by James Maxey
“She won’t be soft when she catches her breath,” said Hookhand
“She’s weak now,” said Kid Black, stroking her chin, then tracing his fingers down the ivory arc of her throat. The top buttons of her armor were still undone. “Weak and helpless.”
“Just like a dog,” snickered Kid Blue. “Always looking for something to hump.”
“I thought he was always looking for something to eat,” said Kid White.
“She could be both,” said Kid Black, folding the top of the leather breast plate down to reveal her pale cleavage. He lowered his long narrow face to her throat and licked at her sweat.
I screamed in my rage, my impotence to alter things in the living world stabbing at me like a knife.
Hookhand held back, his eye a little glassy as he watched Kid Black run his hairy hand along the top of Infidel’s cleavage. Infidel’s face was already scrunched up as much as humanly possible, and pinned as she was I couldn’t tell if she was even aware of this assault. Was she even awake, or had crashing into the floor knocked her senseless?
“Wake up!” I screamed, my ghost voice hauntingly silent in the room. “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”
“Ow,” said Kid Black, yanking his hand away.
“What?” asked Kid Green.
“Something bit me.”
“Wake... up...” my voice trailed off as I saw that the tick on Infidel’s breast had vanished.
Kid Black put the edge of his hand into his mouth to gnaw at the tiny parasite digging into him.
Then his head came apart.
Menagerie could change shape faster than the eye could follow. His powers flowed from blood magic; his human form had been covered scalp to toe in tattoos inked with the blood of the animals they represented. He’d been able to switch between these forms instantly, and even vast differences in sizes hadn’t been a barrier to his magic. He’d been able to change from mouse to elephant just as swiftly as he could between lion and tiger. I’d never before pondered what would happen if he’d entered a person’s mouth the size of a tick, then turned into a full-sized blood-hound. As it happened, Menagerie’s expanding body proved powerful enough to rip Kid Black’s skull open from the inside out.
Kid Black flopped backward, his lower jaw missing, his upper jaw cracked open in such a way that I could see his brains. As his body hit the floor, his ghost seemed to be knocked loose. His spirit rose above his corporeal form, looking bewildered. Since dying, I’ve had the ability to see ghosts as they depart the mortal world, and occasionally to converse with them. I felt like saying something particularly nasty to this spirit. I know this dog-boy was just street trash, a freak, never standing a chance at a normal life, but any pity I might have been able to summon had vanished the instant he started pawing my wife. Unable to summon sufficiently nasty curses from my normally abundant lexicon, I lifted my middle finger to his spirit as it flickered and faded.
The hound dog that had sprung fully formed from Kid Black’s mouth growled as he faced Hookhand. Hookhand shook off his confusion about what he’d just witnessed with remarkable speed and swung the hammer overhead, aiming for the dog’s skull. The hound lunged forward, sinking his teeth into Hookhand’s groin as the hammer splintered the floorboards.
Infidel’s eyes jerked open, bloodshot and brimming with tears. Her blurry gaze fixed on Kid Blue, who was still pinning down her right forearm with both his hands. The monkey child had his eyes on Hookhand, probably wondering where he was going to swing the hammer next, and failed to notice Infidel’s left hand was now free. Infidel reached for the scabbard on her hip. Two seconds later, a dagger was hilt deep in the center of the monkey-child’s chest. He looked at her with sad eyes as he toppled over. His spirit stuck around no longer than the dog-boy’s.
Infidel sat up, fixing her gaze on Kid White. Sweat from her brow washed a fresh flood of cayenne into her eyes and once more her lids scrunched shut as she gasped in pain. Kid White leapt up, bringing his machete overhead two handed, preparing to cleave her skull in half.
Hookhand was still swinging the Gloryhammer wildly. A sledgehammer is a remarkably inappropriate instrument for removing a dog from one’s crotch. It is, however, a surprisingly effective tool for bashing in the head of your own henchman if you’re not careful. The hammer connected with Kid White’s skull with a sound a watermelon might make after it was thrown off a roof. The machete held by Kid White flew into the air as he fell lifeless.
I watched with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as the tumbling machete fell toward Infidel’s blinded face. Then a huge, three-fingered hand flashed through the air and snatched the machete in mid-flight. It was Battle Ox. He turned with a snort toward Hookhand, who was floating now, using the flight power of the hammer as poorly as it could possibly be used, smashing furniture right and left with his all-powerful weapon as the hound dog between his legs twisted out of the path of every blow.
