The Powder Mage Trilogy: Promise of Blood, The Crimson Campaign, The Autumn Republic

by McClellan, Brian

  Taniel found his rifle in the other corner of the balcony. The remaining Privileged didn’t even seem to notice him. They had backed away as far as they could from Ka-poel, spread out, and threw their hands up frantically to fend off her magic.

  No, he would not run. He’d not leave Ka-poel to fight alone.

  Taniel snatched up his rifle. He checked the barrel. The bullet had come out in his fall. He cleared the barrel and loaded one, then another, both redstripes. He rammed cotton batting to hold the bullets in. A Privileged stumbled toward him, hands raised. He rammed his bayonet through the Privileged’s eye.

  He found a place at the railing to line up his shot. The glow he’d seen earlier was descending from the heavens. It looked like a cloud, falling swiftly as it grew closer.

  The cloud flew past, lowering itself into the center of the coliseum below. Taniel licked his lips. He cleared his throat. He tried to steady his hands. A pinch of powder helped to clear his mind and sharpen his eyes.

  The coliseum was too far away. Six miles, at least. There was no way he could make a shot that far. He took a deep breath. The cloud touched the ground.

  A foot emerged from the cloud, followed by a person. Taniel fought off the darkness of a fainting spell.

  The man from the cloud was more beautiful than anyone Taniel had ever seen. His skin was perfect, his golden hair long and lustrous. He wore a tunic, something out of a play depicting the Time of Kresimir. He stepped from the cloud and paused. His perfect face was marred by a frown.

  Taniel blinked the sweat out of his eyes and pulled the trigger. The crack echoed in his ears, and he lowered his rifle. He didn’t so much see as he felt the two bullets speeding toward Kresimir. Long after they should have fallen to the ground, his will kept them in the air. His mind began to hurt from the effort, his hands began to tremble. Pain blossomed in his head as he burned through his powder horn to keep the bullets flying. Still he held on.

  One bullet entered Kresimir’s right eye. The other hit his chest and pierced his heart. Taniel watched the god’s body crumple and fall.

  Taniel felt a sob wrench itself from his chest. He’d killed a god.

  He dropped to the balcony floor.

  He couldn’t bring himself to care as Julene’s roar of fury tore at his brain. He heard a mighty thump, and then the world began to shake. He cradled his rifle, trying to pull himself into a fetal position. The building was falling. I killed a god.

  Ka-poel. Was she still alive? He staggered to his feet, casting aside his rifle. Ka-poel was nowhere to be seen. Julene was gone too. The building creaked and swayed beneath him. Another quake? Outside, in the middle of Pike Lake, a great geyser sprayed into the air. Taniel could feel the heat from it. He forced himself inside.

  Ka-poel lay near the arched doorway to the throne room. Blood leaked from her mouth and nose and from the corner of one eye. She stared up at Taniel, still gripping one of her dolls. It was Julene, clear as day, and the doll wore a mask of absolute rage.

  Taniel fell to his knees beside Ka-poel.

  “I can’t take you anywhere safe,” he said. “There’s nowhere safe left. I killed a god.”

  Ka-poel blinked. Taniel choked on his own sob.

  “Pole?”

  She smiled, reached up, and grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him close to her, stronger than Taniel could have imagined.

  That’s when he felt the building fall out from under them.

  EPILOGUE

  Bloody pit, Olem thought as they brought in the bodies and laid them before Tamas.

  Rain beat down and wind whipped at the canvas tent over their heads. The sounds in the air—screams like banshees that came from no mortal throat—and the smell of sulfur that clogged his senses and made him want to spit every few minutes.

  He could see South Pike from time to time through the swaying trees. The whole mountain, no, the whole southeastern sky, glowed like the hillside behind a fire. It made him nervous being this close, no matter what the field marshal said. The mountain had changed. Its familiar rimmed top had collapsed on the southern side, spilling out its fiery guts onto the Kez plains.

  Olem hoped it swallowed the whole damned Kez army.

