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Back Forsworn
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

“Wait,” Gruff said.

She stopped with her mouth already open, golden heart so close the smell was intoxicating.

“This is your first time. You should wait a while. An hour or so, maybe.”

“Whut? No. I want it now.”

“Trust me.” As soon as those words slid off the dwarf’s tongue, he snatched up the other half and stuffed it in his mouth, looking like a cow with its cud as he chewed.

Perfidy stared at him, considering. Was this another of his pranks? Would he try to steal it from her when she wasn’t paying attention? Only one way to find out…

She popped it in her mouth, closing her eyes. Thump-thump, thump-thump… And then began to chew.

Gruff chuckled. “This’ll be fun.”

Brilliant flavors exploded across her tongue, like nothing she’d ever tasted before. It was like eating every cake and pie in the world at once, except their flavors didn’t mush together, each separate and distinct, an intricate mixture of deliciousness. She almost didn’t want to swallow, because then she would lose some of that flavor, wouldn’t she?

But then she was reminded of the surge she’d experienced after swallowing the eyeball. In one giant gulp she swallowed all the chewed-up bits down, her eyes flashing open because how could she close her eyes right now? How could she close them ever again?

“Wahoo!” she shouted, not caring how girlish and ridiculous she sounded, not caring that she’d jumped as high as she could in the air as she’d screamed it. Not caring that her ma was dead—which felt so right and so wrong all at the same time—not caring that she’d been forced to leave her home or that the world was a bloodthirsty messed up place, not caring that the dwarf dancing a jig beside her was a tricky bastard who’d made her look like a fool on more than one occasion. She didn’t care about that because this dwarf was also her best friend in the whole wide world.

So she hugged him, because how could she not hug him right now? Even as she did it, she felt him stiffen and she readied herself for the protests and the pushing her away, but then, to her surprise and delight, he hugged her back, even harder if that was possible, squeezing her tightly. She squeezed him, too, as though they were having a squeezing contest. She picked him up, her legs strong and capable, and then he picked her up too. They alternated like that for a while, adding spins and little hops and then—

They separated, beaming at each other. “Hit me,” Gruff said.

“Alright,” Perfidy said, because it sounded like such a great idea at this particular moment that she couldn’t even consider refusing. So she stepped forward and punched him hard in the shoulder.