SHirli Merfi - The Castle Оf Hape. Caves Оf Fire Аnd Ice. The Joining Оf Тhe Stone

FROM THE REVIEWS

Of The Castle of Hape

The many episodes involving the race ofwinged horses are magnificently imagined. --School LibraryJournal

Of Caves of Fire and Ice

Moves into the past, the present, and thefuture . . . a mind-boggling time sequence. --AlanReview

Plenty of action here and a colorful,skillfully-depicted cast of characters. School LibraryJournal

The well-delineated characters add life withthe same effect that detail adds to a painting. ALABooklist

Of The Joining of the Stone

The dramatic climax in a series of fivefantasies . . . Shirley Murphy satisfactorily draws together thestrands (and her incredible images) of good and evil. AtlantaJournal and Constitution

The portrayal of the evil forces, stark andfrightening, is well balanced with Murphys theme about life beingflawed [but] . . . no less magnificent. ALA Booklist

The Runestone of Eresu

by

Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 1980, 1981 by Shirley RousseauMurphy

All rights reserved. For information contactwebmaster@joegrey.com. This ebook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only, and may not be resold, given away, or altered.

This is the second of two volumes containingthe books originally published as the Children of Ynell series. Itincludes The Castle of Hape, Caves of Fire and Ice, andThe Joining of the Stone, and can be read independently ofthe first volume, The Shattered Stone.

Atheneum edition of The Castle of Hape(hardcover) published in 1980

Avon edition (paperback) published in1981

Atheneum edition of Caves of Fire andIce (hardcover) published in 1980

Avon edition (paperback) published in1982

Atheneum edition of The Joining of theStone (hardcover) published in 1981

Avon edition (paperback) published in1983

Ad Stellae Books edition, 2011

Author website: www.joegrey.com

Cover art by Corey Ford / 123RF

CONTENTS

The Castle of Hape

Part One: The Dark

Part Two: The Gods

Part Three: Telien

Caves of Fire andIce

Part One: The Lake of Fire

Part Two: The Black Lake

Part Three: The Lake of Caves

The Joining of theStone

Part One: Ramads Heir

Part Two: Heritage of the Dark

Part Three: The Joining

About the Author

TheCastle of Hape

PartOne:The Dark

The ages of Time rise and move onward asneatly as the waves of the sea move. Or do they? What is Time? Whois to say that each age moves forward in perfect symmetry and neveris disturbed? Who is to say that Time cannot, as does the sea,tumble suddenly in a whirling rage so all is thrown asunder? So atime without end or beginning is formed spinning into itself,swallowing the unfortunate wanderer or displacing him.

To the countries of Ere, the ages are markedby rivers of fire belching from the dark mountains, fire that sendsmen to flee in terror then recedes to lie dormant once more,perhaps for generations.

Yes, in the beginning cities grew close tothe sea away from the fiery mountains, and those few people whowould venture inland were driven back by fire, or by maverick,blood-lusting raiders. No one would think to make a city or claim anation at the foot of the Ring of Fire. Not until the man Venniverso ventured, laying out a town he called Burgdeeth at the foot ofthe willful mountains. He meant to build a city ruled by falsereligion, and he began with the labor of slaves: Seers, enslaved towork like animals. And when those Seers escaped Venniversshackles, they took themselves to the far coast, and they conceiveda different kind of nation.

But the powers of dark fought that nation,fought its rise and its strengthening.

Was it that warring, between evil and light,that disturbed the warp of Time? Who can say? No man of Ere cansay; and those snatched up into the spinning of Time do not speakto us now.

ONE

The mares wings slashed and turned thewind. Ram clung to her back with effort, his fingers twisted in hemane to keep from falling, his blood spilling down across hershoulder. She lifted higher and the wind hammered at him; her wingstore light from the sun so it fractured around him, confusing him.He was hardly aware of the land below, blurred into a tapestry ofgreen by her speed; was unaware of the river Urobb just beneaththem and of the sea ahead. The bay and islands lay sun-washed, thetowering stone ruins, but he did not heed them or the newly tilledfarms, the herds of fat cattle and horses, did not see the cartsgoing along the newly made roads toward the ruins to trade, wasconscious only of pain, of sickness, of the raw agony of the swordwound in his side.

The bleeding increased. He loosed one handfrom the mares mane to explore the wound, then bent again dizzy,hugging her neck to keep from falling. Only her mane, torn by windto slash across his face, jerked him from unconsciousness. Hepressed his arm tight to his side to staunch the blood.

The mares wings spanned more than twentyfeet, her dark eyes swept the sky and land constantly. Her goldencoat caught the high, clear brilliance of the sun, her ears sharpforward and alert. She was no tame creature to come to a mansbidding, she had leaped from the sky of her own free will to liftRam from the midst of battle, a dozen winged horses beside hersweeping down to lift the battered warriors from a fight that hadturned to slaughter, so outnumbered were they; a battle they mighthave won had their Seers powers not been crippled so the attackcaught them unaware, the Herebian hordes surging through densewoods a hundred strong against their puny band.

The mare lifted higher now. Light filled herwings like a golden cloak surrounding Ram, light ever moving as shesoared then angled down. The fields rolled beneath him sickeningly;he went dizzy again, and she warned him awake with cool equineconcern; then she dropped suddenly and sharply to meet the cold seawind, dove through the wind in swift flight supporting Ram with thestrength of her willthen folded her wings in one liquid motion andstood poised and still on the rim of a stone balcony high up thesheer side of the temple of the gods.

Ram slipped down to the stone, his mindplunging toward blackness, and felt hands catch him. He saw a flashof gold as the mare leaped aloft; then he went limp.

He woke swearing and flailing, thinking hewas in battle, imagined men dying, could smell their blood. He wasdrenched in blood and sweat. He came fully awake at last, thrashingamong the sweaty bedclothes. The wound in his side was a screamingpain. His bandage was soaked with blood. He felt hands lift hisshoulders, saw white fingers around a cup. He swallowed the bitterdraught gratefully, stared into Skeelies thin face for an instant,then dropped into sleep again like a stone, spinning down in deepwater.

Skeelie stood over him scowling, shaken tosee him hurt like this, grateful that he did not lie dead on somebloody battlefield. How many times had she stood so, wretchedwithin herself at Rams hurt? Ever since they were children so longago in Burgdeeth, ever since that first time when he had been foundunconscious from some strange attack, the great bruise on his head,the wolf tracks all around him and he left untouched by wolves. Andthe dead Pellian Seer lying near. She had nursed him like a babythen, a big boy of eight, near as big as she. And she had loved himthen on that first day; but with a childs love, not as she lovedhim now. For all the good it did.