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Cover Art by Jason Pedersen
(Today we have John W. Howell and his character Sarah whose newest book Our Justice , which is the finale of the John Cannon Trilogy. Also, don’t forget to check out Legends of Windemere: the Spirit Well to get more of Sari.)
Nearly everyone is a thief in the taverns of Rodillen, so Sari feels at home with her keen senses waiting for something suspicious. Hiding her awareness behind a friendly and flirty façade, the blue-haired gypsy spins and dances through the crowd. Claiming two goblets of mead that she is sure the real owner won’t miss, she gives the bartender a little twirl of her skirts and leaps onto the nearest table. Jumping from one piece of furniture to another, only the slightly taller blond in strange clothes watches Sari’s approach. Landing in her seat, she hands one of the drinks to her new friend and juggles a dagger as a warning to ambitious locals.
“So, Stephanie, you’re from this place called Earth and you . . . what is it you do again? Some type of water-based soldier, I think you said.”
Stephanie throws her head back and enjoys a mirthful laugh. She leans in closer to the blue-haired gypsy. “I am with the US Navy, and I know you are going to find this very strange, but I fly jets. Um, how do I explain jets? Oh I know, those griffins that I saw in the distance. I sit inside a very fast machine which flies like a griffin. ” The blond takes a sip of the mead. “Oh, this tastes like honey. I love it. Tell me Sari do you have any idea how I got here?”
“Not really. This sounds like complicated magic and Nyxie would know more about that than me. My magic is all illusions and emotional manipulation, which is passed down from parent to child in the clan. Anything beyond those areas and I’m lost. So, a jet is a flying device that carries people. Sounds like something the gnomes are working on, which I will happily avoid for the rest of my life. You don’t have mead in your world?”
“We do have mead but it is not very common and comes in a bottle. This is the first time I’ve tried it. I must say it does give a little kick.” Stephanie brushes back a falling strand of hair. “Yes, jets carry people, but the one I fly only has me and another person. We use them as weapons. I can’t remember if I was flying when suddenly finding myself here. You mentioned emotional manipulations. Who do you manipulate emotionally? Oh, I see your drink is finished. Let me buy you another.”
Sari steals a mug off a passing tray, leaving an illusionary drink in its place. “One rule of Rodillen is that you don’t pay if you don’t have to. I don’t really use the emotion magic these days. It used to be handy when I was more thief than hero. A charm spell here, a fear spell there, and a smattering of confusion magic when you need to escape. Love spells were a favorite when I was younger, but I’ve matured enough to realize how dangerous those are. By the way, don’t accept any drinks or food you don’t see prepared here. Wonder where this jet and other person disappeared too. Unless it was only you that came here. Maybe you have something in that big backpack that the locals are eying with absolutely NO SENSE OF SUBTLETY!” The gathered thieves shift and try to do better at hiding their intentions. “I swear, the quality of criminal here has gone really downhill.”
“OMG, I forgot about my parachute. There is nothing in here that anyone would want unless they need a lot of material. Funny you should mention the other person. I’m now getting a flash of memory. No, I was flying alone which I do to keep my qualifications up. The jet is another story. I think I had better start worrying since I’m responsible for it. Tell you what, I need to find that jet. Sari, this is starting to concern me. We have no idea how I got here and now I’m thinking I have no idea of how to get home.” Stephanie furrows her brow and turns to Sari with the look of a caged cat while placing the heel of her hand on the butt of her holstered service pistol. “You have got to help me find that jet.”
Sari nods her head and stands on the back of her chair before whistling for attention. “My friend here needs some help. She arrived in a strange machine that one would expect to be made by the gnomes of Nevra Coil. If anyone finds it then let us know and, upon confirmation, you’ll get a bag full of diamond spheres. Lying will be rewarded with punishment to be determined by my level of drunkenness. Now, Stephanie can describe her . . . it’s called a jet, right?”
“Uh. Oh sure.” Stephanie stands so she can be seen in the back. She clears her throat. “I really appreciate you all helping me find my jet. So here is what it looks like. It is grey colored metal and is as big as a griffin. It has wings in the middle and on its tail. There is a canopy… uh… a thing on top that looks like a bubble. It is sitting on …er …round feet. It is very heavy and can’t be lifted by a hundred men. Have any of you seen such a machine?”
With a smirk, the gypsy spins back into her seat and puts her feet on the table. “No, but I think they get the idea. It’s like a metal bird with wheels instead of feet! A bonus kiss for anyone who finds it within the hour. So, what are the men like in your world?”
Stephanie turns back to Sari and sits. “The men? That is a tough question. I think the best way to describe them is there are many personality types but all share a common desire to be appreciated. They try to appear tough and like they don’t care about emotions yet underneath are driven by the very thing they try to portray that they don’t care about. I think your emotion spells might cause a lot of trouble with them. It would be chaos to have all the men of Earth showing their emotions. How about here?”
“Uh . . . I don’t really know how to follow that. The guys are kind of like that, I guess. At least in terms of variety. Sounds like your world is a lot more emotionally restrained than mine. You always have your sticks in the mud and emotionally blocked people. Never heard of an entire gender doing it though. If I had to guess, I’d say somebody got burned and the mead is helping her let off some steam.”
“I suppose you are right about the mead. As I said, I never drank this stuff before and I think I’ve had enough. If you must know, my guy did a two time number and got caught. There is a real nasty guy who set John up and then took pictures. Guess who got the photos? Wait. You don’t have photos do you? Well anyway, we are trying to work things out. Anything like that happen to you?”
Clearing her throat, Sari stands and takes her new friend by the arm. “On second thought, you can’t trust a thief to find your jet. They might not bring it back or they’ll take something important. To answer your question . . . we have pictures and portraits. Not sure what a photo is, but it sounds similar. Hey, look at the pretty moon.”
*
John began his writing as a full-time occupation after an extensive business career. His specialty is thriller fiction novels, but John also writes poetry and short stories. His first book, My GRL, introduces the exciting adventures of the book’s central character, John J. Cannon. The second Cannon novel, His Revenge, continues the adventure, while the final book in the trilogy, Our Justice, launched in September 2016. All books are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions.
John lives in Port Aransas, Texas with his wife and their spoiled rescue pets.
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