An hour passed before they set off. Leaving behind them a penitentiary cross, one of Silesia’s numerous mementoes of crimes past and belated contrition. Now, aside from the cross, the junction was also marked by a burial mound under which were buried Oldřich Halada and twenty-four Hussites, Orphans from Hradec Králové. Into the burial mound, Samson stuck the pavise with the lamb, chalice, Host with diverging rays and the inscription: BŮH PÁN NÁŠ—THE LORD OUR GOD.

Ambrož’s army marched west, towards Broumov, leaving behind it a wide black strip of mud furrowed by wheels and churned up by boots. Reynevan turned around in the saddle and looked back.

“I shall return,” he said.

Scharley sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that. Samson?”

“Yes.”

“You’re muttering under your breath, in Italian to boot, so I presume it’s Dante Alighieri again.”

“You presume right.”

“And no doubt it’s a passage that applies to our situation? To wherever we are heading?”

“Indeed.”

“Hmm… Fuor de la queta… Would it be an imposition if I asked you to translate?”

“It wouldn’t.”

From a quiet world into permanently trembling worlds,

Into a new domain, eternally dark.

On the western slope of Holinec, in a place with a good view of the valley and a marching army, a huge wallcreeper alighted on a spruce branch, shaking snow from the needles. It turned its head and its unmoving eye appeared to spot someone among the marchers.

The wallcreeper had probably finally seen what it wanted to see, because it opened its beak and croaked, and in the croak, there was a challenge. And a cruel threat.

The mountain was enveloped in the vague gloom of an overcast winter day.

Snow was falling again, covering their tracks.

END OF VOLUME ONE

The story continues in…

WARRIORS OF GOD

Book TWO of the Hussite Trilogy

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meet the author

Photo Credit: Wojciech Koranowicz

ANDRZEJ SAPKOWSKI was born in 1948 in Poland. He studied economy and business, but the success of his fantasy cycle about the Witcher Geralt of Rivia turned him into an international bestselling writer. Geralt’s story has inspired a hit Netflix show and video games, has been translated into thirty-seven languages, and has sold millions of copies worldwide.

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A Preview of "The Blade Itself"

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