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by Matthew Ilseman in Issue 154, November 2024 1 It is said that the gods are Seven in number, but in Zeliaka it is whispered that the gods are Eight. – Salahan the Sage Obbo Karonga ran through the serpentine streets of Zeliaka. As he ran his turban fell off revealing his shaven black skull. His white robes fluttered. …

by Cameron MacLeod in Issue 154, November 2024 Anton kept his breathing heavy and let his body attend to itself. His mind came unstuck from physical burdens. This allowed him to focus on his daughter, who lay some few feet away, his brother’s dagger protruding gaudily from her chest. By ritual he summoned grief, anger, a love …

by Eric Williams in Issue 154, November 2024 It took Edeko all morning to crawl up the hill, each cautious movement weighed and considered and carefully planned before he inched forward in perfect silence. He’d spent an hour lifting a branch of elkweed out of the way, straining to keep the seeds from rattling in their desiccated …

by Jonathan Olfert in Issue 154, November 2024 It brings me great satisfaction to assert that swords-and-sorcery maps are in vogue.  Examples abound, albeit with room to grow. Howard Andrew Jones’ Hanuvar books come with robust and detailed maps of the Dervan Empire and fallen Volanus. Scott Oden’s monumental The Doom of Odin opens with a map of …

by K. T. Booker in Issue 153, October 2024 I Hamill woke to the dark. The damp. He knew not if it was day or night. The guards were outside. The pounding of their boots on the stone floor echoed through the iron door of the prison cell. They’d come in soon. He readied himself for the pain. He …

by Abby Roberts in Issue 153, October 2024 Seshet tossed aside her wax-coated writing tablet almost carelessly. The pain behind her left eye was the kind of pain indicative of having stared at the same godsdamn tablet all godsdamn day. Her back was sore, too, because she’d been sitting for hours without support. The rustle of her robe …

by Jamey Toner in Issue 153, October 2024 The Numivore, the Numivore, The human whom the Gods abhor. The Numivore, the Numivore, The tomb of whom’s an open door. Nursery rhyme, anon., c. Year 220 of the New Empire Two scarlet wings, like a galleon’s mainsails, billowed overhead. The valley, miles below, was a collusion of cartography and heraldry, vast and wild …

by Neil Willcox in Issue 153, October 2024 Eliza Sky and the Iron Smelter’s Devil – Part 1 Eliza Sky and the Iron Smelter’s Devil – Part 2 An agreement in the light of PROVIDENCE in the Third Year of the Lord Regent of WHITLAND and the seventeenth year of the rule of the IRON EMPEROR XENODIUS XIV Between Lady …

by Lindsey Duncan As Ilisu surfaced from the sacred pool, ice chill searing her, she grasped at the sensations.  It was supposed to wash away the mystical shroud binding the disease inside her.  She chased every tickle on her skin, yet she felt no different. She blinked water out of her eyes and lifted her gaze to …

A tale of Altiva by Teel James Glenn in Issue 152, September 2024 “Do you think there really is safety in numbers, Erique?” the girl asked. When her companion didn’t answer right away she added, “Like in a big family?” The two were riding on a country road north of Stormlanding and were a study in contrasts. He was …

by Jonathan Olfert in Issue 152, September 2024 Seven sails on the horizon, the square rigs of great catamarans, sank dread into Tahure’s heart. He’d been hoisting a dharak terror-bird into a tree for harvest, vines biting into his palms. When the sails caught his eye he froze there at the edge of the beach. He let …

by G. W. Thomas in Issue 152, September 2024 SNAKES ARE PULP Let’s be fair right from the start and admit: Pulp fiction, all Pulp fiction hates snakes. The old Detective story in the style of Sax Rohmer had evil and invisible enemies strike with poisonous animals. An asp in your bed and the underworld fiend laughs from …

by Rab Foster in Issue 151, August 2024 Gudroon lowered the telescope and said, “Bad magic.”  “How bad?” Ordinarily, Farmer Airdwel’s voice was nasal and hard-to-listen-to. Today, anxiety had given it yet more of a whine.        “Very bad. See for yourself.”  She passed him the telescope. Airdwel was reluctant to take it because she was a witch, which meant the …

by Matthew X. Gomez in Issue 151, August 2024 Brais sat huddled in his cloak, the rain beating a tattoo on the stone floor around him through the holes in the roof. Flashes of lightning brought brief illumination to the interior of the ruined tower he had taken shelter in. His knuckles were white around his clutched …

by Josh Howard in Issue 51, August 2024 Symond rose from where he had been sitting cross-legged on Pak’s shell as they entered the ruins. He spread his feet for balance and shielded his eyes with one hand, even though the few remaining columns occasionally blocked the mid-morning sun. Pak’s clawed feet beat out a steady thump-thump-thump-thump. …

by Norman Grey, Esq. in Issue 151, August 2024 William Shakespeare was a profound psychologist and, perhaps, the greatest wordsmith the human family has yet produced; but like any sage, he had to get our attention before he could speak his wisdom. It’s entirely possible that we would not remember him today if the average Elizabethan had …

by Todd Honeycutt in Issue 150, July 2024 As I plodded higher into the forest, the tales whispered about these heathen lands felt more true. Many pointed to these hills, with their magnificent trees that could have been planted by the first gods, yews with their large, windy trunks and broad canopies and cedars towering into the …

by Ranylt Richildis in Issue 150, July 2024 Tola lopes down the boulevard, and those along his path veer off with a shudder. It’s not the outsized hands on his narrow frame or the bow across his back—turned for a mercenary by the most expensive master. It’s not his well-known name, muttered in the dimmest corners over …

by Daniel Stride in Issue 150, July 2024 My name is Quintus.  The Roman, my Vandal friends and acquaintances called me, in those long-ago days, when the withered husk of the Western Imperium still hid within the swamps of Ravenna. A time of turmoil, and of opportunity. The Eternal City itself had shrivelled into nothing, and yet without …

by Andrei-Ion Ghircoiaș in Issue 149, June 2024 His armor plates clanged as he walked the cobbled streets of Valaney. Night had settled in, with few onlookers gawking from their homes. Gade couldn’t blame their curiosity. Valaney was where cultures and races mixed as they dealt in both trade and politics. A city stranger to sleep. But …

by Teel James Glenn in Issue 149, June 2024 A parable of Altiva It happened not so long ago and not so far from here that the great sword smith, Aldred, said to his wife that he was too old to continue his craft.  “I will make one more sword,” he said, his voice trembling with age, “a sword …

by Luana Saitta in Issue 149, June 2024 “Perhaps this might be of interest to my lord?” The merchant’s blotched and emaciated hands revealed a small chest, ornately decorated with gold filigree and what appeared to be the simulated impressions of leaf veins on its dark jade surface. “A box. She’s probably got a few of those, peddler.” Tamer Ibn …

by Rick Danforth in Issue 148, May 2024 “Presumably if I lose the duels, I die?” asked Hop, feeling more nervous than if he was juggling his keys over a storm drain. “Heavens no, elves are fantastic at keeping people alive for many, many years,” said the elf with a wide grin. “The King has kept the Queen …

by Dave Hangman in Issue 148, May 2024 “A man’s greatest challenge is to hunt the adur within him.”  Sentence Jarati “Damn pįołedů!” bellowed Benthel completely inebriated as he tried to pour himself one last swig from his black flask containing the spirit he distilled himself. The bottle was empty despite his attempts to get one last drop of …

by Benjamin Sartison in Issue 148, May 2024 Beneath a canopy of sagging fronds, iridescent and oozing, four grimy figures tramped through green mist. With sucking, squelching steps they laboured through a stinking slurry of mud and grey water, leaving trails in the slime that covered its oily surface. Massive fungal structures quivered and dripped on all …

by Joel Glover in Issue 148 You may be familiar with the film franchise I will refer to as “has fallen”. Gerard Butler, in his final hurrahs as a borderline A-list action star, combines with glass-of-milk with cheekbones Aaron Eckhart and the ghost of good performances by Morgan Freeman in this land of the free, home of …

by Matthew Ilseman in Issue 147, April 2024 The corpse hung limply in the tree. A large branch impaled it through the chest. Blood covered the branch and fell in droplets on the forest floor. Aleron the warrior-priest stared up at it. He pulled his crimson cloak around himself. A sword and a seax knife hung in scabbards …

by Jared Kerr in Issue 147, April 2024 Father Samuel shivered as he walked, his breath seeming to freeze in the air around him. Midnight was not the time to be wandering, especially in winter, but the bishop’s letter had stated concretely what Samuel was to do if he wished his parish cleansed. A creak of movement …

by Sandra Unerman in Issue 147, April 2024 The room was more crowded than Jan had ever seen it. The old woman’s sons and their wives, grandchildren and cousins, avoided each other’s glances. They did not fidget or murmur, keen to hear every word as the clerk read the long, complicated will aloud. Jan leaned against the …

by D. J. Tyrer in Issue 146, March 2024 The tall, lean youth who had arrived at the musha of five huts on the scrubby hillside had given no name save Ini-ndoga, ‘I Alone’, to the men who led him to sit upon the dusty red earth before the hut of the village elder. As he exited the …

by Sean Jones in Issue 146, March 2024 My heart quickened and bile burned my throat as the door before me shuddered open. From the arena, the roar of the echoing throng, the flickering light of scores of torches, the hostility of the crowd, the dread of facing a potent spellcaster, they penetrated my chamber. Better to …

by J. M. Cyrus in Issue 146, March 2024 She looked down at the last flickering candle, her eyes burning to memorise the flame’s light. She felt the ache in her body and mind, the wincing pain of her shin’s broken bone, and her soggy clothing against her skin. She smelled iron, dust and sweat. She sobbed …

by Gustavo Bondoni in Issue 145, February 2024 Where am I? Junglo thought as he woke. His head pounded and a memory of the previous night’s revelry brought images of luscious flesh, but mostly—and unsurprisingly—the remembrance of thirst, of the need to drink in order to forget and to let himself enjoy the excess around him. Or, if not …

by Vaughn A. Jackson in Issue 145, February 2024 Black trunked trees stretched inward from the beach on which the Munian found herself washed ashore. Salt water lapped at her bare feet; her armor sunken well below the crashing waves behind her. The cloth of her jerkin clung tight to her statuesque form as she rose, brushing …

by Chad A. B. Wilson in Issue 145, February 2024 “You’ll like her,” Fenray said as they walked the Queen’s Road into the Gardenside district of Falsea.  “So you keep saying,” Grenmir said.  “Fat chance,” Hyrion murmured. “You don’t like anyone.” The invisible imp perched on her shoulder, and Grenmir reminded herself not to talk to them aloud. Sometimes …

by Rab Foster in Issue 144, January 2024 A wind sighed over the Sea of Quan. When they came in sight of the fleet, that wind seemed to raise a low mist. From their position to where the ships huddled on the horizon, the sea looked like it was smoldering – exuding huge, flat streams of purple …

by Matthew X. Gomez in Issue 144, January 2024 The call of seabirds dragged Liam the Black back to the land of the living. He blinked his eyes, gritty from sand, against the blazing ball of the sun overhead. His entire body ached, the victim of bludgeoning by waves and the detritus of the sea. He blinked …

by Matthew Owen Jones in Issue 144, January 2023 Jurgen walked through the maze of rain-soaked streets that he knew so well. The driving rain poured from the tiled roofs, bleeding into the gutters, across the cobbles and narrow alleys of the dock district. Few people would wander out in such weather without good reason, especially in this part …

by D. K. Latta in Issue 143, December 2023 The cobblestones beneath Kainar’s boots were damp with dew, the sun just cresting the taller buildings. The crooked avenues through which he stalked were sparsely populated, merchants and workers only just beginning to stir and go about their affairs.  He was a broad-shouldered figure of middle-age, with a red …

by Jay Requard in Issue 143, December 2023 Every time she shut her eyes, the jar of the wagon’s wheels or the shake of the cabin woke her, splashing bright red violence across her mind. Too exhausted to keep her eyes fully open, the memory reformed anew. Char-vak-ya! Char-vak-ya! Char-vak-ya! Magic flashed, men screamed. Blood.  Blood and screaming and iron thrusting, …

by D. J. Tyrer in Issue 143, December 2023 “This way.” A large and meaty hand seized the slim wrist of Mirzë and drew her out from the alleyway and into the night-darkened street. The girl, no more than fifteen, turned her gaze away from the piled detritus that had once been men and women and followed after …

by Geoffrey Hart in Issue 142, November 2023 The head of the rotting corpse rolled in front of Freya, who kicked it under the feet of another advancing corpse. That one tripped and went down, taking several of its fellows with it. “Another man’s lost his head over you,” Freya panted, slashing one arm from her opponent on …

by J. VanZile in Issue 142, November 2023 Kameron Black-Eye had seen some seedy pubs in his line of work, but this one sat below them all. Under the stars, for there was no roof, drunkards, derelicts, and ne’er-do-wells circulated like bats spiraling a belfry at dusk. It was an orchestrated dance of villainy. Quick hands exchanged …

by Anthony Perconti in Issue 142, November 2023 New Edge Sword and Sorcery #1 gives readers a wide variety of stories set within the sword and sorcery genre. I find it heartening that the contributors to New Edge take an expansive approach in fleshing out their individual protagonists. They are not mere cookie cutter, musclebound “thud & blunder” heroes that were …

by Nyki Blatchley in Issue 141, October 2023 Loshi sauntered through the streets of Shimeth, putting a deliberate swagger into her walk. She’d been in the city for ten days now, and life was good, especially when you were seventeen and just where you’d always dreamt of being. The colourful bazaars were stuffed with fascinating goods she’d never …

by M. R. Timson in Issue 141, October 2023 The waters of the strait were as clear as glass. There was hardly a grain of sediment blocking Epona’s view of the rocky surface, perhaps hundreds of feet below. It was a whole other world down there, with its peaks and valleys, its forests and tundra—its fauna too. …

by George S. Walker in Issue 141, October 2023 It was a rainy summer evening as Cerridwen led Lucius and the centurion into the abandoned mine. The Briton’s red hair, plaited in braids, slapped against the dirty wet wool of her tunic, stretched over her pregnant belly. Lucius was proud the centurion had chosen him, and looking …

