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Colonel Horyse was the commanding officer of the Northern Perimeter Reconnaissance Unit at the time of Sabriel. He has pale blue eyes that are described as having a "mixture of harshness and compassion". True to this, he was a good leader of his soldiers, showing sound knowledge of the dangers of the Perimeter as well as a sense of humour. His men duly follow his orders, suggesting that he was well respected. In chapter 25 of Sabriel, one of the corporals at the Perimeter even tells him a joke, so Horyse was probably an approachable officer as opposed to one who looked down on lower ranks.

He was the strongest Charter Mage in the NPRU at the time of Sabriel, and had at least twenty years of experience at the Perimeter. On one patrol in The Borderlands near the Wall over twenty years ago, he met the Abhorsen Terciel, Sabriel's father.

Events in Sabriel

When Sabriel first arrives at the Perimeter, she is stopped by a group of soldiers led by Colonel Horyse after she attempts to use Charter Magic. He checks her passport and invites her to his dugout realising that she is Abhorsen's daughter. Here, he reveals that he has a wife and daughter back in Corvere. He is reluctant to let Sabriel enter the Old Kingdom, considering its dangerousness, because she is the same age as his daughter, whom he would not let go there. Invariably though, he lets Sabriel through the Crossing Point.

Near the end of Sabriel, when Sabriel arrives back in Ancelstierre with Touchstone, Horyse is the acting General Officer of the entire Perimeter. After learning of Kerrigor's plans to attack, he organises an escort - including himself - to accompany them both to find Rogir's body. Horyse surprisingly shows he has some power of Sight when he predicts his own death, but shrugs it off when asked by Sabriel what he saw. He replies, "the usual thing". At the end of the book, Horyse dies defending Wyverley College during Kerrigor's attack.

In Abhorsen, it is revealed that an obelisk stands on a lawn in Wyverley College, made of white marble and standing twenty feet high. Names carved on its side commemorate those who died, including Colonel Horyse.

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