Sole Sacrifice

By K.C. May

Sithral Tyr watched his children die of a strange illness. When his last remaining son falls ill, he goes in search of a cure. His journey leads him to a land full of danger and debauchery where he's forced to make the ultimate sacrifice to save not just his son but his entire village.

His is a tragic tale with a dark ending.

This is a novella about a character in The Kinshield Legacy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: K.C. May
• Release date: Aug 21, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452396385

K.C. May

Hi! I'm K.C. May. Thanks for visiting my author page. I grew up in the mid-western USA and in Hawaii, and earned a B.A. in Russian from Florida State University. After a year in Taiwan teaching English and studying Mandarin Chinese, I lived in the Arizona desert where I founded a Rottweiler rescue organization and worked as a computer programmer and technical writer. My interests include karate, backpacking, motorcycle riding, dog training, and computer gaming. In 2010, I retreated to cooler, greener Georgia. I earn my living as a full-time writer. My first novel, The Kinshield Legacy, was initially published in hard-cover in 2005. Now it's available as an eBook and in paperback. It was named one of the four best reads of 2010 by review blogger Grace Krispy at DailyCheapReads.com. If you enjoy that book, you will probably like the rest of the series -- The Kinshield Saga. I also write science fiction, and I've started a new series called The Mindstream Chronicles. I hope you enjoy my stories!

Book preview

Sole Sacrifice

by K.C. May

Sole Sacrifice

Copyright 2010 by K.C. May

Smashwords Edition

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This book is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents depicted herein are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Author's Note

This is the tragic story of how one character in my novel The Kinshield Legacy became who he is.

Sithral Tyr’s unpracticed hands fumbled with the buttons on his son’s shirt. His gaze returned to the peaceful young face as he looked for a sign of awareness. None came. Movement in the great-room caught Tyr’s eye. Siong peeked around the door frame, watching, biting the nails on one hand. She wanted to help, but her job as Jiwill’s caretaker was over. This was men’s work.

The bowl of purification sat beside him, and a cloth floated in the warm water. He took it, wrung out the excess, and began to wash the dark lines sewn into the backs of Jiwill’s hands. If their people had angered the gods somehow, the clean ward lines would show them Jiwill, at least, had meant no offense. Perhaps the gods would show him mercy in death they had not in life.

Tyr wiped the wards around Jiwill’s eyes, nose, ears and mouth. The Natal Ward was supposed to keep him safe through childhood. It was supposed to protect him until he was old enough for the Ward of Readiness. And now, a month before his fifth birthday, he had received the Ward of Passage. The ward of death.

Tyr clutched a hand to his chest, feeling for the vice that gripped his heart. Finding none, he took a steadying breath, dipped the cloth and wrung it again, and he washed Jiwill’s cold body.

That night, he carried Jiwill up the steps and laid the boy’s body gently upon the pyre. Siong’s cries punctuated the funeral song of the cantors. Tyr joined her and took her hand, and with their eldest son -- now their only son -- they kneeled while the shaman gave the prayer, and the fire warden lit the pyre. Afterward, Tyr raised Jiwill’s soulcele token, a ceramic porcupine, over his head and smashed it on the rocks among the white ashes.

Jiwill’s soul was freed.

Three weeks after they cremated Jiwill, Tyr left his workshop after a trying day. Every step was heavier than the one before as the sense of dread climbed. He arrived home to find Siong on her knees, crying, in the middle of the floor, her face buried in her hands.

Tyr took her wrists and looked into her bloodshot eyes. What is it, Siong?

They’re doing it again, Tyr, she said.

Shhh. Tell me who’s doing what? Who-- Then he saw it in her eyes. It was Brae.

Tyr went to the room Brae used to share with his brothers. Now it was only his.

Brae lie abed, the covers pulled up to his chin. His face was pale and his hair damp with sweat. He shivered so violently, his teeth chattered. Tyr fell to his knees beside the bed and put a hand on his son’s forehead. The fever. It was starting. As much as Tyr wanted to cling to hope, it was simply not in him. Not anymore. He could do nothing for Jiwill or Jura or Daran; what could he possibly do for Brae?

Brae opened his eyes. Baba?

Yes, my son. I’m here.

Brae’s eyes rolled backward, and Tyr’s gut twisted. He wanted to take the boy by the shoulders and shake the illness out of him. Instead, he cupped Brae’s soft face in his hands and whispered a prayer while running his thumbs over the Natal Ward around his son’s eyes, nose, mouth and ears to stimulate the protective properties of its lines.

Siong’s sobs had quieted, and after a few minutes she arrived with a basin of water and thick cotton cloth. Tyr stepped back and watched her

Reviews for Sole Sacrifice

[jakczek_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Started reading this book and was unable to stop until I had finished it. A bit of a dark fantasy with well developed characters. Great plot which was well developed. This is the lead up to the Kingshield Legacy