by Will Wight
Kerian shrugged. “Probably. But the Emperor defeated them once. We’ll have to trust him to do it again.”
If he was still around…but he didn’t think he would be.
“From the very stones I will strip all memory of your existence,” he’d promised. And he could Read the truth in anything he touched.
But she had to tell someone.
“He wants us to kill him,” Shera whispered. “He thinks he’s being corrupted by the Dead Mother.”
Kerian stopped while reaching for the doorknob; the only sign of motion her braids swinging against each other. “Our client is Emperor,” she said at last.
That night, Shera’s sleep was plagued by nightmares.
~~~
Present Day
Meia woke with her arms tied behind her back, lashed to the mast of a ship. Waves splashed all around her, sending fresh ocean water crashing across the deck.
She recognized this dark green wood, the sail above her that looked as though it was made from stretched Elder skin. Calder Marten’s ship. The Testament.
An old man bent over to look at her, his beard sweeping the deck. Two pairs of glasses hung from his neck, and he placed one of them on his nose. When her eyes focused on his, he grinned.
“Morning, Princess,” he said. “We’re real—”
He didn’t get another word before she butted him in the lip with her forehead, then ground her teeth against the pain and shifted her hands. They felt as though she’d crushed them in a vice, and they made an unhealthy crackling noise, but they slipped straight through the ropes.
A second later, when her hands had returned to normal, she pulled a stretch of rope apart with her bare hands.
Another man, a Heartlander in a white suit and hat, raised a pistol. She bunched the muscles in her legs, leaping up to the stern deck. She landed inches in front of him, holding his pistol in a firm grip and keeping it firmly pointed away from herself.
He seemed to remember her, his eyes widening. “It’s you. I thought you looked familiar, but I didn’t think Calder could capture you.”
Meia had to rack her brain for a moment before she recognized him.
That’s right. The dead island.
Back on Nakothi’s island, she had run into some trouble locating Shera. Shortly before her fight with Urzaia, she’d rescued a few Watchmen from the Children of Nakothi.
At least, she’d assumed they were Watchmen.
She released his pistol. He’d seen her dodge gunmen and kill a giant Elderspawn with her bare hands. He wouldn’t pick a fight.
As soon as his pistol was free, he shoved it into the holster at his side. She looked around the deck, surveying the horizon. No land in sight.
“How long was I unconscious, sir?” she asked.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “A day or so, I’d say.”
“Hm.” There was a ship anchored next to them, only a few yards away. Its wood was an unnatural burnt red, and flames licked up where its hull met the water. It must be an alchemist’s trick, but the effect was quite impressive: it made the boat look as though it floated on waves of fire.
The old man was furtively signaling the crewmen on the other deck, trying to get them to send over a boat for him. As though he could keep it a secret with her standing right here.
“I’ll be heading back to the Gray Island,” Meia said at last.
The man in white hesitated a moment before speaking. “The Captain intends to head for the Capital, ma’am.”
She met his eyes. “I’ll be heading back to the Gray Island on this ship. Either with a crew, or without one.”
He sighed. “I’d thought it would be something like that. The Captain left a ransom note for you, you know.”
She closed her eyes, hoping that she could will away these last few days as a bad dream. “What did it say?”
~~~
The Waverider scout handed Shera a small scroll, tied with a green ribbon. She unfurled the message.
Shera, it began.
You took my wife from me, so I’m taking someone from you. Your yellow-haired Consultant friend, the one who defended you so enthusiastically on Nakothi’s island.
Don’t follow me, or she dies. Don’t attack, or she dies. Certainly don’t try and contact the Navigators. They can’t do anything for her.
If you want her back, you must
Shera didn’t read the rest. She crumpled the paper and tossed it over her shoulder.
The scout looked at her nervously. “Well? Are we going to negotiate?”
Shera still hadn’t caught up on her rest; she yawned. “Send a team out to pick her up and dispose of the bodies. On second thought, wait a few days. Let’s give her a chance to try and sail back on her own.”
If Meia had been careless enough to get herself captured in the first place, she deserved a day or two of consequences. If Shera thought that Meia would end up with her throat slit and her body in the ocean, then a team of Gardeners would be headed out to sea right now. They would depopulate The Testament and send it down to Kelarac.
But Calder wouldn’t do that, and he certainly wouldn’t send a ransom note afterwards, which meant that Meia had been captured alive. There was nothing more embarrassing. Even if Shera had wanted to send someone, Meia’s pride wouldn’t allow her to accept help.
She would have to rescue herself.
THE END
Of the Elder Empire, First Shadow
Of Shadow and Sea
Glossary of Terms
Am’haranai – The ancient order of spies and assassins that would eventually become the Consultant’s Guild. Some formal documents still refer to the Consultant’s Guild in this way.
