The Last Road Read online

  Aunty—Elderly relative of Nikeh gen’Emras.

  Balba—A Knight-Commander of the Army of the South.

  The Baobab goddess—The nameless goddess of an underground river or lake whose main physical presence in the world is an ancient baobab tree.

  Besni—A child adopted into the clan of Kinsai’s folk; young brother of Rifat.

  Birdy—Younger brother of Nikeh gen’Emras.

  The Blackdog—See Holla-Sayan.

  Caro—A Marakander caravaneer captaining the lancers in Reyka’s warband.

  Clio, Primate—Commander of the All-Holy’s sacred guard, initiate of the seventh circle, lover of Sien-Shava Jochiz.

  Danil—A Marakander street-guard, serving as a soldier on the Western Wall.

  Deysanal—A wizard of Kinsai’s folk; daughter of Trout, mother of Iarka.

  Dimas—Prince of Emrastepse; commander of the Army of the South.

  Dorji, Sister—A warrior-priestess of Attalissa.

  Dotemon Dreamshaper—One of the seven devils; bonded with the wizard Yeh-Lin, former empress and tyrant of Nabban.

  Emras—A dead spring-goddess of Tiypur.

  Enyal, Sister—A priestess and pilgrimmage-guide from the Temple of All Gods in Barrahe in the Nalzawan Commonwealth.

  Floran, Sister—A Tiypurian physician of the Army of the South.

  Forzra—A hill-god of the Nalzawan Commonwealth, who finds Ahjvar rather worrying.

  Fury—Black Westgrasslander warhorse.

  Gaguush—A Black Desert caravan-mistress and owner of a caravanserai in Marakand; late wife of Holla-Sayan, mother of Gultage.

  Ghatai (Twice-betrayed Ghatai)—A devil, bonded with the wizard and Grasslander warlord Tamghiz; slain by Moth in Lissavakail.

  Ghu—Personal name of the god of Nabban, who was once a human man. Lover of Ahjvar.

  Gorthuerniaul—A Denanbaki horse belonging to Ahjvar, touched by Nabban’s holiness, an immortal servant of the god within Nabban.

  Gultage—Marakander-born son of Gaguush and Holla-Sayan; a caravanserai master.

  Gurhan—Hill-god of the city of Marakand.

  Hani Jin—Lost cousin of Hani Kahren.

  Hani Kahren—A caravaneer and former cavalry-trooper from Imperial Nabban riding with Reyka’s warband.

  Hecta—Philon’s late wife.

  Hezing—A prince of Nabban who stirred up trouble and was exiled to Pirakul, where he became a mercenary.

  Hravnmod the Wise—One of the first three kings in the north. Elder brother of Ulfhild. Falsely said to have been slain by her; murdered by Heuslar Ogada.

  Holla-Sayan—Westgrasslander caravaneer; foster-father of the incarnation of the goddess Attalissa; host of the Blackdog; now bonded with it as a devil.

  Hyllanim—Ahjvar’s supposed half-brother and probable son, born of his adultery with his step-mother. A king of the Duina Catairna, whose misfortune-plagued reign was the subject of many songs.

  Iarka—A wizard of the folk of the goddess Kinsai, daughter of Deysanal, daughter of Trout, son of Holla-Sayan and Kinsai.

  Ilyan Dan—Ambassador of Nabban to Marakand.

  Iri—Suliasra Iri, empress and high priestess of Nabban.

  Istva—A Westgrasslander conscript camel-driver in the Army of the South; a spy for Yeh-Lin.

  Ivah—Wizard, warrior, scholar, and late empress of Nabban, nearly two hundred years previously, in the days of Ghu’s advent.

  Jang (Scholar Daro Jang)—Alias assumed by Yeh-Lin. (The name is taken from a former page of hers.)

  Jasberek Fireborn—One of the seven devils, bonded with the wizard Anganurth.

  Jayala—A river-goddess of the Western Grass.

  Jiot—A shapeshifting dog/dragon, a servant of the god of Nabban.

  Jochiz Stonebreaker—One of the seven devils; bonded with the wizard Sien-Shava.

  Jolanan—A Westgrasslander warrior from the Jayala’arad, formerly a cowherd.

  Jui—Another shapeshifting dog/dragon, a servant of the god of Nabban.

  Kinsai—The goddess of the river Kinsai; patron of the ferry-folk of the Upper and Lower Castles and ancestress of many of them. Occasional lover of Holla-Sayan. (And not a few others over the years…)

  The Lady of Marakand—A dead goddess of Marakand; an impersonation/possession of the goddess by Tu’usha.

