RACING THE HEADSMAN, by Andrew Knighton   Bullets hissed past Sir Henry Torrent’s head like a swarm of angry flies. Some hit the floating prison’s quay, knocking splintered holes through the planks. Others vanished into the darkness, lost between a starless sky and the endless sea. At this range, he feared only a little for […]

SPATHA STERCAE, by James Frederick William Rowe   Many thousands of years ago in deep antiquity, yet still after the age of the Gods, a giant came down from the Frima mountains to visit oppression upon the Veirans. A thing of hate, pride, and hunger, the giant made sport and meat of they who would […]

THE PERSUADERS   we rise just after the heat of day has pressed life flat our deliberations inflating the indrawn breath of evening a cool murmur across the skies robes of scarlet, pale amethyst, robust plum we don against the encroaching night, realm of mystery and allusion   we gather darkness into ourselves Pluton’s immeasurable […]

WENCH, by Scott Hutchison   Nary a man doesn’t review the merchandise upon entering, wary eyes scanning tables and corners and me. They stride or stroll or slink in the door smelling of earth and blood, wet horse, rust, and a rankness all their own. They clap and call out Wench!–I pause, then saunter over […]

Spring is well underway, which in our part of the world means torrential rains, hail and the occasional tornado. Lively times, indeed! Also lively? HFQ # 28! We’ve got the final installments of “Crazy Snake and the Tribute for Pachacamac”, and “The Siege, the Gums, and the Blue”, as well as two new stories and […]