Category: chapters

Of the six of us, only Veralar was seriously wounded, with three broken ribs and lacerations all over her body. Rennin and Orland were cut and bruised and battered and would look more like sausages than men for some time, and would be well served by several days of rest, but they were able to… Read more

The city of Shii-sherah had been abandoned a thousand years ago, but before that it had been one of the crown jewels of the short-lived Illustrian Empire. Unlike the capitol, or Gyyria, or Anardokopolis, which were cities of state and trade and industry, well-placed in the heartland and the oldest of the new territories, Shii-sherah… Read more

The dragon was massive. It was terrifying. It was magnificent. Tears filled my eyes. For a moment, I gave up trying to find my feet. I forgot my companions. I fucking forgot to breathe. Its head was as big as my torso. Its eyes, the color of molten gold, each the size of my two… Read more

Whatever I had expected of the Draddial and the uurnigath, the reality was beyond anything that I had imagined. I had grown up on the border of the Wolfwood. My mother, Maosee, had had a handful of encounters with the Children of Enhyl over the years. Where the djuunan seemed to think of the uurnigath… Read more

It was almost certainly not the same hut that I had been given when I first came to the Wolfwood – I remembered it as smaller, for one, though that might have just been perspective – but it was similar enough. Wooden construction, roughly circular, the dirt floor about fifteen feet across, with a south-facing… Read more

“No,” said the dark and wizened Child of Enhyl. “The Prophet of Enhyl has foreseen your coming. We know who you bring with you, and the ambition you serve. The House Traianum oversaw generations of encroachment into our territories. We see no reason to believe that this scion of that House will be any different.”… Read more

“I am the leader of this hunt,” said the woman who clearly led this small pack. “I will speak with you.” I lowered my arms and let the ward fall. It wasn’t my best work anyway, but hopefully it had been good enough to ensure that most of my wounds would close. I wanted to… Read more

Derrek did not emerge from his tent until dawn. When he did, he looked somewhat worse for wear. He had bags under his eyes and his hands were shaking. Rennin and Orland took one look at him, exchanged a glance, and sighed. “I take it you’ve foreseen trouble,” said Rennin. Derrek nodded. “The movement in… Read more

As we walked the river border west, looking for the ford I knew was there, somewhere, it was Elana Traiana who could not take her eyes off the Wolfwood. “This forest ate my father’s rule,” she said on the afternoon of the second day. “The settlers and loggers had not had his blessing to cross… Read more

It was the latter weeks of spring by the time we set out from Liddarn again. Some of the delay was logistical. Sirs Rennin and Orland needed to be outfitted with lighter armor for a journey without horses, and which would likely run well into the heat of summer. Elana brought her own armor out… Read more