With their friend Lady THURA VEZRIM, the legendary Hellcat of Kumehn Valley, and her family threatened by nightmarish eldritch forces under the command of their monstrous enemy VANDRYSS, THE CREEPING BAM desperately rush to their aid before they suffer a fate worse than death.  Meanwhile GAEL FOXTAIL is a prisoner, languishing in the clutches of their enemies, leading KESLA SHOON and her friends to turn their attention to Vandryss’ sponsor in UNTERMER, the corrupt politician REFIK HONTIRESK, in the hope that this path might lead them to the means to rescue their friend and foil this dark plot. But there are fresher eyes searching for them now than just Hontiresk’s hired killers, THE ERRANT KNIGHTS, and their leader DRAMRATH MALLYS, as the local authorities are starting to look into the chaos caused by Vandryss in her efforts to purge any threats, setting Townsguard investigators under the command of sharp-witted half-elf sleuth Lt. GILRACH TORMED and a squad of elite TEKTEHRAN troopers led by Sgt. VIFRI STADUVA, a stern and dogged veteran of the War against dark forces in the haunted depths of the Far North, on their own collision with the approaching showdown … This is a love letter and homage to the high-fantasy worlds of the tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder and Warhammer and the sword & sorcery cinema and literature I fell in love with as a kid growing up in the 80s, from Robert E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian (and the awesome Schwarzenegger movie, STILL my favourite fantasy film EVER), The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Ron Howard and George Lucas’ Willow, to the more grown-up and edgy worlds of grimdark masters George RR Martin and (my all-time favourite) Joe Abercrombie, as well as a BIG DOLLOP of Terry Pratchett’s immortal Discworld series. IMPORTANT:  This story contains material which some readers may consider to be mature, such as battle violence, some strong language and occasional sexual scenes.  If this is not your kind of thing, this story is not for you. I am also serializing this story on Tumblr, Wattpad and Quotev