Striving to save his strife torn empire of Vallia from the Nine Unspeakable Curses, Dray Prescot has faced a plague of murderous werewolves and attack by the witch hordes. Now he must conquer the bloodthirsty forces of the would be king of North Vallia, while at the same time protecting the realm...
The sixth book of the Dray Prescot series. Would Dray Prescot be able to remain a prince of proud Vallia or become just another human victim of the hunters and manhounds of the mysterious Southern Continent? For that was the enigmatic fate that the Star Lords had suddenly confronted him with. The...
The first sheet filled up rapidly, and I took another from the rack. A glance through the forward windows — they were more than scuttles — showed me the empty sky and the high clouds all suffused with the glory of Zim and Genodras shining refulgently. The second sheet filled. At the fourth sheet ...
Kalu’s shield slapped across in his two left hands, and his right brought the sword up, his tail hand whistling over his head, curved blade glittering. My own sword joined in and we fronted that first crazed charge.Exandu moaned and drew his single-edged sword and stood with us. Slaves screamed a...
There was no time to scout my approaches to the hostile and malignant Empire of Hamal. I had been there before and knew my way around. The voller flashed through the sky of Kregen, heading south, over the sea, on course for Denrette on the east coast of the southern continent of Havilfar.Hamal’s ...
She enjoyed that. She had left to her only two neemus, and that pained her. But, she had me, she had Drak the Sword, hyr-kaidur, who had caused her that pain. She would not be kind. I had, of necessity, to crouch. They had loaded me with so many iro...
But there can be, as I know to my cost, only one captain aboard ship. And — she was a slave-holder, and a representative of that class of authority most distasteful to me after my experiences in far-off Zenicce, and more lately in Magdag. We sailed ...
Dray Prescot is a man of above medium height, with brown hair and brown eyes that are level and dominating. His shoulders are immensely wide and he carries himself with an abrasive honesty and a fearless courage. He moves like a great hunting cat, quiet and deadly. Born in 1775 and educated in th...
But—”“The animals are sold. There is nothing to detain us here. I do not like the Jikhorkdun—”“No more do I!”“Well, then! What ails you, Jak? Let us clear out. I have good suppliers lined up and we can fetch in a fresh consignment—”“What about your cage-voller?”Unmok lifted his upper left and mid...
Delia looked marvelous in a robe of lavender, and her feet were bare. She did not wear toe rings. I wore a plain lounging robe of yellow, girded by a scarlet sash. As for Deb-Lu, well, he wore what was clearly a brand new robe, plain, yet contriving to look as though he’d slept in a haystack all ...
Certain sure?” The seething anger and violence in me had to be held down. I could not show too much interest in the politics of Vallia here.“Certain, Jak. I spoke to a flier pilot who returned with the trylon. The Lord Farris has been arrested and charged with treason. And others of like kidney, ...
Whether the story was true or not, they had indubitably taken knives from Master Jezbellandur the Iarvin. Ergo — those knives must be paid for. From each member of the group was, therefore, scrupulously removed the price of one knife. Seg almost laughed. “This has t...
called a silly foppishly dressed fellow who must be the overseer of the servers. We ignored him. We marched on in stately procession, carrying the viands high to conceal the golden zhantil-masks. Strom Murgon sat in state in this banqueting hall of Korfseyrie. The chamber ...
Of partings and of meetings “Die, Dray Prescot, die!” The glittering throwing knife hurtled from the fingers of the king straight at my face. And, in that selfsame instant, as though time shuttered through a macabre repetition, I caught a single fla...
The idea, undoubtedly, was to make it difficult to steal. Khe-Hi-Bjanching told us that this kind of plate with symbols, used by the wizards as a means of conveying information, was called a signomant, employing signomancy to give instructions that could not be misunderstood by those who had the ...
In only a few murs the aerial cavalry would clash. Soon the rolling columns of our forces would deploy into line and go rushing down on Garnath and sweep him away to destruction.Nedfar’s face resembled a face carved from marble to stand mute for ever above a silent tomb.“Shanks!” bellowed Rees. H...
The paper appears to be a completely ordinary white bond, the outlines are drawn with a blue felt-nibbed pen, apparently freehand, and names and features are inserted in pencil. There is a red-lined border, and towns and cities are indicated by small red dots. Various dist...
