Reawakening (36 page)

Authors: Amy Rae Durreson

BOOK: Reawakening

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Shadow, The—
The most ancient enemy of all that lives and thrives in this world. The Shadow is a spirit lord equal in power to any dragon. Its origins are obscure. It first came to the attention of men and dragons at the start of the Golden Age, when it rose out of the deepest mines to devour and destroy the men of Eyr. Although that is the first record of its existence in human history, it has claimed to be of far greater antiquity, older even than dragons.

Once arisen, it set itself against the dragon lords, unleashing despair and destruction even as it recruited spirits and gods to its side. By the middle of the Golden Age, it had completely possessed the valleys of Eyr and built its stronghold there, where it was attended by demon kings and their enslaved followers. The Shadow and its followers could raise the dead against their foes, and many heroes of the Dragon Wars were brought low by the hungry dead.

After years of war, it finally met the Dragon King Tarnamell in battle on the field of Astalor, where it was defeated and forced into sleep. Sadly, that battle was also the undoing of the dragon lords, who followed their foe into a slumber that lasted a thousand years.

While it wears a mortal body, the Shadow cannot be destroyed, merely dispersed or weakened until it is forced into dormancy. Rumors claim that if it and a great spirit lord were to duel in spirit forms, both could face true annihilation. I have not been able to verify this rumor, as no dragon will speak to me of this matter.

shai-dhakni
—
A title used by the Daughters of Myrtilis to indicate a sister with equal masteries in scholarship and combat.

Shara—
The greatest city-state in the west, less rich perhaps than my beloved Aliann, but more ancient and celebrated in poetry. The city is associated with its patron deity, the Sleeping God, who was believed to protect his people’s dreams. The Prince of Shara was one of the most significant political figures of the years immediately preceding Tarnamell’s reawakening.

Sharnyn—
A dragon, and dear friend of the Dragon King Tarnamell.

Silk Road—
A trade route which runs to the east. The northern branch passes through the foothills of the Amel Mountains. The southern branch runs from the Emirate of Mirul to the east. They converge at the port of Nolla on the Eastern Ocean where ships from the south unload caravans to join the land route.

Sparkly—
Slang for those who prefer lovers of their own gender.

Tal—
A chirurgeon in the employ of Sethan Lattimar. He was among those who travelled south with Tarnamell in 1024. Tal spent a year at the medical school at Alswater.

Tarenburg—
Town five hundred miles northwest of Hirah.

Tarnamell—
Firstborn of the dragons, commonly referred to as their king, although this is more a human than draconic perception. His name derives from the region under his protection, and he is identified in older chronicles simply as the Keeper of the Hoard of Tarn Amel. Tarnamell was the leader of the great alliance of elementals and dragons that fought the Shadow in the Dragon Wars. His earlier history is obscure, but a sharp-eyed scholar may suspect his presence when ancient poetry references Amel, the Great Dragon, or the Golden Mountain. Tarnamell was the first dragon to openly return to the world of men after the beginning of the Reawakening Era. He currently resides in the Alagard Desert, which he has claimed as part of his hoard. In person, he is the most intimidating entity this author has ever met.

Tarramos—
A caravanserai and small village on the Silk Road in the foothills of the Amel Range.

Tassaki sept—
A division of the Daughters of Myrtilis, centered around their motherhouse at Shara.

Tiallat—
Country to the east of the Alagard Desert. After the fall of the Zoraia Empire, Tiallat emerged as an independent nation, under the guidance of the Dual God. The shahs of Tiallat were originally appointed by the Dual God to assist with the administration of the country, but took on more and more of the temporal governance of Tiallat as the Dual God focused on developing justice, poetry, and moral philosophy.

Tiallat is a poor, mountainous region. For much of its history, it has been dependent on trading mulberries and silk to the Emirate of Mirul. In 1005 AFE, displaced Savattin refugees from the Emirate were granted asylum in the northeast of Tiallat. Under Savattin encouragement, the poor farmers of that region rose up against the shah in 1012. After the shah was overthrown, the Savattin installed their own religious leader, known as the Fist of God, and imposed a stark version of their religion upon Tiallat.

Outsiders find Tiallat a baffling culture: its religion, acceptance of misfortune, and obsession with moral action appear austere to many, but the Tiallatai are also hospitable, learned, and passionately devoted to poetry and philosophy. The key to this dichotomy lies within the nature of the Dual God, who sets out many paths to virtue, through both darkness and light.

Timaeus Esthous—
A fourteenth-century historian, eventually eaten by a dragon for asking too many annoying questions. [Very funny, my lord.]

Tira—
A merchant who travelled in Sethan Lattimar’s caravan. Together with her sister Rita, she traded for dyes and mineral powders for use in their brother’s theatrical makeup business in Hirah. She was among those who travelled south with Tarnamell in 1024.

Ulc-Sarnir
—
Tarnamell’s sword. Its name means Shadowdrinker. It was forged in his own flames, and he wielded it against the Shadow on the field of Astalor and again in 1024.

Verres—
A city in the far west.

Zeki Suheylazad—
Zeki grew up in exile with the Selar. He was the son of Suheyla, the Nightingale of Taila, and her poet, Namik Shan. Zeki traveled into Tiallat with the Dragon King Tarnamell. After his father’s death, Zeki studied at the medical school at Alswater and became one the greatest physicians of his age.

Zoraia Empire—
The Empire arose out of Aliann and rapidly conquered the lands bordering the Ala Sea. At its peak, in the third to fifth centuries AFE, it controlled lands as far south as the Gasha savannah and the Alagard Desert and as far north as the ruins of Eyr. The Zoraians took the lion as their symbol, and many ruins across the south are decorated with snarling lion heads. The Zoraia Empire fell in 672AFE, as a result of the rebellions in Hirah and Shara and the influx of three successive waves of invasion from the east. By 710, it was reduced to governing Aliann and the current Emirate of Mirul. The Emirs of Mirul still claim the right to call themselves emperors, despite their loss of control over Aliann in the Treaty of Rann in 798.

About the Author

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URRESON
teaches in an eccentric boarding school deep in the English countryside. When not teaching, marking or trying to fathom the mysterious logic of the typical teenage brain, she likes to go wandering across the local hills with a camera, hunting for settings for her stories. She has a degree in early English literature, which she blames for her somewhat medieval approach to spelling, and at various times has been fluent in Latin, Old English, Ancient Greek, and Old Icelandic, though these days she mostly uses this knowledge to bore her students when they foolishly ask why English spelling is so confusing. Amy started her first novel nineteen years ago (it featured a warrior princess, magic swords, elves, and an evil maths teacher) and has been scribbling away ever since. Despite these long years of experience, she has yet to master the arcane art of the semicolon.

Amy can be found online at Twitter (@amy_raenbow) or on her blog (http://amyraenbow.wordpress.com).

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