"It was spoken, by our Elders, that a darkness would come, a shadow that would turn brother on brother, a plague of fire and steel." "A plague of fear in the form of a dragon." "Those who still live remember when the Vitalion came, their endless legions broke through the people like a mighty steel wave." "And with their metal they brought fire." "They brought the very beast of prophecy." "A dragon." "Man and beast and the earth herself collapsed beneath its curse." "The Deiran, were broken, our heroes and dreams were swallowed in unquenchable flame." "The dragon destroyed everything." "Even as our people clung to the edge of an Abyss, they had one hope." "That a hero would rise to fulfil the prophecy, a warrior of light to do battle with the very Inferno itself, to crown a dragon," "kill a dragon." "Must reach Garrick with the Falarica by Lammas Eve." "I'll leave at dawn." "I was pursued..." "A Vitalion patrol." "Vitalions?" "They should have moved on by now." "Only a few patrols are left." "They're delayed with attacks in the south." "It's alright." " The dragon sleeps." " Corvus has spies everywhere." " It's only a matter of time..." " Time, time..." "My niece must come with me." "I would that it were not so." "The Leode will be safe, should anything happen..." "Perhaps." "The Leodrine still awaits the prophecy." "It's getting light outside," "I'll double back toward the ford and head north." "And then?" "I'll keep them interested as I can." "Elenn." "Elenn." "Rise, my child." " Aunt?" " Dress yourself." "Plain." "We need to leave." "Leave?" "Where?" "I know you were eavesdropping so you can drop the mummer's act." "But we have no servants..." "No escort" "It's the plainest one I've got." "It's a wonder one of the servants didn't steal it when they ran off." "Where are we going?" "Open it." "Some say it was a great weapon, broken in an ancient battle." "Is this the Falarica?" "It is now the path to Deiran independence." "For your impertinence." "Magister Corvus, we found one of Garrick's men." "Very good." "I apologize." "The Guard can be a little overzealous with traitors." "There's only one traitor here." "The Emperor is master in Deira now." "We Deiran are his subjects, so you are traitor to him." "You plot to make Garrick King." "Garrick is no king but a low-born pretender to a broken throne." "Beautiful aren't they?" "They are despised by us Deirans, and yet they possess the greatest of all qualities." "They are survivors." "But I digress." "The Vitalions, in their wisdom, pride themselves on employing some of the finest interrogators in the known world." "Priests from the disease and rat ridden islands of Ravalan, mainly." "They worship some particularly bloodthirsty gods out there, and they have found the time, and inclination, to raise tonure to a veritable an form." "I once saw them remove a living man's skin in a single piece." "Not to worry, I prefer more civilized methods." "It is painless, after the initial discomfort but I'm afraid you'll be dead within the hour." "There." "Now, you will tell me everything you know about the Falarica and the one who guards it." "I'm sorry I brought you into this child." "You shouldn't concern yourself with such things." "Your father would not have wished it." "Aunt, I'm not a child anymore." "Stay calm, girl." "You have a pass?" "Where are you travelling?" "The Leode of Ghel." "We bear candles for the sisters." "With no servants?" "They ran off, taking everything you lot hadn't already burned or stolen." "Forgive her." "She was raised with indulgence and forgets the inevitabilities of occupation." "I thirst." "No, not you." "You." "Here, your wine." "Sclabia!" "Scum!" "On your feet!" "I said on your feet!" "Elenn." "Go." "Come on!" "I'll kill you." "Lief!" "Get the horse!" "You killed my aunt." "Whatevefis in that sack of yours killed your aunt." "Now cover the body." "You know my orders, Corvus." "Request denied." "The information is reliable." "The woman who bears the Falarica is likely headed south towards Anondea." "The rebels are going to crown Garrick." " A dozen men..." " Garrick!" "I'd have thought he was too busy wooing sheep" " and stealing Vitalion wine." " Allow a coronation, and the rebellion will become a full-fledged Deiran uprising." "You are Magma, they're