The author featured today is the man who brought all of us together and made this amazing tour possible! So w/out further adieu
You
can reach him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Afrikan.Martial.Arts; on Twitter
@Baba_Balogun and on Tumblr at www.tumblr.com/blog/blackspeculativefiction.
The Scythe Blurb
He has been given a second chance at
life. A second chance at revenge. He is the bridge between the Quick and the
Dead. He is…THE SCYTHE! Out of the tragedy of the Tulsa Race
Riot of 1921, a two-fisted hero rises from the grave!
Inspired by the pulp magazines of the
1930s and 1940s, a tale of action, adventure, thrills and chills await fans of
Dieselpunk, die-hard pulp fans and readers who just love a gritty story that
packs a mean punch.
Enter a world in which Gangsters,
Flappers, vampires, robots and the Ku Klux Klan all roam the same dark back
streets; a world of grit, grime and grease; a world of hardboiled gumshoe
detectives and mad scientists; a world where magic and technology compete for
rule over the world. Dieselfunk has emerged in The Scythe…and
the Roaring Twenties will never seem the same!
Excerpt
from The Scythe
“He who sleeps with an itching
anus wakes up with smelly fingers.”
Ikukulu
opened his eyes. Anesusu stood over him smiling. A horde of Agu stood behind
him.
“Only
a madman would go to sleep with his roof on fire,” Ikukulu replied, hopping to
his feet.
“This
is the sigil, then?” Anesusu inquired, pointing at the carving on the kuka
tree.
Ikukulu
nodded. “It is. It will require all of our blood to activate it.”
“Let’s
get to it, then,” Anesusu said, drawing his knife.
Anesusu
held his obsidian blade high above his head.
Hundreds
of similar obsidian knives, with gazelle antler handles, were thrust into the
air.
Ikukulu
drew his coral knife. He slid the blade across his palm, rending his flesh and
then pressed the leaking gash to the sigil for a few moments.
Anesusu
followed him and then each warrior from amongst the Agu did the same until the
sigil was covered in gore.
“The
sigil is now activated and well-fed,” Anesusu said to his brethren. “The Jugu
will be upon us in a few hours and we will send them to their doom. So drink;
make love – preferably not with your own wife or husband, for you married
warriors – and rest up…for at midday, we usher in a new era…a new world!”
A
cheer erupted from the army of Agu.
Ikukulu
turned away and sauntered toward the river. The ways of the Agu disgusted him,
but the refusal of his own brothers and sisters to work with the Agu had forced
him to ally with them alone – a dangerous undertaking, indeed, but one most
necessary. He prayed that his punishment would not be too harsh and that the
Abo would one day come to realize his level of sacrifice.
###
Ikukulu
and Anesusu stood at the edge of the Ogun River with three hundred armored Agu
behind them.
The
dawn air was cool; crisp; and carried the scent of sulfur and putrid flesh.
“The
Jugu are close,” Ikukulu shouted, drawing his knife.
“Swords!”
Anesusu commanded.
The
Agu drew their knives and pointed them skyward. A white energy, like a bolt of
lightning, coursed through the obsidian blades, from base to point. A moment
later, the knives expanded into broadswords.
Ikukulu
knelt, slamming the pommel of his knife into the soft earth. The knife twisted;
shifted; stretched. Ikukulu stood, a razor sharp, coral scythe now gripped
tightly between his fists.
A
muddy, marsh- green mass thundered toward them.
Ikukulu
charged toward the mass, his scythe, held low, cutting a swath in the red dirt
behind him.
“Forward!”
Anesusu ordered, pointing his sword toward the fast approaching mass.
The
army of Agu followed their leader, keeping pace with his loping gait.
As
Ikukulu came closer to the mass, the monstrous forms of the Jugu became clear.
Their brawny, grey-green bodies stood upon seven foot tall frames and their
thick skin was scaled and ridged like that of a crocodile. Their facial
features were human, but their mouths were extended, tapering into a ‘v’, like
the maw of a crocodile.
The
creatures roared in unison, exposing their dagger-like teeth. They raised their
arms shoulder-high, baring their razor-sharp claws.
The
Jugu had no one leading them, for their Mistress, Kielgek, commanded her
warriors – with whom she was psychically linked – from the Abysmal Plane.
Ikukulu
leapt into the fray, his scythe slashing furiously. The coral blade met
scale-armored flesh and Jugu fell.
With
each death of a Jugu, Kielgek cried out in agony upon her dark throne.
However,
with each death of an Agu, of which there were many, she roared in ecstasy. Her
warriors fighting on the Terrestrial Plane roared with her.
“Fall
back!” Anesusu bellowed, turning on his heels.
The
army of Agu about-faced and retreated from the battle, sprinting along the edge
of the Ogun River.
Ikukulu
whirled about and took off, running closely behind Anesusu.
Ikukulu
could hear the Jugu galloping behind him, hot on his heels. He felt their foul
breath on the back of his neck.
The
Agu ran a few yards past the tree bearing the sigil and then turned to face
their enemy.
Ikukulu
dived forward, rolling past the tree.
The
Jugu stampeded toward Ikukulu and the Agu.
Suddenly,
as if the air had devoured them, the Jugu vanished.
Ikukulu
turned toward the Agu. “The Jugu have been sucked back into their abhorrent
world. You have done well, warriors! Now, quickly, we must fell the tree to
seal the portal forever. Anesusu and I will beat back any Jugu who try to pass
through until you bring the tree down.”
“Work
swiftly, my brothers and sisters!” Anesusu ordered.
Ikukulu
stood a few feet in front of the tree. Anesusu stood beside him.
A
vertical sliver of darkness rent the air. A scaly, grey-green head emerged from
it, roaring.
Ikukulu
severed the Jugu’s head with an upward slash of his scythe.
Something
slammed into Ikukulu’s back with the force of a battering ram. He stumbled
forward, his left arm, which held his scythe, disappearing into the black
sliver.
Something on the other side of the sliver grabbed a hold of him,
piercing the skin of his forearm in several places.
“They
have my arm,” Ikukulu gasped. Cut it off, Anesusu!”
“I
promised you that no harm would come to the Abo from the Agu, my friend,”
Anesusu said. “I must honor the truce.”
“If
you don’t sever my arm, the Jugu will pull me into their world!” Ikukulu
shouted.
“I
keep my promises, Ikukulu,” Anesusu replied. “I will not do you any harm.”
A
strong yank pulled Ikukulu’s shoulder and half of his face into the darkness.
“You
have betrayed me!” Ikukulu spat.
“To
betray, you must first belong,” Anesusu snickered. “You cannot run with the
hare and hunt with the hounds.
Goodbye, Ikukulu.”
Ikukulu vanished from the Terrestrial
World and the foul world of the Jugu welcomed him.
You can purchase the Scythe and other
works by Balogun Ojetade at https://www.roaringlionsproductions.com/.
All of his works are also available on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Scythe-Balogun-Ojetade/dp/099140730X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
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