Interviews with the characters we know and love, with a little help from the authors that wrote them.
In this case Some Post-Apocalyptic, beautiful monsters from Alex Kingsley
Name (and title if appropriate):
Skrack, Guardian to Empress Kryaka of the Southwest Plains
(For the sake of clarity, Skrack is a giant crab. Empress Kryaka is a smaller crab.)
Written by:
Books you appear in (links welcome)
Empress of Dust (releases 15th October 2024)
In no more than 5 words explain your ambitions:
Protect the Empress.
Favourite place and why?
My den, the only place I can know solitude, and the only place where I know no harm will come to my precious hatchlings, or the Empress herself.
I have also curated an impressive collection of various desert fungi.
Unlike humans I have no need to hide behind the power of laughable trinkets you call “weapons.” I need only the might of my claws.
He makes a clicking sound that must be the crab equivalent of laughter.
“Weapons…” What use have I for a blade? A gun? A crab with a gun? Farcical. You amuse me, little meat sack.
The proudest moment in a desertwalker’s life is that in which they receive their purpose, so naturally my favourite moment is the ritual during which I was granted the title of Guardian, and all my hatchlings granted the roles of Guardian-To-Be, under my tutelage.
Humanity. At the Empress’ behest I grant that there are a few notable exceptions. Some humans are…tolerable. But to be clear, most are vermin that merit annihilation.
(There is also a netherworm named Fortitude that I particularly despise. That’s neither here nor there. We’re not “enemies,” as such, we just don’t see eye-to-receptor cell.)
Tell me about your childhood:
I had an unremarkable childhood. I was hatched in a den with thousands of my siblings, birthed from a drop of Essence out of the womb of Serenity itself. No different than anyone else. Foolish question.
Where would you be now if you had made better choices?
There is no better choice I could possibly have made than fighting by the Empress’s side. I have never made a poor choice over the course of my long, troubled existence. Reality, however, has conspired to make some of my choices appear foolish in retrospect. But what business have you, human, to pass judgement upon me, a vessel of ancient wisdom beyond your comprehension? Another foolish question. I tire of your inanity.
Please stop sending pathetic, helpless humans into my domain. The evoke the pity of the Empress, and I have no choice but to play nursemaid to a fleshy little pest. Worse, my hatchlings tend to grow fond of them, which makes them nearly impossible to get rid of, let alone discreetly kill.
(Once again, the Empress has implored me to clarify my previous statement. I do not wantonly kill humans. For the most part. Do not tempt me.)
No more questions. I have already revealed far more of our kind than humanity should ever learn. Be gone. Do not return to this place, and do not seek further the secrets of the desertwalkers. What you find will baffle, alarm, and possible kill you.
