Read Online A Blackbird In Silver (Book 1) by Freda Warrington - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Freda Warrington
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him, and had summoned the supernatural being to jealously guard that which he was sure was going to be taken from him.
Ashurek wept for a while. He still loved his brother, as he had always done. Now he was shattered to realise the truth, furious at his own foolishness in imagining that Meshurek had solved his problems. What did the being mean, the loyalty of you and your family ?
Eventually, when he had calmed himself, he left his room. The banquet was long over, the palace in silence and darkness. He said to a guard, ‘I cannot sleep. I am going to the library to read for a while.’ And once in the vast library, he searched until the first light of dawn for whatever fell knowledge Meshurek had found there.
The being he had seen, he soon learned, was one of the Shana – a supernatural race that inhabited a region removed from Earth. They were evil and powerful and they were ‘of the Serpent’, the ancient book said – although whether this meant they were its servants, or that it had created them, Ashurek could not tell. They lusted for power over Earth. However, the Earth was protected from them in that they could only come there when summoned by a human, and the first summoning was arduous and dreadful.
There was no sorcery on the Earth, since the potential energy for it did not exist. So anyone who desired power that could only be achieved through magical means had to resort to calling upon the Shana. In return for performing whatever tasks the summoner wanted, a Shanin would take control of the unfortunate human and extract whatever payment it desired. And if the human fell short in fulfilling his side of the bargain, it was easy enough for the Shanin to drag him down to the Dark Regions and make him regret it for eternity.
Unsurprisingly, men called the Shana ‘demons’.
Ashurek could find nothing on the actual ritual of summoning. No doubt Meshurek had concealed that information in his own room. But there were hints of the terrible difficulty and danger of breaking through to the Dark Regions to call a demon into the world. Ashurek could imagine how his brother’s cleverness had overcome the problems of understanding the ritual and putting it into practice.
Once the bargain was made, subsequent summonings were simple. The demon could even come without being summoned. As he read on, the cold, archaic language of the old book and the implications of the appalling, apocalyptic danger of demon-summoning left Ashurek sickened. Had Meshurek any real conception of what he had instigated? If so, did he care?
The next day, the ceremony at which Ashurek received the office of High Commander passed like a dream. Externally he went through all the correct motions; internally he was totally distracted by what he had learned. He could not meet Meshurek’s eyes. Whenever he looked at the rest of his family – all sparkling like hummingbirds as they happily greeted an endless stream of courtiers, relations and officials – he felt fear for them.
They don’t know, he thought. They have not the slightest suspicion that Meshurek… They are in terrible danger.
Ashurek had no idea what he should do. If he told his father and mother, they would be furious and confront Meshurek. Then Meshurek’s worst fears – that his family meant to oust him from the throne – would be realised. There was no telling just how powerful the demon Meheg-Ba was. He did not doubt it had the power to destroy anyone who challenged Meshurek. That was exactly why he had summoned it.
Ashurek could not even confide in Orkesh. She was too outspoken. She’d be outraged and would challenge Meshurek with the accusation. He couldn’t be sure he could stop her, for she had the same degree of spirit as did he.
Least of all could he speak to Meshurek. Already eaten by paranoia, now in the grip of a supernatural being – even if he could make him see reason, what strength did Meshurek have to dismiss the powerful, greedy Shanin? None. Less than
Ashurek wept for a while. He still loved his brother, as he had always done. Now he was shattered to realise the truth, furious at his own foolishness in imagining that Meshurek had solved his problems. What did the being mean, the loyalty of you and your family ?
Eventually, when he had calmed himself, he left his room. The banquet was long over, the palace in silence and darkness. He said to a guard, ‘I cannot sleep. I am going to the library to read for a while.’ And once in the vast library, he searched until the first light of dawn for whatever fell knowledge Meshurek had found there.
The being he had seen, he soon learned, was one of the Shana – a supernatural race that inhabited a region removed from Earth. They were evil and powerful and they were ‘of the Serpent’, the ancient book said – although whether this meant they were its servants, or that it had created them, Ashurek could not tell. They lusted for power over Earth. However, the Earth was protected from them in that they could only come there when summoned by a human, and the first summoning was arduous and dreadful.
There was no sorcery on the Earth, since the potential energy for it did not exist. So anyone who desired power that could only be achieved through magical means had to resort to calling upon the Shana. In return for performing whatever tasks the summoner wanted, a Shanin would take control of the unfortunate human and extract whatever payment it desired. And if the human fell short in fulfilling his side of the bargain, it was easy enough for the Shanin to drag him down to the Dark Regions and make him regret it for eternity.
Unsurprisingly, men called the Shana ‘demons’.
Ashurek could find nothing on the actual ritual of summoning. No doubt Meshurek had concealed that information in his own room. But there were hints of the terrible difficulty and danger of breaking through to the Dark Regions to call a demon into the world. Ashurek could imagine how his brother’s cleverness had overcome the problems of understanding the ritual and putting it into practice.
Once the bargain was made, subsequent summonings were simple. The demon could even come without being summoned. As he read on, the cold, archaic language of the old book and the implications of the appalling, apocalyptic danger of demon-summoning left Ashurek sickened. Had Meshurek any real conception of what he had instigated? If so, did he care?
The next day, the ceremony at which Ashurek received the office of High Commander passed like a dream. Externally he went through all the correct motions; internally he was totally distracted by what he had learned. He could not meet Meshurek’s eyes. Whenever he looked at the rest of his family – all sparkling like hummingbirds as they happily greeted an endless stream of courtiers, relations and officials – he felt fear for them.
They don’t know, he thought. They have not the slightest suspicion that Meshurek… They are in terrible danger.
Ashurek had no idea what he should do. If he told his father and mother, they would be furious and confront Meshurek. Then Meshurek’s worst fears – that his family meant to oust him from the throne – would be realised. There was no telling just how powerful the demon Meheg-Ba was. He did not doubt it had the power to destroy anyone who challenged Meshurek. That was exactly why he had summoned it.
Ashurek could not even confide in Orkesh. She was too outspoken. She’d be outraged and would challenge Meshurek with the accusation. He couldn’t be sure he could stop her, for she had the same degree of spirit as did he.
Least of all could he speak to Meshurek. Already eaten by paranoia, now in the grip of a supernatural being – even if he could make him see reason, what strength did Meshurek have to dismiss the powerful, greedy Shanin? None. Less than
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