by J. M. Cyrus in Issue 140, September 2023 Mino was alone when he saw the fayre’s boats round the rocky stacks and arches at the north end of his island. He stood at the top of a scrubby, bouldered hill, and watched the colourful vessels round the formations, and into the wide enclosure of Murano Bay. …

by Zephyr Dorsey in Issue 140, September 2023 His beard flowed down his chest, stiff and tangled, like a stream of wire hangers. His clothes hung from him in tattered strips. Lightning flashed in his eyes. A wild look. He kept to the vicinity of the Community House, speaking only gibberish and gesticulating excitedly. When he saw the …

by Jonathan Olfert in Issue 140, September 2023 Parok’s Well: a caravanserai, an enclosed camp along the salt trail from the corpse of Old Jegest to ravenous new kingdoms. For a caravaneer, Parok’s Well is a waypoint like any other in the Five Deserts: a milestone to dream about, and then to forget. Forget, too, the dusty …

by P. J. Atwater in Issue 139, August 2023 The tavern at ancient Sicyon was a wooden structure. It was of a marvelous design conceived by an unnamed genius and made real by a team of unsurpassed carpenters. It resembled what might be called a large gazebo or patio, walled by vine trellises that broke up the …

by Gustavo Bondoni in Issue 139, August 2023 “How dare you?” the courtier sputtered as Hyar grabbed him and pressed a blade to his throat. He was dressed in gold thread and sported enough precious stones to decorate a good-sized tent. “Be silent, or die,” I replied. The storeroom, deep beneath the glorious spires and airy corridors of the …

by Neil Willcox in Issue 139, August 2023 On top of the hill sat the great gallows, blackened wood, the platform twelve feet from the ground, the upper beams reaching almost as high again. Stark against the sky, they could be seen for miles around, from the merchant’s road that curved down the valley, from the streamside …

by Cora Buhlert in Issue 138, July 2023 It seems I’ve barely rested at all when the call comes… again.  Rise and shine, sunshine. Time for battle, time for war, time to smite the enemy and hear the lamentations of their women… if I could still hear properly, that is. ‘Cause hearing doesn’t work very well, when you’re …

by Rab Foster in Issue 138, July 2023 The man carried the stench of magic. Had it been a real stench, Shathsprey wouldn’t have smelt it. That was the one benefit of the polar temperatures and the freezing wind and snow assailing the city. They neutralised its rancid odours. Even the reek of the underground river that flowed …

by Matthew Ileseman in Issue 138, July 2023 The Siren sat on a rock amidst the cold spray of the sea. Her skin was whitish green, her hair and eyes dark green. Her clothes were ragged. She opened her mouth and sang.    Her song was low and melodic. It wafted through the sea air amid the crashing …

by Em Harriett in Issue 137, June 2023 Matt was shearing the sheep when the earthquake struck. He planted his feet on the ground and grabbed the sheep in front of him by the remainder of its fleece, holding on to its terrified little body as the field trembled and the stone cairn atop the hill tumbled over. …

by Christopher Rowe in Issue 137, June 2023 Celia rode the broad acres, looking for someone to kill. Not a specific one of the light-eyed strangers who had burned her farmstead and murdered her husband, but any of them. All of them, ideally.​She had no doubt she would find the raiders soon. She needed only to follow …

by Jeffery A. Sergent in Issue 137, June 2023 The prince must die.   It was the same old story: upstart youth threatened beloved sovereign.  Chaos and confusion threatened the stability of the realm.  Murder and mayhem ensue.  Rape and ruin.  People die.   Lots of people usually.     The trouble with these situations is they never ended well.  The king, queen, or whoever died, …

by Mike Adamson in Issue 136, May 2023 The Tarantium River rose in the high, cold Mendolacian Mountains, far to the northwest, and irrigated the mild and temperate lands of Avestium in its meander to the Inland Sea. On the fertile planes the ever-fresh melt-waters had provided for a great and noble civilisation, and the city through …

by Dan Crawford in Issue 136, May 2023 They were coming at him from all sides!  Fingers outstretched, they could hardly miss him.  With bare seconds to choose his course, he threw his hands up in front of his face. This kept the dust out of Olki’s eyes as the stack of black velvet gloves flipped and flapped …

by Vincent Wolfram in Issue 136, May 2023 I. Rain drifted in shrouds over the valley, droplets fine as sand scouring his cheeks with the burning cold. The giant eased under the drape of the mist after cresting the hill, his boots sinking ankle-deep in the mud as he worked down the incline. His beast of burden lowed …

by P. J. Atwater in Issue 135, April 2023 “My good friend, I pray you take leave of this madness,” said Rickus, the small Alleenian. He wrung his hands like a pair of clammy rags. The young Mutangarder ignored him. Towering in the autumn breeze, red and firm as the mountains in which he was bred, his …

by David Ferguson in Issue 135, April 2023 Tal-Ya stood outside the tomb of her father’s murderer, searching for her rage. She needed that anger to help her do what needed to be done, but over the past few weeks, it had become harder and harder for her to find its warmth. When she had first found out …

by Susan Murrie Macdonald in Issue 135, April 2023 The Bronze Bull heard a noise he had not heard in years:  combat. The sound of metal against metal, flash striking flesh, groans of pain.  Furniture being turned over. A woman’s scream.  His eyes flew open as he realized it was his daughter’s voice. Instantly fully awake and alert, he …

by Gustavo Bondoni in Issue 134, March 2023 As Sileon rode into the deserted village, a woman in a coarse grey dress seized one of her stirrups. “You are an Unwinder,” the woman said. It wasn’t a question. “I was once an Unwinder,” Sileon replied. “I am no longer welcome among them.” “But you still have the magic.” Sileon didn’t explain …

by Jamie Lackey in Issue 134, March 2023 My mother and the monk whispered in a corner while I stared down at my baby brother.  I didn’t need to eavesdrop to know what they were talking about—it was written on the baby’s stupid fat face.  The mark of an eagle’s talon stood out in red against his …

by Patrick Odren in Issue 134, March 2023 The boats fell from the sky in an explosion of blue mist and dust. The Mage’s Highroad had stood for one thousand years, but today in the realm, it rained wood and flesh. In one instant of genuine madness, Rillos let a burst of laughter escape his lips as …

by Rab Foster in Issue 133, February 2023 The road started to descend. By the time it reached Ketaxos, the town overlooking the escarpment, its incline was considerable.   Indeed, the base of the town’s eastern wall, through which the road entered, was higher than the top of its western wall, through which the road left again. Between them …

by Mark Mills in Issue 133, February 2023 “It’s so close, so close.” Goni bit her lip until blood trickled down her chin. “Down the hole, just down the hole. Jump down the hole and run out the cave.”  She had no need to elaborate the obvious, Pechi thought. They all knew how close they were to escape.  “Down …

by Jonathan Olfert in Issue 133, February 2023 On the errands of the King he loved, Vayel had crossed the palace courtyard ten thousand times, trained swordsmen here, guarded His Majesty against diplomats and other horrors. He’d thought he knew this place—cold marble flagstones, vaulted galleries, cherry trees with pale pink flowers. But now the King was …

by Matthew Ilseman in Issue 132, January 2023 A cold wind pushed the small ship through the blue-green waves. It glided between rocks that jutted up from the sea like jagged teeth. The grey sky hung over a brown island that spread across the horizon.    Aleron stood on the deck of the ship. His crimson cloak fluttered …

by Rhonda Parris and Jarrod K. Wade in Issue 132, January 2023 Xen slumped into the taproom and climbed up onto the seat next to Eoghan. Her ears, which normally stood up like a fox’s, drooped, significantly less perky than usual. In fact, everything about Xen was significantly less perky than usual. Since they’d reached the city, …

by Robert M. Price in Issue 132, January 2023 i. Menace in the Mirror Sharajsha, the Wizard of Lemuria, had lived for so long, far beyond the span granted to most mortals, that he honestly could no longer recall when he was born. For all that, he did not possess eternal youth and knew not the secret, if …

by Lindsey Duncan in Issue 131, December 2022 This time, Dossian Braeth wasn’t even participating when the spell exploded. That was the problem. “Sister Sherrit’s left toe,” the instructor of constructs barked, picking himself up from behind his desk, “what a waste of material. Were none of you paying attention?” A younger boy whimpered. He had been struck by …

by Xan van Rooyen in Issue 131, December 2022 The witch’s boots were ruined.  Rättäkitti squelched through the forest, blood welling from the undergrowth to soak her toes and scab her shins. The air tasted of copper and rust, a sweet putrescence lingering at the back of her tongue as she passed beneath the drooping branches of wilting …

by Neil Willcox in Issue 131, December 2022 “Come on,” Eliza Sky said to Julia Intandle, the other woman dawdling at the narrow window. When she didn’t move Eliza stepped back, considering dragging her up the last flight of stairs. It would be discourteous and it would not pay to annoy a magician’s daughter. With the coming of …

by Sandra Unerman The alley was a dead end. Tibbie halted to catch her breath, while she stared at the building ahead. She had lost track of where she was in the city. A muddle of grimy stone and broken windows spread across her view. She could see no side turnings to take her onwards but …

by Nathaniel Webb in Issue 130, November 2022 You stand before the black tower. You have pursued the Bat-Winged Sorcerer here: the blackhearted necromancer’s final refuge, his last place of power. Tonight, under a blood moon, your struggle will end, one way or the other. The Gibbet Queen’s dying prophecy rings in your memory: “Beware what waits above.” The …

by Cora Buhlert in Issue 130, November 2022 ​”Careful, Grandfather,” Gael said, “Don’t try to get up. You’re too weak…” Grandfather was old, frail, and – time to face the truth – dying, but nonetheless he shook off Gael with surprising strength. “No, boy, this is important. You have to listen…” A coughing fit cut off the old man’s words. …

by E. G. Condé All was still in the vale of the Legendwalkers. Beneath a rumbling sky, he could see nothing stalking about the ebon crags and the tiered slopes of the great rotunda, which gave way to a chasm of unfathomable depth. Legends walked with him, whispering from the heritage metals grafted onto his burnished …

by Joshua Hiles He tasted blood and thick, black, soil as his face ground into the dirt. He felt the swish of the polearm descending. He scuttled away, spitting red and black, “wonderful land!” The three road agents looked uncertainly at each other. They were dressed in tattered finery, looted from travelers much richer than he, …

by Robert Mammone in Issue 129, October 2022 When Colcothar staggered into the clearing, he had been hunted for three days.  His grimy furs were black with blood and his beard matted and filthy.  A bruise purpled one eye, and fire had reduced most of the hair on his head to blackened stubble.  Blood pulsed weakly from …

by Aaron Onyon in Issue 128, September 2022 Ferin was a thief. He was not a good thief. Not that it was his fault. The guild made life very difficult for freelance thieves. Before the Thieves Guild moved into Hearthstone times were good for a solo cutpurse. Ferin and his contemporaries had the small town to themselves. …

by Jay Requard in Issue 128, September 2022 Chapter I: Conditions Galamzar dozed as dawn breached his tower’s windows, the city of Burq-Tinnin buzzing hundreds of feet below his spire. The smooth pillars holding up the dome, cut from the finest green marble veined in ocher, had lulled his attention away from the large book set on the …

by G. W. Thomas in Issue 128, September 2022 Every fantasy role-playing adventure, many sword & sorcery tales, any number of heroic fantasy comics, all seem to begin in a tavern in an inn. It is one of the traditional tropes of heroic fantasy, right? I have to wonder where this traditional starting point originated. Did Robert …

by Rab Foster in Issue 127, August 2022 Jaydar Skenthorpe gawped at the tabletop. Though the men swigging furtively at the tavern’s other tables were unlikely to see it in the smoky candlelight, he couldn’t believe what his companion had placed in front of him. A book. Hoarsely, he demanded, “You want me to transport this? With the Brethren …

by Tom Howard in Issue 127, August 2022 The moment Izak the Traveler saw the girl’s violet eyes, he knew he had to save her.  He’d stopped before sunset at an inn on the King’s Highway. The place was simple but clean. The long common room held wooden tables situated around the giant hearth in the center of …

by David Starobin in Issue 127, August 2022 It was no ordinary wizard’s tower. But then again, he was no ordinary burglar. At nearly six-and-a-half feet in height and nearly eighteen stone, it was an improbable occupation for him. But he had held many improbable occupations in his young life: master sergeant in His August Melifluence Duke Zane’s …

by Stephen C. Curro in Issue 126, July 2022 Against all advice, Mira journeyed to the Tiger Temple alone. Among Mira’s people, all talk of the Tiger Temple was taboo.  Villagers whispered that it was once a shrine to the Tiger God, but now it was cursed.  All Mira’s parents dared to tell her was that the temple …

by Jamie Lackey in Issue 126, July 2022 For the first few miles of Tristan’s trek into the woods, the path was wide and smooth and the scent of sun-warmed pine needles filled the air. But slowly, more and more branches tangled overhead, choking out the sunlight and leaving shadows that shifted and jumped when the cold …

by Joshua Turner in Issue 126, July 2022 The first, biting gusts of winter wind howled in from the dark waters of the Inkwell Sea and nipped at the fringes of Sir Harkin Sarx’s cloak. Though the breeze smelled strongly of salt and cold, it was not enough to drive away the odor of fish and offal …

by Matthew X. Gomez in Issue 125, June 2022 Rodolf stood, leaning hard on his spear, mud sucking at his boots, rain beating a tattoo against his helmet. His fingers ached from the cold, his back hurt from standing at attention and the weight of his mail on his shoulders, and his belly growled. He blinked his …

by Fernando Medici in Issue 125, June 2022 I stirred the infusion and savored its honeyed smell, my first connection to the sacred realm. I mean, the Hallow Tea had never unveiled its mysteries to me, but I couldn’t bring myself to quit it. “Don’t waste your time with that poison, Laha,” Mother said. The flickering candle beside …

