Unlike Peregrine and Blade, Ishkinil of Athan Arch is a series of recently written stories, and while it falls under the purview of S&S as well, it is different to the other series, a reflection, I hope, of lessons learned and the years between them.

The Ishkinil stories were only conceived and written late last year, as part of a writing challenge, and were the first new short stories I’d really written for a while. It wasn’t nano, but was at the same time, over at Royal Road, where the challenge was to write and put up for reading 55,555 words over 5 weeks.

I only attempted it on he spur of the moment, with no real vision of what the stories would look like, only that I wanted to get back to writing S&S short fiction after a long break from it.

In the end turned out 6 stories and around 56,600 words. Not bad for 5 weeks work.

The stories and the setting itself turned out interesting as well, even if it did develop as I wrote it, further expanding upon it as I went by.

Ishkinil herself is a warrior women with some mystical abilities, who has links to Death, and carries a bone white sword called Dirgesinger, which legend says is connected to Death in some regards. The world she walks is dying, rivers and even seas drying up and deserts spreading. The lands are ruled over by tyrants who use dark sorcery to extend their lives far beyond what is normal, trying to evade Death, all of which puts them at odds with Death who is denied what is naturally owed to him.

So far there are six stories in the Ishkinil of Athan Arach series, with three of them already available to read here; A Bargain Paid in Pain and Death, Winged Shadows over Iskor Yar and Claws of the Red Talon. The other three will be following soon.