Chapter 1

“H ave you found her?” My heart beat hard in my chest as I concentrated on the warrior before me.

The screams beyond him drowned out his first response. A Starving One stumbled toward the warrior, and fierce as I knew he was, he flinched. The creature was missing half its stomach and one arm, and mismatched skin tones made up the rest of its sewn-together body. Its open, gaping jaw was smeared with blood and its glassy lifeless eyes landed on the warrior’s mighty axe.

Shadows spun around my staff briefly, before whirling toward the undead creature, absorbing it completely. An unearthly shriek faded to nothing.

“Have you found her?” I repeated, my voice granite.

“I believe we have, my Prince.”

“We sail for her tonight. If anyone lays a finger on her, they die.”