Mortalis (The Demonwars Saga, Band 4) - Hardcover

Salvatore, R.A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0345430395 ISBN 13: 9780345430397

Verlag: Del Rey, 2000

Inhaltsangabe

New York Times bestselling author R. A. Salvatore is the modern master of fantasy adventure. After creating the spectacular DemonWars trilogy--an imaginative tour de force hailed by critics and readers as his finest work yet--Salvatore has surpassed himself once again in Mortalis, the stunning first volume in a brilliant new DemonWars saga. Enter a world as rich in intrigue as it is in beauty, where humans, elves, centaurs, and other creatures are allies or enemies in a timeless conflict of good against evil.

The long struggle is over at last. The demon dactyl is no more, its dark sorceries shattered by the gemstone magic wielded by the woman known as Pony. But victory did not come easily. Many lives were lost, including Pony's lover, the elf-trained ranger Elbryan Wynden.

Yet despite the dactyl's demise, the kingdom still seethes in the same cauldron of plots and machinations. Was it for this, Pony wonders, that her beloved gave his life? Assailed by grief and doubt, Pony retreats to the northern lands where she and Elbryan once shared their brief happiness. There, among old friends, her wounded spirit can begin to heal.

Then a deadly sickness appears suddenly among the people of Corona. Only Pony, with her supreme magical abilities, can heal the victims . . . or so she believes. But the plague resists her as if possessed of a malevolent strength and intelligence all its own.

Now Pony must undertake a pilgrimage that will test her powers--and her faith--as never before. Watchful eyes follow her: The eyes of the elves, who have stolen something precious from her and keep it for their own mysterious purposes. And the eyes of the man she hates above all else: Marcalo De'Unnero, the villain responsible for Elbryan's death . . . who would desire nothing more than to lead Pony down that same treacherous path to destruction.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

R. A. Salvatore was born in Massachusetts in 1959. His first published novel was The Crystal Shard. He has since published more than two dozen novels, including The Demon Awakens, The Demon Spirit, The Halfling's Gem, Sojourn, The Legacy, Starless Night, and Star Wars® The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime, the thrilling first book in an exciting new Star Wars series. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Diane, and their three children.

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es bestselling author R. A. Salvatore is the modern master of fantasy adventure. After creating the spectacular DemonWars trilogy--an imaginative tour de force hailed by critics and readers as his finest work yet--Salvatore has surpassed himself once again in Mortalis, the stunning first volume in a brilliant new DemonWars saga. Enter a world as rich in intrigue as it is in beauty, where humans, elves, centaurs, and other creatures are allies or enemies in a timeless conflict of good against evil.

The long struggle is over at last. The demon dactyl is no more, its dark sorceries shattered by the gemstone magic wielded by the woman known as Pony. But victory did not come easily. Many lives were lost, including Pony's lover, the elf-trained ranger Elbryan Wynden.

Yet despite the dactyl's demise, the kingdom still seethes in the same cauldron of plots and machinations. Was it for this, Pony wonders, that her beloved gave his life? Assailed by grief and doubt, Pony retreats to th

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The Show of Strength

The mud sucked at his boots as he walked along the narrow, smoky corridor, a procession of armored soldiers in step behind him. The conditions were not to his liking--he didn't want his "prisoners" growing obstinate, after all.

Around a bend in the tunnel the light increased and the air cleared, and before Duke Targon Bree Kalas loomed a wider and higher chamber, its one entrance securely barred. Kalas motioned to a soldier behind him, and the man hustled forward, fumbling with keys and hastily unlocking the cell door. Other soldiers tried to slip by, to enter the cell protectively before their leader, but Kalas slapped them back and strode in.

A score of dwarvish faces turned his way, the normally ruddy-complexioned powries seeming a bit paler after months imprisoned underground.

Kalas studied those faces carefully, noting the narrowing of eyes, a reflection, he knew, of seething hatred. It wasn't that the powries hated him particularly, but rather that they merely hated any human.
Again, almost as one, the dwarves turned away from him, back to their conversations and myriad games they had invented to pass the tedious hours.