by Álex Souza in Issue 125, June 2022 “Another one?!” said the elder, his gloomy face lightened by the tent’s torches. He lowered his head and exhaled. For a moment, silence ensued; only the popping sounds of the fire could be heard. Boris, the elder’s only son, stared at his father and could feel the weight that his …

by Alex Beecher in Issue 124, May 2022 The girl tending the bar offered me a shot of fermented fish liver oil before my beer, which is how I figured she was wise–it was winter, and dark, and soft bones followed the sun’s disappearance, this high and this far north–and then didn’t so much as meet my …

by S. Cameron David in Issue 124, May 2022 He passed the morning in meditation, communing on the Astral Plane. There he pondered the deeper mysteries of magic and metaphysics and all manner of truth which never could I hope to grasp. And how could I? My master had drawn breath for a thousand years–Sophi Undying, foremost …

by Geoffry Hart in Issue 124, May 2022 The barbarian infant was premature, and given her small size and mottled pink and purple complexion, her mother named her Souris, the word for mouse in their tongue. Like most of the villagers, subtlety was not among the mother’s virtues. Subtlety, for them, was ringing a pommel off a foe’s …

by P. J. Atwater in Issue 123, April 2022 On a night in which soft winds rambled the forested hills and bore into the vales the fresh scents of needles, buds, and lofty thaws, the riders of Mutangard caroused about their many fires. Hale and filled with courage on this fifth night away from the hearth, the …

by Matthew Ilseman in Issue 123, April 2022 Strange things come out of the East-  An Old Saying.      Ceran ran through the forest. He paid no heed to any path. He ran through areas thick with growth. Leafless tree limbs reached out like skeletal hands cutting him as he ran. Ceran paid no mind; he just kept running.    …

by Neil Willcox in Issue 123, April 2022 Eliza Sky had expected a churchman, though whether a mousy clerk, a stern scholar, or a ranting preacher she had not cared to guess. The thaumaturger who had ridden down from the high elfway into the village looked like none of those. He could have been a soldier with …

by Mario Caric in Issue 122, March 2022 Fourteen covered wagons treaded along the woodland trail. Reins dangled nigh-lifeless from the tired hands whilst oxen heads slung low to the ground, clouds of breath puffing from dilated nostrils into the dry air. Here and there the trees would part or disappear, opening up the late afternoon horizon …

by Ross Hightower in Issue 122, March 2022 Somehow, Nara pictured the life of a novice of the Seidi differently. When she was a young initiate in that magical sisterhood, she imagined herself protecting the weak, a bulwark against evil and greedy forces. Escorting an Imperial tax collector didn’t fit into any of her fantasies. In fact, …

by Phillip Yeatman in Issue 122, March 2022 A man in shimmering robes of gold and silver plunged through the fog. The shadow of a ferry bobbed at the end of the road. Three figures followed at a distance and paused as he stepped aboard. “This is your time,” said Sturya. She was the hammer. Bold, strong, and …

by Alcuin Fromm in Issue 121, February 2022 Emmick slapped the bar with a wrinkled, calloused hand and roared with laughter. It was a hearty, booming sound that filled the air and seemed to lift and drop the Cerulean Sky Tavern in time with the man’s broad, heaving shoulders. The tavern keeper smiled from behind the bar, …

by Sean Jones in Issue 121, February 2022 “Does anyone see the paradox?” asked the black-haired man in the charred, quilted armor, the crossbowman who sat atop the vanquished lich’s white-marble bier.  He gestured with his pine-pitch torch, brandishing the only source of illumination in the half-dome of the sepulcher, the floor’s scattered gems winking in reply.​A …

by Michael Meyerhofer in Issue 121, February 2022 It made a lot of people angry when my sister became my brother. That kind of thing was less common ten years back, before the truce in Jerusalem. Worse in Isabeau’s case because she’d already been Christ-kissed. That means in the eyes of the Holy See, her behavior reflected …

by Jason L. Corner in Issue 120, January 2022 When Chelene the summoner and Roshankar the assassin emerged from the woods, the first thing they saw was the corpse. A dead man hung like a scarecrow on a rough criss-cross of wood, throat cut and dry blood crusted over the scar. “Nice hat,” Roshankar said. A red cap …

by Rab Foster in Issue 120, January 2022 Even while he struggled against the drug’s effects, Drayak Shathsprey saw the irony in his predicament. Everything he’d encountered since coming onto the Mynchmoor had seemed an affront to him with its grey, dreich joylessness: the landscapes, weather, people, houses, food. The sweet-tasting wine served this evening was the …

by Suri Parmar in Issue 120, January 2022 “We’re low on barley. We’ll have to visit the market today.” Gael nodded. He sat with his two brothers in their snug stone hut as he ate his favorite breakfast stew, dumplings and peppers and goat meat, being mindful of not spattering his homespun shirt. His mother rummaged through cupboards …

by Caledonia Krieger in Issue 119, December 2021 “There it is.”  Arawa’s eyes, keen though they were, could make out nothing, but as she drew nearer she could distinguish the unnaturally smooth curve of the dome and the faint straight lines of the doorway beneath overhanging vines that marked the mound of earth as the thing they were …

by Robert M. Price in Issue 119, December 2021 i. A Noble VisitorThongor of Valkarth, Sark of Sarks of the Western cities, had taken a few rare moments of rest as he sat on his high throne, playing with his son Prince Thar. But that respite, as usual, was fleeting, when a trumpet note heralded the arrival …

by Jeffery Scott Sims in Issue 119, December 2021 Lord Nantrech of Dyrezan, mighty mage and sage renowned throughout the empire, marched breezily despite his accumulated years, though a grandee clad only in a soiled gray robe.  With each hearty stride his magic staff bit into the dust stirred by his sandaled feet.  Close by trudged Lord …

by Gabrielle Bleu in Issue 118, November 2021 Xyrlark Littleknight packed her bag with care in the sorting room of the Hallentrough Post Office. It was a little heavier than normal, since her route was a little longer than normal. She was picking up the second half of someone else’s route, due to unfortunate circumstances. Dragon circumstances. …

by Peter Medeiros in Issue 118, November 2021 Kerdimma counted six slavers around the boat. Five slavers and one navigator—the man she had been hired to recover. The slavers were loading their boat with enough food for a long trip, with barrels of honey ale and apple mash—she could smell both even crouched where the jungle met …

by David A. Riley in Issue 118, November 2021 When Blexinian III was in the tenth year of his reign as ruler of the Bithanian Empire he outlawed the pagan gods his ancestors had worshipped for countless generations, condemning them as demons and declaring the Sun was the one and only true god, whose symbol was the …

by Alcuin Fromm in Issue 117, October 2021 The final drop of liquid fell into the reservoir of a water clock, setting in motion a series of mechanical movements which culminated with the bright chime of a small bell. Nodd’s eyes popped open. Consciousness seemed to crush in around him from all sides. Shivering, he pulled his …

by Freya Pickard in Issue 117, October 2021 Nareya stood firm, holding the sword with both hands. Her lungs burned, and her muscles screamed with exhaustion. All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep. But she could not. Behind her, at the top of the rise, Star shrieked in agony. I will protect you, she told the …

by John C. Adams in Issue 117, October 2021 Readers of Medieval tales were fascinated by the notion of a young queen married to a much older kingly husband who was often a total stranger, generally without her wishes on the subject being taken into account and with the marriage arranged to bolster international alliances or bring …

by Mike Adamson in Issue 116, September 2021 Since before the birth of writing, the sorcerer Malatulis, ancient and dreadful, had dominated all the lands of Tassamoraine. His grim tower of Caer Thunder rose from bleak cliffs by the Eastern Ocean and above that storm-wracked wilderness of breakers and wicked reefs he incanted vehemently to the detriment …

by Rab Foster in Issue 116, September 2021 The shaft Bump was crawling down became so steep that he lost his hold on its stonework and slid forward, unable to stop himself. Worse, the faster he slid, the narrower the shaft became. But just when he feared he’d get irreversibly stuck in it, he shot out of …

by D. J. Tyrer in Issue 116, September 2021 The sky glowed a dull red from the flames, the light bleeding into the sanguine half-disc of the sun that slowly rose to fill the horizon. Smoke bruised the sky like rain clouds besmirching the dawn. There was a smell that was, unfortunately, pleasant, given the circumstances. “That is …

by Teel James Glenn in Issue 115, August 2021 A Story of Altiva The children in the cages no longer cried or yelled, their tears long dried, but with the stoic endurance and strength of frontier dwellers, they watched the ceremony and the deaths of the adults with only faint whimpers of resignation at their own fate to …

by Owen G. Tabard in Issue 115, August 2021 1Although he had traveled widely throughout the empire during his years of itinerancy, never before had Hanno the philosopher seen such devastation as he now beheld. For days he and his companion, the warrior Thrax, had ridden the ancient highway, amid the half-ruined ziggurats that spoke of this …

by S. E. Lindberg in Issue 114, July 2021 “Put the ax down, Melanie.” “You check on my health, Doctor Grave?” My daughter laughed from behind shadows that curtained slithering, colossal larvae. The ancient larval wyrmen raised their anteriors to peer at me, much like their siblings had while spying my trek into the Underworld. Marsh gas from the …

by Shannon Walch in Issue 114, July 2021 ​Ten days past midwinter, a dragon attacked Castle Borwell.  Its habitants failed to notice. Said inhabitants were perhaps justified in this oversight given that Duke Borwick and his two sons had recently passed away in an unfortunate hunting incident.  Upheaval accompanies any sudden transfer of leadership, but Castle Borwell also …

by Oliver Brackenbury in Issue 114, July 2021 The Red Man and OthersRemco van Straten & Angeline B. AdamsTurnip Lanterns, $11 USD, 201pp The difference between a good and a great book, for me, is that a great book makes me feel something special beyond “This story was very enjoyable”. What The Red Man and Others made me feel was …

by Jennifer Crow in Issue 113, June 2021 Professor Halef caught me after breakfast. “I need a word with you. Regarding the cartographer.” I struggled to swallow the last bite of toasted flatbread.  “Yes?” I struggled to maintain a façade of calm. Everyone had been talking for days about the arrival of Embra the cartographer, and how she …

by Alex Evans in Issue 113, June 2021 Else clutched her knife’s handle. Deep human footprints marked the virgin snow. Earlier, she had come across the marks of a large dog or wolf, but they have been old and faded. These new footprints, however, were fresh, human and large. A rather big man, she mused. There might …

by Chad A. B. Wilson in Issue 113, June 2021 The reddening sky matched the small fire’s flames, which crackled as the rabbits sizzled. Brock turned the makeshift spit and looked to the mountains far behind him. Prairie and nothingness lay between him and those peaks. The road in front—a dirt trail, really—led from Middlin, the largest …

by Ross Hightower in Issue 112, May 2021 Lachlan finally caught up to his bedraggled warriors as they trudged along a muddy track below the rocky outcrop his clan called Loric’s Bluff. As he gazed down at them, the misty rain which relented for the length of the brief battle, resumed, adding to their misery. Daga’s tears, but …

by Melion Traverse in Issue 112, May 2021 I see your eyes glimmering as you watch my ring spark in the firelight. Ah, yes, you are wondering how one so shabby as I should wear such a precious thing. I can tell you that the man who gave it to me considered it a mere bauble, nothing …

by John C. Adams in Issue 112, May 2021 Poor roads and the danger of coming under attack from robbers or worse when travelling overland can make a journey by boat seem the natural way to journey afar, but in the fantasy universe the ocean waves can harbour equally fearsome enemies. The sagas of Viking raids show …

by George Jacobs in Issue 111, April 2021 The calls of beasts filled the forest, and still Nigodira’s eyes wandered over to the beached canoe, where the stolen idol lay, wrapped in silk. Nigodira shook himself and tightened his grip on his spear. His was the last watch; at dawn they would resume their journey down the …

by Lorenzo D. Lopez Issue 111, April 2021 1 As the barkeep leaned closer, the shadows from the single lamp that illumined the alehouse transformed his face into a sinister mask. He nodded towards the booth where the big outland labourer sat moodily staring into space. ‘You’ve hired an odd one there and no mistake,’ he said softly. ‘People …

by Paul Williams in Issue 111, April 2021 The Marquis sent six soldiers, two to arrest Pridatakia, and four to arrest anyone who objected. The military rarely ventured near goblin lands, so they attracted a crowd of peasants who laughed at the bright red coats and marvelled at the well-groomed horses with decorated saddles. Pridatakia’ s donkey, …

by Joshua Turner in Issue 110, March 2021 The shrill whine of the opening door woke Kella from her uneasy slumber. “Alder? Why are you home?” She asked, rolling over in the bed to face the source of the noise, expecting to see her husband removing his boots and cloak. There was no one, however, in the puddle of gray moonlight that …

by Michael Meyerhofer in Issue 110, March 2021 Jalist tugged at his cloak and tried to ignore the blizzard that only seemed to thicken as the sun went down. A campfire sputtered in front of him as snowflakes mingled with the flames, causing them to hiss and flicker, drawing ever lower by the moment. Though Jalist had …

by Owen G. Tabard in Issue 110, March 2021 1 It was said that his ancestors had descended from the gods, and after Prince Zaal finally fought down the red-eyed demon of Gharack Ghun, never again would he doubt it.  He had long since lost sight of his younger brother Sephanidar. The two of them had been in hot …

by Lawrence Buentello in Issue 109, February 2021 Northward Mercer fled, spurred on by the memory of gory conflict, and his loss of honor during that late engagement. A thousand of his countrymen lay dead in fields to the south, on the borders of his sovereign’s realm, having lost their lives in defense of their homeland, now …

by Jason Gallagher in Issue 109, February 2021 Imectas bent down on his knees, a soaking, soapy rag between his hands, and set to scrubbing the deck. Sun warmed the back of his neck. The water turned the worn wood a dark brown, and every once in a while the rag would catch on a splinter or …

by Josh Howard in Issue 109, February 2021 Jialen crept closer to the edge of the trees, squinting at the torchlight in the dark wolf’s-glade. She had told Ektar she would watch his Vezi’s revel but not join in, not that night—maybe not ever, depending on what she saw. She shivered. The wolves had been cleared out of …

