"You cannot prevent Mar from escaping into undertime."
"That is true, but I am not going to the bridge. I am going to the Monolith."
"If you harm Telriy, Mar will destroy you. He is a wizard now and there is no place in space and time that you will be able to hide from him."
"I know this."
"Then what do you plan?"
"You will see."
nhBreen checked the contents of his knapsack, took out the pistol, and then slid the strap onto his shoulder. He operated the slide of the weapon, dry fired it twice to make sure he was comfortable with the trigger mechanism, then inserted a full clip and took a deep breath as he waited for the precise moment.
"This is suicide."
"Shut up." nhBreen tapped the bracelet.
The sucking scream of undertime was like no magic that the sorcerer had previously experienced and its buffeting energy left him stunned for a number of seconds after he emerged into the dark, dust filled cavity. The blocks of the broken building continued to shift above his head with grating sounds that threatened imminent collapse. The space was only a few paces across and too low for him to straighten to his full height, leaving him in an uncomfortable stoop. Just as his dream had predicted, he had arrived at the rear of the cavity in an alcove formed by the single standing wall section and a leaning column.
Just a little more than an armlength and a half in front of him, Telriy, her newborn, and the two women that nhBreen had foreseen, Yhejia and Aunt Whelsi, were crouched together under a sturdy table. Their backs were to him and they had not noticed his soundless appearance.
"They'll be digging to get us out," Yhejia assured the softly weeping mother.
"We'll make it," Aunt Whelsi agreed, patting Telriy's shoulder. "I've got too much to do to stay in here."
The girl wept not for fear but for sadness, nhBreen knew. She was bound to Mar by ethereal connections woven by emotion, by her own choice, and by the life of the child that they had created together. Through those connections, she knew that Mar had returned and that a tragic future drew nigh.
nhBreen remained still. He had arrived in the precise spot required to have a direct line of fire when the proper moment arrived.
The Republican officer Sari had been an assassin and her pistol an assassin's weapon. Every component was absolutely vacant of any whiff of ether. The frame and slugs were impervious to spells. A highly guarded state secret, the propellants of the cartridges had used no magic whatsoever in any stage of their manufacture and the formula included materials so rare that one cartridge had cost the same as a fully armed combat flyer.
Specifically, the pistol had been designed to kill sorcerers. The slugs would ignore combat wards, glamours, hexes, and the sort of direct manipulation that Mar was capable of. Originally, nhBreen had searched for such a device in order to have the ability to eliminate Mar should the need arise. His dream had shown him a better use for the device.
"We should have the naming of the baby," Yhejia said, fighting a frown. "If ... well, we should just have it."
nhBreen knew the concern that troubled the woman. It was a commonly held belief that a child that died without a name could not be called by the Gods into the afterworld and would forever haunt the world of the living as a destitute spirit.
"Yes," Aunt Whelsi agreed with an artificially cheerful smile. "It's not fit that a girl should brave the world long without a name. What shall we call her?"
Telriy drew a deep breath, steadied, and said, "Mar said to name her Gherihy, but I don't want that future -- not with the way that it will be. Her name will be Celly, in honor of my mother."
"A fine name --" Aunt Whelsi began, then gasped when the wizard stepped from undertime to appear crouched at the front of the cavity.
His face locked in an uncaring expression, Zso instantly raised his hand to incinerate the three women and the child with a flash of ethereal fire.
Before the wizard could complete the gesture, nhBreen calmly raised the pistol and shot him through the eye.
The Key to Magic concludes in Book VII: Thief (2014)
Addendum
The Forty-Nine (give or take) Gods
(One scholarly accounting numbers the Forty-Nine at three hundred and eight distinct deities. This sum is, naturally, subject to strident dispute.)
Aenhishk'lhe, Stepchild of the Leafy Goddess
Awandrehachor, God of Poems and Sonnets
Alosth, Sublime Half-Quarter-Goddess of the Rapine of Civilization
Bhalrgam, Mystical Lord of the Fleet of Foot
Bhenthiabuka, God of Condiments
Bhist-gem-naet, fertility goddess
Bhurghrah, God of Waste, Sewage, and Refuse
Bhizg'g, God of the Malformed and patron of all beggars.
