Series: The Rusted Blade
- Swordmaiden
- Paladin
- Rust, Blood, and Flame
- Light, Faith, and Sacrament
- Feeding the Flame
- The Fire Consuming
- An Embrace Eternal
- Dancing with Death
- A Chosen Tool
- Silence after the Storm
- A True Beginning
- Distant Whispers
- In Presence Exalted
- Servants of Fire
- Of the Dark, Of the Light
- A Warm Glow
- An Introduction and a Challenge
- Flames of the Fire
- Blazing Sparks
- Burning Coals
- Rebirth by Flame
- Aspects of Divinity
- Burden’s Release
- Cold Fire – and Hot Fury
- Resolve and Passion
- Grim Purpose
- That Which Is Given
- Grim Focus
- Weight and Depth
- Grim Satisfaction
- Slaughter and Sacrifice
- Grim Determination
- Duty and Death
- Grim Destruction
- Grim Fury
Malika pushed forward into the village, her blade a blur of blue, flaming fury. It took several moments for the Lesser Dead to notice her, but as she cut them down, they flocked to her in greater numbers.
They never had a chance.
Each and every deathless that got within arm’s reach was cut down with exquisite precision. Where before she had toyed with her prey, now she was nothing but an efficient and effective tool of determination and destruction. Deathless after deathless she returned to the shadows of Ashmar, as she herself was driven forward by a determination and fury she almost couldn’t explain.
Somewhere ahead of her a larger darkness loomed, and she was drawn to it, even as a voice in her mind threw a warning to her consciousness. She banished that voice, however, and drove on, ever forward and toward that darkness.
She barely noticed the holy man continuing to follow in her wake, cleaning up the dregs of her destruction. Orange flame matched her blue as the deathless fell one at a time.
