Handmaiden's Fury: A Sensual High Fantasy Horror story (The Ardent Flame Book 1)

The City of Stormhaven

Year of the Singing Stars



Within the drifting depths of another world, far from Rational Earth, an ancient darkness awakens.One woman and her sensual magics stand in its path.Keiri may appear to be nothing more than a voluptuous young woman, but renegade sorcerers know to fear the Handmaidens and their carnal magics. Her goddess grants her the power to drive men wild with desire, using the fury of their own lusts against them.



Once a man is touched by a Handmaiden, he is never the same.



Now, however, ancient shadows loom over the city, and sorcery is being practiced in its hidden corners. Keiri's master, the enigmatic Sire Mattias, has discovered that young women are being taken against their will, for dark purposes unknown.



It's exactly the kind of atrocity that the young Handmaiden can't resist investigating.



Soon, however, even Keiri's passionate gifts are being put to the test. As she delves into the domain of Orin Devariis, one of the wealthiest and most depraved men in the city, Orin's manse is mysteriously burned to ashes. Soon, pale assassins pursue Keiri on the streets.



What are these strange, inhuman creatures who seem immune to her goddess' gifts? And what do they want with her?



All too quickly, Keiri realizes that she's in far over her head, dealing with the resurgence of sorceries lost for a thousand years. As she plumbs to the depths of a dungeon of horrors, Keiri realizes that she underestimated how deep depravity goes.



By the time she learns the truth, it may be far too late.

This story is part of The Paean of Sundered Dreams, a multi-genre, universe-spanning array of tales with Lovecraftian themes.

For those who wish to read The Paean of Sundered Dreams in it's appropriate order, that order is included here:

Rationality Zero

The Herald of Autumn

Collateral Damage

Handmaiden's Fury

On the Matter of the Red Hand

The Primary Protocol

Regarding Oaths and the Whispering Flame

Slave of the Sky-Captain

The Wormwood Event