Dedication
This book took longer for me to write, in large part because of the distractions that naturally came with the success of the previous books. Over the past year many people helped me reach this point… far too many to thank them all. As always I’m grateful for my wife and children, who have continued to give me their full support. The many people who served as test readers and proof-readers also deserve special mention. In particular, my editor, Grace, made a huge impact by shouldering a large part of what had become a heavy burden… the editing.
I’d also like to thank my fans who drive me to continue with their unceasing enthusiasm, questions, and prodding. If it weren’t for the overwhelming response I received when I first began sharing my writing with the public, I doubt I would have continued this far.
Chapter 1
Storm clouds were brewing to the west, and I could feel the wind drawing them ever nearer to the construction site as I looked down over it. I was standing in the newly completed ‘Traveler’s Pinnacle.’ That was the best name I had come up with so far, though I had no doubt that James or one of his underlings would find a more suitable name for the tower soon enough.
It stood close to two hundred and fifty feet in height with a broad base having its roots atop a massive stone fortress below. To achieve such lofty heights with a wood and stone structure, we’d had to build the bottom floor almost a hundred feet across and tapered it slowly from there as it rose in altitude. Even so, the highest floor was still nearly fifty feet across and boasted a magnificent view from its rooftop balcony. The land could be seen rolling away for miles in every direction. Albamarl was visible in the distance, and the main road went in that direction. Most notably, it was the only paved road that reached the massive construction project that I had named the ‘World Road’.
A whisper of wind and damp air brought me back to my more immediate thoughts. Far below the nearby quarry was in a delicate state. Work had begun that might lead to disaster if there was a heavy rain before it could be completed. “Elaine,” I said softly to get my companion’s attention.
“Yes, Your Excellency?” she said promptly.
I gave her a sour glance. She knew I preferred less formality, and I was not surprised when I saw the hint of a smirk in her expression. She was serving as my ‘miellte’ today, my watcher or spirit guide might be better terms. The magical remnant of Moira Centyr, the last archmage, was no longer able to assist me. After the birth of her daughter, she had begun to fade, her purpose accomplished. In truth, I was not sure if she still existed at all… I hadn’t seen her in years and I left her to her rest, not wishing to disturb her.
“I need to talk to the wind for a bit. Remain watchful,” I told Elaine, not bothering to reprimand her for using the formal address. It would only encourage her. I held out my hand and she placed her own within it.
“As you wish, my lord,” she replied, dipping her head respectfully. Her soft brown hair had golden highlights in the mid-afternoon sunlight and the wind tossed loose strands of it across her delicate features. Though she didn’t have Rose’s high cheekbones or Penny’s smooth complexion, she had grown to be quite a beauty in her own right, and her freckles had a certain charm. I put those thoughts aside and turned my attention to the sky above… the young woman was practically a niece to me, or at least I tried to think of her as one. I opened my mind to the wind, and soon enough I had forgotten all thoughts of men and women, male and female, as my thoughts were swept up to the rapidly clouding sky.
Drifting, I still retained some sense of purpose and I gently persuaded the winds to shift, guiding the heavily laden rainclouds aside and somewhat to the south of the quarry and active construction sites. A week before I had moved the rain to the north and consequently the south had gotten a bit dry, so I hoped to balance things out a bit this way. As I had discovered, once you began meddling with the weather there were far reaching consequences, the less one interfered the better. In this case though, I had little choice. Otherwise the work would be delayed by months while the quarry workers tried to sort through the mud this rain would make of their recent excavations.
Once I had finished adjusting the weather I withdrew and began contracting my awareness, pulling myself back and rediscovering my limited human self. There was something warm in my hand. I blinked as I stared down at the strange creature standing next to me. After a moment the image seemed to resolve itself as my mind resumed supplying names and labels for what I was seeing. Elaine was standing next to me and the warm ‘thing’ was her hand. Her eyes were damp, and I could feel a certain poignant sadness emanating from her.
“Are you alright?” I asked, with a voice that seemed foreign to my ears.
She blinked and smiled, “Yes… forgive me. Watching you I find my breath taken away by the vastness of the sky. I could see something of what you felt… the beauty of it is almost unbearable.”
I released her hand and patted her cheek fondly as my more paternal instincts returned along with my human emotions. “It is unbearable Elaine. You find it so because you are experiencing it as a human… and that is why you have to watch me. When I let my soul drift free like that the winds scour away my human frailties and I become an alien to my own kind. If it were otherwise, the reality of it would destroy me.”
“I wish I could hear the wind,” she replied wistfully.
“You just did,” I answered, referring to her watch over my inner world.
Elaine shook her head, “You know what I mean… directly, for myself, the way you do.”
I did indeed know what she meant, but that was one thing I had no power to change. Nor would I have wished to do so. Listening to the voice of the wind, or the earth for that matter, was dangerous. “I am not sure it would be a good thing. Each time I return, I wonder what part of me I may have forgotten or lost this time. Besides, if you were to hear these voices as well, I’d have to find another miellte.”
“George will be up to the task soon enough,” she reminded me, referring to her younger brother, who had just turned eighteen, “and you still have Father.” Her father was Walter Prathion, a wizard and my friend since I had helped rescue his wife and children seven years previously. She and Walter had generously taken turns acting as my miellte over the past few years.
I nodded. “That’s true. I’m sure you’ll be glad to have more time to yourself, rather than having to follow me around all day,” I commented.
Elaine looked downward and her eyes darted to one side in the split second before her face was obscured. “It hasn’t been an inconvenience, and I have learned so much under your tutelage.”
I had promised Walter I would do my best to train Elaine, and someday George, in whatever I could teach them, but I knew her reply was more than a simple compliment. Elaine was deeply infatuated with me, and I was sure it went well beyond simple hero worship. I also had not the faintest idea how to deal with it.
I stuck with the strategy that had worked best thus far… I ignored it. “Let’s go inside I’d like to get back to Castle Cameron and see if they’ve reported back yet.” Taking quick strides, I headed toward the door leading in and down, pausing beside it until Elaine had caught up with me.
By ‘they’, I was referring to the latest mission into Gododdin. Since their defeat eight years ago, the population of Gododdin had been decimated by the priests of Mal’goroth. The families of the soldiers I had slain were put to the knife and their hearts’ blood poured out on his altars. Eventually this led to a widespread revolt and the theocracy had been overthrown, but they were in no shape to handle the shiggreth when they began appearing soon afterward.