Tower of Heaven, Sword of Night

I’m pleased to report that my short story “Tower of Heaven, Sword of Night” will be appearing in MindFlights in the very near future.

I wanted to see if I could cram a high fantasy into as little a space as possible, and I think I pulled it off, since the story’s only 4800 words long. Of course, “high fantasy” is one of those terms that means whatever the speaker wants it to mean, so in this case, let’s say it’s an epic fantasy story that’s about Big Things: life, religion, death, war, the fate of nations, good vs. evil, and so on. This is different from what I usually write, sword & sorcery, where the protagonists often have much simpler goals: 1.) kill the bad guy and take his stuff, or 2.) kill the bad guy and take his daughter, and then possibly his stuff.

Anyway, an excerpt from “Tower of Heaven, Sword of Night”:

“Great king,” said his advisors, “you have conquered all your foes, yet no man can conquer death itself.  Mourn your queen, but you must accept her death.”

“Must I?” said Hadan, his wrath terrible to behold.  “I have never surrendered, and nor will I.  Hear my vow, then!  I swear on my name and the names of all the gods that I will reach beyond the veil of death, that I will find a way to bring my queen back to me!”

“That way lies madness!” said his advisors.

“I have spoken!” said Hadan in answer.

So the proclamation went forth to all Hadan’s vassals and allies.  If a man found a way to restore Shamala to life, then he would receive great gifts of gold and land, and become the second highest man in the city of Akahd.  Many magicians, warlocks, necromancers, and other practitioners of the black arts, vowing to return the queen from the land of death, came to the royal palace…

-JM