A legion of elite, monastic fighting men, the Knights Templar were the most fearsome warriors of the Crusades, writing their legend in the gory sands of the Middle East with the blood of their enemies and their own.
Returned from the Crusades and stationed in Paris, Brother William has grown disillusioned with the Order and plans to leave it. But as their Paris stronghold is seized by royal troops, William leads a small band of Templars and flees into the night. Fighting and running, struggling to understand the world that has turned on them, they cross paths with a seductive young woman who ushers them toward dark truths about the city festering around them, about its rulers and the church they’ve sworn to defend—all in a race to escape that will leave the streets of Paris bloody.
Genre: FICTION / HistoricalThe wild-eyed horseman roared a war cry, his right arm high, readying his blow.
William dashed across the horse’s path. He sidestepped the pounding hooves, slicing his blade over the beast’s forequarters as it hurtled past. Its flesh tore open, muscle and sinew severed. William whirled on his lead foot, spinning about and slashing down across the rider’s back, finishing the move.
The horse screeched. Its front legs buckled and its long face snapped forward, spinning it heels over head. The rider flew from the saddle straight into the hard-packed dirt road. He lay unmoving.
The younger horseman thundered toward Odo. His sword flashed high. Odo sprang forward. He drove his pommel straight at the horseman before whipping its trailing blade over his own head and slashing open his attacker’s ribs,
Before the rider’s blade could fall from his limp hand, Odo immediately thrust his sword high to deflect the veteran horseman’s oncoming weapon and gut him in a single move.
Too close, Odo realized. His sword point caught the veteran’s thigh. A gash erupted in a burst of blood and flesh as the point ripped its way up through the muscle before burying itself in the horseman’s groin, trapping Odo’s weapon.
The impact tore the sword from Odo’s hands. Even as the Mameluk veteran doubled over the Templar’s blade, his long, curved sword reached over the failed parry, crashing across Odo’s face with a burst of blood and a horrible crack.
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Portuguese
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Translation in progress.
Translated by André Weber
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Rocío Gutiérrez
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Author review: Rocio is a pleasure to work with, very knowledgeable and detail-oriented and professional. |
