Darkness Descending Read online

  Darkness Descending

  Harry Turtledove

  Darkness Descending

  Harry Turtledove

  This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.

  Copyright © 2000 by Harry Turtledove

  map © 1999 by Miguel Roces

  0987654321

  Dramatis Personae

  (*-denotes viewpoint character)

  Algarve

  Almonio

  Constable in Hwinca in Forthweg

  Balastro

  Count; Algarvian minister to Zuwayza

  Bembo*

  Constable in Tricarico

  Buraldo

  Mage in Skrunda, Jelgava

  Clovisio

  Trooper in Trasone's squad

  Domiziano

  Young dragonflier; squadron commander for Sabrino

  Dosso

  Jeweler in Trapani

  Evodio

  Kaunian-speaking Algarvian constable in Oyngestun

  Fronesia

  Sabrino's mistress

  Galafrone

  Tealdo's company commander

  Gismonda

  Sabrino's wife

  Gradasso

  Aide to Colonel Lurcanio in Priekule

  Lurcanio

  Colonel on occupation duty in Priekule

  Mainardo

  Mezentio's brother; new King of Jelgava

  Mezentio

  King of Algarve

  Mosco

  Captain on occupation duty in Priekule

  Olindro

  Dragonflier; squadron commander for Sabrino

  Oraste

  Constable in Tricarico; Bembo's partner

  Orosio

  Dragonflier; squadron commander for Sabrino

  Panfilo

  Sergeant in Tealdo's company

  Pesaro

  Constabulary sergeant in Tricarico

  Raniero

  Mezentio's cousin; named King of Grelz

  Sabrino*

  Colonel of dragonfliers; wing commander

  Saffa

  Constabulary sketch artists in Tricarico

  Sasso

  Constabulary captain in Tricarico

  Spinello

  Major in occupying force in Oyngestun

  Tealdo*

  Footsoldier in invasion of Unkerlant; Trasone s friend

  Trasone*

  Footsoldier in invasion of Unkerlant; Tealdo's friend

  Forthweg

  Brivibas

  Vanai's grandfather

  Conberge

  Ealstan and Leofsig's sister

  Daukantis

  Kaunian olive-oil merchant in Gromheort

  Doldasai

  Kaunain girl in Gromheort; Daukantis' daughter

  Ealstan*

  Student in Gromheort; Leofsig's brother

  Eanfled

  Woman in Gromheort

  Elfryth

  Ealstan and Leofsig's mother

  Elfsig

  Felgilde's father

  Ethelhelm

  Bandleader in Gromheort

  Felgilde

  Leofsig's girlfriend in Gromheort

  Hengist

  Sidroc's father; Hestan's brother

  Hestan

  Ealstan and Leofsig's father

  Leofsig*

  Laborer in Gromheort; Ealstan's brother

  Oslac

  Laborer near Gromheort

  Peitavas

  Kaunian laborer near Gromheort

  Penda

  King of Forthweg

  Sidroc

  Ealstan and Leofsig's cousin in Gromheort

  Tamulis

  Kaunian apothecary in Oyngestun

  Vanai*

  Kaunian girl in the village of Oyngestun

  Gyongyos

  Alpri

  Istvan's father

  Arpad

  Ekrekek (ruler) of Gyongyos

  Batthyany

  Istvan's great-uncle

  Csokonai

  Istvan's cousin in Kunhegyes

  Fenyes

  Soldier in Istvan's squad

  Gizella

  Istvan's mother

  Horthy

  Gyongyosian minister to Zuwayza

  Istvan*

  Sergeant in the Ilszang Mountains

  Jokai

  Sergeant on the island of Obuda

  Kanizsai

  Trooper in Istvan's squad

  Korosi

  Villager in Kunhegyes

  Kun

  Corporal in Istvan's squad; former mage's apprentice

  Szonyi

  Trooper in Istvan's squad

  Tivadar

  Captain; Istvan's company commander

  Ice People

  Abinadab

  Follower of Elishamma

  Eliphelet

  Follower of Elishamma

  Elishamma

  Tribal chieftain on the austral continent

  Gereb

  Follower of Elishamma

  Hepher

  Follower of Elishamma

  Machir

  Follower of Elishamma

  Pathrusim

  Scout in Yaninan service

