ENCOUNTER AT MONS, by Ann K. Schwader, art by Caterina Gerbasi   (Belgium, 1914)   They’ll tell you angels came, or Arthur rode from Avalon to turn the German tide at our beleaguered trenches.  Naught besides a miracle had saved us — one bestowed all unsuspected.  Yet a few who saw more clearly through that […]

DOORWAYS, by Jennifer Crow, art by Simon Walpole     Touch the wood, rough with age and peeling paint. Sun has poured its afternoon heat into the grain, the brass knocker hot enough to sear flesh. No eye peers at you through the cracked glass of the little window, and beyond you see only darkness, […]

THE WITCH AWAKENS, by Julie Shiel   Rain lost its sound that day and the churning Autumn skies fell silent as I stood gazing into the dark facing that sulfurous breeze.   The harvest feast was upon us and the first frost kissed the grass when I felt her eyes searching across that dread dreamscape, […]

SELAPHESNE, by Kevin Sandefur, with artwork by Simon Walpole   The proud banners tremble and drift as they fall, Like a tapestry tumbling soft from the wall, But there aren’t any guards left to answer the call Of the palace bugle.   It sounds out so sprightly, so sweet, and so clear, With a luster […]

HAMELIN IN THE DISTANCE, by Maria Schrater, with audio by the writer     My fiddle will not tune right, and my bow is prone to breaking I am a poor musician whom all melody has forsaken I used to while away the hours telling lays of kings and towers, Dragons, rings, unearthly powers—enough to […]