Legends of the Dragonrealm: Shade (42 page)

I should have known better.
Now he had only replaced one face with another.

Shade glanced down at a piece of ice. In it, he caught the murky reflection of his indistinct countenance. That stirred him anew to his search. There was still a buried stairwell that he thought did not look like the work of drakes, but rather something older. Shade had ignored it for easier areas first.

There had been no physical change in the land, not that he had
expected there to be, but Shade could sense a difference and suspected that other spellcasters, such as Cabe Bedlam, also did. Shade believed that difference to be for the better, but time would tell.

Pain wracked him again. He doubled over. His will was strong, but it still took several seconds before the trouble subsided even a little.

A hand gripped his shoulder and a voice whispered, “I’m here. Breathe easy . . .”

The pain faded almost immediately. Shade eyed his gloved hands, as solid as those of any normal creature.

And in the ice, the hooded sorcerer now saw his face defined. More important, he saw that other face a short distance behind his.

Shade looked up at Valea, her expression a cross between concern, relief, and something deeper.

“I tracked Edrin and his brother down, just as I knew you would,” she explained. “Darkhorse helped me. I made them tell me what they told you about where other elements of the founders might be located. Then I sent Darkhorse one direction and I chose the other.” Valea smiled. “The one I was certain was the right direction.”

“Valea.”

The enchantress moved her hand to his cheek. “We’ll find some answer, Gerrod. Together.”

Shade rose hesitantly. He had never felt so off-balance in a thousand lifetimes. Yet, he also felt more in balance in another, more immediate manner and knew that it was because of the woman before him. Shade had no cure, but suddenly, he did have hope again.

“Together . . . ,” he whispered, surprising himself with such a response.

Valea leaned close and kissed him. To his surprise, Shade did not retreat.

Reluctantly separating from Shade, she asked, “Where do we begin?”

Refocusing, he turned and pointed toward the buried steps. As he did, Valea took his other hand in hers.

Rather than pull away, Shade clutched it tighter and led her forward.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’d like to thank all those that helped make this story happen: My family, the crew at Gallery—including but not limited to my editors Ed Schlesinger and Megan McKeever, deputy publisher Anthony Ziccardi, editorial assistant Julia Fincher—my agent Don Maass, and fantastic Brit artist Jon Sullivan. I apologize to others I’ve not mentioned by name, but I hope they know their efforts are very much appreciated. As ever, I’d also like to thank the fans, who, more than anyone, enabled the world of the Dragonrealm to continue for so long. I hope we can continue to look forward to many adventures!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RICHARD A. KNAAK
is the
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author of
The Legend of Huma, World of Warcraft: Wolfheart,
and more than forty other novels and numerous short stories, including works in such series as
World of Warcraft, Diablo, Dragonlance, Age of Conan,
and his own
Dragonrealm
. He has scripted a number of
Warcraft
manga with Tokyopop, such as the top-selling
Sunwell
trilogy, and has also written background material for games. His works have been published worldwide in many languages.

In addition to the three volumes in the
Legends of the Dragonrealm
series, his most recent releases include
Wolfheart
(the latest in the bestselling
World of Warcraft
series), the graphic novel series
Rune Keepers,
and
Dragon Mound,
the first in his
Knight in Shadow
trilogy. He is presently at work on several other projects, among them
Wake of the Wyrm,
the sequel to
Dragon Mound
.

Currently splitting his time between Chicago and Arkansas, he can be reached through his website:
www.richardaknaak.com
. While he is unable to respond to every e-mail, he does read them. Join his mailing list for e-announcements of upcoming releases and appearances. He is also on Facebook and Twitter.

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COVER DESIGN BY ALAN DINGMAN • COVER ART BY JON SULLIVAN

Gallery Books
A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2012 by Richard A. Knaak

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Gallery Books trade paperback edition September 2012

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-4516-5607-7
ISBN 978-1-4516-5608-4 (ebook)