FOUND ON THE WATER, by Martha Wells (originally published at her Patreon), with artwork by Simon Walpole   The last thing Jai wanted to wake up to was Kiev leaning over her, saying, “We found something.” She batted him away, squinting at the dawn light falling through the window slats. “What?” “You need to come […]

TRAIL OF ASHES, by Caleb Williams   ‘Fire… fire!’ The carriage rattling over the earthen bridge and the scalding image of fire jarred Keedran from a troubled sleep. He hardly slept at all anymore. The voices of all of the souls he had conjured wouldn’t let him. He sat up, groaned, and beheld the splendor […]

SERVANT OF THE BLACK WIND, by Gregory Mele   I. The attack came at dawn. It was not the time of day that caught the defenders unprepared, it was that it had come at all. The necropolis of Koltopec was certainly an isolated, lonely place, and there were riches aplenty buried in its many tombs […]

TYMASS BY RING-LIGHT, by Mike Adamson Verily it be that, unknownst to the prevailing wisdom, the Gods and Fates shall move in concert and all that is undone shall be remade. From black despair shall come the joy of day, and the bearer of this revolution shall in service be redeemed. ―The Testament of Farnor.   […]

THE MERIT ONE GOLD PIECE, by Dave D’Alessio   He was an old man of perhaps fifty years, and his four teeth stank of cardamom. “Beatricsh iss me daughter,” he said. “She’ss not a witch.” “She failed the test, old man.” The sheriff pushed her in the millpond and she rose to the top, all […]