Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

Runeshadow: the Bard of Broken Spells
Runeshadow: the Bard of Broken Spells
Runeshadow: the Bard of Broken Spells
Ebook253 pages3 hours

Runeshadow: the Bard of Broken Spells

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Once read, words catch on fire. Few books are left to fight the daemons. By law only trained magic users may draw the arcane breath from their pages, in furtherance of war. A young mage ventures deep into the labyrinth with a band of would-be heroes, and emerges alone, his spell-book burnt and his sanity shattered.

Stones glow when their inscriptions are pronounced, but explode when their magic is pushed too far. The temple forbids any but official priests from learning the art of their incantation. One stone-reader who left the priesthood now speaks in the octagon, the center of the City's power, as a counselor of the lower floor. Few listen as he tries tries to persuade the council to lift the prohibitions, and to end the perpetual war against the daemonic hordes.

Bards, trained by the academy, manipulate minds with their music. One, a squat and ugly player of a broken lute, has been cast out for untoward improvisations, and has taken up with a group of irreverent outlaws fighting to expose the aristocracy's corruption, led by a passionate thief missing several of her fingers.

Holy artifacts, created by the visible yet secret rituals of the tower, are used by the garrison in battle against the maze's monsters, granting the warriors inhuman strength and speed. Tzantok, a legendary hero, has turned against his commander, and is presumed to have died during the long winter alone among the jagged peaks. He returns, however, and finds a delirious, wounded book-reader at the edges of the labyrinth.

Together with the renegade bard, thief, and stone reader, they will embark upon an dark and perilous adventure, confronting the secrets of the tower, the maze, and the distant, daemonic city. What they discover will overturn the politics, magic, and ways of understanding that have controlled the land for a thousand years. Everything will change.

The debut novel of a devoted storyteller and disillusioned academic, Runeshadow is a thoughtful, tightly-crafted narrative of fantastic speculation, combining deep world-building with epic, character-driven action, resulting in an immersive reading experience that will unsettle your notions of genre and your expectations of independent publishing, leaving behind an imaginative landscape that, with its creative commons license, you are free to adapt, expand on, or inhabit.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherChad Hines
Release dateApr 7, 2016
ISBN9781310841408
Runeshadow: the Bard of Broken Spells
Author

Chad Hines

I work as a copy editor, proofreader, and online English tutor at the New Language Studio. I also play the mandolin.

