Time's Demon Read online

  PRAISE FOR D B JACKSON

  “Jackson creates two fascinating worlds that coalesce seamlessly into an un-put-downable fantasy narrative and seem likely to lead to an exciting sequel.”

  Publishers Weekly, starred review of Time’s Children

  “If you love books that mix tropes of sci-fi and fantasy with abandon, make time for this one.”

  B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

  “Intricate plotting, innovative world building, and characters who grab your heart and refuse to let go.”

  Faith Hunter, New York Times Bestselling author of the Jane Yellowrock and Soulwood series

  “Jackson has a deft touch with characterisation. The two young protagonists are very relatable and recognisably young adults. Even their main antagonist, the assassin, feels like a well-rounded professional… Time’s Children is a compelling novel, enjoyable and fun. I’ll be looking out for the sequel.”

  Locus Magazine

  “Time’s Children is a tour-de-force, setting a fascinating tale of magic and intrigue amidst aworld filled with dark corners and creatures who are not to be trusted.”

  Reviews and Robots

  “Time’s Children is both an epic and personal fantasy novel that is awonderful series starter and introduction to a very original fantasy milieu. I’m slotting this on mybest of the year list...” SFFWorld

  BY THE SAME AUTHOR

  THE ISLEVALE CYCLE

  Time’s Children

  THE THIEFTAKER CHRONICLES

  Thieftaker

  Thieves’ Quarry

  A Plunder of Souls

  Dead Man’s Reach

  Tales of the Thieftaker

  AND WRITING AS DAVID B COE

  THE CASE FILES OF JUSTIS FEARSSON

  Spell Blind

  His Father’s Eyes

  Shadow’s Blade

  LONTOBYN CHRONICLE

  Children of Amarid

  The Outlanders

  Eagle-Sage

  FORELANDS UNIVERSE: WINDS OF THE FORELANDS

  Rules of Ascension

  Seeds of Betrayal

  Bonds of Vengeance

  Shapers of Darkness

  Weavers of War

  FORELANDS UNIVERSE: BLOOD OF THE SOUTHLANDS

  The Sorcerer’s Plague

  The Horsemen’s Gambit

  The Dark-Eyes’ War

  D B JACKSON

  TIME’S DEMON

  BOOK II OF THE ISLEVALE CYCLE

  For Bill and Joan Berner.

  This is a story about family.

  Thank you for making me part of yours.

  WHAT HAS COME BEFORE:

  A SUMMARY OF TIME’S CHILDREN

  Tobias Doljan, a Walker, born with the ability to journey back through time, is summoned from the Travelers’ Palace in Windhome, where he has lived since he was a boy, to the court of Sovereign Mearlan IV on the island of Daerjen.

  The chancellor of the palace arranges passage for him to the royal city of Hayncalde aboard a merchant ship captained by Seris Larr. The night before he sails, his friend Mara, who is a Spanner, capable of crossing great distances in mere moments, speaks of wanting to follow him to Daerjen and then kisses him passionately before fleeing to the girls’ dormitory.

  Droë, a Tirribin, has been watching. She tells Tobias that she finds the girl distasteful. Tirribin, or time demons, appear as children, but are lethal predators who feed on human years and live for centuries. Because Walkers’ years are tainted by journeys through time, time demons do not prey on them. Droë and Tobias have developed an awkward friendship. But when Droë threatens to feed on Mara’s years, Tobias forbids her to do so, despite being powerless to stop her. They argue, and part on poor terms.

  Tobias’s interactions with Mara and Droë are observed by a Belvora, a winged demon that has been sent to kill Tobias. The following morning, as a palace master escorts Tobias to the waiting ship, the Belvora attacks. Another master intervenes and saves Tobias’s life. The master who was to accompany him is killed.

  Grieving, fearing for his life, Tobias sails for Daerjen. During the voyage, Captain Larr offers him employment on her ship. She has long wanted a Walker in her crew, and she promises to secure for him a chronofor, the golden, watch-like device Walkers use to facilitate their magick. Tobias politely refuses.

  Quinnel Orzili, and his beloved wife, Lenna, are Travelers, he a Spanner, she a Walker. They are also assassins employed by Pemin, the autarch of Oaqamar. Orzili Spans to Pemin’s court to inform him that the Belvora has failed to kill the young Walker. Pemin orders Orzili to kill the boy when he reaches Daerjen. Failing that, Lenna is to Walk back through time and kill him in the past. Whatever the cost, he wants the boy dead.

