（外文电子版资料）01 - Flight of the Nighthawks.docVIP

Raymond E. Feist FLIGHT OF THE NIGHTHAWKS The Darkwar Book One ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As I have done in the past and will continue to until Midkemia is no more, my thanks everlasting to the mothers and fathers of Midkemia for giving me a wonderful sandbox in which to play. From Thursday to Friday nights, for thirty years your voices echo in my ear each time I sit down to spin a yarn on our world. To Jonathon Matson, as always, my thanks for friendship and wise counsel. To my editors, for always trying hard no matter how crazy the circumstances. To my mother, for always inspiring me through sheer endurance and unqualified love. To my children, for giving me a reason for existing beyond mere self-gratification and personal goals. To those ladies with whom I dine, thanks the amusement, the affection, the drama, and the glimpse into a world I barely understand. To new friends and to enterprises that keep things interesting. Again to my readers, who let me keep doing this. Without any of the above mentioned, and some Im leaving out would not be worth enduring, let alone living. Raymond E. Feist San Diego, CA July, 2005 For Andy and Rich, long overdue thanks for stepping in and being there at the right time Fate will bring together those a thousand miles apart; without fate, they will miss each other though they come face to face. Chinese proverb ? PROLOGUE ? Harbinger The storm had broken. Pug danced along the edge of the rocks, his feet finding scant purchase as he made his way among the tide pools. His dark eyes darted about as he peered into each pool under the cliff face, seeking the spiny creatures driven into the shallows by the recently passed storm. His boyish muscles bunched under his light shirt as he shifted the sack of sandcrawlers, rockclaws, and crabs plucked from this water garden. The afternoon sun sent sparkles through the sea spray swirling around him, as the west wind blew his sun-streaked brown hair about. Pug set his sack down, checked to make sure it was