Crucible of Fortune: An Epic Fantasy Young Adult Adventure (Heirs of Destiny Book 2)
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Take a glimpse into Evren and Hailen’s origin,
dive into Hero of Darkness
The best assassin in the world doesn’t come cheap. Betraying him will cost your soul.
The Hunter is a name feared by all in Voramis. He is an outcast, driven by a cursed dagger with an unquenchable thirst for blood and death.
Yet he follows one simple code: kill those who truly deserve to die. His creed is put to the test when, deceived by a shadowy employer, he unknowingly slaughters an innocent man.
With the most powerful criminal organization in the city after his head, the Hunter must fight for his life and find a way to atone for his mistake. When his enemies harm the people under his protection, it will take much more than an army of criminals to stand in the way of his revenge.
If you love anti-heroes like the Punisher or Dexter in a breathtaking fantasy realm, then immerse yourself in Hero of Darkness today! Dive into an epic tale of one man’s struggle to survive in a world of magic, blood, and death.
Book 1: Darkblade Assassin
Book 2: Darkblade Outcast
Book 3: Darkblade Protector
Book 4: Darkblade Seeker
Book 5: Darkblade Slayer
Book 6: Darkblade Savior
Book 7: Darkblade Justice
Different, Not Damaged: A Short Story Collection
About the Author
I am, first and foremost, a storyteller and an artist--words are my palette. Fantasy is my genre of choice, and I love to explore the darker side of human nature through the filter of fantasy heroes, villains, and everything in between. I'm also a freelance writer, a book lover, and a guy who just loves to meet new people and spend hours talking about my fascination for the worlds I encounter in the pages of fantasy novels.
Fantasy provides us with an escape, a way to forget about our mundane problems and step into worlds where anything is possible. It transcends age, gender, religion, race, or lifestyle--it is our way of believing what cannot be, delving into the unknowable, and discovering hidden truths about ourselves and our world in a brand new way. Fiction at its very best!
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Glossary
Shalandra, City of the Dead
Gods of Einan
Kiro, the Master: God of virtue and nobility
Deralana, Lady of Vengeance: Goddess of warriors and vengeance
Garridos, the Apprentice: God of ventures and enterprise
The Maiden: Goddess of purity, devotion, and festivities
The Illusionist: God of coin, success, and madness
The Bright Lady: Goddess of healing
The Swordsman: God of war, heroism, and metal-smithing
The Mistress: Goddess of trysts, secrets, and whispered truths
The Bloody Minstrel: God of sickness, plague, and horrible music
The Watcher: God of the night, god of justice and vengeance. Thieves and criminals know him as “the Watcher in the Dark”.
The Lonely Goddess: Goddess of orphans and broken hearts
The Beggar God: God of outcasts, the destitute, and the needy
The Long Keeper: God of death.
