Sentinelspire - Mark Sehestedt [0]
The Citadels 04 -
Sentinelspire
A note to the reader:
In the following story, characters appear who do not speak the Common tongue of Faerыn-and sometimes even those who speak Common choose not to do so. Most of the time, the meaning will be clear or explained in context, if not-or if you're like me and love lists of strange words-the following guide will prove useful. Please note that the Orcish phrases are of the dialect of the Stone Tooth clan of Vaasa.
Ash sissaan-"Enter" or (more loosely) "come inside." (Killoren)
Anukh-"Attack!" (Orcish)
Arumwon-"Beast brother," a sort of animal friend given to the sacred rangers of the Stone Tooth Clan of ores, native to Vaasa. (Orcish)
Berun Kharn kienelleth- "Hope must become vengeance." (Aglarondan)
Dam ul dam-"Blood for blood." (Orcish)
Drassit-Imperative verb, meaning "(you) harass" or "(you) trouble." (Aglarondan)
Drekhe-Literally, "Flee!" or more loosely, "Get away!" (Aglarondan)
Dukhal-An insult, meaning "bastard." (Orcish)
Jankhota saalthua-'The time has arrived." (Killoren)
Kumash damun!-"Taste the blood!" (Orcish)
Lur'ashai-“little lord” or "little master." (Killoren)
Malwun-Literally "oathbrother." The term for a blood brother among the zuwar. (Orcish)
Mai karashl- "Oathbreaker." (Orcish)
Neye-"Come here!" (Orcish)
Ragh ala-"Calm down." (Orcish)
Tochgan neth-Imperative verb, meaning "(you) lead her away." (Aglarondan)
Zuwar-A sacred hunter among the Stone Tooth clan of ores, native to Vaasa. The zuwar are hunters sworn to the service of Malar the Beastlord.
By
The wise men know all evil things
Under the twisted trees, Where the perverse in pleasure pine And men are weary of green wine And sick of crimson seas.
–G.K. Chesterton, "The Ballad of the White Horse"
Prologue
2 Mirtul, the Year of the Sword
(1365 DR) The Yuirwood
They had come not long after midnight. With the moon and stars drowned in a sea of cloud, the darkness beneath the trees had become absolute. How such a large force had penetrated the depths of the Yuirwood, no one yet knew. It was unheard of. Unprecedented. But to strike so near one of the Circle's holiest sites, to murder the Masters of the Yuirwood and bring fire to the trees, that was sacrilege. Such a crime demanded blood.
Chereth followed the ranger through the wood. Aeryll was the man's name. Man? No, Aeryll was the youngest member of their band, scarcely more than a boy, not even a year out of his Jalesh Rudra. Aeryll held aloft a thin chain, a starstone dangling from it. The stone's soft silver glow gave the ranger enough light to guide them to a small clearing, a place where massive slabs of stone broke out of the earth. Little grew here-tufts of tall, sharp grass from the fissures of rock, and mosses in the recesses of stone that saw little sunlight. Chereth and the ranger emerged from the forest just as the clouds let loose a soft rain.
The Masters of the Yuirwood-Triem and the seven of his band who had survived-stood in the lee of a tall boulder.
Someone had bound two starstone necklaces to the long tufts of summer grass that sprouted from crevices in the rock. Just enough light for the humans to see. Another figure, his dark clothes torn and streaked with blood, huddled at their feet, his elbows bound behind his back, his knees and ankles tied before him.
Triem, his hood pulled down on his shoulders, turned at Chereth and Aeryll's approach. "Master Chereth," he said, and bowed.
"This is the only one captured?" asked Chereth.
"Mandel's band is pursuing the others eastward. We've heard nothing so far."
"It took nine of you to apprehend this one?"
A moment's silence before Triem answered, but there was no apology in his tone. "You saw him, Master. What he did. Yes, it took nine of us."
Chereth looked down on the man huddled in the grass. He walked around Triem, and two of the other rangers stepped back to allow him to approach the captive.
"You are Kheil," said Chereth.
The man looked up, his eyes bright in a face masked by blood. A slight gash near his scalp had bled freely, soaking