A NIGHT IN THE WITHERLANDS, by Daniel Stride, artwork by Simon Walpole   I sank my teeth into another sour marsh-apple. It’d been that, and little more, since the previous night. Donkey-cart journeys are dull affairs, and while there are worse ways to spend a fortnight – the silver clinked in my purse – I hungered […]

THE MEDALLION’S SONG, by Ginny Patrick, artwork by Karolína Wellartová   Twilight darkened the narrow alley in the marketplace. Serena hurried down an unfamiliar path, pulling her hood close beneath her chin as she peered through a deepening gray mist at the merchants’ tented stalls. Under the cover of her cape she clutched the hilt of […]

THE SILVER LIGHT OF FOREVER, by Mike Adamson   Gareth waited with the same nervous impatience he had experienced before the Harvest every year. The green vestments of the duke fluttered softly about his chain mail and leather, and the worn grip of his sword was a comfort at his side, but the dread import […]

WINTER LUCK, by Evan Dicken, with audio by Karen Bovenmyer, music by Kevin MacLeod, and art by Miguel Santos   “Fall back!” Icy wind snatched the words from Ochiai Haruyoshi’s lips, the driving snow like a funeral shroud draped across his eyes. A flash of red armor was his only warning as the Takeda samurai […]

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES by Benjamin C. Kinney     The East Wind blew in across the harbor and cut through Agnella’s fur-trimmed cloak. She faced the squall and loosened her cloak. This was no mortal wind, and all the more pathetic for it. She would let no bitter local god drag her into its games […]