Raymond E. Feist - The Serpentwar Saga

Chapter Nine: Breakdown

Chapter Ten: Transition

Chapter Eleven: Passage

Chapter Twelve: Arrival

Chapter Thirteen: Search

Chapter Fourteen: Journey

Chapter Fifteen: Village

Chapter Sixteen: Rendezvous

Chapter Seventeen: Discovery

Chapter Eighteen: Escape

Chapter Nineteen: Discovery

Chapter Twenty: Passage

Chapter Twenty-One: Attrition

Chapter Twenty-Two: Infiltration

Chapter Twenty-Three: Onslaught

Twenty-Four: Escape

Epilogue: Reunion

Aglaranna– Elf Queen in Elvandar

Alika– ‘demon’ cook at Sorcerer’s Isle

Althal– elf in Elvandar

Avery, Rupert ‘Roo’– boy from Ravensburg, companion of Erik von Darkmoor; later prisoner; later member of Calis’s company

Biggo– prisoner; later member of Erik’s company

Calis– half elf, half human son of Aglaranna and Tomas; known as ‘The Eagle of Krondor’; leader of a military company

Culli– murdering mercenary

Dawar– mercenary in Nahoot’s company

de Loungville, Robert ‘Bobby’– sergeant in Calis’s company

de Savona, Luis– prisoner; later member of Calis’s company

Durany– mercenary in Calis’s company

Ellia– elven woman saved by Miranda

Embrisa– girl from Village Weanat

Esterbrook, Jacob– merchant in Krondor

Fadawah, General– Supreme Commander of the Armies of the Emerald Queen

Finia– woman at Village Weanat

Foster, Charlie– guard corporal in Calis’s company

Freida– Erik’s mother

Galain– elf in Elvandar

Gapi– general in Emerald Queen’s army

Gert– old crone/charcoal burner met by Erik and Roo

Goodwin, Billy– prisoner; later member of Calis’s company

Greylock, Owen– Swordmaster of Baron of Darkmoor; later member of Calis’s company

Grindle, Helmut– merchant

Handy, Jerome– member of Calis’s company

Jarwa– Sha-shahan of the Seven Nations of the Saaur

Jatuk– son of Jarwa, heir and later Sha-shahan of the surviving Saaur

Kaba– Shieldbearer to Jarwa

Kelka– corporal in Nahoot’s company

Khali-shi– Novindus name for Death Goddess

Lalial– elf in Elvandar

Lender, Sebastian– Litigator and Solicitor at Barret’s Coffee House in Krondor

Lims-Kragma– Death Goddess

Macros the Black– legendary sorcerer; considered the greatest practitioner of magic ever known

Marsten– sailor on Trenchard’s Revenge

Mathilda– Baroness of Darkmoor

Milo– Innkeeper at Inn of the Pintail in Ravensburg

Miranda– mysterious friend to Calis

Monis– Jarwa’s Shieldbearer

Mugaar– horse trader in Novindus

Murtag– Saaur warrior

Nakor the Isalani– strange companion of Calis

Nathan– new smith at Inn of the Pintail in Ravensburg

Notombi– former Keshian Legionary, then prisoner; later member of Calis’s company

Pug– also known as Milamber; magician of great power; considered second only to Macros the Black in knowledge

Rian– one of Zila’s mercenaries

Rosalyn– Milo’s daughter

Ruthia– Goddess of Luck

Shati, Jadow– member of Calis’s company

Shila– Saaur home world

Sho Pi– Isalani, former Monk of Dala; later prisoner; later member of Calis’s company

Taber– tavern keeper in LaMut

Tarmil– villager at Weanat

Tomas– consort of Aglaranna, father of Calis; wearer of the Armor of Ashen-Shugar, last of the Dragon Lords

Tyndal– smith at Inn of the Pintail in Ravensburg

von Darkmoor, Erik– bastard son of the Baron von Darkmoor; later prisoner; later mercenary in Calis’s company

von Darkmoor, Manfred– youngest son of Otto; later Baron

von Darkmoor, Otto– Baron of Darkmoor; father of Erik, Stefan, and Manfred

von Darkmoor, Stefan– Otto’s eldest son

Zila– treacherous mercenary leader

Days, when the ball of our vision

Had eagles that flew unabashed to sun;

When the grasp on the bow was decision.

And arrow and hand and eye were one;

When the Pleasures, like waves to a swimmer,

Came heaving for rapture ahead! –

Invoke them, they dwindle, they glimmer

As lights over mounds of the dead.

– George Meredith

‘Ode to Youth in Memory’

The drums thundered.

Warriors of the Saaur sang their battle chants, preparing for the struggle to come. Tattered war banners hung limply from bloodied lances as thick smoke shrouded the sky from horizon to horizon. Green faces marked with yellow and red paint watched the western skies, where fires cast crimson and ocher light against the black shroud of smoke, blocking the vanishing sun and the familiar tapestry of the western evening stars.

Jarwa, Sha-shahan of the Seven Nations, Ruler of the Empire of Grass, Lord of the Nine Oceans, could not tear his gaze away from the destruction. All day he had watched the great fires burn, and even across the vast distance the howls of the victors and the cries of their victims had carried through the afternoon. Winds that once carried the sweet scent of flowers or the rich aroma of spices from the market now carried the acrid stench of charred wood and burned flesh. He knew without looking that those behind were bracing for the coming trial, resigned in their hearts that the battle was lost and the race would die.

‘My lord,’ said Kaba, his Shieldbearer and lifelong companion.

Jarwa turned to his oldest friend and saw the concern etched faintly around his eyes. Kaba was an unreadable mask to all but Jarwa; the Sha-shahan could read him as a shaman reads a lore scroll. ‘What is it?’

‘The Pantathian is here.’

Jarwa nodded, but he remained motionless. Powerful hands closed in frustration over the hilt of his battle-sword, Tual-masok – Blood Drinker in the ancient tongue – far more a symbol of office than the crown he had worn only on rare state occasions. He pushed its point down into the soil of his beloved Tabar, the oldest nation on the world of Shila. For seventeen years he had fought the invaders as they had driven his hordes back to the heartland of the Empire of Grass.