Architect – One type of Consultant. The Architects mostly stay in one place, ruling over Guild business and deciding general strategy. They include alchemists, surgeons, Readers, strategists, and specialists of all types.
Awaken – A Reader can Awaken an object by bringing out its latent powers of Intent. An Awakened object is very powerful, but it gains a measure of self-awareness. Also, it can never be invested again.
Jarelys Teach, the Head of the Imperial Guard, carries an ancient executioner’s blade that has been Awakened. It now bears the power of all the lives it took, and is lethal even at a distance.
All Soulbound Vessels are Awakened.
Children of the Dead Mother – Elderspawn created by the power of Nakothi out of human corpses.
Consultant – A member of the Consultants Guild, also known as the Am’haranai. Mercenary spies and covert agents that specialize in gathering and manipulating information for their clients.
Consultants come in five basic varieties: Architects, Gardeners, Masons, Miners, and Shepherds.
For more, see the Guild Guide.
Dead Mother, The – See: Nakothi.
Elder – Any member of the various races that ruled the world in ancient days, keeping humanity as slaves. The most powerful among them are known as Great Elders, and their lesser are often called Elderspawn.
Gardener – One type of Consultant. The Gardeners kill people for hire.
Intent – The power of focused will that all humans possess. Whenever use an object intentionally, for a specific purpose, you are investing your Intent into that object. The power of your Intent builds up in that object over time, making it better at a given task.
Every human being uses their Intent, but most people do so blindly; only Readers can sense what they’re doing.
See also: “Invest,” “Reader.”
Invest – Besides its usual financial implications, to “invest” means to imbue an object with one’s Intent. By intentionally using an object, you invest that object with a measure of your Intent, which makes it better at performing that specific task.
So a pair of scissors used by a barber every day for years become progressively better and better at cutting hair. After a few years, the scissors will cut cleanly through even the thickest strands of tangled ha
ir, slicing through with practically no effort. A razor used by a serial killer will become more and more lethal with time. A razor used by a serial-killing barber will be very confused.
Kameira – A collective term for any natural creature with unexplainable powers. Cloudseeker Hydras can move objects without touching them, Windwatchers can change and detect air currents, and Deepstriders control water. There are many different types of Kameira…though, seemingly, not as many as in the past. The Guild of Greenwardens is dedicated to studying and restoring Kameira populations.
Humans can borrow the miraculous powers of Kameira by creating Vessels from their body parts, and then bonding with those Vessels to become Soulbound.
Mason – One type of Consultant. Masons are craftsmen and professionals in a particular trade, covertly sending back information to their Guild. There are Masons undercover in every industry and business throughout the Empire.
Miner – One type of Consultant. This secretive order is in charge of the Consultants’ vast library, sorting and disseminating information to serve the Guild’s various clients.
Nakothi, the Dead Mother – A Great Elder who died in the Aion Sea. Her power kills humans and remakes their bodies into hideous servants.
Navigator – A member of the Navigator’s Guild. The Navigators are the only ones capable of sailing the deadly Aion Sea, delivering goods and passengers from one continent to the other.
For more, see the Guild Guide.
Reader – A person who can read and manipulate the Intent of objects. Every human being invests their Intent subconsciously, simply by using ordinary objects. However, Readers can do so with a greater degree of focus and clarity, thanks to their special senses.
Readers often receive visions of an object’s past.
Shepherd – One type of Consultant. The Shepherds are observers, thieves, and saboteurs that specialize in infiltrating a location and leaving unnoticed.
Soulbound – A human who can channel the power of an Elder or a Kameira. These powers are contained in a Vessel, which is bound to a person during the Awakening process. Soulbound are rare and powerful because they combine the focus of human Intent with the miraculous power of inhuman beings.
Bliss, the Guild Head of the Blackwatch, is a Soulbound with the Spear of Tharlos as her Vessel. Therefore, she can borrow the reality-warping powers of the Great Elder known as Tharlos, the Formless Legion.
A person becomes a Soulbound by having a personally significant object Awakened. If the object has a strong connection to an Elder or Kameira, and if it is significant enough, then it can become a Soulbound Vessel.
See also: Vessel.
Vessel – An Awakened object that becomes the source of a Soulbound’s power. Not all Awakened items become Soulbound Vessels, but all Vessels are Awakened.
In order to become a person’s Vessel, an item must fulfill two criteria: it must be personally linked to the individual, and it must be invested with the power of a Kameira or an Elder.
1.) Personal link: A ring that you bought at a pawnshop three weeks ago could not become your Soulbound Vessel. It has not absorbed enough of your Intent, it is not significant to you, and it is not bound to you in any way. A wedding ring that you’ve worn for fifteen years and is significant to you for some reason—perhaps you pried it off your spouse’s bloody corpse—could indeed become your Vessel, assuming it fulfills the second criteria as well.
