she knew all about desecration. it was her hobby, after all, an obsessive lure that tugged her again and again, with all the senseless power of a lodestone.

a few thousand years ago, people had gathered to build their shrine. someone had achieved the glorious rank of tyrant, able to threaten life and soul, and so was able to compel hundreds to his or her bidding. to quarry enormous stones, drag them to this place, tilt them upright like so many damned penises. and who among those followers truly believed that tyrant's calling? voice of the gods in the sky, the groaning bitches in the earth, the horses of the heavens racing the seasons, the mythologies of identity-all those conceits, all those delusions. people of ancient times were no more fools than those of the present, and ignorance was never a comfortable state of being.

so they had built this temple, work-gangs of clear-eyed cynics sacrificing their labour to the glory of the gods but it wasn't gods basking in that glory-it was the damned tyrant, who needed to show off his power to coerce, who sought to symbolize his power for all eternity.

kilmandaros could comprehend the collective rage that had destroyed this place. every tyrant reaches the same cliff-edge, aged into infirmity, or eyeing the strutting of heirs and recognizing the hungry looks in their regard. that edge was death, and with it all glory fell to dust. even stone cannot withstand the fury of mortals when fuelled by abnegation.

nature was indifferent to temples, to sacred sites. it did not withhold its gnawing winds and dissolute rains. it devoured such places with the same remorseless will that annihilated palaces and city walls, squalid huts and vast aqueducts. but carve a face into stone and someone is bound to destroy it long before nature works its measured erosion.

she understood that compulsion, the bitter necessity of refuting monumental achievements, whether they be dressed in stone or in the raiment of poetry. power possessed a thousand faces and one would be hard pressed to find a beautiful one among them. no, they were ugly one and all, and if they managed to create something wondrous, then the memory of its maker must be made to suffer all the more for it.

'for every soul sweeping away the dust,' said a voice behind her, 'there are a thousand scattering it by the handful.'

kilmandaros did not turn round, but bared her teeth nonetheless. 'i was growing impatient.'

'it's not rained here for some time. only the roots of the stones still hold moisture. i have followed your journey in the morning mists, in the damp breaths of the beasts.' after a moment, mael moved up to stand beside her, his eyes settling on the desecrated altar stone. 'not your handiwork, i see. feeling cheated?'

'i despise conceit,' she said.

'and so every mortal creation is to be crushed by your fists. yes, the presumption of all those fools.'

'do you know where they have gone, mael?'

he sighed. 'the holds are not as they once were. have you considered, they may not return?'

'errastas is their master-'

'was, actually. the holds have not had a master for tens of thousands of years, kilmandaros. do you know, you forced the errant's retreat from the holds. he feared you were coming for him, to destroy him and his precious creations.'

'he was right. i was.'

'see how things have turned out. his summoning compelled none of us-you must realize that.'

'that is no matter-'

'because deceiving him continues to serve your purposes. and now knuckles walks at his side. or, more accurately, a step behind. when will the knife strike?'

'my son understands the art of subtlety.'

'it's not an art, kilmandaros, it's just one among many tactics to get what you want. the best subtlety is when no one even notices what you've done, ever. can sechul lath achieve that?'

'can you?' she retorted.

mael smiled. 'i know of only a few capable of such a thing. one is mortal and my closest friend. the other wasn't mortal, but is now dead. and then, of course, there is draconus.'

she fixed a glare upon him. 'him? you must be mad!'

mael shrugged. 'try this for a consideration. draconus needed to get something done. and, it now seems, he achieved it. without lifting a hand. without anyone even noticing his involvement. only one man ever defeated him. only one man could possess dragnipur but never kneel before it. only one man could oversee the weapon's destruction-no matter the cost. only one man could force an end to mother dark's denial. and only one man could stand in the face of chaos and not blink.'