The Path of Flames (Chronicles of the Black Gate Book 1) (71 page)

Iskra nodded. “Before he left, Audsley told me more about the Hold’s final days during the rise of Ascendancy. Not enough for me to understand the particulars, but enough to realize that what we’ve been told about our past may not be completely accurate.” She raised her hands to forestall argument. “I’m not questioning Ascendancy, but rather the details behind its rise. We’ve been told our whole lives that the Agerastians are called heretics for their role in fighting the first Ascendant’s rise to power. For their wicked role in that war, they were banned from using their Solar Gate, prevented from ever leaving their city of Agerastos, and treated only one step above Bythians.”

“Aye, and rightly so,” said Brocuff. “They destroyed their Solar Gate, for crying out loud!”

“And in doing so freed themselves from oppression,” muttered Asho.

Brocuff glared at him. “Their doing so has threatened Ascendancy itself – who knows what destroying the Gate has done to the souls that must rise from Bythos or fall from Zoe?”

Asho’s face burned and he looked at the floor. Once he would never have responded. His days of silence were over, however. “We’ve spent centuries punishing them for the actions of their ancestors and branding them heretics. Why are we surprised when they fail to care about our religion?”

Brocuff threw up his hands in disgust and turned away.

Iskra stepped forward. “There is much for us to learn. They have used Sin Casters in battle, yet Asho has cast magic in our defense. Does that make him evil? If not, then why must we condemn them? I don’t claim to have answers. I merely have questions and a complete lack of options. If we are to survive, we will need to learn more about the Agerastians - and perhaps side with them.”

Kolgrímr shrugged. “I don’t know much about this war that is happening in Ennoia, but I have no problem with allying with the enemy of my enemy.”

Mæva scritched between her firecat’s ears. “And they have Sin Casters of their own. Perhaps they can provide us with answers.”

Asho opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and looked away. Iskra raised an eyebrow. “Asho?”

“I—something doesn’t add up. I’ve only been able to sense—magic, I guess—since arriving here at the Hold. Yet the Agerastian Sin Casters were able to throw black fire on Ennoia.” He rubbed at his jaw. “Doing so caused them to sicken near to the point of death.”

Kethe glanced at him sidelong. “They didn’t have a Virtue-in-training to drain the taint from their magic, obviously.”

“Right,” said Asho, blushing. “But there haven’t been Sin Casters in nearly two hundred years. Not since the Black Gate was sealed. I can cast magic here because I’m close to this minor Black Gate. So how are the Agerastians suddenly casting magic now?”

Mæva pursed her lips. “Did they have any pets with them?”

“Pets?” Asho blinked. “On the battlefield? No. Though… they did eat some black rocks before casting. I’d almost forgotten.”

“Black rocks?” Iskra felt something nearly connect in her mind. If only Audsley were here.

“Right,” said Asho. “They’d chew on some right before they threw black fire.”

“Gate Stone,” said Iskra. “That has to be it.” Elements connected within her mind, points of information forming lines, diagrams, a perfect explanation. Excitement surged through her. “Which was why the Ascendant ordered our mines here to be shut down. Gate Stone is mined close to the Black Gate. Perhaps it absorbs the power that comes through, and stores it up. Eating the stone then releases it and powers their spells.”

“If that’s the case,” said Ser Wyland, “then we’re sitting on a huge reservoir of untapped magical might.”

“If you can get to it,” said Kolgrímr sourly. “Don’t forget that the upper passes and mountain ranges are infested with demons.”

“If we could close the Black Gate, or clear it somehow,” said Asho, “if we could secure the old mines—we might have something that the Agerastians would be willing to fight alongside us for.”

“
If
you can clear the Black Gate,” said Kolgrímr. “That’s a very big if.”

“We can clear it,” said Kethe. Her voice was cold and certain. “That’s what Virtues can do. That’s what I can do. Fight demons and destroy centers of magic.”

“None of you has any idea what lies up in the Skarpheðinn range,” said Mæva, voice cutting. “None of you.”

Iskra raised her hands. “We have perhaps a couple of months’ time before we can expect retaliation from Laur and the Grace. The Ascendant willing, we should hear back from Audsley and Tiron before then, and with a little luck they will bring us good tidings. In the meantime, we will do what we can to learn more about the upper passes, this Black Gate, and how best to acquire Gate Stone with which to bargain with the Agerastians.” She lowered her hands. “Unless anybody else can suggest a better course of action?”

Kolgrímr scowled and shook his head. “I’m all for an alliance if it doesn’t involve our cutting our own heads off first. You don’t know what you speak of, Lady Kyferin. Mæva is right. You’ve yet to even live through one Black Shriving, much less attempt an assault on the high peaks.”

Ser Wyland gave a rough smile. “I don’t think anyone here truly thought it would be possible to survive last night, yet here we stand. So what if our next course of action seems equally if not more daunting? I say we attack this next impossibility with as much determination as we did the first.”

Mæva’s voice was cold. “I believe it folly to believe we can ‘cleanse’ the Skarpheðinn range… but I can help with learning more about them. I could lead a small group.”

Asho rested his hand on the pommel of his castle-forged sword. “I will do this, if my Lady requests it of me.”

Kethe glanced at him and nodded. “I will, too.”

Iskra nodded decisively. “Very well. It’s settled.”

“Remember, my lady.” Mæva’s gazed at her with piercing intensity. “One day I shall come to collect. These favors do not come freely.”

Iskra felt a shiver run through her, though she fought to show no sign of her unease. “Understood, Mæva. Thank you for your… honesty.”

“And the Black Shriving?” asked Kolgrímr.

Iskra gazed around at her small band of followers and felt a surge of fierce determination. “We shall strive to defeat the forces arrayed against us, to break free of this impossible situation where all others foresee our death. The odds are against us, but we shall not be deterred. We shall fight with everything we have, and risk all in the pursuit of justice. You ask about the Black Shriving, Kolgrímr. I tell you this: come what may, we shall not run. Let the darkness boil down from the high peaks. Let the worst of the Black Gate attack our walls. Let demons howl, shadows crawl, and the Doom itself seek to sweep us away. For the first time in hundreds of years, that evil shall not find Mythgræfen Hold unprotected. Kyferins once more shall guard the walls—and I swear to you, we shall not fail.”

END OF BOOK 1

BOOK 2 Available for Pre-Order here.

Author’s Note

Thank you for beginning this journey with me. I’ve always wanted to write the kind of sprawling epic fantasy that I enjoyed in my youth, and I truly appreciate your reading my tale and hope that you’ve enjoyed it thus far.

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