The Dark Lord Read online

  OATH OF EMPIRE 04

  THE DARK LORD

  Thomas Harlan

  MAPS

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

  THE ROMANS AND THEIR ALLIES

  GALEN, Augustus (Emperor) and God of the now reunited Roman Empire. A thin, driven man; the eldest of the three Atreus brothers, sons of the Latin Roman governor of Narbonensis (southern France). Formerly a Legion commander, and Emperor of the West for eight years.

  AURELIAN, Caesar (prince) of the Empire. The middle brother, a cheerful, burly, redheaded man with a talent for engineering, mechanical toys and horse breeding. Commander of the Roman defense of Egypt and Galen's heir while little Theodosius is underage.

  MAXIAN, Caesar (prince) of the Empire. A priest of the temple of Asklepius the Healer, youngest of the three Atreus brothers. Gifted with the rare ability to heal, and an unexpected and dangerous talent for necromancy. Not yet grown into his full power, Maxian is the strongest thaumaturge to ever serve the Roman Empire. A normally cheerful lad now grown somewhat morose and distant under the weight of ever-mounting responsibilities.

  HELENA, wife of Galen, Empress of Rome. An inveterate writer and socialite, the sharp-tongued Empress is the last of an ancient house and a throwback to the Empire's days of glory. Confidante, coconspirator and friend of the Duchess De'Orelio. Mother of Theodosius, Galen's infant son.

  ANASTASIA DE'ORELIO, Duchess of Parma, former Minister of the Western Office of Barbarians. Widow of the elderly Duke of Parma, a semiretired spymaster for Emperor Galen, and secret priestess and agent of the forbidden cult of Artemis the Hunter. Orphaned as a child by Visigothic pirates and sold as a slave, Anastasia was taken in by the Thiran priestesses of Artemis and has risen high in their councils as the "Queen of Day."

  BETIA, the Duchess' Maid. Young German novitiate of the cult of Artemis. The Duchess' eyes and ears in the City of Rome.

  THYATIS JULIA CLODIA, Agent of the Office of Barbarians. Adoptive daughter of Duchess Anastasia, her heir, novitiate of the cult of Artemis and centurion in the Roman Legion. She has also served, for six years, as the Duchess' primary sicarius, or assassin. The eldest daughter of the ancient and (sometimes) respected Clodian gens in Rome. A distant descendant of Mark Antony, via his marriage to the daughter of Clodius Pulcher, an enemy of Julius Caesar during the last days of the Republic.

  NICHOLAS OF ROSKILDE, Agent of the Office of Barbarians. A Latin child purchased as a slave by the Stormlords of the Dannmark, Nicholas returned to the Empire as a mercenary and freelance agent for the Eastern Empire's secret service. With the Eastern Empire in disarray, he and his boon companion Vladimir are at loose ends.

  VLADIMIR, a wandering K'shapâcara (or "nightwalker"), Agent of the Office of Barbarians. A cheerful barbarian exile from the Walach tribes in highland Carpathia, forced into the Empire by the vicious expansion of the Draculis tribes.

  GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR, formerly Dictator of Rome. Revivified by Maxian's power, the cunning, lecherous, brilliant ancient now serves as the prince's spymaster and advisor. Imbued with new life, he intends to take advantage of every grain of time passing through his fingers.

  ALEXANDROS, descendant of Zeus Thundershield, former Emperor and last of the Agead kings of Macedon. Like Gaius Julius, the youthful King owns new life from Maxian's hand. Though still brilliant, rash and headstrong by turns, the weight of centuries has taught the Conqueror a tiny fragment of caution. And now, there is a new Persia to defeat...

  THE CAT-EYED QUEEN, an ancient sorceress of uncertain antecedents. The ruler of the K'shapâcara tribes dwelling in the human cities of the Eastern Empire and long-standing enemy of the demon Azi Tohak and his inhuman masters.

  THE PERSIANS

  SHAHR-BARAZ, Shahanshah (King of Kings) of Persia. A former farmer, rebel and lately General of the armies of Persia. Known as the "Royal Boar" for his vigor, enormous mustaches and relentless headlong success on the battlefield. The Boar previously served Chrosoes Anushirwan, but with the great king's death, Shahr-Baraz has reluctantly occupied the Persian throne, declaring himself protector of the Twin Radiances, the princesses Azarmidukht and Purandokht. In their name, he rules a weakened, divided yet victorious Persia.

