Guardian Last (Lords of Syon Saga Book 2) (60 page)

“Very well,” she nodded.  Then she turned and trudged back
toward her knights, assuming the face and manner of command.  They would break
camp after sunrise, and they would at last reach Byrandia.  Until then, she
would try to rest her body even if her mind screamed in terror at what the
future might bring.

*          *          *

Dith sat quietly watching the early gray light take on hints
of blue and purple.  His head hurt, and his nose had not stopped bleeding since
the battle.

He felt Gikka’s hand on his shoulder, her telltale long nail
held carefully away from his skin.  He reached up and touched her hand, and she
sat beside him.

“How is it with you, love,” she asked, looking deep into his
eyes.  She brushed away the drop of blood that seeped from his nostril. 
“You’ve not dropped a word, not even as Renda and the duke called conference of
us all, as to what that was.”

He nodded.

“Damerien says what you fought in that dead thing was no
god.  It were not…” she lowered her voice to a whisper, “the Dhanani one,
Xorden, the one as Renda and her father fought in the glade.” 

“A god?  No, but certainly he fancies himself worthy.”

He shook his head.  “No, it was just a mage.  And he ran.”

“Just a mage.  Yes, I suppose in the end, we are each and
every one, ‘just a mage.’”

“The best I can tell you,” Dith added, “is that he tried to
undo my existence and failed.”

She looked at him worriedly.  “Can he do that?  Simply
unmake a man to his very soul?”

Dith laughed wearily and wiped at his nose again.  “He was
quite surprised to discover that, at least in my case, he could not.”  He
stretched the aches out of his legs.  “And so he fled.”

“He was no more but so, just a mage who ran away, after all
that with taking over a dead body and trying to undo you.”  She looked at him,
a hint of disappointment in her features.  “I cannot think it went so lightly. 
Come, what really happened?”

“My love, if there was more to it, I would say.  But it did
not look like anything, and surely not anything that would make sense to you,”
Dith said, kissing her hand.  “I cannot tell you of great splashes of fire or
flashes of lightning.  I cannot describe to you exactly what he saw that
terrified him so, not in any way you would understand, but he ran.”

“Wittister magic enveloping a vortex in the probabilities
is a little hard to describe.”

Especially if Wittister magic was not
really
enveloping the vortex.

“You mean to say…?”

Dith smiled to himself.  If you cannot bend the probability
one way, a wise man once said, you must bend it another.  He had not tried to
make it look like Wittister magic crept through the vortex since he could not
possibly guess how it would look to the other mage.  He had simply bent the
likelihood that the other would see the signs of Wittister magic, which was
easier than he had had any right to expect since the other was aware of Wittister
mages nearby and feared them.

Gikka sighed.  “Well, an you say it’s done, it’s done.  A
relief, it is, at that.  Had it been Xorden, we might not be here to speak of
it.  We’ve no gods to our side, save you summon up Rjeinar again, and I’m not
sure even He could stand toe to toe with the other just now.  Certainly not
against Him and all those demon generals besides.”  She stood.  “We’re away as
soon after daybreak as possible and into Byrandia at last.”  She picked up the
ugly rock that sat beside him and handed it to him.  “Best make ready.”

“Aye, love.”

The white horse, flank now marked with great green smears of
unguent over the cuts left by the demon general, walked toward the east in the
predawn gloom, his rider easing him gently over the grasses on the open sandy
plain, and stopped.

Strong dark-skinned arms, one encircled with a gold storyskin,
lifted a Dhanani blade high in defiance.  The sun’s fang gnashed at the blade,
defeated again.  For the first time, Chul Ka-Dree and his mount had met the sun
together, flashing the first Dhanani sunfire into Byrandia in four thousand
years.  And for the first time, he uttered the name of his Dhanani warhorse, a
name of ancient power and one he knew no other Dhanani could ever speak because
it was in the Old Voice.

“
Ke Dran.
”
 Unflagging courage.

Absinthe
(A. absinthium) 
Bitter fermented
abstract of wormwood, used as nerve poison.

Aidan
  Dhanani healer, serves Anado of the
Hunt.

Alandro
  Renda’s brindle stallion, Brannagh
Horse-at-Arms.

Anado of the Hunt
  Dhanani god of the hunt and
mercy.

Anatayans
  One of two aboriginal tribes on Syon,
known for having little concept of past or future and a great distrust of
magic.

