THE LADY AND THE DWARF, by  Rebecca Brinker Once, in a forest, there lived not seven but one dwarf. He was a hard industrious man who had an affinity for the earth and a talent for finding ore. It did not matter what kind of ore: copper, silver, gold, the Dwarf could find it all, […]

CANVAS TEARS, by Steve Rodgers   As the smells of roasting human flesh weaved through the Grand Suuk market, Amis began to entertain new doubts about his strategy. From atop an auction platform, the idea of defeating a weather-invoking madman in his own city suddenly seemed a half-step away from lunacy. What foul mead had […]

THE GREAT BEAR GOD, by Gary Every     The Siberian shaman sings and prays at this ancient place where the rocks wear faces.   The river cascades across the rows of stones, many of the boulders wearing human visages, features of geology and erosion.   This cliff above the waterfall resembles a gathering of […]

CHASE OF THE BLUE BLOOD, S.K. Naus   Torrid black clouds blistered along the heavens, Their bellies exploding with cold hard rain. Majesta’s cloak billowed around her and the horse she was riding Like a brazen red flame that could not be extinguished. “Ride on, Victory!” she urged the gray stallion whose ears stood at […]

WHAT YOU’VE BECOME, by Gretchen Tessmer   if wishes were horses? more like rooks and herons kings and beggar men— made weak by yellow-haze sloth sipped at the pond of mud-slick weeds and greed all fools in the face of temptation   I remember when you were brave and knew something of careful deliberation   […]