The Night of the Swarm

by Robert V. S. Redick

  “Memories?”

  “Of everything, my lad. I can summon the memories of everyone who made that voyage with us. The cook. The tarboys. The anchor-lifters. The ixchel. Erithusmé’s ship had a soul, Pazel Pathkendle, but the difference is this: it was a composite soul. All of us together made up that soul, and now it speaks to me. And I must listen and remember. That is the least I can do.”

  “Felthrup?”

  “Yes, lad?”

  “You just used my last name. But I never told it to you. Did I?”

  Felthrup nibbled his fritter, thinking. “No, it was Diadrelu who told me. Before you and I ever met.”

  “Felthrup!”

  “Yes, lad!”

  “You remember me! I mean, you just started to remember me. When I walked in here you didn’t know who I was!”

  The rat looked at him blankly. Then he squealed so loudly that he stopped all conversation, and even the piano player. He leaped over the table into Pazel’s lap. He began to hop up and down.

  “I forgot you! I forgot you! And then I remembered, and forgot that I had forgotten! Oh, Pazel Pazel Pazel—”

  The lamentable truth is that he wet himself, and Pazel in the process. Pazel could not have cared less. He held the lame rat against his cheek and tried not to cry. Nearly four years had passed since anyone had looked at him with recognition.

  Of course Felthrup at once shared all he knew of their friends. Bolutu had remained in Simja, and with the King’s blessing—and the help of one particularly talented dog—opened the Royal Inter-Species Institute. “He sent a letter not two months ago. They’ve purchased a villa with extensive grounds. The humans who come there will learn from woken animals, and vice versa, and both will take their understanding out into the world. I dare say the work is needed. Many a dog, horse, hare and raven still live in fear of opening their mouths.”

  “But you’re not afraid. You’re right here in the middle of the pub, playing chess.”

  “That’s because he’s Felthrup Stargraven,” boomed Fiffengurt suddenly. “Where’ve you been the last few years, lad? This rat’s a hero of Alifros. He’s battled sorcerers and pudgy devils, and an ugly, nasty daddy-rat, GRAAAA—”

  He dropped to all fours and did an impression of Master Mugstur, to the other patrons’ delight.

  “Never mind him,” said Felthrup. “I have news of your sister.”

  “Neda! Tell me, for Rin’s sake!”

  “She and Hercól are together, and deeply in love. They are Empress Maisa’s special envoys to the Mzithrin, and have done a great deal to ensure that the peace will never again be broken, so long as Maisa is a power in this world.”

  “They’re married, are they?”

  “Alas, no,” said Felthrup. “In his last letter, Hercól said he dared not ask your sister for her hand, ‘while so many enemies remain to contend with, and so much evil flourishes in the dark.’ I fear for them, Pazel. I am very much afraid they will undertake a mission into the heart of Gurishal, to confront the Shaggat Malabron, and Sandor Ott. Both of them feel bound to the task.

  “But enough! It is late. You must stay with us tonight, my boy. And change those smelly breeches, for shame!”

  Felthrup and Fiffengurt shared rooms above the tavern. Pazel set the rat on his shoulder, passed through the kitchen and up a darkened stair. The rooms, when they entered, surprised him pleasantly. They were spacious and fine.

  “We do not go hungry,” admitted Felthrup. “Sergeant Haddismal divided up the Chathrand treasure among all the survivors, and Admiral Isiq gave us more ere we separated. Fiffengurt handed his share over to Miss Annabel, saying that he had gone to sea for the sake of her family’s debts, and wouldn’t neglect them now. Anni used it to purchase this house, and from that day she has considered Fiffengurt a business partner. Now change. You’ll find clean things in that dresser, beneath the clock.”

  Pazel smiled as he stepped into Fiffengurt’s pants: the wiry sailor had grown rather stout. Then he froze. The clock on the dresser was unmistakable. It was Thasha’s, the beautiful mariner’s clock, with its face shaped like a gibbous, mother-of-pearl moon.

  “Ah, yes,” said Felthrup. “Ramachni left that in our keeping. He has long since departed for his own world. And he says that I must join him there, one day.”

  “What? You? Why you, Felthrup?”

  “Pazel, the Waking Spell has been the cruelest sort of blessing. I am a rat, in a rat’s frail form. I have plans and hopes that far exceed my body’s limitations, and its life span. When I depart down the tunnel in that clock, Ramachni tells me that I will find myself in another body, human or dlömic or some other long-lived race, on the other side. And he will present me to a certain learned academy, and even vouch for my studious nature.”

  “Felthrup! That’s wonderful! But … how long do you have?”

  “Before I leave? This body’s aches will tell me that. A few years, I hope. But there is something more astonishing, my boy. That other world, Ramachni’s? It is our future. Or rather, a future that might be ours.”

