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Dance Of The Hag

Author: Stephen Leigh
Pub: 1983 by Bantam Books Inc.
Pages: 183
Ranking:

Out of Print:

Second of the three book series...
Other Books in the Series:

Slow Fall to Dawn

Dance of the Hag

A Quiet of Stone

A Guild of Assassins! What could be of more interest to martial artists? Set in the far future where mankind has spread to many worlds, the world of Neweden seems to be a society set in the 14th century. Everyone who is anyone is a member of a guild, and only those who aren't members of any guild are called "kinless", lassari outcasts. Only they can be insulted freely.

The guild of assassins will guarantee an attempt to take someone's life for the right price. The guild ritually warns the victim, and in the evening, the hunt begins... if they can survive until the dawn, they live. And the guild's greatest thrill is the "hunt of knives"... They restrict themselves to the weapons that the victim is using.

This series of three books is spellbinding, and are very well written with many interesting charactors. Although the series is out of print, you should be able to locate them in used book stores, or over the Internet.

Back Cover:

On the bloodsoaked feudal world of Neweden, the Hoorka assassins' guild has survived by adherence to a strict code of honor. Lethal killers, shadowy black-robed agents of destruction, they are pledged to give Fate a chance to free their victims from the claws of Hag Death.

But now the Alliance has allowed Hoorka to operate offworld, the assassins code is breaking down, and Ulthane Gyll, founder and former leader of the Hoorka, finds the deadly fighting force he created turning against him....

Introduction

ASSIGNATION WITH DEATH

"Bondhe Amari, your life is claimed by Hoorka."

Amari crouched in the furthest corner of the room, cocooned in shadow, his back pressed tightly against the wall. Gyll could see the eyes, frightened, moving nervously. He began the ritual for a trapped victim.

"Prepare yourself, Amari kin-less. How do you want to meet the Hag?" He held out the capsule to Amari.

Amari looked sidewise at the capsule, his head half-turned from the Hoorka. Then something seemed to snap in Amari's eyes. He jerked upright, his hand clapped Gyll's away, and he screamed. Gyll reacted, powered by instinct and training, without thought. Gyll's dagger slashed forward, sheathing itself deep in Amari's midriff.

Amari gasped, a sound that turned to liquid gurgling. Pink foam flecked his lips. His knees buckled, and Gyll stepped back to let the body drop to the floor.

The Hoorka stared down at his hand. Amari's lifeblood stained him to the wrist. Hag Death had come.