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    Hollow Empire: Night of Knives - Episode 4
    Hollow Empire: Night of Knives - Episode 4
    Hollow Empire: Night of Knives - Episode 4
    Ebook70 pages55 minutes

    Hollow Empire: Night of Knives - Episode 4

    By J Edward Neill and John McGuire

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    About this ebook

    Once, the empire of Vhur was the world's most powerful. But that was before the Lichy plague. Now, twenty years and millions of dead later, only a few cities remain. The survivors walk a fine line between staying alive and crumbling into the grave.
    Come the Night of Knives, even these last few might perish.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJ Edward Neill
    Release dateOct 3, 2014
    ISBN9781310671241
    Hollow Empire: Night of Knives - Episode 4
    Author

    J Edward Neill

    J Edward Neill is, more than anything in his life, a writer. He lives in the good ole southeastern US of A, where it’s hot, muggy, and hot, but his roots are in the frosted outskirts of Chicago. The winter, the wind, and the cold, endless nights on his grandparents’ corn field are where it all began for him. Someday he’ll go back there and write a book about the snow, but not yet. He has other work to do...Eons ago, while glooming about his house during a mild North Georgia winter, J Edward sat in the shadows and scribbled the first outline of his first short story. He has been obsessed ever since. Tugging the cobwebs out of his skull and redistributing them as words on a page is his passion. He writes the kind of stories he likes to read, and he’s inspired by any book that focuses on the character rather than the plot. The plots have all been done before, but the characters...those have a chance to be unique.J Edward’s inspirations are many. He favors Tolkien’s wordiness, Dan Simmons’ gritty characters, and Shakespeare’s hard truths made poetic. He likes fantasy, but not the sort with pretty elves and clever gnomes. He likes epic tales written for adults, stories accessible to everyone with a sharp (and maybe a bit twisted) mind. But more than any of these, he likes to lurk at night in his man-cave with all the lights off and no other authors’ books within reach. Ideally the windows will be open, the eve will be chilly, and the stars high and bright. These are the best nights to write on. He likes to think these are his nights, his and no other...J Edward’s prime focus is the completion of his epic fantasy trilogy, Tyrants of the Dead. The Tyrants trilogy follows the lives of several people, good and evil and in-between, as the soulless creatures known as the Ur attempt to tear the mortal world apart and rebuild their haunted civilization atop the ruin of mankind. He released Book One, Down the Dark Path, in July 2013, and Book Two, Dark Moon Daughter, in May 2014. Nether Kingdom, the chilling conclusion, is planned for winter 2014. He also plans to release Hollow Empire, a post-apocalyptic, dark ages opera co-authored with John McGuire, in winter 2013.

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      Book preview

      Hollow Empire - J Edward Neill

      Hollow Empire

      Night of Knives

      Episode 4

      John R McGuire & J Edward Neill

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Hollow Empire – Night of Knives – Episode 4

      Cover Design by http://amandamakepeace.com/

      All rights reserved

      To my parents for teaching me that an imagination is to be used and that to create new things is magical.

      John R McGuire

      To the night, without whom I’d have little reason to suffer the day.

      J Edward Neill

      Table of Contents

      World Map

      The Decree

      Murgul

      Cassidy

      Nadya

      Vadim

      The Scarred Sister

      The Decree

      The Old Age is over.

      For their crimes against this nation, the last of Dmitri’s decrepit line has been removed from power.

      I take this crown with a heavy heart. I never wished for this burden, but I have come to realize that without a strong hand and the will to do right Vhur will never regain any semblance of its former glory. I have walked the Othian streets and heard the cries from each of you. I have watched the mothers with their screaming babes clutched to their breast cry out to the good Lord above for an answer. You all ask for relief from this malady we have suffered under for some thirty years since the first of the Lichy. Thirty years. An entire generation who has cowered while their world ended around them.

      What they do not understand is that we are the survivors. That makes us more than those who came before us. That makes each of us responsible for leading this kingdom into a new age.

      I make no claims as to my ability to stave off that beast. For we have all been touched by it at some point in our lives. But I can, and shall, restore order to the kingdom. Every year, the wild lands encroach upon our lives.

      That ends this day!

      From the Black Mountain to the shores of Petyph to the Ziberus Tundra to the Fyk Sea we will persevere. It will take time and patience, but with the help of so many I feel as if I can see that future. One which is bright and worthy of being ushered in for all who call Vhur home.

      Now begins a new Age of Light.

      - King Bartek, First of His Name

      Murgul

      Murgie, wake up. Vas is here.

      When he woke upon his cot, Murgul realized Jacek had called his name many times. I’ve been dreaming, he knew. Deeper than ever in my life.

      He took some hundred breaths to come to. The fuzz of Jacek’s lamp and the blur of sunlight creeping around the half-open door sharpened in his gaze. It’s morning? he asked. Already?

      I’ve never seen you sleep like that. Jacek blew the lamp out. You sick, Murgie?

      No. He sat up with his usual soreness. The boils in his back were as swollen as ever, but his head felt clear and his bones popped only half as often as most mornings. Who did you say was here?

      Vas.

      Oh God, him? He wants to arrest me? The cage…I can’t…I…

      Murgie, calm down. Jacek retreated to the door. He just wants to talk. Come out when you’re ready.

      Like a great dumpling, he rolled out of bed and slogged to the door. He rather liked the way the dawn’s light poured down the hallway and into his room. The sun’s serenity was almost enough to calm his nerves, but not quite. Autumn was here in all its glory. The nights had been crisp and windy, but the early sun carving through the front windows looked as merry as ever, especially during the last week. Ever since Akim, Sari, and Little Vas got well.

      He shambled down the hall. Save for Jacek and Lys, all the children remained in their rooms. He smiled anxiously at Lys, glanced worriedly at Jacek, and sat at the

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