  KHADAMES, a Persian General. An old friend and subordinate of Shahr-Baraz, Khadames serves both the King of Kings, and his brother, Prince Rustam—otherwise known as the sorcerer Dahak—as aide and chief of staff. Weary, and worn down by the enormous effort of the sorcerer's vast plans, Khadames continues to labor in the service of a beloved Persia.

  DAHAK (RUSTAM APARVIZ), a Sorcerer. The younger brother of the dead shahanshah Chrosoes, Rustam has trafficked with dark, inhuman powers. In this way he has gathered many servants both fair and foul to his service. Through his powers, Rustam intends to see Persia restored and Rome destroyed.

  C'HU'LO, yabghu of the T'u-chüeh (Western Huns). First among Dahak's lieutenants, the T'u-chüeh khan has fallen far since the days when he ruled an empire stretching from the Rha (the Volga) to the Chinese frontier. Now he commands a small, but growing army of expatriate kinsmen and is the voice of Dahak in the wilderness.

  PIRUZ, Prince of Balkh. Greatest of the Aryan feudal lords along the northern frontier of Persia, Piruz—a young, aggressive noble—seeks no lesser prize than the hand of princess Purandokht, and by that means, his sons on the throne of Persia.

  THE SAHABA

  ZENOBIA VI SEPTIMA, Last Queen of Palmyra, lineal descendant of Emperor Aurelian and Zenobia the First. Though her great desert city has been destroyed and the Queen herself struck down by the might of Persia, Zenobia lives on in the memories and thoughts of her kinsmen and allies. The heart and soul of the Decapolis—the Greek and Nabatean cities of the Middle East.

  ODENATHUS, Prince of Palmyra, the Queen's nephew. A Legion-trained thaumaturge, the young prince now commands the armies of Palmyra-in-Exile as Queen Zoë's second-in-command. Close friend of Khalid al'Walid and many of the Arab captains.

  ZOË, Queen of Palmyra, Zenobia's niece. Heir to the Palmyrene throne and a powerful thaumaturge in her own right. Like Odenathus, she was trained by Rome, and fought in the great war against Persia. The leader of the revolt of the Decapolis and the Arabs against the tyranny of the Eastern Empire. In her, most of all, the memory of Zenobia burns bright.

  KHALID AL'WALID (the "Eagle"), General of the Arab armies. Dashing and handsome, the young Eagle has risen—with the presumed death of Mohammed—to command the Sahaba and the armies of the Decapolis. Accompanied always by his silent companion, Patik, al'Walid intends nothing less than the establishment of a Levantine Greek-Arab empire in the ruins of the Roman East.

  JALAL, a Tanukh bowman. Former mercenary, now risen to command the Arab qalb, or heavy horse. One of the few surviving companions of Mohammed who fought at the siege of Palmyra.

  SHADIN, a Tanukh Swordsman. Like his old friend Jalal, a former mercenary. Commander of the Arab muqadamma, or "center." He too served under Mohammed at Palmyra.

  URI BEN-SARID, captain of the Mekkan Jews. Boyhood friend of Mohammed, and the leader of the various Jewish contingents in the army of the Sahaba.

  PATIK (the "silent"), Persian mercenary, formerly the Great Prince Shahin. Once a grandee of the Persian Empire, close relative of shahanshah Chrosoes, and commander of the Persian armies in Syria—the tall, powerfully built Patik has been reduced to a wandering sell-sword, finding service in the ragged band of men following Khalid al'Walid. By this circuitous route, he finds himself once more in the service of Persia, under the rule of his old rival, Shahr-Baraz.

  MOHAMMED AL'QURAYSH, a merchant of Mekkah. After a long life of wandering on the fringes of the Empire, unable to find his destiny, Mohammed fell into the company of an Egyptian priest and into the crucible of war. Embattled and trappe
d in the destruction of Palmyra, Mohammed encountered true evil made flesh. Soon after, distraught at the death of his beloved wife Khadijah, he attempted to end his own life. Instead, a voice entered him and gave him new purpose and direction. Guided by the voice from the clear air, Mohammed set forth to punish the treachery of the Eastern Emperor Heraclius, precipitating a new war.

  THE KHAZARS

  SHIRIN, Empress of Persia. Wife of the now-dead shahanshah Chrosoes Anushirwan, Shirin is a young Khazar woman, forced into exile in Rome. Secreted for a time on the Artemisian holy isle of Thira, Shirin has escaped both the order and the clutches of the Eastern Empire. Lost in the ruin of the Vesuvian eruption, she searches for her lost children and her friend, Thyatis.

