Кейт Форсит - Relics, Wrecks and Ruins - Anthology of Speculative Fiction Short Works

“But…” My voice is small, my throat so thick it chokes the words. “But I don’t understand. I’m a soul-breaker. Why can’t I be a master? What’s wrong with me?” I touch my ribs. Blood has oozed through the scar tissue and stained my tunic scarlet, the color of a soul-bringer’s shift.

Veloni grasps my hands so tightly the scissors she still carries press hard into my flesh. Her expression is earnest. Truthful. Pleading, almost.

“We breakers can’t take in an old soul. Instead…” She lifts a shoulder and her gaze slides from mine, “…we break off and steal a little of each soul we pass from bringer to taker. And, in doing so, most of us inherit all of that person’s knowledge.” She touches the spot on her chest above where the soul-holding organ sits. “When this is full, we become wise enough to govern.”

Her face sags again. “Yours will never be full, I’m afraid. Something in your body cannot absorb the soul shards. The weight of their wisdom is too much, perhaps. I’m sorry. You can never be a master.”

I pull free of her touch and rise from the bed. I am flawed? My stomach twists into sickness. How can that be? The answers seemed so clear before.

Outside the bedroom window, lightning still flashes in the distance, but the storm has passed overhead, leaving nothing but the sound of dripping water and the clean smell of wet earth. To the south, the broken city is silhouetted against a yawning, golden moon.

I glance across at Freya. Her eyes are half open but still tired and vacant. She writhes on the bed, moaning. Veloni turns her back on me and tends to Freya, encouraging her to push the babe into the world. Freya’s daughter child will come, soon, and I no longer have an easy solution. Even without the driving rain, there is no way to fetch a soul-bringer in time.

Veloni is bent over the bed, my blue-metal scissors in her hand, ready to cut the child’s throat. Or ready to take my sister’s soul and leave my little niece without a family. For there is no way the Council will let me live after this either.

I reach deep inside, searching for the rage and certainty that fueled me for so long.

But it has vanished like the storm.

Soon, all that will be left is the sound of blood dripping from the blades.

Unless…

I move to the clothes cupboard. Behind me, Freya groans and Veloni urges her to push hard. My sister cries out, triumphant, relieved. A baby’s wail follows, thin, petulant.

From the cupboard I draw a scarlet soul-bringer’s shift. Discarding my breaker’s clothing I pull on the shift and return to the bed. Veloni nods.

There, I curl up beside my little sister, clasping her cold hand in my warm one. The new babe lies swaddled and sleepy between us. Freya’s eyes flutter open and widen at the sight of my clothing.

She sucks a shuddering breath. “Are you sure, Jena? I’ll miss you so much.”

I swallow hard and nod. “This body is wrong for this world. But, with all of my soul-shards in her, baby Jena will make wiser decisions than I did.” I nod to my mentor, who inclines her head, her eyes dark, regretful.

With my blue-metal blades, Veloni slices through scarlet linen and pink scar tissue and draws forth the first piece of someone else’s soul. Bright and clean. Glittering in the half-light. Not a hint of darkness smudging it anywhere.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this diverse collection of short stories. If so, would you be kind enough to leave a review on Goodreads, and any book retail sites you happen to prefer? Reviews help other readers find authors they love. Then authors don’t die of starvation.

For this anthology, sales are also helping fund a writing mentorship for up and coming authors.

Kylie Chan – has a BBus, an MBA in IT, and an MPhil in Creative writing. She ran her own consulting business for ten years in Hong Kong. When she returned to Australia in 2002, Kylie studied martial arts and Buddhist and Taoist philosophy, and wrote the bestselling nine-book Dark Heavens series, a fantasy based on Chinese mythology. She has recently released the Dragon Empire science fiction series.

Find her at: www.kyliechan.com

www.facebook.com/KylieChanAuthor

Twitter: @kyliechan

Instagram: kylie_chan_author

James SA Corey – is a convenient fiction, the pseudonym of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. He began when Daniel and Ty set out to write a book together based on work Ty had done creating the solar system that became The Expanse .

Find them at: www.jamessacorey.com

Twitter: @JamesSACorey

Dr Jack Dann – is a multi-award-winning author who has written or edited over seventy-five books, including the international bestseller The Memory Cathedral, The Rebel, The Silent, and The Man Who Melted . His latest novel is Shadows in the Stone . Kim Stanley Robinson called it “such a complete world that Italian history no longer seems comprehensible without his cosmic battle of spiritual entities behind and within every historical actor and event.” Forthcoming is a Centipede Press Masters of Science Fiction volume.

Dr. Dann is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow in the School of Communication and Arts at the University of Queensland. He lives in Australia on a farm overlooking the sea.

Find him on: www.jackdann.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jack.dann2

Twitter: @jackmdann

Sebastien de Castell – Sebastien’s acclaimed, swashbuckling fantasy series The Greatcoats , was shortlisted for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy, and the Gemmell Morningstar Award. His YA fantasy series Spellsinger is published in more than a dozen languages. He spends his time writing, travelling, and going on strange adventures.

Find him at: www.decastell.com

Twitter: @decastell

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SebastienDeCastell

Dr Marianne de Pierres – is author of the award-winning Sentients of Orion, Parrish Plessis, and Peacemaker series. In 2014 she became the recipient of a Curtin UniversityDistinguished Australian Alumniaward for significant and valuable contributions to Australian science fiction feminist literature. Marianne also writes award-winning, humorous crime under the pseudonym Marianne Delacourt. In her other life, she teaches creative writing to university students and writes about social change and thought leadership.

Find her at: www.tarashap.com.au

David Farland – is an award-winning, international bestselling author with over 50 novels in print. He has won the Philip K. Dick Memorial Special Award for “Best Novel in the English Language” for his science fiction novel On My Way to Paradise , the Whitney Award for “Best Novel of the Year” for his historical novel In the Company of Angels , and many more awards for his work. He is best known for his New York Times bestselling fantasy series The Runelords . Farland has also written for major franchises such as Star Wars and The Mummy.

Find him at: www.davidfarland.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/DavidFarlandAuthor

Aiki Flinthart – is the Australian author of 15 sci-fantasy novels, two collections of short stories, two author craft non-fiction books. She has also edited 4 short story collections. Several of her works have been shortlisted in the Australian Aurealis Awards, and top-8 finalists in the USA Writers of the Future competition. When not writing, she mentors other authors, gives workshops on writing fight scenes, and practices fantasy-approved hobbies such as martial arts, archery, knife-throwing, lute-playing, and bellydancing.