A summary of "The Wind Seekers" by Alexey Pekhov Automatic translate

The novel, created in 2005, opens a sweeping story about the world of Khara, meticulously chronicling the beginning of a brutal war between the Empire and a coalition of southern kingdoms using necromancy. In 2006, the work won the Silver Caduceus Award at the Star Bridge festival. This text begins the "Wind and Sparks" series and is the first book in a cycle that continues with the novels "Wormwood Wind," "Wind Reapers," and "Spark and Wind."

The Fall of the Gate and the Flight to the North

Imperial Guard Luka’s vigil is interrupted by an attack on the Gate of the Six Towers. A beggar woman from a cart sheds her disguise, revealing herself to be a powerful Forsworn named Cor. She uses Death magic to destroy the citadel’s stonework. The resulting breach lets in Nabathar cavalry, Sdis mages, and artificially created undead — the Morts. The fortress falls.

Scout Ga-nor of the northern Irbis clan discovers an ambush by sorcerers. The squad escapes through the ruins of the ancient city of Gerka. On a mountain path, they encounter a necromantic creation — a kamikaze golem, filled with thousands of steel scales. The explosion kills Ga-nor’s companions and sends the red-haired warrior plummeting into the abyss. Clinging to a mountain ocean bush, he survives, climbs to the plateau, and reaches the ruined Gate. Disguised in Nabator armor, the scout breaks through the enemy lines.

In the remote village of Pyosya Travka, former assassins Alsgara Ness, nicknamed the Gray, and his wife Laen, known as Weasel, are hiding. For years, they posed as the carpenter Pars and his wife, Ann. Their peace is disturbed by former partners Knut, Gnus, and Bamut, accompanied by the young healer Shen. The Giyans report that the city’s lord, Yoh Threefingers, has offered a reward of ten thousand soren for the Gray’s death. Laen possesses a hidden Gift that none of the Seekers have been able to recognize.

In the forests, Ga-nor rescues the fugitive guard Luka from the undead. The men unite, moving west through the thicket. Near a hunting lodge, they kill the Soulburner, a fearsome marksman from a wingless race.

Magical Clash

Nabator’s army occupies the village. The necromancer arrives and interrogates Laen, leaving guards around her house. The assassins kill the guards. Laen picks up the abandoned Sdis hilss, a magical staff, and crushes the golems to dust.

The Cursed Tia enters the village with her guards. Detecting a surge of power, she attacks Laen, binding her with purple fetters. The healer, Shen, unexpectedly intercepts the staff. The young man reveals himself to be the bearer of the rare Gift of Healer. The clash of Life and Death magic produces a blinding spear of light, burning through the Cursed One’s defenses. Ness finishes off Tia with arrows. The spirit of the slain sorceress displaces the soul of the local idiot, Pork, and takes over his body.

In the form of a mentally disabled shepherd, Tia communicates through water mirrors with her Dark Rebellion brothers and sisters, Rowan and Talki. She learns that the Walkers have found information in the library about the Sculptor’s journal hidden in Alsgar. The manuscript contains knowledge about activating ancient portals. Rowan leads an army to the capital to retrieve this book. Leprosy orders Tia to bring Shen to her alive.

Swamps and dead cities

Ness, Laen, the healer, and the Ghiyans make their way through the forests. Ga-nor and Luk join them. On a swampy road, the party is attacked by giant, venomous amphibious spiders called swords. Ness shoots the female with her bow, and Ga-nor cuts off the male’s stinger. That night, Gnus and Bamut plan to poison Gray with hairwort juice to collect the reward. Ness and Shen forestall the conspirators, killing the traitors in cold blood.

On the road to Alsgar, the heroes come across the town of Dabb’s Bald. The settlement is overrun with the undead. Ness and the messenger Ghis fight their way through the hordes of undead on horseback. In the chaos of the night’s flight, Shen falls behind and gets lost in the labyrinthine alleys. Ghis reveals himself to be the Magister of the Scarlet Order, a specialist in demonology. In the fields, Tia, in Pork’s body, attacks them, but the Magister paralyzes her with a ruby staff. Ness and Ghis ride away, leaving the Forsworn in the mud.

In Dabb’s Plesha, Tia destroys the undead. The spirit of the ancient sorceress absorbs the remnants of their magic, partially restoring her own shattered power.

Return to the capital

Arriving in Alsgar, Ness discovers he’s being followed. He lures the bounty hunter into a dead end in the Fishermen’s Quarters, chops off his fingers, and discovers the chase was a fluke. Laen and Ness visit old companions: the winged Ye’arre woman, Iuola, and the stooped swamp blazg, Ktathak. Iuola casts divination cards, yielding an impossible reading of five "Deaths" and a forgotten "Thief." Ktathak hands Ness the composite bow and returns the money he saved.

The fugitives meet with the head of the assassins’ guild, Mols, and her deputy, Stump. Mols gives the couple the plans for Yoh Threefingers’ mansion and a diagram of the underground tunnels dug by the Sculptor to divert the river. They hire the phlegmatic thief Garrett to pick the highly complex locks. Before the operation, Ness is attacked by four Ghiyaan liquidators sent by Stump to cover their tracks. Ness shoots Gray, kills Freckles, and throws the winged archer, Yakan, off the roof. Laen shoots Marna with a crossbow.

Murder and the Finale

That night, Ness, Laen, and Garrett infiltrate the dungeons. The thief picks the trapdoor, shaped like a Morassian dog’s mouth with poisoned springs. Garrett leaves, refusing to participate in the massacre. Ness and Laen go up to Threefingers’ bedroom. Gray fires an arrow straight into Yoh’s heart.

The way back is blocked by northerners of the Irbis clan, serving as guards. In the ensuing fight, Ness receives a severe wound to the thigh. Laen slits the throat of one of the fighters with a blade hidden in his sleeve.

The bleeding archer and his wife retreat into the tunnels. Lost in the depths of the rock, they discover a heptagonal, rose-colored chamber. Seven curved stone fangs emerge from the floor, forming a flower. Laen realizes that before them lies the dormant Petal of the Path, created by the Sculptor a millennium ago. It cannot be activated; its magic is sealed forever.

Having escaped to the wine cellar through a secret passage, the heroes are ambushed. Stump has revealed their location to the authorities. Laen is shackled in Gift-suppressing cuffs. The surviving healer, Shen, leads the capture. A silver flame is embroidered on his black jacket — a sign of his affiliation with the Tower of Walkers. The healer freezes Ness’s wound, completely knitting the torn flesh. He explains that he accompanied the Ghiyans on Mother’s orders to determine the level of Laen’s power and bring her back alive. The bound husband and wife are loaded into closed carriages. Under escort of armed guards, they are taken to the impregnable, colossal Tower of Walkers.