Savage Messiah

Looking to the right, Tristan saw the death masks of Vona and Zabarra-two of the other sorceresses he had killed-along with two more cubicles of Forestallments.

Then his eyes fell upon the death mask of Succiu. He stepped over to stand before it.

He had never believed that he would see her face again, and doing so now gave him no joy. Under Failee's orders, she had raped him and imbued still-dormant Forestallments in his blood signature. She had also been the mother of Nicholas, Tristan's only child. As he looked at Succiu's beautiful almond-shaped eyes, a shudder went through him. Like those of the others, her Forestallments were displayed just below her death mask.

Overcome with curiosity, Tristan looked down the limitless length of this case. Death masks and their accompanying Forestallments lined both sides for as far as he could see. Then he realized that it was the slowly revolving forestallments that were the source of the lovely tinkling sounds.

He turned to the Scroll Master. "Why would the Ones build such a place as this, only to record the expired Forestallments of the dead?"

The boy smiled. "Those persons who are represented here are quite dead, that's true," he said. "But the Forestallments that their blood signatures once carried are not."

"That's impossible," Tristan said. "When one of the endowed dies, his or her blood signature and Forestallments die with them. That is why there is always an accompanying atmospheric disturbance-it is the craft's way of reacting to the passing of a collection of Forestallments. Wigg and Faegan are sure of it."

"No," the boy said. "Your wizards are wrong. Forestallments do not die unless they are dismantled by a proper spell of reversal. If their host dies before this is accomplished, they leave the host and travel here, causing the disturbances you describe. They do so because of a process of the craft that the Ones refined just before they disappeared, but it does not always succeed. If they are unsuccessful in their journey, their owners are condemned to the Abyss of Lost Souls.

"The words in Old Eutracian inscribed below the Forestallments identify them and illustrate the spells required for their conjuring and their dismantling," the boy went on. "Your wizards are right about one thing, though. The Scrolls of the Ancients were written by the Ones and the Heretics of the Guild. Collectively, they contain the spells required to both form and dismantle nearly every Forestallment known to man."

Stu

"Two reasons," the boy answered. "The first is the most obvious. A properly induced Forestallment is a precious thing. Here they would always remain safe from harm, as would the required spells."

"And the second reason?" Tristan asked.

"They built this place for the Jin'Sai and the Jin'Saiou," the boy said gravely. "They knew that it would help you in your struggle to combine the two sides of the craft. Once your blood is healed, the Ones have dictated that three of these preserved Forestallments are to be given to you and activated-and then three shall be selected for Shailiha, should you die or otherwise fail in your destiny. Your wizards were wise not to activate the Forestallments that Succiu imparted to your blood. Had they been brought to life improperly, they would have killed you.

"Do not be misled," he warned. "The Well of Forestallments has existed for aeons. But it was not built with such care and so lovingly maintained for all this time for only you and your sister."

"Who else was it built for, then?" Tristan asked.

"It was built for the other Jin'Sais and Jin'Saious who came before you and Shailiha-and for those who may have to follow you, should you both fail to join the two sides of the craft."

Tristan's jaw fell and the breath rushed out of his lungs.

"But I am the Jin'Sai!" he exclaimed. "And Shailiha is the Jin'Saiou! The Tome says so! How could there have been others before us?"

"Think for a moment," the boy said. "The Tome makes mention of a Chosen One who will be preceded by another. But does it say how many pairs of these twins there might eventually be?"

"As far as I understand it, no," Tristan said. He simply couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"And does the Tome mention you or your sister by name?" the boy pressed.

"Not that I have been told," the prince answered.

"Then how can you and your wizards be so sure that you and Shailiha have been the only ones?" the boy asked. "There have, in fact, been dozens of Jin'Sais and Jin'Saious before you. Over the aeons they have always arrived in pairs-one girl child and one boy. So far, each pair has failed to unite the two sides of the craft. And like you and your sister, each pair thought themselves the only ones-unless they succeeded in finding me, as you have, and were informed about the true nature of things. But you, Tristan, are the first to use his gifts without the advantage of training. Your blood is the first to turn azure. When the Tome speaks of this, it is referring directly to you. We know that now."

"But how can that be," Tristan protested, "when so much of what the Tome prophesied about me has already come true? Are you saying that the Jin'Sais before me also followed the exact same path as I have in life?"

"Of course not," the boy answered. "That would be illogical. But only in your case have so many of the prophecies come true-that is why hope runs so high that you shall be the one to finally succeed. Only time will tell."

Tristan shook his head in disbelief. "But the Ones hid the Tome and the Paragon in the Caves!" he protested. "During the Sorceresses' War it was Wigg who first found them and brought them to light. If that is the case, how could previous Jin'Sais and Jin'Saious have learned about and employed the craft?"

"Because it was not Wigg who first discovered the Tome and the Paragon," the young Scroll Master answered. "Nor was it the Ones who hid them. It was the previous Jin'Saiou.

"Her name was Elena. She was very old. Her twin brother had been killed defending the Vigors. She had also failed in her destiny, and her life was ending. A war was raging, just as another is about to begin now. Darkness ruled, and few practitioners of the Vigors remained. The dire circumstances of her times dictated that she hide the book and the stone while she still could. Ever since the appearance of the first Jin'Sai and Jin'Saiou, the Tome and the Paragon have been passed down from one trusted practitioner of the Vigors to the next. Elena was the first and only one to hide them. She knew she was taking a terrible chance, but there was no other way.

"It was indeed fortuitous that it was Wigg who found them, many centuries later. Had it been a servant of the Vagaries, our lives would be very different now. During all of this time, the Vigors and the Vagaries have been at odds, with no clear victor. We can only hope that you and Shailiha finally succeed. And not all of the previous Jin'Sais and Jin'Saious are represented here. For you see, the art of Forestallments was lost for centuries before it was revived by Failee."

Stu

After a time, he walked back to the Scroll Master, one question plaguing him.

"I want to know something," he said. "Were Nicholas and Morga

"Even I do not possess the answer to such a puzzle," the boy answered. "You are both of Morga