‘That is not so strange. I rather like it.’
* * *
On the western slope of the Gangrek Mounts a woman descended a slim trail. It was no more than a rocky animal track occasionally used by locals to climb the mount for game or to collect firewood or plants. Her shirt was tattered, stained and worn to mere threads, while her skirt hung merely to her knees. Her hair was an unkempt cloud about her heart-shaped features. Yet she walked the trail with the assurance and ease of an experienced jungle tracker.
Halfway down she stopped to peer back up the path. After a time another figure came descending behind. He came slowly as he used a sturdy stick as a crutch. One arm hung tied to his side, he dragged one foot, and a cloth was wrapped around his head covering one eye. His hair hung long and loose but did not completely hide the odd shape of the left side of his head. He wore the torn and hard-travelled robes of a Thaumaturg.
The young woman took his arm to help him down the more difficult sections of the steep track. He offered her a strange one-sided smile that made her blush and turn her face away. As the trail levelled she kept his arm to walk along beside him.
Together, they retraced their steps back into Thaumaturg territory. They were returning because someone had to rebuild, and if they did not others would. She had a reborn faith to guide and shape anew and he would do all he could to clear its way into the world.
* * *
Far off on the eastern coast of Jacuruku, a gentle surf kissed a stretch of desert strand. A dense jungle verge crowded the shore. The empty sands descended steeply to the sapphire waves. Above, clear blue sky echoed the pale blue of the shallow waters. White seabirds hovered and gave their harsh calls in the weak wind. Crabs searched among the foam and cast-up seaweed.
A man came staggering out of the jungle to stand weaving drunkenly and blinking in the bright sunlight. A shirt hung from him in tatters, as did his trousers. Sores, bites and scratches dotted his limbs. His beard and hair were ragged and filthy. Another emerged, no different from the first. He, too, stopped as if dumbfounded, or completely uncertain of what to do next.
A giant emerged next. It carried a man in its stone arms that it gently set down to stand in the sands. This man tapped a blackwood rod chased in silver to his shoulder while he stood staring out to sea.
More men, a bare few handfuls, came staggering out to fall or sit in the sands and stare wordlessly at the bright leagues of empty sea. A scrawny old man wearing only a loincloth came limping from the jungle. He carried a bag over one shoulder and he walked down to the man holding the blackwood rod.
After studying the sea for a time, Principal Scribe Thorn turned to his commander, Master Golan, and said, ‘Congratulations, Golan the Great.’
Master Golan blinked as if coming out of a dream and peered down at his scribe. ‘I’m sorry,’ he croaked. ‘Congratulations?’
‘The Army of Righteous Chastisement has emerged triumphant, m’lord. It has crushed the jungle into abasement. Dealt it a final decisive blow! Your march has proved victorious.’
‘You will write that down, won’t you?’
‘Of course!’
The old man, all skin and bones, his hair standing as a thinning white rim about his skull, bent his head down to search within the loose bag. He searched, then searched again, becoming more and more agitated. Finally, he pulled the bag from his side and overturned it, waving and flapping it. A single sheet flew free to flutter out over the waves and disappear into the distance.
Golan watched it fly off. ‘Nothing important, I trust,’ he offered, rather drily. He peered curiously at the empty bag. ‘Misplaced your records? What has become of them?’
‘Food has been rather scarce of late,’ Principal Scribe Thorn confessed, looking guilty.
Golan studied the man, frowning. ‘My glorious campaign has disappeared down your gullet, been digested, and shat out your other end?’
‘I have merely done the job of the historians for them, m’lord.’
Golan tilted his head, thinking about it, then nodded, conceding the point. ‘True enough, Principal Scribe. True enough. You have merely saved everyone a great deal of time.’
‘I do try to serve in my own small way.’ He suddenly raised a finger as if in inspiration. He yanked the nub of a quill from behind one blackened ear, licked the end, and poised it over the leather bag. ‘Your orders?’
Golan looked to the surf, the blue sea rolling onward to the horizon. He rubbed his fingers across his brow – they came away slick with grime and sweat. He sighed heavily. ‘Second,’ he called in a raised voice.
Shortly after this, Second in Command Waris emerged from the jungle verge. He wore a long stained shirt that was at one time the underpadding of leather armour. A weapon belt hung over one shoulder and he bore a scrap of cloth tied about his head. He came to Golan and saluted.
‘Second Waris,’ Golan began. Then he paused. He eyed the cloth on the man’s head. ‘Not regulation, I should think, Second.’
