Mhiskva looked back once.
Aelwyrd had rushed to Quaestor Eishtren's side but D’hem’nh’siahshm, sporting a new wound in his thigh, had pulled the king just a few paces away from the arch. Though his right arm and abbreviated left hung limp, Mar's eyes were open and staring straight at Mhiskva.
For the barest of instants, Mhiskva saw himself race back across the bridge, catching up Eishtren, Aelwyrd, D’hem’nh’siahshm, and the king, and fleeing into the hills, but that was not how this should end.
Mhiskva turned back, raised his great axe high, and charged.
FIFTY-SEVEN
When the concentrated fire from the steel beetles finally killed Mhiskva, Mar knew that there was no hope.
Somehow, he had always thought in the depths of his being that the giants could not be killed.
Now they, along with Ulor, Truhsg, and all the rest, were gone.
Dhem, bleeding from a leg wound that he had somehow acquired, tried to drag him on, but Mar used the magic of his brigandine to hold himself in place.
"Let me be, legionnaire," he commanded harshly. Staggering, Dhem did so in shocked silence, and then sat heavily.
Mar knew that the Phaelle'n had to be stopped here and now or they would rampage unchecked to Mhajhkaei and beyond. The world would be theirs.
He cast a spell to carry his voice clearly across the twenty paces that separated him from Quaestor Eishtren and told him what to do.
FIFTY-EIGHT
143rd Year of the Reign of the City
Tenthday, Waning, 3rd Springmoon, 1645 After the Founding of the Empire
Bridge over the Sand River
Awarded a respite by the wondrous and horrible charge of the Gaaelfharenii, Eishtren found that he could not fire fast enough after the three giants perished.
He walked to the right, set his feet to get a better stance, and put two shots through the slit at the front of the lead vehicle, aiming for the men that he could perceive but not actually see there. Straightaway, the war machine slewed to the right, crashed into the guard wall, and lodged in place. Projectiles continued to burst from the near side, but the angle was wrong and none came near Eishtren.
The steel beetles continued to charge onto the bridge.
Shrikes screamed in, ripping the roadbed and the wrecks with black cylinders, and he had to shift his aim from the following vehicle to this new danger. Fire flashed at the front of the steel beetle and he heard an odd sound as he twisted to the left to loose at a Shrike blazing toward the archway from the northwest. The skyship blew apart and the pieces whirled overhead a few armlengths above the top of the archway, shedding smoke and sparks as they crashed into the riverbank a hundred paces to his right.
"Aelwyrd, retreat to the other side," he ordered, turning to draw once more upon the second beetle.
When the boy did not respond, Eishtren turned further and found Aelwyrd's lifeless body sprawled a body length behind him.
Having to steady a shiver in his hands, Eishtren gritted his teeth and turned to face the assault once more.
Another war machine charged, shifting rapidly from one side of the bridge to the other to throw off his aim. Even after he had put seven holes in its rounded forward end, the machine did not stop, veering right only at the last moment to crash into the south pillar of the archway.
More of the armored beasts rushed toward him.
Then, he heard the king's voice. "Quaestor Eishtren, you must destroy the bridge now! Break your bow."
With many regrets, Eishtren lifted his grandfather's magnificent legacy and brought it down with all the force that he could muster against his raised knee.
FIFTY-NINE
143rd Year of the Reign of the City
Tenthday, Waning, 3rd Springmoon, 1645 After the Founding of the Empire
Three leagues from the Sand River
For the most part, the army had kept up a speed better than half a league an hour, though finding fords to cross the occasional stream tended to bring progress to a halt. The weald of the Steo Hills was a mixed forest of deciduous and evergreen, with a large number of enormous white oaks, hickory, and elm interspersed with copses of tall, long-leafed pine and impenetrable cane breaks. Predictably, the legionnaires had tended to follow the path of least resistance and thus migrated into the trails hacked by those in front of them, so that the individual corps had concentrated into long, snaking lines rather than the wide distribution that Ghorn had planned.
These open trails did allow the mule trains to make a better speed, but it also meant that all who followed the foremost legions had to slog through churned ground and occasionally mud.
Ghorn had avoided the trails, leading Lord Buhrstaen, the junior officers of his impromptu staff, and the section of legionnaires through virgin forest a hundred armlengths north of the wide track of the IV Corps.
As the headquarters group passed through one of the rare clearings, trampling thistle and sawgrass, basal thumps reverberated from over the horizon.
Lord Buhrstaen looked up through the trees. "A storm must be coming."
"No, that is not thunder," Ghorn countered. "It is magic."
"How do you know?"
Ghorn stopped and pointed up at the sky. Only a few puffy clouds shaped like balls of cotton speckled a milky blue sky. "No thunderheads. There is a battle not far ahead. Dispatch the runners to your legions with orders to prepare to form ranks."
