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    Debts And Obligations
    Debts And Obligations
    Debts And Obligations
    Ebook64 pages53 minutes

    Debts And Obligations

    By Michael Kingswood

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    About this ebook

    When Ben, a ranger in the Jarl's service, finds his friend's isolated cabin raided and burned, he must get the lone survivor, an injured young boy, back to town and safety.

     

    But the perpetrators remain nearby, and present a danger greater than Ben has ever faced, or even imagined.

     

    Debts And Obligations is a short fantasy adventure - 14,000 words, about 62 printed pages, in length.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSSN Storytelling
    Release dateFeb 21, 2022
    ISBN9798201781583
    Debts And Obligations
    Author

    Michael Kingswood

    Michael Kingswood has written numerous science fiction and fantasy stories, including The Pericles Conspiracy, The Glimmer Vale Chronicles, and the Dawn of Enlightenment series. His interest in scifi/fantasy came at an early age: he first saw Star Wars in the theater when he was three and grew up on Star Trek in syndication. The Hobbit was among the first books he recalls reading. Recognizing with sadness that the odds of his making it into outer space were relatively slim, after completing his bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University, he did the next best thing - he entered the US Navy as a submarine officer. Almost seventeen years later, he continues to serve on active duty and has earned graduation degrees in Engineering Management and Business Administration. Fitting with his service onboard Fast Attack submarines (SSNs), he does his writing on Saturdays, Sundays, and at Night. He is married to a lovely lady from Maine. They have four children, and live wherever the Navy deems to send them. Sign up to receive email announcements of Michael's new releases and other exclusive deals for newsletter subscribers here: http://eepurl.com/eND22 .

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      Book preview

      Debts And Obligations - Michael Kingswood

      Debts And Obligations

      Debts And Obligations

      Michael Kingswood

      SSN Storytelling

      Contents

      Debts And Obligations

      Message From The Author

      Mailing List

      Membership

      About The Author

      More Books By Michael Kingswood

      Debts And Obligations

      Atwig snapped beneath Ben's boot and he froze in place, peering about and listening closely for signs that the unwelcome noise had alerted someone to his presence.

      The pine forest around him had thinned. Where just a few dozen paces back the trees had been dense enough that he could have easily hidden from someone only a few yards away, here the trees were smaller, the trunks thinner and more widely spaced until ten or fifteen yards ahead they ceased entirely, the woods giving way to a grass-covered meadow where a lone cabin, hewn from fallen logs, stood.

      Or, had stood.

      Now, the breeze brought the scent of charred wood to his nose from that direction, along with another, more rank, odor that filled him with dread. The front of the cabin was blackened, the door fallen off its hinges and the lintel sagging beneath the weight of the thatched roof as the entire wall seemed to long to collapse.

      A fly buzzed around his head, the only other sound besides that of his own heart and the rustling of the tree branches from that same breeze.

      It was the middle of the day, and the warmth of the oncoming summer felt all the more oppressive beneath his breastplate and leathers. His shirt beneath his armor was matted to his skin, but his tongue was dry, stuck to the top of his mouth.

      He should have filled his water skin from the creek he'd passed a mile back, but he had thought he could re-provision at Lewan's home, as he had so many times before.

      Apparently not.

      He thought of his bow, and the quiver of arrows he wore strapped to his back. But he kept the bow unstrung for travel, and by the time he would be able to ready it for use, anyone who was lurking out there could be upon him. So instead, he waited, listening and watching, with his right hand resting on the grip of his longsword.

      Nothing.

      He was just about to start forward again when suddenly a new sound, higher pitched and seeming to be coming from within the cabin, reached his ears.

      A child. A child sobbing with fear and pain.

      Biting back a curse, Ben surged forward.

      He had to duck beneath the lintel to get within, then he immediately found Lewan.

      He was on his back a pace inside the doorway, rent by three savage wounds in his chest, belly, and shoulder. They were not smooth, like would have come from a sword or axe, but jagged, as if whatever had struck him down had ripped at him.

      It appeared Lewan had been caught unawares, because he wore only his roughly-tanned leggings and a homespun shirt, ruined now from the tears and blood. Ben knew he had a set of leathers and an old breastplate in storage here, from when Lewan had also served as one of the Jarl's rangers; had he had time he certainly would have donned them.

      Ben looked down at his old comrade, his long, brown, double-braided beard lying limply atop what remained of his chest and his eyes wide in a final expression of rage and terror, and said a quick prayer for his soul. Then Ben forced his eyes away.

      The child's crying had stopped; Ben had made a lot of noise coming inside. But there were only so many places to hide.

      The interior was dim, despite the holes in the front wall and sagging roof that admitted the mid-day sun, and stank of blood and char and fear. What furnishings Lewan and Hilde had were upturned, their belongings strewn about. Whoever had done this had looted the place thoroughly; even Lewan's sword was gone from his hand.

      Worse, Ben saw no sign of Hilde at all.

      Hope flared up within him for a second as he considered that maybe she hadn't been here, that she had escaped this horror somehow. But just as quickly, Ben cast that thought away. It was too much to hope for.

      A shift in the rubble in the back left corner

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