by Mario Caric in Issue 108, January 2021 The blizzard waned. The howls of the winds toned down to undulating whistles. Massive snowflakes kept hitting at a sharp angle, further fattening the tall pine trees. Although night reigned for the past three months, the brightness of the snow still refused to give the last word to the …

by Teel James Glenn in Issue 108, January 2021 A Story of Altiva Chapter I.Extortion “Bring General Torvad to us to kill or the girl dies,” the whispered voice rasped. No face accompanied the voice, only a vague shape swathed in tattered cloth that seemed to fade in and out of existence in the flickering torchlight. Ku’zn of Zn’Sa lay …

by Dorothy Winsor in Issue 108, January 2021 Alitha leaned over to pick up the water bucket, then struggled erect, hand on her belly. The baby was kicking again. “Soon, sweetheart,” she murmured and stepped outside into the clearing Taemas had cut to build their cabin. Beyond it, the trees of the Wildlands loomed with the night …

by Garrett Boatman in Issue 107, December 2020 The burning sands scorched Ramadym’s unshod feet and the unrelenting sun lashed his naked back as he pushed over the infinite succession of dunes. He had ridden across the vast wasteland all the day and night before, and when his horse died of exhaustion ere dawn that morning, he …

by David Ferguson in Issue 107, December 2020 The room was small, with a homespun quilt thrown across the door. Orinia pushed it aside as she entered. Inside the room, Kev sat on his haunches, head turned away from what lay on the floor in front of him. She cleared her throat uneasily. Kev looked up with a …

by Jeffery Scott Sims in Issue 107, December 2020 In the highlands of north-western Greece, verging on the marches of Macedonia, in those olden times the itinerant wizard Jacob Bleek followed as best he could the map imprinted on the parchment sold him dearly at Athens by the astute but vulgar Turk.  Not a mage that man, …

by John C. Adams in Issue 106, November 2020 For millennia, gardens have been the ideal location for sin and subterfuge, especially when competing forces clash for prestige and power without descending into open hostility. Where concealment is ranked above all else, the leafy avenues and closeted walls of a formal garden can be relied upon to …

by Gustavo Bondoni in Issue 106, November 2020 The sun set over the Romans to the west.  Rasce smiled grimly at them, wondering whether they would enjoy the autumn mosquitoes outside Aritim, and whether they would die of fever or decide to stay camped outside the walls all winter.  It was all the same to him.  The …

by Samuel Kennedy in Issue 106, November 2020 As the children gathered around the dim light of the fire, the old crone smiled at them through her broken, yellow teeth. When everyone had found a seat, a hush fell over the cave. And then the old woman began her story. “The outside world is full of dangers,” she …

by Samuel Kennedy in Issue 105, October 2020 It’s never easy waiting for a coronation. Especially when it’s your own. I sigh heavily. My breath and the soft tread of my feet are the only sounds to be heard here. At this depth, I can’t hear the celebrations taking place in the city above me. I am further …

by Harold R. Thompson in Issue 105, October 2020 I didn’t get tired of the killing. You know that wasn’t it, not for me. I got tired of fighting the same enemies, the same villains, the same assholes. Not the exact same assholes, but the same type of guys. Over and over. So after I made a …

by Ethan Cade Varnado in Issue 105, October 2020 The Thracian Zagrios came at last to the tombs. Twelve mudbrick monoliths, houses without doors or windows, monuments to kings long-dead, their names lost along with the very language neatly etched into the tomb-face. Time had rendered these towers little more than shade against the scorching heat of …

by John C. Adams in Issue 104, September 2020 This is the most recent installment in the long-running and hugely popular ‘A Game of Thrones’ series, also known as ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’. For anyone who isn’t familiar with the books and their accompanying TV adaptation, the idea of jumping in partway through a complex narrative …

by Rex Caleval in Issue 104, September 2020 Now that I’m ready to find out if this works, it seems less like a good idea. I was certain it was brilliant when I conceived it, sitting in the tavern while my employers, may their bleached bones lie in the Sands Eternal, conversed with a digger about his …

by Matthew C. Lucas in Issue 104, September 2020 The clerk considered the copper coin lying before him on the table. The edges were ridged, as they should be. The emblem on its face, a hammer, pick, and sword, had been rubbed smooth from countless grubbing fingers and the passage of time. There was a heavy layer …

by Gustavo Bondoni in Issue 103, August 2020 “Hello Abren.  You sent me on a suicide mission,” Sangr growled. “And yet, here you are,” the sorcerer replied.  He spoke carefully, trying to keep the blade of Sangr’s rapier from drawing any more blood than it already had.  There was little else he could do with a sword against …

by Williard M. Oliver in Issue 103, August 2020 “There were crimson gulfs unplumbed,     there were black wings over a sea;There were pits where mad things drummed,     and foaming blasphemy.”    —Robert E. Howard A lone figure moved quickly through the dark wood. He had come seeking a demon; one found him instead.  The man entered the foreboding …

by Jeffery A. Sergent in Issue 103, August 2020 I“Will it come back?” Jade asked, pulling the fur collar more tightly about her.  The giant chartreuse bird wheeled around a snow-tipped peak once before turning westward, toward the pale orange bleeding across the nameless range.   Tallus rubbed his hands together as he stepped up beside her.  His gloves …

by Teel James Glenn in Issue 102, July 2020 “The thing about dealing with amoral people is the certainty of it, Ada,” the blond bard said, “it is never a case of if they will betray you, it is always a matter of when. It makes things simpler and takes the suspense out of life.” The bard …

by Davide Mana in Issue 102, July 2020 The rain made the roof tiles slick and gurgled down the drains, and draped a thicker gray shroud on the pale light of dawn. Bélise Nine Fingers cursed her good luck. Rain meant people stayed indoors and the few that braved the streets, huddled in their cloaks and hidden …

by Carmine A. Tedeschi in Issue 102, July 2020 To a Skree fighter, exile is a fate worse than death. `Better to die in battle and please the Maker.’ In darkness, Hondo hiked to the cliff face. A steady wind blew warm across the semi-arid peninsula. Waves crashed below. The smell of cooked grain wafted on the salty breeze. …

by Alysha MacDonald in Issue 101, June 2020 I was milking the goats and thinking of nothing but rhymesong when my two youngest came running up the mountain path with fish scales the size of pomegranates in their hands. “Mammie,” they said, “A man came and killed the Carp.” I kept milking until my skin went paler, then pale.  “Did …

by Mark Mellon in Issue 101, June 2020 Ra-Horakhy’s golden falcon had begun his journey across the firmament. The bright red orb heralded yet another day in ancient Khemi. Peasants were drawn to the Ar’s black waters like insects to a wounded animal’s streaming blood. Men worked shadufs, a steady rise and fall as they scooped water …

by Liam Weiler in Issue 101, June 2020 I. HeritageThe orange aura of a few candles rose to the tight loft, where young Sosarna leaned on her elbow, lending her attention to her father’s tale. The slight, thin-bearded man sat cross-legged with his back bent beneath the ceiling. He delivered the story with the meek but fervent …

by Damien Allmark in Issue 100, May 2020 “Soldier Katrielle Collier, step forward,” bellowed Captain Tierro. Kat stepped forward and snapped to attention, and fixed her eyes on a particular brick in the citadel wall. Outside, distant thunder grumbled. Captain Tierro peered down his hooked nose at her, and he forced a thin smile. “Soldier Collier. It is the decision …

by Sabrina Rosen in Issue 100, May 2020 Sergeant  Tream looked over his shoulder and ducked between the tents, heading toward the nearby woods. Since the payroll had not come through, I wanted to know where he was going. I was counting on that money. I only needed a little more in order to buy into my …

by Daniel Roy in Issue 100, May 2020 I first saw the blur of her, cutting through the Disquiet in a flash of godsteel. She seemed more liquid than steel as she drew an arc of gore through the swathes of silent faces crowding the town square. Serrated blades spread fin-like from her wrists and extended past …

by Freya Pickard in Issue 99, April 2020 BBodila waited patiently in the hallway of the governor’s palace. She was tenth in the queue and she had been waiting all day. The others in the hall stared listlessly at the wall hangings or at the floor. Bodila watched everyone, noticed each servant as they walked in and …

by Dan Rice in Issue 99, April 2020 “Look at the cripple, lads!” Mean spirited laughter erupted around the tavern. Eric looked up from the bar to gaze at three men wearing dust covered leather armor with short swords girded at their sides. They looked like toughs who guarded caravans for merchants and thoroughly drunk. The focus of …

by John C. Adams The Desert Spear by Peter V Brett is the sequel to The Painted Man, his debut novel. Both lie clearly within the dark fantasy subgenre courtesy of the night demons terrorising villagers and city-dwellers alike. There are also aspects of epic fantasy and quest, and a certain amount of the novel is also devoted …

by Daniel Bavister in Issue 98, March 2020 Fourteen years have passed since I became a Silent Seeker. But today I finally realised it is impossible, what the priests taught us during our three years of training for this role, about locking up your past in a deep dark place inside of you. Now I know that …

by Paul R. Hardy in Issue 98, March 2020 Cicatrix of the Thousand Scars marched into the throne room, drenched in blood and spattered by guts (as heroes are wont to be). The hall stank of putrescence and lime, doubtless emanating from the hides of all the creatures that hung in drapes around the hall, obscuring any …

by Joanna Michal Hoyt in Issue 98, March 2020 I can’t tell you how it started. My first entrance came late in the play, with the kingdom tottering and all the conspirators well into their parts. But I’ll tell the part I was there for as if it was a play of its own, starring—well, you’ll see. Act …

by J. J. Adamson in Issue 97, February 2020 ​There were two reasons I had never visited The Sunset House. The first, and some will say the most obvious, is that Sunset House is nearly inaccessible, situated on a cliff, nearly overhanging the oceans. Inland swamps of black mud and stinking sulfur keep out foot and cart …

by J. N. Cameron ​​I cannot sleep because of the noise. Forays of sleet howl down the mountains and crash into the vale. Wattle walls shake, and the red clay cracks. Detritus snows from the ceiling, as wind whistles through the aperture high in the apex of our langhús.  “BLAHAHAHA…BLAHAHA!” the goats shriek and cause the chickens …

by Daniel J. Elliot in Issue 97, February 2020 They weren’t the best sort of people. The Drifters spent most of the year traveling by caravan from city to town, town to village, and back up again. They brought goods, gossip, mail, and the odd passenger. They also engaged in less savory work, though not as much …

by William Broom in Issue 96, January 2020 Five men stood around the oracle, each of them covered by thick leather from head to toe. Their gloves, coats, boots and hoods were all of a single piece, to protect them from the luminescent vapours rising from the fissure in the chamber’s floor. Across their mouths were strips …

by J. Tynan Burke in Issue 96, January 2020 There are monks in the far west who you may have heard of, called Harvesters. They teach that every day changes your life forever. Of course, some days change it more than others; this is about one of those days. I was sixteen, a good age for it. First give me …

by Joshua Turner in Issue 96, January 2020 Things beneath, things below; things in darkness, things unknown. Viktor heard it again. It rang out through the back of his mind like that itch he couldn’t scratch. The lilting lullaby was louder and clearer this time as if whoever was singing floated directly beneath the docks. Viktor looked over the edge …

by Curtis A. Deeter in Issue 95, December 2019 They brought Nabybee before the court in shackles, guarded by drawn witchfire and bound by a petrification weave so complex it made my head spin. He might as well have been crucified with the way they had his arms and legs strapped to the rack. It was just …

by Shelly Jones in Issue 95, December 2019 Aelif threaded her way through muddy alleys and darted toward the shop district. It had rained all night while she was diving in the sea for the byssus. “Good,” she thought, “no one will notice that I’m wet.” Aelif wrung the sea water from her dark braid and kept …

by David Samuels in Issue 95. December 2019 ​The Southsea Shadow15 Month of Cosmic Vespers | Afternoon    My stomach growled in mutiny as I prepared to toss our last loaf of bread over the walls and into the sea. Hopelessly outnumbered and marooned without escape, my crew and I had nothing left in our arsenal except bluster …

by Maike Claussnitzer in Issue 94, November 2019 I first saw Orm the Skald again after the hall of Straela-by-the-Sound had burned to the ground, when my lord Ragnar picked his way through smoke and ruin to claim what was his by the sword now. It might have been his by inheritance, had his grandmother not decreed …

by Chad A. B. Wilson in Issue 94, November 2019 Kline moved to the side table and took the decanter in his left hand. “I assume you don’t object?” “At midday? Of course not.” Brock moved to join him. The brown liquid poured into the glass, two fingers tall. Brock drank. Kline was worth a visit just to get …

by Anthony Perconti in Issue 94, November 2019 For me, reading a book by Neil Gaiman is like having an old friend, whom you haven’t seen in a long while, over for dinner and drinks. Time has elapsed since you last socialized, but as old companions, you pick up exactly where you left off, and are all …

by John C. Adams in Issue 93, October 2019 Bored, Crown Princess Riley thought, fighting the urge to kick her heels against the wooden chair. The young wife gazed around the great hall at Liosmor. Her new father-in-law, Padraig o’Eira, snuck a stern glance at her out of the side of his eye and Riley sighed. Nothing escaped the king’s …

by Gustavo Bondoni in Issue 93, October 2019 A toe in the ribs, viciously applied, brought Sangr awake.  He was about to snap at the owner of the foot when some memory of the night before came back to him and self-preservation kicked in.  Lunk was a big man, and he’d been kind enough to share his …

by Jeffery Scott Sims in Issue 93, October 2019 After the difficulties of having journeyed thus far, Jacob Bleek, that questing scholar and seeker after strange matters, hoped for an easy passage over the steppes that spread across this portion of the expansive kingdom of the Rus.  Indeed, he had sent his trusted manservant ahead with their …

by Bonnie Elizabeth in Issue 92, September 2019 I was eaten by a sea dragon when I was twelve. It’s the only story my student seekers want to hear about. That, and why I live near the top of a mountain, where the skies rain down hot lava three hours out of each day, forcing me inside …

