The Corpse-Rat King

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To my beautiful wife Lyn, for her belief, her unwavering support, and her constant love.

To Aiden, with faith that the huge steps he is about take carry him wherever he wishes to go.

And to Erin and Connor, who keep telling me how much they want to be older so they can read this book.

If I catch you using any of the rude words in here, I'll ground you.ONE

The battle was over.

The Jezel valley had been a place of gently rolling farmlands, with a series of short, steep hills at one end where sheep had jostled for grass under the shade of hardy, wind-swept trees. It was a perfect location for two armies to clash. In two hours, the valley had been transformed from a sleepy green nowhere into a madman’s finger painting of mud, metal and ruptured flesh lying beneath a swathe of early morning mist. The lower reaches of the hills lay bare, denuded of handholds by soldiers grabbing at whatever foliage might help them climb above the carnage, only to be dragged back under, fingers curled around snapping branches. Two hours of pre-dawn chaos was over. Now the silence was broken only by the cawing of crows and an occasional cry of disbelief as one of the soldiers left behind to pick through the carpet of corpses saw the face of a friend, or comrade, or brother.

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