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men camped in the forest. Shan hoped what he was about to do
would shock the Kezanada into rethinking their pursuit of his bounty.
Shan put a spell of sleepiness on the first two outer sentries that he
approached. Lulled into a doze, the sentries awaited their death. Shan crept
closer until he could see the campfires. Most of the Kezanada slept, but a few
sat up talking.
Shan lowered himself into a cross-legged position, trying to limit the
crackling of the ferns and forest litter. He focused his mind on his grim task
but his conscience struggled to distract him. He had killed, but now he would
kill with much greater intimacy. To magically extinguish life, especially in
stealth, grated against his sense of honor. Deep down he judged himself
harshly, knowing that what he did was wrong, but the
Kezanada had to be deterred from hunting him or Taischek s family. He had to
gain more allies among the humans in order to weaken Onja s position, and he
could not allow the Kezanada to hinder him. Most importantly, those who were
already his loyal friends relied on him to lead them to victory.
Banishing his natural revulsion, Shan began to meditate on his spell,
gathering all the lifeforces of the surrounding men into his awareness. The
rys felt the blood moving in their veins and the air passing through their
lungs. He heard every word of conversation and the rattle of every snore.
Shan linked to every man in the camp, sentries included, latching onto them
like an invisible lamprey. Shan focused on their hearts. Only their hearts.
The unsynchronized beating of a hundred hearts stormed his mind with a
terrible roar, and Shan had to hold in a scream of agony.
He concentrated on only the rushing blood and the pumping hearts.
Then, like the stockade at Dursalene but with a thousand times more
refinement, Shan shattered the hearts. Valves flapped in useless tatters and
the muscles of life screeched to a torn halt. Shan saw every internal detail
of each man s death as he released the spell s visualization.
Most of the Kezanada clutched their chests in a terrible moment of pain before
quickly dying. Some sat straight up out of their sleep and gasped before
slumping back into a permanent rest. Every heart had been assaulted
simultaneously, and as the Kezanada died, they did not know their comrades
shared the same fate.
Shan sprang to his feet with outstretched arms, trembling with the awesome
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power he felt. His mind had been intimately entwined with each
man at the moment of death, and Shan now held their souls. He experienced a
sudden clarity of understanding as he grasped the many fresh spirits.
This is how Dacian and Onja made the Deamedron!
he realized. He could conjure magical monoliths to imprison these souls
restrained by his mind and create his own ghost soldiers who obeyed him.
The possibilities intoxicated him. He did not need to court the favor of the
humans when he could create his own force of faithful and eternal
Deamedron. Why should he care about the humans anyway? He was a million times
greater than the best of their short-lived race. Rys deserved respect and they
should demand the servitude of humans. He sullied himself by cultivating
friendships with humans and promising them freedom.
I should be the master of all!
These mad thoughts filled Shan s mind while the power of his spell surged
through him. Holding the helpless souls made him feel so potent.
Shan s concept of magic swelled to a higher level that truly approached
Onja s power.
Finally, the thin wail of souls realizing their state of limbo reached
Shan s mind. The compassionate part of Shan shuddered at the sound, making the
rys see that the thrill of his power had twisted his ambitions in awful ways,
and had done it quickly.
No! Shan physically screamed and he released the Kezanada souls.
Sick with guilt Shan hurled himself onto the ground and wept until his face
was muddied. Great sobs shook his blue body as he punished himself with
unmitigated grief.
Is this how it started with Onja?
he wondered. Was Onja once a decent being with caring feelings? Did her
extreme talent for magic twist her into the Queen who loved her supremacy so
much she claimed divinity?
Now Shan asked himself the most frightful question of all.
Will I decay into such an evil being?
Rising to his knees, Shan cried, I did not know the power would cause me such
wretched temptation!
The great old trees looming in the darkness absorbed the sound of his tortured
voice, but they had little interest in his painful discoveries.
Shan s mind lurched to the present where he was riding with the Temu.
Dreibrand was asking him if he was hurt because the rys had slumped in his
saddle.
No, Shan replied weakly, realizing he was exhausted.
Can you tell me what happened? Dreibrand coaxed.
I learned many things. Many things, Shan said cryptically. He bowed his head
and the cowl covered the glow of his eyes.
29~ The Conqueror Learns to Fear ~
Lord Kwan stayed in his small tent staring at the warding crystal for the
whole night and the next day. The Atrophane soldiers waited nervously for some
word from their commander and they watched the skies for the bizarre bird
beast.
Kwan had no desire beyond watching the swirl of blue light within the smooth
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