They were coming in, and it was well too late to stop them. Always was, wasn’t it? They swung their metal arms like pendulums, battering indiscriminately the doors, walls, windows. They were dull colossi: fifty-foot-high and steel plated; age-faded logos… Continue Reading
Deirdre flexed her arthritic fingers. Today they’d have to do exercises to move their hands. She wheeled up to the door and shut it. Craft Day could stay outside. A moment later, Gerlinde knocked and walked in. Tall, square-jawed, fine… Continue Reading
“…sounds like his feet ‘re in a cauldron of lye,” said Aunt Belle. Twilight was coming on fast, daylilies closed up like sentinels going off-duty. In the flickering shadows, Astreen could’ve been twelve, or twenty, or thirty-five. She put a… Continue Reading
Jason, a bronze sickle in one hand, glimpsed movement at the edge of the woods and straightened to peer above the golden stalks of barley. At the far end of the field, Dame Stilwell, his teacher, had emerged from the… Continue Reading
The imperial mage let himself into the menagerie long after closing. Merdesac hurried to the bear enclosure and called through the wrought iron fence, “Prince Adrian. It’s time.” A large brown bear trundled over to him. Behind the mage, a… Continue Reading
“Old father, will you tell us a story?” The hall hushed; women settled their children, men settled their drinks. The old man cleared his throat. “I suppose…” he began. Despite his feigned reluctance, he enjoyed these nights, rare moments of… Continue Reading
Lysandra glared across the wide desk at her second cousin and erstwhile manager. “You can’t fire me!” “I believe I just did.” Pyralis idly tossed the golden apple up into the air. “But it’s the family business,” Lysandra spluttered. “And… Continue Reading
Once upon a time, a young man stopped in at Leon’s Neon City and asked for work to tide him over until spring. The shop foreman grinned and winked at one of his journeyman crafters. The fellow winked right back.… Continue Reading
Nick finished the magic chant for a new body and face. He liked the body and face: a sharper chin, darker eyes. But the hair was too long. Another chant and it shortened, just the right length to look wild… Continue Reading
Anna disappeared on her ninth birthday. She excused herself from her party with a polite goodbye, went up to her room, and never returned. For a time, no one noticed her absence amid the chaos of clowns, piñatas, and dozens… Continue Reading