Showing results by author "Jacob Peppers" in All Categories

He’d faced the monster posing as Soldier in combat, and he had won. But at what cost? Forty-seven villagers of Alhs dead. So many that they could not bury them all and so they had looked to the old ways.

I am fire and all I touch turns to ash. Despite the odds, Cutter and his companions managed to bring Matt to the capital, where he was crowned king. But instead of getting better, things have only gotten worse. The Known Lands and its people stand at a precipice. One false move, one mistake, and they will all fall into the abyss. Cutter wants only to protect his people, to right his many wrongs. But a warrior’s hands are made for killing, not healing, and fingers drenched with blood can only ruin anything they touch. Such is the warrior’s truth. Such is the warrior’s curse.

Fifty years ago, the nightwalkers appeared, creatures of shadow and darkness, thirsting for blood and death. Thousands died, and the kingdom of Entarna was brought to its knees. Then the Chosen came: six men and women endowed with powers by Amedan, the God of Fire and Light. The Chosen joined with the kingdom's armies, and together, they managed to defeat the night's creatures. At least for a time. Alesh, a servant to Chosen Olliman, the greatest of Amedan's priests, knows well what the darkness holds.

He was once known as Prince Bernard, ruler of his people and the man who led them in the Fey War against creatures out of myth and legend, beings out of nightmare. A man renowned for his strength, a man feared by his own people as much as his enemies. But there are other names for him, too. Kingslayer. Oathbreaker. Traitor. The Crimson Prince.

When a man goes out seeking blood, he will find it. Always he will find it. It was a truth Cutter had learned long ago, for he had been that man. For countless years, on countless battlefields, he had sought violence and blood...and the gods help him, he had found it. Found more than his share.

That was nothing new, for death had been coming for the wanderer for a long time now. But this time, it did not just come for him. It came for Dekker and his family, for Clint and the Perishables, and the villagers of Alhs. Death was coming. And it was he who had called it. The enemy who had taken Ranger’s place hunted them, and at his back marched an army of Revenants, creatures who felt no pain, who knew no fear, and so the wanderer and his companions head deeper into the Untamed Lands in search of safe haven.

Fifty years ago, the nightwalkers appeared, creatures of shadow and darkness, thirsting for blood and death. Thousands died, and the kingdom of Entarna was brought to its knees. Then the Chosen came: six men and women endowed with powers by Amedan, the God of Fire and Light. The Chosen joined with the kingdom’s armies, and together, they managed to defeat the night’s creatures. At least for a time.

The path to peace is paved in blood. Or so Cutter tells himself during the long nights as he travels deeper into the Black Wood, wrestling with his inner demons and battling those creatures which emerge from the shadows seeking his life.

Three strangers chosen by the gods. A castle-servant who can bend fire and light to his will. A musician whose song can soothe even the wildest of hearts. And a nobleman with the gods' own luck. Three strangers gifted with powers beyond that of normal mortals stand against the armies of shadow. But there are other gods, other powers lurking in the darkness, and they, too, will find their champions. Hunted by mortal and immortal enemies alike, Alesh and his companions flee south to the Ferinan lands.

The nightwalkers have returned, creatures that roam the darkness searching for anyone foolish or unfortunate enough to find themselves without light to protect them. And the people of Entarna carry lanterns and torches, wielding them as shields against the night's creatures. But sooner or later all lights fade. All flames go out. Torrik and his wife were once soldiers in the war against the Dark. But when their son Alesh was born, they left that life behind them in the hopes of keeping him safe.

Alesh and his friends have evaded the Broken and his warriors, fleeing into tunnels hidden deep in the earth. They travel to Peralest, a city where they hope to find help, to find sanctuary. But when night falls and the shadows caper, hopes are snuffed out as easily as a candle flame. Betrayed and hunted, Alesh and his companions must learn how to use the magic the gods have blessed them with if they’re to have any chance of survival. But not all magic is good, and not all blessings are kind.

A warrior's path is trodden in pain and death lies at its end. Those were his father's words from long ago. Not just words, in truth, but a warning. Despite this, in the end, Cutter, like so many others, had chosen pain, had chosen death. Maybe he had done so when he lay dying in some back alley of his home city. Maybe it had been when Yeladrian, the Fey King, had gifted him the Breaker of Pacts. Or perhaps he had not chosen his path at all. Perhaps it had chosen him. Either way, there was no choice left to him now. His path lay before him, and so the only thing left to do was to walk it.