Aeron’s Choice is a short story in my upcoming novel of short stories set in the world of Kingdom. It is about a young girl and boy who partner in an honest trade within a city of criminals.
Aeron’s Choice is a throwback to the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser and fantasy stories of that ilk. This story is certainly the most doleful entry in the book and was meant to start the collection on a serious note.
The Bestiary of Kingdom
Kingdom is a fairytale land and as such includes all creatures included in fairytales and folklore. The list includes mermaids, elves, dwarfs, pixies, sprites, brownies, giants, dragons, sea serpents, trolls, ogres, brownies, squonks, etc. ad nauseam. If it’s been mentioned in fairytale literature, it exists somewhere in Kingdom. However, Kingdom contains its own unique brand of creatures never before captured in literature. This page introduces you to some of these, including one that makes a guest appearance in Aeron’s Choice.
Tardalongs
A furry ferocious beast of animal intelligence, Tardalongs have spotlights for eyes which they use to take their prey off-guard. An average human man would find it difficult to survive an encounter with a tardalong due to its unnerving gaze and its aggressive behavior. Tardalongs will make an appearance in all of my novels to some capacity and will be mentioned in some of my short stories.
Stampcrabs
Crabs with four pinchers instead of two, they are tinier than their cousins, normal crabs. Called stampcrabs because the best way to deal with them is to stamp them with a blunt weapon. They are mostly an irritant, but when they attack as a horde, they’re deadlier than a large beast.
Siravens
A combination of a siren and a bird, not necessarily a raven but this was attributed to them early on, they can appear as human where they cause a human (male or female) to lose all sense and be captivated by their charms. They sing to their quarry, enticing them with their voices. After perhaps a day or so of playing with their prey, they suck the energy from their target by singing a particular song. They eat normally, but this type of feeding satisfies carnal urges and turns them more and more evil.
Note: all the Uni- creatures may be both male or female. The gender of their rider is unique.
Unicorns
Yes, I know this isn’t my creature, but I included it for the sake of completeness. White horses with golden horns. They will only allow a female virgin to ride them. Highly durable, unicorns can ride a long distance and will defend their rider to the death once they bond with them. Capable of speech and greater in intelligence than most humans, the leaders of a unicorn pack will allow no one to ride them and can cast spells. Of all the “uni” creatures, unicorns have the largest numbers but they’re still rare. A human may see a unicorn once or twice in her life.
Unigards
Black unicorns with silver horns. They will allow a female virgin or a married person to ride them, but only betrothed men or women who are true to their spouse. They are faster than unicorns and will also defend their rider to the death. Capable of speech and higher than most humans in intelligence, they are known for their courage, and are generally less skittish than unicorns. Unigards are more fighters than spellcasters. More rare than unicorns but not as rare as unicense or unilarks.
Unicense
Gold horses with ivory horns. They will only allow a male virgin to ride them. They can transport their rider to places in Kingdom wherever trouble is about to happen. If a male seeks a wife, an unicense can take him to the best pairing of a maiden on a unicorn. Some unicenses are rumored to be Travelers. They are capable of speech with above-human intelligence. As a natural defense, they can appear metallic, as statues, to fool others into thinking they aren’t alive. Very rare, but not as rare as unilarks.
Unilarks
Silver horses with ebony horns. All the uni- creatures are rare but unilarks are very rare. Often regarded as the priests / priestesses of the uni creatures, they allow no one to ride them. They can race over anything without any trouble (water, quicksand) and turn invisible. They exist but are usually only seen by unicorns, unigards, and unicenses.
All uni creatures have horns which are ingredients in dark magic, and evil spellcasters seek them to kill them and crush their horns in order to prepare blasphemous spells.
Dormadogs
Wolf-like dogs whose bark is as bad as their bite. When they bark, they cause drowsiness in their quarry. With enough barking, their targets will succumb to sleep. When their opponent falls asleep, they use their sharp teeth to rip out their enemy’s throat and feast on their blood.
And many more to come.