your people and soon to be your problem, you deal with it!" "To enforce the law, I must have soldiers!" "Indeed." "Do you know where this supposed coronation is being held?" "No." "Do you have any information that could conceivably lead to Garrick's death or capture?" "No." "Perhaps it has escaped your attention Corvus but this Legion is being transferred north." "Deira is nothing more than a muddy little footprint on the road to Minneaus." "A united Deira would present a problem in the future." "The dragon will make that difficult, may the Gods forgive us." "The Deiran should be suitably terrorized for years to come and Garrick would be king all of a day before his Deiran "allies" cut his throat." "Request denied." "Hey beautiful." "Goodbye, little one." "Oh, no, no." "No!" "No!" "Leave her be!" "If it means that much to you, then you go first." "But do us a favour, don't use her all up." "I'd like a little fight left for my turn." "Gods, woman!" "Leave it." "You don't believe that cock n' bull story that she fed the scales do you?" "She's a thieving little whore, run off with her master's treasure, like every other sewing Wench in the country." "I won't say it again, Leif." "After all we've been through, you take some giglefs pan over me?" "And here we were gonna be partners?" "There's plenty of sympathizers blood to spill, plenty of plunder," "and women." "I've got enough blood on my hands." "Whafll you do Aedin, try farming?" "My father was a farmer." "So was mine, and the happiest day of his life was on the one the poor bastard died." "Well, if we're to pad, let it be in friendship." "Eh?" "Come here." "No bastard holds a knife to my throat." "I'll not forget." " Another time, m'lady." " To hell with you!" "Like enough, but not this day." "Hedge-born villain!" "He wasn't always that way." "War an' what comes after changes some men." "This is yours." "I'm sorry for whatever pan I played in your aunt's death." "It ain't safe for you here." "Just get past Butcher's Creek, then join the road again." "Fare well, lass." "Please, please, I need to get to Ghel." "Can you help me?" "I've got my own problems." " I am Elenn of Adair..." " I'm no son of escort" "Ghel's dangerous." "Still crawling with Vitalion patrols, thick as fleas on rats." "And they'll be looking' for me." "If it weren't for me you'd still be bound and heading for the gallows." "I'm grateful, but I know enough not to stick my head back in the noose." "My life's worth more than that." "Sorry, lass." "My aunt owned a large tract of land south of Queen's Ford." "It takes a full day to ride the perimeter." "It's mine now." "I'll give you all you can ride around in the morning if you can take me to the Leode at Ghel in three days." "It'd take two days to get to Ghel... off the road for a man." "In battle condition." "Hard country between here and Ghel." "You think you're up to it?" "Yes." "All right." "What's on the table?" "What?" "What can you give me now." "As security." "In the case that you can't keep your temper, you claw up some face I can't scare off with a pen knife?" "Here." "It's all I have." "I can trade it for coin when we get to Ghel." "What's in there?" "It's not mine to give..." "A full morning, you say?" "Sun up to noon." " I choose the horse." " Well, then I need an oath." "On the haft and hilt, lam thy man and soldier." "The name's Aedin." " Elenn Barethon." " Aye, you said." "Now stick to the trees." "You're heavier than you look." "Pretty dress." "Shame about the colour." "What are you doing?" "!" "Keep moving princess, we've got a long way to yet." "A plague of fire." "Aye ." "Dammit!" "Gods in hell..." "Thieving bastard!" " Careful." " Give it back!" "Not till you answer some questions." "Now put that thing away before you get lucky." "How the hell did you get this thing?" "Who are you?" "And don't give me any she-tahn about joining the Leode of virgins." "Elenn, run!" "Get out of here!" "Aedin, come on!" "Run!" "Run!" "What in hell's name is that thing?" "Black magic?" "Who's after you?" "Come on!" "You got any magic for this?" "Oh shi..." "I've got you." "What the hell have you drug me into?" "Take off your wet clothes." "How'd you find this place?" "I have a network of caches along all the major trade routes." " You're a smuggler." " Yep." "And