All Roads Lead to Ammin

By Christopher Percy

Short Story Companion to Dark of Winter

All Roads Lead To Ammin - Four short stories focusing on certain characters from the novel DARK OF WINTER have been brought together for the first time. They were tales lost to the world of snow and ice in the northern territories. No one knew about them - until now.

These short stories shed some light on the inhabitants of the village of Sumner and the mighty King. Learn how it all begins... before the DARK OF WINTER strikes.

All Roads Lead to Ammin brings the pre-history of the Dark of Winter to the reader in four unique dark fantasy short stories: WHITE, REINA, DEADEYE and FIALSUN.

 

WHITE

Forty years ago…

Keddic and Godin the adventurous duo, have travelled to a nearby phantom village which holds a deep fascination to the young boys of Sumner. A thick fog surrounds these ruins, shrouding it in menace. Will Keddic and Godin be safe as they investigate or does trouble lurk nearby in this abandoned site?

 

REINA

Seven years ago…

Herre, an expectant mother, is frightened she will lose her baby as her waters have not broken and instead she is hemorrhaging excessively. Her husband Stoneman rushes from their hut to fetch White, Sumner's village elder but will they return in time to assist or will a worse fate call at her door?

 

DEADEYE

Sixteen months ago…

Deadeye was forced to leave Sumner as a young boy when his father Serpent was banished and ended up in the slums of the city of Vague. Can Deadeye escape this life and return to Sumner or will his drunken father continue to ruin his future?

 

FIALSUN

Eight months ago…

An impossible crime has been committed in an impenetrable room of the palace. Is someone or something more powerful than the mighty King Fialsun?

 

Also included the first chapter from Christopher Percy's dark fantasy novel SINCE NEVER, Book One of The Turned Trilogy.

 

The short stories have previously been published individually under the collective title of Dark of Winter 'Origins' Short Stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christopher Percy
• Release date: May 25, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386191414

Christopher Percy

Christopher Percy is an English author of the published dark fantasy novels Dark of Winter, All Roads Lead to Ammin and Since Never, Book One of the Turned Trilogy. He is currently working on the follow up to Since Never; Time Tells, Book Two of the Turned Trilogy and a new standalone book, Wolf in the Womb. True to Percy form both will be extremely dark and violent and may even feature some naked boobies. Something for the dads eh :-0 Christopher writes books that are simple to follow, imaginative, entertaining and as bloat free as possible. Personally he hasn't got time to invest in doorstop sized tomes to read and to write and thinks a lot of people share his sensibilities. Dark fantasy is serious but you're a tourist when you read it: you don't really live there and don't need pages and pages of superfluous information. Christopher writes books he wants to read and hopes there are like-minded people who crave fantasy in generous 'normal' sized books. A size comfy to read in bed and a story that you don't have to invest months to appreciate the depths. In short Christopher cuts to the quick but there will always be layers for the most stubborn of tourists to appreciate. :-) Christopher lives on the South Coast of England. He has a full time job and writes in his spare time. He can be found on Twitter @DarkofWinterbk, or loitering on Facebook and Instagram @ChristopherPercyAuthor.

Book preview

ALL ROADS LEAD TO AMMIN

WHITE

FORTY YEARS BEFORE THE EVENTS IN DARK OF WINTER...

The two boys had made a mistake in coming here.  Realisation dawned for both almost simultaneously and subconsciously each felt for the others hand for reassurance.  A tight knot of fear formed in their guts and Keddic, the younger of the two, started to shake uncontrollably.

It’s my fault, Godin gibbered.  I shouldn’t have taken you with me.  We shouldn’t have come.  The disaster at Baern had happened twenty years ago and still there was a fascination around the event.

A mighty storm of gigantic winds, bubbling hail and slavering, twisted beasts had raided that small village and killed every living thing there; pulled apart and ate men, women and children, even the cattle.  The Dark of Winter was told as a fairy story to the children of Sumner and Godin and Keddic were not the first inquisitive intruders to the phantom village.  Morbid fascination with the story held a dare culture with the youths of Sumner and an unspoken rite of passage propelled some to investigate its ruins.

Now Godin and Keddic deeply regretted their impulsive curiosity.  They were not typical of Sumner youths, bolshie, pumped full of bravado, quick to tussle.  Godin was nearly twenty and Keddic was seven yet despite their age differences they were similar characters, slow to react, thoughtful, gentle.  They were anomalies in such a violent world and ill equipped to deal with the psychological trauma of Baern.  Even the places reputation left a foul taste in the mouth.  Quickened their pulses.

If we move something may see us, Keddic hissed breathlessly.  He was small and hairy like a monkey, stooped like one too with his arms lolloping in front of his legs.  He could move quick if need to but unqualified fear rooted him to the spot.  He flexed one of his longs arms, his body limbering up for flight.

For the life of me I don’t see anything, Godin knelt behind Keddic and wrapped himself around the smaller child, drawing him closer.  He was not a brave soul but he loved little Keddic and would die to protect him.

The snow’s heavier, Keddic noted.  Just one more thing to vex the adventurous duo.

What a miserable pair they made hunkered down in the centre of nowhere, directionless, cold, lost and frightened.  Godin carried no weapon though Keddic carried a bone handled dagger, narrow bladed and short.  They were ill equipped to counter danger.  What had they been thinking of leaving Sumner and safety behind.

They had snuck from the village at first light, taking the familiar route towards the massive drift called Selbourne Cliffs.  From there they feinted westward, to Baern, one of the many destinations all were instructed never to go to.  Outside of Sumner it was a wild world and Baern had ghosts too making it just that little bit more bad than anywhere else.  It was a forbidden destination and chieftain Eightlegs’ ire would be terrifying.  Children had been lost before.  Eaten by the dead?  Who knew!

It was a crater now, what was left of that doomed village and a perpetual mist haunted its deep belly.  Things travelled in that wet clinging mist, or at least to Godin’s mind they did.  Indistinct shadows moved and swirled, noises reverberated around the dell.  Ice cracked, leathery winged birds,