The Nullification Engine (The Alchemancer: Book Two) Read online

  Table of Contents

  OTHER WORKS BY SCOTT MARLOWE

  WORLD OF UHL

  A NOTE ABOUT MAPS

  EARLDOM OF KETTERING

  CITY OF BRIGHTON

  THE PLAYERS

  1. Arrival

  2. Sinjee

  3. A Funeral

  4. Ingrid's Chest

  5. Family

  6. What Lies Beneath

  7. The Griffin

  8. Lurkers

  9. A Kingsley Arrival

  10. A Deal Is Made

  11. Secret Laboratory

  12. Master No Longer

  13. The Circle

  14. Erlek's Research

  15. Hired Help

  16. The Nullification Engine

  17. A Devil of a Deal

  18. A Change in Leadership

  19. Missing Journal

  20. Rats

  21. Captain of the Airship

  22. Defend the Circle

  23. Melkor's Code

  24. Revenge

  25. Nullification

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  MORE TO READ - THE HALL OF THE WOOD

  MORE TO READ - FINE WINE

  MORE TO READ - KILLING THE DEAD

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  THE NULLIFICATION ENGINE

  Copyright © 2013 by Scott Marlowe

  All rights reserved.

  scottmarlowe.com

  First Edition: December 2013

  OTHER WORKS BY SCOTT MARLOWE

  Novels

  http://www.scottmarlowe.com/Novels.aspx

  Series

  The Alchemancer series

  Book 1: The Five Elements

  Book 2: The Nullification Engine

  Standalone

  The Hall of the Wood

  Short Stories

  http://www.scottmarlowe.com/Shorts.aspx

  Assassin Without a Name series

  Fine Wine

  Killing the Dead

  WORLD OF UHL

  The Nullification Engine is a tale of the World of Uhl. Find out more about the World of Uhl at

  http://www.worldofuhl.com

  A NOTE ABOUT MAPS

  Maps, eBooks, and eReaders do not always mix well. If you have difficulty viewing the maps included in this eBook or simply wish to see a larger version, I encourage you to open your favorite browser and visit:

  http://worldofuhl.com/maps.html

  EARLDOM OF KETTERING

  CITY OF BRIGHTON

  THE PLAYERS

  Aaron Shepherd: Scholar, alchemist, sorcerer's apprentice.

  Ensel Rhe Alon: An eslar mercenary.

  Evan Kingsley: King's Patroller.

  Serena Walkerton: Sorcerer's apprentice.

  Ursool: A witch.

  Brighton's Residents

  Arlen Walkerton: Serena's father.

  Bekjris: A raspel. Crime-lord of Brighton.

  Bella Kelm: Adopted daughter of Thorvid Kelm.

  Chane Taldman: Steward of the House of Walkerton.

  Clyde Mantock: Inn proprietor.

  Dasinda: A Sunken Slums fortuneteller.

  Emily Stewart: A childhood acquaintance of Serena's.

  Marcel Dadehill: Lord Chancellor of Kettering.

  Nod: Bella's driver.

  Othini: Chief Scientist of the Earl's Department of Alchemy and Science.

  Persimmius Falconian: Mysteriarch and pyromancer. Serena's first master.

  Phillip Roberts: Earl of Kettering.

  Rohan Fuchs: Captain of the Earl's Guard.

  Rolf: One of Thorvid's henchmen.

  Thorvid Kelm: Dwarven crime lord.

  Trevin: City guardsman. Clyde's brother-in-law.

  Verna Walkerton: Serena's mother.

  Willum: A research scientist.

  Visitors to Brighton

  Durant Chandler: Field Marshal of Agratis. Lord of Easthedge.

  Gerwyn: Krill weapons master.

  Ingrid Kane Kalara: An eslar trader.

  Jakinda Rhe Alon: Ensel Rhe's daughter.

  The Pack

  Krosus: Houndmaster, demon.

