![Light Novel -?=$public_r['add_site_name']?>](/static/content/img/logo.png){kind=logo}
Arcanum Novel Chapters
List of most recent chapters published for the Arcanum novel. A total of 197 chapters have been translated and the release date of the last chapter is Apr 02, 2024
Latest Release: Chapter 1 : Arcanum.Simon Morden.AUTHOR'S NOTES.p.r.o.nunciation.True story: for my entire chil
Arcanum.Simon Morden.AUTHOR'S NOTES.p.r.o.nunciation.True story: for my entire childhood and more embarra.s.singly, into my PhD days, I'd always p.r.o.nounced the name for the double-walled vacuum vessels used for storing cryogenic liquids dewar as dee-
- 1 Arcanum.Simon Morden.AUTHOR'S NOTES.p.r.o.nunciation.True story: for my entire childhood and more embarra.s.singly, into my PhD days, I'd always p.r.o.nounced the name for the double-walled vacuum vessels used for storing cryogenic liquids dewar as dee-
- 2 Buber's claw came across to grasp it. There. Done.3.Prince Gerhard stared down over the battlements at the procession coming up the road to the Chast.i.ty Gate. Two columns of spearmen barely seemed to contain the one s.h.a.ggy-coated barbarian they were
- 3 Again, the slight movement of the head to acknowledge the prince's will, then the figure walked off, stage right, back into the shadows. A door clicked and creaked, then shut with an echo.Gerhard couldn't tell if there had been a real person underneath
- 4 He pressed the satchel into the gap, pinned it close with the book, then reshelved the heavy folios. He shuffled back to inspect his handiwork, and was satisfied. Those particular t.i.tles probably hadn't been moved for the better part of a century, and
- 5 "But you know something, right?""Look, Martin. I can't help you with the lad. I'm under orders, and it'll be my head if I screw up." His mouth had gone dry. "I want you to do something for me.""We're out here until we find him. I'm not your er
- 6 "These words. Are words." Morgenstern trembled, and Sophia had to steady his hand. "Get one stroke wrong and you change the whole meaning. The text. Worthless."Thaler's mouth sneaked a smile. "We have someone who can not only write Hebrew, they can
- 7 Yes, of course this could be worse, she thought. It could be a lot worse, and if I don't do something about it now, it will be.She levitated up into the darkness above, until she was face to face with a fellow adept.Even with his skin a dark purple, his
- 8 "You're not in Carinthia, I'm not a Carinthian." He jerked his head in the vague direction of the town. "You arrogant b.a.s.t.a.r.ds need to be taken down a peg or two. Now go and have it out with Fuchs."One of the spearmen rolled his eyes and start
- 9 "You next." Buber grabbed the man's arm and hauled him into the open. The boy was just about starting to move, and was far too slow for the Carinthian's liking. "Don't just lie there, you a.r.s.ehole!"The rope connecting the boat to the far side of
- 10 "Something the matter, my prince?""Weren't the Ostara celebrations enough for you, my lady?""Apparently not, my prince. Neither, it appears, were they enough for you." She gave up any form of pretence and shrugged her coat off her shoulders. The he
- 11 "Yes," whispered Gerhard."I was ordered we were all ordered to ignore it, and all other commands from the castle. Of course, you weren't to know of this, at all. Ever."The prince's breathing was ragged, laboured, shallow."But you can, for now..."
