I Read Stories: Melkrt And The Monkey Men by Mark Mellon

 

Melkart And The Monkey Men by Mark Mellon in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly

Melkart the Assyrian goes hunting in the hills. He’s warned of dangers – a bandit gang led by a renegade Greek, and monkey spirits that harass the shepherds and farmers. None of this puts him off.

Melkart shoots a deer and feasts on it, afterward sleeping. Two monkey men Pasalas and Basalas steal his equipment; he finds them playing with bow and sword and captures them. Melkart, finding them funny, takes a promise to stop harassing the shepherd he met and lets them go.

Tired from all this, he’s taken by surprise by bandits. They plan to rob him, torment and kill him. Even Melkart’s mighty strength cannot succeed, not alone. Not unless someone comes to help him.

Read This: Classic swords and sorcery action, with classic comic creatures – yet made fresh
Don’t Read This: Melkart gets into trouble by using every muscle but the one that counts