The Waystation Ward by J.T. Vance
English | 2026 | Sci-Fi & Fantasy
They were looking for a magical artifact. What they found was him.
Corin is a stable hand at a remote waystation. He has no magic, no combat training, and no illusions about his place in the world. His only real skill is reading the people and animals that pass through his yard.
Then a Knight-Captain and a brilliant, sharp-tongued arcanist arrive on the road, hunting a four-hundred-year-old stolen relic. When Corin accidentally handles the artifact, he realizes he can hear its hidden frequency—a sound neither the mage nor the knight can perceive.
A continent-spanning magical ward is collapsing, and the ancient vaults holding the keys to repair it are designed to violently reject anyone with magical or martial power. The original builders didn’t want a hero. They wanted a “common hand” to act as a resonance anchor.
Corin is exactly what they need. And he is entirely unprepared for what comes next.
Drafted into a desperate journey across hostile territory, Corin must rely on his grounded wits to survive ambushes, ancient ruins, and cults. But surviving the road might be easier than navigating the intense, complicated dynamic building between himself and the two formidable women he’s traveling with.
The power of the keys is waking something up inside him. And the women are starting to notice.
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