More by John Bierce
A fugitive child finds shelter with a monster of legend. A mind-blind scholar outwits the mages who disdain him. A gold mage must secure a bank vault from a monster capable of obliterating entire cities. An aging basketweaver wakes up one morning to find a brand new river in front of her house. A palace-sized octopus seeks to defend his city from a living fortress of bone—if he can get his arms to cooperate.
In these twenty-four short stories set in the world of Mage Errant, John Bierce explores the murky depths of history, forgotten corners of Ithos and beyond, and the strangest reaches of magic itself.
Into the Labyrinth, Book One:
Hugh of Emblin is, so far as he's concerned, the worst student that the Academy at Skyhold has ever seen. He can barely cast any spells at all, and those he does cast tend to fail explosively. If that wasn't bad enough, he's also managed to attract the ire of the most promising student of his year - who also happens to be the nephew of a king. Hugh has no friends, no talent, and definitely doesn't expect a mage to choose him as an apprentice at all during the upcoming Choosing.
When a very unusual mage does choose him as apprentice, however, his life starts to take a sharp turn for the better. Now all he has to worry about is the final test for the first years - being sent into the terrifying labyrinth below Skyhold.
Jewel of the Endless Erg, Book Two:
After surviving Skyhold's deadly labyrinth, Hugh and his friends are looking forwards to an uneventful summer. Their teacher, Alustin, has chartered a sandship for a training expedition into the vast sea of sand known as the Endless Erg, aiming for the wealthy and powerful desert city of Theras Tel. Hugh's happier than he's been in a long, long time, and he's quite excited for the fresh air, sunshine, and quiet.
Of course, given Hugh's luck, their summer is going to be anything but quiet. They're about to be plunged into a morass of pirates, monsters, warring cults, flesh-tearing sandstorms, and a conspiracy against Indris Stormbreaker, the dragon queen of Theras Tel herself.
At least Hugh's going to get plenty of fresh air and sunshine.
Kanderon Crux has fallen.
The traitors who brought the powerful sphinx down have fled with plagues and other magical weapons stolen from Skyhold's Vault, intending to use them against the Havath Dominion, no matter the cost to the rest of the Ithonian continent. Havath teeters on the edge of collapse after their failed invasion of Skyhold, and the nations and monsters of Ithos circle like vultures. The Dominion has no interest in going down without a fight, however, and there are few depths they're unwilling to sink to for survival.
Kanderon's surviving allies are working desperately to stop both the traitors and the Dominion, but the situation is worse than they know. The traitors didn't steal plagues at all. They stole the Tongue Eater, a weapon capable of devouring entire languages, and unless they're stopped, it threatens the fate of the entire continent. Hugh Stormward and his friends are the only ones who know the truth, and there's no one they can trust with the knowledge. Even with the fate of the continent on his shoulders, however, Hugh doesn't care about any of that.
He's convinced that Kanderon is still alive, even if no one else believes him, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to help her.
(Includes the bonus novella Gram of Clan Castis.)
A new kind of war has come to the continent of Ithos.
Airborne mage armies traverse enemy territory in utter secrecy. Vast city-liches conspire to influence events from afar, while city-states and archmages unleash strange new magics in a rapidly accelerating magical arms race. Nations and great powers that have remained quiescent for years have begun reaching out into the growing power vacuum. Magical superweapons and giant monsters are wielded by every side in an deadly tangle of alliances and factions, as each squabbling force spirals in towards their inevitable final conflict. At the center of that spiral lays the capital of the Havath Dominion, where a vengeful madman has proclaimed the precise date and time he will destroy the city.
The Last Echo will ring, and in its wake looms the threat of the Tongue Eater. Hugh and his friends are the only ones who can stop the ancient weapon, but the web of lies they've woven is fraying rapidly, and even their own allies have begun to question their mission. Monsters and archmages capable of leveling cities would stop at nothing to claim the Tongue Eater, leaving Hugh and the others with no one to trust.
And if they fail to stop the Tongue Eater, it could mean madness and death for the entire continent.
The Havath Dominion is marching to war.
Humiliated in the ruins of Imperial Ithos, the Exile Splinter stolen from their grasp by the ancient sphinx Kanderon Crux, Havath's Duarchs have assembled an army that dwarfs the entire population of Skyhold. Led by their Great Powers, monsters and mages individually capable of leveling a city, they pose a threat that even Kanderon, one of the mightiest of Great Powers, and her equally monstrous allies might be unable to stop.
As the Havathi forces push closer and closer to Skyhold, Hugh and his friends train relentlessly, hoping to make a difference in the oncoming siege. While they venture into dangerous realms of untested experimental magic, though, they're already caught up in currents far beyond their control.
Once you're a pawn in the games of the Great Powers, there's no escape.
Hugh and his friends have, to his great displeasure, become the center of attention among the student body at Skyhold. It turns out that surviving the depths of the labyrinth and helping stop a coup both tend to attract notice. If Hugh had his way, he'd happily go back to being just another anonymous student. He has more than enough to deal with already as he starts his second year, between his crushing load of schoolwork, training as a prospective candidate to the Librarians Errant, and navigating a long distance relationship.
Oh, and the fact that Hugh and company have been dragged into trying to catch a traitor on the Skyhold Council doesn't make life any easier. Nor does it help that the traitor is working with the demon Bakori, who lurks in the depths of the labyrinth below Skyhold, waiting for his chance at revenge.
After surviving Skyhold's deadly labyrinth, Hugh and his friends are looking forwards to an uneventful summer. Their teacher Alustin has chartered a sandship for a training expedition into the vast sea of sand known as the Endless Erg, aiming for the wealthy and powerful desert city of Theras Tel. Hugh's happier than he's been in a long, long time, and he's quite excited for the fresh air, sunshine, and quiet.
Of course, given Hugh's luck, their summer is going to be anything but quiet. They're about to be plunged into a morass of pirates, monsters, warring cults, flesh-tearing sandstorms, and a conspiracy against Indris Stormbreaker, the dragon queen of Theras Tel herself.
At least Hugh's going to get plenty of fresh air and sunshine.
Half a millennium ago, Kanderon Crux and her allies banished the city of Imperial Ithos from the world of Anastis, in a desperate attempt to defeat the Ithonian Empire. Her dread weapon, the Exile Splinter, even erased the memory of its location from the universe. Now it's returning, bringing the Exile Splinter back with it. The great powers of the continent are desperately hunting for the site of the lost city, knowledge lost even to Kanderon herself. None know what ancient Ithonian weapons and enchantments might still be found in the ruins, but even the Exile Splinter alone would be a prize justifying war.
Hugh and his friends find themselves dragged along on the search, where they'll face enemy warlocks, sea monsters, liches, unnatural storms, and even a man-eating tiger. There's something they're not being told about the lost city, however.
Something that has even Kanderon and the other great powers terrified.
Hugh of Emblin is, so far as he's concerned, the worst student that the Academy at Skyhold has ever seen. He can barely cast any spells at all, and those he does cast tend to fail explosively. If that wasn't bad enough, he's also managed to attract the ire of the most promising student of his year- who also happens to be the nephew of a king. Hugh has no friends, no talent, and definitely doesn't expect a mage to choose him as an apprentice at all during the upcoming Choosing.
When a very unusual mage does choose him as apprentice, however, his life starts to take a sharp turn for the better. Now all he has to worry about is the final test for the first years - being sent into the terrifying labyrinth below Skyhold.