Doomwyte

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

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BRIAN JACQUES

Doomwyte

Illustrated byDAVID ELLIOT

PHILOMEL BOOKS

PHILOMEL BOOKS

A division of Penguin Young Readers Group.

Published by The Penguin Group.

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014, U.S.A. Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.). Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England. Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd). Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd). Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110 017, India. Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd). Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa. Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England.

Copyright © 2008 by The Redwall La Dita Co., Ltd.

Illustrations copyright © 2008 by David Elliot.

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, PHILOMEL BOOKS, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. Philomel Books, Reg.

U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

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

Jacques, Brian.

Doomwyte / Brian Jacques; illustrated by David Elliot. p. cm.—(Redwall) Summary: The Redwallers face some of their most dangerous villains yet in a treacherous hunt for long-lost treasure. [1. Animals—Fiction. 2. Buried treasure—Fiction. 3. Fantasy.] I. Elliot, David, 1952–ill. II. Title. PZ7.J15317Do 2008 [Fic]—dc22 2008000662

ISBN: 1-101-15799-2

For PFC Donald Reas Axtell,

a true warrior.

Contents

Prologue

Book One The Raven

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Book Two A Prince’s Descendants

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Book Three Baliss

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Epilogue

PROLOGUE

The warm days are past, the dry dust has settled, those long-dead summers, a dim memory, small birds have flown south, cold east wind is dreary, so come ye and sit by the fireside with me. Let’s add a good log, stir up the pale ashes, ’til they glow crimson gold, twixt the grey and the black, I’ll recall to you my adventurous young seasons; together, my friend, we’ll go journeying back. Meet my comrades long gone, whom I’ll always remember, I hope when I’ve joined them, you’ve learned what it means, that a story passed down can live on forever. I’m the Teller of Tales, and the Weaver of Dreams….

BOOK ONE

The Raven