  Tobias reaches Daerjen, which is at war with Oaqamar, as well as with Westisle privateers, and is taken to meet the sovereign. During their initial conversation, Tobias confirms for Mearlan the essential truth of Walking: for every day he journeys through time, he ages that amount. The sovereign reveals in turn that Daerjen’s wars go poorly.

  That night, Tobias is feted at a banquet. He meets Mearlan’s beautiful daughter, Sofya, who is about his age. He also meets Mearlan’s charming Minister of State, Gillian Ainfor. After the banquet, Tobias retires, only to be awakened by warning bells tolling in the castle courtyard. Assassins have infiltrated the castle and are hunting for Tobias. He Walks back in time to warn others. The assassins are killed, though not before revealing that they are Spanners, once trained in Windhome. Someone doesn’t wish for Mearlan to use his new Walker.

  The next day, the sovereign admits that he wants Tobias to Walk back fourteen years to warn a younger version of himself against beginning Daerjen’s ill-fated wars. This time, Tobias’s passage through the between nearly proves fatal. Still, he reaches that distant past, now appearing to be a man of nearly thirty years, and delivers his warning to the younger Mearlan.

  Pemin is incensed by the failure of the second attempt on Tobias’s life. He orders Orzili to send Lenna back to kill the boy. Orzili is reluctant. When he and Lenna learn how far back she must Walk, that reluctance turns to grief. Having no choice in the matter, she Walks back after the boy. Upon arriving in the past, she finds the younger Orzili and enlists his aid in tracking down Mearlan’s Walker.

  During Tobias’s first evening in the past, he encounters several intruders in a castle courtyard. They carry golden devices that resemble Bound sextants like those used by Spanners. Before Tobias or nearby guards can question them, they vanish.

  Tobias sups with the sovereign and his family, including Princess Sofya, who is an infant in this time. During the meal, assassins attack the castle, killing all of Mearlan’s family and ministers except Tobias and Sofya. Tobias fights his way free and spirits the princess away from the castle. During the fight, his chronofor is broken.

  He cannot Walk to another time until he replaces or repairs it. He realizes that the assassins Traveled like Spanners, but did so clothed and bearing weapons, which shouldn’t be possible.

  He and Sofya are alone in the streets of Hayncalde. The castle has been taken by soldiers of Sheraigh, Hayncalde’s bitter rival. And Tobias is helpless to do more than hide himself and the child.

  Back at the Travelers’ Palace in Windhome, Mara wakes sensing that something with the world is not right. And, indeed, the palace is a bleaker place, patrolled now by dour soldiers of Oaqamar and Belvora demons. A different set of wars rage throughout Islevale. Spanners and Crossers are now the most valued Travelers; using what are called “tri- devices,” modified sextants and apertures, Spanners and Crossers can now Travel in groups, clothed and armed.

  Mara takes these changes for granted, because for her, in this future, they are the norm. But that night, when confronted by the Tirribin, Droë,
she begins to understand that her perception of disruption is rooted in her nascent time sense. She is a Spanner, but she also possesses abilities common to Walkers. Droë confirms that the world has changed, and says these changes are tied to Tobias. Mara, in this new “misfuture,” has no memory of Tobias. Droë tells her that she and the boy were friends and more.

  Mara shares what she has learned from the Tirribin with Wansi Tovorl, the palace Binder. Wansi gives Mara a chronofor and has her Walk back in time a single bell. Mara is able to do this, despite the harsh effects of the between. She begins to practice Walking, honing her skills as she contemplates going back in time to find Tobias. She is intimidated by the prospect of such a lengthy Walk, but after their Oaqamaran masters viciously punish a friend for a minor offense, she resolves to make the journey.

  Droë has feelings for Tobias as well. Romances between Tirribin and humans are rare, but she doesn’t care. Though jealous of Mara, she believes the girl can help her find Tobias and correct the misfuture, which is like a poison to her.

  The morning after Mearlan’s assassination, Tobias and Sofya are nearly discovered by Sheraigh soldiers conducting house-to-house searches. The pair are taken in by an older couple, Jivv and Elinor, who remain loyal to House Hayncalde. They shelter the fugitives and treat Tobias’s injuries. The Sheraighs have placed a bounty on them, and that night Tobias is forced to chase and kill a young man who has discovered where they are. After killing the lad, he encounters Teelo and Maeli, brother and sister Tirribin, who sense that he is a Walker and befriend him.

