by D. P. Prior
“Oh, yeah,” Nils said. “That’s the best bit. You know, Silas once said the pen was mightier than the sword.”
Nameless pulled Old Moary’s costrel from his backpack and took a lusty swig. “Too true, laddie, too true.” He gave Paxy an affectionate pat and she purred in response. “But the axe is mightier still, eh, lassie?”
He strode on ahead, singing a bawdy song, seemingly without a care in the world.
Ilesa shrugged and set off after him, but Nils cast a long look back over the spires and minarets of Arnoch.
Smoke billowed in black clouds from Silas’s pyre, a reminder of all they’d suffered, all they’d lost.
It would have been so easy if he could have simply turned away and left it all behind, if the terrible things Blightey had planted in his mind could have been burned up along with Silas’s body. Something lost, something gained, Mom would have said.
He wouldn’t want to call himself a boy no more, that’s for sure. No, it was time he stood on his own two feet, time he started making a name for himself. Everyone would one day know of Nils Fargin, and that was a promise. He’d be the most famous writer in the whole of Malkuth, and the greatest scholar the Academy had ever known.
“Come on, laddie,” Nameless called back. “Twenty miles, and we can stop for another swig of mead.”
Nils laughed out loud, raised his hand in farewell to the dwarves watching from the outskirts of their new home, and then took the first step toward New Londdyr like he was walking on air.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Abednago: A homunculus. Member of the Sedition.
Albert: An assassin.
Archyr, Magistra: Nils’s former school teacher.
Arecagen, Magister: Wizard and lecturer at the Academy in New Londdyr.
Arios, King: King of the mythical dwarf city of Arnoch.
Aristodeus: A philosopher.
Buck Fargin: Guildmaster of the Night Hawks. Father of Nils.
Cynocephalus, the: Dog-headed ape. Creator of Aethir. Son of the Demiurgos and the goddess Eingana.
Cairn Sternfist: A dwarf scout.
Carl the Cat’s Claw: One of Shent’s goons.
Castail: A councilor.
Cordana (Cordy): A dwarf. Widow of Thumil, a member of the Council of Twelve in Arx Gravis. When her husband and daughter were butchered, she took Thumil’s place on the council.
Crapstan ‘the money’: Accountant of the Night Hawks.
Danton: One of Jankson Brau’s thugs.
Deacon Shader: Elect knight of the Templum. Friend of the Nameless Dwarf.
Demiurgos, the: Father of lies. The Great Deceiver. Lord of the Abyss.
Destroyer, the: Nightmare of the Cynocephalus and doom of the dwarves of Arnoch.
Dhorn: Member of the dwarven Council of Twelve.
Droom: Father of the Nameless Dwarf (deceased).
Eingana: Serpent goddess. Mother of the Cynocephalus.
Fror Bellos: Soldier in the Ravine Guard.
Garth: Dwarf baresark.
Hernin: A dwarf boy.
Ilesa: Human shape-shifter from the town of Portis. Former guildmember of the Dybbuks in New Londdyr.
Jaym: A dwarf baresark. Formerly a bare knuckle fighter and pariah from dwarven society.
Jankson Brau: Brigand wizard.
Kaldwyn Gray (Kal): Corporal in the Ravine Guard.
Lampol Drynn: Soldier in the Ravine Guard.
Magwitch the Meddler: Mad wizard from New Londdyr.
Mal Vatès: Mayor of New Londdyr (deceased).
Maldark the Fallen: Legendary betrayer of Eingana to Sektis Gandaw.
Marla: Infant daughter of Thumil and Cordana (deceased).
Mina: Barmaid at The Grinning Skull.
Nameless: A manic-depressive dwarf whose name has been taken from him and lost to the world. Known to the dwarf survivors of the ravine city of Arx Gravis as the “Ravine Butcher.”
Nils Fargin: Son of Buck Fargin, guildmaster of New Jerusalem’s Night Hawks.
Nip Garnil: Youngest of the dwarven councilors.
Noris Bellosh: Gold-digging chancer.
Old Moary: Ancient member of the dwarven Council of Twelve.
Otto Blightey: The Lich Lord of Verusia.
Pax Nanorum: The sentient Axe of the Dwarf Lords.
Plaguewind, Master: Guildmaster of the Dybbuks (deceased).
Quintus Quincy: A particularly bad poet.
Roger: A barber of Malfen.
Rumgorkin: A cyclops.
Satyring, Magister: Wizard and lecturer at the Academy in New Londdyr.
Sektis Gandaw: Former Technocrat of Aethir.
Sern Abar: Soldier in the Ravine Guard.
Shadrak the Unseen: Albino homunculus assassin. Friend of the Nameless Dwarf.
Shent: The Ant-Man of Malfen.
Silas Thrall: Wizard. Former rogue and graduate of the Academy at New Londdyr.
Skeyr Magnus: Lizard-man.
Stupid: The dwarf community idiot. A fool. Also known as ‘Dolt Dullard’, and ‘Dimwit Numbskull.’
Supernal Father, the: Lord of the Supernal Realm.
Targ: An old sapper. Friend of Nameless’ father, Droom.
The Ebon Staff: Sentient staff and brother of the Pax Nanorum.
Theon: A dwarf guard.
Thumil: Husband of Cordana and member of the Council of Twelve (deceased).
Throam Grago: Most outspoken member of the dwarven Council of Twelve.
Toan: Dwarf guard.
Tony: One of Jankson Brau’s thugs.
Venn the Ripper: One of Shent’s goons.
Weasel: A scrawny dwarf rogue. Organizer of illegal fights and betting rings.
Winso: A councilor.
Yuffie: A councilor.
Yyalla: Mother of the Nameless Dwarf (deceased).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you especially to:
Amber Leigh, Anthony Prior, Barbara Prior, Chris Taylor, Conrad Bucsis, Dayve Walsh, Frederick Holbrook, Jared Johnson, Kenny Howell, Melinda LeBaron, Mitchell Hogan, M.R. Mathias, Paula Prior, Ray Nicholson, Roel Cisneros, Scott Morrison, Zak Reynolds, Bob Neufeld (“Voice of the Nameless Dwarf”), Anton Kokarev, Mike Nash, Patrick Stacey, Laurie McLean, and Valmore Daniels.
Cover art: Anton Kokarev: http://kanartist.ru
Cover Design: Alisha, Damonza.com: https://damonza.com
Editor: Paula@Quills2Keyboards Editing Services: http://bit.ly/1MFsdR6
Literary Agent: Laurie McLean: http://www.fuseliterary.com
ALSO BY D.P. PRIOR
LEGENDS OF THE NAMELESS DWARF
1. CARNIFEX
2. GEAS OF THE BLACK AXE
3. REVENGE OF THE LICH
4. RETURN OF THE DWARF LORDS
SHADER
ORIGINS 1. WARD OF THE PHILOSOPHER
ORIGINS 2. THE SEVENTH HORSE
1. SWORD OF THE ARCHON
2. BEST LAID PLANS
3. THE UNWEAVING
STANDALONES
HUSK
THE ATTIC (writing as Derek Prior)
www.dpprior.com
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