- 12 Gerhard seemed caught between rage and terror. It left him looking impotent."Leave," he said, waving the point of his sword at the tent opening. "I need to think."So she got up and slipped back outside. The night was cold, but the men were still singi
- 13 Buber came up behind the column as it approached the Simbach bridge. He'd s.n.a.t.c.hed at some sleep, and managed to catch hold of it only fleetingly. When he'd been woken, everything that followed had felt rushed, including his ride back north.At leas
- 14 "That's not an explanation, man.""I can't explain it! Something's wrong with the bridge and I don't know what. My lord." His cheeks stung with parallel cuts that beaded bright blood every time he changed expression. "I'm not a ... I'm not like
- 15 "You'd be right. I am angry with him. But when has that ever made obeying his orders something I could choose to do? I'll do what's necessary when the time comes." She flicked a water droplet off the end of her nose. "He'll learn.""The bridge, Mi
- 16 To his left was a field, its boundary marked only by a ditch. That was the way he'd have to go. He hammered his heels down hard and shouted at the lazy nag to get going.Stung, the horse reared. He hung on, barely, and was abruptly off, over the ditch and
- 17 "No," she said. "That stays.""As you wish. Master Buber and two of the earls have ridden on ahead. Our attack will commence shortly.""And this attack? Conducted to the old rules? March up to the enemy, cut them down and, when they run, hunt them li
- 18 She turned around, and took her horse's reins from an unresisting Buber, and mounted up."Sirs, if you don't have the stomach for the fight, Juvavum is back that way." She pointed south and east. "The enemy is over there. I suggest we attack them befo
- 19 They must have stuck him a dozen times through the joints where the plate gave way to broken-linked mail. He'd lost his helmet at some point, and still he'd gone down with his teeth clenched and his eyes open.Buber waded into the circle, kicking away ha
- 20 When he reached out, they were there, smooth and solid. But what if, he wondered, some of the hand-rails had been broken in the chaos he had so studiously avoided being part of.Best go carefully then. Rather than turning left to start towards the stairs,
- 21 Of course, the object of the lesson, the one he'd missed entirely until now, was to teach him, not how to make jewellery, but that his father had craftsmen of high renown in his realm, and that this was how taxable wealth was created: it was a prince's
- 22 "f.u.c.k.""Sorry, Under-librarian?"One of the returning pairs of searchers had materialised in front of him while he'd been thinking, and Thaler just stared at them like they were ghosts, or trolls, or the ghosts of trolls."Under-librarian? Are you
- 23 Allegretti cleared his throat noisily. "Master Buber. Heat escapes through an open door."Buber took a deep breath. "My lord prince, I've received a letter from Juvavum."The earls, Felix, Allegretti, all suddenly sat up. The farmer and his wife, who h
- 24 He had no idea where he was going to go.25.Thaler woke up and found that a sheet of parchment had stuck itself to his face. With his own drool. He looked at the world sideways for a moment, at the lightening sky and the pink-coloured clouds. It was peacef
- 25 "Incapacitated. Under-librarian Grozer is critically injured, and we are attempting to affect a cure ourselves in the absence of the Order. Under-librarian Thomm is missing, and has been since before the crisis. I and the other librarians have kept the l
- 26 To her left was another corridor where detail vanished all too soon, consumed by the darkness. The story that had been told in the entrance hall was repeated. The whole place looked as if a mob had risen up inside and trashed everything on their way out.S
- 27 None had died easily.Messinger reached for a cloth to cover his nose and mouth against the sweet, rank smell."What d'you reckon, Mr Thaler?" he said, voice m.u.f.fled. "This doesn't look like the reaction of a group of people who think they can get t
- 28 They were approaching the north quays, and there was already a line of people standing either side of the road. The houses that overlooked the river were slowly emptying: more came from the tied-up barges. Every word was whispered.He led his father on, to
