“Ban-ath,” said Pug. “Kalkin.”
“The Trickster?” Macros nodded. “Yes, this sort of thing is what we might expect. I am Dasati, yet I am human. I have the mind of Macros the Black—who was, I might say with some lack of modesty, one of the most powerful beings in Midkemia; yet here I found myself barely more than a boy, and most of my powers were gone.”
“But not all of them?”
“No. I’ve regained some of them, and retrained myself. It took all my abilities to hide that fact, or I would have become a Deathpriest, or a corpse.
“I’ve recruited others like myself; like Martuch, my first student and my best. Even though he is nearly ten years older than me, he looks to me for guidance. And he is the first Dasati who ever displayed what I would call compassion.”
“The story of Lady Narueen and Valko.”
“Yes,” said Macros. “He is the one who with the help of an Ipiliac wizard readied us for this journey. When he contacted me, I had many questions, and some will have to wait, but first and foremost I must know: did you find the Talnoy?”
“Yes, we found them all.”
“Good, for here is the important part of what is coming.
“The Dark God is seeking to find his way into the first plane of reality, to extend his domain. The first rift into Kelewan was an accident, and the Deathpriests are not the researchers that you or the Tsurani are, but they persevered, using the experience of each rift formed to refine and improve their search for a way into the first circle. The Deathpriests sent…scouts, little homunculi, with wards to provide energy to stabilize their rifts. They were all closed, but one. Someone on the other side helped them, if you can imagine anyone mad enough to do such a thing.”
“Leso Varen,” said Pug with a sinking feeling. “He’s mad enough.”
“Tell me of him later. Now the Dasati have a foothold on Kelewan. The massed might of the Assembly may hold them at bay for a while, Pug, but eventually the Dasati will sweep into the first circle of reality and overrun that world; then they will find Midkemia, and from there, who knows how many other worlds?
“The balance between the first and second plane of reality is already tipping—Delecordia shouldn’t exist at all, but it does. If the Dark God of the Dasati reaches Midkemia, the balance will be destroyed. The first and second planes of reality will collapse into…something else, and billions will die.”
“I’m not sure I fully understand, Macros. The Dasati are already there. The Dark God’s agents have reached Kelewan. So if this dire event was to happen, it would have happened already.”
“You don’t understand, Pug. The Dark God isn’t a spiritual abstraction who can manifest his or her persona for a short period of time, like those you’ve encountered on Midkemia.
“The Dark God is a monstrous being living in a vast hall at the heart of this world. He is an eater of souls and the devourer of hundreds of sacrifices every day. He is real, corporeal, and he lives to destroy.” He looked at Pug. “I have agents in high places, but not enough. I believe the Dasati are mustering for an invasion. There is much going on in this city and across the Twelve Worlds that tells me a massive mobilization is about to commence.”
Pug nodded slowly.
Macros sat down next to him. “The Talnoy. What do you know of them?”
“Tomas remembers Ashen-Shugar facing them, when the Valheru tried to raid into the second realm. We were told by Kalkin that they contain the spirit of a Dasati who had been murdered in order to provide life energy to make it a killing machine.”
“Partially true,” said Macros. “What should be obvious, but perhaps isn’t, is that all Dasati magic is a form of necromancy. All their energy comes from killing. If you remember what Murmandamus did during the Great Uprising, that was but a hint of what the Dasati achieve every day.
“Thousands of children are killed in purges every year, and that energy is seized by Deathpriests when they can, and those souls are imprisoned.” Macros paused. “But the Talnoy are not what you think. There are ‘Talnoy’ in the service of the TeKarana and his princes, the Karanas, but they are there to keep the battle societies in check. They are really handpicked soldiers in false armor, and they only appear on specific days for special events.”
“But the ones on Midkemia?”
“Those were hidden there. They are the real Talnoy.”
“Who hid them?”
“That is a mystery. If I knew in the past, I do not seem to know now. Perhaps that memory will return. Or perhaps we will find out in the future, but for the moment this is what you must know about those creatures: the Talnoy are not machines powered by the spirits or souls of slain Dasati. They are slaves, confined in bondage that has lasted millennia; for the spirits that inhabit them are not Dasati, but rather are the ten thousand lost Dasati gods.”
Pug was rendered almost speechless. “Gods?”
“Like the Midkemian gods, they do not die easily. And even when they are dead, they seem intent on not staying that way.
“There are many hours ahead in which we can speculate, but for now this is what I believe: the Dark One wishes to get to Midkemia for the sole purpose of destroying them, and he will think nothing of obliterating the entire planet to do so.”
Pug whispered, “And we must stop him.”
Macros nodded. “Yes.”
About the Author
RAYMOND E. FEIST’S previous novels include the first volume in the Darkwar Saga, Flight of the Nighthawks, as well as the Conclave of Shadows: Talon of the Silver Hawk, King of Foxes, and Exile’s Return; Magician; Silverthorn; Faerie Tale; Prince of the Blood; and The King’s Buccaneer; as well as the four books of the New York Times bestselling Serpentwar Saga: Shadow of a Dark Queen, Rise of a Merchant Prince, Rage of a Demon King, and Shards of a Broken Crown; and the three books of his Riftwar Legacy: Krondor: The Betrayal, Krondor: The Assassins, and Krondor: Tear of the Gods. Feist lives in Southern California.
www.RaymondFeistBooks.com
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ALSO BY RAYMOND E. FEIST
Flight of the Nighthawks
Exile’s Return
King of Foxes
Talon of the Silver Hawk
Magician
Silverthorn
A Darkness at Sethanon
Faerie Tale
Shadow of a Dark Queen
Rise of a Merchant Prince
Rage of a Demon King
Shards of a Broken Crown
Krondor: Tear of the Gods
Krondor: The Betrayal
Krondor: The Assassins
WITH JANNY WURTS
Daughter of Empire
Servant of Empire
Mistress of Empire
Credits
Map by Ralph M. Askren, D.V.M.
Jacket design by Richard L. Aquan
Jacket illustration by Steve Stone
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
INTO A DARK REALM. Copyright © 2007 by Raymond E. Feist. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Epub Edition © FEBRUARY 2007 ISBN: 9780061801907
06 07 08 09 10
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Raymond E. Feist, Into a Dark Realm: Book Two of the Darkwar Saga
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