Release date: August 6, 2019
Subgenre: Sword and Sorcery
About The Night Court:
The city of Vanadur suffers under the thumb of the Night Court, whose
bailiffs snatch random people off the streets and whose masked judges
know only one verdict: guilty.
Meldom, thief, cutpurse and occasional assassin, is one of those who are snatched off the streets and put on trial by the Night Court. The accusation: murder. But while Meldom may have done many questionable things in the past, he knows that he did not commit this particular murder.
However, the Night Court is not inclined to believe him and so it’s up to Thurvok, Sharenna and Lysha to save him from the gallows.
This is a short story of 7100 words or 25 print pages in the Thurvok sword and sorcery series, but may be read as a standalone. Includes an introduction and afterword.
Meldom, thief, cutpurse and occasional assassin, is one of those who are snatched off the streets and put on trial by the Night Court. The accusation: murder. But while Meldom may have done many questionable things in the past, he knows that he did not commit this particular murder.
However, the Night Court is not inclined to believe him and so it’s up to Thurvok, Sharenna and Lysha to save him from the gallows.
This is a short story of 7100 words or 25 print pages in the Thurvok sword and sorcery series, but may be read as a standalone. Includes an introduction and afterword.
Excerpt:
Night had fallen over the free city of Vanadur and the streets and alleys lay deserted. Only the man of the night watch were out and about, patrolling the streets with their lanterns and halberds. There were also other, less lawful elements abroad, keeping strictly to the shadows to engage in their various illicit activities.
Not too long ago, the man dressed in black from head to toe, his lithe body swathed in a cloak the colour of midnight, might have been one of those less lawful elements. For Meldom of Greyvault used to ply his trade as a thief, cutpurse and occasional assassin. He’d sworn off killing by now — and he’d only ever killed those who had it coming anyway. He still cut the occasional purse and picked the occasional pocket, but only to stay in practice. And he only stole from those who could afford it.
But these days, Meldom was mainly a freelance adventurer and occasional mercenary. To his own surprise, he was also a hero, ever since he and his companions had slain the dragon Khadaragh the Terrible who’d been terrorising the countryside in the Valley of Kosh.
And since he was a hero now and not engaged in any illicit activities for once, Meldom did not stick to the shadows, but walked in the middle of the cobblestoned street, his head held high. He was on his way to the Murky Meerkat tavern to join his friends Thurvok and Sharenna as well as his sweetheart Lysha.
Normally, Meldom was a cautious man. But he had no enemies here in Vanadur that he knew of. All right, so he’d been here before and he’d done a few jobs, stolen a few things, but nothing major. Nothing that would cause anybody to seek revenge two cycles later.
Besides, his mind was already imagining the wine he’d have at the Murky Meerkat and the food he’d eat and Lysha’s slender body lying next to his in a nice soft bed. And so he never noticed that some of the shadows cast by the lanterns hanging above the entrances of the wealthier houses were moving in the night and that they were following him.
However, he did notice that someone was trying to jump him from the overhang of one of the houses lining the street. Meldom quickly vaulted aside and his would-be attacker landed on the cobblestones instead.
Meldom whipped out his dagger to confront his assailant, when a black canvas sack was thrown over his face from behind. Blindly, Meldom lashed out with his dagger, but only hit empty air.
Then someone knocked him on the back of the head and he collapsed in the street, out cold.
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About Richard Blakemore:
Richard Blakemore (1900 – 1994) was a prolific writer of pulp
fiction. Nowadays, he is best remembered for creating the Silencer, a masked
vigilante in the vein of the Shadow or the Spider, during the hero pulp boom of
the 1930s. But Richard Blakemore also wrote in many other genres, including an
early sword and sorcery series about the adventures of a sellsword named
Thurvok and his companions.
Richard Blakemore's private life was almost as exciting as his fiction.
He was a veteran of World War I and II as well as a skilled sportsman and
adventurer who travelled the world during the 1920s. He may also have been the
person behind the mask of the real life Silencer who prowled New York City
between 1933 and 1942, fighting crime, protecting the innocent and punishing
the guilty, though nothing has ever been proven.
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 Buhlert was
born and bred in North Germany, where she still lives today – after time
spent in London, Singapore, Rotterdam and Mississippi. Cora holds an MA
degree in English from the University of Bremen and is currently
working towards her PhD.
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.
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