GOLD, LOCK AND KEY
Grimdark Fairytales #Book 1
"All it needs, is a bit of tenacity... and three little bears."
Goldie, an outlaw and contract hunter of the Baron's State, accepts a new assignment from her employer to find an old cabin in the woods, home to three 'shapeshifters' who can morph into bears. Considered to be little more than a myth, Goldie assumes at first that the shapeshifters are an exaggeration - but with the sizeable bounty her employer is offering, she soon realises there may be more truth in it than she realised.
And that isn't the only thing on her mind: she discovers her main rival - a manipulative and incredibly cunning trapper named Southey - has also taken on the contract, and will be contending for the same bounty she so fervently desires. Having waited many long years to have her revenge and outsmart Southey for past mistakes, Goldie sees the new contract as a perfect opportunity to do so. All she has to do is play her cards just right.
And kill three bears...
“The inn was quiet and foreboding, like a knife-blade before it slit a man’s throat…”
This book was a fun little side-project I wrote, taking a classic children’s fairytale and returning it to its former brutal glory. It is a novella - only 86 pages long - and forms the first of five mini-stories, all encompassing different fairytales in the same world. The stakes are high, and the brutality is tangible - and there are no happy endings in a place like this…