  Plumes of ash and smoke as big as Adro floated in the air above them, reflecting the harsh flow of the mountain. The ash rained down, requiring every man to wear cloth over his face. A plume of fire spurted from the southern rim and disappeared, heading toward Kez. Olem shuddered. That one plume was probably big enough to cover a city.

  Shouldercrown was gone, swept away when the mountain’s side gave way. The last of the evacuees had just come into Tamas’s camp. It seems that they’d gotten all of the Mountainwatchers out in time. They’d brought with them the survivors of the mountaintop battle along with rumors that could shake a man’s soul.

  “Are they dead?” Olem asked. He touched a new cigarette to the brazier and brought it to his lips, pulling in the sweet smoke. Dr. Petrik shot Olem a dirty look. Olem grimaced. He should watch himself. This was the field marshal’s son he was talking about.

  There were three bodies, all bundled head to toe to protect them from the falling ash. One of them was alive for certain. He was a medium-sized man, emaciated and frail-looking. He was carried in on a stretcher, and his hands and feet were very clearly bound. His arms stuck out from his body, propped up by a forked stick so that his bare hands could be seen at all times. Privileged Borbador, Olem guessed. The last of the king’s royal cabal. Bo’s eyes searched the room. His mouth was not gagged, yet he did not speak.

  The two other bodies belonged to a young man and woman. Soldiers unwrapped the coverings so that Dr. Petrik could examine them. The woman—no, girl, from her size—was a savage with freckled skin and hair that might have been fire red had it not been singed to hardly anything. Olem couldn’t tell if she was breathing. The boy was Taniel. Olem recognized him well enough. All of Tamas’s soldiers did.

  Olem sidled up beside the Privileged’s stretcher and pulled up a stool.

  “Bad up there?” Olem said. He grimaced at the pain from his chest. The wound from Charlemund had been straight and clean, making it possible for Mihali to heal it with sorcery Olem couldn’t comprehend. Healed it might be, but it still hurt between his ribs.

  Bo gave him a glance.

  “Cigarette?” Olem wrapped a new cigarette and put it between Bo’s lips. He lit it with a match. Bo breathed in the smoke and coughed. Olem caught the cigarette, put it back in Bo’s mouth. Bo gave a slight nod.

  “I hear we got all of our boys out,” Olem said. “Before the mountain fell. That’s lucky.”

  Bo said nothing.

  “Rumors of a great sorceress up there, duking it out with you and Taniel. She survive?”

  “Don’t know.” It was barely a whisper, muttered from between Bo’s clenched lips so the cigarette wouldn’t fall.

  “That’s a pity,” Olem said. “If she did, let’s hope she’s on the Kez side of the mountain.”

  Bo didn’t respond.

  A man came into the tent then. He might as well have been a bear, for his size and the furs on his shoulders. He wore the emblem of the Watchmaster on his vest. Olem didn’t recognize him.

  Tamas left his son’s side for a moment. “Jakola,” Tamas said in greeting to the Watchmaster.

  “How’s the boy?” Jakola asked.

  “Alive. Barely.”

  “A miracle,” Jakola said. “You thank that girl, and give her as much attention as you show Taniel. If he survives, he’ll owe her his life. Pit, from what the men are telling me, we all might owe her our lives.”

  Tamas looked over to the savage girl. “She clings on even weaker than Taniel. I don’t know what we can do for her.”

  “Well, do it,” Jakola said. “You’ve got more surgeons than just this old hoot.” He crossed the room to Tamas’s cot and sat down, producing a flask from his vest pocket.

  Olem frowned. Should he rebuke the man? He looked three times O
lem’s size. Sabon was the only one Olem had seen speak to the field marshal like that and get away with it.

  “Jakola,” Olem said. “That name sounds familiar.”

  Bo gave a slight shake of the head. “I know him as Gavril.”

  Olem took the cigarette from Bo’s lips and tapped the ashes off. He put it back in Bo’s mouth. “Jakola,” Olem said. “Jakola, Jakola. Hmm. Wait. Jakola of Pensbrook!” He felt his eyes widen. “That’s him?”

  “Don’t ask me,” Bo said.

