A Scribe's Work VII

This story in my newest anthology book is by far the longest short story I have ever written to date.  It is set in Stave, like several other of my short stories, I introduce several new characters in this story that I hope to use later.

The lead constable, Gunther, is called to the scene of a grisly murder of a shop keeper.  Though Gunther had seen many slayings in his career, the sheer violence and brutality of the act shocks him.  He also has no leads to go on.

He is forced then to turn to a mysterious woman named Jenna, a seer who works as fortune teller in the town.  Neither Gunther, nor Jenna is pleased by the idea, but Gunther is forced to admit she may be useful and Jenna knows it would be useful to have some good karma with the local authorities, especially since her neighboring shop keepers have tried to have her removed before.

The investigation begins with them both going to the scene of the first murder, but things go badly, and Gunther begins to believe that Jenna is hiding something.  Then they are informed that there is another murder, and the two proceed to the second scene, which is fresh.  They enter and Gunther is shocked to find that it actually worse than the first scene.  Once again they gain very little information and Jenna is forced to conduct a ritual, to see who the next victim might be.  In the meantime Gunther sends one of his men to nearby town to learn what he can about Jenna.

The ritual works and the pair learns who the next target will be.  They set up a trap to catch the killer, which of course goes badly.  The killer manages to make it to the victim, but in the ensuing fight, the killer is defeated by an old magi brought back from Jenna’s home town. 

Afterwards, Jenna realizes that she can no longer function as a seer and wonders what will happen to her.  Fortunately Gunther knows right where she can go in the town to start over.  Gunther leaves the young woman with Suman then the story ends.

This is one of the more involved stories I created.  It borders on being a novella, but I am especially pleased with the new characters I have developed for it.  Later on, maybe two or three more anthology books later I am going to create a combined story arc that will incorporate characters from different serials, and from these kinds of short stories.  It will be awesome, and I am looking forward to it.  Until then I hope you check out my work.  I have another anthology almost ready as well as a full novel I am working that I hope to have done soon.  Until then I’ll keep everyone posted!