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Chapters (53)
  1. Map of Kingdom of Finfalla and Surrounding Area- Western Half
  2. Map of Kingdom of Finfalla and Surrounding Area - Eastern Half
  3. Map of Kingdom of Finfalla and Surrounding Area - Full Map
  4. Important Trigger Warning
  5. Prologue
  6. PART I
  7. One
  8. Two
  9. Three
  10. Four
  11. Five
  12. Six
  13. Seven
  14. Eight
  15. Nine
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Twelve
  19. Interlude: The River of Life
  20. PART II
  21. Thirteen
  22. Fourteen
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. Seventeen
  26. Eighteen
  27. Nineteen
  28. Interlude: Fallow Fields
  29. PART III
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Twenty-Three
  34. Twenty-Four
  35. Twenty-Five
  36. Interlude: Of Man and Monster
  37. PART IV
  38. Twenty-Six
  39. Twenty-Seven
  40. Twenty-Eight
  41. Twenty-Nine
  42. Thirty
  43. Thirty-One
  44. Thirty-Two
  45. Thirty-Three
  46. Thirty-Four
  47. POSTLUDES
  48. Postlude 1: Lana Vica
  49. Postlude 2: Ludo Vica
  50. Postlude 3: Cainan
  51. Acknowledgments
  52. An excerpt from Heartsworn, Volume II in The Forsworn Oath, available for preorder now!
  53. PART I

I’m going to make it, he thought, an unexpected wave of hope crashing inside him, sending a fresh burst of energy to his limbs. He reached for the edge of glass…

It broke, cutting into his hand and forcing him to drop it as his body dangled by one hand, twisting in a vicious circle that seemed intent on ripping his arm from its socket. Fresh blood dripped from his fingertips.

Pain arrived in the form of stars dancing before his eyes. His grip wavered, tendons of rope digging deep into his palm. And, to make matters worse, the guard caught up to him at the same time, grabbing at his ankle.

All the emotions he’d been holding back—shock, anger, fear, desperation, frustration, relief—broke through the dam, spilling upwards into his chest, then throat, then out through his mouth in a roar. As that sound erupted from him, he did two things: First, he kicked his foot free from the guard; and second, he swung his bloody hand back up, clamping it onto the rope once more.

He heard steel shriek from a scabbard, close enough to set his teeth on edge. Then came the pain, slashing through his calf. He looked back to find the soldier grinning, even as he raised his sword to offer another blow. For once in his life, Tomas couldn’t claim any foresight to his actions, no meticulously planned stratagem designed to make his opponent appear foolish. For once in his life, he acted on pure instinct, pulling as hard as he could with his arms, ignoring the pain that flared in his cut and bleeding palm, and then tucking his knees up to his chest as far as they could go, his stomach muscles crunching.

The soldier’s blade struck.

For a moment, time seemed to stop as their eyes locked, both of them realizing the damage that had been dealt by the blow. Not to Tomas’s leg like the first time, but to the rope. Somehow, the blade had been repelled, avoiding a clean through-cut, leaving only a few hair-thin tendrils holding the guard’s weight. They began to twist, snapping away one at a time.

It was the soldier’s turn for desperation, his fingers releasing the sword to tumble away into empty air, clattering to the floor a moment later. His arms reaching, stretching, trying to snatch at anything it could, even as the last few skeins of rope weakened and then broke.

Somehow, someway, one of his hands managed to stretch high enough to grasp Tomas’s ankle. Except, this time, he was ready, his opposite knee coiled upward like a snake preparing to strike. And then he did, slamming his heel into the guard’s face with every bit of force he’d hoped for, bones crunching, the soldier’s mouth issuing a wet, gurgling protest that did nothing to prevent his fingers from losing all strength as he was knocked free.