In 1972 Amsterdam a 16 year-old American girl (we never do learn her name)
lives with her diplomat father and housekeeper. One day
she finds an ancient and mysterious book in her father's library. The book's pages are blank, except for
a vivid woodcut of a dragon with the word "Drakulya" written below it. Tucked inside
the book are a packet of letters cryptically addressed to "My dear and unfortunate
successor." When the girl asks her father Paul about the book, he looks terrified
and won't talk about it. Eventually, he does tell her the story, bit by bit
as they travel across Europe for his job. The story alternates between Paul's adventures
in the 1950's when as a young scholar the book mysteriously appeared in
his study carrel, and the current day when our heroine sets off on a search for her
missing father. Paul's story of his youth is also of a quest: to find his missing mentor, Professor
Rossi, who also was in possession of one of the mysterious Drakulya books.
Before he disappeared, Professor Rossi told Paul that he believed that Vlad Tepes, Dracula himself, is still alive. He posited that Bram Stoker's Dracula was based on the historical Vlad Tepes (better known as Vlad the Impaler) who ruled as a Prince of Wallachia in
the mid-15th century. Known for his brutal wars against the invading Ottomans,
Vlad Tepes is still hated and feared in that part of the world. And no one seems exactly
sure where his body is buried.
For over 4,000 years the people of the realm of Myrillia have enjoyed peace and
prosperity under the governance of 100 gods and goddesses, who appeared
after the Sundering when their own land was destroyed in a terrible
cataclysm. Each of the Nine Lands is ruled by a god who is tied to the land
he rules, those who are not
tied to the land are Rogues who eventually go mad. Gods are blessed
with Grace, a powerful magic that is found in all of their bodily humours which
handmaids collect daily. Tylar de Noche was once a valued part of this
hierarchy. He was a Shadowknight of the realm, one of the elite. But
a terrible betrayal by the one he loved most saw him falsely convicted
of a crime and sent into slavery. He won his freedom, but his body is
crippled and his mind is weary. When he sees the benevolent goddess
Meeryn murdered by a monstrous creature not of this world, he is labeled
the Godslayer by the Shadowknights that arrive on the scene.
Before she died, Merryn bestowed Grace on Tylar and sends him on
a crucial quest. Healed in body, but not in mind, Tylar does manage to escape
his prisoners with the help of a thief named Rogger and Merryn's former
handmaid, Delia. Tylar sets out to find out the meaning of the goddess' enigmatic
last words and to clear his name. His path will eventually cross that of the young girl
Dart, who was raised to be a god's handmaid. But Dart has a secret of her
own, a secret that could change the course of the realm.
Return to the July 2005 issue of The IWJ.