Sword of the Gods
Page 29
If I perish, he thought, I’ll forget everything all over again. But whether I remember or forget, one thing is sure: Kalkan is coming back. He will remember everything. And he will hunt me down again.
He recognized that the time had come for him to seize control of his own fate. Kalkan could come back in four years, or for all he knew, four months. Either way, he had to be prepared.
So … he had to stop agonizing over what kind of person he might have been—he needed his full identity and abilities returned, no matter what he once was. He had to retrieve all his lost artifacts, especially the Whorl of Ioun. He had to take charge of his destiny before his destiny took charge of him.
How long would it take for Kalkan to reincarnate? It took Demascus four years last time. Maybe that was long, and Kalkan could pull off the return trick in just a quarter of that time.
One year, then. Fine.
That should give him enough time to be ready.
The world was a mosaic of colors, of sounds, of smells, and tastes. Countless tiny moving windows revealed textures and experience, and the occasional hot, orgasmic sensation of food. Time was meaningless. All was just the infinite, now of teeming existence.
Something changed. Something registered as … interest? A new morsel, bigger than any that had come before, and richer too, squirting hot ichor and life energy every which way. But none escaped the hundred thousand tiny bodies, each with a mouth, proboscis, a stylet, or pair of tearing mandibles.
As each tiny bite was digested across the swarm, a hundred thousand heartlike organs, each pumping according to its own internal rhythm, came into sluggish synchrony.
What’s this? it thought. So good. Tastes like life itself. Like …
Peels of knowledge tightened and closed together into a whole, its own memories as well as those skimmed from the food that had thought of itself as a being called Murmur.
And I am Scour, it thought.
All it had known of its home fossil dimension, of the attempted ritual that was foiled a world away, and the darkness that followed, Scour knew. And as it finished off the flesh, mind, and soul of what had been its sibling, everything that Murmur once knew became Scour’s too.
It was still integrating itself a day later, assessing its power and potential, plus Murmur’s experiences and abilities, when the casks of lamp oil dropped onto it, followed by the throng of flaming torches.
Then Scour knew only pain.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Demascus (da-MASS-kus)
Demascus is the apparent victim of a demon-summoning ritual gone wrong. Though he apparently survived the ritual that left everyone else for dead, his memory of all previous events in his life is absent, save for dramatic flashes. In most of these visions, Demascus owns a pale scarf, a golden ring, and a sword.
Chant Morven (CHANT MORE-ven)
The proprietor of a pawnshop in the city of Airspur. Besides selling the hopes and dreams of Airspur’s desperate and destitute, Chant also heads up a network of informants that keep him apprised of events in and around the city. Chant is a portly human.
Riltana “Rilta” (ril-TAHN-ah)
Riltana is a windsoul genasi who makes a living stealing from Airspur’s elite and wealthy visitors to the city by night, and as a messenger in the Airstepper’s Guild by day. Four years ago, she took a commission from a foul-breathed fellow named Kalkan to steal Demascus’s scarf.
OTHER CHARACTERS
Brenwin (BREN-win)
A follower of Oghma, someone Demascus remembers from a fragment memory.
Carmenere (kar-men-AIR)
An estranged friend of Riltana, and a relative of Queen Arathane. Carmenere is a disciple of the moon and a respected silverstar in the city.
Chevesh (Cheh-VESH)
A slightly insane fire mage. Unflattering rumors paint Chevesh as someone without remorse. One of the more powerful personages in Airspur, he’s no one to cross lightly. Chevesh spends his days in his laboratory, experimenting with magic beyond even his understanding.
Master Raneger (RAN-neh-gur)
The eladrin owner of the Den of Games. Many suspect Raneger is a powerful crime lord in Airspur.
Jaul (JAHL)
The estranged son of Chant Morven. Jaul is aged 18 winters, and to show his independence from his father, has taken up employment with Raneger, the owner of the Den of Games.
Jett Var (JET)
Important genasi in the Firestorm Cabal beneath the deputy commander of the organization. He serves on a task force headed by Lieutenant Leheren that was formed to look into a rash of monster sightings and related deaths around Airspur.
Garel Komar (GAH-rell)
A Firestorm Cabal member who serves with Jett on the task force headed by Lieutenant Leheren, which was formed to look into a rash of monster sightings and related deaths around Airspur.
Kalkan (KAL-kin)
Someone who knows a lot more about Demascus than Demascus himself can remember, and who apparently bears Demascus ill will.
Landrew (LAN-dru)
A follower of Oghma, someone Demascus remembers from a fragment memory.
Lieutenant Leheren (leh-HAIR-en)
An important figure in the Firestorm Cabal who answers directly to the deputy commander of the organization. Lieutenant Leheren was tasked with getting to the bottom of the spate of demon sightings and related deaths around Airspur. Leheren is a stormsoul genasi.
Murmur
A demonic entity from a fossil dimension with the capacity to possess the dreams of its victims, and send nightmares roving in the waking world.
Scour
A demonic entity from a fossil dimension with the capacity to animate swarms with a single purpose.
Tarsis (TAR-sis)
A follower of Oghma, someone Demascus remembers strangling to death with his scarf from a fragment memory.
Queen Arathane (air-WRATH-ah-nee)
Akanûl is ruled by Queen Arathane (in partnership with the Four Stewards). Arathane is considered a just ruler by the genasi she rules. In addition to dealing with important matters of state, the queen finds herself besieged by suitors and potential matchmakers. The queen is approaching her fourth decade of life, and the question of succession causes a great deal of gossip. Yet the iron-willed Arathane doesn’t consider it to be a pressing issue since her mother, Queen Cyndra, and her grandmother both bore a child late in life.
Voice of Tomorrow
Enigmatic divine force that can apparently see the future laid out as easily as the past.
Yuriel (YOUR-ee-al)
A watersoul genasi Firestorm Cabal member pledged to the secret cult serving the Elder Elemental Eye.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to Greg Bilsland, Bart Carroll, Dee Westman Cordell, Torah Cottrill, and Erin M. Evans for their insightful and supportive writing critiques; to Matthew Sernett, Brian Cortijo, and Matt James who penned the series of amazingly helpful Explore Airspur articles; to Jan Nield for sewing the fabulous “cover of covers”; to Evalyn Sroufe for being my most enduring reader; and to Susan J. Morris for her Elemental Editorial Eye.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bruce R. Cordell has authored several novels and short stories, including Plague of Spells, City of Torment, and Key of Stars. Besides writing, Bruce is interested in martial arts, science of all kinds, and an eclectic brew of other activities. Befriend Bruce on Facebook at http://facebook.com/brucecordell.
Table of Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Map
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
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Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Dramatis Personae
Other Characters
Acknowledgments
About the Author