THE NORWEGIAN FARMER, by Rob Mancebo: Down from the wilds of the mountains they ravaged, lawless men in a rough, screaming horde. In from his fields Sven Carlson came, and took up his shield, spear, and sword. All ‘round the district of Østfold they rampaged, daring any fool to resist. At the fjord bridge Sven […]

EVERYWHERE THE SERPENT SLAIN, by James Frederick William Rowe: The thunderous passage of heroic feet Has crushed under heel The skulls of serpents The hills were once alive With their slithering But no more For all are dead Slain in antiquity That we might live unmolested Safe and sheltered Freed of their threat But the […]

BEFORE THE VILLAIN, by Alexandra Seidel: Should I give up now because it’s fate? Should I bury the sword handed to me through seven generations of firstborn mages in the watery soil of the moor? in the coal-hot sand of the desert? in the soft black earth behind the house? The seer promised me a […]

DUSKRIVEN, by Keith Kennedy: Broken teeth reflected back at me — the axe blade a mirror — blood on edge and face both, setting sun a glorified backdrop. Underfoot, skulls and hearts — the important parts of men — turned to mush by marching boots and planted strokes. In small valleys, blood flows away churned […]

THE CHRONICLE: FRAGMENT THIRTY SEVEN, by Robert William Shmigelsky: the Wars of Men: history doomed to be repeated from time to time — Chrono [1] from that familiar comfort zone you materialize out of thin air find yourself surrounded by thick and, for the most part, impenetrable waves of sorcery-induced mist — the living blue […]