This blog is actually a series of fantasy novels in serial form. If you’d like to start at the beginning and work your way through, this post provides a handy list of all the chapters in sequence. The first volume, Man Raised by Spiders, tells the story of Inglorion’s younger cousin Valentine, who was taken captive […]
Another four slaves died during the night, so Inglorion and Father Nate are in one of the two makeshift morgues, allocating eight fresh corpses to graves and planning funeral rites. After the incident with the half-orcish woman, Inglorion feels it’s wise to review each case formally with Father Nate. Space is tight, Inglorion’s scrawled notes […]
“Can you watch over Lucius tonight?” Virginia asks Inglorion during dinner. “You’ll need to give him fluids and medication, but I’ll write up a schedule for you. Sextus asked me to take the remaining fever cases tonight.” “Of course. Should I watch him through the night, or can I get a few hours of trance […]
The following day, there’s still no sign of the wagons that will be used to transport the remaining slaves to Liamelia. Inglorion has to start looking at contingencies, and planning for the possibility that help isn’t coming. It seems absurd. They’re a half-day’s ride from a major city, on a Gypsy migration route, but they […]
The rest of the day is a blur of misery. No wagons arrive from Liamelia, so the remaining critically ill patients will have to spend another night shivering in tents. The two of the three remaining Gypsies approach and say that they’re leaving. Inglorion can’t keep them, so he thanks them for their help and […]
Inglorion wakes just before dawn. He finds himself calculating how soon he could possibly see Virginia, if she chooses to come. It will take the courier five hours to reach Liamelia. She’ll need a few hours to pack, and the return trip is another five hours if they travel cross-country without stopping. The soonest he […]
Inglorion returns to his tent to draft an update to his first report, but finds himself checking Lucius again and again, suspecting that he’s feverish. He’s angered and frustrated by the suffering he sees around him; he’s questioning his own judgment, and the entire rescue effort. In the end he jots down something that sounds […]
Inglorion wakes to a sense of sorrow and oppression, and to a very physical comfort in his son’s embrace. He lies there for a moment, remembering where he is, trying to come to grips with the day ahead. Lucius surfaces, blinking and yawning. Inglorion feels an almost painful sense of gratitude to see his son’s […]
