The Shadow Roads

Prologue. What Went Before

The children of the sorcerer Wyrr did not die, but dwelt foran age in the river as “nagar”; ghostly spirits. The Knights of the Vow wereformed to stop the children of Wyrr from ever finding their way back to theland of the living, but members of the brotherhood were seduced by promises ofpower and long life, and they hid away “smeagh”-arcane objects that could allowthe children of Wyrr to return one day. By this means Wyrr’s two sons and hisdaughter made bargains with mortals and appeared again among the living.

Wyrr’s children, powerful sorcerers, had fought among themselvesfor a thousand years, and when they reappeared in the land between themountains their hatred was undiminished, and they took up their feud again. Thusit was that Lady Elise Wills and a traveler named Alaan became the enemies of aknight known as Hafydd, who had contrived to start a war among the principalfamilies of the land between the mountains so that he might come to power inthe ensuing turmoil.

Unable to destroy Hafydd, Alaan lured him into the hiddenlands-into the Stillwater-a vast swamp that Alaan believed only he couldescape. But Alaan’s plans went awry when he was wounded by one of Hafydd’sguards, and his wound festered in the foul waters of the swamp. Alaan wouldhave been caught and killed, but he was rescued by a stranger accompanied by anarmy of crows. This man, Rabal Crowheart, showed him a ruin where Alaan found achamber containing a great enchantment-the spell that separated the landbetween the mountains from the hidden lands, and the land of the living fromthe kingdom of the dead. Alaan recognized then that the enchantment had begunto decay.

Learning that Alaan was wounded and pursued by Hafydd, EliseWills found the wanderer who could draw maps into the hidden lands and forcedhim to make her a map leading to the Still-water. She, the Valemen, and Alaan’sfriend Pwyll, set off, hoping to save Alaan. They didn’t know that map maker,Kai, had also sent a legendary warrior into the swamp-a near giant named OrlemSlighthand.

While he lay in delirium from his corrupted wound, Alaan wasapproached by an ancient man-at-arms offering him a gem he claimed had beenleft for a child ofWyrr, by Wyrr’s brother, Aillyn. Fearing it was a smeaghthat would bring Aillyn back into the world, Alaan refused it, but Hafydd wasnot so wary and took the gem, thinking it was a stone of legend that had oncebelonged to the great sorcerer Tusival.

A running battle was fought through the wetlands, both betweenElise and Hafydd, and between strange creatures whom Crowheart claimed were theservants of Death. In the end the companies met at the mouth of a tunnel thatled out of the Stillwater. Here they fought a desperate battle, in which themagic Elise summoned almost destroyed them all-but the survivors found themselvesagain in the land between the mountains, many swept into the River Wyrr, whichseemed to have destinations for them-though they were destinations none wouldhave chosen.