I take back what I said about the Curalli Quintet; this is definitely the darkest series I've ever written. Well, when you have a prophecy that declares one of your two viewpoint characters will destroy the world and the other will do something worse to it, what do you expect?
In late 1996, I composed a prophecy in the Primal Tongue that was deliberately full of twists, turns, and words that could be translated more than one way. I didn't know what every reference was to, but I figured it out soon enough.
And then I began to write.
Trying to write a story with two viewpoint characters when you violently hate one of them is never a good idea, but it happens to me all the time. I grew to hate the master torturer, Grukkar, so much that I got headaches when I had to write his chapters. This was the only series that I almost abandoned not from lack of interest, but because it almost depressed me too much to go on with it.
But I did get done with it, and all the doom and gloom are ahead of you to read if you like.
Don't know if I can say 'enjoy' this time.
(All prologues and chapters linked off this page copyright 1997-2003 by Anadrel).
For Pride's Power- Grukkar Goatleap is the master torturer of Rowan, and very, very good at his job, though also consumed with his hatred of humans and his sadness over his lost love. Placed in the same jail cell as a mysterious man named Corlin Durillo, he learns that he is half of a mysterous Prophecy, and quite possibly the savior of the world. Grukkar moves towards making the prophecy come true, and along the way comes into his own- along with friends, enemies, and the one deadly foe whose nature he cannot quite guess.
White Flame- Selkendal Shadowgift is a gang leader in the curalli city of Deepdark, not worried about anything more perilous than his next duel. Than Corlin Durillo forces him into visions of the past and the future, the city leaders take note of him as a possible threat, and Selkendal finds all that he has cherished for thousands of years disrupted. Grimly, he sets out to fight his way along his road, knowing he is the other half of the Prophecy of Diversa, destined to destroy the world- but determined it will be on his own terms.
The Heir of Hatred- Grukkar Goatleap has come to the Forbge Forest with fire and storm, and Selkendal and his people prepare to meet him. Grukkar doesn't plan to fight on a fair battlefield, but then neither does Selkendal. Together, they move towards more and more set patterns: Grukkar refusing any chance to turn aside from his course as savior, and Selkendal preparing to commit the betrayal that the world will one day damn him for.
Shadow's Gift- Grukkar has rejected Selkendal's last attempt at reason. Selkendal lures him into war in the Forbge, watching as his allies fall and his hopes die one by one, driving grimly towards the end of the Prophecy, and the gift of shadow to the world.
