Война с демонами. Мертвые демоны (сборник)

В нощта на Новолунието демоните настъпват масирано, жадни за кръвта на двамината, които биха могли да се превърнат в предсказания Избавител, който ще обедини разпръснатите късчета от човечеството, за да унищожат веднъж завинаги ядроните.

Арлен Бейлс, някога обикновен човек, се е превърнал в нещо повече — Защитения, изписал кожата си с чудовищни защити и равен по сила на всеки демон.

Арлен отрича, че е Избавителя, ала колкото повече се стреми да е близо до народа, толкова по-пламенно хората го боготворят. Мнозина искат да го следват, ала пътят на Арлен заплашва да го отведе до мрак, в който само той може да се спусне и от който може да няма връщане назад.

Единствената надежда Арлен да остане в човешкия свят или да не е сам в света на демоните е Рена Танър, свирепа млада жена, която сама рискува да се изгуби сред силата на завладялата я демонична магия.

Ахман Джардир е изковал от войнствените пустинни племена на Красия единна армия, сееща смърт сред демоните, и се е провъзгласил за Шар’Дама Ка, Избавителя. Той обладава мощта на древни оръжия — Короната и Копието на Каджи, — убедително утвърдили претенциите му, и вече огромни части от зеленоземската шир са се преклонили пред него.

Ала Джардир не се е сдобил сам с властта си. Възходът му е плод на Първата му съпруга, Иневера, лукава и могъща жрица, която може да чете бъдещето с костената си магия. Миналото и мотивите на Иневера са забулени в тайна и дори Джардир не ѝ се доверява изцяло.

Някога Арлен и Джардир са били почти братя. Сега ги разделя горчива вражда. Докато враговете на човечеството се надигат, единствените двама мъже, способни да ги победят, са разкъсвани от най-смъртоносните демони от всички — тези на човешкото сърце.

Sometimes there is very good reason to be afraid of the dark...

Eleven-year-old Arlen lives with his parents on their small farmstead, half a day's ride away from the isolated hamlet of Tibbet's Brook.

As dusk falls upon Arlan's world, a strange mist rises from the ground, a mist carrying nightmares to the surface. A mist that promises a violent death to any foolish enough to brave the coming darkness, for hungry corelings - demons that cannot be harmed by mortal weapons - materialize from the vapours to feed on the living. As the sun sets, people have no choice but to take shelter behind magical wards and pray that their protection holds until the creatures dissolve with the first signs of dawn.

When Arlen's life is shattered by the demon plague, he is forced to see that it is fear, rather than the demons, which truly cripples humanity. Believing that there is more to his world than to live in constant fear, he must risk leaving the safety of his wards to discover a different path.

In the small town of Cutter's Hollow, Leesha's perfect future is destroyed by betrayal and a simple lie. Publicly shamed, she is reduced to gathering herbs and tending an old woman more fearsome than the corelings. Yet in her disgrace, she becomes the guardian of dangerous ancient knowledge.

Orphaned and crippled in a demon attack, young Rojer takes solace in mastering the musical arts of a Jongleur, only to learn that his unique talent gives him unexpected power over the night.

Together, these three young people will offer humanity a last, fleeting chance of survival.

The sun is setting on humanity. The night now belongs to voracious demons that arise as the sun sets, preying upon a dwindling population forced to cower behind ancient and half-forgotten symbols of power. These wards alone can keep the demons at bay, but legends tell of a Deliverer: a general - some would say prophet - who once bound all mankind into a single force that defeated the demons. Those times, if they ever existed, are long past. The demons are back, and the return of the Deliverer is just another myth …or is it?

Out of the desert rides Ahmann Jardir, who has forged the warlike desert tribes of Krasia into a demon-killing army. He has proclaimed himself Shar'Dama Ka, the Deliverer, and he carries ancient weapons - a spear and a crown - that give credence to his claim. Sworn to follow the path of the first Deliverer, he has come north to bring the scattered city-states of the green lands together in a war against demonkind - whether they like it or not.

But the northerners claim their own Deliverer. His name was Arlen, but all know him now as the Warded Man: a dark, forbidding figure whose skin is tattooed with wards so powerful they make him a match for any demon. The Warded Man denies that he is the Deliverer, but his actions speak louder than words, for he teaches men and women to face their fears and stand fast against the creatures that have tormented them for centuries.

Once the Shar'Dama Ka and the Warded Man were friends, brothers in arms. Now they are fierce adversaries. Caught between them are Renna, a young woman pushed to the edge of human endurance; Leesha, a proud and beautiful healer whose skill in warding surpasses that of the Warded Man himself; and Rojer, a traveling fiddler whose uncanny music can soothe the demons - or stir them into such frenzy that they attack one another.

Yet as old allegiances are tested and fresh alliances forged, all are blissfully unaware of the appearance of a new breed of demon, more intelligent - and deadly - than any that have come before.