Kharna – Serenii that sacrificed himself to feed Enarium and fight the Devourer to protect Einan
The Devourer of Worlds, the Great Destroyer – force of chaos seeking to unmake the world
Crucible of Fortune Characters
Listed according to appearance/mention
Kodyn: 17 year-old apprentice to House Hawk, third-story thief of the Night Guild, son of Ilanna the Guild Master and Ria the Master of House Phoenix, protective (Chapter 1)
Arch-Guardian Suroth: Briana’s father, high priest of the Secret Keepers in Shalandra, member of the Keeper’s Council, mute, slain by the Gatherers in Trial of Stone (Chapter 1)
Amhoset Nephelcheres: Pharus of Shalandra, Servant of the Long Keeper, Word of Justice and Death, a noble and honorable ruler hamstrung by the Keeper’s Council (Chapter 1)
Aisha: 17 year-old former trafficking victim rescued by Ilanna and the Night Guild (see Traitors’ Fate), apprentice to House Phoenix, Kodyn’s best friend, child of a Spirit Whisperer (Chapter 1)
Briana: daughter of a high-ranked member of the Secret Keepers in Shalandra and Keeper’s Councilor, graceful, elegant, intelligent, studious, rescued by Kodyn and the Night Guild from kidnappers (Chapter 1—see Darkblade Justice)
Tinush: High Divinity, oldest member of the Keeper’s Council, a priest of the Necroseti, servant to the god of death (Chapter 1)
Nessa: Steward in Arch-Guardian Suroth’s household, Intaji caste, elderly, thrilled to find Issa alive and returned safely (Chapter 1)
Callista Vinaus: Lady of Blades, highest-ranked military official in Shalandra, rules the Keeper’s Blades and Indomitables, stern, proud, warrior (Chapter 1)
Madani: high-ranked priest of the Necroseti, most powerful member of the Keeper’s Council, cunning and deceitful, smug bastard (Chapter 1)
Evren: 17 year-old former pickpocket and clever thief from Darkblade Slayer, former apprentice in the Master’s Temple in Vothmot, recruited to the Hunter’s mission of feeding Kharna (Chapter 2)
Hailen: child cared for by the Hunter and trained by the Cambionari, descendent of the ancient Serenii, the Hunter’s ward, possesses mysterious magical abilities (Chapter 2)
Rothin: the captain of Suroth’s household guards (Chapter 2)
Issa: 17 year-old Earaqi, chosen to serve as a Keeper’s Blade, resilient, strong-willed, determined (Chapter 3)
Tannard: commanding Invictus of the Keeper’s Blades of Shalandra, commandeered Issa’s training, cruel, ruthless, callous (Chapter 3)
Hykos: veteran Archateros of the Keeper’s Blades of Shalandra, Issa’s trainer, friendly and welcoming, two years older than Issa, handsome (Chapter 3)
Ennolar: Secret Keeper, member of the Venerated, lover of banquet delicacies, provides Kodyn and Aisha a map of the Serenii tunnels (mentioned in Chapter 4, first appearance in Chapter 20)
The Black Widow: one part spymistress of Shalandra, one part information broker, and four parts deadly when crossed (mentioned in Chapter 4, first appearance in Chapter 18)
Radiana: Briana’s mother, died in childbirth, spirit that speaks to Aisha and helps to save Briana from the Gatherer attack in Trial of Stone (Chapter 4)
Killian: blacksmith, leader of the Mumblers, Issa’s trainer, surprisingly well-connected, cunning (mentioned in Chapter 5, first seen in Chapter 9)
Samall and Kuhar: attendants in Arch-Guardian Suroth’s household, unfriendly, demanding, petty, treacherous, aiding the Gatherers in their attack on the mansion in Trial of Stone (Chapter 5)
The Hunter of Voramis: legendary assassin, half-demon, wielder of Soulhunger (Chapter 5— see Darkblade Assassin and the Hero of Darkness series)
Kiara/Celicia: enemy turned ally, surrogate mother to Hailen, helped the Hunter reach the city of Enarium, joined the Hunter’s crusade (Chapter 5—see Darkblade Assassin)
Father Reverentus: high priest of the Beggar God in Voramis, old, member of the Cambionari, not the Hunter’s biggest fan (Chapter 5—see Darkblade Assassin and Darkblade Slayer)
