The Knife's Edge (54 page)

Aurelious –
A Ronin, also known as the Confessor. His element is that of flesh and his home the Kingdom of Covai. He is brother to Aundevoriä and known for having a small temper, but a fierce love for his brother, and loyalty for his Ronin brothers.

Aundevoriä –
A Ronin, also known as the Protector. He wields Durendil, the stone blade and his home is the Great Kingdom of Lander within the impenetrable crags, a fortress of stone; it’s walls thicker than most cities. He is known for his willingness to sacrifice all for the sake of humanity.

Ayva –
Ayva is the tomboyish friend of Gray and Darius. She and her father run The Golden Horn in Lakewood. Ayva is an avid reader of the world that lies outside Lakewood.

Balder (Jiro) –
A man who claims to be the leader of the Stonemason Guild (a well reputed guild), and he lives in the Shining City. Gray befriends him just outside the Dipping Tsugi.

Baro –
A Ronin. His element is that of Metal, and his home is the Great Kingdom of Darmin—a city that is a mass of steel and steam. Its grand forges are lit with undying fires. He wields the blade Iridal, a giant sword made of unbreakable steel. In all the stories, he is larger than any man known, described as having a waist like an oak trunk, and shoulders as broad as an ox. He is also called the Bull and Slayer of Giants, often known as the one who led the vanguard of the Ronin into battle.

Book of Prophecy –
The book Vera mentions which foretells of the power to merge Morrowil and its wielder “into one force—one infinite power.”

Bueler –
A gambler and rebel rouser who incites trouble in the Great Hall.

Burai Mountains –
Endlessly tall mountains that reach towards the heavens, and are often called the spine, or back of the world. Death’s Gate is nestled between these impassible peaks.

Calad –
One of Hiron’s famous twin swords.

Citadel –
A great keep of black stone within the Kingdom of Fire, and home to both Devari and Reavers.

Common’s District of Farbs –
The main hub of commerce and trade for the city of Farbs.

Cormacs –
Cormacs are elvin steeds. They have long legs and broad, powerful chests which makes them formidable sprinters. They have shorter muzzles than a horse, long silken tails, and slopping backs. Karil also mentions they are attuned to the spark.

Councilor Tervasian –
High councilor of the Shining City, and trusted advisor to King Katsu.

Covai –
Kingdom of Flesh, the city of men, women and beast, land of the mortals, and the largest spiritual sect of all the lands.

Covai Riders –
A vast horse tribe from the Kingdom of Flesh that control much of the plains of Farhaven.

Curtana –
Dared’s twin daggers, thin with broken tips.

Cyn –
(pronounced ‘kin’) A game played with small carved figurines, consisting of followers and a mark.

Daerval –
A land without magic, on the other side of Death’s Gate.

Dared –
A Ronin, also known as the Shadow. His element is that of moon and his home is the Great Kingdom of Narim—a vast subterranean gem located in the dark hills, half above the land, half below. The least is known about Dared. He is said to never have spoken. Rumors of his powers include the ability to turn completely invisible in the night even under the brightest moon.

Darius –
Darius is a wiry young man of seventeen who is from Lakewood, and we learn very little of his parentage; he appears to be an orphan. Darius is perhaps most well-known for his love of gambling, a skill he holds no modesty about.

Das reh vo menihas –
Good-bye in Yorin

Death’s Gate –
The infamous gates that divide the two lands. The origin of the name is said to come from all those that died during the Great War which divided the lands, specifically during the final battle that stained the White Plains red.

Desiccating –
To remove one forever from their innate spark. It is a dreaded occurrence that is often worse than death to any wielder of the spark.

Devari –
An elite group of warriors who live within the Citadel, and they are masters of the blade. Using “Ki” they hold certain powers, including inhabiting another’s body and feeling their sensations.

Dipping Tsugi –
Mistress Hitomi’s inn in the Shining City.

Direbears –
Creatures of the Lost Woods.

Dorbin –
Hulking body guard who works for Mistress Hitomi.

Drefah –
Vera’s wolf.

Dryads –
Fabled magical creatures of the forest of Drymaus, a great mythical forest to the north of Eldas.

Dryan –
High Councilor and elf who assumes the throne when Karil’s father, the old king, is murdered.

Drymaus –
Home of the mythical dryads.

Dun Varis –
An offshoot and fragment of Lander, the Great Kingdom of Stone, rumored to exist again within Daerval, and Aundevoriä’s homeland.

Durendil –
Aundevoriä’s famed sword. It has a wire-wrapped handle, and turns to stone.

Eldas –
Home of the Elves, one of the nine Great Kingdoms, also the Kingdom of Forest.

Elders of Eldas –
Also known as the sages or High Council of the Kingdom of Eldas. They are the ruling council of the Great Kingdom of Forest.

Eldorath –
The old territory where Lakewood stands.

Elementals –
Magical beings of Farhaven.

Elements –
A game of Farhaven that Ezrah and Kirin play.

Eminas –
The name for Gray used by the elves, and literally means eminent one, but its variant meaning is harbinger.

Erebos –
A member of the Kin that Gray runs into.

Ester –
A city once bound together with Menalas in what was called a “false kingdom”.

Ethelwin –
A powerful Reaver and lecturer who is only a few below in rank and prestige of the female Arbiter.

Evalyn –
She is a powerful neophyte who vies for Kirin’s affection and attention.

Exchanging of Cups –
The process of peace accords, the event where King Gias was poisoned, murdered by a mysterious party and allows Dryan to seize control.

Ezrah –
Arbiter of the second rank and lives in the Citadel. He is connected to Kirin.

Fael’wyn –
Harrowing Wind in Elvish, which harasses them in the Lost Woods. It is also the name Gray gives his horse.

Farbs –
The sprawling desert city wherein the Citadel resides.

Farhaven –
A land full of magic, on the opposite side of Death’s Gate.

Fendary –
Also called the Storm-breaker, or the Sentinel. He is Fendary Aquius, a high general during the Lieon who supposedly fought the Ronin. The legend says he had a hundred men to the Ronin’s nine.

Fisher in the Shallows –
An advanced technique where one flows through Low Moon stances, and makes several sweeping horizontal slashes directed at the attacker’s legs.

Fisher in the Shallows to Dipping Moon –
A snaking thrust to an upward strike, from which its power is derived from the bending and swift upward lift of the legs

Flow –
What is often called the source of all magic, or the “essence.” It is what the Ronin wield.

Forgha –
Devari, a “brother” to Kirin.

Frizzian Coast –
Located in Farhaven, full of peaceful towns and villages along the coast and in the Northern provinces.

Heartgard –
The name for Seth’s famed sword; meaning brave, enclosed.

Full Moon –
A defensive stance where one’s blade is above the head and their knees are heavily bent in order to absorb and redirect coming blows. It mimics the pattern of the arcing moon in the sky or a sphere, where water flows off the perfectly round surface, unable to find solid contact.

Golden Horn –
Ayva’s father’s inn, and where she works and grew up.

Great Falls –
The falls where Gray and Mura fight on the edge of the Lost Woods. Maidens Mane is one of the Great Falls.

Great Hall –
A grand hall within the keep, upon the hill of Lakewood.

Great Tree –
The tree that is at the center of Eldas, and bears the spire; the great buildings where all nobility reside. It is where Karil lives until she is forced to flee her home.