Book excerpt: A century has passed since the vampire race settled in the arctic north. It seems all is well for Druthor the Great, King of the Vampires, sitting uncontested on the Crimson Throne, when an iron sorceress arrives from the south. With her tales of war and tumult, she brings memories of what Druthor lacks: a national heirloom, an ancestral treasure, Lifedrinker, the ancient blade of the vampires.