The Trials of the Lion
Savage fiction. Desperate tales.
THE TRIALS OF THE LION
BEHOLD THE COMING OF THE LION!
Ulrem is an exile, cursed by destiny to wander a grim and deadly world. Reviled by some and held as a savior by many, he has been a thief, a soldier, a pirate, and a vanquisher of great evils. Some call him the Slayer. Others call him the Lionborn. And some... some see in his trials the grim portents that would end the age in fire and blood.
Filled with monsters, mysteries, and cutthroat action, these eight interconnected stories chart Ulrem's adventures as he seeks his destiny. This is heroic fantasy and sword and sorcery like you've never seen before!
SMOKE AND STEEL
THE SUMMER OF SHALLOW GRAVES!
Having settled an old debt on the icy shoulder of Mount Irusu, the adventurers Ulrem and Kinro-zhi are traveling through the Hinoni lands of the deep east, seeking the source of the shadows and horrors driving peasants out of the countryside. When the notorious lord of Castle Kanashim engages Kinro-zhi in a matter of honor, he has no choice but to accept, for the life of the lord's young son is on the line.
Smoke and Steel continues Ulrem's the Lionborn's monster-hunting adventures through the strange lands of the Undying Dynasty in the deep east, expands on the short stories "Beneath the Broken Tower" and "A Steel Debt." Packed with action, horror, and conspiracy, this novella is a unique fusion of samurai legend and sword and sorcery.
SHARDS OF IRON
THE LION, CAGED!
The southern slave city of Collane shakes with anticipation on the Day of the Dead. Wild games and riotous festivals rock the city's ancient walls, but among them, none are bloodier than the fighting pits. There, thieves, rogues, and killers fight to win their freedom, restore their honor, and earn everlasting glory. It is among these dire sands that Ulrem, the Slayer and Inheritor, will be tested... for is it his fate to join the list of doomed men carved on the wall of the arena's cell, or to set the spark that burns the city down?
"Shards of Iron" is among the most popular of the Lionborn's adventures, bridging the gap between his feral youth and stoic, unstoppable future. Packed with deadly gladiatorial combat, beautiful women, political intrigue, and splitting at the seams with fearsome energy, this novella must be seen to be believed!
THE KING OF THE ICES
THE BRUTAL NORTH.
At the very edge of the world where time itself runs cold and the great glaciers heap higher than any mountain, secrets are fading into the endless winter. It is there, on the ice-locked slopes of Mount Aemir, that Ulrem hopes to find the answer to a question that has plagued him through his bitter trials. Plagued by blizzards, savage wolves, and scarcely alive on his feet, the fight to cross the final dark miles may well kill the Lionborn. And if not... what awaits him may break his very mind.
"The King of the Ices" has been called the most brutal of the Lionborn's trials. Forging into the unforgiving north in the brutal depths of winter, this novella, first published in The Trials of the Lion, is a defining moment in Ulrem's search for the meaning and purpose of the great ring he bears.