2.) Power: A spear made of an Elder’s bone could allow one to use that Elder’s power of illusion and madness. If you bonded with a necklace of Deepstrider scales, you might be able to sense and control the ocean’s currents as that Kameira does.
See also: Soulbound.
Watchman – A member of the Blackwatch Guild.
For more, see the Guild Guide.
Guild Guide
A brief guide to the Ten Imperial Guilds of the Aurelian Empire, written by a licensed Witness for your edification and betterment!
The Am’haranai: Also known as Consultants, the members of this mysterious brotherhood work behind the scenes for the good of the Empire…or for anyone with enough gold to pay them. Consultants are more than willing to provide strategic advice, tactical support, and information to the Empire’s rich and elite, so long as it doesn't destabilize the government they've worked so hard to build.
Believe it or not, the Am'haranai were the first Imperial Guild, having existed in one form or another since long before the birth of the Empire. The next time you walk by the local chapter house of the Consultants, know that you're in the presence of true Imperial History.
The Consultants' local Guild Representative would not give us a definitive response to the less savory rumors surrounding this particular Guild. Juicy speculation suggests that—for the right price—the Consultants will provide a number of darker services, including espionage, sabotage, and even assassination. We can neither confirm nor refute such rumors at this time.
Consultants in the field are known to refer to each other by code names, to conceal their true identities.
Shepherds are their expert scouts, trained to watch, remember, and report.
Architects are the leaders of the Am’haranai, and typically do not leave their island fortress. They’re the strategists, alchemists, tacticians, and Readers that make the work of the Consultants possible.
Masons are a truly terrifying order, though once again the Guild Representative put off most of my questions. They go undercover as everyday folk like you or me, living ordinary lives for months or years, and then providing information to their Architect leaders. Your best friend, your neighbor, that street alchemist across from your house…any of them could be a Mason secretly watching you!
Other, less credible reports suggest the existence of a fourth brand of Consultant: the Gardeners. The job of a Gardener is to “remove weeds.” They are the black operatives, the pure assassins, the knives in the dark.
The Guild Representative had this to say on the matter: “There is not now, and never has been, an order of the Am’haranai known as the Gardeners. That’s simple speculation based on our Guild crest, which is actually derived from our origin as humble farmers. Having said that, if you do have someone interfering with your business, it is possible that we could help you bring the situation to a satisfactory conclusion…for an appropriate level of compensation, of course.”
Since the Emperor’s death (may his soul fly free), I have no doubt that business has been very good indeed for this particular Guild.
Guild Head: The Council of Architects. No one knows much about the leadership of the Consultants, but it seems that the Architects collectively vote on Guild policy, coming to decisions through careful deliberation and long experience.
Crest: Gardening Shears
The Blackwatch:
Thanks to generations of legends and misinformation perpetuated by the Luminians, many of you have certain preconceived notions about the Blackwatch. They’re hated by many, feared by all, and I urge you not to heed the rumors. Every Watchman I’ve ever met has been professional, focused, and inquisitive--very few of them actually worship the Elders.
Let me put a few of your unfounded fears to rest: no, they do not eat human flesh for power. No, they do not conduct dark rituals involving blood sacrifice. No, they do not kidnap babies from their cradles.
Yes, they do use certain powers and techniques of the Elders. That’s no reason to treat them like cultists.
The Blackwatch was originally founded by the Emperor for two purposes: watching over the graves of the Great Elders, and studying the Elder Races to twist their great powers for the good of the Empire. It is thanks to the Blackwatch that Urg’Naut or the Dead Mother have not risen and devoured our living world.
Members of this Guild are known as Watchmen. They respond to calls for help and reports of Elder activity. Each Watchman carries seven long, black nails invested with the power to bind Lesser Elders for vivisection and study.
The goals of t
he Blackwatch often bring them into conflict with Knights and Pilgrims of the Luminian Order, who hunt down Lesser Elders with the goal of destroying them completely.
If the two would only work together, it’s possible that Aurelian lands would never be troubled by Elder attacks again.
Guild Head: The current head of the Blackwatch is a young-seeming woman known only as Bliss. Her origins are shrouded in mystery, though tenuous evidence suggests that she was born in a Kanatalia research facility.
Like every Blackwatch Head before her, she carries the Spear of Tharlos, a weapon supposedly carved from the bone of a Great Elder. I have never interviewed anyone who witnessed the Spear in battle and survived with their sanity intact.
Crest: the Elder’s Eyes (six eyes on a mass of tentacles)
The Champions:
I doubt there is a single child in any corner of the Aurelian Empire who does not know some story of the Champion’s Guild, but I will still labor to separate fact from romantic fiction.