The Sword Defiant Refresher

As advance copies of Book 2 – The Sword Unbound – will be out soon, here’s a refresher to remind reviewers and readers about the key events of Book 1. Spoilers about, obviously, so don’t read this if you haven’t read book 1.

From his fortress of evil in the Witch Elf city of Necrad, Lord Bone unleashed an army of darkness on the lands of Summerswell. Nine unlikely heroes arose to battle him. These were:

Peir the Paladin, visionary leader and hero; 

Jan the Pious, a cleric; 

Berys, a thief; 

Blaise, a wizard; 

Gundan, a dwarf; 

Laerlyn, a renegade princess of the Wood Elves, 

Lath, a changeling; 

Thurn, a barbarian of the Wilder-folk,

and farmboy-turned-mercenary Aelfric, known to his friends as Alf.

A few key concepts:

• There are two factions of the elves – Wood Elves and Witch Elves. The Wood Elves live in the forest and are good – so good that they helped the ancestors of the people of Summerswell survive catastrophe, and taught them star magic. The Witch Elves live in the cold wastes of the north, and are evil. Both types of elf are genuinely immortal. If slain, they reincarnate. Over time, their bodies wear out and fade. The Wood Elves avoid this by binding themselves to magic trees; the Witch Elves avoid this by drinking the blood of humans, especially the Wilder barbarians who live in the forests around Necrad. Many of the older Witch Elves are vampires.
• There are three major forms of magic. Earthpower is forbidden in Summerswell; it’s all about shapechanging and wild nature and it’s basically druid stuff. Star magic revolves around enchantment and binding and illusion and divination; it’s originally the magic of the elves, but humans can do it slowly and inefficiently. Finally, there’s clerical magic, which relies on calling on spirits called Intercessors. 

So, Nine heroes. They did the things that heroes do in fat fantasy trilogies. They went on side quests, they had fun adventures, they learned valuable life lessons. They tooled up with magic weapons – most notably, Alf was entrusted with the sword Spellbreaker, which was wielded by Lord Bone’s right hand elf Acraist. 

And at the end, they threw down the Dark Lord. Peir perished in that final confrontation: he kept fighting Lord Bone while Alf used Spellbreaker to smash a magical storage vessel beneath the throne room. Both hero and Dark Lord perished in the ensuing explosion. 

The surviving members of the Nine swore an oath to watch over Necrad, and the dark city of the Witch Elves was occupied by an alliance of dwarves, humans and Wood Elves. Thurn’s people, the Wilder, were freed from the dominion of the Witch Elves. Human settlers moved north into the so-called New Provinces, encroaching on Wilder territory. 

All that was many years ago.

By the time of the present narrative, the heroes are all middle-aged (well, with the exception of Laerlyn, who’s immortal, and Peir, who’s dead). Alf’s spent most of the last fifteen years killing monsters in the Pits under Necrad, clinging to the time in his life when he was happiest – his adventures with the Nine. Unfortunately, his friends have all moved on. Jan lost her faith in the Intercessors and went away; Thurn’s gone off to live with his Wilder kinfolk; Gundan and Laerlyn are scheming and politicking. So’s Berys, but she’s also become the queen of the smugglers, dealing in stolen Witch Elf magic items. Blaise has locked himself in Lord Bone’s tower to study magic. Only Lath was still hanging around with Alf – until Alf got injured in the Pits, and went off on an extended midlife side quest. 

As the story opens, Alf gets a dream-summons from Jan. He visits her in the mystic Valley of the Illuminated, where she tells him that she’s on a different spiritual path now, and that she’s foreseen a terrible danger rising in the north. It’s up to Alf to gather the rest of the Nine and stop this darkness, or so he thinks. Alf is a) not that bright and b) convinced he’s in a different fantasy novel. His initial suspicion is that this darkness is connected to the Oracle, a Witch Elf who was the only member of Lord Bone’s inner circle to escape after the war – but he worries it might somehow be Lord Bone.

