The Nocturne Machine

A Sword & Sorcery Novelette

What if the sun kept rising, but tomorrow never came?

Meet Jano Borian, a quarterstaff-wielding vigilante who roams the continent of Hazaorok in search of people to aid and wrongs to right. Many take one look at his thuggish countenance and dismiss him as a common criminal, though his shining armor suggests a nobler ancestry. Both would be wrong of his origin, however: he is an enigmatic—and arguably deluded—figure driven by his faith to a god which may or may not exist.

What is supposed to be a routine stop at a village inn reveals a disturbing mystery when Jano Borian discovers the villagers are afflicted with widespread memory loss. Meanwhile, Countess Emilia Vadas strives to please her latest guest, a sorcerer from the rival empire. By doing so, she betrays her husband and everyone living in the shadow of Castle Nocturne, but such disloyalty is a pittance for the promise of true love.

Join Jano Borian in this mystery-filled sword & sorcery adventure as he teams up with Katalin, a stalwart innkeeper determined to protect her grandfather. Together, they’ll investigate the cause of the villagers’ amnesia to uncover a fatal plot and the sinister machine at the heart of it all.

If Conan the Barbarian were a paladin, you’d get Jano Borian. The Nocturne Machine is a standalone novelette in the Jano Borian series of sword & sorcery stories. This story is also included in The Cost of Loyalty: Jano Borian Omnibus 1.