The Crown of the Usurper

by Gav Thorpe

  The king dared not look at the enemy in case his own courage failed him. Instead he fixed his stare on the warriors in the front ranks as he rode past, as if daring them to defy him by running away. When he reached the companies of Donar's legion, he hear talk rippling through the army, surprised shouts sounding out from in front and behind him. Some of the legionnaires were pointing towards the foe, but with expressions of surprise rather than horror.

  Pulling on the reins, Ullsaard turned Blackfang so he could see what had caused such a reaction. The Eulanui were no more than a few hundred paces away, but the tide of black washing across the hills was slowing, coming to a stop. The whirling cloud that had birthed them had disappeared, leaving a hilltop that had been scoured down to bare rock. Yet it was not this that had drawn the attention of the legionnaires.

  On a ridge beyond where the camp had stood came a broad swathe of colour; blues and reds and greens pricked by the spark of sun on metal. It was a host of men, marching beneath fluttering banners, and beyond the crest of the ridge could be seen wind-filled sails as landships, a score and more of them, trundled into view.

  Ullsaard judged the Salphorian army to be at least fifty thousand strong and more were still crossing the crest of the ridge.

  Between the Salphors and the Askhans, the Eulanui baulked, unsure which foe to turn against. Ullsaard doubted such creatures knew the meaning of fear, but he hoped they did. He raised his spear again, drawing the eyes of his men to him.

  "This is it! The provinces of Askhor lie ravaged, our loved ones slaughtered, our homes destroyed because of these creatures. Now they lie at our mercy. Now we bring down the wrath of Askhor and make them know that these lands belong to men, not their kind. Attack, attack and let not one of the cunts escape!"

  X

  Ullsaard had known war for his whole life, but the carnage of that last battle was greater than anything he had ever witnessed. Cornered, the Eulanui fought to the last, and fully two-thirds of the Askhans who had marched with him lay dead or were disintegrated by the battle's end. The slain were as thick as the pebbles on a beach, the Salphors' suffering no less a toll from their army. The burning husks of landships struck by unnatural lightning spilled a blot of smoke across the reddening sky, and slicks of lava from destroyed Askhan machines flickered on the bare slopes. The ground was blackened by the filth of the dead Eulanui, their crumpled corpses mounds of darkness that slowly withered in the light of the setting sun.

  There were many amongst the dead whom Ullsaard had known, and several he had once called friends. Donar had been split from crotch to throat by a whipping, barb-tipped limb. The sharp-tongued Loordin had lost his head to a slashing tentacle. There was nothing left of Anasind to place on a pyre, the general having been obliterated by the touch of feeder tendrils. Others too, from the ranks and the officers of all the legions whose names would be added to the long roll in the Hall of Askhos. Never in Ullsaard's life had he counted the cost of victory so highly; so high that it felt like defeat. There were few untouched by injury. Muuril was amongst them, the companion caked head-to-toe in the drying ichor of the inhuman dead.

  Erlaan-Orlassai had survived too, though he had lost almost all of his warriors. Nearly eighty thousand Mekhani slain, the men of the desert had paid the highest price of all to defeat their former masters. Their warped king approached the survivors of Askh and Salphoria while his followers sent up howls and wails of lament into the skies.

  When all was done, what was left of the Askhan and Salphorian armies faced each other across a charnel field, each king standing at the centre of his exhausted warriors. It was Aegenuis who approached first, waving his chieftains back as they made to follow him. Ullsaard dismounted and threw Blackfang's reins to Captain Gelthius, who caught them awkwardly, his left arm wrapped in an improvised bandage from shoulder to wrist.

  "Still want me to call you king?" Aegenuis asked as the two men met a few paces apart. The Salphor jabbed a thumb at the horde of warriors behind him. "We're ready to go again if you are."

  "No," Ullsaard replied.

  "You'll not be wanting this then?" The Salphorian king turned and waved to his chieftains. Two of them emerged from the huddle, dragging between them the limp form of a man. They dropped him in the dirt and Aegenuis rolled him over with his foot, revealing the contorted face of Urikh. His throat had been ripped out, but in his hand he still clutched the Crown, slicked red with blood. Aegenuis stooped to prise the Crown from dead fingers and handed it to Ullsaard. The Askhan looked at it, and then tossed it back onto Urikh's chest.

  "He can keep it; it never fit me anyway," said the king.

  Ullsaard laughed as Aegenuis produced a wineskin from under his cloak, took a draught and then offered it across. The Askhan king swallowed a mouthful, recognising the vintage. "This is from Apili?"

  "I still had a little left," confessed Aegenuis.

  "I don't understand how you come to be here, not that I am ungrateful."

  The Salphor's reply was interrupted by the arrival of Erlaan. Aegenuis shied away from the bestial giant, eyes looking to Ullsaard for reassurance. The Askhan king could offer none, remembering Erlaan's threat to destroy the victors to claim the empire for himself.

  "Good to see you alive, Ullsaard," said the desert ruler.

  "Is it? I'm certainly pleased about it."

  "You two have unfinished business," said Aegenuis, "I can see that. I will leave you to to your discussion."

