Dreams of Chaos by Allen Stroud

Author:Allen Stroud [Stroud, Allen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen Stroud
Published: 2016-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

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Accompanied by his hosts, Hino made his way carefully down a wide set of stone stairs.

Having spent years at Emperor Go-Daijo’s court, Hino had access to a vast library of information on the different magical orders of the world and recognised a competent bureaucrat as a kindred spirit. Cardinal Colonna was that and more. The Colonnas were old blood, Italianate royalty, closely associated with the Summa Magiolaie. Giovanni himself was a scholar of magic, his gift not being strong enough to invoke power. Whilst the family did not hold the papacy, in the absence of the Pope and the Curia, they controlled the Vatican.

Lady Eleanor was more of a mystery. He knew the name, but little else and as they walked, tried to recall anything he had read from the journals of the Emperor’s missionaries to different courts and councils. He could sense the power of her gift.

“All knowledge of the spell cast in Avignon has been eradicated. The membership rolls of the Temple of Solomon were assiduously kept and with your help, we eliminated every loose end.”

“Apart from me.”

“You are no loose end, m’lady.”

They made no attempt to explain their conversation, so Hino pieced together what he could. He remembered a story of magic in the vaults of the Avignon palace, but couldn’t recall the details.

“What about a reversal of the ritual?” Eleanor asked.

“Our best minds contemplated this ever since the event, consulting each eternal as they awoke,” Colonna said. “We are no closer to understanding what was unleashed.”

The corridor below led to an arch, Hino followed his hosts through and found himself in a vast empty hall. The wooden rafters of the ceiling were high above and arches decorated the walls. At the far end, sculpted trees of stone framed panels of glass, which illuminated the chamber. He stopped and stared.

“What is the purpose of such a place?”

Lady Eleanor turned and smiled at him. “Welcome to my home,” she said. “This is the hall of lost footsteps. It is in these spaces we come to understand power.”

They walked across the floor and as he followed, Hino thought he understood. The sound of each step he made disappeared in the enormous space, making him feel insignificant. He saw more passageways and a raised stone level. “I held court here,” Lady Eleanor said, “sat in a simple wooden chair. Nothing else was needed. That life is over now.”

“The demonstration is well executed,” Hino said. “I am brought here and abandoned by my rescuer into your care. I am given no explanation of purpose and disturbed by mysterious dreams. What do you wish of me?”

“Rani left you with us because you are a powerful wizard, Hino,” Cardinal Colonna said. “Your political life is over, as hers was and as Lady Eleanor’s is. Your face is unknown in these lands; useful to us.”

“Lady Eleanor is stronger than I.”

“Perhaps,” Colonna replied. His eyes narrowed. “Seventeen years ago a spell was miscast and cannot be reversed, a spell that threatens the stability of our world.

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