As a member in good standing of the Black Vines, Zoe had certainly felt the ground grow unsteady under her feet. Is this the sum of us? “I believe,” Hierophant murmured, “that he is opening a Greater Breach.”. Malicia cocked an amused eyebrow. “You should have stolen your own chicken, if you wanted the choice cut.”. “It is unkind. The greatest concession they could make was absence of action. The reason why was simple: by law, no freeborn Stygian could serve as a soldier. The goblin preened, glorying in the way that he’d worked himself back up to Lesser Footrest last month. Sometimes, even charlatans got to have a good turn. “Strike now at the dead, and hold nothing back.”. Light shone until it blinded them all, and like a tide it fell. Don’t suppose any of you have directions to offer?”, “We’re two blocs west, sir,” a young lass answered. It was a small, petty victory but the warriors had won it and they shouted themselves hoarse afterwards. Join. She’d had it directed at her before, the look, when people though that because she was fat it meant she was weak or stupid. Chastened and wary, the Magisterium ruled that no appointed general would ever be allowed to hold the greater artifacts and created the position of Keepers of the Leashes. Bayeux would fold in mere moments should that happen, if they hadn’t already, and the Levantines were already seeing redoubled assaults on their positions. Even splitting the sigil down several tunnels had not yielded greater prey, but the sigil-holder was wise to the Enemy’s ways. Over the years additional precautions and checks had been added to the nature of the position of Keepers, but the institution had largely functioned as intended. The burdens of the war should have rent Procer asunder by now and forced the First Prince to seek terms, even if behind the Black Queen’s back, but out of Salia there was only silence. “I don’t care what the Artificer says, Hakram,” she said. “- coming back from a ceremony under House auspices, I can’t let you disperse them,” the Salian officer was heatedly saying. “We’re home, and tonight we lay our ghost to rest.”. Perhaps sensing he had made a misstep, the young prince followed the unspoken suggestion and left her to speak with Prince Renato a little longer. The very definition of pointless suffering. I glanced at Hakram and Vivienne, lips thinning. We had spent all our miracles, our strength, our last chances. “That’s the aim, sir,” the goblin grinned. For that presumption, allow me to take one of yours.”. Evidence was brought out, mere technicalities – movement of troops through the territory of another prince without explicit permission, an act of war under ancient laws, and the hiring away of fantassins already in the service of another without reparations being offered – but enough that the legal requirements were met. Comments: 138 Kudos: 225 Bookmarks: 40 Hits: 6341. “Of course you don’t,” Amadeus pleasantly smiled. “Define complication,” Hakram warily said. The path to the manor was bare of fortifications, and not because of any edict of my teacher’s. “There are reports from both the Hierophant and the Grave Binder that suggest the effects of the Due were purposefully worsened,” the First Prince evenly said. “Fuck it,” the Black Queen sighed. Good and Evil are tricky concepts, …. The charge had not been enough. “I said no, Akua,” the Black Queen harshly repeated. I kind of figured that necromancy would be inherently neutral but too scary for Good to use. Princess Isabelle of Tenerife, a steady supporter since her ascension, had turned on her. What else was left? You would have hated peace, I thought. And it was a purpose bound to another, like bound stars, calling and casting away. “Always thought you were a prick,” Borer cheerfully replied. “Robber, I swear on the Gods Below that-”, “It’s settled, Boss,” the goblin smiled, almost gently. And if it happened this time, someone got an ear full. 23 days ago. The Revenant flickered, as if made of heat mirage, and for a moment her eyes stung but she focused through the pain and flicked a second knife. Not so for the Pilgrim, who led the Adjutant down them until they were intercepted by drow in the colours of the Losara Sigil. Rumena nodded, expressing no displeasure. He must have, or else why would he feel his entire body clenching at the sight before him? They would not be ghosts before death even bothered to find them, spectators to the end of times. It means that Procer would have to either beg for parts of the harvest of the Kingdom of Callow which it could not afford to buy – not with Merchant Prince Mauricius having clearly laid out there would be no more loans until some unacceptable conditions were met – or there would be starvation in the heartlands of the Principate. He could feel the wind pulling at his feet, as if trying to drag him into the sky. It wasn’t like the phalanx could break, either: the leather collar around the neck of every single slave soldier served as a reminder that the displeasure of their masters would be both swift and final. “Gate’s not closed, wizardling,” the Headhunter grunted. Indrani’s straying eyes were not, to her surprise, rewarded by the Pale Knight pursuing. “That’d mean less men with Liesse.”