Soldiers of the Frozen Wastes: Sam’s Valor, #4

By Eli Taff, Jr.

"Soldiers of the Frozen Wastes," Book 4 in the gripping Sam's Valor series, sees Corporal Sam Chudwell braving the icy frontlines of war between Pofreylia and Febloelund.
 

As he returns from the steampunk marvel of Mechanopolis, Sam faces the chilling aftermath of Febloelund's desperate assault on Trench 2743.

 

Will he be able to protect his friends and navigate the treacherous frozen battleground?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eli Taff, Jr.
• Release date: Nov 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223812845

Eli Taff, Jr.

Eli Taff, Jr. is an author in the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror genres. All his life, he’s lived through fiction, being a stage actor and director, as well as a lifelong video game player and miniatures wargamer.  He lives in California with his wife, Chelsey, and their two Pekingese pups and Parrotlet.

Book preview

PROLOGUE: COGWAGON RIDE

The trip to Camp Iron Relay took little more than a week, with nightly stops at Pofreylian outposts and bases.

Along the way, Sam got to know the new soldiers from Zartexia and Lillyridge. They were bright-eyed and full of enthusiasm. At one point, the Line Commander began a rousing chorus of March of Heroes, and everyone joined in.

Sam watched with a smile, but he didn’t sing with them.

He played cards and rolled dice with the new soldiers, and eventually, he told them about life at the frontlines.

What is it like? Private Johnny Clarkson asked as he leaned forward on the bench. A strapping youth with a square jaw, platinum blonde hair groomed in a smart side-part, and bright blue eyes, he reminded Sam of his old Line Commander, Vincent Jackson. You’ve been in it, haven’t you? What’s it like, fighting the Fedfebs?

The cogwagon had stopped to refuel at a Pofreylian Army waystation just beyond the city of Highwatch, one week out from Mechanopolis.

The sun had just begun to set.

A chill wind brought a flurry of snow that lightly covered the vast expanse of dirt and dead grass along the highway.

The snow had begun to fall more often the further west they traveled.

A red hawk traced lazy figure eight circles in the blue skies overhead.

Hmm? Sam asked.

The front, Clarkson said. What is it like? My brother is in the Six-Sixty-Second Lancers. He never writes home with details. He doesn’t even know I enlisted. I’m hoping to surprise him.

Any tips? A female soldier asked. Sam recognized her as the soldier who had asked if he was all right when they’d left Mechanopolis through its mountain tunnels.

When Sam thought he’d seen...

In the darkness...

Sam shook his head.

Eckerman, a tall and slender young lady who wore her golden hair in a thick braid, looked at Sam earnestly with her deep blue eyes.

I want to go in prepared, she said.

Sam looked down.

Sam didn’t tell these wide-eyed young men and women who hung on his words about the horror of war.

He didn’t warn them of the shock of seeing friends ripped to bloody shreds and blown up before their eyes, or the constant heavy bombardments that rattled teeth and set nerves on end long after the shelling had stopped, or the nose-wrinkling stench of rain-soaked corpses laid out like firewood logs, awaiting the corpse carts to carry them away.

He didn’t tell them about the raid on the Wrathbringer Bombard.

Nothing will prepare you, Sam said. "Remember that it’s only a job. Don’t go out there with any grand ideas or dreams of glory. Just do your job. Day in and day out. Do it well, help those around you do their