Книга - Battleaxe: Book One of the Axis Trilogy

Battleaxe: Book One of the Axis Trilogy
Sara Douglass


Epic fantasy in the tradition of Trudi Canavan, Fiona McIntosh and Robert Jordan.A thousand years ago, the people of Achar drove the Forbidden from their lands.But now the northern tribes of the Ravensbund are fleeing south again, with nightmarish tales of creatures who feed upon the terror of their prey. Winter has come early, and with it the promise of war.Axis, bastard son of the dead Princess Rivkah, is sent north to the battlefront at Gorkenfort with his elite Axe-Wielders. Once there, he must hand over command to his hated half-brother, Borneheld, Duke of Ichar and heir to the throne. But during the long journey Axis falls in love with Faraday – Borneheld's betrothed – and finds himself reassessing the very essence of his beliefs.With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Axis must unite the feuding lands under one banner before it is too late and the evil rising in the north engulfs them all for good.









Sara Douglass

Battle Axe

Book One of The Axis Trilogy










Copyright (#ub3db2423-98d0-5c23-bf82-db2dd521de64)


HarperVoyager An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.voyager-books.co.uk (http://www.voyager-books.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 1999

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © Sara Douglass 1995

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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.

Source ISBN: 9780006511069

Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2012 ISBN:9780007378593

Version: 2016-03-01


The books of The Axis Trilogy are for three respectable historians. A. Lynn Martin, Tim Stretton and Frances Gladwin, who have regarded with amiable tolerance their colleague’s slow drift into the Star Dance. May Fran eventually win her own battle with prophecy and may the realm and people of Achar help Lynn and Tim recall the days of the twelve months.

If my fortunes torment me, my hopes shall content me.




Contents


Cover (#uc2899f20-a919-5558-9b6a-fe5e66403d12)

Title Page (#u2a1af7fc-8b43-55ab-b358-7d38b46f5558)

Copyright

Map (#u5a9f6e0a-9dc7-5fee-aa3f-5dd1b06aed70)

Prophecy of the Destroyer (#u219447c2-aac4-59e6-89dc-8fb47fbdf2a8)

Prologue (#u213bd34f-6446-5fd3-aa08-d359cfbcf6df)

1 The Tower of the Seneschal (#u70da521c-6932-587f-98b5-4a4fa974573a)

2 At King Priam’s Court (#ubbda7212-f83e-54b1-8cb0-2e09de3726e1)

3 The Lady of Tare (#u0e75542a-6f2d-5f6a-a0a5-b1c671fb64ef)

4 At the Foot of the Fortress Ranges (#ud74eb86e-7f40-55cd-8a4b-d808519a3f77)

5 In the Palace of the King (#ua76df1d5-def8-57b6-a724-f61a385ca1cc)

6 In the King’s Privy Chamber (#u7774bcf6-aa7d-54ee-92d0-3b1ab27df100)

7 In the Brother-Leader’s Palace Apartment (#u124924ab-eb79-525d-be3c-84b2be8062a7)

8 Faraday’s Betrothal (#u2756650e-5156-5928-86c8-0fb1f9e229d9)

9 Leavetakings at Dawn (#u7637e39a-9640-5f1d-a551-53d10530c158)

10 Across the Plains of Tare (#u26e1437c-5179-57df-8e91-962cbe724790)

11 Unlocked Doors (#u90931581-a107-5e60-92ec-f2e517d91c4b)

12 At the Edge of the Silent Woman Woods (#ucf8119d2-9641-5431-a1dd-a28b1ea7623c)

13 The Cauldron Lake (#u666600b3-47a0-5811-be22-cc6d128b071b)

14 Inside the Silent Woman Keep (#uacdaaf19-d334-546a-826a-7a3a9774a89d)

15 Silent Woman Night (#u36b7bc2a-cf26-5dfe-825f-5e06735248c1)

16 Two White Donkeys (#ufadac0ec-80d6-5327-9392-e443896aa684)

17 The Ancient Barrows (#uee18ddcb-f2d6-5287-9348-317785afe318)

18 The Sentinels Speak (#ufd3e4280-8bd4-58a3-98b5-5247473ef71a)

19 A Cloudy Day (#udbedde93-7ce8-57ca-8837-84a950a310b3)

20 The Storm (#u3855fadb-b002-5071-9a7d-457ebfd0f4d2)

21 Inside the Enchanter-Talon’s Tomb (#u5019a252-23a7-5d0f-89c3-009b256321d1)

22 Evening by the Barrows (#u2d0e29b1-69ee-5f69-b15a-00c0f45e48b2)

23 The Star Gate (#u73ce5dde-8fef-59aa-82ef-92bb23b230e9)

24 Across the Plains of Arcness (#u233bd5d1-89dd-5db3-bde5-9b0ebbc9da20)

25 The Goodpeople Renkin (#u967b0d41-1955-5a6e-a6a4-fbe02ff45ab4)

26 “Belle My Wife!” (#u8f0e51eb-5ff3-5f3e-8be5-67d84ae671f3)

