The Way of Caine (The Warcaster Chronicl

The Way of Caine (The Warcaster Chronicl - By Miles Holmes



PROLOGUE




AR 596: Merywyn

The old man stumbled down the dim corridor, leaving his lavish bedroom in panic. He tripped over thick carpet, and tumbled into an awkward heap. With a whimper, he scrambled to his feet, and lurched forward again. He risked a glance over his shoulder as he went, peering into the shadows of his departed doorway, mouth agape.

Nothing moved.

At the end of the corridor, a grand balcony overlooked a wide hall. The walls were laden with priceless paintings, almost too many to count, though he could name each and every one. The balcony divided left and right into a polished stone stairwell spiraling three stories down before joining the main floor. As he neared the stairwell, he looked back once more, his breath ragged.

Nothing pursued.

No one could be seen at all, in fact. Neither guard nor servant was about, and most of the torches along the corridor had been snuffed. Finally reaching the balcony, he grasped the polished marble rail and called down for a servant. Breathless, his voice was reduced to a faint rasp.

No answer below.

Enough of this, he thought, taking a deep breath. The demons that hounded him were the stuff of his dreams. There was no more to it than that. Granted, he had endured terrible nightmares for months now, but he was a fool to let them get the better of his nerves like this. He turned from the balcony, scowling …

… to witness a figure appear from smoke.

He blinked, his scowl turned to astonishment. Time enough passed for eyes to meet, and not one second longer. A silent shockwave of spectral force surged into him, borne along tendrils of incandescent blue mist. The old man was a rag doll, tossed up and over the rail. He plunged three stories down, a gasp in his throat. There wasn’t time for more. Before he could draw breath to scream, he found himself eye to eye with the well preserved snarl of his prized white bear-skin.

Beneath it, the marble floor ended his fall as abruptly as it began.