by Graeme Hurry
The sorceress relaxed. “Then you are the only problem,” she said. “Would you stay here, then? Await a golden age?”
“Would you force me?” I retorted. I lifted my eyes to hers, fierce. I could feel the beast glow inside me. “You’d lose. You may be a sorceress, but the power you’re drawing upon is not astral—it is life. It is my power. I have the advantage.”
“Maybe.” She met my eyes. “You’ve never faced me.”
“I am one of the strongest of my generation,” I said, without pride. It had been just another chain in my prison. “I know that much.”
“And you would force these people to live in the world around us now?” Eselen’s voice hardened with irony. “Without giving them the choice?”
Irritation prickled, but I pushed it down. “I would give each the ability to choose,” I said. “We have to trust people to know their own minds—and let them choose wrong, if they wish.”
“It won’t work that way,” she said. “The secret will only survive if there is no one out there to tell the tale. It must be all or nothing.”
I began to doubt my indignation at Eselen’s decision. There seemed no good solution. I couldn’t understand the appeal of hiding away, waiting for an unknown future, but it wasn’t my choice to make.
“Everyone could voice their opinions,” I said slowly, “and the town could do whatever the most people feel is right.”
“So the rest still have the choice taken from them. Do you truly believe in the wisdom of the many? I don’t.” Yet she sounded weary rather than combative. She leaned back, sighing. “I want what is best for these people. Why is that so difficult?”
I had intended to point out a vote was better than nothing, but her question stopped me. “Because there is no best,” I said, “just a choice between cages.”
Eselen nodded. “It would seem I am as trapped as they. And you? What is your cage?”
I shrank from her inspection. “I have no cage,” I said. “I escaped from Korias and am headed for the lands beyond. Once there, I will choose my own path.”
“Are you sure?” She tilted her head to study me. “The emperor does not like losing his people, I have heard it said, and you have a strange look to you. I found it hard enough to avoid the empire, and I was ordinary and unregarded. The borders will keep expanding; your days of running are not over.
“You could remain here,” she continued. “Take advantage of the same protections I have offered to Goldwyld. The opportunity of freedom in a new world.”
“You think I should hide?” I asked, the words pulled from me.
“How is that different from what you’re already doing? Do you honestly think that wherever you end up, it will be the end of running?”
She was right. The revelation sent my thoughts rushing in a dozen directions. Where was I going to go? What would I do? I hadn’t thought any further than freedom, than simply getting away… but that meant nothing if there was no end to the journey.
I had always lived from my heart, or tried to – too often, the treacheries of court made that impossible. I had shied away from the enemies around me, never confronted them, and found myself ever more caged in my behavior. I had thought simply crossing the border would free me; now it seemed infinitely more complicated.
Eselen’s offer was tempting for the briefest instant before I dismissed it. I might be on the run now, but at least that meant I was free to move, not chained by centuries. What other choice did I have?
Korias expanded his empire through blood and cruelty. I could ignore that, keep running, but I would never be able to stop. I would be as trapped as I had always been.
Or I could stop running.
“What if I said I wasn’t running to escape, but running to a place where I could gather power?” The words tumbled over each other, finding conviction even as I spoke them. “What if I don’t intend to hide,” I continued, “but instead, I intend to fight?”
Eselen’s eyes widened; she sank back, expression pensive. She didn’t speak for some moments. “Some would say,” she ventured, at last, “that the fight you propose is impossible.”
“You can’t say that,” I pointed out, “because you’ve already admitted that empires fall. So what if it is an impossible fight? It’s one I choose to undertake. With the well of life-force, we could make a difference…” I drew a breath, readied myself. “You and I.”
Eselen breathed out, soft laughter, and I waited for her to mock me. Instead, she smiled, a gentle and pained expression. “You make it sound so simple.”
“Making it happen is hard,” I said, “but the choice is simple.”
“What about the people of Goldwyld?” she asked.
“They’ll have a different choice to make,” I said, “but at least it’s in their hands.” Eselen considered, then slowly nodded. “And if they don’t want to fight?”
“Then I’ll leave and find another weapon,” I said, “and hope you’ll come with me. But I won’t let you act without the town’s agreement.”
She lifted her eyes to mine. I saw resolution there, a slow gathering of accord. “Very well.”
Eselen rose from the cushion, stepping away. She gestured sharply with both hands. Goldwyld came to life, a jolt of awakening I felt in my bones.
