Divine Assistance

by L. G. Estrella

  They sprang apart, and man and manticore regarded each other with grudging respect – newfound respect too in the case of the manticore, who hadn’t expected anything more than an easy meal after its first encounter with Garrett.

  “So…” Garrett said. “We have a deal, right?”

  The manticore rumbled again and nodded.

  “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. I’ll have thought of some way of telling you whom you can eat by then. Until then… just… don’t eat anyone else.”

  * * *

  Garrett ambled toward the by-now-familiar cave with several gourds of wine and another two large barrels strapped to his back. Several years had passed since his battle with the manticore. The creature had heeded his advice, and after some careful thinking, he’d devised a system that let nearby villagers signal when they needed help – that is, when they needed the manticore to eat bandits and other troublemakers. The beast would swoop in, eat all of the bad people, and everyone got to walk away happy. Well, not everyone walked away happy. The people who got eaten weren’t happy, and they definitely weren’t walking anywhere.

  In fact, the king himself had embraced Garrett’s idea with particular enthusiasm. He had come up with a novel way of dealing with criminals who’d been sentenced to death: he fed them to the manticore. It kept the manticore happy, and it kept crime down. Being hanged or beheaded was bad enough, but no one wanted to get eaten by a manticore. The only people who weren’t happy – besides the people getting eaten – were the executioners. Unlike them, the manticore wasn’t interested in gold or holiday benefits. All it wanted was a full stomach.

  Somehow, Garrett had managed to get everything to work. He’d even become a proper hero after he’d killed several less reasonable beasties. All in all, he couldn’t complain. Life was good. The three siblings still dropped in from time to time – usually to tease him or pummel him in the name of training – and their visits had only grown more frequent now that he had a daughter. Mischief had proudly proclaimed that the girl would become her new minion since, apparently, she’d been looking for one, and Garrett had turned out okay. His mother had also begun to make regular appearances in his life, now that she was confident he wouldn’t be killed by the next manticore, chimera, or honey badger he ran into. She was especially happy to have a grandchild, and he still shuddered whenever he thought of all the times he’d seen his daughter whispering with his mother and Mischief.

  Normally, he’d be at home with his wife and their daughter, particularly since his wife was expecting their next child soon. But today was a special day. It was the anniversary of his deal with the manticore.

  “Come out!” Garrett shouted. “You there, Mattie?” He’d given the creature a name since it was easier than calling it – well, it was a him, actually – manticore all the time. “It’s that time of year again!”

  The manticore – Mattie – emerged with a cranky look on his face before his gaze settled on the barrels. He immediately perked up and bounded over to Garrett happily. He knew what day this was.

  “That’s right.” Garrett set the barrels on the ground and broke the top of one of them open. He reached for a gourd and raised it in a salute. “We’re going to celebrate another year of success the proper way… by getting drunk!”

  And that was how Garrett spent his day – getting drunk with a manticore and sharing stories of his adventures. Not bad. Not bad at all.

  About the Author

  I am a writer with an avid interest in psychology, physics, history, and economics. Writing has long been a passion of mine, and I hope to someday make a career of it. Apart from writing, I have worked in education as a lecturer in one of the aforementioned subjects.

  I believe that writing is a wonderful thing and that good writing and the techniques required to develop it should be shared with as many people as possible. In that regard, I’m always open to hearing from anyone who was read my work. If you want to contact me (perhaps to praise or perhaps to put your proverbial stake and pitchfork to work), then by all means send me an email, or drop by my blog where I discuss issues related to books, writing, and my own work.

  My email: lgestrella@outlook.com

  My blog: http://lgestrella.wordpress.com

  If you send an email or leave a comment, I’ll do my best to get back to you.

  More From L. G. Estrella

  If you’re interested in reading more of my stories, you can find them on Amazon.

  There are also previews for each of my stories at my blog: lgestrella.wordpress.com

  You can also read on to find out more about my stories.

  Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf

  The Unconventional Heroes Series Part One

  Two necromancers, a bureaucrat, and an elf – it sounds like the start of a bad joke, only the joke is on Timmy.

  Timothy Walter Bolton – better known as Timmy – has spent most of his life as a necromancer. When he isn’t terrorising his enemies, he’s plotting inside his castle, which is built on top of lightless chasms filled with nameless horrors and beings of a generally malevolent and megalomaniacal nature. But after one of his latest creations, a zombie hydra-dragon-bear, tries to eat him, he decides that maybe it’s time to find a new, less dangerous, career.

  But that’s easier said than done. He’s a wanted criminal with no shortage of powerful (and crazy) enemies, and he has a bone or two to pick with the Everton Council of Mages.

