The Sword That Spoke

By Robert Jeschonek

Once upon a time, the sword Tizona helps the warrior knight El Cid cut a swath through the Moors invading Spain. But El Cid doesn't know the great sword's secret: that it has a mind of its own and talks only to his beautiful wife, Jimena. Together, Tizona and Jimena help El Cid wage his battles, until a demon of war takes possession of his body and soul. When woman and blade unite, can they free the legendary hero from the demon's wicked clutches? Or will the shadow of the horrors of war overcome all of them? Perhaps, in the sword's cryptic prophecy, lies a secret that will turn the tables of history, love, and death. Don't miss this edgy, exciting, and surprising fantasy tale by award-winning storyteller Robert T. Jeschonek, a master of unique and unexpected fantasy that really packs a punch.

Reviews

"Robert Jeschonek is the literary love child of Tim Burton and Neil Gaiman—his fiction is cutting edge, original, and pulsing with dark and fantastical life. His stories suck me in and refuse to let me go until the last page..." – Adrian Phoenix, critically acclaimed author of The Maker's Song series and Black Dust Mambo

"Jeschonek ́s stories are delightfully insane, a pleasure to read..." – Fabio Fernandes, Fantasy Book Critic

"...Robert Jeschonek is a towering talent..." – Mike Resnick, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author

Contents

Story plus novel preview

About the Author

Robert T. Jeschonek is an award-winning writer whose fiction, comics, essays, articles, and podcasts have been published around the world. DC Comics, Simon & Schuster, and DAW have published his work. Robert was nominated for the British Fantasy Award for his story, "Fear of Rain." His young adult urban fantasy novel, My Favorite Band Does Not Exist, is now available from Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and received a starred review from Booklist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Jeschonek
• Release date: Sep 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465879578

Robert Jeschonek

Robert Jeschonek is an award-winning writer whose fiction, essays, articles, comic books, and podcasts have been published around the world. According to fantasy and science fiction luminary Mike Resnick, Robert "sees the world like no one else sees it, and makes incredibly witty, incisive stories out of that skewed worldview."Robert's young adult urban fantasy novel, MY FAVORITE BAND DOES NOT EXIST, is due in 2011 from Clarion Books, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. A collection of his fantasy and science fiction stories, MAD SCIENTIST MEETS CANNIBAL, is available from PS Publishing in England. Robert has written for POSTSCRIPTS, ESCAPE POD, DRABBLECAST, SPACE AND TIME, PODCASTLE, DAW Books anthologies, and many other publications.His credits include STAR TREK fiction published by Pocket Books. His work appeared in three volumes of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, winning the grand prize in Volume VI. He was also nominated for the British Fantasy Award for his story, "Fear of Rain." His story "One Awake In All the World" was called out in a Publishers Weekly starred review of the anthology DESTINATION FUTURE in 2010.His comic book work has appeared in JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA 80-PAGE GIANT 2010 #1 from DC Comics. He has also scripted stories for various indie comics, including WAR from Saddle Tramp Press and DEAD BY DAWN QUARTERLY and COMMERCIAL SUICIDE in the UK.Jeschonek is based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. His website, www.robertjeschonek.com, features fresh daily updates on the world of writing and other alternate realities.

Book preview

The Sword That Spoke

The Sword That Spoke

A FANTASY TALE

ROBERT JESCHONEK

Blastoff Books

Contents

Also by Robert Jeschonek

THE SWORD THAT SPOKE

About the Author

Special Preview: Heaven Bent

THE SWORD THAT SPOKE

Copyright © 2023 by Robert Jeschonek

http://bobscribe.com/

Cover Art Copyright © 2023 by Ben Baldwin

www.benbaldwin.co.uk

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved by the author.

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Published by Blastoff Books

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Bloodliner

Dolphin Knight

Heaven Bent

Six Fantasy Stories Volume One

Six Superhero Stories Volume One

The Return of Alice

THE SWORD THAT SPOKE

In those days, before the death of my husband, the sword did not say much. Sometimes, I could not quite make out what it said—but I could not ask anyone else if they'd heard it.

Because Tizona, the sword of El Cid, spoke only to me.

As far as I know, Tizona never said a single word to anyone else, even its master, my husband Rodrigo—the great El Cid Campeador. It struck me funny sometimes, that the sword of such a warrior, a powerful man who had battled the mightiest Moors, would talk to me, but not him.

It struck Rodrigo even funnier, of course, when he caught me talking to Tizona. He teased me, asking if I loved the sword more than I loved him.

And in this, though none of us knew it at the time, Rodrigo predicted the future.

I remember very clearly the first words Tizona ever said to me. They came after the witch, the bruja, cast her spell.

You and I, Jimena, said Tizona, its voice high and sweet as the tinkling of a bell. We will turn the tables.

Stunned, I looked all around for the source of the