“Wake up, Elysia! Something is coming!”Elysia came out of her doze, her mind still cluttered with remnants of haunting dreams, shaking her head to clear it, her neck and back aching from lying on the cold forest floor. The chill had broken through the insulation provided by the leaves of the trees and drained the strength from her body. She got slowly to her feet, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and, as quietly as she could, drew her sword and looked around her.Frey stood close to her, like a solid statue frozen in the dim light of the dying fire. The red glow of the embers reflected on the blade of the sword, and it seemed that the dark hero held a blood-painted weapon in his hands.Elysia looked up at the sky, and saw that the moon had almost set. Fortunately, dawn was not far off."What is it about?" she asked, but her voice caught in her throat and came out as a raspy whisper. She didn't need to see Frey's alert posture to know that something wa

She was still alive. Elysia repeated that phrase to herself like a mantra.She had passed through the terror and out the other side, and her enemies, the monsters who had wanted to kill her, were dead. And she was still there to feel the sun, draw in her lungs, and watch Frey and Kat as they moved cautiously down the hill, putting their feet on the stones that protruded from the mud of the steep, slippery path.Her senses had been heightened and she felt more alive and energized than ever; it was as if she had leveled up. It was just a delight to be the sensation.Cobwebs glittered with drops of early morning dew, birds sang, and everywhere the bustle of life filled the forest. Small animals moved through the undergrowth, and Elysia paused to let a snake cross the path without making any attempt to kill it. That morning she had a clear notion of how precious and fragile life was.The fight with the beastmen had made him understand how precariously he clun

An old man sat cross-legged on a reed mat near the door of a log cabin, smoking a long curved pipe. He and a boy were playing checkers with pebbles on a board drawn in the dirt. He raised his eyes from the game and regarded Elysia with a woodsman's heightened suspicion of strangers, before blowing several columns of smoke rings into the air. Messner nodded to him, and the old man responded with an elaborate wave of his left hand. "Is he warding off the evil eye?" Elysia wondered. “or communicating something to the other through sign language?” He surveyed the small town with interest, paying special attention to the burly men carrying large two-handed axes. Their faces were covered in multicolored tattoos, and their eyes were narrow and watchful. They stomped through the muddy streets in their tall, fur-trimmed boots; they had the arrogant confidence of a champion of the Theocracy but without their distinguished chastity, for they sometimes stopped to gossip with the fat mer

Elysia looked up at the ornate golden hammer that gleamed in the early morning light streaming through the open door of the temple. The runes etched into the Hammer's head reminded him of the ones adorning the blade of her own sword, but that didn't surprise him too much. Her sword had been the most prized possession of an Order of paladins and it seemed only fitting that the sword be engraved with holy signs.There were few people present; only some old women who were sitting cross-legged on the floor and praying. The babies with their mothers were outside, getting the cool while they could, and Elysia guessed the air might be unbreathable in there with the doors closed.The temple was a simple sanctuary with a simple altar, except for the presence of the Hammer, which was used to bless marriages and contracts. The Father, The Mother and The Son were not very popular deities there, since most of the woodcutters looked to Belial, Lord of the Forests and God of the Eart

Jasmine watched as the great cannon blasted the third breach in the city wall, then decided enough was enough. They had to save powder for the next fortification they came to, and the gaps were big enough for their soldiers to squeeze through. The defenders were tired and bewildered, so the time had come. She signaled to the bugler, and he sounded the advance blast. Marching to the beat of the human-skinned drums, the beastmen sprang into motion.Jasmine felt the thirst for blood rise within her, and with it, her desire to offer souls to the god of Wrath. She that night she would make him a great offering.♦ ♦ ♦Elysia watched as the tide of beastmen surged across the grounds, and archers began firing from the ramparts. They chose their targets calmly, methodically, and efficiently, and fired. Arrows pierced the darkness, piercing chests, throats, and bestial eyes. As the infernal drums beat, the relentless bloodthirsty beastmen continued to adva