Swords & Sorcery Magazine

Issue 152 • September2024

Tag: Story

  • Death and Taxes

    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…

  • Forging Independence

    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.…

  • The Drake and the Duchess

    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…

  • The Cartographer’s Bauble

    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,…

  • Red Cap

    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.…