  Hope arrives in the form of a new law. War is coming to Everton, and the Council is desperate. In exchange for providing some help, Timmy might just earn that pardon he’s been looking for. Of course, just because it’s possible to earn a pardon doesn’t mean that it’s going to be easy.

  To earn his pardon, Timmy is going to have to take down some of Everton’s most dangerous enemies and put together a quirky group of unconventional heroes, most of whom want nothing more than to mangle him and/or the Council in as vicious a way as possible. It’s a good thing that he’s got some help: an obnoxious ten-year-old apprentice who thinks that pink glasses are appropriate for a budding necromancer and a bumbling bureaucrat who may or may not make it through their first real fight without puking his guts up.

  Wonderful.

  Still, Timmy’s never been one to back down from a challenge even if their first recruit is basically the elf version of the bogeyman.

  Two Necromancers, an Army of Golems, and a Demon Lord

  The Unconventional Heroes Series Part Two

  Two necromancers, an army of golems, and a demon lord – it sounds like a recipe for trouble, and for Timmy, it definitely is.

  To earn his pardon and avoid horrible torture and/or gruesome execution, Timmy has to complete every mission the Council throws his way, most of which seem to involve extremely scary things trying to kill him. At least he’s got help – sort of. His help consists of an apprentice with designs on his castle (and her plans may or may not involve overthrowing him), a bureaucrat whose two greatest skills are fainting in the face of trouble and using people (usually Timmy) as human shields, and an elf with the world’s worst case of pyromania and enough magic to level a mountain.

  Somehow, Timmy’s got to get this bunch of unconventional heroes to work together. Trouble is coming, and it’s trouble of the kind that only a necromancer like Timmy could possibly find himself in the middle of. An army of killer golems is on the loose, which may give Timmy the excuse he needs to legally unleash wave after wave of killer zombies. Zombie versus golem – it’s every necromancer’s dream. And then there’s the demon lord that’s out to usher in the apocalypse. Sure, demons aren’t exactly his specialty, but there’s nothing that a good magical shovel to the back of the head can’t fix.

  One way or another, Timmy is going to get his pardon and a tax rebate too – even if it means going up against murderous golems, insane demon lords, or mischievous ninja rodents with a predilection for magical swords and the skills to back up the trash talk.

  Two N
ecromancers, a Dragon, and a Vampire

  The Unconventional Heroes Series Part Three

  Two necromancers, a dragon, and a vampire – it sounds like a shortcut to disaster, and for Timmy, it’s certainly looking that way.

  To earn his pardon and avoid becoming yet another necromancer statistic, Timmy has to work for the Council. From bandit uprisings to giant sea serpents and ogre invasions, Timmy and the others are there to save the day – sort of.

  And despite relying on overly intelligent ninja rats, an elf who believes that fire is the answer to everything, a bureaucrat who struggles to stay conscious through an entire fight, and a precocious apprentice who has designs on his castle, property damage per mission is down, they haven’t blown up another mountain, and they’ve gone several missions without ripping a hole in reality.

  Naturally, it won’t last.

  When the dragon egg their resident pyromaniac stole hatches to reveal the world’s cuddliest harbinger of death, Timmy and the others are dragged into a pair of diabolically dangerous missions. Breaking out of one of the world’s most secure prisons was hard enough. Now, they have to break back in to rescue a vampire.

  And then there’s the Eye of the Abyss. Does your country have a problem with a divine artefact capable of singlehandedly winning a war? Don’t worry. Just send Timmy and the gang. They’ll handle it, and Timmy might even get to live every necromancer’s dream with… zombie pirates.

  Timmy and the others want their pardons, and they’re not going to let anyone stop them, not armies, not fleets, not even the most powerful empire the world has ever seen that just so happens to hold a centuries-old grudge against Everton.

  The world is going to learn a very important lesson: never, ever underestimate a necromancer with a shovel and time to plan.

  The Galactic Peace Committee

  In one universe, humanity conquers the stars. In another universe, humanity is overrun by monsters so evil that their very presence dims the light of the stars. In yet another universe, humanity is drawn into an endless battle for dominion over the galaxy.

  This is not one of those universes.

  In this universe, humanity is in charge of the Galactic Peace Committee. In theory, the Committee is an unmatched force for good, bringing peace and prosperity to countless worlds and ensuring that conflicts between different races are settled with words and not planet-cracking weaponry or super plagues designed to turn everyone into goo.

  In theory.

  Jake Smith is a diplomat. He works for the Committee. This is his story – and it goes about as well as you’d expect. In other words, it doesn’t go very well at all. Can Jake survive petty aliens? Sure. He’s a diplomat. It’s all part of the job. What about angry aliens? Probably. He does have a killer robot for a secretary, and he’s not bad with a shock staff. How about a fleet of aliens out for blood? That… that might be a little bit trickier.

