The Blood of God
In the Shadow of Sin:
Book Three
By
Alan Harrison
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2024 by Alan Harrison
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review. For more information, address: AlanHarrisonAuthor@gmail.com.
Cover design by MiblArt
Map by Cornelia Yoder
ISBN 9781838132842 (paperback):
ISBN 9781838132859 (ebook):
I
For those who fight anyway
Contents
Prologue: The Coward’s War
Chapter 1: In the Eyes of Seletoth
Chapter 2: The Last Carríga
Chapter 3: What is Right
Chapter 4: What Must Be Done
Chapter 5: From His Lips
Chapter 6: The Majestic
Chapter 7: In the Light of the Lady
Chapter 8: The Light Fades
Chapter 9: The Grey Plague
Chapter 10: The Blood of God
Chapter 11: Incarnate
Chapter 12: Hunter’s Den
Chapter 13: The White Rose
Chapter 14: God’s Spine
Chapter 15: Scarlet Robes
Chapter 16: The Silverback’s Reach
Chapter 17: As It Was Written
Chapter 18: At Mount Selyth’s Peak
Chapter 19: Heresy
Chapter 20: The Truth
Chapter 21: Omniscience
Chapter 22: Our New World
Epilogue: Journal of Padraig Tuathil
Guide to Alabach, Her Places, and Her People
Prologue:
The Coward’s War
Earthmaster Seán held his tongue. It wasn’t something he was used to doing. From the classrooms of the Academy to the council hall of the Triad, and even within the inner circles of the Silverback’s dissident movement, Seán had always spoken his mind, caring little for who he contradicted.
But tonight, in the throne room of Keep Carríga, standing before the Earl of the Midlands, he kept his thoughts to himself. Even as the undead horde slew the townsfolk of Rosca Umhír outside and threw their bodies against the castle walls, Seán remained silent.
I am a visitor, he reminded himself. It is not my place to question his lordship, no matter how questionable his actions may be.
“Sire, please you must reconsider!” cried the crystallographer who had brought the dire news that Ardh Sidhe to the north had fallen. “We cannot assume help is on the way.”
“I assume nothing!” said Earl Carríga, with a voice that once commanded an army of a thousand strong. Several of his councilmen and advisors shrank back in fear. “How dare you seek refuge in my keep, then demand I open my doors to let in those… creatures!”
To Seán’s surprise, the crystallographer stood his ground. “But the townsfolk, your highness. If fighting back against this enemy is not an option, then please, lower the drawbridge for them.”
“The town is already lost,” said Earl Carríga. “We are all who remain.”