The twin suns continued to pour down their mingled rays of ruby and jade from a cloudless sky. When the clouds formed in this part of Kregen they did so with regularity and severity. The sky would turn black. The rain would slash down in waterfalls that would engulf Niagara as Niagara would engul...
Most men have deeper layers of thought and emotions below the superficialities of life. Among the many people a man bumps into on his way through life there must be some, a few, for whom he feels enough interest to be fascinated by those deeper levels. And this really has ...
Deuced odd!I felt like a man turning a corner and being blown back by a sea wind gusting past force ten. I struggled to get a breath. Nath the Retributor, all smiles, was saying, “He is here, majestrix, standing here. Now you have explained, of course, of course. These things happen in imperial f...
The rows of bunks, each piled with bedding, lay dustily under the dusty beams. Of men at arms to serve the palace there were but twenty-four. Two dozen fighting men to guard the kovneva, and of these some were not fit to be called paktuns.The cadade, the captain of the guard, turned out to be a F...
I was an old mercenary, an old reiver. When men sought to slay me no matter who they were — by the Black Chunkrah! — I’d slay them first! And there was the green standard of my Lady of the Stars to consider. Was a man’s life, the life of a Brother Krozair of Zy, worth more or less than a scrap of...
In an academic way they hold great fascination for the student not only of tactics but of human nature. The actuality of battles is disgusting.I had grown in my seasons upon Kregen to dislike fighting and battles and violence exceedingly, as I am sure you will have perceived. Yet I was still the ...
For one thing; we had both been aware that the threat of the Ochs was more apparent than real. I had been warned of the impending mission in a new way, although Pompino told me that he usually received some prior notice. We felt that the Ochs had been laid on in some way so as to introduce us to ...
We were kregoinye. When it came to push of pike we shared our possessions, and made the best of it. At the moment, Pompino held the money and goods; ergo, he outfitted me.I wore a decent blue tunic, and grey trousers cut to the knee. I went barefoot. I had a red scarf tied around my head. I swung...
Duven had acted. I must respond immediately.Running back I shook Logan’s arm. He was staring about vacantly, trembling in expectation of the next shock.“A rope!”He looked at me, and he didn’t see me.What of curtains there might be in this windowless space were burning, their pullcords flaring wit...
Although I did not sweat I grew decidedly warm. Another screaming wretch was thrown to the manhounds. These jiklos had been well trained, for they disposed of him in a cat-like, playful, obscene way. When he was dead they did not eat him, crunching on his bones with their jagged teeth; instead th...
Many a wandering wizard was a fake, gaining his living from the credulous. Everyone knew there were real wizards and witches, people who could shrivel the marrow in your bones.In the series of confusing chambers and apartments in the private portion of the rambling old villa appropriated by Allor...
Well, that might be true, in its own way. But as you know I had been developing ways and means of circumventing the Star Lords. Oh, yes, they could still hurl me back four hundred light-years to the planet of my birth, perhaps never again to summon me to Kregen. They could forever sunder me from ...
The men sweated and marched and drilled. We had them learning how to march in file, for the organization would be based on the file. I prefer the line; but in this instance the file seemed to be the correct procedure.The pikes were produced from the manufactories. Also the superb springy white wo...
The flags were uniformly arranged in blue and white hexagons. Tyfar stopped and stared at the tables beneath the bright umbrellas outside a tavern with the promising name of The Bottle and Morrow. “Ronalines,” he said, and smacked his lips. “I have a penchant for th...
The women complained — very naturally — yet it was as obvious to them as to us that we had to keep moving and find a way to escape from the Coup Blag.Old Deb-Lu’s turban was straight upon his head and he did not need to lift a hand to prevent the absurd headgear from toppling. His face looked gra...
Blood dripped upon the clawed wooden floor from the full-fleshed body of the jiklo, and blood spattered from the whip as Nalgre lashed and lashed. For the first time I saw an expression other than bestial ferocity upon the face of a Manhound of Antares. For this female jiklo’s face twisted now in...
Also, and this I found highly intriguing, she stopped to pick up the thick black whip the slave-master had wielded. When we burst through into the inner tented enclosure of the army commander, Fat Lango, it was the whip which, cracking out like a striking risslaca tongue, barbed, lashed him into ...
With her lip caught up between her teeth, as a young girl in cold Evir, she had read of that mysterious continent of Loh and of the Queens of Pain.To be a Queen of Pain of Loh!She had never considered herself to be a cruel woman. She was merely the instrument chosen to redress the imbalance betwe...