Cillian Bradshaw: Hawk of May (paperback)

Englanninkielinen pokkari (takakannessa kulmataite)
304 pages

Cillian Bradshaw: Hawk of May
(Down the Long Wind #1)
Bantam 1992

Young Gwalchmai lives in a world of warriors and warleaders, but is himself an inadaquate soldier. Unable to fulfill the duties of a king's son, Gwalchmai turns to his mother for a different way of life. The coldly beautiful Morgawse, a ruler of the Darkness, offers knowledge and power beyond that of humans, and strength beyond that of warriors. Compelled by the desire to prove himself in some way, Gwalchmai accepts the challenge of magic. The boy soon discovers that his mother's world is one of evil, of human sacrifice and bargains with demons. After witnessing her horrifying rituals, Gwalchmai flees – knowing that he can never again return home, and also knowing that in some way or form the Darkness will follow him.

It is in rejecting the deadly realm of Morgawse that Gwalchmai disocvers his quest: to join the one man against whom the Queen of Darkness seems powerless – his uncle, the High King Arthur. And so begins the young man's difficult journey to the court sy Camlann. Armed with a fiery, glittery sword from the Kingdom of Light, the reluctant young warrior faces the fierce Saxons, the pursuing demons of Morgawse, a fantastic white stallion that cannot be tamed, and Aldwulf the sorceror – one of Arthur's cruelest enemies. When at last Gwalchmai reaches his destination with a few successful battles behind him, he finds that he must yet win sver the King himself – and overcome the dreadful secret that prevents Arthur from accepting him.