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About the Author
Jacob Peppers lives in Georgia with his wife, two year old son, and three dogs. He is an avid reader and writer and when he’s not exploring the worlds of others, he’s creating his own. His short fiction has been published in various markets, and his short story, “The Lies of Autumn,” was a finalist for the 2013 Eric Hoffer Award for Short Prose. He is the author of the bestselling epic fantasy series, The Seven Virtues.
Note from the Author
Thank you for reading The Warriors of the Gods. I hope you enjoyed visiting with Alesh, Katherine, and the others again as much as I did. We have come a long way since that dark path in the woods, since the broken carriage, and the child, watched over by two gods, who was forced to wander into the night alone, leaving all that he had ever loved, all that he had ever known behind him.
We have faced many trials, since that day, many hardships. And although we have come through them, we have not come through them unscathed. Still, we have survived, and in a world where darkness reigns, where those meant to protect care only for themselves, in a world where the shadows have teeth and men are far too quick to draw their blades, that is no small thing. A thing to be appreciated. Perhaps a thing to be proud of as well.
But let us not boast too much, for as trying as these last days have been, I fear that there are worse ahead. True, Tesharna has been brought down, her machinations and plots ended, but there are other servants of the Dark out there, ones whose power grows with each passing day. A god born of hate and pain, and his servant, reborn in agony. A man who has become little more than a beast, hungry and feral and unpredictable. And the Goddess of the Wilds, one who would destroy us all, if given the chance.
This is what Alesh and his companions face. This is what we face. With luck…no, but I will not say with luck, for luck’s god lies broken and in pain, dying, poisoned by a creature that should not exist. Better then, that we don’t count on luck at all. Still, we can hope—that much, at least, we can do. We will hope that Alesh and his friends will survive the coming days. We will hope that they find great help in Valeria, and that the forces arrayed against them will not prove too strong. And I, of course, will hope to see you again soon.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank those without whom this book would have been far worse. Thank you to my family for suffering through my ramblings—often incoherent—as I try to overcome a particularly difficult plot point or, as if often the case, when I forget about the real world, for a time, while worried about the one in which Alesh and his friends struggle to survive. Thank you to my wife, in particular, who watches over our local tornado (known as Gabriel) while I stare at my computer screen hoping words appear by magic…they don’t, by the way.
I’d also like to thank all my beta readers who have contributed to this book as well as others. I cannot stress enough how much of a difference they make. When a city changes names from one page to the next, or when I decide—without warning or, for that matter, intent—that a character is suddenly able to be in two places at once, they are the ones who catch such mistakes and save me from looking anymore foolish than I have to.
And, of course, thank you, Dear Reader, for giving my books a shot and coming on these journeys with me. I love writing, and I love eating—you’re the reason I’m able to do both. So thank you, truly, for your support. And I’ll make a deal with you. You keep reading, and I’ll keep writing. How’s that sound?
Until next time,
Happy Reading,
Jacob Peppers
The Warriors of the Gods Page 38
