Ashes and Oaths

Norman Reed (Not Reedus) Book 2: Ashes and Oaths

The world is breaking.

The Respawn Network, once the miracle that made death temporary, is failing. Heroes vanish into corrupted loops. Dungeons spill nightmares into the open air. The Ministry buries panic beneath paperwork while the Anti-Respawn League scrawls their creed in ash and blood.

Into this storm stumbles Norman Reed.

He is no hero-only a gravekeeper with a shovel, a crossbow, and a stubborn refusal to die. His knack for unravelling corrupted respawns has made him indispensable, though he'd rather be left alone to bury the dead. At his side lurches Gary-7, a glitching zombie sidekick who never respawns the same way twice. Some days philosopher, some days fool, some days best friend. Always trouble.

But the fight ahead is larger than graves and echoes.

Far above the Shattered Coast, the Celestials stir. Neither gods nor mortals, they watch mankind like absent parents, divided over whether to intervene as the world fractures. When one descends into the mortal plane, the balance shifts.

Beneath the League's stronghold, the Labyrinth waits. A dungeon twisted with corrupted proto-core logic, its shifting walls devour adventurers whole. Here Solenne and Thalya vanish, the party splintering as monsters bred by hatred stalk the halls. For Norman, the Labyrinth is both prison and mirror-forcing him into choices he despises, binding him with oaths he never wanted to swear.

And at the heart of it all lies the Shard. A fragment older than the Network, a splinter of fate itself. The Ministry wants to lock it away, the League wants to shatter the world with it, the Celestials fear its fracture in destiny. Norman only wants it buried. But the Shard whispers when he draws near, promising power that could end respawns forever-or end him.

He does not walk alone. The Respawnables follow: Rurik, scarred warrior; Solenne, priestess reborn in faith; Arin, wizard of endless plans; Viin, rogue with a laugh sharp as steel. With them come new recruits-Harrik the immovable shield, Tamsin the firebrand sorcerer, Fenn the bard of ill-timed songs, Morrin the monk of steady resolve. Together, mismatched and battle-worn, they are more than allies. They are proof that even in a failing world, trust can endure.

But ashes and oaths cannot be escaped. Norman has inherited the mantle of Gravekeeper Prime, his Final Rest binding him tighter to the world's unraveling fate. The Labyrinth will test him. The Shard will tempt him. The Celestials will judge him. And the League will break upon him-if he lets them.

Because if Norman Reed could fight off Death itself...

...what couldn't he fight?

Darkly comic, grimly atmospheric, and unflinchingly human, Ashes and Oaths continues the saga of the most reluctant hero ever to wield a shovel. A tale of monsters and men, of broken promises and unbreakable duty, it is the story of a gravedigger dragged into legend against his will-armed only with dirt under his nails, iron in his hands, and the will to bury what others fear to face.

Mark Adams is 43 (so he says) writes fiction that's dark, funny, and occasionally smells like grave dirt. Specialising in fantasy and humour, he crafts stories full of sentient paperwork, malfunctioning resurrection systems, and the kind of dungeons that would give OSHA an aneurysm.

He's currently working on Norman Reed (Not Reedus)-a gloriously grim and graphic series following a grumpy gravedigger, his undead sidekick, and the broken respawn system that ruined everything (again).

When not knee-deep in plot holes and sarcastic footnotes, Mark can be found arguing with goblins, sharpening metaphors, or misplacing important plot devices in cursed filing cabinets. He believes a thesaurus is a weapon, not a tool, and has no intention of writing anything "normal."