“Under those circumstances, we could not possibly introduce you to Duke Boordin as his friend. You are treacherous, untrustworthy, and dangerous.
“If you have any character, you will take your army, return to Eldenberg, and accept whatever consequences the Council imposes on you. But if not, I suggest you heed the same advice Calibot gave his uncle: wander the Known World and make a fortune for yourself. Opportunities abound for those with your skills and your . . . moral flexibility.”
Vicia’s mouth hung open. She clearly hadn’t been expecting to have her plea rejected. She was offering something the duke could use. But Devon’s character and his logic were too high. Calibot wasn’t sure she’d ever met anyone like him.
“But—” she began; Calibot cut her off.
“Lord Vicia, we’re setting you free,” he said. “That seems an awfully light sentence for murdering my father. I suggest you take my mercy and go.”
Vicia stared at him for a moment. She seemed to be considering her chances. Then she dropped her eyes to the ground. Calibot couldn’t tell if she was ashamed or cowed, but it didn’t matter. She turned and walked away from them, pausing only to pick up her staff.
Calibot, Devon, and Liliana watched her go until they were certain she wouldn’t turn back and attack them. When she was about fifty yards away, she raised her arm and signaled to her army. Like Zod’s, they began retreating to their encampment.
“Let’s get out of here,” Calibot said. “I want to put some distance between us and this place before nightfall.”
“An excellent plan,” Devon replied. He turned and put his hand on Calibot’s shoulder. “I am so proud of you.”
“Why?” Calibot said. He understood Devon being pleased it was over, but he couldn’t comprehend pride.
“For choosing your own path,” Devon answered. “You could have made yourself king like your father wanted. You could have butchered Zod and Vicia in anger and revenge. Instead, you chose a higher path. You released them to the consequences of their actions and preserved the person you want to be. You’re your own man, Calibot, no one else’s. I love you.”
Calibot smiled. He never got what he wanted from his father. There was never any love and never any reconciliation. But he found peace in his decisions. He brought his father’s madness to an acceptable conclusion. He could live with that.
“I love you too,” he said.
He reached for Devon and kissed him tenderly. They melted into a deep embrace. At last, he was home. This was where he belonged. This was the heaven he remembered.
“You know, I think your father would be proud of you,” Liliana said when they withdrew from each other’s arms.
“No, he wouldn’t,” Calibot said. He turned to Liliana and smiled – a real genuine smile, the first he’d had in weeks. “And I’m happy about that.”
The end of The Sword and the Sorcerer.
The saga continues in A Contest of Succession.
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Afterword
This is a book about love. I’m sure, having read it, you realize that.
But it’s not just about Calibot and Devon’s love. I wrote the book for my wife, Jill. It’s dedicated to her, and as I note in the acknowledgements, it’s a novel-length love letter to her. It covers issues that are personal to her, and since they’re hers, I won’t go into them here. Suffice to say, she inspired much of the story.
The Sword and the Sorcerer is also not just about my love for my wife. I’d been struggling to write this novel for thirty years. It started when I was only fifteen and went through several iterations, none of them quite working successfully. (The original draft is ludicrously bad. What can I say? I was a teenager trying to adapt a D&D campaign to book form. What I knew about plot and craft could be summed up in just a few words.)
Reshaping the story and dedicating it to Jill finally gave me a narrative I was proud of, one I could write with confidence and joy. But there was one other element that I changed from all those earlier drafts that made it what I consider perhaps my best work of fiction.
I changed the sexual identity of the main character.
Up until this version of the story, Calibot had been straight. I’m straight. I naturally wrote heterosexual characters. I decided, though, that I would make Calibot gay, and I changed Devon from his trusted companion to his lover.
This simple alteration added considerable depth to the narrative. No longer was Calibot only a poet navigating a dangerous world he didn’t understand. He was a man in love fighting a fate he didn’t want. But his lover was there by his side, supporting him and helping him.
Thus, the book became about more than a young man coming to terms with the death of a manipulative, estranged father. It became a story of love – not just Calibot and Devon’s relationship, but of the transformative power of love itself.
I have been a supporter of marriage equality for a long time now. I therefore wanted to create a world where it doesn’t matter if a person is gay, straight, bi, or trans. Calibot and Devon live in such a place, but many Americans did not. When The Sword and the Sorcerer was published in December of 2013, only sixteen U.S. states allowed same-sex marriage.
So I donated a dollar of each sale of the book to Freedom to Marry, the nonprofit that advocated and fought for marriage equality nationwide. I’ve been giving them a portion of my sales since then to enable their campaign. I wish the book had sold better, so I could have given more.
Maybe it helped anyway. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state gay marriage bans, declaring them unconstitutional. I believed this day would come, but I wasn’t expecting it quite this soon.
But that is the transformative power of love. In 2004 and ’05, amendments to state constitutions defining marriage as being only between one man and one woman swept the nation. But after a mere eleven years of building momentum, of changing public perception and opinion, gay and lesbian couples can wed and have their marriages recognized across the U.S.
