RAINMAKER (Magorian & Jones 1.1)
Urban Fantasy Short Story
A drought-ridden Arizona town hires a very special kind of rainmaker: A siren.
But when it comes time to pay for her services, Mayor Archer Bertrand has a change of heart. After all, the old races are legally non-people and can’t sign contracts.
That was just his first mistake.
This short story is set in the old races-inhabited world of Magorian & Jones, written by Taylen Carver. It is not commercially released, but provided free to readers and fans of the series.
Short Urban Fantasy
Excerpt
EXCERPT FROM RAINMAKER
COPYRIGHT © TAYLEN CARVER 2020
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Fort Sladden has been evaporating for years. People leave and don’t come back. Sometimes they leave without notice. My sister did both, four years ago, but she wasn’t the only one.
It’s not just people Sladden was running out of. Money was the other thing, on account of it being the fifth drought year. So when the local farmers insisted my boss hire a rainmaker, he dug his bootheels in. Mayor Bertrand is a stubborn sum’bitch.
The farmers got cranky and started talking about elections.
Archer Bertrand announced he’d hired a rainmaker.
When the rainmaker walked into the hall, I knew Archer would stiff her in some way. Why so certain? Because Chinyere de Gila was a siren.
Chinyere was the first of the old races to ever set foot in Fort Sladden. She stood out, and not just because she was pretty. She was also a stranger. Also, in the United States and the State of Arizona, she was what Archer liked to call a “non-person”. He didn’t call them Errata, when that was still an okay name for them. He flatly refused to call them the old races. “They’ve been here five minutes!” he would say. “Humans are the old race, and those things are not even people.”
Chinyere stood in Archer’s big office—he didn’t offer her a chair—and talked terms. I liked her because she was a straight shooter.
“Half up front,” she told Archer. “The rest after it rains.”
Archer scratched his chin. “I don’t know you, little lady. No offence. We pay you once you’ve demonstrated good faith.”
“By making it rain,” she guessed, her lovely, glorious voice flattening.
He waggled his finger. “And none of that making me do what you want by singing at me, neither. I’m tone deaf, just so’s you know. Ask Leany, there.”
“It’s true,” I told her, lowering my notepad. “I’ve heard him singing.”
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Reviews
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Lovely, quick read; excellent tease at the end.
I especially liked the use of magic in this story, and the rapport the siren had with the "normie." And I love to see justice done without vengeance. Karma is a siren stiffed!
This was a quick wonderful read that taught a lesson as well. I don’t want to spoil the plot but know this…you get what you pay for! Enter the world of sirens and goblins and the humans who they live among.
I received a copy of this short story with the help from Taylen. Thank you very much. It’s a wonderful little story which shows humans with deceiving minds and how to cope. There’s always a little bit hope in others who are thinking outside the line and are kind to others, who are strangers or different looking. I am looking forward to the main story of the old races. Thank you very much for this little story!
This is the first book I have read from Taylen Carter and I will be reading more.
I really enjoyed this story and reading about the "old races". Love the inclusion of the fantasy figures.
This is the first story I have read by this author. It is well written. I did not see any typos. The characters were interesting and it had a twist I didn't see coming at the end. I would recommend this story. I enjoyed it.
Loved this story, can't wait to read more. A very short tantalisingly introduction to this urban fantasy series. Try it, I guarantee you'll be hooked too!
Excellent short story of fantastic weather and deal making!
Oh my!! I seriously liked this story...felt like i was perhaps that proverbia! "Fly on the wall" while listening to Chinyere talk with the mayor! And could feel the heat rise in my cheeks realizing as Lena did, he was going to out and out cheat her. Because of her "status" in society and that she was different..can't wait to read the entire story built from this. Thanks for offering this, appreciate the generosity!..
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