(eng) Morgan Rice - Sorcerer's Ring 13-15 by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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As night began to fall, Volusia marched farther and farther from the outskirts of Dansk, flanked by her entourage, and with her army marching a bit behind them. Beneath the two moons rising, the twinkling red starts emerging in the sky, she made her way along the desert floor towards the Path of the Circles. It was a moment she had been looking forward to for as long as she could remember.

The Path of the Circles was, indeed, the very reason she had decided to sack Dansk first. Despite their numbers and their fortifications, Volusia did not in fact care so much for the army, or its people, or even its city. The real jewel, the real conquest, was what lay just beyond it: this sacred site of power, a vast circle carved into the hard desert floor. No one knew for sure of its origin, or the source of its power, yet Volusia had heard all her life of the living gods and goddesses who had been anointed here. It was a rite of passage. If she wanted her people to view her as a true God, she knew, there would be no greater stamp of legitimacy than her initiation into the circle.

Just as important, Volusia wanted to make a pact with the protectors of the circle, the desert village of Voks. A taboo race of small green men, more creatures than men, practicing an ancient sect of sorcery so dark and forbidden that it was even outlawed in the time of her mother’s mother, Volusia knew there was no tribe in the Empire to match their pure evil. Other sorcerers had limits to what they would do—but the Voks had no bounds to their ruthlessness.

Of course, there was a reason that the power of the Voks and their sacred circle had not been harnessed by all the rulers before her: they were considered too dangerous, too untrustworthy, their sorcery too volatile, too difficult to control. All those who had attempted it, Volusia knew from the history books, had died trying.

But she was different. She was Volusia, goddess of the city of Volusia, Empress-to-be of the Kingdom, and it was her destiny, she knew, to rule. No one and nothing could stand in her way. Her provincial generals cared only for numbers, weaponry, armor. They thought an army won based on the figures.

But Volusia knew numbers were but a small part of conquest. She knew she could defeat the Empire’s millions with far fewer men. What she really needed was the Voks—and the ancient sorcery that they guarded.

“Goddess,” Soku said, marched alongside her. “Can I persuade you to turn around? This is a bad idea.”

Volusia sighed, annoyed. Soku had been in her ear ever since they had left the city, second-guessing everything she did.

“Your killing those captive soldiers back there, too, Goddess, was a mistake, if I may speak frankly,” he added. “We needed those men. We need every man we can get. Those were five thousand good men. Now they are dead, and for no reason at all.

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