  "Stay," said Erlaan and the Salphor stopped mid-turn, gripped by rune-enchanted speech. "You have as much right to divide what remains as anyone. Your men fought bravely today."

  "Yes, and many widows and orphans there are tonight in Salphoria because of it," replied Aegenuis, sighing long and deep. "I do not know if the peoples will recover from this."

  Ullsaard looked up at Erlaan's face and chose his next words carefully.

  "My promise stands," said Ullsaard. "I name you heir to the empire. I cannot guarantee that the people will accept you, but I will not oppose you taking the throne."

  "I hold you to your word," said Erlaan.

  "I would ask one favour though, for the good of the empire."

  "Voice it without expectation," replied Erlaan.

  "Give Salphoria back to the Salphors. Greater Askhor and Salphoria have both been brought to the edge of ruin by the ambition of Lakhyri and Askhos. Deny them by forging a new alliance, one of trust, not enmity. I have been a conqueror my whole life, but you could do things another way. An easier way, maybe."

  Erlaan turned his golden eyes to Aegenuis. The Salphor shrugged.

  "I would speak to the chieftains and ease the anger of these past few years," said Aegenuis. "They are proud, but they will listen, I hope."

  "And do you think that a Salphor army can cross into Greater Askhor, attack our cities without retaliation?" growled Erlaan. "You chose to side with Ullsaard today, but only out of self-interest. You sought to take lands from the empire while it was weak."

  "Now, about that, I have to explain," said the Salphorian king. "Anasind wanted me to put down the rebellion raised by my son. I caught up with Medorian after he had crossed into Ersua and attacked one of your cities. Marradan, it is called. He flew the family colours, not me. It was then that we heard stories, of Askh overthrown and legions clashing again. There were all kinds of tales, but I knew the truth of them and knew Ullsaard was up to his neck in someone else's shit, as usual. We headed towards the dawn looking for you, Ullsaard, and came across towns that had been wiped out by the dark spirits. Your Brotherhood had not destroyed our knowledge of the spirits, light and dark, and we knew what manner of creature would take whole towns. Everything was left dead behind them. It was not difficult to follow them here. I am glad we arrived in time."

  "Just in time," said Ullsaard.

  "That's usually the way of things," Aegenuis said philosophically. "So what do you want to do now, Ullsaard?"

  The king looked over his shoulder and smiled.

&
nbsp; "I'm going back to camp to get my wife and I'm going to have sex with her like this was our last day on earth. After that, tomorrow, maybe the day after, I think I'll head down the Greenwater, or maybe see what lies Duskwards of Carantathi."

  "Men who eat the flesh of other men, I have heard," said Aegenuis. "You are not staying in Askh?"

  "Not a fucking chance," replied Ullsaard, looking at Erlaan. "I just saved the empire. Some other poor bastard can put it back together again."

  XI

  Listening to Ullsaard giving up his claim to the throne, letting the Salphors simply walk away, made Askhos rage. Yet his torment went unheard; Ullsaard was oblivious to the dead king's ranting.

  He realised that he had suffered the very fate of those that he had possessed, driven into a corner of Ullsaard's mind, never to be heard from again, unable to see or touch or smell or interact with any part of the living world.

  Askhos's frustrated screams went unheard.

  A Guide to the Lands and People of Mekha

  The lands called Mekha by the Askhans lie far to hotwards of the centre of the empire, the region of Near-Mekha bordered by Okhar, Anrair and Ersua. The exact size of Mekha is unknown for the majority of it had never been explored, even by the Mekhani who dwell there.

  Mekha is for the most part desert, giving way to scrub in the coldwards region of Near-Mekha, and to equatorial jungles where the Greenwater flows through the dawnwards stretch of desert. Although arid, Mekha is not lifeless and there are many oases where the Mekhani can raise goats and take water.

  Natural Resources

  Though lacking in flora, Mekha has much dangerous and sizeable fauna. Most noticeable are the behemodons, towering lizard creatures bigger than an Askhan townhouse. The Mekhani build howdahs on the backs of these creatures and use them as beasts of burden to drag huge sleds of stores across the deserts. Some Mekhani tribes live wholly in the howdahs of their behemodons while others use them only as transport.

  Another common beast of the desert is the lacertil. These reptiles run low to the ground and have a knobbled, armoured back and flat bodies. The Mekhani trim spinal growths from these creatures to fit saddles and use them as long-range steeds for scouting and skirmishing in war, and for messengers and trading perishable goods in peace.

  The tanned hides of these creatures are used to make armour for warriors, tents, sleds and many other goods. Sinew is used for bows and tent ropes, while the meat is edible, if somewhat stringy. Snakes and smaller lizards form a major part of the Mekhani diet, supplemented by cacti fruit and other succulents found in Near-Mekha. Those tribes that live close to the Greenwater trade fruit and fish with those further from the river, so that the majority of the major trade routes run duskwards to dawnwards.

  Peoples

  The Mekhani live in a loose conglomeration of tribes, and all Mekhani are identified by their dark red skin – a hereditary trait that the Mekhani people have possessed for several thousand years. There is constant war between these different groups, for resources are scarce and the people of the desert hot-headed and proud.

