The Kingdoms of Evil (91 page)

Istain opened his mouth. Then Freetrick looked at him, and he closed it.

Mr. Skree's wrinkled mouth pinched, and then he, and everyone else in the room, turned to look at Freetrick. What would the Ultimate Fiend do next?

Wonderful. Freetrick's fists clenched. Another day in Skrea. He took a deep breath.

"Mr. Skree," he said, "Istain, you will arrange a full debriefing from Zathara and my mom. Then see to your duties. Skystarke," he turned to the monster, who was still holding up the immobilized Bloodbyrn. "Did you not hear my orders?"

Skystarke looked at Mr. Skree, who wheezed. "Oh great…" he said, then closed his eyes, "Feerborg. You should accompany your woman to her rooms."

Freetrick stared for a moment, utterly shocked. But then shook his head. "Later," he said, "later. After I purge the government, fight off an invasion, and meet my long-lost mother…after that, I'll try to convince a woman to sleep with her father's murderer. One thing at a time, Mr. Skree?"

The lightning in his eyes flickered, then blazed back again. The Despot of Skrea stalked across his office, dark energy billowing off him like a wind-tossed cloak. "All right, people, let's go ward off death for another day."

Dear Reader,

Like all books, and especially first ones, Kingdoms of Evil was an experiment. It answered two questions. First, can I put one word in front of another until I have told a story? Yes. Second, can I get that story published? Uh...no.

I still think Kingdoms of Evil is a good story (and if you've read this far, presumably you do too), but even I have to admit that when I started, I had no idea what I was doing. I've learned a lot about the skills and conventions of writing, and if I had the whole thing to do over again, it might stand a better chance of getting the attention of agents and publishers.

But I don't want to spend my life writing the same story over and over again. I wrote this one, I learned from it, and now I'm moving on to write other stories (and hopefully do a better job of it). On the other hand, I like Kingdoms of Evil. I like Freetrick, and I didn't want to just mummify him and his world in my hard drive. So I put them on the web, where they can flourish or perish on their own merits.

And so here comes the third experiment. Do I have to publish an old-fashioned book at all? Would an e-book or a website work better? That's the question you, dear reader, are helping to answer.

But one thing I promise. You will hear more from Freetrick.

The next book in the series will be called
The Ultimate Fiend
.

Acknowledgements

Strike it out, writing is hard. I spent nearly five years putting this book together, and it still would have been utter nonsense without a whole bunch of other people.

Pavlina Borisova-Bensen, who graciously allowed me to sometimes write. She also listened to me read this story out loud, chapter by chapter. Then she read the whole thing again, after I got to the end. Without her encouragement, I probably never would have finished this gargantuan project. And without her advice at every stage of planning, writing, and re-writing,
the Kingdoms of Evil
would be a lot less interesting and intelligent. Also less gooshy.

Ben Poulsen, of the Deviant Art sobriquet Whalewithlegs, read the whole thing, giving detailed comments on everything from story to magical system to the promotional artwork and illustrations I made. All for the dubious honor of being mentioned here. And because he's a good person, probably. See the Kingdoms of Evil website and Deviant Art for more of his excellent work.

Emil Minchev, illustrious author of
Kuli ot Kamyk i Kost
and
Neogranichen Dostyp
(check your Bulgarian bookstores) and translator of many more, bent his editorial talent to make sure my manuscript was readable.

Paul Jenkins, also illustrious playwright of such plays as
First Person Shooter
, actor, and (most importantly) fellow English teacher, actually sat down with me and Pavlina and read through Kingdoms of Evil, out-loud, with voices. Paul does a superb Mr. Skree.

Catarina Leal helped design the cover, and Adrien-Troy Bacchi-Marobin donated his server space for the webpage.

Thanks also to Peter Bensen, Rachel Westfall, and the community at Baen's Bar, who provided valuable critiques and editing.

And finally, a shout out to the Bowdoin College Taiko Club, the inspiration for all of this.
Oyasumi nasai
, and thank you, everyone.