THE MADNESS OF THE MANSA, by Cullen Groves One summer night, a great storm arose over the western ocean, and many citizens and sailors in the port of Asongai told how they had seen the demons of madness walking the black winds in the darkness. The gales made wrack of the galleys in the harbor, […]

MELTING GOLD AND ASHES, by Dennis Mombauer   The massive and ornate ship was visible even from the hills above the city, swarmed by ant-like workers who had been carrying pyrewood onboard its planks for days. When the ship would be ignited, the flames would burn hotter and higher than any flames had burned in […]

THE REEDS OF TORIN’S FIELD, by Andrea G. Stewart Torin’s Field stretches before me like a reedy ocean, the hills forming the crests of waves.  I take a swig of wine from the pouch at my side, and it slides past my tongue, rich and astringent.  My former comrades liked to proclaim wine akin to […]

MORRIGAN’S SONG, by Colleen Anderson   Breathe in the moist air, smell the land within it. hear the movement of trees and animals all around far away, in daylight, the eagle’s call pins the sky deer ghost through the glen ravens call into the night as they settle into sleep you are before a cubby […]

SHAMANS, by David Farney   Countless tribes speaking countless tongues frequent xanthous shores of a long-burning lake. Come hunters, come nomads, come fishers too — unlikely neighbors enthralled by songs of shamans through whose lyrics tribesmen discover discourse.   But soon it seems the shamans sing too loudly — this common tongue strips mysticism and […]