Messenger’s Legacy

Messenger’s Legacy
Peter V. Brett

A thrilling novella set in the world of The Demon Cycle from bestselling fantasy author Peter V. Brett.Humanity has been brought to the brink of extinction. Each night, the world is overrun by demons. Bloodthirsty creatures of nightmare that have been hunting the surface for over 300 years. A scant few hamlets and half-starved city-states are all that remain of a once proud civilization, and it is only by hiding behind wards, ancient symbols with the power to repel the demons, that they survive. A handful of Messengers brave the night to keep the lines of communication open between the increasingly isolated populace.Briar Damaj is a boy of six in the small village of Bogton. Half-Krasian, the village children call him Mudboy for his dark skin. When tragedy strikes, Briar decides the town is better off without him, fleeing into the bog with nothing but his wits and a bit of herb lore to protect him.After twenty years, Ragen Messenger has agreed to retire and pass on his route to his protégé, Arlen Bales. But for all that he's earned the rest, he has no idea what to do with the rest of his life. When he learns Briar, the son of an old friend, is missing, Ragen is willing to risk any danger to bring him safely home.

Copyright (#ulink_a1472846-50cd-51e4-88ac-708bf860c89c)

HarperVoyager

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

77-85 Fulham Palace Road,

Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk (http://www.harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperVoyager 2014

Copyright © Peter V. Brett 2014

Cover texture © www.Shutterstock.com (http://www.Shutterstock.com)

Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2014

Map by Andrew Ashton.

Peter V. Brett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008114701

Ebook Edition © December 2014 ISBN: 9780008114718

Version: 2014-11-11

Contents

Cover (#u28e85a01-f164-5a03-a6ee-2126ddaf63de)

Title Page (#u7db2bb75-3a24-56c7-beb7-e40facdbdbce)

Copyright (#u29b202bc-517e-51e1-888f-3ec69d3f3f2a)

Dedication (#u4ceab3ad-4ab3-57e0-a941-7ab778b89dba)

Introduction (#u1de909b1-a869-5a20-a23d-827ecd1d4262)

Map (#uaa1ad339-f4f8-5813-98ed-db47a7b1fa0c)

1. Burning True (#u5335af2e-c9fb-5c05-b499-72f13a8b0823)

2. Briarpatch (#litres_trial_promo)

3. Ragen (#litres_trial_promo)

4. Mudboy (#litres_trial_promo)

5. A Last Run (#litres_trial_promo)

6. Cories (#litres_trial_promo)

Ward Grimoire (#litres_trial_promo)

Introduction (#litres_trial_promo)

By the Same Author (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Dedication (#ulink_c4089dd6-dcff-50fa-9e3d-f2800fc81359)

For Myke and Joshua, who read all the versions.

Introduction (#ulink_11779101-ce26-585b-8de7-48bf03e98df5)

Like the other Demon Cycle novellas, The Great Bazaar and Brayan’s Gold, this story grew out of the main series, a stunted branch that put down roots and flourished when planted on its own.

The first chapter, ‘Burning True’, was originally written as the opening chapter of my third novel, The Daylight War. It quickly became clear that telling Briar’s story fully would require far more space than I had to spare in a series already known for its ever-increasing number of point-of-view characters. The chapter was excised, but I always knew I would come back to it when the time was right.

Some time later, the chapter was published in Shawn Speakman’s charity anthology Unfettered, under the title Mudboy. Still only a piece of Briar’s story, I’m grateful to Subterranean Press for giving me the chance now to finally tell the story in full.

Look for Briar to make appearances in The Skull Throne, the fourth book of the Demon Cycle next year.

Peter V. Brett

July, 2014

www.petervbrett.com (http://www.petervbrett.com)

1 (#ulink_b9f52b5e-7889-5d7c-81bc-f9f8d8df8878)

Burning True (#ulink_b9f52b5e-7889-5d7c-81bc-f9f8d8df8878)

324 AR Summer