by Jim C. Hines
She turned to look at Mason, and for a moment, I thought I might have been wrong. But then she raised her sword and advanced toward me. "He is unwise."
"No argument there." Olara had already turned her back on redemption. Even the author couldn't change what was already written. I set the egg on the floor. "Come and get it."
Olara's spiders charged forward, and I tipped over the canister.
Fog billowed through the room. I could hear Olara's spiders cracking like cellophane, but I couldn't see anything. I coughed as I waited for the nitrogen to finish boiling away. Had there been enough to reach Olara?
When the fog dissipated, broken shards of crystal littered the floor. Olara and one of her spiders had survived the nitrogen. It limped forward on its remaining legs.
I waited for it to get closer, then slammed the empty tank down on top of it. Weakened by the cold, the spider shattered.
"Your death will be a slow one, human." Ruby flames danced along Olara's sword.
"Is that sword as indestructible as the rest of her?" I called out.
From the other side of the pool, Larry yelled, "It's unbreakable."
"Good." I reached into my jacket for a tattered, dog-eared book I had carried for over ten years. A book I had read so often as I child that I no longer needed to see the words on the page. My fingers slipped easily through the pages, and the harsh desert air warmed my hand.
Joy I hadn't felt in ages knotted my chest as I pulled out a black and chrome cylinder with a gleaming disk on one end. I flipped a switch, and a blue blade thrummed to life.
Seconds later, Olara's unbreakable sword lay in pieces on the floor.
I fought a twinge of guilt as I swung again. None of this was Olara's fault. She couldn't help being what she was.
Her armor rang against the floor as she fell. There was no body, only a dark mist that slowly dissipated into the air.
On the opposite side of the pool, Garth Mason screamed. Though Larry had at least thirty pounds on him, Mason tossed him into the water.
The book lay on the floor behind him. Another crystal spider clawed through the pages and scurried toward me. I switched my grip and sliced it to pieces.
"What happened?" Larry asked as he paddled toward the side.
I deactivated my weapon, retrieving my pistol instead. I didn't want to kill Mason, but if I had to.... "I destroyed Olara."
"He's going berserk!" Larry shouted.
"He's like a group mind, only the different parts are all trying to kill each other." The only thing that could unite them was an external threat, and the instant I slew Olara, I proved myself a threat.
Mason drew a knife and threw with such easy grace that he had to be channeling some sort of elf. I tried to dodge, but my reflexes were no match for his. The knife stabbed my thigh and I stumbled. Stupid elves.
A burst of wind flung me back. Presumably a magic-user of some kind. I fired once, but it was impossible to get a good shot. I slammed to the floor, and my gun clattered away.
"So why the hell did you waste your time on Olara instead of fighting him?" Larry shouted.
I pushed up my head and smiled. "Because it was Olara who was killing my partner."
Some part of Garth Mason was still aware enough to understand, but it was too late. He whirled to see Smudge standing next to the fallen book.
It's hard to express a sense of satisfaction with mandibles and eight beady eyes, but Smudge managed. Maybe it was his body language, the way he glared at Mason before hopping onto the book. Or maybe it was the way he danced about, deliberately spreading the flames over every inch of the cover art.
Mason's scream was a chorus of pain and confusion. "Stop him! We're burning!"
Normally, it would have taken a while for the fire to consume a brick of a book like Mason's. But few fires had the strength of a pissed-off fire-spider. Soon, Smudge stood in a cloud of swirling ash. Scraps of the book remained, but not enough to hold any real power.
A dripping Larry helped me to my feet. His prosthetic forehead flopped to one side, hanging by a few bits of glue. His make-up was smeared, and he had left most of his costume in the pool, probably so the weight wouldn't drag him down.
"Is he dead?" Larry asked, handing me my gun.
"He's in shock." I clenched my jaw to keep from gasping as I bent down to search Mason's body. I found a few fragments of crystal in his pocket, but no weapons. The crystals shattered when I threw them against the floor. "Best case scenario, he'll be in a coma for a few weeks, wake up in charge of his own mind, and spend the rest of his life hearing voices. Worst case...well, the council has people who will make sure that doesn't happen."
"If he recovers, he could write another book. He could create anything he wanted." When I nodded, he continued, "Do other authors have this kind of power?"
"A few we know about," I said. "And we're keeping a pretty close eye on Rowling."
I sat back against the wall. "You know, if you'd let me get Lucy's potion, I could fix this," I said, jabbing a finger at my leg. Adrenaline was still blocking the worst of the pain. That wouldn't last long. "Run and call 911, would you?"
As Larry ran toward the hotel phone by the door, I set my hand down for Smudge. His feet were still warm as he climbed onto my palm. Bits of ash clung to his furry body, but he appeared unharmed. When I gave him a chocolate, he pounced on it with his usual enthusiasm.
"Nice work, partner." I stroked his thorax as he ate, trying not to think about the paperwork waiting for me back home. Instead, I pulled my newest weapon from my pocket and ignited the blade.
I knew it was a bad idea. Like most SF gadgets, it had a limited power supply, and I had no way to recharge it. But for a moment, holding the humming weapon in both hands, I felt like a kid again.
I put it away before Larry returned, first aid kit and hotel staffers in tow. The others checked on Mason while Larry packed gauze around the knife in my leg.
"Take this," I said, handing him one of my business cards.
"What for?"
I shook my head. "Because you know as well as I do that the instant this is over, you're grabbing your favorite book and heading to your hotel room. And if you succeed, you can make a lot more of a mess than Mason."
He didn't bother to argue. "What do you mean?"
"Mason was in love with his own books. You, you're in love with the whole damn genre."
Neither of us spoke for a while, unless you count my gasps as he taped my bandages. Then, in a soft voice, he asked, "Is it worth it?"
"You love the stories. They don't love you back. Well, not usually." I leaned against the wall, still petting Smudge. A bit of melted chocolate dripped onto my finger, and I smiled. "Call me when you succeed."
_____
Author's Note: This story is entirely the fault of editor Kerrie Hughes. We were at Windycon, and she told me she wanted a Smudge story for an anthology she was working on. The trick was that this was an anthology of modern-day stories, so I had to figure out how to bring Smudge into our world. Thus was libriomancy born.
Unfortunately, I managed to completely miss the theme of the anthology, so she rejected the story. Fortunately, she had another project she was working on, called Gamer Fantastic, and asked if she could buy the story for that one instead.
In late 2010, I sold a new series to my editor at DAW. The first book is tentatively titled Libriomancer. While I'm not going to use Isaac Sky or his friend Larry, Smudge will be returning for more adventures. Look for that book probably in late 2012 or early 2013.
Fantasy e-Books by Jim C. Hines
GOBLIN QUEST [Amazon | B&N]
GOBLIN HERO [Amazon | B&N]
GOBLIN WAR [Amazon | B&N]
THE STEPSISTER SCHEME [Amazon | B&N]
THE MERMAID'S MADNESS [Amazon | B&N]
RED HOOD'S REVENGE [Amazon | B&N]
THE SNOW QUEEN'S SHADOW - July 5, 2011 [Preview]
For free short fiction and sample chapters, the author's blog, fan art, an
d much more, please visit http://www.jimchines.com.