Epilogue

Centuries of work had been wasted. Leonis had been a tool, but a useful one, and now he was dead. Unable to control his anger, Pallisur Traveled into The Lady’s domain, which had changed since the last time he’d seen it. It now resembled one of the expensive apartments on the top level of West Tower in Tir Yadar. In the totemic realm, reality was subject to the whims of those who had mastered its magics.

“Hera!” he shouted. “What did you do?”

“Exactly what I said I would,” said a voice from behind him. “I stopped you.”

He spun to face her, gathering arcane power to strike and sheathing it within divine power to break through her defenses.

She struck first, shattering his spell even as it formed, then flinging him back against a wall. He’d forgotten how strong Herasis was, especially on her own ground. With the possible exception of the totems, who remained tight-lipped about their own abilities, she was the only being who’d ever wielded three magics.

“Do you think to violate our laws now?” she demanded. “At this juncture? Do you remember what happened the last time we fought?”

The reminder brought him up short. When they waged war in the divine realm, their powers were reflected to the mortal realm, but magnified in such a way as to cause great destruction. After the first few incidents, the others had imposed rules on their behavior to prevent further damage. As if anything could be worse than the crime they’d already committed—the crime Pallisur was trying to undo.

“The ritual must proceed!” he said.

She raised an eyebrow. “And risk another Burning?” she asked. “Never.”

“I’ve changed the spell. There won’t be another Burning.”

“Oh, yes, your new ritual, the one that makes you the final arbiter of all who wield magic. What gives you the right?”

“It’s unfortunate but necessary,” he said smoothly. “It’s the only way.”

“It’s certainly a convenient side effect, giving you supreme power over all mages. Do you really think anyone’s stupid enough to believe that story?”

“It doesn’t particularly matter whether you believe it or not.”

“And what will happen to the human and elven mages if you take over? You might try to hide it, but I know how much you hate them.”

Pallisur growled. “They don’t deserve your concern. They enslaved our people!”

“So you claim,” Hera said. “But the Chosar I knew ruled over all the peoples.”

“Just because you don’t want to believe a thing doesn’t make it untrue,” Pallisur said. But even if she did believe him, she’d never truly understand the reality of it. She’d been born long after The People had overthrown their oppressors.

The Chosar hadn’t been intended as slaves; they’d originally been created as a symbol of the alliance between the two races. The agility, quickness of mind, and elder magic of the elves; the strength, inventiveness, and arcane magic of the humans. It was the humans and elves who’d named them Chosar, the people.

But then the Second Demon War had begun. Their creators had remembered fear, and they’d sent their children to fight in their place. That had been their undoing. By the end of the war, enough Chosar had been born and trained as soldiers to vastly outnumber the warriors of the other races. After The People had pushed the demons out of their lands, it had been almost easy to continue the process with the humans and elves.

Herasis shook her head. “Even if they once treated us as slaves—seven thousand years ago—you’re the one who doomed the Chosar, Pallis, not them. You caused the Burning, not them.”

“I can bring The People back! I just need the four magics to do it.”

“And I suppose the fact that you’ll gain supreme power has nothing to do with it?” She gave him a look of disdain. “If you’re telling the truth, then we were created using only arcane and elder magic. You could have come to me at any time—or Demesis, or Borrisur, or Irisis—and we could have tried it. Now that the wildstorms are gone, with your help, we could have attempted to reverse the changes we made. But you didn’t come to us because that’s not what you truly want. You want to rule over everything.”