Brotherhood of the Wolf

The Runelords

“The intriguing hook behind Farland's first novel—and launch of a new fantasy series—is a complex magical technology whereby abilities such as wit, brawn, and stamina are transferable from person to person. The magic is basic to Farland's story, not just painted on, and it and the society in which it plays out are rigorously and imaginatively elaborated.”

—Publishers Weekly

“A bloody, violent, grim saga, with thoughtfully devised magics, and a well-tuned plot … satisfying and involving.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“The Runelords is a wonderful fantasy novel.”

—Robert J. Sawyer

 

T
OR
B
OOKS BY
D
AVID
F
ARLAND

The Runelords
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Wizardborn
The Lair of Bones
Sons of the Oak
Worldbinder
*

Worlds of the Golden Queen
(comprising
The Golden Queen
and
Beyond the Gate)

D
AVID
F
ARLAND

NOTE: If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF

Copyright © 1999 by David Farland

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

Edited by David G. Hartwell
Maps by Mark Stein Studios

A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010

www.tor.com

Tor
^®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8125-7069-4
ISBN-10: 0-8125-7069-3
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-24568

First Edition: May 1999
First Mass Market Edition: September 2000

Printed in the United States of America

0  9  8  7  6

 

 

 

B
ROTHERHOOD
OF THE WOLF

PROLOGUE

The week of Hostenfest began with a festive air at the Castle at Tal Rimmon in northern Mystarria.

On the first morning of Hostenfest, the spirit of the Earth King came as usual. Fathers and mothers took delight in heaping gifts of food for their children onto kitchen tables—honeycomb dripping in sweet piles, the small brownspotted tangerines common to Mystarria, almonds roasted in butter, sweet grapes fresh from the vine and still wet from the morning dew. All of these represented the bounteous gifts that the Earth King would bestow upon those who loved the land, “the fruits of the forest and of the field.”

And on that same first dawn of Hostenfest, the children rose and anxiously ran to the hearth. There mothers had left their daughters dolls woven of straw and dry wild flowers, or perhaps a box with a yellow kitten in it; and there young boys might find bows carved of ash, or finely embroidered woolen cloaks to help warm them through the coming winter.

So the children's joy was full, and the week of Hostenfest came to Tal Rimmon under skies so warm and blue that they belied the coming of autumn.