SerProcrastinate

Chapter Fifty-Seven (TIBK)

Eirik knew melee was suicide.

That tongue moved faster than anything he'd seen. One touch, and he’d be dust.

He needed to buy time. Leif was coming. He had to be co...

Chapter Fifty-Six (TIBK)

On the battlements above Fort Abercrombie's main gate – stood Eirik Stormcrow.

Below him, the now free Northmen captives held spear-points at the backs of a terrified cluster of Skarl non-c...

Chapter Fifty-Five (TIBK)

Outside Fort Abercrombie, Grakk'Thor's sixty warriors, moments ago charging in formation, were now stumbling wrecks.

Men swayed in their saddles, eyes bulged, bloodshot and unfocused, seeing ...

Chapter Fifty-Four (TIBK)

The celebration devoured the night.

The first sign was subtle. A groan cut through the chanting near one fire. A warrior staggered to his feet. He took a step towards the edge of the fireligh...

Chapter Fifty-Three (TIBK)

They were hauled off the ponies with efficiency. Hands grabbed Eirik's arms and legs, and he hit the ground hard. 

The hood was ripped away, revealing Fort Abercrombie at dusk.

The...

Chapter Fifty-Two (TIBK)

Below, Leif and Isolde were mounted near the rear of the fleeing group. Leif looked back constantly, trying to shield Isolde. Isolde clung to her saddle, posture rigid in fear – too rigid. The po...

Chapter Fifty-One (TIBK)

The predawn cold cut through Eirik's borrowed jerkin. He huddled with the rest of Team Seven – Seventy-Two, Seventy-Three, Seventy-Four, and Seventy-Five – near the stables outside Frostholme's...

Chapter Fifty (TIBK)

The Frozen Stag is packed with desperate men. 

Dozens filled the benches – laid off miners, guardsmen whose pay was always late, scarred veterans drinking cheap ale. Out-of-work labore...

Chapter Forty-Nine (TIBK)

The wind whipping across the high pass north of Frostholme carried the bite of coming winter. Eirik Stormcrow stood on a rocky ledge, the walls of Lord Varn's broke fortress visible a mile behind h...

Chapter Forty-Eight (TIBK)

Eirik's face was blank as Yorick briefed everyone. He had yet to find an angle.

"...so Lord Varn confirms the main southern road, the Pine Run Road? Totally blocked. Skarl war bands hit any g...

Chapter Forty-Seven (TIBK)

The tavern was called "The Frosty Stag". Isolde Fenrir sat stiffly on a stool across from Eirik, trying her best to tolerate the roughly cut wood and grimy patrons.

Eirik, however, seemed unb...

Chapter Forty-Six (TIBK)

Eirik, Leif, Olaf, Bjorn, and Yorick moved quietly through the snow-dusted pines.

Silence was paramount.

"Steeper up ahead, Commander," Yorick puffed as they reached the base of a sheer...

Chapter Forty-Five (TIBK)

Their camp sprawled across a valley fifteen miles north of Flint's Hold.

Eirik stood at the camp's edge, watching his men settle in. The adrenaline from their escape had worn off. Now came th...

Chapter Forty-Four (TIBK)

The oak gates of Flint's Hold squeaked open. 

Eirik Stormcrow walked at the front. Behind him the main group of Talons marched. 

They were beaten up, wrapped in cloth. Some wa...

Chapter Forty-Three (TIBK)

Eirik entered the cave.

He blinked, forcing his eyes to adjust. Light seeped from deeper within, lighting walls shining with hoarfrost. Troll-stink hung beneath the air. He glanced u...

Chapter Forty-Two (TIBK)

The deep, rhythmic THRUM pulsed through the frigid air, resonating in Eirik's bones.

It wasn't a sound made by troll lungs or clubs. It came from beneath their feet. From the mountai...

Chapter Forty-One (TIBK)

Dawn broke over the Serpent's Spine.

The Talons moved following Olaf's lead towards the bait point near the canyon entrance. Eirik, Leif, and Yorick shadowed the Trap Group heading for high g...

Chapter Forty (TIBK)

The Talon camp nestled in a deep crevasse half a mile from the troll defile, hidden from sight and partially sheltered from the biting wind.

Eirik's arrival cut through the low murmur.

...

Chapter Thirty-Nine (TIBK)

In a cramped scroll shop in Flint's dingy lower town, Eirik Stormcrow stood before a cluttered wooden counter.

The last few days were spent on relentless grinding. On top of what he’d alrea...

Chapter Thirty-Eight (TIBK)

Harald snatched the list, his eyes darting down it. 

"Saltpeter? Sulfur? This is alchemical stock! Expensive! And in those quantities? Commander, I told you—"

"You told me you're...

Chapter Thirty-Seven (TIBK)

Lord Arcturus Flint leaned back in his chair. He gestured lazily towards chairs opposite him with a hand that held a heavy crystal glass half-filled with amber liquid.

Eirik took the offered ...

Chapter Thirty-Six (TIBK)

The wind howled through the jagged peaks of the Serpent's Spine. Eirik Stormcrow crouched behind black rock. Five days of hard marching northeast from Stormkeep had brought them deep into Lord Arct...

Chapter Thirty-Five (TIBK)

The reek hit Eirik as he descended the familiar, uneven stone steps into the warren beneath the tavern. 

Eirik didn’t bother knocking. He pushed the door open, the hinges groaning. Fis...

Chapter Thirty-Four (TIBK)

Seated behind the desk, Cedric Stormcrow wore a simple tunic of dark wool, the Stormcrow raven embroidered over his heart. To Cedric's right, Earl Borin Ironhelm slouched in a heavy wooden armchair...

A HUGE Thank You!

Dear Danielle and John,

Thank you so much for your incredible support! Knowing you're both reading (and enjoying!) each chapter means the absolute world to me. Being my very ...

Chapter Thirty-Three (TIBK)

A single lantern cast flickering shadows on the worn map table where Eirik Stormcrow stood, flanked by his inner circle: Olaf, Leif Fenrir, Isolde, Harkin, and Yorick clutching his wax tablet.

Chapter Thirty-Two (TIBK)

Eirik pushed his half-finished plate away, nodded curtly to Olaf and Leif – both instantly alert, sensing the shift – and followed the steward.

The walk felt longer than it was. Eyes trac...

Chapter Thirty-One (TIBK)

The biting wind howling through Stormkeep’s main gate felt like knives against Eirik’s skin. 

He stood slightly apart from the main Stormcrow contingent gathered on the frost-rimed b...

Chapter Thirty (TIBK)

Garrick Stormcrow stared at his reflection in the polished surface of a discarded knight’s breastplate. The blue-and-silver enamel was scratched, the metal dented. Utterly ruined. 

Lik...

Chapter Twenty-Nine (TIBK)

For three solid days, Eirik Stormcrow felt like nothing more than a glorified ice machine. His Peak Snow Realm mana core churned relentlessly, cold energy flowing from his center, down his arm, cry...