Thirteen: The Great Barn

It was hot, still and dark in the hayloft of the Great Barn. The stagnant air was heavy with the smell of manure that should’ve been cleaned out this morning, and the woolen padding Erik wore under his mail was already soaked with sweat. He’d paid a wizard master smith very good money for his […]

Twelve: Network

Solomon Cozen sat alone in his room, waiting for a call on his iPhone. His room above Cozen’s store had two windows, one that looked out over the main street of Westering and another on the side of the store that looked toward the Wall half a mile away. The first phone Ash gave Solomon […]

Eleven: The Springhouse

Silas led Erik and his group off the road to Watson Farm and onto a goat path through the woods. The young man from Bradford’s Mill knew the farm and the area around it very well, and he said this path would come out of the woods behind the springhouse. The path was barely wide […]

Ten: Closest to the Door

“You’re not afraid of vampires, are you, Father?” Nestor’s son, Salah, asked him. Nestor was standing at the kitchen table as he packed his saddlebags for the trip to Bradford’s Mill. Nestor looked fondly at his son. At nine years old, Salah was not as big as Nestor had been at that age, but was […]

Nine: Opening Moves

Collum dan Art folded his wings and fell into a steep, fast dive for the pure joy of it. Just before the treetops were close enough to brush his talons, Collie snapped his wings open and leveled off. The afternoon sun overhead cast a rippling hawk’s shadow onto the green canopy below.  It was a […]