by S.J. Shank
First published 2026
The Sword Brothers lie scattered across the Lithuanian marshes. Their grand campaign south from Riga has collapsed into rout, leaving only a few knights alive in the wilderness. These survivors creep through treacherous swampland, dodging pagan war bands that hunt them like animals. The brothers clutch their crosses and mutter prayers, but darker forces than human enemies lurk in these wastelands. Locals whisper of devils that command the marshes. Then a veiled woman materializes in the moonlight. She offers help to the desperate crusaders, but her true nature remains hidden behind her coverings. The knights must decide whether this mysterious figure represents divine intervention or something far more sinister. In a place this remote from civilization, salvation and damnation often wear the same face.
Genres: adventure, fantasy, horror, dark-fantasy, historical-fantasy, medieval
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, gritty, mysterious, ominous, suspenseful
Tropes: divine-intervention-or-damnation, good-versus-evil, mysterious-stranger, survival-against-odds
Setting: Lithuania, Lithuanian marshes, Riga
Period: medieval
126 pages · Paperback · Carthago Nova Press
Content warnings: death, violence