- 29 "What about the Norns, sir? Surely they'll spin a man's fate any way they wish.""Things have changed, Mr Ullmann. If they have changed so dramatically here in Midgard, perhaps there's been an equally profound change in the other realms. Our only hop
- 30 "I don't think he's appointed anyone officially, sir," said Ullmann. There was a certain eagerness in his voice.Thaler pursed his lips. "We'll have to see what we can do about that, Mr Ullmann. Carry on.""Very good, Mr Thaler." He gave a separate
- 31 "Because I learnt. We don't do it any other way.""What do you mean?""By magic," she said. "It's not kosher."He looked at her quizzically, and she sighed."Jewish law-" she started, but he interrupted."Jewish law? I thought-""Then you thought
- 32 "Time for our secret weapon, then," said Thaler, and went to collect Sophia from the anteroom.She wasn't there. He went into the corridor beyond and looked up and down its length. She still wasn't there.Had she wandered off? Gone home? Been chased awa
- 33 It was light when she woke. Sophia was vaguely aware of a hammering noise, and she wondered if it was her head. Purim drinking was both epic and legendary, and she'd taken some wine when she'd got back home, despite it only being the men who were obliga
- 34 He watched her go furious and lost at the same time and he still wasn't sure exactly what he'd done. Yes, this was their ceremonial baths, but really: it was no more than a rough-and-ready stone-lined hole in the ground through which a river flowed. And
- 35 Thaler straightened himself and regarded the small group, dominated by the s.p.a.ce they were in, the machinery that filled it, and the enormity of their task."That, gentlemen, is why I'm in such a hurry." He paused and asked: "Who's with me?"To a m
- 36 She started walking away from them, and the four men quickened their pace. After a few steps, she started to run, and after a moment's hesitation, so did they.None of them were dressed for a prolonged chase. She was carrying a heavy, lopsided bundle that
- 37 The tunnel was more or less featureless, and more or less straight. Having left the huge mill-wheels under the fortress behind, the only thing they'd discovered was the depth of their willingness to suffer in the cold and the wet and the dark for mile af
- 38 "That's not what you said this morning," said Felix. "You said they'd turn on me if they realised there was magic still around.""They will support you tonight, at least. Everything is ready, and you needn't even speak. It's certainly not required
- 39 Trommler gripped his sleeve. "My lord, look."Felix wiped his eyes."Look," urged Trommler. "The White Tower."A cold spark, blue-white and intense, was descending from the peak of the mountain. It was so bright that it shone through the trees and pick
- 40 No. Not today. She could hear the words of the Aleinu through the doors ahead of her, and that's where she needed to go. She put her hand on the handle, and realised she was more scared of going in than of what would happen if she didn't. She trembled a
- 41 "Master Buber, I demand to know where we're going."Buber smiled grimly down at the boy. "When a prince has to kill his subjects with his own sword and sneak around his own capital by the back alleys, it means he's not in charge any more."Felix brist
- 42 "Which ..." he said, "which of you ...?""Someone find him a drink," said Cohen. "Tell the women that someone out here needs a drink of water."The man pushed himself half-upright, resting his hands on his bent knees. "G.o.ds, which one of you is S
- 43 The relentless onslaught didn't allow for a moment's rest. Every time a target died, or was clubbed insensible, there was someone else to replace them. And there were casualties starting to appear in the ranks of the librarians. A cut here, a concussion
- 44 "He's a dangerous man.""Oh," she chuckled, "I know all about that, Master Buber. It seems the only person who didn't was the one that mattered.""There is a way we could end this, but it's not without its risks." Buber straightened his legs in f
- 45 "At some point, it'll come down to you against Eckhardt. When he finds out about you, he'll try to destroy you, and the longer you leave it, the more powerful he'll become. Whatever life you've built for yourself elsewhere will count for nothing, bec
- 46 "My lord," said Thaler, and bowed low. "I am the bringer of good no, excellent news."The boy's shoulders, broken and unbroken, seemed to straighten at his words. "I like good news, Mr Thaler. You and your men need to tell me about it straight away.
