Trophy Chase Saga

Polivka George Bryan

Description

Packer Throme longs to redeem his late father's honor by proving that the legendary Firefish, giant monsters of the sea, exist and can restore the fortunes of his sleepy fishing village. His desperate plan to stow away on the ship Trophy Chase, foiled by a band of ruthless pirates, launches Packer's adventures in this ebook first, The Trophy Chase Saga. Packer sails across the dangerous Vast Sea with Trophy Chase, seeking the great Firefish. Yet there are darker forces that long for the powerful secrets of these creatures; they strive to divide Packer from his true love, Panna, and to keep the nations of Nearing Vast and Drammun at war. Will Packer's masterful training of both the sword and the Firefish lead him and the Vast military to victory, or will he hold to his vow of nonviolence and trust the true Source of all power? Enemies from within and without plague Packer, Panna, and their loyal band of compatriots in their quest for faith, honor, and true dominion. 3-in-1 ebook bundle of The Legend of the Firefish, The Hand That Draws the Sword, and The Battle for Vast Dominion.

Sujets

• Fantasy (canción de Mariah Carey)
• Fantasy

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 01 septembre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736967396
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Cover design by Left Coast Design
Cover image Shutterstock/Melkor3D
THE TROPHY CHASE SAGA
Copyright 2007, 2008 by George Bryan Polivka
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
978-0-7369-6739-6 (eBook)
Compilation of:
The Legend of the Firefish
Copyright 2007 by George Bryan Polivka
978-0-7369-1956-2 (pbk.)
The Hand That Bears the Sword
Copyright 2007 by George Bryan Polivka
978-0-7369-1957-9 (pbk.)
The Battle for Vast Dominion
Copyright 2008 by George Bryan Polivka
978-0-7369-1958-6 (pbk.)
All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author s and publisher s rights is strictly prohibited.
C ONTENTS

The Legend of the Firefish
The Hand That Bears the Sword
The Battle for Vast Dominion
About the Author
About the Publisher
Read More from George Bryan Polivka
HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
THE LEGEND OF THE FIREFISH
Copyright 2007 by George Bryan Polivka
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Polivka, Bryan.
The legend of the Firefish / George Bryan Polivka.
p. cm.-(Trophy Chase trilogy; bk. 1)
ISBN 978-0-7369-1956-2 (pbk.)
I. Title.
PS3616.O5677L44 2007
813. 6-dc22
2006021727
All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author s and publisher s rights is strictly prohibited.
Dedication

For Jeri, Jake, and Aime
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

I offer my grateful thanks to Hugh Smallwood for his generous help with the many details of tall-ship sailing as it was known in the past of our own world. Heartfelt thanks to John Patterson for his unwavering friendship and support on the long and sometimes perilous journey. Humble thanks to John Russell for helping me launch this ship. Delighted thanks to Tom Hawkins, who survived the Firefish, and who stood by me in my hour of peril. And wholehearted, full-and-by thanks to my beloved family for their understanding, patience, and unwavering support; for being my anchor and my safe harbor.
C ONTENTS

Dedication
Acknowledgments
A Personal Note from George Bryan Polivka
Map
1. The Chase
2. The Mission
3. The Stowaway
4. Keelhauled
5. The Promise
6. Banished
7. The Bargain
8. Mutiny
9. The Beast
10. Brotherhood
11. The Criminal
12. The Storm
13. Accused
14. Achawuk
15. The Feeding Waters
16. The Ghost
17. Bait
18. Bounty
19. The Gates of Heaven
20. The Palace
21. Duel
22. Home
A P ERSONAL N OTE FROM G EORGE B RYAN P OLIVKA

