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Authors: Lisa Shearin
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as it gets.”
Mychael raised his glass. “I wish them good hunting.”
“Don’t we all?” I muttered. “As to the rest of the Khrynsani crawling back out of their collective hole in the ground, isn’t there anything—”
“To keep them from coming back?” Tam finished for me. “When they do try to come home, they’ll find they don’t have a home to come to. Those sea dragons gave us a good head start on demolishing their temple.”
A family of sea dragons had been living in the caverns beneath the Khrynsani temple. Sarad Nukpana had summoned them up into the temple itself to kill and eat the goblin resistance fighters who were putting a crimp in what was to have been his night of triumph. The dragons had come up through the floors, and in their enthusiasm had brought down a big part of the ceiling.
“The stone used to build the temple is virtually indestructible,” Tam continued, “but no one told that to the sea dragons. We have our best engineers and stone masons working on a way to dump every last brick into the caverns and tunnels below the temple, then build something useful where it used to be, something the people can enjoy.”
Imala smiled, complete with dimple. “I’m in favor of a city park.” Then the smile vanished. “Mychael, is there any theory on how the Rak’kari got inside that mirror? I thought that once two mirrors were linked, the way was sealed and nothing could get inside.”
“It should be impossible, but obviously it isn’t. We’ve got several of the kingdoms’ top mirror researchers on the faculty here. Justinius has them working on it.”
“If Khrynsani made it, couldn’t they have put it in the mirror?” I asked.
Tam shook his head. “They prefer to travel by Gates.”
Of course they did.
A Gate is a tear in the fabric of reality. It’s not naturally occurring. Nothing about a Gate is natural—or legal or moral. Stepping through a Gate is like stepping through a doorway or a mirror. But unlike a doorway or mirror, it takes magic of the blackest kind to make one, magic fueled by terror, torture, despair, and death—the more the merrier.
“And with their preference for Gates, I’ve never heard of Khrynsani doing much, if anything, by way of mirror research,” Tam continued. “That being said, I’ve been away from court for two years. Imala?”
The director of the goblin secret service shook her head. Imala made it her job to know everything about her enemies, and the Khrynsani were at the top of her list.
“If there was such a person, either Khrynsani or goblin mirror mage, we would have heard of them, or at least rumors of their existence and abilities. Elves, on the other hand, are known for expanding the boundaries of what is possible in mirror travel.”
“The college’s faculty expert’s an elf,” Mychael said.
Tam shifted uneasily in his chair. “Carnades wasn’t the only mirror mage in his family. He wasn’t even the best. The Silvanus family is known for producing highly gifted mirror mages. Legendary, even.” He paused meaningfully. “A family full of expert mirror mages who blame us for Carnades’s death.”
“Sarad Nukpana killed Carnades,” I said. “If Carnades hadn’t kept trying to frame the three of us and have us executed, chances are we never would have had to go to Regor in the first place. But once we got there, he betrayed us, partnered with Nukpana, and then was stupid and suicidal enough to betray him. His death was his own fault.”
“To his family, Carnades could do no wrong,” Mychael said. “Everything he did was to reach his goal of ‘purifying’ the elven race. I know for a fact that they agreed with his views and supported any act he had to commit to achieve it.”
“Just what the Seven Kingdoms needs, an entire family of bigoted, sadistic sickos.”
“Don’t forget powerful and influential—at least they were. It’s not only Carnades’s death they would want revenge for. It’s the shame
Mychael raised his glass. “I wish them good hunting.”
“Don’t we all?” I muttered. “As to the rest of the Khrynsani crawling back out of their collective hole in the ground, isn’t there anything—”
“To keep them from coming back?” Tam finished for me. “When they do try to come home, they’ll find they don’t have a home to come to. Those sea dragons gave us a good head start on demolishing their temple.”
A family of sea dragons had been living in the caverns beneath the Khrynsani temple. Sarad Nukpana had summoned them up into the temple itself to kill and eat the goblin resistance fighters who were putting a crimp in what was to have been his night of triumph. The dragons had come up through the floors, and in their enthusiasm had brought down a big part of the ceiling.
“The stone used to build the temple is virtually indestructible,” Tam continued, “but no one told that to the sea dragons. We have our best engineers and stone masons working on a way to dump every last brick into the caverns and tunnels below the temple, then build something useful where it used to be, something the people can enjoy.”
Imala smiled, complete with dimple. “I’m in favor of a city park.” Then the smile vanished. “Mychael, is there any theory on how the Rak’kari got inside that mirror? I thought that once two mirrors were linked, the way was sealed and nothing could get inside.”
“It should be impossible, but obviously it isn’t. We’ve got several of the kingdoms’ top mirror researchers on the faculty here. Justinius has them working on it.”
“If Khrynsani made it, couldn’t they have put it in the mirror?” I asked.
Tam shook his head. “They prefer to travel by Gates.”
Of course they did.
A Gate is a tear in the fabric of reality. It’s not naturally occurring. Nothing about a Gate is natural—or legal or moral. Stepping through a Gate is like stepping through a doorway or a mirror. But unlike a doorway or mirror, it takes magic of the blackest kind to make one, magic fueled by terror, torture, despair, and death—the more the merrier.
“And with their preference for Gates, I’ve never heard of Khrynsani doing much, if anything, by way of mirror research,” Tam continued. “That being said, I’ve been away from court for two years. Imala?”
The director of the goblin secret service shook her head. Imala made it her job to know everything about her enemies, and the Khrynsani were at the top of her list.
“If there was such a person, either Khrynsani or goblin mirror mage, we would have heard of them, or at least rumors of their existence and abilities. Elves, on the other hand, are known for expanding the boundaries of what is possible in mirror travel.”
“The college’s faculty expert’s an elf,” Mychael said.
Tam shifted uneasily in his chair. “Carnades wasn’t the only mirror mage in his family. He wasn’t even the best. The Silvanus family is known for producing highly gifted mirror mages. Legendary, even.” He paused meaningfully. “A family full of expert mirror mages who blame us for Carnades’s death.”
“Sarad Nukpana killed Carnades,” I said. “If Carnades hadn’t kept trying to frame the three of us and have us executed, chances are we never would have had to go to Regor in the first place. But once we got there, he betrayed us, partnered with Nukpana, and then was stupid and suicidal enough to betray him. His death was his own fault.”
“To his family, Carnades could do no wrong,” Mychael said. “Everything he did was to reach his goal of ‘purifying’ the elven race. I know for a fact that they agreed with his views and supported any act he had to commit to achieve it.”
“Just what the Seven Kingdoms needs, an entire family of bigoted, sadistic sickos.”
“Don’t forget powerful and influential—at least they were. It’s not only Carnades’s death they would want revenge for. It’s the shame
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