you're a liar." "What else is in that little hole of yours?" "You fought in the war with King Aedelred, was he as beautiful as they say?" "I don't know." "I spent most of my time buried in a trench, trying to keep my feet dry and my head out of dragon fire." "What did you do after the war?" "After the invasion... like most I kept fighting long past sense." "When I went home there was nothing left." "So, I fight other men's battles now, and pick up things on my travels when I can." "It's been a life of little meaning." "Well I think it sounds romantic, always on the run, living by your swords and your wits." "You're full of wine and a warm fire." "Come the morning you'll remember the misery and loneliness." "Get some rest." "We've an early start" "It's going to get more dangerous from here." "We're moving into dragon territory." "We'll have to stay to the trees." "We're in its territory now, keep still." "We'll be safe for now." "What else are you keeping from me?" "This better be the best bloody farmland in Deira." "Do you think it's gone?" "Maybe so, maybe no." "We never could figure the damn thing out." "Neither could the Vitalions for that matter." "Only a Paladin can kill a dragon..." "Well, we didn't have one handy at the time." "Last night..." "late last night." "Did we... did I say anything... you know." "I always say too much when I'm drunk." "No." "Nothing I can think of." "Did we do anything..." "Nope." "Nothing." "You'll live to die a virgin yet." " Help!" " Keep yelling', that'll fix it." "Clooney, it's been so long." "Son of a whore!" "That's for Dunotten." "Bastard tried to kill me." "Stuck a sword right through my side." "You left out the pan where you were standing on my head, in three feet of water." "Aye." "I did." "He was fighting for the enemy." " The Vitalion?" " No." "The Daegen's." "May they rot in hell." "They did, right after you set fire to their keep." "Aye." "They were bra times." "I missed ya." "Come and sit." "My wives shall entertain you." "With what little we have." "Wives?" "If you want to see that horn again, don't mention the coronation." "How about becoming more agreeable before you get us both disembowelled." "From where I was sitting it looked like you were being agreeable enough for the both of us." "When the laird's had enough to turn sad and sentimental," "I'll get the horn and we'll slip away." "I know this tune." "My mother used to hum it." "It's an old song." "About ties." "Ties that hold things:" "people, ideas, strong ties and weaker ones." "It's a sad thing now, but before the war it was a song for lovers." "Don't let go." "Enough!" "Lace those peckers away, boys!" "There's dark deeds need doing." "You too, Aedin." "I'm not asking." "What are we after tonight?" "Trelawney's." "It was them who sold me out!" "I see someone." "Shut it, ya wee turds." "There's one of them now!" "Sneak up and give him a little taste of the 0l' iron." "Why me?" "Because you're my guest and took advantage of my hospitality." "Now give me your sword, we wouldn't want it rattling and give you up." "We're right behind you." "Who goes there?" "You're pretty good with a stick." "You can thank me later!" "I've got the horn." "Slow down, you're going to fast, I can't keep up." "How much further?" "Oh." "Enter." "Leave us." "I understand you have information on a young woman travelling with a smuggler acquaintance of yours?" "The Vitalions treat you pretty well for a Deiran, don't they?" "I'm sorry child." "Your aunt was a keeper of our Lore and magic." "Hers is a terrible loss..." "Garrick will be crowned at dawn on Lama's Eve." "As a Barethon the task might naturally..." "The coronation..." "I'm afraid I am unversed..." "My aunt was the protector." "She didn't even want me to come on this journey." "I failed to learn the magic I was taught." "If my aunt had born a child," "I'm sure it would have been the one..." "Faith requires courage Elenn." "You must have faith to find the path that is laid out before you and to find the courage to step onto it." "The sisters are preparing for the Vigil of the Paladin tonight." "The acolytes have prepared a bath for you." "You must be tired, after your ordeal." "Oh." "One days morning." "They await the Paladin." "The prophecy says the warrior will manifest at mid