Knight's Gauntlet: The Trail of Cinders (Book 2)

Dera finds himself drowning in the tides of war that have flooded the land of Atro with the blood of countless generations, weighted by dark regrets and haunting visions of past mistakes. Lost in a vicious cycle that has raged since time immemorial, he is known only as the Slayer, enforcer of the Magi's foul will.

He assaulted the ceremony held at Everal to exact revenge for the torturous death of his family, seeking to put the sinful skills of the Slayer to use. Pursuing the one he held responsible, Markoff of the Binding Strings, he and his companion mixed in seamlessly with the fools gathered to welcome the mad Magus to their land in a grand ceremony. However, unbeknownst to the foolish sheep, a wolf had slipped into their flock to finish its hunt for their twisted shepherd. Ending in betrayal and disaster, the events left Dera to rot away as he was doomed by the unforeseen machinations of his former master.

Rejuvenated and not yet sated, Dera returns to continue his vicious quest as he searches for the answers behind his mysterious recovery. Setting off into a world both familiar and suddenly foreign, he pushes aside his confusion as he struggles to find a new path through the corrupt land of Atro. Urged to move beyond his formerly destructive role in the events of the land, Dera is forced to come to terms with a troubling question.

Does a soul, stained black by countless sins, truly deserve salvation?