Dusk Over Arcath
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- Parts 28
The Wood of Astfall is friend to no man. Its timbers hide packs of wolves and shadows that strip the minds of the rangers who seek to subdue it.
Watchmen hold the single wall that separates the grove and its depths from the people of Arcath who struggle to survive in its shadow. Death, legend, and rumor mix together into a potion that taste of bitterness and loss but one that every person of Arcath must swallow. Aster knows it as well as any, struggling to fulfill the demands of his new position as a member of the Watch despite news of the frequent death's of his companions.
But all that changes when an elven stranger appears before the city's gates with a tale of harrowing spilling from his lips. He tells of a land in the south were war has stirred and of his own people's destruction at the hands of their might foes. Finally, he tells of the mighty prowess his elven people carry with them and succeeds in stirring unprecedented curiosity among the city's woodsmen.
What lies within Astfall?
And, more importantly, can it be defeated?
The northerner's are reluctantly convinced that perhaps whatever plagues the nearby woods is not beyond their axes or their new companion's sword. Inspired by his words, the city musters a band of hunters and fighters to seek the truth within the shadowy timbers of the forest. Chains of duty and misfortune bind Aster to this task that secretly calls him to answer a mystery of his past.
But fate spins a fearful twist in the brash curiosity of the northern folk. The misty mire that envelops the band is not the only danger in those darkened parts of Niron. Foes rise and fall like shadows in this thrilling tale of danger and deceit until nothing - not even one's own heart - is above suspicion. The promise of glory as allusive as the forest's horrors until Aster finds himself fighting not for honor, family, or city but survival.
#1 Unlikely Hero, #28 in Forest, #44 in Haunted, #924 in Mystery
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