Priest (Ratcatchers Book 1) (46 page)

Sir Mór stood at the edge of the clearing, watching Heden. The Arrogate looked like a beaten animal, collapsed on the jousting field, half buried in mud, weeping in the rain. Mór had come to test the man again, finally. But no test was now necessary. No test was possible.

Mór, less a man and more an agent of a power, felt some impenetrable field around the priest. No god projected it. It was the man’s reality. His own sense of self pouring out so strong Mór could not approach him, could not judge him. The man was judging himself with an authority greater than any the forest could muster. Making Sir Mór irrelevant.

The man before him was now a crucible, burning away everything he had been until that moment. Mór watched with sympathy, wondering what could survive the process. Glad it was no longer his worry.

The Green Man turned, forgetting Heden, and looked with purpose north into the forest. In an instant, his horse was there. He mounted and rode off in search of what, only the forest knew.

Heden saw none of this.

Ratcatchers continues in Volume 2:

Thief

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Natalie Elspeth – “It feels like you put your whole life into these first chapters.”

Austin Baker – “Pretty cool.”

Aaron Contreras – “Polish, polish, polish!”

In every instance these volunteers provided critical feedback that led to significant edits. The book within would be very different without them.

Chad Nicholas, Doug Burke, Hyrum Savage, Ian Harac, Ian Welke, Jason Bell, Jason Durall, Josh Baker, Manny Vega, Paul LaPorte, Robert Djordjevich

Heden is the result of many influences, but first he came from a conversation with John Wick way back in 2003 about Sin Eaters.

The next major influence was a piece on
This American Life
about a veteran returning home from Iraq finding himself unable to function at home.

Most of the heavy lifting on this book was done while listening to
Where You Go I Go Too
, by Lindstrøm, for which I thank Brian Chan and his passion for introducing people to new music.