Note from the Author

 

Well, dear reader, we have reached the end of The Coming Darkness. Yet, we approach an altogether different end. For the battle is not coming now, it is here, among us, and whatever will happen will. The time for preparing is finished. The time to fight, to stand, has come. And what might come of our standing, even I do not yet know, for it, like the enemies of Alesh and Katherine and all the others, remains cloaked in shadow.

But it must be said that the light of Valeria flickers and falters, threatening to go out. For Alesh, the man who will lead the city, is weakened, his powers having abandoned him, and even that is not the worst of it. The worst is not that he has lost his abilities, but that he has lost his belief, in goodness, perhaps, but certainly in himself.

Still, do not lose hope. For even a single light, if raised high enough, might drive the Darkness back, and Alesh is not alone. We are not alone. There are others who stand with us against the coming hordes, men like Darl, the Ferinan warrior, like Larin, the Builder, and Tarex, once known as the Broken. Others, too, like Katherine and Marta, even little Sonya whose power is all her own.

All will have their part to play in the coming days, all those who would stand and fight. And who knows? Perhaps, it will even be enough.

I do not know what shape this ending will take, fellow traveler. I know only that it is coming, and that we will discover what awaits us together, you and I. Perhaps, the city’s defense will be broken, perhaps, Alesh’s will, too, is broken. But as Tarex knows, there is nothing that might be so broken that it cannot be mended again.

As always, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of those without whom this book would not have been made or, if it were, would have been a far poorer thing. Thank you to my wife for her patience and so much besides. Thank you to Gabriel, my son, who insists I take a break from these created worlds from time to time, usually by hitting me in unignorable places. Thank you, of course, to those kind, patient souls who have beta read this manuscript—what faults remain are not theirs but mine alone and what can I say? They tried.

And lastly, thank you, dear reader, for coming on this journey with me, for spending time with Alesh and Katherine, with Rion and Darl and Marta and all the others. I hope that you have enjoyed it so far, and I thank you for your support, for sticking with me. Without you, Alesh and the others’ story would have remained untold, and so again, thank you. We’re at the end of things now, it approaches whether we wish it or not. So stick around—even the darkest nights must give way to the day.

 

Happy Reading,

Jacob Peppers