Hym Teaser!

A teaser for my new book!

The day I met Hym was not life-changing. It did not send ripples of shock through my consciousness, like a pebble thrown into a still pond. I felt no surges of emotion when I saw what he did, what he always did. No, my introduction to Hym was more like a small breeze on a cloudless day, a subtle forerunner of an approaching storm. Meeting Hym was enough for me to know that to follow this man would be to follow a hurricane, whirling and raging.

My life did not change when I met Hym. But, together, we changed the lives of everyone else.

Looking back, I find that Hym was a man who never made a move without contemplation. His actions, momentous as they were, were always thought out carefully. They may have taken me frequently by surprise, but, as I reminisce, I realize that everything that happened was forecast in his thoughts. Often we would sit at our fire, staring into the flickering flames, discussing our lives. Meaning, naturally, we discussed the slaves.

“The poor souls we Reclaim cannot be blamed for what they are doing.” Hym would insist as the conversation waxed into its more fervent portions. “They lead lives of horror in the Ring, and all they wish for is to escape the bonds that hold them.”

I would just nod and continue to stare, not trusting myself to speak. The Four Thrones employed us to capture the escaped slaves, not assist them with “escaping the bonds that held them.” I felt that Hym’s idealism, while applaudable was inappropriate for our station, At the end of the day, we were being paid to capture them. So that’s what we did.

Why do I tell you this? Because you must understand what kind of a man Hym was, and what kind of man I now strive to be. It is vital. To understand the importance of his legacy, you must understand his morals, his ethics. You must understand his thoughts.

That is the tale I wish to tell. A tale of the greatest man Vaughnder has ever known. The story I am about to relate is something no bard can sing of, not unless they were as I: one of Hym’s greatest friends- and ultimately his downfall.

At the beginning of all this, there was a Reclamation.