Ghost Candle

By Jonathan Moeller

Caina is the Ghost circlemaster of Istarinmul, the leader of the Emperor's spies in the city.

When a deadly assassin comes for one of her Ghosts, Caina must track down the assassin's mysterious weapon.

Or else the Ghosts of Istarinmul will fall to their new foe...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jonathan Moeller
• Release date: Jan 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463300282

Jonathan Moeller

Standing over six feet tall, Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair of a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.He has written the "Demonsouled" trilogy of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write the "Ghosts" sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the "$0.99 Beginner's Guide" series of computer books, and numerous other works.Visit his website at:http://www.jonathanmoeller.comVisit his technology blog at:http://www.jonathanmoeller.com/screed

Book preview

GHOST CANDLE

Jonathan Moeller

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Description

Caina is the Ghost circlemaster of Istarinmul, the leader of the Emperor's spies in the city.

When a deadly assassin comes for one of her Ghosts, Caina must track down the assassin's mysterious weapon.

Or else the Ghosts of Istarinmul will fall to their new foe...

***

Ghost Candle

Copyright 2020 by Jonathan Moeller.

Smashwords Edition.

Cover images copyright Cammeraydave | Dreamstime.com - Gears Cogs Retro Industrial Background Photo & RF License : STANDARD | Print & Web | Unlimited Digital Impressions, up to 250,000 Prints.neostock-s010-liepa-medieval-assassin-54 - Original file (2889x5616 pixels).

Ebook edition published January 2020.

All Rights Reserved.

This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author or publisher, except where permitted by law.

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Author's Note

This novella takes place between the events of the novels GHOST IN THE MAZE and GHOST IN THE HUNT.

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Chapter 1: Unneighborly

A week after escaping from Grand Master Callatas’s Maze, Caina Amalas decided to check on Nerina Strake.

She had numerous good reasons for the visit. Caina thought that she and Nasser and the others had escaped cleanly from Grand Master Callatas’s sprawling palace. Guards had been posted at all the city’s gates, searching all wagons coming in and out, but the intensity of the hunt for the thieves at Callatas’s great banquet had slowed. Caina thought they had eluded detection.

She could be wrong, though.

Additionally, Nerina was a wraithblood addict, though she had not taken any of the dangerous substance for several months now. Nerina had become Caina’s friend, and Caina wanted to make sure that she had not relapsed under the recent stress. Because much of that stress was Caina’s fault. She had recruited Nerina for Nasser’s raid on Callatas’s palace, and Caina had stabbed Nerina in the leg during the process.

Granted, that had been to expel a malignant nagataaru spirit from Nerina’s flesh, but Caina had still stabbed her. Nerina knew to clean the healing wound and to keep it bandaged, but Nerina could get distracted. She regularly forgot to eat and sometimes worked until she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

And Nerina was one of Caina’s Ghosts. After escaping from the Maze, Nerina had asked to join Istarinmul’s Ghost circle, and Caina accepted. She was the circlemaster of Istarinmul, and she would look after her people.

It was a hot, cloudless day as Caina left the Cyrican Bazaar and headed