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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 don’t want to be alone anymore.”

“You’re not. You never were.” The face changed again, and now it was Gado, a small smile painting his lips. “I’ve been with you the whole time.”

Tears blurred Ludo’s vision as the walls made their final press, a hundred daggers penetrating his flesh, stabbing, cutting, tearing, and then—

His vision cleared, leaving nothing but darkness. “It’s time for you to leave,” Crescendo said from behind.

For once, Ludo didn’t look back. He needed to find Bryony, to face her. He needed to tell her the truth.

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Bryony

They were relentless, their swordlike wings cutting and slashing, a never-ending barrage of blows, each with the potential to be the last she ever faced.

And yet somehow, someway, she managed to deflect them all, killing at will.

Even as she grew weaker from exhaustion and blood loss, she never wavered, never stopped.

Once, perhaps, she would have. But not now, not ever again.

Despite the furor and tenacity with which she fought, she realized something: She didn’t expect to win. Because there was no winning this fight. She’d lost two limbs already, and she was stranded on a bleak island surrounded by death. So how could she win such a fight, when the odds were stacked firmly against her?

“No,” she said. “I won’t fight to die. I won’t.” Her foes answered her with more shrieks, an ear-rending symphony of them. But this time she didn’t meet their cries with the sword.

For when they came, and come they did, she dragged herself to the edge of the platform, dug her fingers into the stone, and then reached into empty air.

Empty air that was soon filled with deadly wings, but she jabbed between them, snatching the softer part of the creature, right behind its neck. Its shriek became a squeal as she squeezed.

Not to kill, but to tame, to subdue. To use.

Sure enough, its wings fluttered rapidly, propelling the creature higher into the air. And, because she refused to let go, she went with it. One of its wings scraped against her ribs but the added pain was nothing compared to the agony she was already in. One-armed, she managed to haul herself onto its back, tucking what was left of her body in a thin line along its spine, safe from the set of wings carving the air.

Wind swept through her hair as she searched the darkness for some speck of light, some indication that there was a way to escape this nightmarish place. And then she found it—just a glimmer of light drifting over stone, the area much larger than the one she’d recently vacated. It wasn’t a certainty, but it was the best option she had available.