by JANRAE FRANK
Aejys wiped her blade, sheathed it, and sat down, leaning against a tree. Her side hurt; she felt around it, wincing at the thought of the healers having to dig some of the twisted links out; but the bleeding had stopped. Thanks be to Skelly, it looked worse than it was. She took out her pipe, filled and lit it, and then sat smoking while Valdren and Sharani moved all around her. Skelly was happily popping the tops off towers and pulling people out. He sniffed each one, and some he released and others he bit in half, spitting out the pieces.
A fireborn landed and dwindled to the size of a large dog before approaching. Aejys threw her arms around the fireborn's neck. "Kalestari, my friend, I wish I could have restored the missing piece of your soul."
"When Mephistis dies by the Dancer's blade, I will be whole again."
"I will try to make it so."
"I heard about Tag. I'll take you to camp if you wish."
Aejys sucked down a fortifying breath, her face tightening. "Thanks."
"Sorry to interrupt, Lord Aejys," Soren said. The grizzled paladin's surcoat and armor were splattered with blood. She paused to wipe her sword on the grass and then sheathed it. "The Regent's troops have breeched the south gate. The citadel has fallen. So far, no one has found either Hoon or Mephistis."
"Margren is destroyed."
The paladin's mouth tightened. "Then Ladonys and Laeoli are avenged." She turned away and, after a moment, walked off.
Aejys watched Soren leave. "No," she said softly, "so long as Mephistis lives, they are not avenged."
EPILOGUE
Aejys wore a loose, unbelted tunic, Spiritdancer hanging at her shoulder. She had refused to let the healers tend her injuries until all of her myn had been taken care of. Grymlyken had been a bundle of hysteria by the time they could get Clemmerick moved from the castle to the camp beyond the walls. One of the Valdren healers eventually sedated the little fellow just so they could pull him loose from his big friend long enough to tend the ogre's injuries. They had spent an hour trying to pry the dead troll's head off Dynarien's shoulder; and finally resorted to knocking it into pieces with a hammer and then digging the shards out of the armor and the flesh beneath. Both Clemmerick and Dynarien were recovering. It was Tagalong who had everyone worried.
Aejys sat in the small tent with Tagalong. One side of her friend's head was shaved and bandaged where they had trepanned the injury. The healer stood for a moment more, watching them.
"Majesty, if she doesn't wake soon, she isn't going to."
"I understand."
"I'll have someone outside waiting to sit with her when you leave." The healer departed.
"Damn it Tag, you didn't even get a blow in. All you did was fall off a pony. You're supposed to be tougher than this. I always said you had a hard head. Are you going to make me out a liar? If you don't wake up..."
"What if I ... don't want to?"
"Tag!"
"Stupid puddin' head paladin ... my head hurts ... an' yer screamin' at me."
* * * *
"It's as well that Margren was destroyed," Hoon said, standing beside Timon in the shadows of his house in Danae, still too close to the borders of what had been his valley to suit him. The house would have to be sold. "She was unstable. Sooner or later I would have been forced to destroy her myself. That would have put me at odds with the prince. Mephistis is my hedge against Baaltrystan. The House of Waejonan may have forgotten our quarrel over the generations, but I have not."
"Nor have I, father. The prince is returning to Linden's. He will double back through Shaurone and meet us in Minnoras. I advised this."
Hoon nodded slowly, stroking his thumb across his lips. "You will advise our agents to withdraw all our assets from Shaurone. I will not come this way again. I fear the Sharani will finally close on all of us who linger within their reach."
"And what of Dynarien, Father. Did he recognize you?"
"No. I think not." Hoon brushed the hair back again from his ears. He had spent many centuries mastering ways to subtly alter his form. His skin turned fair and his rounded ears grew points. "It is best that no one knows Brandrahoon survives. Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon, Isranon, and Waejonan. Now there is just one."
