The Blasted Lands - sample chapters

Well, to part of the fight. He’d been sneaking in for a closer look when he got caught by one of their enemies. The ten had crept past and never been seen. He’d been spotted. Luck or not, he had failed where the ten had succeeded. He’d managed to defend himself and end the life of his attacker.

Wollis would have told him he was being far too hard on himself. Wollis had been good that way.

And if he had been bragging, Wollis would have been the very first to slap him back down into his usual reserved state of mind.

Cut. Chew. Swallow.

A very large man with too many rings on his fingers was picking at his roast and staring silent hatred in the direction of Desh Krohan. He was a hard man, by the look of him, and likely a skilled fighter by the way he carried himself, but he was softening and growing fat. The look on his face meant he was likely a Krous who was not going to ascend to the throne, and just as likely a very foolish man. No. He knew the man’s name. Laister. He was one of the people who thought he should be the next Emperor.

He did not need or want to know more about the man just yet, but he marked him in his memory, because at some point he knew he’d need the knowledge.

Wollis was dead. Over a fortnight had passed and he was still having trouble getting past that simple fact.

Desh Krohan was talking with passion about Pathra Krous and he envied the man his oratory skills. He had never been a speaker. He was a soldier, pure and simple.

Well, except that now he was a general in the Empire’s Army. The thought made his head hurt.

Applause exploded from around the room and Merros looked left and right before focusing on the sorcerer. Apparently he