Fantastic Metropolis

“I have the sun at my back. Natalis solis invicti, remember? I have the sun at my back and the blood of the bull on my hands, and the White Christ’s day dawns now. The day that made a mockery of you, toybringer, jolly fat man.” The nameless man smirked even as he felt ice running down his spine, locking his eyes on the wild grey one. “Your wolves are dead. The night is over. The child will be born, just like the child is born every year, and your time ended when you were banished to the northernmost poles to serve as a tale to amuse. You won’t have her, not this year, not any year. The sun is rising, and I am not going to let you have her.”

The great grey huntsman in his red stained furs clutched the spear in a massive fist gone white around the knuckles. The nameless man waited for the spear cast that seemed inevitable. Then he saw the sign of his own survival in a flash of light, as the bloody rays of sunlight reflected off of the shining muzzle of the lead stag, give it a glowing blood-red face for a moment. The huntsman lowered his head, and turned back to his chariot-sled, then turned that savage grey eye back to face him.

“I will find you next year.”

“Looking forward to it.” The sled turned an impossibly tight turn and headed back into the shelter of the dark woods. In the distance, the sound of sirens could be heard. The sky was now a light rose behind him, with rays of orichalicum gold and red thrown out to paint anything they touched a gleaming brazen color, burnishing the world. Everything was glory and fire. Looking down at his own ragged body, he exhaled, and then turned for the woods where the sun was coming back to life. It was a good day to feel the light on the face.

As he headed away, he thought he could hear the first cry of a child from inside the house. Despite his angry flesh, stinging with the exertions of the night, he smiled. Welcome home. Then he loped into the sunlit woods.

Matthew Rossi is the author of Things That Never Were (MonkeyBrain, 2003). He has work published in Peter Crowther’s Postscripts magazine, and a new collection of essays, titled Bottled Demons, will be out in 2006 from Prime Books.

A story related to “Solis Invicti,” featuring the same character, can be found in Adventure, Vol. 1 (MonkeyBrain, 2005), along with other fine stories in the spirit of pulp fiction by Michael Moorcock, Kage Baker, Mike Resnick, Kim Newman, Paul Di Filippo, Chris Roberson, and others.