“Hear ye, hear ye! The city council has appointed a provisional replacement for our deceased Lord Mayor Koloman. Pending approval by the crown, effective immediately, Lady Aveline Durant will serve as Lady Mayor of Curton.” The crier, a young man with unruly sandy hair, rolled up the proclamation and trotted to the next location from which to make his announcement.
Tasha stared after him, her jaw agape. Torben gently closed her mouth before putting his arm around her shoulders. “The town is in good hands.”
“We’re going to have a lot to celebrate at the Dusk of Autumn Festival.” Tasha hugged him. They found Aveline at the citadel, sharing a drink with Lieutenant Valon.
“Join us!” Aveline waved them in. Valon brought over two mugs into which Aveline poured mead. Abigail raised her mug in greeting.
“Good to see you all.” Tasha hugged her friend. “We just heard from a crier. That’s so wonderful, Aveline.”
Swigging her mead, the knight-captain swayed slightly. “I’m still not convinced, but I get to stay on as knight-captain of the city watch until the official appointment comes through from Almeria. I got them to turn over Koloman’s estate to Mother Anya for her orphanage as well.” She turned, pointing at Abigail. “Want a job? The Lady Mayor needs a bodyguard.”
“You do?” Abigail raised her stump. “You’re drunk.”
“Maybe.” Grinning, Aveline winked. “But I’ll bet you could take on an angry mudder with only one hand and not even break a sweat. It’s just for show, anyway. I can handle myself, but as Lady Mayor, it looks bad if it seems I’m spoiling for a fight.”
Tasha regarded Abigail. “You seem to be doing well. Apparently, Mother Anya and her acolytes did a superb job.”
“You should have seen the look on their faces when I told them I wanted to keep the arm.” Abigail laughed. “I thought that poor old woman was going to keel over.”
Torben scratched his head. “You kept the arm?”
“It was my favorite arm.” Abigail raised her mug. “I have the good sense not to leave it just laying on tables and such. I suppose I’ll need a place to stay if I’m going to be your bodyguard, Lady Mayor.”
Aveline clapped her on the shoulder. “You can bunk here until we get it all sorted.”
Tasha took Torben aside while Aveline, Valon, and Abigail discussed their futures. “I’m going to return to the hut to move it to the hill between Mudders’ Gate and the orchard. Meet me there later?”
“Yes. I want to visit the smithy and replace my lost sword.” Torben kissed her to the cheering of their friends. Tasha said her goodbyes and snapped her cloak around her, returning to the hut in a flutter of crows.
Tasha scried on the mine and cave. The Icescale clan seemed to be settling in, and she detected no lingering effects from the chaos rift. By the time she relocated the hut, she found Torben waiting for her as he practiced with his new blade. The sun, already low in the sky, cast a red-and-orange glow across the wispy clouds. She took him inside for another evening of passion, and, when they remembered, nourishment.
They emerged the next morning to shouts from outside, calling for the Crow Queen. Tasha pulled on her clothes and cloak. “Time to get back to work, I suppose.”
“Perhaps I’ll have a hunt today. Fancy some venison?” Torben pulled on his boots, sitting on the edge of Tasha’s bed.
“That’d be nice.” Tasha glanced over her shoulder at him. “I’ll be outside.”
She entered the main room, greeted by Revan and Korbin. After she opened the door, she descended the steps. To her surprise, Katka and two other wizards, the siblings Hayden and Jorden, she assumed, were the people shouting for her. Katka’s once-stylish robes were now covered in dirt from weeks of travel. The two wizards from Vlorey dressed alike, but with only her crow sight, Tasha couldn’t determine the color of their simple light-trimmed robes.
“We’re here to close the rift.” Katka spread her arms with a grin. “We made excellent time. Dolios was with us on the journey.”
Tasha laughed. “You’re too late. I had to go it alone.”
She invited them in, then related the story of Koloman’s demise, the rise of Kolbomination, and how they feared if they didn’t close the rift then and there, it would spell doom for the town and surrounding area. Continuing, she told them of the price she paid for calling upon the power of the Crow Queen to split the earth and expose the rift.
“A steep price.” Furrowing her brow, Katka studied Tasha’s eyes. “You can’t see anything without the mantle?”
“Just light and dark. But it’s an acceptable price to have saved the town.” She sighed. “You can bring your horses through the hut one at a time to use the portal to go back to Muncifer. Tell the archmage I’ll be happy to help her with her teleportation research. I understand the constraints much better now.”
Since sacrificing her sight during her connection with the land that night, Tasha felt more confident about the limits of her power and how it related to the world. She planned to add to Annika’s journals and document as much as she could about being Crow Queen, just in case she, too, bore no heirs.
It occurred to her, as she sent the apprentices home, that the end of summer drew close. The Dusk of Autumn festival, and the equinox, a mere week away, heralded the coming harvest, and she knew the people of Curton wanted their Crow Queen there.
The role she once feared now felt right. With Torben and her friend Aveline to aid her, Tasha no longer felt uncertain about her destiny or her past. Although she could not foresee the future, she felt confident events would unfold as they should.
The Crow Queen looked forward to the journey.
Acknowledgements
For Tink, without whom this would not have been possible.
Special thanks to Bernie Todd, Scott Schwartz, Jeremy Morgan, Sam Halpern, Craig Majors, and my readers for all their encouragement and feedback.
