Steel — Kenneth Guthrie

If you would like to read the three other stories you can find them in The War of Blood and Bones: Extras or with the three novellas in The War of Blood and Bones: The Total Package.

Steel
Steel is the most evil, depraved, sadistic dark elf alive, but he was not always that way. At one time he was quite the opposite. Learn in this short story the secrets of the one who eventually became Steel.

Sample Content

This story is about 2300 words.

Gatt starred at the symbols. Did he know these from somewhere?
"Quick, Gatt. We need to get out of here," his father said in a hushed voice.
"Why?" Gatt was mesmerized by the symbols.
"Because it'll be close."
Gatt came out of his daze and saw the look of concern on his father's face. It was time to go.
They sprinted through the woods. Gatt noticed that there were no bird calls in the area. What's happening? He felt like going back to the corpse to read those symbols again.
Faster, faster. His heart beat strongly in his chest as he forced himself to keep up with his father. Something was very wrong.
Up ahead there was a small tree trunk that must have fallen during a thunderstorm. It was black and slightly burnt. His father leapt over it with nimble grace and came down on the other side.
"Argh!" he screamed in agony.
His father hit the ground head first and was still. Gatt jumped onto the log and saw what had stopped his father. There were long thick spikes in the ground - the type used to cripple men during sieges. Who would have put something like this here?
He didn't have to wait long to find out. A black cloaked shape came down lightly behind him and punched him in the back of the head. He hit the ground and the lights went out.

Arms Dealer
Lerk is back for another round of dangerous fun. Again he will spit in the face of fate and pray the wind doesn't change direction. Look forward to a fun and purely evil time with the most evil of all goblins.

Sample Content:

This story is about 3000 words.

Hob climbed over the wall and dropped quietly to the ground. He ran across the space as a guard turned the corner and ducked into a small space between a drain pipe and the wall.
He breathed quietly as his heart beat increased. The guard stopped for a moment to adjust his belt, but didn't notice him. He waited for the guard to leave and found the window Lerk had mentioned.
Inside the building the candles had been mostly blown out. The servants would be closing the mansion down for the night before everyone retired to bed.
Hob heard a noise to his left. He ducked into a small closet next to the stairs. There was a tense moment as the footsteps got closer. They stopped outside.
Hob stood waiting to see what would happen next. He knew there would be guards inside and if they saw a door slightly ajar like it was now they might react by checking what had caused that. He waited as his heart thumped loudly in his chest and sweat started to stand out on his brow.

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