Darklands: The Raven's Calling Series

An Iron Age Fantasy with heart. You once told me a man has nothing to live for unless he has something to die for. You're wrong. A man has something to live for when he has something to fight for. Tergal, a lad from the legions, is the only survivor when his troop is set upon by Darklander villagers. Rescued from death by Ambial - a girl of a mysterious race called Vaerlings - he finds his destiny, his life and his love inextricably tangled with his rescuers. There is a purpose for his survival. But who decides this purpose, who decides this fate? Is it one or all of the five fates? Is it the mysterious stranger? Is it the woman he loves? Or is there something more sinister, and his survival merely a temporary reprieve? _____ So you know, there's some swearing, some violence and some reference to sex. It's not "Game of Thrones" level, but it's there. It's not graphic and it has to do with the story.

An Iron Age Fantasy with a heart.   When we do bad things to stop evil, then those bad things aren't evil. They're what being a man demands of us.   Lainashael's village is gone. Its huts burned, its people massacred so the Theolympian Usurper's army could take its provisions. Lainashael and his older sister, Eiashaldrial, are the only survivors, and they didn't escape unscathed. Losing their parents and friends is bad enough but that wasn't the worst that happened.   These wounds weren't all they escaped with though. They escaped with knowledge. Knowledge that the Theolympian Usurper has help and clues that may assist other villages during the coming conflict.   Lainashael, Eishaldrial, and an unlikely collection of familiar and new characters must now pull together if they're to survive. They've known for more than a season now that war is coming. Now it's nearly here.   _____ You've noticed by now that this book has adult themes. I haven't included any scenes depicting them, just how the characters are affected. Also, the book has some raw language.

An Iron Age Fantasy with heart. The fates make many mistakes, but not when they choose two to be together. When Ambial was publicly discarded in a cowardly manner by her intended bond, she had exactly the right answer for him, and her rely was just as public. Sent to stay with her best friend Gwemnial, bond to the Darklander Chief's son, to help prepare for the coming war and distract her from the heartless rejection, she finds her rejection and reply have become well known and have had a mixed reception. Applauded by some, despised by others, she finds herself among both friends and enemies. Friends who'll do what they must to protect her, enemies prepared to do what they must to kill her, and then there's love.

An Iron Age Fantasy, with heart.   "There's something about this that disturbs my saival. I don't know what it is about it, but it sits in my stomach like a whirlwind." "Like a death that needs to be?" "Like an evil that needs to occur."   Miearline is the leader of a band of Warriors sent to "deal with" a rogue fairweitjan who purportedly took sides against the Lingen Council in the recent civil war within the Theolympian Empire.   Rundismir is the leader of a band of elite warriors sent to "deal with" a rogue Runier who purportedly taught the secrets of the Runier way to Darklanders. These ways were used in the recent war with the Theolympian Empire.   They encounter each other before they find who they're after on Greantalia. What had happened is not what they understood had happened. What is happening is worse. Many times worse and many times deadlier.   _____ So you know, there's some swearing, some violence and some reference to sex. It's not "Game of Thrones" level, but it's there. It's not graphic and it has to do with the story.

An Iron Age Fantasy with heart.   What is your concern is there's a dark path calling you. It's one you'll resist, in fact, you must resist. You cannot let it claim you.   Friesch is an Eastern Liuhtjan traveling west because… she doesn't know. All she knows is something is calling her, so she travels west. Evarnius is a hunter and an axe warrior traveling west with her because she saved his life, and maybe likes her, a little.   They find their way to Greantalia, to the little settlement where Ambial and her man have started building their home with their baby, Raithe, among Iskvald's bandits. They're there when the decision is made for an army to be sent to Grimulsvoton to confront the Eastern Council about the massacres that occurred the previous summer.   It's a foolish decision, one with has no hope of succeeding. It's a decision that must be made. It's a plan that must succeed. It's a dark path that Friesch must walk with them if any are going to survive.   _____ So you know, there's some swearing, some violence and some reference to sex. It's not "Game of Thrones" level, but it's there. It's not graphic and it has to do with the story. Slavery is also a thing in this world.

An Iron Age Fantasy with heart.   "It might be the world we're born into, but it's not the world we should accept," Gervoniline told her. "It can only be this way if too many accept it."   What's this world they were born into? It's the world where Counsellor Harnganarth's charge, Shielran, was meant to be happily raising her daughter with her bond in the city of Grimulsvoton. That wasn't going to happen though. Instead, she awaits the execution of the man she loved with their daughter, knowing that it's her turn once he's dead. Their crime was heinous, they loved each other and birthed a child.   The world on Greantalia was a better one for the Lilthling Commander named Miearline. She remained to help protect the special child born to Ambial. It's why she remained she's sure of it. There's no way it could have anything to do with the Vaerling hunter with the mesmerizing deep-blue eyes named Scaromael. He's just a distraction. Lilthling warriors often found men to distract themselves and that's all they were, all they could ever be. As a high-born Lilthling it was her duty to return to Motovashnine and bond with an approved Lilthling man and produce Lilthling daughters to become future Lilthling leaders. That was always the plan, except the purge from Grimulsvoton is coming and it's going to destroy not just Miearline's world, but the world of everybody she has come to know and love, including the hunter with the deep-blue eyes.   _____ So you know, there's some swearing, some violence and some reference to sex. It's not "Game of Thrones" level, but it's there. It's not graphic and it has to do with the story.