Read Online Phoenix in Shadow - eARC by Ryk E Spoor - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ryk E Spoor
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must evil achieve before it is no longer evil? Is there no repentance, no salvation for a soul once lost?”
“Well, you can repent...but you can’t keep doing evil and actually be good! You have to actually repent of your evil, and try to make amends for it, and stop doing bad things!” A slight flush touched her cheeks as she seemed to realize how naïve those words made her sound, but she didn’t retract them.
“And you, Prince of Skysand? How would you answer this riddle?”
Poplock spoke first. “We all do little evils to achieve good, I think. You killed that boar so you could live. Trees get chopped down to build houses.”
Tobimar nodded. “We killed Thornfalcon—and killing people is pretty much one of the absolute wrongs. But by doing that we prevented him from killing who knows how many people, and avenged those who had been killed before.” Tobimar shook his head. “But that’s a long way from the kind of thing people imply Khoros does.”
“Then, Tobimar Silverun, I can say only this: that Konstantin Khoros is, I believe, on ‘our side,’ as you put it, but that he will manipulate both sides to achieve his goals. It would not be beyond him, for example, to have realized what would happen to the Artan in the months past, and to have not only allowed it to happen but even have guided the method of its happening, if that apparent victory of darkness would, in the long run, lead to a greater victory of the forces of light.”
Kyri shuddered. “How could anyone live with such choices, if they understood what they chose?”
The Spiritsmith looked at her gravely. “I do not think he intends to live with such choices; he simply postpones his death until all such choices are finished, and—I hope and believe—so that never again will any need to make such choices.” He stood. “But he will tell you nothing unless it fits his plans. You will meet him again—of this I am certain. But you will not find him, he will find you. This guides my own decision, you see.”
Tobimar looked up. “You have made a decision, then?”
“I have.” The Ancient Sauran gazed at each of the three in turn. “You have need of new weapons, yes. And those, I believe, I can supply, for I see the design Khoros used, and understand what purpose lay behind that design; so, in his way, he has arranged that I do this, by sending his designs in your own equipment—echoes of work done so long ago that the world was a different place, then.
“But more, you must begin to oppose the entirety of this plan that has undermined the power of the Balanced Sword, which has beseiged Artania, thrown Aegeia into chaos, and soaked the Forest Sea in blood, and that means preparing to face them in all their guises and in those places where their evil is most ancient and strong, where they began the work of felling the powers of light.”
Tobimar looked at Kyri; for a moment both exchanged puzzled gazes, but Kyri’s eyes suddenly widened. “You mean—”
“Khoros’ commands to you, Tobimar, were clear enough; you simply had not the knowledge to understand them. But the same forces are moving now, and you have met them, and in the end you must face them down, drive them from the lands of your forefathers.”
Now he understood, and saw the Phoenix’s face pale. “So it’s true?”
“I know little of it; Chaoswars have passed, and even this memory was faded from my mind until your presence and urgency made it clear. But there is no doubt. Why else do you find the threads lead here? What importance is there in Evanwyl, what importance was there ever in that small country, save for two and only two things: the first the presence of Myrionar, the highest holding of the Balanced Sword, and the second being that singular gap, the only passage through the Khalal range, through which once flowed riches and heroes, and now is a place of terror and death, Rivendream Pass and, on the other side, Moonshade Hollow, what is left of the
“Well, you can repent...but you can’t keep doing evil and actually be good! You have to actually repent of your evil, and try to make amends for it, and stop doing bad things!” A slight flush touched her cheeks as she seemed to realize how naïve those words made her sound, but she didn’t retract them.
“And you, Prince of Skysand? How would you answer this riddle?”
Poplock spoke first. “We all do little evils to achieve good, I think. You killed that boar so you could live. Trees get chopped down to build houses.”
Tobimar nodded. “We killed Thornfalcon—and killing people is pretty much one of the absolute wrongs. But by doing that we prevented him from killing who knows how many people, and avenged those who had been killed before.” Tobimar shook his head. “But that’s a long way from the kind of thing people imply Khoros does.”
“Then, Tobimar Silverun, I can say only this: that Konstantin Khoros is, I believe, on ‘our side,’ as you put it, but that he will manipulate both sides to achieve his goals. It would not be beyond him, for example, to have realized what would happen to the Artan in the months past, and to have not only allowed it to happen but even have guided the method of its happening, if that apparent victory of darkness would, in the long run, lead to a greater victory of the forces of light.”
Kyri shuddered. “How could anyone live with such choices, if they understood what they chose?”
The Spiritsmith looked at her gravely. “I do not think he intends to live with such choices; he simply postpones his death until all such choices are finished, and—I hope and believe—so that never again will any need to make such choices.” He stood. “But he will tell you nothing unless it fits his plans. You will meet him again—of this I am certain. But you will not find him, he will find you. This guides my own decision, you see.”
Tobimar looked up. “You have made a decision, then?”
“I have.” The Ancient Sauran gazed at each of the three in turn. “You have need of new weapons, yes. And those, I believe, I can supply, for I see the design Khoros used, and understand what purpose lay behind that design; so, in his way, he has arranged that I do this, by sending his designs in your own equipment—echoes of work done so long ago that the world was a different place, then.
“But more, you must begin to oppose the entirety of this plan that has undermined the power of the Balanced Sword, which has beseiged Artania, thrown Aegeia into chaos, and soaked the Forest Sea in blood, and that means preparing to face them in all their guises and in those places where their evil is most ancient and strong, where they began the work of felling the powers of light.”
Tobimar looked at Kyri; for a moment both exchanged puzzled gazes, but Kyri’s eyes suddenly widened. “You mean—”
“Khoros’ commands to you, Tobimar, were clear enough; you simply had not the knowledge to understand them. But the same forces are moving now, and you have met them, and in the end you must face them down, drive them from the lands of your forefathers.”
Now he understood, and saw the Phoenix’s face pale. “So it’s true?”
“I know little of it; Chaoswars have passed, and even this memory was faded from my mind until your presence and urgency made it clear. But there is no doubt. Why else do you find the threads lead here? What importance is there in Evanwyl, what importance was there ever in that small country, save for two and only two things: the first the presence of Myrionar, the highest holding of the Balanced Sword, and the second being that singular gap, the only passage through the Khalal range, through which once flowed riches and heroes, and now is a place of terror and death, Rivendream Pass and, on the other side, Moonshade Hollow, what is left of the
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