About The Tear of Chronos:
In the year of the forked serpent, Kurval came from beyond the sea, slew King Orkol and became King of Azakoria.
On the day of his coronation, Kurval consults the oracle in the temple of the goddess Ashvarya, where he is supposed to gaze into a magical jewel called the Tear of Chronos, hoping for a vision of the future.
But before Kurval can receive his vision, a young woman named Stella suddenly appears in a flash of light in the inner sanctum. Not only is Stella a deadringer for the goddess, she also wears the Tear of Chronos around her neck.
Can Stella help Kurval retain the throne he's barely won? And is she truly a goddess or just an imposter?
The new sword and sorcery adventure by two-time Hugo finalist Cora Buhlert and her occasional alter ego, 1930s pulp writer Richard Blakemore. This is a novelette of 13500 words or approx. 45 print pages in the Kurval sword and sorcery series, but may be read as a standalone. Includes an introduction and afterword.
Excerpt:
Instinctively, Kurval reached for his blade. Now he was King, he was bearing a ceremonial sword with a gilded and jewel encrusted hilt, but the blade was still cold hard steel and sharp enough to deal with any threat that might have invaded the inner sanctum.
If there was a threat to deal with, that was. For once Kurval’s eyes had recovered from the flash and the smoke had dispersed, he realised that he was no longer alone in the chamber. Stretched out on the bench in front of the statue of the goddess lay a woman.
In every detail, from her gauzy skirt via her silver girdle and bejewelled breast plates to her gleaming tiara and the teardrop gem around her neck, this woman was the spitting image of the statue. Only that this was a woman of flesh and blood. Her skin was soft and rosy, her lips the colour of a morning rose. Midnight black hair fell to her shoulders in gentle waves, long lashes quivered and her chest heaved with every breath.
His hand still on the jewelled hilt of his ceremonial blade, Kurval took a hesitant step towards the sleeping woman. Was this the goddess then, miraculously become flesh? And why had neither Izgomir nor Morelia mentioned that the goddess would appear in the flesh? Or had this never happened to any of Kurval’s predecessors before? And if so, why had the goddess decided to appear to him of all the Kings of Azakoria that had come and gone? Was she here to smite the usurper or bless his reign?
Kurval had almost reached the bench, when the sleeping goddess suddenly opened her eyes. She stretched her limbs like a great jungle cat and sat up, shaking her midnight black hair.
Kurval froze, when the goddess opened her rose red lips and spoke. And though she was speaking a barbarian tongue that Kurval had never heard before, he could nonetheless understand every single word, as if by magic.
“Ugh. Wherever and whenever I am, this is obviously not Cross Plains, Texas. Must have taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Again.”
The woman looked down at herself, clearly surprised by what she saw.
“Oh great! I’m dressed like a lesbian villainess from a fucking Margaret Brundage cover…”
The woman looked up, only now becoming aware of Kurval’s presence. She emitted a heartfelt sigh.
“And hither comes Conan. Or is it Kull? Cause you’re obviously not Elric. Nor Kane, cause I’d recognise that bastard anywhere and in any time.”
“I am Kurval,” he announced, wondering how a goddess and all-knowing oracle would not even know something as simple as his name, “King of Azakoria.”
The woman nodded. “Of course, you are. So Kurval, King of Azakoria, can you tell me where and when we are?”
Kurval blinked, taken aback. “You don’t know?”
“Would I ask if I did? So, for the slower barbarians among us, where are we, what is this place and what year is it?”
Even if the oracle of Ashvarya was not truly all-knowing, Kurval would have at least expected her to know such basic facts as where or when she had appeared. Or maybe, the oracle was forever casting her all-seeing eyes into the great river of time, with the unfortunate side effect that the present became dim and obscure to her.
“We are in your temple, my Lady,” Kurval replied with a polite bow, “In the city of Amalgonda, capital of Azakoria, in the Year of the Forked Serpent.”
“None of this means anything to me,” the woman replied. She rested her head in her hands, midnight black tresses obscuring her face.
“Still, this place is definitely prehistoric, an early high culture, bronze or iron age equivalent. Not our world, though, since the art and architecture don’t match anything we know. So this is likely some kind of parallel world. Which means I didn’t just take a wrong turn at Albuquerque, I ended up in the wrong fucking universe. Fuck!”
“For a goddess, you sure swear a lot,” Kurval remarked.
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About Richard Blakemore:
Richard Blakemore was married for more than fifty years to Constance Allen Blakemore and the couple had four children.
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About Cora Buhlert:
Cora has been writing, since she was a teenager, and has published stories, articles and poetry in various international magazines. She is the author of the Silencer series of pulp style thrillers, the Shattered Empire space opera series, the In Love and War science fiction romance series, the Helen Shepherd Mysteries and plenty of standalone stories in multiple genres.
When Cora is not writing, she works as a translator and teacher. She also runs the Speculative Fiction Showcase and the Indie Crime Scene and contributes to the Hugo-nominated fanzine Galactic Journey. Cora is a two-time finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer and the winner of the 2021 Space Cowboy Award.
