Necromancer Falling: Book Two of The Mukhtaar Chronicles Read Online Free PDF Page A

to leverage at the court of the Diamond Throne.
    It was all beginning to fall into place for Zorian. Perhaps this was about fulfilling the empress’s original mission. It might be difficult for the admiral to convince a high ranking vivamancer to risk his status on a gamble, but a priest with no future would jump at the chance to change his destiny.
    “I’ve ordered a landing party formed,” Admiral Unega said. He thrust the document he was holding toward Zorian. “Read it.”
Emperor Relig,
The time has come to fulfill your oath.
Dobros Unega
Admiral of the Diamond Navy and Scourge of Yantoo
    “Short and to the point, Admiral,” Zorian said. Yantoo…now that was a battle for the chroniclers. As a boy, Zorian was taught how the fearless Captain Unega , in a final push to overcome the Talerion invasion, ordered his powder ships run aground and set alight. Stories said the resulting explosion was greater than ten orbs of power being destroyed at once. He enslaved the survivors of Yantoo, forced them to rebuild the city—complete with a statue of himself—and slaughtered the family of any woman who refused to come to his bed.
    Unega could make a horrible enemy.
    “Deliver it to the emperor,” Admiral Unega said. “If he refuses in any way, report back immediately.”
    “If I may ask,” Zorian said. “What is the nature of his oath?”
    Admiral Unega remained expressionless. How did the man do it? How was he the only person Zorian couldn’t read?
    “The Emperor of Religar isn’t their archmage’s most devout follower for nothing,” Admiral Unega said. “Exploit that relationship. And when the opportunity presents itself, kill him.”
    “The emperor?”
    “The archmage! You think I’ve waited forty years to assassinate a backward potentate of a poverty stricken nation?”
    Of course. Vengeance.
    It was the very name of this ship. A name Admiral Unega had chosen himself.
    And it was the very thing he swore to be an instrument of for the Glorious One.
    “Of course not,” Zorian said. “When do I leave? I’ll need to gather some things.”
    “Immediately. And one more thing.”
    Something told Zorian he wasn’t going to like this.
    “Lucian is going with you,” Admiral Unega said. “As is Lieutenant Belding. When you’ve dealt with the archmage, report back. Lucian will remain behind. He has other work to do.”
    Lucian smiled at Zorian.
    Zorian suppressed a small surge of anger. This confirmed his suspicions. The admiral intended to fulfill the empress’s old mission. He was Zorian’s adversary for the coveted title of Sian’jo.
    “If I may, Admiral,” Zorian said. “Would it not be better to send a Mester with me? Perhaps Mester Vincen could employ his art to bring this mission some success?”
    “The emperor employs the service of a cognitomancer ,” Admiral Unega said.
    “I’d rather bed down in a viper’s nest than go anywhere near one of those blue-robed demons,” Vincen said. His tone was incredulous.
    A chimeramancer would never take that risk. The danger of a cognitomancer taking control of a chimeramancer was too great. Chimeramancers had the power to turn their dreams into reality, albeit temporarily. But a cognitomancer controlled a person directly. If the person being controlled was a chimeramancer…
    “Of course,” Zorian said. He faced Lucian. “I’ll enjoy the conversation.” Zorian was tempted to mention Lucian’s inconsequential temple just to watch the man squirm, but he refrained. It would be childish and petty. And besides, he needed to keep Lucian on his side for now.
    For now.
    “Gather your things,” Admiral Unega said. “You may take your manservant with you. It wouldn’t do to have Lucian folding your clothes.”
    Zorian nodded.
    “And don’t return until the archmage is dead.”
    Sorry, Admiral. But that is one thing I will not do. I have…other plans for him. If the Glorious One wants the archmage in shackles of his own creation, then I shall give