Tag: Free Fantasy

Heroic Fantasy Short Fiction

The Dragon and the Deep Kingdom

In those days, the Kingdom of First Knuckle still stood at the heart of a deep-lake, where the mists were a perfume of spores and the wind smelled like velvet shank. There was no reaching the castle at its center without taking a gonleden up the locks to the channels. To set upon the lake itself was to die in the jaws of the leviathan; to take the channels without the King’s blessing was to die by her arrow. King Thornblade surveyed her kingdom from the highest chamber, reminding herself of legacy. It was Mikteshfis gold studding the walls, Mikteshfis…

Dark Fantasy Serial Fiction

Thoughts of the Drowned — Prologue to SOIL

“I ain’t ever had a friend like you,” said Snorri Morn, his meaty arms slung over my neck. Snorri was a great bloody ox of a man, back when he was alive, full of drink, piss, and rage. Twice as mean as a mother bear defending her cubs, and half as loving. I bloody loathed the man and I don’t regret what I’ve done. “In all my years,” he went on, seeming to burp between every word, “I ain’t ever—I mean ever—had a friend like you.” We’d been deep in the cups that night. My head was a swill of…

Fairy Tale Short Fiction

Acorn, Honey, Fat, and Foxglove

There was a girl named Angela. She lived on the fourth floor of a building that only went up to three. One day, she came downstairs. – The book of Dan and Angela, March, 1991 * * * I’ve not seen the old building for, probably, thirty years. But here it is, almost exactly as it was the morning that my mom stood right there packing our car, with her puffy eyes and cracking voice trying her best, and failing miserably, to keep a lid on the pure fucking rage that she felt towards Dad. Trying to make me feel…

Dark Fantasy Serial Fiction

Ashen Rider — Part Five

FIVE Today, I have found my god. She had strayed from me once, “Follow me!” she commanded, Then left me bleeding On cold, slick tiles. I had asked my family, All that they knew. “Love,” one said. “Accountability,” nodded another. Grace in all things, forgiveness in others. Who is this god we seek? And why Hasn’t she been revealed to me? I asked my lord of his god. And he said, “I have none.” For in his realm, There is only blood. I’ve lived long and hungry, Awaiting the day, I’d again know peace. Today, I have found my god.…

Dark Fantasy Editor's Pick Short Fiction

Sky Over Mountain

Under the mountain, known to the trolls who lived in her caverns as Cairn, winter was held at bay. In the cavernous network worming through Cairn’s rocky heart, the temperature remained constant, no matter the season. For trolls, with hides as thick as an ox’s, the near-freezing atmosphere was favorable to their hardy constitution. Not unlike the caves within Cairn, Hakon, the clan’s chieftain, was neither warm nor cold. He was stern, but fair, and his mood, like the innards of the mountain, seemed held at a constant. Such was his stoicism when he approached Noma, an elderly troll who…

Absurdist Fantasy Short Fiction

The Value of Horns

When it comes to trolls, horns are paramount to one’s identity. More than a badge of status, they transcend mere ornamentation. For trolls, size matters—the bigger the better—especially when it comes to their horns. Although, the shape, curve, twist, and hue are no less important than the length and girth. Troll horns are versatile, multifaceted in their purpose. They are used for combat, for attracting mates, for intimidation and glamour. Horns are at the center of troll fashion and, in some tribes, even of great spiritual significance. For trolls, be they of the cave or forest or mountain clans, horns…

Dark Fantasy Serial Fiction

Ashen Rider — Part Four

FOUR Let me tell you, boy A tale of down below. Where the days are hard And the beds are stone. I’ll tell you the tale Of when time had split. And the fires of hell Were our only light. Ephraim (-54 to 47) “Down Below,” published Year 40. I — In the sky, crossing the threshold Grahtzildahn, second layer of Pandemonium The dreamlike threshold separating the unceasing storms of the Vale Betwixt shimmered with the furnace heat of Grahtzildahn. The nearer they drew, the sorcerous wall appeared more like an illusion than something material. The barrier danced, milky tendrils jittering…

Serial Fiction Sword and Sorcery

All but Guaranteed

The tower wall of Duke Danlo’s palace reflected the brumal light of a winter moon. Stones fitted and polished to near perfection by expert masons of two centuries past, its silken surface emanated a ghostly sheen, not unlike the frozen moat upon which Izrak Laav stood. His infiltration had thus far gone unhindered. Diamond shrouds of whirling snow, and a shirt of black iron mail, had veiled the mercenary’s approach. Yet scaling the icy wall presented an impossible challenge to any would-be invader. Impossible to all, but for him. Izrak removed his gloves and reached out to the wall, his…

Adventure Short Fiction

The Samurai’s Quest

Moriyami backed out of the emperor’s presence. Beside him, Hiroki, his most trusted companion, bowed equally low. They’d both taken care to sweep their sheathed swords back, and they shuffled their feet lightly over the polished parquet floor. The smoke of burning incense swirled around their heads and clung to their leather armor. Emperor Karasu had charged Moriyami with a noble task, entrusting him with a sacred box that he must never open, now tucked inside his jacket. Moriyami in turn chose Hiroki—five years younger, yet his most capable soldier-brother—to accompany him on this mission to the very peak of…

Dark Fantasy Serial Fiction

Ashen Rider — Part Three

THREE You have been robbed. Of something. You didn’t know. Could be taken. Syr Arthur Cain (-13 to 35) “Awakening,” published Year 36. I — A conversation, somewhere far away. The Kaza’dur left a gross power vacuum in their wake. In the years following your knighthood, you rose through the ranks of Valentine Aristocracy. Valencia was no longer a humble fortress, subservient to a crumbling empire. The Kaldean capital, the Great City of Baltaire, fell the instant the invasion began. Once the Lord Governor Vidoq perished of dysentery, Syr Laszlo Balderas the First put a crown upon his head and declared…