Using the sword Spellbreaker, he summons a budget Nazgul-steed called a dreadworm and flies off to Necrad. The first thing he does is check the tomb where they buried Lord Bone. It was magically sealed so that only the Nine could open it. And sure enough, it’s open. One of the other members of the Nine opened it. 

In Necrad, Alf visits Blaise the Wizard, who dismisses his concerns. Alf returns to his home in the city (a Witch Elf mansion; the city’s been divided into the forbidden Sanction, the occupied Garrison, and the Liberties where the Witch Elves and other creatures have been confined), and is attacked by a Witch Elf assassin. Thanks to Spellbreaker, Alf survives the attack. The assassin escapes, but Alf tracks her into the Liberties with a surveillance dreadworm. He also finds the assassin’s rather nice dagger.

The next day, Alf attends the council meeting, expecting to see the rest of his friend there. But the council’s sparsely attended. He meets Lord Vond, the governor of Necrad (young, bureaucratic, snotty), Abbess Marat (old, pious), and the Vatling Threeday (an alchemical servitor – Gollum crossed with Yes Minister). At least Berys is there to remind Alf of better days.  Part of the reason the council is so under-strength is that the Wood Elves and dwarves are feuding over the trade in magic.

Vond wants to send Alf north to the New Provinces to reassure them that Necrad will protect them from Wilder raiders. Alf puts it off – following Jan’s prophecy and investigating Lord Bone’s open grave is more important to him.

Gundan barges in, forcing an end to the council meeting; he, Alf and Berys head to the pub. There, Alf tells them about Jan’s warning and the assassination attempt on his life. Despite Berys’ fears, Alf and Gundan decide that the thing to do is head into the Liberties and capture the assassin. 

It all goes wrong – the assassin escapes again and Alf’s dreadworm nearly kills an elf child (Ceremos) who is saved only by Alf giving the dying boy his blood and turning him vampire. A riot ensues. Lord Vond’s guards show up. Vond threatens to discipline the heroes, but Gundan reminds the young whelp who’s really in charge.)

Back at Alf’s house, Laerlyn, Princess of the Wood Elves is waiting for him. She gives the other side of the elf-dwarf argument – that she’s trying to reconcile the two branches of the elves, and propping up the Witch Elves through the trade in blood-for-magic isn’t helping. She also hints that there are elements within the elven court back in the Everwood that might not be so conciliatory. She takes the assassin’s dagger from Alf, and seems to recognise it.

The next day, Alf meets the Vatling Threeday again, who offers his support. The vatlings crave stability above all else. Alf, still worrying about Lord Bone’s open grave, decides to head into the Pits below in search of the last member of the Nine living in Necrad – the Changeling Lath. After many adventures in the endless dungeon – and another betrayal by the treacherous sword – he finds one of Lath’s old supply caches containing a strange scroll. He takes the scroll to Blaise’s tower, where he meets Blaise and Berys. While Blaise studies the scroll, Berys berates Alf about the disastrous attack on the Liberties and the near-death of the elf-child. She insists that she should be left to deal with the matter of the assassin quietly.

Blaise identifies the scroll as a resurrection-spell. Alf leaps to the conclusion that Lath’s trying to bring back Lord Bone, and that’s why he opened the grave. Blaise reveals that he’s the one who opened the grave, on the grounds that he’s far more powerful now and better able to protect the remains. The protective ward they set up all those years ago is trivial compared to what he can do now. 

Confused and undercut by this revelation, Alf realises that his beliefs about what’s going on are rooted in old assumptions. The Nine are working at cross purposes, there’s no clear bad guy, and he can’t just get everyone together and they’ll tell him who to hit. Frustrated by the sword’s treachery in the Pits, Alf locks Spellbreaker away in a strongbox. Gundan visits Alf at his house, insisting that neither Blaise nor Lath have changed so much that they would never contemplate bringing back Lord Bone. He makes light of Alf’s concerns and Jan’s prophecies.