  Jelgava

  Ausra

  Talsu's younger sister

  Donalitu

  King of Jelgava

  Gailisa

  Grocer's daughter in Skrunda

  Laitsina

  Talsu's mother

  Talsu*

  Ex-soldier; tailor's son in Skrunda

  Traku

  Talsu's father; tailor in Skrunda

  Kuusamo

  Elimaki

  Pekka's sister

  Heikki

  Pekka's chairman at Kajaani City College

  Ilmarinen

  Elderly master magician

  Joroinen

  One of the Seven Princes of Kuusamo

  Kuopio

  Professor Heikki's secretary

  Leino

  Mage in Kajaani; Pekka's husband

  Louhikko

  Mage in the customs service

  Olavin

  Banker in Kajaani; Elimaki's husband

  Parainen

  One of the Seven Princes of Kuusamo

  Pekka*

  Theoretical sorcerer in Kajaani

  Rustolainen

  One of the Seven Princes of Kuusamo

  Siuntio

  Elderly master magician

  Uto

  Pekka and Leino's six-year-old son

  Lagoas

  AfFonso

  Second-rank mage on austral continent

  Brinco

  Grandmaster Pinhiero's secretary

  Diniz

  Commander aboard the Implacable

  Fernao*

  First-rank mage visiting Kuusamo

  Fragoso

  Captain of the Implacable

  Junqueiro

  Commander of Lagoan forces on austral continent

  Peixoto

  Colonel in the Ministry of War

  Pinhiero

  Grandmaster of the Lagoan Guild of Mages

  Vitor

  King of Lagoas

  Xavega

  Second-rank mage in Setubal

  Sibu

  Barbu

  Lumberman on Tirgoviste

  Brindza

  Cornelu and Costache's baby daughter

  Burebistu

  King of Sibiu

  Cornelu*

  Leviathan-rider in Tirgoviste

  Costache

  Cornelu's wife

  Giurgiu

  Lumbermen's gang boss on Tirgoviste

  Levaditi

  Lumberm
an on Tirgoviste

  Vasiliu

  Naval officer exiled in Setubal

  Vlaicu

  Lumberman on Tirgoviste

  Unkerlant

  Addanz

  Archmage of Unkerlant

  Albion

  Soldier in Leudast's company

  Annore

  Garivald's wife

  Ansovald

  Unkerlanter minister to Zuwayza

  Chlodvald

  Retired general

  Dagulf

  Peasant in Zossen; Garivald's friend

  Euric

  Cavalry colonel

  Garivald*

  Peasant in Zossen

  Hawart

  Leudast's regimental commander

  Kyot

  King Swemmel's twin brother; deceased

  Leuba

  Garivald's daughter

  Leudast*

  Corporal in Unkerlanter army

  Magnulf

  Leudast's sergeant

  Merovec

  Marshal Rathar's adjutant

  Morold

  Dowser east of Cottbus

  Munderic

  Leader of irregulars in Duchy of Grelz

  Ortwin

  General near the town of Wirdum

  Rathar*

  Marshal of Unkerlant

  Roflanz

  Leudast's former regimental commander; deceased

  Swemmel

  King of Unkerlant

  Syrivald

  Garivald's son

  Vatran

  General fighting in the south

  Waddo

  Firstman in Zossen

  Wimar

  Sergeant in the western Duchy of Grelz

  Valmiera

  Bauska

  Krastas maidservant

  Dauktu

  Peasant and irregular near Pavilosta

  Gainibu

  King of Valmeria

  Gedominu

  Peasant and irregular blazed by Algarvians

  Krasta*

  Marchioness in Priekule; Skarnu's sister

  Merkela

  Widow to Gedominu; Skarnu's lover

  Negyu

  Farmer near Pavilosta

  Raunu

  Skarnu's former sergeant; irregular

  Sefanu

  Duke of Klaipeda's nephew

  Simanu

  Count over Pavilosta; the late Enkuru's son

  Skarnu*

  Captain; irregular against Algrave; Krasta's brother

  Valnu

  Viscount in Priekule

  Yanina

  Broumidis

  Colonel of dragonfliers on austral continent

  Iskakis

  Yaninan minister to Zuwayza

  Tsavellas

  King of Yanina

  Zuwayza

  Hajjaf

  Zuwayzi foreign minister

  Ikhshid

  General in the Zuwayzi army

  Kolthoum

