Chapter 1 – Introduction and betrayal “Keep your guard up higher, Cyndria!” “But father, I’m tired! And why should I learn brawling or using swords and knives? I’m a woman and I don’t need it!” In the beginning, I found it fun to exercise with my father in fighting and swordsmanship, so as to have some dedicated time with him, but now it was getting boring. It’s A.D. 1780 and I’m the barely fourteen years old daughter of...

Chapter Twelve: Into the Pit June 2024 – Donetsk Region, Ukraine The military checkpoint had been evacuated the day before they arrived. No warning, no explanation—just boots, tire tracks, and one soldier’s abandoned rosary half-buried in churned mud. The villagers near the trenchline wouldn’t speak to Eleanor or her team. Not even to ask why an old blind woman, five strangers, and a heavy case of ritual tools had come to...

Chapter Eleven: The Inheritance of Ash and Blood May 2024 – Eastern Ukraine / Suffolk, UK Peter stood at the lip of the yawning sinkhole in the Donbas forest, the wind whipping his collar as if to warn him away. He’d told himself he’d returned for the story—an exclusive on the frontline’s new horrors—but every dream since he had visited Eleanor had driven him here. In sleep, roots writhed beneath his skin like living fing...

Chapter Ten: The Eyes That Remain March 2024 – St. Joseph’s Residential Care, Suffolk, UK 50 years after the Belgian Spiral The world had grown quieter for Eleanor Mercer. Not silent—never silent—but quieter in the way winter muffled sound: dull, heavy, soaked in memory. She had been blind for over four decades, her eyesight gradually fading in the years after she had battled Eitar and still, her dreams were painted in vi...

Siobhan was one of the few left who celebrated the Winter Solstice. Her grandmother and mother had made old bones and passed on to the Goddess but she was still alive. being a vibrant 25 years on this earth. Siobhan intended to pay homage to the Goddess. so the coming Estre or Spring as the villagers called it, would be blessed with a bountiful harvest and so too the woodlands and marshlands. Winter Solstice was the short...

He gets word of a demonic creature in a nearby town. The people have tried to take it down as it ravages homes and stores. The stories tell that its screech can shatter windows, its talons crush bone and rip through wood, and the gust from its massive wings can knock down grown men, and send women and children tumbling to the ground. Skin black as coal, and eyes a menacing yellow glow. A call to arms has been made, his co...

Once many years ago my heart was captured, A beautiful soul's light was shared, my world sublimely fractured, My joy was instant my life enlightened, Opening like a rare flower, refusing to be frightened. Life's journey is sometimes serendipitous, Its twists and turns lead to the spiral gate within the mists, What seems real may disappear, The sounds of your own tears revealed only to your own ears. I too was sadly deceiv...

The huge man strode down the main road of Varan. His dark eyes glared as he looked around, watching for defenders. Battle Lord Jadek Prynn was taller than any of the other warriors fighting in the street. His heavyset body was a mass of muscles, scars, and tattoos. He held Blood Thief, his fabled long sword, ready in his hand. A line of Varanian spear men formed ahead of the Battle Lord, points lowered in his direction. P...

Across an extensive, moonlit labyrinth Intricate trials must be faced and won Innumerable traps hidden in hedges and plinths All to prove that you are my sun Stepping over immobile skeletons Past suitors who failed before me My darling, they are irrelevant For I shall gift you love as endless as the sea Navigating through winding paths Bones aching, muscles burning Focusing on the memory of your laughs You are worth a tho...

The Princess Awakened by the midnight thunder A sense of sorrow washes over me No one sees what lies under I only wish to be free I saunter to the castle window My last cry, the final plea My pain is as boundless as the sea I commence my crescendo “Is there anyone out there, Willing to keep me safe and warm Willing to shelter me from the storm Is there anyone, somewhere? One that shields me from malice He who would unbind...

Alyss felt restless. Dawn was fast approaching and she couldn’t contain her excitement. She slipped out of bed and tiptoed past sleeping bodies to the window on the far side of the room. Once she arrived, she peered upwards. The high-up wooden sill beckoned her. She could see that the sky was beginning to lighten. If she would want to see the sunrise, now was her chance. She crept up the wall with ease and as quiet as a s...

Zale adjusted his brown, leather riding gear in front of the mirror. His eyes flicked to the top right corner of the mirror and his gaze was pulled to the vacant stone dragon bed near the room’s huge arched doorway. For six years, he and his dragon Sasha took off and landed from the ledge beyond the entrance. His beloved dragon was killed in an accident two months ago. He returned his gaze to himself and studied the scars...

Dear Reader, Nobody believed our story. But the events I relate to you below really happened. It may seem fantastic, but they do say that truth is always stranger than fiction. You can make up your own mind — I only want to set the record straight before — well, you’ll see… Our journey started one inauspicious evening almost six years ago; the seven of us unaware, as we embarked on our incredible adventure, that nothing w...

In the beginning was Chaos. And Chaos detested organisation and structure. He was roguish and full of mischief. Whenever order and logic looked likely to prevail, he would chuckle, wave his divine hand and delight in thwarting such impudence. Exasperated, the other gods sighed. How would the mortals below ever be able to prove themselves with such troublesome interference? It was always the same; the wheel turned, and man...

Voldar knelt before the statue of the great warrior and wept. Around her were the ruins of the city she had once called home. Foes had swept over it weeks before. “How could you let this happen?” Voldar cried, “You swore to protect them.” But the statue remained silent stone. “My family, my friends, my lovers. They were all here. Now they are nothing.” Voldar rose and drew her blade. “There is nothing more for me here. No...