With a swift, precise chop of the machete, Battle lopped off Hookhand’s remaining hand at the wrist. The hammer spun up to the chandelier, smashing the crystal, but Battle Ox’s thick hide protected him from the rain of shards.
Hookhand wasn’t so lucky. A finger length dart of glass sank into his remaining eye. He fell to the ground, crying in pain, until Battle brought his whimpering to an end. Hookhand’s ghost bubbled up from his corpse. Usually, spirits resembled the bodies that housed them, but Hookhand’s spirit was small and gnarled, a scarred broken thing that stank of rot and despair. His pathetic yellow eyes fixed on me as his toothless mouth voiced my name. I lunged toward him and he shot downward, percolating through cracks in the floor board, dragged down to whatever hell awaited. The hound dog sensed that his opponent was no longer a threat and released his locked jaws. He loped back over toward Infidel.
Battle ran back to the bar and snatched a bottle of whiskey. He pulled off the stopper as he approached Infidel. The hound leapt into his path, hackles raised, snarling.
“This is the only thing that’s going to wash off that pepper,” said Battle. “Water will just make it burn worse.”
“He’s right,” I said to Menagerie.
The hound went silent as I spoke, then stepped aside.
“Hold still,” said Battle as he knelt, taking Infidel’s chin in his massive hand. “This is going to feel worse for a minute, but it might save your eyes.”
Infidel seemed to understand, growing still as Battle tilted the bottle over her face, letting it come in a deluge that washed away most of the cayenne. He motioned for one of the bar maids to bring him a second bottle. The light in the room was dizzying as the Gloryhammer bounced around in the rafters, casting stark shadows. Battle’s eyes narrowed as he studied Infidel’s face. Infidel had a splinter of wood jammed into her cheek from her impact with the floor. A half dozen other small cuts speckled her face from where fragments of chandelier had hit her.
He washed away the remaining pepper with most of the second bottle. A barmaid handed him a dishtowel and he used it to wipe Infidel’s face. She sat up and grabbed the towel, taking control of cleaning the last of the cayenne from the creases around her eyes. She let out a long sigh as she forced her eyes open and looked down into the towel, flecked with blood.
A few seconds of silence passed as she pulled the splinter from her cheek. It was, by any objective standard, a trivial wound. But, I could tell from Infidel’s eyes that she understood that this splinter might be the most dangerous injury she’d ever received. Her secret was revealed. Given the speed rumors spread through the city, it was only a matter of hours before everyone learned she’d lost her powers.
“I thought you couldn’t be cut,” Battle said.
“You’ve seen me bleed before,” Infidel whispered, her voice still weak from pain. “That assassin with the shadow blade. The right magic can break my skin.”
“The floor ain’t magic,” he said. Battle put the whiskey bottle into her hands and he helped her to her feet. A bare inch of fluid still sloshed in the bottle
. “Drink the rest of it.”
“Can’t,” she said. “I might be pregnant. Maybe it’s an old wives tale that whiskey will hurt the baby, but I’m not taking chances.”
“Damn!” said Battle, shaking his horns. “She did it to me again!”
“What?”
“The Black Swan. She bet me you’d have a baby this year. I mean, Stagger’s dead. If he’d still been around, maybe, but I just can’t believe it otherwise. Who—?”
“Stagger’s the father,” said Infidel as she managed to stand on her own. Her eyes were still bloodshot, but worked well enough that she spotted the Gloryhammer bouncing around in the rafters.
“Help me grab that,” she said to Battle. “The Black Swan’s probably going to bill me for the damned chandelier. Better stop that thing before it floats behind the bar and takes out the inventory.”
“Right,” said Battle, grabbing her by the hips and lifting her overhead. She stretched her fingers as far as she could, barely touching the shaft of the hammer. Yet, the barest touch was all she needed to regain control. It slid fully into her grasp and she floated to the floor under her own power.
The hound dog came up to her and sat before her, its tongue hanging out.
“Whose dog?” she asked.
“Um, ain’t that Menagerie?” Battle asked. “I saw him leap out of what was left of Kid Black’s skull.”
