Blood of Innocents (Book Two of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence) (78 page)

“Why didn’t the jukari attack the emperor’s army straight away? They had plenty of time to come at them, but they didn’t. It’s almost as if they pulled back. The vormag must have ordered them to.”

“So? This sorcery would have killed them, too, if they’d still been fighting the emperor’s forces. They were lucky to have escaped.”

“You don’t understand. How did they know?”

“What do you mean?” asked Devenish.

“They couldn’t have known the sorcery was coming, and yet they did. They broke from the city and retreated so they weren’t caught in the discharge. Which means they knew the sorcery would strike, both the timing and how powerful it would be.”

Devenish gave Caldan a calculating look, then nodded. “Of course, you’re right. You’ve a smart head on your shoulders. The jukari and vormag are in league with the Indryallans. And we’re in for a torrid time. They must have found a way to manipulate the creatures and unite them into a fighting force instead of their usual squabbling bands. I fear this God-Emperor. He means to destroy the empire, and for no reason we can fathom.”

“Hai, Devenish,” shouted another warlock. “There’s ships coming up the river. A lot of them.”

Aftermath

Vasile woke to a haze of pain and shielded his too sensitive eyes from the light of a lamp. He blinked as they watered, and there was a scuff of footsteps at his side.

“Magistrate,” Aidan said. “I’m glad you made it through.”

“I thought… you were dead,” Vasile croaked.

“Not yet. Where are cel Rau and Chalayan?”

Fear, along with a queasiness, gripped Vasile. Aidan had no idea, the truth was plain in his words. “Cel Rau killed Chalayan after the sorcery on the bridge. He made it sound like you’d both agreed Chalayan was too powerful.”

Aidan merely nodded.

•

On the deck of one of the ships pulling into the docks of Riversedge, Gazija looked out over the city and the surrounding countryside. Smoke rose from great swaths of blackened grass and churned earth marring the fields. Crows circled and landed on the scars, cawing and squawking, feasting until they were almost too full to fly.

“It is as you said it would be,” said Luphildern from behind him.

Gazija turned slowly to face him. “It was necessary.” He whacked Luphildern on the leg with a cane. “We must make the best of the situation and ingratiate ourselves with the emperor and his warlocks. Come. It has begun.”

This ends
Blood of Innocents
.

What happens next is recounted in

Book Three of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence.

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