Baiting the Hook

by Chris Barili

On the ice-polished rooftops and the otherwise dark allies now choked with snow, Tabe Ge Nishi, the past pursues the future, old chases young. The Chargh Lai—leader of the brutal assassin's guild, the Denari Lai—searches for the perfect leader to take over the order when he passes on. But the boy has other suitors and wishes only to be left alone. Betrayals have made Ashai cautious, and just as he rebuffs the advances of a street gang, he also rejects the Chargh Lai's offer of constant brotherhood. But "no" is not an answer the Chargh Lai is used to hearing. And he pressures Ashai to join him. And meanwhile, another assassin hunts them both.

What will Ashai choose? The camaraderie of the Denari Lai, or freezing alone on the streets? The final battle will determine the fate of both men, and an entire nation.

31 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 22, 2025

About the author

Chris Barili has been writing since he was fourteen years old. He is pursuing his Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Popular Genre Fiction, with Western State Colorado University in Gunnison, CO. His fiction has appeared on The Western Online (as T.C. Barlow), and in the anthologies "These Vampires Don't Sparkle" and "Zombiefied Reloaded" by Sky Warrior Books. Later this year, his work will appear in a third Sky Warrior anthology, "The Dragon's Hoard," as well as the anthology "Temporally Out of Order" by Zombies Need Brains LLC.