"I know how to cultivate useful relationships. A pact with the Altar of the Primal Elements supplemented my deal with Muscadine. Duty leads me north, where the secrets of two worlds lie hidden beneath the ice.
And now, in Scandinavia, a claimant to my Altar of the Primal Elements has suddenly appeared. No matter—plenty of hardier souls have vanished in the swamps of my domain.
I am Mikhail Komarin and I still heed the Code."
"I managed to deal with the immediate threat to House Komarin, but that didn't let me off the hook with Muscadine. The rapid growth in my powers had almost turned me into a shish kebab.
Up next: a dressing-down from the Emperor, a visit to Derbent and the rescue of some fair maidens. And that's all before lunch—by evening, I should be free . . ."
"My enemy has finally shown his face. War is inevitable. Only one will survive. Blood for blood, a life for a life. When even time works against me, when oaths mean nothing, my allies will become creatures from the darkest of nightmares.
Who said I'm allowed to die? What about my reckoning with the gods?"
"In my past life, I heeded the Blood Code: I rescued people, slaying monsters from the inner plane. For my trouble the Inquisition condemned me for blood lust and burned me at the stake.
And in my current life my family is dishonored in the eyes of the emperor, there's a bounty on my head, and I'm the subject of a divine dispute. Well then, no better time than now to surprise them all. Give me but a drop of blood—and the hunter will become the prey.
I am Mikhail Komarin. The Blood of my bloodline guards my back! And I still heed the Code."
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