- 47 Felix felt his whole body flood with the gentle heat of relief. "Can I see her?""Perhaps afterwards. She accepted your apology, barely, and her moods are mercurial." Buber smile hardened. "If we don't take Eckhardt by surprise, none of us are going
- 48 The men looked at each other, and Buber shrugged theatrically. They'd have to get closer.They crept on, with Buber stopping them every few steps to check his bearings and his quarry. He'd never tried to sneak up on a crowd before. A herd, yes, but there
- 49 She doubled back and gave him everything she could. Face to face, over the distance of a stadia: fire boiled out of her again and flowed towards Eckhardt's hovering form. As it seethed and roiled, it dripped flame on the ground below. She was dimly aware
- 50 The huntmaster stopped, and didn't start again for a long time."Allegretti was there. Eckhardt had made him his ... I don't know ... his pet?""Did he ...?""He died. Lots of them died." His face turned sour. "I should have taken out Eckhardt when
- 51 "And," mused Thaler, "helping the library will help him.""Just so there's no misunderstanding: the fate of Carinthia is in the hands of people like us. That's why having you choose what wood to use for the new shelves is a waste of everybody's tim
- 52 His horse, a stubby cob still with its s.h.a.ggy winter coat, shook its head and made its bridle rattle. It raised its head at the same time Buber did, to look around and check that nothing was coming to eat it.There used to be giants here; still might be
- 53 No one else was in the library, and it was perfectly still. The great scaffolding had risen up from the floor and attached itself to the galleries, spreading out like the branches of an oak, reaching the apex of the dome. Ropes and buckets hung suspended
- 54 He went back into the stable for his crossbow, and the quiver of bolts, and strapped on his sword, making sure his knife was on his belt too. All that effort for one kid. He dragged the door mostly shut behind him and stalked down the narrow street, all t
- 55 "I'll take my chances.""Do you value your life so little?"Buber smiled. "Yes. Death would be some sort of release. What keeps me alive is the thought that I might change my mind at some point, and I'll regret giving up now." He threw a pine-cone i
- 56 Library Square resembled a builder's yard. There were stacks of timber and piles of stone, and the sound of sawing and chiselling rattled off the walls of the surrounding buildings. Inside was barely quieter. The cap on the oculus was almost completely r
- 57 Wess nodded again."Everything that's happened in the last two weeks?" Ullmann's demeanour changed from affable to coldly furious in a moment. "Where did this Wiel and his friend go?""I don't know.""What did he look like?""He looked like ..."
- 58 It was difficult enough to find someone to guard the door, aside from the problem of finding an appropriate room to shut them in. It had been a very long time since the fortress had housed prisoners.In his father's day, justice had been swift, and there
- 59 "Boar, my lord.""Whichever. You're wrong. If anything, the history I've learnt tells me we ignored everything that happened outside our borders because it didn't make any difference to us. So why do you hate us? Bavaria has been better off for havin
- 60 "Again, generous to a fault. My thanks. I trust the scrolls of your religious writings have found their rightful place in your synagogue.""Each one needs an ark building for it, but yes." Morgenstern softened a touch, and Thaler thought that perhaps r
- 61 He stopped, and stood in front of Rabbi Cohen, who was still using the Sword of Carinthia. He held out his sword, drew it back, and aimed a lazy swing at the rabbi's guts.Metal clanged against metal, eliciting a grunt of effort from the man. Then Felix w
- 62 There was nothing to tie the horse to. He had to use the only material to hand stone and devised a wedge that would hold a tether. When he'd managed to convince himself that it wasn't going to slip, he dragged the saddle from the horse's back and threw
- 63 The stone was hard and cold, even with the odd-smelling rugs, and the food tasted, not poisonous, but off mushroomy. The drink was beer with dwarvish character, bitter and heavy and dark. It sent his head reeling, and if he hadn't been tired before, he w
