A shaft of morning sunlight bathed Sabit’s closed eyelids in a scarlet glow, like the fire of a demon’s heart. Her head ached like a walnut about to crack. Every muscle throbbed as though she had pulled an elephant up a mountain. Her tongue was fused to the roof of her mouth, as dry as … Read more
In the deepest reaches of the night, Sabit dreamt. • • A battlefield—littered with bodies, flowing with blood. The acrid tang of smoke. A vicious war-cry. Numberless ranks of foes. The taste of copper at Sabit’s lip. A brutal charge. Everywhere, the dance of battle. Sabit’s spear—long and sharp and cruel. The iron tip piercing … Read more
“You will die before you chain me,” Sabit growled as the five slave-catchers approached her, spreading out in an effort to surround the spear woman. “You are not the first to make such a boast,” replied the bald mercenary, brandishing his staff. “And you will not be the last to be silenced by the chain.” … Read more
Sabit was still three strides from Qaansoole when the little archer reached her first arrow. Sabit was two strides away when the archer plucked her arrow from the sand. Sabit was one stride away—spear raised for a killing strike—when Qaansoole nocked the arrow and drew it to her cheek. Qaansoole’s arrow flew. Sabit sped past … Read more
Illi’s mallet was carved like the head of a great fish—curling tail giving rise to spikes on the back end, gaping jaws full of jagged teeth on the front. Sabit could see every carved scale upon its surface as the weapon whistled within a finger length of her face. Before the massive warrior could adjust … Read more
Sabit picked her way around a mass of young fruit trees sprouting from the stony remains of what must once have been a warehouse. Pushing through the foliage, Sabit stumbled over a human skull, an ugly gash on its forehead indicating a bloody, violent death. It was not the first one she had seen in … Read more
“Allamu!” Sabit’s cry echoed through the labyrinthine expanse of abandoned stone buildings. Facades covered in cracks or ivy or both looked down upon the lone spear woman walking the empty street. To one side, a retaining wall had burst—rich soil sloped away from the crack, tangles of thornbush spreading from its surface. A score or … Read more
Following the crash, the passage mouth vomited a cloud of dust into the central chamber. Torches instantly extinguished by the wind, the chamber fell into darkness filled with the sound of coughing and the skitter of settling rocks. Melcior relit the first torch, one side of his face scorched badly. Shambling toward the center, he … Read more
“You have such long legs, you ought to be walking faster,” Wensa snapped at Sabit after bumping into the spear woman yet again. Sabit led the two of them through the labyrinthine paths between the Wicked Rocks. Above them was a twisting slice of blue sky, but all sides were vast expanses of warped black … Read more
Allamu found himself in a strange village, surrounded by strange people. They dressed in sturdy working clothes woven from grass and pounded from tree bark. The ocean was nearby, he could hear it and smell it. There was no sign of Sabit. One of the villagers, a young woman whose brown eyes were filled with … Read more