"Servant of Empire" - Chapter List
...plus the back-cover blurb
Back cover blurb:
“Fuck. I guess that makes me emperor now, too.”
The Voruscan Empire dominates the five known worlds with power granted by the lords of Hell, and has defeated its one primary rival in war. Azrael of house Ashemdion is Shadrim – a noble touched by the Infernal legacy of the Empire. He was a hero in that conflict, who wants nothing more than to take his new wealth and title and settle in the lands the Empire awarded him for his service.
Except that all he knew is long centuries gone, and he is heir to an Empire of ashes.
Kidnapped shortly after mustering out, Azrael has been snatched into a distant future in which Vorus fell ages ago. Fragmented and dispersed, the Shadrim people are the cast-offs of society, feared and persecuted. Desperate to find a way home, but without prospects in a new land where his kind are outcast and maligned, he must carve a place for himself in a world that considers him only one step from being a monster.
His path will take him through the lands of men and Fae in search of a road home.
Inside Cover:
I ducked down, laying my sword close by. I muscled the ogre’s body away. The giant had a heavy rope it had been using as a belt, and I grabbed that with both hands as low as I could get a good grip. Three fast breaths and heave! I felt my back almost give way, and stopped right away. A second glance up the hallway showed nothing coming.
I straightened my back, getting my legs ready to push, and said out loud, “One, two, three!” With that I made my hands freeze in position, and pushed with my legs until stars popped across my vision. I felt the arcane strength seeping through me like water in a sponge, an aroma vaguely of granite stone wafting beneath my nose.
The body shifted, its huge hip slowly rising. Sered’s struggles took on a purposeful course instead of random flailings, and in a moment he rapidly inched himself out, a seven-foot pale leaf-worm riding the small undulating waves of his body out from under the bulk. Once he’d cleared most of his torso, he rolled out with an explosive breath and crawled quickly away on all fours. I caught a glimpse of a deep gash in his right arm, bloody and inflamed. He must have had his arm trapped beneath his sword when the giant fell on him. The hilt of it was visible, and he grasped at it as he moved out from under the dead body.
I let the body down, reached for my sword and looked up.
Just in time to see a troll not eight feet away, galloping like a mutated bald gorilla at full speed, mouth agape, its cracked and stained teeth dripping with foul spittle. Its long, thin tongue whipped about loosely, wagging like a wart-encrusted corpse-dog’s tail.
“Servant of Empire” is my first fantasy novel, the first draft of which I have posted in chapter format here on Substack as a series of “Posts”. It’s in its fifth editing iteration now, but I wanted to get the ‘raw’ form out for initial reactions. The final version will eventually appear, though I can’t say what form it will take. Rather than force you to go digging through my post history (although you’ll find some fun stuff there too), the chapters are all linked in order below.
I’d love to get your feedback, either as notes on the chapters or as direct messaging to me - in any form it’s welcome. Any help to make the story better is always welcome!