by Joette M. Rozanski in Issue 92, September 2019 Quality Likes to See You Grovel Digger told her to just pop the eater’s head off his shoulders, but of course she wouldn’t listen. Hesper was a fair-minded woman with morals, which would someday, Digger was fairly certain, become her fatal flaw. The eater, his dark hair turned red by …

by Anthony Perconti in Issue 92, September 2019 ​2019As far as bad days go, high school senior Becca Rodriguez is having a pretty crap one. While en route to Mexico to inter her mother’s ashes, her flight takes a permanent detour. The passengers are pulled through a planar vortex into the realm known as Weirdworld. This land …

by Jason Gallagher in Issue 91, August 2018 It was on Semid’s eighteenth birthday that his grandmother gave him the key. They were on the back patio. A wooden fence, turned a dull grey and warped with age, separated their little sanctuary from the other families crowded in the cluster of housing units. The high walls of the …

by Lynn Rushlau in Issue 91, August 2019 Groaning, I dropped the last of the boxes atop the stack in the alley and glanced at the sun. Winced and looked away, blinded. Nearly dusk. I needed to leave. The sun would drop under the horizon soon, and I knew better than to go out past dark. This part …

by Anthony Perconti in Issue 91. August 2019 2019I first heard of Adam Bolivar in the wonderful Clark Ashton Smith documentary, The Emperor of Dreams.  Prior to watching this documentary, it was unbeknownst to me that in California, there is a long standing tradition of poets producing works in the Romantic style. George Sterling, active during the first …

by Samuel Kennedy in Issue 90, July 2019 There wasn’t even a ripple on the stagnant water. The Battle of the Southern Guilds had taken place less than a week earlier, and the plains of Polmarta were still littered with the bodies of the fallen, but Duna was already almost a hundred miles away. Surrounded by dark, …

by T. R. North in Issue 90, July 2019 The peddler adjusted the broad brim of his floppy hat and tugged at the reins in his hand. The horses pulling his wagon came to a halt, gears in their knees and shoulders straining at the sudden stop. A soft puff of steam escaped their nostrils, and the …

by Malcolm Schmitz in Issue 90, July 2019 You’re a lacemaker, Karvek told himself. You should be braver than this.  He dug through his pack one more time. His needle and thread were stuck in his breast pocket, just as they should be. His greataxe was on his back. His lantern had a good stock of oil, and his coalpot …

by Katharina Gerlach in Issue 89, June 2019 Katlani sharpened her dagger until it cut a hair that fell on the blade. Forcing herself to ignore the pain that came with using magic, she wove a spell and wrapped it around the blade to keep it this sharp until she had done what needed to be done. “Naranii …

by Tom Howard in Issue 89, June 2019 Matton adjusted his backpack, cursing the loss of his horse. The previous owner had been adamant about getting it back. Matton sidestepped a tendril of black ivy as it slithered across the road from a grove of ancient apple trees, gnarled and fruitless. God-forsaken place.  Wolf poked his head through …

by Michael Mitchell, Jr. in Issue 89, June 2019 Rook slipped through the arched window into the tower cell like a serpent into a sparrow’s nest. It was the highest tower in Zorick’s stronghold, piercing the skyline like a jagged spike, and she was at the top. The clouds hid the moon, so her black cloak merged …

by Gustavo Bondoni in Issue 88, May 2019 The guardsman took one look at their clothes and waved them through. Gina smiled to herself, amused to note that the good people of Revenn were just as quick to bow to the trappings of wealth as those of Hell’s Gate. Even their famous proclamations of equality didn’t seem …

by Miriam Thor in Issue 88, May 2019 A terrified shriek tore through the air, shattering the morning stillness. Espie took off running, still holding the hoe she’d been using in the garden, without making a conscious decision to move. The only other person who should be in this area was her little brother, Liam, and if …

by Anthony Perconti in Issue 88, May 2019 May 2019I have always been a big fan of genre mash-ups. Types of stories (in any medium, really) that are an amalgamation of different elements that at first may not seem like an obvious choice to combine. But when they are done well, these combinations breathe new life into …

by Matthew Ilseman in Issue 87, April 2019 Aleron sat in a brothel listening to the Marquis de Calabra fret about the virginity of his betrothed. They sat at table on the ground level that served as a tavern. The girls and their customers talked and laughed. Stairs lead up to the bedrooms on the second floor.​He …

by Lynn Rushlau in Issue 87, April 2019 Gheri caught the olive in his hand and gently dropped it into the basket hanging from his waist. He reached for the next fruit. A twig snapped under his tree. He picked the olive to show he was working, but nearly dropped it when he glanced down for the …

by Scott Forbes Crawford in Issue 86, March 2019 Straightening the banner angling out the back of her saddle, Janza ul-Varoon guided her horse down a twisting trail and mused how she might scare up some coin. Though she’d just finished a job shepherding a caravan – and had earned a handsome bonus for leaving some bandits …

by Andrew Knighton in Issue 86, March 2019 The sun had been blazing down for an hour when I reached the Well of Providence. The sand spilling over my sandals scorched my feet and the brightness seared my eyes. The wind brought no mercy, snatching away my hood and leaving my face exposed. Parched and exhausted as I …

by Anthony Perconti in Issue 86, March 2019 In 1981, DAW Books published Imaro by Charles Saunders. The contents of this edition, six short stories, originally appeared in the Canadian fanzine run by comic book artist, Gene Day entitled Dark Fantasy.  At the time of its publication, Imaro did not break any records in terms of sales. However, as the decades have …

by Ray Bossert in Issue 85, February 2019 By the mouth of a cave, a large ogress rested an elbow on her club, scratching her coarse chin as she considered the party of four travelers standing before her. One of the party, in gleaming white body armor and a white cape, stood forward from the rest. A …

by Paithan Campbell in Issue 85, February 2019 “Don’t start any trouble, you hear? Keep your sword in its sheath. Orithe is a decent city.”  Machtir looked around, and although he saw no city he nodded at the gate guard. A word like city implied stone structures, cobbled streets and some sense of building plan. All Machtir saw …

by Cameron Kirk in Issue 85, February 2019 Darkness was fractured by fire, and as the fire grew, it pushed back the cold blanket of night. The new-born radiance painted in glowing timbre three men in a forest clearing, two seated and the third lying on a makeshift stretcher upon the pine needles, a bloodied bandage wound …

by Joshua Alexander in Issue 84, January 2019 As I gazed past the grimy bars of my prison cell to the somehow-grimier wall beyond, I was reminded precisely why I avoided cities. The dusty backwater provinces I usually haunted had little wealth, but they also had fewer jails. I could hear a madman babbling to himself a …

by Russel Hemmell in Issue 84, January 2019 Livia kicked away fish bones and chicken rests from the cooking area’s dirty floor, tossing water and salt to wash away dried blood and cover the inevitable stench.  That laggard of Attis had again forgotten to clean up. She’d have to give him a few lashes as the master kept …

by Anthony Perconti in Issue 84, January 2019 December 2018     Let me pose to you a philosophical quandary. What if God were a super-villain? What if he collected the shattered vestiges of the multiverse and re-forged it according to his own twisted intellect and desires? This exact question was the high concept premise behind Marvel’s 2015 Secret Wars miniseries. …

by Lawrence Raphael Brothers in Issue 83, December 2018 The dashing capitaine des fusiliers who called herself La Panthère glanced covertly at the sorcière de la Lune and smiled nastily. It was a chance encounter with her rival at the sumptuous sideboard of the Casino D’Or, one of the fancier gambling houses on the right bank. Tonight, La …

by David Waid in Issue 83, December 2018 What was to become the most intemperate and inglorious debauch in the history of Nuboe commenced as any other festival might, swathed in tradition and observance of the country’s old forms.  Rowan Stilko disembarked from his blossom-festooned chariot to the accompaniment of the crowd’s full-throated cheers. On an elevated platform, …

by Jason Ray Carney in Issue 82, November 2018 In the city of Re, thirty mask-wearing oligarchs rule. They are the silver-faced lords, heirs to the blood of the most ancient and respected pilgrim-families that pitched the first sad tents of the settlement that bloomed into Re over the course of several hundreds of war-bloodied years. And …

by Sean Jones in Issue 82, November 2018 Unlike most army snipers, I grew up without longbow or arbalest in my hands. The first time I handled a crossbow? It was the Year of the Piebald Horse. I was nearly twelve and my father was home on furlough from the war with the Ravnens.  My younger sister, …

by Anthony Perconti in Issue 82, November 2018 2018 “There are more things in heaven and earth, HoratioThan are dreamt of in your philosophy.”-Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio In 1971, Michael Moorcock started a new fantasy series starring Corum Jhaelen Irsei, the Prince in the Scarlet Robe. The White Wolf omnibus edition, The Coming of Chaos, is comprised of three novels, The …

by Kristen Brand in Issue 81, October 2018 The alchemist trudged into the tavern, stopping to scrape the snow off his boots. He was almost too tired to bother, but his manners beat his exhaustion in a contest of strength. The others waved from their regular table in the back, and the alchemist slogged over to them, …

by J. A. Prentice in Issue 81, October 2018 Faraj beheld Death and was unafraid. She could feel its breath upon her neck. It was in the cloying curls of sweet assaji, the dream-flower, drifting through the tent in an intoxicating cloud. It was in the great fans rising and falling like the wings of hunting eagles, held …

by J. B. Toner in Issue 81, October 2018 1 Only the dead are safe, and Death’s Lane was a well-lit street in a prosperous part of town. Hanging lanterns, redolent of myrrh, lined the cobbled avenue that led to the Final Temple; grave and dark-clad companies of pilgrims came and went. The moon was fading in the …

by Janie Brunson in Issue 80, September 2018 “So,” said Darius, lowering his magic flute to survey the mountain of treasure, “how are we going to carry all of this?” I didn’t feel like answering just then, mostly because I was still coming to terms with the fact that one of my eyebrows and a large patch of …

by Andrew Jensen in Issue 80, September 2018 This wouldn’t have happened when I was young. As a young man I respected older warriors. I blame our new king. He’s a Christian. He even calls himself “King Christian.” Our whole land is growing soft. I don’t mean OLD warriors. We didn’t have any of those. Men who had …

by Anthony Perconti in Issue 80, September 2018 2018The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term skald as “(in ancient Scandinavia) a composer and reciter of poems honoring heroes and their deeds”. (1) The ancient Greek counterparts of the Scandinavian skalds, poets such as Homer and Apollonius of Rhodes, composed timeless works of art chronicling the exploits of …

by Tom Howard in Issue 79, August 2018 Gileus flexed the Glove of Incredible Strength on his left hand, appreciating its detailed scrollwork and flexibility. However, in the upcoming Wizard War competition, physical strength would mean little. As a magic item, it drew power from its wearer, and he’d need all his energy to defeat Medrick in …

by Alexis Lantgen in Issue 79, August 2018 For hundreds of years, the women of Mont Noire have been renowned for their hair. No matter what the color, their hair was thick and shining with a luster that made them the envy of all the surrounding villages. Even today, when Mont Noire women cut their hair in …

by Harry Piper in Issue 79, August 2018 Sir Madoc didn’t tarry long at the ruins of his home. For what was the point in staying? A pile of blackened timber and a handful of graves – there was nothing to salvage and nothing more to see.  He’d wept enough tears to fill an ocean when he had …

by K. C. Ball in Issue 78, July 2018 Corder couldn’t figure how it came to be that he got lost. He had crossed the Barrens a dozen times or more the past six years, working caravans; sometimes saw an end to it in four days, never more than five. Maybe this time he got turned around second …

by T. S. Lance in Issue 78, July 2018 Timber-framed, wattle and daub apartments crowded the cobblestone streets, leaving scarcely enough room for one carriage to pass another. Charming little shops filled the bottom floor of every building. I pushed my way through the market and around an oxcart driver unloading crates of leeks and shallots. Ordinarily, …

by Gustavo Bondoni in Issue 77, June 2018 The girl – young, voluptuous, nubile and dressed only in streaks of ceremonial paint –screamed and struggled. She tried to scratch at the jailer’s eyes, but the enormous man simply swatted her attempts aside as he pulled her inexorably towards the red glow of the pit. A single heave …

by S. K. Farrell in Issue 77, June 2018 She was seven, when I first realised. Seven, or thereabouts. Now, don’t get that look. I know I should remember the age of my own daughter, should have been cherishing every moment, but it was complicated back then. It was before her mother ruined my business and had the Leone …

by Lynn Rushlau in Issue 76, May 2018 A now tattered fairy, Caellery pushed wearily through the gate. Though impossible at this distance, she swore she could still hear the thump of the drums and wail of guitars from the Festival of Liberation. The party would go on until dawn. Without her. She tripped over the threshold, caught …

by Dan Morley in Issue 76, May 2018 He curled into a ball, his arms wrapped tightly around himself while he shivered on the ground, his flesh sloughing off in green and purple trails. Asmarean magic. Spectres tormented his mind while throbbing pain wracked his body. It felt wrong, diseased, foul, like he was being cooked alive …

by Jamie Lackey in Issue 75, April 2018 Every girl in our kingdom is born with a bit of beauty. I was born with very little. Kiahna was born with almost enough to matter. She sat by a window, working on her mending, the sunshine glowing golden in her braided hair. I was memorizing her freckles instead of …

by Harry Piper in Issue 75, April 2018 The walled town Llew and Rhodri still found themselves in after a fortnight of inaction was a damp, sad little place. Every morning they awoke to great rivers of fog flowing through the streets and a gentle but constant rainfall above their heads. Buildings and people both seemed …

by Anthony Perconti in Issue 75, April 2018 March 2018 The David J. West short story and poetry collection, Weird Tales of Horror is a sampling of various types of genre fiction, ranging from the historical all the way to science fiction, with the common through line of the supernatural represented in each. In these pages you will meet among …

by James Lecky in Issue 74, March 2018 Now this story begins, as do so many in my life, with me fleeing from the Wrath Of… No ordinary Wrath Of…, you understand. Certainly nothing so minuscule as the Wrath Of Thorvos the Lender (to whom I find myself owing many berries on occasion) nor anything like the …

