A Tumultuous Convergence (The Elephant and Macaw Banner - Novelette Series Book 6)

by Christopher Kastensmidt

  Gerard saw Guy blanch, finally realizing just how desperate his situation had become. He put his pistol back into his belt and chased after his fleeing men. Gerard started after him, but Oludara grabbed his shoulder.

  “We must help Simon against the creatures,” said Oludara.

  “No! If Guy escapes, he’ll come back with more men; I know it. I have to stop him.” Gerard pulled away and ran after Guy.

  Behind him, he heard Oludara shout, “Since when do you take sides?”

  Gerard ignored the comment and raced on, zigzagging through the battles which raged between monsters and men. He rounded a group of four Frenchmen facing a huge, ape-like creature. It picked one of the men up like a doll and used it to batter his companions. In the distance, an enormous crocodile breathed a cloud of greenish gas upon a group of Portuguese soldiers, causing them to grab their throats and gasp in agony. When Gerard returned his attention to his chase, he was shocked to find the giant rattlesnake just before him, rearing up to strike.

  With no time left to think, he threw himself to the ground and rolled downhill. The serpent’s strike passed just above him, and his momentum carried him well past the creature before he stumbled back to his feet.

  He looked behind to see Oludara and the black bull rushing straight at each other. His breath caught in his throat as they approached impact, but Oludara vaulted over the animal’s lowered horns at the last moment, bounced off its back, and rolled to a stop. Gerard paused, ready to race back and help his friend, but the bull never stopped charging; it simply changed course toward a different target.

  Gerard scanned for Guy and spotted him approaching the docks. The only thing left between him and the last galleon was an enormous capybara, calmly grazing and ignoring the commotion around it.

  “That won’t hold him,” muttered Gerard.

  As Guy neared the beast, however, it stared up at him with eyes of fire. It opened its mouth a full one-hundred and eighty degrees to display an immense pair of fangs. Guy skidded and fell, his pistol rolling from his grasp.

  Gerard had no time to set his gun; he threw it aside and drew his rapier. The creature and Gerard both lunged for Guy, and Gerard’s rapier struck true, passing through the capybara’s mouth and impaling its brain. They swiveled in the air, the creature landing on one side of Guy and Gerard crashing just as heavily on the other. Guy scooted back from them, toward his pistol.

  Gerard scrambled back for his gun, then spun towards Guy. Guy, pistol already aimed at Gerard’s head, strode toward him.

  “You’re a fine warrior, Gerard,” said Guy, “and you would have done well to join me. But this game is ended. As you yourself said, you won’t kill me. You see, walking around with that big gun of yours doesn’t mean a thing if you’re not willing to use it.”

  Gerard considered shooting Guy’s legs, but he knew the thought had come too late. With Guy’s pistol pointed at his head, he would never have time to get off a shot.

  As Guy tightened his finger on the trigger, a shape emerged from the darkness beside him, and an ivory blade flashed into view at his neck. Guy turned his eyes to stare straight into Oludara’s teeth, shining in the moonlight.

  “I, on the other hand,” said Oludara, “do not share my companion’s scruples. If you do not lower your gun, I will pass this blade through your throat.”

  His beaming smile left no doubt he would not only do it, but enjoy it.

  #

  In the rising dawn light, Oludara looked out over Rio de Janeiro and the aftermath of the battle. The monsters’ attack had taken a far heavier toll than the French invasion. Buildings lay in crumbled heaps. Several men had been killed, both French and Portuguese, and Simon’s soldiers were busy at work digging graves. They also had to dig three oversized graves for the enormous capybara, pig, and rattlesnake. The rest of the creatures—most of them heavily wounded—had wandered off when, out of the nighttime darkness, four notes had sounded, in opposite order of the ones which had summoned them.

  The final French ship never left port. A group of soldiers led by Luis and Duarte had reached the ship first and captured the French as they straggled on, one by one.

  Nearby, Guy and twenty French prisoners sat bound on the ground. Gerard sat off by himself, oiling his rapier and cleaning his harquebus, lost in his own thoughts and ignoring all else around him. Luis and Duarte led another twenty prisoners up from the bay. The two soldiers were dressed in colorful, extravagant clothes.

  “Simon,” said Luis, “look what we found in Guy’s cabin on the ship.”

  Simon chuckled and said to Guy, “Guy, did you come here to set up a city or a tailor’s shop?”

  Simon’s men all laughed at the joke and even the Frenchmen snickered. Guy turned red but said nothing. Besides him, only Gerard remained silent. Oludara watched his companion with concern.

  Finally, Gerard put away his equipment and approached Simon.

  “What will you do now?” asked Gerard.

  “Send a letter to the governor,” responded Simon. “He can’t ignore this problem anymore. Soon we’ll have the funds to erect a true city.”

