A Dirge of Dust and Steel

Hallowed Knights #Short Story

by Joshua Reynolds

Advent Calendar 2018: Day Ten

In the wilds of Shyish, the Hallowed Knights seek to reforge an ancient alliance between Azyr and a duardin clan. But an equally ancient enemy awaits them…

READ IT BECAUSE
It's a Hallowed Knights story by Josh Reynolds exploring the Vanguard Chamber as they face a hideous and dangerous foe.

THE STORY
Lord-Aquilor Sathphren Swiftblade and his Vanguard Chamber warriors from the Hallowed Knights have ventured into the wilds of Shyish, the dread Realm of Death. Their goal? To resurrect an old alliance between Azyr and the duardin who dwell in these forgotten lands. But if they are to reforge long-sundered bonds of brotherhood, Swiftblade and his warriors must first defeat a mighty daemon of Chaos known only as the Soulflayer.

Genres: Short Stories, Fantasy

21 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 10, 2018

About the author

Josh Reynolds’ work has previously appeared in such anthologies as Historical Lovecraft from Innsmouth Free Press and Horror for the Holidays from Miskatonic River Press, and his novel, Knight of the Blazing Sun, is currently available from Black Library. He can be found at: http://joshuamreynolds.wordpress.com

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lord-Aquilor Sathphren Swiftblade seeks a lost Realmgate, and in return for his aid against a daemon known as the Soulflayer the remnants of the Gazul-Zagaz – worshippers of the duardin god of the dead – have promised to help him reach his goal. The Soulflayer has tormented the duardin for centuries, but with Sathphren’s help they finally have the chance for revenge.

It’s a tale which seamlessly blends multiple goals – introducing a Vanguard Chamber and its characteristics, exploring another new and intriguing corner of the Mortal Realms, and setting things up for what’s to come next for the Hallowed Knights – without losing sight of the need to tell a great, satisfying story.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/03/...

[JOHN MITCHELL · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Short

Interesting but very short. Not really long enough to get a feel for Reynolds style. A 15 minute read , if that?

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

“And yet, what is death to a god?”

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s hard to enjoy the stormcast eternal. Weighed down by bad dialogue.

[T R Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Hallowed Knights short story was very entertaining and had some wonderful scene setting with the descriptions of the abandoned duardin city in Shyish where the action takes pace. The plot is relatively simple (helping duardin to defeat a powerful enemy) but is done very well and has some reasonably good action. I also liked the main character, Lord-Aquilor Sathren Swiftblade, who seemed quite interesting. While I could be wrong, I also think the story could tie into the novel Black Pyramid (a preview of which was included with the version of the short story I have) in some way.