  Hounds:

  Carnage (Ugoshatha)

  Havoc (Shatach)

  Ravage (Sthu)

  Ruin (Sarshuath)

  Shatter (Elaqus)

  Agony (Hugony)

  Mayhem (Yathathac)

  Misery (bitch) (Ggothista)

  Scourge (alpha) (Uzulthoma)

  Discord (Mmazstagoth)

  Turmoil (Bhacthu)

  Terror (Zhac-kitha)

  The Griffin's Crew

  Alice Briggs: Quartermaster.

  Blyden Kreg: Captain.

  Dougal: Airman.

  Jacob Madison: Commander, second-in-command.

  Lundy Mortimar: Bosun's Mate.

  Miles Stanworth: Airman.

  Rail: A cabin boy.

  Rebecca "Beck" Stratum: Ship's engineer.

  Sedgewick Gyles: Airman.

  Tippin Roe: An army sergeant.

  Tobias: Airman.

  Fire Rock Dwarves

  Ardus Arkor: Raider, explosives expert.

  Hirad Bolheim: Raider.

  Kimlor Rusk: Raider, stone expert.

  Xirklx's Residents

  Acharat: Shaman and chieftain.

  Hosh: Rachna's second.

  Nobu: Shodeth warrior.

  Poth: Young shodeth warrior.

  Purcil: Tinkerer rat.

  Rachna: Leader of the shodeth.

  1. Arrival

  THE GREAT, SHUDDERING BOOM, COME from somewhere beneath Brighton's eastern city square, made Aaron think he was back at the top of Shanna's fabricated mountaintop, with the world all around them coming apart at the seams. The ground heaved, flinging people in every direction even as it knocked Aaron from his feet. Serena also, who stood so close she fell right on top of him. Only Ensel Rhe, ready for anything as usual, kept his footing through the initial upheaval and then again as the bulge, reversing itself, became a complete collapse of the square's center. Stone cracked and crumbled, and people were swallowed by the earth or disappeared inside the billowing cloud of dust kicked up by the turmoil. The fringes of the dust cloud enveloped Aaron, blocking his vision and restricting his breathing before he'd a chance to hold his breath. He felt Serena's fingers digging into him, clinging tight, as the noise of another collapse swept over them. When the roar of it had faded, Serena lifted her head from him and tried to speak, but her words were drowned out by the ringing in his ears. Using hand gestures, Serena indicated they should stand. With some effort, they did.

  Together, they probed the smoky fog, but not even light from the morning sun could penetrate that veil. Aaron wasn't sure what had happened, but when he saw people laid out at the fringes of the dusty haze, some of them writhing in pain, he knew he needed to help. Serena agreed. Staying outside the worst of the cloud of dust, for they couldn't tell where the safety of firm ground ended and the hazard of the square's collapse started, they dragged the nearest wounded person to safety. Others already there and recovered from their own initial shock helped them, until it became necessary to search the haze itself for survivors. The square had been jammed with people, some of whom had just arrived with Aaron and Serena from the ruins of Norwynne. But most remained unreachable as long as the brown haze hid their locations. Recognizing the problem, Se
rena decided to do something about it. Aaron didn't sense or feel her concentrate her energy—though a sorcerer's apprentice himself, he'd no aptitude for magic—but he knew by the way she furrowed her brow in concentration that she was responsible for the sudden wind sweeping in to dissipate the dust cloud. Once it was gone, they saw everything. The entire center of the square had collapsed to become a deep, dark hole with sheer drop-offs all around. Inside the hole was a chaotic mix of rubble and unmoving bodies. Of those who had packed the square's center, only a handful of wounded and confused people remained at the chasm's edge.

  Aaron was about to offer further assistance when a host of guardsmen ran onto the scene. Half of the twenty or so men peeled off to render aid. But the other half came to a complete stop while their captain scanned the area. He stopped when his gaze fell on Aaron and Serena.

  "You!" the guard captain yelled, pointing their way. "Stay right there!"

  Aaron looked at Serena. "Why is he pointing at us?" Wondering at his own question, he looked in either direction, figuring the captain must have pointed at someone else nearby. But there wasn't anyone. Not even Ensel Rhe, whom Aaron noticed was no longer with them. Serena caught the meaning of his sudden, almost frantic expression as she also looked about. Her conclusion was the same. The eslar was gone.

