The COMPLEAT Collected SFF Works 1911-1987 Read online

  The COMPLEAT

  Collected SFF Works

  of

  C. L. Moore

  1911-1987

  SERIES

  Jirel of Joiry

  BLACK GOD'S KISS

  BLACK GOD'S SHADOW

  JIREL MEETS MAGIC

  THE DARK LAND

  QUEST OF THE STARSTONE

  HELLSGARDE

  Northwest Smith

  SHAMBLEAU

  BLACK THIRST

  SCARLET DREAM

  DUST OF GODS

  JULHI

  NYMPH OF DARKNESS

  THE COLD GRAY GOD

  YVALA

  LOST PARADISE

  THE TREE OF LIFE

  QUEST OF THE STARSTONE

  WEREWOMAN

  SONG IN A MINOR KEY

  Gallagher

  TIME LOCKER

  THE WORLD IS MINE

  THE PROUD ROBOT

  GALLEGHER PLUS

  EX MACHINE

  Keeps

  CLASH BY NIGHT

  FURY

  Baldy

  THE PIPER'S SON

  THREE BLIND MICE

  THE LION AND THE UNICORN

  BEGGARS IN VELVET

  HUMPTY DUMPTY

  Hogben

  EXIT THE PROFESSOR

  PILE OF TROUBLE

  SEE YOU LATER

  COLD WAR

  Thresholders

  PROMISED LAND

  HEIR APPARENT

  INDIVIDUAL

  STORIES

  GREATER GLORIES

  THE CHALLENGE FROM BEYOND

  TRYST IN TIME

  MIRACLE IN THREE DIMENSIONS

  GREATER THAN GODS

  ALL IS UNKNOWN

  FRUIT OF KNOWLEDGE

  A GNOME THERE WAS

  THERE SHALL BE DARKNESS

  DEADLOCK

  THE TWONKY

  COMPLIMENTS OF THE AUTHOR

  PIGGY BANK

  NOTHING BUT GINGERBREAD LEFT

  MIMSY WERE THE BOROGOVES

  SHOCK

  OPEN SECRET

  ENDOWMENT POLICY

  JUDGMENT NIGHT

  DOORWAY INTO TIME

  THE IRON STANDARD

  THE CHILDREN'S HOUR

  HOUSING PROBLEM

  WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS

  NO WOMAN BORN

  BABY FACE

  THE CODE

  CAMOUFLAGE

  WHAT YOU NEED

  LINE TO TOMORROW

  THE FAIRY CHESSMEN

  THIS IS THE HOUSE

  WE KILL PEOPLE

  THE DARK ANGEL

  THE CURE

  RAIN CHECK

  VINTAGE SEASON

  CALL HIM DEMON

  ABSALOM

  THE LITTLE THINGS

  DAEMON

  TIME ENOUGH

  TOMORROW AND TOMORROW

  JUKE-BOX

  PROJECT

  JESTING PILOT

  DREAM'S END

  MARGIN FOR ERROR

  HAPPY ENDING

  PRIVATE EYE

  THE PRISONER IN THE SKULL

  BEYOND EARTH'S GATES

  THE SKY IS FALLING

  PARADISE STREET

  CARRY ME HOME

  THE ODYSSEY OF YIGGAR THROLG

  GOLDEN APPLE

  ANDROID

  WE SHALL COME BACK

  THE EGO MACHINE

  A WILD SURMISE

  DE PROFUNDIS

  HOME IS THE HUNTER

  OR ELSE

  HOME THERE'S NO RETURNING

  TWO-HANDED ENGINE

  RITE OF PASSAGE

  DOOMSDAY MORNING

  NEAR MISS

  EARTH'S LAST CITADEL

  Notes on original publishing dates and co-authors

  SERIES

  Jirel of Joiry

  1934

  with Henry Kuttner

  Northwest Smith

  1933

  with Forrest J. Ackerman

  Gallagher

  1943

  with Henry Kuttner

  Keeps

  1943

  with Henry Kuttner

  Baldy

  1945

  with Henry Kuttner

  Hogben

  1947

  with Henry Kuttner

  Thresholders

  1950

  --

  INDIVIDUAL STORIES

  The Bright Illusion

  1934

  --

  Greater Glories.doc

  1935

  --

  The Challenge From Beyond

