The Archon's Assassin

by D. P. Prior

  Silence fell.

  Even the Archon seemed to wait with bated breath.

  Slowly, inch by inch, Nameless drew the black axe from the malleable crystal of the casket. He held it before the great-helm’s eye-slit, studied it, as if he dared it to do something.

  “That’s it,” Aristodeus said. He licked his lips, circled away to Nameless’s left. “Focus now. Grip it tight. Use the full force of the gauntlets to break the haft. Don’t worry if it kicks back: the armor will protect you. And if it tries something else, something magical, you have the shield to soak it up. Concentrate now. Everything you’ve got. Everyth…”

  Nameless turned. Crimson burned from the eye-slit of the great helm. In his hands, the black axe throbbed, and flames of fuligin flared about its length. Inky threads crossed over to the gauntlets, the armor, the shield, and even the helm.

  “You see!” the Archon said. “Its evil spreads like a contagion. Did I not warn you?”

  “Deception,” Aristodeus breathed. “But I was certain.” He visibly wilted, looked around for support, but found none.

  “The axe is Supernal, too,” the Archon said. “Crafted by the homunculi under the direction of the Demiurgos himself, and far greater than anything forged by his cowering son. It harnesses the power of the other artifacts; uses it to overcome the wards of your scarolite helm. You leave me no choice.”

  He raised a porcelain hand. It blazed with argent.

  “Yeah,” Shadrak said, drawing both pistols. “And you leave me no choice.” He opened fire.

  The bullets melted before they made contact, and the Archon countered with bolt after bolt of silver lightning. Shadrak backflipped out of the way, but where the Archon’s blasts struck the floor, they sent up chunks of debris, and the force of the explosion slung him across the room. He hit the wall hard, dropped both guns, but he wasn’t finished yet.

  Nameless roared—a spine-chilling, demonic howl of madness. The black axe came up with murderous intent, but the Archon turned on him and unleashed a storm of lightning. Nameless blocked with the axe, but the lightning arced around it, formed a sparking net about the dwarf. Nameless fell to his knees as the net began to contract.

  Shadrak was up and running at the Archon, reaching into the never-full bag at his shoulder.

  Holding the net of lightning steady with one hand, the Archon took aim at Shadrak with the other. Silver streaked, but Shadrak tumbled beneath it and came up holding Blightey’s skull. Mottled jaws clacked, hellish eyes hungered with crimson ire—

  —And the Archon screamed.

  He raised his blazing hands to shield his face, and the silver web fell away from Nameless.

  The skull ignited with its own conflagration, and Shadrak let go, flinging himself out of harm’s way.

  For a moment, there was a frantic war of flames, but Blightey’s fire was stronger, more demanding, insatiable. His ruby eyes glared, scorched, excoriated. In their scathing light, the skull appeared to leer, as if the Liche Lord knew he had won.

  With a cry of rage, the Archon blazed hotter than a small sun. Fissures of quicksilver ran through Blightey’s skull, but still he didn’t waver in his death-locked gaze.

  The Archon shrieked, as the fire beneath his cowl stuttered and went out. In its place there was blackness. The blackness of oblivion. The skull jerked toward it, as if tugged by some invisible force. Its jaws opened wide in a silent scream, and then it shot into the darkness beneath the Archon’s hood and vanished. The Archon’s empty robe dropped to the floor. Within seconds, it was nothing but ash.

  “No,” Aristodeus said. “What have you done? You’ve destroyed the balance. The Archon was the only thing checking the Demiurgos.” He trembled like a man who’d at last lost control.

  And then Nameless powered into the philosopher, flung him aside like a rag doll. Before anyone could think to act, he let out a harrowing cry and ran at the wall of the control room.

  “Stop him!” Aristodeus cried as he tried to rise, but sagged down again.

  Shadrak whipped out a pistol, got off a shot, but it bounced off an armored calf. A second ricocheted from the backplate.

  Nameless launched himself at the wall and swung the black axe in a terrific arc. With a boom like an exploding star, the axe head sheered clean through scarolite, and smashed a hole out onto the bleached dust of the Dead Lands hundreds of feet below.

  Nameless turned to face Shadrak. The red glare from the eye-slit cried murder, and Shadrak took a step back. The fire giant’s gauntlets trembled on the axe, as if the dwarf were exerting tremendous pressure restraining it.

  “Friend,” Nameless said. His voice grated with the effort of getting that single word out.

  But Shadrak understood. He nodded, and lowered his gun.

  Then, with a howl of utter anguish, Nameless leapt through the hole in the wall.

