Insignia: Asian Birds & Beasts: The Insignia Series, #6

By Kelly Matsuura, Nidhi Singh, Amy Fontaine and 5 more

INSIGNIA VOL. 6. includes 8 short stories with Asian characters, settings, and magical creatures.

In this volume you'll find an array of animal-shifters, magical creatures, gods, and spirits. Story settings include: India, Japan, Cambodia, China, and outer-space!

CONTENTS

'Reborn' by Nidhi Singh
'The Star Ball' by Amy Fontaine
'Raising Words' by Stewart C. Baker
'Apsaras' Dance' by Kelly Matsuura
'We, the Ravens of Bai Gao Lou' by Russell Hemmell
'The Azure Dragon' by Lorraine Schein
'The Churail and the Crow' by Keyan Bowes
'Vermillion Nights' by Joyce Chng

• Language: English
• Publisher: BWWP Publishing
• Release date: Aug 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386931942

Kelly Matsuura

Kelly Matsuura grew up in Victoria, Australia, but always dreamed she would live abroad.  She has lived in northern China, Michigan in the US, and over ten years in Nagoya, Japan, where she now lives permanently. Kelly has published numerous short stories online; in group anthologies; and in several self-published anthologies. Her stories have been published by Visibility Fiction, Crushing Hearts & Black Butterfly Publishing, A Murder of Storytellers, and Ink and Locket Press. She majored in Asian Studies at university, and (sometimes) studies Japanese, Chinese and German. Her other hobbies include cooking, knitting, sewing, and traveling. As the creator and editor for The Insignia Series, Kelly uses her knowledge of Asian cultures to help other indie authors produce great diverse stories and to share the group's work with a new audience.

Book preview

Insignia

Volume Six

Asian Birds & Beasts

Edited by Kelly Matsuura

Cover Design by Kelly Matsuura

Compilation Copyright© Kelly Matsuura 2018

This book was created in Japan

First electronic release: Aug 2018

Published by BWWP Publishing

‘Reborn’ Copyright© Nidhi Singh

‘The Star Ball’ Copyright© Amy Fontaine

‘Raising Words’ Copyright© Stewart C. Baker

‘Apsaras’ Dance’ Copyright© Kelly Matsuura

‘We, the Ravens of Bai Gao Lou’ Copyright© Russell Hemmell

‘The Azure Dragon’ Copyright© Lorraine Schein

‘The Churail and the Crow’ Copyright© Keyan Bowes

‘Vermillion Nights’ Copyright© Joyce Chng

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‘Raising Words’ was first published in Penumbra (July 2013 issue).

‘Vermillion Nights’ was first published on Joyce Chng’s Patreon blog (2018).

‘The Azure Dragon’ was first published in Menagerie de Mythique, Fantasia Divinity Publishing, 2018.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book 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 purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

Stories are the authors’ original work and are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real persons (living or dead) or real situations is coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission from the authors. Short extracts for reviews are allowed.

Other Books in The Insignia Series:

‘Insignia: Japanese Stories’ (October 2013)

‘Insignia: Chinese Stories’ (April 2014)

‘Insignia: Southeast Asian Fantasy’ (March 2016)

‘Insignia: Asian Fantasy Stories’ (April 2017)

‘Insignia: Asian Science Fiction’ (July 2018)

CONTENTS

‘Reborn’ by Nidhi Singh

‘The Star Ball’ by Amy Fontaine

‘Raising Words’ by Stewart C. Baker

‘Apsaras’ Dance’ by Kelly Matsuura

‘We, the Ravens of Bai Gao Lou’ by Russell Hemmell

‘The Azure Dragon’ by Lorraine Schein

‘The Churail and the Crow’ by Keyan Bowes

‘Vermillion Nights’ by Joyce Chng

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

REBORN

Nidhi Singh

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Kasyapa tossed and turned on the soggy mattress, but sleep wouldn’t clasp him in embrace. The brown rafters overhead had turned green with the seepage from the constant rain that battered the tiled rooftops. It was warm and sticky on the bed, so he spread the jute mat on the limestone floor, tossed a pillow, and lay down. It felt instantly cooler and drier.

Children were playing in the light drizzle outside—for a while he listened to their joyful shouts. Shortly, as his eyes began to droop, the laughter outside changed into something of a commotion, and he could hear little footfalls splashing through the puddles, heading his way.

Snake! Snake! the children screamed.

He groaned. Not again. Kasyapa turned and wrapped his pillow around his head, but the children had climbed the porch and were now clamoring at the door. Sir, Sir! Snake in English teacher’s house!

Long and black.

Dangerous—spitting poison—darting his forked tongue.

Whistling like a cooker.

Okay, okay, I’m coming. Wait up, let me change, he shouted back. Grumbling, he pulled on his trousers, threw on a flimsy cotton shirt over his damp vest and briefly examined himself in the mirror. Wearily, he collected his elapid hook and snake bag and stepped out. The children tugged at his arms and shouting and clapping, followed him in an exultant procession to the English teacher’s house—a typical red-tiled cottage on the fringe of their school campus.

Anyone see it? he asked. The children fell silent. Maybe there’s no snake after all, he mused. Just a twig or coiled rope.

But the snake was there. Crouching on the wet floor of the kitchen, coiled in a small plate with its head in its center. A stout body, nearly two meters long, highly keeled non-shiny scales with three rows of continuous dark-brown almond spots. Whistling like a pressure cooker as the kids screamed and cried on the doorstep. A thin tail tapering evenly to a tip, which it slapped impatiently on the floor: a female.

"It’s a Kaudia, Russell’s Viper. Poisonous, he announced coolly over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off the snake. A beautiful woman."

The kids relaxed on seeing his unruffled demeanor and began to laugh and clap.

He approached her without hesitation; she reared her head and crept once in a jerky manner and then calmed down as he whispered soothingly to her. Pinning her gently down with the pole, he grabbed her behind the head. Shush, now be quiet, he whispered close to her mouth, as she squirmed in his grasp. We’re going home. He transferred her headfirst into the bag and then walked out into the rain. He climbed down the porch and turned to face the kids. Now go back to play while I leave her in the forest, he ordered. Move.

Sir, will you remove its fangs? one child asked.

How would you like me to pull out your teeth? She won’t be able to eat or digest her food. I’ll just leave her far away, so she doesn’t find her way back again. Now, git, he commanded and walked down the track leading into the thick jungle beyond the school compound. The kids broke off to play: the boys back to their cricket, the girls, to hopscotch.

It was dusk when Kasyapa returned; folks heard him throw open the latch and push the squeaky gates leading to the staff quarters. The rain had picked up; ladies sat knitting or gossiping, or both, in the porches of the houses, while children snacked on tea and savories. There was a barrage of questions as he passed by the neat row of white and red houses lining the small, muddy track.

Did you get bitten?

Did you kill the snake?

He just shook his head and moved on, skipping over puddles, bounding from one dry spot to another under the dense overhead canopy.

They keep coming back. Why don’t you kill them?

Kasyapa halted. He turned to the pesky lady, the music teacher, leaning against the balustrade and sipping tea. Will that stop them? he asked, shielding his head with his arms. "I could spend a lifetime, yet not kill all the snakes in the wild. This land belongs to them—we’re the encroachers.