Aismarr smiled at him. She was standing a few yards away, her smock stained green and her cheeks ruddy. Sevekai liked the way her hair fell about her face – tangled, flecked with dirt, half-plaited.
‘I dreamed of dragons,’ she told him.
Sevekai remembered a dragon, though only vaguely. ‘Oh? What did it tell you?’
‘Their souls are broken,’ Aismarr said, sadly. ‘Someone has died, someone they loved.’
Sevekai remembered Drutheira then. Of all of them, she was the one he still remembered. He hadn’t ever loved her. There had been passion, of a sort, but that was part of the old pattern. Here things were simpler – more direct, more honest. He wondered where she was.
‘Then is it time?’ he asked. He knew that something would have to change. Some signal would be given and then the deep wood would beckon.
Aismarr frowned. Her hunting dog slunk around her calves, snagging at her smock.
‘No.’ She glanced over to her left, to where the path ran down like a river into the heart of the forest.
Sevekai followed her gaze. He didn’t think it was time either, not yet.
‘This is the start,’ he said, not really knowing where the words came from. ‘The dragonsoul is gone; others will follow. The world must change.’
Aismarr looked at him with shining eyes.
‘And then will we enter?’ she asked.
Sevekai couldn’t take his eyes off the trees. They called to him, though silently, and with neither malice nor affection.
‘When the word is given,’ he said.
‘And what then?’
Sevekai looked back at her. He no longer saw an asur standing before him, just a kindred soul. All of them were kindred souls now.
‘Rebirth,’ he said, smiling.
Characters
House Tor Caled
Menlaeth, called Caledor II – Phoenix King of Ulthuan
Imladrik – Master of Dragons; Menlaeth’s brother
Yethanial – Loremaster; Imladrik’s wife
Thoriol, called the Silent – Imladrik and Yethanial’s only son
The Council of Five
Liandra of Kor Vanaeth, House Athinol
Salendor of Athel Maraya, House Tor Achare
Aelis of Tor Alessi, House Lamael
Gelthar of Athel Toralien, House Derreth
Caerwal of Athel Numiel, House Ophel
Other Asur
Caradryel – House Reveniol
Kelemar – Regent of Oeragor
Baelian – Archer captain
Loeth – Archer
Taemon – Archer
Florean – Archer
Rovil – Archer
Dawi
Morgrim Bargrum – Thane of Karaz-a-Karak
Morek Furrowbrow – Runelord
Grondil – Thane of Zhufbar
Brynnoth – King of Barak Varr
Druchii
Drutheira – Sorceress
Malchior – Sorcerer
Ashniel – Sorceress
Sevekai – Assassin
Glossary
Anurein – River running through the southern reaches of the Great Forest to the sea, later called the Reik
Arluii – Mountain range to the south of Elthin Arvan, later called the Grey Mountains
Asur – The elves of Ulthuan, known to men as High Elves
Athel Maraya – Lord Salendor’s lands, located in the heart of Loren Lacoi
Athel Numiel – City in the north-east of Elthin Arvan, destroyed by dwarfs during the early years of the war
Athel Toralien – City on the western shores of Elthin Arvan, ruled for a time by Malekith
Druchii – The elves of Naggaroth, known to men as Dark Elves
Elthin Arvan – The lands east of the Great Ocean settled by the asur, later called the Old World
Ifulvin – ‘Bitter-blade’; sword borne by Imladrik
Kor Evril – Imladrik’s citadel in the mountains of Caledor
Kor Vanaeth – Settlement east of Tor Alessi founded by Lord Athinol, father of the mage Liandra
Lathrain – ‘Wrathbringer’; sword borne by Caledor II, inherited from his father
Loren Faen – Forest south of the Arluii, said to be perilous and enchanted, later known as the Fey Forest or Athel Loren
Loren Lacoi – Forest between the Saraeluii and the coast, bounded on the south by the Arluii and in the north by unsettled wasteland, later known as the Great Forest
Oeragor – Asur city in the far south, chiefly settled by Caledorians of Imladrik’s household
Saraeluii – Mountain range to the east of Elthin Arvan, home to the majority of the dwarf holds, later called the Worlds Edge Mountains
Sith Rionnasc – Common name for the port at the head of the River Anurein, later the site of the free city of Marienburg
Tor Alessi – Pre-eminent city of the asur in Elthin Arvan, later the site of the Bretonnian city of L’Anguille
Tor Caled – Home of the House of Tor Caled and the court of Caledor II
Tor Vael – City of loremasters in Cothique; ancestral home of Yethanial
Ulthuan – Homeland of the asur in the Great Ocean
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Wraight is the author of the Space Wolves novels Battle of the Fang and Blood of Asaheim. He has also written the Space Marine Battles novel Wrath of Iron, along with Schwarzhelm & Helborg: Swords of the Emperor and Luthor Huss in the Warhammer universe. He’s based in a leafy bit of south-west England, and when not struggling to meet deadlines enjoys running through scenic parts of it.
A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATION
Published in 2013 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd., Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK
Cover illustration by Fares Maese.
Map by Nuala Kinrade.
© Games Workshop Limited 2013. All rights reserved.
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ISBN 978-1-78251-155-7
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