Starlight(Pact Arcanum 4) (36 page)
I
N
M
EMORIAM:
Tobias “Toby” Jameson
(deceased 2043, assassinated by enemies of the Nexus): Fire Sentinel, Nexus Liaison (renamed Speaker for the Word after AI emancipation), younger brother of Nicholas Jameson, husband of Layla Magister Curallorn, father of Antonio Jameson
Takeshi “Take” Nakamura
(deceased 2082, jumpvessel accident): The Wind of Earth (2015-2042), Founder of the Armistice, husband of Rory Brennigan
Anaba “Ana” Nizhoni
(deceased 2067, natural causes): The Wind of Fire (2015-2042), triad sister of Takeshi Nakamura and Rory Brennigan
Scott Phillips
(deceased 2074, natural causes): The Wind of Water (2034-2042), dyad brother of Nicholas Jameson
Luscian Firstborn
(deceased 2033, killed during the Burning through combined attacks by Takeshi Nakamura, Rory Brennigan, and Nicholas Jameson): Soulkiller, the Eldest, the Prince of Nightmares, Founder of the Court of Shadows, Creator of the Pact Arcanum ritual
T
IMELINE
1504 Lorcan born
1525 Lorcan turned
1601 Connor dies
1792 Rafael born
1815 Rafael turned
1993 Rory, Takeshi, and Anaba born
2001 Scott born
2003 Nick born
2008 Sentinel assault on Court of Shadows defeated; Antonio Martinez and Edgar Jameson only survivors of assault force
2015 Rory, Takeshi, and Anaba kindle (Winds of Air , Earth, and Fire respectively), Jeremy born
2016 Toby born
2020 Antonio Martinez killed, Rory turned by Jiao-long Firstborn, the Pact Arcanum
2021 Armistice Declaration signed
2022 Andrea born
2023 Anaba develops recursion drive, Armistice space program established
2024 North American coastal defense barrier established, Edgar Jameson killed
2026 The Citadel founded
2030 Spacer Guild established
2032 Nick and Rory meet at Christmas party and renew friendship
2033 Nick turned by Luscian Firstborn, the Burning, the Fall of the Citadel
2034 Scott kindles (Wind of Water), Nick meets Lorcan
2035 Rafael defects from the Court to join the Armistice
2038 Lorcan appointed Court Ambassador to the Triumvirate Council
2039 Nick appointed Triumvirate Ambassador to the Court of Shadows
2040 Los Angeles incident
2041 Toby kindles (Fire), Jumpvessel
Horizon
destroyed in defense of Anchorpoint, Lorcan becomes Huntmaster, Nick becomes Archangel and marries Jeremy
2042 Andrea kindles (Wind of Air), Odyssey Expedition departs Sol, Antonio Jameson born, Toby marries Layla
2043 Toby killed, Revenant created, Rafael joins House Curallorn
2049 Castle Night reorganized into Sanctuary City by Jeremy
2051 Jumpvessel
Odyssey
arrives at Alpha Centauri, Planet Nephele detected
2052 Chiron colony established, planet Nephele
2062 Antonio Jameson joins Spacer Guild with Rafael and Jeremy’s support, over Nick and Layla’s objections
2063 AI emancipation, Speaker for the Word formalized
2065 Antonio Jameson graduates from Spacer Guild Academy
2066 Jumpvessel
Odyssey
returns to Sol from Centauri
2067 Anaba dies
2073 Antonio Jameson named Captain of the Jumpvessel
Singularity
2074 Scott dies
2075 Rory retires as Speaker for the Damned
2076 Rory marries Takeshi
2077 Rafael named Primogenitor Curallorn
2082 Takeshi dies
2083 Rory and Lorcan formalize mating
2094 Jeremy dies, Nick retires as Archangel to rule Sanctuary
2095 Layla elected Archangel
2108 Nick formalizes mating to Rory and Lorcan
2111 Ghian Achara born
2112 Rory becomes Speaker for the Word
2128 Ghian Achara kindles (Wind of Earth)
2130 Winds of Water, Fire, Air killed by the Inquisition
2133 Jumpvessel
Singularity
departs Chiron for Sol
2135 Bradley Ellestan born
2136 Ghian Achara becomes Speaker for the Watch
2142 Jumpvessel
Singularity
returns to Earth
P
OST A
R
EVIEW!
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A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to those who helped me improve my skills and made this second edition possible, with advice, criticism and encouragement. I especially want to thank my editors, D. Kai Wilson-Viola of IndieUnbound.com, Karlyn Thayer, and Katy Sozaeva for their comments, as well as my beta readers, Jerry, Eric, and Karul. Thank you also to Jason for his proofreading skills. And of course, props to Craig Payst for his terrific illustrations.
A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR
Arshad Ahsanuddin is a practicing hematopathologist, a physician specializing in the diagnosis of diseases of blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes using laboratory data and microscopic evaluation of tissue biopsies. Yes, he’s a blood doctor writing a series of vampire novels. The irony isn’t lost on him. If you enjoyed this story, or if you have questions about the Pact Arcanum saga, check out his website at http://pactarcanum.com and leave him some feedback.
Website:
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O
THER
W
ORKS
Fiction
T
HE
P
ACT
A
RCANUM
S
AGA
Sunset: Book One
Sunrise: Book Two
Moonlight: Book Three
Starlight: Book Four
Cathedral of the Sky
Non-Fiction
First Words:
13 Short Essays on Writing from a Neophyte Author’s perspective
Stepwise:
eBook and Print-on-Demand Formatting using Word 2010
C
OPYRIGHT
First Edition: March 2012
Second Edition: April 2012
Third Edition: October 2012
Text © 2012 by Arshad Ahsanuddin
“Red and White” artwork incorporates licensed stock images © iStockphoto.com/t.light, Susanne Karlsson, Ivan Rubanov, Vudhikrai Sovannakran, and yystom. “Endings and New Beginnings” artwork incorporates licensed stock images © iStockphoto.com/zennie and SF Photo.
All other artwork © 2012 by Arshad Ahsanuddin
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, government institutions, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.