  “Might be.” Pazel rested a hand on the clock, feeling sudden loneliness. “You mean the way the Chathrand might have ended up on that empty island, where Lord Talag hid his clan?”

  “Correct,” said Felthrup. “Ramachni’s Alifros is linked to our own by a thin footpath, winding through endless mountain-chains of years. But in the actual walking we find that the path divides almost endlessly. Some paths lead down into fertile valleys, others to ice and fear. There is no telling, deep in the mountains, whether you have strayed or not.”

  Pazel stayed on in Ballytween, and thanked the Gods for Felthrup Stargraven. He took a room in the port district with a view of the sea. He tutored children in many languages, and became a celebrity at Annabel’s. On free days he went with Felthrup to the city archives, and learned many things about the world they had saved.

  Fiffengurt still did not know him, and when Coote and Fegin paid their old captain a visit they did not know him either. Nor did the half dozen other survivors of the Chathrand who passed through Ballytween that year. If the Master-Word’s effects were waning, they were taking their time.

  He was twenty-one and considered handsome. The serving-girls fought bitterly over the right to bring him beer. Some of them were beautiful, many of them were kind. Now and then he found he could kiss them, or even go through the motions of love. But he could not court them seriously. The kindest and the loveliest he avoided: they stirred a pain in him he could not bear.

  His drinking grew worse. A morning came when he woke up knowing that he had spent the whole night at Annabel’s, buying rounds for the house, switching languages as often as he switched tables, slapping the backs of strangers, avoiding Felthrup’s worried eye. He had an idea that several tarboys from the Chathrand had shown up that night, some of them with sweethearts, and it frightened him to realize that he might just as easily have imagined them in his stupor. He threw up into a basin. He lay back thinking of death.

  Then his hand went to his collarbone. There was a warmth there that had nothing to do with alcohol. He had almost forgotten the sensation, golden sunlight in his veins, a thing so beautiful that no one who felt it should ever speak of sorrow again.

  Land-boy, land-boy, can you still hear me? Do you think I have forgotten you?

  It was dawn. He pulled on his shoes and stumbled out through the dirty city and along the coast road until he came to the beach. A sign warned of riptides, and declared swimming forbidden. He undressed. He felt it was Thasha undressing him, her loving hands, her knowing smile.

  He swam offshore with easy strokes. The current bore him swiftly out, and soon the land looked small and notional above the swells. When he tired, he let himself sink, and stayed there until he saw Klyst coming for him, her murth-beauty breathtaking, her teeth like a shark’s.

  He would have to tell her of Thasha, that his heart had many chambers, that he dreamed of another’s return.

  Serpentine arms
went around him. He was still holding his breath. It’s not forever, he would have to say. But as he tried to form the words in her language, he found that “forever” did not exist in the murthic tongue. There were words for now and later, for tomorrow, for tonight. But not forever. The effort tied him in knots.

  “Land-boy, do you love me?” she asked. “Will you come with me today?”

  Today. Iriritha. That was a lovely word, he thought.

  He closed his eyes. Last chance. But then her lips brushed the shell beneath his collarbone, and there was no more waiting, no more doubt. He put his arms around her, buried his face in the kelp-forest of her hair. Klyst was laughing as he kissed her. “You can breathe again,” she said.

  HERE ENDS

  The Night of the Swarm

  AND

  THE CHATHRAND VOYAGE QUARTET

  Appendix I: Dramatis Personae, Books I—IV

  ALYASH: Bosun on the Chathrand. Recruited in Simja after the death of Mr. Swellows.

  ARIM, LORD: Elder selk of Uláramyth.

  ARUNIS [Arunis Wytterscorm, “the Blood Mage”]: A mighty sorcerer; founder of the Raven Society; corruptor of the Empire of Bali Adro; archenemy of both Erithusmé and Ramachni.

  BABQRI FATHER: A high priest and elder of the sfvantskor order. Neda Pathkendle’s teacher.

  BOLUTU, DR. BELESAR: A veterinarian and monk of the Rinfaith, assigned to the IMS Chathrand to care for her shipment of animals.

  BURNSCOVE, KRUNO: Founder and leader of the Burnscove Boys gang from Etherhorde. Archenemies of the Plapps.

  CHADFALLOW, DR. IGNUS: Imperial Surgeon of Arqual; a favorite of Emperor Magad V; erstwhile Imperial Special Envoy to Ormael; former lover of Suthinia Pathkendle and protector of her children.

  DARABIK, PURSTON [Purcy]: Commodore in the Arquali navy.

  DASTU: Arquali tarboy. Secret protégé of Sandor Ott.

