Athame (The Kulhn Trilogy)

The Dark Forest of Kulhn is an ideal refuge for those who want to avoid the attention of the powerful, as long as the refugee has plenty of silver, garlic, cold iron, wolfsbane, etc.Jessera wasn’t looking for trouble. She just wanted to make an honest living and not get hanged for witchcraft. She didn’t expect to encounter a lost nobleman while she was running her fur traps. Peteros was city born and bred. He just wanted to finish his mission and get home alive. He never expected to encounter a lovely maiden with a skinning knife while he was running from a werewolf.For a generous reward Jess agreed to guide him home. But days and nights of sharing danger and campfiressurprised both of them with something that neither had expected. When they finally reached the city Jess quicklylearned that nothing in the woods, whether alive or undead, could match the evil of royal politics.Fortunately, they had a secret weapon.

From the Inside Flap

The rear wall buckled. One of the inner facing stones broke loose and went skittering across the floor. The noise of the blow reverberated through the tiny cottage, rattling teeth and making bowels quake. Another blow pushed the stones inward, knocking more of them loose. Jess snatched out her athame and started incanting as fast as she could form the words. Peteros froze and stared as the dagger brightened like a blade heated in a forge. A final blow to the back wall yanked his attention back to more urgent matters. A gap rippled its way up the stones. Then a ragged section of wall fell into the room, along with the acrid smell of broken stone. Through the gap, a blacker piece of the night moved and moaned. He grabbed the longest piece of burning wood and held it like a shield between the two of them and whatever was out there. "Good idea." Jess glared with narrow eyes at the shattered wall. "There ain't nothing that runs in the night that likes fire." "You fought these before?" Peteros drew his sword arm back, aiming the point forward. "Nope." Jess slid sideways, in position to flank whatever might come through the hole. "Never really seen one up close. Don't know anyone who has and lived to tell it."

From the Back Cover

The Southern Forest of Kulhn:Deep, dark, and deadly. Yet home to a surprising number. For despite the predators (natural, magical, and undead) the forest is a perfect refuge for witches hiding from the northern temples. A Dynasty Cursed:For six hundred years the line of Agrahain has honorably ruled the kingdom of Kulhn. Now, a corrupt king sets his own sons against each other. A prince conspires with temple assassins to slay his kin, while two more duel to the death. Revenge Long Delayed:And in the deepest part of the southern woods, a darkness as old as the kingdom waits and hungers. Undying, yet never alive, it tastes the wind for the scent of any who carry the blood of Agrahain.

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