  Shadrak cried out. He rushed to the opening, glanced down.

  Nameless landed in a squat, recovered as if it were nothing to fall so far, and set off at a sprint toward the Sour Marsh.

  Rhiannon reached Shadrak’s side, peered out with him. “What’s he doing? Where’s he going?”

  Aristodeus staggered to join them, clutching his ribs. He took in Rhiannon and Shadrak with a look of pure horror. His face was as ashen as the bone-dust below. When he spoke, it was in a voice devoid of hope; the voice of a man who’d thought himself smarter than everyone else, and then realized he’d been hoist by his own petard.

  “We must warn them. Warn the dwarves. The butcher is returning to Arx Gravis.”

  The story continues in

  Shader: Book 5: Rise of the Nameless Dwarf

  GLOSSARY

  ABEDNAGO,

  Homunculus. Member of the Sedition.

  ABYSS, the

  The creation of the Demiurgos. A realm of deception, demons, and tortured souls. The Abyss is accessible from Aethir via the gorges that lead down to Gehenna. Hangs over the mouth of the Void like a gaseous spider web.

  ADEPTUS

  Nousian clerical title, beneath Exemptus but above a priest.

  AEONIC TRIAD, the

  The three Supernal beings who fell through the Void: the Archon, Eingana, and the Demiurgos.

  AETERNA

  The Eternal City in Latia. Heart of the Nousian Theocracy.

  AETHIR (EE-theer)

  The world created from the Cynocephalus’s dreams, one side (Malkuth) light, the other (Qlippoth) dark and populated with creatures of nightmare.

  AIN (Ay-in)

  Father of Nous. The Source. The Concealed of the Concealed. The Supreme Being in Nousianism.

  ALBERT

  Assassin from Earth and colleague of Shadrak the Unseen. Former Sicarii, now a Night Hawk in New Jerusalem. An accomplished chef and poisoner.

  ALPHONSE LA ROCHE

  See the Gray Abbot.

  AMIDIO PODESTA

  Captain of the Aura Placida until deposed by Cleto (book 2: Best Laid Plans).

  ANCIENTS, the

  The people of the pre-Reckoning civilization on Earth.

  ARABOTH

  Paradise. The future world. The afterlife in Nousian belief.

  ARCHON, the (Arkon)

  Supernal being. Servant of the All-Father. Believed by the Templum to be an angel of Nous. Carried an enchanted Sword through the Void—Vade in Pacem. Used it to cut the Cynocephalus from Eingana’s womb.

  ARISTODEUS (Aris-toe-day-us)

  A philosopher, originally from Graecia on Earth.

  ARNOCH (Arnok)

  Mythical lost city of the ancient Dwarf Lords.

  ARX GRAVIS (Arx Grah-vis)

  “The Heavy Citadel.” A dwarven city within a ravine.

  AURA PLACIDA, the

  The ship Shader traveled back to Sahul from Aeterna aboard.

  BALADIN

  Legendary hero of the Elect.

  BALLBREAKER’S BLACK ALE

  Strong dwarven dark ale, brewed in Arx Gravis.

  BARDOL SHIN
<
br />   Investigator of the Templum Judiciary. Killed in Sahul by Deacon Shader in Book 1: Sword of the Archon.

  BAREK THOMAS

  Knight of the White order from Oakendale.

  BARTHOLOMEW SHIN

  Grand Investigator of the Templum Judiciary. Son of Bardol Shin.

  BEATRICE

  Galen’s horse.

  BENT HORRIGAN

  Poet and playwright.

  BEZALEEL

  Homunculus.

  BIG JAKE

  Member of the Night Hawks in New Jerusalem. Formidable arm-wrestler.

  BIRD

  Homunculus shapeshifter.

  BRINK

  Town in Malkuth on Aethir.

  BROKEN BRIDGE

  Village in Sahul, neighboring Oakendale.

  BUCK FARGIN

  Guild-member of the Night Hawks. Father of Nils.

  CADMAN, Dr. Ernst

  A liche. His body was taken over by Sektis Gandaw in Book 2: Best Laid Plans. His essence was sealed in a test tube within the Perfect Peak.

  CALEDON

  Horse given to Shader by Heredwin.

  CANE, Exemptus

  Elderly Exemptus of the Templum. Based in Aeterna.

  CARSON

  Soldier of the Great West, stationed in Britannia.

  CAUSA SALUTIS

  “The cause of our salvation.” Inscription on the pendant Shader was given by the dying “Fish” in New Jerusalem (book 3: The Unweaving).

