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Wyrd West Chronicles #5
The Reaping
From "The Reaping":
The girl was dying; that much was clear. Graeme steeled himself. He was just now a Gunslinger. The Slingers had healing powers; not all the time, and there were limits. He had never tried it; didn’t really have the slightest idea how. But what choice was there? “Stand back,” he said, and he laid his hands on the convulsing child’s sweaty head.
Please, he begged. O Lord and Lady, if you’re listenin’, this little girl don’t deserve this. Take this from her.
Without a conscious effort of will he realized he was suddenly seeing into the Spirit-Realm again. There were dark clouds coursing through the girl’s body and veins. Her bewildered and frightened spirit sat on the edge of the picnic table and looked at him with horror in her young eyes.
Power drew up from the earth and through Graeme’s body. He could feel it like a fountain of cold water, rushing from the soles of his feet and out through his hands. He heard the tinkling of silver bells as silver light poured out and into the girl’s struggling little body. It took something else with it; some essence, some vital spark. He was afraid. But he held nothing back, he wanted so badly for the girl to live.
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The Gunslingers have tracked a necromancer to the Yorktown Country Harvest Fair. But her plans are even worse than they anticipated. The horror that awaits young Gunslinger Graeme Walsh and his posse is beyond anything he could have imagined. What can a Gunslinger do when his guns aren't enough?
Welcome to the Wyrd West, a post-apocalyptic Canada where Western meets high fantasy and a dash of steampunk.
The girl was dying; that much was clear. Graeme steeled himself. He was just now a Gunslinger. The Slingers had healing powers; not all the time, and there were limits. He had never tried it; didn’t really have the slightest idea how. But what choice was there? “Stand back,” he said, and he laid his hands on the convulsing child’s sweaty head.
Please, he begged. O Lord and Lady, if you’re listenin’, this little girl don’t deserve this. Take this from her.
Without a conscious effort of will he realized he was suddenly seeing into the Spirit-Realm again. There were dark clouds coursing through the girl’s body and veins. Her bewildered and frightened spirit sat on the edge of the picnic table and looked at him with horror in her young eyes.
Power drew up from the earth and through Graeme’s body. He could feel it like a fountain of cold water, rushing from the soles of his feet and out through his hands. He heard the tinkling of silver bells as silver light poured out and into the girl’s struggling little body. It took something else with it; some essence, some vital spark. He was afraid. But he held nothing back, he wanted so badly for the girl to live.
----------
The Gunslingers have tracked a necromancer to the Yorktown Country Harvest Fair. But her plans are even worse than they anticipated. The horror that awaits young Gunslinger Graeme Walsh and his posse is beyond anything he could have imagined. What can a Gunslinger do when his guns aren't enough?
Welcome to the Wyrd West, a post-apocalyptic Canada where Western meets high fantasy and a dash of steampunk.
76 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 21, 2018
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 14, 2018
This is the fifth novella in a serial I'm writing that's geared primarily for e-platforms. Publication schedule will include one every two months, with a print collection intended for once a year with all of that year's stories included.
What is a serial? A serial is a series of stories published sequentially. In many cases they would end with cliffhangers that would encourage you to get the next one. I don't like ending things on cliffhangers, but they are designed to be read sequentially and continue more or less where the last one left off. Each is a complete story in and of itself, and each year's stories will have a consistent story arc between them.
In this installment of the Wyrd West Chronicles, the posse finally tracks their foe, a necromancer, to a well-attended public country fair. I think this begins to illustrate why necromancers are such a bad thing and why the Gunslingers pursue them. If I've done my job, you'll be angry by the end of it. Sorry.
The Wyrd West Chronicles are a genre-bender and a mixture of a lot of things, so they're not likely to be for everybody. In essence, it's what happens when a high fantasy meets a Western, set in a post-apocalyptic magical world that's a little bit steampunk (or cattlepunk, if you're familiar with that term). I guess the closest description of its genre is Weird West, where Western meets the supernatural. However, the supernatural element in Weird Westerns tends to be geared towards horror; vampires and zombies and the like. Mine is more like Tolkien meets Tombstone.
I think, however, that you could still legitimately call it a Western. The themes are based in Western themes; standing up for what you believe is right, rugged individualism, determined survivalists; that kind of thing. A dedicated Western fan will recognize a lot of tropes that they know and love (without the stereotypes, I hope; though that may not be evident right away.) This is a mythic West. Yet, all the tropes that remain exist for a reason that I think is consistent within the world I've constructed. Firefly fans might appreciate what I'm trying to do.
The setting is a post-apocalyptic Canadian West which has an American Midwestern presence. What was the Cataclysm that I speak of in the book? Why are things the way they are in this world? Don't worry, I will explain all that; just not right away. ;)
What is a serial? A serial is a series of stories published sequentially. In many cases they would end with cliffhangers that would encourage you to get the next one. I don't like ending things on cliffhangers, but they are designed to be read sequentially and continue more or less where the last one left off. Each is a complete story in and of itself, and each year's stories will have a consistent story arc between them.
In this installment of the Wyrd West Chronicles, the posse finally tracks their foe, a necromancer, to a well-attended public country fair. I think this begins to illustrate why necromancers are such a bad thing and why the Gunslingers pursue them. If I've done my job, you'll be angry by the end of it. Sorry.
The Wyrd West Chronicles are a genre-bender and a mixture of a lot of things, so they're not likely to be for everybody. In essence, it's what happens when a high fantasy meets a Western, set in a post-apocalyptic magical world that's a little bit steampunk (or cattlepunk, if you're familiar with that term). I guess the closest description of its genre is Weird West, where Western meets the supernatural. However, the supernatural element in Weird Westerns tends to be geared towards horror; vampires and zombies and the like. Mine is more like Tolkien meets Tombstone.
I think, however, that you could still legitimately call it a Western. The themes are based in Western themes; standing up for what you believe is right, rugged individualism, determined survivalists; that kind of thing. A dedicated Western fan will recognize a lot of tropes that they know and love (without the stereotypes, I hope; though that may not be evident right away.) This is a mythic West. Yet, all the tropes that remain exist for a reason that I think is consistent within the world I've constructed. Firefly fans might appreciate what I'm trying to do.
The setting is a post-apocalyptic Canadian West which has an American Midwestern presence. What was the Cataclysm that I speak of in the book? Why are things the way they are in this world? Don't worry, I will explain all that; just not right away. ;)
Displaying 1 of 1 review