his boots, from the cut on his hip. His left arm was held tight to his body as if he cradled a child. And his face dripped sweat and grime, eyes wide with fear and anger, chest sucking in deep, ragged breaths.\n\n\"Get up,\" Maquin snarled.\n\nLykos raised an eyebrow, but he pulled himself upright, leaning heavily on his sword, then stood there, swaying.\n\n\"No more running,\" Maquin said.\n\nLykos looked down at his leg. \"I think you've made sure of that. '\n\nMaquin sheathed his sword over his back and drew a knife instead.\n\n\"How many knives do you possess?\" Lykos asked, annoyed.\n\n\"Better too many than too few,\" Maquin growled.\n\nLykos nodded.\n\n\"Well, I think it's only fair to say; you win. ' Lykos started to chuckle.\n\n\"What's funny? ' Maquin asked.\n\n\"You. I think you take life too seriously. You should laugh more.\" He coughed, grimaced.\n\n\"You stole that from me,\" Maquin said, \"stole everything: laughter, friends, honour, humanity.\" He bowed his head. \"Fidele...\"\n\nThe memory of her face filled his mind fora moment.\n\nHe strode forwards, caught Lykos'feeble attempt at defence on his knife blade, twisted his wrist and sent Lykos\" sword spinning away. Then Maquin was in close, punched his other knife hilt onto Lykos'injured shoulder, heard him scream, headbutted him on the bridge of his nose, blood exploding. Lykos stumbled back a few paces, wobbled and fell on his backside against a tree. Maquin followed, hauling Lykos up, holding his arm high, against the tree, and stabbed a knife through the Vin Thalun's palm, deep into the wood behind. He drew another knife and slammed it in a little lower, into Lykos' forearm, the blade grating between bone, pinning Lykos to the tree." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Fresh screams, loud and raucous. Slowly they faded to bubbling groans and whimpers.\n\n\"Please,\" Lykos begged. \"Please.\"\n\nFire crackled behind Lykos, more smoke billowing through the glade, and Maquin saw a shifting in the undergrowth– ants like black liquid were spilling out around Lykos' feet, fleeing the fire.\n\nMaquin backed away to a safe distance and watched Lykos look down at the ants that were pooling around his boots, a few of them scuttling up, over the leather and onto the soft wool of his breeches. He saw the Vin Thalun's eyes widen at the first bite of their mandibles, then more of them, climbing, biting.\n\n\"No, no, please, no,\" Lykos blurted, jumping and twitching as mandibles tore through his breeches and snipped at his flesh. \"Just kill me, please, please kill me,\" Lykos begged. More and more ants were flooding up his leg now, some gathering around his other foot, even as he tried to stamp on them, jerking and jumping as if he was performing some insane dance.\n\nMaquin took a few more paces back, arms folded, making sure the ants didn't decide to come his way. For now there were not enough of them, and the ones that were there seemed content with Vin Thalun flesh.\n\nAnts reached Lykos' groin.\n\nHe sucked in a deep breath and screamed. Such a scream as Maquin had never heard before, not even in the pits. Lykos' eyes bulged, his face bursting red. And Maquin watched him.\n\nLykos' screams rose and fellas the Vin Thalun passed in and out of consciousness. Maquin sat down and reached to his boot and drew another knife, its edge wickedly sharp." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Lykos bubbled out a hoarse string of semi-coherent words, begging, pleading with Maquin for the release of death.\n\nMaquin looked at the blade in his hand, twisted it, then he put it against his own wrist.\n\nIt's over now. Jael is dead, Kastell avenged. And I am avenged against Lykos.\n\nThe ants were swirling around Lykos' belly. He was hanging limp, suspended by the two knives in hand and arm, snot bubbling from his nose, dribble hanging from his mouth, driven near-mad and insensible with the pain.\n\nMaquin pressed the knife edge against his wrist, saw it hover over the dark vein. A bead of blood appeared.\n\nThe din of battle echoed through the clearing, rising over the forest fire and Lykos' death rattle. It stirred something in him, the clash of arms, battle-cries, and somewhere deep within him his spirit rose, as if answering a call.\n\nBattle.\n\nHe looked at the knife, at the blood welling on his wrist. Then he stood, gave Lykos' corpse a last look and stalked from the glade.\n\nTowards the sound of battle." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Corban stood with his back guarding the cauldron and Treasures, his friends spread in a loose circle around them too, with Meical hovering, swinging his sword with savage joy at any Kadoshim that came too close. Cywen was standing close to the cauldron.\n\nShe started to chant. \"Seoda cloch réalta, ó deannaigh tháinig tú, agus deannaigh beidh tú ar ais...