  Olem settled back on his stool and smoked his cigarette, trying to remember the rumors passed down through the troops. They said Jakola was one of Tamas’s closest friends. Some said it was his dead wife’s brother. Olem wondered if there was truth to that. Jakola hadn’t been heard from for longer than Olem had been in the army.

  Tamas limped over and squatted next to Bo’s cot. He had refused to let Mihali heal him until he had Taniel to safety. His leg was bad, getting worse, but his stubbornness remained.

  “I have some questions for you,” Tamas said.

  Olem removed the cigarette from Bo’s mouth so he could answer.

  “What happened up there?” Tamas said.

  Bo stared glumly at the field marshal. He did not look like he’d speak any time soon.

  “I’m not going to execute you,” Tamas said. “Not yet, anyway. This stuff”—he gestured to the ropes—“is a precaution. I suspect the gaes still holds you?”

  Bo nodded.

  “Then you and Taniel were not able to find a way to destroy it?”

  “We’ve spent the last few months trying to throw back the Kez,” Bo said. His voice was rough. “We haven’t had time.”

  “When will the gaes kill you?” Tamas said.

  “I don’t know.”

  Tamas considered this. “For now, you remain as thus. We’ll try to make you comfortable. I know your compulsion to kill me is not your fault.”

  Bo didn’t look relieved.

  “What happened up there?” Tamas asked again. “Did Taniel really shoot Kresimir?”

  “Yes,” Bo said.

  “Did you see it happen?”

  “I felt it happen,” Bo said. “Every Privileged in the Nine felt it happen. It tore through my soul. Did you feel it?”

  Tamas shook his head. “Olem, did you feel anything?”

  “No, sir,” Olem said. He puffed on Bo’s cigarette to keep it lit. “Though I might have. Been having indigestion since eating road rations. I miss Mihali’s cooking.”

  “You’d have felt it,” Bo said.

  Tamas leaned back, wincing in pain. “So Kresimir is dead,” he said. He held on to the edge of the stretcher to stay steady.

  Olem frowned. “Where’s your crutch, sir?”

  Bo began to chuckle. It was a low sound, quiet and unnerving. It slowly grew louder.

  “What’s so funny?” Olem asked.

  Bo shook his head. “Nothing’s funny,” he said. “You don’t understand, Tamas. You can’t kill a god.”

  Tamas sat beside the body of his son. Taniel clung to life. The doctors said he was in a coma. No telling when, or if, he’d ever come out.

  Tamas should have insisted that Mihali come. He swallowed a lump in his throat and hoped Taniel would survive the trip back to Adopest. Surely a god could heal him. Once that was taken care of, he’d let Mihali tend to his leg.

  “You’ve done well,” Tamas said, laying a hand on Taniel’s forehead. It was hot to the touch. “Now, don’t die on me. I can’t lose you. I lost your mother. I will not lose you as well.”

  The tent flap was pushed back. A large shadow was cast by the fiery mountain outside.

  “Your boy is a pit of a fighter.”

  Tamas regarded his brother-in-law as the big man swept in and took the only other seat in the room. “Do I call you Jakola or Gavril these days?” Tamas asked. He passed a hand over his face, hoping the man did not see the tears he wiped away.

  “Gavril will do,” the Watchmaster said.

  Gavril. The name he’d taken to hide from Ipille’s hunters after his and Tamas’s attempt to assassinate the Kez king. That had been a long time ago. A lifetime ago, it seemed. And Gavril had been a drunk since. He seemed sober enough now.

  “When we left South Pike, we could see the Kez army heading west,” Gavril said. “Toward the Gates of Wasal.”

  “They mean to attack,” Tamas said. “In force. No respite.”

  “They have a god on their side now, if what Bo says is true and Kresimir is alive.”

  “So do we.”

  “What?”

  “Adom. Kresimir’s brother,” Tamas said. “Adom is not a violent god. He is not Kresimir. The odds are in favor of the Kez when it comes to war.”

  Gavril kicked his legs out, leaned back, and then hurriedly adjusted himself when the chair beneath him began to creak. “A god,” he breathed. “Two gods! And ancient sorcerers. This is not the world we know, Tamas.”

  “I can think of nothing beyond this.” Tamas gestured to his son.

