Tag: 2013
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I Think Therefore I Die
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…
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The Devil’s Mandala
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…
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The Alchemist’s Contract
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…
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Blood Fire
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…
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Forged in Heaven, Tempered in Hell
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…