BY WAY OF THE EASTERN ROAD, by Jesse Knifely: Ren Terrowin skidded on the grimy kitchen floor and the tray of baked apples he held tottered. He slowed his steps as he picked his way across the flour sacks and potato peels littering the stones. A day of celebratory feasting left its debris. Ren delivered […]

THE CHALLENGER’S GARLAND, by Schuyler Hernstrom: Molok rose from his resting place in the damp earth. He mounted his black warhorse and rode through the gray mist, past broken tombs and stunted trees. Before a cliff’s edge he brought the mount to heel. Tendrils of fog coalesced in the heavy air, weaving themselves into a […]

THE HOUSE OF NHARAT, by Garnett Elliot: The Moon Goddess revealed her full glory against a night filled with scudding clouds.  From his vantage atop Nin Ursu’s mud brick walls, Ekkur could see the distant silhouettes of enemy bowmen.  They crouched among the fields surrounding the city-state, not quite close enough to loose their shafts.  […]

THE LAST FIRST TIME, by Colin Heintze: Every time I went to Karkil I stopped for coffee. I had always enjoyed Karkil’s brew, a great deal of my enjoyment coming from the fact that no living lips had tasted it for two-hundred years. From my seat on the café terrace I heard the ass braying. […]

THE LIVING CURSE, by Ethan Fode: There was no fire or smoke, only the terrible groan as the temple crumbled, the thick columns snapping in half, the walls buckling outward. He barely noticed, consumed by the song of the sorcery in his bones, the oily feel of the ancient magic coating his soul. When he […]