Take a moment to calm yourself, to breathe and clear away the clutter from your busy day. Breathe in and out, and prepare yourself to go somewhere else, somewhere fantastic. I want you to imagine…

You’re ten years old, and your home is a grand castle. And it’s not just your home: it’s your inheritance. Your life is magic, wonderful, and full of secrets…secret trips to the forbidden Groves where you spy the abandoned outposts of the Dwarf Men, a secret friendship with a woman of mystery, secrets kept by your family about your birthright…

Think of all that. Now, imagine losing it in a few hours. It happens so quickly. You count your heartbeats and your footsteps as you flee your home, expecting death at any moment, but fate has other plans. You survive. You’re ten, and you don’t understand. You’re alone, and you’re running in the night, wondering what all those secrets meant.

What is courage? Some think it’s bravery in the face of danger, others think it’s heroism, the kind that charms the rescued. It is. But it can be subtler: the courage to go on, to head into the dark and trust that somewhere beyond there is light…that is true courage—the will to not give up.
Will Lesterall, the hero of The Pact, embodies this. He isn’t bold or daring, nor is he fearless. Yet there is something about him that I, the humble scribe who wrote his tale, find remarkable, and it’s his courage. In my mind, he’s a true hero, even if he’s the most unlikely kind.

I hope, dear readers, that you will find inspiration in his tale, and appreciate the unique aspect of courage he shares as he invites us into his life, on the night everything was taken away. I hope, while you read the 48 pages of this tale, that you will become young again and remember what it’s like to look at the world with awe and wonder, and to find the courage to reclaim that in a harsh world that lies and tells us to awaken. To find courage means becoming a child again, defying the world and living for what you believe in—living for your dreams.

SYPNOPSIS
For two hundred years, Fort Lesterall has been immune to surrounding world of warring kings and Unborn creatures in the nightmare Mountainlands. The Pact has kept it safe—an agreement between Goblin diplomats and the cunning Lesterall forefathers.
But on a night of celebration, when nobles and well-to-dos gather for festivities, darkness gathers, and Will Lesterall, the castle’s youngest prince, senses something is amiss. His fears are soon confirmed when a knight interrupts, followed by the remains of his battered army, with news that the Unborns have declared war on Fort Lesterall. The Pact has been broken.
Join an unlikely hero as destiny pulls him into the middle of an ancient conflict between fallen gods and ambitious women, one that demands blood, both holy and wicked, and the power of an ancient fire bound in steel. As swords clash below a watching wood, hope and betrayal war as fiercely as fear and valour.
Whether he lives or dies, Will Lesterall will never be the same.

To learn more about Graeme Brown, and The Pact, visit his website http://www.graemebrownart.com