Passages

In the vastness of all realms.

  Their absence gives me the challenge,

  That I can create in their memory.

  As their body goes,

  What they were transmutes into what we will be.

  What they were,

  Taught us.

  What they gave,

  Made us.

  Who we will be now,

  Was crafted by them.

  Now we craft for those who follow,

  Now this weight becomes light.

  Though their absence gives us sorrow,

  What they were strengthens our flight.”

  When the last word is spoken, hertasi arranged around the chamber pause for three heartbeats, then pull gently on the beaded ropes to set the wind chimes in motion. The chimes alone play while the rafts are sent through, door by door, until finally, the encompassing sound of the final door is heard again.

  The dead are gone, but never forgotten.

  About the Authors

  Jennifer Brozek is a multitalented, award-winning author, editor, and tie-in writer. She is the author of Never Let Me Sleep and The Last Days of Salton Academy, both of which were finalists for the Bram Stoker Award. Her BattleTech tie-in novel, The Nellus Academy Incident, won a Scribe Award. Her editing work has netted her a Hugo Award nomination as well as an Australian Shadows Award for Grants Pass. Jennifer’s short form work has appeared in Apex Publications and in anthologies set in the worlds of Valdemar, Shadowrun, V Wars, and Predator. Jennifer is also the Creative Director of Apocalypse Ink Productions, and was the managing editor of Evil Girlfriend Media and assistant editor for Apex Book Company. She has been a freelance author, editor, and tie-in writer for more than ten years after leaving her high-paying tech job, and she’s never been happier. She shares her husband, Jeff, with several cats and often uses him as a sounding board for her story ideas. Visit Jennifer’s worlds at jenniferbrozek.com.

  Paige L. Christie is originally from Maine and now lives in the North Carolina mountains. She is best known for the Legacies of Arnan fantasy series (#1 Draigon Weather). She strives to tell stories that are entertaining and thoughtful and speak especially to women. When she isn’t writing, Paige is the director of a nonprofit, runs a wine shop, and teaches belly dancing. She is a proud, founding member of the Blazing Lioness Writers. Find out what she’s up to at PaigeLChristie.com

  Brigid Collins is a fantasy and science fiction writer living in Michigan. Her short stories have appeared in Fiction River, Uncollected Anthology Volume 13: Mystical Melodies, and Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar anthologies. Her fantasy series Songbird River Chronicles and her dark fairy tale novella Thorn and Thimble are available in print and electronic versions on Amazon and Kobo. You can sign up for her newsletter at tinyletter.com/HarmonicStories or check out her website at backwrites.wordpress.com.

  Brenda Cooper writes science fiction, fantasy, and the occasional poem. She also works in technology and writes and talks about the future. She has won multiple regional writing awards and her stories have often appeared in Year’s Best anthologies. Brenda lives and works in the Pacific Northwest with her wife and multiple border collies and can sometimes be found biking around Seattle.

  Hailed as “one of the best writers working today” by bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith, Dayle A. Dermatis is the author or coauthor of many novels (including snarky urban fantasies Ghosted, Shaded, and Spectered) and more than a hundred short stories in multiple genres, appearing in such venues as Fiction River, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and various anthologies from DAW Books. “Burrowing Owl, Hidden No More” is her sixth story in a Valdemar anthology. She is the mastermind behind the Uncollected Anthology project, and her short fiction has been lauded in year’s best anthologies in erotica, mystery, and horror. To find out where she’s wandered off to (and to get free fiction!), check out DayleDermatis.com.

  Larry Dixon is a renowned fantasy artist and novelist. The husband of Mercedes Lackey, he has collaborated on a number of novels with her, including the Mage Wars Trilogy and the Owl Trilogy. As a birds-of-prey rehabilitation specialist, Dixon, along with Lackey, has returned several hundred hawks, owls, falcons, and corbies into the wild. Dixon’s wildlife rehabilitation led to a minor role in the creation of the digital effects for the giant eagles in the Lord of the Rings movies. Dixon took digital photographs of a stuffed golden eagle he had been keeping for its owner. These photographs, along with castings of the beak and talons, were sent to Weta Digital in New Zealand to provide texture mapping for the digital model for Gwaihir and company. His skill at depicting birds of prey has often led to commissions with the United States Military and with Save Our American Raptors, an organization devoted to raptor rehabilitation.

  English both by name and nationality, Charlotte E. English hasn’t permitted emigration to the Netherlands to change her essential Britishness (much). She writes colorful fantasy novels over copious quantities of tea, and rarely misses an opportunity to apologize for something. A lifelong history buff with a degree in Heritage, she loves dressing up, touring historical sites, and eating really good cake. Spanning the spectrum from light to dark, her works include Modern Magick, the Tales of Aylfenhame, and the Malykant Mysteries.

  Michele Lang is the author of the Lady Lazarus WWII historical fantasy series, and her fantasy, romance, crime, and science fiction short stories have been published by DAW Books, Inc., PM Press, and Running Press among others. Her short story “Sucker’s Game” appeared in the Anthony Award-nominated anthology Jewish Noir. Michele lives on Long Island with her family and loves writing Valdemar and Elemental Masters stories for Mercedes Lackey anthologies! Learn more about Michele’s writing at michelelang.com.

