Category: Sword and Sorcery

II ONLY ONCE Faith is patience. Resilient in its timeless endurance, faith remains a steadfast sanctuary for lost and weary wanderers of epochs burdened with strife and discontent. Yet faith is not without tribulation. All must pass through the valley of shadow, where hope is naught but a dim light, a distant memory of halcyon days, long since forgotten. And as the afternoon sun drifted towards uncertain horizons, golden light fading behind a veil of grief laden clouds , Izrak Laav came upon a church in the outskirts of the Old City. It was a stout building, despite its age.…

Prologue No one expects a dead man to walk through the front door. This time was no different. The dozen patrons of the Soul’s Lament went silent as the cobbled door whined on its hinges, and Izrak Laav crossed over the threshold, ducking his head as he passed inside. A trio of men, grim faces flushed, eyes glazed in a half-drunken stupor, sat at a table near the door. Shifting in their chairs as the dead man approached, they whispered as quivering hands hovered over unseen knives. Izrak glanced at the vagrants, the iron studs of his jerkin and mail…

A Prelude to A Valley of Shadow. Skip to Part One. Lord Yemor slumped onto a log the villains had conceived to use as a bench. Peasants. How is it that these sorts never consider stealing decent furniture? The lord wondered what price he would now pay for anything bearing a cushion. A grimace parted Yemor’s lips as he looked at the dead man sitting across from him. He had not even considered what price the corpse would demand. This undead churl will undoubtedly try to ransom me himself. “They were waiting for us.” Yemor drank from a half-empty wineskin,…