A tale of honor, dragons, and a love that endures beyond death

Come for the journey through the underworld. Stay for the suspiciously familiar winged cat.

After their dubiously successful quest to slay the White Lady and recover the Fireborne Blade, Sir Maddileh and Saralene set about changing their world for the better. But the cursed and newly-promoted High Mage Saralene must visit the afterlife to ask a favor of the Bloodless Princes who run the underworld.

But Saralene and Sir Maddileh will soon discover that the old tales only hold so much truth in them, though perhaps there's enough to make a start on their new journey.

To escape the underworld alive, Saralene will need a lot more than just her wits. And Maddileh will need more than just her Fireborne Blade.

Kill the dragon. Find the blade. Reclaim her honor.

It's that, or end up like countless knights before her, as a puddle of gore and molten armor.

Maddileh is a knight. There aren't many women in her line of work, and it often feels like the sneering and contempt from her peers is harder to stomach than the actual dragon slaying. But she's a knight, and made of sterner stuff.

A minor infraction forces her to redeem her honor in the most dramatic way possible, she must retrieve the fabled Fireborne Blade from its keeper, legendary dragon the White Lady, or die trying. If history tells us anything, it's that die trying is where to wager your coin.

Maddileh's tale contains a rich history of dragons, ill-fated knights, scheming squires, and sapphic love, with deceptions and double-crosses that will keep you guessing right up to its dramatic conclusion. Ultimately, The Fireborne Blade is about the roles we refuse to accept, and of the place we make for ourselves in the world.

A series of micro-collections featuring a selection of peculiar tales from the best in horror and speculative fiction.

From Black Shuck Books and Charlotte Bond comes The Watcher in the Woods, the sixteenth in the Black Shuck SHADOWS series.

The haunted highway of Dumfries

The dancing corpse of Glasgow

The masked imps of Strathantine

The murder dolls of Holyrood Park

The skeletal bride of Allanton

The profane chapel at Drumglass

The dark rituals in the West Bow

Includes terrifying tales by Charlotte Bond, M W Craven, Steve Duffy, Tracy Fahey, Paul M Feeney, S J I Holliday, Johnny Mains, William Meikle, Reggie Oliver, S A Rennie, Graham Smith, Anna Taborska, John Alfred Taylor and Fred Urquhart.