an mprnt of Prometheus Books Amherst, NY
Publshed 2012 by Pyr, an mprnt of Prometheus Books A Gule of Dragons. Copyrght 2012 James Enge. All rghts reserved. No part of ths publcaton may be reproduced, stored n a retreval system, or transmtted n any form or by any means, dgtal, electronc, mechancal, photocopy ng, recordng, or otherwse, or conveyed va the Internet or a webste wthout pror wrtten permsson of the publsher, ex cept n the case of bref quotatons em boded n crtcal artcles and revews. Cover llustraton Steve Stone Map by Rhys Daves Cover desgn by Jacquelne Nasso Cooke Inqures should be addressed to Pyr 59 John Glenn Drve Amherst, New York 14228 2119 VOICE: 716 691 0133 FAX: 716 691 0137 WWW.PYRSF.COM 16 15 14 13 12 5 4 3 2 1 Lbrary of Congress Catalogng-n-Publcaton Data Lachlan, M. D., 1964 Fenrr / by M. D. Lachlan. p. cm. (Wolfsangel seres ; 2) Frst publshed: London : Gollancz, an mprnt of Oron Publshng Group, 2011. ISBN 978 1 61614 527 9 (pbk.) ISBN 978 1 61614 528 6 (ebook) 1. Vkngs Fcton. 2. Gods, Norse Fcton. 3. Pars (France) Hstory To 1515 Fcton. I. Ttle. PR6052.A7263F46 2011 823'.914 dc22 2011023993 Prnted n the Unted States of Amerca
To Patrck, who deserves a book of real hstory but nstead gets ths. Laudato s, m Sgnore, per frate Focu, per lo quale ennallumn la nocte: ed ello è bello et ucundo et robustoso et forte.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Kerkegaard s Ether/Or s quoted from the translaton by Davd F. Swenson and Lllan Marvn Swenson (revsed by Howard A. Johnson), (Prnceton, 1971). The quotaton for Dostoevsky s Notes from Underground s from from Davd Magarshack s translaton. All translatons from the Dwarvsh and Wardc n the text are from H. N. Emrys magsteral commentary on Von Brauch s Lber Glaucus (Euphema State Unversty Press, 1952). They are used here by gracous permsson of her estate. 9
CONTENTS Part One: All Such Enemes Chapter One: In a Dark Wood Chapter Two: Conversatons n Brocelande Chapter Three: The Sea of Worlds Chapter Four: The Wtness Stone Chapter Fve: Tyr s Grasp Part Two: Under the Guard Chapter Sx: Earno Goes North Chapter Seven: Knfe Chapter Eght: Settlement Chapter Nne: Fre and Thunder Part Three: Envoy to Dragons Chapter Ten: The Deep Roads Chapter Eleven: Challenge Chapter Twelve: Majarra Chapter Thrteen: Voces 11
12 CONTENTS Part Four: Aganst Everythng Chapter Fourteen: Control Chapter Ffteen: Guardans Chapter Sxteen: Tunglskn Chapter Seventeen: Under the Mountans Chapter Eghteen: Gule Eplogue: Cymbals Appendces: A. The Lands of Laent n the Ontlan Interregnum B. The Gods of Laent C. Calendar and Astronomy D. The Wardlands and the Grath of Guardans
The day of wrath, that day wll shatter the centures n fre. Des Irae
P A R T O N E ALL SUCH ENEMIES I have the courage, I beleve, to doubt everythng: I have the courage, I beleve, to fght wth everythng; but I have not the courage to know anythng, not the courage to possess, to own anythng. Most people complan that the world s so prosac, that lfe s not lke romance, where opportuntes are always so favorable. I complan that lfe s not lke romance, where one had hard-hearted parents, and nxes and trolls to fght, and enchanted prncesses to free. What are all such enemes, taken together, compared to the pale, bloodless, tenacous nocturnal shapes wth whch I fght, and to whom I gve lfe and substance? Kerkegaard, Ether/Or
C H A P T E R O N E IN A DARK WOOD The Two Powers hated everythng, each other most of all. When Torlan sad, Yes, Zahkaar sad, No, and when Torlan sad, I meant no, ha ha ha, Zahkaar sad, I meant yes, and dd not laugh. It made ther conversatons tedous, but they were not aware of t: tedum was not somethng they could experence. The Two Powers pervaded the unverse; so t was wrtten n the holy books of the Anhkh sorcerer-prests. Those-who-know, the fratrcdal fraternty of magcal adepts, gave them a more local habtaton, n the accursed forest of Tychar, Laent s dark-blue posonous heart. Ths s the hstory of the unverse, accordng to the Anhkh relgon of the Two Powers. In the begnnng, there was nothng. Then one of the Two Powers came nto beng (some say t was Torlan, the power of Fate; some say t was Zahkaar, the power of Chaos wars have been fought over ths mportant ssue). Its beng naturally summoned ts ant-beng nto exstence, and they began to struggle. Tme and the unverse and everythng n t s a consequence of that struggle. In the end, one of the Powers wll vanqush the other and tme and the unverse and everythng n t wll be swept away n that unendng vctory. Those-who-know do not generally beleve ths. But there was no denyng the exstence of the Two Powers, nor ther dreadful f ll-defned abltes, and sorcerers of every strpe of opnon generally gave them a wde berth. Beng an athest s no protecton, as Guelph the Many-Mnded remarked on hs scaffold, f a god decdes to beleve n you. Today, on the frst day of the new year, the two gods had decded to beleve n someone. 17
18 A GUILE OF DRAGONS Ambrosus, sad Torlan, the power of Fate. Ambrosus, dsagreed Zahkaar, the power of Chaos. We hate hm, Torlan sad. Hate, agreed Zahkaar reluctantly, then added, I hated hm frst. Lar. Lar. You re the lar. All my decrees are true and eternal. True and eternal les. So the long day wore on. They enjoyed, nsofar as they could enjoy anythng, when they could dsagree about somethng they agreed on. It made the nevtable cooperaton less repugnant to ther natures. But the new quarrel, added to ther endless ancent quarrel, dd not stop them from executng the resoluton arsng from ther clashng wlls. They both hated Ambrosus. He would suffer for nsprng them to agree on anythng.