‘Keeps the sun off, sir,’ the man replied, his voice flat.
Still a man of few words. Somehow reassuring, that. Golan cleared his throat. ‘We will camp here. Perhaps there are foodstuffs that the troops may collect. On the morrow we head north around the coast. Eventually we will reach our borders.’
Waris bowed and headed off to convey the orders.
Golan started pacing the shore, slowly, meditatively. He held the blackwood Rod of Execution behind his back in both hands, tapping it with his thumbs.
Principal Scribe Thorn followed behind. He licked the quill and began scratching on the bag. He mouthed as he walked: ‘Having utterly crushed the jungle leagues of Jacuruku, Golan the Great vanquishes the Eastern Ocean then casts his victor’s eyes onward to new conquests! He orders the beginning of a grand new campaign against the Northern Wastes. The glorious Army of Righteous Chastisement springs to its feet to follow its inspiring leader onward to new triumphs no doubt as rewarding and glorious as those they have known…’
Master Golan suddenly halted. He raised his face to the clear sky while exhaling mightily through clenched teeth. He raised the Rod of Execution, then regarded the surf restlessly surging up the steep strand. For a moment it appeared as if he were considering throwing the baton into the sea. He lowered it, however, and turned to study the bedraggled survivors of his army as they slumped down together to sit listless and exhausted, staring out at the vast unbroken horizon before them.
His gaze fell to Principal Scribe Thorn who watched him expectantly, quill poised. He wiped the back of his hand across his eyes, blinking, then quickly turned his face out to sea. After a time he murmured, as if more to himself: ‘You are right, Thorn. Posterity will wonder at your perspicacity. You have assured my due place in history.’
The scribe swallowed, his bulging Adam’s apple bobbing. ‘It is my duty, Master Golan.’
GLOSSARY
Elder Races
Tiste Andii: Children of Darkness
Tiste Edur: Children of Shadow
Tiste Liosan: Children of Light
Imass: an ancient race of which only the undead army, the T’lan Imass, remain
Trell: an ancient race of nomadic pastoralists
Jaghut: an ancient race of recluses
Thelomen / Toblakai: an ancient race, pre-agriculturalists
The Warrens
Kurald Galain: The Elder Warren of Darkness, Elder Night
Kurald Emurlahn: The Elder Warren of Shadow, Elder Shadow
Kurald Thyrllan: The Elder Warren of Light: Elder Light, also known as Liosan
Omtose Phellack: The Elder Jaghut Warren of Ice
Tellann: The Elder Imass Warren of Fire
Starvald Demelain: The Eleint Warren
Thyr: The Path of Light
Denul: The Path of Healing
Hood’s Path: The Path of Death
Serc: The Path of the Sky
Meanas: The Path of Shadow and Illusion
D’riss: The Path
of the Earth
Ruse: The Path of the Sea
Rashan: The Path of Darkness
Mockra: The Path of the Mind
Telas: The Path of Fire
Terms and Places
The Adwami: the nomadic tribes of southern Jacuruku
Agon: an order of priests for whom good and evil are illusions
Ammanas: also known as Shadowthrone, ruler of the Shadow Realm
Anditi Pura: capital city of the Thaumaturgs
Chanar Keep: a ruined keep in the Gangrek Mounts on the border of Himatan
The Dolmens of Tien: site of an ancient ‘Chaining’ of the Crippled God
High King / God-King: ancient title of legendary ruler of most of Jacuruku, Kallor
Himatan: an enchanted jungle said to be ruled by Ardata
Isana Pura: southern capital of the Thaumaturgs
Isturé: a term for the Avowed that extends to the Disavowed as well
Jakal Viharn: rumoured great city in the jungle, ‘city of gold’, paved in jewels
Khun-Sen: an old general, once ruler of Chanar Keep
The Meckros: name for floating cities and the people who occupy them
The Nak-ta: the restless dead of Jacuruku
Phalam: a unit within the Thaumaturg army, roughly equivalent to a squad
The Shaduwam: shaman-like priests of southern Jacuruku
Thaumaturgs / Theurgists: ruling mages of a nation in Jacuruku
The Yakshaka: their statue-like stone soldiers, manufactured by alchemy and magery
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
BLOOD AND BONE
Copyright © 2012 by Ian Cameron Esslemont
All rights reserved.
Originally published in Great Britain by Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Map credit: Neil Gower
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Esslemont, Ian C. (Ian Cameron)
Blood and bone : a novel of the Malazan Empire / Ian C. Esslemont. — 1st U.S. Ed.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN 978-0-7653-2997-4 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-7653-3001-7 (trade pbk.)