Inspiration strikes. Alf visits the family of the elf boy he wounded, trading blood and apologies for information. They identify the assassin who attacked Alf as Ildorae – and tell him where to find her in the Sanction.

Alf travels into the forbidden district, and sees what appears to be Berys meeting with Ildorae, as if the two are in league. They quarrel, and ‘Berys’ shapeshifts into a monster – it’s not Berys, it’s Lath wearing her face. The real Berys appears and attacks Lath. The changeling sprouts wings and flies away. Alf tries to grab him, but ends up falling from the sky and getting badly hurt.

Gundan finds him the next morning. They head north as requested by Lord Vond – and following the route Lath took. Gundan discovers that the elf is following them. On the way north, Abbess Marat tries to persuade Alf to become a champion of the church, claiming to have seen him in the waters of the Grail. He ignores her. He also ignores Spellbreaker, which he keeps locked in the strongbox under his seat.

They arrive in the town of Athar, the heart of the New Provinces. The ruler there is Earl Duna, an old comrade of Alf. Indeed, Duna picked up a lot of the influence and power that Alf rejected; once a minor knight, now Duna’s got a great big castle and is married to Lady Erdys, the daughter of Lord Brychan. Erdys and Alf exchange pleasantries and talk of Erdys’ sons, including one named after Alf. Duna grumbles about trouble with the Wilder.

A feast is held in honour of Alf and Gundan. As part of the feast, Duna’s younger two sons, Idmaer and Dunweld, fight a chained ogre. Alf’s sickened by this display of cruelty. He goes out for a breath of air – and discovers that the Witch Elf Ildorae has broken into his room during the feast and stolen Spellbreaker. The guards discover her as she’s about to escape – and in the battle that follows, Ildorae maims young Idmaer and nearly blinds Gundan. She summons a dreadworm and takes flight – but the sword betrays her, blaming her for betraying Lord Bone. Ildorae falls to the ground and is taken prisoner.

Under interrogation, Ildorae admits she serves the Oracle, also known as Amerith, the leader of the Witch Elves. The Oracle fears that Lath is about to bring back some terrible evil. 

Alf takes the dreadworm and flies north in search of Lath. He encounters Thurn atop an ancient earth mound near the supposedly-abandoned elvish fortress of Daeroch Nal. There, Thurn explains that his daughter Talis was mortally wounded by a weapon made in Necrad, and that Lath went away in search of a spell to save her. The spell he found (in the far south) was a spell of resurrection – a spell to open a door into the Grey Lands of the afterlife and bring back a soul. He used this magic to bring Talis back.

But she did not come back alone. Death came with her.

As it’s a key text, let’s turn things over to Thurn. 

—

Once, there was only forest, a great forest that covered the land from sea to sea. A living world, and a dying world, for these things are the same. To be born is to die. We cannot have the one without the other – only the elves have that.

The forest was full of beasts, and they are just like the animals who live in the forests now, the ones you know well. They lived and rutted and bore young and died, just like they do today. All things that live must also die – all save one. 

The elves dwelt there, too. They were the firstborn of the world, the first beings to walk under the stars. From the stars, they learned to speak, and they named the all the things of earth. They named the hills and the mountains, the rivers and the seas. 

When the elves came upon the beasts of the forest, they hunted the animals for sport, and killed them. 

And the beasts died. To the elves, this was a strange and terrible thing. 

Now, the elves are bound within the borders of the world; they can never leave it. Not even the perishing of their bodies through age or injury ends them. It is the doom of the elves never to die.

And because the elves did not know Death, they feared it above all other things. 

Among the elves, there was a wizard. Elf-magic comes from the stars, and so all the elves have magic, for they love the stars and walk beneath them every night. This wizard was powerful beyond measure. On learning of Death, he set himself a task greater than any he had yet performed. He worked for many years – slow are the weavings of the elves, but they have all the time in the world to work their magic. In time, he made a spell to summon and bind Death. 