  Hajjaj's senior wife

  Lalla

  Hajjaj's third wife

  Muhassin

  Colonel in the Zuwayzi army

  Qutuz

  Hajjaj's secretary

  Shaddad

  Hajjaj's former secretary

  Shazli

  King of Zuwayza

  Tewflk

  Hajjaj's majordomo

  One

  Tealdo slogged west across what seemed an endless sea of grass. Every so often, he or his Algarvian comrades would flush a bird from cover. They’d raise their sticks to their shoulders and blaze at it as it fled. They were ready to blaze at anything.

  Sometimes they would flush an Unkerlanter from cover. Unlike the birds, the Unkerlanters had a nasty habit of blazing back. The Unkerlanters also had an even nastier habit of staying in cover till a good-sized party of Algarvian soldiers had gone by, and then blazing at them from behind. The ones Tealdo and his comrades caught after stunts like that did not go east into captives’ camps, even if they tried to surrender.

  “Stubborn whoreson,” Sergeant Panfilo said, dragging one such soldier in rock-gray out of his hole once he’d been stalked and slain. His coppery side whiskers and waxed mustachios were sadly draggled. “Don’t know what he thought he was doing, but he isn’t going to do it anymore.”

  “He wounded two of ours, one of them pretty bad,” Tealdo said. “I suppose he figured--or his commanders figured--that’s fair exchange.” His own mustache and little chin beard, about as red as Panfilo’s, could also have used sprucing up. No matter how fastidious you wanted to be, you couldn’t stay neat in the field.

  From up ahead, Captain Galafrone called, “Come on, you lazy bastards! We’ve got a long way to go before we can take it easy. Unkerlant isn’t much of a kingdom, but it’s cursed big.”

  “And that’s the other thing this fellow was doing,” Tealdo said, stirring the dead Unkerlanter with his foot: “Slowing us down, I mean.”

  Panfilo swept off his hat and gave Tealdo a sardonic bow. “I thank you for your explanation, my lord Marshal. Or are you perhaps pretending to be the king?”

  “Never mind,” Tealdo said. Arguing with his sergeant didn’t pay. Neither did showing Panfilo up.

  They started marching west again, toward a column of smoke that marked a burning village. A young lieutenant with soot streaking his face came up to Galafrone and said, “Sir, will you order in your men to rout out the last of those miserable Unkerlanters in there?”

  Galafrone frowned. “I don’t much like to do it. I’d sooner leave ‘em behind and push on. If we fight for every miserable little village, we’ll run out of men before King Swemmel does.”

  “But if we pass them all by, they’ll harass us from behind,” the lieutenant said. Then he noticed that Galafrone, while wearing a captains badges, had none that proclaimed him a noble. The young officer’s lip curled. “I don’t suppose commoners can be expected to have the spirit to understand such things.”

  Galafrone knocked him down. When he started to get up, the veteran knocked him down again, and kicked him for good measure. “I don’t suppose they teach juniors to respect their superior officers these days,” he remarked in conversational tones. “But you’ve just learned that lesson, haven’t you?”

  “Sir?” the lieutenant wheezed, and then, “Aye, sir.” When he got up again, Galafrone let him. He took a deep breath before resuming, “Sir, you may not care for my tone”--which was, Tealdo judged, a pretty fair understatement--”but the question remains: how can we leave the Unkerlanters behind us?”