\"\n\nAt first no one in the room heard, as it was still seething with battle; Kadoshim and Ben-Elim were more interested in cutting, stabbing, hacking and tearing each other to pieces. Corban took a moment to check Storm over, heard her whine when he ran a handover her shoulder, and found a deep gash in her left paw that carried on up into her leg. He ripped a strip of cloth from his linen undershirt and bound it tight for the moment, thinking he would have to tell Brina about it soon.\n\nBut I can't. She's dead, gone.\n\nGrief and rage were circling through his body, punctuated with waves of weariness and fear. He wondered how the battle outside was faring and felt afresh wave of worry for his friends and warband beyond Drassil's walls, made worse by the knowledge that Asroth and his demon horde were loose in the skies above them.\n\nI should be there, fighting alongside them.\n\nCywen's voice drifted in and out, and Corban felt a pulse of power ripple through his body.\n\nNo, this must be done, is the only hope of victory, of saving any of us. See it through. And I left Akar in charge– he knows what must be done.\n\nMeical stood between Corban and Gar, eyes flitting through the Kadoshim above. Corban could see that he was eager to fight but was resisting the urge so that he could fulfil his oath to Corban and the others." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Abruptly, there was an enormous booming crash, part of the chamber's roof imploding, stone and wood crashing down to the floor, an explosion of dust. Kadoshim were rushing into the chamber, Asroth at their head, demons spread behind him, hovering a moment and then launching into the overwhelming numbers of Ben-Elim that had been slowly filling the room.\n\nBeside Corban Meical tensed, his wings pulsing, lifting him up into the air, but he only hovered over Cywen, sword held protectively ready. A Kadoshim flew near to him and his sword sang, the Kadoshim's head flew in a different direction to its body, which careened onto crash into the great tree.\n\nDath tracked targets, sent Kadoshim tumbling through the air with his arrows.\n\nFigures emerged from the shadows of the chamber. Calidus and a handful of his Jehar were striding towards Corban, behind them Rhin and her shieldmen.\n\nCorban felt a wave of hatred flood through him, stealing all else from him fora moment as he saw the man who murdered his mam, murdered Brina, who had orchestrated so much death and destruction. All he wanted to do was bury his sword into Calidus' heart.\n\nHe took a step forwards, away from Cywen, then felt a hand on his arm.\n\nGar.\n\nThey shared a look.\n\nAnger is the enemy.\n\nCorban took a deep breath and mastered himself.\n\nMeical saw Calidus and smiled.\n\n\"The last time I saw you was in this chamber,\" Meical said, wings twitching. \"You cutoff my head. I am thinking it is time I returned the favour.\"\n\nMeical strode at Asroth's commander, wings lifting him a little, eyes blazing his fury. Corban could seethe aeons-old hatred between the two races encapsulated in that gaze." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"Rhin,\" Calidus called out, \"get that bitch away from the cauldron.\" He took a step towards Meical. \"Time I finished the job,\" he snarled and leaped at Meical, their blades clashing, Jehar-Kadoshim swarming around the Ben-Elim.\n\nCorban ran to help Meical, and then a handful of Kadoshim were swooping down, feet hitting the ground between Corban and Meical, charging at him and the others.\n\nOne thrust a spear at Corban, but he knocked it away with his wolven claws and stepped in, chopping overhead at the Kadoshim. It swayed, Corban's blow glancing off of its mail-covered shoulder, but his wolven claws slashed across its throat, opening up three deep gashes, and it fell away.\n\nAnother Kadoshim filled its place, this one striking at him high with a longsword, Corban retreating before a barrage of powerful blows that shivered through his wrist and into his shoulder, then something was grabbing him from behind, arms wrapping under his arms, and he was leaving the ground, a sense of weightlessness as he was hoisted skywards. He twisted, saw a Kadoshim's manic grin and blue-black lips as it lifted him higher. He tried to swing his sword at it but could get no strength in the blow.\n\nCoralen appeared out of nowhere. She jumped onto the Kadoshim Corban had just been fighting on the ground, ran up his back, pulling on awing to help, and then launching herself from its shoulders. She all but flew through the air, crashed into the Kadoshim that was lifting Corban, wrapped her legs around it and, before it had a chance to react, she was punching her wolven claws into its side. The mail links of its armour shattered, then blood was gushing, the creature screeching its pain, swirling in the air, and the three of them were falling, crunching to the ground, Corban hitting stone, the Kadoshim falling on him, flattening him to the ground. Coralen hauled the corpse off Corban and gave him her hand." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He nodded his thanks to her.\n\nAnd then another Kadoshim slammed to the floor in front of him, feet spread wide, ground smoking, a silver warrior braid coiled over one shoulder like a thick-bodied serpent.\n\nAsroth.\n\nHis black eyes regarded Corban.