This magic made our grandmothers and grandfathers too – they were the scrapings left in the pot, the bones left after a meal. But what the wizard sought with his spell was the first thing he conjured: a woman, the mother of us all, and she was Death. 

The elf locked Death away in a tower of ice in the uttermost north, and declared they had conquered Death. She would never escape the tower, and the elves would never have to face that which they feared above all other things. 

They drove the other humans they had made into the forests, or set them to labour, and thought of them as naught but beasts who could chatter the semblance of words, like a jackdaw. 

But now that thing they feared had a face, and a name. She had skin and bones, feet and fingers. Bright her eyes, clever her tongue, wise her thought. She lived, even though she was Death. And for she was part of the living world, she could call upon a new magic, a wild magic, a magic of root and branch, blood and bone. Her magic was quick and deep-rooted, stronger than elven-spells. 

Through the earthpower, Death broke free from the prison of ice and went a-hunting. She chased the elves through the forest, and drove them from their city. They fled their lands in the north and crossed the sea in terror. In her wrath, Death tore down the mountains and sundered the seas; in her kindness, she sowed new forests in the sterile gardens of the elves. From her blood, she made monsters. Lightning was her spear, thunder was her laughter. 

Happy it was to live in those days, when Death was loved by all, and she loved us in return.

Alf watches in horror as a FUCKING GIGANTIC lightning bolt blasts the supposed-abandoned fortress of Daeroch Nal.

* * *

Meanwhile, far far away, in the sleepy little village of Ersfel, a stranger knocks on the door of Olva Forster.

Olva’s a middle-aged widow who lives with her son Derwyn and her totally ordinary dog Cu.  Her husband Galwyn died in the war; so did her brothers. (Well, that’s what she told Derwyn.)

The stranger introduces himself as a mercenary named Bor – and he brings a message and money from Olva’s brother Alf, better known as Aelfric Lammergeier. Olva wants nothing to do with her estranged brother, and turns Bor away. However, she’s forced to confess to Derwyn that his uncle is, indeed, the legendary Lammergeier. Derwyn’s enchanted by this revelation, and is filled with ambitious dreams about following Alf’s example. Olva tries to dissuade him.

But the next morning, he’s gone.

Fearing for Derwyn’s safety, Olva sets out in search of him with Cu the dog. She recruits Bor, paying him with the money Alf sent. They pursue Derwyn to the nearby town of Highfield, but discover he’s already fallen in with Lyulf Martens – a rogue Bor knows well. Martens works for the Lady, a weapons smuggler out of Necrad, and has a base of operations in the port city of Ellsport. 

Olva and Bor take a shortcut through the haunted Fossewood, and Bor relates a tale of how a changeling king once dwelt there, a master of the earthpower.

The ambush goes awry – Martens possesses a magic ring of command, and is able to trigger an ivy-collar around Bor’s throat. Bor is choked into unconsciousness, and Olva barely manages to rescue him with the aid of a mysterious dwarf, Torun.

Torun is a scholar of magic; she was exiled from her family in the Dwarfholt for following so undwarfish an interest. She’s travelling the world looking for a teacher, but everyone told her that dwarves can’t wield magic. Even though she’s never managed a spell, she’s very well informed about the theory of magic, and identifies the ivy collar around Bor’s neck as a Wood Elf curse. When revived, Bor admits that he was captured by the Wood Elves of the Isle of Dawn and punished for smuggling. 

Bor argues that Derwyn is lost, and that the best thing to do is for Olva to return home. She refuses, and they press onto Ellsport. They find that Derwyn’s being held in a warehouse near the docks, but Bor repeats that a rescue attempt is futile. In the end, he betrays Olva and Torun, and they are captured by Martens. 

Martens entrusts Olva and Torun to one of his subordinates, a former priest turned smuggler named Abran. They sail north, but on the way are intercepted by elves led by Prince Maedos of Dawn, who whisks Olva and Torun away to his enchanted fortress-isle. 

