The last wisps of morning dew still clung to the bare stalks of the harvested fields when the sound of boots on packed earth rose in the valley. Four score of armed men bearing the standard of the King of Junjai made their way up the road, a captain on horseback at their head. Sabit … Read more
“The king’s troops will move against at us at dawn,” Sabit said, addressing her makeshift soldiers at the wooden rampart near the village. She stood on the back of a wagon, tall and inspiring in her armor of leather and bronze. Surveying the young bandits and frightened farmers–even the village’s tiny headwoman, Htet, clutched a … Read more
“Keep still or the scar will be ugly,” Regida said as she cleaned the wound on Kehnan’s jaw. “A scar is no matter,” the muscular warrior replied through gritted teeth. “When I return to Bahteel, I’ll have the whole jaw lopped off and regrown, scarless and whole.” Regida froze at the audacity of the warrior’s … Read more
With a roar of frustration, Sabit swung her spear downward toward Kehnan’s prone form. Mid-swing, she pivoted the weapon in her grasp, striking the warrior’s grinning face with the butt-end of the shaft. The crack of the impact echoed from the half-finished rampart to the stony hill. The greenish-blond wood of the spear-butt bore a … Read more