Sabit pulled herself to her feet, even as her body trembled in agony with every movement. The clarity of vision bestowed by the necklace’s pinprick faded as she stood. A veil fell across her sight—of every color and none at all. The clangor of the battle resounded from far-off and within her ear itself. The … Read more
Sabit watched the Junjai troops rally around their captain. Looking closer, the captain’s armor had changed since the beginning of the fight. The morning sun’s rays showed the licks of flame that danced cross the bronze plates, like a corona of incineration. Sabit had not planned for sorcery—yet, painful experience had taught her that sorcerers … Read more
(Content warning: Graphic violence) “The moment Sabit’s horn sounds, we charge forward and crush them,” Nerit said to his gathered troops, crouched behind the underbrush at the base of the hill. He could see the rear of the Junaji captain’s horse, and the cloud of dust kicked up by her soldier’s charge. “Sabit will be … Read more
The battle raged around Sabit like an inferno. The troops of Junjai clawed up the rampart in waves like locusts, bronze blades hungry for the blood of their foes. Sabit’s arms burned from endless spear thrusts—driving her speartip toward the enemy again and again. Each thrust sent the iron spear point glancing off bronze or … Read more
The furious roar of the charging troops washed over the rampart like a wave. This is the moment when Sabit would know whether her assortment of outlaws, drifters, farmers, and petty craftsmen had the courage in their bellies to stand like stone before the charge, or would break like a pile of sand before the … Read more
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
Sabit stood over Kehnan, her spear at his throat. The big man rolled helplessly in the dirt, dazed from Sabit’s last blow. The bandits and villagers had walked away from their labors upon the rampart and were now gathered in a broad circle around the two figures. Their eyes were wide with curiosity and fear—hungry … Read more