Raymond E. Feist - Flight of the Nighthawks

Flight of the Nighthawks

The Darkwar, Book 1

Raymond E. Feist

As I have donein the past and will continue to until Midkemia is no more, my thankseverlasting to the mothers and fathers of Midkemia for giving me awonderful sandbox in which to play. From Thursday to Friday nights,for thirty years your voices echo in my ear each time I sit down tospin a yarn on our world.

To JonathonMatson, as always, my thanks for friendship and wise counsel.

To my editors,for always trying hard no matter how crazy the circumstances.

To my mother,for always inspiring me through sheer endurance and unqualified love.

To my children,for giving me a reason for existing beyond mere self-gratificationand personal goals.

To those ladieswith whom I dine, thanks the amusement, the affection, the drama, andthe glimpse into a world I barely understand.

To new friendsand to enterprises that keep things interesting. Again to my readers,who let me keep doing this. Without any of the above mentioned, andsome Im leaving out would not be worth enduring, let aloneliving.

RaymondE. Feist San Diego, CA July, 2005

Fate will bring together those a thousand miles apart;

without fate, they will miss each other though they come face toface.

Chinese proverb

The storm hadbroken.

Pug danced alongthe edge of the rocks, his feet finding scant purchase as he made hisway among the tide pools. His dark eyes darted about as he peeredinto each pool under the cliff face, seeking the spiny creaturesdriven into the shallows by the recently passed storm.

His boyishmuscles bunched under his light shirt as he shifted the sack ofsandcrawlers, rockclaws, and crabs plucked from this water garden.The afternoon sun sent sparkles through the sea spray swirling aroundhim, as the west wind blew his sun-streaked brown hair about. Pug sethis sack down, checked to make sure it was securely tied, thensquatted on a clear patch of sand. The sack was not quite full, butPug relished the extra hour or so that he could relax. Megar the cookwouldnt trouble him about the time as long as the sack wasalmost full. Resting with his back against a large rock, Pug settledin to relax. He opened his eyes suddenly. He had fallen asleep, or atleast he knew he had fallen asleep here once He sat up.

A cool wet spraystruck him in the face. Without having closed his eyes, somehow timehad passed. Fear rose up within his chest, and he knew he had stayedmuch too long. Westward, over the sea, dark thunderheads were formingabove the black outline of the Six Sisters, the small islands on thehorizon. The rolling, surging clouds, with rain trailing below likesome sooty veil, heralded another of the sudden storms common to thispart of the coast in early summer. The winds drove the clouds withunnatural fury and distant thunder grew louder by the moment.

Pug turned andlooked in all directions. Something was terribly wrong. He knew hehad been here many times before, but He had been here before!Not just in this place, but living this moment!

To the south,the high bluffs of Sailors Grief reared up against the sky, aswaves crashed against the base of that rocky pinnacle. Whitecapsstarted to form behind the breakers, a sure sign the storm wouldquickly strike. Pug knew he was in danger, for the storms of summercould drown anyone on the beaches, or if severe enough, on the lowground beyond. He picked up his sack and started north, towards thecastle. As he moved among the pools, he felt the coolness in the windturn to a deeper, wetter cold. The day began to be broken by apatchwork of shadows as the first clouds passed before the sun,bright colours fading to shades of grey. Out to sea, lightningflashed against the blackness of the clouds, and the boom ofonrushing thunder rode over the noise of the waves. Pug picked upspeed when he came to the first stretch of open beach.

The storm wascoming in faster than he would have thought possible, driving therising tide before it. By the time he reached the second stretch oftide pools, there was barely ten feet of dry sand between watersedge and cliffs. Pug hurried as fast as was safe across the rocks,twice nearly catching his foot. As he reached the next expanse ofsand, he mistimed his jump from the last rock and landedpoorly. He had twisted his ankle!

He had been herebefore, and when he had jumped he had twisted his ankle and a momentlater the waves had washed over him.

Pug turned tolook at the sea and instead of the surge of water that would washover him, the water was pulling back! The sea gathered in on itselfand as it pulled away, it climbed higher and higher: a wall of waterreaching angrily to the heavens. An explosion of thunder erupted overhis head and he ducked, crouching to avoid the threat from above. Pugrisked an upwards glance and wondered how the clouds had gathered soquickly. Where had the sun gone?

The roilingbreakers continued to mount the sky, and as Pug watched in dread, hecould see figures moving within the liquid wall. It resembled abarrier of sea-green glass, clouded with sandy imperfections andexplosions of bubbles, but transparent enough to make out the shapesmoving within it.

Armed creaturesstood in ranks, poised and waiting to invade Crydee, and a word cameto Pugs mind: Dasati.

He turned,letting go of the sack in his hand as he attempted to reach higherground. He must warn Duke Borric! He would know what to do! But theDuke is dead, over a century now.

Panic-stricken,the boy clambered up the low rise, his hands unable to find a firmgrip, his feet denied solid purchase. He felt tears of frustrationrise in his eyes and he glanced over his shoulder.

The blackfigures stirred within the mounting wall of water. As they steppedforward the wave rose to impossible height, blackening out thealready storm-grey skies. Above and behind the massive wave a thingof dark anger revealed itselfa murk without form and feature,yet coherenta powerful presence with purpose and mind. From itpoured pure evil, a miasma of malevolence so vast that it caused theboy to fall over backwards, sitting helpless as he waited.

Pug saw the darkarmy of the Dasati marching towards him, emerging from waves turnedblack by the hateful thing in the sky. He slowly rose, balled hisfists and stood defiantly, yet he knew he was helpless. He should beable to do something, but He was only a boy, not yet fourteen summersold, not even chosen for a craft, a keep-boy without family or name.

Then, as thenearest Dasati warrior raised its sword, a malevolent cry of triumphsounded, a bell-like clarion that brought the child to his knees.Expecting the blade to fall, Pug watched the Dasati hesitate. Behindit, the wavenow taller than the tallest tower in the keep atCrydeealso seemed to pause for a moment, then it came crashingtowards him, sweeping up the Dasati before bearing down upon the boy.

Ah!said Pug, sitting up in bed, his body drenched with perspiration.

What isit? asked the woman at his side.

Pug turnedtowards his wife, sensing more than seeing her features in thedarkness of their sleeping chamber. He calmed himself and said, Adream. Nothing more.

Miranda sat upand put a hand on his shoulder. With the briefest gesture she broughtevery candle in the bed chamber to life. In the soft glow from thecandles, she saw the sheen of moisture on his skin reflecting theflickering light. It must have been quite a dream, shesaid softly. Youre drenched.

Pug turned toregard her in the warm glow. He had been married to Miranda for morethan half his life now, yet he found her a constant mystery andoccasionally a challenge. But at moments like this he was gratefulshe was close at hand.

Their bond was astrange one for they were two of the most powerful practitioners ofmagic on Midkemia and that alone made them unique to the other.Beyond that their histories had intersected before they had met.Pugs life had been manipulated by Mirandas father,Macros the Black, and even now as they lived together, theyoccasionally wondered if their marriage might not have been anotherof his clever plots. But whatever else, in each other they had founda person who could understand their burdens and challenges as no oneelse could.