abstract
| - A shadow wraith is haunting Udinaas. The wraith tells him he was once a Tiste Andii, murdered and betrayed, but he can smell the Wyval blood within the slave. The wraith calls himself Wither and no longer wishes to serve the Edur. He asks to hide in Udinaas shadow, and promises to help serve the slave and hide the Wyval within him. Wither speaks to him of the betrayal perpetrated on the Andii by the Edur. He asks Udinaas to hunt along the shore and find something of his to return it to him, it turns out to be a sorcerously invested arrowhead. Wither asks Udinaas to resurrect it by chipping at the surrounding calcifications. Binadas leads the party of Seren Pedac, Baruk the Pale and Hull Beddict towards the Hiroth village. The smoke tells him there is a funeral being held. Seren tells Binadas to go to his people, and after he has left she tries to dissuade Hull from using the Edur to exact his revenge on the Letherii. He refuses to listen. As they approach closer to the village Seren notes that there are more shadow wraiths than usual, an army of wraiths and wonders if they are all the ancestors of the Edur. A ghostly figure stands upon the path, tall and white with dull red eyes. Two scabbards, both are empty. Wraiths surround the figure as if in worship. She approaches as the figure addresses her, telling her of a dragon having once dragged itself along the very trail they are walking, and wonders that the Edur did not sense his presence. He speaks of the power of mortals over demons and gods and then leaves. Seren turns to Baruk who has given away that he witnessed a casting of the tiles and questions him as to what he learnt. Baruk tells her the Holds are awakening – all of them. Trull and his brothers are preparing to leave on the quest Hannan Mosag has given them. He is concerned over the relevations he has discovered, and the ambitions the Warlock King may cherish. Fear tells Trull that he is now Weapons Master over all the tribes. Udinaas dreams of broken bodies of Edur, of darker-skinned kin and reptilian figures with blades for hands trapped timelessly slaughtered within ice, and comprehends that sorcery on an incomprehensible scale was used. In a fissure within the ice he sees a standing white skinned, tall and angular figure with many jointed limbs, ( a Forkrul Assail) an expression of faint surprise on it’s face. Nearby are bodies of a man, a woman and two children, greenish skinned and tusked, suggest they are Jaghut. It’s clear the white-skinned figure was their killer. Udinaas calls to Wither, who does not answer, then notices a child’s footprints. The footprints lead behind the standing figure where he can see the back of the man’s head has been stove in, as if a fist had removed the brain. The break looks strangely recent. His dream changes and he becomes aware that he is flying above a battlefield, as a Wyval. The Wyval delights as it sees a bone-white dragon. Udinaas within the Wyval knows this is Silchas Ruin, third son of Mother Dark and Soletaken Eleint. He witnesses the betrayal, and wakes from the dream. Mayen, Fear’s betrothed is guest in the Sengar house, Trull witnesses Rhulad watching her. The Sengar family talk of the perils of the ice fields and discuss the six members of the party. Theradas and Midik Buhn are to accompany the four Sengar brothers. As they discuss the coming war, a slave drops a plate. Uruth notices his hands are wounded and is annoyed that the wounds may have wept onto their food. One of the other slaves proclaims that he was the one who fought the Wyval, and Uruth rapes his mind to find if he is possessed, but finds nothing within him. Later Feather Witch accosts Udinaas and calls him a fool. Udinaas explains that Uruth had not looked into his shadow. She wonders at that because the wraiths serve the Edur, and he tells her of his ally.
|