avenged.
Serena opened her eyes and looked around the room. Like every morning, the lush, red rose petals covering the crypt floor were fresh, and their familiar scent filled the air. The dawn’s first rays streamed in through the open skylights, and songbirds could be heard greeting the morn. As always, two specially chosen handmaidens stood quietly in the room’s far corners.
Lifting her gown, Serena strode through the petals to stand by the altar. Out of respect for her daughter and the man who had fathered her, she completed this sacred pilgrimage twice each day. The Vagaries queen looked down at the dead body and lovingly touched the child’s cold face, just as she did each time she visited here.
Just then she sensed the Heretics touch her mind. She smiled, for she knew why they called to her. During their previous communion, they had promised to let her watch the slaughter. Eager to be informed, she went to her knees and closed her eyes.
“I am here,”she said silently.
“Your servants have reached their next destination,”the many voices said at once.“As we reveal the scene to your mind, joyously behold the Vagaries’ power.”
Unmoving and her eyes still closed, Serena gasped aloud as the vision revealed itself. It soon became so clear that she found it difficult to believe she wasn’t part of it all.
It was morning in Parthalon, and the sun’s rays were coming up over the eastern horizon. Einar and Reznik lay on their stomachs in the dewy grass atop a hill. They were looking down on the Ghetto of the Shunned-the same city that for more than three hundred years had imprisoned all those deemed undesirable by the late Coven of Sorceresses.
The Ghetto’s walls stood tall and dark. Its drawbridge was raised. A dank moat encircled the city. By theJin’Sai ’s order, the Coven’s flags had all been removed. From their places atop the hill, Serena’s mystics could see movement on the guard paths lining the barbican.
With the Ghetto firmly in Conclave hands, Tristan had ordered all the long-suffering prisoners freed save for those infected with leprosy. The disease had been conjured by the sorceresses three centuries ago, in their bid to subjugate the nation. Once the sorceresses’ goal had been met, the diseased and anyone else deemed a threat to the Coven’s rule had been relegated there, to linger until death. TheJin’Sai ’s Minions were the perfect Ghetto overseers, for in her manic attention to detail Failee had granted them immunity to the disease. Ten thousand battle-hardened warriors lived there, helping to administer the city and protect its dying inhabitants.
Reznik looked behind him. A short way down the hill’s opposite slope, swamp shrews and envelopers by the thousands waited silently. Their backs mimicking the ground, the envelopers were hardly visible. The Valrenkians and consuls also waited nearby. Their tools, books, and the consummately precious Scroll of the Vagaries lay farther down the hill.
Although the air was cool, Reznik sweated nervously. He had never been associated with so vast an undertaking. He looked anxiously at Einar.
“I tell you again that the Minions will see us!” he whispered. “They might not detect us from the catwalks, but a flying patrol is bound to go overhead sooner or later! We must act!”
Einar smiled confidently. “Take heart,” he whispered back. “We will not be seen, I promise you.”
Turning, the consul looked down the hill. Raising one hand, he gathered the envelopers’ attention.
“Protect!” he whispered simply.
Einar watched in awe as some envelopers quickly obeyed. Their moving shapes little more than slightly noticeable shimmers, they grouped together to form a tight, circular wall around the shrews, consuls, and Valrenkians. As the wall grew, more envelopers took to the air, forming a dome over their allies. Soon the wondrous construct was completed, causing partial darkness inside.
Looking down its length, Reznik could barely see the others waiting here with him. The incredible hiding place stretched for nearly half a league and looked to be about ten meters high. Suddenly understanding, he smiled at Einar.
“The envelopers’ backs will mimic the terrain surrounding us,” he said. “To anyone happening by, our entire force will be unnoticeable! How marvelous!”
“Exactly so,” Einar answered. Standing, he brushed the grass from his robe. “It is time to give the order.”
Einar walked to the cone’s leading edge. At his command, two of the envelopers forming the cone separated slightly. Einar looked out between them to see another hovering nearby, awaiting its orders. Camouflaged as it was, Einar could barely see it.
“Go!” he whispered. “When we see your signal, others will follow! Remember-not one leper is to be harmed! You will know them by their yellow robes!”
Smoothly undulating its velvety body, the enveloper took to the air. Thousands more followed. As they headed for the Ghetto, Einar and Reznik watched as best they could from their perfectly camouflaged blind.
Still on her knees and her eyes closed, Serena smiled. Perfect, she thought.
“I BEG THE AFTERLIFE, THAT’S NO WAY TO THROW AN AXE!”Yakov shouted angrily. It always perplexed him whenever his junior officers didn’t perform to his high standards.
“It’s a good thing for you that ourJin’Sai wasn’t here to see such a pathetic effort!” he added.
Stomping to the target, with a great heave he yanked the axe free from the tree trunk. The other officer’s throw had gone high, missing by a good foot the red circle Yakov had painted on the trunk. Mumbling to himself, he walked back to where the others were standing.
There were six more Minion officers in attendance. These seven formed the usual nighttime drawbridge detail. Another complement of warriors had just relieved them. Whenever the bridge was raised, drawbridge duty became notoriously boring. Even those manning the catwalks above had stopped to gleefully watch the throwing and drinking contest.
Yakov’s group was glad to be off duty. During the previous night’s boredom, good-natured challenges had been raised, and from those challenges bets quickly arose. Added to this had come Yakov’s boast that he could not only outthrow every man in his squad, but that he could easily outdrink him, as well-and do both at the same time. During the night, his boasting had attracted many takers.
Walking back with the axe, Yakov reached down to grab an akulee jug. He hoisted it on his forearm and took a long swig. A wet belch erupted, followed by raucous laughter. He placed the jug at his feet and sloppily wiped his mouth and beard with the back of one hand. Turning to look at his younger charges, he smiled greedily. He could already imagine the kisa that he would win today.
Wavering back and forth from drinking so much akulee, Yakov looked at the target. He narrowed his eyes. Swinging the axe over his head, with a deep grunt he let it go.
Its blade a blur, the axe twinkled briefly in the morning sun, then cleaved the center of the target. Cheers erupted. Proudly holding out his hand, Yakov collected several kisa from each of the other officers. As he went to collect the axe, the others start grumbling about their losses.
Suddenly they heard Yakov scream. Turning to look, they saw that he had somehow vanished. They quickly unsheathed their dreggans, but could find no threat. Then they saw Yakov’s boots hauntingly standing alone near the base of the tree.
Another muffled, bloodcurdling scream arose. Somehow appearing out of thin air, the coins Yakov had just won went clinking to the ground around his boots. Then his body armor and weapons also fell from thin air. Finally his polished bones collapsed noisily onto the pile. Then total pandemonium rained down on the unsuspecting city.
Thousands more envelopers, their bodies camouflaged from both above and below, sailed over the walls and through the streets. Ignoring the yellow-robed lepers, they attacked every Minion warrior they could find. Smashing their way through windows and doors, they mercilessly ransacked every building.
The bewildered warriors never stood a chance. From all over the city, they cursed and struck out against an enemy they couldn’t see. Muffled screams filled the air as one by one the enveloped warriors disappeared.
As they started to understand their plight, some Minions started blindly swinging their blades through the air in hope of randomly cutting down their invisible foes. In a few cases they succeeded, and the envelopers lost their camouflage to go crashing hard to the earth. But the warriors were succumbing in droves, and literally dissolving as they died.
Yellow-robed lepers tore hysterically through the streets while others took shelter in the buildings. Minion blood became so prevalent that it started painting the dirt and running down the gutters. Fires broke out as the