  Terry O’Brien is a dual-classed bard/engineer who writes elegant software in several languages and crafts compelling stories and characters in several formats. He currently combines his creative and technical talents behind a camera, in the control room, or at an edit station as a member of multiple audio and video production teams for several clients, employers, and venues. His creative work can be viewed on his website: terryobrien.me.

  Fiona Patton was born in Calgary, Alberta, and now lives in rural Ontario with her wife, Tanya Huff, an assortment of cats, and two wonderful dogs. She has written seven fantasy novels published by DAW Books and close to forty short stories. “The More Things Change; The More They Change More” is her 13th story in the Valdemar anthologies, and the 11th to feature the Dann family.

  Angela Penrose lives in Seattle with her husband, seven computers and about ten thousand books. She’s been a Valdemar fan for decades and wrote her first Valdemar story for the “Modems of the Queen” area on the old GEnie network back in the 1980s. In addition to fantasy, she writes SF and mystery, sometimes in combinations. She’s had stories published in Loosed Upon the World, Fiction River, The Year’s Best Crime and Mystery Stories 2016, and of course the previous Valdemar anthologies Choices and Seasons. Find links to all her work at angelapenrosewriter.blogspot.com.

  Kristin Schwengel lives near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her husband, along with the obligatory writer’s cat (named Gandalf, of course), a Darwinian garden in which only the strong survive, and a growing collection of knitting and spinning supplies. Her writing has appeared in several previous Valdemar anthologies, among others. This is the second story featuring Herald Rinton and the Karsite-born Mindhealer Mirideh, and Kristin hopes to write several more exploring their perspective on the events of the Winds and Storms trilogies.

  Anthea Sharp grew up on fairy tales and computer games and has melded the two in her USA Today-bestselling Feyland series, where a high-tech game opens a gateway to the treacherous Realm of Faerie. In addition to the GameLit fun of Feyland, she writes Victorian spacepunk set in a universe where the British Empire spans the galaxy, and Dark Elf romantic fantasy resonant with fairy tale magic. Her short fiction has appeared in
multiple Valdemar anthologies, The Future Chronicles, and Fiction River, among others. She lives in sunny Southern California but would rather be traveling the globe. Her newest release, Into the Darkwood, sweeps readers away into the magical land of Elfhame, where a mortal girl and a Dark Elf prince are driven by prophecy into a battle to save their world. Find out more at antheasharp.com.

  Stephanie D. Shaver lives in Southern California, where she is gainfully employed by Blizzard Entertainment. When she’s not doing things for them, she’s probably writing or catching up on sleep. You can find more at sdshaver.com, along with occasional ramblings on life and pictures of food she’s making for herself and her family.

  A lover of local history and fantastical possibilities, Louisa Swann spins tales that span multiple genres, including historical fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and her newest love: steampunk. Her short stories have appeared in Mercedes Lackey’s Elemental Masters and Valdemar anthologies (which she’s thrilled to participate in!); Esther Friesner’s Chicks and Balances; and several Fiction River anthologies, including No Humans Allowed and Reader’s Choice. Her new steampunk/weird west series, The Peculiar Adventures of Miss Abigail Crumb, is available at your favorite etailer. Find out more at louisaswann.com or friend her on Facebook @SwannWriter.

  Elizabeth Vaughan is the USA Today-Bestselling Author of Warprize, the first volume of the Chronicles of the Warlands. You can learn more about her writing at writeandrepeat.com.

  Elisabeth Waters sold her first story in 1980 to The Keeper’s Price, the first of the Darkover anthologies. She went on to sell stories to a variety of anthologies. Her first novel, a fantasy called Changing Fate, was awarded the 1989 Gryphon Award and published by DAW Books in 1994. Its sequel, Mending Fate, was published in 2016. She has also worked as a supernumerary with the San Francisco Opera, where she appeared in La Gioconda, Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, Khovanshchina, Das Rheingold, Werther, and Idomeneo.

  Phaedra Weldon grew up in the thick, atmospheric land of South Georgia. Most nights, especially those in October, were spent on the back of pickup trucks in the center of cornfields, telling ghost stories, or in friends’ homes playing RPGs. She got her start writing in shared worlds (Eureka!, Star Trek, BattleTech, Shadowrun) and selling original stories to DAW anthologies before she sold her first urban fantasy series to traditional publishing. Currently, her published series include the Zoe Martinique Investigations, the Eldritch Files, the Witches of Castle Falls and the upcoming paranormal women’s fiction series Ravenwood Hills.

  About the Editor

  Mercedes Lackey is a full-time writer and has published numerous novels and works of short fiction, including the bestselling Heralds of Valdemar series. She is also a professional lyricist and a licensed wild bird rehabilitator. She lives in Oklahoma with her husband and collaborator, artist Larry Dixon, and their flock of parrots.

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