Strange Skies

The sky was strange in the Cursed Land that day. The people shielded their eyes and asked the hero Petromir to sort it out. Petromir was a hero in the traditional sense, which meant he had more swords than braincells and solved his problems by hitting them, which worked well when your problems were monsters but...

The Boy Who Would Not Shoot At Birds

They laughed at the boy who would not shoot at birds, who would not even hold the gun in his hand. They laughed as the birds came crashing down, one, two, three, squawking bloody messes of broken bones and crumpled feathers. It's weakness, the instructor said, hand like concrete on the boy's shoulder, squeezing bones...

The Sorcerer’s House

He made his house from old stones. One came from an arena, stained with the blood of a thousand fighters, echoing still with the laughter of the crowd. Another was from a pyramid, worn by wind and sand and silence. A third was part of a tower, drinking tears and hearing laments. They were stones...

The Nowhere Road

The map was utterly blank for five miles: no services, no towns, nothing but the road winding through the misty moor. It was an odd sort of road, a lonely road, laid without any real need or purpose in a fit of infrastructural zeal, stringing together little towns like paste-fake pearls. Hardly anybody used the...

Places to Visit After the End of the World

If you ever find yourself near the Cinder, the Museum of What Was is a must see. Marvel at the recreations of this bygone world. Weep when you see the remnants of this noble civilization, reduced to ash in a single afternoon. We have in our collection numerous objects of interest to the discerning traveller....

Last Ones on the Ferry

The ferry captain prided himself on regularity. "Keep to a schedule, that's the main thing," he said. "Everything else will fall into place." The ferry made its passage across the channel three times a day, four times on Saturdays, and never deviated from the schedule by so much as a second, rain or shine. Naturally,...

A Sky Like This

They are young and the sky is wild and swirling grey, electric with dreams of storm and thunder. "We should get inside," she whispers. "It's going to rain." "Then let it rain," he answers. "We won't let it spoil our day." They are older and the sky is clear and blue and empty. "I'm sorry,"...

A High Stakes Game of Noughts and Crosses

Lily tugged Steven's sleeve as he entered the control room. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Steven wished people would stop asking that. A glance at his battered jacket and hair that hadn't been brushed since the first attack should have told anybody that he didn't and would welcome any suggestions. But in...

The American Dream

The portal first opened on an otherwise unremarkable Tuesday afternoon. By six that evening, it was all over the news. A door to an unspoiled landscape of craggy mountains and vast seas under a maroon sky. An important meeting was called the moment the President was done playing golf. He glared at his advisors the...

A Cold Eternity

During the long cold nights, she liked to remember summer: the warmth of the sun on her skin, the lake a wavering war of light and darkness, leaves green on the reaching branches of the young trees, birdsong in the air. In the ice, there were no lake, no leaves, no branches, no birdsong, and...