Without even raising a sweat on her brow, she reached the barred window of the third floor. From a pocket appeared a vial of blackfire. She smeared the oil on three bars, top and bottom. The stench of scorched iron wafted briefly, but no glow marked the work of the blackfire oil. Nothing must draw the eye: one of the first lessons taught apprentices.
She ticked off the time. At the count of ten, she grabbed the bars and yanked them free. The blackfire oil had eaten fully through. Carefully, she rested the free iron rods on the window’s granite sill. She couldn’t risk someone hearing the clatter of iron on stone if she merely dropped them.
Reaching through the opening, she flicked her wrist and a thin steel blade appeared in her fingers. She passed it through the window’s casement and slipped teh latch. She tested the old window hinges. An immediate rasp told her this particular window had not been opened in ages. Frowning at even this tiny noise, she reached into a pocket and oiled each hinge.
Satisfied, she pushed the window a finger-breadth wide, and used the polished surface of her steel blade to study the reflection of the hall. Empty. Without waiting, she squeezed through the narrow opening and rolled into the hall. She was on her feet and in the shadows within a single heartbeat.
Still she did not pause. She raced down the passage and slid down two staircases, never even leaving a footprint in the dust. In a short time, she had reached her goal—the doors to the Grand Court. She crouched. A dance of tools and the lock was open. She cracked the door just enough to squeeze her lithe form past the threshold. At least these hinges were already well-oiled.
Once inside, she hurried to the long ironwood table. At its head was a tall chair on a raised step. Its high back was carved with twining roses. As she approached, a trace of misgiving threaded through her veins. Here was where the wit’ch sat. Her feet slowed as she walked down the long length of the table and neared the seat of power. She could almost sense the eyes of the wit’ch upon her. She knew such thoughts were nonsense, but still she shivered.
Cringing slightly, she sidled around the table’s edge and stood at its head. With her back to the tall chair, she reached inside her cloak and withdrew her weapon. In the dimness of the hall, the long black blade almost glowed. Her hand trembled slightly as she held it. “Don’t make me do this,” she whispered to the empty hall.
But there was no retreat now. She had come too far, given up too much. If there was to be any chance, this cowardly deed must be done.
Raising the long black dagger high in both fists, she prayed for forgiveness and drove the dagger down into the table. Its sharp point pierced smoothly through the ironwood, as if it were only warmed butter. Still a shock spiked up her arms as the hilt hit the table. Gasping loudly, she pulled her hands free and ground her palms on her cloak, trying to escape the feeling.
She stared at the impaled blade. Its hilt protruded from the center of the handprint burned into the table—the handprint of a wit’ch.
As she watched, crimson blood welled up from the wood, spreading along the table’s surface. The pool ran over the table’s edge and flowed in rivulets to the stone floor. But that was not the worst. As she stood frozen, a distant cry of pain and shock rose from the spreading pool.
Raising a fist to her throat, the cloaked figure backed away. What have I done?
Turning on a heel, she fled out the door and into the maze of halls. But even the shadows could not hide her from the echoing cry of a wounded wit’ch. Gods above, forgive me!
“Wit’ch Fire grabs at your heart and tears a little hole, then tears another, and another—a brutal and beautiful ride. I can’t put the book down!”
—R. A. Salvatore
Wit’ch Fire
Book One of The Banned and the Banished
by James Clemens
On a fateful night five centuries ago, three mages made a desperate last stand, sacrificing everything to preserve the only hope of goodness in the beautiful, doomed land of Alasea. Now, on the anniversary of that ominous night, a girl-child ripens into the heritage of lost power. But before she can even comprehend her terrible new gift, the Dark Lord dispatches his winged monsters to capture her and bring him the embryonic magic she embodies.
Feeling the minions of darkness, Elena is swept toward certain doom—and into the company of unexpected allies. Aided by a one-armed warrior and a strange seer, she forms a band of the hunted and the cursed, the outcasts and the outlaws, to battle the unstoppable forces of evil and rescue a once-glorious empire . . .
Published by Del Rey Books.
Available at bookstores everywhere.
“I loved every page of this book . . . A world of magic that’s never been seen before, with a cast of beings who are so engaging and entrancing that you never want the story to end.”
—John Saul
Wit’ch Storm
Book Two of The Banned and the Banished
by James Clemens
Elena bears the mark of the wit’ch upon her palm, the crimson stain that testifies to the awesome power of unimaginable potency: wild, seductive, and difficult to control. Only a mistress of blood magick can stand against the foul minions and all-corrupting evil of the Dark Lord. But Elena is not yet the mistress of her magick. Protected by her band of renegades, she quests for a lost city where prophecies speak of a mystic tome that holds the key to the Dark Lord’s defeat. But if the Dark Lord finds her first, Elena will become his most fearsome weapon.
A different form of power touches Sy-wen, girl-child of an ocean-dwelling clan that bond-mates to the terrible and majestic sea dragons. But bonds more ancient still tie Sy-wen to the land she does not know, to a man she has never seen . . . and to a legend asleep in stone deep beneath A’loa Glen—a legend beginning to wake.
Now, as Elena and Sy-wen converge on A’loa Glen from land and sea, will the forces they unleash lead to a future of freedom—or an eternity under the Dark Lord’s yoke?
Coming in December . . .
Wit’ch Gate
The next explosive chapter in the saga of
The Banned and the Banished
by James Clemens
In a spectacular feat of daring and magic, Elena and her army of outlaws and rebels have defeated evil’s minions and released the mystic secrets of the Blood Diary. But the malevolent Dark Lord has unleashed the Weirgates—black wells of ferocious energy that are his greatest source of power. Now Elena’s bravest allies are sent to find and destroy the Gates, as windships carry the fight north to the frigid woodlands, south to the burning desert sands, and east to the blasted regions of dread Gul’gotha.
Along the way, they will face their own personal demons as well. The twin brothers Mogweed and Fardale race against time to break the curse that has stolen their shape-changing birthright, and Elena’s brother Joach must evade the desert sandsharks if he is to master his own elemental power. The trail will lead them even to the fabulous el’vin homeland of Stormhaven. None of the rebels will come back unscathed, some never returning at all.
And Elena herself must journey to Gul’gotha. Daring the enemy’s own lair, she must emerge victorious if she is to reveal the secret of the Dark Lord’s frightening identity—and the shocking nature of his vast powers.
Praise for Book One of
The Banned and the Banished,
Wit’ch Fire
“Wit’ch Fire grabs at your heart and tears a little hole, then tears another, and another—a brutal and beautiful ride. I can’t put the book down!”
—R. A. SALVATORE
“I loved every page of this book . . . [Clemens’s] imagery is so brilliant that every scene comes instantly to life, and while everything seems immediately familiar, the reader soon learns to expect a new surprise with every page. And just as you think he can’t possibly come up with anything else, a new character bursts upon the tale, bringing along a whole new level of sorcery!”
—JOHN SAUL
“Classic fantasy told in a classic manner. Solid entertainment�
�action and adventure wrapped in riddles and mystery. Don’t miss this one.”
—DON MCQUINN
“There are some distinguishing touches in this very Jordanian fantasy novel . . . Clemens appears to be following a cherished formula, but he does an unusually good job of dressing the routine elements with distinctive details and creating interesting characters.”
—LOCUS
By James Clemens
Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group
WIT’CH FIRE
WIT’CH STORM
WIT’CH WAR
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A Del Rey® Book
Published by The Ballantine Publishing Group
Copyright © 2000 by Jim Czajkowski
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by The Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
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eISBN: 978-0-345-45394-5
v3.0
Wit'ch War (v5) Page 64