Infidel looked down at her chest, running her fingers along the red bump where the tick had once rested.
“Menagerie?” she asked the dog.
The dog said nothing. Menagerie had always been able to talk before, no matter what animal shape he’d worn.
“Menagerie?” I said. The dog tilted its head in my general direction, but still said nothing. There was intelligence in his eyes, but dog level intelligence, none of the tactical genius that normally burned in the shape-shifter’s visage.
“We’d better get him to the Black Swan fast,” said Battle Ox. “She’s working on the potion now.”
“Riiiight,” said Infidel, sounding confused. “Right, the potion.”
She placed the whiskey on the bar as she followed Battle. I wasn’t surprised she’d refused the drink. She hadn’t drank much before. It’s not so tough to give up something that you never enjoyed in the first place. But, I wondered, when Hookhand first showed up... were Infidel’s taunts meant to scare him off? Or was she trying to provoke him? This was her first fight since losing her powers. Had she chosen an opponent she’d routinely beaten in the past to test her new combat style with the hammer and armor? Imagining Infidel going the next nine months without a brawl was a lot tougher than imagining her going nine months without a drink. Once word got out that she was vulnerable, was there any place in the world she’d be safe?
A heroine who really gets up close and personal!
Babylon Steel, ex-sword-for-hire, ex... other things, runs The Red Lantern, the best brothel in the city. She’s got elves using sex magic upstairs, S&M in the basement and a large green troll cooking breakfast in the kitchen, and she’d love you to visit, except...
She’s not having a good week. The Vessels of Purity are protesting against brothels, girls are disappearing, and if she can’t pay her taxes, Babylon’s going to lose the Lantern. She’d given up the mercenary life, but when the mysterious Darask Fain pays her to fi nd a missing heiress, she has to take the job. And then her past starts to catch up with her in other, more dangerous ways.
Witty and fresh, Sebold delivers the most exciting fantasy debut in years.
‘Ingenious, gripping, and full of pleasures on every level. Exceptional.’
— Mike Carey, New York Times Bestselling author of The Unwritten
www.solarisbooks.com
The Archmage rules the island of wizards and has banned the use of magecraft in warfare, but there are corsairs raiding the Caladhrian Coast, enslaving villagers and devastating trade. Barons and merchants beg for magical aid, but all help has been refused so far. Lady Zurenne's husband has been murdered by the corsairs. Now a man she doesn't even know stands as guardian over her and her daughters. Corrain, former captain and now slave, knows that the man is a rogue wizard, illegally selling his skills to the corsairs. If Corrain can escape, he'll see justice done. Unless the Archmage's magewoman, Jilseth, can catch the renegade first, before his disobedience is revealed and the scandal shatters the ruler's hold on power...
"Inventive magic, devious intrigue and appealing characters make for an exciting tale, well-told."
- Gail Z. Martin, author of 'The Sworn'
"If your appetite is for fantasy in the epic tradition, with compelling narratives, authentic combat and characters you care about, Juliet E. McKenna is definitely the author for you."
- Stan Nicholls, author of 'Orcs'
www.solarisbooks.com
This omnibus eBook contains the first two novels in the Monarchies of God series - Hawkwood's Voyage and The Heretic Kings.
THE WESTERN WORLD IS BURNING...
For Richard Hawkwood and his crew, a desperate venture to carry refugees to the uncharted land across the Great Western Ocean offers the only chance of escape from the Inceptines' pyres.
In the East, Lofantyr, Abeleyn and Mark - three of the five Ramusian Kings - have defied the cruel pontiff's purge and must fight to hold their thrones through excommunication, intrigue and civil war.
In the quiet monastery city of Charibon, two humble monks make a discovery that will change the whole world.
Aekir, the Holy City, has fallen and all now seems lost, but even on the eve of destruction the Faithful still war amongst themselves...
Hawkwood and the Kings collects Hawkwood's Voyage and The Heretic Kings, the first two books in Paul Kearney's spectacular The Monarchies of God cycle.
www.solarisbooks.com
Title
Indicia and Dedication
Also by James Maxey
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eightteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Acknowledgements
About the Author
'Hush' by James Maxey
Hush: Chapter One
'Babylon Steel' by Gaie Sebold
'Dangerous Waters' by Juliet E. McKenna
'Hawkwood and the Kings' by Paul Kearney