Forged of Ice and Blood

By Jason Fuhrman

A cursed barbarian and a wise-cracking dwarf face a battle fraught with mystery, monsters, and magic.

Bad odds, these.
 

So says Theurg Ulvfodt, barbarian of the North, when he finds himself surrounded, outnumbered, and the rest of his company dead. Guarding a remote mountain pass seemed like easy work until it wasn't.

As the soldiers close in, and the bites of steel nip more fiercely, a bloodied dwarf, Thrubidorn Battlehorn, climbs from the pile of the fallen to join him in battle. For a moment, a glimmer of hope is found. But even together, they can't hold back the tide and are forced to flee into the mountain caves, where they discover the true meaning of their quest.
 

Burdens weighing heavy, and blood on their hands, Theurg and Thrubidorn must venture back into the fray from which they fled, to face more than steel and uncover the secrets of what they swore to protect.
 

Forged of Ice and Blood is a fantasy adventure short story in which two unlikely heroes discover a friendship through the language of steel, the dance of battle, and the tragic pasts they both share.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jason Fuhrman
• Release date: Dec 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201933029

Jason Fuhrman

Jason watches too many movies. Nearly one a day. He thinks he should read more books though. Inspired by the thousands of stories he's watched and read, he wrote some of his own. The Field is his first novel, one that took way, way, way longer to write than it should have, but he promises that he'll release the next one in a more timely fashion. You can keep up to date with his work, recommend him a good movie (although he's most likely seen it), book (because he most likely hasn't read it), or drop him a line at jasonfuhrman.com.

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Jason Fuhrman

Forged of Ice and Blood

Copyright © 2021 by Jason Fuhrman

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Contents

Of Old Beginnings

Of Clashing Blades

Of Buried Secrets

Of Sleeping Giants

Of New Ends

Afterword

Acknowledgments

Of Old Beginnings

Dorn told me once words can be sharper than swords. I did not believe him then, but I believe him now. I have seen them cut.

My words are not as sharp as his, but I am learning. He has shown me the art of thoughts to paper. He has shown me how ink can be like blood.

How many days I have known him, I cannot count. But many fires we have shared. Many battles. Much drink.

He sleeps from drink now. The quiet times with him are the loudest. I think he would like that line.

The embers from the fire grow weak and turn him redder than the drink has. A certain kind of red. Darker than ink. And it reminds me of the day we met.

I do not plan to forget him, but he tells me I need to practice, so I will practice with this tale.

He who may find these words after I am gone, I believe you will have known Thrubidorn Battlehorn.

-Theurg Ulvfodt

Of Clashing Blades

I was surrounded.

A wall of blades at my front. A wall of ice at my back. But a Northman sees.

He saw young pups in their fathers’ armor. He saw teeth chattering like the iron plates tied to arms and legs of kindling. He saw eyes. Those are what spoke most to the Northman. They told him they didn’t wish to die here. They told him they wished to grow old. Like the man who stood before them now, bare chest to the cold with his maul, guided by Eye of Raven and Fang of Wolf.

I saw them. And I killed them. But not alone.

The beast within me clawed