Hultichia
()
About this ebook
A mysterious and disturbing summons brings Aurien Pemmick, an untested deacon of the Church of Druthal, across the border to a peculiar and disquieting kingdom: Kellirac.
Despite being in this antiquated and superstitious place, Pemmick is determined to root out the truth behind the summons. But Kellirac proves to be a pla
Marshall Ryan Maresca
Marshall Ryan Maresca is a fantasy and science-fiction writer, author of sixteen novels, most of which are part of the Maradaine Saga: Four braided series set amid the bustling streets and crime-ridden districts of the exotic city called Maradaine. He is also the author of the standalone dieselpunk fantasy, The Velocity of Revolution. He is a four-time Hugo finalist as the co-host of the podcast Worldbuilding for Masochists, and has been a playwright, an actor and an amateur chef. He lives in Austin, Texas with his family.
Read more from Marshall Ryan Maresca
Maradaine Saga: Story Shorts The Velocity of Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Hultichia
Titles in the series (3)
The Mystical Murders of Yin Mara Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHultichia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Withered Boy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related ebooks
My New Curate Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDead on Cue Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Groom Says Yes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Have and to Hold Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Faithfully Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane (Book 2) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Panchronicon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCHRISTMAS TALES OF FLANDERS - 23 Illustrated Children's Christmas Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCaradoc and Co.: A Roman Lincoln short story trilogy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Muralist's Ghost Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ground She Walks Upon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5First Mage Hiding Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThree Stories for Francis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Kill Bill: Referendum Series, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fens Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Galoshes of Fortune Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBy order of the company Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOriginal Short Stories — Volume 10 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemoirs of Casanova — Volume 18: Return to Naples Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPearl-Fishing; Choice Stories from Dickens' Household Words; First Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPATRICK'S DILEMMA: A NOVEL Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lonely Church Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLed Astray and The Sphinx: Two Novellas In One Volume Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThat Girl Montana: Western Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAunt Crete's Emancipation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWill Warburton Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bellator: Angelic Avenger: The Bellator, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClare Avery: A Story of the Spanish Armada Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lucky Number Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlaying With Fire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Fantasy For You
The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tress of the Emerald Sea: Secret Projects, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Pirate Lord: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Desert: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Underworld: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Empire: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wizard's First Rule Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray (The Original 1890 Uncensored Edition + The Expanded and Revised 1891 Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don Quixote: [Complete & Illustrated] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes of the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Immortal Longings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nettle & Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Phantom Tollbooth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Measure: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Talisman: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lord Of The Rings: One Volume Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mistborn: Secret History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Hultichia
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Hultichia - Marshall Ryan Maresca
1
Aurien Pemmick’s entire body was a shrine to his devotion—his feet calloused, every joint ached, his stomach growling with a hunger that had not been truly sated in months— while he kept a joyful smile on his face and a polite nod to everyone he passed on his slow, painful walk to the High Cathedral of Gorivow. The cathedral was a gaudy, ostentatious structure: polished stone, stained glass, grand doors inlaid with silver, all towering over a cracked and faded square of the city’s threadbare market district. Given the surroundings, Pemmick was surprised to see that active construction was underway—a new wing was being added to the already immense church.
It was not his place to question it, though. He was merely a deacon on his Itinerancy, doing good works in the name of God and the saints until he was ready to be named a reverend and placed in a residency. Which was exactly why, in all likelihood, Calistair Prenton, the Bishop of Gorivow, had summoned him.
As Pemmick went in the front door, a robed friar ran up to him with disapproving waves of his hands.
No, no, no beggars through here. The soup line starts at two bells, and is at the door on Calder Street.
I’m not a beggar,
Pemmick said amiably. Though I can see why you would think that.
As was the tradition on Itinerancy, he had travelled on foot with just one set of clothes, so he was dirty and ragged. Deacon Aurien Pemmick, on my Walk.
Your accent’s a bit odd,
the friar said. How far has your Walk taken you?
However long it is from Marikar to here,
Pemmick said. Six, seven hundred miles?
And you have your papers?
The friar said, his face still filled with doubt.
Of course,
Pemmick took his pack off and dug out his credentials. I also have a letter from Reverend Andale, telling me to come see the Bishop.
The friar snatched the papers out of Pemmick’s hands. We don’t have an Andale here.
He wrote to me, and I’ve known him for years,
Pemmick said. There’s a signet seal at the bottom.
It was odd, certainly, that the summons even found him on his Walk, but God and the saints must have guided it to him themselves.
Hmm,
the friar said. He glanced at the seal and the garnet ring on his own finger. Come with me to the quarters. I will alert the bishop, but you cannot have an audience with him in this state.
Really?
Pemmick asked. He’s never met with a deacon on the Walk?
It is highly irregular. Come with me.
The friar led Pemmick through a door in the corner of the entranceway— Pemmick wouldn’t have noticed it had he not been brought to it— and down two flights of stairs. They came upon another friar, who the first one passed Pemmick off to. Pemmick was quietly ushered to baths and then to a sleeping cell where an acolyte’s robe was laid out for him. It was the first time he had felt properly clean in months, or had bathed in something other than the Keonia River. That was the nature of Itinerancy, and it was a test of Pemmick’s devotion that he was perfectly fine with. However, he didn’t mind getting to put on fresh clothes, and since the Bishop’s men had instructed him to do so, it wasn’t a violation of his Itinerancy.
He had grown somewhat fond of the beard he had grown in the past months, but it was a monstrosity. He wasn’t at all surprised that the friar had decided to trim it and comb it out. Again, since it was being done to him, it was within the rules of the Itinerancy.
Cleaned and groomed, he was shuttled over to a grand office in the rear wing of the cathedral. He sat in the ornate chair for some time before he was finally joined by the Bishop.
Deacon,
the Bishop said as he came in. He was an older man, heavyset in hands and face. Forgive me for having you wait for so long.
"Patience is what is