They say the Malar Dorah is unbreakable.

For five centuries, the Realm's mightiest fortress has stood unconquered. Now it is the final bastion of a retreating northern army, and the culmination of the long-raging Diamond Wars. The warlord Belerod stands at the Dorah's doorstep with a southern horde at his back, set on testing the meaning of unbreakable with his war-golems.

Fourteen of Belerod's creations waded into the Diamond Wars. Only eight remain. Their second-youngest, Task, has seen every bloody battle; every crippling defeat and valiant push. The attack on Malar Dorah is supposed to be the dawn of peace. But now, at the end, the soldiers whisper of a wizard hiding behind the Dorah's vast walls.

For the first and last time in the Diamond Wars, magic will fight magic.

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Shards is a short story set several centuries before the events of Ben Galley's award-winning standalone novel The Heart of Stone. Shards is a prequel tale of Task's beginnings in the Diamond Wars, and a fierce and action-packed look at a time when war-golems were not so rare.

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MORE BOOKS BY BEN GALLEY (Available in ebook, paperback and audio)
Emaneska Series
– The Written
– Pale Kings
– Dead Stars - Part One
– Dead Stars - Part Two
– No Fairytale

Scarlet Star Trilogy
– Bloodrush
– Bloodmoon
– Bloodfeud

Chasing Graves Trilogy
– Chasing Graves
– Grim Solace
– Breaking Chaos

Standalones
– The Heart of Stone