Being a thief requires more than just skill, and Sif’s had failed her miserably. After an ill-fated theft in a Fae ruin, she found herself cursed and on limited time. Were it not for the kindness of a relative stranger, Regis, she would have starved into undeath in the Red Basin. And then he died. Now, all she has left of his sacrifice is his bow, a rare vanawood relic taken all the way to the Kingdom of Vaspal. Sif journeys there in search of closure, and instead finds herself at the mercy of slavers. Though this misfortune isn’t quite her fault. Grim was Mechthild’s best war trophy, an orphan of the Eromani Civil War. Adopted into her mercenary company at an early age, his life has been one of brutal battles and humiliation. But when their company is betrayed and sold to the Lord of Crows, Grim finds himself as the only one who may save his Brothers from lifelong slavery.  Together, these two find themselves in a nest of vipers, where survival takes many forms among the collared and even those they trust can betray them. There’s Rhys, a former Faithman and a slave of twenty years, who takes Grim under his wing. The Vaspali Dreamer, Frey, whose magic bends reality to her will. Then there’s Slygut, the dwarven overseer who cuts at old wounds for his own amusement.  Apart, they and Grim’s Brothers are forever cemented as slaves. Together, they could find a way to break free and flee to the free country of Uswain. Perhaps even find the Brotherhood’s traitor in the process.   One thing is for sure, the Lord of Crows won’t make it easy, and their every step is marked by the shadow of black wings. If their group is truly to survive, they have to break away from more than just their chains - they may have to learn to live.

The Canterbury Tales meets Dark Fantasy in this epistolary flash fiction collection. Seventeen years. That's all it took, seventeen measly years, for the glory of a thousand-year-old nation to fade. A thief weighs betraying an old friend in her time of need. An armourer survives her campaign only to be stabbed in the back by those she loves the most. A priestess blesses the dead in the aftermath of a battle. A warrior mourns fallen comrades: brother in arms, brother in blood, brother in spirit. A dyer wishes for a grinding war, knowing peace will be his ruin. Countless others cling to survival as warring queens make them fodder for oblivion over and over and over again. Can there be inner peace in a world wracked with turmoil? How can one muster ambition when every gruelling day is a hair's breadth from being the end? Will they succumb to despondency and dread as their homeland marches solemnly closer to a fate from which there is no salvation? These are the lives of ordinary citizens whose only hope lay in memories. By telling their stories, they will be remembered even when the Void lays final claim to their shattered souls. THIRTY-THREE TALES OF WAR is a collection of flash fiction set in the dark fantasy world of The Chroma Books by Emory Glass. Originally serialized in the digital-only publication Worldbuilding Magazine and currently hosted on Campfire, the extended edition makes a return to Kandrisev at its darkest hour with expanded and freshly edited stories, three all-new, full-page illustrations, and additional lore presented by a previously unrevealed framing character.