RECOMPENSE, by Gerri Leen, art by Karolína Wellartová     Golden mare No rope shall hold you Now that you have Run your last battle I will take your killer’s horse— A lacking replacement But willing with the right touch— As our enemy bleeds out From a hundred small wounds A lingering death As compensation For […]

AMONG THE SCYTHIANS, by Deborah L. Davitt, art by Simon Walpole, audio by Deborah L. Davitt         Copper, so expensive, so rare— did you know that the sunbright ore only comes from a distant island in a sunbathed sea we’ll never see, where it’s so common the people there walk on streets […]

As 2021 finally begins to shed the weight of 2020, we are happy to put out issue #48 of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly!  We’ve got three stories and two poems, with art and audio to help you get through the summer.  On to it!   Fiction Intrigue in Aviene, by Steve Dilks,  Hardened mercenary Bohun of […]

INTRIGUE IN AVIENE, by Steve Dilks   1 “You have a keen eye for swords, soldier,” said the blacksmith, setting down his hammer and moving to the front of his stall. Squinting out into the midday sun, he saw an imposing figure stood there, an ebon giant dressed in mail shirt and high strapped sandals. […]

KING YVORIAN’S WAGER,  by Darrell Schweitzer   On the morning of his father’s funeral and his own accession, King Yvorian had a vision. It came to him as he rode in solemn state on the golden throne of the Eagle Kings, borne aloft at the head of a procession of priests and courtiers by the […]