The Prince of Luster and Decay - J. D. Brink - Bog

In war, men don't only fight the enemy...
Sergeant Knox leads the Head Knockers, scout-saboteurs in the war against the Dread Duke and his armies. They are the favorite squad of Captain Brighton's Stormwalkers, a proud company of citizen soldiers defending their homeland. Until Brighton falls in battle.
Now a new captain has new orders.
He's sending the Head Knockers to investigate a seemingly abandoned village. The streets and houses are empty and the air is eerily quiet. But something is there, waiting for them in the darkness.
And they'll need both steel and heart to defeat it.
Dark fantasy warfare, sword & sorcery, and Lovecraftian horror conspire to corrupt you in this prequel to the gritty coming of age fantasy novel Way of the Sword.
Fans of Glen Cook's The Black Company and dark occult fantasy will love what the The Prince has in store...
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-- "Great sword and sorcery story." - Jenny
-- "I previously believed that something this short could not possibly be worth more than four stars - but I was wrong. My conscience won't let me rate it less than five." - Bobby Craton
-- "Usually with short stories, I have a hard time becoming invested in the characters. The Prince of Luster and Decay does not have this problem. The characters are richly developed and become familiar very quickly." - NedG83