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 […]

CRAZY SNAKE AND THE CIGUANABA, by Eric Atkisson   I Help me. The horseman froze. He could not be certain if he had heard a voice at all–little more than a gentle whisper above the murmur of the falls, the branches rustling overhead in the night breeze, and the soft crunch of his pony’s hooves […]

WITH A GOLDEN RISHA, by  P. Djéli Clark The Hanging Stones of Ispa had been aptly (if also quite boringly) named. Twenty or more boulders floating high above the Jade Sea, as if unaware their weight should have made such a thing impossible. Some held a sorcerer had convinced the fool things they were feathers […]

BRONZE-ARD, THE FERRET MASTER, AND AUSPICIOUS EVENTS AT SWIFT CREEK FARM, by Adrian Simmons, artwork by Lilith Graves   The remarkable occurrence of both Bronze-Ard and the Ferret Master arriving on the same day at Swift Creek Farm presented Bellaw and her siblings with a rare opportunity to slip out of a day’s work.  And, […]