moon, enter the circle and save the Dairen." "A hero of great faith, with the power to walk through fire." "It's yours." "Am I to wait all night to have my bowl refilled?" "Do I?" "I used to spend hours here when I was a little girl." "My father would hold me on his lap and read me stories as I turned the pages..." "Over here is Anyon, the first king of the Deiran's." "As he stood before his victorious army and raised his sword aloft, the lightning gods filled him with power," "his boots melted the stone beneath his feet." "Two dragons;" "one poisons the land, the other heals it." "Do you believe that?" "My father said that they were just stories." "You're leaving tomorrow..." "Aye..." "Will you be joining the sister's then?" "They'll keep me here, no doubt." "Just long enough to see my aunt's wishes fulfilled and me the pretty wife of some influential laird." "Aye... someone clean." "Aye ." "The deed has been prepared." "You are a Paladin." "To crown the dragon, you must first kill the dragon." "Paladin." "Gods, the Paladin." "The Paladin is here!" "The Paladin." "Bring me the girl." "Alive and unharmed." "What's happening?" "Is she hurt?" "She has begun the glyderinge, her dream quest." " She's the Paladin." " What?" "There' no time to spare." "You must take her to the hermit on the shores of Lough Aislinn." "She must undergo her anointing." "Aedin, you must take care of her." "Her fulfilment has drawn the Dragon." "The two are now linked." "It won't rest until one destroys the other." "You're a pan of this now, Aedin." "Blessings of the Gods be on you." "Go!" "We have to keep moving." "Traitor!" "We need to move faster." "Get back." "Elenn." "Back." "Come on." "If it catches our scent we won't out run it." "We've got to keep moving." "Come on." "Just a little bit further." "We're there." "Hey!" "Hey!" "What do you want?" "Oh no!" "Don't you bring your troubles around here!" "We've come from the Leode!" "I don't care where you come from!" "Take your strumpet and piss off!" "We're coming in." "What you do..." "What's going on?" "What's going on?" "Those are precious artifacts." " So is she." " What's happening?" "She's its keeper." "She's entered the glyderinge." "Gods above!" " The Paladin..." " You've got to finish the ceremony." "We haven't much time." "Candles!" "Celyn berries!" "Do you know them?" "She's going to die, man!" "Quick!" "Leif." "I should have known." "Hello again, old man." "I've told you, I have nothing more to sell you." "Hello, old friend." "Looks like you turned traitor." "No, it's about revenge." " Where are your new friends?" " Where's the girl?" "Miles from here." "For a smuggler, you always were a terrible liar." "You can still just turn and walk away." "No, no." "I've been looking forward to this." "Is this the glyderinge?" "Remarkable." "Like all your battles, Aedin, this is one you cannot win." "Now tell me where's the girl." "Defiant to the last." "That girl just killed you." "Oh no." "Where is she?" "He took her." "I've sold him many things in the past..." "Didn't think I had magic left to pluck his birds." "Is she alive?" "The Glyderinge... not finished." "She's fragile... may not wake." "Elenn." "Wake up." "It's the latest fashion in Rhona, I believe." "I am Corvus of Renonia." "You are Corvus the traitor." "Born into a family of Deiran nobility." "My father, in his wisdom, made himself useful to the Emperor, and I spent my youth and education abroad." "I have seen so many things Elenn." "Magicians in Hoï¬‚onium who summon up dueling beast of horrific size, only often to be devoured themselves," "Sarinese shaman who lie facedown on glowing coals, unscathed." "However, none have intrigued me more than this." "The missing pad!" "I have soared for so many years to make it whole, and at a great cost." "The blood of one dragon shall anoint the other, and the land shall be healed." "What do you want from me?" "In my hands, it's just an old unicorn horn," "broken, inert" "but reunited in the hands of an anointed Deiran priestess, the last of her kind..." "It is a vessel of immense power." "Don't you see?" "Me, to collect the necessary pieces." "You, to fulfil your destiny and reunite the Falarica." "I knew it when I saw you in Ghel, and I know it now, seeing you here before these two pieces." "It is