  CHAROS

  A moon of Aethir.

  CLETO

  Crewman of the Aura Placida.

  CORDANA (CORDY)

  Dwarf woman. Old friend of Nameless, and wife of Thumil.

  CYNOCPEHALUS, the (Si-no-seph-alus)

  Dog-headed ape. Son of the Demiurgos and Eingana. Creator of Aethir and the hybrids. Maker of Gauntlets of Strength, a Shield of Warding, and Armor of Invulnerability, with which he sought to protect himself from his own nightmares, and his father, the Demiurgos.

  Afraid of the Jötunn, giants he dreamed into being, he gave his gauntlets to Sartis the fire giant, who used them to destroy his own kind.

  The darkest recesses of his mind open up onto his father’s abode, the Abyss. He was once terrorized by the Liche Lord, Otto Blightey, who stole his armor.

  DAME CONSILIA

  Society beauty, past her prime, from New Jerusalem. Appalling actress. Married to the guild boss, Koort Morrow.

  DAVE THE SLAVE

  Mysterious hunchback who claimed to be the Voice of Nous. Killed at Arx Gravis by Deacon Shader in Book 3: The Unweaving.

  DAVY FANA

  Brother of Ilesa.

  DEACON SHADER

  Former knight of the Templum Elect. Shader was born in Britannia and educated by the philosopher, Aristodeus.

  DEAD LANDS, the

  The desert of bone dust that surrounds the Perfect Peak, Sektis Gandaw’s mountain.

  DEAD MAN’S TORCH

  A beacon tower in Sahul. Used as a hideaway by Dr. Cadman.

  DEMIURGOS, the (Demi-ur-gos)

  The Deceiver. The Father of Lies. Fell through the Void with Eingana and the Archon. Raped his sister, Eingana. Father of the Cynocephalus. Driven to the brink of the Void by the Archon for his crime against Eingana. Sustained himself with the creation of the Abyss, where he is frozen in ice.

  DREAMERS

  Indigenous people of Sahul.

  DREAMING, the

  “Visionary” world of Sahul’s Dreamers. The world of Aethir.

  DWELLER, the

  A demon of the Abyss. First-begotten of the Demiurgos.

  DYBBUKS, the

  Guild of rogues in New Jerusalem. Led by Master Plaguewind.

  EDDIE

  Thecla Cawdor’s husband.

  EINGANA (Ay-in-gar-ner)

  Creator Goddess of the Dreamers. Sister of the Archon and the Demiurgos. Takes the form of an enormous snake. Also worshipped as a goddess of death, believed to hold all beings in existence by a thread.

  Gave birth to the Cynocephalus by the Archon cutting her womb open with the Sword, Vade in Pacem.

  Fled from the Technocrat Sektis Gandaw in the form of a snake. Protected by the Hybrids and the dwarves led by Maldark. Betrayed by Maldark to Sektis Gandaw and was petrified in amber.

  The Statue of Eingana was used by Huntsman to inaugurate the Reckoning.

  EKYLS

  Savage from the Mamba Tribe of Malkuth, Aethir.

  ELIAS WOLF

  The Bard of Broken Bridge. Former hippy musician from the Ancient world. Entrusted with the body of the Statue of Eingana, which prolonged his life. Killed by Dr. Cadman in book 2: Best Laid Plans, when the liche opened up a chasm to the Abyss, and Elias rode his motorcycle into it.

  ELECT, the

  Order of fighting monks within the Templum.

  ELGIN

  Knight of the White Order in Sahul.

  ELPIDIO

  Young lad. Crewman on the Aura Placida. Killed by mawgs in book 2: Best Laid Plans.

  ENNOI

  A moon of Aethir.

  ERLSTEIN

  Legendary hero of the Elect.

  EUGEN

  One of Lorgen’s Verusians. A tracker.

  EXEMPTUS

  Clerical title in the Templum. Second in rank only to the Ipsissimus.

  FENCIBLES

  Volunteer army. Home defense force.

  FISH

  Derogatory term for practitioners of “the Way” in New Jerusalem.

  GALEN

  An Elect Dragoon assigned to protect Adeptus Ludo.

  GASTON RAYN

  Leader of the White Order. Killed by the Sicarii in Book 2: Best Laid Plans.

  GAUNTLETS OF SARTIS, the

  Made by the Cynocephalus to double his own strength, but later given to the fire giant Sartis to enable him to destroy his own race.

  GEHENNA

  Underworld on Aethir that reaches to the core of the world. Gateway to the Abyss. Accessed through gorges across Malkuth and Qlippoth.

