Elevator pitch: '300' meets 'Lone Wolf and Cub'. A retired veteran has to keep some orphans from being eaten by horrible monsters. Androkles, son of Paramonos, spent twenty-five years in the world’s greatest army trying to earn enough money to buy back his good name. He’s battle-scarred, weary, and heartbroken after decades of watching dear friends die, but he survived. He’s ready to retire and be welcomed as a hero, finally able to see the reward he sacrificed so much to achieve.  There’s only one problem: his wife just fled civilization with all his hard-won savings. Now he must pursue her north, through desperate bandits, ravening beasts, and worse. But after he rescues a pair of orphans from starvation, he is faced with his most difficult challenge yet: a question that goes to the very heart of honor. The consequences might be deeper than he realizes, and it’s not just his life on the line… This fiction page contains the professionally-published novel Obstacles as well as the two complete sequels, Doubts and Burdens. Any time skips are deliberate. Book title is in the chapter heading. Chapters labelled "2.1, 2.2, etc" are chapters that were not posted all at once. Although the trilogy is complete, I'll return someday to write another book in this series, perhaps several. But for now, please take a look at my new fiction, The Land of Broken Roads. https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/69480/the-land-of-broken-roads Also, my brother Miles has joined Royal Road for the first time and is posting his 4th novel here. It's very good. Please take a look: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/69512/bog-standard-isekai If you are a publisher and would like to purchase the Acts of Androkles, please send me a DM and I'll have my agent contact you immediately.