  The Galactic Peace Committee… keeping peace (sort of) throughout the galaxy.

  The Trouble With Werewolves

  The Department Series Part One

  Listen up rookies, I’m going to keep this short, and I’m going to keep this simple. If you’re going to be an agent for the Australian Department of Unusual Events, then you need to know how to deal with werewolves. And werewolves, rookies, are not pleasant creatures to deal with. The average werewolf is seven feet tall and weighs roughly two hundred and fifty kilograms. The average werewolf also wants nothing more than to rip your face off and eat you for dinner.

  If you want to beat a werewolf, you can’t afford to fight fair. No, you cheat – you cheat as much as you bloody can. If that means sneaking up on it and putting a silver bullet in the back of its head with a sniper rifle, then that’s what you do. But I’m not going to waste your time by telling you what you already know. I’m not going to tell you about a mission where everything went right. I’m going to tell you about a mission where things went wrong because things always go wrong and learning how to deal with that is the only way you’ll last more than a year or two in the Department.

  So pay attention and take notes. It could save your life.

  Beneath a Shattered Sky

  The Fracture Chronicles Part One

  There were idiots – and then there were the Ancients.

  More than two thousand years ago, the Ancients decided that simply killing each other with all the power in one world wasn’t enough. No. They had to use the power of countless other worlds to kill each other.

  Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out the way they planned.

  The barriers separating the world of Fracture from other worlds shattered, and the Ancients were overrun by endless hordes of otherworldly monsters. Civilisation collapsed, monsters ate lots of people, and pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

  Oops.

  Eventually, the survivors invented barriers, a powerful form of magic capable of stabilising parts of Fracture and keeping out otherworldly monsters. Score one for civilisation.

  Sophie is a graduate of Relic’s Temple, a warrior trained to use innate magic to fight all manner of bloodthirsty otherworldly monsters in hand-to-hand combat. At her legendary mother’s behest, she goes on a journey to find her mother’s almost-as-legendary former student. The problem is that Matilda isn’t quite what all the legends say.

  Oh, Matilda has got ass kicking down to an art form, and she’s an absolute genius at barrier magic, but she’s also an irredeemable (and highly successful) flirt who is seemingly immune to the effects of alcohol. She also likes to give people nicknames – irritatingly accurate nicknames.

  Before she knows it, Sophie is part of Matilda’s crew, journeying across Fracture in semi-epic fashion while performing acts of heroism for fame, charity, glory, and the occasional big payday. When she’s not being fired out of a sky-ship to board a pirate vessel, she’s fighting hordes of otherworldly monsters with a troubled city in their sights.

  But it is beneath a shattered sky that Sophie finally learns that Matilda really is every bit the legend people say she is.

  The Last Huntress Series

  Collection One: Parts One To Four

  They meet on a lonely road lit only by moonlight and stained by the blood of werewolves.

  Rose is a girl searching for the power to take back her homeland.

  Scarlett is the last of her line – a huntress sworn to destroy all monsters.

  Rose wants nothing more than to learn the ways of a huntress. She needs the strength to slay the monsters that destroyed her home and slaughtered her family. Only then can she leave the shadows of her past behind and help her people rebuild what they have lost. But the road she must walk is one that Scarlett knows only too well, and there is no room upon it for softness.

  A huntress cannot have mercy, a huntress cannot hesitate, and a huntress cannot fail, not even if it means killing the ones they love the most.

  From the frozen forests of the north, to the fetid swamps of the south, and the towering mountains of east, Scarlett will show Rose what it means to be a huntress. They will face the darkness in their pasts, the old wounds that made them who they are. They will face ancient evils that have endured for centuries, waiting for mankind to grow weak and forget. And they will even face the wrath and power of dragon fire.

  Rose wants to be a huntress. Who better to learn from than the last huntress?

  This collection contains:

  The Last Huntress (The Last Huntress Series Part One)

  The Lord of Dark Waters (The Last Huntress Series Part Two)

  The Fire Upon the Mountain (The Last Huntress Series Part Three)

  The Lonely Wood (The Last Huntress Series Part Four)

  The Gunslinger and the Necromancer

  The Lizzy Stanton Series Part One

  When the Church needs someone to send the denizens of Hell back to where they belong, they go looking for Lizzy Stanton.

  As gunslingers go, Lizzy’s right up there with the best of
them. No matter what kind of evil she’s up against, she knows exactly how to handle things – put a holy bullet right between the eyes. But when she takes a job to go after a necromancer over in Pine Creek, she might just have bitten off more than she can chew.

  With zombies, demons, and one tricky necromancer to worry about, Lizzy’s going to have to be real quick on the trigger. In the gunfight between good and evil, she’s the gunslinger who always delivers.