Diminisher of Peace

(Published, Sept 2005 issue of The Harrow) If you can see into the future, gods will take notice of you. Aldred's brother is killed unjustly and Aldred's forbidden to bury or honor him. He defies the decree, and makes a pact with strangers, an old man who won't show his face and a giant who requires a final battle before he lights the pyre for his brother. Aldred returns to face his doom and discovers that an agreement he has made in life pursues him after death.