A Stalker's Game (Short Story)

By John Hennessy

The first day of winter approaches, and with it the dwarven celebration of Nypha. Included in the celebration is a Stalker's Game: a search and destroy for the highest bidders. Six dwarves pit themselves against eight well-armed and hostile human slaves, out on the brutal mountain slopes, where the fate of all will be decided. The rule for the slaves is simple: survive. Who will live and who will die in this most treacherous game of all?

A short story set in The Cry of Havoc.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Hennessy
• Release date: Jan 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465838339

John Hennessy

Born in 1988, John Hennessy became entranced by the world of fantasy and sci-fi at a young age, playing video games and reading books for many long nights/early mornings. He started writing his debut novel Life Descending during his junior year of High School in 2005. He wanted to write something different for fantasy readers, something without any stock copy/paste characters, supreme evil lords, who you never see and who are just evil because they are evil. A story without class-defined skills, mana potions, and the usual D&D adventure group out on the same old quest. He wanted to write a new story that gets away from the stale fantasies with farmer boys, blacksmith apprentices, and peasants who turn world heroes. Oh yeah, and he really wanted to get away from stories with prophecies and 'chosen ones.'After he graduated from Western Washington University in 2011, he hired Sara Stamey, the editing/publishing professor at Western, edit Life Descending (The Cry of Havoc, Book 1), finally releasing his debut after six years of crafting, learning, rewriting, and absorbing caffeine as fuel so he could stay awake at the keyboard. Life Descending has since been praised by reviewers, even earning a finalist spot in ForeWord Magazine's 2011 Book of the Year Awards. Darkness Devouring (The Cry of Havoc, Book 2) has since been released in late 2012.In 2012 he released At the End (The Road to Extinction, Book 1) as a self-published book. Having spent all his cash on Life Descending (sadly without return), the book went unedited by a professional editor. Despite this major flaw, At the End was well received by most. In February 2013, Permuted Press approached him with an offer to re-release At the End and publish the rest of the trilogy. A second edition of At the End (fully edited!) is forthcoming 2013.John now lives in the Rose Lands of Portland, Oregon, with his wife Katherine, their furry feline Phoebe, and their two budgies Lola and Pablo. He is now at work finishing The Road to Extinction Trilogy. Visit his website at: http://www.johnhennessy.net

Book preview

A Stalker’s Game

by

John Hennessy

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Cover by John Hennessy

Second Edition December 2012

eISBN-13: 978-1-4658-3833-9

Check out my author website:

http://www.johnhennessy.net

By John Hennessy

Novels

THE ROAD TO EXTINCTION TRILOGY

Book One: At the End

Book Two: Into Cinders (Winter 2012/13)

Book Trailer

THE CRY OF HAVOC SAGA

Book One: Life Descending

Book Two: Darkness Devouring

Book Trailer

Praise for Life Descending

"As good as Game of Thrones."—Stella Blackmore, Night Owl Reviews

A masterpiece.—Reviewed by Rita V for Readers Favorite

A riveting read.—Midwest Book Review

Endlessly imaginative.—Kirkus Reviews

Hard to quit reading.—Robert Medak, Allbooks Review Int.

Finalist in ForeWord Magazine’s 2011 Book of the Year Awards

—fantasy genre

Short Stories

A Stalker’s Game (free eBook)

Note from the Author

A Stalker’s Game is a short story written after the events of my debut novel Life Descending (The Cry of Havoc, Book 1). This short story was written as a chapter for Darkness Devouring (The Cry of Havoc, Book 2), but modified to stand on its own.

Table of Contents:

Also by John Hennessy

Note from the Author

A Stalker’s Game

Life Descending (The Cry of Havoc, Book 1)

About the Author

A Stalker’s Game

Shackled. In the ceaseless darkness, Tom saw images of his family’s faces, drifting in and out, as if they came to say hello and check on how he fared in the severe loneliness that kept him company . . .

A light burned around the corner. The guards prohibited lights inside the dirt cells, and little light drifted their way. Tom heard