Delise bounded into the sanctuary, breathless. Tolvas came grumbling a few steps behind her. “Don’t even know what you’re rushing into, girl,” he said.
She glared at Eselen. “Is this your doing?”
“It is,” I said, stepping in, “but she did it for the right reasons. We have a lot to discuss.”
As we left the temple, my mind raced into new possibilities, new choices. I had no idea what would happen from here, but I had broken more than the prison walls around the people of Goldwyld. I had broken the chains that bound me.
Contributor Notes
Steve Bates has had science fiction stories published in Perihelion, The Colored Lens, Aurora Wolf, the “Visions” series by Lillicat Publishers, and the anthology “Songs for The Raven”. He is a former reporter and editor for news publications such as The Washington Post.
Mike Chinn has edited three volumes of The Alchemy Press Book Of Pulp Heroes and Swords Against The Millennium for The Alchemy Press. His Damian Paladin collection, The Paladin Mandates, was short-listed for the British Fantasy Award in 1999; a second collection, Walkers In Shadow, was published by Pro Se Productions in 2017. He sent Sherlock Holmes to the Moon in Vallis Timoris (2015 Fringeworks), and has two short story collections in print: Give Me These Moments Back (2015 The Alchemy Press) and Radix Omnium Malum (2017 Parallel Universe Publications). In 2018 Pro Se published his first Western: Revenge Is a Cold Pistol.
Lindsey Duncan has written a contemporary fantasy novel called Flow which is available from Double Dragon Publishing, and a soft science novel, with award-winning Grimbold Books (Kristell Ink imprint). Other works have appeared in Abyss and Apex (and reprinted in their first Best Of anthology), Leading Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy, Andromeda Spaceways Magazine and GUD.
Graeme Hurry edited a magazine called Kimota in the 90s and a horror anthology called Northern Chills in 1994. Now he has branched out by editing this kindle magazine, Kzine. He has a story in Terror Tales of The Scottish Highlands anthology and an honourable mention in Year’s Best Horror 2001 for a story he collaborated on with Willie Meikle called The Blue Hag.
Cameron Johnston lives in Glasgow, Scotland, with his wife and an extremely fluffy cat. He is a swordsman, a gamer, an enthusiast of archaeology, history and mythology, a builder of LEGO, and owns far too many books to fit on his shelves. He loves exploring ancient sites and camping out under the stars by a roaring fire. His work has appeared in Deep Magic, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly and The Lovecraft eZine, and his debut novel The Traitor God is available now from Angry Robot.
Kevin Stadt is an English teacher with a master’s degree in teaching writing and a doctorate in American literature. His stories have appeared or are fort
hcoming in Lazarus Risen, Enter the Aftermath, Issues of Tomorrow, Under the Bed, Nebula Rift, Bewildering Stories, Fiction on the Web and Phantaxis. Although he hails from a small town in Illinois, he now lives in South Korea with his wife and sons, who are inter-dimensional cyborg pirates wanted in a dozen star systems.
John H. Stevens has had many short stories published including stories in Spinetinglers, Creepy Campfire Stories, and Hub magazines. He lives with his lovely wife, Geraldine and daughter Katie in the suburbs of Chicago after growing up near Wrigley Field. He attempts to come up with ideas for horror stories despite his dogs’ demand to play with them.
Todd Sullivan has published short fiction in several venues, including Aurealis Science Fiction and Fantasy, SciFan Magazine, Pole to Pole’s Dark Luminous Wings Anthology, Expanded Horizons Magazine, Aurora Wolf Literary Journal, Hellbound Books’ Big Book of Bootleg Horror 2, Scarlet Leaf Review, Eastlit Journal, Tokyo Yakuza Anthology, and Tincture Journal.
Dave Windett is a professional comics artist and illustrator. He has worked for numerous publishers in Britain, Europe and America—among them Cappelen Damm, DC Thomson, Fleetway, Future, Marvel UK, Panini and PSS (a division of Penguin USA. Korky the Cat, Count Duckula, Lazarus Lemming, Inspector Gadget, Ace Ventura, Tails the Fox, The Loony and Tiny Toons are just a handful of the very many original and licensed characters he has drawn. With Writer John Gatehouse he self publishes some work under the Little Lemming Books imprint the latest of which is The Kaci Bell Mysteries. He recently completed work on Monster Hunters Unlimited a four book series for PSS. Samples of His work can be seen at - www.davewindett.com.