Historical Fantasy
Date Published: September 1, 2024
Publisher: Roundfire Books
Capitán Cristóbal de Varga’s drive for glory and gold in 1538
Peru leads him and his army of conquistadors into a New World that refuses
to be conquered. He is a man torn by life-long obsessions and knows this is
his last campaign. What he doesn’t know is that his Incan allies led by the
princess Sarpay have their own furtive plans to make sure he never finds the
golden city of Vilcabamba. He also doesn’t know that Héctor Valiente,
the freed African slave he appointed as his lieutenant, has found a portal
that will lead them all into a world that will challenge his deepest
beliefs. And what he can’t possibly know is that this world will trap him in
a war between two eternal enemies, leading him to question everything he has
devoted his life to – his command, his Incan princess, his honor, his God.
In the end, he faces the ultimate dilemma: how is it possible to battle your
own obsessions . . . to conquer yourself?
EXCERPT
Chapter 2 At Sun’s Gate
As dawn broke across the blue-ice Andean skies, Capitán Cristóbal de Varga breathed in the tension of the six hundred conquistadors at his back. He had always believed that those on the verge of victory could smell it in advance. And right now the sharp tang of triumph seared his nostrils. He ran his fingers across his smooth-shaven face, feeling the creases from a lifetime of watching men grow rich while he merely grew older. Finally, after all the years since he and his cousin Diego had stowed away on that galleon to the New World, his moment of conquest had arrived. The Sun Gate to Machu Picchu lay before him.
His horse shifted restlessly. He nodded to the two men that flanked him. Lieutenant Héctor Valiente acknowledged him with his usual composed impenetrable look, his black African face stark against the snow-capped peaks. In contrast Lieutenant Rodrigo Benalcázar’s lean frame and pinched features teemed with energy as his fierce eyes focused on the steps in front of them.
Cristóbal raised his sword skyward.
“For the glory of God!”
Battle cries of “Santiago y cierra, España” resounded behind him. He urged his mount forward and led the charge on Machu Picchu, his heart hammering his chest. He rode on the wave of surging conquistadors, breathless, sweat streaming from his pores despite the cold. This was what he had relentlessly pursued for most of his life. It was in his grasp.
Suddenly the morning rays poured through the Sun Gate and a bright flash filled Cristóbal’s vision. The brief revelation that it was a sign of God’s grace quickly dissipated. He was riding blind. He faltered.
A volley of slingstones struck his armor.
Shielding his eyes, he looked down. A distorted halo encircled the stone steps.
He struggled to regain his momentum.
More slingstones rang against his helmet, echoing into his ears.
A spear bounced off his horse’s armor.
But nothing was going to block his path this time. Not now that the prize was so close. He gritted his teeth and pushed his horse back into a gallop.
As he reached the gate, Incan soldiers set upon him with axes and star-headed clubs. Determined to stay on his mount, he swung his sword furiously, slicing through their cotton armor and wooden shields. He led the thrust through the Incan defenses until the path was clear for his soldiers, who then poured through the Sun Gate hacking at any Incas standing their ground.
Cristóbal pulled back on his reins and let his men ride past him. The misshapen halo faded, and his vision cleared as he watched his conquistadors swarm into the defenseless citadel cradled between two peaks.
The Incas ran from their houses in a wild panic, some scrambling up the terraced hills while others sought to escape by the rope bridge that spanned the Urubamba River. The bridge was sagging under the weight of numbers when the conquistadors started cutting through the ropes with their swords. Then it collapsed and hundreds of Incas plummeted into the gorge. Screaming.
Cristóbal rode into Machu Picchu to the sound of despairing cries. He was joined by his two lieutenants, Héctor and Rodrigo, and they headed for the royal palace near the main square.
They entered the palace to the sound of flutes. In the center of the chamber were two Incan nobles sitting on a nest of embroidered cushions and surrounded by servants. The man’s effete features were wreathed by a scarlet llautu crowned with two feathers, and his earrings stretched his lobes so that they hung half-way to his shoulders. The woman was draped in jewel-studded garments of vicuña wool. Her fringe framed the flawless copper-brown of her face and two snake ornaments hung from her ears.
In front of them was a pile of gold statues and jewelry.
The nobleman waved the flute players into silence and addressed Cristóbal in Spanish. “We wish you welcome to Machu Picchu. I am Huarcay and this is my sister Sarpay.”
Cristóbal pointed to the pile of gold. “That can’t be all of it.”
“Machu Picchu is only an empire outpost,” said Huarcay.
Rodrigo drew his sword and took a step toward the nobleman. “Where’s the rest?”
Cristóbal gestured Rodrigo to wait. “It’s not enough,” he said to Huarcay. “It’s nowhere near enough.”
The nobleman gestured his flute players into silence. “I can give you much more.”
Cristóbal noticed Sarpay looking at him and his eyes locked on hers.
Huarcay said, “I can give you the emperor.”
Héctor nudged Cristóbal who returned his attention to Huarcay.
“You know where Manco Inca is hiding?”
“Yes, I can take you to the gold of Vilcabamba.”
About the Author
Dirk Strasser’s epic fantasy trilogy The Books of
Ascension—Zenith, Equinox and Eclipse—was published in German
and English, and his short stories have been translated into several
languages. “The Doppelgänger Effect” appeared in the World
Fantasy Award-winning anthology Dreaming Down Under. His historical fantasy
novel Conquist was published in 2024. The serialized version of Conquist was
a finalist in the Aurealis Awards Best Fantasy Novel category. Dirk’s
screenplay version of Conquist won the Wildsound Fantasy/Sci-Fi Festival
Best Scene Reading Award and was a featured finalist in the Cinequest Film
& Creativity Festival and the Creative World Awards. He is the co-editor
of Australia’s premier science fiction and fantasy magazine, Aurealis,
and was a judge on the 2024 Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival Screenplay
Awards. Dirk has been a high school teacher, a writer of best-selling
textbooks, an educational software developer, a publishing manager, and a
soccer club president.
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