Part 4

Cassandra Thordwall watched her team go through their warm-up. The Sangers was filling up and the Militantes’ fans were cheering every practice pass. “Got an ‘up-and-under’ or something else ready for thwarting the Dwarves?” she asked, referring to the day’s opponents, the Stonecarvers. Beside her,…

Pierce Rosethorn cut a thin slice of his food and inspected it closely, eying it on the end of his fork as though it might suddenly leap away. “I avoid eating flesh as a rule, but these eels … well, I sometimes allow myself the opportunity to discover the taste of things.” He popped the slice of…

“I thought we were supposed to drink it?” Jacyntha said, looking at the flagon Coach Karsgaard had passed around. “Yes, take a deep draught as well. But Rosethorn said if drool gets on you, Dew of Dreamvine will prevent the skin absorbing anything nasty.” “Would that we could spit toxins onto them,”…

“Within lands as much as between them, armed conflict raged and the only thing that spread quicker than war was suffering. The twisted races were born, each one more savage than the last and ever more keen to impale the other on the ends of their spears. And spears were now common because the…