\n\n\"Bright Star, it is time I heard you scream.\"" }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Haelan ran, faster than he had ever run before.\n\nHe was back inside the draig tunnels, sprinting down along passage. Behind him he heard the roar and rumbling thunder of draigs.\n\nThey were chasing him.\n\nBecause under his arm a draig's egg was tucked tight to his body.\n\nIt seemed like a good idea at the time.\n\nNot so much, now, though.\n\nHis lungs were burning, each ragged breath a desperate clawing for oxygen.\n\nHe'd tied Shadow and Pots in the tunnel, didn't need them with him. The thought of one of them taking the wrong turn and getting eaten by a draig was too much for him to bear. Then he'd climbed back down the root-hole into the draig tunnels. When he reached the chamber with dung mounds in it he'd thrown himself into one, gagging and retching as he carried onto the egg chamber.\n\nHe'd crept in, grabbed an egg from the pile, turned and run. Not many heartbeats later he'd heard draig claws tearing up the earth behind him. He could hear the rip and tear of long talons, the grunting, rasping breath, and knew that he was almost finished.\n\nTurning a corner, he saw the root of the oak tree and felt a rush of hope. Another dozen paces and he was hurling the torch over his shoulder, swinging and climbing, hauling himself up onto the ledge. Ashe scrambled higher through the crumbling tunnel he felt the root beside him shake; the draig below was ripping and tearing at it, jumping and shoving its jaws into the hole.\n\nThen it roared.\n\nHe almost fell back down to the red maw of its open jaws, almost dropped the egg, wanted to cover his ears, but he climbed on, reaching the passage where he'd tied Pots and Shadow. They were crouched together, ears back; Shadow was growling. Haelan slashed the rope he'd used to tie them and carried on running, Pots and Shadow following." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A great thumping boom shook the tunnel, rippling up from below, staggering him into a wall as earth was shaken loose about him. He righted himself, heard a ripping sound, the terrible tearing sound of draig claws, and then earth was collapsing in the tunnel. He looked back and saw a draig appearing out of the root tunnel.\n\nIt's literally digging its way after me.\n\nAs I hoped.\n\nHe turned and ran, down the passage, into abeam of daylight, up the slope and burst out of the hole into the courtyard.\n\nIt was empty, the sound of battle distant and eerie.\n\nHaelan ran, Shadow and Pots speeding along beside him, Pots with his tongue hanging out, looking like the happiest dog in the world. There was a muted crash behind Haelan, then a rumbling thunder. The ground rippled under his feet. He ran on, desperation fuelling him.\n\nThe ground shook, a wave began beneath the oak tree at the centre of the courtyard, throwing him from his feet. He clung desperately to the egg under his arm as he rolled and sat up, looking back into the courtyard.\n\nFlagstones were exploding outwards, a fountain of earth and stone and root.\n\nAnd then the first draig appeared, shoving and clawing up from the bowels of the earth. It hauled itself onto even ground and shook, a great cloud of dust billowing out from it. Then another draig was rising from the ground, followed immediately by a third.\n\nThe three of them stood there, tongues flickering, heads turning on thick necks, tails swishing. Then they scented their egg, and claws were scrambling on stone, bowed legs pumping, and they were after him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Haelan jumped to his feet and ran.\n\nThe streets of Drassil were deserted. Haelan hurtled down the centre of streets, heedless of anyone or anything, his legs pumping faster than he'd ever run before. Past Cywen's old gaol and hospice, through the alleys, closer and closer to the courtyard and main gates. Battle roared louder and Haelan glimpsed strange shapes in the air, but he didn't dare spare a moment to study them. The thunder of the draigs behind him was growing louder.\n\nToo close. They're going to eat me.\n\nAnd then he was at the courtyard. Even this was mostly deserted, the great gates open, no one manning them now. Drassil had been emptied.\n\nHe ran on, past rows of stables, Pots barking excitedly, Shadow loping as silent as her name.\n\nThe draigs charged into the courtyard behind him.\n\nHaelan burst out through the archway and onto the battlefield, saw a chaotic confusion of battle and skidded to a halt, feeling his stomach turn to water as he realized the shapes he'd seen in the sky were winged warriors, seemingly on opposing sides, dark wings and light wings, looping in a swirling dance of aerial combat. It was hypnotic to watch them in their beautiful flight of death.\n\nGet a grip on yourself. You're about to be trampled to death by three wild draigs.\n\nTo his horror he saw that the draig dung was peeling off of him, falling away in chunks, leaving great patches of his skin exposed.\n\nThe draigs will be able to smell my scent!