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February 17 - February 23, 2025
For I did not know which was harder to bear: The echo of her passing, or the long silence that followed.
“The lesser of two evils, and the greater good. The most dangerous phrases in the world.”
A kan blade would more easily disrupt the softer internal workings of the shield, but there was one firm rule when two constructs of hardened kan clashed: whichever was created first was stronger.
“Doesn’t it bother you, though? There were families living down there. Children. And they all manage to disappear without a trace, without anyone noticing?” “Fates, Ashalia. Of course it bothers all of us, especially if what you’ve said about this ‘Scyner’ is true.
Along with Administration’s continued fury, half of the Gifted seemed to feel that Wirr had betrayed them by not removing the Tenets entirely.
“That’s where you’re wrong, ’Kein,” he said eventually. “The only hope for this world is to remove kan from it completely. To stop it from being drawn through the rift, so that the rift may then be sealed.”
Andrael wants to remove all magic. No kan, no augurs, no gifted, no rift, no monsters.
It doesn’t matter how wrong he is, so long as he thinks he is right. A man who believes is the worst of enemies. A man who believes is more dangerous than anything.
“You’re joking. You think one of us created a Vessel blade, then gave it to a monster like Paetir?”
I started thinking about how you’ve been obsessing over that girl in Ilin Illan. About how she doesn’t have anything I don’t have except a thousand miles of distance, and yet you act as if you’re married to her. I just had to think about how frustrating that is, and …”
With the Augurs now focused almost entirely inward—seemingly isolating themselves as they search for a solution to their issues—the Gifted have realized that they are now all but without oversight. I have collated reports of public humiliations, beatings, even rapes and killings by Gifted who now believe themselves above the law.
He was reluctant to go into detail, but when pressed, insinuated that the Augurs’ mere continuing existence could ultimately result in the end of the world.
“You want to do the right thing, but you don’t want to do the necessary thing. And all it does is put others in danger.”
It was the fire of the Darklands, the fire these fools had allowed into their most powerful place.
You think that I do not understand your plan? I made your plan. I whispered in the ears of your best and brightest. I sent them on their journey south with Ironsails laden with food. I timed my attack so that they would not be there when the rest of your people died. My goal—my only goal—was to get you to build this place.”
Essence pumped like blood along the line of kan and into the scaffolding. The Gate opened.
But he understood now. The Darecians knew what El had told him: that only those able to completely protect themselves from the pull of kan in the Darklands would be able to use the Jha’vett. As one of the Venerate, he could do it on instinct. The Darecians, though, needed something to do the protecting for them.
They had reached the Boundary.
I feel like the garrison should not have survived the events of the first book.
It has been near two years since Lord Serrin, once little more than a lowly stablehand and yet now Ruler of Silvithrin and its surrounds, first inflicted the Taint upon these lands.
Black marks on the faces of a few minor mages, holes in their memories from when they had first contracted the strange malaise.
Thorvis arrived to tell me the news: that the Taint had taken every mage but Serrin, and that Serrin was claiming rule.
It was he who first realized that we had become nothing more than extra Reserves for the new lord of Silvithrin.
I swear is full and true. If blame is to fall for Wereth’s actions, let it fall on me.
Wereth massacred the first shadows that were life batteries for Serrin
The Shadraehin looked across at Asha, giving her a slow smile. “He is here to meet me,” she said softly.
Braeshada was shaderehein or nethgalla
“I could have forced every mage in your country to become a Shadow, Ashalia. That’s what I would have done, had I been aiming merely to supplement my own strength.” She shook her head. “But I did not, because there are bigger things at stake. I left most of the Gifted—the strongest—to fight. It was only those who were too weak, those not disciplined or intelligent enough, whom I ensured would be put to a better use. And believe me when I tell you this: there is no better use than keeping what is behind the ilshara from getting to this city.”
You thought that you were friends with the Hunter, didn’t you? Liked her? Thought that she’d had a change of heart? And yet I killed her before you even met her.
I only brought them here, into this world, just before the war began. Criminality amongst the Gifted was out of control, and the Council desperately needed a way to track down and stop the worst of those responsible. The Augurs were in disarray, so …” He gestured wearily, as if suddenly tired of the excuses. “That was my solution.”
