Necromancer Falling: Book Two of The Mukhtaar Chronicles

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, places, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2016 by Nat Russo

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Published by Erindor Press

www.erindorpress.com

Cover Art and Design:

Atanas Stoykov

CHAPTER ONE

¹
In the days before the Foundation; in the days before days…

²
The Power emerged from the darkness and gave life to the multiverse.
³
But life was not in its proper place, and chaos reigned.
⁴
Chaos created a seed of wickedness and planted it next to the Tree of Life.
⁵
The seed took root and grew alongside life, becoming one with The Power’s gift.

- The Mukhtaar Chronicles, attributed to the prophet Habakku

Origines Multiversi, Emergentiae 1:1-5

Chaos is mentioned several times in the Origines as a being separate from The Power, and seemingly equal in divinity. Ancient theologians put forth the notion of two creator gods. I am more inclined to view Chaos as one half of a dual nature within The Power itself. Lord Fahad is in full agreement with me on this matter.

- Coteon of the Steppes, “Coteonic Commentaries on the Origines Multiversi” (circa 520 RL)

The reference here is to Fahad Lord Mukhtaar Morcos, a contemporary and close confidant of Coteon who appears in more detail later in the Chronicles.

- Mujahid Mukhtaar, Private Commentaries, 45 CE

Nicolas Murray tumbled through the void. It had been nice to be back in Texas, even if only for a few minutes, but he couldn’t stay. Erindor was going to need him now more than it had when his birth father, Kagan, had been archmage.

And that was saying something. Kagan had been one evil bastard. He’d started a war among the Three Kingdoms to keep eyes focused away from his use of
life
magic—a magic whose true purpose was to aid in childbirth. Kagan had found a way to channel the magic through the Orb of Arin to construct his perverse
Great Barrier
; an impenetrable dome over the continent that kept a formidable enemy at bay, but slowly drained life from the Three Kingdoms over the course of four decades.

Nicolas had destroyed the Orb of Arin, which brought the gods of Erindor back to their rightful place. But when the orb shattered, it brought down Kagan’s
Great Barrier
as well.

Kagan built that dome for a reason, and I went and tore the thing down. What’s waiting outside it?

Though Kagan had been misguided, an army of Barathosians had been about to invade when the barrier went up. And Nicolas had no way of knowing if they were still out there.

Whatever was out there, worrying wasn’t going to change anything.

Nicolas focused on another presence tumbling through the void with him. He needed to take his mind off problems he didn’t have solutions for.

Kaitlyn
.

Her presence was comforting, and though they had no form, he could feel her and Toby as if they were touching him.

He had so much to tell her. So much to show.

And there’d be a lot of work to do when they arrived. The Pinnacle sanctuary was in ruins, largely because he’d blown out an entire wall when he destroyed the orb. He’d need some rest before getting started. And people were going to have questions.

He had questions of his own, though.

What was he supposed to do now that he was the religious leader of Erindor? He was basically the pope of another world.

Speaking of which, how the hell did this
new
religion jive with his
old
one? If he told the nuns about this, they’d strangle him with a rosary! How could he go around acting like the pope and take himself seriously?

Aw hell. They’re gonna make me wear some kind of funny hat, aren’t they?

Kaitlyn had said he looked like Jesus when he arrived back in Texas. Hopefully they had razors in Erindor.

He didn’t want to look like Jesus.

No offense, Lord. You’re not a bad lookin’ guy, it’s just…the beard don’t work for me.

He felt himself slowing, but there were no visual landmarks in the void. Only blackness.

The blackness soon changed to a dull gray, then white, then disappeared entirely, leaving them standing on a marble floor, surrounded by columns, in the middle of the most sacred room of the Pinnacle; the sanctuary.

They were in Erindor.

A presence tingled in the back of his mind, like someone gently touching his scalp, as the necromantic link he shared with Kagan reasserted itself. When the gods had returned, the God Arin took Kagan’s life and bound him to Nicolas as an undead penitent in punishment for his atrocities.

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Kaitlyn said.

Nicolas rubbed her back. “That’s normal. Take it slow.”

Toby dropped his
gatorpickle
toy—named so because it looked like a cross between an alligator and pickle—let out a whining yawn, and wagged his tail as he stretched on the marble floor.

Kaitlyn grabbed her stomach and doubled over.

“It’ll pass, once you eat.”

He looked around, wondering why they were alone.

Something wasn’t right.

The sanctuary floor had been swept clean. All shards of the broken Orb of Arin—destroyed less than an hour ago in the battle for the Pinnacle—were gone. An uncomfortable-looking stone chair, wide enough for two people to sit side by side, sat in front of a panoramic window on the opposite wall. A wall that shouldn’t be there.

But that wasn’t the most unexpected thing he saw.

Floating several feet off the ground was a complete, unbroken, orb of power. The orb’s multi-hued light cascaded over its surface like liquid, divided in places by swirls of energy that drifted away from the orb in misty vortices.

Nicolas flinched as a peal of thunder broke somewhere above. He looked through the window at the voluminous gray clouds gathering on the horizon

“What the hell is going on?” Nicolas said.

“Holy one!” Tithian said as he entered the sanctuary.

Tithian looked different. The mother of all battles had just taken place, and Tithian decided to change clothes? What about the wounded? What about the dead cichlos and Three Kingdoms soldiers? What about the families of the Council magi who lived here at the Pinnacle?

“Where were you?” Tithian said. “You never sent a message. We’ve been frantic! The Council is in a shambles. They need their archmage.”

“Their
what
?” Kaitlyn said.

“Long story,” Nicolas said. “Magic was learned, bad guys were beat down, I became the pope—”

“You what?”

An expression of disbelief crossed Tithian’s face as he looked at Kaitlyn.

Toby picked up his toy, ran over to Tithian, and jumped up on the man’s thighs. Tithian’s expression changed to one of sympathy, and he bent to scratch behind Toby’s ears.

“What happened to your dog?” Tithian asked.

“How the hell did this happen so fast?” Nicolas asked. “I’m gone ten minutes and you rebuild the place?”

“Ten minutes? Holy one, I haven’t seen you in six months.”

“Two things,” Nicolas said. “First, I told you less than an hour ago to knock it off with the
Holy One
business. And secondly,
what the hell
?”

“Listen to me, Holy…
Archmage
,” Tithian said. “If we don’t present you to the Council soon, there will be problems. I cannot hold them together any longer. They’re demanding to see you.”

“But we
destroyed
the Council,” Nicolas said. “You were there.”

“I told you! It’s been—”

“Tithian, slow the hell down and tell me what you’re talking about. What’s going on?”

Tithian rubbed his forehead. “In your absence, the Barathosian Armada appeared off the coast of Dar Rodon.”

“Remind me. Dar
what
?”

“Dar
Rodon
. Capital of the Religarian Empire. Far to the east. Nearly a hundred and fifty leagues.”

“So it’s true?” Nicolas asked. “Kagan was right?”

Nicolas thought he’d saved the world by bringing Kagan’s barrier down. Had he eliminated one threat only to expose the Three Kingdoms to an even deadlier one?

“The Barathosians were waiting all that time?” Nicolas asked.