  Lark—Skewbald Westgrasslander warhorse.

  Lazlan—A Westgrasslander man of the Sayanbarkash, brother of Reyka; second in command of the warband fighting the Army of the North.

  The Leopard—An alias used by Ahjvar in the Five Cities in his former life as an assassin.

  Lia Dur—A Marakander street-guard turned soldier, friend of Nikeh, lieutenant of the south-end tower of the Western Wall.

  Little Squirrel—Nikeh’s baby-name.

  Melnarka—A Tiypurian demon, lover of the goddess Emras, who was said to have appeared in the forms of eagle, man, and woman.

  Mikki—A demon, bear by day and man by night. His mother was a bear-demon of the Hardenwald, his father a Northron sea-rover turned farmer originally from Selarskerrig. Partner of Moth.

  Moraig—Bear-demon of the Hardenwald, mother of Mikki, slain by Heuslar Ogada in the beginning of it all.

  Moth—Name adopted by Ulfhild Vartu, given to her by Mikki.

  The nameless god—A god long worshipped in the lands of the former empire of Tiypur; possibly a cult that arose organically out of human need in those godless lands and was taken over by Jochiz, but more likely a creation of his from the start. See also the All-Holy.

  Nang Lin—Yeh-Lin’s original name.

  Narva—A mountain god of the Pillars of the Sky south of Lissavakail.

  Nessa—A Westgrasslander of Reyka’s warband, friend of Jolanan.

  Nikeh gen’Emras—A child from Emrastepse in Tiypur, adopted and raised by Yeh-Lin.

  Nori—Goddess of the river that flows through Star River Crossing, invoked by Ailan; probably a corruption of her older name, Noreia.

  Orhan—A Malagru hillman in the army defending Marakand.

  Pakdhala—Name used by Attalissa incarnate as Holla-Sayan’s supposed daughter.

  Pehma, Sister—Priestess of Attalissa; a wizard.

  Philon—A man of Emrastepse in the former Tiypurian lands, counsellor to Prince Dimas, an initiate of the seventh circle and a devout believer in the All-Holy.

  Rada—A murdered young woman of Star River Crossing in the Taren Confederacy.

  Rat—The goddess of the Little Sister river, on the border between Nabban and Lathi, also called the Tigress.

  Red Geir—One of the first three kings in the north.

  Reyka—A woman of the Sayanbarkash in the Western Grass; warlord of the Westgrasslander band fighting the All-Holy’s Army of the North.

  Rifat—Teenage wizard of Kinsai’s folk, originally from one of the Black Desert tribes.

  Rigo, the prince of—The All-Holy’s governor of the Western Grass. His proper name is not recorded.

  Rose—Wizard-surgeon of the folk of Kinsai, lover of Iarka and father of her unborn child.

  Rose—Name given by Iarka to her unborn daughter, in honour of the child’s father.

  Ruyi—Suliasra Ruyi, late empress and high priestess of Nabban, mother of Yuan, grandmother of Iri; great-granddaughter of Ivah.

  Sammur—Mikki’s father, a Northron human originally from Selarskerrig.

  Sarzahn—An ancient being bound in service to Jochiz, who looks on him as a brother.

  Sato—A river-goddess of the Nalzawan Commonwealth.

  Sayid Sevanim—A young man of Serakallash.

  Scorpion—A camel of uncertain moods.

  Sera—Goddess of the Red Desert town of Serakallash; sometimes appears in the form of a woman, sometimes a mare.

  Sien-Shava the Outcast—A wizard of the Southern Isles, bonded with the devil Jochiz. Brother of Sien-Mor.

  Sien-Mor the Outcast—A wizard of the Southern Isles, bonded with the devil Tu’usha. Sister of Sien-Mor. Murdered
by her brother while imprisoned after the defeat of the seven devils.

  Snow—A Denanbaki horse belonging to Ghu; like Gothuerniaul, became immortal as a servant of the god within Nabban.

  Spider—Another camel of rather more benign disposition than Scorpion.

  Storm—Bone-horse belonging to Moth. Translation of Styrma, his Northron name.

  Styrma—See Storm.

  Sulloso Dur—Marakander captain of the south-end tower of the Western Wall of the Pass of Marakand.

  Swift—A small sprit-rigged ship.

  Tamghiz—A chieftain and warlord of the Great Grass, bonded with the devil Ghatai. Divorced husband of Ulfhild. Slain by Moth.