  “I mean with them,” said Gerard, motioning toward the prisoners.

  “I haven’t decided yet.”

  “Ransom them, put them to work. Whatever you do, just make sure they come to no harm.”

  Gerard’s words came out like a command, and Simon stared him in the eye before responding. “Very well. But you and your friend must leave.”

  Gerard nodded as if he had expected it, but Oludara was offended. “Gerard rescued us all,” he said. “He saved the city!”

  “And that’s the only reason you two aren’t tied up like them. I’m convinced you didn’t betray us to the French, but I don’t trust you, either. I think Gerard would have abandoned the city if you hadn’t been taken prisoner.”

  Oludara, angered, looked to Gerard, waiting for his friend to offer some rebuttal. Gerard, however, merely adjusted his pack and tipped his hat to Simon in a wordless goodbye. Then he turned to Oludara.

  “Perhaps it’s time to go back and visit your wife,” he said.

  Oludara didn’t understand his friend’s reluctance to defend himself, but nodded in agreement. When Gerard set off for the north gate, he followed him in silence. He waved goodbye to Luis and Duarte as he left, and he couldn’t be sure, but thought he spotted wetness in their eyes.

  “Wait, Gerard!” screamed Guy. “Don’t go. Explain to this man that he can’t keep me tied up like this. I’m a templar. I fought at Lepanto. I met the Grand Turk!”

  “Really?” said Gerard, turning to face him.

  “Yes!”

  Gerard turned to Simon and said, “Then that should make the ransom all the sweeter.”

  Simon responded with a smile and a nod, and Gerard continued down the path.

  Returning to French, Guy screamed, “Le mond va de pis en pis!”

  “What does that mean?” asked Oludara.

  Without turning, Gerard replied, “He said: ‘The world goes from bad to worse.’ ”

  “And what do you think?”

  “What do I think? I think the world goes on.”

  Guy’s ranting continued behind them, but Oludara neither looked back, nor asked any more questions.

  #

  A half league from the city, Gerard and Oludara passed a small rise to find a man standing on the path before them. The man appeared to be a caboclo, a mixture of Tupi and Portuguese, like Simon, but if Gerard wasn’t mistaken, he could swear he had African features as well. His black hair was cut short and parted to one side. A crow perched upon his right shoulder.

  Gerard stopped several paces from the man and looked him up and down before saying, “Hail!”

  “Hail, Gerard van Oost and Oludara!” replied the man.

  “Why do you change so?”

  “I told you, Gerard, I am whatever the Land tells me I am. Although, this time, I believe I shall remain this way for quite a while.”

&
nbsp; Gerard paused to ponder those words.

  “What is your name?” asked Oludara.

  “My name is whatever the Land calls me.”

  “If you ask anything of this one,” said Gerard, “get used to answers like that. Nevertheless,” he said, returning his attention to the man, “I hope you’ll give me at least one clear answer. You said you wouldn’t interfere, but your crow called down the monsters. What made you change your mind? And don’t tell me ‘the Land told me to do it’.”

  “You made the choice, Gerard. Once you had saved your friend, you chose to go after Guy, not run away. If my bird here decided to sing a little song, so be it.”

  “I don’t think your bird just ‘decided’ to do anything.”

  “Very well, Gerard, if you demand an answer, I’ll give you one. I couldn’t stand that pompous ass any more than anyone else could.”

  “I thought that might be the reason.”

  “You were a native when we first met,” said Oludara. “Why would you help the Portuguese to rule this land?”

  “It may appear strange to you, who have lived for so short a time, but the Land is more ancient than you can imagine. I love the Tupinambá, and Tupiniquim, and Tamoio, it is true, but they are not the first to inhabit this coast. Those who lived here before, I loved them as well. The Tupi nations came and made war and drove them away. And even before them, there were yet others whom I loved. The world goes on, and we live as best we can within it.”

  Gerard, not at all surprised to hear his earlier words echoed, nodded in agreement.

  “At least, in this form,” said the man, holding out his arms for emphasis, “the blood of the Tupi tribes still flows within my veins. They are not gone, just changed. Brazil will be neither Portuguese nor Tupi, but something unique.” He looked at Oludara. “Something very unique indeed.”

  “An empire?” asked Oludara, raising an eyebrow.

  “Not in your lifetime, but Brazil will have its day.”

  “And I suppose that will end as well?” asked Gerard.

  “It is the nature of this world. But I can only see so far. A path has been laid, and it leads to empire. I fear that our paths, however, shall never cross again.”

  “Then I wish you luck,” said Gerard, tipping his hat.

  “And a long life,” added Oludara.

  “That,” replied the man, smirking, “you can be sure of.”