  1935

  with various

  Tryst in Time

  1936

  --

  Miracle In Three Dimensions

  1939

  Greater Than Gods

  1939

  --

  All is Illusion

  1940

  with Henry Kuttner

  Fruit of Knowledge

  1940

  --

  A Gnome There Was

  1941

  with Henry Kuttner

  There Shall Be Darkness

  1942

  --

  Deadlock

  1942

  with Kenry Kuttner

  The Twonky

  1942

  with Henry Kuttner

  Compliments of the Author

  1942

  with Henry Kuttner

  Piggy Bank

  1942

  with Henry Kuttner

  Nothing But Gingerbread Left

  1943

  with Henry Kuttner

  Mimsy Were the Borogoves

  1943

  with Henry Kuttner

  Shock

  1943

  with Henty Kuttner

  Open Secret

  1943

  with Henry Kuttner

  Endowment Policy

  1943

  with Henry Kuttner

  Judgment Night

  1943

  --

  Doorway Into Time

  1943

  --

  The Iron Standard

  1943

  with Henry Kuttner

  The Children's Hour

  1944

  with Henry Kuttner

  Housing Problem

  1944

  with Henry Kuttner

  When the Bough Breaks

  1944

  with Henry Kuttner

  No Woman Born

  1944

  --

  Baby Face

  1945

  with Henry Kuttner

  The Code

  1945

  --

  Camouflage

  1945

  with Henry Kuttner

  What You Need

  1945

  with Henry Kuttner

  Line to Tomorrow

  1945

  with Henry Kuttner

  The Fairy Chessmen

  1946

  with Henry Kuttner

  This Is the House

  1946

  with Henry Kuttner

  We Kill People

  1946

  with Henry Kuttner

  Dark Angel

  1946

  with Henry Kuttner

  The Cure

  1946

  with Henry Kuttner

  Rain Check

  1946

  with Henry Kuttner

  Vintage Season

  1946

  with Henry Kuttner

  Call Him Demon

  1946

  with Henry Kuttner

  Absalom

  1946

  with Henry Kuttner

  The Little Thin
gs

  1946

  with Henry Kuttner

  Daemon

  1946

  --

  Time Enough

  1946

  with Henry Kuttner

  Tomorrow and Tomorrow

  1947

  with Henry Kuttner

  Juke-Box

  1947

  with Henry Kuttner

  Project

  1947

  with Henry Kuttner

  Jesting Pilot

  1947

  with Henry Kuttner

  Dream's End

  1947

  with Henry Kuttner

  Margin for Error

  1947

  with Henry Kuttner

  Happy Ending

  1948

  with Henry Kuttner

  Private Eye

  1949

  with Henry Kuttner

  The Prisoner in the Skull

  1949

  with Henry Kuttner

  Beyond Earth's Gate (The Portal in the Picture)

  1954

  with Henry Kuttner

  The Sky Is Falling

  1950

  with Henry Kuttner

  Paradise Street

  1950

  --

  Carry Me Home

  1950

  with Henry Kuttner

  The Odyssey of Yiggar Throlg

  1951

  with Henry Kuttner

  Golden Apple

  1951

  with Henry Kuttner

  Android

  1951

  with Henry Kuttner

  We Shall Come Back

  1951

  with Henry Kuttner

  The Ego Machine

  1952

  with Henry Kuttner

  A Wild Surmise

  1953

  with Henry Kuttner

  De Profundis (The Visitors)

