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    Tricks of the Blade
    Tricks of the Blade
    Tricks of the Blade
    Ebook98 pages1 hour

    Tricks of the Blade

    By Eric Lewis

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    About this ebook

    Bridging the gaps between classic fantasy, low fantasy, and speculative realism, these six tales show that sometimes our own preconceptions, doubts, and self-delusions can prove more troublesome than any magical or sword-wielding foe. "Tricks of the Blade" is a short story collection by Eric Lewis, published by Mannison Press.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMannison Press, LLC
    Release dateJan 14, 2020
    ISBN9780463738368
    Tricks of the Blade
    Author

    Eric Lewis

    Eric Lewis is a research chemist weathering the latest rounds of layoffs and trying to remember how to be a person again after surviving grad school. When not subjecting his writing to serial rejection, he can be found gathering as many different sharp and pointies as possible and searching for the perfect hiking trail, archery range or single malt Scotch. THE HERON KINGS is his first novel.

    Read more from Eric Lewis

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      Book preview

      Tricks of the Blade - Eric Lewis

      Tricks of the Blade

      By Eric Lewis

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2020 Eric Lewis

      Published by Mannison Press, LLC at Smashwords

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Necessary, Not Casual

      Hate Saves You

      Demons of the Mount

      Justice Enough

      Healing Touch

      Tower of Faces

      Thank You

      About the Author

      Connect

      Introduction

      Like so many things in life, this small collection of stories came about through blind luck. I'd submitted the first story included here, Necessary, Not Casual, for Mannison Press's wonderful Little Girl Lost anthology, not expecting anything to come of it. It's a very simple plot in which the newest recruit to a band of forest rangers must overcome her doubts to protect her comrades from bandits, learning the hard way when to let arrows fly and when not to. It didn't quite make the cut, but editors Ron and Deidre enjoyed it enough to propose this Minibook of it and other stories of mine. Thanks to my inborn state of perpetual embarrassment I've never been able to properly express my gratitude to them, so please allow me to do so here.

      Most of these stories were already written, so it was a bit of a challenge coming up with a unifying theme. The title Tricks of the Blade came to me among many other worse ones, and fortunately Ron liked it as well. The notion of things not quite being as they seem is a basic feature of almost any coherent story, but I particularly enjoyed the idea of tricks and illusions, or sometimes even just our own assumptions, being a worthy opponent or even ally to a sharp blade. These stories don't necessarily take place in one concordant world, since some feature magic and others don't, but some include alchemy that might or might not be fantastical. This ambiguous boundary between craft and magic has always been fun for me to play in.

      For the second story, Hate Saves You, the title came to me first, and I knew I had to build a story around it. A revenge story is easy, but what about someone who only survives because of their need for it? Does that make the subject of vengeance an ally?

      Demons of the Mount is the oldest story included here and is an almost flash-length piece about how superstition can sometimes be your friend. This was my first published story, appearing in 2015 on the blog Short Fiction Break.

      Justice Enough is one of the stories I'm most proud of, and explores how spending a long time hacking and slashing your way towards a goal can often blind you to another path that you hadn't considered. It was inspired by the Dishonored game franchise, where a stealth assassin must endure the consequences of bloodletting or find creative alternatives to it. It first appeared in the ezine Electric Spec in 2017.

      Healing Touch was inspired by a scene in my upcoming debut novel The Heron Kings, with some magic added. It examines the question of what one should do with a power when one has sworn to do no harm, but using that power to take one life could save many.

      I wrote The Tower of Faces specifically for this collection. It's a sequel to Necessary, Not Casual with a lighthearted plot where our heroes face alchemical illusions and unexpected twists to rescue the supposed damsel in distress. The main characters in both these stories are lighter versions of the ones in my second novel, which I'm currently working on and, publisher-willing, may appear in the next year or three.

      These short tales can all be read in an afternoon or snacked on one at a time. Either way, I hope they entertain, and I remain utterly grateful that a committed amateur like myself was given this opportunity to share some of my work with you.

      Necessary, Not Casual

      Linet was excited, though she knew she shouldn't have been. Just a patrol, she told herself, it's just another patrol. Except it wasn't. Today was her turn up front, in the lead. Perrim had complained that fourteen was too young to be granted full privileges, to be a full member of the King's Herons Rangers. But what did she know? The war had left the independent band of forest defenders severely undermanned, and such precious concerns seemed foolish to Linet. Besides, Aerrus had vouched for her readiness; that was what mattered. Linet stole a glance at her mentor while he strung his bow in the armory, nervous that she was being judged already. The man's face was unreadable as always.

      Ready to head out?

      I think so, Linet answered. Her voice cracked just a bit, and she hoped to all the gods that that idiot Braygin hadn't heard.

      Liar. Aerrus jerked his chin behind

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