Copyright
HarperVoyager
an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk
First published in Great Britain by HarperVoyager 2017
Copyright © Peter V. Brett 2017
Cover illustration © Larry Rostant. Demon model by Millenium FX Ltd.
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017
Ward artwork designed by Lauren K. Cannon, copyright © Peter V. Brett
Peter V. Brett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authors imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780007425723
Ebook Edition © September 2017 ISBN: 9780007425747
Version: 2018-09-24
Dedication
For Sirena Lilith, who is already changing my life in countless ways.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Map
Prologue: Gaolers
Chapter 1: Both
Chapter 2: Olive
Chapter 3: Countess Paper
Chapter 4: Ragen and Elissa
Chapter 5: The Pack
Chapter 6: Everam Is a Lie
Chapter 7: The Eunuchs
Chapter 8: Monastery
Chapter 9: The Majah
Chapter 10: Family Matters
Chapter 11: Sorcerers
Chapter 12: Drained
Chapter 13: The Last Will and Testament of Arlen Bales
Chapter 14: Spankin
Chapter 15: Sisters Return
Chapter 16: Beloved
Chapter 17: Forest Fortress
Chapter 18: Homestead
Chapter 19: Hunted
Chapter 20: The Escort
Chapter 21: Neocounty
Chapter 22: The Edge of Nies Abyss
Chapter 23: Sharums Lament
Chapter 24: First Steps
Chapter 25: The Mouth of the Abyss
Chapter 26: The Dark Below
Chapter 27: Bedfellows
Chapter 28: Araines Tale
Chapter 29: Wolves
Chapter 30: Everams Reservoir
Chapter 31: Hardens Grove
Chapter 32: Blizzard and Quake
Chapter 33: Evil Gives Birth
Chapter 34: Spear of Ala
Chapter 35: Severed
Chapter 36: Smoke and Mist
Chapter 37: Jessas Girls
Chapter 38: Sharak Ka
Chapter 39: Whistlers Mind
Chapter 40: Alamen Fae
Chapter 41: Light of the Mountains
Chapter 42: The Hive
Chapter 43: The Core
Chapter 44: Born in Darkness
Chapter 45: The Pact
Ward Grimoire
Acknowledgements
About the Author
By the Same Author
About the Publisher
Map
Prologue
Gaolers
334 AR
There will be swarm.
Alagai Ka, the demon Consort, spoke with the lips of the human drone, the one they called Shanjat. The Consort lay bound within a circle of power, but he had shattered one of the locks and taken the drone before his captors could react.
His will crushed, Shanjat was little more than a puppet now, and the Consort took pleasure in the pain that caused his captors. He shifted the drones feet, getting a sense of the body. Not as useful as a mimic, but strong, armed with the primitive weapons of the surface stock and an emotional connection to his captors the Consort could exploit.
What in the Core is that supposed to mean? the Explorer demanded. The one the others called Arlen or Parchin. He held influence over the others, but it was not true dominance.
The Consort accessed the drones language centre, growing in fluency with the primitive grunts that passed for communication among humans. The queen is close to laying.
The Explorer met the drones eyes and crossed his arms. The wards inked into his flesh throbbed with power. Know that. Whats it got to do with a swarm?
You have imprisoned me and killed my strongest brethren, the Consort said. There are none left in the mind court with power enough to keep the young queens from draining their mother of magic and maturing.
The Explorer shrugged. Queensll kill each other, wont they? Right there in the whelping room, with the strongest one taking over the hive. Better a hatchling queen than a fully matured one.
The Consort kept the drones eyes fixed on the Explorer as he watched the auras of the others in the room with his own eyes.
Armed with the cloak and spear and crown of the Mind Killer, the Heir the one called Jardir was easily the most dangerous. Chained in a warding circle, the Consort had few options if the Heir decided to kill him, and the subjugation of Shanjat enraged the Heir beyond measure.
But the Heirs aura betrayed him. Much as he wanted to kill the Consort, he needed him alive.
More interesting was the web of emotions connecting the Heir to the Explorer. Love and hate, rivalry and respect. Anger. Guilt. It was a heady mix, and the Consort took pleasure as he studied it. The Heir was impatient for information. There was much the Explorer had not told him, and irritation crackled along his aura at having to follow anothers lead.
Less predictable was the Hunter, the one called Renna. The fierce female was hot with stolen core magic, her flesh stained with wards of power. She was less skilled in the use of her power, apt to lash out unless kept in check. She was tamped down, weapon in hand, ready to spring at the first break in the stalemate.
The last was a female drone, Shanvah. Like the puppet, she had no great magic about her. If she had not killed a demon prince with her weapons, the Consort would have dismissed her as irrelevant.
But while Shanvah was the weakest of his captors, her aura was exquisite. The puppet was her sire. Her will was strong, keeping her surface aura still, but beneath, her spirit was wracked with pain. The Consort would savour the memory of it when he sliced open her skull and bit into the soft meat of her mind.
The Consort made the puppet laugh, keeping the humans attention on the drone instead of him. The young queens wont have a chance to fight. With none of my brethren strong enough to dominate the others, each will steal an egg and flee.
The Explorer paused at that, understanding dawning. Start nests all over Thesa.
No doubt it has already begun. He made the puppet wave its spear, and predictably the eyes of the humans followed. You doom your own kind, keeping me here.
Delicately, the Consort shifted its chains, probing for a weakness. The wards etched into the metal burned, pulling at his magic, but the Consort kept a tight grip on his power. Already he had shattered one of the locks and freed a limb. If he could break another, the puppet might disable the circles enough for the Consort to escape.
How many minds are left in the hive? the Explorer demanded. We killed seven so far, not counting you. Reckon that ent nothing.
In the hive? the Consort asked. None, by now. No doubt they have already divided the breeding grounds and seek to pacify their new territories before the laying.
Breeding grounds? the Hunter asked.
The puppet smiled. The people of your Free Cities will soon find their walls and wards less secure than they have been led to believe.
Bold words, Alagai Ka, the Heir said, as you lie bound before us.
The Consort found what he sought, at last. The tiny flaw in one of the locks, eroded slowly over the months of his imprisonment. Breaking it would allow the demon to slip the chain, but the power required would be bright, and his captors might notice before it was done.
You were allowed your breeding grounds against this time. The puppet took a step to the side, and their eyes went with it. Hunting preserves for my brethren. They will take their drones and crack your walls like eggs, stocking their larders to satiate their hatchling queens.
And doom for Ala grow in their wombs, the Heir said. We must not allow this.
Free me, the Consort said.
Not a chance, the Explorer growled.
It is your only real choice, the Consort said. My return can still prevent swarm.
You are the Prince of Lies, the Heir said. We are not fools enough to trust your words. There is another choice. We will go to the abyss and kill Alagaiting Ka once and for all.
You claim not to be fools, the Consort said, yet you believe you can survive the path to the hive? You will not even get as far as Kavri before he broke and fled back to the surface.
The words had the intended effect as the Heir stiffened, tightening his grip on the spear. More lies. Kaji defeated you.
Kavri killed many drones, the Consort said. Many princes. It took centuries to repopulate the hive, but his attempts to breach our domain failed. That is the best your kind can hope for. This is not the first cycle, nor shall it be the last.