to this purpose that you have been anointed." "You know nothing of my destiny." "You are wrong." "Take the girl." "This is no longer a Vitalion matter!" "You are beginning to vex me Corvus." "This relic, this girl, they are nothing." "Burning religious women does not stop revolutions, quite the opposite." "The girl will be executed immediately." "What is the charge?" " Treason and sedition." " You have no evidence." "Two weeks ago you were bleating on about a mountain of evidence!" "There is none." "Magma Corvus' you are very close to finding yourself at the end of a big pike." "I petition for trial by combat." "I have no interest in your primitive Deiran custom." "As you are aware, the Vitalion have agreed to observe certain Deiran laws." "She comes from a noble family." "There is no evidence." "Trial by combat must be observed." "Very well, Corvus." "She shall have her trial by combat." "But you shall represent the interests of the Empire in this, not hers!" "She shall have three days." "And if a champion doesn't emerge she will be executed." "If they do, you will battle them to the death." "Win, and she dies." "Lose, and she's free." "Three days." "We've got a heavy one here." "Don't you die on your own, I want to kill you myself." "Night, night." "Am I where I think I am?" "Depends..." "Do you think you're in heaven?" "No." "Then yes." "Sleep." "He wants you rested, so he can kill you properly." "Tell Clooney..." "Barethon's girl..." "She's the Paladin." "Come with me Elenn." "I can get you out." "Why should you?" "Because a vibrance and an instinct like yours is so rare." "I will not..." "I cannot let them take you from me." "No." "Strabus will see me fall." "Forget this land, forget these people, forget the dragon." "I want to take you to a place where none of this matters." "No." "What difference is your death going to make?" "Well more than my life will if I leave with you." "I have petitioned for trial by combat, but I've been forced to fight for the Emperor." "If no champion comes forward by noon tomorrow, you will be executed." "Gods above, woman!" "No champion is coming!" "Do you know what they'll do to you?" "For the last time," "I beg you, come with me and forget this foolishness." "Then you'll die," "Lama's Eve will pass, and Garrick will not be crowned." "Clooney!" "Clooney you bastard, set me free!" "Clooney!" "Aedin!" "It seems your lass needs a champion." "They're going to execute her without one." "Elenn of Adair, you are charged with the crimes of sedition and treason, for which you will be executed." "How do you plead?" "I do not plead." "I am a Deiran." "And you are in a Deiran fortress upon Deiran lands!" "Very pretty for a Deiran girl." "No plea." "A trial by combat has been petitioned on your behalf, and it seems that a champion has emerged." "Bring out the prisoner!" "Pretty dress." "I like the colour." "And do you accept this man as your champion?" "Yes." "So be it!" "Trial by combat!" "Bring that bitch to heel and then throw her back in her cage." "Let go of me." "I did not expect such fervour from Corvus." "He seems quite taken by the girl." "Survival is still the stronger instinct Strabus." "Who is she?" "A Deiran witch." "She has an old horn that Corvus was truly obsessed about." "He calls it the Falarica, I believe." "It is significant to the Deiran Kings?" "The Emperor has interest in royal artifacts." "The man who brings him the horn would be smiled upon." "Do you have it?" "Vitalion justice!" "Finish it!" "To kill the dragon she must unite the horn..." "It is her... destiny." "I am almost grateful to you for ridding me of the traitor." "Throw him to the dogs." "That's the problem with you Deiran." "You never have the good sense to stop when you're beaten." "Elenn?" "!" "The dragon!" "We need to get to the Summit of lliak by dawn." " Why?" " The coronation." "Grab that horse." "Faster, come on!" "We cross into open ground, we're dead." "It's me the dragon's after." "Here, take this to the coronation." "Corvus said you must unite the horn." "What are you doing?" "You're the Paladin." "You'll think of something." "Wish me luck." "Luck?" "The coronation." "I need an escort to take me to the Summit of lliak before dawn." "It'll take till sunset, for a man, in battle condition." "Don't let go."