  Each tribe is led by a shaman-chief, a position passed on by an apprentice system rather than hereditary right. They are aided by dynastic chieftains, who carry out day-to day-business, while the shaman-chiefs concentrate on the preservation of knowledge – the legends and myths of the peoples, the hunting grounds and hidden waterways, the bloodlines of the chieftains and so on.

  The shaman-chiefs do not marry and any children born to them by their many sexual partners are bastards and forced from the tribe to join another, if they can find one that will accept them. Sexual promiscuity amongst unmarried males and females is expected amongst the Mekhani, although once a partner is found for marriage the commitment is for life. Only married couples are allowed to produce children for the tribe – women who become pregnant before they are married must find a man to marry them or be banished when their child is born, usually to die in the desert. This behaviour ensures that the tribes never become too big to feed or find water for, whilst ensuring that great warriors and shaman-chiefs remain with their people.

  History

  The Mekhani know little of their history, except that which they maintain in the ancient songs and stories, and these tales vary from tribe to tribe. There are some beliefs that unite the Mekhani together. All the tribes believe that they came from a great oasis called Oogaro, and when they die their bodies fall beneath the sands and their souls descend into Samanoa, the fires that consume the Mekhani dead and dries the waters. All Mekhani know that there used to be a time when they were ruled over by a single king, Orlassai, and no other Mekhani has called himself king since.

  Orlassai was the uniter, who brought the tribes of the desert together under the protection of the great night. Though they did not understand the nature of their new masters, the Mekhani were recruited to become the footsoldiers of the Eulanui during one of the incursions made by the creatures into the realm of mortal men.

  The Mekhani had an empire even larger than that of Askh, centred on the city of Akkamaro, now lost in the deep desert. It was in Akkamaro that the Mekhani raised a great temple to the Eulanui. The Mekhani under Orlassai fought against the Nemurians, who at that time ruled over the lands coldwards of Mekha. Mekha itself was not the desert it has now become, but was fed by many waterways, a verdant place of life and beauty. It was only the consumption of the Eulanui that created the barren wilderness Mekha is in the present day.

  When the Nemurians were victorious in their war and the Eulanui driven from the mortal world, Orlassai disappeared and the empire of Akkamaro faltered. The temple vanished and the city was swallowed by the sands, taking with it the leaders of the Mekhani civilisation. Hunters, warriors and farmers were left to wander the desolation that remained. These itinerant groups tried their best to survive and maintain what they could of the height of their civilisation but as they grew more tribal, knowledge was lost and the battle for survival turned thoughts away from architecture, mathematics and literature. Over the hundreds of years that followed, all Akkamaron culture was lost entirely, save for a few legends.

  Every now and then, when the veil between worlds grows thinner, the shaman-chiefs feel the pull of the ancient temple. They led their tribes to the Calling, pulled by an instinct they cannot understand. The Calling is a time of cooperation and peace, which unknown to the Mekhani takes place above the ruins of dead Akkamaro. As worlds move apart once more and the veil grows thicker, the Calling comes to an end and the tribes disperse, returning to their nomadic ways.

  Glossary

  People

  Aalek – Member of the Brotherhood, assigned to watch over Luia in Askh.

  Addiel – Novice Brother at the precinct of Thedraan.

  Adral – Governor of Nalanor.

  Aduris – Legionnaire of the Thirteenth.

  Aegenuis – Former king of Salphoria, father of Medorian.

  Aghali – Salphor chieftain, advisor to Aegenuis.

  Allenya – Eldest of Ullsaard's wives and mother of Jutaar. As matriarch of the family, she is responsible for the running of the household, and tempering the worst excesses of her sisters.

  Allon – Governor of Enair. Ullsaard served in Allon's provincial legion before gaining the patronage of Prince Aalun. He later returned for a while as first captain. Jutaar served in Allon's legion.

  Anasind – First captain of the Thirteenth Legion, later Askhan general.

  Anglhan Periusis – Formerly a debt guardian of Salphoria and owner of a landship. Colluded with Ullsaard in the taking of Magilnada and later governor of the city. When Askhan forces razed the city, the treacherous governor had escaped.

  Anriit – Noran's surviving wife, older sister of Neerita.

  Ansarril – Askhan chieftain, first Companion to Askhos.

  Ariid – Chief servant of Ullsaard's household.

  Artiides – Steward of Noran at Geria, former legionnaire of the XVII.

  Asirkhyr – Hieropha
nt of the Temple.

  Askhan – Collective term for both the native people from the tribes of Askhor and those peoples brought into the empire of Greater Askhor.

  Askhos – First King of the Askhans, founder of the empire and sire of the Blood. Charismatic and ambitious, Askhos united the tribes of Askhor and subjugated the surrounding peoples to create the fledgling Greater Askhor. Before his death, Askhos laid down his teachings and beliefs in the Book of Askhos, a tome of law, military organisation and customs revered by many people throughout the empire and rigidly adhered to by the Brotherhood.