Knight's Justice
Page 29
The crowd had finally had enough. “Prove it!” a woods person shouted.
Someone else added, “Bullshit!” and the crowd erupted.
Shouts of “Murderers!” and “Liars!” rang through the courtyard.
Astrid’s heart sank. She watched Mika tremble with what she first thought was rage until she saw the tears streaming down her face.
Mika drew her sword in a flash and held it above her head. The crowd gasped, but a moment later it fell silent when Mika dropped to her knees and laid the sword before her. One by one, the other lieutenants did the same.
They stayed there while the crowd fell silent, then began to murmur again. Astrid let the interlude continue for a long while.
“They kneel before the people!” someone shouted.
Mika lifted her head and smiled. The crowd seemed to have one face that lifted to meet those who stood on the platform.
“Long live the protectorates!” Mika shouted as she stood. She left her sword at her feet.
The crowd erupted into cheers and shouts of affirmation that shook the timber of the platform itself.
The feast that followed lasted deep into the night and spread across the entirety of the fortress wards.
After circulating through the crowds for hours and drinking and speaking with more people than she could ever hope to remember, Astrid retired to the war room.
“It’s not a war room anymore,” she said as Vinnie, Tarkon, Moxy, and Gormer stumbled in behind her.
Everyone was a little bit drunk.
They all jumped when Moxy suddenly hissed and shrieked. She whirled around in frantic circles, peering into the shadows of the dimly-lit chamber.
“Show yourself!” Moxy shrieked. “I can smell you!”
The rest of the Dregs put their backs together to form a defensive circle and Astrid saw one of the shadows move.
Moxy jumped between her friends and a human form that seemed to pour itself out of the darkness.
A deep silky voice spoke slowly. “Calm yourself, cousin.”
Astrid gaped as the shadow changed into a person.
A brown-skinned man just a few inches taller than Moxy stood before them. He wore no clothes, but had a long blowgun slung across his back with a vine that served as a rope. His hair hung over his chest and shoulders in long dense locks that nearly reached his waist.
A small leather pouch hung at his waist, secured by another vine complete with green leaves.
The Pixie held up his hands.
“Why are you here?” Astrid asked in as neutral a tone as possible as she struggled to tame her wild heartbeat.
“I am here to ask for your help,” the Pixie said.
“These people are my friends,” Moxy declared. She straightened from her fighting crouch but did not retract her claws. “They are good people. If they can help you they will.”
“What is your name?” Astrid asked.
The reply was a chattering series of high-pitched trills, clicks, and hums.
“You need a box-dweller name,” Moxy replied. “They can’t hear most of our words.”
The Pixie thought for a moment and replied, “Then you may call me ‘Tracker.’”
“What do you need help with, Tracker?”
“Irth is in danger,” Tracker answered. “I have come for the one you call ‘Charlie.’ I think his people are the key to saving us.
FINIS
Author Notes - PJ Cherubino
Written May 7, 2018
Let's talk for a moment about mind snakes.
I'm a critter person, so I generally don't ascribe malice to critters. Critters gonna crit...er be critters...
Yeah. Let's go with that.
Anyway, I love animals, even most snakes, and insects. I catch and release spiders when I find them. They eat flies and mosquitos. I appreciate the favor, so I generally don't sentence them to death. The other day, I rescued a moth in my sink that was perilously close getting its wings wet.
Moths have a special kind of powder on their wings that, if it gets washed off, won't let them fly anymore. So I made sure the moth went free by catching it and letting it go outside. I probably should have squashed it under suspicion of putting holes in my favorite sweater, but oh well. I might be a sucker. I'm willing to live with that. Some bat or nocturnal flying thing probably ate it anyway. It didn't die by my hand, at least.
My point is that nature is really amazing. I respect and admire it for all its sublime, varicolored expressions of life.
But let's look a bit closer at the natural world.
I respect all of nature, but there are some kinds of critters I don't like all that much. For instance: copperhead shakes. They're assholes. They like to bite you when you surprise them. Yeah, they're designed by nature to do that, but sometimes, nature makes dick moves. Specifically, nature can be a dick by putting feisty copperheads around that like to inject you with venom without much provocation at all.
I recognize that I'm part of nature, too. Human beings fall decisively in the animal kingdom. We're made of meat, have the capacity for growth, reproduction and general functional activity. But we have minds like no other animal on earth (as far as we know.)
Cheetahs don't write books. If they had minds like ours, they'd certainly try.
I'm not sure if the human mind is part of nature or not. The mind seems to be a world of its own. There is evidence to suggest that the human mind might not be as dependent on the brain as we believe. In fact, some would argue that the mind might not exist in the brain at all and that it might only be loosely related...somehow.
The mind might transcend the physical plane.
If you just rolled your eyes at that, I would refer you to the fact that I'm a man of science fiction. I have a license to say stuff like that. So there.