  Tashi—A miner of the Narvabarkash in the Pillars of the Sky.

  Teacher—Nikeh’s term of address for her foster-mother and mistress in the scholar’s and warrior’s arts.

  Tibor—A Westgrasslander caravaneer of the Jayala’arad; kinsman of Jolanan.

  Timon—A Westron red priest and missionary of the All-Holy in Star River Crossing.

  Tiy, Grandmother Tiy—Nearly forgotten dead goddess of the great river of Tiypur, once worshipped as a conductress of the dead to the Old Great Gods.

  Trout—An exceptionally long-lived wizard, scholar, and ichthyologist of Kinsai’s folk, Warden of the Upper Castle, son of Holla-Sayan and Kinsai, father of Deysanal.

  Tu’usha the Restless—One of the seven devils, bonded with Sien-Mor. Slain by Moth.

  Ulfhild the King’s Sword—A wizard, sister and king’s sword of Hravnmod the Wise, bonded with the devil Vartu. Partner of Mikki. Also known as Moth.

  Varro—A friend of Holla-Sayan’s long ago, a Northron caravaneer of Gaguush’s gang.

  Vartu Kingsbane—One of the seven devils, bonded with Ulfhild; bearer of the sword Lakkariss. Moth.

  Viga Forkbeard—One of the first three kings in the north.

  The Wolf-Smith—A demon smith who came with the ancestors of the Northrons out of the west to the lands that became known after their destruction as the Drowned Isles. The demon who forged Moth’s sword Kepra (Keeper).

  Yeh-Lin the Beautiful—Nang Yeh-Lin, wizard, scholar, general, empress, bonded with the devil Dotemon.

  Yuan—Suliasra Yuan, late emperor and high priest of Nabban, father of the current empress, Iri.

  PART ONE

  PROLOGUE

  …the early days of winter in the year in which the All-Holy came into the lands of the caravan road, east of the Kara Mountains

  There was light through his eyelids, red and warm, though he was shivering. It was that had woken him. Sarzahn blinked, found his eyes to be sticky, gritty with sleep and fever-sweat. Sunlight angling through the door of the tent, tied back for light and air. Evening, and the scent of winter, of white cold, of the wind off the grass. He lay in the antechamber of his brother’s great tent, his right place, dog to sleep before his door. All as it should be. He felt very slow and tired, and, as he pushed himself to sit up, shoving the blanket aside, alarmingly weak. Every limb a log that needed dragging. He was stark naked.

  Too naked. There, dropped on the carpet by the thin mattress on which he’d been laid, his amulet pouch. Soft leather on a leather thong, long carried and periodically renewed. Nothing in it but a white pebble. Meaningless. A human superstition. Token of a dead god.

  But it mattered and he dropped it over his head, felt something eased at the familiar touch and rub of it against his chest. Pulled his hair through the cord, frowning. Long mane of it, curling wild, braids all undone, washed and combed loose.

  What did it matter? He was no caravaneer, to bind it tight against sand in dozens of braids that never knew comb nor touch of water the road’s length.

  No clothes. No boots. No weapon.

  Had he been wounded? Ill?

  Both, he thought. He remembered searing pain, something that entered him like a streak of lightning. A fire burning through him, eyes, mouth, marrow, that made his heart stutter and his eyes grow dark. Remembered a voice, calling his name. His brother drawing him into his arms, into this place of safety, of belonging.

  Remembered…

  Burning. Great swathes of green hills, burning, and words sung there by the flames, and birds made of fire painting images, painting…something he could not quite see…against the darkening sky.

  A fever-dream.

  There had been voices, in the darkness. In the fire. His own voice, shouting at him. Voices.

  He sat cross-legged amid the bedding a long, still time, trying to hear what they, what he, might be saying.

  Long ago, in the days of the first kings in the north, who were Viga Forkbeard, and Red Geir, and Hravnmod the Wise, there were seven devils, and their names were Honeytongued Ogada, Vartu Kingsbane, Jasberek Fireborn, Twice-Betrayed Ghatai, Dotemon the Dreamshaper, Tu’usha the Restless, and Jochiz Stonebreaker.

  As all should know, the gods and the goddesses of the world live in their own places, the high places and the waters, and aid those who worship them, and protect their own. And though the demons may wander all the secret places of the world, their hearts are bound each to their own place, and though they are no friends to human-folk, they are no enemies either, and want only to be left in peace. But the devils have no place, and they came from the cold hells and walked up and down over the earth to trouble the lives of the folk. And the devils did not desire loving worship, nor the friendship of men and women. They did not have a parent’s love for the folk. The devils craved dominion as the desert craves water, and they knew neither love nor justice nor mercy. And the devils razed the earth and made war against the heavens of the Old Great Gods themselves, and were cast out, and sealed in the cold hells once more.

