The Harvest Wars - Part 2 - Crusade (Reading Sample)

Prologue - Part 1

"At first, none of us thought of it as a plague. Murder, fighting and riots were common enough in the poorer quarters of Covenport, but when the chaos spread to Golden Holt, we realized this was not merely misery boiling over, but something far worse. Two days later, the Blood Plague was everywhere, filling the eyes and minds of its victims with crimson, driving men, women and children into fits of murderous rage. Still we thought we could contain it, save the city, be victorious—then the dead began to rise, adding their force to that of the infected."

- Sergeant Meinhart Kain, Survivor of the Blood Plague

Summer, Year 1888

Covenport burned.

Flames and madness devoured the great and ancient metropolis. Thousands were dead, and packs of infected roamed the streets like rabid dogs, their blood-filled eyes searching for victims.

And, of course, there were the walking dead.

In the manner of a tidal wave following an earthquake, the Rising had shattered what little hope had remained to deal with the Blood Plague. For days now, everyone that died within the city came back to a mockery of life, killing and devouring those still uninfected. It was as if the gods themselves had decided to wipe the decadent city from the face of Ruuin, destroying everything and everyone not strong enough to endure the cleansing flames.

Megan had endured, but she was exhausted, as was her stallion Sirius.

"I tell you, old friend," Megan said, leaning forward in her saddle to speak directly into Sirius' twitching ear while making sure his blindfold sat tight. "If... When we make it past the gates and into safety, there will be no more adventuring for the both of us. I'll take that position as a court mage old Bannister offered me two years ago. It will be boring, but there will be no burning cities, no undead or infected—only dull nobles, too much food and lots of mares for you to entertain."

The animal seemed to understand the last remark, whinnying approvingly. A wry smile cracked Megan's stern expression, making the grey-green eyes below the mane of dark hair twinkle mischievously. Old Sirius, such a hound for a horse...

If he only knew how bad their situation was.

Her pretty face turned blank as she looked around. She had a hard time recognizing the Merchant Quarter. The market stalls lay broken about, their contents scattered over the streets between human and animal bodies too mangled to rise from the dead. Black acrid smoke belched forth from burning buildings, birthing ash that fell like tainted snow, covering everything in a thin blanket. Also, still audible above the roaring of the fires, were the sound of distant fighting and the ever-present wails of the dead and dying.

The noise made them both nervous and, leaning back in her saddle, she urged Sirius on, saying "Come you rascal. We better get a move on if you want to hump—"

A violent moan cut off her next words and Megan's slender body tensed as she reached for her bow, realizing a moment later that arrows would do no good here. The roof of a tall building to her right was collapsing, the weakened timbers causing the moan.

"Damnation!" Megan cursed, then shouted, "Move!" while digging her heels into Sirius sides. The blindfolded animal only hesitated for a split second then surged forward, powerful muscles straining under his brown hide.

They had covered only a few yards when a loud crack rolled over them like cannon fire. The building began to collapse on itself, sending forth a torrent of smoke and hot air that rolled over them. However, neither Megan nor Sirius felt the bite of the heat.