Love prevailed. It changed hearts and minds until, at least in terms of marriage laws, all U.S. citizens are now equal.
I’m proud to have been a very small part of that. Love is, as Devon tells Calibot, the mightiest magic of all.
I will be looking for a new charity to donate to – one that fights for and uses love just as Freedom to Marry did. Then I’ll start offering a portion of my proceeds to them.
Thank you for your support, for reading, and for whatever faith you have in love and the human spirit.
The magic has just begun.
John R. Phythyon, Jr.
Columbus, Ohio
June 26, 2015
A Contest of Succession – Excerpt
Liliana Gray had never seen a crucifixion before. She hadn’t planned to see one today. She’d been riding along the road to Twin Falls, hoping to make the city by nightfall, when she’d perceived strange magic off to the north. Not recognizing its source or nature, and wondering what it meant, she’d decided to investigate.
Approximately half a mile later, in a small woods composed largely of evergreens hardy enough to grow in the frozen ground of the tundra, she discovered a giant, black cross with a naked man nailed to it. His body was in fine shape – well muscled and broad – but his skin was red with frostbite, and his head hung lifelessly on his neck, with a long mane of brown hair flowing down from it obscuring his face. Liliana could only tell he was still alive by the way he shivered and by the six goblins, who surrounded the crucifix, staring reverently as though transfixed.
The cross hummed and throbbed with dark magic. Like any wizard, Liliana could perceive eldritch energy, and the crucifix was drenched in demonic power. It permeated the wood and infected the en
tire clearing with a palpable wrongness that virtually screamed at Liliana.
Stranger still, the spell seemed to be sucking the life, the soul, from its victim and channeling it into the ground. Crucifixion was a long, agonizing means of execution, but Liliana thought he would die before the exhaustion or the cold got him. Something unnatural was happening here.
In fact, the more she observed the scene, the odder it became. She’d never heard goblins could to work this type of sorcery. And she was no expert on the region or the species, but she’d thought goblins were confined largely to the mountains, many leagues north of here. But there they stood, with their leathery, green skin covered in animal pelts, gripping spears as the cold air turned their excited breath to steam.
She had no idea what she’d stumbled upon, but Liliana was certain she should put a stop to it. The dark magic on the cross and the presence of goblins was enough to tell her no good would come of allowing them to continue their ritual.
She raised her right hand, pointed four fingers at the fiends, and summoned eldritch energy from the ether around her. Four bright, red arrows of light shot from her fingertips and hit four of the goblins. Each exploded in red fire, eliciting screams and breaking their trance.
Two died instantly, while their companions ran in circles, shouting in their strange language and wailing in pain. The remaining two she hadn’t targeted looked at her, horrified and frightened. One threw his spear at her. She waved her hand, and it turned to marigolds, which fell harmlessly on the frosty earth in front of her horse, Percy.
That was all the convincing they needed. Both turned tail and raced into the woods. One of the ones she’d attacked followed after them, still burning. The other had fallen over dead like his comrades.
Liliana was tempted to give chase, but goblins had a reputation as clever, and they had the advantage of knowing the territory. She didn’t want to get ambushed. Besides, the man on the cross needed her assistance immediately if he was going to survive, assuming he could be saved at all.
She spurred Percy forward, but he took two only steps before he stopped again and refused to get any closer to the crucifix. He whinnied nervously. Clearly, he could feel the darkness too and didn’t want any part of it.
“It’s okay, boy,” she said. “I won’t make you go farther.”
She dismounted, pulled a large blanket out of her supplies, and approached the cross. It still hummed with darkness. The goblins may have scattered, but their spell was still operating. That worried her a bit. She didn’t know what it was, so she wasn’t entirely certain how to deal with it.
Hoping the magic wasn’t securing him to the tainted wood, she raised her hand and mentally commanded the nails to withdraw. They obeyed without resistance, sliding easily out of the cross, the man’s wrists, and his feet.
Before he could fall, Liliana raised her other hand, drew more magical energy to her, and levitated him softly down until he was floating just a few inches off the ground in front of her. She swaddled him quickly in the blanket and then guided him over to Percy, bringing him to a rest on his back.
“There, Percy,” she said. “You can hold our guest, can’t you?”
Percy grunted quickly, as if to say, “Sure, can we get out of here now?”
Liliana agreed with him. Whatever was going on here was bad, and there was every chance the goblins would come back with reinforcements. She needed to get everyone away as quickly as possible.
She took Percy’s reins and led him from the clearing and back towards the road. She stopped at the edge of the woods and made camp. She’d rather have taken the man all the way to Twin Falls, but she wasn’t sure he would last that long, and while she didn’t relish staying among the trees, since the goblins might pursue them, she thought he needed the shelter of the evergreens instead of being out in the open where the wind could chill him further.
She built a small fire, using magic to get it going quickly. Then she laid him down next to it and cast several spells to warm him and tend his wounds. He shivered intensely for awhile, but by the time she’d gotten Percy tied up and fed, her patient was doing better. He remained unconscious, though, so she couldn’t ask him any questions.