by Mike Riffe in Issue 74, March 2018 “Child, bring me a cool drink.” “Yes, Papa.” Ilsa replied. She disappeared and reappeared with a cup of water. Ilsa’s father, Rupert, drank the cool water, wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and sat the cup on the scarred wooden table. His day in the field was long. Sweat stained his …

by Gustavo Bondoni in Issue 73, February 2018 Sangr shielded his face with his hand. The midday sun beating on the endless ice created a glare that hurt his eyes even through the cloth that covered them. His main concern was to put one foot in front of the other, but he knew that walking in circles …

by Gary Every in Issue 73, February 2018 He pushes off from the shore, floating down the river, accompanied by his beautiful queen. The ancient Etruscan uses a long pole to propel his boat forward, letting the slow moving current do most of the work. The apiarist and his beautiful queen are searching for wildflowers. As the colors …

by Michael Meyerhofer in Issue 72, January 2018 Mennaus took a bite out of an apple, tasted a telltale sourness that meant a worm had gotten there ahead of him, and tossed the rest into the mud. He nearly spit out the bite he’d just taken, then changed his mind and chewed. The brackish taste made him …

by Dorothy Winsor in Issue 72, January 2018 From the hilltop, my father focuses the spyglass on the fur clad man leading thirty mounted soldiers toward the town gates. When a stork-legged sentry steps forward to hail them and presumably ask their business, one of the men casually kicks the sentry in the head. The wind flattens …

by Thomas Grayfson in Issue 71, December 2017 Ihsan cursed under her breath. She searched her pack for the healing potion. Kaldor lay dying beside her, a spear protruding from his belly. They had journeyed to Castle Drume on a quest to defeat Torkep, but the encounter had been disastrous for both sides. “Did we kill him?” said …

by Keith Peck in Issue 71, December 2017 Ausonia pushed her cart, loaded with her disassembled booth, along the Heptastadion. No one had stolen her customary spot — halfway down, on the Great Harbor side of the causeway — but that damn metal Atlantean ship was still moored nearby. Her lips tightened. “Hey! Lady! Watch it with …

by Mary Alexandra Agner in Issue 70, November 2017 The fires under my skin burn less and the tightness eases out of my sternum as I walk. Hisra and Fre, the mother goddesses, are making it clear I am moving in the right direction: toward the mesa in my visions from Hisra, straight through the pain and …

by A. S. Alexander in Issue 70, November 2017 The tall grass was like a field of knives, marking Nnene’s dark skin red. There was no time to worry about such things, though. Things would be much worse if she did not keep moving. Despite the danger they brought, she did not hate the centaurs. It was just …

by Melanie Bell in Issue 69, October 2017 Through the door of the cave dwelling, we were watching. Demet had nudged the leather aside just enough to see and just little enough so we wouldn’t be noticed. Aunt Alay’s back was to us as she bent over the stone table, curved down towards the bread she was …

by Alexander Leger-Small in Issue 69, October 2017 Big bellied ships blocked the sky above Braten-town harbor. Every morning Ysma woke to their shadowing promises. When tasks brought her to the water – receiving a shipment of raw-cloth or some other errand for Mistress – she knocked barrels and crossed fingers two times two, a charm against those …

by Sam Beaven in Issue 68, September 2017 My name is Lossn. I am a failure. I sat across the table from the too-fat man who sweated in the heat, decadently shedding water through his brown skin, typical of the cultured city-folk. He wouldn’t last long in the desert, he would be abandoned by his tribe. Which, of …

by Alison McBain in Issue 68, September 2017 If there was one man whom Shazia could call a friend, it was Ibin. Most people thought that he should have followed in his father’s footsteps and become a warrior rather than a… well, whatever he was. When she’d first come to Castle Var, she’d thought the same thing when …

by Dan DeFazio in Issue 67, August 2017 Note: To avoid any associations with a certain on-line retail giant and its products, the character Alexa has been renamed. She is now known as Angelique Malvaux. The town lay at the edge of the Black Forest, its name unremembered. It was just after sunset, and the town—village, really—smelled of burning …

by Anna Cates in Issue 66, July 2017 “You’re the sleaziest bucket of fish guts I’ve ever seen.” “Gee, thanks.” Inchel laughed. “I didn’t realize I looked that good.” The elf boy’s ashy skin peeped through holes in fishnet stockings cladding his bony thighs beneath leather shorts. He ambled awkwardly in his chunky-heeled girly boots. A red silk scarf …

by James Van Pelt in Issue 66, July 2017 Rudd sat uneasily on the high throne. A line of supplicants with a scroll or basket or bag in hand and an earnest look about them stretched from the dais’s base to the towering oak doors. Terryn, the Lord High Steward, put his hand on Rudd’s shoulder, then bent …

by Tom Crowley in Issue 65, June 2017 Sir Garner isn’t a proper knight, just as I’m not a proper squire. There are no knights where Garner comes from, but everyone in the company calls him Sir. And of course I’m too old to be a squire. The other mercenaries say to me, “You’re gonna die out …

by Sandra Unerman in Issue 65, June 2017 The scream frightened everyone in the Duke’s Grand Chamber, even though we expected it. Just before midnight, the musicians began to play at their fastest, so that the circles of dancers spun wildly about. The rattle of dice and the knock of glasses at the side tables grew hastier …

by James Edward O’Brien in Issue 64, May 2017 “No one’s broken into the athenaeum and made it out breathing. Nobody. Besides, those days are behind me,” he explained. “Bad knees.” The woman rolled an amethyst monocle between her fingers. She plugged the incandescent lens in her eye and studied the pictograms adorning Shanley’s forearms. “You look like a woman …

by Melanie Smith in Issue 64, May 2017 The sun’s light fell and dripped, yolk-like, onto the glass spires and faceted crystal domes of the Second City, pooling in golden puddles on the polished eaves of the great sprawl.  The city stretched from the shallows of the Night Desert in the east to the Bay of Burning …

by Gustavo Bondoni in Issue 63, April 2017 Sweat poured out from under her bronze helmet, clearing channels in her dust-streaked face, but she was too preoccupied to worry about irrelevant things like that on the day she was to die. She faced a difficult task – many difficult tasks, as a matter of fact – and …

by Dale T. Phillips in Issue 63, April 2017 The drinking room at the inn was quiet that night, Teeann thought. She noticed the man on the far side of the room, sitting alone at an alcove table. Something about him made her look again. He had a serious expression, unlike most of the other drinkers, who …

by Brian Dyke in Issue 62, March 2017 My father grew up a short walk from the River Thar, in the flood plains below the foothills of the city of Highcrag in the sprawl of ancient barbarian tribes that had been tamed and settled near High Mountain and the lesser ridges in her shadow. At a young …

by Jeffery Scott Sims in Issue 62, March 2017 Lord Morca, wizard and warrior of ancient Dyrezan, marched alone this day, he who had led a great army into the unknown east that he might conquer and thereby heighten the glory due to himself and his people.  There in that magical and forbidding eastern realm he had …

by Tom Lavin in Issue 61, February 2017 “I expect you fellows will want to have a look at this!” Deon slammed the book down on the table, hoping to attract the attention of his friends with a satisfying thump, but in the merry bustle of the tavern the sound was rather feebler than he had hoped. The book’s …

by Debra Young in Issue 61, February 2017 From the moment Kamau stepped into the shaman’s cave, carrying Anawe, who burned with fever and lay unconscious in his arms, he felt uneasy. His worry about his sick sister was a part of it. In the firelight’s glow, sweat glistened on her face and chest, rivulets dripped onto …

by Christopher G. Hall in Issue 60, January 2017 Cat-eye Jack savored the ale as best he could, despite the fact that he was light of purse and heavy of head. His latest misadventure had cost him every coin he had—and it had nearly cost him his life. It turned out that the so-called “notorious Camyrian thief” …

by James Van Pelt in Issue 60, January 2017 As he had for the last year, Hndred chopped wood and built fences and cleaned the stables for old Bakken the innskeeper. The young man worked a month before he’d earned enough credit to pay for an evening in the The Broken Beast. He left his field at …

by Robert Mammone in Issue 60, January 2017 When the Cataphracts came for Marduk, he sat sprawled amidst the splintered remains of a table and chairs, the unconscious and bloodied bodies of several men beside him. ‘Beetles,’ Marduk shouted, his voice slurred. He took a swig from his mug then dashed it ringing across the flagstones. Around him, …

by Rob Francis in Issue 59, December 2016 “They dead?” Agris squinted at the sun, the rictus that passed for a smile on his battered face making him seem almost a corpse himself. Leos looked down on the two withered bodies by the side of the dirt track, flaking skin stretched and taut enough to see the white of …

by Melanie Smith in Issue 59, December 2016 It wasn’t the dragons that were the problem, it was the unicorns.  Sure enough, the dragons weren’t easy:  they leaked out hot streams of copper alloy piss as they undulated in the air above the town, which spattered down on the houses below to start the odd conflagration, to …

by Louis Palmerino in Issue 59, November 2016 First, I had to save your life before it began. It wasn’t easy, and cost me more time and coppers than I had to lose, but you were worth that to me. I remember the day as clear as the dockside bells. They were clanging and clonging all along Linkstone …

by Edward H. Parks in Issue 58, November 2016 The ship pitched and swayed again, as it had all morning. Uncle Gelearde lurched over to the gunwale and retched. His belly was empty after a long night on this gusty sea, and he suffered through another lengthy round of dry heaves.  “Could help you with that, you know.” …

by David Bowles in Issue 57, October 2016 In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Emperor Axayacatl, his wife Asako cajoled him into reinstating Tanabata as an imperial holiday. The Star Festival was the perfect time, she suggested, for his subjects to implore the gods for the skills they needed to maintain the glory of the …

by James Lecky in Issue 57, October 2016 “Does his heart still beat, Brother Edric?” “Aye, my lord Abbot, the pulse is weak but there is still the spark of life in him.” “More than a spark, I think,” the Abbot said. He looked down at the man upon the narrow cot, at the slim yet muscular frame, the …

by Jason A. Holt in Issue 56, September 2016 The Shatterstone Horn had been stolen, and Higomu had orders to get it back. There are only two ways to escape from the Redwood Valley with a stolen artifact. One can either board a boat and leave by sea, or one can take the Klindrel Road and cross the …

by Jeffery A. Sergent in Issue 56, September 2016 The bottom level, the ninth, was nothing more than a circular floor about thirty feet in diameter.  The stairs led upward and away from the deep-set chamber in an ever-widening spiral which was lost in the darkness, and at each of the eight levels above, a wheel-shaped room …

by Dan J. DeFazio In Issue 55, August 2016 Of all the gambling houses in the City of Dreadmoor, the Silver Moon was by far the most exclusive. While the lower-classes rolled the bones and watched grub-fights in the Greased Goat and The Shrieking Wife, the well-born and well-paid preferred the ambiance of The Silver Moon’s wood-paneled chambers. Here, among powdered wigs and silken …

by S. Creany in Issue 55, August 2016 Solene walked back from the bar’s outhouse, her mouth worked into a frown and a bit of paper crumpled in her big fist, to find Brigh being prattled at by a young girl. There was a desperate look to the girl: sallow skin, rough brown hair, a cheap linen dress …

by Jamie Lackey in Issue 54, July 2016 Fat snowflakes drifted through the frigid air as I trudged along.  Snow peppered my spectacles, leaving them fogged and just better than useless, and eerie stillness pressed in from all sides.  I glanced at my hardly-legible notes, instructions cobbled together from a handful of third-hand accounts.  The fear that had …

by Stephen S. Power in Issue 54, July 2016 Anyone can buy a soul. Even the meanest villages have dealers now, and prices remain low, thanks to the border wars five years ago. To buy a specific soul, though, Erynd has to deal with a ghost taker. She hobbles through the Old Bridge Market, her stick slipping on …

by Matthew Cropley in Issue 53, June 2016 “This is stupid,” I groaned, peering at the moonlit mansion from inside a scratchy bush. “But worth it if we stand a chance of saving him,” Chif said, crouched beside me in the undergrowth. I grunted as my gaze flicked over the manicured garden ahead, assessing the best approach, making note …

by L. M. Myles in Issue 53, June 2016 Beatrice watched the unadorned cart draw into the courtyard of the villa, just behind the carriage carrying the Contessa da Saluzzo. Beneath the heavy cloth cover Beatrice knew the cart carried only one item: an iron box, locked and bolted, containing the Contessa’s portrait. Beatrice tried not to fidget …

by B. C. Nance in Issue 52, May 2016 Alden huddled in his coarse woolen coat to stave off a wind that slashed from the steel-gray sky.  He stood alone in the village square watching down the long path to the low fields, marking Sheply’s laborious progress as he led his aging ox pulling an empty hay …

by Jason Ray Carney in Issue 51, April 2016 The Three Sisters had established a cult centered on a book bound in human skin and inked with blood. This cult threatened the priesthood of Atok-the-Million-Eyed, and for this the sisters would be punished with impunity, the leaves of their philosophy scattered to the winds. Their orgy-dens in …

by James Lecky in Issue 51, April 2016 Tomas smelled death long before he came to the village. The ocean breeze brought the scent of old blood, of torn flesh and spilled entrails. His horse snorted, made nervous by the smell. But that was to be expected, the animal – a bay mare – had been bred for …

by Davide Mana in Issue 50, March 2016 “The Gods sent you.” The big Roman looked up, munching on a mouthful of chowder. The woman approaching the table was dressed in faded rags, her graying hair combed up in the style of the Colchis, pale eyes staring blindly in the general direction of his face. “We serve no gods, …

by Andrew Muff in Issue 50, March 2016 You may have imagined a gathering of important men inside a candlelit rectory or a well-appointed sitting room, perhaps sipping mulled wine while they sat before a hearth and debated what needed to be done, but nothing so organized ever happened. Everybody in our village knew that Old Bones had …

by Daniel Amatiello in Issue 49, February 2016 On unsteady legs Oscar carried the two foaming pints to his table, trying not to spill the contents as he staggered over. He placed one in front of his companion and held on to the other. As he sat, Taron continued the story he had been recounting. “I should ‘ave …

