The Black Song by Anthony Ryan

Author:Anthony Ryan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

CHAPTER NINETEEN

In the space of a single night, the city of Lishun-Shi, once the richest and most well-fortified port in all of the Far West, had been transformed into an expanse of ash covering a few miles of coastline, save for a few neighbourhoods in and around the docks. They had survived due to the exhaustive efforts of their inhabitants in tearing down buildings to create firebreaks whilst battling the flames with a constant supply of water. The death toll was incalculable. Close to a million people had lived here before the fire, and whilst many had fled, the blaze had moved with such swiftness many more had never had the chance. Most of the survivors had formed into disorderly makeshift camps fringing the blackened remnants of the outskirts, whilst thousands of others began a trek towards the imagined safety of the Transcendent Kingdom to the south. Rumours abounded regarding the origin of the fire, from fiery otherworldly beasts descending from the skies to the last insane act of the Merchant King. In all cases, the only thing the rumours agreed upon was that the Darkblade’s hand surely lay behind the destruction, either through his magics or having somehow driven their king to madness. For once, Vaelin was forced to conclude rumour born of disaster had found a semblance of truth.

“So,” Tsai Lin said, casting a sidelong glance at the abbot, “this will be the jewel at the heart of my empire.”

They stood atop the raised headland south of the city from where the great grey swath of the destroyed port could be viewed in its entirety. Besides Vaelin and Luralyn, Tsai Lin had summoned only the abbot to counsel. Vaelin suspected it wasn’t out of a desire to hear the old man’s sage words of wisdom.

“I never said it would be easy, did I?” Vaelin replied.

“No,” Tsai Lin acceded. “But you did say the blessing of Heaven was upon me and those who follow me. I see little evidence of any blessing here.”

“We came for ships. There they are.” The abbot pointed to the harbour where a sizeable number of merchant vessels were moored together with much of the Gilded Fleet of the Enlightened Kingdom. The fleet had been gathered at Lishun-Shi weeks ago on Mah-Lol’s command, with instructions to prepare for a grand expedition to the north. However, the order to sail had never come, and it appeared the fleet’s admiral, a long-standing sycophant of the Merchant King with little in the way of maritime experience, had fled south with the morning tide aboard the fastest ship available. Tsai Lin had wisely sent Nuraka Shan to parley with the now-leaderless captains, although negotiations were proving to be a protracted business. Nuraka Shan still enjoyed great respect amongst the fleet but even he found it a difficult task to persuade so many crews to swear fealty to a previously unknown emperor.

It was a similar story amongst the surviving soldiery of Mah-Lol’s army. Many had perished fighting the fire, but a thirty-thousand-strong contingent of veteran regiments remained.

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