To get things kicking off, I’m gonna be posting things pretty regularly for the next few days. This next piece is from a novel I wrote years ago and never did anything with. Enjoy!

            A thunderstorm raged. Winds howled through the trees along the beach, and waves lashed the shore. Lightning streaked across the black sky, briefly illuminating dark clouds. The tempest threw small fishing boats ashore, sometimes on the sandy beach but more often on the sharp rocks of Alaran Point.

            Kira Rejai stared out from behind the glass of a window at the base of Alaran Tower. The stone outpost withstood the mighty storm roaring in from the Sea of Winds.

            Is this how Pentra saw the sky on his last night? Did he die staring at a black sky, bereft of any sign of hope?

            Kira sighed. The whole journey had been pointless. There was nothing here except dark memories and cobwebs.

            The thought of Pentra brought back a wave of grief. He was like a father to me, not just a teacher. I always thought that he would outlive us all, like a stone weathering time.

            Kira sighed again. It was over and done with. He was dead, and there would be no bringing him back. All that was left was revenge—revenge on the murderers to the north. The so-called “Beast Lords” would pay. They could not know what was coming for them.

            Kira chuckled darkly as he turned from the window. With determined strides, he walked back to the entrance of the tower. He stared out across the thousands upon thousands of campfires that dotted the plain, stretching all the way from the coast to the distant forests of Lesari.

            Kira laughed out loud. “No, they do not know what is coming for them.”