The Skull in the Tree

by Austin Worley

Knight-Mother Arlise Dun rode into Ó Méith in search of a warm meal and soft bed. What she found instead was a skull in an old oak tree. A skull inscribed with dreadful curses on an innocent mother-to-be.

Arlise knows the horror of maledictions bound in blood. Even better, she knows how to break them. But she isn’t on business for the Order. She’s on leave with her infant daughter, bound for a reunion at Quiet Cove.

If she’s to ferret out the hexer before their curse claims a stranger’s child, Arlise may be forced to endanger her own…

Refined for release as a standalone novelette, The Skull in the Tree is a dark heroic fantasy tale of approximately 11,000 words.

49 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication December 19, 2025

About the author

Austin Worley is a writer of heroic fantasy, superhero prose, weird westerns, and everything in between. His novelette "The Gale at Quiet Cove" earned an Honorable Mention from the Writers of the Future Contest in the 3rd Quarter of 2018.

When he's not slaving away over a keyboard, Austin fills his days with books, amateur astronomy, and family. You can follow him on Twitter @AMWorley_Writer, or on his DeviantArt profile, Legio-X.