Novels by Ferry Sensei

Thin, copper-scented smoke rose from the small crater in the middle of Oakhaven's village road.Billy coughed, brushing away the limestone fragments covering his chest. In the distance, the corpse of the third Orc that had crushed him now lay rigid among the ruins of the collapsed grain warehouse. Parts of the giant monster's body were charred, as though it had just been struck by lightning at point-blank range.Billy raised his still-trembling right hand in front of his eyes."What the hell... is this?" Billy rasped.On his right palm, the torn wound he had suffered from punching the scaled weasel's snout several days ago had closed unnaturally. Over the newly healed skin, a reddish-gold tattoo glowed faintly, shaped like a three-pronged crown surrounded by twisting thorny vines. A warm pulse throbbed beneath his skin in rhythm with his heartbeat.Slow footsteps approached, then stopped at the edge of the cracked crater.Billy looked up.Faelan stood there, staring at Billy's hand wi

Faelan's grip on Billy's shoulder tightened like an iron vise."Don't move, idiot," Faelan whispered sharply. His silver eyes remained fixed on the three monsters in the village square. "Three trained Orc soldiers against one Ranger with limited arrows and one crippled human kid. That's not a fight. That's tactical suicide.""Let me go, Faelan!" Billy hissed through clenched teeth, his eyes locked on the village girl being dragged across the ground. "You see that? They're about to cut her throat! You just wanna stand there and watch, like when I was about to die in that ravine?!""That's the law of this world!" Faelan snapped coldly. "One girl's life isn't worth both of ours! We have to take this warning to the Ashen Kingdom!""Fuck the Ashen Kingdom!" Billy cut in, his voice strained beneath the surge of rage. "Back home, men in suits watched orphan kids die from overdoses and called it 'the cost of doing business.' And now you want me to stand here and watch someone's throat get cut

The scent carried on the wind from the bottom of the valley was no longer merely sulfur. It was the sickeningly sweet smell of roasted human flesh mixed with charred limestone.Billy crawled behind Faelan, descending the rocky cliff with his knees pressed against the rough ground. His eyes stung from the thin greenish-gray vapor drifting through the air. Every time he drew a breath into his throat, a bitter taste, like swallowing battery ash, coated his tongue."Faelan... what... what the hell is that fire?" Billy whispered, his voice catching as his eyes remained fixed on the ruins below. "Why's the fire neon green?""Rotfire. Fel-Fire," Faelan replied coldly without looking back. The Elf crouched low behind a collapsed stone fence. "It is not ordinary fire born from wood and oil. It is black magic that devours souls and melts the essence of life.""Melts?" Billy swallowed, his throat dry. "Even stone melts like butter. Jesus...""Stay quiet and keep low," Faelan hissed sharply, pull

Cshhhh.Faelan did not waste a single second. In a flash, his hand scooped up a handful of wet clay from the corner of the wall and slammed it onto the campfire. The embers died instantly, leaving behind a thin cloud of smoke that Faelan immediately swept away with his cloak to keep it from rising outside.The limestone cave sank into absolute darkness."Hold your breath," Faelan whispered directly beside Billy's ear. His voice was barely louder than wind scraping against stone. "Don't make the slightest sound, even if your heart wants to leap out of your chest.""I know the rules," Billy whispered back, pressing his back against the cold stone wall. His hand instinctively pressed against the burn wound on his abdomen to keep himself from groaning as the sulfurous stench outside grew stronger.Through the narrow opening of the cave entrance, a massive shadow slowly passed by.It stood nearly four meters tall, walked on four legs, and had a horribly hunched back resembling an ancient w

The painful scrape of severed rope fibers grinding against limestone echoed through the cave.Billy felt around the cave floor with his toes, pinched the bone-handled dagger between them, then awkwardly bent forward until the muscles in his back felt like they were being forcibly pulled apart. The tip of the dagger slowly sliced through the bark-fiber rope around his wrists.One loop snapped.Then a second.Crack!The rope came loose. Billy immediately dropped to his knees, catching his weight with his violently trembling left hand. The cold air stung the raw, bleeding skin around his wrists, but the pain was quickly swallowed by an overwhelming wave of nausea that slammed into his stomach.Billy vomited a clear, foamy liquid onto the cave floor.A thick, rotten stench rose from beneath the torn fabric of his clothes, the smell of rotting flesh mixed with greenish pus oozing from his abdomen.Faelan, who was sitting beside the campfire, snorted irritably. The Elf Ranger waved a hand i

Drip. Drip. Drip.The slow rhythm of water striking limestone rocks gradually pulled Billy's fading consciousness back to the surface. The stench of poisonous moss and the weasel carcass had been replaced by the scent of wet cedarwood smoke and the smell of animal fat roasting over glowing embers.Billy tried to move his hands, but his wrists were locked tightly behind his back. The rough rope, braided from strips of bark fiber, immediately bit into his already blistered skin."Damn... what now?" Billy rasped, opening his swollen eyelids.He was no longer at the bottom of the muddy ravine.Billy was tightly bound to a smooth limestone stalagmite inside a narrow, dark cave alcove. A few steps ahead of him, a small campfire burned between a pile of river stones, casting dancing shadows across the damp cave walls.Across from the fire sat the figure who had aimed an arrow at him earlier.The figure was tall and slender, dressed in a worn gray cloak made from coarse fibers that seemed alm