The prequel novella has had a significant overhaul. New cover, tighter prose, and a complete revision pass that touched all thirteen scenes.
The original was published in December and it did what a first release does - it got the story out there. But living with it for a few months showed me where the seams were. Scenes that told when they should have shown. A villain who was too obviously villainous. A young soldier whose death needed to matter more before it happened.
This revised edition fixes all of that. The word count actually went down - from over twelve thousand to just over ten. Every cut made it sharper. Wes now gets the moments he deserves before Highmark. Roberto is a politician, not a cartoon. The sigil threads properly from the archives to the epilogue. And the new cover, well, it looks like the story feels.
If you've already read it, it's worth a second look. If you haven't, this is the version to start with. War in the North is next.