Maedos somehow discerns that Olva is Alf’s sister, and he treats her as an honoured guest, holding marvellous banquets and revels in her honour, giving her the choice to spare or execute Captain Abran, and shows her around the enchanted forests of Dawn. He also introduces Torun to an ancient elven scholar, who cryptically urges her to ‘find magic fit for a dwarf.’

It’s all head-spinning and enchanting. 

We shall leave Olva there for now.

* * *

Alf explores the smoking ruins of Daeroch Nal, and encounters Talis/Death, standing over the wounded Oracle. Talis uses Alf’s blood to tempt Amerith into turning vampire; when she succumbs to temptation, Talis kills her. Alf, not having a clue what’s going on, flees. On the way south, he encounters Lath, who’s been driven half-mad by the strain of magic. He urges Alf not to stand against Talis, that the Wilder are coming south to destroy the city. 

Alf makes it back to Duna’s castle – where, miraculously, a holy Intercessor appears to save Idmaer’s life. Abbess Marat declares that this is a sign that the Intercessors will stop the death-demon summoned by the Wilder.

Everyone returns to Necrad (more or less – Berys is still away south ‘on business’ according to Threeday, and the Council argues about what to do about Talis and the threat of the Wilder. Alf suggests that it might be best to cede Necrad, that the city’s too evil to be spared. Blaise wants to reactivate the city’s magical defences, but still lacks the secret sigils of Lord Bone to do so – he intends to keep trying to unlock them, but he’s been working on that for twenty years, and the chances of him happening on the right combination just in time to save the city are slim. 

Vond refuses to even countenance surrender – the magic of Necrad’s too valuable to the Lords of Summerswell. He intends to ask for help from the elves of the Isle of Dawn. Gundan, not wanting the elves to have even more leverage over the city, overrules him; they agree that Alf and Gundan will parley with Thurn and try to come to a peace. After all, Alf has Spellbreaker – the sword can even defend him from Death’s magic.

A delegation consisting of Alf, Gundan and Duna travel to Lake Bavduin to meet the Wilder. Ildorae was to have been brought along as a prisoner; Alf frees her, but she tags along anyway, determined to see her quest to its conclusion. Also present is a young guard, Remilard, who serves as Alf’s squire. The Wilder are led by Lath, Thurn, Talis/Death, and the Old Man of the Woods, a Wilder mystic (who sent Lath south to find the spell to bring back death). 

At Bavduin, Alf manages to convince Thurn to relent, but… someone in Duna’s retinue throws a spell-skull, starting a fight. Chaos ensues. In the confusion, a half-blind Gundan hits Thurn with his axe; Talis unleashes a lightning bolt, incinerating Gundan and killing dozens. The sword saves Alf, but he’s knocked unconscious. Ildorae carries him away, but there’s no hope of a peace now. The Wilder are coming with Death to destroy Necrad.

* * *

Princess Laerlyn shows up on the Isle of Dawn, on her way back from speaking with her father the Erlking and his court in the distant Everwood. She hastily extracts Olva and Torun from her brother’s company and brings them to Necrad, hinting that her brother Maedos is not to be trusted.

* * *

Still grieving Gundan, Alf staggers home. He meets Olva and Torun, and hears their tale. Olva reveals that her husband Galwyn was slain by Acraist the Wraith-Knight using Spellbreaker; the Witch Elf came to Ersfel seeking Alf during the war. That is why Olva never sought out her brother, why she feared for Derwyn’s life, why she turned Alf’s messenger Bor away.

There’s just one problem.

Alf has never met Bor. He sent no message.

He contacts Threeday and sets the Vatling in search of Lyulf Martens, but Alf has to go to the council meeting.

In Necrad, Lord Vond in charge again. Reinforcements have arrived from Summerswell, in the form of three young knights – Sir Aelfric the Younger, Duna’s son, Sir Prelan (a renowned hero), and Eddard Forster, a cousin of Olva’s late husband Galwyn. Also present is Gamling, a cousin of Gundan, who blames Alf for the dwarf’s death. Vond insists that Alf is too old and compromised to lead the defence of Necrad, and that he must give Spellbreaker over to a more worthy wielder. Blaise and Laerlyn arrive, and give Alf their support; Alf will keep the sword, and promises to wield it in the defence of Necrad against Death. 

