Sirronde's World:
Parting Gifts
In the midst of the Dreadnights, the darkness at the bottom of the year…
the Goddess’s deadly Shadow is challenged by a young homeless man, a grandmother, and a kitten.
The third and and final novella in the “Sirronde’s World” series. Sirronde faces an ultimate challenge as she discovers she must go up against the Shadow during the Dreadnights, that wintry time of year when the Goddess’s archenemy is at its strongest — and with no help but that of two most unpromising traveling companions: an untried young man and a kitten.
Her fate lies in their hands (or paws) and theirs in hers as the three venture into the darkness under the mountain, none of them knowing whether any of them will live to see the dawn…
“Parting Gifts” first appeared in the Dell SF anthology Flashing Swords 5. Original cover art for the author’s story is by Richard Corben.