Stories tagged “fantasy”
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Nine
Lost and alone, away from my kind, away from my world. The hatred of the Thirteen is the only thing that keeps me alive. The banished Lord of Smoke, the one that moved through walls, crossed the Barrier on foot, fought One and survived, the smoke I use...
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The Bridge of Intulcar
The leaves crashed too loudly as he ran. Niccolas tried to minimize the noise by making unbalanced leaps and bounds, only to trip, waiting to hear the sounds of discovery over his own ragged breathing and pounding heart. Somewhere within the woods was ...
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In the Distance
“They are coming…” That was all that the message had said before the sounds of radio static and loud interference ended the transmission with such abruptness that he wasn’t sure if they were really gone, but they were…gone. The thought of...
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Gone Hunting, Back In Five Hours
The Lord of Wild moves silently through the trees, slipping across the ground like a greased shadow. Its yellow eyes give off a faint light in the gloom, glinting off its wicked teeth etched in a permanent rictus grin. It reaches towards one of the dea...
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Completion
There they found him, legs crossed, sitting upon a cold flagstone floor. A sharp blast of wind caused snow to briefly cascade through the door. He made no attempt to run. He didn’t even look up or voice alarm at their entry. The stench of spilled...
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Twitch
“You need to dial up Twitch, now, at least level 7” Mie ordered. My training is going well. I like my new position as a Regent Purser aboard the Corvette Class battle tug, Chimera. Our cargo, a berg from the planet Gliese, just finished it&...
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Tuesday Night
The Martians came on a Tuesday evening, if I remember correctly. Yes, a Tuesday. That day always has a specific feel to it, doesn’t it? When the pods dropped I was sitting in my kitchen, scraping the last of a congealed mass of macaroni and chees...
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Rapture
“The Lettered do not want what we want! They walk the path of death and damnation; a path that cannot be followed!” priest-father Morgath bellowed, a droplet of spittle leaving his lips and landing on the gleaming plate of glass on which sc...
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The Ride
Paul jolted awake. He couldn’t believe he had fallen asleep with his chin on his chest during such an important trip. His eyes made quick glances into his periphery. Fortunately, he was sitting in the right front passenger seat of the lumbering, ...
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Before The Dragons
I was born before the dragons had a place to breed, before the fire and storms and ice plagued the earth. But I do not miss those days. Back then, millions of souls would be reaped in an instant by men who were desperate for power, wealth, or just bare...
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Positive and Negative
Leaves swirl, dancing dervishes. Stained-glass windows and organized religion. Sunshine, rainbows, rain and thunder purple bruises and broken promises. Smiling faces, joyful songs, dreams and goals, forever after. Tears of pain, hurtful words, loss of ...
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Part 1: Bartering Immortality
The abandoned barn in the quiet Angland countryside smelled of hay and dust. Inside, a middle-aged man patted his sweat-beaded forehead with a silk handkerchief. Sir Thomas Legend placed a gold and lead artifact on the owliksir’s work table next to s...
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Part 2: Bartering Immortality
It stretched its two front talons across the table’s oak surface and dug into the wood. Its upper back arched downwards, its rump extended high, and its wings spread wide. Its body length was just over two feet, and for a moment it looked intimidatin...
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Part 3: Bartering Immortality
The item depicted two snakes, each swallowing the tail of the other. One snake was lead, the other was gold. “You believe this artifact to be of the same value as the answer you seek, Sir Thomas Legend of Port Liber?” Thomas began sweating. He wipe...
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Part 4: Bartering Immortality
“Albert was working on such a potion!” Thomas shouted. “This must be it!” Thomas lunged wildly across the work table swatting at the owliskir. The creature let out a hiss followed by a screech and leapt off the table, flying up toward the rafte...
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Part 5: Bartering Immortality
Thomas crumpled on to his side. “How—?” “You were the partner of Albert Mundi, philosopher and alchemist. You were also his murderer. I know because I gave him the Philosopher’s Stone in exchange for his potion’s formula. Both combined hold...
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Gypsy Road
“Living in the city,” Bo said, “can be a cold and lonely place to be.” He raised his massive woolly head and horns up past the windshield of the Cadillac convertible. The Alberta prairie air rushed into his flared nostrils as he drove west down...
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Cowhide
“So, where to?” Hirc asked as he reclined the passenger seat of the Cadillac. He got comfortable and folded his hands behind his head. His unbuttoned denim shirt flapped in the wind. “You got a plan?” “Medicine Hat is the next stop,” Bo rep...
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Avenger of the Gods
It was the night before last she was sent on her mission. She wasn’t an illusion, or a mirage, or a figment of some crazed man’s imagination. She was real. More real than you or me. More real than the day and more real then the sun that mad...
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Part 1: The Belly of a Deep Sea Cavern
“Not even the Iberian pirates sail here,” Manuel said while adjusting the harness straps across his chest. “They say the depths are cursed.” “They probably spread the rumor to keep their treasure safe!” Carlos replied, getting in one last c...
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Part 2: The Belly of the Deep Sea Cavern
“Maybe the pirates drown in the cave while hiding their gold. Their loss, our gain, right?” Antonio said with a smirk. The playboy winked his eye at Manuel and inserted his mouthpiece. “May God rest their souls if that’s true,” Manuel said. T...
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Part 3: The Belly of the Deep Sea Cavern
Manuel activated his headlamp. He raised a hand to the captain and the navigator, signalling that the four explorers were about to dive into the sea. Carlos ensured the guideline was secure to the boat and was the first off the boat. Then, one by one, ...
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The Scholar
At the prow, a gaunt figure traced his hand across the frostbitten rail. Old wood, splintered and salt worn from decades of sail up and down the coast. They used to ply the open sea, ships like these, pushing back the boundaries of the known world. Cle...
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An Old Fear
They ain’t men, child, not anymore. Thems what come when the snows fall, they’re from the old war. When the old kings and princes needed men, they’d stitch ’em together, men without blood or breath, men who could march a hundred...
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Glass Heart
At first, there is nothing but the sound of machinery pumping energy through the glass cage. I can’t tell if its just the effects of the gas, or if I’m only having another nightmare. I force my eyes open, and immediately gasp for air. My lu...