They say the Malar Dorah is unbreakable.

For five centuries, the Realm’s mightiest fortress has stood unconquered. Now it is the final bastion of a retreating northern army, and the culmination of the long-raging Diamond Wars. The warlord Belerod stands at the Dorah's doorstep with a southern horde at his back, set on testing the meaning of unbreakable with his war-golems.

Fourteen of Belerod’s creations waded into the Diamond Wars. Only eight remain. Their second-youngest, Task, has seen every bloody battle; every crippling defeat and valiant push. The attack on Malar Dorah is supposed to be the dawn of peace. But now, at the end, the soldiers whisper of a wizard hiding behind the Dorah's vast walls.

For the first and last time in the Diamond Wars, magic will fight magic.

———

Shards is a short story set several centuries before the events of Ben Galley's award-winning standalone novel The Heart of Stone. Shards is a prequel tale of Task's beginnings in the Diamond Wars, and a fierce and action-packed look at a time when war-golems were not so rare.

———

MORE BOOKS BY BEN GALLEY (Available in ebook, paperback and audio)

Emaneska Series

– The Written

– Pale Kings

– Dead Stars - Part One

– Dead Stars - Part Two

– No Fairytale

Scarlet Star Trilogy

– Bloodrush

– Bloodmoon

– Bloodfeud

Chasing Graves Trilogy

– Chasing Graves

– Grim Solace

– Breaking Chaos

Standalones

– The Heart of Stone