Black Hole Heart and Other Stories by K.A. Teryna

Author:K.A. Teryna
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, General, Short Stories (Single Author), Dark Fantasy
Publisher: Fairwood Press
Published: 2025-10-14T06:00:00+00:00

NO ONE EVER LEAVES PORT HENRI

I enter the bar and all conversation ceases, like in a trashy paperback novel. Patrons turn and stare at me. Francois must’ve already spread the news. Not that I was going to hide it—you can’t hide something like this, tomorrow it’ll be in the papers. But for now, I was unsettled.

What dragged me to Azure anyhow? I knew Francois couldn’t keep a secret; his nickname—Loose Lips—was well-earned, after all. The thing is, when your mind is preoccupied with difficult problems, your feet carry you along the familiar path. Doc César calls this a “behavioral pattern.”

Doc’s here too—where else would he be? Hidden away in a dark corner so you can only see his eyes. Those eyes are filled with a devil’s compassion. Others look at me with equal parts jealousy and genuine happiness for my fortune.

Their stares only serve to anger me. Especially César’s. If not for his stories, I’d be the happiest man in Port Henri. But now?

Now I feel like a man at the edge of the abyss.

Not that I can explain this to any of them.

They aren’t thinking of me, or of my son. They think of their own children who lost the most important lottery of their lives today. What future awaits them? They’ll become fishermen and prospectors. Some, who are very lucky, might join the Cayman Guard. The not-so-lucky ones will become miners.

I’ve seen child miners. Grim, exhausted faces. Eyes that have absorbed the darkness of the mine shafts. It’s as though they’ve seen things beneath the mountains that have changed them forever.

Any resident of Port Henri will tell you: the mountains are populated by demons who loathe parting with their treasure. They demand human souls in exchange. That’s why children make the best miners: their souls are purer, tastier for the demons. A child carries such a demon back from the mine inside them, like an incurable disease, and the demon slowly devours the young soul, leaving nothing but a walking skeleton.

At first glance the people of Port Henri are like everyone else. Not better, not worse. At first glance you can’t tell they carry the sorts of stories inside that make even my stomach turn.

“What are you standing over there for, Joe?” shouts Francois. “Buy a round for the good people, my friend. Surely you won’t forget your old pals now that you’re practically an Olympian?”

“That’s Mr. Joseph Fellow to you, Loose Lips.”

Francois grins a pocked smile at me.

They love nicknames in Port Henri. Seven years ago someone started calling me Convict. I had to break several noses to put an end to that.

I nod to the bartender. I’ve seen what’s to come time and time again. Whenever fortune smiles upon some poor prospector he becomes an instant celebrity for a day. His meager handful of emeralds will barely cover a round for the barflies. And he’ll spend it all, instead of buying a new dress for his wife, to bask in the smiles and approval of his buddies.

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