by Lynn Rushlau in Issue 49, February 2016 Zey shifted from one foot to the other and snuck an uneasy glance at the statues guarding the entrance. The huge cloaked figures of dark grey stone held lanterns of eternal flame. He shuddered before he could stop himself. A quick look around confirmed no one saw. The Captain of …

by Ken Lizzi in Issue 48, January 2016 The smoldering slow-match puffed an acrid plume of smoke and sparks when it met the touch-hole. A pause. Then the arquebus leapt, driving my shoulder back before it, the forked support dropping into the churned mud of the battlefield. Whether or not I struck anyone with the tumbling lead …

by Joshua Steely in Issue 48, January 2016 I. The Crimson Warlord Well, there was a certain poetic justice to it.  Eth had just been thinking to himself that the purple hills and pine-clustered vales of Valezrel were entirely too restful, that his muscles itched from the days of quiet riding.  Then around the bend his horse came …

by Dan DeFazio in Issue 47, December 2015 In terms of sheer debauchery, no festival rivaled that of the Night of Masks. After sunset the citizens of Dreadmoor flooded every quarter, forsaking their everyday faces and donning new ones, ranging from the comic, to the tragic, to the grotesque, to the obscene. To a stranger it might have seemed …

by Frank Martinicchio in Issue 47, December 2015 He came in the night and brought the rain with him. William watched from the cover of the stables, cuddling his cloak tightly into him, taking the little warmth it offered.  A rider this late in the night can’t be good news, thought William. But he did his duty and went …

by Brynn MacNab in Issue 46, November 2015 At night the clouds parted a little and the thin moon, curving like a scythe, shone between them. The witch stood in the field, beyond the lights of the soldiers’ camp, and held the arrow she had plucked from the throat of her favorite and most eager bird, and …

by Nicholas Ozment in Issue 46, November 2015 Tamalin, one of the most feared and powerful mages in all of Rilsthorn—Tamalin, whose very name elicited awe! In disguise he often roamed the fog-shrouded streets of the Tallows district of Ment City, but on this treacherous night the cruel wizard had been unmasked. Now assassins and dread night …

by Rob Francis in Issue 45, October 2015 “D’ya see him? D’ya see him?”           Leos looked over at his partner, sprawled next to him in the dust of the gully ridge. Agris had little patience at the best of times, and these were certainly not the best of times. “Give me a moment, ‘Gris,” he whispered back. He poked …

by Daniel Hand in Issue 45, October 2015 Hildfrida woke early. The sun was still low beyond sea and mist, less a herald of morning than a vestige of night. The sound of the tides wafted in through the open window along with the cool salty breeze. She lay still awhile, steeling herself against the aching head …

by James Lecky in Issue 44, September 2015 The ways of man have overtaken the land of Orialla now, its magic vanishing before them like snow from a ditch. Once bright with colour it has become and grey and mundane place, fit more for mankind than the Fey. Yet the Old Ways linger and their ancient hues, vibrant …

by Reid Perkins In Issue 44, September 2015 The dragon bread is worse than last year, Saug thought, adding that this sorry excuse for village cuisine wasn’t exactly helping his shaking hands. “You know, you guys have to be able to hold a sword tomorrow,” Saug said under his breath. The clatter of the tavern-goers wasn’t helping …

by Sandra Unerman in Issue 43, August 2015 Brenan’s third attempt to escape from his kidnappers nearly killed him. As they crossed a bridge in single file, he flung himself over the knee-high rail and let the river take him downstream. He had not realised how difficult it would be to keep his head above water while …

by Jeremy Harper in Issue 42, July 2015 I  “Enter,” said Elania Reynard as she smoothed the skirt of her plain gray robe, wrinkled from hours of kneeling prayer. She was small and frail, just past girlhood, her long hair sun-yellow and her face pale and delicate. Standing in her drab cell she seemed a golden flower blossoming …

by Gerry Huntman in Issue 42, July 2015 Aelwyk, Lord of Dooring, dismounted at the foot of the hill, and trudged to its peak with the three men who were waiting for him. He was comforted with the presence of two of his most trusted companions, but his eyes kept wandering to the captured soldier. Seething. Necessity breeds …

by Kevin Cockle in Issue 41, June 2015 “That was nothing, lad,” Callus said as he chewed Stalyn’s hearty swordfish stew. We sat at the lone wooden table in the galley, once dark of night had enshrouded the Zephyr. Night-boarding by dragon-men was not unheard of, but I had taken us down nearly to sea-level, where we …

by Cameron Huntley in Issue 41, June 2015 The Master was in Cyrus’ room again.  It was not the first time. That had been only days after Cyrus arrived at the Keep in the Mountains of the Evermoon, when he was still discovering just how well the jagged peaks lived up to their name.  The moon neither waxed nor …

by Christopher Mowder in Issue 40, May 2015 1. The war with the humans arrived last night at Gorman’s front door, and as he surveyed the wreckage of battle, he trembled. The blood of goblins and humans stained the road and splattered the walls of his cottage. Torches blackened the lush forest floor. Retreating feet trampled his meager …

by Anna Sykora in Issue 40, May 2015 The miller, a hard master, wouldn’t let me go along to Pawla’s trial: “Grind flour for a dozen sacks,” he shouted over the waterwheel’s thumping din. “Fill them all, boy, before you go visit your furry friend.”  Chuckling, Sledge stomped outside and banged the door.   Sweating like a plough …

by Rick Hudson in Issue 39, April 2015 Gable Lay’s booted feet braced his weight against the stonework as he slowly descended down the stone walled well into blackness, passing the rope methodically and cautiously hand over hand. His short sword and dagger jostled agitatedly, but silently in their baldricks against the his black studded leather jerkin. …

by Ken Lizzi in Issue 39, April 2015 I parried late, re-directing the thrust intended for my chest to the thigh of my leading leg. Watching the thin blade bow into a half-circle I was grateful for the capped tip. It still hurt though. I stepped back, saluted to acknowledge the touch, then reengaged. A dark-ringletted head peeked …

by Cameron Johnston in Issue 38, March 2015 Seven corpses lined the side of the alley, heaped atop pig shit and kitchen slops. Stained blankets did little to conceal the lumps of butchered human meat beneath. A black-clad warden wearing the red sash of a captain stood in the middle of the bloody mess, his back to …

by Jamie Lackey in Issue 38, March 2015 Avasa knelt on a boulder and flexed her claws. The wind ruffled her fur, and the smell of rain filled her nose. The wind also carried hints of man-sweat. A hunter. One of the white men with their noisy feet. Despite all their differences, the white men still screamed at …

by Rick Hudson in Issue 38, March 2015 It would be very easy to slight Robert E. Howard’s (1906-1936) Conan stories. It would be very easy to trot off the same old lines about how they were stereotype muscular hero nonsense fantasy stories. When one is a critic nothing is easier than putting something down; condescension is …

by Nathan Elwood in Issue 37, February 2015 The mountain wind pulled at his grey fur and brought a taste of ash and soot to his mouth. Old Bear pulled close his cloak against the cold. Cautiously, he approached the destroyed human village.   Despite his name, Old Bear was still quite young for his people, who were not, …

by Jay Requard in Issue 37, February 2015 ishnu readjusted in the corner of the cramped wagon, finding room for his shoulders. He leaned against the wall, sullen as the day’s drizzle wet his face. “I’d give anything for a beer right now,” Marl said as he polished his battered helm with a rag. “What about you, Thumbs?” …

by Brandon Ketchum in Issue 36, January 2015 Connall dropped the letter from hands frozen with dread, the gathered sweat on his brow turning chill. No, the Pennsylvania Colonial Council informed him, Albrecht Werner wouldn’t accompany him on his journey. The imminent trading party only wished to hire one guide and interpreter. His heart beat against his …

by Daniel Morley in Issue 36, January 2015 Dane ghosted between pine and oak trunks, scouring the autumn boughs for sign of his quarry. Mud streaked his face up to his receding hairline to hide his scent and camouflage his flesh. His leather brigandine flexed silently over his sturdy frame. Something lurked in these woods, something that …

by Timothy Ide in Issue 35, December 2014 Fergall flinched as a throwing axe bounced off the stone wall behind him. “You missed!” shouted Culac at the horde of monsters below them. Both men lay on their bellies on a stone balcony that overlooked an ancient hall. Pillars carved with strange gripping beasts supported its walls and its rune …

by Diana Parparita in Issue 35, December 2014 It takes evil to remove evil. That is the first principle of healing. One must pay for the evil that is removed with an evil of equal strength. That is why the most potent of medicines can only be made from the deepest pain. There was plenty of pain to …

by Gustavo Bondoni in Issue 34, November 2014 Strong Buffalo understood the moon. If there was rain, he could hear it coming days before in the gentle breezes that caressed the dusty plains. He could speak the language of the coyote, and knew the way of the Trickster. His youth had been spent fighting the Navajo, his …

by A. J. Carter in Issue 34, November 2014 “If you don’t start attracting customers, Lani, I’ll send you back.” Ollyver’s tone stayed flat with hardly a flicker of expression, his thick arms folded almost casually across his broad chest.  Yet my time on the road with him allowed me to see frustrations simmering below the surface.  Even …

by Alex B. in Issue 33, October 2014 Alyssa felt the cart come to a stop. The smell of injured and dying flesh came upon her and she bit her tongue to keep from crying. The back dropped and she felt herself violently pulled from under the stacked bodies.  The beast held her up in the air, examining …

by Gary Every in Issue 33, October 2014 Kurestan led his horse along the road. His squire followed along behind, carrying the heavy weaponry. An old crone cried out. “Daisies for sale!” she shrieked. The squire sneered. “Why would my lord desire to buy a daisy?”      The haggard old woman was standing beside a meadow. The old woman was …

by Jamie Lackey in Issue 32, September 2014 Turnsig hated transforming into a cat.  He was getting on in years, but he still ended up as a kitten every damn time.  It wasn’t easy to maintain his wizardly dignity when a large part of him really, really, really wanted to scamper about chasing butterflies or yarn or …

by Mark Rimar in Issue 32, September 2014 Boniface Praig’s head pounded and he belched up stale wine. He shouldn’t have drunk so much the night before a big job, but he’d needed the false courage. Robbing a wizard, even a dead one, was no small matter. From his perch upon a branch of an ancient maple, …

by Melanie Henry in Issue 31, August 2014 She stared at him from the time the torches were lit till her father, sated and drunk, arm around his concubine, rolled out of his tall chair heading for his chambers, releasing the serving women to wipe down the tables. Out of deference to her and the high-born guest, …

by Paul Miller in Issue 31, August 2014 The Blademistress stared into the writhing flames of the fire before her. Anna’s words echoed in her mind, each repetition more damning than the last.  “A promise made by the Blademistress is a promise kept. Isn’t that right?” All in little Anna’s heart-wrenchingly innocent voice. The Blademistress shifted on the small …

by Conor Gormley in Issue 31, August 2014 This is going to be fun. So very, very fun. I’ve slogged through 500 pages of truly terrible fantasy, and now I get to experience some revenge, so wait here, guys, snuggle up, pour yourself some coffee and wait; I’m off to find my baseball bat, lead pipe, and …

by Jackson Hoerth in Issue 30, July 2014 Wooden wheels turned in the thick mud, dredging up water and muck but receiving no distance for their effort. A young man cracked a whip over a beast’s back and the creature replied with a low groan and renewed effort. Still, the wheels spun in the earth.  “Your majesty, the …

by Matthew Tolbert in Issue 30, July 2014 …it is written in the Scrolls of Wisdom, “Revenge only ends when someone runs out of relatives.” I have made the aliens’ revenge even easier today by gathering all the children of his enemies in one dirty pub. You would think a great magician would know better, especially one that …

by S. A. Hunter in Issue 29, June 2014 The sun streamed into the white stone courtyard with the bright exuberance of late spring. Birds chirped happily and darted in out of the trees in glee. A dog snored on the stoop while a cat crept surreptitiously along a branch overshadowing the fountain toward a plump chipmunk, …

by Keshia Swaim in Issue 29, June 2014 “Focus, Damali!” Inara snapped. “It is not enough to simply follow the pattern. You—” “Must feel it in your bones.” I finished the old woman’s sentence with a sigh.  I slid my stool out of the way and allowed her to take over mixing the concoction. This one was for one of …

by Raphael Ordoñez in Issue 28, May 2014 Cuneaxe padded over the old floorboards like a caged beast. A boy with hair like spun gold watched him from the divan, his face calm and serious, his green eyes opened wide on what the world had to show him. Cuneaxe was a satyr beside him, with hairs like …

by Jay Requard in Issue 28, May 2014 Jishnu braced his arm against the rock wall, struggling to still his shaking knees. His iron sword hung limp in his right hand, its short blade coated in blood. “To Naraka with this.” He spat a glob of mucus on the ground. “They’re not paying us enough for this shit.” Marl …

by Cesar Alcazar in Issue 27, April 2014 “I say it again, I don’t like any of this!” Einarr’s voice echoed with hatred and apprehension. The burly, bearded man had been restless since he arrived in that desolate tavern. Four other hostile-looking men shared the room and the agonized waiting. They argued vehemently, spitting harsh words between …

by Benjamin Darnell in Issue 27, April 2014 On the sultry eve of the summer solstice, three individuals of dubious repute convened in the country of Oirthear and performed The Binding Ritual, united behind one common purpose. Their life forces joined and encased within a single object, each would endure with the vitality of three. But if …

by Caw Miller in Issue 26, March 2014 A gust of wind that smelled of coffin mold and chilled like the depths of a grave startled Yinette. “Ghost Night,” she whispered. Her heart doubled the pace of its beats, and it already raced because handsome Larn had just kissed her. She squeaked when Larn squeezed her hand.  “Sorry,” he …

by Will Weisser in Issue 26, March 2014 When we came to the castle gate, the guard on the parapet shot me a look of disdain. I fed it right back. I knew what he was thinking: peasant trash, farm filth, come to try their hand at being a Saracen before they’re thrown back in the ditches. …

by Neil W. Howell in Issue 25, February 2014 I. The Guard Buford Strongarm stood a little taller as the honored guests approached. His back ached and his knees moaned, but today was not a day for complaints. No, he had stood at the main gate of the inner city all day fueled by a pride given only to …

