Ascendants #02 - A Shout for the Dead by James Barclay

Author:James Barclay [Barclay, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9780575079823
Publisher: Gollancz
Published: 2008-01-09T02:00:00+00:00

found clean water and untainted food. You're hungry?' 'Never more so,' said Julius.

It was plain but it was delicious. Bread and cold sauces, honey and some dried meat washed down with cold water.

'You mentioned Gorian's son. This some Tsardon brat, is it?' asked Roberto.

Harban looked at him as if to check that he really was joking. 'Much has passed you by. Gorian's son is Kessian, whom he took from under the noses of the Advocate and the Ascendancy.'

Roberto nearly choked on his bread. 'Impossible.'

Harban raised his eyebrows. 'Not so. The two of them will bring about the tipping of the world. Paul Jhered knows. The Ascendants know.'

'All right,' said Roberto, raising a hand. 'But all I know is that the Sirraneans said the Tsardon were coming this way and so it has proved. I suspected more attacks further south. What has happened?'

'Your Conquord is failing,' said Harban. 'And with it will go Kark, and eventually even Sirrane. Gorian took the six Gor-Karkulas from Inthen-Gor. With them, he can control vast armies of the dead in as many places as he has them. Two travel with him from here. Two march through Atreska with the King of Tsard. Two more will be with the Tsardon in Gestern which is become a walking grave. Plague ships seek out fresh ports to kill more of your soldiers. Soon the dead will be rising all around Estorea. I warned them but they wouldn't listen. And now we will all pay the price.'

'You're saying more than one dead army is attacking us?' said Julius.

'So that's how he does it.' Roberto drained his goblet. 'He uses them to help him do his work. Like commanders on a distant battlefield. What are they, latent Ascendants?'

'You know a lot about this,' said Harban.

'It's my job to know. I'll be in charge one day. Then we'll see change on the Hill.'

'What do you mean, Ambassador?' asked Julius.

'Nothing. Forget it. Harban, let's say for a moment that I accept Gorian can manage armies over thousands of miles of land, and I know better than to dismiss it out of hand, no matter how preposterous it sounds. But Atreska is full of Conquord legions. One of my most trusted friends commands the armies. What happened here cannot happen there because no Ascendant was present to make a hurricane. They won't break through, not just sword on sword.'

'You had better pray your friend is still among the living then, Roberto Del Aglios. Because I know the border is already overrun and the dead are marching to Neratharn. It is why more Tsardon went there. He can make a huge host in Atreska.'

Roberto rubbed his hand over his head, unwilling to believe Davarov had been beaten on his own border. 'So why, if what you say is true, did Gorian come so far north? The main force and the King of Tsard are both in Atreska. What is he doing up here?'

'It is because here, killing the king's son did not carry so much risk.

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