As for the Six Cosmic Weapons, Lucian and Solonis and I considered a number of options for what to do with them.
The Axe, of course, came back to me. It was mine and I did not intend to part with it again.
The Shield of Sevenaya I left in Mirana’s care. No one objected. She had earned the honor, and would use it well—under my continued supervision.
The Knife, the Hammer and the Scepter we placed in a vault at the heart of the City, awaiting the opportunity for us to learn more about them. The Knife had its obvious uses and I felt certain it would come in handy at some time in the future. The Hammer and Scepter, though, remained mysterious and demanded intensive additional study before they could be brought back out into the open.
The Sword I had other plans for.
And then… And then there was Baranak.
My golden god of battle was lost to me forever, beyond any doubt. With great reluctance and difficulty I confronted this fact, and resolved to come to grips with it all over again. But seeing him again—or at least a ghost of him—and speaking with him had made me realize how very much I missed him; how much of myself had died when he had been killed.
Perhaps it was time for me to return to my ice fortress and leave all these reminders of past lives behind.
As I stared at the Fountain, my mind a million miles away, I realized that Lucian was approaching. I was surprised he had hung around this long, for his disdain for the City was nearly as legendary as my own. Part of me yet hated him, and wanted to take my Axe to him. But then I remembered what Baranak had said about how Lucian had earned his forgiveness. Could I do less? Or could I find it in my heart—my heart cold as ice—to put my past with him to rest?
Perhaps.
Behind him came two other figures, and I recognized both of them. One was General Tamerlane, who had returned along with Solonis to Dalen-Shala before the end, and had accompanied us here to the Golden City.
The other was bigger, taller, rougher-hewn. A larger man, with very short blond hair. He was someone I had kept an eye on for many years. He, too, had been present on the Star-City during the final events there, and had tried to help. We had missed any chance to speak before this, and so I was glad he had come to me now.
“General Agrippa,” I said to him, nodding once.
“Lady Karilyne,” he replied, bowing his head lower.
“I have looked forward to meeting you for quite some time,” I said.
He appeared puzzled at this, as did Tamerlane. But not Lucian. No, not Lucian. He knew. Yes. Of course he knew. I never should’ve thought otherwise.
“Might we speak for a moment?” I asked the blond man.
Before anyone could say a word, Lucian quickly motioned to Tamerlane and whispered something and together the two of them wandered a short distance away, leaving Agrippa there with me. Clearly the dark god had learned something of tact—and of manners in general—in his many years among the mortals.
“You know of me, lady?” the big general asked when we were alone.
“Of course.”
Despite all that came with my radiant Aspect, I yet stood a few inches shorter than him. But that scarcely surprised me, given all that I knew and all that I suspected about him. I thought again about his wielding of the Sword of Baranak—something no ordinary mortal should have been able to do. Baranak had done it, too, so the legend said, even before he became a god.
I thought about all of this and I gazed up at him in something approaching wonder, and he clearly sensed that. He frowned, likely confused by my behavior.
I ignored this and continued to look at him, to study his face. Yes. Yes, I could see it. Long had I suspected it. Now that I was in his company, now that I could regard him so closely, it was plain as day. It was true.
He still seemed quite surprised by me but he nodded respectfully. “And what would you like to discuss, lady?” he asked after a few seconds of awkward silence.
I laughed once, and despite my intentions the wall of ice and cold around my heart started to melt. I rested my hand on his burly upper arm and led him off to the side. He allowed me to steer him farther away from the others. And when I spoke to him at last, it was in a hushed tone that only he could hear.
“First I will tell you of the events that led us here,” I said. “Of the gathering of the Cosmic Weapons and the defeat of Cevelar and General Vostok.” I looked up and met his deep blue eyes. “And then—” I offered him an exceptionally rare gift: a smile. “And then, I’d like to tell you about your great-great-grandfather,” I said to him, as I handed him the golden Sword of Baranak.
THE END
OF
KARILYNE: HEART COLD AS ICE
THE STORY OF THE MURDER OF THE GODS
AND LUCIAN’S QUEST FOR THE KILLER
IS TOLD IN
LUCIAN: DARK GOD’S HOMECOMING
THE ORIGIN OF THE GODS
AND THE ADVENTURE OF BARANAK
AND ISTARI THE RENEGADE IS TOLD IN
BARANAK: STORMING THE GATES
THE STORY OF GENERALS TAMERLANE
AND AGRIPPA AND THE NIGHTFALL WAR
IS TOLD IN THE LEGIONS TRILOGY,
BEGINNING WITH
LEGION I: LORDS OF FIRE
THE SAGA OF HAWK, FALCON, RAVEN
AND THE GALAXY-SPANNING MACHINE BEGINS IN
HAWK: HAND OF THE MACHINE
All are available on Kindle and in paperback, with select titles on Audible audiobook as well.
Thanks and appreciation this time around to:
Ami, Maddie and Mira, as always.
Mark Williams, for another absolutely astonishing cover painting.
The lady at “Ollivanders,” the Harry Potter wand shop at Universal Studios in Orlando, for inadvertently saying the magic words that caused me to conceive of the Six Cosmic Weapons of this tale.
Jarrod Alberich, the Yard Sale Artist, for believing in the property and motivating me to expand it into comics. (Be sure to get ahold of the COLD LIGHTNING three-issue comic book mini-series, featuring a team of Legion III warriors, based on my original novella and with inks by Jarrod and pencils by Wendell Cavalcanti!)
Roger Zelazny, my guiding light as always. (And the fan at my book signing at DragonCon who told me I write just like Zelazny. Whether it’s remotely true or not, hearing those words made my year.)
Early readers and later readers and everyone in between. Thank you. I hope it has again proven worth your time. I take none of you for granted.
My regular retinue of friends, fans, readers and commenters on Facebook and Twitter who seem to appreciate my occasional updates and comments about this and my other books.
The Shattering saga will return!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Van Allen Plexico writes and edits New Pulp, science fiction, fantasy, and nonfiction analysis and commentary for a variety of print and online publishers. His prize-winning novels and anthologies include Legion III: Kings of Oblivion, Sentinels: The Dark Crusade, Pride of the Mohicans, and Blackthorn: Thunder on Mars, as well as best-sellers such as Vegas Heist and Sentinels: When Strikes the Warlord. In his spare time he serves as a professor of political science and history. He has lived in Atlanta, Singapore, Alabama, and Washington, DC, and now resides in the St. Louis area along with his wife, two daughters and assorted river otters.
All of Van Allen Plexico’s books are available wherever books are sold, or visit
www.whiterocketbooks.com
Karilyne- Heart Cold as Ice Page 31