by Nathan Sweem Gnawlings were made for the Sludge Well. This was the Recorder’s repeated lie. Sxoi knew it was a lie. He knew it in his bones, and he was going to prove it. The gargantuan structure known as the Sludge Well was an ironwork isle that rose out of a great desert canyon,…
Read moreThe Last of the Kelpies
by Valeriya Salt Geoffrey hurried to his boat, moored to the rocks, eager to get to the priory before evening prayer. The slippery path ran down the sheer cliff, leading to the shore, and Geoffrey needed to strain all his muscles to keep his balance. A heavy basket on his shoulders full of firewood didn’t…
Read moreApril Fooling
by Stephen Kyo Kaczmarek “Frida, you loser,” Rhiannon Gallagher mumbles, “untie me from this chair right now.” Blood cakes against her temple where I’d hit her. That’s got to hurt. It’s not like in the movies, where one tap and the girl goes down. Vlump! It took effort not to kill her. More to get…
Read moreThe Red Glasses
by Doug Devor She should have been hurrying, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so. Instead, she walked even slower than her normal pace. Her left shoe squeaked with each step. Perhaps the reason she was dragging her feet was because she didn’t really want to see him. Her grandfather certainly was not a…
Read moreThe Doors to the Sky
by Chris A. Smith The netherworld, a long time ago The silence hung heavily in the Hall of Judgment. Burning torches threw long shadows across the room, and iridescent fish traced gleaming arcs in the still waters of the reflecting pool. Polished marble columns rose into the darkest corners of the temple’s ceiling, creating a…
Read moreBlood Vengeance
by Zach Ellenberger The glow of the Northern Lights illuminated the night sky. The Valkyries had arrived to claim the souls of Magnus’s fallen brothers who had been slain in the valley earlier that day. Knowing the gods were present, Magnus communed with them, consulted them for their wisdom in hopes to heed their counsel….
Read moreThe Guide
by Sarah Hozumi Celea watched the birth of a star from the comfort of a tree branch belonging to an enormous white cedar. She watched as the remains of spirits became particles of energy that all were pushed to one point in the night sky. With a brilliant flash, there in the sea of stars,…
Read moreThe Follies of Men
by Aline Herbreteau The moon was round and bright in the twilit sky. Its silvery light glanced off the newly fallen snow, sprinkling it with diamonds, and spilled upon the castle steps. Every tree in the forest was draped in shimmering snow and trimmed with frost. Every creature, every plant, every snowflake had stopped moving;…
Read moreThe Glass Leg
by Thomas Cannon Her freckles and small eyes gave her a strong resemblance to Laura Ingalls from the TV show. She even had two thick braids of brown hair, but she also had a nose ring and a scorpion tattoo on her neck. Her looks were an odd juxtaposition of innocence and rebellion. However, it…
Read moreEva and the Man Tree
by Enoch Daniel High on a misty mountain, up above the clouds, in a lush, little valley nestled between snowy peaks, there once lived a girl and her mother. They had a cabin made of logs and mud surrounded by woods. The light was soft as worn linen, and the air held a breath of…
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