  GEORGE

  Resident of Wolfmalen in Verusia.

  GILBRUM

  Elf from Qlippoth charged with slowing the spread of the Sour Marsh into Malkuth.

  GLADIUS

  Short sword. The Sword of the Archon is a gladius.

  GLOBAL TECHNOCRACY

  Sektis Gandaw’s corporation on Earth.

  GOBLINS

  Creatures of Aethir dreamed by the Cynocephalus.

  GORDIAN KNOT, the

  A complex knot on the Nousian prayer cord that is considered impossible to untie. Nousians meditate by undoing knots of various degrees of difficulty, but the Gordian knot’s primary purpose is to maintain humility.

  GORD PELHAM

  Oakendale lad. Member of the White Order.

  GRALIA SHADER

  Foster mother of Deacon Shader.

  GRAY ABBOT, the

  Formerly Alphonse LaRoche. Founder of the Abbey of Pardes in Sahul. Rapidly aged and died in Book 1: Sword of the Archon after Callixus took his segment of the Statue of Eingana.

  GREAT WEST, the

  Large continent on Earth.

  HAGALLE

  Emperor of Sahul.

  HEREDWIN

  A daemon connected with the South of Britannia.

  HILDA

  A resident of Wolfmalen in Verusia.

  HOMESTEAD, the

  Tabletop mountain in Central Sahul. Most sacred site of the Dreamers.

  HOMUNCULUS (plural, Homunculi)

  Creatures of the Demiurgos. Begotten, not made. Sometimes called “deep gnomes”.

  HUNTSMAN

  Dreamer shaman. Formerly Adoni (“the Sunset”). Inaugurator of the Reckoning using the power of the Statue of Eingana to unleash the creatures of Qlippoth upon the Earth.

  HUSKS

  A name Malkuthians use for the nightmare creatures from Qlippoth.

  IGNATIUS GRYMM

  Grand Master of the Elect. Killed by one of Sektis Gandaw’s “metal me
n” at the Battle of the Homestead (book 2: Best Laid Plans).

  IKRYS

  A gargoyle of the Abyss.

  ILESA FANA

  Shapeshifting assassin from Portis. Member of the Dybbuks guild in New Jerusalem.

  IPSISSIMUS

  Title of the supreme ruler of the Nousian Theocracy and undisputed head of the Templum.

  IRONBELLY’S SPECIAL BREW

  A notoriously bad dwarven beer.

  JAL CRIMSON

  Merchant from New Jerusalem.

  JANKSON BRAU

  Long-lived mage and unofficial head of the bandit communities outlying Malfen.

  JARL SHADER

  Foster father of Deacon Shader.

  JEZEEL

  A homunculus.

  JOAG BERFIK

  Albert’s getaway driver. A Night Hawk.

  JORAKUM

  Capital city of Sahul. Heart of the Zaneish Empire.

  JÖTUNN, the

  Race of giants on Aethir. Creatures dreamed by the Cynocephalus.

  KARA

  Thecla Cawdor’s daughter.

  KEEPER, of the Archon’s sword

  Title of the Elect knight who wins the tournament for the Sword of the Archon. Head of the Saphra Society.

  KELVIN, Brother

  A friar of Brinwood Priory, Britannia.

  KOORT MORROW

  Guild boss in New Jerusalem. Married to Dame Consilia.

  KRYEH

  Meldings of Sektis Gandaw: women with bat’s wings.

  LACUNAE (Lah-koon-ay)

  Void stuff. Creatures of nothingness. Empty spaces.

  LATIA

  A country in Nousia. Home to the City of Aeterna, heart of the Templum.

  LICHE

  A powerful undead creature who has defied death by magical means.

  LICHE-LORD’S ARMOR, the

  Made by the Cynocephalus to ward off all attacks below the head. Utterly invulnerable. Stolen by Otto Blightey, whom it enabled to walk through the Black River of the Abyss.

  LIZARD-MEN

  Meldings of Sektis Gandaw, half human, half lizard.

  LONDINIUM

  Capital city of Britannia.

  LORGEN

  Leader of the rebels opposed to Otto Blightey’s rule in Verusia.

  LUDO, Adeptus

  Nousian cleric and a former tutor of Deacon Shader.

  LUMINARY

  Title for a Nousian saint.

  MAGWITCH THE MEDDLER

  A mad magician from New Jerusalem. Magwitch ekes out a living supplying magical security systems and inventing contraptions from scraps of Scarolite he scavenged from the Perfect Peak after the fall of Sektis Gandaw.