Hireling: An LGBTQIA Fantasy – Grace, Kevin

He faced off against the other two, who charged him. The first swung, which he parried, creating an opening. Rather than attacking, he used its leg as a step and climbed onto its back. He watched the others leap away, stepping onto the troll’s head and jumping into the air. He used the momentum to grab one of the trolls overhead, driving his sword under its ribs.

It screamed as they began to plummet. Lance waited until they were above one of the remaining trolls and let go, using gravity to push him into it. He swung down, cleaving through it like the one he had earlier, before the explosion had occurred. His landing wasn’t as graceful, however, and he stumbled as mud and experience spilled over him.

His body ached as the final troll, the one he had used to launch himself up, walked toward him. It also happened to be the one with the severed ear, muddy water spilling from its head, making it look as dizzy as Lance felt. He stood, heaving in anger, letting the experience from the slain trolls drift toward him. The one he had jumped towards fell nearby, though most of its experience was absorbed by its victim.

The other had escaped, but all Lance was focused on now was the monster in front of him. “You…” he took a long breath, trying not to pass out, “bastard…” As he glared at it, fury building within him, the monster lost its nerve. It leapt over him, chasing after the other two escaped trolls.

Lance breathed a sigh of relief, collapsing to the ground. That sucked, he thought, fighting for conciousness. He was aware of the other person in the crater, crawling toward them. He was a bit disappointed when he discovered it wasn’t Matilda, but instead Leo. He’d hoped he’d managed to save his friend, but knew saving anyone was better than no one. They took them, Lance recalled. That means they probably need my friends alive. Otherwise, why capture someone who has killed your companions.

He didn’t leave immediately, spending several minutes catching his breath. He didn’t know how long they had, but he also knew he couldn’t help them if he died from exhaustion in pursuit. Eventually, however, he lifted Leo onto his back and left the crater, scanning the canyon.

Copyright © 2025 by Kevin Grace All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission. First edition This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy Find out more at reedsy.com OceanofPDF.com To my mom and friends, Who supported me to this point And helped me find myself Here’s to many more years of self discovery!

OceanofPDF.com Contents Preface Prologue: 2 Years Ago Quest 1: Rock Bottom Cutscene: 1 Year Ago Quest 2: Looking for Answers Quest 3: Bob Cutscene: 13 Months Ago Quest 4: Escape Quest 5: Heroic Adventurers Cutscene: 13 Months Ago Quest 6: Follow the River Quest 7: Answers Quest 8: Valiance Quest 9: Lift the Anchor Cutscene: 6 Months Ago Quest 10: Funeral Pyre Epilogue About the Author OceanofPDF.com Preface Welcome to Hireling! I’m Kevin Grace, and you’re readying my debut novel! I thank you for the interest you’ve shown my new series, and hope you follow with the same anxious excitement as I wrote with!

Before we get into the story, I wanted to introduce it with a warning. This story covers subjects which may be triggering to certain readers, like transphobia, death, abuse, and manipulation. I employ you, if this story delves into subjects that you may be sensitive to, to take care of yourself. This story is meant to provide hope and support to whoever reads it, but no story can exist without struggle and heartache.

While I’d obviously love for everyone to binge read my books with a hunger that keeps them up at night, your safety is more important. I write this because I believe in the message at my story’s core. Life can be hell. We’ve all felt like we’ve hit rock bottom before. Sometimes, we don’t just rise from the bedrock, inspired to face the world again, but instead we wander, climbing up the rocky walls and falling back to the earth.

But, down here, there are others who understand what we’re going through.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “Hireling: An LGBTQIA Fantasy” by Grace, Kevin, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: bf1d62b5f14f7a21
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 986,066 bytes (0.94 MB)
• Title: Hireling: An LGBTQIA Fantasy
• Author: Grace, Kevin
• Pages: 144
• Language: English (en)
• Digital Edition Created: 2026-03-06T20:09:27+00:00

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 243.18 minutes
• Total Words: 48,636
• Total Characters: 274,113
• Average Words per Page: 337.75
• Average Characters per Page: 1903.56

Most Frequent Words

leo (534), lance (229), leigh (206), like (193), back (177), matilda (149), one (138), didn’t (128), looked (126), i’m (120), he’d (119), toward (119), said (117), bob (114), though (103), around (102), it’s (90), away (90), still (89), turned (88), himself (86), eyes (86), don’t (85), wasn’t (85), fjord (85), now (84), trolls (84), thought (82), analyst (79), even (78), began (77), asked (77), know (75), river (69), troll (69), another (67), room (66), took (65), right (65), however (64), well (64), water (64), time (63), seemed (63), val (63), first (62), get (62), head (62), quickly (62), much (60), aries (60), couldn’t (59), two (59), hand (59), against (58), something (58), experience (58), leo’s (57), see (57), sword (57), enough (55), forward (54), never (52), breath (52), want (52), need (52), got (52), long (52), watched (51), body (51), made (50), slime (49), life (48), face (47), help (47), looking (46), you’re (46), behind (45), maybe (45), pushed (44), make (43), sure (42), since (42), pulled (42), level (42), felt (41), continued (41), chest (41), feeling (41), think (41), way (41), new (40), going (40), trying (40), across (40), can’t (40), others (39), ground (39), everything (39), also (39).

Table of Contents

• Page 6: Preface
• Page 8: Prologue: 2 Years Ago
• Page 11: Quest 1: Rock Bottom
• Page 20: Cutscene: 1 Year Ago
• Page 22: Quest 2: Looking for Answers
• Page 33: Quest 3: Bob
• Page 40: Cutscene: 13 Months Ago
• Page 44: Quest 4: Escape
• Page 55: Quest 5: Heroic Adventurers
• Page 67: Cutscene: 13 Months Ago
• Page 71: Quest 6: Follow the River
• Page 83: Quest 7: Answers
• Page 97: Quest 8: Valiance
• Page 107: Quest 9: Lift the Anchor
• Page 126: Cutscene: 6 Months Ago
• Page 129: Quest 10: Funeral Pyre
• Page 141: Epilogue
• Page 144: About the Author

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