#FridayFlash – Heartbreak

The Almighty Crack, as the sound came to be known in the days and weeks afterwards, was first heard by those waiting to petition the priestesses at Beseda’s Shrine. Being in the catacombs below the Underground City, they were closest to the epicenter, and reported the sound as being like that of the Great Cannon of the City Above. Many chose to remain in the Shrine to claim Beseda’s protection from the unseen foe they believed was attacking the City.

The inhabitants of the Underground City heard it next, and described it as a muffled roar that roused the sick and drunk alike from their beds. Many of the slum-dwellers believed it to be the gates between the Cities finally rolling shut, and prepared to raise their voices in protest. Calm was restored when they reached the mighty gateway and realised it was still open, and they drifted away to return to their subterranean lives, the mysterious noise forgotten for the time being.

Those in the Canal District of the City Above heard the Crack and thought the foundations of their homes had finally burst. They believed they would be flooded, and scurried around the lower storeys of their homes until they noticed no intake of water, and went back to their daily business.

The Almighty Crack was quietly observed in the Magickal Quarter, where the Academy’s Diviner ominously proclaimed the beginning of a period of mourning. The rest of the staff ignored him and instead blamed an experiment gone wrong in one of the classrooms, and the Diviner failed to realise it was the only time in his life that his prediction had been right. The staff couldn’t find the source of the noise and promptly returned to lessons.

Yet in a forgotten tomb below the Underground City, and beyond Beseda’s Shrine, a statue adopted a new pose. Once the figure had stood tall and proud, a warrior goddess enjoying the glory of her City, but now she pressed her back against the wall, stone arms clasped around cold knees. Her mane of hair curled in limestone tendrils around her forehead, hiding that fearsome face from view. Her discarded spear lay on the floor, its shaft split down the middle. A plumed helmet rested on its side near the door, nestling on fragments of chipped stone. Few would have recognised the dust at her side as being a heart.

None would have remembered the name of this being, once terrible and formidable, yet they would eventually come to share her pain as the Heart of the City finally broke.

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This is another story set in the world of my new novella, The Necromancer’s Apprentice. I’ll be starting a blog tour to promote it on 7 April, but you can still grab a copy for the Kindle, the Nook, and the Kobo! Matt R. Jones says that it’s “recommended for anybody who likes fantasy of any sort, and honestly… you don’t have to even dig fantasy to enjoy this story”, while Rab Fulton described it as “a great fast paced story, filled with excitement, wonder and dread”.