Kreyerdun is a long-abandoned mine spread throughout part of a vast system of caverns and tunnels. The whole place is infested with monsters and surrounded by brigands who prey upon those exploring it.
Legend says miners dug too deep, centuries ago. They disturbed an ancient evil and paid for it with their lives. Some say the evil’s still there. Others say it’s a myth. Either way, people often enter and never return. Nobody considers it unusual, even when it’s a veteran band led by respected fighter Kuden.
Then a Greymorde noble dies in Kreyerdun. The survivors from her band speak of an undead with strange powers and stranger mercies. Nobody kills a member of a ruling family without starting a blood feud, and the Greymorde family rule Kreyer. They also have schemes that depend on Kreyerdun having no mysteries they’re not involved with. Which means whatever’s moved in needs to be moved out or killed.
Kuden’s become even more dangerous since he died, but adapting to undeath isn’t easy. So he’s teamed up with Tashta, a sorceress from an almost-mythical elder race who have no qualms about disintegrating things for fun. They’re also very curious, and Kuden the undying is fascinating.
The only way to end the blood feud is to end the rule of Greymorde. That’ll take some sort of war. But Kuden believes people shouldn’t die for the stupidity of their rulers, so he’s going to try and take the fight directly to the Greymorde family.
Meanwhile, deep under Kreyerdun, the ancient evil is plotting betrayal, invasion, and slaughter. Whatever the feud starts, they intend to finish.
Kuden and Tashta are about to discover Greymorde are the least of their problems.
An epic fantasy adventure (and my biggest novel to date) set in my realm of Khyr. Coming in August 2027.
Copyright © 2026 Julian M. Miles