  “They’ll wither on the vine once we pass them by,” Galafrone said. “We’ve got to knock this whole kingdom flat, not fight through it one village at a time.”

  “If we don’t capture the villages, sir”--the young lieutenant was careful now to speak with all due military formality, but did not back away from his own view--”how are we going to knock the kingdom flat?”

  Despite the fellow’s earlier insolence, Tealdo thought it a decent question. Galafrone didn’t hesitate in answering it. Galafrone, as far as Tealdo could see, rarely hesitated about anything. “We’ve got to smash the big armies,” he said. “These little village garrisons are just nuisances, and they’ll be bigger nuisances if we let them.” He waved to indicate a path around the village. “Come on, men,” he called, raising his voice. “We’ve got to press on.”

  “Captain,” the lieutenant said stiffly, “I must protest, and I shall report your conduct to higher authority.”

  Galafrone gave him a wave of invitation so elegant, any noble might have envied it. “Go right ahead. If you care to let people know your favorite way to knock down a stone wall is by ramming it with your head, that’s your affair.” He waved again, this time getting his company moving in the direction he judged best. The lieutenant watched them go, his hands on his hips, the picture of exasperated frustration.

  Coming up alongside of Trasone, Tealdo said, “I hope those Unkerlanters don’t break out of there and kick
us in the arse when we’re looking the other way.”

  “Aye, I can think of things I’d like better,” Trasone agreed. He pointed ahead toward a tangled wood of oaks and elms. “I can think of things I like better than heading through that, too. Powers above only know what the Unkerlanters have got lurking in there.”

  Several unpleasant possibilities crossed Tealdo’s mind. Evidently, they crossed Galafrone’s mind, too, for the captain ordered a halt. Now he looked unhappy. “They could have a whole regiment in among those trees,” he said. “I don’t care to bypass them, not even a little I don’t.” His face grew longer still. “Maybe that cursed lieutenant wasn’t as stupid as I thought.”

  Now Tealdo did see him have trouble making up his mind. Before he could give any orders, a man emerged from the woods. Tealdo threw himself flat and had his stick aimed, ready to send a beam at the fellow, before noticing he wore tunic and kilt of light brown--Algarvian uniform--not an Unkerlanter’s rock-gray long tunic.

  “It’s all right,” the soldier called in Algarvian with a northwestern accent much like Tealdo’s. “They threw us out of here day before yesterday, but not for long. A few of the whoresons may still be running around loose off the paths, but you shouldn’t have any trouble getting through.”

  “That sounds good enough,” Galafrone said. He waved his company forward. “Let’s go! The sooner we’re through, the sooner we can hit the Unkerlanters another lick.”

  Tealdo rapidly discovered the Algarvian soldier who’d told him the woods were mostly clear of Unkerlanters was a born optimist. Some paths through the woods were clear. The Algarvians already in among the trees kept those paths clear by posting guards along them. One of the guards called, “You go off the road to squat in the bushes, you’re liable to get blazed or get your throat cut or have something worse happen to you.”

  “Who does hold these stinking woods, then?” Tealdo called back.

  “Wherever we are, we hold,” the guard answered. “Eventually, they’ll run out of food and they’ll run out of charges for their sticks. Then they’ll either surrender or try and pretend they were peasants all along. In the meantime, they’re a cursed nuisance.”

  Galafrone swore. “Aye, maybe that lieutenant did have a point.” A moment later, though, he snorted and added, “Besides the one on top of his head, I mean. Thought he was a noble, so his shit didn’t stink.” He turned back to his men. “Hurry along, you chuckleheads, hurry along. Got to keep moving.”

  “Got to keep moving is right,” Trasone grumbled. “Sounds like we’re nothing but targets if we don’t.”

  They turned out to be targets even when they did keep moving. A beam slammed into the trunk of an oak in front of Tealdo. Steam hissed out of the hole charred in the living wood. It would have hissed out of a hole charred in his living flesh the same way.