Darkness in the Flames was the very first S&S story that I wrote, and one of the earliest attempts at short fiction as well. This is where it all started, around fifteen years ago. Looking back on it, I do have a fondness for the story because of that, though it does wear its DNA on its sleeve. It is a little bit cliche in parts, and its inspirations fairly obvious to see, but we all have to start somewhere.

And this is where Peregrine and Blade’s story starts. At least from a writing point of view, not a chronological one. From that point of view, it takes place much later on in their adventures.

The inspiration for the story was not the characters though – they grew through the story to take form when they had started fairly vague in my mind – but the city itself; Qaiqala. I wanted to make a memorable city and so was Qaiqala born, the pre-eminent city of the Swordlands. I know it is a fanciful place that probably couldn’t function, but nonetheless it is an interesting place, and Peregrine and Blade’s stories keep coming back to it, and the various parts of it, especially the Souk of the Crimson Mists. But more of that in later stories.