\n\nI need to get rid of this egg.\n\nHe sucked air into his burning lungs and looked at the battlefield." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "To his right, the north of the battlefield, all he could see was warriors on horseback, a sea of black and gold, though as he stared he saw Edana's grey as well, herded back towards the western fringes of Forn.\n\nTo the south-west stood a great block of eagle-guard, inching their way ever deeper into a melee of battle, killing as they went. Haelan saw Vin Thalun that way, a few giants standing tall in the crowd. And Nathair, sitting astride his draig.\n\nThat sealed it for Haelan.\n\nThat way, then.\n\nAnd he was off and running again.\n\nThe draigs burst through the archway behind him and out onto the field. They, too, paused fora moment, their flickering tongues tasting the air, and within heartbeats their flat-muzzled heads were fixing upon their egg, and then they were breaking into a lumbering charge.\n\nHaelan could seethe rearguard of the eagle-guard ahead of him now, a line of black leather and chainmail, iron-shod boots drumming on the ground as they marched in close-packed discipline. Haelan was a hundred paces behind them, and he could hear the thunder of the draigs behind him.\n\nFaster, run faster.\n\nSeventy paces behind the soldiers, the pounding of the draigs filled Haelan's whole world.\n\nForty paces and he thought about doing it now, but he knew it was too far.\n\nJust a few heartbeats more.\n\nA draig roared behind him, jaws snapping, a cloud of foetid breath.\n\nTen paces, and faces turned to look back, saw the draigs." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Haelan hurled the egg, high and arcing, over the back ranks of the eagle-guard, the egg spinning, dipping, falling now, disappearing into the eagle-guard, fifteen or twenty rows deep. Haelan swerved left, skidding, one last burst of speed, and he was veering away from the eagle-guard, Pots and Shadow with him, running into open space, diving, rolling.\n\nAnd behind him, a concussive slap as three draigs slammed into the marching eagle-guard." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Nathair sat upon his draig, swinging his sword at another red-cloaked spearman.\n\nHis blow clanged off the man's helm, denting it, sending the warrior toppling to the ground, unconscious or dead with a cracked skull.\n\nIt was late in the day, the sun a pale glow sinking into the green of Forn, and the sky was dark with Kadoshim and Ben-Elim.\n\nKadoshim I am pleased to see, but Ben-Elim! How did that happen?\n\nSo far the angels and demons had not ventured in large numbers to this southern fringe of the battle, which Nathair was grateful for, though he was frustrated as well.\n\nHalf the day my shield wall has been battering at Veradis'smaller force, and yet they still haven't broken.\n\nCountless times Nathair had attempted to assault Veradis'flank with his draig and a few score of his own shieldmen, but giants in their armour and armed with long spears and axes, combined with a few score red-cloaked warriors wielding thick-shafted spears, had formed a prickly hedge of sharp iron that had kept them from reaching Veradis\" flank.\n\nNathair took a moment to wipe sweat from his eyes and survey the field.\n\nAnd then he smiled, for he saw a great square of his eagle-guard, over a thousand men.\n\nCalidus must have sent them to my aid.\n\nThey were in the thick of the battle, wading through a sea of the enemy towards him.\n\n\"Victory,\" Nathair breathed, for he knew that this would mean the breaking of Veradis' shield wall.\n\nAnd the annihilation of all our enemy south of Geraint. He could almost taste the glory of that victory." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "And then Nathair saw a sight which at first he did not understand.\n\nA small figure was running after his eagle-guard, hurling something small into the air, almost into the heart of his marching warriors. And behind that small figure were three enormous shapes, surging across the field, heading straight towards his eagle-guard.\n\nThey were draigs.\n\nWhat?\n\nEven as Nathair bellowed orders to his horns-man the three draigs crashed into his eagle-guard. Men flew through the air like twigs, spinning, limbs flailing, the three draigs driving deep into the eagle-guard formation, their heads low, thick necks flicking men into the air, legs and razored talons crushing and ripping warriors to shreds, leaving behind a trampled, tattered red ruin of flesh, blood and bone. Moments before, it had been Nathair's pride, his salvation and the likely turning-point of the battle. Ina dozen heartbeats it was shattered.\n\nNathair snarled in frustration and despair, shouted orders at the shieldmen around him and screamed into his draig's ear, jabbing his heels into it and yanking on the reins. It gave out aloud roar and lurched forwards.