Blade of the Vampire King — Lucas Thorn

Fourth in an ongoing Sword and Sorcery series, 'Blade of the Vampire King' promises unrelenting action, oddball mages, and a foul-mouthed wisecracking heroine tougher than a hardboiled egg. Following in the footsteps of Conan, Drizzt, the Gray Mouser, Elric, Druss, and many more heroes of Sword and Sorcery, the elf called Nysta will carve her own epic path.

And that path will be bloody.

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“Melgana! Elf!”
The battleaxe responded to the barked words with a blur of purple light and slash of steel.
Time reduced itself to a crawl as Nysta saw the Shadowed Halls open so wide she could feel the sickly sweet breath of her impending death. As the axe hit her head, she imagined a bell clanging from a great distance. A bell so heavy its note rang deep in her guts and sent the worms racing.
The Old Skeleton himself was surely dancing above her head.
She almost heard him laugh.
“Can't buy-” she heard the woman snarl.
And, before her world imploded into darkness, thought she managed to murmur; “Too late. I've bought it.”

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The darkest shadows are within…

Urak's Keep.
Once home to an unspeakable evil vanquished by Grim and Rule, it is now haunted by the tragic soul of Gul'Se, immortal wife to the Last of the Vampire Kings.
It is here the Grey Jackets have come, led by Hyrax and a mysterious elf named Willem. Chukshene is also there, drawn by the promise of forgotten knowledge and now driven by the need to recover his stolen grimoire before Hyrax can take it back to Rule. Then there's the necromancer and the axewoman, desperate to flee the land of their birth.
The elf will face evil of all kinds on her path to Urak's Keep. And she will burn with rage. For the darkness which consumes her soul is waking.
And it demands death.
Death.
And more death.