  DIADRELU [Lady Diadrelu Tammariken ap Ixhxchr, also “Dri”]: An ixchel noblewoman and former commander of Ixphir House. Sister of Lord Talag.

  DOLDUR, PAZEL: A mage and historian. Editor-in-chief of the infamous thirteenth edition of the Merchant’s Polylex. Suthinia Pathkendle gave Doldur’s first name to her son.

  ENSYL: An ixchel warrior and student of Lady Diadrelu.

  ERITHUSMÉ [Erithusmé the Great]: mightiest of latter-day mages; first successful wielder of the Nilstone since ancient times; creator of the Waking Spell and the Red Storm; teacher of Ramachni. Born in Nohirin in the Mzithrin lands, she crossed the Ruling Sea repeatedly with the Nilstone’s aid. Erithusmé gave up the Nilstone in 925, and was immediately set upon by the Ravens, and particularly Arunis.

  FELTHRUP [Felthrup Stargraven]: A woken black rat from Noonfirth.

  FIFFENGURT, GRAFF STARLING: Long-serving quartermaster on the Chathrand. Passed over more than once as captain.

  GARAPAT, PROFESSOR J. L.: A historian who comes to Felthrup Stargraven’s aid in the Orfuin Club.

  FULBREECH, GREYSAN: Errand-boy from Simja.

  IBJEN: A young dlömic boy from Masalym.

  ISIQ, ADMIRAL EBERZAM: Highest field-serving admiral in the Arquali navy; the appointed Imperial ambassador to Simja; father of Thasha Isiq.

  ISIQ, CLORISUELA: Deceased wife of Admiral Eberzam and mother of Thasha.

  JALANTRI: A sfvantskor, trained alongside Neda Pathkendle.

  KET, LIRIPUS: A merchant from Opalt, specializing in soaps and solvents.

  KIRISHGÁN: Selk who befriended Pazel Pathkendle in the Temple of Vasparhaven (Book III) and later traveled with his company.

  KLYST: A young sea-murth from the Gulf of Thól. Klyst and her sisters killed a number of the divers seeking the Red Wolf off the Haunted Coast.

  KUMINZAT, ADMIRAL: Famous Mzithrini officer. Commander of the White Reaper, pride of the White Fleet, lost in battle south of Bramian.

  KURLSTAFF, CAPTAIN: Former captain of the Chathrand. Many considered him the only captain in six hundred years to approach Nilus Rose in cunning and resourcefulness.

  LAPADOLMA, PACU: Niece of Lady Lapadolma Yelig, owner of the Chathrand. Thasha Isiq’s maid-in-waiting. Later her replacement as Treaty Bride.

  LATZLO, ERNOM: Ormali merchant. A dealer in live animals and suitor of Pacu Lapadolma.

  LUDUNTE: An ixchel. Sophister (student) of Lady Diadrelu.

  LUNJA, SERGEANT [the Otter]: Dlömic soldier from Masalym, loyal to Prince Olik.

  MACADRA [Macadra Hyndrascorm, the White Raven]: Bali Adro sorceress who controlled the mind and decrees of the senile Emperor Nahundra.

  MAGAD V [His Supremacy; also the Usurper]: Ruler of the Empire of Arqual. Son, heir and possible murderer of the previous Emperor. Magad V approved and funded the plot to destabilize the Mzithrin Empire through the return of the Shaggat Ness to his followers on Gurishal.

  MAISA: Rightful Empress of Arqual, daughter of Magad III. Deposed by her brother Magad IV in 899 and driven into exile.

  MALABRON: Trainee sfvantskor in Neda Pathkendle’s band.

  MARILA: Sponge-diver from Tholjassa.

  MUGSTUR (Master Mugstur): A woken rat and messianic psychopath.

  MYETT: An ixchel woman. Consort to Lord Taliktrum.

  NAHUNDRA: Emperor of Bali Adro, under the sway of Macadra and the Ravens.

  NESS, ERTHALON: Deranged son of the Shaggat Ness, held with his father, brother and Arunis for decades on the Prison Isle of Licherog.

  NÓLCINDAR: A selk warrior, sailor and shipwright.

  OGGOSK, LADY [Lady Gosmeíl Pothrena Oggosk, Duchess of Tiroshi]: A witch and special adviser to Captain Rose.

  OLIK, PRINCE [HRH Prince Olik Ipandracon Tastandru Bali Adro]: A lesser prince in the ruling dynasty of the Empire of Bali Adro; second cousin to the Emperor.

  ORFUIN: A philosopher; owner of the club that bears his name in the River of Shadows.

  OSHIRAM II, KING: Monarch of Simja and host of the Great Peace.

