DRAGON BAIT, by Ray Daley, Art by Karolína Wellartová       In hindsight, I should have realised it was going to happen, sooner rather than later. If I had been able to come to that conclusion, I could have been raking it in, hand over fist. Of course, it took a knight to notice. […]

THE GREAT HUNT, by Francesco Meriano, art by Miguel Santos 1.  A Field in England We were traveling across Yorkshire, on a Midsummer’s Eve like many that had graced the thirteen centuries since the birth of our Lord. I led our old donkey Bess across the worn gravel path, spurring her gently through the warmth […]

RAKSHASA IN A POT, by Prashanth Srivatsa, artwork by Miguel Santos Blademaster Savithri was nine months pregnant when she arrived in the agraharam, under strict orders to deal with the rakshasa hiding in the mountains. The villagers, largely a docile, god-fearing lot, gathered with their mouths open, breaths stuck in their throats, and welcoming garlands […]

THE LINTON BANSHEE, by Rev. Joe Kelly, artwork by Karolína Wellartová   The sound started, quite suddenly, some ways off past the fields outside town, in the direction of Linton Hill: a wailing, ululating sort of shriek, yet not like any shriek that Conor Dubh had ever known an animal to make. It reminded him of […]

THE REPRIEVE,  By Darrell Schweitzer, artwork by Andrea Alemanno   There was an intruder in the room. Prince Tigranes drew his throwing knife and whirled about, searching the night-time shadows. Curtains billowed from open windows, rustling gently. There was no other sound, but he knew he was not alone. He had an instinct for that, […]