Shadow Blade

by Chris Barili

The Denari  An order of religious zealots who control their assassins through an addiction to magic.They haven't failed in over one hundred years.


 

Ashai  An unstoppable Denari Lai assassin sent covertly to kill the Pushtani king and his daughter. But he falls in love with the princess and finds himself, despite struggling withdrawal symptoms from his magic, as they flee from a second assassin and the King's guard.


 

 A beautiful and unconventional princess seeking to change the laws of her father's kingdom  when she learns Ashai's true identity.


 

 A Pushtani slave who unknowingly sparks a slave rebellion all along the border between their nations.


 

Will Pachat gain the revenge he so lustily seeks?


 

Can Ashai kill the second assassin, win back Makari's love and return her to the throne that is rightfully hers? 

348 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 22, 2025

About the author

Chris Barili has been writing since he was fourteen years old. He is pursuing his Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Popular Genre Fiction, with Western State Colorado University in Gunnison, CO. His fiction has appeared on The Western Online (as T.C. Barlow), and in the anthologies "These Vampires Don't Sparkle" and "Zombiefied Reloaded" by Sky Warrior Books. Later this year, his work will appear in a third Sky Warrior anthology, "The Dragon's Hoard," as well as the anthology "Temporally Out of Order" by Zombies Need Brains LLC.