C.S. Lewis believed that the longings we all experience for something greater and deeper are captured in Myth, where the great truths of the universe shine out from simple stories. I hope you will find in The Legend of the Firefish a mythical story of that order.
The kingdom of Nearing Vast is a seafaring land without modern technology or science and, much like during our own history in such eras, tales of great sea monsters are told and retold. But in Nearing Vast the legends are true. There are monsters in the Vast Sea. These solitary, predatory beasts are as long as a sailing ship, snakelike in appearance, and capable of tremendous acts of destruction. But they are also highly desirable-legend has it that the meat of the Firefish bestows considerable powers upon all who consume it.
And so The Legend of the Firefish is the saga of a few brave and sometimes foolish souls who seek to discover and exploit the secrets of these beasts. Their individual quests for honor, love, power, riches, and redemption all revolve around the great sailing ship, the Trophy Chase, and its pursuit of the Firefish.
In The Legend of the Firefish, Packer Throme takes up the sword and goes to sea in order to redeem himself and restore the reputation of his father. Panna Seline sets out alone in a hostile world to find love and fulfillment. Scatter Wilkins seeks riches and glory at almost any cost. Talon, sworn enemy of all that is holy, is bent on proving that raw, ruthless power runs the universe and that no God exists to protect the weak and helpless.
Although the kingdom of Nearing Vast is mythical, it is not magical. Like our world, it is populated with people who have very real limitations. The world, the flesh, and the devil press in, and threaten destruction. But here, as in our world, there is power in faith, and all people have hope for redemption. This is not a sword and sorcery tale, but one of sword and spirit. There is no magic but there are miracles.
It s my prayer that anyone in search of something more, something greater anyone who faces trials and troubles on the journey, anyone who has ever walked with trepidation among enemies or sought a conquering faith alongside true believers will find a home in Nearing Vast.
Map
Thy great deliverance is a greater thing
Than purest imagination can foregrasp,
A thing beyond all conscious hungering,
Beyond all hope that makes the poet sing,
It takes the clinging world, undoes its clasp,
Floats it afar upon a mighty sea,
And leaves us quiet with love and liberty and thee.
-G EORGE M AC D ONALD , D IARY OF AN O LD S OUL
C HAPTER 1
The Chase
You deaf, boy?
Packer Throme didn t answer. The last thing he wanted now was a fight. Dog Blestoe was a big man, bigger than Packer by three inches and thirty pounds, and Packer s elder by thirty years. Leathery, gray-headed, lean and muscular from a lifetime of hard labor, Dog stood across the table with his hands knotted into fists.
Packer stayed seated and silent.
Dog snorted. He had made sure Packer had left town humiliated four years ago. He would make sure the boy returned the same way. He rammed the table with his thigh, sloshing the mug of ale sitting on it. Packer caught it before it tipped.
Say something!
Packer didn t look up.
Dog grabbed the back of a wooden chair and tossed it aside, clattering it across the plank flooring, where it nearly shinned one of the regulars. Disrespect! he seethed, nodding around the pub at the undeniable proof Packer had just offered them all.
They did not nod back. These fishermen had come with their usual intentions, to talk and drink and smoke their pipes and do some modest complaining after a hard day at sea. Not to witness this. Not again.
Stand up, boy!
Packer studied his ale. Cap Hillis, the pub s friendly proprietor, had set the dark, white-capped mug there just moments ago. The modest complaining today had been about the pirate, Scatter Wilkins, and the rumors flying around that the feared outlaw had turned fisherman, and was now using harvesting techniques like those of their rivals across the sea in the Kingdom of Drammun. In so doing, Scat, as almost everyone called him, was helping to empty the sea of fish and glut the world s markets. In the process, he was also helping himself to a fortune, and making the fishing villages-like Hangman s Cliffs-all poorer by the day.
Dog believed the rumors. They gave him a specific target for a deep, general sense of discontent.
The Trophy Chase wasn t built to catch cod, Packer had offered, the only full sentence he had spoken since arriving.
I said stand up! Dog now ordered. Packer did not comply.
Dog eyed Packer carefully. The boy had grown some, gained some weight. His pimples had turned to pockmarks. His mop of blond hair was even shaggier, if that were possible. But he was still the same spineless kid who wouldn t speak up, who couldn t look a man in the eye.
They teach you this at seminary? Dog sneered. How to mock your elders? He leaned on the table, his big, hard hands now splayed on the worn wood, his eyes locked on Packer as though they could burn through him. He dropped his voice. Oh, no-I forgot. They didn t want you there, either.
Packer grimaced. He closed his eyes again, letting the pain, and then the anger, pass. Everyone in the village knew he had been expelled after less than a year at the seminary, rejected as a priest. But he was not prepared to have it flung at him the moment he returned.
Dog saw he was getting to the boy. He kept pushing. So why d you come back? You don t like hard work. That s what we have here. No books. No tea parties.
One groggy old