  JUSUF, tarkhan of the armies of Khazaria, Shirin's uncle. A lean, laconic horseman who has variously served as Thyatis' second, Anastasia's lover and commander of the Khazar armies. In his youth, he spent time as a hostage in the Avar hring, and the T'u-chüeh court of the reviled khagan Shih-Kuei. Widely traveled and an expert with horse, bow and lance.

  DAHVOS, kagan of the Khazar nation, Shirin's uncle. The youthful son of the late kagan Ziebil Sahul. Now the weight of his responsibilities presses upon him, and he must choose whether the Khazar realm will continue to stand against Persia and beside Rome, or if they will strike their own path.

  WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE

  In the year 622, the Eastern Roman Empire was close to destruction, the capital of Constantinople besieged by the Avars in the west, and Persia in the east. As told in The Shadow of Ararat, the Emperor of the East, Heraclius, and of the West, Galen Atreus, launched a daring attack into the heart of their Persian enemy. The half-mad Persian shahanshah Chrosoes was taken unawares, and after great battles, he was defeated and his empire given as a wedding gift to the Eastern prince Theodore. At the same time, while the two ancient powers strove to overthrow one another, two critical events transpired.

  First, in Rome, the young Prince Maxian Atreus discovered an ancient thaumaturgic pattern—the Oath—constricting the lives and dreams of the Roman people. Aided by the Nabatean wizard and Persian spy, Abdmachus, Prince Maxian embarked on an audacious quest to find the sorcerous power he needed to break down the lattices of the Oath and free the Roman people from their invisible slavery. Second, while the prince exhumed and revivified Gaius Julius Caesar as a source of thaumaturgic power, a young Roman mage, Dwyrin MacDonald, was swept up in the chaos of the Eastern war.

  Attempting to find and save his pupil, Dwyrin's teacher Ahmet left the ancient School of Pthames on the Nile and struck out into the Roman Levant. By chance, in the ancient rock-bound city of Petra, Ahmet encountered an unexpected friend in the Mekkan pottery merchant Mohammed. Together, the teacher and the merchant found themselves in the service of Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra. At the urging of the Eastern Emperor Heraclius, Zenobia and the princes of the Decapolis and Petra gathered an army to resist the advance of the Persian army into Syria, under the command of the Great Prince Shahin. Unaware of Heraclius' intention to see the independent cities of the Decapolis sacrificed to divert Chrosoes' attention, Zenobia clashed with the Persians, was defeated and then besieged in Palmyra itself. Despite furious resistance, the City of Palms fell to the monstrous power of the sorcerer Dahak. Zenobia and Ahmet perished, and Mohammed only escaped with a small band of his followers through sheer luck.

  While Persia collapsed, the Roman agent Thyatis, accompanied by the Khazar tarkhan Jusuf, entered Ctesiphon and stole away with mad Chrosoes' second wife, the Empress Shirin, Jusuf's niece. Though she was supposed to deliver the Empress to Galen, Thyatis chose instead to disguise her escape and flee south, making a circuitous and eventful return to the Empire via southern Arabia, the East African coast and the black kingdoms of Meröe and Axum. A dangerous decision, not only for the terrible peril of the voyage, but to thwart the desires of an Emperor...

  Not far away, in the ruined Persian city of Dastagird, Prince Maxian found the last piece of his puzzle—a crypt holding the stolen, hidden remains of Alexander the Great. As he did with Gaius Julius Caesar, the prince revivified the Macedonian and felt his power was at last sufficient to break the Oath strangling the Roman people.

  In the year 623, as told in The Gate of Fire, the Roman armies of East and West returned home, and both nations rejoiced, thinking the long struggle against Persia and the Avar khaganate had at last come to an end. Great plans were laid, both by Heraclius and Galen, and many legionaries rested their weary feet. Yet, all was not well, neither within the Empire nor without. Heraclius' attempt to return home in triumph was spoiled by a sudden and unexpected illness. Galen's return was more joyful, for he found his wife Helena had at last borne him a son.

  Worse, in Arabia the merchant Mohammed reached Mekkah to find his beloved wife Khadijah cold in the ground. Devastated, Mohammed climbed a nearby mountain and attempted to end his own life. As Mohammed lay poised between death and life, between the earth and sky, a power entered him, speaking from the clear air. The voice urged him to strive against the dark powers threatening mankind. Heeding this voice, Mohammed—after a brutal struggle in the city of his birth—set out with an army of his Companions, the Sahaba, to bring the treacherous Emperor Heraclius to justice. To his surprise, he found many allies eager to overthrow the tyranny of the Eastern Empire. First, the rascal Khalid al'Walid, then the lords of Petra, and finally the exiled Queen of Palmyra, Zoë. With their aid, Mohammed raised the tribes and the cities of the Decapolis to war against Rome. Heraclius' treachery would be repaid with blood and fire.