But, I can claim with absolute certainty that some things definitely exist in my mind. There's no way for you to prove otherwise. Check and mate.
I'd also be on pretty solid logical ground to argue that, if certain things exist in my mind, they likely exist in yours, too. I know these things are real because they have a demonstrable effect on my life.
I'm talking about mind snakes.
Fucking mind snakes. These are not like the relatively benign (except to mice) black rat snakes. These are not the cute little garter snakes that aren't much bigger than earthworms. No, I'm talking about vicious, venomous, diabolical, treacherous mind snakes of the biblical persuasion.
These fuckers like to lurk in mental woodpiles, under imaginary wicker backsets, between cerebral bedsheets and in the tall grass of fantasy. Even when they're not readily apparent, they create a general sense of foreboding about when they will strike next. Just like nature itself, the ecosystem in my mind has produced emotional serpents like the copperhead and much, much worse.
And these things can talk! Their insidious lisping reaches out from dark places to tell me things like, "PJ, this book is a disaster," and "what the fuck are you doing? You've never completed a three-book series before because you know you can't write three books in a row that will be any good by the time you finish the arc. This is all just a flash in the pan. Go back to your day job, you hack."
That's just a small sampling of the nasty notes these guileful bastards slip under my door.
I am not a violent person. But if I heard a person, much less a vile mindsnake, haranguing one of my friends like that, I would seriously consider a well-placed punch.
When this dawned on me, I asked myself, "Why am I letting these nasty mind snakes fuck with me?" It's time to clean house.
But you can't punch mind snakes. They just bite you when you try. Then you have to get an antidote or reenact that joke about the hunter gets bitten, and his buddy finds out where and the punchline is, "yeah, you're gonna die."
No, there are only three ways to deal with minds snakes. One is to douse them with gasoline and set them on fire Indiana Jones style. The other is to set traps for them, catch them and either kill
them or imprison them in little terrariums where you can observe them. The third method is a combination of both.
That's what I did. It was fun.
So, I'm sorry this book was published far later than promised. I had a mind snake issue that I did not address properly. It took me a while to drive my mindcar down to the imaginary gas station to fill up with dream kerosene.
The mind snake issue is taken care of now. Mostly. Of course, they'll crop up again. They usually do.
Maybe I need to imagine a pet mongoose...might be on to something there.
I have methods now. Mindsnakes are doomed.
In any case, I am still extremely grateful that you read my book. I hope you enjoyed it.
Feel free to contact me on social media or email:
pjc@pjosephcherubino.site
Website: pjosephcherubino.site
Twitter: pj_cherubino
Author Notes - Michael Anderle
Written May 8, 2018
First, thank you for not only reading this book but reading these author notes as well!
It’s interesting that PJ chose to discuss mind snakes as I am (somewhat) suffering the ill-effects of this reptile myself.
Just last Friday, I finished the final words of Payback is a Bitch, first book of The Kurtherian Endgame, and I had grave doubts about my ability to kick a new series off with a rather exhaustive existing cast. How was I going to bring a new story to life with potentially dozens of characters (and choose which ones to highlight) and yet make it fun?
Oh, and while I’m at it, let’s make sure we handle Bethany Anne and Michael’s offspring (no hints, since this publishes first!) and set up said offspring up to handle the “big” task ahead?
And yet allow us to peek into the offspring’s personal life just a little bit.
I was (frankly) scared shitless, rather like what PJ was talking about.
As of right now, I’ve got exactly ‘one’ “good job” and another that reader who is quiet.
I freak out about the quiet person.
So all in all, I’m going to fret like it was my first book ever. It would suck if I hit the rim with this one and the basketball bounced out. (Editor’s Note: He didn’t. It’s a rockin’ good read!)
DAMN!
So yes, whether we (like PJ) have just finished our first trilogy or have put in twenty-two books into a series, that damned mind snake can bite us both.
We (authors) think you the readers for encouraging us and supporting us as we get through and get rid of the vermin in our minds.
Or put them in the books.
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael
P.J. Cherubino
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Books by P.J. Cherubino
TALES OF THE WELLSPRING KNIGHT
*with Michael Anderle*
Knight’s Creed (01)
Knight’s Struggle (02)
Knight’s Justice (03)
THE GENETIC IMPERATIVE
Fleetfoot Insterstellar (Fleetfoot Interstallar, Book 1)
Rogue Messiah (Fleetfoot Interstallar, Book 2)
Realm of the Nine Circles (R9C1)
The Grind (R9C2)
Dead, Wired and Online
For a complete list of Michael’s Kurtherian Gambit Universe books please click this link.