THE END
SF/F/H FROM PAGETURNER EDITIONS
FROM PAGETURNER EDITIONS
STEFAN VUCAK'S EPPIE NOMINEE SPACE SAGA "THE SHADOW GODS"
In the Shadow of Death
Against the Gods of Shadow
A Whisper From Shadow
Immortal in Shadow
With Shadow and Thunder
Through the Valley of Shadow
JANRAE FRANK'S #1 BESTSELLING FANTASY SAGAS
Dark Brothers of the Light Book I. Blood Rites
Dark Brothers of the Light Book II. Blood Heresy
Dark Brothers of the Light Book III. Blood Dawn
Dark Brothers of the Light Book IV: Blood Wraiths
Dark Brothers of the Light Book V: Blood Paladin
In the Darkness, Hunting: Tales of Chimquar the Lionhawk
Journey of the Sacred King I: My Sister's Keeper
THE COSMIC KALEVALA
The Saga of Lost Earths –Emil Petaja (Nebula nominee author)
The Star Mill – Emil Petaja
The Stolen Sun – Emil Petaja
Tramontane – Emil Petaja
JACK JARDINE'S HUMOROUS SF AND MYSTERY
The Agent of T.E.R.R.A. #1 The Flying Saucer Gambit
The Agent of T.E.R.R.A. #2 The Emerald Elephant Gambit
The Agent of T.E.R.R.A. #3 The Golden Goddess Gambit
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The Mind Monsters
Unaccustomed As I Am To Public Dying & Other Humorous and Ironic Mystery Stories
The Nymph and the Satyr
ARDATH MAYHAR'S AWARD-WINNING SF & F
The Crystal Skull & Other Tales of the Terrifying and Twisted
The World Ends in Hickory Hollow, or After Armageddon
The Tupla: A Nover of Horror
The Twilight Dancer & Other Tales of Magic, Mystery and the Supernatural
The Black Tower: A Novel of Dark Fantasy
Forbidden Geometries: A Novel Alien Worlds
HAL ANNAS' COSMIC RECKONING TRILOGY
I. The Woman from Eternity
II. Daughter of Doom
III. Witch of the Dark Star
THE HILARIOUS ADVENTURES OF TOFFEE
1. The Dream Girl – Charles F. Myers
2. Toffee Haunts a Ghost – Charles F. Myers
3. Toffee Turns the Trick – Charles F. Myers
OTHER AWARD WINNING & NOMINEE STORIES AND AUTHORS
Moonworm's Dance & Other SF Classics – Stanley Mullen (includes The Day the Earth Stood Still & Other SF Classics – Harry Bates (Balrog Award winning story)
Hugo nominee story Space to Swing a Cat)
People of the Darkness–Ross Rocklynne (Nebulas nominee author)
When They Come From Space–Mark Clifton (Hugo winning author)
What Thin Partitions–Mark Clifton (Hugo winning author)
Star Bright & Other SF Classics – Mark Clifton
Eight Keys to Eden–Mark Clifton (Hugo winning author)
Rat in the Skull & Other Off-Trail Science Fiction–Rog Phillips (Hugo nominee author)
The Involuntary Immortals–Rog Phillips (Hugo nominee author)
Inside Man & Other Science Fictions–H. L. Gold (Hugo winner, Nebula nominee)
Women of the Wood and Other Stories–A. Merritt (Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame award)
A Martian Odyssey & Other SF Classics –Stanley G. Weinbaum (SFWA Hall of Fame author)
Dawn of Flame & Other Stories –Stanley G. Weinbaum (SFWA Hall of Fame author)
The Black Flame – Stanley G. Weinbaum
Scout–Octavio Ramos, Jr. (Best Original Fiction)
Smoke Signals–Octavio Ramos, Jr. (Best Original Fiction winning author)
The City at World's End
–Edmond Hamilton
The Star Kings–Edmond Hamilton (Sense of Wonder Award winning author)
A Yank at Valhalla–Edmond Hamilton (Sense of Wonder Award winning author)
Dawn of the Demigods, or People Minus X – Raymond Z. Gallun (Nebula Nominee Author)
THE BESTSELLING SF/F/H OF J. D. CRAYNE
Tetragravitron (Captain Spycer #1)
Monster Lake
Invisible Encounter & Other Stories
The Cosmic Circle
PLANETS OF ADVENTURE
Colorful Space Opera from the Legendary Pulp Planet Stories
#1. "The Sword of Fire" – A Novel of an Enslaved World" by Emmett McDowell. & "The Rocketeers Have Shaggy Ears" – A Novel of Peril on Alien Worlds by Keith Bennett.
#2. "The Seven Jewels of Chamar" – A Novel of Future Centuries by Nebula Nominee Raymond F. Jones. & "Flame Jewel of the Ancients" – A Novel of Outlaw Worlds by Edwin L. Grabber.
#3. "Captives of the Weir-Wind" – A Novel of the Void by Nebula Nominee Ross Rocklynne. & "Black Priestess of Varda" – A Novel of a Magic World by Erik Fennel.
NEMESIS: THE NEW MAGAZINE OF PULP THRILLS
#1. Featuring Gun Moll, the 1920s Undercover Nemesis of Crime in "Tentacles of Evil," an all-new, complete book-length novel; plus a Nick Bancroft mystery by Bob Liter, "The Greensox Murders" by Jean Marie Stine, and a classic mystery short reprinted from the heyday of the pulps.
#2 Featuring Rachel Rocket, the 1930s Winged Nemesis of Foreign Terror in "Hell Wings Over Manhattan," an all-new, complete book-length novel, plus spine-tingling science fiction stories, including EPPIE nominee Stefan Vucak's "Hunger," author J. D. Crayne's disturbing "Point of View," Hugo Award winner Larry Niven's "No Exit," written with Jean Marie Stine, and a classic novelette of space ship mystery by the king of space opera, Edmond Hamilton. Illustrated. (Illustrations not available in Palm).
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# 4 Featuring Femme Noir, the 1950s Nemesis of Hell's Restless Spirits, in an all new, book length novel, plus all new and classic pulp shudder tales, including "The Summons from Beyond" the legendary round-robin novelette of cosmic horror by H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, C.L. Moore, A. Merritt, and Frank Belknap Long.
