Precious Little Things
Page 3
But their unliving things, their goods and gear, remain untouched, just as the Homunculi themselves are untouched. One by one the magicians creep out and look down on their handiwork, and know that their people and their civilisation have survived the first great test of extinction.
For they were rich and we are poor, Liat thinks. And they would have taken everything we had and everything we were, and counted it as but little.
The next day, the magicians and leaders of the tribes meet and cautiously begin to discuss what happens next. A few claim that no more giants will come, but most accept that their years of isolation are at an end. They do not know if Red Coat was counted a great magician of its kind, or just an apprentice. The next to visit may not be so easily dealt with.
Liat talks and, when she does, they listen. Liat speaks of the wider world from whence the giants came. She speaks of magic that is not the Source but can be drawn upon. She speaks of colonies built around the magically charged devices the giants brought. She speaks of making new devices, seeds for a diaspora of the Homunculi. Wherever there is power, they can craft their children and give them life. She speaks of how far a raven can fly. She speaks of not waiting for the world to come to them.
They cannot make war on the giants, and if the giants come to them again, all their tribes and ways may end.
“So let us go to their world,” she tells the council. “Let us find our way into their homes. Let us carve at their wealth. Let us overhear their words. Let us learn their ways and their magic. And, when we are ready to offer peace to them, let us have grown strong enough to fight if they refuse.”
About the Author
Adrian Tchaikovsky is the author of the acclaimed Shadows of the Apt fantasy series and the epic science fiction blockbuster Children of Time. He has been nominated for the David Gemmell Legend Award and a British Fantasy Society Award. In civilian life he is a lawyer, gamer and amateur entomologist. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Begin Reading
About the Author
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Art copyright © 2019 by Red Nose Studio