Crimson Talon
-The Alphas of the Uruk Dominion-
Alpha Slavos, the Founder
Alpha Cerberus, the Builder
Alpha Spartacus, the Immortal
Alpha Argus, the Mad
Alpha Kaga, the Beastly
Alpha Herkules, the Forgotten
Alpha Heinz, the Un-Uruk
Alpha Theseus, the Merciless
Alpha Seleukos, the Malevolent
Alpha Zolton, the One-Day Alpha
Alpha Argu, the One-Week Alpha
Alpha Attila, the Mad
Alpha Hector, the Unknown
Alpha Sten, the Deceiver
-The Hadessar-
Slavos Hades, the First Alpha
Cerberus Hades, his son, known as the Builder
Sulla Hades, brother of Cerberus, founder of the Dynastry
Spartacus Hades, son of Sulla, known as the Immortal, twice Alpha
Arcadius the Saint, son of Spartacus
Traianus the Noble Savage, married to Medusa, sister to Spartacus
Cerberus Fulk, adopted son of Traianus
Heididrudis Hades, daughter of Spartacus, married to Kaokan of the Sycorax
Atlas Cerberus, her son
Wilelda Hades, daugther of Heididrudis, married to Claudius Oddus
Their children, Eothese, Dragos and Demuth Hades
Argus Hades, the Mad, son of Spartacus, married Vespa of Avalon, the Alpha Widow
Gennadius Hades, son of Spartacus, poisoned by Cerberus Fulk
Xenos and Fulk Hades, twins, missing
Zoranna Hades, their mother, burned alive
Draganos Hades, her husband
Fay Hades, married Heinz Guderian, Faustian General
Sten Volchok, her son, the future Alpha
Sundak Hades, son of Gennadius, last of the Hadessa
-The Rest-
Geru of the Saint's Chosen
Ullon the Unworthy
Branwen O'Neill, Queen of Verstov
Kubadai Achilleus
Philipp of Austria
High Shaman
Frederick Mercurio Hendrix, Grand Inquisitor
The Oneshin Clan
Divinus, First Captain of the Guard
Primeiro Menendus, King of Hispanics
Eric Blake, Commodore, Lord of Storm, last of the Greystokes
Ulrich the Squid, a pirate
Toby the Trickster, a pirate
Vane the Mad, Mordred knight
Adaluin the Fair, Mordred knight
Skane the Scarred, Mordred knight
Gurian the Cold, Mordred knight
The Faceless, Mordred knight
Karl Gustav, the Faustian spy
Strabo, Dominion investigator
Severus, his human assistant
Octreomus, priest of Callisto
The Athawolf Twins
Toke One-Eye of Demos
Gotz the Uruk Gan
Callista
PROLOGUE
'Ha, so much for their Constant Empire!'
-Sulla Hades after the fall of Constantium
The city was quiet and the skies darkened by the nearby storm when we arrived. There was no news coming from the front so I thought I should pay my uncle a visit. After all, we did had much catching up to do.
The Council Chambers seemed deserted, hardly any slaves about. My uncle liked a tight household that wouldn't get in his way while he managed his affairs. The old warrior had a temper but I wasn't afraid of that, I knew he'd be glad to see me.
I found him by the fireplace, watching the flames and lost in thought.
'Uncle, I have returned.'
His face, always so severe, imprinted with the strictness of a Spartan lifestyle, lit up at once when he laid eyes on me.
'Callisto's mercy, boy! How you've grown!'
We locked arms and he offered me a place near the fire, as was custom.
'For a moment there, I thought I was seeing Tiberius in the flesh! You are the spitting image of him.'
I never knew my father. He died in a faraway land, before I was born. My uncle tells me he was a great warrior. Tiberius the Noble Savage they called him.
'How fares our valiant army?'
My uncle sniggered.
'Valiant? Bah! I tell you, boy, the Ten Companies, now those were brave soldiers! We will never see their like again!'
It was just like him to wax poetically on long, lost glories. A slave brought us wine. I gazed at my reflection in the cup. How much of my father still lives in me?
'I know the warriors of today do not outshine their deeds, but they fight long and hard, just as our ancestors once did. We control the steppe. New settlements fall to us each season.'
'Taking a settlement and renaming it does not make you a good general. It is what you do with it afterwards, that matters. Tell me, what use are conquests which cannot be held?'
To this, I had little to say. He has seen countless battles in his lifetime, I was sure of it, so a novice's opinion was the last thing he needed.
'We have learned new tactics.'
'New tactics? Ha!'
He let loose another sound of contempt.