  1953

  with Henry Kuttner

  Home Is the Hunter

  1953

  with Henry Kuttner

  Or Else

  1953

  with Henry Kuttner

  Home There's No Returning

  1955

  with Henry Kuttner

  Two-handed Engine

  1955

  with Henry Kuttner

  Rite of Passage

  1956

  with Henry Kuttner

  Doomsday Morning

  1957

  --

  Near Miss

  1958

  with Henry Kuttner

  Earth's Last Citadel

  1943

  with Henry Kuttner

  The COMPLEAT

  Collected SFF Works

  of

  C. L. Moore

  Jirel of Joiry

  (1934-1939)*

  Contents

  BLACK GOD'S KISS

  BLACK GOD'S SHADOW

  JIREL MEETS MAGIC

  THE DARK LAND

  QUEST OF THE STARSTONE

  HELLSGARDE

  BLACK GOD'S KISS

  Jirel of Joiry 01

  Weird Tales - October 1934

  I

  They brought in Joiry's tall commander, struggling between two men-at-arms who tightly gripped the ropes which bound their captive's mailed arms. They picked their way between mounds of dead as they crossed the great hall toward the dais where the conqueror sat, and twice they slipped a little in the blood that spattered the flags. When they came to a halt before the mailed figure on the dais, Joiry's commander was breathing hard, and the voice that echoed hollowly under the helmet's confines was hoarse with fury and despair.

  Guillaume the conqueror leaned on his mighty sword, hands crossed on its hilt, grinning down from his height upon the furious captive before him. He was a big man, Guillaume, and he looked bigger still in his spattered armor. There was blood on his hard, scarred face, and he was grinning a white grin that split his short, curly beard glitteringly. Very splendid and very dangerous he looked, leaning on his great sword and smiling down upon fallen Joiry's lord, struggling between the stolid men-at-arms.

  "Unshell me this lobster," said Guillaume in his deep lazy voice. "We'll see what sort of face the fellow has who gave us such a battle. Off with his helmet, you."

  But a third man had to come up and slash the straps which held the iron helmet on, for the struggles of Joiry's commander were too fierce, even with bound arms, for either of the guards to release their hold. There was a moment of sharp struggle; then the straps parted and the helmet rolled loudly across the flagstones.

  Guillaume's white teeth clicked on a startled oath. He stared. Joiry's lady glared back at him from between her captors, wild red hair tousled, wild lion-yellow eyes ablaze.

  "God curse you!" snarled the lady of Joiry between teeth. "God blast your black heart!"

  Guillaume scarcely heard her. He was still staring, as men stared when they first set eyes upon Jirel of Joiry. She was tall as most men, and as savage as the wildest of them, and the fall of Joiry was bitter enough to her heart as she stood snarling curses up at her conqueror. The face above her mail might not have been fair in a woman's head-dress, but in the steel setting of her armor it had a biting, sword-edge beauty as keen as the flash of blades. The red hair was short upon her high, defiant head, and the yellow blaze of her eyes held fury as a crucible holds fire.

  Guillaume's stare melted into a slow smile. A little light kindled behind his eyes as he swept the long, strong lines of her with a practised gaze. The smile broadened, suddenly he burst into full-throated laughter, a deep bellow of amusement and delight.

  "By the Nails!" he roared. "Here's welcome for the warrior! And what forfeit d'ye offer, pretty one, for your life?"

  She blazed a curse at him.

  "So? Naughty words for a mouth so fair, my lady. We'll not deny you put up a gallant battle. No man could have done better, and many have done worse, But Guillaume—" He inflated his splendid chest and grinned down at her from the depths of his jutting beard. "Come to me, pretty one," he commanded. "I'll wager your mouth is sweeter than your words."

  Jirel drove a spurred heel into the shin of one guard and twisted from his grip as he howled, bringing up an iron knee into the abdomen of the other. She had writhed from their grip and made three long strides toward the door before Guillaume caught her. She felt his arms closing about her from behind, and lashed out with heels in a futile assault upon his leg armor, twisting like a maniac, fighting with her knees and spurs, straining hopelessly at the ropes which bound her arms. Guillaume laughed and whirled her round, grinning down into the blaze of her yellow eyes. Then deliberately he set a fist under her chin and tilted her mouth up to his. There was a cessation of her hoarse curses.

  "By Heaven, that's like kissing a swordblade," said Guillaume, lifting his lips at last.

  Jirel choked something that was mercifully muffled as she darted her head sidewise, like a serpent striking, and sank her teeth into his neck. She missed the jugular by a fraction of an inch.