Sha’teth were summoned by laiman
Taeris seemed to know so much more about the Boundary, about its history and the potential threat behind it, than anyone else at the Tols.
An augur user Taeris as a portable hard drive for information about the boundary
“Prince Torin found a notebook of his father’s. Notarized,” Taeris added quietly. “It says that Jakarris was the one who betrayed the Augurs twenty years ago.” Laiman paled. “That’s not possible.” Taeris grunted. “There’s more. Scyner—the Augur who was working with the Shadraehin here—was the one who directed Prince Torin to the notebook. And from what Ashalia has told me previously, he also claims to have killed all the other Augurs.” Taeris’s expression was grim. “I think it’s entirely possible that Jakarris is still alive.”
“I’m still confused about Scyner, though. If he really is this Jakarris, then he had the opportunity to kill the other Augurs, too, not just Kol. But he said that he wanted their help.”
He understood who they were now, understood at least part of his history with them. He had slaughtered their people in Dareci, created the Plains of Decay so that they would flee to Andarra and build Deilannis. Build the Jha’vett. He had done this to them. He had destroyed them.
“Only a few? Where are the rest?” Garadis did not look at him. “Gone, Tal’kamar,” he said softly. “We built this city in anticipation of our numbers swelling once again, but it was not long before we realized that we could not reproduce. The only thing we had was Andrael’s Law. It was enough to sustain us few, but everyone else … eventually, they grew tired. They lost faith. They Freed themselves.”
A weapon, one more powerful and more deadly than any Caeden had ever seen, had ever conceived. A device created only to destroy, to drain life from miles around until nothing remained. Until every living thing within its radius was completely, utterly extinguished. “Lord,” he said softly, the beginnings of tears in his eyes at the horror he was being presented with. “This is … evil.” This is necessary, said El. This pains me more than anything, Tal’kamar, and yet it is my will. It is the act that will drive the Darecians to begin their studies. It is the act that will force them to flee south,
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The Venerate had come apart after he had followed Shammaeloth’s orders, with several of them—including Andrael—unable to believe that he had been doing as instructed. And then when Andrael had ultimately uncovered the truth about Shammaeloth, it had resulted in the creation of Licanius.
And yet, he’d rebelled. After doing everything that El had asked him to do, after driving the Darecians to Andarra and forcing them to construct Deilannis, he’d switched sides. Part of him could immediately see why. He’d known from the moment that El had shown him the Columns that what he was being asked to do was wrong, against everything that he knew to be good.
“Why do you never refer to me as Devaed?” he asked quietly. Garadis cocked his head to the side. “Because that is not who you are—and it never was. It is the name you chose in order to instill fear in us, the name you chose because you wanted to pretend that your sins were not yours to own. But when we speak of you, Tal’kamar, we speak of you—for better or worse. Whether destroyer or savior, we will never let you hide behind another name.”
“You say I turn a blind eye to the dangers of the Augurs, and yet you keep it from me when they do something dangerous. That’s the act of someone in this for their own ends, Mother—not someone who wants what’s best for Administration.”
“You know this. The true evil is always in the reason and the excuse, not the act.
The danger of evil, the purpose of evil, is that it causes those who would oppose it to become evil also.”
‘The people with whom we are friends should never affect our morality; rather, our morality should affect with whom we are friends.’”
He didn’t understand how, but it was clear now that those black blades were more than mere weapons.
Zombie sword
They all called him and Fessi “Runners”; the Augurs were clearly prisoners, but beyond that their captors appeared to have no idea that they had come from the other side of the Boundary.
“You alone.” Davian paused, but only to draw breath as Caeden gaped at him. “You killed your friends and loved ones. You destroyed a civilization and sent the scant few survivors on a path that led to yet more destruction. None of this can be undone. None of the lives that were lost can ever be brought back.”
He crouched beside the body, searching it. Nothing but the simple band of silver on Davian’s finger. Caeden hesitated for a long moment, then pocketed it. It was a Vessel—one of minor power—but more importantly, it was tied to the dead man. If he ever chose to find out more about this puzzle, it could be useful.
