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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

With that, he took off into the forest, stubby legs churning so fast they were hard to track. She released herself and landed in a crouch and then gave chase, her own strides longer, strengthened by that feeling still surging inside her. The feeling that could only be described as The Best Feeling in the World.

She swiftly gained on him, locked him in her sights, and then dove. He turned at the last possible second and she missed him, rolling twice before being carried right back to her feet, cutting hard in the correct direction.

Where she watched him run directly into a tree. That should’ve been the end of the chase, but, of course, it wasn’t. Instead, the blow that should’ve been rendered on Gruff by the tree was delivered upon itself, a weighty CRACK! ringing out. And then an actual crack did appear in the tree’s trunk, branches wavering and leaves rustling as with a slow, ponderous arc it came crashing down like it had been felled by a woodsman’s axe.

“I did that!” Gruff said, jabbing a finger in the air.

And then, once more, he took off, Perfidy hot on his heels.

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Perfidy’s entire body felt like it was shaking when she finally stepped back into New Dawn, with Gruff staggering by her side. Considering the dwarf’s haggard appearance, his beard and hair tangled with leaves and twigs, his eyes bleary and sagging, she feared what she must look like.

It was like her body was balancing out the endless surge of energy and power she’d experienced with an equally endless period of extreme fatigue. All she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep for the next, oh, forty-eight hours or so.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to happen without at least a bit of resistance from the others, who’d noticed their return. Jereb was the first to stride into their path. “Where have you two been?”

“Out an’ about,” Perfidy drawled.

Jereb frowned. “Something is different about you…”

Perfidy tensed, and she could tell Gruff was experiencing the same beside her, though he was able to disguise it as a part of his normal grumpiness. “Different. Don’ think so.” Even to her own ears, the casualness she’d tried to infuse into her tone had failed her miserably.

“Your hair,” Jereb said, nodding to himself. “Yes, that’s it.”

Perfidy subconsciously raised a hand to her hair, picking out bits of leaf and bark from its tangles. “Well we had a run in with an ornery bush or ten…”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean you’ve cut it. Rather terribly I’m afraid. Did you do it yourself? Clemmy is a decent barber, I’m sure she’d be happy to even things out for you.”