  OTT, SANDOR: Imperial spymaster and chief assassin of Arqual.

  PATHKENDLE, GREGORY: Ship’s captain from Ormael and husband of Suthinia Pathkendle. Named a traitor, questionably, for his role in the sinking of an Ormali warship. Later a famous freebooter (smuggler) operating in and around the Crab Fens and the Haunted Coast.

  PATHKENDLE, PAZEL: A tarboy from Ormael, pressed into service in the Arquali navy after the invasion of his home country in 936.

  PATHKENDLE, SUTHINIA: An amateur mage and student of Pazel Doldur. Mother of Pazel and Neda Pathkendle. Suthinia came to Ormael in 924, married Captain Gregory the same year, and largely renounced magic.

  PLAPP, DARIUS: Leader and founder of the Plapp’s Pier gang from Etherhorde. Archenemies of the Burnscove Boys.

  RAIN, DR. CLAUDIUS: Doctor (?) assigned to the IMS Chathrand.

  RAMACHNI [Ramachni Fremken; Arpathwin]: Powerful mage with a gift for shape-shifting; his usual form is that of a black mink. Ramachni is a visitor to Alifros from an unidentified land, and Thasha Isiq’s lifelong friend.

  REFEG AND RER: Anchor-lifters. Augrongs (enormous, scaly, ogre-like creatures native to the Arquali interior, close to extinction). Refeg and Rer dwell in an Etherhorde slum when not at sea.

  ROSE, CAPTAIN NILUS ROTHEBY: Commander of the IMS Chathrand; notorious thief, smuggler and sadist.

  ROSE, CAPTAIN THEIMAT: Father of Nilus Rose. Great trader and strongman in the Quezans. Widely famous for his cruelty.

  SATHEK [the Demon-Mage, the Soulless One]: Long-dead wizard and warlord whose rule first united the Five Kingdoms of the Mzithrin; creator of the scepter that bears his name. Sathek gave posthumous aid to Arunis in his hunt for the Nilstone.

  SATURYK: An ixchel of Ixphir house. Lord Talag’s chief of security.

  SHAGGAT [the Shaggat Ness]: A mad king and founder of a religious cult that fractured the Mzithrin Empire. Believed dead but held secretly by Arqual for forty years. The core of Arqual’s plot against the Mzithrin was to return the Shaggat to his worshippers on Gurishal, thus reviving the fanatic cult and weakening the Mzithrini state enough
for a swift Arquali invasion.

  STANAPETH, HERCÓL: Tholjassan warrior and former assassin with the Secret Fist of Arqual; protégé of Sandor Ott. Thasha Isiq’s combat instructor and lifelong ally.

  STELDAK: An ixchel man. Captain Rose’s prisoner and poison-taster.

  SURIDIN: An apprentice sfvantskor trained by the Babqri Father in the same cohort as Neda Pathkendle. Daughter of Admiral Kuminzat.

  SWELLOWS: Bosun on the Chathrand. Longtime crony of Captain Rose.

  SYRARYS [Syrarys Isiq]: A former slave given as consort to Eberzam Isiq.

  TALAG, LORD: An ixchel nobleman. Co-founder and leader of Ixphir House; architect of the ixchel’s campaign aboard the Chathrand. Father of Lord Taliktrum and brother of Lady Diadrelu.

  TALIKTRUM, LORD: Son of Lord Talag; eventual commander of the ixchel aboard the Chathrand.

  THAULININ: A selk warrior and leader.

  UNDRABUST, NEEPARVASI: A tarboy from Sollochstal.

  USKINS, PIDETOR: First mate of the IMS Chathrand.

  VADU, COUNSELOR: Commander of the Bali Adro armed forces in the city of Masalym. Bearer of a Plazic Blade.

  VISPEK: A Cayer (master or teacher) of the Mzithrini sfvantskor guild of warrior-priests. Cayer Vispek was one of the teachers and instructors of Neda Pathkendle.

  Appendix II: Vocabulary of the Voyage

  Agaroth. The Border-Kingdom, a twilit land between life and death, where souls reluctant to pass on sometimes manage to pause, contemplating their unfinished deeds.

  Alpurbehn. Nemmocian honorific, literally “elder brother.”

  Amber Kings. Ancient, civilized lords of Alifros, early law-givers, builders of the Fortress-Cities of the North. The Amber Kings fought the Fell Princes in the War of Fire and Spells.

  Athymars. Eight-fanged Bali Adro war-hounds, generally considered the most dangerous and aggressive dogs ever bred in any land of Alifros.

  Augrongs. Gigantic, rough-hided, enormously strong humanoids of the Northern world. Long-lived but near extinction, the surviving augrongs occasionally take work on Arquali ships as anchor-lifters.