OTHER FINE CONTEMPORARY & CLASSIC SF/F/H
A Million Years to Conquer–Henry Kuttner
After the Polothas – Stephen Brown
Arcadia – Tabitha Bradley
Backdoor to Heaven – Vicki McElfresh
Buck Rogers #1: Armageddon 2419 A.D.–Philip Francis Nowlan
Buck Rogers #2. The Airlords of Han – Philip Francis Nowlan
Chaka: Zulu King–Book I. The Curse of Baleka–H. R. Haggard
Chaka: Zulu King–Book II. Umpslopogass' Revenge–H. R. Haggard
Claimed!–Francis Stevens
Darby O'Gill: The Classic Irish Fantasy–Hermine Templeton
Diranda: Tales of the Fifth Quadrant – Tabitha Bradley
Dracula's Daughters–Ed. Jean Marie Stine
Dwellers in the Mirage–A. Merritt
From Beyond & 16 Other Macabre Masterpieces–H. P. Lovecraft
Future Eves: Classic Science Fiction about Women by Women–(ed) Jean Marie Stine
Ghost Hunters and Psychic Detectives: 8 Classic Tales of Sleuthing and the Supernatural–(ed.) J. M. Stine
Horrors!: Rarely Reprinted Classic Terror Tales–(ed.) J. M. Stine. J.L. Hill
House on the Borderland–William Hope Hodgson
House of Many Worlds [Elspeth Marriner #1]– Sam Merwin Jr.
Invisible Encounter and Other SF Stories – J. D. Crayne
Murcheson Inc., Space Salvage – Cleve Cartmill
Ki-Gor, Lord of the Jungle–John Peter Drummond
Lost Stars: Forgotten SF from the "Best of Anthologies"–(ed.) J. M. Stine
Metropolis–Thea von Harbou
Mission to Misenum [Elspeth Marriner #2] – Sam Merwin Jr.
Mistress of the Djinn–Geoff St. Reynard
Chronicles of the Sorceress Morgaine I-V – Joe Vadalma
Nightmare!–Francis Stevens
Pete Manx, Time Troubler – Arthur K. Barnes
Possessed!–Francis Stevens
Ralph 124C 41+ – Hugo Gernsback
Seven Out of Time – Arthur Leo Zagut
Star Tower – Joe Vadalma
The Cosmic Wheel–J. D. Crayne
The Forbidden Garden–John Taine
The City at World's End–Edmond Hamilton
The Ghost Pirates–W. H. Hodgson
The Girl in the Golden Atom – Ray Cummings
The Heads of Cerberus – Francis Stevens
The House on the Borderland–William Hope Hodgson
The Insidious Fu Manchu–Sax Rohmer
The Interplanetary Huntress–Arthur K. Barnes
The Interplanetary Huntress Returns–Arthur K. Barnes
The Interplanetary Huntress Last Case–Arthur K. Barnes
The Lightning Witch, or The Metal Monster–A. Merritt
The Price He Paid: A Novel of the Stellar Republic – Matt Kirkby
The Thief of Bagdad–Achmed Abdullah
Women of the Wood and Other Stories–A. Merritt
BARGAIN SF/F EBOOKS IN OMNIBUS EDITIONS
(Complete & Unabridged)
The First Lord Dunsany Omnibus: 5 Complete Books – Lord Dunsany
The First William Morris Omnibus: 4 Complete Classic Fantasy Books
The Barsoom Omnibus: A Princess of Mars; The Gods of Mars; The Warlord of Mars–Burroughs
The Second Barsoom Omnibus: Thuvia, Maid of Mars; The Chessmen of Mars–Burroughs
The Third Barsoom Omnibus: The Mastermind of Mars; A Fighting Man of Mars–Burroughs
The First Tarzan Omnibus: Tarzan of the Apes; The Return of Tarzan; Jungle Tales of Tarzan–Burroughs
The Second Tarzan Omnibus: The Beasts of Tarzan; The Son of Tarzan; Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar–Burroughs
The Third Tarzan Omnibus: Tarzan the Untamed; Tarzan the Terrible; Tarzan and the Golden Lion–Burroughs
The Pellucidar Omnibus: At the Earth's Core; Pellucidar–Burroughs
The Caspak Omnibus: The Land that Time Forgot; The People that Time Forgot; Out of Time's Abyss–Burroughs
The First H. G. Wells Omnibus: The Invisible Man: War of the Worlds; The Island of Dr. Moreau
The Second H. G. Wells Omnibus: The Time Machine; The First Men in the Moon; When the Sleeper Wakes
The Third H. G. Wells Omnibus: The Food of the Gods; Shape of Things to Come; In the Days of the Comet
The First Jules Verne Omnibus: Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea; The Mysterious Island; From the Earth to the Moon
The Homer Eon Flint: All 4 of the Clasic "Dr. Kenney" Novels: The Lord of Death; The Queen of Life; The Devolutionist; The Emancipatrix
The Second Jules Verne Omnibus: Around the World in 80 Days; A Journey to the Center of the Earth; Off on a Comet
Three Great Horror Novels: Dracula; Frankenstein; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
The Darkness and Dawn Omnibus: The Classic Science Fiction Trilogy–George Allan England
The Garrett P. Serviss Omnibus: The Second Deluge; The Moon Metal; A Columbus of Space
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