Bligyld, Goddess of Eternal Hatred.
Borloi'gh'nyh, Archfriend of Arsonists and Clumsy Fools
Chaoel, Ascending Goddess of the Marvelous Loom
Cyhalis’ts’psqo, God of Boats, ships, rafts, and buckets of all sorts
Ephtehg’rha, Lord of Shipwrecks
Fflygao, the Under Oligarch of Foliage
Gheshuai -- Chief Suzerain of Unhappy Marriages, Cuckolds, and Oppressed Husbands
Gwolth, Invisible Ultimate Priestess of the Arcane Rites of Sand
Gz’l, God of Heretics
J'yorstagnoephiactle, Patron of Rat Catchers.
Knorthrha the Night God
Luftorh, God of the Oceans
Lyrgrh, Goddess of Ignorance, Maladroit Craftsmen, and Clumsy Jests
Mhokh, God of Death
Mehl-shzu, God of Nautical Trades
Myrae’n the Snake Goddess
Myd, Goddess of Wayward Travellers, Misapplied Repairs, and Faulty Directions.
Nhal-bhy-chu, Goddess Mother of Chance Events
Nhish, Goddess of Grain
N'm, God of Seafood
Oahkthegk, God-Regent of mountains and deserts (and all ancillary terrain, inhabitants, and conditions)
Oos'ghlsiana, Mistress of Forests, Seedlings, and Shade.
Pernaphrhan, Overseer of Trickery
Phisitia, Benefactor of the Kind.
Plegh, The Unknowing God
Ptem-ko-ah, God of the Outerworld
Pwrll, Upright Goddess of Household Pets. The Seventy-Eight Handmaidens of Pwrll are often depicted as animalistic spirits in the forms of cats and dogs.
Phrusht, Guardian of the Drowned
Rwalkahn, Demigod of Righteous Vengeance
Rwalkahn, in his rival persona as 32nd Avatar of Pernaphrhan
S'lskaigho, Protector of Forgotten Things
Shurzha, God of Purity
Soohlmed, God of Idiocy
Thiallia, Goddess of Compassion
Trhoozh, Master of Luck
W’aerliq, God of Forests, Meadows, and Trees in general. In some cultures, also the God of the Hunt.
z'm, Demigoddess of Jocularity
Zzgssii, the Leafy Goddess, whose various incarnations are distinguished by the placement of key leaves in her bodice
Zsnigh-mhi, Demigod of Tile roofs, Sheds, and Cisterns
Military Ranks of the Reconstituted Empire
(Adapted from Mhajhkaeirii'n practice)
Prince-Commander –Supreme commander of all Mhajhkaeirii forces.
High Captain – Marine rank. Commands a brigade (five troops).
Knight-Commander – Legion rank. Commands five legions. (Corps)
Captain – Marine rank. Commands a full Troop (400 men)
Coirneal (Imperial Addition) -- Legion and marine rank.
Maidsear (Imperial Addition) -- Legion and marine rank.
Commander – Legion rank. Commands a full Legion (1000 men)
Vice-Captain – Marine rank. Commands a half-troop (200 men)
Subaltern – Marine rank. Commands a quarter-troop (100 men)
Vice-Commander –Legion Rank. Commands five sections (500 men).
Legate – Legion rank. Commands a S
ection (100 men).
Quaestor -- Legion Quartermaster rank equivalent to Subaltern/Legate.
Fugleman – Commands a file (6 quads, 25 men including the Fugleman)
Ceannaire -- Commands of a quad
Legionnaire
Superior Armsman -- Militia rank
Trainee
Table of Contents
Title Page
Other Works:
Forthcoming:
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
TWENTY-FIVE
TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN
TWENTY-EIGHT
TWENTY-NINE
THIRTY
THIRTY-ONE
THIRTY-TWO
THIRTY-THREE
THIRTY-FOUR
THIRTY-FIVE
THIRTY-SIX
THIRTY-SEVEN
THIRTY-EIGHT
THIRTY-NINE
FORTY
FORTY-ONE
FORTY-TWO
FORTY-THREE
Addendum
Military Ranks of the Reconstituted Empire
Wizard (The Key to Magic) Page 26
