Book 1 of the Gods and Runes Series
“Sometimes no matter how hard you try; the world works against you, and you can’t win.”
Once again, the Empire of Thargoza launches an invasion on Cadoria, the last free kingdom on the continent of the five kingdoms. Standing resolutely in its path is Prince Tyrran, who has devoted his life to defending his country from the empire.
However, this time feels different. As he leads his army to halt the empire’s advance at Heldwr Fort, Tyrran is seized by the gnawing sense that something is amiss. His intelligence regarding the movements and size of the empire’s army seems skewed. To exacerbate matters, his intelligence chief has vanished, and his exiled Thargozan wife, Princess Braganza, insists on accompanying him and their children to Heldwr Fort to witness Tyrran’s preparations for battle.
Even though the empire’s army arrives earlier and in vastly greater numbers than Tyrran had been led to believe, he clings to the belief that his small army can still emerge victorious. Yet, as the battle rages and the empire fails to gain ground, its soldiers suddenly surge forth from a clandestine tunnel beneath the fort. In that moment, Tyrran realizes the chilling truth of his betrayal, watching helplessly as his army is overrun.
In the aftermath of this devastating defeat, Tyrran must grapple with the loss of his country and the staggering revelation of his betrayal.
Read an excerpt from the book below the book cover or go to the Amazon page to buy The Fall of Cadoria:
Far more Thargoẑans were slain than Cadorians but the Cadorians could not afford to lose any men. Prince Tyrran, then in the late afternoon, watched as a burning arrow flew into the sky. He knew now that something was wrong. It nagged him during the battle that something did not make sense. The attackers kept scaling the walls despite their heavy losses then something dawned on him. They were just trying to keep them busy, tiring them out. “What are the Thargoẑans up to?” he thought. “Who was leading this army? Chema would never have thought of this.”
Moments later a battle cry of “For the greatness of Thargoẑa! Hail Emperor Ignaẑio!” coming from behind him made him turn around and he saw Thargoẑan soldiers begin to pour out from the keep. The colour drained from Prince Tyrran’s face as he realised that they had been betrayed. That nagging feeling of doubt vanished into the clarity of horror. Someone had told the Thargoẑa army about the secret passage to the river in the cliffs outside of the walls. There was no way they could have found that out by themselves, it was a closely guarded secret, so much so that it was treason to tell anyone outside the Cadorian military hierarchy about it. The small number of men posted there would not have stood a chance with these numbers despite the narrowness of the tunnel.
For the first time in battle, Prince Tyrran did not know what to do. He surveyed the battlefield, and nothing came to him, no imaginative tactics, nothing inspirational for his men. The situation was more than dire.
“General Jadan!” he called out to his tired and blood-soaked general. “Send one in ten of your men to deal with the attackers coming from the keep!”
He knew that General Jadan could not spare the men from the walls, and it was insufficient to deal with the Thargoẑans coming from the keep, but it was all he could do because he was hopelessly outnumbered. With fewer Cadorians on the wall, the Thargoẑans gained a foot hold which became greater as more and more Cadorians were cut down and the survivors were being pushed back overwhelmed by the sheer numbers the Thargoẑans sent over the walls. All Tyrran could think about at that moment was his wife and children, knowing he was unable to save them or even get close to them. He gave a swift prayer to Cador for their safety before rejoining the fray.
It was only after a few minutes that he knew the battle was lost. He saw General Vares fall and he could not find his other generals other than General Jadan who was ferociously and desperately, trying to stem the flow of Thargoẑan soldiers coming over the walls, however, they were being overwhelmed, the soldiers under Tyrran’s command fighting the Thargoẑans coming out of the keep had disintegrated and his command structure had disappeared with the death of three of his generals. Tyrran then made the only decision he could,
“General Jadan, abandon the walls and retreat to this area!” he ordered, shouting over the din of battle, when he found his only surviving general, pointing to a narrow area towards the back of the fort where the ladders down the cliff were. “Get any men you can find to build a defensive barricade of wagons between the walls and the keep. I want you to then lead the retreat out of the fort down the cliffs. I will lead the defence at the barricade!”
“But Your Highness,” General Jadan objected in dismay, “you need to escape and return to Cadora!”
“They are after me, I am sure of it,” Tyrran told his general grimly. “We will keep their focus on me and use that to help as many men as we can men escape from the fort. We need to save what is left of the army as a fighting force. The fort can’t be saved, that much is obvious. Defending Cadora is now the priority.”
“Yes, Your Highness, my friend and good luck. It has been an honour,” the fearsome General Jadan looked at Tyrran with a mixture of sadness and pride before he began ordering the retreat. Tyrran returned his general’s look.
Paul Willson Fantasy 
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