Ano-
  Prefix meaning “antidote for,” used with
poisons.

Arnard
  B’radikite Priest.

Art
  Pure magic, also any magical art.

Av’dagnoch
  Bremondine insult, untranslatable. 
Nearest equivalent is malignant pustule or disease riddled carrion.

Bakti
 
Chief of the Dhanani tribes. 
Full name:  Bakti Ka-Durga Ba-Vinda.

Beridien
  One of Gikka’s many identities,
wanted dead or alive in Durlindale.

Bernold of Avondale, Sir
  Knight of Wirthing
who kidnapped Pegrine and sold her to Cilder.

Bilkar the Furred
  Bremondine god of winter,
survival, self-sufficiency.

Borowain, Sheriff of Brannagh
  Known as the
Peacekeeper.  Died 3324.

Boticlan
(
C. celeritanium)
 Also called
“Mercy.”  Swift, painless shock poison frequently used in suicides.

Botrain
  Farmer, co-leader of the villagers.

Brada, Duke of Damerien
  Called the Restorer. 
Son of Vilmar, father of Trocu.  Died 3862.

B’radik
  Syonese goddess of enlightenment and
truth.

Brannagh 
The sheriff’s castle and lands.  Also
the sheriff’s knights.

Brannford 
Large seaport city on the east coast
of Syon.

Bremondine 
Central forest north of Brannagh
lands, also the forest people.

Byrandia
  The continent east of Syon, ruled by
King Cragen.

Cardon, Sheriff of Brannagh
  Called the
Ruthless.  Ended the first Bremondine Hadrian War. Died 1712.

Chul
  Vaccar’s son, exiled Dhanani.  Full
name:  Chul Ka-Dree.

Cilder
  Bishop of B’radik

Colaris
  Lord Daerwin’s prize harrier hawk.

Corin, Earl of Wirthing
  Leader of the Knights
of Wirthing, ally to Brannagh.

Crimson Lioness
  Renda’s order of knights.

Crocus, Autumn
(
C. autumnale)
  Seeds and
corms used to treat gout.

Cuvien the Torturess
  Bremondine goddess of
suffering, pain, catharsis.

Daerwin, Sheriff of Brannagh
 Leader of
the Knights of Brannagh and the Resistance during the war.  Father of Roquandor
and Renda, son of Vilmar Damerien.

Damerien
  The duke’s family name, also Castle
Damerien.

Damping Mantle
  Cloak worn by B’radik’s high
clergy to protect the faithful from Her radiance.

Dhanani
  One of two aboriginal tribes on Syon.

Didian
  Syonese god of weather, chaos, that
which defies prediction.

Dilkon, Sheriff of Brannagh
  Ended the
Dhanani-Anatayan War. Died 2682.

Dith the Merciless
  Also called the Impenitent,
the Blasphemer.  Sorcerer, hero of the Five Hundred Years War.

Doucetels
(
S. doucetelia)
  Small white
flowers of the Sweet Savon tree, used in funerals for virgins and children,
occasionally seen in royal weddings.

Dragon of Damerien 
Symbol of the House of
Damerien, one of many nicknames given to the first duke.

Durlindale
  Large mining market town southwest
of the Hodrache Range.

Farras 
Large city west of the Fraugham
Mountains.

Feast of Didian
  The first day of warm weather,
spring.

Finnig of Estrella, Sir
  Knight of Wirthing.

Fiona
  One of the keepers.

First Breath
  The daily challenge to the sun,
the morning ritual of Dhanani warriors.

First Rite 
Ritual to pledge a child to
B’radik’s service and to the knighthood.

Five Hundred Years’ War
  Struggle between the
House of Damerien and Kadak the Tyrant for rule of Syon, 3324 to 3862.

Fraugham Mountains
  Mineral rich central
mountains that cut through the Bremondine forests, object of many
Bremondine-Hadrian wars.

Galorin
  Most famous sorcerer in Syon history,
allied to the Liberator.

Garamonde
  Gikka’s lands and mines, also
Garamonde Hall.

Gikka of Garamonde
  Squire to Lady Renda,
reformed thief and assassin.

Glaiben
  Hadrian god of gems, goldsmithing,
wealth, generosity

Glasada
  Bremondine dance for the Feast of
Bilkar, modeled, so the story goes, on the careful and agile steps of a person
crossing ice.  Also the name of Dith’s horse.