ISBN 978-1-4299-4363-5 (e-book)
1. Fantasy fiction. I. Title.
PS3605.S684B57 2013
813'.6—dc23
2012049552
First U.S. Edition: May 2013
eISBN 9781429943635
First eBook edition: April 2013
ASSAIL
A NOVEL OF THE MALAZAN EMPIRE
Ian C. Esslemont
A TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES BOOK
NEW YORK
This one is for the old gaming gang at the University of Manitoba: Doug and Doug, Jeff, Oliver, Grant, Ron, Martin, Henry, Craig, Laurence, Neil, Shurjeel and Arne.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to offer my gratitude to my advance readers for their observations and comments, Sharon Sasaki and A. P. Canavan. You helped more than you think.
I give my love to my wife, Gerri Brightwell, without whose support and understanding this novel, and those preceding it, would never have been possible.
And to you Malaz readers. It has been a privilege to unveil these stories. I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
The Lady’s Luck
Kyle
Given name, Kylarral-ten, of Bael lands, south of Assail
Tulan Orbed
Master of the Lady’s Luck
Reuth
Ship’s navigator, and Tulan’s nephew
Storval
First Mate
Gren
Steersman
In the North
Orman
Son of Orman Bregin
Old Bear
A legendary man of the mountains
Keth and Kasson
The Reddin brothers
Gerrun
Also known as Shortshanks
King Ronal
Also known as ‘King Ronal the Bastard’
Lotji Bain
Nephew of Jorgan Bain
Of the Iceblood Holdings
The Sayers
Buri
Legendary elder of the clan
Jaochim
Master of the clan
Yrain
Mistress of the clan
Vala
Sister to Yrain
Jass
Son of Vala
Bernal Heavyhand
A clan retainer, or hearthguard
The Heels
Cull Heel
Also known as Cull the Kind
Yullveig
Wife of Cull, also known as Yullveig the Fierce
Erta
Daughter of Cull and Yullveig
Baran
Son of Cull and Yullveig
The Overland Raiders
Marshal Teal
A Letherii aristocrat
Enguf the Broad
A Genabackan pirate
Malle of Gris
A Malazan aristocrat
Holden of Cawn
A mage of Serc
Alca of Cat
A mage of Telas
The Sea Raiders
The Sea Strike
Burl Tardin
Captain
Whellen
First Mate
Gaff
Second Mate
The Silver Dawn
Jute Hernan
Captain
Ieleen
Navigator, wife of Jute
Lurjen
Steersman
Buen
First Mate
Letita
Master of weapons
Dulat
A sailor
The Resolute
Tyvar Gendarian
Commander of the Blue Shields and Mortal Sword of Togg
Haagen Vantall
Steward of the Blue Shields
The Ragstopper
Cartheron Crust
Captain
Orothos
First Mate
The Supplicant
Timmel Orosenn
Also known as the Primogenitrix, ruler of the island of Umryg
Velmar
Priest and servant to Lady Orosenn
The T’lan Imass
The Kerluhm
Ut’el Anag
Bonecaster
Lanas Tog
The Ifayle
Tolb Bell’al
Bonecaster
The Kron
Pran Chole
Bonecaster
The Crimson Guard
K’azz D’Avore
Commander
Shimmer
Second-in-command
Blues
New captain of the Second Company
Tarkhan
Captain of the Third Company
Bars
Also known as ‘Iron Bars’, formerly of the Fourth Company
Cowl
High Mage and Master Assassin
Gwynn
A mage
Petal
A mage
Black the Elder
Black the Lesser
Sept
Cole
Amatt
Lean
Keel
Turgal
The Crimson Guard Fourth Company
Cal-Brinn
Captain and mage
Jup Alat
Lieutenant
Laurel
Leena
Of Mael’s Greetings
Ghelath Keer
Master
<
br /> Havvin
Ship’s pilot
Levin
Apprentice pilot
Others
Silverfox
The ‘Summoner’ created to end the T’lan Imass war
Luthal Canar
Representative of the Canar trading house, of Lether
Lyan
A female warrior from north Genabackis, a Shieldmaiden
Dorrin
King in exile of Anklos, Lyan’s ward
The Malazan Empire Series: (Night of Knives, Return of the Crimson Guard, Stonewielder, Orb Sceptre Throne, Blood and Bone, Assail) (Novels of the Malazan Empire) Page 334