Alf convinces Blaise to take Torun as an apprentice.

Elven reinforcements led by Prince Maedos arrive – just in time, as a Wilder army now approaches Necrad. There’s no sign of Death, but the Wilder are numerous and powerful enough to threaten the city.

The siege begins. 

Olva, unwilling to hide in Alf’s mansion, goes out to help an infirmary. She meets Abbess Marat; the priestess is shown a vision by the Intercessors, revealing where Derwyn’s being held. Olva runs off to find Alf. 

Alf abandons his post guarding the city, and accompanies Olva into the Pits to rescue Derwyn. 

* * *

Now things get tangled.

Alf easily slaughters Lyulf Martens’ guards. He finds Derwyn being used as part of a ritual, similar to the one that Lath used to bring back Death. But instead of bringing back a dead mortal, they’ve bound an elf-wraith to Derwyn’s body – the wraith of Acraist, the sword’s original wielder. 

And who’s behind this? Prince Maedos. The plan – the sword will obey Acraist, and give itself over to Maedos. Maedos will use Spellbreaker to defeat Death, thus ‘saving’ Necrad and gaining full control over the city and the sword. 

The sword, however, is unwilling to go along with this. It breaks the spell binding Acraist to Derwyn; Alf grabs the sword and takes Prince Maedos prisoner. Berys shows up, and reveals that everything Alf knows is wrong. The Erlking – the ruler of the Wood Elves – has been manipulating events all along. He controls the Intercessors. He controls the Lords of Summerswell. He arranged for Lath to bring back Death, to create an external threat and distract everyone’s attention from his machinations. He’s been the real dark lord all along. Berys is part of a secret rebel conspiracy that’s been fighting against the Erlking for centuries, sometimes with the help of the Witch Elves. She’s been stockpiling weapons for years. Now that Alf’s captured Maedos, they’ve got a chance at overthrowing the Erlking.

Alf reels from this revelation. He can’t believe that so much of his life was a lie – that his friends were plotting against each other even in the good old days of the quest. Most of all, he can’t believe that Laerlyn is the daughter and servant of some evil overlord. He hesitates – and Prince Maedos takes the opportunity to impale himself on Spellbreaker, just as Laerlyn walks in, accompanied by Prince Maedos’ elite elf knights. From her perspective, she’s just seen Alf and Berys murder the Prince of Dawn.

Spellbreaker knocks the ceiling down with a force blast.

Berys flees, running off to Summerswell to start her revolution against the Wood Elves. As Necrad’s about to be overrun and all his elite defenders (Alf, Laerlyn, Prince Maedos) have vanished, Lord Vond also abandons the city. A few soldiers still man the walls against the Wilder, but too few.

Derwyn’s on the brink of death. Alf and Olva bring him to the Wailing Tower. 
Blaise says that there’s no way to heal Derwyn – but he does have the resurrection spell that Lath brought from the south. He can bring Derwyn back.

Olva helps Blaise cast the spell. She walks into the Grey Lands, and aided by Spellbreaker and Gundan’s ghost she finds Derwyn – and a potent spirit to bring him back.

Outside, Alf meets Death. He convinces her that she has a second chance now, a second life. Like Death, Alf was a great hero and warrior when he was young, and he never worked out how to live in the world after completing his quest. She shouldn’t make the same mistakes he did. She should live.

Somehow, Blaise manages to reactivate the city’s magical defences to break the siege. The Wilder flee.

Derwyn awakes – and he did not come back alone. Another spirit shares his body. Peir the Paladin has returned.

* * *

Down south, Bor wanders the land, wracked with guilt about his betrayal of Olva – until an Intercessor appears, and strikes him down. The last thing he hears is footsteps approaching…