In the time after The Great Cataclysm, it is said that some of the hardier survivors began grouping together, and looking for a new home that wasn’t just blasted rock and poisoned dirt. Eventually, these survivors found a pristine blue river that they named “the River Sah” (meaning ‘cool water’) and founded the kingdom of Bakrasah (“warm lands and cool water”) in the year 4PC (Post-Cataclysm).

Over the next few years, other cities were founded, including the capital city of Mynea (my-knee-uh), Alyria (ah-leer-ee-ah), King’s Reach, Green Haven, and Saltmarsh (in that order). Peace reigned in the kingdom for many years, though there were the usual internal and external problems.

Trade between Bakrasah and anywhere else was sparse and irregular at best, mainly due to the lack of any stability from the wandering tribes and fly-by-night fiefdoms that surrounded the land. The five cities developed with little overt interference from the king and his advisors, and the people and kingdom prospered.

But it was not to last.

The Old Kingdom of Bakrasah has fallen into chaos and anarchy, and now, 200 years later, the five city-states war among themselves for power, wealth, and opportunity. The light of peace flickers dimly in the small river-town of Drakesbridge and the threat of another kindgom-wide open war looms large in the minds and hearts of all. None can read the future, and darkness threatens.

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Wave, Wind & Blade is the first in a series of short stories from the Old Kingdom of Bakrasah. Set before The Fall, it tells the story of young Marko, on his first voyage on the Sea of Tears, and how he meets the hero of Salt Marsh, who is not at all what he expects.

Oh, and there’s a sea battle with revenants (aka zombies), too.

Wave, Wind & Blade is an excerpt from a much larger series of novels planned by Jason Kristopher, all set in this world. It is approximately 2,900 words, and is available on the Kindle and the Nook, for $0.99.