  The guards ran toward them to form a half-circle enclosure around the pair. Men with loaded crossbows took positions at either end. Their captain kept on, stopping only when his long stride placed him squarely in front of Aaron. He had a great scar running down one side of his face, and such a snarl Aaron felt compelled to take a step back. Not far enough, as the man cracked Aaron across the cheek with a backhanded swing. The blow knocked him from his feet.

  Before Aaron hit the ground, a mist started to form around him.

  "You may have torn Norwynne down to its foundation, boy, but you'll not do the same here." The captain put a hand to the hilt of the gilded sword handle at his belt. "Make one move and I'll run you through before you've time to spit!"

  Aaron put a hand to his cheek while he processed what the captain had just said. It took him a moment to realize the man had confused him with Shanna. Aaron wasn't sure how to even start explaining the mix-up to him, especially given the expression on the guard's face. He looked like he really wanted to carry out his threat.

  "Captain!"

  Serena moved so she stood between Aaron and his attacker.

  "You will explain the meaning of this, and you will explain it now!"

  All of five feet tall, she held herself straight as an arrow with her chin lifted. Despite her appearance, which included a long braid threatening to unravel in a score of places, a dirty and torn gown, and cheeks, arms, and neck covered in grime and dust from a week on the road, the captain actually took a step back from her. It was her eyes, Aaron figured, their crystal blue lit by an uncanny, oftentimes mesmerizing light. Or, now that he looked about, it might be the mist thickening to fog in all directions. Aaron sighed. As if he didn't already have enough problems, Krosus was coming.

  "I'll explain nothing," the captain said, "but order you to stand aside and allow me to do my duty."

  "Your duty?" she said, drawing herself up. "Your duty is to disperse the remainder of your men to all parts of the square to render aid. What is your name, Captain?"

  The guard glared at her. "Rohan Fuchs, of the Earl's Guard." The earl, Lord Nicholas, ruled over Kettering and its three baronies from here in Brighton. The Earl's Guard were his personal soldiers.

  "There are wounded, and quite possibly people trapped. Also, there is this mist and..." Above them, the blue sky darkened. "...darkness as well." Serena knew what was coming, too. "Your men should start getting everyone out of here."

  The captain lifted a brow. The snarl persisted. "My orders come from the earl himself." He looked past Serena to Aaron. "We meant to catch you before you'd entered the city. But here you are, bringing your mayhem down upon us. Not since the Burning have I seen such calamity. This darkness and...cold," he said, his breath coming out as visible puffs, "is something you'll stop now."

  While Aaron very much wanted to comply, he didn't have that kind of control over the demon and his pack of hell hounds. They were coming, and there was no way to stop them. Aaron picked himself up. He had to at least try to keep them from killing everyone. No use in explaining any of this to the captain, though Serena tried anyway.

  "This isn't something he can stop, Captain Fuchs," Serena said. "And we had nothing to do with the square caving in. That was... I've no idea what it was. But that doesn't matter right now. You and your men really should prepare for—"

  A raucous bedlam of canine snarling sounded from all quarters. It sent a shock through the guards and caused people throughout the square to stop whatever they were doing to look around. But the fog was so thick now, no one saw a thing.

  Aaron's hand went to the tooth hanging from his neck. He gripped the six-inch canine through the fabric of his tunic, trying to will his strength into it. He doubted it helped, but it was better than doing nothing.

  "Look!" yelled one of the guards, pointing past Aaron and Serena.

  In that direction was Eastern Gate, which they and the others from Norwynne had just used to enter the city. The mist parted so they were able to see the gate, but Rulana's countryside and the road winding its way to the city were no longer visible. Instead, framed in the gate's arched opening, they saw darkness, for with its heavy stone and barbed portcullis, the gate had become a doorway into a world of chaos and shadow. From that world came the hounds. Black as night, with blood-red eyes and acidic drool dripping from hanging jowls, they bounded into the square on powerfully muscled legs. They came straight at the line of guardsmen and their captain. Aaron and Serena, who stood between guards and dogs, were right in their path.

