Aristanes glanced distastefully at all the bodies and then touched his chest. “You wound me. I’m the Schemer, not the Conquering One.”
At the mention of another of their kind, Volos felt her eyes narrow. “She’s around here somewhere, isn’t she? I’m surprised you convinced her to help you. I thought better of her than becoming one of your lackeys.”
“She came around.” Aristanes grinned. “Many have. I take it by your tone that you, however, have not.”
“Your grudges bore me,” Volos told him. Even among the Yuglid she was considered distant and dispassionate, and yet Aristanes’s presence stirred feelings inside of her – anger, fear, consternation. She was not surprised to find him sitting just outside the capital of the world’s greatest empire, but it did cause her trepidation. What plans did he have in motion this time? How many millions would die? “You need a hobby.”
“Destroying human civilization isn’t a hobby?” he asked in surprise.
“I meant something like stamp collecting.”
“Ah. You still think I should be like you. That I should assimilate.” A dark gleam touched Aristanes’s eyes. “It’s me or them, Thinker, and the humans never stood a chance.”
Volos nudged Montego with her boot. “This one did. He killed the Angry One in single combat. When’s the last time one of us fell in single combat to a human?”
“An aberration. And soon to be dealt with.”
Volos cursed herself silently and stepped around Montego to stand between him and Aristanes. The Willow always told her she had a soft heart when it came to humans. “I think not.”
Aristanes snorted. “Battle lines have already been drawn. I don’t mind if you watch from the arena walls – I’m not a zealot, after all – but if you get involved I won’t give you a second chance.”
“The Angry One would have wanted his bester spared,” Volos reasoned.
“The Angry One is dead. He failed, so he doesn’t get any final wishes.”
Volos rolled up her sleeves. “I’m taking both of these with me,” she said, reaching down for Montego. She moved casually, as if everything was right in the world, but she watched Aristanes carefully for any sudden moves.
“If you save them, they’ll know what you are.”
“As if we’ve never revealed ourselves to humans before – either of us,” Volos snorted. “They keep secrets better than one might expect.”
Aristanes’s expression grew genuinely annoyed. “Why aid them?”
“Because I like humans, Schemer. They’re infinitely interesting.”
“They usurped our world. I only work to take back what is rightfully ours.”
“As I said, your grudges bore me,” Volos responded. She hovered just over Montego, waiting for Aristanes to either make his move or leave.
“I could kill you now,” Aristanes warned.
It wasn’t a bluff. Aristanes was much older and more experienced, but Volos shook her head all the same. “How long would it take you to grow back your human disguise after I rip it up? How many centuries will it set back your schemes when my sister comes looking for me? I’m not declaring war. I’m not attacking you. I’m just … leaving with a couple of half-dead humans. That’s not a killing offense, and we still live by some codes.”
They stared at each other for several moments before Aristanes finally huffed. “Fine,” he spat. “Take your new pets and get out of my house.” He turned and strode away, not even sparing a glance for the Angry One’s corpse. It was that tiny insult toward a departed Yuglid that made Volos decide she’d made the right choice. She’d always thought Aristanes too cruel, but if he couldn’t even say a few words in passing then he had truly lost his way.
“Schemer,” she called after him.
He paused, his back still toward her.
She gestured at the crumbling, dilapidated mansion surrounding them. “You chose your house well. It is an apt metaphor.”
“Go sign books,” Aristanes replied. “Soon there will be no one to sign them for.” He strode away, his footsteps echoing through the massive halls.
Volos sighed once more, gritting her teeth. What a sad, sad thought. Could he make good on that threat? He’d certainly brought down empires before. What about humanity itself? She did not have enough data to calculate his chances. She slid her hands underneath Montego’s body, leveraging it onto her shoulder. The weight was little more than an awkward inconvenience to the eldritch body hidden within her human skin, and she whistled quietly to herself as she finally got him situated. She paused briefly beside the Angry One’s body.
“Sleep well, poor soul,” she said to him, then proceeded on to Kizzie. Volos scooped the Vorcien up with her other hand, ignoring the way Kizzie shuddered with fear.
“What are you?” Kizzie asked in a strained whisper.
Volos smiled down at her. “I,” she said, “am a gentlewoman scientist. Now come, let’s get your friend to somewhere I can perform surgery.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Another book written, another gaggle of awesome people who have helped me get it to publication. First, thanks to my wonderful wife, Michele McClellan, for being there to bounce ideas and read my first drafts. Thanks to my editor Devi Pillai for taking a chance on a brand-new world; and thanks to all the support staff at Tor who have had a hand in creating, editing, visualizing, and marketing In the Shadow of Lightning.
Thanks of course to my wonderful agent, Caitlin Blasdell, and all the people at Liza Dawson Associates for their work selling the series. Thanks to my assistant, Casey Blair, and artists Ben McSweeney and Nigar Taghiyeva.
Huge thank-you to all of my professional consultants and early readers for helping me get everything straight within the text, including Anthony Scala, Ames Grawert, David Wohlreich, Rachel Lance, Nicole Lazar, Jay Dnihil, Mark Lindberg, Logan Moritz, Kris Nied, David Hill, Sam Baskin, Colton Long, Ted Herman, Chris Bailey, Zarin Ficklin, Clint Sheridan, Jon Seiglie, Rushikesh Joshi, Wyatt Nevins, Leticia Lara, Rahul Kanojia, Joshua Ely, Luke Kramarz, Glen Vogelaar, Josh Mulligan, Josh McDonald, Jordan Stiebritz, Colin Schmucker, Jon A. Melbye, Tim Elliott, and Michael Wyatt.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BRIAN MCCLELLAN is the author of the bestselling Powder Mage six-book flintlock fantasy series, published by Orbit in the US and UK. It has more than half a million copies in print and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. You can sign up for email updates here.