Description
Past failures are a heavy burden to bear. But is it worth risking the present to be rid of them?
When a kraken threatens the waters around the city of Dunport, the Order of the Balanced Scales sends Xieraine Laedrin and Ruthana Karple to aid in fending it off. Xier knows that defeating such a destructive and dangerous monster will be no easy task, but maintains faith that, despite the odds, they can succeed.
But that faith takes a heavy blow when their first confrontation with the kraken ends in disaster. Innocent sailors are killed, and Xier, Ruthana, and their surviving allies find themselves stranded on an island far from Dunport’s harbor. With their ship destroyed and the magical teleportation stone that was supposed to be their alternative method of escape stolen, they have no easy way back to the mainland. Xier can’t help but feel that, as a legendary Incarnate of Thymadra, there must be something he could have done to prevent the tragedy.
The guilt of his failure weighs on him as he, Ruthana, and Lorfen Tidecaller—a sardonic dwarven follower of the sea god Nepulus—strike out to retrieve the teleportation stone. So when he learns of another artifact in the area, an amulet that has the ability to turn back time, he’s immediately intrigued. With such an item in his possession, he could go back and save the lost sailors. The only problem is that using it could alter the present as well, and in ways he couldn’t possibly predict.
Is he willing to take that risk, or will he choose to accept his mistakes and go forward to defeat the kraken?
The Dread Lurker is a 35,000 word fantasy story, the tenth in the Rise of the Oathsworn series.