\n\nEnemy spearmen jabbed at it, but Nathair urged it on regardless, his shieldmen rushing to batter them out of the way and create a space for the draig to breakthrough to Veradis'shield wall. Gashes opened up along the draig's shoulders and flanks, deep wounds in its flesh. Nathair leaned low, chopping at spears, splintering them, severing a hand, but still the spears stabbed, his draig bellowing in pain, Nathair kicking at it, yelling it on in a wild-eyed frenzy." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "There was a blood-chilling cry from above and Nathair glanced up to see a handful of Kadoshim swooping from above, diving and stabbing at the men massed before Nathair's draig, one of them hoisting a red-cloaked warrior into the air and hurling him away. Men scattered, ducking, running from the Kadoshim; more were swooping upon Veradis\" shield wall, and then Nathair's draig was bursting through the gauntlet of spears, Veradis\" shield wall was straight ahead, Nathair's own wall to his left. Another screamed order from Nathair and his draig was rearing up onto its hind legs, then slamming down again, onto the massed ranks of the wall in front of it, shields splintered to kindling, bodies beneath them crushed and mashed to pulp.\n\nWhat if Veradis is down there?\n\nNathair searched the faces of the dead, peering at the shieldmen who were staggering back from his draig's onslaught, but he saw Veradis nowhere.\n\nHe could be amongst those at my feet, mangled beyond all recognition.\n\nNathair knew that Veradis always chose to be front and centre of his shield wall, the most hard-fought spot, and Nathair had always respected him for that. Then he remembered Veradis' words to him earlier.\n\nHe has rejected me. Chosen another lord. Another Bright Star. And he told me that Corban would forgive me!\n\nThat galled him in so many ways he could hardly bear to think it through.\n\nVeradis has made his choice. And if it has put him on the defeated side, and in front of my draig, then so be it.\n\n\"ON,\" Nathair screamed, urging his draig deeper into the warband, its jaws snapping, crunching, talons raking warriors as it thrust itself further into Veradis'shield wall, and behind him his own shieldmen came, a wedge into the gap his draig had smashed, and even as Nathair looked down from the vantage of his high saddle he saw Veradis\" shield wall splinter and break apart." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Cywen felt power pulsing through her body as she chanted the spell of Unmaking, desperately trying to keep her focus on the cauldron, though she was aware that Asroth had returned to the chamber and was standing before Corban. She heard their blades clash, Storm snarling, Meical shouting. A snatched glance and she saw them, and beyond was Gar, locked in a whirlwind of blows with Calidus and his Jehar Kadoshim.\n\nI must help them.\n\nNo, the reason they fight is to buy me time, else it is all for nothing.\n\n\"Cré agus aer, tine agus uisce, ordaímse duit anois, iarann dorcha a chur ar ceal,\" she continued, then something slammed into her body, sending her crashing to the floor. She looked up, saw Rhin striding towards her, shieldmen about her; the one that had struck her was close by.\n\n\"Kill the little bitch,\" Rhin ordered with a flourish of her hand.\n\nCywen stood shakily and reached a hand inside her cloak as the closest warrior approached her, a handful of Rhin's shieldmen rushing in behind him.\n\n\"Tine agus lasair,\" Cywen cried as she threw vials at the first warrior. They smashed on his leather harness, and then flame was engulfing him, the man screaming, staggering into the closest warrior; flames danced across to him as well, the stench of burning flesh abruptly redolent in the air. Both men stumbled forwards, arms slapping futilely at the flames, dropping to their knees, crashing to the ground. Other warriors surged past them, giving them a wide berth. Cywen backed away, one hand reaching fora knife hilt." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "The warrior nearest to Cywen collapsed with an arrow through his eye, then a form was stepping in front of her, huge, a war-hammer in his hand.\n\nFarrell.\n\nHe swung his hammer and caved in the skull of the first warrior, swung again at the next warrior, shattering both the shield and the arm it was strapped to. Farrell kicked him to the floor. Another man staggered backwards and collapsed, an arrow sprouting from his chest. Farrell spun in a circle, slammed his hammer into another man's chest, lifting him from the ground and hurling him through the air.\n\nAnd then the rest were hesitating, spreading wider around Farrell. Rhin appeared from behind the pillar of flames that still crackled greedily. A dozen men surrounded her, more than Cywen wanted to see. Without hesitation, Farrell strode towards them. Cywen followed, a throwing knife in each hand. Her first one sank into a warrior's throat.