Cover art by: Nicoleta Georgeta Stavarche
Cartography by: Anna B. Meyer and Brian Patterson
Cover design by: Eric Hubbel
Edited by: Cynthia Shepp
About The Author
Hans Cummings
Author of the fantasy duology: The Foundation of Drak-Anor: Wings of Twilight and Iron Fist of the Oroqs as well as the Zack Jackson science fiction series, Hans Cummings published his first novel in 2011. Two of his short stories appear in Fear the Boot’s Sojourn speculative fiction anthologies. He is Nuvo’s Best of Indy — Best Local Author Honoree 2014 – 2016.
Hans is a volunteer for the tabletop gaming industry ENnie Awards and maintains a gaming blog http://doctorstrangeroll.wordpress.com in addition to his writing blog http://vffpublishing.com.
Hans earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Indiana University in 2006. He grew up in Indiana, Germany, and Virginia and returned to Indiana when he was 21. He currently lives in Indianapolis with his wife. Hans’s hobbies include tabletop and computer gaming, cooking and smoking meat, and igniting young people’s curiosity and passion for science and exploration.
Learn more about this and other works by the author at: http://vffpublishing.com/
Use Twitter? Follow the author @hccummings
Books By This Author
Wings of Twilight
The Foundation of Drak-Anor, Book 1
It was a typical day for the crusader Lord Strom Lightbringer, killing draks, stamping out wickedness, and making the world a better place for the righteous. During the course of his crusade, he discovered the location of the fabled Twilight Dungeon, a den of evil shrouded in mystery. No one ever returned from that vile place, so no one knew what lay within. With purpose, Strom and his companions set off to meet their destinies.
It was a typical day for Sarvesh, the demonic-looking leader of the Twilight Dungeon's defenders, enjoying beer at the pub, flirting with a snake-haired woman, and dealing with invaders to their home. An exceptional goblin proved to be a harbinger of coming changes, and he found his easy life turned upside
down.
When the worlds of men and monsters collide in Twilight Dungeon, the lines between man and monster blur.
Iron Fist of the Oroqs
The Foundation of Drak-Anor, Book 2
Long ago, the World of Calliome was sundered by mortals. Since the Healing of the World, magic and fae folk returned, and primeval wonders of the ancient world began to resurface, along with long-forgotten horrors that dwell deep in the bowels of the earth.
A year after assuming the mantle of Twilight Overlord, Sarvesh is on the verge of making sweeping changes to Twilight Dungeon and ushering in a new era of peaceful coexistence with the surfacers. The leader of the oroqs, however, is determined to fight him, and when the volcano in which they all reside erupts, Sarvesh must come face-to-face with his forgotten past.
Meanwhile, the life Tasha and Lorelei are trying to build in Celtangate is shaken when the sibling of a dead companion comes looking for her brother, and they must all travel back to Twilight Dungeon to deal with the legacy of their past and help make a better world for all who live there.
Iron Fist of the Oroqs is the thrilling sequel to Wings of Twilight and the conclusion of The Foundation of Drak-Anor duology.
Malediction
Scars of the Sundering, Book 1
Pancras thought trouble waited at the end of his journey.
Shadow demons, chaos rifts, and petty archmages all conspire to disrupt his quiet life. Summoned to face a Mage's Guild inquest over minor grievances, the minotaur wizard leaves home and travels south with his companions, the twins Delilah and Kale.
Harsh winter weather traps them in an unfriendly city where a run-in with a drunken bully leaves him dead and the trio in jail. Fortunately, the opportunistic prince of the city needs a wizard to curse his unwanted wife. The only catch is Pancras's sense of honor.
As he stalls for time, the twins involve themselves in an uprising in the city's salt mines. Pancras left necromancy behind him, but it's looking more and more like he'll need to break his moral code--and further anger the Mage's Guild--to get them out of the city in one piece.
Lament
Scars of the Sundering, Book 2
"The quality of our legacy is measured in the lives we touch."
Pancras and the drak twins reach Muncifer. The judgment of Archmage Vilkan Icebreaker was swift: Pancras is sent to the far side of the continent and Delilah remains the Arcane University. His penance takes him toward the far north, and is made only somewhat better by the companionship of The Golden Slayer and the fiendling Qaliah. Along the way, events drive Pancras to rekindle his faith in Aita.
Bound to the Arcane University, Delilah works to escape, while her brother uncovers an ancient Munciferian secret that will change the very nature of magic as they know it and shake the foundation upon which the Arcane University was built.
Salvation
Scars of the Sundering, Book 3
Life has a way of sweeping you to unexpected destinations, as Pancras discovers as he continues his investigation into the Lich Queen's return. Enlisting the aid of Justicars, the stern knights in the service of the Divine Tribunal, he tracks a growing army to Badon Hill, the site of the Lich Queen's last battle.
Returning to Muncifer and burdened with the truths discovered in the Valley of the Iron Giants, Delilah and Kale must bring the megalomaniacal archmage Vilkan Icebreaker to justice. Delilah takes it upon herself to keep the vast arcane secrets she carries safe from the archmage while Kale struggles to balance his desire for adventure with his responsibilities to his mate.
As their worlds collide and their enemies advance, the twins and Pancras have their mettle and faith tested as the fate of their world hangs in the balance.
Salvation is the exciting conclusion to the Scars of the Sundering trilogy by award-winning author Hans Cummings.
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