- 64 Felix joined Sophia at the window as she peered down into the courtyard. She pointed at the man in the rich cream-coloured cloak."Is that him?" she asked.Felix nodded. "His excellency Spyropoulos, amba.s.sador of the Eastern Roman Empire."The amba.s.s
- 65 And yet, and yet.She steeled herself at the top of the cellar's steps and gathered her coat around her. The windows were brown and streaked. Above the door was a complicated rope knot, bent and spliced and intertwined. She had no idea what she would find
- 66 Ullmann took the map, turned it this way and that, then folded it into quarters. "Very useful, I'm sure, Master Wess. Thank you.""Are you ready, Master Vulfar?" asked Sophia."More or less, my lady. We have our barge polls and our cargo, Master Ullma
- 67 He slapped his hand hard against the wood and it hardly s.h.i.+vered. "I imagine there are advantages to being able to construct all the parts at ground level. Shouldn't we consider some of the other ... ah ... more experienced craftsmen?""We could. B
- 68 The key was heavy around Felix's neck and cold on his skin, though its weight and temperature were more to do with what it represented than with what it was. Fear and dread, mainly, a constant nagging reminder that they lived in a world where magic was s
- 69 "If I thought it'd do any good, I'd have done it while we were still in sight of Juvavum. As it is, we're going to make the best of it, and do our duty to Carinthia. If that means we have to walk to Simbach with two hundred spears, that's what we'll
- 70 "Come on, you flighty f.u.c.ker. We've been through all sorts of s.h.i.+t together, and I suddenly find that dying out here at the hands of those b.a.s.t.a.r.d dwarves is something I don't want to do. So ignore the horns, forget how steep this is, and
- 71 "Then what happens when Fuchs comes with the rest of his thugs in the morning?"Ullmann reached behind him for a spear-shaft, and held it out for Kehle to take. "If you want to get rid of Fuchs and run these lands as you see fit, now's your chance. If
- 72 "Carinthian?" The wet slap was spit hitting the floor. "Since when did we need Carinthia to dig us up out of the pit we've made for ourselves?""Since our Bavarian neighbours started hiding in Carinthian barns."Bastian had ma.s.sive fists. They look
- 73 Sophia stood up on the stirrups to relieve the pain in her back, then started along the via. The tower was deserted, and close to she could see it was missing some of its limestone dressing, at below head height, the rock having been taken for building.Th
- 74 Tuomanen perched on the bench beside him, then swung her legs over so that she was properly at the table. Her sleeves fell as she steepled her fingers in front of her. Her tattoos, two full forearms of disturbing patterns, were on view. There was a design
- 75 PART 4.Ignite.76.Buber crawled on his belly along the rock slab and looked down. Ennsbruck was a long way below him, caught in the curve of the river just as he'd remembered it: black walls and black roofs, the Enn a black ribbon on the valley floor.He k
- 76 "It'd be more encouraging if he didn't keep on about what superb individual fighters the Germanic tribesmen were in the same breath as decrying their lack of unit cohesion." She took the book from him and found her place again. "He was Roman. The dwa
- 77 "Master Thaler?" said Tuomanen."Sorry. I'm angry. Angry with having been put in this position, of having to design machines that kill rather than ones that save. Everything we do is bent towards war: if it has no military application, we have to put i
- 78 His men would be eating. No reason for him not to. He cut off a round and popped it into his mouth, chewing slowly.Reinhardt put the parchment down with a sigh. "We've trained another two centuries of spears, and two of bows. Juvavum wants to know if we
- 79 "Good afternoon, my lord," she said, loud enough to alert Thaler, but not the deafer Morgenstern. He started to badger Thaler for the next part of the sum.Thaler tapped Morgenstern's arm and raised himself from his stool. "Ah, my lord. Welcome again.