  In the days of the first kings in the north, there were seven wizards. And two were of the people of the kings in the north, who came from over the western sea, and one was of a people unknown; one was of the Great Grass and one of Imperial Nabban, and two were from beyond far Nabban, but the seven were of one fellowship. Their names were Heuslar the Deep-Minded, who was uncle to Red Geir, Ulfhild the King’s Sword, who was sister to Hravnmod the Wise, Anganurth Wanderer, Tamghiz, Chief of the Bear-Mask Fellowship, Yeh-Lin the Beautiful, and Sien-Mor and Sien-Shava, the Outcasts, who were sister and brother.

  The devils took the souls of the wizards into their own, and became one with them. They walked as wizards among the wizards, and destroyed those who would not obey, or who counselled against their counsel. They desired the worship of kings and the enslavement of the folk, and they were never sated, as the desert is never sated with rain.

  So the kings of the north and the tribes of the grass and those wizards whom the devils had not yet slain pretended submission, and plotted in secret, and they rose up against the tyranny of the devils and overthrew them. But the devils were devils, even in human bodies, and not easily slain. And there are many tales of the wars against the devils, and of the kings and the heroes and the wizards, and the terrible deeds done. And these can all be told, if there be golden rings, or silver cups, or wine and flesh and bread by the fire.

  Only with the help of the Old Great Gods were they bound, one by one, and imprisoned—Honeytongued Ogada in stone, Vartu Kingsbane in earth, Jasberek Fireborn in water, Twice-Betrayed Ghatai in the breath of a burning mountain, Dotemon Dreamshaper in the oldest of trees, Tu’usha the Restless in the heart of a flame, Jochiz Stonebreaker in the youngest of rivers. And they were guarded by demons, and goddesses, and gods. And the Old Great Gods withdrew from the world, and await the souls of human-folk in the heavens beyond the stars, which we call the Land of the Old Great Gods.

  CHAPTER I

  …earlier, on the threshold of winter, following the All-Holy’s crossing into the lands east of the Karas

  Jolanan jolted awake at the hand squeezing hers. Silent. Straining to hear, even before her eye blinked open, what the alarm might be this time. They were behind Dimas’s Army of the South on the desert road. Just another handful of refugees, creepi
ng towards what safety was left in the world, if such a thing existed at all. There were others, caravaneers, mostly, making for Marakand. That made no more sense than running into a burning house because at least it was a roof over your head. But where else could they go, a caravan-mistress had asked bitterly the evening before. At least maybe if they fell in with the straggling tail of the Army of the South they might earn their keep carrying baggage, and so find a way home to Marakand, even if their goods would be forfeit to the plundering of the priests.

  “They’ll make you deny your gods and tattoo you for the All-Holy,” Rifat had warned them.

  The caravan-mistress had shrugged. “Small price, if it gets us home. Gurhan will forgive us words spoken to save our lives, and what’s a bit of ink?”

  “Time to go.” Holla’s whisper, close above her. “All right?” Hand brushing her face, a caress. Jolanan crawled from her blankets, rolled them, found her sabre. Hadn’t even taken off her boots, that was how lightly they slept. Holla left her to wake young Rifat, and Iarka last. The four of them had lain a little apart from the caravaneers, chance-met strangers, and had set their own watch. There should be one or two from the caravan wakeful, questioning their rising.

  There was not.

  Their camels were already harnessed and the one they led loaded. Holla had done that before waking them, when he should have been keeping watch. Only the rolled bedding was left to strap on.

  The sky told it was near the end of the third quarter of the night. The waning moon would have risen near midnight.

  They managed all in silence. Even the camels were quiet, no grumbles at the early start. Unnatural. The caravan was left sleeping behind them. Not a wizard, but maybe when Holla wanted someone to sleep, they slept. Jolanan didn’t know. She wasn’t, she found, comfortable with asking.

  Five camels, even unexpectedly agreeable ones, were not exactly tiptoeing in silence, though they wore no bells. Creak of harness, crunch of sand and stone. No one stirred behind them. “Why?” she asked softly, when they were a little distance from the camp. She wouldn’t have risked that, except that she was certain no one would wake till they were well and truly gone.