A Dire Onus: Fate stained him with the mark of doom...Destiny endowed him with the power to prevail

Book 2: The Blood-Rune Saga

by RONALD TAYLOR SMITH

Synopsis

For more than three thousand years the World has been forced to accept a law requiring that every Human baby born with a birthmark must be slain at birth ― and millions have died. But that brutal law is about to end. The long prophesied hero has finally arrived. Despite not knowing what happened to Brogan, Rucker and his three friends, Eli, Selwyn, and Arabelle, must flee Rynwyde as quickly as possible. After rescuing a beautiful young woman, named Shartha, from a brutal beating, Rucker unexpectedly kills a dozen deadly sellswords by tapping into powerful elemental magic. But his unplanned act of bravery has consequences — as heroic acts often do. As a result, Rucker’s party is forced to seek a safe route by which to escape Rynwyde. While doing so, they must avoid The Raven’s Wing, whose cruelly depraved members doggedly hunt them with the sole purpose of killing ― not capturing ― them. Together, they must find a cunning way to beat the odds stacked against them; odds that grow worse by the hour. Rucker is determined to complete Brogan’s secret mission. That means he and his companions must survive long enough to deliver Wolfanger’s Hammer ― the long-lost icon of leadership ― to the Thorn Dwarves on Blackpool Island. Upon swearing an oath to complete the mission, and with Shartha as a new member of their small fellowship, they continue their journey southward, undaunted by what seems an endless number of deadly obstacles.

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Release date: March 31, 2017

Publisher: Ronald Taylor Smith

Print pages: 714