mirror of
https://gitlab.silvrtree.co.uk/martind2000/booksnew.git
synced 2025-02-05 04:20:18 +00:00
464 lines
15 KiB
HTML
464 lines
15 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
|
|
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
|
|
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
|
|
<head>
|
|
<title>Mythlands - Spellbinder Preview </title>
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="imperaWeb.css"/>
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="application/vnd.adobe-page-template+xml" href="page-template.xpgt"/>
|
|
</head>
|
|
<body>
|
|
<div id="text">
|
|
<div class="section" id="xhtmldocuments">
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered noindent"><strong>Preview of </strong></p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered noindent enhance"><strong>The SHADOWMASTER</strong></p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered noindent"><strong>The final book in the <em>Book of Ways</em> mythic trilogy</strong></p>
|
|
|
|
<h1>1</h1>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack swallowed a dry lump in his throat as he turned away from his friends towards the gate between the old
|
|
stones.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
It was his decision to go, and to go alone.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"You don't have to," Kerry protested.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"I do. And Corriwen has to get home again. To her own world."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
They were in the ring of stones in Cromwath Blackwood. The heartstone lay on the carved rock, nestled in the
|
|
niche that had been cut so long ago nobody
|
|
could remember. Jack knew how to do it now; how to open those gates. They would only stay open for a few
|
|
minutes more.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"It's that way," he said, pointing to the southernmost opening.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The words of the Sky Queen came back to him. <em>Find the door into summer.</em>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
That was his first step. And then after that, wherever he found himself, <em>whenever </em>he found himself,
|
|
he had to find yet another gateway.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
He turned the heartstone in the niche.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Moonlight shone behind him. Twilight before him. On his left he could see the rock in Temair where Mandrake
|
|
had met his gruesome end. The man-shape could
|
|
still be made out, covered now with lichen and moss. To Jack's right, was brilliant sunlight and the smell
|
|
of roses and wild honey sweet on the air.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<em>The door into summer</em>
|
|
.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
There was no time to waste. He snatched up the heartstone and looped the chain around his neck. Faint lights
|
|
sparkled and danced in each doorway. Time was
|
|
running fast.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
He hugged Kerry and Corriwen tight, blinking back tears, then without a word he turned .
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Faint lights sparkled and danced in each doorway. Time was running fast. Without a word he stepped into the
|
|
unknown.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
In an instant he was gone, as if he had never been. Between the stones colours spangled and shifted and an
|
|
eerie sound whistled, like high swifts in cold
|
|
air.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Kerry stood with his arm around Corriwen.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"I don't want to go home," he wailed. "There's nothing for me there. Oh <em>freak!</em> This isn't fair."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"But he wants to do it alone," Corriwen replied.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"No he doesn't. He just thinks it would be dangerous."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"We've faced danger before. The three of us together."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"That's right. So we have! We can't let that eejit do it by himself, can we?"
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack's closest friends clasped hands, looked in each other's eyes.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
And then they were running fast towards the door into summer.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<hr/>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Blinding flashes seared Jack's eyes and he experienced that familiar sensation of being turned completely
|
|
inside out, with every nerve pulled like
|
|
spiderwebs, every cell split and scattered in a void. Colours raced past him as if he was falling down a
|
|
well that went on forever. Cold shuddered through
|
|
him like spears of ice.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Then there was a twisting sensation and he was on his knees, hauling for breath and gagging against the
|
|
nausea that bubbled up from deep inside.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
It took him a moment to realise he was kneeling in the sunshine and the air was warm and clean.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
<em>The door into summer.</em>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Behind him, the standing stones stood out against a deep blue sky, each smooth and polished, carved with
|
|
strange figures and stranger script, but Jack knew
|
|
each figure and each word was part of the power that let the gates open and close. Between them, the air
|
|
twisted and warped, spangling with strange
|
|
luminescence. Beyond the stones, grass swayed in the light breeze. Somewhere high above, a lark soared.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Still gripping the long sword tight, the gift from Hedda the warrior woman, Jack raised himself to his feet
|
|
and looked around. Pollen scented the air. In
|
|
the distance, rolling hills faded in summer haze. A perfect day in any world.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Yet Jack Flint thought he had never felt so completely alone in his life.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
He let out a slow breath.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Well," he said to himself. "That's it now. I'm here."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Wherever <em>here</em> was.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
He took a tentative step forward, then another, until he reached a stream. There, he knelt down, cupped a
|
|
hand and took a sip. The water was cold and
|
|
refreshing. He dabbed at his eyes, wiping away tears that had come unbidden and refused to be blinked back.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Ahead of him, somewhere in this world, was something that would lead him to his goal. It was here, he now
|
|
believed, that he would find the route to his
|
|
past. The route to the father he had never known.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
This was not Corriwen's quest, nor Kerry's. Though Corriwen's only brother lay dead at Mandrake's hands on
|
|
the slaughterfield in Temair. Though Kerry's
|
|
father was clicking his heels in Drumbain Jail back home after his failed poaching attempt almost destroyed
|
|
the old bridge. They had their own destinies to
|
|
seek, and he would not lead them into more danger.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack's father, Jonathan Cullian Flint might be alive and he might be dead, but his son had to know for sure,
|
|
had to discover the truth.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
He stood again, ready to take the first steps on his journey in this new world.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Before he could take a step, the air was rent apart by a sudden screech. In a second it rose to a crescendo,
|
|
like a jet racing up a runway. Then something
|
|
struck him with such force he stumbled back, twisting to grab his sword.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Wha…?"
