Peter S. Case
The Progeny of Able
eBook
(Black Earth Books Dec. 16, 2014)
, 1 edition
The foxes are among us. Every night thousands of Londoners see them on the city streets, creeping from hidden alleyways or nestled amongst the hedges of Hyde Park. There are over 10,000 living in the urban sprawl, but under the ancient metropolis there are many more. Now, we can read their story; their true story.
Deep beneath the city streets, the Burrow of London is dying. Almost a millennium has passed since the 'Art' was lost. It's power forgotten and the grand palaces, countless parks, endless subterranean suburbs and skyscrapers, it helped to build, time is now dissolving into dust. For although they are incredibly intelligent and self-aware the inhabitants of the Burrow are trapped within the limitations of an animals body. They are, in a way, anti-anthropomorphic. They are not foxes behaving like humans, rather they are humans trapped within the restrictions of a fox's physiology.
What follows is a narrative of those desperate and dishevelled nocturnal creatures which, nearly nightly, can be seen on the dark streets of the British Capital. It is an account of the foxes of London and the 'Great Burrow' underground where they live; a home which is much larger and much older than the ancient Roman borough of the 'Hansta', the Humans, above it. The 'Light' which gives only foxes, and only those foxes born in London, the gift of self-awareness is fading and a half-breed of shadow foxes is emerging from the darkness controlled by the totalitarian 'Council of Brothers'. These animals are larger and more powerful and lack the ability to speak. They have become slaves to the regime, easy to control, easy to train; the perfect servants or the perfect thugs. For as the Light diminishes, the panic in the Burrow increases, as does the number of Shadow Foxes. Amongst the despair the regime grows in power, branding all foxes like canines, and only one may stand against them. One is born outside of the Light, yet of the Light, one who begins to claim the lost power and with it claim the Burrow from those who would let it die. He is Roe; a criminal, a murderer, a fighter. Driven from the Burrow as a pup he has returned. For he is the cure. He is the progeny of Able.
Deep beneath the city streets, the Burrow of London is dying. Almost a millennium has passed since the 'Art' was lost. It's power forgotten and the grand palaces, countless parks, endless subterranean suburbs and skyscrapers, it helped to build, time is now dissolving into dust. For although they are incredibly intelligent and self-aware the inhabitants of the Burrow are trapped within the limitations of an animals body. They are, in a way, anti-anthropomorphic. They are not foxes behaving like humans, rather they are humans trapped within the restrictions of a fox's physiology.
What follows is a narrative of those desperate and dishevelled nocturnal creatures which, nearly nightly, can be seen on the dark streets of the British Capital. It is an account of the foxes of London and the 'Great Burrow' underground where they live; a home which is much larger and much older than the ancient Roman borough of the 'Hansta', the Humans, above it. The 'Light' which gives only foxes, and only those foxes born in London, the gift of self-awareness is fading and a half-breed of shadow foxes is emerging from the darkness controlled by the totalitarian 'Council of Brothers'. These animals are larger and more powerful and lack the ability to speak. They have become slaves to the regime, easy to control, easy to train; the perfect servants or the perfect thugs. For as the Light diminishes, the panic in the Burrow increases, as does the number of Shadow Foxes. Amongst the despair the regime grows in power, branding all foxes like canines, and only one may stand against them. One is born outside of the Light, yet of the Light, one who begins to claim the lost power and with it claim the Burrow from those who would let it die. He is Roe; a criminal, a murderer, a fighter. Driven from the Burrow as a pup he has returned. For he is the cure. He is the progeny of Able.
- Pages
- 400