by Gerry Huntman in Issue 25, February 2014 She walked the long and familiar corridors of the Royal Palace, which was built on the highest elevated section of the city of Lakemere. She was intimately familiar with the labyrinth of marble-clad hallways as the adjacent and joining Astrologers’ Guild Headquarters was her home since she was eight …

by Daniel Hand in Issue 24, January 2014 Syrus opened his eyes, saw the tribesman’s face before him and stabbed violently upwards with his sword. His hand was empty. There was no sword, no face, no battle in the desert: just the quiet gloom of his bed chamber, the warmth of his mattress, and the cool air that …

by M. J. Waller in Issue 24, January 2014 The door to the Golden Dragon swung shut, leaving Silk and Bunge as the tavern’s final two customers. A storm was on its way and everybody wanted to be at home when it hit, ready to flee into cellars and storm-holes should the need arise. Meerith wasn’t known …

by Fraser Sherman in Issue 23, December 2013 1695, Paris    If the chamber maid at the inn hadn’t possessed such delectable lips, Hugh of Essex would have stayed at the abandoned farm and finished his dissection before midnight.  Instead, he’d returned to the inn and only arose from the stained, sweat-soaked bed a half-hour before sunrise. It had been …

by Garnett Elliott in Issue 23, December 2013 A withered hand reached from the throng crowding the marketplace of Anghkar, to descend towards Senjam’s begging-bowl.  Wary of filchers, his trained muscles tensed.  But the hand was full.  Fingers opened; a torrent of coins poured into the bowl and spilled over the sides with the pleasant clink of …

by Karen Blaha in Issue 22, November 2013 Our village alchemist could not heal my daughter’s sickness, and so he reluctantly told me to go to the alchemist in Krumlov. “Beware,” Bohuslav the alchemist told us, “that your trade may be costly. Suffering removed must fall somewhere. The alchemist of Krumlov is a mercurial and artful man. “And …

by Robert Mammone in Issue 22, November 2013 Rain sheeted down in a constant drumming, underscored by the rumble of thunder echoing off the slate tiled roofs. Lightning crackled, the staccato flashes briefly banishing the gloom that had swept in with the clouds minutes before. Ignoring the storm lashing him, hunkered down beside a leering gargoyle, Nom pulled …

by James Lecky in Issue 21, October 2013 Ardess was on fire, the winter’s night as sweltering as the cruellest summer drought, the streets clogged with thick, rancid smoke.  Blades gleamed in the infernal darkness, rallying cries echoed through laneways and avenues, all but lost in the roar of the flames and the crash of falling towers. From the …

by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt in Issue 21, October 2013 At the third kick the door gave way. A sword thrust into the splintered opening. It dripped a green ichor that hissed as it hit the stone floor. A moment later the owner of the sword stood in the doorway, her strong frame silhouetted by the fires outside …

by Jeffery A. Sergent in Issue 20, September 2013 Jade watched from the shadows and waited.  Sweat rolled across her scalp, raising gooseflesh on her the back of her neck.  She’d go insane if something didn’t happen soon.  She needed to move, run, or even scream.  That’d be something at least, and anything would be better than …

by Alexandra Seidel in Issue 20, September 2013 The Grand Carnival is a revel of impossibilities come true and of the inexplicable parading through reality like a bride in flaring colors. It is held only once in every generation and all who see and participate in it (for it cannot be seen without becoming part of it) …

by Garnett Elliott in Issue 19, August 2013 Gecerix had left the feasting hall to fetch a basin of watery ale. When he returned, he found his father spitted against the high-backed throne with his own spear.  The basin fell with a clatter and splash. By instinct, Gecerix reached for the knife at his belt. But his fingers …

by Rebecca L. Brown in Issue 18, July 2013 As they passed Lasseus’ son between the birthing fires, the Skullwitch cast the runes. Her long, unlovely fingers traced those patterns, etched deep by the years – both those since they were made and those to come – and if her smile was tainted with regret then no-one …

by Ivan Ewert in Issue 18, July 2013 The gibbous moon shone upon the streets of Dorath Vur, her visage pierced by the great minarets which clawed hungrily toward the jewels of the stars.  Dorath Vur! City of greed, whose streets ran equally with filth and spices, coin and offal – Dorath Vur, the sweetly perfumed groin of …

by James Lecky in Issue 17, June 2013 Of how and why Varish Armeen and I came to Salmu Alu I will not speak overmuch, other than to say that the reputation of the Black City drew us like wolves to carrion. Lean as wolves we were, too, eager to use our blades and to hear the …

by Frank R. Sjodin in Issue 17, June 2013 “Serjio, if you won’t help me with this, you lose my friendship forever.”  In my days of exile I had precious few friends. Additionally, Ahzi was the most fearless swordsmen I’ve ever known. I once saw him leap into a dragon’s open maw so that he could reach its …

by Steve Goble in Issue 16, May 2013 Tannen’s breath halted beneath the blood-red mask, and his heart galloped, when he heard the cracks of branches in the shadowed underbrush. But he smiled when the thieves emerged to confront him. Brigands — he could handle brigands. The Faceless Son watched the bravado melt from their faces, and laughed beneath …

by Robert Mammone in Issue 16, May 2013 Humid air drifted through the window’s great arch, disturbing the diaphanous curtains which obscured the full moon.  Lod watched it through slitted eyes, grunting as the woman riding him arched her back then drove her hips into his, harder and harder.  Haloed in the moonlight, her hair was a …

by Ray Krebs in Issue 15, April 2013 The bell on the shop door rang as it opened. Vritin blast them, another one, and she was two days behind making charms she had already sold. Brenna kept her head down, no eye contact. Don’t they have important things to shop for? Like food and clothing instead of …

by M. R. Timson in Issue 15, April 2013 The snow clotted on the ground like blood in a wound. From his vantage point halfway up Mount Atinos, Roland could see the smoke curling up from the chimneys of Wintersholm, crowded by a penumbra of evergreens on the southern edge of the valley. He picked up his …

by Jarod K. Anderson in Issue 14, March 2013 Nothing burned like the grasslands. I should know. The place was hungry for fire. It begged for it in a dry, rustling language that called me from the green hills. It always seemed to know me –to know that I was the one who heard its pleas.  I was. …

by John Grover in Issue 14, March 2013 Women wept on the side of the road. Smoldering debris littered the horizon while soot and black smoke choked the air. Wagons were reduced to splinters and homes were decimated. The outskirts of the small mountainside village were but a preview of what waited ahead. Dorrin and his companion Vess, …

by Andrew Knighton in Issue 13, February 2013 Two great polished mirrors faced each other across the stone space of Odin’s hall. Stood between them, his face repeated again and again in the silvered surfaces, Thorvald was reminded of the priest at the entrance. ‘Within Odin’s hall,’ the priest had said as he placed Thorvald’s sword on the …

by Rick Silva in Issue 13, February 2013 Donna Stone walked into the town square wishing for better timing and a good bowl of soup. It was close to Longest Night, though she hadn’t gotten a look at the stars in several days of wet fog and drizzle, punctuated by the occasional stinging downpour. She’d begun her …

by Phil Davies in Issue 12, January 2013 My mother used to tell me not to worry, that all people found their purpose and their place in the world, but even as a boy I doubted the people of my village would find such a place for me. I was born the third son of the blacksmith, …

by Jonathan Hepburn in Issue 11, December 2012 The night was dark, the moon was covered by clouds and only flickering torches lit the castle’s corridors. The guard patrolling them expected no trouble – his Lord was not hosting any guests, there was no local turmoil and the castle was well protected by design, by location and by …

by James Lecky in Issue 11, December 2012 Winter’s chill gnawed at his flesh. Naked except for a rough breechclout, Varus stood in the Death Pit and waited for a Beast.  In his right hand he gripped a short sword, a spiked buckler in the left.  Fifteen feet above, the crowd peered down. Their faces – human, inhuman and …

by Rebecca L. Brown in Issue 10, November 2012 When it was time, every man in Crosshawk Valleys was given his manhood by Jennika. It was a tradition whispered from father to son but not spoken of in public – especially not where the women could hear you. They hated Jennika enough without us making her special.  “How …

By Belle DiMonté In Issue 10, Noveber 2012 He woke in the night, not to any particular sound or thought, but only to the vague notion that he had been dreaming of something important and that he needed to check on his chickens. His joints groaned and cracked as he slid his feet onto the cold floor, …

by T. Fox Dunham in Issue 9, October 2012 I dream at night of a woman with damp black hair and skin like ice to the touch. She dances in a circle wearing a dressing of dripping ice, and when the water leaks down and touches Her flesh, it freezes into diamonds. I wake this morning with the chill in my bones. …

by Jeffery Scott Sims in Issue 9, October 2012 Lord Morca, exalted mage of the fair city of Dyrezan, once went forth into unknown lands in search of the fabled Scroll of Ixaltas, which delivers unto its bearer prized secrets of forgotten primordial epochs; yet he was destined not to find it– at least not then, so …

by Jeremy Harper in Issue 9, October 2012 At A Glance  Among them will come  The Child of Wonder  And they will  Know him not.  This edition of Imaro is a trade paperback produced by Night Shade Books (2006), a small press based in San Francisco. The cover, by Vince Evans, is quite striking, depicting Imaro holding off a band of Turkhana raiders, a …

by Kyle Bakke in Issue 8, September 2012 A solitary traveler, who was a tall, powerfully built man, strode across the rolling plain with a steady gait, leaving Valenduar behind him as he made his way into Oremednia. His destination was Armesskvalann, land of his birth, which lay several days’ march to the north of his current …

by Rebecca Brown They gathered in close to their campfires, clustering body against body for what little warmth could be gleaned from one another’s flesh.  It seemed sometimes that it would be so easy to forget, so easy to imagine that it had always been this way. Already, Eldgrim struggled to remember the way he had lived …

by Andrew Moore The Feast of Vincent and Agnes brightened the halls of King Hector’s court in the usual fashion. Light hearts sat at heavy tables, peerless champions strong in the fight came together in peace, and the king handed out boons with his own hand to all who entered. Into that court came a stranger …

by David J. West in Issue 7, August 2012 The dripping heat of Bhustan hung on them like a stinking towel from a diseased bathhouse. The slayers swatted bloodsucking flies or pulled leeches that dropped from putrid trees. The jungle demanded a blood debt and the captain of these slayers, a man known as Kold, would see …

by Charlene Brusso in Issue 6, July 2012 The music of Corbane, acclaimed graduate of the Selcaster College of Bards, was regarded by many to be the finest in the land. Not so his temper, however, which was increasingly obvious now as the hot summer day wore thin, with no sign of the wizard’s house.   He’d found the …

by Jeffery Scott Sims in Issue 6, July 2012 So Lord Nantrech, noble wizard of glorious Dyrezan, would go forth into the world unknown to seek marvels in its far reaches, that he might enrich his store of knowledge and wisdom.  Having decided this, he set out with his devoted colleague Lord Harmon, an impressively sensible if …

by Ed Ahern in Issue 5, June 2012 We smelled like the dromedaries we had been perched on for most of a moon cycle.  The Old One, wrapped within his thoughts, had  ignored the journey.  I, however, charged with the care of both magus and beasts, had lost sleep and patience. The walls of the Red City grew …

by Billy Wong in Issue 5, June 2012 Courtney untied her brother from the bed, not able to meet his gaze.  “They’re all dead, aren’t they?” he said when she failed to answer.  She cringed at his voice, cracked with anger and despair.  “I could have saved them.  I hate you, you spineless bitch!” “Some of them were …

by Leigh Kimmel in Issue 4, May 2012 In the half-light of dawn Ashkhen always loved to squint her eyes and imagine the dusty marketplace were still the summer palace of King Suslan. Grandfather Irakli’s stories supplied details of courtiers and cherkessa-clad guards, of Suslan’s boon companions and of the king himself with his magic sword Steelheart …

by David Turnbull in Issue 4, May 2012 The first anniversary of our Glorious Revolution was fast approaching when a new prisoner was incarcerated in the town jailhouse. His name was Jack. His infamy preceded him. In the Duke’s day there had been many ‘tales’ about his exploits. But under the democratic regime People’s Commissariat such ‘tales’ were considered part …

by Steve Goble in Issue 3, April 2012 Lillthan watched the moon-washed forest canopy below as she paced the rampart. Her grip tightened on the sword hilt as she waited for them to come. The Fastness of Samoree was quiet. Only night birds broke the silence. Her ears strained for the sound of Kooroo’s shrill warning cry, or …

by Jeffery Scott Sims in Issue 3, April 2012 During the great war across the unknown sea against the abominable kingdom of the Rhexellites the legions of Dyrezan, marching eastward toward the distant enemy citadel of Tsathgon, entered into a dreary region of stony mounds and sheer ravines which, so the furtive natives informed, were called the …

by Noeleen Kavanagh in Issue 2, March 2012 Sorcha was woken in the dark and the cold. She took a moment to recognise the man who shook her awake and she jerked back from him. “Griana says to come quick. The cows are coming down with redwater,” he said. “What? What? Why?” “She said you have some skill and she …

by David J. West in Issue 2, March 2012 Swift as Thor’s thrown hammer, the tawny-haired giant of a Northman dropped the plank, barring the alabaster-framed door against the caliph of Andalusia’s other guardians. Immediately, the puzzled but dedicated Almohadian bodyguards pounded on the oaken doors demanding entry. Only the voluptuous harem remained with the caliph and his …

by Bill West in Issue 1, February 2012 “Madoc, I’m COLD!” Madoc would have flexed his hands in anger if his damn fingers weren’t stiff with the cold. He stopped to look back at Brynn. The lummox was a few feet behind, standing in the snow that was hip deep on both the men. “Bryn, if you don’t …

by Nathan Henderson in Issue 1, February 2012 At dusk Yarmouth Cathedral casts long shadows that are almost as dark as the stone from which the structure is wrought. As the sky reddens beneath wisps of clouds, large silhouettes glide across the sky, first in a sparse trickle and then by the hundreds. Hard to see when …