Related to Runeshadow

Related ebooks

Dystopian For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for Runeshadow

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    Runeshadow - Chad Hines

    cbook_preview_excerpt.html\˲uhGYF'F1)s"DIAҡ/Qm6}7=3*^kAL7U'ϣ[l.צ[emҥYo}nr3okk\oqi _O+SV}ܦ2lqjsOҿ%k>69r|qK޹R'Oq5\6ֹb0͘O ;G|NY3^w9NX{n>]Y?5aGn%j%i,1t-?ܗ~n!!mݻ滴-xWa%17C[Ʀ/]amo[cb^zZb#4\k~WuI8~|?| ^`sX\2<5B|Mk8}A^燄cԮ%|a i >Bc\C5[bn~^ӂ0q|@}9)2K.K͘z_s.o4JnzdR`+'[k~z+/iҝf;Z e}4?* PdzeV8ꨩS(鯷)[5B31X*Ėr]#|:@\E- 5}=?@9 =B:7V{׼4¹_ô-% vZ 8> 66-/'M %GOZ%bsit 3 &`Y>Ҋ?a-ln mk03bub3*k3t`m<Ck~?ksW-m-ҕ[sܺ4=F8:CFDP#>}J ۶AjK-MO/qrXCGXo tXHtPI3QY[!|B mKMڽOpoY5^ú@후g/9e8X3â=% >s8×KgC 0d[g(m T%Dx)q .vI? ќ7NC-4;I"`Hq6X99 VXG4çp7DxݘNͿU5yp &4^>NeԒ:{[ UtGȒu!oϨ1-1>1mܞvw~'.O _Nsy!4̈gR@p&BdzW[XΧ$Āí_p>pw! sY0#˒Fz 5v_k#C 6 ه*Eos,v畖OycMXj9 ;Y)gHL0{;#'X _ "b'@@Asz=8ܷMӵ*ǔw͟a ~pf55E'%1R)%cy0ybP.nE C4MӐL^I:ݠz\ؿUaH0jwHck,=B4!B Kb'i8DDz^S(OܪIc$L$44A \#7 -kA%&i833|B56p,] 8Qp:\蜶#ɇH|/"_Aa~ e5Sfa6O-osLC{I<0tx-ܟ73Da.?u3Q|`t*ѦD8^m-IbwpL'· =D|<b[͙!7^HĿԓK,+ *;_0 dӅ%iqVFngLev<m ZN#ajg4Ohle3tHh@<'F3|z,Ph`0Զ۬Hh9ԍ{_s |c cAcTOZCd>s߁ ߆ߖ-LAK^RϨ4b(d4jCsv%+NHD-kTj'*$ YHLkag2r{ @bN{^܉G(gqCHPS;\#` LMq ƄbSvߒ08O;R9a/X?[i 㮩5::#  T T\WaP'd+.%C=<"*̄W'21,128b\ )N}sD#9YХ)@ؽJE綟_a'ATbӂ xGįa&=pJd9 &J,HdE'FENL\#yƤr__~ݶYik㋁hwԯ*/K\HQ{J0GKovn*M F9@s'9( vc錕ʸ E]AJ;fBl\%yN,̼CU>pwfdsʢ*(5Q鉺01ÞXi`Mu$g}D9՞ͰOL+^=Edy2VMZ&=6!+zӳ mclyGTOQ {ܱXw&mh\B v-mߑPqR]%ʗn!9NX3AHղbLC[ j.d%oFށ.^ W >%g!(Ke5Ga"bj*:K/ xYk[8b\Q+{=JȴXtr""afE4W1(k;o1 w+\77Z{n M0jNKfRYJkD<`RCK+رR5ler l;"(gKZ闃a>hluqoڔƎ̢ `c4>p&UNC[PBZݫfw0XBy}\}=T2p^G_+3R:18R6(&C]{o2 DXjiUn'K7taѹ2+>,KڰƑ4dv @pel2p =Sve[VWOzFhK 3m__++"K[.Lw-d"=Y*0JF5K P ,!%r @;aNs `6Bv4XVLygte[0\Zx}]0tj2'R= rɪU2Y=㫰" bpW]JEŋ{-gfjco`XtWCE~;; 3{\F_oֲ%&K.#V8eϲ AYQfCC k4p@ cGA76?=ٌ&HKX= ~z/ruców>4{ֲz0:{ w Z =Qϑ}&ۈ^Hjֻ"D6s A\ﱢJ9+8 !|dУ9f.[^)eo)YV IcD>ZSW_3Y*>^`j4WHBJ51vM#}MKD %Hi^_Q+llhXړDGMV! ::bT7ǧ0DY=/)0Q<,;/ZuG"{xP}[S>!h>n֯'&/ >WdzV68y͛j.bإLI']\1Wi >sx1d .~äa#!R ޷|dabzm5Ts)QR-kR1rw'#llی]z!J7<`L'V/rIƬlDޥiP$tvTzKI 6R<Y-^bU6\@sZDQ|H APMQз* Z`zG1#NfPa-l`~;s` 2,a_V5oCI'mVU4lR%HgHp ?ɲHJr:*ӳ{|>Z"3!VK7p(wm1Yuf/RHP285Es;rrC?FT-'OBEP[Ѭ$l(4ł|2;@QՎM)yެ71yIEiSK>s?(%zNK(]dLkP& /][iPFa|Oӑ@93S"߭"ӷ՜Xp8kNڙf0o};ۈX銇x#WuWl)rQњ~elO7ql&*lBckyG] «Dݒs/=RxyAӸS*j\̪g$ yۡɢY 2De`#𼄞 Cy-QPe GJԧ_x̚;WƟ҅1fsr*sbg؄2qvIR3.r=٦. ʝ;!U=h5ÔB 'Yt]%ǦTg챆9WTp;q4ݚ:6{88Q¬Ye\Ua?hs1a ;8 }qU]ד.C3af.ryTFyVX!xoZ)@NTS`=}j6H:6k*|s{F$s[ÄZpTL&?}FeS8܁X/sڗesvk@n3bJ])=C@$4qCoKpYZ%EUf,'cyZ=oU8ҳcݎ6`&x/RLMNg;kXZM =Mo\f,N %?`p~]5.ɕGWxK&L8 (xz`%X3O0'ZNl-C-țHtSPL2 T[yЬ-XAaT|;X/RdLT;$Y{5Øt"rV~:BN^"쐂~%9ݴNrړfY\}, ?pl5NBҜFt`rWŸ!%~2I>)K&zc0n q`Ly)Eqg/;~~Κ 5Ao=LvJ̚?f&ͲL^)w֠ޠW W$3HOxض8s5urgyL@EjhQ* YN cɁͷ=ti5 'Nz[}3f$I iE[liK9\}wY-Oi7o?_X2@L{.Pk9f8i3zI0=>!ySt[ ;{BnI ֪u*.?Hkbɉ~h* F˫0d5r\E8av42#/Z^xS@BOԅǛP|9eKbkGƍMv"BZ}Yw<9&u$I?f043ڂz&>9WrUZ yǢmp JTcL
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1