Before Ghorn could order the mounted scouts to carry the same orders to the other two corps, a brilliant light blared through the trees and everything began to burn.
SIXTY
Telriy's travail had come early.
The contraction made her entire body shiver with pain.
"Now, girl, push!" Aunt Whelsi coaxed.
Telriy clamped her teeth together, breathed out, squeezed Yhejia's hand, and pushed.
Then she felt a great jar flash through the ether and a second later the entire building wobbled for a moment.
"Earth tremor!" Yhejia gasped, throwing her head back and forth. "We've never had one of those here!"
"It's a girl," Aunt Whelsi exulted, registering neither Yhejia's outburst nor the shaking.
Telriy breathed and relaxed while the two other women tied off and severed the cord, cleaned of the baby, and dealt with the afterbirth.
When they laid her daughter on her breast, she began to sob, but not for joy or relief.
When the tremor had passed, the ethereal thread that connected her to Mar had vanished.
He was no longer in the world.
Then the earth made a frightening leap of great violence and the building began to collapse around them.
SIXTY-ONE
A contentious thought caused Mar to hum The Knife Fighter's Dirge as Eishtren, with savage hatred flaring across his face, brought his splendid bow down across his knee.
Even so, the expanding globe of highly energetic flux almost overcame Mar, appearing to halt just a few armlengths away. Eishtren and everything within the globe had instantly ceased to exist. So powerful was the outpouring of raw magic that when he attempted to delve it, he was struck nearly senseless with a torrent of agonizing pain.
What terrible catastrophe had he wrought?
He had believed that he had done what must be done, but now burning regret consumed him. The bridge, the Shrikes, and the steel beetles would be incinerated and the attack stopped, but it was now frightfully clear that so would everyone else nearby. He had no way of determining the scope of the blast but so vast a quantity of flux would not soon dissipate. The destruction would surely be of gigantic proportions.
Lord Ghorn and the First Army appeared likely to be also annihilated.
He had incidentally condemned himself to death, but his primary concern over this consequence was that he would no longer be alive to thwart the designs of the Brotherhood.
Mhajhkaei and its people would be safe for now, but how long would it be before the monks rebuilt their war machines and sent out a
nother conquering army?
He glanced another time at the globe and realized that it was noticeably closer. Watching it for a subjective moment, he saw that even in the stolen time of his spell, the blazing white surface of the blast advanced at a rate of better than a half-fingerlength per score of seconds. In normal time, it must be moving at a speed faster than the lightning.
The glacial pace of time notwithstanding, it would reach him very soon.
He was sure that he could not stop it, but could he stop the blast before it had begun?
Whinseschlos had left him with the impression that events were easily overturned. With the knowledge that he now had, could he salvage the situation with wizardry?
The strange place in between that he had entered before must be the boundary fringe that Whinseschlos had spoken of. He would have to plunge in this time, find the depths where he could freely steal through time.
He might die there, but he was certain to die here, and if he lived, he might be able to turn disaster into victory.
With considerable ease, he opened a path to the high-pitched teal with a blade of purest Black and looked into the maw of undertime.
The way stood open.
Mar dove in.
SIXTY-TWO
The sorcerer screamed a blistering curse and threw the skrying tablet across the room in a fit of hideous rage. "Idiot! What have you done?"
"I have saved Mar from us," Waleck replied.
The Key to Magic continues in Book VI: Wizard (2013)
ADDENDUM
The Forty-Nine (give or take) Gods
(One scholarly accounting numbers the Forty-Nine at three hundred and eight distinct deities. This sum is, naturally, subject to strident dispute.)
Aenhishk'lhe, Stepchild of the Leafy Goddess
Awandrehachor, God of Poems and Sonnets
Alosth, Sublime Half-Quarter-Goddess of the Rapine of Civilization
B'g'n, God of Games
Bhalrgam, Mystical Lord of the Fleet of Foot
Bhenthiabuka, God of Condiments
Bhist-gem-naet, fertility goddess
Bhurghrah, God of Waste, Sewage, and Refuse
Bhizg'g, God of the Malformed and patron of all beggars.
Bligyld, Goddess of Eternal Hatred.
Borloi'gh'nyh, Archfriend of Arsonists and Clumsy Fools
Chaoel, Ascending Goddess of the Marvelous Loom
Cyhalis’ts’psqo, God of Boats, ships, rafts, and buckets of all sorts
Ephtehg’rha, Lord of Shipwrecks
Fflygao, the Under Oligarch of Foliage
Fhos'tg, Superior Exalted Half-Goddess of Unexpected Events
Gheshuai -- Chief Suzerain of Unhappy Marriages, Cuckolds, and Oppressed Husbands
Gwolth, Invisible Ultimate Priestess of the Arcane Rites of Sand
Gz’l, God of Heretics
J'yorstagnoephiactle, Patron of Rat Catchers.