\n\nRhin barked a command and the warriors around her were spreading into a line, moving on Farrell, curling around him. Swords flashed, Farrell blocking with his hammer-shaft, swinging great looping strokes to give himself space, but there were too many men. A blow landed on his shoulder, another on his hip, blood welling, and he dropped to one knee. Cywen hurled another knife but a warrior caught it on his shield. An arrow sank into a thigh, staggering a man, but more closed on Farrell. Then Coralen was there, swirling through Rhin's warriors like a violent storm, sword and wolven claws leaving trails of blood in her wake, men falling, dead before they realized it. The survivors broke and ran. Cywen hurried to Farrell, helped him stand with a grimace, and then all three of them were moving on Rhin." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Next" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rhin backed away, pulled a knife from her belt and slashed her hand, with a flick of her wrist sent droplets of blood spattering over them.\n\n\"Sruthán,\" Rhin snarled and the blood on Cywen's cloak and vest began to hiss and smoke, burning through wool, leather and flesh. She heard Farrell grunt with pain, even as pain bloomed on her own arm, skin sizzling.\n\n\"Uisce,\" Cywen cried, slicing the palm of her own hand with a knife and spraying droplets of blood over herself and her companions. The burning on her arm ceased.\n\n\"After her,\" Cywen cried as Rhin backed away, threading through the combat of the chamber. They followed, Cywen glimpsing Corban trading blows with Asroth, a flash of fur as Storm rolled entwined with a Kadoshim, then she saw Rhin, close to the trunk of the great tree. Cywen, Coralen and Farrell spread around her, a half-circle, Rhin pressing her back to the bark.\n\n\"Nowhere left to run,\" Cywen said to her.\n\n\"You are young,\" Rhin said. \"And naive. Much can change in a few moments.\"\n\nShe started to chant, \"Cloch a bheith bog, fiachmhúchta bás.\"\n\nCywen took a step towards Rhin and found she couldn't– her feet were sinking into the stone. A rush of panic and she jerked afoot away, but the stone clung to it like honey, sticking, holding, and with her sudden shift of weight her other foot sank deeper, up to the ankle. She looked about wildly, saw the same was happening to Farrell and Coralen.\n\n\"You see,\" Rhin said with a smile, \"the ground can shift under your feet very quickly if you're unprepared. And I'm always prepared.\" She raised her hand, mouth opening for another spell. There was the whistle of air, a thunk, and then Rhin was staggering back, a knife hilt protruding from her chest." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Proceed" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "\"You power-mad bitch,\" Cywen said coldly. \"So much death in Ardan because of your ambition. The assassination of Uthan, Prince of Narvon, the ambush in the Darkwood, where my Ronan fell. Setting Morcant loose like a feral dog.\"\n\nRhin swayed, leaned against the wall. Blood seeped around the knife hilt. Her hand reached up and grabbed it, a grimace of pain, and then she pulled it free, stood straight and smiled calmly.\n\nCywen threw another knife, but Rhin moved like a snake so it slammed into her arm instead of her chest. She staggered a step then ripped the knife free and hurled it back at Cywen.\n\n\"I'm harder to kill than I look, little girl, ' she said with a sneer.\n\nRhin started to mutter, the air about Cywen rippling. Abruptly, Rhin stopped, staggered and fell back, a look of surprise on her face as she looked down and saw one of Dath's white-fletched arrows protruding from her belly. She plucked at it.\n\nAnother knife slammed into her chest, high, then another arrow was sprouting from her chest, throwing her back against the tree, another knife into her gut. An arrow through her throat, blood welling from all the wounds, seeping into her clothes. With a sigh she slipped slowly down the great tree, leaving a trail of blood.\n\nThe ground around Cywen's feet solidified. She stepped free of it and stood fora moment over Rhin's corpse.\n\n\"For Ronan,\" she whispered.\n\n\"The spell,\" Coralen said, and Cywen ran back to the cauldron, words of power forming on her lips." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Veradis felt the shield wall breaking before it actually happened.\n\nHe was standing a dozen rows back, had rotated his position for the first time since the shields had first locked on the field, and that was only because he could barely keep his fist clamped around his sword hilt because of a numbing cramp in the muscles of his hand. But he was worried that the shield wall would not hold without him there, in the heart of the front row, where the storm of iron was fiercest. A shield wall was made of many men, but, this day, he also knew that he had been the glue that had stopped it from collapsing a hundred times. That was no boast, and it was impossible to hold a whole line, to beat every point where a crack or fissure was forming between shields or within men's minds, but what he had done was give his men heart. He had shouted himself hoarse, praised men for every effort he witnessed, and a hundred others he'd imagined. He had mocked and taunted the enemy and bellowed encouragement to his own sword-brothers whenever he'd had breath, and he'd slain more of his enemy than he could remember.