ARABELLA AND THE KRAKEN KING, by Gretchen Tessmer, Art by Andrea Alemanno     the captain’s widow is mad with grief her dress stained in saltwater spray her skin glowing blue-violet in moonlight and sparks from the mast St. Elmo’s fire hovers in her hair drenched, unpinned wild and everywhere, in static strands like tentacles […]

THE LAST KING OF MERCIA,  by David Barber, Artwork by Miguel Santos   The old king is dying. Around the death bed his brood of sons wait their chance to seize the crown. The Witan divided. Words spoke in secret. The treasure room keys, hard glint of silver. Pouncing on weakness, Welsh raid the border. Kinfolk […]

NIGHTMARE VOYAGES, by Jennifer Crow, Art by Gary McClusky     On the storm’s third night, winds howling through torn sails and waves washing across the tilted deck, the sleepless crew stumbles from rail to line as the captain screams with profane desperation into the teeth of the gale. None of the men has seen […]

After the alarmingly warm week of Christmas, winter has now descended upon us!  Trapped indoors we’ve dug deep into the creative minds of the world to produce issue #51—we bring three stories and three poems, with artwork aplenty.   Fiction Contents The Great Hunt, by : Francesco Meriano, with artwork by Miguel Santos.  Brother Daervel […]

THE GREAT HUNT, by Francesco Meriano, art by Miguel Santos 1.  A Field in England We were traveling across Yorkshire, on a Midsummer’s Eve like many that had graced the thirteen centuries since the birth of our Lord. I led our old donkey Bess across the worn gravel path, spurring her gently through the warmth […]