The Light of All That Falls (The Licanius Trilogy, #3)

by James Islington

After a time, though, their work became increasingly focused on what El said was necessary to bend fate toward their goal, finally culminating in Tal’kamar being asked by El to destroy the legendary city of Dareci. Though this act would kill millions of people, El assured Tal’kamar that it was an awful but necessary step toward freeing the world—one that would force the Darecians to flee to Andarra and begin working on the time-travel device known as the Jha’vett. Tal’kamar, sickened but choosing to believe that everything he did would ultimately be undone, agreed. He changed his name to Aarkein Devaed and followed El’s instructions to create the Columns, a weapon that ultimately leveled Dareci and killed everyone living there.

However, Andrael in particular remained unconvinced, having suspected even before Dareci’s destruction that the “El” the Venerate were serving had been lying all along—and was quite possibly Shammaeloth himself.

Andrael reluctantly set about creating a weapon that could kill the Venerate. To this end, he finally succeeded in making the blade Licanius.

Tal’kamar, upon hearing that the Jha’vett was complete, forged ahead of the Venerate’s army in order to sneak into Deilannis and travel back in time, believing that his doing so could end the war quickly and prevent further bloodshed. However, this only caused the Darecians, forewarned of his approach, to panic and attempt to use the Jha’vett themselves.

Jakarris—became increasingly concerned about the worsening state of the Boundary, and worried that the traditionally warned-against uses of kan that his peers had recently been experimenting with were responsible for its decay.

“Why?” He shook his head bemusedly. “I know you need both Cyr and Davian dead to close the rift, and Cyr is by far the harder of the two to kill. Even more so if you set him free.” Caeden kept his expression smooth. Cyr had gone to his Tributary willingly—had been convinced of the truth about Shammaeloth and had volunteered—but the other Venerate didn’t know that. They assumed that he was a prisoner, as Meldier and Isiliar had been.

“We both know that I kill Davian—that is not something that can be undone, regardless of how long you hold him.”

As Malshash, Caeden had linked Davian to the Portal Box, manipulating him into delivering it after Caeden’s memories were erased—all because Davian was the only one Caeden had been certain would live to do so. He’d drawn Davian into all of this, knowing that he would ultimately die at Caeden’s hand. Because he would die at Caeden’s hand, and therefore not any sooner.

Such was Shammaeloth’s nature, though. Those who were most steeped in his corruption somehow had the hardest time seeing it—something for which Caeden could barely blame them.

Not only had Fessi been his friend, but the thought of her out there—escaping, maybe even getting help—had been one of the few bright lights of those early days.

“But you knew what was coming with the Tenets—not that you would have wanted to restrict yourself to them originally anyway,” allowed Caeden. “You knew that if you wanted to use Essence, you would be bound; if you were bound, you would ultimately be at the mercy of Wirr’s decisions. But you’re an Augur—you get your Essence externally anyway. For you, being a Shadow is simply a shield from the Tenets. And a shield from Torin’s influence.”

“Every time our lives touch yours, Tal’kamar, we are left poorer. And every time, it seems that we have no choice. You are always the lesser of two evils. But never by much.”

They explained why they had invaded and what they believed about El, and insisted that others were free to believe otherwise—just so long as they accepted one another. They said that the Andarrans had been trapped just as much as they, and that until that wall of Essence could be overcome, we would all need to… get along.”

There were protests, violent uprisings, a lot of unrest to begin with. But then the crops started dying, and the Venerate said it was because of the ilshara. They started working to create arable land around Ilshan Gathdel Teth, using their power to help the people. They did that for years. Legend has it that Cyr spent a month without sleep to create the Vessel that protects the city’s crops from decaying.”

Faithful people suffer and evil people prosper all the time, Davian—you must know that is true. Besides, if our actions are driven only by reward or punishment—eternal or otherwise—then they are motivated by greed and selfishness, not faith or love. That is where so many people go wrong, even those who say they believe in El. They obey because they think it will make their lives better, rather than themselves. And that is very much the wrong reason.”

“Davian may have been the feather that caused the roof to collapse, but we all know the true cause. Dareci was not your fault—it was Shammaeloth’s. The real Shammaeloth,

Caeden closed his eyes. The ilshara itself could have withstood an attack like this; it was a vast, complex construction, hundreds of interconnected parts distributed over thousands of miles that would reinforce and repair each other. Not even the Columns, staggeringly destructive though they were, could strike every section of it at once. The store of Essence that powered it, though… that was a different story.