  Knowing that they cannot remain hidden for long, Tobias ventures to the city’s Temple of Sipar, hoping servants of the God will help him and the princess. Orzili captures him there, takes him to the castle dungeon, and tortures him, in the hopes of learning Sofya’s whereabouts.

  Elinor goes to the temple, intending to find Tobias or enlist the aid of the God’s servants. Using a system of ancient tunnels beneath the city, agents of the sanctuary free Tobias, return him to the temple, and heal his wounds. The high priestess arranges passage for Tobias and Sofya aboard a temple ship, despite a Sheraigh blockade of Hayncalde’s wharves. An agent of the temple escorts them to the pier, but assassins murder the woman and attack Tobias and Sofya. With help from Teelo and Maeli, Tobias kills their assailants, though not before the ship sails without them. The Tirribin take Tobias and Sofya to the Notch, a shadow city located along the shoreline. Tobias and Sofya find shelter in a boarding house, under assumed names.

  Back in Windhome, Mara prepares to journey back in time and across the sea to Daerjen. Droë helps her, but remains jealous of Mara, and envies her the chance to find Tobias. With Wansi’s aid, Mara Walks back in time in increments. The between is brutal, and she barely makes it through. Once in the past, she seeks out Droë, who confirms that she is in the correct time, and that the misfuture has begun, though only barely. Mara then undertakes the long Span to Daerjen.

  After speaking with Mara in this past, Droë is intrigued by the idea that she might love this Tobias, whom she has yet to meet. She seeks out Tresz, a Shonla, or mist demon, who carries her away from Windhome toward Daerjen. Droë tells Tresz that she searches for the Walker, but does not reveal that she wishes to change her very nature, to take grown-up form and make herself a rival to Mara for Tobias’s affection.

  Mara reaches Daerjen and seeks shelter in the same Sanctuary that gave aid to Tobias. The priestess marks her as another Traveler and tells her of Tobias’s disappearance and the murder of the temple woman who accompanied him. The priestess does not know Tobias’s fate, but she sends Mara to find someone who might.

  This turns out to be Gillian Ainfor, who survived the assassination of Mearlan. She takes Mara to a shelter in the Notch, arriving there as the Binder Bexler Filt, her husband in this time, slips a tri-Sextant into hiding. Mara recognizes the device, prompting Gillian to knock her unconscious. When Mara wakes, bound in the back of the shelter, she realizes that Gillian and Filt have betrayed the sovereign and hope to use her as bait to lure Tobias and the princess.

  While exploring the Notch, Tobias encounters Seers who warn him of impending danger. Teelo and Maeli do the same. The Tirribin summon an Arrokad demon for him. The Arrokad, Ujie, is distractingly beautiful and dangerous. She agrees to help Tobias in the future, for a price: an undetermined boon.

  The next day, Tobias is approached by Gillian. Relieved and delighted to find her alive, he follows her to her shelter, where she and Filt turn weapons on him and demand to be taken to the princess. Tobias refuses. With help from Mara, he overpowers and disarms his would-be captors. Gillian escapes; they tie-up Filt. Tobias and Mara hurry to the boarding house, gather Sofya, and flee. But Gillian has managed to alert Orzili and his Sheraigh allies to Tobias’s whereabouts. Soldiers converge on the Notch.

  With help from the Seers, Tobias and Mara escape the Notch and hurry to an expanse of shore where they hope to gain passage on a ship leaving Daerjen. As they flee, however, they are found by Orzili and his trained assassins. In the ensuing battle, Mara and Tobias fight off their attackers. Orzili is forced to run, though not before shooting Tobias and nearly killing Sofya.

  Tobias survives, and on the strand he finds, to his amazement, a younger Seris Larr, the captain who transported him from Windhome to Daerjen. She agrees to carry Tobias, Mara, and Sofya from Daerjen. As book I ends, they sail from the isle, knowing that Orzili and Sheraigh forces are hunting for them.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1: 12th day of Sipar’s Ascent, Year 615