  Gavril gave him a moment of silence before speaking. “I spent fifteen years grieving my sister’s death,” he said. “If the worst happens, do not make my mistake. I beg of you. And do not grieve him before he has passed.”

  Tamas nodded. What else could he say?

  “I heard about Sabon,” Gavril said. “I’m sorry.”

  “There were traitors among my men,” Tamas said.

  Gavril scowled.

  “The investigator I trusted to root out the traitor in my council.” Tamas took a deep breath. “He succeeded, but turned out to be a traitor himself, his family held hostage. It got Sabon killed.”

  “What will you do with him?”

  “Make him answer for his crimes.”

  “Don’t let hate consume you,” Gavril warned.

  “Not hate,” Tamas said. “Justice.”

  Gavril said, “Justice would have seen Kresimir burn all of Adro.”

  Tamas pulled himself up and crossed to his traveling case, every step a world of pain. He opened the top and drew out one of the matching Hrusch pistols Taniel had brought him.

  “My son lies at death’s door,” Tamas said. He returned to his seat, laying the pistol across his lap. “My wife is long dead, and many of my friends have joined her.” He checked the barrel and drew back the hammer, then aimed the weapon at the tent wall. “I have nothing left to inspire compassion in me. I will meet Ipille’s forces at the Gates of Wasal. I will shove them back. I will route them into Kez and burn my way to Ipille’s door.” Tamas pulled the trigger, heard the hammer click. “I will confront Kresimir and I will teach him about justice.”

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  There are so many people without whom this book would not exist.

  I will start by thanking my amazing agent, Caitlin Blasdell, for seeing potential and then dragging me kicking and screaming through nitty-gritty edits before she’d even consider letting an editor see the book. Then my editor, Devi Pillai. Her infectious enthusiasm kept me going even when I wanted to cry out, “No… please… don’t make me change that character’s name!”

  Thanks to my brilliant wife, Michele, and the hours we’ve spent tossing around ideas. So many of the cool things in this book came from her.

  I began to realize I wanted to write for a living in high school. Special appreciation goes to Marlene Napalo, who humored me and read my earliest stuff despite really expecting to hate it. She was key to kicking off this whole journey. William Prueter taught me to love history, where even the most fantastical imaginings get their roots. In college, countless people kept me going and gave me advice and encouragement. Foremost among these were Zina Petersen and Grant “Boz” Boswell.

  Thanks to Nancy Gould, who acted as my patron in a very transitional time for me, despite having no evidence that I’d ever amount to anything.

  Isaac Stewart, Steve Diamond, and Logan Moritz read multiple iterations of this book and others. I cannot express the dedica
tion to friendship this takes. Their feedback was invaluable. Thanks to Charisa Player, the very first stranger who read something of mine and thought I might have a shot at getting published. Throughout my struggles to write and publish, there have been dozens who have read and given me feedback. Thanks to all of them!

  Thanks to Susan Barnes, Lauren Panepinto, and everyone else behind the scenes at Orbit. It still flabbergasts me that others can get excited about working on something that came from the depths of my imagination.

  My utmost admiration and appreciation goes to Brandon Sanderson, for teaching me more about writing than anyone else and showing me how to navigate an entire industry.

  Of course, these all pale in comparison to the gratitude I have for my mother, who made me take interest in things I seldom wanted, and never doubted I’d be bona fide someday; and for my father, for paying for all the things Mom made me do.

  Finally, thanks to all of my family for the encouragement they gave me to chase my dreams.

  The Crimson Campaign

  For Michele,

  My one and only

  My friend, my collaborator, and my love

  CHAPTER

  1

  Adamat stood perfectly still in the middle of a deep hedgerow outside of his own summer house and stared through the windows at the men in the dining room. The house was a two-story, three-bedroom affair sitting by itself in the woods at the end of a dirt path. It was a twenty-minute walk into town from here. Unlikely anyone would hear gunshots.

  Or screams.

  Four of Lord Vetas’s men milled about in the dining room, drinking and playing cards. Two of them were large and well-muscled as draft horses. A third was of middling height, with a heavy gut hanging out of his shirt and a thick black beard.