Chapters (95)
- Cover
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Map
- Dramatis Personae
- Fifteen Years Ago
- Endas, 25th day of Wellmarch
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Maladas, 26th day of Wellmarch
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Lumendas, 1st day of Radiance
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Astridas, 2nd day of Radiance
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Jeradas, 3rd day of Radiance
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Endas, 4th day of Radiance
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Maladas, 5th day of Radiance
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Tzadas, 6th day of Radiance
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Lunandas, 7th day of Radiance
- Forty-Four
- Jeradas, 10th day of Radiance
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Endas, 11th day of Radiance
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Maladas, 12th day of Radiance
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Tzadas, 13th day of Radiance
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Lunandas, 14th day of Radiance
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Lumendas, 15th day of Radiance
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Tzadas, 20th day of Radiance
- Sixty-Nine
- Acknowledgements
- Discover More
- Extras
- Meet the Author
Dead hands heaved anew and drew him down into their clammy embrace.
Lumendas, 15th day of Radiance
Lumendas, 15th day of Radiance
If all else fails, put your faith in fire.
from the sermons of Konor Belenzo
Sixty-Seven
Sixty-Seven
Minutes crept by at a foetid crawl. Shards of red framed Viktor’s vision, scant glimmers of firestone light worming through the cage of bodies. He struggled against his bindings, but the embrace of the dead remained tireless and unflinching. Muscles faltered and Viktor hung in the stinking void, lungs straining for what sustenance the confines allowed.
Through it all, Viktor’s shadow lurked beneath the surface, at once closer than ever and yet beyond reach. Malatriant’s doing, he was sure. But how? Why was he even still alive when she’d made no bones about wreaking slaughter on Eskavord?
Focusing on Calenne made matters both easier and worse. Easier, because it set his mind adrift. Worse, because his thoughts delighted in conjuring the very worst outcomes. What hope had she of reaching Josiri and Rosa? A few hours reunited, and then he’d led her straight back into danger.
After uncertain eternity, the cage of dead shifted. Wan firestone light drowned Viktor’s vision, leaving him blind to all else.
A bony hand seized him by the chin, stronger than its appearance allowed. “Yes. You look more manageable now.”
“Where’s Calenne?” he croaked.
Elda’s wrinkled visage gathered from the shadows of his clearing vision. Behind her, a circle of thralls watched with blank stares.
“Perhaps she’s dead. Perhaps she died days ago, swallowed by the darkness of Skazit Maze, all the time wondering why you never came for her.”
“You forget. I’ve held her in my arms.”
“And she led you here? Are you sure that’s how it was? Perhaps what you thought Calenne was but a snare, set to draw you to this place. She belongs to your past. Leave her behind.”
The callousness was all the worse coming from the lips of the woman Calenne had considered her mother. A lie crafted to break him. Let her try. Viktor clung tight to the memory of Calenne’s embrace and met Elda’s abyssal gaze.
“Let her leave, and you may do as you wish with me.”
A lie, for he’d no intention of lasting cooperation. Whatever it might cost him.
She let her hand fall. “How reasonable of you.”
Strength returned, replenished by sated lungs. Viktor pulled at his bonds, but the lifeless jailers held him fast. “And what does the Tyrant Queen know of reason?”
“You might be surprised, if you permit yourself to listen.”
“What you’ve done here offers me little encouragement to do so.”
“I had to be certain of your attention.”