Khas'thga, Patron of the Arrow
Knorthrha the Night God
Luftorh, God of the Oceans
Mhokh, God of Death
Mehl-shzu, God of Nautical Trades
Miyra, Goddess of Love
Myrae'n the Snake Goddess
Nhal-bhy-chu, Goddess Mother of Chance Events
Nhish, Goddess of Grain
Nlarlt, Patron of the Sword
N'm, God of Seafood
Oahkthegk, God-Regent of mountains and deserts (and all ancillary terrain, inhabitants, and conditions)
Oos'ghlsiana, Mistress of Forests, Seedlings, and Shade.
Pernaphrhan, Overseer of Trickery
Pju, Patron of the Spear
Plegh, The Unknowing God
Ply'nhor'chou'rhast'kif'slptitu, Lord of the Obscure
Ptem-ko-ah, God of the Outerworld
Pwrll, Benevolent Guardian of Household Pets. The Seventy-Eight Handmaidens of Pwrll are often depicted as animalistic spirits in the forms of cats and dogs.
Phrusht, Guardian of the Drowned
Rwalkahn, Demigod of Righteous Vengeance
Rwalkahn, in his rival persona as 32nd Avatar of Pernaphrhan
S'lskaigho, Protector of Forgotten Things
Shurzha, God of Purity
Sloe'mhyl, Seneschal of Hospitality
Soohlmed, God of Idiocy
Thiallia, Goddess of Compassion
Trhoozh, Master of Luck
W’aerliq, God of Forests, Meadows, and Trees in general. In some cultures, also the God of the Hunt.
z'm, Demigoddess of Jocularity
Zzgssii, the Leafy Goddess, whose various incarnations are distinguished by the placement of key leaves in her bodice
Zsnigh-mhi, Demigod of Tile roofs, Sheds, and Cisterns
Military Ranks of the Reconstituted Empire
(Adapted from Mhajhkaeirii'n practice)
Prince-Commander –Supreme commander of all Mhajhkaeirii forces.
High-Captain – Marine rank. Commands a brigade (five troops).
Knight-Commander – Legion rank. Commands a corps (five legions plus support units.)
Captain – Marine rank. Commands a full Troop (400 men)
Coirneal (Imperial Addition) -- Legion and marine rank.
Maidsear (Imperial Addition) -- Legion and marine rank.
Commander – Legion rank. Commands a full Legion (1000 men)
Vice-Captain – Marine rank. Commands a half-troop (200 men)
Subaltern – Marine rank. Commands a quarter-troop (100 men)
Vice-Commander –Legion Rank. Commands five sections (500 men).
Legate – Legion rank. Commands a Section (100 men).
Quaestor -- Legion Quartermaster rank equivalent to Subaltern/Legate.
Fugleman – Commands a file (6 quads, 25 men including the Fugleman)
Ceannaire -- Commands a quad
Legionnaire
Superior Armsman -- Militia rank
Trainee
A note regarding the Imperial Calendar:
The Imperial year consists of thirteen lunar months of twenty-eight days each: First through Third Springmoon, First through Third Summermoon, Harvestmoon, First through Third Autumnmoon, and First through Third Wintermoon. Each month is divided into two fortnights, Waxing and Waning and each fortnight is divided into fourteen named days: Firstday through Fourteenthday.
The length of years does not vary; all years are exactly three hundred and sixty-four days.
The accounting of years is entirely arbitrary, varying with location and political and social circumstances, and although the Imperial system is generally accepted, there is no single universal standard.
However, the following are in common use throughout the world:
Thirdday of every fortnight is the holy day of all Gods.
No day in the month of Harvestmoon is a holy day.
Eighthday is the end of the merchant fiscal cycle.
Summer Advent is the first day of First Summermoon and is in many locales celebrated as a special holy day.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Other Works:
Forthcoming:
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
> THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-NINE
FORTY
FORTY-ONE
FORTY-TWO
FORTY-THREE
FORTY-FOUR
FORTY-FIVE
FORTY-SIX
FORTY-SEVEN
FORTY-EIGHT
FORTY-NINE
FIFTY
FIFTY-ONE
FIFTY-TWO
FIFTY-THREE
FIFTY-FOUR
FIFTY-FIVE
FIFTY-SIX
FIFTY-SEVEN
FIFTY-EIGHT
FIFTY-NINE
SIXTY
SIXTY-ONE
SIXTY-TWO
Addendum
Warrior (The Key to Magic) Page 28