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Short Fiction Friday: Wounded

Wounded by James A. Moore, Seven Forges #1.1
 
The people of Fellein have lived with legends for many centuries. To their far north, the Blasted Lands, a legacy of an ancient time of cataclysm, are vast, desolate and impassable, but that doesn’t stop the occasional expedition into their fringes in search of any trace of the ancients who once lived there… and oft-rumoured riches.

Captain Merros Dulver is the first in many lifetimes to find a path beyond the great mountains known as the Seven Forges and encounter, at last, the half-forgotten race who live there. And it would appear that they were expecting him.


As he returns home, bringing an entourage of the strangers with him, he starts to wonder whether his discovery has been such a good thing. For the gods of this lost race are the gods of war, and their memories of that far-off cataclysm have not faded.


(Do note that the synopsis above is from Seven Forges, there is no synopsis for Wounded)

Just last week I read the second book in the Seven Forges series, The Blasted Lands, in which James A. Moore once again wrote a awesome story. When I was updating my goodreads profile I found out that there are actually more stories written in this world. There are two short stories that take place in between Seven Forges and The Blasted Lands: Wounded (#1.1) and Scars (#1.2). 

On one hand it is kind of funny that I always find short stories after I read the books and that the majority of them play into the most recent storyline. I had it with the short stories of D.B Jackson. The same does happen with Wounded for me. 

Wounded picks up in a somewhat similar way as Seven Forges did, you know that big battle in the beginning? Wounded has a snap shot of it. This time around not putting the focus on Captain Merros Dulver but on Kallir Lundt, a soldier in the Army of Fellein. He also makes an appearance in Seven Forges but is a minor character there. Kallir is fighting along side Merros Dulver against the Pra-Moresh, brutal and veracious creatures, though he first seems to have the upperhand against the Pra-Moresh, luck is running out and he gets mauled, mauled to the point that he is horribly scarred and on the point of dying. There is only option left and that is to bring Kallir to the Seven Forges where the Sa'ba Taalor people might help him regain himself. Because often times the Sa'ba Taalor have a way with making people whole again, be it arms of legs or a face... They have Gods that aid them in their ways. 

Merros Dulver brings Kallir to the Seven Forges and then leaves with the delegation of the Sa'ba Taalor, does this ring any bells? So Kallir is then left alone. And this is basically something that was told in less detail in Seven Forges, but now in Wounded you see how it all continues how Kallir got transformed, because he did make a "changed" appearance in The Blasted Lands. You this bit is really cool because it is in the lines of what happened to Andover and his hands... Besides just showing what faith awaits Kallir, James A. Moore also invests some "quality" time with his character revealing a bit of his past, but keeping the focus on his transformation. Kallir did say something interesting at the end of The Blasted Lands. Kallir was basically abandoned by the Fellein and trained and educated in the ways of the Sa'ba Taalor. Where would you allegiance be?

Wounded is too short. I wish this story was much longer, this part of showing Kallir character and how he got to be was great to read and this story readily invited me to want to learn more about the Sa'ba Taalor way, even though I already learned a lot in The Blasted Lands. This little side trip or more storyline within the picture is the perfect tease to get you excited about James A. Moore's Seven Forges. Really a series you should be reading!

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