A crack has formed in the shield that envelopes the realm.

Although Bathar, the chief of the royal guard, cannot allow that to happen, the price to restore the shield is too terrible.

Bathar finds himself in an impossible situation. But the recovery of a forgotten truth may be the answer—to his own dilemma, and to so much more.

You can read the first paragraphs of the story below, then order your own copy for your favorite e-reader.

The Azurian Shield

by Karl El-Koura

The day after he registered his daughter’s birth, Bathar began conducting the inspections of the shield himself. Every morning, about an hour before dawn, he rode out through the villages that surrounded the castle, past the fields of farmland, through the forest, finally to the old woman’s hut, to give her whatever he’d brought that morning. Then, riding his horse at the outer edge of the realm, he inspected the dome-shaped shield protecting them from the chaos without.

For seven months, that precaution proved unnecessary. The shield looked as it always had—a cloudy blue structure as solid as steel; it glowed brightly during the day and dimly at night. He could circumnavigate it in about an hour, making sure he detected none of the signs of deterioration that Ryon, the king’s chief advisor and the last remaining mage in the realm, had taught him to look for. He saw nothing unusual, day after day of Alia’s young life.

But, all of a sudden, that was no longer true. He’d ridden past a section on the northeast side, his glance dancing across the blue shield, when his mind registered something, and he pulled tight on the reins.

He dismounted and walked back, eyes fixed on the ground for now, willing what he’d seen—thought he’d seen—to be a trick of his mind.

Then he forced himself to look up.

A crack had begun to form on the shield.

Find out what happens next: buy your copy of “The Azurian Shield”!