Ascendant's Rite (The Moontide Quartet) Read Free

form of the gnosis, though it can only be used within a narrow range. It could not, for example, be used to rain fire down on Hebusalim, three hundred miles away. But what we intend lies within its ambit: beneath Midpoint, wedged between the tectonic plates, is a rock the size of a hill: the heavenly body that destroyed the isthmus. If it were destroyed, the isthmus would rise again.’
    Calan Dubrayle leaned forward. ‘Say that again, Magister?’
    ‘If the heavenly body were to be destroyed, the isthmus would rise again from the seas, permanently.’
    ‘A new, permanent link between Yuros and Antiopia? A road from Pontus to Dhassa, always above water?’
    ‘Allowing one empire to rule every known realm on Urte,’ Lucia added in a soft voice. ‘My son’s empire – our homeland.’
    Gurvon raised a hand. ‘If we do this, there will be an earthquake like nothing ever seen before. It will destroy every building in Pontus and Dhassa, and likely cause damage all the way to the Brekaellen Vale in Yuros, and to the ranges dividing Dhassa and Kesh in the East. Tidal waves will swamp Dhassa and Pontus. It is unlikely that anyone in either place will survive. Millions will die, many of them people of Yuros.’
    Even Kaltus Korion looked vaguely appalled at his words. Good , Gurvon thought. You need to know and understand the full extent of what you are considering. These are the decisions that Gods make.
    And remember to pay my fee afterwards.
    ‘Let’s do it now,’ grunted Betillon, who had never been accused of having a conscience.
    Naxius shook his head. ‘That is impossible: while the Bridge is beneath the waves, the solarus crystals are locked into sustaining it and are steadily drained of energy. They are virtually inert by the time the Moontide comes. Only when the Bridge is above water can the solarus energy reserves be rebuilt. We need that power to be at its zenith to be certain the meteor jammed into the tectonic fault-line is destroyed. That moment will come at the end of the next Moontide, Junesse 930, three years hence.’
    Korion raised a hand. ‘What of my army? Where will my forces be when the hammer falls?’
    ‘My advice would be not return to Yuros at the end of the Moontide: if you remain east in Zhassi or Kesh, say – no further west than Ebensar Ridge – you will be on another tectonic plate and safe, barring some minor tremors. Provided your supply lines to Javon remain intact, you will be perfectly placed to weather the cataclysm and seize control of northern Antiopia afterwards.’
    ‘Fair enough.’ Korion frowned, then asked, ‘What of Echor’s army?’
    ‘They will have been mauled by the Keshi, thanks to the other arrangements we have in place,’ Gurvon answered. ‘He’ll probably be retreating across the bridge itself when we strike, or already in Pontus licking his wounds.’
    ‘Until the sea washes them away.’ Betillon guffawed.
    ‘Then afterwards,’ Vult added, ‘there would be nothing to prevent Rondelmar from invading all of Antiopia, and this time staying permanently – in fact, my Lord Emperor could send his armies all over the known world. The only limits would be our manpower.’
    ‘And after such destruction, and with the promise of untold plunder to come, I have no doubt our vassal states will be cowed into permanent submission,’ Lucia concluded, a quiet smile on her face. ‘At a stroke the Ordo Costruo will cease to matter, and the Merchants’ ability to leverage the Bridge to their own benefit would be gone. All tribute and plunder will go through our Imperial Governors and the heathen will be utterly subjugated and brought to their knees before the throne of Kore. Rondelmar will rule all of Urte in a new and never-ending Golden Age.’
    We don’t make small plans , Gurvon reflected. We’re here to change the world.

1
    The Messiah’s Murderess
    The Murder of Corineus
Alas! One thousand times, Alas! How did we not see the snake which had nested amongst