Pavanne Over the Sea of Time

Untersturmführer Alevich Sisegi comits suicide on Earth: Little does he know that this is not the end.

As the Dreki, G'nalish, he uses every trick in the book to become Emperor of the Dreksverjar Civilisation.

The resultant conflict with the Dwarves is played out over millennia amongst all the magical races on Svartalfheim.

However, the story begins thousands of years earlier, tracing the rise and fall of

Dreksverjar Civilisation itself

Extract

He smiled to himself as he went along the corridor to the technician’s quarters. This was easy, the place was deserted. He looted one stash and he was just about to go for another when he heard the noises of battle change. There was machine gun fire in the halls above his head and he caught the sound of foreign voices. He hid in a closet. Then he couldn’t believe his ears; one of the voices was a woman’s
“In here, Tom, there might be a way to the upper floors,” the female voice said in English
“There’s someone there,” a man’s voice said and there was the sound of a scuffle, “It looks like one of the kitchen maids, Jane.” Alevich wondered why the maid hadn’t fled, she was babbling away pleading not to be killed.

Then the Englishwoman’s voice said “Beruhige dich bitte. Wir werden dich nicht verletzen.” The accent was definitely English, she went on, “Ich suche der Direktor.” The kitchen maid almost screamed the words, “Da Oben.”
Alevich heard the sound of footsteps rushing away and he waited a few seconds before emerging. So, the raiders had prevailed and had reached the castle, but Alevich knew that Plintz would have a backup plan. He’d probably go for reinforcements from the panzer division just down the road. That meant the raiders would have to do what they had to and then get out quick. Alevich smiled, he could loot anything with impunity now; the raiders would get the blame. He crossed corridors until he came to the main laboratory. Sure enough it was also deserted. However, there were enemies nearby and he needed to be prepared in case they tried to interfere with his plans. He looked around and saw a luger and a box of ammunition sat on the corner of a bench and stuffed them into his pocket.

There were also crystals arranged in neat rows along other benches and he found a discarded canvas bag and started scooping handfuls into it. It would be close but he reckoned that he could make it out before the panzers arrived. He was pulling the drawstring tight on the bag when he heard an ominous wailing sound.

All the doors slammed shut and a hum arose in the air. The main generators were firing up. It wasn’t just the usual two or three but all of them, even the backups. He ran over to the door and pulled but it wouldn’t budge. There was another door at the end of the lab, he rushed over to that one but he found that it was so hot that it had welded itself shut. He could smell ozone and he could taste electricity in the air. He held up his hands and saw that sparks were running along and between his fingers. His brain felt odd and he could see purple and yellow blotches appearing on the back of his eyelids. In desperation he crawled beneath a table as dancing fire played across the floor and ceiling. He’d always been afraid of fire ever since he’d seen the agony it caused in some of his experiments. A thought passed through his panicking brain “Better a quick death rather than be roasted alive.” He took out the luger and put the barrel in his mouth. Shutting his eyes tight, he pulled the trigger. It was the last thing he did on earth…