Kurtherian Gambit Series Titles Include:
FIRST ARC
Death Becomes Her (01) - Queen Bitch (02) - Love Lost (03) - Bite This (04) - Never Forsaken (05) - Under My Heel (06) - Kneel Or Die (07)
SECOND ARC
We Will Build (08) - It’s Hell To Choose (09) - Release The Dogs of War (10) - Sued For Peace (11) - We Have Contact (12) - My Ride is a Bitch (13) - Don’t Cross This Line (14)
THIRD ARC
Never Submit (15) - Never Surrender (16) - Forever Defend (17) - Might Makes Right (18) - Ahead Full (19) - Capture Death (20) - Life Goes On (21)
THE KURTHERIAN END GAME
Payback Is A Bitch (01)
THE SECOND DARK AGES
*with Ell Leigh Clarke*
The Dark Messiah (01) - The Darkest Night (02) - Darkest Before The Dawn (03) - Dawn Arrives (04)
THE BORIS CHRONICLES
*with Paul C. Middleton*
Evacuation (01) - Retaliation (02) - Revelations (03) - Redemption (04)
RECLAIMING HONOR
*with Justin Sloan*
Justice Is Calling (01) - Claimed By Honor (02) - Judgement Has Fallen (03) - Angel of Reckoning (04) - Born Into Flames (05) - Defending The Lost (06) - Saved By Valor (07) - Return of Victory (08)
THE ETHERIC ACADEMY
*with TS Paul*
ALPHA CLASS (01) - ALPHA CLASS: Engineering (02)
*with N.D. Roberts*
Discovery (03)
TERRY HENRY “TH” WALTON CHRONICLES
*with Craig Martelle*
Nomad Found (01) - Nomad Redeemed (02) - Nomad Unleashed (03) - Nomad Supreme (04) - Nomad’s Fury (05) - Nomad’s Justice (06) - Nomad Avenged (07) - Nomad Mortis (08) - Nomad’s Force (09) - Nomad’s Galaxy (10)
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS
*with Natalie Grey*
Risk Be Damned (01) - Damned to Hell (02)
~THE AGE OF MAGIC~
THE RISE OF MAGIC
*with CM Raymond and LE Barbant*
Restriction (01) - Reawakening (02) - Rebellion (03) - Revolution (04) - Unlawful Passage (05) - Darkness Rises (06) - The Gods Beneath (07) - Reborn (08)
THE HIDDEN MAGIC CHRONICLES
*with Justin Sloan*
Shades of Light (01) - Shades of Dark (02) - Shades of Glory (03) - Shades of Justice (04)
STORMS OF MAGIC
*with PT Hylton*
Storm Raiders (01) - Storm Callers (02) - Storm Breakers (03) - Storm Warrior (04)
TALES OF THE FEISTY DRUID
*with Candy Crum*
The Arcadian Druid (01) - The Undying Illusionist (02) - The Frozen Wasteland (03) - The Deceiver (04) - The Lost (05) - The Damned (06) - Into The Maelstrom (07)
PATH OF HEROES
*with Brandon Barr*
Rogue Mage (01)
A NEW DAWN
*with Amy Hopkins*
Dawn of Destiny (01) - Dawn of Darkness (02) - Dawn of Deliverance (03) - Dawn of Days (04) - Broken Skies (05)
TALES OF THE WELLSPRING KNIGHT
*with P.J. Cherubino*
Knight’s Creed (01) - Knight’s Struggle (02) - Knight’s Justice (03)
~THE AGE OF MADNESS~
LIVE FREE OR DIE
*with Haley Lawson*
Unleashing Madness (01)
~THE AGE OF EXPANSION~
THE ASCENSION MYTH
*with Ell Leigh Clarke *
Awakened (01) - Activated (02) - Called (03) - Sanctioned (04) - Rebirth (05) - Retribution (06) - Cloaked (07) - Bourne (08) - Committed (09) - Subversion (10)
CONFESSIONS OF A SPACE ANTHROPOLOGIST
*with Ell Leigh Clarke*
Giles Kurns: Rogue Operator (01) - Giles Kurns: Rogue Instigator (02)
THE UPRISE SAGA
*with Amy Duboff *
Covert Talents (01) - Endless Advance (02) - Veiled Designs (03) - Dark Rivals (04)
BAD COMPAN
Y
*with Craig Martelle*
The Bad Company (01) - Blockade (02) - Price of Freedom (03) - Liberation (04)
THE GHOST SQUADRON
*with Sarah Noffke and J.N. Chaney*
Formation (01) - Exploration (02) - Evolution (03) - Degeneration (04) - Impersonation (05) - Recollection (06)
VALERIE’S ELITES
*with Justin Sloan and PT Hylton*
Valerie’s Elites (01) - Death Defied (02) - Prime Enforcer (03) - Justice Earned
SHADOW VANGUARD
*with Tom Dublin*
Gravity Storm (01)
ETHERIC ADVENTURES: ANNE AND JINX
*with S.R. Russell*
Etheric Recruit (01) - Etheric Researcher (02)
ORICERAN UNIVERSE BOOKS
The Unbelievable Mr. Brownstone
* Michael Anderle *
Feared by Hell (01) - Rejected by Heaven (02) - Eye For An Eye (03)