BEFORE THE BATTLE, by Vonnie Winslow Crist: On this witch-kissed morning, as I trudge northward, dampness frizzes my hair, worms its way into my joints. Beneath winter clouds draped like dark cloth above the trees, an unkindness of ravens descends, bickers over a half-eaten carcass. At my approach, the feathered trio complain, rise to an […]

WHAT SIEGLINDE SERPENTSLAYER SAID TO THE KING, by Megan Arkenberg: The truth, my lord, is that I am sick of monsters. I am sick of the smell of mountain aeries and brood caves, cool and salty-wet. I am tired of dragons’ riddles, feats of strength, game pieces carved of human bone, the musty whispering of […]

As forewarned but not forsworn — and neither forbidden nor forborne — we bring you Issue 4 of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly! Once again we’ve scoured worlds known, unknown, and those only touched upon in dreams — this time discovering two great works of fiction and two of poetry which, oddly, total four: Fiction Contents LIVING […]

LIVING TOTEM, by Vaughn Heppner: Kulik lifted his face into the blizzard, rose from his shivering crouch and kept staggering.  Icy particles beat at him.  Snow crunched under his moccasins.  His toes throbbed, but that was good because it meant they hadn’t frozen. He pulled his fur cape tighter.  Hoary frost coated his eyebrows and […]

DEATH’S LAST DAUGHTER, by Jeff Crook: After many adventures, the mameluke warrior Jafar al-Tinnin is no closer to finding his lover, Leiley, or avenging himself against Imam Nuri — the Sufi sorcerer who kidnapped her. At a cursed well in the Libyan desert, Jafar and his friend Ketei seek the advice of a mad djinn, […]