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Something else hit him and sent him tumbling to land on his backside.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The screech suddenly stopped. A hollow <em>pop</em> sucked out what breath he had left in his lungs. He
|
|
struggled against the weight and something
|
|
struggled against <em>him</em>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Jeez, Jack," Kerry Malone bawled in his ear. "I'm just <em>never</em> going to get used to going through
|
|
those gates."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
A small hand grabbed his own and heaved him to his feet as his vision cleared.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Are you all right?" Corriwen sounded concerned.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
She spoke softly in his ear. Jack shook his head to steady himself. Corriwen and Kerry faced him on the
|
|
grass. And beyond the two stones, the spangling
|
|
lights were gone. All he could see were hills rolling away in the distance. The gate was closed.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"What are you two doing here?"
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Aw, Jack," Kerry said. "What else could we do? You know you'll just get into a mess if we're not here to
|
|
watch your back."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"One for all," Corriwen said earnestly. "Isn't that what you said?"
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"And each for everybody else," Kerry interjected. "Like always."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"You were supposed to go home!"
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Yeah, right. And let you have all the fun?"
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Even Corriwen laughed. "We talked," she said. "Temair will still be Temair without me for a while."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"And there's not much for me back home," Kerry added. "I'm a nobody there. Here I'm…hell, I don't even
|
|
know <em>where </em>this is."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
He looked around him, smelling the nectar on the air, feeling the sun on his face.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"But it sure is a whole lot better than the other places you took me to. No bodies, no monsters. And it's
|
|
<em>warm</em>!"
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
He knuckled Jack on the shoulder. "It's like being on holiday, and we're due a break, don't you think? This
|
|
place looks just great."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack was speechless. He felt tears prick in his eyes again and this time he just managed to blink them away.
|
|
Without a word he dropped the sword and swung
|
|
his arms around both of them, hugging them tight.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Oh, quit that," Kerry protested. "You'll have me blubberin' for sure."
|
|
</p>
|
|
<hr/>
|
|
<p>
|
|
It was some time in the afternoon, Kerry guessed from where the sun sat low in the sky, and they hadn't
|
|
wandered far from the two standing stones.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"I love this place," Kerry said. He'd taken Corriwen down to the stream and shown her how to catch fish,
|
|
poacher-style with his bare hands, tickling them
|
|
out from under the banks and flat stones.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"They swim right into your hands," he said, between mouthfuls of freshly cooked fish that might have been
|
|
trout but were as pink inside as salmon. The
|
|
brushwood fire glowed and gave off a scent aroma of herbs. Above it, in the aromatic smoke, three fat fish
|
|
were cooking slowly to a rich brown. "This is
|
|
paradise, I swear."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Corriwen had collected nuts from a grove on the hillside, and black damsons as big as apples from the shrubs
|
|
alongside the stream. She sighed and leant
|
|
back against a smooth river-stone.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"It <em>is</em> peaceful," she said. Jack had to agree, but under his thought came another. <em>Yes, but
|
|
will it stay that way?</em>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
As if sensing the thought, Corriwen glanced at him curiously.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"I think we should try to find out where we are," Jack said.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Yeah," Kerry chuckled. "Get out the old sat-nav!"
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Corriwen gave him one of her puzzled looks and both boys laughed.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"You'd never believe me if I told you what that was," Kerry said.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack had been putting off the moment, content to be with Corriwen and Kerry. Today had felt like a picnic
|
|
and they'd needed a break, for sure. But now he
|
|
reached into his satchel and drew out the old book, feeling its weight in his hands.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The ancient leather binding was as familiar to him now as all the books on the shelf beside his bed back
|
|
home, though none was as mysterious or nearly as
|
|
important. It was their guide in the mythworlds, their Book of Ways.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The book twisted in his palm, as if it contained a life of its own and the front cover flipped open to let
|
|
the leaves whirr of their own volition until
|
|
they stopped on a blank page. Kerry and Corriwen crowded close, watching intently as old script gradually
|
|
appeared on the page, line by line. Jack looked
|
|
at Kerry. "You read it, if you like."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
When the words stopped etching themselves Kerry began to speak.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered">
|
|
The Farward Gate of Uaine dear
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered">
|
|
The Summerland so Fair and Clear
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered">
|
|
But Journeyman should well step light
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered">
|
|
For mischief stalks the bleak of night.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered">
|
|
Spell miscast for binder's gain
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered">
|
|
Summons shadow, summons bane.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered">
|
|
Set face and foot to Westward path
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered">
|
|
And shelter fast from bale-moon wrath
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered">
|
|
Journeyman must face his fate
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered">
|
|
For nowhere now stands homeward gate
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered">
|
|
In darkness deep waits darkness old
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="centered">
|
|
And peril waits who seeks his goal.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Kerry stopped, and for a moment there was silence.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Not very promising," Jack finally said.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"It never is," Kerry responded. "I wish just once it would tell us straight. And maybe it's got it wrong.
|
|
This place seems okay to me."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"And Temair was once your oh-kay too," Corriwen interrupted. "But where there's good, there is always bad."
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"Maybe not as bad as before," Jack said, though his mind kept repeating the words from the second verse:
|
|
<em>Nowhere now stands homeward gate.</em>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
He felt those fingers of uncertainty creep on the skin of his back. He had come on a quest, hoping he had
|
|
chosen the right gate. If he was wrong…if
|
|
there was no way back…
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Jack shook the thought away and closed the book
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
"I think the holiday is over," he said.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html> |