Mercedes Lackey - Mage Storms 2 - Storm Rising

VIP免费
2024-12-02 0 0 554.55KB 308 页 5.9玖币
侵权投诉
Storm Rising
By: Mercedes Lackey
Mage Storms 2
Synopsis:
In Storm Rising, mysterious mage-storms are wreaking havoc on
Valdemar, Karse, and all the Kingdoms of the West, plaguing these
lands
not only with disastrous earthquakes, monsoons, and ice storms, but
also with venomous magical constructs-terrifying creatures out of
nightmare. Both Valdemar's Heralds and Karse's Sunpriests struggle
to
marshal their combined magical resources to protect their realms from
these devastating, spell fueled onslaughts. But as the situation
becomes bleaker and bleaker, the still fragile alliance between these
long-hostile lands begins to fray. And when Karal, the young Karsite
envoy to the court of Valdemar, is wrongfully accused of collusion
with
the enemy, only the personal intervention of Solaris, the High
Priestess and ruler of Karse, can defuse what is rapidly becoming a
dangerously explosive situation. But Solaris also confirms the worst
fears of the Heralds-that these storms do not come from the Eastern
Empire, but from a completely unknown source. And unless Valdemar
and Karse can locate and destroy the creator of the storms, they may
see
their entire world demolished in a final magical holocaust.
NOVELS BY MERCEDES LACKEY
available from DAW Books
THE MAGE WARS
(with Larry Dixon)
THE BLACK GRYPHON
THE WHITE GRYPHON
THE SILVER GRYPHON
THE BOOKS OF THE LAST HERALD-MACE
MAGIC'S PAWN
MAGIC'S PROMISE
MAGIC'S PRICE
VOWS AND HONOR
THE OATH BOUND
OATH BREAKERS
KEROWYN'S TALE
BY THE SWORD
THE HERALDS OF VALDEMAR
ARROWS OF THE QUEEN
ARROW'S FLIGHT
ARROW'S FALL
THE MAGE WINDS
WINDS OF FATE
WINDS OF CHANGE
WINDS OF FURY
THE MAgE STORMS
STORM WARNING
STORM RISING
STORM BREAKING
DARK OVER NOVELS
(with Marion Zimmer Bradley)
REDISCOVERY
forthcoming from DAW books in Hardcover
Book Two of The Mage Storms
Dedicated to Teresa and Dejah one Grand Duke Tremane shivered as a
cold
draft wisped past the shutters behind him and drifted down the back
of
his neck. This was a far cry from Emperor Charliss' Crag Castle-
which,
though outwardly austere, was nevertheless replete with hidden
comforts. Even his own ducal manor, while primitive by the standards
of Crag Castle, was free of drafts in the worst of weather. Tremane
closed his eyes for a moment in longing for his own home as yet
another
breath of ice insinuated itself past his collar. It felt less like a
trickle of cold water and more like the edge of a knife blade laid
along his spine.
More like at my throat. That cold breath of air was the merest
harbinger of worse, much worse, to come. That was why he had
gathered
every officer, every mage, and every scholar in his ranks here
together, all of them crammed into the largest room his confiscated
headquarters afforded.
Who did they say had built this place? A Hardornen Grand Duke at
least, as I recall. His own manor boasted many rooms grander than
this, and better suited to gathering large groups of men for a
serious
discussion. The tall windows, though glazed, were as leaky as so
many
sieves, and he'd been forced to block out the thin gray light of
another bleak autumn day by having the shutters fastened down across
them; and although fires roared in the fireplaces at either end of
the
room, the heat went straight up into the rafters two stories above
his
head, where it was hardly doing anyone any good. In happier times,
this wood-paneled, vaulted hall with its floor of chill stone had
likely played host to any number of glittering balls and
entertainments.
The rest of the time it had probably been shut up, given that it was
a
drafty old barn and impossible to keep at a reasonable temperature.
Tremane glanced up at the exposed beams and rafters above him; they
were lost in the shadows despite the presence of so many candles and
lanterns on the tables that the air trembled and shimmered just above
the flickering flames.
The massed candles must be putting out almost as much heat as the
fireplaces;
too bad none of that heat was reaching him.
Dozens of anxious faces peered up at him. He was seated on a massive
chair behind a ridiculously tiny secretary's desk up on the platform
where musicians had probably performed.
It was uncomfortably like a dais, and he was well aware that such a
comparison would not be lost on the Imperial spies in his ranks.
Right
now, though, that was the least of his concerns.
The primary issue here was a simpler one: survival.
He stood up, and the murmur of incidental conversation below him died
into silence without the need to clear his throat.
"Forgive me, gentlemen, if I bore you by stating the obvious, he
began,
concealing his discomfort at addressing so many people at once. He
had
never been particularly adept at public speaking; it was the one lack
he suffered as a commander.
No stirring battlefield speeches out of him-he was more apt to clear
his throat uneasily, then bark something trite about honor and
loyalty
and retire in confusion.
"Some of you have been involved in other projects at my request, and
I
want you all to know our current situation as clearly as possible, so
that nothing has to be explained twice."
He winced inwardly at the awkwardness of his own words, but there
were
some nods out in his audience, and no one looked bored yet, so he
carried on. Officers formed the bulk of his audience, massed at
three
long tables in front of him, dark and foreboding in their field
uniforms of a dark reddish brown-the color of dried blood. Some wag
had once made the claim that the reason the field uniforms were that
color was to avoid the expense of removing stains after a battle. As
a
sample of wit, it had fallen rather flat; taken at face value, it
might
just have been the truth.
TO his right and left, respectively, were his tame scholars and the
Imperial mages; the latter in a variation on the field uniforms,
