Waylander the Slayer

Waylander the Slayer is the protagonist of several of David Gemmell's books, including " Waylander" (1986), "" (1992), and "Hero in the Shadows" (2000). Unlike other Drenai novels, whose events are dispersed over a period of over millennia, the three books follow, in chronological order, the life of Waylander (real name Dakeyras). The first book, Waylander, depicts him as an ageing man, in his forties.

Before this book, Waylander served in the Legion with friend Gellan. He retired and settled down with a woman named Tanya, siring three children, a boy and twin girls. However, Dakeyras' wife and children were brutally murdered by a group of raiders. That day, Dakeyras changed into the assassin Waylander. It took Waylander over nineteen years to find all the murderers, by which time the last had forgotten about the killings.

Then, Waylander took on contracts, becoming a professional assassin, until his actions culminated in the death of King Niallad of the Drenai, paid by Kaem of Vagria, who ultimately betrayed him and didn't pay the contract money; this resulted in Waylander accidentally killing Kaem's only son.

"Waylander" begins with the cold and cynical Waylander saving a priest on a whim. The two have an influence on each other, Waylander hardening the priest and the priest, Dardalion, softening Waylander, and reawakening his long-forgotten humanity. Partly fueled by guilt, Waylander agrees to seek the Armour of Bronze, an artifact of legend that can give heart to the Drenai, who are locked in a desperate war - a war brought about by his assassination of the king.

In "Waylander II: In The Realm Of The Wolf", Waylander is a much older man, living in the mountains with his daughter Miriel. Miriel is one of the children he saved in "Waylander" as well as Danyal. In the second book Danyal has died, and Waylander is struggling to let go. "The Guild", a group of assassins, are trying to kill Waylander for the hefty sum of 10,000 gold.

The motive for this is that his stepdaughter Krylla - Miriel's twin sister - has been killed by the drunken son of Karnak - the Lord Regent of Drenai. Karnak has sent the assassins to kill Waylander in fear of the unknowing Waylander's retribution.

During the book a man named Angel (a former gladiator) arrives at Waylander's cabin in the mountains, to warn Waylander of the assassins. Waylander already knows and invites Angel to stay and train Miriel in combat.

The land of the Drenai is under attack by the Gothir to the north and by the Ventrians to the far east. The Gothir emperor's chief wizard, Zhu Chao wishes the death of the Nadir Wolfshead tribe, because in future generations they will produce the Uniter, a man who will link all the Nadir tribes together in one unstoppable army. Also he wishes the death of Karnak and the Gothir emperor, in order to raise the Lord of all Demons.

The Wolfshead tribe flee into the mountains and hide behind three heavily guarded passes. They repel the much larger attacking force of the Gothir, and the knights of the Dark Brotherhood for as long as possible, before having to cut and run for the twisted castle of Kar Barzac. The valley in which Kar Barzac is situated has been warped by dark magic, emanating from the castle itself.During the early parts of the siege the Dark Brotherhood attempt to use their powers to project all encompassing fear into the attackers. This is halted by the shaman Kesa Khan, who breaks the spell and uses his powers to cast blue flames at the advancing knights, breaking their advance and setting them alight.The Nadir attempt a withdrawal to the castle, but are caught in the mid ground by a mounted Brotherhood force that attempt to butcher the column of women and children. It is at this point that Dardalion and the remnants of the Thirty charge into the fray, and during the battle the Nadir Chieftan Ansi Chen is killed by Innicas, the leader of the Dark Brotherhood force. Belash sees this, and pursues Innicas as just before he dies Ansi Chen calls to him that he was the man that killed his father. Belash kills Innicas but dies in the process.

The dark magic in the castle has been stopped by Bodalen, Karnak's son, who was sent there with a force of men to hide and assassinate Kesa Khan. Bodalen and his men discovered a crystal in the basement and have been melded into three great creatures, two of which are now dead due to infighting over hunger.

In the end waylander kills Zhu Chao and stops the demon, the Drenai people defeat the Gothir and Ventrians. In addition, Miriel, Angel and Senta along with the Nadir wolves stop the Gothir force. Also, Dardalion, Chief of the Thirty from the original "Waylander" dies defending the Nadir Wolves from the dark brotherhood. The Thirty are a group of priests dedicated to fighting one great battle against evil (in this case the Dark Brotherhood), from which only one member of the original Thirty survive. The One's task is to reform the Thirty from new volunteers amongst the priests of the Source scattered throughout the land. Senta and Miriel travel to the basement to kill the massive beast that Karnak's son has merged into. One of Dardalion's priests goes with them. Later on, Dardalion himself is torn between joining the fight against the Dark Brotherhood or going to kill the beast in the basement. Finally Angel comes to him and goes in his place. Eventually, Senta gets killed, and the priest gets influenced by the crystal, and Angel and Miriel kill the beast. In the very end Karnak, commissions assassins to kill Waylander again. He is found and 'killed', his crossbow and 'head' put in the great museum at Drenan. The crossbow is stolen (by Miriel) and used to kill Karnak.