The Cult of Dorado

Vander is a war hero in the Collective States of Dorado. He was the most successful warrior in the war, the Great Schism. All he wants now that the war is over is to rest on his ranch with his wife Este and his son Navy. But first, he must attend the Sacrifice, the ordination of the New Law. Xerxes - the Constable of Dorado - rules Dorado with an iron claw an initiates this new phase in history with a baptism - a baptism of blood. When Vander arrives home to find that his wife is missing and his son is dead, the presence of an Immortal - one of Xerxes' personal guards - lets him know that there is only one man responsible. With a legion of ghosts and a Deficient named Cherrin, Vander searches for his wife and is ready to do whatever is necessary to rescue her.

Proficients, Sufficients, and most despicably, the Deficients. These are the classes in the Collective States of Dorado. Proficients enjoy relative prosperity - the rule of the Xerxes is all they endure. Sufficients are worse off then them, but none are worse off or lower than the Deficients. The Xerxes institutes the New Law by a baptism, a baptism of the blood during the wholesale slaughter of Deficients. This is called the Sacrifice. Two things are clear: do not challenge the Xerxes, and do not be a Deficient. Vander is a war hero, content only to retire to his ranch with his wife, Este, and his son, Navy. But when he returns home from Xerxes' bloodbath, called the Sacrifice, he finds his wife missing, and his son dead. When Vander discovers an Immortal, he knows that the Xerxes is the one to blame. On his crusade to the city, he finds someone he doesn't expect, someone who shouldn't still exist, a Deficient by the name of Cherrin. Now, Vander resolves not only to find and rescue his wife but to save Cherrin's husband, who himself is imprisoned by Xerxes. A modern epic, Vander and Cherrin, along with her husband Anthony, must slay monsters, ghosts, and even dragons. But even better, they must work together to save a hidden people, the Deficients in hiding.

Auctor Thryll is the curmudgeonly, sarcastic writer that you have come to expect from a writer of dystopian fiction. All of his life, he has daydreamed fantastical stories with dragons and monsters and heroes and champions. Why not write them down?