A Ruin of Mercies
By Nicholas Wagner
January 16-19
Short story; 49 pages.
Trigger warnings: Violence, combat, brief child abuse, brief self-harm, brief implied but not explicit sexual violence and adult language.
1890s, Dakota territory. A Lakota Indian’s tribe is slaughtered while escaping the reservation, though the youth is spared by one of the pursuing soldiers who happens to be his estranged father. Wandering the plains, the Lakota is seduced by a tree-like alien parasite that promises purpose and revenge against the Americans in exchange for helping it spread across the land through human sacrifice. Meanwhile, his father and half-brother’s infantry squad is tasked with tracking down and killing him.
Universal link for the book on Amazon
About the author
Writer and independent filmmaker from Virginia. His previous works include the novellas Curse of the Jesuit, A Ruin of Mercies, Her Soft Hours and Tout, the independent films Shelter for the Bloodstained Soul and The Holy Sound, as well as the comic book Bring Me the Butcher’s Knife.