'Using cavalry and archers is not our way of war. You know this as well as I. It wasn't our way during the time of the Ten Companies and it sure as Hades won't be now. Look at what that miscreant Theseus does in Uzg Kalus *! He simply sits there, on a bridge somewhere, with his rockets and waits for the enemy to come to him!'
I kept my silence as it was suitable during such times. Slowly, my uncle's wrath subsided.
'Come boy, I want to show you something.'
He took me to the cellar. There, amongst casks of wine and slabs of pork, adorning the curved ceiling were the heads of former enemies, taken on the battlefield as it was just.
'I know your trophies, uncle, I've seen them as a child.'
'Look down, youngling.'
Under our feet there was purple, the color of Imperial might. A big golden I adorned the rug, reigning in the middle of the room. The dust has settled,, in a thin layer but the incrustations were still visible. I recognized it for what it once was.
'You see this? An entire city burned for this thing.'
The words came out of my mouth as fast as the wind.
'The Banner of the First Legion. The flag under which the Romuli conquered the world!'
'Aye, the standard of their glorious legions. It rots here, in a wine cellar. That's how far glory goes.'
His face showed anger in a way I've never seen before or since.
'This rug is their national treasure. I took it with these two hands and now it follows me every way I go. My son died for it though.'
I knew of Votan's death during the siege. That was the first time my uncle mentioned it to me.
'My glory seeking days are over. The Alpha can kiss my arse. I have given him a son, I will not give him another one.'
Last I heard of my cousin Traianus he was heading up to sea. At least there were no sieges in his near future.
'Aye, these are strange times we're living in. We are being led by numbskulls and turncoats. Men who would sell their own swords to whomever pays the more. Upturned mercenaries, that's all they are, my boy!'
This was dangerous talk, I was aware of it. My uncle was known to be envious of the heir in the circles I frequented.
'An Alpha is an Alpha, uncle. Real leaders must be obeyed.'
That was all I had to say. All I could say, actually.
'Real leaders, you say? Seleukos, that mongrel was as Alpha as my piss!'
The fury was upon him once more.
'He stayed at home when my brother was killing humans on distant shores! The only way he got to be Alpha was because he was my brother... your uncle's second-in-command!'
My late uncle Spartacus was next in line for the throne when he was slain in battle shortly after landing in Ibelica. That was when we found out javelins could kill us.
'And who came next?! Do not dare mention that name in this house! The scum was a lieutenant of Seleukos just like Seleukos was a lieutenant to Spartacus! That's how he got the throne! The only good thing Alpha Herkules ever did was to die. And at the hands of the Romuli, nonetheless. He was so unfit to be Alpha that they didn't even gave him the short sword!'
Now I knew the rumors about my uncle were true. He really hated the heirs.
'And now?! What do we have now? A filthy human with the Rudis in his hand, sitting on the throne of Demos. Slavos must be turning in his grave!'
Just then, a Bodyguard came down the stairs, with an urgent message.
'Sire' he growled ' there are two Romuli armies approaching from the West.'
To this, my uncle grinned.
'Ah, these must be my good friends, Petros Varros and Marius Augustus. The remnants of a crumbling empire.'
I was eager for battle and he sensed it.
'Listen to me boy!'
My uncle grabbed my head with both his palms.
'You must leave before they get here.'
I felt enraged by this shameful display.
'Why, uncle? I can fight, you know I can!'
'I know, son, I know but you are far too important for us to waste. Don't you see? The family name must live on! In your veins runs the blood of Cerberus, don't ever forget that! No usurper may take that away from you. Unless you offer them your head. Now go, take to the woods. The Romuli won't follow you there. They take a liking to neatly paved roads and high bridges where they think themselves safe.'
A huge, dark-skinned Uruk Bodyguard was waiting outside to escort me. My uncle had one last thing to say.
'Time to deal with these dogs and help them die for their Emperor, who's one of us, if you didn't know.'
That sentence shattered my world.
'You're joking, uncle.'
'I wish I was, son. His name was Vaclav and he was stationed in a fort near the eastern border when he decided to run away with a Romuli princess. Imagine that: marrying into a dying dinasty! That's about as daft as they come! '
Even the Bodyguard was sniggering at this point. But my uncle wasn't finished.
'There's a bright side to that story. Actually, if you think about it, somewhere in that Imperial Palace there's an Uruk being served and treated like a god by all those Romuli, all the while he does his best to besmirch their imperial bloodline forever! Now there's something to drink about!'
And drink we did. We drank for Vaclav Caesar.
* Uzg Kalus- Land of Archers (in Tolkien's Black Speech)