"A Taste of Agony" was published in the anthology . About this story, author Tim Marquitz says, "'A Taste of Agony' is set in my upcoming fantasy series Tales of the Prodigy. It features my outlaw, eunuch assassin Gryl, the protagonist from my companion story, 'Redemption at Knife's Edge'. Trapped in hostile territory just after the resolution of the Avan-Thrak war, Gryl lives off the land and the spoils of his once-ally, the chaotic Thrak berserkers. When a chance encounter with a group of renegade Shytan knights offers him a chance at a warm meal and a few nights of relative peace, and the possibility of coin in his pouch, Gryl finds himself unable to refuse. He soon learns, however, that no matter how far removed from the war he might be, the past is never far behind."