lives. Now, be quiet!”
“ Unhappy with the war and saddened at the inexplicable turn to the ways of men,” Banion continued with hardly a pause, “the gods refused them. But the Line of Kings is not so easily quelled. The Brothers led many, many of their people who thought as they did. They gathered them together and went again to the Triele. When the gods came once more and stood among them and saw the fearlessness and determination of their people, they realized they were not to be dissuaded. With great sorrow and reluctance, they finally relented.”
“ Marek chose for himself Kendrick and those who would follow the High King. West they headed, into the wildlands, the huge Diamond Triele wrapped carefully in many hides so that its tremendous power would not destroy those who carried it. Laschald chose the great archer Khristophe to lead his people south and west—for always their north had been free from attack. They carried his great Emerald mounted boldly on a wagon (against his will, for he is a humble god), daring the Tarq to attack. Karl had ever loved the rolling waves and endless horizons of the Eastern Sea, and so Vangoth, the most understanding of war of all the gods, chose him and his people as his own, knowing for a surety that battle would always be found at the edge of the Sea.”
“ But there was another brother, not yet a dozen years of age at the time of the Going Out. His name was Kyle and his heart beat more fervently for war than any of his brothers. Desperately he begged for a people to lead, to more thoroughly search the lands for the homeland of the Enemy, and furiously he denounced the gods when they refused him. Nor did his spirit fade as he gained years. At barely twenty, a fierce warrior, the most skilled horseman in the lands, and more deeply impassioned than any of his elder brothers, Kyle gathered troops about him of his own will. By now, Kendrick was far in the northwest, finding fewer and fewer Tarq the farther he went. Khristophe, too, fighting south of west, was running out of Enemy when he hit the Dragonwall. Convinced the Tarq homeland lay on the other side, his last message read that they prepared to cross.
“ But Kyle, keen despite his youth, doubted his elder brothers’ logic. With deep conviction he led his men, with neither Triele nor any guidance at all from the gods, straight south…and there his instinct was proven true, for there he found the endless swarms of Enemy. There the Tarq had made their homeland—if such black hearts can be said to have a home—and there Kyle and his men had such a fight as had never been known. They trickled around him, they set sail, they passed over the Dragonspine unseen…but their heart he had found, and their heart he drove before his sabre until they came to the lips of the burning Sheel itself. And there, Kyle’s descendants fight to this day.”
Silence settled. The boys were staring into the fire, dreaming of blades and conquest and the Enemy and the gods. Even Rodge said, with a vague, resigned sort of disappointment, “Don’t stop now.” But Banion was quiet. Beside him, Melkin looked barely human in the firelight, face like stone, dark thoughts gleaming unreadably through flinty eyes.
“ Hmmph,” Cerise said, unfortunately conversational enough for all of them. “Utter nonsense. No one knows how the world began, and the gods aren’t likely to be pushed around by a bunch of burly, brainless men.”
“ Ah,” Banion said with studied politeness. Ari and Loren, disgusted at the instantly ruined mood, stood up and started clearing the area around the fire for sleeping. “And what do they teach in the Empire?” Banion asked cordially.
“ Not stories—they teach facts for history,” she said with a touch of snobbery. “They teach us how to think.”
Banion grunted, hefting his huge bulk off the log he ’d been using. “In Merrani, the children
“ Unhappy with the war and saddened at the inexplicable turn to the ways of men,” Banion continued with hardly a pause, “the gods refused them. But the Line of Kings is not so easily quelled. The Brothers led many, many of their people who thought as they did. They gathered them together and went again to the Triele. When the gods came once more and stood among them and saw the fearlessness and determination of their people, they realized they were not to be dissuaded. With great sorrow and reluctance, they finally relented.”
“ Marek chose for himself Kendrick and those who would follow the High King. West they headed, into the wildlands, the huge Diamond Triele wrapped carefully in many hides so that its tremendous power would not destroy those who carried it. Laschald chose the great archer Khristophe to lead his people south and west—for always their north had been free from attack. They carried his great Emerald mounted boldly on a wagon (against his will, for he is a humble god), daring the Tarq to attack. Karl had ever loved the rolling waves and endless horizons of the Eastern Sea, and so Vangoth, the most understanding of war of all the gods, chose him and his people as his own, knowing for a surety that battle would always be found at the edge of the Sea.”
“ But there was another brother, not yet a dozen years of age at the time of the Going Out. His name was Kyle and his heart beat more fervently for war than any of his brothers. Desperately he begged for a people to lead, to more thoroughly search the lands for the homeland of the Enemy, and furiously he denounced the gods when they refused him. Nor did his spirit fade as he gained years. At barely twenty, a fierce warrior, the most skilled horseman in the lands, and more deeply impassioned than any of his elder brothers, Kyle gathered troops about him of his own will. By now, Kendrick was far in the northwest, finding fewer and fewer Tarq the farther he went. Khristophe, too, fighting south of west, was running out of Enemy when he hit the Dragonwall. Convinced the Tarq homeland lay on the other side, his last message read that they prepared to cross.
“ But Kyle, keen despite his youth, doubted his elder brothers’ logic. With deep conviction he led his men, with neither Triele nor any guidance at all from the gods, straight south…and there his instinct was proven true, for there he found the endless swarms of Enemy. There the Tarq had made their homeland—if such black hearts can be said to have a home—and there Kyle and his men had such a fight as had never been known. They trickled around him, they set sail, they passed over the Dragonspine unseen…but their heart he had found, and their heart he drove before his sabre until they came to the lips of the burning Sheel itself. And there, Kyle’s descendants fight to this day.”
Silence settled. The boys were staring into the fire, dreaming of blades and conquest and the Enemy and the gods. Even Rodge said, with a vague, resigned sort of disappointment, “Don’t stop now.” But Banion was quiet. Beside him, Melkin looked barely human in the firelight, face like stone, dark thoughts gleaming unreadably through flinty eyes.
“ Hmmph,” Cerise said, unfortunately conversational enough for all of them. “Utter nonsense. No one knows how the world began, and the gods aren’t likely to be pushed around by a bunch of burly, brainless men.”
“ Ah,” Banion said with studied politeness. Ari and Loren, disgusted at the instantly ruined mood, stood up and started clearing the area around the fire for sleeping. “And what do they teach in the Empire?” Banion asked cordially.
“ Not stories—they teach facts for history,” she said with a touch of snobbery. “They teach us how to think.”
Banion grunted, hefting his huge bulk off the log he ’d been using. “In Merrani, the children
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