The Wolfling

By Andrew Lyon

In an era long before the Great Flood, when the gods of old battled for dominance over the hearts of humanity, a young warrior from the Sea of Grass comes to make a name in the realm of war. He is Kaimak Kor, master of sword and bow, bestowed with the might of his fathers and the wisdom of his mothers. And he bears an ancient curse...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andrew Lyon
• Release date: Feb 20, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458061348

Book preview

Prologue

In the days of Kaimak the Warrior, the world was far different than in later times, after Yavah broke it with flood and fire. For when Lord Yavah of the Lightning lost the Battle of Gerzim, and knew that he would never be Lord of All, he smote the land and the sea as far about as his might allowed, and Earta, Mother of All Life, groaned. His balled fist toppled mountains, and his roar loosed seas from their bounds.

Where there are now watery deeps and lush valleys once stood mountains and highlands teeming with game. Where there were sandy shores are now swamps and deserts deep inland. Where the cities of humankind rose above the plain, not a brick remains in its place, not a throne awaits its King, nor is any elder god given honor and scorched flesh.

So certain was the fury of Yavah that no trace remains of the works of men from those days. Not their bronze shields, not their iron swords, not their clay pots, not even a loom-weight lies unblasted.

But in Kaimak’s time, Yavah, jealous and alone but for his minion angels, burned with desire for worship. From the heights of Mount Gerzim he dispatched his warrior-angels, beings of bronze and of fire, to take knowledge of his godhood to the remotest lands, and slay any man or beast that denied him Lord.

And some of Yavah’s messengers wearied of the chore and asked if he had not glory enough. This displeased him, and in senseless wrath he cast them into fire undying. A clan of angels rebelled against Yavah’s tyranny, and turned their faces from him. They went to dwell among the children of Earta, whom they loved. As male and female, human and animal, they lived among them, and made children with them according to their kind. And they lived among Earta’s children for generations, but having left their god’s protection they at length weakened and died.

The sons and daughters of these angels, human and animal, were fierce, and did not pay heed to Yavah. And Yavah said Let us slay all the get of the traitor angels, for they grow in power on the land and in the seas. His warrior angels roved across the world, slaying the brood of the fallen ones, human and animal, until only few remained alive on the face of Earta.

One of this remnant was Kaimak, son of the Koss, who came out of the Endless Plains to contest the will of an angry god. Fiercer than all his fathers, wiser than all his mothers, in his time Kaimak taught a god the limits of power, and brought him to battle at the foot of Mount Gerzim...

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The guardsman chewed gunia herb as he gazed over the meadow. The yellow leaves, ground between his molars, brought on their usual light euphoria. He leaned on the shaft of his spear and scanned the forest verge leisurely, certain that this sentry watch would proved uneventful.

Behind him the war camp spread over the mountain meadow. A camp follower caterwauled for her shekels, horses snorted, sergeants cursed. The sounds comforted the guard, reminding him that three legions of the Marcan Empire—part of the finest army within