  The man left the path and disappeared into the woods. Gerard and Oludara continued on their way for several minutes before Gerard finally broke the silence.

  “Empire...” he said, shaking his head.

  At that, they shared a long chuckle.

  #

  In what had become a daily ritual, Luis and Duarte dragged Guy, screaming and biting, from his prison cell to a low clay wall. Duarte returned a few minutes later with an armful of papayas, which he cut up and laid around the man.

  Before Duarte had even cut the second fruit, blue tanagers filled the air around them. Some of them, perhaps by accident, brushed Guy with their feathers as they passed by. Others, very unlikely by accident, took time out from their feast to alight on his head and peck at his scalp.

  “Birds,” he cried. “Cursed birds!”

  END

  Gentle Reader,

  I hope you enjoyed “A Tumultuous Convergence”, where Gerard and Oludara finally reach the often-commented port known as Rio de Janeiro.

  I’m happy to mention that “The Discommodious Wedding”, book #3 in the series, received mention on multiple “Best of 2015” lists, including those of authors Lawrence M. Schoen, Aliette de Bodard, and Ken Schneyer. That’s quite an achievement for a self-published novel, and I thank them all greatly for taking the time to read and comment on it. Also, Carl Slaughter from SF Signal recently posted an in-depth interview with me. It’s a good source of information for those curious to learn some behind-the-scenes information about the series.

  As always, please consider leaving a short review of this book on Amazon. If you’d like to know when the next one comes out, sign up for the newsletter and you’ll be the first to know.

  Thanks so much for hanging around for these six books. More are on their way!

  Regards,

  Christopher

  Interested in further tales of Gerard and Oludara? There are several other titles available in this series, action-packed fantasy adventures that can be read in one sitting. Just $0.99 each or FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

  Acknowledgements:

  I’ve thanked many in the acknowledgements of the first five books, and even so, it seems like the list never ends. That’s a good thing, to know that so many have made an impact on my life. I hope that through my words and, much more importantly, through my actions, I have paid them back as best I can.

  In this book, I’d like to thank some of my recent partners, those who have enjoyed these books and, through them, come to work with me on moving this series forward. I owe them all greatly.

  First, I’d like to thank Fabiano Pandolfi and José Maia from aTOON studios, whose enthusiasm in working with The Elephant and Macaw Banner and faith in the series has been nothing short of inspiring. We have an unannounced project in the works, one I hope will go far. I should also thank Marsal Branco for the introduction.

  Douban.com, a Chinese social network with 100 million subscribers, is making the series available to Chinese readers for the first time. I need to thank the foreign rights editor, Pei Liu, for discovering these books and for making that happen.

  Some of my more enthusiastic readers have now started helping me with much needed pre-publication revisions, including Tiago Rech, Tom Wardle, and Victor Burgos. Thank you all so much, and to the dozens of readers who accepted advance review copies of book 5 and helped spread the word.

  John O’Neill from Black Gate was very kind in allowing me to discuss the series on his website. When I launched the series last year, his was the only site (out of dozens) that gave any response at all to my review requests, which just goes to show how hard it is to be an indie author. Several reviewers did find the stories indirectly, through indications or websites, so I suppose I owe them double. They include Kate Diamond, Ricardo Santos, Elias Combarro, Mikaela Lind, Leticia Lara, Cristina Alves, and Matheus Braga. Thanks to Aliette de Bodard, Lawrence M. Schoen, and Ken Schneyer for their kind mentions (as I noted in the letter above) and Carl Slaughter for his amazing interview. I’m sure I’m forgetting some here, there are so many to thank, but if I missed someone, send me a nudge and I will make it up in the next volume, I promise.

  One person I should have mentioned earlier is Cris Viana from Estúdio Chaleira, whose work on the cover layouts for this series has been spectacular.

  The gang at MonsterBed have been wonderful with their support, and I hope we can get a project off the ground in the near future. Felipe Milkewicz, Junior Moreira, Matheus Liska, Anderson Mathias, and Lucas Saldanha – it’s an honor to work with you.

  Fernando Menezes has become the voice of our social networks, handling most of the Twitter, Facebook and Wordpress posting of late. He has been a great help in keeping the news flowing and allowing me to concentrate on writing.

  The gang at Lends Club was fundamental in testing The Elephant and Macaw Banner board game, coming out in Brazil later this year. Special thanks to the club’s owners, Wyllian Hossein and Julio Matos, and to Renan Neto for his help with revision.

  It takes one person to create a book, but thousands to create the writer. Thank you all.

  About the author:

  Christopher was born in Texas, but has lived in Porto Alegre, Brazil, for the last fifteen years. While his first love will always be literature, he also writes for video games, TV, and comics. In one form or another, his stories have been enjoyed by millions.

 

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