Savage Messiah

Faegan wheeled his chair down the tu

"Very clever, Wizard," Bratach said. "But neither you nor Wigg will defeat Wulfgar. He is about to unleash a devastating force upon Eutracia, the likes of which you haven't seen since the Sorceresses' War."

"Why don't you tell me about it?" Faegan asked, his face hard.

Bratach spat at them in defiance, the spittle ru

"You were once a loyal member of the Consuls of the Redoubt, weren't you?" Faegan asked. "But the son of the Jin'Sai altered the lean of your blood signature, and he turned you to the worship of the Vagaries. Yes, that's right. We know all about it. Tell me: How many more of your traitorous kind still roam Eutracia?"

Bratach remained silent.

"What is your name?" Faegan asked. "You might as well tell us now, for we can always glean it later on from your blood records."

The man's face was a mask of hatred and defiance.

"Very well. Suit yourself," Faegan said, deciding to try another line of questioning. "I will have all of my answers after I enter your mind.

"Where is Satine?" he asked. "She has already killed two of my friends. I have unfinished business with her."

Smiling, the consul shook his head. "You'll never find her," he gloated. "She's far too good at what she does. She's a killing machine. She'll go on and on until she's satisfied every sanction that she accepted, no matter what becomes of me. Whatever else the future might hold for you, from here on, all of your days are numbered."

Pausing for a moment, Bratach smiled down at them. "And as you are all about to see," he added cryptically, "so are mine. Surely you must understand that I ca

Faegan took a quick breath. He suddenly understood what was about to happen, but he couldn't predict what form it would take. Without knowing the required counterspell, he was helpless to stop it.

Bratach narrowed his eyes. Almost at once, the glow of the craft surrounded him. His eyes locked upon Faegan's, he began to shudder. Soon he was convulsing madly as he hung in the azure web.

He began to bleed from his ears. Suddenly he convulsed even more violently, and blood began to run from his eyes, nose, and mouth.

Faegan knew what was happening. The yet-to-be-identified consul was committing suicide by enacting a Forestallment that caused him to bleed out, and there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it.

As she stood by the wizard's side, Jessamay understood it, too. Looking over her shoulder at Shailiha, Tyra

The blood slipped down Bratach's face to the strands of azure webbing and dripped to the tu

Bratach's head slumped to his chest and a final rattle escaped his lungs. He hung there limply in the web, his skin blanched. Knowing he had been bested, Faegan looked down at the pool of blood. As he expected, areas still moved. Finally dying, the trained, endowed blood slowly stilled.

Faegan knew what was coming next. Lifting his head, he augmented his wizard's hearing. The phenomenon started almost immediately.

From the streets above, they heard the wind pick up and start to howl. Louder and louder it became, until the noise hurt their ears. Then the thunder boomed, and flashes of lightning illuminated the cellar. With so many powerful Forestallments dying at once, the wizard could only imagine what it must be like up above, on the streets of Tammerland. The citizens would be scared to death.

He looked back at the pool of blood that only moments before had held one of the greatest secrets of the craft. Perhaps we will one day truly understand what happens when a Forestallment dies, he thought. And why the sky seems to break apart when it does. Perhaps Wigg and Tristan will learn the secret-provided they can find the Scroll Master and the Well of Forestallments.

But for now all I have is another dead traitor upstairs, and his secrets will go with him to his grave.

CHAPTER LXIX

Standing alone in the bow of her flagship, Tyra

After what the traitorous consul in the archery shop had told them, the Conclave knew that Wulfgar's Black Ships were on the way. But given so much coastline to guard-and with only her twelve ships and the remainder of the Minion fleet with which to do it-the task before her seemed impossible.

For the last three days the Reprise and the other vessels under her command had dutifully plowed up and down the Sea of Whispers. Their mission was to patrol the waters between the coastal city of Far Point and the huge bay that bordered Farplain. So far, everything had been quiet.

Faegan had strongly advised her that when Wulfgar arrived, he would probably try to anchor his ships as close to the pass through the Tolenkas as possible. Reaching the azure wall in the mountains would be his first priority. That meant that the most logical staging point for his invasion would be somewhere along the coast that lay just north of Shadowood.

Only fifty-one Minion warships had survived the prior battles with Wulfgar's demonslaver fleet, and their captains were doing their best to help Tyra

She cast her gaze back out to sea. It was almost seven o'clock, and the sun had just disappeared below the western horizon. When she was aboard ship, this was always her favorite part of the day.

Tonight the sea was relatively calm, the winds were steady, and the fleet's pace was more than adequate. Unless a fog formed, the visibility would be excellent. The other vessels followed the Reprise in a line, at intervals of approximately one-half league. Just now they were in the midst of yet another northern leg of their patrol, and the mysterious area of Shadowood would soon come up along their port side.

At least K'jarr's scouts were keeping the vessels in some form of communication, however tenuous, she thought. Others continually patrolled as far to the east as they dared. This added great range to Tyra

Hearing the sound of approaching footsteps, she turned to see Shailiha, Sister Adrian, and Duvessa walking toward her, the princess carrying an open bottle of red wine. Adrian held four glasses. Duvessa carried a stone jug of akulee. They were all smiling. Tyra

Shailiha and Duvessa held their bottles high. "Reinforcements!" the princess a

Duvessa and Adrian laughed.

Shailiha poured out three glasses of wine, while Duvessa served herself a glassful of akulee. Tyra