Watt-Evans, Lawrence - Annals of the Chosen 01 by The Wizard Lord (v1.1)

parts." He leaned his staff against a table and opened a large
purse that hung from his belt; Breaker noticed that the drawstring writhed
unnaturally. The wizard paid no attention to the animated cord as he began
drawing out talismans.
    When he had brought
forth a dozen of his own he turned and added them to the collection already
lying on the narrow bed. There were tiny carved figures in wood and stone,
baked-clay tokens in a dozen assorted shapes, things of beads and wire, waxed
feathers and vials of precious oils— at least a score in all.
    And at the center was
a tiny triangular silver blade, no more than three inches long, that shone with
a fierce intensity, as if catching a flash of summer sun—but this was winter,
and the sun still hung low above the Eastern Cliffs, and th e room in which they
stood had only a single window, facing north.
    "That's the one you'll need to carry,
Erren Zal Tuyo," the wizard said, pointing to the blade. "That's the
core around which the magic will be wrapped."
    "What if I lose it?" Breaker asked,
gazing uneasily at the gleaming device.
    "Oh, I don't
think you can," the wizard replied. "The ler will see to
that." He adjusted the arrangement on the bed, then stepped back and
looked it over.
    "That should do," he said.
"Now, stand here, and look at the blade." He gestured to indicate the
spot he meant.
    Breaker obeyed, and stood staring down at the
bed as the wizard began to chant incomprehensible words in an unfamiliar
language.
    The surge of power was immediate; the air
hummed with magic, and colored light shimmered across the talisman-covered bed,
gold and red and blue. Breaker felt suddenly dizzy, and started to step back,
but when his attention shifted from the little silver blade a wrenching,
stabbing pain thrust up from his spine and through his head. His eyes watered,
and his vision blurred, so that the only thing he could see was that talisman.
    He focused on it
again, and the pain vanished as abruptly as it had appeared, but his vision was
not restored; all he could see was the shiny bit of metal there on the brown
blanket. He locked his gaze grimly on to it as the wizard's voice droned on.
    He heard his own true
name, the name the ler knew him by, the name that described his
soul and defined his place in the world of spirit, in the chant, and he f elt something
happen; now it was not merely the threat of pain that kept him staring intently
at the talisman, but a sudden inability to imagine ever again seeing anything
else. This was where he belonged, and
what he was meant to be, meant to do— staring at the talisman was what his entire life had
led up to, what he was for. The glowing
silver filled his vision, as big as the world and everything in it, and the
wizard's voice had become a chorus filling his ears, the one human voice
accompanied by a thous and that were definitely not human.
    His hands and feet were numb; the skin of his
face felt burning hot. Time ceased to pass in any rational way; every second
was an infinity. He was a part of the talisman, no longer aware of any other
existence.
    And then he was no longer aware of anything
at all.
     
     
     

[8]
     
     
    [The new Swordsman did not so much awaken as
| gradually become aware of his surroundings.
    He was lying in his own bed, fully dressed—in
fact, he still had his boots on, though his coat had been removed. He was
lying on his back, staring up at the blue flowers his mother had long ago
painted on the plaster ceiling of his room. His hands were at his sides, and
both were clutching something; his right hand was closed on something hard and
cold, while his left held something sharp and hot. He had no memory of how he
had gotten down from the loft and into his own room at the back of the house.
    And all through him
he could feel the rushing of... of something. He
didn't have a name for it. It wasn't heat or cold or raw magic, nor was it any
of the natural emotions or physical sensations he was familiar with. It