About the Book
A young man's dreams of warfare and glory turn into a bitter nightmare
when an invading army, led by the Dark Champion Nevenka Nieroda and his
twelve Dead Captains, the Toal, besieges his father's feudal fortress.
Nieroda and the Toal demand the surrender of an ancient artifact
long-believed to be a myth. With the walls breached and his family
slaughtered – or worse – Gathrid flees into the wilderness beyond his
familiar castle walls.
Lost and alone in the woods, hounded by the Dead Captains, Gathrid
takes refuge in a vast cavern. There he discovers an ancient
sword – Daubendiek, the Great Sword of Suchara, the fabled weapon once
wielded by the legendary tragic hero of an ancient age, Tureck Aarant.
Daubendiek, a restless and thirsty blade, promises Gathrid the ability
to claim his vengeance. But as he begins to take that vengeance,
Gathrid starts to understand the terrible price that the sword will
exact of him. Enemies soon become allies and strange bedfellows abound
as the prophesies of an age swirl into chaos.
