io9 is pleased to offer fiction from LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE. Each month, we showcase a story from the current issue of LIGHTSPEED. This month, we present “We Will Bring Siege to the Bastion of Sin that Cries Out in Your Prayer” by Hammond Diehl. Enjoy!
You may revere your patron saints, your Marys, your Joans, your Catherines. But you should fear them. If one ever answers your prayer, arriving stripped of skin, fingernails, and every organ, her halo a crown of furious flames, demanding you build her body with bones of the dead, be prepared. You summoned her, you must face the consequences.
You may lie to yourself, to the media, to the doctors and nurses as they treat you, but she knows the truth. And if you’re wise, you’ll accept it for a better chance of survival in the war you prayed for.
The story follows a protagonist who encounters a saint demanding armor, a weapon, and a horse to bring siege to a bastion of sin. As they gather bones and weapons, the saint grows in power and size, leading them on a mysterious and dangerous pilgrimage.