. Strife is life and death, and there can be no more evil in embracing it than in the act of breathing.”. The roar shook the sky, trembling through the starlit dark and down the bones of all who heard it. Wills at war over the sorcery raging ahead of us, those slowly spinning circles of runes and the sphere within them. Indrani listened to the pulse of her aspects carefully, then nodded in satisfaction. The stables were empty and looked like they’d been for quite some time. The Mantle, yes? The Hellhound glanced at me and I shrugged. This ‘Hawk’ was no servant of the Pale Gods when she still drew breath.”. I cast a look at Juniper. The love of his life approached, taking a long look at him and narrowing her eyes. The young man was more aggressive than his mother had been – Leonor had been careful never too lean too closely the way of the First Prince or her opposition – but he’d also signaled an open mind to aligning himself more closely to Cordelia’s politics than she’d been willing to entertain. I clutched the rope when it came down after Masego had finished climbing, passing mastery of the bubble to Andronike as I concentrated on hoisting myself up. It is not without reason that the very magic we practice bears the name of Trismegistus.”, “Shit,” Archer said. It might be possible to request the Headhunter and the Rogue Sorcerer lend a hand, but they have been highly mobile so mustering them may take time.”. Footsteps sounded behind it, but it was too exhausted to move. Like a coiled snake, it waited under his cheek near his wound. “And so now you would bargain.”. Enough that every devil that came howling through those gates could be bound and dismissed, that a more permanent solution could be devised. Read 6 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. She was growing old, for all that rituals still kept the worst ravages of time away, frailer in both body and mind than the bold woman she had been in their youth. I would rather they didn’t, I thought, so that I might hear him sing again instead. No point in even stabbing at those, he figured, there were too many for a knife to do any good. I’d wager the Countess took all the men of soldiering age with her when she left for Vale.”. Much as he disliked the woman, Adjutant would still acknowledge the skillful performance she had offered tonight given her… reduced capabilities. “Quiet, for now. The young man had not waited for permission, Mauricius noted, for all that he was using that obsequious Praesi formal diplomatic language. Prince Arsene despised it, Beatrice had learned, not that the dark elf particularly seemed to care. Two levels: the lower one accessible from the rampart themselves through gates on each side and the upper one accessible through stairs leading up from inside. It is not an order that should lightly be given.”. Tariq turned, brow raising when he saw a goblin covered in soot, blood and dust swagger in. “Volunteering,” the goblin grinned. Though bound by Masego’s miracle, the Scourge had barely scuffed his robes throughout the fighting. And it was highly unlikely to have been achieved by living, as Hierophant was rather skeptical that someone capable of mastering multiple schools of magic, whether it drove them made or not, would not have made it into the pages of history. The Hawk, Sidonia thought, and felt a glimmer of fear. The Pale Knight was at hand, finally. Though it was in freefall, the necromantic abomination no longer animated, it had still served the Dead King’s purpose with success: on the creature’s back, Tariq glimpsed the shape of a Revenant huddling close. She would not survive this, if she let the world command her attention. Robber met his eyes, surprised even though he shouldn’t have been. Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance (from Evil Spirits) Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 13 years ago Excellent - very commonsensed and to the point. Neither just nor unjust, she had instead straddled the line and reaped only the worst of what she had sown. Perhaps not materially, but as a story: it would be diluted, no longer the blade fated to kill the King of Death. The last stretch of the western wall, to the north, was still in the hands of the Prince of Bayeux and holding strong. And she pulled away two of her armies from the war on the dead, against our expectations. The Severance, I thought, might destroy such a gate. There’s stabbing and then there’s stabbing.”. Cordelia slowly nodded, sipping at her lemon water. Ivah of the Losara Sigil, Lord of Silent Steps, moved with purpose. “Two, three months at most.”, “Sooner, if Indrani’s guiding her,” Hye said. Not that Cordelia expected the war to continue much longer. “Burn that thing or we’ll lose the bastion.”. The pale streaks were waning, growing rarer. It was a delicate balance to maintain, to keep a civil war going without ever being at genuine risk of losing it. For this, we’ll do.”, “The war’s not over, Robber,” she tried. The Grand Alliance reclaiming Hainaut and then repairing the old foundations as well as slapping on fresh wards was not a comprehensive fix, despite the frenzied efforts of their mages. Sleep could wait for a while still. “It nears. Too few pikes, the second time, but the Enemy laid the ranks on thick. “We can retreat into Twilight afterwards, when-”. The Rogue Sorcerer, when scouting Lauzon’s Hollow, had believed he’d glimpsed the spells keeping one invisible to the naked eye. Though speaking of distracting stuff, i also found this nifty collection of … The protection of the Crows had weakened. “Fuck,” the Queen of Callow cursed. “The Red Knight and the Myrmidon. “Perhaps there is truth to what you say,” the Prince of Salamans reluctantly said, then sighed. Only, she realized with dim horror, just enough had healed by the time she withdrew the spear that strings of skin had kept the severed parts together. The head popped away and there was some chatter further down before it popped back up. A heartbeat later the silhouette of the Silver Spears disappeared, the water rippling without cause. How long would that last? Delos was too great a fortress to easily fall, but it would not stand alone against three cities and the priests of Atalante had no yearning to break a holy oath freshly sworn. It was a pleasant night out, especially with a bottle of wine and stolen roasted chicken to gnaw on. Power tore at power, tearing at the edge of the sorcerous gate, and it was with amusement that Rumena saw a long beam of Hateful Light spear upwards from somewhere in the city, cutting at the edge of another gate. “We were taken into Rat Company at the same time, you know,” Kilian eventually said. Dead cataphracts were piled up in a makeshift pyramid, with the two corpses Nilin rested on recognizable even from where I stood: the Exiled Prince and his Page, both still in full armour. All he was achieving was further destabilizing the gate, not breaking it. The matters down south had turned against her and she would admit that the Stygian coup had been a complete surprise, but General Basilia’s victories brought opportunity with them. Special Tribune Robber of the Rock Breaker tribe threw himself to the side, landing in sprawl as the dead scrabbled at him. Is that a kingdom of undead, or an opening into a Hell? The Black Queen’s own favourite trick had been turned against the Fourth Army, and the results were a bloody ruin. Eyes closed the orc began to breathe in and out evenly. Neshamah did not just intend to win here: he was going to win everywhere and all at once. What else was there to do, when the world was so ugly, but to bring a sliver of beauty in it? But she would take it seriously, the First Prince told herself. The other Named pulsed with a stolen aspect coming from a head and tried to force the construct back, but Roland kept pushing sorcery into the gate and amplifying the flow with the human head. The barricade was covered in soot and blood, but the legionaries manning it seemed in a decent enough mood as the opened their shields to let him through. There were still a few skeletons in the way, but Robber slipped by after hamstringing one from behind with a laugh. “My acquisition of the barrel did not go unremarked, and I am now pursued by an entire flock of –”. “Impressive,” the Drake complimented even as he struck. It was like ants trying to wrestle a lizard. On the bright side, Indrani had just been given a moment to breathe so she reached for the pouch at her side and carefully unfolded the green cloth folded within before sliding it down the length of both her blades and tossing it to the side.
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