Glynnis of Brannagh, Lady
  Lord Daerwin’s wife,
mother of Roquandor and Renda.

Graetna
  A demonic spy dog used by Kadak.

Greta
  Brannagh kitchen mistress.

Hadrians
  A pale race of miners who inhabit the
northern mountains of Syon.  Also Hodrachians, derived from the Bremondine
Hodrachnov
.

Ha’guaka
  Long ax-like weapon with spikes on
one side and a blade on the other, usually poisoned, used by Kadak’s demon
guards.

Hero
  Roquandor’s sorrel stallion, Brannagh
Horse-at-Arms.

Hodrachnad
  Bremondine word for Hadrian or
Hodrachnian (archaic form).

Hodrache Range
  High volcanic mountains far to
the north.

Ildar, Duke of Damerien
  The Great Liberator,
first ruler of Syon.

Invaders
  All those outside the Dhanani and
Anatayan tribes.

Jath
  Damerien stable boy.

Javelin Dog
  Large, swift rodent used by the
Dhanani in javelin training.

Jurfaele
  A fine Hadrian alcoholic brew.

Kadak the Tyrant
  Called the Evil, the
Destroyer, the Ravager. 
De facto
ruler of Syon from 3324 until his
overthrow in 3862.

Kadeta
  Ancient Dhanani goddess of motherhood,
protection and combat.

Kanet
  Syonese god of fertility, the harvest.

Keepers
  A band of renegade mages sworn to
protect the duke.

Kerrick of Windale
  Knight of Brannagh, son of
Taynor, Viscount of Windale.

Kharkara Plains 
Flatlands northwest of the
Bremondine forests, home to the Dhanani.

Laniel
  Abbot of the Abbey of Bilkar

Lexius, Sheriff of Brannagh
  First Sheriff of
Brannagh, died 935.

Liberator
  Also, Great Liberator, Ildar, the
first duke of Damerien who liberated Syon from Byrandian rule.

Limigar
  Hadrian child god of misfortune,
mischief, bad luck, especially in mining.

Maddock
  Tanner from Belen, village leader.

Marketday
  The last day of the Gathering, also
the first day of the Bremondine Feast of Bilkar.

Maze
  Winding Farras slums, Renda’s base of
operations during the war.

Mohoro of the Underground
  Dhanani god of the
underground, that which lies hidden.

Montor
  Hadrian town at the southern edge of
the Hodrache Range.

Nara
 
Nun of the Order of B’radik,
Pegrine’s nursemaid.

Nekraba
  Dhanani goddess of the dead, change. 
Keeps the sun as a pet.

Nestor
  Damerien retainer, one of the duke’s
Keepers.

Noti
  Ancient Dhanani god of entropy, decay and
nihilism.

Order of B’radik
  Nuns who serve the goddess of
truth and enlightenment, usually as teachers.

Pegrine
  Renda’s niece, daughter of her dead
brother, Roquandor.

Pildaro
  Ancient Dhanani god of conquest and
warfare.

Proagh
  Bremondine term for cousin, but used to
denote any deep kinship or lifelong friendship.  Also,
va’ar Proagh: 
Dear
cousin.  Feminine:
Pro’chna 

Pyran
  Northermost port city on Syon, east of
the Hodrache Range.

Recivalesche
  Hadrian term for all the temples,
metropolitans, cathedrals, monasteries and convents belonging to a single
[Hadrian] god or goddess; a god’s kingdom.

Remiar, Sheriff of Brannagh
  Defeated an
attempted coup against Damerien.  Died 1058.

Renda of Brannagh, Lady
Heroine of the Five
Hundred Years War.

Revien
Lord Daerwin’s black stallion, Brannagh Horse-At-Arms.

Rjeinar
  Hadrian god of revenge, justice.

Roquandor
  Called the Handsome.  Renda’s
brother, Knight of Brannagh. Pegrine’s father. Died in 3858.

Saramore, Sir
  Knight of Brannagh, known for
his hardiness and valor.

Sedrik
  Valet to Lord Daerwin, man at arms.

Snowberries
(R. consecrate)
  Rare white
berries used in gravesites, thought to poison desecrators.

Storyskin 
Gold leather sleeve embroidered with
stories of a Dhanani’s victories.