Nish, hiding in the shadows, stared at the rank after rank of black machines, standing hip-high above the floor. They looked vaguely like clankers though even from this distance he could tell how superior they were to the clankers he had worked on. A keen student of the Histories. Nish knew what they were.
They were constructs, made to the pattern of the one Rulke the Charon had built over two hundred years ago. Nish did not know who was inside them; he was too far away to tell. He assumed they were lyrinx, or their allies. However, it was clear that they represented the greatest threat Santhenar had ever faced, and that Tiaan had helped to bring them here. Traitorous bitch! His duty was self-evident. He must take her back for justice, no matter what it involved.
The constructs were moving again, going around Tiaan and heading towards the broken entrance. He pulled Ullii down the stairs until just their eyes peeped over.
Nish counted them past, noting how many there were, what size and how armed, and estimating the number of enemy that might be inside. The constructs numbered more than eleven thousand; the enemy a hundred and fifty thousand at the very least. That was priceless, strategic information, perhaps more important than capturing Tiaan. He must survive to get it home. Where had they come from? The armada was large and potent enough to deliver the final blow to humanity.
‘What was that?’ Ullii asked as the last construct went by.
Nish marked the direction on his chart. When he looked back towards the gate, it was gone. Tiaan was too.
‘The end of humanity.’
GLOSSARY
NAMES
Aachim: The human species native to Aachan, once conquered and enslaved by a small force of invading Charon (the Hundred). The Aachim are a clever people, great artisans and engineers, but melancholy or prone to arrogance and hubris. Many were brought to Santhenar by Rulke the Charon in search for the Golden Flute. The Aachim flourished on Santhenar, but were later betrayed by Rulke and ruined in the Clysm. They then withdrew from the world to their hidden mountain cities. The ones that remained on Aachan gained their freedom after the Forbidding was broken, when the surviving Charon went back to the void.
Arple: A battle-scarred sergeant and hero of the wars with the lyrinx.
Barkus: Deceased master crafter of controllers at the manufactory, uncle of Irisis.
Besant: A lyrinx matriarch (Wise Mother). She is a master of the Art, especially in relation to flying.
Coeland: Matriarch (Wise Mother) of the lyrinx in Kalissin.
Cryl-Nish Hlar: A former scribe, a prober in secret and a reluctant artificer, generally known as Nish.
Eiryn Muss: Halfwit; an air-moss grower and harmless pervert.
Faellem: A long-lived human species who have passed out of the Histories, though some may still dwell on Santhenar.
Fistila Tyr: A pregnant artisan in the manufactory.
Flammas: A mancer. Ullii spent years in his dungeon.
Fluuni: Older sister of Jiini; Haani’s aunt.
Flyn: An irascible miner.
Fyn-Mah: The querist at Tiksi. The chief of the municipal intelligence bureau.
Gi-Had: Overseer of the manufactory.
Gol: A lazy sweeper boy.
Gryste: An angry foreman at the manufactory. He has a nigah habit.
Haani: A girl of eight living near Lake Kalissi with her mother and aunts.
Inthis: Vithis’s clan of Aachim, first of the Eleven Clans.
Irisis Stirm: A senior artisan at the manufactory; niece of Barkus.
Jal-Nish Hlar: The perquisitor (provincial inquisitor) for Einunar; Nish’s father.
Jiini: Haani’s mother.
Joeyn (Joe): An old miner, adept at finding crystal. Tiaan’s friend.
Ky-Ara: An overly emotional clanker operator.
Lex: The day guard at the crystal mine.
Liett: A lyrinx with unarmoured skin and no chameleon ability; a talented flesh-former.
Luxor: A conciliatory Aachim clan leader.
Lyrinx: Massive winged humanoids who came out of the void to Santhenar after the Forbidding was broken. Highly intelligent, they are able to use the Secret Art, most commonly for keeping their heavy bodies aloft. They have armoured skin and a chameleon-like ability to change their colours and patterns, often used for communication (skin speech). Some lyrinx are also flesh-formers; they can change small organisms into desired forms using the Secret Art. In the void they used a similar ability to pattern their unborn young so as to survive in that harsh environment. As a consequence they are not entirely comfortable in their powerful but much changed bodies.
Lyssa: Jiini’s younger sister; Haani’s aunt.
Marnie: Tiaan’s mother, a prize breeder of children.
Matron: The woman in charge of the breeding factory at Tiksi.
Minis: A young Aachim man of high stature; foster-son of Vithis. Tiaan’s dream lover.
M’lainte: The renowned mechanician; in charge of balloon construction.
Mul-Lym: The apothek at the manufactory.
Myssu: A legendary, bare-breasted heroine of revolutionary times.
Nigah: A drug used by the army under extreme conditions to combat cold and fatigue. Also has medicinal uses as it induces lassitude, somnolence and indifference to pain. Made from the leaf of the nigah bush, it stains the gums yellow.
Nish: Cryl-Nish’s hated nickname, means ‘pipsqueak’. (Even worse: Nish-Nash.)
Nod: Doorman at the manufactory.
Nylatl, the: A vicious and malicious creature created by Ryll and Liett’s flesh-forming.
Pur-Did: The shooter on Ky-Ara’s clanker.
Rahnd: The shooter on Simmo’s clanker.
Ranii Mhel: An examiner; formidable mother of Nish.
Rustina: A red-haired sergeant. An expert climber with a profound hatred of lyrinx.
Ruzia: The old, blind healer at the manufactory.
Ryll: An ostracised wingless lyrinx; a talented flesh-former.
Seeker: One who can sense use of the Secret Art, or people who have that talent, or even enchanted objects. Ullii is one.
Simmo: A clanker operator.
S’lound: A soldier who travels with Nish in the balloon.
Tiaan Liise-Mar: A young artisan; a visual thinker and talented controller-maker.
Tirior: An Aachim clan leader.
Tul-Kin: The healer at the manufactory; a drunk.
Tuniz: A senior artificer at the manufactory.
Ullii: A seeker so hypersensitive that she is unable to go outside, or among people.
Vithis: Minis’s foster-father; an Aachim from Aachan. The head of Inthis First Clan.