  CHAPTER 2: 13th day of Sipar’s Ascent, Year 615

  CHAPTER 3: 27th Day of Sipar’s Waking, Year 616

  CHAPTER 4: Kheraya’s Emergence, Year 634

  CHAPTER 5: 5th day of Kheraya’s Stirring, year 634

  CHAPTER 6: 6th day of Kheraya’s Stirring, year 634

  CHAPTER 7: 18th Day of Kheraya’s Waking, Year 634

  CHAPTER 8: 23rd Day of Kheraya’s Waking, Year 634

  CHAPTER 9: Kheraya Ascendant, Year 634

  CHAPTER 10: Kheraya Ascendant, Year 634

  CHAPTER 11: 5th Day of Kheraya’s Descent, Year 634

  CHAPTER 12: 12th Day of Sipar’s Waking, Year 618

  CHAPTER 13: 13th Day of Sipar’s Waking, Year 618

  CHAPTER 14: 3rd Day of Sipar’s Ascent, Year 618

  CHAPTER 15: 24th day of Sipar’s Descent, Year 618

  CHAPTER 16: 24th day of Sipar’s Settling, year 633

  CHAPTER 17: 24th day of Sipar’s Settling, year 633

  CHAPTER 18: 24th day of Sipar’s Settling, year 633

  CHAPTER 19: 23rd Day of Kheraya’s Waking, Year 634

  CHAPTER 20: 20th Day of Kheraya’s Ascent, Year 634

  CHAPTER 21: 4th Day of Kheraya’s Descent, Year 634

  CHAPTER 22: 3rd Day of Kheraya’s Fading, Year 634

  CHAPTER 23: 18th Day of Kheraya’s Descent, Year 634

  CHAPTER 24: 25th Day of Kheraya’s Descent, Year 634

  CHAPTER 25: 25th Day of Kheraya’s Descent, Year 634

  CHAPTER 26: 17th day of Sipar’s Fading, Year 618

  CHAPTER 27: 28th day of Kheraya’s Fading, Year 619

  CHAPTER 28: 30th day of Kheraya’s Descent, Year 634

  CHAPTER 29: 2nd Day of Kheraya’s Fading, Year 634

  CHAPTER 30: 3rd Day of Kheraya’s Fading, Year 634

  CHAPTER 31: 20th Day of Kheraya’s Fading, Year 634

  CHAPTER 32: 20th Day of Kheraya’s Fading, Year 634

  CHAPTER 33: 18th Day of Kheraya’s Settling, Year 634

  CHAPTER 34: 18th Day of Kheraya’s Settling, Year 634

  CHAPTER 35: 18th Day of Kheraya’s Settling, Year 634

  Glossary of Terms

  Acknowledgments

  About The Author

  CHAPTER 1

  12th day of Sipar’s Ascent, Year 615

  His memories of the first day were blurred by tears, distorted by fatigue, darkened by fear and homesickness and the surety that he would never belo
ng.

  He was tall for his age, gangly, awkward, and yet everything he saw – the gates through which he passed, the refectory in which he first encountered others of his kind, the keep in which he would sleep for years to come – made him feel small, insignificant. He was also old, at least for a fingerling, as new novitiates were called. His father, dispassionate to the last, assured him that this would make his transition easier. One final lie.

  That first night, after the evening meal, which Cresten barely touched, an older boy confronted him in the middle courtyard. The boy was two hands taller, and broader as well. A dozen other novitiates stood with him, leering, predatory eyes glinting with torchfire.

  “New boy. Big baby. You get lost on the way here? You wander in circles for five years?”

  Cresten toed the grass. “We didn’t know–”

  “What’s that? I can’t hear you.”

  He looked up. “We didn’t know I was a Spanner,” he said in a raised voice. “Not until recently.”

  “You shouting at me? That what you’re doing?”

  “You said you couldn’t hear–”

  The boy shoved him with both hands. Cresten stumbled back a step, and fell onto his bottom. The others laughed. The boy stared, daring him to get up. He did.

  “You need to learn manners, fingerling.”

  He knew better than to run or cry for help. Either would only delay the inevitable.

  The only way past is through, his father often said. Wisdom he offered in place of affection. Cresten had always hated his aphorisms. But he heard this one in his father’s voice, and knew it for truth.

  “Maybe. There anyone here smart enough to teach them to me?”

  That was all it took. The boy lashed out with a closed fist, his blow catching Cresten square in the face. Cresten staggered, fell again, tasting blood, feeling it flow from his nose. His eyes stung and he willed himself not to cry.

  The boy loomed over him, goaded by the cheers of his friends. He kicked Cresten in the side. Cresten gasped, retched. This time he couldn’t keep tears from falling.

  “What’s all this?”