- 80 Sophia almost fell off the tree-trunk. "That ... is a strange reason.""Yes," said Aelinn pointedly. "I know. But that was what she said when I was young, and it's stayed with me. Max, he doesn't sleep well at all.""Is it that he doesn't sleep, o
- 81 "Nothing. Just an idle thought."His head came up, and with it, the bottle he held in his hand. "To Carinthia," he said. "And victory."84.It was always coldest just before dawn, and Felix had s.h.i.+vered himself awake under a pile of blankets. As he
- 82 Then she wrapped the cloth around her shoulders as if it were a shawl. The leopard rose up her spine, paw extended out the way they had to go.She twisted in her saddle as her horse walked slowly out onto the Munchen road, and she appeared to be smiling an
- 83 "Sneaky? My dear lady, it's merely a prudent precaution. There will be casualties, it is quite inevitable, and just as inevitable that some, if they're desperate enough, will want their loved ones to be, how do we say, restored to wellness." He tutted
- 84 Sophia propped herself up against the log with her feet splayed in front of her in the direction of the fire, and accepted the beer from Reinhardt. "So," she said, "why aren't we attacking?"She could hear, rather than see, Buber and Reinhardt look at
- 85 They carried three trees in all, the ends already tied with thick rope, and there were three half-logs too. Buber had eaten crayfish on occasion, and supposed that winkling the dwarves out from under their wagons was going to be as difficult as shucking o
- 86 Felix pulled back his sword-arm, and cut forward. The Sword of Carinthia sliced a dwarf's neck so deep that it separated head from shoulders, and it was done so quickly that he barely felt the impact in his hand. Another strike, slas.h.i.+ng up, blade fl
- 87 Then the spears would be gone, further upslope, and any pursuit would be met with more crossbows from a completely different angle.It could have gone on all day until the last dwarf dropped: it might have surprised Ironmaker as much as it had Buber, but t
- 88 "One bite at a time," she said.Reinhardt scowled. "All credit to you, Master Buber, but we've killed a couple of thousand of them too.""That doesn't matter," said Buber. "They know where you are, and they're coming to kill you. Even if we build
- 89 "You insist? Or what? You'll rid yourself of another troublesome woman?" Her knuckles had turned as white as her face. "A dagger through the ribs maybe?"She lifted the sword-blade away, holding it high."We both have our parts to play, Master Ullmann
- 90 Thaler steadied himself on his stick. "Oh.""He died bravely, charging the foe repeatedly, but ..." he looked down sadly "you'll hear this from others, so I may as well tell you first. The dwarves mounted his head on a pole and carried it in their va
- 91 She leant into him. He was bony and small and uncomfortable, and she didn't care. She was his. He even smelt of home. "What do I do now?"He rumbled deep in his chest. "How about you listen to your old tateh for a while?"She nodded, and he continued.
- 92 Some places were greener than others, though, where the Enn slowed and started to meander as it flowed out onto the plain. The ground was marshy there, and the road north threaded between the river and the hill.He looked closer, and wished for the distanc
- 93 They fired in quick succession, a series of short, sharp concussions that made Thaler's clothes stiffen. Five black specks rose out of the smoke, trailing vapour behind them, marking the arc of their flight. Each soared up into the blue sky, and froze fo
- 94 Their voices had been bludgeoned into silence. Buber wasn't sure he could even speak any more. Nikoleta's flames had been part of her, extending from her body. Thaler's were different: impersonal, chemical, mechanical. Nikoleta had targeted her fury, w
- 95 "And mine," said Tuomanen, unhelpfully. "And his." She pointed at Agathos."G.o.ds, you're all as contrary as each other.""We want to hold our heads up when we get home," said Morgenstern. "No matter what we did here, all they'll remember is a f
- 96 "Neither am I," she said, and she managed to get a wry smile from him, even though he was staring at the toes of his worn boots. "But we do what we have to, Peter.""I wanted to wish you luck. Do you believe in luck?" He scratched the back of his dow
- 97 Then he broke off a dead bit of brush pine root to serve as the base of his firestarter. Near the spring he found a good rock to use as a chopper, and with it cut a straight dead alder branch for his firestick. His fingers were just pliable enough to hold
- 98 "Let's go your lessons will start soon." Scarlet said standing up lending me a hand."Yeah, thanks." I replied taking her hand and standing up."Same time tomorrow???...." Scarlet asked with a giant smile."Sure!!!&quo
- 99 Thankfully he released me giving me a moment of clarity, "sorry I can't do this?" I said pulling my hand away from his.He looked moth open unable to utter a word as I quickly scuttled away. 'What was I thinking....!!! I can't poss
- 100 "Well looks like I'll see you guys at lunch." Morgana bid us farewell as we exited the dining hall."Wait you don't have the same cla.s.s as us?..." I asked."Nope…. I think I'm in the other cla.s.s so our lessons are