‘Until I can think of a way to defeat him in battle, some ruse that bypasses the entirely unsporting attributes he is blessed with, no. Aryn Bwr forced a confrontation in his war; he tried to meet the power of the Gods head-on and he failed.’
— How far will you retreat? Legana watched in shades of grey as Emin’s face fell.
‘As far as I must,’ he said in a soft, almost apologetic voice. ‘He tries to lure out my army, to force battle. It isn’t cowardice that stays my hand. We must wait, we must delay for as long as we can - the longer we can hold out, the more problems he will have with his new “allies” and his conquered cities. Supplies will become scarce, even in our farming heartland, and who knows? Perhaps your fellow Farlan will honour our treaty? If the Farlan Army marched to my aid, the Menin would be massively outnumbered, and they would be forced to evade for a change.’
— While Azaer grows stronger.
Emin scowled. ‘I know that, only too well. My one consolation is that the shadow’s goal appears to be promoting chaos in the nations of the West.’ He managed a bitter laugh now. ‘It’s in Azaer’s interests for me to last as long as possible too. A quick war does not serve the shadow’s purpose.’
— Forget Styrax for a moment. How can you defeat Azaer? The question made him turn back to the evening sky. ‘A question I have asked for years now,’ he said eventually, ‘and one I have posed to some of the finest minds in my kingdom. And still I am unsure.’
— What do you know?
‘Of Azaer? Little enough.’ He grimaced. ‘All these years, and still I do not know my enemy. Azaer is a shadow, neither God nor daemon. It’s an entity with a similar origin, most likely, but it draws no strength from worship as a God does, nor from fear and suffering, as might a daemon. It simply exists, neither expending power, nor requiring its harvesting. If anything, it glories in its weakness, it finds power in its flaws.’
— And flaws in power.
Legana’s observation made Emin frown, but he could not deny it. He hunched down further, as though assailed, and continued, ‘Perhaps the shadow was once a God, in the time before the Age of Myths, when the laws of magic and the Land were still malleable. Perhaps there was no death then, as we know it. Maybe the God was defeated to the point of death, reduced to the existence of a shadow.’
— Never to gather followers again?
‘Never to risk it, you mean? To be reduced once and in glimpsing oblivion, seeing the choices of death, or service as an Aspect to some other God, so it forged its own path? The case for that is strong, certainly. Even now, the Lady isn’t dead, not in the mortal sense, however reduced she is, lacking in everything that made her the Goddess you knew.’
— But you do not believe.
‘It is the best theory I’ve come across, but no,’ Emin admitted. ‘It contains the beginnings of understanding, but I suspect there is more to it than that. There is no God Azaer particularly hates that I can tell, which would be strange if one had killed it, no? While all the accounts I have are secondhand at best it — ’ He hesitated a moment, as if trying to pluck the correct word from the aether.
He shook himself, and went on, ‘In the years of fighting Azaer’s disciples, I have seen many things - I have dreamed of the shadow half a dozen times, and I do not believe they were merely dreams. For certain it has a scheme in everything it does, its actions are carefully calculated, and yet I have never detected hatred in its actions, nor a need for revenge. Azaer delights in cruelty, but its evil is motiveless.
‘When it sent Rojak to the village of Thistledell to wreak its horror, it was for a purpose - it was refining the magics it ultimately used in Scree. I have read the few survivors’ accounts; it took pleasure in what it did to those innocent souls, but it was for pleasure’s sake. It cannot compel; it must persuade - although it is very persuasive. It prefers to offer its victims exactly what they desire, and then twist that desire