Snarth: one of Killian’s Mumblers, older than most of the others, vicious, treacherous, secretly working for the Ybrazhe Syndicate, stabbed by Hailen in Trial of Stone (Chapter 5)
Serias: one of Killian’s Mumblers, clever and street-savvy (Chapter 5)
Hallar: founder of Shalandra, dead for thousands of years (Chapter 6)
Chirak: veteran Archateros of the Keeper’s Blades of Shalandra, Etai’s trainer, woman of few words, inhumanly strong (Chapter 6)
Etai: Issa’s fellow Blade-in-t
raining, born of the lowest-ranked Mahjuri caste, a proud warrior (Chapter 6)
Kellas: arrogant Dhukari, chosen to serve in the Keeper’s Blades, disdainful of the lower castes, skilled warrior, saved by Issa in Trial of Stone (first appearance in Chapter 6)
Byrach: veteran Archateros of the Keeper’s Blades of Shalandra, Kellas’ trainer, hulking, powerful (Chapter 6)
Angrak: high-ranked Dhukari and Necroseti, pawn of the Keeper’s Council, elected to Councilor upon Suroth’s death, secretly skimming shalanite and selling it in the Council’s name, slain by an assassin (Chapter 8)
Annat: Crewman of the crime gang known as the Ybrazhe Syndicate, cruel, enticed Snarth to treachery by offering him a place in the gang, captured and tortured Serias and Killian, slain by Evren (Chapter 8)
Nysin, Enyera, Rilith, and Viddan: Indomitable trainees assigned to patrol the Slave’s Tier with Issa, all from low castes, valiant despite impossible odds (Chapter 9)
Aterallis: messiah, formerly high-ranked Dhukari, called “Hallar Reborn” and “Child of Gold, Child of Secrets, Child of Spirits”, preaches peace to the lower castes
Thimara: spirit of a dead Secret Keeper, speaks to Aisha (Chapter 16)
Bryden: Master of House Hawk in the Night Guild, Kodyn’s House Master, petty bureaucrat, vengeful, hates Kodyn’s mother (Chapter 17—see the Queen of Thieves series)
Ria: Master of House Phoenix, Aisha’s mentor, Kodyn’s second mother, former trafficking victim (Chapter 17—see Thief of the Night Guild)
Ilanna: Master of the Night Guild, former Hawk, legendary thief, Kodyn’s protective mother, force of nature (Chapter 17—see Child of the Night Guild and the Queen of Thieves series)
Ivita: Lady Callista’s trusted servant, summons Issa to the Lady of Blades’ office (Chapter 19)
Leya, Trant: servants in Suroth’s household, loyal to Briana even after being evicted from the Dhukari caste (first appearance in Chapter 9, first named in Chapter 20)
Uryan: sharp-faced, high-ranking Guardian of the Secret Keepers, has a link to the spirit of Thimara (Chapter 20)
Natoris: Divinity of the Necroseti, priest of the Long Keeper, member of the Keeper’s Council, fancies Nyslian red wine, disdainful of Angrak, privy to the shalanite skimming operation (Chapter 27)
Eldesse: Briana’s former maidservant and friend, believed to have aided in the Gatherers’ kidnapping attempt (Chapter 29)
Osirath: Eldesse’s husband, one of Arch-Guardian’s household guards, disappeared the night of Briana’s abduction, believed to be complicit in the kidnapping (Chapter 29)
Quodaro: Grand Reckoner of Shalandra, priest of the Apprentice, well-fed (Chapter 32)
Dyon: low-ranked Reckoner in the Coin Counter’s Temple, unwitting pawn of the Keeper’s Council, blackmailed by the Ybrazhe Syndicate (Chapter 32)
Pryle: Dictator of the Indomitables, friendly officer (Chapter 34)
Military Ranks
Indomitables:
The ranks in the Indomitables are similar to the martial ranks of Praamis and Voramis:
Executors: Commanders
Sentinels: Captains
Protectors: Lieutenants
Dictators: Sergeants
Neophytes: Privates
Keeper’s Blades:
Prototopoi: trainees new to the Keeper’s Blades
Defteteros: Blades serving for fewer than six months after the Anointing of the Blades
Katoteros: two-year veterans of the Keeper’s Blades.
Archateros: four-year veterans of the Keeper’s Blades.
Ypertatos: ten-year veterans of the Keeper’s Blades.
Invictus: twenty-year veterans of the Keeper’s Blades. All of the Elders of the Blades are Invictus.
Proxenos: a rank reserved only for the Lord or Lady of Blades, equivalent to High Commander