The Rose of Sarifal
Read The Rose of Sarifal Online
Authors: Paulina Claiborne
“Take the helm,” he told Marikke, and as the boat shuddered and yawed he leaped onto the gunwale, barefoot, his longbow in his hand. The Savage stood beside him with his sword outstretched, the blade glowing with red fire. He was muttering and cursing, and Lukas could feel a prickling in the air, as the sword sucked down energy for a strike.
Now the boat was well alight, and with his arrow nocked, and with the naga’s grotesque head weaving and turning not forty feet away, he paused. Almost overwhelming in its intensity, he felt the sudden, harsh joy of losing everything, of letting go the garbage and detritus of his life. For years he had sailed the
Sphinx
over the Trackless Sea. She carried all he owned. Not seven months before he had finally paid her off. Fine—good riddance—with this one shaft he would remake himself clean and new. Below him he could hear Marikke’s prayer, and he let fly. Guided by Chauntea and his own skill, the arrow pierced under the creature’s chin, lodged in the thinnest part of its neck where the scales were weakest. At the same time a crooked branch of fire burst from the golden elf’s sword. The air stunk of lightning.
ALSO BY PAULINA CLAIBORNE
NOVELS
The Wail of the Lonely Barbarian
The Strange Plains
Tears of Wolf and Spider
POETRY
These Walls Have Ears, These Doors Have Noses
MORE FROM THE FORGOTTEN REALMS
THE MOONSHAE TRILOGY
Douglas Niles
Darkwalker on Moonshae
Black Wizards
Darkwell
THE ROSE OF SARIFAL
©2012 Wizards of the Coast LLC
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Cover art by: Aleksi Briclot
eISBN: 978-0-7869-6132-0
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v3.1
This book is for Trainer Thompson, Rose Shuker-Haines, Noah Savage, Ben Hynes, Jasper Rosenheim, and of course Lucius Park, my son.
Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Map
Prologue
Chapter One - Caer Corwell
Chapter Two - Landfall
Chapter Three - Black Blood
Chapter Four - Suka in Prison
Chapter Five - Mistakes
Chapter Six - A Resurrection
Chapter Seven - The Climbing Rose
Chapter Eight - Suka’s Escape
Chapter Nine - Cross-breeding
Chapter Ten - The Battle of Caer Moray
Chapter Eleven - Captain Rurik
Chapter Twelve - Wolves
Chapter Thirteen - Poke Is Dead
Chapter Fourteen - Darkness Clear
Chapter Fifteen - In Synnoria
Chapter Sixteen - Unquiet Dreams
Chapter Seventeen - Knights of Llewyrr
Chapter Eighteen - A Reunion
About the Author
W
elcome to Faerûn, a land of magic and intrigue, brutal violence and divine compassion, where gods have ascended and died, and mighty heroes have risen to fight terrifying monsters. Here, millennia of warfare and conquest have shaped dozens of unique cultures, raised and leveled shining kingdoms and tyrannical empires alike, and left long forgotten, horror-infested ruins in their wake.
A LAND OF MAGIC
When the goddess of magic was murdered, a magical plague of blue fire—the Spellplague—swept across the face of Faerûn, killing some, mutilating many, and imbuing a rare few with amazing supernatural abilities. The Spellplague forever changed the nature of magic itself, and seeded the land with hidden wonders and bloodcurdling monstrosities.
A LAND OF DARKNESS
The threats Faerûn faces are legion. Armies of undead mass in Thay under the brilliant but mad lich king Szass Tam. Treacherous dark elves plot in the Underdark in the service of their cruel and fickle goddess, Lolth. The Abolethic Sovereignty, a terrifying hive of inhuman slave masters, floats above the Sea of Fallen Stars, spreading chaos and destruction. And the Empire of Netheril, armed with magic of unimaginable power, prowls Faerûn in flying fortresses, sowing discord to their own incalculable ends.
A LAND OF HEROES