looser
and more comfortable for middle-aged and spreading bodies. The
former,
as civilians, wore whatever they wished to, and were the sole spots
of
brightness here. He addressed his first summation to mages and
scholars both, rather than to the officers.
"Although the Imperial forces have not met with any active opposition
since we pulled in our line and took a fortified position here, we
are
still in hostile territory. Everything to the west of us was
completely unsecured when we broke off all engagements, and I would
not
vouch for Hardornen land to the south and north of our original
wedge.
Hostilities could break out at any moment, and we must keep that in
mind when making plans.
Grimaces from the scholars and mages, grim agreement from his
officers.
The Imperial wedge meant to divide the country of Hardorn into two
roughly equal parts, to be divided still further and conquered, was
now
an Imperial arrowhead, broken off from the shaft and lodged somewhere
in the middle of Hardorn. And at the moment, he only hoped it was
lodged in such a way that it could be ignored by the populace at
large.
"We have been cut off completely from Imperial contact ever since the
mage-storms worsened," he continued, giving them the most unpleasant
news first.
"We have not been able to reestablish that contact. I must
reluctantly
conclude that we are on our own.
There were not many in his ranks who knew that particular fact, and
widened eyes and shocked glances told where and how the news hit
home.
They took it rather well, though; he was proud of them. They were
all
good men-even the Imperial spies among them.
Are any of them still in contact with their overseers in the empire?
I'd give a great deal for the answer to that little question. There
was no way of knowing, of course, since anyone who was an agent for
Emperor Charliss would be a better mage than he himself was.
Charliss
was too canny an old wolf not to cover that contingency.
Another draft of cold licked at his neck, and he turned the fur-lined
collar of his wool half-cape up in a futile attempt to keep more such
drafts away. it was the same dulled red as the uniforms of his men;
he
wore what they wore. He had a distaste for making a show of himself.
Besides, a man in a dress uniform covered with decorations made far
too
prime a target.
"The mage-corps," he continued, turning to nod at the variously-
garbed
men seated at the table nearest him, "tell me there is no doubt but
that the mage-storms are worsening rather than weakening. As you
have
probably noticed, they are having an effect on the weather itself,
and
they will continue to do so. That means more physical storms, and
worse ones-" He turned a questioning glance at his mages.
Their spokesman stood up. This was not their chief, Gordun, a
thickset
and homely man who remained in his seat with his hands locked firmly
together on the table in front of him, but rather a withered old
specimen who had been Tremane's own mentor, the oldest mage-perhaps
the
oldest man-in the entire entourage. Sejanes was nobody's fool, and
perhaps the mages all felt Tremane would be less likely to vent his
wrath upon someone he had studied under.
In this, his mages were incorrect. He would never vent his wrath on
anyone telling him a harsh truth-only on someone caught in a lie.
Sejanes knew that and looked up at his former pupil with serenity
intact.
"You may have noticed what seems to us of the Empire to be
unseasonable
cold, and wondered if we are simply seeing weather that is normal to
this clime," the old man said, his reedy voice carrying quite well
over
the assemblage. " I assure you all, it is not. I have spoken with
the
local farmers and studied what records are available, and this is
possibly the worst season this part of the country has ever
encountered. Fall struck hard and early, the autumn storms have been
more frequent and harsher, and the frosts deeper.
We have made measurements, and we can only conclude that the
situation
is going to worsen. This is the effect of the mage-storms upon an
area
that was already unstable, thanks to the depredations of that fool,
Ancar. The mage-storms themselves are growing worse as well. Put
those things together-and I'd just as soon not have to think about
what
this winter is going to be like."
Sejanes sat down again, and Gordun stood up; about them, looks of
shock
were modulating into other emotions. There was remarkably little
panic, but also no sign whatsoever of optimism. That, in Tremane's
opinion, was just as well. The worse they thought the situation was,
the better they would plan.
"We've flat given up on restoring mage-link communications with the
Empire," he said bluntly.
"There isn't a prayer of matching with them when both of us are
drifting-it would be like trying to join the ends of two ribbons in a
gale without being able to tie a knot in them." His face was set in
an
expression of resignation.
"Sirs, the honest truth is that your mages are the most useless part
of
your army right now.
We can't do anything that will hold through a storm."
"Just what does that mean, exactly?" someone asked from the back of
the room.
Sejanes shrugged.
"From now on, you might as well act as if we don't exist. You won't
have mage-fires for heat or light now or in the dead of winter, we
can't transport so much as a bag of grain nor build a Portal that'll
stay up through a single storm. In short, sirs, whatever depends on
magic is undependable, and we can't see a time coming when you'll be
able to depend on it again."
He sat down abruptly, and before the others could erupt with
questions,
Tremane took control of the situation again.
"The latest mage-storm passed three days ago," he said.
"I
have been taking reports since then." He leafed through the papers
he
had read so often that the words danced before his mind's eye. Give
them some good news.
摘要：

