Bahdlahn stared into her black eyes for a long while before finally nodding, and Aoleyn then wrapped him in a great hug.
She had no idea of how she might possibly fulfill that promise, but in that moment, it didn’t matter.
She had fought the demon, had gone to the edge of death and even a bit beyond. Yet here she was, and here the fossa was not.
And Elara was at peace, and so it was with her.
* * *
Not so far away, crouched behind a stone, Aghmor heard every word and saw, his faced scrunched in disgust, every hug.
He didn’t know what to think in that shocking moment. Part of him wanted to throw a spear into Aoleyn for killing Ralid!
Another part wanted to praise her for saving the poor prisoner.
The enormity of it all kept him in place, though, and silent. Not only was Aoleyn alive and out of the camp, but she was here, with this uamhas—this uamhas who was not stupid!
“You should go to my mother,” he heard the uamhas say. “She will give you new clothes.”
Aghmor grimaced, picturing the torture Tay Aillig would inflict on this slave, and probably on his mother, too.
And Aoleyn, that foolish and impertinent girl, the killer of Ralid, would be fed to Craos’a’diad, without doubt.
Aghmor scowled again as he imagined that horrible scene.
He slipped away soon after without confronting Aoleyn, and in the camp, he told Tay Aillig that he had delivered the message to Usgar-forfach Raibert.
Nothing more.
TOR BOOKS BY R. A. SALVATORE
THE HIGHWAYMAN
THE ANCIENT
THE DAME
THE BEAR
DEMONWARS: THE FIRST KING
DEMONWARS: FIRST HEROES
CHILD OF A MAD GOD
About the Author
R. A. SALVATORE is one of fantasy’s most popular authors, with his books frequently appearing on the New York Times bestseller list and more than ten million copies of his books sold. He lives in Massachusetts. You can sign up for email updates here.
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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
CHILD OF A MAD GOD
Copyright © 2018 by R. A. Salvatore
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Larry Rostant
Map by Rhys Davies
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Salvatore, R. A., 1959– author.
Title: Child of a mad god / R. A. Salvatore.
Description: First edition.|New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2018. | Identifiers: LCCN 2017039662 (print) | LCCN 2017044102 (ebook) | ISBN 9780765395283 (ebook) | ISBN 9780765395276 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250190772 (signed edition)
Subjects: | GSAFD: Fantasy fiction. | Occult fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3569.A462345 (ebook) | LCC PS3569.A462345 C49 2018 (print) | DDC 813/.54—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017039662
eISBN 9780765395283
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First Edition: February 2018
Contents
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Map
Prologue
Part 1: Curious Child
1. The World Beyond The World
2. Deamhain of The Mountain
3. The Darkness of Usgar
4. The Secret and The Sacred
5. You Are Stupid
6. Matinee
7. Hunt
Part 2: The Ills Around Her
8. The Young Woman
9. Bahdlahn
10. Torment
11. Staring Into Hell
12. The Bells
13. Intended
14. Rough And Tumble
15. His
16. Confession
Part 3: Writing Their Stories
17. Affinity
18. Into The Mouth of God
19. Harmony And Discord
21. Curiosity and Courage
22. Magical Jacks
23. The World Bleeds
24. The Realm of Insubstantial
25. When The Red Moon Set
26. The Bite of Monsters
Part 4: Secrets
27. Freedom To Fly
28. When You Fear, Charge!
29. Pierced
30. The Owl and The Snake
31. Headlong
32. The Crystal Maven’s Play
33. Deamhain
34. Riddles Under A Red Moon
35. Power
36. Circle of Life, Circle of Time
37. The Face of Evil
38. Talmadge’s Tears
Epilogue
Tor Books by R. A. Salvatore
About the Author
Copyright