The Dark Remains - Mark Anthony [137]
Aryn clenched her left hand into a fist. “She should have cursed him.”
“And she did,” Falken said. “ ‘Love shall yet defy you!’ she cried as she fell, then she perished on sharp rocks far below. Of course, Mohg cared nothing for love now that he had a heart of iron, and so he forgot her words. And the blood-wisdom had given him what he had desired—a way to defeat the southmen and their gods.
“You see, centuries before this, the three Great Stones—the Imsari—fell to Eldh, where they were found by the dark elf Alcendifar. With his craft, the dwarf bound the powers of ice, fire, and twilight into the Stones, and then he hid them away, for he was jealous of their beauty, and he did not want the eyes of others to steal it away.
“With his new wisdom, Mohg knew that if he could gain the Imsari, he would have the power to break the First Rune, which was named Eldh, and which the Worldsmith had bound into the Dawning Stone at the beginning, so that the world would know permanence and never fade. Once he broke the First Rune, Mohg would be able to reforge Eldh in his own image, an Eldh where he was master and all others—men and gods alike—were his slaves.
“But first Mohg required servants. He knew that to fight men he needed a man of his own. Now, somewhere in the mists of time, men had come into Eldh, into the far north of the world in Toringarth. They were like the men of Moringarth, but taller, paler, and barbaric in manner.
“In the guise of an old, blind seer, Mohg went to one of the chiefs of these barbarian tribes, a man named Berash, who was as bold, arrogant, and foolish as a man could be. With sweet words and promises of power, Mohg convinced Berash to trade his living heart for one of iron, and in so doing Berash became dread and powerful indeed—a being known ever after as the Pale King—but also Mohg’s eternal servant.”
Falken paused in strumming his lute. “I think you all know the rest of this story. Mohg seduced thirteen of the New Gods and bound them in undying flesh, and they became the Necromancers. The Necromancers went forth into Eldh and discovered Alcendifar’s hiding place. They wrested the Imsari from the dwarf, slew him, and returned to Imbrifale, to give the Great Stones to Berash that he might present them to Mohg himself. But when the Pale King rode forth from Imbrifale—”
“He found an army waiting for them,” Aryn said, her eyes shining. “Ulther of Toringarth and Elsara of Tarras had forged an alliance, and together they drove the Pale King back into Imbrifale and took the Imsari from him.”
“That’s right,” Falken said. “In a desperate gamble, Ulther and Elsara both sent armies to Shadowsdeep. Ulther arrived first, and he smote the Pale King with his sword Fellring, which had been enchanted by the blood sacrifice of three fairies. Both Fellring and the Pale King’s heart shattered. Ulther would have died himself then, for all his army had perished, but at that moment Elsara rode into the vale with the army of Tarras, and the tide of the battle was turned. The Necromancers fled back into Imbrifale with their fallen master. Elsara had saved Ulther.”
“She loved him, you know.”
All looked at Melia. The lady petted the kitten, a secret smile on her lips. “Ulther journeyed from Toringarth all the way to Tarras to warn the empress of the Pale King’s coming. At first she denied his request for an alliance, saying she cared nothing for wars in the frozen north. However, Ulther persisted, and at last Elsara agreed. But it was not only because she had come to believe in the peril he described. It was because she had come to love him, even as he loved her.”
Falken set down his lute. “If that’s true, then their love was never requited. Their peoples would never have accepted a marriage between a barbarian king and an empress of the south. But when they created the kingdom of Malachor, to keep watch over the gates of Imbrifale, each gave a child to the new kingdom: Ulther’s