HEART OF MAN, by David Pilling: “Such was the murder of Evesham, for battle it was none.” The Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester, August 1265 AD   I, Roger Godberd, a humble farmer of no account, survived the murder of Evesham by hiding under a corpse in a ditch until the killing was done. When […]

THE SEA WASP, by Robert Rhodes: An hour after sunset, I lingered by the ship’s rail.  The eastern sky had long since blackened, but in the distance, the King’s Lantern burned like a star trapped in mid-fall.  Tomorrow would bring us to the coast of Armitane and into Port Royal, the brightest and loudest of […]

ANCIENT SHADES, by James Lecky: Although the admission pains me, I must confess that, under certain circumstances, I am a man for whom the goods of others become a temptation. Had I given myself more time to think – or if I had not foolishly accepted a pipe of kif from my gambling companion Abel […]

ALDROM, by Matthew Wuertz: The sun pulled away from me like a warm blanket as men led me up the wide steps.  Someone’s cough echoed in the vast interior of wherever we were, and though curious, I left my blindfold in place.  We walked a short distance and then descended a staircase that spiraled into […]

NO TWO STONES, by Christopher Wood: 1. Now. Still I am the strongest! I am atop this hill on the Third Moon. Behind me, my soldiers struggle up the slope. I raise my iron sword over my head; it shines in the surreal light of the World blazing above us like a sun. I turn […]