Watt-Evans, Lawrence - Annals of the Chosen 01 (59 page)

"There
are
certainly
limits
to
how
many
creatures
he
can control
at
a
time,"
the
Scholar
said,
wiping
his
hands
on
his breeches
as
he
emerged
from
the
gloom
at
the
rear.
"That's been
known
for
centuries.
And
the
larger
the
beast
in
question,
the
stronger
its
will,
the
less
complete
his
control,
and the
fewer
he
can
command.
The
more
aware
a
creature
is, the
more
complex
its
relationship
to
its
environment,
and therefore
the
longer
and
more
complicated
its
true
name
is, the
harder
to
say
correctly
and
the
more
subject
to
change
in the
latter
portions."
He
glanced
down
at
the
dead
squirrels. "These
poor
things
can
scarcely
need
more
than
a
few
syllables
each,
while
as
I'm
sure
you
know,
a
human's
true
name is
almost
endless."

"True
names
can
change?"
Breaker
asked.

"Only
the
later
parts,"
the
Scholar
said.
"Usually,
the
details
are
so
far
in
the
sequence
that
we
don't
consciously know
them
ourselves.
If
the
opening
syllables
changed,
why, then
we
wouldn't
be
us
anymore,
would
we?
We'd
be
someone
else
who
happened
to
bear
some
similarity
to
who
we were.
But
the
later
terms,
a
hundred
or
thousand
syllables in—well,
are
you
precisely
the
same
person
you
were
ten years
ago,
when
you
were
a
child?
No?
Then
how
could
you have
the
same
true
name?
A
true
name
is
what
it
describes, after
all,
and
if
the
thing
changes,
so
must
the
name."

"And
that's
why
the
Wizard
Lord
can't
keep
a
strong
hold on
a
human
being,"
the
Seer
said.
"By
the
time
he's
spoken enough
of
someone's
true
name
to
gain
real
control,
the
very act
of
doing
things
opposed
to
the
victim's
own
will
begins to
alter
the
later
syllables."

"So
he
uses
animals."

"Because
they're
simpler,
and
naturally
more
prone
to
following
their
instincts
or
obeying
commands.
Yes."
The Scholar
nodded.

"How
does
he
know
their
names?"
Breaker
asked.
"Does he
have
some
great
list
he's
memorized?"

"The
Talisman
of
Names,"
the
Seer
said.
"It's
one
of
the eight
Great
Talismans
of
power
that
make
him
the
Wizard Lord,
rather
than
just
another
wizard."

"It's
bound
to
me,"
the
Speaker
said.
"To
my
talisman,
the Talisman
of
Tongues.
It's
why
he
dares
not
slay
me."

"That's
right,"
the
Scholar
said.
"If
she
dies,
the
Talisman of
Tongues
dies
with
her,
and
the
Talisman
of
Names
dies with
it,
and
the
Wizard
Lord
could
learn
no
more
true names."
He
sighed.
"Alas,
he
would
still
remember
every one
he
has
learned
so
far,
as
he
has
the
Talisman
of
Memory, which
is
bound
to
my
own
Talisman
of
Truth."

"This
is
all
very
interesting,"
the
Leader
said,
"but
I
don't think
we
need
a
lesson
in
the
history
of
magic
right
now.
I think
we
would
do
better
to
get
moving—I
believe
Sword and
I
have
opened
enough
of
a
path."