Turic’s company passes along the eastern edge of the castle as he leads them, with his expert knowledge of the city, to a low side garden. It is reached through descending five tall steps and overshadowed by lattices from which, during the warm months, grow richly interlacing vines, though they are now dry and brown. … Read More “Dawnbringer 4.12: Setting Captives Free” »
As they emerge from the other side of the spillway and step into the city itself, climbing up to a wide stone platform a couple feet above the water, which serves as a harbor of small boats, they find nothing but silence and stillness. The city itself, were it not for a pervading sense of … Read More “Dawnbringer 4.11: Minstead” »
They draw near to the city of Minstead on the twelfth day after their departure from Onylandun, though they know this not through sight of the former city but because they are intercepted by survivors from the siege. The landscape to the south of the city is rocky and rough, with mountains rising both to … Read More “Dawnbringer 4.10: The Beginning of the Assault” »
When all the able-bodied fighters have been gathered in the city of Onylandun, they stand four-thousand in number. Fifteen-hundred of these are trained warriors, guardsmen and soldiers, and the rest are simply townsfolk who have volunteered to lend their arm to the cause. Bryma refuses to draft any of the men of his city unwillingly … Read More “Dawnbringer 4.9: On the Road to Conflict” »
And so the events are set in motion which all have awaited and feared, expected and desired, hoped for and yet wished to avoid. As a stone on a precipice high in the mountains is loosed and falls with nothing to stop its descent, so now begin events which shall continue to their conclusion without … Read More “Dawnbringer 4.8: The Sorrows of Farewell” »
The council hall is illumined by the light of countless lanterns and torches struggling to fight back the pervading darkness as the counselors and their interlocutors gather together, the messenger who has just arrived standing in their midst. After being received at the main city gates, he was offered a change of clothes and a … Read More “Dawnbringer 4.7: A Quarrelsome Messenger” »
Despite their desire to depart with haste, another week passes for them in the city of Onylandun, occupied with the recovery of their bodies which sustain abiding trauma from the events of the siege and the absorption of the dark, and with aiding however they can in salvaging some sense of life for the people … Read More “Dawnbringer 4.6: Before the Plunge” »
Eldarien awakes to the sound of voices. Without opening his eyes, he allows consciousness to gradually return to him, and the events that led to his collapse surge before his mind’s eye. He sees again the hordes of creatures laying siege to the city with merciless intent, and he sees the flames devouring the houses … Read More “Dawnbringer 4.5: Aftermath” »
“Your suggestion was more right than you knew,” Eldarien says to Hinding, making no effort to hide the tone of gratitude in his voice. Their eyes lock for a moment, only to be torn apart by the distraction caused by another echoing jolt of energy and sound reverberating from the gate as it is battered … Read More “Dawnbringer 4.4: Flames of Darkness, Flames of Light” »
As the men emerge from the crater, exhausted from the confrontation, their bodies shaking and weak, they look around. To their dismay, they see destruction in the perimeter surrounding the explosion of dark energy that emanated from the Lord of Death. Whatever buildings had once stood on the surface of the ground directly above the … Read More “Dawnbringer 4.3: Siege” »
