Darkland Healer - Way of the Lawgiver - Darkland Wayfarer, #3

An Iron Age Fantasy with heart.

Finbargh stopped. "It's not about winning or losing. It's about fighting a fight that needs to be fought. Men will balk at the thought of facing a man prepared to fight for his truth. Not because that man will win, but because that man will fight."

When Vinomar was a boy he was rescued from being impaled on a Deristrazi medicine pole by Gourdia, the leader of the Drokart people. Although brought up by one of the men who rescued him and his woman, Vinomar's dream was to serve Gourdia. Along with Bokrald, another of the boys rescued that day, he goes to Broustian to serve in Gourdia's guard. That was the plan, but the Fates had a different idea.

Around the time the boy Vinomar was rescued, an Ulfling named Poravarch became an exile in Ourberigal for being responsible for the removal of a rogue Blutling death-squad from Aldazai. This caused Poravarch to be not only infamous but marked for execution by the Blutling council at Aldazai. Poravarch, his pack, and his bond have spent the time there serving the Ulfling council and raising their children, out of Aldazai's reach. That was until the Ulfling council deemed that Poravarch should return to the region near Aldazai.

The Thiuda of the Drokart is in a perilous position. It has enemies to its east, the Deristrazi, enemies to its south, the encroaching Thavocurians, and potential enemies to its north, the Ulflings or the Blutlings north of the Phargen River. With incursions from the Tindarnart, Gourdia is faced with some difficult decisions, as well as some difficult battles to fight. As if this wasn't enough, some of the peoples in his realm don't get along and don't want to be ruled by him. This is made worse by a carelessly worded order that not only cost lives but might cost him the love of his woman, his bond a much-loved member of his household, and the Drokart their lands and existence.

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Just to let you know, there's swearing and blokey dialogue in these pages. There's also mention of sex but nothing explicit.