by Rob J. Hayes
Our journey home took time. We had just three trei birds and on those we mounted Josef and the two children. I walked with Hardt and Tamura, and we did not walk fast. A part of that was the pain of my injuries, and a part of it was dread anticipation. I feared what waited for us back at my city, and I feared even more facing it without Ssserakis. Yet my fears were unfounded. Imiko had held the city together well in my absence, had even expanded its influence, bringing new villages under my banner. Did I forget to mention? They made me a banner, a symbol the people could wear proudly. A hanging corpse. Fitting, it might be, but I would have preferred something a little less morbid. Unfortunately, it was decided in my absence and the people were not mutable to change on the subject. My throne had been sculpted by the best masons the survivors of the Pit had to offer and had been fashioned to look like bones and screaming skulls. The Corpse Queen sitting upon the Corpse Throne. Is there any wonder my reputation has spread so far and wide?
Despite her competency, Imiko was glad to see us, and even more glad to hand off her many duties. Chief among them had been looking after Sirileth, and I could see my daughter had grown a little in my absence. Her skin was fair and soft, her hair almost as dark as my own, and her eyes were still the darklight of an eclipse. She was a noisy child even then, always screaming, always demanding, and my heart soared to hold her in my arm again. I think she missed the presence of Ssserakis within me almost as much as I did. I like to believe that Ssserakis missed us both also.
I have been to the Other World many times in the ethereal form of an Impomancer. I study the world and its inhabitants, make notes in my copy of the Encyclopaedia Otheria. I think my personal copy is the only one with details on all the lords of Sevoari. It is information I do not let others see for good reason, but I gather what I can from their world and their minions. You never know when some fool Sourcerer might manage to bring a true monster across. I look for Ssserakis, always, I look for my horror, but without its guidance, I struggle to find its territory. Sevoari is a big place, after all, an entire world, and I am just one woman. There is only so much I can explore. I'll keep looking. Trying to find the other part of myself in a world that is both alien and familiar all at once.
We have, in all of us, the potential for greatness. To reach higher and achieve more than those who came before. I was born to a basket weaver and an herb gatherer, yet I have worn the mantle of a queen. I have fought against gods, and also by their side. I even killed a god once... or at least a fragment of one. I gave birth to a monster. I taught terror itself to fear me, and to love me. I changed the world, perhaps not for the better, but I changed it by my will.
It is my hope that my children, both those I brought into the world and those I raised, will take my life by example. Do not repeat my mistakes but make your own and learn from them. See the world for what it is, but also for what it can be. Work hard to change what you can, and perhaps even harder to change what you can't. Don't walk into Arcstorms or wear any crowns of fire. Find love. Find hate. Find the balance between them.
I have gone on too long, rambling when I should be succinct. Know this: This is not where my story ends, but only where I choose to end the telling of it. For now.
I have heard it said that I was at my most dangerous when I had something to die for.
But I've always been stronger when I have something to live for.
Thank you all for reading The War Eternal and I hope you have enjoyed Eskara's story. This series has been the toughest thing I have ever written. It has challenged me in ways I never anticipated and been the cause of enough tears to float a fleet of demonships. It has brought me to the edge of what I thought I was capable of as an author, and then pushed me over that edge into the yawning abyss. And yet, I have never been as proud of anything I have I written.
When I started writing this series, I set out to make it mean something. I wanted to write something that was important. I wanted to unleash a character upon the world who was flawed and defiant and driven by deep emotion, a character who unashamedly announced to the world that she was there and she was not afraid to be herself. It turns out I was far more afraid of letting Eska out in the world than she was of striding into it, which is why it took me so long to get around to publishing it. Hopefully the rapid release has made up for that a little.
I have laughed and cried with Eska, Hardt, Tamura, and Josef, and I guess the most I can hope for is that so have some of you. Thank you for reading.
Oh, and one last thing. The trilogy is complete, but The War Eternal series is not. There are still two more books to come… I just haven't written them yet. But keep an eye out because Eskara will continue recounting her life to you all in the fourth book, The Sins of the Mother.
- Rob
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Books by Rob J. Hayes
The War Eternal
Along the Razor's Edge
The Lessons Never Learned
From Cold Ashes Risen
The Mortal Techniques
Never Die
The Ties that Bind
The Heresy Within
The Colour of Vengeance
The Price of Faith
First Earth Stand Alone
City of Kings
Best Laid Plans
Where Loyalties Lie
The Fifth Empire of Man
It Takes a Thief...
It Takes a Thief to Catch a Sunrise
It Takes a Thief to Start a Fire
Science Fiction
Drones
Copyright ©2020 Rob J. Hayes
(http://www.robjhayes.co.uk)
Cover image ©2020 Felix Ortiz
Cover design ©2020 Shawn King
Edited by Sarah Chorn
All rights reserved.
