Silas is the first issue of the Les Larmes de Sang series, which takes place in the year 975. It introduces the main characters and some of the source of their struggles, but leaves more crucial exposition for the next volume, which truly sets things in motion. This pacing allowed the author to dedicate many pages of this first installment to elaborate combat scenes.
Summary[]
The book begins abruptly in the middle of a fight between the main character Silas and his father Baajah, a Sacrier of great renown and little appreciation for his son's skills as a fighter. Their combat is interrupted by the irruption of a giant wolf-like monster whose considerable might proves a challenge for even Baajah "The Hunter." In the end, the Sacrier is defeated, followed by Silas's mother Elina who also gives her life to protect him. Desperate, the boy calls out for the goddess Sacrier to give him the strength to avenge his parents, and his powers finally awaken. Unfortunately, he is still no match for the beast that defeated both his parents, and is on the brink of death when a strange woman wearing a mask enters the scene and sends the monster away.
Naïma appears to stop the wolf
In the next scene, Silas wakes up in Naïma's cabin in the woods, where she introduces herself and confirms that his parents did not make it. She is surrounded by animals under her care that she seems to treat almost like people, and she tells him that she has already buried his parents. They visit the grave together and Silas learns that she is also an orphan, rejected by the nearest village for being "different." The teenagers decide to live together and they find happiness in the woods, until one day, they are attacked by children from the village who call Naïma a monster and the daughter of Rushu.
Silas is unable to repel their attack on his own, but an unfamiliar Iop stumbles upon the scene and takes their defense, introducing himself as the "knight" Mufasa although he is no older than them. His arrogance and Naïma's interest for him quickly inspire jealousy in Silas, but together they dispose of their assailants easily. They are soon joined by Mufasa's older brother Apifaice, and Naïma invites the duo to her cabin for the night. There they explain how their village was practically decimated by a fearsome monster a year prior, leaving only them as survivors, and that they are on a journey to find that beast and seek revenge. For Silas, their story hits strangely close to home.
That night, Apifaice surprises a band of villagers sneaking around the cabin – the parents of the kids who attacked that day, come to put an end to the threat of "Rushu's spawn." Mufasa is awoken by their fighting and he wastes no time in joining the fight to help his brother. Unfortunately, an Osamodas from the villagers' group then summons a Crackler that puts the boy in danger, forcing Apifaice to knock him out and away from the fight and to use his sword, which is inhabited by a powerful Shushu that he hasn't tamed. Apifaice is immediately possessed and makes short work of the Crackler while Silas and Naïma also come out of the cabin, woken by the commotion.
Out of control, the possessed Apifaice then turns his attention to the two of them, perhaps thinking that they are threatening his brother as they are leaning over him and checking his vital signs. At the last moment, the giant wolf who killed Silas's parents tackles Apifaice to protect them, but it is quickly apparent that even it is outclassed by the Demon-possessed Iop. With the wolf out of commission, the volume ends as Silas takes it upon himself to protect Naïma and once again prays the goddess to lend him her strength and even take his life if it can save Naïma.
- ↑ Advertised as 96 pages