Hello WritingPrompts!
Like the title says, about ten months ago, I found myself responding to this prompt one night:
Then, after serializing it on my subreddit and turning it into a story larger than I ever thought possible, I arrived at the decision about whether to make it a book. For a lot of writers, publishing a book is the dream, and in all honesty, I didn’t think I would ever actually do it. But now, after a lot of procrastination, a lot of late nights, a lot of learning, and a ton of editing, it’s here.
The entire series, named By The Sword, is a high fantasy trilogy of books with paranormal/supernatural elements, of which I’m publishing the first right now which comes in just shy of 100k words long. The book’s cover art was done by the fantastic /u/Pocchito, and I’m extremely happy with how it turned out!
As the title of this post says, that book is entitled Blood and Steel. You can read its synopsis right here:
Death is a fickle thing.
For most, it’s a force of nature, but Agil Novan sees the reaper in a different light. As the greatest swordsman of all time, he cherishes life, and he’s lived one full of both struggle and success. After all of his accomplishments, he too must face the reaper and its scythe.
When challenged, however, the swordsman is not one to go without a fight. After parrying it once and impressing the reaper with a show of the blade, he is offered something more. A second chance at life—one that he is all but forced to accept.
Now, stranded in an unfamiliar land with an unfamiliar body and far too many questions, Agil has his life threatened at every turn. Still, he is determined to survive. He knows what the reaper did to him.
And he has never been one to let vengeance go unfulfilled.
You can check out the Amazon page for Blood and Steel here, where you can buy it as an ebook!
The ebook is priced at $2.99 and the paperback is priced at $9.99.
The book is also available in a myriad of other marketplaces:
Kindle Ebook
US | UK | DE | FR | ES | IT | NL | JP | BR | CA | MX | AU
Physical Paperback
Note: With Kindle’s Matchbook program, you can get a free ebook copy with any paperback purchase!
US | UK | DE | FR | ES | IT | JP
If you do end up reading the book, please consider leaving a review as well! Reviews are invaluable to the success of any independently published book. You can leave a review either on Amazon, or you can review Blood and Steel on Goodreads if you would like.
My sincerest gratitude if you do end up leaving a rating or a review.
Also, as with how this first book was written, By The Sword is still a serialized story that I post chapter-by-chapter on multiple platforms including my subreddit, /r/Palmerranian. At the moment, I’m almost at the end of the second book in the serialization process. So if you would like to continue reading there, you can find the story index here.
Now, without any further ado, I’ll leave you with the first chapter of Blood and Steel!
Live by the sword, die by the sword. That was the way I lived for so long.
It was an old adage—ancient even, depending on the version being told, but it was a useful one for someone like me.
I was first told it by my father during the final years of his life. It came only a few short months after I started training, in fact. A few short months of becoming fascinated by the art of sword-fighting and spending every waking minute trying to master it.
My father was proud of me for my effort. He always gave me the largest smile when I explained this stance or that, detailing my dreams of becoming the greatest swordsman of them all. Of becoming a Knight of Credon and protecting our kingdom more effectively than any before me. He entertained my teenage ramblings without complaint. And since he’d been a swordsman himself during his formative years, he made sure to pass off that ancient wisdom before it became too late.
It was the last gift he ever gave me.
If only I’d known how true it was.
That mantra repeated in my head now as I stared across my path. Standing out there in my field, only a few dozen paces away from me, the reaper stared right back. Wind billowed through its tattered black cloak. It made no effort to conceal the bleached bone underneath. All it did was balance its scythe in skeletal fingers as though taunting me to come and fight.
I wondered why it didn’t simply attack me for my ignorance, why it didn’t finish the job after I had ignored all of the signs. A tense pain in my chest and a sudden shortness of breath were the only warnings I’d gotten during my morning walk. But before the reaper had appeared, I’d shrugged them both off. I’d been stupid and short-sighted enough to allow my time to come.
Yet the reaper just stood there, watching me.
With my sword held at the ready, I considered if it was scared. Whether or not it was doubting the frozen moment in time when its scythe would harvest my soul. Perhaps it hadn’t expected me to resist, I ventured. After all, landing a strike on a swordsman of my caliber wasn’t easy for anyone.
The rational part of me didn’t think that was it, though. It didn’t fit with the concept of the end-bringer at all. The beast of decay was part of nature as we were told; it was integral to the cycle of the world. And while I’d never entirely agreed with that interpretation, especially not after my father had been ripped away from his life, it still shouldn’t have had any issue with a measly swordsman.
Then again, the word measly hadn’t described me for decades.