StormRisingBy:MercedesLackeyMageStorms2Synopsis:InStormRising,mysteriousmage-stormsarewreakinghavoconValdemar,Karse,andalltheKingdomsoftheWest,plaguingtheselandsnotonlywithdisastrousearthquakes,monsoons,andicestorms,butalsowithvenomousmagicalconstructs-terrifyingcreaturesoutofnightmare.BothValdemar'...

展开>> 收起<<
Mercedes Lackey - Mage Storms 2 - Storm Rising.pdf

共308页,预览5页

还剩页未读， 继续阅读

声明：本站为文档C2C交易模式，即用户上传的文档直接被用户下载，本站只是中间服务平台，本站所有文档下载所得的收益归上传人(含作者)所有。玖贝云文库仅提供信息存储空间，仅对用户上传内容的表现方式做保护处理，对上载内容本身不做任何修改或编辑。若文档所含内容侵犯了您的版权或隐私，请立即通知玖贝云文库，我们立即给予删除！

相关推荐

更多
立即下载
分类：外语学习 价格：5.9玖币 属性：308 页 大小：554.55KB 格式：PDF 时间：2024-12-02

开通VIP享超值会员特权

  • 多端同步记录
  • 高速下载文档
  • 免费文档工具
  • 分享文档赚钱
  • 每日登录抽奖
  • 优质衍生服务

作者详情

相关内容

更多

热门标签

人际关系 动力学连接体 力的合成 配电装置 高考理综 全宋诗作者索引 公务员考试
/ 308
评分 收藏
分享
立即下载 VIP免费下载
客服
关注