Brennan Marie - Clockwork Phoenix 5: Clockwork Phoenix, #5

From Mythic Delirium Books

Clockwork Phoenix 5

Copyright 2016 by Mike Allen

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover art and interior illustrations
copyright 2015 by Paula Arwen Owen,
www.arwendesigns.net

Cover design 2015 by Mike Allen

Published by Mythic Delirium Books

mythicdelirium.com

This book is a work of fiction. All characters, names, locations, and events portrayed in this book are fictional or used in an imaginary manner to entertain, and any resemblance to any real people, situations, or incidents is purely coincidental.

Our gratitude goes out to the following who because of their generosity are from now on designated as supporters of Mythic Delirium Books: Saira Ali, Cora Anderson, Anonymous, Patricia M. Cryan, Steve Dempsey, Oz Drummond, Patrick Dugan, Matthew Farrer, C. R. Fowler, Mary J. Lewis, Paul T. Muse, Jr., Shyam Nunley, Finny Pendragon, Kenneth Schneyer, and Delia Sherman.

Introduction by Mike Allen. Copyright 2016 by Mike Allen.

The Wind at His Back by Jason Kimble. Copyright 2016 by Jason Kimble.

The Fall Shall Further the Flight in Me by Rachael K. Jones. Copyright 2016 by Rachael K. Jones.

The Perfect Happy Family by Patricia Russo. Copyright 2016 by Patricia Russo.

The Mirror-City by Marie Brennan. Copyright 2016 by Marie Brennan.

The Finchs Wedding and the Hive That Sings by Benjanun Sriduangkaew. Copyright 2016 by Benjanun Sriduangkaew.

Squeeze by Rob Cameron. Copyright 2016 by Rob Cameron.

A Guide to Birds by Song (After Death) by A. C. Wise. Copyright 2016 by A. C. Wise.

The Sorcerer of Etah by Gray Rinehart. Copyright 2016 by Gray Rinehart.

The Prime Importance of a Happy Number by Sam Fleming. Copyright 2016 by Sam Fleming.

Social Visiting by Sunil Patel. Copyright 2016 by Sunil Patel.

The Book of May by C. S. E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez. Copyright 2016 by C. S. E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez.

The Tigers Silent Roar by Holly Heisey. Copyright 2016 by Holly Heisey.

Sabbath Wine by Barbara Krasnoff. Copyright 2016 by Barbara Krasnoff.

The Trinitite Golem by Sonya Taaffe. Copyright 2016 by Sonya Taaffe.

Two Bright Venuses by Alex Dally MacFarlane. Copyright 2016 by Alex Dally MacFarlane.

By Thread of Night and Starlight Needle by Shveta Thakrar. Copyright 2016 by Shveta Thakrar.

The Games We Play by Cassandra Khaw. Copyright 2016 by Cassandra Khaw.

The Road, and the Valley, and the Beasts by Keffy R. M. Kehrli. Copyright 2016 by Keffy R. M. Kehrli.

Innumerable Glimmering Lights by Rich Larson. Copyright 2016 by Rich Larson.

The Souls of Horses by Beth Cato. Copyright 2016 by Beth Cato.

In honor of
Elizabeth Campbell
In memory of
Tanith Lee

Mike Allen

And ashes coalesce into interlocked gears once more, and those gears start to turn, spreading razor-edged pinions to carry the re-formed phoenix aloft.

It soars over glittering plains of ice white as death, then underneath, through blue deeps to the beautiful cities built of bone. Deeper still, through the bottom of the world and out of the mirrors dividing plane, into the terraced gardens reflected on the other side. It hovers to observe ethereal dances performed by rulers and their courts, with soul-destroying intrigues concealed in every graceful maneuver.

Then it rises into a different sky, wind revolving around it in ever-quickening circles, surrounded by other winged beings, some living, some dead, before it beats the thinning air with its gold and iridescent feathers and departs the worldly altogether. It pauses at a vantage outside the cosmic sphere, one that allows it to spy into scenes ranging through multiple times and impossible places. It chooses a destination, prepares to descend.

Its wonderful to meld again with my beloved creation and savor another flight, this one perhaps the most ambitious of all.

I write this introduction in a state of awe.

Im in awe at the stunning generosity of friends, fans, colleagues, and Kickstarter backers that made it possible for me to assemble the largest, most elaborate installment yet in my imprints flagship anthology series.

Im in awe at the talent on display in these pages, and that I have the honor of being the first to showcase these stories.

For any reader who might be new to Clockwork Phoenix, the project began eight years ago, intended as a home for works that defy genre boundaries, that stretch the imagination, that experiment with methods of storytelling yet tell stories of heartfelt impact. The name is not truly meant to describe a fantastic creature, but rather to present a striking juxtaposition not unlike exquisite corpse. (Interestingly, the term seems to have slunk into the zeitgeist, with actual drawings of clockwork phoenixes proliferating on the Internet.)

Other anthologies at the time, such as Interfictions, The New Weird, Feeling Very Strange: The Slipstream Anthology, and Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy, explored themes and techniques similar to those that interested me, but did so with the intent to define the sorts of stories they contained. I wanted to create a book that would partake of the same beautiful weirdness without making any sort of academic statement about it.

In fact, I was so determined to let readers glean their own way through the stories I picked that in the first three volumes, I wrote introductions that were essentially enigmatic prose poems, as in the opening paragraphs above, and hid what few guideposts I was willing to offer within my bios at the very back of the books.

I abandoned that tradition with Clockwork Phoenix 4.

The first three books were released by another publisher, who became unable to continue the series due to financial woes. In 2012, two years after the appearance of Clockwork Phoenix 3, I chose to wade into the waters of crowdfunding to revive the series under my own imprint. The campaign to fund Clockwork Phoenix 4 was a resounding success, and when I wrote the introduction to that book, I chose to speak plainly about my aims as one way of acknowledging that the books existence was a community effort.

As with the previous three volumes, the stories in Clockwork Phoenix 4