I stepped forward, my foot crunching on the path I walked almost every morning. My path, I reminded myself. The tranquil sanctuary that I’d cultivated for years. I was supposed to be safe when I walked it, and I had been until it had shown up.
A sneer formed on my face as I continued to approach. Its tattered cloak still drifted on the wind. Its scythe still balanced in silence. But as I neared, it looked up. It stared at me, nearly striking fear into my heart.
The reaper stopped and raised its scythe. It angled the ever-sharpened metal in my direction. For a moment, I could’ve sworn I saw a smile on its face. But I wasn’t sure, as it was already charging my way.
My body surged into action. The reaper disappeared from its spot and struck through the air like lightning to force me down with its scythe. Yet as the frozen moment passed with the shriek of clashing metal, I was left standing. The resistance was still fresh in my bones.
I’d parried it, I realized, on instinct and fear alone. As I glared back at its still form once more, picking apart details of the bone, I saw the surprise. I knew what it meant. The beast had never been parried before.
A grin grew across my lips as I readied my blade again. Its surprise would keep the scythe at bay for the moment, but I still had to be ready. I would never let my guard down.
As I’d expected, the surprise faded in short time and it was on me again. I watched it charge with inhuman speed, almost gliding over the ground. I only dodged with a stumble as its scythe cut right through where I’d been.
That attack had been faster than before, I noted. It had hit closer. I had to be ready.
I furrowed my brows and felt ice-cold fire flood my veins. It signaled the onset of battle, and I took the change in stride. Feeling the burn of sunlight on my skin, I stared back at the beast with everything I had and only barely ducked its next attempt at my life. The blade came through right where my head had been.
The scythe, however, never reached my former location. Instead, it turned at the last second. But even with the turn of steel, I was ready. It was one of the oldest tricks in the book.
I parried the hit without a second thought.
Surprise returned to its hooded, bleach-white face. The beast stared down at its unstained scythe, and I had to stifle a chuckle. It didn’t matter how fast it was. I would never let my guard down.
I leapt backward, my feet already positioning themselves for the next attack. The beast growled, its tone dark enough to strike terror in any ordinary mind. But I was no ordinary mind—even at my age, I was as sharp.
I narrowed my eyes, brought my sword out to the defense, and ignored the call to blunder. Its skeletal form charged me again—just as I’d predicted. My lips curled slightly as I turned in the nick of time and whipped the hilt of my blade around my wrist.
The clang that rang out was one to split mountains.
Both of our weapons fell, but I was more than ready for it. I swept mine up in an instant and was already twisting away. A smile blossomed across my lips. I would never let my guard down.
Then, spinning back with my blade in hand, I shoved steel deep into the hooded cloak. My ears twitched at the screech of metal tearing through bone.
As soon as I heard it, I retracted my arm. My feet pushed me backward, and I swung my blade out to guard. Looking over the serene path turned battlefield, I saw too many familiar things. The ornate stone lining in the dirt. The shaded patch of trees. My humble homestead barely visible over the hills.
It had no right to be here, I told myself. It had no right to take me here. This was my home, world’s dammit. And I would never let my guard down.
Images flashed through my mind—parries, deflects, attacks. I was ready. The power in my muscles was already responding to clean commands. But as it turned out, none of it was needed.
The beast stood, paralyzed.
Carrying the same surprise it had shown seconds before, the reaper stared at the grass. Its ash-black robe wavered in the breeze and its skeletal form hunched as though responding to a weight. Watching it, I relaxed my shoulders a hair. The situation was painted clear as day on its face. It had never been hit before either.
Ragged black cloth lifted back off its head to expose pale white bone to the sunlight above. Its dark eyes were riddled with confusion when it turned to me. It stared, and I almost looked, almost sealed my glorious fate. But at the last moment, I recognized the trick.
Darkness crawled out of its eyes. I snapped mine shut before it could take me, my father’s proud face flashing in my mind. Another one of his warnings played back through my head.
Never look into the face of death.
The embodiment of decay rushed at me anew—I felt it in the air. Heard it. Smelled it. Its speed was even greater than before and I only barely shook off the strike. Even with my eyes closed, with my most important sense stripped away, I would never let my guard down.
I snapped my eyes open while sprinting away, readied for the attacks that were sure to hit my unarmed side. I waited, my ears perked and my eyes sharp. The strikes never came.
After a dozen strides, I turned back to the beast, expecting to see the same dry surprise as before. I didn’t. Instead, I saw the beast’s cracked, white skull with the hood completely off.
Bitterness fell on my tongue. It coated my mouth with disgust. I felt power radiating from in front of me; I felt it washing off the bone. Simply looking into its face forced my blood to run cold. Where I’d expected to see the same complete and utter shock, I saw confirmation of what I hadn’t wanted to be true. An expression more terrifying than any other.