  Aaron pushed Serena out of the way right before one of the hounds clipped him with its shoulder. For the third time that morning, Aaron was flung to the ground.

  Meanwhile, Fuchs mustered his men. "Hold your ground!" he yelled, almost managing to draw his sword before the first of the hounds ran into him. They knocked him back, right into his men. One of the crossbowmen managed to get a bolt off, but the missile went high and struck nothing. The hounds trampled or tossed him and the rest aside, not stopping as they rushed headlong into what remained of the square. Folk greeted them with screams of panic. The dogs yipped with glee to witness such terror and, as their passing swirled and dissipated the fog, Aaron saw them run one person down after another. Not even the pit at the square's center slowed them, as they dove headlong into it before coming right back up its other side at a full run.

  Serena helped Aaron back to his feet. Rubbing his shoulder, he looked at the dark aperture of Eastern Gate. "Stand back, Serena. He doesn't care about you."

  "I'm not just leaving you to face him alone. Besides, he has to do what you say as long as you have the tooth. You do still have it, don't you?"

  Aaron took it out for her to see. It was warm to the touch. Not much longer now.

  "You should at least make your way to the other side of the square," Aaron said.

  "No one is going anywhere," Captain Fuchs said from behind them.

  Turning, they found the point of his sword directed at them. "Call off your dogs, or whatever they are. Do it now or I swear, I'll run you through!"

  That was the wrong thing to say.

  "You really shouldn't point your sword at me," Aaron said. He gestured toward the square, which had gone quiet now but for the wailing of the wounded. The hounds hadn't killed anyone. Aaron had enough control over them to keep that from happening. But it became more difficult to control them when one of their own was threatened. The tooth, a middling charm given to Aaron by a witch, made him a part of their pack, and, like any pack member, a threat to him was a threat to all of them.

  Fuchs saw the dogs padding his way from all parts of the square. As one, their attention was on him now.

  "Call th
em off," the captain said. "Call them off or—" Fuchs dove for Aaron, snatching him up by the front of his tunic. "Call them off!"

  Then the hounds were the least of their worries, for Krosus had arrived. Come through Eastern Gate, he was a hulking monster with leather below the waist and a terrible horned helm that left his face in darkness but for his eyes, which burned like fiery embers. His dusky chest and arms were pure, bare muscle. His eyes flared as he took in the square and everyone in it. Then his gaze fell on Aaron and stayed there. The dogs hung back now, waiting for their master's command.

  The guard captain shoved Aaron away. "If you'll not send them back to Hell, then I will. Crossbowmen, form ranks!"

  Only two had bolts ready now, but those two stepped forward to level their weapons at the houndmaster.

  "Loose!"

  Two bolts leaped at their target. Both hit, one in the shoulder and the other in the leg. But for taking the time to rip them free from his body, the houndmaster hardly noticed them.

  The captain's men looked on in horror. Not Fuchs, who drew his sword and charged the demon. As soon as he was close enough, Krosus cracked him across the jaw. The captain went down without a sound. Then the houndmaster's gaze returned to Aaron.

  —Release us.—

  A shock went through Aaron, for never before had he heard the demon speak. He looked at Serena, who was just as surprised.

  —Remove the tooth and allow us to fulfill our purpose.—

  "You mean let you and the hounds kill me," Aaron said.

  Krosus said nothing to that.

  Aaron held the tooth up. As long as he had it on his person, he'd nothing to fear, he reminded himself. Though the control it granted him over Krosus was as nebulous as the control it gave him over the hounds, it was all he had.

  "Leave the city!" Aaron shouted at him. "And take your dogs with you!"

  Krosus didn't move a muscle.

  Serena's hand found his, lending him her strength.

  "I said, leave the city!"

  The houndmaster did react this time. He drew his sword. Long and broad, no mortal could wield it with a single grip. Yet Krosus hefted it in one hand as if it were no more than a dagger.