\n\nAnd so they had held, for over half a day against overwhelming numbers.\n\nBut now his shield wall was dying.\n\nHe felt it like a stuttered sigh that rippled through the ranks, a death rattle before that last breath. It had followed a crash that rocked men on their feet even as far back as Veradis' twelfth row.\n\nVeradis heard the roar of Nathair's draig, saw Nathair's outline rearing above the rim of his shield.\n\nHis draig is amongst us.\n\nA scream from above drew his attention to the skies. A swarm of winged beings were fighting, some in dark mail with great bat-like wings, against white-winged warriors. They were twisting and turning through the air in the way that Veradis had once seen two falcons fighting over the same prey, a plump pigeon that had taken the opportunity and fled." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Continue" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "I hope that is not what we are to both of those sky-borne warbands. Prey.\n\nEven as he stared at them, Veradis saw figures sweep down from above, dark-winged demons wielding sword and spear, stabbing and hacking at Veradis' men, screeching war-cries and death that chilled the blood. Veradis felt his own courage waver, and in that moment he knew his shield wall was broken.\n\nNathair's draig was rampaging through the remnants of Veradis\" ranks, some men still holding, frozen out of fear more than anything else, the draig bellowing. Veradis saw deep wounds along its side and realized it was badly injured.\n\nNathair's eagle-guard were advancing, trampling over Veradis\" fallen men, swords stabbing down to finish off the wounded.\n\n\"TO ME,\" Veradis cried, rallying his scattered men.\n\nDeeper in the battlefield Veradis saw groups of Vin Thalun, Jehar, white-cloaks and red-cloaks engaged in battle, beyond them great beasts rampaging across the field.\n\nDraigs? Where did they come from? They were trampling all about them indiscriminately; as Veradis stared dumbfounded he saw one bend its neck and pick something up from the ground, then turn and lumber back towards the gates of Drassil. One followed it, one remaining. Closer, Veradis saw a large knot of giants that were pushing towards him, but here Veradis was surrounded by only the fallen or the fleeing.\n\nThen roaring rang across the battlefield again and Veradis'head snapped back to Nathair. In horror he watched as the draig snatched a man of Ripa, its jaws clamping around the warrior's head and shoulder, lifting him from the ground, shaking him like a hound with a rat, then flinging the dying man through the air." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "A hot anger filled Veradis then, and he sprinted towards Nathair, picking up speed with each step, stooping to grab a spear from a fallen red-cloak and skidding to a halt a few score paces from Nathair.\n\n\"NATHAIR!\" Veradis bellowed, brandishing his spear at his former King.\n\nNathair's face twisted as he spotted Veradis yelling his challenge. He regarded Veradis along, drawn-out moment, and then he bent forwards in his saddle, whispered in the draig's ear, and it was charging him.\n\nThe ground thundered, taloned feet tearing up the ground, the draig opening its huge jaws to roar, teeth like daggers, saliva dripping. Nathair leaned low in his saddle, sword arm rising. Veradis saw it all as if in slow motion, set his feet and stood his ground as the draig closed the distance at a terrifying speed– forty paces away, thirty, twenty, a deafening roar echoing from its jaws.\n\nVeradis hefted the spear in his hands, found the balance and hurled it, straight into the draig's open maw.\n\nThe draig screamed, blood exploding from its mouth in a great gout. It thundered on towards Veradis, a spasm rippling through its body, legs failing, its momentum carrying it. Veradis leaped to the side, too late; the draig slammed into his leg, spinning him like a twig, talons raking his torso, and Veradis was flying through the air, hot pain igniting in his chest, his knee, and then the ground was slamming into him, driving the breath from his body. He tried to focus, saw the draig collapsing, ploughing into the earth, an avalanche of muscle and bone, Nathair hurled from the saddle, disappearing in the dust cloud that rose up and engulfed the draig." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Camlin rode up a slope and into the trees, pausing fora moment to look back.\n\nThe battlefield was chaos, the skies filled with aerial combat, Kadoshim and Ben-Elim looping and diving, Edana and her cavalry still holding against Geraint, and further south it looked as if the shield walls had disintegrated, the field turned to a chaotic blood-soaked melee.\n\nAre those draigs?\n\nFora moment he thought of riding back, doing what he could to help, but then a face filled his mind.\n\nRafe.\n\nCamlin had tracked him through the battlefield, lost him and found him a dozen times, always too faraway to risk one of the half-dozen arrows he'd managed to snatch from corpses, and then he had seen Rafe breakaway from the combat, riding up the slope that marked the northern edge of the battlefield towards a wall of trees. A greyhound had been padding along beside him. Rafe had disappeared into the forest, and Camlin knew that he was fleeing.