VENGEANCE
Is Our
Legacy
by
M.C. Burnell
Also by M.C. Burnell
The Three Faces of Dissatisfaction
The Shuttle that Weaves the Shroud
The Tale of a Vacant House
The King of Halural
Zimanges
The Spider’s Friend
The Serpent’s Son
The Scarab’s Siblings
We Gather
We Battle
We Shatter
We Alter
We Rise
Into the Darkbower
The Nicodemus Path
A Veil of Waters
Surrender Together
Become
Vengeance Is Our Legacy is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used ficticiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Copyright © 2024 by M.C. Burnell
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All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author.
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Cover art and design by Miblart
Map and interior by M.C. Burnell
For my mom, because you asked. I hope it still makes you smile.
The Scrawny, Ferret-Faced Sorceress
Two weary walkers faltered when they reached the height of the hill they had been climbing, on the southern horizon: the statue of a bare-breasted woman on a colossal scale, formed of stone and iron. Around her, a broad valley cut by occasional streams lined by trees, the fulvous panorama of bobbing grasses broken intermittently by a farm’s green grid. One arm pointed north, and if the meaning of her warning had been lost, her indomitable presence remained a landmark for travelers.
Central to this landscape, their goal: a boxy house attached to a round tower of beige brick, looking like nothing so much as a landlocked lighthouse. The overgrown road they followed led straight to its door. The yard was wild with untamed honeysuckle and fearsome pink and orange lilies, the buzzing of bees the loudest sound in the environs. When they reached the gate in its fence, they took a moment to collect themselves. Brushed strands of sweaty hair off their brows, adjusted the straps of the packs on their backs, kicked the dust of long walking off their worn but sturdy shoes.
After the length of a minute, the man said, “You’re ready?”
“Yes, Fa,” his daughter replied.