27 Towards Fernbrake Lake (#u27177c6c-770b-5e18-9e10-1bff63b191bf)

28 Fernbrake Lake (#ub45c6710-e126-5a5c-a6c2-c62f1e5ef0fe)

29 The Bane and the Child (#uba01eb02-0772-5dee-993a-799ee9883f87)

30 The Mother (#u9af35e55-860e-5d73-82ad-ad0f0b00694c)

31 Smyrton (#ub35f5863-3fc5-5be0-9c88-2b3486367994)

32 The Prisoners (#u3dc74f40-37d2-594d-be3f-6a4dd2396949)

33 The Forbidden Valley (#uf53c5595-9d17-5419-84d2-972d3744dfec)

34 GhostTree Clan (#ua2476897-cd88-5b65-9349-64811312af95)

35 StarMan (#u7baf7807-2867-5861-b760-6652cd055e62)

36 The GhostTree Camp (#u69044ea6-1952-52c5-8828-1223416a3409)

37 Jervois Landing (#udfcace64-8e68-5f21-b484-edde4ed1f1e1)

38 Sigholt (#ufcc20496-4874-5976-bc5a-ca5948824885)

39 Rivkah Awakes (#u376b3190-60aa-5076-b3d8-f0a1f0291d38)

40 Gorkenfort (#u6a1df341-dcf5-5198-b48e-ad5d81cc49f5)

41 The Duchess of Ichtar (#ue7dcaa43-06ab-524a-8a1a-0506b85e4653)

42 Re-Acquaintances (#u369bb078-4c12-5092-ab44-08310e2d45b5)

43 The SkraeBold Speaks (#u75c847ab-c281-5609-a888-a47fecaaf591)

44 Vows and Memories (#u515cc62a-9745-575b-b06b-f32ac5c8b3da)

45 The Groves (#u68a8d12c-1037-505f-bf4c-b5d186edc65e)

46 In the Hand of Artor (#u6e860a41-4b64-50bf-9c22-38686d12b1d2)

47 In the Hands of the Mother (#ua0511340-26d2-5990-a0dc-0e75c36d4d67)

48 Yuletide Morning (#ua131b3ba-3866-5fda-8c4f-0003c5484cf7)

49 Yuletide (#u65319014-b251-589c-8adb-6b2f1abdf364)

50 The Streets of Gorkentown (#u69b53184-66ad-5915-ac95-7edd563c1e18)

51 The Lake of Life (#u67e68b75-bcaf-5f35-a2ea-61b7076e3fa6)

52 The Earth Tree Grove (#ub4c58257-9a48-5834-808a-a0ec38dbf050)

53 Departures (#u5bd12dc6-f7b2-5956-b493-d913922337d5)

54 The Charonites (#ud8cefb23-57a7-5fb1-8e7d-4438d5be08f9)

55 The Assembly of the Icarii (#u10bcab7d-3f60-5c50-bc7c-bb51873f0e6f)

56 FreeFall SunSoar (#ue788eb4e-4ee4-5282-acf6-651b5b5501bc)

57 Escape from Gorkenfort (#u960b4000-b152-51fb-aa91-159d8bac8226)

58 BattleAxe (#uf3b715f1-e3b7-5035-9ec1-4165d604a2d5)

Keep Reading (#u6a62ff75-b7d6-5cb2-8b2d-174aaab23f0d)

Glossary (#u1056afa7-314f-57f7-88b6-07f01c4f8482)

About the Author (#ufee8d416-6be4-5f21-9646-fe4d90eed982)

By Sara Douglass (#u157bd3bc-2277-5352-a0c5-8cbfc449f80a)

About the Publisher (#u821e4ce0-2729-5dd4-a03b-6dfb16e24087)


When will the hundred summers die,

And thought and time be born again,

And newer knowledge, drawing nigh,

Bring truth that sways the soul of men?

Here all things in their place remain,

As were all order’d, ages since.

Come, Care and Pleasure, Hope and Pain,

And bring the fated fairy Prince.

ALFRED LORD TENNYSON,

“The Slewing Palace”




Map (#ulink_c37c9522-7438-587a-ab6e-142c417c1207)










The Prophecy of the Destroyer (#ulink_52fc0185-d36f-589c-b76a-ed508a9ce95e)


A day will come when born will be

Two babes whose blood will tie them.

That born to Wing and Horn will hate

The one they call the StarMan.

Destroyer! rises in the north

And drives his Ghostmen south;

Defenceless lie both flesh and field

Before Gorgrael’s ice.

To meet this threat you must release

The StarMan from his lies,

Revive Tencendor, fast and sure

Forget the ancient war,

For if Plough, Wing and Horn can’t find

The bridge to understanding,

Then will Gorgrael earn his name

And bring Destruction hither.



StarMan, listen, heed me well,

Your power will destroy you

If you should wield it in the fray

’Ere these prophecies are met:

The Sentinels will walk abroad

’Til power corrupt their hearts;

A child will turn her head and cry

Revealing ancient arts;

A wife will hold in joy at night

The slayer of her husband;

Age-old souls, long in cribs,

Will sing o’er mortal land;

The remade dead, fat with child

Will birth abomination;

A darker power will prove to be

The father of salvation.

Then waters will release bright eyes

To form the Rainbow Sceptre.



StarMan, listen, for I know

That you can wield the sceptre

To bring Gorgrael to his knees

And break the ice asunder.

But even with the power in hand

Your pathway is not sure:

A Traitor from within your camp

Will seek and plot to harm you;

Let not your Lover’s pain distract

For this will mean your death;

Destroyer’s might lies in his hate

Yet you must never follow;

Forgiveness is the thing assured

To save Tencendor’s soul.





Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Получить полную версию книги.


Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию (https://www.litres.ru/sara-douglass/battleaxe-book-one-of-the-axis-trilogy/) на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.