by Todd Herzman
And so was Malarin.
That twisted turn of fate had almost set him into a rage. He would have killed them both had he the chance. His mother had calmed him, her gentle soothings brought him back to when he was a boy. He’d been staring at the island ever since, watching it fade into the distance.
Hours later, when the sky darkened and the island was far enough away that he couldn’t see it even with the captain’s telescope, Ruben turned his gaze to the stars.
He spotted something flying across the sky. His gut tightened. It wasn’t just a shooting star. It was a rockfall. A starstone. If it missed the sea and hit the ground, it would suck the life from all around. If the wrong people found it, another Starblade would be made.
That wasn’t why his gut hurt. It wasn’t this rock. His gut hurt because when he closed his eyes, he saw a world on fire.
The God King had been evil. A monster. Whether he’d started that way or not. Ruben knew that now. His mind had finally cleared, just as his mother said it would. He just hoped his grandfather’s vision hadn’t been real. He hoped the man had lied to everyone, or that he’d somehow dreamt up his vision. Because if he’d been right, and a rock that size was heading for the world, there was now no one strong enough to stop it.
The rock streaming across the sky drifted from his vision. Ruben stepped back from the railing. His legs stiff from standing in one place all day. His mouth dry from having no water. He pushed away his thoughts and worries and looked for his brother and mother.
And he tried not to close his eyes.
The End of Book One
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The Seeker and the Sword
Evil stalks the streets of Hirlcrest. A mage walks free among the empire. And a young woman is determined to prove herself…
Lilah is a seeker in training. All her life she has dreamt of being a part of the sacred order of warriors with only one goal: seek out magic—evil—and destroy it.
Her dream is on the verge of becoming a reality. A seeker is retiring, and the next of the order is to be chosen.
Meanwhile, a murder has been committed in the city, a murder that could have only been done with magic.
Lilah and the other recruits are tasked with finding the perpetrator, and the test of who is to become the next seeker turns deadlier than she could have ever imagined.
The Seeker and the Sword is a prequel novella set in the world of the Hollow Fate series, several years before the first book, A Dark Inheritance, begins.
Other stories by Todd Herzman
The Seeker and the Sword (A Hollow Fate Novella)
The King’s Assassin: A Fantasy Novelette
The Dreamer: A Fantasy Novelette
Seed of Humanity: A Short Story
Thomas Godfrey Breaks Time: A Short Story
Outside: A Short Story