Ah, well. That could wait for later. For the time being, he was alive. She broke out some rations and had dinner as the sun went down. Whoever the strange man was, whatever reason he’d been crucified by goblins, she knew she had stumbled onto something important – maybe as important as that day two years ago when she’d woken up to discover Gothemus Draco’s last instructions on her chest. Just as she had then, Liliana Gray felt the hand of destiny upon her.
The story continues in A Contest of Succession – click here to get it from Amazon.com!
None contestants. One crown. Destiny awaits.
The Duke of Twin Falls has died with no heir. Before expiring, he organized an outlandish plan for succession – to assume the throne, the next duke must fulfill a strange quest to unlock an incomprehensible riddle. Anyone may enter, but only a clever and brave contestant will triumph.
A sanctimonious sorcerer, a hard-headed general, and a conniving criminal all aim to wear the crown. But a disgraced elder from a foreign city may know something none of them does that will tip the contest in her favor. And a humble soldier who’s never been to Twin Falls before may be a wildcard that changes everything.
As the contenders close in on the mysterious Blessing of the Fey, a goblin invasion, a dark god, and an enigmatic puppet master pulling strings from afar all stand in the way of ascending the throne and fulfilling destiny.
An epic fantasy that continues the saga begun The Sword and the Sorcerer!
Click here to purchase A Contest of Succession from Amazon.com!
Acknowledgements
It took me thirty years to write this novel, and it changed and evolved multiple times along the way. Hopefully, none of my other books will take quite that long to get from idea to published manuscript, but I am extremely grateful to the large chorus of people who in their own ways helped The Sword and the Sorcerer become a reality.
Gary Hagerstrom, Pat Heil, and David Phythyon – A long time ago, before anyone thought geeks were cool, these guys sat around a table with me and created most of the key characters in this novel. They might not recognize them today, but the seeds for Gothemus, Zod, Vicia, and Elmanax are there.
Drs. Robert Boyer, John Phythyon, and Kenneth Zahorski – When I finished the first draft of this novel by handwriting it into a notebook, my father suggested I use St. Norbert College’s computer lab to learn to type it into real manuscript form. My work on those old Apple IIc’s would lay the foundation for what I do now. Later, when I was a student at SNC, Bob Boyer and Ken Zahorski taught me that good fantasy/sci-fi literature was every bit as worthy of letters as the mainstream material I was taught in my other English classes. I’ve been infusing my fantasy novels with human themes ever since then.
Freedom to Marry –While I have always been a supporter of same-sex marriage, Freedom to Marry helped me see it as a fundamental human right. At the very least, equal protection under the law is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, and I believe allowing heterosexual couples to wed but denying the right to homosexual ones is discriminatory. I’m so pleased the Supreme Court agreed with that opinion, and I thank the people at Freedom to Marry who inspired not only me, but many, many others across the U.S.
Anne Patterson and Knute Pittenger – One of the fun parts of opening a new fantasy book is looking at the map of this incredible place you get to explore. I drew up a map and then gave it to the far more talented Anne Patterson, who somehow reached inside my brain and drew it up exactly as I imagined it. And my good friend, Knute, made a very fine Gothemus for the cover.
Jill Jess – Most importantly, this final, best version of the novel I’ve been trying to write for thirty years came into being because of my beloved wife. It is, at heart, a novel-length love letter to the person who is everything I’ve ever wanted. Just as
it took me since 1983 to get this book into print, it took the same amount of time to marry the woman of my dreams. I could be angry that we didn’t meet until a few years ago and that I was somehow cheated by fate for not getting to know her any time before. But I am just grateful we did meet. This novel is for her. She made it happen, and I’m so very happy.
Read John’s exciting Wolf Dasher novels!
Thrilling chases. Exotic locations. Sinister villains. Plots to topple governments. Magic. Elves. Fantastic devices. Intrigue. Politics. Religion. Explosive action.
This is the world of Wolf Dasher, agent of Her Majesty’s Shadow Service. Wolf is a Shadow – a person with special powers granted by The Rift, a tear in the fabric of reality that spits dark energy into this realm. Shadows work as spies and assassins, using their powers to conduct espionage for their respective governments.
Wolf’s world is one of ambition and greed, of swords and sorcery, of action and adventure, and of religion and revenge. If James Bond lived in a fantasy world, this would be it.
Murder in a broken land . . .
Wolf Dasher’s mission is simple: find out who murdered his friend and colleague while she was on assignment in the elf nation of Alfar. But he soon learns that, in the magical land of elves, nothing is easy. Wolf uncovers an intricate web of assassination, betrayal, and zealotry. He must act quickly; failure means a devastating act of terrorism that will kill thousands of elves, topple Alfar’s government, and change the balance of power in the world forever.
State of Grace is a phenomenal beginning of a series. Wolf Dasher is a likeable character. . . . There’s a romantic, passionate side to him, as well as a cunning deadliness.
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