A smile.
The crooked, skeletal grin was perfect and horrid at the same time. It spawned a sense of worry deep within me that I rejected as unnatural. I was a warrior, a swordsman, a knight—I didn’t have time for worry. And yet, as I felt my gaze stay frozen, the dread only deepened.
The beast didn’t rush at me. It didn’t move to attack. It didn’t even reach for its scythe. For some reason, it seemed done with the fight.
“Impressive display,” it said, words reaching my ears on the wind. Its voice came like the concept of decay itself, forcing me to shudder as it ate at my mind. I hadn’t seen its bony mouth move an inch.
“Thank you,” I replied through gritted teeth, unconsciously getting myself into stance.
The beast noticed and raised a dismissive hand. “There is no need for that. I have no intention of keeping this up.”
“Then what do we do now?” I asked, keeping my gaze as harsh as nails. My fingers curled around my blade’s loyal grip. I knew it was playing with me—I knew the reaper’s words were a trick, but I would never let my guard down.
The beast chuckled dryly. ”You are unique.”
I glared at the thing, barely avoiding its eyes. It was toying with me and I knew it. Why couldn’t I take advantage? Why couldn’t I just strike now? No, I thought, dismissing the questions. It was smarter than that. It knew I wouldn’t let my guard down, and it wouldn’t let its guard down either.
“And?” was the only word I mustered in response.
“It would be a shame to let someone like you fall to the house of the dead.”
My gaze lifted, brows furrowing on my face. “What are you getting at?”
“I could give you another chance,” it said, the tone of its voice spawning hatred deep in my chest. The beast’s smile all but dropped as the force in its words made one thing abundantly clear.
It was serious.
My mind raced, remembering my younger form longing for more time by the sword. Would it really give me another chance?
“Yes,” it said, the dark words dragging hope out of my soul.
“What’s the catch?” I asked.
Its grin returned, more devilish than before. A chill ran down my spine. “You will have a different body. But you will retain your mind. Life would be more a curse if I were to take that from you.”
I considered the offer against my better judgment. The same instincts that were guiding my stance screamed at me to stop. But as I stared at the beast, sunlight dancing on cracked bone, I could find no fault in its intentions.
“What do I have to do?”
Its grin grew wider. “One touch—and a new life is yours.”
Overcome by a dark, sudden, inexorable urge, I agreed. As though manipulated by some outside force, the desperation in my mind preyed on my memories and won out over all doubt. The reaper appeared next to me like a shot of ashen lightning.
Its finger approached my shoulder, cooling the air around it as it went. My grip tightened and my mind screamed, but it was already too late. The bleach-white bone touched my skin and my body filled with ice.
My mind burned. My bones froze. And I experienced the most agonizing second of the rest of my life before everything went black.
A jolt of motion startled me up from my slumber. I twisted, feeling only the most distant of pain. Everything was numb. A cold, unfamiliar haze was draped over my mind. I stared into the black, faintly wishing for the ability to feel again. Unfortunately, my wish was granted in short time.
My body snapped up. A frigid wind crashed against my face, sending shivers down my spine and a howl through my ears. In a second, everything came back and my mind spun through the images. New mixed with old and familiar with foreign as my mind swirled, but I couldn’t make sense of any of it. I clenched my jaw and waited for it to stop. And yet, as soon as it did, one thought was left, one that forced my lips into a smile.
The beast hadn’t lied.
When I opened my eyes, I hoped to see my land. I hoped to see my fields, the rows of crops that I was no longer even required to tend. I hoped to see my wife, the beautiful face that just barely escaped me. But the eyes that only vaguely felt like my own were met with a completely different sight.
All around me, spinning in the wind as if just to mock me for my choices, was a dark forest that I couldn’t recognize. Feeling the horrid cold cut deeper, my smile faded.
I forced myself up, noting soreness in my bones. My muscles were hollow. My arms were shorter. My legs were… different. Everything about me felt frail, as if on the verge of collapse. And as I sat up on whatever rock my body had been strewn across, I felt sharp pain cut a deep pit through my stomach.
My brain started to spin again, the foreign thoughts, worries, and memories all coming back at once. As the waves passed, they were replaced with regret that was only my own. I shivered, the truth cementing in my mind.
This wasn’t what I’d wanted. It wasn’t what I’d wanted at all. I closed my eyes—if they even were my eyes—and shook my head, trying to force it all away. My efforts were useless as the world set in and one horrible thought echoed out in my head.
I’d let my guard down.
Submitted September 02, 2019 at 05:08PM by Palmerranian https://ift.tt/2LfANAr
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