Showing results by author "Jacob Peppers" in All Categories

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.

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.

Aaron Envelar thought a sellsword's life was as dangerous as any life could be. He was wrong. Trapped in a conquered city with a reward on their heads, Aaron and his companions must find a way to elude the soldiers pursuing them while he struggles to understand his bond with Co, a magical creature of myth and the Virtue of Compassion. There is power within the bond, power that could help him protect his friends, if he's lucky enough to master it before the darkness within the bond consumes him.

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.

The worst thing about a man being led to his execution—aside from the whole impending death bit—was that he immediately tried to figure out what choice had brought him there. Which Dannen thought was ridiculous. The one possible comfort a man could have, when faced with his own death, was that things simply could not get any worse. The problem, of course, was that things could always get worse.

The Downs, the poor district of the city of Avarest, is home to cutthroats and thieves, pickpockets and prostitutes, all of whom pay tribute to one of two powerful crime bosses. It is also home to Aaron Envelar, a disillusioned sellsword known as the Silent Blade, who cares nothing for the criminal overlords or their schemes, who only wants to survive and make a little coin. But when a group of thugs steal his mother’s necklace, the only link he has to his murdered parents, Aaron decides that sometimes gold isn’t enough - sometimes, blood is the only payment worth taking.

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.

Darkness reaches forth its taloned hands, and the shadows dance and caper in anticipation of the long night to come. A night that, should it have its way, will destroy the light and those who serve it and will leave nothing but the cold, empty darkness in which the nightlings roam and feast.

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.

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.

Alesh and his companions managed to survive Aldrick’s betrayal, defeating the nightlings and driving them back out of the city, but their troubles are just beginning. For there are other traitors in their midst, hiding in the shadows, and while they should be preparing for the approaching enemy army, Alesh and the others are forced to scour the city in search of them. Meanwhile, Sonya and the Broken flee the enemy encampment, hounded by Argush’s soldiers. But Sonya is just a child, the Broken is wounded, and their hunters are closing in.

When the storm comes, when he's assailed by his doubts and fears, his body and mind wracked by pain, when whatever strength he has—legendary or not—has left him, a man must focus not on putting one foot in front of the other but finding a reason to. Cutter knows this, for he has been here before, in this place of doubt and darkness, just as he knows his reason. A promise, one he made long ago to protect Matt, his son. But not just a promise, for promises might be broken, forgotten. An oath, though, that is a different thing. An oath becomes part of a man, his sword and his shield.