  Indeed, even in Persia the enemies of Rome did not lie quiet. The sorcerer Dahak had escaped from the Roman victories with an army and made his way to the ancient, remote fortress of Damawand, high in the mountains of Tabaristan. There, in a shrine once held holy by the priests of Ahura-Madza, the sorcerer began to muster a great power—not only of arms and men—but of darkness. Deep within the fortress lay a door of stone, a door holding inhuman, implacable gods at bay. Risking his life and the earth itself, Dahak opened the stone door to capture the power of the ancients. By these means, he shed the last of his humanity and became a true master of the hidden world. At last strong enough, the sorcerer made his way to ancient Ecbatana and there—with the aid of his servant, Arad—placed the great general Shahr-Baraz on the throne of Persia. Now, a reckoning would come with Rome and Persia's lost glory would be reclaimed.

  In Rome itself, events rushed to a devastating conclusion. Prince Maxian, flush with the strength afforded him by the legends of Julius Caesar and Alexander, strove again to overthrow the power of the Oath. Unwilling to sacrifice his brother Galen, the young prince failed, nearly killing himself and wounding his companion Krista. Fleeing to the safety of his mother's ancestral estate on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, Maxian struggled with his conscience. Unwilling to wait for his decision, Krista fled, bringing news of the prince's whereabouts and fatal plans to the Duchess De'Orelio—the Western Empire's spymaster and secret priestess of the Thiran Order of Artemis the Hunter. Her hand reinforced by the return of Thyatis, Anastasia ordered the prince murdered.

  Thyatis, Krista and their companions found the prince on the summit of Vesuvius and after a deadly battle failed to kill him. The prince, mortally wounded, opened himself to the power in the mountain, bringing himself back from death and inciting the somnolent volcano to a staggering eruption that destroyed the cities of Baiae, Herculaneum and Pompeii. Maxian escaped aboard his iron dragon, while Thyatis chose to plunge from the flying craft into the burning wasteland rather than become his servant. Only the two survived, all else having perished in the cataclysm. Far away, in Persia, Dahak became aware of the prince and his growing power, realizing a rival had emerged to contest him for the world of men.

  These bleak events omened further evil, and the year 624 proved devastating for Rome. As told in The Storm of Heaven, the Eastern Empire suffered disaster after disaster. In the Levant, the armies of the Sahaba, relentless under Mohammed's guid
ance, destroyed prince Theodore's Eastern legions at Yarmuk, captured the city of Hierosolyma after a long siege, and seized the critical port of Caesarea Maritima. In Mesopotamia, the armies of Persia marched west again, recapturing their lost provinces as well as the great city of Antioch. The Persians and Arabs, now allied, launched an invasion by land and sea into the Eastern heartland, besieging Constantinople once more.

  In Rome itself, a direly wounded Thyatis struggled to reclaim herself in the face of abject failure. Despite the help of a troupe of Gaulish holy performers, she fell into the clutches of Gaius Julius, now entrusted with the execution of enormous and extravagant funeral games for those slain in the eruption of Vesuvius. Forced into the arena, Thyatis proved herself more than a match for man and beast. At last, thought dead again, she was spirited away by Anastasia and the Empress Helena. The successful culmination of the games also provided the prince Maxian—working behind the scenes and without his brother's knowledge—with victory over the rigid and inflexible structures of the Oath. The prince, setting aside his desire to destroy the ancient spell, instead ingratiated himself with the all-encompassing structure. By these means, he hoped to direct its power and free Rome slowly and subtly from its invisible master.

  In the East, Alexandros raised a new army among the Gothic tribes and marched towards Constantinople. Before he could reach the Eastern capital, a monumental battle evolved before the gates of the embattled city. Western legions, Eastern troops and a contingent of Khazars under the command of the new kagan Dahvos attempted to break the Persian siege. Despite the awesomely destructive powers of the young firecaster Dwyrin MacDonald, they failed and the combined host of the Decapolis, Persia and the Avar khaganate drove the Romans from the field in disarray. In the ensuing confusion, Heraclius reclaimed his throne and prepared to lead a final defense of the Eastern capital. The end came in darkness. Dahak's infernal servants shattered the gates and an army of the risen dead stormed into the streets of the city. Dwyrin, exhausted in a fruitless attempt to stem the attack, was struck down. The Roman troops trapped in the city fled, evacuated under a burning sky by the Western fleet.