Raymond Feist - Rides A Dread Legion

Harper Voyager

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpervoyagerbooks.com

Copyright © Raymond E. Feist 2009

Cover illustration © Nik Keevil

Raymond E. Feist asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

Source ISBN: 9780007264681

Ebook Edition © MARCH 2009 ISBN: 9780007310296

Version 2015-01-30

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Copyright Copyright Chapter One: Warlock Chapter Two: Knight-Adamant Chapter Three: Taredhel Chapter Four: Harbinger Chapter Five: Exodus Chapter Six: Premonition Chapter Seven: Prophesy Chapter Eight: Demon Master Chapter Nine: Warning Chapter Ten: Threat Chapter Eleven: Upheaval Chapter Twelve: Survival Chapter Thirteen: Conclave Chapter Fourteen: Bargains Chapter Fifteen: Plotting Chapter Sixteen: Allies Chapter Seventeen: Determination Chapter Eighteen: Exploration Chapter Nineteen: Onslaught Epilogue: Epitaph Keep Reading Continue the Adventure … About the Author Also by the Author About the Publisher Harper Voyager An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpervoyagerbooks.com Copyright © Raymond E. Feist 2009 Cover illustration © Nik Keevil Raymond E. Feist asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books. HarperCollins Publishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication. Source ISBN: 9780007264681 Ebook Edition © MARCH 2009 ISBN: 9780007310296 Version 2015-01-30

Chapter One: Warlock

Chapter Two: Knight-Adamant

Chapter Three: Taredhel

Chapter Four: Harbinger

Chapter Five: Exodus

Chapter Six: Premonition

Chapter Seven: Prophesy

Chapter Eight: Demon Master

Chapter Nine: Warning

Chapter Ten: Threat

Chapter Eleven: Upheaval

Chapter Twelve: Survival

Chapter Thirteen: Conclave

Chapter Fourteen: Bargains

Chapter Fifteen: Plotting

Chapter Sixteen: Allies

Chapter Seventeen: Determination

Chapter Eighteen: Exploration

Chapter Nineteen: Onslaught

Epilogue: Epitaph

Keep Reading

Continue the Adventure …

About the Author

Also by the Author

About the Publisher

T HE DEMON HOWLED ITS OUTRAGE.

Amirantha, Warlock of the Satumbria, reeled backwards from the unexpected explosion of mystic energy hurled at him. Had his protective wards not been firmly established, he would have died instantly. The demon responsible was powerful enough to force through the barrier and slam the magic user hard against the cave wall behind him. The blow Amirantha took on the back of the head was going to raise a nasty bump.

Demons always carried a large amount of mystic energies, enough to destroy any unprepared mortal standing nearby as the monsters entered this plane of reality. It was one of the reasons for erecting wards, beyond merely confining the demon to a specific location. This one had arrived with a much more impressive explosion than the Warlock anticipated, and had surprised him.

Amirantha incanted a single word, a collection of otherwise meaningless syllables that together formed a key, a word of power that activated a much more complicated enchantment; a trick taught to him years before that had often meant the difference between controlling a summoned demon effectively and dismemberment at its hands. The word strengthened the ward spell that now confined the creature.

Amirantha regained his feet as the demon continued to howl at discovering itself summoned and confined. Experience had taught the Warlock that demons rarely objected to being summoned as they found this world easy to plunder, but they hated being trapped and controlled. Their hate was the one thing that made Amirantha’s area of study problematic; his subjects kept trying to kill him.

He took a deep breath to calm himself and studied the enraged conjuration. The demon was not a type he recognized, though obviously a battle demon of some sort. Amirantha knew more about demons and their nature than any mortal on Midkemia, but still possessed only a tenth of the understanding he wished for. This specimen was new to him. He did not have exhaustive knowledge of every demon in the Fifth Circle, but he recognized its basic type: massive upper torso, roughly human in design, with a bull’s head, or at least something that resembled a bovine; long, forward-arching horns, giving weight to its minotaur-like appearance. As he began to conjure a spell designed to immobilize any demon, Amirantha wondered if such a monster had been the basis for the ancient myth of the Minotaur.

Its legs were almost goat-like, but there anything remotely familiar about the creature ended. Its body was covered in some black substance up to its waist, though it was no wool, hair, or fur that Amirantha recognized. Its upper body looked like it was made from black leather, but slick and shiny, as if its skin had been tanned, dyed, and highly polished. Its horns were blood red, and its eyes burned like hot coals.

From the howls shaking the cave, Amirantha could tell that the demon’s disposition was getting nastier by the second. The creature even looked on the verge of rending its way through wards that should be impenetrable, though Amirantha knew better than to place too much stock in the world ‘should’ when a demon was involved.