\n\nCan't let him getaway this time. If by some miracle we win this battle Edana'll never be safe, with him lurking in the shadows. And besides, he killed Baird and is responsible for Halion...\n\nAt the thought of his friends, Camlin felt the weight of grief shift in his belly and gritted his teeth. With a click to his horse he rode into the trees. The world turned to twilight, shades of grey dappled by the shift of leafless branches high above. He came upon an ancient road of stone slabs, moss-covered and crumbling. Fresh hoof-marks were easy to spot, and Camlin picked up his pace, his bow and reins in one hand, his other resting gently on the fletching of an arrow in his belt-quiver." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Keep going" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He reined in, cocking his head to one side, straining his hearing.\n\nWhat's that?\n\nA resonance on the edge of sound, a shift in the forest. His horse whinnied, ears back.\n\nSomething's not right.\n\nCamlin swung down from his saddle and crouched on the old road, one palm flat against cold lichen and granite.\n\nA vibration trembled into his fingertips, faint as a whisper. Stones skittered down the embankment of the road.\n\nAnd then Rafe was bursting from thick foliage, his magnificent stallion powering him onto the road and straight at Camlin, sword raised high, only a dozen paces away. Somehow Camlin managed to nock and draw an arrow, still crouching, Rafe's horse almost upon him. He loosed; Rafe yanked on his reins and swayed, the arrow hissing past his head, nicking his ear, then Camlin was drawing his sword, rushing in close to the skewbald stallion, stabbing at Rafe.\n\nSwords clashed, Rafe sweeping Camlin's strike away, a flurry of blows as Rafe tried to cave in Camlin's skull, the strength in each blow beating Camlin down, sending him staggering. He tried to get in close again, but Rafe's stallion's teeth were snapping at him, and then he was jumping away, realized he was close to his own horse and leaped at it, grabbing the saddle, trying to heave himself up.\n\nRafe's stallion reared, hooves lashing out, and Camlin's horse was screaming, bolting from the road, dragging Camlin a few score paces before he lost his grip and fell with a thud to the ground, cold stone slamming into his face, then he was rolling, slowly coming to a halt. He pushed himself up onto one knee, shook his head, reached for his bow but couldn't find it." }, { "from": "human", "value": "\"\"Bout done with you putting arrows in me, old man, \"Rafe said." }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "He'd reined his horse in, was smiling at Camlin. He rolled his shoulder, grimaced at the pain of Camlin's last arrow.\n\nHow does he keep recovering from my arrows? I need to have me a drink from that starstone cup.\n\n\"Thought I didn't know you were sniffing after me, \"Rafe sneered.\"I saw you. Don't think you're the huntsman you like to think you are. '\n\nDamned if I'm going to let this snot-nosed runt be the end of me.\n\nCamlin tried to stand but felt an explosion of pain in his knee and his leg buckled. He heard Rafe laugh, then spur his horse on, hooves thundering towards him." }, { "from": "human", "value": "> Start Chapter" }, { "from": "gpt", "value": "Rafe felt the joy of victory flood through him. Camlin lay a crumpled heap on the road ahead of him, noway of escaping his stallion's charge.\n\nI've been looking forward to this momenta longtime. And I'm about done being shot by him. Knew I had to do something about him, that I'd never get a chance at skewering Edana with him sniffing after me. Looks like my trick worked, luring him into the forest, setting an ambush.\n\nThen figures were bursting from the trees, running up the slope to Camlin, one small, one large. The small one was a girl; he recognized her from Ardan, red hair, an oversized helm strapped to her head. The large figure was a hound, brindle-coated and broad muzzled. He knew him as well: Buddai, Thannon's old hound.\n\nThe girl grabbed hold of Camlin's arm and tugged at him, but it had little effect. Buddai set his feet protectively before the girl and Camlin and snarled at Rafe and his horse, hackles rising.\n\nGood, I'll trample all three of them, then.\n\nRafe bent lower in his saddle and urged his horse faster.\n\n\"You're a rare find, \"he whispered to his mount,\"more vicious than a sack of snakes. ' He grinned.\n\nMovement flitted in his peripheral vision, shadows within the trees, but he ignored them, everything about him focused on the trio in the road before him, the thought of Camlin trampled to pulp filling him with a wild bloodlust.\n\nHe saw Buddai crouch, muscles bunching, lips drawing back in a snarl, only a dozen paces separating them; the crack of his mount's hooves on stone filled Rafe's ears." } ]

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