The Price of Survival — Lance Conrad

Technology and magic clash in this tale of power and treachery. The
Historian and his new friends find themselves part of an unlikely team
as a portal opens in a war-torn land, linking it to a world of darkness
and terrible power. Tanniks, twisted into cruel monstrosities by their
own magic, come through the Vortex to claim the new territory and
butcher the defiant.

As casualties mount and trembling refugees warn of worse things to come,
it becomes ever more difficult to foresee mankind s destiny. Will they
remain in slavery, or will the fury of the Tanniks be crushed by human
ingenuity and ruthlessness?