Mike Carss

You might be on to something there. 😉

Once the sun finally came creeping along the stone wall, Nathan turned his body to face Brohm and poked at him softly to wake him. “Just another hour, please?” Brohm whined. “We should get moving.” “Yuh, I know. Did you sleep okay?” “With you keeping me warm? Yes and no.” Brohm gave him a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Nathan laughed. “I greatly appreciated it, and we’ll leave it at that.” After breakfast and packing up, they continued their way o

By Brohm's estimation, they've made it about halfway through the mountain pass.

No doubt about it. Also, if you were holding the book in your hands, you would be at the halfway point. Their "adventure" is far from over. 😉

Yup. It's called dead man's pass for a reason. 😅 On the other side? It's possible, but given the length of time it'll take for them to reach it, that's a lot of wasted time for a squad to be waiting.

They're a new occurrence, and will end up having a deeper meaning as time goes on.

Brohm was right. Neither had gotten much sleep. They took turns napping, but jolted awake at the smallest sound. When first light finally broke, both men were inwardly relieved the night was finally over. Leaving the gully behind, they continued their journey across the barren mountain range, spending most of the day climbing the path in a series of switchback turns up a steep mountainside. Reaching the summit, they found themselves still dwarfed by the seemingly never-ending parade of pea

The next morning greeted them with grey skies and a chill wind. Brohm sat nearby, idly poking the ashes of the long dead fire with a stick. He hadn’t changed into his warmer clothing, but had donned a fur cloak with the hood up. “Morning,” Nathan said. The big man looked over and offered a nod. “You sleep okay?” “Fine. It really cooled down though. You sure you aren’t cold?” “Nah, this cloak’ll be fine for now.” Nathan donned his own cloak, flipping up the hood to c

Yeah, the short chapters are really obvious when you don't have the entire book in your hands. The chapters in the sequel are much longer (around 10k words each) which honestly feels a bit too long for this site. I'm considering breaking them up into 5k chunks to make them a bit more accessible.

While the pass still exists, it's considered too dangerous and thus rarely used. In an earlier time, that wasn't the case. That's why they feel a bit more confident they won't be followed going that route.

Nathan woke some time in the late afternoon. Brohm lay dead asleep on his back, snoring lightly, his massive chest rising and falling. A small smile crept on Nathan’s face as he watched, only to be interrupted by his fiercely growling stomach. Eyeing the saddlebag hanging from a low branch, he quietly padded over, and found within the last of their original food store. Despite his hunger, he forced himself to eat slowly. At the base of the tree trunk sat a wineskin filled with water, and h

Yeah, it's a risk, but they're going to be trekking through a mountain pass without knowing if they'll find anything to trap for food.

Once again with the excellent ideas. 😉

Given their luck, I wouldn't hold your breath. 😅

Nathan sat on the veranda in the late afternoon sun, testing the bowstring he’d restrung. Despite being worse for wear, there was still flexibility left, and the majority of the arrows were in fine condition. Stepping down, he took aim at a nearby tree. The flight was true and hit the mark. In the corner of his eye, Brohm’s figure lumbered into view, returning from his hours-long walk. “That was my pa’s bow,” the big man called out. “I hope you don’t mind me using it.” “Nah.”

Truer words were never spoken.

One of the many reasons I started writing was in protest to a number of novels I had been reading beforehand. (In case you're curious, I have no idea what novels they were. It was a long time ago.) They frustrated me with details I didn't care about, nor did they feel relevant to the overarching plotlines. For this story, I started with a simple idea and just had the characters lead me while I transcribed. I wanted to keep the scope small. It was originally supposed to be a short story, then novella, before ending up around 75k words. I wound up cutting out 10k in the editing process. I didn't cut out any plot details, either. It was just extraneous fluff. The backstory of Helmsley's son and why he was assassinated does nothing to advance Nathan and Brohm's story. That's why it's not in there. That you care enough to want to know is humbling -- that I've written something that you care enough to ask. I feel bad that I can't provide you with the answers you seek. Anyway, all that said, I feel you would've been a very helpful beta reader. The few I had offered some great nuggets of insights, but never asked the questions you have.

I'm glad you've been enjoying so far. Thanks! ❤️

I wrote this completely unplanned, and for a time, Tarn was actually going to be the love interest. That's why he was chummy with Nathan. Poor guy got the short end of the stick. He does make an appearance in the sequel. Noooope. 😅

That's the benefit of finding it later. No need to wait for the next chapter. 😄 That said, while the story is complete (I wrote this over a decade ago), I'm still in the process of posting chapters. I hope you enjoy it.

The north/south road is not very populated, so while the branch off to Brohm's farm is disused, they decided to check it out. I'll admit it's a bit flimsy. My mistake was that the soldiers assumed the horses belonged to Nathan and Brohm, but there was no way for them to know that. The scene was mainly to show that more soldiers are searching, and that the farm is in no way a safe place to hide.

Definitely a slow boil. 😉

Indeed. There's no question they'll need to figure out another solution, another place to hide. This will be revealed in due time. 😈

A knocking sound woke Nathan with a start. His head ached something awful, and it took a moment to recall where he was. Bright sunlight streamed through the window, and while he couldn’t be sure, he assumed it was late morning. The sound of knocking came again. His ears rang and he winced in pain. Slowly turning out of bed, he sat, planting his feet on the rough floor. Massaging his temples helped ease the pain, if only temporarily. Knocking again, more insistent this time, but he st

Nathan woke to a gentle nudge. Opening his eyes, Brohm’s large frame filled his view. “We should get going,” he said quietly. Nathan gazed through the trees of the small forest to glimpse sunlight just below the horizon. “We should’ve already been on the road by now,” Brohm continued, anxiously gathering tack and saddling their horses. “Is your father going to mind us laying low at his farm?” Nathan asked as they led their mounts through the long grass. “I think it would