Secrets of the Sword 3 characters

Also known as Val

Appears from the start

A half-elven investigator, co-owner of the Coffee Dragon, and wielder of the ancient sword Storm. With her wedding to Zav days away, she faces a ruined venue, a bombed business, and the imminent arrival of both families.

Also known as Zavryd, Zav

Appears from the start

A dragon and Val's fiance. He is preparing for their mixed-species wedding, expects his queen mother to attend, and agrees to import prey after his local hunting creates an expensive problem. His family commitments make postponing the ceremony difficult.

Also known as Willard

Appears from the start

Val's official sponsor, intelligence contact, and determined wedding organizer. When the original site floods, she takes charge of finding an alternative.

Appears from the start

An enchanter and co-owner of the Coffee Dragon. He alerts Val that someone has bombed the shop.

Also known as Zav's mother

Appears from the start

Zav's mother and a dragon queen expected at the wedding. Her presence makes postponing the ceremony impractical because she has rearranged important commitments to attend with other members of Zav's family.

First appears in chapter 2

A goblin work leader who offers the hidden goblin sanctuary as a replacement wedding venue. Willard accepts the offer.

First appears in chapter 2

Val's telepathic magical tiger companion and an experienced field ally. He helps examine the wreckage at the Coffee Dragon and searches the crowded, magic-heavy scene for the attacker's trail, finding a fragment that may have come from a grenade.

Also known as Walker

First appears in chapter 2

A healer, member of the magical community, and regular patron of the Coffee Dragon. He responds at the damaged shop and provides emergency care to the people hurt in the explosion, helping stabilize a scene with several injuries but no deaths.

First appears in chapter 3

Val's vampire alchemist roommate, who maintains a refuge in her basement. He urgently summons Val after armed elves arrive at her home and appear ready to attack his refuge.

Also known as the elven king

First appears in chapter 4

Val's father and an elven ruler. He arrives early for the wedding with guards and numerous relatives, creating a housing problem and a direct threat to the vampire living in Val's basement.

First appears in chapter 4

Val's half-sister, who arrives with the elven delegation and explains why a disgraced assassin might hold a grievance against Val.

First appears in chapter 4

Val's human mother, whose past connects her to Val's elven father. Her cabin becomes overflow lodging for some of the large elven delegation that arrives before the wedding, easing the pressure on Val's crowded home.

Also known as dwarven envoy, master smith and enchanter

First appears in chapter 4

A master smith and enchanter brought to Earth to teach Val how to use Storm.

Also known as Val's ancient sword, Chopper

First appears in chapter 4

The ancient enchanted dwarven blade carried by Val. A visiting master smith intends to teach her the command words needed to use more of its powers.

First appears in chapter 4

An elven contract killer whom Val defeated before this book. After the Fae Queen publicly damages his reputation, Val considers it possible that he may retaliate against her, but she has no confirmation.

First appears in chapter 9

Val's teenage daughter and sword student. She continues training with Val despite her mother's exhaustion and meets her elven grandfather amid the crowded pre-wedding household, extending her first contact with Val's elven family.

First appears in chapter 9

A half-troll Coffee Dragon employee and Reb's foster mother. She asks Val to investigate after the boy disappears without taking his possessions and fears he was abducted.

First appears in chapter 9

A young troll fostered by Inga who also helps at the Coffee Dragon. His unexplained disappearance soon after the bombing gives Val another urgent mystery to investigate.

First appears in chapter 10

A food-truck operator who secretly manufactures magical weapons and keeps records of her sales. She recognizes the Coffee Dragon shrapnel as consistent with one of her grenades and discovers that fifteen are missing.

First appears in chapter 20

A dragon who arrives early with Zav's sister to examine the wedding site on behalf of their leaders.

First appears in chapter 21

A troll shaman who approaches Willard's apartment and appears to threaten her, prompting Val to confront him.

First appears in chapter 16

Val's mother's werewolf neighbor. Protective elves trap him at home after believing Val's mother is in danger, and Val asks Zav to help mediate.

First appears in chapter 28

The patriarch of a rival dragon clan and the dragon queen's prospective negotiating counterpart. She invites him to the wedding site in the hope that the gathering can support talks toward ending the long feud between their clans.

First appears in chapter 29

Nin's partner. By the day before Val and Zav's wedding, their relationship appears serious.

First appears in chapter 30

A hostile troll shaman who threatens Val with death before the next full moon. He seeks revenge for two shaman brothers killed by Val's allies.