The Haunted Lands: Book III - Unholy Read online

  Since Aoth knew how Jhesrhi hated to touch or be touched, her gesture moved him. He wanted to cover her fingers with his own but knew that would only make the contact even more unpleasant for her.

  “We grieve for Bareris and Mirror too,” she said.

  “Yes,” Khouryn said. “Undead or not, they were all right.”

  “They saved my life more times than I can count,” said Aoth. “Who knows, at the end, maybe they saved everybody’s life.”

  “So let’s drink to them,” said Gaedynn. “Unless you really would rather do it alone.”

  “No.” Aoth raised the jug in a salute, took another swig, then handed it to Jhesrhi.

  As they drained the liquor, Aoth felt his spirits lift. Surely, if there was any justice at all in the universe—an open question, but still—Bareris and Tammith were together, and Mirror sat at the right hand of his god.

  Aoth himself was still alive and still possessed of staunch friends. He’d tarnished his hard-earned reputation, and the company he’d spent decades building was a shadow of its former self, but so what? He’d just have to build them again.

  Khouryn tilted the jug until it was nearly upside down.

  Aoth stood up. “If that one’s empty, let’s go find another.”

  Szass Tam floated between the mountaintop and the black, all-but-starless sky and chanted. The Dread Rings fed him power of a sort, and he tried doggedly to shape it into the proper configurations. Invariably, it dissolved within his grasp, and eventually he concluded it always would.

  As he drifted to the ground, he felt an urge to take his newly fashioned crystal staff and hit something. But he realized the impulse was childish and unworthy of him. Especially since he’d known before he started that Thay was no longer capable of providing the energies required for the Unmaking.

  It was just that there was a difference between the knowledge derived from study and analysis and that obtained through direct experience. The former was occasionally mistaken, the latter, never, and so he’d deemed it worthwhile to conduct the experiment. Now that he had, he understood what he had to do.

  He had nine hundred years left before Bane would return to enforce the terms of their bargain and carry him off into servitude. Plenty of time to strengthen his legions, conquer a neighboring realm or two, and construct a new system of Dread Rings.

  Plenty of time, but that was no reason to put off getting started. His stride was brisk as he stepped from the mountain onto the apex of the Citadel.

  simbarchs of aglarond

  Ertrel

  Seriadne

  personages of thay

  IN THE REGENCY

  Arizima Nathandem, a rebel leader in the Citadel

  Bareris Anskuld, a bard, ally to the rebels

  Chumed Shapret, seneschal of Anhaurz

  Malark Springhill, a zulkir

  Mirror, a ghost, ally to the rebels

  Muthoth, an officer in the service of Sylora Salm

  So-Kehur, autharch of Anhaurz

  Szass Tam, the regent

  Sylora Salm, tharchion of Eltabbar

  Tsagoth, a blood fiend bound to the service of Szass Tam

  ZULKIRS OF THE WIZARD’S REACH

  Lallara

  Lauzoril

  Nevron

  Samas Kul

  THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE GRIFFON

  Aoth Fezim, captain of the Brotherhood of the Griffon

  Gaedynn Ulraes, Aoth’s master of bowmen, scouts, and skirmishers

  Jhesrhi Coldcreek, Aoth’s chief wizard

  Khouryn Skulldark, Aoth’s aide-de-camp and master of heavy infantry, artillery, and siege craft

  About the Author

  Richard Lee Byers is the author of over thirty fantasy and horror novels, including ten set in the FORGOTTEN REALMS® world. His short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies.

  A resident of the Tampa Bay area, he is a frequent guest at Florida science fiction conventions and spends much of his free time fencing and playing poker.

  Visit his website at richardleebyers.com.

  The Haunted Lands, Book III

  UNHOLY

  © 2009 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

  All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

  Published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. FORGOTTEN REALMS, WIZARDS OF THE COAST, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., in the U.S.A. and other countries.

  Map by Rob Lazzaretti

  eISBN: 978-0-7869-5591-6

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