by Ari Marmell
“But the Council is not particularly well disposed toward me at the moment,” Death finished for him. “I’m aware. And even if that weren’t the case, I would never put something of this magnitude before them without proof.”
“Well, then.” Panoptos began to drift backward on outstretched wings. “It seems we have nothing more to say to each other.”
“It seems not.” Then, after a brief pause, “Panoptos?”
“What?”
“Creation is quite impressionable. Everyone leaves a trail of their actions. And everyone, however wise, however powerful, however immortal, makes mistakes.
“All it requires is the patience to wait for them. And you’ll find no one, in all Creation, quite so patient as Death.”
For the first time, uncertainty shone through the creature’s green glow as the Horseman turned on his heel and continued on his way.
To the two Cs—Colin and Cargill—without whose
friendship and support
I could never have gotten this far
DEL REY BOOKS BY ARI MARMELL
The Conqueror’s Shadow
The Warlord’s Legacy
Darksiders: The Abomination Vault
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ARI MARMELL would love to tell you all about the various esoteric jobs he held and the wacky adventures he had on the way to becoming an author, since that’s what other authors seem to do in these blurbs. Unfortunately, he doesn’t actually have any, as the most exciting thing about his professional life, besides his novel writing, is the work he’s done for Dungeons & Dragons and other role-playing games. His published fiction includes both The Conqueror’s Shadow and The Warlord’s Legacy, from Del Rey/Spectra, and a variety of novels with other publishers, including The Goblin Corps, Agents of Artifice (a Magic: The Gathering novel), and Thief’s Covenant: A Widdershins Adventure.
Marmell currently lives in an apartment that’s almost as cluttered as his subconscious, which he shares (the apartment, not the subconscious, though sometimes it seems like it) with his wife, George, and two cats who really need some form of volume control installed. You can find Marmell online at http://www.mouseferatu.com and http://twitter.com/mouseferatu.