One of the soldiers began calling them to attention, but Duke Kalas cut him short and waved him and the others back. Then he stood by the door, calmly, patiently letting them come to him.

"Yach, it's to wait all the damned day if we isn't to spake with it," one powrie said at last. The creature removed its red beret--a cap shining bright with the blood of its victims--and scratched its itchy, lice-filled hair, then replaced the cap and hopped up, striding to stand before the Duke.

"Ye comin' down to see our partyin'?" the dwarf asked.

Kalas didn't blink, staring at the powrie sternly. This dwarf, the leader, was always the sarcastic one, and he always seemed to need a reminder that he had been captured while waging war on the kingdom, that he and his wretched little fellows were alive only by the grace of Duke Kalas.

"Well?" the dwarf, Dalump Keedump by name, went on obstinately.

"I told you that I would require your services at the turn of the season," Duke Kalas stated quietly.

"And we're to be knowin' that the season's turned?" Keedump asked sarcastically. He turned to his fellows. "Are ye thinkin' the sun to be ridin' lower in the sky these days?" he asked with a wicked little laugh.

"Would you like to see the sun again?" Duke Kalas asked him in all
seriousness.

Dalump Keedump eyed him long and hard. "Ye think ye're to break us, then?" the dwarf asked. "We spent more time in a barrelboat, tighter and dirtier than this, ye fool."

Kalas let a long moment slip past, staring at the dwarf, not daring to blink. Then he nodded slightly and turned, leaving the cell, pulling its door closed behind him as he returned to the muddy corridor with his soldiers. "Very well, then," he said. "Perhaps I will return in a few days--the first face you will see, I assure you. Perhaps after you have murdered some of your companions for food, you will better hear my propositions." And he walked away, as did his men, having every intention of carrying through with his threat.

He had gone several steps before Dalump called out to him. "Ye came all the way down here. Ye might as well be tellin' us what ye gots in mind."

Kalas smiled and moved back to the cell door. Now the other dwarves, suddenly interested in the conversation, crowded behind Dalump.

"Extra rations and more comfortable bedding," the Duke teased.

"Yach, but ye said we'd be walkin' free!" Dalump Keedump protested. "Or sailin' free, on a boat back to our homes."

"In time, my little friend, in time," Kalas replied. "I am in need of an enemy, that I might show the rabble the strength of the Allhearts and thus bring them the security they desperately need. Assist me in this, and the arrangements will be made for your release soon enough."

Another of the dwarves, his face a mask of frustration, rushed forward, shouldering past Dalump. "And if we doesn't?" he asked angrily.

Duke Kalas' fine sword was out in the blink of a powrie eye, its point snapping against the obstinate fellow's throat, pressing firmly. "If you do not, then so be it," Kalas said calmly, turning to eye Dalump directly as he spoke. "From our first meeting, I have been clear in my intentions and honest in our dealings. Choose your course, Dalump Keedump, and accept the consequences."

The powrie leader glared at his upstart second.

"Fairly caught," Duke Kalas reminded, rather poignantly, considering that his sword was still out and the statement was true enough. Dalump and his group had been fairly caught on the field of battle, as they had attacked this city. Duke Kalas was bound by no codes or rules in dealing with the powries. He could execute them openly and horribly in Palmaris' largest square, or he could let them starve to death down here in the dungeons beneath Chasewind Manor, forgotten by all.

Dalump shifted his gaze back and forth between Kalas and the upstart powrie, his expression hinting that he wanted to choke them both--wanted to choke anybody or anything--just to relieve the mounting frustration accompanying this wretched situation. "Tell me yer stinkin' plan," he reluctantly agreed.
Duke Kalas nodded and smiled again.

Duke Kalas walked onto the rear balcony of Chasewind Manor early in the morning a few days later.

The air was heavy with fog and drizzle, a perfectly miserable day, but one to Kalas' liking. It had turned warmer again, though they still had more than a month before the winter solstice. The remnants of the previous blizzard, winter's first blast, were fast melting, and the reports Kalas had received the day before indicated that grass was showing again on the windblown western fields.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Del Rey
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2000
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0345430395
• ISBN 13: 9780345430397
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 496
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar