Raymond E. Feist - The Serpentwar Saga

‘Calis leads them.’

‘Tomas’s son,’ said Pug. ‘I haven’t seen him since he was young; it must be twenty or more years.’

‘He’s still young. And angry and confused.’

He’s unique. There is no other creature like him in the universe. He’s the product of a union that should not have borne fruit, and he will die someday, unique.’

‘And alone.’

Pug nodded. ‘Who else?’

‘A band of men condemned to die, none known to you. And Nakor the Isalani.’

Pug smiled. ‘I miss his rambling brilliance. And his sense of fun.’

Miranda said, ‘Fun is far from his mind these days, I fear. With Arutha’s death, Nicholas becomes the hope for the Western Realm, the Kingdom, and the world. He has grudgingly adopted his father’s plan, but he has little enthusiasm for it.’

‘What plan is this?’

She told him of the previous voyages to Novindus, and of the destruction endured by Calis and his men the last time. She told him of the plan to send men down to join with the conquering army, men who would return with the truth about what was facing them.

‘Do you think,’ asked Pug after she finished, ‘that this is anything but a full-scale consolidation of all the armed might in Novindus, so that an attack can be launched across the sea to seize the Lifestone?’

‘The Pantathians lack subtlety,’ answered Miranda, ‘but it could be someone is manipulating them the way they manipulated the moredhel during the Great Uprising.’

Pug conceded that this was true. ‘But every indication is that they are seeking to put all Novindus under their sway, to create the largest army ever seen in this world, and from that it is just one logical step to assume they are going to throw that army at the Kingdom, perhaps sail right into Krondor harbor, then march across half the Kingdom to Sethanon.’ Pug was silent for a moment, then said, ‘I don’t think anyone is using them in the sense you suggest. The Pantathians are too alien by other beings’ standards, judging by everything I’ve seen.

‘They have a view of the universe that is so warped it defies logic, but it is so ingrained in their very nature that they have not allowed more than two thousand years of observing the way in which the universe really works to sway them from their fanatic devotion to their unique view of things.’

Miranda raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s a little too analytical for me, Pug. I have encountered other fanatics, and reality doesn’t seem to sway them much either.’ She waved off a comment he was about to make. ‘But I see your point. If they move for their own dark purposes in such numbers, then it’s clear they risk all or nothing on this massive undertaking.’

Pug shook his head no and sighed. ‘Not really. The damnable thing about all this is we can defeat them again, perhaps destroying every man and creature they send across the sea, but what does this gain us save wholesale ruin on our own shore?’

‘We still don’t know where they live,’ Miranda said.

Pug nodded yes. ‘We have only vague rumors. Up north, near the headwaters of the Serpent River, the Serpent Lake, down in the Great South Forest, somewhere deep in the heart of the Forest of Irabek. No one knows.’

‘You’ve looked?’

Pug nodded. ‘I’ve used every magic spell I could find or dream up and have traveled on foot across a great deal of that continent. The sad truth is they are either incredibly gifted in shielding themselves from sight, both magic and mundane, or they are doing something so obvious I’m not seeing it.’

Miranda sipped her wine. After a moment she said, ‘That still leaves us with an army to defeat.’

‘More, I’m afraid.’

‘What?’

Pug said, ‘I believe that Calis is going to find something far more powerful at the heart of this particular campaign, and I can’t tell you why.’ He went over to a bookshelf. There are several tomes here that speak of doorways, pathways, and routes between different levels of reality.’

‘Like the Hall of Worlds?’

Pug shook his head no. ‘That place exists in the objective universe as we understand it, though it is somewhat of an artifact of creation, allowing those who travel the halls to exist beyond certain limits of that objective reality. Do you remember how real the Hall of the Gods looked?’

‘Yes. A most convincing illusion.’

‘It was more than an illusion. I tapped into a higher level of reality, a higher-energy state for lack of a better description. A long time ago, I went into the city of the dead gods, and entered through a … seam, into the Hall of the Goddess of Death. I spoke to Lims-Kragma.’

‘Interesting,’ said Miranda.

Pug looked at her and saw she was not mocking him.

‘It was really the Goddess of Death you spoke to?’

‘That’s the point I’m trying to make. There is no Goddess of Death, yet there is. There’s the natural force of creation and the equally natural act of destruction. What breaks down a once-living being provides food for new life. We understand so little of these things,’ he said, showing a hint of frustration. ‘But these personifications, these gods and goddesses, they may be but a way in which we, who live in one state of reality, can interact with forces, beings, energy from another reality.’

‘Interesting theory,’ said Miranda.

‘Actually, most of it is Nakor’s.’

‘But what has this to do with all the murder about to be done?’

‘Beings from these other states exist. I have faced the Dread, to name but one.’

‘Really?’ she said, obviously impressed. ‘The stealers of life are not to be trifled with by all reports.’

‘That’s the first clue I had.’ Pug’s face grew animated as he said, ‘When I fought the Dread for the first time, I sensed a different rhythm, a different state to the energy of his being. When I bested him, I learned a few things.

‘Over the years I’ve discovered other things. Living on Kelewan, the Tsurani homeworld, for a number of years gave me insights I never would have gained here on Midkemia.

‘One thing I’ve discovered is that the Dread do not “drink” the life of living beings on this world. They change the energies to a state they can use. The unfortunate side effect of that change is the death of the creature they touch.’

‘Such academic considerations are of little interest to those who die, I’m afraid.’

‘True, but you see, it’s important. If they can do that, why can’t forces we can’t see in our normal frame of reference not be able to reach out and manipulate energy here in our world?’

‘Where are we going with this?’ asked Miranda, betraying impatience.

‘What was the Lifestone like when you last visited the Oracle?’ asked Pug.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Did it appear as it always did?’

‘I don’t know.’ Miranda looked puzzled. ‘It’s the only time I’ve ever seen it.’

‘But there was something odd about it, wasn’t there?’

Miranda shrugged. ‘I had a feeling …’

‘That the Valheru trapped inside were somehow doing something.’

Miranda had a faraway look. ‘Stirring. I think that’s what I said. They were stirring more than usual.’

‘I fear they may have found a way to interact directly with someone or some group within the Pantathian community. Perhaps with this so-called Emerald Queen who now leads them.’

‘That’s a chilling thought.’

Pug said, ‘There is something few know. Have you heard of Macros the Black?’

Miranda said, ‘By reputation.’ Her tone was dry, and Pug assumed she didn’t believe the inflated tales about the Black Sorcerer.

‘Much of what he did was theatrics, but much was an order of magic beyond even my understanding today. He was able to do things with time that I can only speculate on, for one example.’