by Ian Irvine
‘Why would I do such a thing?’
Why indeed? It was the one question to which Llian had no answer. Then inspiration struck.
‘You wanted Skald to defeat you and take the construct to Skyrock because Lirriam means everything to you. It was your one chance of getting her back.’
‘That would be desperately reckless,’ said Rulke. ‘And I’m not a reck–’
‘Cobblers! You’re famous for reckless daring – like the time you led the Hundred out of the void to Aachan and almost single-handedly took the Aachim’s world from them.’
‘I was young and impetuous back then.’
‘You were also recklessly bold after you freed yourself from the Nightland. And you still are – you thrive on impossible conflicts. What if Tiaan had been unable to control the construct, and it had crashed?’
Rulke shrugged. ‘There was no other way to save Lirriam.’
‘We could all have been killed.’
‘It was a strong possibility, even though I was subtly channelling power to the controls. If I hadn’t, Tiaan would have been dead before the construct reached the other side of the Sea of Thurkad. No old human could channel that much power, and live.’
‘A wonder Skald didn’t realise what you were doing.’
‘He has an overly high opinion of himself. And I was banking on the Merdrun’s lack of experience with our mech-magical devices. Even so, it was a dangerous night; it could easily have gone wrong.’
‘It still can. You’ve made it possible for them to realise their age-old goal, whatever it is. What are they going to do to us then?’
‘I don’t know, Chronicler, but I had to risk all to gain all.’
‘Or lose all.’
‘Or lose all,’ Rulke repeated soberly. ‘Everything – the fate of the Three Worlds and four human species, and you and I – rests on my gamble.’
Another question occurred to Llian. ‘Your original construct could make gates and jump from one place to another. Can this one?’
‘I wish it could, but there isn’t a field on Santhenar that can deliver enough power, these days. Get to bed. You had a hard night.’
‘I’m afraid to go to bed,’ said Llian.
Rulke looked around sharply. ‘Because Skald began to drink your life?’
‘Yes. And he started on you first. Are you –?’
‘You may want to relive it, Chronicler, but I do not.’
Llian did not want to relive it either, but when he lay on his hard bunk in the dark he was hurled back to that ghastly moment – the worst of his life.
The blind terror of seeing and feeling his life force being drawn out of him and into Skald. The unnatural cold that had crept through Llian’s body, the deathly weakness and unbearable pain, and his utter inability to do anything to save himself.
The revulsion that had come from experiencing the emotions and the foulness of a mind that could do such things to another human, and enjoy it. A mind that revelled in the power while he fed on his victim’s helpless terror.
It was sickening to experience, second-hand, the ecstasy that Llian’s precious life was giving to Skald. And he had been shaken by the realisation that Skald might use up, or even waste, the power gained from drinking his entire life, in a few moments of sorcery.
Worse still was the emptiness of the soul that had followed. People were monsters and life was futile.
Worst of all, Llian could not stop imagining it happening again, his terror conflicting with an inexplicable desire for Skald to begin drinking his life anew, and for the sick union with another human that could be gained in no other way – even if the life drinking went all the way to completion.
Other Books by Ian Irvine
BUY EBOOKS
BUY AUDIOBOOKS
* * *
THE THREE WORLDS EPIC FANTASY SEQUENCE
* * *
THE VIEW FROM THE MIRROR QUARTET
A Shadow on the Glass
The Tower on the Rift
Dark is the Moon
The Way Between the Worlds
* * *
THE WELL OF ECHOES QUARTET
Geomancer
Tetrarch
Scrutator
Chimaera
* * *
THE SONG OF THE TEARS TRILOGY
The Fate of the Fallen
The Curse on the Chosen
The Destiny of the Dead
* * *
THE GATES OF GOOD AND EVIL
(sequel to The View from the Mirror)
The Summon Stone
The Fatal Gate
The Perilous Tower
The Sapphire Portal
* * *
A Wizard’s War (shorter Three Worlds stories)
* * *
RELATED EPIC FANTASY
THE TAINTED REALM TRILOGY
Vengeance
Rebellion
Justice
* * *
ECO-THRILLERS
* * *
THE HUMAN RITES TRILOGY
The Last Albatross
Terminator Gene
The Life Lottery
* * *
FOR YOUNGER READERS
* * *
THE RUNCIBLE JONES QUARTET
Runcible Jones, The Gate to Nowhere
Runcible Jones and The Buried City
Runcible Jones and the Frozen Compass
Runcible Jones and the Backwards Hourglass
* * *
THE GRIM AND GRIMMER QUARTET
The Headless Highwayman
The Grasping Goblin
The Desperate Dwarf
The Calamitous Queen
* * *
THE SORCERER’S TOWER QUARTET
Thorn Castle
Giant’s Lair
Black Crypt
Wizardry Crag
About the Author
Ian Irvine, an Australian marine scientist, has also written 34 novels and an anthology of shorter stories. His novels include the Three Worlds fantasy sequence (The View from the Mirror, The Well of Echoes, The Song of the Tears and The Gates of Good & Evil), which has been published in many countries and translations and has sold over sold over a million copies, a trilogy of eco-thrillers in a world of catastrophic climate change, Human Rites, now in its third edition, and 12 novels for younger readers.
* * *
BUY EBOOKS
* * *
BUY AUDIOBOOKS
