In “The Rite,” a fun and exciting fantasy short story by author Chris Van Deelen, Half-Drow martial artist Jaeger faces the greatest ordeal of his young life when he is forced to battle his two closest friends in the arena of the Five Animals Monastery. Unbeknownst to him, however, that will not be the toughest or most lethal challenge he will face when his past comes back to haunt him and the bonds of blood and friendship are put to the ultimate test. 

“The Rite” takes place in the Swords of Kos Fantasy Campaign Setting, a swords-and-sorcery milieu set in a Dark Ages fantasy version of the Mediterranean and the lands surrounding it. A century after a Great Cataclysm destroyed the old world, plunged it into chaos, and reawakened magic and all form of ancient races and monsters, the agents of Gods and Titans struggle against each other, nations strive to survive or dominate one another, and adventurers descend into the ruins in search of wealth and lost technology.