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eBook Category: Fantasy
eBook Description: Reynaldo lives in a gray, rain-swept world, filled with little magic and almost no joy. He hunts magical creatures for his prince who collects them, and keeps them in a zoo in the castle. Reynaldo has found everything, from the illusive unicorn to the small fairy. And now he must find a songbird. Only when he does, what he discovers changes not only his life, but his entire world.

eBook Publisher: Fictionwise.com, Published: Dragon #275, 2000
Fictionwise Release Date: May 2004

27 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [98 KB], eReader (PDB) [38 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [25 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [23 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [80 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [94 KB], hiebook (KML) [91 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [52 KB], iSilo (PDB) [20 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [26 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [54 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [38 KB]
Words: 8153
Reading time: 23-32 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED

"'Songbirds' by Kristine Kathryn Rusch is probably one of the best tales I've read in this magazine. Reynaldo is a hunter of magical creatures for the crown prince of the kingdom. The prince keeps these creatures in his menagerie for display. Now Reynaldo has been commissioned to capture a rare creature known as a songbird. Once they were servants of the humans, but a thousand years before they had rebelled and escaped. Reynaldo finds them, but learns that the events of a thousand years ago were not as he thought. Rather, it's the humans who have been held captive, but by jailers who desperately wish not to be. In the end, Reynaldo must force an end, with consequences for the whole world. You definitely want to read this tale."--James S. Reichert, Tangent Online (Learn more about Tangent Online, the Internet's leading SF&F short fiction review website)

The rain was hard, and cold, the village a welcome sight. Reynaldo had been riding for days without seeing any signs of civilization--and he had thought that good. If he were to find the Songbirds, he believed he would find them in this wilderness at the very edge of the kingdom.

But even the best hunter welcomed a respite after days of unrelenting rain. The village was as dismal as the weather: small hovels with little more than a door, the occasional house, and finally, at the end of town, an inn that looked like it had seen better days.

At least it had a stable. He dismounted and looked for a stablehand. Seeing none, he led Cara to the only stall.

He would have tended her himself even if there had been a stablehand. She was the only pure white horse in the kingdom. He never let anyone else touch her--only his brushstroke cleaned her coat, only his hand fed her, and he cherished the small nuzzle she would give his shoulder, or her soft sighs of contentment. They were his best reward, and his only real joy.

His life was bleak--had been since he was a boy--but he knew no way of improving it. He already lived in the palace, and was the best in his field. He wasn't sure he had the capacity for love, and if he did, he wasn't sure if it would improve his life. The kingdom was a gloomy place, but he'd heard of none better.