Release date: November 12, 2019
Subgenre: Sword and Sorcery
About The Temple of the Snake God:
It was supposed to be an easy job. Go in, grab the eye of the idol and get out.
But the temple of the snake god Tseghirun turns out to be unexpectedly busy, when Thurvok, the sellsword, and his friends, Meldom, thief, cutpurse and occasional assassin, the sorceress Sharenna and Meldom's sweetheart Lysha attempt to steal the eye. Not only is there a ceremony going on at the temple, no, the cultists are also about to sacrifice several young girls to the snake god Tseghirun. And so what started out as a simple heist quickly turns into a rescue mission.
This is a short story of 6200 words or approximately 22 print pages in the Thurvok sword and sorcery series, but may be read as a standalone. Includes an introduction and afterword.
But the temple of the snake god Tseghirun turns out to be unexpectedly busy, when Thurvok, the sellsword, and his friends, Meldom, thief, cutpurse and occasional assassin, the sorceress Sharenna and Meldom's sweetheart Lysha attempt to steal the eye. Not only is there a ceremony going on at the temple, no, the cultists are also about to sacrifice several young girls to the snake god Tseghirun. And so what started out as a simple heist quickly turns into a rescue mission.
This is a short story of 6200 words or approximately 22 print pages in the Thurvok sword and sorcery series, but may be read as a standalone. Includes an introduction and afterword.
Excerpt:
“It’s an easy job,” Meldom — thief, cutpurse and occasional assassin — said, as he strutted into the Drunken Fish tavern in the tropical port city of Sartika and joined his comrades at a table in the corner, “Go in, grab the eye of the idol and get out.”
Alas in practice, things were never quite as easy as Meldom made them out to be. Those fabulous treasures he’d heard rumours about from drunks in taverns of ill repute turned out to be either non-existent or guarded by fearsome monsters or both. And the easy jobs he procured via his contacts, who were almost as disreputable as Meldom himself, usually were anything but.
And so Thurvok the sellsword was highly sceptical about this plan to infiltrate the temple of the snake god Tseghirun and steal the eye of the idol from the start.
“It’s not right…” he said, taking a gulp from a tankard of wine, “…stealing the eyes of other people’s gods.”
“You don’t even believe in gods,” Meldom pointed out.
“No, but the followers of this…”
“Tseghirun,” Meldom supplied.
“…do and they’re not going to be pleased that we’re stealing the eye of their idol. And besides, people who worship a snake god with an unpronounceable name…”
“Unpronounceable only to a barbarian like you.”
“…are probably going to be fanatics anyway. And I don’t want to deal with fanatics. Or snakes.”
Thurvok suppressed a shudder, for he thoroughly disliked snakes. They reminded him of the legendary death worms of the Eastern Steppes where he’d grown up, vile scaly creatures of evil. A wise man kept well away from them.
“I’m inclined to agree with Thurvok,” the sorceress Sharenna said, “Not that I have any issue with stealing the eye of the idol or anything else from the temple of Tseghirun. The priests and acolytes are thoroughly evil and sacrifice dozens of young girls to their insatiable god every year.”
“So you’re on my side then,” Meldom said with a grin.
“No, I’m on Thurvok’s side. Because he’s right. The priests and worshippers of Tseghirun are fanatics. Heretics and unbelievers are put to death without mercy. And while Tseghirun prefers virgin girls as sacrifices, as do most gods — for reasons best known to themselves — he’ll take the blood of anyone the priests sentence to death.”
“I wasn’t intending to get captured, you know?” Meldom countered.
He turned to the fourth member of the quartet, Lysha, daughter of a silk merchant turned fugitive from justice, who also happened to be Meldom’s girlfriend.
“What about you? Surely you are on my side, are you not?”
Lysha put down the pomegranate, on which she’d been nibbling.
“I don’t know,” she said, “We certainly do need the money, but… this job requires that we steal something, and… well, we’re not thieves, are we?”
Thurvok snorted, because even though she’d been sharing his bed for almost two months now, Lysha still had no idea how Meldom actually made his money.
“Only if it’s for a good cause,” Sharenna said, trying to suppress a bout of laughter.
Meldom shot them both a dirty look. “We’re dead broke and the priests of Tseghirun sacrifice virgin girls besides. I’d say that’s a very good cause.”
“Well, if you put it that way,” Lysha said.
“So we’re all in agreement then?” Meldom asked.
And though no one except Meldom actually wanted to do the job and steal the eye of the idol, somehow he still managed to get them all to agree. But then, that was Meldom for you.
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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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