Scarrow Stories

A prosecutor is put onto a quest to find his tormenters. As he uncovers dark and disturbing secrets, he finds himself stuck in a place where nobody can save him.

The fate of the East rests on the edge of a sword as the legions and the Goths march to war... 378 AD: Fritigern's Gothic horde tightens its iron grip on Thracia and only a handful of well-walled cities to the south remain in imperial hands. The few tattered legions pinned in these cities can only watch on from the battlements as smoke rises across their lost lands and the Goths roam at will, pillaging and extorting. Every Roman - legionary or citizen - speaks of only one thing: the Emperors of East and West, Valens and Gratian, who are said to be closing swiftly on this war-stricken land, each bringing with them vast armies capable of vanquishing the horde. Awaiting the relief armies in Constantinople, Centurion Pavo and the XI Claudia prepare as best they can. The Gothic War has taken much from each of them, and none more so than Pavo. But still he and his fellow officers cling to the chance that two lost to them might yet return: their leaders, Tribunus Gallus and Primus Pilus Dexion - Pavo's brother - have not been seen or heard from since setting off on a mission to Emperor Gratian's court in the West. Some are sure they must have fallen, yet Pavo refuses to give up hope, instead whetting his blade and praying that fate will guide the pair back in time for the clash that is to come: a clash that promises to end the Gothic War - for the empire's finest legions are destined to meet Fritigern's ferocious masses... on the plains of Adrianople.

It will be the cruellest war ever waged, and the Gods will gather to watch... 1275 BC: Tensions between the Hittite and Egyptian Empires erupt and the two great superpowers mobilise for all-out war. Horns blare across the Hittite northlands and the dunes of Egypt rumble with the din of drums as each gathers an army of unprecedented size. Both set their eyes upon the border between their domains, and the first and most important target: a desert city whose name will toll through history. Kadesh! Prince Hattu has lived in torment for years, plagued by the memory of his wife's murder. Thoughts of her poisoner, Volca the Sherden - for so long safe and distant by Pharaoh Ramesses' side - have sullied his dreams, blackened his waking hours and driven him to commit the darkest of deeds. Now that war is here, he at last has the chance to confront his nemesis and have his vengeance. But as the ancient world goes to war, Hattu will learn that the cold, sweet kiss of revenge comes at a terrible price.

Maddy reflects on her life. Suicide and self harm